"So what are your names?" I asked as I pulled off the cloth I had wrapped around my head. It had done its job well.
"Ah.." the male opened his mouth to answer.
Right away the female moved her body a bit to shield the male child. Her brown eyes still showed a bit of wariness. It seems she is the protective one. Her curly locks swaying as she shook her head at him.
The male child looked at me curiously. I looked different from them so I can understand, my skin though not milky white was not the golden brown that indicated generations of living under piercing sunlight. My eyes were also slightly tilted, almond-shaped and a very dark brown. My straight shoulder length hair also spilled out like a black halo after I pulled off the cloth wrap.
"I am Ayesha and he is Abu" the young girl said after making up her mind. But it was strange.
When Ayesha spoke I realised that she was speaking another language but somehow I was able to understand every word!
'What the hell?! How? Will the strange things never end? I wonder what else I'm going to be seeing.'
I tried not to show how shocked I was on my face.
"I am Mia Christian, it's nice to meet you" I said.
Ayesha nodded and Abu gave me a little smile.
"What is this place called, your country?"
I asked hoping the two young children at least knew the name of their country so I could start figuring out where I was.
"We are of the Land of Blistering Sands. Our tribe here is the Anilli"
None of those names rang a bell. It may be that the country names were just lost in translation but it could also mean I was no longer in the same world. With how things were going so far, that would not be a far-fetched idea.
"Are there other tribes close by?"
"Yes two tribes border ours in the caverns" Ayesha answered.
"Can you lead the way there?"
The girl nodded.
"Hey, are we going to the bigger tribes?" Abu asked his sister.
"Yes we can't stay here"
"Why not?" he asked tilting his head to the side, his curly hair bounced as he did.
Then I heard a grumble and looked towards Abu who looked down embarrassed, holding his stomach and forgot his line of questions.
'Mustve been in the well for a while' I thought.
Without asking I walked over to my bags by the side of the well and pulled out a can of fish and a packet of crackers from the pack.
"Want some?"
They both nodded eagerly, even Ayesha who was more taciturn. They looked like two little birds the way they kept nodding their heads.
"What is that?" Abu asked curiously as I opened the can of fish by pulling the seal on the top.
"This is canned fish" I replied and handed the packet of crackers and the opened fish to Ayesha.
"Fish?! I've never seen fish! I heard stories from the Great Oceania with people that live with fish! How do you get it into this?" Abu asked excitedly.
"Quiet down idiot!" Ayesha hissed even while looking curious herself.
"Well, I got the fish like that from the store so I don't know how…" I noticed I had lost them again when I started adding more details.
"Just eat up I'll tell you all about it later!" I said and quickly ran away.
I went back to my bag and pulled out some for myself as I now realised that after so many hours the only thing that had passed my lips were sand grains and the occasional sip of water. I sat with my back up against the well again. Nibbling on the crackers and fish. I looked at my knapsack that I hadn't looked into since putting my purse in after paying for the groceries.
I opened it and the first thing I saw was the package I collected. Pulling it out I ripped into the putter packaging. Nestled in the inner box was a miniature sword already fully assembled at eleven inches long with a purple tasseled guard. I bought it after watching an animated movie with a sword-wielding main character. In the box was also a small drawstring bag with sharpening and cleaning implements. I hurriedly ate the rest of the crackers and fish before pulling the blade from its sheath watching it catch and reflecting the limited light. According to the vendors, it was a fully functional sharpened blade, only smaller than the original.
"Water breathing first form!" I exclaimed while brandishing the miniature sword in from of me.
I looked over at the children who were giving me puzzled looks.
'Oh god, that was corny saying out loud.' I though slightly embarrassed.
While sitting admiring the blade I heard a growling noise close by. The sound sent a chill down my spine like icy fingers. There was nothing even remotely human about it.
My adrenaline levels spiked again as I got up to face whatever new threat this was.
What I saw looked like a human male, in desert garb complete with a shawl around the head but what was not human was the sound that came from his mouth as he opened it, or the glowing red eyes, or the snarled fingers reaching out towards us. He was a little over twenty meters away and closing slowly, like a stereotypical zombie.
"Graawhh!" the growling sound came out of his mouth again.
'The kids!' I thought.
I looked behind me. The children had gotten up and moved closer to me in fright. I faced the male and stood my ground with the mini sword held in front.
"Whatever you are I wont let you pass" I said
The red eyed male kept coming closer with no signs of stopping. His steps were staggering as if he would fall to his face any minute now.
"Stay back! I'm warning you!" I said, hoping that he would stop after hearing my shout.
But he didn't and I continued to stand my ground.