~Bilana, in the whirlpool~

“What was that?” I asked. “I heard…” I didn’t know what I heard.

Confused.

“There!” I frowned. “This time it has my voice unlike the previous one. That one had your voice.”

I looked at Psetha, waiting for him to explain. He was the expert here.

“Yes, I heard,” he sighed and rubbed his face with his hands. “I forgot to tell you about this. Here is what I think is happening: the voices we hear are our psyche escaping the ball of air around us and whirling back at us.”

I’m sorry you were surprised.

I frowned harder, trying to understand. “So…these are our thoughts?”

“Yes.”

I hummed to myself, and my voice hummed back.

I laughed nervously. “This is a little embarrassing.”

Psetha smiled—were his cheeks a little red?—“I know what you mean.”

Let’s not listen to them, my voice suggested.

Psetha laughed a small laugh. “Let’s do that.”

We closed our ears with our hands, waiting for us to be whirled out on the other side.

“…”

“…”

~Psetha, in the whirlpool~

Were my trips through the whirlpools always this long?

Or did it feel long because I was feeling awkward?

Probably that.

“Probably what?” Bilana guaşe asked.

I frowned. “Weren’t we supposed to not listen?”

Bilana guaşe grinned and, lowering her hands from her ears, shrugged. “I was bored.”

I frowned harder as I lowered my hands, but my voice laughed, betraying my real feelings. Bilana guaşe grinned wider.

You look pretty when you smile.

My eyes grew wide, and I felt myself turn red.

“Oh,” was all she said.

“I-I…” I stuttered. She had turned red, too.

Bilana guaşe laughed again, this time sounding a little shy. “Well, thank you. You look pretty when you smile, too.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure being called pretty is a good thing for a guy.”

“Why not? It means you look good,” she said with a grin.

“Well, thank you,” I repeated her, and we laughed, our cheeks burning.

The voices stayed silent for a while, and we were silent as well with a slight smile on our lips.

“Let’s play count the feet,” Bilana guaşe suggested suddenly and then giggled at the expression on my face.

“Have you never played it?” she asked.

“No, I have,” I responded. " but it will be over quickly with only four feet to count, don’t you think?”

She pouted, “Then what do you suggest we do?”

I hummed to myself.

“Let’s-”

And we whirled out of the whirlpool.

We landed harshly on our feet, flailing around to stay upright, and I released the ball of air around us.

We looked around at the new scenery—yellow grass as high as my waist all around, a few dried trees here and there, and a green hill sticking out like a sore thumb among all the dying plants. We started sweating almost instantly with our warm clothes.

I guess my suggestion wasn’t needed now.

“Well.” I dusted off my pants for no reason and said, “Let’s go find someone to talk to.”

~Bilana, in an unknown fragment~

I was unexpectedly hyper, considering how serious our situation was, but could you blame me?

I was in a different world!

Well, a different fragment of the same world but, still. For someone who had never seen out of her village since she was a child, ‘different’ was exciting.

And frightening.

I was really not in my village anymore, was I? What was my thamade going to think when she found me missing? What would she do? What would all the villagers do without me to heal them? Would thamade have the strength to take care of them in my stead?

I was a big ball of nerves, and the tension kept rising as we walked, so I tried to talk to Psetha to distract myself, “Do you know this place?”

He shook his head and wiped his forehead with one hand. “No, I don’t.”

Great.

I laughed nervously. “So, we don’t know what to expect?”

He stopped walking and looked at me. “Are you okay, Bilana guaşe?”

“‘Okay’? Why wouldn’t I be okay? I’m completely okay.”

He wasn’t convinced.

I wasn’t convinced.

“Would you like to talk about it? We don’t have to worry about the Watch so we have time,” he suggested, and I was thankful, but I didn’t like looking weak.

“No, thank you,” I replied. I took a deep breath and smiled a little more confidently this time. “I’m really okay.”

He frowned thoughtfully but didn’t push it. “Okay then.”

We were saved from the silence by a rustle in the grass.

We locked onto the patch of grass with our eyes, and I held Psetha’s hand, ready to fly us away at a moment’s notice.

A rustle came again.

I could hear my heart beating in my ears.

A whining noise came from the grass.

I gulped.

Who knew whining could feel so threatening?

Psetha made to move towards the noise, but I held onto his hand, not letting him.

Yes, I was a coward, but I would be fine with being a coward as long as it kept us alive.

Psetha looked at me and smiled. “Don’t worry.” He patted my hand holding onto his.

“Don’t complain when that whining turns out to be from a venomous animal or something,” I said with a pout, letting him go.

He walked slowly towards the noise, and I followed close behind him, ready to grab onto him and pull him away from here.

A rustle.

A step.

A whining.

Another step.

Psetha took a deep breath, and I held onto his arm from behind. He pulled away the grass hiding the whining creature and…and we saw the cutest little…what was it? It looked like a fox kitten with really long legs.

It whined again upon seeing us and then made kind of a growling noise, shielding-oh no.

The kitten was protecting its mother whose eyes were closed and who was drawing shallow and quick breaths.

“The mother is dying,” Psetha whispered and, momentarily forgetting its role of protecting its mother from us, the kitten cocked its head to the side to better hear us, its ears twitching. It was listening to us.

“I think I can help her,” I decided and moved towards the mother, leaving Psetha behind me.

The kitten was nervous so I cooed at it as I slowly approached, “Shhh, it’s okay, I’m trying to help your mother.”

I placed my hands over the mother’s body and concentrated my magic on her.

“She’s so…tired,” I groaned, feeling the hunger and exhaustion she was experiencing. As my magic left me, the mother’s breathing slowly calmed down.

The kitten made a questioning noise, so I turned to it. “She’s asleep, but she’s okay,” I said, smiling a tired smile.

Just when I was about to leave her, I felt something in her body.

“I think…” I moved my hands over her body. “I think she has a worm in her…kidney. Yes, kidney. I need to take it out.”

“Do you know how to?” asked Psetha.

“Of course, I know how to—” I started complaining but… I didn’t have any tools with me that I could use. I didn’t know how to wield my magic enough to be able to perform surgeries with it.

I worried my lips as I considered my surroundings.

Grass, grass, and more grass…

The kitten was watching hopefully, but I didn’t know how to help its mother.

“Sorry, little friend,” I whispered in the end, feeling my heart break into pieces. “I don’t know how to help your mother.”

The kitten considered me, then, stood up and with a shake of its fur…

My eyes grew wide as I looked up at the boy that stood in the place of the kitten from where I was kneeling by his mother’s side.

The boy’s eyes sparkled with hope as he said, “I know how you can help mama.”