~ Destinations ~

The Place Nobody Goes

"Hey, there's a well here ... I think the water in it might be okay—Francis! Francis, come and get some of this water out! Those are fruit trees, too, oranges and limes—pomegranates even, we really lucked out here."

"Why aren't there any people around, do you think?"

"Same reason there ain't anyone anywhere."

"But there's NO ONE here, nothing except these big fat lizards—"

"Reckon they could be good to eat, what do you think, Trish? You get a fire going and I'll catch a couple and we can try roasting 'em."

"Okay."

"What do you think that big building there was? It's about the only thing around here still in one piece—"

"Who cares? Looks like it could be good for keeping the wind out though, let's have an explore of it after we eat. Francis, you got that water up yet?"

"Yes, I think it's okay to drink. The well is deep and undamaged, and the water comes from an underground river."

"Get some into our waterskins, then, don't just stand there lookin' smug. Machinsky, what're you staring at? You ain't said a word since we found this place, what're ya thinking about?"

"...home."

"Kid, you even listening to me?"

Maya was gazing placidly at Fin. He was sitting on a large, smooth stone at the other side of the clearing, watching Selene as she performed some kind of slow, gentle exercise. His expression was hard to read; calm, certainly, but with a thoughtfulness that Maya found compelling and unsettling.

"Hey."

"Ow, Ash! You didn't have to hit me!"

"Kind of seems like I DID have to do it, seeing as you were away with the fairies. What were you thinking about, anyway?"

"...nothing."

"That don't matter anyway." Ashley glanced at Fin and Selene, then looked back at her sister. "Look, I know you're real into this whole story that guy's spinning, but I got doubts. He's the one who said about Rosanth being the most dangerous place we could go, and where are we heading?"

"At least he was honest," Maya said. "He didn't have to tell us that it was dangerous."

"You're way too sweet sometimes, kid. You gotta learn, there's more than one way to pull a con, and you gotta be careful of honesty most of all. I've told you this about a hundred times, why can't you listen to me about this stuff?"

"I always listen," said Maya. "But I just think that he's nice. And Selene is nice too."

"Are you kidding? She's a stuck-up, icy little priss, there ain't nothing nice about her."

"She showed you how to skin a rabbit."

"Yeah, and acted oh-so-superior the whole time, too. Nah, she ain't gonna be your friend, Maya. She's the type that don't reckon friends are worth a damn."

"Like you?"

Ashley grinned at Maya—she had the most innocent look on her face.

"Yeah, just like me. And you know how bad I am, right?"

"Ash, I didn't—"

"You know what's important to me, Maya. It ain't other people."

Maya was silent, her dark eyes on Fin and Selene. They were talking now; Fin was giving Selene some kind of instruction.

"Look," Ashley said, her voice low, "I ain't saying we're gonna ditch these two right this second. Yeah, for now it's working out. It's nice not having to walk everywhere, and I ain't complaining about the regular meals neither."

"That's just comfort," Maya said, looking at her sister. Ashley grinned again.

"Yeah, and it's nice, ain't it? But it ain't important if—"

"Yes. That's right. There's something more important," Maya said. Ashley raised her eyebrows—Maya hardly ever interrupted her.

"Yeah?" she said. "What's that?"

"This ... this thing that Fin's doing, this home—"

"Aw, not this again. Forget that, it's just some junk he said, nothing but a dream."

"It's a NICE dream! What were we doing before, Ash? Just running away! I ... I want to be running TOWARDS something!"

Ashley stared at her sister—she noticed that Maya's raised voice had caught the attention of Fin and Selene, also.

"Would you two like to join our training session?" Fin called. Ashley shook her head.

"We're good," she said, although she read a different message in Maya's dark eyes.

"Ash, maybe..."

Maya trailed off. Fin had invited the two of them to train with him several times over the days they'd already travelled together, and Ashley's response had always been the same. Maya, also, had always remained silent, but there was something different this time. In her eyes was a look that Ashley never wanted to see.

"I'm gonna go gather firewood," Ashley said, standing. She glanced down at her sister. "You can do whatever you like."

Maya smiled as Ashley stalked away through the trees, then smiled brighter as Fin walked over to join her.

"Can you really show me how to get better at doing the stuff I can do?" she asked him.

"If you'd like me to," said Fin. "Although your skills are considerable already. The subtlety of control that you possess is remarkable."

Maya looked away. "Um, thank you," she said.

"However, subtlety isn't particularly useful in a fight. At least, not when the threat is immediate. Come over here with me, would you kindly?"

There was a tiny stream running through the clearing, barely an inch deep and narrow enough to step over without effort.

"You were playing with this water earlier," Fin said, as he gestured for Maya to sit beside the stream. "Making pretty tubes and bubbles of it."

"Bubbles are really hard," Maya said. "It's okay if they're touching the rest of the water, but once they get even a little way away..."

"Mm. That is an issue of separation, something we'll have to deal with sooner rather than later. For now, however, we should focus on release."

"Release," Maya repeated. Fin smiled at her.

"People underestimate water," he said. "It's been the downfall of many an unwary soul. Water has weight, water has patience, water has the strength of the ages behind it. Eventually, everything falls to water. In a fight, however," he said, flashing a grin at Maya that made her smile too, "we don't have the luxury of 'eventually', do we? Could you create one of your tubes for me?"

"I ... um, I call them snakes, usually," Maya said, shyly, as she coaxed a thin line of water from the stream.

"Snakes, yes ... water snakes. Someday you'll see how appropriate that name is, for now I'd like you to hold that snake in your hands."

"But when I take it away from the stream—"

"You've done this before with water cupped in your hands, yes? That water, too, was taken from a larger source. All water is one. The drop IS the ocean."

Maya stared at the water snake she was controlling.

"Um," she said.

Fin smiled.

"Perhaps we'll go into that some other time. For now, release that snake and take a cupped handful of water from the stream. Use both hands."

Maya did as instructed.

"Now concentrate. Focus. Watch the water."

Fin's voice was very soft, but Maya had no trouble hearing him. Her eyes were half-closed as she gazed down at the water in her hand, which rippled subtly in time with her breath.

"Do you understand what I mean when I tell you to know the water?"

Maya nodded, almost imperceptibly. The water was now a distinct mass; no longer a cupped handful, but rather an ever-shifting sphere floating in her hands.

"Good. Hold it there, just like that. It's no longer touching your hands, but your energies are entwined. In a sense, the water is a part of you ... and yet, always separate. You are the water's master, it your servant. You hold the water in thrall; it yearns to obey you. Can you feel that?"

Again, Maya's nod was almost unnoticeable. The water in her hands felt as though it was shivering, at once relaxed and tense; a sensation of utter comfort and unbearable stress.

"Now," said Fin, in almost a whisper. "Reject it."

The water fell to the ground and was gone in an instant, soaked into the rich earth, glistening on the long green grass. Maya stared at Fin.

"Reject it?" she said. "But—"

"The water is not your friend, Maya. Neither is it a pet. It is a tool, a toy, and, at times, a weapon. When you hold water in your power, you are exerting your dominance over it, however playfully this may be expressed. The water does not tell you what to do. You tell the water what to do."

"But ... rejecting it—"

"Try once more. Take another cupped handful. This time, do not bond so closely with it. Hold it in your hands just a moment, then force it away from yourself. Violently. Emotively. Passionately."

Maya was staring at Fin, her eyes questioning.

"You have a good imagination," Fin said. "Use it now. Imagine that someone is attacking you, that they are trying to hurt you, to kill you..."

"I don't want to imagine that!"

"No, you don't. In a perfect world you would have no need to. But this world, as I am sure you know, is far from perfect. There have been many times in your life that you have been threatened, that harm has been promised to you. Use these experiences."

Maya shook her head, her mouth tight.

"You don't want to remember," Fin said. "But we are taking from these experiences something valuable. You have defended yourself before. Ah ... you have defended your sister, also."

"No, she protects me, I—"

"But when she has needed aid, you have been there to offer it. Imagine, then, that your sister is in trouble. That she has fallen, that a man stands over her, holding a sword, preparing to strike. Imagine this now, so that should it come to pass you will be ready to save her."

Maya hesitated, then nodded.

"I'll try," she said. "For Ash's sake."

"Good. Take a fresh handful of water. Picture that man. And then—"

Maya gasped as the water leapt from her hand, splashing over the grass.

"Very well done!" said Fin. "Excellent, in fact!"

"But that wouldn't stop anyone from hurting Ash!" Maya cried. "Just splashing someone with water won't ... that won't do ANYTHING!"

"This was your first attempt," Fin said. "You must practise this technique. At first, it will be little more than a splash, a distraction at best. But slowly you will grow stronger, and the water will become like stinging rain, and then like sharp needles—once you have mastered splashing, then we will work on adding an element of control, shaping the water, guiding it into a form that will pain and, yes, distract your enemy."

Maya nodded, her face serious.

"I'll practise really hard," she said. "This is ... it feels different from my usual, um, playing."

"You are skilled at prolonged, gentle manipulation," Fin said. "This is a sudden, violent release. But I think you'll get the hang of it soon enough."

Fin left Maya by the stream, gathering handfuls of water and making it splash away.

"No matter how I look at it, that just doesn't seem useful."

Fin smiled at Selene where she sat, near the carriage, checking her bow.

"This isn't entirely about utility," he said. "Although having said that you might be surprised what a water user can do, especially one as open as young Maya. Many regret underestimating water."

Selene watched Maya a little longer, then turned her attention back to her bow.

"It also seems strange that so far we've only found these two," she said, not looking at Fin. "And them totally by chance."

"As I've said from the beginning, chance is, unfortunately, what we must rely on. Chance to notice the use of a power, chance that the person using it is uncorrupted, chance that they will listen to what I have to say, chance that they will agree with my ideals, chance that they have no great attachments to family or place, chance that they will come with us."

For a moment both Fin and Selene were silent, reflective.

"Still," Fin said, brightly, "I've always been a lucky sort of fellow. Onwards, Selene. Ever onwards."