Elei sat in the medical tent on Shato beside Sida, repressing the urge to check her vitals another time. The island of Shato was just north of Vuna and west of Hunei. Shato was the island where most of the intellectual types lived. Elei had grown up on the island with his parents who were both herbalists, specializing in medicinal herbs. Neither of his parents bore Tatu, both believing that they should rely on the planet rather than a God for strength.

Elei opened his pack which was slung over the wooden chair beside Sida’s bed and lifted up the flap revealing a series of small bags. He pawed through them, opening some and smelling the contents before putting them back in the bag until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a green grey leaf with three points and pulled off the stem. Walking over to a table where a kettle was boiling he proceeded to pour the boiling liquid into a painted ceramic cup. He pinched the leaves between two of his fingers on his right hand and dispensed the contents into the liquid. Finally he pulled out a wooden spoon from his sack and stirred the freshly made concoction as a fragrant aroma filled the air.

Elei lifted the cup to his mouth and blew at the steam coming from the top. It was an abnormally cold night and he hoped this would be enough. Sida stirred in the bed and turned toward Elei. Her eyes fluttered and Elei watched her long eyelashes bat gently on her face like butterflies in the wind.

“Mmm… what’s the smell?” Sida’s voice was groggy. Of course she had been asleep for the last two days.

“I made some tea for you. If you’re feeling up for it.” Elei spoke to her in a calm voice. The winds had died down outside and the ocean waves beat gently against the shore. The sun was setting and most of the Netsu were waking up to start their day.

Sida put both her hands down onto the right side of the bed frame and pushed herself up to a sitting position, wincing slightly as she put weight on her left hand. Elei handed her the drink and she put it to her lips. “Oh!” She exclaimed.

“Too hot?” Elei asked.

Sida nodded and handed it back to him. Elei held the cup in his right hand, with his left extended over the drink his Tatu on his left hand glowed a light blue and small snow flakes fell into the tea. The steam subsided and he handed it back to Sida.

“Thank you.” She smiled.

Elei blushed. He could’t help himself. For six years he had watched Sida, the girl in the shadows. The girl who thought no one else could see her. She had done her best to hide, the Tatu of Darkness was well deserved, yet Elei was always able to see her, though he hoped on most occasions that she didn’t see him. He was a portly boy, just eighteen, who had spent too much time reading instead of playing with the other children. His thick white hair, once a dark brown before receiving his Tatu would often fall down in front of his face covering his eyes. He had, like Sida, spent much of his time trying not to be noticed. Yet, Kloe noticed him. Along with Talis, they had noticed them both.

Elei watched as Sida took a long sip. “How is it?”

Her eyes perked up and she took a longer gulp. “It’s very good! What’s in it?”

“My parents worked with greenery on Shato. They collect samples from Walkers. This one is from world number four hundred eighty, I think. They called it a vanilla leaf.”

“It’s wonderful.” She drank down more of it and Elei watched the color returning to her face.

“It has some interesting healing properties too. It has these things in it called antioxidants which can stimulate the body’s natural regrowth. It should help you recover faster.”

“Smells good too.” Sida added.

“Yes, and the scent is supposed to help relieve stress.” Elei smiled. He pushed his hair out of his face and held his hands out to take the now empty cup. “Would you like some more?”

“One is enough. Wait, are we back on Erridium?” Sida’s left eye twitched slightly. It had turned red after she received her fire Tatu. The Netsu were still not sure why certain Tatu had an effect on the rest of the body. Much like Sida and her flame affecting her left eye as well as coloring the tips of her hair a crimson red, Elei’s hair turned a brilliant shade of white when he first used his frost Tatu, though when he received Bless, the Tatu of healing there were no physical ramifications.

Elei took the cup and walked back to the kettle that was placed over a fire burning stove where he boiled the water. He placed the cup down and poured the water until it was full once more, repeating the process of making the cup of tea. “Talis and Kloe are on Vuna. They’re meeting with the council. I elected to stay here and make sure you were…” He trailed off.

“I appreciate it, Elei.”

He blushed again. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

Sida laid back down on the bed and crossed her left foot over her right ankle. “That wolf like creature. It attacked me with its claw.” She lifted her left hand up and looked at it. There were three long abrasions laced up with stitches across her hand which cut across her Tatu.

“May I?” Elei asked.

Sida turned her head around to look at him. “May you what?”

“May I take a look at it? I haven’t seen it since the other healers laced you up.”

“This isn’t your handiwork?” Sida sat up and extended her hand to Elei.

The young Netsu took her hand gently and inspected the stitching. “They used a synthetic suture, most likely made up of a combination of nylon and polyester.”

“What would you have used?”

“My parents taught me house to lace with herbs and a twine that grows on Matao on the sugar leaf trees. It’s a strong vine with some interesting properties that can stop the bleeding, creating a natural suture rather than a synthetic one.”

“Which works better?”

“People will argue for one or the other. I have my preference, though is my preference simply because that’s how I was taught or because it’s the better way? Who knows.” Elei grinned but his smile faded as he watched Sida concentrating on her damaged hand. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t…” She whimpered. “I can’t use my Tatu.”

Elei gave Sida another cup of tea, this one laced with chamomile and lavender. She fell asleep within minutes of drinking it leaving him alone in the tent. Elei had never heard of a tatu becoming damaged except in rare cases, and those always invariably led to the wielder becoming one of the ruptured.

I won’t let that happen to you, Sida. Not to you, not ever.

Sida had fallen asleep holding his hand by the fingers. He gave her a gentle squeeze, releasing just a bit of Bless into her. Her breathing changed slightly, indicating to Elei that she had gone to sleep. He released her hand and found the lantern that lit a flame inside the tent sitting on a wooden crate just by the entrance. He extinguished the flame, opened the flap and stepped outside.

The night air danced through his hair, carrying with it the familiar sulphuric breeze of Tethi, the island southeast of Shato where an active volcano often let loose bouts of its stench through the air. The Netsu were used to it; most places there would be crates like in the tent where spices and herbs were kept to add a better scent to the air especially on windy nights like this one. If he squinted slightly he could see the feint orange glow of the volcano in the distance.

Whatever plane we find next, I want it to never have even heard of a volcano.

Still, he couldn’t deny that the soil around the island of Tethi was more lush and capable of growing rich and hearty vegetables that fed the Netsu well, as most of the people were vegetarians like himself.

I wonder what that Hansu creature eats? Judging by the scars on Sida’s hand, I’d say given the chance the thing would eat us in a heartbeat.

Elei walked to the southwestern side of the island, a short route that led him along the cliffs and the hundred man drop, a fall directly into ocean water said to be teaming with sharks and other nefarious sea life. He arrived at the docks and looked out at the ocean. There was a time when Elei was too afraid to look out at the water. He had grown up here on the island of Shato where his parents rarely let him go near the water thanks to their own hydrophobia.

“Many Netsu die in those waters.” His father had said. “There are waves so large they will swallow you whole.”

“Not to mention the monsters that lurk in the depths.” His mother added.

Elei had only left the island to travel the small distance to and from Hunei where the portals were opened. The waters were so shallow between the two islands, only reaching two body lengths in depth that the only things he would see from time to time would be small fish or crabs that along the reef. There was another time that Elei had left Shato with his family, though he didn’t remember it much. The only things that Elei could remember was the boat crashing and being rescued by a man with a lot of Tatu. His parents didn’t survive the crash, and he assumed that even the memory of his personal savior was an hallucination.

“Talo, Elei!” A voice called out.

Elei spun on his heels and saw Kloe pulling the rope of a small vessel which she moored to the dock. Inside the boat were Natia, Talis and Hansu. The great beast was licking Talis’s hand.

“Oh, I think he’s hungry!” Talis giggled slightly as the large pink tongue licked her fingertips. “Good timing too. We’re just about to walk back to his home. You want to join us?”

Elei eyed Hansu. The beast seemed different, as though its temperament had been permanently changed by Talis’s inspirations.

I should have chosen her Tatu instead of ice.

“Well?” Kloe walked up beside Elei and tousled his hair. “We could use your healing expertise.”

“So could Sida.” Elei retorted.

Kloe looked back at Natia and Talis and shrugged. “Alright. Can you recommend another healer?”

“Do it again!”

Aliope smiled at the young child’s request. All day he had been helping regrow plants on the island of Tethi using his Tatu of nature. A lava flow from the volcano had taken out a number of crops in its wake. The frost bringers had been busy slowing the spread and now it was his turn to help regrow the land and replenish the destroyed crops.

“Alright. Watch closely.” Aliope reached into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a green headband. He pulled his long curls back into a tail at the back of his head and tightened the band. The child watched as Aliope reached out with his right index finger and touched the blacked soil. The ground responded by pushing aside the blight that covered the earth and a green stem grew from the grey.

“See?” Aliope looked at the child. The Tatu on his right hand glowed a dark forest green and Aliope’s eyes matched the tint. The young girl gasped as she saw his eyes. “It’s alright. That’s the soul coming alive with the Tatu. Our souls are connected to the ink and with the Tatu we can do as Erridium wills us.”

The stem grew taller and became a vine which spread from Aliope’s touch at its center into a series of vines in just a few seconds. Aliope felt his breathing change and become more shallow. The strain of using his Tatu always presented itself in a shortness of breath, usually manifesting after excessive use. Aliope had lost count of how many plants he had stimulated. He pushed himself just a bit more, watching the vine.

“There it is!” He exclaimed as a small purple fruit grew on the vine and he released his Tatu.

The child applauded. “That’s amazing!”

“Perhaps when you’re older you will receive nature’s blessing as well!” Aliope smiled.

“Really?” The girl was ecstatic.

Aliope nodded. “To bless to ground, to bring life back from what others considered dead; this is what Erridites do.”

Aliope stood up, feeling slightly lightheaded.

“Maesa, I need some water, do you have a purifier?”

The girl nodded and ran off back to the huts set up along the river. The Tethi river ran from north to south along the northern side of the island, spilling into the cove where the volcano stood at the southern tip of Tethi. The river water was often polluted by the ash coming from the volcano, but some years ago on one of the walks, the Netsu were able to learn more about engineering and water filtration from a world whose people had destroyed themselves leaving only their skeletons and all that they had learned. The civilization was advanced in its infrastructure and buildings, but the land was destroyed by radiation which made the walkers decide not to use it for a suitable home.

Aliope had been a walker on this world when the third team was sent it to gleam more information on this civilization. He and his team uncovered an underground bunker where seeds were kept for a variety of fruits and vegetables. The team gathered the seeds and brought them back to Erridium where they successfully planted them after learning how to replicate the type of earth they correctly assumed would house such fruit.

The girl returned with a canteen which Aliope took and drank quickly, wiping the water from his mouth with his forearm.

“What do you call that?” The girl pointed at the purple fruit that had sprouted from the vine.

“That’s a blackberry.” Aliope answered.

“It looks more violet than black.” She gave a puzzled look as she spoke.

“We didn’t name it. We found it on another world.”

“That’s amazing!”

“It took us a long time to decipher the language, but the scientists were eventually able to read the language. Wait until the vine is brimming with the fruit, they’re quite tasty, especially on bread.”

The girl’s eyes went wide. “Can I eat it now?”

Aliope shook his head, his curls loosening slightly as he did, one fell in front of his face and he swept it over his ear. “The first rule of the Erridites is patience, Maesa. We must wait for things to be ripe.”

“Patience.” The girl repeated.

“Lila!” A voice came from the hut near where she got the water. Aliope handed her back the canteen.

“Thank you, Lila. May Erridium bless you.” Aliope smiled revealing his perfect white teeth.

Lila smiled back at him and ran off back to her hut. “And you as well."

Aliope looked around at his work. He had nurtured dozens of plants near the river, yet he knew it wouldn’t make up for all that the community had lost. He located his pack which he had left by the river and opened the flap finding the seeds inside.

Those poor people who left these behind. They’ll never get to see the beauty contained in each small seed again.

Aliope closed his pack and slung it over his shoulder and began his walk away from the village back to the north side of the island where his ship awaited him. Along the way he admired more of his handiwork. It wasn’t enough just to plant everything, you had to know what kind of plants could go next to each other. A raspberry bush could be planted next to the blackberry, but plant it next to the blueberry and only one would survive. The soil had to match the plant. The Oni and the Netsu had been like that for centuries.

As he approached the dock, Aliope noticed that another ship was paddling across the waves and approaching.

“Talo!” Aliope called out. A head turned toward him and he recognized it. “Natia? What are you doing here on Tethi?”

The boat docked and Natia stepped out of the boat leaving the rower, a large woman with a shaved head that Aliope didn’t recognize still sitting at the middle holding the two oars.

“Talo, Aliope.” Natia held her hand in a fist and placed it on her heart in a salute. “How fares the regrowth?”

“How fare? Fair!” Aliope chuckled as he returned the gesture. “Erridium will provide.”

Natia nodded, though she couldn’t hide her grimace. Aliope had known her for years as a nonbeliever. In fact it could be said of Natia that she didn’t believe in anything no matter how much Aliope and others tried to convert her to one faith or another. “I have a task for you.”

“Oh yeah. What’s it?” Aliope felt dirt on his top from where he placed his hand over his heart. He looked at his dirt covered clothes and tried his best to brush it off himself.

“You up for another walk?” Natia asked.

Istyn sat quietly in his tent on Hunei. He breathed in and out over and over again while he sat in a meditative position on his bedroll. He had set up camp on the northern most side of the island two months ago after what Natia had called, “The Episode”. Istyn didn’t think of it that way. He wasn’t ruptured, after all, it was just his combination.

Istyn bore two Tatu, Blight and Dark, a particularly strange combination that many of the Erridite faith believed to be evil or unblessed. It’s not as though he prayed to On like the heathens, or even worshiped The Forgotten God like many other portal walkers. Istyn had his own beliefs and they had nothing to do with the moon or the earth or the sun. Those were too abstract to Istyn, he needed something tangible.

Istyn palmed his totem, a small statue that he kept in his right hand near his Blight Tatu. The carving was made to resemble the traveler or at least what the Netsu remembered of the man who had taught them how to create the portals. The man who came from nowhere and taught them how to go somewhere. The man who was taken by the most devout of the Oni and killed for giving the Netsu an escape from this miserable doomed planet.

Istyn said that he did not worship anything for true faith needed no worship, and he had faith. He had faith that the traveler was sent to Erridium as a savior who preached salvation for those who embraced science, the governing rule of law higher even than the council or the planet itself.

Istyn opened his eyes and saw that the light outside his tent provided by his campfire was fading. He stood up and straightened his robes, brushing the sand off before opening the flap and exiting the tent.

“Talo, Istyn.”

Istyn jumped, startled at the voice. He whipped his head and pulsed a violet energy that emanated from his right hand. His eyes landed on a husky man who sat at the fire cooking a fish over the flames. The scent of the meal caught his nose and caused his stomach to rumble. It had been two days since he had eaten and he was beginning to feel the urges that he kept deep within himself come boiling to the surface.

“What do you want?” Istyn’s voice came out in a low growl.

“Is that anyway to greet a friend?” The man’s voice was a gentle tenor with a smile on his bearded face that matched. “Sit. You look famished.”

Istyn watched as the man gestured to one of the unoccupied logs that were set around the campfire. Istyn took up his place on one across from the intruder and extinguished the light within his palm.

“You’ve been gone a while now.” The man continued as he took the the fish skewered on a steel rod off the flames and placed it on a ceramic plate that he pulled from his pack. He produced a blade along with it and cut the fish in half delicately. Finally a second plate was pulled from the pack and the other half of the fish placed upon it.

“Doubt I’ve missed much.” Istyn reached to the plate and grabbed it. Trying his best to hide his hunger he picked small pieces off the fish and ate.

“I’m surprised you aren’t against this.” Istyn stated.

“Against what?”

“Eating meat.”

The man laughed. “Talis tried her best to convince me not to partake, but I see no reason to deny ourselves of the food the planet provides.”

Istyn started taking bigger bites, between swallows he spoke again. “What are you doing here?”

“I’m here for you.”

“I figured as much. What do you want?”

The man shook his head. “I still don’t understand you, Istyn. What is all this? This self punishing, this exile of yours. What do you hope to gain?”

“Perspective.”

“Perspective?” The man repeated and forced a laugh. “What don’t you see? We made a choice, it was the right one. You and I both know that.”

“Right for the people is not always right for the person.”

The man stood up and put down his plate, the food still untouched. He stepped away from the fire and looked out across the water.

“You know what’s out there?” He pointed a finger beyond the waves. “Just beyond the waters here, maybe half a day’s voyage is the Oni capital. The seat of power where our enemies lie in wait, praying to their God that Kutune will save them. Their frivolous devotion to the sun has caused them nothing but pain and destruction. They think this a worthy sacrifice, however. As long as we, the Netsu are destroyed as well, they don’t mind sacrificing their lives and the lives of their families and children in the process.”

Istyn finished the fish and put down the plate. He walked to the waves and splashed his hands in, washing them of the meal. “And?”

“And… maybe they are right.”

Istyn wasn’t expecting to hear this, not from him. “What do you mean?”

“Maybe we aren’t meant to get off this world. Maybe we are just doomed to our own destruction thanks to the pride of a God whose name we don’t even know.”

Istyn felt the blight rise once more in his hand. He grasped hold of the statue harder. “You insult all that I believe. I should kill you where you stand.”

“Then prove me wrong.” The man spun on Istyn and pointed to the south side of the island. “Talis has found a prime world, at least she claims to have done so. They’ve only explored a small portion of the planet, just a cave, yet it was teaming with life, water, and a perfectly breathable air.”

“And what would you have me do?” Istyn gritted his teeth, trying hard to relax and regain his composure.

“I want you to join her team.” The intruder walked to Istyn and placed a strong on Istyn’s right shoulder. “She won’t be able to refuse you. She’s down two members after one was attacked and the other doesn’t seem to want to leave her behind. The one attacked was a dark walker and they’ll be needing another, and there’s no one stronger than you, save perhaps me.” He grinned and Istyn frowned.

“Then volunteer yourself.”

“She won’t have me, you know that. Not after what happened to Lagi.”

Istyn threw the man’s hand off his shoulder and walked back to his tent, opening the flap.

“I can give you want you want, Istyn. I can give you what you’ve always wanted.” The man called out after Istyn who stopped with one foot inside his abode.

“And what is that?”

“Vindication. That place we explored, it should have been a prime plane. You knew it. I knew it. Let’s prove the council wrong, show them that they were wrong to close the portal. Go with Talis and report on everything you find. Kutune is approaching and soon they will have to listen to reason and when they do, who will they trust? The ones who discovered it to begin with. We’ll go back to that world and claim its riches for ourselves.”

Istyn breathed heavily, thoughts swirling through his mind. He had vouched for that plane, staked his reputation on it. The council took it from him. Took his pride, his position, and all he had done and made a mockery of them in front of the entire Netsu people. He didn’t care about riches. He cared about only one thing, revenge. He grabbed hard on the totem until it burned with the blight of his Tatu, turning the carving into a dark purple miasma that fell from Istyn’s hand and onto the ground, burning the sands which changed color to black at the blight’s touch.

Istyn grinned. “I’m in.”

Rewi smiled back at him, his Tatu shining in the light of Watu, the moon that hung low in the sky. “Then let’s go.”

Talis looked over the newly assembled crew with a mixture of respect and suspicion. She had heard about Aliope, the large man with muscles that rivaled Kloe had dedicated himself to nature and healing when most thought that strength would have been more appropriate. Aliope came highly recommended by Natia and she trusted the leader’s wisdom. Then there was Istyn.

Talis approached the gaunt man whose black tank top seemed to hang more loosely off his shoulders than should have been possible. “Isn’t this your old wardrobe, Istyn, why doesn’t it fit?”

Istyn shrugged. “I’ve been… fasting. Preserves the soul.”

The man met her eyes at any given chance, as though he was trying to find something within her that she wasn’t ready to give.

“Is that where you’ve been?” Kloe asked. She took Talis’s side and crossed her arms. Her imposing stance would have left anyone else feeling inadequate, yet Istyn stood his ground.

Istyn nodded. “I apologize for my long absence. My self imposed exile was an act of necessity, though.”

“Why’s that?” Talis asked.

Istyn met her gaze again, his dark eyes glared through his furrowed brow. “I didn’t want to risk becoming ruptured, now did I?”

Natia approached and Talis watched as the rest of the portal walkers took stride behind her. A young group of novices came from the other side of the medical tents with Elei standing at their head. The young healer had been talking about his exploits with the greeners and had become almost a celebrity with them in just a few short hours. He didn’t seem to relish in it though, much to Talis’s satisfaction, the boy instead spent most of his time tending to the still recovering Sida.

“Is your team ready, Talis?” Natia asked.

“I believe so.”

“You believe so, or you know? We cannot risk spending too much time exploring a plane without good cause. The council is paying too much attention this time.” Natia’s eyes revealed a sense of fear within them.

Talis burned her Inspire Tatu slightly as she approached Natia. She pressed her forehead against the older woman and they both breathed in. It was an old gesture. One that many had forgotten, a gesture of great respect. To breathe with another was said to be an exchange of the spirits of each Netsu. A connection that one could make that would transcend the physical. As Talis pulled away she saw a hint of reluctance in Natia’s expression.

“Tuto. We’ll be alright.” Talis used an old word, one she knew Natia would understand. It was a word from the old language that meant devotion. Both of them knew that the cause was greater than themselves. Saving the Netsu meant saving all of the families they had known, all the memories that they owned, it meant preserving the legacies of all they had lost. It meant putting their own desires second to the desires of the people.

“Tuto.” Natia repeated.

Talis stepped away from Natia and back at her group. She looked over Istyn again, trying to figure out why the man would volunteer to join after being gone for so long. Hansu walked up to her, his tongue waggling, drool dropping to the floor.

“Let’s get you some food, boy.” Talis whispered to the great wolf. She turned to the rest of the crew and continued in just one word. “Ready?”