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When Amara woke up sometime later, she felt beaten and exhausted. She licked her dry lips and sighed ,slowly sitting up. The sailor looked around and tried to dust the dried sand off her top and pants. The clothes crinkled like old paper, salt stiff; they’d be useless without a good rinse.
Amara had looked around a bit before finding somewhere safe to rest; she’d only meant to recover some before getting to work finding water. However, Amara ended up falling asleep instead. “ Idiot, you need supplies, rest is important, but you still need fuel and water to last.”
She could feel a sharp tenderness on her left sole. The girl grabbed her ankle and turned the foot sideways to get a look at a nasty gash. It was red with a rim of grit. Probably from the earlier jaunt from the shore. She’d be able to walk, but it would probably be very uncomfortable. Thankfully at least it wasn’t bleeding.“damn I...have nothing to clean this.” she whispered wondering what to do.
Amara sits quietly a moment, leaning against the smooth stone behind her. She’d gotten lucky the day before and found a large rocky structure to rest her back against. It let her face the treeline and keep an eye out if anything came from the direction of the beach.
“ I know I heard monkeys and other animals yesterday. Animals need fresh water, so there has to be something nearby.”
She tugged at and played with the silver capped loc beads in her hair. It was an old habit from childhood, ever since the day her mother had taught Amara about the traditional hair decorations of the island keepers. They said blessed silver could drive away a Tideborn beast, but she had never been blessed. Amara had not intended to skirt this close to mermaid waters in the first place.
The girl felt a sob bubble up from deep inside and tugged at her dark hair. She’d killed her crew, and the woman could only guess at what fate awaited her. Letting the sobs drag out only a few moments more, Amara wiped away tears and glanced down at the wound. The merchant’s shirt had a tear close to the bottom already so it was easy to rip away a nice big strip and still keep most of it intact.
“This isn’t perfect,” she muttered, binding the fabric around her foot. “But it will keep dirt out of the wound until I find water to clean it properly. Really hope I don’t lose a foot…”
The merchant sat back once more, trying to think. Before the main landers had taken the Harpsford chain, her people had ruled it. Before that, it was called the serpent’s spine. She grew up in war, which meant food and water could be scarce at times.
“I can do this. I just have to focus on what the island and sea goddess provide for those willing to see and to hear.”
The sea and shore would be easier for food. There were fish, crabs and smaller animals in the shallows and along cliff sides. However, she didn’t dare go near the water itself, not for now. Slowly, Amara got up and pressed her hand against the rock for balance. The shaken woman let out a shuddering breath before making her way deeper into the trees.
Amara wasn’t sure how much time passed. She limped along and paused at a soft chill in the air that flowed over her skin. The drop in temperature could only mean one thing. “ Water, thank the spirits, something must be close by. I’d even be fine with a cave. Goddess and guiding souls lead me.” She said, shuddering at the grating rasp in her voice.
She shoved aside some coontie palm leaves. Amara took note of them. They wouldn’t be much use now, but with washing and fermentation the roots could go from toxic to usable flour. “Gods, I hope I’m not on the island long enough to make my own flour”
Beyond the raggedy fern like bushes was a clearing filled with stones in the treeline. They jutted from the ground, almost like smoothed jagged glass. Some were black as coal and others the molted gray with veins of something slightly shimmering. Eventually, the stones begin to get denser. Amara pushes through some bushes at its end of the spot and stepped onto a solid, warm stone slab. Just beyond the bushes was a clearing with a large pool of water at its center.
The sound of trickling water drew Amara’s eye to a stream that ran down from rocks above and a cliff face that backed the clearing. Those stones seem too narrow and jagged to climb easily, or I’d take the high ground” she thought wearily as she felt the weight of the beings that ruled the sea even here.
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