01 - It's In All of Us

A young female Rittle gets the gears turning in the head of a revolutionist in Ormo. Ideas are mixed and opinions are voiced.

 Afternoon sunlight pierced through the skyward ocean that enveloped Dhuala, sending shimmering beams and tints of light through the air and reflecting on the ground. It was just pass four o'clock, the watery sky glowed magenta, and the ocean life overhead was turning in for the night already. Desan, a young adult, barely 20, sat on a boulder in the middle of a grassy field. He watched the sky, thinking about his life and himself.

 Desan, this handsome young human, tall and slender, with short black hair accenting his face, and green eyes peering out at the world, was feeling utterly hopeless. He was stuck on this miserable island crawling with the most undesirable of people. His life was just beginning and yet he already felt it slipping out of his fingers.

 "No one on this island has ever made anything of themselves.... Nothin' but pirates and thieves!" Desan grabbed handfuls of his own hair and hung his head between his knees. Frustration and a feeling of hopelessness overcame him for the fourth time this week. He sighed and lifted his head, wondering what he was going to do now, and if there was anything he could do. He'd finished stage I school. He'd started at age 12 just like everyone else he knew, and graduated at age 19 with the rest of his class. Desan went over his options for the 23rd time that day. He could join the City's Military, but he knew four other people alone that were already joining. He could apply for a spot on a trade ship working as general crew, but that was too dangerous for him. In the end, Desan knew what he wanted, but it wasn't in his list of options. He wanted to go to Uvalt, or Ronta. He wanted to catch a ride on an airboat and start a new life in wherever it touched down. Desan couldn't do that, though. It was too expensive, too risky for someone who's entire family lived in eastern Ormo, and he doubted Colette would go with him. He'd have no job, no money, and no family to fall back on. He felt like a failure of an adult, and he wanted to do something about it.

 Lost in thought, Desan failed to notice the sound of dry grass rustling and crunching behind him. He jumped as arms slowly wrapped around his neck.

 "Desan, I think it's time you come home." A soft and alluring voice rang in his ears. It was Desan's fiance, Colette. A 17-year-old Rittle girl, with long thin, curly light blue (almost silver) hair, and shiny light purple eyes, with shockingly dark skin, in contrast to her albino features. But this was natural of Rittle people. Desan heaved a sigh of relief.

 "Colette! You scared the crap outa me! You know not to sneak up on me like that!" Desan scolded his lover, clenching his chest. Colette's soft smile melted into a look of regret. She clasped her hands behind her back and looked at the ground apologetically.

 "I'm sorry Desan. You just looked so handsome, sitting peacefully there..." Desan's fright melted away and he stood from the boulder, taking Colette in a warm embrace.

 "It's alright, Letti. C'mon. Let's go back home..."

 Sitting on a small wooden stool in front of a steel wood-burning stove, Desan and Colette had supper together as they did every night. Desan, who would normally be very social with his fiance during meals, sat quietly. Idea after idea popped into Desan's head, each of them being tossed away and forgotten almost as soon as they were thought up. Desan's mind raced. He knew he needed to do something now that he was an adult. But what? And was it really so difficult to leave Ormo? Desan had no idea. He stared into the fire and sighed.

 "Something wrong, Desan?" Colette asked as she finished the last of her food, completely unaware of her fiance's troubles. Desan looked over his shoulder at Colette, his brow furrowed and his eyes full of dread.

 "Colette... Don't you think little of me?" Desan asked, looking back into the fire. His eyes glazing over in a blank stare.

 "What?" Colette gaped looking worriedly at the back of her lover's head, "Of course not! Where would you get an idea like that?"

 "I don't work..." Desan muttered back. "I'm useless."

 "You're barely 20, Desan! You'll find work soon enough!" Colette assured Desan, walking up behind him and wrapping her arms loosely around him. She pressed her cheek against his and giggled.

 "Don't dwell on the things that bother you, Dear. If people did that too much, we'd all be crazy." There was a tone of wisdom in Colette's voice, which seemed to bring Desan out of his trance. He looked up into Colette's eyes lovingly and caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

 "Is there anything that bothers you, Letti? If there is I want to be here for you. I want to listen."

 Colette stepped back from her fiance and thought for a moment. She sat down and rested her elbow on the kitchen table, propping up her head in her palm.

 "You know, right Desan? About how I was born magically inclined? I'm gifted with feather magic... From the time I was a small child I always knew I didn't want to fight like the other Rittle people. And as I got older I found out I was magically inclined. At the age of six I figured out that I was gifted with feather magic." Colette paused and wondered if she should really be telling Desan all this. "I was playing in the field behind my family's home when I came across a fox. I'd never seen a fox before then, so I simply stood and stared. It was a beautiful animal. I remember I wanted to befriend it so badly that I smiled at it and said 'hi fox'. At that moment the animal looked at me, it appeared to be shocked. In my head I heard a faint whisper. 'Hello'. I was scared at first, I didn't know where the voice had come from. Until I realized that the fox had sat down in front of me, and it said again 'Hello Rittle child.' That was the day I went running home, and I found my mother. I told her what had happened, and she said that I must have been given feather magic." Colette paused and shook her head with a look of regret on her face. "But I was crushed to find out that regular citizens were not allowed to use magic. Even if they were inclined to it. I begged my parents to find a teacher, or a white witch. But they refused and told me it was against the law. As I grew up, I learned more about the City's Military. I learned that those soldiers where trained to fight and use magic. People in my family have always wondered why I won't join the military when I want to practice magic so badly... But it doesn't feel right to me, to make myself apart of something so potentially dangerous." Colette glanced at the floor and thought again about that day when she spoke with the fox. She remembered the smooth tone of the fox's voice, and the way it echoed in her ears. It sounded like a female fox. But she had run home without saying another word to it.

 "Do you really want to use magic, Colette?" Desan looked at his fiance blankly.

 "Yes. I do."

 "I think it's unfair. Everyone should be allowed to use magic. Especially the ones born inclined to it. I mean, it's in all of us, right? They shouldn't be able to deny people what comes naturally to them."

 Desan still sat in front of the fire, but the storm in his mind had calmed. He was thinking about Colette, and her problems. Her inability to use magic, even though she was born to use it. Desan wondered if he could do anything to change that. He knew there had to be some way. He just had to figure it out.

 Desan decided that he thought better when he was laying in bed. Even though it was early, he got up from his place in front of the stove and quickly washed his dishes. He kissed Colette on the forehead and said goodnight.

 "You're going to bed this early? It's not even eight yet." Colette looked up questioningly at her fiance.

 "Yeah, I'm feeling really tiered."

 "Are you sick?" Colette placed the back of her hand on Desan's forehead, checking for a fever.

 "Haha. I'm fine, Letti! I just wanna get a little extra sleep is all." Desan decided not to tell Colette what he was thinking about. If he could figure something out, he wanted to surprise her. With that Desan retired to bed, hoping to find a way to make himself truly useful.

Author's Note

I think the dread Desan feels is drawn from the feelings of people around me today. Where I am a lot of people are struggling to even find work. What do you think? The difference between Desan's dialogue and Colette's dialogue is in how proper and gentle Colette enjoys speaking. You'll never hear her say "crap" or "I'ma", unlike Desan who doesn't control the way he talks.