Ajei's Destiny

by Rori Bleu

  Reaching the top, Ajei angrily stood glaring down at the village. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, the presence of somebody behind her hit Ajei. Turning, she found Atsa there.

  “Don’t you ever announce yourself anymore?” She mumbled, trying to keep her emotions from him. It made her both a little angry and a bit jealous at his ability to approach her so quietly. It was as if he had learned to materialize out of thin air. Ajei realized it was impossible, but still, there he was.

  Atsa flung a small stone off the cliff. “I thought about banging on a drum. But, between your father trying to shout down the canyon, and your crying, who’d hear it?” He continued to stare off at the horizon, not bothering to look over at her.

  They fell into an awkward silence as both of them watched the sun slipping from view.

  Unable to endure it any longer, Atsa finally broke the tension, saying. “I thought you would have jumped at the chance to get out of here and away from everything, at least for a while. All I’ve heard is your complaints about trying to fill your father’s moccasins and expectations for the past six months.” He thought it was an intelligent observation.

  “Is that what you think, Atsa? Do you think so little of me you’d wish me away to save your poor ears?” Anger churned in her voice at the stupidity of his words. He was supposed to be her friend, wasn’t he? “I thought we shared everything...including our problems...but I guess I was wrong!”

  Furious and betrayed, Ajei rose to her feet. She did not want to hear any more lectures about what she should do, especially coming from Atsa. If Ajei never saw him again, she would be fine with—

  A hand wrapped around her slender right arm. Spinning her around, Atsa’s other hand gripped her left and forced her to stand in front of him. His smoldering dark eyes silently spoke of the emotions which stirred within him.

  An awareness of Atsa’s closeness, and the sudden pounding of Ajei’s heart, frightened her. Wanting to break from Atsa’s gaze, she was unable to. It commanded her not to look away.

  All the same, she struggled to break free, “Atsa, let go of me, NOW!”

  “Ajei, for once in your life, shut up and listen to me!”

  His words struck Ajei’s heart like a knife. He’d never talked to her like this...ever! She was positive whatever friendship they’d had was over.

  “How do I get through to you?” There was a clear note of exasperation in Atsa’s voice because of Ajei’s inability to see the obvious. “I’ve been trying to get you to understand how I feel about you for, I don’t know how long now, and I’ve run out of words!”

  Flustered by his convoluted declaration of love for her, Atsa just leaned down and kissed Ajei.

  At first, Ajei froze at the boldness of his move. She wasn’t sure how to respond to what was going on. The thought of pulling back and punching him in the jaw ran through her head.

  But, as the kiss lingered a bit longer, she found herself kissing him back. Whether it was a conscious response or not, she couldn’t be certain. What she did realize was it wasn’t as awful as it could have been. Slowly, she lifted up on her toes to kiss him deeper.

  Shaking loose from his grip, she wrapped her arms around him. A shiver ran through her as she felt her body being drawn closer to his. Atsa’s muscular arms embracing her.

  Hesitantly, at first, the tip of Atsa’s tongue teased along Ajei’s bottom lip, only to tumble fully across with her gentle gasp at the touch. Exploring the sweetness of Ajei’s mouth, the couple’s tongues darted and danced around each other.

  Slowly and gently, their lips parted.

  The pair stood and silently stared at each other. The sounds of beating hearts and heavy breathing filled the night. They both felt it. Never again would things, nor could they ever, be the same between the two of them.

  “Ajei, do not ever think I don’t want you with me,” Atsa whispered to her.

  “Then help me stay, Atsa. Please!” She begged him.

  Atsa’s eyes explored the beauty of Ajei’s face. How could he not help but fall in love with its innocence? Still, he was well aware of the furious storm of emotions which brew behind it.

  Holding her tighter, he tried to come up with a convincing lie to cover the real reason her parents were sending her to away. It was for her own protection.

  He had overheard his father and the Great Chieftain talking about the possibility of war with the neighboring tribe to the east. There had been incidents of poaching on their lands, and Sani had sent word there would be consequences if it did not stop. Atsa guessed the warning had gone unheeded.

  It had surprised him how eager his own father was to declare war. Atsa had always known how strong-willed his father was, but he had never considered him a warrior. It made him slightly ashamed to have doubted a warrior’s heart beat inside his father after hearing how he was determined to ride into battle alongside the Great Chieftain. Maybe, Atsa thought, he’d be allowed to join them in battle as well.

  But, that was a thought for another day. A decision to be made once the woman he’d probably always loved was safe.

  Softly, he reasoned with her, “Ajei, just trust your parents. Just this once. You can send me messages whenever you want.” He kissed the top of her head.

  Chapter 4

  Riding West

  Ajei found it odd she was allowed to ride with her mother to the fantastic camp unaccompanied. Normally, her father would have sent a warrior or two along with them as unnecessary protection. That was just his way.

  But this morning, they rode alone. Worse, it was in complete silence.

  Iina had given up trying to talk to the sullen girl whose horse trudged behind her. The string of teen grunts and insufferable sighs at any topic Iina had tried to bring up had been too much for her to bear. So the pair headed west without saying another word.

  Ajei finally spoke only when she spotted a signal tent pitched in the middle of the western desert. “Is it much further from the waypoint?” She huffed in an overly-exaggerated tone.

  Iina half-turned. “Waypoint?”

  “From the rest tent up there.” Her daughter said as she finally rode up next to her mother. It irritated the girl about how oblivious her mother was behaving at what they were obviously riding up to.

  “Oh, that?” A playful smile spread across the older woman’s face, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “That’s where you’ll be staying for the next few weeks. I know you are going to have so much fun!”

  “What?” Ajei screeched. Her voice carried across the shimmering desert. “You can’t be serious, Mother? You are planning on abandoning me here in the middle of nowhere and I am supposed to be happy about it?”

  Iina sighed, “Ajei, I fear your father and I have failed in your upbringing if all you can see is a simple tent. You have to learn to open not only your mind but your heart to life.” Any further explanation would have been a waste of words. Without another word, Iina spurred her Appaloosa on with her heels, leaving her daughter’s Palomino in the dust.

  Ajei watched her mother ride. Iina had taught her to ride as a child. With all she had learned, Ajei could not help but be a little envious of how graceful her mother was on horseback.

  Her mother dismounted from her mare and entered the tent without so much as a glance back.

  Gently pressing into her horse's sides, she raced toward the tent. Reaching the entrance, Ajei jumped down and landed with a soft thud in the desert’s sand. Contempt filled her as she looked at the tent. How could Mother possibly think I’ll stay here alone?

  She stormed about the outside of the tent, seeing nothing but the solitude of the desert as far as the eye could see. Worse yet, Ajei could not see any sources of water. Have I failed them this badly? Trying to come to grips with the possible truth was more than Ajei could bear. It crushed down on her shoulders with the weight of the world. Sinking to the ground she let out a forlorn wail.

  Startled by the sound, Iina poked her head out of the tent, looking around for the s
ource of the death howl. She only shook her head as she saw Ajei on her knees, sobbing.

  “What, in the name of the gods, are you going on about?” To Iina, it was a foolish question. She had been sixteen once herself.

  “Mother, please don’t leave me here…” Ajei sniffed, “I promise to do better!”

  “Sometimes, I think you have too much of your father in you,” Iina said, rolling her eyes. “Now, if you will get off your knees and come in here so I can finish getting you checked in before the sun sets. I still have a day’s ride back to camp.” Exasperated, Iina disappeared back into the confines of the tent.

  Slowly, Ajei rose to her feet. Wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand, she made an unsophisticated sniffing sound. Steeling her jaw, Ajei was now determined to show her mother she could accept her fate with the same determination as any warrior would. No matter what was waiting for her in the damned tent, she was going to meet it head-on!

  She marched to the entrance and flung the flap back. But all she saw was an empty tent...no camp nor mother impatiently waiting. Instead, she saw a flap on the opposite side, gently swaying. She had not seen it from outside when she had inspected the tent in the first place. Confused, she crossed to it and pushed the second flap aside.

  Ajei could not be sure if it was the cool breeze or the soft fragrance of the woods which hit her first. The ground beneath her feet suddenly shifted from arid sand to soft, moist grass. They had desert grasses in camp, but none could compare to the soft, sodden feel of this lush vegetation.

  Ajei saw all manner of cabins surrounding hers. She saw other campers gathered in small clusters to greet each other. They all seemed to be old friends who had not met each other in a while. An odd assortment of creatures inhabited the camp. Never in her life had Ajei seen, let alone was forced to interact with, such a menagerie. Some of the campers appeared to be tigresses and others were dragons straight from the fantastical stories her father would tell her as a child at bedtime. There were campers who, with their pale complexion and dark eyes, appeared to have materialized straight from Ajei’s nightmares. The very fact they were now casually standing around, conversing with the other campers, did not make her feel any easier about the situation.

  “Great, I’m already the outcast,” she muttered to herself, with a sinking feeling.

  “Well, with an attitude like that, you very well will be,” Ajei’s mother replied, standing next to her.

  “Where exactly are we?”

  “Right now, you are in a magical place which exists between all realms.”

  “I know it's magic...but whose? How?” Ajei could not help questioning at the wonderment of the camp.

  “It has existed since the beginning, I guess, but no one knows for sure. In any case, this is the place where generations have come to learn how to make sure whatever petty squabbles or wars pop up, they don’t end up consuming the entire multi-dimensional realms.” Iina paused for a moment, “It is a lot to think about, is it not?” Iina lovingly slipped her arm around her daughter, trying to let her know everything was going to be ok.

  But, Ajei was still not having any of it. “Please, Mother, don’t make me stay here,” she pleaded with Iina.

  Iina only smiled, and leaned over, kissing her daughter on the forehead. “It’s not like it’s forever, Ajei. Summer will go by in a blink of an eye here, and we’ll be dragging you out of here by your feet because you won’t want to come home. Now go charm them and have fun!” Before Ajei could lodge another complaint, Iina stepped away from her daughter’s side and vanished.

  Looking to the sky, Ajei shouted a promise to her mother, “One day I’m gonna learn how you do that! Just you wait!” She figured even if her mother had heard her, she would only give Ajei a motherly smile and roll her eyes.

  Slumping her shoulders a bit, Ajei could not help but miss her mother already.

  Wandering through the camp, Ajei was not really going out of her way to introduce herself to anybody. She just took in her surroundings.

  Coming across a group composed of various cat people, Ajei paused within earshot of them. She could not help listening in on their conversation.

  “I can’t wait to go hunting through the lush jungle,” the black and white striped camper happily gushed.

  “Bah,” the orange one replied. “I’m looking forward to swimming at the base of the waterfalls. It’s so beautiful there.”

  It left Ajei totally confused. Beautiful waterfalls? Lush jungles to hunt in? As she looked around, all she could see was a fertile forest. “I’m in a camp for crazy people,” she muttered.

  “I thought so too, the first time I was dragged here,” a voice from behind her took her by surprise.

  Spinning around, she saw an extremely pale girl standing directly behind her. Ajei was taken aback by the unexpected guest’s slender shape and long, flowing black hair. There was an ethereal beauty about the girl that seemed to captivate Ajei to the point she felt she was staring too intently at her fellow camper. It was then Ajei realized what it was she was fixated on.

  It was the girl’s blue eyes. They were unlike the dark, brooding orbs others from her realm possessed. Instead, the purity of the blue made them almost translucent. Even more so, they seemed to look directly into Ajei’s, commanding her not to look away.

  A friendly smile appeared on the girl’s face, exposing the hint of her fangs. “It’s the camp staff you really have to watch out for. I’m Alexandra, by the way, but everybody calls me Lexi.”

  Ajei smiled nervously. She had heard her father speak of these people before and of how she needed to be wary of them, Ajei replied, “I’m Ajei.” A blush colored Ajei’s cheeks at her naivety of life outside her own world.

  “Ajei, huh? Nice…is it short for anything?”

  Tilting her head a bit, giving the girl a queer look at the strange question, Ajei just shrugged it off saying, “No, just Ajei. Have you been coming here long?”

  “Yeah, it’s my third season here.”

  “Why? Are there not better ways of spending the summer season in your realm?” Ajei could not help asking. “If I had had a choice, I would rather stay home and hunt.”

  “Who said things don’t get hunted here?” Lexi menacingly asked, stepping closer to Ajei.

  Ajei’s face paled at the sudden danger. Even still, she instinctively brought her fists up to defend herself.

  The move made Lexi laugh. “I think I’m gonna like you, Ajei. Maybe for dinner, or a snack, I haven’t decided yet.” Her laughter exposed her fangs fully.

  “E-eat??” Ajei stuttered, still wanting to distance herself from this girl as quickly as possible.

  But Lexi was not about to let her new companion get away. “Either way, it’s been a while since I got to corrupt a newbie. Come on, while I decide what to do with you, let me show you around the camp,” she said, hooking Ajei’s arm before the fresh blood could decline the offer.

  “My father warned me about you Vampires,” Ajei informed Lexi, only half-heartedly struggling to prevent herself from being tugged off.

  “Wise man,” was all Lexi said, leading the way.

  Ajei’s fears of this girl slowly abated as the two spent the better part of the afternoon wandering through the grounds together. It fascinated her to listen to Lexi’s tales of past camp experiences and of the people she had met. With the beauty of the woods surrounding them, it kind of baffled Ajei how a dark creature like Lexi could enjoy camping there. Even as she studied the girl from the corner of her eye, she still could not find a reason. Ajei being Ajei, had to ask.

  “Your kind doesn’t spend a lot of time in the sun, do they? I mean, for as pale as you are...I was just curious.”

  Lexi stopped in her tracks. Turning to look Ajei over, she put her hands on her hips and cocked her head at the newbie. “I get this is your first time here, but is this your first trip anywhere?” She sighed at Ajei’s confused look. “Okay, look around and tell me what you see.”

&n
bsp; With a shrug, Ajei replied, “I see a beautiful forest stretching as far as I can see. The trees are in full bloom, and the grass is thick and lush. I have to admit this is the first time I’ve been in a forest. There’s not many trees in the desert, and the grass there is a little bare. Why?”

  “Well, I see a massive, dark forest shrouded in a rolling fog. The two moons overhead…”

  “Two?” Ajei’s eyes shot upwards to the shimmering, azure sky. The brilliance of the sun quickly made her cover her eyes and look away.

  Lexi playfully nudged her. “Yeah, stupid, each of us sees this forest in our own way. Maybe it's to make us feel more at ease.” She paused and looked around. “Or maybe it’s because if we see things as they really are, the realms will cease to be able to coexist.”

  Ajei had pegged Lexi as being only a couple of years older than her, but Lexi’s last sentence made her seem far older. It made Ajei miss her mother and father again because it would be something they would say. She was just about to ask Lexi what her age was when she found herself being dragged off once more.