Day 13:
Dune
He didn’t even get the chance to react to his stupid decision before the coat was shoved back over his head.
“Idiot.” He huddled down waiting for the nausea to settle and the headache to ease. He heard the stranger shift in the sand. The man snapped, “If he so much as get a speck of vomit on that jacket, I will skin you alive for a new one. I expect you to help him along. We have places to be.” There was a noise and his headache flared. “Do not give me that bullshit. You are very much capable of doing far more and you know it.” Another flare as the noise fluctuated. “If you so much as breathe the thought of my sister, I will end you, consequences be damned. Because of you my sister doesn’t even know who I am.” The noise again. He frowned. It sounded almost confused. “You took away every memory she had of the Second Plane! I have always been tied to it and you ripped those memories from her just to turn her son into a Ylmra!” There was a break, as if the stranger was reeling from the words that had escaped. The words the stranger added were stilted. “The only reason why I’m even here is because she made me promise to help her child if she ever had to follow through with that stupid plan of hers. And now that he’s finally becoming a proper Ylmra, I have no choice but to be here dealing with children.”
He sat up the best he could without causing light to peak under the hem of the coat, confused. “So, you’re, what? My uncle?” Silence met his question and it only made him think of more questions. “But why kidnap me? Why torture me and my friends with the freaky classical music?”
“Yu…” the stranger started but the word cut off at the beginning. “What classical music?”
“There was classical music when you came to the door. Everyone heard it.” He frowned, even if the man couldn’t see it. “Weren’t you the ranger, too?”
“Ranger? What are you talking about?”
“There was some weird ranger that came by while we were camping by the river that had classical music playing on an old radio. Creeped all of us out but got us to prep for the snow storm.”
Sand sliding over itself drifted under the coat. The man’s voice seemed closer with a harsh, “The only time I have ever interacted with you or that Walker was in the room I took you from. Whatever you or the others had heard had nothing to do with me.”
“But the classical music-”
“Will you get him up and moving already?” the stranger barked, startling him. The volume changed as the stranger walked off. “I was not joking when I said we had to be places.”
He waited, listening to the stranger walk off. After a moment, there was a tug on the coat and he pulled it off his head carefully.
It was like he was wearing tinted contacts. The glaring light of the midday sun - which threw him for a loop since it had been well into the night when the stranger had first shown up - was muted, diminished for him and him alone. He was sitting on the side of a dune that the stranger was now walking the ridge of. He got to his feet, each step sinking into the loose sand as he tried to get purchase enough to get up to the ridge.
The thought of where Dlmor went came at the same time as something wrapping around his chest, taking his weight. He looked at his torso only to see odd warping. The footprints beyond, though, were enough for him to clue in. Somehow Dlmor had wrapped itself around him as if the creature was nothing more than an exosuit now. It seriously weirded him out and he flinched from the headache he got when Dlmor sent him just how annoyed it was at that thought. With the annoyance came the understanding that Dlmor and the others like it didn’t really have a body in the same way humans did. It was more like Dlmor had simply flattened itself out before wrapping around him, supporting him and suppressing as much light as was possible without smothering him or hindering his sight.
“This is intense,” he commented, even if his head felt like it was being pulled apart rhythmically with his heartbeat. With Dlmor’s help, he caught up to the stranger easily and went back to his original question. “So you’re the uncle I never knew about?”
The stranger sighed, though he wasn’t sure if it was out of defeat or annoyance. “Yes, I am. Unfortunately. I am your mother’s older brother that she doesn’t remember thanks to that one.”
He assumed the glare over his head was directed at Dlmor. “Why doesn’t she remember you?”
The man looked back down at him before looking ahead. “Because she lost all memories tied to something specific. I never learned what it was but everything associated with the Second Plane was gone from her mind overnight. And unfortunately that meant any memories of me.”
“How? Wouldn’t she have grown up with you around?”
He gained a disgruntled glare. “There’s about the same age difference between me and her as there is between you and your own sister. By the time she was able to walk I was already out of the home.” The stranger shrugged. “Moreover, I was never really “home” to begin with. I’ve lived in the Second Plane since the day I could walk.”
“Why?”
This time the glare was sharper, more searching than the last. “And why, pray tell, are you so interested in me?”
He gave the older man a flat look. “We’re going to who knows where which could be who knows how far away through what I am assuming is mostly desert terrain with a splitting headache on my end and you’re expecting me to keep myself entertained without your help?” He gave a short laugh and suffered through the increase of pain from it. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”
“The likelihood of you remembering any of this, then?” the man asked instead.
“Depends on how serious the damage was.” He frowned. “Is.” He shrugged. “At this point, I’m expecting some of it to stick but seeing as I’m currently following you of my own volition and without much hesitation, I expect I’ve lost some of my sanity along the way and thus not holding my breath over it.”
“You are more than welcome to try and leave but since I am probably correct in assuming this is your first time here, you won’t know how to leave.”
He gave the man a flat look. “Second Plane or whatever, then.”
“Correct.”
He rolled his eyes. “At this point, I’m not surprised. Why the hell did you kidnap me anyways? What was the point? From what I’ve come to understand thus far is that I’m a hot commodity for those of the Second Plane.” He narrowed his eyes at the man, challenging, “You’re not about to sell me as a slave or the like, are you?”
The man looked horrified by the thought. “What would make you think that?”
He felt like it was obvious. “I don’t know what a Ylmra is so I’m missing the vital “this is why you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life” information that makes that sentence even remotely make sense.”
“A Ylmra is a being that does not occur very often due to the circumstances for which one is created in.” He met the man’s gaze steadily when it landed on him. “Just as your status of Ylmra was given to you by your mother paying the price, my status of Ylmra was given to me by my mother paying the price. But unlike my sister who managed to come out of said bargain alive,” there was another glare sent to Dlmor, “she unfortunately ended up passing away shortly after Ellen was born. I never learned what the price had been to create me but whatever it had been had been enough to make it an absolute binding. That-” a pointed jab at Dlmor- “should not be separate from you. You two are supposed to be one being, not two.”
“So something went wrong, then?”
The man didn’t answer right away. “No. At least, not when it comes to being a Ylmra. You are still Ylmra, even with the seemingly incomplete bond.” There was a burst of pain from his headache as Dlmor growled. The man scoffed. “I do not doubt you did as you were supposed to. In fact, I would put it more on him, than you, Dlmor. Your kind are very well versed in that.”
Dlmor settling around him again was a strange sensation. At least the creature wasn’t about ready to pick a fight. “So why did you kidnap me? Outside of mom having apparently asked you to keep an eye on me.”
“Ylmra - especially inexperienced ones - are the most sought after kills of the Second Plane.” A shudder went down his spine. He happily suffered the spike in his headache if it meant he got Dlmor’s protectiveness, calm, and comfort to counteract the statement. Or maybe it was more for the thought that popped into his head at the other man’s words. “I kidnapped you for two reasons: a test of your companions, and a show for those that could have been watching. Less likely for something to pursue you now, now that I’ve gotten my hands on you.”
“You that much of a threat or are they going to assume you killed me yourself?”
The man raised an eyebrow at him and continued on. The lack of an answer was answer enough. “I will admit, I was impressed with that Walker’s perseverance. I would have liked to have seen how the others had reacted but I’m sure we’ll see that when you get back.”
“And when will I be going back?”
The man stopped, gaze settling on him. “Well, that depends on how much of this is natural to you and how quickly you can learn the rest. Ellen asked me to make sure you could protect yourself, that you knew all I know about being Ylmra. But it is not something that is easily taught, nor retained, and a lot of what I know was from experience. I was not so lucky as you are to have a guide in this so I expect you to keep that in mind.”
He nodded. And then he asked, “So how long has it been since you’ve interacted with another human being because I feel like you’ve got some assumptions about me that are so not accurate.”
He wasn’t even sure if there was a blow to be felt but from one instance to the next he went from standing on top of the sand dune to being thrown off of it. Panic clamped around his chest as he slowly rotated in the air. The ground started to come up to meet him far faster than he would have liked.
For whatever reason, the first thought that popped into his head was needing a parachute, something - anything - that would slow his decent significantly. Dlmor’s form shifted around him, a vice grip around his torso but gentle around his head and neck, supporting both as his torso was jerked backwards and his descent slowed immensely. Dlmor must of either ran with his thought or had picked up more than he himself had been aware of; massive wings curled forward in sharp beats, curling the air around him and gaining enough traction that his feet settled into the sand softer than if he had simply stepped off of a platform.
His knees gave out when Dlmor sagged into him, enveloping him as best the creature could. Whatever Dlmor had just managed, it clearly had taken its toll on the creature.
Slow clapping drifted towards him. He looked towards the source of the sound and found the stranger a dune away clapping, a pleased smile on that smug face.
“Idiot.” He huddled down waiting for the nausea to settle and the headache to ease. He heard the stranger shift in the sand. The man snapped, “If he so much as get a speck of vomit on that jacket, I will skin you alive for a new one. I expect you to help him along. We have places to be.” There was a noise and his headache flared. “Do not give me that bullshit. You are very much capable of doing far more and you know it.” Another flare as the noise fluctuated. “If you so much as breathe the thought of my sister, I will end you, consequences be damned. Because of you my sister doesn’t even know who I am.” The noise again. He frowned. It sounded almost confused. “You took away every memory she had of the Second Plane! I have always been tied to it and you ripped those memories from her just to turn her son into a Ylmra!” There was a break, as if the stranger was reeling from the words that had escaped. The words the stranger added were stilted. “The only reason why I’m even here is because she made me promise to help her child if she ever had to follow through with that stupid plan of hers. And now that he’s finally becoming a proper Ylmra, I have no choice but to be here dealing with children.”
He sat up the best he could without causing light to peak under the hem of the coat, confused. “So, you’re, what? My uncle?” Silence met his question and it only made him think of more questions. “But why kidnap me? Why torture me and my friends with the freaky classical music?”
“Yu…” the stranger started but the word cut off at the beginning. “What classical music?”
“There was classical music when you came to the door. Everyone heard it.” He frowned, even if the man couldn’t see it. “Weren’t you the ranger, too?”
“Ranger? What are you talking about?”
“There was some weird ranger that came by while we were camping by the river that had classical music playing on an old radio. Creeped all of us out but got us to prep for the snow storm.”
Sand sliding over itself drifted under the coat. The man’s voice seemed closer with a harsh, “The only time I have ever interacted with you or that Walker was in the room I took you from. Whatever you or the others had heard had nothing to do with me.”
“But the classical music-”
“Will you get him up and moving already?” the stranger barked, startling him. The volume changed as the stranger walked off. “I was not joking when I said we had to be places.”
He waited, listening to the stranger walk off. After a moment, there was a tug on the coat and he pulled it off his head carefully.
It was like he was wearing tinted contacts. The glaring light of the midday sun - which threw him for a loop since it had been well into the night when the stranger had first shown up - was muted, diminished for him and him alone. He was sitting on the side of a dune that the stranger was now walking the ridge of. He got to his feet, each step sinking into the loose sand as he tried to get purchase enough to get up to the ridge.
The thought of where Dlmor went came at the same time as something wrapping around his chest, taking his weight. He looked at his torso only to see odd warping. The footprints beyond, though, were enough for him to clue in. Somehow Dlmor had wrapped itself around him as if the creature was nothing more than an exosuit now. It seriously weirded him out and he flinched from the headache he got when Dlmor sent him just how annoyed it was at that thought. With the annoyance came the understanding that Dlmor and the others like it didn’t really have a body in the same way humans did. It was more like Dlmor had simply flattened itself out before wrapping around him, supporting him and suppressing as much light as was possible without smothering him or hindering his sight.
“This is intense,” he commented, even if his head felt like it was being pulled apart rhythmically with his heartbeat. With Dlmor’s help, he caught up to the stranger easily and went back to his original question. “So you’re the uncle I never knew about?”
The stranger sighed, though he wasn’t sure if it was out of defeat or annoyance. “Yes, I am. Unfortunately. I am your mother’s older brother that she doesn’t remember thanks to that one.”
He assumed the glare over his head was directed at Dlmor. “Why doesn’t she remember you?”
The man looked back down at him before looking ahead. “Because she lost all memories tied to something specific. I never learned what it was but everything associated with the Second Plane was gone from her mind overnight. And unfortunately that meant any memories of me.”
“How? Wouldn’t she have grown up with you around?”
He gained a disgruntled glare. “There’s about the same age difference between me and her as there is between you and your own sister. By the time she was able to walk I was already out of the home.” The stranger shrugged. “Moreover, I was never really “home” to begin with. I’ve lived in the Second Plane since the day I could walk.”
“Why?”
This time the glare was sharper, more searching than the last. “And why, pray tell, are you so interested in me?”
He gave the older man a flat look. “We’re going to who knows where which could be who knows how far away through what I am assuming is mostly desert terrain with a splitting headache on my end and you’re expecting me to keep myself entertained without your help?” He gave a short laugh and suffered through the increase of pain from it. “Yeah. Good luck with that.”
“The likelihood of you remembering any of this, then?” the man asked instead.
“Depends on how serious the damage was.” He frowned. “Is.” He shrugged. “At this point, I’m expecting some of it to stick but seeing as I’m currently following you of my own volition and without much hesitation, I expect I’ve lost some of my sanity along the way and thus not holding my breath over it.”
“You are more than welcome to try and leave but since I am probably correct in assuming this is your first time here, you won’t know how to leave.”
He gave the man a flat look. “Second Plane or whatever, then.”
“Correct.”
He rolled his eyes. “At this point, I’m not surprised. Why the hell did you kidnap me anyways? What was the point? From what I’ve come to understand thus far is that I’m a hot commodity for those of the Second Plane.” He narrowed his eyes at the man, challenging, “You’re not about to sell me as a slave or the like, are you?”
The man looked horrified by the thought. “What would make you think that?”
He felt like it was obvious. “I don’t know what a Ylmra is so I’m missing the vital “this is why you’ll be hunted for the rest of your life” information that makes that sentence even remotely make sense.”
“A Ylmra is a being that does not occur very often due to the circumstances for which one is created in.” He met the man’s gaze steadily when it landed on him. “Just as your status of Ylmra was given to you by your mother paying the price, my status of Ylmra was given to me by my mother paying the price. But unlike my sister who managed to come out of said bargain alive,” there was another glare sent to Dlmor, “she unfortunately ended up passing away shortly after Ellen was born. I never learned what the price had been to create me but whatever it had been had been enough to make it an absolute binding. That-” a pointed jab at Dlmor- “should not be separate from you. You two are supposed to be one being, not two.”
“So something went wrong, then?”
The man didn’t answer right away. “No. At least, not when it comes to being a Ylmra. You are still Ylmra, even with the seemingly incomplete bond.” There was a burst of pain from his headache as Dlmor growled. The man scoffed. “I do not doubt you did as you were supposed to. In fact, I would put it more on him, than you, Dlmor. Your kind are very well versed in that.”
Dlmor settling around him again was a strange sensation. At least the creature wasn’t about ready to pick a fight. “So why did you kidnap me? Outside of mom having apparently asked you to keep an eye on me.”
“Ylmra - especially inexperienced ones - are the most sought after kills of the Second Plane.” A shudder went down his spine. He happily suffered the spike in his headache if it meant he got Dlmor’s protectiveness, calm, and comfort to counteract the statement. Or maybe it was more for the thought that popped into his head at the other man’s words. “I kidnapped you for two reasons: a test of your companions, and a show for those that could have been watching. Less likely for something to pursue you now, now that I’ve gotten my hands on you.”
“You that much of a threat or are they going to assume you killed me yourself?”
The man raised an eyebrow at him and continued on. The lack of an answer was answer enough. “I will admit, I was impressed with that Walker’s perseverance. I would have liked to have seen how the others had reacted but I’m sure we’ll see that when you get back.”
“And when will I be going back?”
The man stopped, gaze settling on him. “Well, that depends on how much of this is natural to you and how quickly you can learn the rest. Ellen asked me to make sure you could protect yourself, that you knew all I know about being Ylmra. But it is not something that is easily taught, nor retained, and a lot of what I know was from experience. I was not so lucky as you are to have a guide in this so I expect you to keep that in mind.”
He nodded. And then he asked, “So how long has it been since you’ve interacted with another human being because I feel like you’ve got some assumptions about me that are so not accurate.”
He wasn’t even sure if there was a blow to be felt but from one instance to the next he went from standing on top of the sand dune to being thrown off of it. Panic clamped around his chest as he slowly rotated in the air. The ground started to come up to meet him far faster than he would have liked.
For whatever reason, the first thought that popped into his head was needing a parachute, something - anything - that would slow his decent significantly. Dlmor’s form shifted around him, a vice grip around his torso but gentle around his head and neck, supporting both as his torso was jerked backwards and his descent slowed immensely. Dlmor must of either ran with his thought or had picked up more than he himself had been aware of; massive wings curled forward in sharp beats, curling the air around him and gaining enough traction that his feet settled into the sand softer than if he had simply stepped off of a platform.
His knees gave out when Dlmor sagged into him, enveloping him as best the creature could. Whatever Dlmor had just managed, it clearly had taken its toll on the creature.
Slow clapping drifted towards him. He looked towards the source of the sound and found the stranger a dune away clapping, a pleased smile on that smug face.