The Wastelands

"No, this can't be what I think it is." Lilia traced the leather of her old flute case. Her hands trembled as she reached for the zipper. She looked up to Terran's guilty face. "What did you do?"

"Shadow, he said he needed my help." Terran swallowed. "He wanted to fix something he had broken."

Heather looked between the two of them, confused. "Ha, come on guys, what's going on."

Lilia unzipped it open to find a flute. Not exactly like her old one, but with her fingers, Lilia still felt her former flute mixed in with the new. "How is this possible."

"I moulded the wood," Terran admitted. "But Shadow wanted to handle the hard part. To make it into an instrument. I thought he hadn't finished yet."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Lilia asked, still numb.

Terran just shrugged. "Shadow wanted to keep it a secret."

"And you didn't even tell me?" Heather pouted, leaning close to Terran.

He just rolled his eyes and his sister's antics. "I said he wanted to keep it a secret." Terran flicked her forehead. "Dummy."

"Hey." Heather instantly moved back, rubbing her forehead, still pouting. "I can keep a secret." She mumbled.

He just gave Heather a look before move his gaze back to Lilia. "I think this is his way of saying…"

"Sorry," Lilia whispered. She couldn't stop staring at the precious object in front of her. With trembling hands, she gently picked up the instrument, and as if compelled, she brought the flute to her lips.

The sweet sound resonating gave way to haunting undertones. She smiled internally, the sound was a little different, but she could work with it.

Lilia hesitated, her fingers couldn't stop shaking. 'I can't do this, why now? I don't want to hurt anyone.' But she couldn't stop herself from playing. It was like finally regaining a lost limp, all she wanted to do was to play with all her might.

*You're not a child anymore,* Sil responded to her wavering. *Your willpower is stronger than it once was, so play to your heart's content. Besides, don't you trust me?*

The question was a resounding… "Yes." And Lilia brought the flute back to lips, losing herself to the music. The Wasteland responded, and Lilia changed her tone to match.

Then suddenly, there was a drumming sound beside her. Lilia glanced sideways to see Terran, beating on pots and pans. She heard a guitar in the distance. Someone else began to sing. More and more joined in.

Then quicker than she liked, the music came to an end. As soon as she played the last note. She felt someone wrapped their arms around her. Lilia stiffened, but Heather's scent made her relax. "Heather," she whispered.

"That was so awesome," Heather exclaimed, excited. "I never seen you play before. Druid is going to be so jealous when I tell her."

Terran was breathing hard, but he had a grin on his usually stoic face. "That was so much fun."

"I'm still rusty, but yeah, it was really great," Lilly admitted, a little embarrassed.

Heather tightened her grip and whispered in her ear. "We're proud of you." Then Heather let go and turned to Terran. "Ha, little bro, when's dinner ready?"

"In a couple of minutes and don't call me 'little bro,'" Terran argued back.

Lilia ignored the two bickering siblings as she looked down at her fingers, still holding tightly to the flute, they didn't move like she was used too. Lilia knew she could do better, a lot better. Though it felt good, really good. Just losing herself to the music knowing that Sil was there to watch over her. It felt like… 'a new beginning.'

*It is.* Sil agreed, Lilia looked up and spotted him flying in circles before landing on her rucksack. *But you still have a lot to learn.*

*You are always putting a damper on things.* Lilia rolled her eyes. *And can you be any more cliche. Apparently, you watch too many old movies with Bryson?*

*What can I say he has a pretty good collection.*

Lilia sighed, *Whatever you say.*

*Now it's time to please me. How about a game of chess?* Sil said if slyness.

*You just want to see me cry again.* Lilia complained, *Are you a sadist?*

*I knew I should have brought Va.* Lilia g.r.o.a.n.e.d, reaching for her rucksack as Sil moved to the bench. Lilia knew her sister well enough to know there would be a chessboard buried somewhere.

*You had no choice. Besides, Va would have eaten all your food.* Sil pecked at her hand. *Hurry it up!*

Geeze, what a pest.

***

Terran was spooning soup into the bowl as he felt someone looming over him. "That smells good."

He looked up to find Tessa smiling at him, and Terran couldn't stop the blush forming on his dusty cheeks. "H-hi," Terran stumbled out. Terran cheeks reddened, even more, when he realized he was staring way too much. "D-do you want some?"

The girl brightened and sat down beside him. "Yes, that'll be great."

"I have some sumac juice or maybe some coffee?" Terran offered. The juice was chilling in the portable cooler, and the coffee was brewing on the fire. In Terran's opinion, the sumac juice was more refreshing, but he learned that humans love their caffeine, so he always had it prepared.

Whether it's for healing or cooking, always anticipant the needs of the person your serving, his old teacher always said that to him, and he took her words to heart.

"The juice, please, I don't like coffee this late at night." Tessa decided with a tilt to her head.

Terran fixed her a plate, then leaned back to get the juice. "Here you go."

"Thanks." As she took a bite, her green flacked eyes widened. "You made this?"

"It's just military rations; I just added some herbs to give it more flavour." Terran felt a little awkward, though he was kind of happy that Tessa liked his food.

Heather snorted, and Terran looked up to glare at her. Heather put her hands up in surrender and proceeded to wolf down her food.

"The sumac juice was good; you added ginger and mint? I never tasted this variation before." Tessa licked her lips in concentration on the taste.

Impressed, he leaned forward in excitement. "These are wildcraft herbs I just happened to find in the area. Aren't they great? I could wander the Wastelands for years cataloging herbs and still barely hit ten percent."

"The Wastelands is full of mystery, that's exactly why I wanted to come here." Tessa paused. "Can I ask you something."

"What?"

"You know earlier when everyone was playing music," Tessa said while looking away. "I never heard anything like it."

"Oh." Terran smiled. "Probably won't be the last time. The Wastelands kind of bring it out of people."

"I heard that the Wasteland's constantly singing. I don't know how you could stand it." Tessa looked up to give him a pained smile. "I can barely hear it, and it's making me feel… a little off."

"That's why we have these." Terran tapped his headphones, which was hiding underneath the collar of his fatigues. "You didn't get any headphones? I have a spare somewhere." Terran reached for his rucksack.

Tessa hastily stopped him. "N,o, I have some, see." She showed him that she was wearing them. "They are just hard to get used to."

"Everyone hears something different, so adjusting them can be quite the hassle." Terran agreed. Should he help Tessa with her headphone? No, it's best not to overstep.

Liking someone is tough.

"Really, what do you hear?" Tessa asked, interested.

"I hear drumming." The Wasteland had calmed down quite a bit, but he could still feel the beat through his feet. "My MI is pretty average, and my interests lay elsewhere, but the Headmistress insists that everyone with even a little little bit of MI will be trained. I'm grateful I wouldn't be able to harvest wildcraft herbs without it. The Wastelands is constantly changing what might be a save area yesterday, may not be tomorrow. To be blunt, If I didn't have my MI, I would be dead." Terran warned.

"Wastelands sounds like hell," Tessa whispered, her face was pale.

"Do you regret coming here," Terren asked.

"No, No!" Tessa said, her voice with a little more certain. "If herbal medicine has any chance at advancement, I need to see for myself."

"Damnit!" Lilia g.r.o.a.n.e.d out, nearby. Terran looked to see Lilia playing chess with her falcon, and it looked like she was losing, again.

"Am I saying too much," Terran asked Lilia. He knew that with Lilia's enhanced

"No, it's good for her to know this now rather than learning the hard way later," Lilia answered. Sil pecked at her hand and glared at her. "Okay, Okay! Fine, I'm concentrating."

"Terran." Tessa grabbed onto Terran's arm. "What about Heather and Lilia? I know Lilia has it, but I don't know…"

Terran laughed a little, speaking in a louder tone. "Heather can't hear a thing, probably because her ears are full of car oil." As he caught a spoon, then threw it back at Heather. After that Terran turned back to Tessa." Yes, Lilia has it; she could hear more than I can. Probably more than anyone. Lilia says that it was like listening to an entire orc.h.e.s.tra!"

"Really? Her." Tessa's eyes moved to Lilia, who's still havering over a chessboard, but her rucksack looked like it was ransacked, and she had a spoon dangling from her lips.

"Yeah, it's pretty awesome." Terran's eyes lit up. "Lilia could pretty much map this whole area."

The herbs she could find, if she had only made the effort. Maybe I could bribe her with some food to help me out next time I go harvesting.

"Hmm." Tessa had a thoughtful expression. "Do you like her?"

Lilia almost choked on her spoon. Heather was covering her mouth to keep the laughter from escaping.

"Sure, I do," Terran said, witnessing looking at the girl's reaction with confusion. "We've known each other for years."

Tessa looked sad. "I…"

"Hay boy, give me some food and a cup of coffee." Caption Terrance interrupted.

"Yes, Sir," Terran stated, a little disappointed that he couldn't talk to Tessa more.

***

"First, we had to follow the subject to this godforsaken place." A person was watching the group from a nearby cl.u.s.ter of trees. "Now, there is no chance to get near her."

"No worries, I squeezed us into Subject 2's group. We just have to wait for an opportunity." Another voice responded.

The first voice g.r.o.a.n.e.d. "I just want this over with, so I can get a hot shower."

"Just be patient." The second voice advised. "It's no good to rush things."

"Yeah, yeah, hopefully, the secondary team have better luck with Subject 1." The first person walked away.

The remaining person watched the first person leave. "Should I tell the human? No, it's more fun this way." The second voice stated with glee before they moved in the opposite direction from their partner.