The day was bathed in a warm wind that swept in from the east. As Nuri looked out over the rolling hills she could not deny that the earth seemed to be fidgeting with a subtle restlessness. Out over the horizon, clouds began to take more definite forms. Whether they would bring refreshing showers or more violent storms, Nuri could not tell. She would just have to wait.
Leaning her elbows against the fence, she closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. The wind chased a flock of birds out of a tree, and as Nuri opened her eyes to look again she was captivated by the avian creatures. Attached to nothing, they spread their wings and lifted up with the waves of air. Nuri followed their path higher and higher, into the blue of the sky, until she was almost blinded watching their silhouettes against the sun. She settled her gaze down at the ground again, this time looking west. She saw the shop, heard the steady clanging of Zeek's hammer, and sighed.
"I'm tired of waiting."
She shoved herself away from the fence and made her way back to the shop. Inside she found her guardian huddled over a tiny contraption, tapping away at some glowing ribbons of metal. He would not notice her, she knew. When he worked he always became absorbed in a different world. He could forget all of his cares and hardships when his mind was set on a new project or invention. Zeek was happy when he was consumed in his work, because all the world sufferings had to be forgotten for him to be able to guide his new inventions into being. Most often his time was spent developing funny gadgets to assist people in everyday life. Sometimes he would even go so far as to fashion jewelry and trinkets just to make people smile. Nuri always laughed at him for those. "Sure, fashioning a delicate copper bracelet might make him feel like a rich man," she thought, "but in the time he'd spent making the damn thing he could have produced a half dozen tools or weapons that might have actually been worth something." But for Zeek, poverty was a state of mind, and with his trinkets he could often fool himself out of that state.
For Nuri, poverty was the state of the nation, and, no matter how she tried to fool herself, she knew that no amount of make-believe could return the land to what it once was. The Swarm had raped the nation of its resources and identity. What had survived of her people's customs and history, Nuri preserved in her meager library. But even so her understanding of her past was scant, and only slightly more developed than her understanding of her future. She was trapped between an ideal vision of yesterday and a reality that was anything but.
But at the moment, this was not her only dilemma.
She approached Zeek and his work, starting into the glowing red metal. "Zeek," she said.
He showed no sign of hearing her, as he continued to tap away, gently molding the metal ribbons.
"Zeek," she said again, stepping even closer.
Still nothing, his attention remained on his occupation, shaping the burning metal.
"Zeek!"
Startled by Nuri's shout, Zeek slipped his hand across the ribbons. The sound of sizzling flesh was muted by Zeek's own profane exclamations.
"Damn it, Nuri! What was that for?!" His words were muffled as he stuck his fingers in his mouth to ease the pain. Nuri followed him as he rushed to a barrel of water to submerge his hand.
Nuri chuckled as she followed the man, "You should have been more careful. I can't be held responsible for your shaky hands, Zeek."
"You know how I get when I'm working, Nuri," argued Zeek, his face scrunched as though he had just eaten a not-quite-ripe lema fruit. He continued through clenched teeth, "You're grounded, you know that?"
At this Nuri let out a hearty laugh. Despite his threat, her eyes revealed a great confidence, "You're too funny, Zeek. You say that as if there were something to ground me from. You know you haven't taken me out of Domreck for a month and a half? What's a girl to do in this angel-forsaken pile of dirt?"
"You've got it a lot better than a lot of people Nuri. Don't take that for granted."
This always got Nuri angry. Every time she wanted to get out, Zeek would use this argument to shut her back in. You're very fortunate, Nuri. You could be working in the mines, Nuri. Just be happy like I am, Nuri, and surrender yourself to a life of passive endurance of the social injustice that is Nathanaelese existence. She always remembered it sounding worse than how he had actually said it.
"And should we be so happy to leave those people to suffer like they do?" She contested, "You know there are rebels who have committed their lives to helping those people, they want to return Nathanael to its former glory-"
"I don't want to hear it, Nuri."
"They don't just roll over and play dead, just lie down and wait for the damned Swarmtroopers to walk all over them-"
"Nuri, it's a lot more complicated than you think it-"
"At least you could refuse to make weapons for the Swarm. I mean, for Nathanael's sake Zeek, you know what they do with those things? You know who it's for? Those are our people, Zeek."
"NURI! Stop it!" Nuri stood back at Zeek's shout. She could see the frustration in his eyes, her words cut him very deeply, more so than she had meant them to, "You know how I feel about making those weapons. You know I hate every minute of it, but you know that I have no choice. What do you want me to do, Nuri? These things aren't as easy as you think they are."
Nuri's intent was not to hurt Zeek, but she knew her words would have that effect. She continued, "I want you to do something, Zeek. Stop running away."
"Nuri, you're not old enough to understand. There are some things that cause a person to see the world a little differently, some things that a man wants to protect," he pulled his hand out of the water and raised his eyes to look into Nuri's. They reflected the clear blue of the sky, "Some things a man can't bear to lose."
Nuri stood looking into him for a moment. The look in his eyes made Nuri feel as though her heart had contracted and would not be allowed to beat as she wanted it to. She soon recovered and turned away from his gaze, "That's selfish of you, Zeek."
"Am I so evil for wanting to live, Nuri? It may seem romantic to you, but you stand up to the Swarm and you'll achieve nothing but to become a self-righteous puddle of organs. I've seen how strong they are and I know you've seen it to. You know people have been saying that these things might actually have the power to destroy our planet? Think about that Nuri, the might actually be able to destroy all of Euphoria. All I'm saying is that we had better not be so quick to jerk around with these guys."
"Zeek! Look around you! What the hell have they left us to save from destruction?! We hardly have it better than the slaves up in Rahab the way they treat our people, why do we even want Euphoria to be spared if that is what we have to look forward to?"
"What are you saying, you having it as bad as those slaves. Do you know how hard I've worked to allow us to live like we do? For Nathanael's sake, sure you're not living like a princess, but you've got it pretty good, Nuri."
"I know that, Zeek, but I'm not content to enjoy it when there are people dying in the Magm'rao Mountains digging up metals that they aren't even able to sell. Those are my people, and those are our resources, and I don't know what the hell the Swarm is doing with them, but I know that in the process they are destroying our way of life."
"Nuri, you know I agree with you. If I could change the fact that the Swarm is here, I would. But I'm just one man, nothing I do is going to make any difference," with that Zeek turned away and went back to the ribbons of metal, which by this time had cooled into an awkward position. He grabbed a tiny hammering tool and tried to coax it into the shape he had originally meant for it.
"No," replied Nuri, "Things will never be any different because of the fact that you choose to do nothing."
Zeek continued working on the metal ribbons, but they were reluctant to be molded.
"What about pride, Zeek?"
With each tap of the hammer the metal continued to resist.
"What about free will, Zeek?"
The ribbon began to curl in the cool, open air. Zeek threw down his hammer frustratedly and turned to Nuri. It looked like all the colors of all the emotions Zeek had ever felt were present in his gaze, "What about love?"
Nuri was taken aback. This was not something she expected to hear from Zeek, "Well-well love too. Love for your fellow man. Love-love for those who suffer and live without."
Zeek continued his gaze, "What about love of your family, Nuri? What about the desire to protect everything that's kept you from going crazy since the damned Swarm changed everything?"
Nuri looked at Zeek, dumbfounded. She could not find words.
"Nuri, I've been wanting to ask you something." He turned away from his workbench and headed for a shelf in the back of his shop. Nuri remained where she was, not certain of what to expect.
Zeek returned with a small pouch tied shut with a piece of twine. He unwrapped the twine and the sides of the pouch fell away to reveal an intricately carved bracelet. It had a hinge on one side and a latch on the other to get it around the wrist. A lot of care had been put into the crafting of the piece of jewelry, although it was made out of a much cruder type of metal than most valuable Nathanaelese treasures.
"It's taken me a few months to make. It's a bit harder to craft one when you don't have the right metals. Do you know what this is, Nuri?"
Nuri looked at the bracelet for a moment, searching through her memory. She knew that she had seen it before, "I-I think I've read about them in a book. It's very pretty. It's a-a Fuegan piece of jewelry, right?"
"Yes. You know, in Fuega, jewelry is a very important part of their culture. This bracelet is a vow. Two metals intertwined very carefully. Traditionally, it is made out of hiura and fireni, two very weak metals that, when alone, shatter very easily. However, they can be woven in such a way as to make them very strong, almost unbreakable. It is a symbol of love. It is a ring. Endless," Zeek approached Nuri, bringing the item close to her wrist, "Of course, fireni is very hard to come by nowadays, so I had to use grema. It stronger and heavier, but the sentiment is still there."
Zeek slowly took Nuri's hand and lifted it, palm up. He delicately closed the bracelet around Nuri's wrist and clasped the latch. He took a step back, looking into her eyes, waiting.
"How does it feel?"
Nuri felt the weight of the bracelet as Zeek let go of it. It was heavier than she had expected. As she stared into the colors reflected in the metals, she couldn't help but find them harsh and disparate. Looking at the bracelet scared her. She knew this was not right, this was not what she wanted. She did not want to be shackled into this life that Zeek had built.
"No."
Zeek looked concerned, "What?"
All of a sudden Nuri became very frustrated, flustered. She began pacing a little, "No, no no no no no."
Zeek began to follow her, worried, "Nuri-Nuri are you feeling well?" He touched her on the shoulder, but Nuri recoiled, her eyes darted across his face, out toward the horizon, into the fire burning by his workbench.
"No!" she returned, "No, Zeek don't ask me this!" Tears began to well up in her eyes, but she did not want to let them out, " Zeek you can't do this to me. You're selfish to do this to me. You know who I am. You know that I can't just leave the troubles of Nathanael behind me. I-I can't do this."
"Nuri, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought this up. Just forget I said anything about-"
"No, Zeek, I can't do this anymore! I can't stay here anymore. You know what it's doing to me here. It's tearing me apart to know what's happening in Nathanael, in Euphoria. And I know you love me, and you know I love you, but I can't just ignore my people. You can't ask me to do this anymore, you can't keep me caged. I have to do what I am meant to do."
Concern overwhelmed Zeek, "I don't understand."
"You do understand, Zeek. I know you do! I have an important role to play in this. You know what I mean!" Just as she said these words, the fire behind Zeek rose up in a small explosion. He turned to look at it, and when he did he could see more than just flames, he could see things that he did not want to admit.
Nuri unlatched the bracelet and tossed in on Zeek's workbench, "Zeek, I have to go. I've been planning to for some time and now-now I have to go." She had thought of this moment for years, but now the words came out awkwardly and she did not know exactly how to put them. All she could do was turn and walk away.
But Zeek could not let go of her so easily, "Nuri, you will not leave here without my permission."
Nuri continued to walk away, trying to ignore Zeek's voice. As he began toward her, he was stopped by sparks around his feet. Suddenly a circle of fire rose up around him, stopping him from chasing Nuri.
"Nuri!" he shouted. Through the flames he saw her start off at a run. She was a strong girl, and she was sure to be able to get far if she wanted to, "Nuri, come back!"
Nuri kept running. Her emotions were all mixed up, and beneath her tears she was laughing. She found it incredibly funny. Zeek was not the only one who knew how to trap a person with a ring.
As she ran, she did not know quite where she was headed. But she did know that she hoped not to come back. Not for a while. Her only inclination was to head east, to follow the birds. It would probably lead her to the ocean, and from there, she did not know. What she did know was that she had been needing to escape for most of her life. And she was, at last, on her way.
