Sio woke early in the morning before her fellow Dunestriders. It was before dawn, and the air was crisp as morning dew. She made herself a fire in the communal pit her pack had set up before they went scouting. It was a miracle of technology, fire powered by artificial chemically infused logs that would last for hours once set. Taking out her duro-flask, she began heating up water in it to pour into a brewer so that everyone could enjoy some fresh coffee. She had been saving the coffee grounds for this special occasion, and they would need the caffeine to wake them up for the journey ahead.
Her hands were steady over the flame and makeshift grill they had set up, but on the inside Sio was reeling. Home, we're going home! She thought. A tent flap opened and Sio watched one of her fellow Dunestriders join her at the fire. From the patched tear on the right side of the suit, and the collection of patches on the left leg, she safely assumed this was Odessa. She was one of the earlier risers in the pack, and often would join Sio for early morning watches. Others referred to her as Mismatch because of her fondness for customizing her gear to have two-tones or multicolored pallets. Sio only ever called her Odessa though, as she sensed the girl didn't like the nickname very much. Habits die hard though, as the saying goes, and everyone had taken to calling her Mismatch before she could nip it.
Odessa sat next to Sio, as she usually did when they shared a watch. She was not a shy one, much to Sio's amusement, and often would take the lead in talking about anything and everything, but this morning she was quiet. Sio nudged her shoulder with her own, handing her a cup of coffee she had prepared.
"Normally, you'd be the first to greet." Sio said to her. Odessa took the coffee, and unmasked herself so she could drink. To Sio's surprise there were bags under her eyes and they were bloodshot. Had she been crying?
"Normally, I'd have a full night's rest, too." She said as she took a sip closing her eyes as she did so. She let out a small sigh and then looked at Sio. "Not this time."
Sio was silent, letting her gather her thoughts. Odessa hugged one of her legs closer to her chest and rested her chin on her knee. "It's over." Sio had to lean in to hear her say it, and almost didn't catch it.
"What is?" She replied quietly.
"This whole adventure. And then we go home, to what? Another wasteland, just with more people. I thought out here would make me appreciate home. It doesn't…" Sio lowered her head and stared at the melting snow around the campfire. A silent plea for Odessa to continue. She complied. "I mean, I want to go home. But I want more of this, too. But being a Dunestrider… were glorified miners. Twelve hours a day we work in the mines getting Helix-salt for this side of the solar-system." She turned to Sio, desperate tears about to fall from her eyes.
"Can I ask you something?"
Sio nodded.
"You got to choose this, everyone else in this team must follow the footsteps of their parents, but you could have changed your mind. Why didn't you?"
Sio thought long and hard about that question. If she were asked ten years ago, it would be because it was the will of her grandmother. But having been asked that question now… well, she had an answer, but one that wouldn't serve Odessa. She thought how to word it.
"It just felt…right." Sio answered rather pathetically. Odessa's mouth was agape.
"That's all?" She asked in disbelief.
"That's all." Said Sio. It's what she didn't say that might have been more interesting. What she didn't say was that she knew from the start when The Symphony started to speak to her that being a Dunestrider was the first step in her Path. The Path that held a secret, a mystery she wanted to solve. But that didn't make her much different from Odessa, who also had her own Path. But Sio did offer this. "What our people get wrong is that there are different paths for different people not owned by their parents."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that although your parents were Dunestriders, and once we go home we will be official Dunestriders, your Path doesn't end there. The village needs your creativity."
Sio felt her arm get lightly punched.
"They'd flog you for that back home, Dunemaster."
"My grandmother made her own way, and people say it was The Symphony that punished her, but I just don't believe that."
"What do you believe, then?"
Sio was silent for a little while. "Your Path is carved, not set. Afterall, The Symphony still creates new songs does it not?"
Both were silent. Until Odessa said, "you're crazy, Sio."
Sio did not say anything back. She was used to this. She was not, however, used to Odessa's response afterward.
"But I'm crazy enough to believe you." Odessa said as she downed the last of her coffee and remasked.
Sio watched as she stood, a little surprised. "Let's wake the others, Dunemaster."
Sio stood and began her rounds to the other tents. Both Sio and Odessa were greeted with unenthused teenagers and young adults. It was only dawn, afterall. But they needed to get on the move if they wanted to beat the summer storms.
—
They didn't beat the summer storms, if anything the summer storms were beating them. A few weeks into the trip they had gotten pounded by several inches of snow in a blizzard that had them seek shelter in a nearby canyon. It was a blessing they had thermal vision embedded in their masks to keep track of one another. They were lucky too, to have Lee and Sio who were both trained in medical care. If it weren't for them seeing signs of hypothermia set in in a few of their pack it would have been a disaster. Sio was going to bring this up to the tribe when she got the chance. Having multi-talented Dunestriders was proving to be beneficial for everyone.
They were waiting in the mouth of the canyon which was not the best choice, but it was the only choice they had this far out into Helix-One's wilds. They were rugged with arctic tundra with canyons carved everyso often in the terrain. Wind battered through the chasm where they were like haunting howls. Sio recalled a tale about the Catlani Sphinxes using the howling as cover when they prowled. It was a gamble, but one Sio did not see an alternative to taking.
A few hours passed while the pack stayed huddled together to keep warmth in their shell-suits. They were made for this kind of cold but it didn't mean they were comfortable. The chill in the air rattled their bones and teeth. Still, with help of thermal blankets and body heat they were able to weather the storm.
Finally a break in the weather encouraged Sio to send out a couple of scouts to check the nature of the terrain which had been layered with fresh snow. The scouts came back with news of deep pit falls and thick snow. They would not be moving this day. Sio called the others a little deeper into the canyon where they found respite from the wind and decided to make camp.
It was a few days in that they set out again from the canyon avoiding the storms and snow traps and supplies were running dangerously low. Sio's pack was not having the best luck hunting and gathering even though this was the summer season in their region. The storms made it harder for them to track fresh game, and even harder to keep a lit fire. Another few days and they would be out of food.
One of the scouts spotted a frozen lake when they passed through the trail, Sio decided it was the best detour for the group. They reached the outer edges when they spotted tracks. It looks like they weren't the only ones hunting. From afar they saw snow white fur spotted with black, long whiskers and fur like a lion's mane around the head. Sio figured it was only a matter of time before they were to encounter the infamous Catlani Sphinx. She knew in their state they wouldn't stand a chance against a creature like that. It was over 500lbs with teeth as big as a forearm. Taking one down required at least twenty grown men with rifles, they were merely a pack of fourteen barely out of childhood equipped only with laz-knives.
Sio huddled her group together taking the front-team to watch the sphinx and appear still so if the sphinx were to look their way they would be able to wave it off. She approached mid-team and end-team telling them to take out their weapons. If they were in for a fight, they had best be prepped. Sio told a couple of others to help her rummage through what was left of their equipment; they had a couple of thermal packs, fishing wire, and flares. She took a measure of wire, some flares, and a few thermal packs. She had an idea.
They could keep going, Sio thought, maybe find a safer spot. Sio regrouped and told the front-team to back down. They were going to trek away from the sphinx. But when Sio went to return to the front-team the sphinx was gone. She asked where it went, they answered that it went further into the lake, but something didn't sit right with Sio. She felt she was forgetting something important. She checked in with Yan, whose father used to fish as a pastime if this place would be a safe spot to set up a little trap. He checked the ice thickness with a pickaxe and nodded to Sio. This would make a great spot to gather protein. They all got to work setting a perimeter to keep watch. Sio split them into teams of two around a half a field's length away from each other to set up fishing traps. They just had to wait.
That little thought in the back of Sio's head wouldn't go away even as hours passed and they were able to catch a few fish for the night. They set camp next to the lake to keep watch on the lines and with the sphinx around Sio wasn't gonna let camp go unwatched. She selected four for each three-hour shift this time around so that one person could be at each extending point of camp. Then the rest retired for the night. That is, until they heard the yelling. It wasn't until then that Sio remembered exactly why Catlani Sphinxes, when spotted, were to be avoided at all costs.
They hunted in pairs.