After having said his goodbyes, he left the village. Climbing the mountain alone, he winced when seeing the change near the top. The large slab roof covering Calarapan's structure bit into the slope when anchoring itself in place. Now there was a gash running just below the gate and toward the boundaries of his land.
Reaching this new indention, he stood upon the flattened portion. Staring down at his feet, he then looked to the left. Then to the right. Finally, he studied the portion of the gash that was standing upright. The slab had cut a right-angled ledge out of his mountain.
Based on how smooth either portion was, how the grass was pressed down, how the ground broke between either section to reveal the dirt, he got an idea just how large and heavy the slab was.
Like the abyss and the dry riverbed, this land would forever bear the scars of Calarapan's visit.
He was standing in the middle of the trail leading from the gate into the village, but this gash disrupted the route. He had to grab onto the top of the ledge and pull himself up. Back upon the slope, he finished his trip to the gate.
Eliska was there in the middle of the dip, waiting.
Sitting upon the peak, her legs folded underneath her, she had her back to the village. Joseph stepped up to her left side. Both shared the view of his lineage. How long had it been since he'd looked upon those lands? Some were so distant now, but the memories of claiming them and pressing forward were always with him.
He allowed a moment to wonder where the Asagi were, if they were still searching for Calarapan throughout his lineage.
"Are ya hurt?" Eliska asked.
He started to look down at her, but stopped himself. Gazing upon his lands satisfied him for now. Not having an immediate answer might have forced Eliska to assume, but then again, how well did they know one another?
Eventually, he asked, "How many plans do you have that you won't tell me about?"
He didn't notice that she suddenly broke into an amused smile. "What I accomplish wid dem? Every time?"
He slipped both hands into his pockets and let out a long sigh, nodding in regards to what she was implying.
She looked up at him, "Dis one no different."
"Chantale saw." Joseph said, still not looking at her. "She showed me what he did."
Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw her shuffling about to turn and face him fully. Settling in place, she said, "I scheme dah moment I see'em comin'."
Now he decided to look down at her. She was resting her hands along her thighs as she stared unblinking up at him.
"Sacrificing yourself?" he asked.
"If ya wish to touch me as ya want," she said, "ah offa myself."
His grin was gentle to begin with, but it faded at her statement. Her sincere expression remained.
"That's…" he began, but struggled to find the right words, "…not…how I would want…" He scoffed and turned toward her, "Would you want it that way? No romance involved? Just some type of payment? You know me. I couldn't participate in something like that."
He turned away to look out over his lineage again. "We had something special. The flail. The sound they made. You loved it, but now…"
"Tis gone?" she asked.
He looked at her.
"Have we lost it?" she asked. "Want me to put it away?"
"Was it a part of your sacrifice?" he asked.
She lowered her head and looked out over the village. "Tings not dah same. We lost some. Gain some. Will we juss continue from here? Discover new treasures? Find new tings tah share between us?"
Joseph turned to look down the mountain. Calarapan's structure stood out among the rest of the buildings. He could just see his structure behind it.
"Guess we gotta wait and find out." He said.
"Tahgedder?" she asked.
When he looked at her, she was looking up at him again.
He grinned and knelt down to sit beside her. "Well, I would hope so. After all, the only way we get to know each other more is if we keep working together. I'm still trying to figure out how all this works. It starts off with a language barrier between me and the villagers, but then we can eventually converse. With you three, its much slower, even though you have been there from the beginning. And you know so much more on these matters than the villagers."
She offered a tiny grin, "Tis true." Looking beyond his land at the unknown territories, she asked, "I wonder how long it take till we fully understand one anodder."
"You mean how far I have to go." He said.
"Don't you want to?" she asked.
Seeing the trees beyond the abyss, how they hid the uncultivated ground beneath them, he remembered every time a set of villagers would get to work. Most trees came down. Some stayed, but always some new feature was revealed. Here, it was the river. With its discovery, he started coming up with all sorts of ideas, wondering which ones would stick, which ones the villagers were capable of.
"Would I have to delay this time?" he asked.
Eliska regarded him, waiting for his explanation.
"There are always delays with every land." He continued. "I grow eager, too full of inspiration. I can't help it when I see potential. I wanna see my thoughts manifest in moments, but…"
"It not work like dat." She said.
"No." he agreed. "And this time, there are wounds. The land with my structure can't be declared. I'm having to take a step back."
"Each land has it problems." Eliska said. "Now, you take time. Find out what you have. What changes mean. We rebuild. You watch in physical world. We adjust here. Wait for ya change in plans."
Still staring ahead, he said, "Change in plans."
Eliska nodded slowly in agreement.
"It's funny." He continued, "You plan, you set things up, start building, and you hope it looks exactly like you have it in your
head, but then something always comes along. Someone can't get what they need to accomplish this or that. There's a delay for whatever reason. Something just isn't available like it was before. Someone changes their mind…and the whole
time, you simply want your idea to set in place. Wondering the whole time why it has to be so difficult."
"Because," Eliska said, "ya not see everyting in dah beginning. Ya plan and prepare, but no, not see everyting." She looked at him, "Den surprise!"
He grinned in response. "You'd think we would expect it every time, but I guess we're just stubborn that way."
"But," Eliska said, "if ya keep attit…ya get sometin'. Mostly like ya want it." She winked at him.
Still grinning, he slipped his hand over and took her fingers in his. She looked down to watch the connection.
"I don't know how to thank you." He said, still gazing down at the village. "Mostly because I don't know how to feel about what you did."
"Ya get time." She said, closing her other hand over both of theirs.
He looked at her, "Time?"
She nodded, "Ta tink about it."
She lifted her hand and spread her fingers, pressing her palm over his eyes. He felt the warmth of her touch, but it only lasted for a second. When he opened his eyes, he was in darkness.