Fake Princess
CCCIII Chapter
"What's going on?" I said back to them as Izumi took her hug off me.
"You fell off the boat, and almost drowned... Zeki saved you," Izumi said in reply.
"really?" I bowed my head with one hand grasping the sand that was slapping around.
"Thank you" I said, moving my head to look at him.
"Are you okay?" I said back, I crawled up to him who was sitting behind Izumi.
"I'm fine, it's just a scratch" he said as I slowly held onto his sleeves that had turned red.
"Is it because you saved me?" My voice moved my fingers slowly closer to the tear on the sleeve of the clothes he was wearing.
I untied the ribbon that had tied my hair earlier, stretched the ribbon cloth around the injured arm of Zeki. My face moved closer to the ribbon cloth earlier while I was bitten and then I pulled the ribbon cloth so that it would tighten the wound on his arm.
"What did you get Aydin?" The sound of Aydin's voice, I turned to look at those who were standing with Aydin moving one hand moving in the air.
"I don't know, I didn't get anything. I seek the wind to know the direction of the sea, but... You feel it yourself" Aydin said, Izumi raising her hand up.
"I don't really understand what you're saying" said Izumi again lowering her palm earlier.
"Wind blows from all directions, I don't know what this place is... But this is really terrible, how not? We should be on the beach by now. But look where we are now" said Aydin moving his gaze on the desert that surrounds us.
"Can you stand up?" Zeki's voice rang out in my ear, I grabbed her palm earlier that pointed towards me while one of her hands was embracing my waist as I tried to get up.
"Daughter, what do you think?" Aydin moved his head to look at me.
"I don't feel anything around here" I said, releasing a grip on Zeki's palm.
I walked up to the three of them with Zeki also stepping his legs behind me. Haruki turned to look at me, his hand moving giving my brown leather bag that was in his hand.
I grabbed the bag in Haruki's hand while I pointed it out hanging on my shoulder. I looked back as I felt a few slow claps touching my head, I glanced at Zeki who was moving his palms rubbing my head over and over again.
"So, where are we going?" Izumi looked at Haruki and Aydin alternately.
"How about to the right? Or left?" Aydin turns his eyes to Haruki.
"All right, we're going left. Are you all right?" Haruki looked at me, her hands touching my chin as she moved it to the right and left of my face by him.
"I'm fine" I said as Haruki raised one of his hands from me.
"Well, we go now. Faster, better, right?" Aydin moved his thumb pointing in the direction we were going.
The five of us stepped down through the desert. If the time in the desert before the air that feels very hot, here obviously feels different... Despite the desert, the air feels the same as the air in our Kingdom. I grabbed my hand and clasped Zeki's robe walking beside me.
"What's this?" Izumi stopped her steps at a slightly high sand dune.
Haruki and Aydin climbed the sand dune very slowly. They followed Izumi who had already descended the sand dune from the side of the mound.
Grasping my palm by Zeki, I grabbed it and held his palm with both hands. The two of us stepped slowly up the fragile sand dune, many times I almost fell down because every foot I stepped on it... More and more sand is falling.
"Be careful" said Zeki, holding firmly on my palm as we both stepped down the sand dune.
I stepped closer to Haruki as Zeki removed his hand from me. Both of my eyes were stunned to see what was around us. Haruki moved his body crouching, long as he stared at a human skull half buried by the sand.
"It's like a mass grave" said Izumi crouched down to a skull with long jaws sticking out of the sand.
"Look over here" Aydin's voice came, I moved in the footsteps of Haruki, Izumi and Zeki who had also stepped their feet toward Aydin.
"This is a ship, right? But this ship is made of iron, not wood" said Aydin lashing his hands on the body of the ship filled with rust.
Somehow? But here, a lot of shipwrecks are stranded. Starting from those made using wood, to iron as they are being stared at by them. In fact, those skulls? Is it possible that they are people or animals that are also stranded here just like us?
"You guys, come here!" Shouted Zeki, I turned my gaze to look at him who was crouching staring at something with one hand sweeping away the sand that was nearby.
"What's wrong?" Haruki said as he sat down crouching beside her.
"Look" said Zeki, directing his hands to lift a stone slab buried in the sand.
"Sa-chan, can you read it?" Haruki moved her head to look at me.
I moved my feet closer to them. Both of my legs bent crouching beside Zeki, Zeki raised the stone before me. I stared at the old stone with my index finger moving to touch the carving that almost blurred on the stone slab.