Thoughts On A Deserted Coast Pt 01

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This is a part of a longer story. As such, things have gone on before this point just as they will after it and these are not the central characters in it anyway.

So I ought to set out what's going on in a general sense.

This is a planet far from earth in the present time. It's dying slowly as its mineral wealth is being vacuumed out of it. This happens in or near what is known now as Beach Colony, the remnants of a large coastal seaport.

Out of the life forms which are left here, the main sentient ones are split into two groups which are really two variants of the same creature, though they look different to each other.

Sangans are pretty much the same as humans here on Earth. Almost exactly and any differences aren't worth talking about.

Bishrans are the same as Sangans but for a few external features.

They're usually, though not always covered in short fur. Their heads don't look much like Sangans, though the bone structure is the same only a little elongated. Their faces and heads look more like what you'd see on a fox and even then, they're more angular.

The main physiological difference is that they're built like centaurs with arms and hands and four legs.

The two races get along fine and since the world here is pretty screwed over with war and wastelands, more refugees are streaming in every day to the dwindling number of functional colonies left. The bands of refugees are about an equal mix of Sangan and Bishran.

Though they look quite different to each other, they can interbreed with no fuss. It's just that they don't do that very often.

Marishe is one of the town guard. She's long past bored with it. She's a Sangan woman who is a little different in that she's got a thing for Bishrans of either gender.

Miyarra-Louhk is a sorceress and seer who has reluctantly taken and held the job of pretty much the queen of the city. She'd like to be doing something else too. She's a Sangan with similar tastes to Marishe.

Rhuna is a Bishran from a type who are something like gypsies. They have a homeland but they're usually out somewhere else in the world.

Cynn - or more correctly, Prince Cynn (chuckle) is a Bishran with a sad tale.

Hope you enjoy this.

0_o

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She sat up in the tall grass, looking around for a long moment, just casting her eyes here and there along the landscape and out as far as the horizon.

No one.

Getting to her feet, she bent her head forward and shook her head a few times in case there were any bits of grass in her hair that needed dislodging.

Finding none, she ran her long fingers through it several times, hoping a little that she might get it not to look so windblown and messy - for once.

She knew it wouldn't work. She needed to wash it and start over.

She shrugged as she picked up her weapons, her bow and her blades, moving them to grip them all in one hand by themselves or in the case of her blades, by the straps of their scabbards. She picked up her pack by the straps with her other hand.

A gust of wind blew her long dark red hair past her face and over her eyes. She turned in response so that the same wind could get it out of her face again and she shook her head once more.

It couldn't be helped.

With a sigh, she walked down to the shore and after a long look up and down the beach; she set everything down above the reach of the wavelets rolling up the sand.

She looked around again, up the length of the shore on the left side and down the length of the same shore on the right. She looked back along the ridgeline behind and above her. She saw no one.

Moving a little quickly, she pulled off her long boots and stepped in a little, pulling the lower part of her open leather jerkin up to tie it there for the moment before she squatted down to wash a little.

She looked down at her open shirt, a simply-made garment of light muslin and her eyes caught sight of the sticky skin of her breasts. The shirt was pulled open wide, though her leather jacket was still tied together under her tits. She shook her head.

What a mess she was.

Deciding that it was what it was, she filled her hands with water and washed her breasts with the cold water as best she could a little quickly.

Her hand reached down and she frowned a little for a moment before she began to wash away the semen which was leaking out of both places, timing her scooping of the water to those moments when the surf wasn't filled with sand particles. As usual, it was a little surprising just how far that stuff could run down her legs, but at least none of it had run into the tops of her boots before she'd gotten here to pull them off in time.

She ran her fingertips around her mouth and scooped more water to wash her face too.

She looked around again just in case and then she stood up to rearrange her clothing before bending a little to pick up her boots and pull them on again. She let out a slightly frustrated sigh as she remembered and reached into the opening of one of her sleeves to pull out the leather shorts from where she'd stuffed them and she pulled them on.

"Not good, Marishe," she whispered to herself as she buttoned them together, "That might have felt good to walk the rest of the way like that, but it would have been noticed - and you'd have embarrassed yourself.

Again."

She allowed herself the small grin that she felt coming .They knew her there. They knew her well.

She picked up one of her boots. The leather was warm and supple and it wasn't much trouble even though her long legs were wet with the water which ran down them now. The other one went back on even more easily and she was ready to go.

She found a small smile in it somewhere. She was a mess, but she was a happy one, all the same.

She thought back to when she'd met Cynn and Chira. Whenever she did that, she had to think back just a little farther to the day that she'd met Rhuna and Yergei.

One of her duties at the colony was with the guard. She's never been thrilled with it, but she considered it to be important enough so that somebody had to do it and a part of that duty was to stand watch at the colony gates - the main ones.

With all the war and the resultant turmoil from it, there always seemed to be refugees showing up these days. And they usually didn't just show up, smile pleasantly and say hello and ease into their new lives here, either. They almost always needed to see somebody or go someplace or they had issues. Depending in the illness - if they were sick, they might be turned away, though that didn't happen often.

But there was almost always something, so they'd speak to a guard to find out where they had to go or whatever.

Marishe had a heart, the same as the next person and she tried to help where she could. But after a while, you ... you didn't grow cold-hearted or anything like that, but ... well you might form a slightly thicker skin without even knowing it.

On that particular day, it was getting toward evening, the time when the gates would be closed for the night. The guardsmen posted wouldn't allow anyone in until morning and then of course, the whole show would begin again.

Marishe had been at the gates all day from just after sun up, excepting for a couple of short breaks and her lunch.

As she'd stepped away to go for her first break, she noticed a Bishran female standing off a little to the side of the entrance passage, so as not to hold anyone up.

She was there when Marishe returned, and she was there when she left to go for her lunch. It went like that all day.

The woman mostly stood still in the same place for hours, though she did move now and then. She had a small child and she tended to him and gave him something to eat a few times. As well, she'd put her large bundle down in such a way that she could look away for a moment at a time without fear that someone would run off with it.

The thought caused Marishe to smile. That bundle looked to be pretty damned formidable and she wondered what was in it, belongings, she assumed.

At those times, the female would open her muslin shirt and nurse the child, so from that, Marishe guessed that she was on the way to weaning him off the breast.

But she never went anywhere and now it was getting near the time when the gates would be closed for the night. Since the female hadn't come in to be cleared, she was in a little danger of being forced out for the night.

Marishe wouldn't let that happen easily, not without knowing why she hadn't just come in to be processed. She spoke to the other guards on duty with her and told them to call it a day, that she'd get through the last half-dozen or so if they could do her a favor and lock the gates.

While she was wondering about the woman, she had to deal with the other stragglers and once she'd determined a few things, she pointed out where they needed to go and they left.

Then she noticed another person in front of her just as she'd been about to look at the woman again and maybe go over to ask her what the trouble was.

But when she looked up, she saw that it was the female from the entranceway. Marishe looked around. There wasn't anybody else to be processed. This woman had waited all day.

"Please to excuse me," she began hesitantly in the speech used by most of the people in the colony, though there was a thick accent there which Marishe needed to hear more of to even be able to guess, "I can come inside?"

Marishe didn't get this at all. Had she been that shy or what?

She looked the person over quickly. Female. Bishran. With small child and belongings. Not tall for a Bishran. Not stick-thin, but could use a few meals. Slightly darker fur than she'd expected and she'd noticed this earlier.

That was it. Marishe had run out of road - since this person stood looking down.

"I'm afraid that I can't help you unless you look at me, please," Marishe said.

"I am sorry to trouble you," the woman said and she began to turn away.

Marishe reached out, "Hey, I didn't mean that you had to go. I just need you to look up at me, that's all."

The head nodded and then the face came into view.

Marishe felt her heart almost slam to a halt. The woman was lovely though she looked very uncertain. Very few of the ones who came to the gate had much of anything to their names and this one looked to be a little poorer than most. And she was alone. There was no male there with her. Just her and her small child. She found herself wanting to help - even more than she normally did.

The woman was still looking down a bit, however, and Marishe noticed that she was trembling.

"What's wrong?" she asked, "I'd like very much to help you, but you look like you're in some difficulty. How can I help?"

"Can I ... please, can I ... water."

Marishe just had the time to catch her as she was about to faint. She eased her down so that she could sit in the way that the Bishran did it, with their hind quarters on one hip and the front part of the body held erect. The woman could manage it and Marishe held out her waterskin. The woman drank enough for Marishe to tell that she hadn't had any water all day.

She helped with the little one and said, "Just rest, alright?

I'm going to let you in, I think. Just rest and answer a few questions, that's all. If you do that, I'll help you to find lodging for the night, maybe help with a meal for you both. Can you do that?"

The woman nodded, "I am sorry. I did not mean -"

"It's alright," Marishe smiled, "No troubles."

She waited a little and then felt that she might be making this worse by standing. On average, most Sangans were a little taller than most Bishrans and she was tall even for a Sangan. She was also a little aware that she could look a little foreboding. It went with the territory.

She sat down then, pulling back her hood and pulling her mask down. Marishe tried to be friendly with most people, but there were always a few shitheads in any group. The hood and the mask went with another part of what she was, but it often helped to intimidate the jerks.

She looked at the woman and saw that she wore a shawl over her head and she caught the glint of a large silver hoop earring.

"Now, if you're feeling a little better, let's start with your name."

"My ... name," the stranger began, "my name is Rhuna. I come from the Mesharti Plains. It is not far from Stone Mountain."

Marishe didn't recognise either place. "Is it far?"

The head nodded slowly, "I have walked for many days. I do not know anymore. Sixty? Seventy at the least by now, I think. There is not much to eat anywhere. Almost no towns, villages. I came this way because I think ... thought I could smell ...

I-is there water here?"

Marishe nodded, "Yes, Rhuna. You just can't see it from here. Over the large hill over there is the sea. Your nose did not lie to you.

I see that you are Bishran. There are many here, so you're not alone. Can you tell me the name of your group or clan?"

"I am a Rils," she said quietly and with some reluctance.

"We are ... wanderers. I have never gone so far before. I heard that there was war coming, and I knew that ... I would have a little one. Things had changed and many people were leaving. I left a little later, alone.

My boy Yergei, I birthed him on the way."

Marishe was a little shocked, "You were alone then?"

She nodded, "Yes. Many do not like my kind. When I found people, they would not let me to stay."

Marishe finally had enough to be able to put something together in her mind. She'd never met one of the Rils Bishran before, but she'd heard of them. A lot of places considered them to be nothing but trouble and knew then as vagabonds, liars and cheats. She'd heard the tales of endless petty thievery, gambling, prostitution, fortune telling, and all sorts of scams.

But this one was alone - unless there was a whole herd of them inside her bundle there beside her.

And something else, Marishe never believed more than about a quarter of the tales that she heard from people coming in off the road.

"Will I have to wait outside tonight - if there is someone that you must tell - or ask permission maybe, because of what ... who I am?" Rhuna asked cautiously.

Marishe shook her head, "No. You're in, friend. I don't understand why you spent the whole day waiting when you could have just come in. You were almost first in the line at the beginning, yet you let everyone pass you to come in first.

It's your fortune that you chose the right person to come to. I'm the person that the other guards would have had to ask to let you in if you were from a group that's unknown to us - and you are.

We don't have a policy barring Rils Bishran here, but they'd have probably wanted to ask me about it anyway. I am the guard captain here."

The woman looked up then for the first time. She lifted her head and stared at the long red hair that she saw and the green eyes.

Marishe was a little prepared for it. Red hair was very uncommon - at least it was here.

Green eyes were unheard of anywhere.

She waited for the look of horror and fear that she often saw in people, but there was none of that in the woman. She only stared and then smiled a little, "You ... you are so beautiful."

If it had been anyone else, Marishe would have had any of about a dozen witty comebacks handy. But she didn't today.

Because her mouth was falling open too.

The shawl had fallen back and she saw the long dark mane and as well, she saw the short snout which was typical of any Bishran. She hadn't really noticed it before, but from the pale stripes on those cheeks, she remembered that there were stripes on her body too.

The thing was that on her body, the stripes were fairly wide and their light tone hid the other fact - which was that the fur and overall colouring was dark. Marishe just hadn't put it together before.

But she was aware of it now.

And she was finally able to see those eyes.

Those almond-shaped, smoky grey eyes which now regarded her with just as much shock as she felt looking back.

"Thank you," she smiled genuinely, "You're uncommonly lovely yourself. Do you feel a little better now, Rhuna? Do you think that we can go so that I can get you placed for the night?"

Rhuna nodded with a soft smile, "Yes, and thank you very much. I ... I had nowhere else to go."

They got to their feet then and Marishe had a piece of jerky ready for the little boy, so he was very happy.

"I just need to make a few notes and we can get going," she smiled, "And my name is Marishe."

"Ah," Rhuna nodded, "We have a name like that among my people. If you were among us, we would call you Marishka. Please can I use it for you?"

Marishe nodded with a shrug and a grin. She filled out the page in the registry, "In order to remain here, you'll have to stay out of trouble with the law for a year. So you can't be caught for stealing, shoplifting, things like that.

I really doubt that it will be a problem, but sometimes, females who come here alone find that they have trouble and then they get caught for prostitution, having no other way to support themselves.

If you find yourself in a spot where you need a little money Rhuna, I want you to come to see me before that happens. I'll do what I can to help."

Rhuna looked a little surprised, "I would do nothing like this. I am not the kind for it, though I have been ... desperate before in my travels."

She grinned a little, "Right now, I am feeling very thankful to you, Marishka."

She stepped closer and they looked at each other for a moment, both thinking that they saw something in the other one. Rhuna sank to her knees and reached for the buttons on Marishe's leather shorts.

Marishe was a little horrified, "You can't do that, Rhuna!" She hissed in a loud whisper.

"Look, I've got a position here. That sure won't look good. So you can't even think of whatever you were uh, thinking to um, do."

She looked down, reaching to put her hand on Rhuna's shoulder.

"Not here, anyway," she said very quietly.

Rhuna looked up with a grin, "Oh, I must have had the wrong idea. Forgive me please. I have never done something like that with another woman before."

She tossed her head a little to move her mane out of her eyes.

"Not today, anyway."

They smiled at each other and Marishe pointed, "Let's get you two a meal. I'm hungry too, and then we'll see where I can find you a room for the night."

Rhuna turned and waited for Marishe, who came up to lead her.

"And Rhuna?" She said.

"Yes?" Rhuna smiled.

"Can I please have my knife and my purse back now?" Marishe asked, still smiling.

"Of course," the Bishran nodded, not missing a beat, "I was merely testing you, my friend." She handed Marishe back her things. "How did you know?"

"I wasn't always the guard captain here," Marishe smiled, "In another place and time; I used to be a thief, among other things."

"Ah!" Rhuna grinned, "I KNEW there was something about you."

They had a pleasant dinner and Marishe found that she liked little Yergei very much. He was quiet, a little shy, and so very polite for one so young.

He was also a handsome little bugger, Marishe thought, though at the moment, he was starting to look a little tired.

The trouble started when Marishe took them to an inn. Marishe had prepaid passes that she could give out for some of the new arrivals. They were an arrangement with the colony. But for the first time, she found that a pass was refused on the basis of Rhuna's ethnicity.

Actually it was not even that. It was on the basis of what the innkeeper had HEARD about her kind. Marishe said nothing, though she intended to have a word with someone about it in the morning. It was the same story at two other inns and by then, it was getting late.