Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 379: [Bonus - ] The Ashen Whisper (I)

Part 1: Rubble and Ruin

"Rumble... Brf..."

"Bella..."

"It’s okay, you will be okay; it will be over soon," she whispered into the smaller girl’s ear.

Barely kept dark hair, long and parted down the middle. Deep brown eyes winced, bracing through the rolling grumble of the earth. The girl, around eight years old, had her arms wrapped around a smaller girl.

Both were tucked in the corner of a building, sat down as the dust from the stone puffed out from the ceilings and the walls. The quake mellowed... then mellowed some more... till it was nothing at all.

The older girl sighed. "Come along Rena, it’s over," she told, her voice soft and melodic, with a hint of curtness.

The little girl had her eyes tightly shut and her hands did not leave her ears; she still shivered as if the rumbling never stopped. The older girl gently took the little girl’s wrists and pulled them away from her ears.

Her closed eyes shot open and she stopped shivering. She looked up to see the older girl looking down at her with raised brows and a smile. "It’s over?" the small voice asked.

"For now."

"Phew!" the little girl shifted away and stood up. Deep brown eyes and her dark black hair cut choppily short till above the ears. She held her stomach as it rumbled similar to the earth. "Sister... I’m hungry..."

"Thirsty too?" the older girl got up and dusted off her ashy knees and patched together shorts.

"Little..."

The older sister checked her shallow pocket and felt a few loose coins, before she sighed in relief. The sigh then turned into a light cough, that continued for several seconds...

"Bella..."

She pressed down her throat and forced herself to stop with a final raspy groan. "I’m okay sister," she wiped her mouth and cleaned off the dust and ash.

The littler girl pouted to the side.

"Let’s go get, water," she gulped and walked forward.

Sand and dust had stirred and moved into the small abode made of mudbrick. The dried up palm leaf roof rustled as wind roiled inwards, inviting more dust.

Tables and chairs of wood were left in the house, alongside some wooden utensils. A rug stitched together of various old clothing sat in the corner—the corner where the two had took cover at.

Everything within the house was visible with barely the turn of their heads. A narrow door lead to a closet-like space where for leaf-beds supported by wood were affixed to the wall and above the floor—two on each side. Only two had pillows however.

The boarded up glassless windows gave way to no light, even through the gaps. Same went for the barricaded doorway out of the house.

A satchel and a waterskin now slung over each shoulder of the little girl. The older girl lifted up the rug and pulled out long pieces of fabric, as well as a dagger that was somewhat blunted at this point.

"Arabella, let’s go already," the little girl already had her hands on the wood barricading the doorway.

"Slow Rena. Need to be careful, remember?" Arabella walked forward and handed one of the fabrics. The other dark-hued cloth, Arabella wore on herself as a cloak.

Rena fitted herself into the cloak that was much too big for her small, bony figure. Arabella went towards the doorway and pushed out the first two blocks of wood at the top.

Rena then continued by pushing out the lower two blocks with all her might. All of the wooden blocks clattered onto the floor—previously kept secure and lifted up by the wooden brackets connected to the wall itself.

Surely a well-placed kick could break the brackets off the wall; or even simply topple over the middle two blocks of wood, causing the upper block to fall as well.

It was not much security, but it surely gave the illusion of safety—and that was enough for the children’s minds. Even with the barricade down, no sunlight peered through.

They both poked their heads out and they could not see far at all—as usual. Every morning was plagued by a heavy haze that would die down by late morning—by the winds and the workings of magic.

Sunlight brightened up the area just enough to know it was morning. They glanced up and it was the same as yesterday, or the day before, or even the week before.

Smoke, haze and thick ash painted the sky in greys and blacks. The girls got out of the house, dragging the blocks of wood behind them. They repeated the same process as last night and blocked the outer side of the door, which also had similar brackets in the wall.

Picking up a brown plastic pot, Arabella pulled her sister’s hood up and gave her two pats on the head. Rena strode forward, though waited every step for her sister to catch up.

From the outskirts of the town, they walked inwards on the dirt paths in sandals. Stitched into the fabric of their cloaks was a thin cloth to cover their nose and mouths from the haze.

Walking further and further in, more people seemed to be headed in the same direction. Till hundreds of women with a big plastic pot or two, herded along the same path within a few minutes.

Most of them were wrapped in cheap layers of flowy cotton clothing—all of them with a mask of sorts to wear on their faces. Coughs were not an uncommon sound, violent fits or otherwise; people just kept moving.

Inwards and inwards till the mudbrick houses became more densely packed and actually had locked doors. After about half an hour’s walk, the two sisters finally made it to a small oasis.

Rows and rows of water pumps were occupied by women had arrived earlier. Some opted to use the few ancient-looking wells, that had shrubs and twigs growing through cracked bricks.

Palm and date trees swayed, though their leaves and barks were covered in the same dust and ash that adorned most of the people here, as well as the structures.

Arabella and Rena lined up behind a dog-woman and a little girl who had a bucket. They bumped shoulders and elbowed their way to the front of the pack and filled up their waterskins and the big brown pot full of water.

Somewhat murky it was, but better than having none. Arabella placed the pot on her head and held her sister’s hand tightly, as they bumped and forced their way back the way they came—careful not to spill the water in the plastic pot.

After a full hour had passed, they made it back home with a litre or two of water. First and foremost, Arabella dipped her hand into the pot and splashed water onto the front side of the house—a small square by the side of the door to be exact.

She wiped away the dust with her bare hands to reveal the name ’Kaveri’ engraved into the mudbrick. Arabella sighed as she looked at it...

"Splosh."

Arabella’s head turned and she glared. Rena had put both her hands into the pot and collected it to drink. She slapped her sister’s hand.

Rena flinched, but had drunk the bit she took. She pouted up to her sister.

"It hasn’t been boiled. Do you want to start coughing like me?" Arabella scolded and gripped her sister’s wrist.

"Ow, ow! No, I don’t want to!" Rena struggled and wriggled her hand.

Arabella let go with a huff, then coughed a few times.

"Sister got it from the smoke, not from the water..."

"Doesn’t matter, you listen to me," Arabella replied and lifted up the pot of water. "Go get a few leaves."

Soon enough, by the side of the house roiled a fire that added to the smoke and haze, fuelled by strips of palm leaves. Above it was a clay pot that eventually had the water boiling.

Arabella waited for it to cool and poured some into Rena’s waterskin with a large wooden ladle. In a small cup, there were two soaking sticks which she grabbed and gave one to her sister.

Chewing the sticks, they brushed it across their teeth. They then used some of the water to wash their face and left the rest for whatever they wanted to cook that day.

Speaking of which, "Sister... hungry," the bony child held her stomach.

"Just wait..." It was not as if she was not hungry either, though she was not as bony as her sister. The two stayed crouched near the pot of water. Arabella winced for a moment, then pressed her tongue against her teeth.

She placed a finger into her own mouth, just as another baby tooth fell out, leaving a new gap where a new tooth was poking through. Arabella soothed the area with her tongue and held the tooth in her hand.

Rena’s eyes lit up, "We can sell it!"

"It’s not worth as much as big people’s teeth. Still, a copper piece is nice," she kept the tooth safe in her shallow pocket. "Your teeth will start falling out soon too."

"Then can we buy rabbit meat?" her mouth salivated.

"How about goat?"

"We can buy goat meat?"

Arabella flashed a small sincere smile, "A small goat, maybe. Would last at least a week or more."

The haze began to fade and the ash stopped floating in the air. Instead, the black and grey particles of dust, fell into the loose dirt and began moving southwards through buildings and shrubs.

Like sand, it drifted across every surface in sight and formed into small streams that continued further south. Now, they were able to see the multitude of mudbrick buildings along the outskirts—some of them ruined and crumbling.

Even so, many inhabited them. The sky was visible, though the mix of ash and soot did not look like it had cleared up even a bit. The sound of violent coughing caught their attention and they gazed to the other side of the street.

An old-looking man with a scruffy grey beard was propped up against the side of the building, coughing and wheezing. As he coughed, he began coughing up black dust that then followed the line of ash and soot towards the south.

However, that was not the last of his coughing fit. It grew louder and louder, till it took the attention of all the houses and their inhabitants around. He coughed up mucus and then blood followed after.

"Teeth," Rena pointed.

"...We will wait until he is actually gone," Arabella replied.

"Screech!"

Both children looked up as a large desert hawk dove down from the air and beelined straight for them. In its talons were two little sacks that it dropped near the pot.

It swooped around and landed on the ground, next to the cup of water. It dipped its black-tipped yellow beak in and sipped the water.

It tucked in its brown and white patterned feathers and shivered its body as Arabella petted its head with two fingers softly, "Good girl Mira."

Rena on the other hand was already opening up the grey sacks that were tied with rope. A symbol was imprinted onto the fabric, but it was not something either of them recognized.

In one was dried fruits and in the other bag were many strips of dark reddish-black jerky, a lot of it crumbled into the bag itself. However, among the dried fruits, Rena picked out four little wrappers of something.

Arabella reached into her shallow pockets and took out a crushed scorpion, "Got this last night," she offered it to the hawk. The hawk snapped its beak and began eating it.

"Sister! Chocolate!" Rena had already unwrapped one and was chewing it as she spoke. "Mira brought chocolate!"

Arabella’s eyes widened and she plucked the soft wrappers from her sister’s hand. She opened it up, though much of it stuck to the foil, she ate it and scraped any off the wrapper.

The sister hummed in pure delight and wasted no time to ravage the chocolate they got. Soon enough, they ate their fill of dried fruits and the ostrich jerky presented.

Eventually night came along, leaving the sisters to find themselves back in their house—the doors barricaded. Arabella watched the torches placed on the sconces slowly wane; she watched the crackle, the falling embers, the soot and ash falling onto the floor.

"Sister... ghost..." an unsettled voice came from behind her.

Arabella turned to see Rena, who pointed to the only other room in the house. The little girl stood frozen with quivering lips, far from that doorway.

"No such thing as ghosts," Arabella got off the chair she sat on and walked up next to her sister. She looked towards the empty room with four beds attached to the walls. "Mama and pa would not haunt us."

Arabella walked into the room with a sigh and turned around with her arms out wide. "See?"

Rena muttered wordlessly and rubbed her own arm with a hand.

Arabella whinged as well, "I want to sleep in bed."

Rena pouted.

Arabella groaned and grabbed a pillow off the bed, before she dragged it along and threw it to the corner of the house where the rug lied.

People in the distance coughed, crickets chirped, the fire crackled and no stars shined—the two sisters snuggled up in their corner. Arabella wrapped her arms around her sister and Rena lied her head into her older sister’s shoulder.

Arabella slowly rocked the littler girl back and forth. Rena grabbed her sister’s long hair and held it for comfort while pressing her face against it as she drifted asleep. Resting a part of her chin on Rena’s head, Arabella closed her eyes.

"We got a lot of water. We don’t need to fetch more tomorrow," Arabella uttered.

"Mm..." Rena drowsily said in contentment. "We’re becoming more lucky sister... We got chocolate today... Tasty food... Maybe the sky will be clear tomorrow?" she was already half-asleep.

"Maybe."

"Maybe someone with a biiig house will come take care of us..."

"Maybe."

"Maybe we... can buy a big, big house..." Rena uttered and fell asleep.

"Maybe," Arabella followed suit and stifled a little cough...

"Rumble..."

The earth began to shake and everything started to rumble. Arabella shook along with it, reminiscing how her mother would rock her to sleep. The quaking subsided somewhere within the night...

_

"Rumble... Brf..."

Just like any other awakening in the past couple of weeks, Arabella woke up to the rumbling of the earth—meaning morning was here.

Her tongue probed through the gap in her teeth and prodded against the new incoming tooth. The odd sensation made her grimace.

"Sister..." Rena whimpered in her sleep.

Arabella took notice and steadied herself awake, to wrap her arms around her sister. Rena looked as if she was about to cry, her face contorting and eyes tightening.

"It’ll be okay, it’s okay."

Rena slowly opened her eyes and uncomfortably shifted awake.

The smell of new haze and ash swirled into the home, "Uff, eugh..." Nausea hit Arabella and one cough escaped her lips; it then turned into a series of coughs, getting louder and more guttural. She turned away from her sister.

"Bella!"

Arabella put her hand out and pushed her sister away from facing her. "I’m—COUGH—okay," she held down her throat to stop the fit. She felt as if blood was about to be spat out, but she held it in...

"It’s getting worse!" the little sister forced herself into her view as the rumbling came to a stop.

"Sister, it will be fine," her voice cracked and rasped.

Rena pouted, "The smoke... Sister cannot be in the smoke anymore... or she might... she might..."

"I won’t," Arabella finally soothed her throat. "We can’t go anywhere. We can barely live here and Mira knows how to get food and get back. And... this is our house. Our house..."

Rena mumbled in discomfort.

Arabella shook her head, "The people, with magic will put all the ash down. You heard what the people around town said," she panted.

"Sister..."

"All will be well. We just have to keep living, okay? Then we can go find work and live properly-" Arabella’s eyes darted to the doorway. Underneath the boards barricading the door, she saw feet and ankles—at least three.

"BASH!" "BASH!" "BASH!"

Rena gasped and held her sister tightly, while Arabella scrambled for her dagger.

"CRASH!" The wooden blocks toppled over and clattered to the ground; the brackets attached to the wall broke off.

A tanned man in white robes had a long dagger that dripped with sanguine fluid—two more men behind him equipped equally. They stepped foot over the freshly kicked in door and glanced straight down at the two in the corner.

"Look what we’ve got here, there is some stuff left. This your home kids?" he looked around and saw the rugged furniture.

"Mira!" the name slipped out of Rena’s mouth as the little girl’s watering eyes gazed down to what the man held. He held a large desert hawk upside-down by its talons.

Crimson went down its feathers of brown and white patterns; its body twitched just a smidgen—some small fruits squished inside its beak. "Told you this bird kept coming back here, stealing from the rations and merchants," he said with a glare.

The other man with a turban stroked his beard, "What now? We cut a hand off each and let them go?"

"Sister..." Rena’s voice whimpered as she began sobbing.

Arabella’s eyes widened as she reached for the dagger she had hidden beside her...