I know who I am and that’s someone who deserves to be treated with respect.

Timeline/World: Through the Looking Glass – Guardians of the Pariah
Current Date: December 15, 2023

Character: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 35, physically about 21
Current residence: Nyvieh Caves
 

---

I wonder if I miss the Eden. I left it behind many moons now, more than enough for almost two years to pass by. If there is one thing that I do remember from the hunter, it is that he taught me about things that were longer than the nights with the moons. I already knew about the passing of time. I knew of the moon’s rotation, in a primitive way. I knew that I saw it change utterly in the sky and when I saw it go from full, to gone, back to full again, I knew that a whole rotation had happened.

According to the hunter, there were more days to a month, most months, than there were to complete a full rotation, which meant that there was possibly one month a year that had two, but that was always a little too complicated for me to understand and I still go by those rotations. There have been more than twenty since I first came to the lake and that tells me about the time in a general sense, it suits me just fine.

I have seen very few people, but I still see people roaming the far edges of the lake when I am settled quietly on the little isle in the not-quite centre. The copse of trees still suits me perfectly fine, and the clear waters still leave me curious. I feel that I have seen every spot the water has to offer me and yet, when I go under when I feel restless, I find something new to discover.

I feel that perhaps, this comes from the hunter’s time in my life. I used to not mind spending time by myself. I was perfectly happy with being in the Eden, though I knew that I was far enough from any other bodies of water that finding a possible mate would have been near impossible for me. The thing is that I didn’t mind that idea back then. I was so young that I didn’t feel the need to have a mate in my life.

The time spent with the hunter awoke a need in me; there are days when I long for the warmth of another near me but certainly not enough to pull me away from the one thing that keeps me alive. I cannot live without the water; it is what sustains me and what keeps me alive in so many different ways.

So, there are days when I do leave the lake behind, but I never go very far, even if I do roam a little further every time I do leave. In a way, I suppose I might be looking for another body of water that would offer me safety while bringing me closer to the ever-elusive souls that I see roaming the edges of the lake every now and again.

I only go so far. I cannot spend that long away from the water though I do not know my limit; I know that I could simply be drinking the water, or wiping myself down with a wet cloth to tide me over but it would not be enough, in the long run. I have no desire to test the limits of the time I can spend outside of the water. What if I roam too far and cannot make it back in time before I am too weak to continue? This alone terrifies me.

On a most recent trip out beyond the lake, I came upon what seemed like a campground—a word I also learned from the hunter. There were several tents, these things that are usually half-circles that are staked to the grounds that humans sleep in. It keeps them from the rain and the cold. There was even the crackling of a fire near the centre of what seemed to be a circle of those tents though there were not really enough to make it a proper circle.

I kept away from the fire, but I still stayed nearby for a few moments, listening to the sound of nature and the quiet sound of chatter. I do not know in which tent they might have been, I did not see them. The voice of one of them rose higher in pitch than the others; in anger, perhaps; and claimed that they knew who they were and that they were someone who deserved to be treated with respect.

It made me smile a little, but I cannot tell if that smile was genuine or a bitter one. I learned about respect with the hunter, though I had mostly known of what it was as an innate sort of thing, and I can understand the desire to be treated with respect. I felt that this was one of those things that seemed to have been eventually lacking with the hunter though it is hard to tell if that is truly the reason I left. It feels like I’ve left behind so many things when I came back here, I try not to think about it too much.

Final Word Count: 849

I’m not patient enough to solve a mystery right now.

 
Timeline/World: Through the Looking Glass – Guardians of the Pariah
Characters: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 33, physically about 21
Current residence: Nyvieh Caves
Final Word Count: 766 words
 

---

It had taken courage. Courage that he didn’t think he truly had to his name. Enki had lived most of his life in that cave, after all. There had been the year or two he had spent away from it when the hunter had swept him away from all he’d ever know. Certainly, it had been with a plenty-valid reason as the cave had started to fall apart following an earthquake but when he’d returned after a hard year of travel through which water had been sparse, Enki had found his cave different but still the same.

The access to his Eden had still been there. A much tighter fit, but there and since then, he’d worked on reopening that area a little wider so that he didn’t have to scrape by on the rare times he moved between the two.

At first, after his return, he’d stayed mainly in the Eden. He hadn’t wanted to go back to the outside world; it had been frightening and uncomfortable and the last thing he’d wanted was a repeat of that year spent travelling because he’d been swept away by the hunter. Still, however. Little by little, he spent more and more time in the cave and roaming the nearby area. It was lonely in the Eden. It was lonely in the cave. The surrounding areas had a few animals, but they were not exactly interesting companions.

Others like him but not—walking on two legs but still not sprites, as he was—came but only rarely. The last he had seen anyone, it had been several full moons back. Enki did recall that the hunter had tried to teach him how to keep track of the days, but it was hard. It was just easier to keep up with the moon for the most part.

So those visitors were rare, but they still were interesting, and it was these last visitors that had given him some courage, just a hint more. It prompted him to travel just a little further, hours away from his cave but still within distance. There, he had found a bigger body of water, a lake, he figured. Its water was so crystal-clear that, at first, he hadn’t even seen the water. Had it not been that he could feel that water with his senses, he would have believed it a lie.

The visitors had spoken of the crystal-clear water lake some hours away. They had spoken that it was a mystery, something plenty spoke about, but none truly knew the understanding behind it and what he did recall most, from their discussion near the dark water of his cave as he kept far back, out of sight, was that neither of them felt patient enough to solve the mystery of the clear water.

It made him smile a little. Patience was something he knew plenty about, though it wasn’t knowledge of his patience that made him head towards the lake. It was the mention of that very lake and how big and clear it was. It was water and water was what he needed. Dark water was much preferable to clear water but if it was a source of water big enough for comfort, and it was away from the loneliness of the Eden, it was worth a try.

Once at the lake, it took some doing to find a place to truly call his own, even if it were only for a night or so. In the not-quite centre of the lake, Enki had found a little island. The trees were densely packed together that it was hard to see anything beyond the copse of them, but once he had found a spot to slip in, it had been just a perfect little area for him to settle and settle he did.

He hasn’t gone back to his cave yet. It has been a few moons since and that is all right. He finds comfort in the water, even if it is clear. He finds comfort in the safety of the little island as no one has bothered trying to come this way yet. He can see all edges of the lake and there are none of these wooden structures the others use to get around on water; he figures that it means he should be well and safe on his island for a while yet. For now, it is different enough to take away some of the aches from the loneliness that the cave was forcing right into his bones and, in the end. This is good enough for the time being.

I said I’d listen, not that I’d do it. I heard you out and decided it’s not worth it.

 
Timeline/World: Through the Looking Glass – Guardians of the Pariah
Characters: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 32, physically about 21
Final Word Count: 724 words
 

---

It still is just so lonely in the Eden. At times, I tell myself that I should leave it again, so long as I can keep on finding bodies of water along the way, I would be fine. But then, I remember how long it took me to come back here after he left my side, drawn in by something or someone else out there and the thought of having to go through another year of nearly no water terrifies me. I don’t want that and I don’t think I could handle that.

Still, I make myself go out there. It is just so achingly lonely in my cave and in the Eden. There is no one but me out there in that paradise and, in a way, I believe that if I had never actually met him, I wouldn’t know any better. I would be happy with my loneliness since I wouldn’t really know what it was.

Now and again, of course, people do come, they dip their toes in the pool of my cave, refreshing themselves on their hike but that is rare. Those that come out here, I’ve noticed, are different. None of them are rightfully… human; I think is the word I’m supposed to use. Dam’ien used to talk about people who were different and how the government was hunting them down. It was only ever in passing and he never seemed to worry about the fact that I seemed to potentially fall into that group of people that were different.

It was only once I was back on my own and in the Eden that I really started to think about these things and the thought that maybe I could have been hunted down and killed terrifies me. I don’t know what he was thinking, though he clearly wasn’t all human either, was it because he simply could hide what he was? He had a scent about him that flowed along the water, so it was hard to ignore it but it was there for me to pick up.

This is another one of the reasons why I hesitate to leave the cave. Though maybe, one day, I could follow these rare visitors who talk about a haven somewhere. Maybe there is water there and maybe I could make friends.

The last visitors I’ve had, though they never knew I was there, were a pair of young people. At least, they looked young to me. A boy and a girl, they looked very similar and it made me wonder if they were twins. This is unheard of for sprites like myself so it was a curious sight to watch them from afar.

The girl seemed rather… I don’t know the word for it but she made me feel as though she was looking down at the boy constantly. They only stayed for a day but even during that short amount of time, I could tell these things. He told her a story, one I tried to tune out as it was late for me and I was mostly drowsy, but once he was done, he stared at her expectantly but she only scoffed at him, telling him that she said she would listen, but certainly not that she would do it.

Her words, they seemed to really hurt the boy—they didn’t leave as a pair, in the way they’d come. She left first and he stayed behind for an hour or so more before following in her tracks. I hope for him that she doesn’t behave this way all the time, it seems like something that would just be so exhausting to have to deal with, I don’t know how he might manage. I can understand how you might want to listen to someone as they tell you something, but is it really up to you to decide if something is worth it or not? Especially for two such young people who seem to be travelling so very light. They had nearly nothing to call their own when they stopped at my cave, after all.

There’s not much I can do about it, at this point. It was some weeks back now and while I could possibly track them, it would be difficult. There have been so many other things that have wandered these paths since then.

Where is the moon?

 
Timeline/World: Through the Looking Glass – Guardians of the Pariah
Characters: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 31
Final Word Count: 644 words
 

---

As someone who grew up on my own, I can admit rather easily that there are plenty of things I wasn’t aware of, at first. Plenty of things that I learned later on in my life and things that I’m learning even now.

One of these things that I learned most likely when I was perhaps in my mid-teens was that the moon isn’t always a constant. In the: it changes as days and nights go by, disappear and then comes back, growing and repeating the pattern over and over again. This was knowledge I hadn’t known prior to these particular years because I’d more or less spent all of my life in my cave, living in the water.

Sure, I moved a bit from the cave to the Eden on the other side but I rarely was out of the cave during the night. It was my safe spot. I admit that I only ever spent my first night out of the cave and out of the water once Dam’ien became part of my life. I’d never had a need to be out of the water at night but he certainly couldn’t spend all of his time in the water so my first month or so of nights spent with him were actually somewhat… terrifying?

So to speak.

I mostly just remember one particular night during which I woke up and it was dark out there. So dark. I almost thought I was back in my cave for how dark it was but after a while, I noticed the stars peeking out through the clouds but no moon. I was worried and rightfully so. What had happened to my beautiful moon and who had done it?

Mind you, I didn’t wake him up to ask him. Maybe I should have. Instead, I spent the next two or so weeks fitfully sleeping, waking in the dead of the night and staring at the sky. I saw the moon came back, little by little during those two weeks but I was afraid that it would disappear again, and, after its brightest night, it did!

It wasn’t instantaneous, no. It happened little by little, just as it had appeared, it was now disappearing and I think I waited almost three months before I stopped being an idiot and asked him about it. He was patient with me. So patient. I don’t know that many others would have been quite this patient in the face of something that was akin to panic. I didn’t want my moon to keep on disappearing; I was always terrified it would never come back, though it had done so just fine the first two times.

I think it’s on that day that I realized that I really didn’t know half as much about the world as I thought. Not that I tried to change myself or anything, but I tried learning a little more about things and it felt good to have that knowledge, I’m not going to lie.

I’m just a dark water sprite, after all. I’m not really meant to be around others, nor was I really meant to be out of my water but Dam’ien had made it sound inviting and I’d followed him. I regretted that move, I did. It took me more than a year to find means of getting back to the water so I could go back to my Eden, a place I know I never should have left in the first place. I’m glad I came back.

My life is here, in this little paradise. It’s lonely, that’s for certain but this is my home. If I were to find someone else, I would be pleased by the thought but I’m not going to be drawn away from the water and the Eden that has been my home all of my life.

What are we hearing?

Timeline/World: Guardians of the Pariah
Characters: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 29
Final Word Count: 546 words

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It had taken a lot of getting used to, this not living in a cave part. He hadn’t known what to make of it at first though Dam’ien had made it easy enough to at least feel safe in the new environment. There had been a world of new sight and smells, just as there had been a whole new world of sounds. The sounds had frightened him at first; he hadn’t known what to make of them.

Back in his cave, he’d been able to tell the source of the sound and most of the time all he could hear was the soft sound of little animals coming to lap up some of his cool, refreshing water or the sound of that very water dropping from the stalactites to land into the deeper water of his caves. It had been the most soothing of sounds and he missed it dearly.

They didn’t live anywhere near the bigger places, he’d been told. It would have been so much noisier than it was now and yet it still felt too noisy at times and he longed to go back to his cave. He wasn’t sure why he didn’t. The hunter didn’t hold him captive, he was free to roam and go where he wanted, so why not head home?

The fluttering warmth he had felt for the hunter upon their first meeting had been extinguished a long time ago but it had always felt safest to travel with the other, they’d gone so far from all he’d ever known that Enki wasn’t even sure which way was home anymore. Not that it had to be that cave in particular but it had been his all of his life up until he was swept away.

Every morning he watched the man pack up his things and head out to hunt, to do the things his trade made him do so he could put food on that table and keep them fed—well no, keep himself fed because Enki had no need for the food Dam’ien brought back, especially not the still bleeding and raw kind. Enki mourned the death of these innocent animals, even if it was for the sake of survival at this point, it still hurt every time.

It brought him back to the rabbit that had brought the hunter to his cave. Why had he followed the man out afterwards? The scent of blood had been so strong on him, why had he followed, taunted him, tried to teach him a lesson? The thought was pathetic and he knew it. There was no explanation on why he followed the hunter away, on why he left his home and his peace of mind.

It was simple and required no real deep thought. He’d been lonely, waiting for a mate that may never come to be and had gone with the other at the potential promise of companionship, it really had been that simple and now he did regret that move but there was nothing he could do about it, there was no going back, no changing, no leaving. At least not until he formulated a complete plan that would get him to a body of water and keep him safe so he could hopefully travel back.

Salvation

Timeline/World: Guardians of the Pariah
Characters: Enki Attwater
Race: Sprite – Dark Water
Age: 28
Final Word Count: 518 words

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Salvation came to him in the shape of a meat-eating hunter. Enki would have turned his back and never acknowledged him again if the man hadn’t kept on trying to lure him out of the cave and its water. He still remember the poor little rabbit that had gotten them acquainted. That had been years ago, of course and the hunter had come and gone, usually always to the same results that felt like mating to him but held none of the pain he knew came with mating within his own species.

He didn’t mind the visits, they actually gave him something to look forward to. It was quiet in his cave, a little lonely now and again but he didn’t mind much, it was the way of his own. If only the way of his own had not kept him just about stuck in the cave he had picked as his own. He needed water to move comfortably and he could only leap from water to water, to speak, if it was within a certain range since he had picked and there was nothing near him. A river a short distance away that he could manage but it didn’t really lead him much of anywhere. That or he really hadn’t tried much.

So when he woke one morning to find out that the earth all about him and his cave was shaking, he was confused. He could feel the earth trying to tear itself apart underneath him and his body of water. Could see the rock of his cave begin to crack. Stepping away from there to safety seemed pointless as he could see a few rocks tumbling into the entryway of his cave, if he was stuck away from his water, it would be the end of him.

His salvation right that moment came to him indeed in the shape of ‘his’ meat-eating hunter. Enki hadn’t seen Dam’ien in almost a year if not more at this point and he had thought their moments of passion had come to an end. So to have to man come into his cave, scoop up some of his dark cave water into a large, tight-lidded container and walk him out of his home as it fell apart all over them was something he could be more than grateful then.

Enki could dip a finger in that water as they walked, it would keep him sated enough. It could keep him safe. He had played this trick before, had been in the water the hunter had pulled into his drinking skin. It was just how he was made, he was the water, in a way.

He didn’t know his destination and it didn’t really matter much, so long as they moved away from the shaking ground, from, as he looked back once last time when they walked away, the boulders covering what had once been the doorway to his home. So long as he had his water, if it were mixed to another, he could move to a new destination and he would go where the hunter would lead him.