The most brilliant drawn of categories Storoulette has ever seen.
Up north, on the horizon, the Sun set in hues of red over the ocean. Ocean, see, water, those were the only landscapes of the new world. The gods had blessed his skin with thickness and hair in abundance. Not skin, but hide. Skin was a privilege of those from Before.
Elias lived long enough amongst his own to understand how the world came to be what it now was, living a long time in the Fortress of Salt, listening to old tales of how water was once land, how boats were not the only means of transportation. Cars and wheels were some of his favorite words. Elias, as his family and all others he had met throughout his life, had learnt to hate those from Before, for he had learned life was easier in those immemorial times. He thought of his parents, now surrendered to the Ocean Gods forever, and how they had never thought of leaving the fortress and venture out into the unknown.
A known prophecy spoke of tales from an enchanted land, untouched by ocean, called Land. It was made of solid dirt, the last place on Earth that bared the name. The hope to find the place was what drove him outside his safe zone, and he thought of the place each time he cleaned his water desalination machine. 'Foolish hope' he thought. He had lost count of how many years he floated aimlessly in search of the place. But with no means of returning, he kept moving forward, placing all his hopes on a dodgy map he got from a water buoy salesman in exchange for his last dry fruit crate. His compass showed he sailed in the right direction, but his energy was faint. Fishing had grown scarce recently and he wondered how long he would be able to live if he could fish no longer. The thought depressed him and for a while he gave in to apathy and hopelessness.
"'Land.' He whispered, amazed."
A loud thud woke him. The boat was not caught in something hard, and kept smashing against the creature, he thought, in constant intervals. At some point, Elias was pushed out of his vessel and his survival instincts caused him to snap out of his numbness and force himself above water. He searched for the structure that held him for so many years, to find the ragged sail sinking slowly but steadily. Desperate, he looked around and, to his surprise, he met the structure that killed his mobile home. Not a creature, as he believed before, but a glistening, shapeless form, hard and stationary, something, he soon found, he could climb and rest over. Still grieving over his lost boat, he searched over his shoulder for other structures like the one he stood over, and saw, not far from him, something protruding from the ocean. A massive structure colored in shades of brown and green, and a massive patch of white surrounding it.
'Land.' He whispered, amazed.
His heart's fears were taken over by the relieve that comes with success, his endeavour was fruitful and his tired limbs ached to move and swim to shore. As he reached it and stood on it, his fists hit his chest and he yelled as his ancestors did, before collapsing on the grainy ground and sleeping the sound sleep of the victorious.
As he woke up his nose drove him to the trees. Everything marveled him. The roots were beneath the ground, not in pots, the fruit was fresh and there was no mould on them. The taste of it was something he had never tasted before, what must had been called sweet, for those trees were never watered by ocean. He ate so much he rested underneath the shade provided by the canopies and decided to plan his exploration. He was dozing off when his eyes spotted something on the edge of the forest. A secluded, but very visible structure he decided to investigate.
He moved quickly, hanging from the tree branches, cutting through the forest. As he reached a clearing, an impossible creature appeared in the middle, walking slowly and strangely, on two feet, looking up in search for him. 'It can't be.' Elias thought, hanging by one arm, from a safe distant. His parents had taught him from the creatures of before. But none of them looked as sickly and that one did.
"Hold it right there!" The creature screamed at him, pointing a long pipe in his direction. The back of the pipe made a sound and while Elias understood nothing of what was going on he could feel he was in danger.
"Please don't! I mean no harm!" He decided to yell hoping it would keep the creature calm. The look on its face was of awe and wonderment.
"You can speak?" The creature asked.
"Yes, I'm not a mute. Why would you think I was?" Elias asked as he switched the arm he was hanging from.
"But you are..." The creature, who spoke roughly pondered on the best and polite way to say what it needed to say. "A gorilla." It finished.
"Yes?" Elias thought the conversation was going nowhere.
Visibly bothered, the strange being lowered his gun and asked Elias to come down. He obliged and as soon as his front and back legs touched the ground he was met by huge decrepit arms involving his body into an excited hug. They were both alone for ages, and decided, relieved, that no matter what they had now found each other. However, Elias could not shake how cold the creature felt, but thought best not to question someone still holding a weapon, as meek and moribund as the creature looked.
The stranger took Elias to his shack, the structure he had seen before, and offered him food and shelter. He told the story of how he wound up on the shore of that island one morning and hadn't been feeling very well since. After so many decades spent alone and with lots of time to wonder to spare, he realized he was in fact dead, and had no idea how he came to be there or how he was still managing to walk about. He said his name was Jonas.
"Maybe I ate them, I don't know"
Elias thought about his parent's teachings and realized Jonas was one of the Befores. He growled and angrily exposed his canines, but a thought invaded his brain, a line from the prophecy he had learned in his youth, the same that took him to the sea. "In Land, the last ground over water, the traveler will find the last one from Before who witnessed the time goings and rising of the seas". He couldn't hurt Jonas, nor did he want to. Jonas was a storyteller and explained how that patch of mountain used to be called Everest, he spoke of how he lost some bits of his skin the week before, and how he waited a century for someone to talk to. He remembered the last of being alive, his heavy winter clothes turned into shades on the windows of the hut he had built after waking up surrounded by water, but not much more. He told Elias about climbing mountains that were no longer and how the endless watered horizon bored him. He faintly remembered not being alone before the rush of waves hit his mountain, but couldn't remember what came of his companions.
"Maybe I ate them, I don't know" He said to Elias, sending a shiver down the gorilla's spine.
He couldn't remember a great transformation, only the fact he never cared for eating or drinking anymore. He said he almost went insane with the loneliness, but the stars kept him company and he loved to live. He believe that was the force keeping him going all that time.
Elias was touched by all the stories Jonas told so well. As time went by the companionship grew to more. They were in love. They shared tales of their time apart and kept warm and content together. Jonas showed Elias the island and all its surprises, especially what Elias named the Flying Boat, a machine that sailed through the skies, landed a long time ago in between what he now knew was rocks on the island. Love had clouded Elias brain so it took him a long time to remember the last lines of the prophecy. 'The love between traveller and witness would travel as bird in search of Land".
Elias had spent months believing he had found The Land, only to realize he had found just land. His quest was incomplete but he believe they had to travel to continue it, and the time on the island was only a stop on the journey. A journey that had also led to love.
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