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sassysillysavvy · 1 year

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It’s another cold day beyond the Wall. They’re making their way from Clan Izingubo back to Silas’ hut, as per usual, when they come up on the same fork in the path they always do. Instead of immediately turning left towards Silas’ hut, Nina points towards the path to the right.

“What’s down there?”

“Nothing,” Silas immediately replies. He doesn’t even look, just continues towards the left-ward path.

Hm. Suspicious.

Dia doesn’t let him get far. She races ahead and stops in front of him, forcing him to pause so he doesn’t run into her. “Nina’s got a point. We trek up and down this path all the time, but we never go that way.” She raises a brow. Silas stares down at her, deadpan. “What’s over there, huh?”

“Nothing of your concern.” He seems very over this conversation. “Let’s go.”

Dia glances at Nina.

Nina looks back.

They both smirk.

“Bye!” With the biggest grin, Nina tears off towards the right path. Dia runs right after her and they both giggle as they disappear behind the trees.

“H-Hey!” Silas shouts in surprise. They don’t stop, boots crunching over gravel and snow down the path. Sure, they completely left Flint behind, but knowing him he’ll probably join them soon enough.

Just as she figured, she hears Silas yelling after them just a moment later.

“Fine, you win!” Dia glances behind her and sees Silas and Flint struggling to catch up. Silas looks beyond annoyed unlike the smile and glittering curiosity in Flint’s eyes. “Slow down and I will tell you!”

Nina runs even faster. What a prick. Dia laughs in amusement as she follows at the girl’s heels. The cold air hurts but it feels nice to break from their usual schedule. It feels good to explore. They’ve all been trapped in that tiny hut for weeks now.

It doesn’t take long before the trees begin to wane. The path leads straight down a hill into a massive clearing, a short wall of toppled, mossy stones and charred wood marking the entrance. She and Nina stop at it, panting as they look through the opening inside. Dead weeds and grass have overtaken the area. Blackened materials lay in mounds, trees charred, the entire space empty and hauntingly silent. It looks like it might've been a Clan at some point, but no one’s around.

Dia shivers. She’s not sure if it’s from the cold or the sudden unsettling atmosphere.

“Whoooaa,” Nina breathes next to her, as Silas and Flint finally catch up behind them.

Dia glances at Silas. “What is this place?” He was trying to prevent them from coming here. She’s starting to see why.

There’s a dark look in his eyes and he’s holding himself strangely still. Silas has always behaved a bit… distant, but the grit of his jaw tells her something else is going on. “This is Clan Umlando,” he answers. “The Documentation Clan.”

She’s heard plenty about the Clans so far despite her short time here, especially from Sizani. She was happy to babble on about them unlike their caretaker, but Dia blinks when she realizes —

She’s never heard this name before.

“What happened to it?” Flint asks.

For a moment, Dia thinks Silas isn’t going to answer. He’s probably going to pretend like he never heard the question and attempt to push them all back towards his hut. He’s not one to share information, especially with that familiar sign of tension she always sees whenever he’s preparing to dodge a subject.

But surprisingly, he doesn’t.

“When the blood virus first began to spread, the Clan leaders became… desperate.” He takes in a breath. “They decided – without consulting the Healers first –” She hears his voice harden. “–that the best course of action would be to gather up all the sick into one place–” He stares out into the clearing, his gaze further than she can see. “–and burn everything to the ground.”

A breeze blows through the ruins.

“…There were no survivors.”

Not even Nina dares to say anything smart.

“Deities above,” Dia whispers. Suddenly, the mounds of burned materials form back into buildings and huts. She hears the laughs of children running around and coughing from the sick. The toppled wall is pristine with people guarding its entrance, carts of food and animals being led by rope traveling on imagined paths. Before she can blink, fire quickly engulfs it. So much fire and smoke and she turns away from the image, looking over at Silas instead.

There’s ghosts in his eyes.

“Now you know what’s down here.” His words are hollow. “Can we go now?”

She didn’t know Abnormals even had the capability to turn against one another. It was always ‘qinisela’, from what her parents taught her. Silas’ pain stumps her enough for Nina to jump in first.

“No way! I wanna check it out.”

She races ahead through the entrance before anyone can stop her. Silas tenses, but he doesn’t chase. Almost like he’s afraid to go inside.

“Nina!” He’s clenching his jaw again. “It’s too dangerous!”

Dia has a feeling that’s not the only reason.

She honestly doesn’t even know why Silas wasted his breath. In complete Nina-fashion, the girl doesn’t listen. She only spins around with a smirk, throwing her fingers up in a ‘L’ shape against her forehead. “What? Afraid I’m gonna get siiick?” She laughs and turns back around, continuing further into the Clan.

Shockingly, Flint follows her. He’s too curious for his own good sometimes.

Silas sighs heavily beside her as the twins wander off. “I’m going to die,” he states dryly, eyes rolling up to the cloudy sky. “Your parents are going to kill me because you all refuse to keep yourselves alive.” He glares. “Despite my best efforts.”

So dramatic.

“C’mon, it can’t be that bad,” Dia snorts.

Silas opens his mouth to argue when Flint suddenly drops out of view, the ground caving in underneath him with a loud yelp.

Her heart drops.

“Flint!” She immediately tears after him. Silas and Nina aren’t far behind. They scramble to the cloud of dust, Silas yelling his name as they drop to their knees around a newly made hole. She hears him coughing somewhere in it all.

“Flint!” Silas is breathless, eyes wide. “Flint, are you alright?!”

“You alive down there, dumbass?” Nina scoffs.

Dia glares at her.

“Y-Yeah.” His voice is shaky, but it doesn’t sound like he’s in pain. The dust is finally starting to settle and she sees him fanning it away with his hands. “I caught myself. I’m okay.”

Thank the Deities for his Air Element.

The hole isn’t too deep, maybe seven feet down. Flint is standing in the middle of it, mounds of dirt and grass that fell with him surrounding him. He’s shaking out dust from his hair as Silas collapses in relief beside her, bracing a hand against his chest.

“Good…”

Unlike him, Nina’s laughing. “You fuckin’ idiot!”

Flint shoots daggers up at her but he doesn’t say anything. Dia would, if there weren’t more important things to worry about right now. “Try to use your Element to get out,” she suggests, holding out her hand as far down as she can without falling in herself. “I’ll catch you.”

Flint backs up a few steps before launching himself towards the wall of the hole. His hands push downwards, producing a small burst of air to help him get higher. It allows his body to float up just slightly further from his jump, and he stretches his arm out towards Dia as he approaches her. Their fingers brush, before gravity sends him crashing back down.

“So close–!” she hisses, as Flint’s boots hit the bottom of the hole. Oddly, the noise is loud and solid. “Try again.”

As Flint goes for another leap, Silas whips his head towards Nina. “I told you it was dangerous!”

“Why are ya lookin’ at me?!” she squeals. “He’s the one that fell in the hole!”

Again, their fingers just barely touch. It’s too far.

“Okay, um–” Dia tries to peer further into the hole to see if there’s anything they can use to help him out. There’s not enough dirt to create a mound for him to step on, but she notices it’s dark behind him. “Hey, is there room for you to back up further?”

He glances behind him. She can’t see from the shape of the hole, but he walks back into the darkness and out of her sight.

“Yeah.”

“Good! See if you can get a running start. That might help you jump higher.”

She prepares for the third one, stretching her hand until it strains. A few seconds pass. A few more.

She blinks.

“Flint?”

No response.

Silas begins to panic beside her. “Flint?!” He leans forward, and Dia almost worries she’ll have to catch him if he falls in, too.

Suddenly, Flint’s voice echoes up from the hole. “There’s books in here!” he exclaims.

Though she’s relieved he’s okay, she is beyond confused.

He races into view again, smiling up at them with stars in his eyes. “There’s so many of them!” he says, “And a ladder, too. You guys have to see this!”

Flint darts back before anyone can say anything. Dia looks over at Silas, hoping for an explanation, but he seems just as perplexed. That’s concerning. Silas always knows what’s going on, and he usually tries to be as snooty about it as possible. This is strangely out of character.

As Flint’s carrying the ladder over, Nina rolls her eyes. “Have you forgotten you’re in a hole?” she sneers.

Flint ignores her. He sets the ladder down and pushes it to land against the opening, the first prong hitting just below the lip of the hole. Perfect height. That can’t be a coincidence. “C’mon!”

Nina scowls. “We are not going into the stupid hole.”

Dia’s almost inclined to agree. Silas was acting like they could get hurt, and now there’s random buried books? She’s not sure how to proceed when Silas immediately starts heading down the wooden ladder.

“Oookay.” She blinks. He’s stepping down onto the bottom with Flint before she’s even fully processed. “Guess we’re going into the hole.” Shrugging, she stretches a leg until her boot catches onto the first prong. The ladder feels pretty stable, and half the group is already down there. Might as well join them.

Nina groans obnoxiously loud. Despite that, the ladder shakes with her weight just a moment later as she follows. Of course. The girl’s all talk, but Dia suspects she’s just as curious as Silas is.

The descent is short before they’ve joined up with the other two. Dia steps off the ladder expecting soft dirt under her feet, but she’s surprised by how solid it is. With further inspection, she realizes it’s concrete. Definitely not a coincidence. The walls where Flint first fell are dirt and roots, but she’s unable to see further to where the books must be. The sunlight from the hole allows for some visibility, but not much.

“It’s so dark down here,” Nina comments, as they walk deeper past where the ground caved in. The opening to air above is getting shorter, squaring out to more of a designed ceiling over their heads. “I’m’a light it up–!”

She’s only able to lift her fist before Silas sprints towards her, slapping both hands over it. “No, no, no, no–!” he shouts, fingers gripping her fist tight.

She tries to yank it away. “What’s your problem–?!”

“Fire?!” he gasps. “Paper?! Really?!”

Slowly, it begins to click in Nina’s head. Her glare drops and she laughs in embarrassment, lowering her arm. “Oh… yeah. Right.” Once her hand is down, Silas feels confident enough to let go. He’s breathing hard in his panic. It’s almost funny.

“I got it,” Dia chimes in, sighing. Unlike Nina’s roaring flames, she produces a gentle glow from her palm. It’s enough to light up the new space, revealing cleaner concrete floors and walls. Wooden shelves line a wall tucked away in the back, hundreds upon hundreds of books filling the space. Good thing Silas stopped Nina. She could’ve set this whole storage room on fire.

Looking at it now, Dia has to admit that Flint was right. It is quite the spectacle. Everything seems untouched and pristine, just waiting for someone to find them. With the ladder down here as well, she wonders if this was a storage room that was used frequently before the fire. What did Silas say this Clan was for again? Documentation?

“Look at them all!” Flint marvels, smiling over at Silas.

He’s staring up at the shelves with disbelief, something soft in his eyes. She’s… never seen him like this before. “I thought it all burned with the Clan…” she hears him whisper, and she’s thankful when Flint distracts her by grabbing a book.

He opens it with gentle hands but a hungry gaze. He’s probably loving this more than any of them. “Uh–” He narrows his eyes, trying to read the page. “Uh, web? Uh… Web-oh–?”

“Uhwebo,” Silas corrects.

Flint smiles, glancing up at him. “Like the Clan?”

“Mm-hm.”

Nina’s right over Flint’s shoulder. To Dia’s surprise, Silas hasn’t dared to touch anything yet. Flint’s eyes return to scanning the page, excitement in his voice. “Are these names? I think it’s documenting the members of the Clan!” He turns the book around, holding it out so they can see. Nina rushes around to view it with them.

There’s a list of names scaling both pages. Just as Flint was trying to read earlier, the word ‘Uhwebo’ marks the top. Huh. So that’s how it’s spelled.

“And check this out!” Flint points to the section next to the Clan name. He reads it off. “Year 283!”

“Yo, that’s old,” Nina pipes in.

Dia rolls her eyes. She was born in 283. “It’s not that old,” she mumbles.

No use. No one’s even listening to her. Nina is engrossed in the page, and she raises a finger to point at something. “Hey, look. Silas.”

He turns his head. “Hm?”

“Silas,” she repeats. “Your name. Right here.”

Curious, he leans forward to see. Dia and Flint do the same. Just as Nina said, the name ‘Silas’ is right there in the middle of the list.

“What’s that ten mean?”

Dia blinks. “I… think it’s his age?” She holds her glowing orb of light closer. “See? There’s a different number next to everyone.” She glances over at him, suddenly trying to picture him as a child. It’s too hard. “You were a member of Uhwebo?”

“I thought Healers were supposed to be separate from the Clans,” Flint cuts in, confused.

“Yes, they are.” Silas straightens out to his full height. Again, hard to picture him younger. “That was before that was decided, back when the Clans were first being sorted. I was a member then.” He turns away from the book back towards the shelves. “If only for a short time,” he mutters. Still, he hasn’t touched anything.

What a weird guy. Dia will probably never understand him.

Everyone seems content with his answer. Flint turns the book back to himself, flipping to the next page. He squints down at it. “This doesn’t look like names anymore,” he mumbles. “I… can’t read it. I think it’s all in Zulu.” He glances up. “Hey, Silas, what’s on these pages?” He turns the book back around, holding it out so Silas can see.

Curious, Dia tries to read it. All the letters look like English letters, but they’re formed into groups of words that she’s never seen before. Whatever this language is, she definitely can’t comprehend it.

After a moment, she realizes Silas still hasn’t said anything. He’s just staring at the pages. “Oh, is it too dark?” She holds her hand up closer, pouring a bit more light into the orb. Almost the whole room is lit up now. “There.”

Still nothing.

Flint’s waiting patiently, but Nina’s over it. “You okay?” she asks sarcastically.

Silas shoots her a glare. “Y-Yes.” He goes back to the pages, and Dia watches his eyes scan them rapidly. He hasn’t started translating yet. His brows are furrowed in concentration, the muscles of his jaw clenching and relaxing like he wants to say something but won’t. She stares at him, baffled. What’s taking so long?

Suddenly, Nina’s entire face lights up. A huge smile of pure chaos stretches from one end to the other. “Oooooh my gods!” she squeals with mischief, startling everyone. Silas jumps especially high. “You don’t know how to read!”

…What.

Flint slams the book closed out of pure shock. He and Dia whip their heads towards each other, eyes wide. “Whhaaaatttt?!” they echo, swiveling back towards Silas. He’s completely stiff, refusing to look anywhere but at the ground.

“Nooo, no, no, no–” Nina’s laughing. Flint is staring. Silas won’t move. “Please tell me she’s not right about that. Please,” Dia begs.

His face is bright red. He’s completely quiet.

Her jaw drops.

“You can’t read?!”

“My entire life was completely uprooted when I was only seven!” Silas yells, head down and fists clenched like a child throwing a tantrum. “I’ve been a little busy focusing on other things since then, like, I don’t know!” He throws his hands up in embarrassment. “Survival?!”

“I can’t believe you don’t know how to read!”

“I-I can read a little bit!” He yanks the book out of Flint’s hands, throwing it open to a random page. Again, his eyes scan desperately until they find a word he knows. “There! Right there!” Nina’s still dying of laughter, causing him to raise his voice so Dia can hear him. He practically throws the page in her face, pointing to the word ‘amanzi’. “It says water. Happy now?!” She’s barely able to toss out her glowing orb of light when he shoves the book in her arms, grumbles of another language spitting under his breath.

“You seriously don’t have an education past the age of seven?” She’s heard the stories of when the Abnormals were run out of the castle. They were trying to start another war. They wanted blood. They deserved it, but now it’s not so hard imagining Silas so young. Now, she’s picturing a small child who can barely read surviving off the streets.

She remembers that amazed look in his eyes when he stared up at the hundreds of books he thought were turned to ash.

“It’s not that surprising,” he tries to defend himself, still refusing to look at her.

“It kinda is!” She cradles the book to her chest. “Because– I mean–”

Silas always knows what’s going on, and he usually tries to be as snooty about it as possible.

“I-It’s you!”

Nina’s finally calming down, though the shit-eating grin on her face hasn’t. “Why d’ya care so much about these books when you can’t even read ‘em?” she snickers.

“Because it’s not about me.” He’s still glaring at the ground, but his fists are loosening. “It’s about… my people. Our history. It’s about what we’ve gone through.” Dia can see it again, in his eyes –

The ghosts.

She realizes at that moment how little she actually knows about him. She never bothered to try, figuring she’d be home in no time and they’d never see each other again anyways. Besides, he’s an Abnormal. He’s a monster. He –

He can’t read.

“Why don’t we just teach you?” Flint pipes up. It’s the first thing he’s said in a while. His gaze is soft and understanding, his shoulders shrugging nonchalantly when Silas looks at him. “I mean, you’re teaching me medicine. How much harder can it be?”

Dia barely knows anything about Silas, but Flint… Flint does. He’s the only one who does. He’s the only one who’s tried.

Shame burns her cheeks.

…Why does she care–?

Nina barks out another loud laugh. “Ha! If anyone’s gonna teach you anything, it should not be Flint.”

Flint doesn’t even have the chance to be upset before Dia steps in. “You think you can do better?”

“Oh, I know I can!”

“Okay, then prove it.”

The girl blinks. Dia smirks down at her, an idea forming in her head. “Yeah. Prove it,” she repeats. “Let’s have a competition. We’ll see which one of us can teach Silas how to read the most words.”

Silas opens his mouth to object but Nina cuts him off. “Oh, you’re on!” The fire of a challenge burns in her eyes. “I’m gonna crush you guys!”

“Flint?”

Again, he shrugs. “I mean, it was my idea–”

“Good!” Dia passes the book to Flint, freeing her hands so she can clap them with finality. “Then it’s settled. We’re gonna be Silas’ new teachers.” Throwing her hands on her hips, she faces him with a smile and a strange warmth in her chest. “Welcome to school!”

“No, no, no, no–” Silas shakes his head frantically. “I-I did not agree to this!”

“Why not?”

“How is learning your English words going to help me read these books?”

She has a feeling he’s just making excuses to avoid humiliation, but he does have a point. “It won’t, but… Learning English could be useful?”

He stares, unamused. “How.”

Yet another great point. Dia refuses to let him back out, though. She’s… not really sure why, but she started this so she’s going to finish it. The image of Silas at the entrance of the Clan runs through her head, his tight voice and sad eyes. It all changed the moment he saw these books, buried and hidden away at the bottom of a hole. It all changed when he realized the Clans’ history wasn’t lost forever.

It hits her.

“You can start documenting again!”

She catches him off guard. She can tell he doesn’t want to be invested, but his surprise is too much.

“No one’s been documenting anything since this Clan was destroyed, right? Imagine it! If you learn how to read and write, you can start keeping track of the Clans again. I mean, it’ll be in English and not Zulu, but… It’ll be written down, and that’s what matters, right?”

It isn’t until she’s done with her speech that she notices the way he’s looking at her – So tender, green eyes glowing but hesitant. Like he’s afraid to get his hopes up. Like he’s forgotten what being hopeful felt like.

“You would do that for me…?” he whispers.

And out of nowhere – he doesn’t look like a monster anymore.

For the first time, she notices the tired lines under his eyes. She watches his adam’s apple bob with his swallow. His hair is shining soft and silky under the glow of her Light Element, and she has to stop the urge to reach out and touch it. Has anyone ever looked at her that way? Her face blooms hot at the thought, her heart jumping into her throat.

She’s blown away by his beauty.

Dia remembers she’s not alone. The twins’ stares jolt her back to reality. “S-sure, why not?” She tries to shrug it all off, eyes darting away. “I mean, it’ll give us somethin’ to do, I guess…”

It’s hard to catch her breath.

“A-Anyways–” She spins on her heel before she can see Silas again, focusing towards the entrance of the hole. “What do we do with all these books? We can’t just leave them here with this gaping hole. They’ll deteriorate.”

There’s a pause. Then –

“Question.”

Dia glances behind her at Silas. He’s staring down at the floor again.

“Now that… you all unfortunately know the truth about the fact that I can not read much–”

She’s honestly surprised he admitted it.

“Can… I be honest with you…?”

She looks at the twins, puzzled. They look back at her.

Hesitantly, Silas meets Dia’s eyes through his bangs. “I… have no idea what that word means.”

She blinks. “What word?”

“The… one you just said…”

It clicks. She’s almost just as floored as she was a moment ago.

“Deteriorate?”

Silas throws his fists down again, gritting his teeth. “It was just a simple question!”

Part of her is amused by his reactions, but Dia can only imagine how difficult this must be for him to admit such failures to them. He’s supposed to be their caretaker, the person they rely on. He’s the smartest Healer beyond The Wall – and he can hardly read. Dia knows if the roles were reversed, she’d be mortified. She decides to cut him some slack.

“It means to fall apart over time,” she explains.

He stares at her hard, trying to detect any teasing. When he’s confident she’s being serious, he sighs and looks back at the books. “That… makes sense.” He huffs, probably attempting to salvage his pride. “...Thank you.”

Dia just smiles. He doesn’t have to worry. She’s not going to say anything.

Nina, however –

“Teaching you is gonna be harder than I thought.”

Instantly, Silas glares at her. “Thula,” he growls.

“I have no idea what that means.”

“Ha! See?!” Silas throws his hands up. “I am not the only one! Maybe I should teach you Zulu!”

Nina gets up in his face. “Maybe you should!”

“Maybe I will!”

“You can try!” She throws a finger out at him. “I bet I can teach you way more English words than you can teach me Zulu!”

He blinks, taken aback. “That does not mean what you think it means–”

“How would you know? You don’t know what anything means–!”

Dia sighs. “You’re both stupid!” They whirl around to face her, surprised by the interruption. “Now can we please figure out what to do with these books?” She shivers and pulls her coat in tighter. “It’s getting cold.” Also, she needs a distraction to forget what the hell happened to her earlier. Silas? Pretty? She’s going crazy.

“We could try to find something to cover the hole?” Flint suggests. “It’s not a permanent solution, but it’ll at least keep the snow away for now.”

“Thank you, Flint.” Dia’s extra obnoxious, sending a pointed look towards Silas and Nina. “At least someone’s actually trying to help instead of argue all day.”

Nina rolls her eyes. Silas crosses his arms. When did Dia become the babysitter in all of this?

They all start heading out of the storage room before long. One by one they climb the ladder, breaking the surface to slowly darkening skies and culminating clouds. Looks like more snow. No one wastes any time as they run around the old Clan in search of cover for the hole. Silas is no longer afraid of it, it seems. Maybe because he has a goal in mind. Eventually they settle on a charred piece of wood, but it’s long and flat and more than enough to block the coming snowfall. The four of them work together to push and carry it back towards the hole, sliding it right into place as the sun sets.

They back away from it to admire their work. Silas makes a worried noise.

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Dia chuckles. She knows those books mean a lot to him, but they mean a lot to the rest of them, too. They won’t let anything bad happen. She pats his shoulder in comfort, not even realizing until those green eyes are looking down at her again. “We’ll build something better at the hut. You’re good at building things.”

With one last pat, she turns on her heel to leave the Clan and return to the hut. It’s not until they’re down the path, Silas at her side and the twins bickering behind her, that Dia realizes she does know something about Silas. She knows… quite a bit, now that she’s thinking about it. Their steps are almost in sync with each other. She’s telling the type of story she’s noticed he responds best to, the kind with lots of detail and humor. She’s trying to keep the words as simple as possible. When she gets to the punch-line his smile is familiar, and he lifts that same tree branch over Dia’s head that always gets in her way.

She’s not sure what happened or when it happened, but…

Did they actually become friends?

#flightless writes #ocs #dia petali #silas #flint liang #nina garcia #it’s been a while since ive dabbled in arc 3 #I’ve missed it :’)#(also i titled this piece 'clan umlando and silas' surprising secret')#(feels like an episode name lmao)

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