Desolate Oasis, Pt 3

After a middling amount of rest and an incredibly refreshing water bottle shower , you leave the gas station and continue on your way just before the sun sets. The rest of the journey towards the plateaus in the distance takes you numerous days, most of which are done with a frenzied pace. 

You find yourself practically sprinting towards your destination during the nighttime, eager to cross this stretch of bleak landscape as fast as possible. Of course, you have to empower yourself with low levels of Fortify to do so, then enter your Chakra during the day in order to renew yourself.

By doing it this way you don't get much sleep, but you're fine with that. Simply, you're far too disturbed by the changes in your dream. The vision of that incredibly powerful presence up in the sky flattening the city you're in simply keeps haunting you. 

And given how you're prone to thinking about the same things over and over and over again… well, you're completely unnerved as a result. So, you decide that avoiding sleep is the best thing to do for now.

Besides, the shelters you find during the day practically demand that you use your Chakra. They've been too small or too dilapidated or too open to provide actual shelter from the heat and sun. And so you've been forced to literally manifest an atmospheric bubble to protect yourself 24/7.

You've even had to use your Telekinesis to build a shelter from scrap, wherein its pieces hover up in the air above you to protect you from the sun. You also have had to rest at a dilapidated bus stop, which had only physically protected you for half the daytime.

You also found yourself sleeping in a shipping container on top of a semi trailer truck in the middle of the road. Though it perhaps has been the most comfortable of the three resting spots, it's still far from ideal or serene. 

Despite the setbacks, you're able to make it close to the base of the plateaus just as dawn peeks up from behind you. 

And now that you're much closer to it during the daytime, you can see that they aren't the plateaus you're used to seeing in books and tv and whatnot. They're not the orange-ish kind out near a desert further west - these are more granite-like in appearance, are somewhat smoother, and their cliff sides are more sloped and less vertical.

More critically, these plateaus have lots of greenery around them. Well, they used to anyway. Their tops have brown and tan shrubs which have withered severely from the intense heat - at least the ones you can see hanging off the sides anyway.

There are greener and more lush shrubbery at the base of the plateaus, especially close to the edge of a web-like river flowing between a number of escarpments. But even then, they're thinner than before. You can easily tell as there are numerous dead plants at the outer edges of the shrubs, all brittle and dry and practically leafless.

Whatever plants are living appear to cling to the only source of water, though the river itself is thin and dry. Its former glory as a wild and surging river is clearly long gone, with only its wide, dry banks as proof of its past.

At least there's enough resources down here to water and feed and shelter whatever brush animals are out here, rabbits and foxes and whatever else. And that's always good news, especially since that means you can subsist on hunting again, at least for a while.

You wonder if you should spend an extra few days so that you could smoke some meat for the rest of the journey… If the land is going to be plentiful here, you may as well give it a shot, right?

You decide to leave the road, which circles around the plateaus, and instead follow the thin river leading towards the center of the whole landmass. Not just because you want to stay close to the water, but because it leads towards a rather large lake nestled near the plateaus themselves.

Well, the lake used to be large anyway. It has receded a significant amount after much of it has seemingly evaporated. It's perhaps a meter further down than its usual embankment, though thankfully there's still plenty enough water left in the lake itself.

But even that's not the reason why you leave the road - it's the fact that the lake itself has a number of homes lined up around it. There are tents and makeshift shacks and wooden cabins, all of which are in various sizes and states of repair. 

Most are worn and a bit run-down, though none are to the point of falling over. A scant few still look relatively fresh, or at least recently refreshed. But they also aren't in perfect condition and have seen great use.

What's most impressive about the lakeside community is that each of the homes have what appears to be massive canvas sheets hanging up over them. The sheets are held up by tall poles pounded into the ground at various intervals all around the lake's shore. 

Though they're all at slightly different heights, it allows the sheets to overlap each other to some degree, meaning that the entire shore and every home underneath is protected from the sun. In fact, the coverage looks so great that you could walk all around without ever coming into contact with the sun at all.

What's even better is that the canvas sheets overhang very slightly over the lake itself, and lean down towards it. Basically, the sheets help catch whatever rain falls and directs it into the lake - like a massive funnel.

The very sight of that giant ring of shade fills you with awe.

It's extremely clever of them to do that, though you're unsure if it's actually helping the lake rise again. That said, you suppose it's better than doing nothing at all, or if they only individually collected rain at their homes.

The very presence of this community draws you in towards it. If they're as clever as they seem, you might learn a thing or two about surviving from them. Hopefully they're friendly enough to allow you in.

As you get closer you realize that many of the makeshift shacks and tents have shop fronts of a sort. Some simply have large mats laid out in front of them with bundles of their goods currently packed away neatly. Others have open extensions to their shacks, with shelves and counters and whatnot. A few of those even still have their goods for show despite the fact that it's clearly unmanned and 'closed'.

Much of what you see is rather colorful and cheerful, even if everything is a bit dusty and worn and slightly faded.

Of course, as the sun rises higher some of the community's inhabitants wander outside to wake. A handful walk on down to the lake's edge closest to their homes to take a drink and wash their faces. One or two set up their lines and begin to fish. Most others simply set up their stalls or shop fronts while sipping on their tumblers or mugs.

It takes you another half hour of travel before you get to the community itself, or rather to the very edge of it. And it's there that you're met with a couple of residents, both armed with short rifles and with badges on their chests.

They both greet you with welcoming enough smiles, though their guns are at the low ready and pointed in your general direction. Clearly, they're welcoming without being too welcoming, which you find a relief. It's certainly better than simply getting shot at without warning, that's for sure.

One of them takes a step forward with her palm up, prompting you to stop in your tracks. You note that she's still under the shade while you're not. The sun bears down on you heavily, though thanks to your atmospheric bubble the heat isn't too much of a problem. Well, not yet anyway.

"Who're you?" she asks authoritatively. "And what do you want here?"

"I don't mean any harm," you reply. "I'm just a traveler trying to make it through in the world."

As you speak, you sweep a corner of your poncho across your body and hang it over the opposite shoulder. This gives the two residents a peek at what's underneath - specifically what's on your belt and in your holster.

They both look over your gun and your knife, but quickly regain eye contact with you.

You raise your hands up a little bit, not as though you're surrendering. You're just trying to show that you aren't up to anything in particular. 

Doing so certainly eases their tension a bit.

"And we're the Peacekeepers here," she answers. "Just two of the many. We're here to make sure you aren't gonna cause any trouble here. We're people that also wanna just make it in the world, and we like things quiet. Mostly anyway."

"I honestly wasn't expecting to find anyone here," you say. "I was going to keep following the road, but decided to come by and say hi. I've got some stuff to trade that some of you might like, maybe?"

The woman eyes you up and down again, this time noting your bulging messenger bag, and your backpack's straps on your shoulders. You sense her ease up even more on seeing them, but she doesn't quite seem fully trusting just yet.

"You don't look like much of a trader," she tells you. "Where's your cart?"

"I only really trade small things," you reply. "I mean, I'm more of a traveler than a trader. So I wanna keep things light. But I really do have stuff to sell, like ammo, seeds, candy."

The woman's eyes brighten, specifically after hearing the word 'candy'. It's then that you sense tendrils of Telepathic energy in the air, and you realize that this community has psions in it. You do a barebones Scan of the area, with which you perceive a handful of them scattered around the shore.

Not only that, but they seem to be connected to each other through a Network, which is partially hardened and secure. You also sense low levels of Telekinesis, Foresight, and ESP woven all throughout, which means they're more than likely studying and judging you as a group.

You kind of do a mental greeting, then withdraw your psionic perception back towards you. No sense and no need in eavesdropping on their conversations. Plus it's just common courtesy.

"Also, I'm a psion," you add. "Which probably the other psions in your community has told you already, but hey, best it comes from my mouth straight, right? In any case, I could maybe help with any problems in that regard, too. For a fee."

The woman Peacekeeper in front of you nods, then leans back for a moment as though she's listening to something. She nods again, then turns back towards you.

"We all appreciate your honesty," she says after a moment. "And because of that we can certainly allow you in - you may certainly rest and replenish yourself at the hostel across the lake, though you're not limited to keeping yourself there. Please keep your sidearm holstered at all times, and observe proper decorum with your psyche.

"You are also welcome to trade and operate as a freelancer during your stay here, though we reserve the right to rescind those privileges at any time. Should you prove untrustworthy for any reason, of course.

"Now you may enter. Welcome to the Oasis, Traveler. Enjoy your stay."