Village of the Sandy Dunes (4)

The inside of Rahim's house wasn't anything special. There were about three chairs surrounding a small square tabletop with a cup full of water still filled to the brim. Beams of intense light coming through the window illuminated a bed made up of hide, fur, and straw.

Lynch and Hissa opted to sit on the two free chairs, both of them noting the somewhat creaky sounds it made upon planting their behinds on the wooden surface.

The only thing that differentiated the seemingly normal house of Rahim from the literally normal house of Hissa was the open doorway leading inside a room where Rahim went inside to brew up the potion.

'Potion…' The word stuck itself inside Lynch's head. 'Are these the potions like those in the middle ages? The so-called 'remedy' for all kinds of sickness? Or are these the legit ones, full of magic and any kind of fantasy shit?'

Lynch was hoping for the latter. He knew better than to trust a 'potion' made from different kinds of herbs with a civilization level of swords and sandals.

*cough* *cough*

At the sudden outburst, Hissa quickly placed her hand on Lynch's back. Motioning her hand in circles, Hissa gave a concerned frown towards the young boy.

Only to perk up a moment later.

"While we're waiting, how about I tell you some things Rahim had done while he was younger." Hissa had a mischievous smile gracing her face.

"YOU BETTER NOT HISSA!" From the room beyond, Rahim sounded like he was about to literally shit himself.

"You see, this one time," and Hissa proceeded to ignore the anguished cries coming from another room, "Rahim decided to be a 'big boy' and haul the fertilizer onto the field."

"HISSA! DO NOT!"

"He was able to, until the fourth bag, at least." Once again ignoring Rahim and his pleas for mercy, Hissa continued with the same shit-eating grin on her face. "He tripped on the spot, while the bag ripped open."

"HISSA!!!"

"We spent the whole day trying to get rid of his stench while most of the girls were so turned off, they denied most of his flirting attempts for the next few years." Hissa chuckled lightly, only to be followed by silence.

And then full-blown laughter.

"Ahahahahaha!" Lynch couldn't hold it in. The story was completely ridiculous. It was so far from left field that, for the moment, he forgot his current conditions. He forgot about his dire circumstances and about the second set of memories still waiting to be butchered and processed like meat.

He felt like a normal, functioning adult again…

'And the mood is back.' Lynch stopped laughing and wiped a tear from his eye, his smile threatening to rip his face in half. 'But even then, smile.'

Smile, because no matter how bad it gets, there's always a silver lining.

Looking at Hissa with a fond gaze, Lynch brought his arms up and hugged the ever-living shit out of the woman, who reciprocated the hug as well as she could.

In the other room, the embarrassed young man regained his cool and looked at the scene with a warm heart.

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"The potion's ready." Lynch was busy drinking a cup of water when Rahim made himself heard, holding a cup full of unknown liquid between his two hands. "You better get your taste buds ready, kid. This isn't going to be pleasant."

When Rahim placed the cup down, the scent alone nearly knocked Lynch into a coma.

'Holy Bejesus! This thing smells like a fucking dumpster!' Lynch shuddered, his nose cringing in distaste at the stench. He was almost thrown to the ground retching as a result of his inability to tolerate the scent. 'A fucking century old dumpster!'

"You… You weren't k-kidding…" Lynch coughed again, his throat raspy and tears gathering in his eyes. "So… Down the hatch…?"

"Down the hatch." Rahim stated this as a matter of fact, causing no small amount of concern to well up inside Lynch's chest. Looking toward the adult in the house, all he saw was a grimacing Hissa.

"It's okay… dear. No matter how bad it smells, it can't be worse than how it tastes, right?"

"That's a lie. You know firsthand how my potions taste." Hissa glared at Rahim for blurting out the truth. "Hey, kid needs to know what he's getting into."

Lynch paled slightly. "How bad is it?"

"Very." Hissa was the one to reply and pointed at the cup. "If it helps, you should plug your nose and think of something other than that going down your throat."

Lynch gulped. Taking the potion in one hand, the stench now fully assaulting his nostrils as if they had killed their entire family tree, Lynch closed his eyes and pinched his nose before quickly downing the disgusting liquid.

"ACK! AHHH!!" The moment Lynch finished drinking the entire thing, he dropped the cup and gagged, ready to expel the liquid that violates all kinds of liquid currently resting deep within his gut.

Only for his mouth to be clammed shut by Rahim's hand.

"Take it easy, kid; the taste will be gone in a couple of seconds." Rahim looked towards Hissa, who winced at the display. "The potion will work overnight. Have the kid here take his rest early and avoid letting him inhale too much dust."

"Okay." Hissa approached the still-gagging Lynch and placed her hand upon his head. "Come along now, dear. I'll get you to bed so you can rest, even if it is too early."

Lynch let himself be carried by Hissa now that everything they had to do was through. Even if he didn't want to be carried, his legs protested walking for the moment, otherwise, his stomach might rebel as well.

Groaning, Lynch tried his best not to barf all over the kind woman who was carrying him back to the very uncomfortable bed.

Needless to say, the piercing gazes of those racists (can they even be called racists if they are fully within their rights to suspect and loathe white or fair skin?) in the village met his slightly twitching form.

It was a few minutes later that he was laid down on the bed, where he drifted off to sleep.

'Potion must have… have some kind… kind of… tra… tranquilizer…' Lynch's eyes closed, and he drifted off to La-La Land.