“What is it you most dislike? Stupidity, especially in its nastiest forms of racism and superstition.”

- Christopher Hitchens, Hitch-22: A Memoir

As the sun began to creep up into the sky, the Tribe of Lasim was already at work. The hunters had gathered together in their domain, sharpening their weapons since they had grown dull from their last excursion. Several of their fellow tribe members had come in to assist in polishing them, taking some of the burden off their shoulders. A The sound of scrapping and the clang of metal against metal rung through the tents, causing a handful of children to gather around the outside to peek at what "the great hunters" were doing. In another tent, some of the elders had gathered their young predecessors for another lecture and demonstration concerning camouflage techniques. The young students watched and copied their teachers as they used sand and other kinds of minerals to coat their skin and clothing, matching the texture and appearance of a sandstone. But the loudest tent by far was the food preparation domain, where the people were in a frenzy to preserve everything the hunters had just brought back the night before. "Salt everything!" "Dry this!" "Watch out it's going to tip over!" "Seal it in a jar!" "I SWEAR IF YOU DO THAT AGAIN I'M GONNA SKIN YOU AND FEED YOU TO THE BIRDS!" This, along with the clanking of pots and pans, made for a kind of organized chaos.

With all this commotion occurring just outside the her tent, Yeja was extremely surprised to find you still knocked out in bed, even after she had gotten ready for the day. Her tent was so close to the cooks that she woke up whenever they began talking (they were a loud, rather opinionated group of people). "Excuse me, Kora?" a soft voice whispered, leading you out of the darkness of sleep. You shuffled inside your sleeping bag, the blanket covering contorting as it twisted around your limbs. Yeja sighed before giving your body a light tap. The contact startled you and your eyes shot open. Your body sat up in reflex as you gasped for breath, looking about your surroundings hastily. It felt as if something had attacked you. 

"Kora, please calm down. Nothing's wrong. You're just being summoned to the chief's tent with your friends," Yeja said with hands horizontal towards your body as she motioned for you to calm down. You breathed sharply before looking at the girl who had awakened you. She was about the same height as you were, but her features were completely different. Her skin was much tanner than yours. Small dots of discoloration peppered her face, sun spots. You had only seen a few people with sun spots before, the builders of your tribe who labored under the harsh sun in the Valley of Eliade. Other than that your people had the tendency to stay out of the sun as much as possible. It was understandable, you thought, since this girl and her people dwelled within a desert, where the only shelter from the burning beams of the sun was that which they built for themselves. You found those small spots rather unique. Her hair was an ash brown that lightened at the top to a soft blonde, highlighting it beautifully, though you couldn't determine its true length since she had pulled it back into a braid, which was woven through to create a Mohawk. 

This must be the owner of this tent, you thought with a yawn. After the celebration feast you had been told to retire to a specific tent near the center of the camp by order of the chief. You remembered him mentioning something about how the owner would be coming in later in the night due to her responsibilities. At first you were a bit uncomfortable with the idea. Sleeping in a stranger's dwelling place is taboo, as well as rude. But the Afgastee insisted that the owner would be fine with because she was an extremely kind-hearted person. With that, you went into her tent against your better judgment, though it didn't last long since you fell asleep right as your head met the flat pillow that had been set out for you.

"Sorry," you mumbled, rubbing the sleep from your eyes, "I should have been up earlier. I'll get ready as fast as I can." The corner of the girl's lips curved up into a gentle smile as she gave you a firm pat on the shoulder. "All right. Hurry now," she told you before she trawled over to a small wooden chest that laid on the wooden base of her tent.  "Okay. Thank you for letting me stay here," you told her as you stood up from your sleeping space. "No problem. Now here's some fresh clothes. Change then come out so I can take you to Chief's tent," she said, handing you the articles of clothing from the chest before she made her way out of the tent. "Wait! What's your name?" you called as the flap of the canvas closed. "Yeja," she sang with a grin before she closed the tent, giving your privacy. 

Yeja? you thought, Isn't that the name of the girl that one guy was talking about last night with Sehun? You had many questions, but as your recalled the tension in the conversation concerning Yeja, you weren't sure if it was appropriate to ask. But you were wasting time as you thought about it, so you shook your head and tried to think about something else as you quickly pulled off your clothes and changed into the ones provided for you. "Are you almost done?" Yeja's voice called out into the tent. "Coming!" You yelled back as you swiftly brushed your hair and tied it before dashing out of the tent flap. You had to get to the meeting place quickly.

"Glad to see you stepping so lively," Yeja laughed as you darted towards her, even though she was only a few feet away from you, "Now come along. We have to get you to Cheif's place." Yeja motioned for you to follow her, which you complied to instantly. As you passed through the center of the camp you made it a point to keep track of Yeja's unique hairstyle. There were tons of people crowding the walkways, so you had to make sure you weaved around them in step with Yeja's quick feet. "Hurry up," she called to you. You barely heard her over the sound of hundreds of conversations buzzing around you. Picking up your pace, you ran after her.  

"Good morning! Did you just get back from the Oasis?" she greeted to several women passing by. They carried clay jars on top of their heads as they walked by. "Hello there, Yeja. It's good to see you! Yes, we just sailed back here this morning. You wouldn't believe it, but they raised the price for water on us again!" Yeja's jaw dropped, her face dazed in disbelief. "No!" she gasped. The other women nodded their heads. "Its true. And I bet its because we're women. You know how they always try and hike up the price whenever we're sent to buy the water," another woman added. "Those rats, abusing their gifts as always," Yeja cursed under her breath, glaring at her clenched fist. You stood there awkwardly, shifting your weight in the sand before she suddenly looked back at you. She blinked and turned to the women, "I'll talk to you about this at a later time. I have somewhere to be. Have a good day," She told them, bowing her head quickly before waved you to follow her. Your eyes glanced at the group of women, bowed, and trailed after Yeja as best as you could.

"So I assuming the people at the Oasis don't get along with your people very well, am I right?" you asked her as you dodged a cart. Yeja sighed and nodded, "They cheat us because we're desperate. I hate people who are like that, unjust." You could hear the pain in her voice which riled you up inside. "I'm sorry to hear that. That's not right," you told her, "If there's anything I can do to help, please let me know." She glanced back at you, her eyes soft, a complete contrast from how enraged they were a few seconds ago. "Thank you. You're empathy is greatly appreciated." Yeja smiled a little before turning her attention forward. "See that big tent with the striped pattern? That's Cheif's tent. Go there. I have to go help bring the new medicines to the medical tent. I'll see you when I get back to my tent tonight