A well dressed lady came around to the back of the stall and criticized what I had done. Then she tried to flirt with the stall guy (who ignored her), and she wandered about the stall, making snide comments about everything she laid her eyes on. There was a sudden downpour, causing a flood. I helped the lady out of the water, and the three of us fled the area with nothing but an old map to guide us.
***
We were in a building with a low ceiling. I talked to the well-dressed lady for a short time. She was being nicer now. I told her and stall guy I was going to take a look around. I entered the next room over. It was a lot bigger and had a large oval pool in the center. No one was swimming, but there were a few people milling about. I walked slowly along the side of the pool. Luckily, no one paid much attention to me.
I went past the glass doors on the other side of the room, then continued circling around the pool, heading for the place I'd entered. A couple people edged past me. Then there was someone walking behind me wanting to go faster, but the space between the pool and the wall was too narrow for them to get past. I tried to speed up a little, but I started to feel my feet slipping on the wet floor. Eventually I was able to veer off to the right and let the person past. I found myself standing in front of a lady at a desk, a passageway to her left. The lady instructed me to go down the corridor into the "guest room" and grab certain items which were contained in a bag.
I walked into the room, confused. There was a bunch of stuff scattered all over a bed in the center of the room. There was a half-full bag there as well. I started putting the loose stuff back into the bag. I then I walked out of the room, carrying the bag full of items. The lady at the desk told me that I couldn't leave yet.
***
Those in charge weren't letting me leave. They were holding several other people hostage as well. By now it was night time. I was in a room with one other girl. I had been trying to find a chance to look at the map I still carried, but by the time I had a spare moment they ordered lights out. The door was kept cracked, and I noticed a dim light from the hallway. I tried to crouch by the door and use the small amount of light to read the map, but one of the warden ladies walked past the door. I ducked out of sight. Next I went over to the window, thinking maybe the moonlight would help.
I rummaged around in the dark and found a small pinch-light. I realized that it gave off too much light, so I placed in under a blanket. My roommate and I studied the map. We speculated that traveling west would not be a good idea, since that was where the main forces were stationed. South was the direction we'd come from. There were floods and many "shelters" like this one. North was the most barren part of the dessert. East seemed like the best option at first, but then we thought they would have an easier time tracking us down. We hesitantly settled on a northwest path, thinking that they wouldn't expect us to go that way. I said that we would need to leave as early in the morning as possible.
***
In the morning, the authorities came marching along single file. We managed to run past them and reach the door without being seen. I went through the door without looking back and used a flying machine to get further away. It was a simple hang glider, long and with narrow wings. The streets were crowded, and since I had a hard time getting more than a few feet above the ground, I had to swerve back and forth to avoid running into people as I sped along. Eventually I got high enough to see more than the panicked faces of people leaping out of the way.
Now the flying was a lot easier. Supposedly the contraption was made by elves. I soared away from civilization and found myself in the wilderness above a desert. I came across a circle of mountains which opened to a valley in the center. I entered the valley and spiraled upwards, flying on my own now without the aid of the glider.
I came across various types of birds, each one specialized for flying at different heights. I recognized seagulls at one point. I found that I was able to slightly change myself to have the wings of birds. I reached the top of the mountain where there was a large bird nesting. It stared at me warily. I tried changing my type wings several times. When I briefly resembled a seagull, the bird grew hostile, starting to come at me. I quickly changed to resemble the nesting bird, which calmed it down. I marveled at how aerodynamic it's wings were for a moment. The bird had backed up to its nest again, but I decided not to stick around.
As I turned to leave, the bird told me about a food source at the foot of the mountain, a type of nectar. I drifted down to the bottom of the valley. There was a variety of succulent which covered a significant portion of the valley floor. Caught inside the green plant was some watery red nectar. I was able to sip a little of it before the level went down too far for me to reach. I saw how the birds would be able to get at it with their long beaks.
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