Soul Ties

Chapter 7: The Plan

Stepping down the metal stairs of the ship was like a giant sigh of relief. Looking at it from the outside, the ship was quite huge, but being in there felt more suffocating than I was able to handle. I would have to suck it up for the journey tomorrow, but, for now, I needed to get as far away from that metal giant as my legs could take me.

Waving goodbye to Barlow, my mother and I make our way to the beach. The silent walk feels just as air restricting as those metal walls had been. Still, I refuse to break it since I don't want to say something I was sure I would regret.

Finally reaching the shore, we both stop and look out at the body of water expanding in front of us. I let the smell of the salty water fill me, knowing I won't have this pleasure for much longer. Is this how everyone felt before their trip to Thysus? Like a piece of them would be missing once they left Dalmoria?

For me, it was much more than a sliver of me that would be lost, but I didn't want to think about that. I had to stay positive. My mother's tail grabs mine, making me look at her.

"Are you coming home now?" she asks, tears on the rim of her eyes. I shake my head. The smile on her face tells me she already knows where I'll be going.

"Tell Seren I said hello." She kisses my forehead and I watch her walk into the water until she dives down where I can no longer see her. I wait there for a moment, taking in the entirety of the water.

Would I ever be able to come back home? It was highly unlikely, but, than again, I wouldn't ever want come back here. I would make a new home somewhere else with Seren where no one would find us.

I let another minute pass before I turn and start heading back into the trees. Barlow had to be gone by now, and my mother must've been deep in the ocean somewhere.

I walk a few feet into the forest, and then make a sharp left, breaking into a run. The branches scratch at my skin, but I don't care as I pump my legs harder through the forest. I didn't care about anything other than getting used to the feeling of running away. All my mind could think of was escaping and freeing myself from these insane laws, if you could even call them laws.

When I did see Thysus, I would have to ask her who and why would someone come up with something so barbaric and unfair. I mean, was everyone that lonely that they needed to be basically married off to someone else without being able to fight it?

Eventually, when my heart feels like it's going to explode, I stop and throw myself onto the ground. My chest rises and falls rapidly while I stare above me at the sun trying to break through the treetops. The sight makes me imagine the underwater trees of Xoven looking the same. The leaves swaying with the waves, fishes zigzagging through the branches. Closing my eyes, it's like I can feel myself floating there in that ocean forest, letting the water take me any way it wanted.

Would that be the place Seren and I could hide from everyone? No one knew us there, and it wasn't like we couldn't lie and say we were each others soul tie. Although, how would two Lunoid's pull that off?

I groan in frustration when I hear a twig snap behind me.

"Took you long enough," I say, sitting up. Seren hits me with her tail before joining me on the ground.

"You should be one to talk. I thought your mom was going to hold you and the captain prisoner in that thing until it was time for you to fly off."

I roll my eyes in agreement. "I'm sure she wanted to."

"So what time are you off?" Seren inquires, looking up at the trees.

"Too damn soon, but that's not what we need to talk about now."