This Is My Exodus

Chapter 6

"And that's all there is to it," Fienna concluded. "Dying made me open my eyes to a lot of things." A giggle escaped her furry mouth. Her eyes met Chalala's. "What do you think about all that?"

"I think it's sad," Chalala stated. The look on her face matched what she said.

"Oh, really? How so?" Fienna asked. "Why should I be the one that deserves pity?"

"You don't get it," Chalala replied snobbishly. "It's sad that anyone else would be dense enough to actually act like that other girl did."

"What a sob story," Xalei interjected with exaggerated compassion, only to be ignored. Again.

Ignoring Xalei seemed to become routine.

Fienna shook her head, her eyes had a hint of melancholy. "Mm. Patricia wasn't completely wrong. I was terrible. To myself and everyone around me. I was unfair to Aiden, but that didn't make him right either. We were both toxic to each other."

Fienna's long ears flopped about. "I should have been honest and been myself. I deserved everything that came my way. Why change myself for other people?"

"Honestly!" Chalala inclined her head to emphasize her words. "If everyone else is a bunch of morons, then you have every right to act like you're better than everyone. That's what I do, and look at me!"

"Riiight," Xalei replied, beckoning Chalala to follow. "Storytime's over. We stayed here long enough. Time to go to the next area."

"What?!" Chalala looked at him, very clearly feeling betrayed. "I want to stay with Fienna! I like her better than you."

Fienna tittered. "Wow! You have no chill, girl!"

"All right. Go ahead and stay with her," he said, unbothered. "Let's see you try to get back to your life without me."

He floated off ahead, leaving Chalala behind.

"Wha—" She whipped her head around so hard that her neck cracked. When she saw Xalei floating away, she took off after him. "Hold on!"

"Before you go, you need to listen to my advice." Fienna's whiskers twitched. She pointed at her with her horn. "You need to watch out for yourself."

Chalala's feet skidded to a halt. She turned her head, her mouth slightly parting in question.

"My story was meant to teach you something," Fienna replied. "As you can see, I act very much like my true self now. I refuse to lie. Not everyone is honest like me around here."

Chalala's voice seemed to leave momentarily. She was able to squeak out a, "Huh?"

"That's why I'm the better choice as a partner! You've made the wrong choice." Before Chalala could even say anything, Fienna hopped away into an upside-down tree, disappearing altogether.

Catching up rather quickly, Chalala turned back around to Xalei. "That's terrible...the only sensible person around here is gone."

"So, she's a person, now?" Xalei quipped.

Upon having the misfortune of remembering her current "companion", Chalala made a noise of disgust. The even greater misfortune was having to lay eyes on him to give her reply because that meant acknowledging his existence.

"It's an expression. Honestly, your lack of understanding just goes to show how superior I am to you."

"Whatever you say, Chickadee." Xalei showed no signs of irritation. Nothing she could say would get under his skin––more like fur.