Spectator

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Now

For the next two days before Nari's impending deadline, Kali spent most of that time with Sh'an. And it was nice. He took her out in the jungle, showed her the wallows where wild boars scraped with their tusks, spots where snakes could drop from above, where simians would pluck bananas. He never showed her a Sentinel - or at least she never saw one - and she wondered, perhaps naively, if that meant there were none around. They were programmed not to disturb unless necessary. As long as the other clans were fighting among themselves regularly enough, they didn't have to worry about the population spiralling too far out of control.

And they were still fighting; Sh'an left twice for skirmishes along the border. Both times he returned mostly unscathed, but with a deep frown in his brow. When she asked him, he paused a moment before answering.

"The Clan of the Forest does not commonly show such aggression."

Kali had frowned at that too. Did it have something to do with the other survivors? She and the other three couldn't be the only ones still alive, so what was everyone else doing? Inciting more violence? It didn't make sense, but there was no way to explain the fragmented thoughts to Sh'an, even if he had taken to learning standard as promised. Voraciously so.

It didn't seem like they could take a single stroll without Sh'an demanding to hear every standard word. He'd make her repeat it again and again, and he wouldn't stop either until he was satisfied with his pronunciation. She had to admit, he was much better at smooth sounding standard than she was at the more guttural Hazan. And even her grasp of Hazan had gotten stronger by association, just with continual practice. No, they wouldn't be having long, philosophical discussions any time soon, but it was a start. One that would not have time to come to fruition, not if they adhered to the deadline.

At night was different. Sh'an did not touch her, not like he had the first night she had been claimed, but Kali could tell he wanted to. It was like a burning in those nearly unreadable black eyes, the way his fingers would twitch whenever he was near, as if wanting to grab her. She'd be lying if she said there wasn't a yearning twisting in her stomach, that she didn't imagine constantly if she just bridged the gap that she had created and just let it all go. But it wouldn't be fair. They were leaving. They had impacted the Hazanti enough by crashing here in the first place, what right did she have to ruin them further? To ruin Sh'an further. So she kept her distance, though she would join him on the pallet at night, so far on the edge she would almost topple off.

But the alternative was touching him. And not knowing if she'd be able to stop.

It was almost a routine, the most comfortable one she'd had since they'd come to the reserve, ruined on the third morning by a ping on her communicator.

I still have two days left! She thought desperately. It was a good thing that Sh'an had left already for a morning patrol that she could not be part of. He'd asked to touch their foreheads and she had relented, but by the time he had pulled away she had nearly grabbed him right back. He was gone and she was to stay here as long as she liked. She hadn't seen Zakariah much either, and surprisingly, he was not more eager to leave than she was. The tribe members treated him with a certain measure of awe and respect, and he had a few of them swooning at his feet whenever he passed by, his chest out.

Ping. She couldn't ignore it. They could have been checking in - or it could be danger.

"Kali here," she said in a whisper, just in case.

"Come meet us at the field. We'll show you where to go from there." Nari replied, cool as ice. There was something else in her tone that Kali didn't have the patience to decipher.

Kali's eyebrows shot up. "We haven't prepared. It's morning still, and we have no excuse. There are people everywhere." Did she really think they were just going to cut and run? Kali's heart clenched painfully. Without saying goodbye to Sh'an?