SunRider

[20] Moths and Honey

—Circa 5,612 E.E. (Economic Era-The 17th Era): A young girl by the name of Sia is taken to the Crust to work in the Hub. She meets Finn SunRider but for a brief moment, saving him from a severe beating against a supervisor. He thanks her as he wipes the blood from his face and they are never given the opportunity to speak again. Sia watches SunRider from afar, in love with the boy. Months later, Sia is pushed out of a high window by her master for dropping his drink. Her body would have lain on the desert ground for days if not for SunRider, who risked his life to sneak away from his cave-diving shift to bury her. Wild flowers now grow on her grave, the only green vegetation as far as the eye can see.—

Finn crouched in the middle of the street. He forced Goblin down as well, causing passing citizens to give them strange looks. They moved to a nearby vending stall where a man with an impressive mustache and a heavy brow claimed his many collections of moths were, in fact, tiny monsters. They wove through the crowd gathering around the vendor and hid behind a stack of crates. Finn and Goblin peeked over the boxes and watched the Star-Children—they were young.

     For some reason, Finn had imagined all Star-Children—apart from himself—as grizzled adults with poor hygiene. Sitting on a crate inside a jar beside Finn's head, a moth fluttered in agitation, as if annoyed Finn was hiding beside it.

     "It's true! They're smarter than you think!" the vendor was saying, his mustache bobbing up and down. He pulled out a glass bottle holding a fat wide bug with purple wings. "The matriarch moth controls 'em, telling the rest what to do! They took the lives of four of my men before I was able to capture 'em and plead a bargain with the lot! They like honey, you see. So I goes and tells the matriarch moth, listen here, if you let me keep you around, I'll feed you honey and let you rest fat and content the rest of yours lives!"

     "You talking to bugs now, Quinta? You've gone daft, you have." someone yelled.

     The two Star-Children were now bargaining with a trader for a crossbow. The girl was pulling out coins while the boy paced around the second-floor catwalk, looking annoyed and bored. Unlike Nozgull, they weren't flashing their powers and killing everyone. Neither were they acting rude or...evil. The people about them seemed to notice the bracers, yet only gave them space. They didn't run or scream. Why were these two different? Could perhaps Finn have been wrong? Were the metal bands they wore not Star-Children bracers? No, Finn was sure they were. He had stared and fiddled with his own bracer enough times to know what one looked like. Near his head, a moth buzzed angrily, as if telling him off. They were unusual creatures. Instead of gray or brown, they had bright blue fur enveloping their bodies, giving them a puffy appearance.

     "Now these babies aren't your typical pet." the vendor kept talking, "They'll live for dozens of years and even bring you good luck! Ah bet if one'o you were to buy a moth from humble ol' me, you'd find coins on the road, your ol' lady will be healed from 'er bunions, and you might even keep your teeth 'til you're fifty!"

     "Too bad you didn't find them sooner Quinta! Maybe you'da kept some of your own teeth!"

     A couple of people in the crowd laughed, coming closer. Others, those with more sense, rolled their eyes and walked away. Someone bumped the crates where Finn and Goblin hid and a jar smacked Finn on the nose. The moth inside hummed even louder, the noise now sounding more like high-pitched swearing. Above them, between the many stacks and stories of vending stalls reaching high into the air, the two Star-Children were finishing their purchase.

     "Ey! Don't crowd about too much!" the vendor Quinta said nervously. "Matriarch here don't like being hassled!"

     "You say they're smart? You say they're monsters? Looks to me like they're hairy moths painted blue!" someone yelled.