Raela

Chapter 8: Sharing With Leni

Cahn and I decided to take the elevator down from the third floor where Leni was being kept. I pressed the button for the first floor and sighed when the elevator closed. 

"Are you alright?" Cahn asked. 

I glanced at him through the corner of my eye. "Huh?" Since when did he care?

"You just look... Distressed."

I scoffed. "Can you blame me? With all of this happening, I'd be crazy to not be a little bit distressed."

He tipped his head in acknowledgement. "Yes, I suppose."

The elevator made a little ding and the doors slid open. We stepped out and searched the lobby of the medical center for Mason and the rest of his group. Scanning the area, I saw that there were a variety of different species wandering around. I recognized Catdons with their tall feline-like ears and colourful skin, which made sense since it was their home planet. I also saw Heltarliacs and their long tan arms, Sterlongs and their bright green fur, and some that I didn't recognize.

"What species are they?" I asked Cahn, thinking he might have known the answer. 

"I'm pretty sure those are Iypo-zenk Yiirwanzemines," he replied. 

I frowned. "Iypo-what?"

"Lypo-zenk. Yiirwanzemines live all over their planet, but they distinguish themselves based on where they live. So if one Yiirwanzemine, Yiir for short, lives in the Alzii Desert, then they would call themselves Alzii-Yiir," Cahn explains. 

I nodded. "So, where they live would also impact their appearance. So, using your example, an Alzii-Yiir would have tougher, darker skin than someone from, like, one of the poles would have, right?"

"Exactly."

"Oh, that makes sense."

Cahn pointed over to the left. "I think that's Mason there."

I look in the direction that he's pointing and nod. "Yeah, that's him."

Mason stood next to a water fountain with about five people. They were all talking in hushed tones, from what I could see. The girl with purple hair, Calista, crossed her arms and rolled her eyes. 

Almost like instinct, I could tell that they were talking about Cahn and I and the discussion that we had earlier.

I looked over at Cahn and nodded towards them. "Let's go."

He nodded and we headed over together. I put on my brave face as we neared the group. 

The girl with short brown hair, Clarke, noticed us first. "Oh, we were just talking about you guys," she said with a small smile. 

Calista elbowed her in the side. 

"Ow!" Clarke exclaimed.

"Big mouth," Calista muttered.

Mason sighed. "Girls, please stop bickering."

"I wasn't bickering with her," Clarke said under her breath.

He shook his head. "Anyway, hello. Nice to see you again. How is your friend doing?"

"Good," I replied. "He should be discharged in the next hour or so."

"That's good to hear. Our people are being released at about the same time, which will be convenient for travel," Mason said. "He isn't here right now, but Dara is our pilot. Once he's fully healed, he will be flying us to our base planet, Arnaeic. Do you have anything you need to to retrieve from your ship?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Yeah, we could probably pick up a few things from the ship before we leave," I said, thinking of my few clothes. 

"Alright. Then we'll stop by the ship pad before we leave," Mason said. "Now, it should take us about two days to get to Arnaeic, will that be too long for any of you? Any claustrophobia or anything?"

Cahn shook his head, so I replied, "No. We should be good."

"Alright. I think we have two spare rooms on the ship, if I'm not mistaken..." He glanced over at Clarke. "Am I right?"

"Yeah. We've got two rooms. I don't think it would be an issue if two of you shared a room, right?" she asked. "I mean, assuming you're alright with that."

For a moment I tried to imagine Cahn and Leni sharing a room and internally cringed. Hopefully they would be able to habitate the same area for two days without killing each other. "I think that should be fine, but ask Cahn. He would be the one sharing with Leni."

Cahn looked insulted. "Excu--"

"Anyway," I said, interrupting him, "once we get to your base, what's the plan?"

Mason shook his head. "Now is really not the right time. And this is not the right place. We will discuss it once we are on the ship. You never know who's listening."

Reprimanding myself for not thinking of that, I nodded. "Sounds good. Do you want to meet us here in an hour?"

Clarke nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

The girl with bright red hair, Faline, I think it was, huffed.

I crossed my arms. "Is there a problem?"

Her eyes flitted over to Mason before smiling insincerely and saying, "No. Of course not. See you soon."

As soon as they were gone, I sighed. "This is going to be a long two hours."

"You're telling me?" Cahn scoffed and shook his head. "You get a room to yourself. I have to share with Leni."

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Dear readers,

I am so, so, so sorry for the insane amount of time between these updates. I had a moment (and am still kind of having it) where I have no time to do anything like homework and life, much less writing, and am really writing this in class. 

(Shhh)

Again, terribly sorry for the extreme wait, and I hope to get the next chapter out really soon as a plea for forgiveness!

-flygirl1

P.S. Don't forget to comment your thoughts and vote!