Alien [Louis]

40 | F i n a l i s e

Holy crap, we've reached forty chapters, ya'll! Hallelujah! 

LOUIS KEPT ME safe until nightfall.

During the hours after Klaru's departure, the two of us spoke non-stop about Junito and its wonders; he told me about the brilliant sunset where the blue sky of day started to burn a fiery orange and continued to do so through-out the night, like flames licking and intertwining with the clouds; about the blood-red fields beyond the mountain where creatures called kloips - colour-changing beasts that used their shifting complexion to alert others of danger - roamed freely and finally how the palace gardens had hedges so large you could barely see the tops.

I asked him more about the animals of Junito and he just laughed. "There are far too many to cover at the one time but you already know of hantodils, which are the big winged ones with antlers. You also know of kloips and-"

"Silbucks," I added with a grin.

"Ha," Louis chuckled, "I don't even remember talking about silbucks. Was I rambling by any chance?"

"Just a little bit. But that's only because you were going on about how tasty they are along with altroes and ... grats, was it?"

"Ah, crats," he corrected with a sigh. "Ah yes, the most delicious things you will ever consume," he reminded me. I could practically see him salivating at the thought, which only rekindled my interest in trying the Junite delicacy.

If I took a moment to forget about Klaru and the overall possibility that the Junites would try to kill me if I stepped foot outside, I found myself worrying about the foreign food and whether or not it would agree with me. What if nothing was to my liking and I starved? The thought terrified me like it would terrify any food lover but then I remembered that Louis had managed to survive for months on nothing but pancakes. I cast the sudden panic aside and reminded myself that if he could adapt as quickly, albeit to just the one thing, then so could I.

I told Louis, "I'm looking forward to trying it," and he just smiled at me. "But I'm holding you responsible if I start throwing up."

"What? Why?" he asked, bewildered.

"Because you keep going on about how marvelous the food is here so I'm relying on your word alone. So, if I suddenly fall ill, I'll know that you were feeding me false information."

As if on cue, my stomach churned and my hand flew down to land on the empty pit.

"In fact, I'm kind of hungry at the moment," I realised.

Louis frowned and looked at my stomach like he could hear the grumbling. "I don't have any food up here," he said sadly. "I could run down to the kitchen and get you something if you'd like?"

At the mention of food, my stomach voiced its emptiness once again and all I could do was nod.