Sky Forever

Chapter 20: The Morning

That night I had the same dream of being on top of the Beehive with Homunculus falling from the balcony. Only this time, the fire around us was pink and it was raining quite heavily. Amber was standing next to me too, but her face was dirty and her skin was covered in ash.

When I woke up, I heard the sound of rain from outside the window. I opened the blind and, sure enough, it was hammering it down. The water streamed down the window, I could barely see outside. I looked at the clock. It read 7:30. Why did my body insist on waking me up so early?

I got dressed and headed for the kitchen. Luckily, it was empty. My head was hurting too much to comprehend a conversation.

The last thing I needed right now was...

"Morning!"

I looked up to see Amber in the doorway.

"Morning..." I mumbled, sleepily.

I opened one of the cupboards to see it almost empty. There was a small box of rice in the corner and an empty juice carton. I felt Amber brush past me to open a different cupboard. She brought out a stale loaf of bread and cut off a slice. It was an awkward silence.

"So, last night..." She finally said, "I'm sorry. I was quite drunk and..."

"It's fine." I interrupted, "Don't worry about it."

"Okay." She smiled at me, "Oh, and thanks for taking me back to my room."

"You're welcome." I replied.

And with that, she left. I stood, staring at the loaf on the counter.

Was that it? Just an apology and a polite 'thank you'? Was I over thinking this?  The answer is yes. Yes, I was over thinking it. But I didn't realise at the time.

I turned around to see Janey approaching the doorway.

"Hey!" She said.

Inside the ship's thin, tight corridors, Janey looked even more humongous than she did in the cave. She squeezed herself through the kitchen's entrance, leaving me leaning back against the counter.

"Amber said there was bread." She said, looking down on me.

I nodded and pointed at the loaf. She grabbed it with both hands and waddled back out of the kitchen and down the hall. I sighed, grabbed the box of rice and went to leave. But then Ryder appeared, wearing nothing but underpants.

"Hey, man." He said.

"Hey." I replied, numbly.

"How bad's your headache?" He asked, rubbing his forehead.

"Quite bad." I said, "How's your head?"

"It feels like it's going to split open." He replied, "Is that rice?"

I looked down at the box in my hands, "Yeah. Janey took all the bread."

"Is that all the food we have?" He asked.

He nudged past me and opened a few cupboards. They were all mostly empty, except for a few small packets of grain or cartons of water. He looked back at me.

"You want to share that rice?" He said, hopefully.

"Fine..." I sighed.

"Cool. Come in to the control room, we can talk a bit." He said, grabbing two plates and two spoons from the sink.

I followed him down the hallway and into the control room. The rain was gushing down the front window.

"Good weather." He commented.

We both sat down in the chairs at the console. He grabbed the box off me and started dealing the rice onto the plates.

"So, what's the deal with you and Amber?" He asked, suddenly.

"What...?" I stammered.

"I heard you guys talking in your room last night." He replied, "Plus, I've seen the way you look at her."

"I don't know what you're talking about." I said, unconvincingly.

There was an awkward pause as Ryder handed me my plate and a spoon.

 "How do you guys know each other, anyway?" I asked.

"Long story." Ryder said, "Basically, there was a huge fight between our two families. Both families are quite big. And back then, she was 14 and I was 17. So, we decided to steal the ship and run away together."

"Why?"

"We were young and adventurous. And we didn't want to stay around our families any longer."

"So, were you two...together?"

"Not really. We were just the only ones who hadn't fallen out."

He shovelled some rice in.

"Well, go on then. Do you like her?" He asked.

"Of course." I answered.

"I mean...like her." He said.

"Why do you care so much?"

"Because I think of her as a little sister these days," He said, "And I want to protect her."

He finished his rice and stood up.

"So, if you ever do anything to hurt her," He said, suddenly quite sinister, "I will end you."

And with that, he left.