Jerone and the Girl from the Sky

Chapter Four

Jerone

It's been five days since I agreed to let Cyrus stay; she's barely left my sight. Despite Moda's and Ori's protests, I made her come gathering with me. She didn't complain, despite her lungs still adjusting to Orthea's gravity. It probably hurt to move her core, and breathe, but she seems to be content, even happy, to be earning her stay. I can't lie, it's nice having the companionship, even if she does ask a million questions.
"So, why do you gather banta twigs from the ground?" Cyrus pointed at a tree with a twig, "Why don't you just climb a tree,"
"Because, if we did Orthea would become angry at us and famine or other disasters would occur," I answered.
"You don't cut down tree's because your planet would become angry and starve you?" She tilted her head to the side and knit her eyebrows together.
"Yes, it's happened before." I put another twig in my bag.
"When?" she crossed her arms.
"When my grandfather was a child, many Ortheans lost faith and began cutting the trees. As a result, Ortheah stopped growing edible food; instead toxic things began to sprout from the stumps of the banga trees. It got so bad that the elders had to appease Mother Ortheah with an offering and an arrangement. The relationship between Ortheah and Ortheans has been at ease since," I said.
"I call bull shit," of course you do, "There aren't any bogs on Ortheah."
"Yes, there is. It's right of the sunrise from the Center." Speaking of which the sun was beginning to set now, "We should head back it's getting late and tomorrows market day."
She didn't say anything and didn't for the rest of the walk, but I was okay with that. I'm used to the silence.

When we got home Cyrus took off her boots and set her bag down, without even asking about dinner she went to our room. I say our room because since Pinca she's been sleeping on my floor so I can keep an eye on her. To my surprise, Moda was Okay with that.
"What did you do to her?" Ori looked up from her medicine book.
"Nothing, she's probably just tired," I put my gathering bag next to Cyrus's.
"Are you okay with her being in your room alone?" Ori eyed my bag.
"Yeah, I'll check on her later," I tossed Ori a bag of fungi, "What's for dinner?"
"Gin bread and Harum," Ori said digging into the bag.

I went into the kitchen and found Moda washing Ori's Apprentice uniform. When Ori was first asked to apprentice for a healer she declined, but when Daba found out he took her back to Ms. Hugger's home and made her beg for the position. Ori hated every part of it, but after Daba dyed she stopped complaining and has since become a year ahead of her studies.

The next day I woke up early to go to the market. It was hardly a long walk compared to the distances I traveled when gathering, but there was only one day a week we could sell banga as a harvest and the market would be crowded as always. Ori wanted to come with me, but I thought it better that she stay and watch Cyrus. I would have brought Cyrus with me, but, though Harvesters keep to themselves, they would notice if a Caltun showed up with a girl that wasn't a sister or mother by his side.

I walked past the stands full of merchandise. I saw a child take a slice of Gimber while its owner was haggling with a customer. Thieves aren't uncommon in the market, and most guards, knowing hunger like the rest of us, just looked the other way, but something was different about the guard that was looking at the boy. He walked over to the boy like death and swiped the Gimber with one hand and restrained the boy with the other. I didn't stay to find out what happened, just kept walking, like everyone else.

Something was wrong with the guards, or rather the number of guards. There were a lot more, the increase in portals must have forced the hierarchy to deploy more guards. As a result, all the guards are doing their job, not wanting to risk getting fired. I stopped at Jungo's shop and opened the storehouse door. I weight my cart of twigs on the scale then emptied it then weighed it again. The scale machine spits out a piece of paper with the weight before and after I emptied the cart, and I went back to the front of the shop.

Jungo read my slips then added up how much credit he owed me. That's how people pay each other at the market. No one has real money, well the market owners do, they sell the banga to off worlders and get real money for it, but they use that money to order supplies and we buy the supplies with credit. That's how poor our world is.

"You've got extra this week," Jungo said.
"Well the storm hit my neck of the woods pretty hard, there were tons of branches just outside the forest. I barely had to go into the woods," I said glancing around the store.
" Your Moda bought a gravity Jacket from me the other day." He's on to me.
"Ori's studying Gravity sickness."
"Isn't she too-"
"Jungo, could I get some crumbs?" I ask.

Jungo nodded and got a bag of Crumbs from the back. I left and tried my best to subtly get out of the market as fast as I could. But I notice too late that the guards are all around me. I try to fight, but one shocks me and everything got spotty then black.

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What's your favorite Scifi story on wattpad? Or off wattpad.

I like "He was almost Absorbed by the System" By @Ebonsolaris and "Carve the Mark" by Veronica Roth.

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