Divided Attention

Chapter 3: Wheat and Sleep

            There were some rough turbulences, each one of them making Kitty either scream or squeal, depending on the force of it. Me? I was laughing and enjoying the wind in my hair. Maki seemed like he was having an easy time with the wind, but judging by the occasional jumps on the ride, he was having a difficult time trying to keep us from not crashing.
            Kitty didn’t seem to notice it, but as we passed over a wall, there seemed to be a resistance in the air, or at least a really weak force field. As soon as we got out of it, Maki’s uneven flight instantly became smooth as silk. Kitty was still freaking out, and Maki looked back at me for a couple seconds, knowing that I had felt it.
            Do you know what that was all about? He asked me telepathically.
            Have no clue, I sent back.
            An uneasy shiver ran throughout his body, and my glee of flying again died. I looked back at the walls, wondering what had happened. How did an entire kingdom suddenly get up and disappear? Where did they all go? When I thought about it, I didn’t even hear a dog bark or a cat growl. Was it some form of magic?
            I personally had never seen any magic be cast, mostly because finding anyone that has the ability to cast magic is rare, let alone finding any sort of magical item or weapon. When someone finds one, there is likely a very dark background behind even the most peaceful of items.
            Eventually, Kitty got used to flying and calmed down, but her pupils were still as big as marbles.
            “Do you always do this?” she asked us.
            Sometimes, Maki replied.
            “Usually we’re not allowed to fly,” I added on.
            Kitty furrowed her eyebrows. “Really? I would think that with a… what are you again?”
            Dragon.
            “Dragon. I would think that with a dragon you would be able to fly around all the time.”
            “Well, if you saw something in the sky and you didn’t know what it was and you were part of a community that had a lot of weapons that could take things out of the sky, you would most likely think that it was part of an attack.”
            “People wouldn’t attack without a reason though right?”
            I shrugged. “Better to be safe than sorry.”
            Kitty looked down at the golden sea of plants. She looked like she wanted to brush her hands across them, but even though it looked so close, it wasn’t.
            “Wheat.”
            I looked at her, confused. “What?”
            “Wheat. Those plants. They’re called wheat. Maybe you already knew that.”
            “I-I actually didn’t know that. I had never been interested in learning.”
            “You should. It’s a very important plant.”
            “It is?”
            “Well, you wouldn’t have bread without it, now would you?”
            I thought for a second, then shook my head. “I guess not. Do you know how to make bread?”
            “I do!” she excitedly squeaked. “I learned from—“ She stopped, pursed her lips, and sighed. “I learned.”
            My curiosity was increasing about her, but I didn’t know what to ask without that knife of hers going through my neck. I decided to keep my mouth for now until I got to know her more. There was a feeling I had that she had a lot behind that pretty face of hers, and I wanted to know more about it.
            “How do you make it then?” I asked, continuing the conversation.
            “Yeast, kind of hot water, flour, sugar, salt, oil and an oven. At least, that’s how I learned how to make it.”
            “Can… Can you teach me someday?”
            She looked at me with a sly smile and a cocked eyebrow. “I thought you said you were never interested in learning anything about wheat.”
            I shifted in my seat, slightly embarrassed. “I guess I am now. You still haven’t answered my question.”
            Kitty laughed. “When I get the chance, I’ll teach you how to make bread.”
            My smile was large as we both started to laugh. She really did have a cute laugh, and she seemed like the person that didn’t laugh as much as she wanted. She looked so relieved to just talk with someone. And so, I tried to keep our conversation going, both of us bouncing recipes from our cultures off of each other.
 
            When we landed, the air was starting to get colder. The sun was slowly going down, giving a lazy haze to the clouds. We landed just outside a small town. Out in the distance, I saw sails, cliffs, and the beauty of the sea. Salt penetrated our noses, making Kitty look confused and me smile. The familiar smell made me homesick.
            The buildings around the red brick road looked like houses, but I realized that most of them were actually inns and taverns. There was sounds of people coming from all over, bells ringing, and weird birds that I had never seen before flying around.
            Maki looked very tired, almost unable to shrink back down to his dog-sized form. His eyes were drooping, and he was doing the growl that he always did when he was on the verge of sleep. Kind of in between a threatening growl and a welcoming purr.
            Can I sleep now?
            “Sorry, guess I didn’t realize how much we had been pushing you.”
            Another part of it is that I haven’t taken flight in such a long time. I’m definitely not used to that kind of long flying.
            “Awwwh, does the little draggy need some nappy times?” Kitty cooed.
            Draggy needs the nappy times, he agreed.
            “Crawl up on my shoulders,” I told him. “Sleep there.”
            Maki looked at me quizzically. Are you sure? I’m heavier than back then you know.
            “It’s not like it’s going to kill me or anything. C’mon, we’ll find a place to stay soon, and then you’ll be able to hide under some covers and fall asleep.”
            He looked longingly at the ocean. I’d much rather sleep in the sea, but I guess that would have to work.
            I sighed. “Yeah, I would like to sleep in some water too, but we have a fairy here, and I don’t think that she would be able to breathe underwater.”
            “I would like to not drown, thank you very much,” Kitty agreed.
            Maki grumbled to himself, annoyed with the conclusion.
            Fine. Just find somewhere to stay soon. I don’t want to sleep on pavement tonight.
            “Neither do I,” I said.
            “Nor I,” Kitty agreed.
            So, we started to go around to different inns, asking if they had rooms. Kitty didn’t have much money on her, and I myself didn’t have a lot either. Together, we were able to put together enough money to get a single bed room. Maki and I both agreed that we would sleep on the floor, though Kitty wasn’t very happy with it.
            “I don’t want you guys to freeze all night!” she would say,
            “It’s okay, Kitty,” I would chide. “We’ll survive on the floor. Besides, it looks like you haven’t had a good sleep in a proper bed for ages.”
            She glared at me, though I don’t know why, but didn’t complain after that. I found that very interesting.
            While I was walking, I was wondering what kind of past Kitty had. She was able to get me the money that my family needed, though I didn’t know how. Yet, if she had all of that money, why did she have so few on her now, and why was she wearing clothes that were patched together with different cloth? She didn’t even have any shoes on. She had dirt all over her and leaves in her hair… it looked like she had been to the Afterworld and back. That didn’t exactly help with the answering of questions part, but at least I was able to analyze her at least a tad bit more.
            We finally found a place that wasn’t packed to the brim with traders, sailors or drunks. It was by the edge of town near a small cliff. It didn’t exactly have the best interior, but we took what we would get. Some of the boards creaked, wind pushed against the sides and squeezed through cracks, making the place a little chilly, and I thought at some point I heard a mouse squeak.
            There wasn’t many people in the small complex. There was a bar, some tables, a couple wall tables and a place by a small and pathetic fire that kept blowing out. Three people were forced into a slightly tight space at the bar, as there weren’t many seats, and all of them stared at us when we walked in. They didn’t look very friendly.
            One of them had a cloak on, and I couldn’t see his face. Even so, I could tell that he was looking at me, and he didn’t have the happiest of emotions pressed onto him. The other two looked like thugs, with swords at their sides, scars on their faces and bandages wrapped around huge muscles. I stayed as far away from them as I possibly could.
            “Hello!” a bubbly voice came from behind the bar.
            A girl, no more than fourteen in human years, poked her head up from under the bar. She had a wide smile, short, blonde hair and bright, green eyes. Her dress was stained from working, but it didn’t look like stains from just the bar. There looked like there was soap stains, food stains and beer stains.
            “Uh, hello,” I greeted back, though not as enthusiastic.
            “Welcome to the Gelly Gills Inn! My name is Gelly, and I run this place!”
            “You run this entire place?” I asked, amazed.
            “Mmhmm! Not many people come here, so it’s easy to run. I get just enough money to pay for food, drinks and cleaning materials, as well as I get a nice place to stay!”
            “Well that’s… Handy.”
            “Yes! It’s always very nice here. Would you like a room?”
            Kitty and I looked at each other, then back at her.
            “Yeah, a room would be nice please,” Kitty told her.
            “But uh…” I continued. “We only have enough for a single bed bedroom.”
            “That’s fine!” Gelly chirped. “We can get you set up right away! Looks like your companion is pretty tired.”
            Maki was snoring away on my shoulders, his body all along them and his tail wrapped around my arm. He hadn’t woken up in the slightest since he got comfortable, and now I was always putting my head slightly forward so that he didn’t fall off, wake up, and chew me out for being so inconsiderate.
            “Yeah, he had a long flight,” I sighed. I didn’t like seeing Maki this worn out, but we really didn’t have a choice this time. Other times, it was because I was being lazy, but this time I had no availability to get out of the Human Kingdom other than by dragon. Only then did I realize that if we had passed any other towns of villages that had some flying weapons, we might not have been in the same position that we were currently in.
            “Well, I hope that the poor dragon has some time to curl up and be warm. If he would like, he can use the fire to warm up.”
            “A-Ah, no, sorry,” I declined. “He’s more of a water dragon than a fire dragon.”
            Gelly looked very interested.
            “Wait, are you a soyep?” she asked excitedly.
            I blinked and stared at her a second before answering. “Y-Yeah. Yeah I am. I’m a soyep.”
            Gelly yipped happily. “I haven’t seen a soyep in years! Well, since I moved from Aquatin City that is. But that was a long time ago.”
            “You’re a soyep too?” Kitty asked. It was her turn to be interested, since now she was looking back and forth between both of us, comparing us together. “But you both look so different.”
            Gelly giggled. “Well not all of us have outrageous hair color—“ My hand instantly traveled to my own blue hair. “—most of us actually just have normal, human-like forms! We find it pretty handy when trying to blend in. I’ll go get your room ready. It’ll only take a moment!”
            She rushed upstairs, and Kitty turned to me.
            “What does she mean by that?” she asked me.
            I scratched the back of my head nervously. “Uh, well, soyep aren’t the most lawful and loyal people… That’s probably what she means by that.”
            Kitty glared at me, and I was wishing that Maki was awake to make some stupid joke to dispel the unease.
            “What else are soyep other than criminals?”
            I shrugged. “Farmers or architects normally. Some of them go into the guard service and practice sword play and what not.”
            “Did you go into the guard service?”
            I snorted. “What, me? No. We never had the availability to do that. Only the best fighters who prove themselves to be part of that branch get to be there. Me? I only know how to defeat an enemy, not do fancy tricks like a well-trained dog.”
            Kitty shrugged. “I bet you could learn.”
            “I could learn, yes, but I don’t want to be part of a kingdom that has a tendency to be really grouchy with the other kingdoms.”
            “Grouchy?”
            “I don’t know much, but I’ve heard a lot of stories about shaky relationships with Aquatin City and other kingdoms.”
            “Maybe that’s why our kingdoms don’t like each other?”
            “Maybe, or maybe it’s some overlying issue that I’m not understanding.”
            “Could always be that as well.”
            “Indeed.”
            I had totally forgotten about the other people in the inn, then gulped when I saw that one of the thugs had his attention on me. When we met eye contact, he looked away, and instead looked out of the window that gazed upon the edge of the cliff.
            Just then, Gelly came back down with her bubbly smile.
            “Your room is ready! Oh! And don’t worry about the charge. I’ll let you stay here for free! Just at least stay here a night. That’s your only requirement. Alright?”
            I blinked again, just this time in surprise. “Oh. Alright then.”
            Kitty looked very suspicious, but from talking so much and walking for hours trying to find a place, I didn’t care if it was suspicious or not. I just wanted to sleep.
            Gelly lead us upstairs, down a very creaky hall and to the end of it, where on the right, a door was open. It was small and kind of cramped, but still weirdly cozy all the same. Warm, fur skin blankets covered a queen sized bed, a small fire burned in the corner, not too bad of curtains blocked hung beside windows that looked out into the sea. Blankets were already put on the floor for Maki, who momentarily woke up, groaned, climbed off me and curled up in them. Then he went right back to sleep.
            I turned to Gelly and smiled. “Hey thanks. This looks nice. Are you sure you want no payment?”
            “Oh! Yes yes! I’m quite sure indeed. Don’t worry about it in the slightest!” Then she turned and skipped down the hall, humming some tune that I didn’t recognize.
            Kitty cautiously walked in while I closed the door behind us.
            “I don’t like this, Mizu.”
            “Why not?”
            “It just doesn’t feel right, getting something for free when we barely have any money of our own.”
            “We’ll be fine, I promise. I’m tired and need some form of sleep. I don’t care what it is at this point, whether it be in the sea, a bed, a fire place or standing up. I’m going to sleep. And you should too.”
            She sighed, knowing that there would be nothing that she could do to change my mind.
            “Fine, just don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”
            “I won’t.”
            And with that, we both climbed into the bed. The fur skin bed was warm and welcoming, and as soon as my head hit the fluffy pillow, I started snoring. But before I passed out, my brain registered that the same effect happened to Kitty, even though I knew she wasn’t tired. My brain thought it was something different, though I knew something was off.