a Tale Among the Stars

Chapter 11: Reconciliation

As William drove back to his warehouse, he looked back at Luna. She was leaning against him, and staring at all the lights in the distance. She gave a curious coo and rest her head on his back, apparently sleeping. Strange, he thought that she needed to sleep in the acidic puddle.

As he pulled up to the warehouse, he saw the light of his small cooking unit illuminating the windows.

"Lily must be making food- I'll have to apologize for...ah...being an ass." He said, hopping off the cruiser.

Luna hopped off as well, yawning and revealing her sharp teeth and long thin tongue.

"Lily! Were back." William called out, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm..sorry that I was being an ass it was uncalled for."

However, there was no answer and William sighed heavily.

"She must be pretty pissed." He said to Luna, walking into the building. Sure enough, Lily was sitting by his cooking unit and making herself some of ShmeatsTM noodle soup. It didn't have any flavor, so many just called it 'mush'.

"Hey-" he whispered, but Lily ignored him.

William shook his head and gently pat Lunas as he put on his welding mask over his face. Silent now as well, he fed the welding wire into his welder and began to work again on his machine. Sometimes, he thought, it's better to leave people be.

He worked for hours, occasionally glancing at Luna and Lily to check on them. Luna had settled in her puddle and was peacefully sleeping. Lily was just watching him, no expression on her face. She continues to watch as Willuam put down his mask and began hooking wires to other components. Accelerators, engines, and strange mechanisms that had no name were one by one hooked together.

"So," Lily said haltingly, and William immediately paused what he was doing.

"Yes?" He answered, turning off his welder for safety's sake.

"I'm..sorry. I took it too far as well. I mean I was also being an ass. When are you planning to go to the site?"

William smiled and wiped his hands off before he crossed his legs and sat down.

"Well I was hoping to start moving stuff tomorrow." He answered.

Lily nodded and looked down at the floor, then over at Luna.

"What are you gonna do about her?she cant live in the cubicle with you- at least not yet."

William nodded and sighed.

"I was hoping youd let her live with you...for a little bit."

Lily nodded. They had come to an agreement. If it was a trap, Lily would keep Luna hidden until he either escaped, or died. If he escaped, then she could let her come back to William. She seemed to trust him most anyway. If he was dead...well he didn't like to think about it, bit if he WAS dead, than he wanted Lily to make Luna go into the ocean. It was probably the safest place for her. Its depths had barely been explored, and the chances of finding her was small. Additionally, she seemed to be aquatic based, and the high acidity in the water wouldn't affect her.

"Thank you." William said, resting his hand on her shoulder.

Lily blushed slightly and brushed his hand off of her.

"Dont worry about it. I just hope that this promotion isn't a trap" she leaned back on her hands and stared at the ceiling as they sat there, the light from the cooking unit finally fading.

"Well, you should get home Lily. We both have work tomorrow." Liky nodded, and William carefully walked over to Luna. He gently shook her, avoiding the water. He didn't want his hands or feet as injured as his face, or worse, practically amputated. Luna slowly opened her eyes and yawned, the line of dots glowing on her face once again. She cooed quietly as William spoke.

"Listen, Luna. You're gonna have to go with Lily for a bit ok?" Luna gave a distressed growl(?) and crawled out of the puddle, trying to get into his arms.

The water evaporated off her body remarkably quickly, so as she attempted to climb onto him he didn't feel any pain at all.

"No, listen. I dont want you to be captured. I am going to a new place for me to live. Ok?"

Luna stopped and nodded, her tail slapping down onto the green paper as she mad a noise similar to that of a distressed whale. William pat her head gently as he began to pack up his things, turning his back to her. Suddenly, her tail came flying through the air and smacked him in the back of the head.

William hit the ground hard, the medical foam cracking as his face met concrete for.the dozenth time in three days.

"Ow!" He shouted, spinning around towards her. She had turned away from him and was sauntering away towards Lily, who had her hand over her mouth.

"Luna why would you-" she started, but before she could finish Luna gave her a stare that could kill a weak man. Lily quickly grew quiet as Luna stood beside her, refusing to look at William.

"Hey I'm not abandoning you. Its temporary. You'll be able to live with me again, ok?" He said, rubbing the spot that she had hit with such force. Luna looked at him for a brief moment before Lily gently began leading her away to her own land cruiser- new of course- and helped her onto it.

"Well see in you a week, as promised." She said as she strapped on her helmet (something William didn't have) and another onto Luna.

"Yeah, I'll see you in a week." He said quietly as they drove off. He turned back to the warehouse and slung his bag over his shoulder. He just barely managed to fir all of his things into this small bag, and he was proud. But...he had to leave his project behind. He decided then and there he would come back to finish it.

"Goodbye, thank you for sheltering me." William whispered, gently patting the wall by the crumbling doorway. He then turned, hopped onto his own land cruiser, and sped off to the mines, and his new home.