LadyAnnaLee

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

The morning couldn’t come soon enough. As soon as it was reasonable possible Zarah and Zigma were out the door. They confirmed they wouldn’t be alone with Lyra or Jessica before running off towards town and the bakery. The early morning bustle was just getting started and they ducked and weaved though the crowd to get towards the bakery. It seemed like everybody in town knew what was going on as they eyed the two of them. Many called out words of warning. They were almost to their destination when they suddenly had to stop short to avoid crashing into Headman Kilpatrick. He just came out of nowhere and they stopped literally 1o centimeters from him.

Zarah exclaimed, “Headman Kilpatrick! We’ll be careful! I swear!”

He hummed in disbelief as he pulled out a boy from the shadows, “George will be spending the day with you. You will not argue.”

Why would Zarah argue about that. The day was shaping up to be a pretty good day. First there was another chance to get the Terran to show her the spaceship. Then there was the chance to find out more about Zigma. And now she got to spend the whole day with George. Zarah was a little curious about how he had gotten out of his apprentice duties for the day, but she didn’t care enough to complain. She liked George. She like liked George. She like liked Harper as well and honestly didn’t expect anything to come from either crush, but flirting was pretty nice. George seemed happy to be spending the day with them if the half wave and the smile might anything.

Zarah nodded, “Got it. Yes Sir. Can we go now?”

With that decided Headman Kilpatrick nodded. Zarah quickly grabbed George’s wrist to tug him along. They were almost there. They entered the bakery via the service entrance to see the visitor with some sort of contraption that was mixing the batter. Zarah dropped George’s wrist as her mouth dropped open. Whatever it was it was incredibly cool. Only the glare from Mrs. Traveil stopped Zarah from forgetting the rules. She quickly joined George in scrubbing her hands red at the sink before rushing to get a better look at the machine. It was glowing and there was no motor. Where had Lyra put it? There was no room in her pack, at least no room that Zarah could see.

Zarah began to speak rapidly, “That is so cool! What powers it? Can I touch it? Is it collapsible? What is it called? Can we go see your spaceship? What’s an Avea? Where did they come from?”

She said this all very fast and Zigma finally interrupted, “Zarah! Breath!” She sucked in the air at the command, “Forgive her. She’s excited.” He blinked slowly, “We both are. He moved to hover by George’s shoulder, “This is George Reasons. He will be joining us today.

George held out his hand with a warm smile on his face, “It’s nice to meet you Ms. Lyra. I hope it’s alright if I tag along.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

I will be working on posts tonight whether or not I will be able to connect to the internet is another matter entirely. I don't actually have internet at my apartment. When I need to post I connect to my mobile hot spot.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Well, I can't stop you if you really want to. Just know that I understand why a post would be low on your list of priorities.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

No! I don't need a post bad enough for you to worry about hurting yourself for it. I mean I would like one but I will live without it until you figure things out.

The Tree of Astra (LadyAnnaLee and Blackfridayrule)

Here's hoping that you are doing alright! I'm still wishing you the best.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Zarah could practically feel the judgement rolling off of Headman Kilpatrick as Lyra lit up something. She thought it might be drugs of some sort. It was certainly a relaxant of some as given the way that she offered some to the Headman. She cast another look at Headman Kilpatrick as she thought about what this meant. Zarah had a hard time thinking that Lyra was defenseless just because she was high, but she was an easier target. It was almost like the Terran wanted the people here to trust her and was willing to do whatever it took. Would anyone else see it that way or would they see it as a trap? Was it a trap? She wasn’t sure.

Headman Kilpatrick came to his own conclusions and spoke in a hard voice, “You may stay Lyra of Terra. However, you will keep that and whatever other drugs you may have away from our children and teenagers.” He pointed to Mrs. Traveil, “You will stay with the baker and her family. Tomorrow we will see about arranging for a meeting of Tribe leaders.”

He waved a hand and people started to disperse. Zarah let her father pull her away but she still looked over her shoulder at the sitting woman as they walked back home. She couldn’t decide if she was glad or not that she wouldn’t be staying with them. They had the room. Ever since Jacob had gotten married there was an empty room. That didn’t mean Zarah really wanted the woman that close to her. Though she didn’t really want the Terran in the center of the town so far away from them. The Jameson Family was one of the few farming families in Mountain Lake Tribe. Most people worked in the quarries. That meant their house was at the edge of town. It would be half an hour walk one way to talk to the woman. And Zarah desperately wanted to talk to her.

As soon as they were far enough away Samuel told his daughter, “I don’t want you going near her. I know you are going to, but I want you to know that I don’t want you too.”

Zigma spoke before she could, “She knows what I am. She called me an Aeva.”

Samuel stopped to look at the two of them, “And I understand wanting to know. And I’m not going to stop you. Just promise me that you won’t be alone with her, and not just the two of you, someone else as well, someone that can raise an alarm if she manages to do something to the two of you.”

That was reasonable so Zarah nodded, “Of course! We promise.”

Samuel pulled her into a hug, “Ah! My little Zarah. All grown up and causing drama.” He let her go, “What did she promise you?”

Zarah blushed, “Tech. One of those crystal packs.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, “You turned down Tech in order to stay safe? Maybe you are growing up.” He started to walk again, “Come on. It’s getting late and we can tell your mom what happened.”

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

I'm not sure where to go from here. Maybe a time skip to the next morning?

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

I'm glad you're having fun. I was worried that the distrust might upset you.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

That's fine. It fit what I understand Lyra's character to be. I don't personally do drugs, so I may to ask you about them.

It's my bedtime. So, no post tonight. My schedule is not good for posting during the week. I'll get you a response Friday night or Saturday.

A New Light Amongst The Stars (CitrusArms and LadyAnnaLee)

Zarah's hand curled around Zigma as he hovered near her shoulder but didn't quite touch him. She knew that her father could see that she was as tight as sinew stretched to dry. Lyra's vehement assurances that she wasn't here to hurt Trazie did nothing to cause her to relax. Zigma's nerves were evident by the subtle pulsing that wasn't bright enough to be blinding, but frequent enough to be noticeable. Zarah wished she could calm down since she didn't want to alarm her Tribe, but just because Lyra wasn't a threat to Trazie didn't mean she wasn't a threat to Zigma.

Several people let out a gasp as Jessica appeared, but all Headman Kilpatrick did was draw himself up to display his full frame. He was massive and had worked as a quarryman his whole life. Normally it was difficult to break him out of his calm shell; he typically had a jovial demeanor, but right now he looked ready to break something. In response to his reaction to Jessica, Harper, the best archer Zarah's age, stood up from her crouch in the watchtower. She had an arrow nocked and ready to fly. Several people took steps to the side or forward to block the Jameson Family from view. Zigma and Zarah had thought the atmosphere of the crowd couldn't get worse. They had been wrong.

Headman Kilpatrick spoke in a low cool voice, "Let me ask another question. Are you a threat to Ms. Jameson or Zigma?

It seemed that the Headman had come to the same conclusion that Zarah had. Someone could be a threat to a person and not a threat to a planet. She was only slightly surprised by the Tribe's reaction to the potential threat. They had reached the same way to the wanderer that had been just a little bit too interested in the young boys, specifically seven-year-old Barden. They had also reacted to the man who had attempted to assault 24-year-old Frei. Mountain Lake Tribe protected its own. Yet, Lyra had said it herself. Could they hope to stand against the strange technology? Neither of them wanted to lose the whole Tribe in the foolish attempt to defend them.

Zigma frantically flashed faster, "Zarah! We need to do something! Or say something!

She was just as ready to react rashly, “What? What can we do? Don't you remember what happened the last time we attempted to argued with Headman Kilpatrick when he was like this, in this type of mood?"

That had been a long time ago. Zigma was new. Zarah had been 14. Every teenager tried arguing with Headman Kilpatrick at least once. It never ended well. They only tried it once. It was almost a rite of passage at this point. Zigma and Zarah had been trying to defend themselves and their successful prank. No one had been hurt and that had been the basis of their defense. They still had to clean up all the dye. Zarah had been scrubbing purple, blue, red, and green from her skin forever. She had been made at Zigma until her skin was normal again. It had been his idea and mostly his actions. This was not a dye prank. This was serious. Did they really want to face Headman Kilpatrick's wrath for someone that may want to hurt them? The answer was no. As such Zarah just took one step closer to her father as her hand curled tighter over Zigma. Her gaze never left Lyra or Jessica.