Chapter 13: Morning's Relief and Kael's Watchful Eye
Wednesday, with the morning sun painting the sky in orange hues, promised a typically hot day for the interior. For Joey, however, the morning's beauty was overshadowed by a knot of anxiety.
He had barely slept, his mind replaying the scene in the warehouse, his tendency to worry more than other people latching onto the question of whether Pip would find the bundle.
He went down for breakfast, the scent of fresh pancakes, a weekend constant thanks to his mother, lingering in the air. Clara was already in the kitchen, humming softly. Roberto was reading the local newspaper, the "Jornal da Manhã," probably complaining about city hall news or the local soccer team.
"Good morning, son," Clara said with her gentle smile. "Sleep well?"
"Morning, Mom. So-so," Joey replied, trying to sound casual as his gaze instinctively darted to the window overlooking the yard. He preferred to keep his intense feelings hidden.
Léo entered the kitchen, yawning. "Hey, family. Any intergalactic news today?" He winked at Joey, who felt his face flush, uncomfortable with the teasing and the potential exposure of his secret preoccupations.
"Less of that, Léo, less," Roberto grumbled from behind his newspaper. "The only news I'm interested in is whether Zebu Atlético will win today's game."
Joey's tension was almost palpable. After breakfast, he made an excuse to go out into the yard, pretending to look for something he had "lost."
With his heart in his mouth, a common physical manifestation of his anxiety when facing uncertainty, he approached the warehouse. He discreetly looked at the hole in the wall.
The small cloth bundle was gone.
Immense relief washed over him, so strong he almost staggered. Pip had found it.
He didn't know if she understood the gesture, if she was grateful, or if she had just taken what was hers and fled, but it didn't matter. He had done something, acted on his desire to help the oppressed, and the object had been recovered by its owner.
A small, genuine smile, the first in days, touched his lips – a rare moment of positive self-assessment countering his usual self-criticism.
Across town, Pip, hidden in a pile of construction materials at a stalled work site, examined the gear and the map fragment. They were intact.
She didn't understand why the tall, pale human had left them there, so exposed and yet so... deliberate. Her experience with other species on "primitive" worlds usually involved hostility or predatory curiosity. This was different.
A small seed of doubt about the nature of this planet's inhabitants began to sprout in her analytical mind.
Meanwhile, Kael, the Tracker, observed from a high vantage point not far from Joey's house. He had seen Pip cautiously approach the warehouse in the early hours of the morning and retrieve the bundle. He had also seen Joey's reaction upon discovering the package was gone.
The silent interaction between the two – the human leaving the items, the scavenger recovering them – was intriguing. Joey didn't seem to be acting out of greed or malice. There was something else there, an unusual empathy.
Kael adjusted the optical sensor on his hood, cataloging the data. This young human was becoming increasingly central to the strange events of this city.
In the city center, Lyra felt hunger become an acute pain. The illustrated books in the library under renovation didn't nourish the body. She had to risk going out.
She waited until what seemed to her to be mid-morning, when the movement on the street in front of the library seemed to lessen somewhat. With her heart pounding like a war drum, she slipped outside, her elven senses on high alert, trying to find something edible amidst the jungle of concrete and asphalt, away from the prying eyes that frightened her so much.
The mid-morning sun cast dappled shadows through the sparse trees near the abandoned library. Lyra, who had spent a restless night hidden in the less damaged section of the building, ventured out cautiously.
Hunger gnawed at her, a constant reminder of her precarious situation. She approached the alley where she had encountered the kind, frightened human boy, her senses on high alert for any danger.
Her eyes, sharp and accustomed to noticing the smallest details of her enchanted forest, scanned the area near the strange, glowing symbols on the wall. Then, she saw them – two small, colorful packages tucked into a crevice, similar to the one the boy had given her before.
Her breath hitched. Cautiously, she drew closer, her pointed ears twitching.
Acknowledging the offer, a wave of warmth spread through her chest, a stark contrast to the fear and loneliness that had become her companions.
She picked up the cereal bars, her slender fingers tracing the familiar packaging. A genuine, though small, smile touched her lips – the second one the boy had managed to coax from her.
It was another gesture of kindness in this bewildering, noisy world. She ate one slowly, savoring the sweet taste and the unspoken message of care it represented.
The human, Joo-ee, was indeed an unexpected ally.
The news about Zylar, the "mysterious pilot," was gaining more prominence in the online newsfeed Léo avidly read on his phone. A vague official statement mentioned "a pilot of an unauthorized experimental vehicle, who is cooperating with authorities to clarify the incident." No mention of other worlds, of course.
Joey, feeling relieved by Pip's recovery of the items, spent the rest of the morning with a lightness he hadn't experienced in a long time. There was still fear, still the oppression of his depression and social phobia, but now there was also the memory of having made a small difference, of having connected, even if anonymously and silently, with one of these lost beings.
It was a step in trying to overcome his problems. And he knew, with a certainty that both frightened him and animated him with a nascent sense of purpose that he rarely felt, that it wouldn't be the last.
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on Patreon. with 40 advanced chapters available on Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/c/JoeyLean