HOME | DD

Description
With the curtain drawn a gentle wave of morning light illuminated our hold. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, making out four figures just beyond the doorway.

"Well, looks like it," said the tallest one.

I blinked a couple times. The four of them were similar to Xhianei and I, somewhat similar to the people we'd run into so far. Something about them was different, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it could be.

A quick look around the room confirmed my earlier observations: concrete walls, a straw bed covered in heavy tarps, some odd stray cables along the ceilings. It was nice to actually see just where we've been.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" she responded to my apprehension.

I looked at her, then immediately looked away. I wasn't sure how to respond given how most people have been since we arrived. They seemed nice, but--

Xhianei tugged at my arm, breaking me from my thoughts.

"He's got our bag," she whispered, gesturing to the one farthest right.

I looked back up towards them. Sure enough, he had our bag tossed over his back and gripped the long handle in his hands, seemingly in preparation to remove it. The boy took notice of the gesture and softly nodded with a small grin.

"Whozat?" came the smallest one, just behind the tall one.

"They're some kids from outside a little ways from here," the tall one replied.

The smallest one's big blue eyes focused intently on the both of us. He seemed to be about Xhianei's age if I had to guess, and his basic curiosity was endearing, even somehow comforting.

The tallest one laid her hand on his head while the one at the far left shyly peered around her. In her hands was a variety of fruits and nuts atop a small crude wooden tray. Her bright green eyes carried a feeling similar to the youngest one.

These staring eyes didn't harbor the strange resentment we had experienced thus far. I was really not sure how to feel about it, at least not yet.

"If I may..." said the one farthest right, stepping forward past the threshold while swinging the bag off his back.

He stopped just short of the both of us and offered the bag by the handle. I slowly extended my arms to grab it by the bulk.

"Got it?" he asked.

I nodded and he released the handle. I put the bag off to the side.

The green-eyed one came in next, presenting the tray of food and carefully setting it down on the straw bed.

"I hope you like it," she said quietly, standing up and taking a step back.

Xhianei dove into it without much hesitation. You know, as she does.

"Make sure to peel those," she said, interrupting Xhianei before she could bite into something. "The skins are gross, don't eat 'em."

"I take it you're not from around here," the tallest one giggled. "We'd have probably seen you before if you were...and you'd maybe not try to bite into an orange."

She stepped into the room and knelt down, palm open in front of Xhianei. Xhianei gave her the orange.

Seeing the tallest one more up close was a bit unnerving, with the unusual clothing, hairstyle, and facial jewelry. Something about it put me a bit on-edge.

"I'm Sura, by the way," she said, picking at the orange rind and tearing it off the fruit. "Littlest one is Connor, biggest one is Saffron, middle one is Harley."

She finished with Xhianei's orange and split it open, showing her how to remove and eat the segments before returning it to her. Sura grabbed the other orange from the tray and started to skin that one as well.

"I don't know your circumstances, but I'm guessing you came out of Huot for some reason," she placed a handful of orange rind back on the tray. "Got a favor to ask if that's the case."

"...Yeah?" I hesitantly replied.

"Don't go back there."

"But we were supposed to go there," I whispered, confused.

"That's the thing..."

"...Xhias. And that's my sister, Xhianei."

"Xhias. We're all supposed to be there. I know you don't know us yet but just...take my word for it for now, okay?"

I felt my ears drift back a little bit. Unnerved as I might have been, I wasn't given a reason to distrust her yet.

"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you'd like if you're willing to help us get by. You know, chores and stuff."

"...That sounds okay."

"Alright, good," she said, handing me a peeled orange. "It isn't amazing being here but it's still a place to be."

"...What is this place?" I asked before biting into an orange segment.

"Some town a bit north of Huot, don't know the name," chimed Saffron. "It was destroyed and abandoned a long time ago, but there isn't really anything recorded about it. I'd guess a tornado came through here since grey zones are usually too focused for this kind of damage."

"Um...what's a tornado?" I asked.

"Uh, like a big funnel of wind that sucks up stuff in its way and spits it back out," he recalled. "They're pretty nasty and seem to come out of nowhere when it storms really bad."

"But I like tomatoes," Connor piped up.

"Tornadoes, not tomatoes," Saffron reiterated. "Tornadoes aren't food."

Harley and Sura just let out a quiet laugh at their expense.

"Sorry this is a lot to take in, both of you," Sura continued. "Just, uh, know that what you probably dealt with in Huot won't happen here, whatever it might have been."

My ears lowered with my gaze as I stopped chewing, thinking back to yesterday. Sura said nothing but I could see her expression from my periphery, a "yeah, that's what I thought" kind of look as she reached into her back pocket and retrieved some strange metal tool. She grabbed one of the nuts from the tray and placed it within the tool, holding it with her other hand.

"With these you're going to want a nutcracker, the shells are otherwise too hard to open. You just put it in here and--"

Sura squeezed the two pieces together over the tray. A loud snapping noise followed as tiny bits of shell fell from the tool.

"--squeeze like so. Try to only squeeze hard enough to break the shell since otherwise you'll crush what's inside, too. I usually do this for Connor and Harley since they're still pretty young yet."

She placed the meat on the tray before grabbing the remaining nuts, cracking them one by one like the first.

"You get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Some minutes passed as we ate, with the other kids grabbing a few little things off the tray, too. Before too long all that remained were some fruit skins, nut shells, and a couple blueberries.

"...Um...Sura?" I asked as Xhianei ate the last blueberry.

"Hm?"

"How did we get here?"

"You were brought here. From a little ways away, so I was told."

"...Told? So it wasn't you that brought us here?"

"Nope! Learned about it myself just a little bit ago, actually."

Harley stood back up, stretched her legs, and picked up the tray. She looked back to us with a shy smile before heading out of the room, Saffron following just behind with a similar gesture.

"Then...who told you?" I inquired, very confused.

Sura looked to the broken window at her right, then back to us.

"Any time now," she said with a grin.

Some seconds later a soft reverberation of footsteps along the hard floor could be heard, each step louder than the last.

---

music

Previous: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
First: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
Next: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…

Please consider supporting my work if you enjoy it:

www.patreon.com/ratte
ko-fi.com/ratteart
commiss.io/ratte

Description
With the curtain drawn a gentle wave of morning light illuminated our hold. It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust, making out four figures just beyond the doorway.

"Well, looks like it," said the tallest one.

I blinked a couple times. The four of them were similar to Xhianei and I, somewhat similar to the people we'd run into so far. Something about them was different, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it could be.

A quick look around the room confirmed my earlier observations: concrete walls, a straw bed covered in heavy tarps, some odd stray cables along the ceilings. It was nice to actually see just where we've been.

"Not much of a talker, huh?" she responded to my apprehension.

I looked at her, then immediately looked away. I wasn't sure how to respond given how most people have been since we arrived. They seemed nice, but--

Xhianei tugged at my arm, breaking me from my thoughts.

"He's got our bag," she whispered, gesturing to the one farthest right.

I looked back up towards them. Sure enough, he had our bag tossed over his back and gripped the long handle in his hands, seemingly in preparation to remove it. The boy took notice of the gesture and softly nodded with a small grin.

"Whozat?" came the smallest one, just behind the tall one.

"They're some kids from outside a little ways from here," the tall one replied.

The smallest one's big blue eyes focused intently on the both of us. He seemed to be about Xhianei's age if I had to guess, and his basic curiosity was endearing, even somehow comforting.

The tallest one laid her hand on his head while the one at the far left shyly peered around her. In her hands was a variety of fruits and nuts atop a small crude wooden tray. Her bright green eyes carried a feeling similar to the youngest one.

These staring eyes didn't harbor the strange resentment we had experienced thus far. I was really not sure how to feel about it, at least not yet.

"If I may..." said the one farthest right, stepping forward past the threshold while swinging the bag off his back.

He stopped just short of the both of us and offered the bag by the handle. I slowly extended my arms to grab it by the bulk.

"Got it?" he asked.

I nodded and he released the handle. I put the bag off to the side.

The green-eyed one came in next, presenting the tray of food and carefully setting it down on the straw bed.

"I hope you like it," she said quietly, standing up and taking a step back.

Xhianei dove into it without much hesitation. You know, as she does.

"Make sure to peel those," she said, interrupting Xhianei before she could bite into something. "The skins are gross, don't eat 'em."

"I take it you're not from around here," the tallest one giggled. "We'd have probably seen you before if you were...and you'd maybe not try to bite into an orange."

She stepped into the room and knelt down, palm open in front of Xhianei. Xhianei gave her the orange.

Seeing the tallest one more up close was a bit unnerving, with the unusual clothing, hairstyle, and facial jewelry. Something about it put me a bit on-edge.

"I'm Sura, by the way," she said, picking at the orange rind and tearing it off the fruit. "Littlest one is Connor, biggest one is Saffron, middle one is Harley."

She finished with Xhianei's orange and split it open, showing her how to remove and eat the segments before returning it to her. Sura grabbed the other orange from the tray and started to skin that one as well.

"I don't know your circumstances, but I'm guessing you came out of Huot for some reason," she placed a handful of orange rind back on the tray. "Got a favor to ask if that's the case."

"...Yeah?" I hesitantly replied.

"Don't go back there."

"But we were supposed to go there," I whispered, confused.

"That's the thing..."

"...Xhias. And that's my sister, Xhianei."

"Xhias. We're all supposed to be there. I know you don't know us yet but just...take my word for it for now, okay?"

I felt my ears drift back a little bit. Unnerved as I might have been, I wasn't given a reason to distrust her yet.

"You're welcome to stay with us as long as you'd like if you're willing to help us get by. You know, chores and stuff."

"...That sounds okay."

"Alright, good," she said, handing me a peeled orange. "It isn't amazing being here but it's still a place to be."

"...What is this place?" I asked before biting into an orange segment.

"Some town a bit north of Huot, don't know the name," chimed Saffron. "It was destroyed and abandoned a long time ago, but there isn't really anything recorded about it. I'd guess a tornado came through here since grey zones are usually too focused for this kind of damage."

"Um...what's a tornado?" I asked.

"Uh, like a big funnel of wind that sucks up stuff in its way and spits it back out," he recalled. "They're pretty nasty and seem to come out of nowhere when it storms really bad."

"But I like tomatoes," Connor piped up.

"Tornadoes, not tomatoes," Saffron reiterated. "Tornadoes aren't food."

Harley and Sura just let out a quiet laugh at their expense.

"Sorry this is a lot to take in, both of you," Sura continued. "Just, uh, know that what you probably dealt with in Huot won't happen here, whatever it might have been."

My ears lowered with my gaze as I stopped chewing, thinking back to yesterday. Sura said nothing but I could see her expression from my periphery, a "yeah, that's what I thought" kind of look as she reached into her back pocket and retrieved some strange metal tool. She grabbed one of the nuts from the tray and placed it within the tool, holding it with her other hand.

"With these you're going to want a nutcracker, the shells are otherwise too hard to open. You just put it in here and--"

Sura squeezed the two pieces together over the tray. A loud snapping noise followed as tiny bits of shell fell from the tool.

"--squeeze like so. Try to only squeeze hard enough to break the shell since otherwise you'll crush what's inside, too. I usually do this for Connor and Harley since they're still pretty young yet."

She placed the meat on the tray before grabbing the remaining nuts, cracking them one by one like the first.

"You get the hang of it pretty quickly."

Some minutes passed as we ate, with the other kids grabbing a few little things off the tray, too. Before too long all that remained were some fruit skins, nut shells, and a couple blueberries.

"...Um...Sura?" I asked as Xhianei ate the last blueberry.

"Hm?"

"How did we get here?"

"You were brought here. From a little ways away, so I was told."

"...Told? So it wasn't you that brought us here?"

"Nope! Learned about it myself just a little bit ago, actually."

Harley stood back up, stretched her legs, and picked up the tray. She looked back to us with a shy smile before heading out of the room, Saffron following just behind with a similar gesture.

"Then...who told you?" I inquired, very confused.

Sura looked to the broken window at her right, then back to us.

"Any time now," she said with a grin.

Some seconds later a soft reverberation of footsteps along the hard floor could be heard, each step louder than the last.

---

music

Previous: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
First: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…
Next: www.deviantart.com/silasagnost…

Please consider supporting my work if you enjoy it:

www.patreon.com/ratte
ko-fi.com/ratteart
commiss.io/ratte