Julie
That evening when Orsu returned I told him of my plans for gathering more grain to make more bread. He spoke to Tarak, and it was decided that most of the hunters would get to stay near the mountain tomorrow to help forage.
Excitement spread throughout the dekes. We had a plan outside of just hunting as much as possible. The more options we had, the better.
“You did it, my mate. You have saved us.” Orsu beamed at me with pride. “I have a storage shed outside of the mountain we can use. The animals aren’t attracted to the scent of grain, so the food will be safe.”
The group of hunters and humans that gathered at the entrance the next morning were buzzing with excitement. Sarah, Talia, Jax, and Sozu waited as Orsupushed the boulder out of the way.
We all worked together in the lower grain field farther away from the base of the mountain. Sarah and Talia giggled and whispered while making quick glances at the young males. Jax blushed as he made eye contact with Sarah and quickly looked away. Sozu was more confident though. He strolled up to the girls and offered Talia a bright pink flower that she happily tucked behind her ear.
Sozu wasn’t the only one flirting this morning, however. Drovo was desperately trying to impress Kayla by offering her shade everywhere she went. Without fail, the tree branches that hovered above her would always form the perfect shape needed to block out the sun.
Kayla was grateful but she couldn’t hide her annoyance. If only he would finish the mobility device he’d been bragging about for the past two weeks, she might be more apt to return his flirtations. He hadn’t even produced the simple chair section of the device. He was starting to look more and more like just another asshole who had promised her the moon only to deliver a fake gemstone.
We hadn’t been outside long and Kayla was already starting to look winded. Drovo observed this and went into the forest and returned with a small bench that had a basket attached to one end of it.
“Here my sweet luna moth, this should help.” He set the bench next to her. “You can sit here while you gather grains and I can carry whatever you gather back to the mountain so you don’t have to.”
Kayla eyed the bench dubiously but after a moment chose to sit down. “It’s interesting that you can produce a bench so quickly, but a simple chair seems to be giving you so much trouble,” she quipped.
“I…uh,” Drovo raked his hand through his hair. “I want it to be perfect, is all.” He flashed Kayla a sheepish smile and backed away slowly as if he were facing down a pack of jagwas.
“He’s crazy if he thinks I’m not onto his shenanigans.” Kayla shook her head. “I don’t know why he’s taking this long, but I do know that he doesn’tneedto be taking this long.”
She huffed and continued her work harvesting the tall lavender grass that resembled short wheat stalks back on Earth.
Gabby and I exchanged a glance before getting back to work ourselves.
We gathered grain up until lunch, at which time Orsu led us to the large outdoor storage shed that was perfect for storing our grain.
“If we can fill up this entire building that will be enough to feed the entire dekes meat-filled bread for the winter.” Orsu surmised and I agreed with him. It was a large storage shed and we already had it a quarter of the way filled.
“I bet we can have it filled before the next full moon,” Drovo observed.
The idea that we could save up all the grain we would need for the winter in just a few weeks filled my heart with joy. No one wanted these guys to give up their religious tradition of giving an offering to their goddess, but we didn’t want to starve, either. I was proud of us; we were going to make this happen. We were going to have our cake and eat it too.
Chapter 18
Orsu
I was so proud of my mate. She’d continued to come up with amazing recipes that would help our food last longer, giving us all hope for the future.
We gathered grain from dawn to dusk–which was no chore at all with Julie by my side. More than a few times we would sneak off into the forest and do what she called ‘making out’. Her lips were as tempting as her body and I enjoyed both every day.
Today was a special day, however. Today we gathered the last of the grain needed to fill the outdoor storage shed. After weeks of work the storage shed was finally full.
While the others finished up their evening meal I got to work setting out barrels of vilt for tonight’s celebration. We were going to mark this great accomplishment by dancing and drinking vilt outside around the fire. The dekes would have enough food both to provide an offering to the goddess and have enough food for the winter.
“My Savrix, the vilt for the celebration is ready,” I greeted Tarak as he lit the communal fire.
“Good. Your vilt is much appreciated on a night such as this.” Tarak gave me a nod of approval.
Drovo made quick work of creating and setting up benches for seating, and soon after the entire dekes joined us outside.
I ladled out two cups of the fermented fruit juice: one for me and one for my mate.
“For you.” I placed a cup in Julie’s hand. “This is the batch that you helped me make.” I gave her a knowing smile and her cheeks turned a bright red.
