“Lucky you,” Gabby pouted. It had been two dayssince Gabby’s first encounter with morning sickness and it had only gotten worse. Her food aversions had caused her to leave the cookfire on more than a few occasions. I had figured out how to make pancakes with the ingredients we had on hand which was Gabby’s go-to meal now.
Taylor approached our little group and sat next to us on the padded cushions the women kept near the cook fire.
“Hey Gabby, can I talk to you about something?”
“Sure, what’s up?” Gabby turned her attention to the confident woman with long black hair.
“I was thinking about our food problem.”
We still hadn’t figured out what to do now that our extra grain was gone. My plans to make meat filled pastries was out of the question and the extra time the guys could have used to hunt had passed. The clock was ticking and although the hunters had started going out again everyday, they wouldn't be able to hunt enough animals to last us through the winter.
“When we were on the ship, I saw one of the aliens open a row of cabinets by pressing on the wall. It had a bunch of supplies in it and some of them looked like freeze dried food rations. I was thinking that we could go back to the ship and search the wreckage. I could go with whomever you choose and point out where I’d seen the cabinets.”
“Don’t you think the captor who survived would have taken whatever rations were left?” I asked. Not to sound pessimistic, but if he’d been desperate enough to steal our grain it was probably because the ship didn’t have any food left.
Taylor shook her head. “There was some debris blocking the cabinets after we crashed. I doubt he couldmove the wreckage on his own, but I’m confident if we had some of the Sirrets with us, they could move the debris out of the way.”
Gabby sat back and thought about Taylor’s idea. “I’ll present it to Tarak. I think it’s worth a shot.”
Later that day, at the evening meal, Tarak stood up as we all ate.
“I have an announcement to make,” he started, and everyone grew quiet.
“A plan to search the crashed ship for food has been presented to me. I agree with my mate that it is worth checking out.” Whispers of excitement spread throughout the cavern.
“I know our future is uncertain. As of this moment we do not have enough food to present to the goddess and to survive the winter.” The reality of our situation hushed everyone once again. “But even with all this uncertainty, I still have more hope than ever before. The future has never been brighter.” Our Savrix looked down at his mate with love in his eyes. “We will get through this.” He paused and looked around at his dekes.“There once was a time where we thought all hope was lost. We had no reason to hope back then, and yet we banded together and learned how to thrive. We can do so again.”
The cavern broke out in cheers and Tarak sat back down and placed his hand on Gabby’s belly with a smile.
I turned to Orsu, who lifted my chin and pressed his lips to mine. I could feel all the joy emanating from his soul through that kiss. Tarak was right. Our future may be uncertain, but it had also never been brighter. I was still anxious about what might happen to the dekes, but I also knew that in the end everything would be okay–better than okay.
Epilogue
Drovo
“I’ve never seen the bafilo graze so close to the mountain before,” Sozu commented as the five of us sat in the clearing watching the nearly invisible beasts eat the grass.
Kayla and Hai had wanted some fresh air, so of course Lumod and myself headed outside with them. Sozu said he wanted to gather some flowers for Talia, which was how the five of us ended up downwind of a herd of bafilo that blended in so well with the tall pink grass that we nearly missed them.
“Look at that small one–It’s limping.” Kayla pointed to a young bafilo that looked like it was injured.
“It would make an easy kill,” Sozu commented.
“No!” Kayla said a little too loudly. The herd of bafilo got spooked and started to run away, but the injured one couldn’t keep up. The entire herd made it past the treeline into the forest, leaving the young one behind.
“Why not kill it? We need the meat for the winter.” Sozu looked confused.
“Because… well look at it! It’s helpless!” Kayla got up and slowly approached the beast.
We all followed quietly behind her, except for me who stayed by her side so she wouldn’t get hurt.
“Can’t you heal it or something?” she asked as she took slow steps, approaching the pink furred beast withthe ability to shift its colors to match its surroundings.
“You want me to heal it so I can kill it?” Again Sozu looked very confused, but it was becoming clear to me that Kayla had an affinity for the creature. She had seemed somewhat depressed this past week and I was sure it was partially my fault for not finishing her mobility device yet. Would having this animal make her happy?
“No, she wants you to heal it so she can keep it,” I supplied.
Everyone looked at me as if I’d grown a third horn. Everyone except Kayla. She looked at me with appreciation, possibly for the first time since the day I’d given her that walking stick.
