He Comes in Peace

After bidding Kartayon good night, Skye climbed back inside. She took off her jacket, folding it behind her head as a pillow. She could see little slivers of the stars coming out, and she wondered which one was Quetz. She wondered whether Kartayon was asleep yet, or was he gazing up at the stars, wishing he were with his family again? She fell asleep with the same thought swimming slowly in her head.

-x-

That night it rained. It rained harder than any other day in the last month. Kartayon went to crawl under the shelter of a tree, rather than disturb Skye, who was sleeping and snoring on like there was no tomorrow.

-x-

The next morning, Skye awoke to a screaming pain in her neck. She had fallen asleep in an awkward position, and the kink beneath her skull was enough to make her wince with every movement.

It was then that she noticed the ground was slightly wet, and the pain in her neck wasn’t the only thing that had woken her: Small little droplets of water had fallen onto her face.

“Breakfast, Skye. I know you are tired, but please come out,” said Kartayon, his voice sounding fresh and alert, quite the opposite of Skye.

“Coming. Did it rain yesterday?”

“Yes, it did. It rained very hard, I believe.”

“Why didn’t you come in? You must’ve been soaked,” Skye asked with a little concern. Kartayon didn’t look very wet, though.

“Trees provide very good shelter.” As he spoke, Kartayon patted the trunk of a towering oak beside him. “Did the thunder and lightning disturb your sleep?”

“There was thunder and lightning?” Skye blushed inwardly, knowing she must’ve been snoring pretty loudly to have missed thunder.

“Yes, but it was quite a few miles away; it sounded like a whisper to me.”

“Then I didn’t hear it at all, or see it. You have a heightened sense of hearing, and your eyesight’s bound to be better than mine.”

Kartayon inclined his head. “True, I suppose. So you slept well?”

“I guess so.” She chose not to mention her neck. “Did you sleep well?” she asked politely, twitching when she moved too fast.

“Yes, very well.” There seemed to be a happy air about Kartayon. He smiled, showing a quick flash of his teeth before he turned away, prodding two eggs simmering on a broad, flat stone.

Skye sat down on the ground. “Where did you get those eggs?” she asked warily.

Kartayon did not answer until they were ready. He grasped one end of the rock and shook it gently until both eggs slid down and landed with a small plop onto another flat rock.

“Eat, Skye. Do not ask questions unless you would like to go hungry.”

Skye still eyed her breakfast warily. The eggs looked delicious as deluxe as a breakfast in France, but she didn’t think eggs would pop up out of nowhere. She gazed up at Kartayon, who was now cracking another egg over his make-shift pan. Small orange flames licked the sides of the stone and his hands, but of course, he wasn’t bothered by it.

“Really, Tay. Where did these eggs come from?”

“You should have spoken before I made breakfast; I did not know you were a vegetarian. You seemed to enjoy the hamburgers that we made the other day.”

Skye’s forehead wrinkled when she narrowed her eyes. “Excuse me?”

“I did not know you were a vegetarian.”

“I’m sorry, but was that just sarcasm?”

Kartayon turned his gaze from the eggs, to Skye. He suddenly looked tired all over again. “Forgive me, but you are being a nuisance.”

Skye pushed the rock back defiantly. “Thank you for making breakfast,” she said in a forcedly calm tone. “But I’ll get breakfast on my own.”

Her alien friend lifted an eyebrow. “May I ask how?”

“I’ll go to IHOP or something.”

“The International House of Pancakes?”

Skye ignored him, hot with annoyance. She stood from her position on the ground, and resisted the urge to shrink back when Kartayon stood up with her.

He wasn’t exactly very tall, but he was several inches taller than her, and the cold, indifferent expression on his face was intimidating.

“What?” she said boldly, though she didn’t feel very brave.

Kartayon sensed the defensive tone of her voice and softened his expression. “Skye, please. Be reasonable and sit down.”

“Tell me where the eggs came from.”

“The eggs came from six kilometers away, in another forest, where the thunder was.”

“You went six kilometers to find me eggs?” Skye asked, feeling humiliation and shame coming on.

“Yes. And before you start pondering and worrying about the killing of three helpless eggs, I saw their mother fall from the branch when thunder struck their tree. These would-be hatchlings could not have survived without their mother, so I put them to better use.”

"There weren't any eggs around here? Six kilometers is a long way to run..."

"I thought you would object even more if I took the eggs out from right under the mother, so I looked around."

Skye nodded feebly. “I’m sorry.”

“It seems to me you are always apologizing for misconceptions. It is nothing, Sit down and have breakfast, and we shall continue our journey. Let us hope that the ECI have not caught up to us quite yet.”

Skye obeyed and sat, pulling the rock towards her. She felt ashamed for implying chastisement upon Tay without really thinking.

He went six kilometers to find me eggs. I should be more thankful than that.

-x-

After Skye had finished breakfast, she climbed back onto Kartayon’s back. This time there were forests to run to, and because Kartayon preferred running on softer ground, they kept to the shelter of the trees and plantation.

Kartayon ran for another few hours before he stopped at the edge of a forest. Skye had fallen asleep on his back, for he had taken care not to jostle her during his run.

Skye rubbed her eyes blearily. “Where are we?”

The cherry trees that could be seen through the thinning trees on the sidewalks prodded something in Skye’s memory.

“We are at 3654, Brittley Avenue. Does this not look familiar to you, Skye?”

Skye looked around her in amazement. “You ran this far?”

Kartayon nodded, gesturing towards the beaten path leading up to the back door of a house.

“You know whose house this is?” Kartayon asked, just to be sure.

“Yes, of course I do! It’s mine…We’re at the lake house!”