He Comes in Peace

The taunt of knowing that Kartayon had spoken privately about her kept Skye from worrying too much about his condition.

In that sense, the secret between him and the Quettle woman was welcomed.

On the other hand, the thought tormented her, and she found herself constantly clamping down on her tongue to stay quiet. This Quettle woman was doing her a giant favour by staying with her.

Skye was not stupid enough to disregard the saying, 'Don't talk to strangers', but she was out in the forest, with no sense of direction or protection. She was glad for the company that the Quettalian woman offered, even if she didn't understand a lot of things that Skye said.

The woman waited outside the outhouse while Skye stepped inside.

"Oh, I'm sorry I never asked, but what's your name?"

The woman replied in a series of clicks, just like Kartayon.

"Um…Do you have an English name?"

The woman answered with a tinkling laugh, one that made the skin on Skye's arms prickle, but in a mildly pleasant way.

"I sense you have gone over the exact same aggravating process of an introduction with Kartayon already?"

Skye laughed as well. After hearing the woman's dainty laugh, it made her own sound hoarse and rugged. "Um, yes, yes I did."

"My name is Elixyne."

"E-lex-ine?"

"No, no. Uh-licks-ine. The emphasis on the second syllable."

Skye repeated her name.

"Yes, that is right."

"Oh, that's a really pretty name."

"Thank you. Skye is an unusual name. But a beautiful one as well, nonetheless."

"Thanks."

The two were silent for a moment, before Skye spoke again. "Can I ask a stupid question?"

Elixyne frowned. "Of course..." In her mind, she was wondering why anyone would want to ask a stupid question.

"How is it possible that you and Kartayon are siblings?"

"I never said we were siblings."

It was Skye's turn to frown. She turned on the tap that was sprouting from the corner of the outhouse and washed her hands, shuddering as the water squelched against the dirt floor.

"But didn't you say you shared the same mother?"

The Quettalian woman now understood what a stupid question was. "Yes, we share the same mother. Everyone on our planet shares the same mother."

Skye burst out of the outhouse with a perplexed look. "But...How? You look a lot older than Tay."

"Tay?"

Skye blushed as she realized it was the first time she had used his nickname in front of the woman.

"Um, yes. When I first met him, I thought it would be easier and more normal to call him Tay instead of Kartayon."

"Does the normality of a name even matter? Unless you intended for Kartayon to stay a while on Earth, I cannot see the reason for normality."

Skye stuttered. "Um, well yes, I suppose I assumed that Kartayon was going to stay on Earth. He never told me why he left, though." She paused and stepped on a dried leaf, finding the crunching sound assuring. "Do you know why he left?"

Elixyne stiffened and looked away. "I think it is time for us to keep moving, Skye Cedona."

"Wait, do you know why? He said he would tell me soon enough, but 'soon enough' wasn't exactly soon enough." Skye was only aware of the absurdity of her words after they left her mouth.

"I will explain while we are walking. The two stories are interconnected; how it is possible for Kartayon and I, and the rest of our species share the same mother, and why Kartayon left. I suppose it will be acceptable if I explain them both. Your second question, however," Elixyne murmured, "I can only guess. Why Kartayon left is a mystery to the rest of my people, but I suppose I can make a quite accurate guess of his reasoning." The woman looked out into the depths of the forest, and Skye could feel that at the moment, her mind was not focused on the present.

Elixyne continued in a much softer voice. "Kartayon was always the unusual one. We have laws on our planet, just as you do on Earth, and though Kartayon never broke any of them, he never exactly followed them either." She sighed. "I remember seeing him countless times, sitting on top of a building just staring into space. He would sit there and sit there for hours on end, and nobody knew what he was thinking about. Out of all the people on our planet, Kartayon was the most likely individual to ever think of leaving."

"Did he talk about leaving constantly?"

"No. He hardly spoke at all. The Kartayon you have seen on Earth is quite different than the one you would see on Quetz. And not," she added, "in a physical way."

"What do you mean by that?" Skye whispered.

"On Quetz he was brooding, thinking, wondering, questioning. He was curious, but not in an open way. Instead of simply asking the questions, he would make it his personal goal to find out on his own. And it was hardly a difficult task for him; Kartayon is one of the smartest in his age group."

Skye pondered over the new information slowly. It was odd hearing more about the Kartayon on Quetz. She had naïvely thought that what she knew about the Tay on Earth was what he was, entirely.

"How did he get off of the planet? Space ship? I never actually saw him land."

"I do not know either. None of our smaller ships were missing, and I cannot fathom what other means of escape Kartayon thought of."

Elixyne frowned, a small crease appearing between her eyebrows. "That brings me to the question of how he and you met. How exactly did you come across him? Or did he come across you?" she asked curiously.

Skye laughed slightly as she remembered what exactly had happened: the collision, the blood, the minor kidnapping and the forest.

"Well, the police were chasing him. And I was out on my way to buy some dog food. He came running, or actually, leaping down the road, from tree to tree, and right when he jumped over my head—" Skye made the motion of something whizzing above her. "—boom, he got shot and landed on top of me."

Though the incident that actually brought them together was rather horrifying, she still smiled at the incredulity. Who would've thought that she would set out one dreary autumn day for dog food, and go home with an alien tagging along not far behind?

"And, after that, he took me back, in one unharmed piece, to the lake house I was staying at with my mom." Skye paused and tried not to grin too widely at the memory. "He broke into my house that night, and hitched a ride with us back to our actual home."

Elixyne smiled and nodded. "It seems a tad extreme, but I would not expect less from Kartayon."

"Yeah. Even though it's only been a few weeks, I'm pretty sure the things I've gone through with Tay are the craziest and riskiest I'll ever experience or do for the rest of my life." Skye shook her head fondly. "Tay's great."

They shared another silent moment before the Quettalian woman cleared her throat slightly and proposed that they start walking again.

"While you were inside the ladies' room, I looked around for some clues. Kartayon seems to have gone through this part of the forest." Elixyne bent and picked up a tiny, shimmering object and held it out on the flat of her palm.

"What is that?" Skye leaned in closer to see. She picked it up from Elixyne's palm and turned it back and forth so it caught the sunlight.

It was one of Kartayon's minuscule scales. She tucked it inside her pants pocket and drew in a long breath.

"So, I've told you my story. It wasn't very much, and I'm guessing it's going to seem like nothing compared to yours and Kartayon's. But I'd still like to hear how it's possible for your entire species to share the same mother—Wait, is it a spiritual thing? Kartayon told me of how your planet came to be."

"No, it is not spiritual. The actual process of birth takes place. It is not a spiritual event. The Laqin—that means 'woman' in our language—that gave birth to me, is the same Laqin that gave birth to Kartayon, and the rest of our species."

Skye tried come up with a possible explanation, but found that she couldn't. An entire planet, with the same mother? That was something she had trouble believing.

"And you'll tell me what made Kartayon leave Quetz, or at least why you think he left, too, right?" she asked, for she wanted very much to know.

Elixyne smiled. "Yes, of course. Now, let us be off, Skye Cedona, and I will tell you, as best as I can, the two explanations you asked for."