Chapter 111

The girl didn't smile for ages, if ever. She barely ever cried. She peeped afterward and her steady figure watched the window like a statue as the land disappeared from her eyes, including that memorable figure that caused no pain. She didn't know what to think about for a whole hour, watching the ocean, weird people around, and the sky above. The stars were still distant, which might be disappointing or confusing, or her current mood was unable to appreciate them.

The voices couldn't help anyone, her included. She sometimes wondered if others got them. They did not.

That went on until the pokes of Hound's paw destabilized her core and she nearly fell over.

Reaz and Dreadus were in the tenth argument; it seemed to be how they often acted or worked outside of missions, but the girl didn't believe it was strange to see dramas or arguments among anything living or not.

Every living thing was arguing, learning, or seeing others in many forms. It was what learning did. It was what eating was about. By force, blood, curiosity, goodwill, or fear, there was a lot onto it, yet so little if one knew what mattered. Understanding was to learn things, and knowing living things was never easy.

Out there, it was about survival of the fittest. The strong dictated the rules and the weaklings should bow down, disappear, or die.

Patting Hound, the girl decided on her future right at this moment, unwilling to forget about that waving figure. It killed the Jailer, so... she found much warmth in Hound's fur for the first time.

A while later, the night crept up into their journey. By now, the moonlight seemed great and the ocean was surprisingly calm, making the scenery not that charming, but the girl had never seen it before, so it had yet to turn boring for her eyes.

Unfortunately, the sky was less fortunate because the glass wasn't as clear and good, and there were occasional clouds and distant storms, or... Fogs. They never reach them, thanks to changing direction, while a pair of special jets and many walkers dealt with anything ahead of time. That was the strength of having the highest military order and protection of a hundred Walkers.

It left desires and good views for the girl, and soon, her stomach craved food in a hideous growl.

Patting her stomach, she glanced back just to see two staring people at each other in silence.

“You would go this far?” Reaz argued.

“I call it even and much more feasible. Who are you to judge me?”

“On two...”

“Two!” Dreadus shouted and punched out. A fist clashed against two fingers making up for scissors. “Ahh! Nah... That was cheating! You are at it again!”

Reaz waved a hand, smirking smugly at him. “What a sore loser. Look, we have a spectator. Be a better loser, Captain.”

Dreadus looked at the girl patting her stomach.

Reaz laughed. “Feed your kid, otherwise she won't grow up at all. Look at that head and legs. She isn't.... well, I don't know, right? We don't know. So we don't know.”

Dreadus didn't refute a word; he approached the girl in defeat. “You hungry, eh? I don't really need a lot of food, but young ones do. What do you want? We have some provisions.”

She shrugged. “Food? Hunt?”

Not like hunting was feasible in the sky, so any food was as good as anything.

Dreadus had nothing on him, so he went around the helicopter to find some rations, which seemed to be fresh and enough for her. It consisted of some biscuits, jerky, and all kinds of pastry and bread that was soft and crunchy, yet filled with some jam.

She devoured it as if she had never eaten in her life. She found this food strange and unappealing, yet tasty. It had some actual taste, like sourness, sweetness, or saltiness. The jerky was especially weird because it tasted like meat, but it was harder.

“You like meat, right?” Dreadus asked her as she licked and devoured beef jerky first.

She nodded without hesitation.

“There are some farms and great meats in the Federation. I will give you some great feasts and food you've never imagined.”

“Oh, is this how you will go through her? Though stomach... Seriously, you are either the most clever you've been in your life, or you are shameless,” Reaz added, finding nothing wrong with this after some thought.

Stolen story; please report.

“It is the bare minimum I can give to her. Look at her, I get it. Not as if some rich kid understands starving, eh? Have you ever starved or took scraps for food for the greatest gift?“

Reaz didn't like this argument and scoffed at his words. “Only idiots starve. No. Don't even call it right.”

Dreadus laughed as if she heard an idiot speaking. He patted the girl and swore. “Your stomach will be satisfied and glad! On my name!”

“Name?” the girl asked, chewing on the last piece of jerky.

“Oh, don't name her after the jerky, you jerk!” Reaz countered, fearing that Dreadus was about to think of something terrifying.

“Shut up. Leave us alone.” Dreadus shooed her away, giving her a stern look until she left to check on the Crystal Water Sea. “Hm. Finally gone. So, the name, eh?”

The girl seriously wanted one. Wasn't it how people lived and took care of one another? In nature, it wasn't common, but she wasn't some animal, was she? She saw enough to feel the importance of names.

“You... don't want to name yourself, do you?”

She didn't know if that was fine, so she shook her head. ”Not... sure.”

“Then how about this. What do you like to think or do? Do you have some simple words, acts, or some other idea that helps? Names could be a lot of things. Dreadus is mine, but it is more like a nickname because of... well, Walker factors and my circumstances. It isn't something fancy and I like it that way. I have no family, you see, so no family name. Just a word goes a long way, even if it comes out of the System.”

The girl contemplated for a while and couldn't see a fitting word. So she started thinking and moving her mouth at the same time. “Hunting... rabbit, mountain, cave, water, monster, little...”

Dreadus was glad to hear her talk more, yet upon hearing dozens of limited words, it didn't help with any names.

Every one of them was weak like his imagination, and he didn't want her name like a Huntress, Rabbit, or Clouda.

Reaz would have a nice comment since Dreadus shouldn't be naming others.

The girl kept trying, seriously thinking about his ideas of what she liked, preferred, or that sort of thing. Then, she gazed at the window and pointed up.

“Sky?” Dreadus asked.

She fervently nodded and felt enlightened. Perhaps this was her calling.

“Sky as a name... Perhaps there are some variants for that, but Sky as a name can work. On its own, it is more confusing. Skila? Skyler? Skell? Sly.... or how about some stars or moons? I recall some have many kinds of names from history.”

“Stars?!” the girl exclaimed and stormed Dreadus as if she wanted to demand from him all the names of every single star.

She grasped him, shook him, and blazed in face and eyes. He shook her off in denial. “I don't know them. Sorry.”

She dejectedly glanced down, noticing Hound looking at her eyes, sitting.

“What else would work?” Dreadus tried to cheer her up. It didn't work.

That went on until Reaz came back, watching Dreadus in pain and suffering that he caused for himself. “What is it this time? Don't tell me you are... thinking? Fuck. Don't do that without me! What if we crash into the ocean?”

“Oh, it's about names, Oh, do you know some stars?” Dreadus ignored her words with ignorance.

“Stars?” Reaz raised a brow and figured out where this might go. “It is about the name, so why struggle because of your lacking brain? The name is important. It comes and won't leave. I have my suggestions, but it feels like your responsibility, don't you think?”

“Hag...” the girl complained, visibly curious about names and tries that Dreadus showed. So for Reaz to be dubious, it was unnecessary and evil.

“Just try us! It is a name!” Dreadus begged and this time, the girl perked up and glared at Reaz but felt awkward doing so. She disliked this woman and she felt this won't go away overnight.

Reaz felt the same way and didn't want to help her too much because of it, almost half of it was because of Dreadus, which also left some concession and willingness for cooperation and approval. Dreadus knew Reaz, and the terms of using one another were equal, rather than exclusive or hideous.

It wasn't about being helpful at the right time, or some standards meant that Reaz wanted to be better. She wasn't willing to give him that much face just because she could.

Seeing this pair, her heart wavered, and that girl seemed to want it really badly.

Reaz recalled many names and naming sequences, and how her family did it. It wasn't good or bad. They were privileged people in the grand scheme of things, so their matters were very normal, and surnames were often better than names in their society. Reaz wasn't thinking much of surnames; it was a matter of her perspective and results, which spoke for themselves more than some privileges.

She might not be that good of a person, yet who was?

“Name. Stars have a lot of them, and they are various but not many think of them as names. What is it that she looks for? Some female name, or simple nickname?”

“How am I supposed to know it?”

The girl shrugged as well, while Hound sat in the chair, observing this rare insight into people and her.

“Sky?” the girl pointed to the window once more.

“Night? Stars? Suns? Moon? Do you like stars?”

She nodded.

“Luna is a pretty name that comes with moon origin. There are also others, like Diana, Elara, Aurora, Nova, and so on.”

The girl shook her head, unwilling to admit that neither of those sounded right. They didn't entice her, yet why not, or where was her limit? Reaz was curious why this girl didn't like them; she liked these names personally and thought they would fit her. Especially 'Luna' was great, considering her black hair and quite interesting Emblem in her right forearm.

“How about different languages? English has its limitations. Sky in Japan means Sora, for example. Without kanji, of course.”

“Oh, is that so?” Dreadus said as if he knew about it but didn't.

The girl didn't like it either.

“So stubborn. Perhaps you should name and think of it yourself, or wait for the right time. Federation has its books and ideas so you might learn and get what they mean. Dreadus won't help with that.”

“Stars... I like starry sky,” the girl argued and approached the window.

“Moons, suns, asteroids, dwarf planets, and all sorts of shit depict celestial objects out there. Those are stars and all sorts of things. It's called astrology, or... well, it doesn't sound important right now.” Reaz wanted to teach her a lesson but couldn't do it after a laughable snort from Hound and a chuckle escaping from Dreadus.

“Scie... Stars and... celes..” the girl failed to pronounce almost everything.

Reaz chucked until she found something pretty good after some consideration. “Oh, this reminds me of something, but you won't like it if you are so demanding. How about Celeste?”