[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbfigo-a6b282b0-75ce-4051-b61c-2317a5479957.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZmlnby1hNmIyODJiMC03NWNlLTQwNTEtYjYxYy0yMzE3YTU0Nzk5NTcucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.a5H-TNjZNhnR65CBYrR-agJu6PKpzWLwvYB4G6OJVcg]
Appearing slowly as not to disturb young Hailey any further from the darkness, now showing himself in entirety, the old man stands closest to Baron, who backed up a bit to sit down, while smiling at Hailey. Slowly calming down, concerned whether she's still alive, Hailey replies still shivering from the event:
"Who's name?"
There's a long pause between Hailey, the old man, and Baron. Baron hears her name from the old man and approaches Hailey to rub her. The old man is well aware of what Baron is doing.
"Her?" Hailey says in shock glancing between Baron and the old man. Her thoughts run wild as she stands, not hurt, not cold or sopping wet since the storm has passed, in an alley with a stranger and her new best friend. The old man doesn't appear to be homeless. His clothes are a little dirty, his hair appears to be combed, and he doesn't reek like Hailey does. Crooked smile, flat footed, in the plainest of hand me downs, standing a little closer to the light being casted from street lights so Hailey can see him better, he returns:
"Yes child, the illisk. She wanted me to tell you her name."
Hailey is calmer now having listened to the old man speak again. She doesn't feel as threatened as she was earlier. In Hailey's eyes, the man is only a foot and a half taller than Baron - about average for Gannicus adults.
"Oh.....ok......What is your name?" Hailey says as she intently looks at the old man, shaking from head to toe because the old man said something strange she doesn't understand while trying to stand up - making sure she still sees him while she's rising.
"I'm Nahlus. Nice to meet you. Your illisk says your name is Hailey...is that correct?" The old man replies as he looks Hailey up and down with a concerned face. He wants to reach out to help her but understands that her demeanor tells him she's not wanting any help and she's very upset.
Hailey looks at the entrance, the other way in the alley for a possible escape route again, then looks down at the ground and whimpers in an uncomfortable, hollow, manner - almost like a whisper:
"yeah...."
The old man realizes she is hurting, she's very uncomfortable with him being around, and not sure why her illisk is acting strange. The man closes his eyes and bows his head. He frowns while he tries to talk to Baron, although he doesn't speak a word.
Baron senses the man doing this, turns her head to him, purrs for a moment, then meows. Hailey is moving back and forth and shaking still. Her feet are painfully planted and have been for a while, in the same spot she's been in for minutes now. She feels the urge to leave immediately, thinking Baron has crossed her and led the old man to her in some kind of game. She wonders if the big cat has been trained to lure homeless kids to him. She hasn't shaken the scare off of her bones yet so this horrible ride, for her, does not feel like it's over.
The old man talks to Baron as only a Seeder can. Baron and the old man sense each other, hear each other's thoughts, collect themselves, and the old man asks Hailey a simple question:
"Little girl, do you mind if I speak?"
Hailey looks at him and pouts her lip. She then looks away and down the alley again. She's wondering why he's asking this and then remembers that there's been something strange about her since she left SLSFC. She stands up straighter and looks at the old man I'm determination:
"No you may not. Not right now. I need to know who you are."
The old man shakes his head and looks at Hailey then down at Baron with a slight shrug. He doesn't say a word and allows Hailey to feverishly continue:
"Stand right there and do not move! I'm going to try something and it may not work."
Realizing she really can't control it, she looses steam then quickly rebounds:
"I'm going to try it anyway so....stand still!"
The old man smiles at Hailey and looks at her like there's something wrong with her. He tries not to judge the girl then looks at Baron since she doesn't mind telepathically speaking.
The old man sends Baron a confusing understand of what Hailey is doing while darting his eyes to Hailey. Baron simply replies with a slow nod and eye blink, sending an impression to Nahlus that Hailey is special.
The old man returns his eyes up to Hailey from leaning down to speak to Baron and settles his demeanor as if he's waiting on Hailey to do something. By the time the exchange between Nahlus and Baron started, Hailey was well into her slow mode where time and everything seems to stop, and she can see strange things. The entire time between Baron and Nahlus ran parallel with the time Hailey needed. She froze both of them in her mind with her, now seemingly new power.
With effervescent strobes corralled with seashell rays of red and orange, and shattered phantoms running around his feet in white, the old man appears to check out. She had seen Allijah's aura around him almost the same except for the bound phantoms swimming around his feet. With this vision closed, she realizes she's controlling her powers, is internally and not expressively gleeful about it, and snaps back with a strange feeling:
"I feel like something is holding you down. I see something at your feet. I get this strange feeling..."
"Oh." The old man jumps in to cut her off and then realizes Hailey asked him to stay quiet.
Hailey stops to look at him strangely still:
"You know what I'm talking about?"
The old man looks away and then to the ground. He recalls a time in his mind where things were different and he was happy. He does so while nodding at Baron and smiling. Baron, already sensitive to Nahlus, reads what he has stuck in his mind, a time where his happiness was at his peak of life.
"Shall I speak?" The old man says sweetly while smiling and holding his wrist with his other hand.
"Yeah....I guess....Go ahead." Hailey replies shuffling her weight and looking around not too sure to let him. The entire district is without sound now except for runoff from buildings making water droplet sounds. Nahlus collects his thoughts and breaths out a heavy wind. With a very sincere yet still scratchy and harsh, elderly voice, he begins:
"Forgive me for speaking too much but I've been through a lot here. I've been through things I'd never wish on anyone. When I was at my happiest, the worst came to take them. I was left with nothing and so I have been for a very long time. So, Ms. Hailey, I believe you are correct. I've felt bound here from my past pain."
Baron moves a little closer to Hailey and rubs her, almost pushing her over from her enthusiastic energy, motioning Hailey to continue conversing to break the tension.
"I know....Baron." Hailey says as Baron stops to sit while the big cat thinks to herself 'mission successful' and then purrs when she hears her name uttered by Hailey, finally after all this time.
Hailey pauses while looking at them both. She swings her body left and right in a manner that appears to have released the tension between Nahlus and herself.
The old man tilts his head and smiles at Hailey like he's waiting on a reply. Hailey takes a deep breath and looks at the man directly to prod more, but she's still uncomfortable:
"What....what happened?"
Nahlus tries to speak and pretends as if he is clearing his throat instead. He's getting choked up, which is visible to Hailey, then shuffles his feet and puts his hands in his pockets. He smiles again and looks at Hailey while returning a reply:
"Hailey. I'm afraid that's a story for another time. I'm afraid we've only met and it's very personal to me. Not to be rude but just as yourself, I'm sure there's things you'd share with someone you trust.....listen...I have something I want to give you. It seems like you're in desperate need of it."
Hailey is not sure what to think. She starts to speak with her hand in the air as the old man turns around but does it slowly since old age has already caught up to him. Hailey stops from trying to get his attention.
"I'm going to go and I will bring back something for you. This I think will help you more than anything right now." The old man says as his voice is weak from simply walking away from Hailey.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbfbjo-95a06c57-f961-4030-90aa-8c18375ee9a0.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZmJqby05NWEwNmM1Ny1mOTYxLTQwMzAtOTBhYS04YzE4Mzc1ZWU5YTAucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.ovwafCX0baliAI0mhkZ1evudzMr4_2ifmufrZ4H1o_Q]
Hailey sees him start to push something in front of him and can't tell what he's pushing. She wanted to run down the alley to help but she's still not sure about him or how well she can trust her powers for judgement. She returns to the side of the dumpster furthest from his direction and looks at Baron who is already on her way to a sitting-down Hailey.
"Baron....I like that name. Can you do me a favor girl?" Hailey says while reaching out to Baron who is now a foot or two away. The big cat slows on approach to Hailey and rubs the arm she reaches out with.
"I need you to watch. I am so tired and exhausted from everything that just happened, I need to lay down." Hailey says while getting the feeling, after saying those words, they won't convey to the big cat. Baron then proceeds to lay down in front of Hailey, starts purring, and wraps her tail around one of her sides.
Hailey tries again but this time, remembers the nodding that Nahlus and Baron exchanged earlier. She thought to herself 'protection', practiced keeping it in her head for a few seconds, got Barons attention from leaning down and catching Baron's eyes, paused again, and then nodded.
Baron's purrs stop. Baron tilts her head to look at Hailey and takes a second, then nods back to Hailey.
"Wow!" Hailey exclaims in the realization she may have just communicated to Baron for the first time.
The two look at each other for a moment then Hailey throws her hands up to stretch and slowly lays down to sleep.
An hour passes as shuffling can be heard 50 feet or so away from Hailey. Baron hears this and gets up while Hailey is still sleeping, then peers into the darkness, squints, and starts to walking in the direction of the sound. Once again, Baron is eventually surrounded in darkness while a couple minutes pass.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbff50-0f03692c-36b3-4264-a9a5-26d8b9878d5f.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZmY1MC0wZjAzNjkyYy0zNmIzLTQyNjQtYTlhNS0yNmQ4Yjk4NzhkNWYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.z4Q4jHperjQXNmUTFogeb52Pb6TkHhtGAoJpDy2YDYA]
Finally, Baron appears from the darkness with something in her mouth. She approaches Hailey slowly and lays it on the ground. She fires up her purr box and nudges a sleeping Hailey. When Hailey wakes, she sees the big wet nose of a large cat in her face, sniffing her. Startled, she jumps back but quickly realizes it's Baron.
"Hey girl." She sits up with one eye closed trying to regain her vision from sleeping hard on the cold concrete-like surface.
Baron backs up and puts her paw on what she brought Hailey. Hailey fixes her hair and clothes, which are a mess from sleeping so hard, and reaches out to the items under Baron's paw. Seeing Hailey reaching out, Baron quickly pulls her paw back - illisks don't like others touching their paw because it's an instinctual fear of being bound by foot.
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Hailey turns her attention to the big cat's reaction as she retracts the items closer to her:
"Sorry....Baron."
Hailey smells sweet scents of freshly washed clothes then reviews them, finds a pair of shoes that have barely been worn, a folded piece of paper-like material, and a few socks - all of them with different colors and patterns of her favorite government kid's program character, Stavio, and saliva from the big cat's mouth. She is in awe:
"Ohhhhhhhhh! These are beautiful! They smell so good!"
She wraps the clothes around the outside of her as if she's trying them on. She does this for a few minutes - too excited to notice the note that's in a puddle right now.
"Shoot!" She says after realizing the piece of folded paper is adrift.
She sees words on the paper and tries to read them. She's not too well off when it comes to academics because they only teach what's needed for workers to know how to work. Most disposable-docs given to workers are several reading levels lower than the reading level in the Tel-cae district she's in. The Soc-fie district prepares workers' children to become workers themselves even though they may advance after their assessment test but government statistics show this does not happen much. It's obviously against the grain of fairness and opportunity but that's Gannicus.
Hailey gets an idea of what the paper says, written in the most elegant handwriting she has ever seen:
"Hello Hailey - I hope that is the way you spell your name. I'm sorry if I spelled it incorrectly.
These are some of my most cherished possessions from a time when I was happy. I too had a little girl once. You reminded me of her when I had seen you. She had your hair color and you appear to be the same age since last I'd seen her.
I did not mean to hurt you so please forgive me. I have other things around where I stay that may help you as well. I like to wander around at night to see if I can find things others don't want, and bring them back to where I stay, in the hopes I am not disturbing people when they're around during the day. I too, am homeless. I too feel your pain. I too have hurt, so again, please forgive me.
Your companion Baron can come to fetch anything you may want or if you'd like to get them yourself, I gave Baron an impression of where I stay. She should now know.
I wanted to write you instead of scaring you again so I asked Baron to bring you these things and as a peace offering between us.
Unfortunately, I think it would be best if I don't come to visit you. I am not planning on returning to where you're at so you have your space. If you don't want anything else from me or wish to never see me again, that is fine, I completely understand.
I just wanted you to have something that would help you. There's not much in this world in the way of help, even from people.
Don't worry about someone finding me and punishing me - they've already taken everything from me.
Please take good care of yourself - Nahlus"
Hailey pulls the piece of paper away from her and brings it to her chest then starts crying. She trembles in the humbleness this old man has given her and the gifts at her feet. She tilts her head back as tears roll down her dirty, unwashed face. She then realizes she can't put anything on.
From walking without shoes, since she darted out of SLSFC, to her tattered government issued sleeping clothes she's had on for days, she doesn't feel like ruining the clothes this nice man gave to her. She keeps what she has on, tucks all the items she just received in a safe place close by, then returns to beside the dumpster to lay back down. Baron has been watching her this entire time, soaking up her thoughts and feelings. Baron thinks to herself that she'd enjoy a bath as well. Still exhausted and not worried about anyone coming back down the alley again, she drifts off to sleep.
When she awakes, she hears the busy part of this area fire up again. She rises, hair matted to her head, laying on some things she didn't see the night before.
"Ugh, gross!" Hailey says realizing she slept on something she doesn't recognize. She raises up, looks for Baron who is already awake and staring at her, and thinks about the night she had. She feels at ease knowing across from her sits some clothes she'll cherish but a thought pops into her head - how? How is she supposed to take care of what Nahlus gave her? She's still out on the streets here, being ignored by its inhabitants, with no clear escape in sight. Her cage, it appears, has only become more comfortable.
She's torn that this is the 2nd week she's been on the streets without much help and the person who did help her, was in the same situation and has been for a long time. She thinks she's had the shortest of all sticks and then thinks about her parents for a moment. What would her parents do? They always seemed like strong people. They always tried to help Hailey. They always tried to rise above. That's it!
Hailey then realizes one thing: She can always rise above any situation she's in because her parents did the same.
Hailey's thoughts deepen as she remembers she 'read' the old man last night and told him something that he already knew. Since the information given was true, her power, the unnamed slow down that she's starting to control, can be used to her advantage. She wonders now how she can use it. Maybe she can read the public and get help from people who have the same patterns and colors coming from them? Maybe she can, at least for now, try it out to get a mental account of everyone she sees, then attempt to interact with them, and judge their response?
Slightly energized from her thoughts, Hailey stands up. Her mind isn't racing about what she is going to do - she knows what she is going to do. Remembering what her parents said vehemently to each other one very recent night while she was watching them from afar at her bedroom door, before they supposedly died, she says to herself standing in the alley: "We're prepared, we have it planned, all bodies are in place.....let's execute the plan."
Hailey doesn't realize the slow down, the clothes, and shoes aren't her only gift and something might still be awry with her parent's 'death'.
The 'bodies' part of the phrase has her perplexed though. What bodies? She said it aloud without thinking about everything in the phrase - only liking a few word arrangements to relate to the moment she's in and the energy her parents put into the phrase. She thinks bodies as in people suddenly. She's still stuck in her situation and not thinking about what her parents meant:
"I need to go see Nahlus."
Baron sees Hailey energized and tries to feel her, then senses her thoughts. Baron growls low at Hailey not to disturb the passing people at the mouth of the alley. Hailey notices Baron's attempt at attention, walks up to Baron, and reaches for her head. She rubs her fur back slowly and gently. This is the most sincere touch she's given Baron. Hailey, hand on top of Baron, tilts her head while strangely thinking the thought of 'let's go, then' as she pets Baron's head. Hailey pauses, runs over to the gifts she cached nearby, and quickly returns to Baron's side. Thinking Hailey understands her growl while waiting for her return, the big cat starts to slowly walk in the opposite direction, where Nahlus came from the night before, with Hailey right behind her. With Hailey caught up, they look at each other again directly, to make sure they both know without saying that they're on there way to see Nahlus. Confidently, they both turn their heads straight ahead, knowing their adventure continues, without even stopping for dumpster breakfast.
Hailey is still in her worn sox from her SLSFC escape. The area she's in looks a bit more woodland than what she's used to the past couple weeks. Baron and Hailey usually only stop for a quick grab of dumpster dining. She hasn't learned how to make the meals she takes, perfectly safe to eat. Luck has been on her side when it comes to avoiding sickness from dumpster cuisine however as she hasn't been sick this entire time. Her habit of keeping away from not always eating after what others have partially eaten has paid off.
Her race's biology is a little different when it comes to liquid ingestion, however. She doesn't need to drink water like Earthlings do all the time. Neither does Baron. They obtain their 'fluids' from the food they eat, and also from skin absorption, so consumption on Gannicus is a little different.
She can't get water always from food so her tank is a little low and the rain from the other night was only a nuisance. Water is around Gannicus, much like on Earth, in more wooded areas so the sight of a creek like waterway bubbling and flowing in the distance is a sight for sore eyes to Hailey.
Baron and Hailey run with joy at the site of the body of water and immediately jump in. Both the big cat and Hailey start to recharge their batteries while playing and splashing in the small stream. The water is around Hailey's waste so when Baron sits up on all four, it touches her stomach. Baron enjoys this as much as Hailey and begins laying down and rolling over in the water, purposefully splashing Hailey.
When Hailey's race absorbs water while they're in Nagh's shine, their skin has a gold-flake shimmer to it.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbfk4k-4a6a4c28-34e1-46a6-8cd3-73bd79b4259c.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZms0ay00YTZhNGMyOC0zNGUxLTQ2YTYtOGNkMy03M2JkNzliNDI1OWMucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.tYos_AiVYR4CWJyIn2Ei_rPmcGpgU-hIcYpA5k4WkuM]
The water here is crystal clear. The rocks are a little different from Earth's where most of them are stark contrasts when grouped so you see more white to black and blue to orange rocks around that occur naturally. Since a lot of stuff is different from Earth, the foliage around them, would seem strange to an Earthling. Vines boasting fruit flowers showing their beauty in an array of semitransparent pink, purple, and red petals shaped like spaded triangles are abundant in this area. Large tree-like plants appear like Dragon Blood trees on Earth with holes in their broad canopy but are actually part of a native fungi family. Inhabitants here typically do the same with these plants like Earthlings do with trees by taking refuge under them during hot Nagh days. Gannicus' people enjoy pressing on their squishy bread like bases, as well.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbfk4c-ec27be25-3a4f-430b-ac0a-b06162286d84.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZms0Yy1lYzI3YmUyNS0zYTRmLTQzMGItYWMwYS1iMDYxNjIyODZkODQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.CmVdAd1K4OAWrglcvvFXp61K9UblIgxyd17hvoCNpLA]
Hailey sees the large vines stretching around the water and collects a flower off of one of them. The flower is harmless held and even eaten by Hailey's race. Most folks here leave them alone since they have a variety of plants they consume after workers like Hailey's parents harvest them, and because the farmed plants are a more nutritious variety. The flowers on the vine can be seen more like giant honeysuckles we have here on Earth but don't taste the same. Here, the petals delicately break like thin icing on a cake and taste a lot like a bacon with maple syrup.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbfgs8-97189ed7-1454-4162-b33f-44dbe58aa2bd.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZmdzOC05NzE4OWVkNy0xNDU0LTQxNjItYjMzZi00NGRiZTU4YWEyYmQucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.oK6ArN15pTKnHRILlEGf1GGvHuFZsWCmtWjxHxPXtwE]
Hailey breaks a petal off, snapping like a piece of ice and buttery when held, pauses a minute and looks at Baron still rolling in the water, and takes a slow, purposeful, bite. Baron doesn't need a hand to feed her per se, so she stops rolling to see Hailey closing her eyes to slowly eat a flower like she's trying to enjoy every second, pretends to be hunting a flower, shakes her rear, and pounces on the vine to devour a flower whole, knocking over the vine and damaging a few other flowers. This makes Hailey laugh so hard she drops the flower she was eating.
Hailey was taking her time with the flower because it's her first time tasting one:
"They.....are.....DELICIOUS!" Hailey exclaims slowly, realizing how much of this world she's been missing.
The poor girl asked her parents, when she was trying to explain the government kid's program episode to them, if the rest of the world looked like her neighborhood, and got a no, so she is on cloud nine right now. She only knew of these plants from a brief overview of them in government school. They've intrigued her ever since.
[https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/0adcdb2b-2a27-4d02-b707-ec3de1b96f2a/dfbff5g-7628b29f-afdb-4ca2-ae29-65c64ed920a6.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7InBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcLzBhZGNkYjJiLTJhMjctNGQwMi1iNzA3LWVjM2RlMWI5NmYyYVwvZGZiZmY1Zy03NjI4YjI5Zi1hZmRiLTRjYTItYWUyOS02NWM2NGVkOTIwYTYucG5nIn1dXSwiYXVkIjpbInVybjpzZXJ2aWNlOmZpbGUuZG93bmxvYWQiXX0.Ad09VQq3Eix3VP3WjC_Uoq0UC7Qqo4rzM5pUbdu0HHY]
Having too much fun, getting cold, and now tired, she grabs a couple more flowers on the other side while heading towards an opening between 2 large 2 foot thick vines, almost like a path laid before her. Baron is done attacking the flowers and notices Hailey walking off so she walks across the stream to catch up to Hailey, shaking off the water when she emerges. The two can be seen walking together towards a tall tree-mushroom-like plant with brown at the base and white canopy. Hailey sits down slowly at the base of the ghuyt while rubbing her hands across the grass-like plants she's sitting on. This grass-like plant she's rubbing can be pressed down on but bounces back up in the same position immediately after. It doesn't grow long enough to need cutting and there isn't many plants like it but much like grass on Earth, it's abundant. It's the same plant in front of her house in the Soc-fie district. It acts like a turf that's somewhat edible - folks on Gannicus don't consume much however because too much of it can make you sick.
Hailey leans back in an attempt to rest. She starts to close her eyes with sleep setting in. She's never really been in a natural place like this before because the Soc-fie district has nothing but government built structures, mostly for the purpose of aiding workers and supporting their food infrastructure. Most of the time in Soc-fie, her schedule was government run school, play outside with friends, come home, eat dinner, and go to sleep. She'd eat at school like most kids but there wasn't much variety or color in her food. Seeing all these wonderful edible plants surrounding her, she is at true peace, and falls rapidly to sleep.
She hasn't really dreamt in days since every night has granted her a harsh, hard, somewhat cold environment so beneath this ghuyt, she starts to wander off into dreamland.
She wakes up in the forest she's in now only this time at night, with a clear, pure, Gannicus sky. Stars shine, the cosmic ray eels are waving around with their firework cousin skipping along like an insect on a pond. The heavens are alive, things look the same, but she sees Baron asleep, rushes to her, then shakes her.
The big cat won't wake up. She starts to panic then settles when her attention zeroes in on a bright green light coming from the stream she was at earlier today. She walks slowly towards it not realizing she's not actually walking. Suddenly, she looks down at her arms and gasps:
"AH! They're purple! I can see through them" She says in the dream, making her now realize this was hard to say.
Her arms appear to be a purple amoeba just without internal bubble looking shapes and the sometimes prickly looking outer part - mostly transparent and non-uniform. She's still going towards the green light even though she hasn't willed herself there so something feels like it's pulling her there, faster and faster, clearing brush and vines in front of her.
Once she arrives she stares at two figures in a green aura hovering over the gentle waters, periodically raising their fists like they're frustrated, and slowly, calming, chanting: "Execute the plan."
Hailey is alarmed at what she sees and gasps:
"Mom?.....Dad?"