After a few more days of making sure Lili had at least gotten over the fear of feeding Hope, if none of her other fears, Ian was finally comfortable enough to wander more than twenty minutes from the shack in order to find fish or game. As July was just ending, the temperatures were still a bit warm to walk too long without a break for water though. Ian made his first stop for refreshment once he spied a cave near the river, which he could only assume was the one where Jared had first let another of his abilities become known, simply for the sake of saving Kyle’s life.
Ian finished his few sips of water with a sigh, still pondering whether or not Kyle could still be fully trusted not to push unwanted thoughts into anyone’s head. But, as Lili was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt on such matters, Ian had to find a way to as well. He let out another sigh as he readied his weapon and a makeshift torch and peered into the cave to see if there was anything waiting to try and catch him off guard. He had never actually tried bear-meat as it was hardly an approved part of the ship’s rations, and he was aware that whatever had made its home there the previous year may not have been an actual ‘bear’ according to Earth standards, but he was still willing to give it a shot. After all, his daughter as well as her mother both needed to build up all the strength they could before winter was upon them all once more.
Ian searched the cave thoroughly and found nothing living inside though. So, he made his way back out to the river to see if the fish would be biting any better now that he was further from the shack and the portion of the river where they had done most of their fishing over the last year. It was true that they were all a little tired of fish, but the one thing about fishing was that it was so boring, it gave one plenty of time to watch their surroundings for tastier resources.
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Nearly an hour passed in that hot sun as he waited for the bites that were still few and far between. He easily found himself wondering why he didn’t just have Jared hoodoo the fish out of the water like he did when they first arrived there. Of course, Ian knew that Jared had much more important tasks of keeping an eye on Hope, as well as Lili, who still didn’t seem anywhere near jovial or calm, despite getting past her fear of at least touching their daughter long enough to feed her.
Another sigh and another sip of water as he watched the home-made fishing pole, waiting for it to actually move and give him some temporary task to deal with. Instead of the pole moving though, it was another movement that caught Ian’s eye as he quickly turned to find their ghost-like friend had once again materialized about ten feet or so up the river from the boulder that Ian had been sitting upon for that last rather boring hour.
“If it isn’t our most elusive neighbor” Ian greeted him with a slight shake of his head, “or rather, our only neighbor.” he allowed another sigh, then a bit of worry crept in, all things considered, “Please tell me no one is hurt or dying this time too” he added, tensing slightly as he awaited the answer.
The young man looked around as though pondering the question before turning back to Ian, “no” was the only answer he offered.
“Man of few words, eh?” Ian mumbled, then looked back up at him. “Not that I’m sure how accurate that is. If you had an actual shirt on, I’d have to check” he added referring to the simple animal skin cloth that was wrapped loosely around the young man’s sun-kissed chest, still leaving at least one nipple exposed.
“Check?” the young man asked as he moved only the slightest bit closer to where Ian remained sitting, staring back out at the water with continued boredom.
“Guess no one was ever around to tell you exactly how androgynous you look. Bowie would be proud” Ian mumbled, more to himself as he continued propping an elbow on his knee and his chin in his hand to reflect exactly how bored he was becoming with the chosen activity of the day.
“An...draw...juh...niss?” the man repeated the word slowly as he moved to stand next to where Ian remained sitting.
“Never mind” Ian scoffed with the slightest smile. A moment later though, he looked back up at ‘ghost’ curiously, “what is your deal anyway?” he couldn’t stop himself from asking.
“Deal?” ghost asked softly as he stooped down to glance out over the water himself.
Ian sighed, trying to work out exactly what the scope of this boy’s linguistic abilities truly was. He then tried to better explain himself, for no other reason than his own boredom and curiosity. “What I mean is, how did you even learn English...our language?” he clarified before the question was asked.
“Mother” was ghost’s simple answer.
“Your mother?” Ian asked with a raised brow.
“You burned her” he added more quietly.
Ian swallowed a bit at the statement, but forced himself onward, “so, how old were you even when she...died?” He added the last word quietly.
“Um...” ghost began, seeming to actively be trying to recall the answer, “I think she said, five? Haven’t spoken in long time. Before you people come” he added quietly, “learned more from listening to you.”
“Stalker” Ian mumbled, then quickly moved on, “my parents sent me to go live on a ship when I was only three. Guess we have something in common.”
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“No ship here” ghost put in.
“Yeah, so I’ve heard” Ian returned with another heavy sigh. “So I guess the whole teleporting thing is how you managed to survive here alone for fifteen years?” he continued after another long pause.
“Teleporting?” ghost repeated.
“The whole thing where you’re in one place then suddenly you’re in another” Ian added matter-of-factly.
“Didn’t know others couldn’t do. Were no others” ghost responded quietly.
Ian shook his head, “valid point” he allowed. He then took a breath as he looked back over at ghost just as he moved a jet black lock away from deep brown eyes. Even getting a better look at the young man’s face did nothing to take away from the androgyny Ian mentioned earlier. In some odd way, it even added to it. Another shake of his head to push away any errant thoughts before Ian pressed on, “so how old were you when you realized you could do that?”
“Always” was ghost’s simple answer.
“Always?” Ian was the one repeating the other man’s words this time, “so you actually could teleport even when you were just a little child?” Ian swallowed hard, his mind not able to keep from immediately moving back to his own daughter and her effect on the wolves, not to mention, Jared’s vision of her at only three years old.
“Good skill. Helps” ghost concurred.
“Yeah, no kidding” Ian mumbled, “even if it’s a bit annoying at times” he couldn’t help adding even more quietly.
That was when ghost cast another look between the river and where Ian continued to sit staring out at it. “Better food from bigger water” ghost offered.
“Bigger water?” Ian raised a brow as he looked back over at the young man, “You mean the ocean? Where Kyle got bit?” he added for clarification.
“Come” ghost stated as he stood, offering a hand to Ian.
“Come?” Ian gave him another skeptical look, “I can’t just leave” he argued, though not with much conviction.
“She has doctor and Kyle. They both do. Come, get better food from bigger water” ghost repeated.
Ian sighed and stood as he looked back toward the shack and back at ghost, pondering the choice. He was terrified of leaving them when so much was still unsettled with Lili’s current state of mind. Then again, she did have Jared there, and ghost could obviously get him back there in a matter of seconds, and they did need more food if not better food. Though, before Ian could continue his inner debate, he felt ghost’s warm hand close over the bare skin of his arm below the short sleeve of his worn t-shirt.
A moment later, they were there at a beautiful beach on that sunny early afternoon, “I don’t believe I had said yes yet” Ian stated with a bit of annoyance once his original disorientation passed.
“Better food” ghost smiled as he moved close enough to the water that it washed over his bare feet, as he gestured to the ocean with that continued smile.
“That’s great and all, but my fishing pole is still back at the river” Ian began, only to see ghost disappear once again, and re-appear a moment later, pole in hand.
“See, I can be everywhere” ghost smiled, “helpful, yes?”
Ian just scoffed in disbelief, beginning to feel more and more inferior to just about everyone on this planet, including his own infant daughter. Though, he would never voice that feeling, however it did grant him the tiniest bit of understanding of why it was that Lili was feeling so inferior lately as well.
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Another couple of hours passed as the hour hit three pm, the hot July sun not letting up as it reflected off the waves and the sand. Ian had found a seat near the water and had actually hauled in quite a few catches in the last two hours. While he did that, ghost walked along the beach nearby collecting shells and other things he deemed of value, not seeming nearly as affected by the hot sun as Ian. Given, Ian was wearing a t-shirt and jeans as opposed to scraps of animal skins that barely covered him, as ghost had; plus, Ian had only even had to endure living outdoors and away from technologically controlled temperatures for only one of his twenty-four years, unlike the boy who had spent his whole life there on that planet, alone.
With a sigh, Ian finally set aside the pole and called to him, “ghost, come here.”
The young man looked back at Ian with a confused expression before moving back toward the older man, “ghost?”
“Well, I dunno what else to call you, now do I?”
“Name?” ghost asked.
Ian chuckled slightly, “yeah I don’t recall you telling us yours. Do you even have one?”
Ghost pondered the question for a moment, as though calling on long forgotten memories, “mother called me...Will....I think” he offered sadly.
“Will?” Ian repeated, “ok, Will it is then” he agreed as he stood, “but I’m dyin out here, I think it’s time to go back.”
“Dying?” Will asked with confusion.
“Bad choice of words” Ian admitted, “I mean it’s too damn hot. We should go back. I mean, the shack is way too hot too, but at least there’s shade, and I got plenty of food to take back” he added as he gestured to the pile of fish next to him.
“Too hot?” Will asked, “then we cool off” he stated simply as he gestured to the water.
Ian scoffed as he looked out at the vast ocean of this unknown planet, “I know enough to know that there were things in Earth’s oceans that could rip you to shreds. I don’t even wanna begin to guess what’s in the ocean here.”
“Anything bad, I can save. Just stay close” Will smiled.
Ian shook his head over at Will again before speaking once more, “I gotta know.”
“Know what?” Will asked innocently as he began unhooking the pouch he always seemed to carry around his waist for whatever he collected along his way.
“Last time we were here, on this beach, you pretty much told me you didn’t like me much. Something about me being too angry?” Ian then continued, “so why is it that you wanna help us at all, let alone spend the entire day with me? I don’t get it.”
Will was quiet a moment as he tried to find the right words for that answer, “I watched and saw you needed help. So, I help. Then I brought your baby, and helped your female. It made you... less angry” he finished.
Ian allowed the tiniest smirk at the statement, not realizing it was true until that moment. He then took a breath as he looked out at the ocean, then back at where Will was now removing whatever it was that passed as his shirt, then back at the ocean again. “Believe me, I’ve still got plenty to be angry about, just don’t see the point in wasting much of that anger on you, anymore” he added more quietly as he leaned down to begin removing the well-worn hiking boots he had practically lived in since their arrival.
“Then you like me now?” Will asked with another smile as he dropped the ‘shirt’ to the sand and began untying the cloth that was wrapped about his waist.
When Ian pulled off his own t-shirt and looked Will’s way to see him beginning to remove that last covering, he swallowed a bit, “we’ll have to see” was his only reply.