Chapter 7: The Stars Are Beautiful
The second day of travel was a bit of a rarity as far as the weather there; though the air was moist, it showed no sign of raining. Dew coated leaves and brush, shining shimmering gold against the silver bark of trees and muted browns of the dirt below them with flourishes of blues on occasion. The river burbling and splashing against stone outcroppings accompanied the subtle breeze shuffling branches around them. Distant shuffling of creatures in all directions restarting as they resumed their activities when the trio passed through, no longer in range to be a threat to them.
The trees populating their path allowed a mostly accommodating traversal, even at the bank of the water. Clearings were spotted around every so often, easing their travel and promised comfortable resting areas for Mama to relax her leg as holding it up for so long was discomforting. Violet, not used to the endurance test of their nomadic journey, also appreciated the moments of respite.
Joseph distributed some of the jerky from Violet’s bags as the two Mantises sat on some of the moss in their clearing for the third time today, Mama stretching her leg out to dispel some of the stiffness. Taking a seat with them, he sank into the moss pile, it accepting his weight and providing support. It felt like a luxury bean bag chair you could grow in a tank, its color shifting to a slight orange under the pressure. Curious, but ultimately unimportant.
He kept a watchful eye on their surroundings; eyes lazily scanning the tree lines around them in intervals while he recited stories from comedians and anecdotes from old co-workers. The two had gotten quite good at understanding him. They rarely required any pantomiming or reiteration except when new slang words were used or context was required for in-jokes. Although they lacked the sensibilities to find a decent portion of the content amusing, they still laughed in their chittering way on here and there. Violet had almost walked face first into a tree while recovering from a few of the stories, provoking Joseph to reel her into the middle of their caravan a few times as they navigated the woodlands.
“But no, he continued to weld.” he said, snickering while telling the tale. The laugh forced him to swallow the last of the meat as he recalled. “The guy, fully on fire waist down, doesn’t ask for help. Doesn't stop what he’s doing. Doesn't even care as his pants start melting onto the floor! No! Fucker just finishes what he’s doing while he cooks in his pants!”
Violet almost falls off her moss pile, nearing hyperventilation through the manic laughter. Mama laughed a bit harder than he had seen before, the fatigue of the past eight hours melting away after having eaten and taken in the most recent story. Joseph smiled from ear to ear, eyes darting to various points every so often to keep an eye out.
“Anyway, that’s all I got for ‘work place stupidity’ for now.” He grunted out, raising himself to his feet. He brushed his hands on his pants and threw his bag over his shoulders, adjusting it before reaching out to pull up Violet who had almost completely toppled over. “Come on, sweetness, we got lots of land to cover and, as adorable as it is to watch you flip over, we should get going.”
Violet accepted the assistance, righting herself while using him as a support. Mama chuffed to herself while her daughter fumbled a bit to stand, flexing her leg a few more times to work out any remaining stiffness before raising herself as well. They packed away the excess food into Violet’s bag and set out north along the water.
The river widened as they continued forward, going from about twenty feet across to sixty. The progression was slow and required rest stops every two hours or so as they walked. Far less often than he feared though, so Joseph was quite happy with their progress. They had left mid-afternoon yesterday but still had made considerable progress, the familiar landmarks around the cave and area had long since been left behind.
The night watch had taken quite a bit out of him, but it wasn’t something he hadn’t done before. The long periods of walking had done little to dent his stamina that he had built up during his time on the cruise but the lack of sleep had slowed him down a bit. He matched the pace of his companions easily since they seemed to deal better with less populated terrain, so even if he was tired, he wasn’t slowing anything down.
They had walked for almost another two hours, bringing their journey for the day well into the evening. He offered small chit-chat as he found plants or objects worth commenting on. Eventually he fell quiet, taking in the scenery, and making small course corrections whenever the patch they could walk deviated away from the river. It was peaceful. He found himself remembering old times.
“You know, I used to dream of the stars as a kid.” He broke the silence that had comfortably settled between them as they walked over a fallen tree. Mama looked at him curiously, head tilted as he helped her daughter over the three-foot high log.
“Seriously. Five years before the Union told us we weren't alone, I used to sneak out at night, climb up the side of the shed and just lay on the roof. Just look at the night sky.” As Mama needed a bit of help getting her leg over the obstacle, he positioned himself on the side of her and helped support her weight as she worked her way over it.
“Used to- okay, on three. One, two... three. Jesus Christ, Mama. Remind me to make a wagon or something because holy shit, you are heavy with that on.” He dropped himself from the top of the tree then took his place at the head of the pack. “Where was I? Yeah, stars. I used to just stare at them for hours, watching the falling stars I could pick out through the light pollution, wondering if there was anywhere out there that I could truly belong. Kinda’ hoping some alien would just show up, ask me to be their friend and take me away.”
He looked to the distance, not really taking anything in as he adeptly stepped over roots and rocks, lost in thought. He took a deep breath, holding it for a second before sighing it out. “Never happened. Mom got sick, dad lost his job, and Robert moved out to open up a steel foundry on Mars. First one, actually.” He added a bit of pride to his voice to communicate that it was an impressive feat.
“I hated him for a while, wanted to pin all the blame for the family falling apart like that on him. I know the three events were unrelated but back then, it seemed like he took everything with him when he left. Dad wouldn’t let me blame him; said that he was going to do great things on a new world and that he had promised that as soon as he had his feet on solid ground, he was going to bring us up with him.”
Joseph gave a dry laugh, pushing away branches that Mama would have to duck under and letting her pass. Both of them were listening closely to him, closing the distance somewhat as he talked. “He almost did it, to his credit. Rob went ahead and took over seventy percent of anything to do with steel and its alloys on Mars, thirty percent on Earth. Finally got the allocation and permissions to have us transported up...” He drew a slow breath.
“He was a little too late. Mom got a lot worse, Dad kept bouncing from job to job. Not his fault, mind you, he just kept finding jobs that were on the cusp of automating whatever he stepped into and he didn’t have the education to maintain or program it. Between mom’s hospital bills and raising me, he couldn’t put himself through school again. Rob sent money back, but there was a limit on how much could be traded between colonies. It wasn’t enough.”
“Didn’t take long ‘till mom passed, I think that was what did dad in. He didn’t want to be in a world without her, so he gave up on himself. Not openly, he still had me to provide for when he could, and mom would have come back from the dead just to yell at him if he fell behind in that, but he wasn’t there anymore. Not the way I knew him anyway.”
Quiet fell over them again as they made their way through the trees, light breaking through the crown of branches highlighting their path. He took a moment to work out how he wanted to phrase what he said next, letting out a long breath he didn’t know he was holding.
“Eight years. In eight years, while Rob was dominating the competition away from home, he lost the reason he started in the first place. The approval letters came in the mail two months after dad died on a work site. Nobody’s fault. Earthquake caused a structural failure of the building he was in. It was quick, I heard.”
“I didn’t do very well after that. I had only been on my own for a few months when I got the news, dad had nothing for me to inherit. So, I started bouncing from job to job myself. Always getting into relationships that never stuck. Trying to find my purpose I guess, something to make me feel alive, something to fill the void. Did get a decent job after, working night shift auditor at a Terra-firm shipping company. Boring, but let me have a stable life style. Got married even! Though that... that I don’t want to get into right now. Anyway, worked there a few years. One morning, as I'm clocking out, boss walks up to me and hands me my termination notice. Replaced by automation, just like dad.”
He walked in silence for a while, mulling over his words. He wasn’t much for sharing his personal life like this, but being tired and walking for most of two days could have something to do with it. Mama didn’t make much effort to communicate with him, though she seemed to be respectfully allowing him to decide if he wants to continue or not. Violet spent her time staring off into space a bit, simply following behind him.
He spotted the next clearing as the day turned to evening; the mood of the group somewhat sombre after his story so far. He paused his trek, stopping to look at the river. It was certainly much larger now, nearing the size he remembers being flung into.
“I never turned to drugs or drinking.” He spoke after a while, never breaking his eyes from the water in front of him. “I turned to MMA of all things. Never did any competitions or anything though. Found it helped me work out the aggression, made me feel productive. It was fun. It felt like I had some actual control, I guess. Even when I was too tired to move.“
Shaking his head with a stiff smile, he separated himself from the water, motioning for them to follow him. It was only a short distance before they walked into the meadow. The area was pretty large, enough so that he would take a bit more than ten minutes to cross it at a full sprint. It bordered the river so they could easily access the water and would be safe from approaching wildlife from that direction. He made his way to about the middle of the span between the two patches of forest, still sticking within a close distance to the river.
The two Mantises removed their armour and bags while he did a quick check of the perimeter. Satisfied that there were no lurking threats nearby, he rejoined the group. Setting his bag down on the ground, Mama reached into her saddle bag and took out some wood as Violet dug out a small pit for them to start their fire in. He took out the rock they were using for starting fires as well as fresh healroot for Mama, getting her to help him prepare it so they could switch out the bandage. It looked to be mostly healed, if a little stiff. Should be pretty much back to normal in a day or so. Finished his assessment, he stretched a bit as he spoke.
“Rob called me after he found out what happened, offered me a deal; If I go on a year-long trip as its first human passenger and give him my impressions of the whole thing, he’d set me up with a stable position at his company as Overseer, a strategist, basically. I'd be the one organizing several factories and foundries. Who goes where, what they do there, even work with security and logistics to make sure everywhere got where it needed to go without ever touching pen to paper myself, so to speak. I just talk to who needs talking to and point where things need pointing. I didn’t think I was qualified but he said all the experience I had working with all those departments while I was job hopping made me a perfect fit. I’d be able to see issues from the ground level of every department. Seemed too good to be true that he was basically offering me a year vacation followed by a job, had to ask what he got out of it.”
“Turns out, Rob had a pretty significant stake in the travel company and planned to turn it into a venture many times bigger than it was. Lots of species and races don’t use them for one reason or another and he wanted me to dig through as a face in the crowd and find out where things could be adjusted for them. Make it perfect if he could. Mom always said she thought that the stars would look beautiful no matter where you went. Always talked about going on a cruise like it, wanted to prove it herself. So, I guess it was like his tribute to her.”
Clacks resonated out as Mama used a piece of stone as flint, sparking some of the kindling. Violet fetched some flatter rocks nearby to use as a cooking surface, washing them off in the river before placing them near the flame to dry and warm up. Joseph walked over and grabbed three rock-worms from Mama’s bags, laying them on the rocks, then adding larger pieces of wood to the fire. The sky was turning green as the sun began to set over the hills around them.
“It was pretty fun. Rob set me up with work-out equipment and the latest holo-deck fighting sims, Spent a lot of time on that. Got to meet and talk to all kinds of people, but it was pretty hollow. Most didn’t know what to make of me. Friendly, mind you, but in a pretty sterile way. Somehow felt lonelier surrounded by thousands of polite faces than I expected.”
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
He reached out to grab an attempted escapee rock-worm to place it back on its rock as he sat down next to the fire. Mama and Violet finished their preparations for the night and joined him, sitting a fair bit closer than usual. Joseph just leaned into Mama’s side and rested a hand on Violet, stroking her back. He let the warmth of the two wash over him as he watched the fire.
“I was heading to bed one night when alarms started blaring. Well, alarms or someone got their hands on that horn thing they blow into to annoy everyone at sporting events. Doors slammed shut without much warning; I can still remember the sounds of a Quotol that didn’t figure out what was going on in time, poor slug guy didn’t suffer at least. Anyway, yeah. Doors slammed and next thing I know, all my systems are locked or damaged and my room turned out to be an escape pod. Got front row seats watching the ship I spent half a year on go boom. Two days of barely being awake due to faulty life support systems and I crashed into this hunk of dirt.” He punctuated his words by tapping the ground with his foot.
“Wandered around after falling out of a tree, fell off a cliff straight into the water, thanks to some... I'm assuming massive rock-worms, but I'm not sure. You guys know the rest.” He finished with a sly smirk, his eyes showing he wasn’t really all that into it. He stopped leaning on Mama and laid on the ground, staring up at the crystal-clear galaxy above them, the stars shining through the dimming atmosphere.
“So, here I am, on the other side of the cosmos. Exactly where I wanted to be all that time ago, staring at the stars from a planet I never thought I could be. A childhood dream come true.”
He turned to look at Violet, taking in the sight of one of the only two creatures in existence, besides his brother, that he cared for. The pearlescent sheen of her outer exoskeleton dancing in time with the flicker of the fire. She met his gaze, purring slightly. He raised his hand to stroke her base past her curled in legs, the plating giving a light resistance has he ran his hand across it. She purred more firmly, shifting herself so he could reach her better.
“Not how I thought it would happen, and not when I was wishing it would... but I guess I got exactly what I wanted.” He finished with a soft genuine smile. He felt his eyes grow heavy until mama laid the warm rock-worm on his stomach, too warm to be comfortable but not hot enough to burn him. He sat himself up to eat, the three watching the fire in silence as they did.
The night slowly approached them, green sky yielding to a clear version, the stars brightly illuminating the river and grass. Joseph felt his eyes grow heavier on a full stomach, the lack of sleep from last night catching up to him. “Mama, could you take the first few hours on watch? Just need a few or I'm gonna’ fall asleep on my feet tomorrow.”
The Mantis softly nodded in the affirmative, the gesture having become surprisingly natural for the two recently. “Alright, just wake me in like three hours or if you see anything okay?”
Mama purred as she nodded again, donning her armour and raising herself up to inspect the area while he settled into a comfortable position. Violet followed his lead, deliberately pushing herself into him as he rolled onto his side. With a laugh, he accepted the non-verbal request, wrapping his arm around her back. His hand traced the faint outlines of the plating, the colours shifting ever so slightly around where his fingers connected. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep, a rumbling purr replaced with deep breaths. He smiled as he drifted off, feeling a little less weight on his shoulders than usual.
------------------------------
A light patting on his back stirred him awake, a yawn bellowing from his mouth as he blinked his eyes. Blurry vision was replaced slowly, detailing Violet in his arms still asleep. He turned his head to see Mama in time for her to pat his back again using the flat of her blade, slightly more firm but still gentle.
“Hey,” He whispered, trying not to wake Violet. He released the young Mantis from his unconscious intimacy, rolling onto his back. “Why is it that I feel more awake after barely any sleep than most of a decent night's sleep.”
Joseph got to his feet and looked around; the starlight diminished somewhat by thin clouds that slowly passed above. Mama removed her armour, adding slightly more wood to the fire before lying next to her daughter to bask in the warmth and go to sleep now that he was awake. He checked his own gear, tightening a strap that had come loose.
“Thanks, Mama. You get some shut-eye, I'll keep watch. Same deal as before, If I yell out, toss your gear on and throw Violet into hers if need be.” Mama purred softly, accepting the instruction as she fell into her own sleep. He exhaled a laugh through his nose, grabbing the spear off his bag as he made his way half way between the fire and the tree line.
He kept a watchful eye as he lazily paced the perimeter, the still air allowing him to mostly compensate for the poor illumination by focusing on his ears. His own light foot falls were almost inaudible on the soft ground, the river barely emitting a quiet trickling after several days without replenishment.
He worked out his own mental map, working out roughly which direction the cave was relative to his position. The last howls he had heard coming from there last night, though less than he had counted previously, were still more than he was comfortable with. Curiously, none had sounded out tonight. The absence of the sound he had been keeping track of so closely should have eased his mind, but something deep within him was urging him to be several more stages of alert than he wanted to be.
Eventually, he acquiesced to his instinct, slowing his travel once back between the direction they had come from and the sleeping duo. His eyes thoroughly scanning through the brush, his ears strained to hear even the slightest sound out of place. The river gently moving to his right, the fire softly cracking behind him, brush rustling in front of him.
There, slightly to the left.
He froze, burning a hole into the bushes with his eyes and stilling his breath, every muscle half way tensed and ready to send him flying into action. He waited.
He was about to write it off as just him hearing things when the sound repeated. Then again, and again. All slightly different spots in the brush with no intermediate location in between. He walked backwards; eyes fixated on the approximate locations of the noises while he worked his way back to Mama and Violet.
There. A break in the monotony of the bushes followed by three more.
“Company!” He roared, readying his spear as the four moss-wolves broke into a full sprint. Mama, only taking a moment to bolt awake at the previously unknown volume, dove for her armour. Violet barely had time to register what was happening until Mama barked a click at her. She raised her arms for a split second, having her own armour pulled down over her head in an instant.
It only took fifteen seconds for the wolves to close the gap to Joseph, long enough to ensure that the two slapped their armour on. The first wolf broke from the pack, speeding up to charge straight into him. He lowered his stance, bracing himself to meet it head-on. At the last possible second, the wolf jumped up to tackle him to the ground, teeth level with his throat. He thrust his spear forward in time with the animal going airborne, the impulse of ironwood meeting flesh and bone sending a heavy shock to his arms.
The wolf never closed its mouth, the jaw held open by the spear that had used the maw as an access point before exiting through the back of its neck. Joseph allowed his arms to relax for a moment and let the spear swing to his right in a wide arc as the body, devoid of any movement, still carried the momentum of the pounce, letting the remaining velocity slide the body off the spear and allowing him to ready it again. Were it not for the fact that it was a fluke it would have been possibly the most bad-ass thing he has ever done. He doubted it would work again though. He had aimed for centre mass and by sheer lack of experience and somehow perfect timing, he had intercepted it just as it left the ground for it to swallow its own demise. Were it the only wolf in the pack, Joseph would have proclaimed it all intentional, feeling the surge of victory in a smooth and heroic fashion. However, there were more threats in the area, so he remained stoic and stared down the group.
The three had spread out slightly, two at about thirty-degree angles from him and one directly staring him down. They looked to be reconsidering their options, starting to circle around him where space allowed. The front most one started its charge, copied by the one slightly to the right who started riding the edge of the river. The contact didn’t take long; the foremost wolf bounded to his left, dodging the sluggish pokes of his spear and keeping itself close enough to maul him should he relent his onslaught.
Joseph tried to bait the creature into committing to an attack he could intercept in the air, but it had learned from the other’s mistake. It bit at him between strokes and prods, circling him all the while. He noticed another wolf bolt past them, throwing itself at Mama who had been busy trying to put herself between the combat and Violet. The wolf crashed into her, teeth glancing off the ironwood armour and causing her to stumble backwards a few steps before repositioning herself between the predator and her child. Distracted, he tossed a haphazard swing of his spear to catch the wolf pressuring him as it moved to his flank led to it grabbing the spear out of his hands. The weapon was torn from his fingers and just out of reach. It wasted no time lunging towards him for another bite.
Joseph spun himself on reflex, his back leg pushing him forward as he unleashed a quick over-hand hook to the body of the beast. He felt bone break in his target as its trajectory shifted suddenly, sailing past him. The wolf impacted the ground, rolling towards the two Mantises behind him. It tried to get up, only to flop back to its side. Another one out of the fight.
He took a moment to process what he had done in the heat of the moment before grabbing his spear off the ground a few feet away from him. Reminding himself the fight wasn’t over, he ran to assist Mama with the wolf targeting her. She played a very defensive game; never stepping more than a few feet to the sides to remain protecting Violet. Every opportunity she could, she would raise both arms and bring her blades down as if to pierce to the core of the world, only to be attacked by the beast who had dodged easily. She was holding it off, but not actually threatening it, her swings being far too slow in wind up and recovery. Luckily, it hadn’t figured out that the armour she wore wasn’t a part of her, leaving gouges and teeth marks on the chest piece instead of targeting less protected areas.
Joseph flanked the wolf, taking advantage of the soft ground beneath him to mask his footsteps. As he closed the distance, he readied his spear in hand. Although he had never done it personally, learning about ancient hunting techniques in school all those years ago included learning about spears also being used as projectile weapons. The spear he held was far from designed for it, but he risked losing the element of surprise if he approached further. Lining up the throw, he waited for his moment.
It wasn’t a long wait; the wolf quickly found another gap in Mama’s attacks and jumped in, adding more damage to her protective gear. It landed as a spear pierced its hind leg at an awkward angle into the ground, a far cry from the lethal hit he was aiming for. Before Joseph could say anything, Mama decapitated the pinned aggressor with a single vertical blow. He almost had a chance to compliment her for the quick action before he noticed. Two dead, one incapacitated, one missing.
Violet.
In their struggle, the fourth wolf had completely circumvented the skirmishes and had locked in on the least threatening of the trio. Josephs eyes shot over to her, just as the wolf broke into a full sprint to take out the unaware Mantis. He felt himself go cold, his feet pounding the ground below him as his subconscious ripped control from him before he could process what was happening. Time slowed to a crawl as the beast closed in on her, every detail sharp as his pupils widened to absorb every ounce of light in the otherwise dim environment. Each paw touching down sending ripples throughout the yellow body, muscles tensing and firing off as it tore towards its prey. Its weight shifted back, the spring tension in its legs aiming themselves upwards. Joseph copied the actions, pouring more power into his legs, each step straining the muscles in ways he couldn’t feel. In a desperate decision, he threw himself in front of Violet, just in time to intercept the creature's attack. The impact winded him instantly, the body of the wolf having imparted enough force to bend the ironwood he was wearing.
Joseph was thrown to the ground, tumbling with the beast as they fought for superior positioning while he tried to draw breath. The lacing on his armour snapped, leaving the two pieces behind in their struggle. The wolf disengaged for a moment as he landed on his back, barely able to raise his arms in time to grab the jaws of the beast as they lunged back towards his throat. The wolf had powerful jaws, no doubt able to bite through his bones easily, but he had leverage and the fortune to have the wolf directly in line with his own shoulders. He dug his fingers into the top and bottom jaw of the wolf, saliva dripping into his throat and blood following after. He tensed his muscles, pulling the two sets of teeth as hard as he could to hopefully break the jaw of his attacker.
It was a losing battle; he couldn’t produce enough force while pinned to the ground to dislocate the hinge. He merely felt his muscles burn as he barely restrained the beast at his neck. Joseph opened his mouth to command the others to run when the wolf stopped. Its body fell limp to the ground as he held the rest of the bifurcated predator in his hands. His eyes looked for the rest of it, landing on Mama, having approached at some point during the scuffle. He threw the head of the wolf lightly to the side, letting his arms fall to his side while he caught his breath. Violet threw herself at him, apparently having watch him almost be eaten in front of her, the screeching ringing in his ears like nails on a chalkboard. He never knew what a crying Mantis sounded like, but he was pretty sure this was it. It was something he never wanted to hear again.
“I’m okay, baby.” He spoke through his exhaustion. It was a relatively short encounter but the endorphins that had surged through his system and little sleep he had took what little strength he had left. It was a struggle to raise his arms, muscles burning from the abuse. With a grunt of effort, he managed to put his arms around the crying child, though too spent to rub her back.
“It’s okay, Violet. You're okay. I’m glad you’re not hurt.” Tears flowed from his eyes, his emotions catching up with the events. His voice barely a whisper lest he tempt fate. “Thank God, you’re safe. I was so scared I would lose you. I’m so happy you’re okay. Thank God, you’re okay.”
The two held their embrace, both crying with a mix of fear at the thought of losing the other and joy that they were still together. Mama wasted no time joining in the group hug, talking to them in clicks that only Violet could understand. They stayed like that a while longer as the emotions subsided, slowly removing themselves from each other to survey the result of the ambush. His hands were torn and bloody, Violet having been coated in quite a bit of it in his embrace. She wasted no time in retrieving a first aid bundle from his bag, wrapping the wounds with healroot as Mama mixed some of the pain relief powder for him to consume. She finished her treatment by stuffing his mouth with a section of jerky, overpowering the slightly bitter taste of the medicine and fully allowing him to relax as his instincts associated the food with being in a safe area in which to eat it. It was a good idea to include it in the kit.
Meanwhile, Mama had made her way over to the incapacitated moss-wolf and taking a seat in front of it. Raising her arms without extending her blades, she brought them up in front of her, lowering her head for a few moments as if in prayer. The wolf watched out of the corner of its eye before closing them, lime green blood staining its mouth as its lungs filled from the punctures. The Mantis pressed her two blades together as she rose them fully, holding the pose for a second. In one decisive move, she brought her blades down through the chest of the wolf, piercing its heart and lungs without exiting the body. She bowed her head again, holding the pose. Silently she removed her blades, brushing off the blood in the grass, and then made her way to Violet, directing her to a small outcrop of the river.
Joseph watched the scene with curiosity, it seemed very much to be a death rite ritual. One you use to spare your opponent the agony while giving them dignity as a warrior. He wasn’t sure if the wolf could even comprehend such actions, but it seemed to know it was going to die either way and was happy to take the path with less suffering. He wondered what kind of people the Mantis race were to practice such a ritual. It felt like a very spiritual experience. He decided it wasn’t something worth thinking much about, if performing a small ritual like that was something they found some solace in doing, he would just watch over them as they did it.
Humans have honoured the dead in many ways; mercy killing was practised to this day, though usually reserved for the terminally ill or to honour the wishes of those who had been put into vegetative states where medicine couldn’t resolve the issue. He wondered if they were a militaristic race, those who practice a ritual performed in honour of its great warriors. Maybe an otherwise peaceful one, the act of ending a life, even one that sought to end yours, treated as something to require forgiveness for. Perhaps the answer lay somewhere in between, a muddy mess of beliefs and morals that humans were all too familiar with.
He looked to where the two had gone. Mama was pouring water over Violet, his blood on her back turning the liquid a pale pink as it ran off her. The thought of it being her own blood cascading down her form scared him deeply. If losing some blood was all it took to keep them safe, it was a price he was more than willing to pay. He was glad that the two cared for him just as much.
He shifted himself to a sitting position before trying to stand, feeling dizzy as he did. Letting himself fall over, he eased back onto the ground, staring once again at the stars. “Mom, it’s like you said; The stars really are beautiful out here.”