In Lilly's bed room, the telescope's eye shone very slightly with the light of the distant planet. It floated around the eyepiece as the earth continued its rotation briefly shining a very tiny light, onto the squirrel girl as she slumbered. before slipping out of view.
Lilly was having a very nice dream.
Artemis had taken herself and Jenny to see the moon. She remembered being very worried about going somewhere there was no air, but Jenny held her hand and pulled her along. She held on even as they started floating around in the strange place, until Artemis took them into a crater. They went into it, and suddenly the squirrel was covered in dust. She tried to claw up but it was no use... not that there was anything to worry about.
She floated down into something soft and spongy, a jelly tree. Jenny and Artemis started bouncing on all the other trees, somehow travelling much faster then the squirrel girl could. She tried to follow them, looking around the strange place they were in. The sound of their laughter echoed to her ears. She looked wide eyed at the impossible place. It wasn't like the moon should be at all. Above she saw a sky that looked a bit like the surface of the moon. She could see the Earth too. Lost in that moment and suddenly longing for home, she wondered if she really should be here... that was when she realised, she was alone.
"Jenny? Artemis?" She called out trying to find them. "W-Where did you go?"
There was no answer.
the wind picked up a bit and she wasn't sure where to go. She landed on the silver grass, and walked around a bit. She continued to call the names of her friends... but there was no answer. She sniffled a bit sadly. Did they forget her? Maybe... when she admitted to Artemis she was a boy, they decided they didn't want her around any more. She walked around the strange surreal environment, feeling a little hungry. She picked at one one the strange Jelly trees, feeling the sweetness of sugar in the taste.
She continued to walk on, finding a strange river that was entirely white. She was a little shocked about it, but she also realised she was quite thirsty from that strange jelly tree. She cupped it in her hand, and took a sip... it was milk! Of course! This was the Milky way! She laughed at that and started drinking from the river. The taste made her tingle with delight. She took a moment to look at her reflection in that strange whiteness... when suddenly her 'reflection' pulled her into the river.
Lilly wasn't sure what just happened. She swam as quickly as she could, realising she was still breathing Even under all this milk. She couldn't see her reflection any more... but it scared her now if she did catch a glimpse of it. Was it trying to hurt her? Why did it do that! Why was she alone? Why didn't she have her friends with her...
Samuel cradled Erica as she slept. Nikki was also sleeping by the fire... they had spent the day collecting a number of supplies. He wondered a lot what the future was like... what did people do? Did they still steer cattle? What about deputies? It seemed though that Erica was in exactly in the same unknown position.. not knowing about their fates. He actually liked that. Erica was.. different. She was a polecat for one... he didn't know quite what to think of that!
Part of him was worried at first when they made love.. He didn't know about heat cycles, but even with that 'need' gone.. they were still at it like a new couple. He loved her so much.. enough that he would... he would die for her. That was when he realised something... that letter. A letter he will write in the future.. one that effectively made him immortal. The truth was, only his own survival was assured by it- not her's, and not Nikkis. that's certainly not a man's place to be in. His father didn't give him much in terms of lessons, but he knew what he had to do.
He took out piece of paper from his gear and started writing. He wrote the letter out, exactly as he received it... then quickly compared the two. Yep.. they were identical. Right down to the handwriting. A letter telling him that the bandit will indeed pay. Of course he didn't 'know' right now that he would... but did it really matter?
"Hey kid," he said to Nikki.
The younger Skunk girl looked up. "Uh huh... give it to me," she said softly.
"You- knew?" he said his surprise evident.
"Yeah. But you shouldn't worry.. we're all gonna be okay. I'm just gonna take this cause that's what happened. Unless you want to now teach me everythin' your gonna teach me too!" she giggled.
Samuel blinked. he had not thought of that! So much for trying to do the right thing. Still writing that letter took the weight off his mind. "Is Keith really gonna pay?"
"It's... complicated with him" admitted Nikki. "I can't tell you. You're gonna have to make a few choices..."
"But it sounds like to you I already made them... so no harm in telling me what's going to happen, if everything that happened is going to happen," Samuel said getting very confused.
Nikki looked a bit sad as she took a sideways glance to her sleeping mother. "The present.. belongs to her... and her alone," She explained. "Has before, and will again. Neither of us can do anythin' different... but she can. An' she can make us do different things too."
Keith, or rather 'Kimi' as the natives called her now was trying to rest in the tent. Being with these people was... difficult. Even if they were her only help. She had been given some food that tasted terrible to her. At least they knew how to make the water drinkable- or so he hoped. Didn't any of these people hear of a real drink?
She coughed a bit and spluttered. She had been growing ill now for the past hour, and didn't dare tell anyone. In case they gave her some really bad mumbo-jumbo. These people didn't understand 'medicine'. They couldn't even make alcohol! The fourteen year old girl shivered in some distress. Maybe she had contracted a childhood illness.. it could be anything. Cholera, mumps, rubella... the list wasn't pretty. Every child got them... and she was a child again. It wasnt' fair! She survived all this once already... did she have to go through it again?
Then again, maybe it was just her nerves. Surviving through another childhood was just daunting to even consider. This never happened to anyone. What was she supposed to do with these people anyway? Just.. work with them? What she wanted to do was find a cure. She touched the nipples of her breasts, feeling them respond quickly... this.. this just couldn't be possible! She felt so vulnerable... though they have treated her with a lot of respect here. More so then a girl in her own culture might have... so far anyway. Though she was not under any illusion. Being a girl was effectively being second class...
Maybe if she went to sleep, she would wake up and everything would be back to normal...
... she gave another cough.
