Page 48 of Orange Sky
He went to another metal disc and threw it away. He grumbled and the horse went to it and started drinking.
Oh, that makes sense.
Not caring for any danger at the moment, I dashed to water well in front of me. Using my hands, I dipped and drank from the clear water.
Pure clear ambrosia.
The water is so unlike the water from Zirc’s water flask. Or from the Blue Tribe. It tasted like pure fresh water. The temperature is also just about right.
What is this place? If I hadn’t known better, it almost tasted like pure mineral water from Earth.
I can hear slurping from the other well. I stole a glance and saw lion-Zirc and the horse drinking from the water well.
So he can drink this water also. And the horse. I am thankful they have clear water like this.
After I had my fill, I looked deep into the bottom of the clear water. There was no moss or algae that I can find. I was wary I might find alien like forms at the bottom of the well. But I was surprised to find clear crystals at the bottom. The water is so clear I can see them. Thousands of them twinkling against the sun. I wonder if I can get one so I can take it during our trip and mix it with their salty water.
A strong breeze blew in, making my tunic and cloth or what’s left of it. Even the white cloth on my hand was lost. I just realized the wound on my hand was healed. Strange that it looked almost healed when I knew it was only last night when I got that wound.
I stood up and took inventory. Yes, there were so many gashes on my body. Wounds that surprisingly were healed though there are some that still have blood on them.
I looked at lion-Zirc and he was seated on his hind legs. Though I do not doubt, should I try to run, he can catch me without any effort. It’s strange to look at a midnight black lion. Like he was something drawn from a charcoal and splashed with oil to make him shiny against the suns’ rays.
He was looking at me intently. Probably thinking if I wanted to escape.
I ignored him and looked around. Up ahead I saw a structure. Intrigued, I walked towards it. Even though I can’t hear anything, I’m pretty sure lion-Zirc is following me.
There was some sort of rocks, gravel on the road. And small grass and wild plants that are all the colors of autumn. I wonder why I only see those colors. The sky is not blue but a burnish orange with some light spattering of golden yellow on the horizon.
I stopped. The structure looked very much like alanai. There were dried long leaves that served as a roof. Four strong wooden posts acted as pillars and some vine-like plants decorated the sides. They were as golden yellow as the sky.
It was a bit uphill but only took me a few steps up the stone stairs to reach it. The wind was so cool. The platform is big. But lo and behold, there are actually pillows scattered on the platform. Huge, floor pillows with so many different colors. Though the most dominant is the silver and black, I see other pillows with color blue, yellow, orange and a hint of purple.
I dived into the pillows and smelled them. I was expecting to sneeze but did not. It smelled fresh but at the same time I smell a hint of oil and burnt metal on it. Like Zirc.
I looked behind me and saw lion-Zirc looming on the opening. I tensed. Is this the part where he eats me?
He produced a sound like he’s scoffing at me. He lurked inside and I stayed still on the bundle of pillows, lying flat on it, my stomach against the pillows. He went around the area and for some reason picked the other colored pillows and threw them on the far side of the platform. If he wasn’t so big, I think it’s kind of cute to see him almost playing with the pillows.
He took away the pillows except for the silver and black ones. I wonder why.
Then I saw his huge mouth open near me and I scrambled back. He is still lion-Zirc mode. He took a tiny pillow at the bottom of where I was before. I can hear strangling sounds from him.
I narrowed my eyes. I think he’s laughing at me. Well, it’s hard not to react when there’s a huge jaw full of incisors near my face right?
I huffed and I can still hear those sounds from him. For some reason, he delicately positioned the tiny pillow with platinum steel color. I wonder why he took it away when clearly it’s the same shade of silver and black?
Maybe it’s his teeth pillow. I am in fact surprised by the calm I feel. So on this planet, the people are more cat-like. Felines. I haven’t met anyone that looked like another species. I was expecting different characters like the ones I saw in a Ghibli movie. But no, everything feels almost the same with Earth. Except they are more feline. And let’s not forget they can change form into beasts. Still, it was somewhat reassuring that the folks around here use weapons to defeat their enemies. And not their mouth to eat them.
He turned around and looked back at me. He is once again sitting on his haunches. But what I noticed is that he looked smaller now. Not the gigantic lion-Zirc that entered the lanai a while ago. So he’s maybe changing back to his normal size. Still not earth-lion size. He is still big but at least he’s just taller as when I’m standing at my five foot five.
I still went to the mound of pillows on the floor and carefully sat my butt facing the way where we came from. I was near the entrance, my foot was just inside the steps.
I heard him scoffed again and felt his breath against my left arm. I stayed still. His head is bowed and looking at the wounds on my legs. Though it looked like he is just checking out my left leg, I still had that feeling he might chew them off.
He raised his lion head at me. This close, I can see the iris of his eyes. The same as when he is humanoid. He really has beautiful steel grey eyes. His iris is pronounced with a cat-like slit of blue and grey. He seemed to be asking me if I was okay.
I slowly lifted my hand and he froze. Slowly, I reached out and touched the silver mane of his hair. Strange how it’s soft. Unlike his normal coarse hair when it’s shorter.
