Page 18 of Orange Lake
“Yes, I will not go far,” I answered lamely. Roqs narrowed his eyes at me. Internally, this is a rare opportunity to explore on my own. All of them are busy today. I even missed the quick fuck during lunch time with Zirc and Roqs.
Finally, Roqs and the nul left. I think I skipped on my steps away from the mansion.
The trees here are tall but not tall enough to obscure my view of the tower. The ground is still littered with orange dust and dirt. The place is bright because two suns are out. Amazing how the planet’s temperature is still cool to my body. I’m not exactly a scientist so I could not tell. And this area is much cooler than what I could only describe as a desert when I first landed on this planet.
My clothes are made of the same tunic and pants like Zirc but they are fitted. Someone must have prepared them and tailored to my size. Who knew my plus size is small by their standards. Because I felt cold, I have another layer of vest that is the color of Zirc’s tribe. The Silver Tribe. And Roqs is the current Alpha. It is strange that their hierarchy is almost primitive, back to the Middle Ages on Earth, but their technology is superior. For one, they can travel in space. If I haven’t seen a small, sleek, two man spacecraft landed a while ago on Crix’s backyard, I would think everything here is medieval. Of course, the luxurious plumbing inside the mansion is the best I’ve seen so far.
I noticed that there is a much smaller grass but they are colored violet. Curious, I dropped to my knees and tried to touch the small patch of violet leaves. At the base, it looks like a moss of some kind. When I touched them, the leaves turned inward. I took back my hand and stood up abruptly. What if these are alive and eat my thumb?
I looked back and saw they had closed in on themselves. Probably just a shy plant. I shivered not out of cold but of a feeling that I should not stay away too much from other people. Hard not to call them people or human. They speak and act like humans at times. The gestures are the same. Over time, I think I’m becoming immune to our differences.
I turned back towards the mansion. Going back, I might have missed a turn because I saw the lake. It’s so crystal clear! I was drawn to it, my feet going to the edge of the lake. I can see the bottom of it. There is a gentle wave at the edge and the gentle lapping waves is soothing. I can easily imagine lounging in here. Too bad I don’t see any beach chair nearby.
I saw down on my haunches, the tips of my cute boots made of leather touching the water. The boots are soft and warm to my feet. Though others would call it ugly, it beats the comfort of actually walking on it. There is an inner lining that is hard to explain. It just felt like you are walking on air on it. Sounds like a pair of Nike shoes but it’s much more softer and more comfortable than that. And now, I can see it is also water resistant.
I tested the water temperature with my right hand. It is cold but not that cold. Probably it is absorbing all the heat from the two suns. I looked farther into the water. There are strange rocks at the bottom. From my position, I can see that it is shallow but then a foot further, it suddenly drops to at least twenty feet. Still, I can see the bottom of the lake! I can’t remember any lakes on Earth I visited that is this clear.
Edging towards the water more, I saw that there are many crystals and shiny rock formations. Some even look like diamonds! I like the shiny aqua blue ones. If I’m a fanatic of crystals, I would probably had gone in and get some. Besides, this many is probably the property of Crix or the people living here. I am probably looking at their treasure chest. And it’s all out in the open!
Amazing.
I stood up and decided to test the water. I removed my boots and looked for a more shallow part of the water. There, the bank is more smooth and not edged with rocks. I took a first dip. The water reached only just a few inches above my feet. Ah, it feels so cool. I’m a good swimmer. I even used to compete with other kids swimming during spring where the water is coldest. Dangerous, but then we were kids.
I stepped into the water further reaching mid-calf. The sand is smooth to my feet and I avoided some rough surfaces. At least, it turns out the water and sand is not poison to my body. I did not feel any allergy whatsoever.
I can see the other end of the lake in the horizon with more yellow trees lining that area. I wonder how wide this lake is and how deep. The water is tempting enough to drink.
Just then, I felt more than saw someone slam into me and snatched me from the water. The small grass like shrubs softened my fall when that someone threw me on the ground.
I moved my hair that blocked my face when I landed on the ground and looked at my assailant. I am ready to kick him if he dares to grab and throw me again.
When I looked athim, it made me pause. He is not a manasty. My anger turned to fear. What kind is he? He looks slimmer and less tall though I think his height is still close to 6 ft tall. He has more small fur on the side of his face and his ears are prominently pointed on top of his head! Reminds me of a cat in one of those children’s books that my friend Lex likes to buy and read. She is crazy about them, even has her coin purse with those cat designs.
The cat creature is glaring at me with almost the same slitted eyes as a manasty. I can’t see the exact color of his eyes with me on the ground and looking up at him. His fur’s coloring is a strange combination of black and deep matte red. Most of the triangle on his face is without fur but his cheeks has and the fur blends into his hair that is now all pointed outwards. His hair has the same shades of red with black, yellow and gold. His eyebrows are tinged with green. The first authentic green color that I saw on a person’s skin. He looked so striking, even better than Roqs. His feature is just that strong. Or it could be because he looks strange yet somehow familiar.
His body is slimmer than Zirc, made more pronounced by his dirty white long sleeves shirt inside a tunic and long black pants. He dresses up like a common manasty but you can’t mistake that hefeelsdifferent.But the way he dressed is that of a laborer, the ones I saw in the Blue Tribe.
When he made a step forward, I inched myself backwards, mindless of the jagged rocks scraping my butt and hands. I tried to ready myself to flee or to shout.
Still glaring at me, he said, “You must be Brynn.”
That gave me pause. I do not know whether to trust him just because he knew my name. Knowing I’m at a disadvantage looking up at him, I tried to stand up. Because my pants are long, I almost tripped. Still, I regained my balance and tried to stand up straight. He does not tower too much unlike the others. So he’s not exactly 6 foot tall. He’s maybe about only 3 inches taller than my 5-foot 5 inch height.
“Who are you?” I asked warily and trying to expand my senses looking for anyone near.I took another step back just to widen the gap between us.
He folded his arms in front of his chest. I prevented myself from smiling. He looks pissed. But he looks so cute with his posturing to make himself more bigger.
“Are you dumb?”
Okay, he looks cute but he needs to improve his social skills. “Excuse me, I just met you. You’re supposed to introduce yourself.”
“Introduce myself to someone dumb like you?”
Ok, he’s starting to piss me off. I don’t know what his problem was and he had no right to call me dumb.
“Have you thought about what you were going to do?”he added.
“What, are you preventing me from drinking the water?” I asked and realized he might be saving me from a potential disaster. He looked murderous now. More than pissed.
