Year E2996

Beck

A fog floated in with the morning smells and whispered with the wind blowing in the forest. The fire in the tent sparked a violet shade from Kat's abilities while skulls from the colossus males hung in areas around our sleeping space. Noises from the fire party lasted until the sun calmed the arid tribe into sleep.

Kat sat on the grass bed, picking at her fingers while we waited for Jag to bring a map. Her purple eyes glanced at me before whistling and glaring at Rob. I paced in the beams of light in the tent as the morning bugs sang with a low buzz.

"Ready," Ray said and tugged her backpack on tighter. "Beck, please stay here while Rob and I do what we do best."

"And what is that?" I asked sarcastically, raising one brow.

Ray glared at me before grabbing Rob's arm and yanking him out of the tent. Jag staggered back, not expecting them to exit simultaneously with him entering. He smiled at my sister and Rob as they rushed by him and held the map up for me. Kat jumped from the bed, snagging the bug skin from him before I could.

"So why do you need the map?" Jag asked, fixing the bullring on his nose.

Kat glanced at me before opening the map on the ground and crisscrossing her legs. "This guy thinks he's smart and figured out our mission."

"Kitty!" I yelled before looking at Jag. "Let's talk about this when someone leaves." I sat across from Kat. "Listening ears."

"Yeah, still here and invested now," Jag said, plopping next to Kat.

"Okay," Kat replied, pointing at the river on the map flowing by the city. "We are looking for the first human ship that landed on Safforia." Her purple eyes met mine. "There is something on it we need."

"Why the first ship?" Jag asked, flipping the insect map and pointing to a unique area. "This was the last area I saw it." He smiled at me. "Ship three zero five had been on my tribe watch list since it landed. It hadn't moved from that spot in a very long time, but recently, the humans used it and brought it back within the night."

"You know the number to it?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Yeah, you simple species always number your shit, so we used it for our tracking." Jag shifted in his seat, trying to get comfortable with the awkward insect skin around his torso.

I pointed at the spot my ship had been since I landed and dragged my finger across to our location before shifting to the current location of the MOS ship. Kat drew a terrible bunny, a skull, and a rocket ship that looked like a banana in the areas I pointed.

"Three zero five," I said. "Also, if the numbers slightly alter correctly, M-O-S," I explained for the hundredth time to Kat, who deadpanned me.

Kat rolled her eyes. "Maybe."

Jag tilted his head in confusion, scratching his head. "Okay, I don't know what that means, but yes, the first ship is here." He smiled, patting his lap, and stood. "You two are boring. I'm going to go bug Princess Oryx." He waved at Kat. "Send a buzz when something cool happens." Jag left us alone in the tent as Kat marked the map for our path in red.

"We only have until nightfall before Ray returns, so we better get going," I said, looking for my backpack.

✧✧✧

"This way, Beck!" Kat yelled from across the creek.

Her hands waved above her head as she jumped up and down. When she noticed me watching her, she pointed toward an area thick with trees. I stepped slightly when the view of the first ship peeked behind a vine. Kat jogged to me, winded, relaxing her hand on my shoulder.

"Told you it would be here," she said, using me to stay upright.

"You didn't say anything. Jag told us where it was."

I gripped a tree branch, ducking under the thick moss while vines moved around my every step. The heat increased on this part of Safforia as I wiped my forehead, feeling my eyebrows become thick with liquid. The three-zero-five spaceship sat wedged between two rocks with zero signs of human or safforian life as an enormous bug flew from the open door. Green oozed from the insect while its round eyes watched us.

"I'm not going in there," I said, feeling the blood drain from my face.

"Don't worry, wussy, those are harmless." She skipped toward the door.

I glared at the backside of her frizzy hair. "You got to stop it with the name-calling."

Kat grabbed the handrail to help enter the ship and leaned back, looking at me with a grin. "I will stop when you quit calling me Kitty." She snuck into the cracked door without touching the metal ship.

I crept up, eyeing the insect on the top. The bug sucked up the saliva, purring before shaking its wings. Shivering, I noticed the uplifted vegetation and marks on the ground from when the ship left and returned not long ago.

A crash inside the ship had me jumping in and seeing Kat on her back with a rope in hand. She smiled at me before I glanced around and saw the mess. The lamp inside the back of the ship had a tiny flame, bringing an orange tint to the dark space.

"Did you light that?" I asked while Kat shuffled on the floor, tangling with the rope.

"No," she mumbled with a huff.

A creak echoed behind me while a short figure rushed by. Kat stumbled on the floor as an older lady with wild grey hair approached her. Recognizing the lady from one of Ray's pictures on our ship, she grabbed the rope with a trembling hand.

"Don't eat me!" Kat yelled, waving her arms around.

"Calm down, little one." Her soft, scratchy voice relaxed Kat. "I just need the rope."

Kat quickly stood and raced behind me. She brushed down her front, huffing at my laughter. The older lady looped the rope around her arms before glancing at me with a smile.

"Hello, how may I help you?" she asked, walking by and tossing the rope outside the ship. "I don't get visitors very often."

"Hello, mam," I said, causing her to waver her hands around.

"Please, I may look old, but I like people calling me Ruth."

"Um, Ruth," I whispered, glancing at Kat, who was now picking up odd-end things in the ship and snooping. "My friend and I are here because of something urgent."

"Oh, deer!" Ruth yelled, placing her hands on her cheeks. "I forgot to ask. Would you two like something to drink?"

Ruth rushed to the back of the ship without waiting for a response. Her shadow paced side to side as pots and pans crashed with her movements. Kat tapped my shoulder, gesturing the crazy sign to me before pointing at the lady. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head, and peeked at the table with scattered papers.

Watching Ruth lost in her kitchen, I grabbed a notebook with what must be Ruth's handwriting. "So, Ruth," I asked, causing her to pause in the candlelight. "Do you know anything about the Men Of Suits?"

I flipped the page in the notebook and saw a drawing of orange grass. Without time to think, Ruth rushed into me with a shove. Her hand fisted before the page as I looked into her eyes, seeing she had been fighting to talk. Her mouth opened but closed with pain while a croaking noise escaped.

"M-O-S," she whispered. "They—" Her head glitched to the side as she smiled. "Water?" she asked with a sweet voice. "I almost forgot to ask you two."

Kat's jaw dropped. "Ruth?" she asked, stepping back. "Ruth, you were just about to talk to us about the Men Of Suits."

"No!" Ruth yelled, causing Kat to jump. "I-I-I can't." She ripped open the notebook, pointing at painting after painting of a field of orange grass. "They-they-they." She held her arm tight. "Chip."

Kat patted Ruth on the back. "Ruth, everything will be okay, just tell us more—"

"They chipped you," I said, interrupting Kat. "Don't you see it?" I asked Kat. "The Men Of Suits chipped Ruth, but she must be fighting it somehow. The devices they created aren't ready, so we can still stop it."

Ruth smiled at us, relaxing her shoulders. "Do you two want some water?"

I pulled on Kat, creating space for Ruth as I pointed at her pictures of the orange grass. "Tell us about the grass. Why did you draw these?"

Kat hummed to herself, grinning at the ceiling. "Oh, she smelled of pineapple and dreams. I trusted her."

"Okay," I replied. "But—"

"Yes, yes," she pointed at her drawing. "No!" she yelled, rushing away. "You two need water." Ruth paced in the back, knocking things to the ground.

I flipped my backpack around, grabbing my coloring pencils. While peeking at Ruth, I sat at her table, flipping her notebook to the back and drawing my image of what she had been painting.

"What are you doing?" Kat whispered, not taking her eyes off Ruth.

"I'm drawing her paintings and seeing if she will spill because it's not hers, like tricking the chip." I glanced at Kat, seeing her chewing on her fingers from nerves.

She pointed at the image I drew, never straining her eyes from Ruth. "The rust grass," Kat said.

"What?" I replied, looking at my drawing.

"Yeah, can't you see it?" she asked. "It's that poisonous grass field." Her gaze fell on me as my jaw dropped, finishing the black spot, the center of the image like Ruth's.

A creak had Kat screaming and Ruth next to us. "Yes, the field of poison." Her cracked voice shivered down my spine. "You must jump into the night sky to find them."

"What?" I instantly wrote in my drawing while repeating her. "Jump into the night sky."

Ruth nodded with an unsettling grin while Kat grabbed my arm, pulling me away from the table. Kat's grip dug into my arm as she pulled me to the exit door, but I paused while Kat jumped out. The older lady sang as she strolled to the back of the ship, blowing out the candle.

"Let me get you two some water," she said in a deeper voice. "Let-let-let-let me get—"

Kat yanked me out and pulled me toward the forest while I wished to grab Ruth's notebook, but it lay still on her table. "We are leaving now," Kat said through her teeth. "Before she cooks us up and eats us."

I laughed, following Kat into the forest. "Kitty scared of the little old lady?"

Kat glared at me. "Plus, our time is running out." She pointed toward the sky before walking around a tree as I stayed close. "The night is approaching."

I glanced toward the horizon, seeing the two moons close to one another, overlapping. A sunhover buzzed by Kat and changed to a lavender tint before flying into the crepuscule forest.

"Do we have time?" I asked, knowing Ray would be back at the colossus camp soon.

Kat grabbed my shoulders, turning me around to dig into the backpack. "Tyran would have loved this," she said while causing me to stumble.

She pulled out the map and unfolded it with a twitch of her lips. Her purple flame ignited above her palm while she brought it close to light up the insect map. The silhouette of the vegetation reflected in the shadowed bug material while her tiny fingers glided along the river to the rust grass.

"We need to run if we want to get there in time," she said, quickly stuffing the map back in my bag without folding it.

Kat sprinted around a tree and jumped a log before I could process her decision. I spun, looking for the sun and seeing it already touching the land. Shaking my head, I huffed out and ran after her.

"Kitty!" I yelled into the dark forest while the vines snapped at me and tunneled me in. "Kat!" My voice echoed around like I was underwater.

A periwinkle glow shined ahead while Kat's giggles warmed my heart. "Hurry, Beck!" she yelled, peeking her head around from a boulder.

"You sure we have time?" I asked, climbing the rock and sliding down the other side, landing on my feet before her.

"We are closer to the rust grass than the colossus camp." She shrugged her shoulders, not seeing my argument.

"Not really what I mean," I said, but she ran away. "We should return to Ray and Rob, not racing toward the next clue!" I yelled, but she didn't slow down. "Kitty!"

I tapped my foot on the muddy ground, huffing and knowing I would be in trouble. We ran in the dark forest while Kat's flame lit our path. The rust grass field had only been a brief run down the river as we stopped before it, not stepping in.

The grass insects buzzed through the rust, jumping from leaf to leaf. Colors lit up the orange while gnat-like bugs glittered over the area. Kat interlocked her fingers with mine, humming the song as the breeze whistled.

"What now?" I asked.

"She said jump into the night sky," her purple eyes glanced at the swirling stars above us. "How do we jump up there?" Kat jumped up, repeating herself while yanking at my arms.

My jaw dropped, realizing how close we had been to this the last time we walked through the grass. "I know what Ruth means."

Kat paused, looking at me. "You do?"

"Yes," I replied, pulling my hand from hers. "We need to get to the center of the field without me touching the grass." I pulled at a log, taking the bark from the outside, large enough to step on. "I'm gonna need you to push the grass down while I use these to step."

"Perfect," she replied, grabbing the bark from me.

Kat placed the tree bark on the ground and stomped the grass down. I stepped onto the bark while she grabbed more for my path. When I skipped to the next piece, she shuffled through the grass and grabbed the one I jumped from.

The rhytidome cracked under my foot, oozing a glowing sap and painting red onto my shoes. I lifted my arms above my head while Kat slithered around the grass, maneuvering the poison away from me. She paused, glancing over the grass, seeing we were almost at the center of the field.

I pointed without a word, with only a bend in my wrist. Kat placed the next piece down and we stood before the tiny puddle of water.

"Well, this can't be it," Kat said, placing her hand on her hip. "You may need your brain checked."

I shook my head. "This has to be it." We watched the night sky in the puddle. "Time to jump in."

"I have nothing to lose," Kat said, stepping into the puddle.

Her feet instantly sank as she fell with a scream and disappeared into the water. The puddle didn't ripple but reflected the night sky with zero phase. I jumped after Kat, closing my eyes. The water burned to the touch, soaking my body as I plunged into a dry tunnel, hearing Kat's screech echo around me.

The rock-like tunnel guided us down, falling into hell while the heat increased. Kat's silhouette was below me as I reached, my palms outstretched. When our hands met, I brought her into my arms as we plopped out of a hole, landing on the muddy ground with her on top of me.

Kat lifted her head from my shoulder, palms in the mud. She raised her torso slightly off me, a metal gate with moving vines reflected in her plum eyes. 

Thank you for reading. Please share, comment, and push that beautiful star.