~Chapter 7~
"My purse," Mae muttered and quickened herself to it, grabbing and clutching it to her chest.
"I know I told you I would bring it to you, but I forgot, and when you never mentioned it again…"
"I know," she cut him off. "I know, and I'm glad you never brought it to me," she said as she sat down and opened her purse pulling her cellphone from its pocket.
She was ecstatic to see that it was undamaged, and pressing on the button caused the screen to light up.
"Come here, sit with me. This is my cellphone," she explained as he sat down beside her.
Typing in the password, she unlocked the phone to reveal a picture of Koobs, sleeping on his favorite couch.
"This is Koobs," she said with a crack in her voice, tears seeping into her eyes as she ran her fingers over his form.
Looking at the battery indicator, she was thankful that there was still 19% left before it would shut down and never work again. Opening the camera, she leaned against Ven, directing the screen until they were both in frame.
"Smile," she said before pressing the capture button, even though he was neither smiling nor appeared to understand what was happening. "Perfect."
"What did you just do?"
"Took our picture. Proof that we were here, in this moment, together," she replied and touched the small captured picture in the corner of the screen, expanding it and turning off the camera in the process. "See, now it will be here, forever. Like this one." She swiped left to reveal another picture of Koobs.
"Koobs is a Cynocephali?
"He's a dog. I don't know what a Cyno-whatever is," she replied scrolling quickly through the pictures until she found the one, she wanted him to see. "This is Jack. This is the man I have loved since the day we first met. He is my family. Him and Koobs." She sniffled and wiped away the tears that rolled down her cheeks. "They are the reason I'm going to fight for a way home. They are my life."
After giving Ven a few moments to look at the picture, she turned and looked at it herself, whispering 'goodbye' before holding down the power button and turning off the phone to preserve what was left of the battery.
"If I ever forget why I'm fighting; if you ever think I'm giving up; bring this to me. It won't last forever. The battery will one day run out and it will stop working. My goal is to find an answer before that happens. That is why I'm thankful that you forgot. I wouldn't have been able to resist staring at their pictures until the battery died. At least now, I can see a larger purpose for it."
"Then I will do as you ask," Ven said as he set his hand on her shoulder. "Until then, it will be safest here. We can buy you a chest to store it in, and a preservation stone to prevent it from decaying."
"I'm not certain that will have any effect on it, but I won't say no," she replied with a bit of a laugh as she set her phone onto the top of the table.
Reaching back into her purse, she pulled out her wallet and removed her driver's license handing it to him.
"I have one more favor to ask of you."
"If it is within my power, I will do my best."
"If anything ever happens to me, when the time comes that you can return to Nubarra, this is the address for where Jack and I live. I will write a letter to keep with my phone and I would appreciate it, if you would deliver both back to him."
"I will ensure that it's done," he replied as he looked at her and then back to her picture. "Your hair is different. Does it change often?"
"It's dye. Artificial color that I put in myself. It will eventually fade and grow out. Is this a color one might find on an Ech'latean?"
"On a half-breed maybe. It would still be rare to see though."
"Then remind me to get used to wearing hats."
"Is this how you spell Mae?"
"No. That is my full name. Mae is simply what I like to be called. My full name is Elahemé Dorthia Tashen. My maiden name was Lawdach."
"Elahemé, Dorthia, Tashen, Lawdach," he repeated the names she had said, slow and deliberately as if trying to memorize how they sounded.
"Exactly. Mae."
"That is much easier and familiar. In formal company it would be very unusual though. Mae is not a name that you will find on Sah'Korhune. Even the shortest names have a formal and informal version or a long and short if you prefer. Dragons being the only exception, as they are, more often than not. Informal with them is the use of their given name. Formally, they are addressed by their brood names. In Karanosi's case, Savhejan. As his family, though, we would never call him that. It is considered the worst possible offence."
"Why?"
"Well, it's considered as a way of putting distance between you and your brood. By addressing Karanosi as Savhejan it would be like declaring that we are not family. Once you are given the honor of speaking the familiar name, referring to them by their brood name is a complete rejection, and dragons, in certain broods, do not take well to rejection."
"I will keep that in mind. But it makes me wonder, why would he not tell me to call him Savhejan? I'm little better than a stranger."
Ven smiled as he stood and held his hand out to her.
"It is his way of accepting you as a member of my home. If he ever disapproved, he would correct you, but for now, you are family."
"Then I will appreciate the honor," she replied, setting her hand into his.
Ven helped her to her feet, before directing her attention to the cabinet on the outer wall that stretched the length of the dressing area.
"In here you find everything you need to repair a garment. And what you can't find in the cabinet you can probably find in the storage room, which was through the door to the left of where we came in or this way, through the laundry room," he explained as he opened the door to his right, taking a slight step down. "Directly below us is the bathing room."
Following him into the laundry area, she found the floor to be of the same cork like texture, with the same white walls, and two raised basins along the inner wall. The first being similar in size to an industrial kitchen sink, with a ribbed ramp leading out and up to a long, shallower basin with a slight slope. Above, on narrow shelves, were a variety of brushes, combs, tins, colored crystals, and what looked like bars of soap. Along the left wall of the room were drying racks and, on the right, a large table. But before her was something unexpected, forcing her to take pause. Cut through the outer wall, was a large doorway, leading to a rooftop patio. Speechless, and nearly breathless, she cautiously stepped towards the opening.
"Go on," Ven prompted as he set his hand upon her lower back, holding his other out before her. "It's safe. I promise."
Taking a hold of his hand, she stepped out over the ledge and onto the patio. Clutching at her chest, Ven walked her out from under the overhang of the roof above and into the light causing her to wince as the sun struck her eyes. Giving them a moment to adjust, she slowly opened them and for the first time since she arrived, she beheld the sight of a foreign sky.
Falling to her knees, she was in awe. Two suns, yellow orbs, hung side by side, surrounded by rings of golds, oranges, and pinks giving them a larger appearance than the sun from earth, while the sky had a slightly greener appearance compared to the blue she knew, cementing her new reality firmly within her heart and mind. It wasn't just that she was no longer on Earth, she wasn't even under the same sun.
"What do you call… this… galaxy?" She struggled to find her words.
"We are in the Turifen."
"Turifen," she repeated before looking up him. "How far are we from…"
"Try not to think about that."
"Would it take more than 70 years to get there from here?" she asked lowering eyes to the patio.
"Yes. Quite a while longer. As I said, try not to think about it. Let's get you back inside and into something more comfortable. I still need to take a look at your injuries."
"Right," she replied as he helped her back to her feet. "I've never seen anything quite as spectacular as your suns. How many moons do you have here?"
"Two, but one is rarely visible."
"I should like to see it tonight. If you'll let me."
"I'll take you up to the top floor to give you the best vantage."
"Thank you," she replied while taking in the gorgeous untouched beauty of their secluded valley.
Under different circumstances, this would have felt like a paradise to her. The open valley floor coated in lush, thick, grass, giving way to forest with leaves in a spectrum of autumn hues on silver and white barked trees, covered in blue and purple fragrant flowers, below and above. Mountains, rising tall and proud, jagged peaks of solid stone stretching to the heavens. Like sharpened talons, they hid and sheltered them from all but that which could come from above. She much suspected the view to be the same on the other side of the house, but looked forward to seeing it, none-the-less, as they headed back inside.
Putting her dirty underwear into the laundry bin on the way by, Ven followed her up to her room and helped her from the robe.
"Call once you have finished changing and have situated yourself in bed. If your legs both look similar, you can use the robe to cover them. I need only be able to see your abdomen and chest," he explained before leaving the room.
Dropping away the towel, she found it much easier to put on the underwear, now that she had full use of her hands, but sadly it seemed bras were not yet a thing in that world, and she was left with a long strip of a moderately stretchy fabric to both cover and support her chest.
Doing the best she could, and not wanting for Ven to burst in for wondering what was taking so long, she opted to tie the ends of the chest covering fabric into a bow, before crawling into the bed and throwing the robe over her legs pulling it up to her waist.
"I'm done!" she shouted, hoping she'd been loud enough, when Ven opened the door and came in, chuckling at the sight of the bow.
"I don't think that's how that is supposed to go."
"Well, it's not like it came with instructions! Just hurry up so I can try again and get dressed."
Clearing his throat, he was quick with his examine, checking the texture and elasticity of the new skin in areas that weren't intrusive or inappropriate, as far as she was concerned.
"They have healed nicely. The scaring is the worse on your abdomen, but that's not surprising as it had the least protection. I am concerned by how thin your skin is on your chest and near your neck is though. I want to bandage both again tonight before bed just to protect them, but you won't need the Hasvaden or the salve again, just a good moisturizing oil will do. Which I would suggest using morning and night over all your burns, and after bathing, until you regain full movement of your limbs. For now, I'll leave you to rest. Come down when you're ready to eat something."
Mae hadn't realized how tired she was until after he left and she shut her eyes, opening them an hour or more later, the shadows on the wall her only indication of passing time.
Shifting her legs out of the bed, it felt good to sit up and stretch. Her hair was still damp from the bath, so she gathered it up and divided it, giving it a quick braid, pleased that she could get her fingers through it despite having used whatever the concoction was in the bottle Ven had left for her in the bath. Picking up the robe Ven had set out for her, it wasn't much smaller than the blue one she'd warn to the bath and back, but it was a pale yellow and of a heavier fabric with a bit more structure, like one might expect of a starched cotton. It had a large open collar which caused it to wrap around her shoulders, even when she tied the laces as tight as they would go at the top of her left arm and down the left side of her body. Like the previous robe, this one was also too long, forcing her to lift it as she walked and made her way down the stairs to the sitting room, stopping in the dressing room to comb out her hair, along the way.
"Did you enjoy your rest?" Ven asked, setting down the book he was reading to look up at her and smile.
"I did. It was dreamless, which I much needed," she replied as she set down the fabric giving it a light brush with her hands to straighten it.
"You look lovely, Mae. Tomorrow, I will help you shorten some of the robes if you like."
"I would like. Between you and me, I'm apparently not that tall and would prefer not to trip and fall flat on my face at any point while I'm here."
"That would be terribly unflattering if that should happen," he replied as he stood from the couch. "Are you up for trying to eat?"
"I am. If I can't find a way, then let's face it, I'm doomed. I'll eventually die of starvation or be so malnourished I won't be able to get out of bed and neither of us would be happy with that situation. And neither of those options sound very appealing," she concluded before taking a breath and looking directly at him. "So, what have you got for me to try today?"
"Follow me to the kitchen, and we will see what we can find."