Chronicles of Eden - Act 2 (41 page)

“What did she say?” Daniel asked.

“She said this ride is needed to complete your quest, that you need it. Without it you might fail your mission, and that’s reason enough to risk her life for it,” Falla answered. The group looked at Squeak with surprise as the girl smiled and nodded at Daniel. The boy blinked then shook his head with disbelief.

“Squeak, no, that’s not true,” he reasoned with concern. Squeak looked at him curiously as the boy held a hand to his head.

“This ride is important and useful to us, but we shouldn’t risk our lives for it like that. If we lose it we’ll find another way to travel in the world. Squeak, it was amazing how you saved it, and I am grateful for your efforts, but I don’t want you doing anything so foolish ever again,” he continued with troubled eyes. Squeak looked at him with concern then around at the others.

“We’d much rather lose the caravan than lose you, don’t ever think otherwise,” Specca said shaking her head.

“Next time this happens, just let it go. We can find another ride out here, we can’t find another you,” Triska agreed shaking her head as well. Alyssa looked at the ride with concern then to Squeak.

“If you ever risk your life over something so trivial such as this again we’ll be mad at you. You had us scared to death we lost you,” she scolded. Squeak showed a worried expression then looked to Falla, the butterfly girl shaking her head as she backed up.

“You may be strong, but not too bright. Dying over a wagon would be a horrible waste of a life,” Falla pointed out. Squeak looked down with saddened eyes and squeaked before Daniel walked over and hugged her, the girl then holding onto him with a quiet squeak.

“We’re just so glad you’re ok, Squeak,” he said gently. The girl nuzzled her face in his shoulder before looking to him with worried eyes. The boy smiled a bit then looked at the caravan, the ride once again back on the trail and in one piece.

“Still, that was simply amazing how you could move that all on your own,” he praised. Squeak smiled a little then dropped in his arms, the girl showing a weak smile before closing her eyes and holding onto the boy while breathing softly.

“Squeak? Are you ok?” he asked worriedly.

“I think that little stunt really drained her,” Triska reasoned.

“I don’t think she’s up for doing that again anytime soon,” Specca mused with a small smile. Alyssa nodded and looked around curiously.

“Well, I’ll go find Lucky; he shouldn’t have gone too far. Get her inside the cabin to rest in the meantime, she’s already done more than enough for today,” she instructed before walking off on the trail and pointing back to the caravan. Triska walked over and helped Squeak stand up against her, the ant girl glancing to her briefly before closing her eyes again. Daniel smiled at Triska as she helped Squeak over to the ride while Specca followed after, and then glanced to see Falla watching Squeak with a puzzled expression.

“Falla? What’s wrong?” he asked. The girl glanced to him then shrugged while watching Triska and Specca assisting Squeak into the cabin.

“Just surprised that she would be willing to die so easily for you, not a very bright girl,” she commented. Daniel showed her a dull expression then looked towards the caravan.

“Her bravery and devotion to this journey are not to be underestimated, nor taken for granted. She’s the kind of girl that would risk her life for those around her without second thought,” he pointed out before walking towards the wagon. Falla looked at him with a raised eyebrow then rolled her eyes and looked off into the horizon to the side.

“I can think of another who’s just as foolish, I just hope her stupidity hasn’t gotten her killed,” she said softly, her solemn gaze doing well to mask her concern for her sister.

*****

Sitting down in the shade under a tree Emily was eating a red apple while she rested against the base of the trunk. Lying next to her were a few more apples that had fallen from the tree above, the girl enjoying the tasty fruit while Luna was enjoying a lovely meal of her own.

“I’M GOING TO EAT YOU UP, YES I AM! HAHAHAHA!” Luna laughed wildly while her head was inside the tree, the butterfly girl holding onto the bark while her wings fluttered wildly behind her. Emily looked up towards the sound of her voice as the monster had found a nest of beetles and honeydew grubs, both of which she had opted to try and devour in a frenzy with her face alone after she had shoved her whole head into the side of the tree through some frail bark. Emily giggled as she heard her friend enjoying her food.

“Are those things really so good for you?” she asked. Luna leaned back and looked down to the girl with a serene, warm smile while there were some insect legs and flakes on her lips.

“Oh yes, and how are those apples? Is that going to be enough to hold you over?” she asked before chewing the bugs in her mouth.

“Yeah, they’ll be fine. It’s like that nice boy said last night, out here we need to eat to survive, not for pleasure. These aren’t anything special, but at least they’ll stop me from being hungry,” Emily reasoned before taking another bite of her apple. Luna nodded then looked up at the sky with a gentle gaze.

“As soon as we get you to a human village I’m sure you can get something much better to eat then. Just hold on a little longer,” she said, then glanced to seeing a beetle scurrying out of the nesting hole. Her eye twitched a bit before she violently chomped down on the bug and ate it along with some of the bark, the girl then shoving her head back into the hole and laughing while snapping at any of the insects she could.

“YOU’RE NOT GOING ANYWHERE BUT INTO MY BELLY!” she screamed before laughing out of control. Emily giggled and kept eating her apple, finding only amusement in Luna’s behavior rather than concern or even fear. As the butterfly girl happily and crazily ate her food the human child closed her eyes and rested back against the tree with a gentle sigh.

“I hope you can stay with me even then, Luna,” she said quietly, her words not being heard by the butterfly girl who was laughing and munching loudly in the tree. Emily smiled softly and took another bite out of her apple, enjoying the time she had with the kindhearted monster that saved her life, and hoping that when they did find a human village she wouldn’t have to say goodbye forever to her new friend.

*****

Rolling across the trail once again Lucky was pulling the caravan along while small hills and trees passed by on either side. Sitting at the front of the caravan Triska and Alyssa were keeping a sharp eye out for any sign of Luna or the human child, both wanting to help save the human girl and also get Falla to leave before nightfall. The sun was starting to descend in the sky as day was turning to dusk and there was still no clue or lead as to where the two lost girls were.

“Dammit, where could she be?” Triska muttered.

“We’ll be lucky to find them at all, let alone tonight. Luna could have flown anywhere if she was running away from something in a panic,” Alyssa pointed them out with a hint of frustration in her voice.

Inside the cabin Squeak was curled into a ball and sleeping in her usual spot by the doorway, her pickaxe resting against the wall behind her while a blanket was set over the ant girl. Sitting across from her Falla was looking out the doorway at the sky above with a blank expression, remaining silent as she had ever since boarding the ride again. Next to her Specca was calmly reading a book while her tail gently swayed about on the floor beside her, eyes darting gently side to side as she read with a quickened pace about a human knight on a quest to rescue his beloved from a wicked demon. Across from her Daniel was looking in his monster book while leaning back against a pillow, rereading the entry about the ant girls again as he was thinking about the one he would be spending the approaching night with. He glanced to Squeak as the girl was still sound asleep after exerting so much energy earlier to stop the caravan from being lost. As she slept, with one antennae sticking out from under the blanket and making soft, quiet squeaks with each breath she took, Daniel found himself growing more curious about the silent and strong monster.

‘She could snap me in half with her bare hands if she had the mind to, her strength is simply unbelievable even when seeing it firsthand, and yet she’s as peaceful and gentle as they come. She doesn’t know much about anything else in the world, she’s like a child herself in some regards. In a way, she’s more innocent than any of us, even considering her past as a human tester for her queen.’

He then looked to the entry about the ant girls in his book, going over the details again and again as he thought about just what kind of monster Squeak really was. She was strong, extremely adept when it came to sex, and was overly-dedicated to Daniel’s cause, to the point that she nearly killed herself just to save his ride from being lost. Knowing all that though, Daniel was still unsure of what they could do during their night together. All she was used to doing back in her home was eating, sleeping, having sex, and digging. Eating wouldn’t be something they could really do tonight especially since they would be eating dinner with everyone else first, sleeping of course they would be doing already so that wasn’t enough to make good use of their quality time, having sex wasn’t something he was ready for with any of the girls let alone Squeak, and he was sure that asking her to go out digging a hole in the ground would be both strange and pointless to them, as well as physically exhausting to him.

‘Oh man, what are we going to do with each other tonight? Falla’s agreed to be our translator so we could talk to one another, but what do we talk about? I need to think of something for us to do, I can’t be unfair to her and not do anything.’

“Daniel?” Specca asked. The boy snapped back to reality and looked to seeing the nixie watching him curiously.

“Are you alright? You seem to be frustrated about something,” she asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to figure something out,” he reassured with a small smile.

“Like what? Maybe I could help,” Specca offered with a hopeful smile. Daniel glanced to the monster book, then to Squeak, then to Specca with a shrug.

“Well, I’m trying to figure
her
out, you could say. To be honest, I’m not quite sure what to do with her tonight during her turn,” he admitted. Specca nodded slowly then looked at Squeak carefully.

“I see. And just as a fair warning, she’s not allowed to use her pheromones or saliva to sway your judgment, doing so would mean she forfeits her turns with this agreement,” she reminded.

“I know, and I agree, if we were to form any sort of connection with each other it shouldn’t be based on seduction. I want to give her a fair chance like all of you, I’m just not sure what we could do or talk about,” Daniel reasoned while looking to Squeak with a slight smile. Specca looked at Squeak curiously then down in thought while Alyssa and Triska kept their eyes focused on the surrounding area, more absorbed with finding Luna to get Falla out of the caravan for the night rather than Squeak’s upcoming turn with Daniel.

“Well, she likes it when I read to her; why not read her a story?” Specca suggested with a curious smile.

“No, I want to do something that she would like doing, something that would be more suitable for someone like her,” Daniel said looking down in thought.

“Then fuck her,” Falla commented while still looking up at the sky. Triska and Alyssa looked back to her briefly with dull glances while Specca watched the butterfly girl with discontent. Daniel however was shaking his head quickly with a nervous expression.

“That’s not what I was talking about,” Daniel said. Falla glanced to him with a shrug.

“You said you wanted to do something with her that she would like doing, and something that she’s suited to doing. Well, based on her history, having sex
is
what she’s born to do,” she reasoned.

“Falla, just stay out of this, you’re not helping,” Specca said sternly.

“I’m just saying what’s true, she’s a whore, if you want to do something that she would love then do
her
,” Falla said while pointing to Squeak.

“Don’t call her that,” Daniel snapped with discontent at the butterfly girl.

“Why not? She said it herself, she had sex with countless men for her queen, she’s the furthest thing from an innocent virgin,” Falla argued, with Squeak slowly peeking at her with saddened eyes from her ball. Daniel grunted and moved closer to Falla, with the butterfly girl watching him worriedly as he showed real anger towards her.

“I said, don’t call her that, ever again,” he ordered.

“You think that will change anything? Keep deluding yourself if you really want, but you all know it’s true. That girl is a whore, probably the biggest one here,” Falla reasoned casually with a shrug. Without warning Daniel shoved her back against the wall by the shoulder, with Specca watching in surprise along with Triska and Alyssa. Squeak remained curled up in her ball while watching Daniel with wonder, the boy holding a trembling butterfly girl against the wall forcibly.

“She is not a whore; she only followed her nature to serve her queen, to do her job. I know damned well that monsters have sex with men, that doing so is what they live for, but Squeak is not a lecherous whore. She’s as innocent as the rest of my friends, in my eyes she is a real virgin still,” he argued sternly.

“What? Innocent? Virgin? Are you serious, that girl had more semen pumped into her than-” Falla started before Daniel shoved her against the wall again with a thud, with the other girls watching in wonder as he showed great anger towards the butterfly. Squeak slowly sat up and watched Daniel with a quickly beating heart, the other girls glancing to her then to Daniel as he kept his glare fixated on Falla.

“She is a virgin, Specca is a virgin, and even Alyssa is a virgin in my eyes,” he stated firmly.

“Are you nuts? How do you see them as virgins?” Falla said shaking her head nervously.

“Because they haven’t been with anyone that they loved before, they never had sex because they wanted to truly be with someone before, they were only following their nature blindly without knowing what they were doing; they haven’t truly given their hearts and bodies to anyone yet,” Daniel answered. Falla stared at him with disbelief while Alyssa blushed and held a hand over her heart. Specca smiled softly at Daniel while Squeak was rendered speechless, or squeakless to be exact, upon hearing Daniel’s words.