My Brother Is The Hero Of Earth 26 Chapter 26 - Indecision

By sunset, everything had been arrange and what seemed to be the whole tribe gathered. Most of the tribe sat on the ground around the table except for a few who were playing instruments or dancing. The were three playing something that looked like a pan flute while the other two hit leather drums. It wouldn't top any charts back home, but there was a happy, celebratory feel to the tune that had its own charm. Those dancing kept up with the fast rhythm with their jumps and twirls.

While we watched the dancing, we were served a lot of roast vegetables and, once it was done, fire-roasted snake ribs. While it had been cooking over the fire, the Bataie had coated the meat in a honey, herb sauce. Although they put a large amount of effort into it, it really wasn't to a human's taste as everything lacked any kind of salt, but the ten of us ate all the same. The festivities continued well into the night before the Bataie started leaving in small groups of twos and threes. We were offered a place for the night, but we had Katye politely refuse and Yue re-summoned the zeppelin.

"I'll take watch for the night, Yue. I don't need as much sleep as the rest of you," I offered when we reached the main deck.

"Okay, it's not like we should be in a lot of danger here," Yue said.

We both walked over to the platform and she pulled out a crystal ball with a silvery, pale blue mist swirling about inside. She pulled her energy back to herself then handed me the orb. A crimson mist rose on the inside from where my hand touched it as I channeled my energy into it and my mind connected to the complex system of formations and wards that covered the ship. I could feel bubbling of the energy tanks that were constantly replenishing the fuel as we idle and I could now read the various floating screens listing storage and the different attack and defense formations available. When I stepped off the platform, the feeling and screens disappeared as I plopped down on a couch.

Gustavo slipped off with Ella and Yue down to their room which made me roll my eyes when I saw his cheesy grin. I quietly offered my bed and the spare in the room to Melissa and Kiara since they would likely want to give those three some s.p.a.ce through a private message. Sophia seemed to being doing the same as she locked eyes with me and chuckled. Everyone had had a long day, so the ladies all excused themselves to the second bedroom.

"Looks like I won the bet," I sent to Terri.

"Come on, we would have gone to another site if Katye didn't get us sidetracked with the Bataie!" she replied.

"Deal's a deal. I don't want anymore of these games with Katye. It's not like I have a way to blow off stress here unlike some people..."

Terri's dark chuckle rang through my head as she responded, "I don't know... If Kiara and Melissa weren't crashing, I don't think it would take too much work to encourage Sophia and Lesedi into a fun, long night if you bring Katye in as well."

A tingle spread throughout my body at the thought of Terri's before I felt the familiar rush of my bloodline. "d.a.m.n you," I cursed at her.

Her chuckle was my only reply as I tried to calm myself. I pulled out a bottle of Kilao since I could burning off the alcohol with my mana while still retaining the soothing effects and took a drink. I groaned to myself as I laid on the couch and asked myself why I was had to make everything harder for myself. Since I was too scared of my self-control, or lack there of, I kept pushing Katye away despite the multiple times she approached me during the night. I kept using my bloodline as an excuse, but at the heart of it, I was just afraid of getting hurt again. I didn't have a lot of exes, just four, but they all cheated on me, including one getting pregnant, so obviously, I have some trust issues. Add on the past three years of watching my brother somehow become a chick magnet that even 'turned' some self-proclaimed lesbians and you get my current state. Even if she did like me, how would it take before she likes Gustavo as well?

I pushed those thoughts aside with a heavy sigh then took another swig from my bottle. Standing up, I walked over to the side of the ship and sat down on the railing while leaning on the ropes. I pulled of a set of earbuds and an iPod then turned on some music. The sky was filled with countless stars and the gra.s.sy mountainside below was peaceful, so I spent the night just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful view.

~~~~~~

The next three days we spent on Tsitsuyi Mountain with the Bataie. They had a plethora of unique and valuable herbs which they were more than happy to let Kiara harvest. Although they didn't have many monster core, they did have a few special one they had saved as trophies that Lesedi took interest in since they were variant cores with strong elemental properties.

In return for their generosity, Melissa worked her way through the village healing old injuries and illnesses. Gustavo, Terri, and I went out their hunters several times and helped them thin the number of Uktenas on the surrounding mountain as well as carried all of the kills, so that they could preserve the meat. Yue, Sophia, and Ella worked together to strengthen the naturally-occurring wards as well as place a formation that would help stabilize the mountain when the 'Great Ward' finally fell. Kiara spent her time mostly in the Bataie's gardens, using her natural aura to help strengthen their food supply and even speed up the growth while Lesedi made farming equipment out of some sc.r.a.p iron she had in her ring. Poor Katye was constantly dragged between everyone to be a translator when they needed to talk to anyone.

On our sixth day in the Shaconage Mountains, we left Tsitsuyi in the morning with a send-off from the whole tribe that watched us until we entered the perpetual clouds that marked the edge of the wards that hid the village. Yue was steering the ship towards another mineral deposit which left the rest of us with free time. To my disappointment, Katye sat with Sophia, Melissa, Kiara, and Ella on the couches and read with them, but it wasn't like I gave her any reason to seek me out in the past few days. I strung a hammock up between a few ropes on the bow of the ship and laid out while gently rocking in the wind.

"You pouting over here?" Terri asked as she climbed the stairs to where I was.

"Just relaxing, Terri," I sighed, feeling a headache coming on.

Terri's head popped into view as she grabbed the edge of my hammock. "Why don't I believe that?"

"You're crazy?" I suggested.

She gave me a deadpan expression which caused me to chuckle lightly. "You know you are screw things up with her, right?"

"I thought we made a deal, Terri," I said, turning my head back to the front of the ship.

"This isn't a game, Becca, I'm serious. Its been really easy talking with Katye every night while you took watch every night."

"You haven't!" I exclaimed as I shot up, nearly causing myself to fall.

"Yes, Sophia, Lesedi, and even Melissa last night, as well. She likes you, you idiot, or at least, she did. You are driving her away to the point you two might not even be able to be friends if you keep going like this. Unlike you, she can see that she is causing you problems and now, she is going to start avoiding you as well. If you don't fix this when we get, you probably won't have a second chance... Don't regret your decision," Terri said, staring me down. After saying her piece, she released my hammock, turned and walked off.

I sat there in a state of shock for a moment before I sighed and laid back on the hammock. As I thought about it, it really wasn't a surprise that Katye liked me, there had been plenty of signs, and, after a month of pa.s.sive-aggressive rejections, I couldn't blame her with getting tired of my c.r.a.p. The problem was that I was scared of getting my hear broken again... and, now, of never taking that chance. There was more than just an instinctual desire to be near her, almost like a spiritual connection desperately trying to form, but if it broke... I felt I might as well. Nothing ever lasted before my bloodline awoken and it's not made me any easier to get along with, far worse, in fact.

The day continued in an awkward atmosphere whenever we landed to harvest an herb or deposit, even to the point Gustavo noticed it. Katye wasn't rude and treated every the same as always, but the was an unnatural quietness to her which made me feel terrible. The two of us dragged down the whole mood of the group which even infected those remaining behind in the ship after we broke for lunch. To make matter worse, I could even feel Sophia's upset gaze on me from time to time. When we finally finished for the day, I simply excused myself for the evening so that I could meditate and train with One.

For once, the sunbaked, cracking ground and emptiness looked inviting. One appeared a moment after me with his usual entrance of a bolt of lightning. He always looked the same, scaly, muscular and forever in his tattered loincloth.

"You've been slacking, Rebecca," One said.

"I thought you couldn't sense the flow of time," I said.

He chuckled and replied, "I can't, but I can scan your memories when you are within here. But I wasn't speaking about you missing training, but how you've been acting."

"G.o.d d.a.m.nit! Can't I get one moment of peace without someone b.u.t.ting into my business?"

He laughed, "You want peace? Then earn it!"

And so began the start of my beating for the next five hours. As strange as it may sound, I was happy. Here was safe to release all of my bent-up frustrations and, even though I took a hundred hits for every one I gave, it was a noticeable improvement. When my time was nearly done, I laid out across my back with One staring down at me.

"You said you can read my memories, right?" I asked, breathing heavily.

"Yes," he replied.

"What should I do?"

He laughed then kicked me hard in the ribs and said, "Make up your own d.a.m.n mind. Your problems are coming from your indecision and not the actual out come of whether you pursue the fairy or not."

I skidded across the ground a few times before I caught myself and, since he hadn't closed the distance, I knew he was allowing me to speak. "But my bloodline... It reacts strongly whenever I'm near her."

"Of course, it does. Dragons seek out the nature forms of their affinities and you can't find a much purer source than a fairy. There is no danger to her with your union."

"No danger to her? Does that mean there is danger to me?"

"Sources of natural energies are like drugs to us, so combining that with... 'other' things can lead to a loss of boundaries," he said cryptically

"What is that supposed to mean? G.o.d d.a.m.nit, why now?" I complained as my body began to fade.

"I will see you next session, Rebecca," One said as I vanished from the wastleland.