I’d never seen her that way before so tiny and vulnerable. She banged her head good. She had a large bruise forming on her forehead. I held her as she slept watching as her eyes raced under her eyelids. A nightmare most likely. What had caused this change in her? She had been well maybe not fine, but better than she was! What caused her to run and bang her head against that damn root? She was lucky she didn’t have a concussion. Those things were made of metal or seemed to be at least. They were harder than the trees! And I could tell you the trees were damn hard! She stirred but didn’t wake.

  Was it her illness? Was it that? I remembered Jack’s warning about them shifting. Maybe that was the problem? The others had seen and were now criticizing her. I hated that. Why couldn’t they keep their thoughts to themselves? Myra had enough to worry over already! Now she had to worry over her teammates thinking she was possessed or unwell. Niran had offered to do an exorcism! I forgot what primitive people thought of the mentally ill. Another point against her. She snuggled against me a few tears dropping from her closed eyes. She was in pain and I didn’t like that. Wasn’t there anything I could do? I felt helpless! Is this what her family had to go through over and over again? It was tough! She whimpered and I shushed her gently rubbing her back. The tent flap was opened and I gazed at Datha who had brought two bowls of stew.

  “In case she was up after…”

  “I don’t think she’ll be up for the rest of the day,” I said.

  She nodded and brought me the stew. I sat up but with Myra holding on so tight, I dragged her into a sitting position. I placed an arm around her so she wouldn’t slip and sighed.

  “Any chance of you feeding me the stew sis?” I muttered. Myra was like a baby right now. Needy and clingy. If I moved away she started whimpering like some hurt animal. How did I get from being a bully to being a babysitter?

  Datha snickered and approached with the stew. “You can set her down, you know,” she said.

  “Um, no Datha. Right now I can’t,” I said, positioning Myra’s head over my shoulder and rubbing her back. “She needs closeness right now,” I explained.

  Datha raised an eyebrow.

  “Look, watch what happens when I move away,” I said untangling Myra from me and setting her down to sleep. Surprisingly she curled deeper in her blankets and didn’t whine.

  “She must be past REM,” I muttered, stretching and grabbing the bowl from Datha.

  “REM?”

  “Basic stages of sleep. There are four stages with REM being the fourth and final stage we pass through. It’s psychological crap I had to learn for my dad a few years back to impress a colleague of his,” I said, chewing on a piece of meat.

  “Earth is really...knowledgeable.”

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  “That isn’t the half of it! We have lots of technology too like T.V.s, DVDs, computers, mp3s, cars, lots of stuff,” I said but I could tell that Datha wasn’t so thrilled and I remembered Myra’s warning from before. Did Datha really not want to come with us? Did she want to stay here? If we deposed the council and got rid of slavery then maybe I’d think about it. I didn’t want my twin in slavery...ever. She was an oracle, a real one. She might be used for her abilities too. Not a future I wanted for Datha but would she be happy on Earth? I was counting on it but she was showing refusal and she hadn’t even seen the place! She was as stubborn as Myra.

  “Finished with your stew?” she asked.

  I nodded. “Leave the other stew here in case she gets hungry.”

  “Sure. You can feed it to her,” she said smiling as she picked up my bowl and left me blushing. I hoped that wasn’t necessary!

  It was late at night when I felt something moving against me. I opened my eyes to find Myra struggling against my hold. I let go and she pushed back, taking a breath.

  “Sorry,” I muttered. “Feeling better?”

  “I have a headache,” she said, rubbing her bruise.

  “You’re lucky that’s all you got. Those roots are as tough as metal. You could have had a concussion!”

  “Don’t scream, please.”

  I lowered my voice. “ What happened?” I asked, sitting up from the pile of blankets around us.

  “I-I couldn’t handle it so I had a minor breakdown,” she muttered sitting up. Her stomach gurgled and I smirked, reaching over for the cold stew I left near me in case she awoke.

  “Here. You’re going to have to heat it up. That isn’t a problem right?” I asked handing her the bowl.

  “Roy is being a little difficult so I might have charred stew instead,” she said, smiling sheepishly.

  I frowned. “Are they all against you?”

  “Maryanne and Strength are the only ones who haven’t turned over a new leaf,” she muttered, heating her stew little by little. I noticed that the flame kept jumping from small to big to small again as she forced it to behave. She ate slowly, savoring the stew.

  “Who cooked?” she asked, munching on the meat.

  “Arriana, supposedly,” I said.

  She started to wince. “Well, she cooked mine, she gasped, dropping the empty bowl arms and legs spasming. She cried and I heard a giggle from outside.

  I growled and turned to the tent opening to give Arriana a beating.

  “D-Don’t go! It’s what s-she w-wants.”

  “What the hell Myra? She poisoned your food!”

  “N-nerve Fire poison. I-It was a favorite of her mother. Ung!”

  She gritted her teeth to not cry out and I watched her struggle for breath until finally after a few more minutes it was over.

  “You are not eating anything made by her again,” I said, glaring at her to contradict my order.

  She nodded. “I don’t want that surprise again,” she muttered, sitting up and washing her bowl.

  “Are you feeling better?” I asked.

  “Of the Nerve pain yeah,” she said.

  I sighed and opened my arms. “Alright. Come here,” I said.

  She looked surprised. “You’re going to hug me?”

  “Yeah so hurry up,” I muttered. She looked indecisive so I simply scooped her up in my arms and hugged her. She sniffed which panicked me slightly but then she threw her arms around me and smiled.

  “Thanks,” she said.

  “Think nothing of it,” I murmured and held her while she slowly drifted back to sleep. Tomorrow I would get Arriana and she would see exactly how bad of a bully I was.