Silence
Anonymous Me
After the evening fun Illya found himself drifting off to sleep even while he was still trying to whisper sweet nothings to Kalizda. "Yah...." His eyes closed again and he started to relax a little more before he suddenly jerked awake. "Yah beautiful." Muttering the words in Kaerelean he managed to garble the rest of what he was saying so badly it wasn't recognizable as any language. Slowly the mumbling began to fade into an occasional snore. Usually he didn't snore all that much unless he'd had a seizure, or if he was dosed up heavily on medications.
Part way through the night Illya thought he heard Cypher and he felt along the bed blindly with one of his hands until it flopped on a lump laying across Kalizda. It had to be Cypher. The boy lifted his head and he seemed to debate if he should crawl over to his dah, but he was too tired and so he went back to sleep the same as his dah. Illya rolled over in the bed and he was sure it was still night time. Normally he woke up a few times each night just out of habit and sometimes because his back hurt, but this time he didn't know why. Reluctant to get up he felt along the bed and discovered it was empty. It was still warm, but empty. Kalizda must have decided to get up. From what he could figure, Illya assumed that he woke up because he could feel she wasn't in bed with him. There was no hurry to get up and he knew she wouldn't want him to be wandering around too much just yet.
Whenever he'd fallen back asleep Illya didn't know, but he could sure tell when he woke up. There was a sudden crash into the bed and him. The momentum was enough he knew that it couldn't be Kalizda. At the same time he felt a clump of snow fall under the blanket and immediately start to melt on his chest. Cold water from the ice and snow chunks ran down his chest to his stomach and then further. Taking a sharp breath Illya grabbed whatever it was scrambling on top of him and turned onto his right side. It was all automatic and he did it without looking or thinking. When he opened his eyes he saw Cypher was laying on the bed staring at him with wide blue eyes. The boy's little lips were blue and he held up a freezing little glove with a hopeful gaze. He wanted to snuggle in with the heated blanket. Unfortunately there was now a damp spot on it and several places where there were more little snow clumps. Illya figured that since Cypher was a boy it didn't matter so much. Lifting his blanket he did his best to shake it off and then laid it over himself and the sheet again.
"Dah, I want tah get warm. Hmmm?" Tilting his head to the side Cypher gave a little grin and nodded. He'd already learned to make statements and then ask. There was a little combination of what he learned from his mother and his father.
"Yah take off yah wet clotes first." Illya pulled the little glove thrust in his face off Cypher's hand and then started to pull everything else off that he could. "Go put et away wit yah mum and den yah can come back and get warm." While Cypher was gone Illya got up and put on a pair of boxers and a pair of pants. He wanted to get up for a little bit today. It was surprising at how slowly he was moving. Cypher was already back to the room before he could readjust the blanket to put the wet spots at the bottom. "Jes wait." Shifting the blanket on the bed he crawled under the covers and then Cypher scampered off as if he had something planned. Whatever it was Illya didn't know.
Only a few moments later Cypher returned with his Monster. "Dah, you said you would play with me." Papa wasn't very good at playing with the spider and Cypher didn't want to just lay down in the bed. He wanted to play while he was at it.
Illya couldn't quite remember if he'd told Cypher that he'd play with him and the spider. It didn't sound like a good idea while they were in the bed, but he couldn't see the harm in it either. "Oh, ok." Beckoning for the boy to come up on the bed he watched lazily as Cypher crawled under the blanket with him and then let the spider loose to play.
The boy chased the spider all over Illya's chest and stomach and he even let it crawl in his dah's hair. It was exciting to play with it like this. After a while Cypher was warm and dah was sleeping and that led to more games. He chased the spider all the way down to his dah's prosthetic leg. Mum had told him that the hard leg was ok to touch, but not the other one. When the spider crawled inside his dah's pant let he could hear the spider's little feet tap along as it went and especially when he trapped it and chased it back out and then up to his dah's chest again. Finally, it was time for lunch and he decided to leave Monster with dah. Dah wouldn't mind if he had Monster for a little bit and he wasn't too scared to sleep with the spider.
*************
Cypher checked his little spider cage before bed and he gasped. "Monster es gone!" He couldn't remember where he'd left Monster. His big blue eyes started to well up. "Mam he's outside. Monster is cold." Surely if he'd lost his spider again it would have run away outside. Despite the trauma he had to go to sleep and his mam promised to help him look in the morning. Last time she found him, so maybe she would find his Monster again.
No matter how hard Illya had tried to stay awake and help Kalizda put Lohgan to bed he ended up falling asleep with his youngest daughter laying on his chest. The sedatives had made staying awake for anything next to impossible. He didn't have as much drive as he normally did and he certainly lacked ambition to get up, or argue with Kalizda about much. By the time she came to bed it was only made obvious to him because Lohgan was lifted off his chest. A few minutes later there was a slight rustling of the blankets and he turned over to hold Kalizda.
Part way through the night Illya shifted to lay on his back. It was getting uncomfortable to lay on his right side, sometimes it got sore like it was now. Two nights in a row and laying on his right side was getting to him. Since he couldn't really hold onto Kalizda he blindly groped about the bed till he found one of her hands and then placed his sloppily over it. He was sleeping a little lighter than he had the night before and he woke up more often. Illya wrote it off as having slept too much. Then he felt something strange tickling at his shoulder. With a groan he put his left hand up by his right shoulder and flicked away whatever it was and continued sleeping. He was tired and it wasn't the best time for Kalizda to be trying to tickle him with her hair.
The spider, Monster flew a short distance before it hit Kalizda and then scrambled for the safest spot. So far it appeared that the safest spot would be her hair. It provided ample space to hide and there was plenty of heat radiating from her skull.
*************************
Terrence finished his 4 days on and he set his skis outside the house. He hadn't seen or heard from any of the strangers. In part he wondered if they hadn't been scared off. Most folk that had a Chip left the place in quick order. They would stay long enough to make repairs, get supplies or see a doctor and that was about it. Inside the hut he brushed the snow off his hat and stomped his boots before stripping down. Tip toeing around the puddles of water from his boots he made his way over to the fire. "Did you see a Chip the other day?"
She already knew by the sound that it was Terrence come home for a few days. Helen filled one of the bowls with hot soup and then another for herself. Carefully taking the two bowls out to the main room she handed one to Terrence. "I saw one and I helped him too." For working in a precise business there were times that her son lacked precision in his language and she was still trying to teach him to watch what he said.
For the time Terrence decided to ignore that annoying habit. His mother was trying to correct him again. "Yeah, I did a little looking into them and I think I know who they are."
"Well, if you think it might be the council woman and her husband then we both think the same thing." Helen had no doubt that her son would have figured it out with access to the files that he had. She however, was going based off memory and a little bit of news. Anyone who didn't watch the current events regarding this war was insane. Eventually it would hit their borders and the council woman was their best shot at getting a fair deal. With her husband it would be a guarantee against certain violence as well between their people.
"How did you know?" Terrence looked up from his soup with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.
The woman chuckled. "It's called deductive reasoning. If you paid more attention to the news and less attention to your nights at the hunter's fire then you'd know these things without having to use your pad."
Taking a deep breath he grumbled. "You're always upset about the newest technology. We have pads for a reason."
"I'm not against it, but I want you to use your brain a little more. If they are still here in a few day's time we'll have to talk to the forum. We may have to go out into the outlying area and get a few of the supporters." Those who had not taken as kindly to extremes had chosen to live apart from the village, and she knew they would need every bit of support they could get. Otherwise, it could be trouble. Perhaps enough that she would have to send a message to them to get out before they were trapped on the planet. With many Pithians still alive that remembered the war it made it difficult to find allies for this cause. There were certainly some that would want to execute the Chip because of who he was, but no one would want to involve the Federation. At least not that she knew of.
It sounded like there would be trouble. Terrence didn't remember the war, but he knew the hatred ran deep. It was something he didn't quite understand. Growing up in a household where Chippequoti were often cared for he had learned that behind their brute strength, and strange mannerisms that many of them were kind, most were gentle, and a few were friendly. "Maybe if they had something to offer it would be easier for the forum to accept them."
Helen nodded. "Now you're thinking, but we still need to find out a little more. I don't think that they would randomly choose to come here. There must be a purpose. If it goes poorly we'll have to strongly advise setting them loose. It is the council woman and if we make an act against her or her family in any way we could be allying ourselves with the Federation by default."
Part way through the night Illya thought he heard Cypher and he felt along the bed blindly with one of his hands until it flopped on a lump laying across Kalizda. It had to be Cypher. The boy lifted his head and he seemed to debate if he should crawl over to his dah, but he was too tired and so he went back to sleep the same as his dah. Illya rolled over in the bed and he was sure it was still night time. Normally he woke up a few times each night just out of habit and sometimes because his back hurt, but this time he didn't know why. Reluctant to get up he felt along the bed and discovered it was empty. It was still warm, but empty. Kalizda must have decided to get up. From what he could figure, Illya assumed that he woke up because he could feel she wasn't in bed with him. There was no hurry to get up and he knew she wouldn't want him to be wandering around too much just yet.
Whenever he'd fallen back asleep Illya didn't know, but he could sure tell when he woke up. There was a sudden crash into the bed and him. The momentum was enough he knew that it couldn't be Kalizda. At the same time he felt a clump of snow fall under the blanket and immediately start to melt on his chest. Cold water from the ice and snow chunks ran down his chest to his stomach and then further. Taking a sharp breath Illya grabbed whatever it was scrambling on top of him and turned onto his right side. It was all automatic and he did it without looking or thinking. When he opened his eyes he saw Cypher was laying on the bed staring at him with wide blue eyes. The boy's little lips were blue and he held up a freezing little glove with a hopeful gaze. He wanted to snuggle in with the heated blanket. Unfortunately there was now a damp spot on it and several places where there were more little snow clumps. Illya figured that since Cypher was a boy it didn't matter so much. Lifting his blanket he did his best to shake it off and then laid it over himself and the sheet again.
"Dah, I want tah get warm. Hmmm?" Tilting his head to the side Cypher gave a little grin and nodded. He'd already learned to make statements and then ask. There was a little combination of what he learned from his mother and his father.
"Yah take off yah wet clotes first." Illya pulled the little glove thrust in his face off Cypher's hand and then started to pull everything else off that he could. "Go put et away wit yah mum and den yah can come back and get warm." While Cypher was gone Illya got up and put on a pair of boxers and a pair of pants. He wanted to get up for a little bit today. It was surprising at how slowly he was moving. Cypher was already back to the room before he could readjust the blanket to put the wet spots at the bottom. "Jes wait." Shifting the blanket on the bed he crawled under the covers and then Cypher scampered off as if he had something planned. Whatever it was Illya didn't know.
Only a few moments later Cypher returned with his Monster. "Dah, you said you would play with me." Papa wasn't very good at playing with the spider and Cypher didn't want to just lay down in the bed. He wanted to play while he was at it.
Illya couldn't quite remember if he'd told Cypher that he'd play with him and the spider. It didn't sound like a good idea while they were in the bed, but he couldn't see the harm in it either. "Oh, ok." Beckoning for the boy to come up on the bed he watched lazily as Cypher crawled under the blanket with him and then let the spider loose to play.
The boy chased the spider all over Illya's chest and stomach and he even let it crawl in his dah's hair. It was exciting to play with it like this. After a while Cypher was warm and dah was sleeping and that led to more games. He chased the spider all the way down to his dah's prosthetic leg. Mum had told him that the hard leg was ok to touch, but not the other one. When the spider crawled inside his dah's pant let he could hear the spider's little feet tap along as it went and especially when he trapped it and chased it back out and then up to his dah's chest again. Finally, it was time for lunch and he decided to leave Monster with dah. Dah wouldn't mind if he had Monster for a little bit and he wasn't too scared to sleep with the spider.
*************
Cypher checked his little spider cage before bed and he gasped. "Monster es gone!" He couldn't remember where he'd left Monster. His big blue eyes started to well up. "Mam he's outside. Monster is cold." Surely if he'd lost his spider again it would have run away outside. Despite the trauma he had to go to sleep and his mam promised to help him look in the morning. Last time she found him, so maybe she would find his Monster again.
No matter how hard Illya had tried to stay awake and help Kalizda put Lohgan to bed he ended up falling asleep with his youngest daughter laying on his chest. The sedatives had made staying awake for anything next to impossible. He didn't have as much drive as he normally did and he certainly lacked ambition to get up, or argue with Kalizda about much. By the time she came to bed it was only made obvious to him because Lohgan was lifted off his chest. A few minutes later there was a slight rustling of the blankets and he turned over to hold Kalizda.
Part way through the night Illya shifted to lay on his back. It was getting uncomfortable to lay on his right side, sometimes it got sore like it was now. Two nights in a row and laying on his right side was getting to him. Since he couldn't really hold onto Kalizda he blindly groped about the bed till he found one of her hands and then placed his sloppily over it. He was sleeping a little lighter than he had the night before and he woke up more often. Illya wrote it off as having slept too much. Then he felt something strange tickling at his shoulder. With a groan he put his left hand up by his right shoulder and flicked away whatever it was and continued sleeping. He was tired and it wasn't the best time for Kalizda to be trying to tickle him with her hair.
The spider, Monster flew a short distance before it hit Kalizda and then scrambled for the safest spot. So far it appeared that the safest spot would be her hair. It provided ample space to hide and there was plenty of heat radiating from her skull.
*************************
Terrence finished his 4 days on and he set his skis outside the house. He hadn't seen or heard from any of the strangers. In part he wondered if they hadn't been scared off. Most folk that had a Chip left the place in quick order. They would stay long enough to make repairs, get supplies or see a doctor and that was about it. Inside the hut he brushed the snow off his hat and stomped his boots before stripping down. Tip toeing around the puddles of water from his boots he made his way over to the fire. "Did you see a Chip the other day?"
She already knew by the sound that it was Terrence come home for a few days. Helen filled one of the bowls with hot soup and then another for herself. Carefully taking the two bowls out to the main room she handed one to Terrence. "I saw one and I helped him too." For working in a precise business there were times that her son lacked precision in his language and she was still trying to teach him to watch what he said.
For the time Terrence decided to ignore that annoying habit. His mother was trying to correct him again. "Yeah, I did a little looking into them and I think I know who they are."
"Well, if you think it might be the council woman and her husband then we both think the same thing." Helen had no doubt that her son would have figured it out with access to the files that he had. She however, was going based off memory and a little bit of news. Anyone who didn't watch the current events regarding this war was insane. Eventually it would hit their borders and the council woman was their best shot at getting a fair deal. With her husband it would be a guarantee against certain violence as well between their people.
"How did you know?" Terrence looked up from his soup with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.
The woman chuckled. "It's called deductive reasoning. If you paid more attention to the news and less attention to your nights at the hunter's fire then you'd know these things without having to use your pad."
Taking a deep breath he grumbled. "You're always upset about the newest technology. We have pads for a reason."
"I'm not against it, but I want you to use your brain a little more. If they are still here in a few day's time we'll have to talk to the forum. We may have to go out into the outlying area and get a few of the supporters." Those who had not taken as kindly to extremes had chosen to live apart from the village, and she knew they would need every bit of support they could get. Otherwise, it could be trouble. Perhaps enough that she would have to send a message to them to get out before they were trapped on the planet. With many Pithians still alive that remembered the war it made it difficult to find allies for this cause. There were certainly some that would want to execute the Chip because of who he was, but no one would want to involve the Federation. At least not that she knew of.
It sounded like there would be trouble. Terrence didn't remember the war, but he knew the hatred ran deep. It was something he didn't quite understand. Growing up in a household where Chippequoti were often cared for he had learned that behind their brute strength, and strange mannerisms that many of them were kind, most were gentle, and a few were friendly. "Maybe if they had something to offer it would be easier for the forum to accept them."
Helen nodded. "Now you're thinking, but we still need to find out a little more. I don't think that they would randomly choose to come here. There must be a purpose. If it goes poorly we'll have to strongly advise setting them loose. It is the council woman and if we make an act against her or her family in any way we could be allying ourselves with the Federation by default."