Lunar Heart, Shadow Bound ✓ [when the moon lies]

Ch.6: A Helping Paw

Edited: Apr, 26, 2020

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Inside, Nuaka was bustling with night life. Tanned or burnt red Humans, dressed in strange layered rags, were dancing in small groups. As they hunched their shoulders, they shuffled their feet to the beat of drums. Various drum sounds came from behind stalls piled high with cloth or wooden knick-knacks shabby and outright handmade. Lanterns dangled from trees made of wire and lit stones were placed without order to make a zig-zagged path through the sand. In the yellow-gold lantern light, there were many orange-dusted houses with mud-packed roofs, or straw roofs, and windows that looked like they were carved out of the walls. Clotheslines hung from house to house invading neighbors' properties.

The Humans' particular scent of sweat mixed with food was disturbingly similar to excrement. Although unpleasant, Pinti had gotten used to the scent in Bairenshire, but Nuaka added its own flare to it. Some female Humans had perfume on so thick it almost made her choke. They also had their faces powdered and painted to such an extent, Pinti couldn't guess what they looked like without.

Pinti kept hold of her tail and her shoulders tense, anticipating some sort of belittling or derogatory comment, but it seemed as if the Humans were too busy dancing and celebrating something. Yanga pointed to a poster on an old straw house.

"It's Ganglbee Night. Like a drum festival, I suppose," he said. "Lost the original reason why we celebrate this thing. It's one of our many holidays."

Grimacing, she shook her head at the absurdity. It seemed Humans had a holiday at every turn of the week. She couldn't understand how they survived for so long if they kept having days to play. Kathula had one holiday for each season and that was that.

Yanga took her to a place where the color of the lantern light changed from orange to white, the pounding of drums died out, and Human numbers dwindled. It was only further down through the dusted streets that citizens stared and gawked at her. A small group of females in thick makeup wearing layers of rags for dresses were walking together with a young male dressed in white rags. They pointed at Pinti as she walked by.

"Look, I can't believe my eyes," said a female.

"Oh, I wish I had my AutoPic with me!" said another. "I need to take a picture!"

The male smirked. "That's a wild one. I hear they eat any meat. Even camel meat." The females made gagging sounds making the male laugh. Pinti ignored them and followed Yanga. As soon as they were out of earshot she hissed and kicked at the dusty Nuaka road.

Heizak, Huamanoas. She growled. Camel meat is good juicy meat. They are the fools for not eating them, too. Humans were famous for their camel farming because they used the creatures for travel all the time and fit ones were always on demand. Weak ones were killed the moment they were found to be unfit for travel. Their carcasses were then buried in the sand. Pinti didn't know why Humans didn't just eat them. To her, it was good meat gone to waste.

At last, Yanga took her up to an inn with a dusty sign that said "(can) Eat Food Inn Bed". He chuckled.

"Funny name, eh? 'Inn Bed'," he said, but Pinti didn't understand the joke. That was the one problem she still had with Universal language; jokes sometimes slipped past her.

As if I would laugh anyway. She scoffed. The only things she ever found funny was the misfortune of those that shunned her.

Instead of going in the front door, Yanga took her to the backdoor that lead into a garden where the walls of the inn surrounded it. Windows seemed to have been arranged so the visitors can only see the top of a single tree made out of glowing green wire. When she took a close look at the trunk, little green lights were decked throughout.