I gag, letting myself go limp entirely. I…cannot process so much information at once. I stare at the dripping sails as the staff prepares for docking. From this moment on—for self-preservation—I stop hearing the others. Their problems? Not mine. I have to secure my way back home.
The more I think about turning my back on them, the more I want to curl in shame. God, what will Mother think of me being an emotional wreck right now?
Mother shouldn’t matter anymore, Xiaoyu.
Despite the reminder, though, it still matters too much. All her words leave deep marks.
I cope through the chaos in silence. I was raised with traditional Chinese values. As the eldest among three of us, the pressure to be the best had been all on me. The strict rules trickle down to why I’m not comfortable with showing emotional outbursts. I always have to maintain a socially acceptablefaçade.
I’m convincing myself to do my job to return home triumphant. I can show Mother I’m not a waste of investment…
I hug myself tighter as a single tear leaks out of my eye. In my periphery, the ship gangway lowers.
Ingar shakes his head at me. How much shame can I take?
“Hey…” Someone touches my arm.
My eyes flick toward her. She’s pretty with a crown of golden hair and freckles.
“Are you okay? We’re going down. Come with us.”
I run my hands over my face, smudging my glasses entirely. God.
“I’m alright,” I croak and smile mechanically. I feel my joints pop as I rise.
“My name is Sunny, by the way. I get it’s a terrible situation to be in, but we’re already here and it seems like the…inhabitantsknow the security guy?”
The security guy is most likely Ingar. Everything feels surreal right now. A bird with an approximately ten-foot wingspan flies overhead. That alone can pluck me from the ground and eat me.
“I’m Xiaoyu.”
She cocks her head to the side. “Chow-you?”
I hold back a sigh. “Yeah, Xiaoyu.”
“Nice to meet you, Xiaoyu.” She seems way too happy about this.
“Aren’t you scared?” I ask her.
She bounces on the balls of her feet. “I am, but the people seem to speak…Not a language I know. I think that’s why Cora is here.”
We’ve docked and the girls are frozen on the ramp.
“We’ll go first! Come on!” She drags me with her. For some reason, she’s very eager. Excited, even. “Wow, look at that!” She points at a tall statue of…a spider?
“You think that’s a real creature here?” I ask her. It looks so odd and imposing. As tall as a tree, the number of legs I’m too confused to count, carved out of the biggest, roughest piece of obsidian I’ve seen. It strikes recognition in me.
“Maybe it’s their god? They obviously worship it.” She points at the offerings by the steps on the platform. Even in remote islands, religion still exists. This doesn’t surprise me. Though it creeps me out, I just shrug and compartmentalize weakly.
I attempt to loosen myself up enough to keep an educated eye. I’m hired to study the plants here, right? Of course, remove the fact that these plants are also people, too. Some plants look familiar, but they are basically a version where Satan took pity on them and shit him out his butthole.
They look…sickly at closer inspection. Rail-thin, their roots protruding, leaves drooping. When our boots hit the ground, it cracks. Dry.
“So…plant people, huh?” Sunny is suspiciously taking this all too well.
Ingar grunts as he watches another plant person wade through the crowd. This one looks distinctly female. Striking. Too pretty to look at. She smiles, showing off rows of sharp teeth.
Ingar sucks in a breath, and it’s the only reaction I need to confirm my doubts. She hurls herself toward Ingar and they come together in a tight, too-intimate hug. Ingar’s arms envelope her sharp platings on her ribs that resemble faintly of a trap.
