Zabbie glanced at her. Brave wasn’t afraid. She seemed excited—an adventure when her father was so overprotective. That thought made Zabbie frown.
“When your father shows up, we should be more fearful of his wrath,” Zabbie muttered. She wasn’t concerned for Ryker. His parents knew the boy was in no danger. He had a tendency to disappear and reappear on a whim. Plus he was with Zell. The dynamic duo were a team to be reckoned with.
“Storm knows we would never let harm come to her daughter,” Tempest said. “You can have us all away from here with a thought.”
What she said was true. Zell returned with Cy and Titus. Titus strode over and scooped Brave into his arms. She immediately offered a protest she wasn’t a baby.
Titus grinned at her. “Here’s the deal, little one. Citun and your mother have allowed you to stay on one condition.”
Brave groaned. “You can’t carry me all the time.”
Cy chuckled. “Oh yes we can.”
Brave groaned louder. “Now I know how Dranos feels, and it suddenly occurs to me what the term ‘pissed’ means.”
“Don’t say pissed,” Tempest said.
Braylon laughed.
Chapter Four
Titus shifted Brave onto a hip and the others began walking. The dead ground beneath his feet was pitiful. There were no different scents or tastes to the air. Some areas appeared damp, the puddles brackish. He wasn’t sure if the Earth was dead or in hiding.
“Earth has changed since we were here last,” Titus said.
“So has Zargonnii life,” Cy said.
“At least the water has receded. For a while it looked like the entire planet would be sodden,” Titus said.
“Should we split up?” Zell asked.
“Hell no,” Titus said.
“Tempest,” Cy began, “you and Zabbie know what Christmas is. What is Dranos searching for? Can we not find it and go?”
“Christmas means different things and yet the same to many,” Tempest said.
“That makes no sense,” Cy grumbled.
“So is Christmas a riddle?” Zell asked.
“A riddle?” Braylon looked like his feathers were ruffled. “Christmas is—it’s Christmas.”
Zell frowned appearing less than pleased. “Then where do we start?”
A piece of paper fluttered in the breeze and Zell caught it. He turned it over and frowned harder. “It’s dull but there’s a pattern. A clue to this riddle?”
Zabbie took it. “It’s wrapping paper. Dranos has touched it. He touched it, connected it somehow to Christmas, but he doesn’t understand why it’s ripped, and so he is heartbroken. He tossed it away and wonders why humans would simply throw a part of a special holiday away. Why give someone something that goes into the garbage?” Zabbie said. “This might be harder than we think. What was custom for us is curious for Dranos.”
“When a Zargonnii has a Holiday we keep a coveted child,” Cy said his tone pondering. “What else of Christmas do you chuck when it’s over?”
Zabbie and Tempest stopped stunned. “I never thought about that aspect,” Zabbie said. “Well, not really. I mean after Christmas, there was a huge garbage pickup. Bags, bows, boxes, food. Returns.”
“You returned gifts?” Brave asked. “Sounds kind of mean.”
“Well no, not mean. If someone already had the gift or wanted something different, or ugly sweaters, secret Santas, or, or…” Zabbie trailed off.
“The list is endless.” Tempest picked up. “I hope Dranos doesn’t get wind of secret Santas or we may have sixty stalkers on our hands. We did try to recycle. After office parties, there was a lot of re-gifting. Those who buy a tree burn it or leave it at the roadside to be taken away. Fake trees are tossed every so often. Bulbs get broken, or worn out, same with Christmas lights. There was always something in our home needing repairs. Things the mice or squirrels got into, chewed, or peed on.”
“So you want to teach our children about throwing away useless things that once mattered a great deal?” Titus asked. “Except of course things that were peed on. Vermin in houses? That’s nasty.”
“No, not at all, about the gifts I mean,” Zabbie said. “Some exchanged gifts. Perhaps too many and for some not enough. Sometimes we would get a gift we didn’t appreciate but knew someone who would love it. We would decorate the gift to hide it, to enhance the excitement. I guess the gift isn’t the only present. The time and thought that goes into finding it and the wrapping has meaning. That the wrappings and ribbons may be tossed doesn’t mean the gift is thought less of. When I was a child, a ribbon was kept for my hair. Or I would decorate other gifts with bows. Boxes could be reused, especially by any and all cats.”
Titus gazed at the strange smile now on his mate’s face. Titus knew what a cat was—a pain in the ass turd maker that would wake you at all hours and step on your face. Fur balls that bring dead gifts, knock things over, and rule the house. Evil creatures that would barf on carpets only. They sounded ghastly, and why anyone wanted one was beyond him.
“Didn’t we have a cat?” Braylon asked.
“Yes.” Tempest nodded. “I’m surprised you remember Tanner.”
“I think it’s the shield that helps me remember certain things. Tanner was always swatting at my hotdogs.”
Titus had also been privy to a hotdog once. His cast iron stomach rumbled after just the one. They were tasty enough but Titus preferred meat he could sink his teeth into. And why anyone would name a food after a type of pet was beyond him.
“There is almost zero waste on our planet. Your Earth was littered with, well, litter,” Titus said.
“Your replicators can remove waste,” Zabbie said. “Earth never had replicators. There was a lot of waste but we were working on it.”
“The replicators move molecules around to create the new. What was a mug could be water, and what was water could be meat.”
“Earth was trying to recycle. Each year new inventions were made. Until the Tonan invasion,” Zabbie said.
“So it’s all our fault?” Braylon shouted.
“You are not responsible for the actions of another,” Tempest said. “Remember you lost your home, too, you suffered as well. You are human, only your shield is Tonan and came from a very complex Tonan. Grey loved you in his own way, the only way a Tonan can. I believe he thought of you as a son. You must know even though you fight with it, a Tonan shield is a rare gift. Grey gave you a present that wraps up you. Our generation not only recycled but we had to clean up a lot of other messes left by history. Earth is destroyed. Like Zabbie said, let’s knock off the blame game shall we? Can you sense Dranos, Zabbie, Zell?”
“Dranos is moving too fast,” Zell said. Titus could hear his annoyance. “How the heck is he moving his five year old feet so quick?”
They linked arms and Zabbie and Zell propelled them farther. At a small green site they stopped. Titus gave Brave to Cy and knelt beside Zabbie.
“It’s a pine tree,” Zabbie said with awe. “When this grows big and strong, it could be cut down into a beautiful tree for decorating.”
“So part of your tradition is to mutilate vegetation?” Cy asked.
“No,” Zabbie said on a growl. “Many did cut trees down to bring home. We would pull out decorations to make the tree beautiful.”
“But Zabbie,” Titus asked. “Isn’t it beautiful already? Did the trees not protest?”
“They don’t talk. I mean they are alive but not,” Zabbie said.
“Our trees only talk to females, and yet I know they are alive,” Titus said with confusion. “They move, they dance in the wind. If you were to try and cut one at the base it would smack you silly.”
“Earth trees couldn’t do that,” Tempest said.
“How sad. A tree unable to ask to be spared,” Titus said. “Was there no type of blood?”
“Our trees had sap, not blood,” Tempest said.
“So because you have a different name for blood the tree obviously has no
life to it,” Titus said.
“Blood is blood and sap is, well, it’s sap.” Tempest sounded exasperated.
“We eat vegetation,” Zabbie said as her voice rose. “Vegetables don’t speak either. I’ve never once had a conversation with broccoli. The only thing I ever said to a tomato is ‘you will be tasty in my sauce’.”
“Why not spare the foliage and build replicators? If left on its own I’m certain the foliage would evolve, develop signs you would see it’s a living entity. Well, it might have if not destroyed,” Cy said, and Zabbie and Tempest groaned.
“We grew some plants that would die regardless after time. You don’t understand,” Zabbie said on a soft sigh.
“Neither does Dranos,” Cy said. “And my little five-year-old boy is out there somewhere trying to find what even you find hard to explain. How is he to find what he searches for?”
“I can’t hope to explain religion to you, or how every country celebrated,” Zabbie said. “So I’ll try to explain what I found important to me personally because Dranos can’t read his mother’s mind. In the meantime, let’s keep moving.”
The wind began to pick up. Titus was capable of hiding Brave against his chest if need be, but Cy already had her covered. Titus could see his friend glance to Tempest and wondered if he should take the girl. Zell was fine and the two teens were shielded. Zabbie had her own special wall she could create, sightless but effective in stopping wind or dust from touching her. He saw Tempest shiver. The only human of the bunch with no special ability except to create a child with great powers. He could imagine her terror was for her son, not herself.
“We need to ride out the storm,” Titus yelled to be heard. Visibility was almost non-existent even to his sharpened sense of sight. His red eyes glowed bright trying to light their way with Cy and Zell’s help.
“Where? Everything seems so flat,” Cy yelled back.
“We’ll make a hole cave in the ground, and wait it out,” Titus said.
“What about Dranos?” Tempest yelled, her hand up to shield her face.
“Dranos must be slumbering and dreaming,” Zell said. “He’s curled up in some weird house he’s imagined. Cookie walls. Round candy things. It’s held together with icing. Kickass icing for sure. Even in this storm battering, the structure is unshakable.”
“A gingerbread house,” Tempest and Zabbie said simultaneously.
Cy handed Brave to Ryker who could shield the girl because she was a female child. So too could Braylon but Titus knew Zell would be more comfortable if Ryker had her. It didn’t take long for the extensive taloned half-Tonan and three large Zargonnii to make a deep hole in the ground. They huddled in and Titus warmed the inside with his eyes. The red soft glow lit the cave, bathing them all in shadows.
“I hope Dranos is safe,” Tempest said, worry in her soft tone.
Zabbie clutched her hand. “He is. For now. I sense something else though. Zell, do you feel that?”
“Yes,” Zell’s word was tight.
“Is something bad on the planet?” Cy asked.
“Not yet,” Zell said. “I hope the storm passes fast.”
* * * *
“Why does your Christmas seem so conflicting?” Titus asked. “We Holiday for two things since as long as anyone can remember; dominance and a coveted child. We have no other celebration, except when a baby is born.”
“Because we evolve.” Zabbie tried to figure out what she wanted to express and smiled thinking about a coveted child so long ago on Earth lying in a manger wrapped in swaddling clothes. “You see at one time long ago gifts were given to a king, a baby. But that is where the religion gets difficult. Everyone’s own meaning of Christmas is special, because it’s theirs. Years later, Santa was added to the mix.”
“How old is Santa?” Ryker asked.
“I don’t know. Over seventeen hundred years at least,” Zabbie said.
“So a baby and Santa are Christmas?” Brave asked.
“Not exactly,” Tempest said. “There were many different types of holidays celebrated near or on the same day.”
“Then what is Christmas?” Zell demanded.
“Some would say love and fellowship. Some would have said commercialism. Others are very steadfast in what they believe. In a way, when the Zargonnii Holiday if they are the ones to receive the coveted child, it might feel like Christmas to them.” Zabbie could hear the wind howl outside. “If Dranos were to show up this very second, it would be Christmas.”
“Are you telling me Dranos is searching for a feeling, an emotion?” Cy demanded.
“Many found a way for Christmas to have a special meaning to them,” Tempest said. “A special food, a special treat. Certain decorations put them in a holiday mood. Songs and poems. A tradition of giving someone something that means great value to them and you. One year, I collected dozens of pictures of people from their earliest childhood to adulthood. I added pictures of their loved ones and made a collage. I made the picture frame and stained it. It was a gift from the heart that took time and thought.”
“Why would you stain something you worked so hard on?” Ryker asked.
“We called it wood stain.”
“Well, wood would stain,” Brave said.
“No, no. The stain was what I covered the wood in to make it a special kind of color,” Tempest said.
“Oh,” Brave said but all could see she was more confused. “I wish the floor wasn’t so sandy.”
Zabbie was wishing the same. For a second, her body shifted and she was sitting on a pile of furs. The walls were then covered in fur. She shrieked when a small table appeared and turkey with all the trimmings was set upon it.
“What the hell?” Tempest shouted.
“That wasn’t me,” Zabbie said.
“Or me,” Zell said.
Titus was glaring at the whole turkey. “What the fuck is that? A naked bird with no head? Why is it dead?” He turned it around. “Someone shoved bread up its ass! Who the hell kills and then mutilates an animal? And why is there gloppy blood in a bowl?”
“It’s a stuffed turkey and that isn’t blood, it’s cranberry sauce,” Zabbie said rolling her eyes. “Part of many holiday traditions is food, I told you before. You are gazing at my standard Christmas dinner of long ago. Mashed potatoes, gravy, mashed turnip, corn, fluffy rolls, Jell-O salad. Mm, my favorite. Peach Jell-O mixed with whipping cream, cottage cheese and Mandarin oranges. Oh look my favorite hors d’oeuvre. Bacon-wrapped water chestnuts.”
“Well, you’ll never get Citun to eat any kind of nut—ever,” Titus said and chuckled. “After Storm…”
“After what?” Brave demanded. “They never tell me that part of their story.”
“Let’s just say the nuts were a little more than he bargained for.” Cy was also chuckling.
“These are water chestnuts silly,” Zabbie said and thought if she rolled her eyes once more she’d have vertigo. “You wrap them in bacon, then pour a paste of mayonnaise, brown sugar and sweet chili dipping sauce on. Sprinkle it with a bit more brown sugar and put them in an oven.”
“What’s an oven?” Brave asked.
“Seriously? What’s an oven?” Braylon’s tone was derogatory.
Zell scowled at him. “So you immediately knew what a replicator was the second you saw one?”
Now Braylon was scowling. Zabbie simply shook her head. Braylon could tease Zell all he wanted with no retribution, but one barb to Brave and Braylon would be wise to head for the hills.
“An oven is what we used to cook in. We would put raw foods, animal or vegetable, or dips, and dough into a replicator-shaped appliance and it would heat up,” Tempest said. “Different foods cooked for different lengths of time. Makes me long for my prime rib recipe, and mom’s flatbreads.”
“Sounds primitive,” Zell said.
“You found your food dead?” Brave asked. “Where did you look for it? What killed it? Sounds gross.”
“We normally bought it from a grocery store o
r butcher and farmers market,” Zabbie said and became thoughtful. “I miss wandering those markets. The different foods and smells. Maple syrup and fudge. Ten-year-old cheese.”
“Ew, you would eat old food?” Brave asked in disgust. “How did you survive? My poor mother. She is so lucky my father found her. Are you certain the Tonans didn’t inadvertently save you?”
“Yeah, spending five years alone and hunted on a planet was some kinda special,” Braylon grouched.
Brave reached over to touch his taloned hand. “It must have been scary. You are very brave even though at times a huge grouch.”
Braylon let his shield drop to expose the hand. Brave grinned. Zabbie knew the half-human child wasn’t immune to the special essence a Tonan or Castian could expel to calm a female. Braylon was young and had a Tonan shield but even a hardened Tonan could be a calming influence. She also noted Zell seething. So did Brave, and took her hand from Braylon though she continued to smile. Zabbie couldn’t help an inward grin. Cobra had touched her innocently enough a few times, on her shoulder or cheek, and made her feel like a schoolgirl. Zabbie loved Titus with all her heart, but the power a Castian or Tonan possessed in a single touch could shake a female to the core.
“What is it you used to buy food?” Ryker asked.
“Money,” Braylon appeared thoughtful. “I remember my little blue piggy bank. I think there was twenty bucks in there.”
“Okay, I have to ask,” Brave said holding out her hands. “What is money? Is it like the bread stuffed up this bird’s butt? That is so totally weird. Was the pig dead too? And it was blue? I thought a buck was a male deer. How would twenty even fit into one little pig?”
Zabbie could see Braylon’s facial expression dripping in sarcasm so she raced to answer. “That is a smart question. Money was paper or coins; certain rocks and jewels could also be exchanged. We used the term bucks as an alternative to the word money, like grass or moolah. Dinars, or other languages. As a matter of fact a funny thing is some people did call it bread. But you don’t eat it.”
“So you traded worthless crap for necessary food?” Zell asked.
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