the pair passed the time chatting, still full of the visit to the children's place. they were pleased and amazed at the growth around them. as with any new or changed landscape the plants and animals did too they all retained a single feature. no matter the varietal, any on the planet could be safely worn and consumed or met in contact without harm. that's being truly in tune with your world and that's what being in tune with your world looks like. a lesson to be shared with the newly arrived.
the day progressed at a leisurely pace and after leaving forrested areas they crossed a meadow taking them the better part of the day. they decided to stop for a break at a tiny burbling trickle. it wound its way to and fro and they chose a place where a pool had formed. they dipped water with their hands careful not to take up any of the tinier swimmers and flyers that congregated there and with great relish ate of the leftovers from the dinner from the night before. they've been pleasantly surprised to find the packet tucked in with the meager food stuff they brought along with them. this refilled them with the joy they felt together with the kids and this energized them. good thing too, as the final leg of quo's journey was their next steps.
since they would say farewell for a time, soon the talk did turn serious. by this time oto's distress at quo's leaving, potentially for an extended period, possibly forever, had eased. he'd begun to understand her motivations for what she had felt, and the emphasis in there, on his feelings of impending abandonment.
he now got that her leaving had little to do with him or their relationship. the driving factor had nothing at all to do with him or leaving him, as he had selfishly taken the decision. this feeling had almost overwhelmed him this despite the fact that he was the one who strayed from their two-person unit to have relations. he was the more selfish of them for having done so.
quo's drives were completely altruistic though. she only acted as her spirit instructed her. she even accepted his need to share other beds occasionally without question as just what he needed to do. it took the break from routine, and the one on one time spent outside of it together to reacquaint themselves that allowed for oto's clarity.
after their brief rest and more serious conversation that they had kept their distance from on their trip, it was at the stream's pool that their energies were calmed. the easiness between them banked along the way also tempered their words. even oto's excitable emotional tendencies were lessened, allowing him further insight into how and why he'd acted the way he did with quo.
she was freer with her attachment to him and wasn't bothered by his need to stray. she understood that she may not feel the same, and that he had a need to explore and even test boundaries with her. she never objected or seemed to feel the need to respond in kind and kept too easy going.
oto did recognize these qualities and despite how it may have looked, quo was his guiding light and the main occupant of his heart's desire. this made him feel possessive of her and he also recognized the feeling he had for her as potentially destructive for him and them. he gradually had to start the process of releasing this hold on himself. quote was gone, he lived the evidence, and if he any chance of reuniting with her, he knew his task in the upcoming time was to work his way through it without her.
with much for both of them to mull over they fell mostly silent. oto in his feelings he brooded and buoyed. quo also had pulled her attention within and was simply performing meditation of a sort. a layer of consciousness guarded her from inattentive injury, but her mind was preoccupied with learning the things her trance with quotienne and the book had inserted into her thoughts.
deep in concentration the miles passed by unnoticed, as did the scenery. it was the sound of voices and activity that gradually penetrated their dual concentration. they looked toward the sounds and soon people and structures came into view.
as the two made their way to the villages' busy communal area they were enthusiastically greeted by passers by and vendors with items for trade. they looked for and saw the person who wore some form of Insignia identifying them as the lead official or it's workspace. the soon they soon were pointed toward a building that was much like the one where quo herself had worked as lead in her's and oto's region. that being the case, it was constructed on or in an accommodating feature of the land. adding anything deemed necessary they found or fashioned from what they found around them. this place was a lot of that and stone with mortar decorated and artfully applied outer walls oh and art this place was a lot of thatch and stone masonry with mortared decorated and artfully applied decorative figures on the outer walls.
once inside the doorway they paused to let their eyes adjust to the dimness. this made quo aware of the fact that the roof let no light in and how hot it had been outside. they hadn't even noticed the change from their normal climate. quo reached over to wipe drops of perspiration from otto's brow and he smiled gratefully. his expression registered a bit of shock at the fact that the fabric in her hand was her official sash. the personal insignia of her own office. what? she asked, seeing his expression and glancing at the sash. he chuckled and said but it's your sash what if you needed again he nervously asked quo smiled and fully laughed. taking his hand she leaned toward him and whispered it'll wash. with that she turned and walked to the nearest available staff person.
having found where they needed to be to get aboard the transport that would carry them on the lest leg of quo's journey. blinking in the longer yet still fairly bright light they went the way they were told until they came upon the first two story structures they'd seen in the village. it was obscured by what had looked like a pile of a tall and wide pieces of broken rock. as the area was new to them it wasn't until they were on top of it that the pile was clearly in reality one rock formation. with coal colored facets that sparkled and appeared in long rod like bunches. some look broken and the shorter ones looked as if they might topple from the upper areas and crown someone unexpectedly. that was an illusion however, and once past the odd protrusion. so darkly out of place in the region of yellows pinks and other dun colors of a sandy rocky land who's vegetation mostly hugged the ground.
beyond the rocky outcropping was a building like a tent. It seemed to be ribbing covered by a whitish substance stretched tightly over it. a doorway with a fluttering red and white fabric for a door beckoned.
once past the cloth they found they had no trouble seeing and the voices that were a murmur from outside crystallized somewhat. the exterior had tricked quo into believing the building they stood within was a two-story affair. the reason for its height became obvious immediately, it was to house a double-decker vehicle.
oto had commented on how all of the place places they were visiting were so low profile, as if the people living there feared offending the sky by rising up. quo too had noticed the tendency but it wasn't as much of an affront to her sensibilities. it seemed to be more of the villagers just acting as the landscape did. she'd seen how the local flora grew literally instead of reaching skyward the way it did it home.
she realized when she'd seen the way the local reception office had used the space to disperse the workspace how efficient it was. without the need to construct an upper level they'd crafted loft spaces in some of the natural depressions in the land it was on were used. she thought it ingenious not unnerving as it seemed to be to oto. she realized even though the trees her folk lived in were all tall but the dwellings themselves were low too, making the place less different suddenly.
inside the whitish tent like building stood the conveyance they'd come for. it too have some whitish cover over top of the thing. what was beneath the cover was a series of planks and poles looking like the carcass of some giant beast. some areas rib like but really hinges and axles and pulleys and other mechanisms orto couldn't name by looking. the thing had wheels, two large and two small, some seemed to be dedicated to steering, others to suit varying terrain. these were quotillda's thoughts and she looked upon this unfamiliar machine.
oto had a child's curiosity about the thing and was educating himself his own way. stepping right inside to speak with the people moving about inside of it, helping them in there as they worked prepping for the trip he posed a barrage of questions. while he did that, quo secured spots for them on the next morning's excursion. after certifying their places quo returned to the vehicle. work still was to be completed and the passenger/crew would meet and plot out the trip. once that was accomplished, everyone adjourned for the day.
locals headed home leaving quo and oto to seek a meal from a merchant at the common area. drawn to the scents of a brazier of one they took from him a meal of roasted meat and vegetables. when they finished they returned their platters that were fashioned from thin sheets of rock. they assisted the man in packing up his materials being the last customers of the day. he thanked them and went to leave, but oto stopped him and pulled a packet of dried fungus from the small satchel he wore on a cross strap. these can be your flesh when you haven't any or just add a depth of flavor to any preparation. they even make a delicious tea to ward off illness. he pressed the packet into the man's hand and he gratefully accepted before turning wearily toward home.
quo took oto's hand and led him to a spot a helpful villager had pointed out for them to sleep nearby the place where the transport was. thus ensuring they'd not miss their trip. full and comfortable in the twilight temperature, instinct made them both bundle up as they lay upon the unfamiliar yet comfortable surface where they camped. they didn't say much except to point out a shooting star or some bigger flyer whose color was made indistinct and foreboding as the evening light waned, obscuring the true colors of it's plumage. they played a silly children's game of tell a scary story in the dark. they weren't kids and they were unafraid, fully aware that nothing on their world possessed in nature in any way foreboding or scary. it was just a test of trying to shock the other.
The excitement for the coming day settled down. the food that warmed them their bellies gradually took over main functions to digest and they soon fell asleep.
Go till the first became awake gradually. The sounds of fire signaling Daybreak with their own waking from sleep chirps and chitters, the wrestling of branches and leafy fronds and flapping of their winged appendages. Sounds different from those she was accustomed to yet she knew in her half slumbered state these were Daybreak sounds she was hearing. The louder more intrusive sounds of people speaking softly and walking around became noticeable. Then the light, as more people began to move about they caused the flickering behind her felty eyelids. The contrast in the brightness this created cause them to flutter and open. The brightness of first made her squint and when she widened them a set of Dusty toes was what she saw. Then as she raised herself to a sitting position on her hip rubbing at her eyes with one fisted hand like a child oh those squatted down to meet her gaze and hand her a cup of something steamy and pleasantly spicy smelling. She accepted the cup and pulled her knees up to sit firmly on her butt to drink. Otto step to her side and dropped onto her palate and quotilda could feel the excitement he was holding back he waited until she slipped a few drops of her drink and could feel it stimulating effect. When she did she said Otto I never oversleep that way. What was in the food they served us? This was said good naturedly and knowing the drink would peak in its propulsive intensity charging up her energy and that it would unlock her usually unlock her unusually reticent attitude around speech. Normally only speaking when necessity demanded it more the observer. She was more the observer. Talk she did, for the few moments of the effect. What you had to say surprise both herself and Auto pleasantly.
She critiques the beverage, positively incited what she felt the ingredients were. She was less positive about the way it made her chatter, something that normally made her feel silly and undignified. She marveled at the idea that she had slept so deeply and that it took her so long to awaken to all of the activity bustling around her. She's gone to sleep thinking they better down away from the edge of the buildings where are they better down on the edge of the buildings where business was done as well as any dwellings but portable stalls and stands were everywhere around where she and hotel now set obstructing pedestrian traffic.
Ocho, sensing the flurry of words that had ab, stood and began to help coach Hilda rolled up her kid. The kindly villagers made their way despite their obstruction quite unbothered and greeted them both pleasantly as they passed. Oh told directed them to the merchant he got in the drink from to return the cup and then they made their way to the large structure to wear the conveyance they come to use awaited. They were greeted at the door by a managerial who showed up who showed them where to store their gear and to their positions. On this conveyance writers had no seats to rest upon and read or play cards and chat with fellow travelers. On this device, passengers paid their way by helping Propel the vehicle on its way. Position placements were dedicated decided based on physical stature. Auto lanky and muscular went to work a limbs position helping steer the great skeletal looking Beast of a machine. He was fitted into a space in the hinge joint of a rear leg and visit himself with learning how to work his position, based on the diagram posted on a plaque right in front of his eye line. Quotilda also slender but a few hands foreheads and a few handspring shorter was directed to a perch with pedals mounted to its base right where her feet hung. There were steps to hold the foot down straps there were straps to hold the foot down and bars with handles at the ends sprouted from the backrest of the seat in front of her these had no function other than to stabilize her as she would put her back into her peddling and steady her over any bumps they may encounter on their path. Previously charred by other trips. She and hotel had been placed so that they were in view of each other and could speak, if need be but once underway little breath they would have despair that first day.