Chapter 30

As we step out of the formation, I release a yawn I can’t stifle. Thanks to Onda, I’m getting used to the routine of this camp.

Honestly, there’s not much for me to worry about. Waking up early and lining up in formation only happens once a week to perform a sort of roll call to make sure no one ran away or died.

The assigned duties also seem to be far and few between. As a noble, all I ever end up doing is stand by the teleportation pad and record who enters and leaves for a few hours.

My eyes drift to the new stone platform a noble is registering at. Lieutenant Tallmaul shoves a similar necklace with a golden stone that he handed to me. Unlike me though, the noble doesn’t hesitate as he takes it and puts it on.

Onda steps next to me with a bright smile that shows too much energy for this early. “Hey, ready to go eat?”

“Mmm. What’s that necklace for?”

Onda follows the direction I’m pointing in. “Oh, that’s for people that are born in seasons that are far apart from Divinity of Life’s season like those from Time’s season. And yours of course. The necklace works as a way of helping the city’s system register you are not a threat to the Divinity and thus, the city itself.

Satisfied with his explanation, I make my way to the dining hall with Onda.

“So, you want to explain why you’re limping?” I might have been distracted by the necklace, but I didn’t miss that Onda’s once again injured.

He tucks his head, embarrassed to have his injury pointed out. Then, like normal, Onda tells me some random story about how he wasn’t being careful and tripped.

It’s always like this. Whoever is bullying him, he won’t tell me. Neither will Coa who says it’s none of my business or his brother that avoids the topic at all costs.

From what I’ve seen, I know they’re getting bullied. Likely, it’s by someone in their tent. When Coa said that tent assignments were non-negotiable, he was probably speaking from experience.

“Fine, but if it gets too hard to deal with, come find me. We’ll think of an answer together.”

Onda’s eyes shimmer with unshed tears at my words. On instinct, I pat his back slipping back into my big sister role. Though, I’m positive he’s older than me.

“It’s fine Em. Thanks for worrying about me though.”

The dining hall, as always, is absolutely packed. Finding a seat in this place is almost as hard as avoiding Kennedy. Twice, we have potential seats stolen from us as we circle the tables for any opening.

Right when I’m about to give up and eat while standing, a guy waves me over. Onda and I exchange a confused look, but I walk over with Onda following close behind.

“Hello beautiful. We just finished eating, so go ahead and take our seats.”

The exchange is awkward, especially the wink the guy gives me as he and his friends leave, but I don’t refuse the seats. Why would I when someone was willing to hand them over so easily?

Are there jealous stares being sent our way? Sure. But I didn’t ask him, he offered.

Coa and Koa drag themselves to the table a few minutes later looking disheveled and tired like always. They’re down to their last week of toilet cleaning duty after the Lieutenant Idiot fiasco.

“Morning,” I say as I hide my yawn behind my sleeve. This schedule change from my night shifts in Wirra is really messing with me.

Koa greets us on behalf of him and his brother that I’ve accept doesn’t do pleasantries or small talk. “Morning. Thanks for saving our spots again. It must have been difficult to find four seats.”

“Not necessarily. Some guys just got up and gave them to us. Specifically, they gave them to Em,” Onda explains.

Coa eyes me skeptically. “Why?”

“One of the guys called her beautiful and couldn’t stop flirting. So…”

The unsaid part is understood by everyone but Coa. Pretty privilege was a thing in Wirra; I wouldn’t have had a job if it wasn’t. But in Wirra, everyone was pretty. People like Flame, Rumi, and Cyra though, they had beauty that went beyond human comprehension. So, it feels strange for my looks to garner so much attention here. My only hope is that they don’t get me into trouble, again.

“Any luck finding a job?”

I shake my head confirming what Onda probably already guessed before he asked me. As a potential source of income, there are duties that pay money. However, the best ones have been secured by long-term residents of the camp. People that have been here for months if not years.

Onda considers if there’s other options for me to make some money. “If you were awakened, you could probably work as a bodyguard, but there’s not much else. Is there another skill you can think of that would help you?”

“No. Just sewing like I said. I can design outfits, fix clothing, and I can work with pretty much any material. That’s it though unless they’re going to build any shops nearby that need a front desk operator.”

After years of working at the same job, I never realized finding another one would be so difficult.

“We’ll find something Em, don’t worry too much.”

When I open my mouth, I mean to reply to Onda, but another yawn slips for my lips.

“Are you alright?” Koa has been trying to break off pieces of his rye bread, but it just keeps crumbling. So, he gives up and sets to the side.

“I'm fine, I’m just tired. I've been sleeping on the floor since I got here, and my body isn't used to the sleep schedule yet.”

“You can just take a nap in your tent,” Coa offers.

And oh, poor sweet and naive Coa. If I could I would.

“Please don’t forget who I’m living with. Also I don't want to bother Anna.”

“Who's Anna,” everyone asks at the same time.

“Anna's the maid, or servant, I'm not really sure what her title is. But she's the one that takes care of Kennedy. She also takes care of Nocturne, but I'm pretty sure she works for Kennedy.”

I've met Anna a few times and she's really nice. She even offered to wash my clothes several times, but I turned her down. I'm trying to keep out of sight and out of mind. If Kennedy caught me asking her servant to help wash my clothes, I'm sure I would end up in an argument I couldn’t win.

After we finish eating, all of us head down to the beach. After what happened with the sea creature, I hate being by the water. However, we hide down here because nobody bothers us. And as long as we stay away from the water, I’m fine. Sort of. At least I was until Coa told me about the wenos.

Apparently in Ceto Dere, they have these little see through fish that are called wenos and they eat the flesh of anything they come across. Even humans. Now, I make sure to stay as far as I can from the ocean. I even avoid touching the sand.

As we walk through camp, I see a man with piercings on his face. Before I got here, that would have stopped me in my tracks. But I'm adjusting. I'm even getting used to seeing more animorphs display their features in public. Which you know, great for them. I still refuse to have my scales shown even if it's acceptable though.

Heavy steps fall on the ground behind me. When a rather large man walks pass me, I step back to give him some space. This causes me to bump into Onda and nearly knock him over.

“Sorry, are you alright?” The guy’s apology makes me feel guilty since I’m the one that avoided him and caused this.

The two horns on the top of his head loop just before the end. I can’t help but think that his short hair is intentional to make the horns more visible.

“No, I’m sorry.” Noticing that I’m uncomfortable, the man takes a few steps back fom me.

“I should have been more careful, it’s my fault.”

“What, you didn’t see me all the way down?” I mean this as a joke, but the silence that persists after the comment makes me worried that it wasn't taken that way.

Just as I'm about to apologize again, the man shows a toothy grin as the corners of his eyes crease. That is when I noticed the fangs. At least he thought I was being funny and not rude.

“No I didn't, but I'll make sure I to keep a lookout for the short people next time.”

Uneventfully, we part ways with those last words. Just before we make it to the beach, I hear someone call out Onda's name. When all of is turn, we see a man with glasses and ruffled hair is running towards us.

“Onda! Wait a minute!”

We all stop and wait for the man to catch up. As he takes a minute to catch his breath, Onda introduced him to us.

“This is Cameron. He's in the tent next to us.”

“Hi. Sorry to ask this out of nowhere, but did you say you had a friend that's really good at sewing?”

Me being said friend that's really good at sewing steps forward. “That would be me.”

By the time Cameron explains why he's there and what he needs me to do, I'm at a loss.

“So, you want me to take out to close for your tentmate who can't fit them anymore. But in doing so, you want me to make it look like I didn't adjust them. Right?”

“Yeah. He's convinced that it's the fault of the people making the clothes and if anybody even suggests that his current size might be the problem, he loses it. I'll pay you, but I need to get him these clothes tomorrow. He hasn't seen them yet since they just got delivered so this is my only chance to fix them. I'm sorry I know this is a strange request but—”

I hold up my hand to stop him from explaining more. He said he'll pay me, so that's all I need to know. “Are these all the clothes you need me to fix?”

“Yes, there are five shirts and three pairs of pants. There's also a jacket coming in a couple days that also needs alterations.”

The lengths that Cameron is going to seems a bit extreme in my eyes. But, oh well. Money's money.

“I can fix them, but I need some needle and thread.”

Cameron holds out the bag with the clothes and shows me all the sewing supplies inside. Apparently, this wasn't his idea. The person that owns the shop where these clothes come from came up with this plan and even gave Cameron sewing supplies for free.

Just size up already people. It would be cheaper at this point.

“Alright. Tomorrow morning I'll be at the dining hall. If you can meet me there, I'll hand you the clothes.”

“Thank you. Just try to make sure that everything looks exactly how it does right now, please. He must under no circumstances find out about this.”

“As long as you pay me no one will ever know,” I promise.

With that Cameron runs off back towards his tent while the rest of us head towards the beach.

“Having all that done by tomorrow is a pretty tight deadline. Are you even going be able to sleep?” Onda asks.

“You my Sir, have no idea who you're talking to. I've sewed ceremonial gowns for pleasure workers in one night. Have you seen the details on those gowns.” The blank stare Onda gives me tells me he probable hasn’t. “Well, if you did, you would know that this is nothing. I'll be done by dinner time.”

I actually finished hours before dinner. Whoever made the clothes, created imprints on the fabric to show where the new stitch line should be.

In the morning when I handed the bag to Cameron, he looked like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders. After checking over my work, he thanked me multiple times before dropping some coins into my palm.

It was only three silver coins, but it was something. Putting them in my pocket, a sense of purpose rush over me. That's one job down, and hopefully, many more to go.