Kitsa Isles: Outstander Revolution

chapter 8: recovery

Over the next week or two, I started recovering pretty well. I was able to sit up again and even began walking by the end of the second week. Jasper still refused to leave my room, and anytime someone tried to move him, he would have a tantrum. I didn't know how to feel about it. He was so attached to me. It was just... too unhealthy. After his freakouts, he would try and get as close to me as physically possible. He would lay beside me and violently shake. Sometimes he'd be crying, sometimes he wouldn't be. He always shook fearfully though, as if someone was going to rip him up from his spot at any second.
Opal entered the room to Jasper sitting on the end of my bed. "I've got good news and bad news," she mumbled. She looked anxious and uncertain. "Good news first, please." I didn't want to hear anything bad at all, but it was unavoidable. "Good news is that you can be admitted out of here."
"And the bad news?"
"We can only get you out if we do another examination, but we're gonna have to take Jasper out of here for like... an hour."
Jasper looked up at her at the immediate sound of his name. "I'm stay! Stay---ing? Stay n?" He struggled with the last word. Opal shook her head. "If you come with me, you can see her again in an hour, okay?" His cat ears flattened. "No! Stay." He was already slowly moving away from Opal. "You can't stay. Do you want Aqua to be able to leave this room?" She was slowly becoming less and less patient. He nodded. "B-but I wanna stay!" Opal sighed, and approached him. She picked him up, and I could already tell what was about to go down. As soon as she opened up the door to put him outside, he burst into tears and violently tried to remove himself from Opal's grasp. Opal didn't budge, and put him outside. Thomas entered the room as Opal exited, and quickly locked the door. "Poor kid. I think he's got some kind of separation anxiety or something. But something is certainly wrong. But, enough of that. I've gotta ask questions and look at things and it'd be annoying to have him in here." I felt so bad for Jasper. He hardly understood what was going on. Thomas carried out the examination, and I was able to get out of the medical cabin. As soon as I stepped foot out of the cabin, still a bit wobbly, Jasper latched himself onto my leg. He was quivering and his eyes were all red, supposedly from crying. I slowly bent down and gave him a hug, and he stopped shaking so harshly. He loosened his grip on my leg when I stood back up. I examined camp, just to see if anything had changed. I noticed Mint had a makeshift pair of crutches now, and they were pretty small to match her height. I then took note of something more... peculiar. Juno was speaking with two newcomers, which was odd, especially after we just got three more. But what was even more odd were their appearances. One had white, fluffy hair that contrasted with her dark skin like the moon against the night sky. Her hair looked similar to the fluffiness of sheep's wool, and she had a rack of ram horns sitting atop her hair. She also had sheep-like ears and she was dressed formally compared to everyone else. The girl beside her had all black hair instead of white, but still had the sheep horns and ears. She was lanky and was wearing something less formal. She had on a black t-shirt and bright orange star earrings hanging off of her sheep ears. Her eyes were a fiery orange, like her earrings, and she had an orange belt on. The formally dressed girl was wearing a white dress that had the style of some form of lolita dress. Then, it hit me. There were Sheepnos in our camp. Sheepnos were like hypnos but uncorrupted. They were an entirely different breed, but they were still named like hypnos. Sheepnos are the upper class of the Outstanders. There are very few, due to a lack of female Sheepnos. (Casper and Milo aren't Sheepnos, just goat breeds) And here were two, just standing in our camp. The one dressed in white looked over at me, and I took notice of something even more odd. She had a third eye on her forehead. That means she can read everyone's emotions, look into your past, and just completely understand everything about you with just a look. It was horrifying to think about. Among the Sheepnos, who want absolutely nothing to do with any other type of Outstander, there are many different powers. Her power was the most prized and powerful among them. There hadn't been a mystical Sheepno like that in... years. In fact, everyone believed that their kind was extinct. The fact that a Sheepno that was as mystical as she was standing in front of us was almost impossible to believe. Even worse, she was approaching me. The eye on the top of her head was so... eerie. "Greetings, Aqua. I hear you are the one that handles most of the combat around this place, yes?" Her voice was silky, and her gaze was ethereal. Her eyes were a light grey color. "Y-yeah, I guess so," I mumbled self-consciously. Jasper was staring at her in awe. "That is lovely to hear. And the little one?" She gently tapped Jasper on the nose. He giggled. "This is my nephew, Jasper." I felt stupid. She probably already knew that. "You are quite self-conscious. Do not fear, I do not look into everyone's being unless I am suspicious. I enjoy hearing people talk about their life rather than knowing it all." Jasper was staring at her. "It is nice to see another animal counterpart. You are a cat counterpart, correct?" I nodded, feeling my face get red and hot from embarrassment. "Yep, me and Jasper both!" I had said that way too excitedly. She chuckled, and then sighed. "I must go now, but I do hope we meet again. I have many things to inquire you about, Len- Aqua." I stared blankly. Why had she almost said Len something? "Oh, right. It would be of utmost rudeness to not tell you my name. I am Lana. Lana Dorset, if you must. Till' we meet again." She walked off, heading towards the medical cabin. Jasper looked at the medical cabin, then back at me. "She was pretty, Mama." I nodded. "Now let's go find out what Mint's doing," I murmured, trying to get off of the topic of Lana. "Heyo!" Mint called out as she saw us approaching. "I saw you talking to that weird sheep lady. You looked so nervous." I frowned. I guess I was intimidated by her powers and her position... and maybe because she was pretty, too. Mint looked a bit hurt all of a sudden. Specifically after I had thought about Lana being pretty. "I was nervous. She's just... ethereal, y'know? It puts you on edge, like I have to be super careful with what I say-" Mint cut me off. "I don't like her. I couldn't read her thoughts. It was just all... static." I squinted at her. "Duh! She's got like, all of our information in her mind. Of course she's probably got some precaution so random mind-readers like you just don't know everything about everyone!" Mint shrugged. "But is it any more fair for her to know everything about everyone? I mean, it'd be nice for at least another person to know it. She might save people's lives!"
Then, it hit me.
That was the girl who had helped me prove my innocence about Greg's murder. That's why she had acted towards me specifically. I owed my life to her.
But, didn't that mean she could contact ghosts as well as everything else she could do?
The thought terrified me, but she seemed like a good person. Mint looked at me in surprise. "That- She- She could've known about the murder the entire time. She could've prevented it." Mint looked enraged. I felt... oddly defensive. "Calm down, we don't know if she even knew Greg or Sasha beforehand. She might've not even been a student at Camp Metanoia, Mint." She didn't look very convinced. "Why are you defending her? You've hardly known her!" I frowned. "That doesn't mean she shouldn't be treated with respect. Mint, please. Give her a chance." I heard footsteps behind me, and I turned around to face whoever was approaching us. It was Lana, and the other Sheepno. She appeared to be a lot younger now that we were close up. She looked around the age of 10 or maybe slightly older or younger. "So you are the mind-reader in this camp. I could tell somebody was trying to intrude, you know." Lana narrowed her eyes, but the top one didn't move at all. It was honestly terrifying to look at. Mint looked humiliated. "Sorry, I can't really-" Lana began laughing eerily. "Do not worry, I understand. I might need to speak with you further, though. Maybe I can lend you a hand." The younger, darker haired Sheepno was looking at me with utmost curiosity. "Why do you look like that?" She asked me. Lana squinted down at the younger Sheepno. "Valais, we do not ask rude questions. Remember your manners." Valais looked at the ground. "Sorry, Lana." That question confused me. What did she mean by 'Why do you look like that?' It didn't make any sense. Lana sighed, and looked me in the eye. "My apologies, Aqua. My younger sister is not the most... sensible, around here. I assure you, there is nothing wrong with the way you look," she said calmly. Her voice was the personification of satin. It was smooth and gentle, but was always a bit cold. "It's okay. I understand, I guess." She then focused her gaze onto Mint. "You are suspicious of me, aren't you?" Mint looked at her blankly. "It is okay to be suspicious of what you do not understand. I promise you, Mint, I am no harm to you or any of your... friends." The pause made me uncomfortable, but I didn't feel that Lana was going to be any harm. Sheepnos were known for knowledgable power, not combat or strength. However, Mint looked even more alert of Lana than she had before. "I will be staying in your camp for a while, until I am informed that it is time for me to leave. I will know when that time comes, but it is not soon." The way Lana spoke intimidated me. I wonder if she thought poorly of our speech. I wondered even more about what she'd think about Casper. "Valais might stay here with you permanently, unless she would like to come with me. She is unnecessary to my task, though." Ouch. Poor Valais. Jasper was still hiding sheepishly behind me, as if Lana had intimidated him as well as us. "Thank you for speaking with me, but I have other things to attend to." She wandered off, but Valais stayed behind. I noticed that she was approaching Jasper, as if she were curious about him. "You. White cat. Why do you look like that?" I squinted at Valais. Hadn't we just had this conversation? Jasper looked annoyed, and narrowed his blue eyes at her. "Why YOU look like that?" He muttered. Valais paused.
"'Cause I'm a Sheepno. So I look like a sheep."
"Why?"
"Because my parents are Sheepnos."
"Why?"
"Because their parents are Sheepnos...?"
"Why?"
"..."
I could tell Jasper was just messing with her, but I was starting to get a bit irritated. I pat Jasper on the head. "I'm hungry. Let's go find something to eat instead of doing... whatever this is." I began walking off, until I felt a small tug on my tail. I turned around, expecting it to be Jasper, but it was Valais. "Can I come?" I shrugged and nodded, but Jasper looked upset. I ignored his look of reluctance and headed towards the cafeteria cabin. Casper and Mistivia were making everybody food together, as always, humming some old tunes in harmony. Orion was watching from the seats, and beside him were Thomas and Opal. "'Ello, Aqua. What's bringin' ya 'round here?" Casper said, pausing his humming. "Just here to eat, as always." Mistivia smiled at me, her yellow eyes almost smiling too. I sat down beside Orion, and Valais was examining everything curiously. "This looks nothing like home. I like it. Lana says I can't go back home though so I guess it's not home." She said the last sentence so quickly. She did not pause once. Jasper started asking her all sorts of questions about her home, so I decided to look over at Thomas and Opal. They were sitting close together, quietly conversing. Their eyes were full of affection towards each other. I felt a pang of envy. Not because I was, y'know, in love with either of them, but because I had always considered being in a relationship like that. Just wholesome and happy. I had never been in a relationship. I had never really loved anyone. I sighed and buried my face into my paw-hands, feeling awfully useless. If Thomas or Opal or Mint or anyone had disappeared, everybody would care. I tried to piece together who would care if I disappeared. Juno cared, when I disappeared. But she only came when Mint showed up.