Amity and Enmity

Chapter 27

Day: 1183

Days Left: 4297

Lives Saved: 6

After looking around to ensure no one had followed him, Jules let out a sigh of relief, walking to the designated meet-up point in the forest.

A raven fluttered over to a nearby branch, and then in a puff of light, Talon was there instead, casually sitting in the tree. "You're late," they sang with little enthusiasm.

"No one would leave me alone," grumbled Jules. "I had to be constantly doing something. Do these guys ever take a break? I mean, they know that there are no rules or civilised society... we can do whatever we want! Why work so hard?"

"Yeah, sounds horrible," replied Talon.

"You bring it?"

Talon retrieved a pouch from their pocket and threw it to Jules.

Jules opened it and groaned as he saw the clump of Kai's hair inside. "Why does it have to be hair?"

"It grows back quicker, and more of it."

"I'd rather have some nails or even dead skin-"

"Ew!"

"You think hair is better! It's so difficult to swallow..."

Talon sighed. "Okay, I'll try and give you some 'variety'."

"Thank you." Jules winced as he picked up the hair, then closed his eyes as he put it in his mouth. "You're so lucky you don't have to do this; you get to fucking fly."

Talong shrugged. "Not that high, though; stops working."

"Any luck in the interrogation?"

"He won't talk- well, he talks non-stop but nothing of importance. How about you? How's spy work?"

"I've started to learn most people's names." Jules grimaced as a singular hair refused to go down properly. "But I know how they make rope and how they get their food."

Talon tilted their head in interest. "Are they cannibals?"

"No."

"That's boring."

"They've got twelve Abyss Plants."

Talon paused and frowned at Jules. "They have twelve Abyss Fruit-"

"No, the actual plants! And they all produce fruit and plenty of it! I helped water them today. And the irrigation system they've set up-"

"Annika will want to hear about this. If they've got their own food source, we won't have to worry about them stealing ours."

"I'll stick around. I want to know how they make their houses and tools and if they plan to attack us."

Talon gave a lethargic salute to Jules. "Thanks for the report, soldier." They jumped from the tree, transforming into a raven before hitting the ground and swooping back into the sky, disappearing.

Day: 1184

Somehow, Jules managed to survive another day as the fake Kai. Now knowing that the food was Abyss Fruit and not human meat, he no longer skipped any meals. Today on the rota it was a 'half day' for everyone, their equivalent of a weekend where all of the essential jobs were completed before having the rest of the day off. This was the real test, thought Jules, as it would mean that he would have to socialise with no work to focus on. Who does Kai normally talk to? Assumedly Dex, which he learned was his roommate or possible boyfriend's name. Jules decided to play it safe and stick with Dex and see if anyone else approached him for conversation.