Cantral The Entra

I'll get her back one day.

My back is slouched against the rough bark of the ancient oneeran tree, and my hands brush over the smooth soil ground. Ramet's confident strides carry her to me. Her boots thud against the ground and I feel every vibration. She stops before me and her hand rests against the trunk. It's dark but moonlight spills from the sky and slips through the cracks in the canopy, it lies across Ramet's face.

"You really like this tree, huh?" Ramet says and the worry in her voice breaks my heart anew. "Haari said you wanted to talk to me, wouldn't tell me what it was about."

Haari found Zafira and I before the sun set. We talked whilst Zafira cried, I told Haari that I couldn't stay but neither Zafira nor I told her why. We're not telling anyone. Zafira needs a quiet life, she deserves one.

Ramet lowers herself to the ground. "What's up, Cantral?"

"I Can't," I whisper, "I can't stay on Oneera."

"Yeah, I thought that might be it." She laughs but there's no happiness in it. "You just get carried away or something?"

"I suppose." My feet wriggle and I push them into the soft dirt ground. "I want to stay but it would be selfish. There's too much to do."

Ramet sighs, it has an angry tone. "You're not the only person who can do it. You've done your part, you killed Haroc!"

I stare ahead. "You should stay here."

"What?"

"You can be happy here, forget about me." My fists clench and my nails bite into my palm. "Meet someone else ... or no one and focus on you. If you follow me, you'll resent me. We'll end up hating each other."

"No!" Ramet shouts. "Just no. I'm not staying anywhere without you." She takes my hands. "I'm coming with you. You're right. We need to do what we can. We need to help." Her hands travel to my face. "Say it, tell me we're not over and everything is going to be okay. Say it."

"We're ..." My voice cracks as I choke on emotion. "We're not over. And everything is going to be okay."

I hold her tight and inside I'm crying.

As I enter the house with Ramet, Fendan is waiting. His face is serious, and his arms are stretched behind his head. Relaxed and angry, once I thought anger was his natural state. I sit at the table opposite and Ramet leans against the wall, staring forlornly out of the window.

"So," Fendan starts with a raised eyebrow, "Haari said I should talk to you before going to bed. I'm tired, this better be good."

"It is," I say with a confidence I don't feel. "I have decided not to stay on Oneera and join you. There's much to do, I want to help."

What did I expect from Fendan? Genuine joy, enthusiasm ... no, I'm not that naive. But I had expected some sort of pretence, a fake pleasure or even to be reprimanded for changing my mind, for wasting Haari's time.

His face remains blank and his body still. Blue eyes watch me with the intensity of a hawk, as if I'm no more than an erratic meal to be consumed wholly.

"It displeases me that you are throwing away a chance such as this." His hands rest on the table and he leans forward. "There won't be another planet that accepts entra, this is your only chance to settle on a world."

"I know," I reply and the heaviness I feel is void from my voice.

His eyes flick to Ramet. "And you are happy about this?"

"Yeah." Ramet looks to Fendan. "After the sandwich incident I want to spend as much time with you as possible," her voice is laden with sarcasm. "I follow Cantral, she's all that matters to me."