Heaven Hath No Rage - Book Two

A New Home

If Theo wasn't careful, she could very well end up in the water instead of on solid ground. Actually, a more accurate assessment of the situation would be if Cooker wasn't careful, Theo would end up in the water. Theo had been attempting to tie up their rowboat to the empty dock. It was early morning, the air was humid and thick, and the sun was barely peeking through the sky. They had finally arrived and even though they had been journeying toward their new home for cycles, Cooker couldn't wait a few extra minutes.

Cooker had been standing up right behind Theo, trying to see what the hold-up was. The hold-up was Cooker standing and tipping the balance of the boat but nothing Theo told her could get her to sit down. Cooker reached to point at the knot Theo was making and before she could criticize it, the boat tipped forward.

Theo shot her hand toward the dock and managed to stabilize them.

"Cooker, if you do not relax you are going to tip us over," Theo said as she started her last knot. Instead of cooperating, Cooker pushed her feet into the bottom of the boat and caused it to shake under their feet.

She didn't react with a yell, which is what Cooker was hoping for. She took the time to be productive, finishing the knot she had been working on and climbing up onto the dock. Theo then turned to face Cooker and bent down, holding her arm out for the troublemaker.

It took Cooker a second before she could find her footing to get the right leverage but once she did, Theo helped her up. On the journey from Drokian, they learned to work with each other in a way they never had before. Some understanding that bickering could only get them so far had come to them as they figured out the best way to work with each other. It was harder for Cooker to do certain things. That was no secret. And it had forced them to work with each other much more often.

Perhaps time could be an ally and given enough of it, Cooker could learn to do everything she wanted to on her own but at the moment that wasn't their reality. Theo was thankful that Cooker understood that and she hadn't given Theo too hard of a time when she had offered to help. Cooker had even sought Theo out to ask for what she needed once she got more comfortable with her current situation.

Theo made sure it didn't go unnoticed. She found herself leaning on Cooker more too. But still, while they avoided back and forth when the situation called for it, it was hard to say it wasn't still alive and well in their everysun conversation.

"That wasn't too bad of a wait, you didn't have to rock us like that," Theo scolded but Cooker didn't reply, she just stared out toward the island.

Theo turned away from her friend to look at what she was staring at. She didn't see what had Cooker so fixated. It was beautiful at first glance but nothing out of the ordinary. The dock was extending out from the rocky coast, surrounded by trees. Still, they were more inland than their surrounding, the coast extending behind them on either side. The sun had barely risen as they had begun to row over from their ship but even in the low light, Theo could tell that the island was surrounded by random rock formations providing a similar barrier of protection that Corinspe enjoyed.

The dock disappeared into the jungle, the end of it converting into a little pathway that led through a small clearing in the trees. But the brush was so thick and all of the green melded together in a way that from their distance at the end of the dock she couldn't tell how wide or how big it was.

"I don't see anything," Theo noted and then turned back to Cooker.

"Neither do I! I thought we would have a welcome parade," Cooker huffed, an unserious frown on her face, "I don't feel special at all."

Theo laughed, "The sun has barely just risen. I am sure not many people are awake yet."

"And the lookout? How have they not alerted the whole island to our arrival yet? What if we were traders looking for a fight?" Cooker pointed out and began her way down the dock.