Wolf Heart

Chapter 6

Planet: Eteran

First Insurgency War

AVA

"Here we are, the best place to enjoy food." Meryn bounded in front of them to wave around their little haven in the grove. "I call tree seat, by the way."

In the shadow of pink leaves, she smiled at Rayan who hesitated on the edge with his hands clasped together. Ava moved forward to claim her place among the tangled leaves as they danced with the gentle breeze coursing through Eastpoint. "Well?" Ava asked as she waved her lung. "Are you going to eat standing up?"

Rayan swayed with the shadows until he stood between them, then took a cautious seat on the grass. Meryn dove into his prepared box, then asked, "What, never eaten outside before?"

"We weren't allowed," Rayan mumbled. "It was too hot most of the time on top of that. It was also easier to keep an eye on the students if they were all in the same place." He opened up his box with a small sniff before tugging out a sandwich. "Same with our gyms. We didn't have anything like a pitch or a running lane. We just... were stuck in school until we had to leave."

Ava chewed on the mallows James packed for her, where they melted into sweet clouds onto her tongue. His picture tucked at the bottom of her box, safe from harm. "I guess that makes sense — if you were in a big city, there probably isn't a lot of space."

"Sounds boring," Meryn said as he opened his schoolbag.

Rayan smiled at Meryn. "You'd be right. It was."

Meryn hummed as he took out his school datapad to spread holotexts out in front of him. "So, what happened? Any particular reason you moved out into the middle of nowhere compared to Odaport. Why not move to someplace like Roxton? It'd probably be less of a shock."

Ava studied Rayan's expression when he shifted on his crossed legs. "My mother was apparently born and raised here, so at the end of last term, we moved." He put his box down in his lap with a deep frown. "I mean, I didn't like it over there, but it had its quirks, and I could go solar-boarding." Steel entered the autumn golds. "Probably for the best though. I didn't exactly... get along with a lot of people."

It fell quiet with only the wind as an answer. Ava plastered a smile on her face. "I don't see why you didn't. You seem nice."

Rayan's lips parted in shock, and he dipped his head forward so the black curls hid his brow. "It's not like that — at least, I hope it's not... it's just... I had a... penchant to not be agreeable with..." He sucked in his lips, and Ava frowned at the slight quake to his shoulders. "Authority, to put it simply."

Well, he doesn't seem to want to talk about it. Ava eyed Meryn, who frowned. Ava sighed and placed the mallows back into her box to get to work on her sandwich. But I can guess. If he's anything like James with our dad... James hears the word 'rules' and he does the exact opposite of them. In this case I think there's more to it. Ava frowned when Meryn opened another holotext, focused on the words. "Meryn, what's that work?"

"Oh, it's stuff I had to get finished over the break," Meryn explained, causing Rayan to switch his attention to him.

"You didn't finish it earlier?" Ava asked, and scooted to investigate, but frowned when Meryn slipped out of reach. "That's unlike you. You alright?"

"Me?" Meryn pointed at himself, then waved the holotexts away. "I'm fine! Great! I just slacked on these. I am taking a lot of Outerworld language classes, so it's hard to keep track of them sometimes. I don't wanna end up mixing words as a translator, now that would be embarrassing." Meryn laughed, but Ava frowned at the hollowness, and Rayan shared her expression. Her best friend's laugh died, and he slumped. "Okay, guess that was not a good joke. I need to work on that." He clicked open his pen and wrote slow translations of the texts. "Sorry!"