Atakarr’s POV

As she stood and watched the beyonder, Myles Rend, vomit his recent meal (the only one he would very likely be getting for some time) into space, Atakarr wondered if telling him had been best after all.

Elder Raad had thought it was, had said that, if he lived with them long enough, he was bound to realise it at some point, and that the longer he went without knowing the worse his reaction would likely be when he found out.

So Atakarr had told him, and now he was vomiting chunky water into space. The woman almost sighed.

Myles retched several times, the meagre contents of his stomach having been expelled, then he crumpled to his knees, gasping, his vomit floating and twisting in the zero gravity that took hold barely a foot past the island’s edge.

Myles’ shoulders began to shake, and Atakarr thought he was laughing until she heard sniffling. The beyonder wasn’t laughing she realised as he curled up into a tight, little ball and began to bawl his eyes out, repeatedly muttering in that incomprehensible language of his, “why me?”

Atakarr had no idea how to handle crying people, irrespective of their age or gender, so she simply gave the young man his space and sat, back resting against the rough wall, as he worked through whatever was troubling him.

It was a considerable amount of time later, long enough Atakarr had begun to drift off, that Myles started to calm, or maybe he’d simply cried himself out.

Still curled up on the ground, Myles asked in a voice made hoarse from crying, “did they know?”

Atakarr blinked, Myles’ voice pulling her from her almost slumber. “Know what?”

Myles sat up and stared her in the eyes fiercely. “That they were eating Frezz. Did they know?”

Atakarr frowned in confusion. “Of course they did. Why wouldn’t they know?”

Her reply seemed to take the wind out of Myles’ sails. He slumped, the anger in his eyes draining away. “It’s not right,” he muttered. “It’s not.”

Atakarr shrugged. “We need food.”

“Don’t do that,” Myles growled, anger returning.

“Do what?” Atakarr asked, once again confused. Dear, Koffa, were all Earth-people this strange?

“Be so casual about it,” Myles snapped. “You, Seeng, that biro guy or whatever, even Elder Raad, you’re all so casual about it. Oh, Frezz is dead? Well no big loss, after all we get meat out of it. Do you even care!? Does it even bother you at all that someone you’ve known your whole life or his is dead, just like that? If I die will you even—” he paused, panting, then quietly: “—will you even care? Or will you just feast on my corpse without so much as a nice knowing you?”

Atakarr looked at Myles for a long time, then she said five simple words. “Don’t make me hit you.”

“What?” Myles asked confused. ‘Good, let him know what that is like.’

“Do you think I enjoy living like this?” she asked him, voice dangerously low.

“I—”

“No, this is where you shut up! Do you think I enjoy living like this? Do you think I enjoy sleeping on hard ground and dreaming of places I’ll never see and staring at my family and wondering which one of them we’ll be eating next?” Her voice was not low now. Oh no, it was loud. Loud with rage and pain and hate bottled up for... how long had it been?

She realised she was looming over Myles, who was scooting back in trepidation, and she couldn’t remember getting up, nor could she bring herself to care that Myles was backing towards an edge that hung over nothing; losing herself to her fury just felt too fucking good.

“Do you think any one of us would choose this life if we had a choice? This is hell, Myles. We hate it here. I hate it here. There isn’t—” Myles fell.

Atakarr moved so quickly she didn’t even have time to think, just react. In a flash she had a fistful of his—what was it called again?—right, a shirt, and pulled with every bit of strength she could draw from her lean muscles; which was actually quite a lot.

With her poor footing, Atakarr wasn’t able to maintain her balance, causing her to fall back on her butt even as she pulled Myles back into the tunnel, leaving them face to face with him on his knees and she sitting.

Myles’ eyes were wide and round, panicked.

Her anger was gone now, replaced with horror and not an insignificant amount of shame. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I... I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you.”

Myles swallowed, trying—and barely succeeding—to compose himself. “I’m sorry too. I judged you unfairly and that—” a deep breath “—I shouldn’t have done that.”

“It hasn’t been easy, has it? Being here.”

Myles shook his head and laughed in a way that sounded more like a scoff. “Hell no. I’ve almost died more times since I came here than in my whole life before.”

Atakarr was silent for some time, then she said, “everyday I prayed, wished, for someone to come and—not save us, no—just... give us what we needed to save ourselves. The tools with which we could make something out of all this. And when I saw you, I thought ‘this is it. This is him.’ But you’re not our saviour.” She stood. “And you shouldn’t have to be.” She offered him a hand which he took, and she pulled him up. He looked uncomfortable, and avoided her eyes, but she shrugged it off, it was most likely just the being naked thing bothering him again. “Let’s head back,” she said, picking up the light-rock as she led the way back, Myles following behind.

*****

The children loved Myles. Everyone did. Or, at the very least, found him affable and fun. And why wouldn’t they? He was the single most interesting thing that had ever happened in any of their lives. Especially with those magic tricks of his. Well, those and his stories.

He was doing the magic now, making rocks and water appear and disappear from his hands as the enraptured audience clapped and cheered. Myles claimed it was another of his unique talents, of which there seemed to be an ever-growing number, and though Atakarr suspected there was much Myles was not sharing, she never pushed. They were his secrets after all, and a time would hopefully come when he trusted her enough to share them.

Despite her enjoyment of the show though, Atakarr much preferred Myles’ stories, both the real and imagined (and there were plenty of either, humans—as Myles had told her his people were called—seemed to really love their stories), they always helped to fill an aching void in her that she’d always been aware of and forever tried to ignore. Unfortunately, Myles was not the best storyteller, and though he was rapidly getting better, almost at a pace that beggared the imagination (probably another of his unique talents), more people preferred to watch him do magic. And Myles always went with the majority.

It didn’t bother Atakarr though, because whenever they were alone, which was quite often, Myles told her all the stories she wanted. Many were the times she’d drifted off to sleep to the sound of Myles’ voice regaling her with some tale or other, and honestly, she preferred it that way; just her, him, and worlds imagined. She knew he preferred it that way too.

As Myles squirted water out at the crowd, most of who squealed and giggled, from his fingertips, their eyes met and they shared a smile before Myles went back to wowing his audience.

Someone sat beside her; Seeng. Atakarr almost groaned. Seeng could be a bit of a handful sometimes.

“Well well, making googly eyes with the beyonder, are we? Atakarr, you sly vixen,” the younger girl said with a smirk.

Atakarr’s only response was a roll of her eyes.

Seeng, however, was not to be deterred. “Come on, Atakarr, don’t be like that. Besides, with how hot for you he is you’ll practically be doing him a favour.”

Atakarr looked at the girl. “Hot for me? What does that even mean?”

“Um, that he wants to shag you? Do you? Screw you? Bang you? Fuck you? Ravish you? Take your pick.”

“You know that last one means rape, right?” Atakarr asked.

“Doesn’t matter,” Seeng said, waving away her question. “The point is the beyonder totally wants to do you. And everybody knows it.”

“Exactly,” Atakarr said, “everybody knows it. And if you remember I’m still part of everybody.”

“So, what? You don’t like him?” Seeng asked with obvious hope in her voice.

“That’s not it,” Atakarr said, and she actually enjoyed the disappointment on Seeng’s face. Just a little bit. “I’m waiting.”

“For?”

“Him,” Atakarr said, and seeing Seeng’s look of confusion, she explained. “I can’t pretend to understand what Myles is going through, but I’m starting to understand that it’s a lot. All of this is new to him. He doesn’t show it but he still hasn’t found his footing yet. That’s probably why he’s... hot for me, as you said. Mine is the most familiar face he knows and he’s probably just clinging to that. And then there’s me, who’s wanted to meet an other for as long as I can remember and—” a pause “—remember when you went on your first hunt with Dadaan and you almost died?”

“Yeah,” Seeng said, mood turning sombre, then she chuckled. “I fucked him senseless when we came back.”

“You did,” Atakarr said, smiling slightly. “But it didn’t last long, did it?”

“Nope.” Seeng sighed, then she said, “but is that so bad? Enjoying it however long it lasts?”

“No. But Myles gets awkward over the strangest things, and if something like that were to happen he might no longer tell me stories.”

Seeng shook her head fondly, then they watched as Myles pulled a large light-rock from under his flat shirt. Atakarr knew that it was some sort of trick, but she still couldn’t figure it out for the life of her, and Myles had gotten weird the one time she asked.

“I’m going on the next hunt,” Seeng said.

A beat, then: “With who?”

“Beero.”

Atakarr nodded. “You’ll be fine,” she said, even though she couldn’t guarantee that at all and Seeng knew it.

“You know,” Seeng said, “ever since Myles showed up, I’ve been expecting this... I don’t even know what I’m expecting to happen really, just that it’ll be this huge, life-changing thing. I mean, he’s a beyonder, right? That’s a sign if I’ve ever seen one.”

“You can’t think like that, Seeng,” Atakarr said. “He’s not our saviour, and he doesn’t deserve to have that responsibility thrust upon him.”

“I know, I know, I just...” the younger girl sighed. “Well, at least he’s cute, even if you do have him wrapped around your little finger.”

Atakarr simply smiled.

“Alright, guys, that’s it for now,” Myles said to the collective groan of the crowd.

Shouts of “more” began to sprout up from the audience, making Myles look almost panicky until Elder Raad interfered and Myles made his escape after shooting a grateful look at the older woman, making a beeline for Atakarr as the crowd started to break up.

“Hey, Myles,” Seeng said standing as Myles sat with them.

“Hey, Seeng. Um, you don’t have to leave because of me.”

“What? No, no, I have some planning to do with Beero.”

“Planning?”

“Yeah. He and I are going on the next hunt. So we’re meeting to plan where to head and how far.”

“Oh. Well, stay safe.”

Seeng chuckled darkly. “Safe doesn’t bring meat, Myles. Anyway, see you.” She waved at them both and walked off.

Myles watched Seeng until she left the cavern, then turned to Atakarr, who hadn’t said anything since he sat.

“Why don’t they send more people on the hunts?”

“More people are easier to track back here.” She shrugged. “Animals hunt too.”

“Has that happened before? An animal following you guys back here.”

“Once in my lifetime. It was... bad.”

“And you say the animals down here are the ones too weak to survive above?”

“That’s what I was told.”

Myles sighed and dropped his head in his hands. “I should have done this days ago,” he muttered.

“Done what?” That was another of his unique talents, Myles could somehow keep track of the passage of time.

Myles stared at her intently, a myriad thoughts and emotions shining in his bright eyes. “Come on,” he said rising, and after a second Atakarr obeyed.

Myles led her out of the cavern, and though it was apparent that he had a destination in mind, it soon became obvious that he had no idea how to get there.

“Where are you trying to go?” She asked. While Myles had an impressive sense of direction (and she wouldn’t be surprised at this point if it turned out to be yet another of his unique talents), it took a long time to master these tunnels.

Myles sighed. “Remember that place you took me to my first day here?”

Atakarr nodded and led the way.

Soon they were there, and seated, face to face.

“I should have told you all this days ago,” Myles began. “I don’t know why I didn’t really. I guess maybe I was scared? I don’t know I just...” he sighed, then he looked at her, eyes determined. “But I’m going to tell you now.”

And he did. He told her everything. And it was unbelievable and impossible and crazy. And craziest of all was that she believed him. Every word.

“And you can share this System? With anyone?”

“As I understand it. It’s called [Gift of System] and—”

“It requires me to eat you,” she said, still not quite sure on that part.

And apparently, neither was Myles, because he said, “I don’t think you need that much DNA. Maybe just a little bit? Like from a kiss or something.” Myles processed what he said and instantly backpedalled, flustered. “Not that I want to kiss you, of course. I mean, I do want to kiss you but—no wait” Myles saw the very amused expression on her face and cleared his throat. “Maybe you should just swallow one of my hairs or something.”

“Your hair?”

He shrugged. “It’s DNA.”

If he said so. But more importantly, “And you’re just going to give me this power? Just like that?”

His eyes held hers. Steady. “Yes,” he said, then he plucked a hair from his head with a wince and offered it to her.

She took it.

This was it, Atakarr realised. It was happening. Right here, right now. The realisation of that fact almost overwhelmed her, but she held it back. There would be time for that.

Without breaking eye-contact with Myles, she pressed the hair to her tongue and swallowed.

“What now?” She asked.

“I don’t know. Do you feel—oh! I get a choice.”

“A choice?” Atakarr asked, then she blacked out.