How do you greet someone from another land?
You wave.
And that’s what I did. My mouth had opened to say hello but it closed before waving. I couldn’t say anything.
The man leading the way was happy--I didn’t understand why, but he was joyful. There was nothing about me to be happy about. I was extremely disturbed by his expression, not because it was overly exuberant but of what it meant. He spoke a different language to me but he spoke to me excitedly. He actually liked his job.
I didn’t put on the Transcriber. Well, I didn’t bring it. I could’ve understood this man but I didn’t need to. All he was to me was a mysterious smiling man.
We arrived at our destination; the cloudy city of Graet. Graet, not Great. Smiley led me from the entrance to the first market which thrived with a massive amount of consumer goods. Many humans moved loudly among the streets. There were also drapes and sercents roaming off the grounds, having little lift in their walk which made them seem like they were floating.
Which they were.
I looked around in moderate, using little attention for little things and big attention for bigger things. The road was paved, surprisingly, very orderly and the humidity of the area was as humid when rain falls as a daily occurrence. You know. Since we’re in the clouds and all.
However, the altitude did little to my weak condition. I followed Smiley to his tourist stand, occupied by a few fellows in drab clothes. They were both drapes like Smiley, one female and one male. The female was resting in the back of the shop, watching some television. Her chair was levitating a bit off the ground which must’ve gave her a better viewing experience. Not.
Smiley and the other male shook hands intimately. The other male looked over Smiley’s shoulder and glared at me softly. Smiley made more conversation and his friend turned around back and conversed happily with Smiley. They were chatting up a storm, in a language I did not understand. There was a sharp stutter in their voices which I could tell were country accents.
Like humans, drapes had accents that varied from region to region. Their biological appearance consisted similar to humans although their hair were mostly a greyish color and their skinniness average was above average for a human. They did not have human legs but their legs looked as though they were dangling large ribbons beneath them as wide as fifteen centimeters.
I noticed that most drapes wore a colorful array of clothes which greatly contrasted their dull skin and hair color. It was fashion sense I did not know--surely it wouldn’t look good on me.
Then, Smiley’s friend looked at me and spoke in their language at me. I pointed to my ear and he handed me a small metallic Transcriber that could fit my ear. Smiley looked sad because he then realized that I didn’t understand what he was talking about the entire trip. I felt guilty.
I put it on.
It allowed me to understand their spoken language regardless of their dialect.
“You’ve got it on?” he said. I nodded. Smiley was shaking his head in his hands mumbling to himself.
“My name is Sikk,” Sikk said, “What’s yours?” Since he and Smiley both had Transcribers on, they could understand what I say.
“I’m Tesran,” I answered briefly, “just Tesran”.
“The pay for travel is 30 muns, kid.”
“I-,” I stuttered, “I don’t have that much.” It was the truth. Sikk looked serious, so serious in fact that he was glaring into my soul. I couldn’t match that glare so I looked at Smiley. Smiley provided a tense look on his face as well. His friendly chatter was cut short by business so he switched to business mode. I guess.
“You’ve travelled 10 kilometers without knowing the fare of the trip?” The bustling streets drowned out most of his angry shout. Some turned to look. Some didn’t.
“Well, I could pay you with what I have,” I bluffed. Truth was, I was broke--zero mun to my name. I dragged my bag over my shoulder and shuffled items inside. I dragged out nothing.
Sikk peered over my bag, “You don’t have a single mun, do you?”
What was I going to do?
I ran. I turned tail and ran. I grabbed my bag tightly, and ran farther from their shop. I could hear Sikk yelling. The mossy paved road below me grew closer and closer to me. I tripped, rolled, and dragged my body further. The crowd behind me grew increasingly silent. The mist of the city surrounded me. I was gone. My mind blanked and I returned to the store front.
I never left.
“What’s wrong?” Sikk asked slightly perturbed by my condition. I was weak to my knees. I was sweating profusely. My mouth could barely hold my unstable breath.
I didn’t know.