I'm so happy to be visiting Loeta Stem again and continuing on from where we left off a few weeks ago. If you haven't read her previous chapter here's a link to it.
@killerwot/assignment-day-part-1
I think her story is going well, but, you don't have to go back and read the first part. Each of these chapters are written in a way where you can enjoy them separately or as part of a bigger picture.
Loeta had spent the majority of the flight alone, only leaving her room to eat. Every time she left her quarters she could feel the burst of excitement and wonder from the rest of the Doshans. Who were making their own journeys to Jex to start their new lives. But, Loeta didn't feel the same as them. She couldn't seem to get herself excited, instead, she felt scared and just wanted to be back home. But, it was too late for that now. Soon she would arrive, the only thing that would be different was she would be in new surroundings. Still feeling the same. At least now I'm a Stem. Loeta Stem. It had a ring to it, she thought to herself.
On her way back up the long corridors of the ship she was bumped into, she had been in a world of her own as it happened. Turning to see a human male, he seemed to be in his twenties. With scraggly facial hair and some clothes that looked like they had been stitched back together. A lot. "Sorry about that." He said in a chirpy voice. "You going to Jex as well? What's with this? Why so many Doshans in one go?" He asked, looking behind him occasionally while talking.
"We've all just completed our Assignment Day. With the new names, which dictate our profession, we've been sent off-world to learn some skills. It's a Doshan tradition." Leota responded. She tried to sound happy, but, wasn't able to. "That's interesting. I'm going to Jex to get some work, I know some people who left Kah-Vita a while ago. I'll be joining up with them when we arrive. Someone called Ember is the one hiring." Loeta could only nod her head as he finished speaking. "So. Want to play Pungo?" Loeta wasn't sure if she should be offended or not. "What's that supposed to mean?" She asked.
He started to laugh at her as she crossed her arms. "It's a card game, surprised you haven't heard of it. I'll show you how to play if you want." "No thanks, I was going back to my room." Loeta said as she was about to step around him.
"What's the worst thing that can happen? Are you afraid of having fun or something?" Loeta stopped to think for a moment as he finished speaking. "We don't have to play it, not sure what else there is to do on this ship though." "Okay, I'll play a game."
The two made their way to the communal area, soon he had shown her the rules. Nonetheless, it didn't help her win. "I don't understand. Seems like you're changing the rules as the game goes on." "Well, that's part of the rules. It took me so long to create this game, because, I wanted something that was easy to pick up and play but, hard to master."
"Wait, you made this up? Good thing we weren't playing for stakes." Loeta threw down her cards on the table. "Stakes can get pretty high. Back on Kah-Vita I made so much with this game. Arrive at some bar, get talking to someone, play a couple of games and I'd have enough FST's to keep me going for the next week." Loeta shook her head as he finished. "It's easy to win a game that only you know the rules of." Loeta began to laugh as she finished. "So, what's Kah-Vita like?"
Picking up the cards and collecting them into a pile he shuffles them and puts them away. "I love Kah-Vita. But, realistically, it's just a desert planet. So, there aren't a whole lot of prospects out there. The Confederation hit it hard, but, we hit back just as hard. There's actually still Confederation living out in their own city they built out of the wreckage of one of their vessels, which some of the warriors of my planet took down. I was a kid when they occupied Kah-Vita, but, I grew up hearing all the stories. What's your name by the way? Mines Bo-Daki Shun." He outstretched his hand once he finished. "Loeta Stem." She said as she shook his hand.
"What do you mean there are still Confederation living there?" Loeta asked. "I mean what I said. The Kah-Vita warriors took down one of their vessels near the end of the war and nobody came back for the survivors, so they just live there now. No one really minds them, some even trade with them." Bo-Daki shrugged. "Everyone says the Triskens were the greatest warriors but, nobody ever mentions my home-world." He continued on.
Loeta was left thinking of her own world, her planet wasn't devastated but, her people were. "I lost both of my parents and brother to the Confederation." She said solemnly. "Sorry to hear that. I was luckier than most, I still have both of my parents. That's why I had to get to Jex. They aren't getting any younger and I'd like to make something of myself so I can look after them. Kah-Vita is great, but there's no money to be made on a small desert planet on the edge of Free Space."
Loeta noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. Sengy. "I better go." Bo-Daki traced her eye line. "Who's that?" "An old friend, well, she was a friend up until we were boarding. Then she told me that she wanted to go her own way now that we're leaving Dosha." "Better off without her." As Bo-Daki finished there was an announcement. "We'll be arriving at Jex soon, all passengers are advised to gather your things now and be ready to leave the ship when we land." Loeta stood up as the almost robotic voice finished its announcement.
"It was nice meeting you. Here, let's exchange details. I'm sure we'll both be busy over the next few days, but after we should meet back up." Bo-Daki said while preparing his data-pad. They exchanged contact details and Loeta went back to her quarters to collect everything. In what seemed like no time the ship had landed, she lined up with all of the other Doshans and left. Walking out into a cool night.
Jex was loud, there didn't seem to be any peace from the noise. The nights back on Dosha would always be dark and silent, here though, it was the opposite. The night's sky flickered from the signs which threw light out. There seemed to be hundreds of them, as well as that some of them even had audio droning out. That, coupled with the ships flying overhead and the sounds of all the chatter was almost too much for Loeta to handle, her chest started to feel tight and she wasn't able to breathe at one point. She managed to keep herself calm though and steadily walked with the rest of the crowd.
Soon they were shown to their houses, a large building with so many doors that seemed to stretch on for miles. Luckily it wasn't too far from the dockyard. Each person was given a note as they passed by the guide. Loeta got hers and opened it up.
"Welcome to Jex, it is a scary thought to arrive at a new city and start a new life. But, you will be looked after until you get on your feet. In the morning one of our guides will be with you, to help get you settled in." At the end of the letter, there was a signature which read New Life. She didn't bother reading the rest. Along with the letter she had a card with a number on it, finding the corresponding number on one of the doors she unlocked and entered what was to be her temporary home.
This is it, she set down her bags and looked around, it was small. But, comfortable. She walked to the window to look out at some of the ships in the dockyard, they seemed small from this distance. It was hard to see as the glare from a nearby ad-board changed colours. At least it wasn't one with the audio, she thought to herself.
The trip had really taken a lot out of her, so with that, she got herself comfortable and got into bed. Which didn't take long, her last thought before falling asleep was "Welcome to Jex."
The End
Here's the second part of Loeta's chapter. New Life.
@killerwot/new-life-part-2