Not as long as my usual, but I thought of just getting this out there rather than worry about the length. Besides, I wasn't sure where to take this one.
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Suspicious Islander
Shlanth was not sure what to make of the ones from the stars. Unlike most of her people on Gornath island, she knew there were some nasty people out there if her grandmother's stories were true, may she sail forever, and she had little reason to doubt her grandmother's stories. Stories of good people being kidnapped, worked till they dropped, killed for the fun of it and so many other horrific things. As the Storykeeper of her community, it was her duty to educate the next generation to be wary of those with ill intentions.
When she saw those flying ships come down from the sky and land, she was immediately suspicious, especially when the oddly dressed woman brought the masks out. The young teacher found it hard to believe anyone wanted to help just because they wanted to. Shlanth doesn't have one of these new masks herself but she knew her old friend Althou, a mother of six, grabbed nine masks for her, her husband, the kids, and her dear grandfather, may the winds always be in his favor.
The star-people have also managed to win over the unofficial council of elders who gave Vita a tour of the city and showed off everything she could fix. Shlanth did not like it at all. But the majority were grateful for the star-people for the masks and the medicals supplies.
For the next five years, Vita worked on restoring several things that were lost to the islanders because they didn't have the knowledge. The arena was refurbished into a spaceport for the ease of supplies, which made the sound of flying ships taking off and landing become common in that district. The docks were rebuilt and expanded along with a few extra proper ships built thanks to the council convincing the star-people to build those instead of their flying ships. The old freezer house she remembers breaking down for good when she was a toddler is working properly, making long term food storage a non-issue and the water-filtration system was back up and running again. The star-people have handily won hers over.
The Storykeeper wasn't idle either. She managed to find a few like-minded people and established watchers to keep an eye on everything the people from the black sea above did and said. Others, she had to check all their work, the ships, the freezer, the filtration system, all of it was looked over in case there was a nefarious plot involved. A final group was gathering up any arms and armor they could either scavenge or build.
Was Shlanth being paranoid? Perhaps but it was better to be prepared for when your 'ally' gutted you then to be taken by surprise. While her people enjoyed the gifts the received and thanks the star-people, Shlanth and her Watchers would be ready for any sign of betrayal.
) we should be fine.
