Chapter 3: Shopping Trip
"Where are we?" she asked.
"We're a few light-years outside of your solar system, on the planet Iyala. It's the only place close enough to Earth that I could teleport to with you coming along. From here, we'll be able to take a starship to Kirvak Minor. If we're lucky, we'll be able to buy a small ship there, so we can find Corinn."
"But we don't have any money, or anything! How are we going to buy tickets or whatever for the spaceship to get off of this planet?"
Jarith smiled. "Don't worry. I lived here in a previous life. There should be enough money left in my bank account to at least buy us passage to Kirvak Minor. After that, though, we'll be on our own."
"Oh. Well, I guess that's one less thing to worry about--Jarith?" she asked suddenly. "Why is everyone staring at us?"
Jarith seemed to notice the people around them for the first time. "Oh...it's probably because of the way you're dressed."
"The way I'm dressed? What's so strange about this?" Bekka asked. She was still wearing her school uniform.
"Do you see anyone else wearing sailor-style uniforms? Most girls wear more colorful clothes. I don't think they've ever seen anything like what you're wearing, not in the last 300 years, anyway."
"Oh...but what am I supposed to do? I don't have any other clothes, and we don't want to stand out or anything, right?"
Jarith sighed. "I guess you're right," he admitted. "I'll give you some money, and you can go shopping."
"But you should come too. You're outfit's just as unusual as mine, right? And I wouldn't have any idea of what to wear on a spaceship."
"Oh...fine," said Jarith. I really hate shopping...
They walked to the shopping section of the spaceport. It was bigger than any mall Bekka had ever seen. Bekka could have spent days looking through all the stores. Unfortunately, they were a little pressed for time. The next starship to Kirvak Minor was leaving in two hours.
Bekka dragged Jarith into the first clothing store she saw. "Wow...look at all this! I've never seen so much...stuff!! I want to get this...and this... and this..." she said, pulling outfits off the racks.
Jarith sighed. "Bekka, we don't have anywhere near enough money to buy all that..." He began putting clothes back on the racks. "And most of these aren't really what people your age would be wearing. Why don't you try this?" he asked, holding up a pale green dress. "It matches your eyes."
"I don't know...I think I like this one better!" said Bekka, holding up a glittering blue sweater with a short red skirt and a pair of knee-high boots.
"I don't think that's quite...you, Bekka," Jarith said. *sweatdrop* "Could you even walk in those boots?"
"Hey! Are you implying that I'm clumsy? I mean, I only fell down the stairs at school once...or twice... but--oops, I didn't mean to tell you that... I mean, um..." she trailed off, embarassed.
"You fell down that stairs at school? You definately shouldn't get those boots. Why don't you look for something else?"
"Oh, fine."
Several racks of clothing later, Bekka had finally found an outfit she liked and Jarith agreed with-- a blue skintight bodysuit with a red vest-sort-of-thing and a green sash.
"You look beautiful, Bekka," said Jarith. Bekka blushed. "But it needs just one more thing...here," he said, handing her something silver.
"What is it?" Bekka asked, turning the object over in her hands.
"You wear it like this," Jarith said, putting it on her head. "It's like a headband, sort of." The silver contrasted with her purple hair and a crystal hung down between her eyes.
"Oh...thank you," Bekka said, shyly. Jarith was even nicer to her than Corinn had been...what if he'd been right about Corinn? That Corinn had only been using her as a pawn in some kind of strange, magical battle between darkness and light? "I'm so confused..." Bekka thought. "Oh, wait!" Bekka said loudly. "We haven't gotten anything for you yet!"
"Do we really have to?" Jarith asked. "I don't really think we need to... Oh, look at the time! We should, um, really be going now! I guess I won't have to-- I mean, won't be able to get anything!"
"Oh no you don't, Jarith. We have plenty of time left. I think you'd look nice in this...and this... and this..."
Jarith resigned himself to his fate as Bekka piled more and more clothes into his arms. "Okay, okay, that's enough. I'll just get this," he said, holding up a plain gray outfit.
"Absolutely not. You are not going to get something so plain. I think you look much better in blue, and maybe this," she said.
Jarith ended up getting a gray shirt with gold trim and gold buttons down the side, a pair of dark blue pants, black boots, and a gold headband that looked something like Bekka's, but without the crystal.
"I think you look great!" said Bekka enthusiastically.
"I think I look ridiculous. I never wear anything this fancy."
"Don't be silly. You're immortal. You'll have plenty of time to wear boring clothes. Couldn't you wear something nice just this once, for meeeeee??" Bekka asked, looking at him with puppy eyes.
"I guess so, when you put it that way-- Stop looking at me like that! You look silly. Now, we have a starship to catch! Hurry up!" Jarith started walking faster.
"Hey, wait for me!"
They reached the starship in plenty of time and got settled in their rooms, which were right across the hall from each other. Jarith showed Bekka around the starship, which seemed a lot like the way Bekka would have imagined a cruise ship back on Earth, except for the huge garden in the middle. It was more like a park, or a forest, than a simple garden.
"It's to produce oxygen," Jarith said. "That's why there are so many plants and trees. There are machines that could do the same thing, but it's expensive on a ship this size, and the plants require less maintenence."
"It's more romantic, too..." Bekka said to herself, forgetting Jarith was there. "Oops! I mean, uh, it's, it's like, um... so what are we going to do when we get to Kirvak Minor?" she asked Jarith, trying to change the subject.
"First, we're going to try to buy a starship of our own," he answered. His eyes narrowed. "Then, we find Corinn."
"Corinn..." Bekka echoed, in a much different tone from Jarith.
Image Gallery: : Characters: : Theme Song: : Link "Darkness and Light"