Hungry

To avoid scaring the child further, Tala smiled. "My name is Tala. This is my room. I did not notice you when I entered but may I know who brought you here?"

She knew there were no children this age onboard the Sikat Troupe boat. Right now, they only brought the eleven and ten year old daughters of the cook as helpers for their training. The other smaller children of the members of the troupe were living with a family friend of the Sikat Clan in one of the central islands. This child looked to be about five, too small to be included in the travel for training. It could be a prank by the other casts on her but she could not understand its purpose.

The child was staring at her too but did not reply. It couldn't be that the child was mute since he spoke earlier.

Thinking that he might still be scared, she walked forward slowly so as not to startle the child and hummed a soft tune to create a soothing 'haze'.

She was startled when the boy immediately spoke while pointing a finger at her, "I know you! You're the princess in that theater! My name is Ling of the Mal'it Clan and I watched your show... last night?" A wrinkle appeared between the boy's brows as he continued speaking, "But I thought I slept in my room after. Why am I here now?"

A low growl followed that question and the two looked at where the sound was coming from.

"I'm hungry, princess," the little boy said while frowning at his stomach.

Tala supressed a laugh at these turn of events. Deciding to investigate all these while feeding the child, she excused herself to get dressed first, then prepared their meal.

While the two were eating, Tala asked what was on her mind since a while ago, "Why were you not talking earlier, Ling?"

"Oh, it's because my parents told me not to talk to strangers. I did not recognize you before you showed your 'mist' so I didn't talk but I thought you were my mother when I woke up so I talked to you at first." Disregarding his plate for a while, the boy titled his head with a pout on his face, thinking that he forgot one of his parents' reminders again.

This made the young woman smile. "But how can you gain friends or go out in the world on your own in an adventure if you would not talk to strangers? A friend will always be a stranger at first before you become acquainted enough to be called friends."

As he still had his head bowed, thinking while the young woman in front of him was talking, Ling looked up when he heard this explanation. 'My father is really not smart!' he thought.

Realizing now that this made sense, the little boy nodded to the woman in front of him with an understanding expression then happily turned his attention back to his meal. It would not be good to find his clans' boat later with an empty stomach.

Meanwhile, Tala continued thinking about the boy's circumstances. It would be easy to find his clan but the troupe was now on the way to another island, with performances the next few days before they return to the nearby central island, Gitna. Unfortunately, she knew she could only talk to Mayari regarding going back to the previous island as it was not part of the troupe's travel plans. She could not talk to Wagub after their argument earlier but she was also not willing to be indebted to that man.

Despite all this cleared plans, Tala was still frowning. she was confused on how this boy was in her room when there were shields surrounding the boat and her room. Unless this was a prank, which she was doubting now, nobody was able to detect the stowaway in their boat.

In the next days, Ling remained in Tala's room until they reached the port of Kanan Island. It was to avoid detection of this little boy by the other troupe members.

For Ling, this arrival on a new land was more disappointing than his previous ones since he could not even go out to the deck. He had to stay in the princess's room until she was able to send him back to his clan.

While she was getting ready to go out by herself, Tala noticed the little boy. He just woke up and was still sitting on the bed, rubbing his sleepy eyes. His other hand was poking the hole in the blanket while frowning at it.

"Ling," she opened up while squating beside the bed to look the child in the eye, "we still don't know how you were brought here so I'd rather hide you before trusting anyone else. Nobody will see you here and I promise I will drag Mayari here immediately so we can take you back to your family."

Ling was listening but his frown deepened. Before Tala could comfort the child again, his excited face looked up like he just thought of the perfect solution to his predicament. "I can make myself invisible."

Tala was unable to speak so Ling continued, "I can remain invisible while we were outside so you can still hide me even when I go with you. It's also faster if that uncle you're talking about was able to talk to me, right? I'll show you. See!"

A flicker in front of her was the only indicator that the boy disappeared from her view. She stretched her hand where the boy should be then he reappeared again. This made Tala surprised. 'A boy this small was able to do something this difficult?!'

One had to be able to control his own 'mist' to have it surround himself fully as well as change its properties to somewhat copy the surroundings to produce a camouflage. Full invisibility would mean disguising your 'mist' as air which was close to what the child did!

However, the reappearance of the previous excitement from the slightly chubby face was now replaced by a frown. Ling's posture stooped low again and he muttered, "But if there were a lot of people outside, it will be difficult for you to take me because I might bump into them."

Again, Tala covered up a smile. "It's ok. The other troupe members already went out by now so there were not many people remaining on the deck. Once we got far off the boat, you can remove your 'mist' since we don't have to hide anymore. The cafe usually frequented by that 'uncle' was in the port and not many people visit it."

Hearing this, the boy got off the bed and pulled the hand of Tala while jumping up and down. "Then, let's go, sister!"

Her laugh this time was unable to be stopped. But she had to remind him that the boy had to hide first before they went outside. "And you also have to suppress your exitement since people may notice that there was someone following me while in hiding if they sense your 'mist'."

After the boy nodded, the two prepared to depart.

___

In a cafe at the port of Kanan Island, a man sitting by the windows was silently sipping his tea, looking deep in his thoughts. He kept glancing at the few people walking outside like he was waiting for someone.

There was only a small number of people passing by the road where the cafe was located at but once one went to the center of the island, it would be difficult to move around because of the density of people. Therefore, the place was a favorite of pick-pockets as well as other criminals.

Kanan Island was the nearest island to the central islands that some people even assume it was a part of it. Even so, its environment was considered more of a slums area. It was the place where those running away from the central islands go to hide as well as passing land of the travellers to and from the smaller islands.

It was surrounded by many smaller islands. Despite its small size too, it was the only way to the bigger islands if one did not want to sail through the Limaw Sea.

Meanwhile, the ongoing noisy conversation at the counter kept distracting the man by the windows. A man with a scatter of white hair on his head was arguing with the worker at the counter about adding the coffee he bought to his tab but the worker was insisting that they do not keep a tab. It was difficult to trust the people coming to this port.

The bell on the door of the cafe rang indicating that another visitor was brave enough to try a cafe with only two customers.

Hearing the tinkling sound, the man by the windows turned to see who entered. He was surprised that it was a beautiful woman. She had a tan skin though not to dark like the sailor's wives who spent most of their time under the sun. Her hair was left unbound, lusciously trailing down her back and stopped just below her waist.

The seat by the windows were the nearest to the door and the movement of the man sitting there to straighten his posture caught the attention of the woman.

However, she averted her gaze when someone called her name at the counter. "Tala! Great timing. Let's find a seat to talk. Alkab, we'll have two orders of your muffin. She'll pay."

After talking to the cafe worker, the man turned to look for a good seat where they won't be disturbed. Suddenly, he was distracted by something pulling on his clothes. When he looked down, he saw, holding onto the hand of Tala, a boy, the top of his head only reaching the woman's waist.

"Uncle, I want one too. I'm also hungry."

Shocked further, the man remained still, not doing what the boy had asked. Therfore, it was Tala herself who talked to the cafe worker about another order.

"Ooh, this child is so adorable! What else do you want, boy?" The girlish voice coming from the muscular man in front of him scared Ling. He then hid behind the leg of Tala but kept looking around to see if there was someone else in the shop where the voice really came from.

"Aww.. I'm sorry for scaring you. Is this the first time you saw a sister this pretty? Then I will give you my extra muffin. Just wait and get a seat." He entered the kitchen to get the customers' orders. He was the only worker in the cafe but he wasn't worried it will get robbed since the cafe looked slightly dilapidated.

However, the other two men in the shop were still unmoving, one was shocked while the other was disappointed.

"Where did this come from?" asked the shocked man.

"I'll explain once we got a seat. Ling, this is the uncle I was talking about."

In a while, as the three started eating, Ling was observing the man with them and keeping an eye on the cafe worker. With his head of white together with hair, Mayari looked older than the two years difference he had on Tala. He also had a tan skin but darker since he was a more frequent traveller compared to Tala who mostly stays where the troupe performs.

Tala described the situation with Ling. It had been almost a week since that night's performance and his family should be really worried about him.

"Hmm.. Let's talk about my news later. I'll ask someone to help this kid."

When they finished eating, Mayari turned to the cafe worker while the other two stood up, getting ready to leave. "Alkab, where is the old man? We want to borrow a boat."

Alkab sighed, "Still near the coastline. Once you see him, tell him to come to his own shop. If I didn't like him, ..."

However, when the three almost reached the door, the still sighing man called to them, "Oy! Mayari! You still haven't paid for your food!"

"Tsk! Tala, you pay." The clicking of his tongue made the little boy frown.