Inner Workers

--Back on the Isle-

--Sky's Perspective--

I stretched my arms and legs, sitting up in bed before yawning. I realized I was warmer than usual, then that Dani was sleeping next to me.

"W-When did you get there?!" I tapped her shoulder, but she was sleeping like a rock. I noticed Lia was also still sleeping, but Domin and Carl were outside.

I shifted our leaves to the side and squinted at the morning sun. The snow was thinly layering the ground, but what caught my attention was the wall slowly being built up.

"Hey, Sky! Domin and I woke up early so we're stacking these logs to make a wall. What do you think?" Carl yelled out to me.

They had wooden stakes placed on both sides of the wooden logs, keeping them in place while being stuck in the ground, and the wooden logs were stacked three high, making the wall about six feet tall.

"How did you guys get those logs on top of each other alone?" I asked. To my surprise, a familiar figure turned the corner, holding a log with his two men.

I didn't say anything because Ullr didn't speak to me at all, he only continued to stack the logs to make the wall. I was happy he was helping us out and didn't want to jeopardize that at all. I nodded firmly and turned back towards the beach. They left it open to the beach because nothing could attack us from the water, so we could conserve the logs we cut down.

"And who made that gate?" I asked.

Another girl popped out, one with light-brown hair down to the middle of her back with bangs that touched her collarbones, and blue eyes, waving at me.

"Hi there, Sky! My name is Mandi! I was working on the gate!" She was chipper, waving her hand in a silly tone, bragging about her building skills.

"Thank you, Mandi!" I waved back, matching her tone.

The day was a little warmer than yesterday, but still not good enough for the snow to melt. In fact, it felt as if the sun was beating down on my forehead. It was just about in the middle of the sky, perfectly lined up to shine in the small base we currently had.

"Alright, we'll take a group of people out to go hunt for some wildlife due east, can you have Dani and Red deliver the cart while we hunt?" Xavier came up behind me, waving his hand like I was to Mandi to join in on the fun.

"Yeah, I'll let them know. They're still sleeping with Lia." I turned back to the house, admiring how delicate it looks and how easily it stood through the night.

Now that the days have changed, it's December 18th, smack in the middle of winter. That's why it was always so cold, but sometimes it felt warmer than usual. No matter, I'm sure it wasn't too important.

"Ugh… why did you let me sleep for so long?" Dani leaned her head against my back and groaned some more.

"I only woke up about ten minutes ago. If we slept that long, maybe we needed it. We have all day today to do what we need to do. But first, I was told to have you prepare that cart and haul it over to the east side of the beach soon, a hunting party is just beginning to leave." Dani nodded and wiped her eyes, turning around and slowly trotting off.

"That's handled… who's staying behind?" I turned to Domin, and he shrugged.

"I assume we both are. Red will leave with Dani. Carl is going to stay with us as well, maybe Ullr, Richard, Joey, Isaac, Drake, and then Lia, I guess." I don't know how he simply guessed that.

"Carl, have you decided who's staying?" He shook his head.

"Everybody Domin just mentioned can. The base still needs work, and we'll keep Mandi as well." I could feel her excitement from behind the gate.

"Okay, we'll let everybody continue their work, meanwhile, Domin and I will help around wherever we need to. Sound good? Also, keep an eye on Lia so we can give her a job as well." Domin nodded and we both turned against each other, walking off towards Carl and Ullr.

"So, you're putting stakes in the ground? How can I help?" He handed me a bunch of wooden stakes, some stripped of the bark, others not. The only true similarity between all was their pointy tips.

"I made everybody spears like that as well. Ullr actually did most of the work for the base, which I was surprised about. I still have the axe, but he used his own to cut down the logs and put them between the stakes." I turned back towards Ullr, and he had a straight face the entire time, not talking to Richard or Joey at all, only working.

Would it be awkward for me to try speaking to him once again? I felt that the only reason he was so compliant was that I was leaving him alone. Domin could talk to him, as he wasn't a part of our conflict, but I think I should just leave him alone for now.

"Hey… Sky." Carl stopped working completely and I could see the look on his face turn grim.

"Do you… like Red?" I tilted my head. At his question.

"I don't hate her if that's what you're asking." Carl shook his head and began working once more.

"I feel attracted to Red, in a sense. I want to be around her more, I want to put up this base for her, but I can't help but feel like she doesn't really care what happens."

I slammed my stake into the ground and tapped the top with the axe, turning back over to Carl while stretching out my back. "Attracted to Red? Are you a magnet or something?" He shook his head and laughed at my joke, surprising, considering it wasn't all that funny.

"I don't like her like that. I don't think we have the time for that." I grabbed another stake out of his hand and continued the process.

"Well, for the future, we would have to eventually pair up, wouldn't we? I'm just thinking about the future is all, once we put these walls up and get a source of food, it'll be smooth sailing to easier days, right?" I nodded.

"I guess so, I hope we don't have to work like this up until the day we get too old, maybe our kids will do this kind of thing for us." I smiled, reaching for another stake.