A Fruit's Worth

     ‘Ironic,’ Sohvi thought as she stumbled across the orange sand with the hot desert wind as her only companion. It whipped around her face and stung her eyes; she pulled her headdress farther onto her head. ‘There’ll definitely be no swimming here,’ the blue Mynci thought, crossing the small bridge and glancing at the bone-dry riverbed below. Sohvi put a paw down on the sand and gasped. The bridge had been cool under her paws and the intensity of the sand’s heat had surprised her.

     “Why did I ever leave Sakhmet?” she wondered aloud as she leaned against the side of the bridge to examine her injured paw. Sohvi recalled the rather heated conversation she’d had with Sakhmet’s food stall owner...

     “What do you mean you’re out of Gobi Fruit?! They’re in season right now!” the small blue Mynci puffed as she put a paw on her hip. The annoyed stall owner stared down at her and sighed; he’d been explaining this to every Sakhmetian who had passed by.

     “Like I’ve been saying all day,” he began, “this blasted drought has ruined the entire Gobi Fruit crop this year. It’s destroyed almost half of all Sakhmet’s crops. We just weren’t ready for it. Princess Amira has had to import fruits from Qasala to prevent a famine.” The large Grarrl crossed his arms and hoped he’d made his point. The Mynci, who was apparently not a native of the desert, now had both paws on her hips and flicked her tail impatiently.

     “So give me a Qando Fruit or something,” she ordered.

     The stall owner snarled, “The next shipment doesn’t come in until tomorrow morning. The caravan travels by night so that the fruit doesn’t perish in the sun, but if you want some so bad, why don’t you prance your furry little tail over to Qasala and buy it yourself?”

     “Fine!” Sohvi snapped, “I will!” She marched down the main road, past various stalls and the pets that milled about in their shade, and out into the unforgiving desert wind...

     “Wow, brilliant move, Sohvi,” she scolded herself. The Mynci had always been an impulsive pet, and her split-second decisions sometimes got her into sticky situations. ‘I wandered out into the middle of the desert... for a piece of fruit?’ Sohvi sighed; there was nothing to do now but press on. She stood up and scanned the landscape. Sheer cliffs reared up to the sky on her left and crumbling pyramids stood ominously on the horizon to her right. Just ahead she could make out the form of a ruined city. She continued at a steadier pace as the winds died down. Sohvi had heard tales of Qasala, but she’d never actually seen it. Even with its slumped buildings and deteriorated walls, the city was breathtaking.

     As she entered through the city’s gates a distinct sound reached her ears: water. Its soft trickle clashed with the harsh desert gusts that finally ended their assault on the Mynci. As she entered the city’s center she found the source of the sound. A simple but elegant fountain sprayed water in a graceful arch that ended its journey in the tiled pool below. Sohvi bent over and scooped up some of the liquid to cool her face and neck. Standing, she took a look around and immediately spotted the Qasalan fruit stand. The Mynci’s eyes widened in amazement as she approached. Overflowing fruit bins surrounded the outside and crammed the inside of the small tent. Even more astonishing was the fruit itself; nothing looked touched by the drought.

     A green Techo stepped out of the tent and came over to where Sohvi was admiring the delicate fruit. As if reading the Mynci’s thoughts, she spoke. “Incredible, isn’t it? Looks like our fruit was grown on Mystery Island or something. The drought took us by surprise as well, but there’s an underwater stream that runs right below the farmland. Lucky for Sakhmet that Prince Jazan and Princess Amira are on good terms, eh?”

     “Uh, yeah,” Sohvi stuttered. The shopkeeper opened her mouth to speak again when the sound of a crate crashing to the ground reached their ears. The pair ran around the back of the tent, and the Techo let out a cry of dismay. A crate had indeed tipped over; Queela Fruit spilled out into the alley that the fruit stall concealed. Sohvi’s attention was directed to what sat atop the crate: a rather ill-tempered Scarabug with one of the succulent prizes in his mouth. The Techo rushed forward, thrashing her arms about.

     “Shoo!” she screamed as she raced toward the growling petpet. He spread his wings and flew into the alley where he took shelter behind a discarded box. Sohvi peered into the dark alley and could see the Scarabug peeking around his makeshift barrier. The shopkeeper came and stood at her side, puffing angrily.

     “That stupid bug!” she muttered, “Almost every day it’s come here and stolen something, and it usually destroys even more in the process!” She gestured at the fruit littering the ground.

     “Don’t they usually travel in swarms?” Sohvi inquired.

     “Yes, but for some reason this one’s alone. Good thing too; don’t know what I’d do if I had a whole swarm attacking my tent!” The Techo turned to clean up the mess a bit before disappearing into her tent. Sohvi was left staring down into the alleyway.

     Suddenly, an idea struck the Mynci. Gazing down she picked up one of the lesser-damaged fruits and entered the alley. She approached slowly, fruit in paw. The Scarabug eyed her warily, his mouth twitching with the makings of a snarl.

     For the first time Sohvi got a good look at the petpet. He was a ragged little thing, with disheveled feathers and a permanent scowl etched across his face. The Scarabug’s exterior was muddy and dull, obviously no one took care of him. Sohvi wondered if he would trust her.

     “Hey, come on, you’re okay,” Sohvi coaxed. She was only an arm’s length from the petpet now, and she stopped. He had started to spread his wings as if to fly off, but the Scarabug caught another glimpse of the Queela Fruit and this seemingly trustful pet. Sohvi offered the fruit in her outstretched paw; surely she would not be denied. The Scarabug crept closer. He breathed in the fruit’s heavenly aroma, peered at its perfect shape from all angles, ran his wings over its delicate skin. This ritual completed, the Scarabug promptly refused to touch the fruit again, let alone eat it.

     “What!” Sohvi exclaimed. “This is a perfectly good piece of fruit! A lot better than the one that you stole!” The Scarabug emitted a low growl, and immediately he began to devour his own prize with his back turned to the Mynci, obviously ignoring her. Sohvi hurled her peace offering into the dirt. Splat.

     “You’re so stubborn! How do you expect to have any friends if everything always has to be your way? I mean, if you’d just taken the fruit in the first place, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation!” The fact that Scarabugs couldn’t talk flitted through Sohvi’s mind before she continued. “At this moment, you would be happy with two, count ‘em, two pieces of fruit. I’d be happy with... well, I wouldn’t have any fruit, but I’d still be happy! You could have come with me back to Sakhmet, and I would have made sure you wouldn’t have to steal from anymore fruit-obsessed Techos. But no, you just wouldn’t take that fruit, would you? And—”

     Slurp.

     Sohvi glanced at the Scarabug and immediately did a double take. He had scurried over to her pile of mushy fruit and gulped it down before peering up at her with a smug little grin. After several failed attempts Sohvi managed to snap her mouth shut. By Fyora, had she really just seen that?

     “Hello? Hello, little Mynci? Are you still there?” The shopkeeper’s voice called from around the corner. Sohvi shook off her stupor and sprinted out of the alley, almost running headlong into the Techo when she finally appeared. “What were you doing down there?” She seemed genuinely surprised when the Mynci emerged.

     “I, uh...”

     “Were you tracking down that Scarabug? Did you manage to catch it?” The Techo peered down the alleyway excitedly.

     “Uh, no, I didn’t catch him, but—”

     “But you would help me now? I mean right now? Because I can’t stand to have just one more piece of my precious livelihood wasted! Come, let’s find the little thief!” The shopkeeper marched into the alleyway and began turning over every abandoned box and piece of garbage that littered the ground, but the Scarabug had vanished. Sohvi slowly approached the overzealous Techo.

     “Um, ma’am?” she began. “I know that Scarabug’s been attacking your shop for a while now, but I’m pretty sure he won’t be doing it again.”

     “Oh, is that right?” The Techo said rather sarcastically as she sifted through trash. “What makes you so sure of that?” Just then a blur of color sailed through the alleyway and with a flurry of wings alighted upon Sohvi’s shoulder. The astounded shopkeeper could only stare.

     “I just have a hunch.” Sohvi grinned at her newfound friend.

     ***

     The cool desert night was a refreshing change from the dry heat of the day. The Techo shopkeeper had been so grateful to Sohvi for “catching that horrible little thief” that she had given the Mynci a basket filled with all of Qasala’s finest fruit free of charge. Sohvi and her companion had also been granted passage on the evening caravan from Qasala to Sakhmet. They rode their own Uni all the way, Sohvi balancing the fruit basket with one paw and feeding the Scarabug perched atop her shoulder with the other. As the pair disembarked inside the walls of the city, the Uni asked, “I’m sorry, but I just have to ask why would you ever want a Scarabug as a pet?” She was surprised to see a small smile light up the Mynci’s face, as if she entertained some private joke.

     “Well, he’s a stubborn little thing, persistent too. I couldn’t get rid of him if I tried,” and as Sohvi began her walk home, she added a private sentiment that only the Scarabug could hear, “and trying to do that is the last thing I would ever want to do.”

The End