"Why!" I yelled, stopping to control my voice. I could understand some of the confusion and fear my arrival could have caused the confused villagers. Many people don't take change very well. But half-bloods like Tilli at least have a parent who is a villager in this world. They were born of this world, so why such the animosity because their other parent is a sky person.
"Half-bloods like me are a symbol, like sky people, that Altua is a powerful being."
"One that should be feared as well," I said, finishing her train of thought. And I could understand the non-believers, if you were punished into believing something. It can only be a matter of time before anger and resentment follow.
"Yes, there will always be a few who will challenge Altua and the gifts he provides," she said, starting a fire with dry leaves and sticks.
"What happened to those who tried to kill you?"
"My father was a likable man. Whispers of the plot to murder me and my mother had gotten to the right people, and it was stopped almost immediately. They were quickly executed." She said this while striking stones together, causing quick sparks of light to appear on the dry tinder.In a matter of seconds, the tinder lit ablaze. Tilli quickly worked it into a steady fire.
"I’m glad you're safe," I said, looking at her then at the fire, pulling up my sleeves and extending my arms to feel its warmth.
"Altua gives. There were times in my youth where I was picked on by the other children. There are more half-bloods than sky people, but not enough for you to not stick out from the rest. It was rough, but eventually they all apologized for their actions." she said, placing the pot of peeled tubers near the fire. "Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be born in your world. Where my father came from. How different is it than here?"
"Well," I said, digging back into my memory of things of my world. Thinking carefully, I tried to think of some things that I could easily explain. "We have cell phones; they allow you to talk to people who are really far away."
"Yeah, my mother said that my father sometimes mentions something like a phone," she said, placing more food inside the now boiling pot.
"There are different types of long distance communication, but the world now all uses cell phones. We have machines that bring us from point A to point B." I said, thinking about all the different methods of transportation. Cars, boats, planes, and trains—even bikes, although it's manual. All of them were nonexistent here. The people of this world solely relied on traveling on foot.
"That’s so fascinating. How my life could have been!" she said, pulling the pot away from the fire, pulling a bowl from out of the hut, and ladles the tuber- soup mixture with another bowl into the first. She extended the bowl and smiled, "Your meal is ready, uxo nut soup!"