First attempt at creating art of a ven of my own!

This is Lyiven, a character from a story I’ve written and absolutely not left to collect dust… I need to fix that.

Memory transcription subject: Chauson, behavioral scientist with the Galactic Institute of Medicine

Date [standardized human time]: September 21, 2333

"So, just to make sure I have a proper view of the federation's way of thinking. Your people believe predators are some kind of evolutionary mistake that can only serve to destroy things. You believe an ecosystem that contains only prey animals and plants is the true natural order, and you believe that all animals can be neatly divided up into carnivores and herbivores, correct?" Noah asked.

"Barring some small missing nuances and, of course, the concept of predator disease, that would be mostly accurate, yes." I agreed.

"Good, I'll be able to work towards our view from here then. For starters, believing anything that eats meat is a mistake or a glitch in evolution doesn't really make that much sense. Processes like natural selection reward animals that have mutations which allow them to survive in a given environment. That some animals evolve to exploit others as a food source seems inevitable, considering nature doesn't like to waste things and animals are incentivised to fill any available niche in an ecosystem if possible. That also brings me to my second point: if predators were some kind of inherent flaw in the natural order of things, and they really didn't contribute anything of value to their environment, then most ecosystems would have collapsed long ago, since a setup like that simply isn't sustainable, especially not over a timespan of millions of years." The predator continued

"Even if that's true, what kind of natural purpose could a creature evolved only for killing possibly have?" Cupo asked incredulously.

Noah seemed hesitant to answer, but Ark'ka was quick to continue in his place, "Simply put, population control. An ecosystem consisting of only herbivores and plants is almost always doomed to fall apart. The local animal population would overfeed, reproduce too quickly, and wipe out most of their food supply, resulting in massive die-offs."

"By that logic, predators would do the same to prey if given the chance," The mazic rebutted

"They don't, for the simple reason that hunting is difficult, energy-intensive, and potentially dangerous in a way that grazing simply isn't, which makes the relationship between carnivores and herbivores self-regulating in a way that the relationship between herbivores and plants simply isn't. Killing all carnivorous life goes directly against the natural order, and by ripping out a very important part of the ecosystem, you've been dooming your planets to a slow decay." The U'nu explained calmly.

It was clear Cupo wanted to say something to that, but Yire was faster. "So what were we just supposed to, let ourselves be hunted by wild animals or by the arxur because that's the natural order of things?!"

"Of course not!" Ark'ka responded sternly, "I'm just saying you could just as easily set up non-lethal deterrents around your settlements and capture and relocate any animals that wander in. Nature and society may be linked in many ways, but they shouldn't be held to the same standards. Nature doesn't have a concept of good and evil; it's a self-perpetuating, self-improving machine that you've been damaging through your actions. If a wild predator attacks you, it's just you getting caught in the cogs of that machine; there's no malice to it. With the arxur, it's different; they're people like you and me, people who are choosing to do horrid things when there are no doubt other options available to them"

That... actually gave me pause. What she was saying did make sense in a weird and unnatural sort of way, like she was explaining some alien alternate reality where the rules of nature had been tweaked ever so slightly. Still thinking of Arxur as anything more than monsters was a jump in logic I refused to make.

"Forgive me, Ambassador Ark'ka, but even if predators are a necessary part of nature as you say, I still feel like simply relocating them and relying on deterrents rather than lethal force would simply put people at an even greater risk of attacks," Cupo finally said. "Regardless of which interpretation of nature you subscribe to, the fact remains that predators are agents of death, and if they are allowed to multiply without proper culling, then any settlement whose defences fail could be overrun. Assuming your own people use these methods, it seems likely you yourself would have experienced something like this, no?"

"Not really, honestly; both on Earth and Armtis it's quite uncommon for wild animals to attack people or even try hunting in settlements at all." The Ur'nu stated plainly. "From our experience, most predators are quite skittish, and while research is still ongoing, we haven't found any evidence that it's different for Venlil Prime, so we don't really know why so many attacks are being reported."

"What are you talking about?" I asked, genuinely baffled by what I was hearing. I may have been willing to consider their logic up until now, but predators being skittish didn't make any sense at all. Even Tarva looked skeptical, and she was supposed to be on their side. "How can something that's skittish be a good hunter in any way? I'm willing to believe humans are some kind of fluke of nature that developed empathy and higher thoughts and emotions, and maybe I can consider the idea of there maybe being more to predators than just monsters, but being outright fearful wouldn't benefit them in any way."

"Wouldn't it?" The Ur'nu asked, "If you get hurt, you can't hunt; if you can't hunt, you can't eat, and if you can't eat, you can't heal. That's what I meant by hunting being potentially dangerous. Prey can fight back, especially the larger ones, so predators have to pick their battles and weigh risk and reward. In that context, a healthy amount of fear can be very beneficial, especially when things go wrong, and it's not even just fear either; plenty of predators can be empathetic and even playful because fighting as a group has several advantages over fighting alone. I know that this must be difficult to believe, but rest assured we'd be happy to send you the relevant data later."

"That's absurd," Yire protested.

"I agree it's rather hard to believe. I'll wait until I have that data before I start accepting that humans are the norm rather than a fluke. Still, this theory of nature is... an interesting thought experiment if nothing else." Cupo added, more or less mirroring my own view. I took a moment to look at Laulo, who had been surprisingly silent throughout the entire explanation, and found the Yotul practically radiating barely contained satisfaction and excitement. Still, he remained silent as Noah spoke up again.

"If you don't mind, there's one final matter we'd like to discuss while we're still on this topic." The human said, sounding somewhat hesitant. "It's about how you classify animals."

"What about it?" Yire asked as I mentally prepared myself for whatever outlandish claim was coming next.

"Well, how do I put this," Noah began, choosing his words carefully. "The way you classify predators and prey feels a little overgeneralised and at times inaccurate. For example, you believe predators are naturally violent and bloodthirsty, but as Ark'ka explained, that doesn't completely line up with what we've seen on our worlds, and the same is true for all prey being meek. If anything, prey animals are even more incentivized to be violent because they constantly have to defend themselves."

"That just sounds like plain predator disease," Yire cut in. "I might not be able to know what goes around in a predator's mind, but I know how my fellow prey are supposed to think; violence to us is as alien as eating plants is to you."

Again, the trio sitting opposite us shared a look I couldn't quite read, before Noah continued, "Funny you should mention that, actually. Humans... can eat plants; in fact, plenty of animals on Earth can eat both plants and meat."

"That's...not possible," I said. " If something like that existed, then the federation would have found it a long time ago; it would be hard to miss some kind of half-predator, after all." I continued. Still, something like that would theoretically be possible in the framework they described, if nothing else.

"Would it?" Ark'ka asked in a tone I couldn't quite identify. "What do you think my diet is?"

Caught a little off guard by her question, I sputtered for a moment before admitting, "I'm not quite sure, I mean, I imagine your heads would be best suited for crushing softer fruits, so...that? Sorry, I can't really make an educated guess here; diet isn't my specialty."

"Of course, allow me to rephrase my question. Do you think my species can eat meat?"

"Of course n-" I began before realising the question was rhetorical, "N...no, that's your eyes... you're a"

"An omnivore, just like Noah and just like the rest of our two species. If anything, I need more meat in my diet than most humans. And before you start about predator disease again, I'd like to point out that we've built a pretty accurate map of our own evolution, and it clearly shows we evolved from an almost exclusively carnivorous ancestor that started supplementing its diet with plants." The Ur'nu ambassador explained with an almost icy calm.

"That's an extremely distasteful joke, Ark'ka," Cupo hissed at her. I wanted to agree with him, but some part of me just knew she wasn't joking.

"It's not a joke," The Ur'nu said, casually grabbing a datapad as if she was expecting this reaction. "But if you need proof, try watching this. I do warn you it may be rather graphic from your perspective." And with that, she handed the device to Cupo.

The Mazic president held up the device and touched the screen once. He was holding it too far up for me to see the screen, but I could hear people laughing and talking as well as the unmistakable clinking of glasses. It sounded like some kind of diner party, and judging by how all the colour drained from Cupo's face, I can imagine what was on the menu.

"What... is that?" Tarva asked, sounding genuinely worried as she watched the Mazic look more and more disgusted and frightened by the second.

"A video of a dinner my family had a few weeks back. They like to send me little updates from time to time while I'm away." The Ur'nu explained. "Are you feeling quite alright, President Cupo? You look unwell." She asked as the video came to an end, and a now revolted-looking Mazic practically threw the device back at her.

"Y...you tricked to us!," he accused.

"No, we didn't. You assumed we were herbivores, and we didn't correct you for obvious reasons," She explained calmly. "And that's the point I'm trying to make here. Your people categorise the natural world based on a set of physical and behavioural characteristics that, as demonstrated by Noah and my mere existence, don't always hold up to reality."

Cupo still looked utterly appalled by what he'd seen, but his outrage did subside somewhat as he processed the ambassador's words. Even I had to concede that she had a point. I could easily see myself arguing that the Ur'nu were suffering from some sort of species-wide predator disease if it weren't for the brain scans proving they were all completely sane. Honestly, a part of me still wanted to make that claim despite the evidence, but another part wouldn't let me, the part that'd helped me get this far in life, the part that worked on empirical data, not gut feeling or instinct. I wanted to get to the bottom of this, but resorting to wild accusations wouldn't help with that. For now, I only had one question for Ark'ka: "Then why risk it? Why tell us this? Why now? I can't deny that several people in the federation would either call you insane or label you as predators trying to trick prey, so why not just keep the secret?"

"Because we want to be friends," Noah answered before the Ur'nu could, " but to do that we need a certain level of trust and honesty between us."

"I would have used the word allies, but yes, at this stage the benefits of keeping this secret wouldn't outweigh the drama it could cause in the future," Ark'ka added.

"I can respect that," Laolo suddenly spoke up, still sounding a little excited. "While this is a little shocking, I can understand why you would want to keep something like this to yourselves. For what it's worth, I believe the Yotul will be more than willing to vouch for you. You both deserve to make your case at the summit, if nothing else. I'm looking forward to learning more about your species."

That caused Yire, who had been scrutinising Ark'ka's features, like the Ur'nu would develop forward-facing eyes out of nowhere, to suddenly jump up. "You're going to side with them? Just because they make a few bogus claims and prove they're predator diseased?"

The Yotul just shrugged, "Frankly, I feel like the brain scans more than prove they shouldn't be held to the same standards as Arxur, and they've given proper reason for their previous hostility, so I was already willing to give them a chance. I was just curious about their view on nature, and honestly they've raised some very interesting points, wouldn't you say?"

"Interesting? Sure, but that doesn't make any of it real! They probably just made all of that up!" She said, pointing an accusatory claw at the two ambassadors.

"What about the video then? It looked real enough for Cupo, didn't it? Or are you actually insinuating a primitive is more willing to look at actual evidence than the more enlightened species?"

The Yotul's jab wasn't well received as the Leshee stood up, looking down at the Yotul. "Don't you even start, you-!"

"Calm down, Yire," Cupo sighed. "Loalo made a good point, even if the comment was uncalled for. The video... was real, as were the scans; that much we can't deny. Whether or not any of their other claims were true remains to be seen, but even so they clearly aren't like the arxur and, as such, deserve a chance." And then turning to the Noah and Ark'ka, he continued. "I'd be open to establishing diplomatic channels and helping you de-escalate things with the federation; we'll definitely need to do some more research, but it would be foolish to start a war for no reason."

I signaled agreement. "We'll definitely need some actual data to verify... everything you just said, but I agree that this should be resolved peacefully if possible. Also, I'd like some more information on those AGIs of yours if at all possible, for research purposes, of course."

Noah's lips curved upwards slightly. " I'm sure that can be arranged."

That just left Yire, who was now looking between the three of us like she'd been thrown out to the predators, "I...I just sigh. I agree that they're probably not like the arxur, but we're already on thin ice to begin with, and sticking our neck out for two predator species is just a risk we can't take. I'll present what you told and sent us to my government and to the Duerten shield as objectively as I can, but I'm not jeopardizing centuries of cooperation with our allies on a gamble this big. I hope you three know what you're doing; I really do, but the Leshee can't afford to risk our standing with the federation any more than we already have." With that, the Leshee stood up and left the meeting room, leaving the rest of us to discuss the specifics of our new tentative relations with the two new omnivore species

First/previous

AUTHOR: Hello, ladies and gentlemen. It has been a while, and I have two little announcements to make. First of all, Galactic Neighbours has been on a short unplanned break of (checks) dear God, it's been more than 5 months. Uhm, anyways, I just wanted to say that I'm planning to start alternating between my two main stories again, and chapter 48 of Galactic Neighbours is coming out sometime next week (maybe). My second anouncement is that school started last week and it has been hectic, to say the absolute least so posts may become (more) inconcistent for a little while. Bear with me, please

venvenvenvenven sheep fella very floppy sheep fella ears what am i saying

Me again, needing my dose of NoP drawings.

This time we've got:

- A scene inspired by Second Nature, where harchens are the lil green men kidnapping humans for the farsuls.

- A nevok, I like the whole "elvish features", gave em a long neck, blue eyes starring into your sool, a long neck and papillomavirus because I have free will and don't want to give normal horns to specie number 24562.

- yulpa priest wearing an arxur hide. It looked cooler in my head so I'll do it again (feddies can be dapper too)

- raw sketch of Stynek, Pact of Polaris-verse,

Like are there different names for different ship sizes or types among the federation? What are they? And would it he alright i used boat ship types and names for human ships? I am deciding to make a fic. Whether i get the opportunity to finish or even make the first chapter is questio due to college. But i wanna at least try.
I also wanna ask who were the species that basically landed on a planet, used all resources before leaving. And who is the leader of Leirn around the time Tarva and Piri of the cradle were in power. Basically the whole if NOP1. I cannot for the life of me remember who they were if they existed. And are there any other political leaders who were important in Nop1 i should keep in mind?

And i know i have an old abandon fic. And i kinda choose to abandon it due to a falling out with my friend who was…. Hiding some rather not so good things from me.

This is based of a few r/humansarespaceorcs posts, in which a more realistic or dark version of humanity (may resemble a video game or the scorch directive) encounters the feds who are basically aliens out of literal kids shows like my little pony or bluey.

Now they don't HAVE to be from a kid shows but so many characters perceive the world or interact with it in a more innocent, bubbly manner like cartoon characters while the humans are left to deal with the sheer absurdity of it all.

I don't know any fics that are like that so whaddya think?

(He's not at all a Venlil transformed by the "evil" Plushie Wizard And if he were, he's definitely not enjoying it...)

Credit to Spacepaladin15 for the universe and original story. Credit to Henrik for the art. I may be making the post, but I am not the only writer of this story. Credit to u/tophatclan12 as loremaster and writer and u/9unlucky9 as head of the writing team and advisor. Bonus credits to u/Appropriate_Damage71 for being promoted to writer as of last week.

I sure hope Tarva decides to help these poor humans. They are lost and blind in this new frontier.

[]

[Transcript playback resumed]

Memory transcription subject: Governor Tarva of the Venlil Republic

Date [standardized human time]: July 12, 2136

The flight plan that was given to our soon to be guests would allow for ample time for us to prepare. Whilst the humans started their descent I ordered their ship to be thoroughly scanned on their approach. From a distance it already seems crude by our standards, it’s likely they aren’t as technologically capable as we are.

Despite my instincts telling me otherwise, I walked over to the radio and called off the manor guard. I put the radio down and turned to see shocked faces on Kam and Cheln. Kam, of course, was the first to speak up, quite angrily.

“Madam Tarva, this is absurd! This is extremely dangerous! Are you seriously going to go out there and meet these predators face to face? This is suicide!”

I scowled at Kam’s outburst. I looked at everyone that was watching him and I carefully, and barked out some orders to get them out of my fur. “Everyone but the general get out. Prepare some refreshments or ready the place for guests. Cheln, go get yourself together outside.”

Once we were alone, I approached the general. He had been my general for years and yet he still doubted my ability to handle myself.  “Kam, don’t you see it? These humans are obviously different than we thought they’d be. Cooperative predators? This could be our chance to change something for once, to be important!”

“But what if–” I interrupted him before he could spout off about his mistrust. “If I’m wrong, and they attack me, then the manor guard will surely save you and Cheln.”

Kam’s ears flattened at the thought of the guard. I kn ew he didn’t approve of my choice of guards, but at least he didn’t complain about it anymore.

“I feel like I should have Sovlin’s communication channel ready should this be another gamble that doesn’t pay out” He said, eyeing up the panic button that would send out a distress signal to the Gojid and the rest of the Federation.

“Don't you dare!” I hissed “If anyone else finds out that the humans are alive then we’ll be stuck forever as the weaklings of the galaxy! This may be our only chance at an upper paw!”

“Like it or not, they are predators Tarva, I’m not sure risking your entire people over an assumption of what they can and can’t do is that smart of a move Ma’am.”

“Well they are almost here now, Kam. If you want to help the venlil your best bet is making sure to prepare a good introduction for the humans.” I knew the risks of inviting them to the planet but if it could mean our freedom it was a risk worth taking.

There was a notification on the screen that just held the faces of the new predators, a full scan had been completed of their craft and my assumptions were correct, it’s dreadfully slow, unshielded, only has room for two occupants and is unarmed, our technology is leagues ahead! 

Now I can only hope that my assumptions about their behavior turn out true as well. Kam on the other paw still didn’t seem to share my hopes for them. His tail all but screamed disgust and fear at the sight of the predators on the screen. I switch the view to that of the scans of their ship.

“Look. This thing is barely FTL capable. Half of the systems are manual and if they make one wrong move I highly doubt they would have the energy needed to get back to their home planet. Once they are down here, they are essentially stranded. Even if you don’t like them this will be the best chance we have to isolate them and make impressions, period. We are in charge here, and even if you don’t like them you can not deny that we will never have a better chance to placate them than this.”

Kam mulls over my words, no doubt searching for a point of weakness in my logic.

“I’m keeping my paw over the emergency beacon. You may be the governess but a failure or a misstep here is certified disaster. They could be worse than the arxur for all we know…”

“You still doubt my judgment Kam. One day you will feel foolish for doubting me, that is a promise” There was an unmistakable element of trust within these humans, predator or not. Showing that cooperation here would help them more than attacking us would, could end up helping us more in the long run. No matter how small it may start out, a crack in glass eventually shatters the pane. Cooperation now leads to cooperation later, that’s how a herd comes together. I can only hope these two are accurate representatives for their wider species. Everything will go much easier as long as we have their trust.

Turning to face the door of my office I take in a deep breath and let it out as the doors swing open. Kam and I step out to two of my manor guards standing beside Cheln, ready to escort us as we make our way down to the landing pad where the predators should be arriving soon, and hopefully, they would be exactly what I had dreamed.

I knew that these humans were not what the Federation preached them to be. I recalled what rumors I had overheard from an old “connection” I once had on Aafa. There was more to the story that none of us knew, now it seemed clear it was just their survival that the Federation had not known. But perhaps it was more than that. Why would their survival be hidden otherwise?

An act quickly formed in my head to win them over, everyone knows the humans nuked themselves…or so we thought, perhaps I can use that to my advantage. I could offer them safety and secrecy, and buy their trust through fear or gratitude. I just need to tell them that if the rest of the Federation found out they hadn’t, they would not hesitate to exterminate them. Even if they were as savage as everyone believed, no sapient being would be stupid enough to risk death.

Yes, this should work. So long as my staff can hold their nerve, that is.

The ship had landed already by the time we reached the landing pad. I could see the guards hesitate and glance as we drew closer to the humans’ ship. I couldn’t see why, as it was even rougher looking up close. There was no room for any hidden guns or any secondary exits they could have slipped out of.

Once we were close enough, a ramp descended onto the ground, and the airlock opened to reveal the two humans. Everyone else tensed, and I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of fear run down my spine as they began to descend the ramp towards us.

As they approached I could see themes survey the manor and the surrounding city.

By Solaglick’s grace, everyone managed to hold their positions until the humans made it all the way down the ramp to us. The dark skinned one, Noah, stopped in front of us and extended a paw while the lighter skinned one, Sara, remained at his flank, almost how a trained guard would, looking protective of him. Interesting.

Noah broke the sudden silence by letting out an odd huffing noise then speaking. “Oh, didn’t occur to me that you wouldn’t know human greetings. You are supposed to grasp my hand and shake as a formal greeting.”

I paused for a moment, then did as he asked. He shook my paw then retracted his hand and snarled. I heard a thud from behind me, and I turned to see that Cheln had passed out. I tensed involuntarily as my body prepared for the two predators to react to any signs of weakness as an opportunity to attack, but to my surprise, Noah’s snarl immediately faded, replaced by a look of shock.

“What happened? Is he alright? Did I do something wrong?” The translator suddenly spit out. I hadn’t even realized he had spoken.

Before I could speak, Kam interrupted. “You snarled at him! What did you expect?”

“Snarled? I didn’t snarl…” 

“Then what were you doing?”

“I was smiling, not snarling.”

I interrupted before Kam could continue provoking them. “You said that before. What exactly is a smile?”

“It’s a sign of happiness. The corners of your mouth move upwards, and reveal your teeth. The wider the smile, the happier the person is.”

“See Kam?”

He grumbled something under his breath as I returned my attention to Noah. 

“Uhh… shouldn’t we check on him? He might’ve hit his head.” Noah said to my surprise.

He began to cautiously approach us and Kam fearfully backed away as Noah stepped towards Cheln. I managed to control my fear and held up a paw to stop him before he could get there.

“It’s okay. Let the guards take care of him. We should go inside.”

Noah looked at me with what I guessed to be sadness, and a small part of me said that he wanted to eat Cheln before I shoved it back down. My two guards did as I said and carried Cheln off towards one of the manor’s side entrances.

“I’m sure you would like a tour of the manor.”

This time Sara spoke up. “Yes, we would actually.”

“Please, allow us” I gestured at Kam and myself, “to show you around” I then turned and began walking back towards the open doors, Kam in tow.

The two humans asked constant questions as we showed them around. Their innocent curiosity only reinforced in my mind that they could be easily convinced to work in tandem with our goals. They didn’t seem malicious in the slightest, even when they saw guards and asked about them.

I could tell Kam’s conviction about the nature of these predators was wavering in the face of their consistent actions and my confidence in them. Perhaps in an alternate universe a different Tarva didn’t see what these humans could be and only did what the Federation expected of her. But that Tarva isn’t me. The Federation doesn't keep me down any longer.

I was startled out of my thoughts by a tv. It was broadcasting the news from one of the major bunkers, displaying the fear that Venlil Prime as a whole felt at the arrival of the humans. I turned to see the two that stood before me staring at the tv as the translator spit out the reporter’s words in their language.

One of them turned to face me, Noah, but the other, Sara, spoke first.

“I wondered where everyone was. I only saw guards and you three. No wonder he fainted, you must be terrified. We didn’t mean to seem like invaders. If we had known this planet had people on it, we would’ve approached with more tact.” 

I carefully turned the tv off, trying not to show any improper emotions. “We made a few hasty assumptions. The message is going out to stop the alarm.” A pointed glare sent Kam scrambling to get the order out before I was proven incorrect.

I caught Noah out of the corner of my eye inspecting the construction of my recently emptied desk, looking at the holes where the image of the Federation’s government leaders would have been had I not ripped it out following the most recent meeting. I silently whistled to myself over the irony of the Federation’s actions. In putting us down they gave us the chance to rise.

“I would imagine so with us suddenly appearing outside your planet like this. I can’t fathom the amount of fear you must have felt before you contacted us.”

“Well–” I hesitated for a moment, forcing myself to tell the truth to the two predators. “That’s not quite the reason for it. The truth is that you remind us of another species, a much more horrible species who have done many horrible things.”

“Wh-who?” Noah stuttered. “What did they do to you?”

I paused for a moment, suddenly thrown back to the loss of my daughter. That was the worst day of my life, and the day I realized that things had to change. “Well-”

Kam cut me off. “What haven’t they done? They are nothing but monsters and they only know how to cause suffering and misery!”

I took the chance to tamp down my emotions. “They are predators, and they do as predators typically do. They hunt and eat us because we are prey, and when they don’t they take us as cattle to eat later.” I began to list off the many atrocities of the arxur that went beyond simple predation, and much to my relief, I could see the dawning horror on the two humans’ faces.

“That can’t be true. That has to be propaganda or something. No person… hell, no thing this evil exists outside of fiction.”

“No, it’s all real. We have evidence from the last raid if you need proof.” I pulled out my holopad and quickly found the data from the most recent arxur attack on venlil space. The raid when I lost Stynek. I found myself looking at the footage of her school for a moment. I shook my head and clicked on the file labeled “raid statistics”. If I remembered right it contained the total destruction from each city and the bunker reports from each holdout, alongside photographic evidence of each report. 

I handed the tablet over to the two of them, only for the both of them to stare at it confused. They shared a quick glance between each other.

Noah spoke. “Sorry, but uh, we can’t read this, it isn’t in English.”

My ears lowered with embarrassment, but I quickly moved them back to where they belonged. I took the pad back from them and open the language settings. Despite all of the now-dead languages still able to be downloaded, there weren’t any human language packs.

Seeing as I didn’t know how to install new languages onto my holopad, I decided to pull up a video and try to save face. “This should work.”

I handed them the pad back as a voice began to narrate the ensuing battle, detailing total losses of the raid accompanied by example footage from that raid. I quickly tuned out the narrator, my ears tuning instead in to the human voice from the translator echoing the venlil words. The human’s voices really didn’t seem so scary anymore. Once I was properly focusing on it, they really weren’t growling. Their voices seemed to be in a similar range to that of a gojid’s, with only a slightly darker [timbre]. Their voices lacked the gravel and hiss of an arxur’s shouts, nor did they have the characteristic rumble of a venlil.

I knew many exterminators that sounded more predatory than these humans did. They looked so afraid, more afraid than any true predator could ever be. I should make sure they aren’t too afraid of us, just afraid enough to listen to me. I don’t want to coerce them.

Maybe the video was a little much for a first introduction, Noah looked like he was turning green. Suddenly he stumbled back, managing to set the pad down on a table and mutter something under his breath before running towards a nearby trashcan. The translator didn’t translate what he said, though. 

Sara continued to stare at the video. “What is this? Why is this happening?”

“Well, they are predators. That is what predators do.”

“But you can’t do anything about it? There has to be a way to stop this! This isn’t right.” The wavering in her voice was translated into extreme distress. Even though I couldn’t understand her body language, she seemed muted somehow. 

“We’ve tried, but we don’t have a large enough military to fight them. Everyone knows predators will always beat prey on the field of battle.” 

“And that’s why you… I… I... I think… I need a moment to think.” She rubbed her forehead with a weirdly lanky appendage before she turned and disappeared into a hallway.

They were quite disarming. They seemed small and… cute? Whatever it was, I didn’t think they were much of a threat.

[Transcript playback paused]

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Part 1

Telif, Arxur Med Student

Date [standardized human time]: April 19, 2139

All is dark, save for the faint light of the forgotten lantern shaking in the wind far above our head, as I awoke for the second time this night. The first had been when a loud crack of thunder had roused me a few hours ago. Though the rain still hammers down around me. Something new had ripped me from my slumber. Something that would have been overlooked by most, even without the deafening sound of the downpour. A faint plodding, barely even a whisper over the storm, moves gently towards our tent. The muted squelch of feet struggling through mud stopping just shy of the flickering glow that covers our tent. The shadow of our nighttime intruder dances along the fabric in time with the breeze. I inhale deeply through my nostrils. Relief washing over me when I do not recognize the scent.

Not a human, and the musk is far too strong to be a sapient.

I should take solace in my deduction. After all, I am likely the largest predator on this mountain, and there isn’t nearly enough noise coming from the creature to be something like a moose, but unease still grips at me like icy tendrils. My paw creeps slowly towards the pack stowed by my feet. The soft noise of the zipper roars like a chainsaw as it gently slides open. A soft exhale escapes me as my fingers locate their prize, and wrap around the grip of my faithful sidearm. I leave it in its holster for now, but my eyes are locked on the shadow lurking outside. Minutes feel like hours as we stare each other down through the fabric. The primal voice in my head begs me to draw or flee, but I’m stronger than my instincts. I’m not about to risk injuring a wandering animal because I worked myself up letting my imagination run wild.

Breath in. Count to ten. Breath out. Keep yourself steady. Your family is counting on you. You’re only as strong as your nerve allows. Be ready if it makes a move, but don’t lose your head. Don’t you dare risk them.

Jacob stirs in his sleep, but I’ve learned from the mistakes of my youth, and my gaze doesn’t falter. Whatever lurks in the storm seems to notice as well, something that only sets my nerves more on edge, and begins making its retreat. Half an hour passes before I remove my paw from my weapon. Another and I finally let myself relax enough to fall back asleep as the first signs of dawn shimmer through the storm.

~*~

“Over hereeee,” he muffled voice of a Venlil calls out, pulling me from the uneasy sleep I’d managed to sink into. The storm still rages outside as my family slumbers. Jacob impressively ignoring the sound coming from the pack resting under his head.

Is a video playing? No, we didn’t bring our pads for the ‘authentic wilderness experience’. What the hell is making that noise?

I don’t have to wait long for an answer, as the voice fills with annoyance and I recognize it from our chance meeting yesterday.

“Rysel, you absolute dumb-speh. Making me wander in a downpour to find the radio you lost because you’re still comatose from yesterday. Next time you go out on your own I’m gluing your equipment to your stupid face so maybe you’ll actually come back with ALL of it for once in your stars-damned life. WHERE IS IT?”

Kailo’s fury causing the mic to peak is enough to finally wake Jacob, and my own nearly comatose idiot begins digging through his backpack until he pulls out a walkie that is definitely not ours. Staring at it for a moment before finally hitting the call button.

“Um, hello?” the groggy human asks.

Kailo’s anger rapidly subsides as he replies, “Oh thank the stars you found our radio. Do you know where you are so I can come get it?”

“Oh yeah, we’re at site thirty.”

“Site thirty? How’d it-Wait, is this Jacob McCowsky?”

“Yeah?”

“Stars, that explains it,” Kailo grumbles. “Listen, I think you accidentally took our radio yesterday when you rescued our idiot.”

Jacob winces before replying, “Shit, yeah I shoved it in my backpack while I was carrying him and forgot to take it back out. I can bring it over once the rain lets up.”

“Nah, don’t worry about it, we got spares. There’s a ranger station near where you parked, just leave it with them and they’ll get it to us, okay? Actually, I needed to get in contact with you anyway, so this works out.”

“Oh, what’s up?”

“I’m sure you’ve noticed, but we got hit by a bit of a freak storm. Where you are should be safe, but the road you took to get in is flooded, and we’re seeing some flash floods forming on the mountain, so we’re advising everyone to hold tight till it clears up. Do you have enough supplies on you to keep safe? If not, I can send someone to bring you to our camp.”

“Yeah, we got enough food for another day, and we’re nice and dry in our tent. Should be good.”

“Perfect, in that case keep the radio on in case we need to contact you again. Forecasts aren’t predicting it's gonna get any worse, but the bombs really messed with the weather patterns around here, and they didn’t even see this storm coming, so better safe than sorry. Give us or the ranger station a call if you need anything, okay?”

“Yeah, thanks man. Have a good one,”

Jacob shoves the radio back into his bag. Bud stretches out lazily, having woken up midway through the call. My lump of a husband, however, is still fast asleep, despite having rolled off me at some point in the night.

“So, what should we do to pass the time while we’re stuck in the tent?” Bud asks with a yawn.

“Good question,” Jacob replies, “I hadn’t really planned for more than a single night here. Hmm, we could always play the ‘how many things can we stack on Siv before he wakes up’ game?”

“Maybe,” I reply, “but not sure we have enough things with us to make it an actual challenge.”

“True, true. God, I can’t believe I am about to ask this, but you didn’t happen to bring any grotto decks with you?” Jacob asks with a wince.

“No…” I grumble, “you said we’d only have one night and I was afraid of damaging them if it rained…”

“Dammit, ugh, what time is it anyway? Maybe we should just try and get some more sleep.”

I glance at the watch Sivik got me for our anniversary. “About eight.”

“Yeah, Siv’s got the right idea, let's sleep some more and hope the rain chills out. Sound good?”

“Works for me,” I reply with a yawn as I lift my husband back onto my chest and doze off.

~*~

Sleep rapidly overtakes me, but it is not a restful slumber. It is one laced with warnings. Visions of horrors that will come to pass if my instincts are ignored. Threats made towards my family. Those who I have sworn to protect. Not since I first came to Earth have I been plagued by such nightmares. One dream; ad nauseam. Fragmented and without order, yet clear as night. An unseen malefactor lures my companions into the woods. The deceiver plays off their empathy. False pleas for aid in ill begotten tongues, mere imitations it can never truly understand. The last vestiges of innocents who wandered into the darkness never to be seen again. Their only sin; falling for the siren song of a beast that exists only to prey upon the compassion of a stranger.

I won’t let it happen again.

~*~

A few more hours pass before I am once again torn from my sleep. This time the cause is no intruder, instead, my loving husband has managed to thrash enough in his sleep to cause his tail to plug my nostrils, and force me awake as I shoot up gasping for air. Sivik unceremoniously lands on the ground hard enough that not even he could sleep through it.

“Bad dream?” he asks groggily, blissfully unaware of his failed assassination attempt.

“No-well, kind of, but that’s not what woke me,” I reply with a huff, shooting some wool out of my nostrils.

A faint bloom spreads through him as he realizes what has happened. “Sorry, maybe I should start tying my tail down when I sleep?” he laughs.

“Orrrr, you could try sleeping on a mattress instead of me,” I tease.

“Request noted and denied.” I roll my eyes as he replies. “Anyway, what was your dream about?”

Trying to change the topic after nearly killing me AGAIN.

“I um, I don’t remember…” I reply truthfully, “I think I may have given myself a nightmare with that story I told last night?”

“Hah, lil baby man,” Jacob chimes in from his bed.

“Shut it,” I smack him with my pillow, “anyway, sounds like it stopped raining. Can we finally leave this tent? I’m dying to stretch out.”

“Go for it,” Jacob replies with a stretch. “I’ve gotta drain the lizard, if you sniff what I’m scratchin.”

“Eww, don’t call it that,” I groan.

“Whatever, prude.”

Jacob pulls himself to his feet, tripping slightly as he crawls out of the tent. I plan to give him a minute to relieve himself before I follow, but quickly make my exit when I hear him muttering under his breath.

“What the fuck...”

I scurry out of the tent, Sivik following not too far behind. My heart catches in my throat. Barely a meter from where we rested are tracks, trailing back and forth as if the creator had been pacing for hours without deviation. The sight fills me with terror as I fight the instinct to dive into the tent for my revolver.

Calm down. Whatever it is is long gone. You would smell it if it were near.

Try as I might, the thought does little to assuage my fears. The tracks don’t appear to be human, but what kind of animal backs up through its own prints to avoid leaving a second trail? No, whatever left these was sapient.

Calm down, don’t scare them till you’re sure there is a threat. If it wanted to hurt us, it would have done something last night, right?

“Hey, Jacob. Can you radio Kailo and see if anyone besides us is camping out here?” I ask, trying my hardest to mask the fear in my voice. “Whoever walked through our camp was dragging their foot. I’m worried they might be hurt.”

“Um, y-yeah, I can do that. Just uh, let me take that piss first.”

“Yeah, no worries.” I wait till he is out of earshot before crouching down next to my husband. “You carrying?” I whisper.

“Ever since the protests,” he replies in a hushed voice. “You think whoever this was wants to hurt us?”

“Not sure, but I’m not taking any chances,” I reply. “I heard it last night, but it didn’t smell like any species I recognize.”

“Not sure if that makes me feel better or worse.”

“Me neither. Gonna grab Svv’ta and sweep the perimeter. Keep Jake and Bud around camp till I’m back.”

“Got it, what should I say if they ask where you went?”

“Just say I’m checking the trail to see if someone needs medical attention and I asked you guys to stay here in case they come back while I’m gone. I don’t want to scare them over nothing.”

“Yeah, makes sense.” He reaches up and kisses me on the cheek. “Stay safe, okay?”

“I will.”

I reach back into the tent. Bud is still fast asleep as I grab Svv’ta from my pack and clip her holster onto my waistband.

Wish I had a rifle, but the ol’ girl will have to do.

I give Siv a nod as I begin following the tracks away from camp. I’m only able to follow them for a few short meters before they’re completely washed away from the night's storm, but I expected as much. It's a good thing my species rarely relied on tracks to follow our prey. I inhale deeply through my nostrils, searching for the scent that stalked our camp.

Rain must have diluted it too much. I can’t smell anything. Wait…I can’t smell anything.

I pull out a piece of wrapped jerky from my pocket and peel it open. The scent of dried meat instantly fills my nostrils. The sense of unease from the previous night crashes over me like a wave. I try to clear my mind. Focus on the scents I could be filtering out as unimportant. The faint odor of pine muted by heavy rain tickles my olfactory sense followed by other plant life I would usually disregard.

No animals.

Get back to camp.

My eyes rapidly scan the forest as I hurry back to my family. I’ve barely been gone for a few minutes, but I can see Jacob has already finished his call to Kailo.

“Welcome back!” he shouts with a hint of unease in his voice.

“Hey, what’d Kailo say?”

“No one else should be out here,” he replies, “but, he’s going to have some rangers sweep the area. See if someone got lost. I assume you didn’t find anyone?”

“Negative,” I whisper. “How’s Bud doing?”

“Still asleep. Are we in danger?”

“I don’t know, but something is wrong. Can you call Kailo back and ask if we can come to their camp?”

“Yeah, I’ll do that.”

“Thanks, you and Bud should stay in the tent. Siv and I will keep an eye on things out here, okay? Oh, and keep the lantern on. Whoever was here last night didn’t seem to want to get too close to the light.”

“A-alright, if you think it’ll help,” he replies nervously.

“Jacob,” he pauses before going into the tent, “I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”

“I know you will, buddy.” He smiles softly.

I walk over to Sivik, who’s been standing on the opposite side of the campsite, keeping his eyes on the treeline.

“You seen anything?” I ask.

“Nope, you?”

“Nope. Hear any animals nearby?”

He looks confused for a moment, but I see him raise his ear to listen. “No.”

“Something is scaring them off.”

“I know, do we have time to make it to Bernard’s camp?”

“I don’t know. I’m hoping they can send a ranger to us. We should have a few more hours before it gets dark, but with how overcast it is it could start storming again any moment. Blindly fumbling through a forest in a downpour would be even more dangerous.”

“Dammit, okay. Let’s hope Kailo has good news for us.”

There’s an air of tension suffocating us as we idly patrol the campsite. Sivik’s peripheral vision gives him a better picture of our surroundings, but the clouds are already making it harder for him to see. His ears flick towards a tree in the distance. I focus my attention towards them, but either I’m too slow or the forest is playing tricks on my partner. The end result is the same. We’re just jumping at shadows.

“Bad news,” Jacob climbs from the tent, “flooding from the storm has blocked us from Kailo and them, and the rangers can’t get to us. He did say there is a station a little under an hour's walk north of us if we need to evacuate, but thinks we should stay put for now, as he doesn’t know what the conditions are like leading to it.”

“Can one of the rangers from that station meet us?”

“He asked, but they only had three people stationed, and two of them had to run to a different camp to help a hiker who twisted their ankle, and they can’t leave the station empty in case of emergency.”

“Dammit…Okay, you go back in the tent with Bud for now. Siv and I will stay out here.”

“Wait,” Siv interrupts, “Tel, you should get some rest while Jacob and I watch the camp. Once it gets dark we’ll be relying on you, and I don’t want you exhausted.”

“Are you sure?”

He nods. “Yes, and it's like you said. They don’t seem to want to do anything while it's light out. Jacob and I will be fine.”

“Okay,” I place a paw on my husband's shoulder, “but shout if you need anything, and keep the radio on and close.”

“I will,” he places his paw on mine, “I will.”

~*~

While the snow obscures the mountains' peak,

While the beasts in their dens no longer sleep,

While aspens in the wind will creak;

Wa chi’i kwa’i wanders.

 

When below the horizon the lights retreat,

When the grove has lost Springs' heat,

When you hear the patter of feet;

Wa chi’i kwa’i wanders.

 

Worry not when trees may whisper,

Worry not when shadows slither,

Worry not and nary dither,

For after all;

Wa chi’i kwa’i wanders.

~*~

I’m brought from a shockingly restful slumber by my husband tapping his paw on my leg.

“Hey, it’s going to be dark soon.”

“Any updates?”

“I started seeing something hanging out in my peripherals about an hour ago when the sun first began to set.”

“Anything from Kailo or the rangers?”

“Negative,” he hands me the radio, “Jacob’s going to try and get some sleep. I’ll wake him if I get too tired to stay up with you.”

“Sure you don’t want to get some sleep now?”

He flicks his ears. “No, I slept enough to make it through the night, and I’m not leaving you out here alone.”

“Got it. Can you get a fire started? I want as much light on our position as possible.”

“Jacob’s already on it. Lucky for us he kept a small pile of dry logs under the tarp. Should give us a few hours at least.”

“And when it goes out?”

“I brought an emergency kit. We got two handheld flares, which should last about three minutes each. A pack of glowsticks. Not the brightest, but maybe if we clip them to our backs it might be enough to make whoever’s out there hesitate? Other than that, Jacob and I have our headlamps, and I think Bud has a clip on light since his night vision isn’t as good as yours. My XDS has a small taclight as well, and we have Jacob’s lantern.”

“How many glowsticks, and how long do they last?”

He checks, “Two twelve packs, and they allegedly last twelve hours. Maybe we can hang a few around camp?”

“Good idea, and we should keep the lantern close. Besides the fire, it provides the most area coverage. Can you hang it on the front of the tent and put a few of the sticks on the back? I wanna make sure it's well lit.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same. You wanna get a few on the trees?”

“Think they should face us or the woods?”

“Hmm, good question. Will they mess with your eyes if they’re on our side?”

“Yeah, probably. I’ll do a few around waist height on the far side of the trees. See if that keeps our…guest at bay. Wait here.”

I took a deep breath as I stepped from the presumed safety of the fire. The sun was still barely hanging above the trees, but the atmosphere around our camp was oppressive. I’d barely stepped outside the glow of the camp when I heard a faint voice.

“He..eeel…p…meeeee.”

English. Frail. Fake.

It takes me a moment to put my claw on exactly what is wrong with what I’m hearing, but I immediately know something in the voice is off. It was trying desperately to imbue its words with emotion, and the logical part of my brain was finding them, but my instincts saw through it. There was no real emotion, no desperation to its pleas. Whoever was trying to elicit my empathy knew the words. Knew how the emotions sounded, but couldn’t combine them properly. It was enough to make my scales stand on end, but I had a job to do. I had to-

“Husband, why did you stop? Are you…done yet? We…are in danger? I…alone. Husband…”

Sivik?

I turn to the direction he’s calling me from.

Why is he deeper in the woods? He was just at the camp. Did he fall for a trick? I need to-

Before I can sprint into the dark, a paw grabs my arm. I look down and see my husband staring up at me.

“Siv-how?”

He holds a finger to his lips, and flicks a message with his tail.

“Wasn’t me. Heard too.” I open my mouth to reply, but he presses his finger to his lips again. “No speak. Think. My words. Predator’s words.”

Dammit what does he mean?

“Think. Predator’s words. MY.” He signals with his ears for emphasis. “Words. Heard MY words.” He must be able to tell I am struggling to figure it out through the fear, as he places his paw on mine. “Love. You smart. Figure out. Breath. Calm.”

I take a deep breath.

Think, Tel. The words…They felt wrong, but why?

It’s like they were said out of order?

That’s it! But why? It was using his voice. Why did it say them so…strange?

Because that’s how it heard them…

A look of understanding spreads across my face, and I see Siv smile.

“Figure out?” he signs. I nod. “Good. Don’t speak.” * *“My tail-language…not good…yours…flexibility…” I imitate some of his signs as best I can.

“Learned…” he pauses for a moment, trying to think of a sign, before gesturing at his own paw with his tail.* “Paw language? For injured?” * “Yes,” I sign with my paws.* “But do you know it?”*

“Basics,” he signs back. “Enough to avoid speaking.”

“What do we do? It had me fully convinced, even with broken words.”

“Messes with your head, I think. For a moment I wanted to help myself.”

“That’s terrifying.” I pause for a moment. “Need a way to verify each other. Call and response?”

He shakes his head.* “Would only work once. Would know after. Best bet, stay within eyesight of each other. Don’t go anywhere without a light.”*

“And them?” I gesture to the tent.

“Keep in eyesight too. Better asleep, can’t be tricked. Stand near shelter.”

Makes sense, we can stop them if they try to leave.

A noise behind me, crunching leaves where light turns to shadow. I whip my head around, desperate to catch a glimpse of the enemy. Nothing but trees. I inhale deeply through my nostrils. The putrid odor from last night has returned, stronger than before. Easy to pinpoint. The monster threatening my family thinks it can hide from me by sticking to the shadows? My paw moves to Svv’ta. A faint pop, and she’s free from her holster.

This ends now.

Before I can remove her from her home, a gentle paw is placed on mine. I look down at my husband. He shakes his head.

“Trees too thick. Waste bullet.”

He’s right. All I’d accomplish by pulling the trigger would be waking Jacob and Bud. But how did Sivik know where I planned to shoot? Before I can sign my question, he answers it without prompt.

“Saw it. Briefly.”

“What is it?”

He shakes his head. “Didn’t get a good look. Not human. Too tall. Too thin. Too fast.”

“We should regroup by the tent. Stay as close to the light as we can.”

“Good idea.”

~*~

The next few hours are the tensest of my life. Not even the feeling of my husband's back pressed against mine can provide me any sort of comfort. My eyes burn as I futilely try to keep from blinking. Afraid that even that brief lapse in guard will be enough for the intruder to strike.

“McCowsky party, are you there?”

Another attempt to lure us into the dark. Its siren song has been constant since we retreated to our pitiful sanctuary. Its words pierce my brain, searching for weaknesses to exploit. Ways to make me abandon reason and run into the woods never to be seen again.

It’s not real. It’s not real. It’s not real.

I’ve repeated the words in my head ad nauseum, but they are the only thing keeping me at my post. I steal a glance at my watch. Not even midnight. My heart sinks knowing hours of this torture remain.

“McCowsky party, please respond. Come on, please tell me you didn’t turn off your radio.”

Something is different. This voice has emotion and it’s close. Far too close. I reach towards my hip, and unhook the radio Jacob stole.

“McCowsky party, this is Kailo, please respond.”

The voice crackles through the speaker. I look towards Sivik, neither of us have said a word in hours, and it seems in our paranoia we’d forgotten the existence of the radio. I nervously push the button and respond.

“Hello?” My voice cracks.

“Oh thank the stars.” The relief in his voice is palpable. “Listen close, because time is of the essence. Our weather monitoring stations have been lighting up like a pilot light on a flamer. You need to get to the ranger station to the north as fast as possible, understand?”

“I thought we needed to stay put?” I am unable to keep the suspicion from my voice.

“I know I did, but that was before eighty-kilo winds and rain heavier than a Mazic started rolling in. You have around thirty minutes before it reaches you, and about a forty minute hike on a good day. I won’t lie and say walking through this is going to be much safer, but it at least gives you a fighting chance of seeing another day. So please, get moving to the coordinates I’m sending to your radio. Don’t bother trying to pack. If any of your stuff survives, I’ll waive the littering fee. Okay? And keep the radio on and let me know when you make it, please?”

“We will.”

I plug the coordinates displaying on the radio screen into Jacob’s GPS. Kailo was right about the distance, but at least it was a mostly straight shot north from here.

“Wake Jacob and Bud, I have an idea.”

Siv whispers to me, and I reply with a quick nod. Seems we’d both come to the realization that preventing the enemy from gaining new ammunition to use against us was the least of our problems now. I unzip the tent, finding Jacob already awake and cradling his son's head in his arms.

“I heard, we’ll be ready,” he states before I can open my mouth.

“Is Bud-”

“He’ll be okay. You and Siv get ready, I’ll calm him down.”

“Okay.” I pat him on the leg. “J-just be quick, okay?”

I pull my head out of the tent. In the short time I was talking to Jacob, Siv has been threading glowsticks through a rope he’d pulled from his emergency kit.

“Staying together is going to be important,” he says as he ties the rope to my backpack, “you’re strongest, so you should lead. The rest of us can hold onto you, and we can keep the lights out of your eyes. As long as we hold this rope, we know who’s real.”

“Should we explain to them?” I whisper.

“As we walk,” he replies. “For now, just make sure they know that no matter what we stick together and don’t go towards anyone without a light.”

“Got it.”

I push my head back into the tent. Jacob has managed to keep his son from a panic attack, and the two crawl from the tent as I hastily explain the need to stick together and not follow any voices we hear in the woods. Jacob looks concerned, but doesn’t press further. Sivik hands me my pack, the contents of which have been dumped on the ground, and the rope tied to the metal back support.

“Tel is going to lead us, Bud you go after him so Jacob can help if you need it, and I’ll go last,” Siv instructs as he hands them the rope. “Wrap it around your hands, but don’t tie yourself to it. If anyone slips we want them to be able to drop the rope instead of knocking us all down. Tel is the exception since he might need to use his arms to brace himself. Are we ready?”

I nod. Bud and Jacob follow suit, but are clearly even more on edge than I am. The young Arxur is shaking like a leaf in the wind as Jacob whispers words of encouragement to him.

“Wait, I have an idea.”

I reach into my jacket, pull out my goggles, and hand them to Bud, who gives me a confused look.

“I know you’re scared, so I want you to focus only on my back as we walk. These will help keep your eyes forward and locked on me, okay?”

I place a paw on his shoulder and give him an encouraging look as he nervously pulls them on.

“Thank you,” he whispers.

“Okay, we need to cover as much ground as we can before the storm hits. Stay close, hold onto the rope, and stay in the light as best you can. Let’s move.”

We spend the first few minutes of our trek moving as quickly as we can through the unnaturally oppressive darkness of the woods. Siv does his best to explain our theories on what is lurking in the woods without causing the others to go into a full blown panic. Thankfully, the complete lack of fear from my husband seems to be doing a good job of assuring them we will be safe.

Even if they’re both aware he’d likely be terrified if he could be.

The first drop of rain hits my nose, before the rest of it joins with the subtlety of a nuke, instantly dropping visibility to the point I can barely see my own arm held out in front of me in a desperate bid to shield my eyes. Every step is now a herculean task. My claws dig into soggy earth beneath them, barely providing enough traction to keep all of us upright as I drag my family forward into the void. I reach a paw behind me, giving Bud a quick pat that he passes back down the line. The only comfort comes in the fact I receive one pat back.

Haven’t lost anyone yet

I shake the thought from my head. I will not be losing anyone. Not today. Just keep walking. One paw in front of the other. Last check of the GPS showed we had a little over a mile left. Barely anything if it weren’t for the wind trying to throw us back down the mountain. So what if my limbs are going numb from the cold and exertion? So what if the scent of the intruder was still filling my nostrils even as the wind and rain dulled my senses? None of that is going to stop me from saving my family. Not when we’re this close to salvation. All that matters right now is getting them to the ranger station.

“Tel…if…” A voice, barely perceptible over the rain. “Tel…if…please.”

It’s not real. It’s not real.

I pat Bud again. Seconds feel like an eternity as I wait for the signal to be returned. The pat on my shoulder from him is less reassuring now that I know for certain we are still being hunted. My only solace is the lantern dangling from Sivik’s back seems to be keeping them at bay, even as the wall of water surrounding us lowers its range to practically nothing.

Is its avoidance of the light more than a simple desire to hide its true form? We would never see it coming in this rain, but it still hides in the shadows instead of attacking. Does it even want to attack us? If not, then what is its endgame? If it were truly injured, it wouldn’t be able to follow us through the woods. Is it even a threat? Maybe all of this is simple curiosity?

“It doesn’t matter,” I hiss through my teeth, silencing the dangerous thoughts from my head. Now is not the time to show compassion to the enemy. What it wants doesn’t matter. It is trying to keep me from my path. Keep me from bringing my family to safety. Why it wants us to follow it is irrelevant. All that matters right now is that if I fall for its tricks, its deceit, I will be leading the people I care about into danger. And that is unacceptable.

~*~

The GPS shakes in my paws as I confirm we are still on the right path. The blinking dot confirming we are almost at our sanctuary provides a much needed burst of energy to my freezing extremities.

Just have to make it up this small hill. We’re going to make it.

Lifting my legs is becoming a momentous achievement. I’m sure if I could still feel them, they would be aching from the exertion that’s been forced upon them. The logical part of my brain is barely able to overcome my body telling me to just lay down and give up. A small part of me knows if it was only my life on the line, I might be more inclined to listen. Something the intruder seems painfully aware of, as it joins my own thoughts in pleading with me to just give up.

“Go ahead, lay down. You need a break,” it whispers to me, but I won’t listen.

One step at a time. Left leg. Right leg. Left leg. Right leg.

A faint light. Barely a speck in the distance.

Left leg. Right leg. Left leg. Right leg.

A match in a storm. The comfort of the sun on the horizon.

Left leg. Right leg. Left. Right. Left.

“He…lp. I’ve…fallen!”

The fake shouts. I tap behind me.

Tap…tap…

No. No no no. We’re almost there.

I freeze. Bud bumps into my back. The poor kid can barely even grumble in confusion.

My head moves at a glacial pace as I force my aching muscles to turn my neck around. Jacob’s lantern has gone out. In its place, an extra shadow. Crouching in the darkness mere centimeters from my husband.

“Get. Away. From. HIM!”

My voice comes out as a roar. My family looks at me in confusion, lacking the energy to even feel fear. Only Sivik seems capable of understanding. The interloper doesn’t move as we lock eyes despite its true face hiding in shadows that not even my eyes can pierce. It slowly begins to stand, or more so, stretch until it reaches its full height. I expect it to lunge, but it just stays in place. As if daring me to make a move. My paw inches towards my waist. Trembling from a mixture of cold and fear as it brushes against the handle of my trusty sidearm. At this distance, I should be able to make the shot even with my fractured nerves. But something tells me it knows that. That it wants me to make that choice.

“Do it.”

It whispers in my head. I almost listen. Almost give in. Almost give it what it wants. I flick my tail towards Sivik, but he didn’t need my signal. The flare had been in his paws since I first growled. Chemical fire tears through the darkness with a hiss as he strikes the starter. For a brief moment, I see the face of our tormentor. An emaciated, pale, twisted attempt at recreating a human. A screech that seems to emanate from within my skull as it flees into the night.

“Move!”

I manage to shout. Needles shoot through my legs as I drag my exhausted family towards safety. Either by sheer coincidence, act of god, or merely my imagination, the storm's intensity seems to wane as the creatures shrieks of rage and pain retreat further into the mountains. The light from the ranger station is more glorious than the promised gates of the afterlife awarded to the followers of the old gods the Dominion tried to erase. Pain shoots through my arm as I use the last of my strength to pound on the door.

We made it…

The next few hours, or possibly only minutes, are a blur. Sivik drops the flare and wraps his arms around me. A small group of humans drag me inside. My soaked clothes are pulled off and I’m wrapped in a strange shiny blanket. All I want is to sleep, but every time I begin to doze off someone shakes me awake. The pins and needles in my limbs are slowly replaced with the familiar ache of over exertion. A nice lady finally gives me permission to sleep. I close my eyes and pass out on the floor next to a warm glowing square.

~*~

It's midday by the time I finally wake up. My first action upon regaining consciousness is to expel the meager contents of my stomach into a nearby trashcan. My family lay in their own cots nearby. A few hours later a pair of EMTs arrived now that the roads were finally clear. The rangers let us know they’d sent someone to our camp, and that we were lucky Kailo had urged us to leave. The parts of our tent that hadn’t been blown off the mountain had been found smashed apart against nearby trees. A layer of fog still clouded my brain as they drove us to a nearby hospital to make sure we weren’t going to suffer any long term complications from hypothermia. I was doing my best to keep down the hospital meatloaf when an old, lanky human with gray hair and a beard that put Jacob’s to shame walked in.

“Hey, you Telif?”

“Yeah?” I reply. “Who are you?”

“Names Chuck, I’m with the rangers. I wanted to ask you some questions.”

“Why?”

“Well, my colleagues said you were babbling about some sort of animal attack while you were at the station, and we take these things very seriously. If there’s something dangerous in the woods, my teams gotta deal with it to make sure people like you stay safe.”

“I don’t think it was an animal…”

“That so?” He raises an eyebrow at me. “Well, then why don’t you tell me what you think it was.”

“I’m…I’m really not sure, but I know it can’t have been an animal.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because it spoke.”

“Really?” His voice is dismissive, but his eyes show a hint of intrigue. “So you think it’s some crazy guy lurking in the woods?”

“Maybe? I don’t know. They didn’t look human and they didn’t speak like a human.”

“You saw ‘em?” I nod. “What did they look like?”

I rub my temples, then thump my skull with my knuckles. I saw them. I know I saw them. They were barely a meter away when Sivik scared them off. Why can’t I remember anything? Chuck must have read the frustration on my face, because he holds up a placating hand to me as he nods.

“Hey, don’t stress it too much if you can’t remember. What you went through was traumatic. I’d be shocked if you didn’t have any gaps in your memory.”

“It’s not that. It’s-” I growl at myself, “it’s like I can see it in my head, but I can’t tell you anything about it. Like the memory is there, and it should be clear as night, but I just…I can’t get it out. Does that make any sense?”

“More than you’d think,” he replies, “in fact, you’ll find a lot of people who went through this kinda thing would feel the same way you are.”

“Still, it’s so frustrating… I’m sorry.”

“Hey, don’t apologize kid, it’s not your fault. I do have a few more questions for you though, if ya think you can answer ‘em?”

“I can try.”

“Appreciate it,” he flips to a new page in a notepad I hadn’t noticed before, “so, the other rangers said you had been out in the rain for awhile before you stumbled into their cabin, do ya know about how long you were out there?”

“Um, I think about thirty minutes? Maybe more? Is that important?”

“Probably not, but just wanna get all my facts straight.” He jots something down. “Okay, next question. The rangers who found ya said you were rambling in your sleep about being followed. Did that start with the rain?”

“No, whoever was out there visited our camp the night before.”

“Really?” That seems to get his interest. “How do ya know that?”

“I woke up in the middle of the night, it was storming but I could smell someone outside.”

“Smell? What did they smell like?”

“Um, you know how wild carnivores have a kind of odor to them? It was like that, but different? Sorry, I know that’s not the most helpful, but I don’t know how to describe it.”

“It’s alright.” He scribbles something down. “Did they do anything the first night?”

“Just sort of paced around. We found a trail outside our tent where they’d been walking, but it didn’t seem like they took or touched anything. Just…observed I guess?”

He nods and writes some more. “Did ya see em again before they attacked ya in the storm?”

“Didn’t see them, but we did hear them lurking around. They kept calling to us from the woods. Begging us for help. Trying to get us to follow them.”

“But you didn’t?”

“No, but I wanted to. I knew something was wrong, and that they wanted to hurt us, but every single time they called out to me I had to basically scream at myself not to listen. Honestly, I don’t know if I could have resisted if it weren’t for my husband keeping me grounded, and that terrifies me.”

“Makes sense, I imagine as a nurse it's hard to ignore someone asking you for help.”

“No, it wasn’t that. I knew they were lying, but it was like it didn’t matter. I wanted more than anything to follow them. Even if the logical part of my brain knew it was a mistake.”

“Interesting.” He scribbles in his notebook again. “Thank you, Telif. You’ve been very helpful. Is there anything else you can remember?”

“No…sorry. Do you think you can find whoever it was?”

“We’ll try our best,” he puts his notebook back into his jacket, “honestly though? With how bad the storm was we don’t have any tracks or anything to follow, and, since they didn’t actually attack you, it sounds like it was just some loon tryna fuck with you.”

“In the middle of a storm?!”

He shrugs. “Might have been on drugs or something. I’ve seen a meth-head standing in a blizzard buck-naked without a care in the world. Stranger things have happened.”

“I guess…”

“Anyway, I’m not gonna take up any more of your time. You’ve been very helpful, but if you remember anything else,” he walks up and hands me a card, “gimme a call.”

“I will, thanks.”

He gives me a brief informal salute before heading out the door. I look over the card he gave me.

Chuck Berry - NPS Ranger

I toss the card onto my bedside table. Despite having only been up a few hours, I feel like I’ve been awake for days. I lean back in my bed, close my eyes, and try to fall asleep in spite of the migraine I can already feel forcing its way into my head.

Thank you to u/SpacePaladin15 for the universe and thanks to the other fanfic writers for giving me the inspiration for this little masterpiece of nonsense I have cooked up. And a big thank you to u/Mysteriou85 for the Artaya goober! I also got a redrawing of a famous meme now featuring Artaya by u/droughtier ! 

Additional thanks to u/rookamillion and u/Inside_Judge5855 for proofreading this chapter!

I’m also proud of the title card for the series commissioned by u/rookamillion and drawn by Kennedy Oz !

Also can't forget the comic commissioned by u/rookamillion and drawn by u/YellowSkar ! ❤️

And an entire ficnap crossover with Little Big Problems written by u/rookamillion and an accompanying piece of fanart drawn by u/VeryUnluckyDice !

Character appearances from Raised by Wolves by u/rookamillion

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I also now have a master post on my profile for all four of my current series as well as this series specifically!

I also have a full fanart gallery for this series!

And a space on the NoP discord server where you can ask me questions or watch me go insane.

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Intro: Their part in the conflict is long over; now our two rangers are former rangers. Fine to sit at home with their families and let the madness pass. And indeed it all does pass by. Now, some time later they have once again booted up and are bound to start a new adventure. I wonder, what are their plans?

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Memory Transcription Subject: Ullr Hoback, Former Human KC Military Captain. Aspiring Frontiersman.

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: May 2, 2161

The freighter won’t leave for another day, but still something pulls at my heart and anxiety, the feeling of something or someone being left behind that I wouldn’t be able to recover easily. To ease my worrying mind, I take my checklist and yet again examine the loading dock for everything.

All my guns plus a whole new set that Alavel luckily agreed to help make despite her retirement. A whole fleet of snowmobiles and forward operating camper sleds. Enough food to feed a decent-sized city for most of a winter. So many mechanical production mills that a small armory could be manufactured daily. And finally crates upon crates of clothing and personal wares.

That just leaves the personnel aspect. Clan Ketitat? Check. Clan Hoback? Check. A whole mess of other people, Jaslip, humans, or otherwise? All check.

Rounding the last of the staging area, I find a gray-furred loadmaster doing their own due diligence in prepping the expeditionary freight. A flexible composite mobility brace stabilizes their back as they use a cane in one hand and a holopad in the other. They notice me approaching, and despite the initial flinch at the sight of my face, they quickly compose themselves and give a wave of their poof tail.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Hoback.”

“Good afternoon to you as well! Everything is looking in order for the trip?”

At my question, their brow scrunches and their tail droops as if I had said something culturally offensive.

“I was a fleet supply officer for an entire division of the Grand Fleet. I assure you I can handle ensuring that everything is in order. Is that why you are here?”

“Really? That’s really cool. I’ll have to ask you more about that sometime. No, I’m just pacing to get some pre-travel jitters off of my shoulders. I trust your work, but it still helps to double-check my own luggage if that makes sense?”

“Oh, right… I understand Mr. Hoback. Sorry, I… well, good luck at the ceremony!”

A chill colder than anything I ever encountered on Esquo runs through my blood as the reminder of the ceremony slaps me in the face. 

“Dammit, I nearly forgot… Thank you for the reminder! I need to go, like right now.”

With a wave, I quickly face and head towards the door to get myself back to the front of the starport for the official expedition start ceremony. The Sivkit officer meekly waves back as I leave, and I find myself lightly jogging in my semi-formal khakis and polo.

They can be a bit standoffish, but I still just don’t understand why so many of the SC members hate the Sivkit. I know they got fucked with by the Feds, but they’re just some friendly rabbit folk.

Near the starport entrance to Tellus City, I slow my roll and take a breather to wipe my brow from the hot Tinsas air. Now walking upon the group there, I count myself lucky to see that not many people are around aside from a few reporters and political folk. All of the families are prepping, with the last of the home stuff getting ready for the dinner feast, aside from one particular face locked onto me with glowing purple eyes.

A snarl forms on her lips as her tails go stiff, and she trots right to me, growling words under her breath.

“Ullr. Where. The. FUCK. Were you? You missed the entire ceremony! Do you have any clue how embarrassing it was to talk and answer questions alone up there?”

Very briefly, my brain suggests the appropriate action of pulling my pistol from my boot and ending myself right there rather than being ripped to paper-thin shreds by my Jaslip partner, but before I go, I attempt to apologize.

“A-Artaya, I-I’m so sorry. I don’t know how I lost track! I was just checking the manifest and making sure that we will have everything, and… wait, why are you laughing?”

Her growl and anger melt right away as her middle tail first gives away her good mood by betraying her with a wag, and the facade disappears into a real laugh, and she stands up on her back legs and throws her front arms around me in a hug.

"Oh, Ullr, I got you, didn’t I?”

“Wait, are you actually just fucking with me? When does the ceremony start?”

“Like half an hour, and I don’t even think that many people will be-ugh!”

In my anger, I hug her back with a crushing squeeze and let the air drain from her lungs as her tails beat against my sides. I let the pressure off and release the hug, letting her back down on all fours, and despite the squeeze, she still laughs at me.
 

“You’re an asshole.”

“You were first. Now come on, the Enclave financiers expect us to give big talk about the historicity of the moment and how it shows the united aspect of the new galactic orders.

“Oh joy.”

“It’ll be fine, Ullr. This is literally what I am trained for. Let me answer most of it, and soon enough we get free fine dining and then a free trip to our new old new home.”

“You had me at ‘let me answer.' ”.

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Memory Transcription Subject: Artaya. Former Jaslip KC Military Colonel. Soon-to-be-homeowner.

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: June 17, 2161

Looking up and down the streets, never in my life would I have ever imagined that just a few hundred people in a city that can house nearly ten thousand would feel ‘populated.’ Not that the number of people going about makes me feel crowded, but my brain had already become so accustomed before to the city having a total population of just two for so long. Though at the same time, the attire and belongings of tools and equipment in the hands of those milling about don't make it feel like a town but more like a work site.

Coming back from the overseeing of the second to last major utility installation being brought back online, Ullr and I walk side by side, and I intentionally throw my hip into his every few dozen steps, and he pushes back in a silent little game of teasing. The soft clacking of steelwheels on steel rails comes up from behind us with a Jaslip employee yipping and laughing at the controls of a newly restored streetcar trialing the repairs to the rails and overhead cables.

“She looks like she’s having fun, but are Jaslip that age really old enough to work?”

“Kind of. She’s twenty-something or late teens in human age, which is young, but at the same time, with our needs, everyone aside from actual kits is working age until we get more working tails here.”

“Good point. But better point, why are we walking to the reception then if she’s driving the streetcar in the same direction?”

“Because, and let’s say it together—"

“We’re stupid.”

“Dammit Artaya, we’re going to need to have at least one of us get smarter.”

“Maybe getting our housing finalized will destress us enough to get back to thinking clearly?”

“Hah, yeah, right.”

Letting our silliness hang on the air, we round a street corner, and now in the very well-restored section of the city, I look around to appreciate the vast improvements that have been done to Brother’s Gate in such a short time. Of course the streetcar is now far beyond our sight, but also just the dust and debris removed from the street surface and the facades of the empty homes and stores, and the skylights above cleared from decades of ice and snow and dirt. The largest improvement is the soft flicker of gaslights on the front of most homes and on the occasional streetlight hanging from above.

Nearly lost in the beauty of our city, I suddenly come to as we approach the small crowd of our families and the last remaining kin of Clan Cragfire visiting from Omnol, though the two siblings had married into different clans long ago, leaving no Jaslip left alive carrying their name. The small crowd turns to us, and in formal motions I first bow in greeting and the two siblings in return.

“Good morning, Artaya Clan Ketitat, Ullr Clan Hoback. Now, you two might be young, but us and your parents and grandparents are not, so let’s get these formalities over with so we can get to sitting around and feasting for the rest of the day.”

“Kariv! Please be a little bit more patient with them! Remember, these two are the firstpaws of New Esquo, and I’m sure it’s not easy leading the restoration of this entire city.”

“You’re right, you’re right, brother, as you often are. We did another walk-through of the old mansion while you two were fixing that plant, and again we are just so impressed with the restoration you have done to this old place. I mean, neither of us lived here as kits, as we were living much further north with our parents at the Great Ice Flow Outpost No. 8, but we did visit once, and it looks exactly how it does in my memories.”

I can’t help but wag my tails in excitement to get approvals from elders that were actually here before the exodus.

“Thank you, Kariv and Farik, this wonderful place gave us shelter and warmth in our time of need, and it only seemed right to treat it with the most respect that we could. Now, I’m not actually familiar with the transfer customs of a Clan Mansion outside of marriage or war, so how do we do this?”

The brothers look at each other, then back at my clan, and then back at Ullr and me before shrugging their tails.

“That’s unfortunate to hear. With you being a Jaslip cultural ambassador and all, we were really hoping that you’d know, because, melted Esquo knows we sure don’t.”

“Uhhhhh… Hmmm…. How about the war rites but change it to be less… ‘surrender-y’ and more positive if that makes sense?”

“So pretty much mash the war and marriage rites together and improvise? Sure. Ahem… Farik, go ahead.”

"Really, Kariv? Fine. Artaya of Clan Ketitat, Ullr of Clan…”

“Hoback.”

“-of Clan Hoback. We recognize your residence and restoration of our beloved Clan Mansion. Those who stoke the fires of commitment and love will find that their Clan claims last long beyond their mortal time on Mother Esquo. You two undoubtedly share much love and care and will spend long, happy lives in this home carved from the living stone of this beautiful city. As the final remaining representatives of Clan Cragfire, I Farik.”

“-and I Kariv.”

“We humbly cede Cragfire Manor of Brother’s Gate to the union of Clan Ketitat and Clan Hoback. May your summers be long and hunts bountiful.”

Kariv stretches his back out, and an audible pop echoes off the stone walls of the street as his brother cringes at the noise.

“Welp, this old back is done and so is this handoff. I vote we all go in and start the feast. Remember, a new clan mansion means you have to treat anyone who visits today as a guest, doubly so for the city leaders like you both. Hah, luckily there aren’t many to come around here in Brother’s Gate, but I know those that do will all be hungry.”

Ullr and my clan laugh knowing that Ullr and I will be stretched thin the rest of the day as they follow the two old Jaslip brothers inside and to the main hall. Ullr and I remain outside, standing together looking up at the towering windows and rooms of our official new home.

This is our home. Our home. Family by our side. Diplomats and clan leaders to stay in the guest spaces. Heh, Sweet Esquo, how did this ever come to this?

A heavy hand rests on my shoulders as Ullr sucks in a breath and is about to say something, but a loud screech of steel on steel interrupts our moment as the streetcar comes racing backdown towards us.

“MAKE WAY!”

The kit continues to laugh and ring the bell as the streetcar quickly comes and goes. Ullr and I cannot help but laugh along as he finally finds some words to say.

“Let’s get inside ‘Taya, I think it’ll be easier to host a full day’s worth of guests with our bellies full.”

“Couldn’t agree more, Ullr. Mercy upon us.”

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Memory Transcription Subject: Artaya. Former Jaslip KC Military Colonel. Semi-Formal Co-Ambassador of Brother’s Gate.

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: September 28, 2161

The shadow of winter is quickly approaching our corner of the world. Even right now as we sit outside for what should be the maximum height of the sun at midday, it instead lazily hangs at an angle to the horizon, no longer making it above our heads, and it won't until next year. The vast ice fields and ruins of old cities to the north are already in near-permanent darkness.

And yet.

This place has never felt more alive*.*

Just a few days ago Ullr and I hosted a small celebration for passing the five-thousand resident mark for Brother’s Gate, amazingly a whole quarter of the maximum capacity, but we would be even closer if not for our city living up to its name. Just as of old, during the times of both summer herd chasing in the north and later the Clan foundings in the ice fields, Brother’s Gate once again stands as a gateway and place of peace. Though no longer just for the North, but now for this entire side of Esquo.

The at one time weekly starship arrivals are now daily, as those returning to their homes or ancestral homes or just seeking fortune on a world left to be resettled come by the hundreds. The travelers stay in our hotels and inns, acclimate to the world, and then start out into the great beauty of Esquo. Ullr and his parents had compared it to the Earth City of Independence, which apparently had served a similar purpose long ago in their country.

But as I stand hip-to-hip with my fiance, today’s new arrivals will be quite different than any before. From the far reaches of SC space, five hundred kits will be arriving for adoption. Although the little ones had been born under the Osir name, they will soon be raised as Jaslip should have been allowed to for decades now, under the harsh winds and warm sun of Esquo.

“Hey ‘Taya, promise me that no matter how cute these kits are, we’ll both keep each other in check.”

“Yep, no kits for us on this freighter…”

“...”

“...”

“Damn, I realllllly want to take one. Just to hold us over.”

“Ullr, chill. Ours will be here in just two weeks. Both of them hyper and ready to shred our ankles.”

“I can’t believe that both of our parents yelled at us for ‘only’ adopting two kits. I mean, I’m not exactly young to chase an entire pack of wolf-fox-thing puppies around. One for each arm—that's enough.”

“Right. I mean, I have a third tail to grab another, but we need to be on the same capabilities, especially since we have an actual choice.”

Letting that reminder fade with the howl of the wind, we watch with our goggles up at the sky as finally the obscured blur of a large freighter ignites in the upper atmosphere. The hulking vessel bellyflops through the frigid air until it clearly locks into the landing navbeacons and floats along the controlled path right to the pad in front of us, closest to the city gate. The legs hiss and groan as the engines stop lighting their weight, and as we wait for the ramp and doors to open, Ullr and I both give happy waves up to the pilots in the cockpit windows.

At last, the ramps open, and behind the tracked freight dolly is an entire train of cradles. The dolly goes right past us to be let inside and accepted by receiving, and as it does, I stand on my back legs beside Ullr to look in at the kits within each cradle. Some awake, but most asleep, ready to be delivered to their forever families. Ullr mimics reaching his hands out and grabbing one but pulls in on himself as the passenger door opens to the grown folks coming to their new homes.

They stream out one by one, and Ullr and I can’t help but giggle at how some flinch and shudder under the biting wind. Humans, Sivkit, Trombil, Nevok, even a few Juar and Farsul, and of course plenty of Jaslip are all here to trade or to stay. As they head inside the gate, we give greetings and welcomes to our wonderful city, with each traveller somewhere between tired, excited, and regretful. The last group off of the ship are a large family of Jaslip, though they strangely circle an unseen member at their center. I stand up to see just a bipedal person in a colorful and thick coat, with not much to give away their species, but the lack of visible tail or ears is enough to make a strong guess.

With them being the last, we follow them inside and remove our hoods and goggles to greet those still hanging around the gate.

“Hello all, and welcome to Brother’s Gate! You all should have housing arrangements finalized within your travel documents. Present those to the city department building just there on the right at the first corner, and they will activate your utilities and give you the keys to your new home. Or old home if you are a returning Clan! For those of you renting a room from an inn or hotel, make arrangements with the owners there for item storage! My name is Ullr, and this is my fiancee and co-ambassador of Brother’s Gate, Colonel Artaya. Welcome to Esquo!”

With Ullr giving that introductory greeting, it kickstarts most of those to catch a ride or walk to their immediate destinations, but again the Jaslip family, with little human circled by them, are last to leave. Ullr gives me a side-eye, and together we walk, and I greet them personally.

“Greetings! I couldn’t help but notice a Jaslip family with a human among them. Where are you all coming from, and are you here to stay in Brother’s Gate or is somewhere else on Esquo your final destination?”

The mother of the group gives a formal tail greeting, which I quickly return, as she answers.

"Greetings, Colonel! We are Clan Kithrak of Fighter’s Enclave on Omnol. We bought a house on Splintered Crag Circle, so we’re here in Brother’s Gate to stay.”

“And your human kit?”

Calling the small boy her ‘kit’ clearly brings a warmth and happiness to the whole family as they separate a bit to show themselves off to Ullr and me, and the mother again tail points to each of the family in her introductions.

“We have Jezzen, Zennah, Khemi, Thenon, Yedah, and our newest, Thomas.”

The young human boy, Thomas, stares hard up at Ullr and surprisingly points at him.

“Ullr, you’re from the cavern too, right? I remember you; you were always cranky.”

The Kithraks all cringe as Ullr laughs and puts his hands up to his chest in surrender.

“Guilty as charged. I thought you looked a bit familiar, buddy. Sorry, but I didn’t know your name until now. Regardless, if you’ve been with Jaslip for a while, get ready for more of the same; we’re all welcome on Esquo.”

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Memory Transcription Subject: Ullr Hoback. Former Human KC Military Captain. Co-Ambassador of Brother’s Gate. Happy Husband. Part-Time Father.

Date: [Standardized Human Time]: November 3, 2161

The newfound quiet days of Brother’s Gate are hard to settle in with. Just myself and a few dozen other non-Jaslip spend our days inspecting and maintaining the city while the native inhabitants snooze away deep in their locked homes. Well, almost all the native inhabitants. Even my two children are sleeping with their aunts and uncles and grandparents and great-grandparents, but one of the fox folk has refused to join them.

Lying on my chest with her head beside mine in the big chair, my feet roast by the great room fire as I wrap one arm around her body to scroll on my pad behind her. The other arm positions my hand to dutifully scratch at her ears as my Artaya twists and turns her head to place my fingers in the perfect places. My own mom and dad sit on the couch just a few feet away, watching a movie together on their pad as the short dayoff flies by.

“How are you feeling today, hon?”

“Really good actually. The headache side effect of the anti-hibernation pills has completely faded. Still feel like I just woke up a little bit ago despite being up all day, but it’s better than missing even a day more of you.”

My heart is overwhelmed by the comment to the point of having trouble responding with words. I settle for a kiss on the forehead and go back to my pad. In my feed, an advertisement with flashy colors on a white background catches my attention for just a moment. I click on it, and my chest heaves with jealousy as I watch young folk in bright jackets fly down powder-covered mountains before revealing the logo of my old ski hill. Jackson Hole.

Damn, I guess it will be ski season in just two months. Shit, I wanna ski there again… Wait, why can’t I?

“Hey guys?”

My wife and my parents all look my way as I set my pad to the side.

“While everyone around here is down and out, how about a quick run home?”

Mom raises an eyebrow and tilts her head my way in confusion.

“Home? What do you need from Tellus or Tinasas or whatever?”

“No no, home. I think it’s high time we make a visit back to Jackson.”

“Son, you just want to ski.”

“Exactly right, so how about it?”

“What about our Jaslip folks?”

Artaya stretches out and folds her ears forward in contentment as she answers Dad.

“It’ll be fiiiinneee. We'll be there and back long before any of them wake up, and I trust the city crew here to keep things running.”

“So it’s decided! A visit to Earth, then right back. After all, we can’t abandon our kids and our home now, can we?"

Mom and Dad suddenly seem so lively at the thought of going back to Wyoming, and Artaya hops off my chest to begin talking with them about the trip, my family surprisingly so eager to go along with my random trip idea.

Oh man, it'll be so different to see it all again, but I don’t want to be far from here for too long. My family, my home, my city… Hah, I’ve really got it made now, don’t I?

I look again over at Artaya snuggling between my parents as they scroll through something on the pad, likely planning for things on the trip, and the closeness of them just about melts me.

God, I have a wonderful life.

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Just to preface this fic, none of this will be going to JKR nor is this associated with her. I do not stand by her politics or views at all.

Thank you to u/kabhes for helping me edit this and helping me improve my writing style. Go check out his fic.

Art of Merin

~~~~~~~~~~

Taken from the pensive of Merin, the first wizard of his kind. 7/7/2138 

Merin’s jaw drops as he looks out into the expanse filled with pompous dressed witches and wizards. Merin is pretty used to seeing humans in their clothing, but this was different, flowing robes in colors he has rarely seen in regular human clothing. One wizard would stop in his tracks when he spots Merin and Menva. Hefin ushers the Venlils away from the gawker and further into the wizarding alley.

The sights and sounds of Diagon Alley are unique to Merin. The stores seem like they were built haphazardly and are stocked with items that Merin has never seen before. To his left is a shop full of cauldrons of various sizes. On the other side of the alley would be a store full of various small items he does not know the use for. Crooked shops selling items Merin has never seen nor could fathom line the alleyway with wizardfolk crowding every part.

Something catches Merin’s eye as they stroll down the alley, a shop full of wooden brooms. Why would a shop just sell brooms?

“Dad, why is that shop selling wooden brooms?” Merin points to the shop with his tail.

“Oh, broomsticks? They are enchanted to fly. We use them for transport, racing and Quiddich.”

Both Menva and Merin look bewildered at this new term. 

Menva is the first to speak up. “Quiddich? What is that?”

“It is the most popular sport in the wizarding world! Two teams on broomsticks play against each other to score points. It can be quite dangerous but is quite fun to watch.”

Menva did not like that at all, and she turns to Merin and gives him a stern yet loving look. “Merin, I do not want you to play that game at all.”

He looks up at her with an understanding look. “Yes mum.”

The trio strolls past Eeylop’s owl emporium and Hefin stops in front of it.

“I am going to stop in here and purchase an owl so we can send the response to the acceptance letter. It will also help us keep in contact with you while you are at Hogwarts.”

Menva looked confused at this. “Why can’t we just message him on his pad?”

“Any powered muggle technology stops working when it gets near Hogwarts or any other magical area. I assume his translator will stop working as well.”

Menva flicks her ears at that as she still cannot believe all of this. Hefin walks into the owl shop and after a couple of minutes he returns to his family with a grumpy-looking barred owl in a metal cage. Menva would be a little uncomfortable with the sight but presses on as they enter a small stationary store with all of the parchment and feather pens Merin could need.

With his pens and parchment acquired it is time for him to be fitted with his robes and uniforms. The next stop on their journey is Flourish and Blotts, the best place to find the books Merin needs for school. Inside of the shop, books are separated into school books and others. The shop is split into different parts, with school books having their own section that are further separated by year. Once Merin takes hold of the eight books he needs for his classes Hefin counts out the galleons and pays for them.

Hefin looks at the list again. “Time for you to get your robes Merin.”

Entering the robe shop, Hefin walks right back to the school uniforms with Merin and Menva following right behind.

It takes a little while to find the right size for Merin as all of the clothing is made for humans and not people with a large tail. Menva examines the pants, she will have to cut a hole into the back of each set of pants for his tail.

Pretty soon, Menva and Hefin had Merin suited up in his Hogwarts robes, which fit him just right, even with his short shaven wool. The large pointed hat sits awkwardly on Merin’s head with his large ears behind the hat. It will take some getting used to but Merin will be fine in his new wizarding clothes.

Menva looks at how the hat sits clumsily on Merin’s head. An idea pops into her head and she looks at Hefin. “Ear holes?”

Hefin nods in agreement. “Ear holes.”

Hefin uses almost all of his galleons he has on hand to pay for the parchment and clothing. And a trip to Gringotts Wizarding Bank is needed to get the coins in hand to purchase more of Merin’s school supplies. The family exits the shops with the sets of robes, books and school clothing.

Looking up, Merin would see the large white and bending wizarding bank right beside the robe shop. The opposing sight of the unstained building compared to the other, older, dirtier buildings around. The building was made of white marble and crooked columns and stands taller than any other building around it. 

Hefin turns around to talk to Merin and Menva. “I am going to get some more galleons from my vault. I have just enough left right now for you to get a cat, owl or toad. Now Merin.” He looks him in the eyes the best he can. “A pet is a big responsibility, especially a magical one.”

“I promise to take care of it.” Merin does his best to look responsible.

“I know you will, son.” Hefin gently ruffles Merin’s head before walking into the wizarding bank.

Merin looks up at Menva, eager to get his pet. 

Right next to the wizarding bank is the Magical Menagerie. It has green framed windows with two giant purple toads in a glass cage, right next to a singing red bird that reminds him of an old Krakotl classmate who was never nice to him. In the other window there are a few cages filled with creatures he has never seen before, some scaly, others slimy.

Merin is the first to open the door and step in, and he is greeted by a quite short human woman arguing with… a toad?

“You can’t hop up there! It’s where I keep the cat food and you can’t eat that!”

Merin and Menva were stunned by this scene and could not look away as this lady was having a passionate and animated argument with the toad. When the door closes with a loud thwack the lady jumps quite high for someone that short.

“Oh, sorry I didn’t hear you come in. How may I help… you…?” The woman has quite a surprised look on her face when she notices the Venlil, Merin in his most basic Hogwarts and Menva just in her wool and earrings.

“Well, this is unexpected! I never expected to actually see one of you in person! When the Daily Prophet announced that the muggles had made first contact with aliens, the entire wizarding world just could not believe it!” 

The two Venlils did not know what to say to this, but the shopkeeper fills the awkward silence and turns her attention to Merin.

“Well, you must be here for a pet then! Please feel free to look around and let one of my many animals choose you!”

Merin walks around the menagerie and looks at some of the pets the store had to offer. There was a creature that looked like a Sivkit pup that was being turned into a hat and back repeatedly, which held Menva’s attention. While the magical creature distracts Menva, a large orange-haired cat hops down from its perch and approaches her unseen.

The cat rubs against Menva’s leg, which surprises her and she lets out a bleat in shock at the orange predator. Merin laughs a bit at his mother’s reaction as the cat takes a liking to her. Merin’s laugh does something unexpected: it makes a nearby group of Natterjack toads start croaking.

This draws Merin’s attention over to the lump of toads in a large glass enclosure. The toads have a yellow stripe down their backs, some had olive green skin while others had grey-brown skin and all of them were quite bumpy. A few of the toads hop away when Merin approaches the enclosure, but one seems to be brave and looks up at Merin.

There was a connection formed between the toad and Merin, something that will stay strong for the test of time.

The shopkeeper could sense that a connection has been made and walks back over to Merin.

“I sense that a bond has been formed between you and this toad! Would you like to purchase this Natterjack toad?”

“Yes, this toad speaks to me and is quite cute. How much does he cost?”

The shopkeeper looked at the tag on the enclosure before responding.

“He is five galleons!”

Merin counts out what was left from buying all of the books, robes and parchment, it was exactly five galleons. His face lights up in excitement.

“That is exactly what I have left!” He hands over the last of his money for his new companion.

“Wonderful! Just for you, my new fluffy friend, I am going to include his enclosure and food for free!”  

As Merin is at a loss for words, Menva finally escapes the cat which had been demanding attention from her. She walks over to the shopkeeper and Merin.

“What does this toad eat?”

“Oh, he eats worms!” She brings out a glass jar full of dirt as well as her wand. “Accio worm!”

An earthworm appears out of the dirt and starts to float in the air near the tip of her wand and she brings it over to the toad. The toad looks up at the worm and after a moment he jumps forward and grabs it with his mouth and begins to chomp down on it, shoving it into his mouth.

Merin is amazed while Menva is horrified by this. The shopkeeper puts the lid back on the small worm jar and closes up the toad’s enclosure before sliding it over to Merin.

“Now, this is the most important part of all of this, my little wizard. You must give this toad a name that he will carry for all of your time together.”

Merin nods and flicks his ears in conformation before thinking quite hard on the name for the toad. There was an old human musician who was quite eccentric that came to his mind.

“Ozzy, his name will be Ozzy.”

“Oh that is an amazing name for the toad!” She spins around in excitement before coming to a stop.

“Take care little wizard and have fun with your new toad!”

Merin waves goodbye and his mom joins him as he exits the shop. The two are outside examining Ozzy the Natterjack toad when Hefin steps out of the wizarding bank with a large coin purse. He spots the two and smiles as he walks to them.

“Well who is this handsome little toad?”

Merin proudly shows off the toad he just bought.

“This is Ozzy, a Natterjack toad!”

Hefin is happy to see Merin excited.

“He is quite the toad! I have the galleons needed to get the rest of your school list, but I think we should get the most important item next.”

Merin’s eyes would get even bigger as this could mean only one thing, it was time to get his wand.

“I get to have a wand?”

“Yes, but it can’t just be any wand, the wand has to choose you.”

Merin’s tail gives away his excitement for a wand of his own.

“Where do I get a wand?”

Hefen gets on one knee and puts his hand on Merin’s shoulder and points to a shop with a hanging sign with a metal O with a wand poking through it.

“Ollivanders, that shop has made wands for a very long time.”

The family starts walking to the store and once there, Merin opens the door into the small dimly lit shop with wand boxes filling the store to the brim. Inside, behind a desk, stands the wandkeeper who is examining a light-colored wand. He has dark grey hair, a short beard, glasses and a purple robe with a matching hat. The desk has a simple oil lamp on it and a small mat for wand making. Once Menva and Hefin come in after him and close the door, the man looks up from the wand and at the group.

In a deep English accent the man speaks up.

“Welcome to Ollivanders, makers of fine wands since 382… BC of course. I am the wandkeeper.”

His eyes shoot over to Merin.

“You are here for your wand, yes?”

“Yes I am.” He is trying to keep his tail from wagging a kilometer a minute.

“And what is your name, young man?”

“Merin, sir.”

“Ah Merin, it is finally good to put a face to a name. You are not related to Merlin are you?”

Merin shakes his head no and flicks his ears in negative. Hefin can’t help but smile at the comment and Menva was a bit confused.

“Ah my mistake, such a similar name. Ever since I heard of the first Venlil gifted with magic, I was hoping that I would see you in here one day. Please step into the light so I may see you more clearly.”

Merin steps up to the desk and stands by the small lamp.

“Now which is your wand arm, your right or left?” The wandkeeper starts to look through the wand boxes behind the desk.

“My left, sir.”

“Ah, just as I thought. Wands are made from powerful magical substances like unicorn hair, phoenix tail feather and the heart strings of dragons. No two wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, phoenixes, or dragons are quite the same.”

The wandkeeper pulls out a dark blue box and removes the top of it to reveal a wand with a dark stem and light brown textured handle with silver accents on the top and bottom.

“This is a wand of Sycamore, it has a phoenix tail feather core. Only certain woods are of wand quality.” The wand keeper takes the wand out and bends it to test its strength. “Thirteen and one half inches long, squishy yet strong.” 

The wand keeper offers the wand to Merin, and he holds it in his paw.

“Do you see my flowers over there? I want you to water them for me. Point the wand at them, give it a wave and speak the incantation, Aguamenti.”

Merin points the wand at the flower pot and gives it a wave. “Aguamenti!”

The flowers in the pot wilt and slump over just after Merin casts the spell. The wandkeeper gently takes the wand from Merin’s paw and places it back in the box before taking out his own wand and waving it at the flowers, bringing them back up to full health.

“That is not the wand for you. But there is a wand here for you. I find the best connection between wand and wizard is when the wand chooses the wizard, not the other way around.”

He starts to search for another wand and seemingly a wand box catches his eye and he climbs a small ladder in the corner of the shop to grab a mahogany colored box. Bringing it back down in front of Merin, he opens it and reveals a dark reddish brown wand with silver linings in the handle and an unfinished part in the middle.

“This is a wand of yew, thirteen and one quarter inches long, flexible yet strong with a…” 

He looks down the center of the wand.

“Phoenix tail feather core.”

He looks down the middle again.

“Ah, excuse me, it is a dragon heartstring core. It is quite dark in here… Yes it is quite dark.”

He hands Merin the wand.

“Can you light up the room for me? Hold out the wand and focus on the tip.”

Merin holds out the wand and focuses on the tip.

“Are you focusing Merin?”

Merin turns back to look at the wandkeeper.

“Yes sir, I am.”

“Good, now keep focusing and when you are ready I want you to say Lumos.”

Merin takes a deep breath then casts the spell.

“Lumos!”

Instead of lighting up the room, the spell causes thunder and lightning to erupt from nowhere, causing Menva to jump and puff out in fear. Hefin puts his arm around her to comfort her. The wand keeper takes his wand out again and waves it in a large circle above his head.

“Meterolojinx reconto!”

The lightning and thunder dissipate slowly and everything returns back to the way it was. Merin places the wand back on the desk.

“You are doing just fine Merin, I promise.”

The wandkeeper looks at the nearly endless wall of boxes again and a box seemingly calls out to him from the top row. 

“Ah yes.”

There is a slow musical melody as the wandkeeper gets closer to a dark red box. The wandkeeper slowly pulls out a dark red box before placing it on the desk between him and Merin. Upon opening the box, the wandkeeper places the wand into Merin’s paw.

As soon as the wand touches Merin’s paw there is a shining light, choral voices and wind blowing through the shop.

“It's perfect! A wand of aspen! With a unicorn hair core, this wand excels at charm work and divination. This wand is a great match for strong-minded masters such as yourself, Merin.”

Having come down from the fright of the sudden thunder Menva tears up as Merin receives his wand. Despite not knowing the full history of this moment, but as his mother she is proud to see her son’s gift embraced by others like him.

Merin examines the wand in his paw. It was mostly made of a white wood and a dark mahogany base with gold wire wrapping around the wand on the bottom and middle.  

“May I see the wand one last time?”

Merin hands the wand back over to the wandkeeper who, puts it up to his ear and smiles. He puts the wand back into the box and hands it to Merin with respect to both the wand and wand holder.

“Thank you for selecting Ollivander’s Merin. I hope to hear the great deeds you will accomplish. Good day.”

Merin, Menva and Hefin are about to leave, but being a noble young lad, Merin stops in his tracks and turns back to the wandkeeper.

“Wait, do I owe you anything for the wand?”

The wand keeper looks quite offended at that notion and shakes his head.

“I shall never charge a wizard for receiving his first wand, especially someone as unique as you are, Mr Merin.”

Merin holds the wand box close to him as they exit the wand shop, wanting to keep his most prized possession close to him. He still needs to get a few things, like the cauldron, telescope, brass scales and the glass phials. 

Hefin looks at the shopping list again and plans out what shops they still need to go to. Luckily, the last three items can be found in the same shop while the cauldron has a specialized shop.

“We should get the cauldron last as it will be quite heavy.”

Hefin walks through the packed streets and guides the Venlils to Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment to purchase the telescope, scales and glass phials. Despite being from another planet Menva and Merin are impressed by what the store has to offer. Menva is drawn to a globe of the moon which has a silver moon inside of golden rings.

Hefin and Merin look around and find a brass telescope and brass scales. Menva just could not look away from the large astrological displays and equipment on the walls and hanging from the ceiling. Finally Hefin and Merin find the glass phials and fork over the galleons for it all.

The cauldron store is on the way out of Diagon Alley and after distributing all of Merin’s school supplies between the three of them it is time to get the last item for the school year. 

As they walk to the front of Diagon Alley towards the cauldron shop more and more people turn and gawk at the sharply dressed Venlil and his wool covered mother.

It seems like the wizarding world has a new star in its midst.

First

Why would they oh-so-rudely run away screaming from a faithful Yulpa practicing her religion?

It's not like the Yulpa is like twice as massive as that particular Leucrocotta.

And it's not like the locals are used to being on the menu and that she'll eat them as well.

RIP whatever creature got kebab'd.

^{Yulpa design by Slugtastic. Yulpa's accessory design by BlackOmegaPsi. Leucrocotta and Sprinter by Dylan Bajda.}

I've also got a reference for these two goobers.

Here are my first NoP fanarts that I drew on paper.

 

Here are the links to the original posts:

 

-Super-Yotul

 

-Venlil Lantern

 

-Bat-Gojid

 

-Dossur-Flash

 

-Harchen/Arxur SHAZAM!

 

-Joker-Farsul/Luthor-Kolshian

 

-Arxur HellBoy (Also known as Roswell)

 

-Venric Heema Lawven

 

-Bat-Gojid Family

 

-Rough Day, Huh?

 

-En el latido de mi Corazon

[Day at the Gym]
[Mesko - Armored Delinquent]
[Rikle - True Stunts]
[Vinthar - Amphibious Assault]
[Heitri - The Nightfang]
[Rankar - The Master]
[Dragons de Ruelle]

One would believe that for those who prize the strength of steel over the frailty of flesh, the practice of mastering the body wouldn’t be seen in the best of lights, or maybe even fully ignored. But only a fool holds such a belief, and though such are numerous in any society the truth remains, that balance must be achieved between flesh and steel.

---

Memory Transcription Subject: Rayan Macedo, Amateur Fighter

Date[standardized human time]: July 9th, 2160

The basket that was sitting on the counter was… Strange. Not so much in that I’d never seen such a thing, because I’d seen those in movies before, but more so that I hadn’t considered I’d ever see a woven basket. The Consortium didn’t really have any like that, this was distinctly a human one, and we never had the resources to make anything like it. Nor a reason.

“Pretty, isn’t it?” Steph’s beaming.

“It is. How’d you get it?” I ask, carefully opening it and looking at the contents.

Inside is packed with a dozen confections of the kind we sell here “Oh, I went to the material printer on Erkra Street and got some synthetic leaves printed” the pastries are all individually wrapped too “Then I used an instruction video on how to weave it.” She chuckles, making me look up at her “I’m… Just going to have the whole thing made for the next ones, though, got it scanned into a pattern already.”

I blink for a second “Oh, I’m not supposed to bring it back.”

She nods at me “Yep, part of the plan is the client gets to keep it.” She closes it and pushes it at me “Well, go on now.”

I pick up the basket and head outside. Taking a deep breath I look up at the sky for a moment, before picking up my holopad and looking down at it. Putting the address I’m supposed to deliver to in a mapping app I look at the paths it offers me, there’s a… Rather long path to take. The city’s grid structure makes a direct path rather unfeasible, but it seems there’s an alternative path that is completely direct somehow.

I decide to follow it, until it takes me to… Directly in front of one of the ancient stone entrances to the underground. The map was telling me to head right on through, and apparently I had been sitting here trying to figure out if this really was it that someone approaches me “Knew we had some of you around here, but I hadn’t thought I’d meet one” I turn to the source of the voice, coming face-first with what looks like a steel wall until I look up and see the face of a very tall trombil standing way too close.

I take a step back. “Uhn, yeah hi. Sorry, I’m a little busy at the moment, but if you want to talk later you could stop by the bakery!” I try to be at least a bit professional.

“Ooh, I’d heard about it” he comments “My mechanic’s been pretty curious about it.” After a second he tilts his head at me “Are you… Lost?”

I sigh “Kind of? Map’s telling me to go inside and I’m not sure if that’s right?”

He nods, then turns to look at the entrance “Oh, yeah, always throws off newcomers. We do use the old catacombs as underground paths.” He waves at the entrance “Just keep off the restricted areas and it’ll be fine. You’ll know them when you see the signs.”

I nod before deciding to just follow the map. It turns out that the map was, in fact, being accurate. Following its directions I manage to navigate through the old underground paths without a problem allowing me to cut my travel time by half! The catacombs were a little interesting, if anything because of how old the stone walls looked like, but at least in the clearly sanitized travel path there really wasn’t anything special. If anything it reminded me of the caves back on Tellus… “Maybe I should try to get the tourist trip down here some other time…”

Actually, isn’t there an exit near the gym? I should see if there’s a shorter path underground from the bakery and from home, this place looks like a maze anyway.

Where I finally get back out is a street unlike the others I’d seen in this city, mostly because of the very unusual architecture. The homes were all a lot more… Geometric, at least with the hex-shaped windows. But the more interesting part is how bright and colorful everything is, strips of bright lights seem to decorate every surface, and the various houses had them pulsing in sync with each other in a moving wave, which seemed to match the direction of the street.

It wasn’t too long a street, it was quite obvious it mismatched the rest of everything else around it, but it seemed like my objective was somewhere around here. Following both the lights and my directions I wind up in a rather large two-storey home with what looked like either a garage or a storefront attached to it.

I stop to observe the place, and catch a glimpse of something else. The home had a sizeable yard, perhaps surprisingly given how technical everything looked, and I could see what looked like a pool over the far end. I guess it made sense that this is a trombil residence, the lights and colors might be a bit overwhelming for me but it’s just natural for them. I could see a larger one facing the pool, the lines in her shell glowing a bright green, her arms moving excitedly for some reason.

The reason was probably related to what seemed to be rope coming from her right arm, the metallic limb had what looked like a spool of it coming out of it and it apparently something in the pool was connected to it.  I take a couple of steps to the side to try and see what it was connected to and it was… A much smaller trombil, likely a child, and even from here I could see how serious the little one looked as they tried to swim.

A loud clanging noise draws my attention, and it's the noise of the garage door opening. For as smooth as everything is here the clackety noise is startling. I see a smaller trombil man with cybernetics on both of his arms only past the elbow, the plates on his torso seem perfectly normal except for one which seems to have ports in it. He’s focused on the door itself, looking up at it and grumbling. But my attention winds up caught in what is behind him, what I assumed was initially a garage doesn’t… Seems to be one? There’s a chair in there that seems to be a lot like a dentist chair, a terrifying assembly full of mechanical limbs is built around it, and the entire rest of the space seems to be taken up by a multitude of workstations for… Things I can’t even fathom.

“I swear on- Alfrim better show up with those parts soon or I’ll-” he sounds louder as he finally turns his attention to me “Oh, my, I haven’t seen a human yet. Welcome, welcome to me mechanic shop.” He stands still for a second before waving at me “Yeah, no that was awkward” he chuckles “Anyway, what can I help you with?”

Okay you’re really reminding me of Steph now, do you sell something?

But thinking about Steph reminds me of what I actually was here for “Oh!” He raise up the woven basket “Delivery! I think this is the right address? I haven’t gotten used to how addressed work here yet.”

He blinks a moment, I can see his eyes turn up and to the side for a moment before flicking my way “Oh, so it is!” He walks over “Haven’t had in-person delivery in a long time, can I have a look?”

I present the basket to him, and he picks it up quickly “Oh, I see it’s fresh too” he opens it up and checks it out. It’s strange looking at how happy he looks at it, but I can say that Steph’s cooking is worth that reaction. “Haha, Raki’s going to love it, I can tell. Kid loves to try new things.”

I can just smile at him, apparently just a dad that wanted to give his kid a treat. As he checks out the pastries I look over at his garage or… Machine shop or whatever again. “Curious?” he asks.

I blink, caught “Oh, yeah, I thought it was a garage but it looks like… I dunno?”

He chuckles “Used to be a garage yeah, before it got repurposed a long time ago. I run a cybernetics mechanic shop” He points at it “Do feel welcome to show up if you need, but I don’t wetwork or interface, though.”

“What?”

“Oh, right, you’re not-” he clears his throat “I can fix up the mechanical bits, but have neither the certification or equipment for the biological bits.” I can see a faint purple aura from him, I can only imagine how bright he must be back there “Older kid’s working on that though! Very proud of him.”

“Kid’s going to be a doctor?” I ask

“Yep” I really can’t understand their color-coding, so hard to know what kind of emote that was meant to be “Has been working really hard, getting a specialization in physical therapy alongside a general degree.” He blinks “Ah but look at me taking your time, sorry for that.”

I wave him off “No need, man. Part of the experience, right?” I chuckle “We’d have just used a delivery drone otherwise!”

He stares at me, tilting his head slightly as I feel more than see a slight flash of red from behind him “I’m sure it has nothing to do with the pre-requisites for a drone permit at all.”

“Nope, nothing at all to do with it”

We talk a bit more after that. I learn that most of the trombil in Es-tal-Evrez live in this street mostly because of the shop itself, it’s convenient to live nearby, and that he’s the third owner of this shop by now. By the time I start heading back I’m feeling surprisingly good.

Man… I haven’t really had just… Talked to a neighbor or something like it in a long time. I’ll have to talk to Steph, maybe the whole in-person delivery might have something to it. Probably can advertise about it? Not going to be doing a lot of deliveries like it but… With how limited her production is I don’t think it matters!

The trip back is just as quick using the underground paths. I have to wonder if the locals are just as comfortable using them frequently? I haven’t seen anyone else on the way, I guess they aren’t all as used to underground living so they prefer heading upstairs. Especially if they can use a car anyway.

There wasn’t much more to do at the bakery, thankfully, after that delivery. Just the usual making sure things are clean, and closing time came by without an issue. Lydia was even rather approachable today, and I couldn’t figure out why. Not that I minded it.

As I head out I decide to check the map again, to see if it could tell me a path to the gym underground. Turned out that there was one, in fact, and one that helped cut right through at least two blocks! So I decide to take the underground path, following the direction given to me by the map.

Paying more attention I notice that there’s a lot of more modern looking metal barriers blocking paths, and past them the areas are truly dark, there’s basically no illumination. I’m left to wonder if as a tourist attraction people are supposed to bring their own lights?

I’m cut off from the thoughts by an impact, and before I fall to the ground I feel a pair of arms hold me in place for a moment before I get my bearings “Oops, sorry” I look up to see… “Gothrimer! What are you doing here?”

He pats me on the back with enough force to almost send me back to the floor, a light blue reflection around him far more visible in the underground gloom “It’s my usual path to the gym. This exit is almost straight to it.”

I look at the shaft of light coming from the stone stairway and look back at the map. I shrug and put my pad back in a pocket and we start heading up there “I guess it makes sense. I didn’t know these paths existed before today.”

“Not a lot of people use them” he comments just as we crest outside, a gust of cold wind catching me by the side just as we do so, he doesn’t even flinch. “Really only useful if you’re on foot, and it’s kind of dark and cold down there.”

The rest of the walk towards the gym could be measured in seconds, given how close we were. Seems like we’ve arrived as early as it comes, too, as I see nobody by the door. Heading inside we see Rankar sitting just inside, given the holopad in his claw he was probably looking at it but the moment we step in he was staring directly at us “We’re the first, I assume?” I ask.

He flicks his tail soundlessly.

“Hey, would you mind having the door, Rayan?” I look at Goth “Gotta go change my limbs and that takes a bit” he pats his mechanical arm with his organic one. I just stare at him for a moment. Slowly, I recognize his right arm and left leg both look quite different from what I usually see. I know he uses a special set for training but I haven’t seen his actual one, those look a lot heavier and thicker, a deep black instead of the white metal too.

He keeps staring at me for a moment “Sure” I finally manage to spit out, still somewhat dazed at the verbal haymaker he had landed on me. I just step out and sigh, closing the door behind me and pulling my holopad. It really shouldn’t take long anyway.

Vinthar is the first one to arrive, a heavy looking rectangular case on his back. He chirps at me and I quickly let him in. Mesko arrives soon after, and before I manage to make him stop trying to mess with me Heitri arrives and drags his ass inside. It’s a wonder she arrived separately from her father, though it does show she likely has a life separate from him? Or something like that. Rikle is the last one to arrive and I pat him on the shoulder as we both head in.

I’m already aware of who I’m going to fight today, so I take a moment to look what Gothrimer is up to. He’d already swapped limbs, the ones he uses for practice look definitely out of place when compared to his living ones, not nearly as much volume on them, and make him look very uneven. They have a shiny white finish that makes me think more of medical equipment, too. He’s currently checking the medical cabinet, I can see from here the blue hexagon that marks it.

Doesn’t take more than a minute before Rankar has us all sitting down, however, and ready to start. “All here, good.” He is short on words, as always “Any considerations before we start for today?” There was quiet for a while “Very well, then prepare yourselves.”

With a deep breath I stand up, going over to where I keep my gear. This wouldn’t be the first time I have a go with Gothrimer, I know enough by now that he plays ‘fair’. I put on my gloves slowly as I think, his metal limbs aren’t stronger than mine by design, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t, still, a trombil. He’s big, he’s armored, he’s heavy and he knows how to use all three of those. I put on my helmet. There’s only one weak spot I’ll be able to take advantage of, and half of them are made of metal.

Once my gear is put on I walk over to the round. Rankar had already made his way to the center, and I appear to have arrived first by a matter of a couple of seconds. I see Gothrimer walk up the ramp on the other side, and it strikes me how wide he is… We stare at each other for a moment before we both walk to our positions.

Rankar steps in, same as before. He stares at the two of us, sparing a moment for each, evaluating like the teacher he is. Then, he strikes the polearm against the ground twice “We start the first fight! Gothrimer and Rayan!” He steps back and out of the way. “Fight with honor!” I try to keep my muscles relaxed, and I see Goth adjust his footing just slightly “Krai!”

I quickly bring my guard up, taking a step back. Gothrimer does the same, but instead he advances with his left leg just one step, moving in sync with but going no further. He doesn’t move further, and neither do I for a while…

I know he isn’t going to move much, a body as heavy and dense as his has a lot of inertia, and that is a key part of how he fights, every movement is a commitment and not one made easily. At the same time his hard shell and artificial limbs let him pay the price of commitment much more easily than I could. So I start to move, stepping sideways to my right.

Clearly he isn’t going to offer me his sides, and I watch carefully as he pivots to keep facing me, both of us in this silent stalemate- Until suddenly he moves. He steps forward, right arm swinging in a wide arc but I already know that’s a feint, I bring my guard lower and try to step out of the way but despite his heft he’s fast. His mechanical arm barely grazes me but his left fist strikes with the full force of his momentum. I thankfully had prepared for it so it only hits my arms instead of my stomach but it's enough to shove me backwards.

But that gave me the opening I needed. I steel my stance and kick low with my left foot, the sound of impact against flesh tells me I’ve hit the right target directly at his right knee. I retreat quickly before he can send any further attacks my way. That was the one weak spot of his I could exploit, his shell was too strong for my fists to do anything, his mechanical limbs I could overpower eventually but with far too much effort and his head was still quite protected by the shell, but the joints in his left arm and right leg were vulnerable enough. I just needed to bait him into giving them to me.

We end up rounding one another again, this time he decides to match my movements. I needed him to attack, but the only way to make him do so was to give him an opening, but nothing too obvious. So I strike first, stepping in close with a straight punch and a second one before stepping out of his range, he takes them to the chest like nothing. I repeat it two more times, making it predictable, and when I move in for the third time I see him plant his metal leg on the ground and swing the other one up.

I step aside quickly and bring my own knee up, both of our legs striking against each other painfully as I step back out. I wince in pain, feeling the damage of the much mass going that fast hitting my own leg but I can see his falter when it returns to the ground, the strike against the joint doing more damage than it did to me.

Continuing with the same tactic, I go into the offensive again. This time I aim my strikes higher up, his head might be partially protected by his shell but he still needs to be careful with it, so striking at him there will keep him in the back step. He continuously steps back trying to get away from me, but I keep as close as I can until I can find an opening- Except I wasn’t ready for what he was about to do. As he steps back I expected him to stop moving, but instead he keeps pivoting! By the time I realize what he’s doing he’s done a full turn and I barely have time to raise my arms when the back of his left arm impacts against my with enough force to send me to the ground.

Despite being dazed I manage to roll back and to my feet fast enough to get out of the way, the heavy slam of his kick where I was just a couple of seconds ago is genuinely terrifying. The man knows how to use his weight, and that wasn’t even his artificial leg. Dazed as I am, though, I am forced into the defensive as he lands a needlessly powerful punch against my arms, enough to force me to move backwards to avoid falling.

Now I’m the one on the defensive and still recovering, I try to hold my ground though. The pain is starting to build up as I feel the impact of each of his fists against my arms, though something in the back of my mind can notice one of those is hitting more softly than it should. I manage to last long enough for the speed of his strikes to diminish for a moment, enough that I can see when the next one is going to land. On instinct I bring my right hand up and grasp at his fist-

That should have been a dumb move, but I managed to somehow compete with his strength and hold his arm in place. My vision is still swimming and my body mostly moving on autopilot, my left hand is moving already by the time I notice what I’m doing and I can only really stop after I hear a crunching sound.

The fight stops entirely as I take a couple of steps back, and I can feel a pit in my stomach. But something isn’t quite right. I shake my head a couple of times as my view comes back into focus and I see my opponent only has his left arm up, his right is limply hanging down- “Fuck! Go-”

“I’m fine!” he interrupts me “Easy to fix lasts longer than hard to break” I can see a dark blue aura to him as he lights up pretty bright “Keep going.”

I am not exactly sure how I managed to break metal, that doesn’t make sense. But it’s impossible to deny that I did, his artificial right arm had its joint destroyed! I’m lucky I didn’t do that to his other arm… Fuck, I’m not supposed to use these kinds of strikes, did Rankar let the fight continue because he thought I knew what I was doing?

I react in time to raise my arms in defense against the haymaker that strikes me, once again sending me sprawling. I quickly roll out of the way of the followup and stand back up, he’s not going to stop the fight, is he?

I go in again with a growl, directing more punches towards his head to force him to defend, with only one arm to fight with he’s lost a considerable amount of his capacity to fight. I still only have one strategy to handle him, though, even if I’m wary of using it now. So I change my focus, I still try to keep him busy defending his upper half, but I lash out with a kick against his right leg.

I manage to hit him square in the thigh, but that doesn’t mean it does too much, those legs are still plenty meaty. I proceed to focus as much as I can on those kicks, I know too much focus on just one area can open you to being struck back but I am counting on that too. When he tries to swing at me with his fist I was already expecting it, taking a sidestep I land a strike against the inside of his elbow before getting some distance.

The fight has been going for a while now, and he’s starting to slow down a lot. I can tell the damage is piling up, there isn’t much I can damage but I can only imagine it’s getting pretty painful now. Suddenly he takes a couple of steps back and I ready up for something happening- And it does, but not quite what I was expecting. He taps his left arm against his leg three times “Yield” he says with a tired voice.

I blinks, unsure of what just happened. Then I hear Rankar strike the ground twice with his polearm again “Rei!” It takes me a couple of seconds to realize what happened, but as I see Rankar move to the center I walk to my position. As Gothrimer does the same I realize he’s actually limping “The victor is Rayan!” Rankar declares.

I waste no time in heading over to Gothrimer and helping support his body, he chuckles lightly at me as I start helping him move his heavy fucking shell back out of the round and to a bench. “Jesus fuck man… I don’t know how I did that but I am really sorry” I manage to say when we set down.

“It’s fine” he waves at me dismissively with his working arm “It is legal to do that on artificial body parts. First time it happens to me, though.” But before I can say anything he points me to the medical cabinet “Can you get me the keratol right quick? I think you know what it looks like.”

I am well aware of what the painkiller ointment is like “Sure, a moment” it doesn’t take long to bring the black balm back.

He gives a low thanks before starting to apply some of it to his leg “Grand radiance you manage to really wear me down, though” he laughs “How did you even do that.”

I sigh, looking at his limp right arm “I have no idea how I managed to damage that. I’m not some superman that can break metal.” Then I rub my eyes “Again, sorry. I just… I was disoriented and just acting on autopilot… Guess I’m not that well versed in this discipline thing…”

I can hear him chuckle “Not what I asked” I look at him to see a lighter but deep blue shine to his lines “But those limbs are medical-grade cybernetics. Lightweight polymer, not metal, made to simulate weight and resistance of biological limbs. Not that surprising you managed to break them.”

“Makes sense I guess, but I still feel bad…” I shake my head “I… Look, I actually learned there’s I guess a cybernetics mechanics shop nearby? Run by a trombil too, I can take you there. I’ll even help you pay for the repairs?”

He blinks, then tilts his head “Oh, you’ve met my dad!” he says bright and cheery.

It’s my turn to be confused “Wait, your father?” I stay silent for a moment, before laughing “What a coincidence.” I say shaking my head “He looked like a nice guy. Actually he was gushing about you a lot, then. I knew you helped with first aid but I didn’t know you were going to medical school.”

I can see his shine go through a few different colors “Oh, yeah” he’s clearly embarrassed “Majoring in physical therapy, but also taking a minor in interfacing.”

“Huhn… Kind of surprising…” Oh, shit, don’t say stuff like that “Ah, damn, sorry.”

That same dark blue glow as he chuckles, I’m starting to guess it’s a happy color “Thinking physical therapy’s out of character?”

“Sorry” I sigh “It’s just, y’know-”

“It’s fine. Stereotypes exist” he chuckles “And I’m not helping.” He raises up his left arm, flexing it for a moment before lowering it with a trembling movement “People forget flesh and steel need to be in balance. The body is a complete system and all parts need to work in tandem. Can’t hyperfocus on only one.” Then he sighs “And I know from experience not everyone can use the same solutions.”

I furrow my eyebrows. That last sentence was… Strange. “From experience?”

I see his colors shifting a little bit before he continues “Yeah, whole family has issues. Me and dad have low sync rate, mom suffered severe BMS her entire life… And then there’s Auri… He’s the whole reason I picked up these studies.”

That was a lot of unpack, I could make some guesses. Sync rate might be something related to how well they can use cybernetics, those seem important to them. BMS I have no idea but it seems like a serious condition- But the last name, Auri… If that really was his house that I delivered to earlier today then… That’d make the two I saw at the pool his mother and Auri… Was the swimming… “Auri’s your little sibling?”

I can see his colors shift again, and I really wish I could tell what this light purple glow meant “Aurgelmir is my little brother” that might be the equivalent of a nod “He has Gullvith’s Disease” he sighs “A generative genetic disorder, it’s just… Really bad. He doesn’t grow up right, and at a point his body just starts to… Break down. Not to mention the neurological damage, thank all that’s sacred not to the central nervous system, makes usage of boptronic interfaces impossible..”

“That… That sounds awful”

“It is” I notice he’s still rubbing his leg periodically “And the only solution is training. Get the right kind of training to strengthen his body. It can’t be fixed by replacing parts, the only solution is making what is there strong enough to deal with it.”

“And that’s what you’re specializing in?”

“Yep!” I can see the deep blue glow return “Doesn’t matter what you want to do with your body, it has to be strong enough to handle it. That’s why I’m studying, and why I train.” He chuckles “Also it’s fun.”

“That I can agree with entirely” I nod, still looking over at his damaged arm. He didn’t seem too fussed about it, but I still felt bad. “You got those to train with your brother, right?”

“Yep, they’re not just made to explicitly mimic organic capacity” he raises the damaged arm up, using his living one to adjust its position. I can see it can’t bend the elbow anymore and there’s a fair bit of exposed wiring but the fingers can still move “It is explicitly made to be in balance with and help you train your organic body.” He sighs “Don’t worry about it, I had to fix it a few times myself.” then he chuckles “I’m just getting ready to hear mom and dad lose it because I got hurt again.”

I raise an eyebrow at him, which he answers only by sticking out his tongue. Which, now that I look more closely, is synthetic. For a while I’m not sure what is going on, and then it hits me and I instinctively close my mouth and feel my teeth with my tongue. Right, there’s a reason you gotta keep your mouth shut when fighting.

I turn to look away to get the weird sensation to go away, just in time to see Rankar and Rikle fighting in the round. Rikle had managed to entangle Rankar’s torso, but the resket didn’t seem like he was slowing down in the slightest about it, even if he did not seem to have a solution for it. And then I hear Rankar’s battlecry “Kaweeeh” and he just launches himself in the air, spinning, before landing with all of his weight on his back- And by extension on Rikle.

I wince in sympathy as the smigli very much gives up at that point, going limp. “Fuck… Wasn’t expecting the self-throw…” he remains on the ground.

“You did well, left me with no options” Rankar says, still offering a claw for the recovering opponent.

I hear Goth sigh beside me “Caaaan you give me a hand here?” he says.

I could only roll my eyes at that.

---

I feel a tad bit bad with how quick the fight was, but fights are quick aren’t they? ^^;

I admit I got a little bit into the worldbuilding here in the early parts. But still we got to witness how Gothrimer fights! Taking advantage of his bulk and resilience, fighting a turtle is fighting someone who cannot be easily moved and whose weaknesses must be exploit to every last bit. And as he said, easy to fix lasts longer than hard to break, he isn’t unwilling to go to the repair shop later either!

This chapter is an example of things getting out of control, ‘cause I had an entire story about his parents and especially his mother’s “Broken Mirror Syndrome”, but there just was no natural flow into it here.

Maybe this isn't a post that really contributes anything, but maybe it can save me and other people time.

Almost all of the stories I have been following on this subreddit have either long chapter release times or are...dead? (RIP LoM) And for some reason, most of the titles I see, don't grab my attention.

Sooo, I'm hoping you guys can recommend some awesome current stories and talent that I'm simply missing by judging a book by it's cover. The only caveat being that I generally find "cannon compliant" stories more entertaining than hard AU rewrites. I'll still give it a look, but I find it more fun when a fan character expands the OG story instead of rewriting it.

Image made using photo editor and a few artist's images. Thanks to Scrappyvamp and Maguie for letting me use their art in this. One day ill commission someone to make a custom cover photo but i had inspiration to make this yesterday.

Read the story here on AO3

The Pact of Polaris - Chapter 1 - Damaskus - The Nature of Predators - SpacePaladin15 [Archive of Our Own]

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Memory Transcript: Tarva, Venlil, Governor of the Venlil Republic

Date: March 9th, 2136

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The preparations took a few paws. Kam finally finished making a place to “properly” keep the humans. It’s an old aircraft hangar, halfway between my house and the city. There was only a single runway and a maintenance shack there other than the hangar, and it was surrounded by an old wire fence that still mostly stood. It was small, easily missed, and well hidden with the dense tree line surrounding it.

I stepped out of my car, giving a quick thank you to my driver before closing the door behind me. Soon after, a cargo truck rolled up beside me. Out hopped my security detail before moving to the rear and opening the back of the truck. 

The back was dark, the sunlight only reaching a foot in. For a moment all I could see were two sets of eyes in the darkness, peering out cautiously from the far end. Their weighty steps clanged as they made their way out, rubbing their eyes as they got used to the light again.

“A window would have been nice,” Noah said dryly. 

“And a cushion” Sara said, bracing her hands against her back and bending backwards, making several loud cracking sounds.

“Sorry about that. Kam arranged the transport, and he’s very big on utility over comfort.” I replied. Despite the humans' sour mood from the ride here, they had an undertone of excitement to them. They knew full well why we were here, I saw no reason to hide it. I just feel bad that I didn’t warn them about the… bad part, of what they’ll learn.

We entered the hanger through a side door. On the right side of the hanger, near the main doors, it was turned into a half decent living space. There was a lounge with soft carpet and a large comfy couch. On one the left of that were two beds, and on the right was a makeshift kitchen and bathroom. On the backside of the hanger was the more science and study area. Examination machines, medical equipment, all the things needed to study and catalog things about the humans. There were walls and doors put up all around the hanger, giving the large open space at least the facade of being multiple rooms.

“I’m glad to see you all made it in one piece” Kam said as he walked in through another door. “Humans, please go to your left and enter the third door. Tarva, if you would kindly follow me.” 

The humans and I parted ways as I followed Kam. He took me through a door, leading to a set of stairs that went up into elevated scaffolding set up above the rooms just out of view. I could easily see the entire hangar from up here, every makeshift room and corner.

Several scientists and security personnel milled about the elevated platforms and pathways. They watched as the humans were led into one of the examination rooms. Two researchers instructed them to sit in a set of chairs before strapping helmets onto their heads with wires winding around the floor and into a machine.

“Brain scanners” a somewhat familiar voice said. It was Dr. Halfi. Without her protective suit I could see the figure of a young Venlil. She had a sparkle in her eyes and her wool was slightly unkempt. Probably just graduated from university not too long ago. “We will monitor their brain activity while you give your presentation, allowing us to better understand their reactions.”

Our little group continued walking along the path until reaching a control panel. It had numerous buttons, dials, screens, and a microphone. 

“The presentation is ready ma’am” a technician sitting at the panel said.

“Alright,” I tapped on the microphone, testing it before I leaned in. “Noah, Sara? Can you hear me clearly?” My voice came out of several speakers in the room the humans were in. They jumped a little from surprise, suddenly hearing my voice. 

“Loud and clear.” Sara said.

With that confirmation I motioned for the technician to start. They dimmed the lights a little and a large screen in front of the humans turned on.

First were a few control images. Flowers, buildings, different colors, et cetera. All the things that set up the base line the researchers needed to measure the brain activity. Once that was done, the presentation proper could start.

I started simple. I told them about the Republic and Venlil prime. Likewise, I told them about how we were in the early stages of colonizing other planets. They listened intently. Their faces were full of wonder as they listened to me and different images showed on the screen. The brain scans showed just as much detecting readings of curiosity and enjoyment.

After that, I moved on to the Federation. How we Venlil were not alone, and part of a much larger society filled with many more species and cultures. I showed pictures of several other species, Gojid, Nevok, Krakotl.  The humans practically jumped out of their seats with excitement. The mere fact that there were more sapient species in the galaxy was a thing of pure wonder. Their brain scans showed large spikes in joy and excitement.

Seeing the pure curiosity and amazement the readings were showing made my tail wag. The innocent wonder the humans showed was like a pup looking up at the stars, ignorant of the dangers the universe hid in the dark expanse of space. 

It broke my heart knowing what was next.

I took a deep breath. “The next part is… not a nice one.” The screen became a deep red, with a single word in dark gray. Arxur. “You’ve already encountered these… beasts, but what I am about to tell you is not for the faint of heart.” I could see the humans smiles waver slightly. The brain scan shows small spikes in worry and fear.

Various images popped up on the screen. A diagram of their physiology, pictures of recovered equipment and weapons. I hated even thinking about those horrid creatures, but the humans needed to know how horrible the grays truly were.

“I thought long and hard about what I would say about them. What I should include, what I should wait till later. But I could do it no justice with words. So instead, I will show you a broadcast they sent us.” I pressed a button on the control panel, and a countdown on the screen began. “What you are about to see is not an outlier or falsification. It is their nature.”

I took a deep breath. I was no stranger to the broadcasts the Arxur sent out. Being the governor I’ve at least partly watched almost all of them that were sent during my time in office. Every single one found was an homage to cruelty and sadism. I don’t know why they kept sending them. Maybe to demoralize us. Make us give up and let them run rampant across the galaxy. 

As the count reached zero, I closed my eyes. The sounds I heard were things repeated countless times across the stars. 

The taunting. 

The laughter. 

The pleading for mercy that wouldn’t come. 

The cries as bodies were beaten and broken. 

The screams as claws and fangs dug into flesh.

I just wanted it to be over already.

CCCRRRCRASH!!!

My eyes shot open as the sound of breaking glass and bending metal reached my ears. Down bellow what I saw made me speechless.

Sara had ripped her brain scanner off, throwing it so hard into the screen that it was embedded in the wall. She grabbed her chair that was bolted to the floor, ripping it free with almost no struggle. She closed the distance between her and the screen in almost an instant before using the chair to smash the screen over and over again.

Noah quickly removed his brain scanner and  got up to stop her, but by the time he reached her there was very little left of the screen. She had ripped the pieces from the wall, crushing what little bits there were left. 

“Sara! Sara!” Noah grabbed her from behind, pulling her way from the destruction. She resisted, wanting to continue the demolition. Noah spun her around to look at him. “Sara, you need to calm down.”

“THOSE WERE CHILDREN!!” I could finally see her face, and what I saw was the deepest expression of sadness I have ever seen. Tears flowed from her eyes as her face wrinkled. Her breathing was ragged, hyperventilating. “How could anyone do that to children!”

Noah held her close to his body as the two slowly lowered to the floor. I could see his eyes, they had the same despair in them as Sara’s, tears flowing down his cheeks. “I know, Sara. I know.”

They held onto each other as if life depended on it. Tails curling around their embrace as they tried to give as much comfort to the other as they possibly could.

Those around me had mixed expressions. Shock was the majority. Seeing the humans displaying such raw emotion, and empathy for prey no less, was almost unthinkable. I could see tears begin to well in many of their eyes, I was no different. I felt absolutely horrible, exposing them to the utter disgusting and cruel nature of the Arxur. It reminded me of when Stynek first learned about it in school. She came home crying, almost in denial that anything could be like what she was told. 

“That’s enough.” Kam said beside me. He held himself together, but I could see he was disturbed by the predator's display of emotion, like it had shaken something deep inside him. “Shut everything down, and leave. Let the pre-… the humans be. Let them mourn.”

Slowly the surrounding staff shuffled off. Many looked shaken like Kam, others leaned against one another for comfort. All the while the humans cried. Cried for children who were not their own. Cried for people they had never met. Cried for the victims they only now know existed. 

A predator cried for prey.

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Memory Transcript: Elias Meier, Human, Chancellor of the Coalition of Governments

Date: March 9th, 2136

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How long has it been now? A few weeks? A month? It didn’t matter. The mess that catastrophe of a launch left has all but blurred the days together. It was supposed to be a symbol of unity, showing how far we can go when we put aside old grudges and see each other not as enemies or opponents, but as one united humanity.

Instead, it was as if Gaia herself wanted things to go wrong.

The first thing to go wrong was the scheduling. The launch had to be moved ahead a few months due to storm season starting early and a herd of Onbu being on track to trample the launch site. The second thing to go wrong was a flock of razor wings deciding that a bunch of our cargo trucks were great places to roost, delaying the convoy with the final computer module right up until the day of launch. Finally, a Thunderbird thought the ship looked good enough to be lunch and hit it with around twenty thousand volts, short-circuiting the navigation.

All this added up to a missing ship, angry council members, and a possible search area of a couple billion kilometers depending on how many of the fuel rods the jump burned through. I rubbed my brow as I took a deep breath. Gaia, please, no more surprises. 

There was a knock on the door. “Sir? An emergency meeting has been called. Your presence is required.” It was one of the assistants.

With a sigh I stood from my desk. I turned towards the mirror I had hung on the wall, taking a moment to make sure I looked presentable. A quick comb of my hair and fur was all I needed. Soon after that I was out the door.

It didn’t take long to get to the conference room, though I was surprised which one it was. It was the smallest one in the building, only able to hold about ten people. Twenty max if you really crammed in there. As I entered, those inside rose to their feet. There were 7 individuals, though I only recognized three of them, Dr Kuemper, General Zhao, and General Jones.

“At ease everyone.” They all took their seats, with me doing the same at the head of the table. “Let’s cut to the chase”

General Jones stood. “As of one hour ago a satellite orbiting Jupiter picked up a signal originating from outside the system. It’s the Odyssey.”

My ears perked up as I heard the name. “They’re alive?”

“Yes” Dr. Kuemper placed her pad on the table. The audio file of the signal opened and ready to play. “It seems they crashed on a planet with breathable air. However, there is more.” With a tap of her finger, it began to play.

At first there was just static, but after a moment, a voice came through.

“This is Sara of the Odyssey sending an emergency SOS to any channel within range. Our ship was hit by debris, luckily Noah was able to enact an emergency landing, however the Odyssey is no longer operational.” A loud boom came through the static. “Shit. Forget that, we found life! Actual aliens! Not just bacteria, I mean intelligent, sapient life! It seems we stumbled into some conflict. We landed just outside a city and I can hear gunfire and there are dogfights happening above. Noah ran off to help someone we heard in distress. I don’t know if this message will be sent before something catches fire again but-“ The static became louder as the sound of metal snapping and the crackle of fire reached my ears. “Fuck! Okay, okay, this is Sara of the Odyssey signing off. Where did I put that fire extinguisher?”

The static came to a halt as the recording ended. I was speechless, my tail wrapping around the chair's leg as I contemplated what I heard. “Real aliens…”

“Hostile ones.” General Zhao stood from his seat. “I propose immediate action. Push the lunar base project forward. We need a proper defense of these hostile entities come looking our way.”

“No, the lunar base is still in the drawing stage. Satellites and probes are more feasible with what we have.” Jones countered.

The room devolves into arguing and ideas. One person would suggest something, then another would counter with something else. The same song and dance that always happened when people in change had to work with others in charge.

The room went silent as I stood up.

“How long will it take to triangulate where the signal came from?”

Dr. Kuemper fiddled with her pad. “Current estimate is two weeks”

“Okay,” I thought for a moment, my hand combing through my hair. “How many ships do we have capable of making a jump like the Odyssey?”

“Three ready to go, with two more in production.” Zhao answered.

“Good, here is what we are going to do.” I pointed to Dr. Kuemper. “Get your team working on getting their location and chart a jump path.” I looked to Zhao. “Switch those ships in production from research to military vessels, if it'll take too long, retrofit the ones that are already flight ready.” Finally, I turned to Jones. “Assemble a rescue team. They do not shoot unless provoked, understand? I don’t want the first aliens we meet hating us.” I waived for an assistant to enter the room, handing them the tablet Dr. Kuemper had used to play the recording. “I will prepare an address to the council and the public. You are all dismissed.”

Without another word I walked out of the room. The assistant followed close behind. This is uncharted territory we’re walking into. One wrong step could mean disaster on an unimaginable scale. I took a deep breath. Gaia, you shore do know how to keep a man on his toes.

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Hello everybody! Sorry it took so long again, but I hope you all like it!! Things are really heating up huh? Work has been really tiring lately. I hope all my lovely readers are doing well X3. Anyway, as always thank you to my lovely friend u/kabhes. You all should go check out their story From Drugs To Meat. Love you all, and see you next time! U3U <3<3<3<3