Fate's Encounter

Chapter 26: I Can Be Your Hero Baby

I polished the fruits off and crawled out of the bed determined to find where to put it. I never left dishes in my room and I wasn't about to. Xai'an said this was my ship too, after all. I needed to learn the layout.

My hand found the pad to open the door and when it opened with a 'whish' I half expected Baaul to come running out and tell me to stay inside, but he didn't. He wasn't even around.

There were two options for me to go. Left or right. I vaguely remember going left to the control room so I chose to go left. The hallways were tall arched metal with beautiful etchings that I recognized as their language. I wonder if Xai'an would teach me to read it?

The floors were a solid glossy metal like silver, but not quite. Maybe steel? I wasn't sure because I had never seen steel have those red swirls of color to it before. It was probably an element not from Earth.

I followed the hallway for quite a distance without a sign of any other room and I suddenly wondered if the doors were simply hidden like the closet had been? It would make sense. Surely a ship this big had more than a damn bedroom, bathroom, and cockpit…

With a sigh I started to give up and turned around, smacking face first into Baaul. I jumped, screamed, and threw the platter at him which clattered loudly to the floor after bouncing uselessly off his chest. I wasn’t proud of it. Especially because I knew he was laughing at me. "You fucking scared me! Jerk!"

Even though he was the shortest of all of the Predators I had seen, he still towered over me. I watched him bend down to gather the platter in his hands and hand it back to me. 

"What are you looking for?" He asked. His accent was also less severe than Xai'an's. It made me wonder why. Had he just not been around humans much? Did he find our languages a chore? Another thing to ask him when he got back.

"Oh, uh, I'm looking to put this up. I don't like leaving dishes where I sleep. This is my first time exploring and Xai’an always took this stuff with him before." I held up the platter as if he needed a reminder.

"Follow me. I will show you." He was careful to avoid touching me as he passed me. With his stride I also had to kind of jog a little to keep up with him. I didn't mind. I needed the exercise after being bed bound for the last few days. 

"Yours and….Yerin'an's accent isn't as heavy as Xai'an's. Do you guys visit Earth more often?" I knew I said I was going to ask Xai'an, but I was curious. Sue me.

"Xai'an is our greatest warrior despite his filthy blood. He hunts specifically for our clan leader. It rarely takes him to Earth." Baaul stopped in front of the wall and placed his hand out to it. There was a hiss of air, and a door slid open.

"Xai'an isn't filthy. Please do not insult him around me." Friends or not, I wasn't going to tolerate people saying bad things about him. 

"It is a fact. Though he can not help it. It is a fact." He walked inside after reaching for the platter I had. I gave it up willingly so I could look around. This room somewhat resembled a kitchen. The only reason I thought that was because there was a flat table in the center and a large glass door in the wall that looked like an oven. 

Baaul walked across the room and fed the platter through a hole in the wall. He motioned to it. "This will sanitize any dish. The hole will adjust to any shape automatically. Doors will be marked with red letters of our language above."

I appreciated the helpful guiding tips but I was still focused on our conversation of Xai'an. "What is also a fact is that he is just as much one of you as the rest of you. I understand your culture's ways are to hunt things. Kill them and bring stuff back for the honor of it, but there are rules. Xai'an has never broken a rule, has he?"