Unlikely Bonds

Chapter 12: Volok

***AUTHORS NOTE***

ARTWORK IS NOT MINE NOR AM I ASSOCIATED WITH THE ARTIST TAGGED. ALL CREDIT GOES TO THE ARTIST.

***END AUTHORS NOTE***

I don't know what I expected him to do with his full day with me, but sitting in a massive tree sharing fruit was not what I had in mind. The fact that he even ate fruit was enough of a shocker because no Yautja other than me, ate it. They were strictly carnivorous.

The little purple fruit was an odd flavor combination. At first it was warm on your tongue, almost hot and then it melted away into the most refreshing sweetness. It was the best fruit I've ever had in my life.

Before making it to this tree, Volok had led me through the trees to gather the fruit. It allowed me the ability to take in more of what this planet had to offer. Unlike Baaul, however, Volok didn't get annoyed when I stopped to stare. He not only let me take my time, but he'd explain things to me.

Like when he noticed I was enthralled with a large insect with beautiful powdery wings. I reached out to touch it, but he shooed it away and warned me that though they are beautiful, they were very poisonous. In their mating seasons, which was once every 15 years, they would have to be very careful going out because they would become viciously territorial and swarm anything that had a pulse. Otherwise, they were solitary creatures who were harmless to those who knew not to disturb them.

Then, also, when I stopped to look at a herd of grazers. The majority of them had orange fur on long muscled bodies and red hooves. But there was one that had six legs, opposed to four, a wild rainbow mane around it's long neck and large crystal antlers. The sun caught them at just the right angle as we passed to throw a rainbow of light onto the forest floor. They were absolutely beautiful and some of the most majestic creatures I've ever seen.

Volok had told me they were called Giarian. Herbivores. The ones with the antlers were the alpha males and one led a pack of females. Those crystal antlers were not only valuable due to its appearance, but also due to its chemical makeup. Apparently, they were a fantastic energy substitute because they could absorb the sun's rays ten times better than the more abundant source that could then be broken down to fuel our ships. He told me it's how they've been negotiating with the Elders. Years of naturally mining the males for their antlers to prevent decreasing their numbers led to a stockpile of them.

That had been what genuinely impressed me. My whole life I had been told that Bad Bloods were immoral. Honorless. Before meeting Volok I would have not questioned the assumption that if Bad Bloods had access to this kind of resource, they would bat no eyes at destroying them all to achieve a bargain they desired. But Volok respected their right to be here. They killed only what they needed to eat or harvested the antlers from the dying.

Volok wasn't what I had come to picture a Bad Blood to be. He was a fantastic leader if I was being serious. Before we made our way to where we were right now, several Yautja would stop him and ask for help. Whether it was to point out they needed more food, how to make better armor with what they had, permission to explore further out than their norm, whatever. He listened to them all diligently. And they all respected him. Not just feared, but they respected him.

"Why are you so different?" I had to ask.

Volok ran his black forked tongue over his mandibles to lick the juices off before answering. "You mean why can I phase my body?"

I nodded. "Among other things, but yes. I'm just lucky to be born this way. Were you also born like this?"

"I don't remember much beyond my time here at the clan, but I was always on the larger side. Heicat'ar, the old clan leader, liked to experiment with DNA transfusion though. Before I fully matured, he had me injected with numerous different strands of alien species DNA and the process was always rough on my body. A few times I almost died." Volok leaned back on his palms behind him and he looked up at the lush pink leaves that flirted with the sun's rays. The motion bunched up the hard muscles in his arms and stomach, making me blush and try to look elsewhere. His long dreads hung loosely behind him, swaying slightly as he cocked his head in thought. "I survived every time despite the odds."