The Autobiography Of An Alien

Chapter 13 - For the Faint of Heart

When it was time to put Vrol'ma in the ground and say the rites, Rulshkka felt the Spirits' presence like a web in his skull. 

another one, they said to him. He felt their energy shifting into Vrol'ma's body. The others in attendance shifted as they chanted the rites, no doubt feeling their presence, too. how did you die?

They were asking Vrol'ma, who was nothing more than shreds of a soul, now, slowly absorbing into the Spirits to rest for eternity. Rulshkka shut his eyes against the pulse of energy as the ritual completed, and then both the Spirits and Vrol'ma were gone. 

"May his soul rest in peace within the Spirits' warm hold," Rokim said aloud, voice shaking slightly.

Several days later, long after the funeral and everything in between, Kohgrash broke the silence in his - their - office by asking, "Do you guys have weddings?" 

Rulshkka tried to remember what a wedding was. "No. You usually just court whoever you like and... that is that." 

"Oh," Kohgrash said, voice a little sullen. "There's nothing to make a couple... official?" 

Rulshkka tilted his head, tearing his burning eyes away from the Competition documents scattered all over his desk. "You are official when you start courting someone. I suppose I never gave it much thought. Why do you ask?" 

Kohgrash sighed, rubbing the corner of his paper. It was a document about the Alliance's policies if he recalled correctly. "I suppose that I was wondering if there were any... happy ceremonies. You've got the Competition and stuff, but man, from what I've heard, it's just brutal. Don't you have fun things to do?" 

He snorted, "We've got the festival every year. There's also a few markets that local Vokkrus sell their goods from. We went to one, once." 

Kohgrash furrowed his brows before a look of realization crawled across his face, "Oh yeah. That place. But I'm meaning more like... don't you have anything for entertainment? Like, theatres! Movies! Amusement parks? You've got the zoo, I know." His nose wrinkled as if saying the word was enough to disgust him. It probably was. 

"Listen," Kohgrash exploded with a sigh. "You guys don't even have weekends here. You're busy all the time. And with Vrol'ma's death and the whole Alliance thing we've got going on, I think we deserve a little happiness, don't you?" 

Rulshkka frowned in thought before his mouth curled into a smile. "Well, there are a few places I know." 

***

It took a little while to convince Kohgrash about his plan, but when he started to explain what it all entailed, the human was more than happy to go along with it. Now, though, his problem lay in convincing others. 

Trosk crossed her arms over her chest, tapping her claws against the armored braces she used to protect herself from the heat of her forge. She looked skeptical but just on the verge of giving in, so Rulshkka ramped it up. 

"Come on. When was the last time you had a break from the forge, Trosk?" he reasoned, trying not to sound like a pleading hatchling. 

"I don't take breaks from the forge, Rul," Trosk huffed. 

Rulshkka had forgiven her for frightening Kohgrash. No longer did the human shy away from her due to her actions several years ago, so he hadn't found it in him to hold a grudge. It helped, too, that she had created a way for them to communicate across the stars. 

"It would not be for very long," Rulshkka cajoled. "It's just a day trip!" 

He heard Kohgrash convincing Shrrsk, "-like an alien amusement park, Pedro! When will you ever get a chance like that again?!"