Unblooded

Chapter 4

I did not remember much aside from the black void I found myself trapped in. Occasionally I would hear rough voices and commands in another language. Once I woke up, my vision was blurry. I felt a dull ache in my arm and when I looked, I found a tube leading from the inner part of my elbow. Florescent green fluid flowed through it and into my arm, my skin and veins fading to pale green. The darkness enveloped me again. The second time I awoke there were several beings standing around me. One was wearing a familiar mask. "Gwan-thwei?" I asked in a hoarse whisper. He looked down at me and placed a scale covered hand on my forehead. "It be alright, Elise," he said quietly, "Rest." Others spoke around him. There was a female Yaujta that spoke to him. She kept glancing at me but I could not tell how she felt about me, her face hidden behind a mask that had tusks jutting from the metal on the mask's jaw.

She stood taller than Gwan-thwei and had the build of a dancer. She touched the tubes in my arms gently. Clicking sounds radiated from her mask as she disconnected them. There was a small whining noise and a small creature came into view beside the tall female. It looked like a Yaujta but it's mandibles were small and were missing the tusks at the tips. Instead of dreadlocks, it had something more similar to human hair but the strands were slightly thicker. It looked at me curiously with amber eyes and timidly reached out to poke my arm. The Yaujta took notice and shooed the youngling away. She shook her head and made a sound similar to laughing before turning her attention back to me. "Listen to your elder little one," she said easily while placing her hand on my forehead, pronouncing the words better than Gwan-thwei. I nodded closing my eyes and fell into darkness.

I woke to find an odd pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes and found a pair of amber ones staring back at me. I screamed causing it to jump backwards and fall clumsily to the floor from the raised slab I was on. I could not tell if it was made of metal or stone. I clambered to the side and looked down. "I'm sorry. Are you okay? I didn't mean to scare you," I said quickly and I realized that the youngling most likely could not understand me. I looked at it for a long time trying to figure out if it was female or male. "It is okay," it said quietly, staring at me with the same intensity.

"You can understand me? You can speak my language?" I asked it. The youngling nodded, "Yes. You look different."

"What do you mean? I'm human," I said confused.

"I know you are human. When you first arrived, you were pink and now you are the same color as me," the youngling stated matter-of-factly, gesturing at its pale green skin. I looked at at my arms and found that they were in fact green. I screamed, scooting backwards and fell off of the slab. I hit the floor hard but did not care at that moment, "What did you do to me?!" The youngling ran around the slab to where I was and started gesturing me to calm down. "I have done nothing. Elder Gwan-thwei gave you some of his blood to save you from Thei-de. You started to change while you were dhi'ki-de."

"What do those words mean? Thei-de and dhi'ki-de? What do you mean by 'change'?"

"Sorry. Thei-de sort of means something like 'death' and dhi'ki-de I guess could be translated into 'unconsciousness' or 'coma' in your tongue. You turned green like the adult humans in the other clans but you stayed the color instead of going back to pink. You were dhi'ki-de for many days. Elder Gwan-thwei harassed the healer for days, wanting to know what was happening to you. Even she was confused by what was happening."

I paused for a moment, staring at my hand. The veins that were once dark blue were now dark green. How could this have happened? Numb, I nodded, "What is your name?" The youngling looked at me for a moment, "Tsrasuna." I held my hand toward Tsrasuna, "I'm Elise. It's nice to meet you." Tsrasuna looked at my hand confused. "On Earth, when you meet a new friend, you shake their hand as a greeting." The youngling nodded and took ahold of my wrist and waved my hand around. I laughed a little bit, "No, but you were close. Like this." I took ahold of Tsrasuna's hand showed her how to shake hands properly on Earth. "Tsrasuna, where am I?" I asked. Tsrasuna stood up, looking down at me with its small amber eyes. "You are in Elder Gwan-thwei's home. He brought you here so he could watch over you," Tsrasuna explained as it helped me up off the ground. I stood awkwardly for a moment, "Please don't get offended by me asking this but, um, are you male or female?" Tsrasuna looked at me for a moment before laughing, "There is no offense, Elise. I am female. We don't get the distinctive physical traits until we get older. The only way you can tell the difference is by smell but your senses are not strong enough yet." I stared at her, "Yet? What do you mean by 'yet'?" I asked, panic creeping it's way into my voice. She just smiled knowingly.
Suddenly, a hole opened up in one of the walls. It was a mechanical door I had not noticed before. Gwan-thwei walked through the door with the female Yaujta at his side. "Tsrasuna! What have I told you about leaving the human alone," the tall female scolded slipping into another language. Tsrasuna cowered behind me, obviously ashamed that she ignored instructions. I spoke up, "She didn't do anything wrong. I'm glad she was here. She explained where I was and what happened. I woke up panicking and she calmed me down." The female looked from me to Tsrasuna, "Is this true Tsrasuna?" The youngling nodded timidly. "Azhla-dki, be kind to youngling. Tsrasuna only help," Gwan-thwei stated kindly. Azhla-dki, the tall female, nodded. Her voice was kind when she spoke again, "I am glad you are awake Elise. Tsrasuna, Elder Gwan-thwei wants to speak with you while I check Elise." Tsrasuna nodded and followed Gwan-thwei out of the room.

Azhla-dki picked me up and placed me back on the slab. She took off the helmet and placed it beside me. Her skin was paler than a normal Yaujta's, it was more of a cream color but still had the characteristic green tinge. She poked and prodded my legs and arms. It was then I noticed what I was wearing, a dark leather skirt that ended about mid thigh with metal plating on the sides and a short cropped leather tank top that hugged close to my torso. Azhla-dki walked around the slab and made a series of clicking noises. "Gwan-thwei! Elder Gwan-thwei!" She yelled running through the metal doorway.

She was gone for a while. I could occasionally hear voices and sometimes a clicking growl but I could not tell what was being said. With each minute that passed, the more my worry grew. 'What's wrong? What's wrong with me?' I thought anxiously. After awhile they finally walked back in. Tsrasuna hopped up onto the slab sitting beside me. Gwan-thwei walked around and stood behind me. I felt his rough hands on my shoulders and touching my back. "What's wrong?" I asked, looking to Azhla-dki who was warily standing in the corner. "Shhhh, little one," she said gently. Gwan-thwei walked back around and knelt in front of me. He fixed his eyes on me. "I hear rumor. Never seen. Only hear," he took a deep breath, "Elise, you not human. Not anymore. Something rare. You Yaujta hybrid. Part human, part Yaujta."