Tisis

Under...what? (S)

Once back at the cave, I load off the corpse near the entrance.

"Ah, no place like home, huh?"
"Y-you...you...really live here?" Julia asks.
"What, you thought I was kidding when I said we were living in a cave?" I ask.
"I...honestly, I didn't know what to expect from the word 'cave'..."
"Oh...ah yeah, of course...yeah well, a cave is pretty much a hole in the ground made from rock."
"...yes, I can see that..." she mutters, making Nym chuckle a little.

I can't blame her though...not too long ago, I was just as clueless...and scared as she was.

"I...I still have a hard time believing that you killed that thing so...easily," she remarks, while I grab one of the water bottles from the shelf and take a good sip.

Nym puts her hand on my shoulder, pushing her weight on me and says, "Yeah, you wouldn't know it from just looking at him, but this guy here's a real killer. A honest to goodness Tisidean if I've ever seen one!"
I push Nym off playfully and respond, "Ah yeah? Like you're any better!"
"Ah, touche."

"B-but...you took its life...without even batting an eye."
"Oh, that...yeah well, at first I was as devastated as you are now...but once you accept that death is just another part of life out here, it gets easier...far too easy actually."

Nym lets out a sigh, claps her hands and says, "Well, the thing isn't going to process itself...hold on..."

She walks inside and fetches my knife from the cave and hands it to me.
"I think this one is yours, isn't it?"

I nod and pull the knife from its sheath made of bark.
Apparently Nym cleaned and sharpened it in the meantime.

"Alright, time for you to start looking the part," Nym suddenly says and takes Julia's hand.
"W-what do you..."
"If you'd prefer, you can stay in those soaked clothes too..." Nym points out, demonstratively looking at Julia's crotch who only now seems to notice that she wet herself earlier.

Her head flushes red and she hurries inside the cave.

"Stop gawking and get to work, Sirus. For now I'll give her my replacement coat, but I want it back."
"Suits me...ah yeah, care to fetch my coat as well? These clothes are kinda hard to move around in."
"Go fetch it yourself, you dingus!"

Nym walks inside, leaving me behind with my work.

I shake my head with a big smile on my face and mutter, "Yeah, I've missed you too, Nym."

I carefully get started on removing the usable parts of the predator.
Nym is right, we'll need one extra set of equipment for Julia now...which essentially means clothes and weapons.

After all, we don't know how long she'll actually be staying with us...better prepare for the long run.

...I'll also need a new replacement coat for myself, now that I think about it...somehow I don't think the people of the colony will return the one I wore.

More lives to be taken...and what worries me most about the thought is, how little the thought has come to bother me.

Nym is right.

I have become a Tisidean...just like she did.
But...does Julia have what it takes to be one?

I shake my head again and get to work again.
I shouldn't be thinking about that right now...right now, I need to get this here done, before the stench attracts the wrong kind of attention.

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'Alright, that should do it...' I think, as I hold up the severed skin of the creature.
Just needs to dry, then we can use it as material for clothes.

Just then, the smell of roasted meat fills the air.
I guess dinner's ready...meaning I should hurry up.

I lay the heavy fur coat on the ground with the bloody side up, place a few rocks on the edges and get to work on the remaining meat of the critter.

After a while of working, Nym yells, "Hey, Sirus! Your meat's getting cold!"
"Almost done here!" I shout back and make the last few cuts to sever the remaining larger chunks from the bones.

Alright, the rest is for the vabbits.

I carry my quarry into the cave and hang it over the rack we use for drying the meat, the trickle of blood quickly making its way to the fire through the small channel we chiseled into the rocky ground.

Julia sits on her knees, trying comically hard to keep her crotch covered, while her breasts are just about to pop out on top.

"...yup, definitely needs clothes her size," I note before taking a chunk of the steaming meat.
"If I had known we'd get guests, I certainly would have prepared something, but for now this will have to do."

I notice two items of clothing that are spread out on the rock we use for drying and ask, "...what are those?"
"Oh, that's her underwear."
"Her under...what now?"

Julia stares at me incredulously and asks, "You...don't know...what underwear is?"
"Forgive him, he's from block D...and the D is not for 'Decency', if you get what I mean. I wore panties as well when we got here, remember, Sirus?"

I scratch my head, trying hard to remember, but coming up empty.

"Sorry, nothing. What was the purpose of that again?"
"T-the...purpose? Why, of course it is to...to..." Julia starts.
"The original purpose of underwear was to protect the actual clothes from getting soiled by things like urine or...other fluids, to provide additional warmth to the wearer and to reduce the friction of clothes rubbing over...sensitive areas," Nym says in her lecture mode.

She then stands up and picks up something which looks a bit like a slingshot...but for two rocks at once.
"What did you call this thing here again, though?"
"That...is my bra..." Julia says, her face now featuring an almost unhealthy shade of red.

"There's something you don't know?" I ask between two bites.
"No nursery sacks, remember? We have no need for items like these."
And with that, all that needed to be said on the matter had been said.

I notice that Julia hasn't touched her meat and ask, "You really should eat some of that. It tastes amazing...and you'll need the energy."
"I...I don't think I...I can eat that. I mean, that...that was a...living thing."

Nym and I exchange glances.
Eventually I sigh and say, "Julia, listen...you need to eat. And the green stuff is reserved for Nym, since she gets kinda funny if she eats meat. There's no telling if we'll have food tomorrow or the day after."
"Sirus is right. I know that you're feeling sorry for the critter, but that's the way things are out here. You need to adapt...or you die."

Julia stares at the steaming chunk of roasted meat, still holding on to the lower end of the way too short coat.

"...I have seen naked women before, if that's any comfort," I remark.
"Err...what?! W-where did that..."
"I'm just saying that what you're trying so hard to hide is nothing special to me. I've spent my life in a place, where 'personal space' simply didn't exist. Heck, I even already saw Eva naked...it's just nothing special any more, once you get used to it."

"Oh, did you now?" Nym chimes in, drawing my attention to her.
"...funny story, since I've heard that you packed your tail between your legs and booked it when you were supposed to get busy with her."
"Seeing someone naked and being about to have sex with that person are two entirely different things, Nym. I was just...overwhelmed by the situation, that's all."
"Uh huh, if you say so...so, you would've done her, if it hadn't been as sudden?" Nym keeps probing.
"Probably, yeah," I reply, making Julia almost choke on the tiny nibble of meat she put into her mouth and Nym's face also looks as if something inside of her just broke.

One shouldn't ask questions they don't want to hear the answer to.