TAERIC
I instantly go on guard, expecting it to be another creature like the one that had come after Emara earlier. But rather than scratching and yowling, I hear happy yipping and watch as the giant creature licks Emara on the face. She tries to push the animal back with one arm and uses the other to rub her face clean of the creature's slobber.
"Wait, wait, Bear! No kisses," she says, trying to sound stern through her laughter but failing. "What, did you miss me that bad?" She scratches behind the creature's ears.
I relax, realizing that this creature must be a vasdus. Even on Dervidix, we have creatures we adopt and take in to take care of. Many males on my planet did this to have some sort of company and others for added help and protection when defending their kin.
"Baar?"
She looks up, remembering me again. "Ahh, yes. This is Bear! He isn't a real bear. That's another animal. He is my pet dog, and I've had him since I was a kid."
I wonder why she did not bring her creature with her while out. It could have helped protect her! My question is answered as a small kit runs to her, cutting her off. His eyes are wet with tears as he clings to her leg. She scoops him up and hushes him, patting his back soothingly.
"Mommy!" the young kit wails.
Mommy? Does she have a mate after all, then? My heart drops at the thought. She would be perfect for any male. I couldn't have expected the first female I stumbled upon to be my mate, anyway. That was preposterous. Unrealistic. I have only known her for a few hours. And yet it seems my heart still hoped.
"Sorry! I was trying to clean up the toys we had been playing with and-" another female says before she spots me. Another one comes up behind her. Their fear washes toward me in waves. "Mara, w-who is this?" the older-looking one asks.
"Come on, let's go sit by the fire and get warmed up, and I will explain." Emara adjusts the small boy on her hip, grabbing the soft toy from the girl's hand. She sets him between the two small females and gives him the stuffed creature.
I sit on the floor and watch as she lit the fire. The room starts to warm as Emara sits in a big chair next to the fire. The small boy crawls off the couch quickly and into her lap, seeming to melt into her.
She lets out a deep breath. "Well, where do I start?" She absentmindedly rubs the boy's back. "Sorry for leaving you upstairs for so long. I was helping him because he saved my life. This is Taeric." The two girls whip their heads in my direction, all fear gone from their wide eyes. Amazement and wonder fill them instead. "Good news is, we are gonna have plenty of food tonight since I got a two rabb-"
"Woah, woah, woah, are you just going to skip over him SAVING YOUR LIFE?" The older one asks.
"Well, there was a mountain lion and-"
"A mountain lion!?" the younger-looking kit screeches, squishing closer to the older one. The small boy shakes at her outburst and hides his face in Emara's neck.
Emara is quick to soothe their fears. "Don't worry. He is dead. Taeric helped me carry him home. I am going to use every bit I can."
The young females nod with relief, and the smallest kit seems to calm a bit. "Yeah, we are ok! We have Bear, too!" The younger female says as she pats the vasdus's head.
"Exactly!" Emara says with a confident smile. "As for who he is... I don't know how to say this, or if you will believe me. But he is an alien...as in, from outer space. His ship looked like it crashed in the water?" She looks at me for confirmation before continuing, and I nod my head. "The mountain lion came out of nowhere, and he had to save me." The girls stared in awe. "He got a little cut up. I brought him back here so that I could help him." The young females gasp a bit at hearing I had been hurt, and I smile over their kindness.
"An alien, huh? Well, that explains why he is a flipping giant!" The older one laughs loudly, and the younger one giggles.
I am amazed by how calm they are even in the midst of insanity.
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Mr. Alien Man," the older kit continues. "Taeric, right? I am Lillian, but you can just call me Lilly. And this is-"
"I am Evelyn, but no one calls me that, so you can just call me Evey," the younger one cut her off with a grin. "I am six, and my sister-" she says with a point of her finger, "-is twelve, but she likes to act like my mom! She isn't my momma, though. We lost our momma." Her little mouth drops, losing its smile. "My daddy died in the war, and my momma had to take care of us alone. She was getting us food, but she disappeared. We haven't found her yet. She probably left us. That's what Lilly thinks. Emara was the nice lady we knew, and we came to her and-"
"Alright, that's enough, Evelyn Ann!" her older sister shouts, cutting her off.
"See," the little female whispers. "She tried to be like my mom again just now."
Emara places a hand on Evey's shoulder. "Why don't you guys go to the kitchen and get some stuff for lunch together."
So, it is called a kitchen then. They keep an interesting assortment of things in a kitchen meant for cooking. The girls hop up from the couch and run to make lunch. As they race out of the room, I can still hear their banter.
"I knew them before their mother disappeared," Emara says, continuing an explanation. "Their mother always sent them alone, so I never met her. They would come to the little trading stalls that were set up in the old town square. I trade animal pelts and other small things there, and they would bring herbs their mom collected in the forest. I guess I was one of the few people they trusted cause they came to me after their mom disappeared."
I nod my head in understanding. It makes sense. She seems too young to be their mother, and just based on the few hours I have known her, she already seems like a caring female who will help anyone she can. She is probably an amazing mother, I think, looking at the small kit still in her arms. I gesture to him, silently asking.
Emara's eyes widen. "Oh, this is Jace! I found him in the woods a little before I stumbled upon you."
My eyebrows shoot up as I realize that this wasn't her own kit after all.
"He couldn't even tell me his own name, so I have been calling him Jace," she tells me with a sad smile. "I am going to try to find his parents and figure out where he is from, but in the meantime, I will take care of him." She looks up from the little boy and meets my eyes. "And I guess, now you," she says, standing up. "I have an old hunting shed you can stay in if you want." She sets the boy down, but he continues to cling to her. "Go help Lilly and Evey make lunch!" she tries to convince him.
"Momma... momma..." He keeps saying in a hushed whisper. Her eyes soften, and she scoops him back into her arms.
"Well, then follow me," she directs as she walks out of the room towards the stairs.
The kit peeks tentatively over Emara's shoulder at me. He almost seems scared. That isn't unexpected. I have received that reaction from many species through my travels. Even Emara was scared when she first saw me. However, this small kit seems more than nervousness. Something I can't put my finger on.
She walks past the stairs and down the hall towards a back door. She shifts the child in her arms, and his eyes brake away from mine as she turns the nob of the door, opening it wide for me to pass through.
We make out way outside and to a small shack. "Sorry, it's a little dusty. I honestly haven't been in here for years," she tells me. I look around. It is a nice size room with nothing much besides metal containers wrapped in paper with a gilled creature on the front that lined some of the shelves and a nest in the middle of the wall on the other side. A nest much too small for me. She seems to notice at the same time because she burst out laughing, "I'm sorry, we don't exactly have beds for giant 7-foot tall alien men."
I let out a small laugh. "It is alright. I can sleep on the floor anyhow. I was sleeping on a ship, so this won't bother me at all."
She looked up at me with wide eyes, "Yeah, there is no getting around your alien-ness. Especially not when you talk in that cool language." She giggled.
"Cuul?" I wondered. How was my language cold?
"Oh! It means interesting," she says with a soft chuckle.
She thinks my language sounds interesting. Or cool, as she put it. I can't help but feel a sense of pride over her thinking any part of me is interesting.
"Lunch is ready!" I can hear Lilly shout happily from the back door. "We made some jelly sandwiches!"
"Yum!" says Emara enthusiastically. "Well, I guess it's time to introduce you to your very first taste of Earth American cuisine. Lucky for you, you get to have some very authentic, homemade- now don't get too excited- sandwiches!" She laughs, and I follow her back to her home, completely confused as to what sandwiches are.