Rennek
When I get to the top of the roof I am impressed by these ancient people who left us the gift of their ruins. There is no problem with the vents. They are all capped with still functioning chimneys, designed to keep out both the elements and small animals as well. This means Kate and I can build a fire in our new home this very night.
I take the opportunity of being at a high vantage point to survey the surrounding area. In the distance, I notice a long artificial form… something like a wall perhaps? This peaks my curiosity enough that I set out for a closer look. I jump over to another portion of the structure I am on, only to be met by a rancid smell. I realize immediately an animal has died up here. I must dispose of it.
It does not take long to find the carrion. It is large, I cannot decide if it is a wingless bird or or two-legged rodent. I kick at it, trying to determine the best way to get rid of the thing, but then I notice something strange. It is a fresh kill, but it appears dried out--almost mummified. Its fleshy face is sunken and pruned. I kneel to get a closer look, searching for the cause of death. Perhaps it became stuck up here and perished, but I do not see how a creature such as this would be able to mount the rooftop in the first place.
Moving it’s fur a bit I am able to see what was the end of this creature. There are a series of puncture wounds over its body. I scowl at it and look around for the tracks of a predator, but other than some scuff marks, I find none. I grab the poor creature and drop him off the side of the building and follow it down. I will have to carry it far enough away so it does not attract scavengers--a minor burden that will give me an opportunity to explore the wall I saw from the rooftop.
Once I am rid of my smelly friend it is not much longer until I find that which I spied from the roof. Coming down the mountain, it is not a wall--but a canal. I notice a tree branch has fallen across it and hardly any water trickles through--instead it spills out making a muddy mess everywhere. I reach in and hoist the branch out. This blockage doesn’t seem like it has been present for too terribly long and now that the branch is out, the water gushes down the path of the canal.
I run a scan on the flowing water and find it is within safe limits for drinking. It also tests negative for parasites. I begin to follow the canal back towards the ruins. Another day I will trek to the canal’s source, but today I will follow it back home. Home. I smile to myself. As I get close to the ruins the flowing canal drops down into a wide pipe in the ground. Using a type of sonar on my scanner I follow the pipe. It leads directly under the ruins.
“Rennek! Rennek!” I hear my mate’s scream. It rips the air from me and my vision becomes like a tunnel. I tear into the ground, my claws propelling me forward towards her cries. I round the front gate and charge into the courtyard. Kate stands leaning out of a corridor window, her face flush with excitement.
“Look! Rennek! Look at that! Oh, my god! It’s all of them!” She shouts pointing. It takes a moment for me to stop seeing red. I stand on my hind legs and struggle to make sense of what she is saying. Then I see it, the fountains have bubbled to life.
Water shoots up in small flourishing geysers from the stone ornamentation the winged woman stands amongst. I look to the fountains along the perimeter. Water pours from stone mouths and stone flowers and cascades down stone wings.
I move to the central fountain and run a scan again to see if anything has contaminated the line underground. The water mixes into mud in the basin, but data continues to show it is potable. I look at the mucky mess. What I would not give for a shovel in this moment.
“Find something to scoop with. We better clear this before it fills,” I call to my mate as I begin to tear out the plants and dirt from the fountain. She squeals in excitement and hastens down the stairs. A moment later she is beside me, she has a long thick leaf. She hurriedly fills it with handfuls of wet dirt, when it is full she dumps it on the ground beside my pile of dirt and plants.
“Promise there are no eelworms,” she begs. I cock my eyebrow, laughing in response.
We work like this for what seems like hours. The longer we take the muddier the water becomes. We dig our hands in and mud cakes our arms and chests, soon we are covered from head to foot. Eventually Kate goes to get herself a new leaf and one for me as well. We are able to get much of the dirt from the fountain. By the time we are done we are soaked to the bone and the remaining dirt in the fountain has already begun to settle on the bottom. The courtyard is a mess, but we now have a functioning water source in our own front yard. We sit on the muddied ground with our backs against the fountain’s base.
“My water filter can strain out the rest. Though it will likely take a full rotation, the filter is small and meant for personal use, but perhaps as early as tomorrow evening the fountain will run clear.”
“So tomorrow we can do laundry? Amazing. You’re amazing. I can’t believe you found a still functioning canal!”
“It was nothing more than luck. I have had tremendous luck this past cycle.”
“It looks like we made a bigger mess than we cleaned,” she says, slapping her hand in the mud beside her.
I grunt in agreement.
“Soon I will make some tools for us. A shovel, a wheel barrel…” I tell her.
“I’ve been thinking about furniture and things for our room. A table for the kitchen to prepare food on, a table and chairs to eat at, shelves, a wardrobe, that bed you promised me,” she says the last in a sing song voice that has us both grinning.
“I have not forgotten my promise. I will build you our bed and all the other furniture you desire. You just tell me what you need to make our home and it will be done.”
Kate leans her head back and watches me with a smile across her face.
“Share your thoughts with me,” I say.
“You have a little something… right... there…” she smears more mud across my cheek. I grab her and hoist her onto my lap, pinning her hands behind her. She laughs sleepily, leaning her forehead against mine.
“You will pay for that, human,” I tell her, nipping at her lips--it is the only place not caked in mud. “I should bathe you,” I pause, looking her over. Our eyes lock.
“Later.” She claims my lips with hers. I can taste the salt of her sweat and the soil, but beyond the seam of her mouth is nothing but sweetness. My mate’s taste thrills me like nothing else--it sweeps me away from this world until I am lost in the drumming again. Before I know what has hit me, we are locked in a wild embrace. Her hands greedily try to touch every inch of my body. She bucks against me and we roll into the mud making loud and wet, slapping noises. But, just as quickly, the ridiculous sounds coming from our bodies slapping against the mud breaks the spell. We both crumble against one another in laughter. The sun begins falling and the courtyard becomes grey with the remains of the day. We lay there, too tired to move. I stroke her back as we listen to the sound of the gurgling fountains, until I notice my mate shiver.
“Come,” I tell her.
We survey the mud and uprooted plants spread before the fountain.
“Man, I don’t know if my broom is going to be able to handle that.”
“That is a problem to be solved tomorrow,” I say, pulling her along with me.
Once we are back in the room we now share, I place our hand lantern on the floor--illuminating the space.
“It looks much better in here. You did well,” I tell her, proud of my mate.
“Yeah, I wish I had some more cleaning supplies. But it is a pretty big improvement, huh? I can really see all we can do with the place now that it’s tidy.”
“Wait here. I will gather supplies and return,” I tell her, handing her one of the last protein bars from our pack. I empty our pack and taking the now empty satchel with me I head back out into the quickly darkening forest. I first go to the fruit bearing plant we discovered earlier and fill the satchel with it. On the way back, I grab a thick branch for firewood and some smaller pieces for kindling. By the time I return darkness fills the courtyard, but I can see the glow of the light from our room. Kate’s smile is wide, even though she shivers. It is hard not to laugh at my mud-covered goddess, I suspect the only thing that keeps me from doing so is the joy filling my core. I am content.
“First, we must get this fire started, then we must get you out of those clothes,” I say.
“Do you need help?”
“Will you hand me the flint?”
“Square metal thing?”
“No, oval metal thing.”
“Got it,” she says bringing me the tool I requested.
I take the large branch and snap it into smaller logs that will fit into our hearth. I arrange them with the kindling, setting extra pieces aside for later in the night. I strike the flint and light the small dry pieces. Soon our home is illuminated with a warm glow and filled with the crackling sounds of the fire.
“Oh, that feels so nice. The stone in here really makes it chilly,” Kate says inching closer to the fire.
I retrieve a small bowl from the pile of our supplies. I fill it with water from one of our pouches that I filtered earlier and place it near the fire.
“We can take turns washing with that,” I explain.
“How nice! What a luxury warm water is after a few days of washing with ice,” she laughs. “Can you imagine what it will be like when we get the bathing room functional?” she revels.
“I would give you every luxury you desired, my Kate,” I tell her as I search for a scrap of cloth to clean my mate with.
“I’m more than happy with life’s simple luxuries, thank you. Save the diamonds for the next girl,” her voice is jovial, but her words tell me she still does not understand what my core tells me is true.
“There will be no next girl,” I say as I dip the cloth in the warmed water. I pull my mate close to the fire and help disrobe her. I assess the damage. She is filthy. I begin to scrub her face and arms. I long to make this bathing session one of romance, but my poor mate is caked in dried mud. It will be a task to clean her.
Her eyes examine me as I work. “Oh, Rennek! What are we going to do with you? You have like ten times more area on your body to clean and your hair is full of mud!” She exclaims trying to pick at my mane.
“Hmm, this is true,” I agree. “I will douse myself in the water outside.”
“That doesn’t seem very fair, that water’s so chilly.”
“It is not a problem, my sweet Kate. You seem to be greater impacted by temperature changes than I. But, if I am cold you may have the task of warming me.”
“That I can do,” she smiles and shivers.
“Are you still cold?”
“No, I’m good. The fire is perfect, the breeze from the open doorway just got me,” she tells me.
“Yes, a door shall be one of my first priorities. We will require our privacy once the others arrive.”
She chuckles. Finally, I have her body as clean as I can get it. I spread our blanket on the floor before the fire and break open one of the fruits I gathered from outside, handing it to her.
“Thank you,” she says going for the seeds first.
“I will return,” I tell her as I remove my waistcloth. She blushes at my form and I intentionally flex my muscles to impress her further. I steal a glance on the way out to the fountain and her eyes follow me. I smile happily. I will win her yet, I think.
At the fountain I dip my hands in the now full pool of water and splash myself repeatedly, rubbing the crusted mud from my body. It is cold, but my body does not prickle in response to cold temperatures as my Kate’s does. I dunk my head in the water to rid my mane of the mess. Flinging my head backwards, I shake and wring it to rid myself of access water.
I hurry back to my mate, but hesitate by the door, taking in the beauty of the scene. My mate sits nude and cross legged before the fire. Her skin glows and her mane looks even more like a wild blaze than ever. Hers is a beauty that cannot simply be admired from afar. I am drawn in. I grab another fruit and sit, adjusting my wings so that I may lean against the wall. When she sees I have returned she pulls in beside me, nestling into the crook of my arm. We eat our fruit in silence for a while.
“We will have to name these things you know,” I tell her.
“Woof, that’s a big job,” she ponders. “All I can think of when I eat it is papaya and pomegranate, but it doesn’t seem right to steal a name from something it doesn’t quite match up with.”
“Perhaps a papayagranate then? Or a pompaya?” I offer.
“Wow, I’m so tired I can’t tell if those are terrible or genius.”
“I will save you the trouble then, sweet Kate. They are genius, all my ideas are genius.”
She laughs heartily and snuggles into me while I continue eating.
“I can hear your heart like this,” she says.
“I am not familiar with this term.”
“Um… which part?” She asks.
“Heart,” I tell her.
“Oh, ahh this,” she says placing my hand over my chest. I can feel the gentle drumming within, the drumming that I have felt since the moment I saw my mate--that only she has the power to make rage within me.
“You know what this is?” I sit upright with shock.
“What do you mean? Yeah… like your heart. It pumps blood… makes you live.” Her face reflects her confusion as I am sure mine reflects my surprise.
“You have one as well?” I ask.
“Yeah dude, right here.” She places my hand over her chest. She is right. I feel the drumming within her as well.
“I have done this to you?” I ask excitedly, she has been having the same response all this time!
“What do you mean?” She says with a mixture of confusion and amusement.
“May I listen?” I ask. She eyes my horns.
“Yeah… we can uh…” she stands and maneuvers her body so she may reach my ear and not be poked by my horns. I listen. I hear the clear and steady drumming of her heart. I put my hand to my own chest. They beat in time with one another.
“Ha!” I laugh out loud and am up on my feet with adrenaline rushing through me. I grab my mate and hug her to me. “This is amazing!” I tell her. “This is some sort of magic!”
“I think it’s just anatomy, but I’m glad you’re psyched about it. I don’t get it, Mr. I fly around in a spaceship--how do you not know what a heart is?”
“Anatomy was not one of my points of study on Javan. But perhaps more importantly, my heart as you call it, only just began to drum when I met you. It drove me mad the first days we were together. I had no idea what this thing was inside of me--ruling my emotions and my choices, driving me.”
“Your heart never beat before? How does your blood circulate then?” She asks perplexed.
“That is a question better suited for Tennir.”
“It really never beat before?” She asks.
“It reacts strongly to you. When you have been in danger, earlier today when I heard you scream or me, when we kiss, when we do other things…” I purr the last words and bring her close to me once more.
“Wow. That’s pretty amazing.” She places her hand on my chest and feels my drumming heart.
Beep beep.
“The comm, give me a moment.” She nods and sets down on the blanket again. I take the comm and step outside.
“Rennek here.”
“Bossan. Do you have news of the beacon?”
“I do, brother. We located it in the forest. As we suspected, it has no obvious interface but Kate did locate six oddly shaped slots hidden amongst some tribal markings. I will leave it for you to uncover any further secrets.”
“That is wonderful news.”
“We also located ancient ruins and it appears we may have discovered the cause of the fate of Gorrard’s shipmates. It seems raiders may have been in the process of looting the ruins and shot them down.”
“Are there any signs they have been here recently?”
“No, all traces of a raid are many yets old.”
“Then it was simply a tragic twist of fate?”
“It appears to be the case.” Bossan is silent on the other end upon hearing this.
“When you are ready I would like the group to join us at the ruins. I will ask Da’vi and Allison to retrieve the pod, they can make trips transporting everyone and our supplies. Bring all you will need to work on the beacon. I would also like the ship’s water filtration system and all the padding from the beds brought here as well. Does the synthesizer still function?”
“We might be able to get it up and running for a short period, what did you have in mind?”
“At least one more filtration system, a smaller one will do. We will also need certain tools and building materials. I will send you a list of specifications tomorrow. It is late and I must still contact Da’vi.”
“Rennek, there is much to report on our end as well.”
“Is everyone well?”
“Yes, but--”
“Then it can wait one rotation. I have had a long day and I am tired my friend.”
Bossan and I end our conversation and I connect to Da’vi and tell him of the situation. He is hesitant to return with Allison. This either means he is making progress with her and does not want that to end or he has not yet made any progress and hopes the tides will still turn. I allow him one or two more rotations before they head back to the pod. This will give Kate and I more time together and I am as greedy as Da’vi when it comes to spending alone time with my female.
When I get back to the warm glow of our room Kate is fast asleep on the blanket. I do not have it within me to rouse her. I tuck myself close to her body to block her from any wind that may steal into our room from outside. I can see her skin prickle and she unconsciously folds her body into mine. I wrap my arms around her. I will keep the fire burning through the night. Tomorrow I will build a door and perhaps I will start our bed as well.