- Emilia -

I wake up before Ar'ox and sneak out of his cave. There's a small alcove with primitive bathroom facilities right outside, which suits me fine. It even has running water, which I'm not used to from our cave. I help myself to a little knife that I see hanging in Ar'ox's smithy. He wouldn't want me to walk around unarmed, I'm sure, so I'll just borrow it.

I take a little stroll in the morning sun. The village isn't quite deserted, but even though the sun is up, it looks like most of the villagers prefer to sleep in. The few men I do meet just smile shyly or pretend not to see me. I'm suddenly not quite the sensation I was just yesterday. I would have expected the tribe to be more interested in the first woman they ever see, but right now, I don't mind it.

The gates are open, as they will be all day until darkness falls, and I walk through them as if I owned the place. The guards stare at me, but they don't try to stop me. Heck, I'm a mythical creature now.

It's okay. I'm not going far. I've been walking through that jungle for days, and it doesn't scare me the way it used to. Ar'ox said that most of the Smalls are no longer to be found close to the village, and that makes this safer. As for Bigs, I'll keep my eyes open and I'll run right back in through the gates if I see any.

Right outside the gates there's a flat area filled with various grasses and bushes. My plan is to look closer at them and see if any of them resemble plants that I remember from back on Earth, things that can be grown in fields like on a farm.

I first take a very good look at the edge of the jungle and the bushes and the grass. After five minutes I see nothing much moving, so I squat down and examine the closest tuft of grass. It's green and looks juicy when I rub it between my fingers, and the grassy smell reminds me of home and summer vacations and lawns being cut.

But I can't let myself veg out to pleasant fantasies now. I check my surroundings again, then move to the next plant.

I keep doing that until I've examined about ten different plants, and I'm feeling pretty optimistic about one or two of them. They have little grains that disintegrate into a whitish powder when I prod them with my ridiculously untrimmed fingernails, so I guess it must be possible to maybe turn them into flour. In some way or other. I hope this whole venture doesn't end with me having to build a windmill and deal with fertilizer, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

I spot a bush I can't recall having seen before. Again I look around very carefully before I slowly make my way over to it. It's pretty close to the edge of the jungle, and the gates to the village are now a couple of hundred feet away. I'm not going to move much further away from them.

The bush has leaves with many jagged edges and a slightly waxy quality that reminds me of raspberry bushes. And there are berries, round and translucent and a pale green.

I take one into my fingers and peel the thin skin off a part of it. Pretty juicy. I bring it to my nose and sniff. Fresh and not like raspberry at all. But there are citrus notes.

I squeeze a drop of the juice onto my fingertip and taste it. It's tart, but not downright sour, just fruity and fresh. I take the berry apart with my fingers, and in the center there is a small, irregular seed.

I nod with some satisfaction. It might be worth it to plant a row of these things and then see if they'll grow like well-behaved bushes that can be harvested. Worth a shot, anyway.

Then I see movement from the corner of my eye, in among the trees of the jungle. I immediately stiffen and slowly reach for the knife as I back slowly away towards the village gates.

I squint in the morning sunlight. Whatever that thing is, it's not a Big. And the movements aren't aggressive, just ... tired.

I stand still for a minute or two, just staring. That thing looks a little like ...

I look around quickly. There are no other threats that I can see, so I move slowly towards the trees, holding the knife in my hand.

The movements suddenly stop, and I freeze. That thing sees me now, and is probably just as wary of me as I am of it.

I stand there for a couple of minutes, and then the movements start again, faster now.

I know I should just turn on my heel and march quickly back to the village and get to relative safety behind the wall. But now I think I can see what this is, and I know I can't leave without doing something to help.

I slowly walk closer and hold the knife behind my back. The small gray ghost is caught in a strange coil of thin rope that I immediately realize is a snare. Ar'ox did say that the tribe will try to trap these creatures and then kill them from a safe distance.

We stand and stare at each other for a little while. It's eyes are red, but there's a deepness in them that seems almost human. The movements are the gray ghost trying to pull its leg free, but the cord is a tightening noose, and it's cutting into its flesh and its blood is dripping.

On the ground I can see many of the green berries, as if the ghost had been gathering them and then dropped them all when it got trapped.

I crouch down. “Did you get caught?” I say very softly. “Will you let Emilia take a look?”

Yes, it's insane. As in, totally crazy. This is a deadly animal that scares Ar'ox more than anything else. I've seen its fangs and movements, and I know it can easily kill me. But still I know that I just can't leave this creature to its fate. It doesn't actually seem that threatening to me, at least not compared to the other beings in this cursed jungle. I get the feeling it doesn't belong on this planet any more than I do.

I move slowly closer, and now the gray ghost isn't moving anymore, just looking at me with what I choose to see as some kind of hopeful fear.

I repress the urge to run away from this very alien creature, but after the past few days in the jungle, the fear is easier to keep from getting control of me.

“Just be calm, little dude. I won't hurt you.” I get to within arm's length, and now I know that thing could kill me if it wanted. The eight long arms has three claws each, and it could rip me to shreds. The four legs look more like soft paws, and I don't see any claws on them. I do see the fangs, though, two on each side of its mouth. They're almost laughably oversized for it, so ungainly that it just adds to the cuteness. Judging from the three small, pink nubs lined up down its abdomen like the buttons on a coat, this is probably a female and the species is some kind of mammal.

I reach out slowly to the trapped leg, and the gray ghost shrinks away and tries another hopeless tug at the rope. I slowly take the knife out from behind my back, hiding most of the shiny blade in my hand.

The rope is thin and made from bark fibers, and it's so taut around the ghost's leg that I can't get the blade inside the loop. But I can cut it loose from the peg that holds it to the ground.

I saw at the rope with the knife, and suddenly it snaps and the ghost quickly moves a couple of feet away, still looking at me with those soulful eyes.

I stay still and give it a little smile, making sure to not show any teeth, which could be taken as an aggressive gesture by some animals.

The ghost shows no inclination to leave. It looks at me and rubs its bleeding leg with three furry arms.

I pick up one of the green berries on the ground, examine it and pop it into my mouth. Then I put another one in my palm and hold it out. “Want one?”

The ghost hesitates, and then she reaches out very fast and snaps the berry out of my hand.

I nod eagerly. “That's right. Good ghost. Eat it if you want.”

I take another berry from the ground and put it into my mouth. It's actually a little sweeter than I first thought, and it's easily among the best things I've eaten on Xren. I decide there and then to call it 'ghostberry'.

The ghost makes no move to eat its berry, but I don't think it's that important.

I point. “Shall I try to cut that loop too?”

I move a little closer on my haunches, and then slowly reach out for the injured leg. When the ghost doesn't pull away, I take gently around her, immediately feeling the heat and the fast heartbeat under the fine fur.

“Let's see what we can do.” I get down on my knees and place the blade on the complicated knot of the noose, then saw lightly at it. One strand after the other snaps under the sharp knife, and then the whole loop comes loose in my hand.

I throw it into the woods and let go of the furry leg. “That's it. You're free.”

Again we're just looking at each other, and I revel in the feeling of being close to an animal again, one that doesn't want to kill me. I want to reach out and pet this thing, but it is a wild animal, and it wouldn't be a great idea.

Then the ghost reaches out to me with one long, clawed arm. Between two of its fingers she's holding the berry I gave it.

“Is that for me?” I gently pick the berry out of the ghost's hand, making sure to avoid the claws. I pop it into my mouth and chew it. “Thank you.”

And then we're just there together, and I feel a connection with this strange animal I haven't felt since the last time I had my cat in my arms back on Earth.

I revel in it for a little while, and then I stretch and yawn. Time to get back. Ar'ox must be worried. “Be more careful next time, okay? I know those ghostberries are delicious, but sometimes things come at a price that's a little too high, you know?”

I turn my side to the ghost and get to my feet, then walk slowly away from it, still clutching the knife.

Still no threats around, so I gather a few more samples of plants to study later and head back to the gates. I walk through them and wave happily at the guards who are lounging nearby. “Good morning, warriors!”

They look up and smile and mumble something, as if embarrassed or shy. Well, I don't blame them that much. It's cute, in a way.

I walk up towards Ar'ox's cave, and today the village looks much better to me than yesterday. Heck, maybe it isn't so bad. A little bit of road works, some fixing of the wall, felling some trees and ramping up the hunting a little, and this could be really nice. How bad could it be? They're a thousand guys. They just need some direction.

Yep, meeting that ghost really made my day.

I hear some commotion behind me. The gatekeepers are yelling in alarm, and men are looking out the opening to their caves around me.

I turn to see what's going on.

“Oh, hi!”

The gray ghost has followed me into the village, and now she's just standing right behind me, looking up at me with what I can only interpret as an innocent smile. Of course I know that it can't possibly be an actual smile, but that face is so cute I'm willing to imagine it.

There are alarmed shouts from all around, and the men are yelling to me: “Gray ghost! Get away from it! Very dangerous!”

The gatekeepers come running with their swords drawn, and I have to think fast. I quickly walk over to the ghost, squat down and take one of her hands. “Hey, girl. Did you follow me all the way from the forest?”

She makes one of those ghostly howls that I heard back when Ar'ox and I saw the first gray ghost, but it's much more subdued and soft. It's still an eerie sound, but she doesn't scare me.

The guards are coming closer, and I do what seems natural to me right now. I take gently around the ghost's thin body and then lift her into my arms. She clings to me with all eight of hers, and thankfully she keeps her claws away from my skin.

“Is fine,” I yell to the guards before they can get close enough to use their blades. “Not hurt her! Not dangerous! Kind!”

They hesitate, and I know the only reason they're not swinging their swords is that they're afraid of hurting me. They mean well, but I will not have anyone hurt this creature.

To show how harmless she is, I rub my cheek on her head and hold her tight. “Who's a good alien monster? Yes, you're harmless, aren't you. Such a cute demonic creature,” I say in the same voice that I used to talk to my pets back home.

It feels great to be this close to a small animal again, to feel its warmth and movements and heartbeat so close to me. The ghost smells a little jungle-y, maybe, but that's nothing a quick bath can't fix. “Niiice alien monster ... goooood nightmarish terror ... aaawww, who's Emmy's horrific monstrosity from space? Is it you? Is it you? Yes, of course you are ... ow, watch out, sweetie, that skin isn't all that thick.”

She holds on to me, and she feels good in my arms, warm and fuzzy and firm. But I can't identify a spine or ribs, although she does have something like bones here and there. She's very alien, but still she gives me the same familiar feeling as cuddling a dog would. Except I totally understand that she would be much more dangerous than even the fiercest guard dog. “Yeah, you're just a cuddly little horror, aren't you ... just an innocent, blood-chilling entity from the beyond ...”

The guards exchange glances.

“Is fine,” I repeat, smiling sweetly to them. “She not hurt anyone.”

Well, I hope it's true. Now I want some privacy, and I want to see Ar'ox to ... well, just to see him, really.

Still carrying the little ghost, I make my way to his cave, ignoring the terrified looks the tribesmen give me. I understand them fine – to them, it must look like someone carrying a wild tiger would look to us.

Several men with long swords follow us at a respectful distance until I reach Ar'ox's cave.

He's working in his smithy, hammering on a piece of iron that glows red with heat.

“Hi, Ar'ox,” I say brightly.