"No, no, no," I shake my head at him and place my hand on his hard chest, a billion lights exploding across his skin from the touch. God, why is this alien man so damn pretty? "Rynn," I say, repeating his name and then moving my hand to my chest. "Serena...Ser-ree-nah."
"Zah... ree... nah... Zah-reenah...Zahreenah."
"Close enough," I smile at him, nodding.
"Zahreenah," he repeats, seemingly trying my name out on his tongue. "Zahreenah."
My grin only widens because Rynn seems mighty pleased with himself for mastering my name. He starts babbling away in his language though and I'm utterly lost. "Urgh. I wish I knew what you were saying," I tell him, but all he does is take my hand and place it back over his chest where his little lights are clustered the thickest and repeats his name.
"Rynn," he says, "Rynn, Zahreenah."
The intensity of his bright turquoise gaze is enough to make my breath hitch. "This is all very nice but I need to find the others," I whisper to him.
"Rynn, Zahreenah," he repeats, that tail of his curling around my ankle again. "Zahreenah, Rynn." Then, he stands, leans down to scoop me up in his strong arms, and positions me to lie down on his huge pile of leaves and feathers. I go to sit up but I'm gently pushed back down and he says something that sounds like'tikkytikky'before he lays down next to me and drapes one huge wing over my body like a big, feathery blanket. Have I just been put to bed?
"Tikkytikky, Zahreenah," he says, momentarily closing his eyes before they pop back open again.
I guess 'tikkytikky' means sleep? "You tikkytikky," I tell him, huffing. "I'll be over here worrying about my friends all lost and alone in the jungle of death out there."
But even as I lay here, stewing, I know there's nothing I can do right now. I'm exhausted. And the guy that might be able to help them doesn't even know what I'm saying. If only I could find a way of telling him there are more of us out there.
"Tikkytikky, Zahreenah," Rynn urges beside me, making me roll my eyes before begrudgingly closing them.
"Alright Mr. Twinkle-Feathers, I'll tikkytikky. Happy?"
The tail still wrapped around my ankle gives a little squeeze and that purring noise starts up again, drowning out the din from the surrounding jungle. Exhaustion coupled with the lulling rumbling from the big feathery guy's chest soon has my protests to sleep floating away. Soon, I feel myself falling, falling, falling into sleep's embrace. In my dreams I see my mom - my mom who left me with a kindly neighbor at the tender age of ten, but instead of running off with another man like in reality, this dream-mom was ripped away from me by a huge gray monster and thrust into the auction pit where an audience of demon-chimps jump up and down in their seats, whooping and screaming for her. Then the killer-worm erupts from the sawdust-coated ground, catching her in its rows and rows of needle-sharp teeth.
Chapter 7
RYNN
When I dream, I dream of Zahreenah. When I wake, she is still beside me, breathing deeply. Sometime in the night, she has crept closer, and now, here in the weak light of a one-sun morning, her little nose is almost pressed to my chest, she is that close. Her breaths fan across my skin, igniting skin-stars where the sensation tickles. I regret that I must wake her, she looks so peaceful. But wake her, I must. The tribe will need to see the gift we have been bestowed, and I must give thanks to the Goddesses of our Temple.
I remove my wing from around her. Zahreenah seems to react by trying to burrow into my heart-stars like a fluffy tahaaxi burrows into the ground. "Zahreenah," I say, trying to gently coax her from her slumber. I am not used to being so soft with others. I am a Trixikka High Spear. I train and lead my tribe's flock of Protectors, working with the fiercest of hunters and fighters. But something in my gut tells me I cannot bark orders at my little-light. "Zahreenah," I try again, jostling her by the shoulder. She mumbles some of her nonsense words and tries to do her burrowing trick again. I am not used to having my requests denied and it might be annoying if it weren't so adorable. "Zahreenah, you must awake. You will meet my people and we must give thanks to the Goddesses."
I watch as her eyes open blearily and she jolts away from me once she realizes how close she had crept in her sleep. I chuckle as her cheeks almost glow pink. Mumbling something unintelligible, she then stands and makes jerky little movements, hopping from one bandaged foot to the other. "Your feet," I gesture, concerned. They should be healed by now.
"Igottagopeereallybad!" she tells me. "Pee?... Pee?..." Zahreena says, indicating to the juncture of her legs, where her cock would be if she were male. I have not allowed myself to wonder what lay beneath her clothes there instead, but apparently, it is important this morning. "Pee?!... Usethebathroom?!" she says, continuing her hopping and hand gestures. Suddenly, it dawns on me.
"You wish to use the latrine? Come, I will show you."
***
My Zahreenah is clearly very unhappy with the latrine. I do not know why. It was moved here only last four-moon and the smell is still tolerable. This site has another good twenty days until we will need to fill it in and dig a new one in at a new site. I stand guard outside while she relieves herself. We are a little way from the tribe village and no mimyckah would dare come this close to our mountain, but keeping vigilant is part of our Protector training and I have much new responsibility now that I have a female outside of the Temple to protect.
When Zahreenah is done, she emerges looking relieved and gives me a tentative smile. "Itsnomatchforindoorplumbing," she says, "butitwilldo." I match her smile and beckon her to follow, leading us back to the center of the village to meet the many males of my tribe.
As we weave through the huts, males come out to watch us - watchher. All are curious beyond measure. My flock of Protectors, the care-givers, the tribe's sons, the builders, weavers, hunters, healers -everyone. None have ever seen a female with their own eyes before. Until now.
"It cannot be true."
"A blessing from the Goddesses."
"Maybe they will gift the tribe with more females?"
"I didn't believe it when I heard!"
Murmurings follow behind us from all around.
