Page 22 of Feral Tamed

The part about Fierce killing the pirate didn’t bother me nearly as much as it maybe should. If this was all tied to Fluffy there was not a shred of doubt in my mind that he’d done it to protect her. If anything, it was clear that Fierce was always going to be the protector of those smaller than him, especially animals. I’d seen it in action, he had an uncanny knack for reaching them. If I were to believe what Jakar had told me, he’d picked up strays even when he was still a slave himself. I was very much inclined to believe this was true, it just seemed so in line with what I already knew.

There was a little back and forth on the details of it all, which made me look at Fluffy in a new light. I knew she’d killed that river creature when it tried to attack me, though most of that moment was a disjointed blur because I’d already been suffering from hypothermia. Now I understood that when she’d whacked that creature with her tail, she’d stabbed him with that venomous barb.

To me, hiding the Riho, and hiding his involvement in the murder was just Fierce’s way of protecting his pet, and himself. Didn’t sound to me like anyone ever watched out for him much, he’d always done the watching over. Then I remembered my suspicion that he couldn’t read either and I started to wonder if he wasn’t feeling insecure about his spot on the Vagabond. Even Jakar could read, he’d told me he’d learned from another slave he’d shared a cell with when he was still very young.

“Excuse me,” I said, getting up from the table, “I think I need to get some sleep.” Fluffy was full anyway, and my stomach couldn’t take much more of the delicious food either. I had one goal in mind, locate Fierce so we could talk, and then I was going to sleep for as long as they’d let me.

It was Camila, who’d I only just met at the dinner table here, that offered to take me to the quarters they’d prepared. I followed her and her long bouncy braid down several corridors in silence, unsure what to make of her. She was stacked, with a confident stride, and a very straight baring. Dressed in cargo pants and a snug t-shirt she looked tough, so it didn’t surprise me when a guy caught up to us that looked even more badass. He tugged on her braid with a smirk and then smirked at me, tipping his chin in greeting.

This guy had been introduced to me as Thorin, his long blond hair was done in neat braids. A chain with several medallions dangled from a ring in his nose to his pointed ear. He was dressed all in leather, and tattoos peeked out from the edge of his collar, and at the edges of the sleeves of his jacket. He was like the alien version of a biker, with elf-like ears and glowing blue eyes, sharp canines peeking out from behind his luscious lips.

“Thorin, can’t let me have any girl-only time, can you?” Camila teased, a smile warming her dark eyes as she pulled her braid free from his hands. Her eyes went to me, “Ignore the big lunkhead here, he looks scary but he’s all putty.” She grinned when he rumbled a warning, “You’ll pay for that.” She threw back her head and laughed, “And I’ll love every minute of it.”

They were clearly a couple, and from the looks of it still in the honeymoon phase because Thorin already had the tip of her braid back in his hand. He was looking at her as if he couldn’t wait to get her into his bunk, it was entirely too private a moment to be part of, even if I was only on the fringes. I felt a pang in my chest, I wanted Fierce, I didn’t want my own quarters.

Even if the Vagabond was a more familiar place, with its climate-controlled rooms, electronics, and amenities. I felt more unmoored now than I had down on the planet, this is where I needed to fit in, find my place. But what I really wanted was to find Fierce and make my place with him, maybe that’s how he was feeling too. How did you make a life for yourself after all you’d known was captivity? He was like one of those wild animals released into the wild with no survival skills. He was floundering and I was floundering a little too right now, but together we might figure it out.

Camila had led me to a corridor almost identical to the one I’d worked in with Jakar on the hydroponics. Doors to crew quarters lined it on either side, but here some of the doors had gained identifying marks. I saw a door with several lines of green paint, shaped to look like a tree reaching up to the sky. I didn’t have to guess to know that one was Jakar’s. There was a door with all kinds of colorful stickers and drawings in weird psychedelic shapes, fractals maybe. At my look, Camila said, “That’s Chloe and Kitan’s place, apparently those shapes are what Chloe sees when she’s plugged in and guiding us through an FTL jump.”

I was surprised to realize that the young woman with flighty hair was one of those special navigators that could plug in and use their brain to guide a ship through Faster Than Light speeds. Though it wasn’t surprising to discover the pilot and the nav were dating, that was a very common occurrence. Something about working that closely together seemed to foster that kind of relationship.

“That’s our door,” Camila told me, pointing at a door that had been decorated with two blades attached in brackets and a beautiful, colored array of day of the dead drawings along the edges. “Thorin wanted blades, I wanted to remember my roots…” She shrugged, “We made a day out of it, Chloe’s idea. The guys all acted like it was stupid but they were all here and they all did something. Well… except for Fierce.” Her hand lifted to point out one of the doors not decorated in the corridor.

I felt a pang of pain for Fierce, noting that he’d excluded himself from what sounded like a fun activity. Thorin surprised me with an explanation, “I think Fierce is still stuck in captivity. You should know that if you want to try to be his mate. He needs someone to set him free. Truly free.”

Now my heart was really aching for him, it was a daunting task, but he deserved someone to take care of him. How was I going to reach him? When Camila indicated another plain door and told me that was me, I stared at it for a moment before looking at Fierce’s empty door again.

“You’re not going to find him there,” Thorin said, his tone morose. “He never sleeps there. If you want to find him, head for the brig.” With those final, tragic words, he and Camila ducked into their own quarters. Laughter already coloring the air as they lost themselves in each other.

I remained frozen in place in that corridor for a long time, contemplating what I’d just learned. Then I looked down at Snarl who was still patiently accompanying me. “Take me to him, please.”

Chapter 14

Fierce

The sound of footsteps and the clack of Snarl’s nails on the metal floors preceded them; Hina’s vaguely floral scent filling the air. I didn’t move from my sprawl on the hard bunk inside the brig; the bed I usually slept in when I managed a few hours. Like a wounded animal, I wanted to growl, to lash out because it was Hina I held my tongue.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, hovering just outside of the small cell. I opened one eye to look at her, noting that she’d curled her arms around her torso as if she was cold. She looked uncertain, worried. Feeling guilty, I sat up and carefully placed Fellow on the thin, flat pillow so he could keep sleeping.

“Are you alright Hina?” I asked her, happy that at least I could ask her things now. My eyes darted to Snarl who was sitting attentively at her side. The Ferai beast said nothing, but he shared a rapid slideshow of images. Of her talking with Ziame and Abby, and then a shot of my quarters that I never used, and Thorin and Camila as they talked with Hina. It said enough, she now probably knew all about my involvement with Meian’s death and that I never slept in my quarters. My brothers were all gossips, and that included Jakar, I’d heard what he’d said to her myself.

When I got to my feet, Hina didn’t back away, she tilted her delicate little chin up to look me in the eye. I approached, slowly, my eyes focused intently on every nuance I could read in her expression. Was she scared of me? Worried? What was she thinking? Fluffy interrupted the intense moment when she leaped up into my arms. Purring, she curled herself into all kinds of shapes in her excitement, rubbing her sleek fur against my bare chest. “Yeah girl, I missed you too,” I told her, but I flicked my eyes up to Hina to make sure she knew I was talking about her too.

She dropped her arms from around her body and with an apprehensive look squared her shoulders and stepped into the cell. With a dubious tone to her voice, she asked if we couldn’t get locked in. “No, it’s safe, it won’t lock us inside.” Assured, she stepped closer, and when I offered a hand she curled her fingers around it, they were cold and a little clammy.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” I asked again, not that she’d answered me the first time. She didn’t look alright, had something happened? I didn’t think so because Snarl would have immediately warned me. Maybe she really didn’t like being in the brig with me. I knew it was a stupid place to hang out, but I’d gotten so used to being in a small space, surrounded by bars, that it was the only place I felt like I knew which way was up aboard this ship.

She sat down on the bunk I’d just vacated and gently petted Fellow along his thick fluffy back, he made a happy chirping sound and rolled over to expose his belly. She petted the softer, white fur there to the sound of more chirps until Fluffy leaped out of my arms to investigate. She was longer, but slimmer, and her brightly colored fur was a sharp contrast to Fellow’s white and black.

Fellow opened his eyes, chirped some more, and soon the two were eagerly sniffing at each other. I kept a watchful eye to make sure that Fluffy didn’t feel threatened, or started thinking Fellow might make good eating. She was a predator after all. Likewise, I kept an eye on Fellow to make sure he wouldn’t swat at Fluffy, he was bulkier and had sharp claws. Even if he meant well, a good swat of those claws could seriously hurt the small Riho.

There was no need to worry, they just sniffed at each other, and then settled down together for a nap. Fellow needed all the rest and food he could get to recover and Fluffy was a sleepyhead, napping the day away usually. This outcome was hardly surprising.

Once the two had settled, Hina’s eyes lifted from the cute duo to look at me. She licked her lips before searching our surroundings, “I don’t like cells. I was thrown in one when they arrested me back on Earth. I spend two terrified days in one. Then they had me attended a sham of a trial and brought me to an even tinier cell for execution.”

I winced and looked around the small cell again, “Okay, let’s get out of here then. You don’t have to be here just because it relaxes me.” Her eyebrows shot up as she stared at me with an incredulous look, her mouth shaping the words ‘relaxes me?’ She could clearly not wrap her head around that and I felt my chest burn up with some bright colors, displaying my embarrassment. I swear, she was the only one around which I lost all control of my camouflaging ability.

She got to her feet and took hold of both of my hands, stopping me from walking out of the cell. “No wait, now you know why I don’t like it here. You need to tell me why you do.” I froze in place, forcing my colors to fade back into their relaxed state, the blue that reminded me of the Mother’s many lakes.