Chapter 33- Skylar

The day after surgery wasn't exactly planned out for Skylar. She'd spent most of the night before sleeping or drinking from her medicine cup. So when she woke up with her throat a little less sore and feeling like she was just recovering from a case of the flu, she smiled. It felt good to just lay in the bed and stretch, it reminded her of home.

Her heart ached for a moment as she thought of her fluffy comforter, her pets, her dad... It was easy to miss Saturday mornings at home. With a groan she covered her face and shook her head, there was no use getting caught up in the longing for them right then, she was already several steps closer to getting home. She was in training now for the big leagues and the big leagues meant a one-way ticket back to earth.

Ferdinand made a soft chirping noise from the end of the bed, she looked between her fingers at her alien...pet? Friend? It was kind of a vague line really. She cooed to him and he came closer, nudging along her fingertips for a nice rub. Skylar obliged with a tender smile. There were some things she would miss when she went home.

The door slid open but when she looked up to greet Kweide her heart stopped instead. In a relaxed but still golden outfit stood Elder Porcupine, he dipped his head in greeting and she pulled the covers over her head in response. Ferdinand gave a confused trill but otherwise remained beneath the cover with her.

"Skylar, I know you are awake...." She didn't remove the cover but she could hear his approach to the side of the bed. "I need to speak with you." When Elder Porcupine's weight pressed down on the blanket Ferdinand wiggled out from beneath it to growl at the seemingly unwanted Elder Yautja. "Skylar." He tried again.

She lowered the blanket slowly and pulled the still angry Ferdinand into her lap."Can't" Skylar gestured to the cup of numbing liquid by the side of the bed. She stared down at her little protector and her fingers absent-mindedly began comforting Ferdinand.

"I spoke with Lar'ja-thwei, a slight communication should be fine as long as I don't require too much for too long... do you feel ready for that?" Elder porcupine stared at her without any hesitance.

Her lips pushed into a slight pout before falling to a thin line. Skylar nodded and looked up at him, giving him her full attention.

Elder Porcupine kept eye contact as he spoke, "I understand that the circumstances of your capture were unfortunate-" At her raised eyebrow he paused before continuing "-and in several ways...they were my doing. " His large, onyx hands rested in his lap but she noticed them edging towards her. "You and Kayla were not bred for captivity like other servants... this punishment was a terrible decision... it was a juvenile mistake that I should not have made. I ... I apologize."  When the silence stretched on he looked away.

Skylar looked at him and her stomach began to fill with pity. The half a year she had spent with the Yautja had taken so much from her, her home, her safety, her father, and yet... she could not hate the one who bore the most responsibility for it. She sighed and moved her hand to rest on top of his. Whatever he was responsible for, he had also been good to her and Kayla and he had assured their safety until they began working for their freedom. That was more than she could have asked of any other Yautja Elder.

He looked at her hands when she gave him a firm squeeze. "Forgive," She pointed to him and then squeezed his hand again. "Kind. Good. There."

Elder porcupine's face faltered a moment before he squeezed back. "I am not so deserving of those words... I know I have been absent from your side for many weeks now small bird."

Skylar nodded but her other hand came to clasp his, "Gone. Hurt bad." She tilted her head. "But why?"

His amber eyes averted from her sincere gaze for a moment. "Did my absence truly hurt you?" A simple question, but one with not so simple an answer.

Skylar looked down and pulled her hands, still holding one of his, into her own lap. Her fingers trailed over his scaly skin as she frowned and nodded. "Yes... you ... left me." Of course it would hurt, especially after he had become the only person she could rely on besides Kayla. At that time she hadn't even had Kweide's companionship yet.

In retrospect maybe it had turned out for the best, his absence had brought her and Kweide even closer, for that she could be grateful. Still... it had stung.

Elder Porcupine gave her a measured look, gauging her emotions she guessed. He was more human-like than the others to the point that she forgot that he wasn't sometimes. It was only moments like this when he looked at her like he was that she could see the unsureness in his amber gaze. "Did I... make you feel abandoned?"

Her heart lurched. Of course he hadn't forgotten what she had hoped he would. He had watched her for so long, treated her so gently, that she had laid bare a few of her troubles to him. It seemed that one, in particular, might have made him understand. She opened her mouth but no sounds came out. Skylar's fingers tightened around his as she looked down. "Yes."

There wasn't exactly a sighing sound that escaped him, but something akin to it as his shoulders hung lower. For the first time, he looked weary. "It was not without reason small bird, not in the least." His thumb unhooked itself from her grasp to delicately stroke her own much smaller hand. When she gave him a confused look he continued, "Rumors were beginning to spread amongst those on the ship, ones that would have been damaging if not-" His eyes squinted some as he looked at her. "-fatal."

She tilted her head. Fatal? What could have spurned death from rumors? She shook her head, "nonsense?"

"I could not agree more in that regard, but an angered female Yautja is not something to be trifled with. Especially one who would be backed by a clan." His tusks clicked with displeasure. "Your head would have been removed instantly had a female had belief in the rumors from the few."

Skylar gulped. Her blue eyes widened just a fraction as the puzzle pieces began to click in her head. When she gave him a hesitant look Elder porcupine simply nodded.

"There were rumors of us, an Elder and a servant... coupling, with a servant not my own no less." His face was less than pleased as he leaned back onto his palms. Without saying anything else he rolled onto his side, propped up by merely his elbows. The position was leisurely in comparison to his usually stiffer composer.

She covered her face with her hands, a red flush had crept across her skin as she tried to clear her thoughts. Other Yautja, at least some, had suspected them of- She shook her head quickly. What could have given them that idea?

At her bewildered expression he continued, "You slept in my room Small bird, you took bathes in my bathroom with my soaps and you wore clothes gifted to you from me. If the clothes did not spark suspicion, the smell of you certainly would." He tucked his hands under his chin slowly. "To Yautja, scent is no laughing matter. It marks many things, including you."

And then she remembered. She remembered N'kai's seemingly innocent remarks when she had first met him. If N'kai had commented on it, surely others had noticed as well, they were only smart enough to remain silent in front of Elder Porcupine. "Trouble?" She pointed to him with worry, had she gotten him wound up in some web of suspicion?

He shook his head softly, "No small bird, when I left you alone for so long enough evidence of nothing happening was discussed until the rumors died naturally."

Skylar pressed her fist into her mouth before she looked at him, "why-" she swallowed thickly at the rawness in her throat starting to rear up painfully. "not tell?"

"It would have been too suspicious to have told you once Kweide had returned. It was the only option I believed would work." He didn't claim to know for certain that he had been right, perhaps there were other ways of going about it, but he had not thought of any that would have worked quite as strongly. "I-" He stopped and his mandibles twitched with uncertainty. She tilted her head, hoping to encourage him to finish. "I am certain it was not enjoyable for either of us." Which to Skylar sounded like the closest thing to an 'I missed you too'.

Her expression softened even more as she opened her arms slightly, "Hug?" Her lips quirked up into a gentle smile.

"Hug?" He tilted his head at her question.

She pointed to her throat, it was becoming prevalent that she needed to rest it now and she hoped that he'd just allow her to show him. When he nodded she crawled across the bed and wrapped her arms around him like a child clutches their teddy bear. Tightly, but with care.

For a moment he did not react. He was simply limp beneath her and she almost pulled back from him until she felt the motion of his arms wrapping around her too. She knew he must have seen the gesture of a hug before in the way he reciprocated the action without question. It was his gentleness that told her he had never received one.

Skylar sighed and nestled into a comfortable spot on his shoulder. It was odd that in such a short time she had come to adore several more Yautja aboard the ship, Kweide and Elder Porcupine just so happened to be her favorites. That in itself was a shocking turn. She noted the way Elder Porcupine's chin rested atop her head with a smile, of all the Yautja he felt the most like a safe place. Despite her growing connection to Kweide, the two relationships were confusingly juxtapositioned. So different and yet so similar.

When she breathed in her eyes watered, she hadn't had the time to realize just how badly she had missed Elder Porcupine until she was feeling relief from his absence. Tears welled up in the corners of her eyes like floodwater. And she let them fall.

She could trust Kweide with her life, but this, this raw and human act of holding someone as you cried for any other reason than near-death? Well she wasn't sure he was emotionally capable of understanding. Yet.

"I will not disappear again."

Skylar nearly jumped when he spoke, she had been so lost in her mind for a moment that to be yanked out again was jarring. She held him tighter as she spoke softly against his armor. "Good."

Elder Porcupine let loose a click of laughter before pulling her closer in his hold. He had most definitely missed her too.

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Skylar's thumb ghosted over the healing scar on her neck. The stitches were dissolving nicely now at the two-week mark and her throat was fine. Which was great... until it wasn't. N'kai had been pestering her for a training time nonstop. Her only defense now stood in front of her, again, trying to deter the young Yautja.

"She is to train lightly!" Kweide growled, arms crossed like a barrier that seemed more to hold himself back than anything.

"You are finished after such a short time! I will be teaching her an easy way of fighting! Even a suckling would be fine!"

She could not see N'kai's face but she could hear him starting to lose his short temper and she visibly gulped. He was a sweet Yautja at times but his enthusiasm... well it could probably kill her. Her fingers naturally wove into Kweide's fishnet, a silent signal that she wanted nothing to do with what N'kai was offering.

"Would Lar'ja-thwei approve it?" Kweide's tone was sharp, and dare anyone think it, a little smug. It was for good reason though. N'kai had just fallen straight into the losers ditch of the little verbal skirmish.

"I do not know..."

"Have you asked him?" Kweide's arms uncrossed and Skylar nearly cheered at the sudden victory.

"No, but-"

"Go ask him, he'll have an answer for you." There was silence following Kweide's statement until Skylar waved as N'kai left.

Immediately his sulking vanished and he nodded to her. "We will train soon! I promise you Skylar!" She really wished they weren't. With a sigh she looked up at Kweide and gave him a soft smile of thanks.

"Once you are cleared for more intensive training you will have to decline or accept his offer yourself. You understand this?" Kweide's voice was stern but the claw poking into her shoulder certainly felt playful-though painful-.

"I do," Skylar looped her arm through his as they walked to the bathrooms. He didn't shower as often as her, but she desperately needed one at the moment despite having trained lighter than she was used to. "I'll handle it when it comes time."

Kweide made a disbelieving sound but the pair carried on their way until they arrived. She looked up at him but he shook his head, "Females." Arms crossed, he leaned outside the bathrooms to wait for her.

Skylar sighed and slipped inside, it was a shower day after all. She padded across the warmed tile, eyes averted from the other females but not on the ground. Being in training meant she was beneath them but she was a free human now and that came with -some- rights. Still, she avoided contact for the most part and only took baths when it was just her and Kweide or if Kayla was around. The water didn't seem inviting anymore after what she had been through.

"Should I be offended?"

Her ears twitched as she turned on the showerhead. M'kreeta's voice was behind her and she did not sound happy. That female, in particular, was of a more hot-tempered but incredibly vain sort. Skylar had bumped into her upon their first time meeting and narrowly avoided her wrath by merely complimenting her. She never forgot that experience. 

"Calm yourself, he has always been that way, you know that." Lu'nai, yet another female Skylar knew in passing was speaking now. She kept her head tilted as she washed, listening in to the conversation."A female that shows interest in him will always be turned away, there is something... wrong with that Yautja. Would he really be a good sire?"

Skylar tensed, could it be? No. They wouldn't be talking about Kweide.  That would be preposterous...

"You are right, I will not think of it further. Kweide would more than likely have not produced strong pups." M'kreeta's words were final but they nearly had Skylar whirling on her heels. How dare they! How dare they talk about him like that.  What did they know of Kweide? Yes, he was aloof, but he was a strong warrior and trustworthy too. Her fingernails stabbed into her shoulder mid scrub and she frowned.

 She wanted to say something to them. She wanted to say something so bad that her jaw hurt from the power of her clenched teeth. But they were female Yautja, there was little she could really do that wouldn't cause damage to everyone in the process. 

Instead, she shut off the water and walked out of the bathroom, barely clothed and still dripping suds. She hadn't thought she'd be noticed, but she had been, Lu'nai's eyes followed her curiously as she disappeared from view.

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When Skylar appeared outside the bathroom somehow looking half like a sudsy creature and half like she was ready to fight the black warrior head-on, the energy in the area shifted.

"Skylar?" Kwiede moved to draw nearer to her but she wrapped her arms around herself and he froze. 

"Let's go Kweide. Please." She stood shivering before him, eyes begging to be obliged, and he did. She followed after him, shoulders squared, and gaze firmly set on his back. It made all the Yautja they passed uneasy. Skylar almost never gave off the kind of aura she was emitting and most Yautja chose to not even speak to them. It wasn't exactly that she intimidated them, she was small compared to them, small and still not trained enough to be deadly towards any warrior on the ship, but the switch in demeanor from the usually gentle human was eerie. 

When the bedroom door closed behind them, Kweide turned to look at her, arms carefully held to his side. "Are you well?" She nodded and swallowed thickly. "Are you certain?" When she nodded again but refused to meet his eyes he decided to wait for her to speak first.

 There was a period of silence before she walked over to him and buried her face into his abdomen. "You are not broken Kweide, there is nothing wrong with who you are. " Her shoulders shook and his hand came up to pat her softly.

 He did not ask questions. He didn't need to. Kweide had heard the females as well as she had and he could only try and comfort her as she ingested the words he had listened to since he was young. They did little to him now but she was soft and she cared for him in her human way. 

Kweide's hands rested in her hair, gently cradling her skull between his hands as he let his fingers soothe her tense forehead.  "You'll freeze like this." He stroked her cheek gently and then moved away to grab a water bottle and a drying cloth.

Skylar took them gingerly and gave him a half-hearted smile as he took off his mask and placed it aside. She picked up his hand again and brought it to her face, resting her cheek in his palm as she closed her eyes and held it there. Her eyes remained shut tight as the cool water rinsed the suds from her hair under the guidance of his gentle ministrations. 

If Skylar could protect Kweide from every harsh word she would have, he was her ... her something. And her something was precious to her. 

A/N : Sorry we've gone so long guys! It's been hectic and writer's block was killing us but we're back and ready to roll! Hopefully, we'll get you guys another chapter this month! ^^ It's time to play catch up haha XD - Admin Sapphire