Vrox glanced over his shoulder tiredly, wishing that he could join his brothers. The darkness was almost upon them, and it wasn't a good shade to be under. The night was alive and lonely. It often lured unsuspecting men into a permanent sleep.

He glanced down at Kira who was clinging to his muscles in search of safety. Vrox didn't understand why he was so distressed by the voices of his brothers, but he knew better than to push. The spirited youngling would likely make a run for it.

"We need to seek shelter. The sun will hide from the darkness soon," he told the mess of limbs that were snared around his torso.

The boy trembled, the balls in his chest furrowing deeper into Vrox's flat, healthy one.

"You will hurt yourself. Don't hold me so tightly," he warned, moving a hand down to Kira's butt to support her weight. When the fleshy slit between her legs rubbed against his abs, he seized his walking.

"You will have to walk, or our rubbing will worsen your injury."

He gripped the boy's chin, guiding it up and away from his shoulder. His eyeballs were containing a red war, and his cheeks were wet by a substance that Vrox couldn't recognize.

"Did you touch another strange plant?" he asked.

The sadness in her expression was universal, but the tears were alien to him.

When Kira simply blinked, he skid two fingertips across a cheek, examining her tears. Earlier, when a single line of moisture fell from her eye, he had been sure that it was water.

"Your eyes produce this? How strange. You must be iller than I thought."

Kira didn't fight him when he guided her down to the ground. She threw a forearm over her eyes to wipe the journeys of weakness and then stared at the tan of his shoulder instead of the yellow of his eyes.

"Thank you for not taking me there," she mumbled as she picked at her skirt.

Vrox tossed his head back and squinted at the sun. A protrusion in his neck became more prominent– Adam's apple, she noticed.

An Adam's apple?

The fact that he had two nipples and a bellybutton clicked.

She had been so distracted by the foreignness of his tongue, rowdiness of his face, obnoxiousness of his height, and lack of mercy in his strength. Vrox was so male that the traces of his mother went overlooked.

Vrox looked back at her and squinted at her mouth, focusing more intently on her than the sun he had just been examining. It was when a furrow split his brow that she realized she was smiling.

She dismissed the curve from her lips, realizing that her constant flips of mood were whiplashing the poor guy.

"Ignore me. Lead the way to the next adventure."

She swept a hand forward, and Vrox gave her a final moment of his scrutiny before taking the lead.

They walked uphill that time.

She was used to being surrounded by glass and concrete. But now, the walls that surrounded her were quite literally alive. As she followed Vrox, she actively sought pointy rocks that wanted to stab her bare feet or quicksand that wanted to send her for a swim.

The wilderness thinned out the higher they climbed, and she lost count of how many strange plants she encountered. She had almost jumped out of her skin when she saw a flytrap chomp on a bird. The last thing she saw was blood spraying before she threw herself at Vrox's back.

He hadn't been surprised by her cowardize, still convinced that she was a child. To distract her from the flytrap, he snipped a flower that was fully orange. Its petals were dramatically curled, and although it had been separated from its roots, the petals danced like tentacles when he tickled them with a finger.

She took the flower with a wince, hating herself for being so squeamish. "Sorry. I promise that not all Terrans are wimps."

If only the guy had a broken air conditioner or something, she could prove her worth.

Vrox seemed very interested in the time. He looked up at the sky every few minutes, studying the location of the sun. She hadn't been keeping good track, but it felt like this planet had longer days than Earth.

Their journey ended with a vast wall of rock. She examined the side of the mountain they were facing, immediately locating a collection of caves at its bottom. The peak of the mountain couldn't be seen since a thick mist covered it.

Vrox wasn't phased. He had slept in these caves dozens of times through his travels. He could journey through the skyscrapers of rock while being blindfolded.

"Come," he beckoned Kira, extending a hand out to help the kid step down the slope.

They were inside soon enough, and Vrox immediately went to check out the plants that grew beside the mouth of the cave. They were mushroom-like, dotted shrubs that didn't taste very good, but they did the job of filling you.

Vrox knew better than leaving Kira alone, so going outside and hunting was out of the question.

He began to pluck out their dinner. The process would have been easier if he had a blade, but he dropped his weapons within the first minute of meeting Kira. The boy was more trouble than he was worth.

If you're reading this story other than on Wattpad Inkitt and Lutionary, then it has been plagiarised. Please email 1ancientt at gmail dot com to let me know.

Vrox was sure that if his brother Ak had been the one to find Kira, he would have gagged and hogtied her. He wasn't known for patience.

"Here. Eat this," he ordered.

Kira took the plant from Vrox's hand, proud that she recognized the word cal in his sentence. She examined the plant for a long minute, waiting for something deadly to ooze or crawl out of it.

"Oh damn, this is good," she moaned.

She took a bigger bite of the sweet plant. Vrox ate some too, though his nose was wrinkled.

"What's the matter, Vrox? Are you too macho for sweet foods?"

He didn't understand anything other than the fact that she was no longer sad.

He ate the rest of his food, and then unlatched the big leaf that they had attached to her purse.

Kira watched him unroll leaves and crush them with his bare hands, rubbing them together until all that remained was the green paste he had been so eager to introduce to her breasts and clit.

He stared at her expectantly.

"Come on," she whined. "Not again."

Vrox ignored her frown, raising his hands to not spook her.

"Do not start with your tantrums. This will help you heal."

He pet her cheeks, smearing the medicinal paste over her now dry tears. Kira was utterly confused by the attention he was giving her face, but she didn't mind it. As long as he didn't try to paint her boobs green, all was good.

Vrox only stepped away when he was certain that her eyes wouldn't produce any more of the wet substance that he couldn't identify.

Kira laid on her back and stared at the grey sky. The dull color was only a shell of the blue's glory. She found it odd how this planet had no sunsets, but this feature was nothing in comparison to its other horrors.

Her eyelids became heavier with every blink, and it didn't take long for her fatigue to pull her under.

– • –

Shrill desperation woke her.

She opened her eyes and found the same blackness that had been behind her closed eyelids.

The night was upon them.

"Vrox?" she murmured, reaching a hand through the possibility of abandonment. A husky whisper screamed her fears away. Vrox was still in the cave.

The same sound that woke her up went off. It sounded like a crying boy.

Vrox opened his eyes when he felt Kira sit up. Surely, the boy knew better than to ignore the call of a whai. Those beasts mimicked the sounds of young boys to lure men into the forest.

"Vrox," Kira repeated, trying to get his attention.

Vrox sighed, knowing that it was going to be a long night. He couldn't explain to Kira what a whai was, and he couldn't communicate with gestures because there was no light in the cave.

Before Kira could fall into the whai's trap, he trapped her under one arm and shut her up by placing a hand over her mouth.