Page 14 of Tharn's Hunt
I reach for my waterskin. Surely, she couldn’t need more so quickly. She’d consumed the water I offered like a creature dying of thirst, gulping so quickly I'd feared she might choke. Already, she’s consumed enough to last me seven sols.
Female? I project the thought carefully, keeping it gentle.Jah-kee?Are you in pain?
Nothing. Not even a flicker of recognition in the mindspace.
I try again, louder.
JAH-KEE. HEAR THARN?
She doesn't stir. Dust! Jus-teen could hear me. She could hear Rok. What am I doing wrong? How did he get her mindspace to open?
I shift closer, carefully. When she first became aware of me, she attacked. An attempt that would have been amusing if not for the terror in her scent. Then when I'd restrained her...
My skin prickles at the memory. That strange light. It had filled me, racing through pathways I didn't know existed in my own body. And it hadhurtthis time. Hurt, yes, but also…felt good? It awakened something. Something I feel deep down but can’t quite grab hold of.
I settle back on my haunches, sniffing the air, cataloging the scents clinging to her. Fear. Exhaustion. Pain. Hunger. The sharp tang of injury…
Wait.Lifeblood?
Freshlifeblood.
She is bleeding.
I shift closer, panic thrumming with every beat of my dra-kir. If she is injured, I must find the wound. I have firebloom left; I can crush the leaves again. I’m already reaching for it when the female cracks one eye open.
The moment she spots me, she scrambles upright like a startled rock jumper, her back hitting the cave wall with a painfulthunk. Her hand claws for her pathetic weapon—that jagged scrap of metal she’d tried to stab me with earlier—as her mouth spits sounds at me. Loud, sharp sounds.
Like a dust crab snapping at a predator ten times its size.
Ain.
My poor ear holes.
Still heavy with exhaustion, her gaze darts wildly around the cave before landing back on me. Then, inexplicably, drops lower.
Her nose wrinkles.
Ah.
She’s looking at my pouch.
My member is not visible. Not like Rok’s now is. He has… changed after claiming Jus-teen.
A hot rush of something sharp floods my veins.
Is that why Jah-kee doesn’t recognize my mindspeak?Because I haven’t… presented properly? Jus-teen entered the mindspace because Rok claimed her. I found Jah-kee in the dust, so now she is mine. The mere act of my finding her means I have claimed her. That is the law on Xiraxis. As simple as Ain rising each dawn and going to sleep before the dark.
But perhaps I need to claim Jah-kee in a way she understands. Perhaps that is how she will enter the mindspace.
Hmm. Females are strange; their customs even stranger. I am still learning.We all are.
Perhaps the sight of my member is… reassuring? Or maybe it’s an offering? A gesture of goodwill? I’ve seen Jah-kee clutch the strange creature trapped in crystal for comfort. Perhaps females need to see things to trust them.
I tilt my head, considering. That would explain why her gaze lingered there, why her nose wrinkled. Perhaps she finds my lack of… presentation offensive. Or disappointing.
I stiffen, spine straightening. The thought of disappointing this strange soft thing is one IDO NOTlike.
How do I do this? Do I need to… display it, like a gift?
