He almost reminded her of a jellyfish, except he was obviously humanoid. She’d never seen one with such vibrant and interesting looking colors before.
She jerked her head back in surprise. His tentacles slithered, propelling him forward on land, but it was the jarring movements which made gave his upper body the impression of bobbing up and down in turbulent waters that had her reeling over in laughter.
It was unquestionably funny and odd.
“What is that sound your mouth makes?” the creature asked, his forehead wrinkled in a pattern that claimed confusion.
“You mean laughter?” She chuckled between breathy snorts.
“What is this laughter you speak of?” The creature crouched lower to the ground, appearing shorter than it was, as it leaned towards her with watchful eyes on her lips.
“Oh, you really don’t know?” Raschelle asked in a pitiful tone that equally matched her sorrowed face.
“It appears not. No.”
She didn’t respond. Not because she didn’t want to, but because it took her brain time to register what was happening. Here she was, sitting on some wet cave floor having a conversation with a humanoid jelly man that she could communicate with perfectly while she was supposed to be finding an exit and catching up with her friends instead. It was almost as if she hadn’t registered that she was speaking with some kind of aquatic alien. Or rather, meeting an alien for the first time.
She didn’t know whether to be horrified at the experience or to be grateful that she managed to find someone who could help her.
Chapter Three
Drashar
He was at a loss for words. One moment this female was ‘laughing’ and the next her soft and melodic voice was stone cold quiet. Perhaps she was lost in thought, or unable to answer his question, but he was grateful none-the-less that she had finally awoken.
After accidentally paralyzing her, he had rushed her home to his den. At the time he hadn’t realized it was a female. Or that her body had been covered in a strange white film that he later removed once he realized it was covering up a large part of her wound. The realization that she a female came as a shock. But that knowledge was not horrifying like finding out that the covering he had removed from her body was what allowed her to breath underwater. First, he nearly killed her with venom, then, he nearly killed her by drowning. And in order to save her life, he had to bring her body up into the safety of the caverns.
Uncomfortable as it was for Drashar, he still did it without complaint. Females were rare and this one was in dire need of protection.
Setting her up in the caverns was easy. Tending to her needs, which were just as mysterious as her species, was a different matter entirely. How do you care for a creature you know nothing about? Regardless, he fed her tidbits of freshly hunted fish and other small aquatic life to provide her with strength that her body required to heal. Every daylight he also changed the dried seaweed wrappings he used to stop the bleeding when they became soaked with blood, but only after applying the healing salve of the orsharb. She hadn’t bled for quite some time, but he continued to apply the salve anyway, just in case her injuries were far worse than they appeared.
But up until that very moment, she only had minor occurrences of consciousness. The fact she woke completely had taken him by complete surprise and awe. It was an extraordinary testimony of her strength and will to live. She may not be an Aq’aith, have tentacles, or the ability to breath underwater, but that hadn’t stopped Drashar from feeling a considerable amount of pride.
"Hey there, are you able to help me? I need to find the exit…is there any way out of here?"
Drashar blinked. "I am unsure," he replied with a slight notch of trepidation.
Of course she would want to leave now that she was no longer under the throes of his paralytic venom and had awoken after so many daylights.
With her covering ruined, there would be no way for her to get back to the safety of her den, and if it wasn't for the fact that they were deep below the ocean's surface, she probably could have swam up to the top for air. It didn't appear her body could hold her breath for that long, but he was basing that on what he saw when he rescued her daylights earlier. Perhaps she was too injured to hold her breath for such a time then but could reasonably do so now.
All of this was speculation, but it kept him busy as he trudged along behind the female while she explored the tunnels searching for an appropriate exit. At the very least he could guard her should there be anything unfriendly lurking around. While this cave system was technically part of his den, he never made use of it until her maddening scent enticed him to hunt. There was just never the need to surface.
"This is insanity!" Raschelle cried out. Her small and four fingered hands with an additional strange appendage balled into fists. "How can all of these tunnels lead to dead ends? How am I able to breathe in here? None of this makes any sense…we must be missing something," she said resigning with a sigh. The deep and rich red locks that sprouted from her head bounced as her head turned to face him.
The texture reminded him of a few creatures that roamed the oceans. They too had hair, but not nearly as long or as lustrous. Females of the Aq’aith did not have hair, they were just as bald as the males were.
"And it is all my doing…I am truly sorry. If I could make it right I would." Drashar bowed his head in shame. They had spent hours traversing the endless cavern system to find an exit, or something that would lead to the surface. Several times they got lost but were fortunate enough to make it back to the central pool that led to Drashar’s den. In all that time his skin itched, begging for salty water to rehydrate.
“How can you say that? You were the one who rescued me. If it wasn’t for your quick thinking, I’d be dead.” She placed her hand on his shoulder and peered up at him with her lava rock brown eyes with circular pupils.
“And now you are stuck here.”
“Stuck is better than the alternative. I’m sure there’s a way out. It’s just a matter of finding it. It’s not like I have anything else to do with my time.”
He grunted, not as optimistic as she was, but wasn’t going to bring her hopes down. Raschelle removed her hand and sat down at the edge of the pool, letting her legs drop into the water. He sat down beside her, allowing everything below his bell margin to soak. His body was beginning to feel dry and crackly from the short amount of time spent outside of the ocean. He was not thrilled, but until Raschelle was reunited with her friends, Drashar wasn’t planning on letting her out of his sight unless it was absolutely necessary.
“Tell me more about this ship you crashed. I want to understand, but many of the words you speak are...unknown to me,” he requested, wanting to know more than just the simple tidbits they shared while exploring the tunnels.
She fascinated him. In more ways than one. They were so similar in many aspects, but equally different as well.
Her facial features were different, of course. Her pupils were round instead of horizontal, and the bump above her lips was larger and instead of several slits, she had two small holes which she had claimed was for breathing. When she had told him that, he raised his hands to touch the bump and noticed forceful air movement in and out. Perhaps that was how he was able to breathe above the surface too. She also had large mounds on her chest, but when he had asked about it, her face blossomed into a lovely pink color looked at the ground in fascination. He never understood what was so curious about the ground, he’d decided to go back later and inspect it further. And then of course, her legs. They were ‘walking’ appendages, not tentacles.
“First off, I didn’t crash it. I have no idea why the ship went down other than a few explosions and a fire. And secondly, I’m more baffled that we’re speaking the same language. Let’s just say my planet is very far away. I may not be a scientist, but this certainly intrigues me—” She stopped talking and placed a hand on her belly.
An unearthly rumble that sounded like a cross between a gurgle
and a growl came from Raschelle’s direction and filtered through his ears, interrupting the fascinating stream of words spawning from Raschelle’s mouth. He wanted to know more about what these fire and explosion things were, or what a scientist was, but he had to put his wants on hold.
Drashar was up and out of the water instantly on high alert. His eyes grazed around the room searching for the unsightly beast that made the horrifying sound. He growled, threateningly, hoping to warn off the creature, but decided that allowing it to exist in the cavern, while Raschelle was using it as her temporary den, was unacceptable.
He strode forward checking each corridor that led to the room they were in, knowing how “funny’ he appeared to Raschelle as he did it. It was necessary, not only for her safety, but to establish dominance over what was technically his domain, despite Raschelle’s current use of the space.
“Did you hear something? What is it?” Raschelle shot to her feet and ran up behind him.
He placed a hand up to block her access. Drashar still had no idea where the sound came from or what had made it. It unnerved him. Battling a beast such as the brushooj was one thing, because he knew what to expect, but battling the unknown was another matter entirely.
“Do not leave my sight. Not until I have slain the beast.”
“What beast? Where?” she asked, worry lacing her feminine voice.
“Unsure,” he grunted, angry that she was afraid. Angry that he deposited her in an unsafe location that she could not escape. “When it growls again, it will not allow it to escape my detection.”
Raschelle began to puff and snort sporadically behind him, which eventually turned into gentle laughter. He glanced over his shoulder and watched as wetness welled up in her eyes and an uncontrollable smile filled her face. All the while he was trying to stay extra vigilant of some creature that was lurking in the shadows.
Somewhere.
“Why are you doing this laughing when your life could be in danger. I can’t always be around to protect you.” Irritation spread throughout his body. Even his tentacles moved uncontrollably. He stepped away from Raschelle, afraid his oral arms would move of their own volition and accidently touch her again.
His fear was not only palpable, but reasonable, given the fact that her coverings were shorn, and she was nearly naked except for the small strap that he covered her wounded mounds with, and the tiny scrap of fabric between the junctions of her two tentacles.
No...her legs he reminded himself again.
“I’m laughing because—” she held her chest and grunted in pain. “Ow. What the hell? The pain is back. I woke up like this, but conveniently enough the pain eased up when we were out walking...well when I was walking.”
“You must have woken shortly after I applied the orsharb, sometimes it takes a while to take effect. You will need more until you have recovered, but I have been applying it to your wounds every daylight.”
That reminded him, he was almost out. He needed more, but he would have to leave her behind in the cavern, which was now unsafe. He growled as uncontrollable rage filled him. All he ever wanted was a female, a mate. And while this female was of a different species, it hurt him none-the-less when he thought about how many times he had failed her.
“Oh my God! Why are you growling? Look if it helps, I can apply the salve myself. I don’t mean to be much trouble. Honestly.”
He whisked her small body up into his arms, carrying her towards the small area he had set up for her. It was only a shy distance away from the entry point, but he chose it for a reason. What if she had rolled over in her unconscious form and drowned? What if his den was attacked while he was away hunting and they had found her? So many things could have gone wrong. He wasn’t going to press his luck any further.
“Where are you taking me?”
“To your denning room so I can apply the salve. Keep your eyes open,” he said quickly.
“It’s not like I can see well in here to begin with.” She paused briefly while the red hairy lines above her eyes drew upwards, giving her a look of surprise. “Wait! We keep getting distracted. I think that sound you are hunting was actually me.”
He stopped moving, entirely unsure of how to process the information she provided.
Unable to see well? What other disadvantages did her species have? It was no wonder they crashed into Sa’Thulia.
“No. I stopped hunting you when I rescued you.”
“Wait what?” Her face scrunched up in disapproving look. “You were hunting me?”
“Your flavor drew me out of my den. I couldn’t deny the allure of it, but when I caught sight of your small form fighting the brushooj, I decided to help you instead.” Drashar didn’t feel shame for hunting her, it was only natural for predators to stalk their prey, but he understood if she didn’t agree.
She shook her head, as if to remove the revelation out of her mind completely. “I mean to say, I was the one that growled. I’m hungry. Thirsty for that matter. So thirsty. I can’t believe there’s no freshwater. I think I have a few weeks at the most to find some. Maybe I’ll get lucky. If I had a pot...I could probably boil the salt out. If that’s even how that even works.”
He placed her on the mat of dried seaweed that he’d piled up for her when he’d first brought her there. It wasn’t much, but the texture was gentler than placing her fragile skin on the rocky surface of the cavern ground. Drashar puffed his chest. At least there were some things he did right.
“What do you mean you were the one that growled. I watched you speak. You didn’t growl,” he responded while lifting the tentacle that securely held the orsharb plant. He raised it to his lips and took a bite. It was bitter, but the combined mixture of his saliva and the orsharb made for a good salve that not only sped up the process of healing, but also reduced the swelling and numbed the painful, lingering effects of a bad wound. Not that he had much need of it, but it was proving to be good knowledge to have at the moment.
This female he’d rescued was turning out to be more work than he’d originally thought, but he didn’t mind. It wasn’t like he had much else to do in his lonely existence.
Chapter Four
Raschelle
He still didn’t get it.
“My stomach growled. It just means I’m hungry and need to eat,” she responded with hopes that it would clear things up, but by judging the look on Drashar’s face, she assumed it hadn’t. She didn’t mind repeating herself knowing there were obvious communication barriers between them. “What is that you put in your mouth? Is it food?” she asked curiously, watching him chew on something, but immediately changed her mind as he spat green paste out and into his hands. “Never mind...” Her curious spirit quickly turned to dejection, not taking long for her stomach to growl again, protesting its empty state.
This time, however, Drashar eyed her with suspicion. His head was turned and little canals she hadn’t noticed before were facing her. Raschelle assumed they were for hearing, despite not having the shapely ears that humans and other species had. It was like he was truly shocked that her body would make such a noise. Humans couldn’t possibly be the only species with gurgling stomachs when hungry...right?
With one hand, he reached for the straps that held tight against her breasts.
“What are you doing?” She leaned back away from his touch, completely shocked by his actions. Not once had he tried such a move on her before now, and despite their differences, she felt safe around him, however there had to be boundaries set. It wasn’t that she was uncomfortable with his touch, but now was not the time or the place for such things.
“Applying the salve.” He cocked his head to the side in what appeared to be confusion, his hand still in the air, but unmoving.
“To my breasts?” she scrutinized him, but then remember that was where she hurt the most. She must’ve been knocked hard for it be more painful that the gaping wound she had on her leg.
“They are in need of healing, and so does your leg." He reache
d for her strap again, but before she could respond, he pulled the scrappy material from her body. "I will have none of this nonsense. I will apply the orsharb salve to your wounds until you are fully recovered, just as I have done so every daylight since I rescued you."
Rachelle watched the material that covered her chest fall to the ground in several pieces along with the dried paste that appeared to be caked to it. It confirmed everything. All this time he had been applying this salve to her naked body.
She wanted to be mad. No, she really wanted to be furious. But how could she be? Everything he was doing was out of the goodness of his heart. It was purely innocent. He wasn't some pervert trying to pull one over on her like many men would try when she was bartending. Hell, he probably didn't even know that a woman's breasts were considered private.
Her mind played out scenarios of pushing Drashar away and explaining why this wasn't appropriate, but she was tired and his soft hands felt nice on her body.
He started with her neck. His fingers pressed lightly against her skin, kneading it as the orsharb salve slowly absorbed into her skin.
"This feels quite wonderful," she said with a contented sigh as she leaned back onto her makeshift bed.
His hands sunk lower to her décolleté, providing the area above her breasts with the same treatment. It didn't feel as good, but it was relaxing none-the-less. Why had she fought him to begin with? This handsome humanoid jellyfish was massaging her body, and her body was screaming yes.
He stopped briefly to make more salve. Raschelle wondered why he was attending to her. She understood his need to take responsibility for her after the accident, but the level of care he provided went far beyond what she expected from a stranger. Humans included. But he was more than just a stranger now. She had gotten to know him, even just for a bit. He was kind, protective and fierce, but also caring. It was endearing, and that worried her. Not because they were different, but because she felt bad for sucking up so much of his time. And she didn't want to be accused of being a homewrecker…again.
From the Depths Page 3