by Poppy Rhys
It was overwhelming to think about.
“Who’s Leeshi?”
“The True One,” he focused his attention ahead. “The creator of my people.”
Ah, their deity.
Fin hoped this deity didn’t require blood sacrifice, or anything. She could deal with a lot, but spurting blood and vengeful deities were pushing her limits.
Not that it mattered. She wouldn’t be on Yari for long.
The rest of the day drifted by as Fin got lost in her own thoughts. When she got hungry, she would pick one of the red fruits from the small pile in the canoe. When she got thirsty, she drank.
They didn’t talk much.
There were times when she’d feel Hunter’s eyes upon her, and would catch him watching her just outside her line of vision. By the afternoon, it didn’t bother her as much anymore.
When the shafts of light peaking through the canopy grew a fiery orange, she knew the sun was sinking. Sunset was upon them, and soon, she was stepping out of the canoe once Hunter pulled it onto the bank.
This part of the jungle felt normal, safer. At least, compared to the hell they entered last night.
She watched him twist a long, twine-like blade of vegetation into a type of snare.
He set it upon a thin beaten path where the blue hued grass was split, a trail of dirt winding through it.
“What do you plan to catch with that?”
“Our meal.”
She gave the snare another glance.
On he moved, taking her to a different location. Enormous yellow plants with thick, veined leaves half the size of her body clouded the vicinity.
Her brow puckered with confusion when she watched him cut multiple leaves off their stalks, depositing them into her arms while he continued to gather more.
“Do you make a habit of collecting large leaves?”
He grunted.
“They’re for us to sleep on.” Hunter deposited another into her arms. “Unless you prefer to sleep on the dirt.”
She pursed her lips.
Once he decided he had enough leaves, he began picking up dry twigs from the ground, and dead, brown fibers from a particularly weird, shedding plant.
Fin had never been a wilderness type of girl growing up. Camping wasn’t her deal, or sleeping outdoors. She’d never joined any clubs, or adventurous groups that engaged in outdoor activities.
She didn’t know how to survive without technology or modern conveniences.
Watching Hunter find an even patch of ground below a curved tree, and begin setting up a sleeping mat of leaves, she couldn’t help but feel cheated, like she should’ve done more with her life on Dor Nye.
Something other than living her entire life indoors, and going so far as to choose a career that specifically focused on the inside of a dwelling.
She wasn’t sure she would’ve gone as far as living off the land like a wild woman, but maybe she would’ve enjoyed birdwatching, or hiking, or studying plants.
Doubtful. But she still wished she’d tried.
“Huh.” She perked up, surprised when she sat down on the large bed of leaves. They actually did give a bit of cushion to the ground.
“Okay, so maybe you do know your way around the jungle.”
Hunter ignored her, opting to pay attention to his task of setting up the twigs and sticks into a steeple. He gathered a handful of dead leaves and placed them under the twigs.
Soon, after what Fin deemed an impressive skill of rubbing sticks together to create fire, a nice blaze was licking at the tinder and giving off a warm glow.
A squeal echoed nearby.
Hunter shot to his feet, heading in the direction of the snare. Soon he was emerging with a dead and dangling orange critter.
Fin frowned, noticing its slit throat.
She gulped, trying to remind herself that she ate meat all the time on Dor Nye. Of course, she never saw its face and furry cuteness, and she certainly didn’t see the gutting, or the skinning of what went onto her plate.
Fin locked her gaze on the dark canopy above. It was bad enough hearing the wet sounds of guts being handled, and skin being flayed. She didn’t want to see it.
****
Hunter watched his mate as she sat on the opposite side of the fire after they’d finished the meal. She was silent, as she’d been most of the day except the odd comment here or there.
He found her silence… irksome.
Leeshi, he couldn’t decide which one he hated more, her yammering, or muteness. What was she thinking inside that mind of hers?
But why did he seem to care?
Surely it was only because there was no one else to share intelligent conversation with, and they still had another two days of their journey to go. The river cut time off their travel, thankfully.
“Do you think Xeno is still looking for you?” Finley inquired. His ears twitched.
“No.”
“How are you so sure?”
“I’m no threat to Carnal Bazaar,” he said thoughtfully. “I can identify none other than Ranaan, Senna, and a handful of attendants.”
“Hmm.” She nibbled her bottom lip and Hunter wanted to kiss her again.
Frustrated, he poked the fire with a stick.
“What were you doing on Vishik anyway?”
Nosey thing.
For a beat, he was catapulted back five terms ago…
The air on Vishik wasn’t as clean as Yari. He’d been to the trade planet before, tagging along to help load and unload crates ready for trade, but not this time around.
He was here to find his Mi’ska, and he had his sights on an exotic female already. Many times he’d encountered her, talked to her, brushed his skin against hers.
Beautiful cyan skin of the Onie. Harava was her name. She hailed from a strong warrior species. He enjoyed her height, matching his own. Her strength, and intelligence. The perfect match for him.
“Hunter,” her breathy whisper caressed his ear, “I am yours.”
No moment in his entire life up to that point could compare to the elation he felt when she whispered those three simple words. His body hummed, his heart hammered, and he thanked The True One for guiding him.
“And I,” he said in turn, “am yours.”
“Soon…” Her striking yellow eyes drank him in, lulled him in a way no other had. She turned, beckoning him with the crook of a single, clawed finger.
I’ll follow you anywhere, he thought.
Harava’s breathy, enticing laugh floated on the wind as she led him through the renowned hedge maze of Vishik’s capital. In the twilight, she appeared ethereal and Hunter couldn’t believe his good fortune.
How many terms did other Shu’Lee’s search for their Mi’ska? Yet he’d only been upon the planet less than three months and already his future looked bright.
Hunter rumbled delight as he chased her deeper and deeper into the maze. He’d catch a glimpse of her silken scarf trailing on the breeze as she darted around another corner.
“I’ve caught you.” He grinned, pulse thrumming through his entire being as he gazed upon his trapped female.
“No, Hunter,” she smiled, her plump lips pulling at the corners. “I’ve caught you.”
He felt his brow furrow, confusion catching at the corners of his mind before two pairs of hands grabbed him from behind. A hard blow to the back of the head blurred his vision.
Down to his knees he went, blackness swallowing him up as Harava’s cruel laughter rang in his ears…
“Hunter? Hunter?”
He blinked, eyes focusing, sliding to Finley.
“You were in la la land there for a minute. Are you alright?”
He hadn’t thought of Harava in… in so long. Yet he thought of her every night of his captivity for five terms. The revenge that boiled his blood is what kept him going for half a decade. He’d sworn he would find her again, tear her throat out with his bare hands.
How had he forgotten?
“I’m fi
ne,” he bit out.
It was the human. The ghost of Harava seemed to disintegrate the night Finley entered his cell.
He scrubbed his chin, perplexed, and dumbfounded. It was as if he was discovering a piece of his mind completely hidden, yet there the entire time.
“I was there to look for my Mi’ska,” he said distractedly. “The rest is irrelevant.”
****
Fin was suspicious. First the alien got a faraway look in his eyes, and went trance-like for a solid minute, then tells her ‘the rest is irrelevant’.
There was a story there.
It piqued her curiosity, but whatever it was seemed to push him into a sour mood, which was saying something for someone that always had a chip on his shoulder.
Sometime later in the night, Finley stirred awake, feeling something lay down beside her. When she heard a familiar snort, her muscles relaxed.
It was Joh.
She tentatively outstretched a hand, her fingers petting the thick fur of the creature for the first time. In the broken shards of moonlight filtering through the canopy, she saw him stretch, and exhale loudly.
Now that her back was covered by Hunter, and her front by Joh, she fell back asleep, feeling as if no terrifying creature could get past those two.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The next day went by much the same as the one before. They traveled on the river with a small stash of fruit, and the water pouch that had taken a considerable amount of time to fill at the drizzling tap Hunter found.
She had hours to stew on her predicament, to come up with different ways that she might convince her captor to take her back to Dor Nye.
And… came up with zilch.
Fin’s thoughts floated toward her parents, wondering if, after nearly seven weeks, they’d given up hope. She cringed to think they may have thought her dead.
It pained her to imagine herself in their situation, wondering if their daughter was safe, if she was being harmed, if she was long deceased. The not knowing would drive her to insanity, if she were them.
And if she knew her parents, which she did, insanity was probably a close state of mind by now.
A selfish part of her hoped they were still looking, though she expected it would be an expensive feat. There were few agencies that specialized in interplanetary investigations for missing persons. It was nearly an impossible task.
The universe, and all the possible what-if’s, were just too vast.
She trailed her fingers along the waters surface as another day came to a close and Hunter steered them to the bank.
The river was gaining speed, ripples, and swirls breaking out on the surface as they were stopping for the night. Far ahead, she could see the foamy crests of water as it broke against large rocks, cutting a path.
“We walk from here.” Hunter followed her gaze down the river. “Tribe home is a day on foot.”
Fin examined her feet as she stood on the bank, waiting for him to pull the canoe out of the river. They looked pretty awful, but the couple days of traveling on the water helped relieve their swelling drastically.
I can make it one more day.
Hunter’s muscles worked as he handled the craft, settling it on the ground and making it look effortless. She caught his gaze.
Hostility. Desire.
His chest expanded as he breathed deeply. If Fin wasn’t careful-
A deep snarl and violent shake of the foliage behind them startled her.
The fine hairs along her nape stood to attention, a prickling sensation crawling over her shoulders.
Flashes of pink and blue fur, and leathery orange skin was all she saw before that familiar, teeth chattering bark rung her ears.
Joh and a ruxvin burst from the bushes.
Jaws snapping, biting, and clawed feet kicking up dirt as they viciously clashed in a fight for dominance.
Hunter snapped into action, pulling his dagger from his belt.
She backtracked, and then without warning, the ruxvin advanced on Joh.
The pet’s powerful hind legs bumped against Fin, pitching her further rearward.
Her feet tangled, her body falling backward off the bank and into the river with a splash.
Surprise had her gasping, sucking up a mouthful of water as she tried to stand. The water was deep right off the bank, seemingly no incline. Just a straight drop.
Fin’s feet struggled for purchase, slipping on the slick rocks along the riverbed.
She dipped under again, her arms flailing as a channel of rushing undercurrent snatched her.
Her fingers curled in an attempt to grab on to anything solid, but they simply slashed at water, and pebbles that couldn’t compete with the pull of the river.
Fin had no sense of up or down as the fast rushing water flipped her head over feet, twisted her side to side, and rolled her mercilessly.
Water burned her sinuses, and a cloud of her long black hair blurred her vision as it swam and floated around her like a ghostly entity, the current pushing the locks in every direction as it continued to take her on a ride.
The river dipped, pushing her upward, her head breaching the waters surface.
She coughed, spewed, and inhaled so sharply, deeply, it felt like her lungs would split open.
The water rushed faster, dashing around jutting rocks, and whipping her body left and right.
Fin saw a flash of green running along the bank before the current pulled her back under.
Her muscles tensed, the lungs within her chest seized as terror gripped her entire body.
This is it!
Her mind screamed, whirled, and her thoughts began to jumble.
No life flashed before her closed eyes, no regrets of all the things she didn’t do with her years, or remorse for the people she loved that she would never see again.
Just terror.
Mind numbing terror.
Every limb she possessed kicked, and thrashed as she tried her damnedest to hold on to something, anything, that was immovable.
She opened her eyes, the frothy blue water rushing around her.
A fist plunged into the water at her side, its fingers grazing her skin, grasping and slipping.
Her mind stuttered, hope seizing her subconscious, moving her into action as she grabbed for the limb.
Hunter.
Her fingers slid down the arm, his doing the same as the river tried to thwart her rescue.
No, no, no! Her heart hammered in her chest as the nanoseconds ticked, and ticked, running out.
And then his strong hand clasped her wrist, halting her body under the waters surface.
The river seemed to rage, fighting for its victim as it tried to suck her back down.
Fin struggled, gripping his forearm with her other hand.
She held on as tightly as she could when she felt him pull, hauling her from the water.
The air touched her face, the crashing sound of the river smashing against rocks pounded her liquid filled ears.
Fin blinked, her vision swimming with colors.
Hunter’s stricken face was the first thing her gaze landed on. He continued to haul her up until she was free of the river, and precariously balancing with him upon a large, flat rock.
With careful haste, he led her to the bank, never letting go of her arm.
Finley’s feet touched the grass, and down to her knees she went, emptying the contents of her stomach onto the ground.
It felt as if she’d swallowed a tank.
When she was done, she rolled to her side, panting as she tried to catch her breath.
She was so tired.
Physically, mentally, emotionally. Her body’s limits were being tested more now than in her entire life.
His hands brushed over her soaked face, smoothing away water droplets, like… like he cared. His skin was so warm against her chilled face, and she had the strange urge to nuzzle her cheek into his large palm.
He was helping her stand then and Fin’s shaky muscles prot
ested, but he held on, making sure she never faltered.
Suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her body, pulling her close against his hot skin.
Her body went rigid, the contact too familiar, an exaggerated display of emotion, which, she believed him nearly incapable of.
But then, her eyelids closed, arms slowly snaked around his torso, body molded to his.
Ugh, why does it feel so right?
Hunter was hugging her, and she was hugging him back.
“Little human.” He groaned, smoothing a hand over her hair. “Don’t worry me like that again.”
Fin huffed a laugh, rubbing her cheek against his searing skin, and shivering. His unexpected affection surprised her and stirred her chest in strange ways.
“Yeah, bad Finley,” she mumbled sarcastically. “Note to self, no more tripping into rushing rivers and nearly drowning.”
‘Mm’ he hummed.
“So you were worried about me, huh?”
Fin pulled back, tilting her face upward. A twitch in his bottom lip didn’t escape her notice.
“You aren’t allowed to die.” His tone was scoffing. “I refuse to walk this planet alone for the rest of my days.”
Fin quirked a brow. “You’re so romantic.”
He’d saved her life twice now. Of course, she wouldn’t be in this mess if he’d just left her to the officer on Vishik…
But his body felt nice, right then. That’s what she thought about.
She stood on her tiptoes to quickly plant a peck on his stubborn chin.
Her fingers dug into the muscles of his back, holding tighter, her body craving some kind of contact.
“Mi’ska,” he crooned, smoothing her hair and crushing her body to his.
Without warning, Hunter dipped, wrapping an arm behind her knees as he swooped her to his chest. She let him, grateful she wouldn’t have to walk, because she wasn’t sure how far she would get.
“What about Joh? The ruxvin?” Fin asked, eyes widening.
“We killed the beast.” His lips brushed her forehead.
Fin relaxed against him, resting her head upon his shoulder until he set her down in what she guessed would be their camp for the night.