Jade

JADE

W hen I open my eyes, I’m not in my egg anymore. Qrow’s face stares down at me.

“She’s awake!” he says with the same level of excitement from earlier.

Another face joins his. This one is pale gray with an iridescent sheen. Female with strong, kind features. Her dark red eyes blink slowly as she studies me. If I had to guess, I’d say she was a doctor. The give away is the long coat and whiff of antiseptic.

“Her vital signs are steady. I presume they’re normal for her species,” the gray alien says.

Weak as I am, I reach up and manage to grab hold of Qrow’s colorful jacket, twisting the fabric in my hand and pulling him towards me.

“What did you say about ‘young’?” I growl.

He splutters until he’s elbowed aside by the gray alien.

“I am Blynda, one of the healers on Kitchik,” she says to me before turning to Qrow and informing him he can leave.

“You know about your young?” She asks once he’s gone.

“I knew I was pregnant,” I reply. “But I don’t know who the father is.” I stumble over the words, feeling ill as they come out. “I wasn’t…intimate with any males. I was captured by a species called the Bogarok.” I’m sure I’m going to throw up. “My baby…it couldn’t be…one of theirs, could it?”

If it is, I don’t know what I’ll do. My blood is ice in my veins.

“You are a mammalian species? Warm blood, produce milk for your young?” Blynda queries but not like she expects an answer, even though I nod weakly. “Then you cannot have Bogarok young.” She tips her head to one side, her blood red eyes taking me in carefully. “I can run some more tests to determine what species the father is, if you wish.”

I swallow hard. Do I want to know?

“Only if you think it’s not going to be dangerous for me…” I flick away another tear. “Or the baby.”

“There’s no danger, little one.” Blynda squeezes my hand gently. For all her size and severe countenance, she’s reassuring. “I’d let you know if there was. Your young is growing well, admittedly, it’s large for your…species, and that’s probably the reason you were unwell. But I have something to help, and you need to get out and about, keep yourself active, and make sure you eat well.”

“That’s it?”

“I am not one for discussing the mind. I can recommend someone else if you wish,” she says. “If the Bogarok did what they did to you, you may well wish to seek further assistance. But I will want you back in around ten turns, in order to do a full check on your physical health.”

I get a further pat on my hand and a kindly look, or at least as kindly as she can make it.

“My species, Haalux—we have a rather complicated breeding cycle,” Blynda says. “Our males are usually absent, but it is no great hardship to bring up a youngling without them present.” She sighs. “In fact, it’s probably easier, especially as they are rather growly and overbearing on occasion.”

I absolutely do not want to cry. I’ve been on this planetoid less than twenty-four hours, and it was my choice to come, so I don’t want to be sent back. But the thoughts, the horrors which crowd in on me mean more tears slip out.

“You may stay here for as long as you wish,” Blynda says. “Rest, go when you’re ready. Your young is healthy and you are strong.”

I nod, unable to speak, swinging my legs over the side of the bed. I don’t want to stay in the antiseptic scented place any longer than is necessary.

I’ve been on Kitchik for around a week, give or take. Life has been a daze and I’ve been operating on autopilot. Tonight I couldn’t take it any longer and I’m wandering through the streets aimlessly.

I couldn’t bring myself to admit what had happened to me, and yet now, I’m faced with the stark reality of it all. I’m pregnant, on an alien planet, with an alien baby.

Instead of seeking help from my friends, I sought solitude and I’m already regretting it.

I stumble through the streets in a daze, having left my apartment because I couldn’t continue to stare at the four walls in desperation. Without Qrow, I don’t know where I’m going. I don’t really care.

When I finally come to my senses, I’m in a big open square, seemingly at the edge of the main settlement, which resembles a cross between a small medieval town and something out of a sci-fi movie.

Not entirely sure what I expected from Kitchik. Not sure what I expected at all when I found myself abducted. But not this. I slump down onto a wall looking over the town. It’s starting to get dark, and lights are appearing like fireflies. For the first time since I was taken from Earth, I feel very, very alone.

A rush of wind has me wrapping my arms around my torso, and somewhere behind me there’s the sound of a tarpaulin flapping. I have far too many regrets, but ending up in this empty place is starting to be another. My head might not be able to process the last few hours, but the hairs on end all over my body are telling me this was a mistake.

I don’t know this planet. No matter how benign it looked, I should have applied my usual approach to personal safety.

“Hello, little morsel.”

Too late. I freeze at the sound of the deep, dark voice.

“What are you doing out here…all on your own?”

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

I am so screwed. Or rather, I haven’t been screwed at all. An inappropriate laugh bubbles up within me. I try to hold it back, but I can’t. As I laugh out loud, my would be assailant steps into what’s left of the light.

The massive red and black Sarkarnii towers over me, all wings, tail, and fangs. He looks hungry in a way I’ve never seen before on any Sarkarnii. There’s a feral look in his eyes. It only makes me laugh harder as terror spikes within me.

All this time with the Sarkarnii, who I didn’t think I’d see for a long, long time, and almost the first alien I encounter on my new home…is a Sarkarnii who wants to eat me.

And not in a good way it seems.