29. Thivoll

29

Thivoll

There almost isn't any point in rerouting air along the glands in my mouth.

The air is so full of Ree's musk it's hard to pick out any other scents. It's the only way to ensure I'm using all the tools at my disposal to keep her safe, so I keep at it.

Unfortunately, the other dominant scent is genali blood, which gets stronger the closer we get to their disorderly camp.

From the brief glimpses I got as I fought them, I know we won't find much. These hunters truly were as stupid as they sounded and they seem to have prioritized luxury over practicality.

I turn back around to discuss it with her and catch the look of horror that flits over her face when she sees the state of the genali I envenomated.

It's an incredibly painful way to die, I admit.

Our venom quickly invades their circulatory systems, increasing the flow rate and then causing all the pathways and vessels to burst.

The genali is essentially one giant bruise with gray viscous liquid leaking from every orifice.

To her credit she simply shakes herself and then keeps moving toward me. "I don't recognize everything, but most of it looks useless, Thivoll."

I purr thinking of how intelligent and practical she is. It makes me want to go right back to licking her.

"Yes, unfortunately. Let's look for a med kit and I'll start destroying anything we can't use."

The hunters seem to have used up most of their pack space with tents and bedding. The bedding is a specialized fabric that helps keep them moist and warm.

I try not to think of how full of their pink slime it must be as I shred it with my claws.

Their packs are made of the same fabric and I know Ree won't want it against her skin any more than I would, so I simply dump out the contents and add the packs to the shredded pile.

Ree sifts through what I dumped, almost instantly locating the ribbed metal container of medical supplies. She takes a moment to figure out the clasp, which is designed for the wide webbed hands and small claws of a genali.

She pulls out the stitch clipper. "Does this use dissolving staples, you think?"

I look closer at the design. "I believe so, and your Silver's nanites will break them down once they are no longer needed."

She sits down as her black suit recedes from her arm, then calmly starts pinching the wound together and stapling it. She makes a hissing sound through her teeth as she does it, but keeps going until the task is complete.

She shakes her head when I hold my hands out in a wordless offer of help.

Then moves to the wound on her leg.

Only a slight tremor in her hands as she puts the stitch clipper away betrays her.

"I could have done that."

She looks at me, and her lips twitch up on the sides. "I know. But it made me feel more in control of how fucked up all of this is to do it myself."

"I respect that."

I spy another useful resource, and it distracts me from our conversation. "These will taste terrible, but they will sustain you more efficiently than your ruminating."

I open the foil pack of meal cubes and show her. "Oh, I'm quite familiar with those, unfortunately," she says with her tiny nose wrinkled and her tone suggesting she despises them.

I toss them aside. I don't like the thought of her eating something she hates.

"I'll search for better food."

She shakes her head. "No, we need to take them. They bring back memories of being on the ship and terror, but food is food."

I whip my head over to her, a spike of rage shooting through me, reminded that they didn't have her in cryo for her journey.

"I thought their buyers were particular about harems being untouched before delivery or auction."

"I was in an isolation chamber, but they had a camera up and needed entertainment for their viewers. Plus, they just enjoyed scaring me, I think. They didn't touch me because they didn't want to trigger the metamorphosis."

I'm confused. "I didn't know humans did that."

She shakes her head. "We don't, but they changed us. Speaking of . . . I've been around you long enough . . . Actually, that doesn't matter right now. Let's get out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near them anymore."

We've mostly sifted through their belongings, anyway.

Aside from the med kit and meal cubes there was nothing else of use. Just a lot of personal hygiene items only suited to genali, clothes, and highly questionable reading material that I quickly shred before Ree sees any of the disturbing images that only the depraved would find erotic.

She looks at the partially erected tents, then moves to pick up one of the genali knives. "Damn. I think I'd be more likely to cut myself than anything else with this design."

She drops the weapon, which I agree is not suited for anyone except genali. "Could you cut a large circle out of that tent and a few long strips so I can make a bag?"

I nod, moving to do as she asks. "That's a good idea. It's the only fabric we'll find that isn't covered in their mucus."

She shudders. "Actually, now that you mention it I can see marks all over it. I'll just imagine more pockets."

She stows items in pouches that appear on her black suit. I've seen her do it before, but haven't really thought through how responsive nanothread would react to this planet.

It's very useful, if prone to hacking, though I suppose that's impossible now and she will be the only one capable of delivering it commands.

"Be sure never to remove that nanothread or you'll permanently lose your link to it," I warn her.

She grunts in response. "Good to know. I found ammunition. Where's the gun?"

That's a good question. I think through the fight, then go to where it was likely to have landed.

The barrel is dented in.

"It's useless. I hit it too hard."

"Better a broken weapon than me digging a bullet out of your hide," she replies.

I chuff once, not liking the reminder of our time up in the tree. "On that we agree, but few would need your help."

She lets out a low groan. "You have no idea how jealous I am of that. The other gun should still work," she's pointing to the one still holstered and attached to the gruesome pile that was once a genali.

I get it and then hand it to her.

She flips it over to inspect it, careful to keep the barrel pointed down. "Their hands are so different I'm not sure if it's worth taking, but why not."

I spend a few moments tearing the tents enough to make them useless, then gather up the knives. I had hoped to use some of the weapons we found, but hadn't factored in the sizeable differences in our anatomy.

We would be better off looking for braceaaer hunters for those, I realize.

At least I can take these out of use, though. "I'll be back in a moment."

It's an awkward climb trying not to cut myself as I ascend a tree with the two knives and a broken gun without leaving evidence, but I'm tucking them away in the crook of a branch not long after.

I shouldn't have shredded the sheathes, but I got in a frenzy.

I pull the clip, then almost neglect to open the chamber to remove the bullets, but carry those back down with me.

It doesn't take much longer to take another quick sweep of their poorly made camp.

"Climb on," I urge her, ready to leave the stench of the slimes.

She nods, patting the various bulges of her black suit, repositioning some. "Should we take that trap and look for others?"

I consider it, but shake my head, the movement less natural than nodding has become. "I think I would rather move out of the area this time, since we tarried for a while in that tree."

I say the last with a purr, images flashing through my mind.

"Besides, hunters are far more likely to trip those sorts of traps than prey. These genali were clearly overconfident coming to this continent. As far as I know this is where they place the most dangerous, which means deadly, sapient, and intelligent."

She climbs up on my back as I finish speaking.

"Wait. So all the prey are people?"

Her voice is full of horror and disgust.

I growl, agreeing with her assessment. "Yes. Genali decided that the beasts of the northern continent were no longer suitably entertaining, so they started gathering people."

She tries out her own growl and my whiskers move forward at how adorable she sounds for a moment before the weight of our topic makes me serious again.

It isn't safe to keep her at this camp.

I make sure she has a good grip with her hands and legs and then start loping out the same way we came in.