42. Thivoll

42

Thivoll

"What's wrong?"

I'm twitching inside her and my mind is fuzzy with the aftermath of my release, but I force myself to focus.

"Stop purring for a moment."

I do as she asks, then feel her own purr vibrate against me.

"You have a kit purr," I blurt out.

I chuff and can't seem to stop. She uses her elbow to deliver blows to me several times, grumbling the whole time, but I just keep right on chuffing.

Soon after, she relents and joins me with a low version of her trill.

I pull her close to me. "You are perfect. Including your dainty purr."

It starts back up again and I add my own deeper rumble to it.

We fall asleep wrapped up in each other's arms.

?

I wake us both up well before dark.

The wind was howling for most of the morning, but it has improved now.

I'd rather hunt at night, but I feel like we would fail her Silver to not keep moving. She groans, but grabs on to me without complaint.

We continue our practice of me leaving her in a nearby hiding spot, but I decide to be more choosy today. There are several newly downed trees, presumably from the wind storm.

There are more and more hunters each day.

If I took the time to kill them all, it not only increases the risk when my Ree wouldn't be able to get in and out of our nest alone, but it also lengthens the time before we can help her Silver.

I've already checked several camps with no sign of the equipment we need when I come across one with a small cache of supplies covered with a heat-reflective material.

It piques my interest and I spend some time observing the mixed camp of genali and braceaaer.

They aren't getting along well, as usual.

I only know a few words of the clicking braceaaer language, but from the insults being hurled by the genali it seems like they are on the brink of pulling weapons on each other.

I suppress my purr, mentally urging them on.

After a few more minutes of observation without violence, I decide to help inflame the situation.

Some careful creeping is all it takes to position myself above them. I carefully detach a branch, then carve it into a sharp point.

It would be more helpful to have one of the knives we've pilfered, but it's not worth the discomfort of carrying a pack when I have plenty of sharp claws.

The small spear works just fine when I drop it from a height onto the exposed neck of a bending over braceaaer. They dart their long-fingered hands up to their neck, whipping around to berate the innocent genali behind them.

I sharpen another projectile, but it isn't needed. It seems like all it took was a little nudge.

Bullets and knives are flying not long after. One of the two braceaaer simply picks up one of the three genali and hurls him into the trunk of a tree.

They are far stronger than they look. They're one of those species where size and strength don't align with expectations.

It stuns the slime just long enough for the other braceaaer to run in and slash his blade across its quivering body, spilling entrails before they reverse the trajectory and stab forward through one of the screaming blob's eyes.

Several bullet wounds open up on the torso of the triumphant killer, and he lets out a series of high-pitched clicks as he crashes to the ground, green blood pumping out of his blown open chest cavity.

There's plenty of competing noise now, so I let out my suppressed purr, its rumble increasing my satisfaction.

This is the most entertainment I've had in a very long time.

The remaining braceaaer learns from the blind rage of his companion and dives behind a tree for cover, still peppering the two remaining genali with blasts from his handgun.

One catches a retreating genali in the head, pitching it forward as it instantly spreads out into a boneless puddle.

The remaining two hunters fire a few more shots from cover before the genali wetly calls for a truce.

"You destroyed the dried-up whiner. What's the point of killing each other?"

I don't understand the braceaaer's reply, but it must signal some sort of agreement because the genali lets out a gurgling sigh.

"Of course I can moisten the deal. You can have your pick of any of my slaves in stasis on the moon."

As certain as I am that these two will eventually be back to blows, I don't want to bother waiting. I'm sure my Ree is wondering what's keeping me.

Knowing her, she might even try to climb down from her perch.

They've provided me with plenty of cover. I creep through the canopy as they continue to haggle out an agreement. Of the two, I'm most concerned with the braceaaer, so I head for him first.

He's still busy berating the genali as I creep down the trunk of the tree he's hiding behind.

I've never enjoyed descending headfirst.

If he hears me, it will take him a mere moment to train his gun on me.

My progress is slow, since I need to be quiet and also keep my body from showing to the genali, but it isn't long before I let go of the tree and fall, my claws extended in front of me.

His body buckles under my weight, the sound of his spine snapping bringing my purr back in force. Just in case, I slice my claws across his thin throat, severing his oversized head from his body.

The genali gets a glimpse of me and he's filling the opposite side of the tree with gunshots as I climb back up.

He must have seen enough of my fur to know what I am, and now he's panicking.

Not long after, I hear the telltale click of an empty chamber and I leap from tree to tree to close the distance between us. He's still shakily trying to attach another clip when I pounce on him.

I let out a roar as I shred his disgusting body with my claws.

The desire to bite into him is strong, but I stop myself midway when I think of the kisses I would like to get from my Ree once I return to her.

No sense in being overly dramatic, anyway.

I suppress a roar of triumph, but not the surging satisfaction that I could spark such pandemonium with a little stick.

I'm still chuffing about it as I use their water to rinse blood out of my fur.

The mysterious covered cache ends up being a disappointment. It's bottles of moisturizing spray and a pile of illicit substances genali are fond of, which don't even have the added benefit of any sort of medical use.

I take a few moments to create a makeshift bag to sling over my neck and grab rations, medical supplies, and the braceaaer weapons.

Everything else I destroy.

I'm sure Ree will appreciate the supplies, but I put even more care into not running into any more dangers afterwards. Unless I see a rope lying around or more hunters about to kill each other for us, it's best to just leave them be.

I make haste to get to her, relieved when she is still waiting, though impatiently.

We have roamed far from the cave when I scent a new species. It smells like exotic spices, musk, and anger. The caustic tang of the latter I can certainly appreciate, but as always, it makes me cautious.

I pause for a long moment trying to decide if I should even tell her about it. If I do, she will insist we go see them.

For all I know, she will offer to teddy bear it while it tries to snap her neck.

"Why are you growling?"

My face flushes to be caught out and I realize I don't want to keep things from her, anyway.

Even if I might not like what comes next.

"I think there's a prey species nearby. But they smell angry."

"Well, I'm feeling that too right about now, so how about we go greet them?"

I growl again, but start moving that way.

A few more steps and a shift in the wind and I smell a genali as well. I place my fists and paws more carefully and keep my ears swiveling.

"A slime, too," I tell her.

"Good thing I reloaded this god -awful gun."

Fear skitters down my spine right along with a flash of memory that takes me back to that Thela-cursed bush. I doubt I will ever be able to forget that day or the panic sizzling through me as the genali raised his gun in response.

I shouldn't have said anything.

I should likely just let them battle it out, but as much as I would like to keep Ree completely out of all of this, I can't just stand by while they attack another victim, regardless of how dangerous they may be.

The best thing to do now is to creep in and take a look, so that's what I do.

I move slowly and carefully, keeping my rounded ears perked in front of me, with the occasional sweep backwards to check my full surroundings.

It doesn't take long before I hear the squelching sound of the genali. I learned from my mistake last time. This time I pull Ree into my arms and move to scale a tree.

She gives me a narrowed-eye look, but doesn't protest.