Chapter 4

Julie

I woke up on top of Orsu's large, soft body feeling warm and protected. He might be muscular but he also clearly liked to eat, giving him the perfect amount of fluff to be comfy to lay on.

I might have enjoyed sleeping on him a little too much because when I finally found the strength to get up and face the day I immediately felt the loss of his warmth.

"Good morning," I greeted Orsu as he sat up rubbing his eyes. He gave me a groggy smile and bid me a good morning as well.

"How did you sleep?" he asked as he stretched and yawned.

"I slept pretty good, actually. I think talking about my worries really helped." I gave Orsu a genuine smile of appreciation for that.

"I'm glad to help." Orsu smiled back. "Are you hungry? I have plenty of leftover food from yesterday. You can eat as much as you like. I can restock at the den."

"I know you have plenty of food," I teased. "You didn't pack anything else."

Orsu let out a hearty laugh. "That's not true. I packed the fur you slept under and some water." His eyes twinkled with mischief as we bantered. There was something about him that made me feel light as a feather inside. It wasn't exactly a vacation from my anxiety, but his presence seemed to make everything else I was facing more bearable.

I took the pouch of dried berries and Orsu munched on the nuts.

"Do you think it's safe to head out now?"

I was eager to get back to the other women. I wanted to know if Gabby had made it back to the den.

Orsu looked up at the sunlight shining through the crack in the ceiling and nodded his head. "Yes, the nocturnal beasts should be back in their dens by now."

He got up and winced as he put pressure on his leg.

"Should we stay here another day so you can heal?"

Orsu shook his head. "The pain is not great, and I need to return you to your dekes. I have herbs in my den that will speed the healing of my leg."

Dekes. He'd used that term a few times now.

"What is a dekes?"

Orsu furrowed his brow as he thought about how to explain the term. "It's your people. Those you live with."

"Ah, like a community. That makes sense."

The big blue alien walked to the boulder blocking the entrance and gave it a mighty shove. He seemed to be struggling to move it more this morning than he had last night. Blood trickled down his leg from where I had bandaged his wound and he grimaced.

"Here, let me help." I stood beside him and helped push the boulder. He stopped momentarily and looked down at me with a smirk.

"What, are you going to tell me I'm too weak?" I'd been surrounded by cousins and coworkers my whole life who teased me for being short and weak. I understood that I had physical limitations, but I was still a capable individual.

"Never," Orsu's expression became very serious. "You have survived much. I think you might be stronger than even you realize."

That wasn't what I had expected. I had braced myself for more teasing, especially from a guy as big as Orsu. It was nice to be taken seriously and not have to defend myself, even if I didn't have that much strength to offer.

We worked together and the boulder eventually moved. The bright morning sun felt amazing on my skin, especially as I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh forest air.

Orsu sniffed the air and nodded to himself. "It is safe. There are no predators nearby. Stay close behind me though, just in case."

"Just in case, what?" I could already feel my panic starting to settle in when I looked up and saw a small mischievous smile playing across Orsu's face.

"Are you teasing me?"

"Always," Orsu smiled and his chin quivered as he desperately tried to hold back a laugh.

"I should throw my chancla at you for that."

"Is a foot covering considered a mighty weapon where you're from?" Orsu asked, still wearing his teasing smile.

"It depends on who's wielding it. If it's my mother, then yes."

That woman had the precision of a sharp shooter when it came to throwing her chancla.

"I will keep that in mind," Orsu chuckled. "Come, Julie, we will be safe." He beckoned me to follow him, which I did.

I was happy to see him walking without a limp despite the large gash he had acquired last night. I wondered if a Sirret's ability to heal was more advanced than a human's.

The peaceful quiet of the morning didn't last long, though. Orsu was a talker. He peppered me with questions about my life on Earth and showed special interest in my stories about being a chef and how I developed my recipes. It was nice. Talking about cooking got my mind off things such as the predators who roamed this forest.

I was in the middle of a story about how a customer sent back their nearly-burnt bacon for being too soft when Orsu suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" I asked as I nervously looked around.

"Jagwas; a strong scent is being carried on the wind. There might be a herd of them nearby. We will have to take the long way to the den."

Orsu got down on one knee and said, "Come, ride on my back. I do not wish for you to get tired or to damage your mighty chanclas by wearing them out. You might need them to defend yourself later." He flashed me a teasing smile that was impossible not to return. His joy and levity was so damn infectious. Even on this dangerous planet I found myself at peace when I was around him.

"You'll be sorry about all your teasing if I ever throw my chancla at you," I teased.

"I'm sure I will. How could I stand against such a mighty weapon?"

"Will your leg hurt if you carry me?" He wasn't limping, but that didn't mean he wouldn't start once I got on his back.

"You weigh less than a sietling. Come, brave Julie. I am happy to carry you," he grinned up at me.

"A sietling?" Another word that didn't translate.

"That's what we call our young, a small Sirret, or a sietling."

"That makes sense." I found myself wondering what a young Orsu would have looked like. I bet he was nothing but chubby cheeks and fat legs from the time he was born.

We continued on our walk and I found that Orsu had not been kidding about taking the long way. The sun was starting to set and we still weren't at the den.

During our long walk, I had learned that the small structure we'd found yesterday wasn't actually his home. It was more like a hunting cabin. His real home was inside a mountain with the rest of his dekes.

"How far away is the mountain from your den?"

"It is a half a day's walk," he admitted.

"Half a day? Why so far?" Was the hunting better out here?

"Um, well…" he went quiet for a long moment before he continued. "When the big moon is full, I am forced to shift into my bear form. I cannot help it. So I stay away from the mountain so none of the non-shifters will come to any harm."

Harm? Orsu wouldn't harm anyone. He'd been in his bear form when he protected me. Even when he had kidnapped me, he seemed more driven than feral.

"Have you harmed anyone before?"

"No, never," his tone was serious. "but when me and the others first shifted we were only thirteen seasons old. We struggled to control our beasts back then. It became tradition to leave the mountain during the full moon for the safety of the elders."

"Why do you keep doing it if you're in control of your beast now?"

"I…" he trailed off as he thought of his answer. "It is hard to break with tradition." That wasn't the full answer I'd been hoping for, but it would do for now.

Orsu

I had been happy to answer all of Julie's questions all day, but now I was grateful that she did not ask more about my shifting or my den. I did not feel ashamed as I had as a young hunter, but I had grown so used to leaving the mountain on the full moon that I hadn't questioned why I kept doing it. None of us questioned it. Perhaps it was time for us to reevaluate that tradition as a dekes.

Night had fallen and I could still scent the jagwas nearby. I had suspected they'd been following us since early this afternoon, which was why I kept our breaks short. I couldn't lead the pack to the den and endanger the other females, so I kept widening our circle around the den.

I did not tell Julie any of this so as to not worry her further. She seemed happy to spend the day talking about cooking and asking me about my dekes. I did not wish to see her smile fade with the knowledge that danger was near.

I would have to tell her soon, though. We were going to have to stop for the night and try again tomorrow.

I found a large tree with many wide branches that could serve as our shelter for the night. It was not my first choice, but since very few predators roamed the treetops, it was our safest option.

"We will stay here tonight." I remarked as I shook the tree to test the sturdiness of it.

"Where? Is there a den nearby that I'm not seeing?" Julie looked around our surroundings.

"Unfortunately, no," I sighed. "We will sleep in this tree tonight."

"This tree?" Julie pointed to the tree in question with a look of shock on her face. "No, no, no." She shook her head. "Sleeping in a cave was bad enough. I can't sleep out in the open in a tree!"

"The tree is safer than the ground," I teased.

"I know that." She slapped my shoulder with her small hand.

"All will be well, you'll see. We will get comfortable and you will tell me your fears and I will show you the stars."

Julie was full of worries, and I did not think it was easy for her to unburden herself of them, but I found her to be incredibly brave because of it. If I carried as many worries as she did, I was not sure I'd ever leave the safety of the mountain.

She clung to my back as I used my claws to climb up the tree. I found the widest branch and sat against the tree trunk as I helped Julie find a comfortable position on my lap.

"Am I going to sleep on your lap? Do you sleep on each other under the mountain, too?" She questioned me with her arms folded over her chest.

"Of course, how else would we sleep?" Julie's eyes grew wide until she saw the quiver of my chin.

She slapped my shoulder again and chastised me. "Don't do that!" But soon the corner of her mouth turned up in a reluctant smile and I felt like I had won a great victory. To see Julie smile despite all her worries was a great treasure indeed.

"Come, lay down against me and we will look up at the stars as I promised." I patted my chest and beckoned her to lay down. Despite having her pressed against my back for most of the day I was still excited to feel the press of her skin against mine again tonight.

She lay down and looked up at the sky and started to recite what sounded like a chant.

"Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight."

I shifted my gaze to where Julie was looking and spotted the star she had fixed her sight on.

"That's a moon."

Julie let out a disappointed sigh. "Just my luck, I wished on a moon."

"If your wish was for protection, then the moon was the perfect thing to wish upon. The moons protect us. You see that small moon?"

She shifted her gaze to where was pointing. "Yes."

"My mother said when she was a sietling that moon was double the size it is now. But one night they heard a loud sound from the heavens and looked up to see a giant rock crash into the moon. It collided with it instead of Valo Prime. That small moon saved us from untold damage."

"Does your mother live with you in the mountain?"

The familiar ache I felt every time I thought of my mother shot through me like a spear to the heart.

"No, she died when the stiffness spread through the dekes when I was a young male."

"The stiffness?"

"A disease that weakens a person and leaves their muscles as stiff as wood. They become immobile and die within a few days of getting sick."

The memory of my mother drawing in her last breath would haunt me until the end of my days. My sire had died years earlier while on a hunt. Once my mother was gone I was truly alone.

When the Savrix exiled all the shifters, I thought I'd be lost to my loneliness forever, but over time our outcast dekes became closer than brothers. We'd all lost someone to the stiffness and we'd all lost an entire dekes, but thankfully the immense loneliness I had feared never came. Sadness and grief over my loss swept through me, but I never had to suffer alone.

"I'm so sorry." Julie looked at me with true concern in her eyes. I was touched. Here I was holding a female, which was forbidden, and she was showing me compassion. Even if I was punished by the other dekes for touching Julie, I'd do it all over again. The memory of her sweet warmth and beautiful smile would carry me for all my days. I would never regret holding her and keeping her safe.

Julie yawned and I decided it was time for rest. "Come lay down and tell me your worries."

With a contented sigh she laid down on my chest and it took everything within me not to smile as if I'd won another great prize. I did not want to seem too eager for Julie's touch. So I kept my hands at my sides and not wrapped around her like I wished.

I was her protector only. She hadn't indicated she wanted anything more from me than protection and possibly friendship.

"Are there snakes on this planet?"

"Snakes? Yes, but the poisonous ones live on the ground under the rocks and fallen leaves. If you see a snake in a tree it is perfectly harmless."

Julie shivered, "I don't want to see any snakes."

"I will protect you from the snakes," I promised, and I meant it. I would not let a single beast on this planet touch my Julie. I may have just met her, but I already knew she was special. There was a force beyond us both that drew us together.

A bird screeched overhead which caused Julie to ask, "Are there any birds here that would see me as prey?"

"Here in this part of the forest, no."

I chose not to tell Julie of the small birds with beaks filled with rows of sharp teeth that flocked together to hunt prey, each of them taking one bite at a time until the poor creature they had swarmed was nothing but bone. Thankfully they didn't stray too far from the tar pits, which was why we never went near one.

"Are there any diseases I should be worried about other than the stiffness?"

"You do not need to worry about the stiffness. It swept through the dekes so quickly that it disappeared with the last of the afflicted. There are no other diseases that we've encountered here."

"Okay," Julie said softly as she turned and laid her cheek on my chest. "That's all the questions I have."

Julie settled against me with her cheek to my chest. She fell asleep much faster tonight, which pleased me to no end. Perhaps she was warming up to me already.