?? CHAPTER 11 ??
Ryle
My little female has left me dumbfounded. How can she show me such decadent pleasures and still not want to be my mate? She is utterly unfathomable. I haven’t given up hope, though. Far from it.
I should be eager to return to my crew, but I’m sad to leave the cave. Our little oasis in the storm. I will remember it forever, the place where she taught me about the human kiss. It isn’t something that my crew and I have ever seen or done before. Our trainers provided us with simple SexTrons - robots that resemble our kind and provide sexual assistance - but they never performed a kiss. It isn’t something I’ve seen lesser beings and animals do, either. I wonder if it’s a unique custom of her species?
Either way. I liked it. I liked it a lot. Maysee enjoyed it, too, once I learned how it works. The sound of her sharp breaths went straight to my cock. She refused me again, though. I do and I don’t understand. But I am learning her words - soon I’ll be able to tell her about the mate bond.
She refills her pockets with the items we left on the ground - including the trash. She refuses to leave it, says it’s “littering.”
Her strange, thick vest is ripped and torn after our mud tumble, but she gathers that, too. Finally, we exit the cave.
The forest post-storm is teeming with life. Winged animals flit between the treetops, chittering and trilling. Rustling and growling sounds come from deeper amongst the damp trees. I note their direction and position myself between the sounds and Maysee. It would be easy for even a small animal to make a meal out of her.
The fragrant fallen needles on the ground are soaked after the storm. Our feet sink and squelch as we walk. Stealth is impossible. Hopefully, my size is a deterrent for any predators.
Now... which way? We really ought to climb the rock wall. We came from somewhere up there before hurtling over the muddy waterfall. I can pull us up. The question is, will the cracks and ledges hold my weight?
I’ll have to test it first. I signal to Maysee to stay put. She scowls, but she plants her hands on her hips and watches me warily.
I have to jump to reach the closest ledge, then swing and hurl myself up to the next, sweeping my tail to help me balance. I hear Maysee gasp from below. My mate is impressed! Good! Perhaps leading her safely home will be all the proof she needs that I am worthy.
I’m preening with these thoughts when the next ledge crumbles beneath my fingers. Tsek. I slip and I plunge to the ground.
Maysee gasps again, this time with distress. I land without injury, dropping into a squat at the last moment. But she rushes over and probes me with her delicate little fingers, examining my knees, and then my face.
“Okay!” I say, then I smile to show her. “I, okay.”
I pick up the word “thank” and “good” in her babbling. Then she slaps my leg, points up the wall, and says, “No!”
I agree, “No.” I can fall and land myself, but if she were clinging to my back, I would be too unbalanced. Not worth the risk. No wall. We’ll have to find another path.
I don’t rush to straighten up, though. She’s still poking at me, examining my ankles now, and I’m enjoying her fluttering touches.
“You are okay.” She says it as if she’s surprised. As if she didn’t believe me. Did I truly fall from that high up? I’ll make a note. This likely means that she can’t fall like I can. More potential dangers for her. She isn’t built for this environment at all. She needs to be kept somewhere very sheltered, very safe.
It’s a good thing that she has me.
I try out another word that I learned from her device - I point in the direction along the wall. “March!”
She giggles. “Walk,” she says, and she takes three steps away from me. “March.” As she comes back to me, she lifts her knees high and stamps her feet to the ground.
Point taken. But I want to make her giggle again. “Yes. March.” I grab her hand and I march down the path I’ve chosen.
Her laughter echoes amongst the trees.
?????
The two suns create strange shadows as they move further and further apart in the sky. It creates a criss-cross of light and dark through the thickening forest. The wall remains to our right, showing no sign of shrinking.
Rivulets of water trickle down the wall in some places, gathering in smaller cracks and ledges. We’re able to use her filter straw to drink - that’s one problem avoided, at least. I noticed in the caves that she grew weary very quickly without sufficient water - more than my kind needs. I watch for each new stream as we walk and point them out for her.
Maysee’s tablet has charged with the sun enough to use, and she holds out her map for me to see. She’s added the cave and the rock wall. “Look.” She points to what she and her crew added when we were still at our camps - the cliffs at the sea. She sweeps her finger across the empty space in between. Taps at the ocean. She believes that if we find the shore, we’ll find our way to her ship. We’ll connect the puzzle of the map.
Find the ocean. It’s as good a plan as any. “Okay. Good.” I nod at her. She beams, flashing her little white teeth, her face lighting up. I brush her cheek with my thumb. I wish I knew the words for pretty or beautiful. Something to tell her how lovely her smile is. “Maysee good.”
“Oh,” she says, looking down. She brushes her hair behind her ear, though it wasn’t in the way.