Kita'thalla Ch. 02

"Great" he responded, grateful for the distraction. He rummaged through his pack, finally finding two of the self heating packs, and handed one to her. "Press there" he indicated a small circular area on the pack. "Open it with that tab when it turns red. There's a spoon attached to the other side." She did so, and after a few minutes she opened the pack when it indicated, sniffing at it apprehensively. "What exactly is this?" she asked, poking at the contents with the spoon.

He looked at her from his meal. "That one would be tuna casserole, although in actuality it's nutrient-dense enriched soy protein. Looks and tastes pretty close to the real thing though, even if the texture is slightly off."

She frowned at the meal "It better taste better than it looks"

"Oh just eat it already. I only have two weeks worth of those and I'm not letting them go to waste."

She sniffed it again before taking a tentative bite. She paused for a moment before chewing and swallowing. "What exactly is...tuna casserole?" she asked.

"It's a dish made with tuna fish and a type of boiled dough called noodles."

"Tuna fish and noodles."

"Yeah. Is that a problem?"

"No. I'll eat it if that's what you're worried about"

She continued to eat, taking her time. Finally after finishing, she threw the empty package next to the humans backpack where he'd set his own. She laid back, allowing her stomach to settle from the meal, and made a mental note that if she ever got off this planet alive, she'd capture a human who knew how to make real tuna casserole. If the fake stuff was that good, then the real food...that was one spoil of war she was looking forward to.

Still savoring the taste, she looked over at the human, who was staring off into the woods at the mouth of the cave, looking deep in thought. Strange creatures, she thought. They had no claws, their teeth were blunt, they were for the most part physically weak, and aside from the hair on their head, they were mostly bald. From what she'd seen in the past, even their senses of sight, smell, and hearing were comparatively weak. How in the world did such a creature become the dominant species on a planet? And why are we having such a difficult time grinding them into dust like all the other races we've conquered? While they certainly were ingenious when it came to inventing weapons technologies, aside from that they seemed like nothing. What do they have that we don't?

As she pondered this, her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden feeling of fullness in her lower abdomen that made her stomach sink. As if she hadn't suffered enough indignities already... Maybe... "Uh" she started, trying to catch the human's attention without letting on how nervous she was.

He turned at her voice. "Yes?"

"That water that you brought. Where did you get it from?"

He looked at her, a little confused. "There's a small river a short walk away with clean water in it. Why?"

"I want to wash up" she said, hoping that it would work. "I mean, after eating and everything. And anyways, it's getting a little uncomfortable just sitting here on the rocky floor." She tried a slight smile, hoping that it might sway his opinion.

In reality the view of her sharp canines wasn't terribly reassuring to Eric, but he couldn't see any harm in it. It's not like she's going to be going anywhere, he decided.

"Allright." He said. "Actually, before that, one quick thing I need to check." He stood up and held out a hand to her. She stared at it blankly. After a few moments he rolled his eyes. "I'm trying to help you get up. I'm sorry if this injures your pride, but if the side effects of that needle I used are still present, you might wind up injuring something else."

She grimaced, and realized that accepting his help would be far less embarrassing than a repeat of what she'd tried earlier. She grabbed his and, allowing him to assist her in standing on her good leg. Almost immediately the world spun and she nearly toppled over on top of him. So much for her dignity...

"Whoa, careful" he readjusted his stance to keep her from hitting the cave floor. "Yeah, that's what I thought. The drugs are still affecting your balance. One moment..." He eased her back down into a sitting position. Unfortunately, the hover stretcher was all but drained of power, so he retrieved the pair of crutches from his pack, telescoping them out to the appropriate length before setting one of them against the cave wall for easy access. "Okay, we're going to try that again, as soon as you're up I'll hand you the first one. Use that to stabilize yourself."

"Fine...just...hurry" she said, sounding a little pained.

This time around, with one arm using the crutch and the other supported by his shoulder, she was able to at least remain standing. With the other crutch in place, she was able to stand, although she still felt a little unstable. Looking at him, she realized she was actually slightly taller than him. "Alright..." she said, thinking optimistically. Maybe she wasn't so reliant on him. "I think I can make it like this.

Which way did you say the river was?"

"It's only a short distance off. That way" he pointed. "You start going, I'll stand beside you. Don't worry, I'll catch you if you start to fall." he said, dashing her hopes of being able to attend to things alone.

As they started out, she found that she was actually slightly better off than she had been in the morning. While balancing on one foot was out of the question for now, with 3 points of support she was fairly stable. Small comfort right now, as the human wasn't letting her out of his sight, and things were getting more and more desperate by the second. Finally she stopped.

"What is it?" he asked. "Is there a problem?"

"Uh, actually...right now, I think I'm fine. You can head back to the cave."

He frowned at her. "I know I'm not the best company, but with the state you're in right now you'd be in trouble if something happened to you."

"Yeah, I know, but...look, could you just go back to the cave? I'll be fine on my own. Really. It's not like I'm going to be able to run off, I'll come right back." She was starting to sound a little panicked now.

He looked at her strangely. "Are you okay? If you want to stop and rest for a moment..."

"No, I'm fine! Just... there's something I need to take care of alone. Can you just go back to the cave?!"

"What do you mean you need to..."

"I NEED TO RELIEVE MYSELF!" she finally yelled at him, her patience snapping. "I DON'T KNOW HOW IT IS FOR YOU HUMANS, BUT FOR US, PISSING IS NOT A COMMUNAL ACTIVITY!" she stood there looking at him with a pained expression, breathing heavily before taking a quieter tone. "Just...after everything else that I've had to put up with, allow me this one last shred of dignity"

He stared at her for a moment, taken aback by the sudden outburst as what she said registered in his mind. He looked around the area for a moment, then back at her. "I'll go back to the cave" he said. I'll be back in 15 minutes. Yell if you need anything." She watched as he disappeared into the forest, her thoughts momentarily distracting her from her discomfort.