Birds of Prey - Hetero Edition

It closed the jaws around its prey and bit down, the Gue'tra going limp as the bite crushed its bones, and the fangs ripped through its flesh. The beast ate, tearing the smaller bird almost in half and raising its snout towards the sky, wolfing down its meal without so much as chewing.

"She's putting on a show for our guests," Maza laughed. "Isn't she magnificent?"

"Okay, now I see why you need a two hundred foot wall," Jaeger conceded as he ran his fingers through his damp hair. "What the fuck..."

"The wall isn't just for keeping out Teth'rak," Xico added eagerly, staring up at him with her violet eyes. "It has many other important functions. But yes, it would not do to have her running around the city center."

"It's as I said," Maza warbled. "Earth has lions, Val'ba'ra has Teth'rak."

"I'm not sure you could even bring that thing down with a railgun," Baker laughed, and the Valbarans gave him a shocked look.

"Why would you do that?" Ayau asked, "it's just an animal. As long as you stayed out of her territory, she would have no quarrel with you."

"I didn't mean I actually wanted to hunt it," Baker said apologetically, "I just meant that it looks tough. We had animals like that on Earth at one point, but they went extinct millions of years ago."

"Oh no!" Ayau wailed, her feathers puffing up in a shade of deep blue that could only convey sadness or regret. "What happened to them? Was it a famine or a plague?"

"Nope, an asteroid impact. Our ancestors evolved from the small mammals that survived the extinction."

"That's terrible!" she trilled.

"The mammals that evolved on Val'ba'ra are small burrowing creatures mostly, they could fit in the palm of your hand," Maza added. "You evolved from such animals?"

"Yeah," Baker replied, "we had giant reptiles called dinosaurs that existed before us. They grew big, not too far removed from your feathery friend over there, then an asteroid hit and wiped out everythin' bigger'n a mouse."

"Now I can only think of you Earth'nay as little whiskered things scurrying around on the ground," she said with a wide grin and a mischievous flutter of her headdress, "trying to avoid the stomping feet of reptiles."

"Oh, is that how it is?" Jaeger replied, crossing his arms and giving her a sarcastic look. "Big talk for someone who's scarcely tall enough to reach my chest."

She laughed at that, and then her demeanor became sly. She signaled to her companions with a flash of colorful feathers, complex patterns playing across the LCD panels on her forearms. It was like a form of sign language, one that Baker and Jaeger couldn't even begin to guess the meaning of. Her friends huddled around her again, hissing and warbling, Coza peeking out from the group for a moment to sneak a glance at Jaeger. He knew enough to know that they were plotting something. They finally broke ranks, Maza standing defiantly before him with her hands planted on her wide hips, her long tail waving back and forth.

"I've seen how far an Earth'nay can run," she said, "but I'm curious to see how you fight."

"What?" Jaeger asked skeptically.

"Let's spar! Earth'nay do that, right? In training, or maybe in play?"

He exchanged a glance with Baker, who shrugged at him, clearly amused by the situation.

"We do train in hand to hand combat," Jaeger admitted. "But you realize that I'm probably three times your weight, right? I don't know if it's a good idea, I wouldn't want to hurt you by accident."

"Oh ho!" Coza laughed, the plumes on her head flashing in yellow and orange. "You assume that a creature as slow as you could lay a finger on a Val'ba'ra'nay?"

"Come on, little mouse," Maza teased. "Let's call it...inter-species morale building. Val'ba'ra'nay practice fighting with their flock all the time to stay sharp, and to memorize all of the moves and stances."

She looked back at her flock, who trilled and flashed their feathers in amusement. They were like a gaggle of schoolgirls goading on a classmate.

"Come on, Bullseye," Baker said with a grin. "Our pride is on the line here."

Jaeger caved, shrugging as his companions laughed at him. Maza hit a panel on the wall, and the platform descended, carrying them down to the pathway atop the wall. It rose back into the air and sealed the hole that it had created once they had stepped off it, Jaeger watching it vanish seamlessly into the floor of the lookout tower.

Maza kept her eyes on his, unblinking, and something about the intensity of her stare made him feel odd again. She took off her gloves and rolled up her sleeves, then she began to bounce on the spot, limbering up. Seeing that she was serious, Jaeger rolled up his own sleeves, exposing his forearms and cracking his knuckles. He might be a pilot, but everyone in the UNN did the same physical training regardless of their branch. A pilot should be as well versed in small arms and self-defense as an infantryman.

"Alright guys," Baker said, putting on an announcer's voice as he circled the pair. "I wanna see a clean fight. No bitin', no scratchin', and no hits below the belt. May the best species win!"

"But no pressure," Jaeger grumbled, scowling at him. He shrugged off his rucksack and then raised his fists in a defensive position, facing off against Maza as the breeze blew his hair. "I'm gonna go easy on you," he said, "I'm pretty sure I could break your bones just by falling on you."

"Then it will be your first mistake," she replied with a grin. She took up a stance, it reminded him of something from a martial arts movie. Wait, did the Valbarans have martial arts?

Her flock cheered her on, Coza especially seemed eager to see her species outdo the humans, watching intently as her raised plumes fluttered with anticipation. Jaeger wondered for a moment why she wasn't doing the fighting herself, she was noticeably stockier than her sisters, a little larger too.

Maza suddenly moved, like a bolt of lightning she barreled towards him, cutting through the air like a knife. He didn't even have time to react, his eyes could scarcely track her movements, and the next thing he was aware of was the feeling of something sharp pressing against his belly.

"Looks like you're dead, little mouse," Maza said.

He looked down to see her pointed claws resting against his stomach, the little alien poised to gut him. He should have guessed, she fought as fast as she ran. She hopped backwards, taking up another stance as she fluttered her feathers. There was something flirtatious about the way that her plumes flashed in shades of pink and yellow, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Alright, so that's how it's going to be," he said as he readied himself for a second round. "You won't take me off guard this time."

"Oh, I think I will," she crooned. "How about I let you strike first this time?"

"If you insist," he said with a shrug, "but I'm warning you that I might hit harder than you imagine."

"That won't be a problem," she laughed. He squared up, raising his fists, and he began to inch closer to her. She was just standing there, completely open, not even making an attempt to defend herself. He leaned in and delivered a right jab, still pulling his punches for fear of hurting the little creature, his closed fist was almost as large as her head. Her stature made him feel like he was beating on a little girl.

Maza dodged out of his way, moving so fast that it made him look like he was standing still in comparison. She gripped his wrist in her hand, pulling him forwards with alarming strength, the tendril that protected the feathers on her forearm coiling around his limb like a tentacle for extra purchase. Her thick tail tripped him, knocking him off balance, and before he had even had registered what had happened, he found himself face-down on the floor. She had bound his feet together with her tail, it felt like an anaconda was coiling around him. She had one tiny foot planted on his rump, and she was holding one arm behind his back. She had effectively hog-tied him, he was completely immobilized.

Baker was almost in hysterics, hooting at him as he struggled in vain.

"She's a lot stronger than she looks!" Jaeger protested. God damn, her muscles were like iron, he couldn't wriggle free. She finally released him, Jaeger rising to his feet and brushing himself off as she smirked up at him. There was that stare again, her violet eyes piercing through him, intense and somehow hungry. It made him feel...strange, a shiver running down his spine that wasn't entirely unpleasant. It made him uncomfortable when she looked at him like that, but he couldn't help but feel as if it had a deeper meaning in her culture, as if he was somehow acquiescing to her by failing to maintain that unblinking gaze.

He blinked and averted his eyes, the corners of her scaly lips curling into a smile, a red flush spreading through her plumage. Could that be an expression of aggression, something else? He had no point of reference, only his own biases.

"Come on, Jaeger," Maza said as she began to dance on the spot again. "Stop holding out on me."

He cracked his neck and then raised his hand to the zipper on his Navy jumpsuit, pulling it down to the belt and sliding his arms out of his sleeves. He let the upper half of the uniform hang about his waist, and beneath it, he was wearing a simple white t-shirt that was already stained with sweat due to the heat and humidity. He rolled his arms, feeling the cool breeze on his damp skin, letting it cool him for a moment.

Maza shifted her gaze from his eyes to his torso, examining his body, the fabric of his shirt clinging to his skin and leaving little to the imagination. He remembered the time that she had joined him in the shower back on the Rorke, how intensely she had inspected him, her expression hidden behind her opaque visor. Had she been motivated by simple curiosity then, or something else?

He readied himself again, this time determined to at least get one hit in, or Baker would never let him forget it. Maza waited for him, those violet eyes unflinching. He stepped forward and delivered a roundhouse kick, aiming for her head, but she blocked it with her forearm. Despite her small size, she weathered the blow, skidding a little on the flush ground but keeping her balance. She was fast enough to have avoided that attack easily, she had let it land, perhaps wanting to test his strength.

He delivered another punch, which she parried, knocking it aside. She moved so quickly, it was mechanical, like she was running on pure intuition rather than needing to think about anything that she was doing. He followed up with another punch, which she blocked, and then a leg sweep that she deftly jumped over. Her reaction times were incredible, but he had seen how little stamina she had. If he could keep up the pressure, he might be able to exhaust her. He could keep this up all day, but she couldn't.

"You've got her on the ropes!" Baker shouted.

"Stop toying with the Earth'nay and finish it!" Coza trilled, not to be outdone.

As Jaeger harried Maza with swift punches, keeping her on her toes even if not one of them found its intended mark, he could see that she was beginning to tire. She made her move, not willing to let him drain her energy, leaping up onto him like an angry cat. He briefly felt her hands touch his shoulders as she vaulted clear over his head, catching his neck in her tail as she landed behind him and using what little body weight she had to knock him off balance.

He toppled over backwards, the little alien catching his arm between her thighs and holding it tightly, the grip of her tail around his neck tightening. His bicep bulged as he tried to break free, and it took all of her strength to keep a hold on him, his forearm alone was almost as long as her torso. Her tail was oddly soft, pudgy, as were her thighs. There was a layer of yielding fat that he could feel under her clothing, and beneath it was steely muscle.

Jaeger heaved, lifting her clear off the floor as she clung to his arm like a sailor clinging to the mast of a ship in a violent storm, rolling over onto his front. She scrambled to escape, releasing her hold on him and uncoiling her tail from around his neck, but she had no hope of lifting him off her. She weighed about fifty pounds, and he weighed one hundred and seventy last time he had checked.

Her little body relaxed as he pinned her wrists against the floor, his damp hair hanging over his face as he loomed over her, casting her into deep shadow. He was so massive in comparison. The width of his shoulders was twice that of hers, maybe a little more, and his hands dwarfed her own such that he could easily enclose her fists in his.

Baker cheered, but it sounded distant to Jaeger, the breathy laughter coming from Maza capturing all of his attention. She was out of breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly beneath the concealing flight suit, laughing giddily as she gazed up at him with those purple eyes. A few stray droplets of his sweat rained down on her as she lay beneath him, laid out on the ground like she was posing for the cover of a magazine, her arms pinned above her head. Her headdress was extended, the two tentacle sheaths standing out rigidly as her feathers flushed a rosy shade of pink.

He came to his senses after a moment, releasing her and rising off her, the little reptile springing to her feet. She shook her head, her feathers waving in the air, and then they folded back down into their protective covers. Coza seemed disappointed by the outcome, scowling at them from the sidelines, but the rest of the pack were whispering excitedly to one another.

"Not bad for a mammal," Maza said, trotting closer to give a playful punch on the arm. "And a male at that. Let's call it a tie."

CHAPTER 10: HOME SWEET HOME

The train car raced along the track with a silent grace, the twisted, sculpted spires of the city center rising in front of them as they descended the wall. They took a branching path, turning away from the city and angling off towards what Jaeger had assumed to be the residential band. The little domed houses sped past beneath him as he peered out of the window, cloaked in rolling hills and picturesque nature.

"I thought we were going to the city?" he asked, turning to Maza who was sat beside him.

"We should drop your gear off at our home first, and I need to change into something more casual. I can't walk around in my flight suit all day."

"I wish I could say the same," he grumbled, turning back to the window. "We're supposed to wear our uniforms for the duration of our stay, we're representing the UNN, after all."

He was starting to see other Valbarans for the first time, pedestrians walking about on the twisting paths below, some on foot and some riding scooters. They wore colorful clothes, resembling flowing shirts and tunics, with shorts of varying lengths. Not one of them traveled alone, they all had several companions, moving around in groups like the flocks of birds from which they got their name.

As much as he envied the Valbarans for essentially eliminating loneliness, it was all becoming a little...utopian for his liking. The aliens were clearly deeply collectivist by nature, and it made him wonder what kind of individualism had developed in their culture, if any. Their pristine, sparkling city, their environmentalism and their dedication to sustainable living. Surely there had to be some kind of caveat, something ugly lurking beneath the whitewashed surface? Or maybe he was just being cynical, unwilling to admit that their culture did certain things better than his own.

The train slid into another one of the sculpted awnings, and the party stepped off, the car zipping away to service another citizen somewhere along the massive rail network. That was one of the benefits of planning out your city as a cohesive engineering project with no intention of expanding it beyond the initial design, it made public transportation very easy to manage. The Valbarans had little need for cars, or indeed anything larger than their scooters.

He found himself standing in what looked very much like a park. There was a pathway beneath his boots made from what almost looked like white sand, sparkling in the sunlight. It wasn't loose like sand, however. The texture was more like asphalt. He was surrounded by trees, their leaves swaying gently in the wind, and there were bushes with colorful flowers that lined the walkway to either side. He couldn't see very far. Wherever he looked, his line of sight seemed to be obscured, either by the fat tree trunks or by the very landscape itself, carefully shaped to obscure all artificial structures from view. It was sublime, they must have put so much thought and planning into it.

"I feel like I'm on a golf course at a country club," Baker whispered, Jaeger chuckling at the visual.

"Shall we get some scooters?" Jaeger asked, but Maza shook her head.

"We'll do things the human way, it's not too far of a trek. I got the impression that you didn't much care for our transportation methods."

"A little precarious maybe," he admitted. "Not all of us have stabilizing tails, you know."

"You just suck at driving," Baker added.

"That's a fair point actually," Maza said. She flashed her feathers, then she and her friends huddled together again, chittering and warbling in their native tongue. When they broke ranks, Maza made her way over to Jaeger, taking him firmly by the hand and beginning to lead him down the pathway. He turned to look back at Baker, who was being rapidly ferried away by the four other aliens, ushering him towards the scooter racks beside the mag-lev station.

"Aren't they coming with us?" Jaeger asked.

"Baker and my companions prefer to use the Scooters," she explained, "but you and I can take a more scenic route if you should prefer."

"I really don't mind that much," he protested, "if you want to-"

Maza wasn't having any of it, the feather sheath on her forearm snaking out to wrap around his wrist, her sleeves still rolled up to her elbows from their sparring match.

"Nonsense, come. You are my guest."

Baker looked alarmed, the gaggle of aliens chattering and whistling as they practically pushed him onto the scooter and set him off along a different branch of the pathway, the whir of their electric motors fading. Jaeger paused, watching his friend vanish into the trees, Maza giving him a tug to encourage him along.

"Uh...alright then," he conceded.

They walked in silence for a few minutes, Jaeger taking in the sights and sounds of the local environment. The blue-green leaves rustled in the wind, and he could hear the calls of alien birds, though they were unfortunately out of sight.

"How does it compare to Earth?" she asked, glancing up at him. She seemed chipper, happy to have some time alone with him perhaps.

"It's similar in some ways, very different in others," he replied as he turned his head this way and that. "These fat trees, for example. We have a species on Earth called a baobab that looks very similar, except that it grows only in very arid environments, and the leaves don't look like palm fronds."

"Palm fronds?" she asked.

"Another type of tropical tree, their leaves look like these," he said as he pointed to the blue-tinted canopy. "I wanted to ask, why are there so many blue and purple plants?"

"Oh?" she responded curiously, "what color are the plants on earth?"

"Pretty much exclusively green. I thought it might be because your sun is a little different to ours, maybe they can photosynthesize in different spectrums of light or something like that."

"Maybe. Of course, from my perspective, some plants have always been that color."

"It's nice," he added, "refreshing."

"I wanted to ask you something too," she said, her head bobbing as she walked along beside him. She still had a tight hold on his hand. "You said that with Earth'nay, the males are larger than the females, correct?"