Chapter 4 Yueril #2
After contacting Belder and explaining the situation, she was more than agreeable to help not only the worm, but an unknown woman that was tossed to the streets of a barely habitable planet.
By sheer luck alone did my treasure find food that was compatible with her digestive system and just so happened to also be considered trash by a species I'd come to understand were called krelins.
I wrinkled my nose at what my scanners had identified the stones she'd been so desperate to gather for herself as being the feces of the Hewve Dragon they'd brought with them.
Apparently, they used the creatures as stone and sand processors, and their feces were used for building materials within their hive, and trash compacting during their travels.
It was high in nutrients compatible for a species with high mineral diets such as an estreld. Her teeth were made of crystals meant for breaking down hard rocks, while also making for a dazzling smile.
I grinned at the reminder of how shocked she'd been when I spoke with her, and she gaped at me for a moment before I understood why my scales tightened and flared.
Something about her spoke to a primal side of me.
Her light green hair was tattered, dirty, and despite her state of survival, she glowed with not merely a light that was inherent to her species, but one that spoke of her fight for life.
Her determination to cling to hope tugged at my gut.
I had been in a worse state when Princess Klemon found me on the outskirts of the city all those years ago.
Perhaps it was seeing a part of my past in the estreld that made me so feral inside.
I wanted to viciously rip through the throats of anyone who stood by and allowed her to waste away without a claw lifted to help.
I wanted to tenderly clean the broken skin around the jewels that adorned her body.
But it was that fierceness in her eyes that told me she'd kill the one that pushed her so low, and if I wanted to be there to see it happen, I'd have to earn that right.
I didn't care that her species may not be compatible with mine.
I surrounded myself with those that lit a fire within me and reminded me that treasures were often thrown away.
Reminding me that I wasn't trash. That's what my ship was built on, and it wasn't a secret that my queen's advisors thought of my crew as disposable.
I didn't risk our lives for the council or even the Galactic Authority.
I did it for the discarded of my planet.
The ones with no names that still had hope in their scales.
"Commander Yueril," Belder connected with my comm, distracting me from my thoughts.
I kept the line open for her, despite the risks of being tracked or monitored by outlaws.
"I'm with the worm you spoke of, and I've confirmed your suspicions.
The Solusgors have reached this sector, and the nanotech seemed to work with the Hewve Dragon.
It's possible it will work with this worm too, but he seems so fragile.
I'm uncertain of how the creature will react to the technology. "
"Do what you can. I'll figure out a new bargain if the worm doesn't recover. What is recovery for the few will be sightless for those who are too close," I gave her a solid proverb of reason to manage her expectations and lessen her guilt should her efforts fail.
"In many we rise," she agreed with my proverb for the situation we faced. The worm's recovery may be nothing more than death's embrace, and Belder would not have a creature suffer merely for being a bleeding heart that stands too close to see what must be done.
We were both warriors of the Galactic Authority of Trillume, but we were not monsters, even if our missions fell in the gray zones of morality.
The light above my door buzzed, glowing golden, before opening.
I had thought I would have more time between Belder's arrival at the worm's side and when my treasure would come.
I reached for my robe to cover my scales.
It was more for her own protection than for a sense of modesty.
My robes were adept at absorbing the secretions that lubricated my skin and caused varying degrees of relaxation in species that touched us.
It was what kept my skin comfortable and soft, but also helped my ancestors in weakening their prey by rubbing against them before they used their claws to flay them, while their teeth tore their meat apart.
"Oh," her soft voice was heard from the doorway as I let the fabric fall back over my chest. My scales flared along my temples when I sensed a change in her perspiration.
Her temperature rose as she watched me. A dilation in my eyes had my second lids flicking into place to detect heat signatures, and her body lit up like a star in my vision.
Waves of heat flicked from her skin, much more like flames than what I was used to seeing with most species.
Even my fellow warriors deflected heat with their scales, and it took concentration to track the heat at their glands, which blended with the natural heat signatures of the ground itself.
If we were still enough, and crouched to the ground, we were nearly indistinguishable from another rock.
She was beautiful, and it took resolve to allow my second lid to recede and pay attention to something else besides the way the heat between her legs throbbed like a beacon for me to hunt.
I knew my heat sensors were considered menacing for species outside my own planet, becoming nothing but a black void across my eyes that was said to feel like staring into endless space with no stars.
My eyes did that the first time I saw her too, attracted to her heat.
I blinked several times to force my second lids to retract, revealing my more approachable appearance of green eyes similar to both our skin tones.
"I didn't mean to," she began, and I waved her concern off with a hand as I bowed to her. I touched a finger to my temple in reverence to the Goddess Lumei, blessing our second meeting.
Belder would consider me reckless to give my name to someone so soon, but it felt uncomfortable to keep it from her.
"On your lips, I share with you the fate of the stars, Treasure. My name is Yueril."
She lifted a curious brow at me like I had said something odd, but I straightened and readjusted my hood to cover my face in shadow in hopes that would make her more comfortable.
"Yueril," she repeated my name, and a shiver ran down the back of my legs, but I was sure to keep my stance steady so she would not notice the disturbance, or the yearning for her to say it again.
I gathered comforts for her on the sleeping platform that would, on my planet, warrant the use of acknowledging my name once more, and I looked forward to it.
"Yes." I quickly realized that she must be wondering why I summoned her here, and quickly added, "I would like for you to accompany me during my stay.
" I groaned, as I was not usually so perplexed about what to say; or so awkward about waiting for another to say something in reply.
I continued when she said nothing. "I do not mean to alarm you.
I do not assume we are compatible for mating.
You have nothing to fear from my company. I merely, I just..."
If she had no fear of me wishing to mate with her, then why was I so fixated on bringing mating into the conversation?
I berated myself before I grunted and threw my hand to the side to show the basin of water, fresh clothes and whatever else she should need laid out on the bed.
"These are for you. Do with them as you please.
I will be outside when you are ready to show me around," I said with finality, and then stormed out before I embarrassed myself further.
I would have to find another opportunity for her to use my name again.
As it was, I could not bear the increasing probability that she would dismiss my offering on the merit of thinking I was courting her.
The door opened as I approached with a hiss stuck in my throat.
Why would it be so wrong to consider me as mate worthy?
Some habits never truly disintegrated. I would always be the desert scum that the princess taught to speak and dressed in fancy clothes to hide my feral nature.