Aarla and Ra'rannir[/b]
Cowritten by Bentus and Nachfolgia[/align][/box]
Aarla - Unit 067
Vosiri
Plunging herself into the river’s crisp waters, Aarla sighed in relief as the cool chill fought back the constant heat from the alien Sun. Feeling the water flowing around her skin, a content grin alighted the psyker’s features as she felt all the collated dirt and grime wash away. It was a welcomed respite from the unending workload that Mihal had thrust upon her, constantly demanding that she gather this or boil that. It was a ceaseless barrage of activity that left her feeling irritated and drained, while every meal failed to entirely satiate her hunger. It had been a wonder that she’d managed to steal even this brief moment away from the other Kiel’s slaving schedule. Of course, Aarla was supposed to be refilling their canteens and returning to their makeshift camp - though Mihal technically hadn’t said that she couldn’t take some extra time to treat herself to a bath at the same time. Grinning as she felt a mischievous glee at working around her Handler’s commands, Aarla leaned back and closed her eyes as she concentrated on the disparate sounds of the jungle.
Just on the riverbank, her clothes hung gracelessly from a tree branch. The airflow did its best to freshen them up from the sweat that they’d absorbed over time, but the humidity meant that they’d never end up being truly dry. Regardless, Aarla was content to take the luxuries that she could get. Behind the blackness of her eyelids, the girl tried to guess what sounds came from a single creature, along with which might have been a pair trying to communicate. Every whistle or squawk was foreign to her, and she relished the novelty of it all. Mihal might have said that this was hardly the time to be sight-seeing as they struggled to survive, but the presence of danger was hardly a new experience for her. If they were going to die stranded on this rock, didn’t it make sense that they enjoyed the time they had? That was how she looked at it, at least. Besides, she still hadn’t met anything that she hadn’t been able to kill.
Even as she lay back in the water, Aarla kept her feet planted on the shallow ground to keep herself from drifting off into the deeper section of the waterway. She’d explored the riverbank earlier, striding from the shore towards where the water became chest-deep before it suddenly dropped off into an abyss. Holding her breath, she had plunged herself beneath the surface to gaze out into depths, squinting in an effort to see as far as she could into the hazy distance before she’d had to come up for air. She could see some fish swimming in and out between the glimmering corals, their strange and alien shapes glistening in the sunlight as they navigated their underwater homes. A part of Aarla wished to swim closer to them to get a closer look, but she knew better than to risk venturing further into the river. Swimming had never been a skill that she’d been trained on, and her abilities were lacklustre at best. There was only so much that her Handlers could teach her, and swimming just fell by the wayside through a lack of both need and practice. Still, that had never been a problem for the psyker. It was pretty simple just to keep to where she could stand and enjoy the water from there.
Aarla was doing exactly that, her eyes closed as she basked in the contrast between the cool water touching her back and the warm sun tanning her chest. For a moment, she allowed her thoughts to drift off into nothingness as she began to lose herself in her environment, with the faint currents of the Other Place being the only sounds to pierce the serene silence that engulfed her. Pausing, a frown marred Aarla’s features at the observation as she realised that the jungle sounds she’d been following before had all but vanished. Confused, Aarla was about to get up to investigate when she felt something wrap itself around her leg. Immediately, the girl’s eyes shot open in surprise, but she hardly had time to even cry out before a powerful force pulled her below the surface. Flailing around as she tried to resist the tug while holding her breath, Aarla couldn’t get any traction on the riverbed before she was pulled off of the sheer drop and towards the darkness of the river’s depths.
Ra'rannir had followed the female Sky Demons to the nearby river. The river, dubbed " Gy'rankre Nuk" by the locals, was a large tributary that dumped into the Great Vein. The river spanned 30 meters and was twice as deep for most of its length. Many creatures of the planet came to the river for water, making it prime hunting ground for land and water predators alike.
From her vantage point, blending into the dark foliage, Ra'rannir watched the female swim in the river. The female had taken off her odd loosely fitting ornamentals and hung them on a tree. Curious as to what the objects were, Ra'rannir crept closer to examine them. She remained completely silent, crouching low to the ground and keeping her eye on the Sky Demon. The female was still laying on the riverbank, completely exposed to the world. Ra'rannir thought how dense the female had to be to not maintain constant vigilance here. The female was acting like one of their younglings, too young to know any better.
Making it to the female's belongings, Ra'rannir leaned in and sniffed the material. It was mostly a mix of dirt, smoke, and what she assumed was the female's own scent. It was unknown to her, having never smelled a creature like the female before. It stinks. Thinking it to be safe, Ra'rannir went up touch the fabric between her fingers. It was smooth, like river rock and stretched a bit as she manipulated it. She did not know what it was used for if not for decoration, but she liked how soft it was.
Ra'rannir's attention on the fabric shifted when she noticed something. The usually loud jungle around them had suddenly fell silent. Did the other creatures betray her presence there or were they warning of a predator? Ra'rannir looked over to where the female was, still laying on the bank without a care. Her instincts wanted to alert her to possible danger, but she hesitated, unsure of if the female was the danger.
Suddenly, she watched the female get grabbed by something and was dragged under the water. Ra'rannir knew that the female did not stand a chance against the creature that attacked her, for the river was its domain. Doing what she would do if it was one of their younglings, Ra'rannir dove into the water after the female.
Meanwhile, Aarla continued to struggle. Flailing her arms as if trying to gain some traction on the fluid submerging her, she was nevertheless being pulled inexorably deeper. Glancing behind her, her eyes widened as she was greeted by the sight of a gaping ring of teeth rushing towards her. Reacting on instinct, the girl extended one of her hands towards the maw just as she was flung inside. Slamming onto the invisible barrier that she’d summoned, Aarla found herself staring down the creature’s gullet. Thankfully, her forcefield prevented her from falling any further, though her brow furrowed as she fought against the crushing force of the beast’s jaw. Even underwater, the horrific stench wafting from the thing’s throat made her want to gag, but Aarla resisted the impulse as she continued to try and hold her breath.
The leviathan seemed to also realise that something wasn’t right with its prey, as a guttural vibration seemed to shudder its way up from its body. Even underwater, Aarla could recognise a growl as the creature became frustrated with its struggling dinner. Glancing up towards the mouth’s exit as she tried to think of how to best clamber out, Aarla was instead greeted by the sight of another of the beast’s limbs reaching in towards her. Raising her arms to try and fight it off, the psyker was a moment too slow as she felt the appendage constrict tightly around her torso. The pressure caused a trail of precious bubbles to escape from Aarla’s mouth, but she didn’t have a chance to mourn her rapidly declining breath as she was ripped from her feet and slammed painfully into the riverbed.
A cloud of silt was kicked up by the impact, and Aarla blinked in a momentary daze. Glancing around, she reached out desperately until she felt her hand close on a solid rock. Acutely aware of the burning in her lungs as it threatenned to sap her strength, Aarla threw her energy into slamming the makeshift implement into the limb that was pinning her down. Striking at the creature with a series of blows until some sickly-coloured blood began to taint the water, Aarla’s efforts were met by a pained shriek as the limb quickly retreated. But even the respite was a hollow victory. Glancing up towards the seemingly oh-so-distant surface, Aarla felt a cold darkness creeping into the edges of her vision. Now having to actively struggle to keep her body from instinctively gasping for air that wasn’t there, she tried to propel herself upwards but made little progress with her untrained and uncoordinated movements. Flailing in the water, she’d hardly made it even halfway back to the promise of fresh air when the darkness entirely encompassed her vision. With her motion having become sluggish, and each limb feeling like it was laid down with concrete, Aarla’s whole world faded into black.
As soon as Ra'rannir submerged herself under the water, she caught sight of what was attacking the female. It's long tentacles and gaping mouth was familiar to her as the Bza'unk Rei, a large fish like creature that patrols the waters of the Gy'rankre Nuk. It preys on creatures at the shore, using it's tentacles to grab unsuspecting victims. Unfortunately for the female, she was its next meal.
From the dark waters, Ra'rannir could see that the Female was putting up a good fight, refusing to be its meal. The Female was showing great strength, but she was not out of danger yet. Ra'rannir swam up to the Bza'unk Rei, who was focus on the Female. From behind it's head, she plunged on of her spears into its eye, using all her strength to run it deep into the head. The combined pain of the attack on its eye and one of its tentacles, the creature jerked away from them and disappeared into the darkness, taking Ra'rannir's spear with it.
Ra'rannir watched it disappear and then turned her attention to the female, who was trying to reach the surface. She saw her body fail her and go limp, passing out from lack of oxygen. With her own air running out and the concern that the creature would return, Ra'rannir swam as fast as she could to the female. She grabbed her unconscious body and rushed to the surface.
As soon as she broke the surface, Ra'rannir gasped for air, relieved to get oxygen into her lungs. She quickly searched for the shoreline and made a b-line there. During the altercation, the two had drifted a little bit down river from where they had entered the water. Ra'rannir dragged the female up onto shore and to the treeline, making sure they didn't get grabbed by the Bza'unk Rei again.
Ra'rannir looked over the female for a few moments, assessing her body. She was not moving and her chest did not move with any sort of breath. Knowing what to do, Ra'rannir opened the Female's mouth and began blowing air into her lungs, their lips touching one another's. Her made a not of how soft the Female's skin was, similar to the skin around Ra'rannir's own reproductive organs. She then moved to hit the female's chest with her fist, trying to force whatever water out of her lungs. Ra'rannir performed this primitive CPR on the Female over and over again to try and make her live.
Suddenly, a cough erupted from the unconscious girl. Retching as she expelled the water from her lungs, Aarla gasped for air as her eyes shot open. Looking around wildly as sensation and life returned to her with all the grace of a T’zath in a porcelain shop, she was greeted by a painful burning in her chest as her body punished her for depriving it of oxygen. Groaning, the world steadily came into focus just as the girl recognised that she wasn’t alone. Seeing the creature looming beside her, Aarla let out a surprised yelp as she jumped to her feet. Quickly putting some distance between the alien and herself, she adopted a defensive stance despite her fatigue as she tried to pre-empt any attacks. But when none were forthcoming, the girl’s expression narrowed in suspicious curiosity.
“What are you?” She managed between still ragged breaths, not completely lowering her arms before she received a response.
Ra'rannir jumped back at the female's sudden movement upon spotting her. She had quickly gotten her last spear to her hands and pointed it at the female in self defense, unsure of her intentions. She hissed at the Female, letting her know that she too was dangerous.
Ra'rannir kept her eye on the female, unflinching in her defensive stance. The Female had spoken to her in a language she didn't understand. She remained hesitant of the female until she noticed her body language. The female became less threatening and relaxed her body, allowing things to deescalate. Ra'rannir followed suit and lowered her spear to her side. She just stood there and looked at the Female, her head cocked to the side in curiosity.
She doesn’t have translator microbes? Aarla realised, her immediate readiness for a fight subsiding as the alien creature lowered its weapon. It did have a weapon, which indicated that it had to have some amount of intelligence. But she’d never heard of an intelligent species from Andromeda that hadn’t been exposed to the near-omnipresent method of galactic communication and translation. Frowning as she studied the towering alien, noting its limited clothing consisted mostly of lightly treated leather and bones, Aarla decided that she wasn’t in any immediate danger. Slowly stepping away from the Ra’rannir, doing her best not to appear as if she were doing anything threatening, Aarla walked back towards her drying clothes. Reaching into her pants pocket, she pulled out a handful of berries and offered them towards her rescuer. Gesturing with her outstretched palm, she tried to encourage Ra’rannir to help herself. It was hardly a lavish olive branch, but the meaning was hopefully clear.
“Go on, help yourself. They taste awful anyway, so I’m not really losing anything.” Aarla explained, not expecting the primitive alien to understand. “Though maybe you could show me where there’s some better food around here, huh?”
Ra'rannir looked at the female oddly as she held the berries out. Once again not understanding the female, she knew what she wanted her to do. She wanted Ra'rannir to eat the berries. The glowing nodes on the fruit were very familiar to her as a fruit that was not meant for consumption.
Even though the berries were technically edible, the taste and side effects left much to be desired. The liquid from the berries stained everything it touched with a white glow. As the female talked, Ra'rannir noticed the glowing residue from her mouth, a product of eating the berries for too long. If the female wasn't careful, the glow could become permanent. For her tribe, the berries were used for ritual paint and in many cases, decorations for war.
" [ This not for eating.]" Ra'rannir said in an unknown language, gesturing with her hands and shaking her head. Ra'rannir took it upon herself to teach the Female. She took the berries in her hand and crushed them into a paste, getting a glob on her fingers. She then grabbed the Female's arm and ran the goop along her arm, showing her the glow marks. "[ This war paint.]" Ra'rannir said before throwing the rest of it on the ground.
"[ You want food? Follow me. Come, follow.]" Ra'rannir exclaimed, motioning for her to follow before taking off into the forest.
