spears of Uu'kata (CLEAN(ish) Version)

Chapter 10 - Old Scars

Charlotte's jaw clenched and her closed eyelids twitched every time Gondroll yanked out a suture, but she held still and let him work. Her hands looked somehow delicate and strong at the same time, especially now that they were covered in little scars from the removal of those things under her skin.

Shodara had done well in making the gown for the human female. Not only did it look fetching on her, it untied up the sides of the sleeves and down the back so Gondroll didn't have a problem getting to all the stitches on her body. Ahnekk had to admit to himself though, that he hated seeing all those scars on her soft skin. She'd only been with them for a few days but it was already hard to see her as a warrior before a female and he had to constantly remind himself of how dangerous she could be.

The Uu'k'ahst revered their females, protected them. No female went hungry or was allowed to be harmed because they were so few. Many species across the galaxy were similar. But the humans let their females go to war. They must not have a shortage of females.

Interesting...

"How is she?" he asked Gondroll.

"My salve worked even better on her than it does on any of us!" he exclaimed. "She will have scars but in two days time the incisions will be fully healed. The wounds on her side and knee will be tender for some time and her wrist will need to stay splinted for at least another week. Can you imagine how fast she would heal with a Skath?"

"Blasphemy!" Hefkah growled. "A Skath would never be allowed to bond to a filthy human!"

Gondroll gave him a patient look and said, "We do not allow the Skath to do anything. They do as they please and we are lucky they choose us when they do."

"Besides," Echnar chimed in, "A Skath already showed interest in her as a host—"

Ahnekk hissed and slashed his hand through the air to silence his friend but it was too late. The damage was done.

Across the table, Hefka's eyes widened and he glanced at the human female in disbelief before looking up at Ahnekk. "Is this true?" he demanded.

"We put her in a Skath bath," he said, giving Echnar a warning look. At least he had the decency to look chagrined about his loose lips. "The Skath had never tasted a human before so they were very curious. More than likely the Skath was just exploring. It wouldn't make sense for one of them to be interested in a human."

Hefkah sat back and grunted. He looked mollified for the time being with that explanation, but he still watched Charlotte as though she were a rotten kiro fruit in a bowl of Shlokesh.

Turning his attention back to Charlotte, he wondered how the humans managed to implant so many of those little disks into her without leaving a single scar. Every scar she had now was from their removal and her last battle. Except for...

Stepping in, his eyebrows knitted as he reached out and ran his fingers around a jagged scar on the back of her left shoulder. It was slightly raised but old enough that it had turned white.

His eyes tracked up her slender neck, to the metal manacle around her throat that looked to be scraping off skin here and there, to her hairline where he could see yet another old scar disappearing into her hair just below her ear.

He looked next at her hands and the healing incisions on her fingers.

"She has another old scar on her hip and one high on her forehead. Her knuckles are scarred as well," Gondroll said with a tightness to his voice.

Ahnekk realized he was still touching her shoulder and he withdrew his hand woith a shrug. "She's a warrior," he said. "Human females are warriors, it would seem, and warriors become scarred."

"I doubt she was a warrior as a child," Gondroll said.

Ahnekk raised an eyebrow. "What does that mean?" he asked.

"The Skath and I estimate her age at only nineteen of our years. The scar you were just touching is at least twelve years old. As is the one on her hip. She heals well, but she's been experiencing abuse since a very young age," Gondroll explained as he picked another suture from her back.

Shaking his head, Ahnekk said, "I can never understand such a barbaric species. Why would they let their females come to harm?"

"Human females must not be as rare as Uu'k'asht. Maybe they have too many females, the way we have too many males," Echnar reasoned, mirroring what Ahnekk has been considering.

"That is no reason to mistreat them," Shodara finally spoke up.

Moving to Gondroll's other side, he reached down and brushed Charlotte's hair out of her face. She was awake and alert, despite not having moved in some time. Her eyes pinned him and he saw the warrior in them, unbroken and ready, waiting. But for what?

He sat down and rested his hand on her head and found another old scar just above her temple that he carefully ran his thumb over. He knew nothing of human society. They had superior technology to the Uu'k'asht, that much was obvious. Most species did. But Uu'k'asht had Skath. They didn't need technology. Besides, he'd seen how technology turned worlds into barren wastelands as they were mined raw for resources to fuel the demand. He wondered if any of them had ever seen a human outside their metal? Did any of them know how pretty they were?

Feeling Hefka's calculating eyes on him, Ahnekk frowned and said, "I wonder how thick a human skull is. Her wrist snapped like a twig. Do you think her skull could smash like a hobart mellon? How much of this head is skull and how much is brain?"

"If you smash my human's skull with your sloppy hands, Ahnekk, I will let you bleed out next time you're wounded," Gondroll said casually.

Withdrawing his hand, Ahnekk smiled and snorted. "You would do no such thing. Shodara wouldn't let you."

"Yes, I would," Shodara immediately said from across the table. "Her head is pretty and I like it, leave it be."

Chuckling, he picked up a cup of juice and drank it down, glancing at Hefka. He needed to get him out of his tent, but he couldn't without offering insult to Helkta Dorrehka, which could spark off a clan war. He didn't want to have to deal with a clan war right now. Now while they were all working together to beat the human invasion of Celenara. Such a distraction could not be afforded with what was at stake.

So, unless Hefkah did or said something that offered insult or dishonored his clan, he had to deal with the Uu'k'asht in his tent and at his table.

Shodara stood and came around the table, sauntering up to Ahnekk and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"It has been some time since we've been together" she said with warmth in her voice. "You've been so busy with the camp and plans that I've only had Gondroll and Echnar in so many days. But today, I will have you, Ahnekk."

Taking hold of her hand, he pressed it to his cheek. She was right. He hadn't been in the mood for much lately, having been spending most of his time and energy either in battle, or trying to keep the peace between the clans and he realized the reason why he'd been experiencing attraction toward the human female had to be because he was starved for touch and holding someone or being held during the night wasn't enough for any warm-blooded Uu'k'asht.

With a growl, he tangled his hand in her white locks and pulled her in close so he could press his cheek to hers and breathe her in. She nipped his earlobe and that unraveled any sense of restraint he had.

Scooping her up, he carried her to his pallet and laid her down.