In a freak accident, Kira, a NASA scientist, is teleported to a planet that has no women. When she's saved by an alien that thinks she's a boy, she fights to keep herself alive and her gender a secret. - • - Vrox's life has always been tranqil, unti...
"Ak is the oldest of us all. He is twenty-one snowfalls. We say that he was born during the hottest day of the year, and that is why he is so fierily-tempered. The beast has as much patience as he has letters in his name"
Kira did the math. If Ak was twenty-one on Ezron, then he was twenty-nine on Earth.
"Our father was a busy man, but he still made time for us. He tried his best to teach us about virtue and responsibilities. Ak was a wicked little boy, always stirring mayhem. My father worried about him."
"So, he spent more time with Ak than with the rest of you?" Kira guessed.
He nodded. "Yes, but he did not get to teach us much. The Vanishing happened when I was five. Our sire's will to live vanished along with our females."
"I'm sorry that I'm making you remember this horrible time."
Vrox shrugged, his shoulders lifting her.
"It is alright. I do not remember those rotations very well. Instead of sadness, I feel contempt. My father was an excellent warrior– one that helped our people through dozens of battles. Why did he give up on the most important one?"
His voice had begun to pick up, so Kira could tell that he was getting upset.
"It is a dishonor to abandon your offspring; an unspeakable offense. The only kindness that our sire left us is his blood. If we had not inherited his resilience, we would have died from disease or starvation."
"Weren't there other men that could take care of you? You were just kids. Didn't anyone take pity?"
"No, there was no one. The Red Rotation– the first year of The Vanishing, was chaos. Men were caving into the darkness, and others were too busy looking for their missing females to look after the responsibility of someone else."
"How did you survive?"
She pictured little Vrox crippling under neglect. The thought distressed her. No children, regardless of what planet they were from, deserved to suffer.
"The raids drove us out. All six of us left. Rokan and Kyros do not share our blood, but we grew up together. We were about as tall as you and inexperienced with the wild. Since Ak was the oldest, he underwent The Scaling first. He became stronger, so he hunted our food. He stayed with us because he refused to repeat our father's dishonor. It is this part of his history that convinces me that he has a soul, somewhere under his angry scowl and clenched fists."
His words gave her hope.
"What about Ni'ev? Why is he so distant?"
"Ni'ev is..." Vrox struggled to find a word. "Stunned by the phenomenon," he decided. "He was alone with mother when she vanished. He was laughing with her one second, and then he was not. It was traumatizing. We think that is why he is the only one with brown hair while ours is black. The shock paled him."
"So much loss..." she exhaled tiredly.
"Yes. It could have been much better if our sire chose to lead us instead of taking his life."
"Vrox," she sighed, not wanting to pry any further.
He allowed the silence for many minutes, before disrupting it with his whisper.
"I think that is why I spend so much time alone in the jungle. I am searching for the strength to forgive him."
Feeling his pain, she pressed a soft kiss to the back of his head.
"I have not found it yet, but I am glad that I found you instead."
She smiled. "Me too."
More silence.
"One day, I will show you my first home."
"Is it safe? You said it got raided."
"No one goes to The Ruins now. There is nothing there but memories and collapsed structures."
She nodded. "I would like to go one day. Thank you for sharing so much with me."
She fought the urge to sniffle, not wanting Vrox to realize that she was on the verge of sobbing. While Earth made her layer on distractions to neglect her emotions, Ezron had the uncanny ability of peeling her. It didn't only make her face predators that lurked in the shadows, but the emotions that she tried to repress.
They cleared the trees and entered the camp. Through her blurry sight, she tried to seek out Nebula or Draekon. She was disappointed to find neither.
"You are back," Kyros greeted.
Vrox placed her down on her makeshift bed, and Kyros immediately b-lined for her, likely interested in asking more questions.
He frowned when he got a look at her face. "Why is there water here?" he pointed.
Vrox heard the question and came seeking his own answers.
"Kira?" he asked expectantly, his yellow eyes scanning her like the sun did Ezron.
"I'm fine. My period is probably on its way, and that's why I'm so emotional."
She wiped her cheeks.
"What is a pi–rod?"
She shook her head. "Something I'm sure Kyros will ask me a million questions about."
"Do you want water?" Kyros asked her.
"No," she chuckled.
Vrox gave me plenty of refreshing liquid to keep me hydrated for days.
"You must be tired if you are sweating from your eyes," Kyros insisted.
"She is not sweating," Vrox interrupted, reaching for her wrists. "Her eyes do that when she is sad."
"So females leak from be-re-asts, and from their eyes?"
She nodded, neglecting to add vagina to his list.
Kyros mumbled a complaint about her kind being broken, while Vrox soothingly swiped his fingers across her wrists.
"Please stop producing it," he despaired. "Does it not hurt?"
She laughed. "No, it feels relieving. It's okay, really. Humans don't only cry when they are sad. Sometimes they cry when they are happy."
"That does not make sense," Vrox decided. Kyros nodded with agreeance.
She cupped his face with two hands and gave him a squeeze. "I'm okay. I promise."
She then turned to Kyros. "Can you teach me how to skin animals and treat the fur? I want to make some clothes for Nebula and I."
He shook his head. "I can do it for you. It is no bother."
"No, please. I want you to show me so I can start to pull my weight around here."
"Why would you drag your body across the camp? Is this another one of your odd hooman rituals?"
She smiled, finding the alien's confusion endearing.
"No. Pulling my weight means contributing by helping you with your duties."
Kyros shrugged. "That is senseless. You could get hurt, and you are too valuable to risk injury. We are all capable males that–"
"Please?" she interjected. I'll tell you more about lightbulbs if you tell me how to skin animals."
"Alright. But first, tell me more about your eye-sweat."
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