Fuzzies

Useful info;



Pronunciations:



Veriea: Verr-ree-a(i)



Ver’ei’a: Veh-e-ah



Forenien: For-en-ee-en



Cartarea: Car-tar-ay



= Chapter 14 – Blood =



Veriea sat in the hammock watching Tbi'e and the Kits play in the other room. She was baby-sitting today while Kainde'a'ke'a was running errands.



The kits had grown much faster than she had thought they would. In only four weeks they had nearly tripled in size, strength and weight and seemed determined to follow Veriea around, nibbling on her fingers and toes and pouncing on her tail. Young as they were, they seemed to be fairly intelligent, almost sentient, and they had certainly learned to understand when they were in trouble. They also seemed to respond well to commands projected through her Empathic link but that, being based on emotions, limited the things she could convey to them. A kind of 'reward and punishment' system using emotions had formed and that seemed to work best.



Tbi'e adored them once he had gotten over his initial shock and they now rough-housed and played together as if they really were siblings. She swore all three of them were growing bigger by the day and she wouldn't have been surprised if they were, considering how much they ate.



Veriea sighed, leaning back into the hammock and then yelped as Dusk swiped at her dangling tail, his claws catching painfully.



"Dusk!" She growled. "Go play with Midnight and Blue!" Dusk scampered off, knowing he was in trouble.



Dusk was what she had named the smaller of the two kits because his blue-black fur was trimming in a dusky grey, unlike his larger brother, whose fur was trimmed in midnight blue and striped with red. And Blue...that was Tbi'e's self proclaimed nickname; he'd decided somehow that if she was 'Red', then he would be 'Blue'. She kind of liked it really. It was cute.



She was was a little worried about him though. For a two year old, even a yautia two year old, he thought about things too much, analyzed them too much. Even though he could speak now, he stayed quiet mostly and liked tinkering with Kainde'a'ke'a's smaller gadgets - he knew better than to touch the larger (and more dangerous) ones - examining them closely and trying to figure out how they worked. She supposed it was only because he still wasn't used to talking to people yet but she hoped she would be able to help him through it.



Veriea groaned a little as she got up to go and wash the green blood out of her tail fur before it dried. She loved those kids, she really did and she didn't regret saving them for a moment but sometimes they just drove her nuts.



Damn maternal instincts.



Veriea couldn't wait until the ship was ready; then they would all have the whole botanics bay to keep themselves amused. A small stall really wasn't the place to raise three growing, energetic, rambunctious youngsters. And she could have her tail back. Ahhh...no more clawed tail to mend...maybe even a full night's sleep without being pounced on...pure bliss.



Just then, she heard someone call from the door way. A message for her; her ship had been completed. Access codes in the envelope.



What the-? Her wish had come true! Hell YES!



Veriea very nearly kissed the male delivering the message but thought better of it when she remembered that mating season started in two days and that the male probably wouldn't know that it was a gesture of appreciation - he might think she was attacking him. She instead settled for a load "Woo Hoo!" and a small leap of joy, startling the male enough to make him flinch back.



"Red?" Tbi'e asked, looking into the room, the kits right behind him.



"The Silvashadow is ready! We're moving in right now." She said happily.



"What about Kainde'a'ke'a?"



"Silly," She said, picking him up. "We aren't leaving, just moving in. Think about it; your own bedroom. No having to share with your brothers."Tbi'e grinned.



Someone coughed. The messenger was still there.



"Pe'ci'e'cha also said that he wanted to talk with you." The male said, looking over the scene with interest.



"Yeah, I just bet he does." Veriea grumbled, recognizing the name of the hunter in charge of the ship construction yard. "You can tell him I'll talk to him latter."



The male nodded and left.



"Do I really get my own room?" Tbi'e asked. looking up at her, wide-eyed.



"Yes, you really do. Dusk and Midnight get the gardens so it's only fair that you get your own room." She answered, planting a kiss on his forehead.



"But I want to stay with you. " He said quietly.



Must be those nightmares. She thought sympathetically.



"Ok, you can keep sleeping in my bed; it more than big enough." She relented. "But we need to get packed up and move in so we can find Kainde'a'ke'a , so let's get to it."



"Ok!"



CCCCCCC



It took them nearly th rest of the day to get everything they needed packed away and night was almost upon them as they made their last trip between the stall and The Silvashadow, arms laden with odds and ends, and Kainde'a'ke'a still hadn't returned.



Probably with Ker'e'aka starting the festivities early. Veriea thought with a grin, shifting the heavy box in her arms. Tbi'e was beside her, one hand fisted in her tail fur - as he had become accustomed to doing whenever he went anywhere with her - and the other clutching at the collapsed canvas of the hammock, which was folded and thrown over his shoulder. Even Dusk and Midnight were helping; each were carrying one of her pouches around their necks, each full of small bits and bobs and miscellaneous items.



"Red, I'm hungry." Tbi'e said, tugging on her tail gently but not whining as most children would.



The kits both gave a little squeak as if to say, "Us too!". They always seemed to know when food was being discussed. Veriea gave a little laugh as they passed the construction yard gates, giving the guards a nod, which they returned, having seen her going in and out all afternoon.



The ship sat gleaming in the fading light, looking every bit the efficient, lethal machine she'd designed it after. When humans had wanted to build a flying machine, they had looked to nature and designed it in the form of birds. With the technology of the yautja at her disposal, she had the means to take it one step farther and anyone who was familiar with Terran fauna would recognize the efficient killer in The Silvashadow's design; the dragonfly.



Veriea tapped in an access code into her wrist computer and by the time they were at The Silvashadow, the ramp was finishing it's decent to the ground, waiting for them. Another thing thing she loved about having designed the ship herself; all the quirky little extras, like having most of the ship functions and access codes keyed into her computer. As they stepped onto the ramp and began to ascend, Veriea rested the box on her hip and patted Tbi'e on the head, smiling down at him.



"We'll get something thrown together once we get this lot sorted, ok? I'm rath-" She stopped, mid-sentance, freezing. She cocked her head to one side, her ears straining forward, as if listening for some small sound. Veriea's blood rushed in her ears, her heart pounded in her chest and a sickening feeling of dread slid heavily in her stomach like a stone; something was wrong. So very, very wrong.



"Red?"



Tbi'e's innocent, confused and slightly frightened voice jarred her into motion.



She jumped the remaining distance into the ship, dumped the box and hoisted Tbi'e up, then yanked Dusk an Midnight up by the napes of their necks. "Red?" Tbi'e asked again, more frightened now as Veriea disappeared into the cargo bay, returning with both her ki'cti-pa and ki'its-pa, though nothing else. With a slight wince she attached the ki'cti-pa and then knelt in front of Tbi'e, laying her ki'its-pa beside her and taking his shoulders in hand.



"Listen to me, Tbi'e. I have to go, Kainde'a'ke'a's in trouble. Do not leave the ship. You know where everything is and you know the codes already, lock the door once I'm gone and don't open it for anyone. Don't even answer the com-link. Just wait here until I come back. Can you do that for me Tbi'e?" He nodded and she smiled at him and hugged him fiercely. "That's my boy." She whispered in his ear and then released him, snatching up her spear and then leapt from the air lock doorway and hit the ground running, heading for the gates.



Tbi'e hit the button to close the door but before it could shut , the kits jumped from the opening, tumbled and then started after Veriea.



"Dusk! Midnight! Come back!" He yelled but they ignored him, running as fast as their little legs allowed.



Tbi'e was torn; the kits could get hurt but he'd promised to stay on the ship. Eventually he decided that he would have to stick to his promise and entered the code for lock-down. He just hoped that Veriea and the kits would be alright; he didn't want to lose his new family.



CCCCCCC



"Ver'ei'a'ka'cha!" Someone called off to the side and she jerked her head in that direction.



Pe'ci'e'cha.



Her mind whirled.



He could get reinforcements.



"This is an emergency," She said, cutting off whatever the warrior had been about to say and the words seemed to have an immediate effect on him. "I need you to find Arbitrator Ker'e'aka and tell him that his Life Mate is in danger. Find a healer as well and then head due North-East from the main gates."



"What-"



"She doesn't have time for this! GO!" Veriea snarled, jolting the male into action, while she ran on, through the gate and into the forest, letting her instincts guide her.



She didn't know how she knew it was Kainde'a'ke'a in trouble or how she knew exactly where she was but she knew exactly what she was feeling among the fear and blinding pain and she knew she was calling out; Kainde'a'ke'a was calling out to her for help.



She followed that link, that cry, unerringly, instinct ruling the chaos her mind had become since first hearing the cry, her heart in her chest thumping painfully, seeming to be in her throat, restricting her air supply. Her blood was thrumming. She knew what was happening to Kainde'a'ke'a and it made her skin crawl, made every hair on her body stand on end, would have paralyzed her with fear if it were not for the desperate need to find her friend and stop it before it was too late.



She had to get there before it was too late.



In her mind, something dark was screeching - danger, danger, kill threat, danger, danger - like a mantra, over and over again until it had drowned out everything else and was the sole strain of thought that made any sense.



As she descended in to that dark place, she never realized that she had dropped to a four-footed run, her ki'its-pa shoved through the strap of her top on her back to leave her un-hindered, and she could not know that her eyes had darkened once more to shiny black orbs which, strangely, reflected nothing in their depths. She could hear the roaring now, Kainde'a'ke'a's cries for help and Veriea no longer thought.



Her senses guiding her, she leapt over a bush in her way and tackled something massive to the ground, rolling neatly away herself to crouch once more between Kainde'a'ke'a and danger.



Apparently the same danger.



Behind her, curling into a protective ball around her expanded belly, lay Kainde'a'ke'a, her body battered, her breath strenuously labored, dark green bruises marking her legs, arms, torso, face, bleeding from cuts and wounds everywhere, bleeding from...everywhere. She needed help, soon.



In front of her was the cause; two males, the two males who she had run off when she had first met Kainde'a'ke'a', both standing there, nonchalant, their loin cloths lying on the ground a few feet away, making it painfully obvious what they had been doing.



"Look at that, Mal'e'ka'cha," One of the said, seemingly uncaring that they had been caught in the act. "It's the pet."



It didn't even register in her mind at the time that one of them at least was the son of an Elder or a Clan Leader. She only knew that they had hurt her friend, rapped her, and that made them something which all honorable yautja despised.



"Bad bloods!" She spat, growling, though somewhere deep in her throat a hiss was rising.



She lunged at them but found herself knocked back to the ground, surrounded by a hunting net which began to tighten around her. She remembered her ki'its-pa and while she still had room to maneuver, rolled onto her side so that one end of the spear dug into the earth and the other stuck up into the air, catching a thread of the net, holding it. The net continued to shrink, slicing into her left shoulder and arm, the back of her thighs, her shins and knees, her ears and even her dreadlocks and face and she bared her teeth in pain but did not cry out. The ki'its-pa was holding, the net straining to try and continue to tighten and she used what little space she had to reach behind her, her muscles protesting at the strain and awkward angle, the net bitting into her flesh, and she pressed the release button.



The spear peri-scoped to it's full length, ripping the net from the ground and she twisted to grab her ki'its-pa then faced the bad bloods. If there was one phrase to express the looks on their faces, it was "Oh pauk."



They had not expected her to be able to get free. They had expected her to die a painful death, getting sliced to bits while they continued where they had left off.



They had underestimated the 'pet' for the last time.



Veriea was beyond rage. With predatory precision she moved in on the two males.



She did not see as she tore into them.



She did not hear as they roared in pain, the sound reduced to gurgling whimpers.



She did not feel as their warm blood splattered, covering her hands, chest and face.



She did not care as she left them, very much still alive, to slowly die, painfully bleeding to death.



As she moved back from that dark place, Veriea immediately went to Kainde'a'ke'a's side, heedless of the her own injuries, not even remembering how she acquired them - a broken hand and fractured forearm, a twisted knee, yet another gash in her abdomen though not very deep, as well as the grid pattern slices which oozed blood - and poured all her strength into healing Kainde'a'ke'a, focusing particularly on her friend's womb, hoping against hope that the unborn child was alright, for both its own sake and that of its mother.



The males were still alive, indicated by their yells as small creatures came and started nibbling on them but Veriea tuned them out, concentrating all she had on keeping Kainde'a'ke'a alive and with her. She didn't even notice when Dusk and Midnight approached her, nestled by her sides and licked her wounds. They did not make any noise, as if they understood the situation; that's how they were found, half an hour later.



And the males were still screaming.



End- Ch 14



A/N: What will become of Kainde'a'ke'a and her unborn child? What will happen to the bad bloods? All the ansers in the next chapter!



Please don't kill me...