#predvember

That day the pups were misbehaving while their mothers were out, slowly driving you crazy, and when they almost broke your instruments, you decided you had enough. You screamed you would have called the Boogeyman if they didn’t calm down.

Being pups, the new word attracted their attention like a magnet and stopped their campaign of destruction long enough for you to tell them the same story your grandma used to tell you when you were little.

You expected those little pests to laugh at your silly rhyme: they weren’t sucklings anymore and they were in that particular stage of childhood where there is no ruler outside of their mothers.

Instead, they froze on the spot and after a few seconds of silence they tidied up your instruments with surprising efficiency.

They became angels for the rest of the day and you baked them some cookies, once you calmed yourself, like any other day of babysitting.

Their mothers came to take them home by the evening and you just took a little me-time before your mate came back.

They laid down by your side after a nice and rough “cuddle”, their breath a little heavy in your ear as you slowly drifted away in sleep.

“How was the day with the pups, my star?”, they asked.

“Up and downs.”, you muttered, fighting to stay awake enough to answer. “They made me crazy… and I told them the story of the Boogeyman.”

“The Boogeyman?”

“Yeah.”

You could feel your mate adjusting themself, their attention all for you. They liked to listen to your stories, both because they got to focus on you without you being shy about it and because they were just as curious about your culture as you were of theirs.

You sighed, stirring a bit to focus, but giving up quite fast on the idea of repeating the whole rhyme with the right tone, so you resolved yourself to paraphrasing the legend.

“The Boogeyman is a wraith that is all pitch black and hides under the bed.”, you say with a yawn. “He takes the naughty pups and eats them.”

You felt your mate stiffen to your words and you patted their shoulder.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a kids’ story.”, you said, finally falling asleep.

The next day you found all the pups quietly waiting for you in the common tent you used as a daycare.

It was such a rare sight you almost didn’t see the front of mothers watching you with killer eyes right outside.

You knew better than to keep staring at them and lowered your head, stopping a few steps from them.

The biggest of the females approached you, covering you with her shadow.

“Hi Cithi.”, you said with a feeble voice. “How can I help you?”

The female’s chest rumbled with a growl, low enough to reverberate in your bones and cover you in goosebumps.

“You can start by not threatening the pups while we are not around.”, Cithi snarled.

You blinked, trying to remember when that happened, but kept quiet as the female resumed.

“I don’t care what you think of our pups: if I hear you call your monster, you’ll meet your end before the sun rises again. DId I make myself clear?”

You held your hands together to prevent them from shaking, yet something in her words felt… off.

“I have no… ‘monster’, Cithi. I barely have a hound- “

“Don’t try my patience, ooman.”

You fell silent, crushed under the threat in her voice, and swallowed as she approached another step.

“Your Boojimen won’t touch any of our pups.”

You lifted your gaze on Cithi and the females behind her: you finally noticed they were wearing their hunting gear and watching with careful eyes the trees around the village. They weren’t here just to talk with you, they were moving to hunt a shadow.

“I see…”, you muttered. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding here.”

Explaining what happened hadn’t been easy, Cithi was terribly stubborn when it came to protecting her offspring, but after a few tries you managed to convince the hunting party not to engage a hunt over a non-existing entity. Cithi insisted on a few adults still patrolling the borders that day and night and stayed with you and the pups to keep an eye on you, still suspicious even giving you the benefit of doubt.

"I am not too young, I'm 45 years old! And you have spent years training me yourself. You're the one who said my aim with the bow is impeccable. You know I'm ready for this." Jha'tha huffs at her mom, crossing her arms. "Plus I'm always going to be small, that won't change." She grumbles.

-

"No, my pup. You are still too young to go on a hunt." Am'hla states, not looking up from the herb garden she carefully tends to. "Too small, you could get hurt."

Am'hla sighs. "My stubborn pup." She walks over to her daughter and places her hands on her shoulders. "As thick skulled as your sire." She mumbles, mostly to herself. "Fine." She mirrors Jha'tha and crosses her own arms. "Prove your aim and bring back a K'yipsas."

"A K'yipsas?" The flying creatures weren't particularly big or fearsome, but they're armored and fast and often swarmed together in the hundreds.

"Yes. Shouldn't be too difficult for someone with aim as good as yours. You will leave at first light tomorrow. Now, come help me with the herbs."

Jha'tha tries her best to hold back a sigh. "Yes, bearer."

-

Jha'tha is glad that she leaves at first light, the trek to the swamps where the K'yipsas like to swarm is going to take longer than expected.

After a quick first meal and grabbing her satchel-- fully packed with medical supplies and rations, courtesy of her mother-- she slings her bow and quiver of arrows over her shoulder and heads out.

It's mid-day by the time Jha'tha reaches the swamps, and she can easily hear the large group of K'yipsas before she even sees a them.

The insects clinging to the spindly trees while others fly around, and the easiest target would be one on the trees.

But Jha'tha isn't going to take the easy route.

She quietly ascends one of the trees, steadying herself on a limb and readying her bow. Crouching down, she locks onto one of the flying creatures, leans forward to aim and--

And her long tendrils fall forward, the few beads in them clinking together.

The sound isn't loud, not compared to the natural sounds of the swamps, but it still causes the K'yipsas to swarm into a panicked frenzy.

"Pauk!" Jha'tha quietly curses, mostly at herself for not tying her tendrils back.

It takes awhile for the swarm to calm down, and when they do it's further within the swamp. Jha'tha descends the tree-- making sure to tie her tendrils back when she's back on solid ground-- and makes her way to where the insects have settled.

She repeats her process. Swiftly climbing a tree, settling in a good advantage spot, leaning forward to aim and--

And a loose piece of tree bark shifts under her feet and falls to the ground, inciting another panicked swarm.

"Oh come on!" Groaning, she quickly makes her way down the tall tree.

Not waiting for the swarm to settle, Jha'tha chases after them. She readies her bow, aiming for a K'yipsas on the outskirts of the swarm. She fires and--

And the arrow bounces right off of its thick plated back.

"Cjit! How did I forget that!" The creatures have thick, almost armor like skin on their backs.

The only way to kill them is to aim for their vulnerable underbelly.

Groaning, Jha'tha rounds the side of the swarm, struggling to keep up with her target and to find a spot where she can aim for its weak point and--

She found it. An open spot to aim at it.

Waisting no time, Jha'tha shoots another arrow.

And hits the K'yipsas dead center in its underbelly.

It falls to the ground with a shriek as Jha'tha lets out a cry of victory.

She walks up to her kill, yanking the goo-covered arrow from its belly and picking it up by one of its many legs.

"Thank you for the hunt, zabin. My bearer is going to be be proud of me."

-

The sun's have begun to set and blanket the village in a warm hue by the time Jha'tha makes her way home.

She presents her kill to her mother, holding it up with a triumphant click of her mandibles.

Am'hla is very proud of her youngest pup.

-

Elena turned to face him, blushing slightly as she noticed he was not, in fact, looking at the trees like her and stood.

“Stop it, Don Giovanni!”, she laughed. “You’re gonna make me blush.”

“You already are.”

“That’s a way of speech.” She moved to sit by his side, tugging on one of his tresses and earning a purring hiss from her partner. “But thank you for the adulation.”

Ko’pa put down the stick he was moving the fire with and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling Elena on his lap as she laughed and weakly tried to escape his hold, ultimately holding to his shoulders to gain some stability.

“Hush, my chakria.”, Ko’pa whispered. “You will draw predators our way.”

Elena lifted her eyebrow, fixing her legs to sit on his thighs and lifting on her knees to look straight in his yellow eyes. Ko’pa held a purr as her core grinded on his, gripping her waist tightly as she caressed his face.

“Lucky me I have a strong hunter to protect me, then.”

Elena woke up at dawn. A silent ray of light crept inside the crevice, landing on her closed eyes and moving her to consciousness.

She stretched, feeling Ko’pa still wrapped around her, and opened her eyes.

A fast, green glimpse just over the entrance of their refuge caught her eyes and made her lift on her elbows.

She waited, silent as a dead. Her dagger leaned on the rock wall next to her.

She slowly reached out her hand and wrapped her fingers on the hilt, drawing the weapon near to her body and rotating the blade as a slight movement in the foliage made her alert.

A small snout popped on the other side of the rock. Blue nostrils trembling as it sniffed the air, then green fur and small yellow eyes. Last, two big, blue ears, popped in her direction.

Elena lowered her weapon as the little space mouse looked at her and tentatively climbed inside, sniffing around.

She had to hold the endeared “aw” she felt growing in her chest before waking up Ko’pa. That thing was as small as the country mice that roamed her grandfather’s house back on Earth.

Elena looked at the sleeping Yautja next to her, his green lids still closed and calm, then she slowly slipped out of his hold.

The mouse ran again outside and Elena rushed to wear her clothes before pushing herself on the other side of the rock edge.

She waited.

After a few moments, the mouse popped out again from the foliage and looked at her.

Elena cocked her head on the side: the mouse did the same then rushed in the low bushes toward the tree line.

Wait, damn it. Elena jumped out of the crevice and followed the little creature, dagger at hand, moving fast and as silent as she could in the vegetation. Every now and then she had to stop and look around until the mouse moved another bush. The small creature seemed to want her to follow it as it never disappeared for too long.

She still had to understand if this was a good or a bad thing when she felt the ground collapse underneath her feet.

“Porco d-!”

Elena crossed her arms on her chest, suffocating a scream as her body found a smooth, cold material and she began to slide in the dark. It could even have been fun if she had meant to fall.

The slide terminated in a small cave and Elena rolled to softer the arrest.

When she finally stopped moving, she lifted on a crouch and sighed.

“Damn mouse, where are you?”, she said.

The good thing was that the cave wasn’t completely dark. As her eyes got used to the new light, she realized the walls were emitting a dim, purple light.

Elena sit on her heels and lowered her dagger. She looked around with growing awe as crystal like shapes started to get clearer around her, painting her skin in lilac tones.

A light squeak startled her and lowering her gaze she found the space mouse sitting in front of her. It had three pairs of paws and kept the higher one lifted.

Elena leaned forward towards the animal and it sprinted away in the dark.

“Hey! Come here!”

She stood and ran after the animal through the glowing rocks.

Eventually, the tunnel opened on a vast room with a pool of crystalline water in the centre and long rocks on the sides.

Elena moved closer to the pool, where her little guide waited, and kneeled on the shore. A big shadow moved on the bottom, a sapphire blue, sinuous figure that was slowly rising to the surface.

The mouse ran away, squeaking, as the creature broke the surface and bared razor-like teeth.

Ko’pa woke up to the sound of the ground trembling, a rhythmic thump that moved the pebbles in the small crevice.

He opened his eyes and pulled Elena to his chest, but when his arm tightened on nothing his brain went completely alert.

He stood, looking frantically around, finding no sign of the ooman except for the lack of her dagger. Damn him, he was getting soft.

His chest grew heavier to the thought of what might have happened to her, of where she might have been, until a familiar sound drew his attention back to the thumping sound outside.

“Ko’pa! Come out!”

Ko’pa climbed outside of the crevice with his combistick at hand, but then stopped abruptly to the sight he was greeted with.

A tall, snake-like beast with blue scales towered over the entrance with four lizard clawed paws dug in the strong rock of the mountain to keep it in place. Its dripping mouth bared razor-like teeth, passing way too close to him as the creature lowered its head until he could see the woman on the other side of its spiked crest.

Elena looked at him with the biggest smile, arms wrapped affectionately around the creature’s neck as she spoke:

“Can we keep it?”

Glossary

Chakria = life mate