#space child

The small shape of the human child, Mira, was curled against the doorway. She was trembling and letting out small sniffs and whines.

You cooed, "come here, child." You said gently, trying not to wake Yinsin who was currently curled around your waist.

The child pulled herself to her feet and shuffled closer to the cot. It was easy for her to climb up as the cot only sat a couple inches off the ground. She sat beside you, hanging her legs off the side and hanging her head, still sniffling and not looking at you.

You pulled her up onto your lap, tucking her head below your chin. "Easy, I've got you." You soothed, assuming it was only comfort she was looking for. "Nothing can hurt you now."

"M'sorry," she whined, "m'sorry, m'sorry, m'sorry."

"Dear, why are you apologising? There is no need, I am here for you."

"They were after me," she sobbed quietly.

The sobbing made Yinsin stir behind you but you weren't focused on that right now. Your newest chick needed you more.

"And they will not get you. Not while I'm here."

"They hurt you."

"And I hurt them more. You do not need to worry for me. I will protect you, my child."

Mira's arms squeezed around you. "I don't want you to get hurt." She sobbed.

Such a sweet soul, so worried for you. How was there any way to reassure her that you would do anything to ensure her safety, that you would burn up the gas giant you were orbiting if it would help protect them.

"You are my chick," you said lowly in her ear, a hand running gently through her hair, "I will do everything to keep you safe. And I certainly won't neglect my health either if it means leaving you unguarded."

"M'sorry," Mira whispered again.

"There is no need. You have done nothing wrong." You murmured into her hair. It does not stop her crying. You lie down again on your side, cradling her in your arms, "hush now, sleep. I'll be here. No need to worry."

On lying down, you could feel Yinsin curl around you more. She draped a wing over you and rest her head on top of your arm. "No one blames you, Mira." She mumbled, "get some sleep. We'll explain in the morning."

You let out a loo twitter, a sleepy melody meant to lull the child to sleep. Evidently it did more to your wife than the child as they just wrapped their little arms around you tighter with another soft whine.

"I mean, we've all heard about the daycare station," the other human, Alice, grinned, "our species can be quite adoptive too. It's great to see that these children have a place to go where they'll truly be safe."

"And protected so fiercely," Jackson mumbled, not-so-quietly.

You chuckled, having the mind to be sheepish, "I'm not normally like that, believe me. If they hadn't found the chicks, you'd probably have been rescuing me alongside my crew."

"Again, something our species shares," Alice's smile softened, "and it's good to know Mira has such great people around her."

You tilted your head with a questioning coo, "Mira?"

"The kid?"

"Her name is Mira?" Your eyes dilated, never having thought you'd get to the point of knowing the human child's name. You cooed more.

"Uh, you don't... know?" The humans looked between each other.

Jackson turned back to you, "wait have you... not talked to her since she got here?"

"We haven't been able to. We've no spare translators on board and the child has come from a very rough place. It has been cycles of building trust just to move them into their room and introduce them to the others. We can't understand each other."

Jackson and Alice looked at each other. Jackson raised an eyebrow at Alice. "I'm gonna go check something real quick." He said eventually before leaving.

Alice turned back to you, "so how did Mira come to you?"

You frowned as your mind cast you back to that cycle, how far you'd come from that frightened little creature in a shipping crate.

"Galactic authorities hailed our station, saying they had confiscated items from Aesif poachers. As per regulation, any living cargo needed to be unloaded while they were docked so they could be given food and water." You sighed as you remembered that crate. You were getting mad just thinking about it. "They called the child feral. Like they weren't a sentient creature that had just been rescued from some horrific circumstance."

Outside, just at the edge of your range of hearing, you thought you heard a small gasp. Footsteps came to a halt just outside the door.

"Did they just leave the kid with you when they left?" Alice asked, unaware of anyone listening.

You narrowed your eyes at the ground, "I made the case that they shouldn't transport the human like that. They needed to be treated properly. They said I was welcome to have them, that they had enough evidence to log against the poachers and they'd come back and check on them later."

"Later never came, I take it." Alice raised a knowing eyebrow.

"I don't care if they never come but what I did care about was getting information about what happened to them on that ship. They were being kept in a carrier that didn't even allow them to stand. When I let them out, they were muzzled."

"Muzzled."

"Now that I think about it, I still need to burn that. I thought they'd might like to watch it."

"I'll bet," Alice nodded.

"They were very scared about letting me near them and all I could do was offer them comfort. I used a PB&J from your home world to let me close enough to them that I could take it off."

"Ah yes, the ultimate show of trust," Alice chuckled.

You chuckled too before falling silent. "They've come a long way since then. Truthfully, I hadn't noticed they were a child until Et-han mentioned some behaviours they had were child-like. And once he said it, I couldn't stop thinking it."

"Et-han the big dude protecting the other kids?"

"Yes, he's one of mine as well." You smiled, "unlike a couple others I'd adopted around the same time, he stayed on the station to act as our security."

"Yeah, Boaraxian hang around their parents after they've grown to protect their younger siblings, right?"

"Right," you nodded, "and if it weren't for them getting ahold of Alyr, he probably would have taken the intruders himself."

"Mama bird got to them first." Alice smiled kindly before pulling up a chair and sitting across from you. Her head turned briefly to the doorway before turning back to you. "So how much do you know about Mira?"

You cooed on hearing that name again. It was a beautiful name, like the winds from home had spoken it directly to you. "Well, I have the files about her mistreatment by the poachers hands though I'm still... going through them. I can only handle so much at a time."

Alice nodded, understanding.

"I know she likes to draw and she has an interest in your world's sea creatures. I know she's not into a lot of the games the other children play but she still likes the company." You twittered. "I'm... I'm proud of how far she's come. She's a strong child."

"Do you know how old she is?"

You shook your head, "I'm only going off of size and behaviours that she's still a child."

"She's ten." Alice said, "that would make her similar in age to... is it Thistle? That her name?"

"Thistle, yes. Goodness, only two full rotations of our sun." You cooed lowly, "and she's been through so much."

Alice nodded then looked back at the doorway. You were aware you'd heard something there earlier. Had the human noticed too and not said anything?

Jackson walked around the corner with Mira in tow. The earpiece he normally wore was now sitting on Mira's ear. You cooed on seeing them. "Are you alright, child? You seem shy." The mere happiness of seeing your child had perked up your sleepy movements and made your tail start its usual sway again.

"M-Mira," she mumbled quietly, "I'm Mira."

You cooed more as you could understand her, you were speaking to her now. "I'm Yarrow. It's nice to finally speak with you, Mira."

Her head stared at the ground, shifting weight from foot to foot. There was only so long you could allow them to be nervous and you opened your arms to them, "come here."

Mira looked at them and slowly walked towards you, not hugging back but leaning in to let you wrap your arms around them and pull them onto the cot with you.

"It's safe to say that since that attack, galactic authorities will probably be in contact with you regarding the kid," Alice nodded to Mira, "meaning they might come back for her."

"They're certainly welcome to try," you said, "I've already saved the evidence from how they treated her before we took her in."

Jackson said something but without his translator, you couldn't make it out. Alice chuckled at him, "more like lose a whole hand."

You could guess what he said.

Mira tensed up in your arms. "Is someone going to take me away?" She asked.

"They won't get very far if they try," Alice said.

"No," you answered at the same time, your arms tightening around her. "If they try, I have the evidence to stop them."

Jackson spoke again and Alice nodded. Whatever he said, it made Mira relax a little.

You heard a twitter from down the hall as your wife approached the medbay, her feathers were slightly bristled as she approached only to spot Mira in your arms.

She sighed, "good, they're with you. I was worried when I couldn't find them for breakfast. They're such a good hider."

"My love, come here. One of the humans has given them a translator. I think you should introduce yourself."

"Ah how lovely," Yinsin walked towards you, crouching down just in front of the cot. The cot was only a couple inches off the floor. "Hello, little one. My name is Yinsin. I'm Yarrow's wife."

"I'm Mira," Mira pulled her hood over her head, the same hoodie that Yinsin first made her.

Despite having more clothes now, she always wore that hoodie to the point that Yinsin had made another one in a grey colour just so they could wash the first when it got dirty.

"You made my shark hoodie," Mira said.

"I did," Yinsin nodded, "you were drawing them a lot. I thought they were a favourite of yours."

"They are," Mira nodded, "thank you."

"You're very welcome, dear." Yinsin held a hand out, "but I must insist you come eat breakfast. You still need to recover too."

"But," Mira leaned back into you, pushing the top of her head against the underside of your snout. You purred at the affection.

"I will still be here when you're finished," you said, "but you are not in the condition to be skipping meals." You ducked your snout to push into the side of her head, "go now, I will see you later."

Mira leaned into your touch before taking Yinsin's hand. As she was led to the door, she looked back at you and you could feel her hesitance. You twittered sweetly and nodded. Mira left not long after.

"Is she..." Alice asked lowly to Jackson. Jackson finished her sentence. "Yeah," Alice continued. Jackson shrugged.

"Is she what?" You asked.

"Oh, it's nothing. We best give you some rest too," Alice said, "Jackson will need to head back to the ship and report a 'lost' translator." She grinned.

"Thank you both," you nodded, "and thank you with your help against the Aesif."

It was a sad hope to think that the human just didn't know where the toilet was and was holding it. It had been three cycles since they got here, they would have urinated before then. Still, you decided to show them just in case.

"Hey, child? Would you come with me for a second?" You twittered as sweetly as you could, beckoning them out of their corner.

The human looked at you before making some of the rocking that Yinsin warned of. How had you not noticed that? Perhaps you assumed it was a self-soothing motion.

"Please?" You tried, knowing it was pointless. They couldn't understand you anyway. You decided to try leading the way, beckoning with a wing while you headed for the door. It wasn't the same door you'd enter and leave from and the child was already suspicious of every move you made.

You opened the door and walked through, still beckoning.

The human's curiosity got the better of them again. They sat their data pad down on their blankets before creeping to the doorway, shoulders tense and movements slow, a back foot pointed back ready to dart back to their corner.

It was a bathroom. There was a toilet, sink and a shower which you realised they would need before stepping into their new clothes. Perhaps you could encourage them.

For now, you pointed at them then at the toilet bowl. Luckily, the humans you'd met could recognise it instantly so you assumed they looked similar to the toilets on their home world.

As expected, the human child did recognise it, their legs crossing and they did a little dance at the sight but they didn't come closer. Their head shook in a negative statement.

"It's just a toilet, I don't mean harm. I'm just worried." You tried, again they couldn't understand you but you hoped your tone was reassuring.

They let out a small whine, turning back out the door and back to their corner. They picked up their data pad and started drawing again, frantically while rocking.

"I really don't want to force this on you but this is serious. You could get really sick. You probably are really sick already and I can't even check it." You started to fret. How long could humans survive without urinating?

Doing the math in your head, one cycle was not a full day on earth which gave you some time before kidney failure but dehydration and bladder distension were certain.

The human finished their drawing and turned the data pad to show you.

The drawing was you. It was very crudely done as they had rushed it but the wings, arms and odd feathers made it obvious it was supposed to be you. The human drew themselves sitting near you while you had something in your hand.

They drew you reading your data pad beside them.

Your eyes widened. Your data pad probably had some detail of why they haven't urinated. Had the poachers done something to their bladder too? You looked around your lab to find Yinsin had placed the pad on your desk and you started to scroll through quickly.

The thought that the human knew what you were reading hadn't even crossed your mind. Humans were intelligent but with no base communication method between you two, you had assumed they were clueless as to why they were here and what you were doing.

You paused on a paragraph about urine samples.

The poachers had put a urinary catheter in. While that would normally help with urination, they'd purposefully placed a stopper on it to ensure they could control bladder function until they need more samples. There was a note that trauma had occurred while placing the catheter as the human fought.

You cooed sadly, your feathers drooping.

You looked to the child in front of you. The child. Who had this violation done against them. You got down on your knees to be closer to their level.

"I can take it out," you said, "but you have to let me." You pointed to the trousers of the lab clothes they still wore.

They took a few steps back, holding the top of their trousers. You didn't follow them but as they stood there, pinching their legs together, they finally gave in with a whine and walked towards you again.

"Let's go to the bathroom," you pointed to the room.

The child whined again but walked in with you, very conscious of how small the room was. They dropped their trousers and you could already see the end of the catheter just below them.

You carefully placed one hand on their shoulder, hoping to reassure them as your other started to pull the catheter out. As you started, the human immediately started to fidget, one hand grabbing your arm that was on their shoulder. They shifted from foot to foot but didn't stop you.

As soon as the catheter was out, they started to urinate, dribbling on the floor and their trousers. You picked them up under the arms and sat them on the toilet as quick as you could but it wasn't quick enough to save their trousers.

"There we go. Another thing we can burn later." You dropped the catheter in the nearest bin.

The child was still holding one of your arms and you realised, you still had one hand on their side as if to steady them on the toilet. When you looked at them, you saw they were crying and whatever restraint you had on that motherly side of you just shattered.

"Oh it's ok, you did so well." You cooed, both hands cupping their face and wiping their tears, being mindful of your talons.

The child sobbed, eyes closing as they continued to empty their bladder. You both sat there for a long time. You were cooing every word you said, hoping your tone would come across as comforting.

"I have you, child. You'll be ok. We'll get you cleaned up and in proper clothes, we'll need to get those electrolytes up again and some time in the future I'll need to check the health of your kidneys but we can do all that later. Yinsin will come around with new clothes for you and we can get you into a proper room with a proper bed."

Affection was a tricky one for humans. Each human had a different type of affection towards each other and other species. But one thing you knew, humans were excellent mimics. They mimicked almost everything they saw so you decided it best to use the same nuzzle you'd given to Yinsin in front of them.

You pushed their head under your snout and trilled sweetly. The human's arms came up to hold on to your arms, not pulling just holding.

When they'd finally finished urinating, you checked their face again to see if they were still crying. They'd mostly finished by then and you handed them some paper to clean themselves up while you used more to clean up the small puddle they'd left on the floor.

"Alright, I think it's time for a proper clean," you said, "Yinsin shouldn't take long with those clothes once she's got the designs so we'll get this shower sorted and discard these clothes."

You turned to the sink, pulling a towel out of the cupboard beneath it. It would dwarf the human child but it was the only size you had at the moment. You moved to the shower, turning it on and testing the heat to ensure it wasn't too hot or cold. Once you were satisfied, you turned to the child who had abandoned the soiled trousers.

Surprisingly, the human was not acting aggressive, merely sleepy meaning they'd fallen into a deep enough sleep with an unfamiliar furry creature that didn't speak their language and, according to other humans, looked similar to a hybrid of aggressive species on their own planet.

Et-han had more visible defenses than you did, having hailed from a deathworld themselves. Their snout ended abruptly with large nostrils to detect predator and prey alike. Two tusks poked out of their bottom lip and their shoulders and back were packed with muscle. Their back feet were hoofed while their front had tactile hands for tool use and large claws for slicing open tree roots and prey alike.

Perhaps it was the colour of them that put the human at ease. If the human was young enough and tired enough, maybe they just saw something pink and fluffy walking into their cell.

Speaking of the human, they were cradling the nightlight you'd given them the night before. Et-han was sitting beside the base with another light charging on the stand.

The human yawned and while it showed off their teeth, you didn't get a good examination. Their front incisors were adult, you could tell that much, but their lateral incisors appeared a lot smaller. Perhaps there were some milk teeth after all.

Without a human with you, you couldn't accurately age this one. You had sent an urgent appeal to any crew that have integrated humans.

The human focused on you and you were pleased when they didn't show any signs of aggression. You twittered, holding up their breakfast before sliding it across the ground to them.

Et-han started waking up, stretching their back as they sat up.

"Sleep well?" You asked them.

They mumbled something about their back killing them.

"If you were going to sit with them, you should have said. I could have offered some comfort."

"Wasn't planning on it," they mumbled, "just heard them crying through the night."

"Crying?" You tilted your head, "why? Were they in pain? We still don't know what they were treated with before their rescue."

"No, the nightlight went out and they didn't know how to charge it." Et-han nodded to the ball sitting charging on the stand.

"Oh," you cooed at the thought. They were probably still so terrified.

While your lab wasn't visually like the one they were rescued from, you were uncomfortable to keep them here. You wanted to move them to a room but you needed to build more trust.

The human was eating near them but it was hard to tell if they were too hungry for self control or if that was trust they were showing. Their ribs were so pronounced, it could mean either or both.

"What's your plan?" Et-han asked.

"I'm hoping one of the crews will come back to me and that the humans know this one's language." You said, "aside from that, just building on non-verbal trust and communication. There's not much else we can do and I refuse to use any of these tools on them without consent, even if it is only to assess their health."

"I'm sure they'll forgive you when they realise it doesn't hurt."

"Still, much more trust is needed."

"And what will you tell the others on board?"

"Well, Yinsin already knows about them and the kids know not to come into the lab. I can explain to them later when we're thinking about getting the human their own room."

"I think you should update the crews that you're dealing with a shoat, that'll definitely get them to respond quicker."

"We don't know for sure." You said but even your own voice wavered at the mention.

Et-han gave you a flat look, "Yarrow, it's a child. By size alone, you can tell but even their behaviours. You don't need to check for milk teeth to know that."

Your shoulders sunk as you thought over the evidence. You didn't want to believe that a child had been subjected to the cruelty of poachers. "Stunted growth is a common symptom in rescued humans," you say, quietly, "as is nutrient deficiencies, infection and delayed wound healing. All of those can be aided with proper nutrition."

"Nutrient paste in the food?" Et-han asked.

"Hidden under appropriate seasoning in case they reject it."

"I don't think they're rejecting anything at the moment." Et-han looked over and saw the human child had ate everything in the bowl.

"Have you eaten?" Et-han asked.

"Yes, I was going to look for you after I'd fed the human."

Et-han picked up the bowl then stood, "alright, I'll head off."

You nod and turned to see them out of the lab. Both of you froze at the whimper leaving the human child. Your feathers perked up in distress, the noise setting off every parental instinct in your being.

"I need to eat," Et-han said, "sit with them. I don't think they like being alone."