Page 45 of Theirs to Crave
We weren’t going to be able to put off the trip back to the ship—and Ilya—for much longer. Storm or not, alone or not, Yin would go to xyr child soon.
Svixa was quizzing her star pupils—Salat and Shane—on their Teterayuh over the remains of our breakfast, when she suddenly went still, her eyes fixed on the misty jungle and her ears quivering.
“T’tonset!” she cried. Zafett kept her from leaping onto her broken leg with a hand on her shoulder, but she made a mewling sound deep in her throat and strained, hand outstretched.
The rest of us exchanged confused looks. Litha and Revik got to their feet, their faces serious before they turned to face the trees, their backs to us.
Five Teterayuh dropped to the ground just outside the palapa, their bodies steaming from exertion. The two in the middleglanced around only long enough to see us, still and seated, before rushing to Svixa.
They wrapped her in their arms, murmuring soothingly as our cheerful teacher melted into a wounded child, crying and squirming as she held them tight.
Her parents, I guessed. Her fathers, going by the prominent bulges that had whipped by at eye level as I sat, frozen. Curiosity about that flitted through my mind, but I set that aside in favor of watching the other three Teterayuh, who stood tensely alert, facing off with Revik and Litha.
The newcomers were listening to Litha, but watching us. The weight of their attention didn’t give me a good feeling.
Since I only understood one word out of twenty, I watched them back. The one on the left was stocky, like a slightly taller and less ripped version of Revik. His fur was tan and almost...fluffy? It was tipped in coral, and thick bands of white ringed his tail. Adorable, really. The array of weapons strapped to his body—not to mention the “ready to pounce at any moment” stance—were somewhat less cute.
The one on the right was tall, like Litha. Were women larger in general among the Teterayuh? Her fur was short and dense looking. The other Teterayuh I’d met all had markings of some kind: Revik had a blaze in the center of his chest, Zafett had points like a Siamese cat, and Litha had subtle stripes that ran the length of her back. This Teterayuh’s fur was unmarked, but also the most eye-catching. Her coloring split evenly down the middle, a pale smoky gray on one side and a purple a few shades deeper than Litha on the other. Even her eyes were different. A sunburst radiated from the center on the gray side, while the eye surrounded by violet fur was an even mustard yellow.
She, too, wore multiple weapons and crouched with an aura of watchful readiness.
The middle Teterayuh was between the other two in height, his fur medium length, orange with dark brown feet. It wasn’t the soft orangey blond of a Earth cat, but bright, saturated. The effect was cartoonish. He wasn’t cute or funny, though. The weight of his glare made me recoil as if he’d shoved me.
But none of them reached for a weapon—or bared their teeth—as they listened to Litha’s recounting of our meeting with focused intensity. Both Svixa and Zafett cut in occasionally, adding to the story. Revik nodded twice, but otherwise was an immovable, silent wall at Litha’s side.
At one point, all the newcomers started talking at once, swiping their hands over their heads as if swatting away cobwebs or bugs. The only word I understood was “vath”, but I had no idea why the sky would upset them so much.
Litha spoke quickly, and their postures relaxed by degrees. Orange Boy’s aggression lowered, but hostility radiated from him as he continued to run his eyes over us, upper lip trembling. Finally, the other two exchanged a long look, and the bi-colored woman nodded.
The fluffy tan Teterayuh transformed completely. Suddenly relaxed and cheerful, he swept Revik up in an embrace the big grumpy bastard returned with surprising affection.
Yin’s fingers trembled, and I let out a gusty sigh. Surely if they were going to kick us out there would be less hugging? At some point we’d all reached out, catching each other’s hands as we waited on the judgment of these new aliens. Now, relief rippled through us like rings on the water.
Litha and the other woman exchanged a more reserved but still friendly greeting, briefly touching foreheads. Orange Boy nodded to her but didn’t move any closer, his eyes staying warily on us.
Was he afraid of us? Really?! What did he think we were going to do, smack him on the nose with a newspaper? I fought the inappropriate urge to roll my eyes.
Zafett and the two men moved forward, also sharing greetings. Svixa’s dads murmured gratefully as they pressed foreheads with Revik and Litha. Svixa herself—effortlessly carried in one of her fathers’ arms—chattered expansively. From what I could gather, she felt Litha’s story was missing some dramatic flair.
Then everyone’s eyes turned to us.
I’d never felt tinier in my life than right then, sitting on my ass on the ground with eight giant aliens looming over me. It wasn’t a comfy feeling.
I stood, feeling the others rise as well. That was marginally better. I groped for something to say, but every Teterayuh word I’d learned flew out of my head in a single instant.
“Kezhai,” greeted Shane.
I echoed him along with the others, shooting him a thankful look out of the corner of my eye.
“Kezhai, tetezha’a,” said the fluffy, tan Teterayuh man. His tone was friendly, and his eyes sparkled.
The man was a walking, talking, golden retriever. One who could flip a switch and kill you, maybe, but still. I could feel my lips curving just from his presence.
“Relyat yulkal sy Svixa reshatal. Kurz sah ritsah.” He pressed his hand to his chest.
Thank you, something something, Svixa, something something. My name is Kurz.Okay, not doing too bad so far. I nodded.
“Kaloi edda ritset,” he continued, with a hand on the bicolored woman’s shoulder.