FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It took me many moments to reconfigure my sensors after Ra-mank's memories ended. My cameras focused, turning the red sky and blurry clouds into a red sun and bleak overcast. Humidity was in low double digits, still making it much higher than average. H'Roh was such a dry world. No vast oceans to pump water into the air, no rainforests to rapidly bring it back once it fell. It left the ground sparse, by Terran standards. My lander equipment was surrounded only by dirt, rocks, and tiny plants that stuck close to the ground.

Ra-mank looked like he was trying to mimic these plants. Low, curled loosely in a ball. With their face hidden, I couldn't make out all of the creature's facial heat pattern, but the part that I did see, I didn't recognize.

"Ra-mank?"

There wasn't a response. Hopefully the memory gadget didn't have any unintended side-effects.

"How are you feeling?" I tried again.

Ra-mank uncurled a little and breathed. Or more accurately, they groaned. I knew the sounds of physical pain from the battle. This didn't remind me of that.

I laid down beside Ra-mank. Even from the ground, I had never seen this H'Rah seem so small. I hesitantly touched Ra-mank's arm with the end of my paw. That got some attention.

"That metal paw of yours is cold," came the response, head still on the ground.

"Your whole body is."

Ra-mank groaned again, only sitting up slightly.

"What's wrong?" I questioned.

"You don't know?!"

"I told you I would try to help you. I still intend to."

"I was a fool to hope that would still be possible. Seeing that battle again... I cannot be forgiven for that." "No," I said, leaning in close to him. "Hope is never foolish. There is always a path forward."

Ra-mank was looking at my heat pattern, confused. I still had to work on upgrading that. "You remind me of Makur in [...]. So full of hope and [...] and ambition."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No. It's what he did with that hope."

"From what you showed me, it seems like he only wanted what was best for your tribe."

"Makur is a good talker, but very selfish. Manipulative."

"He may be. But I don't want to argue," I said, "I want to help."

"So you say. What would you have us do?" Ra-mank asked.

"I don't know yet. I need to do what I always do; I need to learn more."

"What do you need to know?"

"We can start with how I can make you stand up. What does your tribe do to make others feel better?"

"As in the [...]?" Ra-mank said, heat taking another new shape.

"What is that?"

"Oh! I will show you," the H'Rah said, finally standing.

"How?" I said. I wondered if Ra-mank intended to take me to his old tribe, or perhaps try to use the memory device again.

"There will be enough space here."

"For what?"

"[...]!" Ra-mank said again. "Stand opposite to me."

"Okay."

"Now crouch low in your front and bring your tail [...] up."

I did as asked.

"Then we move inwards slowly... Now stand tall! Rest on your tail."

Knowing how wimpy and short my own tail was compared to the H'Rah creatures, I didn't attempt to mirror Ra-mank in this strange ritual.

"I don't think I would be able to do that, Ra-mank."

"Your abilities don't matter for this. It's [...] courage."

"Why would this take courage?"

"Because it is performed with many others. Sometimes they will only watch."

"Why are they doing this to begin with?" I asked, this all becoming less clear every minute.

"Some story tellers say it was once to prepare for the Hunt, though now it is done to raise spirits at many other times. Now, come. Stand up."

I decided to entertain his tired soul a while longer. Standing up with all the grace of an actual dog, I was at least able to keep plenty of balance.

"Now we must [...]," Ra-mank said, showing me another body movement.

We moved again and again. Sometimes our paws or snouts would meet, and I would be forced into an awkward crouch for account for our size difference. Other times, Ra-mank would tell me to spin around, either on four legs or two. Robots had long since perfected the art of balance, but Ra-mank made me question that. Ra-mank's was impeccable.

There was a strange rhythm to it. It reminded me of the dynamics of their heat, pulsating, always changing. Ra-mank would inhale and exhale at the starts and ends of each set of movements, perhaps to keep himself focused, perhaps some other reason. And after a few minutes, the movements would repeat, bringing us back to where we were. By the third repetition, the H'Rah didn't speak at all, lost in the motions and breathing. The creature looked at peace again. Only after did Ra-mank stop.

Ra-mank had to take a few deeper breaths before speaking. "Wow! I had forgotten how much I missed that. You don't have the [...] that Rua had, but--." Ra-mank cut himself off.

"Who was Rua to you?"

"She was... we... we were [...]. For a time."

"Sorry, you were what?"

"Another word, another word... we cared for each other. Shared our homes. Slept in each other's warmth. [...]."

Mates. "Did you have to leave her when you were banished?"

"No, no, no. This was many, many days before then. Too long to remember. H'Rahs rarely mate for life. But we remained friends until that... until that day."

I gave the equivalent of a nod in my heat. After doing all that to try to liven this creature up, I wasn't about to ask more questions that might endanger that.

"So, what are we to do to learn more?" Ra-mank asked.

"Follow me."

"What?"

"We must go to your old tribe."

"What?!" Ra-mank said again.

"I need to know more than you could hope to tell me. This is the only way I can see of doing that."

"Do I need to explain why I shouldn't follow you there?"

"You worry too much. I will be prepared."

"How?"

"It will be easier to show you instead of tell."

"[...]," the H'Rah quipped, judging from the heat anyway. I started walking away from Ra-mank. I was glad to see that, uh, she followed...

"Are you female?" I asked.

"No. Wait, where did you get that idea?"

"Not much. H'Rahs seem to have larger males than females, but beside that you all seem very similar. And you seem to be smaller than average."

"I will try not to take that personally."

"Why wouldn't you? That was entirely personal."

Surprisingly, Ra-mank didn't seem peeved. He was more amused than anything.

"Are you?" he asked.

"Am I what?" I returned.

"Female? Male? Do those words [...]?"

"Gender is a strange concept, for me especially. Though I do call myself female."

"Why female? Can you have younglings?"

"No, but why call yourself anything? Are you happy? Sad? Angry? Sometimes they are useful and other times they aren't."

"And this one is useful?"

"Usually."

We walked in silence for a time before he spoke next. "You are a fascinating creature, Amber."

I didn't even think about it, but my heat somehow managed to indicate some level of embarrassment. I couldn't remember the last time I felt embarrassed. Of course, I'm kidding myself. It was 57 years ago when I accidentally called a Navajo speaker obese in her native tongue.

We journeyed past the forest I first found Ra-mank in, bringing me back to old information. Those days felt far away, even though I had spent so much longer in interstellar space than could compare to the time on this world. It was probably because I wasn't awake for most of my trip, but maybe it had to do with closeness. Closeness to living things, strange and beautiful at the same time. Closeness of a world of unending scientific discovery. And closeness to Ra-mank, who was giving a new perspective to almost everything. Still, I had doubts about how to proceed with Ra-mank.

Nothing was tying me to this creature. I knew much of my surroundings and those that occupied it. I knew their language well enough to communicate effectively. There was no logical reason for me to pursue reuniting Ra-mank to his tribe. It was more dangerous than anything. All there was was a promise to help.

But maybe that was enough. Ra-mank undoubtedly deserved a second chance.

"You agreed to tell me about your tribe," Ra-mank said, breaking my thoughts.

"So, I did," I agreed.

"So, will you?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Tell me more about these [...]. Why do they seek H'Roh out?" Ra-mank said, his excited legs almost cutting me off.

"I know many things, Ra-mank, but that isn't one of them."

"But what does their tribe hope to gain?"

I stopped. "It's complicated. They are not one tribe, but many. Some work together, but others do not. I can't hope to understand what they each hope to get from my life here."

He stopped too. "They did not tell you?"

"They only told me what they thought I needed to know. It was extremely frustrating--at times."

"Then what can you tell me?"

I looked at the sky. Stars were quickly hiding themselves in the red of the Lalande day. A few of the brighter ones remained.

"Do you see that star there?" I said, pointing.

"That one? Between the tall plants?" He pointed in turn.

I traced the line he made with one of his claws to the sky. He was about a dozen arcseconds too far to the right in the sky. I think Ra-mank was pointing at Fomalhaut, a star system 33 light years away with a few planets. One of which was the first exoplanet to be imaged by humans with visible light. Fascinating, but not the one I was currently interested in.

"No, just left of it." I held Ra-mank's fuzzy arm and moved it slightly. He didn't seem to mind. "That one."

"What of it?" he asked.

"That's the star I come from. A world not far from it, anyway."

"You showed me that story," Ra-mank recalled.

"Yes. It took me a very long time to get here, even going very fast."

"Do you miss it? The world you came from?"

"Huh. I haven't thought about that before. I suppose I do."

"Then our heats tell the same truth," he said.

"Hmm. Come, you know how close we are."

He didn't move. "We must be careful; the whole tribe is [...] with Makur's predators around. There may be some watching the hills."

Ra-mank's tribe built their homes on a shallow slope leading to the lake. Approaching from the top, I was hoping to get a good vantage point. "We will try not get close, then."

"This hill provides poor cover," he cautioned again.

"You still worry too much, Ra-mank. You'll be fine."

"I don't just worry for myself."

I started walking again. Ra-mank took his time before finally following me again. In only a few minutes, we crested the hill, and I visually located the settlement.

This was a long time coming. The Orbiter had gradually been giving me data on how Ra-mank's old tribe functioned. When H'Rahs left, when they usually returned from their Hunt, where they gathered and patrolled. Very useful information, but there was still so much I didn't know about their daily lives.

I looked down at Ra-mank. He was staring at the settlement. His face was a torment of heat and almost unreadable. Anger, grief, maybe, but another pattern briefly matched: the one he used when he spoke of Rua.

"I can only hope you know what you are doing," he said.

"I'm sorry to disappoint," I admitted, half joking.

"You rarely do."

"Oh. You're too kind." A pleasant emotion crept onto my circuits and into my heat. Didn't know what to call that one.

Soon, I found a flat portion of ground to station ourselves. Before we left, I had attached an extra set of lenses to my forward eyes, letting me see more clearly from far away. It was currently "welded" to my face with the metal nanoparticles, but I gave them instructions to form a latched structure instead, which I then detached.

"How did you do that?" Ra-mank asked, watching me.

"I could hardly explain. Just look."

I held the construction up in my paw. The H'Rah stood to match its height, viewing it from multiple angles. Only then did he take it.

"Look through the wider end with the narrow end pointed at your settlement."

He fumbled around with it in his paws for a second or two before orienting it correctly."

"I see the color of the ground. Is there a point to this?"

"Hold it closer," I instructed.

"I don't..." he started, only to change tune immediately. "How is this possible?"

"It makes the far away appear close."

"Well I know I am not a few paces from my tribe, but I don't understand how this works."

I didn't have a few hours to explain how concave and convex lenses can be used at specific distances to provide a specific level of magnification, or how it was tuned automatically, but at least he was not still asking how centuries of R&D in nanotech led to my ability to create its metal frame. Maybe this was possible.

"Light is made of many, many small pieces. You see things because light is there to hit and bounce off some things and hit your eye instead. Using this device, the light is being spread out, making you see less, but also making what you do see look bigger."

"...Maybe I will ask in a different way later," he said.

"Sorry."

"Don't be."

Ra-mank returned my scope, which I seamlessly melded to my face again. We spent a while watching the tribe moving around the settlement, trying to glean something useful besides their unique architectural style.

Ra-mank broke the silence. "Do you really think they would accept me again?"

"Based on your tribe's own reaction, something exceptional would have to happen. I don't think an apology would be enough."

"Believe me, I tried that. Eventually, Makur sent some predators with a message."

"What was the message?" I asked.

"A [...]. Remove Ra-mank or face a true war. I doubt Makur, for all his arrogance, would have risked it. But few were willing to defend me, even against such an empty threat."

"So, there were some who defended you?"

"Only a few. Rua was the most outspoken. She tried to convince them it was an accident, which is only half correct." Ra-mank looked to the side to hide his heat. "So many regrets."

Down the hill, there was movement just outside of the settlement wall. This wall wasn't solid, like brick and mortar, but tall and cluttered, made of a range of oddly shaped materials, mostly large bones and trees. If it were on Earth, it would be categorically evil, but here I would just call it resourceful.

The movement appeared to be a single H'Rah hugging the perimeter as they walked. They were looking outwards, towards our direction.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"How would I know? I can only just see them. You're the one with the," he paused in thought, "the, light-spreader!" "It probably doesn't matter. It's time to leave; I got what I came for."

"Probably doesn't?" Ra-mank quoted. "And does that mean you have a plan?"

"Probably," I mused, "Let's go, I'll explain on the way back to my lander."

I gave the possible patroller outside the settlement one more glance before climbing over the hill, finally out of sight.