The Cold Wind (Ch 35 - 39)
#5 of The Cold Wind 1
Chapter Thirty-Five
During the following days, at his lover's request, Hunts-In-Grass attempted every method he could think of to try and locate the human. Although Dark-Mist professed ignorance about the human's location he wasn't fooled even for a moment. She knew exactly where he was, but she refused to divulge the information and remained steadfast in her denials of any knowledge. This was troubling, because she had been approached by Two-Talon to officiate over the bonding ceremony and was well aware of the importance of the human to them both. She had been deeply honored by the request, issues of the human aside, not often having the opportunity to take charge of pleasant duties since news of their discovery by the Original Home forces had been made public. As the day of the ceremony rapidly approached Two-Talon took some time off with his bond-mate-to-be to discuss some of the details. "So, how do bonding ceremonies work here, hrrr? There is little useful information in the databank regarding the format of the ceremony itself." "They are less formal by design than what you are probably familiar with from Original Home and the other Core-World colonies. However, they are still an important component of our society and culture. There is a defense force tradition that all warriors who are not on active duty are required to attend the ceremony. So there will be a considerable number attending." "What prompted that particular tradition, hrrr?" Hunts-In-Grass blinked, attempting to remember back to some of the cultural lessons that he hadn't paid much attention to when he was a spawnling. "I vaguely seem to recall it having something to do with remembering the reason for our exodus to New Home. To ensure that everyone knows the reason why they should be willing to lay down their lives to protect our existence, here. There are several Elders of my clan that will be attending also. I trust this will not cause you any undue distress, hrrr?" "Correct, I would be honored to be introduced to your Elders. It is unfortunate that my own clan will be unable to attend. I believe some of them would very much approve of what I have accomplished. However, that is not to be. Although I very much desire that we locate Tainui. He is the closest I have to clan I have remaining to me," Two-Talon sighed, downcast. "I understand. I have expended considerable effort in attempting to locate him, however I have met with little success. Our pack-leader is withholding information and has refused to be co-operative." "Unfortunate and I am uncertain of her motives for doing so. However, life continues. It will be our day and I am eager for the experience, my lover," he smiled and clasped hands with Hunts-In-Grass before he departed to attend to his medical duties in the city.
* * *
The day of the ceremony dawned crisp and clear, a chilly wind blowing down from the large mountain range that dominated the horizon in the West. Hunts-In-Grass was fussing with his formal skinsuit nervously while they waited for their honor-guard escort to arrive. Two-Talon studied him with a critical eye before breaking out in a large crocodilian smile. "Relax! Your appearance is without fault. I am the one that should be nervous. After all it was you who requested this of me remember, hrrr?" Hunts-In-Grass leered at the medic. "you also look attractive, lover. That skinsuit color is very appropriate and flatters you. Although I believe you are more attractive without clothing..." he was actually very tempted to rip their clothes off and take the burly medic then and there, but he figured Dark-Mist's wrath at learning the cause of the delay would be too frightening to contemplate. When the medics in town discovered that Two-Talon was being bonded they banded together and, as their gift to him, acquired a new skinsuit for him to wear for the ceremony. Different from the typical pale-blue color of a normal medical skinsuit, this one was a deep Cobalt-blue that contrasted nicely against his light-gray scales. They had also forced him to do something about the broken stump of his horn, grinding down the jagged remains until it was little more than a smooth lump of bone. "When you are both prepared," a deep, gravely sounding voice made them both jump and turn to face the open doorway. "We shall be your escorts today. By the Revered Ancestor's graces, what a pretty pair you two make, hrrr!" Thunder huffed with amusement at their reaction, her mouth split in a wide, toothy grin. This was the first time that either of them had heard her speak and her deep, bass rumble was quite incongruous originating from the slightly diminutive Vanguard female. Lightning was also huffing with laughter in the corridor behind her. He was forever amused when he saw the reaction others had when his bond-mate spoke to them for the first time. When they departed from the barracks and lumbered toward a hangar that had been cleared out for the ceremony, Thunder led the way with Lightning falling into step behind them, their assault-rifles polished and gleaming redly in the sunlight. Once they reached the hangar, Lightning and Thunder split off and took up stations on each side of the entrance, tilting their heads back and exposing their throats as a sign of respect while Two-Talon and Hunts-In-Grass passed them. It was quite packed inside the cavernous space, mostly by other warriors and a few scattered engineers and medics. Although they both observed a scattering of civilian Vanguard, scattered throughout the crowd as well. Two-Talon's medic friends from the city were all there and Hunts-In-Grass spotted a couple of his clan elders standing near the front of the hall, talking informally with the pack-leader. "Shall we do this then, hrrr?" Two-Talon rumbled uncertainly, attempting to quash the trembling in his voice and indicated for his lover to lead the way. Dark-Mist acknowledged them solemnly when they nervously approached and took their places in front of her. Hunts-In-Grass' clan Elders stepped aside to make room and a hush fell on the assembled Vanguard. "In these otherwise dark times, it fills me with great hope to officiate over the bonding of two loving souls. It is a beautiful event and an event to be honored and respected by us all. Who here communicates as the voice for the Brittlerock Clan?" Hunts-In-Grass' Elders stepped forward and tipped their heads back, exposing their necks to the pack-leader. "We do." "Please identify yourselves." "We are Stalker and Quick-Step of the Brittlerock clan and we communicate with one voice," the Elders spoke together slowly, but with obvious pride. She snapped her jaw firmly shut in formal acknowledgement. "And you vouch for this member of your clan and approve of this bonding?" "We affirm and approve." All four of his eyes glistened with emotion when Hunts-In-Grass swung his head around toward his lover and gave him an encouraging nod. "Hunts-In-Grass, young warrior of the Brittlerock Clan. Your Elders have spoken affirmatively for you." Dark-Mist raised both of the arms on the left side of her body and turned slightly toward Two-Talon who was standing to her right. "Who here communicates as the voice for the Silentforest Clan?" Alarmed, Two-Talon's hearts fell and closed his eyes in overwhelming shame and horror. 'Why is Dark-Mist doing this to me?!' he wondered, desperately wishing that the ground would suddenly open up and send him spiraling into the abyss. He had specifically asked her to skip over this component of the ceremony for him, as she knew damned well he had no family to speak for him at the ceremony.. "I do," a breathless and strangely accented voice called out from the back of the hall. Two-Talon and Hunts-In-Grass both whirled around in surprise. Tainui stood by the entrance to the hangar, dressed in a specially adapted version of an engineer's skinsuit with a large back-pack lying on the ground beside him. He had not only answered the request, but he had also spoken in the native Vanguard tongue which was almost as much of a shock. There was a rising murmur from the crowd who also appeared both as surprised and shocked by this unusual and unconventional new development. Both Vanguard reluctantly turned around when Dark-Mist continued the traditional litany, her solemn features breaking into a conspiratorial smile as she did so. "Please identify yourself." "I am Tainui Rauwhero of the Ngati Tuwharetoa tribe and I communicate with one voice." "And you vouch for this member of your clan and approve of this bonding?" "Hell yeah! Uh, I mean, I affirm and approve." He couldn't help but smile proudly as he stood there, pointedly ignoring the stunned looks from the surrounding Vanguard. "Two-Talon, young medic of the Silentforest Clan. Your...representative has spoken affirmatively for you." Dark-Mist raised both of the arms on the right side of her body so that all four of her arms were now raised and stepped toward them both. Grasping their skinsuits she ripped them off in one fluid movement and threw the shredded remains aside, leaving them both standing there naked. She indicated for them to stand face to face before she continued. "You both stand exposed and true before each other, to your clans and to your friends. Hunts-In-Grass, warrior of the Brittlerock Clan. Place your mark on your bond-mate." As instructed, he reached out and laid one of his forward hands on his lover's chest, talons extended. With careful deliberation, he dragged the talons diagonally down Two-Talon's chest and across his stomach, leaving three bleeding trails across his scales. "My life is yours, my soul bare..." Two-Talon rumbled the sacred words proudly with only a slight tremor in his voice. "Two-Talon, medic of the Silentforest Clan. Place your mark on your bond-mate," Dark-Mist instructed. Still somewhat stunned at the abrupt turn of events, Two-Talon carefully cut two parallel lines diagonally down Hunts-In-Grass's chest using the specialized talons on one of his forward hands. The deep wounds bled sluggishly, leaving dark trails dripping down the young warriors chest and stomach.
"My life is yours, my soul bare..." the warrior responded with dark tears brimming in his eyes.
"The cuts will heal swiftly however the scars you will carry for life. These signify the bond you both share until you pass from this existence. May this bond-pairing bring you both much strength and love in the days to come and for the rest of your lives." She snapped her jaw gently, her own eyes brimming with blood tears. "It has been my honor to bear witness to this event. Go with the Revered Ancestor's blessings, young Vanguard bond-mates!" With that, Dark-Mist stepped back. The ceremony was officially over. The assembled Vanguard and one human roared with approval when the two newly bonded Vanguard embraced tightly, the blood flowing freely and mingling between the press of their bodies.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Once back in their quarters, Two-Talon grabbed a startled Tainui and held him tightly, cocooning him with his four, well-muscled arms. "You! Hrrr, this one is having difficulty in expressing his enjoyment at having you return." He didn't even feel the human struggle ineffectually as he was almost suffocated by the medic's enthusiastic embrace. "You did this one great honor, speaking for him during the ceremony." Finally managing to escape his temporary scaly prison, Tainui absently wiped off some of the black Vanguard blood now smeared across his forehead and crouched down, rooting through the back-pack he'd brought with him. Grunting with satisfaction, he pulled out a couple of plastic-wrapped garments and proudly handed one to each of them. He watched the medic as he unwrapped the modified skinsuit and held it up in front of him, examining it closely. Two-Talon sniffed at it curiously then gave a Vanguard equivalent of a shrug and slipped into it and smoothed out some of the wrinkles, wincing slightly as it pressed against the cuts on his chest. "Well, you've been the only family I've had for a while, so thought I'd make it official, y'know? I'm just glad you're not still angry with me. That could've made things a bit awkward at the wedding I reckon," he chuckled. "Ack! You're going to have to use your translator disk thingies again, this bloody thing hurts," Tainui fiddled with the thick metallic collar around his neck until it hinged open with a small electronic tone. "Ahhhhhh... much better," he sighed pulling it off and studying it with a grimace.. Two-Talon lowered himself onto the sleep-webbing next to his bond-mate who had already slipped on his new skinsuit. Instead of the dull blue coloring like the one he had been given, the new one was a dark silvery color and appeared to be made of thousands of tiny rings. He leaned in closer to the warrior's chest for a closer look, poking at it tentatively with one of his talons, much to Hunts-In-Grass' annoyance, snapping at him gently. "This one is unfamiliar with the material. What is it, hrrr?" "Actually, they're both made of the same stuff. Some sort of new polymer. I just thought it'd be cool to make one that looked like fine chain-mail armor for my favorite warrior." Tainui giggled and sat down on the sleep webbing beside the two Vanguard. "Heh, would ya just listen to me! Didn't think that a few weeks back I'd be tossing off terms like polymer and shit in casual conversation." "What function does it have, hrrr?" the warrior swung his head around and gazed at him curiously, quickly leaning over and licking the remaining blood from his forehead. "Eeeew! Quit with the nasty space-lizard slobber, bro!" he laughed, wiping the trail of saliva from his head. "Anyhoo, it's a type of body-armor. During my training I saw the stuff they expect you guys to wear when fighting. Geeze, you're a boring bloody bunch of lizards, you know that? Thought there had to be something better." He shrugged. "I have no idea how the 'science' behind it works," he said, putting air-quotes around the word, "but it should protect against bullets and frickin' laser beams, or whatever you lizards shoot each other with. Body armor is a bit better than this stuff, but that shit is heavy and not as flexible." Snapping his jaw shut softly, Two-Talon reached out and laid a hand on Tainui's shoulder. "This one has to enquire; why are you giving us these protective skinsuits, hrrr?" Tainui's smile faded and he stared at the two Vanguard with a troubled expression on his face, reluctant to share the real reason. Mistaking his reaction Hunts-In-Grass hurried to add to his bond-mate's question. "Hrrr, please - we are not ungrateful for your gifts. Instead, we are curious about your motivations in providing us with body armor." He tried to make a little light of the situation. "Hrrr, is there something you are not communicating to us, someone wanting us terminated?" he huffed with forced laughter. "Nah, nothing like that, bro. The stuff isn't easy to make and we're not gonna be able to provide them to everyone. We don't have enough time or raw material, apparently. But I do what I can to protect my new family," he simply said. "Hrrr, then we shall wear them with honor, little-one," Two-Talon rumbled gently, laying back and resting his head on Hunts-In-Grass' shoulder, carefully avoiding the cuts on the warrior's chest. "So, communicate to this one the events since you left us." Leaning against the wall Tainui closed his eyes and sighed. "Hmm, where to start. Well, that Dark-Mist chick seemed pretty convinced that with my 'violent and unstable alien brain' I'd make a good engineer would you believe? So the crafty old cow sent me back to school in some city called Whiterock." He shook his head and shrugged. "Kinda ironic, really. I dropped out of school when I was still quite young and here I am going back to school now that I am older. Whatever. So I learned me some Vanguard shit using computers that teach straight into your brain." He stopped and sniffed at a scent he'd caught floating through the air. "Mmm, something smells good. I'm starved! Don't you guys feed wedding guests around here?" Two-Talon stood and gave Hunts-In-Grass a hand out of the sleep-webbing. "Apologies. We will accompany you to the mess." As they made their way down the corridor Two-Talon swung his head around and regarded him curiously. "You are capable of metabolizing Vanguard food without harm, hrrr?" "Yeah. Most of it, anyway. Just gotta remember to take some special pills later on. Vitamins and stuff I think," he said, shrugging. "Anyway, the food I brought with me ran out weeks ago, bro!" The mess hall was still mostly full when they arrived and there weren't many spaces at the tables scattered around the place. They were still hunting for somewhere to eat, when someone goosed Two-Talon from behind, making him yelp with shock. "Greetings, handsome," came a deep, gravely voice from behind him. Thunder was standing there with a tray full of food and a smirk on her face. "Why not accompany us?" she rumbled, indicating a spot at a far table where Lightning was tucking into a large tray of food. "Aww, man! Not fucking Rank stew again," Tainui whined as he regarded the pile of uninspiring brown sludge on the tray in front of him. "I swear I'd murder my own Grandmother for a salad right about now. This stuff smells okay, but tastes like ass. Where's the wedding cake, anyway?" Lightning paused briefly in between shoveling handfuls of the stuff into his mouth to cast a glare at the mess servery window. "Eventually someone will terminate the cook. There will be large celebrations that day. He would probably taste better than this swill." "Heh, maybe I should try cooking something up for us? Couldn't possibly be any worse than this," Tainui frowned at the horrified looks on the faces of the Vanguard around him and sulked. "Goddamn it, that's not fair! You guys have never even tried my cooking. I can barbecue like a motherfucker!" After the meal Lightning and Thunder accompanied them back to their quarters. Before they departed, Lightning handed Two-Talon a small box. "What is this, hrrr?" "This is a gift for you and your new bond-mate. The human communicates to this one it is traditional to give gift to newly bonded." With that he snapped his jaw shut and departed with Thunder's tail wrapped affectionately around his waist. "Oooh, what'd they give you?" Tainui craned his head to see what was in the box as Two-Talon tentatively opened it with Hunts-In-Grass also looking on curiously. Two-Talon removed two identical, metallic rings inscribed with intricate patterns and ancient Vanguard glyphs. The Platinum/Iridium alloy shimmered in the light when he held them out for the others to look at. They were quite wide with a larger diameter than would fit around their fingers. He handed one to Hunts-In-Grass and studied the other closely himself. "Hey those are really cool, but they're a bit big for your fingers, aren't they?" Tainui cocked a curious eyebrow while he watched the two Vanguard study the rings. "Ancestors blessings, these beautiful rings are not intended on being worn on our fingers." Hunts-In-Grass tilted his head down and let Two-Talon slide one of the rings down his left horn until it settled near the bottom where he pushed it hard so it wouldn't come loose. He did the same for Two-Talon, on the medic's one remaining horn. "Nice space-lizard bling," Tainui giggled, admiring the shimmering metal. "Hang on, I wanna get a photo of you two together wearing those. I'll just grab my camera," he muttered, rooting around in his backpack and pulling out a battered but still serviceable digicam. "Now, smile for the camera... Smile, not grimace... Bugger, forget smiling, that just makes you look pissed off." Two-Talon ignored the chattering human and stared at Hunts-In-Grass who returned his gaze with equal intensity. He leaned forward and brought his head close to that of the young warrior's, not breaking eye-contact. "Bond-mate," he whispered. "Bond-mate," Hunts-In-Grass whispered back, closing his eyes. "Bro, freakin' perfect!" Tainui yelled, taking the shot quickly. The flash momentarily blinded the two Vanguard who turned and hissed softly at him. "Whoops, sorry guys. I'm gonna get this printed out. It's a great pic. Back in a few minutes." Turning back to each other the two Vanguard carefully stripped off their new skinsuits and lay down on the sleep-webbing together. Tainui blushed and grinned as he departed from the room leaving the two love-birds to sexually violate each other or whatever it was that newly married Vanguard did on their wedding day. He jogged over to one of the hangar bays where the on-duty engineers were working. Spotting a familiar looking form he trotted over to the side of a scout ship where the engineer was leaning inside an exposed access panel. He tapped the engineer's shoulder and swiftly stepped back when the young Vanguard jumped in surprise, smacking his head against the top of the panel and roaring out a string of loud Vanguard expletives. "Oh, shit! Mate, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" Attacks-First straightened up and rubbed the tender spot on his head while glaring at Tainui for a few moments. Sighing, he snapped his jaw shut and lowered the bulky diagnostic datapad he was holding onto a trolley full of tools standing next to the small vessel. "Do not surprise this one in that manner again, please. However, this one is pleased you are here. You had a pleasant experience at the bonding ceremony, hrrr?" Tainui grinned enthusiastically at him. "It was very cool. I've never been to a wedding before, let alone an alien wedding. Heh, I really was the best man. Um, make that the only man? Anyway, a bit disturbing with all that cutting and blood. But I guess you guys have your own traditions and stuff, right? Hey, do you think you could help me for a sec? I want to get a picture from my camera printed out," he pulled the memory card from the camera and handed it to the engineer. "Very well. That should not prove too difficult. This one requires his datapad. Please obtain it from the workbench over there," Attacks-First indicated a datapad on a bench a few metres away with his tail while he examined the memory card. While Tainui walked over to get it he watched the oblivious alien with confused emotions. It was back in Whiterock City where he had been training with one of the largest engineering clans that he had observed the small alien for the first time. He was near the end of the training program and had begun to wonder what he was going to do with himself when one of the senior clan engineers had approached him and enquired if he would be interested to assist in tutoring the strange new arrival. He'd reluctantly agreed and gone to greet the alien that he learned was called a human, native to a star system a considerable distance from New Home. How it had arrived on New Home and what it's role here was hadn't been explained to him. The only thing that had been explained was that the pack-leader in charge of the defense forces had great hopes that this alien would prove to be a very useful asset in the lead up to the impending invasion. Over the following several weeks he became acquainted with Tainui quite well. The two of them spent a lot of time together, both in and out of the various training sessions. Attacks-First didn't get on very well with the other trainees. He was a few years older than most of them and had trouble relating to them on any meaningful level. For their part, they distrusted him and there were several who were openly jealous of his seemingly innate ability to understand and work with even the most complicated and obscure electronics. The only one who ever showed any interest in, or kindness toward him was the strange little alien. During this time he became familiar with many of the diminutive alien's moods and expressions. He even adapted one of the electronic teaching units so that it would work with his unusual alien physiology. Once he'd picked up the basics of Vanguard technology and developed a better understanding of basic universal concepts, the human began to develop all sorts of strange and interesting ideas. Primitive and alien concepts that would never have occurred to any Vanguard. Attacks-First finally started to understand the potential the defense force leader had observed in the alien. It was about this time that he had begun to develop strange feelings when he was around him. Tainui had eventually related to him the story of how he came to be on New Home and Attacks-First had been stunned to realize that, while he was saddened by the human's loss of his bond-mate, he also felt a small but noticeable amount of attraction. Disturbed and shaken by these feelings he had tried to distance himself emotionally from the alien. Tainui noticed the change in his demeanor and had commented on it several times, but he refused to talk about it and eventually the human stopped asking. What made it even more difficult for him to cope was that Tainui still made a dedicated effort to be friendly and continued to spend a lot of time around him, despite his repeated attempts to dissuade him. When Tainui had transferred back to the main defense force base to be closer to his medic and warrior friends, Attacks-First impulsively (and a little desperately, if he was being honest with himself) applied for a position on the base also, much to Tainui's happiness. Although he had said that he wouldn't attend the bonding ceremony he had waited until the human had gone before he followed. Attacks-First had watched him from the anonymity of the crowd and discovered the whole experience to be a bitter-sweet one; Tainui had been happier than Attacks-First had ever seen him before and he was annoyed with himself when he felt an irrational stab of jealousy. Afterward, he'd slipped back to the hangars unnoticed and taken out his frustrations on some damaged flight electronics while attempting to avoid the conclusions he had reached about his feelings. "... I said, here's the datapad you wanted. Wakey, wakey, dude!" "Hrrr? Indeed," he started, guiltily. "This one was contemplating the methods he would be required to utilize. It will require a translation algorithm. However, that should not be difficult. Leave the storage device with this one. He will have it completed by the morning for you." "Sweet, thanks bro! Hey can I sleep with you tonight? I think Mr. & Mr. Lizard will want some alone time if ya know what I mean," Tainui wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Attacks-First blinked and wondered if the translation disk had said what he thought it did. Hope fought a losing battle against logic; 'sleep' did not mean what his libido thought it meant. The human used many strange and colloquial expressions that translated without problem, but it appeared that the meaning of them was sometimes lost in the translation... Tainui, mistaking the hesitation shrugged at him and slapped him on the shoulder. "You've already got a room-mate? No worries, mate. I'll hit up that Dark-Mist chick and see if she can find me another bachelor pad then." "No! Hrrr, no, that is incorrect," he rumbled a little too quickly for his own liking. Furious with himself for his weakness, he fought to keep the tremor from his voice. Thank the Ancestors the human appeared not to notice! "This one has no other to share his room with. You would be most welcome to share his room. However this one has much work and will return at a late hour. He will attempt to avoid disturbing you when he arrives back." "Chur, bro! I'll go grab my shit and move it over there before the two soppy love-lizards get it all sticky." Tainui waved at him and left the hanger, leaving Attacks-First holding his datapad in one hand, the human's memory card in another and wondering what in the name of the Revered Ancestors he had let himself in for.
* * *
Several hours later when he lumbered back to his quarters, Attacks-First hoped that the human had fallen asleep already. Unfortunately, this was not to be the case as he discovered when he entered the room. "Oh, hey," Tainui yawned and smiled at him from the floor when Attacks-First delicately stepped over him to get to the sleep-webbing. "You should stop working so late. I don't think your boss chick pays overtime." "It causes no problems for this one to work late. There is a considerable amount of work to be completed anyway. This one apologizes if he woke you," he rumbled quietly while shedding his skinsuit and lowering himself onto the sleep-webbing, killing the lights as he did so. "Nah, it's okay. I was already awake. Was waiting for you to turn up, actually." Raising his head slightly and feeling a sinking feeling in his gut, Attacks-First stared down at the human in the darkness. "For what reason, hrrr?" "I'm worried about you is the reason. Look, bro, is everything alright? You seem... I dunno, angry, depressed, withdrawn. Something. You've been all emo on me for weeks and it seems to be getting worse, not better." "Hrrr, incorrect. This one is in an adequate state of mind and merely tired," he grunted softly, eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling. He wished the human would just 'drop the subject', a perfect little phrase he'd learned from him. He heard the human moving around and then felt the sleep-webbing sag a little as the human sat beside him. Turning his head he stared at Tainui while full of unease, unsure just how well the human could observe him in the dark. "You're not a very convincing liar, mate. You've been miserable for a while now. You can trust me. What's wrong?" Attacks-First rumbled out a long sigh and stared at him. Thankfully Tainui appeared to be having difficulty observing him properly in the darkness and wouldn't recognize the desperate longing written so clearly on his face. "Have you ever had an emotional longing for another, hrrr? Another who you realize would be impossible call your own. Another who would never return your desires." "Ah, you've got a crush on girl. Or boy trouble, maybe? Hard to tell with you space-lizards sometimes, was beginning to wonder there for a while if there was such a thing as a straight Vanguard," he stifled a laugh. "Sorry mate. Yeah, I know what you mean. You either gotta confront this person and find out for sure or you move on. You cant dwell on it or it just eats you up inside." "This is...complicated." Tainui reached out, located one of the his arms in the darkness and gave it a squeeze. "Yeah man, I hear ya. Matters of the heart are never easy. Tell ya what, why don't you tell me who it is and I'll do some asking around. Scope 'em out for you and see if they might be interested." The soft touch of the human's hand against his scales sent Attacks-First's hearts racing and it took all of his self-control not to grab him and... "That is unnecessary, hrrr. Thank you. However, this one should reach a conclusion by himself." "Well, okay," Tainui said, doubtfully. "If you're sure. Just know that I'm here for you if you need me alright?" He released the engineer's arm and stood to return to his spot on the floor when Attacks-First stopped him, speaking hesitantly. "You are not required to sleep on the floor. There is adequate room here... With this one." Attacks-First blinked in the darkness and held his breath while he waited with trepidation for the human's answer. Each time the human touched him it made him quake and he cursed himself for letting the alien affect him in such an emotional way. The self-loathing he felt was still not enough to completely dampen his hope, however... "Uh, are you sure? I think I snore. Don't wanna keep you up all night." "This one is very certain." "Oh, go on then, since you're offering!" Tainui eagerly clambered onto the sleep-webbing next to him and settled down after a bit of wriggling to get himself comfortable, grateful to the seemingly kind young engineer. "Thanks, bro. The floor isn't the greatest thing to sleep on." "You are welcome. Tainui, hrrr?" "Mmm?" "Thank you for being a friend to this one, hrrrrrrrr..." "No worries, bro. G'night." Attacks-First lay there in the dark, listening to him breathe and smelling the alien's unique but not unpleasant scent so close to him. After a few minutes the breathing got slower, deeper and a bit louder; Tainui was finally asleep. Although he wanted to stay awake all night and revel in being so close to the object of his affection, it had been a long day. He was slowly nodding off himself when the human snuffled, his breathing hitched slightly and he moved around in his sleep, spooning up against him before his breathing returned to normal. The human's body was warm and soft against his chest and stomach. Being careful not to wake him, Attacks-First gently draped his right arms over the sleeping human and gently, protectively pulled him closer. Smiling to himself in the darkness, the young engineer drifted off to sleep, content for the first time in his recent memory.
* * *
The bright pink morning light of the New Home sun angled through the window and across Attacks-First's face. Instinctively blinking open only his rear eyes, he was momentarily confused in finding his muzzle nestled against the back of the human's head and arms still wrapped around him... Snapping open all four of his eyes he was now completely, utterly awake and he immediately panicked; what if Tainui woke up and discovered them together like this? He was about to gently disentangle himself, hoping that the human wouldn't wake up when Tainui yawned loudly and stretched, twisting around to look straight at the wide-eyed Vanguard with a sleepy smile on his face. "Mornin', sleepy head. Sorry if my snoring kept you awake, bro. I'll have a talk to the boss-chick today about some new quarters of my own," he croaked though a dry throat. Crawling across the sleep-webbing and staggering to his feet, Tainui stood and looked around. The ruddy sunlight was highlighting his impressive (for a human) muscles as they bunched and moved around under his brown skin when he stretched. Attacks-First watched, mesmerized, while the naked human moved about, reaching down to grab his skinsuit from the floor where he'd abandoned it the night before. He swiftly tucked his knees up against his chest to conceal the head of his member as it began to emerge from its pouch, stifling a moan and hating himself for not being able to take his lustful eyes off the human. Taking a tentative sniff of the material, Tainui wrinkled his nose and looked back at the engineer over his shoulder. "Sorry bro, should've grabbed a bath before hitting the sack last night. I smell like a dead rank-beast." He slipped into the cleaning-pool in the corner of the room, dragging his skinsuit with him and proceeded to clean himself and the material as best he could in the warm water. "Hey, remind me to invent a washing machine sometime," he laughed while the engineer stared at him, nonplussed and besotted in equal measure.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
"Okay, the way I see it is we aren't gonna win this thing using our muscles," Tainui stated as he looked around the briefing room at the assembled warriors, engineers and other experts. He felt horribly intimidated but so far none of them had leaped on top of him and eaten his face. Yet. "You've said as much yourselves. Your ships are crappy antiques that were only able to take out those attackers due to a mixture of luck and that the attackers were also pretty fucked up, themselves. Right?" Dark-Mist stood back from the rest slightly, watching the human talk and the reaction of the others in the room to what he said with an enigmatic smile on her face. Several of the other engineers and warriors had already taken their turn speaking, laying out a few new ideas and strategies. Most of which centered around getting as many new attack-capable ships up and running as possible before the Original Home attackers returned in force. Construction of several large space-docks was nearing completion and there were now a growing number of ground-side production facilities operational as well. Production of the smaller fast-attack frigates and launch platforms was quite advanced, but the production of the larger and more powerful battleships was painfully slow going. They'd progressed considerably in the few months since Hunts-In-Grass, Two-Talon and Tainui had arrived, but there was not a single Vanguard assembled in the room that knew it would be enough. "You lizards gotta lose that whole honorable battle ideal thing that you've got going on! You're not bloody Klingons, for god's sake, so don't look at me like that! The bad guys are coming here to kick the shit out of you and your precious way of life." The blank stares Tainui was getting told him he was failing to reach them and he changed tack. "You're familiar with the concept of kicking someone in the bollocks, right? I know you lizards have balls even if they are hidden on the inside somewhere. Good. Anyway, that's what you've gotta do to those fuckers." Several of the gathered Vanguard grumbled and hissed at him, mostly the warriors. Dark-Mist frowned at them and indicated for Tainui to continue. He brought up some schematics on one of the large viewscreens. "Firstly, there is a lot of crap being created from refining the asteroids used for constructing the space-docks. I think this stuff could be useful. With help from a friend," Tainui smiled and winked at Attacks-First who stood nearby watching the meeting nervously, "I think I've figured out a trick for you to use. Those shields on your ships are good at stopping big explosions and fast moving bits of junk in space. But if you make the explosion big enough, or the bit of junk heavy enough, it'll slice like a hot knife through butter, yeah?" One of the senior warriors confirmed this with a curt snap of the jaw without taking his eyes off the impudent little alien doing all the talking. "Hrrr, two problems, human. Firstly, our enemy will prevent us getting close enough to deploy weaponry with sufficient yield. Secondly, objects of sufficient mass are easily detected, avoided, or destroyed at a distance," he rumbled smugly, his opinion of the human obvious to everyone in the room, including the human. Pointing to the schematics, Tainui smirked at the assembled Vanguard. "This dumb ol' human did a bit of reading. These singularity generators you use on your ships for power and gravity could easily be modified into gravity bombs. Bombs big enough to fuck up even the biggest spaceship they can throw at you. Coat 'em with all that rocky garbage from the refining process to disguise them and then leave them scattered out where the attackers are likely to run into them." The room erupted into an uproar, the warriors and even a few of the engineers spitting and hissing at Tainui or each other as they argued. "The power requirements for such a device would show up on their sensors from several million kilometers away," an engineer glared at the small alien from across the room. One of the senior engineers separated from the rest of the group and stood in front of the view-screen studying the schematics thoughtfully. He motioned for Attacks-First to join him and they had a brief discussion, pointing at various sections of the diagram. The engineer turned to Dark-Mist with a cautiously optimistic smile and snapped his jaws shut at her. "Alright, settle down!" Not receiving any response, Dark-Mist sighed and drew one of her weapons, firing it into the ceiling. Shattered ceiling tiles rained down over the now quiet Vanguard. "That is enough! The human is correct. We will quickly lose against our adversary if we are not able to outsmart them." She nodded at the senior engineer standing by the viewscreen to continue. Cautiously, "Hrrr, this may indeed hold some promise. Leave the modified generators in an ultra low-power standby state until activated by heavily shielded sensors. This might prevent early detection if our enemy regards them as little more than naturally occurring interplanetary debris and does not scan them closely." He tapped at a point on the schematic which expanded showing some complicated looking calculations. "Once activated by the sensors we program in a deliberate overload. The gravitic shear and energy output from the singularity collapse would cause significant damage." The other engineers brought up the schematic on their datapads and broke up into groups to discuss the idea, joined by a few of the warriors. Dark-Mist quietly thanked the engineer and turned to Tainui giving him a toothy smile and snapped her jaw quietly. "Hrrr, do you have additional ideas in your bag of dirty tricks?" "Not that I understood half of what the old wrinkly old-timer said, but yeah. I gotta say though, that you guys really need to start thinking outside of the box a little, y'know? Half the ideas are just crazy shit I'm pulling out of my ass." He shrugged and indicated the huddled groups of engineers and warriors. "I can smell the burning brain cells from here. You space-lizards have all this high-tech stuff, but so do the ones who are attacking you." The pack-leader acknowledged the observation gracefully. "Indeed, human. However, I seem to recall that humans are guilty of much the same hubris." Tainui laughed and nodded. "I'd probably be horribly offended if I had any idea of what that word actually meant, lady. The enemy will be looking for something another Vanguard would likely do. They'll be looking for a fleet or something high-tech, right? Don't give it to them; if you keep them guessing they will continually be on the back-foot which will give you a slight advantage in some situations. What I'm trying to say is don't go looking for your technology to save you here. Keep it simple. Kicking someone in the balls doesn't require anything more high-tech than a pair of boots."
Chapter Thirty-Eight
It took him a fair bit of convincing, but Attacks-First finally managed to convince Tainui to become his room-mate instead of applying for his own quarters. He did, however, put through a request to the appropriate group for larger quarters so they would have a bit more room. "If we work together, this will make it more efficient," Attacks-First rumbled, reasonably. "Sure, but what about your privacy? Won't having me around just cramp your style?" "Hrrr, 'cramp your style'? This one fails to understand your colloquialisms." Tainui sighed and put his arm around the young engineer's waist in a friendly manner; he couldn't easily reach his shoulders when the Vanguard was standing. Attacks-First stared down at him with a curious expression on his face that Tainui couldn't quite read. "Mate, if you ever have the guts to talk to this girl that you've got the hots for and it turns out she likes you, well... Three's a crowd, y'know?" Attacks-First glanced back at the design schematic they had been working on and stared at it for a few moments before responding. He had come to the painful conclusion that attempting to have any sort of relationship with the human other than simple friendship was futile. No matter that his feelings were telling him otherwise. "Hrrr, that is no longer a concern. This one knows where he stands." "Huh? Oh... Damn, I'm so sorry bro," Tainui frowned and squeezed the engineer's waist, completely oblivious about what his touch and proximity was putting the engineer through. Crushing his feelings with an iron will, Attacks-First managed to keep his voice steady. "Such is life. This one is content with his existence," he lied through his teeth. "Sounds like someone needs a night out and a damned good drunk. Let's finish up here and head into town aye?" "Hrrr, very well." They made a few small changes to the prototype control systems and shut down their datapads. After getting cleaned up and changed, they made their way into Base City to locate one of the small establishments that passed for a 'bar' on New Home. Managing to find a reasonable looking place not far from the lakeside they entered and found a space by the bar. Alcohol had little or no effect on Vanguard physiology, however certain enterprising inhabitants had discovered a type of native fungus that had a similar temporary intoxicating effect when processed properly. Tainui studied at the greasy looking red liquid in the small sipper-bottle that his friend was slugging back and shuddered. Pulling a battered looking water-canister from a small rucksack he poured some of the contents into the lid and took a swig, almost immediately coughing and wheezing."Woooo, smoo-ooth," he choked out with watering eyes. Attacks-First leaned over and took a sniff of the contents, jerking his head back in distaste. "What is that substance, hrrr? Smells like degreasing solvent." "Hooch. Moonshine. Sweet, sweet, candy," Tainui replied, wincing while taking another sip and regretting it. Although most of the inhabitants of New Home knew that there was an alien on the planet, not many of them had actually seen him in the flesh. After a while, Attacks-First became more than a little annoyed with the sidelong glances being directed at them from the others in the room. He was also becoming quite blasted from the effects of the fungus-juice. Despite the fact that he was also quite drunk Tainui noticed that the engineer was becoming agitated and decided that it was probably time for them to depart. "Let's get you home to bed," he moved the young engineer's seventh half-empty sipper-bottle out of his reach and put away his canister of homebrew before getting unsteadily to his feet, pulling at Attacks-First to encourage him to stand. "Hrrr, this one desires that! This one does not -" the engineer swayed alarmingly before shaking his head and looking at Tainui with only two of his four eyes open and those two unfocused at that. "Does not what, man?" Tainui asked as he struggled to pull the rucksack strap over his shoulder. "What? Hrrr, incorrect, you the man." "Yeah, you're right. I'm da man and don't you forget it!" he looked at the wasted Vanguard and burst out laughing. They were a few hundred metres from the bar when Attacks-First suddenly halted making a staggering Tainui almost trip over the engineers large feet. "Whatsh...what's wrong?" Tainui stopped, swaying as he stared at the intoxicated Vanguard. "This one forgot!" "What?" Tainui looked at him, alarmed. The engineer stared at him and grinned, his mouth separating slightly and displaying the rows of razor sharp little teeth. "Forgot you the man! Hrrr!" he bent over laughing while Tainui glared at him through unfocused eyes. "That's a fucking terrible joke, bro. If there's one bit of advish...advice that I've got for you? Don't give up your day job. Yep, thatsh it. Now let's go before you say anything blindingly stupid." Half supporting each other they careered their way unsteadily back to the base, passing a few other defense force warriors heading into town who stared at them curiously when they passed. Each earned a glare or snarl from the intoxicated engineer who put a rear arm possessively around Tainui's shoulders and wrapped his tail around his waist, nearly knocking him off his feet in the process. "Steady on!" "This one likes you." "Yeah, I know you do, mate. And I like you, too. Almosht...almost there," he corrected himself. "Don't fall over on me, big guy." He navigated them through the entrance and to the engineer's barracks without further incident. He steered the Vanguard toward the sleep-webbing where he collapsed, rolling over while trying to get undressed. There was a ripping noise as Attacks-First ran out of patience and ripped the skinsuit off, kicking the shredded remains onto the floor. "You have a pleasing body," he rumbled, lying there staring at Tainui while the human got undressed and weaved over to the cleaning pool to brush his teeth or at least brush at his teeth in his sodden state. Rinsing his mouth out, Tainui finished up and turned around and flexed his arms, giving the staring alien a bit of a show. "Yeah, it's not bad, aye. That's a random kinda thing to say though, ishn't... er, isn't it, even for you?" "This one likes you." "So you keep saying," Tainui muttered as he turned off the light and scrambled drunkenly onto the sleep-webbing next to his friend. "You're funny when yer drunk, y'know that? Goodnight bud." He had just closed his eyes when the Vanguard suddenly pulled him into a tight embrace and began to nibble at the back of his neck with his sharp little teeth. "Dude, that tickles, cut it out, need to sleep!" The engineer stopped biting at his neck and began to lick his face with intoxicated enthusiasm instead. He also felt something hot, hard and slippery sliding between the cheeks of his butt and tried to turn around to face him. "Hey, I mean it! You're starting to scare me, bro!" Trying to free himself just made Attacks-First hold him tighter, slipping his tail in between his thighs and spreading them apart. The tail sinuously twined itself around his legs, the scales firm and smooth against the human's soft skin. "Stop it! You're hurting me!" Tainui yelled and twisted desperately trying to get away. He managed to break out of Attacks-First's grasp and scrambled off the sleep-webbing, grabbing his skinsuit off the floor and sprinting out the door. Attacks-First sat up and made an awkward grab for him but missed completely, getting the talons on his legs tangled in the webbing. Dizzily, he wondered what had gone wrong before giving up and falling back onto the sleep-webbing. This was not supposed to be how it worked, he thought to himself. He was certain that Tainui said he liked him? The spinning room turned to blackness as he passed out.
* * *
Groaning, Attacks-First came to several hours later, feeling like his head had been stepped on by a rank-beast that had then taken a crap in his mouth. Opening one eye, he blearily looked around the room before his gaze settled on the human. Tainui was sitting on the floor, back propped against the edge of the doorway with his arms wrapped around his drawn up legs, chin resting on his knees. The stormy expression on his face told the engineer something was very wrong. Attempting desperately to remember what happened the night before, he recalled a few drinks in town then... Attacks-First suddenly felt extremely sick. "There never was a girl was there?" Tainui asked him quietly in a voice drained of all emotion. With everything suddenly unraveling around him, Attacks-First opened his jaws but realized he couldn't say anything. He was frozen in fear and horror and could only stare with wide, desperate eyes as the only friendship that really mattered to him turned to ashes in his hands. "It was never about another Vanguard, was it?" Helplessly, Attacks-First watched as the tears began to stream down Tainui's face. He managed to stutter out a few words but the human was too upset. "Hrrr, this one never intended for it to happen like that -" "Why didn't you stop? I was your friend! I trusted you!" Perhaps the truth...? "This one loves you -" "You tried to rape me!" Attempting to untangle himself from the sleep-webbing, Attacks-First managed to free his legs and struggled unsteadily to his feet, holding out all four of his arms beseechingly. "This one never intended to hurt you. This one was not in control..." His voice trailed off and his hearts wrenched painfully when he saw Tainui flinch away from him at his movement - the one he cared about was now frightened of him. "This one never intended for that to occur! Please forgive this one, hrrr? He would never hurt you," he rumbled softly. "You're wrong. You would have hurt me," Tainui whispered, shaking his head. "And you have a funny way of showing your love." He swiftly stood, warily watching Attacks-First while he backed toward the door. "Do not let it end like this, please. This one is sorry!" But it was too late. The human was gone.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Thankfully, Thunder didn't ask any questions when Tainui asked her to fly him to the shuttle crash site. She could clearly observe that he was upset and decided that, if he wanted to talk about it he would in his own good time. She remained with the scout ship after they landed, exposing her throat respectfully to him when he exited the craft. Clearing a flat rock of accumulated snow, he slumped down beside the cairn and brushed some of the snow off the top before pulling out the battered water-canister from his backpack. "Hey Andrej. I'm sorry its been so long since my last visit, babe. Been quite busy but have lots to tell you. Brought you a drink as well. It's pretty rough, but have enough of it and you'll stop caring after a while," he muttered as he tipped some of the contents onto the cairn before taking a healthy swig himself, spluttering as the liquid burned down his throat, lighting a fire in his stomach. "Good shit, eh? That'll put hairs on ya chest." Putting the top back on the canister, Tainui dropped it into the snow beside him and looked out over the plateau at the plains far below, still not able to make out the lake beside Base City from this distance. "Well, your boyfriend went back to school again. Figured you'd be proud of me for that. I'm now an shiny new engineer, would you believe? Heh, didn't think you would. S'true, though. They've got me coming up with new and interesting ways of killing space-lizards. Doing a bit of cheating though and using some stuff I know about Earth weapons. Wonder if they would buy the concept of bows and arrows?" Tainui frowned and picked up the canister, taking another swig and pouring some more onto the pile of rock, imagining the look on Andrej's face. "Don't be like that, bro. A boy's gotta make a living. Oh hey and on a happier note, ol' Mr. Lizard and his loverboy got married the other day. Got a picture here somewhere that I'll show ya later if you're interested." The only response was the cold wind blowing gently over the plateau and the occasional tick of cooling metal on the scout ship a few dozen metres away. Tainui turned back to the cairn as he picked up the canister, but he stopped with it halfway to his mouth and lowered it slowly again. "Yeah, yeah, I know this stuff is bad for me. You can stop your nagging. This shit tastes like old socks soaked in cat-piss and that's punishment enough I reckon. Built myself a still after I finished school. It works quite well," he sighed. "Too well it seems. Met someone at the 'school' I went to and we became friends. Seemed like a nice guy, if a little shy. Hey, don't get all jealous on me, bro! He will never replace you in my heart, you know that." This time when he picked up the canister he took a healthy swig of the potent brew, letting out his breath in a rush after swallowing it. He tipped a bit more onto the cairn before stoppering the canister and dropping it into the snow again. "So that's my dirty little secret; I've been strung along by one of the lizards. I thought he had a crush on some girl-lizard who wasn't returning his affections. Turns out he had a thing for me, instead. We both got a bit drunk last night and when we got back to his place he was all over me. He wouldn't take no for an answer, even when I yelled at him to stop. I reckon he wanted to do the whole alien anal-probe thing - yeah, I just knew you'd find that funny." He sighed and shook his head. "But for all that, I don't think he honestly meant to hurt me. Get this! He even said he loved me. Fucking mental lizards." Taking another large swig from the canister, he poured the remaining contents onto the cairn. "Yeah well, maybe I might find it funny further down the track. But right now I'm feeling a little...I dunno, vulnerable I guess. Whole thing is just weird, y'know? Like that bestiality shit. Only this time, the animal getting fucked is me." The wind whipped up a bit of loose snow against the side of the shuttle wreckage behind him and he turned, looking for the source of the noise. Bits of tattered insulation and wiring, hanging from gaps in the shattered bulkheads fluttered in the stiff breeze before settling down when the breeze died away as quickly as it had appeared. Turning back, he leaned over and rested his cheek against the cairn, watching the snow sparkle wetly under the red sun while his tears dripped onto the cold stone and rapidly froze. "What do I do Andrej? Give him another chance? Trust issues aside, I don't know how I feel about him. Can I ever develop feelings for someone that tried to rape me? Hell, he's not even bloody human!" Getting to his feet, Tainui swayed a bit unsteadily and angrily wiped at the wetness around his eyes. "Fucking drunk-ass hori! I reckon you've had enough to drink for today. I better be heading back, don't want to make Lightning mad at me for keeping wifey away for too long. I love you Andrej. Thanks for listening, bro." He smiled sadly and took a step towards the scout-ship then stopped abruptly. "Oh, almost forgot - here's that picture." Pulling out a copy of the photo he'd taken of his two freshly bonded Vanguard friends, he placed it under the same rock that was holding down the tattered remains of the letter he'd left on the last visit. Picking up the now empty water-canister, he stowed it in his rucksack and trudged back through the snow back to the scout ship where Thunder was waiting patiently for him. He smiled gratefully at her when she opened the hatch and made himself comfortable in the support webbing while she lifted off and set course back to the base.
* * *
Tainui went hunting for Attacks-First as soon as they landed. He tracked him down to one of the hangars where they were in the process of building the singularity mine prototype. The engineer was working on the sensor array with his back turned when Tainui walked into the hangar, unaware of the human stalking him. Waiting until the engineer completed tuning the array, he cleared his throat and waited until Attacks-First turned around to look for the source of the noise. When he saw who it was, the forlorn expression on the engineer's face quickly changed to one that Tainui recognized as anguish. Crossing his arms and frowning he perched himself on the edge of a nearby bench. "Okay, here's the story. I'm still pissed off about that shit you pulled on me last night, but I don't want to throw away a good friendship over a drunken mistake." He stopped speaking for a few moments and stared deeply into Attacks-First's eyes. "I dunno if I can ever become what I think you want me to be. But then again I'm not gonna say it wont ever happen, either." Attacks-First lowered his gaze and remained silent. "Oh and one last thing: No more booze - for either of us. If you're okay with that, then maybe we should get back to work, yeah?" The engineer snapped his jaw shut in agreement, his mind still a seething mass of confusion.