Stars

I didn't want to leave Wolf's side, but he recovered a lot faster than I did and he had to take care of the whole ship situation, leaving me with the Clan while he went back to that moon to fetch it. We were orbiting nearby while they took one of their landing ships to clean up the mess left behind in our wake. Mhalu was always with me, at least, chasing off anyone who would bother me and overseeing my therapy, making sure I exercised and ate right. Most of the time we were just taking a walk around the common area, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

However, it was easy for me to overdo it. After losing so much blood, I was badly anemic. There was no reliable way for me to get iron, either, so it was going to be months and months before I was going to be anywhere close to the top of my game unless I could find some iron-rich foods.

If it got too bad, I might actually have to go home or spend the rest of my days with Wolf a sickly shell of my former self. At least if I went home I would have access to iron-rich foods and supplements if I needed them. It had been a bit of a problem when they'd removed the nymphs from me, too, but not to this extent because I'd been in a controlled environment and the blood loss hadn't been near as bad.

Having your arm degloved and being impaled for an uncertain amount of time on a feral planet's moon was anything but controlled. There would be no transfusions, either, so I was shit out of luck and stuck being miserable until my body could replenish on its own.

Though I knew it was dumb, I couldn't help but worry that he'd gone moon-side to find his ship to avoid seeing me like this. He'd headed my recovery after the nymph removal and I'd been in dire straits there, too. He had to go get his ship and make sure Creature didn't murder anyone in the process, since he wouldn't know friend from foe without a familiar face present. I needed to stop worrying about stupid shit.

Mhalu found ways to distract me, though, and cheer me up. Her go-to strategy was to escort me to the nursery and let me play with the toddlers, but that exhausted me so quickly. I didn't have much time with human children, so I had severely underestimated just how much energy those little suckers could have.

"I need to sit down," I muttered. We had just left the nursery again after playing with children.

There was nowhere to sit, though—no chairs or anything—so I just lowered myself to the floor and tried to get the room to stop spinning. We were back in the common area and there were groups of yautja here and there, conversing or posturing. It was deja vu all over again. I couldn't even make it to the edge of the room, so I was just sitting in the middle.

"Are you unwell?" Mhalu asked.

I was short of breath and dizzy, so I doubted "well" was a good way to describe me. "I need a moment is all. And a nap."

That was how I spent a good part of my time. Sleeping.

Mhalu looked around. "I will find you something to eat and drink. Will you be fine on your own?"

"Yes," I lied.

Though her hesitation made me think she knew I was bluffing, she left all the same. I sat for another short lapse of time, then I struggled to stand so I could move out of the middle of the floor and sit somewhere less in the way of everything. I moved a little too fast, though, and almost collapsed.

Someone grabbed my bandaged arm to steady me and I hissed in pain. It almost would have been preferable to hit the ground. I thought that maybe it was Mhalu returning from her food run, but it was a different yautja, one I just barely recognized.

One of the youngbloods that had hassled me the first time I visited.

He let go once he realized I was stable and that his grip was hurting me. His buddies were hanging out behind him.

"|Oh great| . . . What do you three want?" I muttered.

"You are in terrible shape," one of them commented.

I frowned. "Yes, thank you." There wasn't anything even remotely close to a mirror anywhere on the ship, but I was sure it was awful. To them, I probably looked like a mass of hot and cold spots, probably skinnier than they remembered and bandaged to hell.

They looked at each other, and then the one who had grabbed me said, "Is it true what they are saying about you?"

Another nodded once. "Yes. We heard rumors . . . You fought bad bloods?"

For a moment, I was taken aback. Their tone was completely different from the first time they'd approached me. Gone was the underlying mocking air, the condescending countenances. They had been uninterested in my stories of slaying xenomorphs, but now they were watching me with true eagerness.

"Yes, I did," I said. "And I killed all but two of them."

The three of them shifted and clattered their tusks together excitedly. "Tell us."

"Yes, we want to hear about it."

My pride swelled and I squared my shoulders. Talking at length was probably going to wreck my lungs and throat, but how could I deny them this request when I finally had something worth telling them? "I will tell you, but I must sit down. I am still in recovery."

They easily obliged my request and I settled in to tell them the harrowing tale.

*:･ﾟ✧

"Stop scratching."

"|It's so itchy|!"

"This is a good opportunity for you to practice your self-control."

I let out a belligerent groan but let my hands fall to my sides, forcing myself to stop clawing at my bandages. It was nice that my arm had enough mobility to do so, but it was awful, too. The temptation was far too powerful.

Wolf gave me a fond pat on the head. "Remember what Mhalu said."

"Itching means that it is healing," I sighed.

"Yes. Now, shall we go?"

Nodding, I slipped my arm around his and we headed toward the airlock. After spending about a week with Mhalu, we were now on Brutus' ship. Wolf didn't want to owe the clan more than he already did with them, not only giving us medical attention but also helping with his ship repairs. After all, we had only technically fulfilled his first debt to pay—I had killed the yautja he'd been tasked to capture in my revenge-fueled murder spree.

Sure, they had originally wanted him alive, but they'd completely understood considering the extenuating circumstances.

Brutus, thankfully, was fine with housing us. I liked to believe it was because he was lonely—his ship was only marginally smaller than Wolf's and he had no serfs attached to it. He spent pretty much all of his time alone unless he and Wolf were on a call. When I wasn't following Wolf around like a lost puppy, the two of them were on the bridge shooting the shit.

We tried not to be a burden to him. Creature wasn't asked to work but he tended to do so anyway out of habit and boredom. Besides that, though, there was only one thing that we asked of Brutus, and that was the use of his airlock.

It was time to give Critter to the stars.

Creature wouldn't let anyone touch him. The clan had found him on the ship when they had come to tow it. He had been crouched over Critter's body and attacking anyone who neared. Thankfully Wolf had been there to calm him down or else who knew what would have happened. I know I had told him to run away if anything happened, but I hadn't considered that he would try to defend Critter's body.

He brought Critter out of cold storage and met us at the airlock. I hadn't expected Wolf to attend (though I had passively asked him to), but he was making sure Brutus's cargo wouldn't get jettisoned into deep space as well. Brutus wouldn't have anything to do with it, but I had expected as much.

After securing the airlock and moving anything he couldn't batten down, he stood outside and spoke to Creature. "There. You can set him inside."

As Creature did that, I stood by Wolf and gently touched his arm with my fingertips. "Thank you for coming," I murmured. I almost said that it meant a lot to Creature, but I doubted he actually cared the way I did. I expected that this was going to be something difficult to sit through, though I had been steeling myself for a while now.

Creature came out and stood nearby, his antennae hanging the lowest I'd seen them. Wolf sealed the room, then stood in front of Creature and shook his shoulder. It wasn't as rough or vigorous as it would be if he was doing it to a fellow blooded warrior, but it was still recognition.

"Critter was most honorable. I owe him a debt that cannot be repaid, but I also owe you a debt. Anything you want, I will do," Wolf said.

The hulking mantid regarded him, then looked at me. I merely encouraged him with a gesture.

After a lapse of silence, Creature spoke. "Want go home. With mine. With in'qua."

My heart nearly broke, but not because he wanted to leave—he already knew he was going to be so lonely without Critter that he would rather go to a home he'd never seen. It was, however, nice to see that he had taken some initiative to ask for something he really wanted; that he felt comfortable enough to do so.

Wolf nodded. "I will tell Ra-ilt to plot the course as soon as we're done here."

"If you want to go home . . . should we take Critter there, as well?" I asked, giving him a chance to change his mind about this ceremony if he wanted.

Creature indicated that he didn't. "Give to stars. Good idea. Would like."

I nodded and said nothing more about it.

He stood by the airlock pad and looked at me expectantly as if he thought I might have something to say. I didn't really know what to say, though. I hadn't spoken much at my own friends' funerals, was too shy to speak up during my grandpa's funeral . . . I didn't know how to just make a speech.

But I had to say something. Anything.

"I . . . am going to miss him. He . . . he kept me company and . . . and he saved my life." That was the best I could do on short notice. I hadn't thought to come up with something ahead of time with the constant fainting spells from the aforementioned anemia and all of the other health problems that made it hard to think straight.

Wolf nodded and gave Creature a chance, too, but he didn't speak up. Having already said what he wanted to, Wolf depressurized the chamber and opened the airlock bay door. The whole back wall opened and Critter was pulled into the vast openness to float among those twinkling lights. I didn't feel the normal sense of foreboding I did, the anxiety wasn't there. It was just giving a great friend a fitting farewell.

I squeezed Wolf's hand and he pulled me against him, purring. Though I was sad about Critter and not feeling physically well, I was, for once, at ease.