Chapter 4

"Tch. Aaggh…" I sighed as the blue vixen applied my own medicine onto my wound.

"I'm sorry…I really am trying to be gentle. Your medicine's just very unfamiliar." She said, dabbing the cotton cloth I'd handed her with more disinfectant. Hesitantly, she pressed it against my side once again and I tried harder to cover up the pain I felt. I was only half successful, some of it escaping as a hushed grunt. She looked like she was about to apologize again, but I held up a hand to stop her.

"It's fine. You're doing the best you can." I said, my voice low and still very much tired. "It still needs a couple more presses."

We went through the routine again. I handed her the cloth back, she dabbed it and pressed it against my wound. The sting lost its intensity over time, but we both remained silent. I still wasn't sure how to feel about what happened. I was happy that I could now understand these people and that, with a little effort on my part, they could understand me back. From what this vixen told me, she had established some kind of mental connection with me and used it to access my memories in order to learn and understand my language. And once she understood mine good enough, she'd telepathically taken her language and translated it, so my brain would know what words in her language matched up to mine. Needless to say, I could now speak two languages. Theirs and mine.

But at what cost?

She'd seen my memories. She'd invaded the sanctity of my mind. No, it was more than that. She'd taken a glimpse into my very being. My past experiences, both good and bad, the ones that built me into the person I was today, she knew about some of them. Thankfully, only the most recent ones or the ones I had readily available to see. However, she'd gotten a short peak into the depths of my subconscious. The area I tried daily to battle against, one that stuck with me every second of the day. I was lucky enough to stop her when I did. She almost found out more than she bargained for.

Still, what was I supposed to say to her that she didn't already know? My name? She knew it. My grandparents, she knew them too. My hobbies, my career, everything that would normally take up small talk and take up this awkward air that remained between us as she treated me, there was no point in saying any of it. If that wasn't bad enough, she also had some kind of psychic power that I knew nothing about. I mean, how far did that power go? Could she read minds? Could she really read my thoughts at a moment's notice?!

I took a second to look down at her, only to catch her pausing with the needle and thread I'd given her and glancing over at me, all but confirming my worst assumptions. Shit. She really can hear what I'm thinking! Ugh, and I just cursed too. Way to make a good first impression Axel. She turned her head away from me for a moment, obviously trying to hide a smile or something at this and continued wrapping my side, while I held up my shirt just enough for her work.

"So, you can read minds huh?" I sighed, stating what we both already knew to be true.

Her head dipped down, avoiding my eyes. "Yes. With a little concentration…" She murmured, clearly a little embarrassed that she'd been caught in the act so quickly.

I gulped inwardly. "Are you…the only one that can?" I asked, hoping to hear a confirmation, but dreading the possibility of more than one telepath. It was already hard enough to watch what you say around people, but to have to guard your thoughts at all times? That was enough to drive someone completely insane. She paused once again, seemingly thinking over what to say. My stomach dropped another degree as I realized yet another daunting and very real possibility. As a mind reader, she could probably tell whether or not someone was lying or telling the truth. Not that I intended to deceive any of these…people, I suppose I should start calling them. I guess animals would be a denomination in this culture. But the real danger lay in the fact that she can choose to be truthful or not, while I can't. And that was a scary thought to someone like me.

"Not exactly." She finally stated. "Everyone's…different in their own way. Some are blessed with special gifts, but only a few select people can read minds like I can." She narrowed her eyes at me. "And I do not like being called a liar when I have spoken only the truth."

I wanted to smack myself. Of course she heard that. "Sorry," I said, truly meaning it, "But can you really blame me? I mean, it was only about an hour ago that I was held a spear-point and threatened to be killed. Or something like that. I couldn't understand your language yet, but the intent was pretty clear."

I watched as her ears droop ever so slightly. "I do apologize for their actions, but you must understand." She said, focusing her eyes back on me. "You are as much foreign to us as we are to you. The last time we encountered a new species, well…you just met them..." She said, downtrodden. I felt kind of bad to see her like that and seeing the cruelty of those monsters out there firsthand, I understood the implications that went unspoken. Their tribe likely suffered losses from those things. Then, she chuckled half-heartedly. "Of course, it also didn't help that you practically took out an entire squadron of Sharpclaws by yourself…" She stopped herself short and moved closer with the needle and thread.

It didn't go unnoticed and I didn't need to be a mind reader to guess what she'd meant. She wasn't necessarily referring to the fact that I'd scared the tribes warriors because I managed to defeat a whole bunch of those lizard men, or Sharpclaws I suppose. It was the way I'd defeated them. No doubt I was a force to be reckoned with, even though the details were still a bit fuzzy. However, I knew what I felt in those last few minutes of the battle. No doubt they had too. And if I were an outsider looking in, I couldn't fully blame them for their actions.

I exhaled, grabbing the wood frame of the makeshift bed I was sitting on. "Maybe." I said noncommittally, twirling my shirt up and rolling it until it was nice and compact. Shutting my eyes, I bit down on the cotton roll. "Go ahead. I'm ready."

There was a moment of hesitation from the blue fox before I felt the first prick. My jaw clenched and I squeezed my eyes tighter as I felt the needle pass through the skin, pulling a portion of it back taut. The second prick was even worse, covering a larger area and sending wave after wave of throbs and sharp pain through my body. Unfortunately, anesthetic medication was nonexistent in this world, so each one felt like its own separate knife, slowly sinking through my skin and out the other side. My breathing that had started slow and steady had now become harsh and staggered. I fought hard against my natural instinct to cry out and blinking away the faint traces of liquid forming just above my eyelids. Dammit. I was supposed to be tougher than this.

When she finally finished, I let out a huge exhale. I hated stitches. Really hated them.

Nonetheless, I examined her handiwork. Wow, I'm impressed. That actually looks really good. I flinched at this thought, realizing that she probably had some practice if attacks from the Sharpclaw were common. I snuck a peek while she was tossing out the used needles and gauze scraps from this little operation. She followed her actions through without pause or indication that she'd heard what I thought. Guess it really did take some amount of attention for them to read other people's thoughts. Good to know.

I briefly plucked out my pocket watch. It read around six o'clock pm, but it seemed like early afternoon was just beginning before I was led inside, if not earlier. I frowned, telling time by just the position of the sun was never something I thought I'd really need to worry about. Hindsight's always twenty-twenty it seems. I sighed. This planet's night and day cycle was going to take some getting used to. If I was going to have any chance at finding some kind of shelter before nightfall, it would be best to head out now. I overstayed my welcome as it was already. With a short click, I slipped it back in its appropriate slot and was just staring to shift my legs over the bed.

However, before I even had the chance to rise, the blue vixen placed a paw on my shoulder. "Wait, where do you think you're going? You need rest. The nearest settlement isn't for many rak. You won't make it there before nightfall." Rak, was this world's equivalent for miles with a three to one ratio. Frustration seeped into my thoughts for a moment before I made the conscious effort to beat it back. I wasn't quick enough though, as I caught the vixen's expression go from worried to embarrassed a second time. "I'm sorry. Since I established the link earlier, it takes much less effort for me to read your thoughts." Right, that Jedi mind trick or whatever that had been…

I sighed a second time, running a hand through my hair. "Not trying to be rude here, but can you please stop doing that. It's really, really…" I paused, my mind racing to try and find the most polite word I could think of. Irritating, annoying, not nice, disrespectful. That last one, I hadn't meant to put in there, but again it was too late to take it back. Not that the others were really any better.

Her ears drooped down even more than before, closer to her head and she looked away. "No, you're right, it isn't right of me to do so. Not without your permission. It's just that, you're so different from anything I've seen on this planet. Actually, you're not even from this planet." She looked back up at me, her expression apologetic, along with a twinge of guilt. "I was more curious than anything. Please do not think I would use my gift like this all the time. I'm sorry, again, and I promise I will refrain from using it if it makes you uncomfortable."

How exactly is having your thoughts on display for someone else to overhear in any way comfortable? I watched her for a second after I thought this to see if she really meant what she said. Her expression didn't change at my thought, and again her body language gave me no reason to suspect that she'd heard it. Or, she could be making the conscious effort to feign ignorance and still be using her ability to read me. But honestly, if I kept that kind of mentality of always wondering whether or not she was using her gift, I really would go insane. So, I decided to trust her words for now. If nothing else than for my own sanity.

"Thank you." I said gratefully, letting out a long breathe of relief. "And if all you really were was curious about me and what you saw, you can just ask. You know, like normal people do?" I said was a playful smile.

She giggled softly. "Yes, I suppose that's what normal people do, isn't it?"

"Something normal people also do is introduce themselves. I'm sure you know my name, but I'll say it again anyways for formality's sake." I said, chuckling as I extended my hand to her. "My name is Axel. Axel Rogers. Nice to meet you."

"My name's Krystal. My last name doesn't really translate well in your language, so I hope you'll forgive me for leaving it out." She said, returning my gesture with a kind smile. "And, I really do apologize for my behavior. I haven't really properly thanked you for earlier, for saving my life." She reached over and grabbed my right hand in both of hers. "And for saving my younger sister's life."

Right, the kit. God, that had been a bone chilling experience. One I hope I never have to revisit ever again.

She was lucky. The arrow that I'd initially thought struck her dead through her chest, actually hit further to the right near the rib. Not fatal to an adult, but to a kid, it may as well have been. They have a higher potential for bleeding out faster as well as a higher risk for infection and since medicine around here was probably pretty primitive, they likely wouldn't have been able to treat it right.

In fact when I had rushed over to where she had been shot, nearly causing myself another swift execution, nobody had touched her. Another female fox was kneeled over her, holder her, sobbing and crying out to those around her, begging for someone to save her daughter. I could tell from all their defeated and anguished faces, that they'd already given up. They'd accepted her as already gone. When I did reach her though, it wasn't difficult to see why. Her eyes were open, but vacant, hardly moving or focusing on any given point. Not even on the form of her own mother that coddled her. Her breathing had slowed to little more than shallow hoarse gasps, a very dangerous combination. For all intents and purposes, she was indeed dying.

There wasn't a whole lot of time and by then, I'd already been reaching in my respective pouches for the proper medicine I was going to need. I quickly explained to the distraught mother that I couldn't guarantee anything, but I did have the means to attempt to save her daughter's life. But I was going to need her help and that the items I was going to use were not going to be familiar and that she would just have to trust in my abilities. I did warn her. It was going to look very bad before it would get better.

After hesitatingly agreeing to help me, I asked her to prop her daughter's head on her knees, so as to raise the head and encourage blood flow to the brain. This bought me a little more time. Thankfully, the arrow had penetrated all the way through her body. If it had gotten lodged inside, or worse stuck itself inside one of her bones, I doubt that I could have done anything at all to help.

Knowing what had to be done, I had grabbed a hold of the arrow about halfway down the shaft. With a quick exertion of force, I was able to snap the end off cleanly, leaving only six inches or so of the shaft left. I then shouted to one of the surrounding foxes to get me something flat. A rock, a piece of wood, I didn't care. It took a painful few seconds before one of them acted on my command and rushed over with a rock from nearby. I ran my hand over the flattest portion of it and palmed it.

While I mentally prepared myself for what I had to do, I prepared a special kind of ointment that had been created by our science department and handed a bottle of strong disinfectant to the mother. I also had to jot of explaining to a skeptical and already hysterical parent that I was about to cause her daughter a hell of a lot of pain and that she was going to have to help me do that. At first, she outright refused when I told her what I intended to do, but after a little reminder that her daughter would certainly die if this wasn't done, she gave in.

I took only a moment to make sure my aim was good, and then smashed the flat end of the rock onto the end of the broken shaft with all the force I could muster. Let me tell you, that had done it. The kit woke and let out a high pitched screech as if someone was murdering her. In a way, it wasn't more than a stone throw's away from the truth. She kicked, thrashed, and struggled against her mother as I grabbed the bloodied arrow from underneath her and yanked it the rest of the way out. I then told the mother to apply the disinfectant, which she did why trying her best to calm her child. It didn't help much, so I just aimed to finish as quickly as possible, smearing the ointment over the hole left by the arrow. It was designed to act as a fast acting sealing agent for deep wounds like this. The moment it left its seal-tight tube, it began to sizzle and melt over the wound, slowly covering the distance at a sluggish pace. That being said, the child's screams had reached ear-piercing levels at the time.

Eventually, she did tire herself out enough for me to force some military grade painkillers into her, which knocked her right up and then right out. She would probably be bedridden for a week, but she'd live.

"Yeah, well, don't thank me yet. Recovering from that is going to take some time and she'll probably end up hating me for a while," I said, using my free hand to scratch the back of my head and smiling lightly. "But the worst is over for her. She should be back to normal before too long, I think. And with you, well, that wasn't really a big deal, you know? It's kinda just another day for me."

She looked up at me incredulously. "You're saying it's normal for you to hop across worlds to help people like this?!" She exclaimed, her eyes widening in disbelief, yet not quite dismissing the notion entirely. It was pretty comical.

"No, no, no." I said, waving my left hand back and forth, doing my best to keep from laughing. "I mean, my job on my planet was keeping people safe. Very important people. So, it's not really uncommon for me to be put in dangerous situations." Granted, most of those were simulations created for my numerous tests I'd needed to pass for my job, but she didn't need to know that. Besides, I treated them as if they were real. The feeling is the same, even if real danger isn't present. Not that my real life experiences had skimped on that fact though.

Her paws clasped my hand a little tighter. "Well, even if you don't think what you've done for me and my sister isn't a 'big deal', I do." She said, turning her head back to mine. "I am very grateful that you came by when you did." Suddenly, she pulled on my arm and moved her head closer. A tingling sensation shot through my body as I felt the wet surface of her tongue flick across my right cheek. "So, thank you." She said.

If the mind can be related to a computer, then my neuron cables just encountered an error. Her action failed to register for a few seconds before my brain did a reboot and it all clicked together way too quickly. I felt myself heating up from the inside. "W-what was that?!" I asked, startled and cursing myself for stuttering.

Krystal raised an eyebrow. "Is this not how members of my species and yours exchange affection? Forgive me, but I thought I recalled seeing something like this in your memories."

Oh my gosh…she thought that pets in our world were the same as…

"Um, no, no… that's not…what you saw was…" Agh! I couldn't even form a proper sentence. I took a second to calm down, all the while Krystal just kept watching me with a confused look. Once I felt my temperature return to normal, I cleared my throat. "Krystal…that kind of relationship and what you saw…those animals weren't, well, you guys. They were pets."

Now it was Krystal's turn to be in shock and I saw the fur on her cheeks start to change to a deeper shade of blue. "O-Oh! I'm so sorry, I…I didn't mean it like…"

"Am I interrupting something?" A deeper, more masculine voice resounded from the entrance to the teepee.

"No!" We shouted at the same time. We both looked at each other in surprise for a moment before I made the move to end this awkwardness before it got any worse.

Slowly, I rose from the bed, a dull ache emanating from my side, but it was much more manageable. "No. Krystal just finished sewing me back together." I said with a small grin, doing my best to put what just happened as far out of my head as possible. "What can we do for you?"

Another blue fox approached me with slow, even steps, allowing me time to get a good look at him. His fur was a shade of blue that closely resembled Krystal's. However, he did not share the strange markings or tattoos that she did. He also wore a corded necklace similar to Krystal's, with yet another single sharp tooth of some kind. Except, the gemstone that lay within his was a dark shade of green. The only article of clothing other than that was a dark brown loincloth. I shuddered a little bit on the inside. Why couldn't normal clothes be a thing here?

"Nagi, our tribe elder, wishes to speak with you." He said, stopping a couple feet away. I had to look up a little to keep eye contact with him. He was a few inches taller than me. "But first, I have something I want to say to you." I tensed up a little, this guy's deep tone putting me a little on edge. I didn't break eye contact though. For some reason, I felt like if I moved or showed any of the uneasiness I felt, it would be somehow been seen as weakness around this guy. His hazel eyes never left mine, a long pause hanging in air between us.

"John, that's enough." Krystal interjected, moving over to us. "You're being rude to our guest."

He smirked, shrugging like that little test he was giving me hadn't existed. "Don't know whatcha mean sis'. I was just getting ready to introduce myself." He extended a paw to me. "Name's John. I'm Krystal's older brother."

I took his hand and immediately felt an intense pressure on my fingers as he squeezed it well beyond what would be considered firm. It took a lot of self restraint, especially in the state that I was in, not to make a sound or a face. So, this guy's the overprotective brother type huh? Message received dude, thanks. "Nice to meet you." I said politely, staring back into his eyes and making it known that I understood very well what was going on here. "I'm Axel."

"Heh. Funny name." He commented, earning a disapproving look from Krystal. "Alright, alright." He cleared his throat and let go of my hand. "Thanks for savin' my little sis'. And my other little sis' too I suppose." He said, tussling Krystal's hair playfully, successfully getting a rise out of Krystal.

"I am not you're little sister!" She exclaimed. "We are the same age."

"Really?" He said with an amused smirk. "Cause' I recall coming out a good five minutes before you, little sis'."

"Well, you're certainly not acting like it." She said, turning her head away from him and crossing her arms.

"Then I suppose as the more 'mature' older sis' you want to be, you can lead the way to Dad's hut. He seems really interested in talking with this…guy." He said, stumbling over his words, unsure of what to label me as.

"Fine, I will. This way." She said, walking out of the teepee.

With her gone, John set his sights on me, his demeanor now turning fierce and intimidating. "Just so we're clear, you may have won over my sister's trust, but I know what I felt from you earlier and I know where it had been directed after you finished the last of those Sharpclaws. So, let me give you some friendly advice bud," He said, putting his arm around me and pulling me into a semi-headlock. "You do anything to hurt my sister or my family and I swear those dumb lizards are going to be the least of your problems. Got that?"

"Y-yeah," I responded, despite the difficulty of my windpipe being partially blocked.

He let me go. "Good."

I followed him as he stepped outside, rubbing the side of my neck. Great, not even through with my first day yet and I've managed to make an enemy. Wonder if this Nagi fox was going to resemble his son in any way. If so, this was probably not going to be the friendliest of meetings.

I sighed quietly and soon followed John out.