Who I am 6
As Amanda started looking the cafeteria, she saw a boy... man?... Shimmer Monster sitting not too far away who was already eating his breakfast. Even though there were plenty of others at the same table, her attention had been captured by this one. She watched in pure fascination, as the flaps with those huge spiky teeth would spread wide to let the Shimmer Monster put a spoon full of food in his mouth. After just a few bites, the Shimmer Monster turned his head to look at her. That was when Amanda realized that she had been rude by staring.
"I didint mean to stare, but they way you eat with those extra teeths is really neat! My name is Amanda. What's yous?" She asked while scooting closer.
Keen senses that told him he was being watched made him turn to face the source of the observation. Seeing that it was an ooman sitting there on the table staring at him while he ate did not make him happy. He'd heard a rumor that there was now an ooman pup onboard, but he hadn't given any credence to the rumor. Now he was being blatantly stared at by the reality. His mandibles twitched in annoyance when the pup apologized, and even tried to introduce itself. His eyes narrowed as he glared at the pup as a warning to leave him alone. That was when he noticed that the pup had moved closer to him. He flared all four of his mandibles and opened his mouth to show his pointed teeth as he growled deep in his throat in warning. Seeing that the only reaction from the pup was wider eyes, he prepared to do something a little more drastic. Before he could, his attention was drawn to Ne'Tahl setting down two trays of food on the other side of the pup, and then the female reached out, and slid the pup closer to her.
He knew of Ne'Tahl, but then everyone on the ship knew of her. She was the largest and most vicious hunter onboard. He'd personally seen her kill a Hard Meat by breaking its neck with a single powerful and crashing blow from her right fist. She had a well deserved reputation as the single most eager hunter in the entire Clan! Suddenly, he received a shock that caused his mandibles to fall slack in disbelief as the most dangerous female on the ship began tending to the ooman pup by enticing it to eat! Not desiring to be beaten and severely maimed or possibly killed for threatening a pup that the renowned and dangerous female was obviously caring for, he quickly turned his attention back to his own partially eaten meal, and fervently hoped that she hadn't witnessed his display towards the pup in her care.
"I know you understood both her compliment and her request, Roonak. Since you are one of the few on this ship that can actually speak ooman, I will occasionally call on you to provide translations to make sure she understands correctly. So you might as well honor her request and complete the introduction, especially since she has already given you her name." The big female said casually as she handed the ooman pup a piece of meat from one of the trays.
"Thank you Ne'Tahl." Amanda said happily. She held the piece of meat in her hand as she closed her eyes and once more whispered the few words that she could remember. Then, she took the rather large, for her, piece of meat and started to bite into it. She had just gotten one end into her mouth when the Shimmer Monster she had been watching spoke to her.
"I am Roonak." The hunter said simply as he turned back to his food, not wanting any further interaction with either of the females.
"Hi Roonak." Amanda responded happily, as she once more prepared to get a bite of the strip of strange looking meat.
As she tried to bite down on it, Amanda realized that the strip of meat was like some kind of jerky that her parents would sometimes get her for a treat. Dry, stiff, hard, and really tough, it was almost impossible for her to get a bite out of it. After nearly a minute of struggling with it, and worrying at it with her teeth, she realized that the drool in her mouth was making it softer. Instead of drooling all over it, and making it yucky, she got another idea. She pulled it out of her mouth and dipped the tip of it in her cup of water for a moment or two. Then she tried it again. This time she was able to get a bite of it much easier. With a delighted grin, she stuck the strip of meat in her cup of water and let it stay there while she ate some of the other food.
Ne'Tahl stared in consternation at the ooman pup when she stuck the small strip of meat in her water and held it there for a short time, before biting off a piece. She had seen the pup have some trouble eating the dried meat, but then most pups did. She cocked her head to her right in both curiosity and confusion. Then the ooman stuck the meat back in the water and left it there! She watched the pup pick up the small bowl of mashed grains and began to eat that while completely ignoring the meat. She contented her self with eating her strips of dried meat while keeping a watchful eye on the pup, but what the pup was doing made no sense at all!
After finishing the weird oatmeal or whatever it was, Amanda grabbed the strip of meat out of the water, since it had soaked for a while. Easily able to bite into it now that it had softened up, she held it in her right hand, while she used her left to stick a second strip of meat in her water. The weird jerky had a texture and flavor that was really different, but still very good and tasty. She didn't know what kind of jerky it was, except that it wasn't beef, turkey, or buffalo. It didn't really matter, since it was good, and she rarely got to have jerky at all, so that by itself was like a treat, but then she had never had jerky for breakfast, so that made this sort of special.
Ne'Tahl was keeping an eye on the strange actions of the ooman pup, for several reasons. The first was for the pup's safety, since she wasn't sure just how well the pup could handle herself in any given situation including this one. Second, was because of how strangely the pup was acting. Finally, this pup, no matter how strange, was, for now anyway, part of the Clan, and therefore a responsibility for the females of the ship who normally cared for the very young. She watched with more than a little interest as the pup finished her mashed grains, and started on the strip of dried meat that had been stuck in her cup of water. That was when she saw that the ooman pup was no longer having any trouble eating it. Her curiosity piqued, she reached over, pulled the second strip of meat out of the cup, and sniffed at it. Smelling nothing except meat, she pinched off a small piece, and cautiously placed it in her mouth. She found that the water had softened it up, and had even restored a majority of the flavor, so that it tasted much closer to that of a fresh kill.
Her mandibles clicked in pleasure as Ne'Tahl savored the small piece of meat that she'd taken from the ooman pup. She got up, went to the serving line, got a larger cup of water along with another couple more strips of meat, before returning to the table. She had just sat down in her seat next to the pup when the little ooman female held a hand out towards her. To her surprise, she saw that the tiny pup was actually offering her half of the second strip of meat! She accepted the piece of slightly dripping meat with her left hand while she dropped the two new strips of meat in the larger cup of water. This little pup was a strange one, Ne'Tahl had no doubt about that, but even so, she was not expecting what she now thought was an ooman expression of happiness when she accepted the piece of meat.
"Did I just see that pup share its own meat with you?" Takhal demanded in a tone that bordered on disgust, as she sat down.
"Yes. You did, actually. And believe it or not, she's just shown me a rather tasty trick." Ne'Tahl answered easily.
"What kind of trick?" Takhal demanded skeptically.
"Soak your meat in water for a few moments. It restores a lot of the flavor and juices." Ne'Tahl replied quietly with a smug set to her mandibles.
"Prove it!" Takhal retorted.
Instead of voicing her answer, Ne'Tahl simply gave an obvious and pointed look down at the two strips of meat that were soaking in a cup of water. Her mandibles twitched and clicked slightly in amusement, as the other female eyed the meat warily. Soft clicks of laughter emerged as she watched Takhal try a small piece that she'd torn off.
"Well, I can't fault the pup for her sense of taste!" Takhal admitted in a grudging grunt.
"Still isn't as good as fresh meat, but it's a lot better than the typical dried stores we're allowed while on ship." Ne'Tahl added wryly.
"That is why I can't wait for us to head home! Fresh or at least freshly thawed meat will be a wonderful change. It's just too bad that we're not allowed to make a few kills to provide ourselves with fresh meat on these provision hunts." Takhal replied.
"If that was allowed, then those greedy Young Bloods would be eating all of it, and we'd still have to rely on dried stores!" Ne'Tahl scoffed.
Amanda paid no attention to the conversation that took place, literally, over her head! Even though she was sitting on the table itself, the two females were still taller than she was. That made no difference to her though, nor did the conversation that she couldn't understand a word of. Instead, she had busied herself with finishing her breakfast. Realizing that she was getting full, she had given Ne'Tahl half of the second piece of jerky, because she knew that she wouldn't be able to finish it, and had been taught not to waste things, especially food. As she drank the cup of water, she was wishing heartily for a glass of milk or apple juice. But then, she saw that even the grown up Shimmer Monsters were drinking water too, and contented herself with what she had, since she was now drinking the same thing as the grown ups.
While they were eating their first meal, and talking pleasantly, the two females were also keeping a watchful eye on the ooman pup. Ne'Tahl was watching to make sure the pup didn't do anything else of a strange nature that might end up getting the little thing hurt. Takhal, even though she would never have admitted to such a thing, was just pleased that the pup was sitting quietly and allowing the adults to talk among themselves. When they had finished their meal, Takhal took the dishes, and dropped them in the automated sanitizer to be cleaned, before rejoining the female and the pup as they were leaving the dinning hall.
"So what are you planning for today, now that you're stuck with that?" Takhal asked casually with a gesture at the pup, which was once again tucked under a single arm against Ne'Tahl's side.
"The first thing I'm going to do; is get her back to the infirmary to check the injuries to her feet. Since they should be fine, I'll bathe her to get the dried gel off, and then I'm going to make her sit and watch, while I try to find a sparring partner. The males aboard ship aren't all that willing to train with me for some reason." Ne'Tahl finished with a smug laugh.
"Mind if I join you then? I too could use a worthy opponent in a sparring match. I think our resident males have grown weary of being soundly defeated." Takhal agreed laughing as she followed the other female through the ship to the infirmary.
"I would be honored. Besides, a match between us would give these bothersome males a few things to think about." Ne'Tahl said as she entered the infirmary with the ooman pup still on her hip.
"Think about, and drool about, you mean!" Takhal stated smugly.
"That too, my friend, that too." Ne'Tahl laughed heartily.
Author's Notes: Please feed the Plot Demons by leaving a review, they serve as inspiration, and they let me know how well or poorly I am doing. I will respond to every signed review!