After walking through the stargate, Saphira gasped when she saw how dark the world the wraith lived on was. The trees were not healthy, but they were still growing and it felt rather cold here. There were other wraith waiting for them, ten masked wraith and another maskless wraith, he seemed to be another commander. He hissed at her as she is pulled alongside the pale blue wraith, she did wonder how she would identify them. She was sure they had names, but humans were not allowed to know. At least, she thought it was the case.
"You found something on your little journey huh?" The wraith asked. Saphira looked over him, he had pale green skin, bright green eyes and long, grey hair, he had a less friendly aura coming from him.
"Yes I did, in fact something the queen should be informed of," The commander responded confidently, smiling at him. "Something that will benefit all wraith."
"And this girl? Is she part of this benefit? A little snack?" The green wraith said, flashing his teeth as he sneered at her.
"Not exactly." The blue wraith gestured to her chest, causing the other wraith's face to falter to a frown. "However, aside from that, there are other issues present that we must bring to the queen."
"Very well," The green wraith said, turning for a moment before slamming his hand into Saphira's chest. Saphira yelped in surprise and pain, the blue wraith himself did not seem surprised, but held onto her arm to not cause her to fall. "Uh! You're right!" He pulled his hand away roughly and stormed away.
Saphira glanced down and noticed that he had drawn blood. She frowned as the commander began pulling her along again. "I hope that you don't mind the bleeding over your floors."
He glanced at her, noticing the bruise growing on her pale skin and the blood seeping from where the green wraith had dug his nails in. "It might be dealt with after talking to the queen. She will be no kinder."
"Thanks for the heads up," Saphira grumbled, dragging her feet on the ground as she walked with him. "I can tell he must have been hoping for you didn't find anything."
"Smart human, you are right," He said with a smirk. "I hope you do not think by having small talk your life will be spared."
She blinked and sighed deeply. "No, I am in the right to satisfy my curiosity, aren't I?"
"Yes, yes you are. Especially since you may not be allowed to live, I wish I could say you would." Saphira looked at him with a questioning look. "Uh…what I meant is that you were telling the truth, and I feel you wouldn't betray us to the humans of the galaxy so you are helping with the project would be fine. But I put my brethren and queens first."
"Oh, I understand. Wraith to the end I suppose, but nice to know I have a wraith friend, no one would ever believe that." Saphira chuckled softly, glancing up as she noticed trees in the distance on a strange mountain. She squints her eyes and realizes it is a ship. "You must have been here a long time for trees to grow on your ship."
"We most certainly have. You know most of us are sleeping, so it is easier to stay on the ground when we do not have manpower. But, you cannot tell anyone in the galaxy that." He glanced at Saphira to see her expression.
She had a thoughtful expression at the moment, the Genii knew the wraith were hibernating and she had not considered the wraith did not know. "The Genii know."
"What?" He questioned with a frown.
She sighed deeply. "The Genii know because they have a device that can position every hive ship on a number of planets, I am not entirely sure on how it was stolen, but it was. And they have worked out you are asleep, which is why that the Genii are taking the opportunity to create explosives. I never would understand why they wouldn't want pilotless ships." She glanced at the commander, she saw he was surprised by this knowledge. "Um…know that is not my fault because I was a child when the Genii managed to get the device."
"I am not mad at you, I am just wondering who allowed the Genii to steal that device and allow them to know this about us," He growled. The growls from the commander did make Saphira somewhat nervous, she hoped this does not put a dent into her case. "The high queen will be told this, it might even help your case."
Saphira was shocked at his response. "It would? I thought…"
"You have little understanding of wraith culture Saphira, I understand you have concerns about getting on our bad side," He interrupts calmly. "You may have learned our language, you are far from understanding us."
Saphira could not help by wonder how amazing it would be to learn about the wraith. She only knew the fear from them, and the idea that the wraith are evil. Her brief observations of them has told her otherwise, yes they were frustrated they could not feed on her as the green wraith had shown, but she has seen they were willing to listen as long as everyone was calm. She knew if she was trying to rush, things would be very different. The wraith's senses were the main reason why things could get out of hand quickly. She glanced up to the ship as they got closer, the green wraith was waiting for them. He was tense and impatient it would seem, his arms were crossed and he was eyeing Saphira off with displeasure. She was not sure how this would go if she was allowed to work with the wraith and if he would still be cold towards her. She wasn't holding it against him, he was likely angry he couldn't feed on her and maybe he was more angry to the wraith who was walking with her and taking it out on her. She was not sure, but it was a conclusion she had come to simply by how he was behaving.
"Did you both have a good chat?" The green wraith sneered venomously. "I hope you are not willingly giving away our knowledge commander."
"I promise that I am not giving away information, Saphira is," The commander responds, gesturing to Saphira with his hand. "The queen will take it from here, do not keep us delayed."
The green wraith was frowning in confusion at what the commander meant. He stepped aside while looking at Saphira with glaring curiosity as she walked past him. Saphira was relieved, she saw the door open into the ship and she saw it was very dark inside. She did wonder why it was the case, and upon stepping inside, goosebumps covered her whole skin as the air inside the ship was colder than the outside of the ship.
"Ooh, it's a tad chilly in here," Saphira comments as her breath faltered slightly due to the shivering.
The commander looked at her and sighed. "I apologise, we do not feel the weather different as much as you do, I did not think it would be cold for you. However, the chill is the least of your concern right now."
Saphira nodded in agreement as she hoped she would warm up soon. Though it would be hard, she was wearing a light dress after all, and it was not exactly meant to be worn in cold environments. Saphira glanced around as she had no actually seen the inside of the hive ship before. The textures of the walls around her intrigued her, it was an organic material and she wondered what exactly made the ships. The darts were similar and she had wondered where the wraith got the material from. She glanced down and noticed the fog at her feet, no wonder people feared the wraith as the ships themselves were creepy. She wasn't intimidated by the ship itself though, yes it was creepy and dark, but it was a very intriguing design that she could not help but want to compliment it. For now, she was brought into a large room where there were several guards standing around and a throne at the end of the room. Sitting on the throne was a pale skinned queen with bright red hair and green eyes, she was glaring at Saphira as the commander brought her in.
"My queen, this is the human I had discovered on the planet I had asked to explore," The commander explains without giving a single glance to Saphira. "It was discovered she was attempting to modify a dart on the abandoned world so it could be controlled remotely without a pilot inside. And she has willingly divulged the information freely."
"Hmm…" The queen hummed, rubbing her chin as she looked over Saphira. "It seems attempts of feeding has been made, is that correct?" The commander nods affirmatively. "And by chance, a human who is attempting to make such a weapon is immune to our feeding. Why did you try to build a pilotless fighter from our dart human?"
The sharpness of the queen's voice made Saphira flinch, but she did not back away. "It was not my intention to use it against you, I originally come from the Genii and they had banished me from their civilisation when they decided it was too risky to try and build pilotless ships to defend against wraith. The rest of the galaxy seemed to agree, aside from a few who saw what could have been built. Unfortunately, humans tend to be scared of something that doesn't exist and move away from it."
Standing up from her throne, the queen walked towards her and the commander lets go of Saphira's arm. "Kneel!" The queen hissed. Saphira got on her knees obediently, swallowing nervously as she did so. She tensed as she felt the queen's presence in her mind and her finger gently rubbing her cheek. "Why do you want us to know this?"
Saphira was not sure how to respond as the presence of the queen in her mind was a bit overwhelming, but she managed to speak out through a forced voice. "I suppose it's vengeance, I do not care if you use my creation against the others of the galaxy. They hurt me, shunned me, threw me out and, as far as I am concerned, the enemy of my enemy is my friend."
The queen chuckled, showing off her teeth at Saphira as she was amused by the last sentence she had given. "An honest response, I like honesty. And if I am not mistaken, the commander has informed me you wish to work with us to create these ships along with any future ideas you may have. Why?"
"I am not totally sure on the answer myself, I feel part of it is because I am immune to your feeding, but I think someone has to stop seeing you as monsters." Saphira shrugged, glancing away for a moment before looking back at the queen's eyes. "I understand you have human worshippers, but I will not be like them. I would rather work for you, and give hints about human worlds, and maybe spy on them a bit for you as well."
The queen was silent for a few minutes, Saphira suspected that she was searching for dishonesty, though she hoped that she would not be perceived to be a liar. "It seems you tell the truth. And you told the commander here that the Genii have stolen knowledge from us and know about our hibernation correct?"
"Yes, I cannot tell you how or when, only that it happened when I was a child," Saphira responded, breathing deeply as she slowly got used to the queen being in her mind.
"It seems you might just be useful, however I need to be sure you are immune to everyone," The queen said, moving her hand to Saphira's chest. "I already see you have bruises, but it will not stop me from feeding."
Saphira understood and the queen flatten her palm. She waited, and again nothing, she could feel the gland of the palm trying to feed from her, but nothing happened. She wasn't sure what to call that part of the hand anyway. The queen lifts her hand away, glancing at Saphira's chest and turned away, crossing her arms from a moment. Saphira was not sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing, she remained kneeled for the time being as the queen considered a few things.
She sighed deeply and turned to look at the commander. "Take her to a cell, I will make contact with the high queen about this. A decision will be made by a vote, and hopefully in a few days." She looked at Saphira with a small smile. "If I were high queen, I probably would allow you to work with us. But know not every wraith will have the same opinion as me."
Saphira smiled politely and bowed her head at her. "Thank you, I also am discovering you are not as fierce as you make yourselves to be."
The queen chuckled gently. "Do not kid yourself human, there are hives crueller than we are. Commander, make sure she gets there."
"Yes my queen," The commander responded with a bow, he grabbed Saphira's arm to stand her up. "Come Saphira, we best get moving."
"Saphira is it?" The queen said as the commander and Saphira were about to walk away. "That is a nice name. You do not have blue eyes, but the green is beautiful on you."
Saphira blinked, placing her fingers underneath her left in confusion. "Um…thanks." She was surprised by the sudden compliment, and so was the commander. "Do you have names?"
"We do, but until we talk to the high queen and the other hives, it is forbidden for humans to know our true names," The queen said as she walked to her throne to side and gestured to a guard to bring a console over. "Now please, leave so I can make contact with the high queen, or I may make you my lunch today commander."
Startled by the threat, Saphira and the commander left the throne room quickly. Saphira was still shivering as she walked with the blue wraith and he seemed to be pleased with the progress. She was not sure if she should feel confident or not.
"Can I call you something until I know your true name?" Saphira asked curiously.
"Huh? Why?" The wraith responds quickly with a confused frown.
"How am I supposed to get your attention if I don't give you a name?"
"Just call me commander Saphira, the other wraith you met is the junior commander. He is second in charge, and often trying to take my position. Which is the reason why he was angry at us when we arrived through the stargate." The wraith chuckled as he thought back to earlier today. "I like the competition, but it would be nice to do something without it being a competition."
"And the queen allows it?" Saphira questions curiously.
"Of course, maskless wraith compete for commander positions all the time, unless they are scientists or healers," The commander said with a chuckle.
"Healers? Are they to heal humans? You have regenerative abilities, so that knowledge surprises me." Saphira did think it was the case since they had human worshippers, so a healer was likely needed.
"Yes and no, there are some injuries our abilities cannot heal us from, it is rare and the healers often help scientists as they often deal with biology, genealogy and other organic science."
"How surprising," Saphira said with a smile.
The commander nods before turning right into a hallway that led to a large cell. He opened it and Saphira stepped inside, she noticed there was no bed or way to use the toilet. That was going to be an issue. She heard the door close and she turned around to see the commander start to walk away.
"Wait! Where am I supposed to sleep, or pee for that matter?" Saphira asked loudly, her voice echoed down the hallway.
Stopping, the commander realized she was right and turned to her. "Right, there is a button on the right side of the cell, it's a bit hard to see, but if you press it a toilet will come out from the wall for you. As for sleep, unfortunately none of our cells have a bed."
"Oh…uh, could I at least get a blanket?" Saphira said, folding arms while shivering on the spot. "You said I had to wait until after talking to the queen."
"I did say that, I will see what I can do," The commander said as he turned to leave. "It could be a few days before the high queen responds, so try and get comfortable."
Glancing at the cell, Saphira was not sure how comfortable she could really get. She sighed and walked to the right side and placed her hand on the wall to find the button. It would take a few minutes and she found it, pressing it and jumping back as the wall opened and a toilet slid out from the wall. Well that was at least decent, she could use the bathroom and not pee herself. There wasn't anyway to clean herself after using it though, so that was not exactly pleasant. She sighed and sat down in the corner, pulling her knees to her chest and laying with her back towards the cell bars. It was very chilly and she hoped to get warm soon, and she hoped the commander would bring a blanket as three days may feel like thirty for her in the cell and being warm would be important to her.