I stepped into the water, ignoring the woman behind me in favor of cleansing myself. The liquid smelled of some kind of soap, and yet more of the flowery curtain that seemed to hang over this whole damned planet. It wasn't often I regretted senses well beyond most beings. I preferred space for just that reason, I wasn't constantly bombarded with the smell of rotting corpses or blood, even worse when I could all but taste the difference between that belonging to the unfortunate casualties of conquest and my own brothers and sisters. This was an altogether new reason to dislike being planetside. It was a mix of refreshing, compelling, and tempting I knew I needed a clear head to be able to process. These people would only use that feeling against me. A blade hidden behind the promise of pleasure.

I briefly dunked my head into the water as she stepped in after me, scrubbing at my eyes and face. Letting the blood and ash seep into the water. When I rose to the surface I remembered how tired I was. I had nearly lost an eye, been all but disemboweled, nearly suffocated, and had burned by my own desperate move at survival. It would be hours before I recovered. Days before I could move without discomfort, the phantom pain fading in and out seemingly of it's own will. If this was a battle on a field or in space I could go for days. Here, without the rush of battle to keep me company, the planet seemed determined to tell me to rest. I could only hope that when I did the inevitable attempt was as lackluster as the warriors seemed to be around here.

"It's strange how it only takes a few hours or less for your life to change, isn't it?" I asked, turning back to the girl as she was gingerly making her way towards me, hesitance slowing her approach to a single tenuous step every few seconds. I sat down, my arms taking up either side of a corner to the bath. The casual tone of the words seeming to give her the courage to move. The dress she wore, revealing as it had been, did her no justice. I had met beauty before, but there was something about this one. Water streamed in rivulets down a curvaceous form of darkened orange skin and crimson hair. I followed a droplet as it traveled between full breasts, past her naval, and into the space between her legs.

She didn't quite squirm under my gaze, but I could tell she was uncomfortable. I scared her, but it was interesting to see that for all I observed her, she was watching me as well. Trying to figure me out. Know your enemy, and the battle was half won. One of fathers old lessons.

"It is. I can only hope you take steps so that it doesn't change further." It was worded as an observation, but I knew it to be an offer. I leaned back, a grin on my face. In truth we both already wanted the same thing. At least for now, I wanted knowledge before blood. She expected me to be the one to break any peace. I doubted I would need to be the one to do so. In the meantime If she wanted the peace of mind, I could stand to help.

"Oh? What steps might those be?"

She smiled, finally seeming to catch her balance, kneeling between my legs so we were eye to eye. Sornand'r leaned into me, kissing a jagged red line on my pectoral.

"No killing-" She trailed downward, nipping a space just above my abdomen. "No hurting my family-" A hand danced along the inside of my thigh. "No harming my servants." Kisses trailed their way down my down my stomach, the woman dropping lower…

I smiled.

"I think you'll find I'm a man of my word."

Four hours later.

Sornand'r lay on the cold floor, breasts heaving with exhaustion, against her will a pleasant mixture of pain and satisfaction emanated from between her legs. The stranger was ahead of her, inspecting a now clean uniform with a curious gaze. A servant must have come while they were "distracted."

Sornand'r was far from unfamiliar with sex. In some cultures women never found themselves in another's arms until they were married, in others it was something only the nobility practiced. For Tamaraneans emotion was never to be denied for something so trivial as position. Love was to be cherished, affection lauded. With centuries to live and often only one true spouse it was expected for everyone to explore their desires before they were bound to a single individual. The issue was that this was not affection, or love. It was a transaction, though one she found admittedly more pleasant than she could comfortably admit.

The stranger was attractive, in a way only an alien could be. His build matched and in most cases surpassed any of the warriors she had seen, only coming to par with those who had a particular love for combat. Even beyond that their was an unyielding hardness to him. Every inch of his form seeming to be a rigid and unbreakable metal hidden by the relative softness of his skin. If that body had belonged to anybody else but a being that was all but holding her hostage, she might have appreciated his vigor. As it was shame and anticipation both found their way into her heart.

She hated that the man didn't disgust her. Despised that for all the fear she had of abuse in the forest barely half a day ago, she had still in the end offered herself to him. Feared he had taken advantage of her only to lie about his intentions towards her loved ones. How would she be able to face her father and brothers? Her mother? In the span of a few hours she had gone from the scion of a great house to a whore for an invader. All because he might be strong enough. The only thing she was certain about when it came to the stranger was that he could kill her with ease. That he was confident enough even with a small army surrounding him.

It could have been a bluff, could have been simple madness. But with her life on the line, with her peoples lives on the line... She didn't have a choice. Either he would soon leave, or...

It would have to be taken care of.

"I'll send a servant for food. Father should have arranged for a teacher by now." She turned back to the man, once again using his language, or at least the one he seemed most comfortable with, to communicate. He seemed in deep thought.

"Good. I'll be needing a terminal as well. I assume your people are comfortable with that technology?" At her nod he continued. "Once I've figured out the local writing system I'll manage myself, but for now I need you for that. Don't lie to me about what you see."

Once they had both dressed she guided him outside of the baths, deliberately ignoring the expressions of her servants. She would have the chance to explain herself once the stranger left. Beyond that she could only hope time healed her no doubt rapidly worsening reputation. Ther library was not far from there, it could get them clear of judging eyes and answer the beings request. The rumors would grow worse, but she didn't have to be there to see it happen.

"This way, stranger." She directed, amusing the alien.

"I'd think we're past that. Sornand'r was it? I was named Arhann, in honor of an old friend of my father." She cringed, hating the sound of her name from his mouth. The familiarity was a reminder. She considered ignoring the man, Arhann, gesturing for a servant to leave as they entered what was at one point a sacred place of learning for her family. Past the shame of bringing an invader there, she decided she agreed with the sentiment, regardless of where it came from.

"Stormfire in your tongue. If you have to call me anything, call me that."

"Stormfire. Very well." He gestured to a computer, allowing her to take a seat so he could watch over her shoulder as she continued to betray what her family stood for. "-We'll begin with something simple. I'm going to run through a list of species I know of, and you'll see if their known in these parts of the galaxy." His eyes followed the holographic screen as it came to life in front of her, watching as characters foreign to him where quickly typed into a database. He was quick to describe their base features as well.

"Viltrumite." No direct results, though a number of species of similar names did come up. Each where looked over meticulously for traits he recognized, and each seemed to fail his expectations. She elected not to inform him of any species she knew was close to his own.

"Unopan." Zero results, only one potential alternative that was quickly passed over.

"Ragnar." A name relatively common to Betrassus, but nothing more.

"Sequid." Nothing.

"Vedrian." He was getting annoyed, parsing into names he knew where less and less likely to be in their files.

"Human." At this there was a chime, Arhann leaned over her, looking at the picture of an alien that greatly resembled both their species, his eyes narrowed.

"Pull up a star chart of Earth in relation to Tamaran." Stormfire looked back at Arhann, reading his face. He was familiar with this species? She did as he asked, watching as a rendition of the star maps pulled itself up, showing a world not far from the Vega system. A few days on a modern ship to get there. Arhann's eyes seemed to snap to several different locations, looking on in confusion as they failed to match to his knowledge. Frustration and a dozen other emotions flashed across his face as he double and then triple checked the accuracy.

There was danger to him now. A repressed energy, a halted movement. Stormfire was very, very still as the alien loomed over her. He teeth were bared in a half formed snarl as he looked over a little blue orb populated by a species that had barely achieved space flight. She didn't know if he was angry at them or her or something else. She only relaxed when he eventually managed to speak, a veneer of calm coming over him. One she knew was a lie.

"...Either you are a far better liar than I could ever give you credit for, or I really am far from home." He didn't so much as look away from the hologram as he spoke. A dangerous focus in his eyes.

The sound of a door sliding open took their attention away from the terminal, Sornand'r and Arhann looking over to an elder Tamaranean as he strode inside, holding books of several different levels in his hand. Sornand'r recognized him immediately, a smile coming over her face.

"Apologies. It took time to gather the materials necessary to educate someone not of our race in Tamaranean." Hallon bowed his head lightly to Arhann, but his eyes where on her. He was been one her educators over forty years ago. A friend of the family, and an agent of her father. The alien that had come to her world stepped forward, looking her teacher over. The old veteran met his gaze with the same air of inspection. Arhann grinned. New motivation seemed to fill him as he stepped forward, and he looked back to the star chart still active on the computer she had used.

When his gaze returned to Hallon his words surprised both teacher and student alike.

"Teach me talk, Tamaranean. Word and speak."

Elsewhere, a deal was being brokered, and a general was summoned. An invader had come to Tamaran.