INTSTM 8

As soon as she had the pool of water heated to a comfortable temperature, R'ka-thwei stopped adding heated rocks to it. She carefully lifted the small female and sat down in the pool with the female in a sitting position in her lap. As soon as the ooman's body was placed in the hot water, the small female released a long and loud hiss, while going completely stiff at the same time. She'd heard the previous sounds that had been made by the ooman, and though she had no idea what their meaning was, she was sure that they weren't sounds of discomfort. This sound, on the other hand, was much like something she would have made in response to pain. Looking down at the female whose head was against her right arm, she saw that the face was contorted by the muscles beneath the skin. That was when she realized that the water might be too hot for the ooman, and she started to stand up to get the ooman out.

As soon as she felt herself being lifted out of the water, Jennifer reacted. "No! No, the water's hot, but I'll get used to it. It'll just take me a few minutes." She said quickly while shaking her head, and putting her right hand on the alien's shoulder to get her to stop what she was doing.

R'ka-thwei froze in mid move when the female appeared to protest. Although she had no idea what the ooman was saying, there was no mistaking the intent behind the negative shake of her head, and the single finger of the ooman's left hand pointing down at the water in a motion that said to go that way. Lowering herself back down, she kept a sharp eye on the ooman, both out of curiosity and concern. More hissing noises were made by the ooman as she eased herself and the ooman in her arms back into the water. She would have stopped when she heard that hiss, except for the emphatically nodding head and the left hand pointing repeatedly at the water. Once she was seated and the level of the water reached her elbows, the ooman took a few deep breaths and released them slowly.

Suddenly, she realized exactly why the ooman was acting this way! The water must be just hot enough to be uncomfortable, but not something that couldn't be adjusted to. She remembered reacting the same way to some of the heated healing baths before her exile. R'ka-thwei flexed her mandibles in a light smile as she realized what the ooman was doing. In spite of the obvious physical differences between them, it somehow made the ooman female seem more…Yautja in her mind.

As she began to get used to the very hot water of the bath, Jennifer began to use her right hand to wipe away the dried blood from her stomach. That was when she felt the newly added scar going down the center of her abdomen. Shock and disbelief warred with concern as she jumped out of the alien's arms and stood up to better examine her body.

The moment she jumped from the alien's arms, she plunged into the water that was just over her head. The sudden exposure to the intense heat that was now blasting at her face caused her to lunge for the side of the pool. An instinctive reaction, Jennifer didn't even pause to think or consider her actions as she propelled herself out of the water and propped herself on the edge of the pool. She used both hands to wipe the water and wet hair out of her eyes, before she looked once more at her stomach. She was more than a little concerned by the newly formed and mostly healed scar tissue that met her gaze, and she looked up at the alien woman in confusion, knowing that an explanation wasn't likely, but still hoping for one anyway.

R'ka-thwei had been startled by just how fast the ooman female had reacted, both in leaving her arms, and in getting out of the pool. She watched as the female began to inspect her body, and examined the still healing scar on her stomach closely. When the female looked up at her, she didn't need to know how to speak, or even understand the ooman language to know that the ooman wanted some kind of explanation. She thought carefully about what she could do to let this ooman know that she had been severely injured, when she got an idea.

R'ka-thwei held her right hand up with her fingers spread in a signal to stop. Then she got out of the pool and moved towards the flap of leather that covered the entrance to the bathing chamber. Poking her head out she saw that the main cave was empty, and that the top layer of fur was gone from her sleeping nest. She assumed that the male was outside cleaning it, so she grabbed an injector filled with healing serum, and ducked back into the bathing chamber. She sat down facing the ooman, and held up the injector, intending to demonstrate how the serum inside worked. She didn't get the chance. R'ka-thwei watched in disbelief as the ooman female began backing away from her with wide eyes and a sharp acrid scent of fear emanating from her, while staring at the injector.

"Oh no! Hell no! You just keep that damned monster away from me!" Jennifer exclaimed in a near shout when her back was against the wall of the cave. The strange glowing blue fluid in the weird syringe was bad enough, but that needle? That was a different story altogether! She'd seen needles that were used on horses and cattle, and this thing positively dwarfed those! About four inches long and as thick as a sixteen penny nail, there was no way that she was going to let this alien stick her with that monstrous thing!

R'ka-thwei tilted her head and looked at the female steadily to make sure that she had the ooman's attention. Once she was certain that the female wasn't looking anywhere else, she slowly and deliberately used the claw on the tip of her left index finger to create a small puncture wound in her right arm. She could see that the ooman was watching in a strange sort of fascination, just as she would have done if made to watch another wound themselves for no apparent reason. But R'ka-thwei had a reason! After making sure that the female saw the wound and that it was deep, she grabbed the injector and allowed a few small drops of healing serum to visibly land on the wound. Instantly, there was the deep burning sensation that accompanied the function of the serum, and within moments the wound was nearly completely healed with only a fresh scar to show that it had ever existed.

Moving closer to the ooman, she laid the injector down and slowly reached out to take the ooman's right arm in her hand. Then she slowly and deliberately moved the claw of her right index finger to place the tip against the ooman's skin. She watched the female's face closely, and quickly plunged her claw partway into the ooman's arm, before withdrawing it. Then, without letting go of the rather fragile arm in the grasp of her left hand, she picked up the injector and allowed a few drops to land on the wound.

R'ka-thwei flared her cranial tendrils in response to the female's reaction. The ooman's body tensed up, her teeth bared, and she hissed almost angrily as she stared at her arm. Within a brief moment the female was shaking tensely, and appeared almost ready to attack. But then the female began to gradually calm down, and she saw that she could soon try to show this female through hand signals just how gravely she had been injured.

Jennifer sat in the pool of water that was still quite hot and eyed the alien warily. She wasn't completely certain that she had truly understood what the alien woman had tried to show her, but if what she did understand was even partially true, then she must have been very close to death. Every time she took a look at the small scar that was no larger than a cigarette burn would be, she couldn't help but remember how her arm had felt just a short time earlier. It had been a pain filled experience that she most certainly didn't want to repeat. Whatever that medication was… it had felt like molten steel as it entered the small wound in her arm. She was almost sure that the hand signs the alien had made after her arm stopped hurting, indicated that she'd had internal injuries as well as broken bones. As much as she didn't want to believe any of it, Jennifer couldn't deny just how fast that painful crud had healed the puncture in both her arm, and that of the alien.

Jennifer looked again at the small newly formed scar on her arm, and knew that if this alien woman hadn't done the same thing to herself first, that there was no way she would have allowed such a thing to be done to her. There were a lot of questions that she wanted to ask, but the language barrier made that impossible. So the only thing she could do now would be to try to make the best of the situation. After her arm had healed, the alien had gestured to the pool of water once more, and Jennifer hesitantly got back in to clean herself up.

After she had gotten the drying blood off of her, the alien had gotten a couple lengths of leather cord, and used them in an odd fashion to get some measurements of her body. The alien was now messing with several pieces of hide to make some things. Jennifer didn't really pay any attention to that, because the grim reality of her situation had finally struck her.

She had no clue as to exactly how it had occurred, but she was positive that the process of getting her to this alien world had not been instantaneous. Therefore, she knew that as far as the United States Government was concerned, she was now AWOL with a Top Secret prototype, and would most certainly be charged with High Treason, Espionage, and grand theft, not to mention being labeled as a traitor to her country for all time. And all of it had happened for reasons that she couldn't explain or even get any answers to.

Loyal, and faithful to a fault, Jennifer had always put her service to her country before her personal life. That had been one of the primary causes of her breakup with her girlfriend two months prior, and her boyfriend had dumped her at about the same time, because he claimed that he didn't want someone with a gaping hole caused by being fisted by a lesbian. He had been exceptionally cruel when he'd said that and many other things, and it had hurt far more than she had intended to let on. Then, with no one at home to share her life with, she had begun to pour herself into her duties with the Corps. Loyalty, Honor, and Respect were more than just words among those who served in the Marines; they were the very principles that comprised a way of life. Even with the "don't ask, don't tell" policy, it was a philosophy which had allowed her to keep herself together, when her personal life had gone straight to hell. Now, she didn't even have the friendship, camaraderie, or companionship provided by her fellow Marines to rely on. Instead, she was stuck on an alien world, with a pair of aliens that she couldn't really understand, and would even be considered a traitor if she ever did make it back to Earth. After all, what was she going to tell her superiors? That she'd been abducted by aliens, and taken to another world? Yeah… that would be as believable as claiming to be the Easter Bunny, or Santa Claus. All of these thoughts combined, made her realize that she could never go back to Earth again.

'I guess I might as well try to make the best of this.' Jennifer thought sadly with tears forming in her eyes as she realized that the life she'd had was now truly gone. Not wanting to be seen crying over circumstances beyond her control, she slid beneath the water and scrubbed at her hair for a moment before surfacing again. She stared blankly at the surface of the water almost unseeing while in a state of near shock. She idly noticed that the alien woman used a pair of tongs to add another couple of small boulders the size of Jennifer's head to the water to maintain the level of heat in the pool, before going back to whatever she was making.

A short time later, the alien motioned for her to come over to where she was sitting, while making some odd words that almost sounded more growled than actually spoken. Deciding that this would be a perfect time for at least one introduction, Jennifer pointed to herself and stated her name.

"Dedidurrr…" The alien said before quickly shaking her head in the negative, and Jennifer was struck by how universal such an act seemed to be.

"Jedifurrr…"

Shaking her head 'no', Jennifer stated her name again, this time a little more slowly and carefully. "Jen-ni-fer!"

"Jennifurrr…"

Although it still wasn't quite right, it was close enough to be easily recognized as her name, and she decided that she could teach them at least one nick name later. Pointing her open hand at the alien woman, she lifted her eyebrows in silent questioning.

R'ka-thwei tilted her head in intense curiosity as the ooman female made one part of her face rise in relation to the rest of it. She had no idea how the female had managed such a thing, nor did she have the slightest idea what it might mean. The extended hand, on the other claw, was a fairly obvious sign that the female wanted her to state her own name.

"R'ka-thwei."

"Rock-all-the-way."

The ooman female then said something else that she couldn't hope to make sense of. The ooman had a very strange expression on her face and the subtle shaking of the female's head told her that the female knew that she hadn't gotten it right. Snorting in slight amusement, she tried again.

"R'ck-ah The-way…"

R'ka-thwei shook her head, and gestured in a 'come here' motion for the female to try again.

"R'ka The-way…"

R'ka-thwei huffed to keep from laughing at the female's efforts. She knew that the female was indeed trying to say her name properly, but it just wasn't coming out right. It was much the same when she tried to say the ooman's name. She knew that her own effort had not been entirely correct, but the female had been willing to accept the effort anyway, and all without taking offense. Suddenly the female began speaking again, while pointing at herself.

"Jennifer Allison Greer. Jenny. Jen. JAG."

R'ka-thwei flexed her mandibles in disgust as she shook her head. There was no way that she was going to be able to pronounce that mouthful!

Then the female started repeating each word while holding up a finger for each sound. The first word was three sounds and fingers; the second word was also three, and so on. Then the female made the first three words again, while emphasizing the first sound of each. Then she made the first sounds of each word and held up a finger for those sounds. When the female put those three sounds together, R'ka-thwei suddenly understood what the female was doing! The ooman was trying to show her several versions of a shorter name that she might be able to pronounce! She thought about the sounds carefully before she made her attempt.

"Jen... JAG..."

The female slapped her hands together in a way that resulted in a fairly loud noise, and bared her teeth in a way that was much like a challenge. What threw her off though, and made her think that this strange response wasn't a challenge was the nodding of the female's head, and the number of other words that was being said by the female.

"Yes! That's it! You got it. Jen or JAG. Either one works just fine with me, since I've been called by both; so I'm used to it." Jennifer exclaimed excitedly.

Then, Jen did that strange thing with her face again, by making part of it go higher, and took a deep breath before gesturing at her. Deciding that since this ooman female had honored her by allowing the use of a much shorter, and therefore more personal, familiar, and intimate version of her name, she could not, in honor, do otherwise.

"R'ka."

"R'ka…"

"Sei! Ngyot." R'ka replied when Jen or JAG said the first part of her name correctly. She was sure that it couldn't have been any easier for the ooman to speak her name than had been for her to say the ooman's name. But now, at least, they could call each other by a name that would be recognized, and that was an important beginning. Another important beginning would be when she gave the female the clothing she had made to replace that which she'd had to damage while tending to the female's injuries. She picked up the apparel and handed it to her new companion.

Jennifer accepted the small pile of leather and shook it out to examine it. What she found was a strange bikini top, a thong style panty, and a loincloth. Each of the articles of clothing were the same kinds of things that R'ka had been wearing when she'd been carried in here. What was really weird though, was how the stuff felt in her hands.

'This is even softer than top quality silk!' She realized in amazement. She quickly stood up; because she just had to try to stuff on to make sure that it would fit. There was no elastic band for the thong style panties, but there were small strips of cord at each hip so that it could be tied on in a way similar to some of the swimsuits that she'd often worn to a beach. The top was almost exactly like that of a bikini top, except that there were no strings to go around her neck. The loincloth was what she had a little trouble with, but R'ka was nice enough to show her how to put that on, and how to position it. Unable to suppress her reaction, Jennifer lunged forward and gave the giant alien woman a brief hug of gratitude.

"Thank you! These are very nice, and incredibly soft. Thank you, I really like it." Jennifer said with a smile as she nodded her head.

Once again, R'ka was very confused by the ooman's actions. The bared teeth once again seemed like it might be a challenge of some kind. And the way that the ooman had wrapped those arms around her had seemed like a prelude to a fight or at least some type of hostile action. But then there was the way that those actions had been very brief, and the nodding of approval that accompanied more words, with her teeth still bared. She wasn't sure if that was a challenge or not, but she flared the tendrils on the sides and back of her head to let the female know that a challenge would not be tolerated!

Jennifer stared in slight confusion when those dreadlock looking things seemed to puff out a little. She could see that they weren't actually hair, so what were they, and how had the alien done that?

"Do that again!" She exclaimed quickly, as she used her hands to mimic the flaring motion made by the alien.

Now R'ka really was confused! This female seemed to want her to repeat the flaring of her tendrils in a way that comprised a direct threat. Her lower mandibles began to twitch from the stress of dealing with this strange female as she did what the ooman seemed to be asking. Instead of responding to the visual challenge with aggression as expected, Jen seemed to be moving closer while apparently completely focused on her tendrils for a better look at what she was doing. R'ka leaned back slightly so she could keep an eye on this strange female named 'Jen'.

Jennifer didn't realize just how close she'd gotten to the alien, until the woman leaned back a bit. That was when she finally got a good look at who, and more importantly what she had nearly died to rescue.

The alien woman in front of her was immensely huge, and had to be nearly three times her height. Large, but deep set eyes had a rich golden iris, and the part that was normally white on a human was just as black as the pupil. The rough textured skin of the forehead was also black in color, but had raised areas that were almost the same rich golden color as her eyes. The tentacle looking appendages that took the place of hair were a glistening jet black, reached down to the level of the collarbone, and were decorated with various bands of gold. The general appearance was one that was both radically different, but at the same time, disturbingly similar to that of a human. The real difference though, was that this woman was huge!

The head and face were three times the size of her own, and the breasts…

'Good God! What kind of bra does she use for those things? Those jugs are big enough that they'd need their own time zone!' Jennifer thought in disbelief.

Jennifer's gaze went steadily lower, until her attention was drawn to the hands of the alien woman. Reaching out she grabbed the woman's right hand and pulled it towards her. Her motions were slow, almost cautious, because she clearly remembered being lifted and thrown with a single hand by one that was slightly smaller than the one she was currently looking at. She turned the alien's hand palm up and placed her own along one edge. Then she put her left hand next to her right, before moving her right hand just on the other side of her left. This woman's hand was as large as three of hers!

A closer look at the hand revealed curved claws at the tips of each finger that were about an inch long. The palm of the hand was a slightly lighter shade of color that was a charcoal grey in tone. Leaning forward to look at the skin of the arm, Jennifer saw that the skin wasn't exactly like hers, but had a slight pebble like texture to it.

Suddenly, Jennifer realized that not only was she fully clothed while standing next to an alien, but that she was examining the naked body of that same alien. She flushed with embarrassment as she took a step back. Then, Jennifer held her arms straight out to her sides, and began turning around to show off the fit of the clothing, and by the time she was facing the alien woman again, she was looking down at the clothing that she was wearing.

R'ka stared at the female named Jen in complete disbelief! Never had she been presented with such blatant forms of a challenge to a fight to the death! Even as her anger mounted at the way the ooman female offered the first challenge by spreading her arms to show that she needed no weapons to obtain her victory, the female presented a further challenge and insult by turning her back. It was as if the ooman were saying that she was so insignificant and such an unworthy opponent that she could turn completely away without concern!

Once the female turned back towards her, R'ka was more than ready to fight, but the ooman still wasn't looking at her! Instead, the female appeared to be… admiring the clothing?