Chapter two
First encounters
Al stood in complete shock. The pilot of the alien ship that had crashed and exploded...was a woman. He looked down at the strange female alien, she was big...really big. At a guess Al would have put her at around eight feet tall...more or less. She had long dark purple dreadlocks, her face hidden by a silver mask. As his eyes looked down her body he could see she was wearing some sort of armour, but to him it looked like a metal bikini with a fishnet body suit underneath it. Her skin had an almost tiger striped pattern to it, the strips being the same dark purple as her dreads, but the rest of her skin was a pale tan colour.
Al knelt down next to her as something caught his eye. There was a bright glowing green patch on her side. As he looked closer he could see that it was coming from a wound. A piece of metal bar had stabbed through her and was now sticking out of the unconscious female alien. Al gently touched the piece of metal "That's...your blood...shit...I gotta get you patched up!"
Al got to his feet and ran as fast as he could back to his quad bike. A few minutes later he pulled up near the crash site and ran over to the female. He slowly and cautiously pulled her towards the sledge at the back of his quad bike. Al lay her on it and loosely tied her to it. As he was about to get back on his quad bike it started to snow, he glanced back at the female, he sighed and took his jacket off. As he draped it over her chest he said "I never could resist a damsel in destress!" he then jumped on his quad bike and headed home, all the while thinking "What the hell am I doing?"
As he pulled up outside of his cabin, Al jumped off the quad bike and unhitched the sledge. He dragged the sledge carrying the alien female to his door and kicked it open. Once inside he quickly lit a fire and pulled the sledge in front of it.
He ran to the kitchen and grabbed his first aid kit. As he knelt down next to the female Al sighed "Where to start...removed the metal bar...stitch the wound!" he was talking to himself, as he did from time to time. Al tried as best as he could to remove the metal gently. Once it was out he set about closing the wound. Her skin was tough and Al struggled to stitch it, but he finally got it done, front and back.
Al sat back and sighed "Well at least your not gonna bleed to death now...lets see if anything else needs sorting out?". He crawled on his knees and began to check her over. He started with her legs, everything seemed ok there. Next he checked her arms, her left arm was broken in two places and her left shoulder was dislocated. Al popped her shoulder back in with ease, then he used a set of splints and some bandages to hold her arm. Al finally checked her head, from what he could see there were no head wounds, he was surprised by how soft her dreads were. They felt like soft skin, like warm leather.
After a he made sure everything was ok Al stood up and walked over to his chair. He flopped down and sighed as he rubbed his eyes "Nothing to do now but wait...and hope you wake up..." he looked her up and down again "...still can't believe your a girl...well...i can...but...wow!"
Al sat on his chair watching the alien. Her breathing was slow and steady, almost hypnotic. Al got off his chair and headed to the kitchen. He checked his fridge and grabbed a plate of leftover meat. Next he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He returned to his chair and started eating.
After about an hour of watching the female Al started to drop off. It had been a long, strange day and he was tired. As he closed his eyes the female alien growled as she sat up. Al jumped out of his chair at the sound, his eyes going to the alien.
The two of them just sat there for a moment, staring at each other. Al slowly put his hand up as he moved towards the growling female "Easy now...your ok...your safe." the female went to reach for his throat but then stopped. Her hand reaching down to her side, she felt the stiches and then looked down at her arm.
Al smiled at her "I fixed you up...do you...do you know what I'm saying." The female looked at Al and tilted her head, as if she didn't understand. Al sighed and said "I guess not." he slowly stood up and turned towards the kitchen "Are you hungry." Again, she just looked at him, a clicking sound coming from her.
Al sighed again "This is gonna be a long night...I wish you could understand what I'm saying." as he turned to walk to the bathroom a husky feminine voice said "Sei-i ooman...I...under...stand you!"
Al spun round in shock "You...you understand me?" the female nodded slightly "Sei-i ooman...I speak ooman...a little." her accent was slightly Japanese sounding, at least, to him it was. Al slowly walked over to her "I'm guessing ooman means...human right?" again she nodded "Sei-i...you are ooman...Sei-i?" Al took another guess that Sei-i mean yes "Last time i checked...so...do you have a name?" The female nodded "Sei-i...my name is Zaragoza'erk Veerat'su...what your name ooman?" Al tried to say her name, but after a few failed attempts he said "How about I just call you Zara...and my name is Al...ummm Alistair Windrix..." Zara trilled softly, saying his name back "Ali'star...I call you Al...Sei-i?" Al nodded at her "Yeah...I guess...so...are you hungry?"
Zara trilled softly and nodded "Sei-i...but...I have not eaten ooman food...it is good?" Al nodded as he picked up what was left of the meat on his plate. He handed her a piece "Yeah...well...I think it is...here try some." Zara took the meat and looked at it, her head tilted to the side "What is...this?" She asked softly, making Al smile slightly "Its what we call venison...it comes from deer's...a type of animal." Zara trilled and placed it on her lap. She slowly reached to the side of her mask and pulled out a cord that was attached to it. A hiss of air sounded out as she pulled another cord out, but then she stopped and looked up at Al "Do not be scared of my...ummm...head...face... It is not what oomans say...nice?" Al sat on his sofa as she spoke.
With her good arm Zara reached up and removed her mask. The face that was under it was unlike anything he had ever seen. Her forehead, for lack of a better word, had the same tiger striped pattern as the rest of her body. Her mouth was strange looking, she had small sharp teeth, two on her top jaw and a line of them on the bottom. On the sides of her face were these...things, they reminded Al of a insect. At the end of these mandibles were long tusks, but the one thing that caught his attention was her eyes. Zara's eyes were a bright purple, with golden flecks. Al looked at her and gave a soft smile, he thought to himself "wow...beautiful eyes." He could have lost himself in her eyes for days...he suddenly realised he was staring at her, he quickly said "I've seen a lot worse...trust me!" Zara gave off that clicking sound again, her head tilted to the side. She then picked up the venison and bit a piece off, she swallowed it and looked at Al, her eyes wide "Ooman food good...Al make this?" to which he nodded "Yeah i cooked it...you like it then?" She gave a fast nod before quickly eating the rest "Sei-i...it is...uuummm not knowing what words...good, very good!" her eyes were lit up, as if the venison was the most amazing thing she had ever tasted.
Al passed Zara the plate "You can finish it if you like...got plenty more in the freezer." She gave a slight purr and continued to eat. Al reached over to his bottle of whiskey and poured himself a glass, all the while Zara not taking her eyes off of him. After downing the whiskey in one go Al looked at her and said "So how come you ended up here...why did you crash?". Zara gulped down a mouth full of the venison and tilted her head "We...my clan...were hunting...ic'jit...bad blood..." Al nodded "Is that like criminals...ummm law breakers?" Zara trilled softly "Sei-i Al...we hunt them...kill them...but one got free...attacked ships core...had to use...uumm not know ooman word for it?" Al smiled "Escape pod?" Zara purred softly "Sei-i...pod...but pod crash."
Al nodded and smiled slightly "Yeah...I was there for that part... So what happens now?" Zara trilled "My clan will come looking...they will rescue me...take me home." Al sighed again "How long will that take?" to which she quickly answered "Don't know."
Al looked down at his watch and saw that it was almost four am, he looked back at Zara and said "Well your welcome to stay here... I'm gonna need to keep an eye on your wounds anyway...its getting late, I should really be getting to bed...its been a long, strange day." Zara tilted her head at him, he was starting to find it cute, and she softly said "Strange...how so?" Al chuckled slightly "Well its not everyday a beautiful alien woman crash lands right in front of ya!" he quickly realized what he had said, but it was to late, she had heard it. As he turned to walk away she repeated the word "Beautiful." At that moment Al was thankful she couldn't see his face, a bright crimson red had filled his cheeks as he thought "Real smooth Al...real smooth!".
As Al entered his room Zara got to her feet and walked up to his bedroom door. She gently tapped on it with her claws and said "Good night Ali'star..." He quickly replied "Uuummm yeah good night Zara..." Just like him, at the moment she was thankful he couldn't see her face, her cheeks turning bright red.
Zara turned and walked back to the front room. She was thinking to herself "This ooman is unlike any male I have ever met...kind, strong...and shy...oh Paya...you do work in strange ways!" She then sat herself in front of the fire, while looking around the room...her eyes falling on a picture of Al...for his time in the army. She reached up and grabbed the picture. It showed Al and the rest of his team in full uniform. The date on the frame showed that it was from the start of the war.
Zara looked at the picture and purred slightly. Her mind was full of things she knew she shouldn't be thinking...especially about a ooman male. She was thankful that he had saved her, was happy to be alive but she knew that once her clan arrived, she would be leaving. She placed the picture on the floor next to her as she lay down. Her eyes began to close as she simply lay there looking at him...purring softly.
