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Chapter 15 To kiss or to kill

It rained for an eternity or so it seemed to the two young people that were stuck in a cave on an alien world. In reality it had only been four days, but it was long enough for them to get quite bored and hungry. They had run out of food on the third day. Orion was feeling better physically. He had spent a lot of time in a healing trance, hoping it would speed up his recovery. His shoulder still bothered him, but it was healing nicely. His energy was climbing back up, now that his blood supply had replenished itself. But that would soon change if they didn't do something about the food situation.

He looked at his mate. Warwyn was still going through the random changes of Micurii'an puberty. This morning it had woken up with a very female lower body and a very masculine upper body. It made for an odd mix, though Orion found himself getting rather breathless when he thought about it. He would love to see Warwyn managing a complete gender change; be it either male or female; he didn't really care. He found them both attractive, which rather surprised him. He had never really given his own preferences much thought. He had always focused on the fact that he had a mate and thus ignored his body's reactions to other people.

He thought about Aimee who he had gone on a date with. The date had been a disaster and he had been terrified the entire time; too terrified to really notice her that way. He supposed he had found her attractive, but she just wasn't his mate. Warwyn on the other hand… he was constantly aware of it. Its presence, its moods, its thoughts, its actions, its appearances. He could sense the changes taking place, the hormones that had started surging. Its behaviour was changing as well. It was beginning to experiment with how the changes influenced them both.

Last night it had made a rather obvious show of removing its clothes for washing. It had undressed slowly and had taken care to emphasize certain bodyparts, like slowly slipping the coverall down exposing it's shoulder or when it came to removing the trouser-part, it put it's foot up on a rocky outcrop and felt it's own leg all the way down as it used both hands to carefully remove the garment. Orion had been completely mesmerized by the show. He couldn't have looked away if his life had depended on it.

Even now he became all hot and bothered just thinking about it. He was in his human form now, having changed back yesterday. Without the solar radiation to feed from, his dragon form would require too much food to fill such a large stomach. He sighed. How could he be thinking about sex when they had other more pressing matters to attend to? He looked to his mate. Warwyn was sitting by the fire weaving something. Or rather trying to. It was difficult to tell what it was supposed to be and Warwyn itself seemed to get frustrated. Indeed, as Orion was watching it suddenly growled and threw the item into the fire. It quickly caught on and burned, sending up gray streams of smoke. Warwyn jumped up and stomped off to the cave entrance and stared glumly at the rain outside.

Orion carefully got up and went over, stood behind it and wrapped his free arm around his mate. His other arm was held securely in a sling to prevent him from jarring his shoulder too much. Warwyn leaned back into him, wordlessly seeking comfort. Orion planted a gentle kiss on its hair and kept silent. After all, what was there to say? The stood together gazing out into the Ravine and the swollen river below.

"We have to go search for food today." He said softly after a long while. Warwyn lowered its head and sighed.

"But it's raining." It mumbled quietly. It really hated the rain. It had grown up in spaceships where it never rained and where you never got wet unless you were taking a bath. 'You never got cold and hungry either.' It shivered and pressed a little closer to the warm body behind it. Orion squeezed it a little tighter.

"I know. But if we don't do it now, we will be too weak to do it later." Warwyn sighed. It knew he was right, but still.

"What about your shoulder?" It felt Orion move his bandaged shoulder experimentally.

"I'll be careful." It sighed and nodded. It knew he was hurting, but it wasn't like they had any choice. Orion let go and went over to their supplies searching for something. When he returned it was with a small folding shovel, some bags and two small packages. He threw one of the small parcels at Warwyn who deftly caught it. Playing virtual ball games in the gym had been one of its favourite pastimes.

"Open it." Orion said as he did the same to his own identical package. It turned out to contain a hooded poncho in see-through plastic. Orion quickly put his on and started gathering the rest of the items, including their small axe and the blaster. When he saw that Warwyn was just standing there staring at him, he dumped his armful of items at their feet, grabbed the poncho, unwrapped it and moments later had Warwyn covered by it. He smilingly brought the hood up, covering Warwyn's semi-long hair, tightened the string pulling it closer around its face and placed a soft kiss on its forehead. Then he bent down and grabbed the items at their feet.

Seeing the armful of stuff that really was too heavy for Orion to be lifting just yet, Warwyn hurriedly snatched some of the heavier items, like the axe and shovel.

"What are these for?" it asked. Orion smiled at it.

"I'm hoping we can find some roots and plants we can eat. Maybe some herbs for seasoning, maybe even for some tea." He was smiling wistfully now. 'Ah, a nice cuppa; that would do nicely just about now.'

"But we don't know what we can eat or not. What if it's poisonous?" Orion looked at it in surprise.

"Of course we know!" Warwyn was looking at him as if he had grown another head. Orion sighed. He really should stop forgetting that Warwyn was ship-born and bred.

"Look. When you were on the ship, didn't you know the dangerous stuff from the safe stuff - without being told?" Warwyn was frowning in incomprehension. "When I was little I would always stay away from my Tad's broom cupboard, because I could sense that it was bad." Warwyn was still looking confused. "I could tell that the chemicals used for cleaning were bad for me, just like I could tell the food in the kitchen wouldn't harm me." Warwyn was showing signs of understanding now.

"Like staying out of the engine room after a hypermengantizide cleaning vent." It mumbled. Orion wasn't entirely sure what it meant, but assumed it was something bad for the health and nodded.

"Yes, it is a survival skill all Saluvians and Micurii'ans have, even as small children. But it means that we can tell which plants are poisonous and which are not. We'll have to experiment with the flavours though." He said and laughed slightly. Warwyn sent him a small smile, still not entirely comfortable with the whole thing, but trusting him enough to go along with it.

"Now come on. We've better get going."

xxXxx

The trek along the bottom of the Ravine was a rather arduous one. The big boulders were slippery with the rain and wet moss and the rocky gravel moved unpredictably under their feet. Sometimes they would get splashed by the water spray from the swollen river that was now showing pools of white water rapids and rushing in a great current along almost two-thirds of the Ravine bottom. The noise of it was deafening.

They walked for maybe half an hour before finally reaching gentler territory. It was at a slight bend in the Ravine. The gravel gave way to proper soil and plants. Tiredly they sank down onto the wet grasses. They were careful to sit on the plastic poncho, so as not to get soaked. It was still raining but it had lessened to a fine drizzle.

Orion stretched out his awareness to their immediate surroundings. He could sense no dangerous life forms near them, aside from a small ground burrowing insect. He sent the warning along to his mate, who sent a warm grateful feeling back. Then he focussed on the plants. He was sitting right next to a brown-gray plant that had his senses tingling with danger. He made sure not to touch it. Beside it was a fragrant blue-green plant with small white flowers. It was safe, but didn't entice him, the way edible plants on Earth did. He kept searching.

He found a great deal of plants that were safe to eat; though some of them would need cooking to be made entirely safe. He was also sure some of the plants had medicinal properties, though he wasn't sufficiently trained to be sure. It was something Xarion and Rea had yet to cover in his training. The thought of his relatives brought him out of the searching trance. He sighed. He really wished they were here. He looked at Warwyn, who was drinking some water out of a bottle they had brought. He was responsible for more than just himself now and the thought was frankly a bit daunting. Warwyn noticed him looking and smiled at him. It handed him the bottle and he drank from it gratefully.

"Will you teach me?" it asked with a small smile. He smiled back. How could he not, when it was looking so cute? It was sitting there in the massively too big poncho, dressed in a coverall that had to have its legs and sleeves rolled up to fit and with bare, dirty feet, because neither of them had been able to create a pair of shoes for it. Transforming objects was a skill they both had yet to master. Life as castaways would have been so much easier if they could just take a stone and alter it into whatever they needed. 'Maybe that can become the next thing to practise in the evenings.' He thought.

"Sure. See this plant?" he pointed to the poisonous one beside him.

xxXxx

They practised for a while. Warwyn quickly caught on and before long they were both laughing with joy at sharing the experience. Orion couldn't be prouder of his little mate and Warwyn was just so utterly pleased with mastering this new skill, that it threw itself into Orion's arms and hugged him; knocking him over in the process. Orion was too surprised to take notice of the twinge of pain in his shoulder, as he suddenly found himself pressed into the ground with his rambunctious mate on top of him.

Warwyn squealed with joy and hugged him close and Orion laughed heartily. He could feel the lithe body on top of him, holding his free arm tightly around it. Unwillingly he felt himself get aroused and his body responded… down there. Warwyn felt it too and it stopped moving instantly. Their eyes met, locking onto one another, unable to look away. Their breathing was become breathless and Warwyn was soon sporting a furious blush. Neither spoke, not daring to break the spell they were under. Gathering all his courage Orion slowly pulled Warwyn down to meet him in a warm, moist kiss.

Warwyn seemed to melt into him; all thoughts of pubescent awkwardness forgotten, as the kiss brought them together. Their bond came alive and seemed to sing with untold joy as they took this first tentative step toward completion. Neither of them noticed the rain soaking them, or the bug crawling on one of their legs. It was as if the world and all their troubles had vanished and left only their newfound attraction and love for each other. Eventually though they had to return to reality and some much needed air.

Gasping they broke the kiss and Warwyn rested its forehead on Orion's. Before either could speak, they heard a fierce grunting and rustling in the brushes. Orion rapidly rolled them over, bringing Warwyn below him and in one quick move transformed into a lion. He stood over Warwyn's smaller body and growled deeply in his throat at the menace that dared interrupt him and his mate. Warwyn remained were it was, sensing through the bond that Orion wanted it to stay there. Wide eyed it looked up at the large form its mate had taken. It had never before seen a cat of any kind, but was most impressed. It could see the strong muscles of the front legs and the chest - and the form practically oozed power and dominance. Warwyn was hard put not to reach out and touch the soft looking fur, but it didn't want to distract its Ziwa, as he was busy defending them both.

Orion was staring at the shrubbery. He could sense there was a threat in there. A creature about the size of a medium sized dog. It was making growling noises at them. Then suddenly without warning it burst forth and charged at them. Orion registered the mouth full of razor sharp teeth and the strange way the mouth seemed to open. It opened not only horizontally like their own mouths did, but also vertically. More importantly though was that all those teeth were aimed straight at his mate. Orion roared a mighty lion's roar and charged the beast.

They clashed violently. The brute force behind his attack caused them to roll along the ground. Orion bit down hard on the first part of his opponent that he could get to, which turned out to be the side of the neck. It screamed in furious pain. He grabbed it with his front paws and sunk his claws into it and bit down on the neck again, making it howl once again. He then brought up his hind legs and started kicking at the soft underbelly of the beast, making sure his claws were out and ripping. The beast struggled and almost tore free. It was incredibly strong and had claws of its own. It attempted to claw him with its wide paw, but only succeeded in scratching him. Orion growled deeply in his throat, but didn't let go.

The beast snarled furiously and struggled violently to get free. Orion was tiring and becoming desperate. He needed a better hold of the beast. He couldn't choke it with the placement of the bite, but if he let go he would be at the mercy of those many sharp teeth. The beast's claws were doing enough damage to him and he was beginning to feel the strain.

That was when he heard another creature growling nearby. He had a moment of panic, before it was upon them. He caught a sight of some black fur and a muscular arm, when the creature bit down on the back of the beast's neck, right next to Orion's hold. He used the beast's distraction and bit down on the underside of the neck and got a firm choke-hold. The beast intensified its struggles, growling in its throat, until Orion tightened his bite. The beast gasped uselessly for breath and Orion could feel it tiring. Then suddenly the creature above them relinquished its bite and in one swift move it grabbed the beast by the head and broke its neck. It was dead instantly.

The creature withdrew immediately and slumped to the ground panting. Orion slowly rolled the dead beast off him and spat out the small lump of fur and flesh he had in his mouth. He had still been biting on when the beast's neck had been yanked from his hold. He stared guardedly at the creature. It appeared to be a sort of black orangutan with very sharp teeth. Then he recognised it. Warwyn! Every ounce of hostility seeped from him as if it had never been. He bounded over to his mate and started licking its now furry face with his big saw paper like tongue. Then he bumped his head all over it, rubbing his scent all over, marking his mate as his property. Warwyn was laughing loudly, having changed back into its original form again.

"O-o-o-orion s-stop. It tickles." It managed to say through laughs. Orion reluctantly backed off and flopped down on the ground. He noticed one of his many scratches and started licking it clean. Warwyn looked at him smiling fondly and then looked over at the dead animal.

"Wow. We really did it." it said sounding awestruck. Orion lifted his head, with his tongue sticking out of his mouth and purred happily.

"You did it. You made the kill." He said telepathically through their bond. Warwyn looked at him with a large smile.

"No, we did it. Together." Orion purred louder.

"Together." He said. Warwyn got up and went over to the animal. They would need to carry it home somehow and figure out how to skin it and carve it. Orion changed back into his human form and went over to it. He put his free arm around Warwyn, kissed it on the temple and said:

"Let's get the plants first. We can figure out what to do with it when we get back to the cave." Warwyn nodded and they set to work. When they had gathered all the plants they could fit in the two bags they had brought, they decided to head back. Orion grabbed the two bags and Jumped, and Warwyn quickly followed him with the beast and their tools.

Once back at the cave they both took time to get cleaned up and dried off. Orion needed to have his shoulder re-bandaged and his many scratches cleaned. After that Warwyn set about sorting the many different plants, putting some of them into plastic containers. It wished they had some baskets for the roots, but it couldn't be helped for now. Orion, meanwhile, was busy dealing with the carcass of their kill. He had no idea what they were going to do with it all. There was way too much meat for them to be able to preserve. They didn't have a freezer, so they couldn't just store it. They didn't have salt either, so that option was out as well. He supposed they could smoke it, but he didn't really know how that worked or what they would need. He suddenly found himself cursing his relatives for never taking him for survival training, though he wasn't quite sure if they taught meat-smoking at such courses.

The carcass was lying on the table Warwyn had made. The metal plaiting had been thoroughly scrubbed before hand and he had several plastic containers ready. He looked at the knife in his hand. 'Ohhh-kay, here goes.' He gingerly cut along the belly of the beast. It already had a lot of gashes from where his claws had ripped into it. Carefully he removed a segment of skin from the stomach area. It came away remarkably easy. Thus encouraged he proceeded to skin the rest of the animal. By now Warwyn had finished sorting the plants and came over to watch.

Orion put the skin aside knowing that it could be cured somehow and become usable. Next he would need to remove the innards, which was not something he was looking forward to. Carefully he used the knife to slice into the animal, taking great care not to puncture the stomach. Once it had been opened he was able to remove all the innards and the intestines. He explained to Warwyn that if they cleaned the intestines they could be used for sausages. Warwyn actually looked sick at the very idea, having never had sausages before. Granted, the intestines didn't look particularly appetizing, as Orion dumped them in a container.

He looked at the carcass in front of him. It was gory work, but it wasn't really as bad as he had feared. He yanked the hip bone out of its socket with a strong twist of his hand and threw the leg down onto the metal plate kept for that purpose. 'Maybe they could hang it over a fire and smoke it that way?' Warwyn swallowed audibly, but said nothing. It took him about half an hour before he had the animal cut into various pieces. The tendons were piled on the table and needed tending to at some point. He knew they could be used for all sorts of things, but wasn't entirely sure of how to go about it. For now he would just leave them.

He instructed Warwyn to put the pot on the fire, while he cut up some of the meat into small cubes. Then he dumped them into the pot along with some of the body fat and told Warwyn to get stirring. Warwyn happily complied. When the meat was fried on the outside, he added water to it and again told Warwyn to stir slowly. He then tied the rest of the meat to a piece of rope and used some of the metal poles to hold them suspended over the fire, like clothes drying on a line. He was rather sceptical if it would work, seeing as the smoke didn't cover the hanging meat entirely. Some of it seemed to be cooking rather than smoking. But it was the best he could do for now. They would definitely not be hunting such large prey again until they had a means of preserving it.

He cleaned up the table by spreading a bit of sand over it to soak up the blood. Then he wiped the sand onto one of Warwyn's failed attempts of mat weaving and used water to scrub the rest clean. After that he cleaned the roots; selecting some for use now and saving the rest for later. He grabbed a few of the purple roots and cut them into slices. The tan roots he cut into small chunks and finally sliced the leek-like plants. He dumped them all into the pot, which was now starting to smell delicious.

Warwyn followed his every move, keen to learn how to cook. Neither of them had spoken of the two major incidents of the day. The kiss and the attack. It was as if neither dared approach the subjects and had settled to just enjoy each others company for now. Orion searched through the plants and located the ones that could be used as herbs. He also found the one he thought might make a nice tea. He chopped the herbs and added them to the pot then set about making two cups of herbal tea for them. Before long he had two steaming cups and handed one to Warwyn. It smiled at him as it accepted the cup and closed its eyes as it inhaled the fragrant scent. Orion smiled at it and took a careful sip of his own tea. It tasted like jasmine and bergamot to him. It was nice.

Warwyn felt like it was in heaven floating around on a happy-cloud. They had food cooking, soon to fill their empty stomachs. They had a roof over their heads to keep away the rain that was coming down hard outside. They were dry and clean and now its wonderful mate had brought it a liquid piece of paradise that brought warmth to its very toes. It opened its eyes to see the very same mate looking at it intensely. It blushed a little, remembering how close they had been and how aroused its mate had been… and the kiss. It smiled blissfully. It was brought out of its reverie by the sound of Orion's chuckle. It blushed again and dropped its gaze; taking another sip of the tea.

Orion got up, walked over to his mate and gently touched its cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb. Then he turned to stir the pot and ensure the food didn't burn. When the food was finally done he served the both of them. They ate in silence, side by side. The food was delicious and they both had seconds. Every now and again there would be a loud thunderclap; the rain was really coming down hard now. As the evening turned to night, Warwyn snuggled up next to Orion, who put his arm around it.

"I like this."

"Me to."

Hope you enjoyed this.

If you haven't read it already: Be sure not to miss my one-shot that takes place between "Then came Janto…" and this story. It's set in the same verse and has the Doctor in it as well.