After what seemed to be the longest time, he finally began his decent out of the clouds and landed on the ground. It was a clumsy landing, she realized now she was older, looking back, but she now understood why. He limped into a nearby burrow and settled down in the furthest corner. Rin quietly followed him into the dark shadows of their shelter and glanced over her shoulder to watch the last golden rays of their sun sink below the horizon too make room for Tyrius' two moons. It was a soothing and relaxing sight after all the chaos and strife she had seen that day and she took a deep breath of the cool night air. Forgetting her injured wrist she rose on her toes to better see out the hidden burrow. She yelped and gently rolled back on her hind legs and licked the wound that was bleeding again.
"Rin," he weakly called, "come here, and show me your wounds."
She obediently hopped over and extended the injured limb. After gently examining it from all angles, he groaned as he forced himself to his feet and exited the underground burrow. When he returned shortly after, he had several different leaves in his talon, along with a silvery-blue berry. His color was paling and his limp was a bit more severe, but he paid no mind to his injuries. His eldest daughter came first, and if there was time, he came after.
"What are those?" she asked curiously as he sat in front of her and he looked over her injuries again.
"These," he quietly answered as he pulled a large black feather from his wings, "are healing herbs. Surely you'll recognize some of them. This, the takeo herb, to treat swellings. And this," he continued as he examined a large green stem. "the…"
"That's asinolyathin in its plant form," she finished after recognizing the green plant. "It's a… pain medicine, right?" She beamed with pride when he smiled and nodded and she asked as her eyes caught sight of the berry, "What is that?"
"Think of it as a natural anesthetic," he answered. "The smell knocks nearly anything out."
Rin's content look faded away as she realized how bad the wound was. "Are they that serious? It'll hurt that badly?"
He looked like he was trying to extend a wing to envelop her in, but something passed behind his eyes for a second and he was unable to. "I won't lie to you, little one," he sighed. "Yes, it will be painful. But I have taken the proper measures in order to avoid it as much as possible. I don't want you to feel any of it."
He neared her with the berry in his talon but as she began to realize why his voice was the way it was and why he was breathing so hard, she put her talon on top of his and stopped him. "But Vivek, you look worse then I do. Shouldn't I help you before you-"
"No," he sharply interrupted and he closed his eyes to retain his mental and physical pain and frustration. "You are more important. If there is time, then, and only then, will the time be mine."
"But Vivek," she whined pitifully, trying to get him to bend, but his expression was a stern one, "you're bleeding!"
Sure enough, one of his sides was swollen and lumpy and silvery. "Please, let me help-"
There was a small pop and he ran his finger down between her nostrils. Rin stared at him with a confused look on her face and as her eyes panned down, she saw the busted berry in one of his open talons. Her eyesight got a little fuzzy and her surroundings were getting darker but she fought it. She tried to remain standing still but she was a little wobbly. The chick opened her little beak to say something but nothing came out and she fell into the dirt, merely sleeping.
Kirk looked back to his old furry friend with a look of sympathy and asked, "There's more, isn't there?"
He had never seen the expression on her face before. It was nearly impossible to read. It reminded him of one of Spock's emotionless expressions, but underneath it was an erupting volcano of emotion. She struggled to keep her mask as she painfully whispered, "Of course there's more."
Things were fuzzy once more but they were getting brighter by the second. Her head was spinning severely and she blinked a few times and groaned. Rin suddenly remembered about her injuries and she felt her neck. A feather had been placed over the small hole to help it heal faster and she smirked as she realized it was one of her father's. She moved her wrist slowly and smiled when it did not hurt too badly.
"Vivek," she quietly called and she scanned their dark shelter. She could barely make him out lying in the corner opposite her and she quietly crawled over to him. "Vivek, are you sleeping?" Rin got closer to him and gently nudged his side wither beak.
He yelped loudly and slid away and he muttered, "I was."
Rin's eyes narrowed at the pool of blood he had been lying in and she shot him a look. "You're not alright! What's wrong with you Vivek?" Her young voice had taken on a worried tone now and had backed away from the shallow puddle.
"It isn't important, what is wrong with me," he said coolly as he gently rested himself on the ground again.
She sent him a cold look and growled, "Your ribs look cracked and some broken, and it sounds as though one of your lungs has been punctured. Don't tell me it's not important! Your wounds need to be treated! You could d… di…" She couldn't bear to choke out the last word and she hung her head.
He watched her with sadness welling up in his being and though it caused him great pain, he reached wing out and wrapped it around her and groaned, "No matter the outcome, always keep fighting, even if the ending is inevitable. Our species had the hardest time adapting to the changes in this universe, and if they had quit and chose to die in captivity, we wouldn't be here today. Never quit, for there are no excused for such a thing."
Rin drank in her words slowly and looked down. "But… but I haven't yet given up. Why won't you allow me to help you?"
He couched and spat out the little blood that came up and he wheezed, "My injuries are too severe for you, youngling. As you said, I do have cracked ribs and one is completely broken and it put a hole in one of my lungs. It will take an extremely knowledgeable medic to treat me. In time, you too will be well learned in the medical field."
She growled at him. "Then let's go find someone who knows how to treat you!"
"After all that has happened, all who were not slaughtered have gone into hiding. It would be unwise to search for them." He turned one of his ears to the entrance of the burrow and listened.
"But if we send one of those telepathic messages," Rin argued, "maybe one could come. Please, let me try-"
"No!" he silenced her and he glanced out through the opening again. "Be silent."
"Vivek, please!"
"Rinsaku Hiroshi!" He glared her down and hissed, "Be silent. I command it." His voice was filled with not anger, as she had expected, but fear. The expression on his face was one of nervousness and it frightened her greatly.
She hung her head and pressed her ears flat against her skull. Now that she had grown silent, she could make out the quiet sounds of someone, or something, moving around outside.
"I think I heard something over there," a deep Klingon voice said barely loud enough to carry into the burrow.
They were slowly coming closer and with every step Rin grew more nervous. She was beginning to tremble in her corner of the little burrow with her wings over her face and she was fighting the urge to call for help.
Her father had hidden himself in the shadows with a clear view out of the entryway.
"There's a burrow here," one said and they stopped, just a foot or so from the hold. "Go in and see if it's inhabited."
The other hesitated for a brief moment and slowly walked into the burrow. Rin made no noise as he moved around the small opening and he sighed as he could see nothing. "There's nothing down here," he called and he began to make his way out again.
Just before he made it though, he tripped over the adult Aurelian's thick tail and groaned in discomfort as he fell to the ground. Before he could call out again, Rin's father moved from the shadows and pinched a nerve in the Klingon's large neck. A second later he was unconscious and soundless.
"Telok! What has happened?" the Klingon above ground shouted excitedly and he peered into the hole.
"All is well." He imitated the sleeping Klingon's voice with surprising accuracy and Rin unwrapped herself fro her wings. "I have fallen and am unable to move. Come assist me."
He hesitantly followed into the burrow, and met the same fate the same fate as his companion. Rin cautiously approached them slowly and poked them with her beak.
"What did you do?" she asked as she remembered the motion and she looked up at him.
"They call it the Vulcan Nerve Pinch," he answered. "A Vulcan friend of mine by the name of Sarek taught it to me many years ago. Memorize the technique and use it, but only if forced to. It is an effective maneuver."
"I will," she promised and she glanced down at the aliens again. "Funny creatures, these… Klingons," she muttered and she made a face at the smell they carried. "Laqueta was right. They do smell like a thousand rotting corpses."
"Everything has its purpose, Rin," he told her. "From the Andorian, to the Vulcan, and even to the lowliest Human, all have a purpose. Just be careful who you interact with. Not all are as forgiving as we."
She nodded understandingly and then quietly asked, "Even the humans have a use?"
He stared at her with a blank expression and repeated, "Even the humans. Don't look down to them, Rin. They deserve more credit then what the universe grants them. They are a caring race, and they place family nearly as high as we do. They have come a long way, since their beginning. In order to gain respect, you must first give it. Understand?"
Rin stared at him in almost a confused way, but nodded. "Yes sir."
