Yaviks woke up, slowly opening his groggy blue eyes and looking up at the dark gray stone ceiling. The lights slowly came on within a rectangular frame attached to the top edge of the ceiling. The frame was largely the dark wood of the Ramosus tree, but clever plastic work repaired the gashes and splinters where the frame had broken over time.
Yaviks shielded his eyes from the growing light with one arm and draped the other over the side of the bed. His eyes adjusted to the light, he moved his hand up the bed frame and felt the symbols carved into the light-colored Convish wood, tracing each symbol within reach; the symbol of the maker of the bed frame, along with the symbols of the materials used, how much of said materials had been used and where they were obtained. Inside of the bed frame was a large mattress, made from several white fibers woven together. The inside of the mattress had been stuffed full of soft and spongy green lichen that grew on the mountainside, or in small crevices and caves. He never needed a blanket when he slept. The gray fur covering his body provided plenty of warmth, all 4 inches of the silky thick hair protecting him from the cold. He turned to his left to wake up Kelvi, a sleek and smooth white furred Eliksni, with a beautiful and soft face, small but cute looking mandibles, spectral blue eyes that shined like the stars in the dark night sky and a slender and curved body, with her shoulders and hips much smoother and smaller than his. She was a defining example of Eliksni beauty. He knew exactly what she looked like in his mind. He was dedicated to his mate like that, and she was dedicated to him as well. She wasn't lying there next to him though. His mandibles vibrated against each other slightly, blinking his eyes as he vibrated them, an indicator of happiness for eliksni. He knew exactly where she had gone.
He lifted his head forward, moving his body up so he was sitting on the bed, with his legs stretched out in front of him on the bed. He put his lower right hand on the edge of the bed, swinging his body over so his legs were facing the right side of the bed, lowering his knees down and putting his feet on the cold stone floor of the floor. Their home was divided into several different chambers. Bedroom, Kitchen, Living room, and Nursery. The bedroom was the smallest, with the whole room only 8 steps wide and 7 steps long. Steps were one of the measurements for Eliksni. One step was the size of an eliksni's foot. And almost all Eliksni had an almost identical foot size. At least when it came to age. A 50 year old Eliksni would obviously have larger feet than a 2 year old Eliksni. The elders of the village would be the ones who measured everything. These highly respected elders were usually around 150 years of age and had seen life over that vast amount of time change, minutely and en mass. They offered their wisdom to those who sought it, including measurements.
He got his lower arms and put both on the bed next to his hips, pushing himself off of the tightly woven white mattress and standing up on his feet. The bedroom didn't have any doors, the only way into the room was a large oval shaped hole in the wall in front of the bed, which led into the living room. On the left side of the living room was the kitchen, and on the right side was the nursery, which was still freshly carved out of the thick mountain rock. He turned to his left, walking forward and over to the exit of the bedroom. The ceiling wasn't very high, all he'd need to do was jump and he'd hit his head. His bright glowing eyes shined in the darkness, letting him look around and know where he was going. He lifted a foot up, stepping through the oval shaped hole, before pulling himself through.
The living room wasn't too unique. It was a large circular room, with a ceiling slightly higher than the bedroom. He could jump without bumping his head here but did not unless he had good reason to. In the room was a large wooden table in the corner directly to the left as he walked out of the bedroom made out of more polished wood known as "Chelcidetra" or wood of the Chelci. Chelci meant stone in the Eliksni language. The wood was hard and firm, expensive because of the time and effort it took to mine and transport the material. The Chelci trees grew around the lower parts of the mountain, which were nowhere near as cold and windy as the summit, in harsh conditions. The table had two chairs, both made of the same material as the table with the backs of the chairs cut squarely. The legs of the chair were circular, like wooden poles. Both of the chairs belonged to him and Kelvi. The other chair was different. Much smaller, much smoother, with a large cushion of woven fiber on the seat, the arms of the chair and back of the chair. Several small straps were on the arms and the back of the seat.
Kelvi had gone crazy with the baby equipment. Ever since she had given birth to their precious son, she had been working feverishly to make the infant's world the most beautiful and fun it could be. Yaviks found it a bit naive, but he was certainly not about to rain on her parade. The fact that she had carved an entire room out of stone just for him was just one of the things she had done. She spent several hundred, perhaps closer to a thousand, decats on things for the baby. Toys, a crib, everything. He remembered her setting out one day what seemed like a long time ago with a small brown bag of the small, silver coins. In her hand was one of the coins; Yaviks could clearly visualize each symbol carved around the square hole in the center. Merchants would stack their coins together on small square shaped poles or walking sticks, or string them together with string to show how successful their day had been as a sort of informal competition.
He and his mate made about 700 decats a year. But they could only keep 300 of them for their own personal use as over half of it was spent on the necessities, almost double the amount from before they had a child.
The living room had a large holo projector in the far left corner, which was turned off at the moment. There was a large couch in front of the cube shaped holoprojector. The couch was made out of dark gray leather, which was made from an Aviasni, a large winged beast that often preyed upon foolish Eliksni who traveled along the wrong paths without a weapon or guard. Yaviks was a merchant guard. Merchants would pay him to guard their merchandise and themselves while they traveled the paths that connected the villages. The couch was made from the hide of an Aviasni that had been attacking villages and merchants for about a decade. He'd made the long climb to the nest of the beast along with 3 other merchant guards. They'd found about a dozen bones there in that dark and disgusting cave, along with several crates and bags full of merchandise. Most of them were busted open. They were full of packaged foods, from green lichen to Juv meat. He'd slain the beast himself, firing his crude shrapnel launcher into the beast's head, one of his finer moments.
Yaviks turned to his right, looking at the large oval shaped hole that led into the nursery, he could hear Kelvi right now, taking care of their child happily.
"Yeah. That's where you sleep. It's called a crib. Can you say crib?" He heard his mate say, with a small voice replying back with a small "sleeep kib". He walked over to the hole and stepped into the room, looking to his right again, seeing Kelvi sitting in the corner on her knees, with his son sitting in the corner, making small giggling noises.
The room was a large cube with various items for a growing baby inside. The floor, walls, and ceiling had been scraped relentlessly until Yaviks could slide a few hefty rocks across its surface. He looked over at Kelvi, who was sitting on the floor on her knees, all of her brilliant white fur standing out from the darkness.
Their son was very similar, sitting in the corner with his arms wrapped around himself and his fleshy purple tongue hanging out of his mouth slightly. His eyes stood out the most, all four of them massive compared to his small head. Like his parents, the child had thick fur on almost every part of his body. Each hair was around five inches in length but refrained from tangling somehow without the accumulation of oils Yaviks and Kelvi had on theirs. This fur was thick, meant to keep him warm in the cold and shorten as he grew into maturity. The only visible epidermis was that around his bright blue eyes and his mandibles, which was light gray in color. All four of those eyes quickly looked in his direction, looking up at his face. Kelvi noticed this, and soon lifted herself up and turning around to face her mate.
"Morning Yav." She said casually, with her mandibles vibrating before she spoke. She was wearing small and thin cloth around her body, with her arms sticking out of the four holes in the sided of her shirt.
"Morning Kelvi. How is he doing?" He asked his mate, taking a step forward before slowly crouching down, getting on his knees and looking at the pup. Kelvi quickly joining in, getting on her knees next to him.
"He is doing great. He's quite an eater too. He's only two months old now and he's already eaten 2 small strips of Juv. Normally pups start eating solid meat during their fourth month. You think we should start thinking of a name for him now?" Kelvi said softly, not wanting to startle the pup in any way. Eliksni didn't name their children until they had been alive for a few months. Made it easier for the parents if the child perished prematurely, but that was extremely uncommon, usually the result of an Aviasni . Just an old tradition from when things weren't so peaceful and safe. Disease was rare in the village, violence even more so, and all out war was a despised past viewed as barbaric. Any dispute was usually snuffed out by the villages servitor a few days after it was reported.
"You did your research..." Yaviks muttered, with his mandibles pressed together happily in agreement and approval. Two strips of meat already? They must've been really small strips…
"I'm thinking of something nice. Something peaceful. Jeversis maybe." Kelvi suggested. Yav simply paused for a moment, thinking of a name for the pup.
"I'd like to name him after my father Hekelas. Still wish I had his guidance..." Yavik's replied, bringing up his father, who had passed away two years ago in his sleep. Hekelas had been wise and very popular among the people. Yavik could already see the great things their son would ultimately achieve, could see him sitting in the chair of the elders as the head of their village.
Hekelas or something that sounds similar to that would do. It would carry along the honor that his grandfather had established for their family line.
They both looked down at the pup, who was staring at them both adorably, his lower arms wrapped around himself, his top left arm hanging at his side, and his top right arm shoved in his mouth, with the pup moving his little three fingered hand around in his mouth, with his mandibles messily covering his tiny hand with saliva, all of his teeth nothing but small little stubs barely poking out of the fleshy gums. The pup pulled his hand out and wiped it on his fur before wrapping all of his arms around himself again, smearing all that saliva around his bright white fur, causing the wet fur to mat down and darken somewhat, like he had water on a small piece of him.
Kelvi let out a small chuckle both at their pup's behavior and their predicament. She'd always been the more humorous of the two. "Well then," she said, her mandibles curling into an even bigger smile. "It seems like we're at an impasse."
"Maybe we can put those together somehow. Compromise?" Yaviks suggested. He turned his gaze away from the child for a moment, meeting Kelvi's eyes for only a mome
"Jevelas? Hekersis? Hekver? Kesis?" Yaviks quickly listed, lifting all the name combinations that immediately came to mind.
Kelvi thought for a moment, tossing each of those within her head but finding none of them suitable for their first child. "How does Heksis sound to you?" Kelvi asked, gently crawling over to the pup in the corner of the polished gray room. Once she made it, she turned around, leaning her back against the wall and picking up the pup by the scruff of his furry neck, lifting him up and setting him down on her lap, with the pup getting set down, falling back slightly on his bottom and turning his head around and looking up at his mother, quietly barking out a small "Nug...Nug." at her, with his mandibles pressing together.
"Nug?" Kelvi cooed in a warm and calming voice, slowly grabbing their baby again, lifting him up with one of her arms and slowly turning him around so he was facing her, before bringing him over and resting the pup on her chest, leaning back slightly so he didn't slide down while Yaviks stood there on his knees thinking for a moment.
It was his turn to toss the name around mentally. Heksis. There was something about it that imbued power and commanded respect from others. "Yes. Heksis sounds perfect." Kelvi's mate finally muttered, looking over at her and blinking at her in approval. The female Eliksni quickly leaned her head down, gently resting her head on the back of her child's head, their white fur brushing against each other. The pup simply let out a few gentle squeaks, exhaling loudly before beginning to relax and trying to take a nap on her despite just waking up.
"Heksis. That's your name...do you like your name?" She asked quietly, bringing her arms up to him and holding the small furry pup against her chest with her arms. The baby simply let out a few sleepy grunts in response before exhaling loudly against his mother's chest as he napped.
"I think he likes it." Yaviks responded, pressing his mandibles together as he watched at his mate hold Heksis gently as she leaned against the wall. He looked at the clock hung above the crib. "We ought to get going, or we'll be late. Heksis should be fine while we're gone." Yaviks suggested, turning to his left, and looking at the crib. It was a large with the bottom made of several soft pillows. Two toys were laid around the bin around the pillows, currently the Heksis' favorite toys, but that was almost certain to change within the next week or so. One was a small star, colored yellow and had a plush, huggable quality to its appearance. However, the outer layer was tougher than what one would expect, the perfect material for a chewing/teething toy. The second one was simply a small mirror, mounted on the side, with plastic over the mirror to make sure Heksis couldn't hurt himself in any way, but he'd still found ways to knock the mirror off and test the plastic's durability.
"I'm on leave for two months to take care of the baby. And you got a promotion. You're captain of your merchant guard group now. But your normal path got blocked off by snow. So your gonna be doing a delivery to another village that isn't too far away." She said calmly, still resting her head on her pup's head gently, not even moving it an inch.
Yaviks simply stood there for a moment, his mandibles no longer pressed together and instead gently spread out in surprise. Captain? That was not only a great honor but also a great responsibility. He'd have to watch over all 14 of the merchant guards and command them all. He was worried he wouldn't be able to do it right. What if he somehow ordered one of the guards to their deaths? No. It couldn't be that hard. All he'd need to do was make sure no one strayed too far ahead of the merchant carts, or fell behind them. Stay close to the cart. Strength in numbers. It was rare for any guards to die anyways. Mainly because so many of them had been guarding merchants all their lives. It was decent money for little risk, but that's also why there were so many companies and squadrons offering their services.
"Why'd nobody tell me about this?" He asked, leaning his head slightly to the right in a confused looking way.
"You were out when the old Captain stopped by yesterday. He was apparently retiring. Good thing too, he looked like he was in rough shape. My boss said he'd been doing it for like 40 years and both of them thought you were the best man for the job." She said quietly, still resting her head on Heksis.
"Kovahn always had a knack for showing up at inopportune times. More importantly, how does Tebisk know all these things? It's like he knows everything about everybody." He asked, moving his head back to its normal position on his shoulders as he spoke.
"Knowing things like that helps him with business. You know how it is. Gotta care about your customers and employees..." She replied, with Heksis now fully asleep, all four of his beady blue eyes shut completely as he laid on her and his little chest rising and falling gently with each deep breath.
"Yeah. I guess. I'll thank him if I see him." Yav said, responded in a somewhat grateful tone. Kolah had always struck him as somewhat suspicious. He was a shady character who often found himself getting into all sorts of trouble that the Servitors wound up sorting out. He'd met him before in a brief exchange, but Yav never forgot a face. He just didn't know where he lived or pretty much anything beyond his name and occupation. Maybe he lived in his office? He might. He had a business to oversee after all.
"You don't have to leave quite yet. Besides, I haven't eaten anything yet. And I'm sure Heksis would want something to eat when he wakes up." She asked as the pup began to snore lightly on her. The snore sounded like Yaviks when he slept, except much softer. The pup kept making a "Kuff...Kuf...Kuffffff..." sound as he slept, with Kelvi finally lifting her head up off of him and turning to speak to her mate.
"Okay. What do you want?" Yav replied, shaking his head around slightly to regain his focus, all of the fur around his head swinging around slightly as he did before settling back to the way it was before.
"Anything really. Maybe just some bread. Get the baby bottle in the icebox too. Its been in there for a few minutes so it should be ready." She asked quietly, with the pup sleeping against her letting out a small tender grunt in response.
"I'll get him his bottle. You..." Yaviks stared at the two of them for a moment, both mother and child sitting there happily, with Kelvi leaning against the wall and their pup laying on her making little huff noises as it snored. Eliksni children had much more fur than they needed. Helped their bodies develop better. Heksis was just a snowball. A big furry snowball from his point of view. He couldn't help but press his mandibles together in happy approval of his life so far. Captain of a merchant guard group. A mate that loves him. Now a pup. Heksis sounded like a nice name. Good compromise. It didn't really matter too much though right? A name was just a name. The person is what mattered. Yaviks wondered what the pup would grow up to be. Their society had many roles and jobs to fill. Scribe, miner, teacher, merchant, farmer, maybe even Hunter if he was really tough and crafty. All he hoped was that he wouldn't join in with any of the Devil hermits or whatever...all just religious zealots who walked all the way to the city where the Great Machine resided. Yes...walked. On eliksnios. A planet where tall high altitude mountains were everywhere the eye could see and the lower regions of their world were hidden by a thick cloak clouds. Beneath were jungles and oceans, untouched by the society high up in the mountains, with the occasional toy or useless junk being throw off, which would quickly be destroyed and repurposed by the massive ecosystem below the mountains. Devils were a nuisance. Always following the local servitor around, begging for the floating orbs "blessing" for safe passage. Most of the time they just hitched a ride on any ships that were flying to a city that was closer to the traveler. They would pray to the servitors at every village they visited. Every. Single. One.
Most Eliksni weren't the overly religious type. Not like the Devils were. The Devils were dedicated to whatever they believed in and ignored anything that contradicted their beliefs. For most Eliksni, worship was measured by how many arms you had. The more arms you had...the more connected to the gods you were. 4 arms was as the maximum amount. And...everyone had four arms. Losing arms was a dishonor. A punishment for criminals who murdered, raped or stole from their fellow Eliksni. Lower arms cut off and exiled to a small hut far away from the village. Or thrown off the mountain. But...it was so rare. He'd only seen a fallen with stumps for arms once in his life. That was mostly due to the Great Machine's peacekeepers. The Servitors watched over them, kept them safe, let them all live long happy lives. The giant floating spheres had always been there. It was said that they had been crafted by the Great Machine itself. How close to the truth was that that?
He brushed off those thoughts for later, now he needed to remember what Kelvi wanted. Bread...and a bottle, baby bottle full of ether or milk. Yeah. Having to ask the village's servitor for milk every 12 hours was tiresome, and Kelvi didn't like giving ether to her baby. Ether was only something he'd tried when his leg got hurt bad by a fly by from an Aviasni. Just flew on by and scratched his leg with one of its large claws. Half the leg was torn off. Right down to the bone and marrow, purplish red blood dripping from his body and being exposed to the world. They'd made it to the village they were going to just in time. 12 days. That's all it took. All the servitor did was lift him up with whatever levitation power it had and stick a tube down his throat. The taste wasn't that bad either. Like a thick nectar of some kind. Soft but thick with hints of sugary flavor on every drop. Ether would be heated up once it entered his body, helping the blood flow and whatever strange nanomachines or proteins or whatever get to the wounds. Made him feel like he could do anything for a day or two after the servitor had let him go. The rush, the slight pull to get more. Yaviks was thankful the servitor was a floating machine, or else it's abilities could be used for less helpful things. Drugs? He'd dabbled in a few in his youth, nipping the occasional herb. That was as far he went really. He'd heard of a few parties or events in the bigger town north of this village that would do drugs or alcoholic drinks. He hoped their pup never got into any of that.
Yav walked into the kitchen, a small horizontal oval shaped room, with a large rectangular shaped container directly to the left going all the way up to the ceiling, all covered in a clean white paint. The top of it was also rectangular and clean. The rest really didn't matter to Yav at the moment. Get food. Get milk. Think later. Yaviks wandered over to the icebox, quickly reaching down and pulling it open, with a large gust of wind quickly rushing out, blowing the hair on his head back as the cold air blew into his face. The cold air was coming down from the large tube running down the inside of the icebox, with a small mesh-like tray holding the contents of the icebox up, above another hole that led down and would let out all the remaining air elsewhere. It was a relatively simple system. Dig a hole all the way up to the top of the mountain, where the cold and fast wind blew and would hit you like a punch, dig until you reach the area you want it to be, connect some smaller tunnels to an icebox, and continue digging below the icebox and let all the wind left exit from a small hole in the side of the mountain. It was difficult to get done. To say the least. The tray held up several goods that you would want to keep frozen, meat, milk, all that.
Yav's four eyes wandered for a bit before finding the bottle, which was a small orb shaped bottle, with a small little cap on the top where the sucker or whatever it was was at. Kelvi had stopped breastfeeding awhile ago, Eliksni had the "grow up fast and live long" style of living. Not much threatened them. Only accidents and the animals they shared their world with. But the animals weren't to blame. Just doing what they had to do to survive. The gray furred Eliksni reached in and grabbed the glass bottle with his lower left arm, immediately turning around and shutting the door with the other lower hand, turning around to get the bread. The other part of the kitchen was normal too. A simple counter, with several drawers built into the bottom of it. He walked over to the counter, crouching down and opening the bread drawer, which was the last drawer on the bottom right. He slid the small wooden out of the stone counter, immediately seeing one small loaf of light green bread and grabbing it with his other lower arm gently. Lichen bread. Several people in the village grew lichen on their farms. It was the main food for Eliksni. The human equivalent of wheat. All the lichen was tightly pressed together into the shape of a small rectangular cube, and heated up so all of the fiber and other yummy stuff stuck together perfectly. It was a crude thing. Ever since the Great Machine had arrived great technological advances had been made. Spacecraft, energy tools, hovercraft, and several other high tech devices. But that futuristic technology was rare out here. Holographic projectors, levitating vehicles, most of these things had already been created before the Great Machine arrived. The giant floating orb's arrival only helped improve what was already made.
A small metal box was set on the table, with several small curves on the corners and a small antenna sticking out of the middle, with the speakers on the top. Radio tech had been a thing for quite a while. And even though holo shows were popular, Yav still kept the radio his father had always used. He had already been turned around to walk over to Kelvi and Heksis, but decided to turn back around toward the radio, casually strolling over toward it with baby bottle and green bread in both lower hands. He turned around again, and jumped back slightly and sat on the cold metal counter on the left side of the radio, with his upper right hand quickly wandering over to the radio and turning it on, tuning the frequency for a little bit to find the news channel. The small twitch of static ended as he turned to the news channel's frequency.
"-oal is currently unknown, but House Of Devils currently has several of its members moving to neighboring towns, the ones we have spoken to claim to be making a pilgrimage to Council city, but...this has received a negative response by Houses Wind, Exile, Rain, Kings, and Scar, who brought some of their guards to Council City, claiming that this pilgrimage could be a potential surprise attack, and that all Devil's should be searched thoroughly before allowed entry into Council City. The decision to search Devils visiting Council City is still being decided by the Council. Back to you Jebriks." A loud and young Eliksni voice said. That was new. They must be new. Yavik's listened for a moment, but the talk about the Devils quickly made Yav think about the Devils once again even though he said he'd save those thoughts for later.
He'd seen three of them in the village just this week! An attack seems possible too. House Devils does have the strongest army on the planet. Did they want to take over Council city? Take the Great Machine for themselves? Other houses had armies, but they were ceremonial...war was unheard of ever since all the houses had joined together and wiped out whatever Houses had foolishly decided to not join them. It was horrible. Barbaric. But Eliksni weren't like that anymore, the Great War had ended long ago. A metallic and robotic voice quickly joined in, belonging to the radio channels weather reporter, a servitor by the name of Jebriks-31. The concept of the floating machine reporting the weather in front of one of those big weather reporting maps always amused him.
"Jebriks is glad to report the weather today. Weather will be snowy and windy like always. Jebriks jokes. Jubelisk region will be at a cozy -40 degrees, with the nearby Keteer and Grinar at -56 degrees and in the way of a small blizzard. Last of all... The entire Nills region will be a very low -80, so move quickly when out of shelter Eliksni.
Back-" The floating orb reported, speaking in the strange way of speaking Servitors always spoke in. Before it could finish its voice was interrupted by another voice, which was distant and not as close to the microphone as the Servitor but still audible enough for Yaviks to hear.
"Notice me..." A raspy voice said, speaking in a highly religious but slightly slurred voice.
"SECURITY!" The servitor shrieked in its low metallic voice, with a small squawk being heard and a thump as whoever had interrupted the floating machine was likely pinned down to the ground and dragged out of the building for trespassing on private property.
"We...just had a Devil trespass on the second floor. The intruder has been taken care of now. Back to Chelchis." The servitor said in a slightly nervous or surprised voice, but still sounding very close to what it had sounded like before in a way.
"Okay...well...latest information from our scribes at Bejer academy...modified Juv's have been made in the labs that...could possibly provide three times the meat that normal Juv can. Research is-" Yaviks shut off the radio, tuning the small circle to the left until the static and short sounds of other radio channels was silenced. He'd have to tell Kelvi about this. He slowly slid off the counter, walking out of the kitchen, through the living room, and stopping just outside of the nursery, hearing a small and adorable squeak from behind him where the table was and turning around, seeing Kelvi quietly sitting in the chair on the right side of the table, with the baby chair holding Heksis on the front of the table between Kelvi and his chair, which was pushed out slightly so he could sit down and wouldn't have to pull the chair out. His mate only gave him a small casual wave with her mandibles vibrating against each other happily. Yav quickly corrected himself, turning around again and walking over to the wooden table, with Kelvi's eyes following him the whole time. He walked over to her, bringing the small piece of bread up and holding it up in front of her, with her quietly taking it from his hand, giving it a small nibble as she turned to look at him.
"You wanna bottle feed him? It's not hard. He won't bite you." Kelvi muttered, eyes wandering down to the baby bottle in his lower right hand. Kelvi moved her small cute head over in Hek's direction for a second.
"You won't bite him right? He's your dada..." She said in her baby voice, talking with her words mispronounced and childish but understandable enough. Heksis had gone from a deep nap to a small snooze, with the rest of his eyes closed, except his far right eye, which was open slightly, just enough for him to see. He moved his head in his mommy's direction, looking at her, letting out a small giggle and slowly opening up the rest of his eyes. The giggle was adorable to Kelvi and Yavik. A cute little "haehehhehheh" that sounded like a squeak but was still loud enough for it to pass as a giggle.
"I don't know. What if I hurt him somehow?" Yaviks muttered nervously, looking over at Heksis, who had now opened all four of his big bright eyes, all of which stared back at him, all blue eyes looking at him with what looked like curiosity and awe.
"Do you think you would hurt this precious little furball of love and happiness?" She asked.
"Not intentionally. Never." Yav replied, shaking his head as he spoke.
"Exactly. So give him his bottle. Hold it for him." Kelvi ordered, maintaining her compassionate voice, but with a little hint of small impatience in her voice. Just hold him and bottle feed him. She'd been doing it for awhile. Than again. She'd spent most of her free time taking care of Heksis.
Yaviks gave her a small nod before walking over to the other side of the table, bringing the chair out and lifting it up, bringing it back over to Kelvi's side and setting it down next to Heksis, who had already started to stick his hand in his mouth, making a few small quiet gurgling noises as he moved his hand around in his mouth messily. The Eliksni sat down, pressing down the robes he was wearing against the chair and using them like a small cushion all around his waist and back.
"Can you give him to me?" He asked nervously, with Kelvi giving him a small nod before getting out of her seat, picking up Heksis by the scruff of his neck and lifting him out of the seat, moving him and gently setting him down on his waist. Yav gently lifted him up as well, cradling Heksis with his lower arms, and bringing the bottle in his top right hand and showing it to Heksis, who quickly reached out for it, snatching it out of his hand and beginning to suck from the bottle greedily, holding the bottle all on his own. Yav simply stood there and held the end of the bottle, watching the pup nurse quietly, while Kelvi went back into her seat, sitting down and scooting forward a bit so she could see Heksis better.
"Thirsty little one isn't he? Don't let him drink it all at once." She suggested, with her and him staring at Heksis as he drank, before Yav gently pulled the bottle away from Heksis, who let out a small grunt of protest before reaching all four of his tiny little arms out for it, wanting more of it. He let out a small burp so Yaviks quickly patting him on his back, doing his best to look like he knew what he was doing despite the fact that he hadn't held his pup that much ever since he'd been born. Yaviks was busy. Sometimes merchant guarding could take weeks or months. The villages were usually close together. Only about a thousand steps or more. Most of the time he'd make a trip to a "village cluster" which was very similar to where he lived, except all the villages were built next to each other so trade between villages was easier.
"That should be enough. Now...you wanna get going to that village? Captain Yavik?" She asked, looking at Heksis and holding her arms out slightly, silently asking for him to hand the pup over to her. The captain part was said in a softer voice, with a hint of congratulations and respect. She already respected him...but it was clear that his promotion had given him even more respect from her. Lovely.
"Y-Yeah. But...do you want me to stay a little longer?" He asked, slight anxiety beginning to build up in his voice. To greet the rest of his fellow guards as captain...friends he'd been with for most of his life, how could he act as if he was better than them? He'd seen captains do that before, acting as if their minds and bodies mattered more than those around them. No. He wouldn't be like that. They'd respect him. Be happy for him. If not...then he wouldn't know what to do. He'd figure it out.
"I do. But the sooner you get this done the better. You could take Heksis outside. He hasn't been outside yet...Y'know, just show him the outside world, then just give him back to me and you get going." She offered, holding Heksis out for him once again, upper hands holding him right between his top and bottom arms. It was softer there. Both of them stood up from their chairs together, eyes meeting. Most Eliksni were born in caves, Heksis was no different. It was tradition for the father of the child to be the ones to take them outside for the first time, alone. But tradition didn't restrict them. And most families would have the father be the one who played with the child the most. But because of Yav's job...he couldn't do that. So Kelvi had been to one to play with Heksis. And she deserved praise. Forget tradition. His mate deserved this. He made most of the money, which she used to buy stuff for Hek, and she gave their child as much as she could, as best as she could.
"You sure you don't want to show him? You've earned it." He asked, with a few negative thoughts beginning to form in his mind. Aviasni? He didn't know. They never attacked the village. But there was a chance of it. A rare one. But a chance nonetheless.
"I'm sure. You should do it." She insisted, holding Hek out for him still, all four of his big spectral eyes on him. Kelvi was a traditionalist in a few things. But there were some traditions she didn't follow, and this was not one of them.
Yaviks simply gave her a small nod."You deser-"
"It isn't that big of a deal. You show them the world Yaviks. After all you are a merchant guard. You would know what's out there better than me..." She said, saying them in a seductive way. She held out the pup one more time, and Yaviks took him, pulling him against his chest and holding him there gently, with his eyes staring at her as he began to take a step toward him. "Them? M-More pups?" He thought to himself, slightly cringing at the thought, worried he couldn't handle the amount Kelvi wanted to have. He'd never sleep again if it was a ridiculous amount.
She walked up closer to him, her lean and slender body only a few inches away from his. They both wore clothes over their bodies, thin brown cloth covering that offered no insulation at all. It was simply meant to cover the body.
"There's plenty more coming up Yav..." She said in her seductive voice, the one that made Yav's mind swirl, clouded with thoughts of his mate. He simply stood there as she brushed her hips against him, walking past him back into the kitchen.
"I'll be waiting at the door once you show him. Don't keep that furball out there for too long. Remember...he isn't ready to be outside yet" She said in her normal voice as she walked into the kitchen, probably to make Heksis a surprise of some kind. Who knows. Either way...Yav wished he could be with them more. Give Heksis as much time with him as the little furball could get.
Yaviks was about to reply when he felt his lower mandibles gently jerk down, with a small little three fingered hand holding it. He brought his hand up, putting it on Hek's arm and looking down at the pup, who was staring up at his chin like it was some kind of toy.
"No pull." Yaviks mumbled, with Heksis responding with another gentle tug at his mandible, giving out a small giggle as Yaviks turned toward the door, a thin wooden door, which was shaped like a large rectangle. Yaviks walked up to it, with Heksis letting go of his lower mandible on the way to the door. Holding Heksis and opening the door was difficult, since he wouldn't risk dropping him. He held him in all four arms, before dropping the left arm nervously, holding Heksis tightly in the other three as he opened the door, with a thick chilly breeze blowing into the room as soon as he did. After their eyes adjusted to the light, Yaviks looked around the outside of the home, hoping Hek would follow.
The view was a beautiful one...large snow covered mountains far off in the distance, several dozen large round clumps of green lichen growing out of the thick white snow. The mountain was covered in it, with thick snowflakes falling down, adding to the already thick pile that covered the mountain as far as the eyes could see.
The home was built on the edge of the mountain, carved under a large gray stone. Yaviks took a few steps forward, climbing up the small set of stairs that led into the home and looking around, making sure to not slip on the ice. The village they lived in was beautiful, at least to Yav. Around 600 homes in total, built on the mountain top or inside the trading hub. Some were made of metal, some wood, but all were built to last. The village had been built shortly after the Great War, and grown larger ever since. In front of Yav were two small rectangular shaped homes, carved out of stone and connected together. Several other similar homes could be found all around. But they had the most space in their "yard" which was marked by a small stick in the ground. They had an area around the edge of the top of the mountain all to themselves. And Yavik liked it that way. Heksis looked around as well, four spectral blue eyes looking around the world, from the occasional snowflake all the way up to the bright gray and white sky.
"Beautiful...isn't it little one? The light?" He said, hoping that all the developing sentience in the pups little mind could hear and remember. Heksis simply let out a small and short grunt as he looked around at the world around him. The pup was trying to echolocate, but the cold winds prevented him. He'd have to rely on his eyes here.
"World doesn't feel right without an echo...now does it? Don't worry. The darkness is always there for you. You can go back to the caves whenever you want." He said, bringing a hand up and patting the child on his head, moving it around and stroking the fur as he held him with the other three arms.
"Kurr?" Heksis grunted, to which Yav responded by rubbing his head against the pup, who rewarded him with a small chomp on his forehead, all of his harmless toothless gums getting saliva all over his forehead. Lovely…
Yaviks pulled his head away, shaking his head slightly to get rid of the saliva. Heksis looked up at him for a moment, before leaning his head back and beginning to cry and squawk...like a baby would. The pup continued to make loud squawking noises, which Yav moving back down the stairs and back into the house, the male heard a small creak as Kelvi opened the door, eyes slightly wide with concern before returning back to normal, now holding her arms out and waiting for Heksis to be handed to her. Yaviks complied, taking Heksis and grabbing him between his upper and lower arms like she had done, handing the pup to his mate, who quickly scooped him up.
"Someone needs a nap..." She muttered to the baby, bringing the pup up to her neck and nuzzling him quietly, with his mate making a calming cooing noise, which quickly began to calm the pup down.
"Your good at calming him down..." Yaviks muttered, looking at his mate quietly as she held the pup. She simply looked at her with a small smile on her face. "Okay...shall I get going?" Yaviks asked.
"Yeah. It'll be quick right?"
"If it's a close village I should be back by midnight." He muttered, not sure himself about how long it would take.
"Okay. Try to get it done as fast as you can but be careful!" She said with a small grin on her mandibles, with Yaviks leaning into her slightly, making sure he wouldn't bump against Heksis as they leaned in for a quick kiss.
Eliksni kisses were complicated, and difficult to pull off if they weren't careful. Their mandibles were adapted for a life in the snowy mountains of their homeworld, and their food consisted of small animals and lichen, an omnivorous diet. A few sharp teeth at the end of the mandibles, and about a dozen larger human like teeth, used for grinding up lichen to make digestion easier. The two pressed their foreheads together, moving their mandibles against one another and curling them around each other in a gentle kiss. They held it for a few seconds before pulling back, eyes still locked on each other. Heksis simply laid in his mother's arms, one eye looking at Yav with the rest closed shut. The baby looked at him for a few seconds before closing the one eye he had open, leaning his head against his mother's neck and grunting as she nuzzled her chin against his puffy white head.
"I will. Love you Kelvi" He said passionately as he shut the door, hearing a small "love you too" from his mate as he closed the door.
It normally wouldn't matter to Yav, leaving for a short trip like this. But now that they had Heksis...he'd need to spend more time with them. Shorter trips. No more long hauls like last time. No. He'd give his child as much time as he could. Maybe even buy him something. Yes. He'd get something for him. A toy or something.
Kelvi wanted him back soon. And he wanted to be... But he couldn't rush through this job. That just left them exposed and that could make things even more dangerous. He'd take his time. Rather be late than never come back at all. He turned away from the door, looking at the small set of stairs that would get him up to ground level. He let out a small huff before walking up them, with another gust of cold wind blowing against him from his left. It was late in the morning, so most of the inhabitants of the village had awoken, likely heading over to the village square, where merchants and traders would come through and set up shop. And most villagers liked to gather there just to socialize as well. It was a small village...pretty much everyone knew each other. So new faces coming through to trade and sell were welcome guests.
He began to walk casually before speeding up a bit to work his way around the two connected stone homes to get home soon as he could. He'd be careful…
He walked around the corner of the left home, with another gust of cold wind blowing from around the corner as he did. He didn't stop for it though. The gray fur protected him from the cold winds. It didn't bother him at all.
Behind the two connected homes was a small mountain, far enough for it to be unseen from their little home on the edge of the mountain, but big enough for it to be turned into a nice little hub for the entire village. A snow covered road connected the trading hub's entrance, which was a large tunnel build into the small mountain. The tunnel was designed in a way that kept the snow out. And if snow did block it somehow, several small hatches were build into the sides just in case. Several buildings were built onto the sides of the road or around the mountain that was the trading hub, large pointed cones, with the tips pointing up to the sky. Snow slid off the buildings easily, with a large pile of it surrounding the home like a ring.
The rich, the businesses, the mining guilds, even some inns for travelers, all standing tall and proud. Time for Yav to start walking...
It didn't take long for him to make it there, only about a minute of fast running, which Yaviks was able to do easily thanks to his small but dense build. Soon as he arrived at the tunnel, he stopped, making light panting noises as he stood in front of the tunnel. The tunnel was completely unguarded, and Yav simply strolled right in, walking down to the end of the tunnel, which was a large cloth curtain, with light from the inside of the hub leaking out from below the curtain. He could hear the shouts and gentle squawks of the hub as he walked forward, he turned his head to observe the wall on his side, reading the graffiti written on the granite wall to pass the time as he walked into the hub. The graffiti wasn't everywhere, only a few dozen on the walls of the tunnel. Things like "Kora was here" or "Devils go away!" were written. Most of it was just names. Everyone wanted to leave their mark. Some just did it in more artistic or orthodox ways. The graffiti hadn't been painted over. In fact...the elders of the village probably welcomed it. He walked up to the thick cloth curtain, standing in front of it before casually sliding forward through it the small line of light in the middle. Once he stepped inside his eyes were immediately welcomed with the bright white lights of the hub, blinding him for a few seconds before his eyes adjusted, with his bright blue eyes cooling down and losing their intensity. The blue eyes of Eliksni were a lot like goggles, adapted to keep the eyes at a reasonable temperature, melting the occasional snow flake that fell on the eye into liquid. Eliksni had adapted to live on their homeworld, whose temperature could go from bone-chilling to roasting depending on where you were. The fact that most of the ecosystem resided below the mountains meant that most needed to be able to adapt to pressure changes to venture down to the oceans and jungles below was only proof of their resistance to the environment.
The trading hub was a large mess of shouts, squawks and laughs. The hub was a large dome shaped room, about a hundred meters in radius all crafted from inside the mountain. Several large stone pillars in the middle held the mountain up in case it fell. But that seemed unlikely. Several gravity wells were also scattered across the large stone dome. On the sides of the hub were several little stores, which were small little tents or tarps held up by sticks. Underneath were several different goods, all laid out in baskets and on tables. Freshly harvested green lichen were piled up in large wooden baskets. Strips of meat hung from the hooks of the butcher shops, some still dripping purplish red blood. Fresh meat was a delicacy, especially since the effort required to get it was tremendous. Furniture was laid out in front of the shops, with the owners sitting in chairs, watching over their wooden crafts and waiting for a customer.
Right to his left was a small little shop, covered in blue tarp, with a large table in the front. On the table were several little toys, crafted out of string and buttons in a beautiful way. The toys were all different animals native to eliksnios along with some pop culture characters. Yuzka, Dwarf Aviasni, Chel, and Juv, all miniaturized and made into little toys. Like teddy bears. They were all made in a smooth plushy way. The rest of his group was likely at the pick up station, the place merchant guards were given their cargo to transport and protect. He'd meet with them, but he'd get Hek something first.
He didn't really see anything to get Hek, other than one of those toys. He wandered back, giving a small nod to the Eliksni working there, a small faced, white furred Eliksni, who was happily sitting in a rocking chair behind the table.
"How much for these?" He asked loudly, trying his best to be heard amidst all the voices.
"21 decs. These are hand crafted. Made them myself." The owner mumbled, speaking in a strange accent that he'd never heard before. He must be a merchant from nearby villages.
Yav glanced over at the toys, noting how accurately the creature they were crafted from was portrayed. He wouldn't dare choose the Aviasni. Even if dwarf Aviasni were pets. In his line of work, they were Devils. And having his pup play with a stuffed animal version...he was worried Hek would think they weren't as deadly as they were.
Chel were annoying flying pests. So were Yuzka. But at least they had some meat on them. Juv were large and docile creatures, covered in brown woolly fur, which protected the soft and squishy meat beneath, from both predators and cold. But Juv were stupid animals, hardly as intelligent as the others.
After a few seconds of thought, Yav settled on getting a Yuzka plush. Small, smart, and adaptable, able to survive anything with speed and relentlessness. He kind of wanted Heksis to become a merchant guard just like him, but he wouldn't force anything upon his child. Let him take his own path. He'd love him, no matter what path it was.
"I'll take that one." Yav muttered, pointing at the small Yuzka plushie and holding up a solitary finger.
"Decats please." The merchant asked, speaking in a pretty quiet tone, compared to the rest of the noise around them.
Yav reached into a small pouch on the left side of his tunic with his bottom left hand, pulling out 24 small blue coins with square shaped holes in the middle. He set the coins down on the table, with the merchant stood up from his chair, grabbing the toy off the table and holding it out for him, but Yav simply shook his head.
"All the way at the end of the northern road, you'll see two connected houses. Behind those houses you will find my house. Its built under a large rock. Deliver that to my mate. The extra three is for the delivery." Yaviks ordered, a small amount of hesitation blowing his focus off course like wind. He was sure the merchant would get it delivered. After all...they had a reputation to maintain.
The merchant pondered this for a moment, sitting back into his chair with the plush Yuzka in his lap. "Deal. I'll send someone to deliver it."
"Pleasure doing business with you." Yav said with a small smile at the thought of Kelvi receiving the gift and how Heksis would react to it.
"And you as well." The merchant replied.
Yav nodded again, before turning around and heading off to the pick up station. The station was forward once you came from the tunnel. He turned around, looking for the distinct features of the station. Grey metal structure. A small bar on the outside with wooden stools. A large blue tarp above the bar for some shade. He couldn't see it, since there were so many others in the hub he couldn't see it.
He decided to go off of memory, knowing that the station was on the opposite side of the hub from his location. He started walking, wading through the center part of the hub, walking through whatever openings he could see between the crowds. It didn't take long. After about a minute or two of walking, doing his best to find any opening in the crowd as best as he could, the crowd started to clear, with a blue tarp coming into his view above the heads of the crowds. There it is.
Yav sped up a little more, with the blue tarp in his view, walking out from the center of the hub finally, with the full pick up station coming into view.
A two square shaped tunnel were inside the station, one was so merchants could drop off their cargo, and wait for merchant guards to show up to protect them along their journey, the other was for them to get going to their destination. With the introduction of spaceships and hovercraft...the journey of the merchant guard, one that had been part of their society for as long as they could remember, was beginning to fade. They'd always been the ones to connect the villages together. The mountainous terrain they lived in was both a blessing and a curse. Protection from the ravenous ecosystem below the mountains, but rough and harsh terrain. Building a train or some other kind of vehicle was next to impossible. He could see his friends now, all 6 of them, sitting down on the stools and waiting for their new captain to show up. Yav had to remind himself that the captain they were waiting for was him.
Yav's group of guards had been together for about a decade, a short amount of time for Eliksni, but still significant. Vraxis, Clem, Dahvis, Ralas, Nilvis, and Novas. All sitting together on the stools, each doing their own thing.
Clem was the white furred male sitting in the stool on the far left, clutching both of his twin katas, which were two small metal daggers. Clem was the muscle of the group, even though his small little weapons made it hard to tell. He looked bored when not looking for something to kill. Vraxis was next to Clem, leaning against the bar and facing Yav, a small modified mining pistol at his waist. He'd kept it from his time in the mining guilds. He'd modified the intensity of it and used the pistol as a weapon, with the powerful laser able to slice through flesh much easier than ore. But the range was garbage, limited only to a few meters before the intensity sank to almost irrelevance.
Dahvis and Nilvis, the gray twins, were both sitting farther away from the other four, sitting together with one stool in between them, which had two metal swords resting on the wood, each one belonging to each of them.
Ralas and Novas were sitting together to the left of Clem and Vraxis, their stools scooted closer to each other than anyone else, with each of them leaning against one another romantically, both of their puffy white bodies pressed against each other. Novas was the only female of the group. And she probably the best shot in the whole group. Ralas was also skilled with the bow, but only used one, while Novas used two. One in each set of arms, upper and lower. Yav didn't know how she did it and kept her aim true.
"I'm here!" Yav shouted out as loud as he could, trying to get all of their attention. All of them except Clem turned to face him, with Clem slumped against the bar counter, likely in another one of his drunken half sleep stupors. Vraxis was the first to speak up to him.
"Congratulations on the promotion! Captain Yav." He said respectfully, hints of uncertainty in his voice.
"Yeah. Kovahn had to retire eventually... I know you'll take care of us." Dahvis added.
"The old nuffball was good at his job...now you gotta take the reins...but I think we'll manage. Same thing as always. You just decide where we go. You'll do fine." Nilvis assured, doing his best to take any stress off his shoulders about this.
"Thanks. I'll do my best. I promised Kelvi that I'd try to get home as quick as possible, so let's get down to business. Whats the cargo?"
"Seven crates of electronic circuitry. Wires, levers, computer components, stuff like that. The village we're going to is only a few thousand steps away. We've had worse. They need some materials for some upcoming project, it's probably a defense grid or something. You wouldn't use all the stuff in those crates to just make lights." Vraxis informed, explaining what they were doing with the same persistent calm that he always had. Yav immediately felt his confidence fade like an avalanche sliding down a hill. Vra may not be as good as him, or as experienced, but he was a leader. He never freaked out. He was always calm and logical. What if he snapped in the middle of an attack? Freaked out? He'd never done so before...but he was still worried nonetheless.
"How heavy is that?" He asked.
"Pretty light. Enough for the cart to carry easily. We could even take a nap on the cart if we want. Plenty of space." Vra replied.
The carts they got were the latest issue, hovering platforms with railing all around the edges, along with a small roof made for covering the crates. "Could me and Ralas hang out in the cart? It's nice and comfy in there." Novas asked, speaking up finally.
"Depends. What village are we delivering-"
"Coolee village. That's what's it's called. Just another old village that wants to upgrade its tech from old to modern." Vra interrupted, knowing what Yav was going to say.
"Any tunnels along the way?" The captain asked, letting the thought of Nov and Ral hidden in the cart doing gods know what enter his mind. He brushed it off just a little joke his subconscious had made.
"None that I found...Sorry you two. No cart relaxation on this trip..." Vra muttered, with both of them letting out small little sighs and huffs of disappointment like children.
"Okay..." They both groaned in unison, before both getting up out of their stools, walking off into the pickup station, with Nilvis letting out a small "We'll be at the cart" before they disappeared behind the wooden door.
"I still have your spear and shrapnel launcher Captain." Vraxis said, calling him captain rather than by his real name, merely respecting his rank.
"Don't call me that please. Is it in the cart?" Yav muttered to Vra, who seemed to have taken up the role of the second in command of the group. His second in command gave him a small nod of approval.
"Let's get going then."