Uhhh... happy new year, everyone.

Before anyone asks, no, I did not plan to take nearly half a year to write the next chapter. Honestly, this wasn't due to any writer's block, but just a busy life in general. I'm very sorry for taking so long and I promisse I'll try to finish the next chapter in less than half a year.

This chapter isn't particulary long, but I wanted to focus a bit on the fallout of the last one and give a bit more of build up for what comes next. Can't say I'm 100% happy with it, but it should be good enough.

Next chapter will have some important developments and should set up things for the final arc.

As always, thank you all for reading and please leave a comment and/or review. I love reading them.

-x-

Chapter 15: A Bridge Between Worlds

His people had a lot of ideas of what was considered a good partner. Strong legs and sharp muzzles were pretty universally desired traits, while others – like colorful feathers – were generally more gender specific. Males like himself liked to appear as regal as possible, making sure all their feathers were clean and properly groomed. The more colorful, the better, with a special appeal to rare patterns and tones. The females, on the other claw, tried to display their skills, showing good hunting scores, good crafting abilities, good teaching and attention over hatchlings and so on.

As Chaser watched the first rays of sunlight entering the old hollow rock, he found himself very much confused about what had happened last night.

First, there was the fact his actions were unconventional, to say the least. He hadn't tried to show off his colors, sang or even attempted to court Sam into a dance. There was no talking with people close to her to see if everyone would be okay with it, if there was anything he should be aware, or if she might not have an eye for males. No, he had just walked up to her, began some small talk to figure out if she already was relationship (in which case he would need to figure out if she was okay with having more than one and if he needed to ask the other mate for consent), and then proceeded to just tell her very plainly that he wanted her.

Oh, and that wasn't even considering the fact that Sam was a stars-dammed soft skin!

By the elders, all of it was unbelievable. He kept going back to those memories, of how things had suddenly escalated after she accepted and had culminating in…

"Stars…" He murmured. It had all been so utterly alien to him… yet it felt amazing. He adored every moment of it.

His eyes gazed upon the little form next to him. The red fur cascading from her round head, down her thin and weirdly shaped torso. He looked at those long (when compared to the rest of her body) legs, partially covered by the long fabric she used for nesting. He could even faintly feel one of her flesh mounds pressing against his chest, he could also hear her faint breathing and beating heart.

Sam was completely different from anything he normally considered desirable in a mate, yet he found himself more and more drawn to her foreign traits as time passed. She didn't have nice feathers, but he was beginning to appreciate the feel of her unique skin against him, and the way her red fur would shift and flow with the wind or her movements. She didn't have legs as strong and muscular as females from his clan, or a sharp muzzle, but the feeling of those soft thighs pressing against his lower body as they mated, or the look on her face, shifting and changing as he gave her pleasure…

He decided to halt those thoughts before desire began to burn within him. Instead, his mind shifted to the obvious fallout of this whole thing. There were two main concerns from this: figuring out where exactly him and Sam were standing and deciding how he was going to tell his clan about it.

Yes, they've agreed to be mates, but he knew this could mean something very different from her perspective. Chaser already knew for a fact that other clans of his kind had their own rules and customs about relationships and mating in general. There were, for example, clans which only "mated" during egg laying seasons, while others had exclusive relationships for life. His clan was mostly monogamous, but it was not unheard of a few couples having a more open relationship, or occasionally having groups of three or four people deciding to become mates and share a nest. Same sex couples were also somewhat common, although he himself had never considered it or received any advances by other males.

Soft skins, he deduced, probably weren't that different, considering how things had gone with Sam, though it didn't fully answer his questions either. Furthermore, he had zero ideas as to how his clanmates would react to it all. He knew his closer relatives and friends would – while maybe weirded out about the whole thing – still come around eventually, they wouldn't be a problem. No, the issue was with the majority of the elders.

Some of them still bore scars from their confrontation during the original conflict, as well as from fighting and hunting the occasional soft skin which would appear from beyond the great waters. Thinking back to the stories they told, he could certainly see the hatred some of them carried, but was that against Sam's entire kind, or was it only against those of her race which had caused harm to them? If he could show them she was harmless and bore no ill intentions, would they be willing to accept her?

He didn't know.

-x-

As for the woman in question, she began to wake up around the same time as him, having had a wonderful sleep. Samantha slowly stretched her limbs while further burying her face into the Chaser's feathers. As consciousness returned, so did her recollection of what had happened last night, with each memory her cheeks became more and more red with embarrassment, while her mind began to consider the implications of it all. At the same time, she realized she was completely naked, while cuddling with Chaser. Well, not that it mattered anymore, considering what they had done.

For a moment she nearly had a panic attack while remembering it all, but she quickly wrestled those emotions under control.

"Congratulations, Sam, you have made dubious medical history by being the first human to have sex with a raptor…" She thought sarcastically. God, it sounded even worse in her head.

She could feel a lot of regret weighting down on her, maybe not for the act itself but because of the underlying selfishness beneath it all. It had been consensual from both of them, that much she was sure of, but the truth of the matter was she shouldn't have allowed it to go this far. This… whatever this was, this relationship just didn't have a place in both her life and the world she lived in. Yes, maybe from Chaser's perspective it had been a simpler question, but he didn't know of her life beyond this island, of how she would be ruined if this knowledge reached the world.

The more she thought about it, the more it felt like she was being inconsiderate with Chaser. "Jesus fuck, I'm even thinking of him like a boyfriend…" Sam couldn't help but feel a tiny spark of laughter at that.

Still, she couldn't deny there was an emotional element to it all. She did indeed like Chaser and the only reason why she allowed any of it to happen was because it was with him specifically. Plus, if Sam was being honest with herself, she had very much enjoyed the whole affair.

It had been surreal just how familiar yet alien the whole thing had been. She could never had imagined a raptor could be so… gentle, and in such a human way. The fresh memories of him examining her body with his bird-like eyes, how he would take every curve of her body and use his claws to gently feel her skin…

What were the chances of a completely different species, separated from humanity by millions of years, to have such a similar behavior towards mating?

How in the frozen hell would Chaser know about foreplay? How did he know how to use his… tongue like that?

If her face wasn't a tomato already, it should certainly be one now.

His tongue had been heavenly. It had been quite a while since the last time she had pleasured herself, even more from her last sexual encounter, which had made her even more sensitive to his ministrations. Samantha could remember every detail of it, how long it was, how thick and how flexible.

The look on his eyes while he ate her out… the bastard knew exactly what he was doing.

Oh, and the sex afterwards! Not only were the two of them compatible in terms of size and shape, but the way he did it wasn't that unfamiliar. Yes, there was the fact he was, well, a raptor obviously, he was big and covered in feathers, but beyond that and the unusual rhythm of his thrusts, everything else was mostly the same.

Hell, Sam had half expected him to either not have a penis at all or have it looking like a corkscrew…

"Alright, maybe I should stop thinking about penises," She hastily told herself. At the same time, she felt her companion shifting a bit. He was probably awake as well. Although it would be more productive to get out of bed and begin the many tasks she had organized for the day, Samantha decided to give herself (both of them, really) some more time of peace and quiet. By God, she needed it, not just to further recover her energies, but to have a few more moments where she could just ignore the consequences of her stupid decisions.

The woman pressed her face further into the mass of feathers covering his chest, letting out a satisfied sigh as she did so, while also sneaking an arm around him in a lazy hug. Chaser responded by doing the same with his right arm, touching her back with his claws and covering part of her with the long feathers of his arm. The feeling was indescribable.

It wasn't a one-sided pleasantry, she found out, as Chaser let out a content hum and the woman slowly stroke his neck. In response, the raptor gave her an affectioned nuzzle, to which she practically giggled.

Samantha tried to stay there for as long as her consciousness would allow it, until inevitably the growing worry of not having enough time to complete the day's tasks forced her to break away from the embrace. She would be lying to herself if she didn't admit a part of her hoped Chaser wouldn't feel disappointed by it… or maybe that he would. Looking at him as she slowly got off bed, she saw no negative signs on his eyes and demeanor, but she couldn't be too sure. She also attempted to keep herself covered as her eyes scanned the floor for her possessions.

It was quite ironic, considering what they had done, or perhaps it was precisely because of it she didn't wish to be seen naked. Maybe a way to deny it had happened or recover a shred of normality.

It was futile, she knew it.

Nevertheless, she managed to slip away to another room, leaving the very confused raptor behind. As she dressed herself, Samantha went through a mental checklist of all the work she had ahead of her. Most of it was the usual resource gathering and scouting, as well as some equipment maintenance, particularly of her shotgun. Other than those, she also needed to check all the small cuts and wounds she had accumulated in the last few days to make sure they weren't infected; on that note, she only had a small bar of soap dedicated to cleaning wounds and a few drops of alcohol from her meager supplies, normally more than enough for the time this little trip was supposed to take. Hopefully she wouldn't need to worry about these items running out, as she would be back on the mainland by then.

Thinking about this made her realize how close she was to her goal. The small dockyard was only a day or so of walking, even less if they didn't stumble upon any danger or obstacles. She was running out of time to figure out what to do about Chaser, what to say to him. Worse, Sam still had no clue as to what exactly she was going to do if her friends were indeed waiting for her over there.

She would need to simultaneously convince her friends not to shoot a full-grown raptor on sight, while also making sure Chaser behaved himself in a way which wouldn't accidentally cause a fight. Of course, she didn't really know if Chaser would be peaceful towards them the same way he was to her, but given what she had witnessed with his clan, it seemed he was just as eager to learn about others as she was.

Such a line of thought only made it natural that the first task to be undertaken was scouting from the top of her shelter.

Although standing, the metal structure of the observation tower had been slowly corroded by over twenty years of rain and wind, bits of metal chipped away at nearly every segment, while other metal supports were completely missing. It was far from safe and there would only be some rope tied around her hips to serve as a safety precaution.

The old ladder cranked and shifted with her weight, making her gulp in worry. Still, it didn't stop her from ascending. There were many spiderwebs along the sides, forcing her to keep a stiff posture, as the last thing she wanted was to accidentally bump into one or more and deal with those little eight-legged devils crawling all over her.

At one point Chaser had interrupted her, the raptor being surprised and a little alarmed at seeing her practically dangling from that weird old structure his kind didn't have a good way to describe. He had called for her, and Samantha could recognize the mix of worry and confusion of his tone. Although doing her best to assure him she was safe, she could see he was agitated, walking in circles around the shelter in an attempt to keep a good view of her, his body and tail swaying with anxiety.

It was cute, and she smiled at him. Beyond language lessons and typical behavior study, Sam was learning more and more about his emotional side.

Time passed and the woman ascended the old steps. Once she was halfway to the top, she secured the only rope she had to the most intact of the support beams around her. At this height, she had enough rope to reach the top and look around.

Her sturdy boots gave out loud metal thuds as she hoisted herself up the final step and stood up. Around her was nothing more than a simple 3x3 meter square metal floor, with what appeared to be the remains of a chair, a broken phone (or maybe intercom system) and a small table. It was dusty, dirty and inhabited by even more spiders, whom she tried to remain clear from.

It was tall enough to stand above the surrounding forest, which was good enough. The location on top of a small hill aided her even more, as the land beyond went lower as it approached the sea. Thus, the docks near the horizon were in plain view and close enough for her binoculars to pick a few details, though she would probably have better chances at night, searching for a source of light or fire.

The details were slowly revealed as her binoculars scanned the area. There was a pier, some scattered shacks, a radio tower and a couple of more robust concrete buildings, likely the administration and living quarters of the original workers.

Searching for a clear sight of her companions would be hard, as they themselves also needed to hide their presence from the occasional coast guard patrols which kept the island isolated. As a result, she couldn't tell if any of the scattered boats still floating belonged to them. Almost all of them were covered up and the few which weren't did not resembled the small vessel they had used to get there. Hell, nearly all of them were of similar size, which didn't help matters at all.

Looking at the windows didn't help either, as she couldn't see the inside from this distance. However, when her gaze shifted to the ground level, she noticed how all the visible entrances had been barricaded, though this could be something from previous visitors, or even the original workers.

The lack of clues brought about a deep frown. What if she got there and was met with silence?

-x-

Golden eyes watched as the woman made her way down. While he was very much aware of how she was a capable climber, he didn't like the look of this old soft skin structure; it was unfamiliar and even more unnatural looking than usual, it didn't look safe.

Once she was safely on the ground, he approached behind her and went for a gentle nuzzle, spooking her at first. After it was clear who it was, her body remained frozen "undecided, perhaps?" he wondered. He pressed onwards, using his arms to envelop her in that weird way she had done to him a few times, a gesture which seemed to break her indecision, making the soft skin melt into him while letting out a content sigh.

Displaying affection like this was a mix of delight and excitement, all of it surreal.

It would take some time for him to get over the fact he was in a relationship with a soft skin, and Chaser briefly wondered if Sam was having the same feelings as him. Maybe she too was trying to figure out the best way to approach this. It would explain why she had been acting so… normal (for a soft skin), despite what had transpired.

As had become routine, Chaser followed her around as the day went on, watching intently as she carried out her many tasks. This time, however, he actually helped her with some of it, mostly by carrying some things and helping her gather dried stick for her fire. Something told him this was a sign that she was seeing him in a different light, willing to trust him to help her around like this. Maybe this was a bonding thing amongst her kind?

More importantly, by now the two of them had enough knowledge of each other's tongue to have casual conversations. While primarily one-sided, with him constantly asking questions about her tasks, it was still a new experience for both. It seemed his mate was quite interested in teaching him more about her things, and for the first time since they had met Chaser was able to get answers about the strange – and frankly bizarre – gadgets she carried around.

"A brush stick for the teeth…" He thought to himself. Sam had some sort of stick fitted with a small brush at one end which she used to clean up her teeth. It was a strange, though not completely alien concept, for his kind also tried to find ways to clean their mouths, knowing that not doing it could bring unpleasant smells and eventually pain. Due to the lack proper dexterity, they relied on chewing bones and certain kinds of leaves to help keep their mouths clean and avoid foul smells.

Sam even showed him how she did it, which he still found odd. It was always weird for him how much the soft skins used their hands to manipulate the world around them.

Another subject was eyesight. His kind, naturally, had excellent eyesight, and all his people knew soft skins couldn't see well in the dark and over long distances; it was a basic knowledge taught to all younglings as soon as they became old enough to start venturing out their home. With the knowledge of how well their enemies could see, they could at least try to avoid them.

By asking Sam what she could see (though with some language barriers, still) he realized just how bad it actually was. No wonder so many of her kind were ambushed. It felt quite ironic to him that beings which relied so much on fighting from a distance would have such terrible vision. It explained why she was always so careful with her boom stick! For all he knew she could mistakenly kill him if he happens to be standing close enough to a threat!

Though once again, Sam managed to surprise him with her soft skin ingenuity. From the depths of her carry thing, she produced a strange object of two green hollow cylinders.

As she lifted it up, he was able to see each cylinder had a transparent material inside, similar to the broken ones he often found adorning the square holes of hollow rocks. The soft skin then placed it in front of her eyes, with the cylinders matching each one perfectly (which kinda made her look like those weird lizards with protruded eyes he occasionally saw).

"This helps Sam to see!" She exclaimed excitedly.

His mind was beginning to question if soft skins were actually sane. "Help see?" It sounded like nonsense. How would two green cylinders with a transparent rock thing help her see better?

…Then again, she did carry a big stick capable of projecting fire and death, and a smaller one which could glow like the sun and the moon!

"Yes!" She stood beside him while holding the strange thing in front of them. "Here, Chaser, look here."

He did as asked, unsure what to expect but being very skeptical.

In a few seconds his world was blown away.

This wasn't just a pair of tubes with transparent material. No. This thing right there was a new set of eyes. A set of crafted eyes.

She had been pointing to a big valley below them, and by looking through the hole it was as if his eyes had been transported to the middle of it, able to see the opposite side in incredible detail.

Although it wasn't the most impressive tool of a soft skin (that honor went to her thunderer), this thing gave Chaser a strange realization. The soft skins… they always found a way to go around their own physical limitations. Anything their body was lacking could be improved by creating some sort of tool. Not only that, but these tools were so alien in both material and shape he couldn't even imagine how they were able to create them, even when considering their dexterous hands. How had they done it? What was he missing here?

No matter how much he tried to understand Sam and her kind, they always became even more alien to him.

He stopped staring at the valley and turned to face her. As expected, she held the expression and body language she always did when getting him surprised, and this time he really was impressed.

Memories of his clan flashed behind his eyes. He thought about all the troubles and misery some of them had suffered through. If only his clan had access to these tools, or the ability to create them. What else could the soft skins offer? Could they find a way to heal broken limbs or even make brand new artificial ones? Could they turn his home into one of the hollow rocks?

Only the stars could tell. But he was just glad he had the chance to learn this, to meet this female in front of him. Truly she was the best thing to happen to him in a long time.

"By the stars, at this rate I'll try to lay with her again," He thought to himself. Better wait, for he could feel there were still things they needed to talk about regarding their strange relationship, about the future. But nevertheless, he knew for sure he had to find out more.

His mind couldn't help but to wonder what other kinds of insane soft skin inventions might exist out there.