A/N: Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. I am so happy that people are enjoying my foray into planetary romance. I hope this encourages some of you to explore the worlds of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The stories he wrote in other lands were much better than the Tarzan ones, imho.

Oh, and to the Guest reviewer that wrote, "See if you can find a way to combine the 2 POVs into a single scene instead of repeating it," thanks for the comment, it made me smile. I deliberately kept their POVs separate, to make it clear how each was thinking and feeling as they learned to communicate.

Thanks once again to MarkeyDeSad for the beta. He loves it and still does after returning chapter 5 to me, so hopefully that will be the same for everyone else. :)

So, Chuck is getting closer to being able to fully converse with S'ra. Overnight, he also got physically closer to her. Now is a new day for them to face as their journey continues…

Exo
Chapter 3: Journeying

The two of them had reluctantly risen from their comfortable shelter.

S'ra knew that it would become less comfortable as the sun rose higher and the air temperature rose with it. Besides, they really needed to press on. That was not just because of her need to return home, but also several other challenges facing the two of them, or more precisely, Chuck.

She looked at his feet when she got up. They weren't cut, but they were extremely red. He needed shoes of some sort.

He also needed more clothing than what he was wearing. His cheeks reddened when she looked closely at that item, and even covered himself, but she swatted his hands away. It did amuse her, though. Most men would welcome a woman doing that. They may even push themselves toward her. Not Chuck. He was not like that, almost bashful, which intrigued her.

The leaf he had chosen was from a vetia tree. It was a very good choice as they are tough but flexible. They also lasted for a lot longer after being plucked off the tree than those from other planet species. She looked at his inner thighs to see if there was any chaffing. He tried to stop her, but she was having none of that. Surprisingly his skin was unblemished. The sap from the leaf had obviously not leaked onto the skin. Either that or his body was resistant to the toxin it contained.

Whatever, the leaf couldn't last much more than a day longer, so he needed something else. The best would be the hide of one of the local animals, but they would have to catch one first, and then skin it, prepare it and dry it, before he could wear it. The preparation would depend on the animal, but would definitely need flowing water. He could probably use the vine he already had, but they'd need more.

So, they needed to find an animal that could be easily killed, hopefully large enough to cover him and his feet, a stream or river, and vines, all of which meant a forest. She rolled her eyes, exasperated. Not much to ask for!

Explaining it all to Chuck was going to be a relatively long process and would have to be done as they walked.

Before they started, she gave him a piece of the gritch from her pack. She had to explain is purpose, which was strange. She wondered how his people kept their breath fresh and teeth from decaying if it wasn't this.

Then they had a quick snack, the same as their last 'meal' and set off.

Chuck had been thoroughly embarrassed when S'ra kneeled down and looked at his 'garment'. No woman had been anywhere near him like that for years. Of course, she wasn't interested in his crotch but what he was wearing, which just made him blush all the more. She obviously knew it wouldn't last for long and was, presumably, assessing how long before it fell apart.

God, that would be mortifying, being naked in front of her!

Then, she pulled his legs apart and started looking at his inner thigh just below what he was wearing. He tried to push her away, but she easily stopped him. He wasn't going to hurt her, so he had to let her continue what she was doing.

When she gently touched him there, it tingled and sent shivers up and down his spine. God, I love her touch!

She didn't explain any of this until later and he didn't ask as it happened. He was, after all, speechless.

When he refocused, she handed him a small piece of what looked like plant flesh. He frowned initially, not knowing why she had given it to him. Was it breakfast? Then he smiled as he watched and listened to her explaining its purpose. This was her people's equivalent to toothpaste.

She popped a piece into her mouth and chewed, so he followed suit. The taste was reminiscent of mint toothpaste. It triggered his saliva and the juices from the item, which she called 'gritch,' combined with it and worked its wonders. He saw that she swallowed hers so, when he'd finished, he did the same. His mouth felt fresher than ever and his teeth felt clean too. This gritch was amazing stuff.

After a quick meal, she packed her blanket away and they started walking toward the mountains once again.

After an hour, S'ra had managed to explain her concerns about the vetia leaf he was wearing. He was surprised at the toxin. The leaf had been rubbing him, but can't have leaked. He was now very keen on finding a replacement. He wanted no acid burns down there!

In a short break, she asked where he lived and looked surprised when he said Earth and pointed up into the sky. It took a while to get the concept of a planet explained. He had to point to the large moon that had appeared in the sky, which she called 'Niteth,' and he balled a fist with one hand and twirled a finger from the other around it, then pointed at that finger and called it Niteth. Pointing at his fist and then down at the ground, he managed to convey that the moon orbited the planet. Then, he pointed at the sun and on the hand that had been used for the moon, splayed his fingers out and pointed between that and the sun. She nodded, quickly grasping that this hand was now representing the sun. He balled the other fist up again and twirled that around the other. Her eyes shone as she recognized he was showing her planet orbiting the sun.

He grinned. He pointed at the planet fist, then at her. She looked quizzically at him as he did this. He then shook both hands, before expanding the previous fist into a star shape and balled the other into a fist, twirling it around that. Then, he pointed at the star and up into the sky, waving away to indicate a great distance. Finally, pointing at the balled fist, saying "Earth" and then at himself.

Her eyes widened. She understood what he was saying!

S'ra sat dumbfounded over what Chuck had just told her.

She'd enjoyed the way he demonstrated a moon orbiting the planet, Retith, and then the sun. However, when he did the same and indicated another sun further away, probably a long way judging by his hand waving, then called the planet "Urth" and pointed at himself, she was shocked. That matched what he had said earlier, when he said 'Urth' was the place he came from. He was a visitor from another planet!

She was speechless. She tried to ask how he had come here, but 'how' was not a word she had taught him, so she used their current form of traveling, pointing at the sky and then here, followed by the finger walking and a raised brow.

He spread his hands, palm up and shrugged. He obviously didn't know.

This was all very confusing, but it made her think about his condition when he arrived. She pointed at his spear and then at his groin and pointed at the ground, meaning Retith, the planet. He nodded. She waved up and down his torso with a raised brow again. He obviously recognized she was asking what he was wearing when he arrived. He did that raised hand thing again.

Things were starting to make some sense. He had arrived naked and fashioned both the briefs and the spear in the forest.

She looked at him with enormous sympathy. He must feel so alone. She was so glad now that they had met. She was his only friend on Retith! It made her want to embrace him, give him comfort. She wouldn't do that, as It might give the wrong message, but her heart did go out to him.

One thing this did do was make her more determined than ever to help him.

S'ra was silent for the next hour of walking as she thought about what she had learned about her traveling companion and where he had come from. It was hard to believe.

She started to wonder whether it was actually true or whether he was delusional. How could he prove it? After all, he didn't know how he got here. There was no craft he had arrived in to demonstrate it.

He did seem to be a bit more heavily muscled than men of Grillain, her city, or men she had met from other city states, but that didn't automatically mean he came from another planet. Nor did his greater strength. His lack of understand of her language, just meant he was from far away, but could still be on Retith.

She thought about this for some time, then decided it wasn't important. He believed it and she doubted anyone would be able to convince him otherwise.

So, she accepted what he said for now. If something else came up that disproved it, they would have to face it together. Until then, he would be Chuck of Urth. She glanced over at him and called him that. He grinned and said, "Sarah of Retith." She grinned back.

They continued in companionable silence for another hour before S'ra realized she had been just in her head since his revelation and not concentrating on the landscape ahead. Now that she did, she saw that they were approaching a dark green mass. A forest!

Chuck thought S'ra had been aiming for the forest that lay ahead. She was obviously a planner and, in spite of her need to get home, was trying her best to help him. He wasn't used to help. Apart from his sister and her boyfriend, no one had helped him since he had lost Morgan. The fact that it was a woman somehow made it even more special. Women generally avoided him. And yet, here was the most gorgeous woman in two worlds willingly helping him! It made him feel special.

He cast a glance her way, still only half believing she was here with him.

She looked his way and grinned, pointing ahead. "Forest!"

He was bemused. She spoke as if she had only just seen it, yet they had been walking toward it for at least half an hour. Could it be that his sight was better than normal on this planet? The planet she called Retith.

He would have to file that away for now as he only had her to compare himself to. It may be that, despite outward appearances, S'ra wasn't perfect and had poor eyesight.

A further half hour passed. They were now getting much closer and he could see a herd of some animals. They may be like the ones he had first seen.

S'ra looked at him. "Landic. Flesh good. Skin good for clothing." She was simplifying everything she said to ensure he could understand.

"Good," he replied.

"Not run from us unless close. Use spear."

He was uncomfortable with the idea of killing something, but this would give them two things they needed. Food and skin. He had to steel himself.

Ten minutes or so later, he felt close enough to try. He placed a hand on her arm to stop her. She looked sharply at him. It was the first time he'd touched her since they'd slept together, but that wasn't the cause of the look.

She held her hand apart and extended them. He guessed she thought the herd were too far away. He shook his head and prepared to throw.

The nearest landics were now looking at them, still not concerned due to the distance.

He hoped he was right, because he'd probably only have one chance.

He hefted the spear back and hurled it at the nearest landic.

The landic all recognized danger and turned to run, but that nearest one was too slow to escape. The spear pieced its neck, felling it.

S'ra seemed frozen for a second or two looking at him with her mouth open, then she followed Chuck as he started toward the fallen animal.

The two of them ran towards it as the other beasts ran in the opposite direction. When they reached it, Chuck realized he had made a lucky throw and had killed it. That was now two creatures on this planet he had killed. It didn't feel good. In fact, he felt sick and had to turn away and retch again.

S'ra was stunned. Chuck had thrown his spear much further than she had ever seen before. Not only that, the speed at which it hit the landic was not only enough to pierce its skin, but launch it a few feet further from them.

On reaching it, she saw that he had killed it outright… from about 150 feet away! Thrown with such force and accuracy, the spear had hit its neck and half had passed through the neck completely.

Chuck was absolutely amazing.

She turned to make a comment about this and found him being sick, facing away from her.

He obviously wasn't used to death back on his planet.

She turned back to the carcass. She was not like him and crouched down to skin the landic. She'd use all of it; some for clothes, shoes and bags, the rest to carry the raw meat into the forest. Today, they would feed well, although they would need to do that in the forest. They needed to find wood to make the fires.

It had taken S'ra over an hour to skin the landic and to scrape the inside to remove all the flesh and fat. Her knife wasn't the best tool for this, but it was all she had.

She cut it into what she felt she needed for each purpose, then carved off enough meat for them to both eat tonight and have some to take with them when they continued their journey. She wrapped it in the hide she'd selected for that purpose.

Chuck had continued retching as she worked and seemed desperate to move away. She wondered if he was rich enough in his world to have people do this for him and therefore didn't have to.

As they headed into the forest, an ixtag loped out from further along and approached the carcass. They rarely attack more than one person, so she wasn't surprised. There would be plenty of flesh still on the landic that they shouldn't have to worry about this ixtag. However, they would have to be vigilant for others.

It didn't take them long to find a stream which they drank from and she used to refill her bottle.

They stayed fairly close to the stream as they gathered up dried wood and she lit two fires. The meat, she started cooking over one, once she'd rigged up a frame to support it. The other she would use for the hide.

Landic skin was wonderful. For some skins she'd heard she would have needed to salt it for days, but that wasn't necessary with this. She washed it in the stream and placed it high up over the smaller fire, spread across two poles. Once it was dry, which shouldn't take long, they would need to stretch it and then leave it hanging, away from the fire.

They'd have to get away from here before nightfall, as a forest was definitely not a place to sleep. Thankfully, this forest was not too wide and they were fairly close to the edge and would be able to get far enough away before the dark.

So, they'd have to take everything with them, but by morning, they should have something that could be used to fashion clothing.

S'ra felt very pleased with how things had gone.

Chuck had chucked up very little. He'd not eaten much since arriving on the planet and probably all had been digested.

How she managed to do what she did was beyond him. He knew that was what people had to do in the wild and he would have had to try it himself, but still…

Once they were in the forest he was able to be helpful, gathering branches for the various purposes.

Watching her building the frame to cook the meat was fascinating. He was an engineering student, but that was mainly software engineering. He had learned how to build computers from his dad and took that as a course, but this was a much more practical use of engineering skills. He wasn't sure the supports S'ra set up were exactly like those from Earth, but they worked well. The spits, he thought that was the Earth name, were pierced through the meat which then she left to cook, telling him to turn it occasionally.

He did that, apart from when she got him to help stretch the skin. Hide he should call it now. Handling it was still hard for him as it still looked like the skin of the animal, although it didn't feel like it now and it seemed softer than he'd expected.

Then she moved the two supports and bars away from the fire and hung it over them again.

He watched as she fetched a huge leaf he'd not seen before and threw in on the fire they used for the hide. This was an unusual leaf. It dowsed the flame immediately with no steam or smoke.

She then walked off again. He guessed she was searching for more things they would need. He worried about them being apart, or more particularly worried for her, but he couldn't object. She was doing so much for them that complaining seemed churlish.

She came back after about half an hour, her clothes looked wet, as did her hair. He guessed she had washed both. He suddenly felt dirty. He couldn't help looking at the now clean S'ra in awe all over again. Her clothes clung to her, emphasizing her contours. She was absolutely breathtaking. He had to look away before his body's reaction showed.

However, he did manage to ask about washing. She pointed in the direction she had come. "River." She waved him in that direction and he hurried off.

When he returned, feeling a lot fresher, S'ra took some of the meat from one of the spits and put it onto two other, different, leaves. She handed one to him with what he was sure was a smirk. "Hot."

He grinned. She was teasing this novice in her world. Of course, the meat would be hot. Then he realized the leaf, which he had in the palm of his hand, did not transmit that heat. Maybe her word was important after all. He could have assumed the meat's temperature would be transmitted through the leaf, so cold leaf would mean cold meat, right?

The meat, once cool enough to eat, was delicious. Whether that was just because he hadn't eaten much since he got here was unclear to him. It could also be because this heavenly creature sitting eating with him had prepared it for him.

As they ate, S'ra asked him, "Are all men from Urth this strong?"

Part of Chuck would like to make himself seem special. He'd never felt special at home, but that really wasn't in his nature. In fact, he always went the opposite way, his self-deprecation kicking in. He shook his head and told her the truth. "Stronger. I have muscles from…" He didn't know the word for it, so enacted strokes and said in English, "swimming." Then he shifted back to her language. "But not strong."

She looked surprised and obviously admired his form. This was also something that never happened to Chuck at home and it made him blush. However, she was probably thinking what a man of Earth with more muscles would be able to achieve.

She also did the swimming strokes and told him the word for it.

He explained what she had seen. "Here I am stronger." He didn't know gravity either so had to show pulling down and pointing to the ground.

S'ra grasped this and told him the word for gravity and he said, "Weaker here."

The light of understanding appeared in her eyes.

He emphasized the point by doing a jump away from her and one back. She smiled. "Useful."

He nodded.

So, she now knew some more about him. He wondered if it made him seem more or less attractive to her. He really hoped the former.

He knew he was already a goner, fallen head over heels with this beauty. He wasn't too surprised, but was sure that thoughts of her feeling the same were just in his head. She must have a boyfriend or lover back home. Maybe a husband, if they had the concept of marriage here. How could she not?

As he ate, he spiraled down into his usual conviction that he would always be single and alone.

He was broken out of his thoughts when S'ra stood and carried another of the heat dissipating leaves and sliced it up with her unbelievably sharp looking blade. She then slid the remaining meat onto these strips and wrapped them up.

She'd also brought several of the vines he'd previously found in the other forest. Ones like the one around his waist. She used some of these to tie around the food parcels and placed them inside her backpack.

He was amazed at how much she could fit in that backpack, so he looked over her shoulder into it and was still amazed. When she closed it, and was about to heft it onto her back, he stopped her and, grabbing the straps, lifted it. It was fairly heavy. The gentleman in him couldn't let her carry it when he had nothing, so he quickly slipped his arms into the straps.

She looked at him, amazed, as if no man would do that.

He smiled at her and gave her the thumbs up. Whether that would mean anything to her didn't matter. He wasn't taking this off again.

She eventually shrugged, broke down the cooking frames and threw another of those leaves on the remaining flame. She then collected the hide and separated out the wood of the frame and wrapped those in a cooling leaf.

She came back to him and gave him a different leaf. She looked him in the eye and said, "Tlak." This was a word he'd not heard before, which she knew. She turned sideways and demonstrated how he should use this. Watching this beautiful woman miming wiping her bottom with one of these leaves was something else entirely. It was almost comical, but there was no way he was going to laugh at her.

She pointed at herself and then in one direction and repeated the same with him, but in a different direction. Evidently, they were to relieve themselves separately. He was absolutely fine with that and set off, carrying the leaf and his spear. He didn't go far because he wanted to be able to get to her quickly if she called out for help.

He was surprised that his body responded as hoped and he was soon heading back to their eating site. When he got there, she handed him a different leaf which felt wet. He watched her rubbing it over her hands. Evidently, this was how they washed in the wild.

Finally, S'ra stood in front of him, holding the bundle of branches, and pointing off in a new direction. Chuck wasn't good with directions normally, but knew this was neither the way they'd come in nor straight ahead. He guessed they were taking the fastest way out of the forest, other than doubling back on themselves.

They had left the forest and walked away from it for about two hours before it was almost too dark to see each other.

She thought this was a great shame as she had really started to like glancing his way as they walked, even if they didn't try to talk.

It felt strange that she was developing feelings for someone who she had known for little more than a day, but she couldn't deny it. She wondered if this was some magic spell he was casting over her, but looking at him, he was clearly in the same state.

She had had many suitors in her life. Most of them she would never consider. That one mistake she made, allowing B'rack into her life, had ended badly and strengthened her resolve to resist them, turn them away. Her parents didn't like that and were pressuring her to find a man and marry, probably with someone of their choosing. That was something she dreaded when she returned home, just more men problems. So, here with this complete stranger, she was surprised she was developing feelings for him, but she was.

Thankfully, Chuck wasn't like most men she had met before. She wondered if all from his planet were like him. Not pushy, but… respectful, that was it. And when he took her backpack, it had stunned her. Traditionally, the woman carried the belongings and food, whereas the man carried and used the weapons. Even though their lives were very different now, that tradition remained. So, Chuck carrying the backpack was unheard of. He obviously did it to ease her burden, which made her like him even more. He seemed to care for her wellbeing.

He really was amazing and she was so glad she had met him.

She started to wonder if the concept of marriage existed on his planet and if it meant the same at on Retith.

She had to stop thinking such things. They needed to settle down and sleep.

S'ra stopped and set up the frame again, then took the backpack off Chuck's back. She first pulled out the hide and draped that over the frame. She would work on that in the morning before they set off again. Then, she retrieved the blanket.

She turned to Chuck after kicking off her shoes, and held out her hand. When he clasped it, she smiled at him and pulled him down to the ground next to her. She lay down, facing away from him and was glad he knew what to do.

As he slipped his legs behind hers, she placed her bare feet on his. He wrapped his arm around her and she pulled his hand to her stomach. That stomach fluttered for a moment before settling down. She eased herself back into his embrace and hummed. She definitely could get used to this.

She soon drifted off and fell into dreams of always sleeping in Chuck's embrace.

A/N: End of day two.

Please review.

My beta has suggested including pronunciation of the words / names used, so…
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Glossary (pronunciation in brackets)

People:

B'rack (Bur-Rack)– S'ra's previous boyfriend (we never meet him)

Frakku (Frack-Ku) – purple-skinned savages

S'ra (Sur-Rah) – first person Chuck Bartowski meets on the new planet

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Plants and animals:

Gritch (Grit-Ch)– flesh of this plant used to clean teeth and breath

Ixtag (Eecs-Tag) – black-colored predator that live in forests

Landic )Land-Ick) – deer-like herbivore

Vetia (Vet-Ia) – leaves of this plant very flexible and used by Chuck to cover himself. Sap burns people from the planet but didn't affect him

Xynth (Zinth)– flying predator

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Places:

Garverd –(Gar-Vert) mountain range

Retith (Ret-Teeth) – the planet Chuck was now on

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Other:

Bract (Br-Act) – nutritious bars carried to eat when access to other food hard to achieve