The hike back to the clan caused much strain on my body. It's my own fault. I didn't realize halfway back that I can drag the animal. Its natural armor hide probably won't be ruined by mere dirt. I think the animal went through the stages of rigor mortis and will be ready to cook, it's hard to tell on this planet. I believe chemical reactions occur faster due to the higher temperature. It takes earth animals multiple days to go through the decomposition process. I swear if I let my mind wander for an hour then come back to my surroundings, the grass looks taller. Anyways I made it back to camp before sunset. The guards let me through. I ask a random krogan where Wrex is, and he points the way. As I make my way there, the sense of eyes watching me come from everywhere. The krogan are looking at me funny. Why am I getting attention I didn't ask for? Whatever, I find Wrex and give him my gift.
"Here's rent ya big lizard" I drop the carcass at his feet. Wrex stares at me in disbelief. His mouth widens slightly. I feel like I did something wrong.
"You're looking at me like your angry. Did I kill something sacred?" My ears are getting hot.
"How are you alive?" A krogan bystander asks.
"My cells metabolize food into energy" I retorted. I'm not sure he understood.
"Don't ever scare me like that again! Half the clan was about to drag your mangled ass back" Wrex furiously screams.
"I wrote down where I was going" I replied.
"The chips in our brains don't translate written words! The only clue you left me was a big arrow pointing into the badlands!" Wrex invades my personal bubble.
"Oh yeah… I forgot. Won't happen again. Want me to cook this thing?" I need to calm him down.
"Human, you have no idea how lucky you are. Something should have eaten you" a member of my would be search party said.
"I can take care of myself. Those giant exploding scorpions took a while to kill, but I did it" I shrug.
"You shouldn't have survived the night. Where did you even sleep?" Wrex asks.
"I climbed up a branch tied myself to a tree twenty feet off the ground. I slept like a baby. I found these berries that give me awesome dreams" I show a few from my pocket.
"Those are edible?" Wrex is surprised.
"Yeah why?" should I be concerned?" Do the locals know something?
"I don't know. Krogans don't eat plants" Wrex said.
"Show me your teeth" I'll examine how nature says their diet should be. Wrex hesitates, but then he shows me those big old chewing bones. They look alot like humans. Krogan have more and larger teeth than us. I definitely see flat bones in the back and canines closer to the front. The mouth tells me they should be omnivores. Eating an all-meat diet can cause problems. For some it's healthy, but it wasn't in my case, much to my disappointment.
"I'm not the sharpest crayon in the veggie tray, but you definitely should be eating plants with your diet" I state.
"We're Men. Krogan men. We don't eat things growing out of the dirt" the crowd grunts and huffs in unison.
"Do you guys want micronutrients and vitamin deficiencies?"
The excited crowd dies down and thinks about what I have said.
"Nevermind that. ********* do not go hunting alone again. You could have been killed by a thresher maw" Wrex said.
"I'll be fine. I killed a few dragons before I came aboard the normandy" I fondly remember those days.
"What's that?" Someone asks.
"It is a giant reptile-like animal that can fly and shoot fire from its mouth. It's much bigger than krogan. I killed it with a really cool axe I had to leave behind" I loved that weapon. It glowed. Hold your tears in. I hear the crowd mumble something. I couldn't pick it up. I ask Wrex to take a picture of me posing next to my kill. He's mad but agrees. I start a group chat with everyone from the normandy and brag about my accomplishments. We started to talk for a couple of days that soon became a week. Responses from Normandy vary drastically and responses from Tali or Garrus can take at least two days. During this time, I invented the mortar mixture and worked on my cabin. I'm up to where windows will be. I show them some pictures and invite them out to visit. Everyone is busy and it won't happen for a while. Hopefully I can install a roof by then. I'll have to find a dried log, build a sled and haul it back. A task for future *********.
Several months have passed, I assume. The moon became full for the fourth time since I was here. I'm halfway complete tidying up the camp. It would have gone easier if the other krogan wouldn't intentionally leave messes where I just cleaned. Someone put a big boulder in the center of the camp. Whoever is taunting me will pay. Not everyone is a rude piece of crap. Besides Wrex, I befriended a couple of other Krogan. I would ask for little stuff for side projects and they graciously helped me out. In exchange, I would do some manual labor. My muscles feel weird. I know I am stronger, which is surprising because I believed I had maxed out my body already. Guess there is always a way to get stronger. I can't tell if my muscles are toner, or if I lost body fat. I know the food is doing something. Everything has that funny tingling taste. Meat seems to have the strongest flavor while plants are milder. I grew to love it. My body feels pent up. Full of energy ready to burst. It sounds unpleasant, but it is rather enjoyable after an adjustment phase. I'm stronger, I have more energy, and look better. I mean 1% better. It's hard to improve near perfection.
I also made friends with the shaman. I'm always interested in ways to improve myself and ancient literature started me on this path. I wonder what wisdom is hiding in the krogan stories. The tales he told me appear violent, but I was told the symbolism runs deep. I'll have to decode that later. I might never be able to truly understand. Much was lost from the war.
The cabin is coming along nicely. I melted down broken bottles into small rectangular pieces. I couldn't make the tools to pour one large plane. Instead, I made many small pieces and framed them together in a geometric pattern. It looks like beginner's stained-glass work and I'm not a fan of the brown. It serves me. I'm hoping the brown will keep most of the light from coming in and warming the place up. I do miss color temperatures. Plus, the inability to see through will let me be able to meditate and reset my body… wait I haven't done that since I got here. Why is my body not in pain? The radiation should have deteriorated my health, yet I'm the best I've ever been. I know the war was a long time ago, but I don't think the radiation dissipated that much. I wonder if the magnetic field of the planet does something. I doubt it, but I've seen weirder things.
I'm continuing my work. All the little stones are gone and I'm working on moving the larger ones. It is a good thing I worked my way up, it would have been a huge pain to carry these a few hundred feet away when I first started. My hands have strong calluses. I kind of like it. I hear complaining.
"All he does is move rocks near every day!" oh god not him.
"Leave him be. It's not like he causes problems or is a salarian" his friend said.
I stand, holding an 80 pound boulder in front of me and intently stare at the two. This guy has really irritated me for the past two months. I didn't do anything to him. In fact, I barely interact with the clan with few exceptions. Wrex sees my annoyance. He looks up from his electronic pad.
"He's a liability to urdnot. He takes up space, eats our food, and does nothing!" he yells.
"HEY. I am making my own living space, I forage and hunt as well and bring enough to share, and I work. Where do you get off talking about me like that!" I think I'm going to allow myself to get angry. Stay in control. loosen up only a bit.
"Be quiet. No one wants to hear your pathetic excuses weakling" he stares fiercely into my dark soul. I drop my boulder and spread my wings.
"You want to go? I'll kick your ass. Come on. Prove you're better than me" I confidently walk up to the walking irritation. Wrex comes between us and pushes me back.
"Don't do it. It's not worth it" Wrex attmepts to protect me.
"Do you rely on others for everything you do?" he mocks.
I whisper to Wrex "He has been getting on my nerves for the past two months and I am sick of it. He almost knocked me out by thowing a rock at my head. I will fight him if he continues."
"Don't. If you challenge him, I won't be able to stand between you. This isn't like back on the Normandy. He will try to kill you" Wrex said.
"I'll try killing him back" I know I can, even without my abilities I'll beat him.
"Are we allowed weapons?" I ask my soon to be beaten bully.
"Nope. Fists and kicks" he said.
"Good. I need an outlet."
