Sorry for the long delay! I had to renovate my house, got sick a bunch, and fell down a heaven official's blessing / danmei rabbit hole. Thank you to everyone who commented on the previous chapter. It reminded to get a move on with edit 3
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There was a scuffle as she walked with Raz'ha. He steered her around it as a young warrior thrashed and roared. Five others subdued him quickly and he was dragged off as she stammered out, "What are they doing to him?"
"Taking him for punishment-whipping." His clawed hand remained on her shoulder which was rare these days. "He will recover."
"Do you know what he did?"
"No," Raz'ha said.
"Is this normal?"
"Not usually on this level. Most submit for punishment because it is ten lashes more if they come to collect you."
That wasn't reassuring at all.
"In a shortage, this happens as time goes on and hunger gnaws at the belly." He clicked. "There will be more this cycle and next."
"It's not related to the bigger issue then?"
He trilled. "It is usually small theft and public intoxication. Some drink c'nlip to dull the ache and become a nuisance."
An honored warrior like Raz'ha might not be worried, but five burly warriors had tackled and dragged the offender off. No one even protested or questioned what they wanted with the warrior. "You're sure everything has settled?"
"Sei," he trilled. "Tomorrow there will be food and a celebration. You will see then."
Amelia made a noncommittal noise in reply.
#
The hunters returned victorious, Ra'za and Sain'ja escorted her to the hall outside the shuttle bay. They stayed in the back since it was probably inappropriate for her to attend the event. She had her first glimpse of the priestesses and high priestess through the open doors. Amelia could barely make out the tall green females at a distance but their dreads gleamed with so many golden trinkets it was almost impossible to identify their color beneath them.
Her mask picked up pieces of the speeches over the crowd's chatter. A lot of thanking paya and patience and today all eat thanks to her generosity and guidance of the high priestess.
Maybe the high priestess was insane as the crowd rumbled and chattered with that notion.
The high priestess motioned to the successful hunters and considered them her arms, an extension of her will. They seemed to bow appropriately but gave no comment.
Raz'ha was scanning their surroundings and made no sound as he eyed the crowd that grew louder by the minute. The saracens were displeased and no one had eaten yet.
Amelia steeled her nerves. "It might get better when everyone eats."
"If she ever stops praising herself to allow it," a yautja she didn't recognize beside them said. Others clicked agreement.
Someone in the crowd shouted, "Meat!"
Another shout from across the room joined in. "We want meat!"
Others joined in and soon they were chanting a steady, "Meat! Meat! Meat!"
Raz'ha gripped her shoulder and ushered her away. Amelia and Sain'ja kept pace readily without question. As she looked back she saw Del'is in the doorway. The older female's head tilted and she watched them leave through her ornate mask.
It wasn't a good sign.
Tension had simmered beneath the surface. When hope of the hunting planet was an endless possibility, optimism was easy. Now reality returned and it didn't live up to the expectation that everything would be okay.
Sain'ja entered Raz'ha's quarters with them.
"What's happening?" Amelia asked because they hadn't relaxed. If anything the pair seemed tense and they moved across the room and began opening storage lockers. She scooped up Odin and Freya trying to greet them and Hult'ah kept at her heels but out of the way.
"Lockdown," Raz'ha said.
As if on cue, the lights shut off leaving them in the dark.
The dim light setting on her mask needed some lighting to work. She fumbled with the buttons, trying to find a suitable alternative when Raz'ha's hand found hers in the dark. She flinched and moved closer to him as the ominous sound of metal grinding reverberated through the ship.
"What-?" Amelia asked
Raz'ha was doing something to her mask and she felt it suddenly suction tighter to her face. Stale air filled it. He'd hooked up an air tank to her.
He took the puppies from her and replaced them with a cold metal cannister. Then he carried her, cannister and all, to the bed. He wrapped her arms around the air tank and clicked something incoherent at her.
She turned her mask to heat signature and watched the warriors move around the room quickly. They both had their own airtanks hooked to their masks. Raz'ha traded her puppies for furs Sain'ja pulled from a storage bin. He then pulled out his hunting netting. It was designed for both camouflage and temperature regulation and she had the sinking feeling it was about to be very cold. Supporting this assumption, both males joined her on the bed. They shuffled the air and puppies between them and pressed close to her sides as Raz'ha wrapped her in two furs.
The loud grinding banged to a halt and the silence that followed was stark and eerie.
"What's happening?" she asked.
"The air is is thinning and heat is off," Raz'ha said.
"Why?" She wanted to gasp for breath even though she was breathing from an air tank and there was nothing wrong with her air supply.
"To calm the crowd." He clicked. "They must seek shelter in quarters for air and warmth."
"If it continues, we lose gravity," Sain'ja warned.
"What about the others? Yeyinde and-"
"They will seek shelter," Raz'ha said.
"And how long are we stuck here?"
"A cycle at most," Raz'ha said. "When the lights are restored we can move freely."
None of this sounded reassuring even with both warriors rumbling purrs and clicking that it was only a minor issue.
"Just how cold is it going to get?" She eyed the males under their own furs and keeping their air tanks tucked against their bodies.
"We will not die." Raz'ha's clicked weren't as certain as his voice.
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Amelia discovered that it only took an hour for the temperature to drop enough to make her shiver under two furs. Raz'ha and Sain'ja still felt warm and moved closer to keep her between them.
The warriors took turns giving the puppies extra air. They had passed out quickly and she was thankful for that. Hult'ah stayed huddled in her lap beneath a blanket and due to his genetic engineering only needed breaths from their air tanks every few minutes. Apparently yaut hounds were engineered and bred to survive even the most inhospitable planets without equipment.
Both warriors purred often, maintaining a constant low thrumming in the quiet space.
"Does purring help keep you warm?" She'd never heard such a thing, but couldn't help but wonder.
Raz'ha answered. "It keeps the hounds sleepy and heart rate lower."
"And keeps you calm to not disturb them," Sain'ja added.
"Good thinking," she said lamely.
Boredom was killer. Several hours later she lost count and her sole awareness was how cold she felt. It was bone deep and aching. Now they were taking turns using their netting and it made Amelia nervous as both seemed to cool despite being huddled together. They must be concerned about power if they weren't running the netting that kept them warmer full time. Did they have to be concerned about air? They continued to share the air with her puppies without rationing it further. That had to be a good sign.
Was it worse to suffocate or to freeze to death?
"Tell me about the breeder on the tauren ship," Sain'ja said.
"He has many hounds, ten at least, and a dispute with the exotic pet vendor," Raz'ha said.
"Pure bloods, or only ones like Hult'ah?" Sain'ja asked.
"Both," Raz'ha rumbled. "He used Hult'ah to demonstrate how ferocious other hounds were. They were agile and aggressive. Good hunters one day."
"Not Hult'ah?"
Raz'ha chuffed, glancing at the hound. "No."
"Were there others like him?" Sain'ja trilled. "Is he from a specific line of hounds?"
"There is no certificate and no others like him there."
Sain'ja rumbled disappointment.
"Why do you ask?" Amelia chattered out.
"Yautja hounds are aggressive and not housed alongside us. They need kennels which we don't have. Perhaps if another like this one lived, I could trade for one."
Amelia mulled that over.
"Perhaps when Hult'ah breeds I could trade for one of the offspring."
"I don't know how we'd breed him," she started. "But if we do, I'd give you one," she said. "Uh for services, of course, you don't do gifts."
He rumbled a pleased purr.
"But I think it's just training, Sain'ja," she said. "Not the bloodline."
"Your special ooman training I've seen does this?" He motioned to Hult'ah, who was in her lap and nosing his way to Raz'ha who had his netting turned on.
"Sei," Raz'ha said for her. "But trainers start aggression training early. If you prevent that and perform ooman training, it should be a companion and guard."
Sain'ja trilled at the knowledge. "I will try this the next time we encounter a breeder."
"I think if you remember that love and affection are key, you'll have a great friendship," she said.
#
While Sain'ja and Amelia continued the conversation, Raz'ha was having a revelation.
Love and affection she had said. She'd said those words before to him. This was why she mated without intent to produce a suckling. It was because she valued and cared for him. This ooman wanted those in a mating. The notion seemed important before though he hadn't truly understood. Now he realized they had been cultivating a permanent relationship beyond rutting.
And now they were not cultivating a relationship of that nature. What they were doing, he wasn't sure.
It was because he accused her of deceit and demanded a suckling she wasn't ready to bare. Now she was reluctant and reserved from intimate touches. Even now her legs weren't casually twined with his. She didn't lay her head against his bicep as before. She sat between him and his hunt brother but touched both equally down the side as required for warmth sharing. Nothing more.
She held no desire for Sain'ja and treated them both the same. It must mean her desire for Raz'ha had waned with his demands.
He had balked at his clan trying to nudge him into breeding. How could he not understand the insult he dealt her by demanding that she breed? That path had been foolish and he had been rude.
He knew what he wanted as the air had thinned. Offspring or no, he wanted to continue with Amelia and share love and affection. He understood now why the elder wanted a second mate for her. An inheritance and trustworthy guardian wouldn't ensure love and affection. Safe was not enough. Raz'ha wanted Amelia to be happy and loved.
"You are too cold," he said and gently shuffled her and Hult'ah into his lap.
Sain'ja shifted closer to close the gap. It would be more effective for them to share their warmth that way anyway.
She was stiff for several minutes and he wasn't sure how to rectify the discomfort she displayed. He used an ooman hug to increase her warmth and eventually she curled into him.
"Thank you," she murmured.
It was a start.
AN Notes:
welllll, that little section at the beginning was supposed to go elsewhere earlier in the story but got shuffled in my notes and never quite made it, so I tacked it on the beginning of this one. I'm a messy writer it turns out lol. Just squint and pretend it's seamless :D
Thank you again for the comments 3