C.L. Scholey - Zuri's Zargonnii Warrior (Unearthly World # 2) (13 page)

“It’s an offering for your angry stomach. I don’t want any part of you to dislike me,” Kobe said.

“You brought me a dead thing with green blood, no head,
and oh God is that a piece of its entrails?”
Zuri put her hand to her mouth.

“You need to eat.”

“I can’t eat that raw,” she wailed.

“Well, of course not, mouthy,” he muttered as he walked past her.

Zuri looked away as Kobe used his razor sharp finger nails to filet his catch. Next she smelled something cooking. She cast a fast glance over her shoulder. Kobe had skewered the hunks of meat and was roasting them with the heat from his eyes. It wasn’t a bad smell, just different from what she had been used to on Earth. On the 2BKs planet there hadn’t been any meat at all.

“Here,” Kobe handed her a piece of cooked meat. Zuri starred at it feeling a cross between starvation and horror. “Come on, Zuri. You’ve eaten the meat of a faya, you said it tasted like rabbit.”

“Faya? It was in the stew you brought me on the ship?”

“Yes, all cut up in small pieces, cooked until tender. I’m sorry I can’t boil this down for you. It may be a little tough.”

Zuri attempted to chew a small bite from the hand-sized chunk he had handed her. Her small teeth worked at the leathery texture. The meat was tasty but too hard for her to bite through. Her incisors weren’t sharp enough. Zuri grabbed onto the meat with two hands and tugged for all she was worth, afraid of ripping her teeth out all the while. Yanking, pulling, flapping the meat up and down. It was her first
food fight
. Zuri growled, groaned, and gave up, the food won. Kobe was openmouthed watching her struggles. He took the meat, took a tiny bite and handed her the small bit. Zuri sucked on the morsel, she chewed and chewed and choked it down. The next piece Kobe handed her was even smaller, it was apparent he had softened it with his own teeth. It was tiny enough for her to swallow whole.

After a number of small bits, Zuri claimed she was full. “Thank you.”

“When a Zargonnii babe is born he needs his mother’s milk for a month, but during that time he can eat the tiny pieces of food his mother chews for him. Zargonnii babes are born with teeth, I know I was. My friend, Atin, has a son, Mrac. I believe I mentioned Mrac before. I’m as fond of him as though he were my own. At first, I thought he was mine; Atin and I live close together, but the smell of him wasn’t right, I didn’t know Mrac’s scent. Atin did, he knew Mrac’s mother’s scent. I was there the day he found him in the jungle. I helped Atin care for Mrac the first year. Raising a babe is hard work. Normally, when a male finds his son he has a friend or brother help him with the child. I have no brother, neither does Atin. Mrac’s four now, a strong healthy male.”

“Atin is lucky to have you as a friend.”

Kobe grinned. “You’re lucky I was such a good friend. It’s how I know to take care of you.”

“I’m no baby.”

“Babes are less mouthy.”

Before Zuri could respond, Kobe hauled her to her feet. Their meal was gone, Kobe had an astounding appetite. Zuri was surprised the bones were left. With trepidation she left the safety of the cave, the eerie sky was once more colorful pastels filled with inky black holes Kobe explained were worm holes. It was how his people traveled. The foliage was awakening, opening to a new day. The temperature had risen dramatically within the first hour. The once cold, black soil squishing between her toes warmed.

Their day was much like their first day in the jungle. Kobe kept her close; for over half the day, he carried her, her body held snuggly close to his chest by his hair and an arm. His pace was as fast as a galloping horse. Scenery zipped by, and Zuri was a bit disappointed. She asked to be allowed to walk after her legs cramped. Kobe scared off two more bangors. But he showed her more. He showed her why he loved his planet, scary monsters and all.

Zuri had marveled there were no bugs in the jungle. Kobe had no idea what a tiny bug was, flies and mosquitoes weren’t names he understood, and Zuri knew there was no word for them in Zargonnii. When Zuri explained a butterfly, Kobe smiled. He took her to a small clearing where fist sized creatures dotted a hunter green fuzzy tree. The little critters had huge eyes at the end of two antennae; they were a furry grey with too many feet to count. Chirping noises sounded. Tiny little tails wagged back and forth, Kobe explained they were cooling their mates.

The jungle they traipsed through was frightening and intriguing. Beautiful and bestial. Each creature, large and small had its own form of defense. Each step Zuri took was enchanting. The odd vines that crept over trees, moving with a slithering motion, were neither intimidating nor peaceful. Zuri was unsure of the creeping intention. It appeared harmless. As evening approached and the horrible cold began to settle in, Zuri stood openmouthed staring at blue berry pods. The pods were attached to massive hunter green vines growing as would a tomato plant but hundreds of feet high. The pods were large enough to hold an elephant.

Whereas the jungle was alive with noise, the area surrounding the pods was deadly silent. It was a hardship to make her feet move forward toward the colony of—food? Entire bushes of deep green were dedicated to the suspended pods. Intricate water balloons ready to drop on an unsuspecting victim at any given time. The weather was turning volatile, yet none of the pods moved in the violent wind.

What manner of creature was big enough to eat these?

“What is this place?” Zuri whispered, her shaking body pressed close to Kobe for warmth.

“A female Zargonnii birthing place for male babes.”

“Then we shouldn’t be here.”

“They’re empty. Don’t be afraid. There is a strong scent here I don’t understand.”

Kobe moved forward, trance-like. He sniffed at the pods. The individual birthing houses were at least twenty feet from the ground, some much higher. Kobe stood under one. He had grown into battle mode to get closer. Gripping the thick vine in his hand near the pod Kobe pulled himself up. The pod was perfectly round, and at least thirty feet up in the air. Zuri saw no entrance. Kobe’s hand slipped into the pod near the bottom, and he pulled himself up, he vanished, his body sucked into the structure, his legs disappearing at an alarming rate. Zuri panicked and raced to climb the vine.

Oh my God, he’s been eaten by a giant blueberry!

“Kobe?
Oh God, Kobe, are you all right?”

The vines were slick yet hard underneath. Her hands slipped as she pulled herself higher. Her feet struggled to maintain a good foothold. She refused to look at the ground beneath her. When she wobbled underneath the pod her hand felt all around the bottom where Kobe had disappeared. The pod was hard as rock everywhere she touched. Her bare, now freezing, feet ached as they strove to find a niche to settle her swaying body. Her breath came in gasps as she called his name. There was no way in. There was no door, Kobe had been swallowed whole.

Oh God, oh God.

Freezing wind whipped around her body, the hail began to fall, stinging her bare arms. She began to slip. Zuri screamed when Kobe’s hand reappeared from the pod; he grabbed her wrist and hauled her inside with him. Her body felt a squeezing pressure as she was sucked inwards. She gasped in air. Kobe hauled her onto his lap that she lay limply across. His skin and fur was familiar, the feel of him, his safety. The first thing she noted was it was wonderfully warm inside. The entire pod was covered in thick white fur from top to bottom. There was a dim light source from all around emanating from the walls in a few tiny bald patches. Utter quiet greeted her, serenity. Zuri imagined the comfort of a womb. Sanity slowly returned.

“Your females give birth in these things?”

“Yes. They are safe from all creatures. Cyrons can’t penetrate the exterior, they can’t enter through the bottom; they aren’t tall enough to reach. They are too big to fit through and can’t climb. Just being here brings back so many memories, even though it’s not my birthing pod. I must have confused directions. We were closer to this pod, and my mother’s smell. I was following her scent without knowing it, but it’s in the wrong direction. I mean we’re headed in the right direction, but my mother’s scent shouldn’t be here, near this continent. I can remember my mother holding me and just gazing at me for hours. She had the most beautiful smile. She tickled my belly, played with my fingers and toes. She showed me a lifetime of caring in the short month we had together.”

“How can you remember that far back?”

“Can’t you?”

“No.”

“That’s a shame. To me that’s an oddity.”

“Is that how you know how to get in and out of these things?”

“Yes. My mother never put me down. She took me while she hunted; many of the females hunted in packs, it was safer. I could scent the other male offspring. It made it easier to bond with them when we met at the meeting hall with our fathers, then later in school. It’s strange. I scent my mother in here, but this isn’t the pod I was born in. I scent another male.”

“You have a brother?”

“Not that I know of. I thought all females only went to one continent to mate. If this is my mother’s pod it means she Holidayed on both continents. I always thought females chose the same mate after a male was born, in case they had another male.”

“How many different females did you Holiday with?” Zuri asked.

“Four, I assumed the females didn’t pick me again because they had female offspring and they would never give up their females.”

“I find that sad about your culture. I would never give up my son.”

“Our females have no choice. A male wouldn’t last long with the females, even with his mother. Once he reached a certain age, he would want to Holiday, even if the females weren’t interested. That’s when real trouble would start. Males are younger when they get the urge to Holiday, females older. Until a certain age, females are smaller than males even when they are the same age. It’s been recorded in our history. It’s hard to believe but true. Males and females would constantly battle if a male stayed near. It wouldn’t be a fair battle if the female was too small—like you. It would be wrong to battle you, it would be wrong to battle a small Zargonnii female. I suppose in an odd way it’s how we care about one another—we stay away.

“Zargonnii females know when they are ready to Holiday, it’s their choice. They come to us. These are just birthing pods; I have never seen a female Zargonnii nest, the actual place they call home. I don’t think any male has. At least none lived to tell about it.”

“Why does your species live apart?”

“Both male and female Zargonnii are dominant. With females around, a male wants to Holiday more often than once every other year, females don’t. Both sexes battle for dominance. Can you imagine a world of males and females always fighting for dominance, nothing would get done.”

“Why not settle for equality?”

“In the department of Holiday there is no equality. Dominate or be dominated.”

“You’ve been around me a lot.”

“I know and my urge to Holiday with you grows as we speak. But it’s different with you than with a female Zargonnii. I am the dominant, that will never change, yet I can function. There is no need for strategy. I can concentrate on hunting, finding us a safe place to sleep. You don’t muddle my mind with a constant need to keep you under me.”

“Gee, thanks,” Zuri said, sarcasm filled her words. “I’m forgettable.”

“You are anything but forgettable. It’s you I need to keep safe, you I need to hunt for, you I need to keep close. A Zargonnii female would kick my ass if I brought her food.”

“I would be very thankful if you brought me food.”

“Your belly is angry again?”

“Yes, it’s starting to get grouchy.”

“Your anatomy is strange. My guts do as they’re told. You do what your guts tell you.”

“Can you please not bring a dead gutted thing in here?”

“Any meat I bring will have to be dead and gutted.”

“Can’t you cook it first? So it doesn’t look so pathetic lying dead in your huge hands?”

“That I can do.”

* * * *

The tiny faya were so predictable it was laughable. It almost seemed a shame to kill the little creatures but Kobe didn’t like the sounds of defiance in Zuri’s stomach when she needed sustenance. It was almost an accusing sound, as though he couldn’t take care of her. Zuri insisted she had no control over the noise and Kobe believed her, but it still didn’t altogether alleviate his concerns.

A growling howl from the faya caught Kobe’s attention. For a small creature they made more noise than a cyron. When the faya pounced from its shelter Kobe grabbed it, snapped its head off and, using his fingernails, he skinned it and removed the entrails. It took a few short moments to cook the being whole with his blazing eyes. He planned on slicing the faya in the safety of the pod.

The storm was pelting Kobe with hail that bounced harmlessly off his body which was in battle mode. Zuri was safe in the pod; this weather would kill her if she remained exposed. It was yet another good reason to head to the southern continent where it was warmer. The north was a mask of ice and snow. Kobe had no need to feel he had to justify his actions, even Citun would after a time come to realize this was the safer way to go; he couldn’t possibly carry Zuri bundled in his hair every second for weeks until they reached his home.