Chapter 3

Name: Tei-Uun

Species: Jormungand Serpent. Classifications: Razor Horn, Impenetrable, Drifter.

Weight: 15,004 kg. Length: 23 meters.

“Nothing like a hot bath after a long day,” she said with a sigh as she tossed her used towel into the chute. Now that she thought about it. It had been a long day. It had been just yesterday that she had gotten up, exercised, and then been called by the Eldars. They had told her to investigate the planet with the dying sun. She and Woo-Yaal had left immediately. She had been up for... thirty hours straight. Void Could sustain her through a lot, but there was no replacement for actual sleep.

Turning to go to her bed, the blinking light from her commlink sitting on the desk.

“Uggghhh!” Nothing like a summons from the Eldars to spoil a post-bath high. “Nope! They can wait. Probably just want to know what I found. Which is nothing. It's not time urgent or anything. Besides, Woo-Yaal is still asleep,” His mass was coiled in and around the room making what would have been a very large, spacious room, very small and homie. “He will need to be there to report what he saw.” A grin spread across her lips but turned feral around her eyes. Of course, Woo-Yaal did not need to be there, there was nothing to report. But, Woo-Yaal made the Eldars angry, nervous even. Not because of his intimidating size, or awesome destructive power, she had that. Well, she had destructive power. Woo-Yaal disturbed the Eldars due to his nature, his un-nature.

He had eaten Void, she had fed it to him. And for that, they feared him.

Turning back to her bed her eyes fell upon herself in the full-length mirror across the room.

“Besides, I would have to put on clothes.” with a yawn, she stretched. She froze as the light on the commlink changed color. From a harsh blue to a soft purple. ‘“Zane?” sleep forgotten, she spun and dashed to the commlink. Picking up the small circular device she thumbed the button, bringing up the display. A smile spread across her face, a genuine one this time. For at the top of the display, above several messages from the Eldars, was a link from Zane. Taping in she read the short message.

“Back in Vah Galla. Drinks on me.” She quickly typed out her reply and received a location in the mid-level of Vah Galla. Turning she once again beheld herself in the mirror. Dark brown hair, inherited from her mother falls to just past her shoulder blades, framing her angular face. Her most striking facial feature was her brilliant golden eyes, inherited from her father. Her left eyebrow is split by a tiny scar. Her thin lips split in a lopsided grin revealing her large canine (her favorite feature). Running her gaze down, she took in her figure. Chestnut skin, modest chest. The thin pale scare that ran up and around her right hip. Across her abs and down to a ragged contracture scar that ran from just above her left hip down to her knee on the outside of the thigh. “Lookin’ good.”

Pulling on a simple pair of underwear and a brassiere, next came a pair of loose-fitting linen pants that fell to just past the knees, dyed in a dueling red and orange angular pattern. She wore them low on her hips, secured in place with a red cloth belt. The half shirt was dyed in the same dueling orange and red style, with a wide-cut neck and billowing sleeves that went just past the elbow. Quickly tied her thick brown hair into a loose braid along with a red and orange ribbon which she used to tie it off. Lastly, she pulled on a pair of tan sandals and clipped her commlink to her brassiere strap. With a goodbye to the sleeping Woo-Yaal, she stepped out her door into the hall.

Her room was in the upper levels of Vah Galla, in the housing section. She could have just Drifted straight to the bar, but she liked the city. She liked traversing the long halls and steep stairs. There were lifts she could take, but she preferred the stairs. She began to jog down the wood-paneled corridor. It was midday, so nobody would be around. And as far as she knew, she was the only person who lived in this housing block. The hallway ended without a door. More accurately, the building ended. A small platform stuck out and attached to the stairs that lead down. Stepping out, she surveyed Vah Galla.

Vah Galla was the capital of the Collective and the seat for the Eldars, its governing body. The sprawling mass of buildings of all shapes and sizes spread in every direction. The building she called home was about seven kilometers south of the city center, which loomed over the rest of the city. Its top shrouded in a spirit storm. Red fire illuminated the sky, sending out shockwaves of sound as they released their pent-up energy with concussive booms. The massive amounts of electricity being released into the air fuzzed her hair and sent a tingle down her spine. The wind was much stronger out here than it had been in the corridor, forcing her to take the stairs that snaked down the building.

The bottom of the top-level was much more sheltered and by the time she descended to the mid-level the harsh wind was all but gone. The mid-level was the pulse of the city. There were immediately more people and shops. Sheltered from the fierce storm and rain. She hadn't quite made it to cover in time and had gotten hit by the very front of the storm, but her linen clothes were already drying as she made her way through busy streets full of bustling people. Mostly humanoid but some less recognizable. She had grown accustomed to walking through hundreds of aliens daily. At first, she had been terrified to even join the stream of motion. Staring at every new species she didn't recognize. With a humorless laugh, she pushed the cringe memories of herself down and took in the street. There was so much to be seen if one only looked. Large paper lanterns hung down from the ceiling high above and lit the street with different hues of yellow, red, green, and blue, but her favorite were the purple ones. Water thundered through massive pipes that caught the rain and fed the aquifer far below the city. She stopped several times to help shopkeepers lift or move something. Almost always surprised them with her strength.

“Thank you, Miss.” Said the most recent of these. Smiling and waving at him, she turned and ran straight into someone. There was a resounding crash and papers flew everywhere as she fell to the ground.

“I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” she asked scrambling onto her hands and knees and helping the four-armed humanoid Archid off the ground. Startled milky brown eyes looked back at her from behind a crooked pair of glass that sat upon a stubby little nose. It was a female. She was wearing a sharp suit, both sets of hands clutched briefcases. One of which had opened. The Archid’s lips trembled as she stammered.

“S-Sorry!”

Cute! before she could stop herself she was patting the Archid girl's head, flattening her straight-cut bangs back down.

“Don’t worry about it. I am the one who should apologize. I turned into you.” she said taking the girl's glasses off and cleaning the grime off them with the inside of her shirt. “Seriously, are glasses just always dirty?” going to give them back, she hesitated. the Archid girl’s cheeks were flushed and she was averting her eyes. Void tickled her mind, encouraging a passing thought. “She has bad eyesight.” glancing through the lenses of the glasses in her hands. “Very bad!” placing the glasses back on the girl's face. She dropped her hand below the girl's chin and gently lifted her face. With one hand she held the girl's chin the other settled the glasses in place. She tilted her head to the side as she leaned in toward the Archid girl's face, stopping less than ten centimeters away. The girl froze, eyes wide. The stream of pedestrians was a blur of motion all around them.

“You have beautiful eyes,” she said.

“Whhaaa!” The Archid girl went red to her ears, all four hands flew to cover her face. “I might have gone too far.” “Let me pick up these papers for you.” the crowd had never stopped swarming around them. But nobody had stepped on the girls' papers. She still didn't understand the Gah Vallen culture. I probably understand it better than I understand earth’s, anyhow. The thought made her oddly sad. She was an outsider in two worlds. Pushing that aside she quickly collected all the papers, even the one that had fallen under a booth. Void had some surprising benefits. She quickly stowed them back in their briefcase in order and handed it back to the Archid girl. Who had regained control of her expression, mostly. But she couldn't quite make eye contact as she took back the briefcase.

“Sorry, again for knocking you over. And for--”

“What you said,” The Archid girl cut her off. “What you said, about my eyes. It made me happy. No one has ever told me that.” I was right. “Aaah! Thank you!” the Archid girl dowed very deeply.

“Want to get drinks sometime?” she surprised herself with that question.

“R-Really!?” asked the Archid girl, looking her in the eyes again, still mid bow

“Yeah, of course. Could I get your Link contact?” she said reaching her hand inside her shirt, retrieving her commlink from her brassiere strap. The Archid girl flushed at this but expertly fished her commlink out of her pocket and thumbed the display open. Holding the commlinks up to each other she realized just how tall the Archid girl was. She barely came up the Archid girl's upper elbow. “Why am I so damn small!?” The commlinks let out a cheerful plink as the information swapped. She looked at the Archid girls' information.

“Atticus. That your name?”

“Yes, but please, call me Attie.” Attie said as she raised her commlink to her big brown eyes.

“Donut? That's- an unusual name.” Said Attie. Her stubby nose wrinkled up as a puzzled expression crossed her face. Letting a dry but surprisingly bubbly laugh she said

“It's my call sign.” indicating the scar on her left hip. To her surprise Attie leaned down, bringing her bit expressive eyes very close to the scar, and inspected the scar.

“I probably deserve this.” her cheeks began to burn.

“Does it still hurt?” Asked Attie.

“Huh?” The question surprised her. It did still hurt. Sometimes. But people usually asked to touch it. The fact that Attie had asked her about her welfare rather than to indulge her curiosity… It touched her very deeply. Her commlink chirped with a threat from Zane. “Crap! He is waiting.”

“I'll tell you all about it over drinks.” she said with a smile and a wave as she turned to head on her way.

“Wait! What is your name?” asked Attie.

“Sorry for the abrupt departure. I am running a bit late. Drinks, day after tomorrow. I'll answer any question you have.” And send. The reply pinged in seconds later.

“I'll forgive you this time. Just try to not run into any more people, Donut.” and then a cartoon drawing of a puppy running. Why am I so damn small!? She thought, smiling broadly as she flicked her commlink shut and replaced it back on her brasserie.

Now in one of the food districts in the mid-level, she made her way through crowded streets and the smell of delicious foods until she found herself at the location Zane had sent her.