My name's not Velseir

Chapter 9: [Worry & Names]

Katorns pov:

After all that running around the little ones brought me to the dining area. I had to stop for a moment to catch my breath. They may be small, but they are certainly fast. I almost lost them for a moment on some of the sharper turns. They both stood there patiently waiting for me to open the door. I didn't fancy letting them loose in the dining area, however I was curious as to see what they'd do when exposed to others of my kind, so I opened the door. 

They walked in slowly sniffing the air, they split in two different directions looking for something. I took my eyes off the human for two seconds trying to stop the fox from going to the garbage disposal zone and lost him. I grabbed the fox much to its dismay and began searching for the runaway human with little success. Then I heard shouting from the kitchen about a plate of food going missing from one of the orders.

The little human... ktsnak*. I headed towards the kitchen in a hurry hoping to find him before the chef did. All of a sudden, I heard "blasted little beast! It ate our dish" followed by the frantic yipping and snarling of the little human.

The fox leapt from my grasp and dashed into the kitchen by the time I'd arrived the fox was latched onto the chefs leg and the human was dangling in his grasp. I tried to convince the chef to release the human telling him that the fox would let go if you released his friend, but he wouldn't listen.

The chef tried to shake the little creature from his leg and in doing so he ragged the human leading to him lashing out. The next thing I saw was the little human bare those deadly venomous fangs and clamp down on the chefs hand who was treating him roughly. The chef yelped and tried to detach the human from his hand leading to a large chunk of it being ripped out as he flung him towards me.

I barely managed to catch the human's balled up form as he came crashing towards me. As soon as he was in my arms the fox let go of the chef's leg and dashed to see if his friend was ok. While we were trying to check on the human, the chef was screaming and yelling about bringing wild animals into the canteen and about how they shouldn't be allowed to free roam the ship if they aren't properly trained.

I tried to placate the chef by offering to pay for what the human had eaten but he just told me to get lost and not to come here again with these two in my company.

I left the canteen quickly and made my way to the medical officers room to have the human checked out. When we arrived, the human was deathly still in my arms. I didn't know what was wrong, so I quickly set him down on the examination bed so the doctor could look at his potential injuries.

Even though he seemed like he had no injuries, he seemed pale and skittish like when I changed his bandages. I walked over and picked him up again he relaxed a little bit but not much, then the fox started yipping, wanting to get to the human. I picked him up too and gave him to the human who relaxed more and more as he held his friend.

When the doctor arrived, the human didn't have a pleasant reaction and even the fox was snarling at him sensing his companions discomfort. In reality with how strongly the both of them were reacting it made me want to bare my own teeth, something we only do when we have intent to kill.

This little being has only been with me for 3 cycles and yet I am already this protective over him. I knew of instances where one of my kind has taken something in to care for it and formed a bond, but never does it happen so quickly. The speed at which I had decided that this human must be protected scared me never had I felt so attached before.

When my brother and his mate had their nogi you couldn't get within looking distance before one of them bared their teeth at you. We normally leave new parents alone for the first few months to give them time to control their instincts.

I spoke to the doctor explaining why I brought them to him, and he asked if he could make sure there were no new injuries and check on the ones he had gotten previously. But as the doctor tried to approach that overwhelming urge to snarl at him stirred in me once again.

Instead of giving in to my protective instincts I took a step back and offered to show him without the need for the doctor to touch the little being. He noticed something was off with my behavior as he agreed not to touch unless necessary.

I had to coax the little fox out of the human grasp for me to access his wounds, which he was unhappy about. Once the fox was safely placed on the examination table, I sat down next to him and began to undress the terrified human. I tried to calm him by playing with the fur on his head which seemed to work a little as I removed his wound wraps. The wounds had healed considerably, the once dark purple bruises were now yellow and faded.

I lifted the human slightly to allow the doctor to see his current condition before showing his back by letting the human rest against my chest. He clung to the silks on my shoulders tightly, clearly distressed by what was happening. Once the doctor had seen what he needed I asked for more wraps to reapply to the human. I dressed him quickly to ease his nerves and then put the fox back into his arms for comfort.

I was asked a few more questions by the doctor like what he had eaten in the kitchen and what the creatures names were. I hadn't even thought to give them names as I planned to return them to their original world once the human was returned to normal. What would have happened if they couldn't fix him hadn't crossed my mind, I was far too confident in our researchers. Giving them names would mean getting attached to them, but I think it's already too late to be worried about that now.

I thought for a while longer about what to call them the fox had many meanings in human culture but the most common thing, they represented was trickery so a name befitting that would be best. Kesey (kee-say) for the fox. 

...But for the human I don't know. He's smart and daring but also calm and cuddly, a word that means these things would be best.

Naska.... no.

Lurkahn... no.

Veriki... no.

Velseir! 

Velseir is perfect, in the old tongue it means gentle warrior. Although it is a contradiction it means a lot to me.

"The fox is called Kesey and the human Velseir." I informed the doctor and hummed to myself happy to have chosen such fitting names for the two.  

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How are you liking the storie so far? if its good please vote. 

Engagement with this story makes me write more which then allows me to post more regularly.

This is quite a long chapter because i had too many ideas that couldnt be split up.