S'haar felt the odd dreams fade away as she became aware of her surroundings once more. The odd scents remained from the night before, so she probably hadn't dreamed everything she was currently remembering. There was also a familiar alien voice muttering to itself in that same nonsensical language. Judging by the tone and volume, its owner probably thought it was being quiet.

S'haar told herself that as long as she didn't open her eyes, it might all still be a dream. A weird dream where she'd been left tied up as a sacrifice to the dragon. A dragon that had turned out to be some kind of strange, small, sickly male. Maybe, in reality, she was still at home. The only problem with that logic was the fact that she didn't have a home anymore...

Torn between the hope of the previous day being nothing more than some weird fever dream and the need to satisfy certain biological requirements, S'haar realized she couldn't avoid reality any longer. She opened her eyes and looked around the room. She'd been too overwhelmed to pay proper attention to it the previous night but now took the time to inspect it in greater detail.

It was large and circular, with doorways leading out to other rooms every eight feet, give or take. There were many devices and furnishings about the place, but S'haar had no clue what functions the majority of them could possibly serve. As she looked about, she saw Jack once again cooking something over that same contained fire he'd used the night before.

S'haar sat up and wrapped her blanket around herself to form a temporary dress. She'd never been partial to the kinds of dresses many of the village women favored, but her more practical clothing had been taken from her when she'd been left as a sacrifice, so she had to make due. After she was adequately covered, S'haar stood up and stretched.

Usually, waking up on a winter morning was a bit more of an ordeal. The cold that crept in over the night would leave her lethargic enough that mornings were usually a battle of instinct versus willpower. However, today she felt as rested as if this was a summer morning. Whatever other magics this odd "dragon" possessed, this one she could get used to all too easily. That thought reminded her that soon enough, she'd probably be out on her own again. With that in mind, her enjoyment of the morning was somewhat diminished.

That was when the tiny blue woman appeared next to Jack and spoke to him, drawing his attention to S'haar. Jack looked up with a smile and waved to her. He said something to Angela before returning to his cooking. The blue woman then floated over to S'haar and began speaking in her somewhat annoying, overly cheerful manner.

Leaning forward as if to get a better view, the woman spoke again, this time in S'haar's own language. "Good morning S'haar! I hope you slept well. Also, Jack would like to apologize for not having a proper guest bed for you to use," Angela leaned in, covering the side of her mouth with her hand as if not wanting to be overheard, "but you ARE the first guest he's had in over a decade."

Somewhat taken aback by the continual hospitality of this odd duo, S'haar simply tilted her own head in consideration before responding, "I slept quite well, thank you."

Her blanket dress became loose around one shoulder, prompting S'haar to reach up and readjust it as she spoke. This attracted Angela's gaze to the troublesom shoulder. With a sudden look of disapproval, she muttered to herself. "That will not do at all…"

It had been almost too quiet for S'haar to hear. Following that, the woman turned her attention back to Jack, and the two of them began rapidly speaking back and forth, leaving S'haar feeling a bit out of place.

S'haar's headtales vibrated slightly in embarrassment at her indecent state of dress, but her embarrassment quickly changed to anger. She hadn't had any choice in the matter! Her neighbors had been quick to take anything of value once she'd been sentenced to being a sacrifice. If her hosts found her attire unacceptable, that was their problem to deal with.

S'haar was just opening her mouth to say something to that effect when Angela turned back to her with her usual cheerful expression once again in place. "Jack and I agree that while we aren't responsible for your current situation, we still feel bad that our presence here contributed to the… misunderstanding. By way of apology, Jack authorized me to craft a new outfit for you. Based on the clothing I observed as we were investigating your world and the fact that you strike me as someone who prefers function over style, it will take me about an hour to get it all put together. Until then, I am afraid your makeshift 'dress' will have to do." The little blue woman looked both apologetic and pleased with herself at the same time.

Jack seemed to be finishing up his work over the fire and set out a few utensils on a table that had previously been covered in more strange clutter. There was only one chair evident. To resolve the dilemma, Jack pulled the table over to the couch S'haar had used as a bed. He then placed the plate of meat in front of the chair before glancing at S'haar then swapping the plates so the meat was now in front of the couch. The other plate was filled with an odd billowy yellow substance S’haar had never seen before.

As he spoke, Angela translated. "Jack apologizes for not giving you a proper chair, but there is only one in the ship, and he is not certain if it can hold your weight. He's also sorry for the bland meat, but we are not certain yet if any of the foods or spices he eats might be incompatible with your physiology."

S'haar looked at the plates. She hadn't paid attention to them last night, but they were unlike any plates she'd seen before, of course, that was true of most everything else in this odd hut. In the guard, she'd always eaten off of a simple wooden plate. Many villagers used clay plates and pots daily. Lord A'ngles' house used metal plates to show off his wealth, but even that seemed less impressive than the plate sitting before her now. These plates were impossibly smooth and surprisingly sturdy. As Jack stabbed his eating utensils down into the yellow puffy things, which Angela explained were eggs, it made an odd clanking sound and didn't leave a mark.

As S'haar started to eat, Angela examined some odd white parchment she'd pulled out of thin air. She had a strange wireframe wrapped around her head from ear to ear, with circles in front of her eyes that seemed to be made out of the same impossibly perfect glass that covered the light fixtures.

After a moment, the tiny woman spoke. "As you probably noticed, Jack and I are not from around here. Long story short, we are stranded. Our ship crashed into this mountain, and we cannot extract it with the tools we have on hand. We have a plan to call for help, but it will take quite some time for us to put everything together. In the meantime, we find ourselves in a land we know little about and could use the help of someone familiar with the area. We would like to offer you a job working as our local expert and utilize some of your obviously superior physical abilities. In return, we will compensate you with clothing and equipment far beyond the quality anyone around here will be able to produce. Also, you would be welcome to stay here with us until we are ready to leave."

S'haar was stunned, all the questions she had about ships crashing into mountains forgotten. This was precisely what she'd hoped for and more. She couldn't help but remember something her mother had said to her when she'd been much younger. "Beware gifts from the gods. They always have a price." While Jack didn't seem like a god, he certainly had powers she couldn't understand.

Feeling overwhelmed, She was suddenly on guard. "This sounds agreeable, but I feel as if there's more you're not telling me..." She folded her arms in front of her and tapped a claw against her forearm plate, waiting for the rest of the explanation.

Angela looked chagrined as she realized that her omission had been caught, but her expression quickly changed to a look of satisfaction, as though a promising student had asked an excellent question. "Well, first of all, it will be hard work, maybe harder than anything you've ever done. We have a bit of a time table, and it won't be an easy pace to keep. Second, there is the matter of two small procedures you'd have to undergo to make this partnership work out…"

S'haar's suspicion grew. "What is a procedure? Some kind of test or duty I must fulfill?"

Angela looked apprehensive, as though worried this might be the deal-breaker. "Well, the first one is kind of like a test where you can't get anything wrong. In short, I need to analyze your body so we know what it can and can't handle. This will involve a non-invasive scan and a small blood sample."

These words confused S'haar. "What is a scan, and why do you need blood?"

A frown of concentration passed over Angela's face as she tried to clarify. "Well, a scan is basically me taking a close look at your body. I don't know how to describe it better without spending a lot of time teaching you physics and biology. The blood sample will tell us how different from Jack your biology really is."

This explanation did little to alleviate S'haar's confusion, but the process seemed simple enough. "I'm not afraid of bleeding a little. Now, what is this second 'procedure' you spoke of?"

Angela looked even more apprehensive than before. "Well, to make this work, you and Jack will have to be able to communicate without me always being the middle woman. We do not have the time for you both to learn each other's language. Now I can rapidly teach Jack how to understand your language via his implant, but he will never be able to properly speak your language. There are certain aspects of your lips, tongue, and oral cavity that you utilize that he will never be able to match."

Angela took a breath and continued. "We do not have enough time for you to learn his language, so I will have to teach you the same way I will teach him yours. The problem with that is to do that, I need to install a small piece of hardware into your head." Looking at the holes in S'haar's ears, Angela continued. "Think of it like an earring you wear under your skin, so small no one will be able to see or feel it."

S'haar's eyes opened wide in shock. Her finger froze mid tap as she processed this. "And this magic device will teach me what you are both saying?"

Angela nodded emphatically, "Yes, although it is not magic. Nothing you see here is magic. Given enough time, your own people will begin to craft similar things. Admittedly, that is probably many generations in your future."

S'haar looked exasperated, throwing her hands in the air and waving them about in a grand circle encompassing everything in the room. "You have heat without fire, absurd amounts of metal in shapes and functions I could never dream of," S'haar focused her attention on Angela without breaking stride, "and you can even fly! All of this, and you're telling me none of it is magic?"

Angela looked thoughtful for a moment. "Long ago, your people survived by using clubs made of wood and rock held together with twine. Today you have metal weapons and armor. If your ancestors were to ask you about this strange stone you had, you could try and explain the process to them. How you take rocks out of the earth, then using a short tower, fire, limestone, and air, you separate the slag from the metal, then pour the liquid metal into molds. As it cools, you use hammers and anvils to further refine the shape to fit your specific needs. Once done, it will not only stay that shape, it will also be stronger than it was before you started. Would that not sound like magic to them? We walked the exact same path. We have just been on it a little longer than your people."

S'haar felt overwhelmed by the ideas Angela spoke of, but she couldn't deny that it made an odd sort of sense. If the tiny woman spoke true, the many devices around her took on a whole new level of complexity and insanity. Suddenly, she wanted to know the hows and whys of everything.

All that faded from her mind as a new question occurred to her. "If your people have been around so much longer, why have we not heard of you before now? Our traders travel far and wide between many villages, villages with their own traders that have traveled further still. They bring back stories of far off lands and the secrets they contain, yet not once have I heard a tale of a people with wonders such as this?" she waved her hands about, taking in the odd hut once again.

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Angela beamed at her newly adopted student. "The short answer to your question is that we come from a place you cannot reach by foot or by boat. The long answer is much more complex, but before we get into that, I would like to know your answer to our offer."

S'haar stopped and thought. This was too much to take in, and she had too little time to do it in. There were still too many unanswered questions. The mannerisms of this duo were strange in many ways, yet her gut told her they meant everything they'd said. What's more, they'd treated her with nothing but kindness and even respect.

Angela had been periodically interrupting their conversation to keep Jack abreast of the conversation. Now, he cut in to take the opportunity to speak with Angela, who then turned and translated for S'haar. "Before you decide, Jack thinks you should come to see what we have to offer. Your outfit is ready."

S'haar saw no reason to argue, and so she agreed. Angela faded away in that odd way of hers, leaving Jack to lead S'haar over to one of the doors off to the side of the circular room. It slid open for him as he approached, and he led S'haar into the next room.

There were more metal contraptions in this room, dizzying in their complexity. In the middle of the room, lying near the most immense and most confusing device of all, was a pile of neatly folded clothing, complete with a pair of boots cut so that S'haar's claws could gain purchase.

Angela reappeared in the room and now looked eagerly at S'haar as she approached the pile of clothes. The boots were of fine leather, somehow both so soft and sturdy in a way that seemed to contradict itself. They were also the deepest black she'd ever seen. Even the stitching looked like it was done for appearance as much as function. S'haar picked them up and was about to put them on, but then looked over at Jack.

He was grinning quite innocently until he suddenly realized why both S'haar and Angela were looking at him so pointedly. He promptly turned the same shade of red he'd done on several other occasions, the nature of which made S'haar confident it was somehow tied to his embarrassment. He left without needing to be prompted, muttering something that might have been an apology on his way out.

Angela returned her attention to her newest co-conspirator. "It's just us girls now. Go on! Try it on!"

While S'haar was usually more concerned with function than the form of the clothing she wore, this was different. There was something special about these that even she could appreciate. Unable to stop herself any longer, S'haar decided to indulge Angela's insistence and try on the outfit.

The pants were made of a durable material that Angela explained was called denim. It was both comfortable and surprisingly resilient. The upper portion of the outfit came in two parts. The first was a soft, thin undershirt that seemed like it would keep you cool in the heat and retain warmth in the cold. Over the shirt went what Angela called a vest. It was more durable than the shirt and consisted of a layer of cloth sewn inside more leather that matched the boots. To finish the outfit, there were fingerless gloves with more fabric on the inside and the same leather on the outside.

The clothing fit better than anything she'd ever worn in her life, even better than the fitted dress B'arthon had briefly given her to wear. It was almost as if she was wearing a second skin. Even S'haar could tell this clothing was worth more than everything S'haar had ever owned combined. If she were to trade this outfit in town, she wouldn't go cold or hungry for a year or more. S'haar had never been one to care much about her appearance. True, she was in good enough shape to be called toned, but that was a simple result of her lifestyle rather than any vanity on her part. However, she couldn't help but preen just a little when she looked down at herself.

For her part, Angela was jumping up and down while clapping her hands together rapidly, squealing in delight the entire time. After a moment, Jack was allowed back inside, and while his words made no sense to S'haar, he did seem to approve. S'haar looked at Angela and asked, "And you will give this to me in return for working for you?"

It was quite a reasonable compensation for a year's labor, especially with a warm area to sleep thrown into the deal. Still, Angela was shaking her head from side to side. "No, that is yours to keep, whether you stay or not. You can leave right now and keep that with our blessing; however, it is an example of what we have to offer, should you stay."

S'haar felt herself growing suspicious. This wasn't compensation; this was bribery! The more she thought about it, the more she felt herself growing unreasonably angry at the blatant displays of wealth with which her new hosts seemed to be determined to overwhelm her.

Once again, she felt like someone was treating her like they could simply purchase her for the right price. S’haar took off her gloves and threw them at a suddenly bewildered Jack. "I'm not the type of woman who can be purchased with trinkets or leathers! I won't be subservient to anyone, regardless of the price offered!"

Angela looked shocked, as if lost and trying to catch up with what had just happened. She rapidly translated for Jack, who, in turn, seemed taken aback before responding just as rapidly. Angela translated, "We meant no offense. Where we come from, clothing like this is common. If you like, we can craft something more to your taste!"

S'haar glared at them both as she thought. While Jack withered a little under her scrutiny, she could detect no deception. Either they were excellent liars, or they were actually honest. They had no idea the amount of wealth they were showing off all this time. Apparently, this was all commonplace to them. Somehow that made everything even more impressive.

S'haar crossed her arms again and continued staring down her hosts as she laid out her demands. "If I am going to help you, I'm going to do it on my own terms. I will not be bought. I will not be treated as though I owe you anything or that I am beneath either of you. I am your equal, if not your superior, and if you have a problem with that, you can find another 'local expert’!"

Angela turned and translated rapidly to Jack, keeping up with S'haar's rant as it left her lips. For his part, Jack folded his own arms and listened without interruption. Once she'd said her piece, S'haar stood and glared at Jack, waiting for him to command her to leave as punishment for her audacity.

To her surprise, he grinned instead. Jack turned to Angela and spoke a few quick words before walking out of the room. Angela turned back to S'haar with a massive grin and translated. "Jack agrees. He said he wouldn't have it any other way. When you're ready, we can get started with the scanning."

The small woman then faded away, leaving S'haar alone once more. She simply couldn't get a feel for these two. Every moment she spent with them was stranger than the last. No one she knew in the village would ever behave in this manner, but then again, she'd never fit in with the villagers herself.

S'haar shrugged. What did she have to lose? She no longer owned anything other than her life, and if she was honest, she even owed her hosts that much. The least she could do was give them a chance. Besides, it's not like they could physically force her to do anything she didn't want to do.

With a shake of her head and a tiny smirk on her face that might just have been the beginnings of the first real smile she'd worn in years, S'haar left the room to see what her hosts had in store for her next.

-

Jack found that he couldn't help but be impressed. He really hadn't meant to seem like he was trying to bribe S'haar, but her reaction told him everything he needed to know about her for now. She might have her own baggage to deal with—everyone does—but she was strong and independent enough that Jack had no fear that she would become too dependent on anything he or Angela had to offer. That would help avoid any complicated entanglements when it came time to finally get off this planet.

After a minute, S'haar came out of the fabrication room and looked around. It was as though she expected Jack and Angela to be waiting in ambush. Jack simply motioned for her to follow him again and led her to the med-bay. It was common to have a couple of large open rooms to help keep people from getting claustrophobic too quickly on a ship designed for deep space like this one. However, the less commonly used rooms were usually designed more for efficiency than comfort.

The med-bay wasn't much larger than an average bathroom, but almost every surface in the room also had some sort of fold-out device tucked away until and unless they were needed. This single room could be used for anything from dispensing a band-aid to emergency surgery. Admittedly, it was usually better to get any significant procedures done at a proper medical facility, but when exploring the edges of known space, sometimes meatball surgery was the best you could hope for until you could get somewhere more civilized. At the moment, the center of the room was taken up by a large spectrometer.

Once they entered, Angela popped back into existence and started talking to S'haar, explaining what was about to happen. While Jack couldn't understand what was being said back and forth, he could see S'haar's expression growing more and more concerned the longer they talked. Angela stopped and thought for a moment before turning to Jack with a gleeful look in her eyes that told Jack he wouldn't like whatever she was going to say next. For her part, Angela adopted an extra innocent look, with her arms twisted behind her back as she rocked back and forth as she spoke.

"Sir..." It was never good when Angela addressed him as sir. "S'haar is a little uncomfortable with this device, and I think it would go a long way toward relaxing her if you were to use it first. It would go a long way toward showing her that there's nothing to be afraid of!"

The request seemed innocent enough, which of course meant there was more to the request than he'd realized. "Ooookay…" Jack started to walk into the scanner when Angela stopped him.

With both her hands on her hips and a smug smile on her lips, Angela lectured him. "Sir, that's not how we scan people! You need to strip first! Down to your boxers, if you please."

There it was, the other shoe dropped, and Jack realized what she was asking. He couldn't think of what to say, so his brain simply vocalized his thoughts before he could stop himself. "You want me to strip?"

Angela smiled, knowing she'd caught this deer in her headlights. "I could review the recordings of a few moments ago, but I believe that is what I said, yes."

The AI was enjoying this far too much for Jack's liking. "In front of you both?" His eyes were pleading with her that this was all just some joke.

Angela scoffed. "Oh, please! I see you naked every morning when you get dressed, and it's only fair to S'haar that she get her chance to see you vulnerable after the state you first found her in!"

For his next tactic, Jack tried distracting the AI by switching to accusations. "I thought you said you turned off the sensors when I got changed in the morning!"

Angela batted his clumsy attack aside without concern. "That was when you were twelve. As you well know, to maintain your license for exploration, it is required by law that you submit to a weekly health screening when feasible. Since you refuse to come into this room for anything other than dire emergencies, I've had to get creative in performing said screenings. Now, stop trying to distract me and strip!"

Knowing the battle was lost, Jack did his best to strip in a dignified manner. He almost succeeded... until his pant leg caught on his sock, resulting in him hopping around on one foot while he tried to maintain his balance, before failing and falling over.

He was rescued at the last moment when S'haar reached out to steady him. At that particular moment, Jack wanted to crawl into the nearest corner and die. To S'haar's credit, she did her best to stifle her laughter behind her fist.

On the other hand, Angela was letting loose with such over the top laughter that Jack was sure she was getting revenge for some slight he had committed years ago and had forgotten. With glistening eyes, Angela finally calmed herself as Jack morosely entered the device.

Angela coughed into her fist and finally calmed herself down enough to speak clearly, though her voice still held the touch of laughter in it. "You know how this works, but I'm going to walk you through it step by step so S'haar can see the whole process from beginning to end. Now please stand in the middle and grab the two handles off to either side…"

Thirty minutes later, Jack was through with the single most embarrassing ordeal of his entire existence. Angela spoke up as he got dressed. "Thank you, Sir, that will be all. Now please leave so we can have some girl bonding time."

Jack muttered to himself about remembering this the next time Angela asked for some money for a new cosmetic pack as he walked out the door, his clothing held in a bundle in front of himself as he walked.

-

S'haar watched Jack leave. He was every bit as soft and frail as he seemed, but at least he wasn't fat like some of the more overindulgent men of the village. Still, she had no idea how he's managed to get this far in life while being such a helpless little thing. Is that why he and Angela were out here on their own? Did his village throw him out, fearing he'd be nothing but a liability?

A little of the cheerfulness left Angela after he walked out. She turned S'haar with the echo of a sad smile on her lips. "If you are going to be staying here with us, you need to know something important. I like you, and I hope we will be friends, and I hope our presence here will be nothing but beneficial to you and your people."

The tiny woman's expression hardened further as she continued. "That being said, I need you to understand one thing. Jack is my primary concern. If anyone or anything ever threatens to harm Jack, I will move heaven and earth to destroy that threat. Before you ask, no, I'm not in love with him in the way you're thinking. I love him because he's my baby brother."

With a sudden change in demeanor that left S'haar with a feeling of whiplash, Angela switched back to her usually bright and bubbly personality. "That probably deserves a little more explanation, so I'll tell you a little story while we do this scan. The story of how Jack and I came to visit this world of yours."