Chapter 14 - Learning
Pan seemed to be a little lost, emotionally. Joseph had given her a day or so to get used to the place and give her a tour, but the unease of not knowing what she should be doing was evident. She was still quiet, for the most part, opting to speak only when directly addressed or if an arbitrary quantity of questions had piled up enough for her to voice them, but she mostly spent her time watching everyone else do their daily routine.
Mama was happy for the company; he had seen the insect clicking away in idle conversation to the mute Lilhun as she worked on creating her bed and other assorted furnishings while the company merely watched from a respectful distance. The Atmo and him had worked out how to make spring analogues using ironwood and she had gone off the deep end in incorporating it into every design she could think could use it.
The wood was cut into thin strips then folded over onto itself in a zig-zag fashion before being skewered and stretched out slightly to the desired length. Once that was sorted out, the edges were tempered for about ten minutes each side so that the centre was still very flexible, leading to a springy and controlled result. Pan’s bed was the first victim to receive the treatment, having a thinner plank laid on top of the springs on her solid bed frame. It wasn’t a foam mattress but it seemed to be a large step up in comfort.
When Pan wasn’t watching Mama’s woodworking, she was either watching Violet train in an empty facilities room they had dubbed ‘The Gym’ or watching him work on his poor electrical day job. When she was watching Violet, her tail swayed slightly and her eyes were focused on every movement. Joseph held back a laugh when he found her in the room long after Violet had left, attempting the modified boxing that was not designed for her body. Each movement was very much forced and alien as her body couldn’t replicate the flexibility and degrees of rotation Violet had at her disposal.
Her time as his electrical overseer was mostly filled with her using the opportunity to be a lookout, eyes scanning the meadow while he was otherwise preoccupied. Her tail was mostly stationary, expression placid as usual while still portraying boredom and uncertainty, but the temporary task she assigned herself seemed to chip away at it. She seemed mostly uninterested in his work, only reacting when he shorted two wires together to redirect power from defunct or removed systems to the terminal room. He was worried that the grid wouldn’t be able to handle the draw, but he had found several fuses that would serve just fine that he could patch everything through. Hopefully none had degraded and blew, the resulting chain reaction would strip the entire facilities wing of power and it would be more than a pain in his ass to fix. All were concerns that he mulled over aloud, only directing some of it to the unflinching face of his fluffy company.
Pan’s eyes only really lit up when he decided to take a break from almost setting himself on fire to suggest that they go set new snares to combat the additional usage of their stock. It was quite interesting to watch a figure so designed for stealth stomp around the forest floor, traps in hand. It was quite obvious she had never been in charge of resource gathering or hunting in her old group as she walked past plenty of healroot, rock-worms, and, more understandably, trails left by leaf-squirrels. She watched and listened with great interest as he explained why he was placing the snares where he was and that Violet was more-or-less the one to teach him what to look for. She remained quiet, only asking if they had caught anything besides the plant-based rodent, but studied every word and item of interest he pointed out.
The flaccid facade really crumbled when they checked his previously set snares, one of which having caught a new denizen of the woodlands that Joseph had yet to encounter. The creature looked very similar to a porcupine or hedgehog, spines of varying thickness and length protruding from its back in the autumn color-spectrum of the area. Instead of any legs, the locomotion method it had stumbled upon looked like a mix between a slug and skis, two thin but substantial rails of flesh and muscle running from front to back underneath it some distance from its belly, likely allowing it to glide seamlessly along the ground. The many questions Pan had assaulted him with on their way back to celebrate the discovery of their new twelve-inch-food far outweighed the word count of every interaction preceding it.
“And this creature, it attacks with its spikes?” Pan continued, rounding out her thirtieth question as they neared their home. The ropes holding her portion of the squirrels swayed with each step.
Joseph shrugged, readjusting the twine used to sling it over his shoulder. For something that was only a little longer than his forearm, it was heavy as hell. “Depends, I guess. On Earth, we have animals like this that use them as purely a defensive measure, makes biting them pretty unpleasant. Can’t say for sure if any had used them as a projectile, current or extinct, but a spider called a tarantula would flick its hairs at you if you startled it. Real itchy, real annoying.”
Her ear flicked with a head tilt. “You have experienced this?”
“Yep.” He replied with a dry laugh. “Rob somehow got his hands on one. Convinced dad to let him keep it. Woke up one night to a big brown spider on my chest that wasn’t too happy about my screaming.”
Pan waited for him to stop chuckling at the memory before asking another question. “Your blood kin, Robert, you two are...” She struggled to find the wording. “Close?”
An unenthusiastic laugh framed his answer. “Now? Yeah, I guess. We had a long time where I wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face, but that’s family for you. Rob reached out after the divorce, kind of helped me set down my grudge. He’s the reason I'm here, albeit indirectly. I think you’ll like him whenever I get the power working to the comm relay. He’s pretty professional but knows how to be human.”
The silence dragged on longer than he was expecting, his mouth closed shut before he could ask if Pan was okay when he glanced over his shoulder to see the crestfallen expression that was on her face, her own question piercing through.
“Divorce... It means your mate is no longer here?” She asked tenderly, as if the topic would break him if she were not gentle in delivering it.
“That...” He paused, the jovial and whimsical expression melting to a one of conflict. “In a way, yeah.”
“I am apologetic to hear, death is always sad.” She followed up solemnly.
He lightly shook his head. “Not dead. Last I heard, she was engaged with a kid on the way. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bitter about it, but I know I should be happy for her.”
Pan stopped in her tracks; a sorrowful confusion took to her tone. “Your bonded one has abandoned you?”
He stopped as well, slowing from one step to the next. “I don’t know what a ‘bonded one’ is or how your culture handles coupling, but for us; it’s just two people, sometimes more, promising to spend the rest of their lives together. Promises get broken.”
Pan closed the distance that had built up between them, careful steps placed on the lightly frosted grass. “Our people have... Dens. We bond to our destined ones, often one, rarely more, and take mates of those we hold dear. Our males are typically outnumbered by females. When a new potential mate is discovered, they are brought to the den. If all may agree, then they are accepted. If a new mate would go against the wishes of the old, then they would fight for their right to join or remain.”
“Sounds like polygamy with extra steps.” Joseph mused. “What if someone no longer wishes to be... Bonded?”
Pan shook her head, eyes closed to the concept. “Our bonds are gifts from the Hunt Mother with our life as the price. We entrust our everything to our bonded. Those who have lost their bond are either placed into a sect of the military specialized in dangerous missions or often found outside our temples, devoid of breath. One does not leave their bond.” A pregnant pause permitted the air before she finished. “Not without cause.”
He stared as the final addition was added, anguish coating the near whispered words. He forced some enthusiasm into himself as he walked towards the building. “She had cause. Hardly matters now, let’s keep going and get Violet to butcher this thing, she’s going to love this present!” He glanced over his shoulder and waved for Pan to follow him, the finality in his voice putting an end to the topic.
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The branches rustled as she re-positioned herself, the discomfort of sitting on them for the past few hours wearing into her glutei. Tel watched the two carry back the spiked creature, as well as several ‘squirrels’, from her post in the trees. The catch the biped’s pack had gathered within a few hours had matched what they managed to muster within three suns, the thought of it almost had her drooling. ‘Joseph’ must have been a very successful hunter on his home world, his lack of fur displaying his muscles as his body rippled with surprising power for his size and carried his densely packed weight with the ease she would expect from a seasoned Special Tactics Officer. He must have been a fairly sought-after mate; military commendations would surely have lined every wall of the building they had made their den.
She had watched Pan from a distance, her former pack member still maintained her timid personality, though now it was tinted with uncertainty. Her gaze constantly sought to find her place within the alien power structure, pleading to find where she belonged on the hierarchy.
Tel thought it was simple; either Pan belonged at the bottom as the newest member or one rung up with her position as the newest adult, only out-ranking the child insect. There would be room for movement if Joseph had decided to take her as a mate instead of a servant, but the defect she held made that preposterously unlikely.
Perhaps Tel herself could request the Grand Huntress for her to be relocated into the pack as a spy, the move would ease the usage of their supplies and she could possibly cement her place higher in the power rankings by offering herself to him. Normally, the thought would be banished as it could be considered abandoning her temporary fealty, but the prospect of claiming a valued hunter as her source of authority amongst a pack of weapons was an intoxicating one. Maybe they could be mated? It certainly wouldn’t be a bad outcome.
She laughed to herself, she enjoyed espionage and disrupting the powers that be, though that was usually limited to collecting information that others would rather remain a secret and spiking her commander’s rations so he would try to forcibly lay with the nearest objects. More than one of them had fallen or been discharged after making crude remarks with this method.
She had joined the Forward Fleet to escape her den, the pressure to pursue a career in certain politics was far from an enticing one. She preferred the shadows and wandering where she pleased; a habit that had ended up with Sahari dubbing her their Forward Reconnaissance Scout. It worked for her, she had the freedom to go where ever she desired, look at things that caught her interest. All she had to do was report back with what she found. She had watched the biped’s pack at the shuttle initially out of curiosity, only staying as they operated the metal tomb with great ease. Now she got to watch her favourite entertainment interact with the lowest of her group. It was all very exciting.
She had many questions she hoped to find answers to through watching them, more if she could intrude. Why were they here? There were many escape vehicles that evacuated to the planet in the crash, which ship did his shuttle belong to? What lay under the bones in his den, which truths did he hide? It had been a long time since she felt like this, the electric thrill of learning all which you were never meant to.
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She sighed fondly as the memories washed over her, so many pranks and secrets that no one will remember or care about now. She shook her head, dropping from the tree, grabbing every fourth branch to halve her momentum until she touched the ground safely. She must return to check the ‘snares’. Hunting has never been her passion, but Jax refused to use such a ‘cowardly’ method, preferring to throw himself into whatever he thought may be an animal he could hunt. He was a fairly solid choice for a mate, if a bit stubborn, and Tel had considered bedding him more than once since they had been wrangled into the same pack. Now though? Now Tel felt like a Huntress all on her own. She had a potential prey; it was just a matter of time before she trapped him. The thought left her licking her lips.
She followed Sahari because it was her only option at the time, all those who might rise up to be a true Grand Hunter fled or perished when exposed to that... thing. Tel had simply followed the first person to rally any support, waiting in the woods to join up, claim to have run instead of merely watching the destruction in its wake.
The Grand Huntress was not the worst of leaders she had served under, but far from ideal. Her decision making was fast and considered the opinions of those she led but lacked in potency. They had not conceded the building to find another, nor simply returned to their verified outpost to scavenge. Instead, they rushed worn members to hopefully outpace a competing healthy pack. A pack that had fewer numbers, yet had already utilized each one to their strengths to optimize their progress. She shuddered with delight to think what a male would do with all of their skill sets. What the male might do with her. She understood what Sahari saw in him.
Shaking her head, she placed a foot forward, paws to her face to massage out the predatory smile and replace it with the carefree expression she sported for her pack. The biped was moulding wood to steel, yet had not created weapons. Fair enough, two of his members were walking blades, but she longed for the return of her daggers, the needles she had grown so fond of for the more unsavoury tasks that command had given her. He would craft them for her, and then show her in whom they needed to be placed. Oh, the longing she felt to be used again.
Alas, she had actual hunting to complete, a job less stimulating with its current targets. Hopefully Harrow had some success today as well. She bounced her way through the forest, excited to see what she had caught and planning to catch more, a sly expression cracking her mask.
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“Again!” Joseph shouted, commanding Pan lunge again. She slowly dropped her hips, utilizing her legs to get far lower than a human could ever comfortably achieve, before sliding the front foot forward and shifting herself to the new forward position. The movement was stiff, far from the training that focused on usage of their claws. She had asked him to be involved with his and Violet’s ‘combat training’, the first words she had spoken since they had returned. Even when he tried to explain that Violet had picked it up as a hobby, diving deeper into it as the weather turned away from her preferred temperature, Pan had insisted on it.
He briefly considered that she was trying to learn what he was capable of to report to her old group, but she claimed that she wasn’t at a skill level to spar with him yet. It was a shame; those legs could freely switch from blunt trauma to a death blow just by angling her toes, but their training only focused on lethal strikes that packed as much power as possible into single hits or a flurry of light blows that would bleed your enemy dry. Understandable, he supposed. Their main combat doctrine focused heavily on ranged weapons, and she was apparently a non-combat-oriented member. CQC was hardly a focus point for members that were never expected to get that close to begin with, so focusing on either putting the problem down as fast as possible or stalling until someone else could was a fair enough judgment.
“Reset.” He barked, slowly circling the trainee as she forced her tired body to comply.
“I thought... huff… I thought you wouldn’t force me to do anything.” She gasped, struggling to drag her legs back under her.
Joseph nudged her right foot with his own, fixing her posture. “I told you I wouldn’t accept you as a servant or slave. Right now, you are under my tutelage and I will train you, as requested.” He finished the statement with a sly smile. He hadn’t gotten the chance to teach anybody any sort of combat before, not including Violet, but he didn’t have anyone teach him either. He was well aware what pitfalls lay as well as how big a pain in the ass they were to crawl out of. They were starting with the basics; Footwork.
He observed her posture; Her waist was already shortening her small frame, legs are slightly more than shoulder width apart, shoulders square, arms in a modified long guard to allow swifter access to her kicks that her unique physiology gave access to. It allowed her to pull her arms in for a quicker spin without needing to forego any basic torso defence. Paws were curled as if to grab something, a swift transition from a raking motion with the claws to blunt damage or grab was possible easily. Her body allowed for some insane control over her opponent, yet she had been graded on her lack of raw power. A bit of practice and she could compete with experts by leveraging her legs alone.
She fidgeted under the scrutiny, faint panting under her breath. “Why am I standing like this? How am I to compete against the power others hold with this defensive posture?”
Joseph smirked; he knew she could deal with this. “That’s easy.”
He positioned himself in front of her and flicked an empty water skin at her head, the bag was already about to hit her face when she reacted. Her legs buckled on reflex, shifting all the weight to her rear foot without needing to move it, the full compression of her legs dropping her almost to the ground completely. Her left leg lifted slightly as her forward foot glided over the wooden floor, gaining stable purchase to act as an anchor for her next movement. Using the loaded leg, she shot forward, all while tucking her ear to avoid the projectile. Joseph’s grin slid into a look of pure smug as she abandoned what he had taught her in favour of her previous training, swinging wide with her right paw to attack him. He leaned into the clothesline, dipping below the path it travelled, and stuck his foot into the pocket of her ankle, locking her leg up and sending her tumbling to the floor. He walked over the mess of crumpled and dejected fur to offer a hand up.
Pan huffed, glaring at his attempt at assistance for a moment before taking it. “I’ve never reacted that fast before.”
He grinned. “That stance is supposed to be used with human fighters to increase burst movement as well as let you maintain your balance. Great for swift repositioning and micro-spacing, not so great for throwing yourself at someone. Your legs let you do it fully loaded without any added strain. As you noticed, you can drop and shift your weight around on them without needing to adjust anything before committing. Best advice I can give if your opponent can one-tap you: Don’t get hit.” He hauled her to her feet, explaining without expending much effort. She was far too light to focus on big hits.
“To be fair,” He continued, drawing out the words in an ‘I told you so’ manner. “You would have at least gotten me to put my guard up if you hadn’t just run at me and swung your arm like a lead pipe.”
The explanation left Pan staring at him for a moment, eyes looking for any trace of deception. Finding none, she nodded slowly. “There is much to learn.”
“Just wait until I get to showing you how to mix up your timings with those kicks, you are going to be just about playing with everyone who wants to hurt you.” He motioned to the door; Violet had finished her practice for the day about an hour ago and Pan looked like she could use a rest along with a forty-hour cat nap. Not that he blamed her, she had spent the better part of three hours just shuffling across the floor after a morning of watching everyone work and helping him with the snares. “Let’s get something to eat. We’ll work on something other than your stance and linear movement tomorrow, that rush was optimistic at best.”
She nodded to herself, her expression showing that she was evaluating what he had taught her. It made him smile. She had requested to spar with Violet, but her gear was designed with the intent of not puncturing walls or objects she got too close to, not to stop her strikes from shattering bone. Pan accepted the reasoning and asked if they could create a version that used loose springs to absorb the impact across a larger surface area so that the child could practice against her. It was a good idea, one that he would run by Mama over supper, but it would require a few revisions to balance the added weight and targeting range with safety.
As they gathered around the table in the Hub, he noticed a new addition to the meats. It held a more normal red color even though it was still steaming hot. “Is that the hedgehog-slug thing?”
Mama chittered excitedly, Violet mirroring the enthusiasm as she munched on a piece of the new food. Seeing the positive reception, he sat himself down across from the open stool that Pan was sitting on and grabbed a piece for himself. It was good. It tasted like a rich, marinated pork cutlet that had been slow cooked for a few hours. A little stringy for his tastes, but the variety in texture was welcome.
Pan’s ears shot up in time with her eyes widening as she tasted it. The rest of the table chuckled and chittered as she failed to stop her tail from flying around in delight at what Joseph assumed was a new favourite dish. It was nice to see. The white member had barely shown any animated expressions that didn’t include sadness, so the increased range of more pleasant ones was much overdue.
They sat and ate, Joseph offering parts of history he could remember, mostly rulers who had odd quirks or failed in spectacular ways. The rest simply enjoyed his monologue, Pan listened with only one ear aimed towards him to show she was absorbing his words at all.
When he brought up potential safety gear for sparring, Mama lit up almost as much as her daughter, the two trading rapid clicks and gestures as they presumably discussed how they would go about it. It didn’t take long after that for them to finish their meal and excuse themselves from the table to head off towards the woodwork room that was contained in the final unused space of the facilities wing. Pan finished shortly after, followed by him.
He stretched out, rolling his joints to crack out any built-up tension from the day. “Now that I think about it, you haven’t been shown how to use the bath yet, have you?” He pushed in his chair as he asked, motioning for Pan to follow.
“I do not need one, I understand water is a scarce resource here.” She politely declined, still following him despite doing so.
He shook his head as they passed through the doors to the rooms. “Not so much here. Water recycler is working fine and with the natural humidity here, I'd say it works better than the one in my pod. The other one couldn’t really support multiple people using it day in, day out, but this one was designed to run a full building worth of staff. It can take all of us showering a few times a day and still not even dent it.”
Pan thought about the assertion for a moment before responding. “Then, yes, I would like to partake.”
Joseph laughed as he entered the baths, holding the door for her. Once they were both in, he walked across the room to the terminal to show her how the controls work. “You can select which bath you want to use here; each is mostly the same but they have different depths. You can pick your temperature and if you want it to bubble like a Jacuzzi. If you’re more into showers like I am, you hit this tab here. The entire ceiling is where water comes from so select the zones you want on this diagram and you can pick the heat as well as pressure. Finally, not that I think you’ll care, this tab here is for the dust bath. You can select which dust fills it, from volcanic glass to charcoal ash.”
He pointed to the left corner behind the baths. “There’s a full body blower to dry yourself off, though keep in mind; it’s loud as hell. We also have towels over there if you want to do it yourself. As far as cleaning products; they’re all on this wall here. Luckily, they seemed to have been replaced shortly before they left so feel free to use as much as needed, but try to keep it to when you actually need it, since we have no real way of getting more. I’ll say now is fine since you mentioned you haven't had a chance at a decent bath in a long time and it’ll be nice to get that nice clean feel.”
Joseph walked to the tubs, placing a finger on a red section on the edge of one, causing a frosted glass looking barrier to form around the skirt. “This is your privacy curtain; you can set it to be lighter or darker but as a safety thing it doesn’t get more obscure than this. Still more than enough to stop people from seeing more than a blur of colours though. Any questions?”
Pan looked slightly overwhelmed at all the things he had explained and shown to her, fidgeting in place for a second before asking anything. “Could I get you to help? I can’t read any of this.”
Joseph stared blankly for a moment before laughing. “Don’t worry, I can’t either. I just recognize the interface from the one on the ship. The curtain took me a few days to figure out though.” He rubbed his chin while giving the offending item a glare from the corner of his eye. “How about this; you pick a tub you think looks good, and ill adjust the temperature while you stick a toe in. Tell me when it feels right. Sound good?”
Pan nodded and selected the medium depth tub after a brief consideration of each. She dutifully dipped a foot in, quickly withdrawing the appendage with a slight shiver. He increased the temp by a few degrees then nodded for her to try again. A few repetitions and she seemed rather pleased with the result.
“Alright,” He called, pointing to one of the dispensers. “You can grab a water-soluble disc and put some of the shampoo from that one on it to bring over with you. Once you’re done, either hit the button next to the blower or grab a towel to dry off. I’ll go make sure your bed doesn’t break in half after what Mama did and grab my own shower later.”
Pan nodded, grabbing the soaps needed and sitting on the edge of the tub. Her face flushed pink for a moment as she eyed the foam on the disc she had taken. “Um... Joseph?”
He stopped near the door, turning to look at the white blur behind the privacy curtain. “Yeah? What’s up, drop the soap into the tub?”
“I can’t reach my back.” She said with a small voice, shame colouring her words.
He took a moment to piece together the request hidden in the statement. His own cheeks flared for a moment before he calmed himself down by convincing himself it was just like washing a dog or cat. Hopefully less claws involved. “Yeah, I'll give you a hand. Dunk yourself in and I'll be over.”
The sound of water overflowing into a drain covered his footsteps as he approached her from behind. Noticing he was close enough to assist, she shot herself to the edge of the tub, sitting with her legs in the water. Trying desperately to ignore any visual feedback, he got to his knees and scooped a small amount of the foam onto his hands. “I’ll start scrubbing, okay?”
Pan nodded, not turning to look at him. Accepting the response, he slathered it between his hands and lightly dug his fingers into her fur.
Just washing a dog. A big, humanoid dog. A cat that isn’t trying to claw his face off. A rug that needs a personal touch. Just an inanimate object that is much more feminine without the extra poof of dry fur.
He tried various thoughts and analogies to distract himself but still found his eyes and hands flowing over the much more defined figure before him. Thin shoulders that tapered down to a small waist before expanding out to accommodate her hips. Her tail wrapped fully around herself to keep it out of the way, accentuating the curves her fur tried so hard to stifle. Lean but pronounced muscles under the skin lined her body, bending under his touch as he followed the plentiful curvature of her spine. The soft and supple skin yielding to his force, inviting him to continue. The silk-like fur wetly gliding between his fingers to embrace his touch. His mind wandered to consider the degree of flexibility it allowed, tracing his fingers back up to her shoulders as he worked in the suds.
He was snapped out of his mild trance by Pan addressing him. He shook his head to shake the thoughts. “Sorry, zoned out. What?”
She turned just enough for him to glimpse her pink cheeks and eye that had been swallowed by her pupil. “I said that I think that should be enough, thank you.”
He bolted upright, face barely containing the heat. “Y-yeah. Sounds good. I-I’ll... go do that... stuff... now. Enjoy the bath, just hit that blue button when you’re done.” He stuttered out before hastily making his exit.
Pan dropped back into the water, submerging herself up to her cheeks, refusing to look back at him as the redness overtook her face.