-Ruufarrl-

He had been furious.

But, his own anger not-withstanding, he recognized that Conrad had handled himself well.

Ruufarrl had hoped that this chance meeting would provide them with the opportunity to begin slow introductions into different arms of the Ruulothi Community, allow for different Clans to see the value of what the humans could represent.

In the end this may yet serve the same purpose, from a different angle, but it was very nearly the collapse of everything they had been working towards. All because a couple of arrogant, headstrong cubs decided they didn’t need to verify information, that they knew better.

He had taken longer than expected to leave the Transit building after running into the Bloodcoat Clan Mentor, Loormar. He claimed that he and his charges had been on planet to give them some experience with the Galactic Community as a whole and so they could learn to temper their natural dispositions when dealing with other species before they enrolled in the Ruulothi Academy. As other species often saw base Ruulothi dispositions as aggressive, it was an important skill to have, and there was no better teaching tool than in person feedback.

Their Clan had chosen the two youngbloods for this instruction as they were promising leadership candidates. Up until this day their learning had gone smoothly, and there had been no sign of any lingering issues.

During their conversation Ruufarrl had told Loormar of his own mission. He had reacted with appropriate skepticism but took him at his word and wished to see for himself the Human that had broken the mold and done such seemingly impossible feats.

Ruufarrl grinned to himself at the memory of Loormar’s face immediately following the confrontation, “And by the Great Hunt did he ever get his fill!”

When they had exited the building and found the brewing confrontation Ruufarrl had nearly overstepped and intervened in his rage. Not because he felt Conrad couldn’t take care of the matter, but because of the blatant disrespect for the Bloodclaw Title.

His ironclad self-control, the almost bored look that Conrad had flashed him, and the equal ire of Loormar next to him and the edicts of the Bloodclaws had stayed his hand. They were not to intervene, only respond after all was done.

The two fools were emboldened by the misleading reputation that humans had garnered amongst their people and saw Conrad as a weak target. If he had been a Ruulothi they would never have dared to put their paws on him.

If Conrad had been confirmed at this point, he could have easily taken their lives for their actions. Even unconfirmed he could have pushed for it.

But he hadn’t.

Perhaps it was simply because he just wanted to wash his hands of the whole issue and be done with it, or maybe he had seen even deeper into the roots of the confrontation already, but Conrad had simply let the beat down serve as the punishment.

In doing so he had shown skill in combat, fearlessness, restraint and the capacity to move on. In those few short moments, he had proven beyond a doubt to Loormar that he was a worthy choice.

“Now that I have calmed and thought more about it, perhaps this will serve our purposes even better than mere introductions. To hear the story is one thing, but to see proof of it with one’s own eyes is to catch the scent on the winds for yourself. This will be a tale to tell in and of itself and will reach far more ears than the simple curiosity of a Human Bloodclaw.”

He stole a glance at Conrad. They were in the lobby of a temporary housing establishment waiting their turn at the desk to register. Thanks to Loormar’s benevolence and dedication to instruction, they would be arriving at Ruuloth Prime far sooner than he had anticipated.

They had already parted ways with the other group, though would meet again a couple of days when the ship they were to board would arrive. Loormar felt it necessary to have his trainees look upon the ship that should have been taking them home leave them behind. He also hoped they would take the opportunity to seize the initiative and apologize for their actions.

It was important that they come to the decision themselves. Otherwise, the lesson would be far diminished. If they did not do it themselves then it would be seen as a severe flaw in their character, and a black mark in the Clan, making their ascent in the rankings difficult until they learned the necessary humility.

Ruufarrl suspected that Dresiin, the smaller Red-furred one, would know what was needed. He had appeared to be the more contemplative and intelligent of the two. The question that remained was whether he or not he could either convince his fellow student, Yaanlith, of the need or step out from his shadow to do it himself.

Either way, the two student’s futures depended heavily upon their next actions.

Ruufarrl’s musings were interrupted by the call of the attendant. Shaking himself, he went over and secured their housing for the few short days they would remain on planet.

_________________________________________________________

-Conrad-

The confrontation had done nothing to temper his enthusiasm at actually being on an alien world. For all his time working on the Dark Meridian he had never had the opportunity to go planetside. The closest he had come was to see a couple planets through a viewport on the larger trade/transport hub stations.

He could look, but only from afar.

It had nagged at that inner part of him that nearly all humans possessed in some regard. The explorer, the frontiersman, the pathfinder. The part of them that had pushed them to keep going outward.

He had dearly wanted to see what those spinning, multi-hued and colored gems contained. But he had never had the chance.

Until now, and he was going to make the most of it.

“Unfortunately, going on a Pub and Restaurant crawl simply isn’t a viable option thanks to biological issues. I will have to do my own research and ask Ruufarrl if there is anything noteworthy to see or experience here. Juniel sits just outside of Flokian space, right on the border of Hendrian space. So, it should have some interesting multi-cultural opportunities, provided of course it works like Human territory lines do. Speaking of Hendrians…”

Conrad quietly observed another of the reptilian aliens amble into the hotel with its luggage. The alien reminded him of a hybrid of a turtle and a pangolin. It had the broad head and flexible skin of turtles and the shiny segmented plating of a pangolin along it’s back and outside of limbs with a short and wide, plated tail. The way it walked made him think of a long-legged penguin, which forced him to try and stifle a chuckle.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

Ruufarrl returned to him then and gestured for him to follow. Conrad gathered his things and did so, following him through the winding corridors and stairs of the hotel, which now seemed to be much larger than he had anticipated.

They finally came to their room, and Ruufarrl gave him the keycode for the door before entering.

“It is good that our meeting went as it did. You did well, though I regret not being able to stop it before it happened. I have worked out some of the details with Loormar. The ship he was to be taking home is a direct transport craft. It will be another month and a half of travel, but there will be no stops, and it is the fastest we could reliably expect to come across.”

“That was most definitely nice of him. So… Should I be expecting similar confrontations from here on out?”

Ruufarrl chuffed in grim amusement, “No. That shouldn’t have happened regardless. That was brash and unaccountably reckless of them. You may not realize it, but you could have rightfully called for their heads as punishment. To be honest, if they had harmed you, Loormar or I may have taken them from them ourselves. Un-blooded Ruulothi Do Not physically accost Bloodclaws.”

Conrad looked at him in alarm, “Well, yeah, but… They kinda had a point, didn’t they? Has there never been someone who has stolen a Mantle or tried to pass themselves off as a Bloodclaw? Granted they didn’t listen to the explanation, but someone has to have tried it in the past, right?”

Ruufarrl sighed as he put his luggage down and sat on his bed, “In rare occasions, yes. But never has an alien species been foolish enough to try. The number of outsider Bloodclaws has always been too few for them to be able to pass that off. It has always been a Ruulothi that attempted the subterfuge, for whatever reason. There have also been occasions of someone taking a Mantle as a trophy, usually from shipping raids where they killed the Ruulothi wearing it. But even they weren’t fool enough to wear it themselves, and they have always been hunted down as a matter of course.”

“Ah, so they were just Gatekeeping then. So, I figure that we are going to rest some today to get on the local schedule, any other plans for the day we have left? I was wondering if there was anything in particular to see or do here in the bit of time that we have?”

Ruufarrl considered for a time before huffing, “I am not overly familiar with Hendrian customs. I know they get along well with the Flokians due to their diets, and there is some cultural overlap there because of it. They enjoy singing, but it isn’t something most other species typically wish to hear. They prefer to keep things to a sedate pace and enjoying life on their own terms. Hmm. Perhaps we take a cue from them then. They are rather excellent builders and architects, and I believe they have architectural gardens where they display their works. We could tour those, or travel outside the city to view more natural sights. They have some mountain grottos that are popular tourist destinations.”

“Ooh, that sounds really good. But as much as I would like that, the architectural gardens sound really intriguing, and closer. What time are we meeting the others the day after?”

“We will be meeting them early in the morning at the shuttleport. Loormar wants to ensure there will be no issues with the changeover, so he wants to be there personally to hand us off to the ship’s shuttle as well as for… other reasons.”

Conrad looked at him skeptically for a moment but didn’t press the matter. “Probably wouldn’t tell me even if I asked.”

“Well, sounds like we are going to be busy. Best get to it then, yeah?” He looked out the small window into the brightly lit evening. “I figure if we start trying to sleep now, then we should be on track to sync up with the local sun.”

“A fair assessment, I will greet you in the morning then.”

With that, they both lay back and dimmed the lights to a comfortable level.

_____________________________________________________________

Their next day went surprisingly fast.

He was doubly thankful for the drone because Ruufarrl had, if anything, undersold the Hendrian’s skill as architects.

Calling the displays a “Garden” was a perfect description. Winding and twisting spires of metal created the shapes of trees, creatures and other creations. Some sought to emulate their inspirations, while others sought to put more of the creators themselves into their work. The works from this second group often appeared as though they were made from the Hendrian’s scales, layered on top of one another into incredible and nearly mind-bending forms. All told the display area was nearly the size of the Benmore Gardens from back in Scotland, and just filled to the brim with structures, some of which you could even go up into and contained even more works.

One piece, that looked as though it may have been intended as the center point of the garden, was actually the work of three cooperating architects that built into one another to create a viewing platform that allowed an elevated view of the surrounding area and works.

The trip took the majority of the day and he felt as though he would need a full week to completely take in what was there, but he got an edge on it too.

While on the viewing platform, he asked a caretaker if it would be possible to use his drone to capture an aerial view of the garden. He got permission so long as they were able to watch the footage that he took.

When he was done though, they asked excitedly for a copy of the footage. It turned out that the caretaker was also one of the contributing architects, and they had never considered building something for how it would look from above as well as below. He happily shunted them a copy.

They were up bright and early the next day and headed to the shuttle port first thing. Loormar’s charges awaited them at the entry and sullenly escorted them around the usual customs stations and into a VIP area. There they were led to a boarding ramp where Loormar was speaking with the pilot of the shuttle, a Hendrian that wore crossed blue and gold sashes. Conrad had seen the garb on others around the planet and recognized them to be signifiers of authority. With Loormar’s introductions, this was confirmed.

“This is Captain Noomdan Felsil Darum. He is the owner of the “Gleaming Scar”, the vessel in which you will be departing, and an old friend of mine from my days abroad. Your possessions and luggage left in storage here have already been brought aboard. Here is a receipt, just in case we missed anything.”

Ruufarrl double checked the list to ensure that nothing was being left behind, but everything was accounted for, including the container with Kiiroth’s body.

“My thanks for expediting things.” He looked around curiously, “But if I didn’t know better, I would believe you to be trying to get rid of us.”

Loormar chuffed, “Were circumstances not what they are, you might be correct. You are tracking an important quarry; it is any true Hunter’s duty to help you overcome obstacles and see it through… For the Clans and the Huntwinds.”

Ruufarrl tilted his head in acknowledgement, “For the Clans and the Huntwinds.”

Conrad listened intently and read between the lines. “That is the first I have heard that expression, and he certainly seems to know, or at least suspect, the background of what we are dealing with here. I wonder if there is a political feud between Clan and City Folk. Ruufarrl mentioned that there was a difference between Clan and Centralized politics, and that the Centralized Politicians wouldn’t necessarily welcome the news of my joining the Bloodclaws. I am kinda glad we bumped into these guys now.”

He looked over at the other two, who had been introduced by Ruufarrl when they met out front. Yaanlith was still sulking and appeared to be doing his level best to completely ignore him. Dresiin on the other hand, was clearly paying attention, though he looked confused. He looked to Conrad as though he had picked up on the subtext of the Elder’s conversation but didn’t have the context to place it.

Captain Darum made a metallic clapping sound, which took Conrad a moment to realize had come from his slapping his tail against his thighs.

“Well then, Gentlemen. I don’t wish to rush you, but we do have a schedule to keep.”

Ruufarrl gave him a small bow, “Of course, Shipmaster. Please, lead the way.”

As they filed onto the ramp Conrad heard a cough from behind him. Dresiin stood at the bottom of the ramp looking on edge. Rather than press him Conrad tilted his head in acknowledgement and curiosity, a Ruulothi gesture that seemed to give the youngblood the incentive he needed to speak.

“I… My apologies for my actions the other day. They were inexcuseable.”

“Hey, no harm, no foul. Just kinda wished you guys had stopped for a just a minute. Could have avoided all of it.”

“This… This is true. Thank you for your forgiveness. Safe travels.”

Conrad nodded to him as he backed away from the ramp. Yaanlith still refused to acknowledge his existence and stood off to the side. “Must not get taken down a peg very often. Oh, well.”

He shrugged and turned to go up the ramp.

“Not my problem.”