Memory transcription subject: Valek, Gilded Hollow.
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 16th, 2136. Middle of 1st Claw.
“C’mon sleepyhead, we gotta go.”
Maeve’s soft voice pulled me from an empty rest at the same moment Alvi began to stir from my side. “Everything - … - go alright?” I asked through a deep yawn.
“Just fine! Well, the doctor was vibrating the whole time, but the nurse was more used to us so she kind of led the conversation. Still got it off, though; see!” She lifted what used to be her casted arm in front of me, waving her fingers and turning her arm wildly to practice its newfound freedom, causing it to make a sharp cracking noise which seemed to come from her elbow, and she winced at the sound.
My ears snapped forward and I was suddenly awake, Did they hurt her?!
Maeve caught onto my worry immediately, laying her other hand on my shoulder as I tried to stand, “I’m fine, just a little stiff. It’ll ease up in a day or two. You two ready to go?”
I saw the herd around us recoil when I nodded, making me hesitate as I nudged Alvi awake. I wrapped my tail around her back and led us all out of the hospital to make way for the shuttle depot. We kept each other company on our walk, talking about nothing, but I loved their banter all the same. The whole time, though, my eye was on the Herd. Stares and whispers followed us, herds didn’t come near us, and more than once I saw someone pull out their pad, only to put it back when they saw me staring them down. Again and again, the city I loved showed that it refused to love us back.
My heart sank as we passed through university campus, and I was reminded of when I would run with my bolting herd, how we would always pull Mulm’s tail about flirting with the cashier at Cuties on the Campus. Things were so much easier! So much kinder! But now, when I look back, I remember how Mulm shied away from Exterminators when we passed them in the forum. How Rallo always seemed to have the most trouble in class; he was just ‘the uplift’ to everyone, even when I had the same questions he did. That every lesson, there was always something in the back of my mind, this feeling that something was missing.
I was angry at myself for not asking the questions that mattered, for not even thinking of them! I spent a few claws every harvest at that library studying for whatever I could find, because I knew something was wrong. A big hole of a question that no one seemed to ask, and I couldn’t figure out the words for.
“Valek, are you alright?” Maeve’s voice pulled me from the gloom, back to the noise of the city and chilling wind in my wool.
“What? Yeah, sorry; I’m fine. Just… Just tired.” I was suddenly reminded of my affect, so I forced my ears high and focused, and commanded my tail to curl and wag.
“Don’t I know it! We’ve had a long day; Alvi’s probably got the worst of it, though. Polani really tired you out huh?”
“Nah, I feel bright as a… -” Alvi’s mouth split in a wide yawn, straining her ears all the way back, before shaking from crown to tail, “-Dayside wind! Dunno what’s got Valek so mopey.”
My tail twitched in agitation as my ears snapped to her, “I’m not mopey, it's just… this is where I went to University. Classes were… well, being what they were…”
And after the last few paws I wonder why they even have classes to begin with.
I breathed sharply, dragging my thoughts back to Now to keep myself from spiraling. “But I still miss some of it. I had a bolting herd - I told you about that already - but they’ve all scattered across the Bands. And after I left classes behind last harvest, I don’t really come around here anymore but for the-”
The Library.
My attention snapped to the wide building across the road from us. I thought about what I learned there, about the deep well of knowledge I thought was barren until Keneles helped me hear the rush of water beneath me. I needed to learn more, I needed to do more.
And maybe the chance was under my paws all along.
“You two go ahead. I’ll be home later,” I said flatly as I turned toward the library.
“Valek, what’s going on?”
I turned back around, quickly bumping Alvi’s crown with my own as I gave Maeve what I hoped was a toothless smile, “Just something I need to do, don’t worry. I’ll be home later, I promise.”
I kept the girls in my periphery as I bounded toward the wide glass double doors, waving my tail in assurance as they waved arm and tail back to me. I took the steps three at a time before I came to the wide glass doors and stopped, steadying my bolting mind with a breath before I slid the door aside and stepped in. The large space, familiar and quiet, was brightly lit from sun-ward windows and reflective panels scattered about the ceiling. Keneles was at one of the pad stations helping presumably a student.
Definitely a student.
The student’s mottle-grey wool was shorn short; not all such Venlil were Exterminators, but Hidden Plains University was renowned for its Exterminator program. I couldn’t take any chances. I caught Keneles’ eye from a distance, and let him watch me walk to the Fiscal Histories section. I felt small in the shadow of these walls of knowledge and history, but it was hollow, like a tiny bearing rattling around a ship’s hold. Despite the thick musty taste that surrounded me, I couldn’t shake the thought…
How much of this is real? How much was invented? How much of my world is some grand farce to keep us placated?!
No More! We will find the truth! I will learn of this world, and others. I will learn Who We Are. And I won’t let the Federation hide it behind lies and fear!
My heart was hammering against my chest, and my wool was sparking across my skin as I threatened to boil over, before I saw Keneles come into the aisle from the other side. He paid me no mind, only busied himself among the shelves not more than three tails away from me. Despite my rage, I knew the risk this conversation was to the both of us, so I found another approach. I looked among the shelves around me, and found what I needed, stacking them at eye level to be reorganized by whatever poor attendant happened to find it.
> How the Drilvar’s Fiscal Theory of Market Forces Influenced Fissian Policy
>
> Friends from Afar: How Foreign Aid Benefits Us All
>
> Venlillian Tax and Agricultural Policy, 3rd edition
I moved to the adjacent aisle, pretending to browse a new section as I watched the Kolshian work. He paused at my stack of books, his eye flashing to me as his tail twitched, barely a ‘Yes’, and he put the tomes back to their places. I watched him move to his cart and rearranged a few of the books there, pushing it into the walkway between our aisles as he moved to the next row. I looked at the cart, and saw three stories, laid apparently haphazardly, but I could see the pattern.
> A Primitive Hello: Welcoming Uplifts to the Herd
>
> Meeting the Predator Head on: An Exterminator's Guide to Controlling the Flight Response.
>
> The Second Claw: Sovlin’s Daring Charge Back into the Arxur Line.
Second claw… only a half-claw to go!
I flicked an ear to show I understood, and left to find a quiet space for a sun-blessed nap.
---
Memory transcription subject: Maeve, Temporary Resident of Venlil Prime.
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 16th, 2136. Start of 2nd Claw.
> Dh'fhàg thu sìlteach mo shùil
>
> Dh'fhàg thu tùrsach mo chridh'
>
> Dh'fhàg thu tana-glas mo shnuadh
>
> 'S thug thu ghruag bhàrr mo chìnn
Alvi’s arms swung limply over my shoulder as I carried her atop the crook of my arm, my voice swallowed completely by the dense trees that surrounded the coarse dirt road leading to the Berrypatch. Wind rushed through the upper canopy, and the familiar chorus of leaves lifted my spirits; reminding me that just because the sun was a different color, it didn’t make this place, right here, any less of a home.
Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
As we rounded the final bend, I saw the burrow draped in shade from the tall trees surrounding the farm; the Venlillian sun had sunk below the treeline, the forest deepening the blue-black gloom around us. The skies above were streaked with golden clouds that stretched far out of sight, playing a brilliant contrast against the darkened sky and glowing stars beyond them. The droids were already hard at work, and I could hear the bustle of morning as I approached.
The whirring, crunching machines were methodically tearing up the field, mulching plant matter as they went, and spraying some kind of chemical in their wake. I pressed a hand against Alvi’s far ear against the noise and made for my apartment, hoping that the UN added extra insulation would suffice. I pulled my hand away only to open the door and shut it quickly behind us, which cut off the din almost entirely.
I cast my eyes around the room as its lights glowed to life at our entry. Knick-knacks on shelves that reminded me of Earth, Alvi’s anxiety tablet nestled between books on the shelf, and her blacksmith’s puzzle that sat in pieces on the table by the couch. I gently laid Alvi under the covers of my bed before getting out of my burka, tossing it right into the wash along with the rest of what I was wearing before I slipped into bed alongside her.
After the lights dimmed I pulled Alvi closer, sleepily winding my fingers through the wool over her belly and around her side as her tail found my ankle to curl around it. Alvi’s ears swayed in a sluggish happiness as she took a deep breath and stretched, then came back to laying comfortably, facing me on her side. I felt my eyelids grow heavier, fluttering closed before Alvi whistled quietly in the space between us, “... Why are you doing this?”
The question hung, unanswered in the silence, before I found my voice, “Well… Humans have thought about alien life for basically ever, and once the chance to meet one ca-”
“No, Maeve…” Her unpinned ear flattened in irritation, “Not humans, you. You left your home, your life, your planet, and decided to live with us? Just like that?”
“... Honestly it didn’t start that way. I did the exchange to meet someone new, and I did the meetup because that someone seemed pretty cool! One thing led to another and…” My voice wavered as I thought about my time back home, “I didn’t have a lot going for me anyway. My job wasn’t going anywhere, I didn’t really have a lot of time to get to know my neighbors. My family… We’re not on speaking terms; haven’t been for a long time.”
“So… You were herdless, too.” She mumbled as her tail gripped my ankle a little tighter.
“I can’t compare with what you went through, Alvi; but yeah, I suppose I was lonely.”
“Well… for what it’s worth, I’m glad you came to Venlil Prime, and I hope you’re less lonely now.”
“Me too, Stormcloud, and I am. Seems like a lot of people are lonely these days…”
“A lot of people were.” Alvi's ear and eye perked, and my heart lept to see her brighten as she whistled on. “I don’t know what it is about you guys, but so far I’ve met three Venlil who have found a herd for life in your kind! And every time, It’s just a little clearer that… maybe there’s nothing wrong with me. That maybe I’m different, but not alone! That maybe… maybe I can do this.”
Her focus came back to me, her hands worried the wool of her mane as I could feel her tail twitch against my ankle, “I-I want to go back to school. I know it has its problems, but I want to learn how to make something, not just service it, and I know the University can do that. M-Maybe I can take classes online, or-”
I touched a finger to her snout, stopping her words before trailing it up its ridge to the base of her unpinned ear, “I think that’s a wonderful idea. However it can be done, we’ll do what I can to help it happen. But after we wake up, yeah?”
Her ear swung happily, she sighed as my hand returned to idly brushing her side, before her ear fell flat and she looked shy, “Thank you, for uh… for carrying me back from the bus; when did I fall asleep?”
“Pretty much right when you hit the seat. We’ve had a long day.”
“Yeah… What were you singing? The translator couldn’t catch it.”
“You were awake for that, huh? It’s interesting that the translator couldn’t catch it, I wonder why. Anyway, it’s an old song. I learned it from my Gramma, and she from her mom, and she from hers, as a lullaby." I remembered when I asked my Gramma the same question. My parents had left me at her house again; for two weeks that time. I know, now, they did it to provide; I know they wanted me to have a better life than they did, growing up in the aftermath of the Sat-Wars. But I would have gladly been hungry if it were just with them.
I remember the warmth in Gramma’s eyes as she told it, like it was Her story, even though it was already easily over a century old by the time she learned it. "It’s about someone who has nothing. Nothing, but the love they feel for someone special. They promise to work the hard ground to provide for their love. To love them until the end of their time; and when that time comes, they will leave this world with the light of that love at their back.”
She thought for a long moment, “… It sounds sad.”
I smiled, and sighed, “It is. But grief is just love that someone left behind.”
Alvi shifted closer, nestling her snout against my chest as she asked, “…Can you sing it again? Please?”
I bent my head down to kiss her crown as we wrapped each other in arms and tail, “Of course.”
Alvi closed her eyes as I took a breath, and she was asleep before I got to the second verse.
> 'N àm bhith cromadh ris a'ghleann
>
> Thàinig snaidhm air mo chridh' …
---
Memory transcription subject: Valek, Law-Abiding Venlil Citizen.
Date [standardized human time]: Sept 16th, 2136. Middle of 2nd Claw.
The forests were dark and the wind was chilling. Night was nearly upon us, so the village was already buckling down to wait out the Grove's uncanny darkness and gnashing cold. My paws were quiet on the coarse dirt road, tired from travel and from Keneles’ lectures. He was impressed that I noticed the flaws in the Museum’s exhibits, but brushed off the idea of them being fabrications, giving reasons and sources for each one. We talked about my thoughts on predator/prey relationships, and how they influence their environment. He was surprised when I told him about trophic cascade, saying they knew of the phenomenon but called it ‘environmental decay’. When I told him Maeve taught me about it, our conversation changed.
He wanted me to stay where I was, and learn more about the Human’s ideas of ‘the Chain’; the idea that everything that lives is connected to each other, somehow. But I was angry. I wanted to do more, I wanted to hurt the Federation, to take back what they took from us! Despite knowing those feelings, he still cautioned me. I’ll admit, it made sense to start small, to learn before you act. So I’ll listen, and I’ll learn, and I’ll take good notes. Hopefully this will help me understand my people more than what the Federation saw fit to teach us.
The canopy split as I rounded the final bend, and I paused as the Berrypatch came into view. Did my ancestors build this house? Did it matter? My family made this house a home; this is ours, and no one else’s. My mom owns the land, the buildings on it, and a decent chunk of the forest as well; we have the papers to prove it. Whatever the past may have been, we have made this ‘Venlil’ and we have made this Ours. That’s what we’ve done.
And that’s what we’ll do.
I stood tall as I made it to the door and pulled the welcome whistle, all but drowned out by shifting soil and crunching roots as the bots behind the burrow brought the field back to ground. I stepped inside and closed the door behind me, reducing the cacophony to a low rumbling; tolerable but still oppressive in the burrow.
“Valek! Welcome home!” My mom called from the table as soon as she saw me, setting down her pad and nearly running into me with an affectionate headbutt, “Where are Alvi and Maeve, I thought they were with you?”
My ears swung forward in curious concern, “They were tired so I sent them ahead, they should have been here nearly a half-claw ago; you haven’t seen them?”
Mom flicked a ‘No’, and I could feel my panic building. Flashes of the predator attack rose to the surface of my recollection, "O-Ok maybe… maybe someone in town saw them! I'll run back, you get the bots-"
"Son, if they were tired they probably took a nap." My Dad's voice from the sink pulled me back. His confidence was calming, so I listened, "The droids have been tearing up the field since our last waking. If I came home to this noise, I'd find a quiet place to wait it out; like Maeve's apartment."
My heart was still pounding when I flicked a frantic 'Yes' and ran from the burrow, slamming the door behind me and bounding toward the peaked cube. I swung the lever handle open and slipped inside, closing the door behind me and satisfied by the almost-silence. The lights glowed to dim life as I looked around the space and saw no one.
My nerves started sparking with renewed worry, before I heard it: quiet whistling snores coming from the bed. I let go of a shaking held breath as my tail fell limp to the ground. I walked to the bed, barely lifting the covers to see my Starlight and Stormcloud entwined. My heart glowed with the love they shared, and I felt sun-blessed for them to share it with me.
A buzzing from my shoulder pack felt loud as a star-freighter in the peaceful silence, making me jump nearly out of my wool! I opened my pad to see mom was checking in,
> Have you found the girls?
>
> Leksi is looking for the keys to the buggy to check the village.
My tail swung happily, remembering our first day here, ecstatic that mom and dad had fallen for them as hard as I had! Well… almost.
> Yeah they’re here.
>
> Asleep like pups in a dayside breeze.
>
> I think I’ll sleep out here
>
> It’s been a long paw for the three of us
>
> Are you sure?
>
> There’s only the bed and couch
>
> is the floor more comfortable than your own bed
>
> ?^
I looked at the pile on the bed, chuckling at the thought of passing that up for anything.
> Maeve has soft carpet, and extra pillows and blankets, I’ll be fine.
>
> Besides, the insulation has made it nearly silent here, I’m not sure I could sleep in the burrow if I tried.
>
> Good rest, mom ♥️
>
> ♥️
My tail wagged groggily at the message, before I set it and my pack aside and crawled into bed. My arm wound around and under Maeve’s, nestled under Alvi’s chin, and I pulled myself into their embrace. I kissed Maeve’s neck, tasting sweat and soil, then laid my snout against her, succumbing to the comfort of love and warmth.