"I'm huuungryyyy," Kiyrtin whined as they kept plodding through the forest. He had no idea how long he had been following Nadine, but it was certainly past the time for lastmeal by now.
"I brought some guthra fruits, they're in the shuttle. You can have them once we get back. But I told you from the start that this trip would take a while."
"But not... THIS long!" he panted. "Also, my legs hurt!"
Kiyrtin definitely didn't consider himself unathletic. He frequently climbed and ran, but he had never been just walking for this long. And it wasn't just his legs. He was out of breath, and his entire body felt hot.
"Well, this COULD have been over already, but you had to startle the cariyca." Nadine seemed to be completely unfazed by the long walk. While she did look a bit different - her face was slightly redder, and glistening drops of some strange liquid had started to appear on her skin - she showed no signs of actual exhaustion. By now, Kiyrtin no longer doubted her claims of high endurance.
But despite her dismissive tone, the alien girl stopped and turned around.
"How about you two?" she asked the guards.
"Don't worry about us, Milady. We... can still go." While the two seemed in better shape than Kiyrtin - they were trained soldiers after all - their exhaustion was still noticeable.
"I see. We're going back."
Finally! Wait, no, going back? That means walking the same distance again! First Ones, I'm not gonna survive that!
But before he could say anything Nadine turned her back toward Kiyrtin, squatted down, and held her arms in a strange angle.
"Alright, piggyback!"
"What back?" Kiyrtin asked, cocking his head in confusion. "What are you doing?"
"Waiting for you to get on."
"Get on with what?"
She stood up and looked at him, raising one of the patches of hair that grew above her eyes.
"Were you never carried?"
"Yes! I mean no! I mean, when I was a kid..."
"You're still a kid."
"S-so are you!" At least he thought she was. He did at least remember overhearing his sister and the doctor calling her a child.
"Yeah, I am. Your point?"
A few seconds of silence followed after which she sighed.
"Kiyrtin, look, staying here is not an option. Either I carry you back to the shuttle, or you walk. What will it be?"
"..."
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"What do you mean, gone?" Silgvani asked much louder than planned. The ambassador of the Tystrie had just left, her shuttle was out of sight, and the princess thought the stress was over at least for today. But right then, Mhita came running and dropped this bombshell.
"I mean that we can't find him, Your Highness," the head maid explained. "While we admittedly kept the search discrete so our guests wouldn't notice, he couldn't be this elusive. But as it stands, your brother was served firstmeal, and was not seen again afterward."
"Could he be hiding somewhere? He is quite good at that."
"Certainly," the maid acknowledged. "However, he usually only does that for a short while in order to pull off some prank or sneak somewhere he is not supposed to be. Not the entire day. Plus, we checked all the prohibited places he likes to go, and he also hasn't done anything today that would be a reason to hide from us, at least nothing I'm aware of. And even if, he definitely wouldn't miss lastmeal."
Well, wasn't that just great! Where could Kiyrtin be? Before the ambassador arrived, Silgvani had told him not to show himself to her, so maybe... "Could he have left the palace?"
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"If he did, he didn't use any of the gates, none of the guards saw him. We also went to the shuttle hangar, but he didn't request a flight either. Unless we have a significant breach in our security, he must still be around."
"Did you check the kitchen?"
"I actually was waiting there until now, I was sure he would show up."
"Are any guards missing?"
By the First Ones, he should at least be smart enough not to go out without an escort!
"Only two, but I was informed they were accompanying Lady Nadine."
"Nadine? Oh, right, I remember, she wanted to go hunting today. Wait, could he maybe have gone with her?"
Mhita was silent for a Moment. "I... can't rule out the possibility. Considering all realistic options, that is the only one left. But that would be alarming in and of itself. Two high-priority targets are way too much for just two guards."
Silgvani let out a sigh of relief.
"Don't worry. You should have seen what happened on the Star Treader. Search the palace and the gardens again just to be sure, but if he is really with Nadine, then his security shouldn't be of concern. It might sound hard to believe, but we can trust that he is safe with her."
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Something was wrong. However, Kiyrtin couldn't really put his finger on what exactly. The situation as a total was strange, sure but it was not what felt wrong.
Sure, being carried was a bit embarrassing at his age. After all, he was almost five cycles old. However, the way Nadine carried him was different, so that didn't count. He was sitting on her back, his legs resting on her arms, while he held onto her shoulders to balance himself. It was also a showcase of the alien girl's strength. Kiyrtin was certain that he wouldn't be able to carry someone of his own height, yet Nadine did so with seemingly no effort. That meant she was not only strong compared to a Vanaery of her size, she was strong compared to any Vanaery. Not that he was so heavy an adult couldn't carry him, but surely not as nonchalantly as she did.
Another interesting thing about Nadine was her soft skin. He knew there were races in the alliance that lacked a shell, but this was the first time he had such close contact with one. While Nadine's clothing covered more of her body than his did, most of her back was still free, so he could feel how it slightly gave in under his weight. He could feel hard things beneath it - probably what she had instead of a shell. What was that called again? As she walked, he could also feel some things shift and move under her skin. Were those muscles?
Then, there was that strange liquid. It had started to appear on her skin after they had walked for a while, in synch with her face getting redder. It felt weird when he touched it the first time, but after sitting on her back for some time, he didn't mind that it was there anymore. On the contrary: the long walk had made his body turn quite hot, but wherever the liquid was on him, that part of his body had cooled off quickly. All of that was bizarre, for sure, but none of it was what felt "wrong".
In fact, he didn't feel like he could complain at all. The forest had been interesting at first, but they hadn't met a single other animal after the first one, so it had grown boring quickly. But that was no longer a problem since they were going back. Neither was his exhaustion since Nadine was carrying him. And sure, he was hungry, but he would get something to eat as soon as- wait.
"You said you had guthra fruits in the shuttle, right?"
"Yes?"
"Didn't you say that you didn't bring food with you?"
"No, I said the freezer wasn't for bringing food with me."
Had she really said it like that? Well, it didn't really matter in the end. No, that wasn't what was bugging him either. But something was off, he couldn't shake off that feeling. But what? Sure, things weren't ideal, but Nadine did her best to...
...Nadine. That was the problem. She had come here to find things she needed and couldn't acquire by just buying them. This wasn't a fun trip for her. He had just insisted on coming with her.
But she had said it was fine, right? She said she didn't mind.
That didn't change the result though. He had made it about him.
But what now? I can't just make the cariyca come back.
What he could do though...
"Hey, um...," he started, his voice so weak that it nearly failed him. It was almost as if he subconsciously didn't want her to hear him. If so, his subconsciousness clearly forgot the alien girl's insanely good hearing.
"Yes?"
"I, err... I'm sorry."
"What for?" she asked, and while it was possible that it was due to the translator, she didn't sound like she meant that sarcastically.
"For, well, this. If I had just stayed at the palace, you would already have your food and be on your way home."
A moment of silence followed before Nadine took a deep breath and answered.
"What happened was... unfortunate. But despite what I said, I'm not blaming you. I've never hunted before, so I honestly, didn't expect to succeed first try. Also, I just did a few test throws with the boomerang to get warm with it, so chances are that I would've missed it anyway. Not to mention that you aren't the only one who is exhausted, Rhinkus and Quiyrra are as well."
"Who?"
"Our guards."
She even knows THEIR names?
"Anyway, unlike you, they wouldn't have voiced their exhaustion in time, and I probably wouldn't have noticed until it would've been too late. They would've tried to keep up with me without thinking of saving strength for the way back."
She then raised her voice a little.
"Which was really stupid, by the way! I don't know your limits, you have to tell me something like that! If you don't want to "inconvenience" me, think about what you two collapsing would've spelled! So yeah, from that perspective, you actually did something good. Anyway, it is what it is, so don't sweat it."
"Don't what?"
"Sweat. Ah, right, you don't do that. Don't think about it, it's just a figure of speech. But if you wanna know, remember what I said about regulating my body temperature? Sweat is... sweat..."
She abruptly came to a halt.
"FUCK!!"