When the guards stopped at a cell, Sho'ta knew that they were out of time. He glanced over at Z'shi only to find that the other male had come to the same conclusion, his gaze sharp as he prepared to defend them from whatever attack the Terran might launch.

Doing his best to roll his shoulders to loosen them, he prayed that the Terran stuck with physical attacks, that they would be wearing ability-dampening restraints as well. Then, before they could even get a glimpse of the occupant of the cell, they were shoved in unceremoniously, the door slamming noisily behind them.

However, despite the cackling of the guards and the eruption of fear and concern from the other cells, nothing happened. There they were, braced for an attack, and nothing moved or flew at them.

It took Sho'ta several moments to even spot the Terran where they were huddled against the far corner. Only when they shot to their feet did he finally spy them. They were wrapped up in a heavy, dull brown cloak, but they were smaller than what he had imagined when he'd pictured Terrans.

At the movement, Z'shi gave a sharp warning whistle, dropping back so that he flanked Sho'ta. Even with their restraints, this was the best arrangement. He was a better tank while Z'shi did better as a long-range or supporting fighter. If this fight was going to be as brutal as he expected it to be, best to fight using their strengths.

To their surprise, the Terran didn't attack. They pressed back against the wall, shaking their head frantically.

Sho'ta gave a warning rumble which only made the Terran shrink further against the wall. Then, after a long moment, they seemed to rally. He braced himself for the attack, only to pause when the Terran started to gesture. They tapped on their chest and then pointed at the corner of the cell they were currently occupying. Then they pointed at him and Z'shi and gestured to the far side of the cell.

They did this twice more before Z'shi murmured, "I think they're saying that if we don't attack them, they won't attack us."

Sho'ta scoffed quietly at the thought of a reasonable Terran but couldn't refute Z'shi's claims. From their gestures, it did look like the Terran didn't want to fight. Whether it was biding its time or because there were two of them, Sho'ta didn't know. However, he would buy whatever time he could to gain control of their situation.

He gave a stern warning growl, which caused the Terran to freeze, before nodding slowly and backing away to the far corner of the cell. The guards grumbled disappointedly about being denied a show but he ignored them, never taking his eyes off of the Terran. Z'shi moved smoothly with him, neither of them leaving any openings just in case it was a gambit by the other sentient to get them to lower their guard.

However, once they were in their corner, the Terran slumped to the ground, curling up and burying their face into their legs as if trying to hide their face from the world. The guards grumbling increased but they left, undoubtedly fearing the head guard's wrath if they risked spending any more time watching a nonexistent fight.

Once they were gone and he was certain the Terran wasn't going to attack right that moment, he slumped to the ground, doing his best to ease the strain from his shoulders where he'd been holding himself ready while restricted by the restraints on his wrists. One of the first orders of business, once they caught their breath, would be to get out of the blasted things. If they were stuck in a cell with one of the most dangerous sentients in the known galaxy, they needed to be able to react to any threats immediately.

Z'shi slumped next to him, his wings easing slightly from their tight position along his spine. He gave a quiet whistle, tugging irritably on his restraints while keeping an eye on the Terran. "I thought we were goners for a tick there, Sho."

Sho'ta grumbled, shifting a little to support more of Z'shi's weight. He knew the Raptora had taken a couple of rough hits while they were being 'captured' and while he might not be feeling it now, he would as soon as his battle energy wore off. "Me too. Still don't trust them."

Z'shi gave an amused chirr, "You don't trust anyone, Sho."

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He huffed, unable to deny the accusation. "Well, how would you explain the Terran's behavior? They've already killed another sentient and based on the reactions of the other prisoners, the Terran is violent and not to be trusted."

Z'shi shrugged, his optimistic nature already reasserting itself. "I dunno. Maybe they just didn't like two-to-one odds. Maybe they're trying to get us to lower our guard before it attacks. Or maybe it's a pacifist and is just trying to survive like we are."

Sho'ta snorted, amusement curling through him at the thought of a peaceful Terran. "They're most likely tired and didn't like the odds of a two-to-one battle. Still, we need to make sure we don't lower our guard." He lowered his voice so that only Z'shi would be able to make out his words. "We have a mission to complete so that we can get back home to the kit."

Determination filled Z'shi's posture at the mention of their nephew. Yes, they needed to finish this mission so they could get back to their kin and also so they could reunite all of the captured sentients with their kin as well.

They could do this.

X

Despite keeping a close watch on the Terran, nothing happened.

It had been the work of mere moments to get out of their restraints once they had had a moment to catch their breath. Especially since their captors had done a really shoddy job of searching them for weapons or anything dangerous. Z'shi still had several of his tools and weapons and Sho'ta probably had at least twice as many.

His silly mate had the Pantera's instinctual need to protect, which usually meant that they were like a walking armory and that anything could be used as a weapon. He still teased Sho about the time he used a frying pan as both a shield and a bludgeoning instrument. The ever-practical Pantera just shrugged off the teasing and responded that he would be willing to use it again. High praise, coming from Sho.

However, as the clicks dragged on, slowly turning to nons, Z'shi felt his battle energy slowly drain away, replaced by exhaustion. Thankfully, even as he and Sho'ta started to droop, the Terran didn't make any move toward them, keeping their face where they'd buried it into their legs in a defensive position.

It was an odd position and Z'shi couldn't figure out why they would choose to sit like that. Sure, it protected their eyes and soft stomach, most likely, but it left them open to an attack from behind and probably allowed access to vital organs and joints. Unless their back was armored or plated somehow, allowing them extra protection. But from all the tales that he'd heard, he'd never heard of Terrans having a shell of any kind.

The problem was, there just wasn't much information about Terrans and most of the information they had received had probably been exaggerated or twisted until it didn't resemble the truth at all. However, having never met a Terran, there had been no way for Z'shi to sort truth from rumor and it had been low on the list of things he'd wanted to research.

Now, looking at the huddled Terran, he wished he had moved it up several slots. How was he supposed to know he'd end up sharing a cell with them? But having regrets was pointless, all he could do now was observe them and try to keep them from attacking him and Sho.

He and Sho had spent most of the light cycle taking turns napping, wanting to keep their strength up until they reached wherever their destination was. But as the cycle wore on, Sho was growing more and more agitated, the tip of his tail flicking irritably every time he glanced over at the Terran. Since the sentient was showing no signs of aggression, he couldn't figure out what was upsetting his mate.

It was after the guards had brought by evening rations, which was a pleasant surprise that they were getting fed, that things came to a head.

The guards had left three trays with an irritated huff before hurrying on, obviously having other places to be.

Z'shi waited a few clicks to see if the Terran was going to hoard the food before moving and cautiously collecting two of the trays, hurrying back over to 'their' side of the cell. It was odd though, even once he was away from the food and no threat, the Terran made no move to retrieve their tray. Maybe they thought that Sho'ta and Z'shi would not let them eat? But he'd left the tray where they could see it easily.

Still, if they didn't want to eat, he wasn't going to force them. They were clearly capable of taking care of themselves without his help up til this point, maybe they were nocturnal and would eat once the lights went off.

He set the tray in front of Sho'ta, grimacing when he examined their trays and found that the food was the kind of universal institutionalized mass-produced blandness. But they needed to eat to keep their strength up and none of the other cells' occupants had hesitated to dig in, so it was most likely not drugged.

However, to his surprise, Sho'ta ignored his tray entirely, fixated on the Terran. Odd.

He prompted gently, "Sho, you need to eat."

To his shock, Sho growled at him, not looking away from the huddled figure. Now, this wouldn't do at all. Nudging him hard with his wing to get his attention, he demanded, "Sho, what's going on? They aren't doing anything, why are you freaking out?"

Sho'ta finally turned to look at him, his golden eyes fairly blazing with intensity, and Z'shi felt worry coil in the pit of his stomach. The only time his mate looked like this was when there were vulnerable sentients or nestlings involved. Please, please, please let it be the first.

His hopes were dashed as Sho'ta forced out, a protective growl lacing the words, "That's a kit."