Resigning herself to the fact that they were going to coddle her no matter how much she might protest, she accepted another bite of bland mush when Zashi offered it to her. At least Shouta had agreed to drink half of the water, it was better than nothing.

Why were they insisting upon taking care of her, to the extent of sacrificing their water and feeding her by hand? Even if her face did look terrible, she had no doubt from how stiff and sore it felt, it wasn't like her hands were injured. She could easily feed herself, there was no need for them to go to all this effort.

Unless, they had somehow learned about what had happened to the other alien and were trying to stay in her good graces so she wouldn't hurt them. But no, that didn't feel right. She had seen plenty of people in her lifetime cozying up to others in an effort to get ahead or gain someone's favor. It had always made her feel disgusted, watching that behavior. She didn't get that vibe from them, that they were trying to appease her by sacrificing their own meager servings so she wouldn't be angry or violent.

Instead, she got more of an almost parental vibe from them. It reminded her distantly of when she had been younger and her mother had cared for her before taking care of herself, even when things had been tight. An abrupt wave of longing filled her, a wish to see her mother, even though it had been years since her mother had passed away.

She froze as she suddenly realized something. She had been too tired and occupied with everything going on in the cell to put together the fact that her hair had been tidied. She had just been glad to have it out of the way. But if they had done that, they must've found it. The one item of her mother's that she had been able to hold onto despite everything through all the years in the colony and even being kidnapped and taken who knew where in the universe.

She couldn't lose it, she couldn't. Pushing away the spoon, careful not to spill it since she didn't want to upset them, she tried to figure out how to get her locket back if they'd taken it. Maybe they had somehow missed it, maybe it was still hidden in the thickness of her hair. Ignoring the way they were staring at her, she reached up and buried her fingers in her hair, a pained whine escaping her as she felt frantically for the small locket.

Coming up blank, even as she felt some of the braids come loose, she turned to where they were still watching her, their expressions concerned. Shifting to her knees, she hunched as low as she could manage, holding out her hands in a pleading manner. She didn't know the right words to explain what she was looking for and they seemed determined not to let her speak, if earlier was anything to go by.

But she would do anything, give them anything they wanted, if they would just give her the locket back.

It was all she had left, nothing was more important.

X

Sho'ta should've known that things were going too smoothly. The kit had gone along with everything without a fuss, doing her best to be obedient to their wishes and demands. Now, this was probably exhaustion and fear in a large part, her survival instincts demanding that she appease since she was outnumbered. However, Terrans were known as warriors for a reason and kits didn't always have the best control over their emotions, often lashing out when encountering strong ones.

The fact that she had permitted them to clean her wounds and feed her had shown enormous trust on her part. However, this didn't change the fact that they were strangers and that he and Z'shi were adults of a species that she might not even know.

He should've expected, now that she had gotten some food and rest, that she might have the strength and energy to make a threat display to warn them off from thinking of harming her while she was in a weakened state. So when she froze, he and Z'shi did the same, not wanting to upset her.

Z'shi muttered, "Sho, what?"

Sho'ta murmured back, doing his best to keep his expression calm and confident. "Stay calm. Maybe she just heard something."

The scent of pain and panic suddenly erupted from the kit and he mentally panicked, wondering if they had somehow managed to miss an internal injury that was making itself known now. She reached up and delicately pushed the spoon away that Z'shi had been offering her, clearly making the effort to control her strength so as not to hurt him.

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Putting the spoon in the bowl and setting it aside, Z'shi twisted his hands nervously, "Is she sick? She ate it last night without any problems and I made it just the same."

Sho'ta shook his head minutely, "I don't think it's anything you did. Her emotions are all over the place."

She suddenly shoved her hands in her hair, her dexterous fingers digging through it as if in search of something. As much as he didn't want to startle or hurt her, if she started pulling her hair out, he was going to have to find a way to restrain her without hurting her or having her overpower them.

While she was pulling at her hair, she was making a quiet keening noise, tiny, broken whimpers that were breaking his heart even as the scent of her distress burnt his nose. Resisting the urge to cover his nose, he muttered, "What is she doing?"

Z'shi said slowly, inching back and moving the trays so that she had space. "I don't know. The hair didn't seem to bother her when she woke up, she seemed pleased to have it tidied out of her face. It's almost as if she's searching for something."

She froze for another moment before turning and facing them, her skin pale as paper, making the bruise stand out in stark contrast. Her eyes were huge, the pupils blown wide with distress, even as she kept making that terrible broken noise. She suddenly shifted to her knees, moving faster than he thought she could, and he braced himself for an attack. However, she hunched down as low as she could go, holding her hands out in what seemed to be a pleading gesture of some sort, if her scent was anything to go by.

Z'shi's scent soured with distress as well, causing Sho'ta to pin his ears back as he sought a way to fix this situation. They didn't have any medicine they could give her, if she was in pain. If it were food or water, they had already shared with her what was available and she had just pushed it away. A weapon? Was she in that much pain? Because it was clear that they had absolutely nothing else that she could use.

Z'shi's feathers suddenly rustled as he shifted quickly, a sharp whistle escaping him. "The amulet, she must be looking for the amulet."

When they had been untangling her hair the night before, and it was infuriating that her hair had even reached such a state, they had found a small golden disk buried deep in her hair. It had been hard to unsnarl it without having to cut her hair, but Sho'ta had been determined to make it happen. She had already lost enough and he didn't know if she kept her hair long on purpose or if it had been because of circumstances, but he wouldn't cut it without her permission first.

Once he'd finally managed to get it out, they had looked it over and it appeared to have a loop on the top for a thread or a chain to go through, although the chain seemed to have broken or gotten lost when the amulet got caught in her hair. Going through all of their pockets, they had discovered a fine chain forgotten in the bottom of one of Z'shi's pockets. It had apparently been wrapped around one of his latest deliveries of supplies and he'd meant to bring it home for the maus to play with and then had forgotten about it.

They had threaded the amulet on the chain and hung it around her neck, being careful to tuck it under the shirt so it wouldn't rub against her injuries. Then they'd gone back to untangling her hair and getting it properly cared for, or at least as best as they could do considering where they currently were.

But what if it hadn't been accidentally tangled in her hair? What if she had hidden it there on purpose so it wouldn't be taken from her? If that were the case, then this was probably the kit's most valuable possession. No wonder she was so desperately begging for it, trying to make herself look as harmless as possible. She had to know that it was dangerous, letting others know what was precious to her in a place like this. Which meant that this was worth whatever price she might have to pay to get it returned.

Kneeling and praying that she wouldn't lash out from fear, he reached over and gently touched her shoulder, pushing her until she was upright again. She made another pleading keen and it was all he could do not to let out a pleading growl in return, hating her distress.

Once he was certain that she was focused on him, he pointed at his chest and then pointed at her, hoping she would understand his message. However, no understanding filled her gaze even with the repetition. Praying that she wouldn't misinterpret his actions as a threat, he moved slowly and lightly tapped her shirt over her chest right under the neckline, where he guessed the amulet was based on the length of the chain.

She held perfectly still, not even breathing, so he tapped once more before moving back. She stared blankly at him before suddenly sucking in a gasping breath, her hands scrabbling at her neck. A wordless cry escaped her as she pulled out the amulet, staring at it as if she'd seen a ghost.

After a long moment, she clutched it in both hands, curling in on herself and shaking as tears poured down her face. Whatever that amulet was, it obviously meant the world to her, the fear in her scent shifting to relief and such deep sorrow.

He curled his tail around Z'shi's wrist and squeezed it once, hoping to impart some comfort to his mate, before going and scooping the kit into his arms. He sat against the wall and just held her as she cried. There was nothing he could do to fix this but he could at least let her know that she wasn't alone any more.