I am ready to join my progenitors and herd siblings who have departed long before me. I am not afraid to die, for have I not faced the Shelgol Swarm? Have I not traveled far and wide through the firmament like a Zal-Lok through the sky? I have seen much and lost far more than can ever be measured against a life well lived.
I wait now impatiently for the embrace of the afterlife, a broken Yiel'oh tired of living. All the humans are dead; I can no longer run with the wind, and I am now nothing more than a burden to a herd that barely knows me. My only fear is knowing that our herd must go on without their protectors.
It is a cruel fate that our only true herd brothers in this galaxy were taken away from us so quickly. I warned the humans that the Hegemony would not accept their ascendancy, and now they are gone, and here I am, wallowing in a stall full of my own piss and shit.
If there was but one wish the Live Giver would grant me, it would be to bring them back. If they came back, I would pass into the afterlife happily, knowing that the Yiel'oh would never have to face the darkness alone ever again.
-Valediction of Chieftain Nah-lik in Hospice
Jak-sun, my human... will you be there to welcome me?
The last recorded words of Chieftain Nah-lik before his death
Yiel'oh Homeworld, Year 38 AC—Earth Year 2376 A.D.
"And then what, father?"
"Little one, the sun is low in the sky, and my stomachs are grumbling. Enough for now; we need to go home and settle in for the night."
But father, I want to know more about-"
"Father is right, Jak-suh, it is time to go. If you help me make the night meal and cleanup, I am sure Father will continue." mother interjected, giving her mate a meaningful glance.
Father stomped a foot in frustration and then reluctantly nodded in agreement.
Jak-suh whinnied in joy and started galloping ahead.
"Why did you tell her that, Nah-lah? I am tired, and this day has already been hard enough for me as it is." He whispered harshly as they trotted behind the pup.
"And it is not hard for me?" Nah-lah responded just as harshly. "Have you already forgotten that it was you who insisted on telling her instead of her instructor?"
"That may be true; however, I am right in that-"
"Dah-lik, I love you, but please stop talking."
Dah-lik shut his mouth, and they continued trotting home.
When they got home, the pup had already started peeling the Kaja roots and had a pot of water boiling over the rim of the pot on the stove. She was humming happily to herself as she was slicing peels messily all over the place with the skill of a pup who had never peeled before, which she hadn't.
Mother brayed in laughter and hurried into the kitchen to take over, while Father just shook his head in annoyance at the mess and retreated to his study. After he shut the door, he quickly poured himself a drink of Jil-az, his favorite fermented alcoholic fruit juice. He drank it quickly, and as he was pouring another drink, he glanced at the holo photo over the fire hearth.
The holo photo had a 10-second loop, and it continuously showed his young father progenitor bare-chested, with a wreath of flowers around his head and a cranial attachment with two fake giant horns jutting out the sides of his head. On his back riding him was a half-naked male human, holding on for dear life as his father was trying to buck him off. The human had one arm around his father’s neck, while the other hand was grasping onto his mane.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
His legs were wildly splayed out in the air, and the look of joy on both of their faces was captured perfectly. Behind them was a scene of complete Bacchanalia. Thousands of humans and Yiel'oh were cavorting in an interspecies scrum lubricated by alcohol and the unbridled enthusiasm known only by those who have faced death and survived to win a hard-fought victory.
He watched it go through its eternal loop again and again and drank more as he did.
After a while, he walked closer and read the Yiel-oh inscription his father had carved into the Ellaca wood frame by hand:
Chieftain Nah-lik and Commander Jackson
Under that, in smaller human words, was another inscription written by his father in the childlike scrawl of someone writing a new language for the first time.
The Mino-tor Nah-lik and his Human Jak-sun
Dah-lik drank more, watching the same loop over and over, remembering his father describing how hard it was to earn the humans trust after what the Hegemony had done to them.
A sudden knock at the door startled him out of his reverie.
"Dah-lik, the night meal is ready."
"Coming," he answered. He quickly cleared away all the glasses and took one more look at the holo photo before he left. "I miss you, Father," he quietly uttered as he left the room.
The night meal was interesting. The pup ate without chewing, swallowing large pieces of food whole, and once her plate was empty, she started clearing the table while her progenitors had barely started with their meals.
'Jak-suh!" Mother admonished.
"What?" The pup replied with an innocent expression on her face.
"You are being rude and denying us the pleasure of our night meal. Go clean the rest of the dishes and wash up. If you stop being so obvious about your intentions, you might realize them."
The pup had the good grace to look abashed and trotted off to clean the dishes.
After the pup left, Nah-lah whispered to Dah-lik, "Maybe we should take advantage of this and draw out the story. Pretend you are too tired to tell a whole story tonight, and just tell her a little bit. We can get more chores out of her willingly tomorrow."
Dah-lik just gaped at his wife. "I am too tired already, and you want me to use our pup to do your job?
Nah-lah stared at her husband with a glare that threatened harm and didn't say a word. He got the unspoken message.
Sometime later, the pup was lying in a freshly made bed of grass while watching a pup show.
She heard her father clomping towards her stall, and she was overcome with excitement. She turned off her pup show and quickly added more fresh grass into a heap by the corner so that her father would have a comfortable bed to lay in while finishing the story.
Father walked in with a tired look in his eyes and unceremoniously plopped himself down.
"Little one, I am tired, and I really can't do justice to the next part of the story like this."
"Father, that's not fair! I did everything you asked for; I even made a bed for you." The pup screeched in a high pitched voice, tears falling down her face.
"QUIET!" Father yelled.
The pup cowered and was silent, looking down at the floor of the stall.
"I have with me some video logs from my father progenitor, Nah-lik. He is your great father progenitor, and he was the first one to meet humans. These logs are from his scout ship, and you may watch them next day. I will know if you watch them before then, and if you do, I will take them away."
"Will you rest and watch them next day with me, little one?
"Yes, father," the pup answered quietly, still looking down at the floor.
"Jak-suh, I love you. Please be a good pup and go to bed, and I promise you I will tell you more."
"Yes. father." She despondently added more grass to her bed, avoiding making eye contact with him.
"Here, take these data chips and put them under your pillow. We will watch them together as soon as you wake up."
"Yes, father." Her tone brightened up a little at his words, and she finally looked him in the eyes.
Dah-lik handed the chips to his daughter, who took them gingerly with trembling hands and started placing them reverently under her pillow. She then turned off her lamp and pulled her blanket over her before turning on her side and closing her eyes.
Sometime later, the pup's quiet snores filled the stall. Dah-lik was still there, watching her sleep.
"Father, I miss you," he whispered to himself. "I wish you could have met your granddaughter pup; she reminds me of you so much, so full of questions and stubbornness. Please watch over her."
Dah-lik left quietly and went to his stall, careful to tread lightly so that he didn't wake up the sleeping pup.
Soon after he left, the pup stopped fake snoring, turned her lamp on, and dug out the chips. She examined them carefully, plugged the one labeled "First contact" into her viewer, and started crying when she saw her great father, whom she had never met, appear on the screen. He looked younger than her father, and he started speaking.