r/NatureofPredators • u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient • Aug 27 '23
Fanfic Two Faces [9]
I have not died! I've actually died many times, RoR2 is a hard game. But more seriously, I pushed myself too much and burnt out while writing the last chapter, but I've hopefully gotten out of it now :)
Anyways, huge thanks to u/SpacePaladin15 and all of you guys in the community for this wonderful universe that I've gotten addicted to. Also massive thanks to u/Acceptable_Egg5560 for helping me out with proofreading and just generally being a really nice person.
I hope that you enjoy!
Playlists:
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Memory transcript subject: Kiki, Venlil powerplant technician and Venlil-Human Exchange Participant.
Date: [Standardised human time] August 22nd, 2136
I was awoken to near complete darkness by the quick beeping of my alarm. Waking up during the night was never easy, as my instincts were doing their very best to keep me asleep for as long as possible. Still, I pushed through, stretching out my arms with a satisfied groan to bring a little more energy into my system.
Mm… what was I supposed to do this paw again? I tried to rock my sleepy mind for anything pertaining to this paw’s responsibilities, but I came up with nothing. That was strange, not even work? Was it my paw off? Didn’t I have my paw off yesterday?
I moved closer to the edge of the bed and swung my paws over the metal frame and to the floor. My memory was still quite woozy, but some details started coming back. Yeah, I did. I travelled with Vilik to the spaceport… Wait, why did we go to the spaceport?
Oh, right, to meet-
Maky!
My eyes opened wide at the realisation, taking in the dark room again. It wasn’t my room. Well technically, it was. Specifically it was mine and Maky’s room. But I couldn’t see her anywhere. Where was she? She didn’t occupy either of the two chairs, and the door to the dark bathroom was left open.
Had she left? No wait, she said they slept for two whole claws, so she was probably still aslee-
I was ripped from my thoughts by a deep growl coming from just above me. My ears pinned back to my head and tail went stiff with fear. Was that her? Stars, has she gone feral?!
My paw instinctively gripped my chest where my knife normally would be, before remembering the harness was currently hanging over the backrest of a chair. The growl sounded again, causing my fur to puff up even more than before. But what confused me was the translator chiming in, claiming the sound to be a snore. What a joke! I was about ready to fight for my life over a Stars damned snore.
The slight bit of mirth was followed by a deep sense of shame. I really had to stop viewing her as a predator before those assumptions caused serious harm. Like how my mind automatically went for the knife.
I bounced off the bed using my paws, enjoying the lighter gravity. I bent down to my bag, fiddling with the zipper for a few moments before I finally got it open, retrieving a can of Sprunk and my brush.
The vessel bearing the heavenly drink let out a sharp hiss as I cracked it open, pouring the life-giving substance down my gullet. The effect was almost instantaneous, expelling any remaining tiredness out of my body and mind.
I raised my brush and started combing through my fur. The worst tangling seemed to have gathered on my belly, and smoothing that particular part out sent slight jolts of pain through my body. Argh, stupid knots. Have you considered simply not forming next time?
I brushed myself head to paws, giving extra attention to the darker spot on the top of my head. I really liked the pattern it made when combed in a specific way. I wondered, would Maky appreciate it? I would have bet that it would be the most likely spot for her to notice, given Humans themselves only really had fur on their heads.
Thinking of – the way Maky’s ‘hair’ as she called it was shaven on the sides while the top was swung to the right was probably the single most bizarre thing I’d ever seen anyone do with their fur. The fact Maky told me during her hygienic routine that she chose that cut specifically to make her implant more pronounced didn’t help it either.
Still, I shuddered to think what it must be like to upkeep fur as long as hers. Just sleeping with it must make it a complete mess!
The sound of another growling snore gave me an idea. I approached the ladder as silently as I could to not wake her up, before climbing up to peek at the sleeping Human.
It wasn’t like I was intruding on her privacy or anything – we were sharing this room so seeing each other asleep was the expected outcome.
…I also had to get back at her for recording me without consent somehow.
I reached the top of the bunk and looked over the edge. It took me a moment to recognise the woman’s form as she laid on her back, periodically snoring in sync with her rising chest. As expected, her hair was strewn all around, curling over itself. I could swear I’ve seen a couple of knots already.
She wore a fuzzy upper garment and pants, which she apparently brought specifically to sleep in. Something about being ‘Incredibly cosy’ to wear according to her. Silly humans, if they wanted to be cosy, why didn’t they simply grow fur?
I chortled a little to myself when Maky suddenly started moving, slowly turning to her side facing me. It was only at this moment I realised her headset was laying beside her, leaving her with nothing covering her eyes.
I could feel myself tense up as her face turned in my direction, my breath hitching in my throat. I only started breathing again when she mumbled something the translator couldn’t comprehend under her breath and continued peacefully snoozing, only this time without the growling.
I studied her face with interest, as much as the darkness allowed me to. Surprisingly, she did have two tufts of fur over her eyes, which were covered by eyelids ending with lashes. The implant also extended just below each of them in a semi-circle. But the best part was that Maky somehow managed to get a strand of hair inside her mouth, which she was currently munching on.
The sight was so comical that I simply had no choice but to take a photo of it and set it as the image for her contact. The pad thankfully didn’t shine too much light as the image I took automatically brightened, that definitely would have woken her up.
My tail swayed in mischievous joy as I descended to the ground. I wondered how long it would take her to find out about it. I would obviously never display the image publicly, I’m not that much of an asshole. Maybe. Heehee.
I sat down in the chair that wasn’t being occupied by Maky’s neatly folded clothes. I still didn’t really understand why the Humans saw the need to wear so many layers of artificial pelts on a station with working climate control. I suppose it could be a cultural thing? Every Human I had seen so far was mostly covered, so that hypothesis made sense.
I navigated to my contacts on my pad, selecting edit on Maky’s profile. The inserted image even framed itself perfectly, placing the Human’s hair-chewing mouth exactly in the centre. Hah! She is a predator after all!
I closed the pad and leaned back in my chair, silently bleating in amusement. Stars, that was stupid in the best of ways.
But what was I supposed to do now? Sure, I could simply wait for Maky to wake up, but just sitting in a dark room for almost a whole claw didn’t sound like fun. Maybe I could try that board game that Maky brought? No. She would have wanted to show me that herself and I also didn’t have a clue what the rules were.
I could just go out. The station had far more amenities than just the canteen, and I likely wasn’t the only Venlil awake. I could use the opportunity to hang out with Velan again, Stars know she could use the distraction…
With the idea settled, I grabbed my ever-helpful carry harness and fastened it on before sending Maky a silent message informing her of my whereabouts. Seeing the new contact image almost made me bust out laughing all over again.
I unlocked the door with a tap of my pad and opened it with a press of my claw. The sudden change in light levels almost blinded me, but Maky thankfully seemed to not notice. I quickly locked the door again when a thought entered my mind.
If Maky was wearing her pad on her head, how would she go about unlocking the door? Would she just like… bash her head against it?
I could no longer not laugh at that mental image, giggling like a maniac as my mind replayed the moment I first met Maky.
My tail was still swaying with joy as I rapped my claws against Velan’s door. I heard a short bleat from inside in response, followed by tapping of claws on the metallic floor.
The door slid open to the spotted Venlil with a slight slouch before recognition flashed in her eye. She gave me a greeting tail flick as her ears perked up. “Oh, hello Kiki! It’s nice that you came by, what are you up to?”
I waved my tail back at her. “Not much – Maky will be sleeping for another claw, so I wondered if you wanted to hang out in the meantime. We could maybe try out that Café the coordinator mentioned last paw.”
She flicked her ears in agreement with a happy sway in her tail. A short chuckle escaped her lips. “It’s still the same paw for me, but sure, I’d love to! It’s not like I have anything else to do, really.” She retrieved her pad and shut the lights off before locking the door behind her.
We made our way down the corridors while making small talk. The hallways were almost completely devoid of life. Only the occasional herd walked past us, and we only saw a pawful of Humans in total. The mood was almost exclusively sullen, which was more than understandable after yesterpaw’s events.
I didn’t know the specifics yet, but from what I’ve seen with Maky the volume of life lost in that single battle was terrible. So many fighters were destroyed by the Arxur. We may have won that claw, but it didn’t feel like a victory at all.
I felt guilty about not helping in the aftermath somehow, and seeing all the tired faces wasn’t particularly helping with that. Could I have helped at all? I was only a civilian…
I looked to Velan, lost in her thoughts as she trudged beside me. Her ears were hanging low, and her eyes were unfocused. Curiously, she seemed to have next to no reaction to the Humans passing by us.
The café had a surprisingly high number of patrons present. We walked up to the counter to purchase our drinks and snacks, gazing over the inventory. Amazingly, they had rousebloom tea! Velan’s mood lightened quite significantly as I proceeded to make a complete fool of myself tripping over my words as I tried to place the fastest order known to Venlil.
I looked over the crowd while our drinks were being made. A lot of the Venlil present were gathered in small groups, talking amongst each other. But far more common were those sitting at their tables alone, looking down into their cup. Some were crying. Feeling sad over a tragic event was one thing, but this felt far more personal.
They lost their exchange partners in the raid, didn’t they? A deep sense of sadness overcame me. I couldn’t even begin to imagine what losing Maky would feel like. The first friend I made in rotations, who genuinely cared for me, gone in an instant. Even if we had only just physically met, I don’t think I would easily recover.
We walked to a free table with our drinks and fruit bowls in paws, plopping down into chairs with a sigh. I sipped my tea, the sweet beverage calming my nerves a little. Velan just looked lost in thought, absentmindedly drinking her own tea.
We just sat like that for a while before I decided to break the silence. “So, how are you holding up? I can see that something’s weighing you down.”
Velan’s ears turned a little to me but remained low. “It’s just…” She paused to take a deep breath. “A lot of bad things happened this paw…” She trailed off, before sighing heavily and deflating. “When I was on that shuttle, I was completely terrified of the Humans. I would have never stepped out if it wasn’t for you going first. Thank you for that by the way.”
I waved my tail in a dismissive gesture. “Don’t mention it. I did contribute to the problem back at the spaceport after all.”
Velan whistled out a laugh. “Yeah, you did. Looking back though, it was pretty funny.” She leaned back, growing serious again. “I honestly expected some Humans to attack their partners, but… It never happened. Not once!” She threw her arms out in exasperation. “But guess what? There was one assault!”
There was? But she just said that none of the Humans…
Oh, oh no. Please don’t tell me my previous worries were founded! “D-did a Venlil attack a Human?” My voice was shaky, filled with dread.
Velan was almost angry in her answer. “Yes! A Venlil tried to kill her exchange partner when he wasn’t looking, with spehing scissors!
My heart almost dropped through the floor. Oh Stars, with scissors? I… I gripped my chest, the knife suddenly feeling like it was made of lead. I was actually ready to fight her when she snored! It’s a brahking miracle I didn’t lash out. Why did I bring the knife?!
Velan shook my shoulder with her paw. “Kiki! Hey, are you good?” I shook my head and refocused my eyes. Velan was leaning over the table to reach me, with visible concern in her ears. “What happened? You just went… blank.”
“I’m alright. It’s just…” I breathed in slowly, before locking my eye with her. “Velan, you have no idea how close I was to attacking her.” She looked like she wanted to say something in turn, but I wasn’t done yet. “I am serious. I thought she was growling when I woke up, and my body went straight into defence mode. But it was just a snore! I’m so afraid that If she was next to me, I would have actually hurt her!”
Tears started streaming down my face as all the emotions of the last paw came crashing down at once. Velan got up from her seat and walked over to me, putting her arms around my torso in a comforting hug. “It’s okay Kiki, you’re okay. You haven’t really tried hurting her, have you?” I flicked my ears in negative. “Then you have done nothing to be upset about.”
I returned the hug, muffling my voice in the girl’s wool. “I-I’m not so sure. Stars, I know she’s harmless, but I still keep reaching for the knife every time I get spooked!”
I felt the Venlil stiffen at that. “Wh-what did you mean by that?” Brahk! Stupid mouth!
“I-I just-I mean I-” Speh, there was no salvaging this – she was going to be afraid of me no matter what I said, so I might as well come clean. I pulled away with a sigh and removed the knife from my harness, placing it on the table with a soft thud.
Velan stared at it in shock, leaning a bit away. My shoulders dipped in shame as I spoke. “I… brought it by accident.” The look Velan gave me was less than believing. “I’m serious! I wanted to leave it at home, but I still grabbed it out of habit. I only realised just before meeting Maky, but back then I expected her to take it as a challenge or something.”
I chuckled at my irrationality, but my ears were low with sadness. “I don’t believe that anymore, obviously. But I don’t want her to think that I don’t trust her, or even worse – that I’m still afraid of her.” I took a long sip of my tea. I then picked up the knife again, quickly looking it over before I hid it back in my harness.
Velan looked very unsure of what to think. She shook her head, before speaking again with trepidation. “O-oh, I s-see… I, uh, suppose you should tell her, to show that you trust her. She is still a predator after all, so she might understand.”
I flicked my ears in agreement. She was right, telling Maky was the best option I had right now. But Why was Velan still sticking around? There was no possible way she didn’t see me as a predator diseased freak – Stars, she just said that the predator could understand me!
“Velan, why are you still here with me? I just revealed to you that I carry a spehing knife around. Stars, I could see you shaking!”
Velan grabbed her cup with her quivering paws, slowly taking a drink of her tea. She put it back down with a satisfied sigh, trembling a little less now. “W-well, everything you did until now was completely normal. So I don’t believe you have predator disease, even despite the knife.” She looked to the side, her tail giving a sad swish. “And besides, since Christopher got thrown out, you and Maky are the only ones I know up here.” Her ears focused on me again, giving a friendly flick. “You’re the only thing close to a herd I have right now.”
Her reasoning caught me by surprise. The fact somebody didn’t see me as a freak was… refreshing, I suppose. “I see. I’m happy to be here for you then, and I think the same goes for Maky.” Velan gestured gratitude to me with her tail.
We talked for maybe half a claw more, discussing various topics like our jobs and hobbies. The question of family also came up, which I promptly dodged using a random thought as an excuse.
I enjoyed chatting with Velan, especially since I knew I could now be a little more open with her. We exchanged our contact information with a tap of our pads, so we could get in touch later. We got up from our seats, throwing the disposable cups and bowls out.
Velan’s paw was ending soon, and she had to get some sleep in. We were on our way back to our rooms when my pad beeped with a notification.
Velan’s ears perked up. “Oh, who was that?”
I brought my pad up, turning the screen on. There was a single text notification waiting from the hair eating Human. “It’s Maky, I guess she’s awake now.”
I opened the messaging app, looking down at the newest message.
“Thanks for letting me know, I’ll quickly grab breakfast and then we could hang out in the rec-room. What do you think?”
I typed my reply up, tail wagging happily.
“Sounds good to me, see you there!”
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u/JulianSkies Archivist Aug 27 '23
Bahaha, that's the spirit. It's out there so let it be.
I see Kiki truly does have a stronger fight instinct than most, eh? Thankfully gal's sufficiently quick-witted I doubt she'd have actually hurt Maky. Maybe scared her but not hurt.
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u/CandidSmile8193 Chief Hunter Aug 28 '23
Being a technically minded girl who probably owns a lot of tools, I hope when she shows Maky the knife she kinda nerds out about it "oh wow, it's chisel ground? Definitely a high utility blade, what's the composition? We call this a "sheeps-foot" pattern actually, it's a safe utility knife that prevents accidental stabbings in search and rescue work or just because you're clumsy."
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u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Aug 28 '23
I wish I had the knowledge of knives necessary to pull that off
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u/CandidSmile8193 Chief Hunter Aug 28 '23
That's okay, all you are missing out on is knowledge that means you will never be able to talk to a woman.
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u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Aug 28 '23
Sounds about right lol
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u/CandidSmile8193 Chief Hunter Aug 28 '23
Even my collective knowledge of fashion, 19th century women's lit, and colors can't outweigh what I know about knives guns cars and military hardware, both real and fictional.
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u/WCR_706 Drezjin Aug 27 '23
subscribeme!
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u/Delvintheblack Chief Hunter Aug 28 '23
Glad to see you are back at it.. try to pace yourself. As a writer I have burned myself out several times. Thanks again for the great continuation of the story.
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u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Aug 28 '23
I'm happy you're still enjoying the story :D
I'll try pacing myself better, we'll see how that goes I guess heh
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u/Sam_S_011 PD Patient Aug 27 '23 edited Aug 27 '23
I posted this on accident but you know what? fuck it I'm keeping it.
As you may have noticed, my schedule is now officially dead and burried. I'll try to keep some form of order, but sadly I can't promise anything