Seinu woke up into darkness, not an absence of light like in a dark room at night but an utter lack of any light at all. It was an unnerving thing to wake up too. The last thing he remembered had been the probe being inserted between his shoulder blades, his gel-like body had parted around it and then he'd lost cohesion. The vampire bunny had literally fallen apart, fur and teeth, eyes and fangs and claws all collapsing back into purple slime.
Now he was lying against a hard surface, the glass dish he thought but there was no light. But there were sounds, so many sounds and he could somehow tell what direction they were coming from by the way they impacted his body. He could literally feel the sound waves lapping over him and some part of his body was feeding him what they meant; as alien as it felt sound was sound and to someone raised as an Avali he could interpret noise.
There were six sets of solid, regular thumping sounds, accompanied by the rushing sigh and faint slosh of liquid under pressure. That was six Avali heart beats he knew that sound but the deeper sound of the blood rushing through their arteries that was new. There was the whirr of fans, the soft hum of electrical circuits and the fizzing buzz from above that Seinu thought was the lights. There were other sounds too, the tap of claws on aerogel, the soft whistle of Avali breathing in and out, the glug and gurgle of liquid flowing through the pipes under the floor.
It wasn't quite as sharp as Avali quadraphonic hearing but it was more comprehensive. In fact it was too much, he could even feel the thrum of the skyscrapers metal frame vibrating as the winds outside lashed the building. Seinu tried to do three things as his brain short-circuited from the barrage of sounds. He tried to move but he was stuck to the glass, he tried to open his eyes but there was nothing, not even eyelids he could open and he tried to scream.
That he had some success with but it was more of a deep, gurgling sigh, a wobbly, wet, gooey glooorp that emerged from his mouth like a wet, slurping noise that sounded a bit like “fluuurrrrrp.”
“Ah you are awake, welcome back Seinu,” the voice was Dr Taluni, though he couldn't make his eyes open and see her he could hear her voice and identify the thumping heart beat and rushing sound of blood that belonged to her, “No, try to stay calm, your guardian nanites are being worked on by the others, it won't be long until we can reboot them.”
Seinu tried to speak again, moving his tongue around his mouth and letting out another wet sounding clicking noise.
“It is certainly not quite what I was expecting?” Chantelle commented, she sounded worried, “Are you sure he is ok? doctor, This is… this is…”
“Very distressing I know,” Dr Taluni said softly, the sound that was Taluni moving over to merge briefly with Chantelle, Seinu guessed they were touching, “But I promise you he is just fine, this is what he should look like at this stage.”
The blue and white Avali took a deep breath, reaching out to grab Selenu’s hand, “That shade of purple does look good on you.
“It is a bold and interesting look,” Selenu piped up, moving up next to her sister to try and help her calm down, “But how do we talk to each other?”
“That will come in time,” Dr Taluni said, “But Sleriki don't have a larynx like us, so Seinu don't try to talk normally, I am going to talk you through some methods of communicating with us, OK.”
“Is he really OK?” Selenu said, “He really doesn't look much like a Sleriki.”
Seinu tried to move, he pulled one side of his body free, he could feel his slime unpeeling from the big glass dish he was in but his otherside was stuck.
“Be calm everyone,” Dr Taluni said reassuringly, “He is just fine, Seinu, listen to me, your slime is sort of a proto-Sleriki. More of a blob with small arms, feet and legs. But you have a mouth so we can communicate.”
Seinu tried to calm down, part of him wanted to scream but colours were starting to leak into his dark world. Smears of colours, blobs of orange yellow, blue and green were starting to creep into the darkness. He tried to take a deep breath but he didn't need to breathe so instead he focussed on the blue and yellow outline that existed in the same space as Dr Taluni's voice, heartbeat and circulation.
“Now make a clicking sound with your tongue like this.”
Seinu copied the sound, he had a mouth, he had a tongue, though no teeth it seemed and he could feel his throat stopped after a few inches. But he clicked like Taluni had and after a moment Selenu spoke.
“Hey my translator kicked in, you said yes, Seinu do it again.”
Seinu clicked his tongue again and then listened as Taluni explained how to make a gooey clicking tone with two of his fingers squished against the third. This turned out to be impossible, he could not form fingers properly they just stuck together so Taluni had to teach him how to make the gooey sound required with just the blob of slime that would eventually be his hand.
“That’s no,” Taluni said, “Sleriki language is a series of clicks and gooey sounds made with the tongue and fingers. Now are you ready to answer some simple questions for me whilst the rest of my pack work on upgrading your nanites?”
Seinu clicked yes and settled down to listen, watching in awe as more and more colours spread around him. A three hundred and sixty degree field of yellow, orange, blue and green. A heat map of the medical lab, there was no sight, no vision prescribed by light but temperature, his core was starting to interpret what he was “seeing” and it was fascinating. This… this was some experience.
Seinu sat on the floor of his room, small legs out ahead of him and marvelled at being tall! Sure he was only six feet tall but after nearly eight months of being two feet tall he was revelling in being able to reach things! He was still struggling to adapt to the vision, as far as he could tell his body had gone for a sort of default shape, Doctor Taluni said it looked quite similar to juvenile Sleriki who were still developing their own identity.
It had been hard for Seinu to get a good sense of how he looked, mirrors didn’t particularly work well, or at least he didn’t know how to interpret the heat-images reflecting back off the surface. He’d got enough of a sense that he was an ovoid, a shape with stumpy, partially defined arms and legs, no eyes but he did have a mouth., he could click his tongue back and forth but his throat still felt weird, it didn’t lead anywhere just into the bulk of his gelatinous body.
Wiggling his arms a bit Seinu sighed, he couldn’t really grab anything, Sleriki had small arms at this stage, Taluni had explained it was a sort of transitory state where a juvenile was transforming from a formless blob of slime into an adult form. Seinu seemed to be stuck, or at least he just didn’t know what he needed to do next, the grey fur covering his body picked up vibrations, the heat map of the world was a three hundred and sixty degree melange covering all directions; apparently as he matured into an adult form he’d develop something similar to eyes that could help focus his vision forward.
It was odd as well, reaction times to things impacting his slime was not instantaneous; things could touch his slime, like he’d been sitting on a piece of medical equipment for about a minute before the sensation, awareness and information that he was sitting on it had reached his conscious mind. He assumed a Sleirki would have reacted quicker or seen it sooner but it had been a weird sensation. Of course this had led to a whole series of tests with Dr Rhaii to test and check his reaction speeds and vision before Taluni had chased him away to let Seinu rest.
Resting however was difficult, he could see everything, even if it was weird coloured maps of heat and there had been a machine making a super annoying “Ping” sound until he unplugged it. He had then ordered the computer to play some music but that had been way too intense, the sound waves had literally jiggled against his whole body in a way that had been both fascinating, pleasurable but also overwhelming so now he was just sitting quietly and waiting.
Halyu and Halyan were still working on his new nanite operating procedures, it was taking a bit longer then expected and they had some new unplanned for ideas that were taking longer to programme. So back to his room he’d been sent but he couldn’t sleep, he couldn’t music, he couldn’t read; there was zero possibility he could get a heat-map Sleriki compatible screen right now, so he was bored. Using one arm on the side of his bed Seinu managed to get up onto his small feet and shuffled across the room, maybe he could escape and go wander the gardens or something.
He’d only taken about a step when the door opened and three sources of moving heat entered. One of them was a dark orange, with four long points radiating darker red heat, an Avali but his attention was drawn to the two shorter figures. They had dark blue bodies that faded to green around the neck and over their chests in shaggy waves, their bodies were well insulated, radiating very little heat at all and they had thick fluffy tails of dark blue. In fact as he studied them with his Sleriki vision he realised they were practically room-temperature, giving off no heat at all.
“Cri, Cal?” he said curiously as he sat back down with a soft thump which set his body off jiggling, “And Firi?”
“Yup it’s me,” Firi said quietly, looking Seinu over in shock, she had clearly not been expecting him to look this way. She took a deep breath, hiding her surprise behind her usual exuberance and walked over to stand before Seinu, “This… this sure is a look! I’ve seen Mekari, he looks nothing like this.”
“Yeah.. wow this is… this is more alien then I was expecting,” Cri chirped in Avali, he walked over and rested his paws on Seinu’s stomach, head tilted back to look up at the slime, “Are you ok in there?”
“A lot better thank you,” Seinu replied, focussing his senses on the bunnies, it took a moment for him to feel Cri’s paws and note that Cal was hanging back a bit, “I am still growing as a Sleriki and they are still working on some medical stuff with the Guardian Nanites but I am no longer stuck.”
“Hmmm” Cal said, he crept forward and peered up at Seinu, he could see how their head tilted back, the colours radiating off his body shifting, “I think you looked better as one of us.”
“Yeah,” Cri chirped, “This… this is a really odd look Seinu.”
“It is,” Seinu replied, clicking his tongue to make the sounds, speaking as an Avali like this was no mean feat but he was managing it, just, “It’s difficult to speak, the way my sight works is weird and it is all new to me too.”
“I was worried I wouldn’t know you…” Cal said. “But you still smell like you!”
“Heck yeah,” Firi hugged both bunnies, “These two have been fretting about having to nibble you again, they don’t have a custom for nibbling someone again in their society, once it is done that’s it but I am glad you still smell like you.”
“We all are,” Cri chirped, “It means you are still you.”
“Can I hug you?” Cal asked suddenly and barely waited for Seinu to nod his blob like head before sinking against Seinu’s body and squeezing it, “We promised Sher to keep you safe and yet no one would let us visit or stay with you.”
“I did explain,” Firi said, rubbing a hand atop Cal’s head, “Doctor’s don’t usually let people stay like they did when we were on the Odyssey at Babupekkakerok.”
“Stupid custom,” Cal grumbled, “We could have helped or kept Seinu company, he smells very bored.”
“Oh I have been very bored, but that’s the nature of being ill, lots of sitting around in bed being bored. But you are here now so tell me what have you been doing instead?” Seinu asked as he tried to reach down and pet Cal but he couldn’t reach, his stumpy, half formed arms were not long enough and he couldn’t quite bend properly.
“Oooh we did our exams,” Cal chirped excitedly, “Cri did super good and I passed and now we are training with a special avali pack Firi is friends with.”
Seinu turned his head toward his sister who was sitting on the bed watching, “Tyk’r’s pack are teaching the two, they’re experts at training people and they have a whole curriculum but they gave us the afternoon off to come and visit you.”
“It has been fascinating,” Cri said, “They have shown me so many topics and ideas I don’t know which ones to read first.”
“And they are letting me punch things,” Cal said, “They want to teach me something called unarmed combat and show me how to use a spear properly and they promised I could learn how to drive things, we are starting with land vehicles and I haven’t crashed it once!”
Seinu laughed and lay back, motioning for Cri to clamber up next to his brother, he settled them both down, focussing to relax his body, letting his slime divot inward to support their bodies, forming a warm, cosy space for them to nestle in atop him and be comfy, “How long can you stay?”
“We have a couple of hours,” Firi said, “Then Doctor Rhaii is going to chase us away.”
“Well then, tell me everything,” Seinu rumbled in delight, “I want to hear everything you have been up to and you Firi, I want all the pack gossip.”
Cri and Cal chirped excitedly and started to talk and Firi soon joined in and Seinu settled in to listen. He was so glad they’d come to visit and it felt nice, just resting here surrounded by family. Sooner or later they’d finish turning him back into an Avali and his new body and identity as a Sleriki would have to go on the back-burner as he returned to work as Seinu Trail, Illuminate Diplomat, A public figure and Galactic Ambassador who bore the honour of the title Peacebringer. For now though he could forget about all of that and just relax with his sister and friends and hear all about their lives over the past couple of weeks; it was enough to help recharge anyone.
Selenu found herself back in Director Ck’akk’s office sooner than she had expected. The elder had called her back in to do a catch up after Admiral Jerak’s unannounced tour of the Odyssey. Settling down in the chair waiting for her opposite Ck’akk and her brother Ra’Lett she was glad she had been allowed to bring Chantelle with her this time.
“Welcome back Captain,” Ck’akk said with a soft chirp, “I just finished watching the recordings Ifelse and Taran sent us,” she drummed her fingers on the desk and glanced at her brother before focussed on the two Avali opposite her, “I’m in shock, Ki’s performance in disarming the general was amazing, where did that come from?”
“I have no idea,” Selenu said, “He kept that particular skill hidden from us.”
“Less hidden,” Chantelle defended their brother, “It just never came up before, Ki hasn’t had to interact with such a prestigious Avali since he joined us, Seinu or myself or Selenu would usually interact with a visitor of such standing.”
Ck’akk nodded and pulled her visor off, “He was spectacular, I will leave training and utilising that skill to you and your pack Selenu, he is a gem, he utterly destroyed the Admiral’s ability to ask questions.”
“He was impressive wasn’t he,” Chantelle chirped, radiating pride, “I know there was concern in some quarters about what adding him to our pack might do to our dynamic as Diplomats.”
“Not from us,” Ra’lett said with a smile, “Some of our more conservative colleagues would turn their noses up at an Independently raised Avali but not us, we see their worth.”
“And this proves it,” Ck’akk smiled, “Ki has our thanks, he backed the Admiral into a corner, the only thing he could do was admit that the Odyssey’s military equipment is in capable hands”
“And that your pack understands the required level of security clearance,” Ra’lett said, “Taran keeping them out of the embassy levels was just as important, please relay our thanks to them both.”
“I will do so,” Selenu said with a smile, “I’ve sent their reports to you as well, is there anything else we need to worry about?”
“Nothing right now,” Ck’akk said as she glanced over her screens, “But we need to review the curriculum for the rest of your pack too. Seinu has made a good start but some of the missions we are starting to plan for you will involve you having to lead a temporary tribe and host other packs aboard the Odyssey, we need to make sure you are ready for that responsibility.”
“Of course,” Selenu settled into her chair as Chantelle prepared to take notes, “We will be ready.”
The older Avali nodded and started to open their files, sending across detailed lesson plans and instructions for the Trail pack to focus on.
Seinu sat on the edge of the bed, flexing his talons, they felt like he remembered, his wing feathers felt soft and rustled together quite naturally as he moved his arms. He lifted his left hand, wriggled his two fingers and thumb-claw and watched how their movement made the feathers of his wings twitch and shift. Shivering at the peculiar sensation he lifted his other hand then rubbed the soft down on his chest and muzzle before turning to look at himself in the mirror.
“I could swear I'm a bit shorter than before,” he chirped in Avali, working his tongue around the language. It was familiar but the teeth and tongue in his muzzle felt oddly new and peculiar, “Or am I remembering it wrong?”
“Your crest is slightly shorter,” Halyu said, the avali smiled at Seinu, “The feathers can be adjusted if you want it longer but this is your default avali shape.”
Seinu licked his forked tongue along the inside of his teeth then stuck it out, sampling the air, “And this is the correct setting for our sense of smell and our eyes?”
“Yes,” she said patiently with a smile, “I know neither sense is comparable to your vampire bunny eyes or sense of smell but it is avali standard, your hearing is back up to quadraphonic.”
Seinu flicked his ears, scrunching up his snout to wiggle them one at a time before nodding, “I sure can hear stuff, are you sure I can’t be an avali and keep the bunny eye-sight and sense of smell?”
“Very no,” Halyan said firmly, the male avali leaning over to whap Seinu between the ears, “We just got you operating normally, let’s not confuse matters by trying to mix or match body parts from different species, that is not an option. You can, however, freely turn back into a vampire bunny, or a Sleriki or any of the other forms you have registered,” Halyu said, “Everything is running again as it should be.”
Seinu passed a hand back and forth before his eyes, then looked around the room, focussing on a small purple fern in a plant on his bedside table, “Our eyesight really is awful, like this room is designed for Avali and it is all white, orange and shades of grey.”
Halyu looked around, “Yeah it is a bit like that, sound is your primary sense remember, on most alien worlds we need eye augments or a visor to not be totally blind, our eyes are designed for the low-light levels on Avalon.”
Seinu nodded, “Ok… but we are sure it is safe for me to transform back and forth?”
“It is,” Halyan said, “But give it about a week as an avali first before you start swapping,” he closed down his tablet, “Your new operating system is working, your nanites have three tiers, one set designed to regulate the temperature of your slime, another set interfacing with your core cells, maintaining memory and helping you to utilise the instincts and mental map for the shape you are holding and the third set doing regular maintenance like guardian nanites.”
He reached out to take one of Seinu’s paws, holding it and turning it this way and that, examining his fingers, feathers and paw-pads, “You are back to normal, in fact you are operating better than ever, but we want you to take it slow ok?”
“Ok, no transforming for at least a week,” Seinu sighed and felt over his snout, then closed his mouth and took a deep breath, his chest inflating slightly, “That is so weird,” he said, “I know I don’t need to breathe but feeling the air move in and out of my breathing tubes between my ears is weird.”
“Your body replicates external life signs like breathing,” Halyu said, “On the surface at least, so the act of breathing is replicated even if you have no lungs, your throat ends a couple of inches into your chest cavity in a wall of solid slime so it’s pretty much all back to normal. Now most scanners will be able to tell at a glance you are some sort of organic mass with no organs under the surface,” the avali waved a paw, “But it is pretty official you can shapeshift, as far as most people know this is just a weird, outre body augment you got no one else really needs to know about the Sleriki part of your nature.”
Seinu nodded and flapped his wing-arms and then smoothed back his mohawk, “It still feels weird being this tall, everything feels off, I was so used to being vampire bunny sized.”
“It will take you some time to adjust,” Halyan said squeezing his arm, “You were raised avali, your instincts and learned behaviour however have been suppressed by the bunny mental map and your body operating system seizing up, it will all cause knock on effects; so you have to take it slow and careful.”
“I understand,” Seinu stood up and felt his snout, fingers playing over the small feathers that covered it, “I’d forgotten how different feathers feel to fur and the oil… bunnies don’t secrete feather insulating oil like avali.”
“I know,” Halyu chirped, “Now we are releasing you back into the care of your pack and we’ve sent the design for Seriki heat spikes to your pack leader, we suggest you start wearing them too to take some of the burden off your nanites,” he waved a paw under Seinu’s snout sternly, “You are to send us weekly updates ok? We’ll stay in touch and we’ll have a final check in together before you leave Avalon.”
Seinu nodded and his ears swivelled to the door, he could hear muffled voices in the corridor then it swished open and Selenu, Chantelle, Firi and the twins bundled into the room and surrounded him. Everyone was talking at once and he could listen and follow every conversation, wrapping his arms around Cri and Cal as the bunnies clambered up onto the bed to be taller.
“Hello everyone,” he chirped, leaning over to nuzzle his sister's snouts in turn and hug them all, grasping hands and wings, instincts that he hadn’t used for months resurfacing. It was a little overwhelming and he had to sit down and soon enough the three female Avali had clambered onto the bed to surround him and he let himself sink back with a sigh against Selenu and just enjoy everyone being here.
“We will leave you to it,” Halyu said as she closed up her computer, “Remember those weekly updates and do not leave the moon before you see us again.”
Seinu nodded his understanding and Selenu chirped out that she’d make sure he behaved then his doctors were gone and he was alone with his pack, plus the twins who where curiously examining his Avali body, Cal was lifting up his wing feathers and stroking them whilst Cri was sniffing the air.
“You still smell like you,” Cri said as if confirming something to himself and Seinu hugged him, “Yeah I am still slime under all this, not just slime though a Sleriki… an alien species different from Avali.”
“I have been reading about them,” Cri chirped, “It is interesting though there isn’t much on them.”
“We will share it with you,” Cal said, “There is a video! I watched it, all the way to the end,” he said proudly, “It was easier to follow than the book Cri was reading.”
“I want to see it,” Seinu said with a smile, “But where are the boys?”
“They only just arrived,” Chantelle said tapping her visor, “They sent a message on the pack circular, they have parked the Odyssey in orbit and are going straight to the apartment we’ve rented.”
“Oh? Why do we have an apartment?” Seinu asked curiously as he stood up and spread his arms to let Chantelle drape his mantle over his shoulders.
“Because we don’t own a house here and celebrating your return on the Odyssey seemed boring,” Firi chirped, “You’ve been in here for two months.”
“It took longer to reprogram everything,” Seinu chirped, “Sorry if I made you all worry.”
“It’s ok,” Selenu reassured him, “But we've missed you, so we’ve rented an apartment over in Winter Bane Tower, the twins and I have been preparing a big welcome home feast all morning.”
“Well then let’s go,” Seinu took one of Chantelle’s hands and started for the door with his sisters and the twins, finally glad to be out of the hospital!
Winter Bane Tower was a grandly named edifice of black onyx, gleaming purple tinted aerogel accents and a spiralling pattern of orange avali symbology. It rose up about seventy storeys from the lavender grass lined shores of the River of Accord that circled the Illuminate district of the Avali Capital.
It reminded Seinu a bit of the nursery tower the Trail pack had grown up in, except it was made of onyx instead of white ceramic-metal plates. The apartment was up on the sixtieth floor; the big lounge had an amazing view across the purple river to the park on the far side and then the towers and spires of the city beyond the security cordon.
It was very much a temporary sort of apartment, most Avali cities were designed for quick visits; most packs liked to pop in, get what they needed and leave again the nomadic nature of Avali society was still strong. The main districts of the capital were mostly dedicated to manufacturing, services and distribution points for material. Only the Illuminate District had permanent residences but even they were designed almost like an afterthought to support the meeting rooms, ministries and agencies required to run the Avali nation. The only real permanent home was the Nursery but then Avali generally poured more resources into keeping their young safe and secure then anyone.
Turning away from the view Seinu pulled off his mantle and kicked off his kilt, he was amongst his pack, sod clothing. He kept his necklace and arm-bands on but that was it as he settled down on a beanbag and hugged Taran, resting his head on his shoulder and relaxing into the arm his brother draped over him.
“You should have seen him,” Taran chirped proudly, “He had Admiral Jerak stuck in this perfect dance of sycophantic chatter that stopped him from asking any questions or prying for information.”
“It wasn’t that impressive,” Ki said, hiding behind his drink, “And I must apologise Taran, you asked me not to antagonise him yet I couldn’t help myself. Thing is, I looooathe Avali like that Admiral,” he set his cup down and his feathers fluffed up, “Me and my family, we grew up on an Independent colony and ok, I get it you know, we want freedom from the Illuminate Central and that means we don’t get the top tier of stuff, we don’t get the latest and best and we aren’t at the top of the Illuminate’s concerns.”
He shook his head and picked up a taco made from piri-flour and started to stuff it with strips of nkati bark, “... but Avali like him, they act as if us wanting to be Independent made us lesser creatures.”
“We aren’t all like that, I hope?” Chantelle said sadly, reaching out to hold his arm and hug him. Ki paused to nuzzle her back and turned to look at the others and smiled sheepishly.
“Not really. But this is the problem. Avali like him, who have never tried to understand why there are some of us who prefer being free from the Illuminate, see us as lesser inhabitants, or a lower rank of peasant. People like him usually actively fight to keep us in poverty as if cutting us off will make us see sense.” the Avali chirped angrily, “If it was up to him and the other generals, admirals and the such, we wouldn't be allowed to buy basic services even if we had the means to do so. I’m sure you remember the case of General Kay’ak 45 years ago, who was actively trying to put the idea forward that independent colonies should go extinct because they were “a stain on our proud species”.
“We all had to read about it during our training” Selenu said, “Not only did that speech earn us the hatred of many independent colonies towards all the avali supporting the Illuminate to the point that a few colonies went to help a couple of the Illuminate enemies, but it was also that exact incident that prompted the Council to consult the Oracle and kickstarted the slow process to shift our primary focus from the military wing to the civilian wing.”
“I think you can understand why, as a member of an independent colony who had to live in poverty, I hold such an intense hatred against this kind of Avali”.
Ki drank some more Cinati juice and continued, “I admit most independents tend to see Avali under the influence of the Illuminate a bit like spoiled, entitled brats. I used to when I was younger. But that’s the extent of it. Most independents don’t hate them. But that’s completely different when we’re talking about big military leaders like Jerak, or Kay’ak or any other old guys who think they’re superior to everyone else. Our hate for them is intense and visceral.”
“You’ve been with us for a year now, what do you think now about the Illuminate?”, Taran asked.
“I have a way less negative opinion than I used to have, but it’s still shocking for me that some avali enjoy having their lives decided by the Oracle and the packs in charge. Still, credit where it's due: When it works, it works; we’re an odd example of that, being a diplomatic pack supporting Seinu-Pirak.
“It’s not perfect,” Selenu said, “Some packs wind up doing stuff they hate and not everyone listens, jerks like Admiral Jerak are a big problem, entitled fuckers with their snouts in the air. What’s a Pirak?”
“Brother, in Verskiti. And, well, Jerak got what was coming to him,” Ki grumbled, “Whatever fishing expedition he was trying on the Odyssey I think we stymied, he left empty handed.”
“How do you speak Verskiti so well, I’ve never heard of them before?” Selenu queried.
“Oh, I lived on Verskit for like three years, my pack, we used it as a base of operations for awhile, they are an uncomplicated species who don’t really care for import or export taxes, it’s all clan clan clan with them.”
“Nice,” Selenu smiled, “I will have to look it up and thank them sometime for helping you stick it to Jerak.”
“Selenu told me the Director was very happy with your work,” Seinu said, “Apparently he got nothing and now we get to enjoy this time together,” he glanced across the table at all the food that had been prepared. There were Lakriyaw Balls: A mix of lakriyaw fungus paste and piri-flour mixed and baked into a crunchy sweet sphere and served with Kakaro Leaves.
Then there was seared skacik meat covered in tugoato [a fungus that tasted a bit like human tomatoes] paste and Fyak [aquatic fungus that tasted a bit like a mix of rice and leeks]. There was Kujouki paste, fried into a delicious crispy dough that was used as a base to pile discs of fungus and slices of pan-seared meat on top.
Seinu admittedly was feeling a bit more familiar with the piles of traditional food from Babupekkakerok that the twins had prepared. The silver Avali was sipping slowly on a cool glass of cinati juice watching as Cri was tossing the large cinati seeds from one of the fruits in a roasting tray.
“So this is something I invented since we got here, roasting cinati seeds with darlin roots and a bit of pepper, it brings out their flavour, you have to try it, Seinu.”
“It is really good,” Cri chirped with a smile as he scooped up some of the roasted seeds with a scoop and poured them into a bowl for Seinu, “Try them.”
“Those seeds are nice but I love these fruits,” Firi rumbled as she munched her way through a small round red globe, “They are so good.”
“I am surprised you like them,” Cri said in surprise, “Those are Trapdoor Gourd fruits, I thought you called them evil?”
Firi froze, pulled the globe of fruit out of her mouth and glared at it, “THESE! This comes from that awful plant! No way, they have no right to taste so good! You know what these are made from!”
“Yes,” Seinu said with a chuckle, “Very nearly me,” this got a giggle from the twins and Cal pointed to the mound of trapdoor fruits.
“We serve these on their own, their flavour is unique and over-powers anything we have tried to mix them with, so they are best served on their own.”
“It is fine,” Chantelle says, “They aren’t really made from bunnies, the soil around the Cinati forests on BPE tends to be very poor, the meat eating plants get their nutrients from the meat they absorb or by parasitic root structures tapping into the Cinati tree root network, it is all part of, like the bunnies call it, the natural cycle on the Land.”
“This doesn’t excuse them from tasting so good!” Firi stuffed the fruit into her mouth and chewed on it angrily before swallowing, “These damn plants nearly devoured Seinu!”
“Well they won’t devour anyone else,” Ki said, “I made sure of that before we left and taught the bunnies how to approach safely, but it is interesting the plants are so interconnected.”
“So we are totally eating them for revenge now!” Cal chirped with a giggle and stole one of Firi’s fruits and bit into it, “They can’t harm us now but they are still so good to eat!”
“It seems to be a common thread in Babupekkakerok plant-life,” Chantelle said, “Cinati trees are so big they absorb the majority of the nutrients in the soil, but their canopy is not that dense so a lot of light reaches the ground and the grass and other plants grow up the lower portion of the tree trunk and surround the ground below to leech nutrients off the Cinati trees, it is such a small amount the tree is not harmed and the remainder is made up by devouring wildlife.”
“Well for now,” Seinu said pulling the bowl of seeds toward him, “I will skip the trapdoor gourd fruit thank you, since I very nearly wound up as fruit nutrients I will stick to Cinati seeds.”
Cri chirped happily and smiled and Seinu smiled back before settling down to feast, it was very good to be back together with everyone. It had only been two months but it felt like it had been forever since he had been together with them all. Whether it was being back in his Avali shape or something else he realised he had needed this, just time together with his family, his pack. Whether it was instinct or based on his upbringing, they were the world to him and the best thing ever to help him feel better. He wasn’t an Avali, not genetically, biologically he was a big slime monster from a tropical world lightyears away but where it mattered he was as Avali as the next bird and he needed his pack.