Wide Awake_A Breath of Life

by Aeryn Jaden

  “Yes. I await your punishment. What I did was unforgivable.”

  Than frowned and stepped back when the bigger alien suddenly dropped to his knees, head down, neck exposed as if he awaited decapitation. He really hoped this wasn't a world where decapitation was a viable punishment.

  “Err, yes? I mean, yes. Unforgivable. Dude, get up. Seeing you on your knees is going to give me heartburn.”

  An ideas. Ideas Than really didn't want in his head but that his dick was more than happy to entertain. His dick was a moron.

  “You must decide a proper punishment before I deserve to stand on the same level as you.”

  Than envisioned the winged alien following him all day around on his knees until a punishment was decided and he could get up again. He snorted. His nerves disappeared just like that and his brain was quick to realise what his instincts had already told him. Whatever this guy had done until now, he was really just a big, dumb teddy bear. Like, somewhere deep deep inside.

  ‘Sorry to blow your hopes, but your ass is like one level higher than mine. You have a long time to wait if you want us to be on the same level.’

  “I know. You’re a Son of Arkana. I’ve done the unthinkable and forced our bonding when even your existence alone is sacred and must be protected at all costs. You’re right, there is no punishment that is strong enough for that.”

  Than’s mind screeched to a halt at all the bullshit he was hearing, bullshit the guy obviously believed. Before he could even think what he wanted to ask first, alien guy pulled a long ass blade from God knows where as that loincloth really wasn't a good hiding place for anything least of all a ten inch blade, and pushed it towards the side of his still bowed head.

  “The hell!! Stop! Hey! That’s not a safe blade for shaving or whatever you think you’re doing with it! Now… put it down. Slowly, before you nick anything essential.”

  He approached the confused alien as if he was talking with a startled child and to his surprise, the blade quickly disappeared, retracting in that cage ring that had been used for branding Than before. Useful thing, Than wondered if he could get his hands on one of those.

  “But. Punishment?”

  “Before we get to that, why don’t you explain some stuff first? I have the impression that we’re a bit lost in translation, no matter that I somehow speak in growls and yipes that apparently make sense. Let’s.. start again maybe? My name is Than Smith. Why don’t you begin with that and explain what happened from your perspective, hmm?”

  “You are Than Smith of the Shab house. Not a slave, but the kenil’s kadush. Co-ruler over the military force of Arkana next to me, kenil K’Aran of the Shab family.”

  Than’s eyes rolled in exasperation and he thought he glimpsed a small smile on the alien’s face. My, what big teeth.

  “Only you as my beloved kadush and my parents can call me for short, K’Aran.”

  “Kadush?”

  The alien’s face went expressionless but Than was a fast learner, different biology or not. He could see the tight lipped, pale mask as what it was- fear. This brute of an alien, capable of probably breaking Than in two with a hand tied to his back, was scared of the puny human. It should have reassured Than, instead it just gave him a sick feeling to his stomach. Something was amiss here, he didn't have all the information, despite what the appearances were saying. After all, this guy had been ready to cut his head off on Than’s saying. The hell was with that?

  “Like partner? Mate. Beloved? Kadush.”

  Ooooh. Oh. Well. His head spinned a bit with the implications. It really sounded a lot like Than had gotten alien married.

  “You married us.”

  “I took you as a mate. Kadush. Without your agreement.”

  “Dude, do not get your sword out again.”

  Than blushed as he heard what he was saying, his mind going straight in the gutter. “All right. I’ll await for your decision, kadush.”

  He sighed and barely abstained from rolling his eyes again. This was getting ridiculous. “Just… get on with the telling alright? All this crap is really confusing.”

  K’Aran tilted his head and Than suddenly was thinking about curious puppies, missing the

  first couple of words coming out of the guy’s mouth. The careful, earnest expression the drakar was sporting may have been somewhat at fault too. “-is now a peaceful planet but totally isolated. There are things here, dangerous things if fallen in the wrong hands and we are trying to avoid a second war. The last one almost wiped out life in the known universe. You are a part of that. Being a Son of Arkana means that you are somewhat tied to this planet, a part of it. We, the species living here, are creations of Arkana but not directly linked to it. To be honest, nobody knows exactly what being a Son means, one has not been heard of since the Old War.”

  “I did something. I don’t remember what. It’s a bit hazy, as if I was watching a movie, butWas I outside? Where there a group of people and me in front of them, talking all growly. Something was shining-”

  K’Aran was nodding frantically, his eyes a bit wide and it would have looked silly on such a big guy if Than wasn't busy awwing at how cute it was. “The priest came to take you away to their temple. Prepare you for your sacred duty or something. I suspect that the instigator was the priest that read your soul after your cleansing. I’m sorry you got frightened, the cleasing would have not hurt you, no matter how it seemed.”

  “Yeah, nice drowning jar you guys have there, aha. You guys need to work on your welcoming party. So wait. You mean to say that Arkana itself, a planet, somehow knows who to let in and who to keep away and hidden from? How is that possible?”

  The drakar shrugged and Than mulled at the information he’d just received. There was much more he needed to learn but everything he’d heard so far… it was as if he’d known already.

  “There is much that we have lost, knowledge not accessible to us anymore. Parts of the ancient code that we can not decypre now. The priests hide a lot of information too, supposedly for our own good. I- ” K’Aran ducked his head at the attention he had on him, seemingly pleased and a bit shy in talking about his own theories. Cute, no word about it. Maybe Than wouldn't mind spending some time around this guy. You know, just for research of indigenous species and the sort. He knew he had to rescue his crew somehow. Had to get them off the planet and home. His heart felt heavy and his stomach dropped merely at the thought and Than banished the idea. For the moment.

  “My family had noticed for centuries now that the planet itself seems somewhat sentient. Alive. Who knows?”

  “Huh. Well no matter that I don’t really know my parents. I’m still pretty sure a planet is not my mother. How does that work anyway? Who would be my father, an asteroid?”

  Joke aside, Than squinted his eyes, thinking about all the uses there could be for a force big enough to create and carry life. A sentient planet. Good God, who had ever heard of such a thing? God. Gods. Huh. Shit. Maybe these people were right in isolating themselves, Than thought remembering the soulless quest for money and power that dominated most of the species out there in the universe, humans being among the worst of them. For now his legs hurt, this bloody immaculate room didn't have any chairs or seating except for that hammock thing that Than wasn't eager to fall off again. His head wasn't fairing much better, reminding him that not long ago he’d been in a ship crash and before that he’d miraculously survived an unsupervised cryo termination. Huh. Now that he thought about it, what has he doing out of cryo? How and how long had he been awake before the crash? His brain seemed reluctant to offer any answers and his memories were curiously scrambled, flashes of panic and determination here and there but no real information. Curious. A sentient planet that vetoed his visitors. Him a so called Son of Arkana, with his memories all jumbled. And not to forget, suddenly he also had a husband ready to fall on his own blade at the drop of his word.

  Maybe he was still on that moon base, whatsitsname, Saturnalia? Man, the mushrooms sold the
re had been a trip.

  Chapter Six

  Contrary to Than’s decision to sit back, observe and plot, well, not much plotting was done during the next weeks. Arkana was fascinating in its differences and at every corner the human found something new to study and learn. So much so that there were moments when he conveniently let himself forget the duty he had towards his crewmates, the need to try and get them out of this mess, away from… what seemed to be frankly an almost idyllic society. It was modern in its conveniences, not in the way that you had room service but well. Arkana apparently provided all that was needed for survival freely and at whoever needed it. That purple water thingie? It was his new best friend. Awesome stuff, they should bottle it and sell it across universe, Arkana would rule trade if they did that. Only… What need was there for money or any of that stuff? Everybody had everything they needed. With the condition that they could never leave the place. For a prison, it was a great one.

  Then there was K’Aran. Alien husband extraordinaire. Than really didn't knew what to feel about all that. Well, besides what his unruly dick was feeling. Lots of feelings there. Not that he’d went easy on the guy, Than had not yet forgiven the branding thing and made sure the drakar knew it. It was starting not bother him that much to be honest but he couldn't show his hand. All that punishment thing? That gave him an advantage, an ace to use if he ever needed. He just suspected that he didn’t need an ace like that when the big, scary alien turned into a flushing stammering schoolgirl whenever Than so much as smiled in his direction. It was beyond flattering. It was… Appealing. Arousing. Maddening.

  Worrying.

  “Kadush?”

  “Yes!”

  Speaking about the devil. Shit, now Than was feeling bad about thinking the common Earth

  phrase. The drakar was quite sensitive when it came to his looks and how Than referred to him. Apparently drakars, and not only, had classes as they grew up, learning about all the different races out there in the universe. The winged softie was very self conscious after he’d read about some demon description made by humans. Than had to admit there were a lot of similarities between old stories, myths and fairy tales and some of the creatures he’d seen roaming around Arkana. Made one wonder.

  “Dinner? My parents said they’ll be here in time today.”

  “Umm. Parents? Dinner?”

  Puppy dog eyes, sharp incisors peeking shyly and a bashful expression. Problem. Than had

  one big, drakar shaped problem.

  “Right. Dinner.” It went fine. Worrying again, Than had been welcomed in the family literally with arms open. K’Aran would not stop smiling, looking on proudly as Than managed to insult his drakar father and almost came to blows with the older man when he’d only wanted to have a nice chat and maybe retreat to his room the fastest he could. He found that he cared about how this first meeting went, how K’Aran’s family saw him. Than’s feelings of urgency just grew with that realisation, his restlessness itching under his skin, telling him he needed to do something before it was too late. Stupid, careless from his part to start listen to feelings, wasn’t it? Yeah, it was. Than had duties and obligations.

  It’s how he found himself in sticky situations usually. By rushing and jumping before he looked. Present situation included.

  After dinner, after exchanging soft words in front of the tapas’ door, which was unofficially Than's room now, the itching just got worse and he’d known that if he didn't do something, anything, he’d never get around to it. He’d found countless excuses to postpone his escape plans but Than had known what needed done from the first week spent with K’Aran showing him around. They had visited the temples then, the drakar wanting to show them to Than in a new light, uncolored by panic and morally dubious priests. It had taken Than one look at the temple’s structure to realise it was not at all what it seemed. Their freaking temples were actually shuttles. Old, beautifully maintained shuttles, of such design and advanced technology that Than didn't even recognise their origins for the couple of dumbfounded minutes of staring at the consoles and the symbols lit there. Zagatis ships on Arkana. Zagatis technology, the first alien tech humans had studied and the first alien race they had been in contact with all those centuries ago. It was a chapter in humanity's history that most chose to forgo when studying at the Academy. It made people uncomfortable what with how humans had stabbed the aliens in the back, trapping the ambassadors to steal their technology and experient on them. Useless move as nobody had been really capable of explaining how their devices worked just that they did and the next race that had contactedthem had been more than happy to freely give them everything they wanted in exchange for carbon, of all things. No human had even glimpsed anything zagatis ever since, they had found out later that the race was a whispered myth among most of the other intergalactic traveler species. Huh. And it just happened that Than had been fascinated with that chapter of the human history.

  Zagatis tech? No problem, Than knew whatever it was to know about it.

  Therefore, moon rise found Than sneaking out of the charming drakar tree houses cluster, quietly creeping out of the security perimeter and heading straight for those zagatis ships. They had seemed fully functional and he knew for a fact they could scan for certain DNA types and localise individuals on a planetary scale. Than had this rescuing mission all but baged. Now if he could only feel a bit of excitement about it too. No matter, it was his duty and he wasn't a quiter.

  He squished the weak voice trying to pull him back, the impulse to just stop this nonsense and return to K’Aran, shy, earnest and gorgeous alien that Than had to admit he wanted more than he’d wanted anybody in his life. He felt this strongly after only the few weeks they had spent together and Than didn’t want to think about what he was giving up in living Arkana. Leaving K’Aran. He wasn't a xenosexophil and wasn't really prone to liasons with other species, though he’d had his flings. It wasn't about sex and Than was leery of acknowledging that even only to himself. K’Aran had been special from the beginning though, hadn’t he?

  He sighed and stopped for a moment, indecision obvious on his pensive face. No matter. He advanced carefully a couple of more steps and he found himself outside the drakar establishment visual range.

  * * *

  K’Aran heard Than moving as soon as the human stumbled off the shak. He stretched his hearing, checking on his drakars, be it on security duty or asleep. Everything seemed alright so that left only one reason his kadush was sneaking out in the middle of the night. Really, he should have expected it especially after tonight, seeing that look on his mate’s eyes as he spoke about Christmas and the holiday’s traditions was a big enough clue. The holiday seemed to mean a lot to humans, being linked to the notion of family and humanity as his human had explained it. It was also today. What could be a better incentive for his confused kadush? Than had carefully listened and learned everything he’d could these last weeks and K’Aran had started hoping that he was wrong, that the glimpse he’d seen of what they could have that time with the priests had not been a fluke. Guess he had his answer now.

  He was proud of Than. His human was standing up for what he believed in despite knowing he had almost no hope in accomplishing anything. Clever human, he’d quickly figured out what the temples really were and K’Aran slowly got dressed and armed. No need to rush to follow, he knew exactly where his stubborn mate was heading. He smiled. Yes, he was proud of his human. It hurt less when he thought about all the reasons Than had to not trust him and his planet, to want to take his people home. He had a warrior mate, just like he’d always wanted, no reason to be upset. K’Aran just had to up his game and court his kadush properly as he should have done in the first place. Than was worth the effort. He smiled and quietly slipped inside the temple, his human’s heartbeat a song leading him where he needed to be.

  “Fuckin’ shit piece of junk! Why don’t you work! You have energy, the proper symbols activate, what the hell?”

  “The ships are fueled by
Arakana itself. If She doesn't want you to go, it won’t start. We have no electricity as humans have, no other form of energy but what She provides.”

  K’Aran cringed as Than quickly jumped and assumed a fighting position. Now, this hurt. He’d thought they were at least over this. His shoulders dropped and he stepped back slowly. It was against his nature to submit like this, but K’Aran would never really fight his mate. Not now. Not ever again.

  “I won’t hurt you. If it made you happy I would do it myself, activate the ships and let you and your people go. I just can’t. Nobody can without Arkana’s blessing.”

  Than still seemed sceptical and K’Aran sighed. He slowly approached and activated the take off sequence. All drakars knew to fly, they took secret training in the mountains, flying across the planet on some of the smaller aircrafts. Not surprisingly, the panel lit up just to disengage a moment after. He tried again and again, noticing the distance between Than and him was closing with each failed try. K’Aran almost smiled, pleased to see that his kadush still trusted him and thinking to himself that he just needed to show some patience. They had time, they were officially bonded and nothing could tear them apart but themselves. Even if it took years to court this man, K’Aran knew it was worth it.

  “It’s not working. You can stop, I believe you. Sentient planet, huh?”

  “I can give you some books on it, if you want to know more. Trust me thought when I say, there is no way out of here unless Arkana lets you.”

  “My colleagues-”

  “They were soul read and purified. I checked with the temples. All of them were matched. In time they will have new families, new loves, new lifes. It’s quite unheard of such a large number of visitors being completely matched and so soon even. You were meant to be here”

  Than slumped next to K’Aran on the panel’s bench. K’Aran could not make sense of the peculiar expression on the human’s face and his nerves got the best of him, wings fluttering behind as he looked for something to say, something that would plead his case and convince this human to give them a chance.