Carpathia IV: Episode 104 - Squirrel
Unknown Planet, Camp
It took some time for the creature's laughter to die down, an eternity of waiting and staring. When he finally stopped, his tail twitched and somehow became fluffier than it was before.
Creature: I like you!
Perfect English. The crew looked at each other, silently asking themselves if they had just heard what they thought they heard. Kit tapped at his tablet and then stopped, flabbergasted at the results.
Kit: That's not the universal translator. He's actually speaking English.
With the threat appearing much lower, Teren pulled out his communicator and paged the Captain.
Teren: Security to Captain Valro. We have encountered intelligent life. Request yours and Ryuu's presence.
The creature also had some tech of his own and somehow pulled a hidden tablet from his minimal clothing.
Creature: Of courth! I've been monitoring your communicathionth thinth you entered orbit! Learning languageth quickly ith one of my thpethial abilitieth!
Teren froze, communicator still by his mouth.
Teren: Hold, please.
Lowering his communicator slowly, Teren turned to face the creature.
Teren: Special ability? A special ability of your species?
The creature smirked and tilted his head.
Creature: Thort of? I'm not the kind of thpethieth that I look like. I'm thomething elthe. We all have our own unique abilitieth. You've probably never heard of uth.
With far more urgency this time, Teren whipped his head back around to his communicator.
Teren: Be advised, Captain. Possible demigod encounter.
Creature: Tho you have heard of uth! How about that!
Kit stepped forward to continue the conversation before it got too derailed, but more wary under the circumstances.
Kit: I'm Kit. What's your name?
A simple question, one that's usually a good first step to establishing a bond, but one that seemed to cause the creature quite a bit of consternation. Rocking his mouth from side to side, he suddenly folded his arms across his chest and let out a little grunt.
Creature: Pbbtht. My name is... Th... Thhhhhhhhhhh... Dammit! You know, I thpent hundredth of yearth roaming the galakthy and I had to become a fucking thquirrel! Now I can't even thay my own name anymore! Thomebody give me a thtick!
While the creature was on his rant, Captain Valro came running, along with Ryuu. Nalma and Tamati followed behind.
Amenaru: A what?
Creature: A thitick! A thitick!
The creature flailed around on the ground until he found what he was looking for, a thin stick from one of the above trees.
Creature: Here'th one!
With his stick, he laboriously begin to carve letters into the hardened dirt. The crew watched in rapt attention until the whole thing was spelled out.
Kit: Sassinesa. Did I say it right?
Somehow, this seemed to put Sassinesa more at ease.
Sassinesa: Ah, it'th the first time in thenturieth that I've heard my name thaid properly!
Seeing Sassinesa more at ease, Aire stepped forward and gave him a nod.
Aire: Greetings, Sassinesa. I am Captain Valro of the NCCS Shadowdancer.
Aire glanced over his shoulder at the ocean behind him.
Aire: What's left of it, anyway.
Sassinesa made several little hops on his butt, turning himself toward Aire.
Sassinesa: Oh, tho you're the one I thould blame for all that radiathion that'th on my planet now?
Aire: My apologies for that. We were examining some technology in orbit and some sort of tractor beam grabbed our ship and disrupted our systems.
Sassinesa's ears began to flutter as he dove into his tablet, tapping at the screen and twisting at, presumably, virtual dials.
Sassinesa: What? No way! That'th impothibile! All the thythtemths were thut down ageth... oopth.
Sassinesa fiddled with his tablet and then slowly lowered as he looked up at Aire with regret in his eyes.
Sassinesa: The docking athitht for the thtathion wath thtill on.
Sassinesa stood and spread his arms wide, revealing clearly the parachute-like flap of skin that ran from his arms down to his legs. With his arms out, he bowed deeply.
Sassinesa: I am tho thorry. I turned it off. thomebody mutht be coming for you. I don't want them to end up down here too.
Aire found himself at a loss for words, unsure of what to say to an apology for accidentally crashing one of Carpathia's capital ships. Fortunately, Ryuu interjected.
Ryuu: You're Reethalit, aren't you?
Sassinesa: That'th the form I took, yeth. They left about two hundred yearth ago and I dethided I had enough, tho I thtayed here.
Ryuu: Can't you change form if you're not happy?
Sassinesa gave a slow, solemn shake of his head.
Sassinesa: I can't. Motht demigodth can, at leatht a little, but I can't.
Tamati: I'll have to talk to the doctor. After all, we've never done work on your species before, but it may be possible to fix your speech troubles.
Sassinesa started to wiggle and his tail even more so, flitting around in spastic starts and stops.
Sassinesa: I'll try anything! Lead the way!
Before anyone went anywhere, Aire kneeled next to Ryuu for a private word.
Aire: Ryuu, is this okay?
Ryuu shrugged as he would, pressing his shoulder blades together.
Ryuu: It's probably okay? He seems alright to me so far and it's important to remember that the vast majority of demigods aren't evil. Mischievous, yes, but not evil. Also, we dragons don't know of any bad reethalit types.
Sassinesa: Hey, you talking about me? I promithe I'm not a bad guy like that Withmathter or Lathmaedia. You know, Withmathter tried to recruit me onthe. I told him to go thit on his own head.
Aire: Given what I know about Wishmaster, trying to recruit people seemed to be his thing and he certainly was bad at it. Never succeeded once, as far as I know.
Sassinesa: Oh, you know Withmathter! And you're thtill alive! That'th thomething! Do you know where he ith now?
Aire mustered up his full concentration on Sassinesa's face and body language for what he was about to say next.
Aire: He's dead. Friends of ours killed him.
Immediately, Sassinesa's face broke out in a wide grin while he clapped his little paws together.
Sassinesa: Oh, that'th wonderful newth! I couldn't have done it mythelf, but I'm glad thomeone did! I hope I can meet his athathin thomeday!
It wasn't full proof that Sassinesa was a good guy, but it was enough to go along with for now. Aire held out his hand in the direction of the camp.
Aire: Yes, hopefully someday. Shall we get your mouth looked at, then?
Sassinesa: Yay, I pathed the tetht! Ready when you are!
Okay, Aire thought, so perhaps his little ruse wasn't the most sophisticated, but he still learned things nonetheless. If Sassinesa might be willing to help, he could be a good ally against Lazmaedia.
Commissioned art in this episode from:
AvareonArt
Zelbunnii
Thatwildmary
Colourbrand
