Maeka- Joy

As time passed, Maeka changed. In little ways perhaps, but it was something that was yet noticeable. The first time she woke in her new quarters, she found that she had some brief time alone, and as she was beginning to wonder if perhaps she would be graced by the presence of her new gods today or not, the wall split open, and one came through, looking at her curiously. It was only a moment's shock, but then she came to realize that they likely knew of her desire. Such a thing would make sense. And so she put it out of her mind, and as the female god with yellow head fur- Nansee- beckoned to her, she followed, as was dutiful. She would repay them however she could, and however they desired.

To her surprise, for some time they did not ask much of her. Indeed, that day Nansee seemed content to have her simply nearby; only looking at her once disapprovingly when she try to get closer to one of the strange squares with many small pictures on it. She had immediately moved away upon seeing the expression on her face, and Nansee’s countenance had softened then and there. There was no reproach from the goddess, simply a small nod, and Maeka knew she had been forgiven. The rest of the day went similarly, with Nansee simply walking around their domain, occasionally summoning food or looking at strange moving pictures - how wondrous, especially when she could change them with a wave of her hand! - and a couple of times retreating behind a door she was not permitted to go into. Those only lasted for brief moments, and upon exiting, she did not see any particular difference. She did recognize the sound of running water, but that was only briefly, and it didn't sound like the babbling brooks and soft rushes of river water that she knew. Some sort of private chamber to be sure, but she couldn't deny that she was curious as to what was in it. She quickly quashed that curiosity, however. She wouldn't commit such an offense so soon, or at all hopefully. They deserved better than that.

This continued for several sleep cycles for her, she would rest, get up, and then one of the gods would be waiting for her. She would then follow them around, as they did things that she knew she couldn't comprehend, and she was fearful to try and make her curiosity known. Until one moment…

Rhadrick was her Watcher for the day, and he seemed one of the more amiable gods. He would talk to her on occasion, although he never seemed to expect her to respond. Small words filtered through her brain at times, to a point where she could almost understand, but something about them just...failed to connect. She wasn’t sure how this was happening, but she could at the very least guess the source. Perhaps something to do with the myriad blessings they had given her, or maybe simply being in their presence for so long? She couldn’t say. Either way, she was unsure of what was needed to be said to respond correctly in most situations, and merely made the occasional noise of confirmation. But this particular time, he was speaking to her while sitting enacting what she had personally called the Great Vision- whenever he sat in the seat, he spoke a string of words, and the blank, curved wall in front of him would suddenly vanish, replaced by a vision of what she could tell was her home forest. She had been astonished by this the first time she had seen it, and had yelled in surprise as he merely laughed. He had spoken to her again, and then said another word, and the images changed at his command. It was then that she learned that he had vision beyond vision- perhaps they all did, but he was the only she had seen using it. They could see any part of her forest as they desired, no doubt, and indeed Rhadrick seemed to utilize it to cast his Divine judgment over the areas, occasionally frowning at a few places, while showing clear interest and delight at others. For those he disapproved of, he shook his head, saying a word in a low voice, and the strange disembodied voice of that odd Spirit would respond, and the vision of the location would go black for a few moments, before changing to a new area. What that meant, she didn't know, and she felt as though she were fortunate to not be there when such judgment was cast. As for the places he approved of, however, he would say something in a much lighter tone, and there would be a strange noise as his power worked. Those she would see again on subsequent days with him.

It was this day however, as he cast his eyes amidst the places of the forest, that he settled on one that was frighteningly familiar to her. A small clearing, with a single hut entombed by snow and ice…

While she wanted to say something, she was stopped at Rhadrick’s frown- and her heart leapt into her throat, as she knew what that frown meant. She couldn't stop the noise that came out of her mouth, and Rhadrick noticed. "What, ~~~~~~~~?" She couldn't tell the rest of the sentence, but she could tell at the very least it was a question directed towards her, for once one that was intended to be answered. But how could she? Then again, how could she not?

She braced herself, hoping against hope that perhaps they could understand what that meant to her. "That is my home." she spoke slowly and clearly, enunciating as best as she could. "I was taken from my clan, and it was where I lived before I was granted the gods' mercy. Please...I humbly ask you to leave it be!"

She wasn't sure if her words got through to him, but as he regarded her carefully, she allowed the hope to linger.

Rodrick, on the other hand, was only somewhat surprised. It seemed as though Basil was right; she was taking to the nanobots a little bit more slowly than others would have normally. Part of him figured that half of that issue was simply due to how shy she seemed to be in their presence; she didn't really seem to be a talkative sort. The fact that she was suddenly speaking up now, and in a tone that he could easily recognize as passion, spoke volumes more than any words that he could have deciphered. That said, he had enough experience reading people in order to make an educated guess, and he turned back to the screen that showed what he could only presume was her home. "Man, you had it rough, huh, kitty-cat?" he muttered to himself as he took in the scene. Normally this was surveillance for good operation and forward base locations, just in case they need it to relocate for one reason or another that wasn't next to the Cordilium. Stuff was volatile if it wasn't handled right. It was the entire reason why they had automated systems for extraction and why they would need to set up a base for processing. It couldn't be too far away from the dig site, but not so close that any reactions set off the whole lode. It was boring stuff, if important. Couldn't waste any drones on areas with no potential...

'Then again...' he looked at her again, as she wavered slightly. He glanced back to the screen again; it really was kind of unsightly. But he knew as well as anyone else that no matter how it looked, home was home...

He sighed as he nodded to himself. 'Yup. I'm a softy.' "Save it."

EVE responded as always. "Saving." and it was done. He'd have to find a way to put some sort of note there that Mae (he couldn't quite remember her name) had personally requested that area be saved. Maybe they could do something nice for her once spring came... But for now, he had a job to do.

A thump distracted him briefly, and he looked to his side to see the alien in question on her knees, forehead touching the ground. Before he could say anything, she looked back up at him, smile on her face and spoke a line that he was pretty sure was some sort of thanks. He wasn't exactly comfortable with how supplicating she seem to be, but he let it roll off him. "Any time, kid. I guess." Not like he could spend every drone... He didn't have that authority. But hey, she was smiling, so...worth it. Not like he expected Louis to complain, anyway. He was way too fascinated by this girl.

Maeka on the other hand, was ecstatic. Somehow, her desperate plea had gotten through to him, and he had deigned it worthy of being listened to. 'They ARE gracious...' she thought as her heart warmed. Her hut was overtaken by snow and bore many signs of ruin, but she felt an odd attachment to it- her last refuge before she had been brought here, blessed by these gods. Forced out she might've been, but what was hers was hers.

At that thought, Maeka frowned just a bit. She idly wondered how her old Clan was doing; as cold as it was, surely they were struggling right now? The cold seasons were usually rather rough, for her especially. In her weaker moments she had been given a great number of fire heated broths and a great number of woven blankets to stave off the bitter cold from her pathetic body. But that was then. As of now, she wondered if she might be able to last in such weather. She certainly didn't need to concern herself here, of course; not when the gods could control the weather at will. It was always comfortable, always as though it were the growing season. Imagine that! An eternal growing season, but without the need to grow anything! Maeka let herself have a self-satisfied laugh at that.

A voice suddenly sounded out out of nowhere; "Rhadrick, ~~~~~~~help~~~~?" She recognized that voice, however. Luhiss. That was just another one of the gods' amazing skills - the ability to speak over long distances without being physically present. Imagine how much easier her life would have been if she were able to speak to whoever she wished without having to enflame her lungs as a child! As Rhadrick got up to respond to his fellow god's hail, she continued to follow him. Him, as well as the others in the days to come.

"She looks like she's starting to get a little bit antsy," Louis noted, as he watched security film from what had been deemed her room for now. She's been pacing for a while, something that was unusual for her. What's more, they could hear her muttering to herself in her language from time to time. While initially there were concerns that she might be finally looking for a way out, they found no footage of her even so much as attempting an escape. Instead, she seemed content to simply pantomime things that they couldn't begin to guess at. When she started to yell at herself, Louis finally gave in and call the entire crew over to see what everyone made of it. 'Getting a little bit antsy' was an understatement.

"Classic case o' cabin fever," one of the engineers, Nathan, remarked. He hadn't seen much of the strange alien until recently, had been busy putting the final touches on the Digger that would be soon sent out to the first dig site. He was dedicated to his craft, so he'd spent much of his time since landing obsessing over every last little detail, making sure nothing would come apart or that anything wasn't up to standard. While he'd heard about their new guest, he deemed it up to the bridge team to handle it while he did his own job. But now, the barrel chested man was just about finished, him and his workmates. "Seems like she needs to get out a little bit, feel the fresh air back on her face again."

"I dunno," Louis fretted. "She might not take to that well. She's been rather friendly to all of us lately." Him especially. He wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he found her quite endearing, and enjoyed how she seem to constantly want to be around him. She would try to speak to him on occasion, and even though he couldn't tell a word of what she said, he would occasionally try to reply back. He doubted they ever had any actual conversations, but he liked to pretend that they did. Especially when she sat in his lap; although he had kind of been the harbinger of that. He'd simply been taking a nap in the break room one day, and she had come in being watched by Basil. According to the jovial man, Maeka had bounded straight for him, and seemed to hesitate with touching. Apparently he'd reached out in his sleep and grabbed her close.

She hadn't complained at all, allegedly. The next time she'd seen him in the same room, sitting down, she'd gingerly approached him, and when he didn't disapprove, sat on his lap of her own volition. Only for a second, however; his surprise guaranteed that it didn't last long.

Still, he hadn't complained, either. Now it was a relatively common thing for if Louis was sitting somewhere, she would approach, tilt her head as though asking permission, at his nod, she'd climb up and take her place on his lap. She said primly and upright, not sprawled over him like a traditional house cat, and any time he needed to move, she would jump off immediately. He always missed her when she did; she was surprisingly warm for her size, and rather soft. He'd had to resist petting her, but just the feel of her on his legs was quite enticing...

Nathan chuckled, bringing him from his musings. "Relax, Cap, we kind of need to see how she'd do in the winter weather anyway. She was pretty much dead when we first found her; we need to see if she can hold up any better now that we've repaired 'er engine." Nathan had a bad habit of kind of viewing everything from an engineering and mechanics angle.

"Maybe we could give her something to do around here," Nancy offered. "She seems smart enough to be able to get the gist of things if we show her with actions and not just words. Anything a little cat person might be able to handle around these parts?"

"Well..." Nathan hummed. "I might have a couple of things she could do. Might could kill two birds with one stone."

And such was how Maeka found herself in a very large room, with a strange device. For a while, she was rather confused. It looks to be a strange thing of stranger materials, harder than the hardest stone and made with many parts that combine to form one giant thing. It resembled one of the Great Beasts; Muten-Ja, the Earth Mover, in looks. Much like Muten-Ja, it had a thick, impossible hide, elongated and bulky, and at its sides things that only vaguely resembled the creature's many many legs. These were round, however, and instead of the creature's great pincers at the front, this thing had a strange, hollow horn at the front of it. It seemed to be dead, and she briefly wondered if she was supposed to help carve the thing. Perhaps it was some sort of sacrifice?

She looked up to the large god. He was bigger than most of the others, but his smile was easy and he seemed to take to her with relative indifference. He returned her gaze, and simply jerked his head towards the thing before he started walking. She followed him, fully expecting to have to do something involving the strange corpse, but to her surprise he proceeded to walk past it, and then she saw. Hidden behind the thing's large body were a set of strange looking containers, most of them a bit smaller than her, but each filled with strange pole-like objects. They had a strange, intricate design on one end, that reminded her of the Elders cane, or perhaps one of the talismans used during the yearly Ceremony of the Sun, where everyone danced, sang, and celebrated new births, the renewal of their lands from the attempts of Lu-hin-Ra, and life in general.

She'd never been able to participate. Far too weak to dance, far too sick to sing. Only in the last year had her health waxed enough to even walk around the village without becoming short of breath, even that was only on a good day. The more she thought about it, the more it was a miracle that she managed to survive to see the Elder on that ill-fated day; although now she considered it entirely possible that it was intentional. These gods were powerful, after all.

The big one (she had never learned his name) hefted a pair of boxes, each in one hand. He motioned towards the nearest one to her, and spoke a word, and she knew what she was asked to do. Inwardly, she was both excited and worried. Despite her myriad blessings, she had yet to have a chance to truly test her newly gained strength. True, she could walk without being so tired now, but could she really lift something like this? It look really heavy...

...no. She said she would serve them in any way she could, and if this was how they wanted her to serve, she would lift. Carefully, she gripped the size of the container; fortunately it wasn't so wide as to need her to stretch her arms out a great deal. And she lifted- proceeding to nearly toss the entire thing over her head. She stumbled back a few steps, just barely keeping her balance, and the strange talismans remained in the container. After a brief moment of getting used to her cargo, she found that she could have laughed. Of course her given strength would be enough. Of COURSE!

The god did laugh, and she afforded herself a small blush. That was quickly wiped away as he moved on, and she followed behind one of her gods with a smile on her face and a spring in her step.

They marched through the domain quickly for some time, stopping only briefly for him to talk to goddess Nansee, and she found herself in front of a strange entryway that she'd only seen once or twice before. She knew that this was the limits of their totality; outside was the world that she knew. Through the Great Vision, once or twice she had seen one or more of the other gods set foot into her realm, where Kai-lo-Ra and Lu-hin-Ra warred always. She found it clever how they refused to change the weather or make any great changes to the land when outside of their realm. After all, they were strange gods in a strange land. It would not do to gain too much interest from Kai-lo-Ra or Lu-hin-Ra too quickly until they manage to acquire more followers.

Thoughts sparked in her head at that notion. 'Haha, now there's an idea...perhaps that is something I could do for them.'

She was allowed a moment's respite that she actually did not need for once as the giant god in front of her spoke and opened the way. Inside were strange pelts, the ones that she had seen on her savior Luhiss at first. She was unsure of why they wore them, although perhaps it was to hide from Lu-hin-Ra's hungry gaze, considering the similar colors. Still, she did not question, only followed through the Gateway after his pelt was donned. She was not surprised that she could not get one herself. She very clearly wasn't worthy yet. Perhaps some day, but for now...she had been granted many blessings. She was certain she could at least survive the cold for now. Right?

The airlock opened, and Nathan was immediately hit in the face with a blast of frigid air. He couldn't help but smile. "Ah, bracin'!" Turning to the alien onside him, he couldn't help but grin. The little thing seem so eager, even in the face of the cold weather, and if there was anything he appreciated, it was an eager worker. Cathy and Michael were putting the finishing touches on the last of some extra survey drones, and in a couple of days his prized project, the Digger, would finally be tested proper. He couldn't wait! But for now, he had guide lights to put down. The plan was to build a semi sustainable base here for a fairly long term, and it wouldn't be good if someone had to head out during night time and couldn't find their way back. The winter weather had stifled any realistic chance of the guide lights being any kind of useful for the longest, but now that winter was slowly starting to fade away on this rock, he could get down to business-

His thoughts were interrupted by that strange wheedling laugh from the alien at his side. What she was so jazzed about, he wasn't sure - maybe she was feeling better about the cold now. Maybe she was just happy it was going away; he had her that she had gotten it rough when they found her. He didn't blame her if that was the case. Checking the weather was monotonous, but he was also shocked that just how ruthless it seems to be out there. Exosuits made it a non-issue, but still he could understand when cold was cold. Taking his first steps out, he nodded at his assistant. "Alright, then, follow me and...hup." With a brief grunt, he planted the first light. A quick button press at the base of the light, and it sparked it's bright red light easily. "Fantastic. Y'see that?" He pointed to the light he had planted; she'd been watching with rapt attention. "Alright, now you take that-" here he pointed at one of the lights in her box, "- and you go right over there and do the same thing." He pointed at an area not too far from him, and hoped she got the gist of it.

It took a bit of repointing, but she did manage to stick one in the ground well enough, and once she managed that...well, it was a button. Still, she cheered loudly when it successfully lit up. He just inwardly shrugged. As long as she got it.

As she followed her god's direction, Maeka was ecstatic. The cold wasn't NEARLY as wicked as before- perhaps the cold season was ending soon? That didn't explain why she felt quite so warm, however. Perhaps something to do with her god's proximity? Or perhaps it was the talismans. She wasn't sure what these talismans were for, but the fact that she had been allowed to successfully plant and activate them had to be a sign of great faith in her! There seemed to be an area in these talismans that allowed her to deform them ever-so-slightly, but whatever that did seemed to summon an ethereal light within, no less! Perhaps they were some sort of ritual. Or perhaps they were marking future territory. Were they expanding? That would be interesting. 'Well, whatever they desire, I'll do my best to fulfill, and let their mark be known as wide as they desire!' she decreed inwardly. And so she went about her given duty with a smile on her face and joy in her heart.

She allowed herself to get lost in the simple duty, and before she knew it, she was out of talismans, and was being called back. She quickly ran back to him; the cold was starting to affect her again, but constant movement had kept her warm enough. To her delight, she saw him regarding her with a big smile, and she knew that she had done well. They returned back into the gods domain, and she was rewarded with a great meal, and the approval of the gods that feasted with her. Luhiss in particular seemed quite pleased, and as they locked eyes and she smiled at him, and he had her, she felt a lightness in her chest that she for once did not find at all worrisome, and in fact desired more of.

She was blissfully unaware that he was enduring a similar state, and as Maeka ate, Captain Louis couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to hold her close. Part of him was disgusted at himself, but...but a fairly large sized part simply wanted it to happen. She was sapient, she was intelligent. Maybe…

Gah, he’d think about it later. Their reserves were still well and good, but he and Nancy had agreed to go on a hunting expedition once the snow thawed. Maybe...maybe she could come with him! After all, she seemed to like him, and she knew the area better than anyone else, obviously…yeah!

The more he let the idea stew, the more he liked it. Maybe he could figure himself out a bit more then. Until that, however, he’d just enjoy her smile.