You Don't Belong Here

Chapter Thirty Nine

"Is it normal for their kind to attack us?"

"In the past, yes. Since my chiva, they have not antagonized me as they did." Dhadtoudi looked to the smaller female who was absentmindedly chewing her bottom lip as she often did. "It would seem that your arrival has reignited their anger." Brielle inhaled deeply and twisted the black fur pelt in her fingers as she sat in the floor of the gathering area with Dhadtoudi sitting opposite of her. "Something else bothers you."

The question was spoken more as a statement and Brielle nodded once. "I can't help but think I should go back." A long pause lingered in the air between them, Dhadtoudi's grey eyes never leaving the former scientist.

"That is what you desire?"

Another bout of silence before Brielle finally met Dhadtoudi's intense gaze. "I've dreamed of this since I was a kid. I always wanted to go to space...and when I couldn't do that, I decided I wanted to focus my skills in the study of space and extraterrestrial lifeforms. But now that I'm here, I feel like all I do is cause trouble for you all, or get on your nerves."

"Do you know why you cause problems?" Brielle looked at her as if to say 'you're supposed to disagree with that part'. "It is because you do not belong on this planet." Again Brielle's expression fell but Dhadtoudi continued. "You do not belong among their people. And you do not belong here." Dhadtoudi pushed herself to her feet now. "You do not belong just as I do not." She stepped to the dwelling entrance now. "Do you know the only difference between us?"

"The fact that you were raised here?"

"No. It is that I did not care about where I belong. It did not matter that I was not accepted. The difference is that I made them realize and accept that I would not surrender...that I would not run from them. I fought as if I were one of them, and I did not stop until they were forced to recognize me as one of the clan." She looked back to the smaller female. "Come. You will familiarize yourself with our culture. You will develop a deep-rooted...personal connection with our people."
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Brielle sat up in bed, staring into the darkness for several moments before standing and moving to activate the control panel for the door. She made her way to the would-be kitchen and retrieved the bottle of fruity alcohol from its usual place in the wall.

"Do you often wake in the night, Brielle Ronaldi?" She jumped at the sound of O'kaor's voice and quickly turned to search the darkened gathering area. Even with her eyes adjusting in the darkness she could see nothing, and the rumbling undertone of his voice was bone chilling.

"Do you usually stay here overnight?"

"Zaiyu requested T'ahrou and Dhadtoudi's assistance in a search for a team of Young Bloods. I was asked to stay here until they return." Brielle hummed thoughtfully as she took a sip straight from the metal container and O'kaor stepped to the side of the counter opposite of the female. "You have not answered my question."

Brielle pursed her lips and rolled her eyes in the darkness. "Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night. It's normal."

"Normal for you, or normal for pyode-amedha?"

"Both." O'kaor said nothing for a moment and Dhadtoudi carefully placed the container of c'ntlip back in its rightful place. "Is it normal for you or your people to sit in the dark for hours on end?"

"Both." He responded in kind to her own question, and stepped closer to the female. She could feel the heat radiating from his body, as well as hear his massive heart beating in his chest. "Tell me, Brielle Ronaldi..." his voice was deep and layered with intensity, "why did you choose to come to our planet?"

"Because my choice was to either come here or be blown up by your mega-bomb." A strange sound that Brielle had come to recognize as a giggle of sorts erupted from the massive creature in the shadows of the night, and the woman grinned in response. "I guess you could say I wanted to survive.

The laughter died down and Brielle could hear the ever-quiet footfalls of O'kaor moving across the room and increased the distance between them. "What do you think will happen if you were to go back?"

Brielle pursed her lips in frustration when she realized Dhadtoudi had blabbed to the young warrior. I guess the saying 'snitches get stitches' doesn't exist here. "What's your point, Ghost?"

"Your kind made an attempt on your life before you left that planet. What do you believe they will do once they find out you have returned from the stars? You will live as I did in your lab...though I doubt they will be as accommodating." Brielle thought on his words and cringed as an overhead light was activated. Once her eyes adjusted to the offending brightness, Brielle looked across the room to notice O'kaor sitting on the would-be sofa and wearing nothing but a leather loin cloth. "You must decide where you wish to live out the rest of your days. If you move through life dwelling in regrets, you can never truly live."