The Intergalatical Zoo of Alien Life.

[LandiKirk]

Gaia know pleasure of making baby now,"

Gaia smiled at him. She could still feel her body quaking from the intensity they shared. Her fingers touched his face as desire to please him filled those caramel colored eyes of hers.

"Hunter pleasure Gaia now and will pleasure her more in times to come, yes?"

Gaia nodded mostly because it gave her such wonderful feelings and it made Hunter smile. She looked over his body and noticed his sheen and the way his chest swelled from this pleasuring of one another.

Gaia happy with Hunter?"

"Hau Ga I ah. izz var ee. ha pee Hon tterr"[/b]

"Gaia sleep now."

Gaia gave a soft yawn and moved close to Hunter.

When morning came the radio waves were filled with news of the death of the Newest Lizard of the Carnivorous species. However there were keepers out looking for a pair of naked humans. It was puzzling that there were no tips on seeing the pair and none of the cameras had them onscreen.

Several reports later came in about staff being attacked by the male but no one else had any updates and without a sighting the keepers were searching blindly. The Keepers never thought the humans would try to go home. So they underestimated Human intelligence.

 

[TiredFingers]

The fire was once again roaring when Gaia awoke. The little cave was still dark, but beyond it the gentle slope and the vast countryside beyond it were already illuminated by the morning sun. A fish with a stick running through its mouth and out its anus was roasting in the gently wafting smoke, and the roots, bulbs, and shrooms Gaia had gathered near the stream the day before were laying upon the pits rocks, cooking as well.

Hunter heard movement and turned from where he sat to the left of the cave's entrance. He smiled to Gaia, told her to eat, and then explained they needed to get going soon.

"They are looking for us," he said with a serious tone. "Want to put us back in cage."

He pointed off to the south, to the sky. A flying machine seemed to be hovering in place over the ground, higher than the birds flew but not as tall as the Matriarchs; in reality, the multi-camera, multi-detection device drone -- about the diameter of Hunter's height -- was simply moving so slowly that it only appeared to be stationary. Hunter didn't know what it was, of course; the Yuza had never flown drones over his village for fear of frightening the less intelligent species. But Hunter had seen one high over his enclosure the first day he'd been put on display as it broadcasted an aerial image of the zoo's newest creature.

They ate their food, smothered the fire, wrapped their feet again with the makeshift moccasins, and returned to the narrow, mostly wide animal trail that led in the supposed direction of Hunter's village. Their trek became easier at times, harder at others. At one point they came across two paths that ran almost perfectly parallel to one another, winding through the thickening forest. Hunter had never seen a ground vehicle with tires before; the vehicles they'd seen back at the zoo parking lot had hovered over the ground as if magical.

They were about to follow this path when a noise in the sky attracted Hunter's attention. He pulled Gaia back just in time to avoid the overflying drone. He thought they'd avoided it, and -- with respect to its visual cameras -- they had in a sense. But the skyborne vehicle's infrared had detected them, and the drone swung around and came back to look for them with a second path.

"Follow!" he commanded Gaia as the aircraft passed over again. "Run fast."

He led her quickly across the road into the woods opposite it, and for almost an hour they ran or walked fast without a break. Hunter repeatedly heard the drone but never again saw it. And he only let them stop for a rest when he'd heard it no more for quite a long time. He led Gaia into a thicket at a creek, where they hid inside the massive, exposed roots of a long ago fallen tree. He gestured for her to pull out the food she'd carried in her coveralls pockets, and they tried to catch their breath and fill up on badly needed water.

"Hunter will not let Gaia go to cage again," he said. "Hunter will die to stop."

He didn't use the word Yuza or keepers to describe those chasing them, of course. He didn't know the word keeper. Hell, he didn't even understand the concept of keeping, as his village had never caged, let alone domesticated, any animals from their little patch of the rainforest.

Even though he'd been taught that the planet -- his planet -- had been called Yuza, he'd never known that there was an indigenous, intelligent species living here until he'd been captured and caged. For all Hunter knew, the Yuza were simply another intelligent species indigenous to this world. It would never have occurred to him that the Yuza had come from another world, which -- of course -- his people had!

"Rest," he said as he laid back into a relatively soft incline of packed mud supported by the downed trees roots. He held out one arm to Gaia, indicating that she was welcome to lay with him. Not understanding that the drones could detect their heat or a fire's heat, he told her, "We wait until dark to build a fire until the flying thing can't see us."

 

[LandiKirk]

Gaia woke to the aroma of cooking food. This was another one of Hunter's surprises and she didn't mind that he had done this chore. By Hunter's insistence she ate the fish and some of the cooked foods. The rest she stuffed in the little pouches on her sides.

"They are looking for us," he said with a serious tone. "Want to put us back in cage."

Gaia didn't understand everything he said but his tone told her that it was something to avoid. Then he pointed to a bright thing in the sky. Gaia tilted her head to see it better but it wasn't changing shape like a winged lizard or three legged fishing bird

Once again they traveled with the woods and took paths that had signs of animals. When they found the odd double row path it winded among the trees but was flat terrain. Gaia was a out to walk on the right side when Hunter grabbed her arm and pulled her back under the trees.


They were about to follow this path when a noise in the sky attracted Hunter's attention. He pulled Gaia back just in time to avoid the overflying drone. He thought they'd avoided it, and -- with respect to its visual cameras -- they had in a sense. But the skyborne vehicle's infrared had detected them, and the drone swung around and came back to look for them with a second path.

"Follow!"

Gaia turned and started to follow behind Hunter but the strange thing in the sky followed them too.

"Run fast."

Gaia bounced like a deer scared by a bear and began running. Sometimes behind Hunter and a couple of times was just ahead by a few feet. They seemed to be heading deeper into the woods and before long Gaia was panting from running for do long without small breaks.

When they stopped Hunter motioned for food so she emptied her side pouches. The place he found was a good hiding place and they even noticed a furry digger hole.

"Hunter will not let Gaia go to cage again," he said. "Hunter will die to stop."

Again Hunter made a vow of protecting and Gaia nodded then kissed Hunter's face. "Ga I ah key eepps Hon tterr ssfa."

"Rest,"

"We wait until dark to build a fire until the flying thing cant see us"

Gaia laid her head on Hunter's arm until she saw some whiskers pop up near Hunter's feet. She moved back and moved her hand around on the ground searching for a rock to bash the little beast. Gaia knew its fur would be better for Hunter to use then this ripped pantleg fur.

Hunter saw it from the corner of his eye and turned over so quickly that it didnt have a chance of getting away. Gaia wanted to take it and hit it with a rock but Hunter just twisted its head and a *crackle snap* sound the animals head dropped to the side.

Gaia had never seen anyone kill an animal that way and was amazed by Hunter's dexterity. Now she took the animal from him and using a jagged stone began cutting away the fur from the muscles and meat. She would make Hunter better moccasins.

Noises kept them.both on edge and ever watchful. Then Hunter went for some dry grass to make the fire. He came back just as Gaia had finished with the lacing of her own hair as thread.

Gaia stood up to give the new moccasins to him but he pushed her down low and waited. More noises was coming closer so Hunter urged her to hurry and they started to run more towards the east. Another hour had passed before they had to stop. They had come to a large crevasse in the ground and it was too large to jump. Now they were faced with going down and thru or backtracking to go around and risk being caught

 

[TiredFingers]

Hunter was becoming more and more impressed with Gaia all the time. In the time that he'd been both searching for fire materials and scouting the area around them, she'd turn the hide of the animal he'd killed into foot coverings called...

"Moccasins...?" he asked again, trying to repeat the word she'd used. She repeated it as well, and after Hunter had tried the word a couple more times, he told her with a wide smile, "Hunter thanks Gaia. He likes them very much."

Hunter tried to get Gaia to wear the foot coverings instead, but she refused. He promised to kill a larger animal so that she could make the both of them foot coverings and real clothes. He'd noticed how sometimes she grimaced and tugged in discomfort at the Yuza keeper coveralls. (They were made of man-made materials that were chafing her skin.)

Hunter removed the foot coverings he'd made her out of his own keeper clothes, then used both sets of wraps to better protect her feet. Back in his village, he had never wore coverings on his feet. But here, he'd needed them. The ground here was far more rocky than in the rainforest, and the evergreen trees and odd shrubs produced far harsher leaves, needles, and bark debris than Hunter had ever experienced beneath his normally bare feet. He asked Gaia if this terrain was similar to hers in her own village, but she either didn't comprehend his inquiries or he didn't understand her answers; that part of the conversation ended with him no more informed than before he'd asked.

Hunter donned the moccasins and helped Gaia rewrap her feet, and he did so in the nick of time: the drone began buzzing over their head again, its sensors having picked up what it interpreted as possibly being two large animals. The pair of Humans were on the move again, staying to the thicker woods; Hunter still believed that the eye in the sky could only follow them if it could get an unobstructed view of them, and yet it stuck right with them for more than an hour.

"Stop!" Hunter suddenly called out as they burst out of the trees to find the ground simply disappear. He grasped Gaia and held her tight, then moved her back into the forest. "Land ends!"

Hunter peered out through the trees to see a wide crevasse; from two of his heights away, he was unable to see the bottom. He'd never seen anything like this before. His village was set in a rolling land of thick rainforest with foothills and then mountains surrounding it on three sides while the river ran past it on the fourth. He'd never seen a crack in the ground like this because his homeland was so low to Yuza III's sea level. He couldn't know that here they were at an altitude of hundreds of meters.

He looked and listened for the drone, saw and heard nothing for the first time in hours, then crept out to look down into the chasm. It was at least 5 times as wide as he could jump and twice that deep. The bottom at this particular location was just wide enough for them to walk if they chose to go down. Hunter didn't want to go down there; the wall was steep but had sufficient hand holds to allow them to descend, but he simply didn't know what was awaiting them down there.

Then, there was the buzz of the drone again in the distance. Hunter looked around the forest edge, found and broke a low lying limb from a tree, and snapped off its tip to form a sharp point. He told her spear, not knowing if she knew the word, then explained what they were doing. And down into the crevasse they went. The going was actually pretty easy, and in less than a minute they were on the bottom. The chasm ran fairly straight in either direction for more than fifty meters before turns hid what was beyond that. Hunter naturally picked the direction he believed would head them to his village.

The going was hard. The bottom of the crevasse had filled with rain swept sediment over years and decades, making for an easy to walk trail in many places. But that walk was interrupted repeatedly by massive rocks that had broken from the wall to partially block the trail or even trees that had taken root here and grown for decades, forcing Hunter and Gaia to climb up one side and down the other to get passed.

Occasionally, reptiles and small mammals Hunter had never or only rarely seen before scurried about or, in a couple of instances, threatened them. He killed one each of three different types; he and Gaia carried them by their tails with the intention of using them for food and other purposes once they found a place to stay the night.

Fortunately, they found it just as the nearing night sent a consistent wind of cold down the chasm's length. It was a cave with a small opening again, though this time it went much farther back into the rock. Hunter cut open the fattier mammal carcass and used some of its fat to make a torch with a piece of dead wood. It wouldn't last long, but it was enough to allow him to investigate the potentially dangerous cave before bringing his mate and bearer of his future children.

What he found amazed him. He simply stood there looking at it for the longest time before moving it about for a better view. Searching the cave more thoroughly, Hunter found dry wood and started a fire. Once it was going, he called Gaia inside. When she arrived, he held up the skull he'd found amongst a full skeleton.

"It is like us," he said, turning it so she could see what remained of the decades old head. "It is not them."

He held the near dead torch out to reveal yet two more skulls and an assortment of bones. "They died here, together. They were not eaten by beasts. They were family."

Hunter had arrived at that conclusion by the way the bones had been arranged. He explained that he thought they'd been laying with one another when they'd died of whatever cause had taken them. He pointed to the already constructed pit in which he'd made his fire, as well as to the pile of wood against one wall. There were several spears made of heavy saplings; there was a bow and arrow, though the string for it had long since snapped, slowly disintegrating or being eaten by insects. Some of the bones seemed to have been dressed; again, the furs on the body had fallen apart and begun returning to the planet as dead things did.

"How many other of us are there?" Hunter asked with true disbelief. Before meeting Gaia, he'd never imagined that there were any others like him except for those in his village. Now, he'd come across a third group of his kind, albeit less than a handful of them. He gestured Gaia to sit by him near the fire, and as he began to deal with his kills, he asked, "Tell me about Gaia's village."

Despite their time together, Hunter didn't really know much about his new mate's people. He'd told her all about his village in the rainforest on several occasions. But it seemed as though every time they'd begun talking about her people, they'd been interrupted: keepers, creatures invading their enclosure, the flight from the zoo, the drone, and of course, Hunter's more important desire of spending time deep inside Gaia's garden.

 

[LandiKirk]

"Hunter thanks Gaia. He likes them very much."

Gaia smiled at Hunter and went about cleaning up the area so they could move on. She hoped to find something better to make into wearable skins but it takes time and they didnt stay in one given place due to the dot in the sky.

Still she didnt argue with him about double wrapping her feet. The terain was vicious on her already sore feet, but she didnt complain or make more stops then truly needed.

Gaia knew how badly the stones could cut the bare foot from stories in her tribe. The Grandfather that gave her, her name spoke of the great mountains that could slay men. It would hide in the spirit land and when people reached the edge the land would lift with the breeze and people would die impaled on stones. It was a scary story and one that kept children from wandering into the mountains beyond the village.

"Stop!"

Gaia was grateful Hunter saw the threat. And his explanation gave wisdom to the teachings her grandfather left with the tribe . "Land ends!"

The gap gave them a choice , use me or not. It was almost a date to see where their bravery ran, beneficial or foolhardy. So down into the crevasse they went

It was slow traveling since the path was curvy or uneven. Gaia paid close attention to the way Hunter put his hands as they descended.

It was a long trail and the growth and passing of time altered the way and just as the sun began sinking behind the horizon Hunter found a safe place.

Gaia was told to wait as Hunter wanted to make sure it was a good place. She watched as he made a torch and marveled at how easy it was to make.

When she heard him call to her , she went inside and saw the bone head.

"It is like us,"

Now she gave a silent moment of respect to the bones of the elders even though she didn't think it was one of her elders.

"It is not them." Gaia knew he meant the keepers from their enclosure days.

"They died here, together. They were not eaten by beasts. They were family."

This wasn't like her people to lay the dead so close to another. What could have happened to them? Gaia felt bad for the bones to not have a proper resting place but then again maybe it was the way their people gave respect to the dead. It would be an unanswered question forever.

"How many other of us are there?"

Gaia shook her head. She couldn't remember any stories of other tribes being this far from hers.

"Tell me about Gaia's village."

Gaia nods at his request and begins to draw in the dirt. She starts with the circle and then makes triangles around the circle indicating the mountains. Inside the circle she makes squares. She points to them and says "how gan" meaning their home.

"Ga I ah pee pol kald ta all wonzz.. Ga i ah fa ma lee. " Now she drew figures of varying size. The first "fadder Wynn" the next with a round belly "ma derr Snow." Three more but not as big as the first two. "Bru derzz I sss and kalood. Ssesstterr fed derr" then she made four more symbols " smm all wonzz. Ga I ah, breeda, sa uhn, see dar, and ra enn ezz cra lerr." Then she pointed at other squares and gave names to the eldest of each square. There was 14 families in her tribe. Not far from the squares were small lumps where the elders lived and the one for the elderly that was ill and needed care. Then she made another odd shape and said "he lar " the tribes medicine man or as she knew woman. The she drew a place near the north side mountains where those that passed were buried.

Gaia told him about when her sister Breeda was born and the ground shook taking away their Uncle. She drew picture of animals they kept for fur, milk, eggs, and carriers. Then there was a long oval shape that she called food keeper. A place her people stored foods to last when crops dont grow and rains dont come.

She talked about the hunting parties her Father and brothers would go on for meat and how they found the evil lizards that would eat the people.

It was getting late and Gaia yawned feeling tired. She took off the coveralls and laid down on them. It wasn't as nice as furs or straw but it kept the dirt from her hair. The fire gave her bare skin a healthy glow of red and a tempting one as well.

Hunter gave her several touches and she turned to face him with questioning eyes. Now she notices his manroot trembling with hunger. Gaia didnt turn away but touched his chest. "Honn tterr neez pl jurezz?"

 

[TiredFingers]

Hunter found himself amazed with Gaia's description of her community. It seemed the only thing they had in common with his own village was that they were both Human peoples. They lived in far more sturdier, more complex, and more complete homes compared to the relatively open lean-to huts of the rainforest.

They domesticated animals for their meat, eggs, and hides, about which Hunter asked many questions. He didn't know the word domestication, of course, and as the two of them talked he simply called it caging, as the pair of them had been by the Yuza. Regardless of what it was called, the concept would leave Hunter contemplating the creatures from his land. Which of the meat or egg birds might be caged for a more consistent food supply? He couldn't imagine any of the jungle beasts becoming beasts of burden. But there were birds, reptiles, and mammals that alerted the jungle when dangers approached; they could be used for warning his people as was a canine-like animal now part of the lives of Gaia's people. How many of his people could have been saved from the Slither Blue if they'd had caged Green Howlers in the branches surrounding the huts?

Hunter's mate talked about the vast array of possessions they owned. Her region was much colder than their own, so they wore more and very interesting body coverings. With coverings came pockets and belts, and with them came the ability to carry and keep tools and valuables. Hunter couldn't even imagine how many times he'd asked Gaia What is that? Explain, or What is it for? What does it do?

And she did her best to explain a thing called snow. Hunter simply didn't understand the concept that rain could freeze into flakes so light that they could float about in a soft breeze. His rainforest home experienced fog-like mists, of course, but those were a result of humidity in a warm setting, not a freezing or near-freezing one.

"Hunter wants to see Gaia's home one day," he told her with a serious tone. He even contemplated asking her if they should change their direction. Her region sounded to incredible, and Hunter wanted to experience it first hand. But Gaia lived on the other side of the Yuza city where they'd been caged like animals, and Hunter had no interest in risking being captured and returned to the zoo.

The most significant difference in their peoples, though, were the family unit. Back at his jungle home, males and females didn't bond as couples. The males lived in small huts with one another; Hunter had four male hut-mates, including one younger one who'd only just recently reached an age in the double digits and, therefore, had left his mother's home to live with the hunters.

The females of his village lived in larger huts with their extended families: children, mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers, and any elderly males who were receiving maternal care pending their eventual death. Sometimes a family hut might become too crowded and one adult female would take her brood with her to a newly built hut.

And, of course, the mating ritual was entirely different between the two peoples. Gaia spoke of how one male and one female lived together producing multiple children with one another but not with multiple others as was the method in the rainforest. He asked about that, and came to realize there were two significant reasons for the difference: Gaia's people had begun with far more potential breeders than the 16 Hunter's people had, thus they'd begun their life on Yuza with a wider diversity; and her people hadn't suffered the tragic mortality rate Hunter's people had faced, meaning that their females hadn't had to birth an average of 8 children over their fertile years simply to keep the village's growth consistent.

Hunter wanted to tell Gaia about the Breeding Wheel process in his community. But he didn't. He already knew that Gaia thought she was going to his mate and his only mate; she already believed that she was going to give him strong boys and fertile girls and that no other breeder would have that privilege. Hunter knew he would have to tell her this once they reach his village, if the reached his village. But for now, he kept it to himself.

The day came to an end, Gaia stripped out of the now-ragged keepers suit and laid naked in what was sufficing as a bed for them tonight. Hunter's manroot hardened to its full length in mere seconds; because of his reclining position, half of his length peeked out from within the small hide clothes that covered little more than his groin and most of his ass.

Gaia noticed Hunter's erection and asked, "Honn tterr neez pl jurezz?"

It didn't take any more of an invitation than that. He pulled loosed the knot holding his minimal clothing to him, moved into position between Gaia's now parted thighs and raised knees, and with a look ma, no hands! approach, found the hole between her wet labia and began working his way inside her. He kissed her softly, then passionately as he broke through her tight opening and worked his shaft back and forth to wet it for total entry.

They were very quickly fucking hard. The pain in Gaia's expression was going away quicker with each baby making session; her moans, groans, and cries of pleasure were becoming more obvious as well. Hunter was very pleased that his mate enjoyed having him inside her as much as he enjoyed being inside her. He took extra time and care to try to enhance her pleasure; with his arms under her shoulders, he took hold of her hair, titled her head back, and kissed at her neck, which seemed to cause her to writhe more, and he shifted his entry into her -- as well as his speed, depth, and force -- when he found something that tended to turn her moans into groans or her cries into screams.

After he exploded within her, Hunter paused to enjoy the euphoric pleasure for only a moment before once again beginning his pummeling of Gaia's womanhood. He wanted her to enjoy the same ecstasy she caused him. Once she'd peaked that first time, Hunter rolled to his back as he had the night before, bringing her with him. He grasped Gaia's hips and urged her to and fro as he slammed deep into her again.

When they finished, Hunter held Gaia close to him until the fire no longer warmed them. Her rolled her to her back, fed the fire to a roaring stage, returned to Gaia, and held her with his front to her back, facing the flames. He murmured to her, nearly asleep, "Hunter very happy with Gaia."

 

[LandiKirk]

"Hunter wants to see Gaia's home one day,"

Gaia wondered how he would react to the tests her father and brothers would put him through to prove himself worthy of the chieftain's daughter. A fact she hadn't revealed since it never came up unless it was a male that sought one of his daughters as their wife and mother to the small ones from their seed.

Gaia was glad that Hunter liked to.make a small one in her body. Gaia had wanted small ones of her own ever since Breeda was born. Hunter did answer one of her deepest questions. How does a small one get in mother's belly.

Hunter was strong so it made sense that his lovemaking was strong. His desire to be deep within Gaia's garden confirmed his strong son was planted well and watered by more fire.

Gaia felt light as a feather when Hunter gave his fire. She smiled and laid to his chest. Just before she went completely to sleep she heard Hunter say. "Hunter very happy with Gaia."

It was dawn and Gaia had went to find more food.to go with the fish that Hunter had caught. She did find greens that was good to eat but nothing else.

Hunter did some scouting to find the best path. Gaia gathered some things from the cave to use as she was familiar with the bow and arrow.

 

[TiredFingers]

Hunter returned from scouting with a dead rodent the size of a marmot found on Earth. Gaia was obviously thrilled, even more so when he told her there was a den of them a short walk away. He left slaughtering the animal to her as she seemed to know more about how to fully use furry mammalian species than did he. Ground dwelling mammals were only a small percentage of Hunter's prey back in the jungle; reptiles, birds, flying mammals -- similar to Earth's bats but with feathers and without fur -- and fish constituted most of his kills. There were boar, of course, and a small deer-like creature barely larger than an Earth Greyhound, but rodents -- particularly ones that weighed out at 10 pounds or more before slaughter -- were an unknown yet wondrous discovery to Hunter.

"Gaia makes herself clothes," Hunter said, running his hand over the creature's incredibly short fur. He didn't allow her to even think about using the pelt for him. "Gaia makes for herself or Hunter will throw in fire."

He playfully leaned over her from behind and bit into her neck just hard enough to cause her to squeal with a mix of surprise and joy. He pressed his mouth to hers in a passionate kiss, then just withdrew and headed for the cave's entrance.

"Hunter go kill more furry beasts," he told her as he snatched up the Dead Ones' disrepute. He told her about a deadfall he liked, claiming, "We will eat good here."

He returned to the marmots' den and spent a chokehold of hours constructing the rock traps. The rodents just watched him from the many disabilities entrances to their cliff side home. They only showed modest fear in him; Hunter wondered if they had ever seen one of his type before. Had they seen the Yuza?

Even before he left the area of the den, Hunter had two more marmots for Gaia; one had set off a deadfall just feet from Hunter, and the other he killed when it poked its head out of a hole near him. He took them to his mate, along with some large and small shards of obsidian that he'd broken to give her a variety of very sharp cutting tools.

Hunter let Gaia boss him around for the rest of the day: he cut and sliced meat as she described, scraped fat from hides, fetched water from a spring that came right out of the canyon wall just a short walk away, and more. He checked the traps twice, each time coming back with a kill.

And he made them a bed. Hunter gathered limbs, twigs, and grasses to make them a relatively comforting sleeping area near enough to the fire that they might be able to sleep naked together in case Gaia chose not to use the marmot hides to make a blanket. Hunter was leaving those domestic choices entirely to her.

One of the handful of artifacts they had found in the cave, presumably crafted by the Dead Ones, was a pot made of a material Hunter had never seen before the enclosure: steel. He couldn't know, of course, that the Dead Ones had retained some of the debris from their own ancestors' crashed shuttle. He and Gaia hadn't searched the back of the cave beyond the bones; other wonders awaited them, some of which would be explainable while yet others would simply bake them.

Hunter took the pot three three spring for a fifth or sixth time, put it atop rocks arrange about the fire's coals, and heated it up for a more personal purpose once Gaia was done with the work that had to be done.

"Look what Hunter found," he told her as he held up a soft looking green plant about three size of his head. Smiling, he told her, "Bath weed."

He'd found the plant growing right off the rock in a narrow, constantly shaded crevice in the vertical cliff wall. It survived by both watering the rock on which it was anchored and by filtering minerals and biomass from the trickling trail of water that dropped into its mass. Bath Weed had the consistency of an Earth sponge, again, not that Hunter or Gaia would know that.

Hunter led Gaia to a large, flattish stone that -- the wearer patterns attested -- had been used as a seat by the Dead Ones. He stripped his mate, sat her down, retrieved the pit of warm water, dipped the Bath Weed into it, and proceeded to give Gaia a sponge bath. He took his time, wiping her flesh from forehead and neck to toes and heels. He stood her when it was time to clean her buttocks and garden's gate

 

[LandiKirk]

Gaia looked up and saw Hunter bringing her meat but he had made sure she knew what he wanted her to do with the fur.

"Gaia makes herself clothes,"

Gaia took the animal and felt the softness of this animals fur.
She was about to ask him why but he gave her his final word in the subject.

"Gaia makes for herself or Hunter will throw in fire."

Gaia nodded and began to prepare to cut away the skin and clean the inside for food and tools. Then Hunter surprised her with a nip and a passionate kiss. So Gaia was going to give him the passioned kiss back but he pulled away with a teasing smile. "Honn tterr?"

"Hunter go kill more furry beasts,"

Gaia smiled at him as he went back to hunt more.

"We will eat good here."

Gaia had to admit there was plenty of food here and the cave was sturdy and large. So she began to begin slicing open the beast and exposing its insides to prepare for eating. It took some time as she pulled off the feet from the end of the leg and tear away the fur. When she got the fur off she stretched it over a stone to dry while she finished her work. She cut away all the mest and fat to expose the bones. She studied their shape and density to decide if they could be made into other things. Some of the bones broke easily making them useless for her purposes and others bent easily and felt strange to her fingers. Still she found some of the bones were hallow and she made something new.. a bone singer (flute).

Gaia was tearing out the innards when Hunter returned. She showed him all the mest she had fixed to dry out and make a type of jerky. Gaia looked over these new stones of black. They were very useful in her task of thinning the hide of fat and sinew.

Gaia was grateful that Hunter helped her prepare the other animals. She had him very busy before she could take time to make herself wearing furs. When he brought back more meat Gaia wished she had a wooden smoke hut to make the mest last longer.

Gaia did delight in one of Hunter's projects. "Hon tterr may da ness ta!" That was one thing she honestly looks forward to using. A good place to sleep.

Gaia worked until her fingers ached. Now she placed meat on a stick like Hunter did with fish and let it cook. Gaia wondered if they could find red mud so she could make oil or milk holders. Plus she planned on looking by the steam for makes grass holders for nuts and berries or seeds for planting in the ground.

"Look what Hunter found,"

Gaia looked at what he was showing her. She gave him an odd look as she had never seen it before. "Bath weed."

Gaia was surprised by the water spot and the bath Hunter was going to give her. This was new to her as to clean the body was something mothers did to their children or the elderly that could not walk to the river. In some ways it gave her a bit of homesickness but it passed as he washed her hair. Oddly enough this cleaning was having another effect and she let him know.

"Ga i ah geevzz Hon tterr plezz err na ow?"

 

[TiredFingers]

"No pleasure for Hunter yet," he said in response to Gaia's question about whether or not they were going to breed again. He wasn't quite hard as a rock when she made the inquiry, but no sooner had she made him think of it than his semi-hard manroot did indeed stiffen fully. He dropped the bath weed into the odd metal bucket and told her, "Pleasure for Gaia now."

He told her to go to the bed he'd constructed, then turned to the fire to give it an extra large load of wood from the stack he'd replenished throughout the day in between others chores. Soon, it would be raging, the greater heat compensating for the fact that Gaia was naked and Hunter was nearly so.

He met her at the bed, took his place between her thighs and over her full bosom, and kissed her passionately for a long while as he ground their bodies against one another. Hunter wanted badly to slip inside her again, but more than that he wanted to show his appreciation for how much work she'd done today. His mouth began working its way down her body: neck, breasts, nipples, rib cage, belly; he slipped his arms under the backs of her thighs one after another; and after kissing the meeting areas of her belly and legs, then repeating this on the insides of her thighs, Hunter found Gaia's gate with his lips and tongue and began pleasuring her in a way no one ever had before.

 

[LandiKirk]

"No pleasure for Hunter yet,"

Gaia have him a questioning look. She thought she saw the signs of needing pleasure in his eyes and manroot.

"Pleasure for Gaia now."

Gaia gave Hunter another one of her confused glances. Didnt he find pleasure in the way they made love to one another? Was she doing it wrong? And if it was wrong why does Hunter give her body fire?

"Go to the bed."

Gaia looked over to the "bed" and then walked over to it. She touched it a few times before climbing in. She felt the heat raise
as the fire began to burn higher.

When they kissed Gaia felt her heart soar and hungrily licked his lips. His mouth traversing over her body sent fire thru her body and the more places he kissed and licked she found an amazing array of sensations. There was blinding lights that sparkled around her eyes and she felt like she was floating in the air like a cloud in the sky

But when he brought his mouth to her dripping honeypot. That gave her such an orgasmic spark she cried out with her quaking body yielding wave after wave of nectar. His sweet torture brought out a tiger in her hunger and for the first time she got slightly assertive.

"Hoonn tteerrr gee viz mon rut Naow."

 

[TiredFingers]

Hunter was happily surprised at how quickly his mouth and tongue had completed their service of pleasure on his mate. Gaia gasped and moaned and cried out as he first gently and then more aggressively manipulated her gate watcher. He'd always enjoyed doing this with the Pleasure Mates in his village; he'd learned quickly that they would reciprocate by putting their own mouths on his manroot then or at future times. This, of course, had nothing to do with breeding, and some of the older villagers thought it was a waste of time or even seed. But Hunter had found that when properly motivated, he'd always had more of that when one of the breeders awaiting him needed it.

"Hoonn tteerrr gee viz mon rut Naow."

He was still playfully lapping at Gaia's wet folds when she insisted on him engaging another part of his body on her, or in her. He happily obliged, maneuvering up her body, grasping and positioning his penis to her opening, and pressing forward. Each time he entered her, Hunter was delighted at how tight her garden was. She was young and new to having a man inside her, like many of the rainforest breeders who hadn't yet birthed their first child. Hunter had always marveled at how different many of the many women he'd serviced felt when he entered them, whether to produce a child or produce trembles of ecstasy. No two of them had been the same. And Gaia was unlike any of them.

They went at it as they had in nights past until each of them had found their joy. Hunter rolled to his back, bringing Gaia with him, inviting her to do as she wished to find more pleasure. He urged her to sit atop him at one point and simply studied her as she simultaneously found yet more pleasure and further ensured that he would put a baby in her garden.

He would feed the fire one more time before pulling Gaia to him to find sleep. They were exhausted and sexually spent; the morning arrived with them still holding one another tightly as they had when he'd told her once again, "Gaia makes Hunter very happy."

With the rise of the sun, they went right back to their work. There was so much to do, particularly after Hunter returned from the deadfalls and spear traps with four more kills. They would spend the entire morning and even a bit of the early afternoon gutting and cutting and stretching and more. It would take a couple of days to complete all the work, but Hunter knew that the amazingly skillful Gaia would have full sets of clothes for them both by the time she was done.

"I will kill more for a blanket," he told Gaia after she's told him more hide would be needed for that. Kissing her deeply and rubbing a hand between her thighs, he added, "Clothes are good for Hunter and Gaia, but Hunter would like sleeping naked under blanket with naked Gaia."

As the day wore on, they took some time to deal with the bones of the Dead Ones. Hunter wanted Gaia to tend to them using her people's traditions. He understood some of it, he thought; some of it he didn't, and when he thought it wouldn't offend her beliefs, he asked her about it.

Once the Dead Ones were on their way to the afterlife, Hunter set about doing something he hadn't wanted to do with the bones in the way: exploring the rest of the cave. The two of them had been staying in the forward portion of the hole in the cliff. It was large enough that six or seven adults could have lain down to sleep around the fire and their possessions without jostling for space.

Hunter could have imagined that that was the entirety of the cave. But once the bodies of the Dead Ones were gone, Hunter found a small opening behind a large boulder that led to a deep darkness. The cave's previous occupants had used clay to smooth out the rocks, making it easy for Hunter to crawl through the hole without cutting up his body. With the torch before him, he soon found himself staring in shock at things for which he had no knowledge.

The metal pot they'd used to heat water was only the start of the Earth artifacts that the Dead Ones had retained or collected. Here in this second cave -- which was four times as large as the first -- there were dozens of Earth made items that had been salvaged half a century earlier from one or more of the emergency shuttles.

They were all relatively small, of course, due to the tightness of the inter-cave passage. (The larger items weren't too far away from here, but whether or not Hunter and Gaia would ever happen across them couldn't be known at this time.) There were more sheets of the pot metal; some had been fashioned into even more cooking implements or into tools. There were containers that seemed to have been made as such, rather than fashioned afterward. There were soft materials that Hunter immediately thought could be put together as a softer bed, which was ironic, of course, because they once had been the seat pads for the settlers as they descended toward the surface of Yuza III.

Hunter couldn't imagine an original purpose for most of what he saw, but he could very well imagine what he and Gaia could do with them. With the exception of some small rodents and reptiles that were scurrying about, he saw no danger here and called for Gaia to join him. He smiled at her reaction as he swept the fat-fueled torch around the space, illuminating it.

"Gaia make things from these?" he asked, knowing that her imagination and ingenuity would do them both well with the treasure. He held out a spool of braided string that looked unnatural in its material and said, "Hunter make a bow strong enough to kill biggest furry animal he finds."

 

[LandiKirk]

When Hunter rolled to his back, bringing Gaia with him. She found herself above Hunter's waist. Gaia had learned if she moved her hips like riding the Zabrean that it added to her pleasure and moved Hunter's manroot in deep which she came to delight in the fullness feeling. She had honestly thought this fullness was the small one being placed inside her 'garden'

It was nearly an hour before Gsia could no longer keep moving on his manroot and drifted into a heavenly sleep and rested in Hunter's arms after he stoked the fire.

"Gaia makes Hunter very happy." The reward of love from his lips made Gaia smile in her sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day Hunter was bringing back more meat and furs that kept Gaia busy. The first set of furs had been thoroughly cleaned and ready for stretching before she would cut into shapes and make clothing

Gaia had made needles from some of the tiny bones. After drying the pieces of membranes Gaia crafted threads to piece the furs to be sewn into bigger pieces. By mid day Gaia was making a type of miniskirt loincloth for herself and hoped it would please Hunter more then her need for clothing. She would make her top probably after their evening meal. Gaia also wanted to make Hunter a breech cloth which added protection for his manroot and 'seed holders'

Taking a break from sewing Gaia made a mid day thick soup with the roots, and greens she found and the meat from the lizards they had killed so far. Gaia found this meal was filling and was able to go back to her work. She even found time to make Hunter something he might be proud of having but she hid it within her stack of furs that needed further cleaning of fat and tendons.

Gaia had saved certain bones and teeth from each of Hunter's kills to make him a breastplate and tooth necklace. These would be symbols of Hunter's providing food and protecting his new tribe.

"I will kill more for a blanket,"

Gaia told him. "Honn tterr neez ma ore fa errz"

"Clothes are good for Hunter and Gaia, but Hunter would like sleeping naked under blanket with naked Gaia."

Gaia laughed and kissed Hunter back, moving her legs apart so Hunter could plant more seed if he wanted. It didnt take long for her body to dampen and weep upon Hunter's hand.

It was later that Hunter asked her to help the Bones of the people here to be given a burial like her tribe does for their passed on. Gaia worked silently and reverently on each set until she had made small wooden scaffolds. Gaia said prayers that the Great Spirit accept them into the Spirit World. She also asked Grandfather to help plant a son in her belly for Hunter's many fires she had received.

Gsia noticed that Hunter was exploring more of their home. She liked this as it meant he wouldn't make her waters dribble and make her sleep long hours when she needed to finish those furs and work on Hunter's surprises.

" Gaia Come here."

Gaia rose from her work after sliding Hunter's necklace under the three remaining furs. It took her a little bit to find where Hunter went but his torch helped guide her. She stepped over to him and then her eyes widened in dismay at all these new things Hunter had found. Her curiosity sparked she moved closer to inspect these different things. It didn't take long for her mind to see the many benefits these things could be made into.

"Gaia make things from these?"

Gaia nodded as she continued to browse over this treasure trove.

"Hunter make a bow strong enough to kill biggest furry animal he finds."

Gaia smiled back at Hunter and knew he would do just that and make her work for days to make the fur into the softer fur to sleep with. Gaia even hoped he would find the Great Elk as it was said the fur was so soft that it felt like lieing on water and floating around. Despite the fact she had no idea what it looked like in real life.. only the stories told by her great grandfather before he passed on from old age.

Gaia helped Hunter bring the cushions back to their bed and watched in awe as he moved them to add height and softness to their sleeping nest.

 

[TiredFingers]

They spent the rest of the day moving back and forth between the two caves and the out of doors as their chores dictated. This new deeper cave had changed their situation dramatically; as they pillaged through the Dead Ones' treasures, they -- mostly Gaia -- found new and interesting purposes for many of the items. Hunter assumed correctly that many of their identified uses were the same as how the Dead Ones had used them.

They had needed more light as the torches burned out too quickly. Hunter had been concerned that a fire would fill the inner cave with smoke and drive them out, but he was delighted to learn that a series of unseen cracks and crevices in the cave's ceiling allowed the smoke to escape. Fresh air wafted in from the outer cave and from the canyon after that, and soon the pair of them had moved all of their things deeper into the earth.

Hunter remade their bed in the inner cave, again to Gaia's delight. He untied the waist band of the new breech cloth she'd made him and the miniskirt-like loincloth she made for him and slipped in between her thighs yet again. Gaia laughed as she told him they had work to do, and that he often exhausted her with their breeding. But he drowned out her words with playful kisses to her mouth, plunged deep inside her, and drove them each to nearly simultaneous explosion of delight.

They laid there for a long while, just holding one another, before Hunter got them both up, used a new Bath Weed to rinse their fluids from their groins, and got them back to work. There was still work to be done when the night came and they were once again desperately ready for sleep.

As he sat back on their bed and watched Gaia performing some end of day tasks, Hunter found himself amazed with how much work she had done each of their days here in their new, presumably temporary home. And watching her and thinking about her contribution, it made Hunter think about the women in his village back in the rainforest. Had they worked this hard and for this many hours as well? He wasn't entirely certain; he'd rarely spent many hours in a row in the village where he might have seen how hard they worked.

As with the other adult males, when he wasn't laying in the bed of a breeder -- whether for conceiving of a child or for his or her personal pleasure -- Hunter was usually away from the village proper, hunting or collecting fire wood or other resources for the women back at the village to use. He'd always thought he worked a lot; he typically left at or before sunrise and sometimes didn't come back until sundown, if he came back that day at all.

While he was out working in the forest, though, the women were back in the village doing their work as well. Hunter had never really thought about it much, not out of disrespect for their contribution but more … well … out of sight, out of mind, really. He left for the day, came back to deliver raw resources, and rarely really noticed that the raw resources he'd delivered the day before had been turned into a final product (or, in the case of firewood, burned to achieve a purpose).

But here with Gaia, Hunter did notice. He'd spent a much greater portion of his day near her than he had back in the village where he didn't have a mate, as he did with Gaia. Sometimes he found it comforting to have a single female close to him for so many hours. It brought back childhood memories of his relationship with his mother, prior to becoming a man and being sent to live with the other male adults.

Hunter had initially missed living with his mother, his mother's mother, and all of the latter's descendants who were yet to be declared adults. He'd missed that life of the extended family … until his first breeding night. He'd been taken to the Breeding Hut by the Matriarchs, separated from his clothes -- minimal as they were, even more so than these days -- and laid down upon a soft bed. An equally naked female -- her name had been Valla and she'd had two children already -- very skillfully toyed his manroot to an almost painful stiffness before sitting in his lap and taking its full length into her garden.

He didn't remember much of what came immediately after that; Valla took him in and out of her less than a handful of times, his manroot pulsed wildly within her, and his head swam to intensely with disorientating euphoria that he literally passed out. And that was it … that night, anyway. Hunter would find himself brought back to the Breeding Hut every night for half a moon, which here on Yuza III for several days longer than in the unknown-to-him, planet-moon system of Earth.

As he sat here in the cave tonight and studied Gaia, he wondered about the differences in their two cultures. Her people mated for life, living in the same home as a family unit. He didn't know that at times, a male of her village took two or more wives or that at times a taken female had breed with another male to produce a healthy baby; Gaia hadn't told Hunter that because he simply hadn't asked her. But even that small shot of polygamy was nothing when compared to how Hunter's village functioned. How was she going to react when they got there and Hunter was expected to return to emptying his manroot in one fertile breeder after another.

A better question than that was this: how was Gaia going to react when she found the would have to part her thighs and open her garden to the seed of another male from the rainforest village? Hunter suddenly found himself wondering whether escaping back to his own community was the best thing for Gaia.

"Gaia come here," Hunter told her as he felt his eyes threatening to close on him. She finished what she was doing, and he pulled her close to him on the indescribably comfortable mat pad bed. He held her tightly, pressing the front of his body to the back of hers. His hands roamed over her flesh, with more of a comforting caress than a sexual one. He whispered into her ear, "Gaia is best mate Hunter has ever had."

He wasn't saying it as a comment on comparison, though, Gaia might have heard it as so. Would she wonder if others had come before her? Hunter hadn't told her about the dozens of gardens into which he'd planted his seed. But he couldn't know what she would think or how -- if -- she would react to that. All he'd meant was that she was, quite literally, the best mate -- the best partner -- he had ever had.

"Gaia sleep," he said as he attempted to make them comfortable. "Gaia works too hard."

 

[LandiKirk]

The.moving from spot to spot kept Gaia very busy but she didnt mind. There was more space and the things she discovered added to the excitement she felt as things made from the new tools were highly beneficial. Especially since she hadn't burnt the tips of her fingers.

The quickie with Hunter was good. And it was hard to believe they had been there over a week. As they laid resting from a frenzied breeding Gaia realized she hasn't had the red time.

She didn't have much chance to talk to Hunter about this as he urged her to get up and another bath. Gaia liked this bath as it was easier then before. She even reciprocated and used it on Hunter's back and manroot.

The work wasn't easy as she stretched out another three furs. She poured water down the back so it would shrink and not again. She also found no time to work on the gifts she was making for Hunter without him seeing so she tried hard to resist sneaking off to finish them.

Gaia had sliced off some meat from a bone and laid it over one of the sticks to slowly cook and the other half she cut into chunks to make another meaty stew.

"Gaia come here,"

Gaia set aside the top she was making for herself and went over to Hunter. Resting in his arm she softly kissed his neck as he whispered in her ear. "Gaia is best mate Hunter has ever had."

"Hoon tterr ezz Ga I ahz bes ma ate." Gaia answers as it was plainly the truth

" Gaia sleep,"

Gaia yawned and nodded as she thought he was asking if she was sleepy.

"Gaia works too hard."

Gaia chuckled as she recalled her father saying something like that to her mother when she was large with small one ready to pop out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the morning Gaia removed the strips from the stick and placed them with her version of bread. Then set it on the grey slab she found with bumps that acted like legs.

Gaia went and gathered her furs to finish and didnt realize the necklace she was making had fallen out as she took the furs to another large rock to begin cutting to piece into leggings for them both.

As she worked she realized that she had lost the tooth necklace and began to retrace her steps. Thankfully she found it and hoped Hunter would be outside for an hour or so while she finished it and the breastplate

 

[TiredFingers]

Hunter's first instinct in the morning was to grab up his spears and bone knife and go hunting again. But looking about the inner cave, he realized that they had plenty of food. They weren't likely going to stay here much longer which meant that if he continued to kill animals, they'd be packing close to his body weight in dried meat. And there were the treasures they'd found in the cave to pack as well, so the last thing they needed right now was more meat.

He had sprung the deadfalls and snares before day's end yesterday to ensure that they weren't filled with dead animals that the night predators and scavengers would eat before he got back. Instead of going hunting, he told Gaia he was going to take a walk up and down the crevasse to check out the territory beyond where he'd already been, as well as climb back up to the surface to look around.

Hunter had used the strange string he'd found to repair the old bow. He'd also found several arrows that had been constructed out of hollow metal shafts. He didn't understand this construction -- it was conduit from a wrecked shuttle -- but he knew it was superior to the sapling arrows he could make himself. With these and his spears, Hunter set out.

For more than three hours, Hunter traveled the crevasse's slightly winding west-by-northwest direction, because it was the general direction of his rainforest village. Three times he found places to ascend and look around; he found forest and little more each time, as he'd expected and actually hoped. There was no sign of the sky thing or the road or -- thankfully -- the keepers.

He backtracked to the cave, ate some food, refilled his water canisters -- they, too, were made of lightweight metal and had come from the shuttle -- kissed Gaia, and headed out again, this time in the other direction. Hunter found that the crevasse divided after half an hour, then divided again and yet once more. Each time he took the northern fork, until he found himself walking an almost due north direction.

He'd been traveling about two hours when Hunter heard a sound he didn't recognize. He ascended to the plateau again but did not find the source of the sound. Back in the crevasse, he continued toward the noise cautiously for nearly an hour. It got louder the closer Hunter got to the source. Suddenly, the narrow crevasse widened to about 30 meters in width and descended 10 meters into the ground. There were 4 cave entrances in the canyon wall to the left and 6 to the right. The noise was coming from within one or more of the entrances.

Hunter was already on guard but then suddenly dropped down to the ground … at the sight of a Yuza male emerging from one of the caves. He wasn't dressed like the keepers, though. He was dressed in heavier and dirtier clothing. He wore a hat that had a type of torch on it, except while it shot out a beam of light, it wasn't a flame. It reminded Hunter of the magical torches that had been on the poles over the to of his enclosure that came on at dusk and -- with the exception of just a few of them -- turned off later when it was very dark and all the staring Yuza had disappeared from the observation area behind the glass.

If seeing the Yuza emerge from the cave wasn't already a surprise, what Hunter saw next was a shock he could never have expected. One after another after another, six humans emerged from the cave. They were dressed similarly to the Yuza who had preceded them, with one obvious difference: they had metal shackles around their ankles, preventing them from moving any quicker than a walk. The humans each carried a pack on their back, which they dumped into a bin made of a material that reminded Hunter of the odd cooking pot in which he'd heated Gaia's bath water.

The Yuza reached to the big bin, pressed something, and there was a sudden rumbling noise, the sound Hunter had heard from down the crevasse. He couldn't tell what was happening in the bin; he didn't know that the stones the humans had brought out from the cave were being crushed so that a specific mineral could later be extracted.

Hunter crouched and watched the operation until dark. The interactions between the 4 Yuza and at least 8 humans left little doubt in Hunter's mind: the Humans were the workers -- reluctant and ill-treated -- and the Yuza were the superiors, sometimes using a stick that had lightning on the end of it to get the humans to do as the Yuza demanded.

With just enough light from the overhead moon to travel the crevasse safely, Hunter headed back. It took him nearly 4 hours to get to the cave and Gaia, telling her immediately what he'd seen. He knew nothing of forced labor, so he had a hard time understanding exactly what he'd seen.

 

[LandiKirk]

Gaia was thankful Hunter was going out for a walk. This would give her the time she needed to finish the presents for Hunter. As soon as he didnt come right back she pulled out her supplies and set to work making holes in the teeth to add to the hair woven thread.

About an hour later it was finished and she made a special knot that could be undone without breaking the necklace. Gaia was very pleased with how it looked and was hoping Hunter would be happy with it as well.

Then she worked on the newly tanned hides to make those leggings. She sized her leg and went three hands higher to cut it for Hunter. Now she uses quills to add the delicate design on the sides indicating his status as provider and head of his tribe. As time goes by she would add symbols and colored beads to his leggings as they made their tribe grow and perhaps mention of battles or accomplishments he would have during his life.

It was when her belly rumbled that she stopped working and fixed some lunch. She was glad Hunter had returned safe. Then after a kiss that warmed her heart Hunter left again.

Gaia planned on having their leggings completed by the time he returns

When the sun started lowering and Hunter wasn't back Gaia had started to worry. Before long she began to pace then prayed to Grandfather that Hunter was safe and alive.

Just as she finished her praying and picked up the softer fur to put inside the leathery boot she had made for herself so Hunter knew her feet was protected from bad rocks and tree sticks.

Hunter came into the cave. Gaia quickly warmed the meat and roots in the metal square and then gave it to him so he could eat. She even hand him a makeshift spoon she made from a bone of his first kill.

Now she listened as he told her about the Yuza and other humans he saw. He told her about the chains they wore around the lower part of the leg. Gaia wanted to cry for those humans, they were treated worse then Gaia and Hunter when in the enclosure.

"Da eed Honn tterr nozs dem?" Gaia asks thinking he had found his people.

 

[TiredFingers]

"No, Hunter did not know them," he answered without thinking about the implications of the simple statement. He didn't know the word strangers, obviously; he'd never in his life not known another human being, until Gaia anyway. "They are not of my village. They could be from yours?"

It was more of a question than a statement. Hunter would never have imagined a second community of humans out the lands of Yuza, let alone a third. These people had to be more of Gaia's people, didn't they? He described them to her as best he could, but there was little to say about them. They had been too far away, and they had been wearing unnatural clothing, coverall-like coverings that had been thick with black dirt and grime from underground mining, as had their faces.

"Tomorrow, we will go look," Hunter told Gaia. "We go before sun rising. See with your eyes. See if your people."

He was obviously concerned about this new development, and for many reasons. The most impacting reason, of course, was that this changed his and Gaia's situation. They couldn't stay here any longer; the Yuza would surely find them as they were only a couple of miles away from here. They'd found other humans; they'd find him and his mate.

The other obvious reason was that these chained humans might be Gaia's people. Hunter didn't want to think this was possible, as they had presumed -- correctly, though he couldn't know for certain -- that her people were far to the south of the site of their former cage, the Intergalactical Zoo of Alien Life. How would they have ended up here, in this new form of cage?

But even if they weren't Gaia's people, didn't Hunter have to do something to help these other humans? He couldn't just leave them here in this underground cage of theirs. Even though he didn't understand the concept of mining, Hunter was sure these people were being forced to do work against their will. His two hours of studying the camp from a distance had shown him that. He'd thought his own detention in a semi-natural setting had been bad enough. His enclosure had been a paradise to what he imagined these other humans were enduring.

A thought struck Hunter: had his and Gaia's containment at the zoo been the first step in ultimately bringing them here to work? Had the Yuza been conditioning them for labor here in this place? Had these humans once been in the zoo but -- possibly because they refused to remain -- had been chained and brought here instead?

Hunter told Gaia of his thoughts, clarifying that if they went to look at these other humans tomorrow and got caught, they themselves might be chained or returned to the zoo. He asked her with a serious tone, "Do you want to flee? Do you want to leave this place now, at sun rising. We go more west, away from here?"

 

[LandiKirk]

"No, Hunter did not know them,"

Gaia nods then wonders if these humans were the children of the Boned ones in these caves

"They are not of my village. They could be from yours?"

Gaia hadn't thought of that. Yet she could see her father making a searching party and looking for his daughter just as he had done for other members of their tribe. The ones ate by the bronze liquids of the mountains.

Gaia listened to his description but she didnt know, they could have been young ones but now older. However if they had Mark's of honor she might recognize them.

"Tomorrow, we will go look,. We go before sun rising. See with your eyes. See if your people."

"Han, Ga I ah gozz cee." She agreed.

As she cleaned up from supper, Gaia notices worry is on Hunter's face. She came behind him and runs his back with her left hand. She didnt know what to say that would ease his thoughts.

Then Hunter told. Gaia his thoughts and worries. There were risks of being caught. Then anything could happen to them and that was something she had to understand.

"Do you want to flee? Do you want to leave this place now, at sun rising. We go more west, away from here?"

Gaia frowned but knew Hunter was thinking about her safety which included their small ones. Like the one he was putting in her garden.

"Honn tterr taycaz Ga I ah cezz eef herz tri ba." She had to be sure none of them was Wynn her father.

When they went to bed, things were quiet and somewhat depressing as new worries consumed their thoughts. Gaia had a fitful sleep as she imagined Wynn or one of her older brothers being in those chains.

However being ready to move on didnt sound bad either. Gaia had sorted furs and food and things she wanted to keep with them. Before Hunter woke up Gaia had arranged things in another fur and cut two slits to make sleeves so it was a primitive backpack.

Gaia put on her moccasins so that she would walk more silently and fixed the leggings to her legs and wore the skirt and top so she wasn't naked.

 

[TiredFingers]

At the entrance to the outer cave, Hunter hesitated. He almost turned them to the left, to the west, away from the other humans. He didn't understand these Yuza enough to feel confident that he could help the mine slaves. He'd seen them use shock sticks against that big lizard creature back in his enclosure. He didn't understand the weapon, but he'd seen how the big animal had reacted to them. They caused intense pain of which Hunter was not inclined to partake.

In the end, he turned them to the right. He moved them along slowly, taking a full two hours to cover the distance. When they could clearly hear the goings-on of the camp, they hid their packs between some boulders. They covered the last couple of hundred yards even more slowly.

Finally, they were looking out upon the large opening in the crevasse. Under the morning light, Hunter was able to get a more detailed look at the area. He realized that the width and depth of the mining area wasn't entirely natural; close to a third of the walls of the canyon had been carved back, likely by the human slaves, and piles of gravel could be seen in places up on the higher ground. Hunter couldn't know that this was a sort of manual surface strip mining.

The caves were part of why Hunter didn't fully understand the situation. In places where the canyon walls offered little ore of value to them except in certain isolate locations, the Yuza had only dug mining shafts into the wall and then deeper down into the earth. The indigenous aliens weren't going to waste their introduced alien workers on clearing entire walls that were nothing but worthless dirt.

There was no one to see for the first hour or so; everyone -- Yuza and Human both -- was in the caves. The time dragged on, and Hunter could see the anxiety building in Gaia, just as it was in him. Then, there was movement at one of the four cave entrances. A Yuza emerged, followed by 6 of the 8 humans Hunter knew were here, followed by another 2 Yuza. The Humans were once again changed; the Yuza carried non-lethal, energy based, projectile weapons, not that Hunter understand that.

"Does Gaia know?" he asked after his mate had had a moment to study the humans. It was more than 60 meters to where the slaves were working, but they couldn't get closer for a better look. "Are from Gaia's people?"

 

[LandiKirk]

Gaia looked down to where Hunter pointed. At first it reminded her of the mountain caves of the bronze lizards. Yet none emerged from the several openings she noticed. Gaia was amazed by the enormity this place was, it gave her an insecurity of her own inner strength.

The wait for something to happen was getting to Gaia. She was beginning to wish that she brought something to do during this time as she didnt want to make noises and reveal them to the Yuza either.

Then something happened there was movement down in the clearing . A Yuza came out of one of the caves and was followed by 6 humans. Gaia squinted her eyes looking for Mark's on the upper arm and face. The arms were covered by the garment they wore and faces were dark and hid any that might have been on the face.

"Does Gaia know?"


Gaia moves a little as Hunter whispered his question. She looked hard for any type of sign but didnt see anything recognizable. Those humans had been conditioned as they spoke the language of the Yuza.

"Are from Gaia's people?"

Gaia shook her head no as the chained humans began to work on sorting rocks. She dropped her head and asked softly "Wut wezz daoo naowa?"

It was then that another male came out of the caves. His voice seemed familiar but it would be impossible to be who she thought. He was eaten by the lizards when she was a crawler.

 

[TiredFingers]

"What do we do now?" Hunter repeated Gaia's question, mostly to and for himself.

That was a very good question. The Yuza were armed with weapons Hunter did not understand. What he did understand, though, was that the keepers down there were just like the keepers at the zoo, and the keepers at the zoo could be killed. Hunter had seen if first hand, and after their escape from the zoo he'd told the story to Gaia, who he had been hiding behind a large boulder as they prepared to flee.

As they'd been fighting the Hurnkan Lizard that had escaped its own cage and gotten into the Human Being Exhibit, one of the Yuza had gotten too close to the ferocious reptile. The alien creature had swiped its clawed paw so quickly that the keeper had had no chance of evading it. The Yuza's head had very nearly been severed from the keeper's body. The keeper was dead before he hit the ground.

There had been a gasp from the zoo patrons looking down from the viewing platform. Hunter had heard the sound and looked up; it was one of those times of the day when the sun allowed them to see the zoo visitors for just a few minutes behind the glass. Hunter found himself feeling empathy with them, even if their kind had held him and his new mate like they'd kept the killer lizard.

"We kill the keepers and free the humans," Hunter told Gaia firmly. He studied her reaction, then brandished the bow and spears he carried. "I do. Or Gaia help?"

Hunter realized suddenly that he was unaware of his mate's experience with a killing weapon. Of all the things they had spoken of during their days together, they had never talked about whether or not she had used a knife, spear, ax, or bow to kill prey animals.

"I do," he repeated. "Gaia does not have to do with Hunter."

 

[LandiKirk]

We kill the keepers and free the humans,"

Gaia merely nodded at his logic. It was wrong those people were treated badly

"I do. Or Gaia help?"

Gaia stared at the Yuza and wondered if she could kill. Killing an animal for food was one thing and killing to save one's life was praised by her people but killing wasn't setting well with her conscience. Gaia knew how to use a bow and had killed egg layers with a hatchet but she hadn't killed by the arrow. This would be her test.

Hunter seemed to think her silence was a no so he gave her a choice. "I do,"

"Honn tterr" Gaia gently touched his shoulder

"Gaia does not have to do with Hunter."

"Ga I ya weell gaoo weef Honn tterr en da ark" With darker eyes she saw fairly well at night something that would be advantageous for them making a sneak attack.

They crept back and went to pick up their packs and return to the safety of the caves. This would give them some extra rest for their plans of rescue.

It also made sure they were well fed prior to the battle they would face.

 

[TiredFingers]

Once back in the cave, the pair of them immediately set about making more weapons for the attack. Hunter had been collecting and thinning down saplings from the plateau above the crevasse to be made into arrows in the near future. But it was necessary to finish the job now instead. Added to the metal shaft arrows that had been fashioned and left behind by the Dead Ones, Hunter would have 14 arrows, likely more than he would ever have the chance to use.

They used larger saplings and some of the metal tubes of the Dead Ones to make more spears as well. Hunter used a hammer made of a head of stone and a handle of some Earth material he didn't know -- Fiberglas -- to pound out the ends of the metal tubes; after that, he used the Dead Ones' steel file to sharpen the tips. He liked these better than his obsidian tipped spears because there was no fear of loosing the bladed end.

"Come here, Gaia," he told her after he'd piled their bed pads up against the cave wall, one in front of the another. "I show you how to use."

He hadn't exactly formulated a set plan yet, but one thing Hunter knew he wanted was for Gaia to stay back from the fighting if possible. That meant she needed to know how to use the bow. She wasn't entirely unfamiliar with it; she'd been introduced to one back home before her capture. She practiced loosing the arrows at the pad targets and got better with each shot. Hunter stood close behind Gaia, his front to her back, his arms around her, showing her how to notch, draw, settle, aim, and loose the arrow.

Being this close to her had an unexpected but not entirely unwelcomed affect on Hunter. He took the bow and set it aside, turned Gaia to him, pulled her close enough to unquestionably reveal his erection, and kissed her passionately as his hands began pulling at the ties that held her new clothing to her body. In just a few seconds, she was naked; in a few seconds more, Hunter was, too.

The bed was filled with arrows, which made him laugh when he looked for a place to be with Gaia. Instead, he sat on a large stone near the warm fire -- one of the smaller pads was upon it -- and pulled Gaia into his lap, her legs wrapping around his waist. Grasping her firm buttocks in his hands, Hunter worked their bodies hard and fast against one another until the pair of them were moaning loudly at their approaching orgasms. The feel of Gaia's garden wrapped tightly around his manroot was different this way yet still wonderful. He reached one arm, then the other under the backs of her thighs to open her up and allow him in deeper, and after another dozen thrusts that bottomed him out inside her, Hunter grunted out loudly at the feel of his seed being pumped into her.

He moved his hands back to around Gaia's waist again and simply held onto her until both of their heart beats and breathing had returned close to normal. His face was buried between her large breasts, occasionally kissing the warm flesh over her sternum or finding a swollen nipple to suckle.

"If Hunter falls tonight," he whispered to her after a long while, "Gaia will run far away from this place."

He looked into her eyes with a serious expression. "Gaia promises. Gaia will run far, far away and find safety away from the keepers. Gaia will search for Hunter's home. Hunter's people will help Gaia find Gaia's home."

That probably wasn't true, of course. The Matriarchs would want Gaia to add her genetics to their village's pool of DNA. They might keep her only long enough to produce a female and a male child. Or them might keep her forever. But despite his village never having known Breeders from elsewhere, Hunter knew they wouldn't just let her go. He'd known that for days now.

They heated water and bathed one another with a great deal of unnecessary but welcome intimacy, then dressed for their mission. They reached the mining camp just as the sun was about to drop behind them. The Yuza and Humans were outside the cave entrance again; the former watched the latter closely as the latter sorted and sometimes broke rocks with large, heavy metal hammers.

"Light in their eyes," Hunter told Gaia, pointing out how the sun behind them was shining right down into the camp. "Can not see us."

Hunter had explained his plan to Gaia before leaving and recapped it now that they were here. They would both move up to a pair of large metal bins, Hunter would try to put an arrow in each of the Yuza before they knew what was happening, and then once they were alerted, Gaia would take the bow and rain arrows upon the keepers while Hunter attacked, using the advantage of the sun to get as close as he could.

It seemed like a simple and effective plan. Only, would it work?

(OOC: LandiKirk, I'm giving you an opportunity to toss in a twist if you wish.)

 

[LandiKirk]

Gaia worked im silence fixing feathers to the wooden arrows to help them fly further

Come here, Gaia,"

Gaia rose and walked over to Hunter's side. She listens to him as he piles the bed against the wall. "Wat Honn tterr doo?"

"I show you how to use."

Gaia paid close attention to what he was doing and the way he notched the arrow. His way to draw the bowstring and let loose the arrow to hit its target. He even shadowed her to be sure she was aiming correctly and to fire the arrow where it needed to go.

Gaia was pleased as she improved but when Hunter took the bow away she gave him a questioning glance. When she was pulled closer to his body she understood feeling his manroot rise against her belly. Gaia let out a giggle then asked "Honn tterr neezd pla ant cee da?"

His lips over hers answered the question and she moves her hands to stroke his stomachs as he undresses her body. In moments he too naked and Gaia looks on him with love and need.

Gaia noticed him looking about the laughing which made her smile. Then he pulled her closer and before she knew it she was sitting in his lap, moreso impaled on his manroot on his lap.
Gaia moaned as Hunter's manroot slid deeper into her garden.
This time their mating was deeper and Gaia's body began dancing in his manroot until the muscles clamped down to hold the pulsing rod in place as hot fire spewed inside her cunt. She was kissing him feverishly and taking small nips at his lips.

When the fire and pulsing ended Gaia held his head against her bosom. They were going to have a strong son. She knew this in her heart and mind. When Hunter nursed at her breast ot sent a wave of new fire through her belly

!If Hunter falls tonight,"

Gaia looked at his face and saw a sadness in his eyes

"Gaia will run far away from this place."

Gaia didnt understand why he said those words but when he gazed into her questioning eyes

"Gaia promises. Gaia will run far, far away and find safety away from the keepers. Gaia will search for Hunter's home. Hunter's people will help Gaia find Gaia's home."

Gaia didnt understand why Hunter was so insistent about her finding his tribe should something go wrong but made her promise. "Hau Ga I ah ga ozz."

The bath was a welcome relaxing one. It would hide their scent when they went back to the Yuza encampment. Gaia braided her hair tightly and made a belt to hold it in place so it wouldn't sway when she walked or get in her eyes during the fight to free the other humans

As they came back to the camp the sun was dropping behind them . This seemed to make Hunter pleased and more positive

"Light in their eyes,"

Gaia nodded catching onto Hunter's mood. Perhaps Grandfather in the sky was smiling down on them.

"Can not see us."

This was good news and even Gaia was feeling that they would succeed in freeing the other humans. Gaia looked over the group and pointed to one of the Yuza watering the rocks away from the rest of rhe group.

Hunter nods seeing him as well Gaia watched as Hunter slipped down the slope to sneak into the camp. Gaia saw Hunter take out the one that was alone and then kept a sharp eye on where the other Yuza were .

All too quick one of the workers had dropped something and the Yuza guard was shouting at the exhausted human. The Yuza raised his weapon and fired the human sending him to the ground. .

Gaia growled softly vowing to lodge an arrow thru the Yuza's hand.

Now Hunter was in place and it was the sun's turn to be on their eyes so Hunter wouldn't have to spill blood.