Private The Monster of Ukatis

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

In a field on Ukatis, a starship crashed. The impact was violent, sending up a cloud of disturbed earth. Skidding to a stop, the vessel's klaxons continued their muffled whine for a few seconds before shutting off. Then all was quiet and still.

Well, on the outside, at least.

Kass sat in the cockpit, her pseudopods gripping the controls for dear life. Finally, she released her hold—only to hear a groan from elsewhere in the ship. "Oukranos!" she exclaimed, trying to get up, only to be held down by her crash webbing, which in her haste she had not yet unbuckled. "Are you all right?"

"I think I might've broken something..."

Kass finally freed herself, grabbed a first aid kit, and rushed to his side. Oukranos was lying on the floor with his back propped up against the wall. His right leg looked a little... skewed.

"Oh dear," she said, her eyes widening. "A splint—I'll make a splint. Do you want something for the pain?"

"No." But as she began to cut away his pants leg, revealing a great deal of blood and what looked to be bone sticking out, he said, "On second thought, give me drugs, please."

Once he was sufficiently numbed and the fracture had been dealt with for the time being, Kass went about trying to get help. "Ukatis? That name sounds familiar." She shrugged. "It's a Type I planet, breathable atmosphere, recently joined the Alliance... Oh, look!" Through the windows, she saw a group of three humans approaching the wreckage. "I'll go talk to them. We should be out of here in no time!"

Without wasting another moment, the Pylantian Jedi Master lowered the boarding ramp and slid down to the ground. "Hello!" she called out, waving a pseudopod in greeting. "Thank goodness you're here! We need—"

Before she could finish, the trio of Ukatians turned tail and ran away screaming in terror.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"-a-and it had these tentacles all over it's body, which was like a big bowl of jelly gone rotten!"

Cora narrowed her eyes at the trio of villagers—two men and a woman—who were frantically trying to explain what they'd seen crash in the field just outside of their wheat crop. Ukatians were not so far removed from galactic society that they didn't understand what ships were, but the strange monster who'd slid down the docking ramp was very unfamiliar, and very frightening.

Based on their description, it was unfamiliar for Cora too. She raised a hand to her chin in thought.

"I'm not entirely sure what it was that you saw, but I'll see to it." The Princess answered after a lengthy moment of silence. Cora was no xenobiologist and downright terrible with the species name of anything that wasn't a near-human, but she'd seen more aliens than she'd thought to exist from her time with the Jedi.

The farmers seemed to deflate. Perhaps they'd expected that their Princess, who had trained offworld, would know precisely what the monster was and how to handle it.

One of the men grumbled. "We're supposed to get to plantin' the corn in that field next week. If we can't, don't know how we'll manage for the season."

"I understand." Cora nodded. Farming was hard enough on Ukatis when the soil was becoming less workable each year. The last thing they needed was an entire swath of land poisoned by leaking starship fuel. "I'll take a small group and investigate the crash site. Whoever is there might need our help."

"Help eatin' our brains." The other man muttered, but lowered his head at the sharp look he received from the Princess.

Half an hour later, Cora rode out into the field flanked by half a dozen royal guards. The village of Cattleya was a small farming community not far from the Ascania estate, so it was fortunate happenstance that the Princess was staying at her family home when the crash occurred.

Closing in on the ship wreckage, Cora held a glowrod aloft and called out.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

“What happened?” Oukranos asked when Kass returned to the ship without saying anything about how things had gone.

“They ran away,” she replied, busying herself with setting up a distress signal. If the locals weren’t going to help them, they’d simply have to help themselves. “There. This should at least be able to reach the nearest medical center, and we can get that leg of yours taken care of…”

“Kass?”

She looked up. “Hm?”

He smiled at her. "I just like looking at you."

Her posture softened as tension she didn't know she'd been holding relaxed. It wasn't the first time she'd gotten such a bad reaction from strangers, nor would it be the last, but... At times like this, when disaster struck and her appearance only made things worse, she couldn't help but loathe the way she looked.

"Come over here," he said.

"But..." But what? She had already set up the signal. There wasn't much more she could do but wait for help to arrive. Might as well pass the time. "...but what about your leg?"

"My leg isn't going anywhere. It's broken."

"Oh." Giggling like a schoolgirl, she went over and joined Oukranos on the floor, entwining a pseudopod between his fingers...

Some time later, they heard noises coming from outside. "What is that?" Kass whispered, unfamiliar with the sound of horses' hooves. "Some sort of animal?"

Oukranos, who was now sharing a blanket with her, frowned. "It's getting louder."

It wasn't long before they saw lights approaching. Evidently more people had come to investigate, and from the looks of it they were armed.

"You talk to them," Kass whispered. "I'm going to hide."

"What? But—"

She had already left his side, scrambling to find a hiding place. The cargo hold? Would she fit in there? She'd make it fit. Lifting the hatch, she squeezed her amorphous body inside.

"Hello? Is anyone there?"

Oukranos sighed and wrapped the blanket around his body. "Hello," he called out. "My name is Oukranos Cthylla. My leg is broken. I need medical assistance."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Stay where you are, Oukranos Cthylla."

Two soldiers ahead of her and one behind, the small party boarded the ship. The soldiers were careful as they stalked up the ramp, pistols drawn in nervous caution as they swept their aim over the surroundings. So far, there was only an injured man wrapped in a blanket on the floor.

The mood was tense, and Cora's gaze drew to Oukranos. The Princess wore simple riding clothes and a cloak, the glowrod had been slipped into her pocket for now.

She sensed something in the Force, faintly. Cora's connection was too fuzzy to be able to parse out what it was, but there was nothing about the situation so far that caused alarm klaxons to ring in her head.

The soldiers didn't share her sentiment. Ever since the Harvest Festival that had been attended by off-worlders, strange things had been happening on Ukatis. Forests beginning to wilt, even reports of attacks by savage creatures from those who'd ventured into the woodlands late at night.

Cora understood her people's apprehension, and did her best to strike a balance between understanding their caution and not giving in to fear. The last thing she wanted was for her people to harden against the galaxy.

"Are you Oukranos? Please remove your blanket."

Her words were kind, but her voice carried a distinct note of authority. The threat of this being a trap still hung in the air.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

As the group began to search the ship, Kass remained hunkered down. She called upon the Force to redirect the soldiers away from her, compelling them to dismiss the hold as unworthy of consideration—Wait, was that a void stone? Oh dear. Hopefully that person wouldn't notice her guards avoiding the most obvious hiding place in the whole ship...

Oukranos kept his gaze focused on the well-dressed young woman who seemed to be the leader of the group, his expression carefully composed. His broken leg was extended outward, held in the makeshift splint Kass had prepared. Green blood seeping through the bandages gave away the fact that he wasn't human, though he otherwise looked like a man. An absurdly handsome man.

"Are you Oukranos?"

"Yes, that's me," he replied. "Are you the rescue team I called for, by any chance?"

But then she asked him to remove the blanket. Oukranos' polite smile thinned, a flicker of regret crossing his features.

"I, er, removed my clothing. So that I could treat my wounds." He gestured vaguely to himself. "All... of my clothes. I am very injured. Not just my leg." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "I can still remove the blanket anyway if you want—"

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"You called for a rescue team?"

Cora's eyebrows rose. At the implication of Oukranos being nude beneath the blanket, they rose even higher.

Then she flushed red, turning her gaze away sharply.

"N-no. That is quite…alright. You may keep the blanket o-on."

Two soldiers exchanged a look. A third had stepped forward to observe their surroundings and poke around the ship, but seemed to decide that the area was secure enough. Instead, he inadvertently blocked the door to the cargo hold as attention focused on the injured man.

Cora had knelt down to Oukranos in order to study him further. The blush was still coloring her pale cheeks, but it had begun to fade. The green liquid soaking the bandages of his injured leg caused her face to scrunch up.

"My name is Cora., and I’m afraid that your crash landed gave some of the villagers a fright so we’ve come to assess the situation.” She waved vaguely between herself and the guards. “We'll help you tend to your wounds, Oukranos. Have you already applied a bacta stim?"

She turned to one of the guards and issued an order: "Go back to the village and procure a hovercart."

As the soldier trotted off, she brought her attention back to the ridiculously handsome man who bled green. He certainly didn't seem like the monster the villagers described.

"Were you traveling with anyone?"

One of the soldiers was fiddling with the console in an attempt to check the flight log.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"You called for a rescue team?"

"Yes. That is the proper thing to do when one is in need of rescue..."

Kass continued to listen to their conversation, even as a soldier stood on top of the cargo hold hatch right above her. She winced as she realized the position she had put her husband in by, uh, tending to his wounds. Well, what else were they supposed to do while waiting for the rescue team to arrive?

At least the woman was letting him keep the blanket on. She introduced herself as Cora, and she was apparently not part of the rescue team, but a local come to investigate the crash site.

“We'll help you tend to your wounds, Oukranos. Have you already applied a bacta stim?"

"Yes, along with a healthy dose of painkillers." He shrugged. "I can't feel a thing."

As a hovercart was sent for, Kass exhaled silently in relief. This was good. Oukranos would be taken care of, and she... well, she would figure things out after these people had taken him away for treatment.

"Were you traveling with anyone?"

Oukranos smiled. "As a matter of fact, yes."

No! Don't do it!

But Oukranos was certainly not about to strand Kass on a planet which had thus far been hostile to her. "My wife. She's hiding from you. Your people gave her quite the fright, screaming and running off like that when she tried to ask for help."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora nodded, seemingly relieved to hear that Oukranos had managed some emergency treatment. His green blood didn't appear to be soaking through the gauze at an alarming rate, and he didn't seem to be loopy off of the painkillers.

Though, maybe his wife would have disagreed.

"Your wife was the one asking for help?" Taken aback, Cora's brow scrunched in deep confusion. "The villagers I spoke to said that they saw a frightening monster with tentacles and ran for their lives. Apparently it said something about wanting to eat their brains?"

Cora curled a finger around her chin as she pondered the validity of their statement, particularly that last point which hadn't happened. But she didn't know that—all she knew was that the villagers saw something that had terrified them.

In her mind she went through the possibilities. Alcohol could reasonably be involved this late into the night, or perhaps it was something as simple as his (assumed humanoid) wife casting an incredibly distorted shadow.

Cora looked around. "Is she injured too?" Another set of hooves could be heard outside as a horse-drawn hovercart pulled up. With a wave of her hand, the Princess motioned for the soldiers to help Oukranos onto the makeshift stretcher.

"Do you think she'd feel comfortable coming out?"

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"The villagers I spoke to said that they saw a frightening monster with tentacles and ran for their lives. Apparently it said something about wanting to eat their brains?"

"They're not tentacles, they're pseudopods. Tentacles are organs or limbs; pseudopods are a temporary projection, and hers are quite lovely," Oukranos corrected. He seemed more amused than angry or defensive, chuckling to himself at the whole ridiculous misunderstanding. "As for threatening to eat anyone's brains, that's simply not true. All she did was ask for help. Besides, she's a vegetarian."

Right now Kass' pseudopods were shielding her numerous eyes in the Pylantian version of a facepalm. Oh, she loved this man, but sometimes he drove her crazy! She could only hope that these people would be receptive to his explanations, rather than running away like the others had. Or worse, turning violent out of fear...

"Is she injured too?"

"No, she's all right, thankfully. She was wearing her crash webbing, whereas I was not." The soldiers began to help him into the cart, including the one standing on top of the cargo hatch. "Kass, I won't let them leave without you," Oukranos called out. "You're coming with me, even if you have to hide yourself underneath a sheet!"

Grumbling to herself, Kass waited until all or most of the guards had departed before she reached up to undo the latch. She opened the hatch a crack, peering out at her surroundings. "You are Cora, yes?" she asked, spotting what had to be the young woman. "I am Kassogtha Cthylla. His wife." A beat passed. "Would you mind going to the supply closet and fetching me a sheet or a blanket? I don't want to cause a panic."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As Oukranos espoused the difference between tentacles and pseudopods, Cora simply stood there. The meaning of his words gradually faded out, but what remained in her mind was the passion for his wife.

Outwardly she looked somewhat startled by his declaration, but inside she was swooning. The dedication! The affection! She'd nearly forgotten that his hidden wife had pseudopods to begin with, and that she was investigating a potential monster sighting.

A flush dusted her pale cheeks, which garnered looks of hesitation from the accompanying soldiers. Cora quickly shook her head as if she'd been slapped and brought herself back into the reality of the moment.

"Right. Right. I will make sure that your wife joins you in the village." She peered a little closer to his injured leg, assessing it again to the best of her ability. "There are no massive trauma centers this far out, but there's a healer in the village that should be able to stabilize you at least."

As Oukranos was loaded into the cart, two soldiers accompanied him across the field while the third stood outside the ship on guard, not to let anyone inside as per Cora's orders.

Once they'd left, Cora blew out a heavy puff of air, and slapped her cheeks lightly.

"You are Cora, yes?" she asked, spotting what had to be the young woman. "I am Kassogtha Cthylla. His wife."

Startled, she whipped around to the cargo hatch. The wife! She'd forgotten about the wife.

"Y-yes." She answered awkwardly before clearing her throat. "Yes, I am Cora. And, uh, of course."

Extremely curious but still trying to be respectful, Cora peered closer to the slivered door of the cargo hatch. She could see a pair of eyes (or three?) but that was about it.

The Princess meandered over to the supply closet and retrieved the first blanket she saw.

"Erm, I'm sorry about what happened." She apologized while feeding the blanket through the hatch. "The people here aren’t used to anything that…doesn’t look exactly like them."

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

As Cora peered closer, Kass peered back. She was surprised by how young the woman seemed, probably no older than eighteen. Yet she was in command of these soldiers. Hmm...

"Erm, I'm sorry about what happened. The people here aren’t used to anything that… doesn’t look exactly like them."

"Don't worry, I'm quite used to it," Kass said. "You do have a lovely world, from what I've seen of it. Lots of natural beauty." As the blanket was fed through the hole, her pseudopods reached out to take it. "Thank you. Oh good, this one's got a hole in it. For once, having a stubborn mynock infestation is convenient rather than a hassle."

She draped the blanket over her body, one eye peering through the hole. It wasn't exactly comfortable, considering that she was used to having a full range of vision supplied by all her numerous eyes, but it would suffice for their purposes. Cracking the hatch, she slowly eased it open and climbed out of the hold.

Though she was more or less completely covered, it was clear from the silhouette the draped sheet created that she was not human-shaped in the slightest. She felt more than a little ridiculous, but she would do what she had to do. So she slithered along, trying not to bump into anything (or anyone) as she headed down the ramp.

"There she is!" Oukranos exclaimed upon catching sight of her, looking like a lovestruck teenager. "She's too gorgeous for human eyes to behold," he informed the guards and the coachman driving the hovercart. "None of you could handle her willowy hazel beauty, her voluptuous slippery—"

"Those painkillers I gave you must be working very well," Kass interrupted dryly. Admittedly, it was fun to see him acting so smitten with her. Not that he wasn't normally like this, just usually only in private.

"I really can't feel anything," Oukranos said, his grin fading a little. "Am I behaving badly?"

"No, you're behaving very well, actually."

"Good. Now, come up here and keep me company, my love."

The horses whinnied at her approach, stomping their hooves nervously. A little application of the Force calmed them. Plopping down next to Oukranos, Kass turned to Cora. "I think this ship is pretty much totaled. A shame. You may salvage what you can, and junk the rest. There's nothing aboard we can't live without, and no doubt you don't want to risk the field being poisoned by leaking starship fuel..."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora did her best not to gawk, but it was rather difficult when Kassogtha appeared from her hiding spot. Even draped in cloth, her inhuman features were more than clear—and those that were covered could only be imagined.

"Erm,"

Stepping back, the Princess cleared her throat and leveled her gaze with the enormous eye that could be seen though the peephole. She smiled, doing her best to appear open and welcoming. As a Padawan, she'd seen a number of alien species, but none quite so…alien.

Oukranos didn't seem to be bothered—in fact, he waxed poetic about his wife's beauty while the soldiers exchanged befuddled glances. If their Princess didn't seem bothered, then they wouldn't raise a stink.

For her part, Cora was absolutely entranced by the interaction between husband and wife. Even if she didn't fully understand how a handsome chiseled specimen of a man could find a gelatinous blob of pseudopods and eyes attractive, all that mattered was the genuine love and affection between them. Hands clasped in front of flushed cheeks, she sighed dreamily.

These two were giving her ideas for her next novel, so lost in her thoughts that Kass' words hadn't fully registered.

"Princess?" One of the soliders asked.

"O-oh!" Cora squeaked once she realized she was being addressed. "Y-yes. Of course. We'll send a team out to stabilize any leaks, and in the morning we'll see what can be salvaged."

A few deep breaths to get her bearings, and she continued.

"Might I ask where you two are from and where you were traveling to?"

The village loomed at the edge of the field. Normally dark by this time of night, it was a little bright spot in the landscape of the night.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"Are you all right?" Kass asked Cora. "You seem a little flushed."

"Might I ask where you two are from and where you were traveling to?"

"We were traveling from Coruscant to Pylos Satnik," Kass replied. "To visit our daughter Celephaïs."

"She's a model," Oukranos added. "And a very successful one at that. Might even get into acting soon."

From the looks of things, the ride to the village would be a short one. Kass was grateful that it was late at night, when most of the townsfolk were asleep, and that they had an escort who could vouch for them. Trying to venture into the village on her own to seek help most likely would've proved disastrous. Even now, she could feel the stares of the night watchmen as they passed. She sensed their curiosity and their fear.

"Kass," Oukranos said.

She turned to find him looking rather pale. "What is it?" she asked.

"I think I'm bleeding."

Her gaze flicked down to his leg. Below it, a pool of green blood was spreading along the floor of the cart. "Oh no," she gasped. Had something come loose or torn open while he was being moved? "You had better get him to the healer right away!" she said, tearing off part of the blanket covering her to make into a fresh bandage.

High on painkillers and now suffering from bloodloss, it was a miracle that Oukranos was even still conscious, let alone able to turn to Cora and ask, "Does the village healer have a blood synthesizer?"

"Don't worry about it, dear," Kass muttered. Working with only one eye frustrated her, so she resorted to lifting up one end of the sheet so she could better see what she was doing. "I'll give you my blood if you need it. I'm a universal donor!" Hopefully Ukatian rural medicine was at least capable of blood transfusions.

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Y-yes." Cora waved off Kass' concern quickly. "Just a little startled from the situation, of course."

Situation meaning the crash.

A brow rose at the mention of their daughter. How did they…was it even possible….where did you put the….

Her other brow rose. Which parent did their daughter take after more? Or was she…sort of a mix between the two? Cora's mind was preoccupied in imagining a hybrid between the statuesque man and his gelatinous wife. She didn't really catch the rest of the conversation until the mood turned critical

"We don't have a blood synthesizer this far out." Cora shook her head, voice firming with the urgency of the situation. Technology like that likely only existed in the capital—Ukatis got few visitors as it was, and most of them didn't venture out into the more rural communities.

As the cart pulled into town, they were met by a plump middle aged woman carrying a glow rod. Leaning over the cart, she began to examine the injured man when surprise bloomed over her face as she held the light nearer to his wound. Was his blood…green? And what was with the strange hulking figure covered in a sheet?

Fortunately, the healer was not one who scared easily. "Bring him round to the back of the pub." She ordered.

Cora turned to Oukranos and Kass, and gave them both her best encouraging smile.

"Don't worry, Evalina is the best." Or so she was told. Cora hadn't been here long enough to see her in action. Dropping down from the cart, Cora jogged to catch up with the medicine woman and enlighten her to her unusual patients status as the soldiers drove the cart behind a large stone building.

The back room of the pub doubled as an unofficial urgent care center. By the time Oukranos and Kass would be lead inside, Evalina and Cora were busy lugging the transfusion machine from a storage closet.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"Evil-ina?" Oukranos echoed the name, peering at the healer with concerned eyes. "Your name is Evil-ina? That would make for a good Darth name."

"Oh, Oukranos..." Kass muttered, following along with the guards as they carried him into the back of the pub.

She didn't have to be a medical professional to figure out that the healer's facilities weren't exactly... ideal. But they did have a transfusion machine buried in a closet. Kass was busy helping to tend to Oukranos, and therefore didn't notice when Evalina and Cora brought the machine out until her husband began pulling on the mynock-eaten sheet covering her.

"Hey, stop that!" she exclaimed. "Are you crazy?"

"For your blood, maybe," he replied, glancing toward Evalina. "I don't think she knows where to stick the needle in you."

Kass turned around to face the hardboiled healer. "Oh, right." She lifted up the sheet and gestured with a pseudopod to a particular area of her flesh, where a faint greenish outline revealed a vein. "Put it here."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

When Kass lifted up her makeshift mumu, there was a noticeable pause from Evalina. Needle in hand, she glanced over to Cora for a moment before bringing her attention back to the task, however odd it may be. Her free hand palpated the alien's gummy flesh, trying to get a feel for how much force she would need to use.

"Little pinch," Came the healer's gravely voice as she slid the needle through Kass' viscera, tapping into her vein. After taping it in place, she turned to Oukranos, far more confident as to where she would insert the other needle into the humanoid male.

"Go and bring me that box of gauze." Was her next order to Cora, heedless of title ands such in the moment. The Princess was quick to nod, scampering back to the closet to retrieve an unmarked carton of medical supplies while Evalina applied the second needle to the crease Oukranos' forearm. With one last look to the patient and his wife, Evalina dialed in the machine's settings and offered them a weary smile. "You'll be alright, dear. People have come to me in far worse condition and walked out of this room alive."

The healer rummaged through the box Cora brought forward, retrieving a spray canister. "This'll help stop the bleeding quicker. Cora, help me peel back his bandages."

Obediently, the blonde assisted Evalina in cutting away the gauze and tape around Oukranos' leg, but not without a small grimace.

"What are you, anyway?" Came the healer's nonchalant question, to which Cora responded with a mild look of horror.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Kass submitted to Evalina's poking and prodding without complaint, waiting patiently for the healer to figure out where the vein she had indicated was. Once the needle was in, Kass turned to watch as Oukranos was similarly hooked up to the transfusion machine.

"You'll be alright, dear. People have come to me in far worse condition and walked out of this room alive."

"Oh, I've had much worse injuries," he mumbled with a tired smile. "This is only a flesh wound. It's bleeding a lot because its insecure and wants to be taken more seriously than it ought to be."

As Evalina and Cora began to work on changing the bandages, Kass watched them. She was about to offer her assistance, when the healer asked an abrupt and rather blunt question:

"What are you, anyway?"

Cora looked mortified. Kass did her best to smooth things over. "We are Pylantians," she explained. "Compared to other species, we are very new to the galaxy—we only made first contact around fifty years ago. Most people have never heard of us, and when they do encounter one of our kind, it tends to be something of a... culture shock."

She hesitated before continuing, "It has been difficult for me to reconcile the reactions people have to us. They are so often shocked, confused, or horrified at what we would consider to be normal on our homeworld. I have learned how to soften the blow, keeping myself hidden from others, if only to avoid causing a 'diplomatic incident'..." She glanced toward Oukranos, who had closed his eyes and appeared to be resting. "But my husband believes we shouldn't hide ourselves. For better or worse."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Kass was gracious in her response, and Cora's look of discomfort eased into something more curious. She hadn't been the best xenobiology student, having once mistaken a Kel'dor for a Bothan.

"It must be hard for you." The Princess acknowledged somewhat bashfully. No one had ever run from her in fright simply for how she looked, but if they had, she imagined that it wouldn't feel all that good.

Strange though it may be, there was a thread that linked Pylantians and Ukatians.

"The way of life on Ukatis is…mostly quiet compared to how things work on other worlds." With Evalina in the room and Cora's own pride, she struggled to find a way to not call her people simple.

"We have some traditions that others find backwards. It has caused friction before. But that's…that's different that looking a certain way."

Cora fidgeted awkwardly with her hands for a few moments before settling. As hard as she tried to be as elegant and regal as a Princess should, she was still sometimes a fumbling teenager. She fixed Kass and Oukranos with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry that the villagers ran from you when you needed help. Ukatis hasn't…had much contact with the greater galaxy, but we're trying to change that."

The healer place a hand of encouragement on Cora's shoulder, and the two shared a brief look.

Kassogtha Cthylla

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Her efforts were acknowledged, and both Cora and Evalina seemed to relax somewhat now that they had a better understanding of what was going on. Cora even managed to find common ground between them, though she faltered in her comparison between the plights of the Ukatian and Pylantian people. It wasn't exactly the same, but there were enough similarities that it was worthy of consideration, at least.

"Our world hadn't even discovered space travel yet when explorers found us," Kass said, bobbing up and down in the Pylantian equivalent of a nod. "We are not an aggressive people, but the explorers attacked us on sight because they were afraid. It was a violent beginning, one that we have not forgotten. Many people still feel that perhaps it would have been better if we had not established contact at all... But, there are good things that have come out of it, too." Access to new technologies, mostly, though even those were not without their drawbacks. She could remember how quickly the changes had occurred, and the confusion and strife it had caused for those struggling to adjust—or those for whom the innovations created new problems which weren't there before. No, none of it had been easy.

Having lapsed into silent thought, she glanced over at Oukranos again. He seemed to be doing better. Color was returning to his face, so the transfusion machine must've been working.

"I am not familiar with Ukatis' situation," she admitted. "But if my homeworld's experience is anything to go by, yours will find its place on the galactic stage in due time. Even if your reputation remains that of a quiet planet, considered 'backwards' to some, you will find that you have strengths which others do not, and lack weaknesses which plague others. That is the way with all things. When they see what you have to offer, they will accept you." Feeling dizzy, she drooped a little lower to the ground. "I think I had better rest a bit... He must be taking a lot of my blood."

Corazona von Ascania​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora regarded Kass as a student would a teacher, eagerly focused on her words and the meaning behind them.

Ukatis may have been a fairly insular world, but first contact had been made millenia before Cora had been born. Her home simply hadn't seen value in mingling with offworlders to a high degree, and Ukatis didn't have any natural resources that made it a target of invasion or recruitment for any galactic powers. Ukatians were also human, not…as different looking as Kass.

"It sounds as though your people have had a lot of difficulties to reconcile with. Er, or are still reconciling." Cora nodded, hoping that she understood. She thought that she could at face value, but perhaps there was an element of understanding she would never quite achieve given the differences in their respective situations.

Cora considered Kass' words quietly as Evalina busied herself by checking the readout on the transfusion machine. The healer's cam silence indicated that nothing was amiss.

"I do hope that you're right, but that doesn't mean that some things can't change."

Her voice was soft and contemplative. Ukatis was a world steeped in tradition, but some of those traditions were costly on the general populace.

"Oh-! Um," Cora scrambled upwards, scampering her way to the utility closet. She retrieved a blanket in short order, unrolling and shaking the dust from it.

"It's not much, but it's thicker than the sheet." She offered, attempting to drape the woolen cover awkwardly over husband and wife.

They were such a lovely couple, truly. Horace would've never regarded Cora with such affection, and nor she him.

A flush crept up her pale features all the same. There was one person she could picture herself in a similar situation with.


Kassogtha Cthylla