Chapter Text
He had imagined being blooded would end in a triumph. That he would roar his victory to the hunting lands above. His kill would be clean, the mark of his clan burned into his flesh. His Dam would be proud of him. Place her hands on his shoulders, and finally–finally--she would recognize that he was a great hunter. One that would be worthy of their clan's name.
But it wasn't like that.
It was painful.
Failure hurt like the open wound in his shoulder. It rattled through the cracked ribs he was left with. His arm was numb…he was numb. It had taken him hours to just stumble through the dense foliage of these woods. They were new to him, and he was new to this planet.
Sha’rak was in pain, so much pain. Anguish. He missed his furs, the warmth of his home and most of all he missed his big sister. Teh’ren, or Wild Song as the others called her. She was so kind, so tolerant, and loved to teach the young. So different from the others in the clan, especially the other females. Teh’ren did not discipline when one cried for their dams, she comforted. Teh’ren did not let the ways of their clan shape her, or change her.
She was strong, in heart, mind, and body. To Sha’rak–weak and small–, she was perfect.
Sha’rak groaned as he rolled over on his left side, the opposite side of his wounded shoulder and arm. That arm would need to be taken care of soon if he wanted to keep it. The hunters who had left him to this shithole hadn’t even allowed him to clean it. Sha’rak should get up, stand on his feet. Use his training to fix himself up, find shelter and hunt.
Hunt.
Teh’ren would never become the Huntress she should’ve been. No, she was most likely being burned on a great pyre of flames, roaming in the vast jungles of the Ancestors.
A wheeze left him as he finally pushed himself up, looking around himself with half lidded eyes. He wasn’t sure how he was going to survive this, he was small, meaningless in so many ways. The bottoms of his feet hurt and now they were bare in the dirt, the moist, muddy earth.
With a crackling breath, Sha’rak took his first steps into his new life, his Hell.
Let’s get this over with.
His clicks drifted off with the breeze. The hot, wet breeze. This planet was dank all around. The moisture was grabbing onto his plates and ridges, making it feel like he was in the baths back home.
Home.
Was it ever home?
Sha’rak wasn’t sure anymore. Teh’ren was home, she was the one he asked for when he returned home from drills. Thinking of her was no comfort now, just a reminder of a wound only festering–similar to how his shoulder was leaving a trail of green plasma, left for anyone to track. Not that anyone was going to.
No one but the predators of this land. A mighty shake of his head and Sha’rak dismissed the mental dilimbah he was faced with. Push it out and focus on survival.
That’s just what he did. Dragging through this swamp, swatting bugs from his eyes and scrambling from a large reptilian at one point, Sha’rak found his little safe haven: a small tunnel burrowed into the earth, hidden under a tall and old tree. The roots were thick and would make good structure for a stronger roof.
For now, it was a good place to rest, to tend to his wounds the best he could. Maybe he could wash in the river that he heard splashing nearby.
With a tired, whistling breath, Sha’rak settled with the grace of an elder with a bad back and brittle knees. Right now he felt like his body was made of fragile Vertanium, forged too quick in the hearth. Sha’rak sighed deep as he tried to make himself comfortable in the soft dirt.
He managed to close his eyes, the sun of this planet already set, darkness creeping in and with it a cool breeze.
Finally sleep came to him–until it was chased away by a large crack in the sky.
Sha’rak gave a full body jolt. Small drops of rain began to make themselves known upon his skin.
“Pauk.” His head lolled to the side with the word.
Soon it was a downpour and the drops became like cold projectiles. The rain was freezing, the soft ground he once took comfort in was now a soggy mess. Sha’rak was tired, and at this point in his life, he couldn’t care less of the rain. Not even enough energy to reposition himself, Sha’rak settled in the mud, rain pelting his face.
With the sound of the sky’s crying, Sha’rak fell into an uneasy slumber.