S'haar was muttering to herself under her breath. "Well, this turned out about as bad as it possibly could have…" At the moment, she was struggling in vain to remove the straps binding her to the stake.

Sure, she'd heard all the rumors of B'arthon's womanizing ways. Still, finally having a full belly, a warm place to sleep, and nice clothes had made it easy to ask the question, "What's the worst that could happen?" At the time, she'd thought the worst was being dumped for some other woman and ending up back on the streets where she'd started.

Never had it crossed her mind that being tied up as a "virgin" sacrifice to appease the new dragon was even a remote possibility. S'haar grew tired of muttering quietly, so this time she shouted to the heavens. "If I ever see that worthless son of a Lord again, I'm going to castrate him!"

An impossibly loud roar came from the new cave in front of her, reminding S'haar that she'd probably never get the chance to make good on her threat. Which was a shame for the sake of all the future women who would cross that miserable waste of breath's path.

Apparently, the only thing that wretch, B'arthon, had any skill in was tying women up. Go figure. As the minutes ticked by, S'haar could hear the dragon slowly approaching the entrance of the cave.

It was just beginning to snow, and S'haar started to debate which fate was worse, being eaten alive or slowly freezing to death while tied to a stake. Without shelter and fire, it wouldn't matter whether or not the dragon ate her.

After one last attempt to get her claws into a position to sever the leather straps, S'haar screamed loudly in incoherent anger and frustration. She no longer cared if the dragon could hear her or not. Her last scream of defiance echoed around the hills and valleys. Then, after the last echo faded, she noticed something odd. It was suddenly quiet.

She heard something heavy settle just inside the cavern, then the sound of...footsteps? Yes, those were definitely footsteps that approached the mouth of the cavern. Soon she could see a glow, like fire, approach along with the sound. S'haar started wondering if the beast would cook her alive before eating her. "How does this situation keep going from bad to worse?"

Staring up at the sky, she shouted the last of her defiance to the gods. They surely watched her now, for the first time in her all-too-short of a life. "Enjoy the show! You've all been as worthless as the men in the village, anyway!"

That was when movement at the mouth of the cave caught her eye, and what she saw left her speechless. Whatever she had been expecting the beast to look like, the thing now walking toward her was not it. This was so… so anticlimactic.

What appeared to be a sickly looking Argu'n walked out of the cave. His hide looked soft and had a sickly pinkish hue to it. His head tails were impossibly short and thin, like a fine fur that waved about with the most delicate breezes. His gait was off, as if he was missing a set of joints in his upper thighs. As he walked up to her, S'haar noticed he was short as well. In fact, he was shorter than her by a noticeable margin. A quick flick of her tongue let her know he also smelled odd, and she could sense heat actually radiating off his body as if he was producing excess heat from within.

-

Jack shook his head. As if crash landing on this backword planet wasn't bad enough, now he had a local tied to a stake in front of his new involuntary home. "Seriously, a sacrifice? The hell is wrong with you people? Can't a guy crash land into a mountain on a strange planet, then dig his ship out in peace?"

Taking a moment to look at his new guest, Jack quickly realized she was in multiple states of distress. "Aaaand you're naked…Oh hell, I'd better get you down."

Jack pulled out his knife and carefully approached the native. As he did so, she spit at him. He sighed in exasperation, reminding himself that she was obviously having a day every bit as bad as his own. He tried to speak in soothing tones to calm her down, but it was apparent she couldn't understand a word he said. Not that there was any reason she should be able to, but it was just one more obstacle in clearing up this unfortunate mess.

As he reached for her bindings, the native started struggling and shouting to the heavens again. Jack wondered if she was praying, but despite the language barrier, her tone of voice and general demeanor seemed far too angry and aggressive for any prayer he knew of.

He started to have second thoughts about cutting the woman down but quickly realized leaving her here was a death sentence. So he took a deep breath, cut her bindings, and stood back.

-

S'haar was going to die, and it was going to happen at the hands of this pathetic, deformed, deficient male. At first, she wasn't sure what his intentions were, but the drawn knife made things apparent enough. She shouted every obscenity she knew at every person she even suspected might have had a hand in her ending up at this spot at this time, when something unexpected happened.

The odd male cut her bindings and stepped back, sheathing his blade. S'haar could see he was even shorter than she realized. He didn't even come up to her nose. The fact didn't seem to escape his notice, and he looked up at her with just a touch of fear, or possibly wariness, evident in his eyes.

Other things seemed off as well. His limbs all seemed shorter than they should be. His eyes were too narrow and rounded at the pupal. His fingers were stubbier than usual, and his claws were malformed to the point of being useless. He was covered in dust and debris, as though he'd been digging.

He was gesturing to the cave and speaking in that odd language of his. It sounded almost like singing rather than talking, and his voice lacked the harsh guttural sounds S'haar was used to. It seemed he wanted S'haar to follow him into the cave.

Glancing at the sky, S'haar shivered as she realized her choice was to follow him and probably die, or stay out here and definitely die. Looking him over, she was confident that she could best him with ease if it came to a fight. However, he seemed friendly enough, so far, and she was getting cold quickly.

As the male approached the cave, he reached up to the band on his head, and S'haar heard a click. There was now light projecting from some shiny stone on his headband. A distant part of S'haar's mind realized this was more than a little odd, but her thoughts were getting as sluggish as her movements with the cold, and she just couldn't bring herself to care about much of anything any longer. She'd follow this strange little man a little further, then she'd lie down for a nap. Just a short nap.

It took her a moment to realize the man had stopped. In front of him was what appeared to be a wall of some kind of painted metal that seemed severely gouged in countless places. That meant this was the end of the cave, which also meant it was the end for her. With something between a sigh and a gasp, S'haar gave up and collapsed onto the ground. Life was always so unfair. Why shouldn't death be?

_

Looking over his shoulder, Jack noticed that the native following him seemed to be getting steadily more sluggish. When he reached the door, he heard her gasp, and when he turned, he saw her collapse. Now rushing, Jack opened the door and dragged her inside. Now she seemed frozen in a fetal position, and it was harder to move her than he expected. She was heavier than even her height would indicate.

"Angela, initiate house guest protocol and scan the guest. What's wrong with… her/him/it?"

In front of Jack materialized a tiny blue woman with darker blue hair in a pixie cut. "We've been on the planet for less than two days, and you're already bringing a naked woman home? I thought you always said you weren't a ladies man?"

Jack glared at Angela as he took off his mining harness. "Remind me later to go into great detail telling you just how funny you are. Now, is our guest in any danger or not?"

Angela looked like he had just told her she was the cutest thing in the world (He never does, but she knows she is) and answered impishly. "SHE is in no danger. She appears to be more cold-blooded than not, though I suppose it would be better to reclassify her as semi cold-blooded."

The AI visibly snapped herself out of her revelry to continue. "Regardless, by bringing her inside the ship, you've already taken the necessary steps to save her. With your permission, I'll bump the temperature up a few more degrees, and she should be back on her feet in no time. Then YOU can explain to her why she's naked inside a stranger's house!"

Jack continued to glare daggers at his ship's avatar, though his tone of voice indicated it was more for show than actual anger. "Good to hear. We should probably get a few clean blankets ready for her, and maybe some hot food. Assuming we have something safe for her to eat? Also, start working on a translation program as soon as you are able."

Angela saluted Jack in an overly serious manner that fooled precisely no one. "Sir, yes, sir! Anything else, sir?"

Jack looked longingly at the doorway to his bedroom and sighed. "Yeah, make me a large pot of coffee. I have a feeling it's going to be a long night, and not in the fun kind of way."

Suddenly wide-eyed, Angela replied, "Sir, I didn't know you knew there was a fun way!"

Jack threw the blanket he'd grabbed through her projection before sighing again and going to picking it back up. As he did so, he spoke wistfully to himself as he glanced in the new arrival's direction. "Just what kind of trouble have I gotten myself into?"

-

The first thing S'haar sensed was warmth. This wasn't the harsh, uneven heat of a winter's fire meant to keep the sharp bite of winter's air at bay. This was the even, relaxing warmth of a pleasant summer evening. The next thing she noticed was the many confusing scents that filled the area. Some were harsh, sharp acrid smells, many others were impossible to place, but a few smelled…like metal? That was when one particular smell caught her attention. S'haar realized she could also smell meat!

With that revelation, her eyes snapped open, and she found herself in a hut. Though it was unlike any hut she'd seen in her life. The walls and ceiling were clearly metal, and a fortune's worth of metal, at that. If all the metal in her village were to be gathered in one spot, it would still be a paltry amount in comparison. The floor was soft, almost like a short, thick fur. She also found herself covered by an impossibly soft blanket, unlike any skin or fur she'd ever felt before.

Looking around, she realized a soft, even light seemed to be glowing from behind beautiful glass panels. The glass looked more clear and transparent than any glass S'haar had seen in her life. She also noticed the light didn't flicker or waver the way candles or flames should.

Finally, she realized the smell of meat that had woken her seemed to be emanating from the misshapen argu'n from earlier. More specifically, it came from the pan in his hands. As she focused on the scent in front of her, an impossibly small but similarly misshapen blue female appeared out of thin air next to the male and blurted something in that odd language of his, pointing to S'haar as she did so. Though this one somehow sounded much more cheerful than the male had. Almost too cheerful...

S'haar jumped back in shock, baring her claws and teeth while hissing a warning. Whoever this impossibly rich malformed lord was, all of this was just too strange. People did not appear out of thin air, they were not blue, and they were NOT that tiny. Who knew what strange magics were at work in this strange place? S'haar had always dismissed the stories of sorcerers and devils told by the village elders while huddled around the evening fires, but what other explanation could there be?

Feeling the man's gaze, S'haar turned her attention back at him. Realizing he was staring, his eyes shot to the ground, and she heard him mutter what might have been an apology. S'haar narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Why would some lord with this much wealth, and possibly forbidden magics, shy away from her?

Sparing a look down at herself, she realized that she had dropped the blanket and now stood naked. In a rush, she grabbed the cloth and bunched it up in front of herself, almost feeling more vulnerable in this strange hut than she had while tied to the stake.

-

Risking a glance back to his guest, Jack could see she was safely covered again. When she'd been asleep, she'd seemed so vulnerable and alien that he'd felt nothing but pity and protectiveness toward the poor girl. Admittedly, she was a large, powerful, fanged, and clawed girl who could probably effortlessly kill him, but she was a girl nonetheless.

Now, standing before him was no girl. It was a proud woman who glared at him, as though daring him to disrespect her in any way. Jack chuckled nervously to himself as he dished the beef he'd been cooking out onto a couple of plates and slowly, carefully approached the alien standing before him.

Based on the way she moved, she obviously had muscles wrapped around a skeleton similar to his, though with longer limbs that were tipped with some very dangerous looking claws. She had bony plates covering much of her legs, arms, and torso that seemed to be a greyish brown color, almost like an exoskeleton. Between the plates and from her neck up, her skin was a soft red color. She had an extra joint in her thigh that seemed like it would give her fantastic jumping or burst speeds. Combined with the smaller claws on her hands and the somewhat intimidating three-inch-long claws on her feet, she was a force to be respected. There also appeared to be another set of five-inch long claws extending off her elbows, making Jack think he should think twice before getting on her bad side.

Somehow her face was both familiar and alien. Topping her head was a series of long, bony protuberances that could be mistaken for dreadlocks that extended past her shoulders when seen from far enough away. Her jaw looked like some hybrid between a muted muzzle and a human face. He couldn't help but notice it was filled with far too many long, sharp, and pointy teeth for his comfort. Occasionally her forked tongue flicked out like a lizard's as if tasting the air. Her catlike nose flowed into the upper end of her mouth. Her ears looked like they belonged on an elf, long and pointed, with an odd wavy pattern along the backside. Where the eyebrows should have been, there was a slight ridge that ended in three small bony ridges near the outer edge.

As he looked into her eyes, he froze, not realizing that he was holding his breath as his fight, flight, or freeze response chose that moment to select freeze. Those were the eyes of a predator, assessing him for threat or weakness. They were bright silver, reflective to the point they almost seemed to glow, but slit down the middle like a cat's.

He mentally nudged himself back into action, slowly approaching her. He placed one of the plates on the end table he unconsciously kept between the woman and himself before backing up and motioning for her to take it. She complied, kept a wary eye on him all the same.

Jack made a deliberate show of taking one of the morsels, showing it to her, and then eating it, hoping his guest would relax if she saw him eating from the same batch as her. The meat was bland because he didn't know enough about her physiology to guess what spices would be safe for her to eat, so he stuck with simple browned beef tips for the moment.

Throughout this, Angela kept looking back and forth, excitedly watching her human try and make friends with a very intimidating native. He'd always been a bit too much of a loner, so it was good to see him socialize, even if it was with a woman who could kill him a dozen times in a dozen ways before he could react. Though not before Angela could respond. The moment there were any signs of danger, she could respond in a dozen different ways, varying from a minor annoyance to lethal action as the situation merited. However, she was hoping nothing like that would be necessary. Besides, the tension seemed to be easing as the woman started to eat.

-

S'haar's fear was fading and was replaced by an odd incredulity. Everything about her host seemed to contradict itself. Here was a man with the kind of wealth she couldn't imagine, yet he was still doing menial labor like cooking. In her experience, a man as wealthy as this one was should be demanding her servitude as payment for saving her life. Instead, he seemed oddly concerned with her comfort. Finally, and perhaps worst of all, this small, soft, declawed male seemed to be acting as though he was afraid of frightening her.

It was all so absurd that she had no idea what to think. So when her host gave her meat, she simply ate. After eating the first morsel, S'haar looked down at the rest with a touch of disdain on her face. "This meat is bland and overcooked," S'haar caught herself, realizing that just because he couldn't understand her words didn't mean he couldn't discern her meaning, and even if it was poorly prepared, it was food, and she should be grateful. With that in mind, she amended her statement. "On the other hand, it is meat, and it is warm, so... thanks."

As she slowly relaxed, the male started speaking to her in that odd language of his, waving his hand around as he spoke. S'haar paid attention, even though nothing seemed to make sense until he finally held his hand over his chest and spoke slowly and clearly, "Jack." Then he held his hand out with all his fingers pointing to the small blue woman and said, "Angela." Finally, he pointed his hand to her, his meaning apparent. S'haar held her hand over the blanket held in place over her chest and said, "S'haar."

He smiled and repeated "S'haar" in that odd song sounding voice of his. He then followed up with what she assumed was a greeting of some sort, smiling at her all the while. She smiled back and politely pretended not to notice when his gaze flicked to her teeth and back, causing his smile to waver almost imperceptibly… the keyword being almost.

To be fair, he seemed to be as confused by her as she was by him. At least he appeared to mean her no harm. Even if she wasn't interested in the kinds of honor all the males in her village seemed obsessed with, she recognized that he had done her several favors already and taken some risk upon himself by bringing a stranger into his home. She might not be willing to give him her servitude as thanks, but the least she could do is try and return his friendliness.

Besides, it's not like she could just walk back into her village. After what they had done to her, or at least what they thought they had done to her, she wasn't sure she wouldn't try and attack them all on the spot. At the moment, S'haar was warm, she was fed, and she was certainly better off than she'd thought possible a few hours ago. Perhaps it was best to simply let tomorrow take care of itself for now.

As "Jack" wound down, he seemed to look at S'haar somewhat expectantly, as if he expected her to share her own story. So, she launched into the explanation of her recent "poor life choices" that had led up to their eventual meeting.

With a sigh, S'haar began. "I guess it started when I turned down the guard captain's offers for companionship. I might have done so in a manner that bruised his pride. In my defense, it's not my fault he decided to approach me with all that swagger in front of his troops."

S'haar started to get more animated, clenching her fists in frustration as she really started in on her rant. She didn't seem to notice her host seeming to shrink back at her sudden show of aggression. "That led to one disagreement after another, which resulted in me being kicked out of the guard."

S'haar's anger seemed to lose its heat, and she grew tired as she continued her story. "So then I became a hunter, and I was damned good at it too! Then I had to go and get into a series of fights with the hunting chief over a similar disagreement. Once again, I found myself on the streets, looking for a place that would offer me warmth and food enough to last me through the winter."

As her rant went on, S'haar started to pace, her agitation visibly building again. "I looked into becoming a blacksmith, but as it turns out, they do a lot of business with the guards and hunters, so I was too much a liability for them. Winter was rapidly approaching, and I had no work and no home. So when the lord's son propositioned me, I figured I could do what needed to be done until spring. After that, I could start over somewhere else."

The anger returned, but this time it held an icy edge instead of the heat from before. "Wouldn't you know it, I just couldn't stomach being his 'lady' any more than any other useless male in the village. So once again, I opened my mouth."

S'haar seemed to deflate one last time. She collapsed onto the couch, apparently ready to be done with her story. "Eventually, that led to me being tied to a stake and left to be eaten by a dragon. By the way, you are a pretty sad excuse for a dragon. Hell, you're a sad excuse for a man!"

S'haar laughed a little sadly to herself. "Then again, I guess I'm a sad excuse for a woman… not that I regret any of it! I just... I just wish I knew what to do now…"

After that, she seemed determined to hide her worries about the future in a deluge of vivid descriptions about her thoughts of the various men of her village, the woman who enable them, and the gods who can join them all in multiple activities that were cathartic to describe even if they might be physically impossible. This went on for a significant length of time as S'haar went to great lengths to be as creative in her descriptions as she was malicious.

-

Angela chuckled to herself before she turned to Jack. "After reviewing the various conversations tonight, I think I've gathered enough to get a basic idea of what she's saying. If I'm right, and we both know I always am, I think I like her. Can we keep her?"