Rae slumped against the wall of the shed. Sobbing into the sleeve of his hoodie. His anxiety and depression flooded his mind like a Dam bursting into a river.

"You idiot, of course you can't be friends with Aliens. And you just met them, are you really that desperate? Why do you always get your hopes up like this?"

Rae leaned to the side brushing the wet tips of his shaggy dirty-blonde locks out of his eyes. However, his depressing thoughts were soon interrupted by a creaking hinge of a shed door and Fulbrik's large hand on his shoulder.

"Please do not hate the Young Master." Fulbrik spoke calmly. "Asgeeri Males are taught from a young age to never show weakness or leniency to those beneath them. Our culture is very different from yours it would seem." The Guardian stopped for a moment considering what he was about to say carefully. "I have not seen the Young Master show mercy towards disrespect in several years. He was not always this way; he was very different from most of our peers." His voice began to sulk in sadness, just a bit. "For him to have shown any leniency at all is very unusual. And this is a very stressful situation for him..."

"So he doesn't hate me? I'm so confused... Then why...?" Rae pleaded, stifling his sniffles, whimpers, and sobs.

"I doubt that very much; if he did not enjoy your company, he would have definitely struck you. That is the traditional Asgeeri way in which we discipline each other. You must understand, the Asgeeri are a race of great Warriors that span an empire across four galaxies lying within the heart of the Known Realms." Fulbrik looked up at the sky and waved his hand briefly, to indicate how vast their Empire was. "It is hard to explain this behavior to you without an understanding of the innate characteristics of our race and culture. For instance, Male Asgeeri are typically very intolerant of anything seen as an affront to their honor or a challenge to their status."

"But why are they like that???" Rae asked, genuinely trying to understand the confusing nature of their Alien behavior. "I'm sorry, I don't understand... we were just eating pancakes and having a good time together. This is a really strange way to act here, at least towards friends. And I really want to like you guys, you are... I-I've always wanted guys my own age as friends. I only have one friend anyways and it's just not the same. I just thought... it would be nice, for once, you know?" Rae clutched his left arm, head slightly hung, and ears drooped down in a defensive posture, as he revealed a personal, intimate, longing truth from his mind to the Guardian.

Fulbrik sighed and thumped down beside the crumpled distraught Rae. "I am really quite terrible at diplomatic relations." He flashed an awkward forced smile of attempted comfort. "And I am also very bad at explaining things in general —Haha, but I will try to explain this to you."

"You see..." The Giant authoritatively held up his finger. "...This behavior from the Young Master, it is normal for our Males, and it results from the biological and social traits of our race. Male and Female Asgeeri are most different in our personalities." He held an open palm and looked down at Rae. "And the primary reason the Asgeeri are a Warrior race is because of this evolutionary path. The most significant difference, and the root cause of this trouble, is emotional affect."

Fulbrik cleared his throat, and scratched beneath his right eye, pensively; he looked slightly uncomfortable talking about this. But he continued...

"We Males experience a much wider and more intense set of emotions than Females. Our scholars believe this is the resulting combination of two factors: Asgeeri Females being very selective about the perceived strength of prospective mates; as well as, the evolutionary response of Asgeeri Males. Together, over the course of thousands of years, these created a unique culture and society that arose to accommodate the strengths and weaknesses of our kind."

The tutoring Asgeeri inhaled, then looked over at Rae who was now listening carefully.

"...And so as a result of this combination, Male Asgeeri have evolved a very strong and unique set of hormones which not only affects us in aggressive situations, such as combat, but also in our daily lives. We all experience an intense release of these hormones in many different situations, and they make us very strong, but they are also very difficult to control. Even the other Great Races fear our prowess and ferocity because of this, and often refer to it as 'Asgeeri Bloodlust'; though, we would say that they are simply unfit for war." Fulbrik gave a tiny proud smirk at this last bit.

"That said, you should also know, the Females of our race do not posses these hormones, even though many are still very capable Warriors; and because they do not, their personalities are typically more calm, logical, and calculating. This is why more of our Females tend to rise to high positions in our military. These traits make them composed and collected leaders; although, there are leaders in our society from both genders. For instance, our last Emperor, was Prince Dasnir's father; whereas, my Master's mother is not only the current Queen-Regent but also Supreme Commander of our Armada."

"So you're telling me, the guys of your race are overly emotional?" Rae asked, with a confused tone. "Then why does he look so cold, and you look like a statue most of the time?"

"Ah yes... I was getting to that, it is related to the 'second factor' I mentioned before. We Males are taught from a very young age to compensate for the negative aspect of our biological difference from Females, namely that we experience 'weaker' emotions much more intensely than they do. We do this by learning to control, temper, and hide these undesirable emotions, which are considered 'weak in nature' by our society, such as: affection, tolerance, fear, sadness, and mercy, among others."

"And why are they considered 'weak', exactly?" Rae interjected, his head cocked with a puzzled look.

Fulbrik stopped, staring in stunned silence, for just a brief moment; he was looking right at Rae so the Cat could tell there was some kind of severe shift, as a result of this question, in his Alien friend's mental orbit, almost as if the Cat had climbed onto the table of the cosmos and tipped his Asgeeri friend's world right of its axis. So out of character was it, that he almost thought he saw some kind of fear there, or maybe something else, but it must have been his imagination.

The Viking instructor quickly looked away from the boy, cleared his throat, recomposed himself, and then continued on, giving Rae the best answer he could.

"Eehum— Well the answer is simple, these types of feelings are seen as distractions to our kind, because they can create weak points for potential enemies to exploit, and degrade the character of our Males. Thus, there is instruction and discipline ingrained within us, from the time we are but tiny Warriors, to learn with great effort and diligence to block the display of weaker emotions, and to only show strength, cunning, and bravery in all ways both physical and mental. Therefor, it is considered shameful, reckless, and unmanly to let these influence our actions. And so, we Males do this to prove that our character is fit to attract the strongest mates; but also, to prove our respect to society and maintain our sense of order and tradition."

The giant Guardian exhaled a long gusty breath, in a sigh of relief, as if he had just finished a test instead of an explanation of Asgeeri biology and culture. This was the first time Rae had seen any hint of outright distress coming from Fulbrik. Even when he was talking to the Prince about the deaths of their crew-mates, he did not have this obvious look which said: "I really don't want to talk about this".

It felt to Rae as if it must be taboo to discuss this topic so openly.

"Surely now you must have an idea of why the Young Master behaved the way he did?" Fulbrik began to plead with Rae for forgiveness of his younger stubborn Master. "On our home world, Asgar, the way you spoke to him... it would be seen as a direct challenge to his masculinity, his honor, his status, and his authority. As if you were degrading him in front of everyone. Especially for a Prince this would be even more intolerable and unthinkable to forgive openly. If he was seen by other Asgeeri to publicly forgive such transgressions so easily, it would shame him and make him look weak and unfit to lead in their eyes."

"Is that why he is so uptight, uhh I mean distant?" Rae asked, realizing Fulbrik would not understand human slang. He had been listening rather enthralled learning about an Alien culture.

Fulbrik sat quiet and still for a brief second looking off towards the now setting sun. "That is one reason... there is another... but it is not my place to divulge it..."

"...But regardless of that, the Asgeeri do not respect 'weak' leaders. The influence a leader within our society possesses, is directly proportionate to their character and deeds. If an Asgeeri of high status, especially an Emperor, wants to be effective they must display their worth to the people. Otherwise, they will have a very difficult time leading and will be a leader only by title with little ability to affect law, command respect, or direct events among our people.

"From the time he was very young, Prince Dasnir has been under constant pressure to maintain obedience and respect from others. And this pressure has only grown since the death of his father. You see, he was his father's youngest child and only son. But he was his father's favorite; not long after I came to live with the Young Master, his father once told me: 'Someday my son will be a great ruler, so I can not entrust him to just any Guardian. To be Dasnir's protector you must care for him beyond duty, because he does not yet know of his greatness.' And so, I was not at all surprised when he was crowned as the Imperial Heir shortly before his father's death... I owe the Prince so much even before I became his Guardian...

"So I really wish for you would consider forgiving him. My Master has bore the weight of this responsibility for 5 years now since he was crowned, yet he has not been deemed worthy to ascend to the throne, so his mother rules in his place. This fact weighs on him heavily, and I believe he feels unworthy to bear his father's name. Certainly his mother would remind him of this as I have seen her do before, she would not approve of what he just did. —She would ensure he beat you severely."

There was a small moment of awkward silence between the two, after this statement.

"I'm sure that there can be some understanding between us. Perhaps a compromise can be made, as our cultures and people are so different. If you give him some time, and talk to him directly in a respectful way; I think he may listen to you. So will you please help us, Sir Rae? I am sure we will be here for a while even if I can send a message off-world. The Young Master will not listen to my advice on this matter, since we came here searching for something he believes will make him worthy to be crowned as a revered Emperor. He will not leave until he finds 'It'. We must learn to blend with your people; if we are discovered here it will cause grave conflict. The Prince should not be in the Neutral Zone, and if one of the other Great Races finds out he is here, they may attack or even start a war."

Fulbrik sounded uncharacteristically worried.

"Umm wow... I didn't realize it was so serious." Rae said nervously. "Well I suppose I can't abandon you guys now. Especially if there would be consequences like that. It would feel wrong... You would probably be noticed very quickly without me." He held a warm smile feeling calmer after listening to Fulbrik's detailed explanation. And he began to imagine the possible strange scenes the two Alien boys would cause if left to their own devices, which made him chuckle.

"Does this mean you will help us?" Fulbrik asked, in a relieved tone.

"Yes but... I have one condition." Rae said calmly. "If he hits me you will both have to leave. I get beaten up enough as it is by assholes who hate me. I don't need friends who also attack me. In exchange, I promise to be as respectful towards you both to the best of my ability and knowledge." He raised his hand with a goofy smile, looking to imitate a pledge of loyalty.

"Shit it's getting late..." Rae thought as he noticed the sun starting to set. "Listen I'll keep my little brother out of the Shed for tonight. That's normally his place to hang out. But we are going to have to figure out a plan tomorrow since you said you're stuck here. And school starts the day after tomorrow. I don't know what I'm going to do with you during the school days." He said looking a bit worried.

"School? Is that some kind of training?" Fulbrik interrupted.

"Uhh— yeah, you could say it's like training —Haha." Rae laughed as he thought of Fulbrik trying to do weird Alien martial arts at his school.

"Very well, we will rest. I will ensure the Young Master stays here tonight, and we will be as discreet as possible." Fulbrik said, returning to his usual stoic demeanor.

"Ok I'll do my best. I'll wake you guys up early in the morning and we'll figure something out, just relax." Rae got up and headed towards the house as Fulbrik went back inside; he heard the door lock.

"I think I really did make some friends after all." Rae thought. His tail wagged in excitement.

That night Rae went to sleep with a smile on his face, and a new hope in his heart.