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black-suns-rim · 17 days

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Perseverance

Wow, been a while since I've made a short story. Anyway, this one is about Big Papa seeking out help and pulling through.

The days were going by too fast. They blurred together, and they were getting hard to keep track of. Days merged into weeks, and weeks were hard to distinguish between months. But he still kept going despite being so tired. Big Papa was updating his inventory after the week he spent in one of the merchant stalls.

He was a bit slower than usual. He would've already been done by now if he weren't so sluggish. He would usually have some help, but he allowed for his crew to have some time off from their duties since they had been working hard all week. After cataloging everything, he sat down on the cold metal floor, leaning his back up against one of the metal shelves that came out from the wall.

He looked at the ceiling and sighed. His mandibles slowly moved as he thought about what he wanted to do next. But he didn't want to do anything, though he knew he should do something. He didn't like to sit around when he knew he could get stuff done... he huffed as he got up from the floor. He headed out from the storage room and made his way to the cockpit of his ship, sitting down in the pilot's seat. He pulled up a holo screen on his wrist gauntlet, checking to make sure all of his crew members were on the ship. Once he was sure they were all on board, he prepared the ship for departure from the planet. He had an idea of where he wanted to go, and he acted out of a desperate impulse.

The ship was a smooth sailer, and at times, the crew never noticed when it landed or took off from planets or stations. It was also a silent flyer. It made very little noise. Inside and out. Though it did eminate a soft, low, soothing hum from the inside.

Once Big Papa had his course set, he let the ship fly on autopilot. He leaned back in the seat and rested his eyes. The next thing he knew, one of his crew members was waking him up. He slowly opened his eyes to see Rajneesh, the crew's moral support and event planner.

He was holding a large plate of food in his hands and saying something, but Big Papa was too groggy to catch what he was saying. The next thing he knew, Raj placed the plate of food in Papa's lap. Before he could thank him, Rajneesh walked off with a spring in his step, cheerful almost. Papa looked down at the plate full of food. He stared at it, somewhat dredding it. He couldn't remember how long its been when he actually had an appetite and wanted to eat. He stared at it for a while before he forced himself to eat at least something on the plate, even if it wasn't much. He ate all that he could without feeling disgusted and then checked to see how long it had been that he had been asleep for. "4 hours?" He thought to himself, "Long nap..." He moved the plate from his lap and stood up, stretching all his muscles.

He looked at how much longer it would be to arrive at the desired location he had placed into the computer, only to see it would take 3 more hours. He couldn't think of what to do during that time besides showering, so he did. There was only one showering room on the ship and it was shared, though Big Papa did split it up into 2 sections since his crew explained to him that human men and women often showered separately from each other, unless they were a couple. He did find that strange in the beginning, but after learning more about their culture over the years of working with them, it made some sense to him.

He felt so tired, even after that long nap. He didn't want to stand. He didn't feel like standing in the shower, so he sat as the water pelted his back and head. He watched the water run down his body, mesmerized by the way it trailed down him in ever-changing patterns. He didn't realize how long he had been sitting on the shower floor until he heard his name being called by another crew member. He turned his head to see Ehud, the security officer.

"Are you alright? You've been so still for a while, Pops." Ehud had a towel wrapped around his waste and wet hair clung to his face. Big Papa stood up and turned off the water, ignoring the question. He grabbed a towel from one of the cabinets nearby and dried himself off. Ehud was still a little concerned.

"Pops," He walked over to him as he was drying off, "Is there something wrong? You know you can talk about anything with us."

Papa was growing a bit agitated, "Nothing wrong." He spoke in English. Ehud knew he was lying, but he didn't want to push him, so he nodded and let him be. Big Papa went to his personal room once he was done drying off. He didn't feel like getting dressed at that moment, so he laid in his bed. He fell asleep once more. He woke up a couple hours later to the sound of his gauntlet beeping. He got up from his bed and rubbed his face as he grabbed his gauntlet in a groggy state.

He pressed a couple of buttons, letting a holo screen pop up. His ship had arrived to the planet he had set course to, and it was now in orbit. Papa sighed as he placed his gauntlet onto his left arm and got dressed. He left his personal room, heading to the pilot seat to prepare the ship for entering the atmosphere of the planet manually. He usually didn't like autopilot to land the ship unless he couldn't see well enough to do it himself.

The landing went smooth, and he was able to touch down close enough to the destination he wanted. It was currently night on the side of the planet he landed on, which lined up with the crew's sleep schedule. Though, it was probably a couple of hours off. Papa took with him a heavy fur cloak and a couple of other things before leaving the ship, making sure it was secure before heading off. He didn't want any unwanted gusts entering his ship while his crew was asleep. Many animals lurked around this place during the night.

About an hour of walking later, he arrived at the Nomad Clan's mother ship. Granted, it was small for a clan mother ship, but the clan was also small though growing steadily. He walked up to one of the entry doors and held his gauntlet to a sensor, which unlocked the door, making him able to enter. He wasn't a part of the clan, but he was a trusted ally who was granted all-time entry access into the mother ship when needed or wanted. He made sure to step lightly since most occupants of the mother ship were asleep at this time, but knowing the yautja he wanted to visit, he wouldn't be asleep like the rest.

He entered a neatly organized and well lit room with various scientific instruments. In a corner of the room, a yautja was sitting at a raised desk, looking into a microscope. Papa knocked on the metal door frame to get this yautja's attention. The yautja looked up to see the brown toned yautja standing in the doorway.

"Well, if it isn't 'Big Papa.' I wasn't expecting you to be here. Especially at this time." Furious Scalpel left his desk and grabbed two bottles of c'ntlip, "come in, friend." He pulled out two chairs as Papa entered the room. Scalpel handed a bottle to him as they sat down.

"What brings you here so unexpectedly?" Scalpel popped open his bottle while Papa just held onto his for now.

"I just... felt like I needed to talk to someone." He looked down at his bottle and rubbed his fingers on the cold glass.

"What do you need to talk about?" Scalpel could tell something was bother him. Something was off.

"I... don't know... just something. Anything."

Scalpel sat back into his chair, thinking for a little bit. "How's your trade been going? Got any more unique items?" Scalpel drank from his bottle.

"It's been good... I've been getting lots of business at almost every stand I pitch." Papa placed his bottle off to the side, "I have acquired a couple of items you might take interest in."

"Nice. And do tell me about these items. I would love to hear what you have obtained."

"A couple of... substances that may or may not harber potentionally dangerous bacteria and or other lethal compounds." Usually, he would be excited to tell Scalpel of what he's gotten that he might take interest in, but his spark wasn't there as he spoke.

"Very tempting. I might just buy those off of you. I don't know how you find these things, but you always end up surprising me with them." Scalpel took another sip from his bottle.

"You can take a look at them in the morning if you wish." He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. He wanted to sleep again, but he knew he shouldn't since he's been sleeping so much lately. Scalpel took notice of Big Papa's physical state. He felt concerned.

"Yeah, that would be nice. I have been collecting a bunch of different bacteria samples lately. It would fit in perfect with my semi-lethal collection." He attempted to be a bit humorous, but he failed to amuse Papa.

"Tell me, what's really going on? It's not like you to come here without a heads up. You haven't touched your c'ntlip at all, and you haven't taken your cloak off."

Papa was silent as he looked at the ground, spacing out. Scalpel sighed before scooting his chair closer to him, "Hey, I'm concerned for you. You staying silent won't help." He placed his drink down and leaned forward, looking Papa in the eyes.

In response, he placed his elbows on his knees and put his face into his palms, "I... I am just having a hard time... I don't feel passionate about anything anymore. I'm always so tired but I've been sleeping so much... everything is going so good for me and my crew, but I feel nothing for it." He started getting choked up, so Papa grabbed his c'ntlip bottle, opened it, and began to down it as if he were dying of thirst. He didn't want to cry in front of Scalpel. He didn't want to be embarrassed.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Scalpel took the bottle away from Big Papa, "Drowning out your feelings with this won't help you. I know, trust me." He placed the bottle off to the side, "you need to get through this in a healthy way." Scalpel stood up from his seat and made Big Papa stand up too, "why don't we go for a walk?"

Papa nodded and followed Scalpel out of the clan ship. There wasn't any destination in mind. There was only the intention of getting Papa to relax. They walked in silence for what seemed like an hour before Scalpel decided to speak.

"How long has this been going on? The tiredness and such?"

Papa sighed, "Too long... hmm... a couple of months, maybe? I don't know. I've stopped keeping track of time..."

"Have you been doing anything to help get you out of feeling this way?"

"I did try a couple of things. But they didn't work much."

The both of them stopped walking once they reached a large lake. They sat on an old fallen tree that had a good view of the lake.

"Have you tired medicine? I could whip up a remedy for you." Scalpel suggested.

"I'd rather not take medicine... something is causing me to feel this way. I'd rather find out what it is and fix it than take something that suppresses what needs to be fixed."

"Fair enough... I'm afraid I can't help you with that since, you know, psychology isn't my strong suit."

"It's alright... being able to talk with you, though, it helps me, even if it feels like you can't help me." Papa leaned forward, crossing his arms and resting them on his legs, looking down at the ground. He felt like he was going to cry, but he choked back the tears again.

Scalpel could tell Big Papa was trying not to cry in front of him. Feeling bad for him, he hesitantly placed a hand on Papa's shoulder. He hated any kind of physical contact, but he knew his friend relished it. But for him, he felt like he needed that comfort. Papa covered his face in embarrassment as those choked back tears began to pour out from his face.

The gentle comforting pats that came from Scalpel were surprising to him, but he didn't swat away his hand. Scalpel felt a little awkward watching and listening to Papa cry since he had never done so before right in front of him. He also felt sympathy for him, knowing as these were tears that had been held back for so long. He could feel the pain in Big Papa's sobbing.

After a while, he calmed down. He whipped the tears off from his face, and Scalpel removed his hand from Papa's shoulder. He kept his eyes on the ground, feeling very embarrassed. The both of them didn't know what to say, so they kept silent. Listening to the sounds of the forest, Papa and Scalpel found a sort of peace in it. No words needed to be spoken in this moment, and they were fine with that.

Papa was starting to doze off again, so he slowly stood up and took off his giant fur cloak. Leaving it on the fallen tree they had been using as a seat, he walked to the lake's fresh water. Bending down, he cupped his hands and slashed the water against his face, waking him up in a freshening way as well as washing away his dried tears. The water was so cold and crisp that it was addicting to splash against his hot face a couple of times before going back to sit down again, followed by more silence.

It was merely broken by a simple and quiet "thank you."

Big Papa spoke meekly but sincerely. Scalpel nodded, "Anytime." He didn't feel as awkward now. The both of them got up and headed back to the clan ship. Big Papa felt a bit better, and Scalpel could tell.

"So, do we need to go find a subject to torture now? I know a place that has been a hideout for all types of crooks and criminals."

Papa let out a chuckle, "How about you show me your deadly virus collection cause I know you have one."

"Me, having illegal viruses? How dare you say something like that about me?" Scalpel remarked with heavy sarcasm. They both looked at each other and laughed.

Once they got back to the clan ship, they chatted about various. Some of their interests, philosophy, and possible crimes they could get away with. All hypothetical. The rest of the time was spent in silence. A peaceful and relaxing silence. It didn't take too long for Big Papa to drift to sleep in one of Scalpel's seats. Scalpel, on the other hand, continued his work until he heard the first of the clan members beginning their morning. That's when he knew it was time for him to be overcome by sleep.

#yautja #predator #alien #the predator #character #oc #yautja oc #predator oc #predsona #yautja sona #not my oc #oc crossover #short story #writing #story post #positive post #motivational #one off

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