Vrox continued his work. He folded leaves into themselves and then wrapped a strand around them. Kira plopped the candies into her mouth and observed him weave the leaves through his fingers. The leaves were fragile, while Vrox's fingers were far from soft. She expected his scarred, clawed, brutish hands rip through the velvety green, but she stood corrected when the polar duo cooperated just fine.

Without asking permission, she reached out and grabbed a leaf. Vrox eyed her as if expecting her to do something stupid like trying to eat it.

She looked at one of the folded leaves and mimicked the design. She wanted to start pulling her own weight around. She couldn't hunt, identify deadly plants, or fight off animals, but that wouldn't stop her from trying to learn.

She took a strand and wrapped it around the folded leaf. It came together nicely, and she extended it to Vrox with pride. Never in her adult life had she thought she'd seek praise for folding a leaf.

Vrox's cheeks shifted aside to reveal what she could only describe as an alien smile. His razor-sharp canines peeked out, making him look deadly even in the midst of kindness. His hand pet her hair in a brotherly manner. She was nearly convinced that he saw a child within her soft hourglass figure, plump ass, breasts, and short height. His confusion kept him in the dark, but she preferred the darkness of ignorance over the blaze of lust.

Vrox took her wrapped leaf and stacked it on top of others. He then stood up and began walking away from the shore.

A sharp giggle made its way out of her when she noticed his sandy buttcheeks. The alien stopped, surprised by the fluttery sound, and turned to face her.

She covered her mouth with both hands and stared at him guiltily.

After Vrox gathered a few more leaves, she picked up her shirt and dusted it as best as she could before sliding it on. It wasn't wise to keep wet clothes on, but she didn't want to risk exposing her skin to the planet.

They walked into the wilderness, and Kira resumed trying to learn his vocabulary. She had learned most of the body parts, a few colors, and environmental elements like water and plants.

"Kira brown hair," she told him in cavemanese.

She was trying to fish out the word "I." She didn't know if they had one or if they spoke in third person all the time, but it was important that she found out.

Vrox shook his head and grasped her wrist. He directed her hand to her stomach and pressed lightly. "Et dun lay," he instructed.

Kira recognized the words brown and hair, but not the first one.

"Et dun lay," she repeated, earning herself a nod from Vrox.

Was this it? Had she found the word for I?

She smiled with contentment and then tried to piece a new sentence together.

"I small. Vrox big," she said in cavemanese.

Vrox nodded with agreement. "I big. Kira small."

She clapped with thrill. She was building short sentences with an alien, bridging two species together.

"If Cherry was here, she would–"

Sadness soured her happiness. Cherry wasn't here. Kira was alone, and she would do good by remembering that this situation wasn't one to get excited over. She should be trembling in her bare feet because the planet under them had made it clear that she wasn't welcomed. It was only a matter of time before her immune system became plagued by a raging disease, or her body was shred by a wild animal.

Her goal was to get home, not become buddies with Vrox.

"Kira fen."

Vrox lifted a hand to her face. She didn't flinch, letting his knuckles trace the lines of her frown.

"Kira fen," he repeated as he skimmed over her lips.

She didn't understand what fen meant.

"Vrox fen?" she returned, adding a cliff to the end of the sentence to make him understand she was asking a question.

"Gun," Vrox replied. "Et gan fen."

She tore the sentence apart. Et meant I, and gan was close to gun. Did gan mean isn't?

Vrox saw her eyes flicker with confusion. To bridge over her questions, he forced anger onto his face.

"RRonnax," he explained before forcing a smile onto his face and assigning a word to it. He showed her confusion, surprise, sadness, and worry, which he named fen.

She watched with awe, humbled to see just how similar Vrox was to her. There was an undeniable brotherhood between their species that no language barrier could block.

"Kira fen," he repeated.

She recognized the word. Fen meant worried.

"Et fen," she confirmed.

"There is nothing to worry about. I will protect you. Once we get to my brothers, we will figure out how we will get you to your father."

She shook her head, not understanding. Vrox simply turned around and resumed the journey. She trailed after him, seeking any dangers on the ground that could hurt her feet.

They went on for what had to be ten minutes. With every step, she thought about what she left behind on Earth.

Cherry, the internet, coffee, my job, mom?

The thought of never seeing her mother again didn't particularly spark any despair. After years of bad blood, her mother became more of an acquaintance than a friend.

The only tragedy of the situation was that she wouldn't miss her mother.

She was thinking about her twisted emotions when a terrifying sound invaded her ears. It wasn't the roar of an animal or the rattling of a snake, but the timbre of men's voices.

She froze so tensely you'd think she touched another immobilizing fruit. Sensing her delay, Vrox turned to seek answers.

"Vrox," she whimpered faintly, afraid that the men would hear her. "Gun."

She couldn't get seen by those men. Vrox was ignorant of her gender, but she didn't know if the others were too. What if they recognized her obvious femininity? What if they tried to find out what sticking their dick in a human was like?

Vrox was powerful, but he was only one man. He wouldn't be able to protect her from them all.

"Kira," Vrox drew out slowly, understanding the gap on her lips, the curve of her eyebrows, and the accent in her breathing.

He said something else, but it lost the battle against their language barrier and her terror.

"Gun," she repeated, tossing a look over his shoulder in search of the other men. "Please don't take me there."

Vrox gestured behind him and said another line of nonsense.

"Gun!" she pressed, feeling her fear liquefy and pool in her eyes. "I can't go. It's dangerous."

A sob puffed out of her, and she covered her mouth in a useless attempt to regain composure. She hadn't cried in years. There was no reason to– her life had been perfect. Now, though, she was nothing but a bug scurrying to survive.

As her eyes began to bleed with salty frustration, Vrox took a few steps forward. The alien bent down and claimed her body with his protective embrace. She clung to him instantly, refusing to let go of the only good thing that happened to her since she landed on this planet.

Her legs snared around him, her breasts flattened against his chest, and her arms attempted to strangle him.

To her sweet surprise, Vrox began to walk away from the voices. Relief bloomed taller with every step he took.

She didn't loosen her hold on the warrior. If those men found them, they would have to peel her off his body.