Star Tiger, Moon Girl

by SPark

Chapter 2

He Who Stalks The Night woke in confusion. He was not surprised by his waking, nor by where he found himself; he was still in the cage, within the alien's animal keeping place, as he had been for weeks now. The dream, however, had been strange. It had been a shaman's dream, a knowing dream, where he should have been able to control all that took place. Certainly the strangely attractive alien he'd dreamed of twice now had answered to his will as such a dream construct ought at first. He'd had no difficulty changing her shape to one more conventionally pleasing. Though the need to do so had troubled him a bit.

But then she'd changed back without being willed to do so, and had left when he had still desired her to stay. Occasionally a construct in a shaman's dream might do something unexpected, the mind didn't always know what it knew, after all. But never before had one done something actively against his conscious desires. It was highly puzzling.

A dim light flicked on at the far side of the room and one of the aliens entered. He knew this one well by now, it was one of lesser rank, who tended the creatures' base needs. It provided food and carried away waste, and sometimes handled the smaller animals, but it never entered his cage.

The light, as always, interested him. None of the aliens he had met so far were shamans. He was not either, but he had enough of the gift to dream true, and that was also enough to know power when he saw it. The aliens' apparently magical weapons, conveyances, lights and many other strange and wonderful things seemed to be simply tools. They were tools far beyond the simple knapped stone and sparked fire that he knew, but still tools all the same.

He wished he could play with the little box on the wall that controlled the lights, and see how it worked. Of course were he out of this cage he might have better things to do, but still the light fascinated him. It was nothing like fire. It was more like sunlight or moonlight. Yet how could one capture and tame the sun or moon?

With a yawn, he rolled over on his sleeping mat, and smiled as the alien jumped. This one was terrified of him. Most of them seemed to be, to a greater or lesser degree, though the one who should fear him most did not have the sense to do so. He was not particularly interested in biting these underlings. They were not responsible for his plight. Now if he could get his paws on the chief of those who held him captive, or any of those who'd actually captured him, they would definitely regret doing so.

Despite his frustrated anger, he'd been docile and well-behaved for them thus far in hopes that it would lull them, and let them forget that he had reasons to hate them. Someday there would be a chance, a door not latched, something, and he would strike...

He sighed. He might as well return to the dream realm, if he was going to think like that. The dreams were just as real as his revenge fantasies. Yes perhaps there would be some chance, but truly he should flee rather than attack when that chance came. These beings had weapons beyond his understanding, and though he knew he could likely kill one or two of them, then they would almost certainly retaliate, and he would die, so what would be the use? Much as he hated having been captured and taken from his home, he still loved life.

A chime sounded, and he perked his ears up. That was the sound of a voice-machine, that let the aliens talk to others who were not present. He always paid careful attention when they were speaking. Knowing their language would be of immense use. He understood a few words already, mostly ones involving food. This time the alien sounded startled and dismayed. It was night, and the voice-machine almost never chimed at night. Something must be different.

He Who Stalks The Night rose a bit onto his paws, settling into a prepared crouch. Perhaps this would be the opportunity he needed.

The alien ceased speaking with the faint voice from the voice-machine and began to hurry frantically around the room, picking up clutter and wiping down tanks and cages. He watched the creature in amusement. Obviously the alien was being required to do its cleaning tasks more swiftly—and rather more thoroughly, this one had always seemed a bit lazy—than usual.

Time passed, while the low-ranked alien hurried about. He waited with a hunter's patience, ready to leap should the opportunity present itself. More lights were turned on, to better show the creatures held captive here. As far as he could tell, all the rest were mere dumb animals. He did not know why they were kept. He had thought at first they might be food animals, kept close so that one would not need to hunt, but after time it became quite clear there was some other purpose. Given the affection some aliens showed towards the ones they selected and left with, his current theory was that they were pets, kept the way children at home sometimes kept little arboreal rodents to play with.

The sound of the door opening again made him look up, to see the chief of his captors entering. His ears went back, but he suppressed his urge to growl and simply watched. The chief immediately began berating the lower ranking alien. He Who Stalks The Night didn't understand the language, but the tone was clear enough. He'd seen it happen before. The chief alien was both higher ranked and physically larger, and seemed happy to throw its weight around on both counts. He despised such bullies.

While the chief was in mid-rant, however, the door opened again. Immediately the alien put a false smile on its face, turned around, and bowed, a submissive gesture he had not yet seen from the strange creatures. He wondered exactly how their hierarchy worked. He'd had rather limited opportunities to observe the creatures, for he'd dealt with only a small number of them thus far.

The being who stepped in the door, though, wiped all such curiosity from his mind, for it was shockingly, impossibly familiar.

It was the female alien from his dream.

She was real.

And even from the far side of the spacious room he could sense such power radiating from her that he knew instantly she was a shaman of great strength.

His jaw fell open, and then his ears went down and he felt himself abandoning his prepared crouch to flatten himself to the floor of his cage in shame. Sweet gods above, what had he done? To take such liberties with any real person was unthinkable. And with a shaman? She would have his hide for a rug, and rightly so!

He watched with a kind of embarrassed dread as the shaman spoke imperiously to the other aliens. They both groveled, the chief particularly so. Like most bullies, the creature became spineless in the presence of one more powerful. The shaman pointed across the room, at where he still sat in his cage, and said something else. He cringed slightly at the seemingly accusatory gesture. Both the other aliens reacted with started fear and negation, shaking their heads. She repeated her phrase, and he recognized one of his small store of alien words, "open" in it.

The chief pointed as its lackey and said something demanding. The lackey slowly, reluctantly, approached the cage. The alien touched the door in a particular pattern, which was frustratingly difficult to see from within, and it slid open. The lackey scurried backwards, until he was on the far side of the room. The chief put himself as far as he could get from the open door as well, but the shaman strode boldly forward without hesitation.

She stepped within the cage and stood, looking down at He Who Stalks The Night. She was shorter than the chief, but all these aliens seemed tall and bizarrely slender, and he felt as if she was looming over him. He slunk forward a few steps and halted, looking ashamedly down at his front paws.

The sound of her voice was soft, no longer commanding, but low and warm. He didn't understand any of the words, but he looked up at her curiously. Was she not angry at him? Had she not hunted him down to punish him for his presumption in treating her as a dream construct? He felt her gathering magic then, and braced himself for whatever curse or punishment she might condemn him to, but he didn't look away as her hand touched his forehead.

Energy cascaded over and through him, making his fur stand on end. Then it settled again, whatever spell she had cast completed.

"There. Do you understand me now?"

His eyes flew wide in shock. "Yes!" he said in his own tongue, yet even as he spoke, he heard the sounds of her alien language come from his lips, and yet he still understood them.

"Wonderful! It worked! I wasn't certain it would. Now, let us be gone from this place. You quite assuredly do not belong here."

He blinked at her again. "You're not upset with me?" he said. Or rather that's what he tried to say. What actually came out in the alien tongue was, "You not mad?" He flattened his ears in dismay.

"What?" the shaman said, sounding puzzled.

"That no what mean say," came out of his lips, and he put a paw over his face, feeling ashamed and embarrassed all over again. Gods above, he sounded like a hopeless primitive. Which he probably was, compared to these creatures, but he wasn't stupid.

"Bother. I guess that part of the spell still needs some work. Well, now is not the time to perform further magical experiments. Come with me." She beckoned as she turned and strode from the cage. She walked as if she owned the whole world, and he couldn't help but admire the view of her strong stride as he followed behind her. Then his ears went back down again. He should not be thinking of her like that! It was a miracle that she didn't seem angry over what he'd done in the dream, but if he dared such thoughts in real life, he was going to get himself in trouble.

The shaman headed for the door, where the chief of his captors still stood, cowering, beside the lackey who was now looking as much astonished as afraid. As she opened the door to leave, though, the chief finally said, "Hey! You're not taking my tiger without paying for him! He cost me a great deal of money, you know! You can't go taking private property just because you're a princess." The chief straightened to its full height, more than a head taller than the shaman, and tried to look intimidating.

She rounded on the larger alien with a snarl. "He is not private property, he's a sentient being! I shall be charitable and presume you were merely ignorant, rather than utterly criminal, but he does not belong to you. I care nothing for whatever money you have paid."

"But..."

"But nothing, you heard him speak just now yourself! You have no claim to ownership over a person."

The chief scowled. "Parrots can speak that much. Neo-lemurs even more. Both are common pets. Speaking doesn't prove anything. And I can't just take a loss like that, he was expensive!"

"If you cooperate with the Lunar Guard's attempts to track down the slavers who captured him, you may be reimbursed for that money. But you had better pray that it was ignorance, and not willful participation in slavery, or I will personally nail your hide to the wall, do you understand?"

The chief backed away a few steps from the heat of her fury, while behind her He Who Stalks The Night couldn't help but snicker in amusement. "Y-yes, your highness."

"Good. That will be all." She stalked out of the room, and he followed her outside without so much as a glance back.

Outside another alien, this one wearing bits of shiny metal and bearing what he recognized as a small weapon at his waist, stood beside one of the alien's marvelous floating vehicles. The metal-clad alien opened the door of the vehicle and the shaman climbed in, then beckoned, and he followed obediently.

Inside he found two plushly upholstered couches facing each other across a small space, with wonderfully clear windows that gave a view of the alien city all around them, and a second compartment to the vehicle, where the metal-clad alien was now manipulating various controls. The shaman had seated herself on one couch, and so he climbed onto the other, as the only other option was to sit on the floor and be more or less on top of her feet.

On any other occasion he would have had his face plastered to the window as they began to move, but instead his gaze was riveted on the female alien across from him.

"I am Princess Luna," she said, inclining her head elegantly.

"Me Hunt Night," he replied, then sighed and put a paw over his face again. "Ugh."

Luna's laugh was gentle, not mocking. "I take it that's not a terribly good translation of your name?"

He Who Stalks The Night shook his head, staying silent rather than saying something else that would come out as though he'd been hit on the head.

"My translation spell obviously leaves much to be desired. I shall see what may be done to improve it." She smiled and added, "And in the meantime I assure you that I know you are not stupid, even if my error makes you sound as if you are."

"Thank you," he said, and relaxed just a little when the simple phrase wasn't mangled.

"Since I can't call you by your proper name, would it be all right if I come up with a nickname for you? Just until the spell is fixed?"

He nodded.

Luna smiled. "Then for now I believe I'll call you Stripes. If you don't object?"

He gave a little shrug. It was a cub sort of name, short and insignificant, but it would be better than being called "Me Hunt Night".

"I would ask you to tell me about yourself, but I imagine you'd prefer to avoid long stories just now. I assume that you were simply minding your own business when a group of humans attacked and imprisoned you, as I saw in your nightmare?"

The newly christened Stripes nodded, though being reminded of dreams made his embarrassment at what he'd done in them return.

"And you were then carried here. Do you know the name of the ship that took you?"

He shook his head.

"What about the people who crewed the ship?"

Another shake. He had known nothing at all of their language at that point, so picking out names from the general babble had been impossible.

"That's unfortunate. If I knew the ship, the captain, or enough of the crew to figure that out, I could trace its route back to your home world and arrange for your return. Right now, however, I have no idea where it is. There's nothing like you in known space, so they found some new world. That happens all the time, of course, the galaxy is a large place."

He frowned at the word "galaxy." Her spell was doing wonderfully at translating her words for him, even in this case when there was no direct equivalent in his language, the sense of what a word meant still came through. "Galaxy? All stars?"

Luna nodded. "Well... Not all stars. But all the ones you can see are part of this galaxy. You know that stars are distant suns, with worlds of their own, yes?"

He nodded. His star-gazing had given him his name, and the star-gazers of his home had long theorized that stars and suns were one and the same. His journey among these aliens had been more than sufficient proof that the theory was true.

"We are on such a world now, or rather we are on the moon of such a world. But with millions of other worlds out there, finding yours is impossible unless I know where to look. I'm certain you would like to go home, but unless I can find the people who captured you, you may not be able to. And for that I am sorry. I'm sorry for my fellow humans, as well. Your people's first meeting with mine shouldn't have been one of misunderstanding and violence."

He gave a little shrug. That was what it was, and nothing would change it. Being out among the stars that he had watched for so long was, in some ways, a dream come true. A dream he'd never known he had, but a dream nonetheless.

And that brought his thoughts back to the dream he'd shared with Luna. His ears heated again, and he braced himself to deliver a terribly-mangled apology. He really didn't want to bring up the subject; reminding her would probably result in her punishing him for his disrespect. But it had to be done. He could not simply pretend that he hadn't mistreated her. "I sorry about dreams. Did not know you real. Did not mean to... uh..." He flicked his ears in embarrassment and trailed off, not wanting to accidentally say something crude.

Luna laughed again, that gentle, rich sound. "There is nothing to apologize for. In dreams we often do strange things. And as you say, you did not know I was not merely another part of the dream." She glanced out the window and added, "We are almost to my castle. Look."

Stripes peered ahead. The car had risen as they'd been talking and was now high above the city. Before it rose a tower, taller than any structure he'd ever seen. It was taller than a tree; a sheer column rearing up massively above the lesser towers around it. It was crowned on top with a castle, a forest of spires and turrets, in turn crowned with one archaic tower that ended just short of the glassy dome that enclosed the whole city.

He gaped at the sight, even as they drew close enough that he could no longer see the whole structure. "All that yours?"

Luna smiled. "Yes. Though I only truly own the uppermost portion. The rest houses the lunar government."

Stripes simply nodded. Their car swooped up to the castle atop the tower and glided in to land on a pad obviously built for that purpose atop the walls. Said walls enclosed a large open space at the castle's heart, which was filled with greenery. Luna exited the car, and Stripes followed her across the landing pad and down a broad flight of stairs to the garden.

He felt something within him relax as he padded along a paved path, amid fragrant flowering bushes and graceful trees. The plants were not the ones of his home, but after so much time among the humans' unnatural straight lines it was good to be out in nature again. Even the paths here curved and wandered in an organic fashion amid the beds of flowers.

They came eventually to the castle proper, its gray stone walls rising here to the highest tower. An arched doorway led within, flanked by a pair of armored humans, and Stripes continued to follow Luna there.

The arch led to a broad hall, lit by the same strange, steadily glowing lights that he'd seen in other human places. There were planters here, with flowering plants in them, and the floor had a long carpet in plush burgundy trimmed with black. Luna went to a pair of doors that oddly had no handles, and touched a panel on the wall beside them. They opened with a soft hiss. Inside was a tiny room, partially lined with large glass windows that gave a view of the city far below. He entered it with Luna, and the doors closed behind them. He looked around curiously, wondering at the little room's purpose, while Luna touched another of those panels. There was a low hum, and the room began to move! It rose steadily, climbing the side of the castle. Eventually it halted and the doors opened again, letting them out onto a long hall lined with doors on either side, somewhere within the main body of the castle. Stripes exited, feeling amazed. These humans were a constant font of fascinating wonders.

When they reached their destination, there were more wonders. "These will be your rooms while you're staying here," said Luna, opening another door and ushering him inside. "My own rooms are directly next door, should you need me." Then she showed him how to use the little panels, which controlled not only the door but the lights and temperature as well.

Stripes immediately turned the lights out, opened and shut the door, and then spent several more minutes slowly dialing the lights up and down. Luna sat down on a couch and watched him with an indulgent smile. "You don't have anything like this where you're from?"

He shook his head silently and left the panel with the lights turned most of the way down, casting the room in a pleasant gloom that reminded him a little bit of the fire-lit chambers of his home.

"Well, wait until I show you the bathroom, then!" She got up and beckoned, and he followed her into a second room, where she pointed out the large bed—rather unlike the fur-lined floor pits he was used to, but quite comfortable when he jumped up onto it to test it—and the little panel next to it, where he could summon a servant to bring him food, without even leaving the bed. A second door led into a spacious bathroom, where Luna gave instructions on how to use the toilet in a matter-of-fact manner, and then grinned and showed him how hot and cold water could be run into a small sink, or into a gigantic basin meant for fully immersing one's self.

He had to restrain himself from filling the tub then and there. He could keep himself tolerably clean with his tongue, but a true bath was much more pleasant and much more thorough. An odd little chamber in the corner of the room proved to be a "shower", where if he preferred to rinse rather than soak he could stand beneath a spray of water.

"And now I shall leave you. It is late, and I have dreams to guard. Should you need anything, use the panel beside your bed. I have instructed the palace servants to treat you with the utmost respect." She smiled. "You are an ambassador for your race, even though I know you did not intend to become such. This gives you a quite exalted rank here. The servants will do anything within reason to see to your comfort."

He once again nodded silently.

She opened the door, then stopped and turned back. "I know you'd probably rather be home, but I'll do everything I can to make things as pleasant as possible for you here. And I am hunting for your home. Hopefully you can return there someday." Then she flashed him another small, warm smile. He found the expression, alien as it was, pleasing, and he found himself suddenly noticing the way she stood, backlit by the lights from the hall, one hand resting on the doorway. When she turned again to leave the motion was graceful and confident. She was utterly unlike any female he'd ever known, yet there was something appealing in her calm, confident nature, in the warmth of that smile, in the richness of her laugh.

He sat for some time in the dimness and contemplated the strangeness of his life. From an ordinary star-gazer, dream walker, and hunter of no particular note to a prisoner, treated like an animal, to an ambassador, surrounded by unthinkable luxury. If he didn't know how to spot the signs of a dream, he would think he was in one, this was all so unlikely.

Stripes rose and shook himself. He might as well take advantage of that luxury. He went to the bathroom and filled the tub. It was more than big enough for him, a human would practically be able to swim in it. The warm water was wonderfully relaxing, and he sank into it up to his chin and just floated, letting his mind wander.

It kept wandering back to Luna, for some reason. She had called herself "princess". Certainly he'd known she was a very important person even before that. But she'd referred to this castle as hers, and said it sat atop the building where this world's government resided. Did that mean she was the ruler here? Perhaps not, princess implied a king or a queen somewhere. But even so, she was of immensely high rank. Even given the illustrious position he found suddenly thrust upon him, she was far above him. And not of his species. Yet she was utterly fascinating to him, and he couldn't shake her from his mind.

Eventually he climbed from the tub and shook himself off. He spent some time grooming his fur to help it dry further, and then left the bathroom while still a bit damp to more thoroughly explore the rest of his new quarters. He found several more control panels, and discovered that the one by the door controlled the suite as a whole, but the others controlled the rooms individually. He also found several other oddities, including a sort of box near the bed that was very cold inside. Indeed one compartment within it seemed to be below freezing. He could immediately see how having a bit of winter always in reach might be useful. One could store meat in it, as one did during winter, and it would keep. Perhaps that was the box's purpose, or perhaps there was some more arcane use. A small control panel on the front of the box spit out little bits of ice when pushed, which was startling. He licked at one, but he wasn't really thirsty or hungry.

He should have been tired, but his mind was spinning and he knew he'd be unable to sleep. He prowled the room further, and found that a set of curtains in the bedroom hid a large glass window, running from floor to ceiling. He soon found that part of it was a door, which lead out onto a balcony. It overlooked the garden, while the castle's central spire towered above it when he raised his head to look upward.

He stood on the balcony for a time and surveyed the garden below. From his height and angle the castle walls blocked most of the city, mostly he could see the garden, with the moon's surface beyond the dome providing a spectacular backdrop. It was a barren world, and staring at it, he felt a deep pang of homesickness. There were no great forests here, no prey to hunt within them, no rivers to swim in, and no kin to be company. Admittedly he'd always been a little bit of a loner, he was not the most social of his people. Still, there was a difference between choosing some solitude and having utter aloneness thrust upon one.

Stripes looked up at the stars above. They should have been old friends, for he had studied the stars all his life, but even they were utterly alien, lying in patterns totally unlike those he knew. And instead of a ruddy moon shining down, there was a blue and white swirled world above, casting a cold light over everything. He was a long way from home, and he might never return.

Unbidden tears ran invisibly through the already damp fur of his cheeks as he gazed into the lunar night.

Comments

[RainbowTheTankEngine]

i1.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/293/715/e99.jpg

MORE NOW plz

[SPark]

8465004
Thank you! I have written a chunk of the next chapter, but it will be a little while before it's up.

[first hand account]

FINALLY i've waited sooo long for this!
one of my tops already!

[FanOfMostEverything]

Fantastic work with the "stranger in a strange land" perspective. Stripes Who Hunts the Night's sense of wonder and confusion comes across clear as day, and your portrayal of common objects seen from an intelligent but Stone Age perspective is spot on. Definitely looking forward to more.

[Von Voctavia]

Great chapter :)

I wonder how one could pin point a location using constellations. Very hard I imagine. Even if you described in 100% detail 3 very distinct constellations, you would have to start the search for them over again each time from a new location.

[Kenshinryuu]

To Quote Mary Jane Watson: Face it Tiger, you just hit the jackpot! I can't wait to see how Stripes adapts to living with Luna. But I can totally see a young child being rescued from bullies by him and getting a tigerback ride.

[Lloyd01251]

Interesting story