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"Good! You're getting louder for sure, Zoë." Iolvin walked into his quarters and sat down on the couch, tapping the area beside him so Zoë would follow. "It's not much more than grunts and moans for now, but I'll have you talking again in no time."

Zoë sat as requested and nodded in agreement, struggling to squeak out the simplest of words. "...eh...ss..."

"Honey, you could get any girl to recite Shakespeare if you split her in two with that cock of yours." Adrian giggled and headed straight for their boys' room to verify they were home. "She's getting decent at mouth sounds though. Give her a workout for those vocal cords and it'll be trickier."

"Yeah, true. I guess it is true only her voice box is screwed up and the rest is probably all in her head." Yoyo smiled and pulled Zoë over to rest against him, then clicked on a media display to watch a movie. "Here's a game: I'll pick out things and you try to say what they are. Sound fun?"

"...eh...ss..."

Dee grinned at the two as he opened the boys' door, then smiled even wider when he found not only the twins sleeping in the sealed bed, but Rose as well. "Gods, that's cute."

"What's cute now?" Yoyo inquired without taking his eyes off the screen.

"Our whelps. They must have crashed after too much exercise with Rose or something. Oh, and they're still total slobs." Dee picked up various articles of clothing on the floor and tossed them in a hamper, but paused for two suit jackets. "Boys, you'll ruin your suits you worked so hard on if you don't hang them up."

"I still can't get used to that. I don't know where they got that idea from."

"Me too. Neither of us wear suits much, do we?" Dee tucked a hanger into one jacket and placed it in the closet, but upon trying the same with the second he froze to examine a foil packet that fell out a breast pocket. "What in the gods' names...?"

"Total Recall. ~Perfect~ movie for the situation." Yoyo finally looked back and verified, "Everything okay, Adri?"

"Um... yeah. Just cleaning up. Being the best ~space wife~ I can be." Dee waited for the movie to start, then closed the door and disturbed his children's slumber. "Boys... Hey boys, we need to talk."

"Hmm? Adrian?" Rose awoke first, then immediately played dead upon spotting the condom in Dee's paw. "...Shit."

"Yes..." Dee smiled at the humanoid plant before coming a hair away from punching his own pups. "Come on, guys. I'm trying to be discrete here, and shouting won't help that."

Both of the twins roused from their sleep together, their skin and fur becoming more opaque as they regained control over their bodies. Phoebe rolled onto his back, finding a condom packet mere inches from his snout. "What is that...?"

"A condom... and honestly, I'm surprised you figured out that they're a good thing. Most boys damn near refuse to use them 'till they grow up a little."

Themis jolted onto his back as well, the pair suddenly understanding the position in which they found themselves. "Dad... Uh, we just--"

"I'm not angry, Em. I'm actually sort of proud of you two for seeking out protection." Dee sat on the edge of the bed and lowered the condom, the incriminating article no longer forcing Rose into her pillow in embarrassment. "Did aunt Ellie teach you about these?"

Pho nodded as he slid beneath the covers. "She gave them to us, but she never told us about them."

"Then why the hell would she..." Dee shook his head at himself as his eyes rested upon Rose and her round, panty-clad behind that poked out from the sheets. "Well I guess I have more to be proud of. More to keep your father from scolding you over, too."

Rose noticed the stare at her ass and fought for the covers to shield herself. "We didn't plan it or anything! It just... happened."

Em poked his head out, though somewhat forcefully as half the sheets were yanked off him. "Dad, we... We had sex even though we said we would wait. But not right now! We were just cuddling and... we're... sorry."

"Em, thank you for admitting that. With boys your general age though, that's normal for you to experiment and seek out some tail." Dee sighed as he once again turned his eyes to Rose. "Did they finish inside you? Do we need to have you checked out?"

"Elliot already..." Rose paused as she decided less details about what transpired in the medical bay would be better than more. "My veile took care of everything, though she said she had her doubts about her work. I'll check back with Elliot later to verify."

"So they did cum in you then." Dee threw up the tent and switched off the air system. "Well we still have to teach you why that's not a good thing, but if no harm was done then I won't scold you. We'll keep this our little secret for now. I do have one condition though."

Pho poked his head out a bit more confidently now. "Wh-What is it?"

Dee pulled Themis over and yanked down his shorts, exposing the otter to the others. "I'm teaching you how to use one of these so your urges don't get the best of you until we do show you the ropes. Sorry, Em, but you're up first."

"What? No!" Themis tried to scoot back under the covers, but his father already had him far too exposed for that. "I don't want to! I'll--"

"Emmi, calm down." Phoebe offered both a paw and a tendril, both of which were immediately embraced by like limbs. "Remember what Jeeves said? I've got you covered."

"Something I should know about? If its important, I won't get angry."

"No, dad." Pho sighed and corrected himself just slightly. "Actually... I'll just say that we have an issue if we don't watch each other and then... 'orgasm', was it?"

"Yes. So you have a health issue? I am your father, you know. I'd like to know everything about you two."

Em shook his head in an uncharacteristically meek manner. "Can we not... not yet?"

Dee huffed a large breath of air and fumbled with the condom foil, being very clear about how he was handling it for demonstrative purposes. "I'd rather know every single thing about my own whelps, but if it's that important to you I won't press it. Just don't be surprised if I ask your aunt when it becomes an issue."

"Yeah... That's fine, I guess." Em eyed the latex ring that the foil produced. "So... that's a condom? What do you do with it?"

"Well first we need to get you hard. I guess you're more like me than your other father when it comes to that part." Dee looked over to Rose pleadingly. "You wouldn't mind giving him something sexy to look at, would you? I'd try something myself, but at least I now know they like women."

"I... don't like to show my... um..." Rose perked up and took the top blanket for herself in a sudden moment of genius, wrapping herself such that only the boys could see her lower torso. "M-Maybe like this?"

"That's fine, hon. I'm not forcing you to do anything here. Make yourself as comfortable as you like." Rose hadn't even removed her underwear, yet the mere thought of her doing so already grew Themis' manhood in Adrian's paw. "That's definitely working, though. He must really think you're beautiful."

"Dad!"

"Please, Adrian... It's tough enough for ~me~ already." Rose peeled down her panties, looping them off her legs and placing them neatly beside Pho's head. "Is th-that good, Emmi?"

"Yeah... Goddess..." Themis let loose a low squeak as his father rolled down the condom and began stroking his cock. "Dad, p-please... Do we really need to do this?"

"Well there's only so many ways to make this little guy pop." Dee tried a few different grips and angles, but couldn't find one that seemed to work for his son. "Oh... Wait, you mean you've never even tried ~this~? Do you want to paw yourself, honey?"

As his father took back his paw, Em shimmied towards his twin. "Should I...?"

"What's wrong? I... sort of want to see it now." Rose checked her blanket shroud as she leaned in a little closer, then backed away upon spotting something. "Wh-What's that under it? Aren't guys, um...?"

Adrian snorted out an airy laugh. "They have both sets of genitals, and as far as we know they're all functional. We call that a 'hermaphrodite', and more generally an 'intersex fur'."

"Ouschee..." Rose seemed confused at first, then leaned in closer with a smile. "They're ouschee? They're that special?"

"No, that's not quite the same. Their older cousins apparently ~are~ ouschee though."

The plant girl lost a lot of the sudden glow about her, but traded it for a boost in confidence. "But they have something similar to mine? That's really cool." She reeled out a vine and brought it down to Themis' drooling folds. "I know a good way to help like that."

Dee politely grabbed that tendril just behind the bud and eased it back. "Sorry, but their other father wants to show them how that works. He sort of needs to, actually."

"Dad wants to...?" Phoebe sat himself up against the headrest, revealing his own erection that hid beneath the sheets. "I guess that's fine, but... weird."

"What's weird is me sitting here with everyone looking at my penis." Themis wrapped his paw around his manhood and slowly started stroking himself. "I'm going for it. Try not to laugh."

Rose giggled as if on cue. "Well you're cute when you're embarrassed so... sorry." She re-purposed her tentacle, blooming the bud just enough to make a cozy, wet pocket and letting it slurp up Pho's exposed dick. "Ooh, that actually feels pretty good. Is that doing anything for you, Phebes?"

Phoebe was speechless for a moment as he keeled over in pleasure. "Y-Yeah... Way t-too good..."

"Rose, should you be doing that?" Dee pointed to Em's latex-wrapped cock. "Can your kind, eh... get pregnant that way?"

"Pregnant? Oh, fertilized." Rose held out one of her free vines for Dee to inspect. "These can just filter water and minerals. I'd have to store whatever else gets in them, or... expel it..."

"Oh, is that how you do that? I know you don't have the same... exit to your digestive tract that we do."

"Dad... quiet, please? I mean... seriously..." Em slowed his pace to a near stop and watched his brother roll around in bliss, a fair amount of that sensation passing along through a form of wireless Link of theirs. "Damn, Phebes... Rosie, that's amazing."

"You... You think so? Then lean back, Emmi." Rose smiled as the otter enthusiastically propped himself up next to his twin and released his paw. She teased a free bud around Em's tip, then slowly engulfed the first half in suctioning tentacle. "Finally, something I'm good at."

"Woah... Damn straight, Rosie." Themis squirmed with his twin, the pair squeaking as they held each other. "Something's... Goddess..."

Phoebe gasped as he filled in the gaps. "We're gonna... orgasm..."

"What? Wait, not both of you!" Rose pulled the flower off of Phoebe, hoping to prevent the otter from peaking. "Are you okay? You--"

"Goddess!" The sudden exposure to cold air meshed with Rose's final, harsh motion to set Pho off like a volcano. He started firing seemingly endless globs out his cock tip for a moment, until Rose caught on and shoved her tendril back over it. "Woah! Ah, Rosie!"

"S-Sorry!" Rose was so distracted with Phoebe that she completely missed Themis' own massive orgasm inside her second vine. "Oh, shit. Emmi, are you alright?"

Both of the boys started fading out of the visible spectrum, but in a few seconds Themis filled out with a neutral tan color. "Emmi...?"

"Phebes..." Themis flopped onto his side, pulling both his manhood and an overstuffed condom out of Rose's tendril bud. "Fuck, that felt good. That was insane, Rosie."

"Goddess, I thought I lost you there. Phebes, are you alright?"

Pho nodded as he matched his brother's colors. "Yeah, we're both fine. Seems Emmi here wasn't too far gone."

"I think it was that condom. You were feeling something more than me."

"Yeah, I think I Linked with Rosie and you didn't."

Rose gave both of the twins a hug. "I don't care. I'm only happy you're safe."

Dee reached for the condom and held it safely in place on his son's cock. "I won't ask. Just... take a look over here, guys." He pulled the condom off and gave it to Rose. "This is how these things work. They keep your cum from getting inside a woman, but you have to be careful when you remove them."

"Cum?" both boys asked.

"Oh, that's... a slightly cruder word for semen, and sometimes the act of making it." Dee gestured as he continued. "Rose, tie a knot in the end. It might be hard since these two ~apparently~ inherited their parents' volume as well."

"So you just tie it... like this? That's it?"

"It keeps things tidy until you can dispose of it. Or... you could play with it if you're safe, or taste it. I'm not here to tell you how to have fun." Dee scooted over and hinted at Rose's accidentally exposed petals. "Oh, wow. Beautiful... Uh, yeah. Don't let any of that inside you here unless you're looking to have a kid. That also means--"

"Ah!" Rose dropped the condom and pulled up her blanket, wrapping herself tightly. "Don't look!"

"What? I just watched you give my sons... whatever that was. Besides, it's not really like anything I'm attracted to... well, too much..." Adrian rolled his eyes and used Phoebe as the example now. "When you pull yourself out, make sure to hold the condom in place. And if you get rough, try to check it hasn't torn or come loose. You'll want to replace it with a new one before you orgasm."

"Oh..." Phoebe pulled a sheet over his own privates, followed soon by his twin. "So we really do have to be careful with them..."

"Well it does look like we might break one or two." Themis picked up the collected quart of his own cum and gave it an inspection. "Anything else we should know, dad?"

"Hmm..." Dee picked up the condom's wrapper and held it up as an example. "These are only good for one use. If you orgasm in one, make sure to replace it with a fresh one. Even a microscopic amount of semen is enough to have a baby, so you really have to be careful."

"Oh, okay. That makes sense." Em playfully tossed the condom to his brother. "So we just grab another? Um... Can we...?"

"Make love to Rose?" Dee giggled as he stood to leave, resetting his clothing as he reached the door. "I said I'm fine with that. It's great to see my boys growing up and in love. That said, I'm guessing you only have another condom? I'll grab some more--"

"Actually, we have a lot." Rose leaned over the side of the bed and produced a large carton box. "Ellie was already really generous..."

"Holy crap. Way to go, sis." Dee nodded and smiled as he reached for the door. "Well try to be quiet. Your father and mother are watching a movie, so you should have a little bit of time to fool around safely. Oh, and maybe... fill the room with your air, so the system locks the door and kills the scent with a good excuse? That'll be our little signal."

"Thanks, dad."

"Yeah, thanks Dee--" Rose's eyes bulged as she realized her upper torso was exposed, requiring a quick toss of the blanket over her shoulders to fix. "Damnit. I'm... not used to being naked like this."

Dee giggled as he programmed the air system to trigger after he left. "What's the big deal? You don't even have breasts."

Pho smiled as he rubbed Rose's shoulder. "Yeah, we don't care. I actually like that about you."

"But you didn't grow up trying to fit in with other girls. Other ~very mammalian~ girls."

Em pulled the blanket down and then yanked Rose forward to hug him and his twin. "But you don't need to be like them. Wear what you want to fit in, but when you're with us we want to see ~you~."

"Definitely Yoyo's boys. Lady killers." Dee left the three to share a kiss, giggling as he walked up behind the couch. "Those three are precious."

"Don't throw it! Hey, you popped--!" Dee's eyes bulged as he quickly shut the door.

"Huh? Three? Rose is here?" Iolvin reached up until he met paws with his husband. "There anything I should know about? Everything alright?"

"Nope. They're just having fun." Dee rounded the couch and sat next to Yoyo, smiling for Zoë when she looked over anxiously. "And it looks like you two are having a great time, too. What's with Zoë?"

"Oh, ~great~ timing." Yoyo smiled as he gestured towards the human. "Zoë, are you having a fun night?"

Zoë grinned as she grumbled her throat. "Ey...ess!"

"Oh, that didn't sound like you meant it. No more movie night for you then." Yoyo teasingly smirked at the frown he got in response, making up for it as he switched off the display. "Oh? You want something better? Then how about we go dive into those sheets and see if we can't find something better to do. Sound good?"

"Y... Yes!"

---

"Eve... Come on, hon. Where the fuck are you?"

"Carbon, it'll just take time." Sydney sat next to Carbon as the Starbreeze finished establishing an orbit over LG448-4, the fourth planet from the star. "You've waited this long, so don't stress her out. She'll probably come back to us sooner that way."

"Easy for you to say with your own veilee--" Carbon closed her eyes and slumped against Cid's side. "Sorry. You don't have the girls in you by choice. That's unfair."

"It's true though. And honestly, I'm scared for these wonderful girls." Cid nodded to Cait as she shook in the bench seat next to them. "And they're scared for me, too. You know I don't like what comes next."

"Re-entry. Right, forgot about that." Carbon held Sydney's paw firmly. "I'd Link with you to calm you down, but I can't without her..."

"Who? Eve?" Iolvin sat right on top of Cait, the intangible figment reappearing another seat over. "I heard the news. Congratulations on finding her again, Fibre."

"Thanks, Yoyo. It only makes me want to see her that much more though."

"Hmm?" Yoyo buckled himself in place, then helped the rest of his family do the same whilst driving poor Cait into her mother's lap. "Wait, is she not actually back?"

"No, she just cured me. Now I'm left without a hazy mind to distract me from her." Carbon smiled and gained a renewed vigor as she spotted Yoyo's boys, passing them a tendril for a Link. "Did they tell you? Your sons are the ones who brought her back... so maybe they can open a line of communication, too?"

The twins Linked themselves first, then Phoebe added Carbon into their connection. "Yeah, she's right."

Themis shrugged his shoulders and offered, "Not sure what else we can do, but we'll try if you like."

"Oh, nice. My boys are already proving themselves, huh? Go ahead if you like, guys." Yoyo donned a grin built of absolute pride as he addressed his sister in the captain's chair. "Lulu, what's the plan here? Can we even land unannounced?"

"Probably not. Then again, there's probably nothing but enemy troops down there." Ilaria slewed her view over to the exo-clone of Rose at her side, rolling her eyes as the plant slid her hands down her daughter's shorts. "Rose--Er... ~Other~ Rose, what's our best chance here?"

The alien perked up and slipped her hands free upon hearing her name. "Um, I think this one's actually a Blossom colony. We should be able to request a landing zone."

"Blossom?"

Rose Prime answered this one. "The Orchard of Gaia. Their followers call themselves her Blossoms. They're probably the closest thing to allies we'll find, actually."

The other Rose added, "They are actively fighting to keep Yangurrar safe from the Sect of Xor. In recent times they've noticed their decline in the holy war and have begun to establish backup colonies such as this one, to preserve their way of life further from Xor."

"Okay, so good guys. That's all I needed to hear." Ari checked the available radio frequencies and found only the inter-ship communications systems on display. "Wait... How do we contact them, exactly? They don't use radios, I'm guessing?"

"Light. Well, lasers actually." Rose Prime walked over to Buck's station and scanned through some images with the aid of Chrysanthemum. "There we go. There's always an identifier for relays that can be seen from orbit. Got any lasers emitters and photo diodes we can point that way?"

"We're a science frigate technically, so I'd assume so. If not, one of the other ships in the fleet should have something military grade. Buck?"

"Yes ma'am. I reckon I might tweak that LIDAR system to do more than jus' make images. Just a jiffy." The moose pulled up the laser imaging sensor and recalibrated it for the proper distance as well as canting it to the new angle. "I say we can likely do it now, cap'n. Not sure o' the data types though."

"I'll handle that. It's like a Link, so I can translate." Rose closed her eyes and a few dialogues opened on several screens across the bridge. "Ready when you are, Ari."

"Okay. And you're sure we won't be shot down or anything?"

The defanged Rose nodded confidently. "They accept all life, especially those in need. I'd say that qualifies us as well."

"Alright then. Rose... uh... You know what I mean. This name thing is going to be an issue one day." Ari looked to her brother, a bit annoyed that he hadn't given this problem a solution by coming up with a crude nickname as he tended to do. "Rose, tell them that we come in peace. Oh, wait. Maybe start by telling them we're from Earth, then the whole peace thing."

"Alright. Opening channel... Handshaking... Linked." The plant girl froze in silence as her veile did most of the work, though latency added a lot of time to the conversation. "They are suspicious. They say Earth's promise to reach other stars died... three thousand years ago?"

Viola raised her paw as if she needed permission, only answering when Ari nodded towards her. "Siamun... says he's from back then. Could that help?"

"Actually, it might. Hold on." There was another long pause, with a set of ideographic characters akin to hieroglyphs yet much more simplified appearing on the screens across the room. "They say we should know what this means if we've 'used their training properly', whatever that means. Anything?"

"Uh... Oh, sure. You can take over for a bit..." Vi looked drunk and out of her mind or a moment, then returned with a vastly different demeanor. "Why yes. This phrase was passed along by my last priestess. It describes the 'poison of life' and how the original gods harnessed it to create all living things."

"The poison of life?"

"Yes. The word they used for that was... 'ætii.' We were always told that with this ætii one could divine the 'essence of life' from the poison."

Ari looked to Carbon to confirm any of this, but she was too far gone in her Link with the boys. "Crap. Well try this then. Rose, tell them we seek the 'essence of life' and shoot them over some of the specs we have for oxydium. Carbon always calls the stuff æti, so it's worth a shot."

"Sure thing..." In mere seconds this time Rose came back, her Link entirely broken. "They... agreed so let us land. They said the answer was incorrect, but still right. Huh. It felt like they wanted to study us."

"Well if they want to trade knowledge for some supplies, I'm all for it." Ari hinted that Rose should find a seat with a strap. "Give us some coordinates and we'll take the whole ship down, unless there's nowhere for her to safely touch down, in which case the orbiter should do."

"There's a number of sites they gave us, but since we need water..." Rose sat down and connected a tendril to a console for a trade of data. "Here. We're cleared to land inside this port if need be. It'll be a little tight, but it's in water."

"Excellent work, Rose. Thank you." Ari checked the imagery of the spot and nodded to Trick, then again nodded slowly towards Sydney as she freaked out over the landing. "Alex, this looks fine for you. Take us down, please."

"You got it, Ari."

Ari sat up straight and prepared a quick speech for her crew's morale. "Alright, guys. We're about to prove yet again that we're the creme de la creme. Before us is a planet never before touched by an inhabitant of Earth. This fine morning--"

"Oh, Goddess!" Carbon brought Ari's speech to an abrupt end, the squealing and giddy mess of a hybrid breaking out of her restraints to dance on the deck. "I felt her! Goddess, she's actually there!"

"Uh... Carbon?" Ari braced her seat as the Starbreeze dipped downward. "You alright, girl?"

"Fuck yes, I'm fine! I finally found Eve!"

"Oh, the boys helped you talk with her? You can feel her there again?" A shudder of thick atmosphere against the hull threatened to break Ari's safety straps, yet Carbon pranced around gleefully using her vines as support. "Can't you do that once we land? I don't want to see you hurt yourself."

"But you don't understand! I actually ~felt~ her!" All motion and commotion on the bridge ceased when Carbon produced her paws, the black crystal cradled inside. It wasn't a trinket that drove that silence however, but the phantasmal, unmoving shape of Evelyn that stood beside it. "She's actually real!"

---

The Starbreeze's dorsal cargo elevator hatch opened slowly, yet even as it took ages to finish the effect of the thick air was intoxicating. In many ways this was absolutely the fact, the foreign atmosphere slightly lacking in some elements while heavy on other useless ones for a Terran. In another way the air certainly was heady, humid, and hard to take down in stark contrast to the landscape.

The first thing that the crew laid eyes upon would be the sun, a larger and harshly bluer variety than Sol. LG488 wasn't just rougher for show either, the entire surface that soon exposed itself consisting entirely of white sand that carried with it a similar azure haze. The only saving grace for this seeming wasteland hid itself opposite the elevator doors, a vast, waveless ocean tinted with a hint of green answering the question as to how desert air could feel so wet.

Ilaria took the first steps out, the otter making sure her real hindpaw touched the dock first as her crew silently awarded her the first Terran step on another world. "One small ott for man..." She hopped onto the stone dock platform and nodded to the others. "One giant leap for furkind."

"Cheesy, but I like it." Iolvin hopped down next, his twin sister saving him from losing his balance and falling off the dock. "Uh... Thanks, Lulu."

"You haven't been on real land with that leg yet, Yoyo. Be careful." Ari waved over Prisma's android shell for a query. "What's the gravity on this planet? It feels a bit high."

"My sensors are a bit off without calibration in months. It does seems a tad heavy here though. It's one-pointOhNine times Earth constant." Pris carefully stepped onto the platform, unsure if her heavier metal frame would damage the surface. "There are no moons to this world either, so no shifts in gravity."

"No tide, either. Good for you, huh?"

"I'm not sure if there's salt in that water yet. I don't want another paint job."

Ari giggled at the AI's remark, but hushed herself as about a dozen masked Yangurraa approached with weapons drawn. "Seh vissa heeshiir!"

"Carbon! Rose!"

Carbon answered Ilaria's plea for help first with a whisper. "They said to submit for something. I think it's a security check."

Ari checked her crew for weapons and thankfully came up empty. "Do they want to check the ship? If so, I can't allow them inside without a security detail if there's spies. That's all you, James."

"I'll see what they say, but we might not have a choice here." Carbon tried to say something back, but was only met with an enraged official. "I... I don't think I know their dialect..."

"Let me try." Rose stepped up and tried her own phrasing, getting closer but not quite there. "<Hello. We are from Earth. We fuck your mothers and gods.>"

Naturally two of the guards primed their rifles and pointed them at Rose. Then Ilaria's twins hopped out a hatch near their room and the mood shifted. Within a few seconds the rifles were pointed to the sea and the entire security team went docile.

"Girls, what's going on?"

<We can control their minds, if you like. They're similar enough to to us for that.>

Ari watched as her girls hoisted the captured Rose out of their hatch. <No, just establishing a line of communication is all we need.>

<Carbon and Rose's translations are pretty bad. You don't want to know what they said. We can't talk and even we can tell how horrible it was.> Michelle offered a tendril to one of the leaders, but the whole group dropped to their knees before her. Chelle had to force a connection, which was initially fought. «We may now speak without the confusion of words.»

«I... I am not worthy, holy ouschee.»

The female they chose barely held up any barriers in their Link, allowing all desired information to filter though. «Yomi. That's a cute name. We are Michelle and Mikhaila Rihzyet. The captain of this ship is our mother, Ielunschra--or Ari as she prefers.»

«Your mother?! Please forgive our rudeness! We did not know!»

«You don't need to act like that. We understand... there's some kind of divine attribution to our kind with your people? We desire to be treated normally, though.» The girls nodded toward their mother to signal everything was alright. «Please, stand and greet everyone! We come in peace and only request aid--and friendship, naturally.»

Yomi nodded once, then rose to her feet. She started a bow towards the crew, soon followed by the rest of the security detail. "Umo despaat, Ari."

<She said she's sorry, mom.> The girls smiled and sat on the edge of the ship's hull. «You don't have anyone that can speak English, do you? Or 'Terran' maybe?»

«I am an ambassador and train others on the world's new official language before they reach Earth, but I was... unsure of the accents used. They were speaking far too quietly and... I only know it from schooling. I may try, though.»

«We can always talk like this, Yomi. It would help if you could converse with the crew yourself, however. Thanks.» Mikhaila signed back a quick, <This one is called 'Yomi' and she can speak a little English, mom.>

<Thank you, my whelps.> Ari smiled at first, but quickly shut her muzzle upon seeing the aggressive stance it placed against the Yangurraa. "Sorry, we bare our teeth to show kindness where we're from. Yomi, was it? Am I saying that right?"

"Correct. My name is Yomi, third of Chiinu. We are to inspect your belongings, I am afraid. Many... bad Terrans have converted with our enemy."

"For your and my own crew's safety, we can't allow you inside the ship without armed guards. We won't keep you out if you just ask, though." Ari threw her arm out over the whole ship and crew. "We have nothing to hide. Our intents are noble. In fact, we're here on a mission to ~stop~ the Sect of Xor--your enemy. Right?"

"Yes, how nice! We will have the same attitude so long as your weapons do not leave your vessel. Your kind are the only ones to come to our aid, and we thank you." Yomi looked to the foreign design of the Starbreeze and added, "You are also the only species to attain star travel, in fact."

"The only one?" Ilaria and a fair part of her crew cringed at the possibilities hidden in that statement. "You mean... there are other planets out there with life on them? Intelligent life?"

"There are some, yes. We predicted a need for help and passed knowledge to many sprouting species. In time we hoped for... allies." Yomi nodded to her men and they began a generously light search for contraband. "You are first species to achieve this, and in a most odd manner. We assumed a certain kind of travel, but you produced... better solution than ours. We desire this new information."

"If it's worth that much to you, we'll share all you want. We can't stay too long though." Ari paused as one of the guards touched her bow, frowning at the wood from which it was crafted. "Sorry. This is a weapon, but I left my ammunition behind. I carry it in honor of my late wife."

"Late? Are there others coming?"

"No... That's a Terran term. She... died at the paws of the Sect." Ari took a deep breath and offered the recurve bow, only for the guard to give it to Yomi. "That's part of the reason I'm out here. They need to be stopped before we all die."

"If you wish to avenge your wife, we aid you. Whatever you need, we pass along to you." Yomi inspected the intricate carvings in the wood for a moment and gave it back with an unpracticed, scary smile. "There is a ritual in our kind. One sheds seasonal growth, then may bestow it to loved ones. They then may create garments and tools from this to show use of love. Your wife, she does this. Ah, did..."

"It's alright. I understand you just fine, Yomi. Thank you for the kind words." Ari placed her prized bow over her back again and offered her paw for a shake. "It's a gesture of greeting on Earth. You clasp paws--or hands--in a slight shake. It shows trust, or agreement. I think we have both of those right now."

Yomi reached forward with a tendril at first, but forced herself to use her hand instead. "Greetings, then. Oh... Am I...?"

Ari corrected the shake to accommodate the two less fingers of her alien hostess. "There. See, pretty simple once you know how it goes. Now, thank you for taking care of my ship."

"You Terrans name your ships, don't you? I always enjoyed that difference."

"Yes, we do. This is the Starbreeze, named by the engineer that brought her back from the grave." Ari donned her head for a moment and took a good look at the sturdy hull. "That happened to be my wife, actually. Her name was Robyn."

"Robyn would be happy to see her... child fly so far." Yomi looked to the twins, then sheepishly averted her eyes. "She can already be proud to have brought ouschee into the universe. We haven't seen one in generations, less two."

"Neither has she..." Ilaria forced herself to stop moping and smiled for her hostess. "What is the name of this fine planet, Yomi? We've been hoping you could fill in our maps with more accurate information."

"That is an easy request to fulfill. We will share while your people relax." Yomi held her arms and vines wide out as she basked in the sun. "Welcome to Yomi!"

"Yomi's the name of the planet, too?"

"Our star is Chiinu, of my family. My father's father discovered it and named it." Yomi bowed once more for her guest of honor. "I am the fourth of Chiinu, as is this planet. The old name of the failed colony is forgotten, but my new colony is Yomi in honor of father's father. Two more are building as well."

"So you're the proprietor of this place. Good, we found the right Yangurra to make friends with!" Ari beckoned a few of the others to follow as she walked towards town. "Let's celebrate with something to eat! We've been living off bad food for ~months~!"

"Ah, you remain active while traveling. Interesting." Yomi caught up with Ari and matched pace. "Long term rations must be quite tasteless. We must eat at my home. My husband cooks amazing grognashaa."

"Honey, I would eat this sand I'm so hungry." Ilaria smiled back to her family and friends. "And I'm sure I'm not alone."

---

"You know she can't respond, right? She's just a statue."

Carbon quickly frowned to Iolvin before she corrected back to a smile. "Don't listen to him, Eve. I know you're just waking up."

"Bad otter." Adrian bopped his husband lightly and pandered to both sides of the argument. "She's lifeless right now, but Carbon's probably right. It's a waste of effort to make yourself real if you aren't going to use your new body. I just wonder why she isn't."

"She's beautiful though. Don't you agree?"

Yoyo reached over and prodded the plant fairy's flat chest. "She could use some tits, but yeah."

"She's based on Yangurraa. She isn't supposed to have tits." Carbon sighed as he prodded the lifeless doll's chest himself. "I mean, sometimes tits can be nice... but my dad didn't design her that way."

"Will you guys stop talking about tits? It's making me horny." Ilaria yanked her brother's mechanical tail to get him on his hindpaws. "I think I'll go cool myself down by the water. Care to ~join me~, Yoyo?"

"Oh, I will as well." Yomi didn't pick up on the hint and ruined Ari's plans for some recently rarer private time with her twin. "There is nice spot close to the... eh, the word... water factory...?"

"Oh, you have to purify your water? That makes sense, especially for plant people." Ari scrunched her eyes and inquired, "Is that offensive in any way, calling your people plants? I don't mean to insult you."

"No... At first I thought it was a slang word. Your people used it on mine akin to the lesser, mindless plants of your world. I have since come to find that 'plant' is shorter way of saying whole family of similar creatures. We are like that creatures... that family... so is fine."

"Good. I just want to keep from making you uncomfortable. I like to be close to my friends and family." Ari started walking behind Yomi as she led the way, hinting that Yoyo should still come. "So what's the water like? Is it even like Earth water at all?"

"It is similar. The same molecule is common around whole universe. Hard to find in large quantity on any planet though." Yomi found a stairwell that exited down to the beach along the back of a cliff and passed through. "Many minerals and metals in the water. We require more simple... simplified water, but you may not."

Yoyo pulled up Dee and Zoë to follow the alien. "We clean our own water on the ship. I just got done fixing the system with my mate here a day ago."

"Yeah, I heard you were pitching in for once. Thanks, lil' bro." Ari spotted Dee along with the expected Zoë and smiled for them. "Since we're a bunch of otters out of water, think we might take a dip?"

"But I don't... Oh." Dee grew nervous at the thought of stripping down. "What if the water's toxic?"

"You just don't want to skinny dip, babe. That's fine, by the way. I think this is mostly for Lulu." Yoyo grinned as he walked up behind his sister and pet the base of her thick tail. "We'll just have fun by ourselves and you can entertain Zoë."

"I'm sensing additional pheromones." Yomi slowed to check on the others. "Are you alright? Is the air overcoming you?"

"No, our doc says we're good for a few more hours before we need to return." Ari smiled and wrapped her tail around her brother's prosthetic one so they were forced to walk together. "We're just getting frisky with each other. It's normal."

"Frisky? Does this mean... sexual?" Yomi forced herself to look forward as she walked across the beach to their final destination. "I-I have not... experienced such a thing. We have tradition of relief, but I do not participate."

"A tradition, eh? Sound's right up my husband's alley." Dee scurried forward to walk beside the Yangurra. "He's an anthropologist, more or less. I'm sure he'd ~love~ to hear all about it."

"As much as you joke, I actually am interested." Yoyo threw an arm around his sister, at first for fun but soon to keep his inexperience with his limbs from toppling him face first into the sand. "Of all the bits of culture out there, the sexy ones are my favorites."

Yomi slowed to a stop near the edge of the water. "Our kind become... frustrated easily. We cannot relieve it ourselves." She held out a hand, gesturing the others to try going further even though the minerals in the wet sand were already stinging her feet. "Many choose to stay in isolation until they are ready to mate for life. Many also choose to help each other's needs in scheduled groups. If seedlings sprout, the group raises them."

"Oh, so you have communal child rearing? That's not far off from our tribe's way of handling things."

"All life is sacred to the Yangurraa. Without ouschee, sprouts are rare. We cannot afford for them to be disowned and raised poorly due to mistake." Yomi found a stone platform nearby and sat cross-legged on it. "I am such. My parents did not intend me and left me alone. Chiinu took me as their own. Our needs get the better of us at times, but we still come out positive."

"So you found a family after all that? That's pretty cool." Ari noticed the way Yomi was breaking eye contact and fidgeting and made a selfless call. "Yoyo, maybe we could just explore the beach some. We wouldn't want to disturb the residents."

"What? But I really--" Yoyo felt his sister's concerns over their wireless Link and backed off. "Well... if it keeps us from causing trouble, I guess we could."

"Huh?" Dee quirked his head as both horny twins shot down a chance to screw each other on this wonderful beach. «Hey, what's the deal? I might not feel up for sharing my husband next time you want to fuck in an alien ocean, you know.»

«Babe, if we get her worked up that plant isn't going to get relief unless she's fucked proper.» Yoyo smiled and tried to honestly enjoy the blue-hued view as he explained his take on the matter. «She doesn't want to do that and fuck up like her parents did, though. She's trying to do right by her traditions.»

«Oh... Oh, crap. Now I feel like an idiot.»

«Don't. I think it's noble of her, but it does suck for us.» Ari smiled for Yomi for a moment before deciding on a backup plan. «I'm not much for using my muzzle, but you've both got a rare chance when we get back to the ship. Sound like a good plan B?»

«Trying get permission for my man whenever you want, eh? Well it's working...» Dee giggled as he walked out into the calm water with Zoë. "I wish I didn't have my suit on now. This probably feels great."

"Well you can always ditch the legs." Ari walked out as well, her tail swishing side to side as her sirat drapes soaked up foreign water. "And you should. It's great in this heat."

"Oh, wow. I'd never think it was that cold." Yoyo looked out as far as possible, noticing the sun had completely set over the water. "We've been here for hours and the water's been in the dark the whole time. How long are the days here, Yomi?"

"The cycles? There are none." Yomi pointed to the sun, then lowered her arm slightly. "Yomi always points the same direction. There are small changes, but the desert is always in the sun."

"Oh. Interesting." Ari turned around and nearly blinded herself as she stupidly tried looking where Yomi was pointing. "So the whole planet might be ocean or islands if it spun, but it dried out on one side since it doesn't?"

"That is fairly correct." Yomi sighed as she thought about her relatively new colony on the border of light and dark. "Yomi used to turn, before the war. Battle has stopped that."

Ari stopped her advance into the ocean once she realized how large it was. "Oh... you did mention a former colony, didn't you?"

"Not colony. Before was whole planet. Before... I found parents." Yomi sulked down and stared at the buildings nearby. "Promise me you will do what you can. Stop Sect of Xor. You avenge your wife, Robyn. I avenge my parents. Then more sprouts grow never knowing this pain."

Ilaria trudged her way towards the Yangurra and sat beside her, painfully resisting the urge to give her a hug for potential social and chemical reasons. "We will, Yomi. We'll make it right."