Anatomical Distinction
Imported from SF2 with no description.
Having become lost was more of an inconvenience for me than it was for Ikkrit. Though my scholarly training was hardly preparation for woodland travel, my reptilian companion proved quite adept. I remained quiet as he charted our course, occasionally stopping to get his bearings or listen for some sound which I always had trouble detecting. Though he had assured me that he should be able to find our adventuring party within the day if he could find a vantage point, I remained pessimistic about our chances of ever finding a way out of the forest. Still, everything that Ikkrit and I had been through together lead me to trust him, and his life as a hunter in a woodland tribe made him the more likely of the two of us to find anything.
Eventually we stumbled onto a clearing within which we found a small lake fed by a river coming from the far side. It was here that Ikkrit finally allowed me some rest, and we set up the supplies for a basic camp with which to cook some game. This done, he announced his intention to catch fish in the lake and suggested that we both take the opportunity to bathe since we had been on the road a while and were worse for wear. To this I agreed, but because humans have a great deal more shame than his kind I advised him that we should do so separately. With this agreement made he stripped off his hip-bag, which was attached to the simple loincloth he always wore, and waded into the lake without his spear before diving in.
As he did this, I took out my journal and graphite-pen and began to record our progress. As the majority of the day after we became separated from the party consisted of walking in the woods, however, this proved insufficient entertainment, and rather dismal reading, so I instead began to sketch. Being able to think of nothing else, I sketched my impression of Ikkrit, keeping in mind what he had told me about his kind during the ill-fated journey.
As I drew, I found the similarities between totori and men more remarkable than the differences, which were significant. I paid special attention to the way the pattern of stripes on his back gives off a fluid rather than sharp appearance, and to the crest on the back of his head. I tried to remember the significance of this latter anatomical distinction when I came to it. At rest,
the crest is flattened against the cranium and appears only as a wrinkle of skin. When the totori feels threatened, it rises and is engorged with blood, changing the webbing in color from yellow to orange to indicate danger to fellows of the tribe. When the fight-or-flight response is activated, it engorges further to red: the universal symbol of distress. This visual method of communication facilitated the quiet nature of their race, owing to their status as both predatory hunters but also prey to the dangers of the Deep Wood. At one point I had asked Ikkrit if the crest ever revealed while it was in its natural yellow color, but he had only told me, using his race's signature language of silent gesturing, that this has a different significance.
I heard a splashing sound as Ikkrit emerged from the water carrying several fish, which were still writhing with the breath of desperate life. He sank his teeth into one of them and devoured it, still standing hip-deep in the water so that he could easily wash it off afterward. The other fish he brought to the fire and began to cook over one of my pans, allowing his scales to dry in the heat. I observed the behavior of his tail as he assumed a crouching position, and compared it to the anatomy of the sketch I had done with some dissatisfaction.
After we had eaten, I showed the sketch to Ikkrit, who gestured approvingly before switching into spoken word. "Your art'isst'ic rendition from memory never sseases t'o amaze me."
"I'm rather disappointed by how I got your tail wrong; I drew it a bit too inert and not quite connecting right at the hip. Also I notice now that I look at you again how certain details, like your webbed fingers and toes, have escaped my notice up until now; no doubt these are to help you swim. And also I got the distribution of the muscles wrong, idealized more for lifting than for climbing or swimming; as well as your ears and the shape of your feet."
He peered at the image again for a moment thoughtfully. "The hip iss a lit'le like a human'ss--though you have not' drawn the but'ockss, I can ssee that' you have not' fashioned them in a way that' would fassilit'at'e a proper t'ail sst'ruct'ure." He stood and turned his back, his tail swishing gently, to demonstrate. Unlike a human's, his buttocks indeed formed a fuse rather than remaining separate, his spine branching out into a tail which tapered to a near-point at the end.
"Can I feel it?" I asked after plucking up the courage. When he eyed me quizzically, I explained that I often get a better visual sense for minute details when I can handle them with my hands, and after this he nodded his head in approval.
I laid my hands on either side of the tip of his tail and gently worked my way up, applying pressure along it as I went. Unlike the back, where the spine is very close to the skin, on the tail it is entirely encased in muscle and fat, making it rather wider than that of a less sturdy race like the cat-people I often met on merchant vessels. As I held the muscle in my hands, he flexed it gently, showing me that it is more graceful than it appears and indeed could be operated with some precision (albeit not in a prehensile manner) allowing his kind to balance themselves effectively on perches not unlike a bird.
Then, remembering that his kind are not ashamed of their naked bodies, I explored where it connected at the back and near the legs, letting myself become familiar with this alien anatomical part. I confess I was somewhat entranced by how smooth and athletic he was, his muscles forming curves beneath his smooth swimmer's scales interrupted only by a scar on his upper leg he had inflicted upon himself while hunting a large feline. His crest was supported by a thick spine growing out of the back of his head, and the webbing was folded slightly to his right in its inert state, its ripples hinting at small spines underneath this one. I found the absence of nipples or a navel particularly interesting, a reminder that his kind are distinctively non-mammalian. I was thus shocked when I felt soft skin beneath my fingers, and I realized that I had wrapped my arms around him.
When he did not protest, and I was too shocked at my own actions to remove my hands, I continued, and noted again how similar the shape of his body was to a human's. This one spot was not covered in scales and indeed was very similar to a human male, only for differences in color and the thickness of the skin. I guessed that it must be very sensitive to the touch.
For a moment I thought about how poetic this was, for in order for a male to show trust he must expose his vulnerabilities to another, to trust someone not to strike them in the one place that they have not worked to toughness. I again thought about how comfortable he was when speaking aloud to me, even though his race only used their spoken language very rarely, replacing it
instead with visual gestures. All of it seemed revealed to me through a simple, tactile sensation. As I felt and explored this unexpected discovery, he grew harder in my grasp, and I finally managed to withdraw my hands.
"I'm sorry," I finally managed, when I again regained the nerve to speak.
"It' iss quit'e alright'," he intervened.
"No," I said, stubbornly. "It is shameful. For an unwed man to touch another so... and of a different race as well!"
"It' iss nat'ural," he insisted. "It' iss healthy t'o explore thingss that' make you happy. Perhapss it' iss not' sso for your kind, for you are cult'ured and repressed, while mine live naked in the woodss, at' one with nat'ure rather than... ssociet'y. For uss, pleasure iss a treasured gift', and a way of life... How would you call it'? A virt'ue?" He turned, one of his yellow eyes meeting mine, and for the first time I recognized the way that his lips curl up in his race's impression of a smile. "Shall we explore t'ogether?"
As he said this, I noticed the crest upon his head rising and displaying a brilliant golden webbing.