The End of the Afternoon Hike
Posted on Sun Dec 22nd, 2024 @ 5:53pm by Captain Remy Johansen & Civillian Samuel Wynters
3,156 words; about a 16 minute read
Mission:
Shore Leave & Ship Repairs
Location: The woods near Remy & Samuel's Cabin
Timeline: MD 3, After Part 2
Samuel gave Remy a knowing look. "I know who you are, my love. To try and force any kind of change would be wrong. While I know, in my heart, you would be a great mother, I will never ask you to stop doing what you love to do. That decision is yours alone to make, when you feel, if you feel, the time is right."
There was a moment of silence as she thought about what to say, then not far off in the distance they heard the roar of some kind of beast and the screeching calls of birds. Remy stiffened trying to sense which direction the noise came from.
"Not to change the subject, but do you think we might see what that was?" Remy whispered.
Samuel had turned his gaze towards where the sound seemed to originate. "We can try, if you really want to." His sense of protection over her was starting to rise.
She gave him a look of amusement, "Well, I don't want to go looking for it. If we're quiet maybe it will come to water." She gestured with her head back to the stream noting that they were likely in one of the few clearings and at most of the wildlife's water source.
Samuel looked to where Remy indicated. "Alright. If we go to that set of bushes, we should be able to hide ourselves."
Remy followed Samuel's directions and settled in. She carefully unzipped her bag trying to make as little noise as possible and dug out her binoculars. She then looked through them across the way to see if she noticed anything moving through the trees. The thought had occurred to her that they'd probably already made too much noise.
She passed the binoculars over to Samuel to see if he'd have any luck.
Samuel took the binoculars and quietly scanned the forest around them. Suddenly, off to their right, about a hundred meters away, a large animal entered the clearing. It was clear, just by looking at the creature, that they could see that it was a carnivore, and a very powerful one at that. It was nearly seven feet tall, when it stood on its hind legs. It seemed to have the body of a grizzly bear, with the head of a Nile crocodile. It lumbered over to the stream and lowered its muzzle into the clear water, taking a long drink.
Remy sat frozen watching the large creature, she could feel the goosebumps on her arms despite the warm day. It was larger than she'd expected. From the growl she'd expected something like a smaller Terran jaguar. She didn't dare say anything outloud right now. The animal seemed peaceful at the moment, but if it charged in their direction there were a number of ways this beast could quickly kill a person of their size.
The animal flicked its head and let out a growl and two smaller versions of the creature peered out from the woods following their mothers' tracks to the water.
Seeing the two calves, Samuel knew that the chance that they could be in danger had increased. Looking over at Remy, he raised a finger to his lips, then tilted his head back the way they had come, indicating that it was time that they left. Should the winds change, and the beast detected them, there was no telling how it would react to their presence, so close to its offspring.
Remy knew of the increased danger as well, but her instincts were telling her to freeze. There was no way for them to move in any direction and not make some noise, try as they might. Remy met his gaze, lips pressed together tightly, and held her hand up between them and made a fist indicating to freeze. Moving only her eyes she took turns watching the animals more attentively and trying to nonverbally communicated with Samuel.
Samuel looked at her with tight lips. He then closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, as if entering a trance.
Over by the stream, the beast raised her head, as if detecting something. She turned her head one way, then the other, sniffing the air. Finally, she growled softly to her calves, and turned to leave, leading them back into the thick forest. In moments, they were gone, and the forest returned to normal, with squirrels, like the one they saw earlier, coming out of hiding.
Samuel let out a slow breath, then opened his eyes. He seemed drained by whatever he had just done. "I need to rest." He stood up, then offered his hand to Remy.
Remy looked at him with concern, easily standing up without assistance before taking his hand. "I can call for a transport," she suggested.
He shook his head as he replied. "No...I'll be fine. It's just been a while since I did that. I forgot how taxing it is."
"You said you needed to rest. It's a bit of a walk back. What do you want me to do?" Remy asked. She had a lot more questions that that, but was going to tackle them one at a time.
"Just allow me to lean on you a bit as we walk," Samuel replied. I effected the energy swirls that surround us, causing the creature to believe that there was a threat to her calves approaching."
"Of course," Remy responded. "Here, what if you put your arm around my shoulders?" She suggested placing her right arm around his back. "Someone could just as easily transport us back, so you don't have to think about trying that again if something is nearby."
He did as Remy suggested, though he kept as much of his heavy weight off of her as he could. He then shook his head. "It'll pass soon, and there isn't anything nearby, larger than those squirrel-like creatures we saw." As they continued to walk, he did in fact seem to get stronger very quickly. Finally, he paused, then straightened up, stretching his arms above his head, before inhaling a deep breath, and slowly letting it out.
Remy stopped walking and watched Samuel without saying a word. and waited until he was ready to continue walking again.
When he was finished, Samuel looked at Remy, a knowing look in his eyes. "You want to know more, don't you?" He gave her a soft grin as he spoke.
Remy let out a sigh. "That's probably... well yeah. But we should be getting back," she responded.
He nodded, realizing that it was time to tell her more about him and his species. "Alright. Let's go." He then led her back to the cabin. Once they were inside, he knelt in front of the fireplace and worked on getting a fire going for them, as he thought about how to explain things.
When they got back, Remy put her pack away and rummaged through the kitchen looking for something that she could make. She found two cuts of steak and pulled them out to sit on the counter, and then reached for the makings of a salad and pulled those out as well. After rummaging a bit more she found a couple of potatoes and turned the oven on preheat and started washing the vegetables. She kept an eye on Samuel, waiting for him to break the silence.
Finally, once the fire was going, he stood up and faced Remy. "Aside from what I've told you, my love, how much do you know about my species?"
"Other than what's out there for a Starfleet officer with my security clearance. At this point, it's starting to feel like my First Officer has been more forthcoming about El Aurian secrets than you have. But it doesn't seem to matter, because every time I turn around some new one pops up," Remy answered tiredly.
Samuel nodded slowly, his eyes slightly downcast. "Forgive me, Remy. I do not mean to be secretive. I do want to tell you everything about both myself and my people. All I ask, is for some patience in figuring this all out in such a way to easily explain the sheer volume of information."
Remy came out from behind the counter her eyes wide with pleading. "I've begged you to tell me. Begged you to have conversations with me about you. You always shift the conversation elsewhere. But one minute today you are talking like I could be the mother of your children, and the next you are using some super power I know nothing about. How can this work if I don't know you?"
Samuel nodded in agreement. "You are correct, Remy. I should have just told you everything as soon as we started getting more serious. I owe you that and much more." Moved to sit down on the couch, indicating that he wanted her to sit with him. He sat forward on the cushion, his back straight and his hands on his knees. It was clear that he wasn't trying to start anything to distract their discussion.
Remy walked over and sat down next to him and placed a hand on top of his. She looked at him, unsure of everything she was feeling at the moment. Confusion and anxiety were certainly at the top of the list as she wondered what could be so difficult for him to share.
He took a breath, then began to speak, tell her every part of his life that led him to her, in this place and this time. He left nothing out, though, for expediency, he gave her the points with only the most pertinent facts.
A few hours later, he finished telling her everything about himself. He then waited for any questions that she might have.
"Okay, I appreciate all of that. I really do. But what about these powers. What else can you do that I don't know about?" Remy asked.
"Well," he replied, "it's not so much a power, as a genetic ability. My people possess a few special abilities, depending on which clan we originally came from." He then started to explain how, eons ago, the El Aurian people were vastly different then they were now, back before they became the most powerful species in the known universe.
"There are members of my species that can sense the flow of spacetime, and can recognize when the prime timeliness has been altered. There are those, like myself, that can both detect the energies that swirl around everything that lives and, sometimes, can influence those energies to cause others to feel a powerful presence." He took a breath, then continued. "There are those that can feel the universe around them, sense if worlds or stars cease to exist. Finally, there are a very few that possess all of the abilities. Those individuals are referred to as our Guardians. They are the ruling class of my people."
"As you know, I do not require sleep, like you do. However, twice a year, I must go through a deep sleep, known as rastalla This period of rest and recovery takes three full days, during which, my body undergoes a hibernation of sorts. I will go to sleep and will not wake up. On the fourth day, when I awaken, I do so with a ravenous hunger and thirst. And then, I carry on with things."
Remy took in a heavy breath and stared into the fire that was starting to dwindle in the fireplace. It was a lot to process even though she had known her life was simple and small compared to whatever lifetimes Samuel had lived.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what to say," was about the most honest thing she could think of to say.
"You don't need to apologize, my love." Samuel replied softly. "I know it's a lot to take in. Hell, I've lived it and it feels like a lot to take in from my side of it. The only thing you really need to worry about, is our present, and hopefully, our future."
She softened at his words and nodded. "You're right. There are so many things you could tell me, show me. But it's also a reminder of how much shorter ... of how short life is."
Samuel reached out and gently took Remy's hands into his. "My love, no one is promised tomorrow, whether you've lived thirty years or thirty thousand years. We could all be dead tomorrow. All we can do is live today to the fullest."
"So what? Skydiving tomorrow?" She teased.
This made Samuel laugh out loud for a few beats. He then leaned forward and gently kissed Remy on her lips, before replying. "I would do anything and go anywhere with you, my love."
"What you did earlier was unnecessary, you know. I'm sure those animals would have wandered off the way they came," She pressed.
He conceded her point. "Perhaps. However, I didn't want to take the chance, when I knew I could do something to protect you." He gave her a soft smile as he finished speaking.
"The consequences though. The side effects? That didn't seem good. And I've managed to live this long without someone bending nature to protect me," she countered.
He grinned and tilted his head slightly, as if he had just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "What can I say? I felt the energies of that mother creature and instincts took over to protect what I love."
Remy stood up and walked back toward the kitchen. "I'm not so easy to protect. Or take care of." She pointed a large kitchen knife that she had left out in his direction. "I'm accustomed to handling things myself."
Samuel couldn't help but chuckle softly. He then stood and walked over to the other side of the kitchen counter, opposite of Remy and her big knife. He reached up and grabbed the timbers that ran along the ceiling and stretched slightly. "You can't blame an old guy for trying."
"Old guy, my ass," Remy said sarcastically. "It's a little late to start cooking potatoes. Steak and salad is enough. I guess I didn't look for bread..." She drifted over to turn off the oven. "How do you like your steak?" Dinner was giving her something to do. She'd already processed a lot in 24 hours.
"Medium, please," he said respectfully. "Thank you." He then busied himself with setting the table. Once that was done, he chose a wine that would complement the red meat.
Once the steak was finished, Remy plated it and carried it over to the table, along with the salad that she'd thrown together.
"I hope it's not overcooked. I'm sure it's not as good as what you make. I haven't had a few hundred years to practice," she said sheepishly before she sat down."
"I'm sure it's delicious," Samuel replied graciously and honestly. He then poured their wine and raised his glass in a toast. "To many more meals together."
Remy raised her own glass and echoed Samuel's sentiment. "To many more."
"We should take some blankets outside after dinner and look at the stars," she suggested. "Unless you think the bears are going to come up to the cabin and try to gobble me up."
After he finished taking a sip of his wine, Samuel couldn't stop the grin that flashed across his face. "Oh, I don't think that you need to worry about them gobbling you up, my love."
"So they're vegetarians then?" Remy teased. "No taste for meat." She said as she cut into her own steak.
"No," he shook his head, giving her a look that spoke volumes. "You don't need to worry about them, because I will beat them to the meal."
"In that case, let's hurry up and eat. I don't know how many days we'll get here. The stars always look different from the ground. Twinkling away. Is that silly?" Remy grinned at him. "Someday I'll take you to my grandparents land in Nebraska. One of the best places on Earth for stargazing."
Samuel smiled warmly. "I'd like that, Remy. That sounds like a perfect night to me!"
Remy finished her salad, put pushed her plate with a barely half-eaten steak across the table to Samuel. "I can't eat another bite. I'm done."
Samuel gave Remy a satisfied grin. "It really was a very delicious meal, sweetheart. Thank you for cooking it." He reached across the table and gently took herleft hand into his right, giving it a loving squeeze.
Remy got up from her seat and stood n front of Samuel. "You don't have to humor me. I know who's the better cook," she said with a soft smile.
Reaching out, he gently pulled Remy down into his lap. "I wasn't humoring you, my love. I was being honest. Just because I cook for a living, doesn't mean I can't appreciate another's hand in creating a delicious meal." He gave her a soft, loving grin."
"Mmmhmm," she murmured as she placed her hands on his ribcage. "Are you feeling better?" She asked tenderly.
He nodded and smiled lovingly. "I am, my love. The fatigue only lasts a short while." He reached up and gently brushed a few stray locks from her face. "And now, what would you like to do?"
"I want you, outside. With a blanket or two."
Arching his right eyebrow suggestively, Samuel chuckled softly as he replied. "Aye-aye, Ma'am! Shall I bring some wine as well?"
"Why not?" Remy stood up with a smile and grabbed her glass, downing what was left. "You're always pouring for me, and I'm never finishing, because a Captain is never off duty. But tonight, I officially am!"
"Here, here!" Samuel replied with a cheer. "I know you work hard. Your ship and your crew are the most important things to you. That is the sign of an excellent captain, and one that I am honored to serve under. You are also a remarkable woman, and I am equally honored to be sharing my life with you." The look on his face not only showed that he was being completely honest in his praise, but that he was also completely in love with her.
"Well don't just sit there," she said playfully. "I believe you have orders." Remy picked up both of their wine glasses and walked toward the door and stepped outside onto the porch knowing Samuel would be right behind her.
Samuel grinned happily, and jumped to it, grabbing what they needed, and followed Remy outside, where they enjoyed the rest of the evening together in the quite of their small slice of paradise.
~OFF~
Captain Remy Johansen
Commanding Officer
USS Astrea
&
Samuel Wynters
Civilian Bar Owner
USS Astrea
(NPC - Spello)
RSS Feed