TirzahsAllure (3 page)

“Sorry. Everyone seems to forget that we have opinions, too,” she mumbled. “We’re adults now. We’re not children anymore.”

Opek smiled patiently. “Tirzah, you’re young, inexperienced, and impulsive. You have no idea how vast the forest is. Believe me, when we first settled here, we explored often, sometimes for days, and there seemed to be no end to the forest and mountains, and only more savage tribes.”

“If aliens have settled on this planet, there must be more beyond the forest.” She dared to speak now that Opek had spoken to her directly. “Surely the whole planet isn’t made up out of forests?”

“Why are you so eager to leave? Are you that unhappy here? Our life is good.”

“Our life might be good, in a sense. But I long for normality, for cities like the ones you’ve told us about, for clothing like I’ve seen in the pictures, for music, and lots of other things. So do many of my friends. We might be civilized, but our life is almost the same as the savages that occupy this planet. The only difference is we don’t eat human flesh.” How could she tell him she longed for a mate, but none of her friends were to her liking. Sure, some of the young men chased her, but she always rejected their advances. How was she ever to mate if she couldn’t find someone among her own people? It was as if he’d read her thoughts—and he probably had. She had such a bad habit of leaving her thoughts unguarded.

“You won’t find another species like us on this planet. We’d have picked up their signature years ago. Yes, there are the black cats, but they’re merely cats. They don’t have the ability to shift. You have no choice but to find your mate here, among us,” Opek said, a stern expression on his face.

Tirzah glanced at the faces of her people, young and older. Children played nearby, some of them her siblings. Her parents were more prolific than any other couple. Over the years, her mother and her two mates had produced eight litters. What had started out as a group of fifteen, had increased to fifty-six. Tirzah couldn’t even remember the names of her siblings at times. “Our numbers are increasing. Because of our lengthy life span, our village will soon be too small to house everyone. We don’t have the equipment to clear the forest, or materials to build more houses, so where is everyone supposed to live? I’m sorry, but when I find a mate, I don’t want to share a house with two or three dozen others.”

A soft murmur of agreement came from some of her friends.

“Tirzah, we will find a solution. And now, to other matters. The Festival of Light is approaching and…”

Opek’s voice faded into the distance as Tirzah’s mind rebelled. She blocked her thoughts. If Opek or anyone else read her mind, they’d be shocked out of their wits. It was forbidden to venture beyond the boundaries. If she did, what would they do to her? What could they do? Disown her? Cast her out?
What if you can never find your way back
, a small voice in her mind nagged.

The meeting was finally over and Tirzah wandered to the waterfall to freshen up, followed by her two closest friends, Senki and Taran. The three laughed and splashed while they stood under the cold water. When they were done, Tirzah walked to the side of the falls and sat on the rock plateau to dry off in the warm sunlight filtering through a small break in the mist bank, her legs dangling over the side. She gazed down at the water, at the small children at play on the banks, one of them sporting a large leaf with a pink flower on her head. Huge leaves with flowers on top of them floated on the still water. They never swam in the lake because there were predators, long scaly creatures that lived in the river but sometimes ventured into their territory.

“Are you still thinking of leaving?” Senki asked as she sat next to Tirzah. Taran stood beside them, tossing pebbles into the water.

“Yes. I think I’ll go tonight. I made up my mind during the meeting. You can come with me, if you want.”

“No. I’m too scared,” Senki said, pulling a face.

“I don’t dare,” Taran agreed. “Aren’t you scared?”

“A little bit. I feel excited at the thought.”

“It’s dangerous to go into the forest at night. If something happens to you, we’ll never know,” Senki said wistfully. “The elders will come after you in the morning when they find out you’re gone.”

“Maybe. Half the time my parents don’t know where I am anyway. They have too many others to take care of. Mother is expecting another litter any day now and Father leaves early to help find suitable material so they can build new houses. As long as you two keep your mouths shut, they won’t realize I’m gone until I’m far away from here.”

“How will you know where to go?”

“I don’t. I’m going to follow the river. And swear on your lives you’ll not tell anyone. Please?”

“So you’ve made up your mind. I swear I won’t tell,” Senki said. “Please be careful.”

Taran nodded. “I swear.”

Tirzah noticed tears in Senki’s eyes. “Aw, don’t cry. I’ll be back. I promise.”

A gong sounded. “Dinner,” Taran said. “We’d better head back.

“You won’t be here for the Festival of Light,” Senki said as they entered the compound.

“It’s the same all the time. I’ll be with you in thought. So are you and Taran going to mate?” she asked as she watched Taran sprint for the tables.

“No. He hasn’t made any advances. Tirzah, what’s wrong with me? Why doesn’t he see me as a woman?”

Tirzah looked at her best friend. There was nothing wrong with her. She had a beautiful body, breasts that were larger than most, firm with dark pink nipples. Her face was sweet, her eyes innocent and large. She was really quite pretty.

“Hon, you’re lovely. I don’t know why Taran doesn’t notice. Maybe it’s because we all grew up together as friends. Show him that you’re a woman now.”

“How?”

“Entice him. Open yourself to him. Allow him to smell your heat. Next time, when you stand under the falls with him and you sit on a rock to dry off, open your legs to him and allow him to see your heat, your most private parts. Let your come flow freely so his hormones get kicked into action. Try it.”

“I’m too shy for that.”

“Don’t be silly. If you want him, then go for it. When I come back I want to hear that the two of you are ready to join.”

“That’s if you ever come back,” Senki said wistfully. “We’d better hurry if we want some food.”

Many were already sitting down for dinner that usually consisted of fish, fruit and nuts, occasionally some roasted fowl. “I’m going to miss you so much,” Senki said softly.

“Hush, someone will hear you,” Tirzah told her.

“How can we say goodbye?” Taran had caught up to them.

“You can’t. Please don’t say anything else? And make sure you keep any thought about me blocked.” Tirzah sat down on one of the logs they used as seating at a metal table made from panels from the crashed ship. The elders had demolished almost the whole ship and used most of the materials to build their houses and to make household items, including the long dinner tables. They always ate dinner communally outside, unless it rained unexpectedly. Sometimes the torrential downpour drove them into their homes. It rained almost every day and not a little bit, either.

Tirzah spent time with her two friends before they headed home to bed. Senki stepped toward her and held her arms out, obviously to give her a hug. Tirzah stepped back. “No. Don’t. People will find it strange. I love you and I’ll be back. I promise. Now go,” she whispered but loud enough for Senki to hear. She waited until the two had entered their respective homes, then scanned the surroundings. She stood outside alone. She ran toward the tall wall made of smaller tree trunks the elders had built around the compound to ward off unwanted creatures and predators. Scanning the water for any sign of reptiles, she determined it was safe enough to step into it to get to the other side of the fence.

As soon as she was across, she shifted into her cat and climbed a tree. She’d travel high during the night if there weren’t a riverbank to follow.

After a while, she saw sandy banks and quickly went down and loped along the riverbank. She didn’t stop, not for hours, not until she came to a fork in the river and had to decide which one to choose, which way to run. Follow the river—that was her goal. She turned toward the direction she judged, took the right fork, and ran for a while. Beside her, the river became wider.

The sounds of the forest didn’t scare her. She was used to them. She ran into one of the black animals that resembled her only once. It was half her size and afraid of the big white cat. The black cat growled at her, wrinkled its nose and hissed, then slunk into the forest. She continued her journey until dawn broke.

It was time to take to the forest and hide in case the savages were on the hunt. It was also time to rest. She was sure she was far beyond the boundary now. If they sent a search party out looking for her, they’d just be leaving. That was if anyone even noticed she was gone. It could take all day before her mother realized she was absent. She made herself comfortable on a branch, took on its color, and closed her eyes.

Where will this lead me?
What will I find at the end of the river?
She dozed off, but was awakened constantly by the small furry creatures swinging through the trees and had human-like behavior, but they weren’t human. She’d seen some much larger ones, a different species, and had studied their behavior many times. They all had hands and feet like humans although shaped slightly differently, with one less finger on each hand, and they used their toes as if they were hands. They often walked upright, had breasts to feed their young and used their fingers to pluck insects off each other’s bodies. The very small ones were quite friendly and playful. Right then she wished they’d leave her alone and give their curiosity a break. Surely, they slept sometimes. She sorely needed rest. Finally, she snarled at them. It caused them to scatter and scurry to wherever they called refuge. She could doze off at last, but her keen ears were always on the alert, even while she slept.

* * * *

The river seemed endless. Each day it got a little wider, and she had to choose a direction at several forks. Tirzah had traveled for five nights before she came upon a village. It was near the river’s edge and consisted of several small houses built from what looked like dried mud, tree trunks, and branches. The houses were high off the ground. Dawn hadn’t broken yet, so she hid in the thick shrubbery surrounding the village and waited. When daylight broke, she saw more bronze colored villagers, but these looked more civilized than the ones they’d observed at home.

They wore some form of garments, their hair was cut short and they went about in an orderly manner. Before long, children came running out of a couple of dwellings. They played in the shade beneath the houses. Some ran to the water’s edge where Tirzah saw boats
. I was right
.
There are more advanced humans. Why didn’t my people ever explore further? Should I approach these people or continue?
They didn’t look savage but were far from technologically advanced. They were still what she would call primitives.

She decided not to make contact but to observe them for the day and continue her journey that night. She climbed the tree behind her and lay on a branch. While she studied the villagers, her mind wandered off. If only she could find people who could help them. Wouldn’t it be something if she came home with news that there was an advanced settlement on this planet with inhabitants who could take them into space—people who could help them get back to their home planet? No, she recalled sadly, their planet had been destroyed. But their people had surely found a nearby planet to settle on?

A mate.

She really needed a mate. The hunger within her grew every day and she desperately needed satisfaction, both as cat and as a human. She’d seen the love her parents bore each other, their loving caresses and deep caring, and she wanted just such a love. The question was, how could she find it if there was no one among her species at home she felt remotely attracted to? She squirmed on the branch and rubbed her genitals against it as heat attacked her. She kept rubbing until she came and her juices dripped to the ground. Finally, she fell asleep.

* * * *

Dusk was falling when she woke up, but she felt rested and wide awake, so she continued her journey. That night, she saw several of the small villages. The farther she traveled, the more civilized the settlements became. Several times, she was forced to change direction when yet another fork in the river appeared. Often, she had no idea which fork to choose, so she’d close her eyes and guess, then mark the fork with her scent at each change of direction or she’d never find her way back. The boats, too, became technically more advanced, and the people covered their bodies with strange clothing. At home, no one wore clothes. The elders’ travel suits had long been used for other purposes so nudity was part of their everyday existence. Tirzah had seen pictures of her grandparents and her mother’s siblings. The women wore gorgeous gowns and the men tunics or spacesuits. She often snuck into her mother’s room to fetch the beautiful crystal and powered it in their little bit of sunlight so she could look at the pictures of their people and Alishura.

* * * *

After twelve nights of traveling away from home, she saw something that shocked her. It was a boat, but nothing like the crude long crafts she’d seen before. It lay moored near a village and when she peered closer, she saw several men and a few women standing by the railing. They were white people, like her. Some of them had darker skin and their hair was a variety of colors. They looked very civilized although their clothing was strange. She spied on them as they got off the boat and heard them talking. Their language didn’t sound like any others she’d heard, which was mostly the language of the savage tribes.

Tirzah’s heart beat faster. There
was
an advanced culture. There were people similar to her, of various sizes. Some of the men were much taller than the women. Could they shift? If so, what would they shift into? Questions roiled through her mind, especially when she saw a woman step off the boat dressed much the same as the men, except she had long, flaming red hair. What color cat would she be? There was no way she could approach these people without some form of clothing. But where could she get clothes?