Rin and Zuan

  A hut appeared first, and the next day a small hammock woven from the pale tendrils of a yellow-fruited plant replaced the pile of overstuffed reeds. The same mustache, which turned out to be very long and unusually strong, was used to build a rope ladder and to form the basis of new clothes. It's amazing how much you can do in one day! The three— or even four-meter "mustache", drying out, did not lose its elasticity and were simply irreplaceable! Rin learned how to pull them out carefully so as not to damage the tubers of the plant, from which new tendrils grew two days later, replenishing the building materials for the rapidly growing dwelling high on the tree.

  The locals turned out to be quite active, and Rin watched the fleeting aerial battles several times. Usually, the skirmishes took place over the mountain range itself or in the immediate vicinity of it and did not cause much trouble, but still did not allow them to relax. The whole thing was happening so far and high up that it wasn't even necessary to hide. Theoretically. It was simply impossible to determine which races were at war by ships, and there was no desire to get to know each other. There was no doubt that these were different races-their ships were too different. It wasn't a matter of differences in details, outlines, body contours, or models. No. There was a COMBINATION. A kind of unity, a kind of community that does not even give reason to doubt the differences between the creators.

  Rin spent most of her free time on the rocks, looking at the pretty white beach, which was covered with smooth, as if sifted sand. It's a beautiful beach, no matter how you look at it, but it's populated by local predators. It was only necessary to throw a twig on the white sand, as the beach exploded with exuberant search activity. The mass of tentacles carefully examined the disturbed area until it found the cause of the disturbance. Only after figuring it out did the colony subside. What the creatures ate, Rin couldn't figure out-she hadn't seen a single successful hunt in all that time. However, it is quite possible that the main diet consisted of nocturnal animals, and Rin sat very high in a tree at night.

  One day she went to the place where the fighters broke off at night. It was impossible to make a mistake -the burnt ruins had just begun to overgrow with grass. She spent almost an hour climbing through the ruins, not venturing deep into the underground buildings. There was something repulsive about these black corridors, deformed by the explosion and scorched by fire. Intellectually, she understood that there were no nasty creatures or undead creatures there — the dead were dead, and animals would not enter an abandoned house burned by such a fire. The smell of burnt plastic, melted metal, burnt rubber and vile decay is too strong. But something in the depths of his subconscious prevented him from descending into the underground levels of the destroyed base. The mind knew that there was something useful to be found in the surviving corridors, but... She couldn't get in. That invisible adviser ordered: "Don't you dare!" And she didn't dare. We managed to find a magnificent knife at the top and peel off a relatively flat sheet of tin. It was not possible to properly explore the ruins — a pot-bellied transport emerged from behind the forest, clearly taxiing to land in the ruins. Rin left quickly, not expecting anything good from such a meeting. The ship stood for three days, after which it flew away, and a column of flame rose into the sky after it. When Rin went there again, she saw only a huge melted funnel.

  It was a beautiful morning! The pearly sky with transparent pinkish clouds is of stunning depth, the double luminary proudly shines above the horizon, a gentle breeze blows over the skin, the rumble of waves... beauty in one word. Rin still had that wonderful time when everything had not yet had time to get tired, the change of environment was pleasing, and the world had not lost its beauty and attractiveness. The steady feeling of calling warmed the soul, for some reason driving away sad thoughts of loneliness and satisfying the human being's craving for communication. She has developed a completely nasty habit of telling an invisible interlocutor about her pleasures and troubles. The mental conversation warmed my soul, the call became more and more regular, there were no answers, of course.

  Distant thunder rumbled in the mountains. Rin roused herself. Thunder? What the hell kind of thunder! The explosion! And not far away! A puff of smoke rose up the slope. Okay, that's interesting. The girl glared at the rock, sincerely regretting her brother's binoculars, lying forlornly somewhere at home on her desk. But still, it was possible to sort out the general situation. A fairly narrow ledge wound along the rock, descending in several steps. It was on the lower one that she blinked a week ago. A man was running fast along this very ledge. Or not a person, it's impossible to tell at this distance. He was being chased by animals with the size of a passenger car and the agility of a domestic cat.

  Since Rin couldn't see the fugitive or the creatures chasing him, she could only watch them. And she wasn't sure she wanted to see this one... a man nearby. For some reason, there wasn't a shadow of a doubt that it was a man. Why would that be? Propping her head on her fist, she silently watched the vertical jumps, mentally touched by the dexterity of the stranger. At the very least, he could jump off at any moment, because it's very deep down. I checked it myself. Personally.

  As this thought lazily crawled to its end and took shape in his head, the stranger abruptly turned around and jumped down. My heart skipped a beat for a moment, beating faster, harder. It's him! He is the source of a strange obsession, this incomprehensible call that has been stirring her all these days! But... My hand flashed with pain, as if something toothy was clutching with a death grip, a series of angry obscenities in a foreign and such native language flashed through my head. He was probably bitten by that toothy worm, which has been unsuccessfully hunting it for the fifth day! Rin felt someone else's irritation and rage. The bite sensation disappeared, and the creature seemed to have been killed. The warrior has survived and is swimming to shore. TO THE SHORE! There are those tentacled creatures!

  "Don't step on the white sand!"

  "I won't step on it." A silent reply came. Calm, without a shadow of surprise or doubt.

  "Go out on the rocks."

  There was no response, but after a few long minutes, someone splashed water on her back. Rin turned around.

  He sat on a rock, dangling his legs into the water, and silently examined it. A blind helmet covered the face up to the chin, turning into a scaly collar, matte-black armor covered the body from neck to toe, repeating the shape of all the curves of the muscles, twisted black saber hilts protruded above the shoulders, weapons and ammunition fitted to the body so as not to interfere... Warrior. An outsider.

  He silently took off his helmet and set it on a rock. Without a single sound, slowly, calmly. So as not to scare. Rin sat down, hugging her knees, silently peering into his face. Into the handsome pedigreed face of a hereditary aristocrat, into the large slanted eyes of the amazing pure color of spring foliage. And cold as the depths of space, appraising, attentive, intelligent, burning in the depths of wild, primal rage. Pointed cat ears, covered with short black red-speckled fur with a long tassel at the end, peeked out of long blue-black hair, quivering a little from the rage overwhelming the warrior.

  The warrior cocked his ears, smiled thinly, and said:

  "Your help was timely."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I didn't know it was safe to jump off." He jerked his foot out of the water, and the creature's jaws snapped in vain. "There's nowhere else to run." A blade flashed like lightning, and something gurgled in the water. "And I couldn't take the fight: there were too many of them."

  To be honest, it was unconscious. I didn't know you'd hear it.

  "Are you sorry?"

  " Mm-hmm. No." Rin looked at him with open curiosity.

  "And how is the inspection?" The warrior asked with an undisguised grin.

  You're an extremely curious guy.

  "You'd think you'd never seen Ross."

  "I haven't seen it. Are you surprised?"

  "I'm surprised."

  "Don't you believe me?"

  "Yes, that's why I believe." Ross settled himself more comfortably and sheathed his sword. "How did it happen?"

  "I wish I knew." Rin sighed. "You know, when you go to sleep in your bed on your planet in the evening, and you wake up fuck knows where, and even your ass slides off a rocky ledge into the abyss... It's a little unusual, you know. And a little bit like that, slightly surprising."

  "And why would that be, really?" The warrior chuckled. "Don't you know anything about this world?"

  "Nothing. I'm not even sure if this world is inhabited."

  "In the classical sense of the word, no. It is not inhabited."

  Rin sighed, resting her chin on her arms crossed in her lap. The warrior turned out to be surprisingly loyal, did not attack, did not offend. That's all. Here he is, sitting next to me. So what? He looks at her with green eyes, and his hand involuntarily fiddles with the sword belt. It's a strange combination of swords and high-tech armor, but it looks completely natural on him, as if it should be.

  "Who are you fighting with?"

  "With your kind." — He replied calmly.

  "With mine?"

  "They call themselves hommo."

  "What about you?"

  "Ishon. According to their base star."

  "And what are you fighting for?"

  "For this world."

  "Is he yours?"

  "Ours."

  "And what color is the base star of ishon?" Rin asked in the same bored tone.

  "The capital is blue."

  "Yeah."

  "Do you want to return to your tribesmen?"

  "Want. Theoretically, someday maybe in the distant future. But the Ishon are not my kind. They are no less an alien race than the Rosses. I'm not ishon, I'm a human being. And our star is yellow. And they are not able to fly further than the neighboring planet. And they haven't really climbed on it yet. And the number of planets in the system has not yet been fully figured out. That's it." Rin swallowed a sudden lump. "I do not know where my home is. I do not know where I am. I do not know how I got here or what to do next. I have no weapon, only a half-burned knife found in the ruins. I don't have any clothes. You see everything on me. That's my interesting situation."

  There was a commotion in the bushes by the shore. A couple of baby dragons rose into the air, spun around a bit, squinting at Ross in disbelief, but still, not considering him a danger, flew to Rin's shoulders. The girl absently stroked the dragon's back. Other animals chirped, circling over something in the grass. Rin whistled, and a green, eared face with round yellow eyes like saucers rose above the grass. Ross tensed. The cat growled. The beast, frightened by Rin on the first day, got used to her and resorted to cuddling or eating. Rin lived on his property with his permission. And the cat brazenly used a free feeder: every time the cat resorted to Rin, she always treated him to a fish or a piece of meat.

  "Come here." Rin slapped the stone next to her.

  The green beast hesitated, but still jumped over a small tongue of water in a couple of jumps over the rocks, approached the girl, sniffed and licked her shoulder, growling Ross in a not very affectionate way. Rin stroked the hard green fur, scratched behind the ears and under the chin. The pussy thrilled and dragged, but as soon as the girl took her hands away, the beast yawned, showing a palisade of teeth, and lay down next to her.

  Ross watched in silence, not making a single gesture to show his attitude to what was happening. The cat soon purred, blissfully squinting her eyes.

  "Good little animal." the warrior said neutrally.

  "Sweet." Rin was scratching her furry ear, and the beast was just entranced. "We get along well with him."

  "With her."

  "It doesn't matter."

  "It does. The females are completely wild."

  "Even so?" Rin pulled the parasite out of the fur and threw it into the water. "I didn't know."

  "It's amazing that you survived the encounter with the lowland int."

  "I scared her."

  "How?"

  "I don't know. It's just that something fell down from fear. Apparently, my soul hit my heels painfully. I yelled at her, and the cat ran away."

  Ross was silent for a while, looking at the girl. Without a single movement. Silently. Something flickered on his belt. The soldier squinted, read a short message on the computer on his forearm, looked at the girl and took off a wide sling belt with a knife and a pistol strapped to it.

  "Take."

  "thanks."

  Rin tried on the belt, but it was hanging from her hips. Ross smiled, tightened the buckle, selected the length of the belt, and unfastened the extra links.

  "That's better, thank you."

  "You don't have to thank me."

  "Why?" Rin looked up at him.

  "Maybe I'll be the one to kill you."

  Ross's face was as impenetrable as a statue's.

  "Who knows." Rin shrugged phlegmatically, accepting the weapon.

  "Can you use it?"

  "I'll figure it out." Rin hesitated for a few seconds, calculating his reaction. "What's your name?"

  "Nav'." The warrior replied calmly, without a trace of annoyance or displeasure.

  "Is that your name or is that your name?"

  "That's my name."

  "A nickname?"

  "Warriors don't advertise their names." a barely perceptible predatory smile slid across his lips.

  "Nav'. Does it translate?"

  "yes."

  "How?"

  "Death."

  "You're a sweet guy. Rin sighed. "Is that what the warriors called you?"

  "yes."

  "For what?"

  "yes."

  "You're just adorable."

  A light on his belt flickered insistently. A light on his belt flickered insistently. Nav squinted.

  "Are you being summoned?"

  "yes."

  He put on his helmet. A moment later, Rin heard a muffled voice: