NJ64

June 1st 2005 (Wednesday)

Hee hee. Johnathon is ahead of me, sort of. In the on-line comic. He's looked at my scribbled journal notes. So
much has happened that I've not really had a chance to put it all down. It would take pages and pages and
pages. I wonder if that will make a difference? Do I give things "away"? Then again, will it matter?

He says to go ahead and just write it down so I have the memories in my own way as compared to the way he
interprets...and remembers...them his way.

The imagery of one person is different from another. Almost always.

Where should I start? We've learned so much that I wonder if I'll be mentioning it later on. Repeating myself.
Again, does it really matter?

Where did I stop?

Bahoogie had gotten finished. Meaning he was pretty skinny compared to the way he looked when I met him.
Still kinda hard to get used to. They "sucked his juices" from him. That's how they put it. Still sounds kinda
obscene to me. Looks a bit that way, too! :) Fleur teases me and every once in a while makes sucking noises
and an awful face to go along with it! I'm usually looking around for an over ripe piece of fruit by that point.

Speaking of fruit...

We were looking for something to eat once we'd started out on our journey. Or at least I was looking for
something to eat. Ammie let us get a little bit away from them, but only a little. Fleur wanted a tether tied to her
because she'd fallen through the float weed once already. So that was two falls for Fleur. One for me. *grin* (I
could claim two but I don't think sliding down that huge root when I first got here qualifies.)

Ammie agreed and was about to do so when I spotted some gual fruit just a little bit away from them. I went
toward it without thinking and Fleur followed. Ammie hadn't had a chance to tether either one of us and I could
hear her asking Theta to quickly follow us. We were only going a few feet away! Or that's what it felt like
anyway.

Something I've neglected to mention is the float weed. The stuff we're constantly walking on. It's not solid
ground. It's hard packed floating foliage.

And it moves.

You can't really feel it moving. It's so...stable. But you have to be careful how you walk. This is why Fleur
wanted to be tethered. If you're not careful, you can step right through it. Which is why she has two to my one
falls. Earlier, she had felt a difference in the texture of the "ground" but kept walking forward instead of
stopping. I don't know if I'd have slowed either. In any case, she fell through and it was only because of
Cleome's fast action that she was caught by a basket tether they call it. Fleur was unceremoniously carried back
up to safety.

The ground we were on after that was well watched by us both. Ammie and Cleome did their best to teach us of
the minute differences that occur beneath our feet while we walk. Theta couldn't teach us anything about it much
because his folk fly everywhere. When they do walk, it's a kind of hop.

So we were careful when we walked to the gual fruit. And there was other foliage growing up through the float
weed. That sometimes denotes more stability in that patch of the stuff.

There was a ton of tree-like growths in the area that I saw the colored globes of fruit hidden in and that's what
attracted me toward them.

Now, remember that I said the float weed moves. It's barely noticable. I was so focused on the fruit I didn't
realize that the distance between the spiders and us was no longer just a few feet. It had increased to a good ten
yards. Very, very weird.

I was grabbing up a bunch of the fruit, trying to get at it past the many vines that are hanging all over the place
when I got my own surprise. I think I beat Fleur out on this one.

I was a doofus. I didn't notice some of those so called "vines" moving. It was very strange. I thought I heard
something but I didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. It was a very stealthy critter, I'll give you that.

Yes, a critter was attached to a good portion of those vines.

And when I turned my attention back to the fruit, WHAM! Those same vines were suddenly wrapped around
me--and my more tender areas.

Remember, I've mentioned that everything has a sort of sexual nature to it's predation on Cyeatea. This...thing
was no different.

Those vines wrapped around me and proceeded to overload me with orgasm after orgasm after orgasm. Pushing
me toward passing out. I couldn't decide whether it was pleasureable or just too damned much.

I settled for too damned much.

I went unconscious as I was grabbed and suddenly pulled straight up into the air. I barely had a chance to see
something that looked like a huge mahogany colored jelly fish thingie. I was able to com node to Theta before I
passed out. I barely heard him answer that he was coming.

Then I was gone.

Fleur told me more about what happened after that.

Theta's "Song of Justice," the odd little gun thing that he carries on a holster had begun to humm. Fleur said he
barely put his hand toward it when it literally leapt into his hand, jerking it up toward the weird jelly fish thingie.
(Yes, I like the way that sounds!) Then the humming got louder, almost melodic as Theta aimed, and waited. He
couldn't get too close because then the critter would get him. Those tentacles were damned long! So he had to
wait for a good shot and then race to fly below me, to catch me.

The weapon sang louder and he fired. Fleur says it was beautiful Well, not beautiful. There was an explosion of
critter meat everywhere! But the flash that came from the weapon and hurled toward the critter was beautiful. I
almost wish I'd seen it. Almost. Remember it was being fired to save me!

The critter exploded, I fell.

Really, really fast.

Faster than Theta expected. Humans are much more dense than Cyeateans. We also don't have "boyancy
bladders" in us. Something that, apparently, almost every Cyeatean does have in order to prevent bad falls.
Especially in the young when they're learning their way about the canopies.

In other words, I fell like a rock.

Theta told us the rest. By then, Fleur could not see either of us.

Theta followed but I was crashing right through float weed. He had to follow through the holes that my descent
made, hoping that any predators would leave him to catch me.

He was caught, by a tree limb smack across the face, he was flying so fast. He was okay--suffering a cracked
visor and a bloody mouth, but I continued to fall.

Talk about swallowing your heart.

I'm glad I wasn't awake.

Theta had lost me. He was stricken.

The next thing he knew, he was hearing a voice say, "Did you drop something, honeybee?"

He turned to find a critter known as a Fire Wasp holding me cradled gently in her arms. His heart turned cold as
he demanded, with anger, to "give her to me."

The wasp tilted her shaggy head, looking at the honeybee with amused curiosity. She was a large creature.
Taller than Theta.

"I do not wish any harm to this...what is it?" she asked as she handed me over to Theta.

"She is an ooman."

"I am SueMac. Good hunting."

He nodded, taking me from her. "Good hunting. I ask Truce, upon this our meeting."

SueMac looked at Theta a long moment, seeing the broken visor, and bloody muzzle. She smiled and nodded.
"Truce, honeybee. My egg is safe. You have nothing to fear."

Theta smiled then, thanking SueMac for her intervention in saving my life, introducing himself. He invited her
to our camp. You can do that on Cyeatea. Truce is truce. Trusted. There is no fear that it will be broken. It just
isn't done. This way, friends are made. Gossip is shared. Those who might be lonely can find someone to speak
to for a while, too. I think that's kind of neat. But Cyeatea is quite large from what I've seen so far and you
could go for days and days not seeing another living being.

Theta told me that Fire Wasps are among the more aggressive and unpleasant of the wasps but SueMac was
very gregarious. She rolled her eyes when Theta was describing her clan to me, agreeing. She didn't like her
own people. She liked people. But being a wasp, it was a bit difficult to get closer to anyone other than a guest.

She was grateful for the invitation and I was carried back up to where the rest were waiting.

Ammianthium administered something called Viper Orchid nectar to me. It was a rare item that was used more
for first aid than something to eat, though it tasted damned good. (She pressed a tiny bit into my mouth to heal
the inside of me--that's what she said.) She and Cleome rubbed it on my scratches and sore limbs and
everything grew warm as it soaked into me. And then I was healed. That fast. About as fast as it took to type it
down.

Miracle stuff.

I woke up the rest of the way as the stuff was warming me from the inside out and I could taste it coating my
mouth, yet I could not feel it. Not thick, like honey. Not greasy. Nothing. Just that remnant of flavor...

Wowsers.

(More on SueMac and the jelly fish tomorrow. Oh...it's called a Porproom.)