"I... I can understand you now!!" Shia exclaimed as he pointed to him.

"Quite so." Another voice spoke from behind him. Shia turned to face it and saw the two bird-raptors standing in the doorway. "Our translation software just got updated, so now we can understand what you're saying. And vice-versa." The voice had come from the brown one.

"And in record time, too." The blue one added. "Usually, this takes at least a couple of days. Sometimes even a week."

"Yes." Shia turned back to the large, imposing metal-dog as it spoke. "I do believe introductions are in order. I am Nine. As for my two packmates..."

'Nine' got up, and pointed to the two bird-raptors in the hallway. Specifically towards the brown one with the large feather jutting from the top of his head first.

"He's Eilumi. The... 'captain' of this vessel." Nine said with a small hint of annoyance at the latter detail. 

"Well technically I am." Eilumi grumbled in response, before clearing his throat and addressing Shia properly with a sharp tooth-filled smile that creeped Shia out somewhat.. "Pleased to make your introductions, Shia!"

Shia shyly nodded.

"And next to him is Khaun. Our medical officer and engineer."

"Charmed." Khaun said in response. 

"He's not much for conversation." Nine added. 

"I most certainly am too!" Khaun responded incredulously. "I just ...don't have a whole lot to say at the moment."

"Indeed." Eilumi responded flatly. Khaun shot him a dirty look.

"I... My name is-"

"-Shia. You're a 'Shinx'." Khaun finished. "Yes, we saw from your brain scan."

"Brain... scan?" Shia questioned. 

"Yes. When we put you in that chair and saw your memories." Eilumi explained, and Shia looked down in both anger and shame. "I do apologise for doing that, by the way, but we really had no choice."

"W-What do you mean?" Shia asked.

"Well, I..." Eilumi sighed and stopped himself. "Look, I know you must have a lot of questions."

The sound of a low rumbling interrupted him. Shia looked down at his stomach and heard it growl.

"After you've had some breakfast." Eilumi finished. "Nine, fix him something." 

"Like, what? We know he doesn't eat meat."

"M-M-Meat?!" Shia said, now a little scared. 

"It's not what you think." Khaun replied to Shia, while Eilumi kept his attention on Nine.

"I don't know... Pancakes or something?" Eilumi responded dismissively to Nine's query. 

"Alright, pancakes it is."

"Good." Eilumi turned his attention back to Shia. "Once you're done with breakfast, you can come find us with your questions. Or just ask Nine."

"I'll be up in the Medbay. I'm sure you know where that is. I have some maintenance to run on the Brain Scanner." Khaun said as he left.

"And I'll be up by the bridge." Eilumi spoke.

"Bridge? What bridge?" Shia asked. WHen he had been traveling throughout the ship yesterday, he hadn't seen a bridge anywhere.

"It's the place with the windows and computers and stuff." Eilumi corrected himself. "Anyway, see you soon, buddy."

Now Shia understood what he was talking about. He still had to wonder why that was called a 'bridge'. He didn't get his chance to ask though before Eilumi took his leave. Nine silently beckoned Shia to the kitchen, and he followed wordlessly.

The shinx sat down on one of the yellow bag-chairs without being told. It was not long before a plate with some flat, fluffy looking, and very delicious smelling items were placed in front of him. They had some sort of sticky syrup poured over the top. 

He cut into one of these flat, yet fluffy round things they called a 'pancake', and put it to his mouth.

'Mmmph!' He said with enjoyment as his tastebuds danced in the smooth flavor. 

"Good taste, I presume?"

"Mmphm!" Shia nodded. He shoved a little more into his mouth, and chewed it eagerly.

As he sat there and ate, questions swam in his mind. So many he wanted to ask, now that he was able to. About where he was. Why were they here? Why had they taken him? What did they want with him? How x and y worked. 

... But try as he might, he found he couldn't ask Nine any of them. He couldn't bring himself to do so. For one reason.

Nine still scared him. 

He swallowed his mouthful of pancakes, only to feel a slight pain in his throat as the food traveled down. He wasn't choking again, like last time, but it was something else.

He reached for his neck instinctively. And felt it... that collar Rai had put on him that fateful day. A shiver shook him as he remembered it, and what he did afterwards. He wondered how he never noticed before.
He must have been too agitated, and too hungry for it to bother him until now. 

"Would you like me to remove that collar?"

Shia looked up at the giant metal-wolf, a shiver running up his spine as he found himself uncomfortably close to the dog.

"I would have removed it earlier, but I wanted to wait until the translation software was updated." Nine spoke a distorted, yet apologetic voice.

Shia looked off to the side, not sure how to answer. 

"I have observed that it clearly causes you discomfort. In more than one sense."

Shia had to admit that Nine wasn't wrong. 

"That, and considering its source, I would recommend you allow me to get rid of it for you. But it's your choice."

"I.... I..." Shia stumbled over his choice. Part of him wanted to be rid of it so badly. To be rid of his past so much. But another part. 

'You're my property now, Shia.' Rai's voice rang inside his head. 'But if you behave, you could be my pet. Either way, you are NEVER leaving this place!'

Shia shook as Rai's words dogged his head. Would he ever be truly free of Rai? At this point, he doubted it. Rai would dog him all the days of his life. He would forever be his-

His thoughts were interrupted as he felt a paw on his shoulder, causing him to jump a little. 

"You are not a slave. Or a  pet. Or a toy." Nine told him reassuringly. "This... 'Rai' holds no power up here."

Shia sat, and shivered. He felt Nine rub his shoulders slowly.

"Do it." Shia finally said. 

He felt the large paws slip in between the offending piece of leather, and his neck. He took a gasp of air as felt the strap tighten around the back of his neck, while loosen around the front. Out of the corners of his eyes, he saw Nine's paws pull the collar in opposite directions, slowly. Until, only a second later.

*Snap*

He breathed out as he felt the collar slide off his neck entirely. He instinctively touched his neck, no longer feeling the offending red piece of leather around it.

"T...Thank you" Shia said shakily as his paws still rubbed his throat where the collar had been.

"You're very welcome, Shia." Nine responded. "Do not worry, I will dispose of this."

The shinx watched as the giant dog-creature that Shia still couldn't identify, opened a hole in the wall and tossed the collar in. After he did, Nine closed the hole and wiped his hands.

And just like that, the only physical reminder he had of his ordeal with Rai was gone - though, of course, the memories still remained.

"You may continue your meal without further intrusion." Nine said informally. Shia had almost forgotten about it at that moment. 

Now without the collar causing swallowing pains, he finished his breakfast without interruption, as Nine had said.

---

Shia walked cautiously into the 'medbay', as Khaun had described it. With its walls bearing shelves which held things he couldn't identify, and those... 'computers'. Or at least, that's what he was told those metal things on the floor with the weird lights on them were. 
And sure enough, there was the chair-thing, the 'brain scanner' as Khaun had put it, sitting in the room. Shia shuddered as he recalled being forced to relive his memories on that thing. In fact, it was that very object that Shia had come here to ask Khaun about, who at this very moment was holding some sort of tool in hand while he looked over it - more specifically, the boxy object hanging from the ceiling.

"Oh, hello Shia." Khaun greeted, without even turning around. "Here to ask about the Brain Scanner, I presume? Or were you here to ask about something else?"

"Ummm... yeah." Shia responded. "About the... um... 'brain scanners'." That was why he was here. To get answers.

"Well, what would you like to ask?" Khaun inquired, again, without even turning around.

"Well... ummm... just ... what it does, and why you stuck me in it." Shia responded nervously. 

"I... see." Khaun said in kind. "Well, to answer your first question, the brain scanner, well, It scans brains. For memories, and other useful information. We use it for gathering scientific data. Including linguistic data."

"Erm... what?" Shia asked, not sure what he meant by "scientific data, or especially 'linguistic data'."

Khaun let out a sigh. "I forget you're not from a scientifically literate world. So I'll have to use terms you can understand."

Khaun paused for a moment before continuing. 

"We use it to learn things about new people. Like how their society operates, what kind of society they have. What their average life is like. And, this part is very important, how they talk and what certain words mean. This allows us to create a 'translation update', so we can speak to them. Which..." He finally pushed the box back up to the ceiling, and turned around to face the Shinx for the first time since he walked in.

"... to answer your other question, is the reason we had your memories scanned. Well, the primary reason anyway."

"I... see." Shia said sadly, still not understanding all of it.

"For what it's worth, I am sorry you had to go through all of that again." Khaun signed apologetically. "But there was no other way. If we hadn't done that, we would not be able to have this conversation at all, and we'd have to learn your language the hard way. A process that takes months, or even years."

"It... It's alright." Shia said. In truth, it wasn't. But it was pointless to argue it now.

"On the bright side," Khaun said cheerfully, "as we've said, it completed the update in record time. Normally it takes anywhere from several days to a full week and a half for us to learn your language with this thing. With you, we were able to do it in less than 24 hours."

"That's... good." Shia responded flatly. He had his answers now. Not necessarily satisfactory ones. But they were answers nonetheless.

He was about to leave when another question popped into his head. He opened his mouth to speak.

"Khaun?" Shia asked weakly.

"Yes?" He asked dryly.

"Y... You said this thing can scan memories, right?" Shia asked weakly.

"That is correct." Khaun responded.

"Well... if it can scan memories, can it... umm... uh..." Shia tried to formulate words to ask the question he wanted to , but the words just couldn't leave his mouth for some reason.

"I think I understand what you're trying to ask here, Shia." Khaun said. "I'm afraid I must disappoint you. No, this device cannot rewrite or erase memories. And it's like that by design." 

"Oh. I see." Shia said dejectedly. It seems that his little idea of using it to rewrite or erase his trauma with Rai had been dashed.

"No, I don't think you do." Khaun replied sternly. "So allow me to explain."

Shia said nothing as he looked at him and listened.

"... You might want to sit in that chair there." He motioned to another chair, one lower to the ground with a much higher backrest than the one in front of him. "This might take a while."

Shia nodded, and sat down. He jumped up at first as he felt a sharp pain shoot through his ass. 

"I see you haven't quite recovered from... that." Khaun said sympathetically. Shia nodded as he rubbed his behind. The shinx sat down in the chair again, this time much more slowly so as to not hurt himself. "I'll have to give you a once-over once I'm done here. I'll have Nine or Eilumi fetch you once I'm ready."

"Ummm... okay?" Shia had no idea what he meant.

"Anyway, about the Brain Scanner." Khaun continued as he pulled up a chair himself, a less comfortable looking one which he sat in backwards. "I have a bit of a confession to make first: The brain scanner is not really our invention. It's a reverse engineered piece of Miniknog tech: the 'Thought Reassigner.'"

"The... Miniknog?"  Shia asked.

"It would take a while to explain it, especially to a prim-" Khaun stopped himself short. "Er, someone not familiar with intergalactic politics, so I'll give you the really short version. They're a bunch of apes. Really, really bad people that use science for some seriously fucked up shit."

"You mean like what Rai-" Shia began.

"Far worse." Khaun answered his question before he finished asking it. "Just ask Nine."

Shia shivered. He really didn't want to imagine what 'far worse' meant. Nor did he want to ask Nine.

"Needless to say we don't appreciate them much. Nor does anyone else - though they are the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy. Anyway, back to the Brain Scanner-slash-Thought Reassigner" Khaun continued, clearly not wanting to go into detail about the topic. 

Shia was glad. He wasn't sure he was really ready to hear much more of these "Miniknog" people anymore. 

"The original Miniknog version, the Thought Reassigner, was capable of rewriting and erasing memories. But it had..." Khaun paused as he thought of the proper way to phrase it. "...Very nasty side effects."

Shia nodded, to show that he was indeed listening.

"I'm going to assume you asked because you wanted to remove the memories of that rat-raider, and how he tortured and raped you. Am I not correct?" Khaun inquired. Shia nodded weakly. "Well, as much as I hate to say it, that is the worst thing you could do. You see, contrary to popular belief, rewriting or erasing memories does not actually remove any of the trauma caused by it. It just creates a 'hole' in your memories. The pain, the raw emotions, those all remain."

Shia looked off to the side, sadly, as Khaun continued.

"At best, it turns the subject into a schizo... erm, a very paranoid person." The blue feathered raptor caught himself before he used a word that Shia could not understand. "Except, they don't understand why they're paranoid, they just are. Then someone convinces them that they're being paranoid for nothing. They lower their guard, and that since they don't have the experience that comes with the erased memory, it opens them up to being taken advantage of yet again."

Shia said nothing as he imagined this.

"So what you are saying is..." He said finally. "If I had that memory erased, I'd just be scared. Rai could come back, talk me into not being scared, lead me back to his hut, and then... he'd..."

"Exactly." Khaun finished before Shia could, sparing him from having to recall the details. "You'd be back where you were, all over again. Either that, or someone else might do it. Or take advantage of you in other ways."

"You... You said that was the best case scenario." Shia stuttered. "Do... Do I even want to know the worst?"

"Not really, but I'm going to tell you anyway." Khaun replied. "The worst case scenario is that something goes wrong, and it erases more than it's supposed to. Depending how bad it is, you end up either as a complete airhead. Or an outright zombie."

Shia nodded. He didn't have to do much imagining to see how easily one might take advantage of someone that couldn't even form a coherent thought.

"In the Miniknog's case, both scenarios worked out just peachy for them. They'd capture some rebel, someone suspected of being a rebel, or just someone who ate a banana at the wrong time of day or didn't say 'hail Big Ape' fast enough, scan them for what they knew, then rewrite memories and watch them stumble around. That's the kind of scum they are."

Khaun paused a bit before finishing his lecture.

"So in conclusion, even if this device was capable of rewriting or erasing memories, which, I must reiterate, it is not and is so on purpose, I'd have to deny your request anyway, for your own safety."

"I... see." Shia sniffed. Khaun gave an apologetic sigh.

"Look, I know you've been through a lot, to put it lightly. But there really is no 'easy fix'. Not even from us. It's going to take time to get over what you've been through. You're going to need help, from people who know how to deal with this. And, as much as I hate to say this..." He paused. "I don't know if we're really the right people."

Shia looked away sullenly. He looked back at Khaun as felt a hand being placed on his shoulder. Khaun wore a look of concern and sympathy on his face.

"But we will certainly try to be."

Shia gave a light sniffle, and a small smile.

"If only Renali was here." Shia heard him mutter under her breath. "She'd know how to deal with this."

"Renali?" Shia asked.

"Erm... Sorry, but I'm not really in the mood to talk about her." Khaun quickly interjected. "Go ask Eilumi or Nine, if you really want to know."

"O... Okay."

"Is there anything else?" Khaun asked. Shia shook his head. 

"No... That's it." He responded sadly.

"Alright." Khaun said as he got up. "Come back here if you need anything else. Or if something starts to hurt."

Shia nodded, and left the medbay, intent on finding Eilumi.

---

Eilumi was sitting in a chair, on the 'bridge', as he'd called it. Shia was still not sure why they called it a 'bridge'.

'Well, I guess it is what it is', he thought as he approached the feathered raptor.

"Ummm... hi... Eilumi, was it?" Shia said weakly. Eilumi turned and looked back from where he was sitting.

"Oh! Hi there, Shia." Eilumi responded cheerfully. "What's up?"

"I..." Shia sighed. "I was just wondering... if you were doing alright." He asked worriedly.

"Well, I'm doing fine." Eilumi responded. "But I have to ask, what prompted this?"

Shia was going to tell him that he was simply asking because of what Rai had put him through while Shia himself had just sat there and watched. Something that filled him with no small amount of shame.

However, it seemed that Eilumi caught on before he could, as his eyes went wide with realization. 

"Oh! I see!" Eilumi said as he got up. He immediately yelped in pain, and the raptor's hand immediately flew to his butt and gave it a few rubs. "Butt still hurts a bit. But Khaun says that'll heal up soon. Otherwise I'm quite okay. This isn't the first time this has happened, and I've been through worse."

"Oh." Shia said in relief.

"If anything, I should be the one asking you that question." 

"I'm... I'm fine." Shia stammered. 

"I know that's a lie." Eilumi sighed. "But okay, I won't prod further. But if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears."

Shia looked off to the side. There was something in particular that had been bothering him since that day. Since he'd watched Eilumi get brutally raped in front of him. Something in particular that Rai had said, just before Khaun had arrived and fought Rai. Finally, he spoke.

"That day..." He said sadly. "When Rai-"

"Stupid name." Eilumi commented, causing Shia to pause. "... I'm sorry, go on." He said apologetically.

"When he finished with you. He... said something to me."

'... Or perhaps I should let him have a turn with you instead?' Shia quaked as his abuser's last words before the battle broke out run in his ears.

"He said that I should rape you... or that he'd let you have your way with me instead." Shia stuttered.

"Huh, so THAT's what he said?" Eilumi responded. Shia simply nodded in response. He was going to ask his question, but Eilumi stopped him.

"Say no more." Eilumi ordered. "I already know what you're going to ask. 'Would I have done it?' Right?"

Shia could only nod in fearful anticipation for the answer. He jumped slightly as the feathered raptor placed both of his hands on his shoulder, and spoke one word. 

"No." He answered in a firm tone. 

"R... Really?" Shia responded with a sniffle.

"Really." Eilumi said in return. "I mean... don't get me wrong here. I, like most of my kind, swing both ways, and you certainly are cute enough that I wouldn't say no to a bedroom romp."

Shia looked away with a shake at the thought of that.

"But I would never force myself on you. Not even under duress." He said reassuringly. "Like I said, not the first time something like this has happened, and I could hold out for a long time."

The shinx gave a sigh of relief.

"Do you mind though if I ask you the same question? Just out of curiosity."

"I... I... I..." Shia was caught completely off guard by this question. He wanted to say 'no', just like Eilumi had so eagerly. But a darker part of him, the more scared part, wondered if Rai would have succeeded in forcing him to. And the more he thought about it, the more the answer scared him, and disgusted him. Made him doubt himself. Made him hate himself.

"Actually," Eilumi interjected before Shia could give his answer. "That's probably a stupid question, huh?"

Shia looked at him again, now having been pulled out of his self-doubt.

"If this 'Rai' guy had been really serious about getting the two of us to screw each other for a show, despite either of us refusing, he probably would have just resorted to beating either you or me until one of us broke. And... well, let me put it this way, Shia. If you had been the one to break and relent, well..."

He leaned in close, causing Shia to shiver at what he was about to say, as he fully expected some sort of threat.

"I would not have blamed you. We'd still have saved you." Eilumi spoke softly.

Shia's eyes went wide as he shook. This was not the answer he expected at all. He'd expected Eilumi to say that he'd tear him apart, or beat him down, or abandon him, or something to that effect. Not that he'd forgive him! He had only one word, one question, in response to a declaration like that.

"... Why?" The shinx whined.

"Why what?" Eilumi responded, apparently not understanding the question.

"Why would you ... forgive me so easily... if I had done that?" He sniffled. "If... If I had done that to you... it would have made me no better than him! I'd be a rapist, just like him. I'd be scum! I'd be-"

"Shia, stop." Eilumi ordered. Shia did as he was told, stopping his self-deprecating rant. "You're wrong, it would not have made you a shitbag like him."

"But-"

"No buts." Eilumi shut him down quickly. "Listen, I've seen shitbags of every stripe and type in my time. And let me tell you one thing, Shia."

Eilumi's eyes narrowed. 

"You. Are. NOT. A. Shitbag."

Shia said nothing. He felt Eilumi hug him and hold him tight.

"I can tell when a person does it under duress, or if they're not in the right state of mind. Like I said, I've seen it before. So, no, I would not have blamed you, had he forced you to do it to me."

Tears fell from Shia's eyes as he was held close to the brown raptor bird, falling on his black cloak.

"And one more thing, while we're on the subject." Eilumi added. "If I had managed to get away instead of getting knocked out, I would have come back once I found my other pack members."

"But... why?" Shia once again asked, this time for a different reason. "In fact, why take me at all? I mean, I know about the whole brain scan thing. But beyond that... why?"

"Because it's the right thing to do." Eilumi responded. "See, where we come from, it's the duty of the strong to protect the weak. Used to just be our pack's personal motto, but ever since the Illuminate reformed, it's been an official doctrine of our kind."

Shia had no idea what this 'Illuminate' was, and at the moment, he didn't really care. He'd ask again some other time. For now, he just let Eilumi comfort him.

"And besides," Eilumi added flatly as he let go of Shia, "If I had just left you behind or just beamed you back after the brain scan, Nine would have kicked my ass into low orbit."

Shia tensed up upon Eilumi's mention of the metal-dog.

"He... he scares me." Shia confessed.

"Who, Nine?" Eilumi asked in turn.

"Y..Yeah."

"Don't be frightened of him." Eilumi said encouragingly. "Look, I know he looks big and scary. And when it comes to battle, he most certainly is."
The brown bird raptor gave a sigh.
"Okay, I'll admit. You didn't exactly have the best introduction to him." Eilumi muttered. "I mean, watching a protogen twice your size bust through the wall, wail on a guy and toss him outside like a ragdoll is... bound to scare almost anyone. Even if said guy 100% deserved it."

Shia just nodded.

"But believe me, beneath all of that... Nine is just a big puppy." Eilumi said cheerfully. But then his mood turned sullen.

"Or... at least he is now." He added sorrowfully.

"What do you mean, 'he is now?'" Shia asked, a bit fearfully.

"Wellll.... I shouldn't say this, but..." Eilumi paused. "Nine... does not have a very good past. And, well, I don't feel comfortable telling it to you behind his back. I'm sorry."

Shia could only wonder what he meant.

"But anyway, he's good now." Eilumi's mood suddenly went back to its more cheery tone. "So you shouldn't be afraid to talk to him and ask him questions."

"I'll... ask. Eventually." Shia responded.

The shinx looked out the windows again. It was not much different than the last time he'd looked out there. The stars were still there. The Moon was still shining in all its glory. The sun was bright off in the distance. And what he assumed was his world below him was still in its part blue, part green, part brown majesty.

Looking at it now, it distressed him less than when he'd first seen it. It still made him slightly uncomfortable, but it didn't scare him like it did yesterday. It did, however, remind him of a certain someone that had been taken from his life.

"Loona would have loved this." Shia sighed to himself. 

"She was that 'Li-Ooh-Neh' that liked to look up at the moon, right?' Eilumi asked curiously. Shia nodded in response, his eyes still fixated on the sight before him. "Seems you didn't take to it as well yesterday."

"I was... scared." Shia responded. 'Scared' was an understatement. "But... I'm a bit better now. Still unnerves me though."

"Being out in space like this, it's a bit disorienting at first." Eilumi replied understandably. "Especially for a species without a space program."

"Space? What Space?" Shia asked curiously, as he finally broke his gaze on the sight outside to turn around to face Eilumi again.

"Erm... How to explain this in a way you'll understand?" Eilumi pondered, bringing a claw to his chin. He paused, and for a moment, Shia wondered if he was going to respond at all. However, he finally did.

"Okay, so you know there's the ground, right? There's below the ground, on top of the ground, and there's the sky. With me so far?" Eilumi began, and Shia nodded in response. "Well, I know you must think you're up in the sky, as in, really far up, right?"

"Y.... You mean we aren't in the sky?" Shia questioned. Eilumi shook his head.

"No." Eilumi confirmed. "To put it in the simplest way possible: we are above the sky. In the space between your worlds, and others. All that black you see out there, in between the stars, moon, and sun? That's space."

Shia had to take a moment to process all of this. He, like so many other mons, thought the sky was the highest one could go. He didn't even think there was anything above the sky. Or that there even was such a thing at all!

He'd been right earlier. Loona would have loved this.

"Right now, we are orbiting around your world. Your... planet." 

"I... see." Shia said. Another question entered his mind. "So, the sun goes around the planet-"

A small chuckle cut him off, confusing the poor shinx.

"No. No. it doesn't work like that." Eilumi said with a barely contained chuckle. "The sun doesn't actually move at all."

"But, the sun comes up every day and goes down every night!" Shia protested. "If the sun doesn't move, how-"

"Calm down, Shia. Calm down, and sit down. and I'll explain it." Eilumi cut him off. He carefully sat on the metal floor, and patted the space next to him, bidding Shia to do the same.Shia, still feeling the pains in his rear, really did not want to sit down, but decided to do so anyway, out of politeness. He carefully sat down, giving a small hiss as his rear hole spiked with pain at one point, before it finally subsided.

"I should really see about getting some beanbag chairs in here." Eilumi grumbled, his hand going to his own rear. Apparently, he still felt it too.

Once they were both seated, and comfortable, or as comfortable as they could be, Eilumi began to explain more in detail about how space, the planets, the stars, and everything else worked. About how the sun didn't move, about how the world merely spun and made it look like it did, yet the moon did orbit the world. About how the sun was actually far bigger and hotter than it appeared. And how the sun was actually itself just a really close star.

Needless to say, Shia's mind was officially blown by this point.

"... So every single star out there... is..."

"Another sun with planets. Yes." Eilumi finished. "And we are from one of those stars, from another planet."

Somehow, in the back of his mind, Shia always knew. Always knew these strange mons, if that term even applied to them, couldn't have been from his world. The strange metal stuff. The ship in the sky- no, in space. And now... he'd just had everything confirmed.

He was confused. Very confused. But one thing he was not right now as Eilumi spoke to him about all these things: scared. 

Another question came to mind, and he did not hesitate to ask it to Eilumi, as the fear of conversing with him was now almost completely gone.

"The worlds outside of my own..." the shinx asked "are they... better or worse than mine?"

"Well, it highly depends on what metric you're using for the term 'better'" Eilumi replied. "It's a complicated question to answer. The simplest one I can give is: some are better, some are worse. I mean, there are some worlds that are just plain objectively worse. Atropus worlds, for example. And... Don't ask. You don't want to know."

Shia had just opened his mouth to ask what Atropus worlds were, but was shut down immediately. 

"As far as other metrics go... even if everything that rat-raider said about your world was 100% true, I'd rather live on your world than say... on a world run by the Miniknog."

There was that word again. 'Miniknog.' Shia had to admit, he was a bit curious by now. But there was a much more pressing question on his mind.

He'd just learned that these mon- no, beings, were from another world. And had arrived here on this 'ship' of theirs. If that was the case... could it be?

"Eilumi... You said you guys are from another world?" Shia asked.

"Yes, that's correct." Eilumi confirmed.

"Then... are... Are you guys... humans?!"

Humans. He'd heard of them. Never seen one. Humans hadn't been seen on his world in decades. And when they had come, they'd come in some form of 'mon, do some things, and then leave. Or in the last one's case, was murdered.

If these creatures were from another world, it only made sense, right? That these were what humans actually looked like?

Or so Shia thought. Eilumi apparently disagreed. Heavily.

The bird-raptor tilted his head, giving him a look of confusion. And then, suddenly, did something Shia did not expect, nor entirely appreciate.

He burst out laughing. 

"HAAHAHAHAHAHA!! HUMANS?!" He howled with laughter, putting a claw on Shia's shoulder as he doubled over. "You think we're... HUMANS?! WAAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

Shia didn't find this anywhere near as funny. He just looked confused as the creature in front of him fell back onto his back and laughed up at the ceiling, his eyes closed as he rolled around, howling with laughter.

"Humans... Hahahaha, that's a good one! Hahahahaha! Ha ha... haaa... haaaaaaa."

Shia stood there for moments as Eilumi's laughter finally grew less and less. The latter finally got up off the floor, and put a hand on Shia's shoulder, still grinning like an idiot.

"I'm... heh... I'm sorry for laughing in your face. But, it's just too funny."

"So, no, then?" Shia responded, now a bit irritated at Eilumi's display.

"Of course not! I'm an Avali." Eilumi said, wiping a tear of laughter from his face. "And so is Khaun."

"I... See." Shia responded awkwardly. 

"Tell me, why would you think I'm a, heh, human?" Eilumi asked. "You clearly never saw one before, yet you know what they are. Have they been to this world of yours at some point?"

"Well... yes. Kind of. Sort of." Shia started to explain. "They have come to their world, but they'd always be in the form of other pokemon. They'd come, do some great act, then leave. But that hasn't happened in decades, and since you guys were not 'mons, I... kinda thought you guys were humans. In their true form."

"Ah." Eilumi answered. "So up until a few decades ago, humans got pulled into this world by some unknown means, became mons, and ran around doing stuff?"

Shia nodded.

"Shia..." Eilumi began solemnly. "I think I can tell you why there haven't been any humans visiting your world in decades."

"You... Can?" Shia asked. Eilumi nodded slowly.

"It's because most of humanity is dead." He finished.

Shia sat in silence. Not sure what to say. Not sure what to ask.

"See, it all started, well, a few decades ago," Eilumi continued, "Humans mostly lived on a planet called 'Earth'. However, at that time, an evil cult known as the 'Occasus' summoned a gigantic, planet-destroying tentacle monster known as 'The Ruin' into the universe, with the intent of wiping out all non-human life in the universe. Ironically, its first target was the Earth itself.'"

"Is... Is this Ruin still out there?" Shia interrupted fearfully.

"No. It was destroyed by a survivor of Earth and their crew. Unfortunately, no one's heard from them since."

"Oh. That's good." Shia said with a sigh of relief upon hearing that they weren't all going to die to what sounded like a giant tangela. "Er, The Ruin being destroyed part that is." He quickly added.

"Quite so." Eilumi responded in turn. "Anyway, there were, and still are, other humans out there. Most of the ones that were off of Earth or managed to escape either live in isolated colonies, most of which are, ironically enough, under the control of the Reborn Illuminate. Integrated with other species and civilizations. Or they died out in the Occasus War and USCM civil war that followed. Humanity is a rarity nowadays."

"I see." Shia said sadly. "So that explains why there hasn't been a human in our world for decades. Because there aren't any left."

"No, there's still humans out there. They're just rare and don't have a civilization of their own anymore."

Shia remained silent at Eilumi's correction.

"Oh, since you're curious..." Eilumi reached into his jacket as Shia looked on. He took out a picture, and handed it to Shia.

"I... Uhhhhhh..."

"I know, probably not the best example, but it's what I have on me."

A huge blush formed on his face as he looked at the picture. It appeared to be some sort of... hairless ape creature? A female by the look of it, a fact made abundantly clear by her exposed pussy and large breasts. Breasts were a feature very few pokemon possessed, and seeing it on this creature, well, made him feel weird.
She was sitting on what appeared to be some sort of bed, legs spread, and a very naughty and provocative expression on her face. She had a finger close to her lips, and her other hand tantalizingly close to her spread pussy. Not to mention she was quite nude. Normally, this was not a detail that would draw any attention for Shia. Pokemon very rarely ever wore clothes, and when they did, it was usually just a cloak or sash or something. But in this case, it was very weird for him.

"She.. uh..." Shia stammered, "She's pretty."

Eilumi gave a chuckle.

"Seems like you think she looks a bit more than 'pretty'." 

Eilumi pointed at Shia's lower abdomen. He looked down, and saw, to his horror, that he was now sporting a raging hard-on.

"N... No! I-I-" He tried to cover it up the best he could out of embarrassment.

"Relax, little buddy. It's nothing to be ashamed about." Eilumi responded cheerfully while taking the picture back. "In fact, I'll tell you what? Stick around us long enough, and someday I might take you to Lustia to meet her... and help you lose your virginity! For real, this time."

"I... I... I..." Shia stammered. He was still shaken by Rai and his actions, and the thought of having sex of any kind scared him to the core. The thought of turning into another him.

"Oh come on! It'll... Be...."

Eilumi slowed down, and an expression of guilty unease fell over him as a large shadow approached from behind.

"... Fun?"

Before the avali could act, the offending picture was yanked away, and Shia saw a large paw slap Eilumi upside the head.

"OW!" Eilumi whined as he turned around, and rubbed the backside of his head "What the hell was that, Nine?!" 

"You should not distress Shia any further than he already is." Nine chided back. His expression had changed to an 'angry' one, yet it still retained its blue hue.

"I wasn't distressing him!", Eilumi argued angrily. 

"Yes, you were." Nine growled accusingly.

"He wanted to know what a human looked like, and I showed him!" Eilumi growled back.

"And you showed him a pic of your harlot from Lustia?" Nine argued back.

"I didn't have any other pictures of a human on me!" Eilumi whined.

"Sure, Eilumi." Nine responded in disbelief. "But no more showing him porn pictures. At least for the time being."

Shia meanwhile shook, not sure what to think of this. He was somewhat grateful that Nine had come to break up this awkward moment, but he started another. Plus, Nine still scared him.

"Sure, whatever." Eilumi groaned. "Anyway, I assume you're here for a reason?"

"Yes." Nine responded, his expression changing back to a neutral one. "Khaun is ready to give Shia his physical examination now. He tried contacting you, but you wouldn't respond, so he sent me to find him."

"Oh that's right!" Eilumi responded thoughtfully. "I guess I didn't think to check my DMs, I was so busy explaining stuff to Shia here."

Shia shook as he mentioned Khaun's 'physical', something else immediately coming to mind. Nine noticed this, and placed a paw on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Shia." Nine said reassuringly. "It's not going to hurt. He's just going to check for permanent injuries Rai might have caused."

"Don't worry buddy, it'll be fine." Eilumi also reassured him. "It'll be over before you know it."

Shia turned, and let Nine guide him out of the bridge. 

"Are you coming, Eilumi?" Nine asked, causing Shia to look back once he realized he wasn't being followed.

"I'll catch up in a bit. I just have something to finish here." Eilumi responded. Nine nodded, and led Shia back to the medbay.

---

Shia found himself on a very narrow bed, on his hands and knees, and feeling quite nervous, and quite exposed.

"We aren't going to penetrate or molest you." Khaun reassured. "I'm just checking for injuries, and this is the most convenient position to do it in."

It was still awkward for the shinx as Khaun inspected him, using some sort of hand-held device that he couldn't identify. 

"It's a scanner." Khaun responded flatly to his unspoken query. 

"L-Like the brain scanner?" Shia asked fearfully, tensing up.

"No, no, not like the brain scanner." Nine reassured him. "It's just a device that lets him see inside you. He's checking for internal damages."

"What Nine said." Khaun confirmed as he continued to move the device all over Shia. Nine's assurance made him just a teeny bit less tense, but this was still awkward for him.

For the most part, this examination went without incident. However, once he got to his rear end. Shia felt his ass cheeks being gently spread apart. A hiss escaped his lips as he felt pain shoot through his body.

"I'm sorry. I'll make this as quick as possible." Khaun quickly apologised. True to his word, he ran the device over his crevice as quickly as he could, and softly let go of his ass cheek. 

"And, done. You can get off the bed now, Shia." Khaun spoke. Shia nodded, and slowly made his way off the bed, his ass still stinging just a bit.

"Well, what's the diagnosis?" Nine asked, he put his large paw around Shia's shoulder and rubbed his back assuringly. Something that felt good on the smaller shinx, but still caused him to shiver.

"Well, the good news is that there's only minor internal injuries. Most of the damage is on the outside."

"And how is that supposed to be 'good' news?" 

Shia turned and saw Eilumi enter the medbay.

"Well, considering what that rat-raider was doing to him, fucking him unlubed without a single regard for his well-being, I was expecting far worse." Khaun replied defensively. "In fact, it's an outright miracle that there isn't any internal hemorrhaging."

Shia had no idea what that meant, but he could only guess that him not having 'hemorrhaging' was a good thing.

"Oh, and more good news. That rat-rapist didn't give him any diseases. Sexually transmitted or otherwise" Khaun announced.

"Yeah, I could have told you that." Eilumi responded dryly. "If he had, he would have given them to me, and my own guardian nanites would have picked them up and warned me."

"... Right." Khaun replied flatly. "Those would have been a bugger to cure without the use of said guardian nanites, which... Well, we can't give those away willy-nilly."

Khaun turned back to Shia.

"You're going to need some light medication to ease the pain, and help heal the damages." He handed Shia what appeared to be some sort of squishy tube. "Here, it's a cream. But due to the nature and location you need to apply it, well... you'll likely need help applying it. One of us should be able to help you with that."

"Uhhh..." Shia looked around nervously. It didn't take him long to understand what exactly he meant. Or why he'd need help with this. That fact still didn't embarrass him any less. He looked at Khaun, then at Nine, then at Eilumi.

'Well, if I have to pick one of them to help me do this... It'd better be...'

"Eilumi." Shia said. "I trust him with this the most."

He didn't know why, but over his conversation with him, he just felt like he could. 

Eilumi nodded and smiled. "I can definitely help you with that in a bit."

"Well, good." Khaun said. "And with that, I'll wrap this up by saying that we can expect a full physical recovery in about a week or so. As for psychological recovery... well.." Khaun stopped, and sighed. "That will take a lot longer, I'm afraid."

"That was always Renali's area of expertise." Eilumi responded with a remorseful town.

"Who's Renali?" Shia asked for the second time in this room. He hoped that now that everyone was here, he could get a better answer.

There was a pause, as everyone looked at each other, each expecting the other to answer. Finally, Eilumi showed up.

"She was our pack's psychologist." He explained. "Dealing with trauma like yours was kind of her thing."

"If she was here, she'd have known exactly what to do." Khaun added, and everyone nodded.

"Was... was she nice?" Shia asked.

"Oh Shia..." Nine responded with a sorrowful look on his visor. "You would have loved her. And she would have loved you."

"Yeah, she probably would have had you balls deep in her by the first or second week."

Khaun and Nine gave Eilumi a very incredulous stare.

"What? You can't tell me I'm wrong." Eilumi said defensively.

"Well that doesn't mean you need to come right out and say it!" Khaun chided his fellow avali.

Nine simply groaned and put a paw on his visor in irritation.

"Is... that her?" Shia asked, pointing to a picture sitting on a shelf. It depicted a purple-coated avali, with blue head and tail feathers, dark blue lining, and three feathers sticking out of her head, forming a sort of 'ponytail'. She was wearing a coat similar to Eilumi's. She was looking at the viewer, smiling happily.

She appeared rather cute to Shia. Almost as cute as Loona. 
...Almost.

"Yeah.... that's her." Eilumi confirmed with a sorrowful nod.

"What happened to her?"

Everyone sans Shia looked down at the floor shamefully and sorrowfully. 
It didn't take a psychic type to pick up on what this meant.

"Oh! Oh, I'm... I'm sorry I asked." Shia quickly stammered, regretting his question.

"Eh, It's not your fault." Eilumi said. "It's just... hard. For all of us."

Shia nodded. 

---

Shia ended up spending the rest of the day around Eilumi, especially around the 'bridge'. He still had no idea why they called it that, and Eilumi couldn't give him a good answer either. 

True to his word, Eilumi helped him apply his medicinal cream to his rear end. It was an awkward affair, but Eilumi was gentle, and understanding. And before he knew it, it was done. 

They talked about various subjects throughout the day. Most of them were not really important. But there was one that stood out to Shia.

"When... when Rai took me..." Shia asked quietly. "I asked about my friends."

Eilumi gave a nod. "Veera the 'eevee' and Loona, right? You mentioned one of them earlier." 

Shia nodded. "He... he said that they were either dead or enslaved. Do you... do you think he was telling the truth?" 

Eilumi put a hand on the shinx's shoulder comfortingly as he spoke with a sorrowful tone.

"I wish I could tell you 'Nope he's totally lying and your friends are alive and well and out there trying to find a way to rescue you,' but... well, I can't."

Shia sighed sadly. "I understand."

"I mean, there's always a chance. We don't know for sure that they're dead." Eilumi said. A determined look grew on his face at that moment. "Look, Shia, I can't make any guarantees, but here's what we'll do. We'll stay orbited around this planet for another month. We have more research to conduct anyway. During that time, we'll keep our drones in the sky, and our ears to the ground. Well, not literally, but still, you get the idea."

Shia nodded, and Eilumi continued.

"If we find any hint of your friends being alive, we'll either bring you to them, or them here."

"And... and what if there is not? Or what if you find that they're dead?" Shia asked sadly.

"Then..." Eilumi said. "Then you'll still have us." Eilumi responded.

"T-Thank you." He sniffled. He gave Eilumi a hug. 

"There there, Shia. It'll be alright." The brown avali said as he patted Shia's back comfortingly.

After that conversation, they shared a meal. Something spicy that the avali called 'tacos'. He'd been weary of the 'meat' at first, but they explained that it wasn't actual meat, but rather some sort of plant-grown thing. He didn't understand, but had accepted the answer and ate it without a fuss. He'd found himself tired after that, and found himself drifting to sleep in his previous sleeping spot.

"Wake up, slave."

Shia's eyes flew open. He looked around, and found himself... back in Rai's shack? Sure enough, he was sitting up on that scratchy, ramshackle bed of his, with oppressive wooden walls all around him.

'No. Not again!' Shia thought as he saw Rai, with his raging hardon, and an even more menacing sneer to go along with it.

"But... How? How am I back here?" Shia whined as Rai pushed him down, back against the bed. He wasted no time. Shia saw his tormentor line up his cock with his rear hole. 

"You still don't get it? Do you, Shia?" Rai hissed. "I will always be here. I will always be-"

Shia screamed in agony as Rai shoved himself inside with one swift thrust.

"-Inside you!"

Tears flowed freshly from his eyes as his body began to roughly rock from Rai's pounding, his ass exploding from pain with each painful thrust.

"I am inside with you!" He taunted. "You can NEVER escape me! Your pain will never end!!"

Rai hurt him, and violated him, as he had done before, as he would always do. He could only lie there and wait till the end. 

"I will keep doing this to you, over and over! You cannot wait for the end, for there IS NO END!"

Rai laughed gleefully as he gave one last hard thrust into the victimized shinx. The familiar burn of Rai's cum filled Shin’s ass. He sobbed as he watched his abuser pull away.

"You are lashed to this wheel of mine now, Shia. There is no escaping it. One day, you'll be just like me-"

"Oh shut up, fucko."

Before either of the two could react, Shia saw an orange, translucent blade erupt from Rai's chest. Shia leapt back in fear.

"You... will ... never..." Rai choked out, as he looked down at the object protruding from where his heart was. "...win." DIsbelief filled Shia's eyes as his tormentor fell silent, and began to dissolve right before his very eyes.

"We'll see about that." The figure responded harshly to the now missing Rai. In a voice that was very familiar by now to shaking young shinx.

"W-w-what is going on?!" Shia cried out, confused, as a new figure emerged from the darkness. The shinx's eyes were filled with disbelief as it came into full view.

"E... Eilumi?"

"Don't listen to a damn thing he says." Eilumi said as he tossed the blade aside. Shia felt himself being gently helped up to his feet by the newly arrived avali. 

"I... Is this ... a dream?" Shia sniffled. 

"Of course it is." Eilumi responded. "And it's time to wake up now."

Shia nodded. 

"I... I know you're not real... but... thank you." He cried. 

"Hey, it's no problem little buddy." Eilumi replied reassuringly. "Oh, before you wake up, one more thing."

 "Y... Yes?" Shia asked shakily.

"When you do wake up in a few moments, you might be in for a bit of a surprise." Eilumi informed him. "Don't worry, it's nothing to be alarmed about. It's just-"

Shia's eyes shot open. To his relief, he found himself back on the carpeted floor of the sleeping room, back on the avali's ship. Same as he'd fallen asleep. However, as lifted his head, he noticed there was indeed something different. True to 'Eilumi's' word at the end, he was very much in for something of a shock.

He wasn't alone. Eilumi, Khaun, and even Nine were all curled up beside him. He could feel their bodies, their warmth, against his.

He even felt the large arm of Nine, wrapped around him, holding him to his own body. Protecting him. Like his mother had done so long ago during those few early happy years, before the two of them had abandoned him.

And Eilumi, who was sleeping on the opposite side, and in front of the shinx had his arm around him too.

Shia gave a yawn, once again feeling tiredness settle in. He laid his head down, and, before long, he found himself losing awareness and once again entering the realm of sleep. 
This time however, he would not be dogged by a dream of any kind.