Bare These Bones

My Only Difference

Vahl'Sai, the only one of her species that is enrolled in Starfleet, is a female of a species that the humans have come to nickname 'The Predators'. Sahvarian's, the true name of the species, were known for the animalistic tendencies and appearances. The slightly larger iris gave off a cattish appearance, aside from the lack of a vertical pupil, also including the colour and night vision. Partially elongated canines gave a fearsome appearance when they smile; their species were fit and lean, bones dense and muscles hard.

Vahl'Sai had been at Starfleet for two three already, mastering the English language fairly quickly, and was yet to find a place that she could fit in. She was taller than nearly all females at six feet and the fear that was often instilled when someone saw her fangs or the near disappearance of her pupil when she was angered drove people away from her faster than the smell of a Klingon could.

Her stark white hair brought people pause when they saw her and she couldn't help but to feel herself become self-conscious whenever she saw someone looking at her. She had never been self-conscious in her life while on Sahvanah; her people embraced the way that they looked with pride, showing themselves to the world. They didn't hide behind make-up, exposing articles of clothing or fancy hair. They were natural. They didn't run around nude, but they didn't like to feel constricted, either.

She had been volunteered by her Uncle, the head of the council on Sahvanah, to be the first to go to Starfleet as someone to test out how well her people could contribute. She had growled and snarled at her uncle when he told her that she would be leaving without giving her any chance to speak for her own freedom. Her parents were both dead and he was responsible of her until she had a mate to take care of her.

Females usually had great freedom in her world, but she was a niece to royalty and didn't have nearly as much freedom as she wished she could have. She was confined to her home back on her planet, males meeting with her at her Uncles will while she only growled and bared her fangs threateningly at them.

"I will never be accepted on this 'human' planet," Vahl'Sai growled at her uncle as she paced the floor of the stone room that he was occupying, looking out over the city and forest that surrounded it.

"You are not accepted here, Vahl'Sai."

She had wished nothing more than to take the man's head off of his shoulders, release some of the pent up rage and strength that had slowly been building inside of her through the years of her incarceration. She had wished that her parents were still alive to protect her from the man that manipulated her in no way that any other person could.

Her father had died shortly after her mother had gotten pregnant, falling extremely ill when he had been out with a hunting party to remove a threat that had been spotted outside the city. Her mother had given birth to her seven months later, dying minutes after she had gasped out Vahl'Sai's name to the nurse that had been standing by. She bled out from internal bleeding because of tearing.

Her uncle was her mother's brother, whom had been close to his baby sister, was devastated and angered that Vahl'Sai had lived while his sister's life had been taken. He had blamed her for as long as she could remember for the death of her mother, punishing her in every indirect way that he could. He tortured her with his words, his rules and his constant degrading of her person and abilities.

Her third year in Starfleet and she was asked to temporarily take the place of a teacher that had been killed in action when Vulcan was destroyed and an enemy named Nero was taken out. The entire academy had been mournful of the many lives that were lost in the numerous vessels that had been destroyed upon arrival at Vulcan and the destruction of Vulcan itself. When the U.S.S. Enterprise returned to the school fully intact with only a few casualties throughout the battles, the attention that was centered on Vahl'Sai was temporarily diverted to the new Captain and the crew of the Enterprise.

Sitting behind the desk of the previous Commander of Security division, Vahl'Sai looked down at the number of students that would be transferred into her class while the head of the school looked for new teachers to replace the ones that were lost. They had been forced to place two—sometimes three—times more students than usual in a class.

Sighing to herself as she leaned back in her chair, she scrolled the list up to continue reading through the students, noting that she had several Cadets that had been on the Enterprise during the defeat of the Narada. A chime from her door locks told her that someone wished to enter, breaking her train of thought.

"Computer, allow entrance."

Looking up to see who entered, she rose to her feet quickly and fluidly when Admiral Pike wheeled his way into her office, her hand moving up to salute him.

"At ease, Commander," Pike assured with a smile. Vahl'Sai relaxed her posture as the Admiral wheeled himself up to the opposite side of her desk, watching as she sat back down in her own seat, adjusting the PADD that she had placed down on the surface so it was out of the way.

"How are you feeling, Admiral?"

"I'm feeling great, Vahl'Sai. Sadly, this visit is not leisure," Christopher Pike said as he leaned his elbows on the arms of his wheelchair, meeting Vahl'Sai's large green eyes with his blue ones. He was reminded so much of a feline whenever he saw the colour of her eyes. The shape was a normal human's, only larger.

"I'm here to help," Vahl'Sai said, opening her arms in a broadened gesture. Pike smiled, nodding his thanks. She smiled back, a single dimple appearing on her left cheek. "What can I do?"

"Take on a second class," Pike began right away, watching the slight rise of her eyebrows from her surprise. "I've already looked it through and, as long as it's alright with you, there shouldn't be any conflict with schedule. We're going to be opening up a class for students to learn Sahvarian and who else better to teach it than someone that speaks the language."

"How do you know that people would like to learn my language?" She asked curiously, her head tilting to the side with slight curiosity. Pike couldn't help but notice that she looked somewhat like a curious dog when doing so.

"The new students applying for the school are already signing up for the class. Hate to disappoint them," Pike said as he shifted in his seat. He repressed the urge to laugh as he watched her left eyebrow rise up above the other in a look that was so alike to Spock's it was nearly frightening.

"I suppose that I don't have a choice if there are already students wanting to take the class," She answered with a small grin. Her dimple didn't appear as prominently as before, but the sight of it was still cute none the less. He couldn't help but to become a type of brother to her over the time that he had known her, wanting to take away the scaring that her uncle had placed inside of her mind.

"Excellent!"

Resuming her seat after she had shaken hands with the Admiral and saw him from her office, Vahl'Sai fell back onto her rear in her seat, looking down at her wrist in silence. Her birth markings swirled up from beneath the sleeve of her black Commander's uniform, ending at the bottom of her palm. Clenching her hand and watching the pale black, tattoo looking lines that danced along the top of her skin.

"Differences," She mumbled to herself in English, looking over toward the clear crystal sphere that sat on her desk as a memento of her home world. Crystal, diamond, sapphire, emerald; they were all rare on Earth by now but were potent on her home planet. "I have too many."

Snagging the heavy weight in her hand, she held it up on the tops of her fingertips, assessing the heady weight that it provided for her. Grounding her to reality. It had been her mothers, given to her by her father when they were wed. Crystal was a symbol of love on her planet. The clearness of it meant that no secrets will be held between the couple, of pure love and trust.

Turning the perfect sphere around in her fingers, she looked back over toward the door where the Admiral had wheeled out through minutes before. She wondered what it would have been like to grow up with a father like him, or even just a sibling. She was an only child, after all. She didn't know what it was like to be so close to someone as family. She had close friends back at the palace, but it was nothing like what could be built between family or a mate.

"I wish I had known you, mama," She whispered to the sphere in her native tongue, almost seeing her mother inside of hard mineral. She had seen photos and painting of her mother through the years, her father as well. She had her father's brilliant green eyes but her mother's white hair and facial structure. "Papa."

Placing the sphere back inside of the holder on the desk, she began to collect her things for the evening to take back to her teacher's dorm. Slipping her PADD's and her hand held computer back inside of her messenger bag, she looked down at the screen of her Physical Education class one more time before sliding it in as well.

"Computer, lights," She called as she walked through the door, setting the lock code in quickly before making her way down the hallway. It was late in the evening, nearly sundown. But one wouldn't have been able to tell by the looks of the outside world. The thick rainclouds had darkened the sky to the point that it looked dark as a winter's night, the moisture hanging thick in the air. Her pupils dilated until she could see out into the darkness clearly, not seeing a soul in sight.

Sighing quietly to herself, knowing that it was going to start raining before she reached her dorm building, she pulled the single strap of her back over her head and tightening it before beginning her trek out into the darkened courtyard. There was some light provided around the entrances to the building, but not much else.

Her acute hearing picked up the first sounds of rain beginning to hit the pavement around her and her pace picked up. Soon, the drops began to land on her face and shoulders. Starting to jog down a long set of stairs, she had to blink when a drop caught her in the eye, fogging her vision for a moment. In the brief pause that she took, the rain took on a dangerous current and began in an all-out pour. Darting down the remainder of the stairs, she bolted across the rest of the space before the next set of stairs, taking them three at a time. Reaching the top, there was a couple of other students that were running into the dorm building to escape the rain.

Her feet barely slapped the water covered ground as she ran before she slipped inside the closing door, scaring a couple of the students.

"Commander Vahl'Sai!" One of the guys said, standing slightly straighter. She nodded her head to him, not even winded from her run, before she began toward the lift. All of the people that were in the hall, including herself, were dripping with water. Vahl'Sai's hair had flattened against her skull and dropped into her face, water dripping off her nose and chin. She was glad that her bag was waterproof and her electronics were safe.

"Wait, Commander!" One of the girls called as she jogged to catch up. The elder woman stopped to look back.

"Yes?" Her accent wasn't as thick as it had been when she first arrived on Earth at Starfleet, but some students still had trouble understanding what she said.

"Is it true that you're going to be teaching a class of Xenolinguistics on Sahvarian?" She asked quickly, wiping at the water on her face. Vahl'Sai was surprised that students already knew about that and she had found out about it less than an hour prior.

"Yes. Starting next term if I'm not mistaken. Are you planning on taking the class?"

"I want to, yes. Is it difficult to learn?"

"I wouldn't really know," Vahl'Sai replied, calling the terbolift. The girl gave her a confused look, causing the other worldly woman to elaborate. "I grew up learning Sahvarian. Did anyone tell you how hard English is to learn and you were confused because it came easily to you?" The doors to the lift opened as the cadet nodded. "The language that people grow up learning is always the easiest. Second languages are always that hardest. How hard it is to learn will all depend on your ability to learn it."

One of the guys behind them snorted slightly in annoyance, "She sounds like Commander Spock when she speaks like that."

"I heard that, Cadet Crow," She called over her shoulder as she stepped into the lift, calling out her floor. Turning forward as the doors closed, she was relieved to have the peace. Who's Commander Spock?

This is only the beginning introduction to the story, the other chapters will be longer, of that I assure. I am going to say right now that I did not get this idea from Avatar! I love the movie, but that is not what this story is based on!