She found herself crumpled on the floor when she came to, sounds slowly fading back into clear hearing. She was breathing rapidly, her tunnelvision mellowing as she lay on the floor. Her head throbbed.
"Yeesh, what happened?" She could make out the blur of man, colors and light still too intense for her senses to handle.
"¿Què?" She held her forehead, pulling herself up onto her bed by her sheets.
"Ouch, maybe I should get Simon."
"What happened, Wash? I heard a muffled crash." A soft, elegant voice entered Lai's ears.
"I dunno, but she bumped her head pretty well."
"¿Què pasa?" She could see blood on her fingertips.
"What did she say?" Wash looked to Inara with confusion.
"¿Me desmayè?"
"Is she even speaking English?" Inara held her hands up.
"Watch over her; I'll get Simon." Wash's face contorted in helplessness, looking back to see Lai hunched over on her bed.
"Lai, what happened?" She caught her breath, falling on her side as she gritted her teeth.
"Someone…was in my bunk…" She touched her wound again, hissing in pain, "Everything just went black when she…looked at me."
"Easy, just, I dunno, breathe or whatever you kinda people do when you're panicking." Wash looked outside Lai's bunk, "Not to mention I could pick up a few tips."
"I'll be fine, just, who was that girl?" Simon came into her bunk, red medical kit in hand as Wash backed out to let him in.
"What happened to her?" He took out his penlight, shining it in Lai's right eye.
"Dunno, just heard a bonk and came runnin' down."
"¿Quièn era esa chica?" Lai had a hard time swallowing, squinting at Simon from the glare of his penlight, "Ella vino de nada…Què colores…"
"What the hell is she saying?" Simon shrugged, putting a bandage on Lai's forehead.
"I don't know. Hopefully, she'll speak a dialect we'll understand in a while."
"River…Dark River…" Lai rubbed her eyes, blearily looking around, "What's with the fans?"
Wash snickered, Inara exhaling gently as Simon put his penlight back in his red bag.
"You fainted and hit your head, most likely against the edge of your bed. You should feel better in a few minutes; just relax." Lai nodded and lay back, rubbing her forehead.
Wash turned to leave, Inara about to follow after when Lai called her name.
"How did you know my name?"
"I admit, I have a keen sense of hearing." She lazily smirked.
Inara walked back into Lai's bunk, Simon going to the infirmary to put his supplies back as Inara sat on the edge of Lai's bed.
"Yes?"
"I wanted to apologize…"
"Apologize? For what?"
"I made a mess on your shuttle." Inara shook her head.
"Believe me, it was scarier to find you dying rather than my sheets stained with blood."
"But I feel so guilty about it." Lai bowed her head, frowning, "If there was a way to make amends…"
Inara thought for a moment.
"Well, I don't know where I can find a place on the ship to clean my shuttle, but if you can, then I can forgive you of the mess." Lai smiled, nodding.
"Once we reach Green Leaf, I'll find some supplies. Gomen nasai." Inara cocked her head, "It means "I'm very sorry" in Japanese."
"Lai, can I ask a question?"
"Sure."
"How come you know so many dead languages?"
"Nah, I only know bits and pieces, just like how most people speak only fractions of Chinese."
"But those were languages I've only read in books before."
"Spanish? It's true, most have forgotten the European languages; Spanish, French, Italian, even Greek. I'm surprised though that not many people know Japanese."
"But where did you discover all these dialects? As far as I know, only core planets would have private libraries of those histories." Lai fiddled with her sheets, smiling softly as she looked down.
"My auntie was a linguist. She taught me countless languages, passing her knowledge onto me."
"Where is she now?" Lai shrugged her shoulders, her smile fading.
"I don't know." She looked up at Inara, "Truth be told, I don't know who my parents are. Auntie told me that I was of multicultural descent, saying some of my ancestors even came from Africa of Earth-That-Was."
"That explains the dark skin." Lai chuckled, "Well, you go and rest now. I suppose the captain would want some details about what happened on Persephone when you're well."
Inara left Lai's room, sliding the door shut behind her as Lai lay back. She stared at the ceiling, sighing as she smacked her pillow under her head to plump it up.
"Was I unloved…?" She shook her head and turned over, closing her eyes.
"Kitty."
"Gah!" Lai jumped out of bed, backed against the wall as River sat Indian style on the floor.
"Kitty doesn't need to be scared." Lai's vision started to go fuzzy.
Dammit, no! Lai smacked herself in the face, keeping her wits together as she glared at River, "Who the hell are you?"
"Lost and alone, it's how the cat walks." River stood up, coming towards Lai, "But kitty can see."
She lifted a hand and placed it against Lai's cheek, images torn and shredded in Lai's peripheral mind. She froze, shuddering to grasp a full breath as River inspected Lai's face.
"You were abandoned, a freak child to two parents. Dumped on Blueshore and taken in by the Hellcats. You ate from the hands of the rich, spent some time caged and grew into the lioness." Lai's skin grew cold and clammy, "Why throw away such a pretty cat? They gave you claws and fangs, others skinned your coat." She withdrew her hand, Lai falling to her knees.
She gasped for air, River looking down at her with an impassive look.
"Are you a seer?" Lai gripped her throat, looking up at River as she collected her thoughts.
"Seer?" River blinked and cocked her head to the side.
Lai stood up, looking into River's eyes. She gasped.
"You don't know what they did to you, do you?" River blinked.
"Poke an egg and watch the yolk slide out." Lai grew nervous with each metaphor River spoke.
"Ok, River, let's try-" Simon turned to face his sister, finding that she wasn't in the infirmary anymore, "River?"
He poked his head outside the infirmary doors, seeing Book walk by.
"Have you seen River?"
"Sorry, I haven't." Simon pocketed the medicine and the hypodermic, raking the ship for River.
"Kaylee, have you seen River?"
"Nope, sorry." Simon panicked and rushed to the passenger bunks, searching each one of them.
He opened up Lai's and stared.
River cradled a sleeping Lai in her lap, smoothing out one of her brows. Lai twitched, curling up closer to River as she smiled.
"Kitty wanted some company." Simon sighed in relief and closed the door behind him, kneeling down.
"River," She looked at the needle and nodded, rolling up her sleeve while continuing to smooth out Lai's hair, "What are you doing in here?"
"I wanted to see the kitty." Simon injected the new medication into her, leaning to see past River's shoulder.
"She didn't do anything to you, did she?" River shook her head.
"She's soft…" She brushed some of Lai's hair out of her face, smiling gently.
"C'mon, River, we have to leave kitty alone for awhile."
"No, I dun wanna leave her."
"River, it's ok, she'll still be here." River reluctantly lay Lai's head back down on the bed, moping as Simon slid the door closed.
Lai opened her eyes slowly, wondering where River had gone to before curling under the covers.
"Such colors…"
"C'mon, Lai. You can sit with us." Lai shyly took a seat beside Kaylee at the dining table later that evening.
Most of her wavy hair was covering her face, a single sandstone eye shining through as the rest of the crew seated themselves. Kaylee passed a plate to Lai, smiling as she filled her own glass. Lai cocked her head to the side curiously, holding a protein patty in her hands. She broke it in two and inspected the insides.
"It ain't poisoned, if that's whatcha worried bout." Lai shook her head quickly.
She took a bite out of one of the halves, her hair hiding the grimaced look on her face as she slowly chewed.
"You alright?" Lai swallowed, nodding as she took her own glass and drained half of it.
"I've had worse." She rolled her tongue around her fangs, trying to get rid of the taste.
"So then, we'll be making Green Leaf in three hours time. Drop the goods, maybe find us a job and see if we can find Xiao." Lai looked up at the mention of his name.
Mal placed his cup back down.
"Meantime, why don't chu shed some light 'pon the subject?" Lai abruptly stopped sipping her water, staring at Mal as she gingerly placed her cup on the table.
She cleared her throat, tucking her knees into her chest and wrapping her arms around them as she pulled back some of her hair to see with both eyes. She pulled the bagginess of her shirt closer together.
"My name, as you well know, is Lai Jankins. I am 19 years old, soon to be 20." Many of them dropped their forks, staring at her, "From what people have told me, I was abandoned as an infant. I was taken in by a woman I only know as Auntie on Blueshore, a moon adjacent to Ariel. There I lived for my entire childhood, blending in with a gang known as the Hellcats. I stole for our survival, but then I began to use my stealth as a bargaining chip for jobs. Auntie wasn't fond of what I did, but she needed the money and understood there were worse folk in the world." She sighed, combing her hair with her fingers and taking a sip of water before continuing, "One night, my auntie and I were attacked by the neighboring gang. I don't know what happened to her; my wounds were fatal."
"How did you survive?" Book tried not to touch his food.
"Hell if I knew. I woke up and found myself lying in a hospital bed with stitches I don't recall. My mouth ached, and my feet felt numb. That's when I first met Xiao. He told me that they couldn't find Auntie and that her home was burned to the ground…" Lai bowed her head to her knees, "All those books…even the paintings, gone. He offered me a place in their gang, or, as he preferred it, "cult". I became the top of my squad, soon leading to first mate of Xiao's. He sent me on a mission to retrieve crop supplements off of an Alliance- mandated ship. I don't know how my plans were foiled, but I was captured and tortured…I didn't think Xiao would come for me; he's not like that. He finds others to do the job."
"Then why do you follow him?" Mal leaned back in his chair, intrigued.
"Cuz he saved my life?"
"Even though you woke up with different parts?"
"He gave them to me as a gift, and they have helped me considerably in my work. Though, existing as a "person" has it's own lil' quirks. Finding shoes is an adventure of it's own." She chuckled, River sneaking a smile as the rest of them remained stolid.
Lai sheepishly looked back at her feet, wiggling her double-jointed toes.
"Do you know where Xiao is orbiting?" Lai looked back up at Mal.
"He prefers to keep his information minimal. If he makes a pickup, he comes without invitation. It's his style." She shrugged, forcing another piece of protein food down her throat.
"Where do you think he'll pick you up?"
"A planet with color. Whitefall, Green Leaf, Blueshore, one of those. Depends on his mood; he's an odd and somewhat charismatic person for a "cult" leader." She took another sip of her water, clearing her throat and going silent.
"There's somethin' she ain't tellin' us." Jayne stood next to Mal as the cargo dual air lock doors opened to reveal a bustling town.
Lai was standing in the middle, squinting from the glare of the sun. She pulled out her red scarf, tying it around her head as a bandana as she buckled her hip pouch. Mal shrugged.
"She may, she might not. We'll have to wait and see." Mal went down the scaffolding stairs, Kaylee and Zoe walking out as Lai followed behind them, staggering slightly from posing as bipedal.
"Right then, we make contact, drop off the goods, find ourselves a job, and be on our way. Wash, fuel 'er up and get any supplies we're lacking." Wash rolled his eyes and walked back in to get the Mule.
Mal walked up beside Lai, placing his hand on her shoulder.
"Don't go wanderin' off, got it?" Lai gave a wry smirk.
"Fear you'll lose your payday, captain?" Mal grinned.
"No, fear you'll get us humped." Lai snorted in disdainful humor, walking off into town, "Be back in 2 hours, ya hear(?)!"