Chapter 4: Raising Dizyntk

Ariarisha Michaela Feyalisa Zerleen was born three years, or two dizyntk cyankas, to the day of the crash that had stranded Feya and Michael. Feya saw this as a sign that her mother was watching over her and her child. She therefore gave her new daughter her mother's name, Ariarisha. However, while Feya's mother was known as Risha to her friends and family, Feya and Michael would usually call their daughter Aria.

Aria was indeed a hybrid of her parent's two races. She had Dizyntk ears and a tail as well as the teeth and retractable claws of her mother. Her fur was the same color and texture as her mother's. It did not, however, cover as much of her body as was normal in a dizyntk. Mostly it covered just the backs of her neck and arms. It did not cover any of her back below her shoulder blades. Her eyes were definitely Human, as were her lips, which were somewhat fuller than a Dizyntk's. Finally, she had inherited her father's five fingered hands as opposed to her mother's four fingers. Overall, the features blended nicely and Aria was an attractive child.

Both of her parents doted on her and educated her as best they could. It was decided that she would be raised as a Dizyntk. With the exception that, in addition to Dizyntilin, she would also learn the three Terran languages that her father spoke. These were English, his native tongue, as well as some German and a bit of Japanese. While Michael was truly proficient only in his native English, he did teach her what he knew of the other two languages. Thus by the time she was three cyankas old, she could talk in English and Dizyntilin in the same conversation, with the odd word from the other languages thrown in for color. For the most part, however, the family used Dizyntilin. This was mostly for practical reasons. While Feya had learned to speak some English, she was not as proficient in it as Michael was in Dizyntilin.

As Aria had gotten to two cyankas, her parents began teaching her about all the subjects in which they were knowledgeable. When Michael's occupation and Feya's royal upbringing were taken into account, the amount of knowledge they had between them was considerable. Thus, by the time she was three, Aria was well on her way to learning subjects that most children her age had not even started. Feya was especially happy about teaching her daughter of Dizyntk society and culture as well as her family lineage.

The only thing that worried her parents was whether Aria would ever get a chance to use what she was learning. They did a good job of hiding these concerns from her however. During this time, Feya had decided, and Michael agreed, that they would wait until Aria had reached at least six cyankas before they had any more children. This way Aria would be old enough to help raise her younger sibling. They would not worry about being rescued, as they could do nothing to help it happen. In the meantime, Feya was enjoying raising her daughter and instructing her on what it meant to be Dizyntk. Feya was doing just that on the day that her people finally found her.

Feya and Aria were in the forested region about a kilometer from their house. Aria had just turned four and Feya was teaching her child to stalk and hunt. Being descended from predators, dizyntk were fine hunters. Although they no longer hunted for sustenance on their worlds, the dizyntk still taught the skills to their children as part of their heritage. Thus, Feya had been well educated in these arts and she was taking great delight in passing them down to her daughter. Aria had certainly acquired her mother's incredible sprinting speed to chase down prey. However, she had also received the ability to run at slower speeds over great distances from her human genes. Dizyntk were not good distance runners, but humans were very good at it. However, at this moment it was that sprinting speed, almost twice that of a human, that she was using. Feya and Aria had stalked a small herbivore through the forest. Finally, her mother told Aria to catch it. She caught it quickly and, although she brought it down hard, it was not hurt. She gave it a small scratch to show she could have killed it, then let it go and it dashed off through the trees.

Feya walked up, picked Aria up and hugged her. "That was very good, precious." she said to her child. "You are making me so proud."

Aria giggled and hugged her mother back. "Thank you mother." she replied. "This is fun. I love hunting with you."

Aria was taught that, eventually, she would have to kill the animals she hunted for food. However, for right now it was only for practice and exercise.

There was suddenly a high-pitched whine coming from the sky above them. Mother and daughter looked up in time to see a large ship through the canopy as it passed overhead. Feya instantly recognized the markings on the ship. It was from the Imperium.

She put her daughter down and said to her, "Quickly, back to the house." They both took off and headed home.

Michael was home finishing repairs on some small damage that a storm had caused two nights before. He was on the roof when he heard, and saw, the ship approaching. It was going to land very near. He wondered how they had pinpointed where he was. Then he remembered the signal he had set up years before. It had worked, that little signal had worked! Then he thought about the fact that the ship was dizyntk. The crew would not know that he was friendly towards them. They would only know that he was a human. He knew that Feya and Aria were not too far away. He hoped that they would get back quickly before anything unpleasant happened.

The ship set down two hundred meters away from the source of the signal they had detected while searching this system. Ship Captain Lefarsa was excited but cautious. His ship, like many dizyntk ships over the past five Cyankas, had been sent to try to find the lost transport of Princess Ariarisha. The Imperium knew that she was most likely dead. Only by some miracle could she still be alive after all this time. However, that mattered not to the Empress or her cousin, the Queen of the Second Star Cluster. A member of the royal family was missing. Until she was found, either alive or dead, then the ships of the fleet would continue to search for her. Captain Lefarsa hoped that a miracle had indeed happened. His sensor operators had quickly found the scattered wreckage of the transport. They also told him that the weak distress signal they had received upon entering the star system was not coming from the crash sight. It was coming from another, smaller, vessel about 6 km from the wreckage. While the smaller ship was also damaged beyond repair, it was intact, more or less. His hope faded somewhat as his ship descended to the planets surface. As they closed on the small ship, his sensors had finally been able to identify its type. It was a Terran messenger ship. A Terran ship, but the signal it was sending was in Dizyntilin. He did not know what to make of the situation. He kept his passenger informed however.

Any Dizyntk ship that had been sent to try to find the transport over the years had always had a member of the royal family aboard. It was usually a minor member, but not always. Standing next to the Captain on the bridge of the destroyer was the brother of the Queen, Duke Ferkalum.

"I do not know what we will find, Your Grace." the Captain said. "A Terran ship emitting a signal in Dizyntilin. It is just strange."

Duke Ferkalum grunted in agreement. "I do not know what to make of it either Captain." the Duke said. "However, that wreckage is the remains of Ariarisha's transport and the fact that the signal is in Dizyntilin means that there may have been survivors. Tell your troops to exercise restraint."

Michael had walked out to the ship after it had landed. He knew that they would be watching. He stopped about 20 meters from the ship, unclasped his holster belt, held it up, dropped it to the ground and stepped back three paces. Just then, the ships ramp lowered and five Dizyntk troops in armor descended and surrounded him. Three more Dizyntk came out afterwards, two males and a female. Michael did not know anything about Dizyntk rank insignia but he assumed that the lead male must be important, maybe the captain. As the trio grew near one of the troopers grabbed Michael's shoulder and pushed him down.

"On your knees before the Duke, Human." she snarled.

"Restraint, Guard Leader, restraint." the Duke said the trooper. "He may have information we need, besides have you thought that he may not understand a word we are saying?"

The trooper backed away from Michael and bowed to the Duke, "My apologies Your Grace." she said. "You are correct as always."

Michael kept his eyes down, figuring that this was proper before someone of royalty and said in Dizyntilin, "I can understand her just fine, Your Grace."

The Dizyntk around him, except for the Duke, gasped a little. A Human speaking their language? They had never heard of such a thing. Duke Ferkalum had not either, but he had already assumed that there had been survivors from the transport. If the human had been stuck here with them the entire time, it would be only natural that he would have learned their language.