And I Would Walk 500 Miles

[The Gourmand]

“If that’s a monster, I’d like to know what I am.”

The warlord hovered within the barn doors, almost eclipsing them. Arms were folded and a particularly angry snarl exposed his teeth. It didn’t seem like he caught much. But it was obvious his ears were particularly sensitive to that word.

His mouth drew closed so he could growl as he pushed his vehicle forward. The Gourmand shot a pointed look at the Ursid and Pit Beast as he went on, daring them to make any further implications. It was like an old wound had been opened. His mood was soured (as if it wasn’t sour enough already). Gravelly growl continued on as he approached the other alien pair.

“What are you gawking at?”

[Zamora]

The Pit Beast gives a grunt, shaking her head. It seems she's.. thinking, for a moment, before seeming to huff in frustration. She motions again, to the newcomer. Then herself. Then The Gormand, then some of the quadrupedal carnivores nearby.

"Monster, monster, monster..."

It seems that the alien has the wrong word, and she's trying to figure out the proper vocabulary. She's not looking for 'monster', she's looking for 'predator'. Something that hunts, eats flesh, with the ability to kill. It's not that she's calling the creature (or The Gourmand) names, she's acknowledging the fact that they're dangerous.

It seems she's attempting to warn them of something. Something unseen to the naked eye.

[Anka]

"You are in -hic- an unbelievable amount of trouble." The words were only a half-hearted threat at best, more overcome with relief than anything else, and Anka lightly kissed the top of Huela's head. Although the sounds she was making were unmistakably sobs, her eyes remained strangely dry. In spite of this peculiarity, however, she seemed no less sincere as she doted grateful affection on the little Geck in between her hiccups.

"But..." Anka carefully lifted her for closer inspection, and made a gesture towards her state in general. The unhealthy weight loss, the obvious lack of rest, and the... the missing leg. "I think you've been punished enough already." She said at last. Anka's face had twisted into one of unmitigated worry, and it was plain that she wanted to bombard Huela with questions and fretting, but those desires were being overrode.

"I don't... I don't know what I've missed in the last three months, Huela. But you're not useless, do you understand me?" Her brow furrowed, tone scolding in only the way one does towards a self-depreciating friend. "You're intelligent and a hard worker, and this--" she moved Huela to one hand to gesture at all of her work inside the radio, "--is all the proof you need to show for it."

"But you can't do your best work without taking care of yourself too..." Anka's maternal scolding faltered as the Pit Beast continued to chatter, and the Lohi couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at the repeated word, 'monster'. Zamora's attention had turned to a newcomer, who had been less than pleased by her repetition of the phrase, and Zamora was trying to explain herself.  From the sound of things, she did not use the term 'monster' in the way Anka had originally received it.  However, she remained uncertain if this was good news or not.