"The prophecy of the falling stars"

Kagu summoned a bunch of holograms trying to find a keywords relating to what this woman just said.

"There’s nothing in my database...sacrilege means a violation or desecration of something considered sacred or holy"

Shira.

K tried to reach out to her but there was no response.

"Fuck!"

Abandoning him when he needed answers, sure was happening to him a lot these days.

He spat blood onto the ship’s floor and began stripping his damaged armor.

"Why is her body considered a sacrilege?"

He slapped a healing patch unto his broken arm, sensation was starting to return and the pain was less now.

"Well, I don’t know the details. The knowledge is only passed from one tribeswoman to another."

"So who do we meet?"

"My mother is the current tribeswoman, she can tell you."

"Wait you mentioned a prophecy, what is the prophecy of the falling star?"

"Many years ago, way before even my mother was born. A star fell onto our planet, granting us special minerals, resources and our Ulu, all for one favour in return. The star told us many years will pass and a other kind other will come to retrieve the star, we may choose to submit our strength to it. If we deem it worthy."

"What is a ’other kind’?"

"Him"

She pointed at K. "Ah! Where are my manners! What are your names?"

"I’m Kagu, short for Kagura, a database research Ai and a friend of this meathead here"

"...K"

"K? Short for?"

"Just K"

"Oh—Well I’m Iniko, a friend of this guy!"

Iniko held up her staffs.

"Hm"

He frowned at her weapons, how did something cylindrical cut through trees like they were butter, "will you take us to your mother?"

"Yes!" She jumped up, her boobs following suit and jiggling in every way possible that made K uncomfortable, "Can you move? I can carry you," she moved closer to him, attempting to carry him piggyfront.

"No thank you" he held his hand out to push her away gently only for her to hold his hand and place it right on her left breast.

"Ah~I can’t believe I’m talking to a other kind, you’re so huge even your hand is huge!"

K groaned and looked to Kagu for help but she looked just as mortified, her face reddening,

"Hey K, I’ve never seen boobs this big before, she is most likely a D-cup! Give it a little squeeze for me"

"What? No!"

"C’mon! Do this for meee"

"Please let go of my hand."

Iniko giggled and snuck her hand under his other leg, lifting him into the air.

"H-hey!"

"Relax, you said you wanted to get her body right quickly? I’ll take you to my mother"

"Wow, you’re really strong!"

"Heh, we all are. You should see my mom! She killed a Woodbeast with her bare hands! Without her Ulu too!"

And so K was led into the dense forestry.

Piggyfronted.

Large tender flesh constantly rubbing against his thin combat shirt.

"Fuck me"

He groaned.

"Are you uncomfortable?"

He was beyond uncomfortable! Embarrassed was an understatement.

He was being carried by a woman who barely reached his waist like it was nothing.

"I can switch positions..."

"Please don’t."

And then there was Kagu who, instead of helping him find a way out of this, was measuring every parameter of Iniko’s boobs she could see from a pocket outlet K held for her.

"We are here!"

She balanced K on one hand, allowing him to turn.

"Huh?"

Before them sat a large ocean body, stretching miles upon miles away.

"Shh"

Iniko plucked the short staff from her waist and tossed it into the ocean. The space it landed in bubbled like the staff was hot as the staff spun,

"Here comes Iniko."

The bubbling stopped and the staff spun back to her.

The most incredible thing happened.

The once vast ocean view warbled and converged into a portal of many colors, large enough to fit a armored tank.

"Hold your friend properly"

She stepped in.

Wind blew in his ears.

Rain pattered his skin but he didn’t get soaked.

Everywhere was bright and yet it wasn’t.

His field of vision stretched and contorted.

Something snapped and crackled.

He heard Kagu wailing and most likely glitching.

Then it all stopped as it started.

The light shifted and he could finally see.

"Oh my stars..."

K finally looked up.

His breathe hitching in his lungs.

A enormous valley surrounded by colossal trees. Not trees as he knew them—these things dwarfed skyscrapers. Their trunks were so wide entire neighborhoods could have been carved into them.

And they had been.

Homes spiraled around the living giants.

Golden bridges woven from glowing vines connected platforms high above the forest floor.

Waterfalls cascaded from impossible heights, feeding rivers that shimmered with faint blue bioluminescence.

Strange creatures drifted through the air like floating jellyfish, illuminating the village below with gentle light.

It looked less like a settlement.

More like a dream.

Or perhaps a memory from a world long forgotten.

Several women paused what they were doing.

A hunter carrying a beast nearly twice her size stopped mid-step.

Farmer women harvesting glowing fruits looked up from their work.

They were all dressed as sparsely as the last he saw.

Seriously who is their costume manager here?

Children were chasing one another through the roots froze.

The entire village seemed to notice him at once.

K shifted uncomfortably.

He was used to being stared at. Usually because he was armed, seen as dangerous.

Nobody looked afraid.

Nobody reached for weapons.

They were simply looking.

"Iniko."

An elderly voice carried through the gathering silence.

A woman emerged from a nearby platform.

Her hair glowed silver beneath the sunlight.

Crystalline formations traced along her dark skin like veins of starlight.

Unlike the others, her gaze never left Iniko.

"Iniko."

The younger woman grinned.

"Mother!"

She finally set K down.

Much to his relief.

"My apologies," the elder said.

"She tends to bring home unusual things."

"I am not a thing." And your daughter is the unusual one, he wanted to add.

Several nearby women gasped.

Iniko burst out laughing.

Even Kagu snorted.

The elder woman’s lips twitched upward.

"Interesting."

K folded his arms.

Regretting it immediately as he pressed into a broken rib.

The woman’s eyes narrowed slightly.

Slowly she approached him.

The gathered villagers leaned closer to where they stood to.

The silence grew heavier with every step she took.

Until she stood directly before him.

The elder nearly reached his shoulder yet somehow K felt like she was looking down on him.

Her gaze traveled across his face. Eyes darting between his.

The old woman’s expression changed.

Recognition.

As if she had spent her entire life waiting for this exact moment.

Her hand trembled.

"The star did not lie. You’ve returned, you must be worthy this time."

The whisper spread through the crowd.

Immediately dozens of women began murmuring amongst themselves.

Some looked shocked.

Others excited and rushing towards him, holding the hem of his shirt or touching him.

Several simply stared at him in disbelief.

"The Other Kind."

"The prophecy..."

K felt every eye in the settlement settle on him.

His skin crawled.

"Mother?" Iniko asked softly.

The elder woman never looked away from him. "He will go through the test like the others have done. Prepare the chambers, have him clean and ready."

Some women rushed forward, seizing him gently.

"Come Other Kind, we must prepare you!"

They giggled and pulled him away.

"What are they doing?"

Even Kagu sounded panicked.

"I don’t know."

The elder finally spoke, following closely behind the girls.

Her voice carrying throughout the valley.

"For generations we were told by the Falling Star."

Silence.

"We were told one day another would come. They will always come."

Her glowing eyes met his.

"Only the worthy ones leave alive and with Sacrilege of the Oracle"

K instinctively touched where his plasma blaster should have been.

He knew a threat when he heard one.

"Tell me Other Kind, what is your name?"

"...K"

"K?"

"Mother, we must hurry!"

K immediately looked at Iniko.

"What is happening?"

"I have absolutely no idea."The girl looked delighted.

"Don’t worry K, I’ll find where the body is and gather necessary information on this place. Do as they want for now"

Saying so Kagu disappeared.

"Fuck! Don’t leave me here! These people are crazy! I just can’t prove it yet!"

The women leading him giggled, the one on his left sucked on her finger and bit on it to draw blood,

"Do not fear us Other Kind, we’ll make you feel good"