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Description
The next day, the adventure began of trying to turn the cave into a new home for the three of them.

Wyneth said that they were going to practice the breathing exercises before the work started for him, though Byron left to get a head start.

After the exercises were over, which Sil had thought had been really weird to take those kinds of breaths, he began to go securing vines and some wood for the cave. Byron tended to the Mounders and went to go get some stuff on them too.

Wyneth did a lot of the tying up and knitting stuff for traps and such if needed. And she did make some new weapons for them to use if they were going hunting or if something would threaten them. And she mostly prepared the food.

It continued like this for many days. They all had their jobs to do to make the cave a home. Wyneth warned Chamberlain to be careful most of all because of the pregnancy. He could get worn out doing too much.

One day, Sil was away from the cave by himself, getting ready to hunt his dinner for the night when he heard some screaming. It got his attention and went to make sure his friends weren’t in danger.

When he came upon the sounds, he saw a fair haired Gelfling woman being chased by a small Rakkida. Must have been a young one learning to hunt.

Sil still remembered his encounter with the Rakkidas months ago and didn’t ever want to be attacked like that again. He did now carry a knife. He charged after this one.

The Gelfling girl slipped and fell and turned to see her enemy advance on her. Just as it was advancing on her, something big and wearing red and black attacked the Rakkida.

Sil yelled his anger at it and stabbed at it. He got it good in the shoulder. It cried out in pain, blood pooling from its wound. But it didn’t give up right away. It tried to get back at the creature trying to rob it of its meal.

Chamberlain bared his teeth at it and hissed. ‘Just try it again.’ He thought to himself.

It jumped at him again and this time, Sil got him in the lower ribs.

It didn’t take much this time and it fell dead from the blade.

Sil saw the blood on his knife as it was pulled free from the Rakkida’s body. He had actually killed a Rakkida. Then he heard gasping for breath. He turned to the scared Gelfling.

He saw she was breathing hard and as he approached her, wondering what she was doing out here, far from her home obviously. But it didn’t take long for her to pass out. She had obviously been exhausted. But then, something else caught his eye: her stomach. It was bulging, indicating a pregnancy.

“Great. Another expecting Gelfling.” Sil said. He put his knife away then tended to the fallen one.

From right now, it wasn’t easy picking up something that was a little heavy. Sil picked up the Gelfling and decided to take her to Wyneth, since she was willing to help pregnant mothers to be. It was a little hard for Sil to find his right balance at first because of the weight in his own stomach from his own baby.

Sil carried her back to the cave, giving up on hunting food for tonight.

Wyneth was trying to prepare dinner when she heard footsteps. She looked up and her Skeksis friend was returning.

“Wyneth, came across this Gelfling out while hunting. Rakkida attacking her. Small one and I killed it.” Sil said.

“I can imagine after your attack that you would want revenge on the species. But here, put her down right here.” Wyneth said, indicating Sil put the girl down on her sleeping blankets.

Sil did gently put the new Gelfling down, which was a relief off his back. Then he went over to his own spot and sat down. He had to catch his breath after such an event.

Wyneth checked over the guest. She seemed to be fine. “Well, aside from being pregnant, I think she’s going to be fine. But only when she tells her story about what happened will we know what happened to her. Are you alright, Sil?”

Chamberlain looked over himself. He seemed to be alright even though he got a few scratches from the Rakkida. “Few scratches, but fine.”

Wyneth came over to look at them. His arms weren’t in too serious condition like they were the last time with his encounter with Rakkida, but she insisted on cleaning them so infection didn’t get in. In his condition, he couldn’t afford to get sick.

“You must be very careful in your time of pregnancy, Chamberlain. One small ailment can make you very sick. It’s easier to come down with something when you are expecting.”

“Just saving her.” He said.

“And it’s thoughtful of you, but like I said, be careful.” Wyneth said.

After cleaning his scratches, she went back to cooking. The girl would wake up in time. And indeed she did.

She woke up just after dinner. Byron had returned by then and was informed of how she had gotten here. Sil was still sitting in his spot. He knew the look of him might frighten the girl, so he kept his distance and let his friends do the talking.

“Hi there, young girl.” Wyneth greeted. “Just take it easy and rise slow.”

She did. “Who are you and where am I?”

“I am a healer. I am Wyneth.”

“I’m Byron and that over there is Sil, or Chamberlain.” Byron said.

The girl gasped at the sight of Chamberlain. Sil had had a feeling it could happen.

“It’s alright, he’s a friend.” Byron said.

“Are you two out of your minds? His kind are the enemy!”

“And just who are you anyway, and to say that?” Byron said.

“I am Milena. And my village was raided many days ago by big, black shelled creatures and I saw one of his kind with them! He killed many of my people!”

“Garthim. It must have been SkekUng. He is Garthim Master. One of old enemies of mine.” Sil said. “But I have nothing to do with attacks on Gelfling homes.”

“Just because it wasn’t you doesn’t mean that you aren’t like them.”

“Milena, enough! He saved you from that Rakkida. So what does that tell you?” Wyneth said. “He has scratches of his own to prove it.”

“How noble. But I just prefer he keep his distance from me.” Milena said.

“Feeling mutual.” Sil said. He hated being rejected like this, and yet, this Gelfling had been attacked, so that was why she felt he was dangerous just as Ung was.

“Milena, what about your baby?” Wyneth asked, “And your story of what happened.”

Milena couldn’t help but eye Sil out of the corner of her eye, but she finally did proceed to tell her story. The father had been captured and her other relatives had been killed in the Garthim attack. Her husband had made her run. She was so close to having their child that there was nothing she could do.

“My baby is due any day now.” Milena finished. She eyed Sil again.

“Not dream of hurting it.” Sil said in surrender.

“He knows what you’re going through.” Byron said.

“How could a Skeksis possibly know?” She asked.

“He’s actually expecting too.” Wyneth said.

“Hard for me to carry you back here.” Sil said.

Milena was glad for the rescue, but was still wary of the big grayish creature.
…………….

Milena wasn’t allowed to do much because of how late term she was, and it was proven just two days after her arrival, as she went into labor.

Chamberlain kept his distance, but he wanted to stick around to see what went on, just to get the experience he felt he needed about childbirth. He didn’t see anything of what Wyneth had to do to check for a baby coming. This time, Wyneth didn’t tell him to leave.

Even though Sil wanted the learning experience, sooner or later, he had to leave to escape the screaming. Milena was glad to see him go.

Byron and Sil stayed away the rest of the day, but came back in the evening to Milena resting and holding a baby girl.

Sil saw that a baby Gelfling seemed to look a little different than its parent. The baby was very small of course, but the face seemed fatter and maybe a little shorter than an adult’s.

Well, depending on what Milena would do, Sil might get some experience with a baby before he was due to have his in the near future. He hoped he could convince her that he was trustworthy.

Milena would even watch the breathing exercises going on. She saw that the Skeksis had a round stomach too underneath what looked like a dress almost. But yet, another concept she didn’t get was that Sil was called a ‘he’ and was said to be pregnant. His kind must have been one messed up species if the males got pregnant, she thought to herself.

One day, while Chamberlain was out with Byron on rounds for more supplies for the cave lair, Milena approached Wyneth about it. She kept her daughter in a carrier that had been made for her child. She never let her baby far from her sight for fear of the Skeksis.

“I just wonder how a male like the Skeksis could be pregnant? That’s not the natural way of things.” Milena said.

“He’s not entirely one gender, Milena.” Wyneth replied. “He said that he actually has two genders, so he has female in him too. Skeksis just call each other males all the time.”

“That would also make them messed up species to have two genders in them.”

“That’s the beauty of different species. It’s not always going to be the same with all kinds of creatures.”

“So, where’s his mate then?” Milena asked.

“Back at the castle from what I know. Sil is an outcast and his mate got left behind. They wouldn’t let her follow him. They wanted him to be ultimately punished by taking away everything he had, including his lover.”

At hearing that, Milena felt a little more for what happened to Sil. But she was still wary of him. Then, Wyneth told her the story of what the three of them had just escaped from, from the village they just came from that was sure to kill Sil for not believing he was innocent in the killing of some of their own people.

“So, your clan was experiencing the killings too.” Milena said.

“We never saw the Garthim as Chamberlain calls them. But he did save a child from getting killed. He didn’t get there in time to save the adults.”

“But are you ever going to go back to your clan, to see if they’re alright? More and more Gelfling clans are being targeted by these Garthim raids. We don’t even know why it’s happening.”

“We might go back in awhile, but we just want to make sure the bad energy is cleared first. We just need some time away from them. Byron likes this solitude more than he liked serving the clan. Sil is his best friend. He always wanted something different in his life.” Wyneth explained.

“Are you his mother?”

“No. But he and I just always had a special bond. He had injuries a lot growing up because he felt different and his ways weren’t tolerated so well, and when he was finally old enough, he was just given the job of tending to the Mounders of our village. He had bonds with the Mounders and that was as exotic as it got until he found Sil nearly being torn apart by Rakkidas. The injuries were so bad we almost thought he wouldn’t live.”

It was obvious to Milena that Wyneth was trying to get her to try to care about the Skeksis. She would tolerate him, but was still concerned. He could still turn on them all.
……………..

Chamberlain still watched the new Gelfling warily himself. But he did watch how she cared for her daughter too. Those could be ways to take into account how he could care for his too. His possibly couldn’t be that different in how they had to be cared for after birth.

Milena had named her daughter Kayra.

Now that Milena was recovered enough from having her daughter, she did help as well to make the cave a good place to stay. Together, the four adults even made a cage like door to protect the entrance at night, or if they all were going to be away for a period of time so animals wouldn’t get in and take their food.
……………

It had been such a long time since the Chamberlain had been banished. SkekLa missed him so much. She wondered if he was still alive. Shortly after he had left, she had made a special portrait of him just so she could remember him. She hid it carefully. Some pictures she had drawn of him in the past had since been destroyed by the others as they didn’t even want to remember him.

She also would go to his quarters as often as she could. His stuff was still there, but ignored.

The robes that had been taken from Sil had been made into other things by now by Ekt the Ornamentalist.

The Skeksis Emperor was pleased with how many Gelflings were being brought into the castle. Ung was doing his job well with his Garthim.

Zok was ordered to send out the Crystal Bats every night and day to see where there were Gelfling hanging about. La hoped that maybe one of them might chance upon seeing Sil out there somewhere.

Lach was taking a good share of Gelflings for his servants or he killed them if they didn’t obey his commands. He got the highest count of Gelflings that weren’t going to be having their essence drained right away. The Emperor still held him in the highest regards. Even some of the others were disgusted by that, seeing that Lach was the highest of highest ranking right now.

Description
The next day, the adventure began of trying to turn the cave into a new home for the three of them.

Wyneth said that they were going to practice the breathing exercises before the work started for him, though Byron left to get a head start.

After the exercises were over, which Sil had thought had been really weird to take those kinds of breaths, he began to go securing vines and some wood for the cave. Byron tended to the Mounders and went to go get some stuff on them too.

Wyneth did a lot of the tying up and knitting stuff for traps and such if needed. And she did make some new weapons for them to use if they were going hunting or if something would threaten them. And she mostly prepared the food.

It continued like this for many days. They all had their jobs to do to make the cave a home. Wyneth warned Chamberlain to be careful most of all because of the pregnancy. He could get worn out doing too much.

One day, Sil was away from the cave by himself, getting ready to hunt his dinner for the night when he heard some screaming. It got his attention and went to make sure his friends weren’t in danger.

When he came upon the sounds, he saw a fair haired Gelfling woman being chased by a small Rakkida. Must have been a young one learning to hunt.

Sil still remembered his encounter with the Rakkidas months ago and didn’t ever want to be attacked like that again. He did now carry a knife. He charged after this one.

The Gelfling girl slipped and fell and turned to see her enemy advance on her. Just as it was advancing on her, something big and wearing red and black attacked the Rakkida.

Sil yelled his anger at it and stabbed at it. He got it good in the shoulder. It cried out in pain, blood pooling from its wound. But it didn’t give up right away. It tried to get back at the creature trying to rob it of its meal.

Chamberlain bared his teeth at it and hissed. ‘Just try it again.’ He thought to himself.

It jumped at him again and this time, Sil got him in the lower ribs.

It didn’t take much this time and it fell dead from the blade.

Sil saw the blood on his knife as it was pulled free from the Rakkida’s body. He had actually killed a Rakkida. Then he heard gasping for breath. He turned to the scared Gelfling.

He saw she was breathing hard and as he approached her, wondering what she was doing out here, far from her home obviously. But it didn’t take long for her to pass out. She had obviously been exhausted. But then, something else caught his eye: her stomach. It was bulging, indicating a pregnancy.

“Great. Another expecting Gelfling.” Sil said. He put his knife away then tended to the fallen one.

From right now, it wasn’t easy picking up something that was a little heavy. Sil picked up the Gelfling and decided to take her to Wyneth, since she was willing to help pregnant mothers to be. It was a little hard for Sil to find his right balance at first because of the weight in his own stomach from his own baby.

Sil carried her back to the cave, giving up on hunting food for tonight.

Wyneth was trying to prepare dinner when she heard footsteps. She looked up and her Skeksis friend was returning.

“Wyneth, came across this Gelfling out while hunting. Rakkida attacking her. Small one and I killed it.” Sil said.

“I can imagine after your attack that you would want revenge on the species. But here, put her down right here.” Wyneth said, indicating Sil put the girl down on her sleeping blankets.

Sil did gently put the new Gelfling down, which was a relief off his back. Then he went over to his own spot and sat down. He had to catch his breath after such an event.

Wyneth checked over the guest. She seemed to be fine. “Well, aside from being pregnant, I think she’s going to be fine. But only when she tells her story about what happened will we know what happened to her. Are you alright, Sil?”

Chamberlain looked over himself. He seemed to be alright even though he got a few scratches from the Rakkida. “Few scratches, but fine.”

Wyneth came over to look at them. His arms weren’t in too serious condition like they were the last time with his encounter with Rakkida, but she insisted on cleaning them so infection didn’t get in. In his condition, he couldn’t afford to get sick.

“You must be very careful in your time of pregnancy, Chamberlain. One small ailment can make you very sick. It’s easier to come down with something when you are expecting.”

“Just saving her.” He said.

“And it’s thoughtful of you, but like I said, be careful.” Wyneth said.

After cleaning his scratches, she went back to cooking. The girl would wake up in time. And indeed she did.

She woke up just after dinner. Byron had returned by then and was informed of how she had gotten here. Sil was still sitting in his spot. He knew the look of him might frighten the girl, so he kept his distance and let his friends do the talking.

“Hi there, young girl.” Wyneth greeted. “Just take it easy and rise slow.”

She did. “Who are you and where am I?”

“I am a healer. I am Wyneth.”

“I’m Byron and that over there is Sil, or Chamberlain.” Byron said.

The girl gasped at the sight of Chamberlain. Sil had had a feeling it could happen.

“It’s alright, he’s a friend.” Byron said.

“Are you two out of your minds? His kind are the enemy!”

“And just who are you anyway, and to say that?” Byron said.

“I am Milena. And my village was raided many days ago by big, black shelled creatures and I saw one of his kind with them! He killed many of my people!”

“Garthim. It must have been SkekUng. He is Garthim Master. One of old enemies of mine.” Sil said. “But I have nothing to do with attacks on Gelfling homes.”

“Just because it wasn’t you doesn’t mean that you aren’t like them.”

“Milena, enough! He saved you from that Rakkida. So what does that tell you?” Wyneth said. “He has scratches of his own to prove it.”

“How noble. But I just prefer he keep his distance from me.” Milena said.

“Feeling mutual.” Sil said. He hated being rejected like this, and yet, this Gelfling had been attacked, so that was why she felt he was dangerous just as Ung was.

“Milena, what about your baby?” Wyneth asked, “And your story of what happened.”

Milena couldn’t help but eye Sil out of the corner of her eye, but she finally did proceed to tell her story. The father had been captured and her other relatives had been killed in the Garthim attack. Her husband had made her run. She was so close to having their child that there was nothing she could do.

“My baby is due any day now.” Milena finished. She eyed Sil again.

“Not dream of hurting it.” Sil said in surrender.

“He knows what you’re going through.” Byron said.

“How could a Skeksis possibly know?” She asked.

“He’s actually expecting too.” Wyneth said.

“Hard for me to carry you back here.” Sil said.

Milena was glad for the rescue, but was still wary of the big grayish creature.
…………….

Milena wasn’t allowed to do much because of how late term she was, and it was proven just two days after her arrival, as she went into labor.

Chamberlain kept his distance, but he wanted to stick around to see what went on, just to get the experience he felt he needed about childbirth. He didn’t see anything of what Wyneth had to do to check for a baby coming. This time, Wyneth didn’t tell him to leave.

Even though Sil wanted the learning experience, sooner or later, he had to leave to escape the screaming. Milena was glad to see him go.

Byron and Sil stayed away the rest of the day, but came back in the evening to Milena resting and holding a baby girl.

Sil saw that a baby Gelfling seemed to look a little different than its parent. The baby was very small of course, but the face seemed fatter and maybe a little shorter than an adult’s.

Well, depending on what Milena would do, Sil might get some experience with a baby before he was due to have his in the near future. He hoped he could convince her that he was trustworthy.

Milena would even watch the breathing exercises going on. She saw that the Skeksis had a round stomach too underneath what looked like a dress almost. But yet, another concept she didn’t get was that Sil was called a ‘he’ and was said to be pregnant. His kind must have been one messed up species if the males got pregnant, she thought to herself.

One day, while Chamberlain was out with Byron on rounds for more supplies for the cave lair, Milena approached Wyneth about it. She kept her daughter in a carrier that had been made for her child. She never let her baby far from her sight for fear of the Skeksis.

“I just wonder how a male like the Skeksis could be pregnant? That’s not the natural way of things.” Milena said.

“He’s not entirely one gender, Milena.” Wyneth replied. “He said that he actually has two genders, so he has female in him too. Skeksis just call each other males all the time.”

“That would also make them messed up species to have two genders in them.”

“That’s the beauty of different species. It’s not always going to be the same with all kinds of creatures.”

“So, where’s his mate then?” Milena asked.

“Back at the castle from what I know. Sil is an outcast and his mate got left behind. They wouldn’t let her follow him. They wanted him to be ultimately punished by taking away everything he had, including his lover.”

At hearing that, Milena felt a little more for what happened to Sil. But she was still wary of him. Then, Wyneth told her the story of what the three of them had just escaped from, from the village they just came from that was sure to kill Sil for not believing he was innocent in the killing of some of their own people.

“So, your clan was experiencing the killings too.” Milena said.

“We never saw the Garthim as Chamberlain calls them. But he did save a child from getting killed. He didn’t get there in time to save the adults.”

“But are you ever going to go back to your clan, to see if they’re alright? More and more Gelfling clans are being targeted by these Garthim raids. We don’t even know why it’s happening.”

“We might go back in awhile, but we just want to make sure the bad energy is cleared first. We just need some time away from them. Byron likes this solitude more than he liked serving the clan. Sil is his best friend. He always wanted something different in his life.” Wyneth explained.

“Are you his mother?”

“No. But he and I just always had a special bond. He had injuries a lot growing up because he felt different and his ways weren’t tolerated so well, and when he was finally old enough, he was just given the job of tending to the Mounders of our village. He had bonds with the Mounders and that was as exotic as it got until he found Sil nearly being torn apart by Rakkidas. The injuries were so bad we almost thought he wouldn’t live.”

It was obvious to Milena that Wyneth was trying to get her to try to care about the Skeksis. She would tolerate him, but was still concerned. He could still turn on them all.
……………..

Chamberlain still watched the new Gelfling warily himself. But he did watch how she cared for her daughter too. Those could be ways to take into account how he could care for his too. His possibly couldn’t be that different in how they had to be cared for after birth.

Milena had named her daughter Kayra.

Now that Milena was recovered enough from having her daughter, she did help as well to make the cave a good place to stay. Together, the four adults even made a cage like door to protect the entrance at night, or if they all were going to be away for a period of time so animals wouldn’t get in and take their food.
……………

It had been such a long time since the Chamberlain had been banished. SkekLa missed him so much. She wondered if he was still alive. Shortly after he had left, she had made a special portrait of him just so she could remember him. She hid it carefully. Some pictures she had drawn of him in the past had since been destroyed by the others as they didn’t even want to remember him.

She also would go to his quarters as often as she could. His stuff was still there, but ignored.

The robes that had been taken from Sil had been made into other things by now by Ekt the Ornamentalist.

The Skeksis Emperor was pleased with how many Gelflings were being brought into the castle. Ung was doing his job well with his Garthim.

Zok was ordered to send out the Crystal Bats every night and day to see where there were Gelfling hanging about. La hoped that maybe one of them might chance upon seeing Sil out there somewhere.

Lach was taking a good share of Gelflings for his servants or he killed them if they didn’t obey his commands. He got the highest count of Gelflings that weren’t going to be having their essence drained right away. The Emperor still held him in the highest regards. Even some of the others were disgusted by that, seeing that Lach was the highest of highest ranking right now.