Chapter Text
Ned'u was usually very busy - often too busy to check his inbox. However, today Ned'u had slotted in the time to check after one of his workers had informed him that the HC had been trying to contact him. Usually, they only contact him with urgent situations that they would use a holo-call for. This situation was not urgent enough to warrant a call, but urgent enough that they would ask their 'love-bird' to pass a message through Ha'si. Peculiar.
Ned'u had found the message, and he was surprised, to say the least. A deathworlder - one in captivity no less. Ned'u had to wonder just how many workers were killed - and what exactly they're feeding it. Ned'u has one of the only viable death world plant gardens in the known galaxy - and he has not been asked to send any possible foods.
Perhaps the rest of the massage should've been predictable. The deathworlder wasn't faring well in captivity with the HC. It seems to be eating less and less, sometimes going cycles at a time without even moving. It started to learn the language particularly well, but that also came to a halt after a bit of the decline. The deathworlder had started to hiss at anyone trying to enter its cell, even for feeding or cleaning. They believe that this could be a type of heat or breeding cycle as the deathworlder's hormones have been at different levels lately. The recording of the deathworlder shows its cell (it’s much too small, Ned’u could do better), and the deathworlder curled in the corner of the room. The temperature seems to be too low, as it is shaking and trying to cover itself in anything that might be warm.
The last updated message said that they have tried a new enclosure to see if the deathworlder would react differently, and it did cause the deathworlder to walk around the entire enclosure before it laid back down, seemingly disinterested in the new features of the enclosure. The deathworlder tried to eat a plant as well, which the message said could be a way to make itself sick. It could be ill due to the different pathogens in space, but Ned’u would need to see its teeth before he drew any conclusions.
Ned'u felt the question before it was asked.
They want him to take the deathworlder. To see if it could recover from the probably extremely poor treatment it had received from the HC. To keep it at UA, a place of learning not of war-faring monsters.
However, the message did suggest that the deathworlder was fairly placid at the start of captivity. Perhaps they could be trained into good behaviour. This would involve learning the diet, and allowing for positive reinforcement. Ned'u does not doubt the HC had tried to punish the deathworlder for poor behaviour and judging by the message they found that physical violence was the only way the deathworlder was 'immediately receptive'. Ned'u would have to show the deathworlder it wasn't about to be physically harmed - because he knows that is unlikely to actually be productive.
However, Ned'u had thought about it. And he would like to take the deathworlder. Hopefully, he could learn more about them as people and about their culture - if they have any. And he couldn’t stand the thought of it being stuck in a cage that small for the rest of its life cycle - as short as that may be. A bigger cage, perhaps, and a plant. A watering hole, maybe? The deathworlder doesn’t seem to like the way the HC had tried to wash it, but maybe it would do so on its own?
Ned’u has too many questions now, he knew he wouldn’t be able to talk himself out of saying yes. However, Mai’ima might be able to talk Ned’u out of it if he and his students wouldn’t be able to make such an enclosure during the time it would take the HC to get the deathworlder to UA. Ned’u would have to discuss it with his staff first, as they are also members of this ship.
(Perhaps Ned’u knew none of them would be able to talk him out of it, but that didn’t stop him from holding off on messaging the HC back until after he had confirmed with all his staff that it was a terrible idea. A deathworlder would have no real place at UA - but nothing is stopping Ned’u from making it a place. Perhaps it could even help with some combat training in the next batch of recruits.)
Ned’u was excited. He couldn’t help his ears from flicking back and forth, searching for any noises from living beings. Ned’u was getting a Deathworlder! He had everything prepared for it, and he hoped that it wouldn’t bite him while he was attempting to inspect its teeth. Ned’u had a suspicion that the Deathworlder was an omnivore, not just a carnivore. This would explain its behaviours around food and the fact that it seems to have been starving under the HC’s care. The HC that arrived ten minutes ago with his deathworlder. Currently, he was waiting for their ships to settle at the correct air pressure and chemical composition. Of course, this was Ned’u’s least favourite part to wait for.
The ship beeped, indicating the levels are balanced and that the door is ready to open. Ned’u doesn’t move forwards, but the door opens anyway, and a team of armed guards wheel in a small cage, containing a member of one of the most deadly species in the galaxy. The deathworlder is small, underfed but still so… Ned’u didn’t know what to think. It didn’t look dangerous, but that is probably why they are such successful preadators. Its limbs are underneath its body in an attempt to keep any warmth it can, and Ned’u is quick to give directions to the latest instalment on his ship. When Ned’u speaks, the deathworlders eyes move to look at him, and though it seems too weak to move, Ned’u still feels distinctly like he is being sized up for the deathworlder's next meal.
What a fascinating creature!
Ned’u watches the guards lay the deathworlder onto the floor of its new holding cell, and Ned’u very slowly approaches, making sure to show the blanket to the deathworlder before laying it over it. It should be warmer now, and hopefully will have a bit more trust in Ned’u… Because he is going to check its teeth. Ned’u crouches, one paw hovering over the deathworlders mouth and waiting to see the deathworlders reaction. Its breathing has picked up, and it’s watching Ned’u intently, but it has yet to move away. It must be terrifying to be so weak that you can’t move even in the face of what could be a predator - technically Ned’u is an omnivore, so it’s not far off.
Ned’u gently moves the deathworlders upper lip, showing the front teeth to be exactly what Ned’u expected. However, the back teeth are flatter, made for grinding plants to pastes. What sort of plants do you eat, deathworlder? Is sugar something your species enjoys? Perhaps fruits?
Ned’u gently strokes the deathworlders matted green fur - a mental note to do something about that later - before standing. He sends a list of the plants he wants to be put in a bowl for the deathworlder while walking to the freshwater dispenser that he had installed. The HC said they had yet to confirm what the deathworlder drinks to stay hydrated, but Ned’u had gained access to all the footage of the deathworlder in captivity, including when the HC had tried to clean it with a water sprayer. The deathworlder had bitten at the water, but Ned’u could imply that it was more likely trying to drink it. Interestingly, Ned’u had lots of experience with deathworlder plants, and a few of the ones that grow very tall, with deep green leaves, hold water in their leaves like a bowl. Ned’u thought that it was odd that many of the animals on the Deathworld don’t tilt the water from those leaves into their mouths. But Ned’u hadn’t seen a deathworlder yet, and now that he had, he believed that would be how they drink water. Now, a green bottle like this should work into getting the deathworlder to drink, hopefully.
Ned’u walked slowly back over to the deathworlder, making sure not to startle it. He lifts the bottle to its lips, and nothing happens for a moment before the deathworlder grips the bottle between its teeth and drains it in a few gulps. Well, it definitely drinks water. Perhaps it was too much for a single sitting if the deathworlder doesn’t remember to stop to breathe while drinking. It could just be because it’s its first time drinking for a while. Ned’u gently pulls the bottle, and the deathworlder tightens its teeth on it for a moment, eyes narrowing on Ned’u.
“I’ll get you some more,” Ned’u states, gently patting the deathworlders fur again. The deathworlder stares for another moment before letting go of the bottle. Ned’u does fill the bottle again, offering some to the deathworlder again. The deathworlder only takes a few mouthfuls this time, and it even breathes once or twice. It was just very thirsty then. Ned’u sits next to the deathworlder, letting it scan him several times. Hopefully, it would adjust to him enough to let him feed it. He could see almost every bone of the deathworlders chest, and the lack of that during the footage at the start of his captivity would suggest that is unhealthy. Hopefully, the deathworlder could be back to a healthy weight soon, and hopefully, it wouldn’t attack at random.
The food Ned’u asked for is brought, and Ned’u is relieved that it’s just Oc’aco who brought it. A nice, non-threatening species should help the deathworlder feel more at ease. She is hesitant and trembling in fear, but she still walks close enough to sit the food next to Ned’u before she quickly evacuates the room. Ned’u selects one of the fruits first, showing the deathworlder what it is clearly before holding it to its mouth the same way he did the water. And just like the water, the deathworlder’s teeth latch onto it and this time, cut straight through it. It would’ve only been a few millimetres away from Ned’u’s paw being caught in the deathworlder's jaws. Ned’u picks up the next piece of fruit, showing it the same way he did the piece before. The deathworlder scrunches up its face at the piece, and it sucks its lips into its mouth when Ned’u tries to extend it to be eaten.
Ned’u sits it to the side to study later and picks up the next food for the deathworlder instead. Rotating through the whole basket is easy, as the deathworlder only denied eating two things. Ned’u is very interested as to why - and he wants to check them over for possible allergens. Right now, however, Ned’u gives the deathworlder another few sips of water, before allowing it to fall asleep.
Poor thing.
Captivity is very tiring in the best of situations, but starving captivity? Ned’u was grateful he had never experienced that. Being taken away from your homeworld in exchange for starving and freezing? Ned’u hoped the deathworlder wouldn’t be seeking revenge on the HC for taking it. (Ned’u also hoped that it would, just so he could teach it how to socially destroy something without having to be physically violent. This situation would require the deathworlder to be at least somewhat non-violent, and Ned’u was hoping that today was a good sign, as weak as the deathworlder is right now).