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Etahi Fallwell-Sturgis, née ![]()
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, is one of the major protagonists of the novel Screech. She is married to Shane Fallwell-Sturgis. She is not human, but hra'vakh.
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Etahi was born Raf'etahi to Raf'danh and Chf'a-sakara in the year 37,586 on Hra. She was born in the underwater city of Vi'aka, and was their fifth daughter. Of all her siblings, she has the lightest skin, closer to her father's tone; as a result, Sakara favored her above her other children.
She made semiannual visits to her grand uncle Drak's palace near the capital city of Vi'rusa, and enjoyed spending time with her second cousin, Chf'debet. For a time she actually was infatuated with him, but that quickly passed with a little bit of incentive from Sakara. Nonetheless, she loved her mother more than life itself.
When the time came to attend secondary school, Etahi chose to attend the public school in Vi'aka, rather than the royal school, which her siblings attended. Part of the decision was because of her mother taking the same route at the same age. The other part of the decision was based around Etahi's infatuation with Dan'khate, a boy she'd met while swimming. She got to know him, and they began a steady relationship that lasted for several years.
Shortly after she turned twenty-one, her sister Chana told her that she'd caught Khate cheating on her. She did some digging, and found that he had indeed been cheating on her, for quite some time—two years, in fact. His daughter's birth certificate proved it.
She was heartbroken, and she flew into a rage and threatened him. When Sakara found out, she chastised Etahi, and then told her how anger would get her nowhere. At this point, her family were the only people Etahi could trust, and she clung to them like glue.
In the year 37,608, Etahi's brother Atten left for the planet Earth on a mission to protect Khut'amekteth. She grew extremely jealous of him; she had always loved the story of Khut'amekheth, and dreamed to one day be her Protector. Sakara warned her that taking that calling was the solemnest vow; she would in essence be swearing her life away to the protection of the great beast. The deep space radiation would sterilize her, precluding her ever holding a baby of her own, which was heralded as the utmost pleasure. Nonetheless she was firm in her resolve, saying that as soon as her brother's time was through, she would take his place.
She went to college and learned English, based on information brought back by the first Protectors decades before. She acquainted herself with Earth's customs and traditions, as well as the history of the human race. Her family and friends tried hard to discourage her, but she soldiered on. Finally, after over a decade, she received word that her brother had been killed.
She nearly disregarded her dream in her grief, but Sakara told her, "You said you would be your brother's replacement. You wanted to take the noble calling of the Protector. I, with your father and all of Hra, are eternally in your debt, honored for you to make such a sacrifice to protect her."
She decided then to finish what she started, and she boarded the spacecraft in the year 37,624 and left Hra forever.
Due to the nature of her language, human beings could not accurately pronounce Etahi's name. As a result, she chose an English name that she felt suited her, Cathleen Sturgis. She assumed the role of a British scientist, complete with forged papers to back it up. She took up a teaching position at Cornell University, but vacated it and moved to Wales when the Carlson University for Paranormal Science was founded.
After a few years as a teacher and consultant at the university, she was invited to emcee a conference which Dr. Ezra Meyers, a noteworthy cryptozoologist, was hosting. It was at this conference that she first saw Shane Fallwell. At the conference, she discovered, to her dismay, that Amekheth, the creature she came to protect, wasn't incognito any longer, and that an expedition was in the works to discover more about the creature. She tried as long as she could to prevent it from happening, but finally she gave up and joined as the sole female member of the expedition.
Main article: The Screech Expedition