Swallowing his last bite, Jack set the empty can aside. “You know, ah...there's a question I've been meaning to ask you.”
“Mm?” Aria twitched her tail, looking a little curious. “A question?”
“Yeah.” He crossed his legs. “I was wondering how you learned to speak English. There aren't many humans who can speak Ailian, and I never bothered to try to learn when I was in the service. Not more than a few words I picked up here and there, anyway. But you speak English really well.”
“Oh...” Aria shrugged, and she rubbed the back of her neck. For the first time since he'd met her, she looked a little embarrassed. “Thank you. I not very good, really...”
“No, I'm serious, you speak it a lot better than I would have expected.”
“Thank you,” she said again. Aria took a final bite from her can, then she set it down. If she had any more of the foul mixture, she might be sick. “Well...Sometimes when Ascendancy raids human colony, take prisoners. Force prisoners to teach us language.” She rubbed the back of her neck again. “Need to know language to understand human radio signals. Threaten death if they refuse. Not many say no, yes?”
“...I guess they wouldn't.” The small amount of friendliness that Jack had been starting to feel quickly evaporated. “You Ailians seem to have a talent for threatening to kill someone if they don't do what you want.”
Aria bristled at that, and Jack was taken aback by how vehemently she responded to his words. “And humans have talent for taking what not theirs!”
“What do you mean?” Jack asked. He clenched his hands. “If you're referring to our colonial expansion, we had no idea that any of the planets we colonized were in Ailian space. We didn't even know that there was any other life out there!” He pointed a finger accusingly at Aria. “And your people attacked us without any warning at all.”
“Attack was warning!” Aria shot back. “Humans should have left. Instead you keep expanding, keep fighting. We have to take war to next level to protect what is ours!”
“And we had to keep fighting to save our colonists' lives!”
“Pah! Ka'la se te nai!” Aria stood up, striding quickly past Jack. “Stupid. Is like arguing with child.”
“And where are you going?” Jack called, looking over his shoulder.
“Sleep.” Aria knelt in front of the tent, unzipping the flap. “I stay awake much longer, I do something stupid. Humans make me angry.” She crawled inside and zipped the tent back up, but not before tossing out Jack's sleeping roll. Obviously, she meant for Jack to sleep outside again. As long as that meant Jack wasn't going to have sleep next to an angry tigress, that was just fine with him.
Shaking his head, Jack turned back towards the fire, watching the flames dance as the burning wood crackled. He reached for the pile of firewood and tossed a few more sticks into it. He stared at the conflagration until his eyes started to water, and then he leaned back, tipping over until he was lying on the ground. Jack looked up at the sky through the treetops, where stars were twinkling peacefully.
His thoughts turned to the war, and for the first time in eight years he found himself wondering what his life would have been like if he'd stayed in the Navy. Certainly he wouldn't be in the situation he was in now. Jack smiled as he remembered what life had been like, traveling with his squadron in their escort carrier. The life had been fun, in it's own way. They'd travel from planet to planet, usually along with a transport convoy or some passenger ship carrying minor dignitaries. He'd never had to be in what one would call a dangerous war zone. That hadn't been such a bad time, had it?
The night life for a fighter pilot had been pretty special, too. Every time he walked into a bar in uniform, people had turned to look at him and his fellow pilots, like they were celebrities or something. That was something that hadn't changed since the first human took to the skies in a theater of war. Those who flew craft into combat were seen as daredevils, and like all daredevils their bravery impressed the masses. None of the women who Jack had ever gone home with after a night of drinking had cared that he'd never seen a shot fired in anger. To them, the image and the fantasy had been enough.
I probably could have put in a few more years, Jack thought as he lay there. Saved up a little more, qualified for a better pension. Then I wouldn't have had to take a job like the one that got me into this mess...Or at least I could have found better work. A commercial passenger pilot, maybe even a cruise ship captain. Hell, I could have just stayed in for the long haul and gone on to be a fleet officer. Wouldn't that have been something? It could have been Captain Squier, Commander Squier...Admiral Squier? Nah...maybe that's stretching it a little...
Yawning, exhausted from the day, Jack sat back up. He retrieved his bedroll from where Aria had thrown it and brought it over to the fireside. Kicking his boots off, Jack unbuttoned his fatigue shirt, rolling it up to use as a pillow. He laid down next to the fire, making himself as comfortable as he could.
Aria might be pretty abrasive...but I do have to respect that she did this kind of thing for a whole month straight...
******
Perhaps two or three hours later, Jack drifted awake. He sat up, pleasantly surprised that there weren't any giant insects crawling across his face. Looking to the fire, he saw that it had nearly gone out, and the night was growing quite chilly. He got up from his bedroll and walked over to where Aria had stacked the firewood, and he retrieved several large sticks. Jack tossed them onto the fire, using another stick to poke them about until the fire started to build again.
Jack leaned back, propping himself up on his arms, taking a few moments to enjoy the fire's warmth and the quiet of the night. There was no noise from the tent; Aria seemed to be sleeping just as deeply as she had the night before. Not having to deal with her constant threats and verbal abuse came as a relief.
I had a feeling I might regret coming along with her, Jack said to himself. He laid back on the ground. But I guess I didn't have much choice, did I? It was either come with her or die.
With an irritated snort, Jack closed his eyes to try to get back to dreamland. The crackling of the fire was soothing, and the cheeping of something that sounded rather like a cricket echoed somewhere in the trees. Even so, Jack found that sleep was coming difficult to him this night. A small rustling noise came from the tent, sounding as though Aria was shifting in her sleep.
“...I need a piss.”
Standing up, Jack walked a ways away from the fire, a short distance into the trees. It was dark there, but a little light from the fire still filtered through. Finding a suitable tree, Jack unzipped his pants and got down to business. An unbelievable sense of relief washed over him. It was amazing how one could forget to see to the baser necessities of life under extreme stress. When he finished, he zipped his pants back up and turned to walk back to the campsite.
A soft noise nearby made him stop, and he turned towards it curiously. Emerging from a small clump of low plants was one of the little black creatures. The light from the fire illuminated its fur, which had a shimmering sheen to it in the darkness. The animal was gazing at Jack with just as much curiosity as he directed towards it. Slowly it started to approach him, moving cautiously with each step.
“Uh...Hey, there, little guy,” Jack said uncertainly. He turned towards the animal, which made it halt. Jack froze, worried that if he moved too quickly he'd set off some sort of defensive behavior. As small as the animal was, Jack still didn't feel like getting into a fight with it. As soon as he stopped moving, however, the animal continued approaching him. It was wagging its short tail back and forth.
Huh...seems kind of friendly..., Jack thought. He knelt down on the ground and boldly held a hand out. The creature paused for a second, then stretched its neck out, sniffing at him. It took another few steps forward. His hand shaking a little, Jack touched his fingers to the top of its head. When it made no apparently hostile reactions, Jack scratched behind its stubby ears. It made a small cackling/purring noise, its eyes cl
osing halfway, and it tilted its head against his hand in apparent enjoyment.
“Well, you're a friendly little guy,” Jack said. He rubbed his hand down its back, and the creature arched itself up to meet his touch. “Or girl, I guess. No idea how to tell. Nice to know there's at least one species on this planet that doesn't seem to mind people, though.” He continued petting the black-furred animal, listening to the happy-sounding noises it was making.
Suddenly, the creature went silent, and it stood up on its hind legs. Puzzled, Jack looked around, unable to sense anything. The little animal was shaking nervously, turning its head this way and that, and it started making a little whining noise. Jack continued looking around, his ears and eyes straining to perceive anything in the depths of the forest.
A hair-raising shriek made him nearly leap out of his skin, and the black-furred creature bolted for the trees. Before it had gotten a meter away from him, a large, mottled-green blur whipped by Jack's head. He yelled in shock and took a few steps back, tripping on a tree root and falling right on his ass. He watched as whatever had just leaped past him chased after the smaller creature, which was climbing up the nearest tree trunk.
The larger animal howled in frustration as its prey escaped up the tree. Jack got a good look at it as it stood at the base of the tree, staring up at the escaped animal. The predator was huge, easily as big as Jack and maybe just a little bigger. Like the smaller animal, it had four legs, but the similarities stopped there. Twin tails extended from its haunches, each of them tipped with a wicked-looking short blade of what looked like blackened bone or horn. The blades glimmered in the firelight, shining with a natural polish. Each of the beast's four paws ended in short, slightly curved claws. The most fearsome part of it was its muzzle, which was longer than a wolf's and was filled with twin rows of sharp, shark-like teeth. The animal was covered with fur in a pattern of green, brown, and black, the perfect natural camouflage.
Just as Jack was thinking that he should get away before the beast noticed him, it turned its eyes towards him. It had four of them, set in two rows on its head, and they were all pure blue with no apparent pupils. The predator blinked all of its eyes, then bared its teeth and slowly advanced towards Jack, snarling as saliva dripped from its mouth. Swallowing, he looked around for a way out, and spotted a hefty fallen branch nearby. He seized it, quickly standing up.
The predator continued its advance, not intimidated in the slightest by the addition of a weapon to the mix. Without any warning or telegraphing of its intentions, it pounced at Jack, whipping its twin tails towards him. Jack jumped out of the way as one of the tails slashed by his face with millimeters to spare. With a shout, he swung his branch wildly, catching the creature with a glancing blow across its flank. Landing on the ground, it quickly turned to face him again, the fur along its back raising in anger.
“Shit,” Jack muttered. The beast was now standing between him and the campsite. He took a step towards it, swinging the branch menacingly. It jumped back half a step, wary now of being struck again. Gritting his teeth, Jack advanced, raising his branch to strike.
Which was exactly what the predator was waiting for. With a flash of its tails, it struck him square across the chest with the unbladed side of both appendages, throwing him back to the ground and knocking the branch from his grip. Before Jack could even think about getting up again, the beast was on him, its claws digging into his shoulders as it mounted his chest. Terrified, Jack struck wildly at its head, striking it multiple times with no visible effect. The animal continued snarling and roaring, trying to get its jaws in a position to bite at his face. In desperation, Jack placed his hand under its neck, pushing with all his might to keep its teeth as far away from him as possible. His muscles strained, his arms slowly bending as the predator forced its head closer and closer to its target.
“Ka'a'lai!”
A piercing, shrieking panther-like roar echoed around the forest. Jack gasped as the predator was thrown off of him. It landed on its back a few meters away from him, rolling back and forth in confusion before flipping itself onto its feet.
Growling, her teeth bared in a snarl, Aria planted herself on all fours over Jack's body, her tail whipping back and forth in the air. She pawed at the ground, her claws extended, staring the predator down. The animal whipped its tails in her direction, trying to goad her into coming for it. She kept her protective stance over Jack, refusing to move an inch.
Barking in anger, the predator took a step towards them, and Aria struck. She pounced on the beast, wrapping her arms around its body. With her feet she pinned both of its tails to the ground and starting raking her front claws down its flanks, opening up huge gashes in its furred flesh. The animal howled in sudden pain and dismay, rolling itself back and forth to try to break free of her grasp, but Aria held fast to it and didn't give it any chance to escape. As Jack watched, she pinned its neck to the ground and reached for her belt, drawing out his pistol. Before the animal had a chance to react, she pressed the muzzle to the side of its head and fired a single shot.
The beast stiffened up with one startled yip, twitched its tails in a few dying thrashes, and then lay still as its last breath hissed through its teeth. Panting, Aria tucked the pistol back into her belt and stood up, taking a step from the corpse.
Sitting up shakily, Jack caught his breath. He was dumbfounded by what he had just witnessed. Aria had dispatched the beast like it had been nothing at all, while he had been almost powerless to resist it. “Aria, you...I don't know what to...Thank you.”
Growling, Aria turned towards him and walked over with long strides. “Aresh kal'a'ri me tok!” she hissed at him. She grabbed him by the front of his undershirt, hauling him to his feet. She backhanded him brutally, drawing blood from his cheek.
Jack was stunned, both by the severity of the blow and by how it had come without much warning. “What the hell was that for?”
“Idiot! Stupid!” Aria was seething, he eyes alight with fury. “What you thinking, wandering from camp? Could have been killed! Tok le pu'ra me!” She smacked him again, then let his shirt go, and he collapsed back to the ground. The Ailian stood over him, quivering in rage.
Jack didn't quite know what to say. This anger was extreme, even for her, and right now he was even more scared than he had been when he'd first encountered her. “S-...Sorry,” he stammered, the apology coming automatically.
Aria continued shaking, her tail whipping the leaves at her feet, and she cupped her face in her hands. For a few minutes she just stood there, not making any sounds, and Jack watched her warily, wondering what was coming next. Then she dropped her hands to her sides, closed her eyes, and took a few deep breaths. When she opened her eyes again, her anger seemed not to have diminished, but she looked more in control of herself. She turned, walking back in the direction of their camp.
“Get up, come,” she said over her shoulder to him. “We have work to do.”
“W-Work?” Jack asked, shakily standing up and following after her.
“Yes. Need to bury animal. Will attract more if left out. Come.” Aria led Jack back to the camp, and retrieved a collapsible shovel from each of their packs. She handed one to Jack and they returned to the dead predator. They dug a hole deep enough to hold the body, and Jack rolled the corpse into it, filling it in and covering it with loose dirt and leaf litter. When they were finished they returned to the camp once more and put away the shovels. The fire was still crackling merrily, and Aria tossed two more sticks onto it. She sat down in front of the fire, staring into the flames.
Jack hesitated for a few moments, then he sat down as well, opposite her. After almost thirty minutes of silence, other than the popping and hissing of the fire, Jack spoke.
“Thank you,” he said quietly. “You saved my life. I'd be dead if it wasn't for you.”
Aria snapped her head up, her eyes glinting in the light. For a heartbeat it seemed as though she was about to snap at him again, but then she looked back down. “W
elcome. When I wake up and you not there, I think you run away. Come look for you.” She smirked just a little bit. “Lucky I wake up this time, yes?”
“Y-Yeah,” Jack agreed, laughing nervously.
The female sat for a little longer, then she stood, walking around the fire. As she passed Jack, she paused and laid a hand on his shoulder. “I go back to bed. You sleep, too. We leave soon after sunrise, yes? Need to keep moving.”
“Right...,” Jack agreed. “And...uh...Thanks, again.” He put a hand to his face, feeling a sting and a small wet patch of blood where she'd struck him.
Aria looked down at him, and then she turned away. As she walked past his pack, she stopped and pulled out the medkit. She came back to Jack, opening it up, and she knelt next to him. Taking a disinfectant wipe, she swiped it over the small cut on his cheek and then put a bandage on it. Aria stood back up and then vanished into her tent.
Touching the fresh bandage on his face, Jack looked after her, and not for the first time he thought to himself that she was one hard woman to figure out.
******
The next day they got an early start, just as Aria had said. She made no mention of the previous night's event, and Jack wasn't in any mood to remind her about it. They took more breaks than they had the previous day. The pair had seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement that Aria would not complain about his needs for rest, so long as he didn't complain about the work.
As the day passed into afternoon, the forest started to grow thinner, becoming less of a rainforest and more of a temperate area. Jack noticed that they were starting to go downhill, too, which was a welcome relief. As the going got a little easier, both of their moods improved, and Aria's death threats became less frequent.
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