Respin
It is the female who has flipped him off earlier. The air between her horns seems fizzle as if she plans on using her powers. Immediately Respin feels frightened, which causes his ears to twitch backward in alarm.
"Hey there, Nethra!" Serfin greets the short-haired one "It's been a while…"
"You know her?" Respin asks him bewildered.
"We were Bondmates durin' our time as cadets," he answers nonchalant.
Nethra grins in an intimidating evil manner and advances step by step. This is all Respin needs to see to tense up. Nethra stops and plants her feet firm on the ground. He expects her to aim an arrow at him, but she doesn't move. Only the air around her horns starts to move ever so slightly.
A moment later her face contorts into an unpleasant grimace of pure fear. Shocked he backs away and walks into Serfin, who has drawn his bow.
Nethra jumps forward in an explosion of furry and noise.
There are no words in her scream. It's the feral sound of pure fear.
With the pounce of a wilder-beast she jumps into the air. Her claws ready to shred Respin to pieces.
He can't move.
His mind crashes to a halt.
But Serfin has his back.
Without a second of hesitation he jumps at Nethra and slams her to the ground with his elbow.
"Run!" Serfin shouts between gritted teeth as he puts all his strength into subduing Nethra, who fights like a cornered animal.
Respin wants to thank him from the bottom of his heart, but there is no time to express his gratitude. In great haste, he adjusts the pale creature on his back and runs towards the central archway Nethra and her partner have arrived from. As he passes at the arch, he looks back and sees how Serfin and Nethra's Partner try to subdue her.
Respin starts to run faster than he thought to be able to. The path beneath his feet as well as the chiseled walls with strange depictions of beings like the one on his back fly past him in a swirl of grey and brown colors. Soon his throat and gills starts to burn with every step he takes, but he can't stop. A dull fear gnaws at his mind — he feels followed and watched — but he doesn't let it come through. If it gets hold of him, he is one hundred percent certain he would stop without being able to move ever again. But as he tries to get his head clear, he notices with dread that he hasn't paid attention to his surroundings. A mistake, which can prove fatal in such a labyrinth.
Suddenly something black jumps past him in a blur.
Respin screams and comes to a sudden halt, panting heavily. The wish to drop the creature and run forms within him, but he fights against it and pulls it up again.
I need to move on!
He can't be sure about Serfin and the other female being strong enough to keep Nethra at bay for very much longer.
Maybe she has broken free already and gets closer by the second.
Maybe she is just mere feet behind him.
Ready to maim.
Ready to kill.
"Stop being paranoid…" he murmurs with his eyes screwed shut. "Calm down, Res! You need to be calm!"
But he can't.
He can't keep his heart from pounding against his ribs.
He can't keep his lungs from yearning for air to elevate his sore throat.
He can't keep his mind from imagining Nethra right behind him.
He can't keep his imagination from showing him Serfin as a bloodied corpse.
Nervous and uncertain he looks around. The gray walls around him cage him in. The only way to go is either back or ahead, and so he chooses the latter.
Slow with measured steps he moves on, while trying to get his sixth-sense to work again. But he only manages to walk from enclosed space to enclosed space without seeing anything but rubble and dead plants.
He has definitely lost his way.
Desperate Respin stops again in a small chamber and lays his charge down. While still being paranoid about being followed, he uses this chance to take a closer look at the pale creature. He hopes to get at least his mind away from his livid imagination.
From the way Captain Slicer and anyone else has spoken about it, Respin has expected this creature to look dangerous or hideous or even both, but this isn't the case. She seems utterly harmless to him. Inquisitive he takes one of her hands in his own and takes a look at her fingers.
They are thin and end in soft tips with blunt fingernails — the chitinous creature might have kept them short since they were in its reach. Still, they aren't even remotely useful to defend oneself against even the smallest wilder-beast on Cetus. He then moves to her face and checks her teeth. Even her canines are round and do not look very sharp. The rest of her teeth aren't any different. They are nothing to be afraid of. Even Respin has sharper teeth than that, and his teeth are considered blunt for a Menkar.
For a few moments, he looks at her face with its soft features. Somehow they remind him of an old friend, who has died during their time on Cetus. Feeling old grief surface, he forces his mind back into the present.
Soon he wonders about the question of who had pinned this creature to the tree. If it is some kind of weapon, then why keep it on a desolate asteroid? Why forcing it towards the Boundary of the Void?
"Questions over questions and no answers," he laments and picks the creature back up.
There is something he can't quite place. Something at the border of his perception. He can't tell what it is, but he knows it is there. He feels its presence.
Waiting.
Watching.
Cold sweat runs down his spine to the base of his tail. By pure force of will, Respin forces one of his feet to move. With it, he picks up a stone. While adjusting the still unconscious creature in his arms, he throws the stone up and catches it nimble in his hand. The surrounding silence seems to grow until it is almost touchable.
Suddenly, he hears or thinks to hear, someone moves right behind him. He jumps around and throws the rock in the same motion. It flies in a low arch through the air and hits the ground with a rather sad thud.
For a moment he holds his breath, only to choke a split-second later on it as someone laughs right next to him. Again he jumps around, almost dropping the so-called weapon from his arms.
There is no one in sight.
He readjusts his hold on the creature and steps backward. Somehow she gets warmer and warmer as he walks. What if she wakes up soon?
He has no time to ponder this question. He has no time for anything right now.
Slow he moves on. Uncertain where to go he follows the path through a half-collapsed archway. But before he enters the next area he walks right into the black chitinous creature.
Could it be? He wonders and swallows hard while looking at the small being in front of him. No… I doubt that it was this thing jumping around. It seems too harmless, or could it be that this is precisely what I'm supposed to think?
He backs away. The small creature tilts its head and seems to look him up and down. There is something inquisitive about the way it moves. Suddenly, it walks towards him, causing Respin to jump away.
"Please, don't," he pleads.
The creature stops and stands up straight, its hands folded over each other.
"Do you understand me?" he asks confused.
The small insectoid creature nods and steps with still folded hands forward. Respin wants to run but simultaneously he wants to see what it wants. The insectoid creature stops right in front of him, it reaches barely up to his hips.
It extends one of its hands and touches not the so-called weapon but Respin's hand. The touch is strange. The chitin is hard and smooth, yet it is much warmer than Respin himself.
Slow the small being pulls its hand back and walks away. After a few feet it stops and waves with the two hands on its right side. It seems to want him to follow.
Respin takes a deep breath and obliges the small chitinous creature with some reluctance.
The rest of the way passes by without Respin taking great notice of it. His gaze is trained on the back of the small creature leading him. Well, it could lead him into a trap.
I'm trapped either way, he concludes and hopes that Serfin is alright.
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