Rise of The Fallen

–Kora–

How the fuck do I always get myself into trouble? Like seriously, am I cursed? Am I just really that unlucky?

Coming back up to the surface, I coughed, furiously wiping pond water from my face as my toes scraped the bottom of the pond, allowing me to wade awkwardly in the water. What the fuck? I looked around me, wondering where my captor had gone.

Hadn’t he fallen in with me?

Suddenly, there was a splash beside me as the big alien surfaced with a growl, copying my actions as he wiped the water from his eyes and moved the wet strands of hair from his face. He blinked a few times before glaring right at me.

God, he was so tall!

My eyes widened in realization as he drew near, dwarfing me with his frame. I was trapped in a pond with a freaking alien! What if he tried to drown me?

Fuck! I gotta get out of here!

I turned around, doing my best to awkwardly flee the bastard in the shoulder deep waters.

“Nai! Setkai moniave!” he shouted, and I could hear the water sloshing as he chased after me.

Unfortunately, the waters only reached up to his chest, making it easier for him to move in the pond.

Before I could reach the edge of the pond, he grabbed my arm, his grip warm despite the chilled water. I spun around, snatching his wrist. I pulled at it with a few feeble grunts, hoping to dislodge him from me. Of course, he wasn’t even phased as I dug my nails into his skin, so I started angrily smacking his forearm with my fist and shouting for him to release me.

His tail slammed down against the water’s surface with a big splash, showing his clear frustration over the situation. Like he had any right to be frustrated after he’d kidnapped me!

“Let go of me, you big, stupid, alien pervert!” I swatted his arm again, but I might as well have punched a rock for all the good it did.

He growled, pulling me closer and grabbing my other wrist with his free hand, but I wasn’t giving up that easily. I still had legs to kick with and teeth to bite with; like hell I was going down without a fight!

As I struggled to pull my arms free, I kicked at him under the water, hoping to hit him right in the dick. The first two kicks only landed on his thigh and stomach. Before I could kick him again, something coiled around my leg, dragging my body closer to his and preventing me from landing another blow.

He spoke again, rapidly spitting out words in his language. I only managed to catch a few of them. ‘Hurt,’ bleeding,′ and what I thought was “nai,” or ‘stop.’

I glared up at the native as he effectively pinned me to his chest, holding me immobile as we reached an awkward standstill. If I tried kicking him with my free leg, I would lose my balance and sink into the water unless he held me up. And if he let go of any of my limbs, I would lash out and attack him.

Silence ensued as we glared at each other intently. His eye twitched and his gaze lowered to the water, looking at what I assumed were my breasts. My face immediately heated as my desire to kick his ass came flaring back to life. I snapped at him angrily, “You freaking pervert! Let me go or I’ll cut off your dick!”

He flinched at my harsh tone, tightening his grip on my limbs as I struggled in his hold once again.

The nerve of this asshole! How dare he strip me while I was sleeping, grope me, and now he’s checking me out! I swear, I’m gonna–

“Nai!” he snapped again with a snarl. He nodded at the water before saying something else about blood and nodding again. What was he trying to tell me?

Blood? In the water?

Confused, I glanced down, seeing a bit of red filtering into the pond. My eyes widened in shock as more of my blood leaked into the water, a steady drip coming from a wound on my stomach.

Oh, shit. I’m bleeding!

Taking my momentary shock as a chance to move, he released his hold on my leg, pulling me closer and wading to the edge of the water with me in tow. He let go of my injured arm and tried to grab my butt, but I quickly slapped his hand, giving him a growl of my own. His eyebrows shot up in surprise but he got the message, moving his hand elsewhere. He grabbed my hips and lifted me out enough that I could crawl onto the rocky shore and back into the grass.

I watched him like a hawk as he climbed out after me before I eventually scooted back. I fell onto my ass, pulling my knees to my chest to cover my breasts and holding my hand over my bleeding stomach. I hadn’t even realized I’d reopened the wound, too high on adrenaline from attacking the alien to notice.

His eyes never left mine as he began to stand to his full, intimidating height. I flinched from the movement and he stilled, eyeing me warily. He slowly crouched back down, not once letting his eyes stray away from mine as we openly glared at each other.

After a moment, he lowered his gaze. Feeling as if we’d just agreed to a temporary cease fire, I dropped my legs back to the ground and covered my chest with one arm, trying to cover myself as his eyes landed on my bleeding wound.

Cautiously, he stepped to the side, watching me intently to ensure I wasn’t going to run again. He reached the sack he had dropped earlier, hesitating to look away from me. He huffed, breaking eye contact and leaning down to dig into the bag.

I kept my eyes trained on him as he pulled out a small bundle of cloth. Leaving the bag behind, he crawled toward me, remaining crouched. Even in this position, he was massive, and his proximity made me comfortable. He stopped moving when I tensed as he drew near.

He paused, looking down at the bundle in his hands before placing it on the ground in front of me and unfolding the cloth. Inside was a cluster of yellow moss, similar to the stuff that had covered my injuries when I first woke up.

My brows furrowed in confusion as we looked at each other once more. He held up one clawed hand, gesturing to his stomach before speaking calmly and slowly.

I didn’t completely understand everything that he said, but there was one word I did recognize from the alien’s vocabulary.

‘Help.’

–Elazar–

The tiny female had finally calmed down from her initial panic, much to my relief. She even seemed to understand some of my words and hand gestures.

I patted my stomach again, trying to signify her wound while nodding toward the moss in front of her. She took another look at my hand motions, and then visibly relaxed. Her shoulders sagged slightly, her muscles relaxing. She no longer showed signs of being ready to bolt at a moment’s notice. Emboldened, I crept closer, distressed that her wound remained open.

Of course, as I approached her again, she shied away slightly. She didn’t trust me, and I could not blame her. She was wounded, vulnerable and scared.

Cautiously, I moved closer while keeping my posture relaxed, like I would with a cornered animal. When I got within a foot of her, I knelt at her side. Our eyes locked onto one another once more. Her deep brown irises pulled me into a trance, with tiny flecks of gold reflected in the sunlight overhead. Her eyes, though beautiful, held so much fear and uncertainty that it made my heart skip a beat.

She blinked, looking away from me as her face turned a dull shade of red. Snapping back to attention, I tried to focus on the task at hand, hesitantly reaching out to grab her uninjured shoulder. Her gaze followed me and as I attempted to gently push her down, she tensed, grabbing my wrist before looking back up at me with a hard stare.

“Just–” I paused before taking a deep breath. “Let me help you.”

She opened her mouth and spoke, saying something that sounded like a threat based on the tone. I found it a bit amusing that she was still so defiant even after I’d made my intentions to help more than clear. Her fighting spirit was as refreshing as it was aggravating.

Those golden brown eyes watched me closely, and I could feel her shoulder relax under my hand. I took that as a sign of her begrudging trust, at least in this, and decided it was time to tend to her wounds before she could change her mind.

Gently, I laid her back onto the grass, focusing my attention on her injury. Grabbing the moss from the ground, I crushed it in my palms, mashing it down into a paste of sorts that could easily be applied to the wound.

Using two fingers, I began spreading the substance over her injuries, doing my best to be gentle when she grabbed onto my wrist and hissed in pain.

She didn’t try to stop me, simply keeping her small fingers tight around my wrist as I worked on the cuts on her stomach. Once I was finished with them, I moved onto her shoulder and arm. She let go of my wrist to cover her breasts, and I kept my gaze respectfully averted. She’d had a violent reaction to me touching her there before, even though it had been unintentional, and I didn’t wish to relive another beating.

Once I was finished covering her wounds with the paste, I pushed to my feet and took a step back to give her the space she needed.

She seemed confused by my actions and started to sit up too quickly.

“Wait! No!” I held my hand up and she flinched in response, but stopped moving.

“You must not rupture the wounds again, or you’ll keep bleeding. Take it slow,” I urged her as I crouched back down, speaking calmly and gently motioning for her to sit up.

She hesitated for a moment before slowly sitting up. She covered her chest with her arm once more, eyeing me skeptically.

I nodded happily and we sat there in silence once more, watching each other and waiting for the opposing person to make a move.

Eager to show her I meant no harm, I turned away and stood back up, walking over to my supplies. I didn’t mind turning my back on the female because it was clear she didn’t stand a chance against me.

Despite her attempts to fight me earlier, her lack of claws, fangs and weaponry practically made her harmless.

Almost.

Grunting, I rubbed my head around the area where she had yanked on my horn before. Not only was my head tender from her handling, my shins ached from where she’d struck me repeatedly with her small feet. Perhaps ‘harmless’ was not a fitting description…

Grabbing my bag, I checked over my supplies, pulling out a fur blanket that I had taken from one of the nearby hunting caves. Glancing back, I spotted the human watching me very intently, a confused look upon her features.

Slowly, I brought over the blanket, holding it out for the female to inspect. Quickly, she snatched it from my hand and covered herself up.

The corner of my lip nearly turned up, but my growing pride at seeing to her needs was quickly washed away by the sound of her stomach grumbling angrily, reminding me that I’d found her near death and severely malnourished.

A small whine escaped the female as she placed her hand over her belly, wincing before looking back up at me with uncertainty.

Without a second thought, I dug out a cloth bundle from my rucksack, consisting of some berries, roots and dried meat. Not the most ideal meal, but it would hold her over until I had the chance to hunt.

Unfolding the bundle to reveal the morsel of food, I set it down in front of her. Her eyes widened, lips parting in surprise at the sight of it.

Those brown orbs looked up at me and I nodded in reassurance.

“Eat.”

She hesitated for only a second before she grabbed the food, devouring like a starved animal. She didn’t care that it was a plain meal that lacked flavor. She just ate and ate until there was nothing left.

I watched her, brows furrowing in concern as I studied her features, taking note of her hollow cheeks and protruding collarbones.

How long has it been since she’s eaten a proper meal?

Gathering up my things, I set them aside while I tried to think of what to do next. I needed to hunt for food for the both of us, but leaving her alone would give her the chance to run off and potentially get hurt again.

She needed to wait until nightfall at the very least, and allow the healing waters to soak into her wounds once more. They were useless in the daylight, losing their healing properties once the night ended. If she stayed until night and bathed in the waters just once more, then she would be healed enough to at least travel without reopening her injuries.

Now it’s just a matter of getting her to understand that.

“Thin ku.”

I froze before looking back at the female in surprise. Did I just hear her–

She shyly averted her gaze and bit her lip with her dull teeth, frustrated about something.

With a small sigh, her eyes found mine once more. She placed one hand over her chest and straightened her posture. And then she spoke in my own language, confirming what I had heard before.

“Theenk ku.”