My legs burned from the pain. Even though they, shouldn't, they somehow did. And it only got worse the more I ran. I didn't even look back to check whether the others were keeping pace or not. Mostly because Ariah was in my peripheral vision, and Dauntless was running so hard her usually silent footfalls were hammering the deck. I didn't need to check whether our pursuers were still after us, as their screeches and roads were enough to tell me they were still on our tail. And gaining. It was a matter of just getting far enough away that they might stop. It was our only hope.alas, there wasn't much corridor left on this half of old ship.
We flew past doors and turns, afraid that if we were to stop, or even slow, we would lock ourselves to our doom. Suddenly, I heard, more than saw, a rather large force hit my mate, and when I turned, I was immediately horrified by what I saw. My mate, against a wall, wrestling another Praetorian, who was far bigger than she was. I immediately stop, and so does Ariah, but only to grab my arm to get me moving again. Before she can even say anything, I pused her off, already moving to help Dauntless. Before I reach her, she had already dispatched her opponent. Her prowess in battle always surprised me. She then turns to the others, roaring in challenge. Without mercy, they charge her, flowing over her like water. I stop, knowing I'd only get in the way. There weren't many, but these were tight corridors. I hear hissing to my left, and turn to see the jaws of death fly towards me. I dodge it, but it still grabs me, pinning me to the wall. Seemingly savouring the moment, it slowly brings its' tail up, the blade swaying back and forth. Before it can strike, I wiggle my leg up and in between me and its' torso. I kick with as much strength as I can, and it miraculously works. It gets thrown off, but not before sinking it's talons deep into my shoulders, even into the bone somewhat. When they're pulled out, it brings quite a lot of pain with them. Luckily, we were in the more damaged section of the ship, the part where it was actually pulled in half, there was quite a lot of structural damage. Because of this, I was able to dig my hands into the gaps between the floor panels and rip one, or, more accurately, half of one, up. I quickly swing it at my attacker, my impromptu weapon hits it in the face, sending it to the floor. It quickly scrambles to get up, but I ram the semi-sharp edge into its' chest over and over. I quickly break through the chitin and begin to cut into it. The metal doesn't last long enough to go straight through, but it goes deep enough to incapacitate the creature. Its' blood spewed out in all directions, with me getting a generous coat of it. It quickly burns through my clothing before slowing somewhat where it didn't actually hit the fabric.
After recovering for a moment, I turn to see a Xenomorphs' tail pierce straight through my mate, before being ripped out her side. As if some kind of divine being told me to, I stopped. For what felt like an eternity, she didn't move. What followed was half of a warrior sliding along the ground towards me, and a roar from my mate. Even after her victory, her attacked was almost immediately replaced with another, who took advantage of her weakened side, blocking her attack and driving a hand into the wound. A moment later, it came back out, clutching a rather large mound of flesh. Nonetheless, she kept fighting, using this as a chance to dispatch yet another enemy, plunging her inner mouth into the side of its' now exposed head. It drops a moment later, replaced with yet another foe. They seemed infinite. As one fell, it was replaced by another. And it took a toll on her. Each fight weakened her more and more. Until, she dropped. Immediately, she was swarmed, two of them blocking her from my view. I barely even registered the feeling of my arm being tugged away, I was too focused on the split second views of my mate, now covered in her own blood.
Even as I still processed it, I could feel it. The feeling of loneliness, of fear for being alone. For something I hold most dear being taken from me. It's like a cycle. Every time I feel even remotely happy with my situation, something happens to take that away. This time, it just took longer for life to get back to me. Fumbling around in my pocket, I pull out the ring. The ring I had custom designed for her, the ring I had put on her finger only a day and a half ago. My hands begin to shake as the sobs crawl their way up my throat, but immediately halt when the ring slips from my fingers. Like in slow motion, I can see my hand reaching out to grab it, but being too slow and the ring bounces off the ground, rolling under the tiny crack under my bunk. I immediately rush to try and get it back, but only succeed in pushing it further in. At that point, everything boiled over, and the small, antique Rubix Cube flew across the room.
"FFFFUUUCK!" I scream and son at the same time. I repeat it over and over as I picked up the small, now heavily damaged plastic and hurl it across the room again. It eventually shattered, leaving me with nothing to take my anger out on but the room which had quite a few things in it. First to go, is all the stuff on the desk, including my knife, which slices deep into my palm before dmbaeddint itself into the wall. Then, as I threw things around, screaming and shouting, my blood splattered on everything, severely damaging the numerous small things in the room, including my bed. It eventually collapsed in on itself after having the mattress and covers ripped off and my foot slam into it repeatedly. I then tore it apart after retrieving my knife, using it to 'dismantle' the thing. After, I found the ring again, the sight of it calmed me some. It was completely fine, due to it being under the bed and acid-proof. I then gathered some of the things from around my now destroyed room and made a very bad repair on my chair, and sat down at what remained of the desk. I rested my head, closing my eyes, letting my hands take on their role for a while as I held the ring in my hands, before I quietly sob to myself. Along. Again. As always.
*Just so you know, I finished writing this at 3:52 in the morning so it might be very good, I'm not too sure. Either way, it's done and I hope you enjoyed it!*