CHAPTER ONE
Loretta hissed in pain, as she pulled herself out of the cave. She mentally swore at herself, for not telling Miles her plan in case anything happened to her, and for forgetting about her Quest Com on the Zenith.
She laughed at herself, for thinking it was a good idea to jump seven feet across an open Ravine, not even thinking twice about the consequences of her irrational thinking.
"You've outdone yourself this time, Loretta Callisto," she said to herself and fell back and brought her hands down on her face, tiredly.
Suddenly, Loretta saw a few pebbles drop from the rock wall above. She looked up and immediately realized the danger she was in. Climbing down the wall, was none other than Grendel the Militilsa herself.
Once Grendel landed, she looked down at Loretta and smiled, amusingly. "Well, well, well, looks like the Mission Specialist had gotten herself in what you humans say, a bit of a pickle?" she asked, and chuckled.
Loretta shot her daggers and hissed again when she propped herself up on the rock wall behind her, the jagged edges clawing at her back, relentlessly. "Here to finish me off?" she asked the villain, not caring to look up at the surprised look she had gotten in return.
Grendel shook her head, "Now, why would I do that, if it was easy enough to leave you down here, for the Diamond Backs to be the ones to finish you off?" she knelt and carefully inspected Loretta's leg.
Loretta groaned softly at the touch and rested her head back, slightly out of breath. Then, to make matters worse, she heard a loud hiss from the opening of the cave. "Well, that just got a whole lot harder for your rescue" she said, looking at Grendel from the corner of her eye.
Grendel took out her pen and created a splint for Loretta's leg. She took it and created two rolls of bandages to wrap them around the splint and went to work.
Loretta looked back at the mouth of the cave and saw a diamond-shaped head of a Diamond Back. Its pearly colored diamond-shaped pattern noticeable, as it slithered back and forth, to its potential meal.
Finally, Grendel was done. She picked Loretta up bridal style and summoned her wings. With one hard flap of her wings, she carried her to the safety of the ravine, far enough away from the Diamond Back.
She gently laid Loretta down, causing the teenage Mission Specialist to sigh in content to be on softer ground. She turned around and looked down, at the irritated Diamond Back, who couldn't eat his lunch. It gave her an angry hiss, before slithering back into the mouth of the cave.
Loretta looked at Grendel, with bewilderment. "Why did you save me?" she asked. Grendel turned around, before shrugging and answering, "I couldn't just leave you down there. What kind of opponent am I, for doing such a thing?" Loretta gave her a look, but, let it go for now. She already knew not to push for answers out of the female knight.
Grendel walked back over and knelt. She inspected her handiwork, with a smile. "Good news. It's not a severe fracture. But, you do need to stay off your leg, for a time" she said, not missing the irritated sigh of the teenage girl, which caused her to smirk.
She picked Loretta up again and flew them away from the ravine. They landed next to her Photon Flyer. Both looked at the Flyer and had the same thing on their minds. We need to stay.
Loretta looked at Grendel, then sighed angerly. She didn't like this, surviving out here, on Planet Talion, with the villain her own brother accidently created.
Grendel looked down and could see Loretta processing her thoughts, before sighing in defeat. "Alright. Guess, we're stuck here" the Mission Specialist said, before pouting in defeat. Grendel chuckled at the sight and carried her to a nearby tree.
"Will you behave enough for me gather wood for a fire, Loretta?" Grendel asked. Loretta's head snapped in her direction. "How did you know my name?" she asked, her voice trembling. The female knight shrugged and answered, "I was basically created by your brother, remember?" Loretta nodded, then closed her eyes, for some much-needed rest.
Soon, Grendel was back from collecting firewood, and got a fire going for both. She looked at Loretta and smiled, before going over and creating a blanket from her pen and laid it on her, while she was sleeping. She walked over to another three and settled down, her sword on her lap, and continued to watch the teenager sleep. Within an hour, Grendel too succumbed to slumber.
ΩΩΩ
Loretta was awoken to Skrillers chirping. She looked around and noticed a Skriller on Grendel's head and was looking at her, curiously. Its moonlight black head, darting back and forth, questionably, as it snapped its beak. Loretta covered her mouth to not wake the female knight and scare off the young Skriller. The Skriller squawked in alarm, as Grendel stirred and flew back to the safety of the trees.
It was a few minutes before Grendel opened her eyes and looked at Loretta. She smiled and got up, then noticed the amusement in the Mission Specialist's eyes. "What?" she asked, and it wasn't long before the teenage girl burst out laughing.
Grendel shook her head and sighed, before noticing that the fire was out. She walked around, being sure to stay close to Loretta, if the young girl was foolish enough to try to stand and collected more wood for the fire.
When she came back, she stopped and watched as Loretta interacted with a Skriller chick. She was crooning and petting its head, causing it to squawk in content at the attention it was receiving. Grendel looked around and couldn't see its mother, but knew it was quietly watching with interest.
She waited for a few more minutes, before clearing her throat. The chick squawked and flew back into the trees. Loretta smiled, watching it go, before repositioning herself and looked at Grendel.
The female knight smirked and started up the fire. She began taking a stick and started to bend it. Loretta was intrigued and asked, "What are you making?" Grendel paused, only taking a moment to look at the young girl, her green eyes flickering back and forth, slightly. "I'm making a bow. You need to eat" she answered. Loretta nodded and looked at the treetops and smiled.
Soon, Grendel was done with the bow and was already finished with several arrows. She got up, took the arrows and holstered them to her belt, before picking up the bow. She looked back at Loretta, who was once again in the company of the Skriller chick, its bright blue eyes had a gleam in them and the mother was on a branch above her, watching.
Grendel chuckled, before walking into the wilderness, now on the hunt for food for Loretta.
She came upon a herd of Wildebeests and took aim at one of the youngest. She stopped inching forward when one of the females perked her head up, before going back to eating. Grendel took a few deep breaths, before releasing the arrow. It streaked across the plains and hit the heart of the young wildebeest. As it stumbled, the rest of the herd took off running. She waited until the herd was gone, before going over and started to collect the meat.
ΩΩΩ
When she arrived back to the camp site, Loretta was fast asleep, with the chick curled on her shoulder, the mother sleeping on the branch. She carefully put down the meat she was able to carry and put the firewood in the fire.
She was just about done with the meat, when Loretta stirred, the chick stretching out its blue and red feathered body, as it yawned, and stood. Loretta opened her eyes and watched as the female knight got a piece of cooked meat and gave it to the teenage girl. She produced a fork and a knife for Loretta to use and cut off a piece and started feeding it to the chick.
There was still a big piece of meat left on Loretta's plate, but, Grendel could tell she was done. Loretta didn't know what to do with it, so, she gave it to the female knight. At first, Grendel objected, but, she knew how stubborn the young Callisto was of getting her way, so she took it and soon finished the portion she didn't eat.
Night started to fall, so Grendel collected some more firewood for the night and laid Loretta down. She went back to her previous place, in the same position and watched as the young girl played a little with the chick, before settling down and falling asleep with the chick on her chest. With that peace of mind, of her safe, the female knight succumbed to slumber once more.
ΩΩΩ
Grendel woke up and saw Loretta was already awake, working on something, the chick watching, clearly intrigued on her shoulder.
She looked around and saw that most of the firewood was already in the fire. She got up and asked, "What are you doing, Loretta?" Loretta stopped what she was doing and looked at the female knight, with a slight annoyance.
"I'm working on a fish net. We need fish. Especially for Stardust" she explained, pointing at the Skriller chick, who was staring intently at Grendel.
Grendel only responded with a raise of an eyebrow and caused Loretta to return her attention to the fish net. "Yes, I named her Stardust. Her mother left her here for me to take care of her" she said, never taking her eyes of the task.
Grendel nodded, before creating a few glass jugs to fill with water. She knew Loretta was safe, so she went to a nearby natural spring, and slowly filled the jugs with the water.
She went back and noticed Loretta had made several more. She set down the jugs and sat with the teenage girl, who only grunted in response.
When she touched Loretta's arms, she realized she must be freezing. So, she got up and put more firewood into the fire, before sitting back down in her place next to Loretta and put an arm around her.
She smiled when she didn't push her arm off her in disgust and didn't see the smile that was on the Mission Specialist's face.
Stardust wanted some of the attention too. She squawked bitterly, desperately trying to capture Loretta's attention. The young girl looked down and smiled, lovingly at the Skriller chick, before she started to pet her head. Stardust chirped and closed her eyes, wanting more pettings.
Grendel silently watched the interaction with a smile. She looked at Loretta with a love she never knew she could have for anyone, much less an enemy.
After a few minutes, Loretta looked up and green eyes met red eyes. Grendel was the one who broke the gaze and got up and put another piece of meat on the fire to cook.
After dinner, night began to fall once more, but tonight was different. As Grendel got herself situated, Loretta crawled over, minding her leg injury and crawled on to the female knight's lap. She rested her head on her chest and closed her eyes and smiled.
Grendel looked down and smiled. She wrapped her arms around the Mission Specialist, protectively. She watched as the teenager fell asleep, Stardust sleeping on the branch above them. She closed her eyes and began to sleep.