Chapter 2: Stranded
"Well this is a great spot," muttered Attea. Turning to Ben, she said, "that's another ship you cost me!" "I cost you," howled Ben?! "I just saved your life!" "It's got to be your fault, Tennyson," retorted Attea. "You're bad luck." Rolling his eyes, Ben asked, "how long before they come looking for you?" Her eyes showed she didn't understand. Ben repeated the question, "when do your loyal subjects come to your rescue?" Blushing, Attea admitted, "they won't. Uncle Vanos will declare me dead. If EightEight's lies are convincing, he won't even look to finish the job." Great, thought Ben. If Rook didn't find them, they were stranded. At least the pod had a radio. If he could figure out how to wire in the beacon, he could boost the signal.
Glancing at the rather formidable forest around them, Ben said, "we better put together a fire. There's probably dangerous animals..." "What's this we, Tennyson," Attea retorted? "I'm an Empress. Empresses don't build fires..." "Your subjects are gone, Princess," retorted Ben. Attea countered with, "all Incurseans are my subjects, Ben, Bullfrag included. And since you are Bullfrag..." "Slave by association," howled Ben?! Rolling his eyes, Ben stormed off into the woods.
He left Attea grinning at his back. That hadn't been hard at all. This has possibilities, thought the pretty princess. A little time alone together could work wonders. With the question of who was in control decided, Attea crawled back into the pod to check the radio. They weren't going to rescue themselves, and while she could enjoy spending time with Bullfrag, she wanted off this planet.
Ben spent a while wandering the woods as Diamondhead, cutting trees with his blades and stacking them. All the while he muttered curses about Froggy and her antics, and promised to have Bullfrag erased from the Omnitrix. It was stupid, and he knew it. Maybe it was because he'd known her since she was twelve, but Attea brought out the kid in him.
Returning to the pod, Ben began sectioning trees and splitting the logs into firewood. It was already a little cool, and he could imagine the temperature dropping overnight. Sprinkles of snow that he'd spotted told him that it might be close to winter if not winter already. Better hope it's not, Ben, he thought. If they didn't get rescued soon, finding food might become a problem. Attea was inside the pod, and he shouted to her, "how's the radio?" When she didn't answer, Ben tried to climb back inside, only to find that the muddy ground around the pod made that a little difficult. Promising himself to put together stairs or something, Ben hoisted himself inside, to find Attea listening to the radio.
"Anything," he asked? "Nothing good," sighed Attea. Turning the radio off, she said, "I'm not sure if it's working." That's not good news, thought Ben. He still had his beacon, but he would have liked to plug it into the radio to boost the power. Shaking off the mood, he said, "we should heat up some water and get some calories in us." Tomorrow was going to be a busy day. They were going to have to survive, and that meant, like it or not, the Frog-Princess was going to have to step up.
As Attea watched–supervised–Ben got a fire going, then put on a measure of water from the pod's supply to boil. To that got add a packet of dry rations from the box under the Pod's cushions. The rations in question turned into a congealed, gloppy mess, but Ben knew better than to complain. Sitting cross-legged on the cold ground, Ben watched as Attea spooned up the slop with no complaint at all, not even a funny face. Incursean food, Ben, thought the hero. "Decent," asked Attea? Ben frowned, wondering why that mattered to her. Seeing that her mercurial mood might see them shouting, Ben replied, "edible." "Good," said Attea.
As they chewed their way through dinner, the princess put on a smirk and announced, "so you do like me..." Ben's face snapped up, and he would have refuted that, but Attea pointed out, "you could have let them blow me up... Returned the favor from all those times I tried to hurt you..." "Nah," said Ben. "You were never that good. I wasn't in any real danger." Her face froze, and those ruby-red eyes narrowed on his. And then, after a moment, she laughed. She actually laughed. Ben grinned a moment, then joined her. Chuckling Ben said, "I like you better than your uncle. How about that?" "Good enough," she sniffed. Polishing off the glop in his pouch, Ben asked, "what is this stuff, anyway?" "One of my favorites," sighed Attea. "Ylerian snail-slime. I can usually get it fresh with snail pieces..." She was among the privileged class of Incursean society. This was how the average Incursean family consumed it.
Glancing up from her pouch, she asked, "something wrong?" Ben had turned green. "Didn't know I was eating slime is all," mumbled Ben. "When we get back, I'll have my cook make you some," announced Attea. "I... wouldn't want to be trouble," said Ben. "No trouble," said Attea. "Might not get it piping-hot like this, though. The food-taster has to have a go first." Ben rolled his eyes.
"Why does your uncle Vanos want you dead," asked Ben? Attea rolled her eyes. She thought that was obvious. "For the throne, Tennyson," said she. "Bullfrag's pretty, but you're kinda dumb." Ben blushed. That stung for some reason. "Vanos always thought my dad was an idiot," sighed Attea. Shaking her head, she admitted, "after looking at the books, I'm startin' t'think he's right." Ben goggled at her. "If we hadn't put daddy in that cell, the Incursean Empire would be broke," sighed Attea. We, she had said. As if I had a choice or a real hand in it, thought Ben.
Silence reigned for a moment, as the two stared at each other. A question hung in Attea's mind. It was a question that had lingered in her mind for months–really since the failed invasion of Earth. Had he felt anything when he was Bullfrag? Had he just been flirting to distract her? He saved my life, she thought. What difference would it have made for Vanos to take over? And the most important question on her mind: did he feel anything now? Did those feelings even translate?
Tossing his empty pouch into the fire to burn, Ben said, "we should probably get ready for bed." Attea looked up at him. He was staring into the woods, and she realized that he was suggesting they would be sleeping in the pod. Together. Her heart raced as a part of her thought of him trying to seduce her. Rational thought intruded. She wasn't ready for that, and anyway it would have to be Bullfrag. If she got pregnant with some crazy half-ape baby, she'd get spaced if she was lucky. And there was the problem of them not being married. Vanos would get his coup if she did that. "What do you mean, we," asked the Empress?
Ben said, "it's freezing out here, and it's just going to get worse. If we wanna save the pod's batteries we need to huddle." "That's what the last boy said to me before I cut his pieces off," retorted Attea. "If you thought saving my life would get you laid, monkey-boy..." "With you," howled Ben? "Gimme' a break!" "Why else would you want to snuggle, Tennyson," retorted Attea? "I'm an Empress, in case you forgot. You want a piece of me, you bring a ring." And with that, she got up and went climbing back into the pod. "At least gimme a blanket," demanded Ben! Attea threw a couple of blankets out of the pod before shutting the door.
Morning found Attea sleeping soundly in the interior of the pod. After tossing and turning half the night, she had finally settled down, and now she was having a dream. She was sitting on Ben Tennyson's lap, snuggled against him, and he was in human form. He had his arms around her, and, instead of her customary working garb, she was dressed in a sexy, tight dress that hugged her body revealing that she was pregnant. At Ben's feet, a pair of children sat playing with their toys. Drawing her close, Ben kissed her, and his hand stroked her swollen stomach possessively. That was when Vanos Myrdral broke into the room with an army of Incursean soldiers to arrest them for crimes against their races.
Attea tossed and turned, moaning in her sleep, as the soldiers took her kids away and beat Ben unconscious. Vanos told her that her baby would be aborted, and she would be imprisoned for the rest of her life. Ben would be executed for daring to touch an Incursean Princess. The young woman awoke with a scream that instantly had Ben at the door of the pod.
Staring into his green eyes, heart going a mile a minute, waves of conflicting emotions washed over her. He was alright. It had just been a dream. Then, am I in love? Was this love that she felt? "Whadda you want," demanded the Princess? "You screamed," retorted Ben. "Remember, I'm a hero?" "Just a stupid dream," muttered Attea. "You probably just hoped to get a look." "At you," howled Ben? "You're an Incursean, Frog-Princess, not a supermodel." Attea stammered and puffed and gobbled in impotent fury, then, grabbing her hat–the first thing that came to hand–she threw it at him. Laughing, Ben tossed the hat over his shoulder as he walked away.
Attea climbed out of the pod, announcing, "you saw something you liked, or you wouldn't have been so flirty, Tennyson!" "It was the Incursean DNA," Ben flippantly retorted. Attea stood there glaring at him, hands curled into fists, and she looked like she'd belt him at any moment. Moving away from her, Ben announced, "I'm going to go find a supply of water. Be back in a bit. Don't leave the pod." She stuck her tongue out at him. "Promises, promises," retorted Ben. Attea's face went deep emerald as she realized what he'd just implied. She was so busy sputtering, Ben got out of the clearing before she could say a word.
Using the Omnitrix to conjure up Big-Chill, Ben took to the air in search of water. It didn't take him long to get a good idea of where they were and what they were dealing with. The planet in question was half-frozen, and he guessed it was in the middle of an ice-age. They'd gotten very lucky. The pod had landed below the freeze-line. Barely. Off in the distance, he could see a massive wall of ice, and ominous clouds suggested it might snow soon. It was bad news anyway you looked at it. He might have to look at building a shelter. He wanted to save the pod's batteries to run the radio.
The water wasn't hard to find. It was about half a mile away, and there was a lot of it. Probably cold as hell, thought Ben. Alighting near the water, he took the Incursean sensor he'd gotten from the pod and scanned it. "It's warm," muttered Ben. "Must be fed by a spring..." Glancing around him, he spotted a couple of outflows. There were animal tracks, but not large numbers of them. "If we purify it, we should be good," said Ben. Changing to Wild-Mutt, Ben sniffed for the scent of the pod. He would want to mark the trail so they could find it again.
Attea was at the radio again when Ben came back into the camp. Changing back to himself, he called out to her. "Hey, Frog-Princess," shouted Ben. "Just a minute, ape-boy," retorted Attea. She took her sweet time getting out of the pod. She came out feet first, and Ben got a good look at her backside. Shockingly those tights she was wearing were skin-tight, and drawn up into her butt so he could see just about everything. Jerking his eyes away, he announced, "found water." "Where," asked Attea? "Half-mile," said Ben. "That way. I marked the trail."
"Is it safe," asked the young Incursean? "Probably not," replied Ben, "but I can walk you there." "Or you could build a tub or something here," retorted Attea. Ben frowned at her. "You interrupted my bath, Tennyson." "I saved your ass, Frog-Princess," retorted Ben. "Stop calling me that," snapped Attea! "I'm..." "Empress Attea the First, Commander of the Calaveras Legion, Teen Supreme of the Deathless Incursean Empire," retorted Ben. "Yeah, I know, Princess, but if you think I'm building you a tub and fetching water, you're crazy. I've had about enough of you. It's time you pulled your weight." Attea shut her mouth and just stared at him. "This planet's in an ice-age," said Ben. Calmer now, he said, "the glacier line's maybe fifty miles away..." Meaning it would get cold here really damned quick. "I'm going to look at building us a shelter. Just in case," explained the hero. "Then I'm going to look at scrounging up something to eat to supplement the food in the pod."
Just like that, he was in charge. Attea sighed heavily. Taking the pistol off her belt, she said, "you might need this." "Ok, Princess," said Ben. "I'll be back in a bit. Stay with the pod. Don't wander. I haven't seen anything dangerous yet, but we might have scared most of it off when we landed." For a wonder, she didn't say a word.
When Ben was gone, Attea sat down in front of the pod and spent a long, long while soul-searching. She'd been right when she decided that Ben was the man for her. She'd been both right and wrong. She'd only had eyes for his ultra-Incursean form. She hadn't given any thought at all to the man inside that false face. Now she was starting to see what she hadn't seen then. Ben was the only man in the universe who could handle her–and he did it ably. The young woman sighed heavily. She was in love. She was in love with the wrong man, and she didn't see a way out of it.
Ben returned two hours later, carrying an animal with a blaster-wound in the center of its skull. "The scanner says it's edible," said Ben, as he dropped it in front of the Princess. She was still sitting on the ground in front of the pod, and he wondered if she'd even moved. "You ok, Attea," asked Ben? The girl glared at him, and she cursed him for some reason. She had been out of sorts since they woke up, and Ben wasn't sure why. Other than the obvious, thought Ben. "Don't worry. We'll be ok, Princess," said Ben. "My partner's looking for us right now. Why don't you scrounge up something to go with this, and we'll have lunch?"
Attea blushed, but she did just as she was told. Rising, she went and started rummaging through the crate. While she worked, Ben got down to the job of cleaning their lunch/dinner. While he worked, he whistled the way his grampa used to do. Ben had been utterly disgusted by the job when he was a kid that summer seven years ago. He'd come close to losing his lunch a time or two when grampa Max cleaned fish that they caught. Now he realized that his grandfather had been trying to teach him an essential skill. Falling back on what he'd seen that day, Ben got the internals out of the animal and then started the process of skinning it.
"W-what're you doing," demanded Attea? "Cleaning it," replied Ben. "Have to clean it so we can eat it." She looked greener than usual. "Don't tell me the big, bad warrior-Princess has never seen this," said Ben. Attea looked away. "You may have to do it too, Attea," announced Ben. "So watch closely." "I thought you were sure we were gonna get rescued," retorted the Princess. "You could be stranded all by yourself someday, Princess," replied Ben. "You might need to know this. That crate won't last forever."
He made the pretty princess watch, and then he made her help finish the job. When they'd skinned the animal, he showed her the inside of the creature and how the guts had been attached. She was close to throwing up when they were done, and she swore she'd have nothing to do with the mass of meat he'd collected. In the end, when he had it cooked, his little partner broke down and helped him finish half of it. The rest he bundled into the skin and hung from a tree to keep it out of reach of predators.
Handing the blaster back, Ben told her, "keep that on you at all times. Just in case. Now that we've cooked here, we might see animals come by." Rising, he said, "c'mon. Let's go down to the pool. Attea clipped the holster to her belt once more. Then, rising, she gathered up a couple of containers to collect water in.
As they walked, Ben said, "it's warm water. I'm guessing it's a hot-spring. If you want, you can probably bathe in it. Just try not to stink it up too much." Attea flicked his ear with her tongue. Ben chuckled, glad to see her sense of humor returned. Arriving at the pond, Ben said, "I don't know how deep it is, so I wouldn't go out too far. The banks seem pretty firm, but I'll be here just in case." Attea's eyes snapped over, and her cheeks went dark. "You're not sitting there and watching me," growled Attea. Ben answered that with, "believe me, I don't want to watch you, Princess. I just don't want to see you get eaten." "Liar," snapped Attea. "Just like you just wanted to keep warm..." Ben flipped her the bird. "What does that mean," growled the Princess? He'd flipped her off several times, and she'd never known what it meant. She'd only guessed it was an insult. "Means 'screw yourself'," retorted Ben, as he walked towards the woods.
He left Attea spitting curses after him, none of which he understood. Just out of sight of the Princess, he stepped off the trail. He wanted to be sure she was safe. He hadn't gone through the trouble of rescuing her to let her get eaten by a wandering animal. Squatting down in the debris on the forest floor, Ben carefully made an opening in the bushes to look through.
Attea was still muttering curses and glaring at the woods. She was cute when she was angry. Where did that come from, thought the hero? Did he really just say Attea was cute? Incursean DNA, he thought. He had been Bullfrag within the last forty-eight hours. Promising himself to get going when he was sure she was safe, Ben sat there waiting.
Checking around her one last time, the Incursean Empress slipped out of her jacket and hung it on a branch. What she wore underneath surprised him. It was a lacy push-up bra in some shimmery grey material. Ben's mouth came open as he realized that little Attea had knockers. Then sitting down on a slick, mossy rock, Attea slipped out of her boots. Ben Tennyson stood there transfixed as he watched Milleous's brat strip. Down to those tights now, she began wriggling out of them. Ben was startled to realize that Attea was actually cute. She had a hard stomach with chiseled abs, the firm, lean legs of a dancer, broad hips, and a neat, trim waist.
Rolling those tights down her legs, she revealed a pair of matching panties–and Ben found himself silently urging her to go further. Instead, she waded into the water. As Ben watched, she splashed water on herself, frolicking in the warm, silty water. She actually looked kind of sexy out there, splashing water on her body. She had a rag from the pod, and she scrubbed away and washed under her arms, reminding Ben that she wasn't the only one to need a bath. Promising to gather up some water later, Ben picked up the water jugs and headed back.
Behind him, he left Attea staring at the place he'd been standing. Her sensitive hearing had picked up his rather unstealthy departure. Her heart skipped a beat. It appeared that his protestations of not finding her attractive were lies. The pretty princess grinned that grin of hers.