The Wrong Side of Heaven
Disclaimer: Bioware owns all.
Chapter 3: River Maws
Shepard awoke to a light streaming in the entrance of the cavern. She crawled wearily from the body of the varren. Her lips curled in disgust at the gore slipping down her sides and hanging from her armor. She wiped it away best she could, before stumbling outside.
Shepard hung her head back and sucked in the sweet air greedily. The smell of decay still hung around her body. Water dripped from the trees with a steady beat, she could hear the forest in uproar with the many life forms that lived amongst their branches. Thirst began to wretch her body as she kneeled in the quickly melting snow.
Her hands scooped it up and she drank voraciously. The frozen water loosened up in her hot mouth and slid down her throat, she sighed as relief flooded her body. As Shepard continued to bunch the snow when her eyes caught a peculiar track.
Her brows furrowed as she crawled forward to examine. It was a strange shape, similar to a boot, but not human in anyway. She continued forward to find the next one; she tracked the steps with her eyes up the hillside. Shepard caught the slightest glimmer at the top. A slow, vicious grin twisted her lips.
She muttered to no one in particular, "Getting a little sloppy, eh, turian?" Shepard stood as her thoughts began to whirl around her mind. The turian was going to get his, that was for sure; but she needed to be careful. She couldn't afford to be slovenly.
Shepard would need to appear to have no interest in tracking him down, she was sure he caught her gaze towards his location. If the bastard was smart he would move himself somewhere else, not that it would help him. Before she confronted the turian, she would need another weapon besides just her kabar.
Shepard took in her surroundings; her eyes caught the thick tree branches. She smirked a little to herself. If they wanted to force her to live like a primitive; she sure as hell could fight like one.
She broke a branch free. It was long and spindly- perfect for a spear. Shepard began shaving the end down with her knife. She set forward towards her pod while working on the weapon-in-progress idly.
"Give me a Sit-Rep, Vakarian."
Garrus chewed on his words thoughtfully as he watched the young woman through his scope. "She survived the night, Spectre."
The voice piqued with interest. "Really? What happened?"
"Well, it would appear we gravely underestimated humanity, sir."
Garrus swallowed a laugh at the heavy sigh on the other end. "Obviously."
The turian started again as he watched the Corporal begin shaving down a stick. "She was able to fight off four varren in the dead of night with a knife. Then she butchered the alpha varren and slept in its carcass."
Silent static prickled over the net. After a heavy pause there was a near silent muttering. "Spirits. Has she even eaten?"
"No, sir. 36 hours and counting and she doesn't look any the worse for wear. She just got her first drink of water, took two sips and has taken off back to what looks like her escape pod. If I'm not mistaken- I would say she's very unconcerned at the moment about feeding herself."
"It would appear so. Perhaps humans don't need to eat as often as other species?"
"Or maybe they can just go a lot longer without eating. It would explain their fleshy bodies."
"Oh, fuck- that would mean their body is capable of feeding off itself? They don't hibernate do they?"
Garrus lifted his head as his mandibles clicked idly. "They can't be- we've been fighting this damn war for too long; they would have to drop off the face of the galaxy for at least four months, and that has yet to happen."
"Maybe they hibernate in cycles?"
"Now that's just stupid." Vakarian chuckled lightly as he resumed his observation. Shepard had approached the river and was now cautiously wading into it.
Nihlus started warningly. "Serviceman-"
"Sorry, sir." He replied flippantly. Garrus was too busy becoming enthralled with the way the water washed around the young woman as she ducked beneath the surface. Her red hair glimmered as she flung it back and squeezed it free of the blood that soaked it. He vaguely heard Nihlus speaking, but none of his words registered in his befuddled brain.
"Vakarian?"
Garrus jerked from his reverie. "Sorry, what was that?"
"Forget about it-" Vakarian's eyes caught the sight of the irregular ripples in the river; he scoped in quickly and nearly jumped to his feet when a sudden dread gripped his gut. For a moment he nearly called out to the woman to warn her, but clamped down on his confusing thoughts.
"Shit, a river maw is after the human. She hasn't noticed it yet."
"River maw? This should be interesting. Hail me later when you need pick-up. Looks like this will be the end of the line, eh?"
"Hm. I don't know, Spectre. We doubted her once. This should be interesting."
Garrus heard the faint clicking of the end of transmissions. He resumed his bellied position just as Shepard was wrenched beneath the surface of the water.
She thrashed wildly as the teeth bit into her thigh. Her fists pumped through the water towards the creatures face in a desperate bid to escape its clutches. Shepard began groping the slick skin with increased fervor.
She felt her hot warm blood begin to seep into the water around her. Her fingers found what she figured to be the eyes of the creature and began tearing wildly into them. It let out a wild howl and released her instantly, its tail end whipped around and slammed into her torso.
Shepard nearly sucked in a lungful of water as the air was forced from her lungs. She scrambled to the surface. The young woman launched herself towards the shoreline where she had stupidly left her weapons. The waters calm demeanor began to swell torrentially. The waves created by the beast threw her to the muddy shore.
She had just managed to flip onto her back as a great roar echoed through out the forest. It launched from the river and curled down towards her, she jerked away just in time as it slammed into the ground beside her. Her eyes were wide as she committed it to memory.
The animal was serpent like, the width of a very large man and the length of an incredibly large crocodile. Its face was rounded like a worm with four separate tentacles similar to that of an octopus.
Shepard's nimble fingers wrapped around the hilt of her kabar; she let out an aggressive snarl and brought it down upon the beast's head. It shrieked and writhed uncontrollably. Its body slammed into her chest. For the second time that day, her breath was forced from her body.
Shepard groaned as she clutched her torso. The creature began slithering back into the water- with her kabar stuck in its flesh. Annoyance laced her rage as she leapt forward with renewed vigor.
"That is my fucking kabar you oversized maggot!" She all but screamed. Her hands gripped the flailing tentacles of the beast as it attempted to retreat into the depths of the river once more.
"Oh no you don't. Thought you could just have me for lunch, didn't you? Didn't expect I'd put up a fight?! And now, you're going to run away?" Her voice was shrill as she dragged the beast onto the shore. It began rolling in an attempt to escape her clutches.
Shepard wrapped a tentacle around her arm to prevent its rolling maneuvers and furiously jerked the creature towards her. Her other hand wrenched her knife free from it's body. She made a move to end it when the look in its good eye halted her movements.
The creature's breaths were labored and wheezing; his eye was staring at her in only what she could describe as fear. Her murderous streak stilled; lips pursed as she unraveled her arm from its tentacle and muttered quietly. "Go back to your hole, beast." The serpent paused momentarily; it stared at her before slowly retreating back into the water.
Shepard brought her knee up and draped an arm wearily over it. Her hand ran through her wet, matted hair. She began tending to her thigh; it had several deep gouges, but nothing that was too serious. Coming down from her adrenaline rush, her body began to ache from the fight that occurred just moments ago.
She began ripping bandages from her under suit and muttered under her breath. "Is everything on this god forsaken planet going to try and kill me before this is all over?" She sighed heavily and for the first time since her crash landing did she feel the crack in her confidence began to spread, doubt seeped into her bones and she struggled to repress it.
Shepard couldn't afford these thoughts. If every damn creature would be trying to kill her for the next couple weeks, she couldn't handicap herself with self-deprecating thoughts. And just like that- she banished her doubts from her mind before standing once more on a newly bandaged, but still throbbing leg.
"Right, lets avoid the rivers from now on."
Nihlus heard the click of incoming transmission. He pressed against the earpiece and spoke into it dryly.
"Let me guess- you're not calling for a pick-up?"
Vakarian's voice rung out over the comm line in a tone that could only be expressed as 'shit-eating', "Nope."
Whelp, here's another one to all you fantastic readers. This story has 20 followers already and it's only the third chapter in! Awesome! It makes me so happy to know yall are enjoying the story.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this one, stay classy!