Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Kirk's POV (I had thought about doing it from the Batlu's POV, but that would have been really weird) Enjoy

The huge beast was plowing through the small stream locked on Jim's location. Jim turned and ran, trying not to look like a little school girl. Oh yeah, smart move Jim. Let's try to OUTRUN the damn thing. Didn't the same thing happen to me on Delta Vega? What is up with my luck? He snarled his lip but kept running. Unfortunately it seemed that D'Vanik's men were the only slow creatures on this damn planet because this nasty beast was gaining ground, and there was not a lot of ground separating it from the human. Deciding the best plan was to get out of its reach, Jim headed towards the closest tree which thankfully happened to be one of the tallest. He ducked to the backside and started climbing limbs. Higher, higher, higher. He grunted with effort as he clawed his way up the tree. Maybe he had enough luck that this monster couldn't climb.

Surprisingly, his luck held as the creature began circling the base of the tree unable to climb up. Jim had really pissed this thing off. It started ramming the tree with its huge front horn, screeching loudly. Every time it made contact with the trunk, the whole tree shook. Good thing this is more of a sequoia than a maple. Jim clutched his limb tightly. If he fell from this height, the impact alone would probably kill him. Jim tried to scan the forest from his new vintage point, but between the shaking and him leaning over to keep from falling he couldn't see too much. The woodland seemed to be several kilometers in length but much shorter in width, or at least he thought so but he was being shaken so bad he might be mistaken. It was as if this patch of forest was a fence between two separate lands. Before he could muse any further on that thought, he caught a glimpse of D'Vanik's men heading towards them.

Thinking quickly, he slowly worked his golden tunic up and off his torso. If the army had been that afraid of this beast, then it must be known to eat people, right? Jim threw the shirt down towards the beast. It went ballistic, pawing it into the dirt and screeching even louder. The plus side was that it stopped ramming the tree, but the down side was that the noise was leading the men straight towards his hiding spot. Jim tried to slow his breathing and laid completely still against the limb. He didn't think they would be able to climb up to get him, but it would really suck if the defender of the known-universe died up a purple tree on a backwoods planet.

By the time the group of ten made it to Jim's tree the beast was long gone, leaving only his ruined tunic in the dirt behind it and a very bored Jim Kirk twenty meters from the ground. One of the front guards spotted it immediately and held it up. "J'Mech, it is the human's clothing." He handed it over to what Jim assumed was the leader.

J'Mech smelled the shirt and handed it to another in the group. "It is the human's. We must take it back to D'Vanik. It seems that the Batlu beat us to the human." Jim strained to hear the conversation, he was really glad this group was as dumb as he hoped. "P'Bock, you will tell him." He turned around to face the one who was holding Jim's tunic.

P'Bock took a step back and dropped the gold shirt. "Why must I be the one to tell him?" Panic filled the native's voice. Jim surmised that this one was younger than the rest judging by his reaction and his diminutive stature.

J'Mech stalked towards P'Bock and growled in his face as he towered over him. "Because you are his son, he will be less likely to kill you. And you were in charge of the soldiers in the yard. Your group let him get away to begin with." J'Mech turned on his heel and marched back towards the hold.

All of the men left following their leader, but P'Bock. Jim was afraid that he might have seen him out of the corner of his eye and was going to bring him back to his father to make amends, but the Ramunian stood still. He swooped down and picked up the uniform. "Human, you are better off dead than alive to have to endure what my father has planned." He sighed. "In a short time, I will be joining you. Not even D'Vanik's son is allowed to fail." Slowly he turned to follow his troop.

Jim was nearly sad for the kid. He understood living in the shadow of your father. Jim shook his head and took a deep breath. He could not feel compassion towards the enemy, no matter how much he was naturally inclined. He was slightly worried about what the kid had meant about him being better off dead than what D'Vanik had planned for him, though. Being a star ship captain meant constantly being at risk of kidnap or death, but why hadn't they already done to him what they had planned during the seventeen days he was their guest?

After he had counted to a hundred in six Earth Languages and four xeno languages, Jim slowly began to descend from his lofty perch. D'Vanik might think he was dead for the moment, but eventually if he didn't make it off the planet, he would find out otherwise. For the first time, Jim began to doubt that the Enterprise was still in orbit. Spock was a logical man; he would have calculated the likelihood of Jim still being alive eighteen days into the mission. It's been eighteen days, but it feels more like a lifetime. Even Jim knew the odds were not in his favor. But would Spock have left without being sure? Part of Jim told him no, but the part that remembered nearly being choked to death disagreed. He would worry about loyalties and calculations later.

Deciding the best course of action would be to keep this patch of forest between him and the army. He jumped clear of the tree, shaking away any doubts of his First. He needed to be several kilometers deep into the other countryside before nightfall. Not that he would get any sleep, but he didn't want to meet that Batlu thing again in the dark. Stretching his limbs, he took off at a trot in the opposite direction as the doomed P'Bock. Jim did not like having to run away from a fight, but he was going to have to change his bar-brawl state of mind if he was going to live a few more years. He would run this time with a clear conscious so he would be alive to fight the next time, alongside his First Officer.

A/N: Thanks for reading.

I made up even more names, hope they don't sound too far out there. I'm not sure how far up a tree in meters you have to be to die if you fall, so if I'm wrong please forgive me.

I didn't really mean for P'Bock to get portrayed as an innocent pawn, but I think it's a good idea.

Please hit the review button and tell me what you think!