Chapter 8- First Day of School

Scott kicked a stick to the side as he watched the darkened sky through the forest trees. After another day of boring driving, their warthogs were both only hours away from no fuel. Tomorrow was probably going to be the last day of driving, then the rest of the way was on foot, and Scott wasn't looking forward to it.

He shouldered his sniper rifle, then turned around to face the rest of the group. Johnson was leaned against the transport warthog's side again, Melly once again checking his wound. Claire was sitting next to the chaingun, eating one of her rations. Meyers was getting another fire going. He initially wanted Claire to do it again, but she quickly barked him down until he gave up and did it himself. Scott found the confrontation very amusing.

Scott moved forward, stopping in front Meyers as he attempted to start the fire. Scott chuckled and asked, "You need help getting it up, sir?"

Meyers grunted, then held out the flint and steel and said, "Have a go."

Scott smiled under his helmet as he swiped the two items, then in a single swipe, he sent a wave of sparks hurtling into the sticks. A small flame birthed from the sparks, then slowly began to grow. Meyers was staring at it, then he looked up at Scott, who simply held the two items back out.

Meyers grabbed them, then said, "Get that smug look off your face, trooper."

Scott began laughing as he straightened his back, then he said, "It's just my natural state, sir, can't do much about it."

He listened as Meyers grunted, then looked back at Johnson. Scott nodded his head at the injured man and asked, "How's he doing?"

Meyers turned to face him, then said, "Melly was right. Something's wrong, and we can't figure out what or how to fix it. We have to get him to the city, fast. Hopefully there are friendlies with a proper medic."

Scott nodded, then Melly turned around and said, "Fortunately, his condition hasn't deteriorated, so at least we know he's stable. But we can't jostle him too much, or whatever is wrong might get worse."

Between chews, Claire pointed at him and said, "This is why you have to pay more attention to your surroundings instead of Melly's ass, Johnson."

Johnson coughed, then lifted his middle finger and said, "Eat a dick!"

Claire chuckled as she sat on the warthog, then Scott turned to him and said, "Calm down. It was an ambush, I'll give you that. But still, were you not paying attention to the ridge?"

Johnson loudly grunted, then Melly turned with a sigh and said, "We were, but it's not his fault the first shot hit him. Just stop pulling his leg like this."

Scott huffed, then walked towards the chaingun hog and said, "A man should be able to take criticism, especially one that has so much to critique."

Melly and Johnson both simultaneously sighed, then turned back to each other as Melly continued checking his wound. Scott leaned against the vehicle, looking down at his sniper rifle and checking it for any issues.

After a few seconds of silence, Meyers spoke up and said, "Scott, you're going out first tonight, to make up for your little break yesterday."

Scott groaned, then tilted his rifle out of his face's view, looking at Meyers, then said, "You're an ass."

Meyers grabbed a ration of his own and said, "And Melly will stay here for first watch. This time, Scott, sync your clocks. Do it now, actually."

Scott grumbled, then looked to Melly. She stood up front Johnson, brushing her knees off, then turned towards Scott and played with her HUD. A small clock appeared on his HUD, then the two nodded to each other.

Scott turned to Meyers, who laid himself out on the ground. Meyers let out a sigh, then he said, "Be careful, Scott. Don't do anything stupid."

Scott chuckled as he slowly walked towards the forest line, then held his sniper rifle at his hip and said, "Don't worry about me. According to the polls, I'm the most competent person on this team."

Claire let out a cough as she choked on her food, then started laughing and said, "You may be a good shot, but you can't do fucking anything close range."

Scott fakely laughed, then spun around to her and said, "Haha, you think. But I know plenty of women who'd say otherwise."

He spun around and left the campsite, hearing Claire continue coughing on her food while Meyers tried to shut her up in an attempt to go to sleep.

Scott wandered away from the camps site, him barely putting any effort into holding his rifle. Despite their encounter with the Covenant yesterday, they did drive for quite a bit. It wasn't like those guys were giving much of a chase anyway.

Maybe they expected to kill them. Scott huffed with amusement at their overconfidence. Though, the Covenant have definitely earned the right to be overconfident. Humanity hasn't exactly seen a win in a while, the war feeling completely one-sided. No matter how many Covie heads he's blown off, no matter how many waves Scott and his squad has fought off, they always end up pulling out in retreat, losing the battle. Despite his efforts, sometimes it feels like nothing Scott does has an effect.

As Scott wandered through the forest, contemplating, he failed to notice the momentary gleam of golden armor approaching him. He was too caught up in his mind, then he heard a rustle ahead of him.

Scott lifted his rifle, scoping in ahead, looking for any sign of something. There was nothing there. He was swept with confusion, alongside a feeling of deja vu. He slowly began creeping back, about to use his coms, when suddenly he heard another rustle directly behind him.

Before he could do anything, his helmet flew off his head, then he watched a golden figure rip the rifle from his hands. He was swept onto the floor, then he felt arms grab him by his biceps, then he began flying through the forest.

He yelled and tugged his arms trying to free himself, to no avail. Scott was beyond confused, why was this happening again? Was it the same aliens? It had to be, this was exactly the same way he was kidnapped before. So that means they knew exactly where Scott's squad was.

After twenty minutes of being dragged through the forest, he felt his kidnapper slow down, then he was swung forward. Scott rolled across the dirt floor, then felt his side strike a rocky surface. He grunted as he tried to raise himself, then he felt a clawed hand grab him by the throat and raise him up.

Scott grunted as he grabbed the arm, then he was pinned to the rocky wall by the arm. Once his vision focused, he realized the one holding him was one of the skirmishers from last time. He let out a growl as he gripped their arm, then saw a second, taller one behind them.

The skirmisher snickered, then said, "Hello again, sweet cheeks. Did ya' miss me?"

Scott chuckled as he gripped her arm, then said, "Not at all. I got more than enough of your ugly ass mug last time."

He heard a small snarl escape her throat, then the taller one behind her walked forward and said, "Sil, let the human go. You know we aren't to harm him."

Sil turned to him for a moment, then swiped the pistol from Scott's thigh and said, "Just letting him know who's in charge."

After she had his pistol, she let go of Scott, letting him fall to the ground, hands on his throat. He coughed a few times, then raised his head to look at the two skirmishers. The one called Sil stood 3 inches taller than him, and she was the same one he argued with last time. The taller one seemed far more calm and collected, they were like polar opposites.

Scott slowly rose to his full height, then rubbed his neck and asked, "It is you fuckers. May I ask, what the fuck am I doing here again!?"

He watched Sil chuckle, then she pointed his pistol at him and said, "Our boss made it clear, every night, given the chance, you are to be collected so you can train with him."

Scott stared down the barrel of his own gun, then she threw it to the ground and said, "And as you can tell, Bota isn't here at the moment."

Scott placed his hand on the knife handle on his chest, then said, "I'm getting out of here. Hand over my stuff."

Scott focused his contact on the second skirmisher, seeing his rifle and helmet in their hands. He heard Sil chuckle, then she said, "You're feisty, I like that. But you aren't going anywhere. This is more important to Bota than you can imagine, so you're gonna train with him whether you like it or not. Zuhl, don't give him anything."

The skirmisher, Zuhl, stepped next to Sil and said, "You don't have to tell me that. I have my orders."

Scott stared at the two aliens, anger written on his face. He unsheathed the knife, then pointed it at them and said, "I don't know what the fuck you're guys' problem is, but I have more important things to worry about. My team is…"

Sil interrupted him with a scoff, then waved her hand and said, "They're fine. Any patrols scouting ahead of the army are nowhere near them. And if any get close, me and Zuhl here will make sure you get back to warn them before there's any danger. So calm down, sharp eyes."

Scott huffed, then sheathed his knife and said, "It's Scott, you feathered fuck."

Sil chuckled, then said, "Well, introductions are important, aren't they? I'm Sil, this fuckwit is Zuhl. Though, if you had any brain cells you'd already know that."

Scott stared at her, then guaranteed and asked, "If I'm gonna stay, can I at least have my stuff?"

Sil shook her head and said, "No can do. You'll use them against us, we know it. You're staying until Bota gets here."

Scott huffed, then turned towards the forest and looked out at it. His first instinct was to make a run for it, but he knew too well that the two would catch up to him in seconds, and he didn't feel like angering them.

He began drumming his fingers against his armor as he stared out at the forest, then he heard a huff behind him. Scott turned to see Sil had taken a seat above the cave entrance, kicking her legs lightly and staring off into the sky. Scott continued turning to see Zuhl simply standing guard, Scott's weapon and helmet sitting on a stump next to him.

Scott could tell they were confident he wouldn't run, either that or they were confident they'd catch him. He let out a sigh as he turned back to the forest. This was real, he was actually stuck with aliens, and he was going to be trained by one.

All of it was confusing to Scott. He realizes that this Bota feels like he is in debt to Scott for sparing him, but to go this far? This had to be more than just helping Scott, maybe if he knew a thing about Covenant culture he'd know why. For now, he was just being blindly tugged along by these aliens.

After a few minutes of silent standing, he heard the sound of bushes rustling. He turned around to see the red elite, Bota, appear from the forest. He watched Zuhl place a fist on his chest as he turned to Bota, some sort of salute, then Bot returned the gesture.

Bota's gaze quickly turned from Zuhl to Scott, who sighed and fully turned to face the elite. Scott crossed his arms as the elite strode towards him, then huffed as he stopped in front of Scott.

Bota sighed, then said, "I want to apologize for any discomfort caused by my compatriots. This isn't something they are used to doing."

Scott huffed, then said, "You don't seem too experienced with it yourself, hinge-head."

Bota grumbled under his breath, then gestured to the cave and said, "Well, we should begin as soon as…"

Scott quickly shut him down as he waved his hands and said, "Hold on, you can't really drag me into this, can you? Train me? This all seems…"

Bota nodded and said, "It is very strange. Most likely the strangest thing to happen in Covenant history, I assume. But it must be done, I owe you that much."

Scott looked away from Bota, then asked, "So, how is this going to work, cuz I have a feeling I don't have a choice in any of this."

Bota sighed, then gestured to the cave and said, "Today is the only day we can use the cave. Once the morning comes, I have no doubt you and your friends will continue your journey to the city."

Scott looked back at Bota and asked, "You know where we're going?"

Bota nodded and said, "It is very obvious. It's the only refuge you can possibly reach."

Scott tilted his head and asked, "Why not just bowl over us then?"

Bota softly chuckled, then said, "Our leader does not wish to waste the resources, though it seems more of our allies die in his effort to preserve them than if we simply would attack you with all the troops we have. But, he most likely sees having to use such a large force for so few humans as a stain on his honor."

Scott slowly nodded his head, then took a few steps towards the cave and asked, "So you guys care about honor?"

Bota nodded as he slowly followed, then said, "It is the most important thing to any sangheili warrior. It's the whole reason I am taking such a risk to repay this debt to you."

The two slowly entered the cave, Scott not knowing what to say at this point. Before he could, Bota spun around to face him, Scott blindly walking into him then jumping back. His hand naturally gripped his knife as he jumped back, then the two stared at each other for a moment.

Scott nervously coughed, then relaxed his position, brushing his arms and said, "I wasn't scared."

Bota shook his head, then pointed at his knife and said, "Scared or not, you gripped your knife immediately. That is a good sign of your nature, but you did not unveil it. Either you already see no threat in me, or we have more work to do than I anticipated."

Scott scoffed, then pulled the knife out and said, "Well, of course I see you as a threat. The thing is that if you really wanted me dead, you would've killed me by now. It's very cut and dry, really."

Bota looked at the human curiously, then asked, "So you trust we won't harm you, but you also distrust us at the same time."

He watched as Scott rubbed his knife against his chestplate, then he weakly splayed his hand out and said, "Ya know, it sounds weird when you put it like that, but basically, yeah."

Bota shook his head and said, "You humans, so needlessly complicated."

Scott dramatically pointed the knife at him and loudly said, "Says the elite kidnapping a human, trying to teach him lessons like some kind of sensei, to repay a debt I don't want repaid!"

Bota didn't even bother to process Scott's words. He simply moved his feet into a ready position, then motioned for Scott to approach him. Scott stared at him dumbly, then asked, "What the Hell you doin'?"

Bota motioned again and said, "I must measure your abilities before we can begin training. Now, attempt to strike me."

The two stared at each other silently for a few seconds, then Scott pointed at his knife and asked, "So if I plunge this sharp object into your flesh, you won't be mad and tear me in half?"

Bota shook his head, then said, "No, now attack me, human."

Scott looked at Bota, then chuckled as he spun his knife, then lunged forward at the elite. He rushed forward to thrust into Bota's side, but the elite swiveled around his rush with ease. Scott wobbled to a stop as he missed Bota, then spun around, blindly driving his blade where he though Bota would be. HIs arm flew right under Bota arm, allowing him to simply grab Scott by the throat and lift him up.

Scott coughed desperately as Bota lifted him, then raised his knife to stab Bota's arm, only for the elite to lightly throw him back. Scott landed on his feet, staggered, then looked back up at Bota. He wasn't attacking, but his position told Scott he wanted more. Scott grunted, spinning his knife upside down in his hand, then ran forward once again.

Scott sliced across at Bota's belly, only for him to easily back away from the strike. At the end of the swipe, Scott grabbed the end of the knife with his free hand and thrusted forward. The point of his knife was about to meet the elite's stomach, only for Bota's body to duck sideways, his knee flying into Scott's stomach.

Upon the strike, Scott's knife flew out of his hands forward, and Scott stumbled back with a loud grunt, promptly falling onto his ass. Scott coughed as he slowly moved to a tired crouch, then looked up to see Bota towering over him. After a moment of silence, Bota turned with a huff towards the knife.

As he picked the knife up, he said, "You lack speed, grace, direction. All of your attacks are done with blind intent. You may have a warrior spirit, but you lack any control."

Bota tossed the knife back at Scott, it clattering onto the ground and sliding in front of Scott. Scott picked the blade up with a grumble, then sheathed it and asked, "Oh, so you plan on fixing that, big guy? And for the record, my control is amazing."

A loud snort came from the cave entrance, making the two turn to see the saurian, Sil, chuckling. She daintily held his sniper rifle up, swinging it a bit, then mockingly said, "Maybe with a rifle, but you just looked like a young chick with little motor function trying to swing a gravity hammer around."

Scott aggressively pointed at her and said, "You wanna go, big bird? I can out shoot you any day of the week!"

Sil scoffed, then lowered the rifle and said, "Oh please, I doubt the best sniper in your sad excuse for an army could outshoot me. Us T'vaoans just seem to be naturally better shots. Even some raggedy ruuhtian could outshoot you."

Scott grit his teeth and yelled, "I don't even know what a fucking ruuhtian is, but I feel highly insulted!"

Sil snapped at him and said, "You should! Most of them are…"

Bota roared, silencing the two, then he stepped between them and yelled, "Silence, both of you! You bicker like younglings, and it is more than infuriating to listen to!"

Sil huffed, then walked out of the cave with a pout and said, "I never get to have any fun."

Scott watched the purple feathered alien leave the cave, then nervously turned back to the angry elite. Strangely enough, his anger seemed to have disappeared already, then Bota turned to Scott and said, "Your training will take time. Maybe over a month until I can consider you ready for combat."

Scott gripped his cheeks and said, "Over a month? Are you kidding me?"

Bota grunted with a nod, then said, "Maybe two. Feel lucky, I have experience teaching. Now, we must begin as all younglings begin."

Scott rubbed his eyebrows with a sigh, then said, "Great, this is just… wow."

Bota snapped and said, "Human! Pay attention, every step in the path to swordsmanship is important."

Scott waved his hand and said, "Yeah, yeah, all right, I'm looking. Let's see what we got."

#

Sil sat atop the cave entrance, her legs swinging over the mouth as she started upwards at the starry night. It was times like these that let questions roll through her head, like why are we here, what the fuck am I doing, when am I gonna find a kigyar with enough back bone to make me crave him as much as he craves I?

She didn't even get to go over the first one when she heard a short caw, her head shooting doen in reaction. She saw Zuhl looking at her, trying to grab her attention. She let out a short huff, then grabbed her needle rifle from beside her and dropped in front of the cave entrance.

Sil walked next to Zuhl, then sighed and asked, "What's up?"

Zuhl pointed out into the forest and said, "I saw movement, and last I checked other patrol parties aren't supposed to come anywhere near this sector. Help me figure out what it was."

Sil felt her muscles slightly tense up at the thought of a little action, even if it was just running some human through the forest so he could get his friends to safety. Still, it was better than standing around doing nothing.

Her eyes cut through the brush as she searched for a sign of movement, anything that seemed out of place. It didn't take long for her to notice a rustling, making her raised her needle rifle at the bush to get a better look through the sights.

Zuhl was taking aim as well, and the two stood and waited for whatever was in the bush to expose itself. After a few anxious seconds passed, they watched as an alien creature on four long and thin legs walked through the bush, oblivious to the lethal weapons trained on it's skull.

Zuhl lowered his beam rifle with a sigh, then said, "False alarm, looks to be…"

Before he could finish, the sharp crack of Sil's needle rifle filled the silent forest, and he watched as a purple needle dug itself between the creature's eyes, then promptly exploded. The animal dropped to the ground, blood running from it's massive wound, then Zuhl turned to look at Sil.

She lightly chuckled as she lowered her needle rifle, then gave it a pat and said, "Gods it feels good to put one between some eyes, am I right?"

She turned to Zuhl, searching for some reply, but he simply grunted with disapproval and walked away, leaving her staring blankly at where he once stood. After a moment, she looked around at an imaginary group and said, "Yeah, I'm right."

She stood silently in the open, then looked back to the dead animal and said, "I wonder if it tastes good."

It only took a moment of thought after that statement before she began walking towards the corpse, intent on taking a bite, then Zuhl called out and yelled, "Don't you think of eating that thing! We don't know if it could poison you or not!"

Sil groaned as she swiflty slid her needle rifle on her back, then turned back around and said, "Just because you choose to live off of nothing but military rations doesn't mean I have to. Gotta have a little spice in your life. Take a risk to have a good time, though I doubt you'd know about any of that."

Zuhl stared at her, then said, "I take plenty of risks, but they are all for the betterment of the mission and my fellow soldiers. I do not take risks for selfish reasons that could only hamper my allies around me."

Sil leaned against the cave entrance, stretching her arms, then said, "Exactly. It's why you have no character! You're just stoic, selfless, brave, all the things a kigyar should never be! You're the perfect little plaything all the crazy sangheili officers want!"

Zuhl turned to her with almost a growl, the most emotion he's shown in a while, then said, "I am not some drone to my superiors. Understand me, I will not follow orders that purposely endanger the lives of my fellow soldiers for little to no reason."

Sil bobbed her head, amused, and said, "Oh, you precious gem. You care about people… how cute. Despite all that, you are always cold and stone faced. At the very least, be a good person who's fun to be around. Even a little, because you may be a reliable partner, but you are not a good conversationalist, and I'd rather have conversations that weren't about politics or tactics every now and again."

The two stared at each other, Sil feeling they were on the verge of a fight, when the sound of stomping footsteps came from the cave. They both backed up to watch Bota exit, Scott in tow.

Bota gestured to Scott and said, "Swiftly take this one back, the training for today is complete."

Sil turned to the human with a vicious smile and asked, "And how was training today, sweet cheeks?"

Scott swatted at her and said, "Shut it, feather head. I'm too tired to have any kind of exchange."

Sil chuckled devilishly, then held out her arms and asked, "Oh, you're tired? Need mama bird to carry you back to the nest?"

Scott lightly chuckled and said, "With those noodle arms? I'd let grunt carry me around, thank you."

Bota grunted, then said, "Stop and take him. We must be swift before his teammates think anything of his absence."

Sil sighed with a nod, then turned to Zuhl and said, "Give the man back his shit, then I'm dragging him there while you scout ahead."

Zuhl nodded, then lifted Scott's helmet and rifle up. He gently handed them over, then Scott brushed his rifle before slipping it on his back and said, "You better not have scratched my stuff up. Especially the helmet, paint's hard to come by."

Zuhl nodded and said, "I care for your gear as if they are my own while in my possession. Do not worry, human."

Scott stared blankly at Zuhl, obviously caught off guard by his politeness, then slipped his helmet on and said, "Alright then, so how are we gonna-"

Scott didn't get to finish as Sil grabbed a hold of his arms and raced off, Zuhl running ahead of her. Scott yelped in surprise as he was pulled away, instinctively flailing his feet. Sil could only chuckle as she listened to the humans surprised and fearful yelps. Despite how weird this thing was, and how few people she was killing, the pressure of getting caught along with getting to harass this human made this some of the most fun she's had in a while.

Hey, it's me, writer guy! Didn't expect to get this chapter out today, but I did! Hopefully it makes up for the... thing of a chapter I uploaded for Confused Love. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed todays chapter. And, I am so sorry for the delay. Iw as caught up writing for Confused Love and a side project, again, but Confused Love is finished, so I can finally truly focus.

There's not much else to say really. Feel free to follow, fav, leave a review if you really feel like it. Love those. Ayway, hope you enjoyed and have a good day or night!