This story started out innocently enough but clearly, if you let me design a world, it is gonna end up in a mess...
Ulgar did not have the leisure to search for Luca, all he could do was hope his friend was safe. Behind him, the teddy had caught up with them again, the ground shaking rhythmically under the impact of its heavy footsteps. So close, its roar was deafening. The better part of Quitterie's raincape was gone, ripped apart, and the beast would not be fooled a second time.
"I can't- !", the girl gasped but Ulgar paid no attention. The memory of Kanata rescuing him on planet Arispade flashed up in his mind all of a sudden. He would have sighed if his lungs were not already about to burst. Instead of sacrificing Quitterie, Ulgar strengthened the grip around her wrist; like Kanata had saved him.
Suddenly, the trees in front of the two moved as if having a life of their own. Ulgar was confused but could not afford to slow down. No matter what was there, they had to dash towards it if they wanted to live. Quitterie did not notice, her eyes focused on the ground, gasping for air and struggling to stay on her feet.
The teddy cried out. And the trees answered with an equally rage-driven noise. Not trees, Ulgar realised far too late. The other teddy! Exhaustion and fear must have blurred his mind. The black-haired teen had known there was a second monster, yet in his panic never processed its location.
In between the two beasts, Ulgar cursed. They were unable to escape the first teddy, and a second one would hardly increase their odds to survive this hell. As the beast roared at them, all he could do was dragging Quitterie to the side, into the shrubs. Branches and thorns tore through his clothes and scraped his skin. He could not afford to care. The trees were standing closer to each other here, perhaps they could find a space the huge teddies could not reach. Delusional, Ulgar knew. But also their only chance.
Just as they had turned to the side, the two teddies clashed. Their violent impact shook the ground. Quitterie stumbled and for the first time, Ulgar dared to look back. Instead of following them, the monsters had lost all interest in their prey. Glaring at each other, the first teddy was now launching itself at the other, its claws ready to attack.
That must have been how the teddy he had seen before had gotten its wound, Ulgar thought as he hastily helped Quitterie to stand. If this was to become a battlefield, they were far from safe. Even though Ulgar wanted to nothing more than returning and looking for Luca, he pushed on forward until they could no longer hear the sounds of the ferocious battle.
Still aiming to get further away, Quitterie's legs finally gave in. Ulgar did not have the strength to drag her back up, his own legs shaking and feeling heavy as if bound by iron shackles. Instead, he sank down next to her. They had reached a small stream flowing through the woodland, its tranquillity in stark contrast to the terror they had just lived through.
"There… it's…", Quitterie tried to speak, her mind still in disarray. Horrified and traumatised she laid on the ground like a broken marionette, paying no attention to the dirty woodland floor.
"We're safe", Ulgar reassured her, being in no better state himself. He had to go back, search until he found Luca. However, his legs failed to obey the command, exhaustion chained him to the ground.
Some time passed before Quitterie spoke again. Seconds, minutes, hours, neither of them knew. "You saved me", she said slowly, only now realising what had happened. The blonde looked at her wrist, still red where Ulgar had grabbed her way too tightly. But he had not let go. "I always thought you were dark and gloomy and that you'd leave me there to die for sure. I was wrong, I'm sorry, Ulgar."
For a while, the only sound was the gurgling of the stream and animal noises coming from the treetop above. "Never mind", Ulgar replied while offering her filtered water from a bottle that he had carried attached to his belt. It was not like Quitterie had been completely wrong after all. "I have to go back", he changed the topic. "Luca may still be in danger." More likely dead already. But he did not say that.
"Luca… ", Quitterie repeated. "Everything happened so fast, I didn't realise… ." She looked at her teammate. Why had he saved her and not Luca? Was he regretting his rash decision now? "Let's go then… Well, do you expect me to stay here alone?", she added upon Ulgar's questioning glance. If something had happened to Luca it was her fault, not that of her saviour.
Backtracking their steps took longer than anticipated and it was late afternoon until they were near the battlefield again. It was now completely quiet but the absence of any animal noises told them that not too much time could have passed since the teddies had left.
Quitterie watched Ulgar walking in front of her. The urgency in his voice, his hurried steps despite their exhaustion told her how worried the other was. Why had she not been more attentive? Focussed on herself, the blonde had not even thought about Aries and Charce for a second. All she had contributed was being a useless klutz relying on Ulgar for safety. Would he ever forgive her?
Ulgar silently cursed. Luca was not strong. He was dainty and needed to be protected. Yet he had failed him. The black-haired teen knew that if he had not grabbed Quitterie, the girl would not have moved. Statue-like, the teddy would have trampled her instantly. But still, if there had been time to save her, Ulgar could have used his other hand to grab Luca. Now Luca was probably dead and he a murderer. Once, Ulgar had been serious about killing Luca but these days were long gone. Since then, the other had been by his side, smiling, teasing, enjoying himself. Losing him now meant losing an integral part of his life. Always having been a loner, he wondered if this was what friendship was like.
Lost in thoughts, he was completely taken by surprise when something hit him in his side. The impact was strong, but he managed to remain standing. Was it the teddy? No, a hit by it would have killed him for sure.
"Ulgar!" It was Luca who was suddenly hugging him tightly. "I thought you were dead!", the purple-haired teen cried. "I thought the teddy had killed you!"
Luca. Too close. But he was alive. Ulgar froze, not knowing how to react. His shoulder wet from Luca's tears, the black-haired teen felt the urge to wrap his arms around him, protect him and never let go of his friend again. Yet he did not move, the words stuck in his throat. "It's alright. I'm alive", was all he managed to say awkwardly. He would not mind if Luca stayed like this forever though.
However, Luca backed off immediately, blushing, realising his intrusion of the other's privacy. "I'm sorry", he hurried to say. There were tears in Ulgar's eyes, he noted surprised. Had the other been this worried? Or was it his impulsive attack that had made him feel awkward? Ulgar never liked being close to other people after all. "I didn't mean to… I was just… I thought I'd lost you… ." For once, Luca was at a loss of words.
"Me too", Ulgar replied finally able to voice his feelings. "I was worried about you. I am sorry I couldn't protect you."
"Mhm", Luca nodded. "I am counting on you to protect me better next time." He smiled, happy that both of them had survived and that Ulgar appeared to care about him at least a little bit.
Quitterie had tears in her eyes as well but remained quiet as to not disturb Ulgar and Luca. She had thought of Luca's crush as hopeless but observed with interest how wrong she had been. "So how did you manage to survive?", Quitterie asked finally, breaking the awkwardness. Luca looked surprisingly well. Notably, his raincape was missing and his vest was torn but apart from that, he had only minor scratches. Truth to be told, he was in a much better condition than she and Ulgar.
"Someone saved me", Luca replied, earning disbelieving glances. "It wasn't one of us", he clarified quickly. "I was running just behind you when someone grabbed me from in between the shrubs. I couldn't see them… but they must have liked my raincape as they took it and vanished."
"There really are aliens?!"
"The aliens on this planet would be us", Ulgar remarked. He was worried, knowing what the animals on this planet were like, what could they expect from Nemesis' humans? However, in their current condition, there was little Ulgar could do. "Let's head back to the Astra. Charce and Aries probably told the others about our encounter with the teddy." They had not even agreed to meet up at the Astra. Ulgar had never liked Charce but now it was like they could understand each other without words. More evidence of the Nemesis' influence.
"Look at this", Luca pointed towards the shrubs. Behind, there was the teddy, lying motionlessly. Evidently dead. The huge jaws, sharp teeth, and long claws were no threat to them anymore. Blood was spread around and a huge wound gaped in his belly. Part of the cadaver was already missing, revealing the animal's innards.
"The other one must have fed on it", Ulgar assumed. Yet even a teddy was unable to eat a three-metre-tall beast all at once. "It will come back. Or other predators will smell the carcass." The scene made him feel sick, but he had already accepted that this was part of Nemesis. He commended Quitterie for not saying anything as he approached the dead beast.
"You don't want to- ", Luca began, standing at some distance with Quitterie, but stopped as Ulgar had already acted.
There was plenty of food on Nemesis, Ulgar confirmed using Zack's handy intervention. More than they could ever eat, in fact. It came in the form of terrifying beasts that could squish them in an instant. Ulgar regretted that his facial muscles had never learned to laugh because there could not be a more appropriate moment. It was a twisted game that Nemesis was playing with them.
Looking around, Ulgar found a dislodged claw, just longer than his hand. Based on the wound he had seen before, the black-haired teen was sure that it would be able to pierce the stone-like skin of Nemesis' fauna.
Mercilessly, he cut through the dead animal's flesh, not caring about the blood splattering on his face. Venting his frustration about his inability to protect Luca on the carcass was all he could do. They needed food, there it was lying in front of them. He had never learned how to butcher an animal but the sharp claw found its path with little effort. As Luca was shouting out to him, begging him to stop, Ulgar had already cut out as much meat as they could carry.
He tightly grabbed his newfound weapon, the teddy's claw. It was his turn to hunt now.
On the way back, nobody said a word. Luca quietly observed Ulgar. He had changed even more now, had suddenly grown colder and more distant. Yet he still vividly remembered the warmth of his body and the worry in his friend's eyes. "When you said you were worried about me", he began trying to find the Ulgar he knew. "How worried exactly were you?"
"What kind of question is that?!"
That was better.
