Last chapter: "We're all gonna die!"

This chapter: "We live in a happy world made of fluff!"

I love this story...


"Yesterday, Zack assessed the damage the nightmares have caused to the Astra", Kanata, now completely recovered, explained. Sitting around the table in the lounge, the captain had summoned the Astra's crew to discuss their current situation.

"Luckily, the ship is not majorly damaged. The repairs should take around a week", the bespectacled student added.

"We have to stay a week on this planet?!", Quitterie complained but her voice lacked her usual sharpness. Yesterday's narrow escape was still on her mind. "I hate this place and we don't know when we'll be attacked next."

"Well, we also need to find enough food so we can't leave immediately anyway." Kanata was in good spirits, happy about the meat Ulgar had brought back. Before Quitterie could add anything, he switched topics. "Charce, can you explain to us what you have discovered about Nemesis' ecosystem?"

The addressed teen nodded. "You see, normally a food web is comprised of many trophic levels -"

"What's a food web and why does it have trophies?", Funicia enquired.

"A food web is comprised of many food chains which depend on the biome, ehm, the area. For example, a hawk may prey on rabbits and frogs. The rabbit eats grass whereas the frog eats crickets which also eat grass. Now, the rabbit may also be hunted by foxes. There are many predator-prey relationships that co-exist in the same - "

"The point being?", Ulgar asked.

"Well, normally, there are many levels in a food web with herbivores at the bottom and apex predators standing at the top. Nemesis, however, is different", Charce explained politely, not bothered by the interruptions. "Here, there appears to be only one level."

"The predators prey on each other?", Aries asked.

"So it would seem", Charce replied. "The only herbivores we have seen are the Horfants and they do not appear to be hunted by the woodland predators or the nightmares. We know the teddies practice cannibalism which adds further evidence to my theory."

"Hence, to find food we have to kill these beasts", Ulgar summarised what he had already known anyway. "Suits me, I'm done running away."

"But how can we kill them?", Yun Hua asked. She had not seen any of Nemesis' predators but from her teammates' accounts, she knew how terrifying they were.

"Look at this." Ulgar revealed the claw he had taken from the teddy. Like a knife, he used it to cut through the table. The metal parted under its influence like butter. "Whatever material this is, it will cut through their skin… and pretty much anything else."

The group looked at the cut mark in disbelief. "And you want to attack beasts that have ten of these?", Luca asked unsure whether this was a good idea. Ulgar's affinity for potentially lethal objects worried him.

"Well, ideally I throw it at them", the black-haired teen explained. Although that did not explain how he planned to get close enough to do so without being ripped apart first.

"We can also gather more of the honey fruits", Aries interrupted, switching to a more positive topic. "We found plenty yesterday that had fallen from the trees."

"Meaning there will be more of them higher up in the trees", Charce surmised. "If we can climb them, we may find more fruits."

"Then we can also look for the aliens." Luca recounted his encounter with the unknown species. "It seemed to like my raincape so maybe we can trade with them. Since they live here, they must have tons of food."

"It seems we have three things to do on Nemesis: find a way to climb the trees, make contact with the aliens and obtain meat by killing animals", Kanata summarised. "But anyway, let's take it easy today."

xxx

Ulgar felt restless. Kanata had ordered him and the others to rest for the day while Zack and he were starting to repair the Astra. It was a decision that made sense, heading into the woodland without being fully recovered would be a suicide mission. Equally, it would be dangerous for Kanata and the others to face the monsters without having ever encountered one before.

But being patient was not easy. Not when their survival was at stake. The black-haired teen balanced the claw in his hand. Sharper than anything he had ever seen before, Ulgar had to carefully hold it at the base, otherwise, he risked cutting off his own fingers. As weapons were forbidden on planet Astra, he had never seen an item as dangerous before. Doubtlessly, the teddy's claw could be sold in the underground for a fortune. A sudden knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. Somehow, he was not surprised to see Luca entering his room.

"Hey", the other greeted him. "How are your wounds?" Ulgar's right arm was still bandaged from the wound the nightmares had caused and the wound on his cheek stood out from his pale skin.

"It's nothing." Petty injuries would not stop him when their life was at stake. "More importantly, why are you here?", he asked seeing that the other seemed to have brought the whole inventory of the Astra with him.

"Well it's not like I can afford to rest", Luca explained. "I have a mountain of clothes to fix. You had to ruin your new clothes, of course. Then, there is also Quitterie's raincape, my raincape, my vest, your cap, everyone else's raincapes… The list just gets longer and longer. I feel like I'm the ship's tailor." However, he did not explain why he dumped the mentioned clothing plus a whole other load of stuff on Ulgar's bed.

"And?"

"I figured I might as well do it here rather than sit in my room by myself." Luca smiled.

"What it someone sees you here?"

"I'll tell them we're busy making out and they should come back - "

"You're not!" On one hand, Ulgar was glad that Luca was in a place where he could keep his eyes on him, at least he could ensure that yesterday would not repeat itself. On the other hand, being alone with Luca made him feel uncomfortable. Dressed in casual clothes without his usual vest, Ulgar found it hard not stare at the clearly visible outline of Luca's nipples.

"It's not a big deal anyway." Luca sat down on the bed and started going through the items he had brought. "The other day Aries and Quitterie slept in my room and we are planning to have another sleepover because Yun Hua missed the first one… Seriously, Aries is hot in her underwear."

Ulgar was desperately trying to maintain what he thought was a neutral expression, hiding his attraction to the purple-haired teen. However, Luca's words did not exactly make it easier. "You said you didn't do –"

"I didn't but I watched the girls changing", Luca explained casually.

"You're not going to any more sleepovers!" There was too much emotion in his voice. It was not like him to tell others what they could do; normally Ulgar would hardly care. Yet it annoyed him that he could never understand how Luca's mind worked. One day he was commenting on Kanata's abs, the next it was Aries that had his attention. But never him. Yet it was Ulgar who had to deal with Luca in his lewd attire.

Luca briefly wondered whether Ulgar's reaction was due to jealousy but concluded that it probably was a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment. His facial impression seemed angrier than usual as well. "Don't tell me you never felt like peeping on the girls changing?", the purple-haired teen asked with an innocent voice.

"No!" Undressing Luca in his mind was a completely different story though.

"Hmm… ", the other made amused.

Ulgar decided it was best to abandon the conversation. There were more urgent issues anyway. "Why don't you start fixing that vest of yours?", he suggested hoping the other would get the hint.

"Quitterie and I won't be able to go out without our raincapes. And I haven't even made one for the others", Luca replied as he was looking through the leaves he had brought.

Ulgar watched his friend from the corner of his eye, not daring to fully face him. Luca had come in less than ten minutes ago and already his room was in a state of disarray he had never known was possible. The clothes were still in a pile on his bed, with the remainder now invading his desk. Some of Luca's tools had fallen down and rolled over the floor. He sighed, the room looked more like Luca's than his.

Deciding to leave Luca to his things, Ulgar focused on the claw once again, trying to use it like a dagger. Although his plan was to throw it at his enemy, to deal a lethal blow he would have to be close to his target. A sudden knock on his door startled him, causing him to nearly cut his finger.

"We're busy making out - !", came Luca's voice from the bed.

"We're not!", Ulgar interrupted quickly, his face red.

"What are you making?", Funicia asked curious as she entered the room. "Quitterie said there were scary monsters in the woodland. Are you ok, Ulgar?"

Ulgar wondered when his room had become a meeting point for people with too much free time. "I'm fine, Funi", he confirmed.

"So, what are you making?", Funicia asked again but stopped as she noted the items dispersed through the room. "Are you making a raincape for me? Is it a surprise for me? Is that why your face is red?"

Ulgar facepalmed. Luca better took responsibility for this.

"I want one just like Quitterie's", the girl informed him, smiling happily.

"I have better things to do than making raincapes for little girls", Ulgar complained but Funicia had already left. He looked at Luca. "You better teach me this stuff."

Luca had watched the scene from the bed. It always surprised him how easily Ulgar went along with Quitterie's sister despite wearing his usual, annoyed face. He sighed, seven years difference in age was not all that much. "Is there anyone you like, Ulgar?", he asked tentatively. "Do you have a girlfriend back home?"

Ulgar had started looking for leaves he could use for Funicia's raincape and tried to sort the pile of random stuff Luca had brought. "I don't need anyone like that."

Of course not. Ulgar had grown up in a loveless environment and the concept of love was as much alien to him than friendship had been. "Does that mean you have no sexual desire?!"

"I guess so", Ulgar answered soberly before he had fully processed the other's words. "Wait, I didn't say- !" He had no idea how to answer the question, somehow, he felt that whatever reply he gave would worsen his situation. Like being stuck in quicksand, struggling would only hasten his demise.

"Then what are your preferences?", Luca continued torn between amusement about Ulgar's embarrassment and the knowledge that the answer would disappoint him. "Do you like busty girls like Yun Hua or cute girls like Aries?"

Ulgar could hardly suppress the urge to shout at Luca to shut up but upon looking at the other's eyes, no words came over his lips. Luca's expression was serious; he was not teasing him. Instead, his gaze revealed insecurity, almost as if he feared the answer.

Back home, Ulgar's life had been too focused on revenge to care about girls. Onboard of the Astra, no one was as alluring as Luca. "Small breasts", he replied finally. "Not curvy at all. Annoying, too, most of the time." Apparently, that was what he liked.

"That doesn't sound like a nice girl at all… " Luca wondered whether Ulgar's unhappy childhood had warped his sexual preferences or whether he had always been this strange. At least the description did not fit any of the girls on board of the Astra, the purple-haired teen noted relieved. "As for me", he continued with his usual carefree attitude, "I like – "

A sudden knock on Ulgar's door ended their discussion. Ulgar wondered whose turn it was to bother him next as Luca shouted, "we're busy making -!"

"Shut up, Luca!"


Please review!