Translations:
dah'kte: wrist blades
Ki'chi-pa: spear
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"Well... That was unsuccessful." Scar grunted in response to the obvious observation.
Lex held her broken arm close to her side while Scar sorted through the medical supplies. He had injuries but they weren't as severe as her own. Claw marks that cut savagely through his skin on the right side of his body, but thankfully, no broken bones. Lex, unfortunately, suffered from a broken left arm, scratches, and a possible ripped tendon - yet to be confirmed.
"At least we won." Lex tried again at started conversation but Scar ignored her while he finally pulled out the right equipment to mend her arm.
The three Lemanachi laid dead on the rack. When they had arrived back at their camp, he didn't waste any time in bandaging her up.
Her arm burned while the liquid solidified around her bone, mending it back together. Lex blinked away the tears and kept her lips sealed shut to stop from screaming. A small purr echoed in the room while Scar ran his claws through her hair. They were still bloody but Lex appreciated the comfort it brought. Swallowing down her pain, she shot him a quick smile before brushing him off.
"You need to take care of your wounds. I'll be fine." Understanding her need to be alone, the predator left for the ship to grab more medical supplies to heal himself.
When he returned an hour later, his wounds were bandaged tightly and he held a scanner in his hand.
"This will help spot the problem with your ankle. You might not be able to hunt for a few days. Perhaps we should return. We've hunted a skull for each of us."
"No. I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow to hunt some more. We'll leave as planned. I'm not weak, Scar. I've handled worse before." He wasn't sure if she was referencing the Chiva back on Earth or if she really had suffered worse injuries in climbing accidents but he chose not to dwell on the thought.
"Of course. I didn't mean-"
"No. It's okay. I get it. I just need some rest and we can go back out tomorrow or later today. I'll be inside." Lex hopped off the rock, wincing as she did so, before heading up the ramp.
Scar felt the need to kick himself but decided to busy himself with skinning their kills.
The sun began to set by the time Lex rejoined him outside. Both kills had been skinned, cleaned, and the meat stored. Scar took notice of the tortured expression and the look of helplessness in her eyes.
"Are you alright?"
"Sei-i." Her reply short. Monotoned.
"Meditate."
"Excuse me?"
"Mediation helps one to sort out their thoughts. Have you tried it?"
Lex stood still in shock.
Her eyes widened in surprise at how well he read her emotions. Though he may not know that he took a part in it. Thoughts whirled in her head, even now, about Earth, Miana, Weyland, and Scar.
Having no words to say, she nodded and sat on top of the rock to focus her thoughts.
Scar returned to polishing his skulls but out of the corner of his eye, he watched Lex meditate. Her face scrunched up at certain times and then relaxed. Occasionally, a small smile would grace her lips but then it turned into a sorrow frown.
"This is just making it worse." Her voice startled him.
She had been sitting for just a little over thirty minutes. Frustrated, Lex had jumped off the rock, wincing once again, and began to pace.
"Sit." His voice left no room for argument and she sat back down on top of the rock. Once she had made herself comfortable, Scar continued, "you must keep weight off your foot, it's still injured. Now, place the bottoms of your feet together. Good, now bring your hands together," his large ones gently moved her hands to form a triangle.
"And this will help?"
"Yes. Just focus on one thing at a time. If this doesn't help, we can try something else to ease your mind. Perhaps talking? I've heard that that can be a great deal of help." Lex smiled and nodded at him.
Closing her eyes, she focused but this time her face remained relaxed. Scar nodded in approval before cleaning up the camp and cooking dinner.
The sun had settled long before Lex reopened her eyes. At one point, Scar believed she had fallen asleep but he dared not to interrupt.
"Better?"
"Sei-i. I've just been feeling lost and confused. I didn't feel like me but I feel in more control now." Scar purred at her.
"You like to purr, huh?" He didn't answer just continued to purr. "I like it. It's calming." The minute the words left her mouth his purring kicked up a notch causing her to burst in a fit of laughter.
"Come. We rest and then hunt more tomorrow." Nodding, Lex slid off the rock more gently with Scar's help.
They both retired to the ship to sleep and prepare for tomorrow.
By the next morning, both were fully rested. Lex's arm had limited movement but it didn't deter her from wanting to hunt neither did her sore ankle. Scar still had his bandages on but he moved as if he wasn't even scratched from yesterday's hunt.
Without a word, they left back into the jungle. This time Scar led them downstream to a nice flowing river where life just seemed to buzz all around. Lex watched, impressed with the creatures as they jumped from branch to branch.
A low growl had her snapping her head forward. Scar waited for a few feet ahead and she got the message.
Focus.
Blowing out of her nostrils, Lex continued on beside him, focusing for any sounds that could alert her to danger. Scar retook the lead, clicking in a pleased manner at her, before climbing up a sturdy tree. She needed a little help getting up into the tangling tree limbs.
Once stationed on a branch that out looked the river, they waited while herbivores either crossed or grazed nearby.
"What are we looking for?" Scar silenced her by placing a hand over her mouth.
Huffing, she sat crossed legged and gave him an annoyed look. When he removed his hand, she stuck her tongue out childishly and gave a light punch to his shoulder, just below his plating. He clicked in amusement before pointing out a creature who currently drank from the river.
They watched it for a while before it turned and slunk back into the shadows. Getting up, they followed the creature to a small grove where it basked in the sun for a few minutes before continuing back to its den a few miles away.
There they sat and waited again. The minute nightfall hit was the minute it chose to reemerge. This time Scar ordered Lex to drop down and Scar stayed in the trees.
On the ground, Lex stayed crouched behind a tree and waited. It's snake-like tongue slithered out to taste the air. After a few minutes, it turned its back to Lex and walked towards the bushes on the other side.
Lex followed at Scar's nod. Right when it looked ready to sprint off, Lex dashed out to hit it dead on its side. Her dah'kte sliced easily through the leather skin. Jumping away, she sheathed her wrist blades and instead pulled out her ki'chi-pa to ram it under the soft belly of the beast. It roared and stood on its hind legs to lash out with its front paws.
Barely missing, she rolled away and stood her ground. This creature, despite being wounded, held its speed and agility. Before Lex could bother to block, she flew through the air a good yard or two and then pinned down.
Unable to block with her hands, the beast snapped its jaws at her neck but couldn't reach. Lex had lifted her feet to press against the wound at its belly. This caused it to lift slightly off the ground and made it unable to rip her throat out. But it came close.
Grunting under the force Lex continued to push on the wound until finally in a moment of pain, it let go and turned tail. Scar, however, already waited for this moment and sliced his own dah'kte into its heart just before it disappeared into the bush. It fell with a tiny whimper.
"Thanks for the assist."
"You did well. Though the kill is still mine, you did well." Lex snorted.
He had used her as bait to get the creature weak. Scrunching up her nose, she flipped him the bird and began to stalk off. Slightly pissed didn't describe how she felt.
Scar followed, clicking quietly behind her in laughter. Lex headed immediately up the ramp to strip and go to bed but when Scar hadn't come in once she had finished, she searched him out.
She didn't find him in his room, trophy room, kitchen, control room, or even the medical bay. Frowning, she found him polishing a skull by the light of the fire. She came to stand next to him.
"Here," he held up the new clean skull, "a gift."
Rolling her eyes, she muttered 'thanks', but before she headed back inside, she gave him a pointed glare, "do that again and I won't agree to hunt with you."
Scar shrunk in his seat as she left for bed. As soon as she disappeared, he rumbled in delight.
To his race, if a female inspected their trophies with great interest then it meant she might want to mate with him. but if a female accepts a gift, especially a skull such as the one Scar had given Lex, then she basically said she reciprocated his interest to mate.
Though Scar knew he slightly tricked her. By making her bait and taking her kill, he figured she'd feel entitled to it or believe it to be a way to apologize and accept it.
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I have to laugh at his good thinking! It's smart until she finds out then he's just screwed…
7/27/19: This time… she already knows...