Translation:
Kiande amedha- hard meats
ki'cti-pa- spear
chakt-ra- throwing disk
Pauk- fuck
Ooman- human (slang term)
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The closer they got, the more obvious it became. Kiande amedha swarmed the mountainside, approximately twenty and only God knows how many more on the inside. Gritting her teeth, Lex's muscles tensed. They were almost at the base of the mountain when screeches filled the air.
Jumping off his back, Lex pulled out her ki'cti-pa. The blades extended without sound and the snow hid her from their senses. Following Scar's trail, he caught most of their attention and drove headfirst into battle.
This left Lex with an opportunity to cut down those on the outside. Their sleek, blackheads made Lex sick. Bracing herself, Lex launched forward and just moved. She wasn't even sure what she was doing anymore. Her surroundings blurred into black, white and green. The bile rose further up her throat.
Finally, gagging on the taste alone, Lex stumbled out of the messy array. Almost as if he sensed her trouble, Scar appeared in front of her, holding off the rest of them while she tried to regain herself. At first, everything continued to spin but eventually, it stilled.
The first thing she coherently saw was Scar locked in battle with a kiande amedha. The second being another serpent trying to attack from the side. Rushing to his aid, Lex dove under the belly of the beast and thrust her spear upward. Rolling away from the spilling of acidic guts and blood, Lex came back around to cleanly slice the head off.
"Are you okay?" Scar gently helped her up from the ground. "You seemed... not there during the fight."
"Yeah, I don't know. I felt myself move but I don't remember actually moving." Scar hummed in thought before turning to the dead corpses.
He removed his knife from his belt and began to take his trophies. When he noticed Lex didn't move, he nodded to the ones he had left untouched. Her kills. Her trophies.
Heaving a sigh, she retrieved her own knife and began to take fingers, teeth, and the skull of her last kill. Once they had collected what they wanted, they moved to the entrance of the cave. The cold wind swept her hair around her face and threatened to leave her ears as icicles.
"I don't see anything. Maybe they were just on the outside?" Scar moved forward, having no answer for Lex's question.
They ventured further in and stopped when multiple tunnels emerged. The map on their gauntlets were incomplete but as they moved, they could leave a trail to get back to the entrance.
"Come. Let us look around more." Scar turned into the first tunnel to his right.
It led to a spring about a mile away from the main tunnel. They continued to walk around and find different dead ends or more tunnels but no more kiande amedha. Tired, they retreated back to the entrance.
Two large hard meats stood at the entrance while five more came from behind them. Scar didn't rush into battle this time, instead, he pulled Lex close to him and prepared for the attack. Two came at once, one from behind and the other from the entrance. Lex shoved her spear through the heart of one while Scar sliced through the other. Growling in rage at the acidic burns he received, Scar activated his cannon and blasted them away.
The whole mountain shook as a few blasts hit the rocky walls and before either had the chance, the entrance closed up with snow and tumbling rocks.
"No!" Rushing forward, Lex was ready to dive under the avalanche but Scar had wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back.
She struggled for a moment but when he began to purr she slowly stopped.
"I hate your purring."
"If I recall correctly, you once said you enjoyed my purring," the smugness in his voice wasn't missed.
"And if I recall correctly, I say a lot of things," annoyed, she brushed him off of her and paced, wondering what to do.
"Calm, Lex. Come. We need to sit and rest anyway," Scar patted the spot next to him, "I know. I shouldn't have used my cannon. It would have been faster and we wouldn't have been trapped in a corner but it looks like I've made it much worse."
Lex didn't say anything but laid her head against his arm. Scar played with the map a little bit before he turned it off altogether. Resting against one another, they dozed off.
When Scar awoke, Lex continued to sleep soundly beside him. He turned the map back on and fiddled with it some more. So far, they found a few springs and a few empty dead ends. After a while longer, Scar decided the best dead end to use would be the last one they had found. While it was deeper in the cave systems, it also had the warmest temperature, even by a few degrees.
Lex eventually woke up and they headed to the tunnel where they would camp out. They had no fire but their nets would keep them warm for the most part. Once they had set up camp, they spent the rest of the time just wandering through the tunnels or polishing trophies.
When Lex looked at her reflection from the sleek black skull, she tossed it to the ground next to her. Dusting off her legs, she turned to the teeth she had.
"Lex," she ignored him. "Lex," Scar scooted behind her and grabbed the skull, "you must clean it."
"No, I don't have to clean anything. Just set it down." Scar rumbled in dissatisfaction.
"Clean the skull. Past is past." Anger boiled under her skin. He could tell by the way her heat signature fluctuated.
"How can I clean that Godforsaken skull when all I see is Sebastian stuck to that wall and Miana almost getting crushed by another?! Huh?! How can I just get past the fact that I can't look at one of those things without freezing up every time?! Without feeling the urge to just run?! I just can't!" Standing up, she stormed off.
Scar blinked, rubbing a bit of dust from his eyes.
He counted on that very reaction. She held off the memories for so long and the more she tried to force them away, the more they come back. She has to, in Scar's opinion, come to terms with it. Completely and wholeheartedly.
Lex didn't come back for a long time but when she did, Scar had left food out for her and had cleaned the skull. He was busy stringing together his trophies and Lex watched him work. They still said nothing when they both laid down for rest. Scar didn't need to sleep but he laid down next to her anyway.
Lex woke, sitting straight up, soaked in her own sweat. Her breathing came to a sudden stop as she listened. It was small but it sounded like an echo of claws scraping against rock. Scar purred lightly in his sleep beside her. Not wanting to wake him, Lex got up slowly and used her mask to search the damp tunnels.
A small movement ahead of her caught her attention but she still couldn't see it very well.
Retreating back inside, she grabbed her weapons before venturing further into the tunnels. When a good five feet in, it attacked. The claws ripped through her skin and with a startled cry she fell back. It's inner mouth barely missed her head as she dodged.
The sharp gleam of its tail came crashing down, trying to get a clean shot on her but she continued to struggle until she finally managed to push it off of her. When it's frontal paw tried to strike again, her wrist blocked the blow and she sent a solid kick to its middle.
Grabbing a chakt-ra from her belt, she swung it as hard as she could. The disk sliced right through its skull, and it sunk to the ground. Dead as dead could be.
"You didn't hesitate. You seem to be getting over your fear," Scar casually leaned against the wall, his mask hanging limply from his clawed fingers, and a lazy smile drew across his face.
"I guess so." Grabbing her disk from the wall, Lex walked back to the room, not bothering with her kill.
Scar followed her into the room and watched as she put things away and bandaged herself up.
Suddenly, she felt his hand grab her elbow and haul her to him. With alarm, he began to check her gauntlet. The claw marks were deep and it no longer lit up at his touch. It no longer functioned. If Lex couldn't feel the cold then, she could surely begin to feel it now.
"Pauk," he growled as he dragged her to the pelts they had laid out. Wrapping her in them, he sat behind her trying to keep her warm.
"I'll be fine," the chattering of her teeth did nothing to make her sound convincing and he snorted at her attempts.
"Yes, you will be fine. I'll make sure of it," he purred lightly, trying to comfort her in any way he could.
The temperature was well below -20 degrees Fahrenheit and Lex's body wouldn't be able to keep warm as his would. Though these kinds of regions were tough, his thick skin provided the equivalent of a human parka. Not life-saving, just life-extending.
"We need to find a way out of here. The kiande amedha are further in but they'll eventually start moving where we are and we can't fight forever you know. Plus, we're getting low on food and it's cold, the springs might not be able to be drinkable after all-" Scar clicked, amused by his ooman's thought process.
She thought out loud of everything they needed to do and began to prioritize what needed to be done first. He let her ramble on and make her mental list as he held her. Her small body, wrapped in thick furs, provided comfort to him. He wasn't alone and with such a brave warrior by his side, they would surely make it out.
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So Lex is finally getting over Antarctica and being able to face those hard meats without the interference of her brain! (If that's what we could describe it as.) I know that that may be confusing so if you are confused then please PM me and I'll gladly explain it in much more depth. I thought I had it pretty clear but if you're unsure you can always ask.
Yes, Scar purrs in his sleep. Which would you guys want, a man who "purrs" in his sleep or a man who snores in his sleep? I prefer the purr.