Chapter Twenty-Seven

Duel of the hunters – 'You can't fight without a reason…'

"Come on legs...keep on running!" Charrenity gasped as her exhausted hooves pounded the ground relentlessly.

Dirk was still in hot pursuit behind her and his legs seemed to give him insane reserves of energy as no matter how many times he stumbled over rocks and tree-roots he still kept chasing her. One saving grace was that out here in the very thick of the forest Charrenity had the advantage of being in her own element as she weaved in and out between the trees so that her pursuer became dazed and nearly lost her several times.

But her heart was now pounding so hard that she had to struggle to keep herself from fainting and what was more her legs now felt as heavy as lead.

Dirk realised that he was slowly gaining on the tiring Lyanore and let loose a whoop of laughter. "Give it up little Lyanore-girl! Maybe I'll make it a quick end if you throw in the towel here and now!" he lied through his broken teeth.

Ignoring his cruel voice Charrenity plunged onward - her heart almost stopped as she caught sight of light in the distance...she had nearly reached the edge of the forest! But she was just so tired...she couldn't keep moving for much longer and suddenly she felt a terrible certainty that she would never reach the glorious light.

So near...yet so forever out of reach.

Dirk's teeth were bared as he noticed Charrenity stumble against a bush as she veered around it and ran hell for leather as he realised that he'd soon catch up to her...

Then a miracle occurred for as Charrenity staggered past a tree with particularly long branches she didn't notice in her desperation that one of the boughs was bent backwards as if it were being tightly held back by somebody...

As the Lyanore ran by the branch remained curled back but as Dirk reached it the long bough suddenly swung back into place as it was released. Dirk gasped in shock as the branch slammed into his stomach with the force of a spring that had been held down in coil for hours and then suddenly been released and he rolled backwards and for the second time in so many minutes he lay dazed on the ground with no idea about what had just happened.

This unexpected turn of events had bought a little time for Charrenity who emerged from the forest...as she gasped deeply for much-needed air she staggered to a halt and then just too exhausted to move another step she slowly found herself sinking to the ground. Her face was burning – the bush had been thorny and she'd cut her face when she fallen against it.

Charrenity tried to keep on her feet but her legs seemed to have melted away like snow that had fallen into water and with a faint gasp she finally gave up the fight. Charrenity fainted and collapsed, her strength of spirit and will finally spent and the very last thing that she heard before the darkness swallowed her was the ferocious snarl that echoed from the forest as Dirk came crashing out of the foliage.

So...it was all for nothing then. she thought as she slipped away. Ayadi...please be safe. This is the end for me...

Charrenity's mind clouded and she knew no more...

Dirk walked over to where his prey had collapsed with an agonizingly slow pace - he now seemed to be having trouble catching his breath but that didn't stop his malevolence and anger from keeping him going. "That was real smart little Lyanore-girl..." he growled venomously as he stood over the defenceless Charrenity. "Now this is gonna be long...slow...and hurt." he began to laugh painfully, wheezing but exhilarated now that she lay right in front of him, his to play with before he killed her. "Go on...call for help! Squeal...no-one's comin' to save you ya little..."

The knife was almost trembling in his hand with barely suppressed excitement…but it never touched her. As Dirk leant near to where Charrenity lay he heard a sharp 'click' and something struck the ground just beside his foot.

The shock of the unexpected sound startled Dirk out of his cold, vengeful trance – looking down he saw that embedded in the frozen earth was a long, slim cross-bow bolt.

It had missed his foot by a single inch.

"Sorry Dirk but this big game hunt's just been called off."

Dirk froze and his eyes reflected the utter shock that rippled through his mind…he knew that voice!

Almost entranced the scarred hunter looked up and there standing on a branch directly behind him he saw the one person whose path he'd never expected to cross with again in the entire infinite space of the cosmos.

Rula's back was straight and proud as she stood with her feet perfectly balanced on the bough – in her hand she held the crossbow she had kept over from her trip to Earth with a newly loaded bolt pointing up at the sky.

Dirk's mouth had fallen wide open as she stared at him with that familiar smirk on her face and the mocking glint that he knew so well in her eyes – suddenly words seemed to spill forth from his mouth. "YOU!!!!!" he hissed the single word like it was the bitterest curse ever uttered in the existence of the universe.

Perhaps it was.

"You got it." Rula smiled with a hint of steel in her eyes.

Without warning she stepped off the branch and dropped right onto the stunned hunter – Dirk fell back like a tree as her feet shoved him unceremoniously to the ground and crushed every ounce of wind right out of him. With the soles of her leather boots firmly planted on his chest the huntress stooped into a tight crouching position and carefully pointed the crossbow between Dirk's dazed eyes.

"I don't think you're gonna get within spitting distance of any Lyanore today Dirk…" Rula said as she slowly, deliberately slid her finger around the trigger and drew it halfway. "Cuz you're grounded. For good."

Finally grasping that it really was her Dirk's face slipped from blank disbelief and right into cold anger as he stared murderously into her eyes which were little more than inches away from his own…he was afraid for his life but most of his fear was dulled by the old hatred and resentment that he'd felt for this girl as it resurfaced from the depths of his black heart.

Rula's face darkened and became grim...she recognized the raw fury in his eyes.

"So you're back." Dirk growled and his voice dripped with poisonous ice. "Ya should've stayed under whatever rock you crawled under. Think you can just walk right back and take over from where you left off after the way ya walked out on us all? You've gotta lot of guts comin' between me and the bounty on that animal's hide."

Dirk threw a malevolent and disturbingly hungry stare over at the swooned Charrenity but he looked back as the butt of the crossbow slammed into his forehead – Rula's eyes narrowed as she poked the dangerous point of the loaded bolt into the skin of the re-dazed Dirk's forehead.

Dirk flinched and his eyes flicked back to her face which was now covered in cold disgust. "If you EVER look at her like that again I'll kill you with my own bare hands." The huntress told him in a hard voice that made it crystal clear that she meant every word.

Before he could stop himself Dirk shuddered – the look in her eyes chilled him to the bone and he realised that this was exactly what they meant about staring death in the face. "So what'll you do me? Kill me and then get to be top of the pile again…is that it?" he forced himself to laugh scornfully but to his utter mortification his voice trembled as it escaped his mouth. "Well forget it little girl…nobody wants a sell-out on their team!"

Rula's eyes narrowed and in that instant she almost let rip with the crossbow but she kept a tight rein on her anger – she was too absorbed in the moment to hear the many footsteps that now came up behind her.

Dirk caught his breath as he heard the sound of approaching feet but he kept still – the other Raiders had come to find him and as the dozen men came to a stop and stood staring as they found him in rather unexpected circumstances the scarred hunter felt his confidence filtering slowly back.

As his mind did overtime his face twisted into a sneer. "You'd like to be leader again wouldn't you Rula?" he goaded.

"I'd be a better one than you!" Rula spat.

The Raiders looked at each other and scowled as they registered this – they were amazed to see the huntress again after all this time but they didn't like the sound of what they had just heard.

Dirk gave a mocking chuckle as he shifted his weight and slid his hands behind his head as if he were relaxing although in reality his heart was pounding. "Well go ahead then kitten…spill your guts to the guys! Tell 'em what you told me about making them do all your dirty work!"

Rula just stared at him in disbelief. "Huh?" she replied blankly. "What the hell are you …" sudden suspicion set in and as her heart sank she turned her head and looked over her shoulder. "Oh…shit." She muttered under her breath as she saw the men glowering at her as they growled amongst themselves about what they'd just heard.

Just a look at each and every one of the faces of her old comrades which were filled with anger and resentment told her just how much hot water she was in now but that wasn't what filled her with numbing dismay – Dirk had played her like a fool and she'd fallen for it.

Now she had no chance of ever rejoining the Star Raiders – because of what she'd allowed him to trick her into saying that part of her life was over and there was way she'd ever be able to get it back.

After the moment of shock passed a stab of anger roused her from disbelief and into vengeance – Dirk.

Dirk had destroyed her last chance to find a place where she could fit in, in this unforgiving and relentlessly harsh world and she suddenly felt a burning urge to make him pay for everything he'd ever done to her…if she didn't then she'd go crazy.

But of course it didn't go as smoothly as that – nothing in life ever did.

While she had been distracted Dirk had realised that his best chance to break free was now and like a snake in the dark he struck, twisting around he flung Rula off balance and managed to savagely throw her off him.

Rula spun around in mid-air like a cat and managed to land on her side without losing her breath but in the process she dropped her crossbow which spun out of reach. Rula desperately tried to scramble to her feet but before she knew it Dirk stood over her, grabbed her by her shoulders, dragged her from the ground and viciously slammed her against the trunk of a tree.

"No way am I gonna lose that Lyanore." He growled as he held the breathless girl against the tree with one hand at her throat now as he retrieved his knife. "…and I sure as hell ain't gonna lose YOU this time Rula!"

Rula's eyes glared defiantly at him as the knife-edge pricked the delicate skin of her throat – not for a second did she give him the satisfaction of looking down at the cold steel that was an inch away from cutting her throat. "Drop dead you cheap, second-rate hood." She spat.

Dirk's responding laugh was ugly and hate-filled. "After you…" he began as he slowly moved the edge of his knife forward inch by inch, savouring every second for as long as he could before he plunged in the cold steel and spilt her blood. "…years after you Rula."

But just before he took her young life the scarred hunter froze – something cold, sharp and with a familiar feel to it was now poking into the back of his head.

"Let her go Dirk." Grift snarled as he held Rula's crossbow up to the dark-haired hunter's skull.

The one-eyed man's shoulder was wounded and even now blood trickled onto his already red-smeared shirt. Grift's one eye was filled with the vengeful anger that he was barely able to keep under control as it burned into the back of Dirk's head.

Dirk wetted his lips as he stood frozen with his knife still frigidly levelled at Rula's throat. "You first." He replied hesitantly.

Grift's one-eyed stare did not relent. "Nuh-uh. Drop it."

Dirk's knife trembled dangerously at Rula's delicate windpipe…he didn't want to lose this chance to kill her or back down in front of his men but he didn't particularly like the prospect of having his brain pierced for him either. "Your move." He persisted, still hopeful.

Realising that this was the best chance she was going to get Rula made her move – grabbing hold of Dirk's wrist in both her hands she lifted her feet off the ground together so that she was hanging by her throat and thrust them both deeply into Dirk's stomach.

The scarred hunter's eyes bulged and he opened his mouth in a round 'o' as he sprawled backwards into Grift who also went over beneath his weight, gasping silently.

Now free the huntress dropped to the ground and nimbly landed with her legs spread apart as she stood in a defensive stance. "So that's what you guys think of me?" she demanded of the group as Dirk lay stunned on top of Grift who was squashed and breathless beneath him. "That I sold out on ya'll? Ain't even like that but there's just one thing that I've done since I last saw you that I'm sorry about…and that's walking out on my friend and benefactor, a woman with more courage and goodness in her little finger than any of you greasy bastards have in your whole bodies."

The Star Raiders just growled menacingly at her and she shook her head and turned away in disgust…instead she concentrated all her attention onto the person who mattered…Dirk.

This man had made himself her life-long enemy, beaten her down constantly when she'd been young and crushed and humiliated her every chance he'd gotten. He was nemesis and she didn't care what events in his life might have been the cause of shaping him into the despicable person she'd always known. Rula hated this man with all her heart and she knew that unless she did something about that here and now then she'd never knew peace ever again…

Brushing Grift away Dirk staggered to his feet and faced her, almost incoherent with rage. "I'm gonna kill you for that!" he screamed so ferociously that gobbets of spit flew from his mouth and landed at her feet. "D'you hear me?!! I'm gonna cut you up…"

"You're nothing but a backstabber Dirk." Rula cut him off with biting scorn in her voice as she pointed at him. "A traitor. You turned your back on all the purposes that Steel-Eye started this group for as soon as I left…"

"Steel-Eye was a fool and you're another!" Dirk snarled and Rula's eyes narrowed at his disrespect for her mentor. "Think you're better than the rest of us huh? Well guess what – none of us want to be led by some whining little girl so why don't you just beat it and leave us to skin that Lyanore while you're still in one piece?"

Rula's voice was colder than the deepest oceans of the Outer Moon as she spoke her intention. "You're not gonna lay one finger on her Dirk…you're gonna have to kill me."

It was a challenge pure and simple – now that she'd breathed those words there was little other way that this could end.

"If at first you don't succeed…I'll kill you." Dirk hissed brandishing his knife.

Rula smirked and struck a challenging pose – this was it. "If you're hinting at spilling my guts Dirk…well I just don't see that happening in this century!" she chuckled. "Well then give it a try…or are you a pussy?"

These words had an almost explosive effect on Dirk who immediately gave a bestial roar and lunged at the huntress in fury. But Rula had been prepared and at the last possible second before he gutted her she ducked down and rolled beneath the older, more powerful hunter's arm. As Dirk's knife slid through the empty air where her face had been a second ago Rula spun around on her hands and feet and scissored Dirk's legs from behind. As he swayed and fought to keep on his feet she reached over, grabbed her crossbow from where it had landed when Grift had dropped it and flung it over to the one-eyed hunter.

"Protect her!" the huntress barked, pointing over at Charrenity as Grift stood with the weapon in his hand and a 'What do I do now?' look on his mutilated face. "If anybody touches Charrenity then I'll kill you Grift!"

Grift frowned. "Charrenity? That animal has a…"

"Don't ever call her that!" the fierceness in Rula's voice shocked Grift and he stepped over to the fallen Lyanore and stood with the crossbow in hand ready to guard her with his life which wouldn't be worth very much if he failed.

As Rula released his legs and slid away from him Dirk wheeled around and slammed his boot down on the ground that the huntress had occupied only a moment ago and missed her by a mile. There was hate in his heart as he glowered at Rula who jumped to her feet a few yards away from him – several of the other Raiders growled and advanced but he stopped them with a single wild snarl.

"Stay the hell outta this! The bitch's mine! MINE!!" Dirk glowered over at Grift and added savagely. "And when I'm done with her I'm gonna fix you old one-eye."

Grift faced him with perfect cool. "No hurry Dirk…just take your time and enjoy having her kick your sorry ass all the way back to the slum you came from."

Fighting to control his anger Dirk turned to face Rula who stood ready to face him in mortal combat. "Make your draw jerk-weed." She said grimly as she reached for her spear which was still strapped to her back.

Dirk eyed the weapon and filled with doubt on the spot as he remembered the many times he'd watched her wipe out towering beasts with one slash – then he forced himself to sneer derisively at her. "Ha…I knew it! Haven't the nerve to face me bare-handed huh?" he taunted her.

Rula's hand stopped an inch away from her spear and he looked up and stared at the scar-faced hunter as Grift scoffed. "Sure! You only outweigh her by about thirty stone…"

The one-eyed hunter was interrupted by the smooth hiss of Rula's spear as she removed it from the strap that had held it on her back – Dirk shuddered as she stood with it held in a killer arc…then she tossed it over her shoulder and the tension evaporated into thin air as the weapon landed in the grass several feet out of her reach.

"I ain't holdin' back." Rula informed her mortal enemy coldly and clearly as she stood ready, almost dying to take him on.

For a long moment Dirk could only gawp down at the discarded spear – he could hardly believe it. With her weapon in her hands Rula could have cut him into mincemeat in a heartbeat without even breaking a sweat and now she had tossed it away?

As he realised that this was exactly what Rula had done a hideous leer spread across his disfigured face – he'd tear her into the most impossible tiny pieces now.

The scarred hunter swore it.

Rula's face was a blank in the moment that she'd been waiting for her whole life in a way…her fight to the death with Dirk now began.

With a snarl Dirk charged at her head-on, his fist held over his head as he went in for the kill straight away – Rula stood completely motionless as he bore down on her like a rampaging bull. The girl watched him coldly, calculatingly but showed no signs of preparing to avoid him…

Dirk grinned, this was too good to be true – his fist hurtled through the air straight at her face…but she seemed to slide through the air as she ducked the savage blow. Dirk stumbled – his formidable thrust went wild and dragged him off balance as the huntress reached up, grabbed his arm in both hands and lifted both her feet from the ground.

Swinging back as she held onto his muscled arm she gained some thrust and slammed her feet into his face, kicking him with the full force of her leather soles.

As Dirk roared in fury and pain she dropped and backed away – Dirk's hand covered his eyes which was now screwed tightly shut in pain and as he watched Grift winced convulsively – this brought back a lot of painful memories for him.

Rula smirked confidently as she prepared to move quickly in order to counter his next move…and suddenly she found herself being hauled from her feet as two arms were slid beneath her arms!

"I've got her Dirk!" Jasper grinned ecstatically as he held Rula in his hefty grip. "Good one huh? I'm with ya all the way boss!"

Rula gritted her teeth – Jasper was holding her defencelessly in the air and with her arms pinned above her head she was wide open for assault if Dirk decided to take this opportunity.

And he was bound to do that…wasn't he?

Dirk stared at the deluded hunter through his only open eye and there was a dark look on his sweating face – he was hell-bent on breaking every bone in Rula's body and this interruption gave him a new surge of enraged energy…but it also directed it towards a new target.

"What're you waiting for?" Jasper grumbled as he waited for Dirk to attack Rula while he held her tight. "You've got her cold…"

"This is for buttin' into my fight…" Dirk growled dangerously with such a positively dangerous look in his eyes that Jasper cringed, dropped Rula and took a stumbling step back when he saw it…

But it was a step too late.

With a snarl the scarred hunter lunged forward and grabbed him in a headlock. Before Jasper could so much as squeak Dirk had twisted his head savagely.

The sickening crunch that echoed around the plain sent a shudder through everybody who was watching the fight. As his now lifeless body dropped to the ground Jasper's eyes were utterly blank.

"Don't do it again." Dirk growled as he turned dismissively away from the follower he had killed and switched his attention back to Rula who was watching him as warily as a cat.

Breathing almost feverishly Dirk dropped low and lunged at Rula liked a charging bull intending to grip her in his brawny arms and crush her bones – again she was ready for him and leapt backwards, pressing her feet against a tree right behind her.

Using the surface of the ancient trunk as a surface to gain momentum Rula propelled herself upward and seemed to disappear from Dirk's remaining open eye…

The scarred hunter stumbled to a halt and looked almost frantically around as he panted and tried to find out where she'd gone…then he felt extra weight on his shoulders and he slowly looked up in shock.

Rula looked coolly down at him over her shoulder, her feet were perfectly balanced on his broad shoulders and she stood on them with the precise ease as she would have stood on the very ground.

"Ya always wanted to get between my legs Dirk…are you happy now that your wish has come true?" Rula smirked.

With a gasp Dirk instinctively tried to throw her off but before she could fall Rula jumped from his shoulders and using her position to perform a dazzling back-flip she turned upside down. As she dropped again she caught hold of Dirk's shoulder again, this time with her hands.

The scarred hunter was bewildered as he found himself staring into Rula's cool eyes as she held herself upside-down staring into his face. Then unexpectedly she gave him a perky smile that looked like a dark frown from his vantage point. "You never did get it Dirk. It's not about power…" she lectured him like an instructor talking to a small boy. "…it's all about precision. Balance and precision Dirk. Ya lose em…"

With no warning the huntress tipped her balance forward so that she swung over Dirk's head and landed on her feet behind him with such momentum that her fall dragged the hunter crashing to the ground along with her.

Rula had released her grip as Dirk had toppled over and landed softly on her feet in a graceful stance a few feet away, just in time to watch him hit the ground over her shoulder. "…and ya lose!" she finished with a smile. "Ya can't sacrifice speed for the sake of power Dirk…not against me."

Dirk was definitely worse for wear by now as he hauled himself back onto his feet yet again – his anger burned like smouldering coal as his face was drenched with perspiration and his closed eye ached like hell.

The knowledge that she was making him look like an idiot in front of his men gave him his second-most source of anger – the first was that he hadn't even managed to land a single punch on Rula yet.

That knowledge filled him with beserk rage but he struggled to control himself as he glared at the cocky huntress – after all if she was too quick for him to hit then he could always hurt her with words. "I've gutted and murdered more people than you're ever likely to see…men and women." Dirk's voice was a low and ugly hiss and now that he was no longer speaking in his usually threatening growl his words had somehow become more chilling than before. "I've had bigger than you for breakfast – and now it's your turn."

Rula did not reply as she watched him cautiously – she'd never liked the way Dirk had looked at her. Not when she'd been younger, not when she'd been his leader and definitely not now. Dirk's face was like that of a bloodthirsty predator crouching in the undergrowth silently as it watched and waited for the right moment to pounce on its prey and bite and tear.

As he spotted the tiny hint of nervousness creeping into Rula's eyes like a mouse trying to sneak painfully and slowly away from a tiger before it was noticed Dirk leaned his head forward and pressed home his newly discovered advantage. "I'm gonna rip you to pieces – I'm gonna wash my hands in your blood…no I'll swim, do a backstroke in it." He whispered in that dark cold voice that sent a shiver up Rula's spine because she recognized it. "Just like I promised I'll kill you Rula…do you remember?"

Rula flinched like she'd been struck in the face – her expression became blank as the almost ravenous face of her enemy seemed to go hazy until suddenly she was no longer looking at him. In fact she was no longer even on Charon in the middle of a fight to the bitter end – she had slipped back several years into her own past.

Back to the day that this secret war of hers had first begun…

…she remembered.

Seven years old, she'd been gazing wistfully up at the sky with her youthful eyes on the day that all the trouble had started. On her young and still innocent face had been a distant expression as she'd imagined being somewhere far far away from where she was now.

Away from the others, away from her rootless life that she spent travelling from place to place and away from the danger and violence that she faced every day of it. Somewhere she could just stay and never need to move ever again, somewhere she could live her life however she wanted without having to rely on the approval of the rest of the group in order to do so.

I'm with them…but I'm not. She thought with sadness on her face as she gazed at the unchanging sky of Reimo and felt worlds away from her comrades. Not even Steel-Eye and Grift understand how I feel…

As she thought about her life a hostile presence entered it and from that moment on her existence was changed from being unfulfilling to an ordeal.

Dirk's nostrils heaved in and out as he strode up behind her breathing sheer rage. The hunter had been clutching his leg as he'd arrived to fume over what had happened a short while ago in silence – but as he'd caught sight of Rula sitting with her back to him venom had seeped into his furious eyes and letting go of his bleeding leg he'd made his way over to her…

Dirk's trouser leg was stained with blood and his fresh wound still oozed scarlet – he'd received this injury an hour ago, an aftermath of his attempt to grab and kiss Rula.

With a face of black thunder he grabbed Rula's arm and roughly pulled her to her feet, dragging her around so that she was forced to face him. "You ever do that again and I'll kill you." Dirk breathed in a deceptively quiet voice that was so smooth that Rula felt a shiver running through her body.

Then his wavering self-control crumbled and he roared at her in mindless anger. "In fact if I hear a squeak from you again tonight I'll slap the fuck outta ya!!! Actually…I'll do it now!"

Rula was so terrified that she couldn't move an inch as he raised his hand. She watched almost in fascination as his palm pulled back, she could hardly believe any of this…hardly believe that he was actually about to hurt her.

So when it came the pain was the first real shock that she'd ever received in her young life. As it burned it changed her life forever.

Rula fell back like something boneless as she reeled back from Dirk's slap but of course as he still had his hand on her arm she couldn't fall. The second slap hit her as hard as it did simply because she hadn't gotten over the shock of the first one – as Dirk struck her again Rula's head slumped and hung limply to one side as she felt dazed by the shock of the blows. Up to now she had been too shocked to feel a thing but now that the realisation of the pain hit her she felt it like her face was on fire – her skin burned and made every second that she felt it go by as a small moment of suffering that got worse as time crawled by.

But even now it wasn't over. Now that he was done working off his anger Dirk brought the beating to a close by throwing Rula roughly away from himself. The girl was so disorientated by the raw pain that she staggered and fell into a thorny bush, grabbing hold of one of its vines in a numb-minded attempt to stop her fall.

The thorns of the creeper tore at the skin on her hand as it slipped through her grasp and with her first cry of pain Rula fell to the ground at last.

As she shook with pain and wrapped her arms around her shoulder Dirk walked over to get a closer look at his work. The hunter sneered at the sight of the suffering he'd caused the young girl. "Go ahead ya little pussy…cry." He suggested in a jeering voice. "Just like a little girl."

Suddenly despite the pain burning in her fingers, mouth and face Rula felt calm. Raising her face slowly she looked at him with dry eyes and Dirk felt the satisfaction that he gotten out of watching her tremble die away.

Eventually he sneered and turned to walk away from her. "You're my girl Rula." He called mockingly back to her as he left. "Get used to that cuz it's all you'll ever be."

When she was absolutely sure that he was gone Rula rose unsteadily to her shaking feet…she breathed slowly in and out to catch her breath, feeling like she was tasting the air for the first time in her life.

Everything was different to her now – her cheek was throbbing raw and painfully, her lip was cut and bleeding as was her hand and all of it bewildered her.

Not because she was bleeding but because the one who had broken her skin was – Dirk.

Rula had never seen him like that before. So furious and almost desperate to hurt anybody…least of all her.

Until today he'd been so nice to her, called her 'my girl' and just laughed when she'd told him that she wasn't.

Dirk had knocked apart her entire life and she was left to put it back together in a different way…but though she was shaking with pain she refused to give in to him and cry.

Rula didn't hate Dirk for what he'd done…she was too young to feel anything so intense but she was changed forever by what had just happened. Dirk had filled her with pain but the pain now filled her with purpose…the very thing that she had wanted to much before he'd beaten her.

Rula knew what she would do now…grow and become strong. If she did that then one day everybody even he would have to notice her and she would have an effect on their lives…and then one day when she was ready she would deal with Dirk.

But now she needed the time to calm down and try to make sense of this burning feeling – this pain that she'd been given. She had to understand what it meant…then she could begin to grow.

Turning slowly she staggered back over to the log she'd been sitting on but this time she did not sit down…instead she closed her eyes, raised her face to the sky and sweetly began to sing her secret song that was the only thing that gave her what none of the people in her life could.

Comfort.

Shaking her head as she came back to her senses Rula realised that she'd returned to Charon and the icy gale that bathed her was just as bitter as it had been a moment ago because she had never left.

Her whole body was shaking. As she blinked in the light of the stars she didn't really register them…that had been the day when the life that she had always led had really begun. What had happened then had shaped her and led to her becoming as she was now.

But the only thing that she felt now as she remembered it was hatred.

Ever since the day Dirk had lain his hands on her for the first time she had spent every minute of her life growing stronger so that she could surpass and defeat him one day – but she had spent so much time doing so that she had forgotten all about her very first dream which had been to find a place to live in peace…a place to call home.

And because of her obsession to become a great warrior Rula hadn't recognized her true desire when she had been given it…and now she had walked away from the thing she had wanted all her life!

Not only had Dirk ruined her innocence but he'd also cost her the most precious thing she'd ever had in her whole miserable life.

"You're evil." Rula had to say it and her voice shook with emotion as she faced Dirk again. "There isn't a shred of your soul that's good or clean…you are dead inside. I could never be your girl!"

The Raiders stared blankly at one another as they all wondered what the hell she was talking about.

"Shut your mouth ya whinin' little hooker!" snarled Dirk who had long ago forgotten the furious words he'd once said under the influence of ale. "Your time's up!"

Again he lunged at Rula and this time the huntress was so shaken that as she tried to dodge his thundering assault she was distracted…and went staggering over his foot as she jumped out of his way.

As she sprawled Dirk howled with laughter and grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her over his head. For a moment he savoured what he was doing and then hurled the dazed girl at a tree.

Pain stabbed into Rula's side as she slammed into the frozen trunk and then hit the ground. As she struggled to rise to her feet again, stumbling because of the intense pain that flared up in her side as she tried to move Dirk walked up to her.

"What do you tell a girl with two broken legs?" he asked the seriously hurt girl as he stared down at her and then kicking her without warning he concluded. "Nothing you haven't already told her twice."

"Go to hell Dirk." Rula retorted gritting her teeth as the new pain drove her to one knee.

The Raiders gave a roaring cheer of applause as Rula heaved in pain. "Still think the brat's gonna make mince-meat out of Dirk?" one of the scarred hunter's most loyal supporters called derisively over to Grift.

Grift gave a laugh. "Just watch. In a few secs she'll decide that it's time for lunch and settle his hash just like that!" he retorted but despite the confidence in his voice he couldn't quite stifle the doubt he could feel in his gut as the tide seemed to have turned against the fighter whose only supporter was himself…

Now that he could afford to Dirk laughed easily. "You've got a real mouth there kitten." He smirked and then in the bat of an eye he'd slid another knife identical to the one he always carried from beneath his wrist-band and was holding it in his hand like a playing card. "Wanna see a trick?"

Grift stared at the glimmering blade with such shock that his last eye nearly fell out of his head. "Hey…" he spluttered in outrage. "You said…!"

"I dared Rula to sling her weapon…but I don't remember saying anything about mine!" Dirk replied with a dirty laugh as he kept his eyes on Rula who stared up at him as she held her side.

Grift bared his teeth in frustration – he couldn't go to help Rula without leaving Charrenity unprotected. There was nothing he could do…

Rula's narrow eyes flicked from side to side, following the knife as Dirk tossed it from hand to hand teasing her and holding her in suspense of the moment that he drove it in and spilled her blood on the ground.

The magic-suppressing collar that Mu had put on her remained locked around her throat…her powers couldn't save her.

This is it… she thought dismally as the hunter inched closer and closer to her. I hate to admit it but I've lost… I've failed her…and Grift too. I'm going to die and so will they…

Dirk laughed harshly as he decided that he was bored at last. It was time to cut her throat and have done with it. The hunter was actually surprised to find that he was still reluctant to go ahead and do it however – he could hardly believe that it was over and he realised that he wanted it to go on for just a little longer, wanted to make her squirm just a little longer…

The knife flashed as he turned it over into a stabbing position – then as Dirk's hand tensed to cut through the air towards her Rula's eyes narrowed even further.

It wasn't going to end like this. There was an innocent child whose life depended on her and she'd made a vow to protect her…

The knife flashed in a vicious arc but the worst it did was slightly nick Rula's shoulder as she abruptly dropped to her side and narrowly managed to avoid it.

For a moment Rula clenched her teeth as her shoulder oozed red but then she forced them into an agonized grin – 'You can't fight without a reason'… she reminded herself as she thought desperately about her next move. Mine's better than some…

Dirk glowered down at her – what was she doing? "Hold still!" he growled as he pulled his knife back to strike again. "Go with the flow! Ya know I'm gonna nail ya in the end…don't fight it!"

Rather then replying Rula rammed her shoulder into his legs with all the force she could muster – the next instant her whole body was aching but despite her effort Dirk remained firmly on his feet.

Dirk sneered at what he assumed must be her last pathetic thrashing and moved to drive his knife into her back – and the plan that Rula had formed in the last few desperate seconds fell into place.

For as she slid out of its path the knife stabbed Dirk himself in the leg. Dirk screamed – and now that he was left open for an attack Rula lunged forward and slammed her already numb shoulder into his leg with ever last ounce of her sparse remaining strength.

Dirk didn't know what had hit him and he crashed to the ground like a fallen tree – even before he'd bounced on the frosty earth Rula jumped onto his stomach. "Always preferred it on top. How about you?" The huntress's face was covered in sweat and and her body ached inwardly with excruciating pain but despite everything she suddenly, crazily began to laugh.

Rula just couldn't help it for all of the exhaustion and pain seemed to melt away as her body became possessed by the thrilling rush of adrenaline. "I take it back Dirk." She gasped as she pinned his shoulders to the earth in an unreal burst of strength. "It's nothing to do with the balance or the precision or the pain…it's all about the feeling. And you know what, I think that I've kept mine hidden in fear of what you jerks might think long enough!"

Dirk bared his teeth up at the girl – his teeth now broken in many more places than when he'd woken up that morning were revealed and for the first time in his sinful life he felt the cold hand of terror brush against his black heart.

The hunter knew that he was beaten – Rula, the younger and to top it off FEMALE fighter had defeated him and now she held his life in her hands. And Dirk realised that under those terms his outlook wasn't good – he'd lost track of the times that he'd beaten Rula, thrashed her to within an inch of her life years ago, all the times he'd gone out of his way to humiliate her in front of the others.

Dirk stifled the sob that rose from his dry throat – and then his mortal fear of Rula seemed to fill him with reckless rage. "I still have one more knife left kitten." He rumbled in his savage growl which no longer seemed to terrifying now that his breath failed him. "Too bushed to go for it though…if you're so much better than me then why don'cha prove it? Go ahead – take it and cut my throat! Go on…I dare ya!"

Rula looked at him for a long time – her eyes were strangely blank and intense. She could tell without looking that the other Raiders were watching her intensely, just dying to see what she would do…

This was her chance – if she killed Dirk then she'd be back in with the Raiders! If only she could do it then they would have to let her back into the group…

Rula pursed her lips as she thought about it and then came to a decision – before Dirk could blink she slipped her fingers beneath his other wrist-band and flicked out his last remaining hunting-knife which was identical to the previous two he'd lost.

As it appeared from thin-air the cruel edge of the weapon hovered above the hunter who was so beaten into the dirt that he had no chance of getting out of the way. Dirk gasped…he hadn't expected her to take him at his word for a second and the scream of terror that he struggled to bellow at the top of his lungs became stuck half-way up his throat and was never heard.

Then Rula smiled dazzlingly and to the astonishment of the beaten, submissive hunter and the rest of the onlookers she reached behind her own head with her free hand. "This is for Steel-Eye." She announced in a clear voice.

The defeated hunter watched in dazed stupefaction as Rula took every one of her dreadlocks into her hand and brought the edge of the knife near to their very ends…and with one swift, smooth flick of her wrists cut through each and every one of the ties which held them in place.

Slowly, almost magically her blood-painted locks began to unfurl and unwind, cascading behind her back until she seemed to be wearing a fantastic cloak of many different colours. The Raiders – including Grift – stared at her in astonishment. None of them had ever seen her hair like this in all the years that they'd known her.

As her free mane of hair gently rustled in the breeze that suddenly seemed much calmer all of a sudden Rula hurled the knife far away from her and smiled strongly having finally cut herself free from the bonds that had tied her to the past.

"It's over Dirk." She told him simply and now there wasn't a trace of anger or darkness in her face. "You haven't any fight left in you…this is finished and so are you."

"Your spear!" Grift was yelling desperately at her. "Get your spear and finish him!"

"No can do Grift." Rula replied breezily.

"Why not? He double-crossed you!" Grift exclaimed in frustration.

Rula looked over and met the eye of the only friend she'd had among the Star Raiders after Steel-Eye had died and as her entire body convulsed with such painful breath that her breasts heaved she said the words she'd once spoken to Princess Charon. "I'm not him."

With that final loose end tied up she was ready to devote all her strength into what was happening. "Ready to put all my anguish to pasture…what's the matter Dirk? You don't seem to be all that keen anymore!" letting go of his shoulders she pulled back her fist and punched him in the face regardless of the cringe this sent running up her arm. "In fact I'd say that you were way more spirited when you were scaring that Lyanore!" unable to resist she punched him again as she went on talking, taunting him through the aching. "Guess beating up on anyone who can't defend themselves is more your scene huh?" her throbbing fist broke two of the scarred hunter's front teeth as her knuckles slammed into his gasping mouth. "Dirk…it seems to me that the only time you ever feel really alive is when you're killing! But that doesn't make you a warrior…Dirk you're nothing but a torturer!"

Dirk coughed to avoid choking on his teeth, he couldn't believe this was happening. "Hope that animal's worth your while!" he wheezed, his voice no longer as menacing as it had sounded such a short while ago.

"She's more human than you think Dirk…way more than you'll ever be." Rula's voice dropped and she gripped her enemy by the front of his shirt as suddenly, almost frighteningly her mood changed. "And you won't live to harm her…not as long as I do."

The temptation to kill this scum was bitter and overwhelmingly powerful…but even though she trembled to give in to it she didn't. Her fingers were ready to do it but as she thought about taking that plunge the memories of the time she had spent in the Moon Kingdom made her stop.

The memory of how happy and fulfilled she had been reminded her that Queen Serenity wouldn't have wanted her to do this and because of that Rula couldn't kill Dirk no matter what he'd done to her in the past – the wish of Serenity was her own command.

Oblivious to what was going on in her head Dirk looked up at her, all his courage drained out of him leaving him in numb terror. "What's the matter? You're waiting for me to beg now? Get it over with bitch!" the hunter talked a fine game but in reality he was trembling and from her place on his stomach Rula knew it.

The intensity of Rula's eyes penetrated the cowardly soul of her enemy as she stared at him, everybody around her watching breathlessly to find out what…

"Nah." Rula said, astounding Grift and the other Raiders not to say least Dirk with her response.

Getting off his stomach she got to her feet and taking hold of Dirk's wrist she dragged him up with her so that they were both standing facing each other – though Dirk swayed on his feet before he could raise his head to look at her clearly.

"I'm no pussy Dirk…I'm a tiger." She informed him matter-of-factly and then paused to look him up and down. To her own surprise she laughed. "Well, well, well…who'd have guessed it? Big bad old Dirk smacked upside his damn head…by a girl! First time for everything I guess."

Dirk stared speechlessly at her as his legs shuddered beneath him ready to buckle up any moment. He could feel the derisive and mocking looks that the other Raiders were giving him burning into the back of his head. All the fear that he had struck into them through violence and intimidation was slipping away.

"I've spared you today Dirk because whatever happens I want you to live with your cowardice." Rula told him coldly, all joking now aside. "I could kill you now, you know it and I know it. But I won't because that would only set you free of your shameful life. I won't even give you over to the Charonians Dirk…" as she spoke she turned away from him and walked over to where her spear lay in the grass. "…cuz just being you is life without parole." Slowly bending down on her knees to retrieve her spear she added almost thoughtfully, "You wasted everything that Steel-Eye taught you Dirk…you're a loser. At least I'M man enough to admit that I'm not the warrior that I thought I was…so what does that say about YOU?"

As her words hit him like his own knife driving its way into his gut Dirk felt his fearful nervousness of her slipping away as the anger slowly grew…because he knew that she was right.

He'd lost everything.

"You're…" Dirk stuttered as he struggled to make his voice work. "You're dead bitch…" he whispered the words quietly almost as if he were rehearsing them and then the sparks caught the gunpowder. "DEAD!!!!"

Before anyone knew what was happening he stumbled forward and broke into a wild stumbling run. Rula had picked up her spear and as she slid it back into its restraint she heard the wild footsteps pounding the ground behind her and spun around to face him contemptuously. Dirk's roar was mindless as he saw the utterly scornful look on her face and the desperation to tear it off galvanised him…

CLICK!

Dirk's eyes went blank with shock and his anger seemed to take a back-seat to sudden overwhelming surprise.

Something was wrong.

Everyone behind him seemed to have fallen silent and he could see that even Rula's face was covered in stunned shock.

Stumbling to a halt Dirk placed the tips of his fingers on the front of his shirt and slowly, almost thoughtfully he ran them up the coarse material until they found something that was out of place there. Dirk had found the crossbow bolt that now protruded from his wide chest and the sight of it covered his face with a picture of confusion and horror.

No…

Grift was breathing deeply as he stood with his arm held outstretched and the now emptied crossbow in front of him.

The one-eyed hunter had frozen when Dirk had charged at Rula with his face demonised by mindless hatred. Grift's mind had gone absolutely blank. He couldn't help Rula…he couldn't try to help her!

If he helped her then he'd be throwing away whatever little chance he might still have of staying a Star Raider…but suddenly the consequences didn't seem to matter anymore.

That was because he didn't stop to weigh them…whether or not it was the smartest or the right thing to do Grift did it.

He pulled the trigger.

A long sharp hissed grated through Dirk's clenched teeth as his knees slowly buckled underneath him, he was getting weaker by the second. As the blood flowed he grasped the cold metal that pierced his heart and slumped to his knees – turning his head he stared at Rula with a strange look that she couldn't understand at all.

It wasn't a blank look – there was feeling there alright but it was just that she couldn't read it.

This couldn't be happening. He was Dirk, leader of the Star Raiders. He couldn't die like this…not without taking her with him.

Dirk reached up with his hand as if to grab Rula's throat and throttle her but darkness filled his mind and as his thoughts became clouded he found that the last desire didn't seem to be as important as he'd thought.

Dirk finally fell flat on his face and with one last sigh he stopped breathing.

As the body became utterly still the Star Raiders began to mutter among themselves. "He's dead…Grift just offed Dirk!"

Recovering quickly from the shock of what had just happened Rula looked over at the one who had said that grimly. "So who do you wanna call first…the road-cleaners or the Charonian Guard?"

The Raider she had challenged stepped forward with a disapproving expression on his face. "You don't kill one of your own." He growled menacingly. "Raiders don't kill Raiders. That's a rule!"

Rula made a derisive 'pfft' sound as she put her hand on her hips and faced him – deciding not to even bother mentioning the fact that Dirk had killed Jasper right in front of them all. "What 'rules' do you mean? Buddy the 'rules' we all used to live by went out of the window when that guy talked trash about Steel-Eye…remember him? The man who taught you, me, him all of us everything that we know?"

Rula looked around at the group, catching the eye of each and every person who avoided her stare shame-facedly. But there were a few who still looked resentfully at her and an even smaller number surreptitiously eyed Charrenity, still toying with the idea that they had some kind of chance of taking her…

But Rula noticed and stepped up to bring any such lingering ideas up short. "Oh yeah…that reminds me." She strode up to the Raider who had approached her and without any warning she pulled back her hand and like a cat scratched his face with her fingernails. "This Lyanore has a scratch on her face." She explained grimly as the hunters gasped in shock of what she'd just done. "Now by an amazing coincidence so do YOU." As she continued the huntress looked at each and every single one of them so that they could not possibly misunderstand her. "From now on whatever happens to a single one of the Lyanore will happen to YOU whether it's your fault or not. Got that?"

Silence reigned among the numbed Star Raiders.

"GOT IT?????!!!!" Rula bellowed at the top of her voice and every single person – including Grift – jumped and frantically nodded their heads.

Satisfied by their mutual understanding Rula smiled pleasantly. "Oh and just another thing…" she grabbed the front of the wretched scratched man's shirt and pulled him so that the space between their faces was too tiny to estimate. "…if any of you take as much as a pot-shot at so much as a Seora on the way back to your ship I'll be waiting to land on you with both feet!! Now get the hell outta here!"

Without waiting for a response – without wanting one – Rula flung him roughly away and he was so shocked that if two of the others hadn't caught him then he'd have fallen over.

That was it for the Raiders…anxious to get out of her sight they all turned and hurried away as fast as they possibly could without running. From the way they turned their backs on him Grift knew without having to ask that not a single one of them wanted to know him anymore.

Wearily he looked over his shoulder and just as he'd expected he found himself looking at Rula whose faced showed the depth of her pain and exhaustion now that she was done with the Star Raiders.

A moment of lengthy silence passed as he stared at her…then he glanced over at Dirk's lifeless body and then at Charrenity who had remained in her swoon during everything that had gone on.

Rula looked back at him, her face just as haggard for a moment…slowly her mouth began to twitch and her lips twisted and contorted as her will to resist the urge faltered and she started to laugh. Grift's expression was disbelieving as he gawped at her but she couldn't stop herself and slumping to her knees she hugged the sides of her body as she convulsed with laughter.

It was amazing – the Raiders' reaction when she had scratched the arrogant jerk across the face had been so reminiscent of the gasp that had rippled throughout the scandalised Royal Court on the night that she'd blown her top at Mu and cursed him in front of them all. Rula realised that whether born into nobility or a life on the trail human beings were all basically the same deep down…it was the thing that tied them all together as a species.

Grift could only gawp at her as he shook with almost painful chuckling and then finally he sighed and threw away the crossbow. "Shit…" he sighed, summing up the entire situation.

~*~*~

"So…here we are." Rula wryly remarked some time later. "Dazed and totally confused."

From his place next to her Grift gave a grunt. "Yeah…we're a real pair of lost souls brought together by the fickle finger of fate." He replied tartly without even looking at her.

The sarcasm in his voice was not lost on Rula who gave an inward sigh – she could tell that he was mad at her for being the cause of his being kicked out of the Raiders and for her own part she couldn't blame him.

The Star Raiders had left Charon about twenty minutes ago and as their ship had blasted out of the atmosphere Rula and Grift had scouted the area and made sure that all of them had really been on the ship. Rula doubted that she'd ever see her old group again and she felt surprised to realise just how glad that made her feel…although she felt sad as she knew that without a strong leader the group would now inevitably fall apart.

But maybe it was better that way – the Star Raiders had strayed so far from the path that Steel-Eye had formed the group to follow, betrayed the ideals and values so much that their existence would only serve to mock the memory of her late mentor.

That made her feel guilt even though she knew that it hadn't been her fault that her group had ended up that way. They had been corrupted by Dirk and now he had paid for disgracing Steel-Eye's memory with his life.

And now that her mind had wandered onto the subject of Dirk she took a moment to consider the dead hunter. Rula was disturbed to find that she really had no idea what to feel about him now that his heart no longer beat. Though she would never have admitted it the death of that black-hearted sinner effected her far more deeply than she'd imagined it would. It made her feel disquieted and to her profound shock she even realised that it made her feel even more alone now that she had lost yet another link to her past.

Now that he was dead it was all over. There just wasn't anything left for her to do now…not even hate him. Rather than happy, relieved or even sad Rula only felt an emptiness inside – she'd once thought of Dirk as being her mortal enemy but now that he was gone she just thought that he'd been an idiot.

Dirk's body had contained a strength that few men ever possessed in their whole lives and he'd been trained by the greatest fighter of all time as far as she was concerned…he could have been somebody but instead he'd died like a dog.

Rula had found the strength to free herself from the past and all of the illusions that she'd once had about life and so she had survived – but Dirk had remained chained to his fate and so it had dragged him down and killed him.

The huntress finally understood – now she knew the truth. She'd always been the strong one, strong enough to change in order to survive. That had been why he'd beat her down and always tried to break her right from the start.

A wry smile crossed her exhausted face. If only Dirk could have realised that it had been BECAUSE of his beatings that she'd grown up as strongly as she had, strong enough to kick his ass. If he'd realised that then the hunter would've probably cut his own throat and have had done with it.

Rula grinned but it was a tired one – Dirk had probably just turned over in his freshly covered grave. In a way she'd only lived for this long to show him that she was stronger than him – to put him down so that he'd have to believe it.

Rather than feeling weighed down by this realisation Rula now felt free…liberated and free to do whatever she wanted with whatever it was she'd learned from all of this.

And her strength had also helped her do good as well. With it she'd been able to help Orlando and his village when they'd needed it and now she'd saved the life of her beloved friend's daughter.

That meant that it hadn't all been for nothing – that she hadn't lived in vain.

And she wasn't left with no idea what she should do next. Rula knew that she had something to go back to now that it was over…she just didn't feel brave enough yet.

The huntress didn't – couldn't – deny that Dirk's part in her life had been a crucial influence. If it hadn't been for his treatment of her then would she have made the decision to become as strong as she was now?

Would she have been able to protect Charrenity from Dirk if the scarred hunter had not pushed her all those years ago?

Rula gave a sigh as she decided to let it go. Whatever it had been it was past and she knew that she should now do what she always did with her doubts and fears about the days that were gone…bury it.

Lay that demon to rest locked away in the deepest part of her soul to sleep for all time…

Charrenity and Ayadi lay sound asleep next to each other a short way behind Rula and Grift, their bodies lovingly covered by Rula's own cloak which she had doffed leaving herself exposed to the will of the elements in her earnest anxiety to keep them warm.

Rula had also sought out a suitable leaf and pressed it over the cut on Charrenity's face. The swelling had gone right down and the small wound looked much better already.

While the two Lyanore-girls had slept Rula and Grift had filled their time with the task of burying the bodies of Slade, Sloth, Jasper and Dirk. This hadn't been done out of any desire to lay them to rest but because Rula had not wanted the Lyanore to be frightened by the mangled corpses.

While they had been digging Grift had explained to Rula why he had turned against Dirk in the first place. As it turned out Grift had been interrogated by both Jasper and Sloth when he'd returned from the scouting job that Dirk had ordered him to do just before the scarred hunter had slipped off after Charrenity and Ayadi.

Luckily for him though Jasper had claimed that Dirk had left him in charge of the group and when Sloth had objected to this saying that their leader had left HIM in charge a tussle had ensued between the two. The result had been that Jasper had pulled out his knife and cut Sloth's throat and as the slow-witted Raider had lain in a spreading pool of his own blood Grift had pointed out that Dirk had been gone for a long while – too long a while that a look around the area would account for.

That had of course had been when the whole group had gone looking for Dirk and found him pinned beneath Rula's feet as she'd had her crossbow pointed at his jugular.

It had been a close thing but everything had turned out well enough in the end…

"I oughta be leavin' now…" Grift announced as he rose to his feet unexpectedly. "Nice seein' you again. You take care of yourself y'hear?"

Rula gave him a surprised stare – up until now there hadn't been any talk of him leaving. "Where are you going?" she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet.

Grift shrugged – he hadn't thought that far ahead. "Wherever the wind blows. I'm an old traveller Rula…a 'non-to-mourn'." He reminded her. "You should know just as well as I do that we don't settle down anywhere. If we did then we wouldn't be travellers anymore…we'd be home-birds."

Rula's face faltered as she remembered just what she'd felt the night she had left the Moon Kingdom. "So…you don't want to travel together?" she asked, a tiny hopeful tinge in her voice.

The huntress was desperate for at least one companion in her life.

But Grift pulled a face and shook his head. "Nah. Look I like you kid but honestly you're more trouble than your company's worth." Lowering his single eye he breathed a sigh that told her his deep regret. "Hey…when I pulled that trigger I didn't just kill him Rula. I killed my life with the Raiders in that same shot. But if I had the chance to have my time all over again then whatever different choices I'd decide to make that time around I'd make that one again in a sec. I just couldn't watch him kill you."

"Why?" there was a wry smile on Rula's face as she asked that question. "You've watched people die right in front of you before Grift. Why am I so different?"

Grift shrugged helplessly – he'd been trying to work that one out right from the very second he'd pulled the trigger. "I guess it's because I've known you since you were little. I was there to watch your chest…" he gave an embarrassed cough and decided to skip that part. "I guess that just makes it…different somehow." A slightly concerned look crossed his face. "Where'll YOU go now anyway?"

Rula smiled cheerily. "Oh don't worry Grift – there's this bunch of people that I kinda hang out with." She replied breezily.

The only problem is that I don't know if they'll want me back…

Rula lowered her eyes a little. "I…" she murmured suddenly finding herself at a total loss for words.

Grift saw that she was feeling guilty and did his best to smile heartily. "Don't worry. Old travellers don't die…they just fade away over the horizon."

Rula smiled beautifully and Grift's heart actually missed a beat as she looked up at him again. "That's what HE said." She remarked quietly.

"Yeah…know that it was someone." Grift stammered awkwardly and then he decided that it really was time to go and offered her his hand. "So…some other time kitten?"

Rula trembled with emotion as she grasped his hand. "ANY time Grift." She whispered and then in a surge of emotion she dropped the hand and gave the mutilated old traveller a fierce hug which he returned as he did his best to hold back a tear that tried to well up in his only eye.

In the end they disengaged and refusing to prolong their farewell Grift turned and walked away without looking back so much as once. Sadly she watched him leave wondering if she would ever meet him again…

It felt like the very last piece of her past had just walked out of her life and that thought raised a new question in her mind. What was she going to do now?

Where was she headed now that the Star Raiders were strangers to her?

Rula gave a sigh and shook her head wearily – she'd worry about that later.

Right now what she wanted more than anything was a good long rest. As she turned around the huntress instinctively knew exactly what she would see…and she was proven right.

Charrenity lay gazing at her wide-awake as she turned around and met her eyes. She and her friend were both still covered by the blanket as she looked wonderingly at Rula, not knowing whether or not to feel afraid of her.

Rula smirked. "Heeeeey…how long have YOU been awake?!!" she exclaimed as she walked towards the Lyanore whose future she had fought long and hard to guarantee.

Charrenity realised that she did not even feel nervous and wondered why that was. "Not long." She replied meekly like a child who had been caught out of bed past midnight.

"How're you feeling?"

"My face is a little sore but otherwise I feel very well indeed." Charrenity replied.

Rula smiled thankfully. "I'm glad." She remarked sincerely.

"The others…" a nervous look crept across the Lyanore's face and she glanced quickly around.

"They're gone…all of them." Rula told her calmingly. "Don't worry I sent 'em all on their way. They won't be bothering you, your friends or your family ever again." She gave a laugh as she spotted the tiny hint of worry that remained on Charrenity's face. "Hey, I promise! They'll never come back…your people are gonna be safe from now on!"

Charrenity gazed at this strange girl as she wondered whether or not she ought to believe her. "Are we really?" she asked sincerely wanting to believe what she said.

How wonderful it would be if it were really true…her family would finally be completely safe to live and thrive as they once had.

"Really." Rula repeated firmly. "Are you sure you're okay?" she added anxiously.

"Yes, yes." Charrenity exclaimed feeling flustered by the girl's concern. "Thank you for asking ma' am."

Rula's widened her eyes in astonishment. "Who d'you think you're callin' 'ma' am'?" she exclaimed. "That doesn't sound right!!"

"Then what may I call you?" Charrenity asked shyly, though she had only known her for a few minutes she found herself growing to like this girl already.

"Me?" Rula laughed lightly as she thought that this Lyanore could charm the socks off anybody she met – if Dirk had worn any in his life then maybe she wouldn't have been in such danger a few hours ago. "I'm nobody…but if you wanna call me something then I guess 'Rula's as good as anything."

Charrenity pulled a thoughtful face and as she did Rula stopped and gazed at her as if spellbound by what she saw. "Rula…" the Lyanore murmured, trying out the sound of the name and then looking up she caught Rula gazing at her as if enchanted. "What?" she asked in surprise. "What is the matter?"

Rula caught herself and shook her head as if trying to clear it. "Oh…nothing! Sorry" she stammered.

You look so much like your mama…

As she thought that Rula remembered the name that Vaura had once mentioned to her during the time they had spent together – her daughter's name, named after both Queen Serenity and Queen Chara.

The past's dead…

"Rula…" Charrenity murmured the name slowly and carefully as though she felt unsure of it…which as it happened she did. "You know miss that name does not sound anymore right for you than 'ma' am'. Is it really your name?"

Rula gave her another surprised look – it was true, she realised, she was different now. A completely different person than she'd once been.

Neither the innocent and naïve girl nor the hot-headed and arrogant young woman who'd spent her days looking only for her own death – now she was something far beyond them both.

"Well to tell you the truth Charrenity…I really don't know anymore." She sighed. "Tell ya what...why don't you call me whatever you think is bestt?"

"You are such a strange person!" Charrenity remarked.

"Well why not?" Rula retorted. "I've been called tons of other things over the last few hours so why shouldn't I be strange as well?" shaking her head as she felt amused by everything she glanced over at the smaller Lyanore who was still sleeping. "So who's your friend?" she asked curiously.

"Her name is Ayadi."

"Hmm…same name as the plains you live on!"

Charrenity smiled. "Yes her mother loves her very much because she is her only daughter." She remarked fondly. "She must be so worried – she will be happy to know that Ayadi is safe."

"Yeah! Uh-huh." Rula nodded as she looked thoughtfully at Charrenity. "You know that was pretty impressive what you did back there Charrenity – distracting that big thug so that she could get away!"

Charrenity felt embarrassed but at the same time she felt a burst of pleasure at the compliment. "It was foolish of me." she murmured. "And anyway mistress Rula it was you who saved us both!"

"Nah, I'm nothing but a girl who's good at what she does…fighting." Rula's face was serious as she reached over and patted Charrenity's snout affectionately. "You're the brave one Charrenity, believe me. Now can you walk? Do you think that you can take her back to the rest of your people alone?"

"Certainly." Charrenity replied confidently.

"Well I'm going to take you back myself anyway." Rula replied with a brisk smile as she turned and began to walk away...she wouldn't consider her job here done until the two Lyanore were definitely safe with their people. "As soon as your friend wakes up we'll set off – I'll take you half of the way back to your people and then I'll take off okay?"

Charrenity gave a surprised blink and then her expression became indignant. "Wait!" she cried scrambling up and pulling the blanket halfway off Ayadi who murmured in her sleep. "I can walk back myself! Don't you think that I can protect her?"

Rula rolled her eyes and said nothing…this must be what it felt like to have a sister.

Charrenity was about to continue her protest when something that struck her as odd crossed her mind. "Wait…how did you know my name?" she exclaimed. "I didn't tell you!"

Before Rula could think of a convincing reply a very mild voice answered for her. "Sixteen years old is still a child in my opinion Charrenity."

It was a female voice and a very sweet one at that.

Rula froze and her eyes widened as she realised who it belonged to but behind her Charrenity gave a whinny of delight – she had also recognized the voice.

The owner of the beautiful voice stepped out from behind a tree and regarded them both through her long-lashed eyes. "A fine evening ladies." Queen Chara smiled at Rula. "Wouldn't you agree…Princess Universe?"