You know, I really like my disclaimer from Chapter 13...just go back and read that one, and pretend it's here.
ooooooooooooooooo
Gally ran.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, she had reopened some of the deeper wounds she'd received from the Kalack, and she didn't care. Now she was just running for the sake of being elsewhere. From the moment one scaled foot touched the ground, a nagging voice told her she'd been there too long, and then it lifted away for another step. On and on this went, until her chest was heaving and her muscles screamed profanities at her.
She finally slowed to a stop, and her ragged breathing pounded loudly in her ears. He had been so angry...her finely tuned empathy was overwhelmed by his fury. He had practically been screaming directly into her brain, drowning her senses in terror and hurt. The terror had kept her going so far into this alien world, driving her far, far away from the seething Irkan.
Acrid scents drifted past Gally's nose, reminding her of her precarious position. Alone, and in less-than-preferable condition...she gritted her teeth and turned back the way she had come. Like it or not, she did need to get back to Zim's base, even if it did fill her with dread. Now that her adrenaline rush had worn off, she was feeling incredibly sore and tired, and the main flow of emotion had left. She still had a pesky hurt in her mind, though...and she couldn't place it. Something between guilt, and worry, and general unhappiness. She frowned as she trotted slowly back on her trail. This feeling was a new one, all right, and she already hated it.
oooooooooooooooooooo
A hulking silhouette houghed deep in its throat, hidden in the dense middle branches of the trees along the road, and smirked to itself in primordial pleasure. The hunt was about to begin, and he would again be the hunter of this most dangerous prey. The best kind of prey there was; all the better to bring glory to himself.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Zim slumped in his chair again, counting the clicks of the elevator as it drew down to his level. One gloved hand pointed to the door right as Kith burst through it, and on cue, he spun the chair around to face her. She carried a shard of glass in one hand, spattered with a dark blue liquid. His eyes narrowed and he arched his fingers together.
"Well? You bother Zim. What do you want."
Kith lobbed the glass at him and folded her arms.
"I could ask the same of you...what the hell have you done this time?!"
Zim fumbled for the shard and held it up to his face to inspect it. His antennae flinched, and he dropped it quickly.
"Blood? From the Dalzorian?" he glanced up at Kith and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded sourly. "We—I heard you yell, and then the window upstairs shattered. Do you know what this means, Zim? It means there is a Dalzorian running around the human city, trailing blood, while there is also a criminal and a murdering psycho loose! What in the name of Irk have you done?" Her tone carried a cold accusation, of one who knows damn well what is going on, and asks only to make the other person feel like an ass.
It apparently worked very well.
Zim's face paled to the point where he nearly resembled Dib's old skin color. Then it hardened.
"Let the Dib-worm deal with it...He's the one trying to register as an Invader, isn't he? Let us see how HE handles this. Because obviously everyone trusts HIM so much more than they do ZIM...."
Kith ground her teeth in frustration and clenched her fists, but took a deep breath and tried thinking about it from Zim's point of view. Yes, he had been badly shamed...he blamed it on Dib...how to fix this. She blinked and looked back at Zim, lofty and condescending.
"I suppose, if you won't even try, then it is obvious who the better Invader is. I mean, how hard can it be to best a human in tracking down one Dalzorian? Imagine the glory Dib will get when he brings her back safe and sound..." she said, turning away from Zim with a disdainful wave of her hand. She realized with a small bit of smugness how well her plan worked, when she heard the small -snk- of Zim's spider legs unfolding.
"ZIM shall bring the Dalzorian back, not that filth DIB! Computer, do not let the Dib leave the house..." He cackled and ran for the elevator. "Glory for ZIM!" Kith could hear him laughing as the elevator whooshed him up to the house level, and even out the door. She grinned and followed at a more sedate pace, even allowing herself a small chuckle. Victory for Kith.
oooooooooooooooooo
Gally had developed a painful stitch in her side, of course. What else would happen when she was out alone on a strange planet, with a dangerous criminal probably staring down at her from the tree line....She tossed her head back and scented the air nervously. Bad idea, to start thinking like that; now it looked like ALL of the trees were staring at her. She upped her pace a little bit, wishing she hadn't run quite so far away.
oooooooooooooooooo
Yes, actually, at least one tree was watching her. A very mean, scaly tree, with a missing clawed hand. Wait, never mind, that's not the tree. Silly me.
The Kalack moved stealthily through the trees until he was roughly a block or two ahead of the other alien. He dropped to the ground and sniffed out the trail she had left on her mad flight, and loosed his own scent marker over hers.
((Or, for those nature geeks out there...he peed over it. Yes, aliens pee too.))
That done, he backed himself into a thick bush directly in front of her path, and crouched down to wait. The wait was the best part, just about.
oooooooooooooooooo
Zim skittered out the door, and took a sighting on the tracks on the lawn. He lowered his black cloth mask, an idea borrowed from Dib, though he'd never admit it, and took off after the errant dragon, his mind filled with thoughts of praise and glory being heaped upon him by the shovelful.
ooooooooooooooooo
Gally ran.
Her heart was pounding in her chest, she had reopened some of the deeper wounds she'd received from the Kalack, and she didn't care. Now she was just running for the sake of being elsewhere. From the moment one scaled foot touched the ground, a nagging voice told her she'd been there too long, and then it lifted away for another step. On and on this went, until her chest was heaving and her muscles screamed profanities at her.
She finally slowed to a stop, and her ragged breathing pounded loudly in her ears. He had been so angry...her finely tuned empathy was overwhelmed by his fury. He had practically been screaming directly into her brain, drowning her senses in terror and hurt. The terror had kept her going so far into this alien world, driving her far, far away from the seething Irkan.
Acrid scents drifted past Gally's nose, reminding her of her precarious position. Alone, and in less-than-preferable condition...she gritted her teeth and turned back the way she had come. Like it or not, she did need to get back to Zim's base, even if it did fill her with dread. Now that her adrenaline rush had worn off, she was feeling incredibly sore and tired, and the main flow of emotion had left. She still had a pesky hurt in her mind, though...and she couldn't place it. Something between guilt, and worry, and general unhappiness. She frowned as she trotted slowly back on her trail. This feeling was a new one, all right, and she already hated it.
oooooooooooooooooooo
A hulking silhouette houghed deep in its throat, hidden in the dense middle branches of the trees along the road, and smirked to itself in primordial pleasure. The hunt was about to begin, and he would again be the hunter of this most dangerous prey. The best kind of prey there was; all the better to bring glory to himself.
oooooooooooooooooooo
Zim slumped in his chair again, counting the clicks of the elevator as it drew down to his level. One gloved hand pointed to the door right as Kith burst through it, and on cue, he spun the chair around to face her. She carried a shard of glass in one hand, spattered with a dark blue liquid. His eyes narrowed and he arched his fingers together.
"Well? You bother Zim. What do you want."
Kith lobbed the glass at him and folded her arms.
"I could ask the same of you...what the hell have you done this time?!"
Zim fumbled for the shard and held it up to his face to inspect it. His antennae flinched, and he dropped it quickly.
"Blood? From the Dalzorian?" he glanced up at Kith and raised an eyebrow.
She nodded sourly. "We—I heard you yell, and then the window upstairs shattered. Do you know what this means, Zim? It means there is a Dalzorian running around the human city, trailing blood, while there is also a criminal and a murdering psycho loose! What in the name of Irk have you done?" Her tone carried a cold accusation, of one who knows damn well what is going on, and asks only to make the other person feel like an ass.
It apparently worked very well.
Zim's face paled to the point where he nearly resembled Dib's old skin color. Then it hardened.
"Let the Dib-worm deal with it...He's the one trying to register as an Invader, isn't he? Let us see how HE handles this. Because obviously everyone trusts HIM so much more than they do ZIM...."
Kith ground her teeth in frustration and clenched her fists, but took a deep breath and tried thinking about it from Zim's point of view. Yes, he had been badly shamed...he blamed it on Dib...how to fix this. She blinked and looked back at Zim, lofty and condescending.
"I suppose, if you won't even try, then it is obvious who the better Invader is. I mean, how hard can it be to best a human in tracking down one Dalzorian? Imagine the glory Dib will get when he brings her back safe and sound..." she said, turning away from Zim with a disdainful wave of her hand. She realized with a small bit of smugness how well her plan worked, when she heard the small -snk- of Zim's spider legs unfolding.
"ZIM shall bring the Dalzorian back, not that filth DIB! Computer, do not let the Dib leave the house..." He cackled and ran for the elevator. "Glory for ZIM!" Kith could hear him laughing as the elevator whooshed him up to the house level, and even out the door. She grinned and followed at a more sedate pace, even allowing herself a small chuckle. Victory for Kith.
oooooooooooooooooo
Gally had developed a painful stitch in her side, of course. What else would happen when she was out alone on a strange planet, with a dangerous criminal probably staring down at her from the tree line....She tossed her head back and scented the air nervously. Bad idea, to start thinking like that; now it looked like ALL of the trees were staring at her. She upped her pace a little bit, wishing she hadn't run quite so far away.
oooooooooooooooooo
Yes, actually, at least one tree was watching her. A very mean, scaly tree, with a missing clawed hand. Wait, never mind, that's not the tree. Silly me.
The Kalack moved stealthily through the trees until he was roughly a block or two ahead of the other alien. He dropped to the ground and sniffed out the trail she had left on her mad flight, and loosed his own scent marker over hers.
((Or, for those nature geeks out there...he peed over it. Yes, aliens pee too.))
That done, he backed himself into a thick bush directly in front of her path, and crouched down to wait. The wait was the best part, just about.
oooooooooooooooooo
Zim skittered out the door, and took a sighting on the tracks on the lawn. He lowered his black cloth mask, an idea borrowed from Dib, though he'd never admit it, and took off after the errant dragon, his mind filled with thoughts of praise and glory being heaped upon him by the shovelful.