The Andalite Chronicles: In Loren's POV
A/N: Yikes, this is the hard chapter for me to write,,,,,poor Loren! Anyway, as always, I'd love your constructive criticism, please!
Chapter 11
I was in an impossible situation. Trapped on an alien planet, betrayed by the only human in millions of light years, probably. Bound in rope and about to be given off as a trade.
I was terrified. How had it come to this? How could I just a few days ago be worrying about the coming school year? It seemed as though that life was part of a life I hadn't seen in years.
I shuddered as the Hork-Bajir in charge yelled something in his language and some other Hork-Bajir came forward towards me. With its wrist blades, it cut the ropes off of my legs and my mouth. That was some relief at least; my legs were extremely sore and there were bruises from where the rope had cut into them.
But as soon as he cut the ropes, he yanked me up by my hair! I screamed in pain as he put me on my feet where I wobbled unstably on the ground. On the ground I saw clumps of my hair from where its wrist blades had cut off. My beautiful hair!
I wanted to break down and cry but I didn't have the energy to because the Hork-Bajir started pushing me to march in front of him as soon as I was up.
Elfangor?! Come save me please! I looked around wildly for him.
I stopped looking around and marched forward, fresh hope within me. Maybe I wasn't going to die after all.
But you're not going to get me now? I can't go on like this, Elfangor! I thought silently.
You're going to have to, Loren Hunter, I told myself. If you don't, it's all over for you. Just push it away; don't think about death just yet. Optimists live longer than pessimists do.
I clung to that sentiment as tightly as I could; it was all I had, even if it wasn't much. With a sense of renewed strength and determination, I marched forward with the Hork-Bajir and kept my head up high.
We walked for a few dozen yards to a . . . subway? It looked like a cross between a subway and a train, but no regular tracks. The Hork-Bajir shoved me inside but allowed Chapman to come in of his own accord.
He still had that look of arrogance and smugness. The Hork-Bajir in charge was accompanying him and they were trying to understand each other through sign language, apparently.
"You need hosts, don't you?" He indicated me and then held up his fingers.
The Hork-Bajir talked in his language excitedly and attempted to tell Chapman something that left both of us clueless.
"Plan not working, slime ball?"
"Shut up, Loren. I'm in charge here."
He pointed to me at the Hork-Bajir and mimed hitting something. That the Hork-Bajir could understand and he yelled at one of his subordinates.
Slash! A Hork-Bajir scraped my arm and gave me a six-inch gash on my arm. It started bleeding profusely.
"You bastard!"
Slash! Another gash on the other arm. There was blood now dripping on the floor. It hurt so bad that it was all I could do to keep standing.
"That'll teach you to smart-mouth me, Loren. Leave the smart remarks for someone else because I'm the only smart person around here."
"Yeah, well a few more gashes like these and I'll bleed to death, Chapman. Then where would your precious plans be? They'd infest YOU with their bodies and YOU would be trapped."
Chapman lost his composure for a minute, but put on his mask of supreme indifference soon after. "You make a good point, Loren. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were."
Again he tried to communicate with the lead Hork-Bajir and mimed putting a bandage on his arms and indicated me.
The Hork-Bajir shook his head, saying something angrily in his own language, all while I was dripping blood on the floor that wouldn't stop. Oh God, the gash must've hit a vein or an artery. I really will bleed to death!
"She'll die, you fool!" He pretended to die, rolling his tongue out and closing his eyes.
Finally the Hork-Bajir got it. He yelled for another Hork-Bajir who came and applied a yellowish liquid on my gashes. Almost instantly the gashes healed up, but the pain was still there. In the process, the Hork-Bajir also cut the ropes that bound my hands and I rubbed my wrists and felt the wounds on my arms. There was a jagged line where the gash had been, but at least the blood had been stopped.
"Don't even try to run away, Loren, or I'll have my dimwit friends here fry you before you get two steps, you understand?"
"I'm not going to win any races in this body any time soon. But you'll be the first one I'll 'fry' once I get out of here."
He laughed derisively. "Reality check Loren: I'm the one in charge."
"Oh really, Chapman? Then what're they doing to you right now?" I said, as two Hork-Bajir came up behind him as the subway slash train came to a stop.
I looked out the window. There was a huge dirty lake in the middle of the dust out there and huge cages full of Hork-Bajir.
"Let go of me! I'm the one helping you, you moron!"
The lead Hork-Bajir put on what could only be recognized as an amused smile and said some words in his own language.
They dragged him outside and another Hork-Bajir grabbed me as well and took me outside. We were marched to a long pier that was low on the surface of the lake and I watched as the Hork-Bajir holding Chapman forced his head down in the sludge.
In horror I watched as what looked like a slug slithered in his ear. My two Hork-Bajir started to drag me to the pier.
"NO! NOO! Let go of me!" I kicked and struggled with all of the strength that I had left in me. "LET GO OF ME, YOU BASTARDS!"
One of them picked me up over their shoulder and I punched and kicked and even bit it. Nothing seemed to have an effect on it. I had heard once that if you go limp, it's harder for the person to carry you. I tried that, but apparently the Hork-Bajir was too strong anyway.
But I did have an edge then. He thought I had stopped fighting. He was about to lay me down on the pier when I suddenly vaulted off his shoulder into the lake!
Splash! I landed in the sludge and started to swim for it, deep underwater. All around me I could feel the slugs as they swam around.
I decided that my only chance would be to stay underwater because if I tried to swim to the edge and make a run for it, surely they'd catch up with me. In my mind I should've realized that staying underwater wasn't a great option either, but I realized my mistake too late when I had to come up to the surface to breathe.
Before I could come up to the surface, though, I heard another splash! I forced my eyes open and saw Chapman coming for me!
Terrified, I tried to swim away, but I was so tired and Chapman was a better swimmer than I was. He caught up with me easily and grabbed me around my waist.
"Nice try, alien. We'll soon have one of us in you and then you'll behave."
I tried to kick him where it hurts, but he was too fast and punched me in the face! I went limp, reeling from the punch and everything went dark.
A/N: Yikes, this is the hard chapter for me to write,,,,,poor Loren! Anyway, as always, I'd love your constructive criticism, please!
Chapter 11
I was in an impossible situation. Trapped on an alien planet, betrayed by the only human in millions of light years, probably. Bound in rope and about to be given off as a trade.
I was terrified. How had it come to this? How could I just a few days ago be worrying about the coming school year? It seemed as though that life was part of a life I hadn't seen in years.
I shuddered as the Hork-Bajir in charge yelled something in his language and some other Hork-Bajir came forward towards me. With its wrist blades, it cut the ropes off of my legs and my mouth. That was some relief at least; my legs were extremely sore and there were bruises from where the rope had cut into them.
But as soon as he cut the ropes, he yanked me up by my hair! I screamed in pain as he put me on my feet where I wobbled unstably on the ground. On the ground I saw clumps of my hair from where its wrist blades had cut off. My beautiful hair!
I wanted to break down and cry but I didn't have the energy to because the Hork-Bajir started pushing me to march in front of him as soon as I was up.
Elfangor?! Come save me please! I looked around wildly for him.
I stopped looking around and marched forward, fresh hope within me. Maybe I wasn't going to die after all.
But you're not going to get me now? I can't go on like this, Elfangor! I thought silently.
You're going to have to, Loren Hunter, I told myself. If you don't, it's all over for you. Just push it away; don't think about death just yet. Optimists live longer than pessimists do.
I clung to that sentiment as tightly as I could; it was all I had, even if it wasn't much. With a sense of renewed strength and determination, I marched forward with the Hork-Bajir and kept my head up high.
We walked for a few dozen yards to a . . . subway? It looked like a cross between a subway and a train, but no regular tracks. The Hork-Bajir shoved me inside but allowed Chapman to come in of his own accord.
He still had that look of arrogance and smugness. The Hork-Bajir in charge was accompanying him and they were trying to understand each other through sign language, apparently.
"You need hosts, don't you?" He indicated me and then held up his fingers.
The Hork-Bajir talked in his language excitedly and attempted to tell Chapman something that left both of us clueless.
"Plan not working, slime ball?"
"Shut up, Loren. I'm in charge here."
He pointed to me at the Hork-Bajir and mimed hitting something. That the Hork-Bajir could understand and he yelled at one of his subordinates.
Slash! A Hork-Bajir scraped my arm and gave me a six-inch gash on my arm. It started bleeding profusely.
"You bastard!"
Slash! Another gash on the other arm. There was blood now dripping on the floor. It hurt so bad that it was all I could do to keep standing.
"That'll teach you to smart-mouth me, Loren. Leave the smart remarks for someone else because I'm the only smart person around here."
"Yeah, well a few more gashes like these and I'll bleed to death, Chapman. Then where would your precious plans be? They'd infest YOU with their bodies and YOU would be trapped."
Chapman lost his composure for a minute, but put on his mask of supreme indifference soon after. "You make a good point, Loren. Maybe you're not as stupid as I thought you were."
Again he tried to communicate with the lead Hork-Bajir and mimed putting a bandage on his arms and indicated me.
The Hork-Bajir shook his head, saying something angrily in his own language, all while I was dripping blood on the floor that wouldn't stop. Oh God, the gash must've hit a vein or an artery. I really will bleed to death!
"She'll die, you fool!" He pretended to die, rolling his tongue out and closing his eyes.
Finally the Hork-Bajir got it. He yelled for another Hork-Bajir who came and applied a yellowish liquid on my gashes. Almost instantly the gashes healed up, but the pain was still there. In the process, the Hork-Bajir also cut the ropes that bound my hands and I rubbed my wrists and felt the wounds on my arms. There was a jagged line where the gash had been, but at least the blood had been stopped.
"Don't even try to run away, Loren, or I'll have my dimwit friends here fry you before you get two steps, you understand?"
"I'm not going to win any races in this body any time soon. But you'll be the first one I'll 'fry' once I get out of here."
He laughed derisively. "Reality check Loren: I'm the one in charge."
"Oh really, Chapman? Then what're they doing to you right now?" I said, as two Hork-Bajir came up behind him as the subway slash train came to a stop.
I looked out the window. There was a huge dirty lake in the middle of the dust out there and huge cages full of Hork-Bajir.
"Let go of me! I'm the one helping you, you moron!"
The lead Hork-Bajir put on what could only be recognized as an amused smile and said some words in his own language.
They dragged him outside and another Hork-Bajir grabbed me as well and took me outside. We were marched to a long pier that was low on the surface of the lake and I watched as the Hork-Bajir holding Chapman forced his head down in the sludge.
In horror I watched as what looked like a slug slithered in his ear. My two Hork-Bajir started to drag me to the pier.
"NO! NOO! Let go of me!" I kicked and struggled with all of the strength that I had left in me. "LET GO OF ME, YOU BASTARDS!"
One of them picked me up over their shoulder and I punched and kicked and even bit it. Nothing seemed to have an effect on it. I had heard once that if you go limp, it's harder for the person to carry you. I tried that, but apparently the Hork-Bajir was too strong anyway.
But I did have an edge then. He thought I had stopped fighting. He was about to lay me down on the pier when I suddenly vaulted off his shoulder into the lake!
Splash! I landed in the sludge and started to swim for it, deep underwater. All around me I could feel the slugs as they swam around.
I decided that my only chance would be to stay underwater because if I tried to swim to the edge and make a run for it, surely they'd catch up with me. In my mind I should've realized that staying underwater wasn't a great option either, but I realized my mistake too late when I had to come up to the surface to breathe.
Before I could come up to the surface, though, I heard another splash! I forced my eyes open and saw Chapman coming for me!
Terrified, I tried to swim away, but I was so tired and Chapman was a better swimmer than I was. He caught up with me easily and grabbed me around my waist.
"Nice try, alien. We'll soon have one of us in you and then you'll behave."
I tried to kick him where it hurts, but he was too fast and punched me in the face! I went limp, reeling from the punch and everything went dark.