Chapter 3: Unexpected Company

Trazu recalled everything that happened during his 'black out' while he slept and what he remembered was horrifying. He had practically turned into a savage beast, attacking his enemies ruthlessly and with a level of furiousity he never knew was in him before. He had moved so quickly that the other Trandoshan couldn't even get a bead on him and was helpless when he practically tore him to pieces. There was the look of sheer terror on all of his victim's faces, especially on the other Trandoshan's: it seemed he knew about the state Trazu had gone into, but sadly he was now dead thus was no longer 'available' to explain it.

He couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if he had been in a more populated area. Would he have started to attack innocents as well? Something very deep inside him he felt 'smile' at that very prospect. With a mental cry of both disgust and fear he buried that 'something' even deeper into his subconscious.

As his mind became aware of the outside world again, he immediately knew something wasn't right. He could hear the sounds of a campfire, which meant he was in someone's camp: certainly couldn't be his own since he hadn't set one up yet today. Whose camp was it? Did it belong to buddies of the pirates he just slaughtered? Cautiously he opened his eyes, to be greeted by the pin point lights of the stars above.

Damn. He thought. I was out that long? When he had attacked the pirates it was just past noon: it seemed he literally slept the rest of the day away. Wanting to know who and what was around him, he carefully tested his limbs. He quickly found that every ounce of his body ached, both due to all the wounds he had received and the fact he hadn't fought that hard in a long time. Forcing himself to sit up, he winced in pain from his wounds and for the first time noticed he was clean, his wounds were bandaged and there was a blanket covering him. That was a relief for it meant he wasn't in a pirate camp: they were more likely to just kill him and when they did take prisoners they didn't bother to tend to their wounds from what he heard. So who helped him?

Trazu looked around a bit and spied a figure sitting next to the campfire. It was a female Trandoshan, who was poking at the fire with a large stick. The light from the fire made it a little difficult to determine details, but she looked like she had golden green scales and orange eyes and she wore an off white tunic like suit with a red cloth belt around her waist. At first he could only stare at her, for his was female of his kind he had seen for over seven years.

"You can stop staring kid." The female suddenly snapped, giving him an annoyed look.

"I am not a kid." Trazu said with a faint growl. "And who are you?"

"Really?" The female said, ignoring his question. "You look like you still got some growing to do."

"I can not help being a bit...vertically challenged." Trazu said, folding his arms. "Where did you come from anyway? I thought females don't leave Trandosha."

She snorted. "Where the heck did you get that notion? There are more of us off planet then you think." She said, looking a bit insulted by his comment, which Trazu felt was good payback for the height insult she laid on him earlier. "Anyway I was on a delivery mission when those...thugs...ambushed me and disabled my speeder. I would have been dead, but that male brute of a T'Doshok wanted to take me back to their main camp so he could have some 'fun' with me if you get my drift. I think he was considering starting that a bit early when you came along."

"How come I didn't see you before hand?" Trazu asked. If he had known she was there, he would have made his attack on the pirates a bit differently. Hostage situations tended to complicate matters, however that male Trandoshan never used her against him for some reason. Remembering that he was nearly killed by that male he assumed he didn't because he felt he didn't need to use her.

"Same reason you didn't see that T'Doshok brute at first." She replied. "We were behind the speeder, down at the base of the decline that was just beyond it." She gave a dramatic sigh. "I would have reached Dearic by nightfall if it wasn't for them."

"Dearic?" Trazu said, rubbing his chin. "That's only about a day and a half's hike to the north from here."

The female groaned. "That's far..."

"Not really. I travel that kind of distance all the time. I probably head there anyway once I've recovered a bit. That fight ripped up my clothing a bit so I should get them patched up, or replaced: don't want to go wandering the country side naked after all."

The females eyes seemed to gleam a bit at that comment, but it disappeared as quickly as it appeared. "Judging by your equipment…you're a scout?"

"Ranger." Trazu corrected, not sure if he should be upset at her for going through his things or not.

"Same difference to me." The female said with a shrug. "So are you offering to escort me the rest of the way?" she asked, her expression hopeful.

Trazu laughed. "Well, I could if you are willing to wait a couple of days for me to heal up enough to travel." He said. "That bastard did a number on me."

"Well, you did an even worse number on him." She countered. Trazu could have sworn he caught a disappointed, if not angry, edge to her voice. "And this delivery is a bit time sensitive, so I don't know if I can wait."

"Well if you can't wait Dearic is that way." Trazu pointed in the direction Dearic was. "I'm not going to risk traveling in my condition if I can help it."

"Oh puh-lease…other then the wound on your leg most of your injuries are minor. I bet you'll be walking again by morning."

"Maybe, but I am not one to take unnecessary risks." Trazu said laying back down.

"So says a short ass that just took on a K'Satikur warrior of all things." The female said with a faint snarl. "Only stupid people or those with a death wish take one of them on."

"For your information…" Trazu propped himself up on one elbow. "To the best of my recollection today was the first time I have even heard of this 'K'Satikur' clan, so how was I supposed to know to just run away like a dog with it's tail between it's legs?"

"He did warn you."

"So I thought it was all bluff. The point is moot anyway: he's dead…I'm alive. Now please…if you still want me to escort you shut up and let me heal up and sleep. If not, let me rest anyway." To make it clear the discussion was over he laid back down again and turned his back to her.

He heard another snarl from her but he ignored it. It did dawn on him that he was being rather snappy at her, despite the fact she did help him. However he couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her and he couldn't pinpoint why. Was it because she was the first female he's ever been this close to and his attitude was due to not knowing how exactly to act toward her? No, it was something else he felt, but what?

"You must get…'lonely'…being out here by yourself." He heard the female say, much closer then before.

His sense of discomfort went up a notch: he did not like the tone her voice had. "The life of a Ranger is one of solitude. " He said, refusing to look at her. "Being alone is not only accepted, but practically required."

"Surely you take advantage of chance visits every once in a while." He felt her drag a claw down the middle of his back, making him shudder involuntarily. It was obvious what she wanted and while Trazu was physically mature he wasn't mentally ready for such a thing.

"I'm not interested." He said stiffly, pulling the blanket over himself to further the point. "Besides seducing me won't get you to Dearic any faster."

"But it'll be fun." She insisted. "Come on now think about it. Since this 'ranger' life is supposed to be so lonely you wouldn't have as many opportunities to get it on now wouldn't you? Heck this may be your only chance."

"You seem to forget that when our people want to 'get it on' they must prove themselves worthy of it at first and return home. Even then it's never for the 'fun' of it." Trazu said with a snarl, his whole body tense: he just wanted her to go away and leave him alone. "I said 'no' and that's final."

There was a frustrated sigh. "Just my luck you're one of those boring old fashioned types." He heard her say. "So let's try it this way then…" Suddenly he felt something hard and sharp against his back. Trazu froze, not daring to move, his eyes wide with shock. He didn't need her to actually say the threat as it was obvious: if he didn't do as she wanted she would kill him.

"You're….that desperate…" He said quietly as he tried to think of how to get out of this mess. There was little doubt she was using his own sword against him: she had plenty of opportunity to secure it while he was out cold, and it would be difficult if not impossible to disarm her in his current condition. Even if he wasn't injured it would be difficult, for he had very little in the way of unarmed fighting skills. "Why didn't you 'satisfy' yourself while I was out cold?"

"Please, I have more class then that." She said. "Besides I was hoping not to resort to this….but you are a stubborn one. The male you killed earlier wasn't so old fashioned, but you had to come along and kill him."

Trazu glanced over his shoulder at her, noting she was already partly undressed. "So that little ambush story was untrue…"

"Oh the part about getting jumped by them was true." She said, a rather cold look on her face. "But a girl like me knows an opportunity when she sees one and their leader agreed I could be of use to them. I had the potential to make a lot more credits and have fun doing it with them then running stupid, boring delivery jobs. But no…you had to come along and 'save' me, leaving me unsatisfied."

He felt the point of the sword disappear and he knew if he was going to act he needed to act now. Gripping the blanket with one hand he suddenly threw it off himself toward the female. She gasped in surprise as it covered her and Trazu sprang to his feet and attempted to bolt. He didn't like running, but lacking control of his sword and being injured as he was, it was his only option to save his dignity and prevent a great act of shame from being committed to him against his will.

However fate seemed to be against him tonight, for he had taken no more then two steps when his leg gave out from under him. Pain erupted in that leg when the wounds reopened, fresh crimson blood staining the bandage covering them. Swallowing his desire to scream, he forced himself up upon his hands and knees, only to be violently grabbed by the neck and pulled upward.

"Cute." The female hissed, putting him into a headlock. Trazu saw a brief flash as she brought the sword up, dangerously close to his face. "Very cute. Good try kid, but I am going to get what I want…and you're going to give it to me."

She was thankfully gone the next morning, but what she had done to him left him badly shaken. That morning he could only gather his belongings and leave the area in a state of numb shock: he didn't want to believe what happened last night really had happened. The going was slow due to his injuries, but pure determination to leave the scene of that terrible event allowed him to block out the pain. It was later on, after he found a river to set up camp next to, that it started to sink in fully. He practically ripped off his clothes and jumped into the river. Ignoring the biting chill of the water he ripped off the bandages scrubbed himself viciously, wanting to remove and wash away any and all reminders of her. Finally the pain, both mental and physical, was too much and he collapsed against a large rock, sobbing heavily.

He tried telling himself it wasn't his fault, that the cards had happened to be stacked against him that day and he did everything he could do to prevent it. However the feeling of helplessness and fear she poured into him was overwhelming and his self confidence and pride was left badly damaged. He had discovered another negative thing about living the life of a Ranger as well: when something this bad happened there was no one around to help or console you afterward. Never in his life had he felt so isolated and alone, but fear of mockery and what pride was left in his soul kept him from wanting to seek out others for comfort.

Thus he only had himself for comfort….