My name is Ninebrels, and my boyfriend disappeared on me.
I find myself waking up alone in the morning, raising my head and looking around in confusion. The other half of the bed is empty. Jask seems to have woken and slipped out without waking me.
Rising, I stretch and pull myself up, quickly leaving the bedroom and heading down the hall. I look into the kitchen, thinking maybe he went to try and make breakfast on his own, but the room is empty. Frowning, I turn and run down the hall, seeing if he's in the back training. Nothing. He's not in the quiet room either, or the restroom. I go to the front door and open it, looking out hoping that he decided to have a go on the training tool I showed him yesterday. No such luck.
"I don't get it..." I mutter to myself. "Where IS he?"
A worry crosses my mind, that maybe I was never that important to him to begin with. Maybe all we had was temporary, just something to pass the time while he was waiting out the storm. Could he have just moved on like that?
I find it doubtful. What we have seems too important. Far, far too special. After what we had shared, all those emotions he laid out to me, there's no way I could mean nothing to him, right?
I shove the fear down and head back towards the kitchen, intending to make breakfast for both of us, hoping he will show back up.
On the other hand, he was rather distant at points yesterday. He seemed to be having a lot of fun on our first actual date, but...there were also plenty of moments where I caught him staring off into the distance. I couldn't figure out what he was thinking about, but what if it was...?
I enter the kitchen and sigh, but as I go to find something to eat, a piece of paper catches my eye, stuck to the refrigerator door. I hadn't seen it when I glanced in the room earlier, but now I quickly run and grab it, my eyes scanning the writing.
'Hey, Brels.' Jask has written. 'Now that the storm's passed, I decided to take a run back to my ship to grab some stuff. Didn't want to wake you. I'll be back as soon as I can, probably not until dinner. I'll see you then. Love you.'
A smile comes across my face as I audibly sigh in relief.
"Course. Makes sense." I laugh to myself. "What was I so worried about?"
I reread the note again, wondering just where his ship is. I presume it's parked somewhere relatively close, but it can't be too much so if it's going to take him all day to travel there and back. My mouth curves up into a smile as I read the last two words, before it sinks into me.
'Love you.' That's the first full-on declaration of such either of us has given the other. My breath catches with the realization, and I marvel at how natural it feels, so much that I didn't even notice it the first time I read through.
"Love you too." I whisper aloud, feeling compelled to try it. It feels right, in spite of our short time together, it really feels right, like we're two pieces that perfectly clicked together. The stupid smile won't leave my face. I have to tell him that back when he shows up tonight.
Placing the note aside, I set about to make my breakfast, thinking about what I can do to occupy my day until his return.
It's later in the morning, approaching lunch, when my doorbell goes off, chiming throughout the house. The sound startles me from my position in the quiet room, my instrument making an off-note squawk as I hit the wrong chord.
After a bit of cleaning around the house, I have decided that I want to do something even more meaningful for Jask when he gets back. So, I've come here and started writing a song. It's not something I do often. I more prefer to play music written by others than compose my own. But for an occassion like this, I think something more personal is merited.
It comes easily at first. I've managed to write out what I feel is a solid three-fifths of the song. It starts with two clearly separate segments, one quiet and lonely, the other filled with sadness and hurt, alternating between the two. After a bit, the two start melding together, and once they do, it rapidly picks up the pace, becoming an exciting, upbeat whirlwind of music. But after that...I've come to an impasse.
I don't know what the rest of the song should be. Everything I try just...doesn't fit. Already, a pile of crumpled up sheets of music is growing at me feet, and I'm beginning to worry about whether I'll be able finish it by the time he returns as I hope.
Standing, I set my instrument and papers aside, stretching as I head for the front of the house. Maybe a break will do me some good. Get my mind off it for a little, then come back with a refreshed headspace to put the finishing touches onto it.
I reach the front door and pull it open, finding my dad standing outside, an old book that looks like it's on the edge of falling apart clutched in his hands.
"Hey, dad." I smile in greeting. "What's up?" My father looks past me nervously, his eyes scanning the house.
"Where is...?" He starts to ask.
"Jask went out for the day." I tell him. "Won't be back until dinner, he said."
"Oh good." my dad sighs in relief, making me frown.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him.
"We need ta talk." He moves forward and I stand aside to let him into the house, closing the door behind him. He quickly heads for the quiet room, which is a curious pick. He usually would've went for the kitchen. I follow behind him silently, trying to puzzle out what he's doing here.
Entering the room, he goes to take a seat, a pile of papers in his way.
"What's this?" he asks.
"Trying to write something." I quickly grab them and set them aside, my father taking a seat while I do the same. "What did you need?"
My dad is staring at me with worry and sadness in his eyes, and it's unnerving me. He looks like he doesn't want to say something, but thinks he has no choice. At last, he sighs and sets the book on his lap, crossing his arms over it.
"How much do ya know about Jask?" he asks me.
"Uh..." I shrug. "I know that he comes from a race known as the Hive. I know that he's had a hard life, probably not my place to go into it to you, but let's just say his people are intolerant. I know he's a researcher..."
"Is he?" My dad breaks in. I hesitate. I mean...he didn't look the part, but I was just presuming the swords were for protection.
"He says so." I tell him. "What's this all about, anyway?"
"These Hive people." my father sits forward. "I recognized the name yesterday, but I didn't know for sure. So I went diggin, til I found this."
He holds up the book he carries before extending it towards me. I hesitantly take it, cracking it open and being hit with a majorly musty smell.
"This is a really old book." I mutter, my eyes roving over the yellowed pages and ancient style of script. My father nods.
"It details accounts of other races visitin our planet, many hundreds of years ago." he tells me. "What they did, what they tell, etc."
"So...what does this have to do with Jask?" I ask.
"Flip ta page 104." he says. As I careful thumb my way through the book, my father watches me with his eyes nervous and afraid. "Bottom paragraph."
I at last locate the page and my eyes drop to the bottom, beginning to read, an account of a discussion with a visiting alien.
'He warns of a dangerous race known as the Hive.' I read, by blood running colder with every word. 'By his accounts, the Hive is a conquering race. They arrive at a planet, infiltrate it, slowly transform the populace into more of them. What they can't convert, they kill. He warns that we should always be ready, should the Hive ever show up on our planet, to fight and to repel them immediately. Most of us seem to have already laughed off his warnings, but I am recording them, on the chance that they may prove beneficial to our descendants, on the chance the Hive does, in fact, show up.'
My eyes move up from the book, meeting my father's and suddenly understanding why he looks so worried.
"Jask..." I murmur.
"I'm sorry." my father shakes his head. "He's not who he told you he is."
"You...don't know that for sure." I manage, my voice desperate. "This was hundreds of years ago, you said that yourself. Maybe the Hive has changed its ways since then, or maybe this is a different race that just happens to have the same name, or this guy could've been lying, or..."
My attempts to explain come to a halt as my father's expression only gets more pained.
"Do ya truly believe that?" he asks.
"I..." My mind wanders over everything about Jask. How he was spying on us before I met him. His weapons and fighting ability. The shapeshifting.
'Infilrate it.' the book's words ring in my ears.
Is that what Jask is doing here? Am I just a tool that he's using to learn about my people? He asks so many questions...he probably knows most of what we're capable of right now. And then right after that, he vanishes. Back to his ship...were there more of his kind there?
Another thought crosses my mind, an image of Jask, crying alone in the night. My mind starts go over everything we've done together. The feel of him resting against me as I comforted him. The eagerness and passion of that first night together. Resting together the morning after. All the little moments that go between us every day. There's no way he's that good of a faker...right? I can't have been lured in by some phony sob story.
"Well?" my father asks. "Do ya?"
"I have to..." I squeak out. "Jask isn't like that. You wouldn't know."
"And you would?" my father's voice drips with skepticism. "Ya've spent barely over a week with him!"
"I know." I groan, pressing my head into my hands. "But I can't just...there's too much..." I can't even begin to articulate my thoughts right now. My father sits closer, resting a hand on my knee supportively.
"Listen, I can see how much ya care for him." he tells me. "And I wish he cared the same for ya back. But..."
"No." I shake my head before he can finish, cutting him off. "I want to talk to him about this. Hear what he has to say."
"Ya might not get that chance." my father protests. "If he's gone and vanished for the day, I'd bet anythin he's contactin backup. We need ta warn people, get ready."
"Not yet!" I hiss, beginning to become annoyed. "I want to hear his side of the story first."
"Did ya listen!?" my father's voice rises. "We have ta..."
"DAD!" I break in, tears streaming down my face. My father stops as he notices me crying, my body shaking as I speak. "I can't just...I love him, dad. I NEED to talk to him about this, before anything else."
My father's eyes shift around, contemplating what he can say. At last, he sighs in disappointment and shakes his head.
"He's sure done a number on ya." he mutters, seeing me brought to tears making him struggle to hold in his fears, not wanting to push me further. "Ta make ya that damn loyal."
"Please..." At this point, I'm pretty much begging. I watch tears well at the corners of my father's eyes and he quickly moves to brush them away.
"Alright..." he concedes at last. "Talk ta him first. But whatever he says, I wanna know, immediately! I need ta know if there's something I have ta warn everyone about."
"Fair enough." I manage to pull my face into a tight, restrained smile. "You should go home. I'll talk to you as soon as he shows up and we discuss it."
"I hope ya know what you're doin." my father tells me as he rises to his feet. "Be careful, son."
"I will." I promise. He stands and leaves me, but I don't follow. He knows the way out, and my mind is far, far too lost right now. I glance at the song I was writing, still having no idea how to end it, but now with a completely new distraction stealing my thoughts away from it.
Thoughts of Jask clash in my head, worries that he might be a monster come to destroy me and my people colliding with every experience I've had with him, none of them coming together to make any sort of sense.
I rise from my seat and wander my way to the kitchen, picking up Jask's note and rereading it.
'I decided to take a run back to my ship to grab some stuff.' I read. 'What stuff? Other Hive soldiers?" A chill moves down my spine and I set the note aside.
I can't just stand around here and wait. This is going to drive me crazy if I have to spend the entire day with these thoughts. I need to figure out answers, and there's only one way to do that.
I locate a fresh piece of paper and write out a note of my own.
'Dad, I wanted to leave this to let you know that I'm going to track Jask down. I'll figure out the truth. If I don't come back...I'm sorry, for not listening. But I HAVE to know. Hopefully, I'll see you soon, and you won't even have to read this.'
I move to exit my house, pinning the note to the front door and stepping back. Sighing, I turn and move towards the forest, staring to hunt for signs of Jask's trail.
It's only been twenty minutes. Jask's trail was very easy to pick up. I've always been good at finding things in the woods, and he doesn't seem to be taking any care to cover his tracks.
That leaves me with some hope. Surely, if he were really some conqueror, he wouldn't want any of us able to follow him back to his ship, right? He would be taking more precautions than he is. At least, that's what I tell myself, hoping to keep focused and not freak out. I have to believe it's true.
I soon find myself near my destination. I duck behind a tree, peeking out at the ship in the distance.
It's a towering vessel, stretching high into the treetops, but much wider than one of their trunks, the ground beneath it scorched and blackened by its landing. My heart sinks. It's a ship big enough to carry a small army with it. One person wouldn't need nearly that much space.
'No.' I shake my head. 'Don't think like that. One person COULD use that much space.' I'm doubting it myself even as I start to slink forward.
I dart from tree to tree. There are windows on the ship, and I don't want anybody who happens to be looking out them to see me coming. Ever so carefully, I make my way closer, until I reach the edge of the ship itself.
Scooting along its bottom, I search for one of the lower windows until I find one to look through.
Inside is what I can only assume to be one of the Hive Queens Jask mentioned, with a thin thorax-like body, a Beedrill-esque head with a crownlike formation extending from its top, draped in long woven robes that shimmer when the light catches them.
Three figures stand before her, and my heart sinks as I notice that one of them is Jask. The glass seems to be soundproof, so I can't hear any of what they are saying. Jask seems to be trying to explain something to the queen though, gesturing with his hands as he speaks. I try to focus on and read his lips, and I swear the words 'be wiped out' come out of him.
I stumble back, almost forgetting about cover as I run away from the ship. Remembering at last, I duck behind an tree and press my back to it, hoping nobody saw me.
A sob escapes my body as I slide down into a sitting position, wrapping my arms around my legs. There's no escaping it. It really is true.
Jask came here to conquer my planet and wipe out my people. He used me as a way to learn about us. There's far too much evidence in front of me to believe otherwise.
I have no idea how long I'm there for, trying to come to terms with the new discovery. My head falls forward and rests on my knees, tears dripping to the ground as I try to keep myself quiet while bawling.
I should've known. I really should've. It was all far too good to be true, my perfect love just stumbling upon me and caring about me as much as did them. And now, they're gonna take over this world...unless I do something.
My eyes narrow, reddened but furious as I look up. I have to get back. I have to let me dad know he was right. We have to warn everyone about what's coming.
I scramble up and start to run for the village. Before I make it ten feet, something latches onto the back of my leg, yanking back and sending me falling facefirst to the ground.
"What do we have here?" I roll over as the voice speaks. "A little spy?"
I scramble back at the sight before me. He's extremely tall and has a whole line of arm pairs extending from his shoulders down to his hips, a dozen in total, by my quick count. He has a Scolipede's face, venom dripping from his fangs as he laughs. Looking at him, I feel like he was one of the others in the room with Jask and the Queen, thought I admittedly had not been paying attention to them.
"Get...back!" I manage, scooting away from him.
"What? You a little scared?" he askes, quickly moving closer, his overly long body undulating as he does. "You should be!"
He lunges forward and I roll aside, barely avoiding his fangs sinking into me. Instead, they bite into the tree that he had me backed up against. As he yanks his fangs free, the spot he bit into smokes and sizzles.
I rise into a standing position, my blades extending from my palms. As my attacker turns and charges at me, I swing out, his body twisting back to avoid my blade passing in front of it. One of his fists collides with my face and a foot connects with my chest, launching me back.
I land in time for him to spring through the air, smashing down on me. I feel a snap inside my chest from the impact, pain bursting throughout me. Growling, I retract one of my blades enough to manuver it around and stab him in the leg, earning enough of a opening to shove him off.
As he turns to face me, a healing spore emerges from my cap, floating down and disappearing into my chest, mending the damage he caused. He tilts his head and grins.
"Jask was right about you guys." he tells me. "You are quick healers."
The statement that Jask was telling them about us throws me off more than I want it to, more than it should. The Elite takes full advantage of my hesitation, barreling forward and tackling me back. Lifting me up, he sinks his fangs into my shoulder, making me scream in agony as his poisonous bite seeps into my body.
I desperately swing my foot and manage to connect with his jaw hard enough to loosen his grip. Slipping free, I swing a blade that he swiftly moves back from.
My shoulder is bubbling and trying to melt away as his toxin eats at it. More healing spores emerge from my cap, three of them together managing to purge it from my body and fix the damage.
The Elite circles me as I spin and try to keep my blades pointed at him. From all of his hands, needle-like extensions emerge as he smirks.
"You know, I had my doubts about you guys." he says. "But I think you'll prove valuable members of the Hive."
"That's not going to happen." I growl.
"You act like you have a choice." He rushes me, arms swinging out. I dodge past one and slash another across the wrist, making him hiss and pull it back. A lower punch lands to my stomach, then another hits my arm, and a third connects with my shoulder. He has too many arms to defend against, and another arching blow from above knocks me to the ground.
My attacker presses down on me, jamming the needles on his body into me. I can feel something being forced into me and thrash, managing to get a sword up and jab it into his shoulder. He moves back as I stagger upright, feeling sick.
"Yes..." He grins. "Feel the power of the Hive coursing through you."
More healing spores emerge, scattering all over my body. Each one vanishes into a stabbing point, forcing a yellow liquid to pour out and spill across the ground. The Elite's gaze becomes angry.
"Your body rejects us even with all that!?" he demands. Leaping, several of his arms swing out, connecting with my body and launching me back against a tree shoulder first. I'm treated to another snapping sound in said shoulder, yelping as I slide to the ground.
"Will you...stop that...?" I groan. I try to summon another healing spore, but nothing comes. I'm all out. 'No...' Struggling, I force myself upright, my right arm hanging limply as I point my left blade forward.
"Ah, so there is a limit." He raises his arms as he stalks closer, those deadly needles glinting. "Perfect!"
The realization comes over me that there's no getting out of this. I can't beat this guy, not with a broken shoulder. Everything that had happened, it was just too much. My mind hadn't been on the fight, hadn't been on survival, and now, I'm about to pay for it.
I feel like breaking down, and in fact, I find myself stumbling back and falling against the tree. His grin becomes vicious as he sees my hope failing me, and he moves forward more swiftly. I close my eyes, readying myself for whatever is to come.
Instead of the jabbing into my body that I'm expect, what comes next turns out to be a scream of pain, sounding like my attacker's voice.
My eyes flick open nervously. Before me stands Jask, facing the my attacker. His sword drips with blue blood, and I realize the many-armed monster is clutching his front, where a long gash drips the same.
"Jask, what the hell!?" he demands.
"Get away from him!" Jask roars, leaping forward, his blades drawn back. My attacker raises an arm protectively, Jask's sword slicing through his wrist and sending a hand flying from his body. He lets out another agonized cry, moving back as Jask pursues him.
"What is wrong with you!?" he asks, swinging an arm to try and punch him. Jask flips aside from it, slicing out on landing. My attacker moves his arm back, preventing himself from losing another appendage, but the sword still connects enough to leave a nasty slice on it.
"You..." Jask charges, ducking lower under a blow and partially connecting on a blow to the his opponent's leg. "...do NOT..." My attacker dodges several swings before trying to connect with another punch. Jask stabs one of his blades through the arm, pulling up and slicing up through his hand to get it free. "TOUCH HIM!"
I watch in a mix of awe and confusion as Jask attacks. He's clearly in a fury, but he also seems to know what he's doing. His blows are targeting my attacker's limbs one by one, slowly reducing the number available through injury or, in some cases, outright removal.
Spinning, Jask delivers an upwards slice, cutting across his opponent's front in the opposite direction and leaving an x-pattern with his previous slash. My attacker staggers back to safety, his blood dripping everywhere, all of his limbs damaged, and with him barely able to walk. His eyes shift from Jask to me, still sitting against the tree, my blade having dropped. Jask moves over slightly to more directly stand between us, an angry snarl building in the the injured figure.
"Traitor..." he hisses. "You'll pay for this, Jask!" Turning, he stumbles away as best he can. Jask steps forward as if considering pursuit, but after a moment, he hesitates and turns, running back towards me.
"Stop!" My blade rises back up, Jask coming to a halt as I point. "Stay back!" A hurt expression crosses Jask's face. His eyes move to my shoulder and limp arm.
"Brels, you're hurt." he tells me.
"And you're...a liar." I manage, his face falling. I get up as best I can, using the tree as support to manage it. "You're no researcher."
"I...no." He reluctantly shakes his head. "No, I'm not." His gaze is still fixed on my shoulder. "You shouldn't have come here...are you out of healing spores?"
"What do you care?" I demand. Jask's expression turns shocked. "Just one less thing standing in you and the Hive's way if I go, isn't it?"
"Brels..." He steps closer, his expression downcast and brokenhearted. Seeing him like that makes me hurt as well. He reaches out, pushing my arm with its extended blade aside. "Come on." He moves even closer, reaching his arms around me and lifting me.
I find myself held in his grip, having to sling my good arm around his neck to hold myself steady. I look at Jask and he offers me a small, nervous smile.
"We have to get you back to the village." he tells me, moving in that direction. "Your dad's a doctor, right? He should be able to help you."
I'm quiet for several minutes as he carries me. He moves assuredly, but also with a care, doing his utmost to avoid jarring me and hurting me further. I look up to his face to find tears emerging from his eyes.
"My dad was...the one who figured it out." I tell him. "Some old book mentioned you guys."
"I thought something was off with him yesterday." Jask nods in understanding.
"It's true, isn't it?" I ask. "You came here to conquer this planet."
"It WAS true." Jask tells me. "But then I met you, and I just..." He shifts his gaze look at me. "I can't go through with it. I'm NOT going to let it happen. You know that...right?"
"No, I don't." I shake my head. "I thought I knew what you were, but..."
"I'm your boyfriend, Brels." Jask tells me. "That hasn't changed. I love you." The words remind me of the note he left, and how I wanted to say it back to him. A part of me still wants to do it now. I don't know what to believe anymore.
"Why did you go back?" I ask. Jask shakes against me with laughter. "Something funny?"
"One thing." he manages. "I went back for two reasons, Brels. One, I had something I wanted to surprise you with, needed to pick it up. And two, I wanted to try and convince the rest of the Hive that this planet was too dangerous to conquer." My confused gaze finds his again. "That we'd be wiped out if we tried."
Is that what he was saying on the ship? Fuck, I'm so confused.
"You told them about what we can do." I accuse.
"Only the healing." he says. "And I exaggerated it. Wanted to make you seem unbeatable. One of the others had tried and failed to infect one of you on his scouting mission, so that helped my case a bit. I thought maybe I could convince them to leave and never come back."
I think about my fight with the Elite, how he had been surprised that my healing had a limit to it. How he had tried such a heavy dose of his injection.
It being so comfortable and safe-feeling in Jask's arms is not helping my case either. Every moment I'm here, I feel like curling up against him and closing my eyes. I have to actively remind myself not to do it.
"Jask, I...I want to trust you." I force out instead. "But I don't...how am I supposed to, after...?" He nods sadly.
"I should've told you sooner." he says. "I know. And I'm sorry. I just...I couldn't stand if you hated me for it. The worry that...that I might lose you, it...every time I thought about it, that was there to stop me. And now..." He looks away from me. "Maybe now I have lost you, because I stayed quiet so long." I feel the tremble of his body as he struggles to keep from crying. "You just mean so much to me." His face swoops down, my eyes widening as he kisses me, as deeply and desperately as he can manage. When he pulls back, it takes me a moment to catch my breath. "I never want to hurt you, Brels. Ever."
I make a decision, in that moment. Seeing him laid bare like thatt, I decide that I need to trust him again. That kind of passion and feeling can't be faked, at least, I like to believe it can't be. My mind recalls him standing protectively in front of me, his blades dripping in his own kind's blood, raw fury in his gaze. That is not the image of somebody who is going to betray me.
Jask's eyes are locked ahead, not looking at me. I think he's worried I'll be mad at him kissing me in that moment. I reach up my good hand to push his face towards me, rising up and meeting him with a kiss of my own, leaving his eyes widening.
"I forgive you." I tell him, leaning my head against his chest. "I love you too. More strongly than anything I've ever felt."
"Thank..." Jask half-sobs, half-laughs as he takes in what i've said. "Thank you, Brels."
"Besides..." I frown. "I don't think the Hive is gonna be very happy with you after you attacked that...whatever he was."
"Elite Guard." Jask tells me. "Dangerous bastards. And yeah..." he frowns. "There's no way they're gonna buy the too dangerous argument I made, not after almost killing you. Which means I'm pretty much a dead man."
"I'm sorry." I offer. "You were right. I shouldn't have come."
"You wouldn't have had to if I had spoke up sooner." Jask shakes his head. "Don't blame yourself. I'm the one who deserves it."
"So...what do we do?" I ask him.
"First things first, we get you taken care of." he says firmly. "And then...we'll figure out how we can prepare for..." He doesn't finish the sentence, but I know what he's thinking. When they come for him.
We've arrived back at the village, and I direct him towards my father's house. Several Fungusians I know notice us and approach, trying to ask about what happened to me, but we brush them off with assurances that I'll be okay. Soon, we arrive at my father's place, Jask carefully removing a hand to knock.
After a few moments, my father opens the door, his face quickly shifting between a whole range of emotions as he looks at us.
"His shoulder is hurt." Jask says. "Can you help?"
"Of course." My father nods, quickly moving aside, his concern for me outweighing his suspicion of Jask. Jask carries me inside, where my father directs us to a table. As I'm laid across it, he begins hunting for supplies. "What happened?"
"He was attacked." Jask looks down in shame. "By another of my kind." My father, drawing gauze from a drawer, looks to him in surprise. "You were right, sir. We didn't come here peacefully. But I'm not with them anymore." He steps forward to hold my good hand as my father approaches the table.
"And we're supposed ta just believe that?" he demands.
"Dad." I protest. "He saved me. Nearly killed the guy who did this."
"Would've, if I you hadn't been hurt." Jask agrees.
"And now they'll all be after him." I point out. "So you can believe that he's not with them now. They'd kill him if he tried."
My father says nothing as he examines my shoulder.
"Broken bone." He mutters. "We're gonna have ta set it. Don't want it ta start healin wrong before ya get your spores back." He carefuly manuvers my arm and shoulder into their proper position, Jask squeezing my hand as I wince in pain. My father afixes me with a sling to hold it in that spot, nodding to himself. "That should hold it until you're ready ta fix it fully."
"Thanks." I groan as I rise, Jask helping me up into a sitting position.
"Does this village have any defenses?" Jask asks, earning a glare from my father.
"Not a lot." I answer him, cutting of my dad's suspicious question before he can say it. "We've never had to deal with...a full-on assault before."
"We're not prepared for somethin like that." My father shakes his head. "We need ta evacuate."
"It won't do any good." Jask frowns. "They'll keep coming until they take out everyone on this planet. We need to stand. Scare them away if we can, kill them if we can't."
"That sounds like a good way ta get us all killed." My father growls.
"It's the only way." Jask insists. "Trust me, I know how the Hive thinks. They're vicious, but most of them, they're not that brave. If we can deal them a heavy enough loss...we can drive them from the planet. For good."
"We don't know how to fight a battle like this." I say. "It's not going to be easy."
"Luckily, we have somebody who DOES." Jask smiles. "You rest here, Brels. Dr. Fungra?" He stands. "I need you to show me what we're working with."
My father slowly rises to his feet, his gaze locked on Jask as I look back and forth between them. He seems to be assessing Jask, debating with himself on the proper course. At last, he sighs in frustration.
"I still don't know if I trust ya." he says. "But...ya saved my son's life." He looks to me and I nod in agreement. "So for now, I guess I don't have much choice." He nods towards the door. "C'mon. Let's go."