Hi everybody, here we are at the eighth chapter! Just like before, I had lots of fun making some of the interactions between the characters and I hope you will enjoy it.

Before we start, I will take some time to respond to some comments.

Zim'sMostLoyalServant: Yeah, indeed, I plant at least half of the interactions between Red and Captain to be like that. The reason I thought of the rock-paper-scissors was because it's the game most used to solve this issues, but then I recalled Red only has two fingers, so I decided to use that to my advantage. I mean, technically his 'paper' and 'scissors' would look very much alike, right? XD.

Invader Johnny: I made Captain's character similar to Red's in that sense on purpose precisely so they would headbutt. Their species don't particularly get along, so that helps, but these two already have a personal issue that further adds to the their short-fuse relationship. As for Zim being held on a pedestal by the sobrekt, I thought it's about time somebody actually likes the little Defective for what he is: a walking disaster. Of course this would irk Red to no end, though.

And now, on with the chapter!

Lost

Chapter 8- Patience 101

The 'ghost town', Next Morning...

"Wake up, Irken-scum!"

Ilk was the first to be startled awake when Captain's booming voice resounded throughout the house, soon followed by her father's groan. "You have the kidding me…"

"Huh…?" Lena rubbed her eyes and slowly rose up, snapping a few bones in the process.

Zim screamed and jumped off his tiny piece of fur-bed.

GIR... didn't even flinch and continued to sleep with loud but small snores.

Captain was on the doorframe, leaning against the door and tapping the tip of his tail impatiently. "If I am to lend you weapons, I have to make sure you will know how to use them."

"Do you have any idea of what time it is?!" Red growled.

"No, I don't. You better hurry before I change my mind!" That being said, Captain went back outside.

Red so wanted to go back to sleep, but he was certain Captain would change his mind about lending them the weapons. Besides, it might be a good chance to learn how Sobrekt weapons worked. If he liked them he might commision his own for self-defense methods. Though lately he preferred laser guns and long-range weapons, in the Academy he was pretty adept at close combat.

After eating the leftovers from yesterday's meat-the smaller amount let them know Captain and Blue had already eaten-, the Irkens made their way outside, where Blue was taking a look at the laid out weapons. Probably making sure they had enough sharpness.

"Before anything else, I'm letting you know they are just borrowed," Blue narrowed his eyes. "You better give them back in one piece or I'm cutting off your hands."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Before Red could go pick one of the swords, Captain stopped him.

"Hitorken Zim gets to choose first."

Red didn't complain, but he did glare at the grinning defective in contempt as he went and picked one of the twin swords. It was considerably long and big and yet Zim somehow managed to lift it in his thin little arms. How long would it be before he chopped somebody's limbs?

"Hahaha! Fear the almighty Zim!" Zim went towards the group of trees and started cutting through the wood. How did he know how to activate the laser blades? He turned out to be surprisingly skilled at it.

"Ah, that's mastery." Captain sighed almost dreamily.

Red's eye and left antenna twitched. Somebody give this crocodile a clue. Lena picked the dual sai (or Dusazu*, as the Sobrekt call it) for being the most lightweight. Red was torn between the remaining twin sword and the butterfly swords. His specialty in the Academy had been with short-blades, but Ilk wasn't strong enough to carry a longsword.

With that in mind he grabbed the other sword. Damn it, he could already hear Zim. Ah, my Tallest, so you picked the same weapons as me? I'm glad you were impressed by Zim's amazing swordsmanship skills! He also took the laser gun, thank you very much. It was his, actually.

Ilk grabbed the handles of the butterfly swords. They were a bit heavy, but she could handle it. Hopefully.

Once there were no more weapons on the ground, Captain took a few steps away. "Alright, now that you've picked your… borrowed blades, come along so I can give you a quick tutorial as to how to use them without chopping your fingers off."

"I don't need lessons from you, lizard." Red said with a frown.

"That's a curious claim considering you're not holding the sword right," Captain pointed at Red's hands around the handle. "Your grip is too weak."

"You try to hold something with only two fingers."

"More of a reason you need the lesson more than anyone here," Captain glanced at Blue. "You teach the smeet how to wield the Dukiva*."

Blue responded with a salute and a stamping on the ground with his tail."Yes, sir."

"What about Lena?" Ilk inquired.

"It's okay, I'll just stay here and take a look at…" Lena looked down at the sai in her hands. "These."

The group momentarily splat up, with Captain leading Red to a more open area just outside the ghost town. Once there he unsheathed his Nekusarai* and turned around to face Red. "Come at me."

Red blinked. "What?"

"Attack me with all you've got."

"Didn't you say you were going to-?"

"Come at me."

Oh, well, he has been wanting to hurt him since day one, anyway. Red lifted the sword and ran towards Captain, but his blow was effortlessly blocked. With a yell of frustration he struck again, but no matter his moves or speed Captain calmly blocked his attacks until he made one swift movement that sent the sword flying from Red's hand and to the ground.

"Your grip on the sword is too weak. You are impatient, rash and you let your emotions blind you, especially anger."

Red scoffed. "What? You can tell me all that just from watching me fight with the sword?"

Captain chuckled dryly. "You'd be surprised in how many things a person's swordplay can tell you about them," he retrieved the sword from the ground and gave it back to Red. "It seems you do know the basics, however."

"I was at the top of my class in the Academy, in case you're wondering."

"None of your opponents were Sobrekt, Irken. Your people do not hold swordplay as seriously as mine, you prefer to play safe and use long-distance weapons to minimize the risk of injury or death."

"Are you going to give me a sermon about my people's ways or are you going to 'teach' me how to use the goddamn sword?!"

Captain sighed. Impatient.

If Red was frustrated before, it didn't hold a candle to the humiliation he felt at this: reducing himself to being taught by an inferior species. Try as he might with all the strenght and speed he could muster, he could not breach Captain's impeccable defense nor land a blow on him. He tried every single tactic he could remember from his Academy days, but the crocodile was not caught off-guard. This in turn fueled his anger like the bonfire from last night.

Red had always had this… need to be the best at everything. An obsession, if you prefer. Ever since the Academy days he always strove to be at the top, no matter who he had to stomp on top of in order to achieve that goal (Purple was the only exception). The pressure was even bigger if his opponent was not an Irken; as an Elite he had to prove the might of the Empire. Well, now as a Tallest, that responsibility had grown to the size of the Massive itself.

Naturally, he wasn't taking Captain's superior (yeah, he said it, deal with it) swordsmanship and being defeated by him very well.

When Captain used his tail to knock him off his feet, Red snarled. Enough was enough. "THAT'S IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH WITH YOU!" He got back on his feet, stuck the sword on the snowy ground and stormed off.

"Is that how the Almighty Tallest reacts to failure?" Captain asked. "He throws a tantrum like a spoiled smeet and walks off like a whipped dog?"

Don't fall for it, Red. He's trying to provoke you. "I don't need to be learning from you! I am one of the leaders of the powerful Irken Empire!"

"Then act like it and face your problems like a man."

"I'm leaving!"

"Haven't you wondered how the Invader assigned to Sobr was discovered?"

That made him stop on his tracks.

"Tell you what. If you can land one good punch on me, I will tell you," Captain offered, momentarily nailing his nekusarai unto the snow. "What do you say, Your Tallest?" Upon receiving no immediate reply he smirked. He knew just the thing to blow what short fuse the Irken had left. "Aren't you still mad about my little…. Gift from four years ago? Sorry about your smeet's leg, by the way."

That did it.

Red let out a wrathful scream as he turned around and sprinted towards Captain with a raised fist. It turned into a painful yell when his hand came into contact with the Sobrekt's shoulder and made a loud CRUNCH. Red quickly retreated his hand, biting his lip to contain the painful whimper. His eyes stung with tears of pain as he stared at his fingers.

Mental note: use a metal pole the next time he wants to hurt Captain.*

Speaking of Captain, he stared down at him amusingly. "You're going to feel that in the morning."

How he wanted to tell the Sobrekt to go to hell! It almost came out of his mouth, actually. "We had a deal lizard, so spit it out!" he said instead.

Captain shrugged, picked both swords (he had the feeling Red wouldn't be able to carry his back due to his injured hand) and motioned him to follow. They returned to the camp and went inside the house, where Lena was examining the dukiva and GIR was still asleep... on Lena's lap. She got on her feet-accidentally letting GIR fall to the ground, but he merely rubbed one eye and went back to napping- when she noted the state Red's hand was in. "Sweet Irk! Red, your hand…!"

Red instinctively moved his hand away when Lena tried to take a look at it, but warily allowed her to grab his wrist to take a better look at it. "The proximal phalanges are out of place. How did this happen?" Red coughed and motioned to Captain subtly with his eyes. Lena glared at him. "You savage!"

"I am the savage? He punched me," Captain defended himself, but the look on that irkenette's face let him know she wouldn't accept any excuses. He looked at Red again. "Wanna hear it while she fixes your hand? Maybe it'll keep you distracted from the pain."

"Whatever…"

They sat down around the ruins of the bonfire. Lena went outside and came back minutes later with a good pile of snow, tore a piece of her skirt to carefully wrap it around Red's fingers, (he made another mental note to buy her another when they got back) instructing him to place his injured hand in it and keep it immobile as much as he could; before reducing the joints they needed to deflate them a bit. Afterwards the PAK would do the rest.

GIR woke up. "Oooh, bedtime story!" he returned to Lena's lap, ignoring her annoyed stare (or perhaps he was oblivious), and started eating from a popcorn bag he had taken out of his head compartment. Red blinked. How many things did he store in that empty head of his?

"He did a pretty good job at first, you know," Captain began. "The Invader. Nobody suspected anything, his disguise was decent enough to fool even the sharpest eyes. First he observed us, learned how we behave with one another before actually introducing himself."

Red might have stuck out his chest proudly if he weren't sore about his hand. "Of course. Invaders are masters of infiltration and espionage. If you don't mind, would you get to the point?"

Captain snorted. "That was his mistake."

"What do you mean?"

"Impatience. Just like you rushed me, he tried to rush things."

"I don't get it, you just said-"

"You'd understand if you let me finish without interrupting. Things went downhill when he tried to learn about our hybrids, particularly the Indokuros. Even amongst our own people the information regarding the Assets, including the exact amount of genomes used in each creature and what species DNA was used in the mixing, is strictly classified to all but the geneticists and the Shuryo himself."

"Shuryo?" Lena inquired at the unfamiliar term.

"It means 'leader'. The Shuryo is the ruler of all Sobrekt, as well as the strongest of all. Anyway, since he couldn't gain access to the information, the Invader thought he could capture an Indokuro and take a DNA sample from it to send it to the Tallest."

"Just for the record, at that time Purple and me were not the Tallest." Red added quickly.

"I know. The point is he did something incredibly stupid even for a Sobrekt: he snuck into the Indokuro corrals and tried to take one away."

"Why is that stupid? I would have done the same if I had the chance."

"And you would share the Invader's fate. Indokuros are unpredictable, even to their own Indokani. They only bond with one person during their lifetime and react violently to strangers; not only that, but no disguise can deceive an Indokuro no matter how well made it is. Your Invader would have known if he had taken more time to study the Indokani practices instead of just rushing into action.

"The Indokuros attacked him and inadvertently ripped off his disguise. You know the rest of the story from there."

Red shivered. He had not personally been present, but he had seen the news flash of the Tallest receiving Invader Frak's head and PAK on a platter, courtesy of the Sobrekt. Afterwards, Tallest Brud was so frightened he erased Sobr from the list of planets marked for conquest permanently. He and Purple had been considering re-marking it when they found a worthy Invader.

"Learning to be patient can be the difference between victory and defeat, Your Tallest," Captain concluded. He took a quick look at Red's expression. There was no longer hostility, but instead he could see there was genuine curiosity on his thoughtful expression.

"Mind if I ask something?" Lena asked. Now that Captain seemed to be on a talking mood, perhaps she could get some info out of him. "Why must you always send heads to people? No offense, but it's disturbing!"

"The head holds your brain: everything you are, your personality, your memories, all of it. To kill the snake's body you cut off the head, as simple as that. In your case, we know your PAKs are like a secondary brain, so the Shuryo sent it too."

"I like heads! I can take mine off, see?" GIR lifted his head from the rest of his body and held it up. He held it upside down. "Look, I'm walking on the ceiling! WEEE!" Captain just stared at the SIR awkwardly as he ran outside in fits of hysterical laughter. He thought he heard him crashing against stuff a few times.

Okay, awkward moment aside, Lena checked on Red's hand. The swelling had gone down considerably. Okay, now would be a good time to reduce them back. "Red, I need you to relax. I'm going to put them back in place, but I must warn you it's going to hurt a lot."

Captain had the feeling of how Red would react and was wise enough to cover his ears. Red, however, just scoffed. "Come on, Lena, I had worse injuries in the battlefield during my youth, how bad can it be-?"

SNAP!

Hothian's Base, meanwhile...

Purple's antenna twitched. Was it his imagination or had he just heard Red screaming kilometers away? Nah, he probably was imagining it. With that in mind, he went back to pouting and glaring at space.

The Hothians finally let them out of their 'quarters', then they were ushered into the hangar where the Ibris had been put and ordered to repair it as soon as possible.

Of course, Masouri had no intention to do so. He had a hunch as to what these people wanted and he would not give them the pleasure of leaving on his ship. Besides, even in the unlikely circumstance that they managed to fix the Ibris and get away from the Hothians he was certain no member of each party would leave their respective leaders behind.

The hyooman, however...

"This is agent Mothman, and as you can see I am in an alien world surrounded by ALIENS!" The hyooman, Dib, somehow had managed to steal a sort of video-camera from the natives and started recording everything that was going on. "These that look like overdeveloped velociraptors belong to a species called Sobrekt, and from what I've learned they are not very nice. They even have an Indoraptor! Yeah, you hear that, the one from the Jurassic World franchise!"

"I heard that." Foxtrot growled. The gesture caused his already-irritated throat to send him into a longer coughing fit.

"Their language sounds like the raptors from Jurassic World*, right?" Oh, right, the kiddo couldn't understand what they said, which led to another question. How come he did understand the Irken language? Dib pointed the camera towards Stink, Larb and Bob, who were busy playing cards. "And those over there are Irkens, just like Zim. You know who I'm talking about? The kid with the green skin who is an alien but NOBODY notices!"

Bob waved at the camera. "Hi, cold unfeeling robot arm!"

The camera then pointed towards Purple. "And this is one of Zim's leaders, better known as Tallest Purple."

"Would you get that stupid camera off, kiddo?!" Purple snapped, shoving the camera away. "I'm hungry and not in the mood!"

"That's an interesting claim, considering you ate all those doughnuts by yourself half an hour ago." Echo pointed out. She passed Masouri another tool and leaned against the Ibris, watching her packmate pretend he was working.

"You said it, that was half an hour ago!"

Tenn was staring at Dib's camera in utter disbelief. "A camera? Of all the things you could have picked you grabbed a fucking camera? When you could have grabbed a communicator or some weapon?" Not even Zim was that stupid.

"Hey, I have the chance to obtain actual evidence of extraterrestrial life and other worlds besides Earth! I wasn't going to let it slip!" Dib retorted.

"Hey, kiddo, don't you have more of those tasty doughnuts?"

"You mean the krispy kreme donuts?"

"Yeah, those!"

"Why would I have?"

"Well, you came with him. Don't you know if he brought more?"

"Would you stop talking about food? I'm getting hungry!" Almost on cue, Masouri's stomach growled, soon joined by Echo, Skoodge and Purple's. "Okay, how about we take a break?" Good thing those Hothians didn't really keep an eye on them.

Skoodge grabbed his empty stomach and gave the Sobrekt an almost pitiful look. "Do you have any food?"

"Do they even have a kitchen?" Larb muttered and took a look at his hand. Nothing. "Go fish."

"Yes, we have a kitchen, for your information." Foxtrot responded.

"Why didn't you say so before? Go and make me doughnuts!"

Masouri didn't like Purple's tone, but frankly he was so hungry he didn't mind going to the Ibris's kitchen. There was only one issue, though. "How do you make doughnuts?"

Purple would have made a perfect spit had he any soda or liquid in his mouth. He didn't, so he had to conform with his jaw dropping and his antenna flattening. "You don't know how to make doughnuts?! In what universe do you live in?!"

"We don't eat sugar." Echo said simply.

Purple groaned and turned to Dib. "You know how to make doughnuts, don't you?"

"I'm not an expert, but the basic to make the dough is flour, water, eggs…"

"There you have it, go make doughnuts with the kryvtors!"

"I can't understand a word they say, in case you forgot, I don't have a pak-thing to translate what they say like you do."

Purple grumbled something in Irken. Excuses, excuses! He glanced at Skoodge and Bob. "You two, go help them! More hands mean more donuts!"

Masouri led Dib and the two short Irkens inside the Ibris (all the while Dib continued to record the experience and narrating whatever little detail he had in front) and into the kitchen. It was small, but to Bob and Skoodge' surprise they didn't find any stoves. There was a fridge, some cupboards and a strange machine with a medium-sized opening.

"How are we supposed to make doughnuts without an oven?" Bob pointed out.

"Who needs an oven when you have this babe?" Masouri patted the machine. "Foodinator 2.0. You just say the name of a dish out loud and it will materialize said food before you can say 'order up!'"

"Is it operational? I mean, not even your ship's lights work." Skoodge asked.

"That's the issue. It won't even turn on, which leads to the question: how in the ancestor's name is this working?!" Dib had no time to react as Masouri snatched the camera from his hands. "Hey, give it back!" Masouri ignored him and examined the device. It looked like any other electronic…

"Let me take a look," Skoodge jumped unto one of the chairs and received the camera. What did it have that made it different from the rest of the malfunctioning technology? What did these natives put on it? It would be easier to figure out if they knew what caused the malfunctions in the first place.

He did notice that the metal it was made of was one he had never seen before.

"You should take a look at the batteries. It's that type of camera, right?" Bob suggested.

Indeed it was. Skoodge removed the batteries (to Dib's dismay) and placed them on the counter. They were glowing with a greenish hue in that same type of metal the camera was made of. "Would you look at that…?" Masouri leaned his head closer, his pupils two perfect ovals made even bigger by his goggles. Skoodge almost thought it made him look cute.

"Think it will make your food-making machine work?"

"Only one way to find out." Masouri dispatched some cables from the Foodinator and connected it to the batteries. A beep later the foodinator turned on. Masouri let out a laugh. "Ha! It's working! Good eye, Skoodge, you're the man!" He started making some more adjustments on the Foodinator.

Dib noted how Skoodge's eyes had gone wide and his antenna perked up. It's not that he cared, but he waved his hand in front of him. There was no reaction. "Huh… Are you alright?"

Skoodge's eyes were watering up. "It's the nicest thing I've ever been told…"

Bob patted his pack. "I know, buddy. I know."

Wow. These guys seriously need to get a life. Masouri looked back at them. "Okay, the Foodinator's working but we don't know how long these batteries will last. How does your Tallest like his doughnuts?"

"Chocolate flavour with no chips, nuts or fruits or of any kind, and a lemon-lime soft drink."

Just like Masouri said, the Foodinator released a bright beam unto the opening grid, and by the time it dissipated there was a whole plate of doughnuts and a vase of soft drink.

"About time!" Purple groaned once they returned outside with the doughnuts. Echo and Foxtrot almost jumped unto on their feet, their pupils thin slits. "Does this mean the Foodinator works?" the latter asked.

"Thanks to Skoodge here, managed to turn it on," Masouri said. He didn't notice Skoodge getting all teary-eyed again. "If you're hungry, you should take the chance to get some food before the batteries run out." He had not finished the sentence when he was nearly trampled by the rest of the group in their rush to get to the kitchen. Bob and Dib were not so lucky.

"Give me that." Purple walked over Dib without a second thought and grabbed some doughnuts. His antenna twitched in delight. "Ah, doughnuts!" He glanced at Masouri. "So you've never eaten a doughnut before?"

Masouri shrugged. Should he…? He had never heard of people who hadn't tasted doughnuts. Well, probably he wouldn't miss one doughnut, right…? Alright, he would miss it. Purple picked one and held it to the kryvtor. "Here."

Masouri blinked. "What are you doing?"

"Try one."

"Are you sure…? Like I said, we Sobrekt don't eat sugar for a reason."

"Come on, surely it won't kill you." Masouri blinked, tentatively grabbed one of the pastries and gave it a sniff. Purple lost his patience. "Just eat it already!"

The startled kryvtor swallowed the donut whole. It was very sweet, too sweet for his reptilian palates to take. His pupils enlarged even more as the sugar spread through his system. "It's… It's soooo…. Sweeeeeettieeee...!"

Purple just watched as Masouri collapsed unto the ground with his tongue sticking out, two perfect circles for eyes and an almost goofy-grin on his maw. Purple sighed nostalgically. "I remember my first time."

Somewhere in the Wilderness, meanwhile...

Ilk took a deep breath and held the the sword in both hands on guard position.

"You're hesitating," Blue pointed out. "You need a firm grip."

"It's the first time I've ever had to resort to actually kill something, so sorry if I'm not very happy about it!" Blue snorted (and sneezed). Ilk narrowed her eyes at him. "You don't believe me?"

"I find it hard to digest considering your people are known for committing genocide on a daily basis, am I wrong?"

"You can't judge an individual for the actions of others. I case you haven't noticed, I haven't called you a savage even though I know your kind tend to be brutish."

Blue gave another snort, incensed. "That's a misconception Irkens created because you've only ever seen us in the battlefield. We are brutish and bloodthirsty, yes, but only when we need to be."

"You talk much when your species sent one of the previous Tallest a head and PAK."

He couldn't believe the nerve of this… smeet! "So you imply we should have let him just cripple our planet's defenses so you'd come conquer us? Do you even care about all those species you conquer? Do you care about destroying their way of life and forcing them into slavery?"

If she were having this conversation with another under different circumstances she'd explain out all her ethical dilemmas and all that, but this Sobrekt was part of the group who had kidnapped her. She would not show 'weakness' in front of him. "We are Irkens. We keep what we take." She swore Blue's pupils had turned into thin slits again.

"In that case, come at me," Blue let out a deep growl (narrowly avoiding the coughing that lately came with said gesture), lighting the plasma blades of his trusty kunai-like weapon; it was set on training mode, however, and the plasma wouldn't actually cut through Ilk's skin, just burn her a bit. His mission was to take her to the Shuryo without a scratch, after all. "If you're so 'superior' as you say, attack me."

Ilk gulped internally. She was at clear disadvantage; he was bigger, stronger and was more experienced in swordplay. Plus, those plasma blades looked sharp. No, Ilk, don't let him intimidate you. Size is not everything, surely she could figure something out. For the first time she was glad Larb had been the one to give her most of the lessons.

The first thing you ought to do is to analyze your enemy. What kind of weapon does he use? Believe it or not, that gives you a clue as to how he prefers to fight so you won't be taken by surprise.

Analyze the enemy's weapon. Ilk subtly glanced at Blue's blade: it was a kunai with three glowing plasma-induced blades and a thick handle. It could be held in one hand. This, combined with what she already knew about the Kryvtors, helped Ilk deduce that Blue would use his speed and agility to his advantage and try to subdue her. Then she recalled one of Tenn's pieces of advice.

Should you ever face against a speedy enemy, take into account that in order for them to use it they rely on their balance to keep themselves from falling. If you throw them off balance, you can get the upper hand; to do so you'll want to target the legs. They are the pillars of your body weight, after all.

Ilk got into a battle position, holding up the sword in a blocking posture. She'd wait for Blue to make the first move; his claws were tapping on the ground, probably a sign that he was getting impatient for her to do so. When Ilk didn't move, her antenna twitched as she heard a low growl coming from Blue's throat. Was the Sobrekt's itch for fighting that strong?

Her patience paid off when Blue couldn't take it anymore. He gave a shriek, bristled his crest and ran towards her like a bullet. Okay, Ilk, it's now or never! The young Irken ran towards Blue and targeted his left leg; when it was close enough Ilk knocked his leg with a strong, swift movement of the sword's handle. Like she anticipated, Blue was caught off balance and he fell to the ground. Acting quickly, Ilk jumped on top of him and held the sword pointing at his throat with a hand, while pushing away the arm in which he held his kunai with the other.

Blue had no idea of what had happened. One second he was sprinting towards the Irken to deal a blow, the next he was on the ground at her mercy. She had a sort of skill he hadn't noticed, having underestimated her due to her smaller size and her thin, shorter arms. When she pressed the tip of Masouri's butterfly sword against his throat he knew she had subdued him.

His eyes gave a small, unnoticeable glint as he looked into her crimson eyes, so full of strength she was unaware of.

Ilk panted heavily as she stared down into the kryvtor's golden orbs, his pupils two perfectly thin lines. If dad had seen this he certainly would have been very proud of her. Well, she apparently made her point clear. Ilk removed the sword and got off Blue, turning her back on him as she walked back to the camp, not knowing what she just triggered.

*Dusazu: Sobrekt translation for 'twin sword'.

*Dukiva: Sobrekt translation for 'twin sai'.

*Nekusarai: Captain's personal name for his long katana. It's a tradition to name you own weapon after crafting and customizing it.

*Reference to a part in the Twilight Saga where Jacob kisses Bella and she in turn punches him, or rather tries to, but she breaks her hand in the attempt, and he jokingly suggests that she use a metal pole instead.

*Yet another referente to Jurassic World. My headcannon is that the Kryvtor branch of the sobrekt language would sound like the velociraptor vocalizations, growls, etc. to a human who lacks a PAK universal translator.

Next Chapter: Blue suddenly changes his attitude while Red and Lena bond further somewhat. Meanwhile, danger looks in the woods...