Chronicles Of Terrus Chapter 13: Interval

It had been three days. The decision had been final. Visser 25 was allowed to remain in his position as insane overseer of the training facility simply because "There is no Yeerk ready to replace him. Yet." As Council Member Vortim had said. My team and I weren't sentenced to Kandrona Starvation. Because while we were the most unruly group of Yeerks ever known and our methods were borderline crazy, we were loyal to the Empire, and there was no place or Sub Visser we could be assigned to. Yet. So we were told that we would be allowed to roam around this planet, or any planet, and do whatever we wished until the time came when we were needed. Actually, we were really tasked with hunting down Andalites, but that's how I took the order.

Which is why we were skimming across the landscape, testing out our ship, and having the time of our lives. I was manning the under turret controls. "Would you keep the ship on a straight path please? I can't hit any of these darkap giant trees!" I shouted to my right at Serri, who said without looking "If you want to crash and explode miss, then I will be happy to fly on a straight path. And how can you not hit any of the trees? They're massive!" I growled and looked back at the video feed from the transmitter sitting atop the turret barrel. Giving me a first person view, as if I were the turret. I fired again at a passing Hork Bajir made platform on a branch that was ten times the size of our ship, missed, and growled again.

Serri turned the ship on it's right side and flew completely around a seemingly never ending tree trunk, going up and down, dodging the smaller tree branches that were about the size of our ship. I'm going to blow a hole straight through one of these darkap branches! I fired rapidly and wildly in frustration, letting loose volleys of dracon cannon at everything and anything, and I dimly heard Heyo say from the weapons station behind me, "If she keeps doing that the turret will melt itself. Not right now but if she does it for as long as I think she wants to...Hours I think."

Serri slowed the ship to a stop and then descended to land gently on the valley floor, though still with a slight lurch. I sat still, seething, raging silently. I'm the BEST! I AM! Why can't I do this? I slumped back into my chair and angrily deactivated the controls of my turret with a slap to the console. "This is a waste of time!" I shouted in frustration. "I'm leaving this darkap ship." I muttered as I unstrapped myself from the harness and headed to the back of the ship, where the boarding ramp was. "Terrus, it isn't so important." Heyo shouted after me. I ignored him, grabbed my ramonite pole from the casing I'd attached to the wall, and leaped out of the ship before the ramp was even all the way down. I waited for it to close, and took a deep breath.

Now what? I looked around at everything, the giant darkap trees, the smaller darkap trees, the bushes, the inclines and depressions. I heard the indiscernable droning and howling, the sound of movement...and was overwhelmed. I can't see any of these enemies! I could be attacked from above, beside, anywhere..Even from BENEATH! I stood there, not sure what to do, until a rustle of movement from a bush caught my attention. I cautiously walked toward it and twirled the pole a few times. "Come out if you want to live, you darkap." I said loudly. The bush shook, as if in response and I laughed. "Come out. Now. I'll let you live. Promise."

I got closer to it, close enough to touch, and something about the size of my torso leaped out at me! It hit my stomach and I fell back, landing on my rear, with the thing still on my chest! It had an elongated body, was black furred, it had three legs on each side ending in sharp claws, two eyes on the head, two more sitting on stalks like an Andalite, and had a mouth structure similar to my own. It was all snarls and growls, and many many sharp looking teeth.

I held the thing at bay with one hand and smacked it in the side of the head with my pole, not very hard, and pushed it off of me. It came back at me and I jumped to my feet. "Back away, darkap." I told it with mild irritation. This thing can't hurt me unless it gets those teeth around my throat. It charged at me and bit into my foot, drawing blood, and I hissed and kicked it away. "OK maybe you can hurt me." The darkap thing came at me again and I thrust the pole down into the ground, and the creature ran right into it. I laughed and flicked the pole up, flinging the beast away. It snarled at me again, but stayed back. "I'm the one enemy you can't beat." A stalk eye looked at the ship, and another was scanning the area around it, while the two main eyes were on me.

I dropped the pole and walked toward the creature slowly. It started backing away and let out a growl. "Do you want to be my veleek? I think you do." It held it's ground but still continued to make threatening noises at me. "Who do you think you're fooling? You can't possibly kill me!" I told it with a laugh. Now right infront of it, I crouched down and stared at the thing. "You know, I think you could use a tail. A tail with a blade on the end of it, like the Andalites." It snarled at me as I reached a hand out cautiously, and when I ran a single claw across it's back, it lowered itself to the ground and was quiet. I grinned at it "So you do want to be my veleek. I wonder what you eat. Other creatures? You seemed fine with biting me."

"Everyone is fine with biting you." Heyos voice said from behind me. The creature moved both stalk eyes to focus on him over my shoulder, and growled. I laughed and ran a claw over it's back again. "Or stabbing me. or shooting at me. Or slicing me open." I said to Heyo without turning around. "What is that?" He asked, all curiosity. Like me sometimes...This darkap..I like him. "I don't know what it is Heyo, but it's vicious, fearless, smart, and fast. Everything you aren't." I responded, only half joking. I moved my hand up and touched a stalk, and the creature flinched and pulled it's head back. "Well, I was going to say that it actually sounds like you..." Heyo muttered. I whipped my head around and stared at him. "What?" I said in confusion. He took a few steps forward off the ramp and waited for it to close. "The...creature..It sounds like you..." What is this darkap going on about? "We've tried to kill each other alot. this thing only tried to kill me once." I said, stating fact. He took a couple more steps toward me, and crouched down next to me. The creature looked at him, then at me, and back to Heyo again, all with the main eyes. "He's an okay darkap." I told the creature as I patted it's head gently. It stared at me with the stalk eyes, but kept it's head, and therefore the sharp teeth, facing Heyo.

"When you..recruited me...In the training room...You were playing with me. The fight..." He said, going from quiet to loud. He's shaking! Even more confused, I said "And on the ship...?" He stared directly into my eyes and said "You were playing with me then too. And then again in the mists when I had my blade to you." I couldn't think, I couldn't move, I... "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" I shouted indignantly. "Is it?" He said quietly. I was only..I...I let him hold my arm...I like him. I punched him in the face and jumped to my feet, ignoring the creature. Heyo got up slowly, still staring at me. "You're...You're a darka-" I stopped dead when he leaned down and pressed his forehead to mine, and hugged me to him. Everything was spinning and I felt everything and nothing, anger, happiness, sadness, love...Outrage.

I slipped my dracon beam out of the holster and pressed the barrel against his scaly disgusting gut.

He let go of me and took a few quick steps back with his hands held out away from his body. "Okay, my mistake. I shouldn't have done that." He said, fearing for his life. As he should! As ANYONE should when they encounter me! I like him...What? NO! I made sure my weapon was on the lowest setting, and I pointed it at his ugly face. "Terrus okay...I get it that was not acceptable..I'll just..." I walked forward, making him take steps back. The darkap still kept blubbering! "If you let me live I won't ever do it again! I promise!" He said in terror.

His back hit the ships exterior, and I kept going toward him until the barrel was pressed to his throat. How DARE he? To do that to me, and then EXPECT ME TO GIVE MERCY? "Terrus..." Heyo half moved his arms toward me, and I raised my free arm to his throat, pressing my blades to it, right beneath my dracon beam. I leaned in toward him and hissed, followed by a whisper with more fury in it than I'd ever known. "Never. Do that. Again. Or I will mutilate you in more ways than you think possible." He brought his left arm in quickly, and I grabbed hold of it with my free arm. "Never speak of this again. And NEVER do it again."

"I promise Terrus I won't! Both of those..I won't!" He said fearfully. I smiled at him. "Good. Get back on the ship." I took my dracon beam and my blades away from his throat and he responded with a little "Okay! I'm going now!" I watched him enter the ship before I spun around, remembering the creature, and found that it was still sitting there. "Hello my veleek." I said as I went over to it again, holstoring my weapon on the way. "I take back what I said. He's not an okay darkap. No he's not." Darkap...I wonder...I heard the ramp lower behind me, and I pointed a claw over my shoulder. "Darkap." I said to the thing with as much hostility as I could manage. "Darkap, GAFRASH!" The stalk eyes followed the direction of my claw, and the creature growled. I looked into the main eyes and said again. "DARKAP GAFRASH!" It definitely got the message this time, because it sprang up and took off past me, snarling and growling it's face off.

I snatched my pole off the ground, turned around and ran up the ramp after the thing. It responds to Hork Bajir words! As I came up into the ship I saw the creature hanging onto Heyo's tail by it's teeth, the latter trying to shake it off and saying "I don't want to have to cut off the tail AGAIN!" I saw Serri laughing to death from his pilots chair, and Eliza TRYING not to laugh and saying to Heyo "Just don't kill it please!" I ran up to my distractions and grinned at them, ignoring Heyo. I could tell by their eyes that they knew it had SOMETHING to do with me. "It's my veleek!" I said instead of greeting them. Serri stopped laughing long enough to say "Very appropriate. A vicious killer that takes on things far greater than itself and wins." I slapped him playfully and asked "So you think it will beat Heyo?" He hit me back and replied "Anyone can beat Heyo. He's a coward." Eliza frowned at that and glanced at me but I couldn't tell what she meant this time. "Should I go save my veleek?" I asked. "Yes!" She answered instantly with an exasperated sigh. I looked over at Heyo and saw he now didn't care if he lost his tail again, and was trying to slice the creature to pieces with his wrist blades.

"STOP! Don't you DARE kill my veleek you darkap!" I shouted as I started over to him. He stopped dead and stared right at me. Completely afraid, completely compliant. My distractions were dead silent behind me. "Felan Thuri." I said to the creature. Let go. It removed it's hold on Heyo's tail and lowered itself to the ground again. "There. Heyo-" In the next instant the whole ship was filled with a flashing red light, and an extremely loud and irritating alarm was sounding. I pushed Heyo back against the wall and spun around to glare questioningly at Serri. "Is this bad?" I shouted at him over the alarm. "YES! I advise you all to brace yourselves!" He shouted as he slapped the thrusters to full and pulled straight back on the controls, launching the ship straight up very very quickly. I instantly was slammed down against the deck, along with Heyo and Eliza.

I HATE THIS! I'm HELPLESS! I DON'T KNOW WHAT IS GOING ON I CAN'T KILL THE ENEMY- A thought intruded upon my current line of thoughts. It's not like I can even hit anything anyway. I screamed in frustration. At the ship, at the situation, at myself and my own failings. And I heard two very fast moving objects rush past the ship, and shortly after, two unmistakable explosions from below. "Eliza get on the console and give me information on the enemy and keep me updated. Shield levels, weapons stock, everything. Heyo, forward dracon beams." Serri rattled out quickly. I scrambled to my feet as the other two did and I started toward the cannon weapon station, but stopped when I heard a low whining noise. I looked down and saw the creature, and I threw my pole aside and picked up my veleek. As the ship accelerated I went to the large crates in the back of the ship and put my veleek inside one full of Cells. "You'll be safe here, my veleek." I told it as I put the top back on and locked it. I HOPE you'll be safe.

I ran back to the front of the ship and grabbed the back of my stations chair, jumping into it and strapping myself in. I don't care if I can't shoot! I'm sure as YAOLIN going to TRY! What...? Yaolin? Where did THAT come from? Whatever! Serri, to my right, looked over at me and nodded, but looked on his own right side when Eliza tapped his shoulder. "What?" He asked as he threw the ship into evasive maneuvers around a medium sized tree and all it's branches. She frowned and tapped a few keys and looked pointedly at his console. I leaned over and looked at it myself to see- DAPSEN! "It's her!" I shouted angrily. Serri glanced down quickly and cursed himself. "What's she doing here?" "I don't know! Why would I know?" I yelled at him. More to hear myself yell than anything else. I was mad. I was infuriated! I saved that little darkap from STARVATION AND THIS IS HOW SHE REPAYS ME? Heyo yelled from the far right of the ship, "SOMEONE TELL ME WHAT'S GOING ON!"

I gave a long drawn out growl, and answered him. "It's Desha." Heyo slammed his fist against the wall and shouted with pain, EMOTIONAL pain, "What are we going to do?" Serri took the ship down to fly dangerously low to the valley floor, and didn't answer Heyo. "What are we going to do?" Heyo repeated. Eliza didn't answer either. The duty of answering fell to me. "She's going to die, Heyo." I said, surprising myself with how gentle I'd sounded. How I lowered my voice, How I hadn't wanted to hurt him any more than that would...NOT THIS AGAIN!