Turns out, when I originally posted this... I forgot to save it when I was done, so t only put on here how much I did before I saved it... leaving the chapter incomplete. And I didn't notice until now. So HERE is the completed chapter 4. Sorry guys.
I hadn't gone back inside yet. I figured since everything just hit me that I kinda wanted to be alone. I took a walk towards one of the other closer cabins. I haven't taken a walk in the woods in a long time. It's kinda nice. Birds were chirping in the trees, the wind blowing softly. Just would like to avoid the bugs. I used what I could see of the cabin through the trees to guide myself there. This walk was so peaceful, the most peace I've had in a while since school, and the play... and the attack. I paused and looked at the sky, looking for that star. I knew it was long gone by now, but... any kind of glimpse of her would make me happy.
"I wish you could be here with me, Hagino." I said softly, looking into the sky. The sky, however, wasn't nearly as bright as her eyes. Her real eyes. Even though I've only seen them once... I felt tears threatening to fall but blinked them off. I'm not gonna cry about it. I know she wouldn't want me to. I'm gonna keep on living, just like she would want me to. I smiled at the sky before I turned my attention back to the cabin and continued on. After a few moments I reached the clearing to the next cabin. It was pretty identical to the last one; stairs leading up to a balcony, balcony leading inside. This cabin seemed a bit smaller; it didn't look like it had as many rooms as the other did. There were a few small picnic tables scattered around. I front of it. I didn't notice if we had any. I wandered up the stairs just to see if the cabin was open. I looked inside the wire screen door and saw pretty much nothing inside, just a rug or two and a Kaihou banner. I tugged on the door but it was locked.
I turned towards the balcony to walk around the rear of the cabin just to see what was around there when I heard something move. It sounded like someone walking on the wood floor. My heart nearly leaped out of my chest. I froze and turned towards the door of the cabin when I saw a slim blue eyed girl through the wire screen.
"Mari?" she gasped. I saw her reached for the door handle to unlock it.
"Tsubael!" I said softly. All the fear I was frozen by was replaced with relief.
"I'm so glad to see that you're okay!" she said as she approached.
"If you're here then that means..." I started with a smile filled with anticipation. But it slowly faded as Tsubael's head hung.
"I'm afraid not." she nearly whispered. "Before she shifted the ship on a crash course to the Novaal, she ejected me from the ship. There was nothing I could do. I'm sorry." She trembled a bit. I'm sure I heard her sniffling.
"Guess I'm not the only one devastated about it." I said quietly. She quickly picked her head up and looked me in the eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Mari. It's all my fault. The commander asked me to protect the school just long enough for the play. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't hold them off. So she had to sacrifice herself... to do what she asked me to do..." Tsubael said, tears falling from her face. "I'm sorry. I know how much she meant to you."
"It's not your fault." I said softly. I walked up to her and grabbed her shaking hands. Her eyes, almost as blue as Hagino's, were filled with tears. "She's told me about what a great gunner you are. You did what you could. She couldn't have asked for anyone better."
Tsubael looked at me with the most vulnerable eyes I've ever seen. "Mari..."
"Listen, a friend of mine told me that I shouldn't be sitting around feeling sorry about what happened because in reality, what Hagino did was for all of us, especially for you and me. She wanted us to live on. So we would have a better chance to survive. So that's what we have to do." I said tears threatening to fall again. "You know she wouldn't want us crying over her." She looked at me with a bit of a surprise and then smiled.
"You're right." she said, She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "It's just when I saw you, it just reminds me so much of her…. However that's not why I'm here." she said quickly collecting herself. I released her hands as she straightened. "You see, I know that the Commander would want me to do everything within my power to keep you safe. So that's what I intend to do. The fleet that was over the island was the only one attacking this part of Japan, and since Commander Ekaril... uh, Hagino, and I destroyed them all this island is safe. But, I'm not sure how long that will last, The Arume will be wondering what happened to an entire fleet where the invasion was so easy elsewhere."
"So... what should I do?" not much was going through my mind, oddly. I didn't feel like I was in danger.
"I'd say the best thing is to stay here." Tsubael shrugged. "Be careful not to let too many people know about your relationship with the Commander. Sooner or later they will be here. Do you know if any males are still on the island?"
"I don't know there may be," I replied. "Why? Are they after men or something?"
"Yes" Tsubael said plainly. "I believe you were sleeping when the commander explained it to you but our people came here because we've turned into an all-female species. We can still manage to reproduce but if we don't do something quick our people will die off. We came here to prevent that."
"Well honestly I don't think an invasion was very necessary. There are enough sex-crazed men here who would sleep with beautiful alien females…." I grumbled. "All you guys had to ask…"
"Yes. The commander and I saw that," Tsubael said softly. "But now it's too late. So the best thing we can do is keep you safe. You're traveling with others from your school, right?"
"Yeah." I replied.
"Alright. Well then it's the same as before I see." Tsubael said before turning back towards the house. I followed. "The ship that I was ejected from is around the back of the place. That was why I stopped you before you went back there before I knew who you were. But from there I can somewhat monitor you like I was monitoring the commander." We turned into a closed off room surrounded by screens with some type of words on them. Must have been in Arumean or something.
She pulled a lifeless looking bird from under a bunk bed. "These are what we used to speak to each other. I don't have enough power to shift to you so this will have to do." She tapped a button on her wristband and the bird cawed suddenly and fluttered around a bit. The eyes turn read when I speak so you'll be able to tell it from other birds. I'll keep you updated on anything I hear about the Arume. You'll have to relay those messages to your friends. I'm not sure how kindly they'll take to an alien helping them."
I looked to Tsubael with a small smile. "You'd be surprised."
Okay THIS is chapter 4. I did delete the other chapter so that everyone could be notified about this instead of replacing the chapter. So, there you go.