Chapter 5: Molehounds

Rocket swore to himself over and over again. He was so focused on getting Tia the hell out of that area that he hadn't taken five seconds to grab his bag. Without his bag, he didn't have his gun. Without his gun, there was no way he could protect Tia from the Molehounds. A shiver went down his back when he thought of those monsters that were following them. There was no way he was going to let those things catch up to them. Tia on the other hand was just ignoring the pain that was burning through her chest and was focusing on running for her life. They could have gone faster but they had no flash light to help them find their way through the darkness of the forests, so they had to watch where they were going with only the moonlight to help guide them, earning cuts from out stretched bunches and sticky leaves and twigs getting stuck in their hair. Despite all of the worries that were chasing them, Rocket couldn't help but think how athletic Tia was. Even with all her injuries she had stayed at a constant pace with him and hadn't slow down once.

"Rocket look out!" Tia yelled out, bringing him back to reality but it was too late. Before Rocket could decide what was going on a Molehound knocked Rocket backwards; Rocket went flying into the tree behind him and was trying to wrestle the dog off him. "Rocket!" Tia shouted, as she ran over to help him but before she could reach him she also went flying when a Molehound bashed into her side but instead of knocking into a tree, she went rolling down a hill.

"Tia!" She could hear Rocket yell from the top of the hill. But she couldn't yell anything back because she was too busy trying to protector herself while she went tumbling downs the hill. After what seemed like forever she finally ended up in a muddy pool. Gross! She thought to herself, as she began to drag herself out of the mud. She instantly stopped when she heard growling from somewhere nearby. Looking up she came face to face with the Molehound. Tia caught her breath, as she stared into the eyes of the monster. It looked like a greyhound with a twisted moles head, with longer fangs and claws. Tia wondered why the Mole hound wasn't attacking until the moonlight shone onto the Molehounds face. It's blind, Tia cried out silently to herself. As long as she didn't make any sudden movements, she would be all right. Slowly the Molehound move his head forward and began sniffing her. Tia forced her body to stay still while the hound sniffed her. She closed her eyes and prayed for it to be over quickly. Why isn't it attacking me? Tia wondered. Sure it's blind but surely it could still smell me. That's when commonsense finally hit her. It's the mud; the mud's covering up my scent. She reminded still and let the Molehound continue to sniff her. After what seemed like a century (but was really a few seconds) Tia could hear the animal ran away in the distance. Quietly she stood up, she took her time to look around first and see if there were any other hounds around before letting herself breath properly again. Rocket! Tia thought suddenly, turning her face to the top of the hill.

"Rocket!" Tia cried out. She listened for a few moments before trying again but nobody answered. There was no sound; not even a Molehound growling. What if he's hurt? Tia panicked. Instinct took over as she began pulling herself up the hill, she slipped down a few times but somehow -through all of the pain- she managed to get herself up to the top. When she looked around, she couldn't see anyone or anything. She called out Rockets name again but she still received no answer. "Rocket! ROCKET!" She shouted out more desperately. Tears were beginning to fill her eyes as she became more and more desperate. Where are you? She prayed that he was all right. She looked around the area where Rocket had been last. She could barely see anything and nearly fainted when she touched some kind of liquid and released it was blood. She suddenly heard the crunching of leaves somewhere in the distance.

"Rocket! Rocket is that you." She called out, as she walked towards the crunching noise. She tried to follow the sound as best as she could but kept losing it. Please be all right, she prayed again, as she heard the crunching sound again. She must have been searching for nearly an hour now or at least that's what it felt like. She followed the noise until she stepped out into an opening.

"Put your hands up girl and come towards us slowly." A firm voice order from the shadows. Tia was suddenly blinded when a million lights switched on. When she was able to look again saw that she was surrounded by men in uniform; all holding guns that were pointing directly at her chest. When she finally realised what was going on she tried to make a run for it but some of the men had sneaked up behind her and blocked her path. She twisted around franticly, trying to find some way to escape.

"Miss Point, we need you to come with us." A man's voice spoke out. Tia turned to see a man with an artificial eye and white lab coat. Just behind him, Tia could see a lab assistant holding up a camera behind him. Why is that man filming me? Tia wondered, before turning her attention back to the bald man that was now walking steadily towards her. She stepped away from him, as he came closer and closer.

"Where's Rocket?" Tia demanded she wasn't going anywhere until she knew that Rocket was ok. The man stopped for a second before he began walking towards her again.

"I don't know but I can assure you he's probably dead." The man replied and quickly made a hand gesture. Before Tia could do anything, two man in uniforms came up behind and grabbed her. She struggled with all her might but with no success. "Drug her; we don't want her doing anything stupid, especially if Bleylock wants her alive." He commanded the two men. They both nodded and dragged Tia off to one of the vehicles. Tia was sinking deeper and deeper into depression. Not because of what was happening now, she hadn't been paying attention to what the man had said. All she could do was think about was Rocket, she couldn't bare it if he was dead.

"Rocket!" She wailed in pain. Suddenly, she could feel the blue energy burn inside her and before she could do anything raw power explored out of her. She had no idea what happened next because she blacked out.

Tia stood in the middle of an empty room; there was no light, no furniture, no nothing. What is this place? Tia wondered to herself. She wasn't sure what was going on but she had a really bad feeling about being here. She didn't realise that someone was calling for her until she stopped trying to figure out what the bad feeling was. Slowly turning around she saw Rocket standing a few steps behind her.

"Rocket!" Tia cried out in delight and began running towards him. Tears of happiness sprang from her eyes but she instantly stopped when someone appeared behind him and held a sharp blade that glittered around his throat. Out of fear she stepped back but that was all she did. She wasn't going to run and leave Rocket with that monster that held him captive.

"Hello honey." Jonathan hissed, slowly drawing the blade across his throat.

"No! Please stop, I'll do anything, Please I'm begging you." Tia pleaded over and over again, screaming at the top of her voice. Everyone that was in the room, watching over her while she slept, ran to her but one specific person got to her first.

"Tia, Tia wake up." Rocket cried out, trying to shake her gently awake but she continued to cry out in distress. He shook her a little harder and this time Tia sat bolt upright; shaking. She took once glance at Rocket and flung her arms around him and cried into his shoulder. Rocket couldn't understand what she was saying because she was speaking to fast but he tried his best to calm her down. He held her as tightly as he could without hurting her because she had gained some new injuries and had made her old injuries worse. Everyone in the room quietly walked outside, so the two could have some alone time. When Tia had finally calmed down a bit, she was able to speak probably.

"Rocket, what happen to you?"She asked, looking at Rocket properly for the first time. He had a bandage wrapped around one of his arms and his forehead had stitches.

"I managed to snap the Molehounds neck before it bit my head off but when I tried to get up I slipped on my own blood and fell unconscious in the bushes." He laughed at his own stupidity, making Tia smile a bit as well. She couldn't believe she had walked straight past him and fallen straight into a trap. "The others finally found me and brought me back to consciousness then we went searching for you. The next thing we knew there was an explosion and we found you." Rocket smiled but Tia could see it didn't reach his eyes.

"Where did the explosion come from?" Tia asked, as the feeling of a headache began to form in Tia's head. She had a feeling she was suppose to remember something important but couldn't put her finger on it.

"You mean you don't remember anything." He asked.

"No sorry." Tia tried to smile. There was something off about Rocket but Tia wasn't sure what it was. "Is something wrong Rocket?" She questioned. Something shone in Rockets eyes but it disappeared as soon as it came, so Tia couldn't guess what it was.

"What makes you think that?" He tried smiling again but it still didn't reach his eyes.

"Nothing, just something seems different about you." Tia answered. Rocket fake grin grew even bigger.

"No, nothing's wrong, just tired." He replied. Tia tried to question more but a sudden yawn escaped her mouth. "You should probably get some more rest." Rocket suggested, getting of the bed. "I'll have Dame Simbai come and check on you." Before another word could be said Rocket walked out of the room.

Rockets thoughts were a mess. How did she learn to read him so quickly? How was he going to protect her from the truth if she could see that well? He wouldn't have to know the truth himself if he didn't see that camera on the floor when they found Tia laying unconscious. Why oh why did he have to pick it up? Through all of the odds, they had all managed to get to the spacecraft that had been waiting for them, along with all of the other pirates. Rocket sighed to himself. He had already told Dame Simbai what was going on and asked if she could keep people out of Tia's room, until he had talked to Sonny. At this thought he realised he had just walked past Sonny's door. Taking a step back he knocked on the door. He waited, as the door slid open and walked inside.

"What can I do for you Rocket?" Sonny asked, with his head bent over the document that Rocket had been sent to steal. He had frown lines on his forehead, like he wasn't interested in Rocket at all but on the piece of paper that was in front of him. Rocket decided to jump straight to the point.

"She doesn't know?" Sonny's attention immediately focused on Rocket after hearing his statement.

"Are you sure?" He questioned. That was why a lot of people liked Sonny, he knew exactly what you were talking about and didn't go into the whole 'what do you mean?' thing that most people found very annoying. Rocket knew he wouldn't have played it in front of everyone if he knew what was on it. Sonny thought it might have something the Allies could use against Bleylock but what they saw was more shocking then anything they could have expected.

"Positive, she doesn't know anything about the explosion." Rocket exclaimed. Sonny bent his head down, everyone that knew him, knew that he was trying to figure out some answer to a difficult question. The possibility of keeping it a secret was out of the questioned because as soon as Rocket knew Tia was going to be ok he handed Sonny the video tape, allowing Sonny to play it in front of everyone. "We can't tell her." Rocket answered for him. Sonny looked at him in complete shock.

"I don't know Rocket." Sonny replied. The doubt in Rockets answer was clear on his face, as he ran it through his head.

"If we tell her it will destroy her." Rocket shouted back. He hadn't meant to shout but something inside him snapped. Sonny bent his head over his desk again for a few moments before looking back up.

"All right we won't." Rocket slid into a chair next to him, as he felt relief flow through him. This plan might of worked to if they had realised someone was listening outside the door.

Tia was laying in her bed worried. She was extremely tired but she couldn't stop worrying about Rocket. Something was very off about him. She sat up when she heard the door swish open, thinking it was Dame Simbai again but was shocked to find Sinedd again.

"Hey Tia, how are you feeling?" Sinedd asked politely, Tia didn't like the way he had said it. It sounded friendly but there seemed to be something scary behind it.

"I'm good I guess." Tia answered, watching him carefully as Sinedd sat in the chair next to her bed.

"That's good to hear. I mean after everything that happen you must feel terribly guilty killing all those people." Tia froze at Sinedd's last remark.

"I...I don't understand." Tia uttered out, feeling a dark chill crawl up her spine.

"Oh don't you remember, here this will help you remember what happened." He finished passing her the holo player. She snatched it out of his hands and watched the horror she had unleashed two nights ago.