Ali opened her eyes. It took a moment for the memories of the other day to come back to her. She remembered feeling fear for the second time in her life when Emery's life was threatened. Then there was a blank part in her memory where she couldn't remember anything that had happened. Next thing she knew, she was looking up at the beaten and scratched body of Emery. Emery then carried her back to the Hive where Ali slept off her injuries from her own fight with Aisha.
Ali sighed and pushed herself up. A strand of hair fell down in front of her face, reminding her about what she had done. She sighed again and looked around for a sharp instrument. There was a hiss and a Warrior moved closer to Ali, dropping a pair of shiny shearing scissors at Ali's feet. Ali smiled and picked up the scissors. She liked it when Warriors knew what she would need before she needed it and were able to get whatever it was for her. She wiped the slime off with the hem of her pants and started to fix the uneven strands of hair.
After a couple of minutes of snipping here and there, Ali was done. Her bangs were long and sat on either side of her face, coming down to about mid-way on her neck. The rest in the back was shorter, only coming down to the line where her hair and neck met. She was only slightly upset with how her hair had turned out, she had always liked it long, but she guessed that she would have to wait for it to grow back out.
Devon walked by Ali just as she was handing the scissors back to the Warrior, meeting her gaze.
"I want to speak with you upstairs," he said.
Ali looked to Emery, already healed from her own fight with Aisha and back up on her throne, with a look of confusion. Emery hissed and nodded her head.
I think you will want to hear what he has to say, she said.
Ali sighed and stood up, walking up the stairs and after Devon. For a while, she couldn't find him, but after a while of just wandering around, she eventually found him in one of the upstairs dorms near a window. It was day out, so sunlight streamed in through the grimy window and illuminating Devon's entire body.
"What did you want?" Ali asked.
Devon turned his head to face her. For a moment he didn't say anything, then, "I want to help you."
"What do you mean? We already took care of Aisha," Ali replied.
Devon shook his head. "No, I want to help you find Ripley."
"Why would you want to do that? You've never had an interest in helping me before," Ali said.
"I know, but I had been thinking during your recovery, maybe if Ripley was gone, you could finally move on and think about other things."
"Like you?"
"No, not me," Devon said, "I just want you to be happy and you never will be if Ripley is still alive; she'll be all you think about."
Ali thought for a moment, looking down at the ground. "You do have a point."
"So will you let me help?"
"Sure, I don't see why not."
There was a moment of silence, then Devon spoke, "Do you want to go now?"
Ali shrugged. "Sure, I've got nothing better to do."
Devon nodded and moved away from the window. Ali turned around also and walked through the door, down the stairs, and outside.
"We're not taking any Warriors with us?" Devon asked as Ali continued to walk down the bright street.
"No, I don't want to see any of them die, not at the hands of Ripley," Ali said.
"Alright, well, where do you want to start?"
"I don't know, I never really have a precise location, I just wander around."
"Well, let's think about this then. Ripley wouldn't want to go that far from a certain area, right?"
"Yeah, I guess," Ali said.
Devon started pacing, staring at the ground. "Right, well, where would she want to stick close to? What does she think is safe?"
Ali's eyes suddenly brightened. "I know!"
"Where?" Devon asked, looking up.
"The Betty!" Ali said. "I never actually thought about it before, but it makes sense!"
"Okay, where is it?"
"It's been a while since I've been there," Ali said and she started walking in a general direction and Devon jogged to catch up.
They walked for a few more minutes in silence before a giant ship structure came into view on the horizon.
"That it?" Devon asked.
"Yes," Ali said. She wrinkled her nose. "Do you smell that?"
Devon sniffed the air, picking up the faint scent. It was a strange scent; mainly human with a hint of Warrior blood. "Yeah. Is that Ripley?"
Ali smirked. "Yes, I've been tracking that scent for a long time."
Devon nodded and started to walk forward. "Let's get this over with!"
Ali's hand suddenly shot out and caught Devon by the arm in a tight grip. Devon turned over his shoulder to look at Ali.
"I need you to promise me something," she said.
"What?"
"Ripley is mine, you leave her to me!"
"Okay," Devon said and tried to pull away, but Ali didn't let go.
"Promise me!" she said, her grip tightening.
"Okay, okay, I promise I'll leave Ripley to you!" Devon said.
Ali let go and started walking. Devon stayed still, rubbing the spot on his arm where Ali's vice-like grip had held him.
"You coming?" Ali called back to him.
"Yeah," Devon replied and he hurried to catch up.
