A/N: I'm not getting any feedback, which is fine, mind y'all who are reading this. Some of my stories have to have two or three chapters before they're review-worthy. However, as a side note, people who do not have an account on here don't need one to review. You also don't need to give any personal information or your email to review; you can just leave a guest (technically anonymous) review! Just so you know :) (I never knew I could leave a guest review until, like, after I made an account...).
Anyways; last two chapters were basically introductory chapters to the story itself. And I know I'm being vague about Tahki's past, but trust me, it'll come soon enough. And yes, I also took A LOT of time in researching a bunch of different wood types and colours. And makeup brands and lipstick colours... I'm a girl, but I despise makeup and, therefore, don't know colours or brands. I also had to look up food stuff... THE MORE YOU KNOW!
Chapter Genre: Action, Friendship
Chapter Rating: T
Rating Content: Brief Mild Scenes of Violence, Brief Mild Scenes of Blood, Brief Coarse Language
Tahki rooted through her two luggage bags, desperately looking for the one thing that could alleviate her stress levels. Pagan had said they retrieved their luggage (they meaning the soldiers), so she wouldn't be surprised if they ransacked them to check for any weapons and the like.
Ronin wasn't exactly the most talkative of people. Not very surprising, however, as he was one of Pagan Min's soldiers. But it made the walk to their rooms very awkward. Like, how long does one need hallways to be before they're satisfied?
Her room was fairly big, as well. If this was only a guest room, she could only imagine what Pagan's room was like! Tahki was about five-foot-eight, and if she were to put the height of the room to length, it was about three times taller than her! Her bedroom both back in Canada and in the little shack in the south were only a couple feet taller than she was.
The room itself must have been at least thirty feet by thirty feet, if not forty feet. It made sense, though, to fit the bed, the desk, the dresser, the closet and bathroom. There was also a little terrace overlooking the mountains jut behind a pair of doors. The closet was a walk in closet, of course, and the bathroom was a room all on its own. However, the bed was massive! At least, to her it was. She was used to sleeping in a bed that could just fit two people (and she had an odd habit of sleeping on only one side). This bed, could fit maybe two fully grown adults and their two dogs, possibly even just three fully grown adult men.
The colours, oh heavens, the colours of the room. It wasn't a bad colour scheme, but it was more colours than what any bedroom needed! The bed frame was mahogany, painted over in a clear stain to give it a little bit of extra shine. The bed sheets were a deep maroon and the pillows (and there were two big ones and a third small one) were mahogany. The bedroom walls were painted in a garnet red, and along the bottom and tops of the walls (where the walls met the ceiling and the floor) there were golden designs. Not a bright gold, but a dull, bronzed gold. The designs weren't too big, however, and the shape of them were pleasing to the eye.
There were heavy curtains (currently pulled back to let the light in) in front of the double-doors that lead to the terrace. They were walnut brown (which, surprisingly, didn't clash with the paint of the walls. Brown and red never mixed, in Tahki's opinion). The desk was also a mahogany, and had a black leather rolling chair to go with it. The dresser had a large mirror spanning the entire length of it, the trim around it a nice bronze. The dresser itself was a somewhat lighter brown, she guessed an antique cherry.
The entire room had a 'royalty' feeling with it, and it made her feel completely uncomfortable.
Tahki let out a short breath as she finally pulled out the item she had been looking for. "Thank you for not taking this..." She mumbled.
She removed the tape that held the spoon to the large jar and then opened the lid, tossing it off to the side. Then she sat cross-legged on top of the bed and placed the jar between her legs and began to dig in. It most likely wasn't a good idea to be eating this without milk, but she didn't care.
As soon as she got the first mouthful in, she heard a knock on her door. "KiKi?"
She quickly swallowed. "I need to be left alone, right now, Jesse!"
Her friend ignored her and opened the door into her room, quickly closing it behind him and crossing his arms. "You know, you really need to find something else to munch on when you're upset. Peanut Butter isn't exactly healthy."
Tahki gave him a blank stare and scooped out a large glob of peanut butter. Almost like the way a child would do to their scolding parent, she ate the peanut butter off of the spoon. "I don't care. I'm already pudgy." She stated (which, through a mouthful of peanut butter, sounded more like 'Uh jun car, uhm awredee puh-she'). She wasn't the most fit of women, being a little soft around the middle, but she 'made up for it' with upper and lower body strength (as Jesse once told her).
Jesse sighed and placed himself beside her. "You should maybe change, too. It won't be easy getting those blood stains out."
She simply shrugged and scooped out another spoonful of peanut butter. The instant she was in her room, she just bolted to her luggage for her peanut butter. She didn't care that her clothes were dirty in that moment. Ripped jeans could wash out easy and her purple sweater didn't show the stains too much.
"How's your hand doing?"
She stuck the spoon into the peanut butter and examined her hand. There was a little bit of red staining the bandages, but other than that, there wasn't much visible damage. "It should feel like my hand is falling off," she replied. "But it doesn't. It's really just a dull ache. Whoever did the bandaging must've really known what they were doing."
Jesse winced, rubbing at his own hand. "That was a pretty big shard of glass."
She nodded. "Well, it's gone now."
Silence passed between the two friends and she resumed to eat her peanut butter, but in smaller spoonfuls. It was almost supper, and Tahki doubted that Pagan would starve the both of them. No, judging from their earlier encounter, he'd try to be hospitable.
"What do you think Pagan's intentions are? I mean, with us?"
She swallowed the peanut butter and sighed. She quickly licked off the spoon and wrapped the tape back around it onto the jar. "I really don't know." She replied, placing the lid back onto the jar. "He knew my father, by the sounds of it. But I doubt that's why we're here. My father was a bastard."
Jesse hesitated, wanting to choose his next words carefully. Tahki's father was always a sensitive subject to talk about and, although she tries to control her temper, the memories of what he had done can often make her a bit emotional. "Well... he could have been a bit... different when he was working for Pagan. They could have known each other on a more personal level."
She scoffed. "I doubt it."
Jesse opened his mouth to say something else until another knock came at her door. She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Who is it?"
"The King has ordered for me to escort you to the dining room." Ronin stated. "Immediately."
They gave each other a look. "What do you think?" She asked.
He shrugged and stood from the bed. "Well, you know me; I'm not one to turn down free food. Plus, I'm also starving."
/ / /
She really did decide to get changed, after kicking Jesse out of the room of course. If Pagan was inviting them to dinner (technically speaking, of course), then she may as well look at least half-presentable instead of staying in the same, blood-covered clothes.
She got out one of her better pair of jeans, deep dark blue in colour and wore a pair of black flats to go with them. She was deciding whether or not to just wear the tank-top she had on underneath her sweater, but then she reminded herself of her arm, or lack thereof. Jesse had been the only person to see her without some sort of covering over her 'non-arm' (as he had dubbed it), and she planned to keep it that way.
So, she decided to wear her autumn-coloured sweater shirt. She was tempted to put on makeup, but decided against it as the lipstick would wipe off anyhow.
Tahki remembered once when one of her friends back in Canada had asked if she could borrow her sweater shirt, but of course, she had to say no. Not a lot of people noticed (or noticed, but never really registered) that the left sleeves of all of her shirts and sweaters were cut down or closed off by her tailor. She absolutely despised the feeling of a loose sleeve, and she didn't like how cool air would always hit her non-arm, so she managed to find someone who could fix her clothes for her.
Jesse had dressed up a bit more, wearing a pair of black pants and his blue plaid shirt. She had chuckled. "With that stubble, you look like a lumberjack."
As it had turned out, the room in which Tahki had first awoken in was the dining room. Not that it was bad, but it was just odd. The table had three plates and wine glasses set in front of three different chairs, two of which were beside each other and the third one being set across from the two. The food on the table gave off such a delightful aroma, it almost felt welcoming. The sight of the food made it much more so.
In the center was a plate of crab legs, underneath the crabs were some fresh greens and some warm vegetables surrounded the legs. Off to the right was a lovely Risotto, the scent of rosemary and mushrooms faint but noticeable. To the right of the crab legs was a large bowl of garden salad, complete with carrots, onions, cucumbers and black olives. Just in front of the salad was a small bowl of bread buns, with a little side-dish of butter in the center.
Well, he was certainly going all out! Tahki leaned towards Jesse, her voice just above the whisper. "What do you think this is all about?"
Jesse shrugged. "Beats me."
They took their seats beside each other and Ronin left them alone, closing the door behind as he did. With them being so much closer to the food, Tahki's mouth watered. "I can't hardly remember the last time I had seafood..." She said.
"Oh, get out of the doorway; they won't do anything!"
Suddenly, Jesse grabbed her knee and leaned towards her ear. "Don't talk to him like you did earlier. We don't need him angry."
She raised her eyebrows in a sarcastic manner. "Well, I can't exactly make any promises."
"Please, just try."
"I'm so, so glad you both made it without conflict!"
He gave her a light pat on the knee and smiled reassuringly.
As Pagan rounded the corner from the door, Tahki was half expecting the man to still be in his ridiculous pink suit. But no, he changed for their dinner. Her still had that ivory shirt on and, upon closer inspection, she could see it had some pink lines that formed a design. She couldn't tell if it made something, or if it was just a bunch of random swirls. He changed his pants as well and was now in black dress pants with a black leather belt. The shoes hadn't changed, but at least they didn't clash with the rest of the outfit.
And he really was wearing makeup. Mascara, and some barely-there black eye shadow. And was that Mac Mocha lipstick? He also had an earring on his left ear.
He took his seat from across the two of them. "Now, I realize that, you know after you and being taken here, we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. So, I decided, why not make up over dinner?"
Jesse raised his eyebrows. "Well, you certainly went all out."
He smiled and chuckled. "Only the best food in Kyrat." He gestured his hands to the food. "Please, dig in."
Tahki grabbed a few crab legs and a bread bun, with some salad on the side. She needed to make up for the peanut butter she ate.
Pagan cracked open one of the crab legs, pulling out the tender meat. Opening a crab leg took both hands and he was fairly interested to see how Tahki got along. Of course, he hadn't planned the meal, but it was an afterthought as the table had been prepared.
Tahki grabbed one crab leg and squeezed the leg, much like how one would squeeze a nutcracker, so the joint broke. Then, using her finger, she ran it down the soft side of the shell, allowing for the meat to slip out with ease. How long had the woman been with one arm?
He sharply reminded himself that staring was rude and he proceeded to eat his meal. One thing that the dinner needed, he realized, was conversation. What good was a make-up dinner without some good and lighthearted conversation? "So, Tahki, tell me a little bit about Canada. I've always wanted to visit, but I never really found the time." He bit into his crab leg, waiting patiently for her answer.
Jesse gave her a small look and bumped his knee into hers. "KiKi." He whispered.
She grabbed another crab leg and, for whatever reason, pointed the joint-end towards him. "What?" She asked. "I thought you said for me not to talk to him." She cracked the leg.
A splinter of the leg hit Jesse just under his chin, making him flinch at the sharp and sudden pain. He rubbed at the spot. "I said don't talk to him like you did earlier..." He muttered.
She suppressed a sigh. "Well, Canada is a four-season country. It can be scorching hot in the summer and blistering cold in the winter. Spring is always lovely, as is the fall. Lots of colours."
"Where exactly did you live in Canada?"
"You knew my father, you already probably know." She snapped.
Jesse gently moved his chair an inch further from Tahki, casually taking a bite of his own crab leg. He gave her a fair warning, but he didn't take into account her temper. If she got into an even worse mood, he didn't want to be near her in case she needed to hit someone. And he especially didn't want it to be him.
"Just thought I would try to make some... light conversation." Pagan smiled, almost a little too nicely.
"So you do know where I lived."
"No, I never kept such close tabs on your father."
Jesse inched away from her a bit further. She could get angry, but especially when her father was brought up.
Tahki cracked open another crab leg, a little more viciously. "And yet you kept close enough tabs to know he had a daughter."
Pagan grabbed a bread bun and split it open, the steam rising from the soft, flaky pulp. "I heard he was adopting." He spread a little bit of butter on the bread. "What were you, fifteen when you were adopted?"
She rolled her eyes. "Yes, I was adopted at fifteen, in the year of 1993."
Jesse sniffed. "And she keeps pretty well for her age."
She suddenly smacked his leg. "Shut up." She snapped. "You're not any better; you're thirty-four!"
"That's a three year difference, KiKi. I'm still younger." He countered.
Tahki shook her head and turned her attention back to Pagan, who was waiting patiently for them to finish their conversation. "What, so were you stalking me? Or my father? Or did he pass on information because of his former work."
"I only knew he adopted. Which I find rather interesting, considering he wasn't married."
Jesse snapped his crab leg a little too hard at that. He and Tahki had talked about that, once, the fact that she never had a mother and her father never mentioned having a wife, which is most likely what lead to him... Jesse shuddered. Bad memories, which only meant a bad reaction.
Tahki's eyes narrowed slightly and her fingers gently clawed at the table. "Yeah, funny thing." She said, dryly.
Pagan tilted his head slightly, his platinum hair moving along with him. "I'm curious, did he ever find someone? Terrible thing to die alone."
Something seemed off about where the conversation was going. Pagan Min was a somewhat psychotic man, but Jesse knew that he wasn't one for simple 'small talk'. There was always something behind whatever he was saying, his first encounter with him was evidence enough of that. But what exactly was he getting at this time around?
Her expression hardened. "No. And he very well deserved it."
Jesse shrunk back in his seat, quietly sucking back some crab leg. He was waiting for one more question before she suddenly blew up.
The sound of gunfire and mortar fire could be heard outside and, in that instant, the doors to the dining room burst open. "King Min!"
The King's face went from mild contentment to utter disgust in an instant. "What is it, now?"
The soldier, out of breath, replied, "Rebels are attacking the palace, sir!"
Pagan gave the soldier an incredulous look. "Then go outside and take care of it! As if the mortar fire wasn't damn loud enough, you had to waste valuable time and run all the way in here and tell me!" He stood from his chair. "Well, don't just stand there, get going!"
The soldier immediately took off, not wanting to upset him any further. With an annoyed sigh, Pagan said, "Terribly sorry for the rude interruption. Just stay and enjoy your meal, I'll be back momentarily."
Tahki watched as the man left the room, her eyes seeming like they were trying to burn holes into his back. The instant the door closed, she suddenly grabbed a knife and stabbed it into the table. "The nerve of that guy!" She seethed.
"I don't think he knows..." He mumbled.
She immediately slapped his knee. "Not him, you twit! Yes, especially him, but the nerve of the Golden Path people! It's bad enough they practically drove us out of our home, but now they're going as far as attempting to storm the palace to get to me!"
"How do you know they're here for you, though?" Jesse asked her. "I mean, sure, it looks bad, but this could just be a regular thing for Pagan."
She narrowed her eyes at him. "You wanna know how I know they're after me?" Releasing her grip on the knife, Tahki stood from her chair and straightened out her shirt. She then walked out of the dining room, with Jesse following close behind her. "Whatever you're planning on doing," he said, "it's a bad idea."
"It's the bad ideas that make the best stories, Jess." She replied. "And this one will make for an interesting tale."
/ / /
"KiKi, you're going to get shot."
"What else is new?"
"This time it'll be lethal."
"I just survived what should have been a fatal car crash." She retorted. "I'm pretty sure I can survive a bullet or two."
"That was just you getting lucky!"
"I'm willing to press my luck just a bit further."
He sighed heavily and shook his head. For as long as he had known her, Jesse had been the voice of logic and reason for Tahki. She was smart and independent, but when she was angry, she tended to act on most of her impulses. Most of the time he could talk her out of whatever she planned on doing, but whenever he didn't or couldn't, that's when he knew she was more than just angry. More like in a fit of rage.
Some of the firefight had died down, but they could both see that there was definitely a few Golden Path fighters here and there. There was also bodies. Lots of bodies. And blood. Why did there always have to be so much blood?
"So, since I'm not talking you out of this, what is it you're planning on doing?"
Tahki pulled her leather glove on with her teeth, clenching her hand into a fist repetitively to get the tightness out of it. She then pointed. "You see that big cage? The one with the blue tarp?"
Jesse winced. "Yeah. What about it?"
"There's bound to be something big in there." She explained. "If I get down there and get that lock off, it could wreak absolute havoc on those guys!"
"Or it could eat you, first." He shook his head again, clearly disapproving of her plan. "Tahki, come on, how are you even going to get down there?"
They were both currently on the terrace outside of her room. It wasn't as high up as she thought it was, but it was high enough. "Why do you think I put the glove on?"
He let out a small gasp, but before he could grab her Tahki had swung herself over the ledge of the terrace and dropped herself down.
He rushed to look over the edge, half expecting to see her broken body. Instead, Jesse was met with a smiling Tahki who was hanging onto the branch of a tree that was below the terrace. He let out a sigh of relief. "Don't scare me like that!" He exclaimed.
She smiled mischievously "Just keeping you on your toes." She then continued to slowly let herself fall down, grabbing onto whatever branches she could. It was a strong oak tree, but with the cold weather outside, the branches could easily be brittle.
As she slid down a thick branch, she looked down to see a Golden Path fighter sneaking along the palace walls. Smart kid, she thought. In an instant, she jumped down from the tree and landed directly on top of the fighter, smashing his head into the ground and knocking him out. She immediately searched his body and retrieved a pistol. "You won't be needing this."
She didn't have the key for the lock, so she had to find some way to get it open.
As she jumped and ducked from cover to cover, she could start to clearly hear the Golden Path shouting at each other; the positions of the enemy, when there was a grenade, or the occasional 'cover me, reloading!'. How many magazines did it take for them to actually hit someone?
"Sabal, their numbers are too great! We need to pull back!"
Tahki slid behind a stack of crates, peering just over the edge to see two men hiding behind a stone wall just a few meters ahead of her. And just a few meters off to her right, was the cage with the blue tarp. She could clearly hear the creature inside growling angrily at the two humans in its sight. Whatever it was, it sounded hungry.
The one man had a blue bandanna around his head and had the usual blue jacket with the golden symbol. For the life of her, she still couldn't distinguish its shape! The other man, however, had his hair pulled back slightly and his jacket almost looked black rather than blue, although it sported the same golden symbol. But which one was Sabal? Or did they speak into a walkie-talkie?
Tahki then crouched, silently moving along the ground until she was flush against the cage. Upon peering inside, she saw a large, striped tiger. The creatures ears perked up and it stood up, interested in the human that had come so close to his cage. He then licked his chops.
"We can't pull back until we find Gagné!"
Standing up, she kicked the door of the cage, further agitating the hungry cat and making it jump against the door. "Hey, you dumbasses want me?!"
The two men snapped around, their guns poised and ready.
She smiled, evilly. "Looks like you'll have to wait."
Tahki shot the lock on the cage door.
She barely managed to get out of the way before the tiger burst out from his cage, roaring loudly, almost as if in warning. Immediately the two men men made a run for it, the one in the bandanna shouting, "Tiger!"
In his mad rush to get away from the beast, the young soldier tripped and, seeing that his prey had stumbled, the tiger leapt onto the man and bit down onto his arm, making him scream out in pain. The other man, seeing his partner being attacked, immediately began shooting the beast with his assault rifle, letting out a loud, war-like cry.
She slowly backed up as she saw the events unfold. It seemed like a good idea at first, but actually seeing the chaos the tiger could unleash, up close, it was almost enough to make her sick. She hadn't even expected it to nab anyone, just chase them.
In her distraction, she had failed to realize that the man in the dark jacket had succeeded in killing the tiger. Unfortunately, however, he was far too late as the creature had mauled the fighter to death. His blood seeped from the grievous wounds, staining the ground a deep crimson.
The man in the dark jacket glared pure daggers at Tahki, who only shook her head and backed up further.
"You better be glad for your name, or I would have shot you." He seethed.
She stood up straighter, not wanting to show any weakness with this man. "And who is 'I'?"
He pointed his gun at her. "That does not matter. You will either come with me, or I will shoot you."
She pointed her handgun at him. "I doubt it, considering you Golden Path want me so badly. And even if you do, I'll also shoot."
They ignore the sound of bullets around them, ignore the distant sound of mortar fire, ignore the various shouts and cries of pain as a bullet hit their marks. He's hellbent on taking Tahki back as a prisoner, and she was hellbent on figuring out who he was and why he was so determined to kidnap her.
The man in front of her was clearly conflicted. Like his fallen comrade had said, the Golden Path was outnumbered and their numbers were dwindling. However, his target, his goal, was standing right in front of him. He was tempted to just step forward, to capture her then and there, but if she was anything like her father, she would have no fear and open fire on him. That was something he couldn't risk, not since Ajay left Kyrat.
"Now, we can do this the easy way," she said, "or, of course, the hard way. You could, maybe, call off your men and run with your tails between your legs back to your boss. Or-"
"Our boss?" The man interrupted. "I am the boss."
Her brows furrowed in confusion and she blinked rapidly. From what Jesse had told her, the American boy that came to Kyrat did most of the leg work for the Golden Path. She expected the leader to be a coward and make all the soldiers do the work for him. But, if this man was speaking the truth, she may have underestimated him.
Once she thought about it, however, the last time the Golden Path had attempted to capture her (when she didn't know they were even trying to in the first place), they had failed. If she was that important to whatever cause they supported, then it made sense that the leader would want to go along and make sure the job was done right.
Her face changed from confusion to rage. "All the better for me, then. So, you can call off your assault." She took a threatening step forward. "Or, I could shoot you and your precious Golden Path will be- AGH!"
Tahki collapsed to the ground, the gun dropped and her hand holding her hip. Sabal stared in disbelief before looking towards the source of the shot.
A young man stood with a pistol in hand. "Sir, she was about to shoot you!" He exclaimed.
"And if you had killed her, we would lose the one thing that could win us this war!" Sabal shouted. Shaking his head, he walked over and kicked the gun away from Tahki's outstretched hand, pointing his own gun at her head. "You will come quietly."
She snarled. "Go to hell."
/ / /
The instant that Jesse saw that the tiger had been killed, he knew he had to get down there and help Tahki. She was a capable woman, but she could sometimes get ahead of herself. He peered over the terrace and down at the tree below it. He gulped. "Well, if she could do it..." He climbed over the ledge and stretched out his leg, hoping to touch something. "Here it goes..."
He had suddenly stretched his leg too far and his hands slipped from the edge of the metal fencing, making him yelp in surprise.
He hit various branches, snapping the majority that he had fallen on. He almost felt like a rag doll with the way he was being tossed around!
The fall was painful, but the landing was at least a bit softer than what it could have been. He fell onto his rear and rolled back, slightly, groaning in pain. "So gentle..." He moaned.
Jesse shook his head and stood up, running along the wall of the palace, hoping to high heavens that nobody would spot him and try to shoot him. All the while, he kept his eye on Tahki and Sabal just in case either of them tried to make a move.
He followed the movements that she had, ducking behind cover to cover, occasionally peering over to see how they were both doing. By the time he had reached the wall that Tahki had hid behind, that's when he noticed the fighter pointing a gun at her. And before he could do anything, he shot her.
He had held back a shout by covering his mouth with his hand. The last thing needed was him getting shot as well. He looked over the ledge to see her doubled over in pain, blood oozing between her fingers and onto the ground. She had tried to reach for the gun, but Sabal approached her and kicked the gun away from her.
And directly over to Jesse.
Getting down onto his hands and knees, he reach around and grabbed the handgun, quickly checking the magazine. One bullet; of course, it always had to be one bullet! He could either shoot Sabal or the man who had shot Tahki.
"Go to hell." He heard her say.
Jesse stood up from behind his cover. "Hey!"
He pulled the trigger, killing the man that had shot her. He then pointed the gun to a very shocked Sabal. "One move and I drop you!" He bluffed.
With a pained gasp, Tahki reached over and grabbed the pistol that the fighter had dropped, crawling away from Sabal. She stood beside Jesse and laughed, pointing the pistol "So, about that little deal..."
Damn this woman, he thought. He had underestimated her. And he also didn't know that she had an accomplice. If he had known that, he might have come a little more prepared.
With a defeated growl, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Pull back!"
With a final glare, he turned and ran across the palace courtyard, followed by several other Golden Path fighters, some of which still attempted to fire at the Royal Army soldiers. As they retreated, Jesse turned Tahki so she was facing him. "What were you thinking?!" He hissed.
"I thought I told you what I was going to do..." She said.
As the soldiers emptied led into the air in victory, Jesse sighed and shook his head. "You're crazy." He grabbed her arm and placed it over his shoulders. "Clinically."
She tsked. "I can walk."
"We need to keep you off your feet; no telling how deep that bullet went."
As they approached the group of soldiers, they both caught sight of Pagan Min, who had donned a black leather jacket and leather gloves. He had blood splattered on his face, something he did not seem too disturbed about. He suddenly glared at the two of them. "Do you ever listen?" He asked.
"She's shot." Jesse explained, ignoring Pagan's question. "She needs some medical attention!"
"I told you, to stay and enjoy your meal." He stated, slowly approaching them. "And that I would be back momentarily. I am very particular about my words, Miss Gagné. If you'd have just listened, you would not have a bullet lodged inside you."
"Fuck you." She cursed at him.
Pagan tsked disapprovingly. "Now, there's no need for that sort of language."
Jesse shuffled his feet impatiently. "Tahki. Medical attention. Now."
Pagan waved his hand dismissively and turned on his heel. "I'm certain you can sort that out yourselves. I have more important things to worry about."
He stared disbelievingly at the King as he started ordering the soldiers around. "The nerve of that guy!"
Tahki chuckled. "Funny. I recall saying that not too long ago..."