Never Hurts To Help

Chapter Three: The Camp

Disclaimer: Don't own. Not even a little.

Last chapter Sylvia successfully captured Wander. Good for her! I wonder if she'll get more than she bargained for.

Thanks to everyone who is reading this story so far. I'll do my best to keep the characters believable and to properly represent Sylvia's character growth.

Enjoy chapter three!

It was fully dark before Sylvia had located a place that she deemed safe enough to camp. Situated between two hills and partially sheltered by a ledge of rock, it would be difficult to spot from the air or the ground. Sylvia didn't know too much about the indigenous life on this planet, but she had no desire for the more dangerous forms of that life to find them during the night. Not to mention any bounty hunters who had followed either her or her former competitor.

The floor was rocky and studded with uneven clumps of weeds. The tops of some of the strange rock towers could be seen surrounding them on all sides as though providing vigil. It was eerie and made Sylvia feel vaguely like she was being watched, but that was nothing new. She'd been feeling slightly uneasy since entering the wasteland, and could only hope it was equally off-putting to anyone who might be searching for her. It wasn't the coziest place to spend the night, but she'd been in worse. Besides, she didn't exactly plan on sleeping.

Camp found, she took a moment to secure her prisoner. Swinging the sack off of her shoulder and setting it on the rocky ground, she pulled the neck open and reached in to grab the little alien, but her fingers touched only air. The sack hung limp and empty in her hand, but she was sure he'd been in it only a second ago.

Light sprang up behind her, along with the crackle of burning wood and the snapping of twigs. Sylvia spun to find her captive crouched over a small fire, blowing to coax it larger. He paused and gave her a cheerful little grin.

"Be-utiful campsite you've chosen, ma'am! Those trazark flowers 'r sure ta bloom by mornin', an we'll be nice an' cozy if it should happen to rain."

Sylvia stood sputtering for a moment before a scowl took over and she stomped over to the fire. She grabbed one thin, orange arm, giving it a harsh yank so that its owner stumbled as he was forcibly pulled towards her.

"Look, you little twirp," She growled. "I don't know who you think you are…"

"Oh, course! Silly me." The little alien cut her off, shifting slightly, though making no attempt to escape her grip. He held out his free hand as though offering a handshake. "I'm Wander," he offered happily, "and you're the bounty hunter from the bar. I never did get yer name earlier 'm afraid. Too much goin' on, I guess. That was quite a packed house we had, with everyone orderin' food an' drinks an' such. I didn't even think ta ask. Don't s'pose you'd tell it to me now?"

Sylvia felt slightly off balance. It was not a feeling she enjoyed. She liked to be in control of a situation, or at least have a good grasp of what was going on. Now it appeared the little orange freak had known she was a bounty hunter the whole time, yet he hadn't once acted like someone was after him. He still wasn't. He was acting the same way he had earlier today, and just like back then he seemed perfectly genuine. How had he gotten so far without a single survival instinct? It was baffling. She lifted… (Wander, was it?) by the arm she was holding, giving him a shake until his hand dropped back to his side.

"Not a chance brat," she scoffed, trying to get back to territory she was used to. "You won't be with me long enough for it to matter anyway. I'm turning you over tomorrow, soon as I can get off this stinking rock. Now hold still." She dropped him to the ground, though still held onto his wrist in case he tried anything, and started digging through her vest pockets with her free hand. Wander didn't move, but he did rest his chin on his free hand, regarding her somewhat sorrowfully.

"Well, that is some kind a' shame," he said, before that wide smile spread back across his face. "I was hopin' we'd be together longer, but it's a pleasure ta meet you anyway, friend." Sylvia snorted, rolling her eyes. She wanted to shake him again, but settled for a glare. Pulling out a pare of handcuffs, she slapped one on the wrist she was holding, his right, and the other on her own left wrist. With how slippery this guy seemed, it was probably safer than tying him up.

Wander didn't seem bothered by this development. He was still smiling. He gave a little wave, making Sylvia's arm bob.

Of course, the downside to her clever plan was that she had to remain in close proximity to the pest until the handoff. And that was looking to be much more of a chore than catching him had been.

Sylvia crouched down grudgingly by the fire, pulling Wander down beside her with a yank. There was no kindling around them and she had no idea where he'd gotten the wood for the fire, but she didn't ask. She was determined to ignore her captive's antics. He would probably give up after a while if he received no response, just like her brothers trying to bug her when they were kids. The comparison made her frown and she gave her head a mental shake to dislodge it.

In the mean time, since the fire was here, she might as well use it for something. It got cold out here in the badlands at night, and she could already feel the chill wind winding its way past the rocks. It made the fire sputter a bit, but the hills she had chosen provided some shelter from the wind as well as prying eyes.

"Sure is a nice night." The voice from beside her was calm and contented. It rankled Sylvia, though she strove to ignore it and continued staring into the fire. That tone was wrong for this situation. It was like her prisoner was completely unconcerned about what was happening to him. That sent warning signals all through Sylvia's brain. Was there a reason he was so relaxed or did the little weirdo honestly not get the danger he was in. There was a relaxed sigh, then a slight movement as Wander shifted slightly. "You know, buddy, I've been meanin' to take a stroll out here ever since I arrived. It takes thousands of years fer them there stone towers ta form. Amazin', aren't they?" He paused as he waited for a reply, then continued, tilting his head toward her slightly so Sylvia could see the curve of his smile out of the corner of her eye. "'S just nice I got to see 'em with you, 'stead of all by my lonesome."

Sylvia gritted her teeth. What about this situation had possibly given the brat the idea that they were buddies? This wasn't a sight-seeing trip or a meeting of soul mates. This was all wrong. She'd had targets before who'd spun sob stories to try to convince her to let them go. She'd had captured violent aliens, pathetic ones and desperate ones, but this guy was something else. She couldn't figure him out and it bothered her more than it should.

Just ignore him, she told herself. He has to get discouraged eventually.

If only.

The rest of the evening was a test of Sylvia's patience. Wander was relentless, while still remaining perfectly happy and polite. He chattered constantly, asking questions, making observations and telling silly jokes until she wanted to wring his little furry neck. Any attempts of hers to discourage him verbally or even physically hardly gave him a moment's pause before he was right back at it, and he didn't seem bothered when she didn't respond either, just continuing as though she'd answered him.

Even worse, her refusal to tell him her name had resulted in Wander giving her a different nickname every time he addressed her; buddy, pal, friend, chum, mate, comrade, confidante. He ran through the entire thesaurus as Sylvia glowered and bristled, and showed no signs of dismay when he was angrily corrected.

The fire was burning low.

Sylvia lay on her back, head pillowed on her right arm. She was tired, but determined not to sleep. Just because her captive really did seem to be as harmless as he had first appeared, if incredibly annoying, it didn't mean he wouldn't try to escape when he had the opportunity. He couldn't possibly be as unconcerned about his situation as he was acting.

At least he'd finally stopped talking. Wander had been quiet for the past few minutes, and she'd started to hope he'd fallen asleep, though she was resisting the urge to check. Every time she looked over at him, he gave her that huge friendly smile again like they were two best friends on a camping trip. And every time he did that, Sylvia had to fight the impulse to remind the pest that they weren't friends, that she had captured him and was planning to hand him over to her client for cash.

Not that these reminders seemed to bother him any.

"Wouldja lookit that!"

Wander's voice at her side was quiet, almost as though he was talking to himself. It pulled Sylvia's eyes back towards him unwillingly. He wasn't looking at her this time. He had taken his hat off and snuggled down inside it as though it was a sleeping bag. His eyes were wide, mouth open in rapture. She followed his gaze up toward the night sky. They were far enough from the lights of the city that the stars could be clearly seen, and Sylvia felt her own breath catch slightly in amazement at the sight. Spread across the black canvas of the sky was a silver belt of lights, intertwined with ribbons of green and purple gasses. It arched over them like a nighttime rainbow.

It was truly spectacular, but it made Sylvia feel annoyed the more she watched it, a deep pit digging itself into her stomach. The stress and precariousness of her position slid around her like the glowing ribbons in the sky, stifling her. She felt tiny and helpless, as she often did when she let her mind wander too much in the cockpit of her ship, or on one of the smaller planets where the vastness of space seemed to surround her.

It was such a huge, mean, cold galaxy out there, and there were so many people who'd love to get their hands on her for the money she owed and the cons she'd pulled, or even for no other reason than that she was in the way. Warlords, crime bosses and galactic villains were everywhere, fighting over every rock in the galaxy, and those who weren't fighting just got caught in the crossfire. Every star she was looking at represented another act of petty cruelty. All that beauty and peace the night sky spoke of was a scam, and one she'd long ago stopped falling for.

Sylvia rolled over, feeling a tug on her chained wrist as her captive was pulled with her.

"Go to sleep," she ordered. She'd meant to snap, but she was surprised by how tired her voice sounded.

"Oh, 'course. Sorry friend. Guess I'm keepin' you awake, huh?" Wander sounded genuinely sorry for disturbing her and it made Sylvia want to give him another shake and try finally knock some sense into him, not that it was likely to work on the twerp.

Instead, she ignored him. She felt the little alien at her back settle after a moment, snuggling down in his hat with a final whispered "Goodnight!" Peace descended over the campsite finally, with only the last sputters of the fire and the moaning of the wind breaking the silence. After a few minutes, she heard her captive start to snore; a soft little me me me me me… sounding from behind her.

It was annoying, but not quite as much as his talking had been. At least it would help her stay awake.

Thanks for reading!

Sylvia's got a lot going on, and a fair amount of cynicism towards life. Wander's just down for whatever. And yes, Wander will eventually learn Sylvia's name. He's got to at some point. In the mean time, he's not going to let it get in the way of becoming friends with her.

Leave me comments if you like. I love reading them!

"Taking The Plunge" is probably getting updated next.

See you next time!