Rust huffed and panted; he didn't know how long he's been walking. Tis continued walking in front, and he could still feel the ever-imposing monster at his back. Finally, Zaya called out, "Tis, I believe it's time for a break." Tis turned and stared at Rust... suddenly she squawked
"Ah! Is human tired? Tis sorry! Forgot humans are weak!" Zaya couldn't help but chuckle
"Yes, humans are very weak." Zaya said as they stopped near a large tree. "Here would be a good resting point, Tis, can you please scout the area?" Tis' head bobbed as she bounded off into the distance...Rust couldn't help but shake his head as he sat down...he wasn't expecting to get teased by aliens in English...this was too weird for him. As he all but collapsed on the tree, Penitent Tangent floated closer.
"Rust, please drink some water, you are running the risk of light dehydration." Rust looked at Penitent Tangent then to Zaya who was eyeing him from a respectable distance away. Rust didn't want to take off his helmet, and this wasn't just because he was sitting next an alien who could snap him in half...ever since he was rescued from the box, he would get stared at in his left eye...all of plague squadron would try to avoid it but would fail in the end...it didn't just make him uncomfortable; it would make him think about things he would rather not think about... even though he didn't get that injury from Them... he couldn't remember how he lost it, but just because he couldn't remember, didn't make it any less painful.
Zaya stood up "You're not my prisoner, if you want me to do something you can ask. I won't rip you apart for a question." She said after a long minute of awkward staring. Penitent Tangent was about to voice Rust's question, but Rust waved a hand silencing him. Rust grabbed his pen and paper...and with a shaking hand wrote out.
"I would appreciate it, if you didn't watch me while I drink. I have a... problem with people staring at me without my helmet on." Rust, hesitated handing her the note, wondering if he should change the wording...he never felt like this before, worrying over his notes...though he has only written to Penitent Tangent and Plague Squadron. Either Zaya didn't notice, or she was just very patient. The Silence was deafening as he wondered why he interrupted Tangent from speaking for him, he huffed to himself annoyed at his own hesitance and handed Zaya the pad. The massive Elite took the pad with more care then he thought one of her size could show. It looked down at the pad, Rust thought that maybe it was confused... Rust wondered, It could speak English, but could It read it? His worry was unfounded as Zaya looked up.
"I see, then I will excuse myself, when you are ready for my return, have your Monitor call out, I will be nearby." With that the Elite stood up and walked into the trees, out of sight. Rust waited for a minute before he took off his helmet, he then grabbed his canteen and began drinking all the while Tangent kept his sensor online, making sure that Zaya kept it's word. After a few minutes and draining the majority of his canteen, Rust put on his helmet then nodded to Tangent, who then called out.
"Miss Zaya, you mayreturn when you wish." Rust blinked as Tangent called her miss...that thing was a female?! He was sure that Scott told him that all Elite's were male, and females remained on their home world. That was so long ago though, he may just be misremembering. He listened for 'her' to return...
"I am here." A gruff voice was right behind him. Rust flinched and launched to his feet, turning 180 to see the Elite in question. How in the hell did she sneak up on him? There was no way he wasn't paying attention, he was purposefully listening for any crunching leaves and yet he swore she made no sound. The Elite paused at his reaction, then it let out that odd scraping sound deep in her throat...probably a chuckle if Rust had to guess. "If you are wondering, no you are not mistaken, I doubt you heard any sound as I approached. I was trained for stealth, Rust. It was necessary for me to eliminate any sound my large body may cause. If I were to fail, it would have been my end." She explained as she let him calm down at her sudden scare. "Tis, will join us soon, have you rested enough? Darkness will be upon us soon." Rust nodded putting away his canteen, now hyper aware of Zaya's position, stealthy or not he couldn't allow her to sneak up on him like that...had she been an enemy, he would have died right then and there. Wait...but shouldn't Tangent have had her on his radar? Rust looked up at Tangent who was purposefully not looking at him...Rust swore he would pay him back for this.
There was a thump as Tis returned jumping down from the top of the tree. "Tis back Zaya!"Hi Human Rust! Good to go?" She squawked as she too close to comfort. Rust took a step back to gain some distance and nodded. "Great, this way!" Tis began walking as Rust followed, Tangent floated to his left as Zaya was once again following behind. It took around 2 hours to finally arrive to their destination, Rust looked around, it was an odd outpost. It sat squarely in the forest, it was a square, it didn't look like most Covenant bases or F.O.B.s Tis moved forward and banged on the door, she called out in her alien language...the door opened, and a Brute stepped out, the same one that gave him the heavy machine gun... It stared at him and spoke to Zaya, Zaya responded in that language he couldn't understand. He just stood there awkwardly. Soon the Brute huffed and turned to face him
"I am Broccyus." He then turned and walked inside. Rust was confused, the door was open and Tis walked inside. He felt Zaya nudge his shoulder.
"As long as you don't give us a reason to you will not be harmed, now come. It has been a long walk, and I still need to check your shoulder." Rust stepped inside, Zaya walked past him a few steps, then waved him on. She went to the corner of the base, the door automatically opened as she waved him inside...inside was a whitish room, it had a medical bed for species much larger than he was... Rust took a deep breath. He didn't like medical checkups, but he needed his shoulder to be looked at. He went and sat on the bed.
Zaya moved closer to the human. "Rust, I am going to remove your shoulder plate, is that alright?" The human was obviously on edge, but he nodded, giving her a clear go ahead. The Ring Monitor hovered close by, but she didn't mind. She had no reason to hurt the human... she slowly moved and knelt down, so she was on his level. She slowly reached and unclasped his shoulder plate. She rolled up the sleeve...it was pink with a yellowish white ring around the puncture wound...it was sprayed with Medi-Gel but was most likely not properly cleaned, a simple fix. "I am going to have to drain the fluid human, this will pinch." She gripped his shoulder and pinched the wound, it didn't take much for the skin to break and the fluid to start draining, after she was sure that the wound was clear, she applied disinfectant. The human winced, and she could hear quietly but audibly hiss... good it means the disinfectant was still good. She then properly bandaged the wound to keep if from getting infected again.
"All done human, keep it clean and replace the bandaging every day with a fresh one. You should heal with no issues." The human nodded and picked up his writing pad. As the human wrote, he suddenly paused and looked up at her...he then went back to waited until he was finished writing before she stood up. He offered up the pad and she took it. The writing was much less shaky, than when he first wrote her a note. It read "Thank you for your help, I'll get out of your...mandibles." Zaya had to suppress a chuckle, the way he wrote reminded her of Zaplak. She however couldn't just allow the human to walk out of here, as it is night now.
Zaya gave the human his pad back. "Are you sure that is wise? Night has fallen, and while I do not doubt your ability to navigate the forest...but at night it is much more difficult. I will not stand in your way if that is what you decide, but I would advise you stay here for the night, we have enough rooms. She knew it wasn't the best idea to have someone she doesn't fully trust sleeping in the same base as them. However, Tis usually has a good read on people, she knew it wasn't blind optimism that makes Tis say that either. She was willing to give him a chance, Zaya wanted to trust the human...that and he has a Ring Monitor, which despite all her experience and combat capabilities... a Ring Monitor wasn't something she wanted to fight with. Sentient beams ae not something to contest with haphazardly. It would be a waste of ammunition to even try to take down a monitor. The human paused as the Monitor spoke up
"It would be for the best Rust, if you are worried of a potential ambush, I will stand guard. Though I highly doubt it would come to that, why would they invite you and heal your shoulder when they could have combatted us in the forest, as they had a 95% chance of winning." The human nodded at Tangent, but other than that he remained still. Zaya sighed the human remained still... normally she can read body language easily. But this human remained unnaturally still as it thought this over, the helmet didn't help either. Earlier, when she left so the human could drink, she had to resist the urge to sneak up on him and see his face...she wanted to see if what Broccyus' observation with him was correct. If he was truly blind in his left side. She refrained of course, she needed to show that they were willing to cooperate. Suddenly she saw a pad in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts. The human had wrote his answer and was presenting it. She looked at the pad as it read
"That would be appreciated, sorry for the trouble, and thank you." Zaya sighed inwardly, one hurdle out of the way.
"No need for thanks human, we are both trying to survive on this rock. May I ask...how is it you came to be here on your own?" Zaya instantly realized she said something wrong...The human tensed up, he made no move to grab his pad, probably contemplating on what to say. Zaya added "If you do not wish to speak about it, then don't. I am not interrogating you, I was simply curious as you humans usually don't travel alone." The human nodded and took his pad
"If it's alright, I think I'll head to bed now...if you don't mind showing me where I will sleep?" Zaya got up
"This way." They left the medical room, Zaya walked to the opposite side of the bed, Tis wanted to come and talked but she was busy tearing up the food into sizes for them. Zaya then opened the door, the room wasn't anything special. But it did have an elevated bed, it was meant for Sangheili, but it should be adequate for a human...Sangheili don't use mattresses, but there is a thin cloth draped over it. The human walked in and set down his bag, The Ring Monitor floated close by. The Monitor spoke.
"If there's anything else we require, I will come to you. If you need something, then please come to me." Zaya nodded and left them to their privacy. She then walked over to the middle of the base, where Tis had dinner ready. Broccyus was already sitting, Zaplak was most likely still working on his 'project' which was good, she did not need Zaplak of all people seeing him tonight, she could deal with him tomorrow.
"Welcome back! How was his shoulder?" Tis happily asked as she set down a leg for her then grabbed another for Broccyus. Zaya took the leg and ripped a chunk off with her mandibles, she didn't bother answering until she swallowed the bite... at the very least she would never get bored of eating this particular animal. She swallowed and said.
"He'll be fine, he only had an early stage of infection in his shoulder, it was easily treatable." Zaya said as she tore through another chunk.
Broccyus then interjected. "I was surprised, after our talk I wasn't expecting the human to show up on our doorstep." He grunted as he bit through and chewed his portion.
"Is Rust not hungry?" Tis asked "I know humans need to cook their food, but making a fire shouldn't be too difficult. I can go gather wood!" Zaya quickly shook her head.
"I do not think that would be wise, I was surprised he followed us to our base, let's not push our luck further. I doubt he would be able to eat in the company of Aliens."
Broccyus nodded "He is probably on high alert...which begs the question...why bring him here? Into our base? Zaya, I haven't doubted you before, and I don't plan to now...but are you sure this was a wise decision? Also, was that the Ring Monitor we were supposed to find?"
Zaya nodded "While I admit there is many things that could go wrong, I believe that this decision will benefit us, if anything this will show the human that we do not plan on harming him...which in turn will make him hesitate to do the same later down the road. As for your second question, yes it was...however it seems to have a strong bond with the human, do not in under any circumstances try and separate the two. I have no doubt that we can take the human out without any casualties, but with that Ring Monitor? We'd be lucky if we finish it before it vaporized one of us."
Broccyus said "Then I will say no more on the matter. Well...I'm guessing Zaplak doesn't know?"
Zaya sighed again "No he doesn't, let's not tell him now, I want one more night of peace, and I'd rather be fully rested before I have tospend two hours explaining why he can't use the human as an improvised explosive. While I doubt Zaplak would care if the human is here, he has to put up that act which would make him argue anyway. " Broccyus nodded and Tis chuckled.
Tis then said "How should we act tomorrow? Do we just let him leave?"
Zaya continued eating as she thought about it... "It will depend on what the human wants. He is not a prisoner here, so I will not stop him...but something tells me he will be curious about us, just as we are of him. After all, it's not every day where we can talk to a human and not get shot at, or it being an interrogation. I would say, go about your day as normal, however keep an eye on him. I don't want to be hostile towards the human, but I am not so optimistic that I will let him go walking around without someone having an eye on him...Tis, you're the most comfortable with him, can I ask you to watch him?'
Tis perked up as she crowed "Of course!"
Zaya smiled "Then turn in for the night, we will take patrols as normal. Tis, you start, then wake me, then Broccyus." Tis and Broccyus nodded.
"Then I am going to rest." With that Broccyus rose to his feet and turned into his quarters. Tis grabbed her needler and hopped up on the wall, but not before polishing off her pile of innards. Zaya chuckled, T'vaoans and their ability to jump...Zaya then turned, she threw her bone in the pile and walked off to bed. She took one glance at the room occupied by the human and the Monitor. She then turned and went into her room. She sighed as she took off her armor, each piece hit the floor as she finally stepped out of her armored boots. She would normally sleep without the body suit as well, but she decided to leave it on for tonight in case of anything unexpected happens. She sighed as she laid on her back...She was doubting her decision to bring the human to their home... It would work out, she reassured herself. She decided to remind herself why she did this. She thought back to their battle with the flood. Thanks to the human's plan, Zaplak lived, Tis lived, and by extension, Broccyus and herself survived. She shook the thought from her head...she needed rest. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.
Rust woke up...strange, another dreamless night. He could get used to it. As he rose, Tangent turned to face him
"Ah Rust! You're awake! No night terrors either! How wonderful, there has been no attempts at intrusion, I believe these Covenant soldiers to be trustworthy at least!" Rust sat up finally getting off his bed. He grabbed his pad and wrote down.
"Are you ready to leave? I'd rather not overstay our welcome."
"What? Rust, this is the perfect chance to learn how they got here, you may have more in common with them than what you think. Any information on our current predicament will be detrimental to our survival, even if it doesn't seem so right now." Rust huffed and wrote
"You want me to what? Walk up and start a conversation? Like "Hey, wonderful weather we're having, I see you like to eat your meat raw, wanna spill your past? What, no I won't go into mine?" If Tangent had a physical eye, Rust would see it roll...as good as Tangent has gotten at reading him, he's gotten as equally good...which was surprising since he was a floating metal ball.
"Have you no tact? Of course you don't ask like that, I have a sneaking suspicion that they are just as curious about you. You simply just need to ask or wait because they will definitely ask you. All you shou-"
"Tis interrupting?" a voice suddenly rang out near the door... Rust blinked, he didn't even hear the door open. "Tis love to chat!" she did a small hop with her feet
Rust was already writing. "Would you mind showing me around, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea that I'm sneaking around out here." Tis cocked her head then sort of stepped in place?
"Tis spoke, no think, Tis has to hunt food for flock, Tis promise come back to show Human Rust around! Sorry!" Tis then walked out of the doorway. Rust turned and looked at Tangent. Tangent floated silently.
"She didn't say no." Rust rolled his eye at Tangent's comment. Rust grabbed his backpack and left the room. He walked to the center of the base, before he decided to check the rooms. he entered one to the right, it was the opposite sides from what he could guess was the rooms they slept in, so hopefully he wouldn't walk in on an Elite changing. As Rust walked in, he noticed it was a large room. There were some portable Covenant shields, boxes that have some old plasma scars, and some paint on them... most likely a training room. As he was about to walked through, he saw the Elite in the middle of the room...swinging it's blood red energy sword. It would slash, back step then suddenly turned 180 swinging its fist, then jump forward into a stab...was it shadow fighting multiple enemies? It would make sense, since flood don't seem to come in small patrols. She moved with precision, he saw no deviation in her stabs. Each one was precise and accurate. Every swipe, punch and kick had an intended target. It reminded him of how Jacob fought with his knife. He would show him techniques and close combat routines, what bad habits to avoid...but as good as Jacob was, Zaya was better. Even if they were the same size and strength...he didn't doubt Zaya couldn't win based on skill alone.
Suddenly the Elite stopped and turned to face Rust. Rust unconsciously flinched as she eyed him. Zaya spoke "Is there something you needed of me? Or did you wish to watch me go through my drills?"
Rust grabbed his pad...he didn't really know how to respond, his mind went blank as she stared him down... eventually he wrote the only thing that came to mind. "Sorry for staring." Zaya walked up and took the pad from him and just huffed after she read the words.
"If I had to guess, you're wandering? Well at least you didn't wander into our personal rooms. Before you ask, no, nothing around is restricted other than our personal rooms, no need to be on edge. As for my training, does it interest you?"
Rust was surprised how...calm she was about this...he nodded his head to her question. He preferred close range combat over any other types, his second would be sniping which was and odd choice due to his disabilities. Zaya without another word walked back into the center of the room and restarted her fight. Rust noticed that she always swung downwards, but not as far down as he thought, he guessed that she wasn't shadow fighting humans, but whether that means she's fighting flood or her own kind, he couldn't tell. He continued to watch from a distance as the red blade was swung and arced around, he was cut from his thoughts from a shrill cry
"What in the Fuckis itdoing here?!" The yell made him flinch as he turned and saw...the grunt. The short creature marched right up to him and glared up at him...but unlike when Zaya did that to him 3 days ago...it wasn't nearly as intimidating. Rust looked down at the grunt when Zaya spoke up.
"Enough Zaplak, don't be rude to our guest."
"Our guest? Thats what this thing is? What because he was oh so kind, fighting with us against the flood? When the fucker used up Every Fucking Grenade I had? I thought that meant we wouldn't barbecue his skinny ass!" Zaplak said going straight for Zaya now, Rust just stood there, awkwardly as the two switched to their alien language and argued with each other... the argument kept going for a while. Rust then waved his hand causing Zaplak to whirl back to him.
"YOU! You owe me! You don't get to just use every explosive I have and not pay up! Those things aren't cheap you soft skinned piece of sh-" Rust interrupted him by handing him the bag. Zaplak paused, then eyed him before snatching it from him. Zaplak said "What did you bake fucking cookies for me? As if that's going to make up fo-" Zaplak went silent as he looked inside... Zaya cocked her head and said
"Zaplak? What do you have?" Zaplak turned to Rust and said "Answer me human. What is the best part of an explosion." Zaplak said with an unnerving amount of calm.
Rust cocked his head and wrote on a pad before handing it to him. It read "There is no best part, it's all good, from when you prime it to after you see the aftermath." Zaplak went silent...
"We're even...and if you ever want to learn something other than those stupid frags you just gave me, let me know...I could use someone else with an appreciation for the finer things in life." Zaplak then marched out. Rust blinked...he just repeated what Charles said about explosions, Charles while being the muscle of the group. Always loved messing with explosions...so Rust would often hear him talk about it. Zaya chuckled. "Now that's something you do not see every day. To think you would earn Zaplak's approval despite meeting him only once." Penitent Tangent finally spoke after observing the whole conversation."
"That was terrible, it's like he learned English to curse more! I do not approve of this vulgar display of an attempt at intimidation!" Rust just shook his head. Zaya chuckled again
"Zaplak is our demolition and vehicle specialist, he is always vulgar. However, him being stuck here has made him more irate than normal. It is past my training time human, I will be leaving to begin my patrol. Lunch will be soon if you do not mind being in our company." Zaya then turned and walked out of the training room. The training room was now empty, Rust had little reason to remain, as he walked back out to the main area...as he was deciding where to go next, he spotted the Brute eyeing him from the corner of the square base...he wasn't as unnerved as he was when Zaya was staring at him, but having this massive monster of a being look at him as it adjusted it's hammer was...not a good feeling to say the least. The Brute stood up to his full height and walked forward. He stayed at a distance and introduced himself "I am Broccyus." Rust nodded and wrote on his pad
"My name is Rust." Broccyus nodded...and they just...stood there...for a full minute of not talking...Rust decided to try and get something more out of this awkward staring contest and wrote. "Thank you for giving me the SAW, when we were fighting against the flood." The Brute Broccyus shifted and said "It was necessary." then continued the silence...just as Rust was wondering if he should just walk away, Tis landed suddenly next to Broccyus with an animal on her shoulder
"Tis back with food! Hi Broccyus! Human Rust! Human Rust Eat with us?!" Broccyus just grunted and walked off. Before Rust could answer, Tis said "Tis got sticks for fire! Cook for Human Rust!" and ran off. Rust sighed as Tangent said
"While it is more difficult to eat with your helmet, it is possible to do it without removing it, you have done it before...and I doubt anyone would point out your strange eating habits. It may raise their opinions of you if you do." Rust sighed again...eating...with human eating aliens...he somehow dreaded this more than the flood.