Ver couldn't believe her eyes. She didn't know what to think of Zylar's sudden change in appearance. He was still her kind alien, but now he seemed like he could kill her. Not so kind anymore. She started to rack her brain to come up with a solution.
What the fuck was she even supposed to do? When she peeked down, Zylar's changed face came into her view. He was in the process of climbing up the tree towards her. He was coming for her blood. She was sure of it. But now that she thought about it, did Zylar do this on purpose? He made her a shelter far from his reach, left all of his weapons by her side, and cut the rope, making it difficult for him to climb to her.
Maybe this was normal for his kind? Turning into something else when the night falls. Ver couldn't help but feel overwhelmed. She was nothing to him; he had only met her today, yet he was going above and beyond to keep her safe. Whenever the tree shook, she looked down to find him struggling to climb. He kept slipping down without any support to hold on. One rope would have been enough for him to reach here, but he had cut that on his own before turning.
Ver huddled in the other corner and curled herself to sleep. The best she could do was follow Zylar's wishes and stay here until he recovers. Doing something reckless on her own would only put all of his efforts to waste. It was not like she could run at this height, and Ver was sure that Zylar would have no problem catching up to her. She didn't want to start a losing battle. The platform, although sturdy, shook whenever he tried to climb. She just wished it would all be over soon.
Once she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could feel every ache in her muscles, the scratch on her ankle where the insect alien had clawed her while she was running from it, stung a little. She felt drained due to everything that had happened to her. Soon, sleep overtook her, the pain numbed, and she fell asleep, leaving Zylar on the ground. At least she didn't feel cold as the wind was quite warm. Maybe it was summer season in the alien world.
'Roar!' That shit woke her up. Ver scrambled to her knees, her eyes still out of focus due to unfinished sleep. The sound that woke her definitely didn't come from Zylar. It was something else altogether. Something terrifying was near them.
She looked down and saw even Zylar looking alert as he got into a fighting stance. He was strong; maybe he could fight whatever had made the sound. Ver watched the nerve-wracking scene until all the confidence in her body drained away. A beast at least five times bigger than Zylar stalked out of the shadows, landing in front of her alien.
Yes, it looked smaller than the white animal Zylar had hunted before, but this thing was something else. It had that lethal look that the white animal lacked. If she were to compare, the previous one was like an elephant, and this was more of a giant Bengal tiger. Only bigger than the Earth tigers. The true predator.
"God…" A shaky whisper left her lips as the greyish animal started to round Zylar. Will her alien be really able to defend himself without any weapons? Going near that animal was suicide without any long-range weapon in his hand. If he really used his claws, then that would allow the beast to injure Zylar.
Ver made a quick decision. She took hold of Zylar's battle axe and clutched it to her body. Her alien made it easy, carrying it around like nothing; but this thing was heavy. Then she looked down, only to find him moving away from the tree.
"No, No!'' She couldn't help but express her frustration. Why was he moving away? She wouldn't be able to throw this heavy axe that far. Her arms were hurting from merely holding it. How could she, without any momentum in this small space, throw it to land near Zylar? She wouldn't be able to stand too; there was not much space to move around, and she would surely fall if she attempted.
Ver felt her uselessness gnaw at her. Her alien was in danger, and she could do nothing to help him....unless! Her eyes fell on the spare ropes amongst Zylar's belongings. A sudden idea struck her. What if she uses this rope to climb down? Only halfway would be fine, then she could throw this axe to Zylar.
She started to get to work. There was nothing else to think about; she had to do this or Zylar would die. Just like her alien had done before, she tied the rope onto a strong branch and pulled it to make sure it was strong enough. Then she used another smaller rope to tie the axe against her back before she started to slowly climb down. Her occasional rock climbing trips with her friends came in handy as she carefully made her way down.
Many times, she slipped, but soon got the hang of it, "A little more…" Saying this to herself, she climbed down far below her desired distance. And once she did, her eyes automatically went to Zylar. The animal was near him.
Removing the axe from her back, she held on to it for her dear life before screaming at the top of her lungs, "Zylar!"
The two were turned to her simultaneously. A spark of recognition amidst his trial passed Zylar's eyes.
Ver hauled the axe in his direction while the Grey beast pounced on him. She waited with bated breath as he picked up his battle axe and attacked back. He was like a God of war as he sliced and injured the animal. The beast that was also formidable managed to sink its claws into his torso. But before it could cause more damage, she saw Zylar kicking the beast hard. Then he landed a blow to its jugular with the axe as a final blow.
The beast roared in pain and collapsed to the ground. Only when it stopped completely moving did Zylar release the axe. It fell to the ground with a thud while he, too, sank to his knees, clutching his side. He had taken quite a blow to his torso. Ver didn't think a human like her would survive something like that, much less stay awake and alert like Zylar.
Maybe too alert. Because, right at that moment, his burning eyes fell on her dangling on the rope. Ver knew at that moment that she was fucked. Zylar charged at her while she scrambled to climb up. The distance to the tree platform suddenly seemed daunting as she looked up. However, she pumped herself up and started to climb. She wasn't going to lie, this was one heck of a workout.
Ver also realized that she had overestimated her athletic ability. Getting down the rope was easier than climbing. And in life and death situations, this lack of knowledge could doom her forever.
"Ah!,'' Her bad thoughts became reality as she felt Zylar's hand encircling her waist and snatching her from the tree. Ver felt him squeeze her against his front while his clawed hand landed on her stomach. Her heart started to beat erratically as she felt him licking the back of her neck. Did he just taste her? Goosebumps rose on her skin. The image of him brutally killing that beast came to her mind. Would that be her fate, too?
"Zylar?'' She called, hoping to reach him, but all she received in return was a low growl, "Just be done with it.'' This dragging on was making her lose her mind. The tension about constantly guessing what would happen would be the thing to kill her, not Zylar.
Ver closed her eyes, giving in to her fate until she felt his licks getting more fervent and desperate. Her toes curled when he nibbled on her earlobe before licking it. Her breath turned hot as she felt him exploring her body with his sinful hands. The fear of his claws melted as they softly glided along her naval and finally reached the swell of her chest.
She gasped when she felt one of his hands covering her globe. Ver jutted them out to give him easy access. Her mind was not in her control. When his fingers grazed against her nipples, a moan left her throat. She wanted more; she didn't care about an alien touching her in such an intimate way; she just wanted to feel good.
Seemingly encouraged by her response, he started to touch her more as he pulled her tighter against him.
Meanwhile, Ver reached behind her and maneuvered her hand on his head before turning to meet his lips with her own. Once it did, it was like explosives went off. She licked his lips and slipped her tongue into his mouth, and started to kiss him.
Zylar groaned. He mimicked her movements and kissed her back. This went on for a long time and only came to a halt when she felt something hard poking against her back. Once she realized what it was, the magical moment broke, and reality came crashing down.
With some effort, she fully turned to him, looking at him with wide eyes. When he tried to once again kiss her, she stopped him by holding his face, "Zylar, No''
Zylar opened his eyes, looking curiously at her. But what caught Ver's attention was his glowing blue eyes. A huge grin formed on her face, "You are back to normal!" Then she hugged him, "Oh, thank god, thank you so much!''
Bero's voice made Zylar pause. He felt calm, like himself. It can't be? How could this happen? Had his trial finished before sunrise? This had never happened to him before. This had never happened to anyone in his clan, nor to the Xorons outside his clan. He couldn't help but think, did this happen due to Bero?
"Bero?'' he called as he pulled away to see its face. This soft thing had done something that his kind thought to be impossible.