The Galactic Bride
Chapter 20: The Battle

The sun was setting by the time they left the dinner. Aki knew that they'd have to travel to the cave in darkness, which could be an issue. It would be difficult to retrace their steps in the dark. Regardless, General Anura was not in the mood to travel quickly. At first he wondered why, but after a cramp in his stomach started to nag at him, he understood. They had purposely eat light, because they would have to travel. And it wasn't until Lew ended up vomiting herself did Aki understand the refusal of the rich foods offered. After barely eating anything spiced for days, their stomachs couldn't handle it.

It was almost night when they reached the spot where Lew had attacked him. They could still make out the blood on the ground. There was a pause between them, as they stopped. This was sort of the unofficial parting of ways. Lew looked uncomfortable, as if unsure what to do next.

"Can you make it back to your camp?"

"We'll manage." General Anura spoke calmly.

"What if… what if we team up?" Lew asked. "You can stay at my place for the night and…"

But the General said nothing. Aki knew it was impossible too. Having three on their team did make the odds better against Rondo, but Rondo would only have one place to look for them. She could have easily gotten the idea to take them out one by one with poison or the like, and there advantage would be gone. Plus there was no way of trusting Lew completely. The reason he was wearing a bandages on his back was because of her, afterall. And by the way she was looking at them, she didn't trust the General at all.

There was no denial of the plan. It just simply was known the moment she had said it. She gave a sigh. "I don't want to die. I don't want her to kill me."

Aki felt his eyes well up for her. But what could he do?

"Kill her first then." The General spoke softly. "Even if you die trying, at least you won't have to wait here worried that at any moment she'll strike."

"But…but I'm no match for her."

"You almost killed Aki." General Anura pressed on. "And Aki's taken out more people than you know."

Lew looked frightened by this fact. Any trust she had in him was gone and he didn't like that she now saw him as a killer. "You don't have to finish Rondo off. Just injure her and run. Perhaps that will be enough to get her."

"But… I could get hurt too." Lew mumbled, then realized how stupid it was to say that. Every time they battled it could go either way.

The General spoke in her quiet voice, sounding sincere. "If you're going to attack her, now would be the time. She's full of that meal and she'd least expect it from you. If you know where she is… then-"

"I get it." Lew sighed heavily. "Just promise me one thing. If we run into each other again, kill me quickly. I'll do the same. I don't want to be poisoned."

They agreed with her. Just as she turned to leave the horn blew again. They stopped and looked at each other. For a brief second Lew looked expecting at them, as if she thought they'd attack her right then and there. That look was the look that drove home why they couldn't work together. There could be no trust with her around.Aki and the General stood still indicating they would follow or attack her. Lew smiled a nervous smile and back away facing them. When she was out of sight, they heard her break out into a run. With her gone, they continued on their journey to the pond.

"Do you think she can do it?" Aki whispered, even though it was unnecessary.

"No." The General conceded. "But it'll be worse for her sitting in her camp waiting to die. Best just to get it over with. Maybe she could hurt Rondo in the process."

Aki felt the same way. He liked Lew. He didn't want to her to die. Then again, he didn't wand Iris to die either. Then he realized something else. Something that he should have saw before now. He didn't want General Anura dead anymore. She may have murdered his best friend, but he wanted her to live.

"When it comes down to the two of us…" Aki started.

"When? That confident, are you? I thought you were going to die in here."

"I am. But Rondo isn't going to kill me. It has to be you. I just want you to know that when the time comes, it's okay." Aki told her. "I wouldn't mind it if it was in my sleep, mind you. Something painless."

She said nothing for the longest time, then she whispered. "Same."

Aki's back, while healing, still hurt. It took them hours of wandering around in the dark to find the polluted pond. They looked at the rope they left behind, and none of them fancied climbing up that in the dark. But they had little choice. If they slept where the Tarfulles camp once was, they'd be open for attack. Even if Rondo wasn't on the hunt now, she could be in the morning.

General Anura climbed up the robe first then helped Aki on the way up this time. His back gave him little to no upper body strength. He had to rely on her a through the whole climb. She looked winded when he crawled up and held the bruise on her side, panting. After both of them had recovered, she recoiled the rope and they followed the stream back to their cave. As Aki started the fire up again, General Anura decided to restring the bear trap, just to be safe.

They sat by the fire, not saying anything for the longest time. The General was chewing on a small hunk of smoked bear meat, not really eating much. She was lost in thought. Aki's mind went to Lew and how at this moment she was either hiding or stalking Rondo. His hurt pinched thinking about it.

"That Wahconese girl, Iris, did you notice she was looking at you?" The General asked him after a while.

"It was hard not to notice."

"I think she thought you were pretty."

"What?"

"You're Terran features aren't unappealing." General Anura explained. "Even in a situation like this, you can appreciate a pretty girl."

"Don't be stupid. I'm not a-" But he was. He kept forgetting he was a girl.

"You thought Lew was cute, didn't you?" General Anura went on. "So it's not so strange that Iris thought you were pretty."

"You're just picking on me." Aki felt his face burning. He was glad it was night.

"Sorry."

The General saying 'sorry' was troubling. She was being nice to him. Joking around about how he was pretty… he wondered if she was coming to terms on killing him, and wanted him to be happy before he died. That was nice of her. He knew she wouldn't kill him until Rondo was taken care of, but after that she'd have no choice. Maybe it wasn't such a bad thing lighten up around her. No sense in spending what little of time he had on edge.

The horn sounded again, breaking their thoughts. His heart tensed up. How many would be alive now? Four or three. They waited. Aki hoped it wasn't three. He couldn't stand the thought of Lew being dead, not after he had just talked to her. But it was three. Only three alive.

Aki looked at the General. Her eyes were watery but she wasn't crying. She bowed her head and whispered to herself "That poor girl."

Somehow seeing the General that affected made tears come to his own eyes. He openly let them fall. He wished Iris and Lew was just faceless people that they killed. The Nimbonian girls in the dark, the Wahconese girls on the beach, hell even the Tarfulles. He hadn't known any of them. He didn't even know the name of the Tarfull he stabbed in the eye. But those two? Iris might have killed, but she didn't seem like a bad person. And Lew? She wasn't fit for the Contest at all.

They went to bed shortly after this. The bear hide had cured quickly from the tanning solution, so for once they slept under something warm. Regardless of the blanket, General Anura still held him. They faced each other as usual. She only turned her back on him when she was too sleepy to care.

"Akihiko… when the time comes, and I tell you too. kill me. I want you do to it, no questions asked."

"What are you talking about? You're going to win."

"I might be injured, or something else might happen. I don't want you to try and debate me on it. Just do it."

Aki didn't like the sound of that. "You won't get hurt."

"Promise me."

"Only if you'll do the same for me." Aki told her stubbornly. "If I ask you to, I want you to do it."

"Fine." The General nodded her head.

He didn't know if she was being honest with him or not. She wasn't acting herself. But he trusted that she'd remember her promise to him if he honored her request. But could he do it? Could he really kill her?

"One more thing… stop calling me General."

"Oh shut up." He pushed her slightly. A rare smile came to her face.

They went sleep. They were only awaken by the morning horn. They looked into each other's eyes, knowing it was only a matter of time before they'd come across Rondo. Best let it be on their home turf where they were well rested, had traps, and plenty of space and weapons.

"I want to take a bath." Aki told her as he fished in the stream. Perhaps getting fish was reckless, but they were getting tired of bear meat. While he was doing that, the General had guard duty. They only left each others sight now when they went had use the toilet. "A warm one."

"Cold spring water will have to do." General Anura told him. "But you probably shouldn't get your bandage wet."

They returned to camp and set up the fish for cooking. Aki noticed that they were running low on firewood. They looked at each other. Should one of them risk going alone to get the wood, or should they go together. They were considering this silently among them. Either one was a bad choice. Should they both go, the fish might get burned or the fire go out. However alone that person could be ambushed.

"Take the ax and go. I have the knife and the spear-gun, I'll be fine." General Anura said.

"Fine. Be careful."

"You be careful."So Aki went out nervously. It was stupid. There was only three of them left now, and it would take Rondo a long time to figure out where they were camped at. They had the perfect camping spot, after all. But he still was nervous. Now that he was looking for firewood, there seemed to be little around. The stuff in the area seemed to be to small or too wet. So he had to venture out more.

He collected the bare minimum then decided to go back. He didn't like being alone. He took the return trip in a run. When he got to the camp site, it was empty. The fire was still going, the fish were cooking, but he didn't see the General. He placed the firewood down, fed the fire, checked the fish, then looked around the area. He couldn't see her. Growing worried, he decided to round the rock face and go towards the stream. Perhaps she wanted to take a bath.

He made his way back to the stream but didn't see her there either. He walked up it a little bit, just in case he couldn't see her. But he didn't. He was about to turn away when he saw it. Blood. He checked his back just to be sure. He wasn't bleeding. He looked around, looking for a trail. He saw another dot along the path. He went to it looking for the next drop.

But as he rounded the bend, he heard them. He couldn't see them immediately because of the trees, but without a doubt the General was fighting. He gripped the ax tighter and ran the rest of the way. When he entered the scene, Rondo was on top of the General trying to stab her with a sword. General Anura kicked her off. Aki was appalled to see that the General was cut just below her stomach.

Rondo saw he had arrived and gauged that he was more of a threatening target than the General. So she ran at him next. He noticed her leg was cut up bad, and one of her shoulders looked like it had been pierced. Aki barely blocked an attack, as he was looking at General Anura crawling to a tree, sitting up.

Fighting Rondo, even while she was injured was difficult. Not only was his back still not fully healed but she also had a tail. Whenever he'd think he was safe from the sword, the tail was get a cheap hit on him. Sometimes it would wrap around his leg, preventing him from moving. Impulsively, he dropped his guard to hack at it. Rondo could have gotten a clean shot on him when he did so, but she recoiled when she saw what he was aiming for.

To late. He lopped off her tail when she reacted. She howled in pain, dropping her sword. Aki kicked it towards a slowly raising General, who was using the tree for support. Rondo stopped screaming for a few seconds and realized the situation. She had just given up her only weapon and it was two-on-one now.

"Screw it. Get it over with!" She screamed, tears falling from her eyes. She stood erect and raised her arms, giving him a free strike.

Aki hesitated, but General Anura didn't. She ran forward and with one hand stabbed Rondo in the back, piercing her heart. Rondo coughed, spat out blood, then feel to the ground. Aki looked down at her, white faced. But his concerned for her left him completely when the General also fell down. She was holding her stomach where she had been slashed.

"No…" Aki realized what was going on.

General Anura grunted and scooted her way back to the tree and sat up against it. Then she looked at the sword she was still carrying then tossed it aside. She was breathing heavily, her eyes barely focusing on him. She was looking at him, with tears starting to form in her eyes. She was going to tell him to do it, wasn't she? She was going to tell him to kill her.

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