Chapter Seven

Ray woke up next day with a mild headache, her head felt giddy, the bright light in the room was blinding her, she could hear her temple throbbing loudly in protest, she groaned as she rubbered her sheepish eyes and struggled to get up, finally opening her eyes, she saw a giant figure standing at the end of the bed facing her with stillness, her body jerked to sit up as she let out a scream, he almost gave her a heart attack.

"Red! You scared the heck out of me!" She panted after seeing it was him and calmed herself down, she noticed he was wearing full black body armor with mesh netting today - mask, pauldron, wrist gauntlets, greaves, metal plates around his waist, even equipped with all sorts of weapons - almost like the first time she met him thirteen years ago, are we under attack? She scowled with concern.

"What are you doing here? What happened?" She asked, but the hunter remained still and silent, she stared at his mask with confusion.

He felt different today, she didn't know how or why but she could feel it in her gut, as if she could somehow feel his piercing eyes locked onto her, even behind his mask, like she was in deep trouble, she shifted nervously on the bed as she tried to recall what had happened yesterday, the last thing she remembered was drinking in the observatory, and after that she had no recollection of last night at all, how did she even get here? And what did she do afterwards? She swallowed again and gasped internally, was she drunk? She had never been drunk in her life before due to the lack of social activities, the only alcohol she had ever consumed was beer, and out of those few occasions she had never allowed herself to imbibe that much of alcohol to be unconscious - you never know who will be taking advantage of you, or what type of stupid things you will do. So, what did she do? She frowned as she worked her mind hard, nothing, she couldn't remember anything, whatever she did, it must be seriously bad because he looked pissed, she didn't even know she was drinking alcohol.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked cautiously.

"Have a guess." He finally spoke, his voice deep as he took a step closer to the bed.

"No?" She replied, trying to grasp onto the last lingering hope.

"Have another guess." He took another step with his arms crossed over his chest.

Oh shit...She felt her blood drained from her face, a roll of clicking sounds brought her back to the reality.

"I'm sorry if i did something wrong, I was drunk and I didn't even know that was alcohol, I don't even remember what I did. Look, whatever I did, I didn't mean it," she explained apologetically. "Please, don't be mad, Red. I promise I won't touch your drink again."

"Are you telling me, you don't remember what happened last night?" Placing both hands on the edge of the bed, he leaned in closer to her face.

"Um...No," she shook her head a few times. "What did I do?" She only hoped it wasn't something stupid.

"Get up." He commanded, part of him was relieved to know that she didn't remember his lost of control, but another part of him was upset for what she said - she didn't mean it.

Ray brushed her hair with her hands as she quickly got out of bed, all discomfort of hangover left her body while she carefully waited for his next instruction, and not dared to ask another question, whatever the punishment was, she wished she could handle it. She followed him to the food replicator.

"Pack your food, you are going out with me today." He simply stated.

"Really? You are not going to punish me?" She shouted in surprise, almost in tears.

"Are you looking for my punishment, female?" He tilted his head at her, his black dreadlocks followed his motion gracefully.

"No, not in the slightest!" She shook her head violently, packed her food and water in haste.

She couldn't believe she was going out after all this time, she was quite excited, this was the first time he actually talked to her after that night, whatever she did that made him change, she would happily to do it again, that's if she could remember what she did.

Stepping out of the ship for the first time, Ray was blinded by the sunlight for a moment, she blinked her eyes a few times to adjust the sudden change of environment and followed him, they traveled on foot as she admired the views along the way in wonder - the planet was rocky and earth-like, rivers, blue skies and continents, with green plants and trees everywhere, exotic flowers with colors galore, Ray avoided them because she was allergic to flowers back on earth and she didn't want to take that risk. Strange looking animals were bigger in size, even the birds, they looked more like raptors to her, nothing cute or soft about them, they scattered when she chased them around and giggled, but her mischief was cut short when Red gave her an angry growl. They'd been walking for hours now, the air was so hot and humid and she was drenched in sweat, she had to refill her water bottle twice, just to keep herself hydrated.

"Keep up, female." Red said ahead of her in distance.

"Well, in case you hadn't noticed, I am much smaller than you, and I don't have those long, thick legs like yours." She said between panting breaths.

Surprisingly, he waited for her, after awhile they stopped at a huge gap between two deep cliffs, it was at least fifteen feet wide, he gestured her to come over.

"Red, we should find another way, there's no way I can jump this far." She suggested as she looked down from the tall cliff.

"I'll carry you, come." He extended his arm to her.

"No, I can't, the distance is too great, we'll never make it." She protested and stepped back.

"Are you doubting me, female?" He closed the distance between them.

"That's not the point. I don't want to risk our lives." She stepped back more with fear, she would not die on this alien planet, definitely not on her first day out. But Red blocked her retreat, next thing she knew, his strong arm was wrapped around her waist.

"Hold onto me," was the only warning he gave her before he carried her and made a powerful jump over the gap with ease, Ray closed her eyes shut and screamed in fear, she clung to him tightly for security, and her heart pounded loudly in her chest waiting for the impact of crash, but it never happened, slowly she raised her head from his chest and opened her eyes, she was shocked to see they were already on the other side of the cliff.

"Oh my god! You made it!" She exclaimed, dumbstruck by his inhuman abilities.

He simply released her from his hold and kept on moving forward, Ray trotted along behind him as she marveled at his strong physique, he is like a fucking ninja, she thought as she watched his powerful gait, his black armor was a huge contrast with his auburn-red skin, it accentuated his strength and skills beyond, his armor plates glinted under the sunlight, giving her an illusion of the angel of death, he fascinated her...she immediately stifled that idea from her head and cursed under her breath - He's an alien, stop drooling over him! What has gotten into your head! She tried to imagine a handsome human male in her mind, and it worked for a brief moment until her attention returned to Red again.

After seemed another hour of walking, he finally came to a halt, she had to admit, she was a bit tired after all the walking without a break, they stood at an open field covered with grass, the trees were sparse, a sloppy hill at the far end, and beyond that it was all forest.

"You should eat and rest." He instructed her while scanning their surroundings.

"About time," She exhaled, finding a shade under a big tree and sat down with a loud thud, unpacking her lunch, she enjoyed the scenic view with satisfaction. "Aren't you going to eat, too?" She asked after taking a bite of the meat, amazed at his endurance.

"Give me your arm." He demanded instead of answering her question. Walking over, he reached for her wrist and attached an arm cuff on her left upper arm.

"What is this?" She asked curiously.

"A tracking device, in case you get lost." The metallic object blinked when he activated the device.

"I see, but I'm not going anywhere without you." She assured him that she wasn't going to escape, she was on an alien planet after all.

After finishing her lunch, she felt a need to relieve herself after all the water she had been drinking, she went behind a dense bush and came out a few minutes later, her heart skipped a beat upon noticing the area was empty, and she realized Red was gone. Disappeared.

"Red, where are you?!" Her eyes searched the open field wildly and started looking for him, he was nowhere to be found. Did he leave me? Did he abandon me here as a punishment? She panicked in fright.

"Red, where did you go!" she shouted, "Red!" She shouted once more and tears threatened to escape her eyes. "Red!" She shouted again and again, louder each time as she walked aimlessly in the field.

Suddenly, a serious of loud rustling sounds from the forest caught her attention, she felt the ground trembling beneath her feet, she whipped her head around and her faced turned ashen upon seeing a large, horned creature emerged from the woods - it was almost ten feet tall, two curled horns extruded from the triangle head in each and opposite direction, rough scaly skin protected its thick neck, with long spikes protruding out from its tail, it looked monstrous, its sharp claws dug deep into the ground as it sprinted on all fours, even birds got spooked from their nests and fled in its wake, and it was charging directly at her.

"Shit! You've got to be kidding me!" She turned on her heel and began to run immediately.

"Red! Your bastard! Where the hell are you!" She shouted in despair as she headed for the hill.

She was no slouch when it comes to running, in fact - she loved running and was good at it, but spending half day on an excursion drained her energy a bit, and even with her full strength, she doubted she could outrun that beast, she glanced over a shoulder to see the creature was closing the distance between them, fast. She knew she would never make to the hill in time, her eyes scanning the field madly looking for an alternative cover for protection, but there were only few trees and some rocky stones, she was completely exposed and vulnerable to the creature.

The creature was closing in fast, she knew what was going to happen and stopped running, she lobbed a hard rock at the creature's head and it bounced back from its thick hide, like she had expected. That's it, you're going to die on this forsaken planet, on your first day out. She cursed Red one more time and waited for the inevitable - fifty feet, she counted while eyes locked onto its beastly head, she threw another rock, thirty feet, her heart rate was so fast she thought it would leap out of her chest, she could see the creature's face clearly now, she remained still and held back her tears, refused to give in, to show her fear.

Suddenly, an invisible force came out of nowhere T-boned the beast, derailing it from its course, Ray's shocking eyes moved to the creature on the ground roaring in anger, she searched for the cause of impact and she saw Red appeared into the field out of thin air.

"Red!" She shouted in excitement, she had never felt this happy in her life like she did right now, tears of joy had finally escape her eyes.

Not wasting a precious second, she dashed to the tree for cover when she saw Red roared back to the beast in her peripheral, hidden herself from the creature's sight, she watched as Red charged at the beast with a long spear.

The beast may be huge but it quickly got back onto its feet and swayed its spiked tail at his direction, he half turned his body in a swift motion, the tail missed in front of his face mask narrowly, once he got close to the creature, he launched his spear and it lodged into its thick leg while the beast howled in pain, he charged in to its proximity as he bent his knees slightly and jumped onto its back, reaching for its horns, he twisted them hard to the point that they might snap at any time, but the beast struggled, shaking its body violently to free its head from his hold, with a swept of its spiked tail from behind, he was knocked down from the creature, the lash left a deep cut on his back. He leapt back up onto his feet quickly, dodged another attack, and this time he was able to grab the tail, his wrist blades extended from his right gauntlet in a split second, and the serrated blades severed it clean off. The beast howled in agony, sending its blood spraying in all directions. Yanking out his spear he leapt onto its back again while the beast bolted, he sat astride and delivered his fatal, and final attack - driving his spear half way through its neck with his powerful strength, and the beast slammed into the ground hard at the moment of its death, he jumped ahead of the beast and cleared himself from its impact, Bau'jah roared in triumph with his arms spread wide open.

Ray watched the whole fight in fear, her blood was pumping and she forgot to breath, for a while she was worried sick about him and what would happen to her if he didn't survive the fight, she finally exhaled with relief after seeing him in one piece, she stepped out, looking haggard and disheveled.

"Red! Where the heck did you go?" She ran to him and asked angrily.

"Over there." He pointed to a spot in the open field, not far from her previous location.

"What? You used me as bait?! I could've died!" She stared at the spot and couldn't believe he was there the whole time while she screamed for him. The tracking device made sense now, all the worries of him died away, and now she was just mad at him.

"You won't die under my watch." He wouldn't allow it, walking over to the fallen beast, he then decapitated it with his xeno tail dagger.

Ray watched the headless, inanimated beast and frowned for a second when Red dropped its head onto the ground before her.

"Do you submit to me, female." He asked her, not even minding the fresh cut on his back.

"Wait...what?" She looked baffled, was this her punishment, to scare her?

"Do you submit, female." He asked her again, more serious.

"Yes, fine, you win. You didn't have to do this to make a point." She was still mad at him, but didn't want to risk provoking him further and get another punishment like this. She didn't have a death wish.

The next second, a deep rumble quickly turned into a deafening roar startled her, she had to cover her ears from his thunderous sound as she grimaced.

"Come here, little one," His chest puffed up with pride and gestured her to come over, Ray did as instructed, he reached for her waist and held her against his chest. "Rest now, I will take you back." He purred as he picked up the beast's head from ground.

Ray yelped when she landed into his solid chest, she wanted to tell him that she could walk on her own, but with her adrenaline rush faded, she felt tired after the exertion, she was basically holding onto him like a damn koala bear - his strong forearm and hand placed on her rear end to support her weight, chest against chest, her legs straddled over his waist and her entire body was pressed against him, both of her arms hugged around his neck tightly as he started sprinting, she could hear her heart pounding, like a bird leaping in a cage, this was her first time being this close to him, she cast a glance at his face and saw short, black quills along the edge of his head that she hadn't noticed before, hands touching his dreadlocks lightly - not squeezing them this time, as she recalled how he got hurt and mad at her thirteen years ago - she buried her face into them, his hair was still strangely beautiful to her. His one-sided pauldron was hard against her chest so she adjusted herself to the other side of his exposed chest, placing her head on his shoulder she closed her eyes to rest, his heart rate barely changed, no uneven breathing nor sweat, this surprised her, does he even get tired?

She wondered out loud in her head as she drifted into an afternoon nap.