Waking pains.

After an entire day of hard work and painstaking surgery, the Marine doctors finally managed to save Norin's life.

" Whew! That was something. I've never seen so much blood all at once. I didn't think we'd manage to make it. But we did." One of the doctors spoke.

" I'm glad it's finally over. I need to get some sleep."

" Yeah, but before that, someone needs to go inform the Lieutenant that the princess is out of surgery now. He wanted to be the first to know when she was in the clear."

" Right. I'll handle it. The rest of you go get some food and some rest. You all earned it." The chief doctor said to his crew.

The crew saluted the head doctor and quickly dispersed.

The captain of the Medical unit, Johnathon Majors, quickly made his way up to the crews quarters, which were a level above the medical wing, and approached Markus as he slept.

" Lieutenant. Lieutenant, wake up." Johnathon shook Markus and spoke to the man to wake him.

Feeling the pressure on his chest, Markus slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the doctor standing over him. " Mmm. Is she out of surgery?" Markus asked sleepily.

" Yes, sir. She's lying in bed now. If you want, you can go down there."

" Okay, thank you for notifying me. I'll head down there immediately." Markus said to the man.

" Of course."

Markus kicked his legs over his bed and jumped up to his feet. He grabbed a towel and a change of uniform and made his way to the crew's showers.

There was nothing special about the ship. The showering room was just a bunch of showers lined up together. But Markus had nothing to hide. Not like he wasn't well endowed.

After a quick wash-up, Markus got dressed and made his way down to the medical wing.

' It's probably, going to be a while before she wakes up.' Markus thought to himself. He reached Norin's bunk and pressed the curtains to the side.

She appeared to be sleeping peacefully. Her right eye was scared badly. Her beautiful long green hair had been cut short, due to the amount of blood and dirt that had madded it together.

Markus felt sorry for what had happened to the girl. Violence like this was something even he wasn't a fan of seeing.

He took a seat next to her bedside, and there he would sit until she hopefully awoke.

For seconds, minutes, hours. Markus simply sat there waiting. Of course, if he needed to use the restroom, he would slip out, and if he needed food, there were soldiers who could bring him something from the mess. But other than that, he was always seen at the woman's bedside.

.........

Hours would go by, but finally as Markus was sipping from a cup of tea, Norin's eyes started to flutter.

" Wha... Where..." Norin muttered. From the sound of her voice, she was still sleeping, only barely coming out of her unconsciousness. But then her eyes shot open wide and she jolted up from the bed.

Markus quickly jumped up and grabbed the thrashing woman and pinned her back down.

" GAH! Let go of me! Let go!"

" Calm down, woman! Right now!" Markus exclaimed.

" Don't touch me!" Norin shouted. Her body started to grow and change into that of her tiger form. And her strength was certainly impressive, but Markus quickly overpowered her and forced her back down on the bed.

" Knock it off! You fool, look around. You're on a Marine ship. You're safe!" Markus exclaimed. " You're safe."

Norin, still huffing and snarling like a wild animal, sat up and took a look around the ship and at the many men and women that populated the med bay, and then finally her gaze landed on Markus's coat which was placed at the front of her bed.

.Justice.

" A marine, ship?" Slowly the realization started to hit Norin, and slowly tears started to well up in the woman's eyes. And then moments later she started crying.

Markus just sat there, rubbing her head, while she cried into his chest.

.............

Half an hour went by, before Norin finally calmed down and relaxed, all the while Marku comforted her as best he could.

Once enough time had passed, Markus spoke to Norin, he still needed to find out what happened on the island.

" Norin, I know this is hard. But I need to ask you some questions. Do you think you can answer them for me?" Markus asked the woman.

Norin looked over at the man and nodded quietly. Her eyes were red and swollen, evident that she had been crying hard.

" Do you remember everything that happened?" Markus asked.

" Yes." Norin responded. " It was a week ago. I was out hunting, when I caught a strange scent in the air. I followed that scent until I ran into a strange man. He was tall, had long black hair, and wore a beasts skin around his waist, along with fur on his arms and legs. I knew upon seeing him, he was a problem."

" How did you know?" Markus asked.

" Entrance to the island, by any means other than the official ports is strictly forbidden. Using my powers, I can tell who has traveled through the ports or not, because of a certain smell that they give off. But this one didn't have that scent, he smelled like sea water. So, I knew he couldn't have come through the official channels and confronted him. But then he changed... Into a black lion almost like me." Norin explained.

" Black Lion- Jinshi. What happened next?"

" We fought." Norin responded bluntly. " We fought and he beat me. I couldn't believe how strong he was. I've seen my fair share of tough guys, but this man... He was on another level. He held back, and I still stood no chance. I thought he was going to kill me... But he didn't. He said he thought I was interesting, and he told me that his dream was to find a true opponent that he could have a legendary fight to the death with. Then he turned and started to leave. But before that, he warned me that a group of pirates were going to attack the island." Norin told the man.

' What? He warned her ahead of time of the attack? Why would he do that? That doesn't make sense. Wouldn't it have been smarter to keep the attack to himself? Maybe he figured the island's security would be raised regardless. But if that's the case, the Marine's stationed on the island should have requested support sooner. If they had, then maybe... Maybe we could have saved them.' Markus thought to himself.

" After that, i told father what happened. But it didn't matter. The pirates came in full force. We did our best to evacuate as many of the civilians as we could, but we didn't have long. The pirates caught up too quickly and.... They killed my father. And I.... They... They tortured me for days, before they finally left. They stripped me and hung me up like a trophy." Norin brought her legs up to her chest and hugged herself.

" I'm sorry."

" What?"

" I'm sorry that you had to endure such a terrible thing. It's not fair that your people had to suffer for another man's greed. I can't say you're going to get over this easily. Because the truth is, you won't. Things like this take time to heal. But I can promise you, that you and your people will be avenged. That much I swear. Because I won't stop hunting them until every single one of them is brought to justice." Markus told the woman.

" I... I want to help." Norin told the man.

" What?"

" Those bastards took everything from me. I want to be the one to end them."

Markus looked at the woman for a moment. " I'm sorry. I can't promise you that. As a man, I understand your anger, and your want for revenge, but... As a Marine, I can't allow innocent people to run ahead into danger. Nor is it my decision to make. The man in charge of this ship, will want to speak with you, soon. Until then get some rest. If you really want to see this through, then speak with him. And become a Marine. Then, you may just get the battle you want. But remember, sometimes you may get what you ask for. And sometimes it might be too much for you to handle."

Markus stood up from his seat and left the med bay, leaving Norin to think about his words.

Markus said that he understood, and he did. If he were in her position, he might have wanted the same... no, he definitely would. But not being in her position gives him the ability to think about things properly, and he would want someone to tell him the same thing. That vengeance only breeds more vengeance.