LF Friends, Will Travel

THUNK

“Get away from her, you overgrown pest!”

The chair leg slammed into the side of the head belonging to the Raha, the force causing Lut’har to stumble and the shot he was about to take went harmlessly into the floor. He barely had time to take stock of what was happening before the metal bar slammed into his leg, causing the insured Estorian to fall to the ground.

Behind him, stood the Zorthian, Fluur. It had taken screaming and all his might to pull himself through the narrow passages required to exit his confinement, but in the end he had done so, in the end he’d managed to get here just in time.

THUNK

Again fluur swung his weapon once more, the cracking of chitin this time sounding out as his beating continued, rage plastered over the Zorthian’s face. He was done. He was done with those who had hurt him, he was done with those who were hurting his friends. Weeks of nightmares and fear all bubbled up into a fiery hatred of the being in front of him.

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“Never!”

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"Again!”

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"Will!”

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"You!”

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"Hurt!”

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"Anyone!”

Each word was punctuated with a swing of the bludgeoning weapon, the sound of metal cracking against carapace as more white blood splashed onto the floor. Fluur wasn’t a skilled combatant, but Lut’har was already severely injured, and every blow the Zorthian gave was powered with anger, with a desperate need to no longer feel fear against those who had done him and those he cared about harm.

THU-

The swing was stopped in mid air as an insectoid like hand grabbed the weapon before it could strike once again, stopping it where it was swung. Fluur tried to pull it back out of the Raha’s grasp, before Lut’har wrenched the weapon out of his hands, causing the amphibian to stumble. Slowly and painfully the Raha started to get to his feet, standing to his full hight and staring down at Fluur with a murderous rage

“How dare you, you petulant pest. I am going to skin you alive and-”

Lut’har had been carrying with him a standard issue combat knife, engraved with the holy words of In’tch. The Raha however had been clumsy enough to leave the knife behind inside Amander. At that moment Amander had decided to become a good citizen and had returned the lost property to the Raha by throwing it at him.

The blade had sunk deep into Lut’har’s head plates, all the way down to hilt, causing him to stare blankly forwards as his body tried to comprehend the massive amount of damage it had just taken. Mandibles twitched as if the Raha was trying to say something, yet no sound could be heard. This continued for a few moments, as if the insect was going to shrug off such an attack, before he slumped to the ground unceremoniously. Lut’har twitched for a few moments more before finally, at long last, going still.

Fluur stood there in silence, shaking as the intensity of the situation left his body in one go, trembling as all the adrenaline and anger left him. He gave the now dead Raha a final prodding kick, as if expecting the monster to rise back up from the dead like some b-movie villain.

A gurgling blood filled breath snapped the Zorthian out of his stupor as in an instant he rushed over to where Spot lay, giving a shout of alarm as Fluur quickly pulled out the bag of medigel.

The uplift was in a bad way. Many words could be said of the Raha's treatment of their toys: evil, cruel, sadistic. But being careful was not one of those. Blood lay pooled around Spot, multitudes of deep cuts had been inflicted upon his body as many internal organs weren't internal anymore. Bones were smashed and broken like an horrific jigsaw puzzle, leaving a vague canine shaped person behind.

As Fluur fumbled with the bag he could tell this wasn't good. He might not be a doctor, but even he could tell that the uplift's current situation was not conducive to the continuation of life.

"No… Amander." The half conscious Spot gave a growl as Fluur approached, bearing canine teeth in warning. "Help… Amander."

Fluur turned to look at the second figure lying on the floor. He had just assumed that the presumably indestructible Terran was fine. It was Amander after all. But on second look she was also in a bad state. With the knife having been violently returned to its rightful owner, there was now nothing stopping Amander from bleeding to death.

"I only have one, I only brought one with me." Fluur's eyes filled with tears as he realised the consequences of that statement.

"I said Amander!"

The ferocity in Spot voice left no room for discussion or argument, leaving Fluur to simply scramble over to the second Terran. Applying the life saving medical miracle was so easy a child could do it: purposely designed as such. Just rip open the tab and apply to the wound. The colour quickly returned to Amander's pale face, the mix of nanobots and genetic encoding doing its best to bring the Terran back from death's door. It took a mere twenty seconds for Amander to go from nearly dead, to slowly sitting up with a confused groan.

"Ughh, now that was a bit too close for my likin'."

It took a few moments of disorientation before the Terran realised that Fluur wasn't beside her side, as she would expect. Instead the Zorthian was sat next to Spot, forlornly trying to stop the uplift from dying.

"Spot!"

Amander rushed over, ignoring the feeling of lightheadedness from the medigel, hands scrambling for where she had been storing her own supply, finding nothing but empty space: the two tried up piles of useless gel on the floor a testimony to the damage that Lut’har had done, even after his death.

"Fluur, where did ya put the rest of the gel? "

The desperation and terror in Amander's voice was clear as her own hands joined in the futile attempt at stopping the bleeding.

"I- I only brought one, I don't have any more…"

"Then why did ya use it on me you moron!" Amander shouted with a rage fueled by pure fear. "This wasn't his fight ya absolute-"

"Don't say things you'll later regret." Spot's voice was weak and quiet, but it interrupted Amander all the same. "I told him… to do it."

The sound of the uplift speaking took all of Amander’s attention, sapping the fight out of her and replacing it with sheer desperation. Spot needed medical attention immediately; what had been done was done, the only thing to do right now was deal with the situation at hand.

"Hey buddy, keep talkin' OK? Fluur, there'll be more gel at the dock, just run!"

The Zorthian didn't need to be told twice, breaking into a sprint at the Terran's direction, leaving Amander alone to try to do the impossible. She was covered in the uplift's blood as she tore clothing apart and bandaged wounds.

"Hey Spot, I need ya to tell me how to fix ya."

Amander knew the basics of how to patch someone up, how to keep the more common causes of death at bay long enough to get help. But this, this was out of her knowledge set. Spot was a doctor, he’d know what to do, he’d know how to fix himself, right? The canine instead gave a small shake of his head at this request, he already knew the extent of his injuries, barely able to raise his head to take a look

"I could do with some pain management right about now."

That sentence turned Amander’s veins ice cold, she knew what Spot was trying to say but she refused to believe it. She just needed to delay for a little while, delay until Fluur got back. Fifteen minutes, that’s all they needed.

"No no no no no no no! You're gonna be fine, ya stay with me now!"

They both went silent as Spot seemed to lose focus on his surrounding for a moment, and Amander desperately used every trick she knew from years upon years of combat experience. Seconds turned to minutes as she tried to stop the tide from coming in, to fight against the inevitable.

As every second ticked away, The uplift got weaker and weaker

"Thank you… Thank you for choosing me, for giving me the chance to… to think."

Spot gave a smile, each pant at this point being labored and irregular. Slowly he raised a paw and placed it on Amander’s cheek, stopping her frantic motions as she attempted to gain the time they needed. He didn’t want her to worry, he made his choices and he’d make them again if he had the choice.

"Don't talk like that! Ya gonna be fine, you and me we're gonna go travelling again, together, like old times! Just me and the best boy in the world!"

There was a spark of movement, even through the pain and damage those two words caused the mutilated stump of a tail to wag, spreading blood along the floor as it did so. Spot was just happy that Amander was here.

"I wouldn't change a thing… You were a wonderful owner… and an even better friend."

Amander had stopped trying to staunch the flow of blood, instead reverting to begging for something to change, holding Spot in her arms as tears dripped down her face, holding him tight as she began to sob.

"Please just hold on. Fluur will be back any moment now then you'll be fine. You can't go, I don't have anyone left, you're all I've got left…"

That was Spot’s only regret. Leaving Amander. But there would be others, there was Fluur at the very least, and he had faith that his friend wouldn’t be able to go more than ten steps without finding another person in the galaxy to help. It was just in humanities nature to make friends.

"We'll meet again, on the other side... I waited over one hundred thousand years in stasis to be reunited with you. I can handle a few more."

Spot's breathing had slowed at this point, there was no more pain, just… a peaceful feeling being held in his friend’s arms. He’d done enough, now it was time to rest.

"I will wait for you."

Spot looked up into the eyes of his god, the first thing he could remember was staring into Amander's eyes, and those eyes would also be his last memory. With a final shuddering breath the life left Spot as the canine started his long wait to be reunited with his friend once again.

As Amander tilted her head back and gave a scream of grief to an uncaring heaven above