From The Cosmos

[Zamora]

Zamora was... unprepared.

She’d been whipped. Stabbed. Shot. Bitten. Cut. She’d even had much less detrimental wounds cauterized via laser in her days. But with that, it’s been professional, quick. With the wounds, there came expectation. But this... this was ungodly.

And Zamora is terribly, horrifyingly fast.

There’s a dull crunch at first, the sound of wood straining painfully under a sharp, bone crushing bite. All at once, bladed hair stands up on end, a soft hiss compared to what’s to come. A roar, a scream... a terrible, screeching, almost metallic noise rips through the beast as she arches her back. It’s ear-piercing, deafening, louder than Maxwell’s overcomm, piercing through the bated silence like a knife.

Somewhere in the noise, Zamora’s ripped herself away from Jasper in one fell motion. Forehead pressed against the earth, her tail’s swung out to violently greet the Freedom Fighter leader. And with all of the force and ferocity of a Louisville Slugger with a knife on the end, it crops him across the face, with enough force to send many an individual tumbling.

Arms wrap tightly against Zamora’s chest, as if trying to strangle the pain and keep it from traveling, while her free hand hovers over the sealed wound, as if desperate to press but unable to do so. Her tail, apparently in an instinctive motion to keep people away, whips back and forth dangerously, even stabbing itself into the ground a few times. All the while, there’s this hoarse, high pitched noise.

Whimpers and whines, anything to keep from screaming again.

[Jasper]

He had heard screams like this before. They had often haunted his dreams in the darkest hours of the night but to hear it come from her made his blood run cold. His sense of thought turned into static and what should have been a quick reaction was not. Mismatched hues turned to gaze upward as the noise of the crunched baton in between her teeth reached his ears. The sound caused every muscle under his skin to turn rigid. The sudden swift movement of her tail was not noticed until pain heated across his face. There was no scream of pain, no audible noise of distraught as he was sent sprawling across the ground. He fell like a sack of bricks against the dirt, causing dust to fly into the path he left.

Any air in his lungs was lost, and he was left almost sputtering for recovery. His body struggled as he slowly recovered from the hit. He felt his fingers scrap at the ground as he forced himself onto his side. Attempting to recover as quickly as possible but the effort was hopeless. He only managed to get on his hands and knees before he was gasping for air, blood dripped from his face and when it collided with the ground it made an audible 'plip'. The dry ground underfoot soaked up the crimson liquid and stained the earth black.



His hand hovered over his face, threatening to touch the wound that spanned across his face. His mind reeling to try and assess the damage.

He knew almost immediately he would have that scar for the rest of his life, and in that moment he felt weak. Teeth bared in agony but he refused to let his subordinates see the extent of the damage Zamora had made. He forced himself up onto his feet, unsure of when he had shifted into his anthro form as he came to realize the change. His hand clasped tightly over the wound, turning his face just enough so one eye could catch Hikaru's gaze. "Once she calms down get her back to the medical tent." He snarled. Once the order was growled out he turned his face away from them. Sticky black blood bleeding out between his fingers. He stalked off not even moments after the order was given, disappearing back into the maze of tents. Droplets of the Captain's black blood left in his wake.

[Hikaru]

Zamora's screaming shattered through the night in a cacophonous din like nothing heard before. It was feral, and terrible. It was both aggressive and plaintive. Every being could feel her suffering and pain. Hikaru's blood chilled, her life of violence had never had this level of pure suffering. Her normally stoic expression cracked slightly as her heart went out to Zamora...

CRACK

Hikaru's breath caught in a hiss as everything had happened a flash before she could even hope to move. Hikaru's focus had been entirely on the medics, on pushing them aside, or even stepping forward to protect them. It had never occurred to her that Jasper would also need protecting. 

The leader of the Freedom Fighters was sent tumbling from a wicked blow caused by Zamora's long bladed tail writhing in pain. He went tumbling like a rag doll onto the dusty Serengeti floor. Hikaru looked back at the medics, making sure they were in a safe position, away from Zamora's pain filled, thrashing form. Then she dashed to Jasper to hel-

"Sir-" Hikaru halted as she saw the blood spatter the ground. Hard. Heavy. Her gaze flashed to Jasper as he stood up, his form shifting into his more animal like one. She had been about to offer him aid, but the look he caught her with froze her. She wanted to challenge his order, wanted to insist she look at his wound, that he needed help getting to the medical tent as well...

"Yes, sir," Hikaru nodded, hands fisted at her sides, back ram rod straight.

He was her superior. She would obey.

Hikaru shut down her concern, and focused on what she had been ordered, retreating back to the medics and watching between them and Zamora to see if the great beast of a woman had settled down enough for all of them to safely approach her with out a repeat of the incident with Jasper.

[Rose]

Rose cringed and her floppy ears pinned back against her skull, eyes shut tight. It was a reaction not just to the screams, to Zamora's pain but to their sheer volume. Sure, she had amazing hearing even in her original form and this dog form was no different. She could hear things entirely too well, and Zamora's howls were almost painful to her ears. Legs folded under her, and she involuntarily laid upon the ground, twisting her head to the side as if to try to ward off the screams somehow.

In so doing, she failed to even see the blow laid to their captain. Their general. Rose was lost in her own sort of pain. Otherwise, she would have been there in a heartbeat to ask the man if he was okay and needed tending to.

[Shani]

Shani buried her head against Hikaru, trying to block out the severity of the screams that Zamora let out. It was so loud, for her it was a similar feeling to someone staring directly into a bright light. It was painful to listen to, and left her shaking even after everything had gone quiet.

She felt Hikaru move, getting to her feet for some reason. Shani felt more blind now than she ever had, ringing in her ears kept her from understanding what was going on. She shook her head, trying to clear her senses, and only caught Hikaru's voice, accepting an order from Jasper she figured.

Once the high pitched noise ringing in her head subsided, she looked up at Hikaru as she settled back down next to her, tilting her head with worry.
"What's the matter?"

[Zamora]

Through the fuss and muss, Zamora has.. calmed down, at least. She hasn't heard anything said, and she's unaware of the damage she's caused Jasper. All that had been, for a short time there, was searing, body-shocking pain. It had surprised her, how much the cauterization had hurt. She'd been lit on fire before, sure, but that was something else. Whether it had been the magic, her wound, or a mix of the two, Zamora had never felt pain like that before. At least the bleeding had stopped...

The Pit Beast's tail finally slows to a stop, giving one last drag against the dirt before slouching in exhaustion. Hair blades give one last rattle before lazily flattening back out, and all of Zamora's weight slides to the ground, a weary, exhausted pile of alien. Mud smears across her face as she turns her face away from the tear-soaked soil, breathing heavy and slow.

With all the struggle, and all the pain, it's finally safe to rest, and it seems she's fully ready to do so.

[Hikaru]

Hikaru spoke quietly and softly at the best of times, not the most expressive of people. Now, her voice was flat. There was no cadence at all.

"Zamora accidentally struck Jasper across the face," she said, "He's already leaving for camp. He's ordered we take Zamora to the medical tent when she's calmed which..."

Hikaru looked towards Zamora's limp form, shuddering in the dust and dirt. She seemed settled down. Hikaru nodded, deeming it safe to approach. She looked down to Rose, Kanzi, and Shani, "I'll help her limp to camp. She's too big for the three of you."

Hikaru picked her way to the aforementioned alien and knelt down at her side, face and voice flat and expressionless. All business. "Zamora, I'm going to help you walk to camp. You're too big to carry, but lean against me."

She took Zamora's arms on her uninjured side and hefted them over her shoulders, supporting as much of the large woman's weight as possible. It was a difficult trip, a limping, stuttering mess. The smaller medics helped in the ways they could.

Together they all managed to make it in to camp, and safety.

Zamora was finally in the sanctuary of the Freedom Fighter medical tent.