Survival

I avoided Tobias like he was infected with a deadly disease. It wasn’t too hard to do, considering there were twice as many Kasiens around now. He frequently left early in the morning for training and I busied myself with other tasks, including practicing on my own. It was hard with the pain from my tattoo and wounds, but I had to ignore it. I had to prove myself. Tobias’ anger just pushed me forward with more desire to be a good fighter than I had ever felt before. This was how we were going to survive, I just knew it. Weak females with no knowledge of fighting were not much use!

I squinted my eyes, barely able to see the target on the tree that I was aiming for. The light from the stars gave a decent amount of soft white light, but I was standing further away than normal. My aim was so much better, now that I had practiced while taking into account gravity. I was getting a feel for my bow, almost as if I could do it while blinded, and that was essentially what I was doing with the darkness of the night. I knew there was a target a certain distance from me, and I knew how high up it was. So if I held my bow at this angle… I fired and heard the familiar thwack of an arrow hitting the tree. I smiled and walked forwards, seeing that my arrow had hit the target.

“That was very impressive. I think you should start with moving targets now,” Otto’s voice said from somewhere. I then spotted him emerging from dense bush, spreading his wings and giving them a little shake once he was out.

“How long were you there for?” I asked as he approached me.

“Just a minute. You didn’t miss your target and I can see how comfortable you are with your bow. Like I said, moving targets should be your next training,” Otto smiled.

“How do you do moving ones?”

“Well when we were confined to our spaceship, we took unwanted stuffed toys from the children and threw them in the air, usually passing them between two people. It worked very well,” Otto chuckled, looking away as if he was reminiscing on a wonderful moment. His smile was small, but so relaxed and truly happy. I set my weapons down and then walked over to a high tree stump, pulling myself up onto it and setting my wings comfortably behind me. I knew I was just stalling for giving him bad news, so I forced myself to speak.

“I don’t know if you know or not, but Tobias found out that you, Adara and Loukas have been training me…” I told him with a little sigh. I saw Otto tensing briefly, his grin leaving as well. He ran a hand across his face, rubbing his eyes a bit.

“You know what, I’m getting sick of him. I know you two are friends and everything, but I don’t care. A leader shouldn’t act the way he is; it’s bad for everyone,” Otto said. His voice was full of masked anger. “It’s like he can’t comprehend that I’m also a leader, with my own group. For some reason, he’s always putting me down, disregarding what I have to say!”

“Yeah, I know that feeling…” I mumbled.

“How do you feel about him? As a leader, not a friend.”

“Well, I used to think he was a good leader. Aside from how he wouldn’t let me fight, of course,” I answered, looking down at my feet and swinging them back and forth as I tried to think of how to reply properly without being too offensive towards my friend. “But… I don’t know how to explain it, really… But seeing you and how you lead your people… Well, I belong more with you and your people. I’m sure you have noticed that too.”

“I definitely have. I know of at least one other who has come to me, wanting to move onto my ship instead because they prefer me. Who knows how many others feel this way,” Otto agreed. He sighed as he pulled a hand through his messy hair, shifting it out of his face. “I don’t know what to do, Marion. I’m stuck. How do I do what’s best for our race without looking like the bad guy?”

“I don’t know…” I whispered.

“I can’t even be happy. He won’t even- He won’t let me ask someone from his group to be my mate! It’s like there’s a huge problem between me and him, but he’s not trying to resolve the issue at all, and that- He’s not a good leader! I’m trying to do the right thing, but he isn’t!” Otto said, stumbling over his words. I pretended like I didn’t know what he was talking about and put on a fake surprised expression.

“You want to mate with someone from our group? Who is she?” I asked him as casually as I could possibly manage. Otto hesitated, his dark brown eyes looking up at me with uncertainty. Would he really tell me? I held my breath, anticipating his reply.

“She’s you…” Otto said quietly after a considerably long pause. “Tobias won’t let me ask you, nor will he give me a reason why I can’t. It is a very awful feeling…”

“But you shouldn’t like me! I’m such an undesirable female!” I countered. It was one thing to hear it from Loukas, but it became so real once Otto had said it himself.

“Come down here,” he ordered softly. I pushed myself off the tree stump and slid down, taking a few steps to close the distance between us. Otto scooped up my hands in his and stared into my eyes. “You are a wonderful female. I love how headstrong you are, how you have this amazing desire to fight for your race, and how you’re still kind at the same time. You’re a great example of who a leader should mate with, so I want you.” I was speechless. Otto seemed so genuine, and to hear that from a male… It was a dream come true. I had truly thought it would never happen.

“You… You really think that?” I asked quietly, unsure if I really believed him. Perhaps it was just a prank. Maybe the other males had got him to join in and tease me about how I’d never be mated because I was so undesirable.

“I do…” Otto replied with his typical nice smile. I grinned back, finally completely believing him. Otto leaned in a bit and I sensed his caution, but I wanted to let him know it was okay. I gave his hands a little squeeze and moved my head a little closer too. Our lips met ever so softly, and after a few short seconds we pulled away. It was such a sweet sensation unlike anything I had ever experienced before. I gazed into his handsome eyes, smiling uncontrollably.

“I don’t care,” I whispered.

“About what?” he asked with hesitation.

“About what Tobias says. I want to be with you,” I answered, making Otto relax back into a grin. The next thing I knew his arms were wrapped around my torso, holding me tightly against his. I cradled my head into the nook of his neck as I embraced him. It felt so wonderful.