Chapter Ten: Kayla

Kayla hadn't realized how boring watching Dreadlock fighting would be. At least not until a good hour or so had passed. There wasn't much else she could do but just stand there and spectate. Dreadlock's friend wasn't much help. Although she was mostly sure he was only there to make sure she didn't run off anywhere.

She glanced up at him and began studying his features. He was a few shades darker than some of the others around him. Making him stick out from the rest of the group like a sore thumb. 'Was he bore too?' Kayla asked herself before turning her attention back to the mutant crabs in front of her.

Their fighting style didn't look difficult, something she could very easily copy. An idea wormed its way into her head, one she accepted right away. She might as well, especially if she was going to be there for a while. If she had to keep still for a moment longer, she was sure she would go insane.

Kayla patiently waited for Dreadlock to defeat his current opponent, and for his next one to move into the arena. She mimicked the same stand he had, barely noticing the eyes of the creature next to her.

Dreadlock's opponent assumed his own stance as he watched him closely. Both began circling around each other, waiting for the other to make a move. After a few seconds, Dreadlock's opponent jumped forward, throwing a punch toward his face.

Dreadlock blocked it by throwing his arm in front of the punch, stopping the first with his forearm. Then he quickly brought his knee into the other's stomach. Once his opponent stepped back, she heard Dreadlock chitter to him, and his opponent relief. Then they repeated the process.

This cycle continued in a similar manner for the next few minutes. Kayla following every move Dreadlock was making and even adding in a few of her own from time to time.

A loud series of clicks emanated from the thing next to her, breaking Kayla's concentration. She looked up at him noticing that his finger was pointed directly at her. She looked back at Dreadlock, He had stopped his battle with his current opponent and was staring directly at her.

Kayla tilted her head a glare forming on her face. "What are you looking at?" She asked. Dreadlock wave away the other creature and pointed to the ground in front of him. Letting out a little growl as he did so.

She pointed to herself one of her eyebrows raising, "Me?" She asked. "Go over there?"

Dreadlock nodded letting out a single click. She eyed him suspiciously as she moved to the center of the arena. Being sure to stay a few feet away from him.

He assumed the same stance as before, causing Kayla to blink at him. "You want me." She began pointing to herself. "To fight you?" She finished pointing to him.

He let out an annoyed sound while nodding. Kayla sighed and copied his stance. "Okay." She took a deep breath. "Let's do this."

The two stood still for a few moments. Both waiting for the other one to make the first move. Kayla was still hesitant about the fight, because even if she was good at it. Her chances of beating him were slim to none.

Finally, Dreadlock made the first move. He stepped forward throwing a punch aimed at her jaw. Kayla moved back to avoid it but was too focused on that one to notice the other coming straight for her. It hit her side just below her rib cage, knocking her to the ground.

Kayla let out a gasp as she struggled to stand. But before she could get to her feet, she felt his fingers wrap tightly around her ankle. Before she could react she felt her body lift in the air as he slung her to the other side of the room. Her body hitting the wall before she fell to the ground.

She took a deep breath trying her best to push herself off the ground. Kayla needed to get up, she needed to stand before he got over to her. But she couldn't, she needed a plan B.

Kayla's eyes moved back to him, scanning every bit of his person. There had to be a weak spot somewhere. His lower region was out of the question, it was already protected. She could punch at his side, but her punches never seemed to have much effect on him.

Finally, her eyes landed on his hair like tendrils, would that work? It had to, It was the only choice she had left. She just needed to grab it and hope to God that his hair was as sensitive as hers.

Dreadlock grabbed her ankle once again and slung her over his shoulder. Thankfully putting her hand just in range to grab one of his tendrils. Kayla did so, clutching onto it tightly as he lifted her and brought her body down to the ground.

All the air rushed from Kayla's lungs as her body hit the floor. She almost didn't notice the loud roar that had erupted from Dreadlock amidst her haze. So it was a weak point. Kayla could feel a triumphant smirk pull over her face at the glare that resonated through his mask.

The two held eye contact for a few moments before Kayla made an attempt to stand. In her mind, the battle had to be over. She was beaten up to all hell and likely wouldn't be able to continue much longer.

Boy was she wrong. Right as she stood up she could feel his hand wrap around her small half ponytail, while his other grabbed her shoulder. He slung her across the room sending her in the middle of a group of the creatures. She hit one on the way down, sending both of them crashing to the ground.

Kayla lay on her stomach a moment, gasping for air. She needed to regain her breath quickly, she could wait for the pain in her back to subside later. She couldn't lay there longer then she needed to.

Once she had, she yet again pushed herself up, staggering a bit as she stood. Dreadlock still stood in the arena watching her closely, Kayla sent him a glare in return. She attempted to take a step forward only to fall back down to the ground once again. She took a few more deep breaths before attempting to try again. She ended up with the same results.

'Get up.' she yelled at herself as she pushed herself off the ground again. Her irritation in herself began growing. No matter how much she screamed at her limbs to move they would not obey. Still, she kept trying, her withering glare never leaving the creature before her.

He let out a series of clicks and chitters before walking over to the struggling girl. In one last attempt, Kayla forced herself to stand, she waited for him to get closer. Once he had come in striking range, she threw out her fist. Putting all her remaining strength into hitting his abdomen.

Dreadlock gave an annoyed growl as he picked her up once again. He brought her up above his head before turning back toward the arena. He tossed her back to the ground, once again making her world go black.

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Kayla awoke sometime later, as soon as she opened her eyes she shut them once again. The light of the room she was in was almost blinding, and her vision had become very blurry. After a moment, she opened them once again and blinked a couple of times. Forcing her eyes to adjust to being awake again. But her eyes weren't her only worry.

Like a tidal wave, pain washed over her. Attacking every part of her system and forcing her to take a sharp breath. Kayla waited for the pain to diminish some before pushing herself onto her elbows to get a look around.

It wasn't the same room she had stayed in with dreadlock. Metal beds lined one side of the room, only a few of them were occupied by injured creatures. She slowly scanned the rest of the room a bit at a time before her eyes landed on Dreadlock. He was talking to another one of his kind, the other seemed almost a foot taller than him, and his tendrils were much shorter.

They both seemed deep in conversation, so Kayla figured she would do the smart thing. Leave them alone so she could lay there a little longer. Even though the bed was cold and she wanted off of it, the pain in her muscles made it hard to move. 'What happened to my jacket?' she wondered silently.

Kayla laid back down and closed her eyes once more. Hoping to fall back asleep again, but a familiar growl in her stomach halted any attempts to do so. Then a realization dawned on her, she hadn't eaten since yesterday.

She opened her eyes again and glanced back at Dreadlock and his companion. Both were still deep in conversation and hadn't noticed her. "H-Hey!" She croaked out, her voice was raspy and her throat dry. 'Better add water onto the list of things I need.' she thought to herself as Dreadlock's head snapped up to her. "I need food and some water!" She attempted to shout.

Dreadlock tilted his head to the side, confused by her words. Kayla sighed holding her breath as she pushed herself to sit up. Her body screaming in protest at the action. "Food?" she said bringing her hands up and pretending to bite something. "Water?" She made a C shape with her hand and brought it up to her mouth. Pretending like she was sipping at some type of liquid.

The thing next to Dreadlock walked over to Kayla. He began poking at her face with his hands before grabbing her chin and squishing her cheeks together. He turned her face from side to side observing every part of her face as he did so.

"What the hell?" Kayla exclaimed as he ran a hand over her arms. Pressing down slightly while he checked for broken bones. "Are you a doctor or something?" She asked, even though the answer was obvious. He ignored her nonetheless and continued to do his thing.

After she had been thoroughly checked, the other creature turned toward Dreadlock. Letting out a series of clicks, with Dreadlock nodding in response. He made his way over to Kayla and picked her up once again and threw her over his shoulder. The rough movement causing Kayla to wince.

"Could you be a bit more gentle?" She grumbled. "Bastard," she added under her breath. He placed an arm over her bottom, letting out and annoyed chitter in response. "Sorry, what was that?" Kayla asked. "I don't speak tentacle monster." He ignored her comment and began walking out the door.

After a bit of walking, they finally arrived back at his room. He let out a low annoyed growl as he tossed her onto her mattress. More pain ran up her spine causing Kayla to wince yet again. Making it hard to try and keep a close eye on the thing standing over her.

He pointed to the mattress and let out a single click. "Don't have to tell me twice," Kayla said letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Dreadlock turned out of his room and left her there. "Where is he going?" She asked letting out an irritated sigh her arm coming to rest on her stomach.

Hopefully, he'd come back with food, but there was no telling when he'd be back. So after a few minutes of lying there, trying to ignore the hunger pains in her stomach. Kayla became tired of waiting and slowly pushed herself to stand up.

"Okay Backpack, where did he put you?" Kayla asked herself as she scanned the room for her pack. Finally, she spotted it on the top of one of his shelves. Kayla groaned, if she wanted food, she would have to climb for it. The thought was almost enough to make her give up entirely, but her stomach pains were much more persuasive.

She walked over to the shelf looking up at the top part. "Only a few steps and then it yours," Kayla told herself as she placed her feet on the lowest shelf, and latched her hands on another part of it. She pushed herself up and brought her arm with her, reaching as high as she could before pulling herself up and placing her feet on a different part of the shelf. Her muscles shrieking at her to stop all the while. Kayla took a deep breath and repeated the procedure twice more. Making it so the bag was finally in her reach.

Kayla let go with one hand and reached out, clawing at the straps of the backpack. She pulled herself closer, but before she could grab the strap, the door behind her opened.

The sound caused her to jump, unintentionally letting go of the shelf. Which resulted in Kayla plummeting toward the ground. She let out a sigh of frustration, ignoring the pain that ran through her body.

Sitting up she turned up to glare at Dreadlock. He stood in the doorway holding a piece of uncooked meat in his hand. He let out an irritated growl and threw it over to Kayla.

It landed a few feet away from her but she made no move to pick it up. He clicked tilted his head some as if he was confused as to why.

"I can't eat this crap!" Kayla yelled up at him her frustration boiling over. "It needs to be cooked." He looked even more confused by the statement. Kayla facepalmed. 'Great, he doesn't understand the concept of cooked meat.'

She crawled over to the 'food' and picked it up in her hands. She pretended to bite into it and shook her head, a look of disgust pulling over her face. Dreadlock gave an annoyed growl as he walked up and grabbed the meat from her. He pointed to her and pretended to bite into it, Kayla sighed.

"I can't." She said. "I'll get sick." She made the same biting motion and then held her hand over her mouth, pretending to throw up. "Can you cook it? Like take some fire and use it to burn it if you have to."

Dreadlock seemed to finally get the memo after that. He left for a few minutes before returning with the thing almost burnt to a crisp. He placed it on the ground in front of Kayla before placing his hands on his hips. Almost daring her to reject it again.

"Well. . ." Kayla shrugged. "At least it's cooked." She began blowing on it for a moment to cool it before picking it up and taking a bite of it. The flavor was surprisingly decent although it wasn't an animal she had ever eaten.

She looked up at Dreadlock and gave him a slight nod. "Thanks for the food and all, but can I have my bag? I need my water." She pointed up to the bag and made a drinking motion with her hand.

He nodded and grabbed the bag before throwing it down to her. Kayla took another bite of the meat and grabbed her bag and pulled it toward herself. She unzipped the main pocket and pulled out a few of her back up water bottles, and a handful of granola bars for the following morning.

After she had finished her slab of meat and drank half of her water bottle. Dreadlock came over and snatched up the bag and placed it back in its place on the shelf.

"Well excuse you." She growled forcing herself to stand, and shakily make her way over to her bed. Now that she was fed, and had something to drink, all she wanted to do was sleep. She knelt down and crawled onto the pile of furs. Spreading out her limbs, she let her muscles relax as she fell asleep.