Dominion Over Her (BennyQ x Sketchyequine)

The sudden touch by Solstice startled Kordavo intensely, thinking he had let his guard down to the point that another creature had leapt upon him. She rolled him over and had him on his back while she clambered over her. Did her little body atop of his have to feel so good? His first assumption was that Solstice was using the distraction to get the edge on him. He growled and raised his blast to shoot her, though she brushed it away with such tenderness it confused him further. He was on the verge of drawing his knife then and simply stabbing her but she hushed him with a finger to her lips, like a mother warning a noisy toddler. Kordavo hissed and quirked an eyebrow at the same time. This wasn’t an attack on him. So what was she doing?

He watched her, with some alarm, as she pulled out a third knife. His green eyes went wide with surprise. She had another one? Was it going to be used against him? His hands tightened around his own weapon, waiting for any sign of an attack to come on him. Instead she peered up over him into the valley below, her breasts just above his face. Kordavo just…stared, lips slowly parting in some subconsciously reaction of putting one in his mouth. It never happened. She looked back to him and he met her gaze unwavering, still unsure of what she was doing. He needed to get up and shoot the creature dead before it ate them!

She kissed him. There was no surprise or doubt or revulsion in Kordavo. The moment her lips touched his…his own opened to accommodate her. Perhaps she’s learning her place. But so soon? It left him pondering and utterly off-guard when she got up and launched herself over the lip of the bowl.

“What the…fuck!” Kordavo swore, rolling onto his stomach and shooting to his feet, the safety off on his weapon. He got up just in time to see Solstice attach herself to the scorpion’s massive tail. It was massive, the bug. Its pincers could easily engulf a tall man like him and clip him in half. Its mouth looked like it could swallow those green hounds above whole. Its scales were jet-black and tough. Its stinger was sharp and deadly, like it could pierce right through an armoured man. And little Solstice, so featherweight and small, clutched to it with all her might. For a moment he just watched, astonished by it all. The scorpion fought and flailed, trying to get her off and she began to saw its tail where it narrowed before the pincer with her little knife. Kordavo used the barrel of his gun to scratch the side of his brow, one hand on his hip, just astonished by it all. She was nuts.

But it was an entertaining scene. Such troublesome slaves were thrown into pits with vicious monsters, to fight to the death for the amusement of sadistic watchers and cruel overlords. He had heard of such things and could now see the appeal. If she didn’t want to serve a man’s whims, she could serve in other ways. It didn’t last long. With a flick of its tail, it sent Solstice crashing back into the bowl behind him. Kordavo didn’t look to see how she was. Right now, the scorpion had locked its many beady eyes upon him. Assuming he was responsible, it made a strange sound and began to rush towards him.

Without hesitation, Kordavo raised his gun and fired off several bolts of energy, echoing through the valley as he struck the creature dead on. Twice in the face. Another on the narrow limb that connected the pincer to the body, several times on the body. The scorpion reared back and cried aloud, though it didn’t go down or give up, advancing slowly under his barrage of fire. He managed to weaken one limb so badly that the scorpion simply dragged its left pincer along, limp and useless. Kordavo saw his blasts weren’t doing much in terms of fatal hits however. He stopped shooting and drew out his knife in the other hand. He backed off and a few seconds later, the scorpion mounted over the lip and came into the bowl they had hid in, dragging its dead pincer. But the other still snipped and clapped.

Kordavo laid his plans quickly. He had to strike from the creature’s left where it was disarmed and he quickly darted aside, shooting it once more in the face to disorientate it. He side stepped to avoid the flailing of its right pincer and jumped onto its limp left limb. The knife twirled in his hand and with all his weight and force behind it, jumped once more down upon the creature’s face, stabbing the knife straight through its top mandible, down into its mouth, and through its bottom mandible. The pincers of its face tried to nip at him as well but it could barely bite. He pinned it in, leaning on the knife hilt firmly to keep it pressed. Within the minimum range of the right pincer, all it could do was snip behind him, as if embracing him closer. The massive scorpion flailed and tried to pull away but Kordavo kept it pinned, hanging on for dear life until the last of its life filtered away. The scorpion gave a mournful heave and collapsed down, limbs still jerking but growing weaker by the second.

He gasped and pulled away, leaving the knife embedded through it’s head and face as he stumbled back. Some sort of ooze had sprayed onto his arm and it sizzled, though it didn’t seem acidic. He backed up, still facing the creature, for it didn’t go still completely. It kept…moving. Perhaps it was taking a long time to die. He turned back towards Solstice as he wiped his brow. What a morning to wake up to! “That was stupid of you to rush down there. Next time, I’ll leave you to be scorpion dung, you dumb idiot. Don’t do anything like that again.” He growled, holding his blaster in one hand. He stooped down and collected her third knife, leaving the other impaled in the scorpion’s head. It still kept on twitching, its torso shifting and moving. Kordavo didn’t take notice.

The knife went into his own belt. “Is there anything else I should know or do I need to give you a complete strip search? Chalk it up now, little girl, or else.” Kordavo warned, cranky in the mornings and not in the mood for argument. As he advanced on her, there was a loud rip from the scorpion behind and a spray of liquid gore flooded around it in a fit bubbles and pops. The torso was still but it kept dragging. Something else was moving it.

They came. Dozens. The clattering noise returned tenfold as dozens of little scorpions burst free from the dead carcass of their spawner. Kordavo gasped in disgust and raised his gun, shooting the lead creature as they advanced towards Kordavo and Solstice in a frenzy. It took at least three shots to drop one dead and he was already at half charge. But when one died, two more came over it, followed by four and then innumerable ones. They had little sharp pincers and were covered in disgusting ooze. “Fuck! Fuck you!” Kordavo hissed, blasting a second, and then a third one dead, but six more climbed over their bodies. It wasn’t a battle he could win.

He turned and looked towards Solstice, even as they advanced on him. Now was the perfect time to leave her as bait.

The next moment, Kordavo grabbed her around her torso and hefted her up, moving towards the far end of the bowl and jumping off, his backside hitting the smooth rock carved by endless currents of ancient water and sliding down to the valley floor in a puff of dust. The little scorpions followed, some clattering down and others dropping off recklessly, smashing into the ground around. They hissed. Kordavo hissed back. But he jumped over one and ran, carrying Solstice. He didn’t know how far he ran, following the linear path of the valley floor. It felt like going uphill slightly, though the gorge and blue sky always remained above and the walls about them, steep and insurmountable. Yet still he went on, not knowing what was ahead but knowing what was behind. He ran until the clattering of the dozens of baby scorpions were lost in the haze behind.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Kordavo had retained his survival kit on his back. It was still morning and his stomach growled. He was covered in sweat from the exertion. Endless, the valley seemed, until he found a rocky ramp that went into another bowl. There he deposited Solstice, pressing her to the ground as he looked about like a desperate creature, chased by many foes, unsure of safety yet needing a second to pause. Had they lost them?

“This is your fault.” He said at last, glaring at Solstice. “If you hadn’t jumped out like an idiot, we could have sneaked by without being noticed. What are you trying to prove, you idiot? Stay in your place and don’t move. Or must I really break your legs?” Kordavo snapped, unslinging his survival kit and checking the water bottle, taking just a gulp and no more, as it needed to be rationed. And yes, protein cubes as well. How exciting. He opened one wrapper for a bar and simply bit it, before wrapping it back up. He offered none for Solstice.

Solstice had watched from the sidelines as Kordavo fought the beast, bug wgat hezwas doing was wrong. This was a beast they wanted to disarm, not kill. She knew all too well about the reproductive tendencies of these creatures. That's why it pissed her off so badly when he called her an idiot. He really was a fool. “What I did was stupid? Well excuse me bucko, but I think what you did was stupid. You just unleashed an entire world of hurt onto both of us. You're the stupid idiot. Maybe you should listen to the native for once!” She screamed at him. All the anger was boiling over in her. This guy had screwed her over time and time again, yet he still had the audacity to yell at her like she was some unruly teenager. “I know way more about this planet and these beasts than you could ever dream, asshole.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

She backed off as he began to approach her. Her rump and back pressed backward into the cool rock as she could no longer back up. She didn't want him to search her. Of course she still had some weapons, but he didn't deserve them. He deserved no help for her or her people at all. He deserved nothing more than a pile of shit under his nose. “I'm no little girl.” She growled at him. “There's no time for this. It's time for us to go right now. That thing is about to-” and that's when it happened. The beast hatched its young just as she was about to warn him if in a burst of gore a reproductive fluid.

“Fucking idiot! Stop shooting them!” She shouted as he started to shoot them again. She then turned and started to run. She wasn't about to wait and find out if he would leave her behind at a sacrifice. She already knew he probably wouldn't be above it.

Then he grabbed her again.

She felt like a sack of flour just heaved over his shoulder like cargo. Each stride he leaped his shoulder dug deeper into her abdomen. By the time he finally stopped and dropped her with a thud, her stomach ached within her body. He had jabbed his strong shoulder into her so many times that if she had had anything to eat that morning she probably would have emptied her stomach of it. The stillness of the rock beneath her now was a sweet relief and she laid on her back there calmly as she took deep, even breaths. This man was going to be the death of her if they kept going on like this. Laying her head back against the rock in the brisk morning air, Solstice took a deep breath. If she lost her composure now, it could be deadly for her. She had to remain strong. She always had to remain strong.

“It already knew we were there. There's no sneaking away from something already hunting us.” She spoke, laying her forearm over her eyes to shield them from the light. Her tone was even, almost bored as she reguarded him. He didn't deserve much of her energy in this moment. He acted like a pig: sweaty, rough, and loud. The whole ordeal was getting tiring for the young princess. It wouldn't be much longer before she just killed him because she was tired of his constant complaining. How long would the survival benefit of him being alive be worth all the grief he was putting her through. But even still, she had had plenty of opportunities to kill him, and she never acted on them. He was lucky he always got out Scott free. Perhaps she kept sparing him because he would be useful, a weapon against the beasts they would no doubt still encounter on this trek. Or perhaps.. it was something else.

Solstice’s eyes traveled to Kordavo as he chewed the meal he arranged for himself. Ride of him not to share, but she would survive. It had only been yesterday afternoon that she had had her last meal. She could still go days, so she decided no to raise a fuss about it. She just watched him, trying to figure out what it was about him that she was starting to grow fond of. He was an asshole. He treated her like an object, violated her body, and continued to threaten her life. Yet, through it all he still kept heaving her over his shoulder and carrying her to safety. There was something… sweet about the way he kept her alive when he could easily fed her to something. But, he had still hurt her. The healing wound on her ass, her stiff fingers, and the bruises all over her body were reminders of that. He wasn't afraid of hurting her… so why was she losing the desire to hurt him?

Solstice stood and approached the man. “You won't need to ration water now that we're back in an area with vegetation.” She spoke, sweeter than even she had expected. “This planet gets a lot of moisture, that's why it's so green even though it gets to cold at night.” She pointed out, and grabbed his water bottle from him without bothering to ask or caring if he complained. The redhead took a long drink from the spout then carried the bottle to a nearby plant with large, broad leaves. She lined the open lid up with the sharp point at the edge of the leaf then carefully tipped it, draining a pool of fresh water from the leaf into the bottle, completely filling it before twisting the lid back on and tossing it back to her captor. “Rainwater that hasn't touched the ground will be safe to drink, but if your safety kit is worth anything you’ll have some water purifier in there just in case you're worried.” She shrugged and sat on a nearby boulder.

Her body was exhausted, and the water only replenished her slightly. She had slept several hours, yet she did not feel even remotely rested. Through it all, however, the young princess sat tall and eyed Kordavo with her baby blues. It was hard for her to determine the man’s next move. Sometimes he was trying to kill her, other times he was saving her ass. Not a lick of it made any sense. He was going to need to decide very soon whether he wanted her dead or alive. She hoped her people would find her soon and tote them back to Frandia so their wounds could be treated and their nerves put on end. Solstice even thought she would probably urge her father to pardon him once they got home. He would live a life of a Frandia citizen against his will, but it would be better than being killed for his crimes.

Kordavo had put his hands on the princess of Frandia not only violently, but also sexually. He was a criminal and his crimes warranted execution, but if Solstice made it home she would save his life because he had saved hers. Which reminded her of the wound he had sustained on his arm the day prior from the canines. Solstice hoisted her body off of the rock and walked up to him, holding her hands open and at shoulder level to prove she was unarmed. This was not an attempt to jump him, but she would definitely be touching him. Without a word, Solstice began to roll up the sleeve of his ripped and bloodied flight suit to expose his arm where he had been bitten. Solstice ran her fingertips along the perimeter before she spoke. “This wound is too necrotic to stitch up as it is. However, the best option for you is to let me stitch it up for you. One move the wrong way and you'll rip this thing open and start bleeding out again. You’ll have to let me work, and you'll have to trust me.” She spoke simply. He would either do it or he wouldn't. At the end of the day… it was his arm at stake. He could bleed to death or get a nasty infection far too easily if he left it like this.

“But I can promise you one thing... it's going to hurt like hell while I'm working on it.” That was the most honest thing she had probably ever said to him.

The look in her eyes was completely ignored by Kordavo, his mind instead focusing on the more immediate concerns. Like getting out of this hole and above ground, back to his ship where he could rejoin the battle. If it was still going on. The Dominion fleet had arrived in force but far from their supply lines. If the Frandians held on, it’s very likely the first onslaught could be beaten back. But Admiral Cleram was no fool and did not get to the top tier position by being unprepared or indecisive. The Frandian defenses would be overcome and then the fleet could rescue and recover downed pilots such as him. Or capture any enemy combatants unable to escape with the larger ships.

The inverse could also be true, in which the Dominion was beaten back and the Frandians came down looking for ally and foe. In that case, Kordavo had to do what was necessary and truly sacrifice his new property for his own survival. The fact he had not done so already was surprising. Perhaps being alone on a foreign world was too much for his psyche and having some human company, even an enemy, offered a sense of comfort, not to mention power over the helplessness of being shot down and trapped down here where he could do nothing.

Footsteps. Kordavo rose to his height as Solstice approached him, glaring at her and watching her intently. He didn’t trust her despite her soft tone and words of advice. For all he knew, the water here could be contagious and end up making him sick. Then she snatched his water bottle, causing his hands to clench into fists. Who did she think she was? Almost like a spoiled little brat, accustomed to getting whatever she wanted or needed. He caught the water bottle when she flung it back but didn’t take his eyes off of her. Oh, he did have a water purifier in his kit and if her brain was worth anything, she would have used it before dumping any sort of foreign liquid into his bottle.

And now she wanted to check his arm. In all the excitement of the awakening, he had barely noticed it. It throbbed but the biofoam would keep it healing and covered until he reconnected back with his people, which he hoped was soon. Already she was touching it, trying to roll up his sleeve. With sudden vehemence, he shoved her hard into the ground, pulling his arm and lowering his sleeve. “Keep your hands and opinions to yourself, little girl. I didn’t ask and I don’t need your help.” He growled at her, shaking his head. He’d be fine for another day or two, ignoring the slight, growing throb. It wouldn’t be long until he reconnected with his people and could get it properly done. He wasn’t going to expose his injury to an enemy combatant.

And then without a further word, he opened up the bottle again and overturned it, spilling out everything that was within. If she wanted him to trust her, she should have drank the water herself first, off the leaf.

The water splattered on the rock and Kordavo stoppered the bottle again, slinging it onto his belt. “Get up now. Move. Walk. Try to run or betray me and I’ll leave you behind for real.” Kordavo threatened, nudging her with his boot to hurry her along. There was no sign of the scorpions or any other creature in the valley. Up above it was sunny and bright but among the dull rocks down here, it didn’t show as much. There was indeed greater vegetation though, of scrubs and plants poking out of cracks in the smooth walls or from long vines that stretched down from up above, like long tendrils of hair. Water dripped down some, forming little puddles or pools in the path. But always the valley went two ways, either back the way they came or straight forward. Sometimes they saw the bones of some unfortunate creature that fell. Would theirs be left behind here?

The ground was sloping upwards, sometimes the incline smooth and other times steep. There was one particular slope that was too steep to even crawl up, some eight or nine feet high. Kordavo had been making his way slowly up before he nearly slipped and in his flailing, caught hold of one of the vines to steady himself. He was even more surprised when the vine held, not ripping or tearing from the greater tendril despite the pull of his tremendous weight. It was steady and strong and allowed him to rope himself up the steep slope and onto the top, where the valley continued. He didn’t turn to help Solstice or even check her process. If she wanted to run away, the only way was back, to the scorpions. Otherwise she was stuck with him regardless. But not for long, it may be. They were perhaps thirty feet still under from the valley crack. They were getting close. But the strength of the vines had given him another idea.

Perhaps they could be used to surmount up the valley sides back onto the ground and forest above. He rubbed his bitten arm, perhaps finally agreeing that it should be patched up and made durable for what was to come but Kordavo couldn’t look back now. “Come on.” He simply muttered, the first he had said to her in a hour or two. Sure, the vines could hold his weight but he did not trust yet that he could climb all the way up. He wanted to find a better vantage point from which to climb and that seemed to show up suddenly as they continued down the valley gorge. Like stairs made for giants, there was a successive series of shelves that appeared in the side of the rock, with vines dipping over the edge and burrowing into the rock where perhaps there was some moisture and water run off beneath the surface. That would be a good place to surmount.

He felt thirsty as well. Next time she touches my water, I’ll slap her. He didn’t trust her knowledge of the world. If anything, she might use it to kill him.

Again without word, Kordavo began his climb. There were at least four shelves to scale and the first few were easy. He tugged on the vines experimentally but they were latched and strong, oozing with a sticky substance. It practically allowed him and Solstice to climb up while supporting their weight, though he never dared to attempt it at the same time. He always went first. If she followed, she followed. He was sure she would. But upon the fourth and final shelf, with the tops of trees visible through the crack and the surface breeze almost touchable, Kordavo encountered a snag. The last climb was eight or nine feet. There was no vines that dipped over the edge of the gorge down. The rock was barren, solid, and unclimbable. Kordavo glared and turned back, picking up one of the vines that reached downwards and trying to rip it out. His muscles tensed within his flight suit and were clearly defined against the garment but for all his efforts and strength, the vine roots did not give out and allow him to pull. Maybe with a knife but he remembered how he flung one knife away and left the other embedded in the mother scorpion.

There was one imperfection in the usually smooth rock. A narrow gap was visible further down at one end, though he marked it off as he clearly could not fit, even if he turned sideways. Far too slender. Within, the smooth rock seemed to have crumbled and presented footholds and grips for one to clamber up the last few feet.

Kordavo swore under his breath, his efforts in vain. Had they come all this way just to be denied at the very end? He didn’t even try to jump for the opening, not wanting to make a fool out of himself in the attempt. There was no boulder or rock to stand on. No, to him, it seemed like he would have to go all the back down and find another area to attempt to climb up. “Hopeless.” He remarked, looking up to the blue sky and sighing with uncharacteristic sadness, for as a pilot he longed to be up there and not down here. Still, there was a measure of safety and again, ignoring Solstice, he sat down with his back to the smooth wall and rested a moment, again rubbing his injured, bitten arm as it throbbed and itched worse.

Solstice rolled her eyes as he studied the the water bottle untrustingly. “Fine. Let yourself get dehydrated then. It’s no skin off of my back.” She cocked an eyebrow before ultimately rolling her eyes at the man. He didn't have to listen to her, but he would be a damn fool if he totally disregarded her knowledge of one of her father’s claimed planet. While Solstice couldn't say she grew up here, she had grown up constantly learning about her home territories, and as a teen she had began flying through them.

Perhaps he disregarded her because he was obviously at least a few years senior to her. Perhaps it was because he was a man and she was a woman, and he thought that gave him some sort of superiority. Perhaps it was just because he knew he was bigger and stronger than her, and the fact he could inflict anything he wanted upon her was some sort of a turn on for the man. Either way, it pissed her off, and she could have sworn her face went red in reaction to his blatant disrespect and lack of trust. I’m royalty, you fucktard. She thought to herself, but didn't dare identify herself to him like that. Surely there was a bounty on her head, and she didn't want Kordavo to have it. She’d rather be dead than used against her father as some sort of puppet.

When he pushed her, her anger only boiled further as her already battered body hit the floor. “You son of a bitch.” she whispered, quickly getting her her feet and ready to fight him again. The little redhead clenched her fists tightly and started to approach before she stopped herself, having to break her line of vision to avoid ripping out his jugular with her bare hands. He had really struck a nerve this time by denying her help when she offered it even though he didn't deserve a damn thing. His pouring out the water made her blood boil, but she could not react again. Not now.

As he started walking, she hesitated at first- maybe she should just ditch his ass and find his bones later, gnawed on my some animal, but she knew that the only safety either of them had was in numbers. And, in all honesty, she was more fucked over than he was given he had wasted two of her blades and pocketed the third. She had no gun, and the things she had stashed around her flight suit were rapidly declining and few could even be used as weapons if she wanted them to be. After all… she could exactly kill a beast with two packets of protein powder and a suture kit. This far away from her ship, she needed him. Killing him out here in the open like this would likely be killing herself too.

And so… she followed, feeling like a loyal dog to an abusive master.

The incline was much easier for Kordavo than it was for Solstice. Her legs were damn near a foot shorter than his, and keeping up with his stride was never easy, let alone when they were going up kill. However, the valley was beautiful. The view alone was the only thing that made Solstice want to keep walking. Each time they went round one of the bends carved a century ago by water or surmounted a crest, a whole new view of the valley came into view. It was like seeing your favorite painting altered only slightly a million times until you had an entirely new favorite painting.
With all the war that went on overhead, it was easy to forget about the beauty that there was to be seen even in places like this. Yes, there were probably hundreds of native species here that would love to make a meal out of Solstice and her new companion, but wasn't there a beauty in that too? Hundreds of years of evolution separated from all human interference had sculpted animals so fierce and dangerous that they made earth’s disciples seem pointless and pathetic. Not only that, but those animals survived in a harsh changing climate and were surrounded by more colors and plans that Solstice had ever seen anywhere else in their galaxy. It was really no wonder her father fought so had to keep this planet under his rule. Yes, they did use it occasionally for raw materials to be used or sold, but primarily her father had stated that he wanted to protect the wildness of it.

“They do not understand the worlds we own the way that we do, my shining sun.” Her father had said for her just a few days ago before she left for battle. They understand only their own way of living. It’s all concrete and tall buildings, love. They do not belong on Fraundia. They do not belong on any of our worlds. If we lose this war, child, you will not be able to raise your children riding horses and playing in the grass as you and your siblings were raised. Your child will be stuck within one of their concrete schools never knowing how beautiful these planets used to be. Your child’s life is a cause worth fighting for.” The memory of his words echoed through Solstice’s mind. She wanted nothing more than to win this war so that someday one of the eggs in her body would be able to grow up learning from nature’s beauty.

She was tanked from her daydream when she saw the slope that even Kordavo seemed unable to conquer. She sighed, thinking they would soon have to turn back, but her eyebrows rose in surprise when she saw him testing the strength of the vine. Maybe he wasn't so stupid after all. “You’ve got to be kidding me…” She whispered, but she followed once again like a lost puppy. She followed him to the vantage point and then she followed him to the shelves he used to ascend in altitude.

She followed him up the shelves, but the climbs were more difficult for her seeing as she lacked a lot of the upper body strength he had simply because of her female biology.His sshoulders were broader and his biceps thicker, it was just fact. Unfortunately, it was fact that put the young woman at a disadvantage. A disadvantage that basically had her puffing for air by the time they reached the problem shelf near the top. There was nothing left for tough guy to grab ahold of, and there was no way he was fitting through that crack.

Solstice however…. Would definitely be fitting through that crack.

She watched as the man sat down, giving up and essentially pouting like a small child. It was definitely a sight to be seen, and she was quite enjoying it. He looked like a fool, just the way Solstice saw him: a foolish, bullheaded, abusive, handsome enemy. “Whats the matter, fucker? Feeling a little discouraged?” She furrowed her brows and looked at him with mock sympathy. “Gee. It must really suck to be you. First, you got shot down by a woman. Then you got attacked by critters. You’re acting like a stubborn child.” She spit the harsh words at him and then let out a laugh before approaching him. “Don’t worry. I’ll make it all better.”

With that, she kicked him in the shin, hard, with her steel toed boot.

“Now your shin hurts like a bitch! See ya later!” She called to him with a sarcastic snort before sprinting to the crack and quickly slipping through before he would even have a chance to grab her. Not to mention, he would never fit in order to follow her. The bruise he would have was payback for all the bruises she had on her body from his blaster. Not to mention his signature on her ass. For that… he deserved far more than a kick to the leg. Really, he was getting off easy all things considered.

On the other side of the narrow crack was the forest again. They really were very close. All Solstice had to do was climb up a narrow drainage ditch that had no doubt eaten away the crack in the rock, and she was surrounded by trees and had gained the 9 feet that Kordavo had needed to get out of the hell hole. The only downside was the mud that now marked up Solstice’s flight suit as well as a few smudges on her hands and face.

The woman let out a little chuckle at her success and instantly took off running into the forest and the fuck away from Kordavo as he laid helplessly in the bowl. Her freedom, however, was short lived. Solstice dug her boots into the soft soil and came to a stop not far from where she had started. She looked back over her shoulder and let out a sigh. “I can’t just leave him there can I?” She whispered to herself, grunting in frustration before she turned to walk back. After everything he had done to her, she still couldn’t bring it upon herself to leave him down their to either starve or be eaten.

She came back and laid on her stomach near the edge where she could look over and down at him with her crystalline blue eyes. It was a risk given she had just kicked him, but he better be happy just to see her come back. “Hey idiot.” She called down to him before planting a crooked, overconfident smile on her plush lips. “You better listen closely because I’m about to make you the deal of a lifetime.” She insulted him.

“I’m all home free up here. The forest is behind me and I think I can even see a bit of smoke still coming from your shit show of a vehicle out there. Ill throw down a vine for you to climb up and join this party, but I have a couple of conditions you must agree to first. Got it?” She rose her eyebrow at him challengingly before she continued. “A. You are not to search me or take any more of my belongings. I need them. B. You’re going to let me stitch up your arm and you're not going to scream and be a pussy about it. And, last but not least, C. You’re going to start showing me some damn respect. This planet belongs to us, and I know it. You better start taking advantage of that instead of treating me like a blubbering idiot.” She stopped then, giving him a moment to think about it.

“Do we have a deal or not?”

A refreshing breeze blew across Kordavo’s cropped hair, cooling his mind and body after the exertion. He was no closer to finding a way out it seems, stuck in this indomitable valley with this stupid girl and who knows what else. And if his situation wasn’t bad enough, the stupid girl had to open her mouth and mock him in regards to the situation. His first thought was to respond just as harshly, though it also struck him she was purposefully goading him. “It’s called war, you dumb bitch. It’s supposed to be unpredictable.” He growled, rubbing his face with a hand and not seeing her approach. She could make it all better, in a way Kordavo might enjoy…

Sudden pain lanced through his foot as Solstice abruptly kicked his shin, connecting with the ankle. He hissed and drew his foot back, before staggering to his feet in a fury. “You fucking cunt!” He hissed, his sidearm drawn with the speed of a pouncing snake and aimed. But in a flash quicker than lightning, Solstice squeezed herself into the crack and was gone before he could even aim straight. “Fucking cunt.” He repeated again, realizing that she had escaped. Gone.

There was nothing to do. No point in hurling insults or screaming in fury. No point shooting wildly. He slumped back down and sighed. She was gone. Good riddance then. He hoped she got mauled alive by the green hounds the moment she ascended up into the forest. Or better, found that crack led to a dead end and force her to return…here. To him. The spite made him smile a little. He was going to enjoy torturing her if she did come back that way. But for now, he had to focus on his own survival. A short rest, followed by a descent into the valley again and a search for another way to ascend upwards into the forest. Hopefully he might get lucky and find another climbable shelf as he did here. But Kordavo’s heart panged with hopelessness. Luck favoured the prepared and he had none coming into this place.

But better than sitting around uselessly. A short rest and then he would begin again, climb down and find another way out. Alone.

And then he heard her again. Hey idiot. Kordavo closed his eyes and took a shaky breath of barely restrained fury. No, of course she made it through. And of course she would come back and mock him from a place of vantage, where he couldn’t harm her. Well, not completely, green eyes opening to glance down at the pistol still gripped in his hand. She thought she was so superior to stand up there and insult him, to deign to make him a deal. What if he just stood up and shot her dead? Right between the eyes. That would shut her up. Yes, that would be quite humorous too. She loved to gloat, to mock him, to kick him and run, even dare to…kiss him. Something else panged in his heart but he didn’t even acknowledge it enough to give it a title. Slowly Kordavo stood and turned to face him, keeping his arm frozen at his side. In an instance, he would just shoot her dead. Let her gloat and make her mistake…then boom. She would be dead. If he couldn’t win, no one would win.

But looking at her, he found it more regretful to do such a thing than noteworthy. She was pretty and as fiery as her hair. And she was offering now to throw down a vine and help him climb out. Kordavo said nothing at first, simply crossing her arms. Of course there were conditions and he wanted to hear them first. A. He cannot search her. Kordavo rolled his eyes. He already took what needed to be taken. She can keep whatever else she had. B. Stitch up his arm? That was doing him a favour, even if it would hurt. He shrugged to that, uncaring. That was on her. He didn’t need her help but if she was insisting. C. Treat her with some respect. Kordavo lowered his gaze as if in thought but in truth it was to hide his smirk. Really? So simple, so plain? The girl really was stupid.

“Alright.” He said, stepping forward until he was directly under the gorge, right against the sheer wall, looking up at her. His green eyes were set apart from the dull browns of the rock and the blackness of his flight suit, peering out from his rugged face. “I consent and I accept your conditions. I will not search and take from you anymore. You may examine my arm. And I will treat you with respect. We have a deal.” Kordavo said and holstered his sidearm and waited for her to lower the vine to him.

Kordavo was deeply astonished that she had come back. He imagined she would run and never look back to the man who assaulted her in the way he had. Despite what he had done, hurting her and violating her...she had come back. Why? Why, why, why? For the same reason no doubt that she kissed him. But...why? Why, damnit? He didn't dare mark it down as flirtation. There must be some weird custom on her world for why else would she show such kindness and attentions to an enemy invader? Kordavo couldn't believe it. He couldn't believe it more that she, in a position of power, was helping him too. What if there were a dozen Frandian soldiers waiting up there? It seemed impossible to him that this was being done out of kindness.

He hoped she anchored or leveraged it against something firm up there, like the base of a tree trunk. Having done rope climbing before in his training, Kordavo easily ascended the vine and grabbed hold of the edge of the gorge when he could, clambering over and taking a moment to lay on the prickly grass around him, the same hue as his eyes. Not for long however as he shot to his feet and stretched his limbs a moment from the exertion. Something warm was trickling down his wounded arm. She may have been right. Exerting it had caused the wounds to reopen, breaking the mold the biofoam had put upon it. “I…thank you.” He muttered under his breath, striding past her towards a tree and simply touching the bark a moment, as if he had been so long away from such vegetation. Then putting his back to it, he rolled up his sleeve and exposed his mangled arm to her.

It looked ugly. Not like his other arm where she had carved her name into it. That had mostly healed except for a few nicks. But this arm was gashed, cut, and the flesh distorted. The foam had managed to mold and cover up the piercing rifts in his skin, allowing it to heal naturally or at least keep it under wraps until he could get to a medical bay but the recent toil and labour had caused the mold to crack and fall apart. Blood was already trickling down his muscular forearm, covered with a bit of hair the same as his head. “Do your worst.” He simply remarked, unslinging his survival kit and upturning it onto the forest floor.

Out came a small box of protein bars and cubes, his water purifier, the salvaged parts he took from her ship, some flares, and a regular medkit as well that had contained the biofoam but also the other necessities of patching up wounds, including bandages, needles, and string. As far as he could see, she had nothing of the sort.

“Don't mention it.” She mumbled, watching him closely. She didn't trust him. She had just rescued him, but new all too well that he could still very easily turn on her. After all, Solstice had seen him pull his gun on her when she kicked him. He could still far too easily shoot her out of spite. It wouldn't be the first time he shot at her, and she kind of figured it might not be his last. The older gentleman was quite an asshole to be quite frank. It was enough to piss Solstice off. She didn't know if he would ever treat her less like property and more like a human, but at least this ultimatum was a start. And if he was going to be a jackass she could be extra rough while suturing him up.

She watched as he rolled up his sleeve and nodded in appreciation that he was actually cooperating. Solstice wasn't a doctor, but she did know a thing or two about injuries, and she had learned a bit from the medical staff on Frandia. Sutures were well within her skill set. However, so was seeing that there was some serious issues with Kordavo’s arm. Solstice knealt down and looked at the wound without touching it at first. “Oh my. You've got to be in a world of hurt.” She spoke, and edge of sympathy in her voice. By the looks of that arm, he should be in agony. The man was much stronger than Sol had been willing to believe at first.

With a sigh, Solstice unzipped one on the breast pockets of her dark green flight suit and pulled out a flask. She opened the flask and put it to her lips for a quick swig. She gave him a little smirk afterwards and knealt down close to the man. “This is going to hurt like a son of a bitch, but I'll let you have a swig after I'm done if you don't hit or shoot me during this process. Sound good? Good.” She spoke, not really giving him a chance to answer her before she got to work. Solstice positioned herself to the best angle for seeing, which just so happen to have her sitting on his thigh with her knees on either side.

Solstice pulled a suture kit from her suit, preferring hers over his seeing as her needle was already threaded with plastic suture cord. She stuck the needle between her teeth for storage and then, without warning, she poured the whiskey from her flask over the infected wound on Kordavo's infected arm. She was sure the alcohol stung as it was applied, but it would kill some of the bacteria that was in there. She then capped the flask and placed it in the man’s open hand. He might need it.

“This is going to need a lot more than stitches, but for now they should at least keep foreign bodies out. This tissue is too necrotic to heal back together now. Hopefully we get pulled of this planet soon or you’ll be losing this arm.” She spoke, her voice very soft and sweet. Given his situation, she didn't think he needed her yelling at him right now. Solstice didn't like the man, but she had some sort of attachment to him. After all, he had saved her life twice and passed up countless opportunities to just shoot her dead. However, she didn't trust him, and she probably wouldn't so long as they were on this planet: he had done just as much harm as he had good. She'd do her best to keep him alive, but she knew she would always have to glance over her shoulder at him.

From there, she pulled the needle from between her teeth and got to work on his arm. They had no numbing agents and no painkillers. Kordavo was going to have to endure this without, and it was going to hurt like hell. Solstice pulled a leather glove from her pocket and slipped it to Kordavo. “Bite this. It will help with the pain.” She stated, matter-of-factly. After that she got straight to work on the first stitch, grabbing her blade from his belt when the had punched the first two holes through his dermal layers. She didn't give him time to argue about the blade. She simply used it to cut the thread once she was finished with the first knot.

She continued doing just that: punching the holes with the sharp needles, tying a tight knot, and cutting the thread. She did that 27 times before the entire wound was closed up. When she finished, she tucked the needle into its holding container and sat back, resting her ass on his lower thigh before taking her glove back and tucking the glove back into her pocket. She then held out the knife to him and let out a soft sigh. “I assume you won't be letting me keep this, so here you are. Please don't lose this one. We’re running low on weaponry and that's definitely my last knife.” She said, an edge of disappointment in her voice. It just wasn't worth getting hurt over.

Kordavo didn’t answer her sympathetic remark. The biofoam had helped to numb most of the pain and with everything else that had been going on, he hadn’t had the time to dwell on the agony much. But now with the arm being the center of focus, he began to feel it more keenly. It throbbed and pulsed, an annoying sting that distracted his mind and poked his way into every thought. She got down with a flask and told him what he already expected. Of course it was going to hurt without the proper medical facilities. He shook his head to the offer of the flask. “I don’t drink. Just get it over with, girl.” Kordavo said and tried to steel himself for the pain.

A hiss escaped him almost immediately when Solstice doused his arm with the alcohol. His eyes jerked wide and he nearly threw her right off his thigh with a shove, before he caught himself. He didn’t drink but he still held the flask though, gripping it firmly, his knuckles white with the pressure as he prepped himself. Nothing of course could. Her explanation was barely registered by him, teeth bared and snarling as he glared at her. Is she purposefully fucking with him, taking her time? Just get it over with. I know how wounds work and get infected. She was trying to be sweet with him too, which again confused him. He was making property out of her. Perhaps she was already accepting her place. A small comfort in the world of hurt he was about to get.

She got to work and it was a hellish nightmare. His nerves flared and pain lanced through his arm. His hand squeezed the metallic flask, imprinting his fingers on it. He groaned and tossed his head, sometimes closing his eyes and other times keeping them open. He tried not to scream but he still hissed and gasped at times, especially as the needle went in and out of his skin. Kordavo refused the leather glove, shaking his head, his face paler than before and sweat running down his forehead from the pressure. His legs jerked under her, boots digging into the grass and dirt, trying to find some leverage as if it might relieve the pain. Nothing helped. Nothing worked. She had the knife too but he figured if she wanted him dead, why waste this time with stitching up his arm.

It seemed to take a long time. It could have been minutes. Each time the needle punctured his flesh time seemed to stretch to infinity and back. Kordavo could feel the string looping through his flesh and it stung like miniature rug burns. He didn’t keep count but soon enough she finished, leaving Kordavo panting and yanking his arm to his chest to cradle like a child who has burned himself accidentally. He pulled his sleeve up while panting, staring off to the side a moment. She was handing him back the knife though, which was surprising. His eyes finally looked to her, the first time throughout the ordeal. He took the blade wordlessly.

Solstice was perched on his leg, the hard muscle grazing against her backside. He could feel her thighs about it. It felt the only sensation that drew attention away from his arm. He shifted his leg and found he could easily heft her up, so small and seemingly fragile she looked. And beautiful, with her auburn hair, skyblue eyes and regal yet haughty features. She was a lovely one. She was his. Kordavo reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb grazing under her eye across the soft skin of her cheek. He could make out the texture and loveliness of her flesh, so perfect and unblemished. After a moment of just caressing her, he gave her cheek a tender pat and dropped his hand. That was his thank you to her.

The wind blew intensively for a moment, rustling the leaves and the branches, causing them to creak. There was another sound in the wind, like a distant roaring of some creature or monster. It could have just been a trick of the ear or the wind indeed blowing hard and fast. But it was proof enough. They had lingered here too long.

“Get up. It’s time to move.” Kordavo said, nudging her off, quite gently, so he could rise to his feet, using his good arm to pull himself up by grabbing the trunk of the tree behind him. He gathered up his things back into his kit and slung it over his back, checking the gun at his belt and then scanning the sky. He could not see the plume of smoke from his ship, the tree cover far too dense here. How had she seen it? “Come here. I want you to climb this tree and have a look at our surroundings. What direction is the ship in? And look for water too.” He instructed, standing by the tree and ready to give her a boost up and have a look around. Straight back to work, anything to ignore the throbbing pain of his arm. He had a sinking feeling they were not quite alone again.

She had desired respect. So did he. But she refused, refused to acknowledge openly that he was the superior, that she needed him. He was already assuming that the only reason she came back is that she knew she could not survive without him. Already he was forgetting the boon she had done for him, simply because he knew what he did before and what would happen next would easily make up for it, if not surpass it. Solstice would soon be owing him again.

Still, that make her a liability in a way. He held her knife and suddenly handed it back to her. “Keep it.” He simply said to her. At least she could fight with it but if she tried to put it to his skin again, he would shoot her down without hesitation. “Are you hungry?” He also asked, having some protein bars he could share. It would be close to a full day soon since they’ve been here and he hadn’t seen her eat anything at all, except drink.

When solstice was finished with his stitches, she used the sleeve of her flight suit to wipe the sweat away from his brow and gave his cheek a little pat. She was impressed by his lack of howling. It wasn’t common to endure that kind of torture without making hardly a peep. He was stronger than she liked to give him credit for. However, it would change the fact that his was a jackass and an idiot. This probably wouldn’t have hurt nearly as much if he had let her take care of it the day before when the wound was still fresh. He deserved the pain for being a mule about the whole ordeal. It shouldn't matter who she was or where she was from: she had offered help and he was a fool not to take it immediately.

The difference between the respect that Solstice demanded and that which Kordavo demanded was simple. Kordavo had ordered her to treat him as her authority, which he wasn't. Solstice had demanded that Kordavo treat her like a person- which she was. After all, he did owe her his life just as much as she owed hers to him. It was undeniable that they were, at this point, assets to one another. Any other title would be irrelevant. The two of them were only alive because for some reason or another they had chosen not to let one another die.

And Sol certainly didn’t appreciate the fact he was still threatening to let her get eaten by something.

Solstice cocked an eyebrow as he shifted his leg beneath her, staring him down and almost daring him to do whatever it was on his mind that he was contemplating. Did he really have the nerve to toss her aside like a sack of potatoes right after she had just helped him? And why the hell was he looking at her like that? So far as she could tell, he was looking at her like she was some sort of meal. Grazing his eyes over her and shifting as if he contemplated whether or not she was good enough to eat or just a bad egg. She was not his.

The moment he touched her cheek she tensed, half expecting him to slap her for the discomfort he had caused. It was quite a surprise to her when he didn’t take out any discomfort on her. She, she sat still, perched on his thigh, and allowed for the caressing. It was even soothing in its own right when she relaxed. Solstice found herself leaning into his palm as her eyes fluttered closed. It was the first time he had been gentle with her probably ever. Even as he slept against her, Kordavo had been harsh and overbearing. It did not feel that way this go around. It simply felt like a man touching a woman: a sensation Solstice was unsure she would ever know again. Yet another surprise for the young gal.

With the pat, Solstice became alert and untrusting once more, shying away from his hand like a beaten animal. Moments later she hoisted herself off of her haunches and stood, watching the man struggle to his feet with his uninjured arm. His body was growing weary with his injuries. My stamina is better than yours. She smirked at her own thoughts, watching him closely as he rose.

“I’m not going to do anything if you demand me like that, first of all.” She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a scolding look. “Secondly, you would have water if you weren't a stupid idiot. I’m not going to help you find it. You should have learned from the lesson I gave to you. You may think me an idiot because I am a woman, but that is far from the truth. I grew up traveling these planets and learning of survival from my father. He was a wise man, and you would be wise to listen to his teachings as they echo between my lips. Kay, sweetheart?” She spoke, condescendingly. The moment of tenderness was gone, and she was back to hating him. Just… maybe a little bit less than she had hated him when he had shown up of her ship a stone throw ago. However, she did need to climb that tree to get her bearings.

She approached, intending to use him as a stepping stone so that she could reach the lowest sturdy branch, ready to step on his big, fat head if she needed too to get up there. She was small enough. Chances were it wouldn't hurt him too terribly badly. She didn’t expect what happened next. Her blue eyes widened as she looked down at the offering he made to her, but she hesitated. Was this some sort of test? She wondered as she reached out and carefully wrapped her dainty hand around the handle, watching the large man very closely for any sudden reaction. However, he let her take it. She cautiously lowered the blade to her side and took a brief step back, lengthening the distance between them to give herself more reaction time if he decided to lash out.

He didn’t.

“No. I don’t want any of your food.” She said simply. “And this change of heart would have been nice before you lost the other two.” She was rude. She had to be. If she let her guard down too much she was sure that this man would kill her. Once she was of no use, she wholeheartedly expected him to drop her like dead weight. It would be easier if she was murdered by an enemy than someone she had some sort of attachment to. So, without further adieu, she would remind him that she, too, was a force to be reckoned with.
In a quick move, Solstice reached out and balled the fabric of Kordavo’s flight suit in her hand at the neckline, and she jerked him down to her. She could hear a few threads breaking from the force she had exerted on the fabric, but she didnt stop. “You should know better than to underestimate me, Kordavo. Im not a child or helpless submissive woman like you’re probably used to.” She rose her brows, her voice surprisingly cool. Was a it a hoax? She then rose the blade and pressed it against his neck once more- much like she had when they first met. However, this time the blade hovered and made no contact- allowing for no pain to be felt or blood to be felt. “You're not fucking around with a handmaid.” She whispered, inching closer to him so she could now feel the heat radiating from his body. “I’ve likely killed more men than you have, and lets not forget that my name and face are not forever burned into your mind.”

She then slipped up slightly and pressed her lips to his once more.

It had definitely been a hoax. She didn’t hurt him, not even remotely. If she had truly wanted to hurt him, she would have gone after his sore, bleeding arm. Not his neck. It was all just a reminder that she wasn’t some sort of pet or toy. I own you too, Kordavo Chenoweth. She thought to herself as he lips moved softly against his. As he tongue slipped lightly across his lips, she lowered the blade from his neck and let go of the fabric of his flight suit. The little fireball then moved her hand to his cheek, much as he had done to her, and waited, still allowing her lips to mold against his. Would he kiss her back?

Whatever softness and tenderness there was before, it was gone. Solstice opened her mouth and immediately denied taking orders from him. Kordavo simply sighed and rolled his eyes, turning away with contempt and looking towards the tree with his back to her as she made her little rant, as if it wasn’t worth his time. It wasn’t. The stupid bitch thought too highly of herself. He didn’t care of her advice or who her father was (mostly because he didn’t know at the time). He had the power and authority here. Weapons or none, he could beat her down. And he ought to, when she played out her usefulness. Why shouldn’t he just seize her and fling her down into the gorge again and leave her there?

It was her choice not to eat. It would make her weaker and weaker as time went by the more she starved himself. He would find his own water then and find his own ship if need be. God, she was like hot and cold, flipping from one extreme to the other. She made him flip from one extreme to the other. One moment he wanted to figure out what it was like to behold her in all her glory and lust. Another he wanted to string her to a tree and hang her, leaving her to sway with the wind until her skin rotted away. It was that mouth of hers. He should have gagged it from the start. He should gag her, the next time he got. And like that, the promises he made to her just moments before were out the window.

He still absolutely still when she suddenly grabbed the collar of his flight suit, put a knife to his neck and forced him to heed her words. Kordavo couldn’t help but smirk at her offended nature. Oh he knew her capability now. He wouldn’t be underestimating her anymore. She wasn’t a child or a stupid girl but a dangerous beast, like those around them in this forest. He merely quirked his eyebrows when she bragged about killing more men than him. I can always take the lead by having killed more women then. He didn’t say a word to her. He kept his expression firm, a contemptuous smirk on his lips but giving nothing else away. She was going to pay for this and pay for this dearly.

She kissed him again. She really enjoyed doing that but this time Kordavo resisted, merely parting his lips slightly but not pressing back. The knife dropped from his neck and that was her fault again. His eyelids drooped however and he allowed them to close, though in his mind he conjured up the determination for his true objective here. Revenge. Revenge for her rudeness and impudence. He would not return the kiss. He waited until she drew back, his eyes opening to reveal his green orbs, hard and steely.

Then he struck. His hand seized her wrist which had the knife and twisted it painfully, renewed with strength because of her own sewing up of it. His other grabbed her neck and with a heft, picked her up as he choked her, spun, and slammed her into the tree, making sure her head struck it hard to disorientate her. Then Kordavo threw her to the grass. “Stupid girl.” He simply sneered, walking away from her to pick up the knife. That was the last gift she was getting from him. He strode a bit back towards the gorge and used the knife to cut the vine from the rock from which it sprouted. He returned to Solstice and stomped his foot down on her lower back to still her.

“You’re nobody. Do you hear that? Nobody. A useless, stupid girl. You should have killed me or kept your mouth shut.” He growled, digging his boot into her before he knelt, grabbing one of her arms and twisting it back. His other hand, after holstering the knife, cuffed her hard in the back of the head. “You don’t ever speak to me like that. Respect is supposed to go both ways. Now you’re only going to give it to me.” He sneered, before cuffing her again, hard. Then he grabbed her shoulder and rolled her over onto her back, letting her look up at him. He smirked, cunning and cruel. There would be no mercy this time. He yanked her arms, both, down over her body as low as they could, over her pelvis and thighs. He used the vines, sticky and yet durable and elastic – it had held his weight, her body wouldn’t be able to stretch or break it on her own – and tie her wrists, using the extra slack to reach down and tie her ankles as well, like a prisoner shackled in chains, wrists tied to ankles, preventing any real mobility except tiny little footsteps or shuffling. She wouldn’t be running anywhere in that.

Once he was done, he grabbed her jaw, squeezing it painfully and pouting her lips. He bent down and pecked it, quick and hard, grinning as he pulled back, before throwing her head back into the grass and leaving her there. He got up, stepped over her and went to the tree. He surmounted it himself, leaping to a low lying thick branch and pulling himself up with his core strength. Kordavo managed to stand up, surmounting up a few more branches. He glanced down and could still see her. As a warning, he drew out his pistol and fired one high energy bolt into the ground beside her, sending a spray of grass and dirt over her. “Move and the next one will blow your head off.” He growled from above. It was really shoot-to-kill at this point. He watched for a moment to make sure the warning was heeded, before he climbed a bit further up, branches and wood creaking but holding his weight, as strong as the leafy vines.

He made it high enough, not to the top but close enough. There was only a faint plume of smoke. That wasn’t good. That meant almost all the fuel was burned out but as long as he had enough to break atmosphere, he would be fine. He could rejoin the fleet and get picked up. Him and his prisoner. He began to clamber down and when he was close enough, simply dropped and landed heavily nearby. He didn’t see any water but that was fine. He walked over to Solstice and hooked his hands under her shoulders, hefting her up onto her feet. The tension of the vine would force her to walk somewhat hunched over, given how her wrists were connected to her ankles. There wasn’t much slack for that and the strength of the vines was formidable, enough to hold his weight and thus not easy to rip or tear with brute force.

Kordavo was still behind her and moved to whisper more directly into her ear. “How does it feel to be an idiot? Never trust your enemy. Never make a deal with your enemy. Stupid, little girl. Now, walk. That way.” He demanded, pointing over her shoulder towards the north. He pulled back his arm and gave her rear a firm smack to usher her forward. “Walk. And keep your mouth shut or I’ll stuff it with an acorn or a vine.” He warned her.

And then just for further encouragement, pistol in hand, reduced to the lowest setting, he shot her in the ass. It would be like a jolt from a stun baton, to jerk her forward and perhaps hear a delicious little cry of agony. She deserved every moment of it, daring to put the knife to his neck. Kordavo didn’t forgive twice.

“Fuck.” That was all she uttered.

She could see it in his eyes before he ever even grabbed her that he was not going to take what she had done lightly. He was going to retaliate for it even though, technically, she had done him no harm. In fact, she had never even intended to hurt him, it was an act. Stupid as is was, Solstice was finding herself starting to get attached to the man. He had saved her multiple times, and that had earned him some brownie points. However, he had also hurt her, earning him the threats. She didn't want him to think she was softening, but given the current situation, maybe she should have. Perhaps then he wouldnt be threatening to snap her bones like toothpicks again.

She heard the knife fall and she let out a soft grunt trying to push back against him to get herself out of the hold he had on her, but it was to no avail. Soon, She could feel his hand closing around her throat and her hands shot up to try and pry away his fingers. Ruthless. Savage. Brutish. Kordavo was all of this things. Why had she thought, even for a second, that maybe he could be tolerable. She wouldn't be kissing him anymore. It meant nothing. It did nothing.

Bells rang in the young pilot's ears as he globe slapped into the wood of the tree- forcing her lungs to react by expelling all of the fresh forest air that they held. A mistake based on the fact that he was preventing her from inhaling a sufficient amount with his hold on her small neck. With vision blurred she dug her fingernails into the flesh of his hand, ripping up their paths as they raked down his flesh. When he finally dropped her, Solstice fell into a heap at his feet. She choked and gasped for air as her ears rang and she blinked hard to clear up her vision. She was vulnerable, and she had to get up before he killed her.

Get up.

Solstice managed to drag her carcass up onto all fours- wobbling like a calf taking its first steps. She couldn't find her balance or her strength, but by the time she felt his boot on her back it was too late. Her ribcage was slammed back down into the soil with his force, and the air escaped through her lips again. She could feel tears welling up behind her eyes, but she forced them away. Crying, even from pain, showed weakness. The princess of Fraundia was not weak. That’s why she kept fighting him, even now. At the end of the day, she realized, he would always be her enemy. He would always want her dead. Surely he would kill her before she ever saw her loved ones again.

No weakness.

His words resonated through her body, but they had no meaning to her. She couldn’t let them have meaning to her. He knew nothing of her other than she was the fiery redhead whom he had captured. She had shown him mercy only in that she had not murdered him on the multiple chances she had had, much like how he had shown her mercy. She had medical skills, but she was no doctor. She was a fighter, and in that moment she wanted nothing more than to fight him. It was impossible, however. Each time he cuffed her on the back her head she felt weaker. It was completely possible that his brute force would leave the small woman with a concussion. She could feel her whole world starting to dull- seeing nothing but black by the time he flipped her over. Her body had no fight left in it at that moment. He had hit her too many times. Foolish man.

By the time he was tying her, she was almost as limp as she could be while still holding onto a thread of consciousness. She didn’t fight the binding because she couldn’t. He had disarmed her in the most detrimental way possible: He had relieved her of her quick wit, and in that moment it was all it took for Solstice to become his lowly slave once more. By the time Kordavo grabbed hold of her jaw, Solstice was beginning to see shapes again, but still lacked in her strengths. Her mouth was easily pried open as he pressed his fingers into her sensitive facial pressure points. She blinked, clearing up her vision just enough to see him moving in. She tried to pull back, but only managed to gain a centimeter or two back before he pressed his lips to hers.

It was a quick kiss. To the point and obviously to assert dominance over her more than anything else. It was a message, nothing containing any sort of affection of desire. Was he capable of either of those things? He always seemed to have some sort of motive. Either way, the kiss pissed her off. She glared at him as he smirked then pushed her over- much easier that Solstice would have liked. The grass, however, offered a sort of comforting embrace to the disoriented woman. She could hear him moving, but it seemed so far away that she paid it no attention. Perhaps he was leaving her there? Well… being left for dead would be better than being tortured or used as leverage against her people. Solstice was willing to carry this burden on her shoulders. It would be her last gift to the kingdom she loved so dearly.

Her eyes drifted closed as she laid, curled by the vines, and waited. Her head ached and her muscles were weary. If he just left her there she wouldn’t have to fight him anymore. What a relief that would be. She had taken down his ship even with it being twice the size of her own. She had held his life in her hands multiple times. She had kissed him even when she had a nobleman waiting to indulge in her flesh once more back in Fraundia. She was so much more that a stupid little girl. She was a princess. She was beautiful. She was fierce. Yet, he still treated her as though she was nothing. Yes, death by wild animal would be better.

When she heard the shot, she initially thought it was her death coming, but it wasn’t. Instead, organic matter fell over her like confetti. She did not flinch or even respond to him. His words were useless to her now, but she didn’t move. She was too tired to move this time. She waited there the same way a dead animal would. She didn't even move when she felt his boots land uncomfortably close to her face. She let her eyes flutter open only when he hoisted her to her feet.

“An idiot is only made by a man who uses savagery over kindness. The only idiot here is you.” She whispered to him, tiredly.
His hand making contact with her ass woke her up. Her eyes widened and she jumped forward a bit before glaring over her shoulder. “Keep your hands to yourself, scum.” She spat the words at him. The shot to her ass making her jump again.She started shuffling along, her steps pathetically small. She didn't have a plan, not yet, so she would have to obey in order to avoid getting shot again. Defeated, but only temporarily. All Solstice needed was some strength back and a good idea. Until then… she would walk.

***

It had been hours. The early morning had become the mid afternoon. Solstice hadn’t uttered a word to the man she traveled with, and she refused to react to anything he chose to inflict upon her. Her back was still hunched over because of the vines, but unlike at the beginning of the walk, her head was held high and proud once more with a pride and strength only the strongest of warriors would be able to muster after going through everything that Solstice had gone through. She was the bravest warrior possibly to ever come out of Frandia. Most men would be crying and begging for mercy by now after enduring what solstice had endured.

The forest was mostly calm. There would be a cry or grunt out in the distance somewhere every once and awhile reminding the couple of the dangers that lurked there, but they saw nothing of any harm. A few avian-like creatures flew over head or cawed at them, but nothing came down after them. It would have been a very nice walk if it weren't for the current situation at hand. Being a prisoner of war really did put a damper on things. The bright side was that they were only a few hours walk from the ship now. They could be there by dusk if things went smoothly. Things quickly turned not so smooth.

A call from above echoed through the atmosphere much louder than any of the avians they had heard prior to it. It was something very different this go around, and this motherfucker was big. Far bigger than Kordavo and Solstice combined. Bigger than the scorpions or the dogs. This thing was something truly prehistoric, and solstice knew exactly what it was that they had to fear. She stopped dead in her tracks, causing Kordavo to run into her arched back as he continued walking.

“TAKE COVER!” Solstice ordered before shoving her shoulder hard into Kordavo. The action knocked him off balance just as the shadow fell over them. The sudden impact was enough to push the unsuspecting Kordavo into dense shrubbery just off their unmarked trail. His large body became cloaked in leaves and vegetation, hiding him from the eyes now beating down on the young Solstice.
She tried to run, but much like a hobbled horse solstice was unable to make any real progress. She ran along the lip of the gorge beside them, hoping she would be gifted with some sort of miracle. Hours ago she welcomed death from some sort of native wildlife, but now she feared it. She needed to live. She had to survive for Fraundia. Her people needed her.

But Solstice’s people could not save her.

“DAMNIT!” She screamed as a seemingly sturdy piece of land crumbled beneath her weight, causing Solstice to tumble into the gorge for the second time. Her shoulder and hip slammed into the sandstone along her descent, but she only managed to bounce once before the long, strong toes of the pterodactyl grabbed her around her pelvis and upper rib cage, saving her from falling as it began its ascent with her in its clutches. The animal was beautiful- shades of blues and greens as it regained the ground it had lost in knabbing its prey. It soared above Kordavo and into the blue of the sky, heading towards wherever it called home. Solstice could only focus enough to see that it was traveling in the direction of Kordavo’s ship before the lack of oxygen caused her to pass out in her state of sheer exhaustion.

Even being bound by his hand, Solstice’s first instinct had been to save Kordavo, but why?

He didn’t bother to answer Solstice’s remark on savagery and kindness. That was a matter of strength and perspective, not stupidity. It seemed a smart thing to Kordavo to keep prisoners in line through fear and force or, as it’s been proven before with her, they get uppity and try to kill and take advantage of their captors. No, Kordavo was merely being prudent with her. She hissed another futile warning and insult when he smacked her rear and his first impulse…was to do it again. She was walking so slow, so insignificantly. He figured that was punishment enough, to shuffle along like a chided dog by its master. What an apt allegory for her.

From high above, the distance didn’t look so great. On the forest floor, with visibility restricted to some twenty paces in either direction, the forest seemed vast and complex. Despite the uniqueness of shape and hue of every tree, they all appeared the same, silent, unmoving monuments of a world barely touched by human hands. Of all the worlds naturally inhabitable by their race, so few among the cosmos, here stood one pristine and wild. How could Frandia possess such a treasure yet leave it alone and solitary? Cities could be wrought here. Lives could be made. There were endless opportunities for life to take its course. But for now, it stood desolate of any civilization. Kordavo found it difficult to pick which was more beautiful, the teeming concrete jungle of cities and buildings or the intricate forest of…nothing but untamed nature.

They walked in silence, Kordavo a half dozen paces behind her. He said nothing and she said nothing. That suited him. In his mind was a more technical thought process, laying out his intermediate plans for the coming hours. Reach his ship. Repair his ship. Attain flight capabilities, at least to the upper atmosphere. Contact Dominion forces. Be picked up by Dominion forces. Return to the fight. There were two variables that could impede this progress. One, the parts he took from Solstice’s ship could be incompatible, of a different quality or capability. And secondly…Solstice herself.

By all rights he should leave her. In his mind that was the logical thing to do. She was an enemy combatant. If Kordavo hadn’t been visited by ill fortune, she should have been dead, pulverized to bits in her exploded ship or left to freeze in the vacuum of space. Instead she was here. Death was supposed to be her fate.

In his heart, after all she did for him, Kordavo simply couldn’t do that. He felt a connection to her, after surviving the perils of this world. He owed her a chance at life, as she had given him. A prisoner of war camp might be her fate then. Or maybe he would keep her, if she could be tamed like the wilds about him on this forsaken world. The thought of the challenge made him smile and gaze down in amusement and fantasy…right to her swaying hips.

And looking down proved to be their mutual downfall. Who was watching the skies? The trees were less dense here, perhaps similar to the wide clearing he had luckily crashed his ship in. It was the perfect hunting grounds for what swooped over them, blotting out the sun with a wing span twice as long as Kordavo’s reach, from the fingers on his left hand, across his chest, to the fingers on his right. It was massive! And he looked up, again a moment or two behind events, to see what it was. He didn’t see Solstice decide to react first. Damn her and her lightning reflexes! Her small form packed a punch and she slammed into him hard, staggering him back, enough for his foot to catch on a jutting root hidden in the thicket of scrubs and trip back. He managed to break his fall as he half turned, the hand of his injured arm hitting the grass hard. A very agonizing lance of pain shot up through his arm.

He hissed and rolled himself over, his weight and size flattening much of the shrubbery, putting his back to a tree. Just like that, that bitch Solstice was on him again. Dumb bitch could not be tamed! Yet as he cradled his wounded arm to his chest and held his other arm out, gun extended…he saw nothing. Did she run? No. Not in any direction as far as he could see. That was because…she had flown away. He looked up and saw the giant bird flapping its wings as it took off into the air. In its talons…was a small figure. Solstice had been nabbed. She had saved his life…and risked her own.

“Dumb bitch.” He snorted as he got to his feet. Not because she was selfless, again needlessly risking herself to save…what? An enemy combatant? No, that wasn’t why. It was because now he had to go repay her the favour. Again. Kordavo hated being in debt. “Dumb bitch.” He growled, shaking his head and walking in the direction he saw the creature flying, not knowing exactly where but hoping to find where it was taking his fiery little property to.

---

The creature deposited its catch into a wide brimmed nest, made of branches, stakes, and small logs painstakingly patched together over months, perhaps years, of labour. Solstice was dropped without ceremony by the unclenching of its massive talon, which could have crushed every bone in her body had it simply squeezed. For some reason it did not. She would fall upon the nest, pricked by many jutting ends of wood, among several giant spherical objects. They were not stones. They were man-high, as tall as Kordavo, and rounded with few imperfections. Sometimes they shook or shuddered but stayed relatively motionless. As darkness fell, their texture took on a fluorescent hue, emitting a faint light. The creature disappeared shortly after.

Evening had fallen again thickly. The night animals were around. Clearly there was some understood hierarchy on this world. When the big fish came out to play, the little fish hid. Wisely. The creature that nabbed Solstice made itself known. The others fled and hid during the day. But with the cover of darkness now returning, bravery returned to those creatures. There was one with deadly intent among them, with green eyes and a metallic piece that spouted super condensed flashes of flame and light. It could scorch hard metal apart. Flesh and bone proved little deterrent. Kordavo stalked to the foot of the densely thicketed low hills and began his ascent upwards. The surface was uneven enough for handholds, footholds, and even steady inclines for one to transverse upwards. He had seen the great bowl up above, from where the creature had taken flight. Would it return? It didn’t matter. Kordavo had one central objective, overriding all his previous planning. The variable, for which there was no room in his carefully laid scheme.

The nest sat upon the end of a jutting tree that extended outwards from the rocky dome of the hill. With an experimental step, Kordavo found the trunk accessible, though it was needless. Heavier things sat upon it, though he could not see over the lip of the nest. He assumed Solstice was there, alive or her bones remaining. In either case he was a fool to have come! But he came and he reached the nest, breathing softly and listening within. There was no sound but he knew from before the bird could swiftly descend with great speed. He looked up and saw no shadow moving across the endless blanket of stars.

But being the first time he looked up at the night sky of this world…he saw it. Faint flashes. Moving lights. The battle still raged. For a moment he was in awe of it, never having seen a space battle from the surface of a planet, unpolluted by human activity. Was that strobes of heavy blasters he saw, as fine and slender as narrow hair streaking in the blackness? Was the faint hazy the exhaust of launched missiles? Whatever it was, he needed to get back.

And first he needed his prize. He mounted over the lip and fell heavily inside the next. He immediately tripped and knocked into one of the spherical objects.

It shifted and bumped into another. Then it shuddered and something moved within. Kordavo held his breath. What…the…fuck…!

And then there came a chirping, low but urgent. Fuck.

Kordavo looked up again and thought he saw a shadow flutter across the stars. He moved quickly, looking between the small valleys between these…eggs? It took a little exploring until he found her, laying there. He didn’t wait, running to her and kneeling beside her, checking her pulse. She lived. Not eaten yet? Lucky her. But then came the cry and the creature was coming, wings extended as it sensed a danger to its young. Kordavo swiftly turned and didn’t hesitate.

The surrounding area lit up as he discharged his weapon, great flashes of light as condensed heat fired from his pistol. The creature was massive close up, powerful and wrought with limb and muscle but the outpouring of fire from the tall human was too well aimed and strong to be overcome without protection. At full charge. It struck the creature many times in its underbelly, causing it to cry out with a shrill tone as it suddenly veered off, holes pocketed into its wings. Losing control, it veered off somewhere beyond the lip of the nest and was not seen again.

One of the eggs cracked and Kordavo turned towards it, ready to blast whatever poked its head out. He didn’t care. He was in a killing mood in that moment, come to claim his prize.

Solstice could remember the feeling of falling, but her disconnect from the real world numbbed her pain as she hit the wood bed of the nest. The woman was lucky not to be impaled as she landed on a bed of sticks, many of which as big around as her biceps. A few sticks caught the fabric of her flight suit, tearing holes in the fabric and revealing her pale skin that was scattered in shades of black and blue from the events leading up to that point. It was hard to get through crashing a ship, getting beat up by a man, getting shot with a blaster, and encountering beasts such as those that lived on this planet without a bumps and scratches. At this point, Solstice was sure she had more discolored, mangled flesh than she had uninjured surfaces. But for now, she remained unconscious.

She moved only occasionally in her unintended slumber, tossing and turning on the uneven surface of the nest. When her eyes began to flutter it was a reaction to a noise that, at the time seemed very far off. It was quite a surprise to her once she came to realize how close the cries of anger, panic, or some combination thereof were to her current location. Her first reaction would have been to get up and run, but she couldn't get her body to move. Not yet. It was too exhausted. However, that wasn't the only sound she heard: there were feet shuffling no more than a few feet from her. Some creature perhaps? But even more eerily, there was a low rumbling of amniotic movement filling the atmosphere all around her.

With eye’s widened, Solstice willed herself to move, rolling onto her side where she could see the feet firmly planted in a wide stance. They were concealed in a pair of very familiar combat boots. It was him. Kordavo had come for her, although the woman couldn’t fathom why. Last time she had seen him he had her wrists and skies bound, only letting her hobble in the direction of his ship. What use was it to him to save her when all he ever did was treat her like a nuisance anyway?

However, Solstice didn’t think she had ever been so happy to see him. From the angle she was at, she could look up at the bottom of his jawline. She didn’t know if she had ever noticed before just how strong it was. The man truly had stunning facial features. That in addition to his physicality, which she had not seen as closely as he had seen hers, made him one of the most stunning men the young princess had ever laid her eyes on. That’s part of why it was so disappointing that he was with The Dominion. It made him one hell of a thorn in her side.

Lost in the moment, she didn’t manage to take note of the monster that was once more coming at them. In fact, she didn’t even think to look for it being so tired and dehydrated. The woman was running very low on energy, and she silently admitted to herself that it was probably time to down one of the protein powder packs hat she had tucked in the breast pocket of her flight suit. That’s why the moment he lit up the atmosphere with his blaster she cowered in a last minute attempt to save her life. She didn’t even know what he was firing at, but she feared it could have been her. She survived, however. Each time he took a shot her body remained intact and in minimal suffering. He was killing the great beast that had brought her here.

One final look over her shoulder allowed Solstice to watch as the great beast fell to its final resting place somewhere down below. It brought her sorrow. The beast was massive and beautiful- the queen of his land, and yet it had to fall because it had chosen the wrong meal. Now, it’s babies were hatching all around them, and their lives were threatened much like that of the mother’s. Solstice knew these creatures from her field studies: they were massive and incredible hunters, but they also clung together in family groups. There was another out there somewhere hoping to provide for it’s family while it’s mate fell and i’s offsprings hatched. It brought tears to her eyes and allowed Solstice to find the strength to get up that she had before been lacking. Wearily, the princess got to her feet and dragged her tired body upward.

She stood in front of Kordavo, her stance wide and her legs a bit wobbly. Standing was possible, but running wouldn’t be. However, she had enough strength to do what it was she needed to do as kordavo took aim on one of the babies. Her baby blue eyes searched his for any ounce of kindness as she laid her hand on top of his blaster, urging him to lower it. “Don’t…” She whispered. Her head shook slowly side to side to make her point even if he hadn’t been able to hear her words in all of the commotion. “Dont hurt them. They are innocent and much more important than you know.” Her words were genuine and kind as she spoke.

“If you must run and leave me behind to avoid killing them, I bid you adieu, Kordavo Chenoweth.” Her entire body trembled but still she looked over her shoulder to watch at the head pushed through the surface of the shell. The creature was a mixture of lovely shades of color: great purples and magenta’s much unlike the green’s of it’s mother. The sight brought a smile to her face even as tears continued to stream down the cheeks of the young woman. She then shifted her weight and placed herself between Kordavo and the creature. With gentle hands she guided the end of his blaster between her breasts and pressed it into his sternum before releasing her grip on it. Her arms fell limply at her sides and she looked directly into Kordavo’s eyes as they stood there in what felt like stagnancy.

There was a whole world around them. There were shots being fired above, hunters searching out meals in the forest, and newborns starting to hatch all around them. Solstice ignored it all. In that moment it was just her and the man at the other end of the gun. She offered him her life in exchange for the life of the babies. If he needing to take another life that night, she prayed he would accept her as a volunteer. He could kill her himself or leave her behind as a meal if need be. Solstice knew that her existence was no more valuable than the lives of these offspring. They were a dying species, and they needed all the protection they could get.

Humans, on the other hand, were not a dying species. They reached out in all directions wanting to find anything that they could claim. That was the whole reason for this war. That was the singular reason the two of them were in this mess. That was responsible for the death of one of these animals among so many others of countless other planets. If fact, the human need to stake claims was also responsible for why Kordove and Solstice were bound to hate one another the way that they did. She couldn’t be the reason these babies never got to see life: not when she had lived long enough to understand so many things.

“Kill me or take me to your ship. The choice is yours.” She spoke softly as she searched his face. If she were to die now, at least she could die knowing she made a difference. “I will not go on with you knowing that you killed these animals. I’ll be dead by morning if you try.” She shook her head quietly.

“Now… Choose… We are running out of time.” She urged him while taking in every detail of his face. It could very well be the last thing she ever saw.

The hand of his saved query on his gun nearly caused Kordavo to shoot her instead. His blood was rushing and he was in the battle mood, more prone to impulse and instinct than to logic. He might have shot her out of accident and how ironic would that be, having come all this way to save her. She had a habit of touching him fearlessly, uncaring what it might do to her or in spite of what he might do to her. Well she had already been given a glimpse of how he could hurt her and yet it didn’t dissuade her at all. She was a strange one, even more so when she wished to defend the vicious little creatures popping out of their eggs. And they would have eaten her without a second thought.

She begged him not to hurt them, even if it meant leaving her behind. That was unlikely, given he had come for her and was not going to walk away empty-handed. It was already confusing to his pride why he had even come. No, Kordavo got what he wanted and that was Solstice. He could do so without having to shoot dead these little birds, unless they were geared for vengeance after what he had done to its parent. He didn’t care. That was the nature of war and hunting. The moment of birth didn’t little to move his sympathies. They would all grow up to be the same precise, deadly, and unfeeling monsters as the one who took her.

As if it wasn’t enough, Solstice propped herself in front of him, protecting the eggs and the hatchlings, nuzzling the muzzle of his weapon into her chest. She’d willingly die for these miserable little pests, wouldn’t she? She offered him an ultimatum. Her life for these creatures. He could have her too, if he just left them in peace. Well if they had left Kordavo in peace, they wouldn’t be here now would they? He returned her gaze, unflinchingly and unwaveringly, peering at her with a stern visage but still wrought with confusion at her sudden conviction. She even threatened to kill herself! As if her previous circumstances hadn’t brought her to that, threatened with torture and rape. But no, the defense of these hatchlings was worth even her own life apparently.

By the stars, this woman…! Why didn’t he just abandon her here then if she wanted to live in harmony so much? Let them eat her and see what it got her! He glared back at her, unmoved.

Finally he blew a puff of air and rolled his eyes, lowering his gun. “You’re far too dramatic.” He scoffed, holstering his gun and giving the nearby hatchling a deadly glare. Then he stepped to Solstice and crouched swiftly, his arm coming around her thighs and locking her knees tight to his shoulder, before he rose. And in the same gesture, she would go up and bend right over his shoulder, easily carried by his strong frame and might. “If they try to bite me in the ass, I will make an omelette out of them all.” He threatened further, though it could be regarded somewhat as a joke. He carried her past the cracking and shuddering eggs and to the edge of the nest, where he clambered over with his prize.

Kordavo glanced back once. The little hatchlings were breaking free. And squawking to the heavens too, as if they expected an answer. Maybe an answer would come. Surely these beasts mated in pairs, not by themselves. He didn’t stay to find out though. And so he began the descent downwards, heaving Solstice like a prized rug, moving his way in spirals down the pointed hill and back into the forest. When their feet touched grass instead of rock, he set her down none too gently and stretched his limbs. “You really have a death wish, don’t you? Are you really brave or just a stupid idiot girl with no sense? You know those birds would never extend the same courtesy to you. You need to start getting that through your head.” He sneered, rubbing his throat with ached with thirst. It had been an entire day almost without water, though he had plenty of food.

It was time to move on though. Kordavo didn’t bother to look for the carcass of the dead bird. No more detours. No more distractions. He was intent upon getting off this stupid rock of a planet and back to proper civilization. After ensuring everything was clear, he came back to Solstice and picked her up again. Not over the shoulder but differently, his arms under her knees and around her back, cradling her to his broad, strong chest. He was warm, a deep contrast to the deeply cooling night where temperatures plunged into the freezing. His breath was visible in little puffs of fog with each exhale. He knew movement was the only source of comfort. He didn’t want to spend another morning out in the wilds. Who knew what they might find with the rising of the sun.

He trekked, having a general idea of where to go. He could make out very little landmarks in the dark but moved in a direction he assumed was back to the gorge. From the gorge, he knew the direction, even in the dark, towards his ship. Along the way, he found Solstice had fallen asleep. How peaceful she looked. The thirst also caught up with him, irritating him massively. So gently, he set down his prize in a patch of lush grass near the gorge…and did what she had done early a morning before. He grabbed some vines that lingered…and suckled water off of them. He then cut them open, squeezing out water into his flask as well, until it was half full. It was not lost on him he had doubted Solstice’s advice before and yet now he was doing it. He was just glad she was asleep so as to not see it. The last thing the fearless little mite needed was fuel to agitate him further.

Kordavo picked her up again and continued his march. Sleep bugged at his eyes but he pressed on, feeling as if he could see and even taste the finish line, his escape off this world. He was so close and the twilight of mid-night was already giving way to dawn when he reached his ship after many hours of walking with little rest. He was lucky to have found his way. Smoke no longer emitted from the crash site and he felt himself smile when he saw his ship again. Ruined, but still flyable. He moved to place Solstice down upon the grass again, her head perched against a tree and as he crouched, he took a moment to just…gaze at her. Fire hair, sky eyes, and a petite yet curvy little body. He had felt it before. She was indeed a prize, worth keeping and having endured the pains over. He would remedy his debt with her soon.

The prospect made him smirk. He rose and turned to his ship, unslinging his pack with all the spare and stolen parts he taken from her ship. It was time to go to work, the peering light of dawn offering visibility to work by.

It would take a hour, as he pulled out damaged parts and replaced them with Solstice’s, hesitatingly connecting it to the rest of his ship and hoping it would all work. He fixed some wiring and had to jam some parts in to stick but it all looked pretty durable. Solstice would be awoken by the sound of the ship’s engines blaring to life, rumbling with power, quite loudly, hot air gusting back loose leaves and grass from the rear of the vessel. From the open cockpit, Kordavo grinned as he tested power, feeding more juice to the system and finding it all kept up. Barely. It was still on low settings but it worked! He shut off the ignition and climbed out of the craft, hopping to the grass. He would be going home!

Well, not alone though. Slowly, he turned back to Solstice with his triumphant smirk, and strode over to her. It was time for a well earned treat. Home could wait but perhaps not for a woman who might be taken far away from hers. “Sleep well?” He asked in a sarcastic light tone, as if he genuinely cared. He tilted his head, smirking broadly, a contrasting change of demeanor from his usual seriousness. He glanced at her face and then in full view of her eyes, let his own fall down to graze over her body.

The accusation of being dramatic brought a little smile to Solstice’s features. The amount she seemed to get under Kordavo’s skin was entertaining. Who better to teach a young man the scorn of a woman than the princess bitch herself? Even if Solstice didn’t survive this, she was quite sure the memory of her would. She would haunt the dreams of the young nobleman his entire life- that was the kind of pain in the ass she aspired to be. That cheeky grin stayed plastered on her plush lips even as he picked her up and hurled her over his broad shoulder. He was helping Solstice to embrace her inner sack of potatoes all over again. She let out a faint chuckle at his comment before responding simply: “I think the only thing you should be worried about biting your ass is me seeing as I’m practically eye level with it.” She teased him.

She was cooperative as he carried her away from that place, but all the while she reveled in her victory. For once he had actually taken her suggestion and listened to her requests. It was a goddamn miracle. However, the limpness of her body alluded to how much energy she was lacking in that moment. Solstice really needed to scarf down some of the protein powder she had stuffed in her jacket. Otherwise she would have no fight left in her- precisely what the man would want. If she had no energy, so would no longer be a threat to him. However, she would also no longer be of any help.

Caught in the middle of her thoughts, Solstice huffed out in discomfort as her ass came in contact with the forest floor. She looked up at him with unwavering blue eyes as he scolded her, but couldn’t help but let them roll back into her head disrespectfully when he was finished. He didn’t understand her in the slightest. “It is our ability to offer kindness and sympathy that sets man above beast. If we had no human emotion we would still be crawling around ass naked with sticks in our hair. Empathy is our strength.” She let out a little laugh. “Sounds like you and yours need to spend more time appreciating the worlds around you rather than just focusing on conquering them like a group of barbarians.”

Her words were bold, but it wasn’t the first time she had spoken boldly to him. However, there has definitely been consequences for it in the past. Luckily the bonds of one such consequence had been snapped by the great bird, leaving her wrists and ankles free once more- not that they were much good the way Solstice was feeling. Memory of such consequences made Solstice tense up when he went to approach her again. She feared he may beat or bind her yet again. The surprise on her face was apparent when she realized he wasn’t going to harm her for speaking her mind. Instead, he picked her up the way she had only seen sweet men pick up their lovers before. What were his intentions? Why the sudden tenderness?

The tired woman wrapped one arm around the back of her comrade’s neck as she settled into her new found position. The warmth and steady sway of his pace were both comforts she had not felt quite like this in her adult life. It brought Solstice back to a better time with her father. In the memory she was a young girl, no more than 5, and her father carried her up to bed after she had curled up in his lap as he sat in the throne room. Solstice had curled into her father dozens of times as a tike when things were quiet in the palace. Her father had always let her sleep there so long as he had no meetings or pleas to attend to. He would simply hold her close to his broad body and tousle those auburn locks as she slept. The memory was enough to loll the exhausted girl to sleep even in the arms of her enemy. In simple innocence she even regularly nuzzled her face into his chest.

She slept, soundly, for some hours. She was awoken only by the roaring of the engine. Her eyes shot up and she scurried back desperately into the embrace of the tree trunk. Upon realizing what it was, the woman let out the puff of air she had trapped in her lungs with shock. Asshole is trying to give me a heart attack. She thought. As the man stayed occupied a bit longer, Solstice tore open a package of her protein powder and began willing herself to eat it. The fine powder threatened to choke her as it clung to every surface in her mouth, drying it out. The only light at the end of the tunnel was the sweet taste of chocolate that accompanied the powder. However torturous it seemed, Solstice knew she needed to eat. If Kordavo’s ship was up and running it meant she would likely have to put up a fight sooner rather than later.

After a few big mouthfuls Solstice pinches the top of the package closed and slipped it back into her pocket as Kordavo began to approach her. She licked her lips and swallowed the remainder of the paste residing in her mouth before she looked up at him. The smirk on his lips made Solstice hesitate. He was obviously proud of himself, and Solstice has a feeling he had an idea in his head that she wasn’t going to be a fan of. However, it didn’t make any sense for him to kill her now. He had already gone through so much trouble to get her there and keep her alive, so what was on his mind?

Solstice stood up carefully as she felt the man’s eyes lingering on her. He was staring at more than just her face. So far as she could tell he was drinking in her femininity. Would he try to touch her again? The woman pressed her palms into the tree trunk, preparing to push off if need be before she answered his question. “I...slept well. Thank you.” Her words were carefully calculated and careful as she watched him like a hawk. She didn’t trust him. Not with that smug look on his face. “I see you have your ship working again. Congratulations. My ship not only took you down but also saved your ass.” She taunted him, but her eyes never left his face. He was still staring at her.

By now, solstice’s flight suit was in a state of shambles. It was covered in rips and singes where she had been shot or gotten caught on something. The tattered fabric allowed for the man to peak through to see her pale flesh that was sprinkled with bruises or other wounds: many of which were from his abuse of her body. However, even in her beaten state, Solstice was still a desirable woman. She was lean and fit with just enough to offer in terms of her breasts and ass. The young princess had attracted plenty of attention from noblemen in her kingdom, but she did not expect to see that familiar look in the enemy pilot’s eyes. She knew.

Solstice had to run. If she stayed she had no doubt that he would either hurt her again or touch her again. With a new found energy, Solstice took off into the woods. She would feel safer anywhere but there with him.

A triumph of this scale deserved a celebration and there was one Kordavo had been eager to continue with scholarly pursuit since he first touched down on this miserable world. And a full day without rest, filled with fighting and desperation, left him in no mood to be denied. Solstice thanked him and offered little observation on the new circumstances she had been awoken to. He merely kept his head tilted to the side in a curious, bemused fashion, as if Solstice herself was a novelty he had never seen before. Is that the extent of her analysis? He almost dared to ask her, as if to cruelly make her guess at what he was going to do to her.

His eyes told all. And she read them, perhaps familiar with that look now. Kordavo could not conceal it. Perhaps he never would. It was a lust and an urge he never felt before until he laid eyes on Solstice, the pilot who had shot him down. But he wasn’t dead or defeated. Their dogfight still continued but it was no longer even. He was a snarling wolf and she a frightened doe. And in the fashion of a terrified prey, she turned on her heel and promptly took flight. So she rather be left alone with the horrors of this world then be made to submit to him!

Kordavo laughed, a subconsciously and spontaneous reaction. He never laughed. He rarely smiled. He was a man in control, stoic and patient. In that moment he was none of that. He was given over to impulse. He was rash. He was, frankly, mad. He pulled out his blaster, low powered, and fired with precision right into the back of her thigh as she ran. Whether it forced her down or made her stumble, he was after her, running on longer legs, and more energized and motivated. He had not slept but he had fed and drank. He ran on long and heavy feet, yet rapidly. She would be nimble and agile but he had a determination both physically and mentally that shone above.

He caught her, large hands slapping on her back. And he flung her to the ground with little kindness.

“Where are you going, my little bird?” Kordavo sneered, panting as he towered above her, in full control now. He pulled out his blaster again and shot her promptly in the foot, numbing the limb. “Don’t you remember what you are, who you belong to? You’re mine. Mine.” He quickly crouched, grabbing her by the scruff of her neck, slapping her hands away if she tried to grab or resist. He yanked her close, that lustful smirk ever fixated upon his features. “Remember,” he said to her in a quiet tone, “remember the valley and the night before last. Remember the one…who got wet.” Kordavo harshly reminded her, prideful of the fact. “Why resist? I know you want it. You’re mine. And if you refuse to acknowledge me as such, I can simply wretch the acknowledgement from your body.”

He released her neck and stood up, stepping around her and again reaching down, to grab her by her fiery hued hair and yank her up onto her feet that way. He grabbed her right wrist and twisted it behind her back, forcing her a little before him. And in this fashion, he walked her back to his ship. His front was emboldened with a significant bulge. Soon. So very soon.

Or for some, not long enough. They returned to the clearing and Kordavo drove Solstice right to the hull of his ship. He pressed, or rather slammed her face against the side, right where the emblem of the Dominion was painted on the side of his craft. Her cheek would be against it, filling her line of vision. The Dominion had prevailed over her. And so had Kordavo, as holding her head and hair against the ship, his other went to the back of her neck and began to once more unzip her flight suit. There was no slowness or deliberation to it. He pulled it right down in one yank and returned his hand to slip off her flight suit from her shoulders, thrusting it down her body, past her hips, right to her ankles. Now she was exposed.

Then he spun her around so that she faced him, her upper back and head to the side of his ship, trapped between it and his large bulk. He was imposing upon her little frame, her face only to his chest, his own peering down at her with the sun blotted out behind, darkening his features. His green eyes gleamed at her with mockery. Kordavo knew he had all the power. He was playing with his meal at this point. He held her wrists to either side of her head, silencing any attempts to wrestle against him. He looked into her face…and then down towards her breasts, nestled so lovingly in her bra. He then forced her hands higher above her head, wrist over wrist, and used one hand to pin them there. With his other, he reached around her back…and undid the clasp of her bra. He let it fall to the ground between them, revealing their covered treasures.

His eyes widened with appreciation, though he said nothing. His free hand came about, first grazing across her cheek and jaw, before turning over and using his fingertips to glide down her neck and collarbone. And right down over a breast, though he didn’t linger there. Not even for a second. Once his hand came down over the mound, it shot with great speed right over her abdomen and into her undergarment. Once more his fingers were over her sex and his smile widened as he looked into her face. Again, his fingers began to violate her, touching and feeling the texture of her most intimate place, rubbing her in slight stimulation as he pinned her against the side of his ship, her own head outlined by the Dominion emblem.

The freedom of being away from him teased at Solstice’s lips as the wind rolled past her. She was running fast, faster than she could usually even run, but the vegetation of the forest was starting to trip her up. The vines and leaves grabbed at her boots as she ran, and it slowed her down. As she kept running she could hear the sound of his feet hitting the ground behind her, and it quickly became obvious that he was coming after her, and quickly.

“Fuck you!” She squealed as she felt his hand make contact with her. The pressure of his hand in between her shoulder blades was more than enough to push her off balance, and she fell forward with her hands barely jutting out in front of her fast enough to keep her face from hitting the ground. The impact dispersed through her body and she let out a quiet wine- pain shooting through her wrists.

She panted as she stared down at the dirt, the running had starved her lungs of oxygen. As soon as he spoke to her, she felt herself fueled with hatred. Little bird. The title resonated through her mind, and it only made her more upset. He addressed her as is she were a meek child. He treated her as though she couldn't care for herself and as though she needed him to function. Yes, he was essential to her survival up until that point, but he had no rights to her contrary to what he seemed to believe. He treated her as property much more than she wanted him to.

When he shot her in the foot tears welled up in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them away. He couldn't ever see just how hopeless he made her feel. If he ever knew the truth, he could truly break her. She yelped as he grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back to her feet, but was forced to lean into him either way. She took a deep breath as she listened to what else he had the audacity to say to her. “I will never be yours. What happened that night was a matter of anatomy not pleasure.” She spoke sharply. She refused to submit under his will.

There was a brief moment she felt him detach himself from her and she hoped that meant that he would leave her alone, but she was proven wrong the second he tangled his fingers in her hair and drug her to her feet. Her entire body was tense as he moved her in a silent resentment. However, as he forced her up her body brushed against his and the warmth of his skin was terrifying. She knew that she would be feeling a lot more of it in the next hour or so.

She took small steps, hoping that it would stall the inevitable. Her feet kicked at the dirt and Kordavo almost had to push her along by the arm he had wrenched around behind her. The time was ticking by too fast, and when her face roughly ran into the cold metal of his ship she winced. Her time was up, and as she opened her eyes she was met only with the emblem of her defeat. The dominion had defeated her. Perhaps not her kingdom, but they had defeated her, and now all she could see was their emblem as one of their ace pilots undressed her.

As soon as Solstice's flight suit hit the ground, her muscles began to tremble. There were small ripples traveling underneath her skin. He could see her tattered body in all of its glory. She hardly looked like a beautiful woman in this state. Men and women would see her like this and look down their noses at her, but for one reason or another Kordavo still wished to sexualize her and lay his hands on her without her consent. He wanted her for something so much more than spoils, and it was becoming more and more obvious.

She winced as he flipped her around to face him, and even while her cheek was briefly pressed to the side, he suun released her and she looked up at him. It really was a shame how handsome he was. It was such a waste painting such an evil man with such defining features. Why couldn’t kordavo just be a nice pilot from Fraundia? Perhaps then she could truly appreciate him without also having to hate him. Now, as he was preparing to fuck her, she felt nothing but hate for him.

Her eye contact with him didn’t break as he removed her bra, truly exposing her breasts to him for the first time. Yes, he had touched them the last time, but he had never seen them like this. They were supple and sat high on her chest. While they were not as large as many of the ‘sexy’ women of their time, they were still round and undeniably feminine as her pale skin contrasted from the darker beige of her areolas, giving him an idea of what he would see down below as well.

She pulled away from his hand sharply, not giving him the luxury to linger over her cheek. It was obvious that the young woman had no interest in being touched that morning, but she was given no choice. She pressed her back as close to the metal of his ship in an attempt to get as far away from him as him as possible in her current predicament. She tried to ignore his touches, just staring at him the entire time, but she couldn't ignore it as soon as he slipped into her panties. She took a sharp breath of air and she slammed her tailbone painfully into the machine behind her.

Suddenly she panicked. She began gulping for air and she shifted her pelvis every which way in an attempt to remove his fingers from her labia. While she was not wet when he started to touch her, she feared that he would work the lubrication out of her all over again. How humiliating it was to become stimulated from the man who had shot her down and was now making it his mission to break her in every way possible no matter how much she had done for him.

“Does this turn you on, you sick freak?” She finally spit the words at him, finding deep strength somewhere deep inside. “What the fuck is wrong with you, huh?! Couldn't you find some willing pussy to fuck back home?’ As she spoke to him, her body constantly jerked left and right to dislodge his touch from it’s target between her thighs. At the same time, she tugged hard on his grip around her wrists. At times she even lifted her feet from the ground and put all of her weight on him in an attempt to make him lose his hold on her simply because he was holding up all of her weight. Much to her disdain, it didn’t work. He was strong enough to hold her up no matter what she did.

The constant movement didn’t dislodge his touch from the young woman’s pussy, but it did shift his hand around just enough to bump against her clit and sweet spots time and time again, and it was beginning to take it’s toll. Solstice could feel her pelvic floor beginning to expand and swell in preparation to accommodate the male anatomy. Her body was reacting even though she was doing her best to fight it. He just had too much of an advantage over her, and it was beginning to make Solstice feel less like royalty and more like a measly slave girl who was bought by a perverted master with a taste for her flesh.

“Why are you doing this to me?!” She sobbed out the words, slamming her head back into his ship as tears began to stream out of her pretty blue eyes even as she shut them as tightly as she was able. There was no hiding it this time.

It was a sight to drink in, a triumph to be savoured with a deliberate slowness and flourish. Kordavo would never forget the first glimpse of her unadulterated nudity. The two days in the wilderness had not been kind to either of them but it did not serve to lessen his appreciation of her form. Solstice, even on a bad day seemingly, was ravishing to behold. Her breasts were perfect and well-formed, untouched even. And her sex felt warm, though not inviting at first. Her entire demeanor changed when his hand came upon it, feeling it and knowing its texture and shape. Kordavo grinned in anticipation and at Solstice’s. Perhaps she was quite aware of what was to follow. And there would be nothing to stop it this time.

There was nowhere to run, trapped between his imposing body and the bulkhead of the ship behind, unless she wished to drop to her knees and writher away like a worm in the mud. An appealing image, no doubt. She spat words at him, trying to revile him but Kordavo did not answer, merely smirking wider at her outrage. She was trapped and hopeless and he was in full control. Of course she would lash out, trying to upset him or distract him. She struggled and fought to remove his hand upon her sex, though her own actions confounded her efforts, as it brushed her sex back against his fingers. He let her rage a moment, expelling some of her energy. What was the rush? They had all the time in the world now.

His patience paid off soon enough and Solstice broke, turning from brash and furious to broken and wailing. Tears swelled in those pretty blue eyes, marring the beauty of them. Could she not? he thought selfishly at first, though some part of him hoped she might learn her place and indulge such a sport with him. It did not matter though but perhaps it was best to hurry things along. “You are mine.” He finally deigned to answer her. “And I will do with you as I please. Do not ask questions of it, little bird. This is your place now.” Kordavo sneered in her face, as his hand overcame her womanhood and ruthlessly inserted his long finger into her. Right to the knuckle.

From what he recalled, he had willing pussy to fuck right here. As if I would ever use such impudent words though.

But it was Solstice who started this. It was she who kissed him first. And even after the first violation, she had kept on mocking and teasing him with further gifts of her lips. It had awakened a dormant fire inside Kordavo and now he was going to indulge it to the fullest, with no distraction or interruption. He leaned close to Solstice, one hand pinning her conjoined wrists, his face inches from hers, with his own mouth to her forehead as he dipped in. He all but embraced her, his imposing body encompassing her little one, his heat and scent up against her own. His other hand was still snaked low, into her undergarments, and his finger was embedded within her. Slowly he began to thrust it, but with force as well, reeling his finger back and then ramming it forward with unceasing movements. There was no pause or break. In and out, his finger thrusted and worked.

The sun shone brightly now in the morning of this world and birds could be heard chirping in answer to the banishing of night. But it mattered little to Kordavo as he assaulted his pretty little catch. No physical stimulus did he have but a sigh of pleasure escaped his lips as he continued to spear his finger into the depths of the fiery headed captive before him. Slick sounds could soon be heard and his finger could feel the coating that soon surrounded it. He drew out once, briefly, only to add a second finger to his assault as he quickly impaled her upon his digits once more. He kissed the side of his brow, given wholly over to the relishing of his prize. His lips lingered on her flesh after, his exertions focused upon the never ending drive of his finger into her. His own manhood was hard with desire and the bugle pressed into her thigh.

It was time.

Kordavo ceased his assault with no preamble or coaxing. His hand swept out from her undergarments,, slick with her wetness, and in full sight of her, he suckled those fingers clean in his mouth. Then with pure lack of consideration, he used his grip on her wrists and threw her forward into the grass behind him, stepping aside to send her face first upon her flight suit. He was upon her in seconds, his foot pressing down on her back to keep her pinned.

Now he put his own hands to his collar and unzipped his own flight suit. It revealed his own flesh, bronze hued and taut, his limbs defined and wrought with muscle, with a faint spread of hair upon his chest that narrowed down in a line towards his groin. The flight suit was undone to his waist where it revealed a slim, taut abdomen and thus over his own hips and down his legs. Undergarments covered his pelvis and below, though it was stretched conical by his eager manhood. He stood over Solstice as he bared his own form, proud and glorious in the morning sun. Down to his knees he brought it and then he stepped off of Solstice, before crouching down to grab her.

Onto her back he spun her. And Kordavo was upon her, blotting out the sun with his figure as he hovered over her body. His knees and calves held down her legs. His bulging manhood brushed against her thigh close to her sex. And his hands were upon her wrists, holding them to the grass either side of her head as he leaned over her, grinning with haughty victory. He tilted his head to one side in amusement, as if expecting her to protest more, to which it would fall upon deaf ears on his part. Let her verbally lash out! His possession of her was about to be made complete. Again he wrestled with her hands to bring them up onto the grass above her hair, holding them down with one hand. The other reached down, bringing him inch by inch closer to his final goal, the molding of Solstice into his own personal plaything. His hand found his boxers and drew them out.

And out sprang his hardness, a long organ of muscle bristling with vein, ending in a bulbous head. It brushed against her naked flesh, throbbing with heat and as hard as the bulkhead of his ship. His hand grasped it, all the while keeping his eyes pinned upon her blue orbs. He watched her face intently, eager to drink in any reaction, as he lined up his sword with her sheath. He felt the texture of her sex against the head of his cock and he shivered with pleasure that he barely known before. With a gasp and pleasure studded eyelids, he began to push and penetrate into her depths, forever making himself a part of her.

And Kordavo did not stop his advance, until he was impaled to the hilt within her. And there he lingered a moment with no movement, his broad shoulders and chest heaving with pleasure invoked panting, watching Solstice as she dealt with his well endowed manhood deep inside of her.

Little bird. He had called her that twice now. On the surface, the nickname seemed innocent and almost sweet. It sounded almost like something a father would call his young daughter who still required care and guidance in life. Or perhaps it could be an affectionate name for a wife by a husband. It was too sweet to be uttered by an ace pilot to his prisoner. Prisoner. Perhaps that was what was meant by the name. She began to realize just how similar she was to a little bird. A caged bird who sat quietly on a perch unable to spread their wings or do as they pleased. They were only held for the pleasure that man received while gazing upon their beauty. Solstice felt like a little bird, and, like a bird, she was slowly feeling her fight begin to fade from her.

The girl’s boots finally planted on the ground just in time for him to impale her with his long finger, making her core an exceptionally easy target. The action caused Solstice to take a sharp, quick gasp of air. He was inside her, and she couldn’t stop him even in the slightest. She took note of the way Kordavo moved in closer to her as he began to thrust his long fingers in and out of her. In any other circumstance, this type of closeness could indicate sweet affection between a man and a woman. However, Solstice had no choice in this affection. Nor did she have any say in whether or not he thrust his fingers into her womanhood. That merciless fingering, however, was not ignored by Solstice’s body. Her inner musculature began to tremble around his fingers. The harder he pushed into her, the more she trembled, and with the trembling came wetness.

It had been quite some time since Solstice’s muse back on Frandia had laid a loving hand on her. As a result, her body was incredibly receptive. Flush rose into the young princess’ cheeks and her breath began to catch in her throat as he continued to ram the pads of his fingers into her sensitive nerve endings. She was exhibiting signs of pleasure, but she wished she could suppress them. She didn’t want the man to know that what he was doing to her felt good. As his breath trailed over her flesh due to their close proximity, Solstice could feel her face getting hot from both his heat as well as the heat she was now producing as he pleasured her. However, when he added the second finger she couldn’t keep quiet any longer. A quiet moan escaped between her lips, and the acknowledgment of her pleasure caused another tear to fall down her cheek.

She stood there, breathing hard and trembling as he continued his assault, offered relief only when he finally pulled his fingers out of her. She allowed her pretty blue eyes, now slightly pinkened from the tears that had flowed from them. She looked up into his eyes, searching for some type of compassion in them. He didn’t appear particularly cruel nor evil. In fact, he simply looked like a man. No different than any other man his age. Yet, what he was doing to her was truly despicable. She had every right to hate him for it, and she was absolutely disgusted when she watched as he licked her essence off of his long fingers.

Solstice yelped when her body hit the ground unexpectedly. Was he finished with her? Would he leave her be now that he had humiliated her for the second time? Her hopes faded once she felt the weight of his boot on the small of her back. She decided not to squirm of fight in hopes she could avoid further injury from the man, but instead just pressed her face to the worn fabric of her flight suit and looked over her shoulder at him. From her viewpoint, she could see him quite clearly as he removed his clothing. She was given a brief amount of time to look at him before he moved again, but it was long enough to see the irony of it all. Kordavo had a perfect body, and he was undeniably handsome. In fact, he was basically Solstice's dream partner from the color of his eyes to the size of his tented undergarments. Yet, in that moment, he was also her nightmare.

The woman was relatively limp as he moved her, pinning her down beneath him with his weight and strength. Fighting him would only get her hurt, and as mulch as she wanted him to bleed and cry out in agony, she didn’t know how many beatings she could take without there being permanent damage. He had won. She stared up at him, finally finding to will to speak. “You don’t have to do this to me, Kordavo.” Her words were calm and eerily collected as a result of her attempt not to be hurt again. However, as expected they fell upon a man who didn’t want to listen to them. Solstice was no more than an object to the man. She’d even go so far as to say she was a sex toy to him now. What pleasure can there be in screwing someone who doesn’t want you?

Solstice took a sharp breath when she felt the naked flesh of his cock falling onto her stomach with it’s notable weight. He really was an incredible man, blessed by genetics yet given the short end of stick when it came to personality. Solstice was convinced that no woman could ever love a man like that. Plus, he just kept looking at her. Watching her as if she were some sort of flighty little bird that could fly away at any moment even though he had her trapped. She gazed back at him in a way that would have been romantic if it weren’t for the situation they were in. Lips fell apart instantaneously the moment she felt him begin to push forward into her. Her entire face contorted as he length continued to slip inside of her sweet tunnel, and her breath began to tremble in reaction.

He felt good, really good. He wasn’t even thrusting yet. Her wrists began to struggle against his grip as she found fight in her again for at least a moment. It was wrong that she liked the way he felt. Unacceptable behavior for a princess. She needed to get out. Now. “You’re hurting me!” She cried out. It was true, he was hurting her, just not by penetrating her. His weight on her legs keeping her spread open threatened to bruise already.

You don’t have to do this to me, Kordavo. No, he felt every urge and desire to do this to Solstice, pilot of Frandia, who thought she was his equal. Kordavo could not turn back now or he would forever consider himself a failure, overcome by some little girl who first shot him down and then unmanned him with just a few kisses, touches, and sharp remarks. He was going to put her in her place, beneath him, both literally and figuratively. The only other alternative was shooting her dead but it had already been proven, quite strangely and ironically, that neither of them could do that to the other. What was left was just this, this outpouring of physical dominance.

She was no match for him. There was nothing to stop the unrelenting momentum that Kordavo was now and he relished in the thought and notion of that. Full control and not this anarchic chaos that he had to endure alongside her the past two days. It would be what he wanted, what he desired, and it would play out how he decided it would. And Solstice getting hurt, struggling futilely against his iron grip, was all he was determined to behold. Broken, or about to be, and desperate, not the calm and cool fighter she had thought she was. In any case, he would claim her.

Her plea sent shivers down his spine. Good his expression seemed to say in return, though as usual he gave no vocal answer to her. His grip on her arms did not slack and his knees pinning down her weight bore down like heavy anchors sinking through the depths of the sea. Kordavo did not know and did not even stop to consider what his assault upon her body might feel like for her. He had no inkling what his tremendous size did to her body, instead caring and relishing only how her tightness squeezed about him like a well-fit glove, hugging every inch of his organ. He was inside her, impaling her little body, gazing down at her with the stilled look of a statue or portrait. The emotion there looked as if frozen in time. Disdain. Arrogance. Pleasure. Yet still he did not thrust. He watched. He waited. He let Solstice fight uselessly against his grip, reinforced by his weight as he hovered about her.

He wanted her to come to the slow realization that anything she tried was pointless. And that this was going to happen. He was going to claim her body for his own. He waited and he watched, not moving, staying still inside her while she struggled. All in vain.

Whether she had or not prior to this did not matter to Kordavo. This was for him, the fruits to be enjoyed after his labour. His green eyes were wide and unblinking as he watched, missing nothing of her struggle. Was that wetness he felt in her? He shifted ever so slightly, feeling it coat his manhood. His lips quirked into a soft smirk. Indeed it was so. The sun shone and the green trees swayed in the breeze. So deceptively innocent. The peace and tranquility of the solace of nature was ruined as Kordavo finally began. He reeled back his hips, drawing himself from her like dragging a net through water. He brought himself precariously close to pulling free, almost teasing her with the notion that he might indeed stop prior to such an assault. But he did not. The illusion shattered as with gritted teeth and a snarl of exertion, he rammed his hips back into her little body hard.

Ripples of force followed the thrust and his eyes drank in the reaction, upon her face and body. A huff of amusement fluttered from his nostrils and he pulled back his hips again, before spearing into her depths. His heart spiked with the sensation of her body receiving him, tingles diluting back through his body. His lips parted in a sigh of content. He didn’t want to be anywhere else than inside Solstice, so tight and perfect. With her auburn hair and her pretty eyes and her fiery demeanor, albeit quenched for now, perhaps there was indeed an attraction in him for her beyond it. But he held her down without remorse and began to pick up his pace, bucking into her with greater and harder thrusts, watching her naked body as he smacked into her.

Cool air kissed around his body but the heat between them numbed it all. Kordavo leaned down closer, his face inches from her own, leveraging himself to plough into her with shorter yet faster movements, strong hips and pelvis crashing into her own hips with steady rhythm now. It began to show in him. Pinpricks of sweat tickled his body as he maintained a strong pace over the next few moments. His manhood emerged like the stalk of a flower after a fresh due, before plunging into her again with a growing slick noise that they would both hear, evidencing the joy of their bodies at the very least. Kordavo’s green eyes became hooded with pleasure as they peered down at her, changing almost to a tender look as he took his carnal enjoyment of her. But did he care for how she might feel?

Not at all. Onwards and inwards he drove, now working furiously with a vigorous pace, huffing and occasionally groaning in his throat as he wrought his pleasure from Solstice.

It felt like he had been inside of her for an eternity, yet he still did not move. What kind of man fucked a woman in this manner? It was no different than plunging into water and then refusing to swim. This was some kind of a sick game, but solstice couldn’t figure it out. What would motivate Kordavo to be this way? If this had sheerly been a game of taking pleasure, then he wouldn't be waiting so long… right? Solstice found herself questioning his motives more than ever. As compared to now, they had always been so simple before: kidnap her and trade her in for bounty. Now, as things were heating up, it was as though he was digging his hooks into her. What’s worse? There was a part of her that enjoyed it, and she couldn’t deny that.

Eventually, she laid back, and her hands ceased their struggle within his grip. She just glared up at him as he kept her pinned, her entire body hot to the touch as a result of the conflict deep within her. There was a part of her that had always had an odd romantic interest in her captor- that was the part of her that had lead her to kiss him in the first place. However, there was also a yin to that yang. She knew that her life would drastically lessen in complexity if she could just kill the son of a bitch. However, even when she had had chances she had backed off and left him keep his life- a choice that had had negative consequences each and every time.

Solstice watched him with hesitant hope as she felt him beginning to draw his hips away slowly. She did, indeed, have brief hope that he was finished with her. She could only hope that this meant he had taken his fill. However, reality bounced back to her as she saw his lips curl only slightly. It was obvious then that he was far from finished with her- and then he slammed back into her. Solstice let out a sharp squeal after the first thrust. It was more a reaction than anything else, but it was still a noise that could be connected with an idea of pleasure. That squeal in combination with her wet core were telltale signs that her body was not rejecting his assault. In fact, it was quite the opposite.

“You bastard….” She whispered, as her head fell back into the grass as he began to establish his forced rhythm. However, her eyes soon fluttered closed and her tiny mouth fell open. She was breathing deeply, yet no matter how deep of a breath she took, it felt as though he forced it back out of her with force as his hips met hers once more. The result? Solstice was practically gasping for air as he jolted her off of his pelvis time and time again. He was strong, unrelenting, and overbearing, but her body was soaking it all up with a ferocity that she had never before experienced during coitus. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was just something about the way he fucked her… she needed him to stop, but she didn’t want him to.

This was wrong… She needed him to stop. She needed him to stop. She had to let the words reel through her mind multiple times before she was able to make herself act on it.

“Get off of me!” She yelled. She back arched and she pressed up into him in an attempt to dislodge him from her. “You do not have permission! Get off!” She kept yelling, the air from her lungs hitting his face as he hovered over her uncaringly, face only inches away from her own. He position was almost like something that could be seen in a bad romance movie- the man making sweet love to his woman and she writhed beneath him in an exaggerated manner. However, this was far from a fairytale. He was taking her, and she had no choice but to give it all up to him at his request. She really was beginning to feel like property, but she still refused to let her fight fade.

With that she rose her head suddenly and dug her teeth into his flesh where neck turned to shoulder. She wanted to hurt him. She wanted to make him bleed and scream in pain just so that his furious fucking would stop. She wanted him to feel a fraction of the pain he was causing her as he plucked her flower of value petal by petal. No one would ever want a queen who had been fucked by the enemy. She hadn't been a virgin before, nor was it expected of her, but now she would be considered tainted by the Fraundian nobles, and it was all Kordavo’s fault. She wanted to bit him like a ravenous dog, but when her teeth dug into him, she couldn’t even manage to bite hard enough to break the skin.

She clamped her teeth down on him time and time again, hoping she could find the strength to do the damage she wanted to do. Her teeth grazed him in different spots every time, but still her bites caused no damage. In fact, each time she bit him, her force was smaller. She bit him more and more gently until she found herself kissing his shoulder with tears streaming from her closed eyes. She couldn’t hurt him. No matter what he was doing to her, she couldn't bring herself to retaliate.

Perhaps it was because he had saved her life time and time again. Perhaps it was because he had been the only thing she had been able to hold onto since crashing. Perhaps it was because he was good looking. Perhaps… it was because she cared for him. Whatever the driving force was… Solstice couldn’t overcome it. She could only kiss him as he thrust into her so hard that her pelvic floor already ached from the beating it was taking. After a few kisses, she just laid her head back into the grass and squeezed her eyes shut tightly, trying to prevent any more tears from flowing. “I hate you…” She whispered meekly.

Moan or curse from her lips, Kordavo did not care. Proof of his victory was smeared all over his shaft and that was evidence enough for the both of them to prove what happened here. That despite being a bastard, Kordavo’s actions were not entirely unwelcomed. Not that he needed the consent. The pent up frustration was loosened and he was not going to cease anytime soon until it was all expelled from his being. He wanted to return to how he was before, a single minded and focused individual who suffered no distractions. He had no inkling that the release his body now sought was not the solution to this issue. It would only infuriate the problem.

But for now, it felt too amazing to pull back or stop. His whole body tingled to the core. Kordavo watched Solstice and admired how she reacted, her little lips ajar and her eyes drooping as if drugged. He smirked, the corner of his lips dragging the tendons of flesh in his cheek intensely. Such was the high of his carnal passion and triumph. For a moment all seemed contented, until she broke like thunder from a cloudless sky, erupting in sudden protest and struggle. Kordavo was in no danger as his hips continued unabated, his hands holding her wrists down, his abdomen pinning hers to the ground every time he so sweetly crashed into her, driving into her depths. It boggled him she would want it to stop, she who for so long teased him with such passions.

And then she bit him.

That was unexpected and Kordavo’s eyes clenched shut as pain lanced through his neck and shoulder, throbbing miserably. He slowed his movements, turning his head to try and wrench free of her teeth. He could not relinquish his grip on her wrists, as that would give her yet another opening. He hissed but did not budge off. He was still inside her, grinding slow now. But just as abrupt as it happened, it ended. Her teeth had no pressure to them. Not more than a heart beat’s worth. Slowly she fell away and he continued on, superior in his dominance. His hips bucked and the swelling in his core grew. Oh he was so near…!

Yet she continued to assault him, nibbling at his neck, his shoulder, his jaw, whatever she could reach. It annoyed him, as if an insect was fluttering about buzzing in his ear. It did not affect his pacing but it was irritating. Perhaps he would be wise in future moments to muzzle her. If there ever was a future time with her. Her efforts failed just like her wrestling, devolving into nothing more than imprints of her lips to his flesh. Tears flushed in her eyes and her panting was soft and possessing a sensual tone to his mind. But it still annoyed him, the attempts to bite. And he couldn’t wrestle her face down with his hands occupied. Kordavo tried then to use his jaw to block Solstice’s next attempts to bite him.

Instead, it caused their lips to meet. Kordavo’s lips caught hers and he found himself pressing against her, even as his hips drove into her like a well thrusted dagger. It was at that moment, even as he kissed her down to the grass firmly, that his body could not take anymore. He convulsed and felt his manhood throb, before it spewed out with numbing sensation his copious seed into her depths. He groaned in his throat, lips parting but still against her mouth as his body firmly pumped out his climax into Solstice, waves of pleasure coursing through his body. He had seeded her. He had claimed her. His eyes opened even as their mouths were together and he peered at her.

He kissed her firmly again, releasing her hands to grab the sides of her face, hips still grinding slowly as the last of his climax passed. He had done so, without even considering what the consequences might be. His passions had been like a red hot knife and he had driven it into her to soothe and comfort the flames. He had done so. It felt good. Kordavo felt good. He finished up his kiss and pulled back a little, gazing at her and inspecting what he had wrought upon her. Tears streaked on her cheeks and her hair was disheveled. Her body was naked and buried under him, with himself buried inside her. He had ravished her and it could not be denied…it had been enjoyed by them both. She belonged to him now, just as he said she would.

Kordavo reached up and put his large hand on her cheek, suddenly and painfully pressing her face to the side and ground as he pulled himself up. He slipped free of her below with an audible wet noise and pushed down on her as he knelt up. Now leaning back, he put his hands on his bent thighs and simply watched her as she lay half under him. The sun still shone and birds sang in the distance. Kordavo smirked, running a hand up his face and over his head and hair, a bicep bulging to the side as he did so, holding his hand behind his head. He did not speak to her. He had not answered her insults. He had made his declaration and proven it. What was there to say?

“Good girl.” Kordavo blurted out, dropping his hand from his head and putting it on her abdomen, before stroking it upwards and cupping one of her breasts, squeezing it in his palm. It fit snugly, as if it had been formed just for his very touch. “We’re going home now. It’ll be a tight fit in the cockpit. A tight fit…” Kordavo repeated, savouring the words as he ran his eyes down her body. So very beautiful it was. His hand was still on her breast, holding it possessively. It was a shame he would have to turn her in to the Intelligence Bureau for interrogation into what she knew but he had some privileges of rank. He could visit her. He didn’t tell her any of that though.

His hand shot to her face and jaw again, clenching around her mouth and holding it tight. Without mercy, he clutched and dragged her head and upper torso up towards him, the mere strength of his arm straining to bring her towards his lips. Kordavo grinned at Solstice. “Never forget how you gave yourself to me. Never forget it, little bird. Your body begged for mine and I satisfied it. Never forget it.” Kordavo said haughtily to her, in a quiet but piercing tone, his eyes bright and cruel like a harsh light in the morning. He released her face and allowed her to drop back to the grass, while he stood up and scoffed at her. Kordavo moved to get dressed, quickly, making sure he had his blaster in hand.

He picked up her underwear and dangled it on the tip of a finger. “Hurry up and get dressed. We’re leaving this wretched planet immediately.” He commanded her. She would not be getting her undergarments back.

He kept trying to push her away even as her lips went gentle on his flesh, but soon his lips met hers and he used the kiss the wrench her away. The force behind his lips forced her head back down to the grass where he held her with his firm kiss. Her lips almost trembled beneath his from the force that not only he pressed onto her lips, but also into her core as his vigorous thrusting continued. She could hear the audible slapping sound each and every time he pressed his pelvis into her slick core. And that’s when it happened. She could feel the familiar throb of his body and the uncalculated movements of his pelvis as he hit his orgasm. Soon his warm seed tickled at her inner musculature, and she knew that he had finished inside her.

She gasped for air as soon as his mouth released hers, but she was soon muffled by yet another kiss. His rough grip on her jaw caused her lips to pout slightly as he kissed her, but she didn’t fight him. Revenge was no longer in the cards for the young princess. She had tried to get revenge by biting him, and she had not only failed in hurting him but she had also realized that she was incapable of truly causing him harm anymore. There was something about this man, even as he beat and raped her, that she couldn’t bring herself to hate. He had hooks in her, and she was unable to dislodge them. So instead, she puckered her lips under his and almost kissed him back as he continued to grind his seed deep into her body. She had most definitely been marked.

Solstice, unlike Kordavo, was entirely too aware of what the risks of this scenario were. They had been on this planet for two days, and even before her crash landing the young princess had been behind on her contraceptive. She was very likely fertile by now, and Kordavo had just filled her almost to the brim with his cum. She had no doubt that he too was very fertile. She was able to think more clearly as his thrusting began to slow and eventually stop. In her thoughts, she wondered what the odds were that she would become impregnated with her rapist’s baby. However, she didn’t figure that it much mattered. Considering the situation, she didn’t figure that she would be alive long enough to even carry a baby to term if he had successfully fertilized her egg.

Solstice winced as he pressed on her face roughly and sat up. Her hands, even though they were now freed, still lay limply above her head. She looked up at him as soon as he released her head and she watched as his body, sprinkled with droplets of sweat, lifted from her and sat back. She drank him in silently with her icy eyes. The devil was a tempting sight, she admitted to herself as he spoke to her once more, calling her good as if she had volunteered to partake in such an unspeakable act. Her body tensed beneath his palm initially, but as soon as she realized the gentleness of his touch she relaxed. She stared up at him, tears now dried from her eyes, as his hand traveled along her body until it finally reached its destination at her supple breast. She nodded quietly breaking eye contact as he informed her of the next part of his plan. He wanted to take her with him.

She winced once more as his hand once more latched onto her narrow jaw, and he dragged her upward, leading to a groan of discomfort slipping out of her gullet. She stared up into his eyes as he spoke to her, and she recoiled a bit. The fact of the matter was that he was…. Right. She had wanted no part in this, but he had used her body for his pleasure, and in turn he had invoked pleasure out of the girl. He had felt marvelous, filling her like a custom fit, but it was wrong. He was not of Fraundia nor did he seem capable of any sort of affection. He was nothing but a collection of sharp edges, and no matter where Solstice seemed to tough she got cut. Perhaps she really did belong to him. If she didnt, why would his body atop hers have felt like such a perfect fit? She nodded once more and fell back slowly when he released her jaw and finally lifted his weight from her body.

In her new found freedom, Solstice massaged her fingers into her aching thighs for a moment before wobbling to her feet. She truly felt as if she were a newborn filly trying to take her first steps. The muscles in her pelvic floor and legs screamed in agony from having been pinned and used for so long. Her whole body beneath her navel seemed to hurt, and bruises were already forming where he had dug his knees into her to hold her down. Bruises that hardly seemed out of place on her naked body seeing as so very much of it had been already severely beaten up by Kordavo’s shear force and aggression. It appeared as though just as much of hr flesh was black and blue as was the pale peach that it usually was. He had battered her worse than she had ever before been battered.

Upon standing, Kordavo’s seed, still warm from occupying her body, began leaking out of her core and spreading onto her thighs, making them slick all over again. Solstice was lucky that he did not wish to use her again, for with the current state of her body she was too weak to even put up the fight that she had prior- no matter how futile it had been. She watched as the man snatched her thong and she sighed. She half limped to her flight suit and willed herself to slide it onto her otherwise naked frame before zipping it close. There were so many tears and marks on the suit that any attempt to look hard enough would result in a flash of her breast or buttocks. By that point the suit was so destroyed that it could hardly be called a flight suit anymore, but it still mostly fulfilled its purpose of maintaining the princess’s modesty.

Once dressed, Solstice hobbled to the ship where she leaned her tired body against the cold metal where she stared at Kordavo until his eyes met hers. “You spent all this time rescuing me, Kordavo. Why would you take me on your ship and to your people knowing damn well that I won’t survive the week there? Your men will not have the same attachment to me as you have had.They will attempt to get answers from me, torturing me when I refuse until they eventually kill me as a result of my refusal to answer.” She shrugged. E had not said a word of it, but Solstice had been a part of this game for awhile now. She knew what was done with prisoners of war, and she knew that the survival rate was incredibly low. “If you wish me dead, I would prefer just to be stranded on this planet. At least having something eat me will not mean that my death was for no purpose.” She shrugged.

Another main concern of Solstice’s was that Kordavo had not known her name nor her face, but she doubted that there wasn’t someone on that space station that would recognize her face. After all, she would be one of the most wanted ilots in the sky by the dominion. She had more power than Kordavo ever could have guessed, and it was to be thrown away in a fit of torture. At least, in her death, Solstice knew that her torment would end.

Wordlessly she endured, a strange irony for the duo, where usually Kordavo was the wordless one while Solstice never shut up. Now her silence felt…awkward? She always had a quick rebuke, some witty remark, some crushing statement to fire back at him. Perhaps he should feel pleased for finally having silenced her. Or maybe he should feel sorrowful for having snuffed out so bright and wild a flame. In either case the smirk was still fixated on his lips as Solstice picked herself up and got dressed. Not even a word of complaint as he took her underwear, intent on making her further discomforted. When she finished zipping up her flight suit, he simply dropped it and discarded, letting her scramble for it if she wanted it now. He was entirely being a bully at this point.

Dressed as if the previous episode had never happened, they went to his ship, now flight worthy again. Like a phoenix reborn, Kordavo would be taking to the stars yet again. What did this defeat matter, if the spirit remained unconquered, back to fight some more? The humiliation and burning embarrassment of being shot down by a woman pilot of the other side no longer seemed to affect him as much, mostly because he had gotten a very sweet and delicious revenge. Truly it was a victory to hold on to.

Finally, Solstice deigned to speak as she leaned against the ship, watching him. Kordavo gazed at her stoically, green eyes unwavering as she spoke some intriguing questions to ponder. She thought where he was taking her would be her end. She thought he had some sort of attachment to him, which on the outside, he scoffed at, though on the inside he was unsure of. He knew what methods the Intelligence Bureau employed. Would she survive? Would she talk? She wanted to be left behind on the planet and that shattered all her words to the wind. Kordavo thought he could perceive her plan now. Better to be left behind then stuck in a cockpit with her domineering captor who had done such pleasurable things to her?

“I’m not an idiot.” Kordavo stated, turning to walk around his ship and give it a quick visual inspection. “You want to be left behind not because you think the death will be a lot more merciful. You just think your people might happen by and rescue you. Guess again, little bird. You’re caged and you’re coming with me. What the Intelligence Bureau does with you is none of my concern.” He strode around and came up to her, standing in front of her. “Whether you talk or not is irrelevant. Your people are doomed, Solstice. The Dominion will win and your people will learn their place as you have done just now.” He reached out and cupped her cheek, his thumb trailing along her lower lip as he looked at her firmly, before breaking into that sadistic smirk again.

“Being beneath us.” He taunted her, patting her cheek in a condescending manner. “So you might as well face the inevitable and accept your fate…that you’re mine, for whatever brief time you still have left. If you do survive…” Kordavo then said, going off on a different tangent with a different tone, looking aside. It was almost as if he was suggesting something hopeful to follow. But he didn’t finish that statement. If she survived the IB’s games and fun, she would revert back to her. But would he want her after others had their hands at her? No, Kordavo was a possessive man who did not share his toys. He wanted her all for himself but he knew POWs had to go through certain procedures before control was handed over to the captor. She would be just an empty shell after. Better she died.

“It’s time to go now.” Kordavo declared and grabbed her sides, turning her around to face the ship. He reached up over her and grabbed at a lip, which he pulled to reveal a slender step-ladder to climb up onto the cockpit. “You first. Sit on the far edge. Try anything and I’ll break your legs and leave you for the hounds to devour.” A fate worse than being raped by him, no doubt. He made her ascend first and he followed close after, sitting in the pilot’s chair and then forcing her to sit in his lap, pulling the canopy down over him. There was plenty of room though especially with her petite size which fit snuggly in his lap. He could spread his legs, which put her right upon his groin, and his arms could reach around her, squeezing her between his bulging biceps. He looked over her shoulder and reached up too to gather her hair up on her far shoulder, exposing her neck to his lips and nose, where his breath washed down on.

He grabbed the throttle in one hand and moved his hand to activate power again to the main systems. He took a deep breath first. He saw it work once. Would it work again? Would it work with the power needed to take flight, break atmosphere, and maintain attack speed? “If not,” Kordavo said, speaking his thoughts aloud, “we’ll die in a fiery crash as we were supposed to. All this was just a game.” He turned his face to kiss her neck, or rather just imprint his lips there, a way of holding his breath too, before he activated the switch. The ship roared to life without burps or glitches in the system. Her stolen parts worked and held and the ship brimmed with power. Kordavo grinned and flipped through some other switches. Steadily, they began to lift off the ground, rising above the tree tops, until they could see the top of the forest and mountains all about.

Then Kordavo punched the throttle to full and they shot forward, slamming him back into his seat (and her back into his broad chest) as they angled up towards the blue sky. Little by little, the blue sky and white clouds would give way to a twinkling twilight and finally, the blackness of space. Flames gathered around their ship and the temperature skyrocketed but the ship held as they broke atmosphere, coming into the dead silence of space. Before there had been a flurry of activity, with strobing lights either being the unleashed ordinance of capital ships or the darting specks of combat craft assaulting one another. But now it was silent and still. Was the battle over? Kordavo scanned both sides of the canopy, seeing the planet on one side and the vastness of space on the other. He didn’t see any vessel at all.

“Power steady. Life support steady. Engines steady. Comms…” Kordavo said, speaking to himself. He flipped on a wide receiver and spoke. “This is Captain Kordavo Chenoweth reporting. Request immediate pick up at my location. Does any Dominion craft read? This is Captain Chenoweth.” He said in a brisk tone and then waited. And waited. And waited. Seconds ticked by and there was no response on any frequency. Perhaps the Dominion had been driven off-system and the Frandians had won.

“Look.” Kordavo said to Solstice, angling his craft towards something distant. Or was, as it began to approach and rapidly grow in size. It was a vessel, frigate-class, and it was floating with a field of debris about it. All its lights were off, indicating total system collapse and it drifted aimlessly, caught in the planet’s orbit until eventually, after a few years, it would be tugged closer and closer to the planet until it smacked right into it. They began to approach it, flying past it. It began to take up the entire view screen. It was a Frandian vessel, disabled and knocked out of the fight. It was leaking atmosphere in several points, the exhaust trails blowing out into the vacuum of space.

Beyond it, they saw another collection of distant shapes. A fleet. It was alive, blinking with lights, and Kordavo’s radar showed dozens of targets. All friendly. “This is Dominion vessel Sunfire. Do you copy, Captain Chenoweth?”

“I copy.” Kordavo answered.

“Stay right where you are. We’re sending a squad for recovery. Until we confirm your identity, you are not to move. Is that understood?”

“Admiral Cleram is being paranoid.” Kordavo rolled his eyes and opened the comm again. “Yes I understand. Waiting.” He said and shut off the mic again. “Looks like my people won.” He said to Solstice, squeezing his arms about her. This planet had fallen to the Dominion.

Solstice winced when he laid his hand upon her cheek. The touch was gentle, but it was obvious that there was malicious intent behind it. The man wished only to pain her- whether it be physical or emotional. This entire time it seemed as though his only goal were to extinguish her flame. Unfortunately for him, although, she was dimmed, but not extinguished. Solstice needed time to recover from the fact that this man had just raped her. She gazed up into his green eyes as he looked down at her like she were some sort of meal. His finger made itself at home on her lips as he spoke. She listened silently, but she paid little attention to his words. He didn’t seem to think she would survive either. “It’s nice to know just how much you treasure your birds, Kordavo. Someone really should report you for animal abuse, buddy.” With that she jerked her face away from him.

She reacted to his hands on her hips as if they were hot irons branding her, but he had her turned around before she could really pull away from him. The young princess crawled obediently into the cockpit once he threatened her. She would rather have been left behind, but if her legs were broken she would have no hope of survival- they both knew that. She had no choice but to crawl into the prison of a ship. Upon climping in, she moved all the way to the side as directed, but cringed when he dragged her into his lap. “A lap dog and a caged bird.” She mumbled. “I truly am a unique pet to you, arent I?”

Solstice sat still in his lap as he readied the ship for takeoff, but as he moved her hair around to one side of her neck she felt her breath catch in her throat. Goosebumps rose on her arms and legs as she felt his breath trailing over her neck and shoulders. This man had some sort of hooks in the woman, and she couldn’t seem to get over them even after all of the horrible things he had done to her. “Better to die in a fiery crash if you ask me.” She whispered as his lips pressed into her neck. Much against her wishes the ship started without difficulty, and before long they were lifted off of the ground. As they shot out beyond the atmosphere, Solstice closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Upon reaching the blackness of Space, Solstice finally released the air in her lungs. And let her pale eyes flutter open. At first… she saw almost nothing. It was far too quiet. In the time they had been on that planet, the war had come to a close. There was no other explanation as to why it would be so quiet so close to Fraundia. The realization caused tears to well up in Solstice’s eyes as she sat stagnant in the man’s lap as he began mumbling about the status of his ship and checking for communication. This was her home, and there were no Fraundian pilots to be seen anywhere near their location. That meant that they were gone. They had had patrols in this area ever since Solstice had started learning how to fly.

The truth became eve more real when Koravo pointed to the wrecked ship that began floating past them. The sight caused Solstice to double over and sob. Her sobs were likely heard over the intercom as Kordavo talked to his coworts. She couldn’t contain it. She knew that ship all too well, and she had personal relationships with many of the men inside: one of which being her brother- the eldest remaining and the heir to the throne. “Your people killed the heir to the throne.” She whispered through her tears and shut her eyes tightly through her sobs. His arms tightened around her like an unwanted vice, ans she shook her head quickly as she rid her eyes of the tears.

She finally managed to cease the tears as they were apparently still be analyzed to determine their identity. She shifted in the man’s lap so that she could see his face. She cupped his jaw as she looked at him with her swollen eyes and just shook her head. “Your people, you included, are monsters. You have no respect for cultures nor people who are anything unlike you. Quite frankly, Kordavo Chenoweth, you are the most vile human being that has ever lived. I hope that my presence in your ship makes them blow you sky high.” She whispered, giving his prickly jaw a light squeeze. She was condescending him now, just as he had done to her. He deserved no better, and she was far from forgiving him for what he had done- especially now that she knew how many of her people had been slaughtered.

“You see. Your little bird is far from a parakeet, love. I guess you could say that you have very expensive taste, Kory. You’ve gotten yourself the most expensive bird in all of Fraundia.” Her hand stroked upward along his cheek. The tears had now dissipated from her eyes as she just sat in his lap and touched his rugged face. He was so handsome, but once more he was the person she hated most in the entire galaxy. “Of course, you were far too stupid to know who I was, weren’t you, baby?” She cooed and leaned in, pressing a condescending peck upon his lips. “You just fucked royalty, and for doing it, keeping me alive, and bringing me on this ship- I hope they blow us both sky high.”

“What?” Kordavo at first blurted, when Solstice said something about killing the heir to the throne. She was sobbing and it hadn’t occurred to him until the crackle and speech of the intercom died away. He could hear her, feel her even, as she shook as she sobbed, murmuring something about the heir. Heir to what? He knew Frandia was a kingdom, ruled by some monarch. Whether he had children, how the laws of succession worked, or any of that, Kordavo knew nothing about it. Nor did he care to know anything about it. As far as he was concerned, when the Dominion prevailed, such a monarchy would be replaced. So why did it matter?

Well Solstice was going to tell him. He remained motionless in the pilot’s chair, his jaw tight and his eyes unwavering as Solstice turned to him with bleary tear stricken eyes. She cupped his jaw which caused him to tense and jerk a little with rigid posture, fearing some sort of assault. Some last desperate attempt to fight back, as a wounded, cornered creature might with nothing to lose. He watched her, ready to defend himself however he could in that tight, compact area. She spoke, insulted him and the Dominion, called them monsters. He only rolled his eyes and let out a sigh of irritation, having heard it before. The weak and timid sometimes just had to lash out however they can.

His hand shot up to her wrist when she squeezed his jaw a little, thinking it was a prelude to some greater attack on his person. Instead, she just went on, unveiling quite a…surprise to Kordavo. His eyes widened a little and his lips parted in a subconscious gasp. He stared long and hard at her. How could he have known though? How could he, Kordavo Chenoweth, have known he had the daughter of the King of Frandia all along? That Solstice was a Princess, whom he had molested, raped, fucked, abused, and now was laying ownership to? She pecked his lips, caught open as he was still in a state of shock, and it brought him back to reality.

It was so grandiose and mischievous of her to reveal it at the end and his mind churned. Of course it was mischievous though. It was so incredulous a thing he began to regard it as such, some type of derangement or deluded nonsense. “You’re lying.” Kordavo answered flatly but he didn’t get to say more as the comm rattled again.

”Captain Chenoweth, you are cleared for landing on the Sunfire. Prepare to receive coordinates for your approach vector and adhere to protocol. Do you copy?”

“I copy, Sunfire.” Kordavo answered and clicked off the comm. The navigation screen began to rattle with information for a flight path but Kordavo ignored it at the moment. His eyes had never left Solstice. Solstice the Frandian Princess. “I don’t know who you think you are but you, your body and how you were as a lay, isn’t all that special little bird, so don’t try to accord yourself such a high and vaulted status as royalty.” He scoffed disdainfully. “I told you, you aren’t getting out of this so easily so quit whining for death. Once IB deals with you, you’ll be mine. And if you are who you say you are…well that would make things interesting.” Kordavo said, growing a sudden smirk. If I even want her back after IB. But she’s a Princess…? He activated the comm again.

“Sunfire, be warned that I have an enemy combatant within my craft, bound and imprisoned.” Kordavo reported, as he took the throttle and began to pilot them towards the distant fleet, rapidly growing in size within the view screens of the cockpit.

“Noted, Captain.” The other line responded.

“Calls herself…the Princess of Frandia.” Kordavo said with a sneer, expecting ridicule and laughter on the other side. Which is why, to his astonishment, the comm crackled back almost instantly.

“You captured Princess Solstice Nabeshin? We had reports she was in the previous battle. Well done, Captain. The Admiral is most impressed. She’ll want to speak with you, if what you say is true.”

“Bloody hell.” Kordavo stammered under his breath. Princess Solstice Nabeshin? So it was true. They had just said her damn name. It couldn’t be a scam, unless some fucked up irony in the world gave him a second woman named Solstice. He looked at the redhead in his lap with a different gaze for a moment. So she was a Princess, one he had molested, raped, fucked and abused. So what though? Kordavo’s gaze reverted back to his earlier look of contempt for her. IB was certainly not going to relinquish her so easily now. And he wanted to keep her.

Kordavo made a decision. He declared it. He had to stick with it. “Repeat that, Captain?” Sunfire inquired.

“Nothing. We’ll be docking soon.” Kordavo said and shut off the line again. He leaned back and just looked at Solstice, caught between duty, desire, and shock overall. He had been shot down by a Princess, he captured a Princess, kissed, touched, and fucked a Princess. Why should it matter to him though, the product of a materialistic, might-makes-right, Imperial power masquerading as some confederated union of states Dominion upbringing? Maybe for all the steel and machinery and indoctrination, the thought of a Princess offered something in the way of escapism. Or maybe Kordavo just liked Solstice, as a woman, for her beauty, her sharp wittedness, how she not only shot him down and but how she…saved his life. A begrudging thought, but one he acknowledged. What a fucking predicament.

The ship drew nearer and nearer to the carrier which served as the Dominion flagship. Sunfire was painted in bold red lettering on the side, like bloody gashes on the ship. Armament eyed them down but they didn’t shoot. Too bad for Solstice. “You’re a dumb girl, a dramatic one at that.” Kordavo said to her as they approached, entering the final stages. The hanger bay was wide open for them. “Why did you have to tell me that? You could have hid it, kept it secret. Now the IB boys are really going to lay the hurt on you. Could have just made it by pretending to be a dumb eyed pilot who didn’t know a thing.” He hissed. But was he angry at her? He was the one who told, thinking it would be a joke. Perhaps he was angry with himself, for having to lose her.

Now was the time for final words, as a troop of soldiers was waiting for them as their ship moved to land. They would not be together any longer.