Skipping Stones | Lo'ak

21

CHAPTER 21

There were seven of them. One of her. It was not a fair situation. Still - none of them had her agility or strength.

'Kanu threw the man she had knocked unconscious to the side, not caring about what would happen to him after that. If he died, he died.

One of the men who had been quick enough had aimed his gun at her, but he hadn't been quite fast enough to pull the trigger before her spear came to contact with the barrel of the gun. The human watched in utter horror as the weapon was flown through the air and it landed in the water. He could not do anything anymore.

'Kanu brought the spear down again, hitting him harshly in the head. The man was just lucky that his mask did not crack.

"'Kanu! What are you doing?"

'Kanu spared a glance to her right and let out a breath of relief upon seeing Lo'ak racing toward her. He was alive and fine.

"Watch it!" She replied as one of the men aimed at him. 'Kanu ran forward and fell to her side, sliding right into the man and sending him skidding into the water, "Get a weapon!" She yelled as she crouched behind a machine. By now it was raining bullets.

Lo'ak held his hands above his head as he ran to take cover behind the same machine as her, "It will blow!" he called over the sound of bullets, placing a hand on her head to keep her down. He was right - the machine would explode at any given moment.

Instead of the fear and panic that he had expected, 'Kanu stepped forward and sat in the ground, placing her feet on the cool metal. She could feel it shake as it took the bullets that rained upon them. When Lo'ak remained in his crouched position, doing nothing but looking around in panic, 'Kanu nudged him, motioning for him to do what she did.

"Oh," Lo'ak simply said before doing the same as her. He sat down and placed his feet identically to hers. Gritting their teeth, together they pushed the machine toward the sky people shooting at them. Due to the slope caused by the sinking ship, they did not have to do much before the machine started moving on its own accord, sliding across the deck toward the people.

'Kanu hadn't wanted to be the one bringing death upon these people - but as she watched the machine explode in flames while crashing down upon the humans - she realized that it was precisely what she had done. She was a murderer. She had smiled at the thought of killing them.

Silence followed the explosion.

Now that there was no danger in sight, Lo'ak timidly stepped in front of her. 'Kanu was vaguely aware of his hands placed upon her upper forearms and him shaking her. All she could think of were the seven lives she had taken that night. It wasn't until he swept a few wild strands of her hair and tucked them behind her ear that his face came back into her focus.

"'Kanu," he spoke softly. She had no idea how many times he had already repeated her name, "I need you to get off this ship."

'Kanu raised her brows, as if in shock, "Are they dead?" She pointed a hand toward the flames but kept her eyes on his.

Lo'ak glanced back at where she was pointing, "Yes - yes they are dead," he told her and lifted his other hand to cup her cheek, "But listen - they would have killed us. They shot at you."

'Kanu just shook her head in disbelief. She should not feel bad.

"They shot at me," Lo'ak continued. He said this as if knowing that this would make her think straight again. As if he knew she cared for him so dearly.

"You're right," 'Kanu finally said quietly after a moment of silence.

Lo'ak nodded, glad that she was not dwelling on the matter anymore. He brought her in for a hug, turning his head to the side so that he could bury his face in the crook of her neck. Amidst this chaos, he was taking time to hug her. 'Kanu thought he was ridiculous for doing so but it did not stop her from returning his embrace.