Survival, nier

((Sunday, July 17th, 3571. Sundown.))

Time was lost on her now, though she knew this world well enough to know that enough had passed that she had lost whatever additional body fat she had put on in an entire year's worth of conditioning on Earth. Her stomach had ceased growling days ago, and the sensation of being only vaguely hungry seemed like a distant memory. As she ran from the Martian hunter she had encountered in her wandering, so did the concept of rest.

He grunted somewhere behind her, wiry frame pumping blood just as quickly as hers was, she was certain, as he pounded after her. She understood that it was a matter of pride, catching someone who had interrupted your hunt, particularly as a man here. The others had let him be the one to chase her, staying behind to catch a monster for their food. His spear had been discarded back a ways in favour of the curved, scimitar-like piece of rock he had undoubtedly found during his travels. She had caught one look at it, more a club than a blade, and turned on her heel to run.

As she felt a particularly sharp rock dig against her ankle through a turn, the brunette allowed herself a moment to feel grateful for the things she had, such as shoes. His feet were torn and cut to the point where the newly-opened slices along his callouses didn't even bleed anymore, used to the treatment. She was softer, unused to the harsh world here as she panted and ran from him.

A fist curled around her hair and pulled the girl backwards, sounding a sharp yelp from the more spoilt of the two Martians as he literally leapt on top of her as she fell, aiding her descent to the ground. The back of her head hit the rock under them as hard as the rest of her. Raen saw stars and struggled to catch her breath, raising an arm to feebly block the club he swung down in response to having finally caught his writhing prey. He bared his teeth, and she showed hers in kind, the growl that ripped forth from her too-thin frame almost as foreign as the crazed look in his black eyes.

She raised her knee, catching him between the legs and hearing him yelp with a grimace of satisfaction, scuttling out from underneath of him until he remembered to clench his thighs. He caught one of her legs just as she had rolled onto her front, crawling. Her chin exploded in pain as he yanked her back like this, the porcelain skin stained red with the impact. It would be a new wound, and anything along her face would ache and hurt when she found food.

The feel of what was left of her shorts moving made her grunt, bucking back against him as he pressed too roughly against her, catching something fleshy, but bone-like with the back of her head. He growled in response, fisting a hand in her hair and forcing her face into the dirt. She sucked in a breath as she was momentarily deprived of oxygen. Though he didn't weigh much at all, he was pressing his knees into her thighs, his one hand into her head and the other off her body somewhere for the moment. She bucked upwards again, understanding that violation was the least of her worries here. There was the very real prospect of death with him on top of her, that sword-like club he'd brought with him most likely something he planned to use to knock her out.

She felt it descend against her back first as she stretched upwards, crying out involuntarily with the impact of the hit. It took everything she had to roll over, a few strands of hair lost to his fist in the process. The few hours of sun they would have beat down on them, making both sweat as the man moved her shorts just enough and went to club her again. Raen jerked her head to the side, narrowly missing a hard blow that made the rock and dust beside her stir.

There was a sharp pain elsewhere and she punched at his face to rid herself of it, taking flesh from him in her nails as he bent and bit her shoulder so hard it bled. The club caught her upside the temple this time, and before she could process anything else, the world turned black.

When she woke, the man with the club was gone and everything ached. She was faintly aware that her chin and thus jaw was throbbing, blood down the side of her head making it stick awkwardly to the rocks beneath. Clutching at her wounded shoulder a moment, the brunette forced herself upwards, trying not to whimper at the feel of it all as she hiked her shorts back up where they belonged. Pants were an unrealistic notion on Mars, but she wanted them so badly to cover the scrapes along her legs and shield her from the unrelenting dust. The wind picked up, stirring her hair and biting like salt into her wounds as the setting sun brought with it the cool crisp of night.

There were sounds somewhere, but with everything still so muted in her ears, she couldn't tell where anything was coming from. Her head spun as she struggled to get up, falling back onto her rear after three unsuccessful attempts. She'd need to find shelter for the night, or the monsters would be far too able to pick her off.

And this was what she left Earth for, every summer? She wondered how the people she knew back there might have reacted, knowing this was all there was here for her. For anyone.

Being assigned here on Mars was not his favourite job in the world. The sand got everywhere, the natives made hostile seem like a paltry word, and gentleness was a concept as foreign as cleanliness. For the Jovians who patrolled, the place was a punishment, except for the commander visiting for the summer. For him it was an inspection, a chance to give an unbiased reckoning of the goings on Mars.

For Nier, the summer was just a time to grit his teeth, file his reports, and remember why he needed to never voice his dissent. Mars was not a place he ever wanted his daughter to experience. Not once. Especially given the fate of women on this forsaken planet: run, hunt, and be raped. Repeat. No, Nier would do just about anything to keep Neena from ever finding herself here.

Today he was patrolling, just looking around at the desolate landscape and the desperate people. Nier's heart went out to these people, and he tried to do what kindnesses he could when he was certain no one else was watching. Again, mercy here was mistaken for dissent, and he couldn't let his little girl end up in the cycle that many other women did.

So every day, he took his transport out, and traveled over the terrain. It was advised not to go anywhere alone, but Nier was confident that the Martian men would slink away from him, or that if it did come to an altercation, he'd be able to handle it. Mars provided an opportunity for cruder, more archaic weapons, and when patrolling, Nier preferred the use of his claymore; he could cleave three heads from their bodies with the sword.

The commander never expected to see much, but today he saw a young woman, clothed in black, and he stopped long enough to check on her. She was bleeding, and he could see the depth of the cuts from here.

"Girl." Few learned the very abrupt Martian language, and Nier hated speaking it. As he drew closer, though, moving slowly with hands held out, he began to think he might not need it. Her clothing a shoes, such as they were, boasted a much higher quality than anyone else on Mars. It was possible this girl had been the one returned to the planet every summer. Nier had put a stop to the ribald jokes at her expense. He'd always been curious what sort of woman would subject herself to this, somehow the image of a strong Jovian woman came to mind. This girl was tiny, and so frail looking. He decided to try Terrestrial.

"Do you speak Terrestrial?"

There was a muffled sound not unlike a shuffle, something approaching. It moved too slowly to be a monster. They came full-tilt, jaws open more often than not. The few who ran on two legs oftentimes sounded like heavy, rocketing golems whilst the others weren't entirely unlike large dogs in their movements. This wasn't the thundering, stampeding of that.

Her head throbbed in protest as the Martian strained to focus in the fading light, grunting a typical greeting to the figure moving towards her. It spoke Martian, but she could tell without having to concentrate that whomever this was, they were too large to be one of her kind. "Warrior?" There was no word for soldier, no word for Jovian in her native tongue. It was as close as she could get, and if he knew the language well enough to know 'girl' from 'boy', it shouldn't have been too hard.

The vast majority she had encountered here had been blissfully ignorant of her people. They slaughtered the ones who came too close, and not without reason. Martians weren't known for being friendly, and the men in particular liked to push their luck. Men that towered head and shoulders above them they still bared their teeth to, biting at the air as they literally chomped at the bit for a chance to fight and die.

Raen occasionally wondered if they were suicidal, or simply going mad on the red planet.

Her voice felt hoarse, dry with disuse after over a month of silence on the planet. "Yes." She offered a response no longer than she might have in her own language, aiming to push herself to her feet again. He was close, and she liked distance, particularly from men. "You're Jovian," she supplied, eyeing him critically. There weren't any Lunarians or Mercurians who looked like that, and none of her own did. It only left one race.

The fact that he wasn't snatching children to take back to Earth was another clear giveaway, but she'd ignore that for the time being.

Nier kept his hands well away from himself, attempting to indicate peace. He had absolutely no desire to harm a young girl who was already bleeding, and probably had a concussion. Especially since she was young enough she could almost be his daughter. Still, she was right to be wary of men, at least on this planet, and so he tried to respect the distance she had created.

"Not just a warrior." He spoke very slowly in Terrestrial, waiting for signs of recognition. Simply because she spoke and understood the language, didn't mean it was easy for her to do. So Nier knelt a safe distance away, swung his pack off of his shoulder, and reached for the medical kit. He was no doctor, but oftentimes a man on the field had to take care of whomever he could. "I have some things that could help you."

He wouldn't give them to her, that would only make her more of a target. However, he'd be happy to meet with her and provide some food and medicine for her. It was an offer he hadn't been able to convince any other woman or child to accept, but he still tried.

"What is your name?"

Not just a warrior? She frowned, trying to discern whether that meant he was more dangerous than she had originally anticipated. Raen was not fond of the idea of being touched twice in the same day, particularly not by some Jovian brute. She had heard some of their kind thought the Martian women were extremely cheap thrills to be had, fiery but ultimately bound to lose. Superior strength came with size and better weaponry, even if her kind knew how to use anything around them as a tool.

She briefly allowed him a quick flash of her teeth in means of warning, in case he had any such ideas. He may have seemed nice enough, but it didn't mean that he was. The Martian watched him dig through his bag for heaven only knew what, finally finding her way to her feet. She swayed as the pain rocketed up her legs from earlier, the failed chase leaving her with more injuries than it had been worth.

Incensed violet turned over the lanscape, eyeing a few rocks that looked like they might have been good projectile weapons, in case he decided to come any closer. She took a careful step closer to one, prepared to grab and throw should the need arise. "I don't need help." It seemed a bit like a lie, though the conviction she put behind the words would indicate otherwise. She believed it well enough.

Name exchange. She bristled slightly at the Terrestrial gesture, eyes narrowing at the thought. If he was trying to set her at ease, he was doing a poor job. He'd have been better off on his own planet, or Earth. Mars certainly wasn't any place for formalities. Still, she could afford him that much as she eyed the distance for shelter, planning on sacrificing him to any monsters that might appear. He was a larger target - it was unlikely they would pursue her if she made it difficult for them. "Raen. Yours?" Whatever his name was, she had already decided to mentally call him bait.

An arched eyebrow indicated that the Jovian didn't believe her, and he glanced away from her momentarily, making certain there were no beasts on the horizon. He was confident in his ability to kill anything that would bother them, but he'd also throw her onto his transport quickly as he could if he thought it was necessary. Still, these Martian women seemed skittish, and the girl was no different, for all that she spoke Terrestrial.

"You know that the scent of blood will lure monsters. At least let me offer you water and a cloth. I won't touch you, I swear." Knowing that this girl had probably just experienced brutality the likes of which most women could not even imagine, cause the bile to rise in the back of his throat. It was futile to wish the Regime had done something else with the desolated wasteland. Pointless to wish that something good could come out of the situation.

Nothing would change, except perhaps the addition of Neena to the planet.

So instead, he settled the things on the ground, carefully tossing them towards Raen's feet, and hoping she'd accept the aid he could offer.

"Raen is a nice name. Would you like some food? I'd like to be able to do something for you, if you won't let me treat your wounds."

As his eyes left her momentarily, Raen fought to decide whether or not he knew he'd just offered her some small sign of submission. He wasn't Martian - and even if he knew at least one word in the language, it didn't meant he'd know the body language and all of its nuances. Her own eyes narrowed, scanning the horizon behind him momentarily as he seemingly did the same. For all that she didn't trust any man on this planet, she knew a monster wouldn't hesitate to rend the pair of them to pieces.

Blood? She stopped, eyes refocusing on him as she tried to determine where, exactly, she was bleeding anymore. A hand cautiously rose to her throbbing chin, feeling the sticky scratches and pieces of dirt there with a short hiss. That had been a bad idea, touching it.

The Martian side-stepped the objects being thrown at her now, shooting the older man a dirty look in the process as a bottle of water came rolling by her feet, followed by a clean cloth. The idea of catching any sort of infection and being delayed on her way home, whenever it came, was terrifying. She'd been held once, when she was thirteen, under the impression she'd gotten pregnant. Whether she miscarried or it hadn't been so was never something she'd bothered to find out, and she'd come home normal.

As normal as you could from a place like Mars, anyway.

Hesitantly, the brunette bent, feeling her head swim with the motion as she carefully plucked the cloth, then water bottle from the ground, never once taking her eye off the Jovian. He wanted to give her food, and her stomach growled loudly enough that she was sure people half a planet away might have heard it, and yet, it didn't feel right. Particularly when he wouldn't offer her his name in exchange. "It... means they had nothing else to name me," she offered non-chalantly in reply to the compliment, eager to brush off any notion that they were going to be friends because he liked to play the hero.

"I'll catch my own food," she ground out. It wouldn't do to appear even momentarily well-fed if she tried to sleep in a tent city later that night (if she could find one). They'd never let her stay. It was bad enough that she had shoes, that she was clearly better off than they were.

As she wetted the cloth and dabbed it to her chin, grunting, she couldn't help but wonder if she should be cleaning this mess up at all. "Go back to your camp. I'm fine."

The girl was a fighter, and that much he had come to respect most Martians for - they had a keen sense of when they would survive, and when they would not. Yet with a head injury there was no way this girl was going to be able to gauge how much danger she was truly in - especially if she was concussed, which he wouldn't be able to know without the closer look she would not permit. Nier tried not to grind his teeth in frustration, but ended up doing it anyway.

"Look, Raen. My name is Nier Zakran, and I am a commander of the Jovian troops. I have seen a fair bit of Mars - not nearly as much as a native has I will certainly grant you that. But I do know that a young lady with a head injury is not likely to hunt down any food this late in the day in the shape you are in." He grunted softly in exasperation, reaching back into his bag for a small packet of jerky.

It wasn't as much as he'd like to give, but it was a small amount - enough to keep her going until she healed and was able to hunt on her own once again. This too, he tossed carefully in her direction, keeping his hands well in her line of sight, and well away from her.

"I hope you make it back to earth, and I hope you have the sense to find a way not to come back here. I doubt you feel an emotional attachment to the place."

She couldn't deny her hunger.

It was one of the few things Raen could never ignore, and the idea of food made her stomach roar louder than any beast in the distance might have been able. She did her best to keep from blushing at the expected response, swaying slightly. It was strange, how she could live relatively comfortably when she didn't think about the lack of food on the planet... and the moment someone brought it up, she was so starving she might have fainted.

She cursed him for reminding her of such weakness, violet eyes trained on the man nonetheless as she nearly fell over at the sight of meat, meat that wouldn't taste tainted and stringy. She missed beef, she missed bacon, but jerky was close enough. The monsters here tasted less like anything enjoyable, more like blood and blood alone. It was like eating metal.

Everything ached within her as she fought against herself, urged her body not to dive on the packet and keep it to herself. The other people here were just as hungry, and the Martian had to wonder if he fed them as well. Would they even take his food, not understanding as well as she could? Her nostrils flared, unable to help detecting the smell of it as it landed in the dirt just before her feet.

It smelled delicious, it smelled like home. She immediately missed Ushriya and her foster parents like no other, though was struck by how much she missed Amina as well. Shaking the thought from her mind (it had never served her well, being distracted here), she left the packet on the ground in front of her.

She frowned as this Nier (his last name already forgotten, a useless piece of him she'd never asked for nor would she ever need to know) made some assumption about her feelings on the place, glaring at him once more. "Unless you are from Mars, you can't possibly understand." It was probably the most honest thing she'd given him, barring the obvious exchange of her name earlier on. "Keep your food."

With that said, and her stomach and all sense roaring as it protested her foolish pride, she turned to leave him there.