The Last Ship (18+)

Chapter Twelve: A Irinaut's Strength.

Luna was at quite a relief after Zio decided not to take her. The girl was still shaken afterwards, but overall she felt that she could trust the large beast. After he had seen her upset, Zip had acted quite guilty about the subject. The young female hadn't said anything to him since the matter had been brought up. The two of them both seemed to be quite embarrassed. Even if Zio didn't voice it, his change in attitude made it quite clear.

Zio looked over the door. He bobbed his head up and down in a curious manner before peeking out the peep hole. The male huffed before letting out a low hiss, 'I can sense the other Irinauts.' He shook his head, 'Getting back to them is going to be a lot harder then it was getting here, it seems.' The male ran his hand over his face as he let out a low groan.

Luna tilted her head lightly as she peeked out the hole. She pushed him back a ways so she could get a view herself, "Do they not sense you? If you know where they are, how do they not know where you are?" The female was quite confused. She had yet to understand anything that Zio said. He was very short with his answers and truly, just never seemed interested in talking unless it involved what he wanted.

Zio shook his head as he grabbed a hold of the appendages on his head and traced them down to the tip.. 'These depend on what we are capable of. We are not born with them, they must be found. What each do is uncertain until they are connected into our brains. Each provide different possibilities. Most of the time it is a repeat of another, but other times, you get quite lucky.' Zio walked about the room as he spoke. He made a light clicking noise, 'I was given a high intelligence, and a few other things. These "leeches" as your people call them are like a parasite on my home planet, but very beneficial towards our race, even granting our bodies near immortality so long as we were not killed by something.' Zio shrugged lightly as he moved back to her and pressed against the door, 'Must I explain this now? The longer we're here, the more dangerous it will become for the both of us.'

Luna's brow raised. She had always assumed the parasites were a sort of hair or different appendage, but never had she thought it to be another living thing until it had came running at her, "I had one try to attack me once." Luna stated. She began to play with her long locks, "They had to kill it."

Zio shook his head; letting out a low growl, 'They have no interest in hurting anyone. It went after you because it smelled the Irinaut in your blood is all. Give it time. I'm sure you'll have some of your own.' The male let out a deep grunt, 'Of course, they don't react well to human hosts either.' Zio shrugged before pulling the door open and gesturing Luna out, 'Go on, I'll follow behind.'

The two walked down the hall quietly. Not a single noise could be heard as the both of them looked about in a curious manner. The Irinaut that Zio had saved Luna from before, was already decomposing into a pile of slime. Both of them had a face of disgust as they looked at the pile of flesh.

Luna covered her mouth and quickly turned away. Her vibrant gold eyes flashed brightly. She hadn't felt right since she had been near Zio. Small pieces of memory seemed to flood in her, and truly, left her with quite a bit of frustration, "Zio, will I be able to remember what happened? How I really ended up here?"

Zio shrugged lightly. He looked about as the two of them walked down the long hall and made the turns to go back to the room they had been in before, 'That I'm uncertain of,' Zio murred, 'Some things are better left not recalled, my queen.' Zio suddenly walked in front of Luna and quickly pulled her behind him. 'Stop!'

Luna stumbled a bit as the large male yanked her back. She winced as he moved in front of her. Luna tilted her head lightly before giving him a stubborn frown, "Zio knock it off." She mumbled, "It would be easier if you just told me to-" Before she could finish, a menacing squeal could be heard. Several followed.

Zio looked about. He let out a low huff as he backed up a bit. The male gave a light shake of his head as he looked around for a way to go. The Irinaut pointed towards the way they had came their first trip round, 'Go that way, now! They know we're here!' Zio pushed Luna in that direction as he went the same way. The two of them began to run; neither of them thinking twice about bolting.

Luna's heart was racing as she heard the menacing screams, and as they ran, it seemed that they were getting closer. Luna turned back to look, seeing nothing at first and quickly turning her attention back forward, "I-I thought you said that they couldn't sense us!?"

Zio growled, 'Not all of them, I didn't say one couldnt!' The male growled back at Luna as they went down the hall. Zio's eyes glowed as the two of them ran. He glanced back and immediately grabbed Luna, and began to run as quickly as he could.

Luna squealed as he pulled her up into his arms. The female wrapped her arms tightly around the beast's shoulder before curiously leaning back to look at what he had saw. Her eyes widened as she saw three Irinauts following behind. All catching up quite quickly, "Zio!"

'I know, I know!' He growled. The male stumbled as he struggled to keep ahead. Zio was much bigger then the three of them, but there was only one of him. Numbers always made the difference.

As one began to catch up, Zio glanced back. He took a deep huff and quickly set Luna down. The male turned his attention towards them and opened his large jaw and yelled, 'Stop! All of you!' Zio's claws were out. He took a step forward in front of Luna. All three, came to a halt.

As the larger out if the three approached, he stood in front of Zio. He wasn't nearly as tall, but he was much more built. Instead of multiple leeches, he only had one large one taking over his entire head. The Irinaut screamed right back at Zio, and began to speak, 'Give her to us!' He hissed, 'She must die.'

Zio stayed in front of her. The male shook his head as he backed up a bit to get over top of the female. The large male looked about. His heart was racing as his eyes lit up. They were not the only three, and at least another few were lagging behind. None would attack though. Not until the larger one gave them permission.

Luna looked up towards the door. They were only a few feet away. She let out a loud scream for help, "Help!" She cried, "Help us!" The blonde stumbled to her feet and began to bang on the door, "It's Luna, l-let us in!" She cried out. The female could no longer hear what Zio or the other's were saying, only the screams of them as they drew closer to one another.

The Irinaut began to laugh as Zio kept his ground. Each movement the other's made to advance towards Luna, Zio quickly moved forward to keep them from touching her, 'She's not going to get hurt. I won't let you touch her.'

The male's hissed. The large ones moved forward rather quickly, 'Very well! We'll just have to kill you as well then!'

"Luna, duck!"