Blood Brothers by Vicky Seleya

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True sat dejectedly next to a kobaberry bush, listlessly tossing pebbles into a nearby stream. With all of the smaller items removed from the Grendler's den to the campsite and the adults busy wrestling the larger items out of the tunnel or searching for her father and the others, she and Uly had been instructed to stay out of the way. She sighed dramatically as the young boy wandered over, perching on a charred log nearby.

"No kobas here, either?" Uly asked.

"None," True sighed, gathering another handful of pebbles. "Yale thinks they may have been scared away by the fire." She looked thoughtfully at the scarred landscape. "I sure hope they all got away in time."

His elbows on his knees, Uly rested his chin in his hands. "You think they did?"

True regarded the boy seriously. "I think it depends on where the fire started and how fast it was. Probably not all of them; they're pretty slow." She frowned unhappily. Spying some more bushes further into the forest, the young girl dropped her pebbles and hopefully trotted over to them with Uly closely following. As they neared the bush, she raised her hand, slowing Uly as they cautiously crept closer.

"See any?" Uly whispered in True's ear as he knelt down beside her.

"Nope," True responded, rooting through the branches for a better look.

Uly looked over his shoulder toward the camp. "Maybe we should go back. I can hardly see camp from here. They're probably missing us."

True shrugged her shoulders as she rocked back onto her heels to look north as well. "They're too busy. Besides, they wanted us out of the way -- so we are! You want to see more baby kobas, don't you?" she asked persuasively. "I've got my gear," she added, as she rummaged in the front of her coveralls and drew them out so Uly could see.

Cocking his head, Uly considered her argument, then shook his head emphatically. "No," he responded with confidence. "We're gonna get in trouble. I'm going back."

True's eyes narrowed as Uly rose to his feet. "Well, don't wait for me," she huffed, as she turned on her heel and stormed off toward another bush.

Torn by indecision, Uly watched her go. He squinted through the trees, just barely able to make out the forms of the tents and vehicles with the adults purposefully scurrying back and forth from the hole. In the other direction, Uly could see True's legs stretching from under a bush on the other side of a small clearing. Curiosity got the better of him as True continued to not move, save an occasional shift of a foot. He hesitantly wandered over to the bush and crawled down on the ground next to her.

As he slid his head through the low branches, Uly came face to face with the bright blue eyes of a litter of kobas. Next to him, True was grinning broadly as she caressed their faces, the downy baby fuzz ruffling under her touch. The melody of their purring filled Uly's ears as he eagerly stroked the creatures as well, only to be rewarded by more contented purring.

True jumped beside him. "What was that?!" she exclaimed, rapidly climbing out from the bush.

Confused, Uly followed her. "What? I didn't hear anything."

In the distance the sound of branches breaking and snapping grew, accompanied by a loud braying. The two children looked at each other in alarm as the sounds grew ominously closer. They both sat frozen in place, unsure of what to do when a large creature suddenly burst out of the woods and into the clearing, its terrified screams and bellows filling the air. True and Uly watched transfixed as several smaller creatures silently hurtled out of the woods in pursuit of the large beast as it frantically ricocheted around the clearing, debris blocking its escape. The creature smashed into a nearby sapling, splintering it, as True found her legs, grabbed Uly and ran, terror-stricken, into the forest, spurred on by the sounds of the hunted animal.

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Yale looked up from cataloging the recovered equipment and glanced around. On the other side of the table, Bess and Eben raised their heads to survey the area as well.

"Did you hear that?" the tutor asked, then, looking around once more, asked in alarm, "Where are the children?"

Bess met his eyes with concern then raced off to the other side of camp where she had last seen them playing, while Yale hurriedly gathered a few of the others to investigate the noises coming from the forest. As soon as they heard True's screams reverberating through the trees, all of the adults, save Cameron, frantically raced into the woods.

As the adults burst into a clearing, they drew up abruptly at the sight of a pack of furry black animals crouched around a bloody mess, eagerly devouring it. Not pausing from their meal, the creatures all watched the humans closely, their dark brown eyes rising to observe the humans' every move. At the sound of MagPros being armed, Yale raised his hand and directed everyone's attention to the prey's head, its rack partially obscured in a bush. The adults all breathed a collective sigh of relief and hurriedly edged around the clearing behind the cyborg.

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Dragging Uly behind her, True blindly crashed through the underbrush, mindlessly following the path of least resistance in her desperate flight. The younger boy struggled to keep up as her longer strides and the uneven ground continued to trip him. True spared a glance over her shoulder and started running even harder as she saw the shaggy black form of one of the creatures, that had pursued the large beast into the clearing, pursuing them. True's breath grew louder in her ears as she fought her way through the forest, occasionally checking behind her only to find their pursuer easily closing the gap between them. The children reached a sharp decline and stopped, looking alternately behind themselves and down indecisively. True snatched up a large stick and slid protectively in front of Uly to face the oncoming creature. Without taking his eyes from the animal, Uly bent low to blindly grope for a weapon of his own.

As both children backed instinctively, Uly's foot slipped in the wet leaves at the edge of the slope and he fell, taking True with him as he tumbled down the hill. They came to rest in a bush, cushioned by leaves. True quickly came up onto her hands and knees as she glared crossly at Uly while he floundered to a sitting position himself. Remembering their pursuer, she glanced up the hill in time to see it hurtling down the slope after them. Frightened, the children huddled together as it rapidly approached. It bounded toward the children then suddenly whimpered and dropped, midspring, a koba claw sticking from its shoulder.

Looking around worriedly, the children sat back in shock and relief.

"You think it's dead?" Uly asked.

"No way to know for sure." True crept closer to the fallen animal, watching closely for any sign of movement. As she neared the creature, she suddenly rummaged in her coveralls, then bent low over the animal to reach into its mouth.

"True!" Uly whispered urgently.

The girl pried the koba's claw from the animal's shoulder as she turned to face Uly. She held her gear up. "It had my gear in its mouth. I must have dropped them. I wonder why it was carrying them."

As he felt something crawl over his hand, Uly suddenly jumped with a shout. Both children looked down in surprise to see a family of kobas waddle from under the bush they were sitting in to blink sleepily at the humans.

"Kobas!" Uly exclaimed excitedly.

"We must have scared them when we fell into their bush. That's probably why they attacked that, um, dog, I guess," True sagely observed. She grinned as the kobas curiously considered them then crept closer in a rush as she stroked the closest one's chin, eliciting ecstatic purring. True glanced over to Uly with a grin, then sat up in alarm. "Uly, your leg! You're hurt!"

Uly looked down to where True pointed, only to leap to his feet as he saw the crimson stain spreading across his pants leg for the first time. He groped his leg, excitedly searching for the source of the blood. Confused, Uly looked up at True. "I can't find anything," he cried.

True leaned over his leg, closely examining it. "Take off your pants and turn around so I can check your leg," she ordered. At the boy's bashful look, she adopted her best 'Dr. Julia' impression and sighed, "Just do it. I need to see it."

Uly obediently turned and slipped his pants down. He blushed and pulled his pants up fast as True began giggling uncontrollably. Uly glared at her angrily as he slid his hand down the back of his thigh nervously. "What's so funny?" he demanded.

True grinned broadly, as she explained, "You landed on some berries! That's berry juice on your pants."

"No way..." Uly looked down at the crimson stain again only to share in True's merriment.

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Danziger swore under his breath as he struggled through the brambles alongside the stream. As the hours dragged on, the heat of the day, the burden of Alonzo and the chill of fever all were taking their toll. He grunted as Morgan tripped behind him, shifting their load, almost causing him to drop his end of the makeshift stretcher.

"I don't know how much longer I can do this," Morgan muttered from behind.

Danziger nodded tiredly. "Let's take a rest stop. We're gonna be no good to anyone if we keep this up."

Morgan eagerly dropped his end of the stretcher. "Thank God!" he sighed as he sank down beside the pilot. "Where are you going?" he asked Danziger, as the mechanic listlessly wandered away.

"Just visiting the woods," Danziger tossed over his shoulder.

Morgan dramatically flopped onto his back and relaxed. Hearing a soft thud from the woods, the liaison bolted upright, his eyes wide. "Danziger? Is that you?" he queried. With no response from Danziger, Morgan rose and peered into the woods where he had last seen the mechanic. Morgan gasped and ran to the mechanic's side where he saw him lying unconscious. "No! Danziger, don't do this to me..." Morgan looked around desperately. "Danziger!" He grabbed the mechanic and dragged him next to Alonzo, regarding them both as the panic nearly overwhelmed him. Morgan crouched next to them, frantically mulling his options. He moaned as the pain in his head grew while the heat intensified. A short while later, Morgan also slumped over, unconscious.

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