Halo: Friend Or Foe

Chapter 4

The Chief and Arani trek through the forest, using machetes to cut through the lush greenery. The spartan cuts through the vegetation easily and Arani keeps watch, clutching her weapon staff close by. They're backs are together, synchronized steps allowing them to travel quickly towards the destination. He thinks, and turns to look back at Arani, who is vigilantly scanning the surrounding area, even with all the growing plants that tower over them.

He's looking at her for so long that he doesn't have enough time to react after looking forward and before long, he and Arani are stumbling down a steep hill that he failed to see quickly enough because he was staring at Arani. His machete comes loose from his hand.

The Chief grunts and Arani yelps as they begin to fall toward the bottom. After the fall, John looks around for her. "Are you okay?" the Chief replies apologetically, reaching a hand out to her. "I'm fine. That was a surprise. Usually, I would've reacted fast enough to notice. I guess I got distracted. Hehe." she laughs sheepishly, picking some dirt and grass out of her hair before taking his hand to stand up. "I was able to see a little pond near here as we tumbled down. We can clean up there." She points in the direction of the pond and they start walking towards it after gathering any weapons or supplies that may have been scattered around.

As they tread, the Chief notices a small scar on her shoulder and a few small scratches on her legs. The pond must've been really close because it wasn't long before they had arrived. The shy is a gradient of yellow and orange, signaling dusk as the sun of the planet sets.

Arani gasps and sprints ahead, toward some flowers at the edge of the pond. The Chief observed as she kneels down, places her staff beside her, takes a deep breath into one and plucks out a few nearby. Then the Chief catches up next to Arani and looks around. It's...peaceful here. He thinks to himself.

She stands up, holding the flowers in one hand like a bouquet, staff in the other. Then she turns to him with a smile, holding them out, as if to show him and eagerly saying "These are good for medicine. They are related to the ferns I used for that gel on your injuries." Arani tells the Chief. "Better bring them then." He tells her, and she packs them away in the brown pouch she brought. "Alright, I'm going in." She says, placing her stuff down next to the Chief and running to one end of the pond. Before Arani gets too far, he tells her he's going to set up camp.

She nods and goes behind some tall grass, where all the Chief can see of her is her head. She starts to undress, her white clothes rising up over her. The Chief quickly looks in the opposite direction as he hears splashing and sloshing.

The sky darkens as he starts a fire and then reflects on the day's events. He clutches the assault rifle he'd been holding after he finished with the fire.. He hears the grass rustle as footsteps approach him. "You wanna clean up?" Arani asks him as he turns back to watch her squeeze the rest of the water from her silky, iridescent hair.

Even in the dark, he can see that she brought back some weird-looking fish. It lays still on the grass next to her. Of course. She must've been starving. "I'm fine, thank you." He responds, putting his rifle away on his back.

She then collects the rest of her stuff, takes the alien fish to a flat rock near the pond, uses her staff to cut the head off and remove the spines, and then brings it to the fire to cook. They wait a few minutes before Arani asks "Are you able to eat, John?" and puts some cooked meat on a medium-sized leaf. "I'm not hungry." He says.

Night falls and Arani is fast asleep while The Chief keeps watch. They haven't encountered any dangers yet, but he is not willing to take that risk. He is exhausted , but thinks this " pit-stop" is slowing them down. He almost wants to lay down but remembers that in order for the mission to be completed, he must be alert. He can't let his guard down for even a second. A few more hours pass as the Spartan continues to stand guard for Arani.