Halo: Friend Or Foe

Chapter 7

The Chief takes a few slow steps forward in front of Arani, pointing his gun up and behind before eyeing every giant hole in the walls for those purple Covenant spiders. "Arani, go in the room." The Chief coldly commands. "But why?" Arani asks. He doesn't answer, making Arani go inside without question, still looking out for him as she backs into the room. The Chief proceeds to move away from the weapon room and Arani towards a giant tunnel, the inside pitch black. "Come out, Covenant scum..." The Chief whispers, his body glued to the gun, its aim directed at anything he looks at. Arani impatiently waits, keeping an eye on the Chief as he stands in front of the dark tunnel. The Chief kicks a rock into the tunnel, the sound of it clattering and bouncing echoing throughout it. A soft chitter can be heard a few minutes after, making the Chief stare down the tunnel. The dark abyss stares him back, except it's not the dark abyss...it's actual eyes. The eyes...of a Sling. "Come and get me, you piece of s-" The eyes lunge forward, swooping closer to the Chief, the mouth of the ugly creature moving and hissing at him. There's a slight robotic, mechanical sound to it, but not enough to bother the Chief. He steps back and aims his weapon at its face. The Sling begins showing some legs and lets them drift into view. "John!" Arani gasps and yells once she sees the creature, rushing out of the room with her staff. She stops when the creature turns its head to her. The Chief moves and positions himself in front of it, focusing its attention on him. "I'm right here..." He says. The creature looks back at him and starts to speak, its voice distorted by some mechanic filter. "Spartan 117... the Demon, they say..." It says. "You know me?" The Chief says. The Sling moves out of the tunnel more, closer to the Master Chief. It chuckles and replies, "How unfortunate you survived and the others did not." It says in a smirk-like tone. The Chief stiffens a little at the thought of his teammates. Arani watches from afar as he converses with the spider-being. A small Sling creeps up behind her. She turns around fast enough to see it, but not in time to dodge it. It latches onto her mouth and inserts a mind-controlling venom-like agent. She tries to get it off, but the venom agent puts her to sleep before she can struggle, and she softly collapses to the ground. "I'll give you a choice, Demon." The creature begins. The Chief snaps. "The Covenant don't give choices. What's...the catch?" The creature pauses before shrieking loudly. The Chief turns around, seeing Arani on the ground. "Arani..." The Chief whispers. The Sling crawls away into the tunnel as a hundred smaller Slings crawl out from the sides, saying "The choice is yourssss..." He turns back around, but the talking Sling is gone. He shoots a couple Slings before running to Arani, who is slowly getting up. He grabs her shoulder as she stands, her head down with her long white hair covering her face. "Come on, we need to-" The Chief is interrupted by her grabbing his arm and throwing him to the side. The small Slings approach and scurry around them. The Chief grunts as he hits the wall and drops. "Arani?" The Chief whispers. He looks back at Arani from the ground, her pupils slit like a snake's. She stares at him with those mindless eyes, and he stares back. She breathes raggedy and slouched over, clutching her staff in her hand. The Chief slowly stands up and leaves his gun on the ground. "Don't...make me do this..." He says, slowly taking out his knife. Arani stands there still hunched, and then dashes towards him, her staff aimed directly at his head. He dodges and dives to the side, the staff impaling the wall on impact. She snaps her head to the side toward him, letting go of the staff. "Arani. Come on, snap out of it!" He yells, side-stepping as her eyes follow his movement. She lunges at him, her hands reaching out at his throat. He leans back and pushes her to the side. Then he puts his knife away and jumps on top of her as she growls and struggles under him. He squeezes himself around her in a hug, trying to keep her arms and legs close and tucked. He grunts with effort because she is almost as strong as him. "Arani...it's me, John..." The surrounding Slings begin to move in, grabbing the Chief's attention. Then, when Arani has the opportunity, she throws her head back into the spartan's helmet. This surprises him, letting her go, and she escapes out from under him. He crawls back toward the wall with her staff. The Chief takes the staff out of the wall, but when he turns around, Arani has already jumped at him and pins him to the wall with the staff at his throat. He tries to push against her, but she has the advantage. She's taller and stronger, but thoughtless. He looks around, trying to figure out a way to escape before he chokes to death. There's only one way, but he hesitates to use it. She pushes against him more, almost cutting off his oxygen. I'm sorry, Arani... The Chief quickly releases a hand and grabs his knife, stabbing it into Arani's stomach. She gasps and releases, standing weakly in front of him her eyes returning to normal. The Chief pants and watches as her eyes become round and normal, but her breaths are shallow and quick. "John?" Arani asks, confused before looking down at his hand. She collapses before he can say a word, the Chief slowly lowering her to the ground with his arm around her back, kneeling beside her. She let's out a grunt of pain. "I...had...no-" The Chief begins to say, only for her to finish his sentence. "-choice..." She breaths out. The Chief can't think of anything to say, so he just looks at her, his head turning to the side as he sees his knife in her. "I told...you...we're alike..." She chuckles, softly. Her eyelids are half closed, weak from the loss of blood. "John...before I pass...I need you...to keep something for me..." She whispers. She reaches up to her neck and clutches her locket before grunting as she takes it off. She holds it up to the Chief. He gently holds her hand with the locket in it. "Promise me...you'll keep it with you..." She says, breathing shakily in between. He nods and asks, "Who...are they?" She looks at him with tears in her eyes before she closes them. "My family...I'll get to be with them soon..." She smiles and breaths in for the last time. Her hand slips from his, leaving the locket in his grasp. The Chief turns his hand over and opens the locket, seeing the older male and younger female. The Chief bows his head down, standing up weakly as the Slings scurry away. "Rest well... Arani..." He reluctantly backs away from her body towards the weapon room, retrieving it and heading out.