Blind Love

Run Away Home

A bounty hunter. It was quite a leap from what I was back on Earth, where I was almost nothing in the eyes of around 90% of the population of our small town isolated in the middle of a desert. I never met my parents, both of them dying in a train wreck after leaving me at my grandpa's house. My grandpa told me stories about how they were very lovely people and especially talked well about his step-son. However, I knew the subject hurt him so I usually just kept it quiet. It wasn't like I didn't miss my parents or that I wasn't jealous when I watched other kids play with their dads, but because I never really knew them it was easier to move on. Me and my grandpa ran a small engine shop in the town, and we even owned a small portion of the desert which included a spring. I never was really noticed by anyone, being a bit of a recluse as I focused more on school and helping my grandpa. This lifestyle led me to take frequent walks by myself out into the desert so I could think aloud in some privacy. Then everything went to shit one night when my fourteen year old self decided to walk outside for some time alone to think about the small festival being held the next week. As I walked along the sandy ground I was debating whether I should ask a girl I knew out to the festival. My thoughts were interrupted by a low whining sound and a bright purple flash in the sky ahead of me. I shaded my eyes and watched as the two streaks of light grew closer and closer, until I saw them disappear into a valley a mile out of town. I didn't know what it was, and my curiosity made me grab my dirt bike and speed toward the "crashed space junk," which would have no doubt given me something to talk anout at the dance even if I didn't get my date. After ten minutes of riding at dangerous speeds I slowed down and stopped just at the edge of the hill going down. My eyes widened as I saw two spaceships that looked like arrowheads parked at the bottom. Narrowing my eyes I saw tiny humanoids walking away from the ships, and after more inspection I saw that they had some sort of rifle in their hands.

'Who are these guys? Military? Maybe some sort of special ops...'

I quietly pulled the pistol from my belt that I used to hunt rattlesnakes and started to get off the bike.  Unfortunately, the figures must have finally noticed me because one pointed up at me before a stream of red laser bolts lit up the ground in front of me, throwing dust in my eyes. I must have accidentally hit the gas because I jerked forward and started down the hill. In a panick I tried to back up, only for me to find the slope to much for the bike. Gritting my teeth I decided to do something crazy. Hitting the gas more I aimed for one of the figures firing at me, his grey armor gleaming as he fired at me. Weaving and dodging I got in range rather quickly and with a jump I dove off the bike and rolled to a stop as I heard a muffled scream of pain. Pulling my dirty and scraped body up I took the pistol and aimed at where the second pilot had been standing. Seeing no one I started to panick and after hearing a groan from behind me I turned and fired half the clip into the fallen pilot. Hearing a scream I saw some sort of blood burst from my shot to the figure's leg before I was hit in the back of the head with something hard. I instantly grew unconscious and that's when the Commander in charge of the scouting mission kidnapped me. You see, she had this grand plan in her head, and the jist of it was that she was kidnapping potential officers who she would train and then plant in the Galra high brass to make herself practically invinciple politically. Well, I woke up, millions and millions of miles from home, and and was immediately put into intense training in one of the Commander's secret bases. I was a complete failure at first, thanks to my lack of natural weapons and skills, but but I eventually got some respect as the guy who could mod your energy rifle into a light sniper rifle within an hour. That's when Narti came into my life. She was a new arrival after I had been at the base for a year and I immediately grew very found of her. She was quiet, thanks to her seemingly natural disabilities, but was also incredibly smart and fearsome. Narti quickly rose through the ranks of us trainees, which ultimately made her a target of harassment. I like to believe that our friendship first began when I saw a pair of Galran trainees sneaking into her room one night with stun guns as I was walking to my own room. My eyes widened and I rushed forward just as they started to open the door. One of them noticed me and fired the stun gun in his hand, which I dodged with a side step as I brought my fist into the other ones cheek with a fury. He went down unconscious with his neck snapping to the side, falling into his buddy who tried to dodge the body. Using the distraction I round house kicked him in the hip, making him bend over in pain before bringing my other knee into his nose. After he went down with a bloody nose I used the rest of my adrenaline to drag their sorry bodies to their rooms, where I hot wired their doors and locked them in. I went back to check in on Narti, and after peeking in I saw she was still sleeping peacefully on her small bed, her tail wrapped around her legs like a blanket. I thought it was good she didn't know, and I decided not to say anything to her in the morning. However, what I didn't know is that she had heard everything, including me whispering goodnight to her. I didn't find this out until later that night when I was just dozing off and felt a hand shake my shoulder slightly. Jumping up in a panic I had my pistol aimed at Narti's head in a split second.