Two blasts shoot out from the barrels of the pirate weapons aiming towards where Umana’s and Korva’s head once was. Vahl raised his arm to his side, letting both bolts hit him instead, blocking Umana from being hit and heavily scorching his scaly arm. Vahl charged towards the two pirates with the massive doshko in his left hand, raising his arms as guards to block the next two shots that hit his forearms. Umana picks the laser pistol up from the counter and shoots at the pirates, hitting one in the shoulder and missing the other.

“Hide in the side room Korva!”

Umana raises her voice and points at the pirates while Korva slips over the counter and into the side room.

{Get em!}

Vahl felt his body fill with energy that he did not think he previously had and his charge hastens, he reached the pirates and he swung the doshko horizontally, the uninjured pirate ducking and rolling out of the way while the other pirate is impaled through the side of the chest by the massive spikes on the end of the weapon and killed, his heart and lungs nearly exploded from the force. The pirate slumped to the floor once Vahl retracted the axe from his body, the armor he wore had no chance of stopping the huge weapon, even if it were the size of a knife it would still have a hard time stopping such a higher quality metal than the garbage the armor was made out of. The second pirate seemed far more skilled the other, dipping and dodging between the shots of Umana, firing back. By this the point the crowd had made a large area in the building and sticking to the far walls hoping a stray shot doesn’t hit them or left in a hurry to make sure they don’t get caught up and wounded. The woman who walked in before them, moved across the back of the crowd and slipped un-noticed into the side room.

Vahl and Umana continue to attack the pirate, any shot the pirate lets off is either far from hitting Umana or blocked by a different part of Vahl’s large body which is covered in burn marks after being hit a few times too many. The pirate stepped back, planning to avoid the slash of Vahl, but a hand gripped his shoulder and stopped him. Behind the pirate was a man, fear was painted on his face as he seemed to fear what outcome his actions would have if they didn’t work out. The eyes of the pirate widened as a sharp bladed spike of cold metal cut through his stomach, parts of his small intestine spilled out and blood covered parts of the floor when he dropped to his knees. His hands moved in a state of shock, trying to push his insides back into him. When the pirate realised there was no hope his head pivoted toward the man who prevented him from avoiding the blow that would cost him is life. The man was not special or unique, he looked the same as all the people around him in the raggedy clothes and malnourished body, but on the faces of those who surround him they all looked at the pirate in disdain. The pirate slumped to the floor, realising in his final moments that he was now one of the most hated people on the planet.

The two were relieved, they had managed to kill the pirates without much harm. This would send a message to the rest of the pirates; that they weren’t to be messed with. Korva was going to become more successful and richer, Vahl would make sure of it. The two breathed out, the momentary feeling of adrenaline and dopamine was nothing new but this time it was real, a real life or death fight. It may have been stressful during the fight, but afterward, the dopamine and thrill was amazing. After their hearts started to calm, they head into the side room. Inside it smelt of burnt wood, and the terrible smell of burnt flesh and oil lingered in the air with it. Korva was a mess, her body lay in a dusty corner, her chest rose up and down to gasp for breath, and her usually nice clothes and makeup were dirty.

Vahl spoke in a panic, “Korva! What in the hell happened?” his voice nearly cracking from a mixture of anger and confusion.

Korva struggles to breath in, her nice clothes dishevelled and unkempt. Her voice was raspy and broken, “There was another pirate, they snuck in and shot me, the bitch took the keys to the building too, my life as an arena owner is over.”

“Damn it, those bastards will pay! Let me see your wound Korva, I can tend you back to health.”

Tears streamed down Korva’s face, air was forced out of her body each time she breathed in, “No Vahl, you don’t want to see it, I’m the one you taught you those doctoring skills, I know I don’t have much longer Vahl.”

Vahl shook his head, trying to ignore her words, “Don’t act like that Korva, we can kick the asses of those pirates and get you a bigger bar, you can entertain thousands more people.”

“Shut your trap boy, you’ll make me believe you.”

“You can’t leave me Korva, you are the only one I have on this planet.”

“Oh please, you dumb oversized lizard. Look around you, you have Umana too, and I can’t always be there to watch over and take care of you. I’m proud of you Vahl, I’m proud of how you’ve grown over the past few days. Remember to put some of your trust in others, don’t push them away like you always do. Make me proud, make me happy to call myself your foster mother.”

Korva pushed out her last breath, she wore a smile and gentle look on her face as she always did, always looking to make the other person happier than she is. Her eyes glued open, her pupils remain wide and she stared into the familiar and comforting face of her family as her life slipped out of her grasp. Vahl held her in her arms, staying there for a minute and praying that she was to suddenly laugh and pass it all off as a joke, but her eyes were unblinking and only reflected the crunched-up face of Vahl. Umana placed her hands on his back to comfort him, rubbing his back as he sobs, a fully grown and massive man brought to tears by losing the life of a person that he is just learning meant so much to him. Vahl lost the first person he had cared about, and the only person that had cared about him for his entire life, but he wanted to make her soul in where ever it ended up just as happy as she had made him and the others around her. Vahl would not forget the words she said, committing them to memory the moment they left her mouth. Umana didn’t know what to say, it pained her to see the person she thought of as strong and tough in such a state.

“Come on Vahl, lets get out of here. If more pirates come, we might not be able to live long enough to make her proud.”

Vahl stayed silent but got up after moving Korva’s body into a more comfortable position. There was no place to bury a body on the planet, the best anyone could ask for was to be comfortable in their last moments. Vahl moved behind her desk, opening one of the bottom drawers, taking out a small container of red super dye. This dye was the one used by other pirates and Korva, used to paint the markings on their faces and very hard to remove but very easy to put on. Vahl opened the container and used his think finger to take some out, crossing it across his left eye just as Korva had on her own face. Umana did the same. Vahl kept the red dye container in his hand and close to his body, as if it was the most valuable thing in the world.

The two exited the room, the crowd was still shaking and could see the depressed look on the face of the two. Most of them stared and understood what had happened. Most those that stayed I the bar were regulars, ones that had watched Vahl grow up to become the man his is and how close he became with Korva. They had all had a happy life, despite their clothes, homes and food being terrible, Korva still made them happy throughout everything that had happened. A large part of the crowd lowered their head, already used to the feeling of losing another person but still deeply saddened by the loss of someone who cared so much for them.

Vahl moved across the bar in silence, moving towards the corpses of the pirates. Vahl bent down and gave the two laser rifles to Umana, who accepted them and held both with two hands. Umana was mainly trained in using long arm rifles, meaning she finally had access to the weapons she was most comfortable with. With her four arms she was able to hold two of them and use them both effectively. Vahl stripped the damaged armor off their bodies, leaving their corpse with just the clothes, throwing them into the middle of the room where the crowd that knew Korva personally proceeded to kick and hit the two bodies letting out their emotions.

Vahl carried the light metal armor and carried it over his shoulder, planning to adjust and modify it at his house to fit them both. The two left the bar in silence, moving down the street towards Vahl’s home.

After walking for a few minutes, they could see a group of two more pirates that wore the same red skull face paint. The two pirates were patrolling the streets and seemed to have noticed Vahl and the face paint he had over his eye, thinking that he was a pirate. Vahl charged through the street, knocking over any civilian that got in his way and raising his large doshko into the air with one hand. He reached the pirates before they could even react and raise their rifles, he brought the doshko down onto the shoulder of one of the pirates. The second of the three-pointed blades piercing into the body of the man, tearing through the armor and flesh, destroying his heart and left lung. Vahl placed his second hand on the haft of the doshko letting out a small roar and picking the man and weapon off the ground with him still stuck on it. Vahl swung the weapon and man towards the other pirate, who watched silently in terror. The weapon and added weight of the dead pirate smashed into the man’s head, caving his head in and killing him from the blunt trauma. Vahl let out a breath, his anger was released in a violent matter, bloodying the doshko but bringing the vesk closer to internal peace.

Umana walked up to Vahl, placing her right hands on his back, trying to calm his raging heart. Vahl reached down again, taking the weapons and armor of these pirates as well. Vahl would need as much of the armor and weapons as possible if he were going to effectively create better armor and weapons for them to use. The people around them watched in amazement at what had just happened, but completely unsure of what to feel.

Umana and Vahl arrived at his home, avoiding any other group of pirates despite Vahl insisting to Umana that he kills them. Umana brought him inside, locking the door and sitting Vahl down at his engineering desk.

“Let’s rest for a while here Vahl, we need to let the heat die down for a bit and we can go out and get some revenge later. Let’s not be hasty.”