This is oddly my favorite chapter in this story. I think it's because of the pebble thing between Octnavin and Sloan. I wanted to make a joke about this chapter, but then I realized no one elsewhere would read my work so I was bummed. That's when I came back here.
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter too.
Cheers, ~M. From C.M. Moore
*Chapter 14*
Not going to die again.
By Sloan's count, he'd died once when the girl snake bitch shot him in the head. Then he'd died four times in the ring. Well, that was it. Five was enough. He wasn't going to end up in that revival tube again. He was going to do this. He had to do this. Octnavin warned him that the Folantos were now bored. His sense tentacle said that they were not even cheering any longer.
As Sloan rose on the platform, he could hear Octnavin in his head giving a steady stream of battle tips. Sloan had to live this time.
When he reached the top, this time Sloan didn't wait. He'd learned that lesson already. Sloan rolled off the metal and into the dirt as the hamster rushed him.
"Not this time, mother-fucker." Sloan got to his feet. He spun and did a sold kick to the hamster's face. He was never going to own a hamster if he ever got back to Earth. Sloan dodged a swing from the hamster's claws. With wide fingers, Sloan nailed the Malzian in the eyes. The hamster reared back. While the hamster was momentarily blinded, Sloan ran around to his hairy back. He jumped on his shoulders. Sloan gripped the hamster in a headlock. Gritting his teeth, Sloan held on with everything he had.
Scratches to his forearm caused Sloan's skin to gush blood, but he didn't give in to the pain. He refused to let go. Using his other arm to secure his grip, Sloan squeezed. The alien hamster backed up into the mirror wall, but Sloan knew from death number two that those were not glass.
"Nice try, asshole." Sloan threw his legs back and bounced off the trampoline type material. The propulsion from his legs was just what Sloan needed. Still holding onto the hamster's neck, he sent them both flying forward. The damn alien hit the ground whiskers first. Sloan held on for dear life. That is what this was... dear life.
~A little longer.~ Octnavin spoke calmly in his head.
Sloan tightened his grip crushing the hamster's neck even harder. The alien rodent thrashed in the mud. His airway was but off. Finally, the hamster stopped moving and wheezed.
~Well done, but you must kill him.~ Octnavin said. ~It is to the death.~
Sloan eased his hold from around the alien's neck. He sat on the furry back and then grabbed both sides of the hamster's head.
"It is what it is." Sloan wrenched on the hamster until his neck was broken. There was an audible crack. The head was now in an unnatural position.
He did it.
Sloan got to his feet and stood in the mud of the ring. Holding up both his middle fingers, he spun in a slow circle giving everyone behind those mirrors the biggest fuck-you Sloan had.
"That's right, bitches. Eat it." Sloan did a victory lap around the dome. He would probably have to fight this guy tomorrow, but for now, he didn't care. In this second, he was alive.
Sloan noted that his platform was dropping. Leaping, he reached his lowing dais and once more flipped everyone watching the bird as he was lowered back to his cell.
When Sloan got to his floor and the raiser stopped, he jumped off the metal and grinned at Octnavin.
"That's right. I'm the fucking mountain now." Sloan did a victory lap around the little cell as Octnavin watched him from his seat against the mud wall.
When Sloan stopped dancing, Octnavin shrugged.
"Bigger pebble."
"You're a dick." Sloan laughed as he walked to the water. He began to clean the scratches on his arm. He used part of his shirt to clean the injury before he returned to Octnavin's side. The alien looked asleep against the rock.
Sloan studied the alien for a minute. Octnavin looked a little too still. Curious, Sloan entered the alien's head. Lately, the alien had been closing off some of his thoughts. During Sloan's fights, Octnavin only presented calm. During Octnavin's time in the ring, he hid the pain from some of his hits. For the first time, Sloan wasn't okay with being shut out. He barged into the alien's mind as if he'd just kicked down the door.
Hunger.
The starvation was a living breathing monster in the alien mind. The feeling, the sensation, was so powerful that it took Sloan's breath away. Instantly, Sloan's stomach cramped in response to the starvation rolling off Octnavin.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sloan asked. "I know it's not five-star cuisine in your ivory palace, but get off your high horse and eat some fruit."
Sloan rose and picked up an apple.
"I cannot." Octnavin didn't even look at the offered fruit.
"Don't be a stubborn ass." He waved the apple and then set the food down by Octnavin's leg. Turning around, Sloan began to pick through the muddy pile. He grabbed the pieces that looked the least rotten. Quickly, he washed them at the little watering hole. "Here." Sloan turned around. "These are still good."
"I cannot eat them." Octnavin waved his drinking tentacle. "They gave you food because you need all the help you can get, but they are trying to actively weaken me for the fights. It makes the betting better. I can only take in liquid." Once again, Octnavin closed his eyes like he couldn't even look at the fruit.
Sloan sat back on his heels. This whole time he'd been eating and Octnavin had been slowly starving. Why didn't the alien ask for help? Sloan knew why. The king-ruler-warrior was a stubborn dick and didn't ask for help from anyone. He carried the weight of the world on his shoulders alone.
Shaking his head, Sloan hunted in the fruit until he found a busted watermelon. One side was rotten, but the other side was perfect to make a bowl. After he broke the rind, he dug out the center and then washed his new container. Smiling, he decided all his work in the coffee shop was finally worth something. This might be the grossest smoothie ever, but it was food and it was liquid.