Well, my friends...'tis such a sad, fluffy ending to such a wonderous story, am I right?
Well, sorry to say...it'll take a long time 'fore the next story comes up, which is a shorty story...
I apologize once again...:bows head apologetically:
:A brief silence echoes around the hollow room:
....
:A grin appears back on face, and a crafty smile shines in the eyes:
THE HELL WIT' 'DAT!
Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath
-The aftermath...-
It has been weeks since me and Stranger crawled from the wreckage of Sekto Springs Dam. The Grubbs took us in motherly, allowing us to heal from our physical and mental wounds.
I, however, had the worst mental wounds, mostly from the belief of being so far away from the place I was supposed to live. But now, it seems like an omen that I was intentionally supposed to go to some distant planet to help a complete stranger with his situations. But now, I was happy in my place, with a friend to stay in comfort with.
Days after our recuperation from our wounds.
The Grubb Queen allowed us to move in next to her home, and the Grubb rebels agreed to protect us until we were fully healed.
Stranger...however, has become very...affectionate...to me. It was certainly an odd feeling, but it somewhat felt...good. It has been long ago since I was treated such a way, when my father was still alive...
The Grubb Queen bowed respectfully to Stranger, then trotting off away down the path through the village.
It was late winter, snowy patches blotching the green green grass below, awaiting its time to pop out of its icy barrier.
Stranger smiled to the back of the Queen's head, slowly closing the door on the dark grey evening.
Healing cuts across his face scabbed a darker brown. He licked his bottom lip, covered in small splits, turning his eyes to the front living room.
A small straw-woven couch was folded out to a long bed, a woven tapestry blanket made neatly along the cream sheets. Sitting on top of the blanket was the young human, her hands folded in her lap, and her wide ocean-blue eyes staring stiffly at the flat grass floor.
Umi's hair was scraggly from when she returned from the wreckage of the dam. Her cheeks were blotched with scabs, but her eyes were untouched. Earlier scars blended in with new scars that she could add to her collection of unwanted skin features.
She was changed out of her tattered denim vest and red shirt, and her pants torn with little bite marks. She was dressed in a soft, jade-green long shirt, and short pajama pants matching the shirt, and belted with strings of beads.
Stranger trotted in to the front room, scratching the back of his dry, irritated neck. He sat next to Umi, sighing exhaustedly with her.
He smoothed the back of her head, her frizzy hair blending back in with her golden-blonde hair.
She sniffed, blinking once to stop her eyes drying irritatingly.
"I'm tired..." she said small.
Stranger smiled, stopping his hand gently on the back of her neck.
"You should rest then," he gently said.
Umi didn't look to him. Her eyes shoone holographically under the blanket of night darkening the sky outside.
Stranger pulled over the blanket to the first pillow, patting his hand on the sheet invitingly.
Umi didn't hesitate. She was tired. She didn't get much sleep when she was in rehabilitation. The dreams of Sekto kept bothering her conscious, which kept her up in the middle of the night.
She lay sideways on her ribs, still blinking in blank space.
Stranger tucked the blanket over her, messing around gently with her hair.
Umi sighed, finally blinking away from the spot she stared at endlessly.
"It's been a hell of a week, huh?" Umi spoke.
Stranger nodded, curling a lock of frizzled hair around his finger.
"Yeah..."
Umi looked away for a moment, then looked back up to Stranger.
"I-I can't stop thinkin' 'bout Sekto...I mean-"
Stranger hushed her, putting a finger on her mouth.
"Don't think of that, kid. It'll give yer nightmares again," he said low.
Umi frowned, sitting up on her elbows.
"But, I can't. I mean, if Sekto wasn't the Steef, then where could he be? Could he be still up to his plans? What if he came after you!?" her voice raised.
Stranger frowned at her, blinking his luminous green eyes disappointingly.
"Umi," he brushed the hair from her face.
"I know it bothers yeh, that Sekto is still alive...somewhere recuperating. But, he could've easily given up. He knows he got his ass whuped by me an' you, and he knows we'll be there if he even moves to his plot 'gain,"
Umi's face relaxed from the tension scrunching it up. She blinked hopefully up to Stranger, relaxing back down on her pillow.
Stranger pulled the blanket over her shoulders again.
"I promise yeh. Nothing'll happen ter me," he said.
Umi's heavy eyes began to close, she leaving the real world, and taking up in her conscious of dreams.
Stranger smiled sweetly down to her, leaning down to her cheek. He kissed her gently, lifting back up.
"Sleep now, my little one..." he whispered.