[Dark Elite_H2]

Well, since you put fluffy, I'm-a put fluffy.
Touche', Lobo!


PROPHECY, DESTINY, AND TRUTHS
Stranger's and Umi's destinies are told (cont.)

"Wow. Didn't know Grubb culture was so...weird," Umi said up to Stranger.
"I thought it was purdy interestin' to what he said," Stranger scratched the back of his neck.
Umi's face scrunched to a determined look.
"Well, the adventure sounds neat. Are you ready fer this?" she raised a brow.
Stranger gave a quick, quirky glance to her cockyness, then looked back up.
Umi grinned.
"Don't worry, buddy. I'll be here ter protect you,"
He gave a chuckle, and scooped her in his arm.
"Don't yer try to be the big hero, kid. I love yer too much ter see you's get hurt," he rubbed his nose on hers.
"If anything hurt yeh, I'd regret it so much than the thing that harmed yeh,"
She giggled at his tickling pur.
"You care too much," she pushed his face away.
"That's right," he chuckled back to her face.
"You big...pussy cat," she smiled, pressing her hand on his nose, and pushing away again.
They arrived to their home from the docks.
They steadily moved their way through the thick covering of fresh white snow piling higher than before.
She entered first, ruffling her hair of the snow that dropped and melted on her warm head of hair.
Stranger came last, slamming the door shut from the bitter cold winds blowing on his legs. He glanced at Umi, then gave a soft smile.
"Go take a nice hot shower, kid. You's look's colder than a Sleg bathing,"
"You sure you don't wanna go first? You know I take longer than you do," she cautioned.
"Dun' you worry 'bout me, lil' lady. I'll be waitin' in the front,"
She shrugged, then trotted off to the shower room, and slammed the door.
He gave a relaxed sigh, slowly striding to the confines of his comfy couch in the front room. He laid flat on his stomach, covering his hooves under the warm woven blanket, and gave a sigh of content. He closed his eyes, nearly dozing off.
Today was long, and a bit of a shock. It was their job now to find the last Steef tribe, and then maybe he would get a break of everything he had to deal with.
The Grubbs; well, they were literally a part of him. He's grown attached to them, not feeling a bit happy that he has to leave them to the dangers of the industrial world.
He knows what the industrialites can do, because he was part of them. For a while...
Nearly a half an hour later, the shower room doors fluttered open, steam fogging out in a whisp of clear-white smog.
Umi came out, her face a nervous stare down to the flat grass floor. She held a towel around herself, as she trotted out to the front room.
She looked to Stranger, her face turning an innocent nervousness to his dozed eyes.
He snorted awake, rubbing his eyes up to her. He gave a gentle smile, as he scooted to the edge of the bed.
She wore her baggy jade-green pajama pants, but only her bra straps wore around her shoulders.
He gave an awkward look to her.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
Umi snapped attention to him, shaking her head slowly.
"Nothing," she said shyly.
She handed him her brush, and sat on her knees in front of him. She kept her towel tight around her upper half body, seeming to hide something secretive from him.
Stranger grinned happily. He loved to mess with her hair after she took a shower. It was slick and smooth, not as his coarse, rough fur. It was a nice feeling to him to feel the smoothness of human's hair.
He began to brush gently down, minding the knots that caught in the brush.
Umi hissed in pain, but held down her head.
"Easy. I'm tender-headed," she warned, even though he knew.
He was just as rough as he was when he fought outlaws.
"Sorry, kiddo," he purred gently, tenderly brushiong down the back of her neck.
He parted the hair from her side forehead, then stopped abruptly. He stared at her shoulder for a moment, squinting hardly at what he saw.
He then scooted closer, dropping to the ground behind Umi, staring at a mark put on her back. He ran a coarse finger over it, the skin bumpy and rough.
"Umi, what's this?" he asked.
He parted her showering hair more, four more marks showed.
His eyes grew bright, then taking down the towel from her back.
Then what he saw was peppered all among her back.
Actually, it was all over her arms and body.
Many deep gashes and scars appeared as a deeper purple color against her peachy flesh. Almost 3 dozen gashes were sprinkled widely among her back.
His lip dropped down in horror.
"Umi? What happened 'ere?"
Umi's head drooped down, as she slowly turned herself to him, showing off the rest of the scars peppered among her front.
A small circular scar was right on her stomach, while a long slash cut through her shoulder down close to her chest. Long lashes cut on her arms, and little pricks, almost bullet-like holes were on her chest.
She looked down in shame that Stranger had to figure out the hard way of her tragic past.
"Sometimes...you have to do things...that can cause you pain," she spoke.
"Things suicidal, crazy, but daring. Something you have to do to save yourself, your friends, and the entire humanity. This was my life; all but pain, betrayal, and scars. And I have to bear them out like this. As the painful things that happened to me n my past..."
She grew silent, looking away from Stranger, his eyes growing soft, and his lip curved up.
He slowly moved to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly, his chin rested on her shoulder. He moved her on his lap folded out.
"I promise..." he began, his throat rumbling deeply on her shoulder.
"I'll do whatever in my power...ter not cause you any more pain, than what I just saw..."
His embrace became tighter, his love for her growing.
What pain he saw embroided on Umi's body would be his eternal pain. For what she felt, he felt as well. As a telepathic bond. But it wasn't "the" most terrible feeling ever. He'd know how Umi felt, pain, or love, joy, or sadness. It was an omen that gave them this special bond. One that would never die or fail, as long as they loved each other like father and daughter.
Umi pressed her forehead to his chest, slowly lookig up to him. Her eyes were dry, staring depressingly up to him.
It would be better if you changed the subject than to put Stranger through this Umi thought.
She broke his tension from his arms, sitting comfortably on his lap. She brushed away strands of hair from her face, then looking up to Stranger's curious eyes.
"You think we're up for the challenge tomorrow?" she asked, having a bit of perkiness spiked in her voice.
He became softer, smiling at her determination.
"Maybe. We've been through a lot through the past year..." he looked down thoughtfully, then returned.
"Yeah. I bet we are,"
Umi stretched her tired muscles, speaking with a strain.
"Haven't had a day without a journey to someplace special, I can say,"
Stranger nuzzled his nose in her hair, chuckling softly.
"Really..." he purred.
Umi looked atop her forehead.
"Yeah. I can tell you if you want. I'll prove to you I've never had a day without a normal beginning, nor ending,"
"I'm up fer a story," he moved up to the bed with Umi.
He laid in a comfortable position on the bed, his eblow propped on his pillow, holding his head up, and staring at Umi intently.
She sat on her covers cross-legged, holding her hands in between her legs. She searched for the right beginning through her memories, then looked back to Stranger.
"It all began...maybe six years ago. When I was only thirteen..."
And that is how she began.
She began on the day she met the Autobots and Decepticons, how she was manipulated and tricked to become part of the Decepticons.
Her mean, heartless leader, Galvatron always loathed to Autobots, their peace-loving ways. He always put her friends in danger, putting herself in danger as well.
The tasks of the Autobots was to save the mini race of robots scattered around the world, the Mini-cons.
But the Decepticons rather steal them to increase their power, and win the fight that has been waged for many eons.
But when the threat of Unicron, the most feared transformer in the galaxy threatened the Earth and Cybertron, it was up to them to stop the evil lofting slowly in space. Both the humans, and the truce between the Autobots and Decepticons, over the loss of her dear friend, Starscream.
Three years after the destruction of Galvatron and Unicron, and becoming the deputy leader of the Decepticons, an Energon crisis stirrs, causing mayhem for the straggler Decepticons and the Autobots.
And the threat of Galvatron and Unicron regenerating, just very slowly.
And even though Umi was somewhat forced to be part of the Autobots, she was used to the ways of the Decepticons, even though she secretly was part of them.
The Energon crisis lasted months, before the frightful day, of the Covenant began to contact her, and gave her a threatening message of hers and humanity's destruction by their hands.
She fled from Earth with her revetalized, old partner in crime, with a bit of a memory loss, Starscream, out in space, being persued by Covenant cruisers and Banshees, until she met up with the human battlecruiser, The Pillar of Autumn.
There, she was caught in the battle between saving humanity, and obliterating it from history; The United Nations Space Corp. (UNCS), and the Covenant.
And with only one who could save humanity from utter destruction; Spartan 117- The Master Chief.
Teamed up with the only known Super soldier, she was now part of saving Earth, and the last remaining UNSC and OSDT marines, spun on to save theirs, and their homeland's lives.
The war caught up on the ancient ringworld, known as Halo, held a deep, dark, deadly secret beneath its confines, as the humans and aliens wage their bloody war.
The Flood, the worst parasite ever known to sentient life, wiped out all humans encamped on Halo, only leaving The Master Chief, Umi, and a benedict Covenant leader, Zaku Zulumee, to take the challenge of the Flood, and destroy the destructivness of Halo. before the Covenant, or the Monitor of Installations, 343 Guilty Spark, activated its power.
With Zulumee killed, it was only up to them to stop everything that threatened to activate Halo.
They were separated from the final moments of the Autumn's destruction, which would kill Halo, along with the Flood.
Months passed after Halo's destruction, and Umi and the Master Chief's separation.
She drifted in space alone, until she found the Cairo Defense platforms, the last defense to Earth.
There, she traced the Master Chief, along with the surprise of Seargent David Johnson still alive.
The Covenant still on a high-level threat, not along with what they found out near the wreckage of a Covenant cruiser; another Halo.
Deja vu had come, and Umi and the Master Chief had to destroy Halo, before it destroyed them.
Distraught fates came between them again, as the Gravemind of the Flood had taken them to tell the secret, and to the Arbiter of the Covenant.
Both were separated again, Umi with the Arbiter, and the Master Chief alone, along with distress of him and she being separated again.
Becoming temporary allies, the Arbiter and Umi exacted revenge on the Brutes, for betraying his brothers, and the faith of the Covenant.
The key to Halo was with the Chieftain of the Brutes, Tartarus.
But it was too late.
Before they could kill Tartarus, the Index was in place, and the activation of Halo was well on its way.
And with the Master Chief alone, aboard the Prophet of Truth's ship, he would be the key, to save the universe from destruction...
"...and that's all I remember. I spun in to orbit from the destruction of the last Halo, sucked through a wormhole, then unconsciousness, and suffocation. I landed on Oddworld was the last thing I remember..." Umi looked down.
"...at that point, when I figured out I was far away, I knew there was no point on trying to get home. I would be stuck on Oddworld forever. But...when I met you..." she perked back up.
"...I couldn't be any happier meeting you, Stranger. You're the same, rugged, ol' bounty hunter you were back in the old days. But you've mellowed out, just to be a great dad. But it still bites me that I'm so far away from my friends. I miss the ones so dear to me so much. Rad, Carlos, Alexis, Billy, Fred...Chief, Johnson...Starscream...everyone I practically told you about. They were like, a secret family in my heart. And you might not know, but I feel they miss me, too...I hope this is the last time I get separated from my friends, for it only adds on to my pain. It would kill me if I got separated from you, Stranger," she smiled up to him.
He scooted closer, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, and kissed her forehead.
"Don't worry, Umi," he purred gently.
"I'll be 'ere fer you. As long as I'm 'ere and alive..."
They glanced outside, seeing the silvery aura of the winter moolight shine down upon the glistening snowy hills.
"It's late. Let's get ter bed,"
He laid his head fully on his pillow, covering he and Umi under the cover of the woven blanket.
Umi cuddled closer to his chest, pressing the top of her head on the muscle of his chest.
The only light that cutted through the darkness of light was Stranger's closing green eyes.
Umi sighed in content under Stranger's arm. It made her feel protected, loved, a veil that only Stranger gave off.
She mumbled softly to him.
"'night...dad..."
She drifted off to sleep.
While Stranger lay awake for a moment.
That was the first time Umi ever said that to him. And it made him feel...proud.
Proud, that he could love such a young soul like Umi.
He smiled to her sleeping face, snuggling close to her face.
"'night, kiddo,"
He blinked passively once, before he closed his eyes.
I love you...
That echoed in his mind, as he laid to rest.