Betrayal | Tsu'tey

XIII

Blood and Sand
Reypay sì Neni
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Somehow, Tsu'tey managed to lead the massive colt to Aria. He let it loose, allowing it to meander over to the nearby flowers to feed. Students began to gather behind her to watch, both young and otherwise.

She felt out of her element. Horses weren't in the job description.

"Are you going to approach Apxa or are you going to sit there like a fool?" Tsu'tey eyed her skeptically.

"I am, I've never ridden anything like Apxa before." She approached Apxa with a calm and steady demeanor.

"Tsaheylu, use your tswin." Tsu'tey shouted from the root he was leaning against.

Aria took her braid in her hands and glanced up at the colt. Nervously meeting its eye. It regarded her with a simple snort.

"We will be friends. I know it." She said determined before leaping onto his back, "Steady!" She grasped Apxa's crest, he jerked up in surprise.

Apxa offered his tswin, waiting impatiently, stamping his hooves grumpily.

Aria brought her queue to his.

It was unlike anything comprehendible to the average person. Indescribable. They settled in with one another as if they shared the same body. It was almost like running one hundred percent in the field on a two person mission, you know the guy next to you well enough to work as one unit. But this was far more real, far more physical.

"Holy shit." She shuddered. The breath she had been holding was long gone.

"Apxa doesn't accept many riders. Tell him how to move out loud. In time, you will merely need to think it." Tsu'tey approached slowly, patting Apxa's neck.

It all began to click. She could feel Tsu'tey's hand falling onto Apxa's neck through Apxa. The sure breaths and subtle movements in his body.

"Let's do this. Let's go slow, forward." Apxa obeyed begrudgingly, moving at a snail's pace around the clearing, avoiding the gazes of his herd.

Tsu'tey eyed her, she felt his gaze and it made her a little nervous. She wanted to do well.

"Let's go a little faster." She encouraged Apxa. Apxa set off into a sprint, avoiding the edges of the clearing by circling around. She felt his excitement, the feeling of freedom.

While she was caught up, Tsu'tey mounted his Pa'li. A large mare, she whinnied and Tsu'tey beckoned for us to follow.

Tsu'tey followed a route more difficult to follow. However, Apxa had no problem helping Aria navigate. She caught up in no time. They entered another clearing, Jake was face first in the mud. Aria couldn't help a chuckle. They slowed to a stop.

Jake began wiping the mud off.

"You missed a spot, Jake." She smirked and pointed to all of him. He rolled his eyes and flipped her off, smiling and chuckling at the predicament he was in.

"You should go away." Tsu'tey barked at Jake. Aria raised an eyebrow. Not that she had the hair. She hadn't really heard him say much in English.

Tsu'tey regarded Neytiri with a light scoff, "This alien will learn nothing. A rock Sees more." He jeered. Neytiri smiled with a deep sigh.

"Go." She patted the hind leg of Tsu'tey's mare and they set off. Apxa happily trotted along after them.

•—————•—————•—————•—————•

They spent the rest of the day riding through different terrain and learning how to care for a pa'li. Aria did fall a few times, the bruises and scrapes were evidence enough, but she got up each time. Overall, Aria was satisfied with herself. She had retained most of the information she was presented. Photographic memory.

There were other students. Ka'ani, Saeyla, and Tse'tavuk. Ka'ani is by far the kindest. She found this out when she fell off the second time. And that's also when she found out that Saeyla was an asshole. She just laugher her ass off. But Tse'tavuk is a mystery.

She sent Apxa off with a wave, but he'd find her again later in the day. He was stubborn and seemed to have taken to her.

But as the silence grew over dinner, she found herself back on the field.

She would cut the boys' hair while in safe houses and bases. She'd warn them that you do, in fact, have to clean in between your ass cheeks. She'd do combat training with them. They'd go out for drinks. But the missions are what she remembered most.

"Alpha! Bravo is dark, multiple missing!" Captain peepaw barked through the mic.

"Already?" Soren sighed and stopped the jeep.

"Our orders?" He asked our Captain. They sat tensely in the back while we waited.

"Continue to the checkpoint, Charlie group has it handled." He gruffly said, coming out a garbled mess through comms. The sound of gunfire was faint in the distance. It was just Specter(Soren), Omega(Fucker), Red(John), and Hood(Aria).

It was just before Omega had violated the group's trust. Just after Aria had been promoted. This was the mission she got promoted for. Which unfortunately led to Soren's demote to second.

Soren slammed his heel into the gas, lurching everything forward. It was the end of Nigeria, when her dad was still on earth. The car suddenly veered. The sound of ricocheting bullets were like hale-stones on the metal.

"Heads down! We're taking fire!" Soren barked, he veered over the sand dune, getting the car stuck between two steep slopes.

They left the safety of the vehicle, trading it for the sound of bullets striking sand.

Aria flipped down her goggles to keep sand out, climbed the first slope for a better view. With her weapon primed, all it took was a target. One shoulder tensing shot after another struck those unfortunate enough to be under her gaze. She held them off long enough for Red, Omega, and Soren to get the car out of the sand enough for them to use the car as cover when the opposing squad closed in.

Her secondary was just an old FN Five-seven, but she used it to eliminate several "tangos" when her rifle was taking too long to reload. They ended up defeating the ambushing force and aid team Bravo and Charlie. Unfortunately, they wouldn't be so lucky in the next battle.

Red's brains were splattered against the pavement in Lagos. Omega had shrapnel wounds. Soren was mildly injured. Luckily they had their fifth member Hound to thank for their survival.

It reminded her of Omega. Mainly the safe house they were in outside of Lagos. What he took. The terrible things he said and did. The horrified looks from Hound and Specter.

"What are you thinking?" A voice cut through the blood and sand-caked memories like a knife through butter.