First Taste of Freedom

She laughed softly when he showed her what she had done and moved over beside him. She knelt down close to him and took the vine and the branch carefully. "It's alright we can do this together." she assured him and this time showed him from his point of view. "but when you tug don't be too rough.. sometimes you have to feel the object you're working with and be firm but gentle." she reached over and took his hand to place the vine into it, closing her fingers around his own hand to hold it and give it a soft tug. "See? Right here you feel resistance, but if you pull any further you can kinda see.." she pulled his hand gently, guiding him as her eyes stayed on the vine. "You can see as it stretches the material so you know that's it's max." she released his hand to allow him to release the vine before she looked back up at him and smiled before going back to doing the vines carefully.

Once they were finished she moved around the hog a bit and then looked at her companion and then to herself. "You're a lot taller than me.." she whispered softly and gave a sigh. "When we lift up the hog the leverage is going to lean my way.. so should I... be in back or front?" she tilted her head, trying to imagine the weight distribution when the lifted up the wild hog. "Front... I think I shall be in the front." she nodded a bit and went to grab her bag again and pull it over her shoulder, folding and placing her sweater onto her shoulder so she would have a cushion for where the stick went. "So you grab those ends, I'll grab these, and on the count of three you will lift with your knees and if I've done my calculations right... the weight distribution in the vines should keep them from breaking as we haul this thing back!" She grabbed the front ends of the sticks and adjusted so her back was facing him and she was squatted down. "Are you ready?" she glanced back to him, her bright magenta eyes almost seemed delighted in this.

Lian paused for a moment and looked around when he mentioned going back to the ship. She raised up, heading over to a brush and sighed as she picked up the red ball of yarn that had rolled beneath a few leaves. "There it is... yeah I tied this off near the entrance of the ship to find my way back. Following it I'll be able to easily get back home." she wiggled it at him a bit before going back to her sticks. "Understood! If anything happens I shall drop the boar and wait for your command then. You seem to know better what to do than I in combat." she laughed and adjusted to place the sticks onto her padded shoulder. She carefully made sure no small stray strands of hair to be yanked by the sticks.

"Alright... 1, 2, and 3!" she lifted with her knees, going from the squatting position to straight standing up with ease but she paused there, spreading her legs apart a bit further to keep her balance. She glanced back at the boar and at her companion. She could hear the vines creak slightly of the weight of the boar, and her eyes went over the leaves it was on and watched to make sure none of the blood dripped out towards them. She was relieved when non of the blood came out. "If it drips avoid it at any cost... we don't know what kind of pathogens could be in blood out here." she reminded him softly. She may have not been a scientist but a good chef knew that blood was a dangerous object in the kitchen, and her training gave her the knowledge of blood born pathogens from food, and pork was the worst.

She could feel the weight of the poles pressing into her shoulders as they started to carry it back towards the ship. Her left hand released it, keeping her stronger right hand on them as she started to follow the bright red yarn. The delicate wrist rotated as they walked, wrapping around her soft white flesh as her dark magenta eyes kept straight forward as well as the ground. Her pace wasn't fast so they could stay steady and also so she could pay close attention.. if she tripped right now there would be a good chance the boar would fall on her and Zakry could get hurt as well if he didn't stop in time. The thought somehow didn't settle well with her.

"I don't think we are far from it. I hadn't been traveling far when I kinda... wasn't pay attention and tripped. I had hoped on finding plants around our ship that could help us out. I know we have a lot of stuff on the ship but... can you imagine if we could live off the planet? We could learn from the mistakes of ancestors and live in harmony with nature instead of destroying it!" she was excited about the idea, a little bit more bounce in her step despite the heavy load and the height difference between she and Zakry since she was only 5'4". She tilted her head a bit and glanced back to him with a smile. "Though my first encounter already seems to say otherwise..." she gave a light hearted laugh as she turned her attention back to where they were going.

Lian stumbled at the sudden inertia of the trip, it pushed her forward with force, the bark of the branch caught on her jacket as pain shot through her right hand where she had been holding to the branch. As quickly as she could she shoved the pole off her shoulder and, body jerking in the opposite direction to send the pole away from her as she fell backwards onto the harsh ground yet again that day. Groaning softly, she opened her eyes and moved to sit up but hissed in pain as she placed her right hand to the ground to try and push herself up. She quickly retracted her hand to herself, gazing down at how the bark had ripped into her and caused splinters throughout her palm and fingers. Her head tilted up, looking to see where Zakry and the damn boar had landed. "Zakry? Are you alright?" she called out.

No sight of the boar.. or her new friend. Worry quickly started to set in as she jumped to her feet and yet again felt pain go through her body. She paused, her mind accessing what hurt... well more of what didn't hurt. In her attempt to twist around and avoid the boar she had also twisted her ankle and the dull throbbing reminder wasn't too bad but it did mean a much slower pace back to the ship. Her other leg had pulled a muscle in attempt to keep her balanced, and of course her hand was starting to slowly hurt more and more... she worried she might have sprained it as well.

Her eyes opened and she heard someone call for her. Quickly she looked around, hearing her name called out again she quickly moved towards where it was coming from but paused as she saw a steep decline of the ground. She instead knelt down and moved towards the edge of the hill. "Zakry?" She called out and frowned as she managed to see down and saw the boar a bit away from him as well as blood smeared over his clothing. "Zakry you need to get that blood off of you! Take off what ever the blood is on!" she called out, the worry of blood born pathogens from strange creatures hit her like a semi truck. She could barely contain her worry as she hooked her strained leg's ankle to a branch to make sure she wouldn't risk sliding down the steep hill... lest she not be able to make it up again with her injuries.

Lian was still leaning over the edge and felt relief fill her soul when he said he was okay. As he stripped off his shirt she felt warmth rise to her cheeks despite the already warm nature of the planet. Despite being so far away, it was her first time seeing a male with such a bare body.. and the way the gun slung over him was really quite masculine.

She slid herself back a bit, pulling her leg carefully free and winced a little as she moved it. She leaned just her head over now, watching him as he started to climb up the rocks. "Be careful, Zakry!" It was easy to hear the worry in her voice even if he wouldn't see her face. She wished she could do more, but she knew with her wrist busted she couldn't pull him up and even worse she was really starting to feel that the dull ache in her left ankle had just been the start.

The pain was starting to ebb stronger and now she worried if she may have really hurt herself in that last fall. She moved to the ledge and gazed down as Zakry climbed. The higher he went the more her heart felt heavy with the strangest feeling. Again these feelings weren't ones she liked, and she couldn't bring herself to explain them either. The doctor had told her that her social training hadn't been complete... she really should have stayed in the library reading.

She couldn't believe she had gotten Zakry into this mess... he was so brave coming out here in the first place and then to save her and now he was at risk because she had wanted to bring that damn boar back. She felt disgusted at herself in risking her crewmates safety over such a creature.

But it was then she started to really look at the cliff and she could see that at the top it sloped.. he would have to climb with only his hands near the top. Her heart was racing now at the idea... what if he wasn't able to make it up before his arms grew too tired? This would be her fault and he had saved her.. she needed to save him too. "I will find a way to help!" she called out sincerely to him.

Struggling a bit more now she rose to her feet and started to look around and spotted the red yarn. She tied it to a branch... they could follow it back later.

Lian then went back to the ledge and started to unravel the ball quickly, her arms measured out a good eight feet before cutting it and doing the same over and over till the ball was gone. Her hands worked fast trying to bunch and braid the yarn to try and make rope as Zakry climbed. Her wrist was really hurting as well as her ankle but she continued her work, she would lean over now and again to check on him. If she could finish this before he reached the top maybe he could climb it instead.. she only hoped she could make it reach and anchor him as well. And oh.. how she prayed it would work.

She forced herself up as she finished braiding together all the strings. He may have said that she wasn't to worry but she was feeling her heart hammering against her ribs of her chest. She continued to glance down, calculating carefully as he moved up towards the edge. As he rose she could make out more and more detail of him, the way his muscles moved and reached and how strong he was. It was quite impressive.

She moved to a branch and tugged on it hard, wincing slightly as the pain went through her hand but at least she knew it was strong. She carefully tied the yarn to the branch and then walked back to the ledge. She kept it in her hand before kneeling down and then moved to lay on the edge and look over it.

She was just above him and now she could see his face. He was sweaty and hot and something about the way he panted brought another strange feeling to her. "I.. I have this for you!" she called over and tossed the rope of yarn down to him. "I can't pull you up so you're going to have to climb it. I can help you though once you get to the top." She assured him and bit her bottom lip. She couldn't exactly tell from her angle if the yarn rope reached but she really hoped it did.