Planet X4442, about 50 kilometers away from the diir village.
A beast was seen weaving through the trees, climbing up a small mountain. The beast's appendages were folded around something to make a human-shaped cocoon. Obviously this was the same beast which kidnaped Jack and due to his quick thinking, he had lowered his visor in order to prevent death by suffocation.
The Paladin's suits had their own oxygen supply which could make them survive even in space for about 5 earth hours.
Jack was currently being held captive by probably a human eating monster, however he was for some reason, not worried. Jack had been using his instincts for most of his life and he had learnt to always trust them, and at that moment, his instincts were telling him that he had nothing to worry about.
In fact, Jack felt safer at that moment than when he was with his team in the castle. Since he was not currently fighting for his life or trying to unravel the mysteries of X4442, he began to think back to when he was about to kill that beast, the monster's last whimpers played over and over in his mind until they turned into words which said the phrase 'Please....don't'.
A few minutes later, Jack felt that the beast carrying him was no longer moving quickly but walking, it did not take long for the appendages to unravel and set him free. The first thing he did was to take out his plasma pistol in one hand and his tail which was still in the other.
He then pointed his pistol at the beast which had kidnapped him, even though he knew very well that plasma was pretty much useless against the beast's hide. However he soon had to change the direction of his crosshair when he noticed that there was not only one beast.
Looking around, he sheathed his weapon and raised his visor with a sigh, he was currently surrounded by 6 beasts, all of them looking at him with unbridled rage. Jack knew that if they wanted him dead, he would already be in pieces.
"Why are we keeping this thing alive?, it killed our brother for no reason!!. It is no different from the pest", One other beast spoke, sending Jack falling onto the ground in shock.
"You know why brother, it was deceived just like we once were", another said.
The more the beasts spoke, the more Jack's shock grew as he turned his head rapidly from one beast to another, paying extra attention to the beast currently talking.
At first, he thought that he was just hearing voices in his mind like that mind-link thing which had happened to Hugo and that blue alien. However after careful inspection, he noticed the mouths of the beasts moving and corresponding to every word spoken. In the end, curiosity got the better of him and he approached the beast which was against killing him.
"What the fuck are you doing?" The beast asked, interrupting it's conversation with the other beasts. Jack was currently carefully analyzing the beasts mouth up close and personally, surprisingly enough it had a minty fresh breath and almost perfectly white teeth. The study of animal anatomy was one of Jack's favourite ways to pass the time back on earth.
The other beasts laughed. "It looks like you gained a follower, Kraw", one of them said.
"Fear is a powerful thing, but when it is gone....well you get that", Jack heard a new feminine voice which moved his attention away from his test subject's mouth.
The new beast was a little bit smaller than the others and had a more streamlined body. Anyone could tell that this one was female, and unlike the males, it had four appendages and two tails, it also lacked the mane, just like earth's female lions. It's horns were also smaller and although Jack did not want to admit it, the beast was quite cute.
However, it's cute appearance did not stop Jack from feeling the raw power it emanated. He knew that if he fought any of the other beasts one on one, he could survive for at least two minutes, however with the new one, he felt that he would die so fast he wouldn't even know how it happened.
Every step the female beast exuded confidence and authority, with it's appendages floating in mid air like it was under water. The other beasts lowered their heads as the female passed, showing their respect and loyalty. When the female arrived in front of Jack, he was tempted to follow the other beast's example and bow, but he held himself back.
"What do you call yourself?" the female asked, while looking deep into Jacks eyes like it was studying his soul.
"J...Jack", Jack stammered, realising that his mouth was devoid of saliva.
"Greetings J...Jack, my name is Queen Lira, but you can call me Lira. I will get straight to the point, why are you and the other J...Jacks helping the pest?" Lira asked while slowly walking around Jack and also caressing his face with her tail, which unlike the males, was soft.
"Ahem", Jack cleared his throat. "Any one have some water by any chance?" he joked, feeling his mouth losing moisture by the second.
"How about i make you gurgle some of your blood?, would that quench your thirst?" One of the beast snarled in annoyance.
"Now now boys, play nice with our guest". Lira said, "You will get your water if i like the answer you give me J...Jack, now why are you and the other J...Jacks helping the pest?".
The first time Lira asked that question, it was like a mother asking her child who stole the last cookie. The second time was like an executioner asking for his last words. He had a feeling that very soon his thirst would disappear, either due to getting some water or not needing to drink ever again.
"We did not know....actually i still do not know anything of what is going on here. We only arrived this morning and the first thing we saw was a castle ruin, we went inside the ruin and found dead bodies, then we saw a beast, which chased us out of the castle and would have killed us if it were not for that little guy".
"Blasphemy!!", the beast which had kidnapped Jack growled while moving closer to him, it's sharp tail pointed right between his eyes. "I was in mental range during that time, our brother contacted me as soon as he saw these things and he was trying to save them from one of the pest's critters which had been following them".
"Brother was about to kill the critter when this thing and more of it's kind attacked. He was trying to save you and you killed him, the last thing he saw was your face before you impaled his eyes", the beast said, all the time pushing Jack back until he was up against a wall.
The razor sharp tail was already touching his forehead and a small stream of blood flowed from that point, diverging into two streams after reaching the bridge of his nose.