Unfortunately for Kai, Astra did, letting out a very unladylike snort followed by a soft, "No shit." It didn't take long before they reached the nearest port, the metal of Kai's ship coming into view. Her gut twisted with that fact that she might never be coming back home after today. She tried not to dwell on the thought, however it was hard not to when death loomed behind you.
Kai raked his free hand through his hair. By now they'd reached a busier part of town, so he'd wedged the gun between Astra's shoulderblades. "Keep your head down. I don't want anyone to recognize you." All he needed to do was cross the busy street and they'd be on their way to somewhere.
"Skip!" He froze, his teeth clenching. He knew that voice. Another bounty hunter had already arrived, and she was between them and their escape route. "Oh fuck," he said.
“What?” Astra looked over her shoulder at Kai, confusing coating her soft features, “Who is it?” If they didn’t get out of the middle of the street she was going to be spotted. Kind of hard to not miss the princess with the mismatched eyes and stark white hair.
“You better have a plan, sir.”
"Okay, you gotta quit calling me sir, it's throwing me off," he said, his words spilling out too quickly over each other. He grabbed her and pulled her to his side, keeping one hand on her as he slowly withdrew the weapon from her back. He managed a charming smile, waving a hand at the newcomer. "Hi, Lana. Here for the princess?"
Lana tossed her curly hair, her mouth curved in a smirk. "You know me. Shocking that you got her first, kid."
"Yeah, so shocking," he agreed. He lowered his voice, talking through his teeth. "When I say so, run straight to my ship and get in. Don't look back if you want to live. She won't hesitate."
“What else am I supposed to call if if I don’t know your name,” She mumbled, the tiniest hint of a smile tugging at her lips but it was gone in a flash.
Astra kept her gaze down cast, nodding subtly to his words as the only form of acknowledgement. Too much talking would give her away if it wasn’t obvious enough already.
Being the polite kid he was, he started to respond, but chaged his mind. "It's –never mind, I'll tell you later."
Lana approached them, both of her hands hidden in her pockets. He racked his brain for information about her. She was particularly brutal, but he didn't know what weapons she used, only that she wasn't afraid to use them. She was getting closer, so perhaps they were short range? "Come on, hand her over," she said, laughing. "Why isn't she already dead? You not have the balls?"
"Lana, why don't you join us?" he lied glibly, keeping his tone light. "You must know the reward is more than ten bounties alone."
Astra bit down on her bottom lip, nerves steadily growing the longer the conversation lasted. She’s been lucky so far with him, however she doubted whoever this… Lana was, her luck would run out.
“Didn’t know I was that valuable.” She mumbled under her breath, shifting slightly on her feet.
Lana grinned, inching closer. "You're cute, but no. I fly solo." It was then she made her very first mistake: she was too trigger happy. Her right hand twitched out of her pockets, revealing a knife. That was all he needed to know.
He gave Astra a shove, "Now!" and then aimed his gun at Lana's chest. Lana's knives were in her hands quickly, and she started to move towards Astra.
As soon as he gave the signal, the princess was off, sprinting towards the ship. She was quick, light on her feet and not weighed down by any heavy clothing or weapons which worked to her advantage.
She knew these streets too, weaving in between people and things before the ship was so close, practically in reach.
Lana pursued Astra down the street with Kai at her heels. She laughed, her voice carried by the wind, "You're not going to shoot me."
"You really think so?" He fired a warning shot, narrowly missing her shoulder, causing her to turn around.
She grinned, fingers twitching around her blades. "That's how you want this to go?" With speed he could hardly comprehend she was attacking him, her knives cutting through the air and nearly impaling him. He dodged, his gun firing and missing again. Using the end of his weapon, he deflected her right hand, but the knife in her left hand managed to graze his arm. He swept a foot beneath her, unsteadying her, and then slammed his weapon against her head.
She was disoriented, giving him time to leap up and dash towards his ship. He was close, and he assumed Astra was inside.
By this point, the princess was indeed inside the ship, panting and watching out the window of the cockpit as the two bounty hunters fought momentarily on the street.
She winced as Lana was hit in the head, knowing that was going to leave a large lump later on. She would have felt bad had she not been trying to kill her a second ago.
She looked to Kai when he entered, noting the graze on his arm. It wasn’t deep, but would probably still need treating.
Kai stumbled into the cockpit and threw himself into the pilot's seat, powering up the ship. The engine hummed as it started up. "You owe me a thank you," he said breathlessly, glancing at Astra. "See how brutal other hunters are?"
He still didn't have a plan, other than get the hell alway from Lana, but at least he was safe within his ship. He took a deep breath as the ship rumbled to life, starting to lift off and leave this planet behind.
Astra leaned against the side of the ship, keeping her gaze focused on the window and on her home, the streets and the building slowly disappearing as they rose higher off the ground, “And you owe me a name, sir,” She replied, looking over at him only when everything from her city was completely gone, “I can’t thank a man if I do not know what he calls himself now, can I?”
"My apologies," he said, feeling the tension and the adrenaline ease from his shoulders. He decided as usual to avoid using his full name, since his last name wasn't exactly obscure. "I'm Kai. Some call me Skip, 'cause I was named after my grandfather, so take your choice."
“Well, thank you, Kai, for not killing me straight away and saving my life in a time span of fifteen minutes,” Astra offered a small smile, “Where exactly are we headed?” She asked after a moment, turning her gaze from him to the window.
Kai smiled slightly at the name she'd chosen. His nickname held a few bad memories, so really he preferred his real name. He tapped a finger against his GPS. "Unfortunately, I still need to turn you over to my employer. But first, I need fuel. I was planning on refueling back on your planet there, but I was also planning on you being dead. I guess we'll just head to the closest planet, fuel up, and head to my employer on Zuka."
Astra sighed softly, sinking down to the floor and crossing her legs beneath her, “How thrilling,” She mumbled, resting her hands in her lap. Right, she was still going to die eventually, how could she forget, “Suppose it’s a small mercy you haven’t killed me yet. Guess I should be grateful for that too, huh?”
"I mean, yeah," he said with a laugh, navigating them through the planet's atmosphere and into open space. He switched the controls to autopilot, leaning back with his feet on the dash and admiring the stars. "Hate to break it to you, but the probability of you living is quite low no matter how you spin it. I'm the only one who'll at least let you see a little of the universe first before it all goes dark."
“How charming, I bet you get all the women swooning over you with that type of talk,” She rested her head back against the side of the ship. She let her eyes close, steadying her breathing, “At least you’re more merciful then that other bounty hunter… probably best you got to me first.”
He smirked at that, glancing over at her before returning his attention to the cosmos. "Mm, I'm much more merciful than the others. Better looking, too. Most bounty hunters are ugly sons of bitches, so you're welcome for that too." He realized that his arm was still bleeding and sat up straight, twisting to see the wound. It wasn't deep but it was bleeding pretty heavily. Annoying, but nothing he couldn't handle.
She cracked an eye open with a small smile, shaking her head softly, "Probably more egoistical, as well." She paused for a moment, watching Kai access the wound, "Where do you keep your medical supplies? I'll patch it up for you as an extended thank you." She stood, dusting herself off.
He made a face, shaking his head. "Don't worry about that. I'll patch it up myself. It's not too bad." He stood and headed into the back of the ship, "You're welcome to follow of course, the ship's pretty small and all my weapons are locked away, so I'm not too concerned." He located his bottle of whiskey. "Want a drink?"
Astra crossed her arms over her chest, leaning into her hip as she raised a brow, "For one, you're still bleeding, at least let me put a bandage round it. And two, I'm not much of a drinker, so I'll pass on that offer." She'd never found alcohol very tasteful, opting more for juices and sweet drinks then liquor.
"Boo, boring," he laughed, pouring himself a drink and taking a quick sip. He rummaged around in the cabinet, pushing past empty bottles and other trash, to locate his first aid kit. "Can I offer you water then? I think I have water somewhere around here."
She waved her hands in the air, letting out an exasperated sigh as she plonked herself down in Kai's seat, swinging her legs over the arm of the chair as she did so, "Yes, yes I know, so I've been told by many. I'm okay for now, but thanks for the offer, I'm not thirsty."