Destiny Among the Stars - Scifi - LitRPG - Adventure

Luca's legs turned to jelly the second they hit solid ground. Forty hours of crawling through that metal nightmare, and his body felt raw, pain shooting through every muscle. The migraine that had been building during their escape from the battleship now pounded behind his eyes like a drum solo from hell.

He collapsed onto the red-tinged soil of New Dawn, knees hitting the alien earth hard enough to rattle his teeth. Clean air filled his lungs, almost sweet compared to the recycled death they'd been breathing in that battleship. Real oxygen. Real damn oxygen that wasn't rationed.

"Christ," Luca gasped, rolling onto his back and staring up at the canopy of weird red-barked trees. The filtered sunlight sent fresh spikes through his skull. His hands still burned where Joey's bandages covered the plasma damage, but even that felt distant compared to the bone-deep weariness that had settled into every fiber he owned.

Around him, the rest of the crew hit the dirt like dropped sacks of cement, armor clanking as they found whatever comfortable positions they could manage.

Emily landed beside him with a soft grunt, blonde hair spilling across the alien moss as she closed her eyes. Even covered in forty hours of delve grime, she was beautiful. The way the light caught the tired curve of her jaw made Luca's chest tight, but he was too wiped to do anything except appreciate the view.

"Never again," Ryan wheezed from somewhere to Luca's left, voice muffled by his helmet. "I'm never setting foot in another battleship as long as I live." He dropped his oversized backpack, trinkets and loot clattering inside.

"You say that every time," Danny pointed out, his bulk sprawled against a tree trunk like he'd been dumped there by a crane.

That's when Luca noticed something was off.

His brain was running on fumes and spite, the migraine making it hard to focus, but even through his exhausted haze, the details filtered through. Scorch marks. Dark streaks across the red bark surrounding their clearing, the burn patterns you got from energy weapons. And there, near the Peregrine where it sat in outpost mode, darker stains on the moss that definitely weren't natural.

"Guys," Luca said, his voice rougher than intended. "Look around."

The team gradually lifted their heads, following his gaze as he pointed out the evidence. Fresh scorch marks, some still smoking in the humid forest air. Whatever had happened here wasn't long past.

Joey was the first to move, medical training overriding his weariness as he pushed upright and approached one of the darker stains. He knelt beside it, pulling out a small scanner from his med kit. The device beeped softly as it analyzed the sample.

"Blood," Joey announced, voice tight with professional concern. "Blue-black composition, definitely not human. Still warm, too. Whatever this came from, the fight was recent."

Luca's stomach clenched as certainty settled in his gut like a cold stone. The Nyxocatus. The big bastard that had been stalking them before they'd entered the portal. He could picture it in his mind, that sleek predator with its bioluminescent markings and amber eyes, the way it had watched them from the shadows.

"How recent?" Zoe asked, and Luca could hear the sharp interest in her voice even through her tiredness. She was already pushing to her feet, dark eyes scanning the treeline with predatory focus.

Joey ran another scan. "Within the last few hours, maybe less. It's still alive, but wounded."

Zoe's entire posture changed. Where moments before she'd been sprawled across the moss like the rest of them, now she was coiled and ready. "It's still out there," she said, and there was something hungry in her voice that made Luca's brain ping warnings through the migraine fog.

"Zoe," Luca started, but she was already moving toward the treeline, following some trail only she could see.

"The pattern of the scorch marks," she called back, voice getting more distant as she moved between the trees. "Something big fought here. Multiple opponents, judging by the burn spread. And our friend won, but not without cost."

Heat spread through Luca's chest, the kind that came with guilt and realization. The Nyxocatus had been here. It had fought something, multiple somethings, while they were gone. The only reason for it to stick around would be their camp; the only reason for it to defend this particular patch of forest was them. Their gear. Their territory.

The big cat had been protecting their shit.

"Damn," Luca muttered, the word carrying more weight than it should. His hands were shaking, and not just from weariness anymore. The creature had stood guard over their camp while they were gone, had fought off whatever System nightmares had tried to claim their territory, and now it was out there somewhere, bleeding and hurt because of them.

Emily pushed herself up on her elbows, following Luca's gaze toward where Zoe had disappeared into the red-tinted forest. "What are you thinking?" she asked, concern clear in her voice.

"I'm thinking," Luca said slowly, the migraine making each word feel heavy, "that we owe that cat our lives. And probably our gear."

Danny groaned from his position against the tree. "Please tell me you're not about to suggest we start hiking through the woods looking for a wounded apex predator when we can barely keep our eyes open."

That was exactly what Luca was thinking, and Danny calling it out made his jaw clench. The migraine pulsed harder. Because Danny was right, of course. They were in no shape for another fight, especially not one involving a creature that could tear them apart on its best day, let alone when it was cornered and wounded. But the guilt was eating at Luca, that familiar burn that came with knowing someone had sacrificed for you.

System mobs like the Varnathi and insectoids dissolved into black mist when they died outside of portals. But this blood was real, warm, vital. The Nyxocatus was flesh and blood, a local creature transformed by the System, and it had bled in this clearing.

Chris spoke up from where he'd been checking his plasma rifle. "If it's wounded, it might not survive the night. Predators like that, they attract scavengers when they're weak."

Zoe's voice echoed back from deeper in the forest, faint but clear. "Found the trail! It's heading west!"

Luca closed his eyes, feeling command settle on his shoulders like a heavy coat. His crew was beat, running on empty after forty hours of constant danger. The smart play was to secure their position, rest, recover, and worry about the local wildlife later. But the image of those amber eyes kept flashing in his mind, the memory of powerful muscles moving through shadows.

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"Shit," Luca said, opening his eyes to find Emily watching him with that knowing look. She could read him like a book.

"Whatever you're planning," she said softly, "just remember that we need you alive more than that cat does."

But even as she said it, Luca could see in her green eyes that she understood. That she felt the same pull, the same debt. They weren't the kind of people who left their guardians to die alone in the woods.

The question was whether they were strong enough to do anything about it.

"[Bonfire] first," Luca said, his voice hoarse but carrying enough authority to cut through the team's tired haze. "We need a safe zone before anything else."

The words felt right, even if his gut was screaming to do something else. Leadership meant making the smart call even when every instinct was telling you to chase after Zoe into those woods and find the creature that needed them. The migraine made it easier to focus on the practical choice.

Danny groaned but started pushing himself upright, his frame creaking like old machinery. "You're right," he admitted, though his tone suggested he wasn't happy about it. "We're all running on fumes."

"Speak for yourself," Ryan muttered, but he was already moving too, gathering his gear.

Emily squeezed Luca's shoulder as she stood. "Good call," she said quietly, and he could hear both approval and concern in her voice. She knew he wanted to chase after that wounded cat, and she knew why he was forcing himself to make the practical choice instead.

Despite their tiredness, the team scattered into familiar roles. Chris took perimeter watch, plasma assault rifle ready as he scanned the treeline for threats. Ryan and Danny began gathering fallen branches from the alien trees.

Luca was about to join the wood gathering when Joey appeared beside him, med kit already open and that stern expression Luca recognized from a hundred previous missions.

"Hands," Joey commanded, not asking.

"They're fine," Luca started to protest, but Joey was already reaching for the hasty bandages he'd slapped on earlier.

"Bullshit," Joey said flatly. "Those burns need proper treatment, not battlefield patches. Sit down before you fall down."

Something in Joey's voice allowed no argument, and honestly, Luca was too tired to fight him. He slumped onto a fallen log, careful to avoid a branch poking his ass, and extended his hands with a resigned sigh. The movement sent fresh waves of pain through his palms and another spike through his skull.

Joey peeled away the temporary bandages carefully, his professional mask slipping slightly as he examined the damage. "Hell, Luca. These are deeper than I thought."

The burns looked ugly in the filtered sunlight, angry red welts crossed with blisters that had already started weeping clear fluid. The skin around the worst areas was white and waxy, dead tissue that would probably need surgical removal once they got back to the Triumph.

"Will I live?" Luca asked, trying for humor but hearing the weariness in his own voice.

"You'll live," Joey confirmed, already prepping a nanite bandage. "But these are going to hurt like hell for the next few days."

Ice water relief spread from Luca's palms up through his wrists when Joey applied the nanite bandages. He watched as Joey wrapped his hands. The pain didn't disappear entirely, but it dulled to something manageable.

"Better?" Joey asked.

"Much," Luca admitted, flexing his fingers experimentally. Still hurt, but bearable now. "Thanks."

By the time Joey finished with Luca's hands, the others had assembled an impressive pile of fallen wood in the center of their clearing. The alien trees dropped branches regularly, judging by the amount of deadfall scattered around, and the red-barked wood looked dry and ready for burning.

Danny had outdone himself, his powered armor letting him drag entire fallen trunks into position around their fire pit. The guy was a walking construction crew when he put his mind to it, and despite his tiredness, he'd managed to create something that looked almost professional.

The wood caught immediately, burning with a clean, bright flame that smelled faintly of cinnamon. As the fire built from flickering spark to roaring blaze, Luca felt something shift in the air around them, like pressure dropping or electricity building.

Then the notification he was waiting for appeared in all their interfaces simultaneously:

[Safe Zone Established - Duration: 12:00:00]

"Twelve hours," Chris said with satisfaction, finally relaxing his guard stance as the System's protection settled around their camp. "Not bad for a pile of alien kindling."

The safe zone was visible as a faint shimmer in the air at the edges of their clearing, like heat distortion but more regular, more purposeful. Nothing hostile would be able to enter this space for the next twelve hours, which meant they could finally, truly rest.

But rest was the last thing on Zoe's mind as she emerged from the woods, dark eyes bright with tracking fever.

"It's definitely hurt," she reported, voice tight with urgency. "Blood trail leads deeper into the forest, toward a rocky outcropping about a quarter mile north. Moving slow, favoring its left side."

Joey closed his med kit with a snap. "I'm going with you," he said, surprising nobody. The man couldn't resist a medical challenge, and a wounded apex predator definitely qualified.

Chris slung his rifle over his shoulder. "Someone needs to watch the medic's back," he said with a grin that didn't quite hide his excitement.

Luca looked at Emily, then at Ryan and Danny, both of whom were already settling in around the fire with obvious relief. They needed the rest more than they needed to traipse through alien woods chasing wounded wildlife.

"Stay here," Luca told them. "Keep the fire going. We'll be back before the safe zone expires."

Emily caught Luca's arm as he stood, the movement making his migraine pulse. "Be careful," she said.

Before he could respond, she pulled him down for a kiss, soft and quick but carrying weight behind it. When they broke apart, she rested her forehead against his for just a moment.

"We will," Luca said, his voice rougher than before.

"You better," Emily murmured, her thumb brushing across his cheek. "Because when you get back, we're going to have a very serious conversation about how you keep almost getting yourself killed." The way she said it, with that particular smile playing at the corners of her mouth, suggested the conversation might involve significantly less talking than other activities.

Luca's brain short-circuited for a second, migraine forgotten. "That's... that's definitely motivation to come back in one piece."

Emily's grin widened. "Good. Now go save your cat."

The four of them headed into the woods following the blood trail that only Zoe seemed able to see clearly. Luca's [Heightened Awareness] was great for combat, but he didn't have the tracking skills Zoe possessed; she moved through the forest like she was following a highway.

They took the Specter and floated behind Zoe as she led the way on foot. She was in her element and didn't mind walking while they took the easy route. Tracking was one of her specialties, a focus of her Combat Path. She'd gone from Scout to Sniper to Assassin, focused on long range, tracking, and reconnaissance.

Trees grew thicker as they moved deeper, their canopy filtering the sunlight into increasingly dim, bloody patterns. Insect-like chirping filled the air along with the rustle of unseen creatures above.

They found the Nyxocatus in a small clearing beside a cluster of moss-covered rocks, exactly where Zoe had predicted. The big cat lay on his side, beautiful violet fur matted with blue-black blood, amber eyes dim with pain but still alert. He was enormous, even lying down, easily the size of a big motorcycle, his body built for speed and power.

Luca froze as the creature lifted that huge head. Only his left ear flicked once, the bioluminescent tip pulsing faintly, like a signal. Then he let out a low, rumbling growl, more warning than threat, before settling back onto his side.

Moving closer, Luca could see the ragged tears in violet fur, bright orange scorch rings around matted patches where plasma bolts had punched through. A smear of dark blood ran from a gash on his flank, drying into a crust that glittered in the filtered light. Each breath was shallow, every rise and fall of his chest hard-won.

But it was the tiny form pressed against his side that made Luca's throat close up.

A kitten, covered in downy fur that showed the faint beginnings of the adult's bioluminescent patterns. It mewed pitifully as they approached, its tiny voice barely audible over the forest sounds.

According to Luca's [Combat Predictive Modeling] skill, the big cat was an evolved beast that had reached level 61 in just a few weeks. He lifted his head slightly as they entered the clearing, amber eyes fixing on Luca with an intelligence that was definitely not animal. This creature knew them.

And now he was dying, alone except for a baby that would never survive without him.

"Hell," Luca whispered.