Is it worth it?

Disclaimer: Halo's kickass characters are owned by Bungie.
------------------
No one ever saw what happened. There were screams. Wild shots fired. But no one could see anything.

Ghlariknee's grip on his carbine tightened, his stance crouching even lower. The Sanghelli's defensive senses heightened. A shout was heard relatively near his position. Adrenaline pumping, Ghlariknee jerked quickly towards that direction. But he was aiming blindly. The mist covered up everything. Even the Brute he knew should be just beneath his crouched figure was invisible to him.

Said Brute chose that moment to retaliate. Lunging forward, he swiped the red Sanghelli off his feet as he pulled himself up. The Covenant was jeering gleefully at his small victory, turning down towards where he heard the Sanghelli groaning in pain. The Brute raised his brute shot above his head, a war cry rolling off his tongue.

Ghalriknee grimaced. 'Get up. GET UP!' His inner voice shouted at his body. The Brute was gonna kill him. He HAD to get up.

But when the Covenant had rammed the Sanghelli off his feet, his head had banged against a rock. His brow was split, blood pouring down one side of his face. Everything was a bit hazy through the pain the blow had given, the vision out of one of his eyes tinted purple.

The red Elite blinked painfully above him, the sound of the Brute crying out finally registering. He tensed, preparing to roll out of the way if needed. But suddenly, the sound of the Brute changed from one of victorious rage to one of paralyzing fear. The Sanghelli froze himself, instincts shouting at him to lay still. Not a breath later, something glided centimeters above him, a sickening 'splurtch' heard as the Brute was ran through with something and carried off. The Covenant's still warm blood splattered over Ghlariknee. But the Sanghelli barely flinched.

Despite the chill of his narrow escape from death, Ghlariknee still felt his heart thumping beneath his protective red armor. A sound he now feared might alert whatever hid in the mist to his presence.

;-;

The Arbiter stretched his arm out beside him, effectively stopping Master Chief as his chest armor ran into the outstretched limb. Slightly annoyed at the sudden halt, the Chief turned a questioning gaze towards the cobalt Sanghelli, trying to ignore the A.I.'s whispered voice inside his head.

(--Now, when I had said old before. I didn't mean OLD old. Just, like, you know... old. How else could you explain the way- --)

They had already retrieved the jamming device with, surprisingly, little effort. The Arbiter had scoffed when he realized the Covenant hadn't even bothered to assign guards to it. Unfortunately, the process that was required to disable it would take a whole two hours at least. Time they didn't have. Which is why the Chief suddenly found himself cradling the foot long machinary in one hand, a plasma rifle in the other.

Cortana stopped the one-sided conversation when she noticed, simultaneously with the Spartan, the reason the Arbiter had stopped them. Down the ramp and stretched over their entire vision was a thick yellow mist. Within the mist they could hear bouts of fearful screams and wild shots. The Chief tilted his head an inch to the side as a blind shot passed where his head had been, the only visible remaints of it blackened and smoking against the hull.

--Okay, THAT... was a bit close.-- Cortana commented aloud, her tone disapproving.

"Well, maybe next time someone should just stop talking." The Chief said nonchalantly.

Irked that the Chief didn't even seem to care, a frown could be emanating from the A.I.'s voice, --Did you just tell me to shut up?--

"I am." The Arbiter cut off whatever Master Chief had been about to say, trying to get the quarreling warrior's attention, "There is something in the mist. My people are getting slaughtered out there."

"Is this what you were trying to warn us about?" Master Chief demanded.

--...well, uh... sort of...-- The A.I. answered, sounding almost reluctant.

"What are their strengths? Their weaknesses?" The Arbiter asked quickly, wanting to know that they could be taken down.

--Unknown.-- Cortana replied as she shifted at lightspeed through the newly acquired information, --The only relevent bit of data I can scrounge is simply that they should be avoided.--

"Then why did you sound so panicked earlier?" The Spartan questioned, inattentively following as the cobalt Sanghelli plunged headfirst into the mist.

--All I could retrieve, before I just HAD to pull out, was that they were extremely dangerous.-- Master Chief listened with half an ear while the other one and a half focused on following the Arbiter's steps before him and the blind battle waged around them. Was it possible to listen with half an ear? Apparently, the Chief didn't care if it was or wasn't. --All grunts, jackals, and drones that ever crossed their path were instantly killed in cold blood. Retaliation was evident in most cases, but futile.--

"Did the Covenant not have Elites with them when they encountered these creatures?" The Chief asked, brow quirked. He didn't find a need to fear the creatures just 'cause they could easily slaughter the smaller of the Covenant forces.

Sensing his doubt, Cortana clarified, --The creatures slaughtered huge GROUPS of grunts, jackals, and drones.-- This new information made the Chief raise his brow higher, though in a more surprised manner. Huge groups of the little annoying Covenants were always a bit difficult to kill. Cortana continued, --And about the Elites, the Covenant DID have them on their forces. But in every encounter with the creatures, all that would be left were mutilated corpses of the Covenant's smaller sized allies. While the bodies of the Elites... well, THEIR bodies were never found. A battle called the ship that had scoped out this planet, not giving them the time or higher motive to simply glass the planet. Instead, they classified this planet as one of the 'Untouchables'.--

Catching that snippet of the conversation, the Arbiter threw over his head, "I've heard of that encounter."

"As have I." Drajha-Lee commented, stepping closer to the approaching warriors. He held still as both the Arbiter and the Demon aimed at him out of reflex, their forms barely outlined in the mist. Once they registered he was an ally, the golden Sanghelli continued, "That is the reason for my hesitation earlier."

"Leader," the Arbiter greeted, senses still tuned to the battle around them, "it is good to know you are still safe."

"The battle still wages." Drajha-Lee commented, though he still clasped the cobalt Sanghelli's forearm in warm greeting.

Shifting his hold on the jamming device, the Demon said, "Mission accomplished." With a sidelong glance at the Arbiter, the green armored warrior added, "Mostly."

A screaming grunt running towards them caught their attention.

"It's coming!! It's coming!!! IT'S-" The grunt's loud shrieks were abruptly cut off, its slightly visible form quickly guttered and left for dead by a flit of shadows.

Master Chief cursed. Drajha-Lee stiffened. The Arbiter tensed. They hadn't seen the thing. Hadn't even felt its presence. But they all knew it wasn't something to be trifled with.

;-;

It was a good long while before Ghlariknee was able to pull himself to his feet. Grabbing the dropped brute shot, the Sanghelli tried hard not to think of what just happened as he weaved his way towards the direction he believed their ship was.

He stumbled. The brute shot slipped from his grasp the third or fourth time he tripped, landing heavily on the ground. If his reflexes hadn't pulled his arms out to catch himself, Ghlariknee would have suffered from a few bruises. Cursing at the realization that he was unarmed, the red armored Sanghelli jerked his head around to glare at whatever had caused him to trip. It was a grunt. He opened his mouth to growl a few choice words before he realized something else.

The grunt was dead.

Eyes widened slightly, Ghlariknee jerked himself to his feet, even as he berated, 'Get a hold of yourself, Ghlariknee.' It wasn't as if he hadn't seen a dead comrade before.

Clenching his teeth, the red armored Sanghelli swung his face to look forward. A surprised gasp came from him and he blanched.

In front of him, no more than two feet, was an inquisitive face. The yellow shade of its metallic skin allowed it to blend in with the mist easily, making it almost impossible to tell what shape the mist creature was. But its eyes...

It's eyes were a deep, blood red.

Something moved. Ghlariknee's eye twitched towards the movement, finding some sort of tail whipping out behind it. The only reason he could see that tail was because of the blood dripping slowly off it. Almost as if the creature had continuously skewered bodies with it. The Sanghelli shuddered at the thought. THAT must have been what sliced through the dead Brute from moments ago.

"By the gods..." Ghlariknee gasped, his eyes trailing back up to lock with those crimson eyes before him.

;-;

All three warriors jerked back towards the dead grunt as they heard something stumble over it.

Master Chief squinted. The mist was making it so hard to see.

'Is it an ally?' The Arbiter wondered, his brow creased into a frown.

Drajha-Lee was tense, counting the seconds.

If it was an enemy, it should be attacking any moment. But t was so hard to see in the mist.

The mist seemed almost to take a solid form, though the Renegades couldn't be sure it wasn't just their eyes tricking them. It was hard to see. So hard. They could make out a bloody appendage waving around. Was that a... tail??

"By the gods..." The voice of the one who tripped breathed out, though his form was obscured now, somehow.

"Ghlariknee!" Drajha-Lee recognized the voice instantly.

Said Sanghelli jerked his head. At the same time, something clicked in Master Chief's head. They could no longer make out the Sanghelli's form because SOMETHING had placed itself between them!!

Words would take too long. Action was needed. NOW.

Soundlessly, Master Chief shoved the jamming device into a surprised Drajha-Lee's arms.

The Spartan darted forward at the same time the thing in the mist did. The Chief was fast. But the creature was in its element. And it was closer.

Ghlariknee gasped. The thing was fast. It was moving towards him and he was unarmed. But the red armored Sanghelli remembered how he had evaded the first one. He had been on the ground. So maybe... maybe the thing floated in the air???? No time to think. Ghlariknee just dropped to the dirt.

It was a good thing, too. He felt the whoosh of air as something swooped past him. It had been so close his senses tingled. The eyes were gone.

Suddenly, something clasped on his arm. Ghlariknee froze. It had gotten him!! How had it come back so fast?! The Sanghelli tensed, ready to fight for his life. He would NOT end up skewered like that moronic Brute.

But before he could even land a punch, he was pulled to his feet.

"Let's move." Master Chief said, his face close to Ghlariknee's for a moment.

The Chief had to make sure it was an ally. Had to make sure he was okay. But first, he had to take him back to the safety of the group. It was a good thing the Spartan had taken charge because the moment Ghlariknee had seen who his rescuer was, his mind had blanked out on him. It was the Chief. The one who had almost...

"Are you armed?" The Chief growled, intent on getting them both to safety.

Ghlariknee shook his head to clear it. It was not a time to reminisc and think of such thoughts. He focused, instead, on the hand gripped on his arm. Focused on the tense back of the Demon before him. Focused on the fear to stay alive.

"No." Ghlariknee replied.

The Demon grunted, "Then stick close. Grab whatever weapon you see laying around."

Ghlariknee's eyes flicked to the Demon's hand. The hand that was STILL on his arm. He wasn't some CHILD to be led around from place to place. Ghlariknee frowned at this sudden thought. Who did the Demon think he was? The Sanghelli tugged his arm in an attempt to free himself, only to recieve a growl from the Demon before him. The growl sent shivers up and down the Sanghelli's spine and he immediately stopped trying to pull away.

"Do you wanna get lost?" Master Chief demanded.

Then Ghlariknee realized why the Demon was still holding his arm. If he took two steps away from the Demon, he probably would have lost track of him.

Glad that the Sanghelli wasn't going to make more trouble, the Chief focused on finding the group. Though they couldn't have been more than a few yards away, the Spartan was suddenly finding it difficult to find out where they were.

--Is someone lost?-- Cortana teased.

"No." The Chief snapped back, looking a bit around before adding resentfully, "...Maybe..."

The A.I. paused expectantly. But when the Chief didn't say anything else, Cortana sighed audibly, --Men, sheesh.-- In a louder tone, she exclaimed, --HEY! Arbiter! Drajha-Lee! Where are you guys?--

Somewhere to their left, they heard the welcome voice of the Sanghelli responded.

"We are here, Demon! Where did you go?"

"Is Ghlariknee safe??"

The Chief's expression contorted in troubled confusion. How had they gotten so sidetracked? The voices sounded... far away.

"This mist is too thick." Ghlariknee heard the Demon mutter beneath his breath before replying aloud, "Yeah, the Sanghelli's safe! We got sidetracked a bit! We're coming!"

Another tug from the Sanghelli made the Chief turn irritably towards Ghlariknee, "Would you cut it o-"

He was cut off immediately as Ghlariknee tugged the Demon forcefully to the ground. The eyes. They were back.

The moment the Sanghelli had noticed, his voice had shut down. He couldn't speak. He could barely breath. There was just something about those eyes that made him shiver uncontrollably. They were asking... no, they were DEMANDING something. They wanted something. And Ghlariknee had a feeling he would rather die than give it to them. But, of course, Ghlariknee didn't consider that an option.

So he had done the one thing he knew could save them. He pulled them both to the ground.

As the Chief was recovering from being pulled to the ground, he froze. NOW he noticed the creature. But by that time, it was already sweeping over them, missing once again. All thanks to the Sanghelli beside him.

The Spartan chastised himself harshly. How could he have been so ignorant in a battle?!

(--Hey, lighten up.--) The A.I. told him in the voice only he could hear, (--Those things don't make much noise in this mist, if you haven't noticed.--)

'Yeah. But I have other senses that should have alerted me to that... THING'S presence.' The Chief replied gruffly in thought.

"It's coming back!" Ghlariknee hissed, catching sight of the eyes. Those eyes... they were ignoring the Chief beside him. They were... it was almost like... like they were LOCKED right onto Ghlariknee.

Raising his plasma rifles, the Chief fired dead on to the target. He held his breath.

But the body of the creature just... opened up. The plasma bolts passed harmlessly through the self-made holes before the creature continued on its course. It hadn't even stopped. The Demon blinked. The plasma hadn't even phased it.

The Chief quickly ducked his head to the ground, his arms thrown protectively over it. They had remained on the ground, but he didn't want to chance losing a head or toe to carelessness. Likewise, Ghlariknee pressed himself as close to the ground as possible.

Once again, the thing passed over them. But beside him, Master Chief heard the Sanghelli gasp.

Ghlariknee couldn't help the surprised sound from escaping him. He turned his head to look behind him. Something was wrapped around his ankle. As it registered to his thoughts that it was the thing's tail, he was suddenly pulled backwards.

The thing was continuing on its path. And Ghlariknee was dragged along for the ride.