A/N: Thanks always to Mizvoy for the editing. Reviews are always greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!

COMING HOME AGAIN

By KJaneway 115

1

Running. They were running as fast they could, the uneven ground making it difficult for them to keep pace ahead of their would-be captors. A thick branch cracked under a heavy step, alerting one of their pursuers to their location. They heard yelling behind them as the Kerhonkset leader ordered his men in their direction.

"We're never going to outrun them," Janeway panted as she ducked to avoid a fallen tree branch. "Need a new strategy."

"Agreed," her first officer managed. He began to look in the dense forest for someplace they might be able to hide. The ground was covered in fallen leaves, but it would take them too much time to cover themselves in leaves and hide in the underbrush. They needed a ready-made hiding place. Suddenly, Chakotay saw a cluster of rocks. Reaching out to grab Kathryn's hand, he said, "Over here."

He tugged her towards the rocks as they heard their pursuers getting closer. One large, flat rock jutted out over the ground, and Chakotay dropped to the forest floor, pulling Janeway with him. He scooted under the rock, and she followed. There was barely enough space between the rock and the ground for their bodies to fit, and they lay, pressed against each other, their faces pushed into the dirt, trying not to breathe or make a sound.

They heard voices approaching and felt the ground tremble with the footfalls of the boar-like beasts the Kerhonkset rode. "I'm sure they went this way," one of the men said.

"I don't think so," said another voice, this one more gruff than the first. "Why would they go this way if they are in cahoots with the Prime Minister?"

"I don't know," said the first voice.

Janeway and Chakotay watched in horror as a large pair of brown Kerhonkset boots rounded the corner and approached the rock under which they hid. "I was sure I saw them running this direction." The voice was so close that Janeway felt certain the Kerhonkset man would be able to hear them breathing. She tried to hold her breath and inched her body further back into the rock. Chakotay felt her press herself tighter against him, and somewhere in the dark, cramped space, he found her fingers and intertwined them with his own.

"Well," said a third voice, "we've lost them for now. We'll have to come back with the gorkin."

"By the time you get back here with the gorkin, their scent will be gone," said the first voice, which always sounded like it was whining.

"Nah," replied the third man. "My gorkin can track a scent even after the thing's been gone for hours. He'll find them. I'll bet you next week's cut on it."

"No bet. You know your animal, I'm sure you're right."

"Well, come on then," said the gruff voice. "Let's get out of here and get some dinner if we're not going to catch those rascals tonight."

"You get dinner if you want. I'm coming right back with Chosko."

"Chosko?"

"His gorkin," said the whiney voice.

The boots that stood in view of the two Starfleet officers finally began to retreat, and Chakotay felt Janeway's body relax a little beside him. They heard the sounds of the three men mounting their beasts and the footfalls as the beasts began to trundle away. "I think the coast is clear," Chakotay whispered.

Janeway reached for the edge of the rock to pull herself out. She had just started to tug when she heard a sound and froze. She tried to pull her hand back in, but it was stuck between the rock and a branch. "I'm stuck," she hissed, panicked.

They heard the heavy footfalls of one of the Kerhonkset beasts drawing closer and closer. Chakotay tried to pull Kathryn back under the rock, but her hand only became wedged tighter into the tree branch.

The beast was close, and they heard its rider dismount and then begin to whistle. They watched in terror as his big black boots walked right in front of them, but he turned a corner and didn't appear to see the errant human hand protruding from under the rock. "Gotta mark this spot for later," he said quietly to himself. "Here's where Chosko will pick up the scent. I know they were here, no matter what Krond says." There was a rustle of branches, and then the footsteps drew farther away, until they heard him mount his beast and heard the beast disappear through the forest.

Chakotay let out a long breath. "That was close."

"Too close. Now help me get my hand free." Janeway tried to maneuver her hand out of crevice between the branch and the rock, but it wouldn't budge. In fact, it seemed that the more she tugged, the tighter around her arm the branch wound itself. "Chakotay, I think this branch is alive."

"Alive?"

"It's holding my arm tighter and tighter."

"Okay. Relax. Stop pulling away. Maybe it will release its grip."

"Like playing tug-of-war with a dog?"

"Exactly."

She relaxed her arm and stopped tugging, despite the painful grip the vine now had in her wrist. Little by little, as it sensed her lack of resistance, the branch released its hold on her. "I think it's working." She waited until she was sure she could pull her arm free before quickly yanking it out of the branch's reach. She propelled herself out from under the rock, Chakotay close behind her. The tree thrashed out at them with long, vine-like tentacles and hurled one of its long branches at them like a whip. Janeway was safely out of range, but the creature's tentacle lashed out, slashing across Chakotay's back. He cried out in pain.

"Chakotay!"

"I'm okay. We have to keep going!" He pulled himself up and resumed his run even as pain shot from his shoulder down his back.

After several minutes of running as fast as she could, Janeway could run no further. Panting for breath, she staggered into a clearing, collapsing on a large, flat rock. Chakotay was a few paces behind her, and he stumbled to his knees, crying out as pain jolted his wounded shoulder.

"Chakotay." Kathryn scrambled to his side, falling to her knees next to him, placing a hand on his lower back. "Are you all right?"

With difficulty, he raised his head to look at her. "I'll be okay. We can't stay here too long."

"That thing hit you."

He nodded. "My shoulder."

"Let me take a look at it."

He sat back on his heels, wincing, to allow her a better look at his wound. Lodged in his shoulder was a large thorn, evidently left there by the plant-like creature that had attacked them. The area around the offending object was red and swollen. "There's a thorn in your shoulder."

"Can you remove it?"

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I think it's better than leaving it there." The throbbing pain in his shoulder was making it difficult for Chakotay to think.

"Okay." Janeway looked around, searching for any tool or plant that might help her. She wished she knew something about the plant life on Kerhonkset, but they hadn't exactly been planning on getting lost in the woods when they had beamed down. They didn't even have a tricorder to determine if something was poisonous or not. The thorn was about the size of her thumb and dark green in color. When she looked down upon the top of the cone-like shape, she could see bright red veins running through it. "I'm going to do it," she warned. Chakotay took a deep breath and braced himself, then felt a searing pain as she pulled the thorn out. He stifled a cry. "Sorry."

"'S okay," he answered through gritted teeth.

She showed him the thorn. "It was embedded pretty deep. You're bleeding. Hold still." She removed her Starfleet jacket and tore off a strip, using it as a makeshift compress against her first officer's shoulder, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Thanks." He met her eyes and forced a smile.

"How does it feel?"

"Better than before. Now it's more like a dull ache, rather than a throbbing pain."

"Good." She flopped down in a cross-legged position on the ground next to him, keeping the pressure on his wound. "We need a plan. We can't just keep running."

"Wait for Voyager to rescue us?" he suggested. "We don't have a whole lot of options. I doubt the Kerhonkset would respond very well to negotiations."

"They certainly haven't seemed to want to talk so far. In the meantime, we have to stay ahead of that gorkin. It sounded like a tracking animal to me."

"Agreed. We may not be able to outrun it, but we can outsmart it."

"Any suggestions, Commander?"

Chakotay replied with an 'I wish I had one' look, and they sat on the ground in silence for several moments. Suddenly, Chakotay perked up. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

With a groan, he stood and started to walk towards the sound. Janeway followed him. "There," he said, "listen."

The captain stopped and listened; then her face lit up when she heard what he was talking about. "Water."

Chakotay nodded, setting off at a faster pace. "Most animals can't track a scent through the water. We can use the water to throw it off our trail."

"We still have no idea where we're going."

"No, but at least we can buy Voyager a little time."