Haru yawned quietly, rubbing Fox's head where it lay in her lap, fingertips massaging the dark-haired girl's scalp. Above her, in the lounge, some movie or another played- it had been a long time since the others went to bed, and still, she sat there, watching the Tv, occasionally looking at the glimmering knife in her hands; the thing had changed color since Aurelia handed it over, now glimmering a strange blue-green, rippling as if there was an ocean in the metal.
For a moment, memories swam behind her eyes as she stared at the knife; her body rippling and expanding. Screaming and roaring, flames spilling off her tongue. The power, the ripping, the drive to protect…
"Mnh…" Fox exhaled slowly, starting to stir, and Haru blinked languidly down at her before glancing back up at the screen on the wall.
"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Haru whispered, gently tucking the girl's hair back, behind her ear.
"Fuck you," Fox whispered, smiling tiredly, eyes still closed. "Bitch. Hmph."
"Mhm, mhm," Haru agreed, nodding sagely.
"Why haven't you slept…? Or have you," Fox asked, her voice gentle, breathy.
"Haven't," Haru sighed, looking at the wall, now. "I feel like something isn't right, with me."
"Why is that?"
"I turned into a dragon, and I have no idea how to control it, how to turn into things willingly," Haru explained quietly, shaking her head. "I guess, I just feel overwhelmed, now that we're safe. I don't get hungry. I don't get horny. I just feel like I'm in a daze at all times."
"Sounds like shock…? Iunno, I'm no doctor," Fox grumbled, pushing her head deeper into Haru's lap and rolling onto her back, looking up at the other girl. "What I do know is that you're safe, and it's not something to be ashamed of if your body is being a little fucky."
"Fucky? Is that a word?" Haru raised an eyebrow, and Fox nodded sagely.
"I'm the ultimate linguist, trust me bro."
"Alright, alright," Haru snorted, rolling her eyes. "I trust."
"Good, it'd be kind of fucky if you didn't." Fox sniggered childishly, stretching and curling her tail over her waist to hide her midriff as it was exposed by the stretch.
"So, we're waiting to find out if we're fighting Starria. Pretty sure we are, though. What do you think?"
"I think that I don't know enough about them to decide," Fox shrugged, then shifted, ears twitching. "You hear that?"
"Hear what?" Haru muttered, sitting up; something felt… off.
"A window," Fox snapped, rolling to her feet and walking toward the hall that would take them to their bedrooms. "Somebody is here."
"Who," Haru whispered, flipping the knife into a downward grip and standing slowly.
"How could I know," Fox whispered, starting toward the hall- the one that led to the kitchens, in particular. "We really need better security- Brynn, now this…"
"Move," Haru sighed and shoved Fox aside, walking forward with her knife at the ready as she stepped into the kitchen proper and looked around. Silence.
"If you're here to talk, just come out," Haru snapped. "If you're here to fight, then I suppose, do what you need to do."
"Just here to talk," Came a clipped voice, and Haru watched as a blonde woman slowly stood from behind the kitchen island, hands raised. "Snuck in. I'm a friend."
"Then why not come in the day?"
"Didn't want to be seen by the cameras and such," She continued, slowly walking around the counter and sitting down on a barstool; interestingly, she was armed, handgun on one hip, knife at her waist, but she made no move to grab either.
"Sure, whatever," Haru sighed, flipping her knife upward and holding it more relaxedly, now. "What is it that you want?"
"I'm to kill The Giant," she stared, flat; blonde hair, blue eyes, and soft features, but her eyes were hard as stone. This girl was dead serious.
"What's your name?" Haru raised an eyebrow, noticing Fox inching closer to her.
"Ayano. My real name, to be clear. You can trust me," The blonde added, staring. "My orders are to be as honest with you as I can, that you might take me seriously and trust me. Our goals align, don't they?"
"Not exactly," Haru admitted. "We're worried about the conflict with Starria," She added, crossing her arms. "I think The Giant should be put down, yes, but… but there's more to consider than our feelings."
"I see," Ayano nodded and hopped off the barstool, crossing her arms thoughtfully. "I was operating on false data then; we drew the conclusion that you would be after revenge for your friend."
"As much as I'd love to," Haru sighed, "-there's so much more at stake than that. Alexander is safe, and recovering. We can make the Giant pay once we settle the situation with Starria."
"Then I will leave," Ayano nodded. "I have only one target, so, should you receive any reports of me, understand that you have nothing to worry about."
"Who is we, by the way?" Fox chirped. "Who sent you?"
"Pempa," Ayano answered simply and hopped onto the kitchen island before hopping up; in one motion, she ripped a vent cover down and threw herself into the vent, vanishing. Surprised, Haru raised her eyebrows, walking toward the vent- Ayano reached back from the darkness, slamming and latching it, and then she was as good as gone, though Haru knew the woman would not be truly gone for several more minutes.
"That was weird," Fox muttered, wrinkling her nose. "So she basically was just letting us know that she's not a threat?"
"It makes sense," Haru reasoned, nodding. "If she's going to be in Mir interrogating people connected to the Giant, we may hear of a string of break-ins or something. So, it's fair that she'd want to let us know what's going on. I'm more interested in that royal we- who sent her here, and how did she get in so smoothly?"
"Should we wake the others?"
"No, I really don't think she's anything to worry about- but we do need better security. That shouldn't be an option; she seemed like a human. Conditioned to her peak, but human."
"Yeah, I didn't smell anything weird," Fox agreed, yawning and covering her mouth, ears flicking. "I want more sleep, and you haven't slept yet. Can we go to bed? I promise I won't molest you."
"Now why would you say that- see, now it sounds like you're going to molest me," Haru huffed, rolling her eyes, but there was a laugh in her voice.
"Because I am," Fox hummed sagely, and Haru snorted, walking back in the direction of the dorms, eyelids suddenly heavy.
"Yeah, I'm ready to sleep… if you wanna suck my tits, just try not to wake me up," She joked, stumbling.
Come morning, Haru didn't remember collapsing into bed, and woke to the bright sunlight warming her chest, making some of the loose strands of her hair in her peripheral glow like molten silver.
Fox was gone, and so she just stretched, yawning, arching her back- the stretch was so good, her legs shook, and Haru was left staring at the ceiling peacefully. After a few minutes, she raised a hand, splaying her fingers, thoughtful. Asking another shapeshifter to teach her how to master… that, was a gamble, since powers seemed to be unique to the person.
Still… It could be a start.
Putting it out of mind, for now, Haru groaned and climbed to her feet, shuddering; she could tell purely from the way her head felt larger that her hair was a mess, but uncaring, she headed for the kitchen, thinking that she might make a cup of coffee to help shake the web of fatigue pulling at her.
"Morning Haru," Aurelia mumbled stiffly at the counter when she arrived, and Haru raised an eyebrow, throwing herself onto a stool at the island. "I'm making coffee, if you want some? For future reference, if we have shady Pempan assassins sneak in at four in the morning; make sure we know. Fox filled us in, but why on Earth did you go back to sleep after that," She added, tail flicking slowly, agitatedly.
"I trusted her," Haru sighed, throwing her cheek into her hand, tail flicking, as if mimicking Aurelia's. "Sorry though, you're right. I'll say something next time. Just thought it could wait till morning since she didn't mean any harm."
"That's kinda stupid, but I'm so into morons," Charlotte winked playfully, suddenly on Haru's right- somehow, the sudden appearance didn't surprise her, really.
"Please stop flirting, Fox is gonna show up and this will be a foursome in a moment," Aurelia snorted, then caught herself- too late.
"Yeah it will," Charlotte agreed. "I'm so down. Aurelia don't you have magic to make me grow a cock or something?"
"If I do, and I'm not confirming- I'm not using it," Aurelia snorted, rolling her eyes, shaking her head. "Fuck off, Lottie," She added, slamming a mug of coffee down in front of Haru with a roll of the eyes. "Creamer?"
-
"Sure, thanks," The soldier nodded, holding his mug out and grimacing as Cook dumped some into his mug. "How long until we deploy? My watch is still broken."
"Twenty seven minutes," Cook replied tiredly, crossing his arms. "You ready? Bet you're gonna have fun, killing all them magic-using dark-bloods and golden-veins, right?" He chuckled, but there was no mirth in it.
"Yeah," William, the soldier, nodded. "I'm so ready to commit genocide. We're the good guys," He added, gritting his teeth and turning, walking away. It's this or be jailed, maybe killed. Wouldn't want them to think you're a sympathizer would you, William? Tell me though; how am I meant to fight for a cause I don't believe. I get in there- fuck, am I going to be able to pull the trigger?
I don't know, do I?
Sighing, William finished his burnt coffee and threw the paper cup away as he headed for the armory, preparing to ready up. Bulletproof vest with fire-resistance kevlar. Padded arm and leg guards. Full-face mask resistant to the elements and heat. Helmet. Standard-issue pistol, assault rifle and taser. Gas grenade, flash grenade, incendiary grenade and gasoline popper.
Sure, there are a few crazies, but what am I supposed to do? I mean- why am I to kill a thousand because one of them might be bad- and was the one even bad, or did we back them into a corner and expect them not to defend themselves? Fuck- fuck what am I supposed to do?
What I'm told.
Right.
Exhausted already, William stepped up into the dropship, sitting down and buckling in.
"Early!" The pilot laughed, looking back. "That eager?!"
"Let's fuck these dark-bloods up."
If I die, would I become one of them?
"You're not having cold feet, are you?" The pilot chuckled, perhaps noticing William's discomfort, and the dark-haired man shook his head, crossing one leg over the other.
"Course not."
-
"Sure, yeah, I can reach out and try to find some shape shifters who might be able to help you," Ica smiled, and Haru sighed, leaning back against the wall.
"Really though- you were powerful dragon!" Lif chuckled, clamming his hands together. "Do you have no trace of that power thrumming in your blood?!"
"Nope," Haru shook her head, swallowing. "Powers can't just disappear, can they?"
"No, they can't," Ica shook his head, clearing his throat and starting to tap at his keyboard. "The power could be something that only responds to external threats, but I doubt it because it would undermine the whole thing about you being able to do the thing."
"Right," Haru nodded, sighing and taking a slow breath. "Alright, well, I'll keep trying. Any word from Starria?"
"Officially? No." Ica shook his head again, but it was jerkier now. "They're mobilizing though. We've told the Queen, things are about to hit the fan. Today," He added, and Haru shuddered, chest tightening immediately.
"What-"
"Haru, this isn't the time for some rush of heroism," Ica snapped quietly, narrowing his eyes. "I'm scared too, but Starria is launching an all out war, from what we've picked up; tens of thousands mobilizing. Not something that you, me and the others could stop if we started preparing right now."
"We can't just do nothing-" Haru gasped, but it felt hard to breathe, suddenly, her chest in knots. "We have to go-"
"We will," Ica whispered, reaching out and gently taking her hand in both of his, abandoning the keyboard, blue-green eyes shimmering. "I swear, we will. Just try and breathe."
"Fine, people are mobilizing, what then?" Haru angled her head, trying to breathe around that tightness in her chest, still. "Are Aurelia and the others up to date?"
"Yeah. They are. Just Fox and Cecil left to tell," Ica affirmed, nodding. "The thing is, we don't know where we'd be best suited. The Queen fears an attack on the Capitol, and wants us there; but Aurelia thinks that they'll attack the border towns first to try and get a foothold. As co-leader…"
"Right," Haru nodded. "I'll go to the Capitol." That makes sense right? right.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Haru agreed, nodding, swallowing; why is it so hard to breathe. "I can keep an eye out, I'll take Lif with me or something, and the rest of you can show up at one of the attack sites. I think the Queen has merit; an attack right to the core of the nation would give their people Morale; even taking down a politician could make leaps and bounds for their spirit." There was, suddenly, no trace of the panic in her mind from before; her mind was clear, her thoughts as clear as a spring in the mountains.
"Sounds good," Ica nodded, and Haru paused.
"Actually, no, I'll take Fox and Charlotte," She corrected, still fighting to keep her breaths in check. Focus, Haru. Panic later.
"Oh?" Ica snorted. "Of course you'd say that, but we'd prefer Charlotte be with us due to her offensive-"
"Haru is right," Lottie cut in, and Haru glanced up; she was lurking in the doorway, eyes sage. "Lif and I are the strongest fighters we've got. It makes no difference which of us comes with you, so let me spend some time with Haru and Fox?"
"Ugh… as long as Aurelia doesn't object too much," Ica nodded. "You're right, Charlotte is faster and stronger, but we should be fine; we're going to be visiting a small border town in the mountains; we think Starria will use it as a pass-through point to try and infiltrate our woods; it's a good spot for a small team to set up camp."
"Sounds good," Haru nodded. "When will I go? If you don't have a better idea, I'll stick to markets and open spaces; ones where they'd want to make a scene."
"Good thinking. Likely a bad idea to stick too close with Fox and Charlotte; you three will stay apart but close enough to reach each other quickly. This isn't a date, okay?"
"Heard," Haru agreed, nodding. "I'll go get dressed."
"Perfect." Ica nodded, glancing up. "Charlotte?"
"Hands off Haru, for now," She sighed, stepping aside as Haru gently pushed past her and headed toward her room, shaking her head.
"You okay?" Fox barked, standing in the doorway, and Haru brushed past her, nodding.
"We're on guard duty, I'll fill you in, gotta get dressed. And. After I throw up," Haru shuddered, lurching toward the bathroom, dizziness winning out now that she was alone with Fox.