Stop it. Admit the truth to yourself. You will never become equal to Virginia. You will always be weaker. I. Am. A. Failure. Thought the scout, jumping into the truck that was supposed to deliver food to the packs of Alpha team. She smelled species, fruits, sugar, and even chocolate among the supplies. Wine bottles were secured in wooden crates marked for the Omega Team.
Warlord Alpha split her packs into three teams: Beta, Alpha, and Omega. The Beta team was a designated name for packs of green recruits. They rarely saw action and mostly spent their days training until Alpha deemed them worthy of joining the Alpha team. The Alpha team, the core of the warlord’s forces, were made up of veterans or especially gifted individuals. Famous for their teamwork and success in the field, they held the title of the second strongest team by right. And finally, there was the Omega team. Sometimes wolfkins were just too prideful or too egoistical to work with others. The Alpha usually beat this attitude from her troops, but some of them had skills to exceed where most people fail. Members of the Omega team worked alone, saboteurs, spies, assassins, and sometimes simply brute force on key points of the battlefield. Each of them was equal in strength to a wolf hag, and each was geared with the very best weapons and armor available. And none of them could work as a team with others for a long time, they would find some way to separate themselves from the team.
Before Annie could knock on the wooden door to the barracks, it was open from the inside. Before her stood a wolfkin dressed only in a green t-shirt with an image of panther, a once extinct animal of the Old World, on her chest. The amber eyes briefly sized Annie, looking for a threat. Noticing the wounded arm of a scout, the wolfkin visibly relaxed.
"The infirmary is in the building on the horizon, kin. If you want to, I can escort you." The wolfkin said calmly, gesturing for workers to bring in the food inside.
"I know, ma’am," Annie had no way of knowing the rank of wolfkin before her but decided to act with submission and respect to all members of the Alpha’s packs. They deserve this much for saving them, "I came here to give my thanks to wolf hag Virginia for saving me and my pack."
"To Wildling? Ack, you must be Annie, right? Come in, don’t be so shy, we are all friends here." The soldier grabbed Annie by the right hand, gently leading her inside.
The soldier led Annie across the corridors filled with photos of wolfkins. Females and males were both present on walls, listed as champions of the Wolf Tribe. Some had a black slash in the corner of the photo, indicating their demise. Unlike in the barracks of Dragena’s pack, the walls and floor in this barrack were made out of wood, making them gentle and warm to the touch. There were no visible trophies, and no flags of defeated foes or nations adorned the walls. Only a few instructions with the daily schedule were on the wall, and a few instructions on whom to call in case of an emergency and who is responsible for barracks in each time period. Virginia was listed as the person in charge of the rapid deployment pack from the time period of 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. A wired phone of old design was on one wall, right next to the modern terminal. The instructions above the phone stated that soldiers could only call home during the daytime.
Aside from these schedules, the place barely looked like a military installation. The antique objects of art were put on display for everybody to see behind the reinforced glass of the steel shelves. One room had several terminals listed for use for civilian purposes only. There was no soldier on guard in the main hall, the entire place was eerie silent, unlike the barracks of other wolfkins, where the sounds of everyday fighting often ruled unopposed. A poster on one side of the wall stated that all domination matches are to be concluded in an underground training area, those who fight in halls will be punished with lashes and cleaning duties. But no matter how hard Annie tried, she could detect no sounds or vibrations from below her feet. The barracks of Alpha's pack sounded and looked half empty.
The soldier led Annie to a small dinner hall where a male and female wolfkin were sitting behind a simple table, both of them dressed in green vests. Unlike other packs, as an elite task force, the soldiers of Alpha were privy to their own food and even their own dinner hall that was made in their own temporary barracks.
The dining hall was decorated in the same style as the hall earlier, wood of brown color covered the walls, several round tables were in the room, behind the counter, Annie could see several cooks from the ranks of normies. Plates and tableware were made from silver, and white tablecloths on the tables were pristine clean. Calm classical music played in the room. The image of Alpha was displayed on a poster on the north side, she pointed her claw at everyone in the dinner room. Words below her stated that this area is domination-free and punishment for a single punch in the dining area is fifty lashes with chains and two months of cleaning duty for the instigator.
"Still can’t believe that she just got up and left without saying a word to her. She just left a resignation letter and that’s all." The woman stated. A thin scar ran across her left eye, her lower lip bore an ugly scar that went all the way to her neck. Around her neck was a golden necklace with an azure stone in the middle of the chain.
"Our fault. We knew what she was through, who would not be frustrated and scared in her place? The correct course of action was to knock her out, tie her up, and wait for Alpha. Because of our pity, her nightmare just begins," The male shrugged his shoulders, pouring wine for himself first and the female second. This surprised the scout, as in most packs, males were either beaten or constantly reminded about their position. And yet this one had just a couple of scars on him and no fresh bruises or marks of domination. His build was very impressive as well, his shoulders were almost as wide as the shoulders of a female wolfkin, "At the very least, we should have told her that we stand with her and that her "humiliation" means nothing to us."
"I am not giving up on her. If someone finds her, I will bring her back by force if nee…" Both wolfkins turned toward Annie and the other soldier, "Greetings, kin. Are you transferred to us by any chance?"
"Negative, Blaze." The soldier who escorted Annie said, "She came to say thanks to the Wildling. I will leave our guest in your care, I need to direct food delivery."
"But of course," the female soldier said graciously, allowing the woman to leave, "you must be from the pack to whom Alpha team assisted during the scramble this night."
"Want to have breakfast with us, kin dearest? May I interest you in some wine?" Asked the male wolfkin, putting a new plate and glass on a table, "We also have fish, meat, some leftover strawberries, and, of course..."
"What is the fis… Never mind, I am sorry." The scout smiled in thanks for the offer, "I'm sorry to bother you all, but I'm just here to thank Wolf Hag Virginia," she said, her stomach growling as she picked up tasty smells from the kitchen area.
"Fish is a delicacy in these lands, Ron," Blaze’s laughter resembled the murmur of a river while she was addressing the male wolfkin as he raised his left brow in minor confusion, "Dearest kin, you are injured and clearly tired. Wildling is still in the training chambers below and will be there for some time. She said that she needs to learn how to, and I quote her, "stop posturing too much on a battlefield". Sit and feast with us."
"Sorry, I am… uh… low on tokens." Annie tried to talk her way out. Kitchens always provided basic food supplies, of course, enough to maintain peak form at all times. Treats, exquisite dishes, and so on had to be bought for money, however.
"We insist," The male wolfkin said as he pushed the chair closer to the table, "Don't worry about money, kin. We omegas believe that everyone in the Wolf Tribe should try the delicacies … Every day to be honest, but with the lack of opportunities, at least once will have to do as well. I am Ron and this otherworldly beauty right here is known as Blaze."
"My name is Annie. Nice to meet you everyone." In shy voice, the scout responded, sitting at the table.
Ron called the cooks, and soon the table started to fill with various dishes. Chopped and peeled oranges, strawberries, pancakes with sour cream, and lastly, seafood kebabs made of something known as sea bass. Acting like a gentleman, Ron tried in vain to offer Annie various types of wines, only for her to refuse all of them. In the end, he had to contend with serving only soda to the guest, his face looked genuinely pained at the thought of Annie's decision.
"This genuinely tastes good!" The scout exclaimed, picking up a piece of fish with her right hand and gulping the unusual treat down her throat.
"Please, dearest kin, do not eat so fast. Don’t try to gulp food all at once, no one will rob you of it, take it slowly and use a fork instead of your paws," advised Ron, picking up a pancake with his own fork and taking a bite, slowly chewing it, "People spend so much time preparing dishes for us, the least we can do is appreciate their craft by eating properly and enjoying ourselves. Feel the aroma before swallowing, savor the flavor of food on your tongue, experience how your mouth waters in anticipation of a threat and then start chewing food… Ah, is there anything, anything at all that could be better than good food with friends?"
"I can think about a couple of things," Blaze thinly smiled, reaching for Ron’s leg with her own, "Since we're in a relatively peaceful state right now, how about you and I..."
"Not in front of our kin, oh feast for my weary eyes! Show restraint for a little while, I beg thee." The male theatrically put a paw over his heart.
"Only for a very short time, dearest friend." The female purred.
"Sorry for asking, but…" Annie followed the advice of Ron, smelling the fish and biting a small part before swallowing, "Where does this "fish" come from? I thought that the oceans were all going the way of the old world."
"Ack! A chance to educate!" Annie blinked as Ron moved like a blur, storming toward the exit from the dinner hall like a storm. All his previous elegance was gone, replaced with a sudden energetic burst of movement. Blaze giggled softly, seeing Ron return with a small pocket terminal. The male wolfkin sat back at the table, turning on the terminal and showing Annie the giant lake made of green waste and toxic fumes. The fumes lifting from this disgusting mass were so thick and deadly that they scarred land around the cursed mass of death for leagues on all sides, "Here you can see the dread lake of death, once a major toxic mass near the capital of our rivals eternal, the Oathtakers. With an insane amount of hard work, use of pre-Fall tech, and help from both us and Iterna, this place now looks like this," The image changed. Where once toxic green reigned, eternal blue calmness appeared. Waves run across the surface of a sea, the seawater was so pristine that in some places Annie could see the rock bottom of a sea. Flocks of fish moved lazily under the water, cruise ships travelled across the calmness of a sea.
"The madmen actually did it! In thirty years of hard work, they recreated the sea, along with all sorts of sea creatures and various lifeforms from the Old World. No one believed that they could succeed, but they ignored the naysayers and worked hard. And what could one nation do," The image on the terminal changed, showing waste filled with sand as far as the eye could see. Images begin to appear with incredible speed, showing machines excavating this waste, removing long-lost ruins, dangerous remnants of the past, driving wildlife away... Then came the water, poured from truly massive machines, three times the size of the refugee center Gamma. Speed increased and soon this place too turned into blue eternal, surrounded by grass and trees, instead of jagged rocks and sand, "Others can do as well. It took years, hard work beyond compare, and joint cooperation between all three great nations, but people in the Core Lands also pulled it off! Now and to be fair, our seas are not yet as big as those in Iterna, true, but with each passing year, seafood becomes more affordable for everyone."
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"This… this is genuinely amazing," Annie looked with wide eyes at the ships that sailed across the waves, new breeds known as orais working side by side with new breeds from normies and normal humans, catching fish, while massive ships the size of crawlers were busy unleashing something in the sea, stimulating the growth of new life. All the People of Reclamation, all working together to bring new life to formerly dead regions, "I kind of wish to see the sea in person at least once."
"You certainly can, and dare I say should, dearest kin," Ron enthusiastically nodded, "Soldiers have the right to vacation and leave. It takes roughly five to six days to reach one of the seas in the Core Lands via public transport, assuming you use the most efficient route. The maximum permitted leave is usually around fifteen days. Imagine, you will get to see such wondrous places, will have more than enough time to learn how to swim, and can even get back in time. Ack, the mere thought of seeing the sea again in person makes even my hide tingle. A soothing breeze upon your skin… Diving in the calm blue waves, pushing down to rock bottom through a sea of salt calmness and silence, seeing fish flowing before your very eyes and snatching it with your jaws, coloring the blue waters around you crimson… Fighting the sharks who showed up at the party and mistook you for a snack, feeling their razor sharp teeth against your ribs... Spending the whole day on a rock in the middle of nowhere, bleeding like a cusack before being rescued by a passing boat with tourists…. Why are you looking at me like that?"
"So that’s how you got those scars…" Blaze smiled, while tapping on the back of Ron, "And not "suicide charging into enemy lines to save an abandoned cub" as certain someone told us."
"Guilty as charged. I am not that incompetent as to get hurt during a mission. By the time I am finished with adversaries, there is no one or anything left in my wake that could possibly hurt any cubs. Pray keep this vilest lie secret from others, kindliest joy of my life," Ron laughed, picking up another pancake. He threw a quick glance at Annie, "No insult was meant, of course, kin. Lady Alpha just… not very enthusiastic about omegas getting injured in combat. We are simply too valuable."
"None taken, friend. Besides, I am really clumsy and inexperience yet."
Yeah, I am not diving into the sea … ever. Whatever these sharks are supposed to be, they sound scary. Annie decided, smiling to the soldiers.
Chatting with two soldiers, Annie barely noticed how half an hour had passed. Ron excused himself, stating that Alpha will skin him alive if he is late to help lead lessons again. Blaze announced that "mad rabbit" should be back in her room by now. Annie hastily finished eating, ignoring the offer of the soldier to wait for her.
"Why do you call Virginia by these nicknames? Wildling, Mad Rabbit...Why not call her by her name?" Annie inquired as she walked down the corridor with Blaze by her side. The wolf hags were privy to their own rooms on the second floor, or dens as they called them, while low-ranking soldiers slept together in a large hall below.
"Alphas of her own pack were the ones who started calling her like this. Surely you have seen how she acts by now? Always picking up fights, even ones that she can’t win. Always at the front line, mowing down foes. Lack of basic manners… Ack, if there is any reason not to call her wild, I do not know it."
"And why call her a rabbit?" The corridor on the second floor looked almost like the hall below. Doors were made out of wood, instead of tablets with names, each door had its own series of numbers, clearly showing who was the owner.
"This one is easy. She is afraid of reporters and always tries to hide from them when they are trying to get the latest scoop out of her. For someone who outdrinks all the normies in bars around Wastes, she sure is one shy girl when it comes to reporters. Do not let name-calling confuse you, we are merely teasing her. Despite all her quirks, she is our sister by right, and each and every one of us will stay by her side should the need arise. With her own skills, she earned her position, her competence is…" Blaze initially talked in a very casual manner, but when she mentioned teasing, the tone of the soldier became serious. Leading Annie to a single door that was painted in red. Instead of a number, a large tablet was pressed to the middle of the door: "Virginia, this is your home. Don’t forget to turn off your axe!". Blaze knocked at the door with her knuckles and, with a creaking sound, the door opened, "…Lacking in everyday life. Now, don’t let this fool you, for during military missions, Wildling dearest are second to none!" The soldier finished in a mildly desperate tone.
Annie's nose caught the stinking stench of sweat coming from inside the room, before her eyes adapted to darkness. Virginia's room was small enough, a sofa was standing by the left wall. Above the sofa hung quite an impressively well-done painting of several wolfkins, with Virginia among them, hugging each other and posing against the background of a real green and lush forest. The trash can near the sofa was filled with various jeans, jackets, sweaters, and t-shirts, all of them were dirty and stank of sweat. The shaft of the energy axe was stuck in the trash pin. A plastic table, with a terminal on it, stood on the opposite side of the sofa. On the north side of the room was a messy bed, with countless clothes, still closed in plastic packaging, scattered on the bed and near it on the floor. Near the bed was a large photo of the village that Virginia had sent to Annie years ago, it even had that stupid spelling mistake. The leather coat of a wolf hag lay carelessly abandoned in the middle of the room. Aside from that room being barren, there were no cases with rewards, like in Annie’s room, no photos of friends and comrades, no books, no magazines, nothing.
"And she forgot to close the door again. Also, Wildling is late again. Also, also, her room stinks!" Sensing the stench, Blaze pinched her nose with two fingers, "We seriously better to wait outside…"
The soldier's words were cut short by the loud booming sound that rocked the corridor floor. Annie turned her head to the left and saw the form of the wolfkin leaping at the ceiling, using it to jump down on the floor before Annie, landing on all fours and charging into the room. Walking on all four, like an animal, Virginia stomped toward the energy axe, pressing her muzzle toward the metal and leaving traces of drool upon the weapon, marking it.
"M… mine!" The wolf hag of the Alpha pack stuttered trying to say the word, her t-shirt and shorts were soaked with sweat, knuckles of her paws bore marks of recent injuries, "I won it by right," her muzzle rubbed against the axe shaft nonstop, "Won’t give it up without a fight."
"Snap out of it, stupid. You have a guest today, act like a human being." Blaze strictly said, coming into the room, still pitching her nostrils.
"Guest?" Virginia looked at the entrance in confusion, her amber eyes gaining focus, almost like waking up from a long sleep, "Annie! Come on right in. Wanna play with the axe again? We can go to the training area and slice some bots."
"How are you living among this stench? Why in the world are you using the trash pin to store dirty clothes?" The scout demanded to know, looking around in deep shock. Dragena would never ever tolerate such travesty.
"Cause I forgot to throw out the trash yesterday. And day before that… And probably one more day before that too," Virginia scratched scarred skin on the left side of her neck with her left leg before standing up. Blaze had to swallow the words in her mouth, seeing as Virginia undressed herself, throwing more clothes into a pile of trash and tearing out plastic packaging for a new set of clothes, "As for smell, you get used to worse during a scramble with minions of the bitch prince."
"Chosen Prince, Rabbit." Blaze corrected the wolf hag in an icy tone.
"Same thing, really, auntie," Virginia shrugged, pulling on shorts and a t-shirt, "What brings you here, Annie?"
"You stupid idiot," Annie said honestly. She played this situation in her head numerous times, thinking about how to better force herself to thank her riva… someone who is better than her. She imagined herself on her knees, prostrating or similar. But right now, this situation enraged her and threw her off script, "You are a freaking wolf hag, Virginia you must set an example for lower ranks! This is your duty! Why in the world do you live in such a gullet? Clean your room, wash your clothes instead of throwing them out…"
"Can’t. Don’t know how. Easier to throw them away and buy new ones." The wolf hag replied innocently, and Blaze giggled at the inanity of these words.
"You dumb, stupid, weird… You know what, Virginia? I will wash them for you. I will even teach you how to do your chores." Annie angrily grumbled, picking up dirty clothes.
"But… why?" Virginia cocked her head, blinking in surprise at the offer.
"Because your duty is to set an example for others, and I came to thank you! You saved the lives of my soldiers and my own life on this night, and I am bad at thanking others, so please forgive me for screaming at you!"
"You are still screaming at me." Smiled the wolf hag, and Annie wanted to shout. She hated, hated being here, hated looking stupid before this fool, hated being weaker, hated…
"I am sorry for my behavior," The scout made herself speak slowly and respectfully. She twisted her head, showing the wolf hag the naked neck as a sign of submission. Virginia decided not to take the bite. "It was unworthy of me. Let us start from the beginning. Wolf hag Virginia, I want to thank you and the soldiers under your command for our rescue during the night operation. Please allow me to wash your clothes and clean your room as a way to express my thanks. If I can do anything else, please tell me and…"
"Fight me!" Virginia quickly said, cracking her knuckles, her eyes burning with anticipation, "Time to see what we can do now. The loser will have to be the one to update records for both of us!"
"I must decline this offer, wolf hag." Annie forced herself to sound calm.
"Are you chickening out, Annie? Then just add my victory to the records." Virginia smugly smirked.
"She is injured, can’t you see it, rot for brains?" Blaze rolled her eyes at the suggestion and the wolf hag opened her mouth wide, noticing the wounded arm of Annie for the first time, "Continue like this and I will break your recent flawless record myself, Wildling."
"It is fine." Annie forced herself to smile. She felt how her blood was boiling, frustration, anger, and shame made her twitch her ears and clench her good paw. This bastard knows that Annie was weaker than her! Virginia mocks the scout even now, enjoying her superiority. Fine, Annie still had one way to turn the situation around, "Wolf hag Virginia is far stronger than me anyway. I will tell warlord Dragena that I lost to you and records will be updated with your victory…"
"Come now, I was just being stu…" The wolf hag shrugged, trying to turn the situation into a joke.
"To show my gratitude, I will show you how to clean your things and keep your den in pristine condition," If Virginia hoped that Annie would be humiliated by her duty, she will be sorely disappointed. The scout kept a pleasing smile on her snout as she continued talking, "First thing first, we need to get you into the shower."
"I hate water," The wolf hag twisted her mouth into a scowl of displeasure, "In and out of the hospital, always wet. Yack." She shrugged her shoulders in disgust.
"We all hate being wet, Virginia," She acts like a spoiled cub on purpose, to rile me up. Fine, then I'll treat her like a cub, "But you got to clean yourself of sweat, before you ruin your new clothes as well…"
Annie asked Blaze to show them the way toward the showers. After making sure that Virginia cleaned herself, the scout spent several hours showing the wolf hag how to use the washing machine, how to fix torn clothes, how to keep them clean and fold them properly. Meanwhile, Blaze always stood nearby, looking at this situation first with boredom, then with genuine confusion. Try as she might, Annie could not rile up Virginia, no matter how slowly and carefully she explained everything to her, the wolf hag simply absorbed common information as if it was revelations from the blessed mother herself. When Annie felt a tingle of pain in her chest, Virginia noticed it and pushed scout aside, stating that Annie can direct her with words, while she will do everything on her own.
"How. In. The. World. Do. You. Not. Know. How. To. Operate. Washing machine?" Blaze slowly asked, bringing a chair for Annie to sit on, while the wolf hag had the time of her life experimenting with various modes of compact washing machine, ignoring the angry snarling of Annie. Omega looked like she was at the point of slowly going mad.
"No one ever taught me, so of course I have no idea how to use it." Virginia responded without turning back.
"This… this is the person whom Alpha entrusted command. How can you know how to fix power armor and not…" Blaze shuddered, and Annie felt the fingers of the Omega team member tighten on the scout's shoulders before quickly relaxing, "Mad Rabbit, if you don't know how to do any other mundane every day work, like how to open a tin can..."
"You supposed to open it? I always swallow it whole," Virginia turned back, her brows lifted. Seeing the shocked look of Blaze and the enraged features of Annie, the wolf hag chuckled, "Just kidding. I know that you need to tear apart metal first, then eat sweets inside."
"Tear… Arghuh… You know what, Wildling? I am not even mad, just disappointed that you never asked me for help. Consider yourself officially grounded for the rest of today." Blaze pleasantly smiled, putting her paws on her waist and leaning forward.
"But I was a good girl and obeyed all orders! Auntie Blaze, don’t do it with me, please!" Virginia whined, trying to look small, "My pack also…"
"Don’t you worry about a thing, Ron will take over all your duties for today, like the good boy that he is. Your pack will be safe and sound with such a pretty soul as his. Meanwhile, you will show me your mundane skills. Cooking, cleaning, opening tin cans, and so on. And if I find any of your skills to be lacking, well…I will teach you how to do things properly," Blaze rolled her eyes as she let go of the scout, "Gently, carefully, and thoroughly," Despite her gentle smile, Blaze's last word sounded like a howl of rage, "This is not the punishment, Rabbit, put your chin up. Thank you for bringing this… unusual situation to my attention, scout Annie. I will fill in the blanks in the education of the wolf hag from here."
"Always glad to help." Annie responded politely, unsure if Blaze really was falling for the act of the wolf hag. It had to be an act. No one could be this stupid and yet still be in the rank of the wolf hag. No one.