Jamey woke up to aches all over his body; a cold breeze draping over his body, yet he only felt it on certain sections of his skin, his eyelids heavy, he simply laid where he was- where even was he? He started to rub his eyes.

“Oh- Oh! Is one of them waking up?” A small voice inquired aloud.

Who is that?

He opened his eyes a bit. A tail-like thing was prodding his cheek. Jamey’s eyes followed to where it came from. A humanoid creature was kneeling next to him. Deep purple hair cascading down to its risen chest.

A girl? He thought. Her ruddy tan skin, one eye a glittering gold, the other a bright orange.

“How long have I been out cold?” Jamey started to rub his bleary eyes. Seeming to startle the woman, Jamey noticed ram-like horns on either side of her head.

“Hm? Oh, about a few days.” The woman answered, acting as if the previous question didn’t spook her, stopping her tail’s poking.

“Where… am I?” Jamey grumbled.

“You’re in my house,” she replied, fixing her tail back at her side.

“Where’s everyone else?” He asked looking around the small room, there were a few other marines laid beside him, but not even half of the original crew.

“The other people are all divided into other rooms,” the woman informed Jamey as she took a cloth from another marine’s forehead.

He finally sat up, his aches dulling, “who are you anyway?” Jamey rubbed his throbbing head.

“I go by Athol, and the- nevermind,” she answered animatedly. Jamey, slightly confused by the end of her response, repositioned his legs to a more comfortable position. As Athol tended to his shipmates he scanned the room. It seemed to be a small part of a cave sectioned off with wooden dividers that reached the ceiling, there seemed to be door frames, yet no doors.

Abruptly, a crash startled the both of them and made the unconscious stir. Jamey looked toward the noise then at Athol. Anyone could tell she was on edge, she stood in a fighting position. Rustling came from another room then silence. Soon after a blur of tattered clothes and long chestnut hair burst into the room.

Vice Admiral? Jamey jolted at the sight. Tomiko’s tattered marine uniform mainly torn on her arms and back, some pieces sticking to her sopping, bloodied skin. Her hair down, knotted and messy.

“Who the hell are you?” Tomiko panted, a knife lowered like a ready to fire pistol, a frenzied gaze on Athol.

“I’m the one who is helping you, but that knife is telling me I shouldn’t have.” Athol replied, hand hovering above a dagger attached to her waist.

I feel like I should intervene, but I don’t want to cause more trouble… Jamey tentatively thought to himself as he watched the hostility of the room worsen once Tomiko lunged at Athol ferociously.

“Hnn…” A marine laying beside him stirred. Jamey whipped his head towards the sound. Lance, his curls glued to his forehead, skin glistening with sweat, dampening his already dank, pre-torn, marine uniform. Jamey skeptically lifted his hand to Lance’s forehead. Warm.

He looked around for something to cool his shipmate off when he saw a wooden pail filled with water, rags hanging off from the brim of it.

Bingo, he thought. As Jamey started to reach for the pail Athol’s foot landed firmly between, making him recoil and look to the battle above him. Tomiko seemed to be running on sheer adrenaline to keep fighting, Jamey analyzed from the unstable stance she held. Athol, on the other hand, looked more concerned for Tomiko than herself, keeping an aware eye on Tomiko’s reckless strikes, and another eye on her legs as if waiting for them to collapse under the vice admiral.

“Stay away from my crew, beast.” Tomiko spat, her grip on her knife tightened.

“This is why I’d rather help some rather than others. I save one person's life and my reward? I get called racial slurs and stupid shit of the sort.” Athol retorted, her dagger between her fingers, “be happy you're alive.” She glared, eyes seeming to dilate.

Jamey blinked, internally perturbed about whether or not to intervene. He slowly got up to try and do something. Thud, Tomiko fell to the ground suddenly, the knife jumping from her hand. Athol flinched slightly as the vice admiral’s body hit the ground. She would slowly advance towards Tomiko, apprehensive as to if she would strike if Athol approached. Jamey opened his mouth to try and ease the tension that seemed to keep the room in a chokehold but only air pasted his lips.

“It’s fine, you don’t need to say anything.” Athol said, sounding like she read his mind. “I should have been more alert, that’s all.” She managed to reach Tomiko’s hand bearing the knife, “and keep my tools under lock and key.” She slowly took the knife and inspected it.

“You can rest here if you’d like, unless you want to help tend to your buddies.” Athol said, pocketing the knife.

“Uhm… Could I care for the people here?” Jamey asked, here meaning the room they were in.

“Oh yeah go ahead, most of the other ones give off a perverted feel.” Athol answered, positioning herself to carry Tomiko to another room. “I’m going to be in the other rooms, just give me a shout if you need something, just don’t try and wake everyone up.” Athol told Jamey before stepping out of the sectioned-off area carrying Tomiko on her back.

Who did she mean when she said ‘having a perverted feel’? Jamey thought, scanning the room then his eyes rested on an Asian cadet he hadn’t noticed beforehand. Jamey watched the cadet, trying to place his finger on the cadet’s name.

Is he… drooling? Jamey observed before realizing he should be tending to Lance’s what seemed to be fever. Once he changed into a tunic he saw nearby his mat, he started to wet a rag from the brim of the pail, place it on Lance’s forehead, take it off after a while, and repeat the process. He continuously did so as another started to stir.

“Mmph…” The Asian cadet groaned as he got up, “where am I…?”

“We’re in a cave, someone saved all of us once we blacked out.” Jamey informed his fellow cadet, dunking a rag in the pail.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Oh…” the cadet stretched to waken himself further. “Where’s Vice Admiral Tomiko? Or the Hono Xing?”

“The Hono Xing?” Jamey processed if he heard the name before. His brain clicked, their ship was nowhere to be found. “I dunno,” he shrugged.

“Great. I might as well die here cause I die either way.” The cadet groaned, his voice in which Jamey read as sarcasm filling it. Silence filled the room for a period of time as Jamey processed what to say next. His thoughts were cut off when rumbling and cracking sounds started to come from another section of the cave.

His fellow cadet’s face changed from exhaustion to fear the second he started to hear it, “what- what is that sound?” He asked worriedly.

That doesn’t sound like Athol… or the other cadets, and it can’t be the Vice admiral…right? Jamey’s thoughts started to race. Suddenly, the peculiar noises ceased and were replaced with many sounds of what seemed to be rolling. Chills crawled up his spine. What is that? Why does it sound like it is coming this way? He looked toward the cadet who had scrambled further away from the door than his mat lay. Subsequently, rock-like creatures rising to about to his knees, emerged from the door frame. Jamey watched them carry small containers of what seemed to be soup into the room. There were about three of them that he could see. As he watched them he realized they reminded him of golems in video games he played as a kid. The golem-esqe… things looked like they were on fire yet don’t burn anything. One walked up to Jamey and held out a container of food to him, which he took hesitantly. He looked toward the other cadet who was trying to fight another golem off.

Jamey chuckled, “it wants to give you food, not kill you. Calm down.”

“Are you sure it’s not out for my blood?” The cadet paused before a small gravelly voice came from the golem near him.

“Take. It food.” It said in a soft manner.

He jumped. “It talks?! Oh lord, have mercy on my soul.”

The golem extended its’ small arms further toward Jamey’s fellow cadet as he paused to process his life choices.

The cadet looked at the container, “oh, thanks? Thank you… thing,” he said awkwardly to the golem.

“Come. Please follow.” The golem said in response. Jamey got up and followed the golem after seeing the third golem caring for the unconscious people in the room. As he left the cadet noticed and pursued close behind, mainly out of fear of being alone with a golem.

“So where are we going?” The trainee said quietly to Jamey, seeming to be afraid of the golems.

“Dunno, and why are you so afraid of the golems? They look friendly and gave us something to eat. But you still seem kinda afraid of them.” Jamey inquired in an almost teasing voice.

“They’re rocks. Rocks that move on their own and talk. And did I mention that they are on fire?” The cadet justified himself the best he could.

“Alright, whatever you say.” Jamey replied in a disbelieving tone. They followed the two golems until they reached what seemed to be the mouth of the cave which was where all the sectioned off rooms seemed to connect. Athol was leaning against one of the wooden log walls monitoring the little number of people that were awake and well enough to come out of their designated rooms when Jamey and his fellow cadet emerged from behind the wooden walls. Athol noticed the two do so and walked up, “so another one woke up?” She said looking between the two cadets. “Now that I think about it, I didn’t get your name. What is it anyway?” Athol asked, tilting her head slightly.

“Oh, It’s Jamey.” Jamey answered with a polite tone of voice.

“I’m Shigeo, I didn’t know nurses lived in caves, anyway, it’s a pleasure.” The cadet winked at Athol.

“Okay, Jamey and pedophile, noted.” Athol said jokingly.

“Uh- no, it’s-” Shigeo cut himself off with a yelp as a golem walked past him.

“Ah, I probably should have informed you about the komir.” Athol watched the golem roll past. Shigeo’s startled look alarms the small komir, a bigger one reaching the bottom of his rib cage, rolls near and gets protective over the smaller komir.

“Oh yeah they can be jumpy sometimes, just be aware of the bigger ones. They get on the defensive easier.” Athol commented as Shigeo was being cornered by the larger komir.

“No hurt. Back away.” Its deep gravelly voice hinting at its wariness toward the smaller komir.

“Could I get some help here?” Shigeo looked anxiously at Jamey and Athol.

“You have to say sorry to the small one if you don’t want to get a third degree burn.” Athol said, a smile growing increasingly bigger on her face, “don’t forget they need to understand your apology.”

Jamey smiled as Shigeo emitted his embarrassment from his silence and facial expression.

Shigeo gulped. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” He looked at the smaller komir with an apologetic gaze, a drop of sweat rolling down his face from the larger komir’s heat. The larger komir looked from the smaller komir and Shigeo until finally stepping back and walking away. Shigeo sighed a sigh of sheer relief, glad he was out of his previous situation.

“Y'all can sit wherever and eat the food in those containers. Just don’t go out of my sight.” Athol said before taking up her post on a wall of tied up logs. Jamey and Shigeo sat down just where the mouth of the cave started and ate the soup given to them. Jamey took a spoonful of what seemed to be some sort of meat mixed in as he took in the scene. Three large komir patrolled the area somewhat farther away from the mouth of the cave as if to protect the people in said cave. Smaller komir passed in and out of the wooden walls sectioning off the rest of the cave from the mouth of it, most likely tending to the others that are still unconscious and recovering. Jamey looked up to the sky, it seemed a more deeper blue than the sky blue he was used to seeing. Almost like the ocean. His brain seemed to rewind through all that happened on the ship before he blacked out. What was that geyser-like thing? What happened after he blacked out? How did they end up here? Thoughts ran through his head as he ate until he reached for another spoonful and there was no more. A low rumble was heard from one of the bigger komir making everyone stop and get on the defensive. Athol was reaching for her knife as Shigeo started back into the cave, spoon handle clenched between his jaws. Soon afterwards the komir stopped and moved to the side as a young woman with what seems to be dog ears and nose came out from the forest. Athol lowered her knife and Shigeo slowly walked back to where Jamey sat.

“Oh, Gale, I meant to thank you for getting some food for me. It would be a lot harder if I had to scrounge up food for them and me by myself.” Athol walked up to the dog-woman.

“You should be thanking Brutus, he got most of the stuff.” Gale replied shyly, “I got some of the meat and that’s it.” One ear flicking slightly.

“She’s cute,” Shigeo whispered into Jamey’s ear.

“Yeah, the girl that came from the forest out of nowhere.” Jamey commented sarcastically.

Shigeo opened his mouth to quip back before Athol shoved her hand into his hair forcefully, making him bite his tongue. “Right, I’ll try and remember that,” Athol nodded towards Gale. “Is there something you stopped by for? Besides saying hi I mean.”

“Oh, yes actually, uhm, Brutus and I were going to collect herbs and whatnot from the hill over there tomorrow. We were wondering if anyone would like to help with that but since you are busy tending to these people…” Gale started to mumble.

“I have a feeling these two wouldn’t mind.” Athol looked at Jamey and Shigeo who was still recovering from his fresh tongue wound. Jamey nodded as if to approve for the both of them.

“Yeah so these two will be glad to tag along.” Athol stated, half supervising the other marines.

“Okay, guess I’ll go and inform Brutus.” Gale said, starting to walk away. Shigeo opened his mouth to say something again once she started to leave, Athol, noticing this, wrapped her tail around his neck and gave it a slight squeeze of warning reading: “Say something, they’d be your last ones though.” Shigeo closed his mouth, Jamey thought his skin was getting damp with fearful sweat. Once Gale came to be out of sight Athol released her grip around Shigeo’s neck and slowly took her tail from his throat as if saying “you try me, I won’t hesitate to cut that neck of yours in two”. A chill went down Jamey’s spine as he analyzed what was occuring beside him.

Athol stretched. “I’m going to start bringing supplies to the komir in the rooms if you need me for something.” She walked toward the other trainees that had woken up. “Hope you remember where you slept ‘cause I’m not helping you find it.” Athol said before walking into an opening between some wooden wall. The other cadets slowly got up and walked through an entrance between the walls, muttering to themselves just low enough for Jamey to not hear.

“So… I guess we’re going out with that girl and some Brutus guy?” Shigeo said as if to clarify to himself the next day’s plan.

“‘Going out’ sounds like you’re dating one of them or something, but that’s the gist of it,” Jamey replied. Once they arrived at their room (which they could identify by the two empty mats and Lance’s panting) they searched for something along the lines of covers and settled down for sleep. Which took a while for Jamey because of Lance’s unconscious movement and the heat he radiated.