Chapter 49: Trill
“Put the weapons down!” Joseph called out to the flanking Lilhuns, his voice steeling as he pulled and loaded his crossbow. Sahari followed suit, taking to his left and translating the order as Tel maintained her forward-right position. The large male’s face lit up in mock surprise, barking something with a jovial tone that the Grand Hunter ignored after not being given a translation for it.
He kept his crossbow ready as they threatened to close in, though they paid enough respect to the possible threat so as not to get too close. It was a terrible idea tactically, given that he was using a ranged weapon, but he wasn’t about to complain.
“Any reason we’re getting a ‘welcome party’?” he called over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off the three Lilhuns in front of him. He was aware the five were trying to encircle them, but some tightening of their position was mitigating the risk of having their backs exposed. They had picked the worst time to allow Mi’low and her guard to accompany the wagons to Loptr in order to negotiate the rest of the potential trades. It was stupid of him to start growing less wary around these people.
“No idea,” Tel called from his right, her ratcheting mechanism in the box on her back clicking as line was pulled for her daggers. The sound alone told him that she had loosened the tension, so this wasn’t going to be a minor scuffle. “But it’s going to be a funeral in a second.”
The thought of outright killing someone made his stomach tighten, but he wasn’t so stupid so as to ignore the collection of knifes and swords being waved in their direction. He gritted his teeth.
“Take them out, but try not to kill them.”
The twang of Sahari’s crossbow firing made him flinch, the howls of a Lilhun that had slipped a little further to the side than he had been tracking seemed to be the starting pistol for the rest to engage. He barely had time to register the downed female clutching her knee as the bolt protruded it, a quick kick to the head from his black-furred pack-mate silencing her. Not wanting to spend the time reloading, she drew her spear to continue the fight as she holstered the crossbow on her back.
Joseph levelled his own at the taller male approaching with something of a gladius, the slight curved edge glinting the evening light off the metal. He hesitated to pull the trigger, buying the attacker enough time to connect the bolt in his allies leg with the weapon raised to his chest. He flashed to the side and swung wide, looking to bisect Joseph across the torso if he could.
The Grand Hunter raised his arm at an angle and leaned to the side, the sword chipping the armour plate on secured to his forearm as it was deflected upwards. Not needing a more clear reason to commit to it, he hefted the ranged weapon directly into the stomach of his assailant and pulled the trigger, the bolt passing cleanly through where he would have assumed the liver would be. It would be a mortal wound in many circumstances, but the guy just tried to take his head off, so it wasn’t time to worry about if this settlement had the medical facilities to treat it.
Adopting the same mindset as Sahari, he clipped his crossbow to his armour and pulled a punch-dagger from his thigh, jabbing it into the shoulders of the recently impaled so as to remove the threat entirely. The male Lilhun fell to the ground with a heavy thud, unable to bring his arms out to catch his fall after Joseph used a hammer-fist to bash him to the side. The Human pulled the second dagger and clenched it in his fist as he turned to see how Tel was handling herself, hoping that Sahari had already moved to assist.
The cook had tied her rope around one assailant's neck, the other being fended off with the loose dagger that swung and thrust from what angles she could manage with her anchored position. The scrambling claws at the throat of the choking one were losing steam, the lack of blood flow to the brain loosening the hold they had on their limbs. He didn’t even have time to be impressed by the multi-tasking on display before a muffled growl behind him and the clinking of ironwood on ground had him glancing behind him.
Sahari had been subdued by several of the spectators, though they seemed content to merely hold her down rather than harm her, their expressions worried yet firm. No weapons were pressed to her, and nobody seemed keen on doing more than ensuring that she was no longer participating, but he didn’t want her in that situation to begin with. Based on her yelling, she wasn’t a fan of the position either.
He was about to go kick some civilian ass to get his friend back on her feet, but the choked cries of Tel’s engagement had him prioritize temporarily. Sahari didn’t look to be in immediate harm, but Tel was trying to fight off two people. Wait. Two? Where was the big guy?
His answer was the slight cut of air his body ducked under when a flicker of light caught his attention. He pushed off his loaded front foot to gain some distance and brought his arms up in time to deflect the second blade, the male laughing as he twirled his swords. He could head the muted shouts of Sahari as he dodged another volley of swings, each haphazard and playful despite the damage they would cause were they to connect.
Joseph found a gap as the Lilhun plunged his blade forward towards his throat, himself bursting into it and dropping his hips to scrape under the cool iron. A heavy hook to the stomach met empty air, the enemy having spun on the spot to avoid the counter. He felt a blow to his back, the pommel of the sword being brought onto his armour and forcing him to stumble.
He turned around, sliding his right foot to keep himself as balanced during the action as he could, catching a glimpse of Tel released her unconscious captive and surging the other attacker with a flurry of unpredictable strikes from her two unleashed daggers. The other Lilhun parried most of the blows, but some had started cutting skin.
He couldn’t help bit notice the dark cloaked figures visible in the crowd that had gathered who seemed to be closing in. Though their weapons remained sheathed, a disinterested look was permanently fixed to their faces. God, if it was back on Earth, he would have labelled them as members of a dark brotherhood or something.
A sword broke his reverie, clashing against his chest with enough force to wind him. He back off of a second slash, reminding himself that he didn’t have time to worry about them while he was at risk.
The red-furred Lilhun laughed as he lazily swung his weapon, barely allowing Joseph enough time to react before the next edge threatened to end the encounter. Slipping outside of the blade, he tapped the arm upward, slicing the bicep and elbow twice with the punch-dagger in his other fist by rocking it rapidly as it passed. It didn’t remove the arm from the fight, but it did cause the male to cease his flippant approach.
Tel’s growling started and stopped to his right, a flit of his eyes confirming a similar situation to Sahari, though the cook’s opponents were either unconscious or nursing what seemed to be serious wounds. She was being held by several of the cloaked bastards, them seeming just as content to merely keep her away from the rest of the fight as the bystanders.
Either way, it didn’t look great for him, and he very much didn’t like them being restrained like this.
The red-furred Lilhun prodded him with his left sword, Joseph allowing it to get caught under his arm and jabbing the wrist to make him drop the weapon. A clattering of metal sounded out like small victory chimes until he kicked it away, blocking the response with his bracer.
The big guy was pissed, intensifying the assault with much more controlled swings and feigns. The Grand Hunter opted to allow his plates take the shots where they could while working in jabs to draw shallow cuts when the sword came from rough angles. A kick to the knee caused a diagonal flourish to fly wide, a caught arm begged to have the elbow pierced. Joseph obliged, freeing the remaining weapon from its master’s grasp.
Unarmed, save for a single limb that could still bear claws, the male backed off a few steps, lowering his stance with rage in his eyes and teeth on display.
A silence fell over the spectators.
Joseph’s eyes widened.
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Sahari fought the pressure applied by the spectators holding her to the ground, several begging her to remain down. At first, she didn’t understand why they would be restraining her, yet also pleading as if it wasn’t one of their own that her Grand Hunter was fighting.
It became clear when she noticed a scarred male silently saunter up behind Kahn and, with a mildly annoyed sigh, pierce the throat of the High Hunter with the same placid disinterest that one would employ when disposing of mundane trash. The choked gurgling being the only sound as the male withdrew the short dagger and brushed it off on the fur of the dying Lilhun as if he was a mere rag which held no other purpose. A slight push with a claw sent Kahn tumbling to the ground, both paws desperately trying to stymie the bleeding that continued to fill his lungs until the light faded from his eyes.
“Contracts, Kahn. We do not break contracts.” The scarred one chided the fading male, the emotion somewhat flat. Joseph felt fear as he glanced at the crimson pool building around his recent adversary, that much was evident through the bond, and she had a difficult time not losing herself to it. The fact that he held his ‘punch-daggers’ up with steady feet was a testament to how determined he was to see them safe.
Dark grey fur, one eye that seemed to have been long since clouded yet remained sharp, numerous scars across his entire body, and one of his ears had more than a single cut taken out of it. Were it not for the feeling of death that exuded from him, Sahari might have claimed him the victim of a tragic accident. No, this male breathed the Void, his iron scales worked into the thick leather clothing doing nothing to dissuade her opinions.
Like a flick of a switch, the pressure dropped from an overwhelming wave to a mere puddle, the male switching his expression from disgust to one you would expect of a friendly merchant.
“Now, now. Let us not make a bad impression on our new friends.” His voice growled like gravel, its register low and powerful despite the lack of emphasis put into it, yet was delivered as if he had long since been a common face within the den. He waved a paw towards her pack, the entirety of the group holding her to the ground moving as quickly as possible to free her. She rushed to Joseph’s side, keeping an eye on the male and those around them as the switching between personas had scratched at her senses to tell her he was by far the most dangerous Lilhun here.
The few holding Tel simply removed their paws from her, the female looking more annoyed than fearful as she joined the group.
The male looked at Joseph, his eyes tracking the Human as though he were a passing interest. “May i have your name, new one?” When Joseph didn’t move to respond, nor show indication of understanding, the male smiled politely and with a breath, glanced to Tel. “Does he not speak our language?”
She matched the expectant gaze with a placid one of her own. “He is in need of a translator.”
“Does the black-furred one suffice?” The male raised a paw towards Sahari.
Tel stiffened. “She does.”
He looked Sahari over, each shift of his eyes feeling like the cold whips of winter behind the affable expression. “May i have you translate everything for him, kind one?”
Sahari noted that it wasn’t a request, and the pointed glares from the armed Lilhuns proved that assertion as well as promised the consequences. She swallowed. “His name is Joseph, though we do not have the honour of-”
The male cut her sentence short, again looking to Tel. “He is the new Grand Hunter, no?”
Tel shifted slightly closer to the Human, their shoulders almost touching. “He is.”
The male grunted. “Very well.” He turned to walk away, each step sure and measured, though silent against even the scattered stone. “I am Trill. We will conduct our business in my den. Follow along, now.” Tel fell in line a few strides behind him, pulling Joseph along by the arm.
A prod to her shoulder drew her focus, her spear was returned by one of the observers along with a gesture to heed the male’s command. She accepted the weapon hesitantly and cautiously relayed the request.
“Wh... What the hell is happening?” Joseph leaned into Sahari to half-whisper, watching the male ahead of them and keeping a close grip on his weapons, though one had been lowered to his side by this point as Tel tugged on his other sleeve.
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Sahari tightened the grip on her spear, absently confirming the state of her crossbow in the process. “I believe we have met an acquaintance of Tel.”
“How fucked are we?” He gave the female in question a concerned expression, though kept his voice low enough so as for her to not hear. Tel could, of course, her hearing was among the best that Sahari knew of, but she didn’t show any sign of caring what they had to say.
The ex-Grand Huntress offered a slight shake of her head, worries and questions running rampant. “I fear that i do not know.”
They were escorted by ten Lilhuns in dark equipment, likely the leather that the deer creatures possessed, and armed with various iron weapons of the highest quality she could discern so far. Crowds parted in front of Trill like water as they passed numerous buildings. The constructions grew larger as they progressed, evolving into two, and even three, level domiciles as they closed in on the main focus of the settlement; a singular large shuttle.
It was mostly hidden by the village around it, but the tell-tale signs of a Lilhun Atmospheric Entry Craft were evident. It looked to support about a hundred souls, it likely being one of the ones designated for the sparse collection of VIPs that were chosen from various sectors. The wide doors into the side seemed to have been damaged at some point, forcing them to remain fully open as a structural piece pinned them to their position, and the expected hum of the generators on board was absent, suggesting the landing had been anything but controlled, power long since departed as a result.
Tel separated from the Human a bit, releasing his trench coat but remaining within a few paces.
As they entered through the towering entryway, the personalized nature came to light. Various skylights had been installed by paw before being covered and sealed with glass to allow natural illumination into the structure where the electric variants had since become little more than decorations, allowing serviceable navigation further within, even with the diminishing sun.
It was greatly cut down internally, the expected capacity being reduced in favour of more specified accommodations, though that looked to have also come at the cost of the more esoteric equipment that would have proven useful here. Much of the various fluff one would expect in a gracious modification such as this was replaced by utilitarian training rooms and barracks to compensate for the reduced space. Several rooms out of direct view seemed to be storage for various goods and crafts for trading or distribution throughout the settlement, suggesting the mercantile nature of the village.
Opulence was far from the main goal as far as she could tell.
It was much like their den, though none of the equipment was missing. Metal alloys replaced the comparatively crude wooden structures outside, clean lines and robust construction designed for far greater wear than the frequent rain. The only thing missing that she would have expected to see was an armoury, though even that would have been too much to ask of her governments on a craft meant for escaping.
The Lilhuns here all wore the same black leathers that Trill and his entourage did, some having iron plates while others did not. All of them carried an assortment of blades on their person. Joseph seemed far more shocked than she, though he may have been too stunned to have an emotional response upon entering one of the shuttles he had learned about but was too worried about the implications of.
“They didn’t land here naked like you guys, where’s the rest of their weapons and gear?” He asked, glancing around at everyone and everything within line of sight. Sahari was patted none-too-gently and an escort pointed a claw to Trill, the male having turned an ear in their direction.
“He is curious as to the lack of your more advanced equipment,” she provided after scowling at the situation.
“Trade secrets, I’m afraid,” the male answered in a jovial tone with no obvious intent to elaborate further.
Joseph frowned at the answer, his disappointed muttering enough to outweigh the situation they found themselves in. “Well there goes my chance to play with alien tech.”
They were escorted through various corridors, eventually entering a large office. The escort with them dissipated, leaving only six to take various points around the room. Trill sat himself behind a large steel and wood desk, itself the definition of utilitarian in the lack of personalization, though that may have been what made it unique. Tel stood a small distance to his side, careful not to step further into the room than he sat. Joseph and herself were directed to two chairs opposite the desk, a small and low table in front of them. The Human shot Tel a confused look, but she seemed too preoccupied with her own thoughts to notice.
Trill pulled on a drawer on his desk, fetching some papers and writing implements. An odd choice for a Lilhun, but some preferred for some things to remain off their computers when possible. He laid them to the side of his space, keeping them for when they’ll be needed but not overly interested at the moment in doing whatever he required them for. He leaned forward in his chair, resting his arms in front on him on the surface while staring excitedly at the Human.
“Why this one?” He queried, his words rushed out. Sahari translated, but even she wasn’t sure what he was asking about. Tel, however, understood it.
“He meets the six.” She responded without the slightest hint of emotion, though Sahari could tell the tone nettled her.
Trill frowned for the first time since he started addressing them. “Is that all?”
“Yes.”
He hummed in understanding, though his face took on a slightly more critical expression. “His response to the vow?” Tel tensed up, taking longer than Trill would have liked to respond. “Did you not?”
She closed her eyes, kneeling on one knee and placing a fist to the floor. “Forgive me.”
Trill turned the chair to look at her, placing his arms on his knees. “Does he know?”
Joseph couldn’t hold back the frustration at his lack of understanding. “What the fuck am i missing?”
Several guards readied their weapons at the increase in volume, though a sharp glance from Trill stayed their paws. The male leaned back in his seat, turning naught but his head to regard the Human. “You are marked by this one. Do you know what that means?”
The flabbergasted look said it all. “Wait, what? You mean that pheromone thing you guys do to designate partners you intend to stay with? Have kids with?”
The bond became a chaotic swirl of positive and negative emotions, undefinable levels of each making it impossible to parse for Sahari.
“No, then.” Trill inhaled deeply, ignoring his turn to answer in favour of looking back at the kneeling female. “Trying to cheat the terms, kit?”
Tel stared at the floor, her expression remaining flat, though a flash of guilt passed through her eyes. “No.”
“Then why?”
When Tel didn’t answer, Trill abandoned interest in the subject, waving a paw. “Then you have failed to uphold your end of the contract. As arranged, a new mate will be chosen and you will bear their young.”
Joseph scowled, raising his voice to be heard. “What the hell do you mean, ‘a new mate will be chosen’?”
Trill turned his chair to face the Human with another smile, though this one was wooden. “Our agreement was one of which she would make a Grand Hunter into her Sheath, and bring them to me as proof. Else, she would submit to having one chosen for her.”
“What’s a ‘Sheath’?”
Trill frowned as if the Grand Hunter were but a kit. “Surely, if you know that little, then you know her mark was little more than using you for her own freedom.”
Joseph blinked, unbelieving of the developments. The bond was mute, though a deep cold was growing beneath the surface. “I mean, the whole ‘mark’ thing is going to be a conversation we’ll need to have later, but you can’t just keep her here.”
It was the Lilhun’s turn to look confused. “She is my blood-kit as well as the heiress of Avalon. Until she is in possession of a Sheath, no other can.”
“You’re her dad?”
A rumbling chuckle threatened to rattle the desk. “Oh, new one. I do not blame you for being taken by her appeal, but if you thought it was more than a farce, you were mistaken. She accepted the contract for her freedom quite a long time ago, and was quite close to achieving it, but then the ship got stranded. We made a mutual amendment so as to offer her a fair attempt.” Trill shook his head in pity. “Though i must say, i never expected her to charm one so quickly.”
Joseph stared at the male, lowering his lost stare to the floor as it washed over him.
“So... it meant nothing?” He whispered, his eyes raising momentarily to scour the female for any hint of the usual trouble-maker he had grown to know before returning them to his feet. “Even this whole mark thing? That’s it? I was just some... Piece, to fulfill an agreement with your dad? Everything... this never existed?”
Tel opened her muzzle to respond, a paw raising towards him for but a fraction, but she tightened both and averted her eyes.
“All this time? Those nights by the fire? Last night?” His voice cracked as he spoke, wisps of agony bleeding through. “What, was i just the first thing you stumbled across? You never felt anything?”
She stayed where she was standing, bracing an arm across her chest to grip the other. Joseph didn’t raise his gaze, a deep chuckle escaping him, though it sapped warmth from the room, absent of its own.
“So this is it? I’m being tossed away again because I’m not good enough? I finally start thinking, considering, maybe even believing that somehow, someway, i could embrace this weird poly bullshit you guys do. Maybe see a future where i can look at you the way a part of me wants to without feeling guilty. Maybe let this thing I’ve been holding back grow.” His chuckling grew darker. “Admit that this thing did without me noticing.”
He drew his wet eyes to look up, though couldn’t bring himself to complete it. Sahari had to look away, the pain growing unbearable though their connection as her cheeks moistened in empathy, old wounds within him shredded open. A subtle rage built within her for the female making him feel like this. “When you called me yours... I guess it doesn’t matter now.”
“Worry not, Mi’low helpfully informed me of your desire to open trade relations as well as join the treaty in her place. I will make it so.” Trill interjected happily, sensing that Joseph had finished all that he was going to say on the matter. “I will keep my kit until a suitable replacement is found and she is ready to raise her own. I have all the pertinent documents-”
“No.” Joseph’s voice rasped through his choked throat. Tel still refused to look at him, but her ears twitched in the direction of his denial.
The male Lilhun paused over his papers, glancing at the Human, his welcoming expression cracking. “No what, new one?”
“You’re not keeping her.” The Grand Hunter grew more firm, though still somewhat raw.
Trill shifted into a cold cadence. “You have been tricked and abandoned, new one. Your love is lost and misplaced. These agreements are not.”
Joseph raised his eyes, a small fire burning behind the hurt. “I’ll shove those down your throat if you think I’m leaving here without her. I’m not letting you lock her up here to wait for hand-picked dick.”
The male leaned back in his chair and rested his folded paws on the table. “You bear her mark, nothing more. Such will pass with time and then she will be suitable again. You are not her mate nor her Sheath.”
“I’m a Human. She’s part of my pack.” Joseph rose from his chair slowly. “I will do everything in my power to see her safe and happy. If that means leaving a trail of bodies from here back to the base, then i will swallow my guilt to make it so.”
“A fresh thing like you, leaving corpses?” Trill huffed in amusement, though his frigid tone remained. “You couldn’t even find it within you to end the male that tried to take your life for her. You bring her no benefit.”
“I don’t want to kill,” The Human admitted readily. “It’s a lot harder to forgive when you’re dead. But, I’d start here to make sure she’d keep giving someone those eyes of contentment instead of waiting to be bred like a fucking show animal.”
“Then you know too little to be-”
Joseph had crossed the room, placing his paws on the desk while paying little attention to the father’s comments. The guards tried to draw close to remove him, but a raised paw from Trill stayed their advance. “She’s been here going on a year trying to survive this planet with little help, after watching her first attempt at stability get demolished by savage wildlife, and your only thought upon seeing your daughter safe on this fucking shit-hole is getting her knocked up? On top of that, when she goes as far to escape your clutches as to mark someone she doesn’t care about just to satisfy your stupid agreement, you try to lock her in a cage? Am i following that right? What the fuck are your priorities?”
Trill matched the aggression in Joseph’s voice, rising from his own chair to glare down at the Human. “You will be silent, new one! You know nothing. Return to your seat or i will personally send a squad to raze your precious settlement to the ground for your transgressions.”
Sahari flinched when Joseph kicked the desk over, stumbling Trill in surprise as he jumped over it and pulled the male’s dagger from his sheath. A kick to the ankle, a heavy punch to the stomach, and a pinned arm behind the back brought the Lilhun’s face to the upturned edge of the table, the blade pressed to his throat before any of the attending defenders could react. “I will kill you, your guards, and every single motherfucker who so much as thinks about doing just that. I will burn this entire section of the forest if you so much as try to breathe maliciously near my daughter and i will make sure you inhale the ashes. Make the fucking adjustments to the treaty so i can go home.”
He hammered the blade into the wooden bulk of the desk, releasing Trill and walking to stand next to Sahari. “I’m taking Tel. What she does after that is her decision, but she’s not staying where she obviously doesn’t want to be.”
Tel stared wide-eyed and slack-jawed at the display, wetness playing in the corners of her eyes. “Joseph...”
Trill began laughing, slowly drawing back to his full height and retrieving his knife from the wood. “Perhaps not as cowardly as i assumed, Human. It is not often one gains the opportunity to maim me, let alone foregoes it for something as meagre as allowing a female whom cares not for him to pursue others.”
Tel smiled while Joseph responded, the first real expression since Trill showed up. “I need you alive to sign the documents.”
The male roared with laughter for a moment, a genuinely warm look to Tel was given as he shook his head. “Very well, you may take her. On one condition, however.”
Joseph hardened his visage but waited for him to continue.
“You will take some of my own into your pack. Do with them as you will. Hunting, farming, bedding. But they will report to me when she has found her Sheath, and they will be the next generation of Avalon.”
The Human chewed it over, though Sahari knew his mind had been made up from the moment the Lilhun had stopped speaking. “How many?”
“Hmm. Let us say four, for now. You still wish for trade, no?” Joseph nodded, though the critical expression showed that he was thinking about this far deeper now, if only to work out where the male was going with this. “We will work with Loptr on your contracts and send caravans with supplies and the like you have requested. Each one that arrives may include more. They will act as expected, save for passing along updates to myself.”
“I want it in writing that they will never act against the pack.” Joseph was quick to counter. “You respect whatever is in writing, i take it.”
An amused nod was given. “It is the foundation of a merchant. Even one as I. We will add that they are, minus my stipulation, a fully functional member of your pack, no matter their status within it. They will act to your commands and expectations as long as it does not violate their duty to relay information regarding my kit.”
“The caravans too.”
Trill chuckled. “So be it. Nothing sent by myself nor Loptr will act against you unless you break the treaty or act against them with a deliberate and clear intent to harm them.”
“I’m burning this place to cinders if they so much as think about doing something as stupid as faking the circumstances.”
“Yes, yes. Quite terrifying. Shall we?”
Trill’s guards righted the table with an amused wave of the male’s paw and laid the scattered documents upon it, the Lilhun going to the swift process of amending whatever needed to be fixed and writing the drafts for their agreement. He slid forward two copies of both and held forward the writing implement towards Joseph. The Human quickly scribbled onto where he was required after Sahari had regained her senses enough to read it over for him, though she kept glancing at Tel with a subdued anger for her actions against her bond.
Trill folded one of the copies and passed it over to him, his voice far less imposing than before as he adopted a professional courtesy. “With that out of the way, i believe you should meet the first four, no?”
Joseph pocketed the slip, exhaling through his nose at the change in demeanour after the whole argument. He raised his claws rub at his eyes. “I’m too tired to fucking care right now. First, we need a place to stay tonight.”
The Lilhun gestured to the shuttle they were in. “I am in possession of this. It is quite accommodating to a group such as yourself.”
“I’d rather try my chances in the woods,” came the flat reply.
The comment was waved off. “Kahn’s residence has been vacated. You may stay there for the moon.”
Joseph scrunched up his face, but surrendered nonetheless. “Fine, but make it clean. Mi’low knows the details on whatever dealings we need done, she should be talking with Loptr now. Bother her if you need to work out what is being traded for what.” Trill chuckled at the dismissal.
“So be it. I wish to speak to my kit alone.” His regard was relaxed until he finished speaking, a paw reaching for his dagger as Joseph hardened his gaze.
“I’ll be outside.” Joseph glanced to Tel, the pressure of the situation allowing fresh sorrow to surface. “You know the signal to use if i need to start putting holes in people.”
She flinched when she noticed the pain in his eyes, some being reflected within her own, but she nodded nonetheless.
They left the room, the powered metal door lightly sliding closed behind them by paw with no electricity to run it.
With no one around to see them, Joseph allowed the first silent tear to roll down his skin as he rested his head against a wall, though his expression remained stoic. Sahari put her arm around him and pulled the male into her bosom, the latter allowing but a single muffled sob of self-hatred to escape.