Chapter 94: Sojourn
Robert packed as quietly as he could, keeping to light footsteps and purposeful movements to avoid disturbing the other person in the room getting much needed rest. His fiancée was sprawled out in their bed with a smile stuck to her face at the novelty of sleeping in her new home, the occasional trill and nuzzle into the bed sheets being the only evidence she was still asleep. He paused to watch her slow breaths, his expression softening from the deep scowl that affixed itself to him since Harrow had broken down on the call.
Thanks to a bit of careful soothing and lots of patience, he managed to keep her coherent long enough to explain just what the hell he had missed while he was off retrieving Silva from Quotol space—though as a result, he was caught between strangling Joseph the moment he could get his hands on him and hugging the man to death.
Multiple accounts of him almost getting himself killed, his influence growing to a respectable point, several advances in the mysteries of the Atmo, and now he was on a Lilhun military scout ship dropping him into possibly hostile territory to talk with someone who was hoarding what might very well be the remaining population of the insectoid race. Toss in the fact that there was a very anti-Union military sending a fleet to collect their stranded people and inhabit the planet they were on, and Joseph was staring down the barrel of a gun with all the caution Rob had grown to expect from his younger brother. First it was pissing off an assassin-slash-black-market dealer, and now it was all this.
This skipped right past tempting death and went straight to wine, contraceptives, and romantic music playing under pillow talk.
Robert’s movements must have started making more noise as he grit his teeth, because Silva stirred, her eyes opening as she came into consciousness, her feathers ruffling in shimmering waves. She saw him standing near the desk against the wall, smiling for a few seconds before noticing the cargo bags that they had only unpacked the night before freshly filled with new supplies. She pushed herself up with her wings and fluttered her eyelids to work out the residual sleep.
“Rob? What’s wrong?”
He froze while including a pistol he kept in the nightstand, glancing at her with a torn expression as he added it to the bag. “Too much.”
“Is it Joseph?” she asked, worry lacing her tone while she got herself into a decent sitting position on the edge of the mattress. He nodded, a grimace pulling his eyes with it. “Is he hurt?”
Robert shook his head. “Was, but apparently he’s more-or-less fine at the moment. Physically, anyway. The issue is that the Lilhun Military found the planet.”
Silva tilted her head her usual startling amount, his concerned mindset not letting him find the sight amusing. “Isn’t that good? Help is there for his friends, right?”
He hunched to brace his hands on the table, his posture indicating his agitation. “They aren’t happy Joe is from a race allied with the Union.”
The Trilaxin’s eyes widened. “Oh? Oh. Oh, no.”
“Yeah.”
“So why are you packing, Rob? We just got home,” she asked quietly, fear tinting her subconscious whistle. He couldn’t fight the sad smile at his soon-to-be-wife already growing comfortable with calling his home her own, but it still lost to the unrest at knowing his brother was in arguably more danger than ever before. It was always dangerous for him, but this would be driven by purpose and technology, rather than hunger and wildlife. Rob stood straight, turning around to rest against the edge of the desk and crossing his arms.
“When I spread those rumours of a new metal, I also had a few people hired by my competitors start feeding out of my pocket.”
“Corporate espionage?” Sil questioned flatly, not exactly thrilled by the dishonest measure. Robert shrugged.
“For Joe?”
Silva closed her open beak, nodding in resignation. Nothing was off the table for his remaining family, even if it was distasteful. “And?”
“And,” he repeated with a long exhale, “they found some things of note.”
He waited for Sil to gather her reservations before he continued, speaking when her response was merely to hug herself with her wings. Satisfied she was as awake as she was going to be, he ran his fingers through his hair and organized his chaotic thoughts.
“Eighteen mechanics were keeping track of where, when, and how fast the ships they were working on went. Most reported the company calling off the search not long after it started—either because they weren’t ready to put in the amount of effort, or because they figured it was a red herring to begin with.”
Silva went to make a joke about fish, but stalled when he silently asked to finish, his smile communicating that he loved that part about her immensely, but he really did want to get through this first. She sheepishly bowed her head, peering up at him in apologetic shame with a light wave to indicate he could continue.
“Three didn’t, but two are planning to stop soon.” Robert took a breath, his eyes scanning everything and nothing. “Stel-Corp, however, not only didn’t stop, but they started having technical issues while approaching their latest suspected origin of the material.”
“You think they...”
“Found the warp-spike, yeah,” he confirmed with a nod. “Thanks to a call with Harrow, and apparently a bit of scouting from Tel, we have a list of known effects the thing has besides causing interstellar traffic accidents.” Rob raised a loose hand to count off. “First, the navigation starts failing. Up is down, left is right, and forward means nothing. They can still pilot, but the guidance systems won’t help you keep track of where you are, or where you’ve been. It’s designed from the ground up to make sure that whoever shows up, never leaves. Second, the communications slowly fail, from light distortion to radio silence with no warning in between. No calling for help. Third, once you’re too close to do much about it, power generation fails. Limited thrust, limited life support, and limited ability to do more than sit there barely keeping out of the gravity well until something gives in and you plummet into the planet.”
He dropped the raised fingers, his arm following to rest his palm on the edge of the desk. “Seems like the scout ship that the Lilhun military managed to get into atmosphere—without becoming violently acquainted with the substrate—had some shielding and a competent Technical Operations Officer, because they managed to keep their ship together by a thread. Enough so that they could still use it to travel around, anyway.”
“Do we know if we can even counter that? If it does all that to military vessels...” Silva faltered as she asked, her worry intensifying. Robert smirked, walking over to embrace the love of his life gently in his arms.
“Better. The boys in the lab, and more than a few of my more eccentric friends that worked on The Spirit, have turned that thing into a veritable flight violation, considering all the modifications they did under the plating. It’d be fine even against the Puffs and their jamming tech—which, assuming memory serves, should be what they used as a reference for the ‘spike.”
“So you can spend time in jail while making fun of the Rullanians, rather than getting your brother?” she chastised, though her tone showed she wasn’t into their little back-and-forth regarding his disregard for intergalactic law. He rubbed her back, careful not to pull on the fine feathers.
“Lucky for me, some lovely people who put Joseph in this position owe me a lot of favours, and keeping patrols out of wherever the hell I go is one that I’ve already called in.” He pulled away to grin at her. “And we know just where we don’t want them.”
Silva blinked, the words setting in. “You found him?”
“I found more than just where he is,” Robert replied, nodding as his smile faltered. “Few good things, few unfortunate.”
“What’s wrong, Rob?” she asked, her wingtip brushing his cheek. He nuzzled into her touch as he exhaled heavily.
“Well, good news is that it’s a lot closer than I thought. We can get there in about a week with The Spirit’s engines. I have someone looking into something else too, but we’ll save that for when I get a definitive answer.”
“And the bad news?”
His brow furrowed. “We can’t bring much backup. If it doesn’t fit on the ship, it isn’t going.”
His fiancee placed her wings to his chest, lightly requesting distance to give him full view of her worry. “So you can’t bring help?” He shook his head.
“The ship can support a decent enough crew—it was designed to host massive insects having parties, after all—but we can’t bring our own force large enough to deter the Lilhun brass without broadcasting our actions to anyone even remotely interested in keeping tabs on Sol. That goes beyond just keeping bored patrol units occupied for a few hours. We’ll have to rely on a few of Joe’s questionable decisions to keep things somewhat peaceful when we show up.”
Her gaze lowered as concern flowed through a melody of hesitation underlining her voice. “What about the Union?”
“You tell me. Has there been anything about it?”
She waited for him to step back, reaching for her tablet with her talons before transferring it to her lap. A quick check of a few accounts rendered nothing they needed to consider. “Apparently human transportation ceased while we were gone, but it’s restricted to major stations. Some talk about it being Union-wide is happening on private channels, though.”
“What?” Rob asked, pausing as he tossed socks into his bag. “They’re locking us down fully now?”
Sil shook her head. “They didn’t do anything, but the civilian sector is getting anxious about the rumours they spread.” She hovered a wingtip over the screen as she read something, her eyes gaining a confused edge. “Oh, this could be bad.”
“Mind keeping your future husband in the loop, Sil?” he prodded, trying not to overreact to her statement. She liked exaggerating at times, but bad news was usually not on the list of things she played around with.
“Factions have started,” she replied grimly, flipping her tablet to show him some logs. “It’s a three-way stalemate on the fate of humans.”
“For, against, and neutral,” he surmised after skimming some of the text. “That makes things complicated.”
“Considering that two factions will go to war over it? Yes,” the avian agreed morosely. “The only thing keeping this from going to the winds is the neutrals.”
“What do they want?”
“Not war,” she chuckled mirthlessly. “A friend of mine says that they might just join the passive side if things start.”
“Defend and eliminate for the sake of peace, all while looking like the good guy,” he spat, following it with several muttered curses from every language he knew them in. He threw his arms out in frustration. “What does that mean for us? We can’t take the fight to them or they’ll suddenly gain double the numbers. It’d be suicide.”
“We can’t wait for the first move either,” she sighed. “The Atmo proved that they only need one shot at things to make life difficult, at best.”
He waved a hand dismissively but wasn’t quite ready to truly ignore the notion. “We have more to work with than they did, but I see your point.” He walked over to the bed, dropping himself heavily on the mattress. Sil chirped in surprise as she gained air for a moment. “So we’re moving in the shadows still.”
Silva thought for a few seconds, her silence broken by the occasional tones. “We can’t go against them openly, but what if we didn’t have to?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’ll tell you on the way there,” she replied smugly, happy to be ahead of him in something.
“On the... You’re not going, Sil,” he stated firmly, resting his hand on her thigh to reassure her that it was said out of concern. Her reaction was swift, her predatory heritage showing through the razor-sharp scowl and sharp speech.
“Robert William Wright, I am not having my husband going into hostile territory while I stay at the nest to worry about never seeing him again, and I am especially not losing both my husband and a sibling I have yet to meet! As your wife, I am going to go with you—like it or not—and you are going to bring every illegal bit of technology and weaponry you have your hands on to make sure that you, me, Joseph, and every single one of those adorable cat-dog-people he calls family comes back safe. Do I make myself clear?”
Rob blinked, leaning away from the ever-approaching black beak clacking shut with every punctuated syllable, her vexation accenting the tirade with a sound not dissimilar to old train whistles. He raised a finger to protest, stalled by the fuming irritation that intensified. His arm dropped to his side, his resigned tone not hiding the fondness in his smile. “Yes, dear.”
Silva whistled in victory, the smug preening making him roll his eyes. “Good. Now, what are we taking?”
He shook his head, chuckling at how proud of herself she was. “Food, medical equipment for a small population, guns, ammo, and people to use it all. Everything but the kitchen sink—and that too, if it’ll fit.”
“Do you have anyone in mind to go with us?”
“A few,” he admitted with a tilt of his head. “The crew that we travelled with are all trained soldiers.”
Sil blinked, her surprise solidifying on her face. “Even Steve?”
The barking laugh startled her. “Steve is a nice guy, yeah, but there’s a reason he accompanies me when I go places.”
She looked down in mild disbelief. “But he was so friendly.”
Rob patted her back lightly, mindful of the force he put into it. “Unless you point a weapon at me, he usually is. Like I said, nice guy.”
“So that gives us ten, excluding us.”
“Yep,” he confirmed, mentally tallying off people that were unavailable. “I think we can swing another ten or so without compromising the supplies we’ll want to bring.”
His fiancée tilted her head. “Want me to call in a few favours?”
“More Trilaxin?”
“Why not?” she offered rhetorically, a light shrug showing her indifference. “As long as we use the dark channels, they can be here tomorrow under the guise of diplomatic ventures, and your boys can set them up with any equipment they’ll need by nightfall.”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
He placed his elbows on his knees, leaning into his interlaced fingers. Eventually, he nodded. “Can’t go into this half-assed. Do it.”
A few taps on her tablet and she whistled her completion of the task, glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. “How do we let him know we’re coming? You just finished a call, right?”
Rob laughed weakly. “We’ll just show up and hope no one opens fire, though I think we could shrug off most of their armaments while on The Spirit.”
“Do we know where he is on the surface?”
He nodded, smiling as he remembered his brother whining or bragging about the various developments of his settlement. “I think we’ll manage just fine.”
= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =
Joseph relaxed on the admittedly small bed, his feet hanging off the edge at the ankle. It was wide enough for two or three people to lay side-by-side on, but the cuddle-puddle nature of Lilhun resting habits was fairly obvious. Even if the majority of the population was taller than he was at full stretch, he could easily picture the bodies curling around each other, never having an issue with dangling limbs.
Tel sat at the utilitarian desk afforded to them in the cabin next to the door, a metal knife sharpening the ironwood ones she refused to replace before seating them back in her holster. Even after all the daggers had been through, she still maintained his gifts routinely, lightly blowing off the motes of sawdust that her careful touch generated. Her ears pivoted to the door, her paw reaching for a roped dagger on her thigh as it silently opened with only a chime prefacing it from the speaker above. The dark green-furred male they had been travelling with for the past few days entered, offering them some bland rations like usual. He laid one plate of lacklustre porridge on Tel’s desk and simply handed Joseph the other before grabbing a seat to drop into.
They hadn’t met the rest of the crew, though there were apparently only two others operating things. Usually there should be about six or seven in total, according to their host, but Tech was attributed to their lower headcount. The purple-furred female was in charge of several functions that would normally require dedicated staff, so they used the opportunity to keep things light. Joseph wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but accepted that it was information regardless. Other than that, all he could reasonably ascertain from it was that Leader was happy to have a less crowded ship to run.
And seemingly curious enough about the Human to speak with him on several occasions during their trip.
It was mostly mundane things, though the Grand Hunter was careful to keep some specifics vague enough that there wouldn’t be any meaningful tidbits to be gleaned. It didn’t deter the male, his stride unbroken even when answers were basically some variation of a verbal shrug. As far as Joseph could tell, the guy was just bored and curious.
“I have to ask,” Leader started, scratching at his ear. It was a pervasive habit of his that surfaced when he was unsure about something, so Joseph paused in his eating to see where it was going. “What did you do for Grand Hunter Trill?”
He bit back the ‘his daughter’ comment which desperately wanted to come out, Tel glancing at him with a smug grin that showed she knew exactly what he was going to say. Exhaling through his nose to give the crude remark time to dilute, he opted for the only other item of note in his experiences with the ‘Blademaster.’
“I held a knife to his throat and threatened to burn his village to the ground.”
Leader’s jaw slackened. “Why?”
“He threatened my kit,” the Human answered casually, taking a bite of the rather flavourless food provided for him. He had rations of dried meat and rock-worm, but he would rather save that in case Sunundra wasn’t as accommodating. As far as Joseph knew, Leader ate the same crap he gave them, so it wasn’t worth complaining about.
“And you lived?”
He gestured to himself, a flat look given to the incredulous male. “Apparently.” He spooned another mouthful of the goop that passed for a meal. “Why do you ask?”
Leader eyed him for a while before answering, his head shaking as if he had learned something he would rather not have. “Part of his agreement was that we do you a favour. Seems visiting your settlement last was a requirement because everything else would affect your decision.”
Joseph rolled the texture on his tongue, swallowing so that he didn’t speak with his mouth full. “What did you find out? I’m assuming Sunundra and the Atmo were the largest.”
“Yes and no,” the dark green-furred male replied, turning a paw upwards. “Yes, that is a rather important discovery, but it is not the most worrying. Hasen has been integrating the other packs under his command.”
The Human’s spoon dropped into the sludge, his mouth still open to receive the sustenance, Tel growling quietly from her seat. “Say what now?”
Leader nodded, his eyes avoiding meeting Joseph’s. “It has become an issue for us as well. Hasen seeks to become a Master Hunter.”
“More fucking titles,” he grumbled in English, thankful that he had a reprieve to openly bitch without disturbing everyone in the room. He cleared his throat for the switch back to Lilhun. “Want to explain what the difference is?”
The dark green-furred male blinked. “You weren’t told?”
“I didn’t know it was a thing before now, so no,” he drolled, eyeing Tel with annoyance. The female kept her gaze on the other Lilhun in the room, but shrugged to show she knew he was indirectly asking why she never said anything. For all it mattered, she either didn’t remember to provide the information, or never cared to learn it to begin with. Knowing her, the latter was more likely. It had nothing to do with her hobbies, nor bothering people, and was thus irrelevant.
“A Grand Hunter controls a large territory and the force required to maintain it,” Leader explained, his upwards gaze showing that he was trying to keep the dense history of the position concise for the ignorant audience. “A Master Hunter controls all the territory on a massive scale. Depending on the population and geography, perhaps an entire continent.”
Joseph stalled in his thoughts, connecting as many dots as he could, as quickly as he could. “He wants to take over everything. How? Doesn’t the treaty stop him from just walking up and claiming shit?”
A nod was returned, though the pursed lips belied the complexity behind the gesture. “It would, if it wasn’t for the loophole.”
His eyes widened, narrowing shortly after. “I’ll ignore why you’re telling me this, but what loophole?”
Leader laughed, relaxing in his chair despite how threatening Tel’s stare had gotten. “Why? You have an entire population who exalts your virtues and have a history of purely defensive behaviour, however brief it is. I doubt you’ll gather a raiding party any time soon—especially since the only other settlements you could seek to subsume are either Trill’s, who you have a vested interest in keeping on at least neutral terms, or Sunundra, who is too far from your den to reasonably consider attacking.”
The male stretched his legs outwards, the mirth falling from his face. “As for what the loophole is, I believe you have already experienced it with Mi’low, according to what we have learned from our interviews.”
Joseph thought about it, his gaze scanning for any deception. “She surrendered command to me.”
Leader tipped a claw at him. “And due to your right to self-govern within the treaty you signed shortly after, it was no longer a matter they could interfere with.”
“So he’s beating everyone into submission?”
“Or killing those who refuse until someone does,” the male concluded grimly. “If it comes to pass, then the UM will need to negotiate with someone who would rather slaughter their kin for power than reintegrate, and that leaves us in a difficult position. Should he be left unchecked, and able to expand to cover at least a third of the planet in his influence, he will be a Grand Master, and have the same political power as the few at the pinnacle of our structure.” Leader sighed. “Fracturing our people will weaken us as a whole, seeing the events that await us with the Union.”
Joseph stared at the plate in his hands, his response quiet and even. “So there’s only three of us left before that fucker finishes his work?”
The male nodded. “Which is why we’re accommodating the Grand Huntress’ request for meeting you rather than simply leaving her where she is while we deal with the others.”
“And Trill runs his own space without being bothered because he was lucky enough to be seen before you knew about all of this.”
“That is about the state of things,” he confirmed sombrely.
The Grand Hunter looked up to see the rueful expression. “So why not just force my pack into Trill’s or Sunundra’s? Why even humour me? You said it to Pan, you can just order them to comply if it came down to it.”
A weak chuckle was returned. “Because your pack is happy, Human. Trill’s follow him because he holds their prosperity in one paw and a blade in the other, and Sunundra’s pack seems to fear what would befall them, should they wish of more. You, though... You took a defect as a mate—granted, it makes more sense now that we know what we do—and have several previous Grand Hunters more concerned with following you than ever reinstating their influence. Your members were typically annoyed by our offer, if not hostile about it. You have clothing, entertainment, work, and even social events scheduled regularly that came up several times.”
Leader clapped his paws on his knees as he stood. “You are not surviving on this hostile planet, Grand Hunter Joseph. You are thriving, and in a way I pray to the Hunt Mother that we could learn from.” His head drooped, eyes fixed on the floor in front of the door. “It has been a long time since we have been a happy people, Joseph. The Union just gave us a reason to unite when we were on the cusp of being no more. A false shelter from a storm of our own making.” He glanced at Tel, ignoring the cold gaze she gave him. “A Blade would know; their kind has been the tool of choice for much of it.”
“We do as tasked, Leader,” the grey-furred female retorted, breaking her long silence. “One who holds a gun does not blame the weapon for where it was pointed.”
“No, I suppose not,” the dark green-furred male chuckled dryly, a paw tugging to fix his sleeve. “We will land at the designated point soon. It would be best to gather your effects for departure.”
The door chimed again as it opened, closing behind Leader to leave Tel huffing in annoyance, while Joseph contemplated the weight of what he learned. His mate turned to him, her gaze softening.
“You are not responsible for the mistakes of others, my male.”
“I know, Tel, but I have a chance to do something here.”
“Such as?” she asked curiously, standing to collect her knives and the few unpacked items. Joseph held his breath for a moment before releasing it through tight lips.
“Help people, Tel.” He smiled at the grey-furred female, her posture relaxing as she considered his words. “That’s all I’ve wanted to do since I got here.”
She nodded, slinging her bag over her shoulder by the strap and tossing him his coat, her confident strut up to him accentuating her form. “I know, my male. It’s why I must stop those who wish to impede you.”
He accepted the light kiss before getting to his feet, his expression sombre, but reassured. “Let’s hope your job stays at being my company.”
She patted him across the head with her tail, the door chiming to let her through. With a sly grin, she walked through it, leaving her teasing lilt to flow over her shoulder. “I believe there are other uses for me that you enjoy.”
He ignored the redness on his cheeks and the smirk that followed, thankful that she knew how to ease his mind—even if the methods were crass.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
They exited the shuttle, Leader and Tech acting as escorts for the duration of their stay, oddly enough. He didn’t really question it after the conversation they had, but he supposed having two firearm-toting soldiers watching his back for diplomacy reasons beat just him and Tel trying not to get ganged up on.
He really wanted to see the guns, though. He hadn’t much chance to play with truly alien tech that wasn’t a part of an electrical system, and these looked so damn cool. Sadly, his temporary friends weren’t so keen on letting the Human touch the new toys.
“The settlement is rather large, all in all, so we needed to land a bit out from the fence,” Leader explained to them, gesturing towards a distant line that was likely the referenced structure. It wasn’t very high, so Joseph figured it served the same purpose that his own fence did before larger wildlife demonstrated the need for the big walls. It would discourage the more common of them though, so he supposed it did the job.
Tech kept the two submachine-gun-looking armaments sitting in holsters on her hips while a massive anti-tank rifle rested across her back, Leader keeping a pistol and a more normal-sized rifle across his chest. With all the additional plating and fabric armour, they could have easily fit into a Human military advertisement, but the colour scheme had been adjusted to blend into the local environment during the trip to Sunundra’s—shades of yellow and auburn breaking up the silhouette from a distance. It clashed with the purple and deep green of their furs, but he doubted it would pose much of an issue at night.
The comparison made him feel a little under-dressed, all things considered. His black Wraith armour had the hood back so that he could see better, and the dark fabric of his pants meant that he would be either invisible, or simply terrifying come nightfall. It left something to be desired in the weapons department, though. As much as he loved the new bracers—their metal components making them deploy faster and the blades more resistant to breakage—having a slim crossbow hidden away would only really cover him in small engagements. If he had to go up against guns, especially until he got an idea for what the plasma weapons could do, he couldn’t really have an answer to them.
Tel was a little better off, if just because she seemed to only really care about the long rifle over the purple-furred female’s back, but she was limited to her daggers, ropes, and needles. A curious question resulted in her nonchalantly informing him that she could get her paws on a weapon as long as someone owned one, so she wasn’t really worried about her current melee focus. Her armour was a lot like his stylistically—down to the moss-wolf skull she had hanging on her hip—but she insisted on being primarily resistant to stabbing and slashing, so the bulky coat was exchanged for something akin to a tactical vest and some curved plates covering critical areas on her limbs. She looked like she was ready to teach some extreme variant of a sport involving climbing equipment and full-contact, rather than slipping into the shadows to acquire weapons that might fit the situation better when the mood struck her.
Regardless, they were all as armed to the teeth as they were going to be, and it was on full display for those curious enough to look.
The walk was fairly uneventful, the wildlife exhibiting its usual tendency to still until they had passed by. The distant roll of a river became more pronounced as they approached the chest-high barrier, Leader motioning for them to hop over it while Tech did so without waiting for instruction. They both raised a brow when he took a few steps back to get a small running start, slapping his hand on the top plank to vault over it with minimal effort. Tel showed him up by crouching slightly and using her digitigrade legs to curl herself up to the lip of the fence, hooking her toe claws over the edge and simply walking off it to fall silently on the other side. If it wasn’t for the nonplussed expression, he might have shown how impressed he was.
Unfortunately, she grinned anyway, a smug wink given once the other two had turned to continue. All he could do was chortle and shake his head at her, not commenting on her sashaying gait swinging her hips directly in his line of sight. Based on her swivelling ears alone, he knew she was far more alert than she was letting on, and it was distracting him from the full scale of what he was walking into, so he let it pass.
As they got closer, buildings became more commonplace, though they were arranged in a haphazard manner when compared to how he and Nalah had been doing things. Dens lay next to each other at tight intervals. Workplaces varied between having ample room and almost being built on top of homes. Some of what he figured were storehouses seemed to be the best designed, wide pathways surrounding them and uniform dimensions allowing the buildings to be sturdier than their counterparts.
It was while he was walking by one of them that he paused in his step, the clean lines of planks aligned just so catching his interest. Where the other structures seemed to have been done with handmade tools and by people with varying amounts of experience in carpentry, this one was almost machined plank by plank. It was a quality he had grown used to seeing in his own settlement, his lingering touch revealing smooth surface amongst the rough.
“Interested in architecture, my male?” Tel queried sarcastically, her chin resting on his shoulder to see what he was so fascinated with as she kept ears on the wary eyes of passing Lilhuns. His lack of reaction and critical eye told her of his thoughts. “Touch of the Atmo? Strange to see it here.”
“Not if they have more of them than we do members,” he muttered, backing away to look over the settlement again. It wasn’t as omnipresent as his own, but some sections of buildings had the same features in spots. Some looked to have been completed by Atmo, others were just using doors and windows crafted by their sharp blades. Few were done almost entirely by the insects, but they grew more common as they neared the denser parts of the village or near heavily industrious sectors. As far as he could tell, the place was built outwards from a central structure, much like his. The main difference—aside from the lack of planning—was that the expansion wasn’t circular, nor segmented like the base.
The reason became clear once they passed the more cluttered area, the foot traffic intensifying around them as people travelled from location to location to go about their day, some slowing to gawk at the alien biped scrutinizing their home. A river separated the enclosed settlement through the middle, a wide bridge serving as the only passage between the two sides. Armed guards blocked the way, neither paying much mind to the being catching the attention of their peers. Besides feeling uneasy about being so close to the water, he was pretty well stunned at the difference in how it was erected when compared to everything else. It was certainly Atmo in nature, but it was also completely planned, everything down to the dirt where the bridge ended having been smoothed and tamped flat to allow the transport of wagons with minimal bumps.
Leader reached out to tap his shoulder, Tel intercepting it casually without looking. The dark-furred male raised a brow in surprise, but retracted the paw without complaint. “They have somewhere for us to wait while the Grand Huntress is informed of our arrival. I suggest we head there now.”
“Commanding my Sheath?” Tel asked evenly, her eyes sliding to inspect him. The soldier shook his head lazily.
“No, just far more comfortable there,” he explained, gesturing to a branching path. “It’s boring, but it beats having the Grand Hunter draw so much attention.”
Tech joined the male at his side, her paw planted on the gun on her thigh. “As much as I don’t want to kit-sit, we’re required to for now. We’d appreciate it if you made our job easier.”
Joseph held a finger up to stall the scathing remark he knew was about to leave Tel’s muzzle. Time, experience, and no small amount of goading her on had given him a pretty solid baseline for how long she could deal with people who weren’t him telling her what to do.
“You said she had a building like mine. Where is it?”
Leader tipped his head towards another cluster of buildings. “It’s behind those, but you wouldn’t be able to see it from here.”
“It’s on the river?”
“Pretty much,” he replied with a shrug. “I don’t know why it would be there, but it’s built sturdy enough that I wouldn’t worry about it sliding in, if that’s your concern.”
Joseph frowned, taking a breath and a final glance around, his eyes landing on scattered fire pits that were mostly ash. Some rested at intersections and were bordered by stones, likely lit at night to illuminate things for the more nocturnally-oriented of the pack. Others were simply placed near dens, far enough away so the building wouldn’t go up in flames. He couldn’t really see any evidence of chimneys or the like, meaning they might just let the smoke drift out of the natural gaps in the structures when they wanted warmth.
It was a place made by necessity, and occasionally accented by excess. There were no distant laughs, no chittering Atmo soaking in the ambient conversation while they worked, and no groups relaxing in the shade while on break. It was ‘function over form’ in every capacity.
And he hated it.
“Sounds fine by me,” Joseph finally remarked, dragging his wandering gaze away from the place that made him miss home. “Lead the way. I’d rather not hang around here in the open longer than I need to.”