Keera had little fun during her night watch. Sleeping on the hard ground had not been restful, her body was sore and aching all over and her mind was calling for a real bed in which she could rest. Somewhere far away, far away from insane, technology hating planets, strange monsters and mocking pixies. Her dreams had not helped her state of mind, nightmares haunting her in her sleep. Images of Scarlet with her bloody knife hunting her, of a crystal monster feasting on her body and of strange, faceless men having their way with her, even a strange dream of fleeing through a dreary city, being hunted by something. Some of the images had been so vivid, so real, it was frightening.
And even now, in the waking world, the strange, unaccustomed sounds of the forest around her made her mind conjure up monsters lurking in the darkness, ready to pounce on her and murder her. Every so often she looked over to the dark shape that was the sleeping Scarlet, to make sure that she was still there. She was not sure of what she was more afraid, that she would be gone or that Keera would miss some monster that would pounce on Scarlet. Or maybe Scarlet would suddenly stand up and decide that Keera was too much of a burden, either leaving her behind or gutting her for the fun of it, letting her blood run over her hands, smiling that sweet smile of her.
She finally managed to calm herself a bit and moved to a slightly lighter spot, looking up through the a hole in the canopy, seeing the stars and a moon. The constellations were unfamiliar but even the small opening that let her see the sky allowed her to see more stars than she had ever seen on her old home. There, the lights had been bright enough to blot out the stars, on Verdun, there was no artificial light pollution that hid the faint star light, letting the sky show itself in all its glory.
Keera was not sure how long she stared up in the sky, watching a second moon join the first on their journey through the sky until finally, the sky started to slowly get brighter, even as the forest clearing stayed dark.
When she heard a noise behind her, she spun, her neck burning from the strange posture she had held for so long, realising that Scarlet was moving in her sleeping bag. Suddenly, a powerful pulse burst from her, scanning the surrounding forest with impressive strength. Keera felt the power flow around her, not intruding but clearly mapping her existence, some of it rebounding, some of it flowing through her.
“Good Morning.” Keera said, watching as Scarlet was crawling from her sleeping bag. She cringed a little inside when she realised that the other had one of her knives drawn and ready in hand, an image that evoked half-remembered nightmares and fears. But it also made her realise that she had not guarded well, she had stared into the sky like a fool, her mind lightyears away. An army could have snuck up on them and she likely wouldn’t have the slightest idea.
Scarlet only answered with a grunt, slowly rising and working the kinks out of her body while examining the picture drawn by her scanning pulse. There were a few small animals but nothing that had the feel of a serious predator or a crystal monster.
Thinking for a moment, she slipped into her shoes, grabbed the spear they had fashioned the day before and walked towards the river, not sparing Keera another glance. Before she got into any serious thinking, she needed breakfast and while they had ration bars, she wanted to conserve them as much as possible, who knew how well the supply given out by the Doctor was. The bars would keep for years, they were designed to have a shelf-life of a decade. As she walked, she realised that she’d have to check their manufacturing date, hopefully it was not too long ago, it would be annoying if the use-by date was already gone, even if it wouldn’t really surprise her. The Federation would use such old supplies to make room for new supplies and it was not as if those living on Verdun could complain.
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On her way to the river, she pulled her crystal out again, slowly unravelling the mental process she had set up to keep the domination going during the night so it wouldn’t cause a headache when it broke. Once she held the domination with her conscious mind, she gently tossed the crystal forward, letting Cyca come out and land on her path. She felt her world expand when the sensory input from Cyca allowed her to experience more of it.
Together, they continued on their path, the way to the river now almost routine, a realisation that caused Scarlet to stop short. Things turning routine was something she’d have to avoid, until she had a better idea of the dangers that might be lurking behind the next tree.
Tightening her stance, she started to take care where to step, silencing her footsteps and using the cloaking she had used the day before to avoid notice. She also intensified the attention she paid to her passive mental senses, just in case something was out there.
When she got to the river, she noticed a few animals that looked like deer were in the area, looking her over warily but not immediately scattering.
‘They must not know what to make of me, maybe they’ve never seen a human before.’, she thought as she walked closer, ready to react if the herd reacted in an aggressive way. Cyca seemed to be more wary of the water than the deer, adding to Scarlet’s confidence in her approach. When she was only twenty meters away, the herd decided that it was close enough or maybe that they had drunk enough and scattered back into the forest, away from Scarlet.
With the interlopers gone, she decided that fish was a good idea for breakfast and stretched her senses into the river, looking for the fat carps they had caught the evening before. They were still there, still idling below the water, ripe to be plucked. Spear in hand, Scarlet moved closer and, using the mental image as her guide, stabbed into the water, spearing through one of them, causing the others to scatter. Pulling her catch out, she noticed that it was little smaller than the one Keera got so she decided to catch a second one.
The stupid fish returned far sooner than Scarlet had anticipated, allowing her to spear a second one without waiting too long, maybe half an hour, making it a respectable catch. She decided to clean breakfast right here, using some of the large leaves to carry the cleaned fish afterwards, so she sat and started to work. This time, it was easier thanks to the practise and experience she had the evening before, allowing her to harvest more of the flesh with less fishbones in it, making her smile.
After she was done, she noticed that she could smell herself, something she was never happy with, especially as a fishy smell clung to her, due to the work she had just done. Considering that she was next to one of the few sources of running water in the area, she decided that it was a good idea to bath before breakfast, actively scanning the area once again before stripping off and wading into the water. The water was a little chilly but not truly cold, so she submerged herself fully, using her hands to scrub herself. There was no soap or conditioner but that was something she’d have to get used to again, it was not as if she always had those things growing up.
A flash of information from Cyca caught her attention, her monster had remained a few steps away from the river, horrified to see her walk into the water, and now there was something that had caught Cyca’s attention. Pushing her wet hair out of her face and shaking her head a little to get rid of the water in her ears, she noticed that Keera had come looking for her and was just moving out of the woods, into sight of the river.
For a second, Scarlet considered her actions and decided that she had two options, either treat her state of undress as nothing worth notice and simply ignore the presence of another woman or hope that Keera wouldn’t defy her if she ordered her to go back to camp. Feeling that the first was a lot less risky, she decided to simply ignore Keera and finished her washing before slowly walking out of the river, using her hands to wring water from her hair and brush some of it from her skin. Seeing a nice patch of early morning sunlight, she decided to use the sun to dry off some more, in a deliberate show of dominance. Once she was stretched out in the sunlight, Cyca quickly joined her and only then, Scarlet allowed herself to take notice of Keera, who had been rooted to the spot since she had caught sight of Scarlet.