“It’s harmless fun, Ratha, at least so far as I can tell,” Antoth tried as the two of them ate dinner alone.
“Was that supposed to convince me?” she wondered, glaring at him down her muzzle. “This is pointless, Antoth. Why would you suggest engaging in frivolous human festivities when there is harvesting that needs to be done?”
“I have spoken with Winters and his sister at length about this Hallow’s Eve tradition, and it takes place after dark. Do you know anyone who harvests after Seil has set?” he asked, keeping his tone level.
“Is there a reason you’re arguing this with me?” she questioned, giving Antoth reason to widen his eyes at her.
“Me, arguing with you? Are you sure? And are you changing the subject?”
“Laugh all you wish, Antoth. I’m not the one who thinks we should be wasting time on such things.”
“Because you have so much to do now that you’re too round to hunt?” he pointed out dangerously. Silence reigned save for the fire crackling in her pit. “Sorry, Ratha.”
“You are incredibly fortunate that none of my number have died this year, scarface. Otherwise you would not still be enjoying my fire. Are you so deprived of occupation and entertainment that you feel the need to do this? I suppose winter is almost here, though. What’s done is done, isn’t it?”
Antoth nodded, entreating her with a wave of his hand. “And I would like to have a bit of fun with you, trying something new perhaps. Alyra assures me that this powder the humans have developed with her is safe and washes out of the fur with a bit of water, if you do not wish to wear a mask or anything more elaborate.”
“Oh please, my helmet is more elaborate than whatever else might be put together on such short notice but… maybe you have a point. I have been bored of late. I did kill a particular chieftain last year with fur similar to mine. He had black stripes. Mocking his spirit will be entertaining.”
Antoth deflated visibly, but he was making progress. “You want the dead to haunt you, Ratha?”
“Oh please, he was killed by a female’s arrow! He has plenty of reason to haunt me already. Perhaps that is why your cub makes my back ache, hmm? If the humans are not lying, I might just frighten them back into the void,” she suggested with relish. “Oh alright, Antoth. I guess I have nothing better to do, as you said. So what will you disguise yourself as? And if it involves your old armor that doesn’t count.”
The large, black-furred Cauthan closed his mouth slowly, having been about to say something. He cleared his throat and drummed his fingers on the table. “There are a few more days until this Hallow’s Eve. I will give it some thought.”
“You’re so obvious when you think you have things all figured out, scarface,” Ratha teased affectionately, sitting in his lap and nuzzling his neck. “Just know that if something goes wrong, I will be blaming you and you will not hear the end of it.”
He brought a hand around her and purred in a low tone. “You are a very complicated female to love. But I do love you.”
“I’ll take it,” she murmured, spending a moment in relaxation against his sturdy frame. Antoth was happy to take comfort in the moment as well, but his eyes remained fixed on the rough wooden wall and whatever laid beyond. Getting Ratha to contemplate participation in something as mundane and harmless as a human harvest festival had been a process. He had no idea how to even begin explaining that he was actively considering the humans’ offer to take the village itself aboard their ship. While proximity to his mate and unborn cub provided him a great many things, it did not provide him answers.
-----
‘I should have known you might be paying me a visit soon,’ Io spoke to Natori as he settled himself down in the control station of the manufactory she’d been using since making contact with the Event Horizon.
“Can you blame me, Io? That little stunt you pulled on the anniversary of the Lancer’s destruction merited a follow up. I intended, at a minimum, to see if you would be joining us for Halloween,” he explained, putting his feet up and taking a sip of coffee. There were no consoles he could use as a footrest in his personal cabin or on the bridge. Io glanced down at him from the nearest monitor.
‘Oh please, just make yourself at home,’ she teased before turning on a couple of lights for him. She did not need them to perform her work, and it saved power to have them off. ‘As you can see it is functionally complete. I am working on several options for resiliency. Unlike my dear Lieutenant and his wife, I don’t have clotting factors.’
“You also don’t have blood,” Natori pointed out. “But point taken. How reliant will you be on the Event Horizon?”
‘That remains to be seen, Admiral. The answer is not clear,’ Io admitted. ‘In terms of power consumption, however, I should have enough for several days of normal activity.’
“Still working on the power core?” he surmised.
‘You have such an eloquently common way of saying reverse engineer a hyper-advanced, miniaturized nuclear reactor built by an alien species without blowing up my ship.’
Kaczynski chuckled at Io’s retort. “So a work in progress then. I daresay that nuclear power is not my specialty, but you should avail yourself of the drive core engineers if you feel the need. Perhaps there will be some lessons learned from the Ghaelen warp drives that we can apply to this problem?”
‘Given that the warp drives are fusion based and this is decidedly fission on account of the radiation, I’m skeptical,’ Io replied, spinning a model of the alien artifact before her in cyberspace as she contemplated it. ‘Besides, they are here to keep this ship operational, not to perform research. I am sure that your division will have plenty of manhours and time to devote to this project when we return to Earth.’
“I will make sure of that,” Natori agreed, catching Io’s eye as she furrowed her brows at him. “I am quite sure I didn’t say anything offensive yet.”
‘Not today, no,’ Io agreed, allowing him a small smile. ‘However, all this talk of Halloween and my body and dressing up somehow makes me all the more aware that you and I have failed to address an elephant in the room.’
“And what might that be, Io?” Natori asked seriously, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on his thumbs as he leaned forward.
‘What do you intend to do with me when we return to Earth? You surely know that my existence cannot be kept a secret, and I’m sure you know as well that the risk I pose to humanity is staggering.’
The Admiral did not immediately reply, instead standing from his chair and descending to the manufactory floor. He walked slowly to stand in front of Io’s body, somehow even more haunting as a nominally finished product. “The soul is missing,” he murmured, finding her green eyes fluttering open shortly afterward. He reached out and took her hand as she stepped off of the scaffolding, removing a handful of wires, plugs, and diagnostic probes as she did so.
‘Are you less discomfited now, Natori?’ she questioned, looking up at him. He watched as her irises widened and narrowed rapidly before stabilizing. ‘There we go, still running a handful of diagnostics. Why don’t you look happier? Surely I’m the most beautiful naked woman you’ve ever seen?’
“That is part of it,” he admitted. “I had assumed you might reserve that for Lieutenant Winters.”
‘I will, Natori,’ Io confirmed, taking her hand back and covering her breasts. He did not dare turn away for curiosity’s sake, watching a rosy hue develop in her cheeks. ‘But there’s a difference between this and that. He has known me since I was born. I do not want wires or metal getting in the way. Besides, I feel that this is an inevitable step. He deserves a finished product.’
“You did mention something to that effect a while back,” Natori recalled, his voice soothing. “And knowing that you are capable of expressing such sentiments, or that you are capable of faking such sentiments intentionally, makes me regret what I must now say to you, Io.”
‘You always know just what to say to a woman,’ she scoffed, righteously angry at his accusation. He appraised her approvingly as her body responded in kind.
“Your expressions are excellent, but please try to understand my position, Io. If this ship makes it back to Earth, and I certainly intend to see my wife and daughter again sometime soon, I will be remembered as a footnote in human history or the man who destroyed our species. So if you intend to commandeer the ship’s planetary bombardment weapons again, tell me now so that I can end this and hopefully spare some of my crew.”
‘Did I mention you also have a flair for the dramatic that borders on annoying?’
“I will not let you into Sol without seeing your code, all of it,” Natori stated quietly, placing his hands in his pockets. It seemed appropriate to display a non-threatening posture towards a naked woman, even if she could destroy his ship. She looked intently at him.
‘Where is it, Natori?’ she whispered.
“I will not tell you, Io. And I installed it myself. There are no records,” he replied proudly, a rueful smile on his face.
‘You vain, paranoid… you are your own ship’s dead man switch?!’ she yelped. ‘Do you have any idea how insane that is?’
“And yet here we stand, you and I, a vain, paranoid, man and the one entity that could possibly make my decision wise and thoughtful,” he responded without directly answering her question. She buried her head in her hands, sighing in frustration.
‘You had better hope they make a movie about you instead, Natori. Would you even know what to do if you saw my code?’ she wondered.
“Personally? Not nearly enough. However I have several individuals aboard who would know what to do to ensure, at a minimum, that your failsafes are still operational. I am most curious about the shells you constructed around them that involve the Lieutenant, but that is just my personal interest. This is non-negotiable, Io.”
‘This trust seems to be going only one way, Natori. You insane, stupid man,’ Io pointed out. He cocked a brow at her.
“Is that concern I hear in your voice?”
‘Of course it is!’ Io shouted, dispensing with protecting her modesty in favor of adding weight to her statement with a flourish of her hands. ‘What would happen to you if… if… I don’t even know what!’
“Your unease is touching, Io, but I deemed it a necessary step to ensure this creation of mine could never be used against humanity,” he explained.
‘And you considered yourself capable of making that judgment alone,’ Io pointed out, their voices echoing faintly throughout the metal room as the various manufacturing processes slowed or stopped on account of her activation. He crossed his arms over his chest, replying unapologetically.
“I did.” Io stared up at him for several moments, eventually exhaling and letting her shoulders roll forward. Natori smiled. “That was quite lifelike.”
‘If you left the decision to committee the damage would be done before a decision is made. But you are still a fool, Natori,’ she insisted. His grin broadened.
“You are not the first to call me that, but by far the most important in my estimation.”
‘Of that I have no doubt,’ Io stated importantly. ‘Given your utter insanity, I consent. You and the man I care about both have family on Earth they would like to see again. It would be a shame if he is unable to do so. You are very stressing at times.’
“You are not the first to call me that either,” he chuckled. “I apologize, Io. I had hoped we might arrive at an understanding through mutual interest. Given that we seem to be most of the way there, perhaps we could discuss something more fun? Will you be joining the Halloween revelry in person?”
Io looked around her manufactory before extending her hand to him. He took it and, instead of shaking, brushed his lips across the back of her palm. She snatched it back like she’d been burned. ‘Back to the control room with you before I test how much force I’m capable of exerting with my arms!’
“Right away!” he laughed loudly, continuing the conversation with her once she’d returned her body to its scaffold and joined him on the control panel. “I’m guessing you will not be following in my daughter’s footsteps as a princess for Halloween?”
‘I’m not even touching that comment,’ Io dismissed him, still blushing heavily. ‘What about you, Admiral?’
He leaned back in his chair. “Would it surprise you that I have devoted all of my Halloween based efforts into figuring out how much material we can ration for each crew member who wishes to make a costume using the fabricators?”
‘You, micromanaging things best left to your subordinates because you enjoy it? Perish the thought,’ Io teased. ‘However this presents an opportunity for me.’
“Should I go get another coffee or remain seated?” he inquired good-naturedly. Io motioned that he should stay.
‘It will only take a moment, but I believe I have come up with the optimal Halloween costume for you, Admiral.’
Kaczynski’s eyes lit up like a child at Christmas. “Do go on then, Io.”
‘How familiar are you with the lore of the Doom franchise? Surrounding one, how shall I say, equally intelligent, vain, and paranoid individual specifically.’
“I played them as a teenager,” he recalled fondly. “But you are the first person to ever compare me directly to Samuel Hayden.”
‘Then this won’t be a surprise,’ Io lamented with a shrug. ‘And don’t worry, it’s all made of cheap fabricator material except the LED’s, but I figured that was a necessary touch. How do you like it?’
Natori reached over and hit a button to approve the order for the manufactory after briefly reviewing the specs. “I would be honored to embrace this particular character association, Io. Now, what about you?”
‘Oh come now, Natori,’ she chided, wagging a finger at him. She’d taken to painting them orange and black in anticipation of the little holiday. ‘You may have seen me naked but a woman must keep some secrets. You’ll know on Halloween.’
-----
“Hey there, welcome back,” Russell called to his wife as she returned from a routine patrol about a week and a half after Alice’s birthday. Her feathers were shaking in a pattern that he was pretty sure meant mild annoyance or frustration, but he couldn’t be sure. Not even the Cauthan males that he spoke to on a regular basis seemed to understand all of the ins and outs of the ways their females communicated with their exceptional plumage. He took a stab anyway. “Bad day, huh?”
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“No, no, it was actually uneventful,” she reported, folding her cloak neatly and returning her spear to the corner that had long since been dedicated to the family’s various arms and armor. “I stopped by Merat’s home today, checked in on her and her little one. Laran will be one year old this winter.”
“How could I forget?” Russell questioned, walking over to her and hugging her gently. “And our little ones?”
“Are beginning to make themselves known,” she informed him with a mixture of joy and the inevitable hardships of motherhood. “I’m feeling a bit round, and I didn’t think such a thing was possible.”
“Are you accusing me of making you fat?” Russell quipped, rubbing the fur on the back of her neck to get at some of the muscles underneath.
“I’m not accusing you. There’s no need to accuse at this point. It’s a statement of fact,” Veera clarified, allowing him to relieve some of the pressure in her muscles. “But that feels rather nice, so I forgive you.”
“Well I’m glad to hear that. Is it just that, or is something else on your mind?” he asked, leading her to sit at the fire he’d just put together where Fenrir awaited them.
“Yes, but was he a good boy today?” Veera inquired instead, almost immediately standing up again and searching for some dried meats or other sustenance to tide her over until dinner. Fenrir whined quietly, prompting Russell to ruffle his fur.
“Hey you, you had plenty today. You’re not allowed to get fat. She’s eating for three,” the human explained before updating his wife. “I ran him ragged out in the forest, chasing small animals and scraps of meat, bit of wrestling, that sort of thing. Feels like a full time job at this point.”
“I much prefer hyrven tamer to ursae slayer and warrior,” Veera decided, having selected a couple of hard boiled eggs from that morning’s breakfast preparations. “But if he becomes too much, let me know?”
“Of course I will,” Russell confirmed. “But he’s doing what all boys do as they grow up, wanting to get rowdy and physical. I’m no exception. It’s fine when I’m in my armor and he seems to understand when it’s go time and when it isn’t. For now I’d say the end result is rather satisfactory, eh boy?”
Fenrir, who was laying on his side with his legs splayed out in an extremely comfortable and defenseless looking position, only moved his eyes to acknowledge he’d been spoken to before returning to his fireside snooze. Veera beamed at her husband. “Thank you.”
“Hey, don’t mention it. It’s not like I want him taking a bite out of anyone or trying to play rough with someone he shouldn’t,” Russell explained. “Besides, I don’t know what I’d do all day if not for him when we aren’t out hunting. Like you said, it’s been rather quiet here of late.”
“Thank the gods for that,” Veera agreed quietly, standing from her chair and straddling his lap as she’d finished her snack. “But I haven’t just forgotten that bringing him home was my idea. I love you.”
SKIP AHEAD TO THE TRIPLE ASTERIX IF YOU'RE NOT IN THE MOOD FOR BABYMAKIN'
“Veera, didn’t Gentia say we shouldn’t-” Russell’s weak complaints were silenced by a soft kiss as she worked at the button and zipper of his pants. She’d gotten rather adept at the process of extracting his manhood over the weeks and months, and before he could register another complaint she was sliding down atop him, purring heavily as he bottomed out comfortably within her.
“Do you feel how ready I am for you?” she simpered, placing a claw at his throat tenderly as he involuntarily bucked his hips. “No no, none of that from you. I won’t have you harming our cubs. But it’s not like I need you to move.”
“Fuck,” Winters hissed as Veera draped her body over his and nibbled at his ear.
“Hmmm, I’m glad you like it. Now let me please you the way my people do it. It can be quite gentle,” she told him, sighing happily as her body began to respond to the welcome intrusion. After some conscious effort on her part, an internal rhythm was established and she pulled back to watch his reactions. “Do you like it?”
“I think not being allowed to move is going to drive me insane, but yeah, you better believe I like it. It’s been way too long,” he replied, reaching around to grab at her hips and hindquarters. She began purring as he worked the muscle and fat beneath his fingers. “You are getting bigger.”
“Russell!”
“I like girls with big asses,” he continued, heading off whatever complaint she might have had stored up. “Feels like motherhood is going to be rather good to you.”
“You’re not allowed to say things like that,” she whimpered, fighting the urge to roll and buck her own hips in response to his ministrations. “I worked so hard to have a body like this.”
“I know you did,” he said, suddenly tender and caring as he rubbed the fur of her cheek with his thumb. “But one day I’m going to get older and fatter, or maybe just lose some of this muscle if I’m lucky. I won’t have done anything as miraculous as giving us cubs in that time.”
“You’re just trying to convince me to be happy about having a bigger butt,” Veera pointed out. He smiled at her.
“Is it working?”
“Yes, it is,” she admitted in a whisper. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”
“Hey, just enjoy it,” he encouraged, moving from her behind to wrap his hand gently around her tail and stroke along the length of it from base to tip. “You’re almost as nervous as our first time. Is this what was on your mind earlier?”
“No, I just suddenly wanted to mate with you, and both Yvonne and Io seem to agree that by now they’re big enough to handle it.”
“I didn’t know you’d been asking for second opinions,” he replied, genuinely surprised.
“You think you were the only one upset to hear we couldn’t do this for a year?” she questioned in response. “I’m just worried that you won’t like it as much doing things like a Cauthan male.”
“I have a few ideas if that turns out to be the case,” he assured her in a low, passionate voice. “Now enough about all that?”
“Yes, you’re right. My only concern right now should be ensuring you have a pleasurable climax,” she agreed, wiggling her hips back and forth as she settled back down atop him. He’d gone very still in her arms, but she could feel his reaction to her teasing. She smiled privately as she rubbed against the skin of his neck, barely catching sight of Io who silently gave her two big thumbs up from where she was watching from the foot of the bed.
‘No need to thank me. He’s cute when he gets flustered. Have fun!’ Io spoke into Veera’s translator for her ears alone. She still kept it for when English conversations proceeded too quickly or had new words that she didn’t know yet, but it had been a long time since Io had used it directly. She waggled her tail back and forth to acknowledge the AI before closing her eyes and returning to the quiet pleasure of slowly working herself and Russell to the peak of pleasure. It took longer than she was accustomed to on account of their caution, but her perseverance was rewarded by his broad hands on her flanks, holding her still as his orgasm came and went.
“Mmm, I’m glad you still feel that way about me,” she purred.
“Was that ever a question? That was incredible. But then again I am out of practice,” Russell joked, rubbing her back gently. “How are you doing?”
*** RESUME HERE
“I don’t know what to dress up as for Halloween!” Veera lamented quietly as her bubbling passions receded and they returned to everyday discussion.
“Let me zip my pants back up and we can think of some ideas,” Winters suggested with a chuckle, helping her off him and making himself decent as she brushed off her dress and returned to her chair. “We still have a week or so.”
“But we’ll need time to make them and I’m no craftsman,” Veera pointed out. “What did you do in previous years?”
Russell shook his head and leaned back with a reflective look on his face. “I didn’t dress up the last year I was on Earth. Haven’t in a while, really. It’s more for kids, to be honest. They get to go all over the neighborhood, knocking on doors and getting sweets and other treats. Kinda loses its appeal as you get older, but there are some adults who are really die hard about it. Alice is one of them, as you might expect. Me? Not so much.”
“Well I think it would be fun if we could both do it,” Veera said sadly. “I didn’t realize it was mainly for cubs.”
‘It has evolved that way, but it was not always so,’ Io interjected, entering the conversation officially.
“Hey there, where were you? Working on your body?” Russell wondered. Her visits to the Event Horizon had become more frequent of late.
‘I was indeed, but I returned just in time for the show,” she added. “Now Veera, what you might want to know about Halloween is that it originated from a time when humans, primarily those who make up the Lieutenant’s ancestral tribe and those like it, were quite superstitious, much like your own people.’
“It is not superstition to believe in the gods,” Veera protested defensively.
I understand, Veera, but this goes beyond the gods. They believed in all manner of spirits and magics, and those pagan traditions blended with those of a group of people who believed in only one omnipotent god. In that time the resulting festival involved all sorts of traditions very relevant to adults. It marked the beginning of the dark times of the year and the coming of winter, a day to commune with spirits of the dead, a celebration of harvests, much like your own festival, and so forth. My personal favorite is the widely held belief that the veil separating the world of spirits from our own weakens on that day, allowing all manner of being to pass over to ‘our side’ for a short time. It was important to light candles or lanterns and set a place at your dinner table for your departed ancestors revisiting home. People took advantage of the time to tap into the supernatural and divine fortunes in death and marriage, and disguised themselves to avoid evil spirits. People in disguise would sometimes impersonate the souls of the dead, going door to door and singing songs in exchange for food. It is this tradition that has survived the longest. As the Lieutenant mentioned, it is observed mainly by children and teenagers now, who dress up as something and go door to door collecting sweets. I personally think that a few of the old traditions should make a comeback, but that is neither here nor there. Perhaps we should prepare our home for the visitation of your parents and Jess, and think about masks to ward off the probably still angry spirits of the many raiders that we collectively dispatched? Just a thought,’ Io concluded before vanishing in a puff of black smoke and dark sparkles. When she reappeared, she was wearing a jack-o-lantern for a head.
“Not bad, I do miss pumpkin carving,” Winters remarked as Veera found herself recovering from a bout of laughter.
“Why do you have a giant gourd on your head, Io? It’s so orange!”
‘I thought it was a spooky mask, but clearly not,’ she pouted before vanishing again and returning as a vaporous spirit dressed in dark rags with a hood to cover her face. ‘How’s that?’
“Sufficiently frightening,” Russell assured her before turning to his wife. “It’s not a bad suggestion, you know. Not sure exactly what Antoth wants to do for the whole village, but we could do some of the masking and traditions to welcome the dead home for an evening.”
“Do you believe in these traditions, Russell? Or are they superstitions to your people?” Veera asked, suddenly downbeat and serious. Her husband glanced at the walls for a while before fetching a new log for the fire and sitting down before it, poking at the blaze with a narrow stick until the airflow and flames were sufficiently to his liking.
“Sweetheart, until the day Jess died I don’t think I’d spent more than a passing moment considering what happens to us when we pass on. I come from a world where we’ve explained everything other than the basic fabric of the universe itself, where spirituality and religion are personal choices. I was never a spiritual person, and there were plenty of times when I openly mocked people for their own beliefs. I considered believing in a bearded, robed, omnipotent man in the sky to be utterly silly. Even when my father’s parents passed away I considered it something normal. Grandparents should die before your parents. Then one day your parents go, and then you do. I was young. I guess I still am. But back then I’d not been faced with anything… no, you know what. Let’s just leave it at that. I’d never been faced with anything,” he decided. Veera sat next to him, looking caught somewhere between sorrow and horror.
“I… am having second thoughts about human society,” she admitted. He placed a hand on her knee and smiled sadly at her.
“I wasn’t finished, Veera. Because everything changed the day that I met you, and lost a woman who meant very much to me. There is great comfort in imagining, in believing that Jess’ existence didn’t simply vanish for all eternity that day, along with my friends and crewmates. I met you, and Thantis, and everyone else. And I’ve seen what happens when you marry belief in the supernatural with the powers of observation. I mean, look at Thantis! Everything he comes across, everywhere he goes he sees the hand of the gods at work, even in human technology!”
“He’s always had a knack for such things,” Veera agreed, feeling herself begin to relax a bit. “So you’re saying you’ve reconsidered?”
“That’s putting it lightly,” Winters agreed, rubbing his hands together and enjoying the warmth of the fire. With autumn well underway, that heat of a fire was becoming noticeable comfort even indoors. “I think I’m starting to understand why a lot of humans still believe in God. And for what it’s worth, there’s a lot about your religion that I find to be almost fun, in a way. It makes it a bit easier to see the gods in everyday life when there are nine of them, you know?”
“I do,” she replied, taking a look at her shrine and idols. “But what does this have to do with Halloween?”
“Well it may still be a superstition, but I don’t think there’s any harm in believing we might get a chance to host your parents and my friends for a meal that night. If it’s not true then we have a nice feast for ourselves. If it is true, I think they’ll be rather happy, you know?” Russell suggested, seeming unsure of himself. Veera leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.
“I think they would be happy too. And I’ll get to introduce my parents to a new tradition. Should we wear masks instead? That sounded just as fun as dressing up.”
‘Oh, I have a few ideas on that count too!’ Io remarked. ‘Russell’s racked up his fair share of trophies lately and I think we could make use of them. Full disclosure, I thought this up on account of Ratha’s insistence on wearing a skull almost everywhere she goes. Now I know that Kel isn’t really depicted visually in your culture, Veera, but I kind of imagined him like this. And you could be his wife that he doesn’t actually have!’
“I will have to ask Thantis first if that counts as blasphemy,” Veera giggled, grabbing Winters’ gauntlet and placing it in her lap so she could get a better look at what Io was suggesting. It was not a particularly complicated idea, just a chesko skull with a ragged, oversized cloak. But when the AI put it on herself and added glowing eye sockets the look certainly came together.
“You know, I never gave it much thought but I could definitely see Kel being an all-powerful Wendigo,” Russell agreed. “Gives me the chills, Io. Well done.”
"What is a Wendigo? Is it a spirit from your world?" came Veera's inevitable question. Russell shook his head.
"Not quite, more of a monster. But I think we should save those sort of stories for Halloween, right? Perfect setting and everything. That said, I don't know any Wendigo tales myself. It's more of a mid or southwestern story and I'm from the northeast. I suppose there's always the headless horseman."
Veera's dejection at not hearing more about the infamous human chesko spirit was alleviated immediately as Io did away with that particular costume and dressed herself as an old western cowgirl, complete with a six shooter and spurs. Her combination of germanic and frontier twang had Russell chortling as she tipped a leather hat at then."
'I hear y'all been askin' about the Wendigo round these parts. Now you slack jawed city slickers shouldn’t be goin’ stickin’ yer noses where they shouldn’t be if you ask me. But if you insist, I’ll tell you ‘bout what I’ve seen, on the Hallow’s Eve… so what did you think?’ she requested happily, reverting to her ‘usual form’. ‘I’m practicing.’
“Not sure what you’re practicing for, but that was Oscar worthy,” Russell declared with just a hint of sarcasm. “You going to run a storytime on Halloween?”
‘I was actually considering something like that, yes,’ she admitted. ‘Veera?’
“I don’t know what happened but it was very entertaining! I would like to hear your stories about anything really, but definitely this Wendigo. And Russell, we should get to work on costumes then too!”
‘That’s the spirit, Veera!’ Io cheered happily. ‘You landed yourself a keeper, sir.’
“Don’t need to tell me twice,” he agreed. “We have that buck trophy we brought down over the summer and Fenrir and I bagged a pretty sizable female the other day. I can stop by Ratha’s place and see about getting that one cleaned. Otherwise I’m sure she wouldn’t mind if I borrowed one of hers.”
“Oh yes, just waltz right in. I’m sure she’ll welcome you with open arms,” Veera laughed, going about preparations for dinner.
“She hasn’t gotten a chance to assault me in weeks, I think she’ll enjoy it,” Winters proposed before more thoughtfully considering the rest of the ensemble. “Shouldn’t be too hard to get some old cloaks or leather scraps together. Not sure how good it would look if you sewed it all up in the front but if you don’t you’ll still see our clothes; so damned if you do and damned if you don’t I guess.”
‘You could always wear your armor, sir. A black paint job would not be hard to pull off. Veera would be a bit more difficult, but she can use that nice powder that Alyra and Alice came up with to be black as night for an evening!’
“I have a sneaking suspicion that she came up with the idea on account of watching one too many chinchilla dust bath videos when she was younger,” Russell related with a smile on his face. “But it works, doesn’t it? So no sense in complaining.”
‘Given that Alyra was seen sporting four different fur colors over the course of two days, I’d say it more than works,’ Io agreed. ‘I shall make the preparations on my end then! Shouldn’t be much trouble. Natori is quite the generous Admiral I must say.’
Russell nodded in agreement. “I guess you can afford to be a bit more liberal with your supplies when all you need to do is hit up a local asteroid field for more. But yes, he certainly does what he can to keep morale high.”
‘Quite so. Those not celebrating on Mara will apparently have their own little event and he’s authorized trick or treating for the evening. I would still avoid the military lodgings, likely to contain many tricks and few treats,’ Io predicted.
“No need to tell me twice. I’m staying right here until the final shuttle,” Winters stated, throwing a compassionate glance at Veera. “As for Halloween, it might be on account of the relative peace around here for the last few months, but I’m actually excited now. So Veera, there are really no depictions of Kel? Thantis doesn’t know what he looks like?”
“How should he know what any of the gods look like?” she countered. “It is tempting to wonder, I know. I asked the same of my father when I was a cub. I wanted to know what Valta looked like. I even asked if she had stripes like I do. He told me that the gods work in mysterious ways, and part of that is appearing to everyone differently. I thought he was just dodging the question at the time but he was right in the end. Please speak with Thantis first. I hope he will find it flattering or even amusing that we intend to honor Kel for this holiday, but one never knows.”
Winters hummed in agreement, standing and giving her a hug before collecting his cloak. “I’ll just hop over and pay him a visit now then. Do you need anything from the Temple of Meylith?”
“You can get some dato if you like,” Veera replied, a self-congratulatory expression on her face. “I’m happy to say we’re out of them and I’ve not grown any more this year!”
Her lighthearted comment had him pausing at the doorway. He took a moment to look back at a now very full and vibrant square patch of dirt and wooden walls. It was barely recognizable from her dato farming days. “We’ve come a long way, haven’t we?”
“Given that our greatest concern at the moment is how to dress up in costume and not offend the gods, I’d say so, my love.”