Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

*This class was so boring.* I thought as the professor walked in. It was a class covering the most common species in space. There were so many of them, that there was a new species in every class. And everytime my classmates that we were learning about would nod and agree with what the professor taught. Today was something from the Milky-way galaxy. *Close to home then. I wonder if it’s martians. Or the folks from Jupiter. I can never remember what they’re called.* I almost choked on my own spit when the professor showed a picture of Earth. The projector was behind all of us, high on the wall. It projected a 3D image of a spinning Earth.

“Today, we’ll be talking about Therian, or Earth as it’s known by the locals.” Xey warbled. My universal translator was grainy and old, but it did the job. Everyone else spoke common, or Estherian as it was called. I spoke a little, enough for people to understand and take pity on me before pulling out their translators. But I was still learning and some of those sounds were very hard for me to make. “Therian holds many different species, but only one higher intellect. Therians, or humans.” Professor R’vex touched the globe with one of xeir tentacles. Xey had eight of them. Four to walk on, and four coming from xeir sides. The globe zoomed in quickly and I saw a life sized average man. He had no hair, no clothes, and was very nude. My face flushed slightly and I wanted to sink into my chair. The people sitting around me snickered and glanced at me.

“This is an average therian grown male. They are bipedal with two upper limbs.” The professor went through and described everything about the human body. Everything. Xey even pulled up a woman model and described ‘mating habits’. I mean, this was as much detail as the others got, but it was much more embarrassing when it was your species. The explanation was brief but through. Soon, but not soon enough, xey moved onto the world itself. And how humans survived in it. “Therians are not top of the food chain, but they are excellent hunters. They live peacefully-” My head snapped up at that. What? Professor R’vex has to be joking. But xey’re an Ocran. Ocran’s can’t joke. They don’t understand how to joke. We were taught about Ocrans first.

The whole lesson was like that. Full of bad information and surprisingly short. Professor R’vex even went as far as to explain how the ‘therians’ dealt with the galactic forces, welcoming them and doing what the forces say. Xey finished up relatively quickly, with half the class left to spare. “And that class,” concluded my professor, “is why humanity is the most peaceful, reasonable, cooperative, and overall docile species in all the universe. Any questions?” Vreax, a Trot, raised her hand. She had purple skin, and was relatively humanoid. But she had one eye, and four fingers on each hand. Her hair was short and box bleached.

“I have one. How did humans get to where they are in the Galactic Forces? If they’re so peaceful, then how come they’ve never been invaded?” Her voice was high pitched and wobbly. My translator didn’t pick her up well, but I understood the words it had buzzed out. Quickly and subtly I pulled out my communicator and contacted my sister. She was an assistant of one of the council members. The council was a group of elected people that were representing the different countries. ‘Hey. My teacher just taught humans completely wrong. Is this on purpose?’ I was praying she could answer.

‘No. The council wanted to explain how ruthless humans are. Go ahead.’ She replied almost immediately. Oh thank the gods. I exhaled. Thal’amund had asked a question and zeir question was being answered.

“And therians have had small wars on their own planet, but none worse than the Raxian’s wars.” Professor R’vex chuckled. “Any more?” I slowly raised my hand. The Raxian planet wars were small compared to the wars in the 20th and 21st century. Death count never exceeded 100,000 Raxians. And they stopped war before having to make rules. “Yes, Harper?”

“Can you talk about the world wars? I remember being taught about them on Earth, but you didn’t even mention them.” The study hall went silent as the professor paused.

“Is this supposed to be a human ‘prank’? Earth has had no wars with any other world.” Xey looked at me. I chuckled and shook my head.

“No, I am not ‘pranking’ you, Xir. Look it up.” I leaned forward in my seat and watched as my professor moved over to his computer. The class held their breath as the professor typed and I had to hold back a smug smile as xeir face discoloured. Went from a purple-ish to a greyer colour. Probably colours my eyes couldn’t comprehend.

“Uh.” Xey started to say, making rough noises in xeir throat. My translator made a high pitched noise and I winced. “Sorry, what is this?” Xey looked at me and beckoned me over to xeir desk. I got up and felt eyes on me immediately. Professor R’vex watched me as I walked down the stairs and stood next to xem on the stage. “Explain.”

“Oh, uh. The earthly world wars. Different countries of earth chose sides and fought each other. I have to arguably say that they were worse than the Raxian wars. About-” I started to say, not realising the entire class was paying attention.

“How could they be worse than the Raxian wars? Those are historically the worst wars in the galaxy!” Fexican, a Xel, snickered. “You have to much faith in your tiny peaceful-”

“About 50-56 million died in the first two wars, 19-28 million more from war-based disease and famine. Just in the first two. Because of these wars, we made new types of fighting, new weapons. Nukes. Humans-” I cut him off. Professor R’vex flopped down onto the ground.

“That has to be a lie! Can you provide proof?” A student I didn’t know called from high up. Their voice was weak and whiny coming through my translator. At this point, I’m gonna throw it away. So annoying. Sighing, I turned to the globe and paused.

“Xir, how can I search things on this?” I looked to my professor. Xey shook xemselves from xeir shock and stood up. Using two tentacles, xey pressed something and pulled up a keyboard. Silently, xey nodded to me. I turned to the globe and began typing.

World Wars

Points on the globe started to glow red. I noticed there was a tab for pictures. So I clicked it and a whole bunch of images popped up. The entire class gasped when the globe was overtaken with images of war. Someone fainted. Probably a Zartac, one of the peaceful species.

“What were the points?” Vreax asked. I sighed and closed out the images.

“Important cities or locations.” I clicked somewhere in Poland and watched as the globe zoomed in. Auschwitz stared at me and my face dropped. Right, straight into World War II. “Like this. This was an important part of World War II. 6 million people were killed in this location and others just like it.” Another faint. Damn Zartacs.

“How were they killed?” A rough voice asked. A Raxian. I debated lying to them. Saying guns or disease. But I also wanted to show up the war species.

“Gas.” All I said was gas and there were some snickers from the class. I could barely see them over the light, they were silhouettes. But I heard some people trying not to laugh. Annoyance rippled through my body as I waited. Waited for someone to say something about it. They would, eventually.

“What did they do, fart in their faces or something? I heard you humans pass gas in an almost toxic manner.” Someone called, causing laughter to echo through the hall. A loud and high pitched whine blared in my ear and I pulled out my translator. It looked kind of like an old hearing aid or one of those hook around the ear headphones. I hit it a couple times but it had finally died. Great.

“No. They starved them, shaved their heads, stripped them, and then locked them in a huge room before dumping poisonous gas in through the roof. Then they would burn the bodies.” I gave up trying to speak Estherian and just started to talk in my native language. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with a translator, because a few people covered their mouths. “It was one of the worst disasters in history. And xir, we may not be the top of the food chain, but we are the ones who survived.”

“What do you mean?” Xey asked. There were whispers from the seats. I only smiled.

“What do you think?” The bell rang and I walked back to my seat, grabbed my stuff, and left the class.
~~~
By the next morning, there were whispers about humans all over campus. Kids would stare at me and run when I looked back at them, they would run or look away pointedly. I was in my Estherian class when an announcement came on.

“May all humans come down to the front office? May all humans come to the front office?” The announcements crackled. Me and a few other kids in my class stood up and grabbed our bags.

“You can come by after hours to make up the work.” Our teacher said and turned to the board. “Wait, do they mean all humans or just human students?” She paused and looked at us. We shrugged and hesitated by the doors.

“Human teachers as well. Subs are coming down to cover your classes.”

“Right. Okay class, hold tight. I’m sure we’ll be right back.” Our teacher sighed. She grabbed her bag and opened the door. There were five of us. “So. How many of you guys are actually from earth?”

“I am. Me and my sister were born and raised on the planet.” One of the other kids looked at me in shock. “What?”

“I’ve never met someone actually from Earth. I thought people stopped being born on the planet.” He scoffed. “I was born in a colony on mars.” It was almost like he was proud about that.

“I was born on the moon.” As they said that another kid nodded. They looked very proud. Sweet summer children.

“You know the only reason humans spread out to the moon and mars is because the Earth was getting overcrowded and the politicians were destroying it.” I told them. Ms. Kroll snorted. She covered her mouth and tried to hide her smile. “Are you from Earth, Mr. Kroll?”

“I am. Born and raised in Ireland. You?” She looked down at me and I fell silent. The country I was from had a bad history.

“Oh you know, Earth” Chuckling, I changed the subject. “What’s you guys’s favourite food?” That sparked conversation. There were debates about which food was better, mars or moon.

“Oh come on! You know you love Splunk! I saw you eating it yesterday.” Kuie, the kid from mars, poked at the kids from the moon. They huffed.

“That was because there was nothing better to eat, Kuie.” Rachelle sighed. She was from the moon. The people on the moon migrated there in the mid-late 2020’s. Rachelle and Micheal were born there. “Please, I prefer those itty bitty sandwiches. You know, uh, Harper what are they called again?”

“I don’t know. Tea sandwiches? I personally love Italian food.” My mouth watered at the mere thought of the delicious pasta and sandwiches. Ms. Kroll nodded.

“Yeah, I prefer mediterranean. Gyros are where it’s at.” He grinned and looked up. We made it to the office. There was a small group of people waiting outside. I saw some people I knew. “Wonder what they need us for.”

The door opened and the Dean stepped out. They were a shapeshifting species, an Orbec. Today, they looked like a human. Or as human as they could get. Orbecs always have a way to identify each other. Their eyes can never look just right, teeth slightly pointier than average, and they have little antennae that can usually be hidden. Uncanny valley just all over it. Now that I’m thinking about it, did humans develop that to find aliens hidden among them? Maybe. They opened their mouth and slick sounds came out, making me flinch and have to hold back the urge to cover my ears. Ms. Kroll put a hand on my shoulder and bent down to whisper in my ear.

“She said that we’re all here to discuss the rumour that's travelling campus.” She translated. The dean had a bob of brown hair, off brown eyes, and pale skin. Clearing their throat, she started to speak. I can understand her now.

“Sorry about that, the rumour that is travelling the campus. I have gathered you here today to discuss it.” She said, making the ‘s’ too long. Murmurs erupted in the small crowd.

“What about it?” One of the older students asked. The dean turned their whole head in their direction. A shiver ran down my spine. She always creeped me out.

“Well, is it true?” She asked, cocking their head. “Are all of those wars real? Are humans really so ruthless?”

“Why wouldn’t they be real?” Someone else spoke up.

“Ruthless, I like that!” I heard someone tell their friend. The group began to ripple with excitement as the dean started to whip their head around to look at everyone who's talking. I heard heels clicking down the hallway and my shoulders tense. I felt the hand on my shoulder tense along with me. Both me and Ms. Kroll looked at the source of the sound and we saw different people. I saw my sister and her boss. She saw some of the people who controlled the earth.

“God, what have we done?” I heard her whisper and my gut dropped. They were here because of my actions. Was I in trouble? Did I fuck up?

Kids were still talking and the dean had stopped looking at everyone and took a deep breath. They opened her mouth and let out a slick sound, causing everyone to stop talking. I flinched and my attention was forced onto them.

“Who started this? Who was the first human to say these things?” She demanded, and searched the crowd. No one stepped forward, suddenly on edge. Orbecs were the top of their food chain, predators. They were a hunting race, made for hiding in plain sights and killing. Speed and strength that greatly outmatched puny humans. Suddenly everyone felt skittish, you could feel the atmosphere change. We were the prey and now we all knew it. Even the newcomers, they had paused and were looking around. My sister looked pale, staring at me. I took a deep breath and stepped forward through the crowd. They moved for me.

“I did.” The words echoed through the silence. The dean stared at me with her wrong eyes and too sharp teeth. Now that I was closer, I could see all the things that made their disguise feel wrong. Skin that was way too smooth, proportions were too even and perfect, and there was not an ounce of age behind those eyes. No one had seen a true Orbec, we have no idea where they see from. But not those eyes. They were empty, only there to perfect the costume.

“You? Only you?” Dean’s voice was flat, monotone, lifeless. Nodding, she stood straighter and moved to the side, revealing the still open door. “See me in my office. Everyone else can go back to class. Now.” I walked in and glanced back at Ms. Kroll. She had paled and was frozen in the spot. We barely knew each other, but she was my favourite teacher. More than once, I went to her class after hours to work on my Estherian. I even ate lunch there sometimes. But she was the only human on staff, so I got closer to her than I did my other professors. With uneven proportions and looks that made me uneasy.

“Why am I here, Dean?” The staff and students called the dean by their title. No one knows their name. Or names. Orbecs are a mystery. As the dean walked up behind me, fear radiated from my body and I had to hold my hands together to keep them from shaking. A chair got pushed underneath me and I fell into it. Dean walked around to their desk and sat in the chair, movements stiff.

“You are the cause of all of these problems. I am here to fix problems. How do you suggest I fix this?” The dean looked small in the large chair. My mouth dried and I sat stiffly in the chair. So many suggestions popped into my head but my mouth wouldn’t work. My head was screaming at me to run, to hide. But I couldn't move. “Well?” As I opened my mouth and was about to say something, the door opened behind me and I heard the clip clop of heels. It should have relaxed me but I just tensed more. I didn’t know that was possible.

“Dean, why is this student in your office?” The council member asked. She was the councilwoman for the United States of America. My home country. She was here to bail me out, it seems. I really fucked up if a council member came down herself! My sister put a hand on my shoulder but it didn’t help my unease. My fear. Dean and I were staring at each other. Then they answered the council woman.

“Harper spread a dangerous rumour. It is imperative that I fix it before it gets out of hand. And Harper is the solution to this problem.” Dean said. Their voice seemed to get slightly annoyed.

“What rumour?” My sister spoke up. Her voice was smooth and kind. Familia and relaxing. “The only rumour is that humans were peaceful creatures.”

“We have been trying to get your curriculum changed for ages, and if this is how the information gets out then so be it. Harper here did nothing wrong.” The Councilwoman told the dean and she scoffed. The dean actually scoffed.

“My curriculum is not wrong. It is…not wrong.” They struggled. She was struggling and their form was changing. It was slow. And unsettling. But when I noticed it, my fear changed. It changed into something I don’t understand. I watched as the appearance became off. It was slight, so slight. If I hadn’t been paying attention to their form, searching for something, anything to make me fear them any less. Their eyes changed. The pupils shrank and the colour started to swim. Like someone dropped food colouring into water.

“Maybe for anyone else. But I was taught here too, humans are said to be peaceful creatures.” The Councilwoman said. Something else was wrong. My hair stood on end and the world shrank to the dean. They were the only thing I saw and heard. Their hair is as stiff as their muscles. Her eyes changing. A quiet wheezing breathing coming from their direction, but not from her. They were getting worked up. The dean was getting angry. Dean never gets angry. Their form started to shift. It looked like it was melting and being sculpted all at the same time. But what I couldn’t look away from was her eyes. Their eyes. No longer brown, no longer human.

“My curriculum was not wrong!” Their voice didn’t get more emotional, it just got louder. And then I realised something. Orbecs are never found out because they have perfect camouflage. They take positions of power. They hide. They fight and kill. But the dean? We know what they are. Their camouflage wasn’t perfect. They were defective. And we were about to see them. It. How it truly looks.

“Was? Is it no longer accurate?” Councilwoman pointed out the incorrect grammar. The room got incredibly longer and my fight or flight was screaming at me to run. I forced myself to stand up and turned to the councilwoman.

“Shut up! Your antagonising isn’t helping!” I yelled, grabbing her shoulder. “Calm down, apologise, and help us fix this peacefully or you will have to be physically removed!” My mouth was moving faster than my brain and I just wanted it to stop. The councilwoman stopped and looked at me. My sister had raised her hands to her mouth and was looking at us.

“Excuse me?” Her tone was offended and surprised. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Dean fixing their disguise. “How dare-”

“Harper is right. He is right. You should apologise. Those words were unnecessary.” She said, interrupting the councilwoman. “Or you could be physically removed. She is correct.”

“I was having a conversation.” She huffed. Great. Now she needs to be removed.

“That wasn’t a conversation. That was an argument.” My sister, Harley, spoke up finally. She had been silent. Probably frozen with me. The councilwoman looked at my sister and sighed. “I think it would be best if you went outside and took a breath, ma’am.”

“Are you kicking me out?” She sounded very offended. Politicians. I rolled my eyes and let go of her.

“Yes. Get out of my office. I would like to have this talk with the Lewis’s.” Dean said, their voice grew stern. I didn’t know she could do that. The councilwoman huffed and stormed out. My sister and I were alone in the room with a predator. But I was no longer as scared. Harley and I had been in this situation before. And we made it out. Alive and mostly whole. She lost her pinky finger and the tip of her ring finger. Her honey-brown hair was shoulder-blade length, and her hazel eyes shone. We glanced at each other and sat down in the two chairs in front of the desk.

“How can we fix what I ruined, Dean?” I asked, looking them in the fake eyes. Their eyes had a slight shine to them, fixing that part of their disguise. It didn’t help as much as I thought it would. They took a minute before responding, either gathering their thoughts or fixing her disguise a little more.

“I am not sure.” She stuttered, struggling with the english. “I just know that-” They started and then her voice cut off. The slick horrible sound interrupted her and their form started to shift.

“We will come back at the end of the day with ideas.” Harley smiled and we got up and left. As we were closing the door we heard ripping behind us. When the door closed, my knees buckled and I used the door as a way to lower myself down. “Are you okay?” My sister cried, instantly worried. The councilwoman turned to us and immediately grabbed my collar and forced me to rise.

“Harper, what the hell did you do?!” She yelled in my face. “Do you know all of the paperwork you just caused us?” The fear I felt in the office made everything else seem miniscule. I regained my footing and shook myself from her grasp.

“No, do you know what you just did?” I yelled back. There were still people in the hallways and we were getting some looks. I didn’t care. Councilwoman Tanya had made everything worse. “You just made the council unwelcome here! Orbecs take things personally and they never forget-”

“Orbecs are a myth. That was just a bad hologram.” She scoffed and I had to take a deep breath to not explode.

“They are not myths. They are real and dangerous. If the dean lost control because of you then we would all be dead.” I calmly explained. The Councilwoman rolled her eyes. Harley winced as Tayna waved her over.

“We’re done here. We need to go.” She huffed, checking her watch. I grabbed my sister's arm and linked our elbows together. “Harvey.”

“Harley. And I have a meeting later today, I think I’ll stay.” She straightened her back and looked Tayna in the eye. “I will meet you at the office, Dashawn will be meeting you there. He will be taking my spot until I get back, ma’am.” Harley radiated confidence and stubbornness. That’s the sister I knew.

“Fine. Stay.” Councilwoman Tayna walked away, her heels echoing off the halls. Harley and I exchanged glances. A laugh forced itself up my throat and we burst out in relieved laughter. We laughed and laughed, letting out all the stress that had built up. Tears started to fall from her eyes and we composed ourselves.

“I have to get back to class.” I wheezed, catching my breath. She tightened her hold on my arm. “Do you want to come with me?”

“Maybe.” She admitted and I started to walk back to the class that had been interrupted.

“Clingy.” I mocked her.

“So what if I want to see what my little sister is learning? I like being involved in my brother's life.” She gave me a look. Warmth bloomed in my chest at hearing her use the right pronouns for me. It’s still a new thing, to be talked about correctly. Where we grew up, if I had come out we would have been killed. We made fun of eachother all the way to Ms. Knolls classroom.

Throughout the day we walked together and I taught her some basic things in my classes. Lunchtime was hot and I dragged her over to my lunch table. Vreax, Thal’amund, and Lyrica were waiting for me. Lyrica was a Latunda. Ey are a type of creature that communicates with music. Or that's how it sounds to the typical human ear. It sounds like ey are a siren when ey talk. I shoved my sister into my regular chair and grabbed one from a nearby table. Harley had sparked a conversation with Lyrica, they were talking. She had a translator in her ear and was doing her best to talk to em. When I sat down, Vreax turned her attention to me.

“How was the meeting with the dean? Were they pissed?” She asked, making Lyrica and Harley stop talking and look at us. Hesitating, I had to think for a moment. Were they mad at me or were they just mad that they were getting verbally harassed.

“Yeah. I saw your stunt in species 101. The professor wouldn’t talk for the rest of the day.” Thal’amund snickered. Lyrica nodded.

“Yes. I remember that. I have him after you.” Her voice was waft, soft, and sweet. It sounded like beautiful music. The language they speak automatically translates in your head. Lyrica had pale blue skin, webbed fingers and toes, black pointed teeth and scleras, and gill like slits on her neck. Basically a siren. Latundas are where the myth comes from.

“The dean wasn’t that mad until the councilwoman started insulting them. Then we were all almost killed.” Thinking back, I wasn’t too sure that the dean would kill us.

“Well. Maybe not killed. Ignore my sister here, he’s over dramatic.” My sister waved my statement off. “We were not almost killed. But we did almost see an Orbecs true form. It was terrifying. The uncanny valley when their disguise was strong?” She shuddered and got a few concerned looks from the group.

“Uncanny valley?” Lyrica sung. The three non-humans looked at each other.

“Uncanny valley is a sense humans have when something looks like them, but isn’t them. Like when some camouflaging species takes a human shape, most humans will know it’s not one.” I tried to explain. It just seemed to confuse them more. “Anyway. I’m going to go grab some food. Anyone coming?”

“Nah, I brought my lunch.” Thal’amund shook zir head and pulled a bag from zir lap. Lyrica nodded with zem and pulled her own lunch out of her bag.

“Same.” Harley said and pulled out a small packaged sandwich from…somewhere. I just stared at her.

“I don’t need to eat as much as you guys do, I’ll stay here.” Vreax leaned back into her seat and watched me.

“Alright.” I stood up and went to the food court. As soon as I was out of the seating area and out of the line of sight from my friends, I felt someone step way too close to me. They were behind me and not alone. I tensed up and kept walking. As we were passing an empty hallway, I was shoved into it. A big three fingered hand covered my mouth so my squeak wasn’t heard. I tried to fight back but I was thrown into a small empty classroom and stumbled forward. “What the fuck?” I snapped, once I got my footing.

“You made a mistake when you compared your puny human wars to ours.” A Raxian boy was sneering down at me. There was a Slitheen by the door, glaring down at me. Raxians were huge, burley, and crude. They were an odd colour of red, something my eyes can’t pick up. Their faces were hippo like, teeth and all.

“More like your puny Raxian wars to ours.” I spit out. He got angrier and huffed. If he was a cartoon character, he would have breathed fire, he was so angry. I don’t know what ran my mouth, but it just. Kept. moving. I don’t even know what I was saying. But whatever it was, it just kept getting him angrier. Absently, I shifted into a fighting stance.

“You’re all talk, no fight. Let’s see how tough humans really are.” In a flash, he punched my face with his huge hand and broke my nose. I stumbled back, but managed not to fall over. Remembering all the research I did on Raxians, I knew their weaknesses. Every species has weaknesses, but the more powerful they are the more hidden they become. For example, Raxians have very sensitive noses. And ankles. A literal achilles ankle. I quickly reared my fist back and clocked his nose.

As we fought, I fell into a familiar rhythm. I don’t know how to act in class, how to make friends. I don’t know a lot of normal things. But fighting? Fighting I knew. I was fighting since before I could read. The burn of your muscles, the analysing, the pain. I knew every in and out of every fight. My sister used to call me her little gladiator. The Raxian was just another opponent. He was just another obstacle. Nothing new, nothing old. Harley and I grew up in the slums of America. Orphans, poor, all the sad stories. But we made it. Sure, not all of it was ethical or moral. We did what we had to.

I had gotten behind the Raxian and had taken him off his feet. Our size difference was important in my fighting style. I was smaller than him, thinner too. Bigger opponents can’t move as quickly or fluidly. I played on that. Staying low, moving quickly, etc. I felt something trying to grab me to hold me still. The slitheen was trying to help their friend. Huffing, I spun, grabbed his fangs, and pulled on them. They popped out with a slick and gross wet pop. The slitheen yelled and clutched their faces. I heard shifting behind me and ducked down again, seeing the hands that went for my head swing above me. He lost his balance and stumbled forward. I jumped up, poked him in the eyes, and kicked him in the stomach. Raxians also have sensitive stomachs. They were not made for one on one fighting. I was. The Raxian groaned and doubled over. I went behind him, kicked his ankle and knee, and watched as the big alien fell over. Taking this chance, I stomped on his nose, putting my full weight on it, and ran out the door. I pushed the crying slitheen on the ground and ran.

Pain bloomed all over my body, in places I don’t remember being hit. My stomach growled, but I just kept running. The ground hitting my feet, the sound of my breath in my ears, it was comforting. I weaved through the crowd and focused on where I was going. My tunnel vision was fading and it was getting harder to breathe. A hand grabbed the back of my shirt and I was dragged back. I let out a yell and spun around with my fist raised(destiny!!!!!). Ready to punch whoever it was. I was met with a worried face and smooth brown skin. Zeirmultiple arms were tense and his eyes were shining with worry. I started to relax as I just stared at zem, but movement behind zem caught my eye. The Raxian boy and the Slitheen were fighting their way through the crowd that had formed. Thal’amund grabbed my arm as I tried to run again.

“Shit!” I cursed and almost fell over when I didn’t start moving.

“Woah, calm down. What’s going on? Are you okay?” Zey started demanding, studying my face. I probably looked like crap, but I didn’t care. I needed to go, I needed to run. Breaking from his grip, my feet carried me down the hallway as the Raxian boy made it to Thal’amund. Sorry, Thal. I winced as the two followed me. A dark hallway caught my eye and I ducked in it. Pounding footsteps made the ground vibrate as they ran by. I watched as they turned a corner and let out a breath. My knees gave out and I sank to the ground. Everything hurt, it all throbbed with a steady rhythm. I rested my arms on my knees then my head on my arms and just closed my eyes. The stinging of my knuckles kept me grounded. Kept me from remembering.

Time passed as I sat there. For how long I could never tell you. Next thing I knew, a gentle hand was resting on my hand and my head jerked up. Purple skin and one big gold eye stared at me. Vreax was squatting in front of me and her mouth was moving. I didn’t notice before, but my ears are ringing. I searched her face and she gently took my hands in her own.

“...you hear me?” Her voice faded in and it was clear. Confusion bloomed in my head and I must have looked at her funny. “What?”

“You know english?” The question fell from my lips before I could even process it. She smiled and then studied my face. “Do I look that bad?”

“Yeah. What happened to you?” She glanced to her left, to the opening. I tried to look over but she put her hand on my face. “Hey, no. What happened?”

“You should see the other guys. I beat them in a fight.” I chuckled and grinned at her. Pain intensified at my nose and I winced to a stop. “Do you want details?” My voice sounded weird.

“Yes, but not right now. Let’s get you up and get some medical attention, yeah?” She coaxed me up and gently wrapped her arm around my waist. “Talk while we walk?”

“Sure. So, I was walking up to get food-” As I was speaking my stomach growled and I stopped to let it speak of its woes.

“You didn’t eat?” She glanced at me and started to pull me down the hallway. I shook my head and immediately regretted it. I got a hit to my head and probably have a concussion. That would explain the fog in my head.

“No, I didn’t get a chance. Anyway, I was walking down to the food court when this Raxian guy grabbed me and trapped me in a classroom. He wanted to know ‘just how tough humans really are’.” I quoted him, remembering how angry he was. “I beat the shit outta him and the slitheen he brought as back-up. Raxians are babies when you break their noses.” My prayer to any god that was listening echoed in my head. Let me have broken his nose. Veax was quiet until we reached the medical room.

“You beat up a Raxian?” She asked, knocking on the door. I nodded and looked around. The hallway was mostly empty, one other person was waiting outside someone's office. The hall was quiet and I could hear quiet talking coming from the nurses office.

“Yep. Raxians are not as tough as people think they are. They have sensitive noses, ankles, and stomachs. They are slow and made for muscling through crowds, not one on one.” When I was a kid, I studied everything I could. That included, and was not limited to, war species. I found a book about them and read it a thousand times. Everything I owned, I brought with me to university. It wasn’t much, it really was only a backpack worth. But that's what I had to limit myself to back home. We were always moving so I had to be able to carry it. My books, my education, are in that bag.

“How’d you know that?” She asked, knocking again.

“I found a book about it when I was a kid. It’s in my dorm if you want to take a look.” My heart fluttered at the idea of Vreax in my dorm. She was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. And if I wasn’t concussed, my face would be beet red at how close we were. But my mind was still swirling around the fight, how Raxians fought. I would analyse it later and fix my fighting to keep up with that.

“Yeah, after we get you fixed up. Where is that nurse?” She huffed and banged on the door. Someone opened it, looking annoyed.

“What? I have a patient!” A Cializ looked up at us. They were small creatures, bug-like. But they had an adept healing ability. Their spit was able to fix certain species injuries, or help the mending process. They creeped me out. “Oh. Come in, come in.” The nurse let us in and Vreax had me sit on the closest bed. She looked at the others in the room and cringed.

“Hm?” I turned around and paused. In proper lighting, I saw the Raxian and Slitheen. Mostly their injuries. The Raxian has bruises on his face and his nose was twisted at a weird angle. The Slitheen had an ice pack shoved in their mouth and had bruises on their arm. Don’t know where that came from. Don’t care. “Ah.”

“You did that?” She whispered to me. Impressed with what I did, I nodded and searched their bodies for any other injuries. They weren’t visible. Or weren’t there. But I considered it a win. The nurse was tending to the Raxian boy’s injuries. The Slitheen looked up, made eye contact with me, and nearly choked on his ice. I quickly turned around and hissed as my ribs screamed at the movement. The metal taste in my mouth reminded me of the blood dripping down my face and I saw tissues on the side table and reached for them. Vreax saw and handed me the whole box. I held the bridge of my nose with the tissues, and looked down. It hurt, but the bleeding needed to stop.

“What happened while I was gone?” I asked, my voice sounded very weird.

“Oh, we just got details of your interaction with the dean. Your sister had Thal get her some tissues when she dropped her sandwich on her self, and thats how zey ran into you. Or you ran into zem.” She explained as the nurse started to tend to the slitheen. “After zey saw you run, zey got us and had us go searching. We were looking for you for a good 15 minutes when we needed to split up. I found you first, obviously. I should probably tell the others I found you before they panic.” She pulled out her communicator and texted the group chat. The nurse was standing in front of me and had me remove my hand.

“That looks broken.” They said, looking at it from different angles.

“It is.” I agreed. The next few minutes were spent in silence as the nurse checked all of my injuries. As they were getting bandages ready, the door burst open and the rest of the group barged in. My sister was leading the charge and she made a beeline to me.

“What happened?” She demanded, grabbing my hands and looking at my split knuckles. “You got into another fight? You told me you were done with that!”

“Oh my gods, this is the first one I've had on campus!” The words sounded slightly whiny. But it was! It was the first fight I had in a long time. “And I was attacked. There are cameras in the hallway I was grabbed from.”

“Grabbed?” Lyrica asked, sounding very concerned. I winced, not meaning to say that.

“Yeah. I was snatched from the food court and fought to get out. You know how it is, Harley.” Humans are not exactly a rarity, but they tend to be a collectors item. Especially female presenting humans. It’s not popular, not here anyway. But in the slums? Someone you talked to at breakfast could be gone by lunch. Harley’s face darkened. The others were talking amongst themselves.

“Do you know what he was planning to do?” The question was quiet, for my ears only. I let out a humourless chuckle.

“Not until I ran my mouth. I don’t know the original plan, but being beat is better than the…alternative.” My eyes met my sisters and I saw her jaw clench. She was grabbed, once. When I was around 10. Harley was gone for less than a day before I managed to track her down. Tracking her down consisted of being snatched myself. Then we broke everyone out and made those grabbers move. But she had been marked. A brand on her lower back.

“You’re not allowed on campus anymore. Your dorm room, and maybe the food court. With someone.” Harley moved out of the way for the nurse who quickly bandaged me up and pushed pain meds in my hand.

“Two a day. This should patch up your ribs, ankle, and nose rather quickly.” They pushed a glass in my other hand. “Drink this for your head.” I did as they said and the fog in my head immediately dissipated. “Now go to your dorm.”

“Yes, nurse.” I nodded and made to stand. Harley hooked her arm around my waist. “I can walk.” I huffed.

“You have a broken ankle.” She retorted.

“Sprained. I’ve walked on worse.” Thal’amund looked over and sighed.

“Harley, go talk to the dean. We got him.” Zey clicked. Harley hesitated and let out a shaky breath. “We’ll keep her safe, I swear.” Thal was gentle with her. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, she let me go. Immediately, she grabbed Thals shirt. Gently, but she grabbed it tightly.

“Do not let anyone besides this group or people you trust into her room. You hear me? Don’t let anyone you wouldn’t trust with your life in. Tell me you understand.” She demanded. Thal’s voice fell short as he looked down at Harley.

“We understand.” Lyrica replied when zey couldn’t. Harley relaxed and let go of my friend. “We should get back to the dorms. You need to go talk to the dean.”

“Fine.” She turned to me and put her hands on my shoulders. “Stay safe, okay? You know what to do, but please.” She put her hand on my face. “No more fighting.”

“I make no promises, Lee.” I cracked a smile. “But I will stay as safe as I can.”

When we made it to my dorm, I remembered how bland it was. It was my first year here and I hadn’t bothered to buy much. I was living out of my bag still. When Vreax opened the door, I cringed at how sad it looked. I saw the others rooms, they were all decked out. Vreax and Lyrica roomed together and Thal had an absent roommate. But Harley and I splurged to get a single for me and it just looked very sad. The walls were blank, the bed made with cheap colourless sheets, and the pillow had no case.. The bookshelf was the most exciting thing. Only one shelf had books, but it wasn’t even halfway full. The rest of the shelfs had little knick knacks I found around the campus. Mostly cool rocks and flattened flowers. But there were buttons and tiny toys on display as well. There was a stuffed animal sitting on the headboard of the bed and my bag was sitting by the desk. I had three outfits in rotation, one of them was my pyjamas.

On the desk there was a closed computer, a single notebook, pen, lamp, and my charging station. The station was old, and barely functional. Or, it was when I dug it out of the trash can. But I fixed it up with what I could find and it works better than the new models. There were multiple cords and it could charge way more than it should. There was a TV on the wall across from the bed. It was new, someone was getting rid of it down the hall so I took it. The screen had broken but the hardware was perfectly fine, so I fixed the screen and hooked it up with my gaming console and old Apple TV. I walked in and flopped into the stiff old chair I had for my desk. The others awkwardly stood in the doorway.

“Are you just gonna stand there or…?” I waved them in and some of them walked in. Thal stood in the doorway and looked at the width of the door and then looked at zeir arms. “You can fit, I promise.” Zey sighed and squeezed in through the door. Even though they entered, they were still standing awkwardly.

“You’re room. It’s…clean.” Vreax said, looking around. My snort echoed off the walls slightly and Lyrica winced.

“I know, it’s empty. I don’t have much. Just…make yourself at home anyway you can.” I smiled and stood up. “I can give you the tour?” Vreax made a disgruntled face and looked around.

“Can I redecorate? Like fill the closet or something?” She asked. Cleaning and organising gets her mind off things. I shrugged and gestured to the small room. She nodded and made a beeline to the bookshelf. Lyrica sat down on the bed and leaned up against the wall. Thal grabbed my chair and pushed it against my knees, making me sit down.

“Hey!” My objection was ignored as zey sat down with Lyrica and grabbed my TV remote. Zey picked something that was old. Very old. 1991. Addams Family, one of my favourites. We sat in content as Vreax rearranged my room to the best of her abilities. Wednesday and Pugsley were sword fighting when she dumped my backpack out by my closet.

“You only have one other outfit? Why haven't you bought more?” She asked, holding up my other shirt. It was a ragged and old band shirt. You could barely make out a ‘Queen” logo on the sun bleached black fabric.

“Eh, I hadn’t had the chance.” Liar. The real reason I haven't bought new clothes is because they won't fit. There's this fear that I’ll end up back on the street, in the slums. Harley and I had been out of the streets for a year before I got into this pretentious school. But I was in the slums all my life. Well, the parts I can remember anyway.

“I’ll take you shopping.” Lyrica mused from the bed, interested in the movie. I watched as Vreax rummaged through my bag. She pulled up a small box and opened it.

“You need glasses? Is that why you sit up front?” She looked at me incredulously. Shaking my head, I leaned forward.

“Those are reading glasses. I can see mostly fine. When things get close, it's a bit fuzzy. But seeable.” It was true. I did need glasses, technically. But I could see! I saw better than my sister could, anyway. She started to sort my things into piles. Then she stood up and hung the single outfit in the closet. “What did you organise them as?”

“That’s classified. Can you explain why you have the things in this pile?” She gestured to a small pile of tools. Lockpicks, knives, my mechanic fixing tools, first-aid kit, and a small rectangular metal device. I stared at the items for a moment, deciding how to answer. Memories surfaced of me having to use each and every one. Breaking out of a crate, protecting myself, building the charging station, patching up Harley, and using the tracker to find her.

“The lockpicks are so I can open locked doors, knives are so if I need to cut something, the tools are so I could build machines if needed, first-aid kit is if I get hurt, and the device is a tracker. So If I ever need to find Harley or if she needs to find me. That’s a back-up, it’s off right now.” The main one is in my pocket. I don’t go anywhere without it. Vreax nodded and moved them into the other piles. Thal got a phone call and checked it.

“It’s Ms. Knoll.” Zey said, confused. Everyone was quiet as zey listened to the call. “He wants us to meet her in her office. Lyrica and I can go, you two stay here.” Zey got up and dragged Lyrica with zem.

“See you later!” Ey called. Vreax and I were alone in my room, the TV still playing the movie. I watched her with interest as she organised things in my closet. We sat in silence for a few minutes before she stood, brushed her hands on the sides of her legs, and turned to me.

“Can I ask you a personal question? Actually, a few personal questions?” She asked awkwardly. I knew this was coming, the questions. It was bound to happen, I was expecting it to happen a while ago.

“Yeah, go ahead. Shoot.” I leaned back in my chair and looked up at her. A moment passed as she composed herself and as I prepared to answer them with half truths.

“You have to promise to answer them truthfully. You never break your promises and I need you to promise me this.” Vreax looked me in the eyes and I blinked in surprise. Promises are one of the things I never break. Promises, grudges, and trusts. Mostly. She got me in a corner and I didn’t know what to do. Promise and tell her everything? Or dodge the promise and lie.

“I promise. I promise I will answer your questions as truthfully as I can.” I sighed and looked into her gold eye. “Only when we are alone together.” Vreax sighed with relief and relaxed.

“Good. Why haven’t you made yourself comfortable? It looks like you could be ready to leave at a moment's notice.” Smart. Go with the question I was least expecting to go first.

“Because I could. I could pack everything important in about 5 minutes and leave. Me being here wasn’t in my cards at first and it’s not permanent. One of these days someone I knew from my life on earth is going to show up and I’ll have to leave.” The collectors that grabbed my sister are still pissed at me because I freed all of their captives. And destroyed their base. Vreax looked even more concerned and opened her mouth to say something. It snapped shut as she closed her eye and thought for a moment.

“Why would you have to leave if someone from your past showed up?” Damn. Overshot. Right.

I hesitated and thought about how I would explain this. “That answer is…complicated. Let's just say that I interrupted a very illegal business deal, freed all of their stocks, and destroyed their…warehouse.” I chose my words very carefully. Vreax just looked at me even more concerned.

“Does that have to do with what your sister said in the nurse's office?” Vreax started to fidget with her hands.

“What thing?” Harley did say a lot.

“About you and fighting. Did you fight a lot growing up?” Vreax looked at me oddly when I held back a laugh.

“Eh, yeah you could say that. I did what I had to. Fighting just happened.” A smile spread on my lips and I remembered a lot. It wasn’t a good smile, but still a smile. Growing up, Harley and I were alone. A teenager and her kid sister? Boy, were we popular targets. Scammers and kidnappers would try to get us, but we were smart. Or violent. We both fought. A lot. You had too, it was fight or be killed.

“Tell me about your childhood. Please.” She leaned on the closet door.

“Ah, ah. That's not a question.” I pointed out and she huffed. I let out a squeak when I was spun around and she sat on the bed. She moved so fast that I didn’t even register her start to move.

“Why are you so secretive? What happened in your childhood that messed you up so much?” She all but snapped. We just stared at each other and my voice failed me. I should tell her. But I can’t. SIghing, I stood up and walked over to my desk. Just to move. To think. Vreax huffed and followed me. It wasn’t a big room, but we could still move around. “Harper. Answer my question.” I turned to face her and looked into her eye.

“It’s depressing. I gotta tell you, you really don’t want to know.” Maybe she would listen. Maybe she would believe me. I was praying that she would ignore it. That she would move on. But I knew her too well, she won’t. She would never ignore something that important.

“I can handle it. Please, Harper Lewis.” Vreax nearly begged. This was new. I’ve never had someone this interested in my past. “Come sit down and talk to me.” She gently grabbed my shoulder and led me to the bed. We both sat down and I leaned on my knees.

“I don’t remember much until I turned five. Then I can remember most of it. Where do you want me to start?” I couldn’t look at her. But I could feel her eye.

“The beginning. Please.” Her voice was gentle. As gentle as her high pitched voice could be.

“Right. This should answer..a lot of your questions. Get comfortable, this is a long story.” I heard her shift and took a deep breath. “So, like I said I don’t remember much until I was five. But from then on, my sister and I were alone. She raised me and herself, it wasn’t easy. Especially where we were ‘living’. If you could call it that. We grew up in the slums of America. Southern America. So, we lived in a tiny dinghy abandoned attic for the first few years. It was the top floor of a building that had collapsed and the only way to get in was climbing the surrounding buildings. It leaked when it rained and was freezing in the winter, but it was a roof over our heads and we were safe from the crime below.”

“When I turned eight or nine, a big company bought out those buildings and demolished them. And built shiny new ones in their place, but we had been evicted and put on the streets. So we made a system. I stole from the companies, tech mostly. That's how I built the trackers. And we started to scam, trade, and barter with the merchants. That's how I got those books.” I gestured to the books on the shelf. “Those were my education.”

“But we also traded for weapons, protection, and food. We found the shelter ourselves. It would change every week or so. And we were always moving. In an abandoned camp, we found those backpacks. And clothes and all the supplies we could need. But we just took what we could carry in those packs and lived off of those for days. But when I turned ten, I learned the cruel reality of the world.” The horrible memory hit me full force.

“The way we would scam was she would distract and I would pickpocket. One day, we got cocky and scammed the wrong person. It was my first fight and we lost it. We lost our funds for the day, and the money we had earned throughout the week. A new gang moved into our area and were taking over. They saw us as weak little girls.” I growled the words with so much venom, I could feel her cringe away from me. “So I watched the fighting rings and was taught by some of the older members. And I showed them. But, I saw how much money they were making from all the bets. Harley begged me not to, but we needed the cash.”

“You didn’t. Please tell me you didn’t join the rings.” Vreax said from behind me.

“Vre, I had to. The scams were bringing up less and less money and reputation could only get you so far. So, I started with the small fights. Other children mostly. And I moved up. The farther I moved, the more money it brought. I had learned from the first fight to never get cocky. That was how some of the better fighters lost. They saw a small child and went easy on me. Customers gave me the title of ‘The Snake’. Small but deadly, I think.” Vreax sighed and I felt her hand on my shoulder.

“One day, when I came home from a fight, Harley wasn’t there. That was normal and sometimes she would be out late selling and scamming. So I waited. I waited up all night but she never showed. And so I went looking. At the time, I looked like a factory boy, covered in grime. That was on purpose. No one would pay me any mind when they saw me looking around. I started to ask questions and I found out she had been taken.”

“Taken?”

“Yeah. Humans, especially female presenting humans, are a collectable item for some species. Snatchers would steal girls off the streets and sell them to the highest bidder. Harley had been grabbed and I was determined to be grabbed too. So I was. I found out which group did it and made myself look weak and scared. And new. They loved new girls. It didn’t take long before I was grabbed. The girls were separated by how old they looked, so I was put in with girls who looked slightly younger than me. I had to be around 11 at this time. And so I waited for nightfall and when they were least expecting it. Then I picked their locks.”

“That's what the lockpicks were for?”

“Yeah. I opened the cage, but waited for a guard to come by and grabbed him in the cage. I made sure he wouldn’t be able to follow us and gave the strongest looking girl the keys and let them loose with orders to free the rest. Between the small group of us, we managed to free everyone. Harley was injured and so a few girls helped her out. But these guys were idiots. Guess what they used to light their camp.”

“What?”

“Torches.” I grinned and chuckled. “I burned their camp down and got a reputation after that. No one knew my name, we never traded names. Just nicknames or code names. And faces. We traded faces. A common phrase to be seen was ‘The Snake will burn the Cagers.’ Snatchers and Cagers were the same thing. I didn’t mean to become an image. But I was. I was only 11. And people looked up to me. The image never really faded. Not as I got older. Not even as more cagers came to town. They learned how not to light their camp. It was expensive, but they managed. That didn’t stop me. I still burned it to the ground. Every time. And then I didn’t need to. Others burned them. But all this fighting didn’t help us find a home.”

“We fought for a little bit after that. The first burning I mean. But after that, my sister was wary of the streets. So she found a real job. I kept fighting, kept earning money. Years passed and she moved up in the job she got. Eventually, Councilwoman Tonya noticed her and took her under her wing. As an internship, you know? A play to get the ‘poor’ people to vote for her. But Tonya liked her so much, she offered her a permanent job with really good pay. And free housing. That was a…year before I got accepted into here? I think? Yeah, around that.”

“How did you get accepted into this school? It’s really hard to get into.” Vreax asked, absentmindedly. I looked at her and leaned back slightly.

“Vre, I ask myself that question everyday. But Harley convinced me into entering a raffle/lottery thing. And I got in. This school brags about not looking at past grades, so they didn’t notice I didn’t have any past grades. And with a recommendation from a member of the Earth council? How could they turn me down?” Her eye looked into mine and she cringed a little. “What?”

“Oh, I saw your black eye.” She squinted a little. “Black eyes, I mean.” Shrugging, I stretched out my shoulders.

“So. That's my long and depressing backstory. Any questions?” Reminding her that she could ask anything probably wasn’t the best move, but I trusted her. She was the only other person who knew this stuff, besides my sister.

“What happened to your parents?”

“I don’t actually know. I’m going to guess that they died? Harley won’t tell me, and I’ve been asking for all of my life.”

“Oh. I’m sorry for your loss, I guess.” She thought for a moment. “ How much pain are you in?” I had to think about that. An ache had spread all over my body and I had just ignored the pulsing that was coming from my broken bones. Now that I was paying attention to my body, exhaustion was weighing down my muscles and making the pain kind of muffled from where it was coming from.

“Nothing that I can’t handle. I mean, it’s all something I’ve dealt with. I have the pain meds and-” I started to say when I sat straight up. My ribs twinged and my voice cut out as the pain in my chest intensified. “I have pain meds.” I continued through gritted teeth and I tried to stand. A hand grabbed mine and I was pulled down.

“No, I got this. You, stay here. You need sleep and we will continue the questioning after. But right now you need to rest and take your pain meds. I will be back with a glass of water.” Vreax moved quickly and left the room. As she was leaving, I heard her mutter something in a language I didn’t understand. I’d have to learn it so we could talk in her native tongue. While she was gone, I stood up and started to plug things into my charger pack and put things back into my bag. She left it all sorted out and it had been bothering me for the entire duration of my tale. While I was cleaning up, I heard the door open and someone was standing there.

“I know, I know. I’m not supposed to be standing. But-” I said, turning to face whoever it was, thinking Vreax had come back. Vreax was not at the door. Someone I vaguely recognized was. They were small, around my height, and were silhouetted against the bright hallway light. I hadn’t realised my room was that dark, but I couldn’t make out their features. Maybe it was their species protection? “Who’re you?” I asked. A feeling of recognition had slithered its way into my head and strengthened the longer I stared at this guy.

“Someone who shouldn’t be here.” I heard Vreax say from behind them. She shoved them out of the way and slammed the door in their face. Distantly, I heard the lock click and saw her make her way to me. “You should be sitting down! Remember, you’re injured.”

“I’ve had worse.” I murmured, staring at the door. “Do you know who that was?”

“No, but you look like you’ve seen a ghost. Come on, let's get this done and over with.” She gently led me back to the bed and broke my attention from the door. My head had filled with this strange buzzing and everything seemed distant. It was weird. “Take this.” Something slid down my throat as I swallowed what she asked me to.

“I should change.” I murmured and she looked my outfit up and down. “This is bloody.” Blood had gotten on my shirt from my broken nose and split lip.

“So’s your face. We should probably clean that up. But yeah, I want to see the damage to your ribs. And your ankle. I forgot you broke your ankle.” She pointed out and I looked at my ankle. It didn’t feel broken.

“I did?” I flexed it and saw the bandage stretch. Why didn’t the nurse cast it? The thought crossed my mind.

“I have no idea, but it should have been.” Vreax replied, looking through my closet. Had I said that outloud? I must have. She looked very unpleased with my outfit choices. “These aren’t clean. Nor do they look comfortable. I will be…right back.” She quickly left the room, closing the door behind her. I got up again and finished what I had been doing before. Then I grabbed my war species book and my species class book, and settled down on my bed. The door opened and I tensed, glancing up. It was the being again. Fuzzy, familiar. Almost like a ghost. But this time they walked away instead of just staring at me.

Vreax walked right in and closed the door. The lock slid in place again and she had a bag with her this time. I watched her with interest as she moved my bag into the closet with her foot as she dropped the bag into the chair. Clothing was tossed at me and she dug through it for something else. I looked at the clothing she threw and realised they were some of her clothes.

“What are these for?” I asked, looking up at her.

“Pyjamas. Don’t put them on yet, the nurse gave me a salve to put on your bruises that I need to find.” She dug deeper into the bag and quickly pulled out a bottle and some fresh bandages. “Alright, off it comes.” I felt my face flush red.

“Uhm, I’m sure I can take care of my wounds myself.” I coughed, embarrassed.

“You won’t do it properly and you can’t see them all. Hell. you don’t even have a mirror. Just let me do it, and then you can get to sleep.” She argued, walking over. We argued for a few more minutes before I gave up. Gently and slowly, I slid my bloody shirt off and tossed into a corner of my room. Vreax glanced at it with mild disgust but ultimately ignored it.

“Happy?” I asked, overly embarrassed. She rolled her eyes and opened the bottle. Then, she poked something on my stomach and I tensed up. “What’re you doing?”

“Looking at one of your scars. You have a lot of them, by the way. But this one looks weird.” My chest and stomach were covered in scars from fighting and getting attacked. Stab wounds, bullet wounds, compound fractures, etc. The compound fractures were not fun. We actually went to the hospital for that. But the one she had poked was triangular and near my belly button.

“Oh, I was stabbed with a stick. It was…an experience.” I said, looking down at it. She nodded and smeared some salve on the tips of her fingers. “Whaaaoh.” What I was going to say completely changed as the cold cream touched my bruises and I shivered. Quietly, she smeared the salve on my bruises and bandaids the very few things that needed bandaging. Like my knuckles and my right hand.

“Okay, out on the top and take your pants off. I was to see if anything happened to your legs.” My face flushed even redder and she just looked at me. “Fine. I’ll just rebandage your ankle.” She sighed and gestured to my ankle. I quickly slid the shirt she gave me on and tossed my pants with my shirt and hid my face in my hands. She applied the salve to a few spots on my legs and rebandaged my ankle. When she was done, I put the borrowed pants on and crawled deeper into the bed. “Do you mind if I take a nap with you? I am exhausted.” She asked and packed up the bag a little bit.

“Not really. Where do you wanna sleep?” I replied, not really thinking and just getting the bed ready to sleep in.

“I was thinking in the bed too. It would also help me keep tabs on how you’re doing. I don’t know how humans heal. You could be in any condition and neither of us would know.” She turned away from me and grabbed a shirt from the bag. “I hope you don’t mind if I change in here either. This is just a really uncomfortable outfit.” She sighed as she slid off her shirt. I just stared at the long exposed purple back facing me and had the sudden urge to run my fingers down her spine. To see how soft her skin was. But I didn’t move. I didn’t let myself. Forcing my eyes away, I started to get the bed ready to hold two people. Soon, she climbed in next to me.

“If it was uncomfortable, then why’d you wear it?” I asked, genuinely confused.

“It looked good and I didn’t expect to be in it for so long.” She yawned and pulled me down next to her. “Let’s just rest and wait for the others to get back.” Her golden eye closed and I drifted off to sleep next to her. Her arm had slithered to my chest and was resting over my heart. The darkness of sleep overtook my mind.

The fuzzy face stared at me through the shadows. I saw its mouth moving like it was talking.

“Why’d you leave me, Snake? Why’d you run away?” It seemed to say. It got closer and the fuzz got clearer. But before I could make out who it was, I drifted away. Well, somewhat awake. Voices echoed in my room and I was lying on a warm, hard thing. A hand was gently running through my hair and I let out a small whine. The voices got quieter and someone whispered softly into my ear.

“It’s alright, go back to sleep.” She whispered and I drifted off to sleep again. The hand in my hair and the voice in my ear were the last things I was aware of.

The next time I woke up, I was alone. A blanket was thrown over me and the TV was on. Slowly, I opened my eyes and looked around. I was in my dorm and the TV was playing some kind of show, not one I knew. Lyrica and Thal were sitting on my floor with some food. It smelled like breakfast.

“What time is it? What is that?” My voice was raspy and groggy, making Thal jump. Zey looked back at me and held up a plate of some kind of food. It looked vaguely like eggs, but it was green. “Green eggs and ham?” I asked, remembering an old book I read as a kid.

“Yeah. We got you a plate.” Lyrica mused, gesturing to my desk. What am I, Sam-I-Am? I thought as I got out of bed and grabbed the plate. I heard Thal choke and start to snicker.

“What?” I turned around, holding my plate. My ankle started to ache and I sat down on my bed. Zey just snickered and kept glancing at me. “Thal. Spit it out.”

“Just, Vreax gave you one of her jerseys to wear. She mentioned that she was going to give you some more clothes.” Zey said and looked back at the TV. SIghing, I just started to eat my breakfast. The door opened and two people walked in, talking.

“It was really weird, I keep telling you!” Vreax told whoever was behind her. “It was like-” SHe cut herself off when she saw who was in the room. “Oh. You guys are back.” We stared at her as Harley muscled her way into the room.

“Stop crowding the door.” She sighed and looked at me. “Harper! You’re awake!” She grinned and bounded over. Suddenly she had her hands on my face and she was running her hand over my head. “You had all of us worried sick. You haven’t slept that long since-'' She cut herself off, looking at the others. Since I almost died. I got really sick when I was a kid. Just after I joined the rings. I was in and out of consciousness for days. But I recovered and fought in more fights than necessary to make up for the lost money.

“I know. Harley, I know. How did your talk with the dean go?” I asked, changing the subject. Silence fell over the room and everyone seemed uncomfortable. Harley dropped her hands and looked at the others. Worry crept up my body as I looked in between them.

“The dean wasn’t ready to talk. I kept trying but it kept pushing me away.” Harley sighed and sat down next to me. “But I heard they had an interesting conversation with Knoll.” I saw Lyrica wince and turn around with a pained expression.

“If interesting is the word to describe it. She basically just drilled us on what you guys and the dean talked about and everything we knew on the subject of ‘humans are actually very violent’. You would make a good image of that, to be honest.” Ey sighed. Ey added that last bit quietly, not meaning for that to slip out. Realising what ey said, eir face flushed and ey straightened up. “I mean- I didn’t-”

“You’re fine. Not entirely wrong.” I chuckled, calming em down. Lyrica sighed in relief and smiled warely. “Anything else?”

“Not really. Just that he’d come find you when you’re awake. Said she needed to talk to you.” Thal spoke up. Zey sounded unamused and munched on zeir green ham. Harley saw the plate and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. I only shrugged and quickly finished it off.

“We’ll go see her later.” Harley shook her head at me and smiled. We sat in my room for an hour or so after that and I got ready to leave. The TV show was boring and repetitive. I was so bored.

“Can I leave the room or something? Please?” I practically begged my sister. Again. She looked at me with unimpressed eyes and sighed. “It’s been an hour. I need to walk somewhere!”

“Harper, we talked about this! We can-” Harlet started when Vreax spoke up.

“We could go. Go during lunch. The crowds would hide us.” She said, looking over at us. Thal and Lyrica left to go to class. It was just us. Harley sighed.

“Fine. If you guys are going then I’m coming with. Let’s go, I want something to eat.” She stood up and made her way to the door.

We were by the kitchen when I ran into someone. Someone I never thought I would see again. We literally ran into each other and they hit the floor with a thud.

“I am so sorry! Here let me-” I offered my hand to them and froze when we made eye contact. He stood up and just, kind of stared at me. “Weasel? I asked, quietly. Weasel was another ring fighter. He was around my age and we were usually pitted against each other. He was my first and only friend. Friend turned boyfriend, in a way.

“Snake.” He replied in a similar manner. He was in a new outfit, uniform type. A student. Bruised knuckles and well fed. Very different from the last time we saw each other.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, looking into his eyes. Black hair, green eyes, handsome. Betrayed. The look on his face as he surveyed me was disgusted.

“Trying to learn. You?” His voice was monotone, hiding something.

“Same. I-” Harley walked up behind him and her eyes met mine in a brief moment of confusion.

“Why’d you leave me? You left me there to die.” He barked out, getting infinitely closer. Startled, I backed up and held my hands up in surrender.

“I never left you. I gave you a choice, a spot next to me! We could have gotten out together, but you chose to stay.” I remembered the day I was told that Harley and I would be leaving the streets. Weasel was with us that day.

“You left us, all of us. Just for some fancy dancy tutors!” He growled, getting in my face again.

“I left so I would have a roof over my head and safety. The tutors were a plus. And do you think I don’t regret it? I regret leaving you all behind! I-” Regret fills my dreams constantly, regret for leaving all of the kids in the slums. Regret for leaving all of my friends and all of the girls down there.

“You obviously regret it soo much! So much that you got yourself into a fancy school and found yourself fancy friends. You forgot about us, about your past!” He yelled and I looked around nervously.

“Quiet down.” I hissed. “Weasel, you need to calm down and get out of my face.”

“Why? Are you too scared to fight me, huh? Now that you’re all high and mighty?” He growled. And he shoved me. I quickly stabled myself and took the feet out from under him. Before he hit the ground, I grabbed his shirt collar and let him hang there. Harley ran forward, having to fight through the crowd. No one took a second look at us, just moving quickly.

“No. I’m not too scared to fight you, I was just trying to save you the embarrassment of our last fight. I think you remember that.” I looked down at him, scowling. The last time we fought, I beat the shit out of him. Quickly. Ruthlessly. I was sick and tired and so I finished the fight quickly. He grabbed my wrist and broke my hold on his shirt. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Harley get dragged by the crowd. Someone else was getting closer, I could hear their footsteps. Weasel moved quickly and reached for my ankle. It was a seen move, something he always did. Usually it worked, but we’ve fought dozens of times. I moved out of the way and stepped on his wrist.

“Get off of me! Stop being a coward, Sn-” He growled, using his other hand to try and tug his hand out. I put more pressure on his wrist, watching him start to squirm.

“Only if you agree to calm down.” He snapped his mouth shut and I put more pressure on his wrist. “You hear me?”

“Yes, yes fine! I’ll stop yelling.” He panicked and scrambled to his feet when I let him up. The rage in his eyes made me widen my stance and prepare for a second fight in two days. “You always said you would never become this.” He gestured to the school. “You said you would never become a rich asshole who wouldn’t care about the kids in the slums!”

“And I didn’t. Don’t forget, you’re here too. If anything, you became what we hated most.” I pointed to his ID. Surprise coloured his features like he forgot it was there. He looked down and sighed. Then his head snapped up and he was angry again.

“HOW DARE-” He balled his fists and looked like he was about to try to fight me again. Someone was in between us immediately.

“What is going on here? What do you two think you’re doing?” Ms. Knoll said, looking at the two of us. I kept looking at Weasle, but he stared at Mr. Knoll. Then, his face blurred and he disappeared into the crowd. I stiffened and stared at where he once was. “How- Did you see that?” Ms. Knoll asked, looking back at me. The dots clicked in my head and I straightened out.

“He was at my dorm yesterday.” I muttered as Harley ran up to me. “Harley, he was at my dorm yesterday.” I looked at my sister with wide eyes.

“Who was that? Harper, did you know him?” She looked at where he was and at my face. “You did.”

“He’s here. Why did he not say anything?” I nearly whispered to Harley. “I need to sit down. We need to talk.” Harley glanced at Ms. Knoll and took my hand.

“Who was that? Harper, I need to know.” Mr. Knoll said, following us. I just flopped down into my seat and held my head in my hands.

“That was Weasel. Harley, he found me again.” In my head, my voice sounded broken. Nothing like I had heard before.

“How? I mean, what did he say?” I heard Ms. Knoll sit down. “Harper?”

“He blamed me. He blamed me for leaving him and for forgetting. He said that I became everything we hated as kids.” My voice sounded distant. Everything did. How did he blur his face like that? Was he human? Questions and memories filled my head.

“You know Weasel?” Ms. Knol asked. We both looked at him. I forgot she was there.

“You could say that. Do you?” I asked my teacher, looking at her with new eyes. Her expression was unreadable. Harley was studying his face, eyes reading every single bit of flesh on her face. Then, her face shone with recognition.

“No. You’re from the slums too. The rings. Harper, you seriously don’t recognize him?” Harley stared at Ms. Knoll in fear. I looked at my teacher. A good look.

“I’m sorry if I don’t remember everyone from the rings. I was too busy fighting to look at faces.” I huffed when I couldn’t put a pin on her face from my past. The closer I looked, the more I just saw my favourite teacher. Ms. Knoll looked at me and opened her mouth like he was going to say something. Closed it. And took a deep breath in. “And you said you were from Canada, yes? So you can’t be from the same slums we were in.”

“Well, I lied. I’m from America, somewhere in Kentucky, I think. You said you were from the rings?” Mr. Knoll looked at my sister with new eyes. Then confused eyes when she shook her head.

“Nope. I never fought in them. I only scammed and traded. Sometimes sold. Harper was the fighter and our main source of income.” She sighed and glanced at the tables around us. No one was paying attention. Ms. Knoll looked at me with shock.

“You?” I nodded and looked at her closely. “But you’re so gentle. And you don’t have the marking.” His voice had a slight quiver to it at the end. There were two types of fighters. The willing fighters and the forced fighters. The forced fighters were captives and people born into it. They had to get a marking on their inner wrist. A tattoo sometimes but the worst fighters got a brand. The willing fighters had the option but they were not required because they didn’t belong to the rings themselves.

“I wouldn’t have gotten the marking. I was a willing fighter. Got money off the bets instead of a ‘trainer’.” Another thing separating forced and willing. Forced fighters had ‘trainers’ that got all the winning from the fight. Willing fighters didn’t have a trainer so they got all the profits. Ms. Knoll’s expression changed completely. Something I couldn’t read. “Did you get a marking?”

“You were a willing fighter? Seriously? You put yourself into those horrible conditions?” His voice got raspy, sort of. Underlying anger. “Why would you do that?” The way she asked that was odd. Harley and I glanced at each other.

“We needed to eat. The ring was the fastest way to get the most money. Ms. Knoll, before you judge my choices, you should tell me yours.” I sat up and stared at my teacher.

“Yes, I was a forced fighter, okay? I got the tattoo removed with my first paycheck. How well did you know Weasel?” She turned to me and I saw his expression was serious. More serious than I had ever seen.

“Why? What do you know about him?” It is always best to get the feel of how much information the other person has. Sadly, it seems she is trying to do the same thing. “We’re at a stalemate. I won’t tell you what you want until you tell me you know.”

“I know. The Weasel was a good fighter. Only second to the Snake. He beat me in so many fights, it was almost embarrassing. But he ran a small group of drug traders. They would sell the hardest drugs to the weakest people for the most money on the market. He would sell weapons to stir the violence and he would have a hand in with the cagers. Which the snake burned down.” Knoll sighed, watching my expressions. My reactions. I knew he sold things, like drugs and maybe a few light weapons. But to that extent?

“That has to be a lie. How could he have gotten his hands on the weapons and the drugs? And he would never, never, help the cagers. Wes…” I trailed off, remembering how we were as kids. How he was. It made sense, now that I was thinking back. He was always doing something, calling someone, hiding things. He was never home at night, how he always stopped talking when I entered a room.

“God…” Harley whispered and slumped in her seat. “You know, I always thought something was off about that kid.”

“You thought something was off about everyone you met, Harls. But…it does make sense now that I think about it. He was always so secretive and had more money than he would have won in the rings. He wasn’t that great of a fighter, I always beat him.” I thought for a moment. “Who were you in the rings? What were you called?” I asked, looking at my teacher. A sign of hesitation.

“Why should I tell you?”

“Because you want to know how I know Weasel, right? I will tell you everything I know about him.” Information trade. Not the best way to get information but it works.

“That’s not enough. I told you what I knew.” He looked at me.

“And who I was in the rings. If you tell me your title, I’ll tell you mine.” Why was I so desperate to know? Then the realisation hit me. I wanted to know if I beat her in a fight. I knew the titles of everyone I fought against. I wrote them down, studied the way they fought. Lost, got better, won. That was my way of fighting.

“And what you know about Snake. She was weird, tiny. Just a strange fighter all around.” My gut dropped. I did fight her. And by the sounds of it, I won. “Tell me that, and I’ll tell you who I am.”

I took a deep breath and looked around. The cafeteria was thinning out. People were heading to class. “I was good friends with Weasel. We never shared given names but we shared everything else. Or I thought we did. We dated for a year but we were friends for much longer. He was bitter that he wasn’t the best, he was just bitter. Bitter about everything but when we were together and we were safe? He was the sweetest thing ever. But he hated the world.” That was the headlights of it anyway.

“Snake? You know a lot about her?” Knoll leaned forward and looked me in the eyes. Wincing, I glanced at my sister. Her eyes were burning into my teacher.

“Well, yeah. I think I know more about her than any living person. Considering I was Snake.” I watched his reactions. “I can tell you anything you want, at a price.” Knoll’s face went stoic, staring at me. Her eyes were shining with an unknown emotion. “Now tell me, who were you?”

“Dingo. I was the dingo. You beat me in almost every fight. You lost the first one but won all the rest. How’d you do it? Why’d you fight like that? I have so many questions.” She hounded me. Did I fight weird?

I squirmed uncomfortably under her scrutiny. “I analysed the fights I lost. Went over them again and again in my head. Then I practised how to win. And won. Lose, improve, Win. That’s how I worked. And did I fight weird? I thought I fought well.” Memories flooded my head and I tried to remember how I fought. It seemed normal when I played it back.

“Well, you were a weird kid. I wouldn’t put it past you to fight weird as well.” Harley huffed, still staring at Knoll. My teacher looked at my sister.

“I don’t recognize you. Were you in the rings too?” Knoll looked shocked when my sister laughed. I covered my snicker with a cough and tried not to smile. “What?”
“I don’t have the guts or the strength to fight. I went to watch her fight once, I think. Against you. And I could never go back so I didn’t. I dealt with the aftermath.” Harley chuckled.

“She was too soft.” I added, looking at my sister. “Harley here wanted me to stop fighting. I did for a week and we fell behind on so many payments because her job was not paying as well as mine. At all.”

“Not wanting to fight is not a weakness.” Ms. Knoll sighed.

“I know. But we needed to eat and I was tired of digging through someone’s trash. So I made enough money to buy food.” I leaned back. “Now. How did I fight?” He snapped back to the reality of the situation. She knew that as soon as I was told how I fought, I would change it.

“You fought differently in every battle. Every single one. Why? How? I need to know that it was you in those fights.” She leaned forward and looked me in the eyes. A fleeting thought passed through my head.

“Aren’t you late for your class?” I asked, trying to change the subject. The truth was I didn’t know. I tweaked my fighting for everyone I fought. Even the ones I fought multiple times.

“It’s my lunch hour. Now?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t notice. Truly.” I said. Harley looked me over but I just looked at my teacher. “I’m late for my species class. I’m going to need the notes.” I stood up and looked at Harley. “You wanna come with me?”

“Yeah, let’s go.” She stood up and we walked away quickly. “You know I’m not going to let you go to class, right?”

“You do understand that I’m not going to class?” I answered and sped up my walk. She followed me silently as I weaved through the building and left it through a side door. I touched the small book I pocketed before I left the room and sighed in relief. I slid into a small hidden road and walked for a few minutes, listening to my sister's footsteps behind me. Looking around to make sure no one saw me, I ducked under a tree and entered the garden. It was open to the public and a few kids were weeding one of the beds. But I slipped into a small alcove that most of the kids didn’t know about. It was accidentally hidden, the bushes overgrown and blending into the plant covered walls. Harley had gotten lost and I heard one of the teachers talking to her. Then I heard them walk away. Relaxing, I looked around my area.

A willow tree was growing in the corner, flowers lining the wall to my left. The ground was plush with grass found on the planet Wolfoid. Wild flowers from the galaxy Infinite are decorating the border and the grass. I have to step over them every now and then. Vines grow on the wall and on the bushes. A mushroom circle is in the direct centre, making everything look even more magical. As I settle under the weeping willow, I see dandelion puffs settles among the roots. Remembering the old myth, I plucked one and stared at it.

Maybe my wish’ll come true. I wondered as I stared at the intricate little puff ball. I wish for everything to be okay in the end. Fixable, at least. I wished hard as I blew the puff all over my small oasis. Memories and thoughts raced through my head. Why was weasel here? What’s going to happen now? My teacher was in the rings?? How did I not recognize her? I barely remember the dingo and that was not knoll. He said that she was from Canada! Why Canada? I wonder where Harley is now. Is she okay? I’m hungry. How did weasel get in the building? My thoughts were jumbled and mostly focused on the fact that apparently my teacher fought me. Multiple times. I still can’t get over that fact. Shaking my head like I was shaking the thoughts out, I opened my book and tried to read.

Most dangerous war species in the known galaxy. By the Galactic Forces. Time to reread this for the millionth time.

“Harper. Harper!” My name was called and I became aware I was asleep. Jerking awake, I threw my book at whoever was calling my name. Vreax squeaked in alarm and ducked. My book went flying into a bush. “What was that for?”

“Great.” I muttered and looked at my friend. “You startled me. Why are you here?” How long was I asleep?

“Your sister told us you ran off after seeing someone from your past. She said you vanished somewhere in the gardens. What happened?” SHe put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eye.

“I ran into an old friend. He yelled at me, tried to fight me. Ran off and I found some odd things about Ms. Knoll.” I blurted out before I could filter through it. She just stared at me. “What? That is literally what happened!”

“You know you can’t just run off like that! Go grab your book, clean yourself up, and let's get back to your dorm.” She snapped and let me go. Vreax can be scary when she’s upset. This was not my first time figuring this out. She started to mutter angrily in her native language, making me hurry up. Whenever she got like this, I knew I was in for a lecture. Last time she did this, I had almost burned down the communal kitchen. How was I supposed to know you had to add water to cup o'noodle? It’s not like I grew up with that stuff.

“Sorry, sorry.” I quickly squeaked and rummaged through the bush to find my book. When I found it, I very quickly went back to Vreax and made myself as small as possible. She glared at me and grabbed my hand. Not my wrist, like I expected but my hand. We walked in silence as we slipped out of the gardens and we passed the food court when she finally spoke up. The grounds were empty, completely empty. There was something about the silence that unnerved me more than I was.

“Harper, why’d you run off?” Her words rang in my ears and several reasons popped up in my head. Because I didn’t know what else to do. Things are getting too close. I had to get away. I had to think. I was scared.

“I don’t know.” I settled on. Lie. Liar. You promised you would tell the truth. I had to stop myself from cringing inward.

“You promised to tell me the truth as long as we’re alone together.” She pointed out and I sighed. “Do you really not know or do you just not want to tell me?” Her voice carried across the silent grounds.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, changing the subject. Dipping my toes in the water of her anger. Her nose flared but she didn’t yell at me for it.

“An Announcement. Dean is addressing the rumours about the humans.” She said, clipped. I barely understood her, she had switched to Common. I only nodded and stayed silent. We walked in silence the rest of the way to the dorms. Where she paused and looked to our left. There was a walkway covered in trees. I looked and my heart squeezed. Everything focused on him. Weasel. He was standing there, talking to someone. They had their back to us but we could see his face perfectly. Shaking my head slightly, I tried to pull on her hand to the dorm. Bad move. His eyes caught mine and his face contorted in disgust and hatred.

“We need to leave. Now.” I hissed into Her ear and practically dragged her up to my dorm.

“Harper Lewis what was that?” She hissed. “Did you know that guy, Who-” She was asking question after question but I couldn’t hear her. All I could hear was this thumping in my ears. It was drowning everything out and I could tell my breathing was uneasy. I stumbled back and the hard wood of the door made harsh contact with my back. Wood slid across my palms as I slid to the ground. My clothes were rubbing against my skin, becoming too present. My vision got fuzzy and so did my hearing. Thoughts raced through my head so quickly that they all became a blur. Fingers rooted themselves in my hair and I pulled my feet into my chest.

A pink blob was suddenly taking up most of my vision. A hand grabbed my wrist and gently pulled it from my hair, fingers intertwined with mine. Slotted perfectly in the gaps in between my fingers. My other hand formed a fist on my roots and there was a gentle pull. The soft pain started to pull me out of my head. Another hand cupped my face and my breathing started to slow down.

Bang Bang

The door shook behind me and I flew forward, landing on my feet. All of the effort that was put into pulling me out of this panicked state went down the drain. My breathing picked up again but my vision focused sharply on the door. Vreax was staring at the door with a wide eye. She had been knocked over when I jerked forward. They knocked on the door again but this time, they opened it. Ms. Knoll stood behind the door and he froze when she saw me. There was someone else there, I could see their shoulder peeking in through the door. Ms. Knolls eyes were locked onto mine and they were shining with recognition.

“Kiddo..?” His voice was soft, gentle. She was talking like I was a cornered wild animal. Vreax visibly relaxed and stood up. The dorm was small. She was in arms reach and I carefully reached out and nudged her to the bed. Confusion crossed her face but she decided not to mess with it because she just sat on the bed. “Calm down, I’m not gonna hurt you.” She raised her hands up slowly.

“Yet.” The second person spoke and he slipped in the room. Weasel. I tensed more and my fists balled. “I still deserve something from you.”

“No you don’t, we talked about this.” Ms. Knoll snapped. I was suddenly thrown back to the rings. We were squared up for the first time and we were about this far apart. Both much, much younger. Dingle verses the Snake. Bets were being placed and people started to chant our names. She won that fight. Weasel and I ran after, he was there. Watching, learning. Teaching.

“Get. Out.” Words fell through clenched teeth. That surprised both of them.

“You can’t win this one.” Weasel sighed. “You-”

“Remember who taught you how to fight, Wes.” I snapped. We learned to fight together. I taught him everything he knew. Sure, his style grew from that, but that was always the basis. And he can’t change the way he fought like I could. Not that fast, for him it takes weeks, even months sometimes.

“We learned together.” He scoffed, not actually listening to the threat.

“Kids, stop. I brought him here to try and calm the waters so you don’t kill each other.” Ms. Knoll huffed. But he sent me a pleading look. Damn. Hostage? The thought crossed my mind and it hit me that I never would have thought Weasel capable of that until now. We’ve changed.

“No you didn’t, Dingle.” He said. “Look, Sna-”

“I won’t tell you again to leave.” I shot back, interrupting him. He actually looked at me then. Like took a good look at me.

“You look…the same.” He said, ignoring my order. “Almost exactly the same. I would have thought you changed.” His feet clacked against the hardwood floor and I gritted my teeth.

“Take another step forward and-” Nails dug into my palm as his voice spoke up. God, his voice. That was the thing I loved about him the most. The way it was always gentle, had the ability to be kind. Voices where we were were always rough, harsh, and cold. His was the opposite. I loved it. But now?

I never want to hear it again.

“And what?” Weasel kept moving towards me slowly. Taunting. “You’ll fight me? Like you always do. Look around! You never unpacked, always ready to run at a moment's notice. To come crawling back to us. To the rings.” His face was split into a terrifying grin. Lips stretched so wide that it looked like his skin was about to tear apart. It was unnatural, unhuman. Weasel’s not human.

“No.” My voice sounded like it came from outside of me, like someone else said it. Fear coursed through my body but it felt like nothing was real. Like I was watching this happen. Watching Ms. Knoll frozen by the door, ready to move at any given point. Vreax huddled up on my bed, looking frantically between the three of us. Fear, Confusion, and readiness radiated off of them in waves. Weasel moving towards me, grinning and speaking. Smug, victorious, mad. Crazy.

“You can’t live like this, without challenges. You loved the fights, loved fighting me.” His voice shook with unhinged laughter. “You loved every part of our time together! Come on Snake, you can come back. You can make it all up to me. Go back to the life you loved, the fights we adored. Come home, babes.”

“That was never my home. I hated those fights. Get. Away. From. Me.” Snarling those words aren't enough. “I hate you! What are you? What’s wrong with you?” My voice snapped out. The words echoed in my head and I just watched as my mouth kept running. Throwing insults and threats out at him desperately trying to get him away from me. I felt like a trapped animal, about to get killed and turned into dinner. He was the predator to my prey. Stalking forward.

“You hate me? That’s not what you said before you left. You promised you would come back to me. To us.” He started, the laughter leaving but the shake staying.

“No. No, I never did that. You need to leave.” I just kept repeating that phrase. Any hope I had that he would listen vanished a while ago but I had to try. I hate fighting, I hate it all. Those 12 and a half years on the street, the things I did. But I would do them again. To protect the life I have, to protect the people. To protect Vreax. All of it. I unconsciously glanced at her to make sure she was okay. He saw that. Of course he did.

“You keep saying that. Okay. I’ll back up.” The smugness was back. His hands raised up and he backed up. So he was next to my bed. I saw what he was doing before he even did it. The muscles in his arms and legs tensed. His hands were moving towards Vreax. Before they even got close, I was back in my body and I was on top of him. My hands found his throat and before any of us knew it, I was choking him.

“You don’t touch her.” I bared my teeth and added pressure to his neck. Nails clawed at my arms and face but I never wavered. Mr. Knoll was yelling at me to get off but I tuned her out, listening to Weasel struggle to breath. His hands started to waver and move slower. May not be human but sure as hell has the same limitations. A hand touched my shoulder and I looked at Vreax. She shook her head and I got off. Well, I let go of his throat.

“Don’t. Please.” She whispered, eye wide.

“I can’t promise that. Go find my sister?” I replied. That one second of vulnerability was enough for the man under me. He flipped us and tried to choke me too. I scrambled out from under him before his hands could tighten around my throat. “Now please!” I barked out, punching him in the face.

Familiar pain bloomed from my knuckles and I heard footsteps come running up behind us. Ms. Knoll grabbed Weasel and tried to drag him off the floor. He wiggled her arms under Weasel's armpits and behind his head, pinning him there. I caught my breath and hurried to my feet. Vreax disappeared around the corner, moving faster than I’ve ever seen her.

“Now I know what you’ve become. A dog to Alien scu-” He never finished that sentence. I punched him in the jaw as hard as I could. And in the throat. A choked sound came from him and I just stared.

“You don’t deserve anything about me. From me.” I looked down on him. A stale and tense silence filled the room. Ms. Knoll panted with the effort of keeping him restrained. Weasel stared at me before swiftly breaking out of the hold and standing before me. He hadn’t grown since I last saw him, but I hadn’t either. We were both at full height and I had to look up slightly to meet his eyes. His crazed, grey eyes. Dark hair had fallen over his sweat stricken face and we just stared at each other.

Then chaos broke out. Weasel knocked the feet out from under Ms. Knoll and kicked him away from us. A loud crack echoed Then in the same movement, went to punch me on the stomach. The hit landed and I stumbled back, coughing. He was taller and stronger than me. Just bigger than me in every way. But so was my last fighter and I beat him. Barley but I did. Before I got my bearings back, Weasel was coming at me again.

The benefit of a small room is that I was up against the wall. When his fist was reared back, I ducked away and slammed his head into the wall. The cracking of bones echoed in the small room and I kicked him in between his legs, knees, and ankle. Just to be sure. Without taking another breath, I ran back to my teacher and tried to drag him out of the room. She scrambled to her feet and leaned on the wall, holding her head.

“We need to leave or-” I huffed, still winded from the punch to the gut. A growl came from Weasel and he started to make his way to us. I saw something shiny in his hand and my heart plummeted. Was he seriously going to stab us?

“That.” Knoll said and grabbed my arm. “You should run.”

“No. This is as much my fight as it is yours. And he’s insane. One of us isn’t going to stop him and you know it.” I hissed, more pain blossoming from my abdomen. Something was wrong but now's not the time to check it out. Weasel was on us before I could blink and I dragged Knoll back a little so we were not as close and I shoved him away from me. The hallway opens up to an elevator where I shoved her. I ducked down, away from his fist. Everything focused on him again. My eyes were analysing every little movement and I was striking accordingly. He kept advancing and I kept moving. Knoll had crawled to the elevator and pushed the button.

But he kept coming at me with the knife in his hand. I barely dodged this last one and felt a cut open on my face. Hot wetness started to run down my check and everything blurred as I fell into survival mode. Everything started to move slowly and I fought for my life. With calculated movements, I saw that his body started to shift. Bubbles started to appear all over his skin. Like something was trying to escape. Slowly he returned back to his normal face but not without a few swipes.

The movements were almost automatic. The ones I did at least. From what I could tell, he had to think about every hit he made and was not thinking ahead. That’s how I won almost every time. My fighting was an automatic thing, I rarely had to think about what to do next, my instincts took care of that. But Wes? He always had to consciously think about where to hit and what to hit. Always thinking and calculating and that slowed him down. My calculations were quick and effective. They had to be or I would have never survived as long as I did.

I fought for my life. He bought his. He tried to be me and I wouldn’t let him. That’s why I pissed him off so much. My fists kept making contact with his ever shifting skin and the pain in my body faded into a light buzzing. Like an annoying fly that kept flying too close. Vaguely I heard the elevator doors open and extra light shone on our fight. Using the distraction, I took his legs out and knocked the knife from his hand. Quickly, I scooped it up and held it to his throat. The blade was pushing on his skin. A small divot appeared where I was adding pressure.

“Harper…” Someone said, I don’t know who. I can’t tell. All I could tell is that I was about to kill my first friend and I don’t feel horrible about it. Weasel was the first person who I let grow close who wasn’t Harley. He was the first person whom I trusted, who I loved. Because I did. I truly loved him. At first. But near the end he got too much. Too controlling and too violent. He never hit me outside of our fights and practice fights. But those fights got too…rigorous.

“What are you doing?” A voice pierced my bubble of thought. Weasels eyes were digging into mine and I just couldn’t look away. Those eyes were so familiar. No. No, they were the eyes of a stranger. Tears filled my eyes but my hand never wavered. Tears never fell. “Get off of him and we’ll get him away.” Her voice was gentle and soft.

“No. No if I don’t do this he’ll never stop.” I heard myself say. My voice sounded much more steady than I felt. I felt like I was standing on the edge of a cliff and everything in the world was trying to knock me off. Cracks are breaking the stone, the wind is shoving me, the water looks so inviting. But her voice was an anchor. The rope kept me on the edge.

“It’s not just your fight anymore, Harper.” She was so far away.

“You won’t do it.” He barked, stone still. “You’re too cowardly. This place has weakened you more than I ever could.” We only stared at each other as I debated slashing the knife across his throat. The consequences were there but the positives were also there. Hanging in the air as if they were a taunt. But he was right. I’m not a killer. I’m not even a fighter.

Without saying anything, I drove the knife through his shoulder and into the ground. It went into the wood relatively easily. Or it never hit the wood and I got a head injury when I wasn’t looking. Arguing started by the elevator but I ignored it.

“I was never going to come back. And you knew that. You made your bed. Now you gotta lie in it.” I whispered and stood. A hand grabbed my arm and I turned around to see who it was. Vreax had a worried look on her face and was trying to pull me away from Weasel. Glancing back, I saw his head was resting on the ground and he just looked defeated. And bruised. He had lots of bruises. His blood was red, but a little off. It was too light, and looked like a cheap horror movie prop.

“C’mere. We need to get you cleaned up and-” Her voice cut off. Exhaustion hit me like a truck. This strange warm sticky feeling started to cover my skin. My limbs got heavy and I stumbled. I was caught and someone called out for something. I was too tired to figure out what was happening. I just wanted to sleep and get rid of this feeling. It was wrong yet familiar.

“-arper!” My name was said. Suddenly my cheek started to sting and I looked up. The world was foggy, but I could make out the face of someone in front of me. Harley. And Vreax? Why was she here? Who was holding me? Arms were wrapped around my torso and I was held against a large chest. Oh, it was Thal.

“Harls?” I murmured. It was hard to think. Everything felt wrong. We were moving. When did we start moving? I looked down at my shirt and saw a large dark red stain. My shirt wasn’t red. Why was it red? Then it hit me. Like a fish flying through water. It sailed so smoothly that it was idiotic that I never thought of it, that I never noticed how the blade was already red. I never thought to wonder why he didn’t try to get back up. He had already stabbed me. And I was already dying.

The Weasel won. He won the last fight. Like he always said he would. I could feel my consciousness start to slip away and I tried to stay awake. Really, I did. But it was like I was a little kid again. Trying to stay up past my bedtime. Soon, the darkness took me.

~~~

“Hey Firebug.” A voice calls to me. A familiar voice, one I had heard before. Many years ago. “Why’re you here?”

The world is white. Bright. Way too bright. I cover my eyes when the voice chuckles. It has a slight echo. The world dims around me and I can finally look around without pain. Nothing. There is nothing here. It’s a void. But I’m not scared, no fear comes when I’m expecting it to.

“I don’t know where ‘here’ is.” My voice echoes like theirs do. It’s almost ethereal. The way their voice has no body.

“Why, that’s not important yet Firebug.” They say gently. A warm feeling envelopes me when they speak. It’s almost like how a warm bath heats your entire body so you’re comfortable. How the water encapsulates you in the safe warmth and you feel relaxed. At ease. My stiff muscles relax for the first time in years. “So, how’d you get here to see me?”

“I dunno yet.” My voice is gentle. It’s not as rough or calculated as it has always sounded. It’s lost all the edge I worked so hard to earn. Memories flood into my head when I try to think back. The blood. The panic. “I died?” The world shifts before my eyes and someone stands in front of me. It’s a strange man. He looks vaguely familiar. Like Harley, but not.

“Oh, Firebug. How’d you manage that?” He chuckles and moves his way to me. Kind green eyes and thick brown hair. He has Harley's eyes and her calming demeanour. My heart starts to hurt just looking at him. Longing for something I’ve never known. His eyes study my face and a sad look crosses his eyes. “You don’t remember, do you?”

“Remember what? Who are you?” Questions flood my brain but they’re quickly pushed away. No time yet. I can ask all of those later, I just have the feeling that my time here is limited.

“Firebug I’m sorry. I thought you knew. We both did. I’m your father. Peter Lewis. And you’re my Firebug. Always interested in the flames. You were always staring at them when we had a fire. You learned how to start one at three and you were singing at them at two. The flames were always there.” Singing? My father?

“I hate fire.” I always have, as long as I can remember. Flames had terrified me until I burned down that camp. He starts laughing as soon as I finish speaking.

“Hate flames? I guess that makes sense. Our home did burn. But, you never hated them. Just…had complicated feelings for them. Isn’t that right Firebug?” The hurt crawls its way up my chest and into my throat. It feels like it’s trying to tear its way out. “Aw, baby. You can cry here, it's alright.”

“I don’t want to remember. I don’t want to die. Dad please tell me this isn’t the end!” I start to sob into his arms. They wrap around me as I sob into him and rub up and down my back.

“It’s not. I promise.” He whispers into my hair and I could feel it all fading. “Say hey to your sister for me? She was always the Lovebug.”

“I will dad, I promise.”

~~~

It was dark. Too dark. Something was wrong. My eyes fluttered open and I jerked up into a sitting position. A sharp pain stabbed my side and I looked down to see bandages covering my abdomen. Oh I was stabbed.

“I remember now.” I muttered when the pain got too much and I laid back down. I was surrounded by curtains. This reminds me of the old medical shows I watch. Except we have no beeping machines. The curtain next to me got pulled open and Harley looked down at me. “Hey. Dad says ‘Hey, Lovebug.’” I said weakly, cracking a smile.

Harley burst into tears and hugged me tightly. I carefully wrapped one of my arms around her and buried my face into her shoulder. Peeking over I saw Vreax standing there holding a tray of some kind. I gave her a shaky thumbs up and Harley pulled away.

“You’re awake.” Vreax said and walked up next to Harley. My sister held my hand as Vreax put the tray down, revealing a bowl of broth and some crackers.

“It seems so.” I said and then I started to cough. Loudly and painfully. I rolled over onto my side and coughed off the edge of the bed before a glass of water was shoved into my hands. I greedily chugged it down and took a deep breath when I was done. “I have questions.”

“We expected you to. And I think we can answer them.” Harley said, looking at my hand. “Here, get back on your back.” A hand pushed me over.

“Why was he even here?” I asked as soon as the two were happy with the way I had been laid down. Silence. I looked at them and they looked uncomfortable.

“He snuck aboard the ship as a worker and took one of the exchange students spots.” Harley replied quietly.

“What was he? He wasn’t human.”

“We’re not sure. Some kind of shifting creature. We’re thinking a… erm.” Vreax answered this one but she trailed off. “Sorry, I’m trying to remember what they’re called in Common. We have a name for them in Troitch. It’s-” She made a series of high pitched clicks and hums.

“Can you describe it?” She thought for a moment and shook her head.

“Uhm, I guess it's a creature that's born on a planet and takes the form of the dominant species of the planet. They don’t leave that form and believe that they’re the species they look like until they die or are told otherwise. We think that the amount of species on this planet overrode his…shiftiness.” She said awkwardly.

“I still can’t wrap my head around that.” I hissed when a pain flare rocked through my body.

“You should get to sleep. I’ll leave you alone for now.” Harley said and stood up. “Keep an eye on her? I have to go talk to someone.” She whispered to Vreax. We were alone after that.

“How bad is it?” I asked quietly.

“Not bad.” Her voice was strained.

“Please don’t lie to me. I would tell you.” I sighed, relaxing my head into the pillow below me.

“Okay, it’s not great but survivable. With the right healing you’ll be okay.” She leaned down and held my hand. She sat down and pulled out a book. I started to doze.

“Vre?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you for doing all of this.”