Chapter Text
The ship jolts again, sending me flying to the opposite wall. Red emergency lights flash in a frenzy and alarms screech like feather beasts but they are all but useless. all the controls are busted so there's no way to steer this thing anymore. The battle has long been lost and now we wait for the inevitable as this hunk of metal plummets through the Alternian atmosphere. We lose even more altitude and the ship begins to nose dive. I flash back to the day i joined this military. Back when Sollux was free and I was just an isolated hunter catching our next meal.
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"Look there, in the trees. She looks strong."
"This one isn't at all what we're looking for. she's nothing but an olive blood!"
"Just watch and see..."
I can hear them whispering from the tip of the hill. I'm curious about their intent, so I decide to put on a show. My prey crouches about thirty feet away. A huge elk Lucius by the look of it. I speed up the trunk with a swift bound and land crouched on a branch. "I have one shot at this..." My furry blue tail twitches with anticipation and my dagger claws shift into position. Wiggling my haunches I launch myself across the trees. By the time it raises its head in fear I've already dropped down onto its back. Soon it lays dead on the earth, rust red blood oozing from its neck. I wipe some of it off my chin and nod in satisfaction.
"So." I straighten up and brush the hair out of my eyes as I yell. "Am I capurrble enough?"
I turn towards the hill, the two men stiffen as I catch their eyes. They make their way down the hill towards me as I clean up my outfit. I wipe the access blood off of my baggy fur pants and adjust my crop-top. The grub scars on my waste are glowing a faint green. I look to the horizon and sure enough, the sun is setting. The symmetric pair of stripes glow to match my blood color in the night, just like many others. The duo of trolls step up to me at last. The tallest appears to be an indigo blood, the other, a thick built teal blood. The lower blood holds out a scroll, which unrolls in his grip. "Greetings, my name is Malivo and this is Vexlin. We've seen your abilities. Which may I add, are quite impressive. You seem to have plenty of potential, so We are here to recruit you for the Condescension's military space program."
I hold up a hand. "Nope, already lost my attention. I'm not interested in anything high-blood related."
Malivo's bright expression drops. "I wasn't asking." he says stiffly. Vexlin shifts to reveal handcuffs hanging from his belt. I stiffen and my tail fur begins to rise. "this can't be good." "The program is conventionally closed off to any troll lower than the highest ranking teal bloods," Malivo continues, gesturing to his partner." but a new potential threat has made an appearance."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures." Vexlin adds.
Malivo rolls the scroll back up. "You will come with us to register as a soldier for the military."
I'm frozen for a moment thinking carefully. "Shit. I walked myself straight into a draft! How could I have been so stupid??" I glance behind me at the cave over the ridge. "Sollux is in there. If I resist and alert him he might come try to help me. They'll see him!" I take a deep breath. "It's too late for me to run. But I can save Sollux."
"pawlright." I stand up straight. "Fine. I'll join up. This actually sounds like an adventure!"
Vexlin reaches forward to attach something to my arm. He pauses at the sound of a voice behind me.
"Nepeta."
"Sollux!!" I spin around. My friend approaches us from behind a tree. A cloth covers his eyes and he wears his traditional olive blood clothing. Fur pants like mine and a cloak with a hood draped over his shoulders. I relax. He took precautions and covered any trace of his blood color. Thank god. This is his usual disguise when we are around high-bloods.
"Nepeta. ii'm comiing too."
My eyes widen in horror. "No you idiot! what are you doing?"
The two trolls blink at him, then their faces contort into grins and they cackle at the sight of him. I inch towards my friend and brush my hand on his arm in the smallest gesture of protection. After a few moments they attempt to collect themselves. Vexlin speaks first as he wipes a tear out of his eye. "What you? seriously? you're nothing but skin and bone!"
I glance at Sollux's thin features and cringe at Vexlin's rude words. Malivo points to the cloth around Sollux's eyes. "What's this, are you blind?"
Sollux smacks his hand away. "Ye2, ii am. but ii'm talented with machine2 and my computer 2kill2 highly outrank your2, tru2t me."
Their smiles vanish. "Fine." The Malivo snaps. " I'll enjoy watching you get torn apart."
Vexlin attaches tracking bands to both our wrists. "We'll return for you at sunrise. Be ready." The trolls turn and leave. They head back up the hill and out of sight. Once their footsteps fade, I turn on a heel and slam my palm into Sollux's face. "WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH MEW?"
"Me??" He cringes and I can see his red and blue eyes flash behind the blindfold. "what the hell i2 wrong wiith you??" He turns and begins to pace. "You can't ju2t joiin the miiliitary Nepeta. People don't come back from tho2e suiiciide mii22iions! iif you were goiing to kiill your2elf, the lea2t ii can to i2 come to help you la2t a biit longer!"
I grab my hair. "no no no no, you missed the point! My god.... Sollux! I was being drafted! It was better for me to avoid a fight, and to avoid attracting your attention so you wouldn't leave the cave and make the same frEAKING MISTAKE I DID! YOU DUMBASS!!!"
Sollux's expression fills with understanding, but he quickly turns away. "That doe2n't matter now. 2o we miight a2 well prepare to leave." He hikes back through the trees to my cave. I sit against a tree trunk for a couple more minutes, steaming at him. I rub my hand against the tracking band wondering if I could possibly get it off. Soon my muscles relax and I let go of my anger at him. It's not going to solve anything. I lean my head back and look up through the branches. I begin to realize that I'm about to lose my home, my life, and most likely soon, my friend... The leaves rattle and I shiver. A storm is on its way.
I head back to the cave and arrive with damp hair from the drizzle that started to fall. I find Sollux standing by the cooking pot. He unwrapped the cloth around his grub scars to show off the glowing yellow lights. They match his blood color, which is why they were covered. Just like how he pretends to be blind to hide his psiioniic eyes. That cloth is unwrapped as well, making it possible to see the brilliant colors.
He has skinned the elk I caught and is in the middle of cutting the meat. I pad over to the pile of pelts from my past kills. They are bundled up into a giant furry nest. I flop down and groan with my face stuffed into the fluff. The air gets heavy quickly so I turn over with my back to the nest and my hands behind my head. "Sollux?"
He is concentrating on cooking the meat but he mumbles back, "Yeah Nep?"
"What do you think we'll be doing?
He shrugs. "ii dunno. They diidn't tell you much about iit did they?"
"Nope. I don't even know why they would want meow. I have nothing to offer to a space milkitary."
"You have great hand-to-hand combat 2kiill2. Maybe they'll put you on the boardiing crew."
"Oh wonderful..." I sigh. "What about.... what about mew?"
"Communiicatiion2 probably." He pours the stew into two bowls and hands one to me. I continue drilling him as I sip.
"Where is that?"
"near the cock-pit, on mo2t 2pace2hiip2".
"Is that considered a safe area?"
"Defiiniitely. The piilot and captaiin need to be very well protected."
"Are the trolls in the cock-pit usually... high-bloods?"
"Most of the time, they're the highest ranking trolls on the ship."
"Would you have to be near them very often? What woul-"
"Nepeta." He interrupts and sets down his bowl. ii'm not goiing to get caught."
I sit up. "But what if you were?"
"Nepeta ii'm going to be fiine!" his last words are cut off by a crack of thunder and a flash that lights up the cave. He sighs and takes up our dishes. "ii know you're worriied, but even if ii wa2 caught, that would ju2t mean I would be taken back to the planet with the other yellow blood2. iin other word2, iif iim caught ii get to leave the army."
I rest my head on my knees. "I guess so... but I never wanted that life fur you. I never wanted any of this fur you! I only wanted you to be free!"
Sollux sets down the bowls by the entrance where rain can wash them out. His hair ruffles in the breeze and my heart beats a bit faster than usual. He makes his way back to me. "Nepeta you have done 2o much for me already. iif not for you, ii wouldn't even have my own name!" He sits down next to me on the pelts. "You diidn't have to do any of iit and ii am 2o grateful for all you've done."
He slips his hand over mine and stares at our clasped hands. My heart flutters as he runs his fingertips over my palms. "Whatever happen2 after today, Don't blame your2elf. You have made my liife mean 2omethiing. wiithout you, I would never have had a rea2on to 2miile."
My eyes water. He grins slightly and turns to look at me. I meet his gaze. His eyes sparkle with bright beautiful colors that threaten to hypnotize. We lean together and I close my eyes. All at once I feel his soft lips on mine. I accept the kiss and we embrace each other for several moments. He's calm but I can sense the strength of his emotions flowing through. A buzzing feeling fills my head and my hands tingle. A single tear escapes my eyes and rolls down my cheek. He breaks off and slides his thumb over my face to wipe it away. "Tomorrow let2 take the future head on. No regrets and no "what if"2. We'll go as far as we can."
I reach forward and peck his forehead. "And if we meet the end you can bet we'll go down fighting."
"ii love you nepeta."
"I love you too."