Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Residents of Delta colony: please evacuate to the subsea bunkers. Residents of Delta colony: please evacuate to the subsea bunkers. Residents of Delta colony: pleas-”

“Mom? W-what’s going on? Why are the lights flashing?”  

His mother didn’t hear him over the alarm and the people rushing around them. She was pulling on his arm really hard, it hurt, he tried to keep up but her gait was a lot longer than his tiny legs could handle.  Yuuri was pushed into her back as someone rushed past them, causing him to trip and land on his knees. He cried out in pain, clutching at his knees as they began to bleed, discoloring his pants.

“Yuuri!” His mother’s worried face was all Yuuri could see as tears began to blur his vision. Had he been wearing his glasses, he would have seen his mother’s arms picking him up and huddling him close to her. Protecting him from the frantic crowd that was pushing and shoving around them. It was like they were running through a rainbow as the red warning light flashed, reds, greens, blues, yellows, merely colored blobs in his eyes.  All the different hybrids were rushing along side of them.

The hallway ahead had several people pushing and pulling as they tried to all fit in the small elevator. It was so loud, people were screaming and crying, Yuuri had lost sight of his sister and father a while ago. Maybe they already got an elevator?

His mother tightened his grip on his arm, chin resting on the crown of his head as they stood immobile before the wall of people. She slowly lost her frantic energy as more and more people tried to cram inside the elevator. More and more people, just pouring into this small space, but they didn’t seem to care.  Why was his mother so calm now?   

“Yuuri. I want you to close your eyes and relax for me sweetie.”

Relax? With all this going on?  Why was his mother not panicking like everyone else? He felt his tears come back as someone pushed passed them again, only to be thrown back. Someone was screaming not to far away. Yuuri startled as his mother wiped at his tears, her touch was so warm...

“Just think of pretty the flowers look on the sakura trees. How the petals would float in the wind…”

He nodded slowly in response, which got her to smile wider. Yuuri’s eyes closed, the sounds around him slowly being drowned out as he recalled an image similar to what his mother was describing. He felt so weightless. The smell of the pink blossoms, the far off hum of hoverbikes… But then the image began to become hazy, similar to a camera slowly going out of focus. Part of him wanted to try to hold onto the image, but something told him, no, urged him to let go.

Yuuri was so tired. He didn’t want to fight, he had done enough fighting trying to get to keep up with his mother amongst mobs of people. So he let go of the image-

-and then he was falling.

------

Yuuri jerked up in his bed, heart pounding and sweat beading at his brow. His break rattled from him as he grasped the front of his shirt.

Just a dream, just a dream. You’re safe, you’re safe, you’re safe, you’re safe .

Yuuri flinched as his bedroom door slid open, reveal him mother with, presumably, a smile on her face as she always did. Well, she probably was smiling up until she saw him.

“Oh Yuuri! Are you alright dear?” Yup, not the voice of a content mother.

          He couldn’t get the words out at first. Phrases of reassurance, “Yes mom, I’m fine.” or a more truthful, “It was just a dumb dream again, don’t worry” were tangled in his throat. His frustration caused tears to form at his eyes and damn it all, he was an adult. He should have a handle on this by now.

Yuuri’s mother of course took heed of his silence and tears and rushed over to him, hands cupping his face.

“Shhh, shh, deep breath Yuuri deep breaks, come on. Breath in...out... In...out. In…out.” His mother soothed, more use to his panic attacks then he wanted her to be. Yuuri knew she didn’t care, that she was glad she could help him in even the smallest ways when it came to him. But still, it felt more and more like he was burdening her the older he got. He often wished he could grow out of his panic attacks, the anxiety, as if they were an old pair of shoes or shirt he no longer fit in.

Eventually, his breath returned to normal, his lungs burned a bit, but he wasn’t shaking any more. His mother got up and pressed something cold to his hand, ah right, glasses. Sitting up and placing the cold, plastic frames on his head. He blinked residual tears from his eyes and looked at his mother again, now able to see her face properly. She was smiling, though not as wide as she normally would, there was a definite underlying fear and worry.  

Looking over at the wall beside his bed, the little electronic screen told him with a helpful glow that it was about four in the morning. A day before the two moons above their planet would eclipse one another, making it a month since his last job. He huffed a sigh, he should have expected a stress related nightmare. They always seemed to pop up the night before he would return to the surface.

The return he would start preparing for today, before he even learned of the assignment.

“I moved your bag to the front door last night. You can grab it after breakfast, I won’t see you out without  having a home cooked meal to warm you first. Oh, and don’t worry about checking in on the springs, Mari checked the levels as I passed by a little earlier. ”

Yuuri smiled and nodded, “Thanks mom. I really appreciate it.”

She kissed his forehead and patted his hand before getting up and leaving; probably to check up on the weary travelers from other colonies.

There weren’t as many travelers coming in this week, but Phichit had informed him the other day of a disaster in Essire. There had been a few sighting of some of the more dangerous wildlife around the perimeter of the colony. Not much else could be pried from the minds of scared travelers by the patrol guards. The lack of travelers from Essire would be bad for the inn’s business, but potentially good for Yuuri. The more dangerous the mission the higher the pay.

For a moment Yuuri contemplated flopping back onto his bed and just laying there, enjoying the warmth that had accumulated between his body and the sheets. Residual images from his nightmare flashed in his mind at that and he opted to go and shower instead.

----

Breakfast was a little noisy; but Yuuri had come to appreciate noise when he was home. Constant chatter of guests, distant soft clanking of dishes and bowls as his mother took them from guests done with their meals, the soft hum of the heater under the floor tiles; it made him feel safe. It reminded him that there wasn’t any danger here, that his body could relax and be left off high alert.

Yuuri thanked his mother as she placed down a bowl of katsudon down before him. Not a dish she would normally would make this early, besides the mornings before he left. She placed a kiss to the crown of his head before moving to take care of a pair of travelers.

“So today is the big day, huh?” His sister asked as she chewed through her own breakfast.

“Mmm hmm,” he nodded as he chewed, “ I’ll ve woing to wisit-”

His sister hit him gently on the head with her chopsticks.

“Finish chewing first, I don’t want your gross, half chewed food on my breakfast.” She complained.

Yuuri finished chewing before repeating, “I’ll be going to visit Phichit first, then I’ll go to the capital.”

“Well if anyone can help keep your ass alive it would be Phichit.” Mari ignored his small protest as she took another bite of her food.

They descended back into silence until both of their meals were reduced to a few crumbs stuck to bowls and plates. Mari lit one of her herbal cigarettes and blew a steady stream of smoke.

“Let’s hope they don’t send you with a fuck ton of tablets to like, the Rho colony. We wouldn’t see you then for like, three months.” Mari commented lightly.

Yuuri shook his head slightly and smiled. “Ah, well, I won’t know until they tell me. On the plus side, if I am sent to Rho it will be a lot of money for the inn.”

“Mm.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes slightly as his sister drew on her cigarette again, then blew out another puff of smoke. Mari never liked to show if something worried her, opting to keep those fears to herself.

“Maybe I could even find that band you like and have them sign something for you.”

Her eyes then brightened up and she grinned widely, quickly punching his arm, “You do that and I’ll have to make sure you come back here with it alive.”

Yuuri chuckled at his sister’s expression, it seemed to take years off of her.

“Of course.”

---

The goodbyes were always the hardest for him.

Yuuri’s mother hugged him tightly to her, head on his shoulder as he leaned over and hugged her back. When she pulled away her eyes were free of tears but her smile just wasn’t as wide as the one he would receive when he came home. She wished him a safe journey and promised to have a warm meal for him ready for when he returned.

His father also gave him a quick hug, arms wrapped tightly around Yuuri’s shoulders. Promising to keep the inn up and running so he would have a place to come back to. He meant this in a joking manner of course, but it had become an inside joke between everyone in the family to say as Yuuri left.

His sister would pull him into a sort of half hug and ruffle up his hair. As he would straighten it back into something somewhat presentable she would ask about everything he already double checked was in his bag.

Water Warmers to use on snow and ice? Yes Mari.
Food rations? Yes Mari.
Skates? Yes Mari.
Ice picks? Yes Mari.
Condoms? Mari!

When all was said and done he promised to come back and left home once again. His family waved at him as he left the entrance of the inn, the roads of the Delta colony looping into different housing, shopping, and living districts as he walked.

It wasn’t a long walk from the inn to the shuttle station, something many travelers were thankful for when they came to the Delta colony. As he hopped onto the shuttle craft heading towards the Capital city, he watched as different citizens of the colony went about their morning routines. Some leaving for work, others returning from work, a few younger kids hugging their parents legs (or tails) as their older siblings went to school.  A few couples taking a morning walk, a older alien watering their flowers in the flower boxes under the windows of their house…

With the shuttle craft slowly drifting more and more upwards, Yuuri lost sight of the people and homes on the ground. Instead his gaze locked onto the deep blue outside the dome of the colony. If they were closer, he knew from experience that he could see different colonies  of fish and sea vegetation growing even this deep down in the water. It was possible to see the air converting machines from here on the other hand. Large red glowing panels moving back and forth, taking oxygen from the water like a fish's gill’s. Constantly refueling the colony with fresh air and cycling the unusable stale air back out. Yuuri rested his head against the glass of the shuttle, content to just watch the machines at work as his commute brought him closer and closer to the city.

---

The Wildlife and Health Service Center was a modest two story building that catered to keeping the wild creatures of their planet from interfering with daily colony life, and colony life from the life cycles of the creatures. There were a large percentage of skater workers who were employed by them, whose main job consisted of relocating any injured wildlife. Other duties consisting of helping wild creatures out when it came to increasing the populations or protecting them if a new disease broke out.

At one point Yuuri considered taking up that job, though messenger skater ending winning out solely due to the pay difference. His parents needed the funds to help support their inn with so many travelers coming in and so many of them refugees from less hospitable colonies…Yuuri wasn’t here for a job offer though. He stood before two metal doors with a smile on his face.

The doors opened with a soft hiss, the room inside was white and square, unlike the normal dome like shapes the rest of the colony typically had. There were three walls with cabinets pressed against them, brimming with medical equipment. Some of the bits of equipment he Yuuri recognized because of the the smaller versions he had in his bag. The other wall of the room were littered with multiple screens, all with different videos feeds of different creatures, charts, journal pages, hallway feeds…

Phichit, who was seated in front of all of these screens, had perked up at the sound of the door opening. He quickly swung his legs around, causing the hover chair to swivel to face Yuuri. A manic grin stretched across his face when he recognized the skater.

“Yuuri!” He exclaimed, hopping off the chair and briskly walking over to him. Phichit’s arms wrapped around him in a tight hug, squeezing him to his chest.  

Yuuri mirrored his smile, eagerly returning the hug, “It’s only been two days Phichit.”

Phichit groaned and leaned back, hands now resting on Yuuri’s shoulders.

“Yeah, two days without my best friend! Yuuri this has been a horrible form of torture! Your smiling face always cheers me up when things go bad at work, and yet you abandoned me.” Phichit drew out in a whine.

“Phichit, I only come to your work when I need updates on the surface.” Yuuri reminded.

Phichit slouched and huffed a sigh, “You know this would be a lot easier for you if they would just tell you ahead of time where you would be going. Could pack the proper amount of supplies, know what to watch out for specifically-”

“Phichit.” Yuuri cuts him off as the other man walks back over to the multiple sets of electronic screens.

“Yeah, yeah, ‘super secret’ and that crap they like to make up. They lose a skater they just hire a new one and toss them up there with a quick pat on the back. Tell you guys to try keep the tablets intact when you cross miles of icy wasteland. You would think they would just figure out a way to communicate without endangering lives but no.” Phichit rambled as the fingers on one of his hands input codes while his other arranged the windows that popped up.

Yuuri leaned on the back of his chair as he watched his best friend work. Phichit was probably the best operations manager the Delta sub-colony could ask for. It probably helped that Phichit’s father was an Inora, an alien race that was known for their memory. Phichit had the capability to recall a memory from when he was only five, each detail as vivid as if it were only yesterday. Which came in handy when he was making sure everyone in the upper level working ranks were on task and schedule.

“So Yuuri, wanna know what is up there just waiting to munch on your flesh?” Phichit asked as he swiped away a few windows off his main screen, a bit too much joy colored his voice as he spoke.

“The point of this is so I know which ones are close to colonies so they don’t munch on my flesh Phichit.”

“Eh, you wouldn’t be much of a meal anyways. Maybe if you went up there with a few extra servings of your mom’s katsudon you would be, but now you would just make a weird, boney appetizer.” He teased as he poked Yuuri’s side.

“Phichit.” Yuuri complained.

“I know, I know. Alright so there was of course that nasty incident at the Essire colony a few weeks ago. So there might be a Glo lingering around there. Iota and Rho have reported a slightly larger number of Lipb than normal for their breeding season, so be wary of the bucks, they will be trying to keep people off their territories. Besides that…. Just watch where you step around the Theta colony and the Axrow valley.  Leo and Guang-Hong released a bunch of the baby Pikkros that were incubated for the past year there, so the ice will be a bit thinner in spots due to them burrowing.” Phichit flicked away each remaining screen as he spoke.

Yuuri slumped a bit more against the chair, “Ah, damn, I wanted to see them off before they got put back on the surface. I never see them up there, only their burrows, and then usually it's me tripping on one.”

Phichit perked up at that and spun his chair around again, a bit violently, causing Yuuri to stumble back.

“There was a clutch that was late to hatch still here if you want to see them! They won’t be released for another week!”

“Mm,” Yuuri glanced at the clock on one of the scenes “...just for a minute. Then I need to make sure my suit is updated for the trip.”

Phichit let out a loud cheer as he grabbed Yuuri by the arm and dragged him out of his office.

------

“Aren’t they adorable!” Phichit exclaimed as the pair looked over a large incubation box filled with a few inches of water and Pikkros.

The Pikkros themselves weren’t overly complicated looking creatures. They had water balloon shaped bodies with small trunks that sipped at the water beneath them. The babies were about palm sized, though Yuuri knew they could grow to the size of his backpack, which was now sitting on the floor next to the box. Their bodies were an inky black besides for a burst of pale blue on their backs, which would camouflage them from predators looking down.

“Yeah, they are pretty cute.” Yuuri agreed with a small smile. Sticking his hand in and petting the back of one with his finger tips. They were silky to the touch, and the one he was petting squirmed joyfully beneath his hand, letting out a contented noise that sounded a lot like a high pitched wibble.  

“Yuuri why don’t you hand me your helmet? I can update it from here and make sure there wasn’t any damage hidden from your last expedition.”

The skater regretfully retracted his hand from the box and unzipped his bag, pulling out a blue skater helmet. The front was mostly a clear paneled visor, while the back stretched back into a point to help keep drag from the air off of Yuuri when he was skating. There were a few sensors built into the helmet that helped him identify heat signatures and impending storms, though mostly it kept his head warm.

Yuuri tossed it to Phichit before going back to petting one of the Pikkros. The tiny thing rolled over in its happiness exposing its belly to which Yuuri tickled at, earning him an even more squirmy Pikkro that would poke at his fingers with its trunk. The baby Pikkro kept him occupied for the few minutes it took Phichit to download and examine the data kept in the helmet.

“Everything checks out! I updated it with what I told you earlier too, just incase you forget.” Phichit added as he handed back the helmet.

“Thanks again Phichit.” Yuuri spoke as he took back the helmet, crouching to put it back in his bag. His bag that shifted on its own.

“What the…” Yuuri opened the zipper a bit more to reveal another baby Pikkro nestled in between the food packets and water heaters.

“Shit, yeah they do that sometimes. We always need to make sure they don’t try to hitch a ride along with us as we leave the incubation room. “ Phichit explained as he took the Pikkro from Yuuri. “I think they are just overly affectionate and want to go home with us. Isn’t that right little guy?” Phichit cooed as he cradled it.

“Does that make it hard to release them into the wild?” Yuuri asked as he zips back up the backpack, pulling it back onto his shoulders.

“Nah, once they see all the snow they jump into it and forget we even existed. They grow up so fast.” Phichit wiped at his eyes as he gently placed the Pikkro back in the box. He stood there for a moment, shoulders slumped, head bent as he looked over the box of baby Pikkros.

“Phichit?” Yuuri asked.

“Ah, it’s nothing. Come one, I’ll walk you to the transport station. It is my lunch hour anyways.” Phichit smiled, but like his family’s, it was forced.

“Oh, thank you.”

“That’s what best friends are for!”

----

The Delta Command center was a rather impressive building with its towering twin spires on either side of double doors and the double helix like structure of the building. The windows were blackened to the point where no passing stranger could see in, and the stone in between the windows was a chalky grey. Faded patches of color remained on the stone from graffiti written years ago; they'd never been washed off and were left to cling to the stone, the only color on the Command Center.

Delta Command housed a few scientists, working on new ways to filter their water more efficiently, better grow their crops in smaller areas and yield more fruit. Mostly it was there for the Delta colony’s leader, who would direct the colony in the path best suited to ensure its survival. Mostly making decisions when they were needed and writing messages to other leaders. Yuuri had had too many conversations with the leader to count. None of them were ever long or exciting, they were just orders and deliveries.

As Yuuri walked up to the receptionist, Mary her name tag read, and he wondered what had happened to the old one.

Maybe he found a new job. Yuuri thought to himself as Mary directed him to a chair and went to the office. She came back only a few seconds later, gesturing him to follow her.

The doors to the Delta leader’s office are made of wood, something that had shocked Yuuri when he first saw them. Everything that was a part of the buildings in the colony were made primarily of metal or stone. Trees didn’t exist down in their underwater colony.  No one had thought of grabbing any seeds for them when the evacuation startled everyone awake that night. Any trees aboveground had been obliterated in the initial impact from the meteor. The rest would have froze to death as the impact winter slowly took their planet. The deep sea vegetation that grew down at the bottom didn’t make good paper, nevermind wood. The office doors being made of wood was a statement; they divided colony residents from the colony leader.  

“Leader Sho of Sub-Colony Delta, I have brought Yuuri Katsuki.” Mary informed the tall figure that sat upon a white marble throne. A pale blue cloak sat upon shoulders, shimmering in the light. They raised a hand clad in brown leather off the elaborately carved armrest and dismissed her. Then inclining with a wave of their hand for Yuuri to come farther into the white marble and tile room, instead of standing by the doors.

“You have had a suitable amount of time off since your last expedition Katsuki?” They asked, voice ringing off the walls of circular room, echoing in Yuuri’s ears.

“Yes, Your Grace, I have.” Yuuri bowed his head. “I thank you allowing me to recharge before my next assignment.”

Leader Sho was quiet for a moment before continuing, “Your next expedition has an unlimited time frame. You will have as much time as you need to complete it. All time will be compensated with your normal salary for each day you are out of Delta colony.”  

Yuuri jerked his head back to look at the shrouded face before him, eyes wide. His trips always had a time limit, to get to one colony within two lunar cycles, or to visit two separate ones before the next eclipse of the moons. The more time he spent away the more money he was given so long as he was traveling. If he went over the time allotted he would begin to lose money for every day he would go over. Being given a mission without a time limit was a blank check, but it also would mean that he was not being ordered on a normal messenger mission.

“Your Grace? What am I…?” Yuuri began to ask.

A tile a few feet in front of Yuuri began to glow as it brought up an image of a heavily cloaked individual. They were dressed head to toe in white torn up cloth, the only part of them not covered in cloth were their eyes, which were covered in lightly blue tinted goggles.

“This is a traitor to the very existence of our planet Yuuri. About five weeks ago there was an explosion in the Omnicron colony. The explosion killed multiple people, skaters, all of them hybrids. We found evidence of this figure escaping shortly after they placed the bomb under one of the practice rinks. They escaped onto the surface shortly afterwards with a bag of supplies and a pair of skates. As one of my most experienced skaters, I want you to find them, and bring them to the Omnicron colony so they can have judgement cast upon them. ”

Yuuri shook slightly, chest tightening as he took in the image of the murderer before him.

“Your Grace, I-I’m no patrol unit. I wouldn’t be a-able to capture them even if I did find them up on the surface.”

They upturned their hand and a metal ball materialized a few centimeters above their palm before dropping into it. They rolled it between their fingers, head turned to look at it under the heavy cloak of their hood. Yuuri had never seen the face of the Delta colony leader, no one supposedly had. The leaders of the colonies were dressed like that so one one could bring up what race of aliens they belonged to. It was something the sparked a few controversies over  the years.

“Do you know what this is Katsuki?”

Yuuri gulped nervously, “N-no, Your Grace, I do not.”

They held it up between two fingers, the metal glinted ominously in the sickly light.

“This orb is a programed capturing device.” They pressed a button on their throne as they spoke, the hologram before Yuuri glitching. “It is programed to that if you throw it at this murderer,” the hologram shifted to a fleeing white figure with the ball hovering a few feet up in the air behind them, “it will ensnare and electrocute them to the point of incapacitation.”

The figure was then shown on the ground, thick wire mesh wrapped so tightly around them the fabric of their cloth was bulging between the gaps. Their posture was one of complete agony, body arched up in pain and sparks of electricity popping from the metal. Yuuri swore he could almost hear their scream over the crackle of electricity. The image then disappeared, leaving a very shaken Yuuri at the feet of his colony leader.

“H-how was it p-programed i-i-if we, if we don’t know who the murder is? Your Grace.” Yuuri bowed as he tacked on the formality.

The hologram popped back up, this time the white figure was running, but one of their hands was clasping the fabric near their mouth. Their hand was nearly pale as their clothes, but it was covered in black lines that reminded Yuuri of a mosaic painting. There were also small flecks of color in the pale skin, reds, blues, greens, purples….

“The traitor to our society is a Nikkiri hybrid. So the orb was programmed to activate when within fifty yards of someone with such a DNA code. You simply press the button, throw, and it will latch onto them like a leach onto a Lipb. Do you understand Katsuki?”

“Yes Your Grace, I understand now.” Yuuri recited with perfectly.

“Good. You have unlimited time, find the traitor, bring them in for punishment, and you will be rewarded as such.” As they spoke a small flash drive appeared opposite of the orb. The colony leader released the orb from their grasp and both object floated down towards Yuuri.

Yuuri obediently took both objects.

“Leave me now. Do not disappoint me.” They ordered.

“I shall prevail Your Grace.” Yuuri bowed a final time, before turning around and leaving.

---

He made it to the lobby bathroom before falling against the door and breathing heavily.  At some point he had put both items into his bag, which now laid sadly by his feet as he slowly fell down and cradled his head in his hands.

A murderer.

A murderer and traitor to everything the planet stood for in terms of its initial creation.

Why was he being sent to go and find this monster? Him, a messenger skater.

Fuck.

----

Chapter Text

    Yuuri didn’t know how long he sat there, hunched over with his face cradled in his hands. Eventually he sat up and wiped the tears that had gathered at his eyes. He inserted the flash-drive into the cyber gauntlet on his left arm. Lines of code sped down the screen before a small holographic screen appeared over the device. Yuuri squinted at the harsh glow of the hologram in the dim stall; he took a moment to adjust his glasses before reading it.

Mission - 3994 Delta
Objective: Find and capture enemy of Omnicron alive.  

Sub Objective: Retrieve any lost messages and mark/retrieve any lost skaters if/when possible.

Time Limit: N/A
Funds: As needed.
[Objective Description/Details]

[Locator]

    Yuuri chewed at the inside of his cheek before hitting the details link; it contained all the information they had on the traitor. A video and image file then replaced the main screen. The video was short, only thirteen seconds, while the image file seemed to have text besides it. He clicked the image file first.

    A miniature version of the traitor that Yuuri had seen in Leader Sho’s office came into focus, though now there were lines leading off into descriptions of each part of the image. Four year old skater’s cloak, goggles, a pair of generation two skates, two small pouches on either side of the legs. A quick tap to the image and it shifted to one of the person running, one arm exposed and legs peeking out of the curtain of white fabric. The pouches on the legs were more visible in this image, small grey things that couldn’t hold anything larger than an apple. The line running from the exposed arm had the biggest block of text besides it.

    Colorful patches on pale skin. Half breed between Human and Nikkiri; possibly in late adolescence to early adulthood. Nonpoisonous to any species recorded living on Amorum. Human genes make body more durable to falls but less solidly built than an average human. Quick, nimble, with good eyesight. Quick thinkers. Wary of hands, elbows, knees, and feet as the razor sharp points of their parents have a high percentage of transferring into offspring in these areas.

    Zooming in on the traitors hand, Yuuri was able to see the sharp points at the ends of their fingertips, as colorful and beautiful as the marks on their hand, but deadly. The nails weren’t particularly long though, and if Yuuri thought about it, the combination of human and Nikkiri genes would mean they weren’t the strongest of claws either. Meaning as long as Yuuri was in his skater suit and helmet, they wouldn't cause him any serious damage. The young skater breathed a sigh of relief, leaning back against the wall behind him. Knowing that the person he would be tracking for the mission wouldn’t be spewing acid at him.

    Yuuri brought his arm back up from its place on his thigh, clicking out of the image file and bringing up the short video file. The video started off with static, before the image cleared into the traitor incapacitating a guard with a stun gun before dropping the gun and running for the exit to the facility. The video ended as the doors shut. The video then replayed, a line appearing in the slow mo to show that the stun gun was on its last charge shot. That explained why it had been dropped. Yuuri noted that the guard had on the typical metal laced uniform of higher ranking guards. The electricity from the stun gun would have travelled across the alloy, causing the muscles beneath to be pulled taught. This caused the guard to fall to the floor--it was painful but not lethal. However it was smart and easy to do. The larger issue that the video raised, was that the infiltrator knew there was a difference in material that made up higher and lower guard uniforms. The lower, more common, guards who were stationed throughout colonies lacked the metal alloy in their clothing.

    Visibly there was no difference in uniforms, silver fabric with red ranking badges on the left side of the body, allowing them to blend in seamlessly with lower ranking officials. Even the skater rinks themselves couldn’t be distinguished for other colony buildings, each one was different from colony to colony and matched the architecture of the other buildings of that specific colony. The colony leaders wanted the skaters’ jobs as classified as possible, even going as far to make sure no one really knew what their practice rinks looked like. Even if they were to look at a colony map the skater rink would have been labeled as another farming unit. Even skater identification cards had their occupations labeled as agriculture monitors in case a skater lost their card.

    Meaning the traitor either had somehow hacked into the security system, was once a guard, or was a skater themselves as they were told once they were certified.  Since the traitor had generation two skates, the last option was the most likely. It took years to learn how to use the skates. Between finding your balance, controlling the propulsion in the skates, and switching blades, the preparations for what a skater could possibly run into one the surface were far too rigorous and complex for an ex-guard or hacker. On top of that, generation two skates were issued only a year after the incident. Meaning that they either stole their skates, knew one of the original skaters, or were one of the original skaters.

------

    After viewing the video some twenty times,  and examining the image an extra ten, Yuuri found himself at the skater supply shop. The shop itself housed everything from food packets to stun rifles and sleeping pods. Yuuri hadn’t been to the Delta colony supply shop in a little over a year--not since his last skater suit fitting. Celestino ran the shop currently; he was a retired Wildlife Skater who had trained Yuuri in the later half of the younger skater’s evaluative years before he was able to register as a messenger skater. Celestino had stepped down as a coach full time about two years ago when the supply shop’s previous owner had gone out to the surface and had not returned.

     Some of the other coaches and skaters had begged to know why the previous shop owner had gone to the surface, heartbroken yet confused over his disappearance. They had received a message from Leader Sho a day later stating that she had wanted to see the surface for herself, that she had begged to see what it had turned into. The Delta colony leader explained that since she had been working in the supply shop for so long and knew how to skate, they saw nothing wrong with a quick peek. However the quick look around had tuned into the previous shop owner skating to three other colonies, only to be never be seen again alive after she left the Lambda colony.  

    A skater had found her bag a few weeks later wedged between some rocks in the Inazroa mountains, or at least what was left of it. Since the bag was found so close to the mountains it was assumed that a Glo had gotten to her. At her memorial service Celestino had offered to help out with the shop as her family wasn’t well versed in the skating world. Yuuri remembers that day well; the strong scents of cologne and perfume, the crying family members, friends, the holographic pictures of the store owner surrounded by flowers. It had been the first time Yuuri had seen the potential of the upper world. The potential to make so many people cry.

    “Yuuri! I haven’t seen you in a while, how are things at home? Does your skater suit need repairs?” Celestino’s voice broke Yuuri out of his reverie.

    “Oh, no, it still fits, I’m actually here for some advice.” Yuuri’s voice dropped to a quiet murmur as he spoke.

    Celestino raised an eyebrow, turning from the wall displaying different models of the newest skates and placed a pair back on the shelf. Yuuri couldn’t really blame him for being confused, he had been skating messenger mission for six years, he shouldn’t need advice.

    Despite it being a little strange seeing Celestino in a shop with racks of goggles, skates, and other miscellaneous skater gear on shelves and in glass cases, he looked right at home. Like he belonged behind the counter helping skaters pick what would be best for their specific mission, be it messenger, wildlife, or otherwise. Helping skaters pick designs for their suits and chatting about customer’s home lives and past missions seemed to even relieve Celestino of the stress ever present weight on his shoulders back when he trained budding skaters.

    “Advice on what? Did you stumble across someone you have taken a liking to or…?”

    “N-no, no! Nothing like that! I, I've just been assigned a mission that...well, it has a larger time allowance than I am used to. I’ll be on the surface for longer than I normally am, at least I think I will.”

    “You think you will? Yuuri it takes a certain amount of time to get from one colony to another. Where are they sending you? Iota, Epsilon, Rho…?”

    Yuuri stuffed his hands in his pockets as the urge to fiddle with his fingers crept up on him. He technically wasn’t allowed to tell Celestino any details about his assignment. It's just how things were  in the messenger skater community-- though this wasn’t a messenger mission. If anything, the higher officials would be more pissed at him if he let it slip that he was off chasing an enemy of the planet’s government.

    “I’ve been assigned a recon mission to find lost messages and mark down where their skaters might have, well, gotten lost.” Yuuri finally looked up from the floor and back at his old coach, who looked far more worried than he did before looking away. The concern abated a bit, though it still clung to the edge of Celestino’s smile.

    “So you have been given a promotion then! Congratulations Yuuri, the colony leaders only assign these types of missions to the best of their skaters. They must have been looking at your travel history and success rates for a while if they gave you a recon mission.” Celestino placed a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder, shaking him slightly.

    “Y-yeah, it’s just, well I don’t know anyone who has ever been on a recon mission. Most of my friends are Wildlife skaters so they travel in groups, but-” Yuuri stopped short as Celestion shook his head and moved his hand in a motion that almost seemed to brush aside Yuuri’s words.

    “It isn’t all that different from a messenger mission, your bag will just be a bit heavier than usual. Recon skater carry a few locator beacons and a few more nutrient supplies normally. That being said, you might not need the extra nutrient supplies due to your heritage. Being half Astkkiu and half human means you will be a bit more defenseless than other skaters on the downside. So you will want to take one of these.” Celestion spoke as he placed a simple looking rifle-like object on the glass counter between them.

     Yuuri stepped closer to the counter to look at the chrome weapon. The blue lines running down its muzzle seemed to pulse with energy. He had seen a few weapons like this in the back of other supply shops, but most of the time they were collecting dust. At one point in his skating career, he had seen an older wildlife skater with a older model similar to the one before him. It had a few scratches along the barrel and the skater carrying it walked with a limp. They had been from the Zeta colony, a colony so much farther than most colonies were to Delta that Yuuri barely see many skaters from there.

    “My stun gun won't be enough?”

    “On a normal messenger mission, where the passages are rather clearly marked? Yes. But now you are going to go off the beaten path. There are a lot of different things that can catch you up there Yuuri, a lot of things that can withstand a few hits from a stun gun. Say you end up in a Glo nest- a few stun bursts won’t help you when facing the maws of three hungry Glo.” The retired skater’s voice dropped with the severity of what he was saying.

    Yuuri gulped at the mental image, he had never seen a Glo nest. He'd only heard about them in passing. They were said to be made entirely of rusted metal, remains of communication towers that once were erected to pass along messages to other colonies. They hadn’t realized that the Glo found the towers easy nesting material and would rip them down faster than they could put them up. Any efforts to build protective barriers around the towers were halted after a nasty operation that ended because of a pod of Glo finding the builders before the walls were finished. They had made the skater organization shortly afterwards--small and speedy skaters were much harder to gobble up.

    With careful, cautious hands, Yuuri picked up the rifle and turned it. It was lighter than he expected, probably, less than his bag currently did. It wouldn’t inhibit his speed. It had a long strap and two, silver connecting plates that would connect to his suit or his bag depending on his preference. It lacked the scope that he had seen on the older skater’s version, instead it had a red arrow pointing down the barrel.

    “I’ve never used one of these before, I wouldn’t be able to aim perfectly without a few weeks of practice, and my mission is tomorrow.” Yuuri worried at the inside of his cheek as he placed the weapon back on the counter.

    Celestino just gave him a small smile and tapped at the underside of the gun, causing a small compartment to pop out. He then removed a small chip from the secret compartment and held it up to Yuuri. It was a microchip, maybe four centimeters tall and wide. Flecks of gold stood out against the green of the chip.

    “It is inserted into your helmet and then identifies threats. All you need to do is hold the gun in the right direction and the shot will hone in on the target. Of course if you tap on the arrow three times…” He did so to demonstrate, the red arrow glowed brighter before the tip shot up and flexed into a red crosshair. “...it will allow you to shoot freely.”

    Yuuri watched silently as Celestino placed the chip back into its home and pressed down on the crosshair, snapping both back into the gun. He placed the weapon on the edge of the counter before reaching behind him and grabbing five locator beacons. Location beacons were at least familiar to Yuuri--every skater learned how to use them in training. Newer models of skater suits had them in the backs of their helmets, though some chose to carry a few extra just in case. The semi-spheres had a switch on the side to activate a beam of purple light that would shoot up directly into the sky, alerting any other skaters of their presence. The trackers could last up to three months before running out of power. Of course, three months were sometimes too short and help would never arrive. Recon skaters used them to help them find their way back to things they couldn’t take with them, their suits tucking away the coordinates safely in their helmet’s databanks.

    Celestino also placed a skate charger along with a pair of cyber cuffs next to the locator beacons. The skater charger would be the second one to be put in his bag. He most likely wouldn’t end up using it, but in the off chance he went through three months worth of energy without stopping at a colony, well, better safe than sorry.  As for the cuffs; it was easier to drag a body than it was to carry one when ice skating across a plane of ice and rock.

    The items were rung up and placed into his bag. Yuuri’s cyber gauntlet registered the transaction but no change was made in the funds bar which still read: As needed . The rifle attached easily to the strap of his bag, clicking into place softly. Celestino rounded the counter to give Yuuri a brief hug which the shorter skater returned.

    “Thank you very much for your help.”

    “I hope you won’t need to use most of it.”

    Yuuri nodded and left for the small elevator pod at the other end of the supply shop. It would take him down to the Skater rooms where all the skaters would rest before missions and when they would visit colonies on their routes to rest and restock their supplies. It also saved Yuuri the hassle of having to take a guard with him if he chose to go back into the inner city to find a inn to rest. Weaponry was never seen on citizens unless they were guards, or were accompanied by one.

    The hallways were layered with a mosaic wallpaper, green and blue hues made the inn comforting to walk through. All the hallways converged into a rather large reception room that was laden with red couches and some visual panels that were wired to show the parks and shopping centers of Delta. One last glimpse at the colony before skaters left for the surface again. There was also a glass reception desk that, unlike the skater shop, was painted with various colors. The reception desk was the most vibrant thing in the room, to most it would be a bit outlandish looking, but to Yuuri is was as familiar and welcome as his room back in his family’s own inn.

    A small clanking noise echoed throughout the empty room before a woman straightened herself from behind the counter, a glass of alcohol in hand. She uttered a small curse before dropping a towel onto the floor, only then did she look up at Yuuri standing there.

    “Yuuri! Welcome back! Here to help me around here or just popping in for some drink and conversation.” Minako spoke with joy, two hands reaching for a gold bottle and glass cup while her other two hands laid flat on the desk.

    Yuuri’s face dropped a little as he tried to hold onto a smile, “Oh, no, thank you but I-I was uh, assigned another mission.”

    Minako froze in her movements before setting the bottle down, displeasure settling over her features.  Yuuri felt a shiver run down his spine, despite visiting her twice during his small vacation, he knew that she didn’t approve of the small breaks skaters were given. His mother even told him that before Yuuri had become a certified skater that she would request council with the Delta leader and request longer breaks and compensations for skaters. Messenger skaters having mission that could take up to three months and only receive a two week vacation in return was outrageous in her eyes.  A few years back Yuuri had tried to reason with her that with so little skaters that could make the trips and with so many messages that were vital to proper communication between colonies, they couldn’t really afford to take long breaks. It hadn’t gone over very well.

     “So soon? Where are they sending you off to this time? Somewhere close I hope, your last mission took up the most of six months. How long will you be gone this time? Three months? Four? It is too soon to put you on a long mission, even with the month break.” Minako interrogated him, leaning forwards over the desk farther and farther with each question.

     “You know I’m not allowed to talk about that…” Yuuri answered quietly.

     “Right, right, protocol, honestly what would anyone get out of knowing how long you will be away from your family and friends and up on that frozen hell? Time is relative to your speed as a skater, they wouldn’t know how fast you could skate unless they were government officials anyways…” Minako muttered as she grabbed the glass she had poured the bronze alcohol into and drank it down in one go, the glass making a loud click as it was brought back down. She rubbed at her forehead before twisting around and snatching a room key from the wall behind her.
“One room for the night. Take this and go to 302, we have a few skaters who just got back from Mu and a few travelers from Iota taking up the usual rooms. Don’t worry though, I cleaned up that one of any dust that was settling in it. Pay me when you get back here in one piece, alright?” She explained as the keycard was passed over to Yuuri.

     Except when Yuuri gripped the card Minako’s hand clasped around his wrist. Causing him to look up from the swirled purple coloration that tattooed her fingertips that held him tightly in confusion. Minako’s eyes were distant, almost like they were calculating something, taking a few moments before letting his wrist go, slumping back against the wall littered with hanging key cards with a huffed sigh.

     “When you come back, promise me you will stay here for an extra day before heading home. I have a feeling you will need some of this when you get back.” A quick shake to the bottle from the desk illustrated her words.

    Yuuri nodded, still puzzled by her actions. That at least seemed to relieve her of some of the tense energy that had built up since he announced his orders. After bidding her goodnight and finding, with a few wrong turns, the designated room, Yuuri let himself slump against the door as it closed behind him.  His newly acquired weapon was placed delicately onto the coffee table at the foot of the bed while his bag was dropped besides it without too much care. There wasn’t exactly anything breakable in there anyways. A long shower and wash of his clothes and the next thing Yuuri knew, he was flopping onto the soft bed and curling under the sheets.

    Sleep didn’t reach him as quickly as it had in his bed at the inn. His nerves had been assaulting his mind since he got assigned this mission. The nerves had gotten more aggressive as he attempted to close eyes for the evening. Rolling over and stuffing his head under the pillow didn’t help block out the worries; it was a pointless task, though it felt better than doing nothing.

Eventually Yuuri flipped onto his back, head back on the pillow as he stared up at the ceiling. Yuuri found his mind drifting to that morning, to his nightmare. What had his mother told him in it? The sakura blossoms?

    That sounded about right. The sakura blossoms and the hum of the hover bikes. Before the incident, when the sky was clear of the now present blanket of clouds, there was vegetation growing instead of the frozen, rocky tundra his home had become. Even the ice had been welcomed before then; it had been secluded to the rink back then though. Just contained in the circle of the ice rink where he would practice drawing figure eights into the surface with his skates…

Yuuri’s body settled into a dreamless sleep, body finally able to relax as his mind reminisced in childhood memories.

------

    The exit to the surface reminded Yuuri of old comic books Leo’s father had brought with him when his family moved from Earth. The room was round, and five guards stationed within in it. Two at the entrance to the colony, two next to the stairway, and one besides the changing rooms. There were large screens like the ones Phichit had in his office, images of different sections of the Delta colony along with images of the surface closest to the doors. The Delta colony insignia was painted elegantly against the tile of the floor, in a dark blue

    Yuuri nodded to the guards as he entered the changing room, quickly handing over his bag and rifle to the guard next to the room. The doors hissed shut behind him as Yuuri entered the changing room. The first time he had come in, the sheer emptiness of the room had frightened the eighteen year old. It was another strikingly white room, the walls meeting the floor almost seamlessly. Only a white pole protruded from the center of the walkway in closet sized room. The end of the pole was topped with a white orb, which had a black line running through the center of it.

    Yuuri breathed in deeply before speaking.

    “Yuuri Katsuki. Delta Colony Messenger Skater. I have been given a mission by Leader Sho. I have the mission report on my person.”

    The words echoed off the walls and back into Yuuri’s eardrums, as if he had been speaking through a voice amplifier. The orb clicked after a moment, gears turning within it before it emitted a green light that scanned Yuuri. It beeped and a slot protruded from the top of it, not unlike how the microchip protruded from his rifle.  He took a few steps forwards, taking the drive from his pocket and placing it into the orb. It snapped shut, and gave off another beep before returning to its earlier silence. There were a tense few seconds that felt like hours to Yuuri before a seam appeared on the right wall, which quickly turned into a pair of doors sliding open to reveal Yuuri’s skater suit, helmet, and skates on a mannequin.

    The suit itself was made of of various shades of blue and white material, wind resistant and heat retaining. The suit was made up of fabric laced with Callium dipped thread, which would keep his body warm against the freezing temperatures of the surface. There was additional light blue fabric that had sensors that linked to his helmet to help monitor his vital signs and the weather conditions around him as well.

    Yuuri’s helmet was the same dark blue color the majority of his suit was, with a large panel of darkened plastic that allowed Yuuri to see his surroundings. The helmet was molded into a small point in the back where his own location beacon resided. The rest of the helmet was programed with different maps of the surface, a locator, mission dock, vital readers, and a wildlife identification system. The pants and skates were less complex in Yuuri’s opinion.

    It took a few minutes to change into the suit, placing his own clothes on the mannequin for him to change into when he returned, if he returned. Well, that last bit wasn’t anything new, there was always the ever present risk of not coming back from a mission. This wasn’t all that different if he didn’t think about the lack of a time limit and the whole traitor-who-blew-up-a-practice-rink bit.

    The doors closed around the mannequin as Yuuri laced up his other skate; around the same time the orb beeped for the third time and spat out his drive.

    Approved . The electronic voice droned. To his relief the doors opened up, allowing Yuuri to leave the changing room. He had heard horror stories of the doors malfunctioning during bad surface storms and skaters being trapped in the room for a day. Which wouldn’t sound too horrible to someone who wasn’t a skater, but to a skater it was  terrifying. The color white haunted skaters sometimes, reminding them of the blinding color of the surface. It would sometimes lead them to make sure everything around them when they returned home had some sort of color to it. So being trapped in a white seamless room with no exit was a bit of an unnerving idea. A few skaters brought it up to the council, but they had been told that it helped put the skaters in the right mindset before a mission. The skaters would be leaving for a world bathed in white snow and ice anyways.

    A pair of white gloves were waiting for him in the hands of the changing room guard, whose other handheld the strap of his bag and rifle. The gloves were always given last; it was symbolic, handing over the last bit of protection to a skater who would carry the orders of a colony leader.

    The guard was silent as Yuuri took back his things gingerly, the inner material of the gloves were soft and worn, welcoming his hands back like they belonged there.  It was probably the only welcoming part of the job, the skater suit that was fitted just for him.

    All that was left now was climbing the tall staircase up to the doors that sealed the surface world from the Delta. There was always conflicting feeling battling inside Yuuri as he walked up the steps, fear and the feeling that him being on the surface was just right . That despite all the dangers that lurked up there, the ice willed world would welcome him back with open arms. It was almost like he should always be up on the surface, that his feet should always be dancing about the ice and snow despite the danger.

      Yuuri wondered if that feeling was just nostalgia for the time before the incident as the doors creaked open, ice laced wind whipping past his helmet. Stepping out onto the snow as the doors closed behind him, locking shut, Yuuri felt like he had come home.

------

    The first three weeks were severely uneventful and underwhelming. The tracker in his helmet only gave him a vague direction of where it thought a hybrid Nikkiri life sign was. A few times the arrow would spin around, leaving Yuuri to skate in whatever direction he pleased until it settled down and picked one. He couldn’t really blame it though, between the heavy snow, mountains, and the fact that it couldn’t scan the entire continent was enough of a reason for Yuuri to not punch at his helmet every time it spun in circles. Usually.

    On top of that, Yuuri had since become use to the surface, devoid of most people besides a few wildlife skaters who always waved at him as he breezed past them on a single blade. Wildlife skaters tended to keep their skates on a three blade setting due to the extra stability they provided. Yuuri was use to needing to be speedy instead of carrying the excess weight that the wildlife skater were laden with.

    It was pretty lonely, Yuuri's mind no longer occupied with rushing to a colony as fast as he could so his mission time would be below the limit. Instead it was occupied with looking over snow dunes and protruding ice blocks, while remaining ever wary of deep ditches the Glo would made from slithering across the snow. At times Yuuri would spot wildlife in the distance, mostly Kalus in packs that would dig into the snow looking for pikkros or emnion to eat. Occasionally a skater would take a few minutes to talk with him, warning of any weather conditions up ahead or to make small talk before continuing onwards. The looming impact created mountains kept him company the most, ever present to his right as Yuuri skated around the mountain range. Even though the sun was blotted out from blackened clouds of ash and debris, soft white light emanated from the crater-made mountains and reflect off the surrounding snow and ice. It was a comforting sight as he traveled east towards the less crowded part of the continent.

    The traitor would probably head south from Omicron, but if they were smart they would head to sparse colonies like Rho first. The large stretch of icy tundra would make it difficult to find them and they would even make a base without worrying about passing skaters all that much. They would still need to either hunt or sneak into a colony undetected for provisions after a while, no hybrid or pure blooded alien on the planet could go without food forever. It was why new skaters were always saddled with far too many provision bars for their first few missions. They would need to figure out how many they would need for different missions so they wouldn’t run out of food far from any colony that they could restock at.

    When Yuuri had gone on his first mission, accompanied by a fellow messenger skater, Chris, he asked him one night as to why the mountain range gave off such a bright light. Chris explained how the Trekrite that was originally buried deep beneath the valley would glow in the presence of air and water, and the layers of earth on top of that sediment layer had been blown away by the impact. Thus the land was awash with the white light instead of the total blackness their planet would have been plunged into otherwise.  Between the reflective properties of  glistening ice and snow and shining mountains, it didn’t take too long for  people to go back up onto the surface to collect light refracting material for implementation into the transparent panel of the helmets.

    The front panels also made it so that one skater couldn’t see the face of another skater, a small mercy Yuuri found himself thankful for as he tripped over his first lost skater of the mission. His helmet helpfully beeped in recognition, identifying the skater as one Ezo McKinley. Yuuri brushed the snow off of their body carefully. Their messenger bag was intact, meaning he would have to prioritize the message before Ezo.

    Pressing the button on the locator beacon, which then proceeded to send up a purple ray of light directly into the sky, Yuuri pocketed the silver slab of metal that had a message from the Epsilon colony leader to the one in Lambda. This protocol was something else Phichit had an issue with, the messages taking precedent over the body of a loved one awaiting a return to their family. Leo had once tried to explain that the messages could have urgent information on them, but he hadn’t put much effort into convincing Phichit that is was the right thing to do.

    As he kneeled there in the snow, wind blowing hard at his back and threatening to cover up the body again, Yuuri couldn’t help but side with Phichit. Bowing his head Yuuri made a mental promise to either return, or make sure a skater team would come to pick him up and return him to his family and friends for a proper funeral.

------

    Six months later and countless messages and skaters recovered Yuuri found himself in a cave with several of the message plates scattered on the frozen stone floor inside of a cave. He was in the southernmost section of the Inazroa mountains, far from any colony and there was no body. Whomever had the messages might have left them there had they been a newer skater who decided that the surface just wasn’t for them, but the fact that it was a pile of messages irked him. A new skater wouldn’t be given so many messages to deliver at once. Which then pointed to a more experienced skater who was sent on a multiple colony mission, something only skaters with years of experience were allowed to do.  

    A sharp cracking sound  echoed across the area. Turning around Yuuri was able to see the rapidly hastening curtain of ice, snow, and rubble that tumbled down the side of the mountain. An avalanche.

    A red flashing window helpfully popped up inside of his helmet as he skated full speed away from the mountain, informing him that he was in danger of being covered in a thick layer of snow in about ten minutes. Nine minutes thirty seconds. Nine minutes…

    He really hated the helmet’s VI sometimes.  

    Unfortunately for Yuuri, a wall of snow hurdling down a mountainside was much faster than his skates could carry him even on single blades. On the positive side his bag had a mode to prevent the snow and ice from crushing him from the sheer weight of it or the possibility of it suffocating him. That said it took a few minutes of wriggling and kicking to find his way out of the snow that now encompassed him. Poking his head out of the snow and looking around as he pulled his lower half out of the hole he froze in a way that had nothing to do with the ice.

    A short distance away there was a pile of boulders that had rolled down the mountain, far too close to where Yuuri ended up being buried. His bag deploying its avalanche feature would have done nothing to help being crushed under two ton rocks. Yuuri ended staying half in half out of the snow drift as he just stared at the pile of stones, the large avalanche airbag fluttering in the wind as it deflated. He was only shaken out of his stupor when his helmet advised him to move in case the first avalanche triggered another, or worse, a rockslide.    

    Rounding the side of the rock pile Yuuri shook the excess snow clinging to his suit and skates when he heard a familiar wibbling noise.  Dipping his head down Yuuri saw a small pikkro pop out of a crease formed from three of the boulders. Kneeling down Yuuri held out a hand to it slowly. While he wasn’t technically a wildlife skater, Yuuri knew he would feel horrible for months if he didn’t check up on the tiny thing for injuries.

    The pikkro seemed fine, no gashes or noticeable divots in it’s skin, but then again Yuuri knew a very small amount of information about the species besides what he had picked up from Phichit. While his mind raced with increasingly panicked thoughts of messing up and accidentally harming the pikkro in his negligence, his helmet beeped and scanned the animal. Various percentages and measurements whizzed in front of Yuuri’s eyes before he caught the phrase “full health” hovering next to the pikkro.

    “Oh, that’s a relief.” Yuuri whispered gratefully, shoulders slumping in relief. The small pikkro poked it’s trunk against Yuuri’s gloved hand hesitantly before drawing it back, small purple eyes watching Yuuri for a reaction.  

    Ah, a wild pikkro then. The skater thought to himself as he ran the same hand over the back of the pikkro gently, smiling wider than he had in months at the soft wibbling noises of contentment it made.

    “Glad to see you’re alright little guy, but I need to get going. Stay away from the mountains now, okay?” Yuuri gave the tiny alien one more pat before getting up and taking a few steps away, tapping his heels together to get ready for another few hours of skating. Only to stop at the whining cry of the pikkro behind him.

    Confused, Yuuri turned around to see the pikkro sliding through the snow as fast as Yuuri had ever seen one move. When it came close enough it’s trunk poked at his ankle a few times, eyes looking up at Yuuri.

    “I’m sorry,” Yuuri knelt back down on his knees, “but I can’t take you with me little one.”

    The pikkro simply made another wibbling noise before trudging back towards the fallen rocks, before turning it’s balloon like body partly around and waving its trunk at Yuuri in a beckoning manner.

    “Are one of your friends stuck under there?” Yuuri really didn’t want to think about a tiny pikkro stuck under a rock, or worse, squished.

    A quick walk over to the mound of rock, pikkro nestled near his heel Yuuri peeked at the dark gap at the base of the pile. He couldn’t necessarily see anything in there, but his helmet did pick up lifesigns, though the bouder obscured most of the readings, the scan unable to read through the thick rock.

    Well, I definitely can’t lift or roll the rocks off. Stun gun wouldn’t do anything useful, if anything it might accidentally electrocute the pikkro. That leaves…

    Yuuri picked up the pikkro besides his feet in one arm before taking a few measured steps back before putting it back down. It simply looked up at him as Yuuri took the rifle off his back and tapped at the red arrow, crosshair ejecting itself into Yuuri’s line of vision. Steadily he took aim and fired at the top most boulder, causing him to fall onto his butt as the force of the shot knocked him off his single bladed skates. The top boulder exploded out into tiny pebbles, some bouncing of Yuuri’s helmet and the back of the pikkro, not doing any harm to either of them.  

    Stupid, stupid! What if it had been a Glo instead of a boulder? You could be in one of their stomachs right now if there had been more than one!

    Aggravated Yuuri clicked the switch on the upper part of his skates that were normally protected by the cuff of his pants down two notches, the blades on each skate separating into three blades respectively.

    Picking the weapon back up Yuuri widened his stance, lowering himself as he took aim again and shot the other two boulders, backlash forcing him back a little, but he remained upright this time. The explosions sent bits of rock flying everywhere, the sounds echoing throughout the land, shaking the piles of snow left by the avalanche and displacing some, thankfully it didn’t cause another one. Smoke curled away from the rubble, Yuuri had aimed high enough that the blast wouldn’t harm the pikkro underneath however.

    With the pile of boulders now reduced to a pile of pebbles, Yuuri put down his bag and rifle to help the poor pikkro out of the rubble. The creature didn’t need his help however as a long curved head poked it’s way out of the pebbles before a razor sharp and lean body emerged from the rubble. Not another pikkro, but a Whipth. A alien three times Yuuri’s height with a crescent shaped head and, from what Leo had told him, a dog like body.

    The Whipth shook itself, a few stray pieces of rock falling to its clawed feet. It’s four gleaming blue eyes locked onto Yuuri, stared for a moment, before lunging for Yuuri who threw up his arm in defense. Instead of jaws clamping down on his arms however, the Whipth butted its head against Yuuri’s arms, causing to open his eyes.

    Ah , Yuuri thought as he spotted a red collar around the Whipth’s neck.  

    They has an owner somewhere.

    Yuuri let out a shriek before looking around in the surrounding snow, trying to spot some sort of movement. Only for the Whipth to gently nudge him back from his frantic digging in the snow, tail wagging. Which was mildly terrifying as the tails of Whipths ended in broad, flat blades or white. Thankfully this one was extremely friendly, their missing owner must have trained them well.  

    “Do, do you want me to follow you too?” Yuuri inquired. The Whipth, like the pikkro, probably didn’t understand a word he was saying, but he traveled alone for almost seven months. Excluding the brief pit stops to drop off and pick things up, Yuuri hadn’t done much talking.  

    The Whipth’s tongue flopped out of it’s mouth, panting before giving a sharp bark and pulling at Yuuri’s shoulder with a gentle clasp of its curved beak. Bounding a few feet away before running back to Yuuri, snow kicked up underneath their feet, body wiggling with the force of a wagging tail.

    “Okay, okay! I’ll follow you. Not like I have a time limit on these things.” Yuuri said more to himself than anything as he picked up his bag and rifle again, clipping them together before throwing the strap over his shoulder.

    “ Are you tagging along to-” Yuuri turned to where he left the pikkro only to see nothing but snow.

    Huh, must of left once the Whipth was free of the rock. I wonder why it was so concerned about the Whipth anyways. Eh, I’ll ask Phichit about it next time I take a stop at Delta.

    Turning back to the overjoyed Whipth Yuuri readjusted his blades back to a single blade on each foot. Part of him objected to the idea of not immediately dropping off the messages he found in the cave. This was more exciting though, six months of skating back and forth on beaten paths doing recon work had been on the depressing side. The idea of reuniting a Whipth with their owner sounded much more appealing than being on the constant lookout for a traitor as he marked down bodies and took old messages back to colonies.

    So with the glow of the mountain bouncing of the ceramic like sheen of the Whipth’s form, Yuuri switched his skates back to a single blade and readjusted his bag and rifle over his shoulders.

“Alright, let’s see if we can’t find your owner.”