N81 Snow Ghost

“How do you find your way around this place, sir? It all seems the same to me,” Rosie asked, as Fox came to another intersection in the corridors.

“You get to know the place over time I find,” – a pause – “I’ll show you around at some point – it helps if you know the landmarks. I’m afraid It won’t be today sadly – I have some business to attend to later and this place is pretty big,” Fox said over her shoulder. “My office is very deep in the complex as well – You should have an easier time getting in and out from Kaya’s room.”

Fox rounded another corner and stopped in front of one of the steel doors that periodically studded the Kennel complex’s walls, this one with the numbers 31 and 32 printed in white paint on the viewing slot. She made to knock but paused and turned back to face Rosie. A look of consternation crossed her face momentarily, before she opened her mouth to speak.

“I… should say now. Kaya has been in a rough patch lately. I’ve been worried for her. Its part of why I wanted to be the one who did this test. You know she lost her sister last year?”

Rosie did. It was common enough knowledge – the screams of grief had echoed around the hanger like thunder the day they’d pulled her out of her mech. Everyone knew that two had gone out but only one had come back, even if they didn’t know the two pilots – Rosie hadn’t even known Kayas name until a few minutes ago.

Fox continued, “I think she needs stability now – it’ll be seven months since the incident soon and I don’t want to leave her alone” – she saw the look of confusion on Rosie’s face – “Kaya is supposed to be one of two,” she explained, “being alone isn’t normal for her, so having someone else around – even if it’s someone she hasn’t known long - will be a return to normal.”

She began to turn but stopped again and quickly said “ah, and, I should warn you, Kaya is a week into her recovery period. She sleeps for most of the day, and will be eating for a lot of the time she’s awake – it’s nothing unusual for her, but I would expect her to be lethargic and sleepy for the next two or three weeks.”

Before Rosie could ask what she meant by recovery period, Fox had knocked briskly, before pulling open the heavy door and striding in.

The room was quite the departure from the cold steel and grey concrete of the hallways – it was lit with the same dim overhead lights, but the walls were thickly papered over, and it was much warmer, almost like stepping under a heat lamp. Clearly the walls were properly insulated to stop the heat leeching outside, even if they looked like simple metal and concrete. There were two beds – simple steel frames, positioned side-by-side in the middle of the back wall. The righthand bed was neatly made up, almost undisturbed, while the lefthand was home to a piled mass of blankets and sheets, with a mountain of pillows where the bedframe met the wall behind. There were plants, as well, arranged on shelves inset into the walls. Little potted ones, and larger things with big broad leaves under special lamps to account for the low light. – Kaya was supposed to have been on a months-long deployment, wasn’t she? She supposed someone else must have been caring for the plants while she wasn’t around to do it herself.

There was also a door to the left of the room – one of the swinging half-doors that were on the showers in the regular’s barracks – from which Kaya stepped out as Fox and Rosie walked into the hound’s kennel.

“Kaya, this is Rosie,” Handler Fox began “You remember I told you she would be moving into here from the regulars barracks?”

Kaya nodded. She was different to how Rosie expected her to look – for one, she was fresh out of the shower, with only a towel on, wrapped around her torso to protect her modesty. But Rosie had only ever seen hunting dogs in the hangers – and they were all sinew and muscle, wiry strength and speed. The hawks weren’t much different, though by and large they were smaller. Kaya though, she was big, even if Rosie could see the effects of her recent deployment. Standing there she seemed somehow sunken, Like she’d lost weight on a bad diet, and even then she was bigger than the hanger hounds – broader, taller, and heavier set. She still wore a muzzle though. That was a commonality between her and the other dogs.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself, Rosie?” Fox smiled down at her, “don’t worry, Kaya doesn’t bite,” she chuckled.

Why does she need to wear the muzzle then?

“h-Hey,” she said, stepping out from behind the handler into full view, “like Handler Fox said, I’m meant to be your new roommate.” She forced herself to make eye contact with Kaya, fumbled for something to say to break the ice. “I’ve seen your mech in the hanger a few times. It looks like a very impressive machine – much more unique than my frame.”

She thought the words were pathetic as they left her mouth, but Kaya seemed to brighten. It took her a moment to form the sentence, but she managed to speak after a second or two had passed. “Most people tell me it looks like a pile of shit,” she said, smiling crookedly through the grate of her muzzle.

Behind her, Rosie felt Handler Fox check her watch before she looked between the two of them, “Right. I have some things to deal with now, so I’ll need to be going, but I’d like it if you two could spend some time getting familiar,” she said, before focusing her attention on Kaya. “When she’s ready, Kaya, I want you to lead Rosie back up to collect her things, ok?” she paused in though for a moment. “Actually, I’d like you to show her around the kennels as well. Get her familiar with where she’ll be staying.”

Kaya nodded, her back straightening. An odd look had come over her.

“Yes, Mistress.”

“Well, I hope you two get along well with one another,” Fox said, as she turned to leave, swinging open the heavy door before disappearing out into the corridor and leaving the two women alone.

Kaya relaxed after Fox had left the room. The tension that had come over her melted away and she slumped back into the posture she’d had when she came in from the bathroom. They stood awkwardly for a minute before Kaya worked her jaw and spoke, blushing slightly and glancing away.

“Could you look away for a minute? I need to put some clothes on.”

Rosie felt blood rush to her cheeks as well – Kaya was almost naked after all. She turned to the wall behind her, mumbling apologies as she did so, and found herself staring at one of Kaya’s plants. She could hear her shuffling about the room behind her.

“S’okay,” She heard her mumble, “My fault for taking too long this morning. Mistress told me I’d be meeting you today.” If Rosie had to choose a word to describe Kaya’s voice, she’d probably have said deep, but that wasn’t really right. Thick was probably more appropriate – it had a layered quality that was oddly relaxing.

“Who waters your plants when you’re on deployment?” she asked, studiously examining the patterns on the broad leaves to distract herself from the sounds of Kaya dressing herself.

“Mistress does.”

Rosie almost shivered at the adoration she poured into the word.

“Are all of them yours?”

“Yeah. I like seeing them grow. Watching them develop from seeds.” She sounded proud. “I grew all of them from seed, you know. Even the big ones.”

Huh. That’s a lot of dedication to have kept all these plants alive.

“You can turn around now.”

Kaya wasn’t dressed in a proper military uniform. She had pulled on her pilot’s flight suit – not a standard-issue one like Rosie had, something custom tailored for the girls big frame, and had on an old jacket over that. She had the muzzled wolf insignia on the collar of her flight suit though, just like her handler had on her cap and overcoat. She looked sheepish for a moment, glancing down at her feet.

“D’you want me to give you that tour now? I know there isn’t much in here.”

Get to know each other, Fox said.

Rosie stepped over to her new roommate, searching for something to talk about.

“Could you tell me a bit about your plants? You said you grew them all from seeds, right?”

Kaya’s eyes seemed to light up, and she took Rosie’s hand to lead her over to one of the shelves of plants, pointing out a small ferny thing first. She beckoned Rosie to lean down with her and began to talk, her voice still strained from disuse at first.

“This one’s the oldest – I think I had it before I was even at this base. It’s the only one I didn’t grow all the way myself – I think… I found it out in the plains… it was really small back then, even smaller than this and I thought it looked like it was dying so I… I took it and kept in my mech for a week before I potted it. I still didn’t know how to take care of them properly so it still didn’t do to great at first, but I got better with practice.” She laughed and started to explain how she kept her plants healthy.

Get to know each other. Spend some time getting familiar.

Rosie could feel herself relaxing her guard – she’d been so anxious since the orderlies showed up, but here? She felt she could relax here, away from the cold grey metal of the rest of this place. She smiled and opened her mouth to ask her new roommate another question.

She was growling, a low rumble forming in the back of the throat that rolled out through the silence of the room around them, resonating through Rosie’s eardrums and sparking forgotten animal parts of her mind to life.

Danger. Darkness. Growls in the dark.

Fear.

Prey. You are being hunted.

“Kaya?” she said, and her voice sounded small and frail in her ears, “It’s me, it’s Rosie.”

Kaya tensed, the low growl shifting in tone. She didn’t move a muscle. Didn’t shift, didn’t relax, didn’t even blink. Her gleaming copper eyes gazed out across the room like pennies in the low light.

Rosie reached out a hand, tried to placate her. “You remember me? I’ve been here this week?” she said, her heart thundering fast against her ribcage. Blood roaring in her ears.

Kaya leapt. The coiled energy of her body propelling her through the air in a flying leap, hands – no, claws outstretched, a guttural roar thundering out of her throat and through her muzzle. Rosie could hear herself screaming, and felt herself drawing her arms up to protect her core as the Hound collided with her. Toppled her over onto her back, pinned against the bed.

She made to roll, to try and put herself on top, to escape from under the furious creature that had landed on her, but Kaya was preternaturally strong and wickedly fast and managed to pin her down by the wrists as she tried to escape, leaving her to wriggle and squirm beneath the iron grip of her hands and the feral gaze of her eyes.

Rosie fell still. Quiet. she turned her face away as the creature on top of her let out another rumbling growl, flinching as a shimmering droplet of drool fell through the muzzle’s cage to land on her exposed cheek. The beast pushed it’s jaws down, closer to her face, so close she could feel the hot breath against her skin.

Rosie closed her eyes, a whimper escaping her lips as the Hound pushed down on her.

“Kaya, please, it’s me. It’s Rosie.”

The beast pushed down closer.

Closer.

“Please.”

The muzzle paused , and when Rosie looked up she saw the eyes focusing. Saw them see, finally, softening, filling with pain and sorrow and sadness. The hands holding her down loosened, the weight keeping her pinned to the bed pulling back.

Kaya fell back, pushing herself to the end of the bed and collapsed onto her haunches, wrapping her arms around herself, as her breath caught and the growl collapsed into sobbing. Rosie pulled herself up, her bringing her knees up and wrapping her arms around her legs, waited for her breathing to stabilise, for her heartbeat to calm and slow.

They sat like that for a long time in the dark, the only sounds Rosie’s slowing breathing and kaya’s sobs. When she had calmed herself, Rosie raised her head to look at her roommate. She’d collapsed into a pile of misery and tears at the end of the bed, wracked by sobs.

She’s so small, now. So lonely.

Rosie pulled herself over to her.

At first the poor thing tried to pull away, to make herself small, but when Rosie had wrapped her arms around her, pulled her close and murmuring reassurances into her she’d melted, pressing her face into Rosie’s nightclothes and reciprocating the embrace. They’d sat like that for a while too, the older, bigger girl weeping softly into Rosie’s chest, holding onto her shirt like it was the only thing in the world.

After a long moment like that, the broken girl had spoken, her voice broken and unsteady. “I was… I dreamed. That I was back out there. Alone,” she’d sobbed, and then, in a tiny voice, “I don’t want to be alone again.” Before pressing herself deeper into Rosie’s embrace.

Before they’d fallen asleep, Kaya with her back to Rosie, wrapped in her embrace like a newborn, Rosie had promised her that she wouldn’t leave her alone.