Mellisa awoke with a strange sense of disorientation, of things not being where and how they should be. Even half asleep she still could feel that. It was more than just sight, it was a feeling that went beyond her physical senses. Shaking off that feeling, the tigress sat up slowly. With a yawn, she brushed her hair back, sweeping her black locks clear of her face. Things still didn't look right either as her eyes trailed over the quarters that had become her home.
They weren't that bad. Sparsely furnished maybe but nothing she wasn't used to. A little cramped too, but comfy enough. Along with the comforts of home. Bed, bathroom, small dresser and closet. Really all she needed. But it wasn't home to her. Not yet. Melissa hadn't unpacked anything beyond her uniform and a few essentials. Certainly no personal effects. She hadn't been able to face putting anything like that out yet. That would make this place feel like home. And she didn't feel she was ready to throw away her home yet.
That brought back the argument with her mother. Yes, she had left under a bit of a cloud. But that didn't make it any less her home. At least she had been able to avoid a further confrontations. Purposefully avoided, if she was honest. She picked a time to grab her things when she knew her mother would be working. Cowardly maybe. But she didn't want to go ten rounds with her on an argument that could have no winners. Didn't stop her feeling she was running away though. But she had made her mind up. She wanted to do this, was going to do this.
Once she was actually able to do something. It had been three days and all she had done was cool her heels around the barracks. Okay, she wasn't the only one. But she had been imagining that what with the attack and everything, they would be getting on with investigating that straight away. But she had been forced into a hiatus, with nothing to do but get used to her surroundings. Which she was only just starting to do.
Her first brief visit hadn't done justice to the scale of the barracks. And here she was right in the centre. Well, almost. It was The Mountain that sat at the centre, the tall spire that formed the majority of the base. Actually cut into the rocky peak that had long ago served as both castle and fortress for the fledgling city. Castle no longer, but still a fortress. Miles of caverns lay beneath it, some natural and some constructed. It was from there that the city army and a few corps of the militia based themselves, the imposing structure housing all they could need.
It was at the base of that peak that the barracks sat, the combined dormitory and staging post surrounded by a host of smaller buildings, from training areas to hangers and workshops and armouries, all there to support the battalion she worked with. Or was a small part of. Around that ran high walls that kept each barracks separate from one another. The whole base designed to be compartmentalised in case of enemy attack. Smart thinking. If one area was breached, at least the attackers couldn't just move freely from one to the next.
That was assuming the exterior walls could be breached. No easy feat. It would take an army of staggering proportions to break through them. But not impossible. No defences are unbreakable. It was still boggling to Mellisa how many soldiers the city had. Yes, they had not the advanced technology of her people. But they more than made up for it with numbers.
Mellisa sighed. Numbers. Here she was, just one person within this huge army. Was it a wonder she felt so..cut off? She was just restless, that's all. She had never liked doing nothing. She would be feeling better if she had something to focus on.
'Another early riser huh?' Mellisa looked round to see the black and white furred kitsune standing in the doorway, her dark black hair loose around her face as she casually leaned on frame. Her tails flicked behind lazily, casually. And she couldn't help smiling. Ilya, Arty and Koum had been a rock to her here. Really going out of their way to make her feel welcome. She expected that from Arty, they are after all close friends. So it had been a pleasant surprise to get the same from the others.
'You settling in okay?'
'Getting there.' Mellisa stood and swept out of the bed, smoothing her nightshirt down over her legs self-consciously. 'It all still feels a bit..new. You know.' That was an understatement. She had never lived in a place like this, this communal living was foreign to her. But it felt good too, stretching her wings in a way.
'I guess that's not surprising.' Ilya pushed herself off the doorframe, stretching her arms over her head. 'This is a big change for you. All of this. Leaving behind all you know and..' The kitsune paused, rubbing her head. 'Sorry. Guess that's not helping huh?'
'It's okay.' Mellisa said, pausing to give Ilya a reassuring smile before she grabbed a sweatshirt from her dresser. 'Not like I haven't been thinking the same thing anyway.'
'Come on. Breakfast.' Ilya said softly. 'Amazing how much better things look on a full stomach.'
'I'd just take being able to find my way around here.' Mellisa said with a laugh.
'It's just a matter of time. It took me a while to get used to it too.' Ilya had already fallen into step with her, leading the way through the winding corridors with an ease Mellisa was envious of. She seemed to have no trouble feeling at home here.
Maybe it was because she wasn't an outsider. Mellisa knew how the furs here thought of her. She still got glances from people she passed in the corridor. Some curious, some suspicious, distrustful. Even though she was wearing same uniform as everyone else. She had hoped that might go away after a couple of days. But it had been nearly twice that and nothing had changed. The reaction she got as she walked into the mess was proof of that.
She suddenly felt eyes on her, the attention being directed her way tickling at the edge of her senses. Like her ears burning, almost a feeling more than anything. Like the way you feel someone is behind you without seeing anything. She tried her best to ignore it, keeping her eyes straight ahead. It wasn't like she hadn't heard the gossip anyway.
She'd heard more than her fair share of muttering about her as she rounded a corridor, soft whispers about why she came here that stopped as soon as they saw her appear. And not just about that. And what they thought of her too. She shouldn't have been surprised they thought of her as an outsider. But was. But she had joined up to work with them after all. She had hoped that would count for something.
'Ahhh..don't mind them.' Arty draped an arm around her shoulder with a warm grin. She had been too lost in her thoughts to see him approaching. He must have seen the looks she was getting too. Or just had his ear to the ground too. 'They'll warm up to you. If not, I'll be having words with them.'
Mellisa couldn't help returning a grin. Honestly, she didn't see what he could do. But it meant a lot to her anyway. 'I bet you would. And I hope you are right.'
'I think he is.' Koum joined them, wandering over from the counter with a fresh cup of coffee in her hand 'It's never easy to be an outsider somewhere. You just have to give people a chance to get to know you.'
Mellisa had a feeling she would know about that. 'I'm not sure Drake and Fireheart will agree with that.' She cast her gaze at the pair of Dragons who had taken the last two chairs on the end of the table, sitting apart from the others. Almost an island of their own.
'Those two have always been..insular.' Koum said. 'They don't work too well with the regular forces side of things. I think they see themselves as an armoured division in their own right.'
'Well, as long as they are the only two that think that way, I can take it.' Mellisa helped herself to some eggs, piling them on her plate. It helped to distract her, even for a few seconds. To give her something else to think on.
'You'll always have a place with us.' Arty clapped a hand on her arm. 'You know, we should make a habit of this. Team breakfast. Not that we are really a team yet of course.'
'Hmm?' Mellisa paused as she swallowed her mouthful, scrutinising Arty over her fork. 'We aren't? I thought..'
'Not officially.' Ilya joined in again. 'Technically we are still waiting on approval from the higher ups before we can actually be sanctioned as a group. All the logistic and units are in place, but the city council is dragging its heels. They don't see the need for us. Or the expense.'
That didn't surprise Mellisa. Politicians are the same the world over it seemed. Always watching the bottom line. 'But..the attack, the one you guys saved me from, where you rescued me. Surely that would prove...'
'One isolated incident doesn't make for a credible threat I'm afraid.' Hiromi had arrived without her noticing. She turned to see Natsuki at her side. Which is why we need to get some more proof. That's why our mission today is so important.'
'Can we have one?' Mellisa asked. 'If we aren't officially sanctioned..'
'I don't need sanctions to send my troops on a training mission. I've got that in hand.' Hiromi smiled broadly. 'Briefing in one hour.'
'I don't see why we have to waste time with this farce.' Fireheart growled. His pose mirrored his attitude, his tail thumping on the floor with a steady rhythm. A movement clearly born from frustration. 'We have a threat that we know is out there. Why are we wasting our time with training missions.'
'We have theory of a threat. No more.' Hiromi fixed him with a stare. 'Which is not enough for the Regional Council, nor for the Central Command. We have our supporters but their influence is not enough to grant us autonomy yet. No, we have to play the slow game. I know it is frustrating for you but that is the game we must play.'
Mellisa watched, fascinated. Her style is so much different from her mothers. The way she works with others. Her mother would not have brooked such disobedience from anyone. Not even her. But Hiromi did work with him, deflecting his frustrations instead of smacking them down. It's both refreshing..and painful in ways she didn't want to think about. With an effort, she pulled her attention back to Hiromi.
'We need proof of this threat. And we can't afford to sit around waiting for proof to come to that.'
'Proof? What kind of proof?' Fireheart rumbled, one long claw tapping on the table with a steady rhythm. 'We don't even have a leads to go on.'.
'We have one.' Hiromi replied. 'Not much of one, but we can't afford to let it go.'
'You mean the feline she saw.' Drake scoffed, his tail thumping the ground, a clear a retort as a derisive snort. Mellisa was learning a lot about dragon body language and mannerisms. 'She might not have anything to do with this. Are we just going to take her word for it?'
Mellisa bristled, not sure if she was rising to the way he dismissed what she had seen. Or to the use of the word 'her.' With an effort, she controlled her rising temper. She had been getting looks from the two dragons that made the looks she got in the mess look almost friendly. Not that the looks she got from Drake and Fireheart were unfriendly. Just..blank. An expression of complete distain and dispassion. Or comradeship. It was that which bothered her the most, leaving her flustered for a moment. She had had disagreements with colleagues before, arguments even. But arguments usually blew themselves out after a while. Not the best way of resolving them. But one way. Unlike this. Here she couldn't see anyway to bridge the gap between them.
'I am.' Hiromi sounded much calmer than her, her face not showing a flicker of emotion. 'I have no reason to doubt what Captain Lockwell saw. The bottom line is, we need answers. I don't like being on the back foot. So we are going to try and find her.'
'How exactly, Commander?' Koum asked. 'It's not like we even know she is in the city any more.'
'We don't. But we do have a lead on that.' Hiromi paused to pull out a folder from the papers in front of her. 'Reports have been coming in of a white feline being seen in the Old City. This may be nothing but rumours. But it is worth checking out.'
'Not by all of us.' Drake growled. 'It doesn't take six to search for one feline.'
'No, it doesn't.' Hiromi agreed. 'Which is why I'm keeping you and Fireheart here on standby.'
Mellisa noted that with interest. Maybe she really did need them here. Or maybe she didn't want to push things by making them work together so closely. Either way, she was glad. Working with them wasn't exactly going to be a barrel of laughs. 'Why the Old City? I mean, it would make a good place to hide out. But why would she want to? Unless there is something there she wants.'
'All good questions.' Hiromi nodded. 'Questions I'd very much like to ask her in person.'
'How far are we allowed to go?' Arty chimed in. Mellisa had thought he was trying to stay out of the argument. Clearly he had been thinking this through as she had. 'I think it is a given she isn't going to come quietly.'
'Of course, I would prefer it if she did.' Hiromi nodded. 'But if she doesn't, you are authorised to use what ever force you need to bring her in.'
Mellisa had been thinking about that since they moved out, since the transport had set them down, the drives idling behind them. More thinking about how the others would handle a fight. Arty she knew could handle himself. But Koum and Ilya were unknown quantities. Okay, Hiromi wouldn't have picked them for this mission if they didn't know how to fight. And they were both seasoned soldiers. But that didn't stop her worrying about them.
The group..she wasn't sure if squad was the right word yet..had fallen into a loose formation, common training taking over. They weren't that different from her and she not that different from them. If only others would see it that way. This would be different if Drake and Fireheart were here. Maybe why Hiromi had split them this way. Koum and Arty had formed up with her, Ilya taking the rear position. Most likely where she was most comfortable, taking up her normal position of support. With her technical skills weren't needed here, so she had fallen into a support position, ready to provide cover for the others if needed. She seemed calm though, holding her weapon loosely yet ready.
'But where do I stand?' That question filled her head, Mellisa suddenly feeling like an outsider in the group. The other three moved as if they were used to doing this together. And she just felt like she was tagging along at best. Mellisa hoped her worries weren't showing. But she couldn't help feeling them. This was still new. And they were still learning after all. It wasn't that she could tell them to hold back though. She wasn't really in command.
Right now, age preferred to think of it as a team thing. Which is why she had deferred to Koum here, the dragons senses letting them track the feline. Or having their best chance to do so.
Mellisa had hoped she might have been able to use her magic to track her, to pick up the aura she had sensed before the attack. But either she is hiding herself or she isn't here. Which is why she is having to rely on Koum's sense of smell. It's a long shot, but Koum was certain she had identified her scent from the Arena. And she had no reason not to trust that. She had found out afterwards that she had tracked her leaving.
The city itself doesn't make tracking her easy. Or what is left of it. This is the last remnant of the city that stood here before Crystal Dell, the damage around her telling to the wrath that had descended on it. She could just make out the blasted ruins of buildings, the heavy stone not blown apart but almost..melted. She thought back to the stories she had heard, but not believed. Maybe she should.
'Did dragons do this?' Mellisa asked cautiously, not sure if she was approaching a touchy topic or not. She didn't know much about dragons. For all she knew this was some kind of taboo.
'Not dragons like we are today.' Koum said easily. So maybe she was wrong. 'Old Dragons. The Elderwurms. Our ancestors. They descended in wrath and burned the city to the ground. Where they went afterwards, we don't know. Some say the potential of them sleeps in us. I don't know what to think really. I'm just me.'
Koum seemed..spooked. Really spooked suddenly. So Mellisa tried not to push her. She could understand what she felt a bit. This place was spooky. She was trying not to feel what she felt around her. Fear and pain. Opening up her senses let it flood in. She had felt that as she arrived, and clamped down on that, blocking it. What little she had felt chilled her soul.
Then she felt a change in the air around her, her eyes turning to Koum, intending to meet her gaze. But the dragon was looking away, her eyes focused on the distance.
'You have something?' Mellisa resisted the urge to arm herself, her paw wanting to reach for Tsunami on habit. A habit she fought. Appearing belligerent wouldn't be likely to help here. Around her the group had closed up, all of them turning eyes out without her needing to have said anything, checking the surround carefully.
'I have a scent. Close now.' Koum pointed ahead, her claw coming to rest on a high pile of rubble that could have been a tower at one point. She was still scouring that with her eyes when the silence was broken.
'Down.' Arty hissed, already having dropped behind a low pile of stone. Mellisa dropped next to him, already scouring the rubble ahead of her. Then she saw it. A flash of white. Then again. Shock hit her. It was the same feline. She barely heard Koum's question.
'Yes, it's her.' A feeling distracted her as she answered. Strong feeling, she shook it off. Something like surprise at seeing her again. And something more as well. Something deep, resonating in her chest. 'It's definitely her.'
'So..what do we...?' Ilya whispered, keeping low as she crouched up to the barricade, just daring to peer over the rocks.
'We let her know we are here.' Mellisa said. 'Let's not turn this into a fight if we don't have to.'
She didn't want to spook her. If they attacked, she would bolt before they could get to her. And she very much wanted to talk to her. If she ran, they would lose the best chance they had.
'We don't know she isn't a threat.' Koum countered.
'We don't know she is.' Mellisa said evenly. Koum was just being cautious. She couldn't blame her for that. But she didn't think she would hurt them. Just a hunch maybe but it seemed right to her.
What should she say though? Just calling out would spook her just as much as if they attacked. She had no answer. And before she could find one, the choice was taken out of her paws. She didn't know if she had kicked a stone or scuffed something. But whatever the reason, the feline looked up suddenly, her face a mix of shock and surprise. Before she could bolt, Mellisa held out her hands in what she hoped was a reassuring gesture. 'Wait..we just want to talk. We aren't here to fight.'
The feline gave her a look that said she didn't believe that exactly. But neither did she make to run. 'Do you always come so armed when you just want to talk?' Her voice carried out over the distance easily, carrying confidence and wariness with it.
Mellisa wasn't going to argue that. She didn't have to justify the military's right to go armed. 'We just need to talk. We need to know what you know about the attack on the Arena.'
'You think I had something to do with that.' The feline frowned. So, she did know what she meant. Then again, it wasn't hard to forget. But the look she gave her told her she knew more than she was saying.
'You were there. You were watching her. The girl. You showed her to me.' Mellisa shook of the memories of the explosion. She tried not to sound like she was accusing her of something. That might just scare her off too. 'So, yes. I think you know something.'
Her face dropped, hardened in a way. Like she had just set her mind on doing something that would be difficult. Like she was making a tough choice. 'I don't have time for this. You think you are the only one with a purpose? Is mine less than yours?'
'I never said that. Maybe we could help each other.' Mellisa saw a way in and pressed on it. She felt like she was opening up to her. A little. 'Maybe we are actually after the same thing. If we could just..
'I have to do this alone.' The feline narrowed her eyes, set her eyes determinedly. 'This is my task. I have to do this. And I won't let you stand in my way.'
Mellisa saw..regret. And determination too. Her paw dropped to Tsunami's hilt, clenching around it. 'I didn't want to stand in your way but...'
Mellisa didn't get to finish. All she saw was a blur of movement, the feline on her in a flash. Her leg moved just as fast, whipping her feet out from under her. The world was a blur, spinning around her as Mellisa dropped to the floor, nearly landing on her face. Her paws instinctively blocked her fall and she struggled back to standing, fighting down the wave of dizziness she felt. Had she hit her head? She didn't know. Everything was fuzzy. And yet, she had tunnel vision.
All she could see was the feline as Koum and Arty rushed to engage her. Arty reached her first, pistols in hand. For a second Mellisa thought he was going to shoot her, but he swung a punch at her head. A feint, his other paw striking for her chest.
It failed. The feline caught them both, leaping into a double kick that sent him flying backwards into Koum. The dragon had no time to see it coming, the momentum of the impact sending them both tumbling.
Mellisa cleared her head and closed again, launching into a kick that sailed past the feline. Mellisa landed on both feet, crouched low and kicked again. This time she blocked, catching the kick and shoving it away. Mellisa barely countered in time, blocking her attack with a high block that still left her arms numb. If she used Tsunami this could be over. But she didn't want to kill her.
She paid for her hesitation, the feline grabbing her wrist and throwing her over her shoulder. She just had the time to catch sight of her team before she landed in a heap. Ilya was holding back, letting Koum close in to attack with her claws. But the feline was too fast, dodging and landing a sharp punch to her side. Koum winced but didn't go down. Her scales took the hit and turned with it, lashing out with her tail. She scored the first hit, driving the feline back. And buying some time for Mellisa to climb back to her feet, re-joining Koum at the same time as Arty did.
Now standing as a trio, they waited for the next attack; all three of them set in a ready stance. It never came. Making use of the distance, the feline crouched and leapt away. Mellisa moved to stop her but the ground beneath their feet shook violently, nearly throwing them all to the ground.
'What the hell?' Mellisa looked around, confused. The feline momentarily forgotten. Then hell broke loose. With a sound like a peel of thunder, the rocks around them cracked, the newly formed boulders raising into the air. Her first thought turned to an earthquake and that they were all dead. Then she felt the magic. It swirled in the air around them all. The rocks were coming together, not fusing but drawn by some intelligence or will; held in place by some force that gave it form. Before their eyes it had taken a hulking shape, looming over the assembled soldiers, drowning them in its shadow.
A shadow that changed with each movement. She couldn't pin down a shape. It was..just a mass of rocks. A crude shape, stocky and low, the rocks flowing around as it moved. Growing and changing, a narrow head rising out of it like a snake, all jagged stone. Growing and only to vanish again, before reappearing in another place, twisting around like it was searching for something. Searching until it's face, if you could call it that, twisted towards them, a cruel mouth open in a snarl, a silent snarl. With that snarl it charged, a rumbling cracking sound racing towards them, like an avalanche.
'I don't know. But I don't think it likes us.' Arty said coolly.
