Here's the second chapter! Hope everyone had a good week! Now, I must get busy on chapter three for you!
I felt like I'd been socked in the stomach. Nothing more than a slave!? I thought we were partners. Refusing to let my pain at Kraglin's betrayal show, I steadied my gaze at the Nova officer and glared. His eyes traveled around my body and I let out a harsh snarl, recapturing his attention with my sharp teeth. His eyes narrowed after a second.
"Oh really, just a slave?" He raised an eyebrow, hoping Kraglin would catch his drift.
I heard Kraglin give a small snort. "You know as well as I do how very capable we Xandarians are of having emotionless sex."
My growl was too soft for either of them to pick up the choking sound that resulted from the sudden closure of my throat. I kept all emotions firmly tucked away as I forced air in and out of my lungs as normal. How could I have been so clueless? The first time he saw me as a human, I was naked. Of course that's all he actually wanted from me.
I'd fully regained myself and channelled my pain into pure anger. It burned white-hot as I felt my claws grow to match my teeth. The guard's eyes were fully locked onto this new development.
"You're not a Terran, are you?" He questioned, narrowing his brown eyes at me.
"One hundred percent." I answered, refusing to meet Kraglin's eyes. There was nothing there for me anymore. I could smell fear coming off of the officer in waves as my teeth were bared in his direction. It was painfully obvious that he had no idea what he was currently dealing it.
The officer moved over to an onset computer near the doorway and started entering a few commands. A harsh red light emanated from the flooring of my cell, causing me to jump back in alarm for fear of injury. It turned out to be harmless and faded in a few seconds. After a few more seconds the officer nodded.
"Jiru! Open cell two and get in contact with our Terran rep," the officer shouted behind him, still looking at the readouts. "Congratulations, Mr. Obfonteri, you've now got 'illegal trafficking of an unregistered sentient species' added to your charges."
I heard Kraglin expel a small burst of air. Not quite a sigh, but almost like a cross between relief and irritation. The officer looked back in my direction, not quite meeting my eyes. I crossed my arms to discourage anymore visual wanderings and intensified my glare. I didn't shift back so I could continue to have a say in my matters.
There was a slight buzz as the laser cell was deactivated, but I made no motion to move. The officer in front of me turned and grabbed set of clothes out of a nearby drawer and threw them in my direction, which I dodged and let fall on the floor behind me.
"Put those on and prepare for departure."
I did no such thing. "I want my own stuff." I declared. I wasn't about to let what few possessions I had out of my grasp that quickly. I raised my chin as the officer looked at my face to determine if I was serious.
"We'll swing by Obfonteri's ship on the way to Terra."
Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Kraglin whip his head over to face me. I didn't return the look.
"Terra?" I asked. I didn't want to go to Terra.
"When we find slaves, we return them to their planet of origin. Even if it's a severely underdeveloped rock more than a quadrant away," the officer said, his irritation apparent. He didn't want to take me there any more than I wanted to go. "Nova Corps policy." And with that, he left to head to the flight deck.
Bugger. I crouched down and shifted back. I padded out of the cell and towards the front of the ship, ignoring the stares from the second officer. It appeared as though I had some kind of immunity that granted me safe passage to Terra. Only to Terra. I considered telling them for a second that I was Kraglin's partner, but no one had really ever put too much stock in my words before. Also, due to the fact that I was unregistered, I essentially had no vote. They would believe Kraglin's story of me being his slave over mine. Looks like I was stuck going to Terra. This really sucked. As I got closer, I could hear the officer who'd thrown me the clothes talking to someone over the Com.
"No sir, she's actually human. We thought she was an animal at first, but she can change forms." the officer, was reporting.
"Change forms?" The voice echoed. "Terrans can't do that unless heavily infected by gamma rays."
"Her bioscans read Terran. There is no overreaction of gamma rays, we checked that. So far, it appears to be a natural ability, either way, we need you to place her once we leave her to you," the officer was saying.
"What?" A voice responded, "How am I supposed to place her? Who the hell is she?"
The second officer, Jiru, looked up as I approached. He shot a confused look at the first, who rolled his eyes in response. I'm sure he had doubts about my nature since I'd shifted back. I narrowed my eyes and hissed at him, just for good measure. Feeling a surge of pride at the sudden fear scent.
"We're not sure, we can't find any record of her. She was most likely obtained by illegal means, although we have no idea how long she's been off Terra."
"Get me a name. I'll do the rest. Oh, and by the way, we Terrans like to call it 'Earth'," and with that final note, the call was disconnected. I could tell by his voice, that this was a man who was used to giving orders instead of receiving them. He was probably going to be just as happy about this arrangement as I was.
The nameless officier let out a groan of frustration. Good. He turned back to me, his look of displeasure grew when he saw that I'd shifted back. I growled in return, feeling my hackles raise. I wasn't shifting back until I'd gotten my clothes. And if I was feeling nice, I might actually tell them my name.
The officer finally got us onto his smaller Nova issued spacecraft and true to his word, we made a stop at Kraglin's ship, which was indeed being towed. I wondered what they were going to do with it. I'd avoided thinking about how Kraglin had just stabbed me in the back but with his scent everywhere it was impossible. I blinked back the sadness and proceeded to head down to the living area of the ship.
I went over to the bed, where I'd thrown my clothes in haste earlier and shifted back. I started putting the clothes on when I spotted one of Kraglin's few knives laying on the small shelf next to the bunk. I quickly grabbed it and put it in my boot before the officer followed me down. No way was I going to travel in my human form without some sort of protection. The officer made his way down mere moments after my pant leg dropped to conceal my weapon.
"Hurry up, we have a long way to travel."
I scowled at him and took one last look around the interior of the ship. This place was more home to me than Terra was. Even with the pain of betrayal fresh on my mind, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness as I realized I'd probably never see this place again. Finally, I turned and walked up the ladder and out of the ship. I boarded the Nova officer's ship and mentally bade a final farewell to Kraglin.
It was difficult to even imagine that I was going back to Terra. Of course, I'd dreamed about it as a kid. Dreamed and hoped and wished against all odds. However, as I grew older, I slowly came to the realization that it was something that was never going to happen. That if I wanted to survive in the cold galaxy, I needed to put those childish dreams aside and accept my life as it was.
All through the ride, I tried to focus on what was sure to be the strangest of homecomings, however, I couldn't get Kraglin out of my thoughts. I kept seeing that last look on his face that I'd glimpsed out of the corner of my eye as the officer and I were departing the ship. He'd looked upset, but I couldn't tell who it was aimed at.
Although I was drowsy, I refused to sleep in a place such as this. The Corps officer, I finally learned that his name was Bantu, conked out almost immediately. I wasn't sure how long this journey was set to take, but it turned out to be an uncomfortable couple of weeks. The transport ship was small, with only one bunk and a tiny lavatory directly behind the control board. It seemed as though these ships weren't made for anything long-distance. What a shame for Bantu and I.
The utter silence was driving him mad. I could tell, but I refused to speak to him. I was terrible at small-talk and I sure as hell wasn't about to give him my name. I'd wait until I met this Terran contact to see if he could actually get me to my family. Then I'd relinquish it, but in the meantime, I wasn't about to fall for any silly traps.
I had a lot of free time to sit and think on this unexpected journey through the Galaxy. I sat, reclined back in the co-pilot's chair with my feet propped up on the consoles. Bantu gave up trying to move me after the first day or so. I was left with the intensity of my mind, a place that I was more than familiar with. Being a slave of any sorts means a lot of time with yourself, trying to keep ahold of yourself and retain that one thing that makes you you. Since coming into Kraglin's care, I hadn't felt the need to visit some of the darker corners. Maybe it was time to clean out some cobwebs.
Dark memories are like monsters. They lie in wait for you to let your guard down and then will attack mercilessly. It is sometimes possible to beat them back, but they are never held at bay forever. After a seemingly harmless event they might surface and they do so in strange and different ways, like Kraglin's nightmares. Throughout the years I'd been plagued periodically with my own memories. The memories of what I'd seen, the memories of what I'd done. Just when I'd start to think that I'd found some ray of happiness, I was transported back to the first time I killed a man. At seven years old. Being with Kraglin had been the longest reprieve I'd ever known. As reluctant as I was to give it up, there was nothing I could do to go back to him. I couldn't believe that he would just throw me aside like that, but I'd fallen for stupider ploys. I was more angry at myself in this folly than anything else. I'd put my trust in poorer places, but it had been ages since that had happened. I wasn't a cub anymore, so why was I thinking like one?
What was it about Kraglin that seemed to alter my brain? There was something about him. Even his scent was like a calming drug on me. I couldn't always think straight when I was around him. I'd even given myself to him physically. Openness and laughter, love and affection; these were things I'd given up on. I figured I'd never find them. People like me don't get to enjoy nice things. We don't get happiness. We don't get to fall in love.
I felt my face scrunch up as I thought harder about that word. 'Love.' It was always just a word to me. Something uttered when too many drinks had been consumed. I'd never had a grasp on its actual concept. I'd seen others in closeness, I'd felt the warmth and comfort of my brothers. But what was 'love' exactly? I sorely wish that I'd had a chance to talk to Kraglin about it before all of this mess happened.
After working myself into a mess about things I didn't understand, my mind turned yet again to Kraglin. Why did it always come back to him? I wondered if I'd ever be able to shake him. By the end of the trip, though, I'd spent more time obsessing over what I may or may not have had with him then I'd actually spent with him. I gave a mental sigh. What the fuck was wrong with me? I inhaled deeply, drawing his scent in. He was still all over me. Even after multiple showers in the ship's impossibly small lavatory, he was on my skin, in my clothes, he had somehow managed to weave himself into my very being. A small burst of anger flared. How dare he!
After what seemed like an eternity, Terra's surface could finally be seen through the main view and we started our descent. Among the multitude of emotions swirling inside of me, fear and curiosity tended to reign supreme. This was sure to be the most interesting of trips. When the cloud cover dissipated, I found myself overlooking a giant city. Terra's sun bounced off the gleaming metallic structures as I failed to glimpse even a tree. My heart fell. I couldn't survive in this fake, manufactured place.
Bantu landed the craft gingerly on the roof of one of the tallest, most central buildings and proceeded to power down. I could see some sort of triangular symbol on the side of the building, but it wasn't covered in my latest reading lesson. I resisted the urge to squirm in my seat as a feeling of great unease settled itself in the pit of my stomach like a great beast. I exited the ship after Bantu like a beaten animal. Which, to a certain extent, was exactly what I was. I crept into the bright sun slowly and kept a sharp look-out. I didn't know if we could be readily spotted up here, nor if I was a target, but I wasn't about to let myself be caught off-guard again. I narrowed my eyes as a door opened from a small square structure that was on the roof directly across from us and a tall dark-haired man with a goatee, wearing a pair of jeans and a tight-fitting shirt approached us. He was wearing a long overcoat with his hand stuffed in his pockets and his shoulders drawn up to partially cover his ears. Who was this goofus?
"Couldn't call with a heads-up? A little bit of an ETA would have nice so as to avoid this potential PR crisis on my hands. Thanks for that, I love press conferences." I recognized the irritated, snarky voice instantly. For being someone who clearly has such a high opinion of himself, his dressing habits seemed wildly out of place here. Then again…. I thought as a mental picture of Yondu's face flashed in my mind.
"Glad you're out here to greet us," Bantu said formally, "If I had known that, I wouldn't have cut the engine. Well, here's the Terran. If you could just sign this form here, proving that I delivered her safely I'll be going now."
The man sighed and walked over to sign the pad with his finger. Bantu looked it over and nodded in satisfaction before heading back to his ship.
"Pleasure doing business with you Mr. Stark."
Oh look! A new player to the game! ~F2tM