My next installment for this was going to be something different, but while planning things out for the verse this popped in my head and wouldn't let me do anything else until I wrote it so... here we are! We're back at the Garrison for this chapter, pre-Kerberos mission. I tried to keep this one pretty silly, but it got away from me just a wee bit at the end there. Whoopsie! You know how it is.

when there's a black cat at your space base (and that's just the tip of the iceberg)

"That cat is following me."

Peering behind them, Rizavi frowned. "Down the hall, or...?"

"No, not down the hall. Well yes, down the hall." James made a frustrated noise, avoiding looking back over his shoulder at the black cat he knew was there, and had been for some time. "I meant in general."

"Maybe it likes you?" Rizavi suggested.

It sounded so innocent, but he knew better than to think that. Especially not with that mischievous twinkle in her eyes.

"We both know that thing hates me." James said flatly. "That's probably why it's stalking me. It's trying to freak me out."

Rizavi just rolled her eyes. "It's just a cat, Griffin."

"No," James said, "-that's not a cat. I'm good with cats. That's a demon."

He considered himself a cat person. His parents had two cats, and so did both of his aunts. He liked cats! And usually, cats liked him.

But this cat? This cat was basically Satan as far as he was concerned.

"You're so dramatic." Rizavi said. "What, it scratched you like, twice?"

"Three times." James corrected. "Not to mention an abundance of stolen food. And I swear it's the same damn cat I had problems with back in Plaht City."

"Plaht City." Rizavi said flatly. "The town that's half a mile from the Garrison. Half a mile through the desert."

James shot her a look. Fine, when she put it that way, it sounded ridiculous. But he would stand by it- that little tuft of fur on the top of its head, those eerie golden eyes... it was the same cat, he would swear it on his life. What were the odds he could have the same problems with two separate black cats?

Low, very low. Like he said, he was usually good with cats.

"Maybe it belongs to Keith." James said after a moment. "Of course he'd train his cat to hate me."

It made perfect sense, at least to him. He and Keith had gone to the same school before attending the Garrison. Pets weren't exactly allowed on Garrison property, but Keith was never exactly one to play by the rules- or even acknowledge them.

It would probably explain why the cat acted so sweet and innocent around Lieutenant Shirogane. Keith was always sucking up to him, so it was no surprise that his cat would too. And the lieutenant had way too big of a soft spot for Keith to report it if he was hiding a cat in his dorm room- which was a single room. The only other cadet he knew with a single room was Kinkade, and he still wouldn't clue him in on how he had managed to get one.

As for Keith? Guess it paid to be the lieutenant's pet.

"So what, you just think he snuck a cat in here?" Rizavi asked. "Didn't he live in a group home or something before he came to the Garrison?"

...okay, that was a fair point. Frowning, James glanced behind him. Sure enough, the black cat was still back there. It stopped, seemingly staring right at him.

"Look," James said, "-all I'm saying is that there's something weird about this cat."

Rizavi just heaved a sigh, having the audacity to make it a long suffering one. "If you say so."

James shot her a look. "You don't believe me."

"Yeah, pretty much." Rizavi agreed. "Now stop getting distracted by cats. You're the one who convinced me to sign up for extracurriculars with you, so you'd better not be the one to make me late for them."

"Hey, you're the one who said she wanted to learn how to drive the AW-cruisers." James pointed out. "I just suggested that there was a better way to do it than taking them out on joyrides."

"A less fun way, you mean." Rizavi said, rolling her eyes.

James just groaned. What was with people and stealing those things? He'd thought Keith was the only one who had the nerve to do it, but it turned out there was a whole crop of cadets who were all too eager to hotwire Garrison vehicles and take them out for a spin. Sure, Keith was the only one who had done it before he was a cadet- and the only one to do it right in front of a commanding officer, but still.

Behind them, he swore that damn cat looked amused.

"Alright," James sighed, pointedly ignoring the cat, "-fine, you're right. Let's go."

(He almost got through the class without thinking about the cat- until he opened up his assigned cruiser to find it waiting inside. He ended the day with fresh scratches on his face and a deep grudge against all things furry and feline.)

That said, all things considered, he still liked cats.

It might have taken a visit home to remind him of the fact, but he remembered. Cats were fine. He liked cats. It was just that one damn cat that was akin to the devil.

Unfortunately, it was also the only cat anywhere near the Garrison. Or so he thought.

The Garrison's library was far from one of his usual haunts. It wasn't that he didn't read- he did, of course he did. It was just that reading on his data pad was so much more convenient than leafing through a book- especially when he had a tendency to get paper cuts. But today he needed to find an actual book, so while grumbling to himself about it not having been digitized yet, he made his way to the distant library wing.

That's where he found the cat.

Not the stray black cat that so much of the base had taken to calling Blackie, when they weren't using some colorful variation of a curse- but a different one. A very different one.

For one thing, it was a long-haired cat, with fur that looked almost golden. Weird- he'd never seen a cat with that color of fur before. It looked kind of like a Norwegian forest cat, but he had no idea what it was doing here.

Here being curled up on a bean bag chair- bright orange, of course, what at the Garrison wasn't bright orange- right in the middle of a sunbeam. Other than the cat, the library was completely empty, and for a split second he wondered if maybe he'd taken a wrong turn and walked into some weird alternate dimension.

Slowly edging his way towards it, he wondered if it was someone's pet. Maybe it belonged to an officer? It didn't look like a stray. It wasn't scruffy or scrappy- it was almost meticulously well groomed. Kind of reminded him of Leifsdottir, actually.

He dug out his phone, about to send her a message- she liked cats too- when it woke up, peeking one eye open. He froze, barely even registering that the cat's eyes were blue.

"Uh," James began, "-sorry to wake you?"

...wait, why was he apologizing? It was a cat. It couldn't understand him.

The cat merely stared at him for a moment longer, before it closed its eyes again, presumably going back to sleep. He exhaled, his shoulders slumping. For a second he was worried it might try to attack him- guess the stray had really impacted his view on cats.

Hastily snapping a picture, James debated petting it, but decided against it. He kept an eye on it all while sending the photo to Leifsdottir, pausing for a moment to wonder where she was. Wasn't she usually the cadet librarian in charge around this time of day?

Huh. Maybe she'd stepped out for a bit. He did remember her saying that she took this shift because it was the one with the least amount of foot traffic. There probably wasn't anyone who would even notice if she left for awhile.

Sending the photo, he nearly jumped out of his skin, a loud ping coming from the front desk. It woke the cat, whose eyes briefly darted towards the desk, before scampering off in a hurry.

Okay, that was weird. Maybe it just didn't like the sound.

Making his way to the front desk, he found it empty. Peeking over it, he spotted Leifsdottir's phone, complete with an indication that it had received his message. Frowning, he picked it up, about to press the button-

"-what are you doing?"

Only to nearly jump out of his skin for a second time, tossing the phone up in the air in shock. Thankfully he caught it, pausing for a second to try and compose himself before turning to glare at the person who had spooked him.

Would it kill Keith to make some noise when he walked?

"Just checking to see if Leifsdottir is here." James said.

"Looks more like you're trying to snoop around in her phone." Keith pointed out.

Shit. He had him there. He hadn't meant to, it had just been an impulse. An impulse that he really should have thought better of. He wasn't usually that nosy.

"I just sent her a message." James weakly defended himself. He hated that he had to do it in front of Keith, but he'd admit that this probably looked bad. He didn't want to be known as the creep who tried to peek a look at girl's phones. "I just wanted to make sure she got it."

"But if you checked it, how would I know you sent me a message?"

This time, James actually did drop the phone. Fortunately, it just fell harmlessly back on the desk.

"Christ, Leif!" James said. "You scared me."

Leifsdottir simply tilted her head, blinking at him owlishly. "That was not my intention."

Intention or not, she still sure as heck did it. He was loathe to claim that his friends had anything in common with Keith, but if he was being realistic, the whole moving completely silently thing was definitely a trait that she shared with him. He didn't know what it was- maybe it had something to do with the fact that both of them were not exactly up to speed on basic social interactions.

...and that sounded a little mean. To Leifsdottir, not to Keith. He'd stand by it for him.

Clearing his throat, James shot Keith a glare. "What are you doing here anyways, Kogane? Don't tell me you're here to check out a book."

"And what if I am?" Keith asked. "I'm allowed."

"Please," James rolled his eyes, "-any book you checked out would probably come back in tatters."

"Actually," Leifsdottir began, "-Keith is quite diligent about returning the books he has borrowed in excellent condition."

Eye twitching, James had to bite down on his lip to keep from saying something smart. It didn't help that Keith looked so smug about it. Instead, he just heaved a sigh, turning back towards Leifsdottir. "I guess I should apologize for trying to look at your phone."

Leifsdottir merely shrugged, indifferent. "It is my fault for leaving it out. What is it that you sent me?"

"Oh, uh," James blinked, "-there was a cat here a second ago."

Leifsdottir simply hummed. "I am aware. It frequently comes here. The black one too."

Out of the corner of his eye, he swore Keith choked. Arching a brow, he glanced back at him strangely, but his expression quickly fell into one that was almost irritatingly neutral.

Maybe it really was his cat.

"I just hadn't seen it around before." James said, turning back to her. "Thought you might want to know about it. I know you're a big fan of cats."

This time Keith snorted, and James turned to glare at him again, but his expression was already completely blank by the time he did. "You got a problem, Kogane?"

"No," Keith said, and he swore there was the faintest hint of amusement on his voice, "-no problem. I'm just gonna go check out the new additions."

James frowned, watching as he disappeared behind the stacks. Finally turning back to Leifsdottir he looked at her questioningly. "So... do you think it's someone's pet?"

Leifsdottir's lips turned downwards in a sharp frown. "It is no one's pet."

"Huh. It just didn't seem like a stray." James observed, wondering what he had said to make her so upset. "At least it seems nicer than the black one."

Leifsdottir merely hummed. "The black one can be quite companionable."

"Yeah right." James rolled his eyes. "I don't think that cat likes anyone other than Lieutenant Shirogane. And that one cadet from the engineering class... what was his name?"

"Hunk Garrett?" Leifsdottir supplied. "He smells nice. Perhaps he is attracted to that."

James blinked, but to be honest, he had sort of learned to tune it out when Leif made a weird comment like that. Just an odd quirk, he figured.

"So," Leifsdottir asked, tilting her head, "-what did you come here for? I assume it was not to take pictures of cats."

"Oh, uh, I came here to find a book, actually." James told her. "Any chance you could help me with that? I tried checking the digital library, but apparently it hasn't been digitized yet, so..."

"Do you have the title?" Leifsdottir inquired.

"Uh, yeah sure, just hang on a second." James told her, pulling out the scrap of paper he had scribbled it down on, handing it to her. "It's this one."

Leifsdottir hummed, setting to work to help him find it. As she did, his eyes darted down towards her phone, still left abandoned on the desk. She hadn't touched it since she had returned.

...weird. How did she know he'd taken a picture of the cat then?

Ah well. Probably nothing.

Let's go camping, Rizavi had said.

It'll be fun, Rizavi had said.

It definitely won't involve having to walk a quarter mile in the dark in the middle of the night just to get to the nearest bathroom, Rizavi had- well okay, she hadn't said that, but she'd definitely forgotten to mention the fact that the bathrooms were separate from the campsite. And he guessed it was his fault for drinking too much water before bed.

Look, the point was, it was dark, they were in the woods, and if he was being perfectly honest, it was spooky as shit.

He didn't know why he had let Rizavi talk him into this. He had been born and raised in the city, for Pete's sake. His only experience camping involved doing it out of his dad's camper. He'd never slept in a tent before, which didn't exactly seem like a great defense against wild animals, if you asked him. Rizavi had assured him he didn't have to worry about that, but Rizavi said a lot of things, and he knew better than to trust half of them.

And yet, here he was. Camping. In the forest.

He heaved a sigh. Maybe he should have just bit the bullet and woke Kinkade, asked him to come with him. At least then he'd have company.

But it was fine. He would be fine. He'd already made it to the bathroom. Now he just had to make it back to the campsite. No problem. It was fine. He was fine.

Then he heard a twig snap behind him, and suddenly, he wasn't fine.

Swallowing, he held his lantern aloft. "Rizavi? That you?"

No answer. Oh man, he really didn't want to turn around right now. "Kinkade? That you, pal?"

Still nothing. Oh man. "...Leif? Please tell me that's you."

Still nothing. His heart pounding in his chest, James slowly turned around. Hoisting his lantern above his head to get a better look at whatever it was that was hidden in the darkness, he froze on the spot. Staring at him were a pair of golden eyes, which belonged to the biggest wolf he had ever seen.

Were wolves supposed to be this big? Maybe it was actually a coyote. It kind of looked like a coyote. Did coyotes even get this big?

Maybe it was just a really big, really mean looking dog. Oh god, he hoped it was just a really big, really mean looking dog- just mean looking, not actually mean. Maybe it was friendly? Oh god, he hoped it was friendly. He was way too young to be found disemboweled in the woods. He did not want to be a cautionary tale!

Whatever it was, it was big and it was coming right towards him.

"Nice... nice doggy," James slowly said, inching backwards, well aware he was panicking, "-good doggy. Let's not do anything like tearing my guts out, okay? I like those."

The coyote/wolf (coywolf? he was just going to call it a coywolf) kept advancing. James tried to think about what he was supposed to do in situations like these, only to realize he had no idea. He probably should have asked Rizavi. Or checked with Leifsdottir. Maybe even Kinkade might know, though he was just as much of a city boy as he was.

Or just you know, not come on this trip at all. That was looking like a real good choice in hindsight.

He took another step back, only to hit a tree. Cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck as he watched the coywolf draw closer and closer. His knees buckled, giving out on him, leaving him sitting helplessly on the forest floor with the coywolf now close enough to him for him to smell its breath.

Okay. So he was going to die.

Shutting his eyes tight, he braced himself. There was nothing he could really do to protect himself from those massive jaws, but at the very least he didn't have to look when they sank into them, right?

He felt something wet against his cheek, and he felt his heart stop. So this was it. This was the end.

Except... there wasn't any pain? Maybe he was already dead. Maybe the whole thing had been so instantaneous that there hadn't been any time for him to feel pain. All he felt was something cold against his cheek- something cold and-

...and wet? Cracking an eye open, he stared in disbelief. The coywolf wasn't trying to maul him, it was just... it was licking him?

"Uh," James said slowly, wondering if he was dead after all, and this was some bizarre dream he was having on the way to the afterlife, "-nice doggy?"

He swore the coywolf snickered, before giving him one final wet, disgusting lick on his forehead. At which point it vanished back into the forest from where it had come.

For a long time, he just sat there, too baffled by the series of events that had transpired for him to do anything else. Then slowly, he hauled himself back to his feet, stumbling back towards camp. He didn't stop until he made it back to the tent he was sharing with Kinkade, at which point he just balled himself up, caught between shaking like a leaf and wondering what the fuck had just happened.

He must have woken Kinkade, because his fellow pilot cracked an eye open, glancing up at him. "You alright?"

"I just got kissed by a wolf." James said.

"A wolf." Kinkade repeated.

"It might have been a coyote?" James offered helplessly.

Kinkade just stared at him for a long time- before he snorted, and rolled back over. "Don't let it get to your head."

James just stared at him. "Kinkade? Kinkade, what is that supposed to mean? Kinkade-"

Technically, the Garrison's roof was off limits.

This did nothing to deter the cadets, of course. It was pretty much commonplace at this point for them to find their way up there at least a few times a year. James was pretty sure the officers all knew about it, but they just turned a blind eye to it. In terms of teenage rebellion, climbing up on a roof was overall pretty harmless.

For his part, he tried to avoid it. Breaking rules for the sake of breaking rules wasn't exactly his thing.

But today the roof was where he found himself. It hadn't been a good day. He had finally broken one of Keith's records, only for him to waltz up and create a new one just like that. All that hard work, all that extra practice for what? A few moments of recognition? A split second of acknowledgment before his newly obtained spot of number one was snatched from him?

The worst part was that Keith made it look like he wasn't even trying. Maybe he wasn't.

He just... he just needed to blow off some steam. To be alone. He was kind of starting to understand that getting into Keith's face every time he showed him up wasn't helping. All it did was make him look bad, and that wasn't what he wanted. They weren't in middle school anymore- he wasn't the teacher's favorite, Keith was.

Okay, fine. So maybe Professor Warner didn't exactly play favorites. But he was dating Lieutenant Shirogane, and Keith was his favorite, so it was pretty much the same thing. The lieutenant had never exactly hidden the extent to which he favored Keith, which chafed at him constantly- what did he even see in him?

Sure, his sim scores had been impressive, but he'd followed it up with stealing his car. He had been convinced that would be the end of it, but no. Not only did the lieutenant bail him out of juvie, he also paid for him to take the Garrison entrance exam.

Which Keith had aced. Because of course the little punk had.

And this line of thought wasn't helping. Exhaling, James let his shoulders slump. He'd just stay up here until he was feeling calmer, and then he would head to down to the commissary, maybe find Kinkade or Rizavi and grab a bite to eat. He could ask Leifsdottir, but she was usually-

Wait. What was that?

He hadn't even realized he'd been pacing until he came to a dead stop. There, across from him on the roof, was a bona fide eagle. It had to be. He couldn't think of any other bird that looked like that and was that big. A golden eagle, maybe? He didn't know a lot about birds, but he was pretty sure it was a golden eagle.

And it was just sitting there. Staring at him.

Okay, Griffin, just calm down. It's just a bird. Just a large bird, with large talons. Staring right at you. That's all it is. Nothing to worry about. You're fine.

"Uh," James began, "-guess you had the roof first, huh? I'm just gonna..."

He made a motion to indicate leaving, unable to help but feel kind of like a fool. Why was he talking to the eagle? It wasn't like it was going to understand him.

The eagle said nothing- no surprise there, it was an eagle. All it did was stare at him. A cold bead of sweat trickled down the back of James' neck, as he slowly began to edge his way back towards the door, not taking the chance of taking his eyes off the bird.

He only exhaled once he was back inside the Garrison, the door shut tight behind him. Were golden eagles even supposed to be here? He had no idea, but the whole thing had kind of freaked him out.

Maybe he should find Kinkade and get that meal. Trying to shake off his stupor, James strode down the hall towards the dorms, pausing outside of Kinkade's room. Knocking on the door, he shifted on his feet, getting no answer.

Maybe he was out? Weird. Kinkade always went back to his room after classes. Maybe he'd gotten held up by an instructor or something.

Ah well. Guess he could hit up Rizavi instead.

Just as he thought that, turning on his heel to leave, Kinkade threw the door to his room open. "Griffin?"

James blinked, taking a second to take in his somewhat disheveled appearance. It wasn't bad- it was more like he had just gotten dressed in a hurry than anything else. He almost thought he might have been taking a shower, but his hair wasn't damp.

Kinkade obviously noticed, because he paused, fixing his attire. "You need something?"

"Uh, just wanted to see if you wanted to grab something from the commissary?" James asked, hesitating for a second before adding, "...everything okay?"

"Yeah." Kinkade said, acting so completely neutral that he briefly had to wonder if he'd just imagined things earlier. "Golden. We inviting Rizavi? Leif might be busy."

"I was thinking of inviting her next." James said. "You sure everything's okay?"

"Just trying to work out my latest documentary." Kinkade told him. "Stressful."

James arched a brow. "Wasn't your latest project on fermentation?"

Kinkade just glared at him. "Yeast is a complicated matter."

Holding up his hands, James just grinned. "Alright, alright. Let's just find Rizavi before she finds us."

If Kinkade said nothing was wrong, then he'd just have to trust nothing was wrong. After all, they were a team, and he wouldn't lie to him like that. And unlike some people, he actually knew what it meant to be a team player.

"That sounds ominous." Kinkade observed. "But you're probably right. She does have a good nose."

He swore there was an edge of a grin to his lips as he said that, but it was gone in a flash. He just heaved a sigh. He had long since accepted that his friends were kind of weird.

"Do you ever think we should like, tell him?"

"Who, Griffin?" Kinkade asked.

Nadia just rolled her eyes. Of course she meant James. Who else could she possibly mean? "No, Commander Iverson."

"I believe informing a ranking member of the Galaxy Garrison's high command would be-"

"Sarcasm, Ina." Nadia cut her off.

Ina merely blinked. "Oh. Yes."

"Yes, we should tell Griffin, or...?" Nadia trailed off.

"I was merely acknowledging your use of sarcasm." Ina said. "That said, I do not think it wise to break the taboo."

"Yep, I'm with Leif." Kinkade agreed. "Even if Griffin is our friend, I don't think it's a good idea. Besides, it's not just our secret we'd be putting at risk. I'm pretty sure Kogane wouldn't be happy with us if we accidentally blew his secret for him. And he's not even the only other Shifter here. There's that officer from communications, too."

"Oh come on," Nadia rolled her eyes, "-we both know he's totally told Lieutenant Shirogane and Professor Warner already. Besides, the whole taboo thing is totally lame."

Her parents had already broken one by getting together and having her. Sure, maybe her mom's side of the family was fine with it, but her dad's? God, wolves were such assholes. Coyotes were so much more chill.

"Not all of us have parents as understanding as yours, Rizavi." Kinkade pointed out.

Solid point. Kinkade's parents were sticklers for the rules. Probably had something to do with the fact that his mom couldn't transform. She was already on thin ice with her clan for basically being a human, so her kid breaking the taboo and telling a human about them? Yeah, she had a hard time picturing her being wild about that.

"Mine would be most displeased." Ina agreed. "They were already in opposition to my desire to attend the pilot course here."

Oh yeah. Ina had mentioned something like that before- her parents were like, super traditional. Most cat clans were like that- they followed certain paths in life, and rarely ever deviated. Ina's desire to go into space definitely deviated.

Cats also tended to be pretty close knit. It made her wonder just how one had ended up in the foster system. She'd never had any luck asking Kogane about his past.

"You just want to see how he'll react when he realizes he's the token human of the group." Kinkade said.

Alright, so he had her there. Pranking him back at the campsite had been hilarious, but she wasn't exactly going to get many other chances like that. It wasn't like she could transform while she was on base grounds. She didn't have that luxury.

She was dying to see how he would react to learning he was the only human on their flight squad. Not to mention the only human among the top ranked cadets in the whole Garrison, at least in the pilot class. Which, honestly? Pretty impressive.

She meant that earnestly. Not to sound like some kind of weird elitist, but Shifters just generally had better reflexes than humans. That wasn't the only reason they made such good pilots, but it definitely helped. Honestly, when she had first come here, she'd expected that she would be in that coveted number one spot- and for awhile, she'd been a little bitter about losing.

Sure, losing to Kogane would be one thing. Even among Shifters, his reflexes were abnormally quick. He smelled weird too.

But to James? To a human? It was unthinkable, at least at first. But she'd gotten over it. It wasn't a big deal. That said, she'd never let James forget for one second that she was nipping at his heels- not that she needed to. His self-imposed rivalry with Kogane meant that her silent rivalry with him was guaranteed to never get boring.

"Possibly." Nadia admitted. "But fine. If you don't want to do it, I won't force you."

"Good, because we're not." Kinkade said.

Nadia just huffed. "It's not like he would even tell anyone."

"It is not a matter of who he would tell." Ina stated. "It is a matter of survival."

Nadia just groaned. There was that same mantra she always heard, ever since childhood. Don't tell the humans. The humans can't know about Shifters. We stay hidden for a reason. Honestly, she was sick of it.

"Oh, hey, there you all are!"

Turning on her heel, Nadia tried to feign surprise as James poked his head in the door. She'd known he was coming. She could probably smell him from a mile away and his footsteps weren't exactly subtle.

"Aren't you guys going to come watch the launch?" James asked. "This might be our last chance to see Lieutenant Shirogane for nearly a year."

"We were just planning on doing that." Kinkade said, getting to his feet. "Right, Rizavi?"

"Yeah, sure." Nadia shrugged. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Kinkade shot her a slight look as he passed, and she fought the urge to roll her eyes. She had promised she wouldn't say anything. She wasn't about to blow the secrets of her friends just for her own self satisfaction. Maybe she didn't care that much about the taboos, but they did.

Still, one day there was going to come a time when Shifters couldn't remain hidden any longer. She didn't know when. She just knew that she wanted to be there when it did.

She only marginally regretted that thought later, when the medics dragged Professor Warner's mangled, barely breathing body back to the Garrison.

She knew one way to save him, and she wasn't about to let any damn taboos stand in her way.