~(o)~
Volt breathed heavily as he squinted in the direction where the menacing growls came from. As if right on cue, six narrow, calculating eyes peered from out of the darkness of the nearby brush. Three snarling dog-like creatures emerged when they saw they were detected. Volt took a quick step back when one of them snapped its jaws swiftly at his left leg. He recognized what these things were from reading up on hazards Tenno may face. The creatures were known as Kubrow, vicious carnivores that always lived in dens made from mud... along with other stuff.
The three Kubrows started to fan out, a tactic of theirs Volt saw as new. Kubrows were known to hunt in packs but, never this coordinated, it scared the crap out of him.
Anxious as to why they hadn't torn him apart yet, Volt rushed forward in between the three of them. "Come on, ya mutts!" he cried frantically. He focused his energy into his hands and in a few seconds, surges of electricity pulsed from his palms. He raised them together and a wall of blue energy rose with them. Since they were not familiar with Volt's power, one of the creatures snarled and tensed its hind legs and leapt forward, claws out.
Whap! The poor Kubrow slammed right into the energy wall and its face pressed hard against the clear blue surface. With a high-pitched, prolonged squeak, it slid off onto the ground only to spring to its feet a split second later, growling once more at the Tenno.
By this time, Volt got sick and tired of these creatures and charged so much energy into his hands, blue streaks of electricity surged around his forearm. Those Kubrow were gonna fry, and he was going to get out of there. However, just before he unleashed the bolt of electricity, a loud tapping sound suddenly made the Kubrow turn and look toward the source.
A tall figure stepped out of the shadows carrying a large walking stick. He seemed strangely familiar except for the fact that he wore an old Kubrow skull as a headdress and lines of smeared... mud? (I assume) lined his helmet to appear as tribal markings. The armor he wore was definitely of Tenno origin, perhaps he had a way out of the hellhole they were in.
The Kubrows resumed their growling and snarls until the mystery Tenno let out a series of fake yips and ruffs. Just then, the three Kubrows stopped their tantrums, sat down where they were and began panting heavily while wagging their tails, awaiting new orders.
"H-hey..." Volt started reluctantly. He still wasn't too sure if he could trust someone who may have lost his mind, "I'm-"
"Volt?" the stranger asked, walking up to him faster.
Volt took a surprised step back. "Uh, yea... How did you know?"
"Why we were in the same graduating class, of course!" he responded.
Volt didn't look too convinced. "I'm pretty sure I would've remembered YOU." He eyed the strange Tenno from head to toe as he spoke the last word.
"It's Loki, remember me?" Loki removed the Kubrow skull from his head so Volt may recognize him.
Sure enough, despite the new nature bound look, Volt did recall seeing that same, horned helmet around the university. Of course, he didn't seem as insane as he did now.
"I'm surprised you're even talking to me." Volt pointed out, "You were fun at first but, then you became so distant."
"Oh," Loki thought about his response and sighed, "I didn't like the fact we were being made into weapons. So, I conjured up a hologram clone to attend for me. Let me just uh... deactivate it." He started to press a random combination of buttons installed onto his forearm.
~(o)~
[Meanwhile, on Equinox's Liset]
"You know, Loki," Equinox said softly, sitting next to Loki's clone on a set of chairs, "I had thought with a name like yours you'd be annoying, but, you're rather quiet. I find that very attractive, that's why I let you come aboard when those Grineer attacked."
She waited for a response as the clone simply sat there, motionlessly. From anticipation and slight embarrassment, her armor became a darkened hue that gave away her happy attitude at the moment.
"Well?..." she said, feeling impatient, "wanna say anything?"
The clone's head sprang up and started vibrating violently. Slightly unnerved, Equinox looked at it with worry and her armor returned to its neutral form. Before she could say anything else, the clone started to glitch out and take on a holographic appearance before abruptly disappearing with a pfft sound.
Realizing her quiet company had only been a ruse, she shook in irritation and rage while her armor switched quickly to day form and made her eyes burn bright yellow. She jumped up and looked outside the Liset's windshield toward deep space, "Son of a bitch!"
~(o)~
"Boop! Done." Loki sat down by a nearby boulder and began petting one of the obviously tamed Kubrow.
"How did you train Kubrows, anyway?" Volt asked, more than curious as to how these creatures could be house pets.
"Oh, just a lotta love," Loki said with a smile. "In fact, I had a Kubrow even in the university, what happened though... drove me to leave..."
At this point, Volt was in no rush to leave. He plopped down next to Loki and slung an arm around him like they were best friends. "Do tell." He said, giving the ok to start another flashback.
