Me being the crazy cat girl in elementary school? It's more likely than you think.

I'm also gonna kill Hunter

I jerked my head around. Rushing River, his muzzle stained with blood, stood in the doorway, not moving as his golden eyes stared at Crosshair. He stood relaxed, the slight bristle of fur along his shoulders and his twitching tail tip the only sign of agitation. "Easy, son. Point that thing somewhere else. I haven't reached a century and a half only to be shot in my own barn."

Tech jumped up. "Did he just speak?" he exclaimed, looking to me in surprise.

Rushing River huffed, a low rumble that resonated with my chest and I understood to be a kelusine laugh. "What's wrong? Never seen a kelusine before?" he purred, stretching and showing his fearsome claws that had to be as long as my fingers.

I stood up. "Rushing River!" I walked over and rubbed heads with the big cat in greeting, feeling a purr in my throat.

Returning the friendly gesture with a low chuffing noise, he hooked a massive paw gently around my leg and tugged. Allowing myself to fall back, I was surprised how natural it all felt. Must have been the feline genes within me, that Alphian coursing through me. Guiding my movements as I greeted the kelusine, connecting me to him in ways a regular human never could. I found I didn't mind the smell of blood on his muzzle, nor did I mind when that blood stained my shirt and face as he continued to rub his massive head against me. Low groaning sounded from his throat as his enormous paws braced on either side of my hips, reminding me of lions I'd seen greet other members of their pride. I mimicked him, groaning low myself, burying my fingers into his thick mane and scratching in a circular pattern. He laid down, resting his giant head on me, covering my entire torso as his whiskers tickled my face.

Oh, the boys were definitely staring at me now. Hunter's eyes looked like they were about to leap out of his head, Wrecker's mouth hung open, and Tech was tapping away at his vambrace as he no doubt recorded the sounds. Only Crosshair didn't look shocked, although I could see that his rifle had lowered, if only slightly.

I winced as Rushing River's saber teeth poked me. "Easy with the rubbin', I can feel those teeth of yours!"

He huffed again, the low sound shaking my very bones, before settling back on his haunches and staring down at me. "Gee, Shads, what in the Depths happened to you?"

Propping myself up on my elbows, I looked down at my body which was still covered in grass, sweat, and dirt, plus the blood of whatever Rushing River had killed. "Oh, had a... fun game of tag with some commandos." I jerked my head at the men. "Although this blood certainly isn't mine, you just eat?"

"Yeah, had a successful hunt. And pretty rough game of tag," he remarked, eyes slightly narrowing at the men before he huffed again and looked down at me. "Although you do like to play rough."

I shrugged. "Makes it fun."

Wrecker looked fascinated at the large predator. "A talking kitty!"

"A big talking kitty," Hunter commented, shifting in front of his brothers and drawing his knife.

"Hey!" I protested, scooting back and pushing myself to my feet before brushing off some fur. My hands came away red. "Sure, he's big enough to look me in the eye without lifting his head, but he's not hostile." I looked back at the kelusine. "Rush, I'm fine. We're all good now."

"You don't smell of fear so I'll take your word for it." He glanced at Tech as the man approached and started looking him over. The kelusine swished his tail, whiskers twitching in amusement as he watched Tech circle him. "Curious fella."

"He likes studyin' new things," I explained, stepping back to give Tech room.

"Oh?" Rushing River asked, ear twitching to ward off a fly. "In that case, as long as you don't poke me in the eyes or stick your fingers in my nose, have at it."

Tech perked up and went to work making notes about the kelusine, stepping closer.

"Tech, get away from that beast," Crosshair hissed.

"Relax, twitchy trigger," Rushing River snorted. He lifted his heavy paw to aid Tech as the Bad Batcher inspected his thumb-like dew claw. "If I was gonna eat any of ya, I'd want somethin' with more meat. Like him." He flicked his tail at Wrecker.

Wrecker seemed offended. "Hey!"

A warm feeling spread through my chest as I watched Tech. Look at that cute little nerd go . I mentally smacked myself. No romance. Forbidden. Do not fall for Tech . But why did he have to make it so damn hard?

Him and Wrecker! Hell, even the "gruff" sergeant Hunter was causing issues. "Gruff" my left foot, he was just showing off in front of Cody's brothers to seem cool. During an intense mission he probably was stricter but when he wasn't being shot at?

Hellfire...

"Why didn't I bring my sketch pad?" Tech complained, peering at Rushing River's saber teeth. The Kelusine opened his mouth wide, a disturbing 120 degrees, allowing a gleeful Tech to look inside. Completely ignoring the blood and bits of meat left over from the kelusine's meal, Tech peered at the arsenal of teeth hidden within. "Such sharp teeth! The carnassial teeth seem to be blunter than normal, suggesting a partially omnivorous diet, but the anterior teeth and canines are good for slicing and tearing," he noted excitedly, voice slightly echoing.

Rushing River shot me an amused look.

"Do you have to stick your head in its mouth to figure that out?" Hunter groaned, shaking his head tiredly. He sheathed his knife.

Tech pulled his head from Rushing River's mouth and looked back at me. "What species is this?"

"Oh, that's a Forester Kelusine. They're a native of a planet called Kelusia. There's four other subspecies. Wastelanders, Mountaineers, Plainers, and Islanders. All apex hunters. They dominate nearly every niche they live in."

"Are they all this big?" Tech asked, curious as he stepped back beside me to get a better view of Rushing River's size.

"Wastelanders look Wrecker in the eye."

Wrecker's mouth fell open. "That is a big cat!"

I grinned. "Oh yeah. They make great mounts."

"Mounts?" Tech echoed, looking Rushing River over again.

The big feline caught my gaze again, twitched his whiskers, and knelt down. "Climb up."

Tech practically launched himself at the big cat. Swinging a leg over the kelusine's back behind his shoulder blades, the clone gripped the coarse mane as Rushing River slowly stood up. Wiggling into a comfortable position, Tech then let go and began to type away at his forearm. "Interesting!"

I glanced at Hunter. The poor sergeant looked close to a migraine. "You alright there, Hunter?"

"Fine," he sighed.

Rushing River looked over to me as Tech took a glove off and felt his fur. "So, who's your friends, Shad?"

Friends ? "Not sure they consider themselves my friends."

Crosshair, unsurprisingly, agreed. "We don't."

"I do!" Wrecker announced, nudging me with a large grin. "I like her, she's fierce!"

"Why thank you, Wrecker. I try!" I laughed, playfully punching his arm and just hoping he didn't do it back and send me across the barn.

"She's amusing, at least," Hunter commented.

I shot him a look. "'Course I'm amusin', Sarge. My entire life's a joke."

He looked to be fighting down a smile.

"I like her so far as well," Tech added before introducing himself. "I'm Tech, the brains of the squad."

Rushing River looked over his shoulder at Tech. "You're different lookin' clone troopers, aren't you?"

"You got a problem with that?" Crosshair growled, gesturing with his rifle.

The Kelusine twitched his ear and flicked his tail. "Me? I don't have a problem with much of anything anymore. I don't worry about things I can't do something about." Golden eyes looked Crosshair up and down. "And what's your name? Moody?"

I stifled a snort.

"It's Crosshair, cat ."

"Hmm, always got someone in your sights to shoot down with words, do you?" Rushing River mused before eyes turned towards Hunter. "I take it you're their leader."

"That's Sergeant Hunter," I said. "He's the calmest of the lot."

Rushing River turned his gaze to me and twitched his whiskers. "An officer, Shad? Gettin' ambitious." His teeth bared in a mischievous kelusine grin.

He did not!

"What?!" I squeaked, turning red as I frantically waved my hands. "That's not... they're not... no!"

"Weren't you complainin' the other day you were single and touch starved?" the Kelusine asked, barely holding back a laugh.

"I was not!" I yelled, trying to ignore Crosshair's snickering and Wrecker's laughing.

"Shads, it's ok to admit you have a thing for military guys."

"I don't-!" I threw my hands up. "Why me?!" I screamed at the rafters and cobwebs. "Why couldn't I have been born as a toothbrush? All I wanna do is write my stories, play video games, and be a nerd in the safety of my room! Maybe occasionally go outside or chill in a cardboard box! Throw a knife or two! But no ! I keep gettin' dragged into shenanigans with armed heathens!"

"Heathens?"

"Toothbrush?"

"Cardboard box?"

I glared at the men. "I hate the lot of you."

Wrecker bumped me with his arm. "Ha! No ya don't!"

"Don't call me out!" I protested. "Let me be dramatic for a bit!"

"So..." Rushing River began. "You don't like using Kindness or Truth to set off tannerite anymore? Pity, that last time you made a pretty big bang."

"Leave my rifles and destructive tendencies out of this!" I said, pointing accusingly at him.

"You like to blow stuff up too?" Wrecker exclaimed. "I like you even more now! Hunter, can we keep her?"

"Absolutely not," Hunter, Crosshair, and I all answered in unison.

"Aww..."

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose. Looking back at Hunter, I growled, "You know, actually you were right! We shouldn't have stopped here."

He shrugged. "I'd say it was rather... informative." A smirk hid behind his words.

"Informative, you say? I can inform you of exactly where I'd like to shove my foot!"

"Easy there, verd'ika ," he chuckled, raising a hand in mock surrender.

" Verd'ika ? More like haran'ika ," Crosshair snorted.

Hold on just a cotton-pickin minute. "Did you just call me 'Little Hell'?" A grin split my face. "Why, Crosshair, that's a splendid nickname! Thank you, I feel so touched!" I raised my right hand. "I do so solemnly swear to uphold that title and make your wakin' hours a nightmare for the next five days." Saluting him, I promised, "I won't let you down, sir!"

My reaction seemed to take the sniper aback. He must have expected something more akin to annoyance rather than elation. "That was no compliment," Crosshair said, sounding almost like he was sputtering to get the words out.

"Well I took it as one!" I cackled, giving him a crazed grin.

Wrecker laughed. "Guess Small Fry is out! Haran'ika it is!"

"Certainly describes her!" Rushing River laughed, shaking his broad head. "I pity the poor soul who really pisses her off."

"Oh, c'mon. I'm harmless and sweet!" I purred, baring my teeth in a devious grin.

"Yeah, as a rattlesnake! I know better than to tread on you!"

Catching the reference, I shot finger guns at him.

"How do you know so much about an off-world species?" Tech asked, reaching forward and scratching Rushing River between the shoulder blades. The large carnivore chuffed happily, squinting.

"Oh... you could say I know quite a bit about their homeworld, Kelusia."

A bit? Bitch, you created the damn planet!

I rubbed the back of my neck. "It can get a bit... hectic on that planet."

"Hectic how?"

"You're just a little sponge for knowledge, ain'tcha Tech?" I teased. "Let's just say Kelusia and the other planets in the Stone's Throw system are... unique."

Tech seemed very interested now. "What makes them unique?"

"Magic!" At Tech's look of confusion, I chuckled. "No, literally. They've got magic in their planetary cores and it can leak through the different layers. Causes all sorts of wonky nonsense, from jungle biomes within arctic circles to portals connectin' different planets throughout Stone's Throw."

"Jungles in arctic biomes?" Tech exclaimed.

I nodded. "Aye!"

He looked back at Hunter. The sergeant seemed to immediately know what he was thinking. "You're in luck, Tech. Haran'ika here is going to lead us to that very planet."

Tech looked over at me in shock. "Wait... why?"

"Because that species y'all are tryin' to find the weakness of comes from Kelusia."

Crosshair snorted. "How would you know?"

Rushing River's fur began to bristle. "Shadow... you aren't really going to do that, right?"

"Rush, there's Alphians enslavin' a planet. It's desert, so most likely the Jekyl clan is at it again. You know how they are."

He heaved a sigh. "Yes, but... you'd be risking your own safety!"

"Wait, she's one of them ?" Crosshair snarled.

Well guess that answers how that is getting revealed. So much for a grand scene with insightful words and meaningful understandings.

Crosshair wasn't done. "How do we know she won't turn on us?"

"Oh, she won't do that." Something in Hunter's tone made me look at the sergeant and I saw a small grin on his face that I did not like. "Boys, our lovely guide here is a Clone Force 99 fan. Likes to research our tactics and even hoped to meet us one day. Isn't that right?"

I was certain I was red clear up to my ears. "Hunter, I am puttin' fire ants in your sleeping bag."

"A fan, huh?" Wrecker laughed, throwing an arm around my shoulder. "I'm your favorite, aren't I?"

I staggered under the weight of the armored limb. Damn, even ignoring his super strength this man had muscle mass. But I definitely had bigger issues, because oh man that question just called me out . "I ain't tellin'."

"Oh, c'mon. You can tell me!" he teased.

"Nah."

"Aw, tell us!"

"No, I don't think I will. And you can't make me."

Wrecker's teasing grin grew almost sadistic. "Oh yeah?!"

The tacrumel, sensing the oncoming storm, scrambled to its feet and launched itself off Wrecker on Hunter's shoulders, startling the sergeant. Just in time, for Wrecker grabbed me around the waist and lifted me up. Poking my side, he playfully warned, "Better tell Wrecker or else!"

"Put me down, heathen!" I yelled, trying not to laugh. I really hated being so ticklish, but not as much as I hated this. Like what even? What did I do to deserve this mess? Why had Hunter brought it up? Why had I told Hunter I liked the squad? Sure, Wrecker probably was my favorite but if I told him that I'd never hear the end of it.

"I will if you just tell us your favorite!" he laughed.

"No!" The finger at my side jabbed with more force, nearly making me squeak. That would not do. "Fine! I'll tell you my favorite if you let me go!"

He set me down, but I immediately launched myself up into the rafters. "Didn't say when I would tell though!"

"Hey! No fair!" Wrecker protested, jumping up and trying to grab me.

"Hunter said y'all didn't play fair!" I teased, confident I was safely out of his reach.

As Wrecker continued to hop and try to get a hold of me again, Crosshair snorted. "What happened to dyin' like a man, sweetheart?"

"You offerin' to be a sacrifice, Twiggs?" I taunted, looking between him and Wrecker's hands.

Hunter put a hand on his hip as he looked up at me. "So much for standing your ground."

"You don't try to tickle me!" I yelled down at him only to yelp as Wrecker managed to grab my ankle. It was no use gripping the rafters, Wrecker was strong enough to break my grip and probably the rafters along with it. Reaching for his pressure point would be suicide, he'd just grab my wrist. Cursing as I lost my hold on the wooden beam, I plummeted straight down into Wrecker's waiting arms. Landing on my back, my salt content shot through the roof as I realized the giant now held me in a damn bridal carry.

Crossing my arms, I scowled. "I'm straight up not havin' a good time right now."

Wrecker grinned down at me. "You're really light!"

"Hey, I may be lightweight but I've got enough muscle on me to put up a fight!" I warned, pointing a finger at him. "Also, put me down, your armor ain't comfy."

"Not until you tell us who your favorite is!" he chuckled, winking at me.

"You're insufferable, Wrecker," I huffed, trying to ignore that now two Bad Batcher's summoned a swarm of butterflies to my stomach.

"Hey! Your face is going red!"

Yeah because I'm being held by my crush! "Put me down ," I warned through gritted teeth.

Laughter sounded from the front of the barn. "See you all are getting along great!"

I scowled. "Oh great." My eyes turned to Trevor. "You're back."