A/N: Next chapter is already written, going to edit it tonight and post it tomorrow :-)
With leaden feet, Carmen reached the barn door. Before pushing it open, she cast one final glance towards the main house. It stood before the sky, gray against black. Warmth spilled from its windows, creating yellow pools of light in the courtyard. A wind picked up, whistling over the hilltop and kicking dust at the little wooden porch. Carmen felt the pang of something missing as she stood alone, a silhouette of gray against a different kind of darkness. She would never know a home like this, with a porch and a courtyard and walls-walls overflowing with such warmth that it poured into the night outside.
Life on a starship was far more exciting, she tried to tell herself. But the young woman had taken an unexpected comfort in the mundane, a solace in the lack of silence. With a bitter taste in her mouth, she recalled the silence that blanketed every battle's end. The silence that followed her back to empty barracks and empty beds, too small for her Klingon counterparts. The silence that haunted her soul even now.
Carmen pushed the heavy door aside, suddenly finding herself in need of Jora's idle chatter. "Hello?" she called. From somewhere up above, a small voice answered her.
"You're back!" The head of a young girl poked over the edge of the loft, her short, auburn hair swinging beside her face. "Come up here and see what I'm drawing!"
Though the barn was dark, light from Jora's lantern touched the edge of a rickety old ladder. As Carmen climbed it carefully, a cozy scene came into view. Jora sat on a blanket surrounded by hay bales, a pad of paper in her lap and a stick of charcoal in her left hand. Silver lay stretched out beside her. His tail thumped a lazy greeting as Carmen approached.
"You like to draw?" she asked, squinting to better see the image scratched out across the paper's surface.
Jora shrugged. "It's something to do until the Drums blow over. What did you think of our village?"
"Oh, I liked it," Carmen replied. "We had a great time. Or at least my dad did." After chuckling at her own private joke, she nodded towards the paper. "Hey, is that...is that me?"
"Yeah!" Jora held it up proudly. "See? Sorry about your face, though. I don't really think your nose looks like that."
Carmen took hold of the pad for a closer look. She pored over it thoughtfully, examining every detail, every line. In the drawing, she stood at the river's edge with one foot propped up on a rock in a stance that reminded her of the commander. Do I really do that, too? Jora had sketched Silver at her side. Though the big dog gazed up at her raptly, the young woman's attention was off in the distance, her lips set in somber determination.
"You like it?" Jora held her breath, anxiously awaiting her friend's approval.
"This is really something," Carmen said, still tracing her eyes over the strokes of charcoal. "No one has ever drawn my picture before. I feel very...honored. Would you show me more of your drawings?"
Jora beamed bright as the sun. "Sure!" She scooted closer, and as she prattled on, Carmen felt as though the warmth she had seen pouring from the windows of the main house had spilled over into her very soul.
"Wait a minute-what's that?" Carmen asked as they neared the end of the sketch pad. She recognized the silhouette of a winged beast flying through the nighttime sky. Its long tail swung out behind it, blotting out the stars, and an equally long neck stretched towards the jutting end of Shadow Ridge.
"That? Oh, that's the Grolese," Jora explained. The Grolese! This was the dragon-like creature she had glimpsed the other night? This was what Elion's partner had been asking about just before he was killed?
"You've seen it yourself?" Carmen asked, trying not to appear overly interested.
"Sure."
"Was it scary?"
"The Grolese? No!" Jora laughed. Carmen's face pinched together, puzzled by the girl's answer.
"But he looks...big."
"He is big. Can you imagine how much gisbi fruit he has to eat in a single day?"
"He eats fruit?"
"Yup. Mostly the stuff that grows way up high, up in the treetops. Don't tell my brothers, though-I told them he eats little boys who don't listen." She giggled, rather pleased with herself. "Not many people have seen him, you know. But I've seen him. I know where his den is, too!"
"Where?" Carmen asked, inching closer without even realizing it.
The young girl jabbed a finger at the drawing. "Right there, on the side of Shadow Ridge." Carmen held her hand out, and Jora gladly gave her the pad of paper. "You really like that one, huh?" she said. "Well...you can have it. If you'd like."
Carmen tore her eyes away from the drawing. "What?"
"The drawing. You can take it with you."
"I can?" Carmen smiled. She liked the idea of keeping the picture. If nothing else, it would serve as a reminder of the girl who could fill the silence, in turn filling a void. "That would be wonderful. I will cherish this, always."
As Jora carefully ripped the page from its binding, the door to the barn burst open all of a sudden. A rally of shouts filled the air as though they were under attack by a whole army. Bewildered, both girls crawled to the edge of the loft and peered down. It was an army-an army made of rowdy little brothers.
"Up there!" Tern bellowed. "There's the alien!"
A small thump knocked against the inside of Carmen's chest. "Wh-what did you say?"
"You! You're the alien!" he cried, and then he and his brothers swarmed the bottom of the ladder.
Jora sighed peevishly. "They're playing Aliens and Rangers again," she explained. "Last time I was the alien, they tied me up until I would confess to all my crimes against Vakrona."
Tern was the first to reach the top. He pointed some sort of weapon fashioned from sticks at Carmen's face. "Halt, alien!" he ordered. "Or I'll shoot!"
"She isn't playing!" Jora said, folding her arms in a huff. "And neither am I. Go bother someone else."
The excited cries died down. Tern's shoulders drooped glumly. "But...it's her last night," he protested.
Carmen winced. She had meant to tell Jora sooner. She should have told Jora sooner. "He's right," she admitted. "We have to leave in the morning. It's...it's why I was looking for you."
"Oh." Jora looked like she was going to say more, but nothing came out. Carmen's heart crumbled. She couldn't even console her with a promise to return one day. This was goodbye, plain and simple and forever.
The boys began to climb back down the ladder, just as dejected as their sister. Silence crept into the barn, squeezing between the rafters and pressing around Carmen with its stifling emptiness. "Wait!" she cried out.
From the children, she felt a flicker of hope like the strike of a match. Their eager gazes turned towards her.
"Your crew..." she said to Jora. "They are too late, I'm afraid."
Jora wrinkled her brow. "My crew?"
"That's right, Captain Jora. See, they have come here to rescue you. But I have already turned you into a brain-eating alien, just like me. And together, we will take over all of Vakrona!"
Tern's face lit up once more. He stepped away from the ladder and the others jostled around him with excited murmurs. "What should we do?" a little one asked.
"Yes, Commander Tern," Carmen taunted. "What will you do? I've got your captain!"
Slowly, a smile spread across Jora's face. "And we will make brain-eating aliens out of all of you!"
The little ones squealed in fright, but Tern held his ground. "Get them!" he roared, leading the charge. Belting out their best battlecries, his brothers followed suit. Carmen crouched on the edge of the loft, biding her time. Then, just before they could capture her, she leapt to freedom. Her would-be captors paused, watching in awe as she curled her body into a shoulder roll at the bottom. "Quick! After her!" Tern ordered, shoving his brothers towards the ladder.
Time and again, Carmen would let them come close only to deftly dodge their advances. She'd launch herself over them or under them. She'd swing from the pulley ropes and dance along the edge of empty stalls. She'd snatch the boys one by one and carry them up to the loft, where Jora held them prisoner. Eventually, Tern was the only one left.
"Aha!" Carmen exclaimed, backing him into a corner. "What now, Commander Tern?"
He laughed brazenly in the face of defeat. "You forgot about my secret weapon!"
"What secret weapon?"
"Something all Vakronians used to fear. But alas, we have tamed the silver wolf! Now prepare to meet your doom!" He stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled.
Silver came bounding over, delighted by all the ruckus. He barrelled straight into Carmen and they sailed to the floor together. "Nooo!" she cried as she was buried beneath a furry pile. "I am finished!"
"And we are free!" Jora shouted, climbing down from the loft with her brothers to celebrate the victory.
Carmen pushed herself halfway up, laughing as she wiped Silver's slobbery kisses from her face. "And henceforth, the Battle of the Wolf will always be remembered!"
At least by me. For this battle ended in laughter, not silence. Laughter that would resonate in her soul for a long time, deep down in a place where only silence once abounded.