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Chapter 5

"Last one there has to gather tomorrow's wood!" Little Wolf declares before breaking into a run.

"You're cheating!" Hawk complains as he runs after her.

His green eyes burn at the challenge of beating his friend in a race but, alas, it was not to be. Little Wolf springs over the finish line and squeals in victory. Khan watches from the hut and smirks when he sees the other children pouting from the sting of their defeat. The baby, Beaver, wraps his tiny fingers around Khan's pant leg and tugs at the black fabric clumsily.

"John!" The blond child giggles. "John!" Khan glances down at the tyke and the baby bursts into a fit of giggles when the Augment makes eye contact with him. "Peak boo!" He pronounces. "John! Peak boo!" He giggles more.

"Is that so?" Chuckling, Khan picks the one year old up carefully and blows softly in his face making the baby laugh harder. Sharp Quill smiles at him from the kitchen before checking in on Roanoke and the pups.

And all was good and right in the world.

But…they would be out of food soon. The berries and fish wouldn't return until spring, and most of the game had left the region in favor of warmer locations. Meanwhile, their enemies rallied for war all around them as they captured or destroyed village after village. Sooner or later, disaster was going to strike, and this time they may not be so lucky.

"Having fun are we?" Sharp Quill asks the Augment as he tosses the child lightly into the air and catches him easily. Beaver laughs.

"Again! Again!" The boy demands and Khan gives into the boy's wishes, tossing him into the air once more before catching him again.

"The child most certainly is." Khan answers vaguely.

Sharp Quill laughs and swats him halfheartedly with her cane. It doesn't hurt.

"Get out of here." She jokes; Khan raises his eyebrows in mock fear and darts away just in time to avoid getting hit again.

"With pleasure."

Still carrying Beaver, Khan wanders over towards Little Wolf. Sneakily, he picks up a handful of snow with his free hand and throws it at the girl. It hits her right in the chest. Surprised, she drops into the powdery snow behind her and blinks in confusion. Then her eyes catch sight of John and they narrow mischievously.

"This means war!" She declares before chucking a snowball at him and smacking him-hard-in the middle of his forehead.

The others join in. From the doorway of her hut, Sharp Quill rolls her eyes before wandering back into the kitchen. Khan dodges the powdery projectile and turn his body to let a few smack into his back, protecting Beaver from the worst of the fight. Beaver squeals and sticks out his tongue to catch a few snowflakes. Khan darts behind a large snow bank and dropping into a crouch, he puts Beaver down on the ground beside him.

"Pity!" Khan called back at Little Wolf as he launched several snowballs at the children. "it would seem that you've already lost!"

…

That night, Khan stokes the fire and Sharp Quill messes around with some old equipment: an ancient projector and speaker. Within minutes, and old movie flickers over the dirt wall of their small, temporary home. The children's eyes grow wide with wonder as they watch the technological sorcery unfold before them. Beaver crawls shakily to sit beside his sister, Fawn. Their blond hair glows dully in the firelight. Beaver sucks on his tiny fist and a steady stream of drool drips down his arm to splat onto the floor. Little Wolf glances at the tyke and wrinkles her nose in disgust.

…

Sunlight slips gently into the room and caresses the rickety furniture. Khan and Little Wolf sit at the table. The girl's legs swing back and forth as she sits in the chair—not once do her delicate little toes touch the floor—as she doodles in her book.

"John?" She asks.

"Hm?" He glances at her before looking once more at the snow outside.

"What's your favorite memory of your family?" She doesn't look up at him or hesitate in her sketching.

He thinks for a moment: "When we went to the countryside."

"What happened?"

"Nothing much. We explored, ate berries and fresh fish from the river, went swimming…but it was peaceful and…relaxing."

The Eugenic War had hit not soon after they had returned. Many of them had gone missing and the few Khan could save were still (possibly) trapped within their frozen cryotubes...but that summer had been...nice.

They had explored nearby caves, finding several valuable, sparkling gems. They had dove into the ocean and saw a large coral reef teeming with life. The smell of wildflowers and sweet, wild honey had filled their lungs. For the first time in a long time they had felt...safe. The humans had been happy; their Augmented leaders had brought them stability and food whereas before their cities were being torn apart by wars, plagues, and starvation.

Everything had been perfect! When had it all changed...? When had the humans tired of them? Khan's hand curled into a fist. He slowly inhaled and then exhaled before going back to the conversation at hand.

"And yours?" He asked, forcing his voice lack the sadness he had felt moments ago.

"I never met your family, weirdo." She smiles down at her paper and Khan can feel a grin of his own beginning to surface at her answer.

"I meant," He explains. "With your family."

"When my mom sang. It was Hanukkah and dark. The only light came from our candles. It was…pretty?" Khan nods for her to continue. "And then she sang. My brother, he was too little to sing, but I did. It was fun. After that, we got presents. I got my knives but Sharp Quill took 'em away on account that I might hurt someone with them." Or, with her being as clumsy and hyper as she is, she'd probably just wind up harming herself, Khan thinks. "Then we ate cookies and went to our new home."

"New home?"

"The People traveled a lot. We went to one place in the summers and a different place in the winters, but Sharp Quill is too old to travel that far and a lot of The People that are left are either too old or too young to go that far. So, we don't no more."

So, they were nomadic…but why did so many die off? A plague of some kind, maybe…?

"Any more." Khan corrects.

She sticks her tongue out at him. Zevi wanders into the room and sits on Khan's feet. His paintbrush tail wags happily as he leans his head over Khan's knees to beg for affection. Without thinking, Khan strokes the animal's head.

"What happened to your people?" He asks. The smile slips off of her face immediately and she stares down at her sketchbook and shrugs. "Do you miss them?"

"Yeah…but I miss my mom the mostest of all. I need—I need to go gather wood. Goodbye!" She jumps quickly to her feet and dashes out the door without waiting for a response.

Khan calls out her name, but it's too late. She's already slipped into the stillness of the forest and swallowed by the pale pink sunrise. Zevi barks softly before running after her with his tail high in the air like a battle flag.

…

While Little Wolf is off sulking, Khan helps Sharp Quill watch the younger children: Fawn and Beaver. Beaver crawls around on the floor and tries to peer at the whimpering puppies but Sharp Quill won't allow him near the helpless pups. He whines and pouts but she doesn't give in to his demands. Fawn chatters on and on about knitting, and "pretty flowers", and "cute wittle animals" while Khan pretends to pay attention. Hawk wanders outside to wait for Little Wolf to return.

Only, she doesn't.

...

The hours stretch longer and longer. Dawn bleeds into noon which in turn melts into dusk. She doesn't come back. A solemn silence fills the hut. Where is she? Did something happen? Did she get hurt? Is she alright? Khan paces back and forth with a sleeping Beaver held carefully in his strong arms.

"Get out of my house." Sharp Quill snaps before taking the sleeping baby from him. "Go on. You're driving me crazy with all that pacing. Don't you—don't you start it up again! Get out, young man! You heard me! Git!" She chases him out with sharp blows to his ankles and scowls at him.

Sighing, Khan steps into the forest and begins his search.

…

Night falls.

The moon begins its slow climb.

A cold silence follows in Khan's wake and the whole forest seems to hold its collective breath. The wind murmurs of danger and the trees whisper of violence and pain. Snow crunches sickeningly under his boots and he flinches slightly, expected the ice to suddenly transform into tiny, child sized bones.

How many people had he killed during the wars? How many of those were nothing more than mere children? He was Khan Noonien Singh; during his reign, he had destroyed entire families—villages, even—at the smallest sign of rebellion. He had lived under a blood red sky. His garden was a war torn field. He had crushed skulls and snapped necks with his bare hands and planned to do so again at the first possible chance—so, what did it matter if another were to die?

What did it matter to him if the girl had perished in the snow?

And yet, it did.

It did matter, and it drove him insane.

Try as he might, he could never quite transform into the blood thirsty monster that Admiral Marcus or society wanted to paint him into. When all was said and done, he was just a man—an advanced man, sure, but a man nonetheless.

"Little Wolf." His voice echoes painfully back at him and something in his heart clenches painfully. Where was she? Something—a twig, maybe—breaks with a loud resounding snap!

And then the roar fills his ears.

A huge sehlat rushes straight for him. It's brown eyes burn with rage as it screams its challenge into the still air. Puffs of putrid mist fly past its snarling jaws and forms large pillars in the air. Khan straightens his back and bellows back at it. Let it attack. He'll kill it where it stands. He was not afraid of anything lest of all a bear with saber teeth.

"Alma! No!" A sharp voice calls out. Khan's head snaps up to see a shivering Little Wolf behind the beast. "Bad, Alma! No! Go home!" The sehlat huffs and flattens its tiny ears back at the scolding girl. Little Wolf wags her fingers at bad. "No! Bad bear! Bad!"

"Where have you been?" Khan demands angrily when the sehlat leaves.

"I fell into the river. Alma took back to her cave to help me warm back up." She explains calmly. "Where have you been?" Curiosity laces her words.

"At the hut." He scowls.

"It was boring wasn't it?" She asks.

He inhales deeply and exhales in an attempt to fight off the urge to throw her into a tree.

"Let's just head back." khan suggested.

"Alright." She taps him lightly in the ankle with her foot. "Race you!"

Khan runs after her but she manages to stay just ahead of him.

"I'm going to win!" She yells and he runs faster, beating her by two feet. "No fair! You're legs are longer! I want a rematch!"

"Or you'll what?" Khan raises an eyebrow just as a snowball explodes from Little Wolf's hand and slams into his nose. Snow flies into his eyes. By the time he wipes the ice away, Little Wolf is racing away.

"You can't catch me, old man!" She challenges shrilly before bursting into giggles when he runs after her.

"We'll see about that!" Khan growls.