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Law of the Jungle
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The burly sergeant saluted crisply despite his surprise at who had stepped out of the doors of the landing Stormbird, "Welcome to Catachan, Your Highness."
Serenity inclined her head gracefully, carefully bound hair swaying, "It's my pleasure, Sergeant"
She then smiled warmly down at the wide-eyed young girl grasping her father's hand, "Hello."
The girl gasped in surprise, but recovered quickly and parroted her father's salute. One did not meet the Royal Princess every day, after all.
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A shadow ghosted between the densely packed trees, neatly side-stepping some brainleaf… before nearly walking into an outstretched fist.
"Pop!" the young brunette protested, glaring at the offending appendage.
The burly man in fatigues only smirked. "The plants may like you a little more than the rest of us, but that is no excuse to slack off."
"Ugh." The young Senshi Minoris looked about as enthusiastic at being chided as any teenager. It would be still some years before she would see the wisdom of her father's words. For now, she was the wisest person in the Galaxy (at least in her own head).
"C'mon, girly." Sergeant Cawsey tucked his daughter under one strong arm and waded back through the undergrowth, heading back to their settlement.
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"Careful!"
The little boy froze, as the camouflaged young woman made her way towards him and gingerly picked him up before carrying him away.
"Really Jonny," she chided, frowning at him, deep green eyes disapproving beneath the crimson bandana she wore, "You should look where you are going, if you want to join the regiment."
He glared at her, "I do!"
"Then why did you nearly step on that patch of strangle-vine?" her tone was sharp, but not unnecessarily harsh.
"…I didn't see it," the boy mumbled.
"Too busy showing off?" she asked sternly. Catachan was not a garden and being careless was the fastest way to an early grave.
Jonny nodded, eyes fixed on his feet.
She prodded him ahead of her, into rejoining the group of children clustered at the base of one of the many trees.
"Now, what can we all learn from this?" she asked in her brisk voice, thumbs hooked in the belt-loops of her fatigues as she stood before her erstwhile students, the various young hopefuls for posts in both the Guard and the PDF.
One girl with short, matted dreadlocks raised her hand,."If someone with more experience with the local environment tells you something, listen to them well?"
"Exactly," Zilvia nodded, tags rattling, "Well done, Suri."
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