LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

36. AFTERMATH

ACT XXXVI: AFTERMATH

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Grief is the price we pay for love.

Queen Elizabeth II

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September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), Akane's tent (inside), 9:14 AM (morning)

-"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"-

Liska Mitsel-eman jumped up from her bed and screamed as loud as she could, thinking this would be the end of her...

...Or at least that's what she thought, until she opened her eyes and realized that the young feline woman was in Akane Araki's home. That night, she had slept there instead of doing it alone in her own home because her mate, Rial, was still out hunting. It was clear that the events of the previous day had caused her to have a very bad dream, in which she believed that Liska felt she was about to die. But, when she opened her eyes, and while the young maiden was trying to catch her breath, the young warrior at least felt that she was back in a safe place.

Next, Liska touched her body to see if she still had the blood spread over it, just as she had felt in her dreams. Then, she looked at her hands for the same reason. Seeing that there was nothing abnormal on her body, the 18-year-old girl, who had just obtained her freedom thanks to her heroic actions in defending the Highland tribe from the hands of the Romalian bandits, together with Akane, at the same time that both women were rewarded by belonging to the elite warriors protecting the village, could only breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that it had been a bad dream.

-"...sigh... ...It was... ...just a nightmare..."-

As the young Velite tried to regain some of her composure, while deciding what to do next, she noticed that her friend, the aforementioned human woman, was not in her own home; It was likely that she had gone to bathe in the stream because both warriors had been covered in the blood of their enemies from head to toe and needed to wash it off as soon as they could.

But before Liska could ask herself any more questions about Akane's whereabouts, the aforementioned woman rushed into her home, dressed in a robe and wearing traditional Japanese geta sandals; since the African-Japanese woman's hair was down, it was evident that she had just finished bathing on her own. The moment the human entered her tent, Akane realized that something was not right with her feline friend, which the female soldier from Japan let her know.

-"Oh, hello, Liska sweetie!"- Akane greeted her friend with a sound somewhere between joy and concern. -"I heard you sounded like you screamed when I came near my home. Did something bad happen?"-

The moment Liska looked at Akane, the young lady lowered her ears down in sadness, and her eyes began to shed tears. The human was worried when she saw her alien friend with that sorrowful look on her face, sensing that her friend was not in a good state of mind.

-"Uh, Liska... are you alright?"- The black woman asked to her feline friend, this time with a quite worried expression in her face.

Those words caused the young warrior to quickly jump up from the sleeping bag where she was, not caring in the least that she was naked, and, without any warning, Liska hugged Akane tightly, while she cried brokenly on her chest...

-"AKANEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEHHHHH! BWAAAAHHHHH!"-

Akane Araki could barely manage to stop Liska from knocking her down as she jumped in tears at her, while the human also hugged her in the most warm-hearted way she could, fully knowing that her Velite friend was going through a lot of pain at that moment, and Akane was the only person who was there to comfort her; not least because she knew the reason for that.

-"Now, now, calm down, little kitten... it's over now... don't cry, honey..."-

It was more than obvious that the alien woman was suffering from a severe case of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), considering that she killed many people with her own hands, more specifically the Romalian invaders who attacked the village, something she had never done in her life, and in the most brutal ways possible, including cleaving the leader of the invaders in two with a katana. All those gory scenes of violence were taking their toll on her mind, and there was no way Liska could have slept peacefully after participating in such a traumatic and brutal incident as what had happened the day before.

All Akane could do was to try to comfort her friend, petting her head and whispering the sweetest words she could say, while the orange tabby girl continued to cry in her arms.

-"Geez... I dare say that what happened yesterday really affected you more than it did me, dammit..."-

After a while of sobbing on the arms of her friend, Liska began to just purr like a kitten being petted by her owner, at the same time she began to wag her tail as she felt loved and comforted by Akane, which caused some glee and hilarity in the human, who couldn't help but make a crack about it.

-"You know something, sweetie?"- Akane said to Liska while she was still in her arms. -"You're really cute when you purr..."-

Despite her current mood, Liska somehow felt compelled to react to Akane's words about her liking to purr near her.

-"sob... I don't purr, Akane..."- The feline girl replied, still with some tears in her eyes.

-"Yes, you do..."-

-"I say no..."-

-"And I say yes..."-

-"No."-

-"Yes."-

-"No... I say I am not purring..."- Liska replied with a deadpan tone.

-"And I'm saying you are doing it... and you're truly enjoying this..."- Akane retorted back with a smile.

Seeing that her alien friend was already in a better mood, the human knew that her friend was naked, and immediately let her know.

-"You know, honey, I would love to hug you for a little while longer, but... I think you should put your clothes on first."-

Liska noticed that Akane was right, as she had hugged the human while completely naked, which caused the feline girl to freak out at having done something so embarrassing in front of her best friend.

-"OH, CRAP!"-

Seeing that her friend was looking for a way to cover her nakedness, Akane handed her a plastic bag, which contained clothes inside.

-"Here are your clothes... I washed them in the stream when I woke up from bed."-

Upon receiving the bag from her friend, Liska was surprised to see that Akane had taken the trouble to wash her own clothes.

-"Did you washed my clothes, Akane?"-

-"Of course... your clothes and mine were stained with blood, gore and dirt, and they smelled horrible when I washed them in the stream, so I took the trouble to wash them myself as soon as I woke up."- The human explained. -"I also took a bath, since I smelled like a corpse too, and the stench made me feel sick; you should do the same, darling."-

Liska took a close look at her freshly washed clothes done by her human friend, and she was quick to appreciate the foreigner's gesture in taking care of her garments, even though the former slave could have done that on her own.

-"Thank you... Akane..."- The Velite girl replied, with a certain shade of happiness and warmth in her tone.

-"Hehehehe... you are very welcome, Liska sweetie!"- The African-Japanese woman smiled back at her friend. -"Now you'd better put your clothes on already if you don't want to stay naked all day long."-

The young lady knew that her foreign friend was right, seeing her without clothes.

-"OH, that's true!"-

With no more time to waste, Liska began to put on her outfit as quickly as possible, while Akane sat down on a cushion next to her own bed, taking off her sandals as well. Then, she turned on her laptop, in order to start working on some things while her feline friend was dressing.

-"Well, while you're putting on your clothes and I'm starting this thing up... could you tell me what you dreamt about, if you don't mind telling me, honey?"-

Liska paused for a few moments at that question, knowing that the nightmare was a very painful thing for her to recount, and she would have preferred that Akane had not asked her such a personal matter at that moment, almost as she was trying to figure out exactly what it was that she had dreamt that night.

The black woman, on the other hand, seeing her alien friend's face of discomfort, including her body language, quickly surmised that she had talked too much...

-"Hey, if you don't want to talk to me about your nightmare, I'm sorry; I didn't mean to..."-

-"Don't worry, Akane..."- The orange tabby girl interrupted her. -"I think I should be sincere with you too... don't you?"-

-"Well... yes... but..."- The human Space Ranger retorted back, with a visible worried face. -"I just don't want you to talk about things that might torment you..."-

-"I know, Akane."- Liska replied, with a neutral stance in her voice. -"but I need to discuss this with someone... and you are the only person I can count on, as you and I went through the same thing yesterday afternoon."-

Akane, with a sad expression, knew better than anyone what her friend meant by it, and she recognized that Liska was right to talk about it with someone who understood what she had endured in her reverie.

-"I guess you are right on that."- And then, the Earth soldier snuggled down to listen to her friend. -"Go on, then. Tell me about the nightmare you had..."-

The young maiden also sat down on a cushion that was near her, and Liska began to talk about the horrible nightmare that she had last night.

-"I dreamt that I was at first in a completely dark place, where there was nothing; no sun, no sky, no ground to stand on, no constructions... there was absolutely nothing... I couldn't even feel the wind, nor feel the warmth of the sun or even cold as well..."- The Velite girl began to summarize her bad dream. -"...suddenly, I heard a mysterious voice coming out of nowhere, speaking in an effeminate tone... calling me by my full name..."-

-"Alright, let me see... dark place... effeminate voice... calling your name..."- Akane began to take notes on what her friend was saying with one hand using her laptop, while she listened carefully as well. -"And what happened next, sweetie?"-

-"Then, that whole dark place changed radically, and immediately after, I ended up in what seemed to be a very large town in an unknown nation, which seemed to be in the middle of a great battle."-

-"A town where a war was being waged... I see..."- The human continued her typing. -"What else can you share?"-

-"The town I was in was very strange... there were no teepees or huts, or even brick houses... instead they were like gigantic castles made of stone, just like their roads."- Liska followed with her explanation about her nightmare. -"But that wasn't the most frightening thing about that place... that town looked like it had been destroyed during that battle, and the soldiers fighting in it wore very strange clothes, and used strange weapons and creatures that I had never seen before... which caused great destruction every time they were used..."-

That last remark caused Akane some strangeness, as it was evident that what her alien friend had said, even in context, was not anything that a woman from a seemingly primitive civilization would dream of in normal conditions, considering that Liska was mentioning features that were too familiar to the human woman...

-"Now, now... you're telling me really bizarre things... stone castles, stone roads, soldiers with strange clothes, weapons and creatures never seen before..."- The Earth soldier said, somewhat skeptical of what she heard from the voice of her friend, since what she had experienced in her nightmares had little to do with what had happened the day before, other than the fact that it was a violent event. -"Can you at least describe to me what those weapons and creatures that were destroying that town you saw in your nightmares looked like?"-

After doing some recall, and after a brief pause, Liska detailed down exactly what she saw in her dreams.

-"I saw metal-skinned monsters spitting fireballs from their trunks that destroyed castles with a single shot, as well as people using what looked like catapults to hurl projectiles at other soldiers. Also, I saw what looked like giant metallic-looking birds flying through the sky, which threw metallic eggs that crashed to the ground, destroying everything in their path..."-

Hearing that last bit about the "metal creatures" her friend was referring to, Akane promptly stopped typing on her laptop, completely dumbstruck by what she had heard. Even though the human had already started to have her own suspicions at first when she heard that part about the enormous castles, that part about those monsters left no doubt in the human's mind: Liska had dreamt about a war between humans, who were fighting each other with cannons, tanks, and who were bombing the city from the sky.

How was it possible that this girl, coming from a planet far away from Earth and with a culture that did not know the concept of any of the things Liska dreamed of, could even conceptualize them in the first place? Even leaving aside that the nightmare could have been caused by the PTSD she was suffering from due to all the people she killed with her own hands, and the shocking events related to the attack of the foreign bandits the day before, it would make more sense for Liska to have dreamt something connected to what happened that day and not anything that was completely out of her cultural worldview.

Noticing that Akane had stopped typing on her computer, the young woman inquired to her friend.

-"Is something wrong, Akane? I noticed you stopped when I told you about that last part about the monsters that I saw in my nightmare..."-

After a brief pause, the black woman finally answered her, however, on that occasion, she did so in a more somber tone than usual.

-"Please continue with your thoughts, and then I'll give you my opinion on the matter."-

Seeing that her friend had a good reason to ask her such a thing, Liska continued to comment on the terrible dream she had.

-"Then, one of those explosive "eggs" landed near me, exploding on the ground, and creating a large crater... but the explosion neither caused me any effect, nor injured me in any way... and that scared me even more than I already was in those moments..."-

-"Very well... the "explosive egg" you say did not cause you any damage, but it did destroyed the road..."- Akane summarized that last past.

-"Yes."-

In the face of the evidence given by her alien friend, Akane Araki fully confirmed one of her suspicions.

-"No doubt about it: Liska dreamed that a bomb had been dropped on her from a bomber."- The human soldier pondered in her own mind. -"But how on earth could she have dreamed of such a thing, if there are no airplanes, tanks or anything more modern than chariots and beasts of burden in this place?"-

In the face of these revelations that the human managed to uncover about her feline friend's dreams, the African-Japanese woman decided to ask her more questions, in order to obtain more information about the bizarre nightmare that Liska had suffered that night.

-"Can you tell me how was the place you saw in your dreams, the language spoken by the people in it, some kind of flag or anything to identify which country the soldiers fighting that war belonged to... whatever you saw there?"-

After doing some memory recall, the young new warrior was able to bring to mind something that came to her head regarding the place where she had been at the beginning of her nightmare.

-"I don't remember a lot of what I saw about that place when I first came there... but I do remember something that caught my attention..."-

-"And... what caught your attention, if I may ask?"- Akane asked her friend.

-"Heh... uh... well... now that you mention about flags, I remember seeing one in a giant castle many steps away from me..."-

-"And can you tell me what that flag looked like?"-

-"If I recall well, the flag was red, and in its upper left corner, it had a yellow symbol, which had the shape of a sickle, coupled with a hammer, and above both symbols... there was a star..."-

Hearing her alien friend's description of the flag she saw in her dream, Akane Araki's face froze in shock. As if it wasn't enough that her alien friend had dreamed of being in a city at war with humans in the middle, the description given by Liska about the flag flying over that city matched perfectly with the flag of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, better known as the Soviet Union.

And based on the description given by the young feline girl of the location where she was, aside from mentioning a city at war, there were only two possible places where the Soviet flag could have been flying: Moscow... or Berlin.

Or to be more precise, what Liska dreamed was the fall of Berlin to the Soviet army in 1945, and the flag she saw was the moment when the Russians flew theirs over the Reichstag on May 2nd of that year, marking the end of the European theater of World War II.

It's was strange enough that an alien girl from a different civilization would dream about human events, but it's was even stranger that she would dream about something that happened centuries ago, like the fall of Berlin, something that happened before she, Liska, or any of the people in the Highland tribe were even born. There's no way she would know about this important event in human history, since Akane never talked about it on her own.

And this was even more bizarre, considering that the only connection between the fall of Berlin and the attack on the tribe was that they were both violent events involving an invasion, but nothing more than that.

Meanwhile, the young maiden, seeing her friend who remained speechless at the mention of the Soviet flag in her dreams, tried to draw the attention of the human, clearly distressed to see that Akane did not seem to react to hearing all that.

-"Are... are you alright, Akane?"- Liska asked the female soldier from Earth. -"You froze when I mentioned about that flag..."-

Akane quickly returned to her senses, but, due to the nature of her friend's dream, and the statements about centuries-old events on Earth, things that would be impossible for someone like that alien girl to have dreamt without any kind of cultural context or contact with humans, the woman from Japan cannot escape the feeling that Liska had some secrets that she had not shared about herself and her own past.

But at the same time, the human didn't want to jump to conclusions until her friend finished explaining her dream fully, yet Akane nonetheless decided to share some of what she knew with her.

-"Look, dear... I cannot tell you anything that I knew until you finish telling me about your nightmare..."- Akane said, with a very somber tone. -"...but I can share with you one thing..."-

-"What would it be, Akane?"-

-"Well..."- The human did a brief, dramatic pause before. -"I can tell tell you that... I have seen that flag before in my life..."-

-"You have?"- the alien feline girl asked, surprised. -"But... but how? When?"-

Following another brief pause, the human of African origin replied.

-"First I need you to tell me more about what you saw in your dreams before I tell you what I think of all this; that way I can avoid making any wrong conclusions."- Akane said. -"Understood?"-

The alien, after sighing, took her companion's advice.

-"Well... I guess you're right about that."-

-"Very good..."- The black woman then asked the following. -"...now, continue with what you had told me about what happened after you were hit by that... you know... exploding egg... that you talked about."-

-"Alright..."- And then, Liska continued with her tale about her dreaded experience in her land of the dreams. -"After what happened with the explosive egg, I heard the cry of a little girl coming from inside one of those castles; even though I didn't understand the language she was speaking, I could tell that she was begging for help, so I went to look for her as soon as I could..."-

-"And what happened next, sweetheart?"-

-"Then, I heard that the girl's voice came from the castle on my right side, so I went to look for her there; I had to climb stairs, because she was on a higher floor and walk through places that were abandoned and destroyed, until I found what seemed to be the home of the girl and her family..."-

-"And I guess you actually found that little girl, didn't you?"- Akane asked, while typing in her PC.

Liska made a brief pause before proceeding with her account of her nightmare, for what she was about to describe next was too painful for her to say in her own words.

-"What I saw in that place was something horrible, Akane... the room was completely in ruins, as if one of those explosive eggs had fallen minutes ago on that place... and even though I could only see their silhouettes and I couldn't see their faces... or how they looked like physically..."-

The feline girl paused for a few seconds, and then, she began to shed tears at what was about to be said next...

-"...I saw what seemed to be the bodies of people lying in front of me in that room... despite the fact that I could not only see them as dark silhouettes without physical form, I did see that, underneath them, there was a lot of blood, as well as in other parts of that place... if I had a word to describe the way they were when I saw their corpses... they looked like broken dolls, with their arms and legs scattered all over the room..."-

Akane, who was devoting her attention to everything her alien friend was sharing, was unable to avoid putting her hands to her mouth due to the shock she felt when she heard that gruesome story of what Liska had seen in her dreams.

-"Holy..."- The human uttered in utter shocked disgust. -"It must have been horrible what you saw there... my god... no... sigh... and what happened to that girl?"-

-"When I was able to regain my composure, I managed to found that little girl, who was in another room next to the one I was in..."- The Velite girl continued. -"...but by the time I entered the place and found her... she was buried from the waist down on a pile of rubble, screaming for help..."-

-"And I guess you tried to help her and pull her out of there?"-

-"Of course I did! I tried everything I could to get her out of there!"- Liska explained in a rather sad tone. -"But... for some reason... I could not touch her."-

This last part left Akane baffled, who didn't understand why her friend couldn't help the girl no matter how hard she tried.

-"You couldn't touch her, you say?"- The samurai-like woman asked. -"And can you explain why you couldn't touch her?"-

-"I don't know..."- Liska replied. -"I tried all the things I could think of to get her out, but I just couldn't..."-

-"And then what happened?"-

-"Then... afterwards... I heard an effeminated voice... the same voice I heard at the start of my nightmare..."- The Velite girl explained.

-"And you know what that voice was saying to you, Liska sweetie?"- Akane said, this time feeling worried for her furry friend.

-"I heard a voice telling me that there was nothing I could do to save that girl... while calling my name..."-

And then, the girl did another pause, and later on, she continued... but with a certain dreaded tone in her voice.

-"After hearing that voice... a man came into the room where I was with that little girl while I was trying to save her..."-

-"A man, you say?"- Akane asked again, for the presence of that person turned out to be a very drastic twist of events to what her friend was telling her seconds before. -"And what happened after that?"-

-"The man walked up to the girl a few steps away from her... then he started to say some things to her in another language I don't know... and then..."-

The orange tabby girl paused, feeling unable to describe what had transpired from that point on, at the same time that she began to cry as she described the girl's final fate...

-"sob... that man took out of his pocket what seemed to be a weapon... sob... and he used it against her... and... sob... that monster killed her instantly with it..."-

At that point, Liska stopped talking, and after a few moments of silence, she continued to cry as she looked down, with a few tears falling from her face and hitting the ground. Afterwards, Akane hugged her and tried to confort her the best she could.

-"It's okay, Liska... it's okay..."- Akane said as she tried to calm her friend down, who was still crying in her lap. -"It's over... it was just a bad dream... you don't have to cry... now, little kitty..."-

After crying in Akane's lap for a few minutes, the young novice warrior was more at ease, and, although she was still sad, she still seemed in hope that she could resume. The veteran female soldier, however, chose to confirm whether Liska wanted to do it anyway.

-"Hey, listen, if you feel like it, we can continue with this another day when you're feeling up to it, shall we?"-

-"Don't worry, Akane... sob... I think I can go on talking about this..."- The blonde girl replied, still with a sad face in her muzzle. -...besides... I really need to unburden myself after what I went through in my sleep."-

Following a brief stop, the human confirmed her alien friend that she can resume with her tale.

-"As you wish then..."- Akane said, still a bit worried about her feline friend's state of mind. -"You can continue whenever you like."

Then, Liska continued with her summary of that terrible nightmare.

-"After that man killed that poor girl, he left the castle immediately after; when I was able to regain my senses afterwards..."- The girl took deep breath and then she continued. -"...I left the place in order to find that damned bastard and exact revenge for what he did to that little girl."-

-"And..."- The African-Japanese woman asked. -"...did you find that man who killed the girl?"-

-"Yes..."- The Velite girl confirmed. -"He was outside the building, on the road, next to someone else; I think he was his friend or his comrade-in-arms, and they both seemed to be smoking something and chatting casually together, as if nothing had happened."-

-"I must assume that, when you saw that man and his crony, you tried to wipe the floor with both of them, right?"

-"That's right..."- Liska replied, this time with an angry and also pained expression painted in her face. -"but... the moment I jumped on them to rip their damn heads off... just like what happened with that little girl... I couldn't touch them in the slightest... and I fell down on the ground... like if I had tried to fight a ghost."-

Akane, while still typing on her laptop, was quick to give her opinion on what had gone on in her best friend's dreams.

-"Now that's really strange, even for a bad dream."- The black woman from Earth said. -"I can only imagine you must have been furious that you couldn't touch those guys with your bare hands, I think."-

-"Certainly, I was furious... and at that moment... I wanted to gut those two men with my own claws..., but before I could do anything else... I heard again that same effeminate voice coming from nowhere."-

-"You mean... that same voice that told you that you cannot do anything to save the little girl that man murdered?"-

-"Yes... that same voice..."- Liska retorted.

-"And..."- The human asked to her friend about that entity. -"did he say anything to you that time?"-

-"He told me that everything that had happened in that place were events from the past and that there was nothing I could do to change it. Then, I demanded that he must show his face, and immediately after... that boy appeared..."-

-"So, the person who was talking to you showed up himself?"- Akane asked again. -"And how did he looked like?"-

After a brief pause while she tried to recall, the alien maiden physically outlined the person who was haunting her in her dreams.

-"He was wearing a gray garment that covered his face, something that looked like a very long underwear that covered his legs and was blue in color, very similar to the clothes you normally wear, and he was wearing what looked like gray moccasins..."-

Akane was able to figure out that the clothing the person Liska was describing verbatim, at least in her own cultural sense, was a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and gray sneakers. Now there was just one thing the human needed to know about the person her friend saw in her nightmares.

-"Can you remember what he looked like physically, or at least if you could see what his face looked like?"-

-"No..."- The feline girl nodded negatively with her head. -"His face was hidden in that hood, and I couldn't see him, I could only hear his voice. The only thing I could tell you about him was that he had no tail, so he was most likely neither a Velite, a Hoplite, nor a Mousekin or a Ratkin..."-

Leaving aside the fact that Liska mentioned two races that inhabited that planet that Akane had not heard of before, the description of that person matched perfectly with that of a human being, all things considered...

-"And what happened after that person appeared in front of you?"-

-"He said that everything I had seen in that place was done supposedly to help me..."-

The human frowned when she heard the intentions of that creature that appeared in her friend's dreams, for obvious reasons.

-"If that's what he calls help, I can't even imagine what he means when he wants to hurt someone..."- And then, she asked. -"And what happened after that point?"-

-"The boy told me that the man who killed the girl and his partner died some time later;"- The tabby girl explained her. -"the first took his own life, and the other was put to death, according to what he told me..."-

And then, Liska added the following shocking statement about what that boy said to her in her dreams.

-"...and he also told me that everything I had seen up to that point were events that had happened in the past of your world, Akane."-

The latter definitely confirmed to Akane Araki, beyond any doubt, besides the already mentioned Soviet flag flying on the Reichstag, that what her alien friend was actually dreaming about was indeed the fall of Berlin, which occurred more than 354 years ago, precisely three and a half centuries in the past, before Liska, Akane and all the people living at that time, both in her friend's world and hers, had even been born.

How was it possible that Liska had dreamed of an event that was completely foreign to her own culture and that had occurred centuries ago in another world she had never known? Aside from the fact that Akane was human, she had never commented to her, at least not specifically, about World War II, and she had only commented, in broad strokes and without going into depth, about the third.

What was most absurd about it all was that Liska had described, without being specific because she lacked the necessary context, about the people who had invaded that city, and the war crimes that the Soviet soldiers perpetrated against Berlin's civilian population. And that was the least bizarre part of what she was about to hear...

-"Then... that hooded boy demanded me to return to my home in the Lowlands, and to leave the Highland tribe and all the people I have known... including you... at the same time he asked me to give up being a warrior..."-

The fact that the boy brought her up in her friend's dreams led Akane to take an even greater interest in hearing the whole story, aware that her own presence may have had a negative role in causing Liska to have that nightmare; but the human chose, for the time being, to keep her thoughts to herself until her friend had finished speaking first.

-"So... what else happened?"- Akane asked to her alien feline friend once again. -"I'm going to assume that you turned down the offer he made you, of course."-

-"That's right."- Liska replied. -"Then, he insulted me, starting by calling me a cat, a slave and other insults towards me, besides laughing at me as if he didn't give a damn about what I was feeling..."-

Akane recalled in those moments that, for the people of that planet, being called cats, even if they were precisely so, was considered a racist term of insult to them, comparable to calling out to the wrong kind of human with the epithet monkey, a fact that the woman of African origin could relate to her friend in that respect, even though Liska usually tolerated Akane being called like that, knowing beforehand that the human usually did so in jest, as a term of endearment to her and without any intention of insulting her whatsoever.

-"And what happened after that brat finished messing with you, huh?"-

-"Then, he snapped his fingers and... the town we were both in... disappeared."-

-"Disappeared, you say?"- The Earth woman reacted with some surprise. -"And what happened after he snapped his fingers, sweetheart?"-

-"Me and that boy ended up in the same place where I was when I started dreaming..."- The tabby girl did a brief pause. -"...in that dark place with nothing and no one around us."-

Akane asked the most obvious question that could have come to her mind.

-"And I guess that's the end of your nightmare, right?"-

But Liska shook her head. Akane, for obvious reasons, took that as a no; when she saw that her friend was reluctant to respond, the African-Japanese woman began to worry about her alien friend's state of mind.

-"Liska? Sweetie?"- The human insisted, looking at her friend with concern. -"What happened next? I mean, after you and that kid ended up in that place?"-

Liska didn't respond for a few seconds, as if she were afraid to continue, but then she finally decided to do so, lowering her gaze, looking at the ground as she spoke.

-"Then, he snapped his fingers again, and suddenly..."- The girl then sighed a bit. -"...we were both again in another town unknown to me..."-

-"And can you describe how was the city where you were at that time?"-

-"Both me and the hooded boy were standing on what seemed to be a bridge made of stone, and at the back of the place, I saw what seemed to be a completely different town from the other one where I was... the houses were made of different materials, between wood, bamboo, and stone, compared with the castles made completely with stone from the other town..."-

Then, the blonde girl added the most chilling part, at least for Akane, about the description of that town.

-"...moreover, the place had a very similar appearance to what I have heard about Hinowa and the cities from the eastern lands... and the people living there also spoke Hinowan..."-

Her feline friend's description of the different place she had been in her dream left Akane even more startled; based on the description given by Liska and her comparison of the place to Hinowa, which seems to be based in feudal Japan, it was more than evident that she was dreaming about being in Akane's adopted homeland. The only twist was that Liska only described that city in generic terms common among many Japanese cities, not allowing the human woman to deduce which city of Japan the alien was referring to.

Another difference was that the city Liska spoke of appeared to be at peace and not under attack, which meant that, by judging from the description given, it was clear that city was not Tokyo, the capital.

-"And what happened next when you and that kid landed there?"- Akane did more questions in the meanwhile.

-"Well... the boy started to make fun of me, and then, he asked me to look at the sky..."-

-"He told you to look at the sky?"- The black woman asked somewhat anxiously. -"And what for?"-

-"Then... when I did what he told me... a steel bird, like the ones I saw in the other village where I was, suddenly appeared in the sky..."-

Akane knew immediately that Liska was referring to a plane, possibly a bomber, but there was something eerily familiar about it, for she only talked about a single one...

-"Was it a single metallic bird, Liska?"-

-"Yes."- The orange tabby girl responded, confirming Akane's hunch about the plane.

-"And... what happened then?"-

-"Then, the bird flew over the village... and that monstrous creature spewed a very large egg from its belly, which began to slowly descend to the ground..."-

And then, the young alien maiden made a paramount struggle in order to tell what followed, because she had neither words nor the necessary context to describe what had transpired in that place.

-"And before that egg fell to the ground... it exploded in the air... the explosion was as bright as the sun itself, almost as if it was only a few steps away from where me and the boy were standing... and then..."-

At that point, Liska sheared tears...

-"...that explosion destroyed that town... and killed lots of people in the most gruesome manners possible... I... I can't even..."-

Failing to continue, the Velite girl burst again into tears, causing Akane to return to hug her again to comfort her. The human also began to shed tears in the same way, and for good reason, for the events her friend had described were something that any human, and above all, any Japanese like her knew perfectly well, being a generational trauma of the national kind, even if Akane didn't born there.

The event Liska was referring to was nothing less than the atomic attack on Hiroshima on August 6th, 1945. That explosion was so powerful that it had been the decisive factor in the Pacific theater, leading to the end of World War II, and it had destroyed a large area of the city of Hiroshima, killing thousands of people instantly, and also causing the deaths of hundreds of thousands more over the years, since the nuclear radiation had caused many of them to die in the following years, as they suffered from cancer and other diseases.

That description of such an ancient event caused Akane, which was trying her best effort to confort her feline friend, to ask herself even more questions about Liska's tale: Why would a person from another planet, from a Native American-like society that did not know about the concept of weapons of mass destruction, dream about the destruction of Hiroshima centuries ago without anyone telling her about it?

Not to mention that Liska had dreamed about the fall of Berlin, which occurred several months earlier in Europe. How was that possible in the first place?

The questions swirled in Akane's mind, but she did not have the answers, and so she simply hugged her friend and cried with her.

-"All those children... all those people... burning like wood... there were people who had...!"-

-"Now, now, don't say any more... I know that perfectly well... calm down... little kitten... calm down... hush..."-

-"BWAAHHHHHHHH!"-

Akane, while petting her friend's head, tried to reassure her, while the latter wept her heart out, being unable to fathom all the horror she saw in her dream, and being unable to comprehend what she saw or its due context.

And it was at that point that the human, who would have preferred not to explain anything until her friend had finished her talk, felt that she could no longer keep her mouth shut about what Akane knew of those historical events; it was evident that, for some reason, Liska had dreamed about the most violent events in human history, without understanding their meaning or their scope. As difficult as those events were to stomach for an ordinary human with the least possible empathy, for someone born on another planet, without any awareness of the history of mankind, the whole thing was a meaningless nightmare, leaving out the fact that alien girl was suffering from PTSD.

-"I imagine that at this moment you must be wondering what you really dreamed, sweetie..."- Akane began her explanations. -"...and I am just the person who can explain all that to you... although... I would have preferred to have done it until you finished telling me about your dream..."-

-"Do you know... what I dreamed, Akane?"- The feline girl said, still with tears in her eyes.

-"Well... yes... you see, sweetie... these events you dreamed about... they are all real events that happened on my world, Earth, many changes of seasons ago, before you, me and everyone else had even born..."- And then, the black woman began explaining the meaning of the first part of Liska's nightmare. -"The first city you dreamed of, Liska dear, is called Berlin, the capital of a nation in my world called Germany, which was invaded by a foreign army, in order to capture the leader of that nation, dead or alive, after he murdered millions of people during an event we humans call World War II."-

Obviously, the 18-year-old maiden had no idea of the notion of a war in which all the nations of the world were fighting against each other.

-"What is a World War, Akane?"- The feline girl inquired.

-"A World War is a war that is fought in many countries at the same time, sweetie, involving many nations from every corner of my world, at the same time... and that one was one of the worst wars that have ever been fought in my world..."- The female soldier from Japan explained. -"Basically, the vast majority of the nations of my world fought in it in one way or another during that war, and more or less more than 40 million people died during the conflict."-

The young alien girl could not believe the number of people who died in that war; even in the worst conflicts she had heard of on her own world, to read that more than a hundred, a thousand, or in the worst case, ten thousand people died was already an outrageous number of possible victims in a war. The mere mention that the casualties in World War II back in Akane's world numbered in the millions made Liska's jaw drop in horror.

-"Forty million people... died?"- The feline girl said in a stuttering tone. -"That's... that's so... terrible... How could so many people die in a single war?"-

-"The answer to that question comes from about what you dreamed about Berlin and the reason why that city was attacked in the first place."- Akane gave a further explanation. -"Berlin is the capital of the country where one of the countries that started the war, in this case Germany. The country that invaded that city was called the Soviet Union, and the reason they attacked that city was when the German army was completely weakened to continue protecting the rest of their country, and in the case of the Soviets, to capture the leader of that nation dead or alive and the main culprit that started the war in the first place: a guy named Adolf Hitler."-

Liska listened attentively to the history lesson about Akane's world, the Earth and about the Second World War, and what it meant in terms of the nightmare she had had; but what caught her attention the most was the mention of Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party and his role in the outbreak of that conflict.

-"And who is this... Hiss-ter... Hiter... or whatever his name was?"- The blonde feline girl struggled to pronounce the Fuhrer's surname right.

-"That's Hitler, and that bastard was one of the cruelest people in the history of my planet."- Akane answered. -"He was the supreme leader of Germany, and he and his goons were the responsable for starting that war. He began first invading Germany's neighboring countries, and then, he and his cronies began exterminating all those he considered undesirable, including the sick, people who had relations with others of the same sex, and anyone he considered inferior to himself and the Germans. It's a bit complicated to explain if you don't understand the context of my world's history, so there's no point in my going any further into that area."-

-"But... why did he kill so many people?"- Liska asked, still confused.

Akane sighed a bit, and then, she added the following:

-"Well, because he believed that those undesirable people were the main reason why his country, Germany, lost the First World War, and he also believed in a ridiculous theory called the Aryan master race, which stated that the German people were the most superior on Earth and that those undesirable people were the main reason Germany was in the gutters after they lost that war."- The human explained about the Holocaust in broad strokes. -"And it was horrible beyond any means... millions of people died in the most brutal ways I could mention to you... tortured... burned in ovens... starved and overworked to death... raped..."-

After Liska had listened to Akane's explanation with a stony and worried face, she readily gave her opinion on the matter in very simple terms.

-"It seems to me that your world... is a very violent place."-

The human couldn't help but wince at that statement about humans being inherently violent, something Akane decided to add a little more context to.

-"To be honest... we humans fought three wars against each other... and each war was worse than the last one."- The black woman explained about those wars. -"In fact, I think I had already told you some time ago about the last war we humans had."-

The feline lady, when she was told about that event, tried to recall it.

-"Hmmm... If I understand what you told me, you talked about a sacred city that was destroyed, and that a whole region was cursed, and many nations disappeared, or something like that, right?"-

Akane confirmed her warrior friend's words, while further adding the following.

-"You could say that what I told you moons ago was the broadly explained version of the last war."- Akane then, with a sad face, explained the truly extent of World War III -"The reality of that war is more brutal than you can even imagine... but... in order for you to understand the context of the last war, I need to explain to you what you saw in that last city you saw in your dreams... since in a way this also concerns me..."-

The latter left Liska somewhat unsettled, even if she knew that Akane had something to do with the nightmare she had.

-"Why?"-

-"Because the last city you dreamed of, honey, is one of the two cities in my country where I come from, and which were destroyed in the second war."- The human from Japan explained with certain uneasiness. -"And even if I was not born in Japan, what happened in those two cities has affected not only those of us who live in our country, but all of humanity in general."-

After a brief, awkward break, the feline girl asked to her friend.

-"What exactly happened in your country in the second war you are talking about, Akane?"-

-"Well, I am going to be frank and sincere about why all this happened: The country I come from, Japan, was allied with Germany, which was led by that Hitler person I just mentioned, and with another country called Italy, led by another nefarious man by the name of Benito Mussolini."- Akane did not attempt to sugarcoat her adopted country's share in the crimes caused by the Axis countries in World War II, whatever her alien friend might think later. -"And, together, they caused a lot of death, suffering, and destruction all over the world, as horrible as it may sound. But the war was already coming to an end, and the first two countries, Germany and Italy, surrendered when their leaders, Hitler and Mussolini, died: the former committed suicide after the Soviet Union took over Berlin, and the latter was hanged by his own countrymen, leaving Japan as the only country that refused to surrender."-

-"And what happened then?"- The alien feline asked.

-"Since Japan at that time had a reputation for not surrendering for any reason, and the Allied countries knew that a potential invasion of that country would cost millions of lives, one of the member countries of the Allied nations created a weapon capable of destroying cities by simply dropping it on the city."- Akane explained to Liska, in broad terms, about the atomic bomb. -"I cannot explain to you how this weapon works, but I can tell you that this weapon is capable of not only destroying cities, but also contaminating them for centuries in the worst case scenario, something that, fortunately for us in Japan, did not happen... not that it was any great relief, anyway."-

-"So, that means that the city I saw that was destroyed by that explosive egg..."-

-"Yes... that city, the one you saw in your dreams, which had the name of Hiroshima, was destroyed with that "explosive egg", better known for us humans as an atomic bomb."- The human added the following. -"More than 100,000 people died the day that bomb fell, both instantly and from the effects thereof, and almost the entire city was destroyed on the spot."-

The alien girl could barely handle, to her horror, the knowledge that a single weapon was capable of killing thousands of people in a single instant, leaving her stupefied and disgusted. As far as she knew, no weapon on her own world was capable of something as terrible as murdering so many people all at once, in a single day and in the most horrible way a person could conceive.

Akane, in turn, seeing the face of revulsion and disgust at the abridged explanation of the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima, whereas she chose to omit the details of the second bomb dropped on Nagasaki, couldn't escape feeling a sense of guilt, because it was possible that Liska did not understand the context of all those events and she thought that all humans are violent by nature.

Especially considering the events of the previous day, where Akane demonstrated before the entire tribe what she was skilled at thanks to both her training as a soldier and as a swordswoman, who learned the arts of the samurai warriors from one of the oldest schools of military arts in Japan.

-"Look, Liska..."- The soldier said, with a rather sad tone. -"I can see that you are very disgusted and shocked by what I have told you about the darker parts of my species' history... and I can't blame you if you are thinking that we humans have a long history of murdering each other... because in some ways we do."-

Akane then proceeded to tell Liska, in broad strokes, about the many wars that have been fought throughout human history, and how, unfortunately, there has always been some kind of conflict or disagreement between different groups of people.

-"I guess you humans are not very different from us in that aspect;"- The blonde tabby girl then gave her opinion afterwards. -"there have always been wars and conflicts between us too, and also many people have died in wars involving other tribes or nations... but I feel that you humans kill each other for really absurd things that I can hardly make sense of..."-

-"I assume you're referring to the parts I told you about how people have been killed or slaved for things like the color of a person's skin, like mine, their religion and the like?"-

-"Yes."-

-"You're absolutely right, honey... and we've killed each other over things even more absurd than that..."-

But before the human could continue, both she and Liska heard a scratching sound outside Akane's home, which was normally used to indicate that someone wished to ask for the attention of the person living inside the house, as well as an old woman's voice...

-"Akane, Liska? Are you both in there?"-

Both women recognized immediately from whom the voice was calling their names...

-"It's Mother Sanna!"-

Akane, being the owner of the tent, was the first to tell the elderly healer to come into her home.

-"You can come in, grandmother!"- The human woman said at her feline senior, once she opened the zipper that sealed the entrance to the tent, so that the guest could enter.

That done, the old lady stepped into the human woman's home. It was noticeable that Sanna had a bandage on her left cheek, as a result of the slap she suffered from one of the invaders who tried to rape her, only for Akane to behead him first, saving the old Siamese woman on the spot. Despite this, she was in good spirits, and the first thing she did was greet the two women in front of her.

-"Good morning, Akane, and you too, Liska. I hope you two were at least able to rest, especially after all that happened yesterday..."-

-"Well... the truth is that... huh... we didn't have a good sleep... to put it nicely, grandmother."-

Mother Sanna quickly understood what the human woman said, and understood their situation perfectly, so she decided not to talk about it anymore.

-"Yes, I understand, Akane dear..."- The old alien lady replied with a worried expression in her face. -"...you don't have to tell me anything else... it must have been a very hard night for both of you, for sure."-

-"Yeah, tell us about it..."- Akane replied with a certain wry drawl. -"As for me, the fact that it was the first time I had been driven to kill other people in my life did not allow me to rest well, even though I was trained for that."-

But before the conversation could go any further, Akane saw that Liska, her friend, was still in bed, not saying hello to her former mistress, which caused the female soldier from Japan to be a bit puzzled.

-"Hey, sweetie, aren't you going to say hello to your former master?"-

The young maiden-turned-warrior, who looked like she was somewhat absent-minded about whatever she had in her mind, quickly snapped out of such state when Liska realized that Akane was talking to her.

-"Huh?... what?"-

The African-Japanese woman, seeing her alien friend's bewildered visage, couldn't help but tease her a little with her trademark personal style.

-"Hello? Ground Control to Liska Mitsel-eman?"- Akane acted like a typical air traffic controller in order to attract the attention of her feline friend, who still seemed to be a bit distracted -"Please respond, we have a guest here."-

Liska, realizing what Akane was saying, snapped out of her state of mind and quickly apologized at the human.

-"Oh, Akane, I'm sorry! I was... thinking about other... things."-

Akane, for her part, smiled mischievously at her friend's response, who looked a bit worried about ignoring her former mistress in front of her.

-"About other things, my human ass."- The human replied in Japanese, since she was cursing. On the other hand, Liska, who understood the language, could not help but chide her friend for using obscene language.

-"Do you always have to use high-flown language when something annoys you, Akane?"-

At her friend's question, the human again retorted with some degree of cynicism.

-"Well... you know how I am, sweetie. Hehehehehe!"-

With that said, Akane Araki turned to Sanna, wishing to know his reason for her presence in her home.

-"Alright, silly games aside... what brings you to my home, grandmother?"-

The old woman, who had been observing the way the two women were getting along with each other with some amusement, finally explained her motives.

-"I just want to ask you two to do something that is very important..."- The Siamese lady said aloud.

-"What would that thing be?"- Liska asked to her former mistress.

The old woman pointed her finger at Akane's clothes, and then at Liska's, in order to imply what she would explain next.

-"Now that you two are full-fledged warriors, you will need new clothes that better reflect your new status to the entire tribe and beyond."- Mother Sanna explained, in a somewhat more commanding tone than usual, as she made mention of the clothes that both women traditionally wore previously. -"You can't just walk around outside dressed with those garments you were worn yesterday..."-

Akane quickly figured out what the old woman wanted, for she wanted both women to wear more traditional clothing that reflected the ideals of the tribe to which they now belonged; but even so, the female Earth soldier found that demand too much to bear.

-"Hey, grandmother, I see your point, especially in Liska's case, since she is no longer a slave, but..."- Akane complained at the feline old healer. -"...why do I have to do the same? Is there a problem in wearing my military uniform that I always wear here?"-

-"You are part of our tribe, and you can no longer wear your uniform, as it would mean that you are still an outsider to everyone here."- The healer explained to the foreign woman her rationale for her wearing those clothes. -"The best thing for you and for everyone is for you to wear our traditional clothes so you avoid more problems if people outside the village don't know which tribe you belong to now..."-

Then, the old lady explained her reasons even further, while smiling at Akane.

-"Besides... I think you would look better with our traditional leathers than that ugly military uniform you always wear... chuckle..."-

This somewhat annoyed Akane, who was not fond of the old woman describing her Japanese Space Self-Defense Force's military uniform as "ugly".

-"Hey, my uniform is not ugly!"- The human complained loudly. -"In fact, this is what pulled me through yesterday during the attack!"-

-"Yes, at least for you..."- Sanna retorted back at the young Eswati-Japanese lady. -"...but you and Liska will introduce yourselves to the whole tribe tonight, and you cannot go to the ceremony with the clothes you wore yesterday; I hope you understand well the reason for that, Akane dear."-

Akane, who did not wish to prolong the discussion with Mother Sanna on something as absurd as the clothes she was wearing, and knowing that the old woman was right in asking her to wear traditional clothes, could only begrudgingly oblige.

-"sigh... Alright..."- The black woman shrugged her shoulders. -"...I'll do whatever you ask, grandmother, just because I want to be nice to you..."-

The old woman smiled to see that she managed to convince Akane to follow her advice. Afterwards, she turned to Liska to speak to her.

-"By the way, Liska dear..."-

-"Yes?"- The young feline girl replied at ther former mistress.

The old woman held her nose, implying that she had a problem with the odors in Akane's home...

-"...you should take a bath."- Sanna complained in a rather wry fashion. -"You smell like dirt and corpses after everything you went through yesterday..."-

As the healer pointed out how bad the young new warrior smelled as a result of all the dirt and blood that had impregnated her fur, Liska could not help but feel ashamed to show herself in this way to her former owner.

-"Oh!... I'm really sorry!"- The orange tabby girl apologized.

Akane, who was in front of her, could not help but let out a mischievous laugh at the sight of her friend being scolded by Mother Sanna and the way she, who was now a full-fledged warrior, responded to her.

-"At least you're not the only one here who grandmother scolds, honey, hehehehe!"-

-"Could you please SHUT YOUR BIG MAW UP, AKANE?!"- Liska retorted against the wisecracking black woman. -"You always have to make fun of others with your bad jokes?!"-

-"Well, I can't help it, honey, you know very well how I like to laugh at what I see around me."-

-"Oh, yeah?!"- The feline girl angrily challenged Akane. -"In that case, I don't like being the punch line of your sick jokes."-

The old woman, noticing that the discussion was beginning to escalate, suddenly broke it off.

-"You two girls, shut up already!"-And then, she pointed her finger at the human. -"And you, Akane, you should show more respect to Liska, now that she's a free woman, instead of making fun of her and whoever else at your way!"-

The human, seeing that Mother Sanna was angry because of her, preferred to follow her advice and not raise the tone of the discussion any further, even if she did so with some grudging reluctance, simply to keep from making things worse.

-"Fine, fine; as you wish, grandmother."- Akane replied her, while rolling her eyes. -"I'm not going to make fun of Liska anymore, alright?"-

Seeing that the argument was over, the old woman spoke up and gave an order to the two women.

-"Now... once you two go to the stream to take a bath, I want you to come to my teepee so I can fix your new clothes that you are going to wear from now on,"- Sanna said at them. -"how about it?"-

Liska was the first in respond to her.

-"I think it's a good idea."- Then, she looked at Akane. -"And what about you, Akane?"-

-"Well... I guess we don't have a choice in that, do we?"- The woman from Japan responded, while shrugging her shoulders.

Seeing that Liska and Akane agreed to comply with her request, Sanna only concluded the talk with the following.

-"Good..."- The old Siamese lady said. -"Now go to the stream for a swim, and when you are done, head to my teepee as soon as possible."-

-"Understood!"- Both women replied at the same time.

-"Then, I see you later."- Sanna concluded, while leaving Akane's tent. -"Try not to take too long, girls."-

-"See you too, grandmother."- Akane replied.

-"So do I."- Liska followed suit.

The moment the old woman left Akane Araki's home, both women went to the river to bathe without delay, knowing that it was not wise to keep the stern woman waiting.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), White River, 10:10 AM (morning)

Once in the river, Liska and Akane, the latter who had already taken a bath earlier, were bathing in the waters of the White River, so that the young feline warrior could wash off the bad odor she had soaked into her body as a result of all the dirt and blood that had adhered to her fur after the fierce battle that both women had held against the Romalian bandits who attacked the village the day before.

And as for the human, Liska could not help but mention the fact that Akane had already taken a bath before, while the latter was behind her, helping her to bathe in the river.

-"Hey Akane, I thought you already took a bath in the morning."- The orange tabby alien warrior said, while Akane was helping her on washing her long blonde hair.

-"Well, yeah, but I thought you might need an extra hand on that..."- The black woman happily replied at her. -"you know, because you have so much... huh... fur... to wash..."-

-"Thanks Akane, that's very kind of you."- The feline warrior said, a little embarrassed at first, but still happy to have the help and company of the young woman. -"But... that's strange... since... well... ...you don't normally like anyone to see you naked..."-

-"Well, remember what you said yesterday before we went to sleep: I must also change some of my values in order to adjust to the daily life in this village, and, if we are going to be together for many things, we should not be ashamed to see each other naked from now on."-

Liska pondered her human Space Ranger friend's words for a few moments as she helped Akane wash her back.

-"Hmm... I guess you're right, Akane."- Then, she asked the black woman another question. -"And... by the way..."-

-"Yeah?"-

-"...I also find it strange that you are not angry this time for touching you in this way."-

Akane understood what her feline friend meant by that, considering that the human traditionally didn't like anyone touching her first without her permission, Liska being one of the few exceptions to that rule, due to the personal closeness between the two characters.

-"Well... I guess people touching me is also one of the changes I have to make..."- Then, she clarified her position on the issue. -"...as long as they don't touch me down there, of course."-

The young alien maiden could not help but make a rather smug smile, not being able to imagine someone who would be brave enough to unduly touch Akane's private parts without first signing their death warrant, considering what she saw from the African-Japanese woman against the bandits.

-"Yeah, right; I doubt very much that anyone would be stupid or deviant enough to touch you inappropriately without you cutting off their head first..."-

-"Well, not as much as you turning someone into cat sashimi with a katana."- Akane returned Liska's comment with some hilarity, referring to the way she had used one of Akane's swords to save her from Arn, by cutting him in half in the most spectacular and brutal way possible.

Although the young new warrior understood Akane's point about her saving the human's life, what she didn't grasp was the mention of that traditional Japanese dish...

-"And... what is sashimi, Akane?"- Liska asked, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible, but with a note of curiosity in her tone. -"Is that some kind of food you humans prepare?"-

-"Yep. It's a dish that consists of thinly sliced raw seafood or meat, served with soy sauce and wasabi, which, in turn, is a condiment we use in the traditional cuisine from my country."-

The feline girl quickly picked up on Akane's brutal analogy about the way Liska killed the leader of the Romalian invaders, causing a grimace of displeasure on her face.

-"Even if he was our enemy, comparing him to food is not something I consider in good taste, Akane."- Akane's younger friend replied with a certain shade of disgust, due to the hint towards cannibalism that the human alluded to in an oblique way.

The female soldier, noticing the outrage of her alien friend about comparing their mutual attacker and how his corpse turned out with sashimi, made the latter stop for a few moments...

-"Hey, honey... don't tell me what I said upset you?"-

Liska sighed for a few moments and then, she answered the human's question.

-"sigh... Don't think I enjoyed what I did yesterday of fighting all those men, Akane..."- The girl said, with a pretty sad tone in her voice. -"I never imagined that someday... I would be forced to kill other people... and that is something that really torments me..."-

Noticing her friend's sadness, Akane knew better than anyone that the young woman was not in a privileged position, having been forced to kill other people to save those of her loved ones, something that the Earth woman agreed with her. And this went double for Akane, for she too was in the same dilemma that Liska found herself in, even though the human was a military woman, something she could not help but reflect on the painful irony of being forced to take lives to protect others because of the training she received, both in the military and in the dojo of the Katori Shinto-ryu school.

-"You are not the only one suffering through this, Liska."- Akane replied, being as sad as her friend was, while hugging her kindly, and as well as dropping for a few moments her wisecracking persona. -"Believe me or not, this is the first time that I have had to use my sword to take other people's lives... and believe me what you must feel, and what I feel right now about this... sigh... is horrible beyond belief."-

The young feline maiden, upon hearing that, was somewhat surprised, perhaps she thought Akane had much more fighting experience, judging by what she witnessed that day when she first saw the human's skills with her sword.

-"From what you told me before, I thought you had already killed other people, Akane... and you didn't look like you were a beginner when I saw you fight..."-

Akane explained the reasons why her fighting ability was at odds with the fact that she had never killed anyone before.

-"I come from a society where the last great war, the Third World War that I told you before, happened a long time ago, before you, me and all of us who live now were born, and now we live in a more peaceful time compared to what it was like before. We no longer have to kill each other, nor do we have to enslave other people, as happened to you, nor do we have to live with the anxiety that the next day of your life could be your last, as happens in your world..."-

And then, the black woman added, with a rather more saddened tone, more context to her standing.

-"But the peace that we humans now enjoy was built on the corpses of hundreds of millions of people who died, and one quarter of our world was now rendered uninhabitable so that those of us living today could understand the message that things could not go on like that any longer, unless we wanted to destroy ourselves first."- The woman from Earth explained. -"Despite that, we soldiers exist in case another war or conflict between humans should occur again... but I never imagined that... sigh... of all the people I would end up killing... it would be against feline beings of another world."-

The human soldier looked away at the sky for a while, while Liska gave her opinion about Akane's words.

-"I guess the world you come from must have been a very violent place in ancient eras."-

-"Well... sigh... the answer to that is somewhat... let's say... difficult... to put in simple terms, sweetie."- Akane replied.

-"And why?"-

-"Let's say that much of our history, especially in the last 1,863 turns of seasons, since the fall of one of the most powerful empires that existed at that time, the history of mankind has been plagued by wars of all kinds, and its peak came with the Third World War, where the destruction was such that caused many of the inhabitants of my world, Earth, had to seek other worlds where to live."- The older woman continued with her explanation, while still embracing Liska from behind. -"We humans have killed each other for things that you might see as absurd, such as the religion we practice, the color of our skin, the place where we live and even because someone considered that a certain type of people did not deserve to exist... like the war you dreamed about..."-

-"You mean, the war your people call the Second World War?"-

-"Yes, that war was extremely brutal, because as I mentioned, that Hitler man I talked about had millions of people killed just for the sin of being different from him and his people, and in the worst known ways possible, including burning people in ovens, with poisonous gases, among other things that I prefer not to talk about..."-

The moment Akane mentioned Hitler and his methods of annihilating undesirable people, Liska remained silent, trying to remember, for she recalled that she had dreamt precisely where the hooded boy had forced her to watch scenes where she saw people being incinerated in ovens, among other horrors that she wished she had never discussed with her human friend, but without her help, the alien girl had no idea of their context, other than that they were terrible graphic imagery.

-"What's wrong, dear?"- Akane asked, seeing her friend suddenly fall silent. -"Did what I said make you even more disturbed?"-

After a few seconds of silence, Liska answered her Earthling friend's question, albeit with a certain tone of ruefulness.

-"Can I ask you a question, Akane?"-

-"What would the question be?"-

After sighing a bit, the Velite tabby girl asked her query to the human woman.

-"In the world where you come from... do people like us live among you humans?"-

That seemingly innocent question asked by that alien humanoid girl caused Akane to open her eyes as wide as she could be due to the unexpectedness of the question. She knew that the question would be hard to answer, and besides, she couldn't make up excuses like she used to before the events of the previous day to avoid answering personal questions about herself or Earth's culture.

-"Huh... well... geez..."- The black female soldier tried to reply to such question, with some notable hesitation- -"...by "people like us"... you mean your people, including feline Velites like you, the Hoplites and all other people you and Mother Sanna had talked about, like the rodent Mousekin and the Ratkin races?"-

-"Yes."-

Akane sighed, looked up at the sky again, and after some thought, she made up her mind to answer Liska's question as best she could.

-"I'm gonna cut to the chase on the subject, even though I think some things you might not like, but since you are asking me, and I promised not to hide things or lie to you anymore, here it goes:"-

The woman from Earth then responded her.

-"It could be said that there are beings similar to you, the felines and rodents, in my world, and they are called more or less in the same way as they are called here. The only difference is that, unlike in this world, felines and rodents are considered to be the same as the animals that roam your world, being unable to speak, as well as walking on all fours, unlike your people here..."-

Finally, Akane said another, more shocking point, to her explanation about the differences between the humanoid people from that alien planet with the domestic animals from Earth.

"...Also... and this may come as quite a shock to you... for us humans, you felines and rodents are considered to be our domestic pets."-

Hearing that part about felines being considered as pets by humans like Akane, Liska changed her expression to one of sadness, and her body, which was being hugged by Akane, began to tremble slightly at that revelation, especially considering that she was, until the day before, a slave to others. Knowing that her species was seen as pets by Akane's race caused Liska to start forming wrong ideas about the human, something that Akane also noticed right away.

-"So... I guess you've always thought of me as your pet... because of the way you always had treated me... haven't you?"- The Velite girl said to Akane in a rather sad tone at her.

The African-Japanese woman, when she realized that her friend was taking the subject in the wrong way, and believing that Akane considered her as something worse than a slave, quickly refuted such an idea that Liska had formed about the human, for more than obvious reasons.

-"OF COURSE NOT, SILLY!"- Akane denied such thing aloud. -"I have always treated you and everyone else in the village as people, and not as dirty pets, and it bothers me that you think I thought of you as one!"-

And she added the following, in case Liska didn't understand her point at once.

-"And besides... I am as or even more scared of you and your people in the tribe should be of me, because where I come from, people like you only appear in tales and cheap stories for children and NOT in real life!"- Then, Akane added more to her rant. -"When I came to this tribe thanks to Rial and Pyndan, I thought you, those two, grandmother and your people were going to eat me at first, not to mention that I also thought you would enslave me just like you, or even execute me for being a foreigner, so I've always had reasons to worry or get upset about the things your race do, and that's why I've always acted that way!"-

Hearing Akane's violent reaction to the assumption that the human regarded her feline hosts, including Liska, as pets, the latter looked with some surprise at her friend's face, which showed a glare of anger and sadness at the same time, feeling pained that her best friend believed her as some sort of superior being.

-"I'm... I'm... I'm really sorry, Akane!"- The feline girl apologized to the samurai-like woman from Earth. -"I didn't...I didn't know that bothered you so much!"-

-"Then don't say such a thing in front of me EVER again!"- Akane warned her. -"You are NOT my pet, nor is anyone in this village to me! Your people are my FRIENDS, my HOSTS, and above all, my SENIORS, for being the original residents of this place!"-

And then...

-"Also, Liska dear... YOU ARE MY BEST FRIEND, don't EVER forget that! I would never treat you like a pet, not even as a cheap joke!"- Akane, almost in tears, declared her feelings about her hosts and her alien friend. -"You are the first person I met on this world, and I have always treated you as a person, because you have always been nice with me since the first day, despite our differences, and I would NEVER treat you as a dirty slave, much less as a vulgar PET!"-

Akane's breathing became more hectic, and the human woman of African origin drew tears of pain when Liska thought that the woman from another world was treating her like a domestic animal to play with her, when that was far from the truth. This caused her to apologize again to Akane, as she saw her distress.

-"I'm sorry for saying that, Akane... I'm really sorry..."-

Finally, the black woman revealed the reason for her vitriolic response to such allegation done by the Velite girl.

-"Where I come from, sweetie, people like me, with dark skin, have been treated since time immemorial as less than wild beasts, and have been enslaved, discriminated against, and in the worst cases, exterminated en masse by people like that Hitler you dreamed of, among other lunatics."- Akane explained, with pained voice. -"That is why, since I met you, when I found out that you were a slave, I felt very sorry for you, for that and other reasons. I do not want anyone I consider my friend to suffer the scourge of slavery, and as long as I live, I will not tolerate slavers or anything connected with the matter in my presence, and that's why I hate Rial so much, no matter how nice he is to you..."-

The young maiden, seeing that Akane was visibly upset and sad after venting following that long rant, felt that having broached that subject with the human was not the best idea at all.

-"I'm very sorry for bringing up that subject, Akane..."- Liska said, still sad and regretful with her. -"If I had known that..."-

-"Please don't say any more, little girl... sob... it's my fault for reacting that way."- Akane replied, trying to calm her friend, which was notable sad and nervous after than incident.

Then, the young feline alien turned to look at Akane, and laid her head on the human's chest, purring placidly there; Akane, on her side, and feeling moved, began to pet her friend's head, both women trying to soothe each other while bathing in the river, something that caused some mirth, now that she was more relaxed, in the Japanese female soldier.

-"You know, Liska sweetie... you really love purr over me..."-

-"I don't purr, Akane..."- The feline girl said, still on Akane's chest.

-"Yes, you do..."-

-"I say no..."-

-"And I say yes..."-

-"No."-

-"Yes."-

-"No."-

-"Yes... and you REALLY enjoying being teased by me like that..."- Akane retorted in a sardonic tone. -"...I can tell just by watching you wagging your tail with joy."-

Liska preferred not to say anything and continued to purr on Akane's chest, letting the human continue to caress her for a few minutes as well; it was obvious that she just wanted to be by Akane's side, and the human's caresses made her feel a tranquility that she did not feel from anyone else, except for her own mate, Rial.

After a few minutes of this, the black woman became aware that both girls had spent too much time at the river, and that the two of them had other things to do that day.

-"Hey, honey, I'd like to keep playing this little game, but..."- Akane addressed the Velite girl. -"...don't you think we should go to grandmother's teepee? She's waiting for us to prepare our new clothes."-

The young new warrior realized that Akane was right about that.

-"Oh, CRAP!"- Liska cursed. -"I was so distracted by this!"-

-"Heheheh! Hey, don't worry about that!"- The Eswati-Japanese Space Ranger tried to tranquilize her, while giggling. -"That was my fault for not telling you, too."-

-"Yeah, I know that, but Mother Sanna will surely be angry with us if we delay any longer!"-

Akane could not help but grimace in annoyance, for she knew that her friend was no longer a slave, but still behaved like one, but she kept her mouth shut to avoid wasting more time discussing the issue and leave it for another time. In the meantime, she also headed with Liska out of the river in order for both of them to dress and return to the village.

-"Well... sigh... you're right about that..."- The human woman agreed with her alien friend. -"We'd better hightail it back to the village before grandmother pulls both of our ears."-

And so, Liska Mitsel-eman and Akane Araki emerged from the river, while both tried to dry each other before putting on their clothes, in order to return to the village as soon as possible.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), at the side of the White River, 10:49 AM (morning)

Once out of the river, Liska and Akane were drying each other as quickly as possible at the side of the stream, although the human, for obvious reasons, was having difficulty in doing so, due to the humanoid feline's fur.

-"Damn, it's already hard enough to dry a pet's fur in my world, but to do it with someone the size of a human is even harder!"-

-"Have you done this before in your world, Akane?"- The anthropomorphic feline alien asked with some curiosity at Akane, while the latter was still struggling on drying her off.

-"Well, I used to have pets back on Earth, and yeah, I have to dry them very often."- The human replied to her, with a slightly annoyed tone.

-"I see, so you have to be used to it, at least."-

-"You can say that, yes."- Akane replied. -"But no one told me that someday I would have to do the same with someone bigger!"-

-"At least with you I don't find it so difficult to dry you; you only have fur on your head..."-

And then, Liska put her sights on Akane's groin...

-"...and down there."- The orange tabby girl said with devious smile on her human friend.

Obviously, Akane did not find that comment about her private parts amusing, but, instead of losing her temper, the Eswati-Japanese woman found a way to verbally get even with her friend.

-"If you ever talk about my private parts again, Liska, next time I'm gonna use some scissors to shave yours, and see how you like that, stupid kitty!"-

Far from being intimidated by the human's threat, knowing that Akane was not serious, the young feline simply shrugged her shoulders and replied with a slightly mocking tone.

-"So, Akane, you love to make fun of other people, but when others do the same at you, you don't find it funny."- Liska rightly pointed out one of Akane's flaws on her personality.

Akane, who was between semi-amused and somewhat upset at the statement about her, even if the human had personal reasons to be offended by the comment about her private parts, replied to her alien friend.

-"I have no problem when others make jokes about me, even when they say very obvious things, like my weight or my abrasive personality..."- The human replied, still quite angry at Liska. -"But..."-

Without warning, Akane grabbed the alien humanoid feline's tail...

-"What are you...!"-

...and violently yanked on it, causing Liska to mewl in pain, while her fur bristled from the same reaction.

-"MEOOOOW! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU PULLING MY TAIL?"- The young girl angrily yelled at the black woman from Earth.

-"...I have my limits on what kind of jokes I like to be made about me..."- Akane sternly warned her. -"...And I don't tolerate jokes about my private parts. Is that clear to YOU, Liska?"-

The young warrior, who was at that moment hissing, was clearly angry with Akane for having pulled her tail hard, an unpleasant act on that planet. But the human, who was also visibly upset, had her own personal reasons to make her displeasure noticeable for that tasteless comment made by her friend, something that Akane remarked right away.

-"I guess my message came through loud and clear, didn't it, honey kitty?"-

Liska, still glaring angrily at Akane, replied in a pained, but equally adamant way.

-"Akane... you are an idiot."-

-"Yeah, I know that, sweetie..."- The woman of African origin replied, with her eyes closed. -"...and so do you."-

And so, the two women remained without turning to speak to each other, both of them angry at each other for attacking each other in different ways. This stance lasted for about five minutes until Akane was the first to speak.

-"I guess, from the look on your face, I'm right to feel angry with you, aren't I?"-

After a few seconds of silence when the human said that, Liska replied in the same way.

-"The same goes for you, Akane."-

The human looked at the sky, then, she let out a sigh, and, at the answer given by her feline friend, Akane replied.

-"All right, I admit I was wrong to yank your tail, but it was the only way I could think of to make you feel my anger about those kinds of jokes,"- She explained her standing. -"know what I mean?"-

And after a brief moment of silence, Liska also offered an apology to the human.

-"Yes, I know that too... sigh... and I also admit that I screwed up in telling you that silly thing about your private parts without knowing how you would react."-

-"Well, at least it's good to know that you admit you were wrong..."- Akane then did the same. -"And I also accept that I went too far in pulling your tail."-

-"In that case, I guess we are even now, aren't we?"-

Far from answering that question, Akane explained the reason for her attitude that caused Akane to pull Liska's tail in retaliation, at the same time the human began to speak in a sadder tone than usual.

-"You're probably wondering why I acted the way I did."-

-"Well, yes, Akane."-

-"For the moment that will be something I'd rather not discuss with anyone; I've never done it with anyone outside my family, not even with my best friends, like you or Kaguya when she was alive. I can only tell you that it is something that has tormented me since I was a child, and I prefer it to be a secret that I want to take to the grave with me."-

After that, Akane added the following to her alien friend.

-"I suppose you also have your own things you'd rather not tell anyone, not even me, right?"-

Liska reacted in surprise at the mention of that particular aspect of her own secrets; she knew that Akane was right when she said that, for there were many things that the young alien girl did not want to discuss with her human friend about her own past, as there were several parts of it that were too painful for her to even mention in a trivial way.

-"I guess you're right about that, Akane."-

-"I figured as much... and I know exactly what you don't like to talk about... starting with your family."-

If Liska's facial expression was bad enough at the mere mention that Akane knew she had secrets of her own that she preferred to keep hidden, the mention of her family caused the feline girl to look visibly nervous at the prospect of the African-Japanese woman wanting to broach that tricky subject, whether Liska liked it or not.

But even Akane had her limits when it came to making her friends feel uncomfortable, especially on such topics.

-"Don't worry, I'm not going to discuss that issue with you until you decide to do it first... And when that happens, I'll discuss my own intimate secrets with you, too. Is that fine with you?"-

The young new warrior sighed with relief that Akane was not thinking of talking about her family against her will.

-"It's all right, Akane."- Liska replied. -"When the time comes, I'll talk about my past, and you'll talk about yours. Will you promise me that?"-

-"I promise you, sweetie."-

Then, Akane clenches her hand into a fist and brings it towards Liska, who had no idea of the meaning of that action, believing at first that the black woman intended to strike her.

-"Wha... what are you doing with that, Akane?"-

-"On my planet, fist clenching means, apart from being a symbol of respect and approval, that I intend to keep my part of my promise, and I expect the same from you..."- Akane explained the fist bump sign. -"...and you also have to do the same with me, and then bump your fist with mine."-

Seeing that Akane did not intend to hit her and only wanted to make a gesture typical of her place of origin, and understanding what she had to do, Liska clenched hers, bringing it closer to the human's fist.

-"Like this?"- The Velite girl clenched her right fist.

-"Yeah, just like that."-

And then, both women lightly bumped their fists, sealing their promise to each other. Akane was surprised that her friend hadn't tried to hit her fist hard, not having warned her about it first.

-"Well done, at least you didn't hit me hard, heheheh!"-

-"Did you want me to hit your fist hard, Akane?"- The feline girl replied with some sardonic tone.

-"Of course not, silly."- The human said. -"I was just pointing out a mistake that a lot of people do regarding bumping their fists."-

-"Oh, I see."-

After a few minutes, Akane noticed that she and her friend had wasted a lot of time arguing and that they had to return to the village as soon as possible, to which she let Liska know.

-"Hey, sweetie, we have to go back to the village before grandmother really gets angry with us."-

-"Yeah, that's true"- The alien girl agreed with the human soldier from Japan. -"We should go back." -

And so, with no more time to waste, both women put on their clothes and headed back to the village.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), on the way to the White River Village, 11:10 AM (morning)

After a few more minutes, the two of them were more or less dry, and they continued on their way to the village. As they were walking, the anthropomorphic feline alien decided to ask Akane a question.

-"Hey, Akane."-

-"Hmm, what's wrong?"- The black woman retorted back to Liska, while keeping her pace.

-"I remember you mentioning, when we were in your home, that you humans fought three great wars among yourselves, right?"-

Akane, who felt she had enough of talking about past world wars with someone who didn't comprehend the human backdrop to them, let out a sigh of exasperation when she saw that Liska wanted to bring up the subject again. But at the same time, she understood the alien's concern about that topic, because she had a horrible nightmare related to those past conflicts, and obviously Akane was the only person from Earth who could explain to her the meaning of that bad dream her friend had that night.

But before speaking, the female soldier clarified a few things first.

-"The truth is that I don't really feel like talking about that damn topic again... but I guess you need to know exactly what it was that you dreamt..."- The woman from Japan replied at her feline friend. -"What do you want to know about these wars?"-

-"You said what I dreamt was about the second war, didn't you?"-

-"Yeah, that's right."- Akane confirmed. -"The nightmare you had was about the second one, specifically about Germany and my home country, Japan; did you dream anything else about that war?"-

After a few seconds of pondering in her mind, Liska Mitsel-eman explained to Akane Araki the last parts of her nightmare that she did not tell the human in her tent.

-"Well... I dreamt of another city... which was also destroyed with a similar weapon that obliterated the city of Hiroshima that you mentioned..."-

Akane, for obvious reasons, thought that the city her friend was alluding to was Nagasaki, which was hit by a second bomb on August 9th, 1945; but, because of Liska's mention of the three world wars humans fought in the past, the female soldier wanted to know which war she was referring to first.

-"I guess the city you're talking about was a lot like Hiroshima, wasn't it?"-

The Velite maiden nodded her head in denial.

-"No, Akane..."- Liska replied her. -"...It was a smaller town, which resembled a place in the middle of the desert, judging by the vegetation of the place; moreover, the buildings were nothing like those of that village named Hiroshima." -

Akane, hearing that, frowned uneasily, and for good reason. Her friend had dreamed not only of events from World War II, but also of events from the third one, for no apparent reason other than that she was suffering from PTSD.

And Akane knew exactly which event the feline girl was referring to in that regard. When noticing the human's face of awkwardness, Liska was quick to ask Akane.

-"Is there something wrong with the question I asked you, Akane?"-

After taking a deep breath, the human of African origin stopped halfway, something Akane's friend did the same, and without looking Liska in the face, while looking straight ahead, the female soldier asked her another question.

-"Please tell me something first, Liska."-

The feline alien girl, hearing Akane call her by her name without endearing terms, which meant that the human was not joking with her, knew that her friend had something really important to say to her.

-"What's the matter, Akane?"- The Velite said. -"Is it something that serious that you want to know about me?"-

After sighing again, the African-Japanese woman asked her alien friend the following question.

-"Before me and Noguchi's corpse ended up in this tribe, had you ever met any other humans besides the two of us before?"-

Liska was notably startled by Akane's query, since it was obvious that the human wanted to know if the nightmare she had stemmed from the human's presence in the former slave's life, or if it was due to some previous meeting with other humans at some point in Liska's life.

-"No."- The girl responded at the Space Ranger from Japan. -"You and your late friend are the first people of your kind I have ever met in my life... and I don't think anyone in the tribe, let alone in this world, has ever met anyone like you before."-

The human, thanks to her military experience, noticed that her friend, judging by the tone of her voice, had hesitated for a few moments when answering that question, which meant that there was perhaps something not right with her.

-"Are you sure?"- Akane asked her again, this time with some stress in the sure part.

Liska, knowing that Akane would not leave her alone until she received a satisfactory answer from her, quickly did not falter in answering the human's question, in order to settle the issue once and for all.

-"Of course not; I've never met any other humans in my life, and you and Noguchi are the first ones I've encountered."-

Akane was not completely pleased with the answer given by her friend, but at the same time, the human did not wish nor did she feel like going deeper into the subject, as she had already promised that she would not discuss issues related to Liska's family unless she did so first and vice versa. Besides, there was still the matter of the nightmare, which needed an answer before anything else.

-"Well... leaving that family things aside... I think you want to know about your nightmare and about that desert town that was destroyed with the same weapon that destroyed Hiroshima, don't you?"-

-"Hmm... yes, of course."- The Velite girl responded in affirmative.

And then, Akane explained the context of that nightmare about that city that was destroyed during World War III.

-"The town you dreamed of was not Hiroshima, nor was it Nagasaki, the other city in my country that was destroyed by the same weapon in the second war."- The black woman said. -"That town was destroyed in the last legs of World War III, to be more exact, in a region of my planet that was formerly known as the Middle East."-

Liska thought back and remembered that the place Akane spoke of sounded familiar.

-"Isn't that the place you talked about before, the one you said had gone permanently tainted?"-

-"Yes, that one."- Akane replied. -"But now I can explain you in detail what exactly happened in that area during the last war."-

-"In that case, what went on there in that war, Akane?"- The blonde feline girl asked.

Akane, in an attempt to summarize the events of that war in a few words, did her best to explain what happened in the former Middle East that caused the entire region to be contaminated with radioactive, chemical and biological weapons remnants.

-"Well... It is very difficult to explain all this... and as I said before, many of the exact details of that war were lost as time went by, and some other particulars, even at the time, were left without a satisfactory answer, but in short, this is how the war ended..."-

Then, the human described the aftermath of the third, last war the human fought among themselves.

-"One of the countries that were members of the rival nations during that war betrayed their own allies for reasons no one knows to this day, and then, they used all their weapons of mass destruction against them, destroying almost all life in the region permanently."- Akane said, with some sadness in her voice. -"They dropped many of those "egg-shaved weapons", as you call them, on several cities and towns, leaving them in ruins and poisoned; those poisons spread and contaminated the entire region, making it almost uninhabitable, and It was so bad that the entire area was designated as a no-man's-land and the people living there had to leave to another countries and even other worlds. Afterwards, the land known as "the Middle East" was left as a barren, polluted desert, completely devoid of life..."-

Listening to the effects caused by both atomic bombs and other weapons of mass destruction after World War III from Akane's mouth caused Liska to grow sad and depressed, for part of her nightmare had to do with precisely what these weapons were capable of doing to a person... especially about a very specific part she dreamed about.

-"During my nightmare..."- The feline maiden said, while closing her eyes, and describing the scene in a rather grim fashion. -"...During my nightmare... when I was in that town in the desert that I saw in my dream... at the moment that thing exploded... everything around me... houses, trees, people... burned as if they were paper... and I heard the screams of pain of the survivors... while I could do nothing to help them..."-

And then, Liska pointed out the most gruesome part of it...

-"...and then... something that looked like a child crawled close to me... while he seemed to be screaming for help... at the same time his body was on fire... and... he died in front of me... and I couldn't do anything to help him..."-

The alien began to shed tears as she recalled that nightmarish sight; even if it had been a nightmare, how intensely real she felt it was had caused her such intense trauma that she could not even avoid shedding tears, being unable to fully understand the context of what she saw in her dreams, even with Akane's explanation of what she witnessed in that nightmare. For Liska, that nightmare seemed to have some connection to Akane's presence in her life, at the same time as the PTSD she suffered after the Romalian bandits' attack on the tribe.

Akane, on the other hand, also could not help but feel to some extent guilty for her friend's suffering, even if all those events occurred centuries ago; she also felt that her own presence was negatively influencing her feline friend's psyche, even if the human herself wondered to herself how Liska had dreamt of events of past world wars that Akane had never talked about with her, such as the fall of Berlin, or the atomic attack on Hiroshima, even if she had previously discussed with her months ago about World War III in broad strokes and without giving many specific details.

Still, the human soldier, feeling a personal obligation, did what she felt was the right thing to do at the time, and decided to talk to her in order to comfort her.

-"Now, now, easy, that all happened a long time ago... please don't cry, honey..."- Akane said, while putting her hands into Liska's shoulders.

-"...sob... thank you... Akane... sob... but I can't stop crying... sob... it all felt so real... and I couldn't do anything... sob..."-

Akane felt at that moment that delving into the subject of that past war, considering its brutality, was not going to be a good idea, knowing that her new comrade-in-arms would possibly slip into a breakdown, considering what she had dreamed of, so she preferred to leave that subject behind.

-"Look... if you like, we can talk about that subject another day when you're in a better mood; right now I don't think it's good for you to bring up a nightmare as horrible as that one..."-

And then, the black woman added another thing regarding such issue.

-"...Besides... don't think that I like to talk about that topic, even with other humans when I lived in Japan... it's something we don't like to discuss so openly, to put it nicely."-

Liska also noticed, as she looked at her face, that Akane was also becoming visibly distraught at keeping on talking about wars, so there was a topic that both women agreed not to discuss any further.

-"You are quite right, Akane..."- The alien orange tabby feline agreed with the human woman, while she was trying to wiping out her tears. -"...I think, for our sake... it would be better if we don't talk about it anymore... do you agree?"-

-"Certainly, honey."-

Then, both women looked in the direction of the village, knowing they had a destination to go to, and a duty they both had to fulfill there.

-"Well, we better not waste any more time, Mother Sanna will surely get angry with us if we don't return to the village on time."- Liska said at Akane, while pointing out her finger to the village in front of her.

-"Yeah, right... and I wouldn't want to see grandmother angry, that's for sure."- The human agreed.

-"Then, let's go!"-

And so, both women hurried to the village as soon as they could, in order to avoid problems with Liska's former mistress.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), outside Mother Sanna's tent, 11:25 AM (late morning)

When the two women approached Mother Sanna's teepee, the old woman was standing outside, with her arms crossed and noticeably upset to see that Liska and Akane had spent so much time bathing in the river, something that the latter let them know immediately.

-"sigh... It's about time you two knucklehead girls came here; I was starting to wonder about you two, especially after the events of yesterday."-

Liska, being the healer's former slave, was the first to apologize.

-"We are very sorry for the delay, Mistress, but Akane and I were chatting a lot about different things, and that's why we were late."-

Akane, being also the eldest and the main reason that both women had taken so long, also followed suit and excused herself to the elderly alien woman.

-"Yeah, we are very sorry... I was the one who caused the long time we spent chatting while bathing... and I didn't realize that we had to head back to the village..."- The human giggled a bit in shame at the feline woman, while scratching her head.

The old woman sighed in exasperation, although she knew that the apology from both of her acquaintances was sincere, knowing how much the two women enjoyed engaging in conversation with each other whenever possible, to say nothing of their mutual friendship and esteem for each other.

-"Just a little heads up for you, Liska dear..."- Sanna addressed especifically to the younger girl.

-"Huh...?"- Liska was somewhat puzzled at the old woman and her former owner's words. -"What do you want to tell me, my mistress?"-

-"Stop calling me Mistress, for all gods' sake..."- The old woman responded discomfortingly, knowing that her former slave was now a free woman, but still addressing her as if Liska were still her own property. -"Now you are a free woman, and you don't have to address me as if I were still your mistress. From now on, just call me grandmother or Mother Sanna, as everyone in the tribe AND your friend, Akane, does... am I clear with that?"-

The feline girl, seeing that the old woman preferred to be called by more familiar terms, could not help but feel a little awkward that she now had to address her former mistress as if she were part of her family, but at the same time, that also meant that the healer had a great fondness for her, something that had not changed now that Liska was a free woman and a warrior.

-"Well... I suppose you are right... Mother Sanna..."- The blonde girl replied at her elder, with a somewhat awkward smile painted in her muzzle.

Akane, on the other hand, couldn't help but dip herself into the talk, sparked perhaps by the way her friend wanted to behave as she did when she was a slave to the old woman.

-"Hey, you didn't expect to keep calling her "mistress" even though you're free, did you?"-

-"Huh... well..."-

But the old woman, who had had enough of all that asinine talk, decided to jump straight to the point for which both of her acquaintances were with her.

-"Well, that's enough useless chatter; I want both of you to go into my home right now."- Sanna pointed her finger to the entrance of her home at the two characters.

-"Yes, sir!"-

Both ladies replied loudly at the elderly Siamese-looking woman, and then, Liska and Akane entered into's Sanna's teepee as quickly as they could.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), inside Mother Sanna's tent, 11:35 AM (late morning)

Once inside the old woman's home, the two protagonists, the alien and the female soldier from Earth, were ready to wait for further instructions from Mother Sanna, while the latter also entered the place once Liska and Akane did it first.

Regarding the latter, both women noticed that, inside the teepee, there was an old acquaintance of theirs, who was none other than Brocia, Kebec's best friend and who, during the attack of the Romalian bandits to the village, she was in charge of taking home Panka and Gareth, who were wounded when the invaders tried to kidnap both children.

The young ex-slave girl, who was married to one of the leading warriors of the tribe, was standing in front of a box full of items that would be used to make the new clothes that the two women would wear from now on to indicate their membership to the tribe and as part of its warrior elite; it was obvious that Sa was going to need her help to make those new outfits.

But Liska and Akane, for their part, chose instead not to focus on her, since they both had other things on their minds related to the issue of the traditional clothes they would receive from the old woman, and that was precisely what Akane Araki wanted to address with the feline healer. The same went for Brocia, who also did not wish to talk to them, considering the bad blood she had with the two outsiders who had become full-fledged members of the Highland tribe.

-"All right, we're in here, grandmother."- The human said at her elder. -"Now what are we supposed to do while you're tailoring our new clothes, huh?"-

The old woman, who quickly noticed the annoyed tone of her human protégée, responded in kind.

-"You two should take off all your clothes."- Sanna said, emphasizing the "all" part of it.

The human of African origin, for more than obvious reasons, reacted in outrage at the very idea of having to strip in front of the old alien feline woman and Brocia, something that she had never done before since she was living in the tribe.

-"Wh-WHAAAAAT?!"-

-"Yes, as you heard, Akane; I need you to take off all your clothes, including your underwear, otherwise I won't be able to calculate your size properly in order to tailor your clothes for you."- Sanna replied at her. -"Have you never done this before in your world, by any chance?"-

-"Hell NO!"- Akane cursed. -"Where I come from, we buy our own clothes, and we only go to a tailor when we need special outfits, and even then, we don't have to strip down to do all this crap!"-

-"Well..."- The Siamese-looking old lady retorted loudly and angrily at the human soldier from Osaka. -"here in own world we do things in a different way... and you're not leaving MY teepee until you have those new clothes that mark you as a warrior. Is that clear to you, you young loudmouthed girl?!"-

Meanwhile, as Akane was arguing with Sanna, Liska, on the other hand, promptly began to undress without complaining, for she fully understood what the old woman wanted to do, not to say that it was something very common in her culture and nothing she could be surprised at all.

-"Akane, I think you should listen to Mother Sanna and do what she says."- The feline girl addressed the her Earth friend, while she finished to take off her clothes.

-"Yeah."- Brocia also joined at the voices asking Akane to comply with the elder woman's orders, while she looked at the human with some derision and amusement at how the latter did not want to undress due to her own cultural taboos on the subject. -"Besides, there are only women here on this teepee; it's not like some man is going to walk in and see you two naked or something... and especially, with grandmother here..."-

Akane, upon learning that she had no choice about whether to undress or not, and that both Liska and Brocia were trying to coax her into complying with that request, just sighed in reluctance and accepted her fate.

-"Damn it..."- The black woman from Earth cursed. -"All right... I'm going to undress... I just hope I don't end up regretting this later."-

-"Well said, Akane..."- Sanna, with a smile, was pleased to see that the human finally agreed to undress so that the old woman could put together her new clothes.

And without further ado, Akane undressed completely, standing completely naked next to Liska, and in front of Sanna and Brocia, the latter preparing to take out of the box all the necessary tools to help the old feline to start sewing the new clothes for both women.

And as for the old healer, Sanna, who had never seen Akane Araki naked before, could not help but feel amazed to be able to see a person of a species other than her own without clothes, noticing mainly the similarities and differences between the human race, to which Akane belonged, and the humanoid feline races that dwelled on that unknown planet.

-"You know something, Akane dear?"- The feline elder said, as she put her hand on her chin as a sign of curiosity. -"Other than the fact that you have no hair, except on your head and private parts, plus your ears are small and having no tail, you're not that different from us in every other way, to be honest..."-

Akane felt a little embarrassed at first to hear such words, especially when the old woman mentioned her private parts, because of how sensitive that woman was to that subject, for obvious reasons. But at the same time, she knew that, unlike what she did it with Liska, the female soldier could not reproach her harshly for it, due to the old woman's social status in the tribe's hierarchy, not to mention that Akane was in no mood to escalate the argument over something like that either.

-"Huh... well... I guess that has to be an advantage when it comes to sewing clothes... right?"- She said, awkwardly laughing a bit.

-"Technically, yes..."- Sanna nodded in agreement. -"Through I was just saying that as a personal opinion about you, Akane..."-

Akane, pretending to ignore the fact that the old woman had mentioned her private parts, something the human did not want to talk about, tried to follow the thread of the conversation, so that Mother Sanna would not want to think about talking about anything else about the stranger's intimacies.

-"Huh... If I must be honest, there are some things that come naturally to your people, but me and all other humans can't do; I still don't fully understand your body language, I don't have retractable claws, so I can't climb up or down trees with ease, and..."-

-"...you can't wiggle your ears like us, can you?"- Liska interrupted her, while moving her ears up and down to illustrate her point to Akane, much for the latter's amusement and hidden shame.

-"Well... that too."- The human smiled.

Surprisingly, rather than pursuing the matter with the human woman of African origin, Sanna turned her gaze suddenly to the above-mentioned former slave of the old woman.

-"Leaving body things aside, there's something I forgot to do with you, Liska..."-

-"And what would that be, grandmother?"- The orange tabby girl responded her senior in a rather suprised way.

-"When I broke your wand of ownership yesterday, I forgot to remove your shackles from your wrists and ankles."- The old lady pointed her finger at the girl's repective parts. -"Just let me find the keys to these before we begin..."-

Akane, who was standing next to her friend, had not noticed that she had those shackles, which were secured with a key, since she always thought that those things were beauty accessories that her friend always wore and not marks of ownership indicating that Liska was once a slave, which was the case.

-"Well, I didn't know those things were used to mark someone as a slave, honestly."- Akane said in a puzzled way, while putting her eyes in such accesories used by her feline friend. -"I always thought those were your accessories that you wear every day."

-"Don't you humans have anything like this to identify a slave, Akane?"- Liska asked her, out of curiosity.

-"Yes, we do, at least in ancient times, but that depended on the culture of the slaveholders themselves."- The Space Ranger from Japan responded her question. -"In some cases, slaves were identified from free men using items similar to the shackles used here, including different colored clothing... however, in very extreme cases, some slaveholders used very cruel methods to mark their subjects."-

-"What kind of methods... if I may ask, Akane dear?"- Mother Sanna, which was also listening to Akane's conversation, also asked, with some understandable hesitation.

The human drew a deep breath, for she knew that what she was about to tell was possibly not going to be very pleasant for her feline hosts to hear.

-"In some cases... the slavers forcibly painted, or as we call in my world, "tattooed", their victims with symbols that marked them as part of their property, and in more extreme cases, some came to mark their slaves with the same symbols using burning irons, the same ones used to mark animals, which were put on visible parts of the body, such as the forehead, arms, legs, chest. ... and some, the most perverted ones... even went so far as to do it on the buttocks or even near the slaves' private parts, especially if they were women."-

Needless to say, when Akane touched on the peculiarities of slavery among humans, and the brutal methods of marking slaves in certain ancient human cultures, Liska, Brocia and Sanna, unironically enough, being a former slaver, could not hide their disgust and indignation at the practices used by the human woman's ancestors.

And the first to make her revulsion evident was Brocia, the former Romalian slave, who knew better than anyone what it was like to be a slave, along with Liska, who had also suffered from the same.

-"Forgive me if I meddle in your talk, Akane, but... even when I was a slave in Romalia, I have never seen slaves treated the way your people treated their own kind!"- Kebec's friend said in disgusted outrage at the black woman.

-"I agree with you, Brocia..."- Liska followed suit as in their mutual disgust about human slavery. -"How is it possible that you humans would treat your own slaves so brutally?!"-

-"Even we don't brand our animals with hot irons..."- Mother Sanna also gave her own opinion, being as shocked as her juniors, given that she was half-Romalian, whose mother was also a former slave. -"In our culture, we call that torture, if I must be frank about how your people treated others in the past, Akane."-

Akane bowed her head in shame, knowing that they were right in their accusations. Even without these women fully understanding the human context of slavery, there was no need to be human to know that what had happened in humanity's past on Earth was not something that could be dismissed as nothing, with Akane noticing immediately that the concept of slavery on that planet was very different from what humans were normally familiar with or used to hearing or seeing.

-"Girls, grandmother... sigh... I understand your feelings and your outrage..."- The human replied in a pretty visible sorrowful tone. -"It would be very complicated to explain what happened in the past of my world, but I agree with you that the ancient times of my world were particularly brutal... and I can say this because I have indirectly experienced it firsthand, since my ancestors were also slaves..."-

Both Mother Sanna and Brocia, who did not know many points of Akane's personal life, were visibly struck by the fact that brave and strong woman, who along with Liska had helped defend the village, was from an ethnic group that had been oppressed for as long as mankind has existed as such. For the feline inhabitants of that world, they did not see Akane, at least not in the same racial context that humans have of people of African origin or dark skin, as belonging to an oppressed racial group, but as a powerful warrior woman from a race completely unknown to them, and that it was evident that theirs, at least as far as they could understand, seemed to be a very belligerent and violent one, with an equally bloody history.

-"I can't... I can't ever imagine that your ancestors once were slaves, Akane dear..."- The Siamese-looking old lady said at her protégée. -"You don't look like someone who could be a slave or their descendants at all..."-

-"Yeah."- Brocia also wondered about the same thing regarding Akane's ancestry. -"You don't look like someone who could have descended from slaves. More like... from what I saw yesterday... you look more like someone who was born to be a warrior..."-

It was obvious that no one could believe that Akane was descended from slaves. After all, who could imagine that one woman, armed with a pair of swords and a pistol, faced, with the help of another person, almost an army of bandits? And without the prior context of the African people's story, the women began to think that Akane might be saying this to downplay her role in the previous day's events, perhaps to keep her hosts from asking too many questions.

But Akane, on the other hand, could not help but feel that her alien friends did not understand why dark-skinned people like her once endured the scourge of slavery, something that haunts them as something they can never forget.

-"Thanks for the compliment, Brocia... but explaining to you why people like me were slaves would take me a long time... although I can explain one thing what it all boils down to..."-

-"And what's that you mean, Akane?"- Liska asked her.

-"In a few words... although you may not believe it... many people enslaved our ancestors for the simple fact that our skin was dark, and they considered us as savages..."-

Brocia, who listened with interest to Akane's conversation, despite her animosity towards the human, could not hide her disbelief and outrage when she learned the details about human racism, not knowing the specific reason and context, apart from the part of dark-skinned people being considered savages, something she made known aloud and without any hint of reserve.

-"What- WHAT KIND OF INSANE EXCUSE IS THAT FOR ENSLAVING SOMEONE, AKANE?!"- The former Romalian slave said, almost yelling at the human. -"Enslaving someone just for being of a different skin color? That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard in my life!"-

The elderly healer, who up to that point was searching for the key to Liska's shackles in her home, interrupted it when she also heard the Earth woman's words about the history of slavery and racism among the human race, and she also gave her own opinion on the matter.

-"Forgive me for what I'm about to say, Akane, but I have to agree with Brocia as well, being that my mother was a slave."- Sanna said aloud, trying her best to control her disgust about the "absurdity" of human discrimination. -"How is it possible that your own kind is capable of doing something like that for such a stupid reason?"-

Akane tried to find a way to explain the context of her words, for what she had just said about the racism that dark-skinned people like her suffered made no sense, at least in the context that her alien hosts could grasp, for it was evident that racism based on skin color, or in the case of the inhabitants of that world, fur, was a non-existent concept for them.

-"Well... as I mentioned before... it's a very long story that even we humans don't fully understand... and that varies from culture to culture. Some enslaved dark-skinned people because they considered them inferior, some because they considered them demons, others just because, and many other examples that would take me a long time to explain."- Akane tried her best to explain. -"Unfortunately, even though slavery is no longer a practice in my world, people with dark skin like myself still experience discrimination and rejection from others, particularly those with lighter skin... It's a painful reality that we continue to face even after the end of that era..."-

Mother Sanna could not help but bring up something related to Akane's skin.

-"You mean, people like your dead friend, Keisuke Noguchi?"-

The human quickly understood the situation, as the old woman was unaware of the relationship between Noguchi and Akane, something that the latter quickly clarified the matter for her.

-"Noguchi was my subordinate, and I was his immediate superior."- The Earth woman replied. -"I can't deny that I've faced discrimination in the past, but thanks to the laws in my country, people like me are able to hold positions of authority without facing rejection or discrimination. That's why I hold a higher rank than Noguchi did... I earned it through a lot of hard work and sacrifices, not because I'm strong."-

At that moment, Brocia began to look at her arms, or rather the color of the fur on them, possibly trying to convey something that she herself would explain to the human.

-"So, does that mean that, if I were to live in your world, humans would shun me because of the color of my fur?"- The honey-furred girl said, with a concerned tone.

-"And I guess that would apply to me too, since my coat is orange, right, Akane?"- Liska followed suit, by pointing herself.

And then, the two feline girls, in addition to Akane, looked at Mother Sanna, since her fur had a pale silver color, due to her age, with dark patches on her hands, ears and feet. The old woman, for obvious reasons, seeing that her protégés were looking at her with some apprehension, in response to the human's words, so she also gave her point of view on the subject.

-"Well... when I was younger, my fur had a darker color, but it got paler as I aged, so I could understand Akane about being mistreated over something as silly as the color of someone's skin."-

-"Or someone else's fur."- Liska completed.

-"Oh, that's right... that too."-

Akane couldn't help but smile at her alien neighbors' words because there was a significant difference between being a person of African descent like herself and being an alien humanoid feline like the inhabitants of the unknown world where she lived.

-"Frankly, if you girls were on my world, the last thing my fellow humans would worry about when seeing you would be the color of your furs..."-

Even though Akane mentioned it with a sarcastic tone, Mother Sanna, Brocia, and Liska couldn't help but agree with her when she mentioned the possibility that other humans knew about their existence and the alien civilization on their planet, especially considering the unlikelihood of anyone looking for the African-Japanese Space Ranger at the time.

-"You're probably right, Akane..."- The old woman replied at the black woman from Earth. -"I mean, the way you acted when you first met us, it's not hard to imagine other humans reacting the same way we did when we found you."-

-"Indeed."- Akane said. -"Although... to some humans, especially children... would find all fo you as incredibly adorable..."-

This last part left the old feline lady somewhat perplexed.

-"What do you mean with that?"-

-"Well... it's kind of... complicated, so to say, to put into words... but I can assure you that a lot of human children would like to play with all of you."-

-"To be honest, I wouldn't understand why a child I don't know would want to play with me..."- Brocia joined the talk and responded Akane in a rather abrassive way at the human's remark about being adorable for human children. -"Besides, I don't like being talked to by complete strangers just like that."-

-"Well, I'm not surprised that your only friend is Kebec, because you and her are so bitter with everyone else..."- Akane mockingly shot back at the former Romalian slave, while giggling at her. "...and you don't have any others friends outside your family, nor many people want to speak with you, other than your husband! Hehehe!"

-"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU SAY?"- The other feline girl yelled at the human soldier.

-"Admit it, Brocia-chan..."- Akane used the Japanese honorific used for little girls in the local language in order to further insult her. -"You know very well that I am saying the truth, don't you?"-

-"Why you don't shut your really BIG mouth, you human piece of lizard-?!"-

-"YOU TWO, SHUT UP, RIGHT! NOW!"- Sanna interrupted the verbal beatdown between Brocia and Akane by assuring her own authority as an elder. The two women immediately stopped quarreling, not wanting to escalate things any further and face the wrath of the old woman they both respected.

-"Yes, grandmother..."- Both the human Space Ranger and the Velite girl sheepingly complied with that order.

Meanwhile, Liska Mitsel-eman, who was standing still and watching the discussion, couldn't help but feel embarrassed as she saw her friend making fun of other people she disliked without provocation. She just facepalmed, feeling ashamed.

-"Akane... sigh... you are shameless..."-

Akane Araki, for her part, decided not to say anything, knowing that her friend was justified in feeling embarrassed for her after what had happened. She just stood there, letting the old woman scold her and her other protégé. The old woman continued to lecture the two of them, clearly upset by their behavior.

-"I still can't believe that you're still behaving as if you were an ordinary woman, Akane..."- The old lady continued with her rant, begining with Akane first. -"Now you are a warrior and you have to behave as such, starting with not getting reacting to any stupid thing that other people do to you... and the same goes for you too, Liska."

The former slave decided not to say anything, understanding her former mistress' message. However, Akane could not help but respond to Mother Sanna sarcastically, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

-"Is being a warrior in this culture about more than just going to war and hunting, grandmother? Or am I mistaken?"-}

-"Exactly, Akane dear."- The Siamese-looking alien feline woman responded her. -"You two will represent our tribe from now on, both in war and in peace, and therefore, you must only react appropriately to the orders given to you by the clan chief, which in this case is me, or by the tribe chief. And I don't need to remind you two, especially you, Akane, that disobeying the orders of your elders can lead to punishment, which may depend on the severity of the penalty committed."-

-"Yeah, I know that..."- Knowing that the warning was directed more towards troublemakers like Akane than Liska, the human responded suitably, without losing her sharp edge towards the elderly alien. -"I will obey your orders as you say; you don't need to remind me that... I am also a soldier and I am already used to that..."-

-"I'm telling you this because I don't want you to run into trouble for opening that big mouth of yours at an inopportune time."- Sanna replied her in a rather caustic way, after hearing the African-Japanese soldier's response. -"So you better listen to me, young lady, if you don't want to end up being punished... or worse."-

Akane raised her head, rolling her eyes to show her discomfort at being scolded by her elder. Sanna just wanted the foreign woman to act in a way that was appropriate for her new social status, rather than continuing to behave as she did before the Romalian bandits invaded the village.

Meanwhile, Liska, who listened to the discussion with some interest, could not help but join in the voices calling for her friend to behave better.

-"Akane, I would recommend that you obey grandmother in what she says, for your own good. In our world, things are handled differently than yours, and we wouldn't want you to do anything that could be misinterpreted here as an aggression, so you'd better listen to her."-

-"Yeah, Akane; you'd better listen to what your dear friend wants to tell you..."- Brocia followed suit, in a rather aggresive tone to both the former slave, who she also hated, and Akane as well. -"In a few words, keep that mouth shut until you are asked to open it."-

When the human saw that the three alien women's opinion of her had turned negative, even though they had good intentions, she quickly understood their message, even though the way they delivered it was too harsh for her taste. However, Akane knew that they were doing it for her own good, considering her explosive personality and offensive and course use of language, especially when speaking in "Hinowan" (Japanese); they just wanted to prevent Akane from causing an unwanted incident by saying something she shouldn't have.

-"All right, all right... I won't open my big human mouth when I shouldn't, I promise..."- The human replied with visible unease.

-"Glad you understood our message, Akane."- Liska replied her, now feeling a bit more relieved to hear her friend to understand her and the other women's points.

And as for the young warrior, Mother Sanna had other set of news for her.

-"By the way... I already found the keys to your shackles, Liska dear..."- The feline old woman said, showing a pair of keys she found from a vault hidden in secret spot of Sanna's teepee. -"Now let me take them off."-

-"Really?"- The orange tabby girl happily replied, also relieved to know that her former mistress had found such keys. -"Oh, thank you!"-

Without hesitation, the old woman approached Liska and began to use the keys to unlock the shackles around her wrists and ankles, signaling her freedom. The girl, once a slave, was now a free woman. Akane, for her part, was thrilled to see her alien friend finally able to openly declare her freedom and be rid of the shackles that symbolized her past as a slave.

-"Congratulations for your freedom, sweetie."- Akane happily said at Liska.

-"Thank you, Akane."-

With all this done, Sanna knew she had another unfinished business to deal with... and that was the main reason why Liska and Akane were there at her home to begin with.

-"Well, now that I've found those keys and we've talked for a while, it's time to start sewing those new clothes..."- The old lady said in a cheerful tone. -"But first, I need to take your measurements; I will begin with you first, Akane, since I don't know yours."-

-"Understood, grandmother."- Akane complied with the Siamese-like alien woman.

The old woman began to measure Akane, using her fingers and a string to calculate her height; as Akane was human, she was the tallest person in the tribe, standing at over 1.85 meters tall, and dwarfing anyone else, including her friend Liska, who was middle-sized, compared with the Earth woman. This posed a new challenge for the alien woman, as it meant she would need more leather to create clothes for Akane, and, while Sanna had already anticipated this, seeing Akane in person made her realize that sewing her clothes was not going to be an easy task.

On top of all this, there was another challenge that the old woman pointed out to Akane, as she gazed carefully at the body of the human female soldier... even though she knew that what she was about to say could hurt the foreign woman's feelings.

-"Hmm..."- Sanna groaned, as she nuzzled her chin, at the same time she looked at Akane.

-"Something wrong, Mother Sanna?"- Akane asked at her elder, quite concerned when she saw the Native-like woman was putting her sights on her in a rather worrying manner.

-"I think we have a minor problem here, Akane dear."- The elderly feline woman replied her, still in a contemplative mode.

-"And..."- The black woman awkwardly asked again at her. -"What would that problem be?"-

Immediately after, Sanna put her finger on Akane's belly, at the same time squeezing it firmly, though she was careful not to use her claws so as not to hurt her. The African-Japanese woman felt uncomfortable and surprised when that Siamese-like woman did it, and didn't understand what Sanna meant. The healer had to explain it to her in a somewhat harsh tone.

-"While I knew you were already somewhat fat..."- The old woman said, without taking her finger off the human's belly, and with a mixture of a certain sarcasm and genuine concern, perhaps because she was not used to seeing obese people like Akane. -"...now that I can see you naked I can tell that you are really quite overweight."-

If there was one, of many things, that could really put Akane Araki in her bad side, it was when someone, no matter how well she knew them, commented on her weight. In any other situation, the young female soldier would have become very angry with the person who made the comment, but unfortunately, she was not in a position where Akane could reprimand the person who mentioned her obesity. The person in question, Sanna Hada-ro-seg, was an old woman with a lot of influence and respect within the Highland tribe, and even Akane, grudgingly, had begun to respect her, knowing that she had no other choice.

-"Is there something wrong with being fat here, grandmother?"- The black woman from Earth asked Sanna, unable to hide her discomfort and annoyance that someone not only mentioned her weight, but also had the audacity to touch her belly without her permission, which was another thing she hated.

-"Well, besides the fact that it's harmful to your health, our village doesn't always have enough resources to properly nourish everyone in times of need, so it's important for both your well-being and the well-being of the tribe that you lose some weight, Akane."- The feline healer explained her rationale for Akane to lose some pounds.

As the elderly healer warned the human about her weight, Brocia, who was standing behind her elder to help her sew the clothes for both women, was quick to notice something that she couldn't help but mention aloud... with a certain derisive tinge of mockery.

-"Hey, Liska, now I understand why you and Akane are such good friends, since you are very thin compared to her, heheheh!"- The honey-furred girl giggled with malice at the former slave, also making fun of her weight as well by comparing Liska's slimness with Akane's extra weight.

But, upon hearing that, Sanna quickly intervened to prevent the situation from escalating between the two girls.

-"You keep that mouth shut, Brocia!"- The elderly woman sternly warned her aloud, while looking at her in a rather angry manner. -"You are here to help me sew, not to make fun of other people! Am I making myself clear, young lady?"-

The woman, who had angered Mother Sanna and was being confronted by Liska's aggressive hissing after Brocia mocked her, knew she was not in a good standing, and reluctantly decided to follow the order, much to her personal chagrin.

-"Alright... I will keep my muzzle shut."- Brocia replied, albeit insincerely, but also not wishing to stir things up any further.

-"Well said, little girl."- Then, Sanna gave an order at her. -"Now, give me another string to measure Akane; this woman sure is big in height and width."-

-"Understood, grandmother."- Afterwards, Kebec's friend gave the old lady what she needed.

Even though the argument had ended, Liska couldn't resist the temptation to mock Brocia, who had just been humiliated by Mother Sanna. So, she stuck her tongue out at the former Romalian slave, further inflaming the situation. To the young warrior's bad luck, however, the old woman immediately noticed the childish disrespect done by her ex-slave towards Brocia, noticing how the latter also started hissing like an angry cat towards her enemy when she was insulted in that way, which caused Sanna to also scold the 18-years old girl in the same way she did with Brocia, showing no favoritism towards her now protégée.

-"Now, you should behave yourself, Liska!"- And then, she scolded her further with the following. -"You are now a warrior with full rights and an adult; you are no longer of age for childish insults towards people. What I said for Akane also applies to you, understood?"-

-"Yes, I understood that, Mother Sanna."- The blonde girl replied, also spinning her eyes in annoyance after being also scolded by her elder.

Akane, seeing that her friend was also being scolded by the elderly healer, also let out a mischievous laugh when her friend was given a taste of her own medicine.

-"Looks like I'm not the only immature girl in this tribe..."- And then, in order to twist the dagger deeper, Akane mocked her feline friend in Osaka-accented Japanese. -"(せやね、リスカちゃん？) Don'cha think so, Liska-chan?"-

Mother Sanna facepalmed in frustration as she saw that Akane would not stop teasing people.

-"Akane..."- The old lady said aloud. -"One of these days... one of these damn days... your big mouth is going to land you in a lot of trouble..."-

The female Earth soldier smiled sardonically at the old woman's comment but said nothing more, possibly to avoid escalating the situation further. On the other hand, Sanna opted to begin work, leaving aside the arguing with the human woman, and started taking Akane's measurements, starting with her legs, then moving on to her waist, torso, chest, and then finishing with her head.

-"I'm going to need you to turn around so I can measure your backside, Akane."-

The woman of African origin, fearing the worst, did not feel comfortable that the old feline healer asked her to do so, because she had to touch her from behind...

-"Huh... do I have to do this, grandmother?"- The human said in a pretty concerned way. -"I don't like it when someone touches me back there, especially in my b- "-

-"You are among women, Akane..."- Mother Sanna interrupted Akane, which was visibly worried at the idea of that alien lady touching her buttocks. -"You don't have to be afraid if I do this."-

-"Even so, I don't like anyone, even if it's a woman, touching me there!"-

The old woman, clearly frustrated with the human woman's stubborn behavior, let out a burst of anger in her words.

-"For heaven's sake, stop acting like a spoiled girl, and act like a grown-up for once, Akane Araki!"- Sanna scolded the black woman in a rather angered and frustrated tone. -"All I want to do is take your measurements, not do anything dirty with you!"-

Akane remained silent, understanding that Sanna's actions were motivated by good intentions, even if her methods might seem questionable. However, Akane struggled with the idea of being touched by a woman from another planet, something she normally detested unless it was done by someone she was close to, like her parents, friends on Earth, or in this case, Liska, her closest friend on that planet.

Seeing the reaction of her otherworldly protégé, and noting that she was not going to stop her from doing her job, the old alien woman said the following:

-"Well, are you going to let me work now, or are you going to whine just because I'm going to touch you back there?"-

Akane, after a few seconds of hesitation, replied at her.

-"All right... do what you have to do, grandmother."-

-"Well said, Akane..."- Mother Sanna congratulated the Earth soldier. -"...now, turn around."-

-"Yes, sir."-

Akane turned around, leaving her already bare back side visible so that the healer could begin taking appropriate measurements. But, before she could do anything, the old woman was struck dumb when she saw Akane's back...

...or rather, when she saw the large tattoo of a rising phoenix that the human woman had painted on her back, being that, like Liska, she had never seen a tattoo in her life, nor did she understand its context.

-"What... what is that paint you have inked on your back?"- The Native-like old woman asked, while touching Akane's back, more precisely, where her tattoo was.

-"Huh... you mean... my tattoo?"- The human Space Ranger replied.

-"Yes."-

-"Oh well... let me explain... first of all, what I have inked on my back is a tattoo..."- Then, Akane explained, in layman terms, its meaning. -"A tattoo is a type of body art where ink is injected into our skins to create a permanent design, like this fire bird you see here, and it is typically done by a professional artist using a needle and ink back in my world. Unlike other kinds of body paint, a tattoo is normally a permanent thing for us humans... unless we want it removed through a special process."-

Mother Sanna was shocked to see that it was possible to create art on someone else's skin using ink, even though the feline alien lady didn't seem to understand how it was done. It was even more surprising to know that humans willingly injected ink into their skin, despite the potential pain that the procedure could cause.

-"Gods..."- The old Siamese-like healer exclaimed. -"I'm sure it must have been very painful for you to put that thing on your back..."-

-"Naaaah! That didn't hurt me at all!"- The female soldier downplayed the consequences she suffered at the time she became inked because of the following. -"To be honest, getting a tattoo used to be a real pain, both figurative and literally, in the past... But nowadays, thanks to all our fancy modern technology, getting inked is now a simple thing. When I got mine, I barely felt a thing. Just a little burn afterwards, but some painkillers and cold water took care of that in no time. And if you ever change your mind, removing a tattoo is just as easy as well."-

-"Oh, I see..."- Sanna replied with some curiosity, while still admiring Akane's phoenix tattoo. -"And may I know why you humans paint your backs? I have to figure it has some special significance to your kind..."-

-"Well, it really depends on the person. Some people get tattoos for religious reasons, others because they want to show off their tough side, and others get them to honor a loved one; and then there are those who just get them because they think it looks nice or they're into the art. It's all a matter of personal preference."- The Swati-Japanese woman then explained the next part. -"And just to clarify, we don't just stick to tattooing our backs: We can ink up any part of the body. And when I say any part, I mean every single part of our human bodies... even our, uh, well... private areas... if you want to know that..."-

Upon hearing that it was indeed feasible to tattoo a person's private parts, the three alien women, Sanna, Liska and Brocia, reacted in shock, not even uttering a single word at the mention of such a procedure being done by humans on their own bodies, especially on their own private parts.

Akane, for her part, couldn't help but smile mischievously when she saw the three women, knowing that they were all in relationships or already married. Even though one of them, Mother Sanna, was a widow, she still imagined doing something like that with her late husband, Athos, while he was alive.

-"I'm gonna assume that, from the looks on your faces, you're imagining what your mates would look like if they had gotten tattoos in their large p-"-

Before she could finish speaking, Liska, who was standing next to her...

-"OUUUUCH! WHAT THE HELL?!"-

...violently pinched Akane's arm to show her disgust at the vulgar joke that was going to be made at the expense of their loved ones.

-"Akane, seriously... can you please stop using such vulgar language when talking about others?"-

The human, seeing that her friend looked really upset after Liska pinched her, quickly noticed that her jokes and obscene language had finally pushed even her normally patient nature too far. But when Akane started using the same language to refer to both Rial and other people's relatives, especially when the human mocked their intimate parts, the young blonde-haired girl knew she had to do something to stop her friend's behavior.

-"All right, all right, I think I may have overdone it... geez!"- Then, Akane touched her arm, still sore after that squeeze. -"But next time you do that, just don't use your little claws on me, will you?"-

As Mother Sanna watched, Akane's surprise at her friend's violent reply was palpable. The human's crude behavior had clearly annoyed her, and it was amusing to see the otherworldly woman receiving a taste of her own medicine in such a direct way, causing the old lady to chuckle at the scene.

-"Heheheh... I think you should listen to your dear friend sometimes..."- The feline healer said at the woman from Earth. -"...don't you think so, Akane sweetie?"-

Akane Araki, a woman of African origin born in Eswatini and raised in Japan, sighed reluctantly as she realized that the elderly alien woman's sarcastic remark meant things were not going in her favor. Despite her frustration, she had to admit that her feline hosts were correct.

-"Very funny..."-

The old woman gave Akane a thorough once-over, leaving aside the tattoo talk for another time. On the hand, however, Akane, resigned to her situation, knew that as long as she was in the old woman's home, she was at her mercy. Despite this, Sanna refrained from touching Akane in any other inappropriate areas, recognizing that the female soldier was already feeling uncomfortable enough.

On the other hand, Sanna did not have to take measurements to Liska; this was not necessary, since, being the young warrior the former slave of the old woman, she knew her sizes and other personal details better than anyone else, so the healer only had to make a few small adjustments around here and there, though nothing especially drastic, compared to what she had to do with Akane.

With the measurements of the two female main characters, Mother Sanna and Brocia, once the former had already finished taking the measurements of the human woman from Earth, the ancient alien feline matron set to work immediately, together with the former Romalian slave, stitching together garments fit for warrior women. She drew upon the hides of the exotic beasts that roamed this unknown planet, carefully selecting only the finest materials to adorn her protégés. For these were not just any garments, but suits befitting the fierce and proud women who would represent their tribe in battle. And with every deft movement of her needle and thread, Sanna imbued each garment with her own passion and love toward Liska and Akane, ensuring that her two ladies would be the envy of all who laid eyes on them.

---

September 20th, AD 2299/19th day of the Dry Moon, 1748 (summer season), inside Mother Sanna's tent, 1:00 PM (afternoon)

After a few hours of hard work in preparing and sewing the new clothes for the two new warriors of the Highland tribe, Akane Araki, from Osaka, Japan on Earth, and Liska Mitsel-eman, from the Lowland tribe, Mother Sanna, with the help of Brocia, finally finished her task, proud to see that all the effort put into creating the clothes for her two protégés had paid off.

And she had every reason to be proud of her work, for the new clothes she had sewn were indeed of unparalleled beauty, even when compared to the clothes of other warriors of the same tribe, for they displayed designs that showed the most notable aspects of the Highland tribe's Native-like culture, along with the most notable sides of the owners of those garments.

Perhaps the most notable aspect was the color of these clothes: Due to the color of the skins of their owners, which in the case of Akane and Liska, would be dark skin and orange tabby fur respectively, both clothes were of different color in order to contrast with the body of its users.

In Akane's case, she was adorned in her new olive green garbs, cutting a striking figure on her body. The hue was a clear nod to her past, as a member of the Japanese Space Self-Defense Force which was an uniform she had worn with pride, almost daily since her arrival on that strange planet. In Liska's case, however, her clothes were dark brown, which contrasted well with the color of her fur and blonde hair.

The human, for several obvious reasons, was more than surprised at the moment she was dressed in her new clothes, as she was the first to notice the militarized style of those clothes she had received from the old alien woman.

The garbs bestowed upon Akane, marking her as a member of the elite warriors of the tribe, were an otherworldly fusion of Native American aesthetics and the distinctive style of Prussian military uniforms from the 19th century. Familiar yet alien, these threads were unlike any uniform she had ever laid eyes upon, befitting of one chosen to defend the people in that far-off land.

All of the above also applied to the clothes that Liska had also received, for they were of the same description, save that they were of a different color.

-"Wow!"- Akane loudly exclaimed as she kept admiring her new clothes. -"I look like a five-star general in these clothes!"-

Liska, for her part, was not far behind in complimenting her own new outfits, even though she did so in a milder fashion.

-"You are quite right, Akane. These new leathers are so beautiful..."-

-"Exactly, sweetie!"- The black woman replied, still surprised and in a wisecracking tone. -"If my higher-ups back on Earth caught a glimpse of me in these threads, they'd probably throw me in the jail for impersonating a high-ranking officer!"-

Meanwhile, Sanna's eyes sparkled with delight as Akane and Liska slipped into the garments she and Brocia had crafted specifically for them. Though initially resistant to the idea of trading in her reliable military uniform for traditional garb, Akane basked in the splendor of her new attire, much to the Siamese-like lady's satisfaction.

-"I'm glad you like the clothes we sew for the two of you, Akane."- The feline healer said at her human neighbor. -"I based it on the colors of your clothes that you normally wear to sew your warrior outfit, and added some things based on our culture to embellish it, so I was hoping you would react that way the moment you saw it, dear..."-

Akane couldn't help but gaze upon her clothes with a mix of curiosity and elation. She could hardly believe that the feline alien woman had gone through so much trouble to craft such elegant garments, especially for a stranger like her. As a foreigner among her hosts, Akane had certainly caused quite a bit of trouble with her combative and aggressive nature, particularly as a female soldier hailing from Japan on Earth.

In the same way, Liska shared in Akane's excitement as she laid eyes on her new clothes as well. For her, this was an especially momentous occasion: Having been a former slave, the transition to becoming a warrior of the Highland tribe, and being accepted as such despite the objections of some of its members, filled her with a sense of exhilaration and happiness.

-"I can't believe you went to all this trouble to knit these clothes, grandmother."- The blonde girl, stuttering a bit, also complimented Sanna. -"I... I really don't have words to describe how beautiful they are..."-

-"Thank you, Liska dear,"- The former slave's old mistress replied with a smile in her muzzle. -"I'm very pleased to hear that you liked it too..."

And then, Sanna lowered her head and her ears in a somber mood, as if there was something that pained her to have to tell to her protégée...

-"...at least it is the least I can do for you, especially after all the grief my grandson and I have put you through when you were a slave..."-

Hearing the latter, Liska was moved to hear her former mistress' words of apology, and immediately after, she walked closer to Mother Sanna in order to let her know how she felt about their mutual past.

-"Please don't say that, grandmother..."- Liska said, her voice tender and full of understanding, while putting her hands in the old woman's shoulders. -"I know that at times you were hard on me, but at the same time, you always treated me with respect and made me feel like I was truly a part of your family, even though I was your slave... And, I don't hold any ill will towards you... For me, you are such an important part of my life, just like Rial... as well as Akane... I just want us all to be together for as long as possible, but please... don't blame yourself for anything..."-

The old woman's eyes grew misty as she saw that her former slave held no bitterness towards her; despite the time of slavery that she and her family had imposed upon her, the girl, now a full-fledged warrior, showed her affection and warmth. It was a humbling and moving moment for Sanna, who couldn't help but shed a few tears.

-"Thank you, dear... I really thank your words..."- The old woman replied to her young protégée in a somewhat touched voice, happy to know that she held no resentment against her for having been her mistress. -"The truth is... I really made a very unforgiving mistake... I allowed Rial to bring you here and make you a slave in our family, just because I needed an extra hand around the house... If only I had been wiser, I would have asked you to come and join our tribe of your own free will. Instead, I let my grandson to capture you and made you work for us... sob... I am so sorry, dear..."-

Immediately afterwards, Liska embraced Mother Sanna tightly, trying to comfort her and let her know her appreciation towards the old woman.

-"Now, now, calm down, don't cry anymore... that's in the past... calm down..."- The orange tabby girl said at her elder with kind words at her. -"I just don't want to see you cry... it doesn't suit you, please..."-

The old feline healer couldn't help but feel an overwhelming gratitude as she looked at the young girl before her. Despite everything that had happened, Liska had chosen to forgive and forget the past, and wanted nothing more than to be a part of her clan. For her part, Sanna couldn't be more touched by that display of compassion and understanding.

-"Thank you... sob... thank you so much..."-

And then, as Sanna held Liska close, her gaze lifted to Akane, wishing for a way to express the depth of her feelings for the human woman, who had become an invaluable part of her life.

-"And you Akane, my dear... I want to apologize if my actions or words have ever caused you offense..."- The older Velite addressed the black woman from Earth. -"I know we come from different cultures... but please know that it was never my intention to hurt you in any way..."-

Akane, the human woman from Japan, felt a mix of nervousness and frustration as the revered old woman apologized to her; it was as if an apology was something she had never wanted to hear from Mother Sanna, for many reasons...

-"For heavens' sake, please don't say that, grandmother!"- Akane replied to the feline healer, trying to make her see that she had no reason to apologize to the female soldier in any way, even if the old woman felt she did. -"I know that your words have been tough on me, but I want you to know that I have never held a grudge against you... In fact... I realize that I have made mistakes in the past... and I thank you for pointing them out to me... So, please... don't apologize to me for something as stupid as that!"-

And then, Akane, her eyes watering at the sight of Sanna apologizing to her, added something else to explain to the old woman her reasons for telling her why the woman should not apologize to the human.

-"Besides... sob... I come from a culture where elders like you are respected, even if we may not see eye to eye on everything... Also... I believe you are not a bad person... just a poor woman who has made mistakes... like we all do..."-

Sanna was deeply moved by Akane's words. Initially, she had not held a high opinion of the human woman, seeing her as nosy, nagging and talkative. But now, as she heard Akane express her affection and understanding, she couldn't hold back the tears that welled up in her eyes. It was a reminder that, even though they were from different worlds, they could still connect through empathy and compassion.

-"Please, Akane... come with me... and hug this poor old woman with all your strength..."-

Without hesitating twice, Akane Araki walked over to where Mother Sanna and Liska were, and the African-Japanese woman hugged them both with all the affection she could muster for the two alien women, while the three of them cried to each other.

For the human, those two cat-like humanoids were not only her hosts, but also her family, and the only one she had, knowing that Akane could never possibly return to her world to be reunited with her own who still lived on Earth, in Osaka, Japan. Being able to share her affection with the two of them was something that comforted the human's soul in many ways she had never known before.

-"I love you, Akane... and you too, Liska..."- Sanna said in a low, but soft and endearing voice at both girls. -"...and I thank you both of you for saving my life and everyone else in the tribe..."-

-"I love you too, grandmother..."- Akane replied in turn, with the same soft voice, while hugging her.

-"Me too..."- The blonde, orange tabby girl did the same at her elder and former mistress, which, like Akane, was now also part of her life as well. -"I love you so much..."-

And so, the three women hugged each other, tears streaming down their faces, united by a bond of affection that transcended the fact that they were from completely different places and, in Akane's case, a completely different species and world. Sanna's apology to Akane and Liska showed that even as an older woman, she was capable of recognizing her mistakes and making amends, and by sew the new clothes for her protégées, she not only demonstrated her affection for them but also fulfilled her duty as head of the clan.

Meanwhile, Brocia, the former Romalian slave and Kebec's friend, stood on the sidelines, watching the scene unfold before her with a mix of disbelief and sardonic amusement. Part of her felt left out of the emotional moment and part of her couldn't help but hold onto her resentments towards the human and the former slave.

-"Well, well, look at this... ain't this just the sweetest thing you ever did see?"- Brocia said aloud, her contempt for Akane and Liska being very noticeable in the tone of her voice. -"I thought grandmother had a bone to pick with that Akane. but now she's all cuddles and tears with her and her little ex-slave friend... sigh... Who knew that?"-

But upon hearing Brocia's acid criticism, the three women turned their gaze towards her, their expressions filled with anger. Without raising their voices, Sanna, Liska and Akane stood up against the bully's words.

-"YOU SHUT YOUR BIG MUZZLE UP, BROCIA."- They said that in a rather deadpan fashion.

As Brocia saw that not only Akane and Liska, but also the Mother Sanna, the healer, had united to retort against her, she quickly realized that things were not in her favor; she knew that it was not wise to escalate the situation further, and reluctantly conceded that her remark had been out of line.

-"All right, all right! I will keep my big mouth shut!"- The Romalian girl said sulkily at them. -"Are you three happy NOW?"-

With a burst of laughter, the three women relished in the moment of Brocia's comeuppance. Now that they had released some tension, Sanna moved on to other things, having completed the task of sewing new clothes for them.

-"Well... giggle... silly little games aside... and now that we have finished sewing your new clothes... there is something else you two should know when you leave my home."- The Siamese-like healer pointed out to the two girls.

-"And what do we need to know, Mother Sanna?"- Liska asked her first.

-"Chief Pownetkee has asked me to inform you that, as full-fledged warriors, it is now time for you to each have your own riding lizards."- The elderly woman replied. -"...and I remember perfectly well that we have two lizards to spare, which were the ones that followed Akane to the village last moon..."-

-"Oh, that's right... I had forgotten those lizards that followed me... heheheheh!"-

Akane let out an awkward laugh as she was reminded of the incident from the previous month; At that time, she had been in a state of grief, still reeling from the death of her subordinate, Keisuke Noguchi, and, at the worst possible moment, two lizards, one of which was the one she had found in the forest on her first night on the planet after the Asuka was destroyed, had appeared in the village. They had wanted to play with her, but at that moment, she was too sad to engage in any kind of playfulness.

-"But now that you mention it, I remember Rial had said he planned to keep one of them, right?"- The blonde girl said, remembering that her mate seem to had other plans for those beasts.

-"Well... that was the plan, my dear... But he realized that he couldn't afford to feed any more animals than he already had, so he left those lizards on the communal pen in case someone else needed them in the future."-

-"In that case, will we be able to keep those lizards then?"- Akane mused, contemplating that possibility.

-"That's right."-

-"Well, then... let's not waste any more time, and we're off for our presents, sweetie!"- The soldier said in a cheerful tone to Liska.

-"Guess I have to agree with you, don't I, Akane?"- The orange tabby feline girl replied her.

-"Well... unless you want a ride on my lizard... or you fancy a good old fashioned walk... what do you say?"- Akane teased Liska with a smirk.

-"Of course not!"- The feline female warrior retorted with a mix of annoyance and amusement, playfully calling out Akane's suggestion. -"Do you really think me such a fool as to trudge through the plains on foot, while you ride in comfort on your own beast?"-

The human soldier from Earth let out a chuckle at Liska's response, as she had intended to provoke a reaction from her friend, especially after the two of them had shared a tearful embrace only minutes before.

-"Hey, I'm just kidding... heheheh!"- Akane said playfully, trying to diffuse the tension from her previous comment. -"You don't have to take it seriously, dear!"-

-"Yeah, right."- Liska replied with a wry expression in her face. -"Knowing how you tend to talk sometimes, I can't tell if you're joking or if you're being serious with me, Akane."-

-"Well, let's stop with the silly jokes, and go get our lizards before we waste any more time in this inane fuss, will you?"-

The female warrior, realizing that her human friend only wanted to move on and start to work, agreed with Akane's suggestion; she knew that they would have a busy day ahead once they had their riding lizards in hand.

-"I agree with you, Akane."-

And then, Liska was the first to wave goodbye to both Mother Sanna and Brocia.

-"Alright, we're off to the farm, we'll see you two at mealtime... and thanks for everything!"-

-"Me too, see you, grandmother!"- Akane followed suit.

-"Take care out there, girls,"- The old feline woman called out as she bid farewell to Akane and Liska. -"We'll see you later this afternoon!"-

With that, Liska Mitsel-eman and Akane Araki set off from the old woman's teepee, heading towards the communal pen to claim their riding lizards.

But before they could leave the place, the former stopped at the entrance to Sanna's home, and excused herself first to her human friend.

-"Huh... can you hold on for a moment, Akane?"- The feline girl said.

-"Yeah, sure, no problem."-

And then, Liska set her sights on Brocia...

-"Hey, Brocia..."-

The young ex-slave was taken aback to find that woman, whom she detested, wanted to address her in a much more cordial tone, and in a certain way, with a tinge of concern... and there was a reason for that.

Even so, Brocia answered her in a bad way.

-"What do you want?"-

-"Do you happen to know what happened to Gareth and Panka?"- The female warrior asked her, seeking information on the condition of the two kitten children, the first was the tribe chief's sole son, and the latter was Pyndan's younger sister, who had been harmed in the previous day's attack. -"I only know that they were injured by those Romalian bandits yesterday, but I am eager to know if they are well, since you hide them in your home and heal them..."-

Upon hearing that her rival was genuinely concerned for the well-being of the two children after the previous day's violent events, she, who had tended to them in the safety of her own home with the help of Sanna, the healer, replied in a somewhat kinder, but sadder, tone.

-"Well... huh..."- The honey brown-furred girl responded Liska. -"...Gareth is fine, thank goodness," Brocia said, her tone laced with concern. -"He only suffered a few scrapes and bruises, nothing that a few bandages, some herbs, and some water couldn't fix... but... regarding Panka..."-

Liska immediately noticed that Brocia hesitated when mentioning Pyndan's younger sister, suggesting that something more severe had occurred with that girl.

-"Huh...? What's wrong with Panka?"- The orange tabby girl asked, her tone filled with worry. -"Why are you hesitating to tell me?"-

But before Brocia could answer, Mother Sanna, who had been listening to the conversation, stepped in to respond on her behalf...

-"Panka dislocated her arm when she fell from the grasp of the warrior who attempted to kidnap her," Mother Sanna said, with a rather sad voice. -"Thankfully... it doesn't appear to be anything serious, but... sigh... she'll have to wear a sling until her arm fully heals."-

Upon hearing of Panka's injuries, Liska couldn't help but feel a bit of sadness, despite knowing that the girl's life was not in danger; she let out a sigh, a mix of relief and sorrow, as the reality of the situation set in. On the other hand, Akane, who had been listening closely to the conversation, shared in her friend's sadness and didn't hesitate to voice her thoughts on the matter, as she too had played a role in saving Pyndan's younger sister.

-"Well... sigh... it could have been worse; that girl could have broken her arm or lost it... or being killed by those goons..."-

-"Yes, you are right, Akane darling..."- The Siamese-like healer replied her. -"However, there is an additional problem with her; when I woke up this morning and decided to check on her to see how she was doing, I noticed that she was noticeably upset..."-

Akane and Liska looked at each other and then looked at the old woman when she mentioned Panka's mood.

-"Did you say upset?"-

As Mother Sanna spoke about the issue in question, her voice was filled with sadness and concern, knowing that the young girl was going through a difficult time emotionally, especially after the traumatic events from the last day. The fact that she was unable to understand the reason for the girl's anger only added to her distress. Both Akane and Liska could sense her unease and offered their support in any way they could, determined to help their young friend in any way possible.

-"Well, if we come across her while we're out there, we'll do our best to help her,"- Liska said. -"right, Akane?"-

-"Hey, you don't even have to ask me that, sweetie kitty!"- The human replied her with a smile painted in her face.

The old woman's heart warmed with pride as she watched her two protégés expressed their willingness to aid the young girl, Panka, who had undoubtedly been deeply affected by the previous day's brutal attack.

-"Thank you very much, girls, I appreciate it very much..."- Sanna said, this time in more happy fashion. -"I hope you girls can do something for her."-

-"Don't worry, we'll see what we can do for her."- The former slave replied to the old woman, who was her mistress. Then, Liska, together with her human friend Akane, moved to the entrance of the teepee. -"Now, we have to go. See you later!"-

-"Me too, see you, grandmother!"- Akane followed suit as well.

-"See you later too then, and take care out there, girls!"- The feline old lady waved goodbye to the two warrior women.

And so, with a sense of purpose and determination, Akane and Liska set off towards the communal pen, their minds focused on helping Pyndan's younger sister in any way they could afterwards.

Little did they know that the challenges they would face on that day would be greater than they could have ever imagined.

END OF ACT XXXVI