Alina awoke early in the morning, changing into a fresh set of clothes and beginning her daily chores. Ever since she decided to support Reunion behind the scenes she's been able to see how people interact and live in the camp. She was happy that many people in the organization aren't blinded by their anger or frustration against Ursus' discrimination against them. But at times she could see the resentment begin to build within some members, she was afraid that another outburst like Talulah's would cause all of Reunion's good work to crumble.
When Talulah snapped and caused the Infected Patrol to attack her home, she was afraid and disgusted with her. It wasn't that she didn't support her actions, the Infected Patrol were heartless monsters who killed people just because they were infected with a life threatening disease, but there were many other ways of getting out of that situation if Talulah's outburst hadn't happened months before.
Then came Fenrir, the mysterious violet haired Lupo who appeared in their village a few months after Talulah did. He was definitely strange, talking curtly and having almost no presence at all. It was like he was a ghost. But as the months turned into years, Fenrir had seemed to grow out of his cold shell. He was capable of smiling and talking with emotions, and while his presence was still hard to detect, it was now noticeably easier to find him.
It both warmed and broke her heart when she learned of his story. She knew being an orphan was something no child should have to go through, but add his sister dying to Oripathy and him being infected at such a young age? It didn't paint a bright picture as to how hopeless he must've felt at the time.
Still, people in Reunion came from all sorts of different places. She made it her goal to give them a warm welcome and a place to care about, that way they wouldn't be consumed by their anger towards Ursus and could continue to fight for a better future.
Things only got better when Talulah had convinced the Yeti Squadron to ally with them. The people of Reunion now had an even stronger will to fight for change. Add on Patriot's Guerillas, who while not an outright ally with Reunion, were still associated with them because of Patriot's fondness for FrostNova, only continuing to boost everyone's morale. People were even beginning to seek them out in order to join Reunion.
Lost in thought, Alina hadn't realized that she had stopped moving and had been staring at Fenrir, who was slumped against a dead tree on the outskirts of the camp and staring into the morning sky. Her face flushed with embarrassment for not noticing her actions sooner and began to walk towards the Lupo. He most likely already knew she was there, he had an almost uncanny ability to sense when other people were nearby.
"Fenrir?" She called out, causing him to turn and look at her approaching figure.
"Did you need something from me, Alina?" He watched as the Elafia moved closer and sat down next to him.
"No, I was just wondering how you're feeling. I know you're not used to sitting around and not doing anything, so I came to check up on you." Alina gave a small smile before noticing a black raven that sat in Fenrir's lap who turned to face her. "Who's this?"
"This is Hel, she's a close companion of mine. I haven't told you this before, but she's named after my dead sister. Ravens are known to be smart and represent death and loss in some cultures, even acting as psychopomps, connecting the material world with the world of spirits." Learning that Fenrir named his pet raven after his dead sister caused Alina's smile to turn somber, even more so after learning what they represent in other cultures.
"I… I'm sorry for bringing that up…" She tried to apologize but was quickly waved off by Fenrir.
"I have long since accepted her death, as much pain as the memory brings me every time I am reminded of it, I have already moved on to live my life. This, Hel is just a reminder of what I'm fighting for, and I suppose she acts like a moral support animal from time to time as well." In a rare instance of Fenrir expressing his emotions, Alina intently listened to every word he spoke.
"And at times I feel like things are slowly becoming worse. My partner and friendship with Talulah is becoming strained, my actions when we rescued those infected led to Alex and I becoming severely injured, and now Ursus is beginning to see Reunion as a threat by sending out more patrols and setting up garrisons." Fenrir's tone got quieter with a hint of anger underlying his words.
Taking a deep breath the Lupo sighed heavily, breaking eye contact with Alina and staring out into the morning sky. A frown marred his face as Hel flew onto his shoulder and began rubbing against his cheek, attempting to comfort him.
Alina contemplated Fenrir's words with a sad smile. She knew all too well the responsibilities he and Talulah shared, it was the main reason she tried so hard to give them a place to return to. There was no reason for people to willingly travel into the Ursus tundra, not unless they were running away from something. For Talulah, Kaschey had taken her from her home and groomed her to become his puppet. For Fenrir, he lost his sister and was infected at a young age, which led to him leaving his home in fear of what the Ursus government would do to his remaining family.
"I understand how you feel, Fenrir. Being here at camp for the entire day, for an entire week, for entire months, it feels like things are changing too fast for me to keep up with. It only feels like yesterday when Reunion was made up of only me, you, and Talulah." Fenrir turned to meet Alina's gaze, a soft smile across his face as he listened to her words.
"But now, there are hundreds of us. Each fighting for change in Ursus, all you have to do is have faith and trust in others to help us achieve our goals. You aren't alone in Snowstorm, you have Alex and the other twenty eight members. Talulah is no longer alone in leading the Infected, she has Patriot, FrostNova, and even you. I'm not alone either, many men, women, and children who cannot fight or choose not to do our best to give everyone a home to come back to, we're all family, like a big family reunion." Ending her speech with a radiant smile Alina causes Fenrir to smile just as bright, something that initially catches her off guard having never seen him smile so brightly before.
For a brief moment they bask in each other's silence, Alina's smile becoming even brighter at the sight of Fenrir becoming more expressive. But their silence is broken by Fenrir as he gently and awkwardly pats her on the head, getting a tiny pout from the Elafia.
"Thank you, Alina… Had it been anyone else I fear I would still be filled with doubts, almost everyone I've interacted with within Reunion have been combatants. To hear it from you, someone who willingly stands behind us, I'm relieved to hear that. Though I believe that there are still things that must be done around camp, are there not?" He asks with a coy smile. "Or perhaps we shall continue our talk and allow the camp to go without firewood and food for those who are out?"
Having completely forgotten about the daily needs of Reunion, Alina's face slightly flushed with embarrassment over having forgotten what she originally was doing.
"You're right! You wouldn't mind lending a hand would you, Fenrir?" Hastily standing, Alina prepares to return to her duties.
"Of course, my wounds aren't so egregious that I can't help a friend in need." Standing as well, Fenrir and Alina together walk back into Reunion's camp and begin to tend to whatever needs to be done.
However, far past the dead tree stood a towering figure in all black, somehow going unnoticed despite standing in the middle of the tundra. A full mask with a breathing apparatus was on their face, attached to the back was an assortment of large wires and pipes. The faint glow of red gleaned from their numerous vertically slit eye sockets. The figure then spoke, but only a garbled mess of radio static could be heard. Waiting a few moments longer the figure stared at the distant figures of Fenrir and Alina before eventually disappearing through an encroaching black fog, with it too vanishing a few seconds later.
The sun had now begun to set as Fenrir and Alina sat by a fire. Fenrir was without his jacket and shirt while Alina reapplied his bandages.
"How much longer do you think it'll be until I'm ready to head back out into the tundra?" He asked the Elafia who was doing the finishing touches around his chest.
"You're healing a lot faster than I thought, so I'd give you another day of rest before I think you're ready to head back out there." She responded, doing one final wrap just below where the Originium crystals had grown out of his chest.
"And after tomorrow you'll do one final check on my condition before allowing me to leave, correct?" He inquired, getting a quick nod from her. "Although, the sooner I get back out there the better chance Reunion has against the Ursus army."
"And how is that so?" She asked, letting go of the bandages and cleaning up whatever mess was made from the replacement.
Fenrir pulled his shirt over his head and zipped his jacket before responding. "I need to help Talulah and FrostNova against a garrison of patrol units that are slowly making their way deeper into the tundra. I was the only one to gather this information and without my help they might be unprepared for the coming fight."
"Oh, actually, I heard that Talulah and FrostNova would be heading there tonight." A small frown encompassed Alina's face. "And no, you're not allowed to leave. You're still not fully healed yet, but I'll let you go warn them of anything that might catch them off guard."
"Of course, I'm fairly certain that Talulah would force me to stay even if I begged her." The two chuckled as he stood up. "But thank you for allowing this." Giving her a thankful smile Fenrir began walking off to Talulah's war room, which was just a larger tent that was filled with various papers.
Along his walk he crossed paths with FrostNova, who seemed to be heading in the same direction as him. The two wordlessly continued their walk together, only giving each other a brief nod of acknowledgement. It wasn't long until they reached the war room. Opening one of the flaps, Fenrir gestures for her to enter first and follows behind her as she enters.
Inside Talulah was leaning over a foldable table, numerous papers and notes were laid flat on a large map of the Ursus tundra that Snowstorm had personally mapped themselves. The Draco, having noticed the two's arrival, stood straight and turned to meet her guests.
"FrostNova, Fenrir, I assume you're both here for the upcoming battle against the infected patrol unit's garrison, correct?" Forgoing formalities Talulah got straight to business with a serious look on her face that was mirrored by the two others in the tent.
Going first, Fenrir spoke up, "I'm here to give a detailed account of what I last saw inside of the garrison." Talulah silently nodded her head as FrostNova spoke next.
"I want to go over the plan one more time before we attack."
"I see, then before we go over the plan once more, Fenrir, would you mind telling us what you found in the garrison?" Nodding his head, Fenrir began retelling what he saw.
"The garrison holds roughly two hundred patrolmen, stationed outside are two pairs of guards who watch the main entrances. Their defenses are hastily set up and are prone to breaking. I witnessed a couple lights turn off and someone who came to fix it. On the northern end they've set up a makeshift garage and armory with at least six men stationed there to maintain their weapons and vehicles. At the center of the garrison is where all the officers and intelligence is located, the remaining space used for living quarters and storage." Drawing circles over the map Talulah has laid out, Fenrir writes what's being kept there and other various notes.
"And like my report told you, the garrison has access to the strange humanoid machine that FrostNova fought when we first met her." He turned to FrostNova. "Do you recall your encounter with that machine? Any exploits or defects we can take advantage of if we fight them?"
The Cautus nods. "I do, the machine fought with something similar to a Sankta's Guardian gun. Though it clearly was a poor fake, at times the weapon stopped firing and the machine had to disassemble the gun and reassemble it."
"These machines seem similar to the Laterano Apostolic Knights, I suppose it makes sense, Ursus and Laterano didn't hold any good faith for one another. Especially before the civil war, so perhaps these machines were Ursus' attempts at combating the Apostolic Knights should they go to war with Laterano." Placing a hand under her chin, Talulah voiced her concern. "Regardless of how terrible these fakes are, they are still a foe we have little information on. We must proceed with the utmost caution when combating them or destroying them before they can be activated."
"Anything else we need to be wary of, Fenrir?" The Lupo shook his head before heading to the tent's flap.
"Nothing that I'm aware of, but seeing as my part is done I'll leave you to it." Fenrir gives a smile to the two women. "I have faith that you'll both overcome this threat with ease, but should any assistance be required of Snowstorm you have my permission to order them as you see fit. I trust them to get any job you need done." Having said his final piece, Fenrir exits the tent and begins walking back to help Alina with whatever chores are still unfinished. However he misses the smile that Talulah gives him on his way out.
Having not been close to Fenrir, FrostNova looks at Talulah's smile with curiosity. "Is it strange for Fenrir to act like this?"
Talulah only chuckles at the broad question, "For him to be constantly serious and knowledgeable about military slang? No, but hearing that he trusts someone other than his close friends is."
This gets a hum from the Cautus as she stares at where the Lupo exited from. "What about you? You also seem quite knowledgeable about military slang."
"Unfortunately, that's a story for another time, we have much more important matters to go over. But you could say that the two of us grew up with easy access to such knowledge." The coy answer was not lost on FrostNova, but it seemed to satiate her interest for now. Looking back to the map, the two began to recount their plan.
And that's a wrap for this chapter of The Red Winter, I hope you enjoyed this.
I'll be honest, life has been screwy these past few weeks, which resulted in whatever the previous chapter 14 was. I'm eternally sorry to whoever had to read that. Hopefully this chapter makes up for that mess.
Regardless of how I felt about the previous chapter 14, feel free to leave a comment for any thoughts or criticisms you might have.