The black and blue creature slowly meandered through the forest towards the dim orange glow that painted its edge.
She was a runt, far smaller than her siblings, only slightly larger than her pure-bred sister and the humans she associated with. Her form was strangely familiar, having a structure somewhere between human and animal. Her long skull bore resemblance to a stag's, one horn splitting the center rather than antlers. The narrowness of the head moved to broad shoulders that supported long, thin front legs. The torso similarly narrowed; the gauntness of her figure more apparent as the skeleton showed through the tight flesh.
Her movement was hesitant and purposeful, as her body was covered in bulging eyes. Any sudden movement would gouge or crush one, sending a shooting pain throughout her body.
If the Klaxosaur's child had the intelligence, it would ask why it exists if it can only feel pain.
Luckily, it was just an animal.
Although, she was smarter than the others.
Through her slow walking, she happened upon one of her brothers.
Red blood stained the snow around it, and its maw still dripped the remnants of its last meal.
It struggled, writhing on the ground as it clawed at anything around it.
The skin was bulging to the point of bursting, the body of the child attempting to grow as the metal skeleton inside inhibited it from doing so.
She couldn't simply leave her brother like this.
Letting out a cry to show him that she was there, he seemed to visibly relax. Walking ever closer, the lizard-like brother eyed her with a pained gaze, as though begging her for help.
After a moment of investigating, she found clothes caught deep within his throat, impossible for him to vomit out.
She slowly drew out her long, sharp claws.
Wrapping her arms around the brother's neck, she slashed open the throat, letting the clothes, blood, and excess biomass spill out into the snow.
In a few short moments, his throat had healed shut, and he nuzzled her affectionately.
They enjoyed each other's warmth until the brother went in search for other prey.
The biomass in the snow still reached outwards, looking for other nerves to connect with, eventually becoming an atrophied muscle stretched out across the ground.
They wanted to grow. They were still infants, but they were trapped by the metal skeletons made from their deceased parents. The only way the growths could be stopped is by expelling them from the body.
Adulthood would never be an option if things remained as they were.
The runt, however, hadn't eaten enough to gain the biomass. Her brothers and sisters were far larger and found it much easier to hunt. While they loved her, and would share their meals, this was their first attempt at hunting. There wasn't any chance of her getting any share of the meager spoils.
While she thought this, she noticed a small group running past.
Several humans, as well as…
Elder sister?
She reached out to them, cutting the cheek of a tall man with short hair with one of her dirtied claws.
They were gone before she could pursue them.
Left to herself yet again, she resumed her journey towards the forest's edge.
"Hachi!" Shouted a concerned Nana, "are you okay!?"
"I'm fine!" He shouted in response, "it's just a little cut! Nothing more than a scratch."
Hachi's breathing returned to normal as he saw the small Klaxosaur disappear into the distance.
It had been a while since something had shaken him, and longer since something had seriously cut him.
It made him wonder.
Do cuts like this always burn?
It had been hours since the hunt had ended.
The last of the humans were on the other side of the wall, and only a few stray flames and embers lit the once bright edge of the forest.
The hunt for the day was a failure for the runt.
Hunger consumed her mind and body, until she eventually collapsed. Although the creatures themselves couldn't starve to death, they still felt a primal hunger.
She whimpered as she felt them approaching.
Father, Mother, please.
The massive Klaxosaur looked down on the runt.
"Child, do not worry, we have seen what you did today, and we are very proud. The selflessness and intelligence you showed in helping your brother made us so happy."
The runt looked toward the Klaxosaur's hand, inside of which was a core.
"As such-we've prepared a present for you."
After a moment of strain, it cracked the orb in two, and plucked out the petrified figure within.
"Something that only you can have; something that only one as smart as you can make use of."
Crushing the figure until it was nothing but dust in their palm, the parents poured it into the maw of the runt.
"With this, you don't need to worry about going hungry ever again."
The parents walked away as the runt still lay on the ground.
It lay still for a few more moments until it started to writhe in agony.
Gouged eyes burst blue blood into the snow as pain racked every centimeter of its body.
Her bones were white hot, boiling the blood inside her body.
"WHY!?" She screamed inwardly.
Wait.
What was that?
Am I…?
Am I thinking?
Her eyes had been opened.
Everything before had seemed a sort of fever dream.
For the first time, the cold and snow, as well as the burning that racked her body seemed real.
Interrupting her newfound ability to think was the burning pain.
She could feel herself changing. Into what, she didn't know.
What had they said?
'Only something you can make use of.'
Her body was waiting for her.
With the new sentience she had found, she tried to think of a form most suiting, but only one came to mind.
Sister, we miss you.
We love you.
Don't run from family.
Sister, I want to be with you.
The pair of children clasped each other's hands as tightly as possible, running only a few steps ahead of the adults and Klaxosaur Princess. Their pace began to slow as they saw long trains of massive transports, each with massive tank treads dug deep into the frozen earth and snow.
They could see the doors closing on most of them, faces of confused children staring out at the facility they had once called their home.
The adults looked sick by contrast.
It only took a few seconds for the adults behind them to catch up.
The Princess looked back at the massive steel structure behind them, backlit by an orange and gray haze of fire and snow.
"Werner, we've got the kids. Is that everyone?" She said through a radio.
"That should be all," said the professor, in a crackled and metallic voice.
"Then fire."
The series of transports revealed a series of turrets on their sides and roofs.
The comparatively smaller ones were large half-domes, with two prominent barrels swiveling towards The Garden behind them.
The larger ones were massive; two spear-shaped tracks lined with a bright yellow glow, and two wheels at the base slowly spinning faster and faster, till the sound drowned out everything else.
It wasn't until the guns sounded fully prepared that the first Klaxosaur's head rose above The Garden's massive walls.
"You're clear to fire," said the Princess calmly.
"Roger."
The smaller turrets fired a hail of bullets, ripping the Klaxosaur's head into thousands of chunks.
The two children covered their ears at the noise and winced, their heads snapping to look at the havoc unleashed on their old home.
A deep set of blackened scars lined the steel walls of the facility.
"That's not enough, Werner."
"I'm trying to knock them back into the blast radius."
A dozen more Klaxosaur started to crest the walls, only to be quickly dispatched by more gunfire.
It didn't take long for them to start arriving in solid waves of flesh.
"You need to do it NOW, Werner!"
"I got it!"
The main turrets fired so loudly that the children felt that they hadn't been covering their ears at all.
With the deep sound of a hammer striking a redwood-sized bell, flurrying snow was pushed outwards with each round leaving the gun's barrel.
Beams of light shot from the massive artillery directly into the facility, instantly melting anything in the vicinity. Bubbling steel mixed with Klaxosaur blood and flesh, some having parts burned away from the beam and others flinging blood and viscera outward due to force alone.
The children closed their eyes tight and held their hands over their ears tighter, waiting for the firing to stop.
Grabbing the two children and running onto the last transport, the adults finally began their escape from the facility.
The runt was still shaking from the burning pain of her body changing, her fingers stretching outwards in a vain attempt to feel the freezing sensation of the snow.
She tried opening her eyes, but her newly formed tear ducts kept her from keeping them open for long.
Eventually, as the burning finally began to subside, the image became slightly less blurry through the tears.
Then light tore through the facility, evaporating even the forest behind her.
Laying flat on the ground, she covered her head with her hands to avoid both the projectiles and any debris from The Garden.
It felt like an eternity for her.
When the artillery stopped screaming overhead, she slowly picked herself up to look at the damage.
Craters were everywhere, many of them filled with corpses of her brothers and sisters.
Their metal skeletons were white-hot, while their flesh was either dripping off like a viscous liquid or hanging like torn cloth over a now thin wire frame.
Her mind raced, and she didn't know what emotion she was feeling.
A mixture of loss, disgust, and abject horror, all new to her.
While they were sturdy creatures, able to easily heal injuries from which any other creature would suffer instantaneous death, the full force of the human weapons had boiled the very steel skeletons of her siblings.
The violent combination of survivor's guilt and disgust brought her to her knees.
It was then that her mind felt its first cognitive dissonance.
As she mourned, she watched her wounded siblings gnawing at the bones of the deceased, inhaling every last morsel.
Why didn't they mourn, as she did?
But they were all hungry, herself included. They needed to eat.
What kind of family devours its own?
Is there any reason not to, as they're already dead?
The argument inside her mind caused a splitting headache, complex emotions and the subjective morals of the moment forced activity in the new-formed brain.
Finally, her first concession.
Perhaps this is what they wanted.
To feed one's family is a privilege.
If that includes sacrificing yourself, then that shows your desire.
The headache stopped instantly, and she looked up with fresh eyes.
She looked outwards to where the massive transports sped towards the haze of the horizon.
I don't blame the humans. Nor do I blame sister. The death of our sibling isn't a sad occasion, it's a willing sacrifice to nourish the living.
She finally brought herself upright, on only two legs, this time, and slowly walked after them.
Calmly, silently, and with no urgency at all.
The massive steel ramp at the end of the transport train hadn't even risen to the top before the transports went full speed.
As The Garden drifted further and further into the haze of the snow, the group slowly caught their breath.
Hiro and Zero Two lay flat on their backs, hands still clasped together, as their chests quickly rose and fell.
The Princess was the only one who wasn't about to collapse from the long bout of running and constant adrenaline flooding their systems.
The Princess looked down at Zero Two, still wincing from the cold air filling her lungs with each breath.
"When Werner said he was going to try it," she said incredulously, "I didn't think he'd actually be able to."
Crouching down to be next to the child, she gently pulled the girl's gaze to her face.
Zero Two's eyes widened, after sizing up the Princess through a squint.
It was the first time she had seen anyone like her. Even her siblings weren't the same.
A slight smile graced the Princess' lips.
"Hello, child," she said in a soft and soothing tone, "I'm glad I finally get to meet you."
The anxiety that still kept Zero Two tense slowly lifted, and she seemed on the verge of passing out.
She gently pulled Zero Two into her arms, the child's eyes losing the fight to stay open.
"…Hey…stop…" said Hiro, also fighting sleep.
Nana similarly picked up the boy, and it didn't take long for the both of them to go completely slack in their embrace.
"Hachi, go and get that cut checked out," said Nana quietly, as to not disturb the children.
As they approached the door to the next compartment of the transport, Dr. Franxx intercepted them.
"Oh, thank God!" He cried.
The others quickly hushed him in unison.
A mild look of annoyance registered on what was left of his face, before he spoke in a spitefully quiet tone.
"I'm glad to see you all safe. How are they?" He said, a metallic hum still ringing true.
"Uninjured," whispered Nana.
Looking at the Princess, holding Zero Two as though she were glass, Dr. Franxx almost laughed.
"This is your first time seeing her, no?"
The Klaxosaur simply nodded.
"I haven't been able to…give her a normal childhood, per se. Zero-one-six broke her out because of that."
His blood froze from the glare she shot him, scaring him more than when she ripped off his arm.
"What do you mean?" She said.
"I mean that I've been busy making sure human drugs won't kill her or hinder her biology."
"You should've asked for me."
"And who would look after the Klaxosaurs in the interim?"
"Evidently, it didn't matter."
Had the situation not been so dire, the doctor would have laughed.
"What do you know?" Continued the Princess.
Franxx let out a sigh.
"We know that penicillin and morphine are fine," he said with weariness, "anesthetics are effective, but her system fights them like hell. We need to do daily testing to make sure that she doesn't have any side effects that we don't notice immediately. That being said, any anticonvulsive, antibiotic, anti-inflammatory – hell – even antihistamine causes problems. Either they don't work at all, or they work and cause such violent nausea that she's out of it for several days. If she gets sick, we have to pray that we could create a bacteriophage specific enough and quickly enough to fight the disease."
The Princess' eyes narrowed.
"We had all of those," she stated firmly, "I used those medications myself."
"I'm working out of a lab, funded by a being that was here to kill you specifically. He didn't care too much about my research into anti-inflammatories for you."
She relented, for now.
"Alright," said Nana, hoping to halt the conversation, "we need to get these kids back. They need some rest after what they just went through."
"Take both zero-zero-two and zero-one-six to where the Nines are," said the doctor, "zero-one-six will surely cause a commotion if he can't verify zero-zero-two's safety."
They split with a nod.
Ichigo, Goro, and only a handful of other children sat on the hastily prepared mat spread across the floor of the transport. The compartment was wide, but only wide enough for the children to have sleeping bags along the mat while leaving room for adults to walk past.
Due to the constricted space, and the hurried nature of the evacuation, every compartment could only hold a few children and adults, forcing them to spread out along the entire length of the transports, a few of which surpassed several miles in length.
The metal was dark gray, and dimly lit. One of the few sources of light for the room was a gunner's nest, which cast the shadow of the anxious adult stationed inside.
Howling wind against the boxy steel frame of the transport was accompanied by the creeping cold through the metal. Many of the children were already inside of their sleeping bags, the hastily provided blankets adding another layer to fight against the cold.
Above each of their pillows was a set of headphones, which they were to put on if the gunner had to fire that awful machine again.
Kokoro, Futoshi, and Ikuno were already asleep. Mitsuru and Miku were halfway there, and Zorome was trying to find a good place to take off his eyepatch before he slept.
Goro and Ichigo, however, stayed up. It wasn't late – not anywhere near bedtime – but they understood why the others slept. For some, it was to speed up the journey to wherever they were going, for some, it was a simple nap, but for many it was so they didn't have to be anxious about what was happening.
The pair worried about Hiro. They assumed that he had simply been sent to a less cramped compartment during the rush, but his sudden departure kept the two of them worried.
They spent a long time pestering the adults, but the response was always the same: all parasites were accounted for.
Ichigo wasn't sure of that, though. She heard them talking about how many adults were missing. Could they be wrong?
She didn't know that they knew exactly what had happened to the adults not on the transports, and so they knew that all parasites were accounted for.
Goro asked time and time again to go with an unoccupied adult to find Hiro, but the adults simply assured them that he was on the transport, nothing more.
It wasn't until they saw Nana carrying him through the compartment that they were relieved.
"Nana!" Cried Ichigo, "is Hiro ok!?"
"…Hiro?" Asked Nana.
"Zero-one-six!"
After a moment of confusion, Nana nodded.
"He's fine, zero-one-five."
"We can find an extra sleeping bag here- " started Goro.
"We need to keep moving, Nana!" Cried someone from further down the compartment.
The children looked around and couldn't make sense of what they were seeing.
A petite woman, with blue skin and a horn.
Holding a child, with red skin and two horns.
"Wh-who?" Stammered Ichigo.
The Princess flashed a tired yet sympathetic smile as she addressed the children.
"I'm sorry, but zero-one-six needs to come with us."
Goro started to protest, but Ichigo quickly stopped him.
"Hiro said he needed to help someone," she said quietly, "is that her?"
Nana looked at Zero Two, still asleep in the Princess' arms.
With a slight smile, Nana nodded.
"He did a great job. So be sure to make room for him when he comes back."
Now relieved, the two children climbed into their own sleeping bags for warmth, quickly succumbing to sleep.
The Nines were sitting in their own compartment, but unlike the others, theirs had locked doors on both sides. The adults who had brought them there were still nursing broken fingers and sprained ankles; no one was willing to go inside.
As for the children themselves, they took shifts in caring for Theta, her foot still at risk of bleeding and infection if they weren't careful. The others tried to make the room more comfortable. The adults had quickly hurled in some sleeping bags, pillows, and blankets, treating them almost like they would any other parasites.
It continued that way for a while, until they heard one of the doors open, drawing the attention of all in the room.
First walked in Nana, holding a sleeping Hiro in her arms.
She saw Alpha, and though her face still had blood, and eyes still bruised from where he had broken her nose earlier that day, she smiled at him warmly.
He relaxed slightly, but the black-haired boy should have escaped with his sister. Him being here was a bad sign.
His fears were realized when a sleeping Zero Two was carried in directly behind Nana.
The despair he felt wasn't limited to him, he even heard Delta let out a whimper of defeat.
It took them a moment to even notice who it was that was carrying her in. When they did, it was a shock to them all. They simultaneously had the same revelation.
She's not the only one.
The adults outside the door peeked in nervously, afraid of even being noticed by the Nines, but both Nana and the Princess were perfectly fine. After the two had gently set down the two sleeping children, they set to work helping sort out the sleeping bags.
As they finished, a majority of the Nines surrounded the Princess out of curiosity, while Alpha tugged on Nana's sleeve to check on Theta's injured foot.
In those brief moments that the two were there, the Nines felt more parental care than they had the rest of their lives combined. The moment, while not carefree, was one where their sister could sleep without having to worry about the rest of them. For that, they would always be thankful.
All good times must end, however, and it wasn't long until the Princess and Nana had to leave.
Once again, it was quiet, as they resumed much of what they had done before. They moved Theta to lay on one of the sleeping bags, next to both Zero Two and Hiro.
It had to be about half an hour – an eternity for the small children – before Zero Two and the black-haired boy woke up.
Zero Two shot up immediately, and instinctively grabbed Hiro's hand so hard her red knuckles turned white.
"Ow!" Started Hiro, rudely awoken from his own nap.
She looked down at the sound, and softened momentarily at seeing him.
It took her a moment before she saw the rest of the Nines looking her way.
Letting go of Hiro's hand, she quickly hugged her siblings all at once, until she noticed that one of the triplets was missing.
In a panic, she whipped her head around the room, until she saw Theta sitting up on the sleeping bag, not able to walk from that spot.
As she launched herself towards the injured girl, her expression was that of fear. After observing the injury and holding Theta's face in her hands to inspect for more, her expression was that of sympathy and concern, to the point tears filled the corners of her eyes. Then, finally, she simply kissed Theta on the forehead.
Almost as though it were a set tradition for when they were hurt, Theta reached out for a hug, and Zero Two let out a relieved sigh, then relented.
The injured girl buried her head into Zero Two's chest, as the two laid down, Zero Two absentmindedly humming and slowly running her fingers through Theta's hair.
Although the girl was wearing a mask, Hiro could sense the slightest smile underneath.
Over the next couple of minutes, Theta slowly seemed to doze into a half-sleep, forgetting the pain in the warm embrace of her sister.
Looking around, Hiro noticed the rest of the Nines stared at Zero Two with a twinkle in their eyes.
"Ah," thought Hiro, "that's what she is to them."
She was more than just their sister, older by only a year.
Zero Two was their hero.
Once everything had been taken care of, the group all met in the improvised command room where Dr. Franxx organized the evacuation effort. It was the upper level of the front of the transport, and had windows from above, in front, and both sides, with screens displaying the status and footage of each separate segment of the transport.
They had to have their conversation in short bursts, as the artillery was already firing on the cave exit in front of them, where more Klaxosaurs could potentially exit from.
Every time they fired, the transport shook violently. After analyzing the situation for so long at a desk, the doctor's hands began to chafe from the friction of the constant barrage.
Dr. Franxx wanted to look relieved when he saw the others coming through the doorway, but he knew that they weren't bringing any good news.
"Everything sorted?" He asked.
"All the kids are accounted for," replied Nana, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
"When you said you'd bring back the Klaxosaurs," said the Princess, "I never thought you actually meant it."
There was a glimmer in Franxx's mechanical eye as he responded.
"Well, I have my curiosity to satiate. Plus, it's only right for one species to help another."
Nana looked from the Princess to the doctor, and cocked an eyebrow.
"Doctor," said Nana, "if that's the case, why did you only make zero-zero-two? Why make the Nines instead of more Klaxosaurs?"
The Princess also looked to Franxx for an answer. It was a valid question.
Letting out a sigh, he scratched his face.
"Well, I wanted to make several, but she was my only successful attempt. By the time I created another, she very well could've been an adult."
"And?"
"I didn't want to drop a Klaxosaur child, alone, into a world full of humans. That would be cruel, wouldn't it?"
"The Nines are human, though, aren't they?"
"Sort-of."
"What?"
Franxx's brows furrowed.
"The human clones were easier to create. They could be useful in their own ways, and zero-zero-two would have her people."
"You created them for her? The Sages didn't ask you to?"
"No, no," said Franxx, waving a hand in dismissal, "in this project, I was given full control."
"That's…both thoughtful, and sad."
"It's always a good idea to keep donors together, as well. If I had just created zero-zero-two, or a handful of the Nines, there wouldn't be any way to get a good transfusion or transplant if something significant happened."
His nonchalance left a bad taste in the others' mouths.
Looking up, he noticed the others had gone silent.
"…I'm not simply going to harvest their organs, if that's what you assumed," continued the doctor.
Nana and Hachi eased slightly.
"They're going to need a special caretaker," said the Princess, "a normal one's not going to cut it."
"I already have it sorted," said Franxx.
He eyed Nana with a tinge of guilt in his expression.
"Then what's next?" Asked the Princess, "The Garden is lost."
"I've already contacted the parasite colony; they're currently fortifying the city and prepping evacuation rockets."
"Wait!" Cried Hachi, "rockets!?"
The doctor looked at Hachi, almost with disappointment in his eyes.
"Yes," he continued, "rockets. As of the moment, we have to consider Earth's surface too hazardous to protect the children."
"Where the hell are they going to go!?" Asked Nana.
Dr. Franxx let out a sigh and brought up a schematic of a cannon-like structure the size of a skyscraper. It was similar in shape to the heavy artillery on the transport, with several spinning wheels the size of buildings lining the barrel, and with a large track feeding into the back.
"This is a project I've been working on for the past twenty years," said the doctor, "it's a railgun. It's how we made the sky plantations for the Adults."
Nana and Hachi looked in awe at the machine, impressive even as a schematic.
"It fires slag up into orbit," he continued, "where a ship will obtain it, and use the material for construction."
"It'll take a while to complete construction though, won't it?" Asked the Princess.
"Yes, well…I like to cover my bases, so I've been creating a warship for a while now."
The Princess looked betrayed for a moment, then angry.
"A warship for what, exactly?" She asked, a voice dripping with rage, "or, for who?"
"It's not for you, if that's what you're worried about."
"I'm not worried about you; I'm worried about the pricks on the council."
The doctor tapped his finger on the table for a second, in thought.
Eventually, he turned to look at her.
"Princess, if it were any situation other than this, I doubt this warship would do much to you. I built it with the Fermi paradox in mind, nothing else."
The Princess' expression softened, slightly.
"I…I apologize," she said wearily, "it seems I'm quite tired…"
"You forced your body to grow back about five percent of its mass, in the span of a few hours. Of course you're tired."
Franxx nodded at Hachi, who then took the Princess down the transport for a place to sleep.
"Now, you," he said, pointing at Nana, "you're not going to be happy with me."
Nana shot the doctor a quizzical look. After all, in the past day, a lot of her misconceptions about the man had been cleared up.
"What for?" She asked.
"For having faith in zero-zero-two."
"What about her?"
"Her ability to make certain migraines go away."
With that, he slid a clipboard across the table for her to see.
On the clipboard was a face that made Nana gasp.
"Doctor, you can't assign him-"
"I can and will."
"But he's the one-"
"Which is exactly why."
Nana looked down and studied the man's face again.
He was bald but had a beard that went from the top of his cheekbone into the bottom of his collar. He was muscular, but in a way that was meant for show rather than anything else.
The gray hair of an adult indicated his immortality, but the image of his mask betrayed his low rank at The Garden.
At The Garden, there was a story that went untold to the rest of the Adults outside.
Code six-six-six was a bright and enthusiastic child. Infectiously optimistic, most liked him.
However, some people found that optimism aggravating.
One day, when the man thought no staff was close enough or caring enough to help, he beat the child so badly he'd never be the same.
The beating left the boy without one of his eyes, and he broke both legs and several ribs. If the child hadn't been taken to the emergency room as quickly as he had, he might have died from internal bleeding.
Luckily, the broken bones, bruises, and cuts healed quickly enough.
But the poor child's eye was gone. And while his optimism remained unchanged, he was noticeably more withdrawn than before.
Everyone at the Garden was outraged, but APE couldn't let people think that they allowed one of their own workers to beat a child nearly to death. So the official story was that code six-six-six fell down a particularly hard flight of stairs. Of course, rumors escaped The Garden, which is exactly why punitive measures were not taken.
He was despised there, and was thusly sent to complete every demanding and menial task imaginable.
But this was important.
This was taking care of children.
"Doctor, we can't let him-!"
"Nine Alpha is the one who broke your nose, correct?" He said calmly.
"W-well, yes."
"Then I will show you something," he said as he pulled up the camera feed of the Nines' room.
The image of klaxosaur girl embracing her sister, humming a tune for her to sleep to, brought a smile to Nana's face.
"What are you showing me?"
"How code zero-zero-two is far scarier than the rest of her siblings."
All of the Nines were feeling sleepy now, the only exceptions being Hiro and Zero Two, who was still humming her lullaby to Theta.
The young boy couldn't help but smile at the sight of the siblings sharing a moment of rest in an otherwise hellish situation.
Such moments were quickly shattered.
With a loud screech that woke everyone in the room, a large man threw open the door.
He was bald with a white beard, with muscular arms and wide shoulders.
"Wake up, you little shits!" Said the man, extending a collapsible baton, "I heard you lot were hard to deal with, so I snuck a toy outta the armory."
He smiled when he saw the fear on Hiro's face.
"Hey kid," he continued, "I heard you snuck out earlier. That was a mistake."
Turning around, he began to slowly scan the line of children rousing from their slumber.
"Everyone up!" He shouted, "all of the injuries you've caused makes me remember how our schoolteachers used to handle insubordination!"
He swung the baton so it made an audible whistle.
"And which one of you is 'Nine Alpha?' I heard you left quite the mark on Nana's face, which I-"
Upon seeing Zero Two, he froze in place.
"What the fuck is that?"
His confusion at the klaxosaur girl was eventually replaced by his anger at the Nines not obeying his command.
"I said to get up!" He screamed.
"Th-they can't understand!" Said Hiro, mustering as much bravery as he could.
The old man's face was visibly redder than when he had begun.
"Then you make them understand," he said, pointing the baton at Hiro.
Hesitantly, the young boy started to get the Nines on their feet, one by one.
Eventually, Hiro arrived at Zero Two.
She got up, but it was clear Theta wouldn't be able to, not with her wounded foot.
"I don't care if you'd lost your whole fuckin' leg," said the man, pointing at Theta, "I said to get up."
Zero Two didn't understand what the man was saying, but his hostility was apparent.
As though it were a sixth sense, Hiro whispered into her ear.
"Don't try it," he said quietly, "there's no place for us to go in here. We can't run like we did last time!"
Soon, the man was standing over Theta, a look of pitch-black hate on his face.
He raised his baton, and brought it down so quickly the whistle was deafening.
Nine Gamma jumped forward to protect Theta, the baton hitting so hard it bent around their back, then snapped.
Zero Two's eyes widened more than they ever had before, seeing Gamma's eyes water from the pain.
By the time Gamma's first tear hit the ground, Zero Two had pounced.
It caught the man by surprise, as she climbed up his back, leaving cuts as she went.
He reached around and grabbed her by the collar, flipping her over and holding her at an arm's length in front of him.
The punch he was rearing for never came, as Zero Two thrust her fingers through his forearm, between the bones.
He screamed, his mind muddled by both pain and confusion at what a young child had just done.
She used the time to stab his forearm with her other hand, and gripping the radius with one hand, and the ulna with the other, ripped it in half.
This time the pain was so bad he didn't even bother screaming, he just looked down at what used to be his arm, now two long strands of muscle, each containing half of his hand.
Free from his grasp, the girl jumped onto his shoulders.
She planted her feet firmly into his chest as he stood, hooking her claws through his ears as handholds.
For a brief moment, she brought her eyes level to his.
Hers were bloodshot, shaking with a rage she had never felt before.
His were a mixture of confusion and fear.
She raised her head and slowly lowered her jaw as much as she could.
With crushing force, she clamped onto the top of his head with her fangs.
His remaining arm tried desperately to pull her off, as her fangs visibly sunk deeper and deeper, with an audible crack every few seconds.
His screams grew louder and louder.
No one from outside ever came.
Eventually, there was one crack that was louder than the rest, and both Zero Two and the man paused.
The girl ripped her head back, part of his skull still lodged in her mouth.
Blood sprayed from the man's head as he fell.
He was dead before he even hit the ground.
After a few moments of Zero Two picking bits of bone out from between her fangs, she looked over at Hiro and waved with a smile.
"Dah-lin!" She cried joyfully.
She was covered in blood, her pink hair mottled with red droplets.
Hiro felt like he was going to throw up.
He retched for a while, but snapped out of it when he realized that she was showing Gamma's back to him, pointing at the welt forming on their back.
"Dah-lin!" She huffed, trying to rouse him from his stupor.
"Ah!" He started, "yes! Sorry!"
He looked past her for a moment, and saw two guards dragging out the corpse, with a third scraping up whatever remained.
He could've sworn he saw one flashing Hiro a thumbs-up.
"L-let's look," he stammered, finally beginning to calm down.
The welt was serious. It stretched from Gamma's waist all the way to the top of their left shoulder. Already, it was raised above the skin around it, and he could see its color shift with every beat of Gamma's heart.
Hiro thought for a moment, with Zero Two waiting expectantly.
His hand drifted to the wall of the compartment, the metal frigid from the outside snow.
"Alright, here you go…uh…"
Zero Two pointed at her sibling.
"Gah – ma!"
Hiro nodded, smiling to himself after hearing her lisp.
"Here, Gamma, lay against the cold metal with your back. It'll help bring down the swelling."
Gamma slowly laid down, their face slowly regaining color.
The boy looked up at Zero Two expectantly.
Like with Theta, she sat next to the boy and rested his head against her shoulder, gently humming a lullaby.
"Shit" said Dr. Franxx, "I didn't expect him to steal a baton."
"I'll get a doctor down there," said Nana, "the Nines seem to trust me. Zero-one-six was good to put cold on it early but that's a serious injury."
The doctor nodded.
"Dr. Franxx!" Said a voice from the man's watch.
"What is it?" He huffed.
"What should we do with the body?"
"…Do what you want."
Almost immediately, the sound of a door opening and closing could be heard.
"It's done."
Although no one would admit it, no one on the transport felt anything at all.
The runt walked through the blanketed snow slowly, the full moon shadowing herself yet illuminating the horde a few steps behind her.
Suddenly, there was a shift.
The horde began to cry out and roar, in a way of celebration.
However, for the runt, it was a mixed feeling.
A fledgling had just gotten their first kill.
But it wasn't her, nor was it her sister.
It was someone else. Someone to whom she was related, but someone young.
A child.
Suddenly, a warmness filled her heart.
A niece. I have a niece.
Your first hunt was a success.
I want to meet you in person.
I want to congratulate you.
I want the family to be together.
I want to love you.
Author's note:
Hey guys! It's been a while.
Life has been pretty hectic lately, and I haven't had a lot of time for this sort of thing. I apologize for the shortness of this chapter, I know it's a little disappointing after me having been gone for so long. I've had a bit of writer's block and have just recently gotten back a little, but I'm still struggling with my main story, A Return to Eden. None of the outlines I've made in my mind are satisfactory, and I want to make sure that as the series goes on, quality doesn't drop. I also want to make sure I stick to the setting from the first chapter, and I'm afraid that if I'm careless in the later chapters, that I will be writing the same characters in an unrecognizable city. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed what was here. Let me know if you have any suggestions for things I could do better!