Kai

"This is a big responsibility, you know that, right?" Zechariah asks.

"I'm fully aware of the risks, and consequences." I assure him.

"Alright. I'll see if I can find a suitable place for your choice of club, and we'll work out your hours and specifics of your job as we go. In addition, we also have housing at the ready should you want it, we always have some extra for any human arrivals." He says, staring at his clipboard.

"Thank you, sir." I nod to him.

"Thank you for shouldering this responsibility for us." He returns the gesture.

"I'll go on ahead to the auditorium. Jackie and Cameron are bound to be there soon." I say.

"Good. I'll be making sure things are ready in Miss Walden's office for when she gets there." He replies.

"I'll see you around, Zechariah." I wave to him as I leave the office.

"You too, Kai." He nods as I depart.

'Remember Jackie's instructions: I need to head downstairs and go down the hallway she mentioned, all the way down.' I think to myself.

As I descend the stairs, I can't help but notice the aesthetic of the place.

To call it beautiful, is an understatement in it of itself.

It's almost artistic, so to say…

The lightning, the stained glass on the dome-like ceiling, it's legitimately incredible!

I'm someone who can appreciate design, as that is one of my strengths, so to say.

As I semi-ogle at the architecture, I can't help but sense that I'm being watched.

I look up to the second floor, witnessing some tan dog in a letter jacket and another creature I can just notice having Bengal tiger-like stripes but is on a perched position.

They seem taken aback at the fact that I spontaneously noticed them, but I resume my journey to find Jackie and Cameron's inevitable destination.

All the way down the hall…

I find two big doors leading to a distinctly auditorium-like area.

After I open them…

Yeah.

Definitely the place.

Spacious, crimson chairs galore, lighting all focused on the stage area.

I descend the aisle, walking past the rows of red chairs.

Eventually, I stumble across the stage, seeing a whole group of students, all of whom are about high school age.

"Come on! How are you always so damn strong!" A kid exclaims while arm wrestling another student.

"It's called going to the gym, man. You should give it a try." The other student, seemingly trying effortlessly, and smiling all the while, continuously defeats his colleague.

What the…?

"Says the naturally strong one…" The first student comments as he tries again.

"Uh…hey, guys?" A kangaroo-like student interrupts them, pointing to me. "We got company."

They all turn their heads, seemingly shocked at my apparently spontaneous, and stealthy, arrival.

I approach the stage, glancing at the students.

But mostly the strange yellow, purple, and green one…

Sticks out like a sore thumb…

In more ways than one…

"Is that a human?!"

"How'd he get here? Much less IN here?"

"Wait, is that the guy who saved that new girl?"

"I think he is."

I soon find myself being slightly weighed down by something…

Another student.

A being I can only describe as a more orange fox than what Fabian was, except this one has a bandana around his neck.

He smiles at me, but I only tilt my head, only giving an 'I'm not going to drop you' face.

He leaps off of me and goes to join his friends, all of whom still lock their eyes on me.

I'm soon approached by, what I can only describe as a brown rabbit.

"Hi." The boy says.

"Hey." I reply.

"I'm Jack. Jackson Wells." The bunny holds out his hand. "It's nice to meet you."

"Kai." I return the gesture, shaking it. "Feeling's mutual."

"Just Kai? No last name?" He asks.

"Security reasons." I say bluntly.

"Oh, well. Okay. It's just that we don't exactly get many humans here, what's the occasion?" He asks, holding his arm.

"Initially I was accompanying my friend Cameron here, but I undertook a security job here, not exactly in the mood to be a freeloader." I explain.

"So they're already implementing that…" He utters.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask about that, something about the Districts?" I ask.

The kids glance at me, freezing briefly before going back to what they're doing.

"I'd…recommend we not talk about that right now. At least not in this setting." He says.

"If you can't talk about something that isn't technically inappropriate out in public without fear of repercussions, then we already have a problem here." I say.

He chuckles.

"Well, it's kind of being worked on, as of right now." He explains.

"If a problem can't be talked about, it can't be solved." I say.

"Okay…getting kind of therapeutic on me, but…we'll cross that bridge when we get there." He says.

"If you say so." I shrug my shoulders. "What's your story?"

"I'd…also rather not talk about that." He replies. "At least not yet. Though, how would you like to meet my friends?"

"Sure." I say, smiling.

He walks me up to the currently dominating arm wrestler that I noticed previously.

A creature that looks, and even somehow feels, when I look at him…

Alien…

Damn…I've never seen anything like him other than…

Otherworldly?

Probably something someone would conceive in a dream.

It looks like an orange creature with purple around the ends of his limbs, with a light green/turquoise snake tail and wings. His tail appears to be semi-independent, but I'd have to classify his entire form as like a chimera.

"This is my best friend, Zillion Martinez." He enthusiastically says as his friend wins the arm-wrestling session again and gets up.

"Pleasure to meet you, you can call me Zill." He says, shaking my hand.

"Likewise, name's Kai." I say.

"Wanna arm wrestle? Someone strong enough to carry another person's bound to be pretty powerful." He offers, holding up his hand as a challenge.

"You've got a warrior's spirit." I comment.

"Ha! Well…I've been known as a bit of a crime fighter here." He smiles as the unusual creature toots his own horn.

"It's nice to find kindred spirits here, and I've never been one to shy away from a challenge." I say, taking the sufferer's place as the new challenger, catching the attention of more of the nearby students.

I stretch my arm to ready it, and my opponent hypes himself up for his next match

We both take our positions, with Zill getting excited at being able to go up against a human…

Whereas I… want to gauge his strength…

The kangaroo girl walks up to us and gives us a little countdown.

"Okay, boys, 3, 2, 1 GO!"

W instantly both go at it, forcing up against each other, both currently evenly matched as of right now, neither making any progress.

But as we do, a minimal, yet barely noticeable, force emanates.

I don't know if he's holding back or not, no signs are coming from him yet.

"Damn…nobody's survived against me this long." He utters, staring at me.

"Maybe you've finally found your equal." I reply.

"We'll see about that…" He retorts.

He backs up that claim by seemingly putting more strength into his arm, finally making progress on his part. I counter by putting the same amount of force into mine, cancelling him out.

This goes back and forth, with him trying harder, and me countering.

The wood below us is almost splintering…

No, it is.

For him, it seems both shocking, and even thrilling for him to find someone as strong as him. He's definitely struggling, but he's even more so enjoying it.

But also, for him, seems to be confusing as to how strong I really am.

He…

He has no idea…

"Guh…seriously! What kind of training regimen makes a human this…strong?!" He hisses as his eyes begin to glow.

"Hell." I bluntly say, at least in terms that other people can understand.

He spontaneously places a drastic amount of force into his arm, me having to counter once more.

"Damn…" He hisses, his snake tail doing the same, but beginning to smile from experiencing a challenge such as this.

"I can do this all day." I say, earning me a chuckle from him, despite me having to put a genuine bit of effort into this exceptionally powerful one.

"Don't tempt me with a good time." He replies, smiling again, but it soon drops as he legitimately tries to beat me.

I think it's time I end this.

I soon gradually put more effort into my arm, countering the gradually increasing attempt on Zill's part.

Eventually…despite his tries…

THUMP!

His arm is soon pinned, much to the surprise of everyone around us.

"Holy…" One student holds his hand over his head.

"You…actually beat him!" Jack exclaims, blown away.

Zill only leans back in bewilderment, taken worlds aback at my accomplishment.

"I guess you could say you met your waterloo." I say.

"Yeah…I did." He admits, but soon smiles, being humbled for the first time in a long time.

"You're strong, I'll give you that, but you need to properly develop it, hone it. I'm not sure about your physiology, but if we're basing it off of humans, then training will definitely be the grindstone you'll need." I explain to him.

He points to me.

"I think I'll put myself to that. You were right." He says as he leans in closer. "I did find my equal."

I hold out my hand for a fist bump for good sportsmanship, and he returns the gesture, smiling.

"How is he that strong?"

"I've never seen a human, or ANYONE for that matter, matching Zill!"

"What disturbed me is that he beat him…"

"Hey, wanted to ask, if you're okay with it…" I ask, Zill smiles.

"Go on ahead." He replies.

"What exactly are you? Your appearance is something I'd find in a dream, or something like that." I say.

"Well…" He begins to think, seemingly not even KNOWING what he is, as Jack begins to chuckle mischievously. A look from Zill shuts him up. "Pass."

"How do you not even know what you are?" I ask.

"I've never really been told what I am." He bluntly says, shrugging.

"You're like a manticore with that tail…" I say, the snake itself beginning to hiss in anger at me. "But your appearance is what some would call extraterrestrial."

Suddenly, Jack bursts out in laughter, nearly falling over himself.

"You saying that Zill's an alien?!" He manages to utter in between wheezes.

Meanwhile, I just look at him blankly.

"Have you ever ruled out that possibility?" I ask.

"I know for a fact I don't know anything beyond this planet." Zill clarifies. "I was born here, and honestly, I'm proud of it."

"I wasn't implying that your origins made you more or less than an individual, if that's how you might've interpreted it." I say.

"Don't worry, I wasn't. No offense taken."

"Thanks."

I'll need to get more information about him…

He's…legitimately something else…

"C'mon man, rematch! If this guy can beat you, so can I!" The kid hold his hand up, wanting to arm-wrestle again.

"Whatever you say, man." Zill rolls his eyes, the kid takes my place on the seat as he joins him once again.

He clearly knows that those who can't learn from history are condemned to repeat it.

As I fist bump Zill once more, and he resumes dominating the arm-wrestling game, I go on to try and meet the rest of the students before Cameron and Jackie get here.

Quite a few here…

"I've never seen anyone beat Zill at arm wrestling before!" I hear the kangaroo girl exclaim.

I turn to see her conversing with the red fox guy.

"I mean, he always fights crime, he needs to be strong, but he's never been beat! Much less by a human!" She gushes to her friend as I approach her from behind.

"Hello there." I say.

"Eep!" She exclaims as she jumps up in surprise, soon turning to me and holding her hand over her chest. "Oh, I didn't see you there."

"Apologies if I scared you. I tend to do that, albeit unintentionally." I say, bowing my head.

"It's alright, it's just…a lot's been on my mind, and you kind of pulled me out of it all." She says.

"What IS on your mind?" I ask.

"Well, your little victory with Zill over there reminded me of our anniversary, it's coming up within the next week or so." She blushes, holding her arm in embarrassment.

"So you're in a relationship with him?" I ask.

"Yeah…we've been dating for a while now…I'm just so excited with what he might have planned!" She holds her hands up, giddy.

"What do you normally do?" I ask.

"Sometimes we go out, do something fun, or even just go out to eat. It's kind of anticlimactic, but if it's time with him, it's a date!" She says, smiling.

"You know, I never got your name." I point out.

"Oh! I'm Kayla. Kayla Christling." She says, holding out her hand, I shake it. She then points to the fox. "This is Spam O'Brian."

The fox waves, I return it.

"Pleasure to meet you both." I smile. "Name's Kai."

"You know, I don't know if anyone pointed this out, but you're pretty tall." She says, gesturing to me. "We're all around the same height, and you're almost twice our size!"

"Maybe, but you can say I've been known to bring out the fight in the dog, not just the dog in the fight." I say, confusing her.

"This guy bothering you Kayla, my darling angel?" I hear a distinctly younger voice call out…

Emanating something…

I turn to see the voice.

A red being, with black eyes and red irises…

Floating in front of me.

"Eek!" Kayla screams, running over to where Zill is and hiding behind him, he gives the red one a death stare, and he backs off.

He rolls his eyes at his failed hit-on attempt.

"Whatever, what's up, new blood? Kai, was it?" He comes face-to-face with me, seemingly trying to intimidate me.

"Yes, who're you?" I ask.

"Damian. Damian Beelzly" He shows himself off, seemingly overtly proud of who he is. "Surprised you didn't ask how I was able to float…"

"Like Zill, you are also powerful." I point out.

"Oh, well, it could be because…" He says, soon pulling out a flashlight.

The feeling from him begins to intensify.

Before he says anything…I cut him off by pulling the flashlight down.

"You're the Antichrist." I say bluntly.

When I finish that sentence, his body is semi-morphed into a more monstrous, sharp toothed form of himself, and the light isn't even all the way up until his entire façade drops and goes back to his normal self.

He just stands there.

"How…how did you…" He utters, beyond flabbergasted at how I guessed it correctly.

"Well, Zechariah told me that demons and mythical beings exist here, you were no exception…but truthfully…"

I look left and right, up and down, and I lean into him, the feeling of that presence he emanates getting even stronger.

"You'd be surprised…of what I really know…" I whisper into his ears.

He continues jumbling in between his words until he gets a pouty face.

"Party pooper…" He crosses his arms. "Ruining surprises…"

Some kid walks, or should I say, sneaks up to me.

A girl.

She's got freckles, and orange bush-like hair.

For some reason she gives me a sniff like a dog would a new one…

But what sets me slightly aback…

Is that she violently reacts to it.

It's almost as if my presence caused her to lash back and fall on her rear, soon desperately trying to crawl away as if she's either sensed or seen something that terrifies her.

Not sure what was going through her mind…or what she was trying to figure out…

Before I can start thinking about that…

Someone, no, two…are now here.

The sound of one of them brings our small wordless exchange to a close.

"Good afternoon, my sparkling turtle doves!" I hear a singsong Jackie echoing from the doors.

"Hey Jackie!" All the students greet her, and the fearful Cameron as they approach the stage.

"Who's your friend, Cracker Jacks?" Zill asks, gesturing to Cameron as he defeats the kid in arm-wrestling one more time.

"This here, is your new guidance counselor, fellas!" Jackie holds my friend as she gestures to her.

"Oh, good!" Both Jack and Damian exclaim, smiling.

The former looks to the latter in confusion.

"I need a lot of guidance!" Damian seemingly mockingly says.

"Congrats, captain obvious." I comment.

"Hey!"

Ignoring what Damian and I said, the nervous Cameron walks up to Zill, now relaxing with Jack.

"Already asked him, even he doesn't know what he is." I preeminently save Cameron the trouble of asking Zill.

"Ugh…" She shivers.

Her fear is obvious…especially with what is terrifying her.

Need to help her open up about that…

"Hey, Damian. No funny business with her." I tell the red floating being, giving him the death stare, even more so than what Zill gave to him.

He backs off from what he was planning to do to her, raising his hands in an 'okay!' gesture.

I did that as a precautionary measure to not unsettle Cameron more than she likely already is.

Jack walks up to Cameron.

"Hello! My name's Jack, and I'd like to schedule with you as soon as possible." He introduces himself as he shakes her hand, her getting unnerved him touching her.

Suddenly, I get the urge to look up, and when I see it…

I instantly scramble to him.

"Uh…okay…?" She utters, letting go of his hand as I approach them.

"Sorry…it's been a while since I had someone to talk to about my problems-GUHH!" He suddenly gets the feeling of being spontaneously pulled in another direction in a similar manner to how I saved Cameron before we came here.

WHOO-CRASH!

When he comes to, he realizes I just pulled him out of the way of a falling spotlight, that would've crushed him.

"How did you...?" He asks, entirely shocked of what I did. "Nobody's tried to save me since the last time Zill tried!"

"Noticed it. Not in the mood for people to get crushed today." I say, playing it off.

"You okay, dude?" Zill asks, concerned for his friend.

"Yeah, I'm good." He assures him.

"Jackie? Another light fell!" The kid who Zill defeated earlier calls out.

"I saw it! Cool moves, Kai!" She compliments me.

"Does this happen a lot?" I ask.

"Yeah…it's a long story." Jack says.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'd be open to hear it." I say.

Jack soon looks to what would've made him into a bunny pancake, and smiles.

"Thanks, Kai." He says, turning to me. "For that and saving me…it means the world."

"You're good, man." I say, soon looking to the crashed light. "Guessing rabbits aren't so lucky anymore…"

He soon gives me a deadpanned stare, as well as the rest of his friends, Damian trying to hold back a cacophony of laughter right now.

I give a shrug of 'what?'.

"I'm a Jackal. So's Damian, if you're gonna call him a little fuzzy bunny." He bluntly states as he keeps staring at me.

"Oh, guess I jacked that up." I say, realizing my mistake.

He and the rest of his friends let out a giggle, and Damian snickers.

"Was that a pun?" Jack asks, a smile threatening to break through.

"My funniest one-liners are usually the ones I don't try on." I say, shrugging.

"Hey, uh, Kai? As much as I'd like to laugh right now, I'm feeling a little bit overwhelmed." My friend utters, still unnerved.

"So, you don't want to stay for the rehearsal?" Jackie asks.

"I…I'd rather not…at least not right now." Cameron says sheepishly.

"Understandable, hun! Vanexa! Would you mind escorting Cam to her office?" Jackie asks a purple cat reading a book.

Of whom looks to my friend, and then me.

She raises an eyebrow, seemingly not paying attention to anything else until she, specifically was called.

She gets up and walks past Cameron, revealing herself to be about a head and a half shorter than her.

"C-Can you come with me, Kai?" She asks, looking to me.

"Gladly." I say, joining in walking side by side with her. I wave to the others. "See you later."

"Bye, Kai!" They reply.

"Alright guys! Showtime!" We hear Jackie announce as we depart the auditorium.

It only takes a few minutes of silence and footsteps until we're at Cameron's office, labeled 'Guidance'.

She gestures for us to go inside.

"T-Thank you, Vanexa, was it?" Cameron asks as she opens the door.

She's only met with eerie silence, and a vague, but noticeable at least for me, glow from Vanexa's eyes into Cameron's.

She coughs.

"Well, um…yeah…good evening to you…talking cat…" She says to her.

The little fox girl soon looks to me, her eyes glowing once more, but this time, only to uncharacteristically blink and eyes dilate, as if she's seen something within me like the bushy-haired girl from earlier.

"Enjoy your stay…" She whispers, departing to continue reading her book.

But it seemed to have been more directed towards me, with the way she said it…

The moment she's out of sight, Cameron grabs me by the arm and leads me inside, slamming the door.

She holds herself up against it, now hyperventilating for some reason.

She walks up to her desk, witnessing a gift basket of flowers, and a message that says 'Dear Cameron, Welcome to the Family! -Z.P. Staff.'

They're accommodating, but her little emotional barrier is not exactly reciprocating the feeling.

"Place looks nice." I say, breaking the silence, but soon turning behind me. "Zechariah."

"Good to see you too, Kai." The cheetah replies, revealing himself behind us. He then looks to my friend. "Cameron."

She's slightly frozen, and I nudge her to get her to turn around to see our cheetah friend.

She leans into me.

"H-How'd you know he was here?" She asks me.

"He told me." I say.

"R-Right…" She utters.

Zechariah walks up to us.

"How are you coping with things thus far, Cameron?" He asks.

"Well…all things considered…" She replies, but soon leans on the desk as she slides down in a sitting position, sighing.

Zechariah leans in to console her, as do I.

"I'm sure this is a lot to handle…" He says in a soothing voice.

"Y-Yeah…" She utters.

"Zechariah, can I talk to you for a moment?" I pull the cheetah aside. "She's not homesick."

"What do you mean?" He asks, confused. "If not, then what's going on?"

"She's afraid."

"Why is she afraid? What've we been doing wrong?"

"I've deduced this from her reactions to the bird on the plane, as well as when she saw you guys." I explain.

I take a deep breath to summarize this as best as possible.

"She has a deathly fear of animals. ALL animals. I think, if memory serves me correctly, the dictionary definition of it would be Zoophobia, the irrational fear of fauna within the animal kingdom."

"Oh…now…okay…that…THAT…makes a lot more sense now. I thought initially it'd be because she'd be afraid of us being talking animals for her. Unnerved reactions like that from the humans who come here aren't uncommon." He replies.

"Yeah. But most people, as far as my knowledge of psychology goes, aren't afraid of all animals. Spiders, snakes, those are the most common fauna phobias, but people…they're normally tolerant of most wildlife they encounter, but in her case it'd have to have been induced by something, an incident from her past. I'd have to say it's based more on PTSD." I say.

"So you're saying this 'incident', is what's charging her fear." He surmises.

"More than likely."

"So, how would you want to approach this?" He asks.

"Hmm…" I utter.

Wait…

If this is an interspecies society…and even mythical creatures can exist…

What's to say that-

"Do you guys, by any chance have fish here? Of any, hopefully nonviolent kinds?" I ask. "Maybe like a lake, pond, or something that has ocean life?"

Zechariah's ears instantly perk up, as well as a spontaneous smile.

"I believe I can get that situated, Kai." He nods. "We've probably the biggest lake you could know of here."

I smile in response.

Mainly because…

There's something above us…

Above the school.

Something, at least noticeable, for me.

Zechariah walks over to Cameron, hopefully to get her attention.

"Miss?" He asks her…

He's met with sniffing from her.

"I…I am truly sorry this has happened to you Miss…" He snuggles her with his head to console her.

"It'll be okay-" I say as I come to help her…but…

She suddenly hugs me, still sniffing, on the verge of tears, and taking both me and Zechariah aback.

She's been broken.

Her fear made manifest, and likely having PTSD flashbacks every second of being here, it's all made her crumble.

I wrap my arms around her, patting her on the back.

"Let it out, Cameron. Don't keep it in anymore." I assure her, letting her have her emotions no longer bottled up.

As I let her cry, I feel her opening her arms to…

Zechariah.

Albeit shocked, he decides to come closer, allowing Cameron to hug him too, and embracing him, all other emotions drowning out her fear.

It's a good minute of her releasing her emotional burden, and she finally separates from us.

The cheetah and I exchange a glance before he turns to her as she begins to dry her tears.

"There is something I'd like you to see." He tells her.

She nods.

He then leads us out of the door, and after a brief series of turns, we find ourselves about to climb a sizable staircase.

"This way." He tells us.

As we climb up the exceedingly long flight of stairs, I can't help but glance at Cameron occasionally, the memory of her breakdown fresh in my mind.

She may be broken now…

But at least that provides the opportunity to have herself build back…stronger…

It's like hitting rock bottom, the only way left to go is up.

And it looks like we're already at that point…

Soon, we seem to have arrived at the very top of the Zoo Phoenix Academy, overlooking the school and even the city somewhat.

The crisp elevated air certainly makes the scene exceedingly serene.

(Rhyming like Dr. Seuss…)

"W-what's up here?" Cameron asks, holding onto a pillar in fear of the heights, I take her hand to reassure her.

Soon, when we look to the sky…that fear is replaced…

By a gasp of pure awe.

Zechariah gives me an instant grin, to which I return.

"Oh my god…"

In front of us, are gargantuan goldfish flying above the school, swimming among the night sky.

They seem spiritual, in a way, and have elegant rune-like patterns around their bodies.

No, they ARE spirits!

At least that's what I'm thinking.

"How…how did you know I like fish? This is…beautiful." She utters, her eyes widening, and pupils getting bigger, all of her being absolutely astounded.

"You could say I had help from a little friend of yours." He says, she turns to him, and then me when he nods his head my way.

I just give her a smile.

She hugs me once more.

"Thank you…so…much…Kai. For everything. You didn't need to come, but you came anyway. You went out of your way…to be there for someone like me." She squeezes me, almost getting ready to cry again.

She releases me, and looks at me, her eyes showing gratitude.

"You were the first person who ever was willing to talk to me, and help me, without me even needing to pay you." She chuckles, remembering her therapist.

"It's what I find fulfillment in." I say, returning the laugh. "I only look forward to more, Cameron. If you ever need help, I'll be here."

"Thank you, again, Kai." She smiles.

We turn back to see the fish once more, being almost art themselves, and the sky is their canvas.

"What are they?" I ask.

"The Fish of Peace. At night, they roam the sky, living up to, and being symbols of their namesake so long as they are around." He says.

"Spirits?" I ask.

"Among the best." He smiles.

"Amazing..." My friend says. says, admiring their beauty.

"Welcome home, Miss Cameron." He tells my friend. "And welcome home to you too, Kai."

Home…

A home for her…

And a home for me…

At least for now.

But a home…that I am responsible for, as I always am.

These people…

I have to tell them soon…

About what's coming…

These Fish of Peace may signify harmony, at least for now…

But if only they knew the harsh, cold, agonizing, truth…

Peace…

Is only an armistice for war.

"So…where are we going to live anyway?" Cameron asks, catching Zechariah's attention.

As he gets to discussing her with that issue…

Something…disturbing happens.

While the two of them are busy, I just happen to catch the Fish of Peace…

Staring…at me.

They all but stopped moving in the sky, and look at me…

As if they sense…or know…something…about me…

2 weeks later

"Cameron, stop assaulting the mailman." I tell my friend after she swings a bat and sprays the green animal with water, observing her from the ground floor of my next-door home and witnessing it through the window.

"Lady, I'm just trying to deliver the mail!" He exclaims, but soon departs, crossed. "Have a nice day…"

"S-Sorry!" She calls out as I give a raised eyebrow at her antics.

As she collects her package and goes back inside, I go back…to building something…

Or a few somethings…

Deadly somethings…

At a workbench I constructed as of recently…

Continuing a few little projects that I've been working on in the past couple weeks we've been here…

All of this, as I recite the depressing, but painfully true Latin quote…

'Sis vis Pacem, Parabellum'

Chapter End