Unforeseen - A Horizon Fanfiction (Kotallo)

Issues

Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten
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This night has been a better one. Kotallo woke up before the others and sneaked into the alcove they all used for washing, shaving and painting and started to wash himself behind drawn curtains so as not to disturb the still-sleeping others. After he had applied new paint and donned his armor, he cleaned up and prepared everything for the others, and then seized the opportunity to go outside. He enjoyed strolling through the Bulwark while everything was still completely dark and quiet. He did it regulary to enjoy the calm. It was different to the quiet of the late evening or midnight time. The sky of the early morning was also more beautiful than the midnight sky; it was way more darker and seemed wider.

When he returned to the cave, in the meantime the others were also awake. Uvveh was sitting on his sleeping mat, massaged his feet and calves. Kyrakka was now the one standing in the alcove in front of the large mirror plate, applying his face paint. Annira had disappeared into the other, larger nook of the cave. It was the place where they stored all their belongings.
Kotallo sat down on his own sleeping mat and went through the agenda for the next hours: Today, their training in the pit wasn't scheduled until the afternoon, so they all had enough time for their other daily duties inside the Bulwark and for the squad itself until then. Kyrakka was assigned to the cave with the hot spring, and as far as Kotallo knew, Annira and Uvveh had guard duty at the area around the elevator.

  »Hey Kyrakka«, Uvveh suddenly said, snapping Kotallo out of his thoughts, »the Greystones are cold.«

  »Yeah, yeah. I know. But I have to finish here first«, Kyrakka answered, his eyes fixed on the mirror. »Today, I have a run...«

  »Hurry up!«, Annira shouted out of the nook. »We need to get ready too«, she said, coming over to them.

  »And why don't you just take care of your own tasks?«, Kyrakka asked, looking at her provocatively. 

  »I already did, while you were still lazily lying on your roll, snoring«, she replied.

  »Really?«, Kyrakka countered with a feigned ignorance in his voice. He dipped the brush with a thick blob of paint on it into the water bowl meant for cleaning the brushes, and started to wash it off - »It doesn't look like it, the water is pretty dirty. I can't work properly like that.«

She showed him a feigned exaggerated yawn to demonstrate how bored she was because of him - »Oh, please. Could you both just admit that you're into each other and drop the nonsense?«, Uvveh said, annoyed.

Kotallo had to grin - somehow Uvveh was right about that - and leaned over to his metal shoulder armor piece, that he had placed next to his mat last evening. The attachment still needed some improvement.

  »Not even if he were the last living guy«, Annira announced, arms crossed in front of her chest.

  »Oh. The last time she said that, she had called you 'boy'. I believe, you still has a chance, Kyrakka«, Uvveh said, laughing.

  »In his dreams!«, Annira countered. Kotallo grinned again.

  »By the way«, Kyrakka said and came over to them too, »now that we're five. How we're going to handle it?«

  »Handle what?«, Kotallo asked, still focussed on his shoulder armor.

  »The duties, for example«, Kyrakka responded.

  »Nhevv doesn't live here right now«, Kotallo answered, »so there is no need in changing anything then.«

  »But she will. Soon...«, Annira interjected. »Yeah, and I doubt, that she's able to carry the Greystones«, Kyrakka said in agreement.