377 Years Ago...
He doesn’t know how long it’s been. He isn’t told. He isn’t told anything, he never is. He isn’t even addressed, or answered when trying to ask (so, he doesn’t anymore.) He is barely acknowledged, save for the way he is roughly hauled out of the cryo chamber.
It isn’t the first time, but each time they put him back in to freeze has varied as wildly as the time he is kept out for. The time he is kept out for, in the beginning, he thought could only be his fault. But it has been nearly two centuries of trying different methods, yet, still repeating the same faults.
Faults that he now sees cannot be erased through any conditioning or training.
For almost two centuries now, he has been dragged out of cryo and instantly put to work training the next clone. For just as long, he has failed to make a sain’ji out of any of them. And each time he fails, he is thrown back into his cryo prison–until the next one is created and ready to be trained.
Each clone and their personality had varied just as much as their appearances. But every single one of them had eventually lost control of themselves entirely. Half had turned on their master (and rightly so), and the other half had killed themselves in the most gruesome of ways, just to take themselves away from their master.
He blamed none of them, and pitied all of them. They may have been mostly monsters in both appearance and nature, but they were all still children. Still innocent (albeit, to varying degrees.)
And then, the previous time, he hadn’t been needed to train, but he’d been pulled out of cryo just so The Mad Elder could gloat about his newly created hive mind clones. An army of 50, that after mere seconds of being woken, had almost torn the entire ship and its occupants apart.
Greyback never was thanked for drawing the hive clones out into the loading docks, where he’d trapped them all before pressing the button and watching them all being sucked out into the abyss of space. The Mad Elder had simply hissed in annoyance (like he always has when he realises he’s really nowhere near as smart as he thinks he is) before ordering Greyback to be tossed back into cryo.
And now, they are dragging Greyback out of cryo yet again. He has lost count of how many times...
He is dragged down the usual corridors before being unceremoniously dumped in the depressing chambers they left for him to call his living quarters over the years he’s been captive. He winces as the door is slammed, his senses all still adjusting after just a few minutes of being pulled back to life. But he thinks at least the room is dimmer than the blinding neon white lights covering the corridors of the ship.
From the cold hard metal floor of where they dumped him (face-first–the disrespectful little cjits), Greyback grunts at the discomfort of his stiff limbs (they didn’t even bring him a heat lamp to thaw this time.) Though, he manages to summon up enough strength, latching an arm up onto the comfy fur bench.
He leans back with a tired sigh–tired, because ironically, sleeping in cryo means his brain is tricked into thinking he is still awake and that time is just endless. He tries to forget about all the torturous nightmares and longing dreams he had in cryo, like he does each time he is pulled back out (and like he fails to each time as the images flood his mind anyway, as if in retaliation for his weaknesses...)
(...Or maybe his mother was right all along when she used to tell him that he had a death wish that even most hish-qu-ten would dare not chase after. “Most” meaning “sane.”)
He smiles faintly in fondness over the memory of each of his kin that have passed to the other side to be embraced eternally by Paya; The Goddess Mother herself.
He tips his head back mindlessly, just losing himself in light-hearted thought as he waits for his body to warm up. He cracks his neck, rolls his shoulders, lets out a quiet groan as his blood rushing satisfyingly and a lot more tension releases from his muscles. And when he lets his head fall front to tuck his slightly chattering mandibles--in his “chilled” state of mind (from cryo, not because he is cold-blooded—although, that really doesn’t help either), his eyes accidentally land right on the small lamp in the furthest corner of the room.
He groans, screwing his eyes shut, and quickly turns his head to the side. And when he cracks his eyes open again, this is when he finally notices two things--
--A noise out of place, and...his office room desk lamp is on.
The lamp being on isn’t that odd to him (he knows The Mad Elder has his soldiers snoop on him and his living quarters for any signs of disloyalty.)
But the noise of a quiet whisper of a trill-like giggle certainly grabs his undivided attention...
For a moment, he thinks he’s simply hearing things, but now that he’s looking in the general direction, he notices a flicker of a shadow scurrying away from the open door (like it knows he was looking.)
Greyback is on his feet in the next moment. And he is alert, but not highly so. Both because he feels no threatening presence, nor does he believe it to be anybody else other than his next charge.
(Funny, considering The Mad Elder had told him last time that this was the last time; the last straw.)
Greyback doesn’t go for his weaponry cabinet, instead, he takes a curious step closer to his office. Curious, because if this is indeed his new charge, not a single one of the other clones had ever once showed an ounce of any pleasant emotion, let alone a pauk-de playful giggle.
The fact that his new charge has been placed in his personal private chambers with him, rather than the usual routine of his charge being carelessly (sometimes irritably) tossed at his feet in the ship’s training room before being ordered to begin training immediately.
He had never been allowed to bond at all with any of them. Not even as a mentor. Let alone a friend. And Paya forbid it ever being even more.
What infuriates Greyback now is that after all this time, The Mad Elder didn’t just choose to use his genes for practical purposes (like begrudgingly admitting to Greyback while beating him to a bloody submissive pulp on occasion–and also, slightly creeping Greyback out while doing so–that Greyback has always been a “fine specimen in all aspects”)--The Mad Pauk-de is as cruel as he is mad when Greyback took in his first charge and was given a “friendly warning” not to “let” this spawnling die like Greyback “let” one of his own spawnling die...
All thoughts are suddenly blanked over in a heart-melting fog he feels now sinking down to warm his chest.
Greyback sucks in a sharp silent breath, because in that moment, somehow, he has fucking imprinted in the exact same way he had imprinted on all of the spawnlings he has ever sired. Without even yet laying eyes on the creature this sweet dia-shui [scent/musk] belongs to (and that that fills his nose, and feels like safety and homeliness in his spirit), he is being automatically pulled to it; to this shadow...
Greyback blinks out of the fog in his mind, and suddenly, he is standing in the doorway to his office, his eyes finally landing on the creature that the shadow belongs to.
(She is so small...)
Now; Earth’s Atmosphere...
“Oh, cjit...”
“What?”
“Look...”
“...Oh, cjit...”
“He’s not gonna like this.”
“You were supposed to be watching the stream!”
“I turned for, like, two pauk-de seconds to grab my flask!”
“Well, I hope you prefer being skinned alive over being parched, because good pauk-de luck telling him...”
The solider sighs heavily in defeat (and a lot of fear) before turning around and walking over to the Boss. “Sir, the young thwei’s mask has been deactivated, it is currently offline, as of, uh, well, a-a few moments ago...Sir...”
“What??” The Mad Elder is more confused than angry–because such a thing is never done while hish-qu-ten are away from their home world, no matter who they are (unless they are ic’jit, of course.) “Show me the last thing he saw.” He says, then, following the soldier back to his station.
The soldier types at the keyboard to bring up the last footage from the young thwei’s mask.
The Mad Elder watches closely as the young thwei seems to be taken by surprise from behind. He struggles, but is easily overpowered before the camera viewpoint slips to the ground, along with the unconscious young thwei. There is a few moments of silence, then, feet shuffling from behind the mask until the footage suddenly cuts out.
The Mad Elder smirks, highly amused. “It’s Greyback. Get that mask back online immediately. I want to hear every word of their sweet little reunion.”
“Yes, Sir!”
The Mad Elder turns and makes his way to the mess hall where his troops are still feasting for the evening. Upon seeing him, they all drop their handfuls of food and rise to their feet to salute their General; their only True Elder.
The Mad Elder nods, raises both hands and motions for them to sit and continue eating. “Eat up, my children. You will need your strength. We have finally found the traitor, and he has done exactly what I told you he would; he has led us straight to our salvation. She is down there with him as I speak to you now... And now, we will finally take the next step in our evolution!!!”
The Mad Elder grins proudly as his troops all cheer over his words.
Meanwhile...
For the moment, Naru leaves clearing up the other hers rancid smelling blood to the last task. Considering that it is an odd black colour rather than human red or even hish-qu-ten green, it doesn’t exactly look like the murder scene it actually is. And at least the blood doesn’t burn tiny holes into her carpet. (Just one more reason she’s glad she never gets sick and doesn’t need to visit any hospitals.)
She pulls on a pair of jogging bottoms, ties her hair up into a messy bun, and then, proceeds to effortlessly drag the other hers headless corpse (by the left arm) out of her bedroom and over to her front door. She huffs while going back to her bedroom to fetch the other hers head, wrinkling her nose as she grabs her up by the hair. She grabs a few paper towels from the kitchen, setting the head on the breakfast table with the towels underneath.
She pauses, shifting awkwardly before reaching over and slipping the head’s eyes shut. “Sorry, but your–my face is freaking me out...on you...lying on a breakfast table...without a body...waiting for me, like I’m about to carve you up for Sunday Roast...”
Naru gulps down the ashy taste her words leave in her mouth before stalking off back to the front door. “20 years. 20 fucking years.”
She grumbles under her breath as she lifts the headless her over her shoulder and slips her fluffy bunny slippers in. “I’m probably gonna live forever, and 20 lousy years of peace and quiet is all I get. Just perfect.”
She huffs her annoyance as she opens the front door and yanks her keys from the hook before sneaking down the hallway.
And if she uses her x-ray vision to keep a watch out for anybody who might see her carrying a headless corpse...well, so be it, she has no other option in that moment.
(Of course, she could hold her breath, but then, it would simply look like a headless corpse is floating around, which would definitely draw much more attention.)
4 Minutes Later...
He doesn’t know what he expects when he slips silently in through her bedroom window, but it certainly isn’t all the foul smelling black substance splattered all over. He quickly scans the substance, feeling slightly alarmed when he sees that it’s blood.
It smells an awfully lot like the beast his kind call the ‘River Ghost.’ Nasty little bastards. Fortunately, not very smart, but a mindless killing machine ruthless enough for his kind to deem them worthy of hunting.
When he spots her combistick just left carelessly on the floor, his heart races a little more in panic. He kneels down, picks it up, runs his fingers over the weapon, softly, as if he were running them through her sweet thin locks.
He glances around, noting there has been an obvious fight here. The only reason he doesn’t fully panic is because he doesn’t smell a drop of his little one’s blood spilled anywhere.
He rises to his feet, shortening the combistick and carefully placing it on the end of her bed. He notes the claw marks on the wall behind him, heart skipping in horror when he recognises them to be the claws of his own kind.
Was he too late?
Did the young thwei already fight with his little one?
If so, whose is the rancid smelling blood?
He sighs as he carefully makes his way out of her bed chamber to explore the rest of her home.
He’s endeared to find she’s still somewhat over the top with her organising–everything that can be neatly lined up, is done so in each room (either neatly folded, neatly stacked, or brightly polished, even down to the wood flooring.)
She still takes pride in all things she does, and Greyback is melting when he finally makes it into her kitchen and—
—Greyback almost falls to his knees when they buckle at the sight of her.
Or...what little of her is left...
Greyback rushes over to the table, but when he is actually stood before her decapitated head, he cannot bear to look at her as he finally sinks to his knees, his head falling limp with them. His heart doesn’t best erratically anymore, it simply throbs slowly as he tries not to weep like a suckling.
Unfortunately, he doesn’t even get a few seconds to grieve when he hears the unmistakable sound of a blade hissing through the air.
Greyback is on his feet and swirling around with his longsword raised at the ready--after snatching it from his back so fast in his mind numbingly devastated fury and heartbreak...
...But just as quickly then, his grip trembles when he sees her now standing before him...
She is alive...
She is OK...
She...
She has grown so tall. So fierce, her timidness long gone. Not to mention, she is even more beautiful. He finds it hard to breathe again, even when looking at her right now finally breathes new life into his worn-out spirit.
Naru holds up the other hers longsword, the tip pointed at the base of the intruder’s throat. “This freak is gonna need you to tell me how Asshole Face even found me before I gut you where you stand, soldier.”
Greyback smiles to himself when he lowers his weapon and she looks completely baffled. He slowly lifts his other hand up, unclipping his mask before pulling it off to reveal himself to her.
She doesn’t lower her weapon, but she does take a small step back as her hard expression slowly crumbles. She takes a moment, and just when he thinks he may even get a warm embrace, she sucks in an annoyed huff, pointing her weapon back at him as she snaps out, “Are you one of them?!”
Greyback blinks calmly back at her, eyes slowly softening as he says, “Tell me yourself, little one.”
Naru doesn’t even hesitate, even after years of not using her telepathy, she now dives right into his thoughts, scouring through for any highlighted deciete. It only takes a few seconds, because she finds nothing threatening inside of him.
He isn’t a threat...
He is really (finally) here for her...
He is safe...
She is safe...
And when she realises how safe she feels to be back with him, Naru lets her (newly acquired) weapon clatter loudly to the wood flooring before throwing her arms around him in a tight hug.
Greyback is pleasantly shocked, eyes wide and body stiff for a moment or two before he finally sags with relief, dropping his own longsword to the floor so he can hug her tightly back.
(She is no longer small, and he is glad to see she has more than surpassed his every expectation–and every one of The Mad Asshole Face’s doubts.)