The White Phoenix

"Eh, he rattled off some string of gibberish, then wandered off. About all we could understand was what he'd first said, about chasin' ghosts and whatnot. The rest... I think it had to do with mules and crusted up engine coils. I think. Coraline always had a good ear for understanding mumbled words, but even she was at a loss."

A pull from his bottle, and a released paahhh as he swallowed.

"As for the tabac, Young Samus wasn't a complete idiot. He knew better than to start a fight with an old drunk drifter that held no decent command of Basic, so he just let the old prospector go. Men like that are different, and it's best to not raise their hackles. So, we just kinda stood there for a bit longer, watching him leave, then after he'd gone around a bend in the trail, we went back to the notebook. Teigar's Hand was a pretty distinctive rock formation, so we were certain we'd found it.

"We marked in our book exactly where it was on our map, then started off for the next landmark, the Jathy Sinkhole. Least, that was what we knew it as. Who knew what it was really called, but a lot of the old books had it listed as a big collapsed shaft had opened up over an old mining tunnel from back in the day. We figured it was the old Jathy Sinkhole that everyone made sure to avoid. Apparently the land around it was still unstable, and there were still coal embers burning underground from the fire that had closed the Jathy Mine. It was an old place, from a long time before even my own Grandpa was a sprog."

Slowly, his words seemed to trickle to a stop, and Samus let his eyes return to his bottle before ponderously replacing the cap.

At last Rai found a position on her side comfortable enough to endure, and she cinched her covers beneath her chin, watching Samus turn momentarily introspective. Her fangs flashed in the dim light as she yawned, but she remained an active audience.

"Then what happened?"

"That, I will tell you tomorrow night."

Her yawn was infectious, and slowly getting to his feet, the blonde trundled his way to his bunk. A hefty sigh, a groan, and he let himself practically fall to sit on the edge of the mattress. He leaned forward, hands going to hitch up one pantleg, then the other so he could undo the quicklaces of each. Kicking off each boot, he let out another gravelly growl before reclining fully; not even bothering with the blanket just yet.

"For now," the tiredness in his voice was easily detected, and there was no room for doubt that he would be asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.

"... it's time for... " a second yawn, "... bed."

Disappointed in the lack of a satisfactory conclusion, Rai sighed. The blue of her eyes cast back the feeble light in the room, and she blinked slowly, trying sleep on for size. It didn't quite take, so she watched Samus in his brief and unsatisfactory display of undress, creak back onto his mattress.

"Thjiss jiss funnjy."

Doing his best to make himself comfortable - which was honestly not that difficult, Samus rolled onto his stomach, burying his face into his pillow. His words were muffled, but thankfully recognizable enough.

"mmfmhHoww sssho."

"jI thjink thjiss jiss the fjirrsst tjime jI've sslept wjith a man wjithout..."

She yawned again, heavier this time.

"Ljike jI ssajid, funnjy."

The silence that followed her observation was broken about thirty seconds later, but not by any sort of reply.

Instead, it was a slow buildup of a snore that cut off abruptly, only to start once more a few moments after hitting its' crescendo. And again. And again. It was paced and rhythmic, with some growing in volume, and others remaining quiet, but never quiet enough.

The sonorous pitch waxed and waned in no clear pattern. Rai pulled her covers up so that she could tuck one ear under the hem, leaving the other pressed against her pillow. Sleep eventually came, but it was poor and frequently broken by a sudden snort or gasp from Dage.

* * *

Early rising was no real difficulty, and Samus was certainly no stranger to rolling himself out of bed, only half-awake, to stumble into his small fresher. This morning was no different than the others, except for the fact that there was an extra mattress taking up a good portion of floorspace in the already small quarters he'd been given, and so his mental state cleared quick enough as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. The cold tile that met his bare feet went a long way to further push the fog of slumber from his brain. At some point in the night he'd managed to pull a single blanket over part of his body, which he now pushed off to the side.

Rising to stand, the blonde made sure to not wake the pile of blankets that currently occupied the mattress against the far wall, and stepping carefully around, he slipped through the doorway into the small fresher unit. The door closed quietly, and now alone, he rolled his shoulders before finally stripping of yesterday's clothes.

Thirty seconds later found him in the shower, enjoying actual hot water. Steam billowed out from around the clear shower curtain to fill the rest of the fresher, and he stood beneath the stream of near-scalding liquid bliss.

Apparently living on a world that was mostly snow and ice had its' perks.

Rai woke with a shiver, locking her jaws to keep her teeth from chattering in response to the frigid air outside her cocoon. She pulled her covers over her nose, holding in that state for a moment until it didn't feel like ice. From there, she carefully peeled out of her warm haven, finding yesterday's socks beneath her covers as she quickly sheathed her bare feet. She wedged them into waiting boots, mindful not to put either heel or toe against the cold floor. She coughed a steamy puff into the chilly morning air, shouldered her heavy jacket and wool cap, and disappeared out of the room.

He'd fallen asleep while repairing one of the repulsor regulators on his tank, only to be woken up by the cold nose of one of the many tooka-cats that had taken up residence in his bay. They weren't necessarily nuisances, but there were certainly times when they annoyed him; usually it was during the times that they insisted on sleeping atop the very things he was working on.

But now, he didn't mind so much, even though he could feel the curled up form of one of the feline critters on his shoulder. Delicately, he sat up straighter while reaching an arm around to cup the animal and let it slide gently down. It was a pale lavender, with a toothy grin that stretched wide and owlish, black eyes that blinked groggily up at him before letting out a scraggly, rumbling purr.

His lips peeled back into a smile, and the Besalisk let out a henh before turning about and starting back into his home, the tooka still cradled in his arm.


He was coming through the stairwell doorway when the soft click of a closing door sounded, and slowly he came to a stop, his head ponderously swiveling about to look at one Rai'faani leaving Samus' quarters.

The tooka, still content and happily snuggled in the arm of his much larger caretaker, the tooka craned its' head, blinking as it stared at this newcomer.

Rai wedged the small pistol holster into the belt of her pants, cinching it down until the clips snapped into place.

"jI'm gojing out."

"Oh?"

His rumbled answer reverberated through the air with a hint of amusement. A free hand came around to skritch at the tooka's head, yellowed fingernails furrowing into the soft fur between its' ears.

"And what are you planning on doing?"

"jI'm gojing to catch ssomethjing to eat."

She said it like it was obvious, then realized perhaps it wasn't. Rai sighed, shaking her head.

"Lasst njight wass horrrjid. jI'm not havjing that agajin."

If he had eyebrows, they would've lifted in a show of curiosity and humor. This little one had a flair for the dramatic, and inwardly he found it somewhat funny. He could still remember the face she'd made the night before.

"Well then," he turned to look away from her, towards the balcony that overlooked the old receiving area and the closed double-doors leading into the rec room.

"... if I was you," his head angled back, fingers still scratching his feline friend, "... I would march yourself right back into those quarters you left and grab the coldweather gear stowed in the lockers."

A free hand waved dismissively at her heavy jacket that, while certainly sturdy, would do little to protect her for longer than twenty minutes in the snows outside.

"That's a nice jacket, but it won't keep you warm for long enough."

She glanced in the direction the Besalisk indicated, inwardly weighing mental scales whether it was best to be prudent or prideful. She opted for the former.

"Fjine."

Rai glanced down at the Tooka, who returned a beady-eyed stare. It looked well fed. Hopefully on something other than ration packs.

"What'ss the huntjing ljike herre?"

"Got a lot of taun taun, and a fair amount of snowbear roaming about in the lower cliffs."

The tooka squirmed about then, an unspoken demand to be let down, and like a gentle giant, Krale slowly knelt down to allow the still-purring feline to slip from the crook of his arm. It stood for only a moment, then twisted back to rub its' head across one of his forearms.

"Close by though, there's plenty of winter jakrab and horned mountain goats."

A strange smile seemed to pass over his craggy features as the tooka passed its' tail along the underside of his jaw. It was an expression that looked wrong on him, but at the same time it somehow fit.

"Do not kill any of the tooka."

She was already on her way to the lockers, but paused at Phrexus's warning. Rai glanced back to the besalisk, and then to his pet with a charmed life.

"jI thjink jyourr ljittle frrjiendss arre ssafe. Untjil we rrun out of jackrrab. jIt'ss ssurrvjival, rrjight?"

Rai lined up the nearest tooka with a finger gun, winked, then 'blew out' her fingertip. With that, she headed off to suit up.

* *

His shower had been glorious, and Samus had spent a few minutes longer underneath the hot water, feeling as the steam cocooned him in its' warmth. How often did a body get to enjoy the delights of an actual water shower? They certainly weren't aboard Khera'Va'ss'io, and sadly even the facilities on Jovan were sonic. About the only times he'd been able to really get a good natural bout of cleaning was whenever they were recalled to Dac or Bothawui for whatever reason or another. And even then, that was such a two-edged vibro-blade. He'd never enjoyed the more official bits of meetings with the upper levels of the Navy, but the showers... core alive he would deal with the bad just to get five minutes of the good.

Two minutes passed; enough time for him to step from the shower, scrub dry, and re-dress himself with swift expediency. His socks and boots were pulled on, followed by his overcoat.

Stepping out into the hall, Samus gave a quick look left and right, then trundled his way to the balcony that overlooked the receiving are. Krale was busying himself with something at an old desk which he'd re-purposed into what looked like a feeding station. At least, that was the guess, judging by the gaggle of gathered took-cats milling around his feet.

"Never figured you for a cat person."

A grunt from the Besalisk down below, and Krale half-turned to look up at the blonde.

"They're mostly quiet and don't talk back," came the answer, accompanied by a toothy grin.

Samus couldn't help the smirk that settled over his lips, and giving a shrug, turned to head for the stairwell that would take him down to the receiving area.

Cocooned and swaddled in cold weather gear, Rai quickly deduced that this was less and less like Taltimant after all. The weather was too harsh to allow for something to wear that might give more agility. Instead, she had to tromp through the drifts and overnight accumulation in heavy layers. Each step she took was less a reflex action than one planned in committee, and it was slow going until she got out of the drifts. Once she did, all she had to contend with were the gale winds, and Rai pushed the heavy woolen scarf over the hood of her parka to keep it out.

At least smells carried far and clean in the cold air. Maybe because of a lack of anything else, the sparse scents of wildlife could be picked easily off the wind, so long as it wasn't searing the tip of your nose off with frostbite. Rai found a trail and in short order made her way towards a recently filled-in drift. With one mittened hand around the grip of a light survival rifle, she cleared away the loose snow with her other. Slowly, carefully, until there was a sudden burst of movement.

BZAT! BZAT-ZAT!

Five minutes later, Rai tromped back into the bay with rifle in one hand, and a blaster-pelted jackrab in the other. Wedging the rifle against the wall, she slapped at her heavy coat to knock the accumulated powder off, before snatching the scarf from her wind-chapped nose and lips.