The White Phoenix

Breakfast had been quick but surprisingly tasty; a hot stew that Krale had in the cooler unit, heated up until it was steaming. A stale piece of bread from a breadbox that looked to've begun life as a proton torpedo casing, and a mug of hot caf. It had a bit more body to it than last night's dinner, and he appreciated the fact that the old Besalisk had enough supplies to make actual food. War rations were good in a pinch, and were necessary for getting what your body needed with as little taste as possible, but here there was no war, and no immediate need for them - other than to have something quick and ready to eat.

Krale was settled on an old sofa that looked as though it'd seen much better days, a gaggle of lothcats sprawled all around him as he preened each one in meticulous fashion. It was a bizarre sight, to say the least. But, Samus was in no way about to delve into the how and why of the old soldier's current life choices, or the companions he seemed to prefer. A creature a few floors above them that was barely domesticated, a herd of lothcats... were there any other animal friends that he didn't currently know about?

Tearing the bread into two halves, he dipped one portion into the stew.

"I'm surprised this old place is still standing."

"Me too," was the grunted huff of an answer, "... took a fair bit to get it back to operational standards."

"I'm sure."

The bread with its' hot dressing of stew was shoved into his mouth, and the blonde couldn't help the sharp exhale of steamy breath, his mouth open while still trying to chew without further burning the inside of his mouth.

"..hhhottt... "

Rai entered the mess room with her kill, trying not to shiver like a leaf in a breeze. One hand gripped the jackrab's hind legs and the other clutched across her chest to hold tight to her opposite shoulder. She retrieved a tray from the kitchen, deposited the dead animal on it, and wordlessly took a seat. Living a privileged life rarely brought her to a state of hunger. The sound from her middle seemed like she was being hollowed out from within. Rai didn't dawdle then, expertly hooking a thumb claw into the soft skin at the jackrab's belly to open it to the neck. She stuffed in a mouthful of still-warm offal, hunched over her tray with the guarded posture she'd learned the hard way the night before.

From his comfortable 'perch' on the sofa, amidst his herd of lothcats, Krale watched the girl return. Her expediency in getting herself a tray, then marching herself to the table to sit... and then by the gods she guarded her food like an angry ghratarrg! It was enough to make him laugh aloud with delight.

"Your little one learns fast, Samus!"

With mirth in his eyes, Samus continued to shovel his stew into his mouth, now that it'd cooled just enough for him to do so.

He swallowed, wiping a forearm over his mouth.

"She's no dummy," he chuckled wryly, as much a statement to Rai'fa as it was an answer to Krale.

Rai snapped a manageable length of entrails apart with her fingers, tucking into a manageable portion of still-warm intestines while fixing Krale and Samus alike with a look that insinuated that if they tried anything, they might regret it.

"Of courrsse jI'm not. jI've had the besst forrmal educatjion jin the galaxjy. Motherr majy have pajid the tujitjion, but sshe djidn't bujy the grradess. And jif jI can learrn frrom Corrusscantji prrofesssorrss, jI can learrn what jyou have, too."

She finished that statement with a sinewy bite of meat.

There was a low, rumbling chuckle at the Cizerack girl's last words, and from his comfortable spot on the sofa, Krale let the tips of his fingers trail along the back of a spotted lothcat that was sitting happily in his lap.

"She's humble, too."

"You get used to it," he mumbled from around another bite of bread and stew.

Turning his attentions once more to Rai'fa, he went on.

"Today is mostly for gathering supplies," he intoned.

"Nothing fancy, and nothing grand. We need to make sure you've got enough food so you don't have to go out every day looking for food; at least, to the extent that we can."

He swallowed, then began to scrape the last of his bread around the bowl's edges to mop up the dregs.

"Need to also look into starting maintenance on the swoops. Doesn't matter if they run, they still need looking after."

Rai continued to eat her jackrab in workmanlike fashion, not pausing to savor or enjoy anything, even though it sounded like this might be the last bit of actual food she might have for a while. Supply gathering. Swoop cleaning. This all sounded exceedingly dull. But if Samus thought she'd take that bait, she'd sooner go stand out in the snow drifts in the nude.

"What do jI need to do?" She came up for air, licking an accumulation of blood off the back of her hand.

"The larder is getting lean, girl."

Krale spoke up finally from his ensconced seat, amidst the gathering of tooka cats around him.

"My stocks of meat are redlined, and I need more. So that means hunting."

A massive hand fell to gently run along the length of a deep purple pelt, ending at the tip of a particularly bushy tail.

"I'm told you're a fair enough hunter, so I'm sure you can figure out what your going to be doing for most of the day."

Something was bothering her, and the Besalisk helped to put a fine point on it.

"Mjy name," she drew out the words in steely patrician edge, "jis Rai'faani. jIf jyou can't brrjing jyourrsself to ssajy jit, jyou can call me Rrou'eita Meorrrei."

Rai at last looked away from Phrexus, snapping a jackrab bone in half.

"jYou want me to hunt? jI'll hunt. jYou don't have to take anjyone'ss worrd that jI can do jit."

"Don't take it personal," Samus was already rising from his seat, his empty bowl in one hand.

"He doesn't even call me by my name."

Ambling into the kitchen area, he set his dishes in the sink, flicked the handle to turn on the faucet, and took up a sponge.

"Old men who are also old soldiers have old habits," he shrugged, giving his bowl a sweeping scrub.

"Best not to take it personal."

His spoon was set into the drying rack, eventually followed by his bowl, and as he shut the water off, Samus dried his hands with a nearby shop rag that had been tossed on the counter.

"We all have names here, but we all also have peculiarities."

"Apparently some Myomarians have brains to go along with what they like to think they carry around in their pants," came the grunted response, as Krale rumbled his way up to his feet, dislodging a harem of tooka cats in the process. He gave the girl a look, then headed for the kitchen area.

"I'm going to eat, and by the time I'm done I want the both of you out in the snow and working on refilling my stocks."

His look seemed to linger longer than normal, and with a deep frown that was only accented by already wide jaws, the Besalisk pivoted on a heel before planting all four palms on the island.

"That is, if the delicate Naboo flower Rai'faani isn't too offended by having to make herself useful."

The only reply Phrexus got was cold silence. Rai figured the better use of her time was to eat and not get baited on by the stir-crazy Besalisk.

* * *

With barely enough time to clean the bones and then her hands, Rai was once again cinching on her cold weather gear. Phrexus had gone off to do whatever the hell he was doing, leaving her and Samus to prepare to face the cold together. The heiress watched Samus suit up as she did the same, a look of disdain fixed plainly on her face.

"jI hate hjim."

The overcoat he'd shrugged on was cinched tight, and Samus did a last pass through the locker he stood in front of, making sure that he'd gotten everything.

"Oh?"

He'd had a fair notion that the two wouldn't get along, but the possibility of them becoming pals wasn't why he'd brought her here.

"And why is that?"

Rai checked the charge pack on the blaster pistol she'd used earlier in the morning, inspecting it the way Samus had shown her on Taltimant. She diverted her eyes to his, seeing an expecting expression on Samus's face that only served to stoke her ill feelings.

"He'ss an arrrogant, djissrresspectful boarr. He quesstjionss mjy abjiljitjy to hunt when jI'm the onljy one who djidn't eat rratjionss thjiss morrnjing? jI rrealljy sshould behead one of hjiss fjilthjy tookass and leave jit at hjiss doorrsstep sso he can ssee how well jI hunt."

All said in puffery, but the anger warmed her skin, and Rai felt better for saying it.

"You know," he tried to cool her down as the door to his locker was shut. It clanged in the sort of way that was a clarion call.

"... he's been out here for a long time. Him not hunting this morning doesn't mean he hasn't done it hundreds of times before."

Reaching up to the top edge of the row of lockers, he pulled a hood down, and two pairs of snow-goggles. One set he tossed her way.

"He's an old soldier; older than me, even. And he's been living here for long enough that he knows what he's doing. Don't let him get to you too much, yeah?"

She stretched the snow goggles over the hood of her parka, snapping them to a resting position at her forehead.

"Who ssajyss he'ss gettjing to me? jI'm made of tougherr sstuff than that."

Whether Samus believed her or not, Rai felt particularly determined in the moment. She stuffed her pistol firmly into its holster.

"Let'ss go. jYou've got ssome catchjing up to do wjith me."

She could deny it all she wanted, but the very fact that they were having this conversation now, about Krale, told volumes. The old Besalisk was an aging, crusty old creature who could count his friends on one hand; and even of those, there was a decidedly small margin of exposure that they could stomach.

"It's not a contest, Rai'fa," he chuckled as his outer coldweather jacket was cinched tight. The goggles found their place over his eyes, and the fur-lined hood was pulled over his head with one hand while the other reached for a longrifle. It had started life as an old DC-15, but Krale had modded it extensively so that now it served as a long-range hunting weapon. A scope along the top rails was protected by two caps over the lenses, and shouldering the firearm, Samus gestured to two bulky Balutar swoops that had been kitted out with straps and cargo racks.

Straddling the saddle of one, he plucked the waiting face-shield from where it rested one the handlebars.

"Anything else you'd like to get out before we go, then?"

He was sure there was, but whether she had the inclination to unload on him now or later, he was sure it would happen at some point.

Learning her lessons, Rai tucked her tail up and into the gap between her parka and thermal undershirt. The lack of counterbalance in the cold wouldn't really matter until she was tromping afield, and even then, it wasn't going to be graceful.

She mimed Samus's entry into her own swoop, making note of what he did along the way.

"Am jI rrealljy sso djifferrent?" she asked, mostly to Samus, but also to herself, "Frrom T'yeellaa?"

She wasn't certain what had brought the question about. Samus was probably the catalyst, but she'd always considered herself close with her eldest sister, and the crucible of this outer rim human had left her with doubts.

"Night and day," was all he offered for now, before the face mask covered him up.

A moment later, the swoop surged to life, and Samus slowly eased ahead. The yawning mouth of the vehicle bay loomed a short distance ahead; far enough away to keep the gusting snow from creeping in too far, yet close enough all the same.

Breaking out into the morning sunlight, he was glad for the snow goggles that shielded his eyes from the harsh brightness. Snowblindness and snowburns were a real thing that he wanted to avoid, and as he banked down the winding, half-tracked pathway that would take them down into a lowlying valley, he enjoyed the mostly quiet respite. The engine was all he heard now, and for that he was happy. It allowed him to focus.

There was no need to look behind him, as he knew that Rai'fa was keeping pace.

Rounding a switchback into a straightaway, Samus eased the swoop faster, letting the angry-sounding engine open up. The Balutar jumped forward like a hungry beast, eating up the distance to the next turn.

A bit of speed would be good for the both of them.