FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The next morning started similarly to the day with the loud alarm and instructions to muster on the ramp for PT. It was far more standard than the day before, but after a few laps, Hunter found himself just as hot and sandy. They were given a short after the run to wash up and grab breakfast. He chose to eat first, then shower since even short journeys outside led to a fine layer of dust finding its way onto his fur.

Em was nowhere to be seen as he walked through the barracks. He showered and wiped down his armor, using the little extra free time to rest in his room. A little before 0700, Hunter left the barracks alone and went to the headquarters where the lectures would be held. He arrived early and took a seat as other wolves trickled in. Captain River arrived on the dot.

"Be seated." He waved his hand and took his place at the head of the classroom. "Today is the first day of a week of classwork. I will be covering the important subjects, but it is up to you guys to fill in the blanks. Extra reading material can be found on your tablets and I highly encourage you to read it."

The Captain tapped the wall and brought the screen to life to begin the lecture. The outline went over a broad array of topics, but the general theme was the dragons. Hunter perked his ears and listened intently to everything the Captain said. It surprised him just how much he had already read about when he was by himself.

They went over the gestures and what they meant as well as how to properly react to them, something Hunter had already committed to memory from his readings. Then they skimmed over social structure, much to Hunter's dismay, but Captain River briefly mentioned that they had a patriarchal society. It made sense that the classwork would be focused on the male side of dragon society since Em was the first female to be admitted into the program, but it left him with no information on his specific situation.

The disappointing pattern continued throughout the lecture. Everything was structured for the riders with male dragons and while he found a bit of the lesson useful, a lot of it simply didn't apply to him. Despite his best attempts, he found himself spacing out during the irrelevant parts of the lesson.

"This is the definition of unconventional. It is very important that you and your partner get along better than anyone else you know. On the battlefield, you are outmatched by just about everything else. You rely on the element of surprise, your aim, and your partner. There can be no hesitation and no doubt." Captain River paced the front of the room, starting on the last point of his outline. "Despite the disadvantage, you will be fighting surrounded on some of the most well defended planets that the Pack occupies. The only constant in your life from here on out is your partner."

Silence fell over the wolves as the gravity of his words sank in. The Captain grinned and clapped his hands together, shattering the tension. "Which is why we put such an emphasis on getting to know them. The rest of the day is yours, go read up on what you learned today, go eat, go sun yourself, just do it with your partners. We'll continue cultural lessons tomorrow and move onto buddy training. Dismissed."

The wolves dispersed from the classroom, leaving Hunter with a tinge of envy as he watched some leave in groups. He went back to the barracks and found Em sprawled on her bed with her wings spread across the room. Her eyes cracked open when he pushed the inner door open.

"Hey, Hunter." She turned her head to the side to better look at him. "How was class?"

"Informative." He smiled and tilted his head to match her upside down head. "How's your relaxing?"

"Rather boring. We only had some PT today, so I've been waiting for you." Em tucked her wings and carefully rolled to her side, then onto her belly. "What do you want to do today?"

"Well, I haven't eaten anything yet, so I was thinking about grabbing some food first. Aside from that, what else is there to do?" He sat down next to the door and leaned against the wall.

"There really isn't much until we can start flying." She tucked her wings against her sides and pushed herself onto all fours. "So I guess we'll start with food and figure it out from there."

"Sounds good." Hunter nodded and slid the door open for her.

They both stepped out into the communal area of the barracks and made the short walk to the mess hall.

"What did they teach you in class?" She asked as they hooked a left towards their destination. "I've always wanted to attend one, but they're always held in the wolf classrooms."

"It was your culture today. Things to help us get along with you guys and stop us from looking like uncultured idiots." He rubbed the back of his neck, realizing that he remembered very little of the actual lecture. "It's condensed and the second half is tomorrow, then we move onto buddy training."

"That sounds fascinating. Unfortunately, there's not much we can do for you, so we don't get that instruction." She noticed his muzzle scrunching with a slight hint of concern. "That's also why you get the better armor."

Everything he learned about the program made sense as he thought about it, but it was disconcerting to know that the role of combat medic fell on him. Not to mention that if he was hit, there was little to nothing that she could do for him. She could probably apply enough pressure to a wound to break your bones.

The thought made him grin.

"What's so funny?" Em asked.

"Nothing, just the idea of you applying pressure is a bit comical. You could probably snap me in half." Hunter chuckled as they entered the large mess hall.

She huffed in amusement. "Hopefully I won't ever have to do that, but if I do, I could probably staunch several wounds with one paw."

They separated briefly to get their meals, then found an unoccupied table. His tray had an assortment of food, meat and vegetables grown and raised locally in the undoubtedly more habitable colony on the southern end of the planet. Her tray was different to say the least. A few curious and subtle sniffs couldn't out what it was. Hunter's best guess was that it was a much larger version of the emergency rations that was standard in Splinter military kits. It looked softer though and small wisps of steam floated upwards.

"Meat substitute." She said, most likely noticing his sidelong glances at her large plate. "It's difficult to raise enough livestock to properly supply a large amount of dragons."

"What's it taste like?" The curious side of him had to know.

"It tastes like someone wanted to make fake meat, but couldn't settle on one flavor." Her teeth took a small chunk out of the pile of food. "Or the consistency. Have some if you want to try it." She pushed her tray towards him with a talon. He had second thoughts, but used his utensil to slice a tiny portion out of the untouched side. The dull utensil cut smoothly through the meat, almost too smoothly.

"We do get actual meat once in a while, they rotate it while we're on base so that there are only a few of us eating it at a time instead of all of us at once." She watched him as he brought the sample to his mouth and he thought he saw a hint of amusement in her eyes.

The taste was exactly how she had described it, edible, but noticeably synthetic. It had a consistency that was too uniform, none of the marbling that actual meat had. Definitely palatable, but not something he would've enjoyed for longer periods of time or in huge portions.

Em burst into laughter as his nose twitched and scrunched up. "My first reaction was just like that."

"It's not awful." It was the best thing he could say about it without saying something rude about the meal she was stuck with.

"It's pretty awful." She smirked, exposing a bit of her teeth.

"Okay, yeah." He relented. "But it could be worse."

"It was worse. The taste is a recent addition. Before, it was basically tasteless, but I guess enough of us caused a ruckus that they started to test out different flavors." She took another bite, chewed, and swallowed. "If I were you, I would get used to it. This is the same stuff as your rations when we're out in the field, but they're going to be cold."

"Delightful." He chuckled and returned to his own meal, savoring the taste of actual food. "Do you want some? I'm full." It wasn't entirely true, but he was satisfied with what he had.

Em happily took the leftovers and savored the seasoned meat, carefully picking around the bone. Without his own food to focus on, he watched her eat, getting a good view of her large teeth as they surgically removed all the meat. They dropped off their trays and decided on a leisurely walk instead of going back to their barracks.

"You said there isn't much to do around here without flying." He brought up the old topic purely because he wanted a subject of conversation.

"Yup. Aside from the lounge and the mess hall, the only place that would interest you is probably the colony. " Her ears flicked as a breeze kicked up the layer of sand that was on the ground, spraying their backs with tickling granules.

He felt the grains sifting through his fur down the back of his neck, tickling him as they invaded his clothing. "How big is the colony?"

"Pretty small. They still haven't settled on a name yet, but it has all the features you could want. Taverns, shops, and food." A shadow fell over Hunter as she sheltered him with her wing. "And the best part is that they're building everything to accommodate dragons as well."

"Is that usually a problem?" He glanced at the thin membrane that partly encased him, protecting him from the wind and the sand.

"Sometimes. The places we would actually visit are usually built with us in mind, but sometimes, wolves are just uninterested in having us as customers. Of course, some places were built before our species met." They reached the eastern end of the ramp and turned north, walking parallel to the runway.

"I bet that gets annoying." Hunter stuck his hands into his pockets.

"It's what we've lived with, we don't know anything else." She laughed and turned her head to look at him within the encasing wing. "Though, we don't have much use for a shop that sells wolf clothing, so it makes sense that some places don't cater to us."

The logistics of how dragons would wear clothes filled his mind and none of it seemed even remotely feasible. He found the idea of a dragon struggling to put on clothing made him grin. "Well, I'm sure they'll figure it out eventually. We'll find you a place that sells large sashes... Or drapes."

"Probably more trouble than they're worth, but I guess I could use the drapes as another blanket."

They continued walking north, passing the headquarters and going back west when they passed the hangers. Inside, ground crews worked on the wide array of special aircraft that SCAR used. Hunter could identify a few of them, but even the ones he could make out were heavily modified. Em's wing remained as a shield against the wind and sand, looming over him and casting a greenish tint over him.

When they looped around the hangers and started heading back to the barracks, Hunter noticed the looks. He noticed the dragons first. Their large, wedge-shaped heads turning ever-so-slightly to look at them as they walked by. The wolves were more subtle, but after he noticed the dragons, he could feel their eyes on him and Em.

Em didn't seem phased by it, but it lingered in the back of his mind and made his face flush. Her protective wing suddenly made him feel childish and thoughts flooded in his mind. Are they looking at me or her? Both? What are they saying? His brain turned on him in a second and refused to accept that they were just glancing out of curiosity.

Hunter was thoroughly distracted by his own thoughts by the time they reached the barracks. Since they would undoubtedly leave the barracks, they chose to go to the lounge instead of their room.

"This planet really makes showering a chore." Hunter said as he stomped his boots before sitting down on one of the couches.

"It's not that bad. The biggest problem is tracking it into the room." Em said as she laid down in front of him. The lounge was big enough to accommodate a few dragons at a time, but it was not arranged with them in mind.

"That's part of it. We basically have to shower every time we go out or else our room will end up red-tinted." He leaned back and sank into the soft cushions. "And even then, it gets everywhere."

"Just means you'll have to clean up after us a bit more." The dragoness laughed and settled down a bit more, curling towards him. The brief silence after gave Hunter a moment to compose himself.

"Is... Is it okay if I ask you something?" Hunter ran his hand between his ears, wondering if the paranoia he'd been feeling the entire day was going to make himself look foolish.

"I figured that the lectures would've told you the answer to that." She smiled and paused, continuing when Hunter waited for a definitive answer.. "Yes, you can ask me anything."

"Do you know why the others give us sideways looks?" Even after asking, he wasn't confident with how he had worded it. He worried that it came off as puppish self-consciousness.

"It's because of me. I'm the only dragoness on base so it makes them look at me, and by proximity, you as well, for a few reasons." She turned towards the door as a set of footsteps went passed. "Some are interested in seeing me the first 'ness on base. Others are going to keep an eye on us since we're a test case." She stopped and ruffled her wings, shifting slightly in place.

"I feel like you had more to say after that." He rested his elbows on his knees and rested his head in his hands.

"I did. It's just nothing you need to concern yourself over." The dragoness grinned at him and leaned closer. "It's also not for polite company."

"I don't think I've ever been considered polite." Hunter chuckled and leaned forward as well. Something about her smile melted away the difficulties he had talking to strangers. It was comforting and he felt his barriers fade away the longer he talked to her. "Anyways, I think it'd be better if I knew what I'm in for being your partner."

"Well, if you insist." She looked towards the door to double-check that they had privacy. "Some have already made... Advances and I'm sure you've noticed, but we don't exactly wear clothes. I've already had to put a few of them in their place for getting too courageous."

"I didn't even consider that." He leaned back into the couch again. The thought of acting so unprofessionally was completely alien to him, but he wasn't surprised. Having a mix of genders led to inevitable things among the ranks. There were definitely a few times where his nose betrayed him to certain signals, but he always managed to keep it in check.

"We are a bit more instinctual than you are, so I can't blame them for trying." She flicked her wing in a general wayward direction. "If it was up to them, I'd be tucked away safely with nothing interesting to do."

"Well, I guess that means I have to be on my best behavior to make you look good." He smiled at her, trying to capture the same warmth her smiles seemed to emit.

"I am always on my best behavior." She laughed and tapped across his lap with her tail. "But I won't complain if you are too. Anyways, I doubt you have to try very hard, I've read your file after all."

A long silence fell as neither of them knew how to continue to conversation.

"Don't worry about the looks they give. People will always look at us. Some will just be curious, some will be jealous, and some will want to watch us fail. It's just how it's going to be." She lifted her head and leveled her eyes with his. "I am not going to hide things from you. You will probably face some difficulties the others won't even think about. I will do my best to protect you from it, but I can't get it all."

"I don't think I will need protection, I think I am perfectly capable of handling whatever may come." The words came out much more aggressively than he had hoped, but not enough to make him consider apologizing. He wasn't a fan of the idea of being coddled like a pup. Even though he had never been the type to fight for posturing, he wouldn't invite more reasons for his peers to look down on him if he could help it. "I've fought bigger wolves with worse intentions." Hunter lifted his tail and ran his paw through it, showing her the parts in his gray fur where scars prevented the hairs for regrowing.

"I have no doubts that you can defend yourself. You're here, that means you are among the best. I just don't want to give you unnecessary stress." Her head shrunk back defensively and she pinned her ears back.

"Thank you for your concern, but if I will definitely keep your offer in mind if I want someone thrown around a bit." He gave her an smirked apologetically, trying to break the sudden tension that he had created.

The green dragoness laughed, giving him a good look at the row of very predatory teeth. "I think you'll do just fine here." The image of her sharp pearly whites reminded him that he should tread carefully.

"I certainly hope so. Going back to being a sniper seems like it would be very boring after this." Saying it made him realize how different the two specialties were. From spending hours and hours waiting for the threat to actively throwing himself into the danger and doing as much damage as possible.

"Then I hope you decide to stay, I'm starting to like you." The end of her mouth curled up into a grin. "I don't like the idea of having to go through all this with another trainee."

"I will do my best not to fail." He chuckled and leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. "I would hate to inconvenience you."

"Good. I hate being inconvenienced." The long, green ears behind her horns flicked and she turned to look at the entrance. "I think we're going to have some company."

Hunter heard the footsteps a second later, soft footfalls getting closer by the moment. "I think we've dirtied this place up enough. Want to go back to our room?"

"Sure. I think we should shower first." She pushed herself back up and wiped the dust that lingered on the floor. Hunter stood up when she had made enough room in front of the couch. He gave the cushions a few smacks with his hands to dust it off. Not that the dust would ever be cleared without a thorough cleaning, but it was evenly distributed until it was barely noticeable.

"I agree." He held his tail in front of him, hoping to keep more granules from hitting the floor.

They started for the door and were met by the arriving group. Hunter would've preferred skirting by them with a curt nod, but his hopes were dashed when he heard the shorter of the two speak.

"Hunter, right?" The rust-colored wolf offered his hand, spreading his fingers and keeping his palm up towards the ceiling.

"How'd you guess?" Hunter swallowed his anxiety and copied the gesture, opening his hand and facing his palm upwards. When their hands were side-by-side, they clasped one another's wrists and let go. Flint's tail wagged furiously.

"Not a guess. I read the roster and it's not too hard to make the connection." He turned to Em and stepped towards her, hesitantly pressed his nose against the bottom part of her snout. "Em, pleasure to meet you as well."

Em looked just as confused as Hunter.

"Sorry if that was odd, first time doing that to a dragon other than my partner." The wolf said sheepishly.

It clicked in Hunter's head, it was one of the gestures he had read about.

"Unexpected, but it was used correctly." Em nodded and smiled at him.

"Flint." The rust-colored wolf gestured at the taller of the two. "And this quiet one is Tree."

"I'm not quiet. Just waiting for a good moment to introduce myself." Tree stepped forward and grasped wrists with Hunter. "Tree, though you already know that now."

"A pleasure." Hunter replied, suppressing his curiosity about the origin of his name. Tree did not greet Em the same way Flint had, but he gave her a courteous nod.

"Where are you two from?" Flint asked.

"Onust, a little mining planet." He said, not expecting either of the wolves to know where that was.

"I was born aboard the Vitae and grew up on Sileo." Em added.

"Can't say I've heard of either of those places," Flint switched his gaze to Hunter "but I have heard of Onust. Fang, I think is his name is from there."

"Huh." That was all he could offer. Onust didn't have a huge population compared to other core planets and he hadn't recognized any of the names on the roster. "What are the chances? Anyways, where are you two from?"

"Leytan, central council district." Tree's ears tilted back nervously. Hunter understood why, but he wasn't about to attack him simply because he was from a certain place. Even if that certain place was the epitome what they were fighting against.

Somehow, Flint seemed even more hesitant to answer. "Coros. There's a reason I let him answer that question first."

"You both are a long way from home." Hunter admired the courage that they had to admit where they were from. Coros and Leytan were often argued as some of the best planets to live on, the model of luxury and quality of life that others tried to follow. As long as you were in the upper portion of society, at least.

"Yes we are. I think you're the first one that didn't scowl or berate us after we told you." Flint laughed. "I appreciate it. Anyways, didn't mean to interrupt you both, just wanted to say hello and introduce ourselves."

Hunter smiled. "It was a pleasure to talk, not that you were interrupting anything, we were both going to wash up to try to get this dust off of us."

"Try a damp towel." Tree suggested. "It will get most of it out of your fur and almost completely clean a dragon. Less work."

"Didn't even think of that. I will definitely try that next time."

They parted ways, Flint and Tree disappearing into the lounge as Hunter and Em made their way to the showers.

"We should give that towel idea a try, it sounds like it would work." He said to Em as they walked.

"I'm sure it would, it's just extra work for you. I can't exactly clean myself very well with a towel and my paws." She chuckled as she held both the doors to their room open for Hunter as he fetched a fresh set of clothes.

"Now that I think about it, we do need to get some dinner later and that means we have to go outside again." Hunter realized that the day was still far from over, despite what his body was telling him.

"That's true." She pulled her tail safely into the foyer and let the outer door shut. "Towel?"

"Probably a better idea." Hunter stowed the clothes back into the closet and grabbed two fresh towels instead. He took them to the small bathroom and dampened them both, wringing out the extra water so that he didn't leave droplets all over the somewhat clean floors.

He cleaned himself first, leaving just his undergarments as he wiped down his fur with the damp towel. It didn't seem to do much, but the streaks of red on the towel said otherwise. He worked his way down his body, encouraging the trapped granules to trickle down onto the ground. Em watched with an innocuous, but constant eye, patiently waiting for her turn.

He wiped the grains of sand off the floor and tossed the used towel near the door to be sent to the wash later. He picked a loose-fitting shirt and a pair of exercise shorts, tucking his tail through the hole in the back. Feeling fresh and acceptably clean, he gulped down the nervousness that had been growing in his throat and picked up the other damp towel.

"Want me to?" Hunter held up the towel in the hopes that she would spare him the self-imposed awkwardness of the situation.

"Probably better if you do, if you don't mind of course." She extended a wing towards him, sealing his fate.

"Not at all. Saves us some trouble." He gently took the tip of her limb and held it as he began to wipe down the thin membrane. It bent under the gentle pressure of the towel and wide swaths of the red dust came away with each wipe. The texture was completely alien to him, delicate, warm, and smooth. It felt synthetic and he found himself fascinated by the extended wing as he cleaned it. When he had wiped down both the top and both of her wing, she turned and presented her other.

Inch by inch, he wiped down the dragoness that had been a stranger merely a two days ago. When the time came to wipe down the scales on her body, Hunter felt an odd sort of excitement arise. It wasn't often that someone could brag about touching a dragon, being able to describe the warmth that radiated from their body or the texture of their scales. And what an odd experience it was. He had expected them to be unyielding, cold, and rough, but they were quite the opposite. Before he ever pressed the towel against her side, he felt the heat emanating from her body.

"Is this your first time touching a dragon?" Em asked, making him suddenly aware that his free paw was gently pressed up against a spot he had cleaned.

"Actually, yes." He retracted the offending paw and focused on wiping her back and sides. "I am not entirely sure what I was expecting."

"In a bad way?" She looked under her wing as he wiped the area where the membrane met her back.

"In an interesting way." The towel was becoming less effective with each wipe, taking on the red tint that he was wiping away from her scales. Clever folding only allowed him to finish up her sides before he relented and got a third towel. The newly dampened towel was used on her face and neck, washing the smaller scales that covered the more flexible parts of her body. They slid over each other flawlessly as she moved, he understood why some wolves thought dragons were hide, not scales.

As he wiped her face and ivory white horns, he thought he saw a look of amusement in her eyes, but he dismissed it as his imagination. Once he was finished, he held the towel out for her. "I think it'd be best if you did the rest."

To his relief, she took it from him with a warm smile and began the somewhat awkward processing of wiping her own underside. "Thank you, Hunter."

He distracted himself by climbing rather slowly into his bunk and getting comfortable, arranging the pillow and blankets to prop himself up against the wall. His tablet offered him a good place to focus his eyes as Em finished up underneath him and tossed the last towel by the door. She settled onto her bed in a way to be able to lift her head up to his bunk.

"What are you reading?" She asked and rested her head on the metal railing that kept him from falling onto her as they slept.

"I don't know yet." He went through the list of textbooks and manuals, focusing on the ones marked as relevant to the lecture they had received in the morning. "Any suggestions?"

"Getting a head start on buddy care seems like a good idea, but I might be biased." She leaned closer and peered at the screen, reading the titles as they scrolled by.

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea." More and more titles rolled across the screen until he spotted one that seemed relevant. Dragon Anatomy, Physiology, and First Aid. Not a creative title, but none of the books on the list were exactly contenders for that title.

He realized that she was interested in reading along with him, so he did his best to position himself so that she could. Sitting lengthwise on the bed turned out to be the best choice, but he had to hold the tablet on his knees so that she could see without shoving her head onto his lap. There was nothing too surprisingly in the text, dragons had very similar anatomy to wolves, just a different arrangement. He thumbed through the extraneous pages and skipped to the first aid portion of the book.

It was far more interesting than he had expected. The size of their body made bandages and tourniquets too large to feasibly carry around. Critical wounds were filled with medical gel, then sealed with a bandage that had adhesive that stuck to scales. If the wound was anywhere else, the procedure was the same as it was for wolves: Slap a bandage on it and wait for the medics.

"Hmmm..." Em scrunched up her nose as they hit the next chapter. "It's unnerving how short that section of the book is."

"It's just first aid. I'm sure the medics know more and a better equipped to take care of you guys." His stomach grumbled audibly, making his face flush. He put a hand over his whining gut to try to muffle the sounds. He glanced at his chronometer, hoping she hadn't heard the grumble. A surprising amount of time had passed while they were reading and it was quickly approaching dinner time.

She heard. The corners of her mouth twitched with a suppressed laugh. "I'm sure, hopefully the medic is good at his job. You hungry? I could go for some dinner before turning in."

"Dinner sounds good." He set his tablet down on the bed and climbed down the ladder. The pile of clothes by the door reminded him that he was wearing a clean set. He picked up the dirty clothes and started to change again.

"It's good that your appetite is adapted to the meal schedule, you're going to need the energy." She crawled out from underneath his bunk when he joined her on the floor. The shorter day cycle of Aliquam was hitting him harder than he had expected. His body demanded sleep, but his mind was trying to force himself to adjust, and his stomach. Well, his stomach hadn't changed much.

"My stomach is the only thing that's adjusted." Hunter chuckled as he slid open the door and held it open for her. When her long, trailing tail had passed through, he let it close behind them.

"Your body will adjust soon enough." She opened the outer door for them and they entered the expansive central area of the barracks.

"Probably just in time for us to ship out." He laughed. The lounge was lively, filled with wolves that were probably waiting for dinner time. He envied the way some of them were able to jump in and make friends so easily, casual conversation was something he had never been good at. It did make him wonder where the dragons were since it was unlike that more than one or two could fit into the lounge with them at any given time.

Em laughed too, her voice echoing through the metal interior. "Then it just gets even worse. It's hard to get used to a day cycle when you're on a ship since there is no regular sunlight."

"I bet. I think the longest I've ever been on a ship is a little under a week. It was awful." He thought back to his trip to Splinter controlled space. Long hours in the cramped space that was a converted resource hauler with hundreds of others with no privacy. Though, the more he rode on ships, the more he realized that the lack of privacy might just be part of the experience.

"The Vitae was pretty nice by ship standards. It's probably a bit worse off now that it's been pressed into service."

Em continued talking about the ship and Hunter continued to try to imagine it as they exited the barracks and stepped out into the surprisingly still base. The absence of strong winds was a pleasant change, the quiet absence of being sand-blasted was nice too.

"How long did you live aboard the ship?" His boots crunched as they walked towards the mess hall, one step for every two of her slowed paw steps.

"Not that long, I hatched shortly before we disembarked so there is a lot of the ship I have never seen." Small wisps of sand kicked up off the ground as the door to the mess hall slid open, sending out a slight breeze that carried the tantalizing smell of freshly cooked food with it. "What was Onust like?"

"It was..." He tried to think of a way to sugarcoat it, but found it a difficult task. "It was a very industrial planet. Mines, quarries, and refineries everywhere and since no one wants to live near those, there aren't many regulations. Caused a feedback loop where nobody wanted to live there because of the pollution, so more industry popped up and added more pollution."

"Doesn't sound like a place I'd enjoy living in." She replied.

"Yeah, me neither. I got out of there the moment I had the chance." His eyes glanced down at the floor as a tinge of homesickness hit him. It was an odd place to miss, but he missed his family and the familiarity of Onust.

They briefly separated to grab their food and reconvened at a table in the corner of the mess hall.

"Do you miss it?" Hunter asked when they had settled themselves.

She swallowed the bite she had taken out of the block of food. "The Vitae or Sileo?"

"Either of them. They sound nice."

"I do. I miss the people. That, and it's a lot easier when there are more females for the males to chase."

"Why is that? From what I've seen and read, females are larger than the males. Why not take advantage of that?"

"It's the culture. Males are very protective of the females and they have a louder collective voice so they quickly put that restriction on us. It'll change though." She took another small bite and gulped it down. "We are a test case."

"I know, I know. Best behavior and all that." He chuckled and ate small portions of his own meal.

As they ate, Hunter noticed that the ebony wolf from PT the previous day sitting alone at a table directly behind Em. He was staring intensely at his food, but Hunter could see an occasional glare that was directed at him.

"Something wrong?" Em asked as Hunter was trying to figure out why the other wolf might have a quarrel with him.

"No, not really. Wolf behind you is giving me looks." He shrugged and went back to eating.

The dragoness looked down at him for a moment and unfurled her wings slightly, blocking the black wolf from his sight. "Better?"

Hunter heard a snort of annoyance come from behind the green veil. "Yeah, thanks." His mind carefully picked apart every encounter he had with the other wolf. He remembered that his name was Fang, but he couldn't think of a single possible offense.

Pissing people off already? Impressive. His own mind berated him, making him even more annoyed with the situation.

His conversation with Em died down with his mood, giving him more time to mull on the situation as he ate his meal. Each thought trailed to another and he found himself wondering about Em's behavior. At first, he hadn't given it much thought, but it was becoming increasingly clear that she was being defensive of him. Almost embarrassingly so.

Was it cultural? He had no point of comparison since Em was the first and only dragoness he had met and he didn't see any similar behavior from the males. As his mind tended to do, he found himself worrying. Did she think he needed protection? It explained a lot of the things she had done since they had met. A tinge of anger arose in him. He was perfectly capable of defending himself if needed and didn't need someone else to treat him like a pup.

It churned in his chest and he contemplated bringing it up. As much as he preferred to avoid such discussions, he knew it would fester until it became unavoidable.

Em's look of curiosity gave him the opportunity to broach the question.

"I've been wondering about something." Hunter did his best to keep his ears from folding back, but he saw her eyes flick towards them when they twitched.

"Feel free to ask." She smiled at him. "Best to get these things out of the way quickly."

"Are you protective of me on purpose?"

Her eyeridges furled slightly. "I guess so. Does it bother you?"

"A bit. Very few things bother me, but being treated as if I'm a pup is one of them. I guess hatchling in your case. I appreciate the concern, but I can handle myself." Despite his best efforts, his ears folded back.

Em didn't speak for a moment. "I'm sorry I made you feel that way. I'll do my best to avoid doing it again in the future."

The hint of guilt sent a twinge of guilt through him, but he was glad at the same time. They finished their meal in silence. Em walked him back to their room and went on a flight, leaving him to read alone after he had washed up.

Em returned as his eyelids were starting to droop, waking him with the sound of the door sliding open. "Hey, Em. How was your flight?"

"It was nice. Were you sleeping?" She closed the inner door with her tail.

He shook his head and searched for his tablet, which had vanished in the brief moment he had closed his eyes. "I was just doing some reading."

The green dragoness curled up underneath his bed, sprawling across the floor and spreading her wings out beyond the edge of her bed. "Any idea what you want to do tomorrow?"

"I can't imagine there's a lot more to do here than eating and talking." He found the tablet covered by his blanket and put it away.

"Yeah, that's about it until you get flight training."

"What happens after that?" He scooted to the edge of his bunk and looked down over the edge with his forearms resting on the railing.

"I can take you on my flights then. There are some buttes nearby that have a nice view or we could check out the ocean." Em rolled and looked up at him. It was a bit hard to tell with just her face, but he could tell that she was excited about the possibilities that opened up once I was properly trained.

"Oh, right, I forgot there was water nearby. How is it?" He had forgotten about the ocean that was a bit north of the base, laying just out of sight and occasionally bringing in a salty breeze that offered a refreshing change from the usual arid sand.

"I have never been there. I've heard that the shoreline is rough and the water is too salty. Most of the personnel choose to go to the settlement in the south whenever they are given leave." Her green paws stretched upward and pressed against the underside of his bunk. With a shudder and a sigh, she stretched, making the metal frame of the bunk creak and move slightly.

"How're their beaches?" It took a moment for him to collect himself after her unintentional show of force. The bunk had never made a noise whenever he had climbed into it and from what he could tell, the frame was welded to two walls. It was slightly unnerving the amount of force that she had mustered to simply stretch.

"Better. The water is much less salty in the southern hemisphere and the colonists' first passion project was a usable beach so they could relax. Well, actually, second passion project. They constructed a pub out of the engine of the colony ship."

"Sounds like there's at least more places to visit down there. I look forward to it. Do you know when flight training starts? I've only been here a few days and I can already tell the lack of recreational activities will become a problem eventually." The muffled sounds of chatting and laughing came from the small rec room outside.

She folded her legs and tucked them up against her chest. "It will start as soon as you're done with the introductory material. You have to know what to do if you accidentally put a hole in my wing." The edge of her mouth curved up into a smirk.

"I imagine the first step is to not put a hole in your wing." Hunter chuckled to hide the fact that he was mortified at the idea. Yet another thing to be mindful of.

"That would be ideal. It happens more often than you would expect."

"I'll do my best to not shoot the dragon who almost just bent a metal bed in half. The second step would probably be to run real fast." That got a laugh out of her and he could feel the wall of unfamiliarity between them start to crumble bit by bit. They lost track of time talking. One topic segued into another and they reminisced about our youths, their ideology, and what caused them to choose a life such as this. It offered a few glimpses of the differences of their two cultures, but also the similarities.

The two of them took a walk through the barracks to change up the scenery a little. Em had been stationed on the base for a longer time so she described the other dragons as we passed their room. Hide color, size, personalities, fields of expertise, and she even went so far as to offer Hunter easy features to distinguish them by. One had grown up with no horns, another was missing a significant portion of their tail, and so on and so forth. It was more information than he could process, but it was welcome nonetheless.

In return, he pointed out the few names he recognized which weren't many. We talked about the wolves they had interactions with and their thought of them. It didn't take very long to do a full circuit of the barracks.

A commotion made them investigate the rec room in the center. Inside were two other teams, one pair was occupied with a game and the other was chatting on the couch. There was also a lone wolf in there as well, one he recognized as Fang. He was focused on his tablet, eyes tracking back and forth following whatever he was reading.

Hunter picked an unoccupied couch and settled there as Em took up the floor opposite him.

"He is the one that has been making you uncomfortable, right?" She murmured in a hushed voice. It was then that he noticed that her bulk was blocking Fang from sight.

"He has been a bit cold to me ever since I've met him. Are you blocking me on purpose?"

"I felt it would help."

"It's unnecessary." Hunter snapped at her, sounding angrier than he had intended to.

She apologized and the conversation between the two died down, leaving the tension hanging in the air. He wasn't entirely sure if it was a result of the sudden awkwardness or the change in circadian rhythm, but a wave of exhaustion hit him.

He rubbed the top of his snout and sighed heavily. The soft seats of the couch were tempting him to relax and fall asleep. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap. I just got really tired out of nowhere."

"It's okay. I should be the one apologizing, I do this without thinking sometimes. It might be good for you to go to bed early, the change in cycles can take a while to get used to."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Hunter stood and they both walked out of the recreation room and back to their quarters.

Em excused herself, saying that it was a bit too early for her to go to bed and left to utilize the last few hours of daylight she had left. Hunter enjoyed the isolation while he had it. He changed into clean clothes, shut off the lights, and crawled into bed. The last few moments of wakefulness were filled with thoughts on his new partner and her behavior towards him. Thoughts turned into a feeling of anxiousness and he realized that he needed to stop thinking so he could go to bed.

He managed to quell the thoughts long enough for sleep to take hold and drag him into the thoughtless void.