Earthborn [Rewritten]

15. R&R

Eight months later...

"Shut it."

I glared at Crimson who was perched on a branch at the tree opposite mine. For the past five minutes, I had tried convincing him that this was a really bad idea. Plus, it was a festival day! Shouldn't we have taken the day off?

As it were, today's daylight mission consisted of just the two of us and Yuri. Shadow and the others remained in the city, indulging in their R&R. How I envied them. I wondered for the millionth time why I didn't just go with Shadow.

"Care to remind me why we're outside the walls on a festival day?" I asked sourly.

My brother averted his eyes and glowered at the clearing where Yuri was walking around. "I just felt like it."

"And you couldn't do that after the festival?"

"Shut up."

I fumed. I was looking forward to this festival since it's the first I'll be spending with Shadow and Crimson, in typical evil mode, just had to drag me into the NightHawk and make me accompany him on one of his solo missions. Well, it's a duo now that I'm here. But that didn't make it any less frustrating!

I mean, come on! A chance to kick back and relax from endless raids and extraction missions? That's a rare opportunity for Elites. We rarely go out just for fun. That thought brought another sour look on my face.

"You look like somebody shoved Terran spit down your throat," Crimson commented.

A faint beep sounded in my ears, signalling the start of the mission and cutting off whatever retort I'd been about to make. I contented myself with a glare before casting my gaze downwards.

Yuri started roaring and making a racket just like we talked about. Well, I mostly demonstrated how to do it. Much to the boys' entertainment. He looked absolutely primitive, waving his rocky arms, throwing random stuff around and generally tried his best to call attention to himself. Ever since the general allowed him to settle in our barracks, Yuri had been a great help to our raids. In the month following his settlement, we'd completed twice the amount of raids in the shortest amount of time with him acting as bait. I don't know why Yuru does it. Even Kara wouldn't tell me. He just came up one day and sort of told us he wanted to help.

The tree shook as a tremor spread through the forest. Hoo-ey.. We got a big one..

Sure enough, a Class-5 Terran burst through the trees, looking for the source of racket which was Yuri. The smart Aberrant had already disappeared from sight and let me and my brother work without having to worry about him getting squashed underfoot.

I jumped off my tree and brought my hammer down on the raging Terran's head. Stunned, it reeled backwards to Crimson who raced down its arms and sliced the shell clean off in record time. The Terran railed, swinging its arms wildly and tried its damnednest to catch us out of the air.

We alternated between smashing and slicing its shell off, saving its head for last. We could've taken it down the first three minutes but Crimson wanted to play with it a little while longer. Sadistic creep.

Why I didn't spoil the fun? He'd take it out on me once we got back to Hope. Trust me, my brother takes pranks to a whole new level.

Like that one time, when he switched out my uniform with Elle's just because I forgot to get his katanas from the blacksmith. I got labeled as an irreversible pervert by a kid who I have absolutely had no intention of approaching with a five-meter pole just for fun. And frankly, she wasn't my type plus she's four years younger than me. Or that other time, just last month, when he poured grease into my boots just because he felt like it. I had to skip that raid to get all the grease cleaned out. Shadow gave me enough grief that day with Crimson smiling evilly in the background. And then there's—never mind, you get the picture.