Book One: Schwarzer Wolf

Chapter 28: Flashing Lights

Lights....too bright...

I woke up in a ship's infirmary, many bright lights hanging from the ceiling. It was almost blinding from most angles. Everything looked familiar, but something felt wrong. Trying to sit up was painful but I did it anyways.

Zora? Zora...where are you? Zora? Zora?...please answer...

"I'm here....Kayl..."

Where....I can't see...

"In your arms..."

I looked down to see Zora in my arms, his deep blue eyes looking up at me with worry. I opened my mouth to speak normally, but there were no words. My throat hurt the second I opened my mouth. Zora moved a bit, moving up and nuzzling me.

Throat hurts....

"That's...not good..."

Yeah...where are we...?

"Wisconsin's...ship..."

Oh....mama....

I brought Zora closer to me, gently patting him while I put my back against the steel wall behind the bed. He seemed to enjoy the pats, but was clearly on edge. I couldn't blame him. We'd been stuck with the sirens for a good while. It felt wrong to be here. Really wrong.

The doors to the left side slowly creaked open. The lights that blinded me were shut off as a girl with two fox ears walked in. I had only met her twice in my life, but she saved me both times. She calmly walked over to me, gently patting Zora before sitting on the side of the bed.

"Bresa..."

"Kayl..."

She hugged me as I hugged her. Her embrace was gentle and brought me some comfort. Zora was squished between us while we hugged, not like he'd actually care. He knew Bresa well enough to not mind his face being in her chest. He probably enjoyed it while it lasted. Bresa let go after a few seconds and leaned back a little, as did I. She pat Zora again, the latter nuzzling her hand.

"Missed you two."

"Missed you...too Bresa..."

"It has been...ages...."

"Over a year by now...."

"Really?"

"Not kidding. I got the news when I was out with sister some 14 months ago."

"Oh..."

"..."

"Your mother has been worried sick. She searched every place she could and destroyed everyone in her path. When she found out the sirens took you, she held nothing back."

"I-I..."

Bresa put a finger to my lips to quiet me. There was silence for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"Don't worry about it anything Kayl...you're safe....home free even..."

I nodded, feeling my legs regain proper feeling. The entire time they'd felt too exhausted to move. Bresa moved Zora to the side as I started to move my legs some.

"Easy....your body was almost crippled when they got you back."

I sharply inhaled as my bare feet touched the cold steel floor. Memories came flooding back to me. All the times I'd been in here when I had got myself hurt. All the times I visited mom when she hurt. A few tears fell as I stood, sharp pains running through my legs up to my head. I ignored it, stepping forward. Almost immediately, my legs failed as I went to take a second, Breda reacting like light speed to catch me.

"You need to rest...the surgery took a toll on you."

"I can...do this....just let me....go...." She didn't let go when I asked, so I tried fruitlessly to get out of her grip. She held me close the entire time. All I could do was cry.

"No....no no...I don't want to be....a cripple....no...no...please...no...."

Bresa stroked by hair while more and more tears ran down my face. I didn't want to be a cripple. No, I couldn't be. It wasn't possible. I had been a shining gem for my entire life up until now. Yet here I was, unable to break out of a human's grip and crying from a single step.

Zora broke me out of it with a simple lick. The pain faded and everything with it. His tongue was wet. My face felt wet. It was like all I could think about was the wet feeling on my cheek.

"Zora..."

"Not sorry..."

I sighed and smiled, collecting Zora in my arms and hugging him gently. His tail wagged a lot faster than I had ever seen it before. He smiled while I petted him, Bresa just watching us for the moment. Everything felt normal again. I felt safe. I was safe. Zora was with me. Nothing could hurt us here...

We were home.

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-2015, November 22nd-
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It's been a few weeks since Kayl was recovered and Lucy lost. Luzon arrived on base with the new carrier. Well, correction, new kansen. They called her Queen of the Seven Seas. Far from the truth it was. She hadn't shown anything of note in the war so far. Hell, she hadn't even introduced to those at base. Alaska got back this morning. One of her eyes is damaged because of an op gone wrong. Not surprised with how she operates. Never does she slow down.

For the moment, I watched my niece in my sister's home. I used to be good at it. We always watched movies, ate snacks, played some games, but now she was quiet. Sis had said her throat got ruined during surgery. Said something about her voice box being damaged. Hard to recall now.

Watching over Kayl is a trip. For starters, there's always her wolf pup nearby. The little guy is extremely protective of her. His bite is no joke too. Last night, the house cleaners came in and he clamped down on one's forearm when they tried to wake Kayl. Sent the poor guy to the hospital. Second, she doesn't talk much if at all. Squeezing a word or two out of her is like punching concrete. Talking to her doesn't do much to make her speak. Whenever she does, it's short and to the point.

Third, her diet has changed. Used to she'd eat very picky like. Now she eats almost anything you put on her plate. She also eats even !more than her mother. It's off putting the longer I think about it. The old normal is no more. The new normal is worse than when she wasn't around. It's almost demoralizing.

But, there's some good. She likes pets now. Mendo seems to be able to get her to talk more. Preußen often is able to get something out of her too. Maybe I'm just scary. I don't smile that often. Not that I don't want to, just that there isn't much to smile at. Maybe I should try more. Nothing else is really come to note. I'll keep updating this post in the future.

USS Missouri, BB-63