Facing The Sun

New Place, Old Face

"Ivis, there you are—I'd like you to meet someone. They're a good friend of mine." Her mother landed in the clearing, where Ivis was practicing her aim.

"Mom! You have to be careful coming around here while I'm practicing, what if you got hit?" Ivis set down her bow, and walked towards her mother.

She smiled. "I know where your targets are, Ivy. I helped place them. Well, some of them." Her mother chuckled, and turned around. "I flew ahead to warn you, but I sense them coming. I have a feeling you might like them."

~ * ~

This 'HQ' place didn't sound so bad. Ivis was given a quick briefing, and from what she heard, the people there would be friendly. Vedrith received clearance to land by someone named Ahsa, who Vedrith said was their wave controller. Ivis asked what that was, and she said it was in the name—they managed the airwaves.

It did feel weird to Ivis, though—they were landing a ship on an even bigger ship in the middle of space. Well, Vedrith said it was a space station, not a ship, but it was all the same to Ivis.

Vedrith landed in an area marked as bay one (which she said was Ahsa's go-to for her), and powered down the ship.

"They better get started with putting in those reactors soon." Vedrith muttered, more-so to herself than to Ivis.

Ivis didn't reply, and undid the straps holding her to her seat and stood up, stretching out her wings. She felt stiff from being practically still for so long, and it didn't help that the seats weren't comfortable at all due to her wings, which only got in her way in the tight space.

"How long would they take?'' asked Ivis, curiously. Building the transmitter took her two years of trial and error, she could only imagine how long entire ship parts would take. Then again, she supposed that they had way better technology than one Aviothan with an old, out-of-date manual to be used in emergencies.

Vedrith stood up, stretching out all four of her arms in front of her. "Dunno. Depends, really. It could take a few hours, or it could take a few days. They aren't very consistent." Ivis blinked, she would have never guessed that.

Should've expected it, Ivis thought to herself, She's lived in an entirely different world from me her whole life. Still—that timespan was way quicker than what Ivis would have ever guessed.

With a press of a button, Vedrith lowered the back ramp, and walked off of the ship. Ivis hesitated, she knew she had nothing to fear—but caution wasn't something she could just toss out. It was engraved into her since she was a kid, and to undermine it was to undermine her mother—something she could never do.

"Hey, it's alright." Vedrith turned around, noticing Ivis's reluctance. "They're friendly here. Shit, I've lived here for the past five or so years, and no one has tried to kill me."

Ivis swallowed, still feeling uncertain. Vedrith sighed, and scratched the back of her head. "If you can't trust me on this, trust what you see. Look around. Does it look like anyone here is making any move to hurt you?"

Ivis looked around the bay. She saw people working, moving crates on carts and carrying tools. She watched another ship leave, a couple people watching them go, too. The smell of gas permeated the cold air, along with various metallic scents. Ivis could feel goosebumps forming on her arms from the chill, and rubbed her hands together.

Ivis glanced back down to Vedrith at the end of the ramp, who looked up at her with a gentle smile.

"You look weird. Stop doing that." Said Ivis with a scowl.

Vedrith tilted her head to the side, still smiling. "Doing what?"

"Smiling. I'm too accustomed to you frowning."