"Jägerklinge" - "Hunter's Blade"

"May the Sun be to your back kid..."

On an M class planet, carbon based life forms florish. Among those lifeforms was a young 18 year old Cloe.

One would assume she was as happy as the world could make her. She had youth and a loving family. She was content with her life and how it had been going.

She wasnt alone however; she had Two brothers and a sister. This encouraged her to feel a connection to her past. Yet, she spent most of her life in a daydream..

Her mind would often dream of faraway places and bizarre creatures. Her father imagined and told her stories of such places often. Nothing more than stories of course; not like they existed.

The singular yellow sun had began to set on the horizon. it was late in the evening; her father was working on their flat roof. He found reasons to set up a ladder and get closer to the stars. As much of a Handy man he thought of himself; he found the stars made more sense to him. "Stars seldom change; you can count of them better than family." He was quoted saying.

Cloe walked around the house with a glass of water. "Dad!" She called at the bottom of the ladder. The song birds calls only filled her ears. Again she called out but no answer. Looking at the ladder she smirked. She never backed down from a challenge.

On the rooftop, Tyler had sat down and was watching the stars come out. He had a small note pad. With a pencil he jotted down what appeared to be jibberish. As he mumbled he stood as Cloe awkwardly crawled to the top of the ladder. She grinned in triumph and shame.

Placing the glass down on the rubber membrane of the roof; she looked up at her father for assistance. He was engrossed in the appearance of stars ever since she was little. This was nothing new. Her father was also very absent-minded. Although He blamed his ADHD.

Jumping he brought his right hand down from his jaw bone. "Gah! You surprised me, Cloe..." he seemed nervous. "I got you water. Are you thi- I mean, do you want some water?" She smiled and blinked at why she could ask him if he was thirsty. "That was odd." She thought. She immediately took comfort in knowing her father could never say no to her.

Grabbing the glass he gulped it down and looked up to the stars in the growing dark. "You see that?" He smiled as if she would know. To his surprise she responded;

"The star Beteguese should have supernovae. It went dark but as far as we can tell its still there." He stared at her as shocked crept and ran away from his face. Responding he asked. "Yes! How'd you know?" She looked up now too and pointed. "You can see the colour variation in it compared to all the other stars like Bellatrix Rigel and Saiph." Nodding approvingly he smiled. "When or if "beetle juice" goes... it's going to be quite the show." He smiled widedly at her and tried to gulp the empty glass and seemed shocked the water was gone. "So I guess you want me down from here Dr. Cloe" He mocked at her apparent vast knowledge of astological bodies.

The wind tugged at Cloe's hair as a moment passed with the both of them looking up. She broke her gaze and looked at her father's face. "It's pretty up here.."His eyes twinkled in awe.

She said goodnight to him and retired inside. He brought his right hand up and pressed a pressure point in his jaw. Perhaps it was a nervous twitch he had developed over the years of raising children. He mumbled to himself; as Cloe's blond curly hair disappeared below the roofline. She paused and smiled and admired the man in her life.

Laying in bed now; her father crept into her room and carried out his favourite bedtime ritual. "Good night Cloe; you did well today. Most likely kill you in the morning." He kissed her on the forehead. Very distracted he quickly tried to dart out of the room. "I'm awake." She growled through a smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He said jumping yet again.
"No it's ok dad; you ok?" Nodding emphatically he lowered his head and took a deep breath. "Hey Cloe; are you thirsty?"

She laid there for a second. A minute passed and she finally responded. "I'm parched." Her voice had slightly changed. Tyler frowned and asked thequestion again. "Yes." she replied this time. Tyler smiled and turned and said almost with a lament in his voice. "May the sun be to your back kid." He closed the door and walked up stairs.

A bright light woke Cloe's. Her body was clothed yet she was freezing. Her bright blue eyes turned icy as the white light bounced off of her retina. "Dad- turn off the light." The room sounded empty and void of anything good. "Dad?" The light seemed to dim as a figure took form in the light.

"Well hello Cloe." She said nothing and squinting she asked. "Who the cuss are you? My dads going to freak if he finds you in my room." She threatened. It became apparent tho she was not in her room. Her hands were tied and her feet were shackled too.

"Who are you?" She realized she wasn't home.
"How do you feel?" The voice was soothing and soft. It made her feel almost intoxicated, or at least what she imagined it might be like. She found herself hoping the voice would speak again.
"What's that sound?" The voice said.
She became aware that she could her water running.

A large river seemed to somehow fit inside this room and it's roar was intense. It almost drowned out her own thoughts. All she wanted to do is listen to the voice talk.
"How do you feel?" The voice spoke.
"Fine." The feeble reply from Cloe could hardly be heard. Her eyes had shifted in colour in the time she had been strapped to the platform. It now raised her vertically. As a figure stayed in front of her.

"Now tell me about your family..."
"My mother's name is..." she paused and licked her lips. The taste of her lip cream was missing. Coming around slightly she looked down.

She was clothed but her nightgown was gone and replaced with a two piece uniform. A top - long sleeve shirt. The pants were made to be comfortable. Comfortable they were- but they were not hers and she did not remember putting them on.

"Where are my clothes?" She spoke slightly groggy.
"At home. How do you feel?" The voice responded. The white light flickered slightly.

"My father didn't teach me how to fight. He didn't even teach me how to pick locks. My father taught me to know when I was being lied to." She allowed the silence to grow teeth and scare her own captor. Now that; that was her skill.

"I am not home. I am not safe. And... I'm thirsty." She pulled at the straps. She heard them rattle. They didn't do that before. She leaned forward and looked at them. The figure repeatedly asked how she felt. She looked over at the source of the now annoying voice. "I feel angry!" The straps snapped.

She came around laying on a table. Two figures frantically tried to push her arm back down. She smiled as she realized she was stronger than the both of them.. She grabbed with the other arm and tore off a helmet like device on her head. A computerized voice was saying the same thing over and over. "Turang turang!" She didn't know how but the language went from being unknown to understandable. Listening again she could her the voice now in the room behind her. "Pull up! Pull up!" Her vision came back suddenly to see two helmets looking down on her.

"Lay down!" The one man like figure yelled through his helmet. She grabbed his face and pushed him back. "Zephyr!" Another mans voice yelled. Her eyes darted to the aft section of the vessel. It was a man clad in heavy body armour- with a helmet the covered his head entirely.

"Zephyr! Stand up!" His voice was deeply part of her. But she trusted it and she clamoured up from her back. Kicking the second man to the ground. She stood up and suddenly shrieked in pain. Small metallic nodes populated her body.

They spun out of her spine and muscle tissue. "EL-FUND!" He yelled as he one handed held the other fighter in his hand. The word grew like a well watered crop. Slowly it took form and began to spread, take root and exist.  "ELF-FUND" means Helmet in Jäger.  She smiled as this fact became reality. Her nose bled as a helmet folded from behind her head- cutting some of her long curls to the ground.