World Of Fur: Legacy of Shadows

Whispers

"It has come to my attention that the team relationship has been tense lately." Kira says to everyone around the dinner table.

When nobody responds she continues.

"As such I have arranged a vacation for the team."

It has been a month since the incident with Eden and since then the team has completed seven succesful missions. None of without a communication breakdown at some point throughout the course of said mission.

"Were we goin'?" Sam asks.

"It's a surprise. Although I'd recommend you pack your swimsuits!" Kira excitedly responds.

It was decided that they would leave the following morning around dawn. As such, after dinner, everyone went to pack up. Kira had told them to pack enough for a few weeks.

That night, Chris was jogging when he suddenly felt the urge to stare at the stars for a bit.

So he goes to the field by the far end of the base where the soldiers sometimes play baseball.

Once there he sits down and looks upwards towards the sky.

"What a surprise, finding you here." A familiar voice says.

Turning around he sees Kira walking up to him.

"Felt like stargazing for a bit." He explains.

"I can tell." She says before sitting down next to him.

"I often come to look at the stars. It helps figure things out." She tells him.

"So that's how you handle it." Chris comments.

When Kira looks at him questioningly he explains.

"Leadership is tough to carry. So most capable leaders find something to ease that burden. For some it's a god, for others it's stargazing. Either way, leaders sometimes need to work harder just to not fall apart than the rest of us average Joes."

"Sometimes it feels like that. But, most of the time my job is all I need to ease the burden. After all, I'm not just a spec ops team leader. The people I lead are my friends and that's all I need." Kira explains to Chris.

"The reason I come stargazing is because it's something I used to do with my father when I was a kid." She tells him.

He notices a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"I read in your file that your father passed away some time ago in an accident." Chris says, trying not to sound insensitive.

"Yeah. He died protecting a stupid girl who thought she was all grown up." Kira replies, sadly gazing at the stars above.

Some time goes by before one of them speaks again.

"My father's the reason I enlisted. After he passed I wanted to carry on his will by protecting as many people as I could. So I joined the military. And now I'm here, leading my own squad and doing my best to save lives." She says.

Suddenly she chuckles.

"What's the joke?" He asks her.

"I have no idea why I'm telling you all this. There's just something about your smell that makes me want to trust you and tell you these things." She tells him.

"Anyway, we should be getting back, we have a long day tomorrow." She adds, standing up.

"I'll be right behind you." He says.

Once she's gone he whips out his phone and calls Adam.

"Yo." Adam greets over the phone.

"There's a bit of a complication." Chris tells him.

"Spit it out." Adam replies before yawning.

"One of my teammates just told me my smell makes her want to trust me and tell me things about her life." Chris explains.

"You're right. That could be a complication. My advice is to try to get enough sleep to do your job. Anima women have a lot of stamina." Adam responds, laughing to himself.

"This is serious." Chris says.

"And I'm being serious. Look Chris, out of every independent squad on that base we put you in an all female squad. Why do you think that is? Call me when you get more info or if you need advice on raising kids. Goodnight." Adam says before hanging up.

"Shit." Chris says to himself.

With a sigh Chris stands up and starts sauntering back to his barracks.

On his way there Chris comes across a group of men conversing in the shadows. On a hunch he decides to listen in on them from around a corner.

"It's leavin' in three days right?" On of the men asks.

"Ya. To some place in da mountains. Apparently dey wanna test da machine wit dose spec ops chicks as da test dummies." A second man says.

"We should go, before the sarge comes looking for us." The third and last man says.

Just then a jeep starts nearby, which causes the men to hurry out of the area.

"Shit." Chris says for a second time that night.

On his way back he wonders if he should tell the team what he had overheard in spite of risks that they would question why he had eavesdropped in the first place.

He then decides to sleep on it.

Finally he takes a shower and climbs into his bed.

Despite believing be would probably struggle to sleep, he falls asleep quickly and stays that way till morning.