#props to anyone that can catch the clues heheheh

[ragethewriter]

A New Recruit

What was Ira’s introduction like from the perspective of the local drama queen?  Today we discuss.

Below is another behind-the-scenes passage, between Caecius and Arcana - the curious Hybrid Captain, and his tactician who always knows too much.  Their topic?  The enigmatic new recruit... who just arrived about five years too late.

taglist:  @authorkimberlygrey @wingedcatwblr @pineappleofdoom @kainablue @altheathewriter

posted below the cut!

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Caecius shivered as he landed on the dock.  

He turned the action into a vigorous, full-body shake that sent a mist of water off his person; letting the movement roll down his limbs and through his wings, as if he could fling off his drenched clothing along with the chill.  He left wet footprints in his wake as he made his way to shore and down the path back to the compound.  

Flying would have been much faster, but he took the long way; not sure if he was hoping to meet someone or avoid them.  Thoughts lost in reflection, it felt like his head was still underwater.

Until a voice called him to a halt.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

Caecius straightened his posture on instinct, but he knew the speaker.  Arcana.  There she was, looking him up and down in his inappropriately soaked clothes.  He set his jaw.

“Out to get some fresh air,” he deflected her question.  

More accurately, fresh water.  But it was truthful enough to avoid her suspicion.  Just a stroll, turned flight, turned swim... to clear his head…

“What, now?” she accused.  Because she knew better.  “The new recruit just got in!  You’ve been stalking the perimeter all afternoon, how could you miss-”

He waved a hand to cut her off.  “I saw her.”

Of course he wouldn’t have missed it.  When the War Mother left that morning, trailing a rumor that she had found another abducted Hybrid after all these years, he could hardly focus on anything else. The curiosity gnawed at him, even after he’d caught a glimpse of the new arrival dragging her feet down the crater path towards the compound.

A pale female.  Disheveled white wings.  The shelled ears and tufted tail of lion.

And the flimsy fabrics of a pet’s uniform, covered in… blood?

He thought that following his mother’s posse like a curious cub, stealing more glimpses of the winged lioness, would have been below his station.  And yet, that’s what he did - slinking from wall to wall to watch her introduction.  She had a wild tangle of gold hair, and her slender feet were dirty.

He had watched until he heard her speak.  Irakata… The way she spat her new name at his mother made him cock his head, listening intently.  It seemed stupid to compare her voice to the sun - but it was raw and vibrant, and something beneath the dangerous tone of it commanded attention.  A bright new spot in the crowd.

When she shifted, he could see her striking face in the red sunset… and the comparison only seemed more applicable.  He was still seeing it when he blinked and turned away from the scene.

Arcana’s snort snapped his attention back to the present, standing in the cool evening gloom.

“And?”  She prodded.

“And… it looked like she could use some space,” he supplied by way of explanation.

Arcana shot a pointed look around his side, eyebrows raised.  That much space?  Really?

Caecius frowned, choosing not to comment.  He didn’t have a good enough reason for why he didn’t do his job - greeting newcomers.

“I heard she fainted…?” he asked instead, the concern in his tone genuine enough to cover the bluff.

Because he didn’t hear that.  He saw it.  He felt it, like someone plucking a cord strung through his chest.  That moment the light in her eyes evaporated, and he fled as if somebody had cut him loose from them.

...Her eyes were an entrancing shade of bright green, he had learned.  

That detail followed him all the way over the wall, into the air, and crashing down in the depths of the lake.  Running from gods-know-what.  The sudden wave of instinct had unsettled him… not fear, but pure adrenaline; nerves taut, lungs held full of a new, confusing scent.  A desire for some burst of action - and he found it.

He had talked himself through it in the murky water, his mind finally clear and irritated at the cold.  He was sure if he recounted the story to Pinna, she would say he overreacted - perhaps his blood sugar was too low, or he was too sleep-deprived.  She would have a whole host of excuses to chastise him with until he felt less ridiculous, and amended himself.  Freezing at a first meeting was normal, she might say, even for a trained Captain.  Maybe she would even call him shy.

Shy… that couldn’t be it.  Not when he felt so eager to see the new recruit again.  And to talk to her, hoping to claim her attention as thoroughly as she had managed to claim his.  “Intriguing” didn’t quite seem to cover it.

Something about the winged lioness was profoundly and addictingly different.  He could still picture the feline eyes that stared him down with an intensity he couldn’t name.

...Perhaps it didn’t help that she was beautiful.

“Fainted?”  Arcana balked, pulling him back from the memory of slanted cheeks and messy gold hair.  “What’s wrong with her?”

Caecius gestured with a useless hand - no idea.  The warden he spoke to didn’t exactly have a full file on hand.  But he couldn’t be the only onlooker that saw the exhaustion, unkempt grooming, cracking voice, and bloodstained clothes... and ended up with suspicion.  Something had to be wrong.

Arcana was already tapping a finger on her arm, tongue held with some kind of musing as she turned to look down the open stone hall.

...No better time to get some use out of his slacker strategist.

“I need you to check on her,” he spoke up.  “Wherever they took her, I’m sure Talon and Sarge have their hands full.”

Arcana nodded, distracted.  “I’ll need more info.  She looked gaunt… maybe starved,” she muttered.  And she was probably right.

“I’ll be back in a few hours.”  Caecius turned his arm over to glance at his timekeeper.

“With her file,” Arcana insisted, pointing a finger at him.

“With whatever I can get.”  He frowned, pushing it down for her.  “I’ll need to speak to my mother, and I doubt she has the time.”

Arcana only clucked her tongue with an unappeased look as she left him in a swirl of tails.  Still… he could tell by the tall set of her ears that whatever interest the new recruit had sparked in the crater, she was eager too.

He wandered the path to his own room, down a different hall.  It didn’t stop him from listening at each corner.  Strange, to think that somewhere in these caverns, there was a new element to their home.  A new branch to the team… a new face to see each day… a new seat taken at meals…

He had almost forgotten what it felt like to meet a new Hybrid.

He was quick to clean and redress, spurred on by his curiosity.  Perhaps the War Mother would sate some of it, if he was convincing enough - and didn’t smell like lakewater.  Five years ago, he couldn’t use his age as a bargaining tool.  Caecius drew himself up with confidence as he marched back through the halls.  Now, this was his clan accepting a newcomer. He couldn’t deny a twinge of pride.

The distant sound of Arcana’s voice made him pause.  She must have found Irakata and her new wardens.  Judging by the echo, she had found them in the bath hall.

Caecius shook his head and quickly put the prospect of following her out of mind.  He could wait his turn.  After the new recruit had time to recover… and be properly dressed.

He ducked his ears as he hurried away from the thought of her dunked in a tub, and told himself that maybe he was just the right amount of shy.

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