Gles
Active member
Tami
Rysuei Ranch
"Welcome," Hoshi said as she dug the toe of her yellow sneaker into the opposite foot's heel to get her shoe off. She left them tucked under a low wooden rack and dropped her keys into a handblown glass dish on a thin table at the entryway to her Tami home.
The inside was much like the outside with triangular arches of exposed walnut beams that were bisected with windows that spanned long swathes of the wall. The insides walls of the small living room the entryway led into were a soothing sage green peppered with candid photos and watercolor art alongside big ovular mirrors, one of which Molli caught her reflection in as she walked the front of the house.
Wearing simple coveralls and with her blue and white hair messily bundled up in a claw clip, Hoshi looked more ready for the work of the farm that surrounded her craftsman home rather than entertaining. But, there was an ease with which Hoshi had always felt comfortable approaching Molli with and the same was apparent even now.
For her part, Molli stared at her reflection with a slightly confused expression, as if she couldn't believe the girl in the mirror was the same one who fled to Yamatai two years ago. A crimson-coated metal hand rose to part the collar of her plain white t-shirt, revealing an ugly, jagged scar and off-color flesh; it was a souvenir from Urtullan. The sound of tiny footsteps made Molli's hand retract, hiding the wound once more under the cotton collar.
"Do you want to hang around here, pick a room out and drop your bags off and help me around the farm, or have some pie in the kitchen?" Hoshi asked her house guest. On the last option she bashfully added, "I made lemon meringue."
"S'why ah'm here, ent it? Ta help wiv th'farm?" Molli asked, looping her hands around the thin suspenders that held her black shorts up. "Ah played ah farm sim at home, once." She neglected to mention that it was a farm sim in the sense that you started on a farm that was immediately besieged by hordes of zombies.
The black bags that flanked Molli's feet were two small duffels packed with the bare essentials: a change of clothes, a few bottles and a toothbrush for hygiene, and a tiny computer for net access across Yamataian or Nepleslian bands. "Anyone else helpin' us?" Molli asked as she hoisted both bags over her shoulders. The 'anyone else' obviously referred to the rest of the Kaiyo's crew.
"Set up two rooms for you and in case someone else were to join," Hoshi said as she took one of the duffels . "Let's have you choose which you'd like. But I do think it's just you and me, Molls. If you've played those farming sim games then you're going to get a load out of this. In for a treat." Hoshi said, unaware of the true nature of the sims Molli played. She showed her to the doorway of one room, then another.
The first had walls painted a deep forest green with shelves of books lacing the wall opposite the door. A twin bed with a handmade quilt like the one Hoshi had given Molli was nestled into the far corner where an alcove above it was inlaid into the forest-themed wallpaper. The only window from which light filtered into the room was through a warm, intricate stained glass. Otherwise, lamps, a standing globe, ferns, and a plush indigo area rug with an archaic motif of unicorns and stags and other forest creatures were the other adornments to the room.
The other room she showed had more windows that looked out onto the forested hill that backed up against the house. The green from outside matched the plush carpet and both were in cool contrast with the salmon walls and pastel hues of the rest of the room. Expansive pink, yellow, and pale orange rainbows decorated the window cornices above the verdant windows while the window trim itself and things like the dresser and nightstand were plain white. The reiterated rainbow of warm hues also decorated the full bed's comforter.
"S'green," Molli stated bluntly, looking around at the expansive forest theme with mild interest. Too green, she thought, too quiet. For as much as she loathed Funky City, there was something unnatural about peace and quiet. Molli was a city girl who preferred constant noise to maddening silence. "Ken ah get this one?" She gestured around the room they stood in, her gaze fixated on the more conventional windows. Maybe if she cracked them open, the sounds of the forest could drown the quiet out.
"Oh, this one?" Hoshi said, seemingly surprised. She moved on, quickly, though, and walked back out of the house the way she had come in as she chatted. "Aiko's heading the next mission while I'm up on the Kaiyō itself, you know. I thought it'd be nice to have you around to help, but also just to see you as I won't be able to as much on the mission itself. And to talk about the last one."
Molli followed Hoshi on her way out. She didn't say anything initially; new missions were part and parcel of life on the Kaiyo now, hardly worth fretting about. It was when the topic of discussing their prior operation was broached that Molli appeared to tense up. It was a monument to her failure, one she didn't particularly look forward to discussing.
The captain was getting her shoes back on as she said that last part and looked Molli up and down, apparently judging something about the Nepleslian.
Tellingly, Molli couldn't meet Hoshi's gaze.
"You want mind if those clothes get dirty, will you?" Hoshi revealed, "You don't mind horses, either, right?"
"Nah, ah knew what I'd be doin'," Molli said, pinching her white shirt at its midsection, "Shorts 'n a shirt, good fer workin'. Horses, though..." she wrinkled her nose, "Ah prefer bikes." Horses seemed unruly and dangerous in a bad way.
Having kept her bark blue eyes on Molli as she spoke, Hoshi looked away when she was done. Satisfied with that answer, she opened the door and took in the strong afternoon rays of early Spring that peaked through puffy grey clouds with a bright smile on her face.
"As long as you're not afraid of them, we're good. Scared of anything?" Hoshi asked Molli as they took a meandering path down from the house's front door under the sporadic shade of trees and the clouds overhead, too.
"Mishhu," Molli replied, trailing behind Hoshi on the idyllic path, "...Needles, ah guess." The injections were her least favorite memory of basic training. "Th'- Th'princess," she added thoughtlessly, and when her eyes closed, Molli could still see the aftermath of the Ketsurui warrior's bloody carnage in a grotesque, fleshy hallway. "Not horses, if that's whatcha meant."
There were plenty of things to be scared of, more that Molli didn't tell her captain, enough to fill a book. At least Tami kept her mind off the galaxy's horrors for a time with its beautiful vistas and promise of pleasant, distracting labor. "Prolly th'most artificial thing here," she mumbled, raising her crimson red cybernetic arm to shield her eyes from the sun, as if her metal eyes couldn't handle its rays.
Quiet to both appreciate Molli's outright and genuine answer and to process what she had easily revealed to her, Hoshi kept walking on the path after murmuring, "Probably." It didn't take long to get to the area where animals started cropping up in their respective pens and hutches. A shaggy goat looked at Molli through slitted pupils as it stood on a high rock while some nearby chickens scratched at the desolate packed earth outside of their coop, looking for any life to peck out of it.
"Can't believe these things're real," Molli said as she stared directly into the goat's eyes, "Never seen 'em in person before." The pupils of her circuit-lined eyes narrowed to resemble the goat's, and combined with the tiny horns peeking through her bangs, Molli imagined she must've looked almost identical to it.
The horses were well past them, though, through a little bamboo lined walkway and Hoshi looked to Molli. "Probably not, actually. I have a few biplanes in a hangar a ways back and a Hayabusa there too," Hoshi thought to the starfighter she had gotten in a giveaway.
"Alrigh'," Molli would've loved to take the Mindy over the countryside, sans helmet, so she could feel the wind in her face.
"We'll be moving the horses over to their spring pasture to graze there. They've been cooped up all winter, but they should behave themselves. Yaks are better than horses, but there's not much to do for those guys today anyway. Here..." The captain had headed into a little shed and when Molli followed, the Nepleslian was assaulted with the smell of leather oil and wood. There was tack hanging from every one of the thin wood. Thin and thick strips of leather connected to shiny metal bits and d-rings and buckles were the most obvious source of the initial smell of leather oil, but there were also some saddles on little horizontal posts that jutted out from one wall.
There were worse smells, Molli could list off a bunch from Funky City. If anything, oily aromas brought to mind her dad's garage with its stench of motor oil and gasoline. The Nepleslian took a moment to stand and get used to it all.
Hoshi was in and out, though, having just picked out some well worn and almost fraying halters and lead ropes. Immediately ducking down after taking two steps, she slipped between two bars of a pipe fence and gave a weird little nickering sound. Out of a large open doorway came a reply, but this one sounded genuine. One horse came out, then two and then five.
"Pretty..." Molli said, whistling. This was the second time she'd seen a horse in person before, and they still carried an aura of subtle power that demanded respect. It was yet another thing to be scared of, she realized.
Hoshi demonstrated how to put the halter on to the nearest tan horse, a pretty palomino that was blonde and happy looking. "Now you, I'll step in if it gets bad," Hoshi said with a slight laugh.
Molli huffed at the implication, well-meaning as it was. If a little shrimp like Hoshi could handle a horse, there was no reason she couldn't. A pitch black Marwari caught Molli's attention, stocky and stoic as it stared upon the girl who would dare saddle it. "They got names?" Molli asked, imitating Hoshi's technique in slipping a halter over the uncomfortably still beast's long head. "E-Easy, boy..." she ran a metal hand over the side of its head, gently patting it.
"He likes you, that's good. Lead him out here," Hoshi said as she pulled on the lead of her own horse. "That's Yomi —short for Tsukuyomi— and this is Flax."
"Ent that a god?" Molli asked, reins in hand, as she led the shockingly obedient Yomi beside Hoshi. "A fella from th'moon, eh?"
"Something like a god, yeah. You've really picked up on Yamataian culture in the last.. what, it's been a couple years by now hasn't it?" Hoshi asked.
"Had t'pass th'citizenship test somehow," came Molli's wry reply, "Ken even speak Yamataigo, believe it'r not." Despite her jest, there was earnest pride in her voice.
"I can't imagine leaving a parent is easy. But you did to come here." Contrary to Molli's levity, Hoshi responded in a serious tone as she looped the lead over her shoulder, not really carrying it as she trusted Flax. Hoshi couldn't imagine even having parents as a Neko, but the emptiness at not having them—especially after having met Uesu—informed her assumptions.
"I can't come up with what could make that worth it," Hoshi gave Molli a sidelong glance. "Protecting the Empire and all that makes a lot more sense when you're born to do so, like me. For you, it's got to come from something less inherent and pretty substantial. Is it all just in the name of working for a better life for your father that you're in the Star Army?"
Molli fixed her eyes ahead, while inside her mind was a tempest of paranoid speculation and fear. It was only when she remembered sharing that money went to her father that Molli stymied her brief spot of panic -- this wasn't an interrogation. "Yeah, m'pa 'n I had it rough after mom...passed," Molli said, glancing Hoshi's way at last. Given how she'd never heard of a Nekovalkyrja discussing their parents, she had to wonder if any of them had any in the traditional sense. Was the relationship between Aiko and the Empress the closest thing?
"Lotta bad memories fer us, s'why ah left, s'why ah'm hopin' enough money makes him wanna leave too," Molli didn't realize what she'd let slip until it was too late, and she tried to shrug it off. "He's gotta business, s'hard t'leave that behind, ah guess..."
Quiet for a moment, Hoshi made sure to direct Molli and her own palomino towards a fork in the trail. They were headed away from the house and stalls where they had come and the path was muddy and unkempt compared to those nearer both. Yomi was sure-footed, though, and seemed to be taking a bit of pride in keeping his hocks clear of the mud and clean as he took high steps next to Molli. Flax seemed to care less as her head fell downwards as she butted it up against Hoshi's shoulder and paid no mind to her gate, unlike him.
The captain then said, "What's enough money, do you think?"
"Ah don't know." Trepidation once again, Molli weighed her options. "Ah haven't heard from 'em, but he ent sendin' anythin' back,' she said, after a pause.
"I think I mean to get at asking, if you made enough to get him out of where he is, would you stay? In the Star Army, that is." Hoshi started unbuckling Flax's halter as she went on before she looked Molli with a gentle, albeit sad, smile. "Whatever you say, it won't affect how I captain you. Just how attached I get to having you around is all."
The Nepleslian gave Hoshi a sharp look with unblinking eyes that seemed to glow brighter all of a sudden. "S'hard t'go back to th'way things used t'be," she unbuckled Yomi's halter, then fixed that same determined gaze back on her captain. "Ah can't fly Mindys inna garage." Saying that, even in jest, felt too superficial to leave at that. "People in th'crew ah like." People like her right arm, a warrior with a steely gaze, and a tiny captain that cared.
Molli absentmindedly wrapped the leather cord of the halter around her knuckles as she thought of the faces that were all too familiar by now, as essential as water and air. It was a double-edged sword to care so much for them; with every mission came greater tension, and that ever-present worry that it'd be someone's last. Worse still, what if it was her fault? "Ah'd've cut me loose after what happened," Molli said it out of the blue, and likely didn't need to elaborate.
Molli had said a lot—more than enough to fill Hoshi's belly with reassurance. She had been meaning to spring something on Molli since she had first heard the problems she faced, but Molli's last statement caught the words in Hoshi's throat and she choked on them for a moment. She stayed in silence as she tugged at a chain to another pipe fence's gate and swung it open.
The pale golden horse Hoshi had slipped the halter off of earlier moved into the pasture. The long, green grass was being brushed gently by the wind and the sound was intermittently like a whooshing noise, then soft whisperings. In the distance, deep blue storm clouds tugged on the horizon but at their backs the sun was still shining and cutting through to splay onto the pasture idyllically.
"Speaking of cutting loose," Hoshi said as she looked to the black beauty pointedly. Yomi knew where he was and was kicking his feet up high, excited and ready to be let out to pasture where the grazing was much better than the stale hay from his time overwintering. But, he was respectfully sure not to pul against the lead too much in order to make it taut and stayed close to Molli despite his excitement. "Why should I have done that?" Hoshi asked without looking at Molli.
"E-Easy, boy!" Molli backed as far from Yomi as the lead allowed out of fear that one of those piston-like hooves would find its mark on her body. "Ah already take enough hits on ops...!" Despite his barely restrained rowdiness, Molli got the sense that he wouldn't hurt her unless he really wanted to, which made it slightly easier to lead him to pasture alongside his fellow equine. Once they passed through the gate, Molli got the halter off completely, and Yomi was eager to gallop through the fields like he probably wanted to do all winter.
For now, Molli and the captain had a moment to themselves before the next pair needed leading. Time enough to answer the captain's question. "Ah could tell ya didn't trust me," Molli answered bluntly, without any resentment. She'd pulled a gun on the captain, who would trust her after that?
The pasture was a good enough scene to stare at for awhile, but they had more horses to grab and so Hoshi started on her way back. "You know, you shouldn't wrap the lead around your hand like you did earlier. If a horse bolts or spooks, they'll drag you with them if your hand gets wrapped up in a cinch. You're lucky Yomi's from a long line of cavalry horses, he's not going to do that to you. Another horse, if you have some bad feeling, they'll pick up on it from the other end of the lead or reins and cause problems."
"Huh...good t'know, ah guess..." Molli wondered what use a space-faring empire would have for cavalry horses. It must have been a symbolic tradition more than anything.
"I suppose that's all an analogy for what happened in the NMX base between you and me... and the team. You were," Hoshi struggled to find the words. "You weren't acting like the person I've grown to know. Grown attached to, as I said. But that doesn't mean I'm going to spook on you, cut you loose, or what have you. I'll be like Yomi and ride that storm until greener pastures."
A smile tucked up on Hoshi's saddened face as she saw her metaphor come full circle. But then she asked quite plainly, "What would you have done differently if given the chance?"
"Save everyone ah liked, blew up th'base by m'self wiv two rifles 'neath m'arm," Molli's smile was forced, just like the joke. "Ah cannae say. Were ah bad situation, ah...ah weren't m'self," she hugged herself at the waist. It suddenly became hard to face her emphatic captain. "S'like ah were two different people, 'n we were fightin' tah decide who were who..."
"I'm glad the one who knows us as her crew won, in the end. But I also hope a bit of Myga always lives on in you and I'm glad you kept your memories. You can remember my disappointment in Myga but also, maybe, her disappointment in me," Hoshi remarked.
"Eh? Whatcha mean?"
"For a long time in my life I wouldn't have been able to give such an eloquent answer to my question," Hoshi said, bumping her shoulder towards Molli and putting an arm around her shoulder. "I'm proud of you for being better than I was at looking back and knowing what could have been done better by you. And what was out of your hands. It was a really complex situation for a trio of enlisted personnel. But there was minimal loss of life to Neko. Many Mishhu died in that base... along with their ability to have a forward operation out of the Kikyo Sector. They were top of your list of what you're scared by, so that's at least a pyrrhic victory for you, no?
The Nepleslian jumped at the sudden display of physical affection, but didn't pull away -- even though she wanted to. Molli felt the strength behind Hoshi's spindly limb, a gentle but firm reminder of what every Neko was capable of. "Ah guess..." To hope for a better outcome felt like folly; everyone on the Kaiyo made it out, and they took plenty of prisoners after destroying another Mishhu foothold in the sector. "M'therapist says ah got...residual trauma from what Myga went through," Molli explained, tapping herself on the chest where she'd been stabbed. "Phantom pains. Maybe ah have phantom melancholy?"
"Speaking of what you're scared of, "Hoshi laughed as her hand squeezed Molli's cybernetic arm and shoulder before releasing both. "One day Aiko will want to talk to you about your rank and where you see yourself in that context, you know. But today I really wanted to ask you about the mission like we did."
"What d'ya mean, talk about my rank?"
Hoshi recalled how paranoid Molli could get, "Not about a demotion, if that's what you're thinking. My commanding officer had the same talk with me when I was a Joto Hei."
"That talk bein'...? Where ah see myself?"
Hoshi nodded, "I wouldn't want it to blindside you, especially since she scares you... which, she shouldn't. She's a threat, but to our enemies alone." Hoshi said with her eyes fixed forward and intense.
Out of reflex, Molli rolled her eyes. 'Course you'd say that, bein' her friend, she thought. "Ah, uh, don't get whatcha mean, still."
"One day you'll be closer to her and you'll understand," Hoshi said. If Hoshi could read Molli's mind, she might not have implied friendship with the Ketsurui really did change things dramatically. But for now, she just added, "The best things take time."
They were back at the stable.
"You pull out the other black Marwari there. I didn't tell you Yomi had a father, did I? Izanagi. Hard to tell if he's named after the class of ship or the kami father of Tsukuyomi from yore, the horse inside the depths of the enclosure was much bigger than Yomi. He in fact looked bigger than the stable he inhabited. "Bring him over to that log. I'll help you get up on him."
Her orders received, Molli replicated the now familiar ritual of slipping a halter over the snout of her newest lead, which was another Marwari named Izanagi. "We're gonna ride 'em?" Molli asked, looking from Hoshi to the big black eye of her would-be mount with trepidation. "Heard y'get saddle sore on these things..."
"Can't get saddle sore if you don't have a saddle," Hoshi said nonchalantly as she took the lead and unbuckled it from the bottom of the halter and buckled it on the cheek area, She went to the other side of the horse's head and tied it to the same cheek area of the halter. Flipping the loop around now, she put the makeshift "reins" over Izanagi's neck so that they sat just at the end of his mane.
"That's just regular sore!"
"Hahaha, put one leg over his back as you give a half jump and seat yourself on his back. He's not going anywhere. He's even more gentle than Yomi." Hoshi said as she led the horse to the "get up" stump just beyond the stable gate.
Despite her trepidation, Molli reasoned that riding a horse was definitely less life threatening than diving through the outer atmosphere of a planet in powered armor. Following Hoshi's advice, she hopped up, slinging a leg over Izanagi's back in one fluid motion. Pulling on the reins and grasping for anything to keep from falling off, Molli slowly, clumsily pulled herself up the rest of the way until she was seated upright.
"Weren't so hard," she said with a grin, though the sweat on her forehead suggested otherwise.
"You make it look easy," Hoshi said as she gathered up the last two horses and led them on foot. She felt lighter having talked about the mission. But she wanted to be sure they had succinctly gone over it, so she asked, "Anything about the mission still bothering you?"
Molli's answer was immediate, "Hihja." Myga's closest companion, and the one that felt so betrayed she'd tried to kill the both of them. Molli couldn't fault her for that. "She's okay, is she?"
"I've never been through a re-introduction program before," Hoshi said, referring to what former NMX Nekovalkyrja needed to go through before being introduced into either Yamatai or given their freedom. "So I can't say honestly, but I'll keep tabs on when she's out and we'll visit her wherever she goes. Sorry I can't be sure on an answer."
"Least y'answered," Molli said, waving off Hoshi's apology. She felt the phantom wound on her chest again and wondered if a re-introduction program could make Hihja stop hating her -- willingly, Molli hoped. "Ah got what ah wished for, a nice neko body. Kinna felt good, bein' so strong 'n fast, an' th'flyin were nice. Ah liked brushin' m'tail -- Myga's tail." And all it cost was a harrowing mission, one of many in a long list that was still unfurling. "Think that's all ah took away from it."
"Was it the sort of thing that feels good as it's happening and is a nice memory or is it a change you'd consider more long term?" Hoshi asked.
"Ah mean... S'bout as good ah memory as ah can have, given what ah used it for," Molli felt like a better woman in her substitute body; stronger, faster, more intelligible. "Didn't feel like m'self, but...ah dunnae know if that's ah bad thing."
Hoshi screwed up her face, which Molli couldn't see from atop Izanagi. "I didn't like not recognizing you." Molli could hear the disapproval in her tone, though.
Izanagi was more lively than Molli may have expected from an old father and someone so huge. He took grand, long steps that kept her body always immersed in following his movements with hers. But unlike a smaller horse whose gate would make her bob and jut around, it was a fluidic experience to almost meld with the big black horse as he excitedly walked.
"But that's just speaking to your personality shift. If it wasn't so bad to be a Neko, you could always change over. Even temporarily to see how it is as yourself." Hoshi said.
Molli had no reply to give. Before that fateful mission in the base beneath Cauldron Lake's inky depths, she would have leaped at the opportunity to become the very model of a Star Army soldier. She'd gotten her wish, and it was nothing like she thought it'd be. It was easier to focus on the rhythmic trotting of a mount that was far more confident than its rider than engage with the captain.
The captain looked up at Molli and asked, "Want to see what it's like to go a little faster?" It wasn't impossible to tell if she meant as a Neko or atop the horse, but it was dubiously phrased given the context.
Something clicked in Molli's brain at the request that pulled the young woman back to her senses. Speed, one of Molli's earliest pursuits, and an ever present thrill; while the star army changed much about her, Molli still liked to go fast. "Justa little?" she shot back with a grin, hands gripping the reins tightly in anticipation.
"A little can feel like a lot on a horse while a lot feels manageable." Hoshi paid more mind to Izanagi, making sure he was willing to give Molli a good time. "You ready boy?" she asked while walking beside him, patting his neck muscles before backing off.
"He'll go up to a trot if you spur him on, so to speak. Squeeze from your thighs downwards, then keep the pressure on him with your thighs. It'll keep you seated to keep squeezing there but you might feel like pushing your body up and down in what's called a 'post' during a trot to not ragdoll. Just do what feels natural. Pressure from your shin won't do as much to get you going faster than your ankle.
The only experience Molli had with horses was the one time her dad let her ride mechanical seesaw in the shape of a horse outside of a grocery store when she was six. Hoshi made the real deal sound like rocket science by comparison, and Molli struggled to commit the instructions she was given to memory. "'Kay, lessee..." Squeezing her thighs together and digging in with her heel made Izanagi's leisurely canter pick up to a brisk trot, just as Hoshi said, and already Molli could feel herself rocking around like a marionette without strings. It took her a few uncomfortable minutes to find a rhythm and a more comfortable ride -- she'd definitely be sore afterward.
"If he's taking off and you want to slow, make sure your foot isn't accidentally kicking him, ease up on the shin, then pull on the lead. Most people start with pulling the reins to stop, but horses can communicate more ways than having their faces pulled on, you'll see."
"Naw, ah'm gettin' th'hanga this!" Molli shouted excitedly, seemingly in her element with the wind in her face and in control of something with horsepower. "S'like workin' a bike wiv legs!" Was that confidence speaking, or arrogance? Either way, Molli repeated her first movement, spurring Izanagi to go from trot to speedy canter -- though her surprise at the burst of speed from the old horse made her pull in on the reins and signal Izanagi to slow his pace. She could hear him whinny and snort out an annoyed gust of hot air, no doubt he was accustomed to more experienced riders.
"E-Easy, Izzy. Ah'm used t'metal, 'n...things wivout legs," Molli said, patting Izanagi on the neck. She took a small breath, then egged him on again, until they were back to a canter that kicked up rock and dirt beneath Izanagi's powerful hooves. His long loping gait felt seamless as each pair of diagonal legs took turns pushing up against the earth. It lasted only a minute, though, as the great creature slowed without being asked just as the pair made it under the canopy of trees that led to a steep decline.
The inexplicable stop made Molli lean over and look Izanagi in the eye with a confused expression, "Wotcher stoppin' for, Izzy?" she asked. "Y'see ah noodlejaw or somefin?" Molli scanned the ground, "This planet even have noodlejaws? C'mon, we were jus' gettin' goin'!"
At her urging, the horse took a few careful steps forward. No sooner were they walking than he was sliding downward. The heavy horse hadn't lifted a hoof, but was balanced perfectly on the mud beneath him. Power sliding at an increasing velocity down the hill with Molli, who held onto her reins for dear life, her legs pressing tightly on Izanagi to remain seated on their downward slide.
"Hoooooooly...!" Molli had gotten her wish for more speed, but not in the way she'd hoped. Momentary fear turned to exhilaration rather quickly for the thrill-seeking Nepleslian, and her nervous muttering turned to cheery jubilation. "Don't break anythin', Izzy!"
The hill stretched on for what felt like miles to the both of them, though it wasn't so long. They kept sliding, gaining momentum as Molli held onto the reins and her steed. There was a slight bend where the muck from the rains the weekend before solidified into something Izanagi could grab purchase of. He took some high, wide steps as soon as he could. Still speedily moving, though, the horse gave way into into a bouncy trot. Somehow, Molli could feel the same jubilation she had spoken to him with echoed in his controlled freneticism at the bottom of the muddy hill.
She felt this whole 'horse-riding' business getting a little easier, and tried to steer Izanagi to the side to find a path back up the hill. "Glad t'see y'ent mad," Molli said, patting him on the back of the neck as she watched out for anything his hooves might sink into. "Hope Hosh ent worried, she'll prolly mention that ah shoulda trusted why ya stopped," she added, wondering how much of the unintended downslide the captain saw. "Which...ah guess she's right. Cannae believe ah horse knew better." She heard Izanagi snort at that, and whether it was in amusement or derision was impossible to judge.
Picking her way along the more grassy part of the path that the pair had taken with horses earlier down the hill, Hoshi was far behind Molli. Despite such, she had started laughing as she caught the tail end of the wild riding Molli and Izanagi had done. The laughter wasn't accusatory or cackling. Rather, it was an excitable and confident one. Having been ready to drop the horses' leads and fly to Molli, when she realized how in control of the situation both horse and rider were, she had let loose those chiming sprinkles of laughter as she hurried down as carefully as she could.
"What was that?!" Hoshi called, putting extra emphasis on the last word. "You two looked straight out of a drifting competition. Molls, you're riding Izanagi like he's an airbike!"
Molli, who had by that point steered Izanagi to sturdier ground where the mud gave way to grass, tried not to grin too widely. "Ah, uh, tried t'stop 'im, but he's jus' so...excitable, y'know?" A sudden jolt of movement from below nearly threw Molli off Izanagi's back, and as she clutched his massive neck, she could feel the rumble that accompanied his lowest snort yet.
"...Ah didn't see th'hill, must've been th'shade," she admitted, and only then did Molli feel safe repositioning herself as Izanagi, evidently satisfied with her honestly, resumed his trot uphill with his head held high. "Kinna wish he were an airbike, they don't have opinions ah gotta consider." She gave Izanagi a small pat on the neck all the same; riding him wasn't too dissimilar from operating a machine in her eyes, though she did miss the rumble of an engine and a full throttle.
"Horses are full of opinions," Hoshi said with a huff both from the thought and from catching up to the two. "But his are generally not so bad. Trustworthy unless he's leading you down a hill, it seems!" She said it with a half smirk up the side of her cheek as her deep blue eyes watched him from their corners. "The paddock is just ahead. You can canter there again, if you want."
Before she loosed the last two mares into the paddock, she watched Molli follow her instructions and guide Izanagi to the paddock, though it was more than likely that the horse was making his own decision with Molli along for the ride. Whatever the case, the soldier looked like she was having a good time if her smile was anything to go by -- it was the happiest she looked in months.
Molli shut the paddock gate once Izanagi was loosed through it, and she leaned against it to watch the herd frolic and graze in the field. Her heart was still pounding from that adventure, and her entire lower half was sore from the ride, but those were mild complaints compared to how enjoyable the experience has been.
Hoshi was at the gate of the paddock, reflecting Molli's smile as she said, "Let's head back and tuck into that pie. I bet you're hungry for dinner, too, after all that riding. Speaking of, look at your legs!" The captain pointed out all the prickly black fur embedded against the seat of Molli's shorts. "I'll do a load of laundry, too."
Molli's efforts to wipe the fur from her shorts only produced a hair-covered hair and no meaningful progress, so she gave up quickly. "Ah ken help," she said, wiping her hand off on her white shirt. "What's next after dinner? More work?"
"Not a lot of farm work that can happen after dark. Better to leave the other fun stuff for tomorrow. You've helped more than enough to earn your keep," Hoshi said with that smile still on as she headed back with Molli.
Inside of the home's kitchen, Hoshi twisted the oven dial on and tugged on the handle of the fridge before stopping herself and asking, "Still think food's food or do you have a preference to eat something specific? I have a couple things that Saiga's made ahead."
"Ah ent picky, anythin' ya put down'll be good, prob'ly." Molli felt that was the most diplomatic way to say she didn't care what was on her plate. She learned how to be polite about her lack of standards on Yamatai after a noodle restaurant owner became grossly offended by her lack of enthusiasm. Hoshi's reaction likely wouldn't be as extreme, but Molli knew how seriously Yamataians took their cuisine, and didn't want to chance it. "Y'need any help?"
She sat in the kitchen in a pair of jeans, having changed out of her horse-hair covered shorts moments earlier.
"Nah, just throwing this in the oven, then," she said, pulling out a glass dish with what looked like risotto and meat within it. She put it into the oven before picking out some plates and a fork and sitting at the table. She gestured for Molli to follow, then peeled back a covering on a central dish near a frosty green vase stuffed with flowers. She unveiled a stiffly peaked white meringue pie. Because it had been previously cut into, Molli could see that below the marshmallow fluff looking topping was a yellow jelly. When Hoshi pulled a piece onto a plate, the jelly glooped out in a few places slowly and clung to the rest of the pie in others. She placed it in front of Molli who could see the porcelain plate was rimmed with woodland animals and hearts painted into it.
"I made it myself, so tell me what you think." Hoshi served herself just as quickly, but didn't eat a bite as she watched Molli.
Never one to indulge in sweets, Molli nonetheless had to admit that Hoshi's skill at baking made her serving look delectable. She was keenly aware of the captain's expectant gaze as she took up the fork and stabbed a narrow portion off of the whole, then bit down on it. Originally, Molli planned to make a show of savoring the flavor, but the sweet and lemony dough melted in her mouth and lingered long after she'd swallowed it down, which just made her want more. Bite after bite, Molli had a hard time comprehending how the same flavor could still taste just as good as the first bite, until at last her slice was just crust on the plate.
"S'good," Molli said, wiping a bit of cream off of her lips and licking her finger. "S'best pie ah ever had." The only pie she'd ever had, actually. "Yer guy's lucky he's got ah cook like you, ah bet."
Hoshi's blue and white eyebrows wiggled as she looked very pleased with herself, "The best pie you've had? Well I'll be. I'm taking that to heart, Molls!" Having long since tucked into her own slice with the satisfaction of knowing Molli was enjoying hers next to her, she just shrugged her shoulders as she finished chewing. "He cooks better than me. I do bake a better pie, though. Pretty lucky to have each other."
The crust didn't last as long as the rest of the pie, reduced to crumbs that Molli started to pick off the plate. "Ah'll say," she looked around the room and took in all of the rustic decorations, her gaze settling on the window that overlooked the scenic country landscape. "Ah'd say he's luckier t'have ya, cannae think've ah better place t'retire." Molli wondered what her retirement would look like, and who she'd spend it with. Her thoughts conjured up a small apartment in the heart of Kyoto, but the person standing in front of the window was a hazy, indistinct shape.
Thinking about retirement, Saiga, and her home, Hoshi looked happier than possible. Breaking herself from her reverie only slightly, she said, "My home is open to you even before either of us retire. It's better served as a getaway for crew than a place for two old Yamataians, anyway."
"Now ah gotta prep ya somefin' on m'home back on Yamatai," Molli said, ever accustomed to a life of favors exchanged for other favors. "Ah ken make ah killer ramen." Hoshi's good cheer was infectious, and even normally surly Molli wasn't immune. She thought about Hoshi's idle comment about airbikes and recalled how she hadn't considered her former career at all as Myga. Thinking back, she realized that was the case not only because of the mission, but because she couldn't recall the sensation of riding one; the sort of lifelong muscle memory only a career racer could build up. Would giving up her old body mean it'd be lost forever?
It was something to think about, among other things, and Molli had to wonder if that wasn't at least some of Hoshi's intent with the ride. "Thanks, skipper," Molli said, raising her fork to 'salute' her captain. "Fer th'lil vacation."
Raising her fork in the same fashion, Hoshi said, "Always here for you."
Rysuei Ranch
"Welcome," Hoshi said as she dug the toe of her yellow sneaker into the opposite foot's heel to get her shoe off. She left them tucked under a low wooden rack and dropped her keys into a handblown glass dish on a thin table at the entryway to her Tami home.
The inside was much like the outside with triangular arches of exposed walnut beams that were bisected with windows that spanned long swathes of the wall. The insides walls of the small living room the entryway led into were a soothing sage green peppered with candid photos and watercolor art alongside big ovular mirrors, one of which Molli caught her reflection in as she walked the front of the house.
Wearing simple coveralls and with her blue and white hair messily bundled up in a claw clip, Hoshi looked more ready for the work of the farm that surrounded her craftsman home rather than entertaining. But, there was an ease with which Hoshi had always felt comfortable approaching Molli with and the same was apparent even now.
For her part, Molli stared at her reflection with a slightly confused expression, as if she couldn't believe the girl in the mirror was the same one who fled to Yamatai two years ago. A crimson-coated metal hand rose to part the collar of her plain white t-shirt, revealing an ugly, jagged scar and off-color flesh; it was a souvenir from Urtullan. The sound of tiny footsteps made Molli's hand retract, hiding the wound once more under the cotton collar.
"Do you want to hang around here, pick a room out and drop your bags off and help me around the farm, or have some pie in the kitchen?" Hoshi asked her house guest. On the last option she bashfully added, "I made lemon meringue."
"S'why ah'm here, ent it? Ta help wiv th'farm?" Molli asked, looping her hands around the thin suspenders that held her black shorts up. "Ah played ah farm sim at home, once." She neglected to mention that it was a farm sim in the sense that you started on a farm that was immediately besieged by hordes of zombies.
The black bags that flanked Molli's feet were two small duffels packed with the bare essentials: a change of clothes, a few bottles and a toothbrush for hygiene, and a tiny computer for net access across Yamataian or Nepleslian bands. "Anyone else helpin' us?" Molli asked as she hoisted both bags over her shoulders. The 'anyone else' obviously referred to the rest of the Kaiyo's crew.
"Set up two rooms for you and in case someone else were to join," Hoshi said as she took one of the duffels . "Let's have you choose which you'd like. But I do think it's just you and me, Molls. If you've played those farming sim games then you're going to get a load out of this. In for a treat." Hoshi said, unaware of the true nature of the sims Molli played. She showed her to the doorway of one room, then another.
The first had walls painted a deep forest green with shelves of books lacing the wall opposite the door. A twin bed with a handmade quilt like the one Hoshi had given Molli was nestled into the far corner where an alcove above it was inlaid into the forest-themed wallpaper. The only window from which light filtered into the room was through a warm, intricate stained glass. Otherwise, lamps, a standing globe, ferns, and a plush indigo area rug with an archaic motif of unicorns and stags and other forest creatures were the other adornments to the room.
The other room she showed had more windows that looked out onto the forested hill that backed up against the house. The green from outside matched the plush carpet and both were in cool contrast with the salmon walls and pastel hues of the rest of the room. Expansive pink, yellow, and pale orange rainbows decorated the window cornices above the verdant windows while the window trim itself and things like the dresser and nightstand were plain white. The reiterated rainbow of warm hues also decorated the full bed's comforter.
"S'green," Molli stated bluntly, looking around at the expansive forest theme with mild interest. Too green, she thought, too quiet. For as much as she loathed Funky City, there was something unnatural about peace and quiet. Molli was a city girl who preferred constant noise to maddening silence. "Ken ah get this one?" She gestured around the room they stood in, her gaze fixated on the more conventional windows. Maybe if she cracked them open, the sounds of the forest could drown the quiet out.
"Oh, this one?" Hoshi said, seemingly surprised. She moved on, quickly, though, and walked back out of the house the way she had come in as she chatted. "Aiko's heading the next mission while I'm up on the Kaiyō itself, you know. I thought it'd be nice to have you around to help, but also just to see you as I won't be able to as much on the mission itself. And to talk about the last one."
Molli followed Hoshi on her way out. She didn't say anything initially; new missions were part and parcel of life on the Kaiyo now, hardly worth fretting about. It was when the topic of discussing their prior operation was broached that Molli appeared to tense up. It was a monument to her failure, one she didn't particularly look forward to discussing.
The captain was getting her shoes back on as she said that last part and looked Molli up and down, apparently judging something about the Nepleslian.
Tellingly, Molli couldn't meet Hoshi's gaze.
"You want mind if those clothes get dirty, will you?" Hoshi revealed, "You don't mind horses, either, right?"
"Nah, ah knew what I'd be doin'," Molli said, pinching her white shirt at its midsection, "Shorts 'n a shirt, good fer workin'. Horses, though..." she wrinkled her nose, "Ah prefer bikes." Horses seemed unruly and dangerous in a bad way.
Having kept her bark blue eyes on Molli as she spoke, Hoshi looked away when she was done. Satisfied with that answer, she opened the door and took in the strong afternoon rays of early Spring that peaked through puffy grey clouds with a bright smile on her face.
"As long as you're not afraid of them, we're good. Scared of anything?" Hoshi asked Molli as they took a meandering path down from the house's front door under the sporadic shade of trees and the clouds overhead, too.
"Mishhu," Molli replied, trailing behind Hoshi on the idyllic path, "...Needles, ah guess." The injections were her least favorite memory of basic training. "Th'- Th'princess," she added thoughtlessly, and when her eyes closed, Molli could still see the aftermath of the Ketsurui warrior's bloody carnage in a grotesque, fleshy hallway. "Not horses, if that's whatcha meant."
There were plenty of things to be scared of, more that Molli didn't tell her captain, enough to fill a book. At least Tami kept her mind off the galaxy's horrors for a time with its beautiful vistas and promise of pleasant, distracting labor. "Prolly th'most artificial thing here," she mumbled, raising her crimson red cybernetic arm to shield her eyes from the sun, as if her metal eyes couldn't handle its rays.
Quiet to both appreciate Molli's outright and genuine answer and to process what she had easily revealed to her, Hoshi kept walking on the path after murmuring, "Probably." It didn't take long to get to the area where animals started cropping up in their respective pens and hutches. A shaggy goat looked at Molli through slitted pupils as it stood on a high rock while some nearby chickens scratched at the desolate packed earth outside of their coop, looking for any life to peck out of it.
"Can't believe these things're real," Molli said as she stared directly into the goat's eyes, "Never seen 'em in person before." The pupils of her circuit-lined eyes narrowed to resemble the goat's, and combined with the tiny horns peeking through her bangs, Molli imagined she must've looked almost identical to it.
The horses were well past them, though, through a little bamboo lined walkway and Hoshi looked to Molli. "Probably not, actually. I have a few biplanes in a hangar a ways back and a Hayabusa there too," Hoshi thought to the starfighter she had gotten in a giveaway.
"Alrigh'," Molli would've loved to take the Mindy over the countryside, sans helmet, so she could feel the wind in her face.
"We'll be moving the horses over to their spring pasture to graze there. They've been cooped up all winter, but they should behave themselves. Yaks are better than horses, but there's not much to do for those guys today anyway. Here..." The captain had headed into a little shed and when Molli followed, the Nepleslian was assaulted with the smell of leather oil and wood. There was tack hanging from every one of the thin wood. Thin and thick strips of leather connected to shiny metal bits and d-rings and buckles were the most obvious source of the initial smell of leather oil, but there were also some saddles on little horizontal posts that jutted out from one wall.
There were worse smells, Molli could list off a bunch from Funky City. If anything, oily aromas brought to mind her dad's garage with its stench of motor oil and gasoline. The Nepleslian took a moment to stand and get used to it all.
Hoshi was in and out, though, having just picked out some well worn and almost fraying halters and lead ropes. Immediately ducking down after taking two steps, she slipped between two bars of a pipe fence and gave a weird little nickering sound. Out of a large open doorway came a reply, but this one sounded genuine. One horse came out, then two and then five.
"Pretty..." Molli said, whistling. This was the second time she'd seen a horse in person before, and they still carried an aura of subtle power that demanded respect. It was yet another thing to be scared of, she realized.
Hoshi demonstrated how to put the halter on to the nearest tan horse, a pretty palomino that was blonde and happy looking. "Now you, I'll step in if it gets bad," Hoshi said with a slight laugh.
Molli huffed at the implication, well-meaning as it was. If a little shrimp like Hoshi could handle a horse, there was no reason she couldn't. A pitch black Marwari caught Molli's attention, stocky and stoic as it stared upon the girl who would dare saddle it. "They got names?" Molli asked, imitating Hoshi's technique in slipping a halter over the uncomfortably still beast's long head. "E-Easy, boy..." she ran a metal hand over the side of its head, gently patting it.
"He likes you, that's good. Lead him out here," Hoshi said as she pulled on the lead of her own horse. "That's Yomi —short for Tsukuyomi— and this is Flax."
"Ent that a god?" Molli asked, reins in hand, as she led the shockingly obedient Yomi beside Hoshi. "A fella from th'moon, eh?"
"Something like a god, yeah. You've really picked up on Yamataian culture in the last.. what, it's been a couple years by now hasn't it?" Hoshi asked.
"Had t'pass th'citizenship test somehow," came Molli's wry reply, "Ken even speak Yamataigo, believe it'r not." Despite her jest, there was earnest pride in her voice.
"I can't imagine leaving a parent is easy. But you did to come here." Contrary to Molli's levity, Hoshi responded in a serious tone as she looped the lead over her shoulder, not really carrying it as she trusted Flax. Hoshi couldn't imagine even having parents as a Neko, but the emptiness at not having them—especially after having met Uesu—informed her assumptions.
"I can't come up with what could make that worth it," Hoshi gave Molli a sidelong glance. "Protecting the Empire and all that makes a lot more sense when you're born to do so, like me. For you, it's got to come from something less inherent and pretty substantial. Is it all just in the name of working for a better life for your father that you're in the Star Army?"
Molli fixed her eyes ahead, while inside her mind was a tempest of paranoid speculation and fear. It was only when she remembered sharing that money went to her father that Molli stymied her brief spot of panic -- this wasn't an interrogation. "Yeah, m'pa 'n I had it rough after mom...passed," Molli said, glancing Hoshi's way at last. Given how she'd never heard of a Nekovalkyrja discussing their parents, she had to wonder if any of them had any in the traditional sense. Was the relationship between Aiko and the Empress the closest thing?
"Lotta bad memories fer us, s'why ah left, s'why ah'm hopin' enough money makes him wanna leave too," Molli didn't realize what she'd let slip until it was too late, and she tried to shrug it off. "He's gotta business, s'hard t'leave that behind, ah guess..."
Quiet for a moment, Hoshi made sure to direct Molli and her own palomino towards a fork in the trail. They were headed away from the house and stalls where they had come and the path was muddy and unkempt compared to those nearer both. Yomi was sure-footed, though, and seemed to be taking a bit of pride in keeping his hocks clear of the mud and clean as he took high steps next to Molli. Flax seemed to care less as her head fell downwards as she butted it up against Hoshi's shoulder and paid no mind to her gate, unlike him.
The captain then said, "What's enough money, do you think?"
"Ah don't know." Trepidation once again, Molli weighed her options. "Ah haven't heard from 'em, but he ent sendin' anythin' back,' she said, after a pause.
"I think I mean to get at asking, if you made enough to get him out of where he is, would you stay? In the Star Army, that is." Hoshi started unbuckling Flax's halter as she went on before she looked Molli with a gentle, albeit sad, smile. "Whatever you say, it won't affect how I captain you. Just how attached I get to having you around is all."
The Nepleslian gave Hoshi a sharp look with unblinking eyes that seemed to glow brighter all of a sudden. "S'hard t'go back to th'way things used t'be," she unbuckled Yomi's halter, then fixed that same determined gaze back on her captain. "Ah can't fly Mindys inna garage." Saying that, even in jest, felt too superficial to leave at that. "People in th'crew ah like." People like her right arm, a warrior with a steely gaze, and a tiny captain that cared.
Molli absentmindedly wrapped the leather cord of the halter around her knuckles as she thought of the faces that were all too familiar by now, as essential as water and air. It was a double-edged sword to care so much for them; with every mission came greater tension, and that ever-present worry that it'd be someone's last. Worse still, what if it was her fault? "Ah'd've cut me loose after what happened," Molli said it out of the blue, and likely didn't need to elaborate.
Molli had said a lot—more than enough to fill Hoshi's belly with reassurance. She had been meaning to spring something on Molli since she had first heard the problems she faced, but Molli's last statement caught the words in Hoshi's throat and she choked on them for a moment. She stayed in silence as she tugged at a chain to another pipe fence's gate and swung it open.
The pale golden horse Hoshi had slipped the halter off of earlier moved into the pasture. The long, green grass was being brushed gently by the wind and the sound was intermittently like a whooshing noise, then soft whisperings. In the distance, deep blue storm clouds tugged on the horizon but at their backs the sun was still shining and cutting through to splay onto the pasture idyllically.
"Speaking of cutting loose," Hoshi said as she looked to the black beauty pointedly. Yomi knew where he was and was kicking his feet up high, excited and ready to be let out to pasture where the grazing was much better than the stale hay from his time overwintering. But, he was respectfully sure not to pul against the lead too much in order to make it taut and stayed close to Molli despite his excitement. "Why should I have done that?" Hoshi asked without looking at Molli.
"E-Easy, boy!" Molli backed as far from Yomi as the lead allowed out of fear that one of those piston-like hooves would find its mark on her body. "Ah already take enough hits on ops...!" Despite his barely restrained rowdiness, Molli got the sense that he wouldn't hurt her unless he really wanted to, which made it slightly easier to lead him to pasture alongside his fellow equine. Once they passed through the gate, Molli got the halter off completely, and Yomi was eager to gallop through the fields like he probably wanted to do all winter.
For now, Molli and the captain had a moment to themselves before the next pair needed leading. Time enough to answer the captain's question. "Ah could tell ya didn't trust me," Molli answered bluntly, without any resentment. She'd pulled a gun on the captain, who would trust her after that?
The pasture was a good enough scene to stare at for awhile, but they had more horses to grab and so Hoshi started on her way back. "You know, you shouldn't wrap the lead around your hand like you did earlier. If a horse bolts or spooks, they'll drag you with them if your hand gets wrapped up in a cinch. You're lucky Yomi's from a long line of cavalry horses, he's not going to do that to you. Another horse, if you have some bad feeling, they'll pick up on it from the other end of the lead or reins and cause problems."
"Huh...good t'know, ah guess..." Molli wondered what use a space-faring empire would have for cavalry horses. It must have been a symbolic tradition more than anything.
"I suppose that's all an analogy for what happened in the NMX base between you and me... and the team. You were," Hoshi struggled to find the words. "You weren't acting like the person I've grown to know. Grown attached to, as I said. But that doesn't mean I'm going to spook on you, cut you loose, or what have you. I'll be like Yomi and ride that storm until greener pastures."
A smile tucked up on Hoshi's saddened face as she saw her metaphor come full circle. But then she asked quite plainly, "What would you have done differently if given the chance?"
"Save everyone ah liked, blew up th'base by m'self wiv two rifles 'neath m'arm," Molli's smile was forced, just like the joke. "Ah cannae say. Were ah bad situation, ah...ah weren't m'self," she hugged herself at the waist. It suddenly became hard to face her emphatic captain. "S'like ah were two different people, 'n we were fightin' tah decide who were who..."
"I'm glad the one who knows us as her crew won, in the end. But I also hope a bit of Myga always lives on in you and I'm glad you kept your memories. You can remember my disappointment in Myga but also, maybe, her disappointment in me," Hoshi remarked.
"Eh? Whatcha mean?"
"For a long time in my life I wouldn't have been able to give such an eloquent answer to my question," Hoshi said, bumping her shoulder towards Molli and putting an arm around her shoulder. "I'm proud of you for being better than I was at looking back and knowing what could have been done better by you. And what was out of your hands. It was a really complex situation for a trio of enlisted personnel. But there was minimal loss of life to Neko. Many Mishhu died in that base... along with their ability to have a forward operation out of the Kikyo Sector. They were top of your list of what you're scared by, so that's at least a pyrrhic victory for you, no?
The Nepleslian jumped at the sudden display of physical affection, but didn't pull away -- even though she wanted to. Molli felt the strength behind Hoshi's spindly limb, a gentle but firm reminder of what every Neko was capable of. "Ah guess..." To hope for a better outcome felt like folly; everyone on the Kaiyo made it out, and they took plenty of prisoners after destroying another Mishhu foothold in the sector. "M'therapist says ah got...residual trauma from what Myga went through," Molli explained, tapping herself on the chest where she'd been stabbed. "Phantom pains. Maybe ah have phantom melancholy?"
"Speaking of what you're scared of, "Hoshi laughed as her hand squeezed Molli's cybernetic arm and shoulder before releasing both. "One day Aiko will want to talk to you about your rank and where you see yourself in that context, you know. But today I really wanted to ask you about the mission like we did."
"What d'ya mean, talk about my rank?"
Hoshi recalled how paranoid Molli could get, "Not about a demotion, if that's what you're thinking. My commanding officer had the same talk with me when I was a Joto Hei."
"That talk bein'...? Where ah see myself?"
Hoshi nodded, "I wouldn't want it to blindside you, especially since she scares you... which, she shouldn't. She's a threat, but to our enemies alone." Hoshi said with her eyes fixed forward and intense.
Out of reflex, Molli rolled her eyes. 'Course you'd say that, bein' her friend, she thought. "Ah, uh, don't get whatcha mean, still."
"One day you'll be closer to her and you'll understand," Hoshi said. If Hoshi could read Molli's mind, she might not have implied friendship with the Ketsurui really did change things dramatically. But for now, she just added, "The best things take time."
They were back at the stable.
"You pull out the other black Marwari there. I didn't tell you Yomi had a father, did I? Izanagi. Hard to tell if he's named after the class of ship or the kami father of Tsukuyomi from yore, the horse inside the depths of the enclosure was much bigger than Yomi. He in fact looked bigger than the stable he inhabited. "Bring him over to that log. I'll help you get up on him."
Her orders received, Molli replicated the now familiar ritual of slipping a halter over the snout of her newest lead, which was another Marwari named Izanagi. "We're gonna ride 'em?" Molli asked, looking from Hoshi to the big black eye of her would-be mount with trepidation. "Heard y'get saddle sore on these things..."
"Can't get saddle sore if you don't have a saddle," Hoshi said nonchalantly as she took the lead and unbuckled it from the bottom of the halter and buckled it on the cheek area, She went to the other side of the horse's head and tied it to the same cheek area of the halter. Flipping the loop around now, she put the makeshift "reins" over Izanagi's neck so that they sat just at the end of his mane.
"That's just regular sore!"
"Hahaha, put one leg over his back as you give a half jump and seat yourself on his back. He's not going anywhere. He's even more gentle than Yomi." Hoshi said as she led the horse to the "get up" stump just beyond the stable gate.
Despite her trepidation, Molli reasoned that riding a horse was definitely less life threatening than diving through the outer atmosphere of a planet in powered armor. Following Hoshi's advice, she hopped up, slinging a leg over Izanagi's back in one fluid motion. Pulling on the reins and grasping for anything to keep from falling off, Molli slowly, clumsily pulled herself up the rest of the way until she was seated upright.
"Weren't so hard," she said with a grin, though the sweat on her forehead suggested otherwise.
"You make it look easy," Hoshi said as she gathered up the last two horses and led them on foot. She felt lighter having talked about the mission. But she wanted to be sure they had succinctly gone over it, so she asked, "Anything about the mission still bothering you?"
Molli's answer was immediate, "Hihja." Myga's closest companion, and the one that felt so betrayed she'd tried to kill the both of them. Molli couldn't fault her for that. "She's okay, is she?"
"I've never been through a re-introduction program before," Hoshi said, referring to what former NMX Nekovalkyrja needed to go through before being introduced into either Yamatai or given their freedom. "So I can't say honestly, but I'll keep tabs on when she's out and we'll visit her wherever she goes. Sorry I can't be sure on an answer."
"Least y'answered," Molli said, waving off Hoshi's apology. She felt the phantom wound on her chest again and wondered if a re-introduction program could make Hihja stop hating her -- willingly, Molli hoped. "Ah got what ah wished for, a nice neko body. Kinna felt good, bein' so strong 'n fast, an' th'flyin were nice. Ah liked brushin' m'tail -- Myga's tail." And all it cost was a harrowing mission, one of many in a long list that was still unfurling. "Think that's all ah took away from it."
"Was it the sort of thing that feels good as it's happening and is a nice memory or is it a change you'd consider more long term?" Hoshi asked.
"Ah mean... S'bout as good ah memory as ah can have, given what ah used it for," Molli felt like a better woman in her substitute body; stronger, faster, more intelligible. "Didn't feel like m'self, but...ah dunnae know if that's ah bad thing."
Hoshi screwed up her face, which Molli couldn't see from atop Izanagi. "I didn't like not recognizing you." Molli could hear the disapproval in her tone, though.
Izanagi was more lively than Molli may have expected from an old father and someone so huge. He took grand, long steps that kept her body always immersed in following his movements with hers. But unlike a smaller horse whose gate would make her bob and jut around, it was a fluidic experience to almost meld with the big black horse as he excitedly walked.
"But that's just speaking to your personality shift. If it wasn't so bad to be a Neko, you could always change over. Even temporarily to see how it is as yourself." Hoshi said.
Molli had no reply to give. Before that fateful mission in the base beneath Cauldron Lake's inky depths, she would have leaped at the opportunity to become the very model of a Star Army soldier. She'd gotten her wish, and it was nothing like she thought it'd be. It was easier to focus on the rhythmic trotting of a mount that was far more confident than its rider than engage with the captain.
The captain looked up at Molli and asked, "Want to see what it's like to go a little faster?" It wasn't impossible to tell if she meant as a Neko or atop the horse, but it was dubiously phrased given the context.
Something clicked in Molli's brain at the request that pulled the young woman back to her senses. Speed, one of Molli's earliest pursuits, and an ever present thrill; while the star army changed much about her, Molli still liked to go fast. "Justa little?" she shot back with a grin, hands gripping the reins tightly in anticipation.
"A little can feel like a lot on a horse while a lot feels manageable." Hoshi paid more mind to Izanagi, making sure he was willing to give Molli a good time. "You ready boy?" she asked while walking beside him, patting his neck muscles before backing off.
"He'll go up to a trot if you spur him on, so to speak. Squeeze from your thighs downwards, then keep the pressure on him with your thighs. It'll keep you seated to keep squeezing there but you might feel like pushing your body up and down in what's called a 'post' during a trot to not ragdoll. Just do what feels natural. Pressure from your shin won't do as much to get you going faster than your ankle.
The only experience Molli had with horses was the one time her dad let her ride mechanical seesaw in the shape of a horse outside of a grocery store when she was six. Hoshi made the real deal sound like rocket science by comparison, and Molli struggled to commit the instructions she was given to memory. "'Kay, lessee..." Squeezing her thighs together and digging in with her heel made Izanagi's leisurely canter pick up to a brisk trot, just as Hoshi said, and already Molli could feel herself rocking around like a marionette without strings. It took her a few uncomfortable minutes to find a rhythm and a more comfortable ride -- she'd definitely be sore afterward.
"If he's taking off and you want to slow, make sure your foot isn't accidentally kicking him, ease up on the shin, then pull on the lead. Most people start with pulling the reins to stop, but horses can communicate more ways than having their faces pulled on, you'll see."
"Naw, ah'm gettin' th'hanga this!" Molli shouted excitedly, seemingly in her element with the wind in her face and in control of something with horsepower. "S'like workin' a bike wiv legs!" Was that confidence speaking, or arrogance? Either way, Molli repeated her first movement, spurring Izanagi to go from trot to speedy canter -- though her surprise at the burst of speed from the old horse made her pull in on the reins and signal Izanagi to slow his pace. She could hear him whinny and snort out an annoyed gust of hot air, no doubt he was accustomed to more experienced riders.
"E-Easy, Izzy. Ah'm used t'metal, 'n...things wivout legs," Molli said, patting Izanagi on the neck. She took a small breath, then egged him on again, until they were back to a canter that kicked up rock and dirt beneath Izanagi's powerful hooves. His long loping gait felt seamless as each pair of diagonal legs took turns pushing up against the earth. It lasted only a minute, though, as the great creature slowed without being asked just as the pair made it under the canopy of trees that led to a steep decline.
The inexplicable stop made Molli lean over and look Izanagi in the eye with a confused expression, "Wotcher stoppin' for, Izzy?" she asked. "Y'see ah noodlejaw or somefin?" Molli scanned the ground, "This planet even have noodlejaws? C'mon, we were jus' gettin' goin'!"
At her urging, the horse took a few careful steps forward. No sooner were they walking than he was sliding downward. The heavy horse hadn't lifted a hoof, but was balanced perfectly on the mud beneath him. Power sliding at an increasing velocity down the hill with Molli, who held onto her reins for dear life, her legs pressing tightly on Izanagi to remain seated on their downward slide.
"Hoooooooly...!" Molli had gotten her wish for more speed, but not in the way she'd hoped. Momentary fear turned to exhilaration rather quickly for the thrill-seeking Nepleslian, and her nervous muttering turned to cheery jubilation. "Don't break anythin', Izzy!"
The hill stretched on for what felt like miles to the both of them, though it wasn't so long. They kept sliding, gaining momentum as Molli held onto the reins and her steed. There was a slight bend where the muck from the rains the weekend before solidified into something Izanagi could grab purchase of. He took some high, wide steps as soon as he could. Still speedily moving, though, the horse gave way into into a bouncy trot. Somehow, Molli could feel the same jubilation she had spoken to him with echoed in his controlled freneticism at the bottom of the muddy hill.
She felt this whole 'horse-riding' business getting a little easier, and tried to steer Izanagi to the side to find a path back up the hill. "Glad t'see y'ent mad," Molli said, patting him on the back of the neck as she watched out for anything his hooves might sink into. "Hope Hosh ent worried, she'll prolly mention that ah shoulda trusted why ya stopped," she added, wondering how much of the unintended downslide the captain saw. "Which...ah guess she's right. Cannae believe ah horse knew better." She heard Izanagi snort at that, and whether it was in amusement or derision was impossible to judge.
Picking her way along the more grassy part of the path that the pair had taken with horses earlier down the hill, Hoshi was far behind Molli. Despite such, she had started laughing as she caught the tail end of the wild riding Molli and Izanagi had done. The laughter wasn't accusatory or cackling. Rather, it was an excitable and confident one. Having been ready to drop the horses' leads and fly to Molli, when she realized how in control of the situation both horse and rider were, she had let loose those chiming sprinkles of laughter as she hurried down as carefully as she could.
"What was that?!" Hoshi called, putting extra emphasis on the last word. "You two looked straight out of a drifting competition. Molls, you're riding Izanagi like he's an airbike!"
Molli, who had by that point steered Izanagi to sturdier ground where the mud gave way to grass, tried not to grin too widely. "Ah, uh, tried t'stop 'im, but he's jus' so...excitable, y'know?" A sudden jolt of movement from below nearly threw Molli off Izanagi's back, and as she clutched his massive neck, she could feel the rumble that accompanied his lowest snort yet.
"...Ah didn't see th'hill, must've been th'shade," she admitted, and only then did Molli feel safe repositioning herself as Izanagi, evidently satisfied with her honestly, resumed his trot uphill with his head held high. "Kinna wish he were an airbike, they don't have opinions ah gotta consider." She gave Izanagi a small pat on the neck all the same; riding him wasn't too dissimilar from operating a machine in her eyes, though she did miss the rumble of an engine and a full throttle.
"Horses are full of opinions," Hoshi said with a huff both from the thought and from catching up to the two. "But his are generally not so bad. Trustworthy unless he's leading you down a hill, it seems!" She said it with a half smirk up the side of her cheek as her deep blue eyes watched him from their corners. "The paddock is just ahead. You can canter there again, if you want."
Before she loosed the last two mares into the paddock, she watched Molli follow her instructions and guide Izanagi to the paddock, though it was more than likely that the horse was making his own decision with Molli along for the ride. Whatever the case, the soldier looked like she was having a good time if her smile was anything to go by -- it was the happiest she looked in months.
Molli shut the paddock gate once Izanagi was loosed through it, and she leaned against it to watch the herd frolic and graze in the field. Her heart was still pounding from that adventure, and her entire lower half was sore from the ride, but those were mild complaints compared to how enjoyable the experience has been.
Hoshi was at the gate of the paddock, reflecting Molli's smile as she said, "Let's head back and tuck into that pie. I bet you're hungry for dinner, too, after all that riding. Speaking of, look at your legs!" The captain pointed out all the prickly black fur embedded against the seat of Molli's shorts. "I'll do a load of laundry, too."
Molli's efforts to wipe the fur from her shorts only produced a hair-covered hair and no meaningful progress, so she gave up quickly. "Ah ken help," she said, wiping her hand off on her white shirt. "What's next after dinner? More work?"
"Not a lot of farm work that can happen after dark. Better to leave the other fun stuff for tomorrow. You've helped more than enough to earn your keep," Hoshi said with that smile still on as she headed back with Molli.
Inside of the home's kitchen, Hoshi twisted the oven dial on and tugged on the handle of the fridge before stopping herself and asking, "Still think food's food or do you have a preference to eat something specific? I have a couple things that Saiga's made ahead."
"Ah ent picky, anythin' ya put down'll be good, prob'ly." Molli felt that was the most diplomatic way to say she didn't care what was on her plate. She learned how to be polite about her lack of standards on Yamatai after a noodle restaurant owner became grossly offended by her lack of enthusiasm. Hoshi's reaction likely wouldn't be as extreme, but Molli knew how seriously Yamataians took their cuisine, and didn't want to chance it. "Y'need any help?"
She sat in the kitchen in a pair of jeans, having changed out of her horse-hair covered shorts moments earlier.
"Nah, just throwing this in the oven, then," she said, pulling out a glass dish with what looked like risotto and meat within it. She put it into the oven before picking out some plates and a fork and sitting at the table. She gestured for Molli to follow, then peeled back a covering on a central dish near a frosty green vase stuffed with flowers. She unveiled a stiffly peaked white meringue pie. Because it had been previously cut into, Molli could see that below the marshmallow fluff looking topping was a yellow jelly. When Hoshi pulled a piece onto a plate, the jelly glooped out in a few places slowly and clung to the rest of the pie in others. She placed it in front of Molli who could see the porcelain plate was rimmed with woodland animals and hearts painted into it.
"I made it myself, so tell me what you think." Hoshi served herself just as quickly, but didn't eat a bite as she watched Molli.
Never one to indulge in sweets, Molli nonetheless had to admit that Hoshi's skill at baking made her serving look delectable. She was keenly aware of the captain's expectant gaze as she took up the fork and stabbed a narrow portion off of the whole, then bit down on it. Originally, Molli planned to make a show of savoring the flavor, but the sweet and lemony dough melted in her mouth and lingered long after she'd swallowed it down, which just made her want more. Bite after bite, Molli had a hard time comprehending how the same flavor could still taste just as good as the first bite, until at last her slice was just crust on the plate.
"S'good," Molli said, wiping a bit of cream off of her lips and licking her finger. "S'best pie ah ever had." The only pie she'd ever had, actually. "Yer guy's lucky he's got ah cook like you, ah bet."
Hoshi's blue and white eyebrows wiggled as she looked very pleased with herself, "The best pie you've had? Well I'll be. I'm taking that to heart, Molls!" Having long since tucked into her own slice with the satisfaction of knowing Molli was enjoying hers next to her, she just shrugged her shoulders as she finished chewing. "He cooks better than me. I do bake a better pie, though. Pretty lucky to have each other."
The crust didn't last as long as the rest of the pie, reduced to crumbs that Molli started to pick off the plate. "Ah'll say," she looked around the room and took in all of the rustic decorations, her gaze settling on the window that overlooked the scenic country landscape. "Ah'd say he's luckier t'have ya, cannae think've ah better place t'retire." Molli wondered what her retirement would look like, and who she'd spend it with. Her thoughts conjured up a small apartment in the heart of Kyoto, but the person standing in front of the window was a hazy, indistinct shape.
Thinking about retirement, Saiga, and her home, Hoshi looked happier than possible. Breaking herself from her reverie only slightly, she said, "My home is open to you even before either of us retire. It's better served as a getaway for crew than a place for two old Yamataians, anyway."
"Now ah gotta prep ya somefin' on m'home back on Yamatai," Molli said, ever accustomed to a life of favors exchanged for other favors. "Ah ken make ah killer ramen." Hoshi's good cheer was infectious, and even normally surly Molli wasn't immune. She thought about Hoshi's idle comment about airbikes and recalled how she hadn't considered her former career at all as Myga. Thinking back, she realized that was the case not only because of the mission, but because she couldn't recall the sensation of riding one; the sort of lifelong muscle memory only a career racer could build up. Would giving up her old body mean it'd be lost forever?
It was something to think about, among other things, and Molli had to wonder if that wasn't at least some of Hoshi's intent with the ride. "Thanks, skipper," Molli said, raising her fork to 'salute' her captain. "Fer th'lil vacation."
Raising her fork in the same fashion, Hoshi said, "Always here for you."