Helping Terra

"Tear!” Morgana greeted with a huge smile on her lips. “How are you?” By the time Tearnyn had woken up, Morgana had already left.
“Okay, found out that we have to prepare for rainy weather soon. You?” Tearnyn stood by the nose of the shuttle where Morgana was working.
“I’m good. We’re going to need to find new metal, but the front engine isn’t too damaged so we can keep it.” She smiled. “How’s Yurik doing?”
“Hasn’t said much since he started researching. Last time I saw him, his face was all scrunched up with concentration.”
“You gave him the perfect project.” Morgana grinned.
“Have you eaten yet?”
“No, but I’m going to break in about an hour.”
“Tonight be back by 7 so we can all have dinner together. We haven’t seen each other much since starting our projects.”
“Okay, be safe!” Morgana waved as Tearnyn turned and left. That night they got food to go and headed back to their shared living quarters. They sat in a circle on the floor and began their meal. After taking a bite, Tearnyn began, “Alright, Morgana update please.”
Morgana wiped her mouth and stated, “The shuttle is going to need a lot of work, but I should be able to fix it. There is some outer shell damage that will need special metal so it can withstand the extreme temperatures of exiting the atmosphere and then fly through space. If we can find some, the frame will be fine. I’ll work on the engine and computers until we get the material for the body.”
“Thanks, if you need anything let me know. Yurik, what have you found out?”
“From what I can tell, this is Old Earth. The history books talk about the old seven continents, how the United States rebelled against England, the four World Wars, how fast technology spread, the rise and fall of the werewolf race, and eventually how the humans left to explore space. The science books talk about the solar system and the eight planets including our very own Earth or Terra as the locals call it. Some of them haven’t been updated in years but the information clearly states that this,” He swept his arms around, “Is Old Earth.”
“But how can it be?” Morgana pushed, “Everyone knows that the sun collapsed in on itself and became a black hole.”
“We know that, but apparently the sun never got the e-mail.” Yurik dripped with sarcasm. “We also learned that everyone was evacuated so they weren’t pulled in, but apparently that was a lie too.”
“So what are we to do? If we’re on a planet that shouldn’t exist, how are we to be found?”
“We are going to have to get to a section of space the government acknowledges. Our computer system should be able to map out a route to the nearest galaxy.”
“That is true. Tear, what do you think?”
The two Scouts looked at their friend who was sporting a troubled look. “I’m more concerned with the fact that we have been lied to and I don’t think it was truly on purpose. Maybe when it was first written down, but now it is ‘commonly’ accepted knowledge. I want to know why the Milky Way Galaxy was erased from our history.”
“Part of history is covering up the truth.” Yurik pointed out.
“Yes, but what truth are they hiding.” Tearnyn sighed and ran her fingers through her hair; nails scraping over the scalp. “But that will be investigated later. We need to fix the shuttle and learn more about this place. How far are you with the research on this planet?”
“I’m almost done with this library. I’ve read a little, as stated before, on the world’s history but most of it is on Green Willow. Alpha Sierra is fourth generation Roik to be Alpha here and before her family was, it was a man named Alpha Codyn Simmier.”
“Okay. Anything of importance we should know about this village?”
“It’s pretty much self sustaining but it does trade a bit with a neighboring city. Also, don’t stray from the marked paths of this territory or you’ll enter into another pack’s territory and the alliance is already fragile.”
“I heard a bit about that. We’ll take that to heart though I do not want us to cause trouble.” Tearnyn ate the last bite of her supper and pushed the makeshift tray away. “Depending on how long everything takes, we may have to get jobs. There are four seasons here from what I have been told. We are entering autumn which I guess is cooler and rainy and then we have winter which is cold. Morgana do we have our winter attire in the shuttle?”
Morgana furrowed her brows and replied slowly, “I don’t think so. I believe we put them back on Tristis since we were only going to chart space and not actually land on a planet.”
“I was afraid of that.” Tearnyn sighed. “I’ll start looking around while you two continue your projects. If I can’t make enough or you hit a slow point, you’re getting a job of some sort. Okay?” The two wolves nodded their agreement.
The next day, Tearnyn went around to try and find a job. Even though the wolves were welcomed, the employers were not eager to hire them. They were strangers and not only to the village but to the entire planet. Tearnyn tried for three days to convince anyone to hire her, but ultimately ended up volunteering at the clinic. She figured if she could show the doctors and nurses that she knew what she was doing, she would be hired somewhere given enough time. While she volunteered a few hours every other day at the clinic, Coral temporarily hired her until she found another job.
She was working a shift when Coral looked her over. “Don’t you have any other clothes?”
Tearnyn looked down at her olive green army pants, military boots, olive green tank top, and dog tags that dangled in front of her shirt. “Not really. All the money I’ve been making is going towards rent, food, and spare parts for Morgana.”
Coral raised her eyebrows, “You can hunt in the forests you know.”
“We can?”
“As long as you don’t eat everything it’s fine. Take only enough for you and your pack and don’t do it too often.”
“Thanks, that will make feeding so much easier and give us more money to work with.” She smiled at her employer before bring some drinks to her patrons. Right before leaving her shift, Coral invited her to the party the village was throwing to welcome in the harvest season. After a moment of hesitation, Tearnyn nodded and left to inform her two pack mates that they would be attending a party.
As they got ready, Yurik looked at the two women. “We need to make a decision about submitting. We’ve been here a few weeks and the full moon is getting close. If we don’t submit to someone, we’re going to go feral.”
“I was thinking about that too.” Morgana shifted on the balls of her feet. “My wolf is getting restless. I’m fine right now, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to keep it together when the full moon arrives and I’m surrounded by unfamiliar wolves.”
“We can talk to Alpha Roik about it. She would be the one we submit to since none of us are exactly Alpha material.” Tearnyn replied finishing her shoe laces.
“Says you!” Morgana teased as she sat next to Tearnyn and rubbed cheeks with her. “I’d make a badass Alpha.”
“Maybe a pup, but Alpha you are not.” The younger girl grinned as she nuzzled back.
“I’ve never submitted to anyone but Alpha Hannigan before.” Yurik wrapped his arms around Tearnyn’s waist so his fingers laced with Morgana’s and placed in chin on the former’s shoulder. “You’re so small Tear.”
“I am petite, I can’t help it.” She pouted. “And it’s not that bad, it’s like when you submitted to Hannigan. Nothing to worry about.” She rubbed his nose comfortingly.
“I still don’t understand how you are so small. All of your family is tall. I’m pretty sure your mother is the shortest and she’s almost six feet.” Morgana shook her head, tossing her wavy hair.
“I blame my mother’s side of the family. My grandmother was rather short I believe.”
“You never met your maternal grandmother?” Yurik cocked his head.
“Once when she was dying. My mum was never close to either of her parents.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine.” Tearnyn smiled. “I had plenty of suffocating love from my pack and my dad’s side of the family to make up for it.”
“You seem to have a large family.” He observed.
“Quite. My grandfather’s pack is large all on its own. I’d get claustrophobic if it wasn’t for the fact that they live on a large farm. Now,” She stood, disentangling herself from the others, “Let’s go before we chicken out.” The three left their shared room and headed out into the cooling night. They seamlessly joined a group of wolves that were heading to the party. Even from where they were, the group could hear loud music coming from the tavern along with singing and laughter.
They awkwardly walked through the crowd until they came to a table they could all fit at. Many of the wolves smiled at them as they passed and even conversed with them from time to time. Over the course of the night, Morgana danced with at least a dozen different wolves and Yurik was flirted with (not that he realized) by many admirers. Tearnyn enjoyed herself as she also danced a few times and talked with a great many people about different things. She omitted a few details about her life, but overall gave them the best description of her life in a W Unit as she could. There was a group of four male wolves that look at Morgana hungrily, as if she were a bitch in heat. Tearnyn caught the eyes of one of them and bared her teeth in warning. The man gave a cocky grin and put his hands up in surrender. She narrowed her eyes before looking away and watching Morgana.
Yurik had followed Tearnyn’s line of sight and arched a brow at her. Because they knew each other so well, they quietly conversed about the creepy men and agreed to watch Morgana. They knew if the older woman found out they were acting as her guards behind her back, she would be pissed but they were willing to deal with her wrath.
The night waned on and around 1am, Tearnyn yawned. “I’m going to head out.” Yurik and Morgana looked at her.
“You want us to come?” Yurik asked.
“Naw, I’ll be fine. You two have fun, but don’t do anything stupid.” She teased as she downed the last of her drink. “Night.” She waved and started weaving through the crowd, stopping a few times to say goodbye. As she walked out of the tavern, she shook her head to wake up. It took her a moment to realize that her blurry vision was something more than being tired. She stopped in the middle of the street as her perception and balance tilted and moved. The village around her started spinning as her eyelids got heavier.
She snapped her head sideways, a very bad idea, when she heard footsteps behind her. Trying her best to look normal, she started walking towards the inn. With each step her balance was teetering and she heard voices and laughter behind her. Even though Tearnyn knew it was a bad idea, she picked up her pace until she was running. Confusion seeped into her mind as voices behind called to her. She started stumbling as pockets in her memory formed. One minute she was in the streets of Green Willow and now she was running through the dark forest. She tripped and fell to the ground. She growled as the four men from earlier cornered her into a tree. She barred her teeth as glowing amber irises replaced her silver and amber ones.
“Look at what we have here.” One man cackled. “A lone she wolf and a petite one at that.”
“She’s a wild one, don’t you think? May need to be taught lesson for being aggressive earlier.” A second licked his lips.
“She’s strange, but up close she’s a looker.” The third friend squatted. “Wonder what she looks like without all those clothes.” He leaned forward and grabbed the hem of her shirt. Without thinking, Tearnyn swiped her claws across the man’s face. “You Bitch!” The man howled and backhanded her. She went sprawling on the ground, no more strength in her. “You’ll regret that. We were going to be gentle, but you need to be taught a lesson.” The man crawled on top of her; legs straddling her hips. She tried to weakly fight back but was quickly detained; her arms trapped above her head. She whimpered as blood dripped on her face and her vision blackened. The last thing she remembered before passing out was ripping fabric and growls.
The next time Tearnyn came to, she was disoriented and slightly nauseous. Her head throbbed as sounds around her echoed in her ear. Her reflexes went on high alert as someone approached her. She did not remember fully what happened, but she did know that she had been in danger. So when the person came close to her, she jumped up defensively. She would have been intimidating if she had not immediately turned to vomit. Something furry walked up next got her so she would not topple over.
After emptying her stomach, Tearnyn turned her face to see a white wolf. If it had been any other time, she would have freaked out but at the moment she did not particularly care. Instead, she leaned into the wolf and rested her spinning head on the soft fur. She ended up curling into the wolf and falling back to sleep for another few hours.
The next time she woke, a different wolf was with her and stared with clear blue eyes. Tearnyn held up her hand and let the wolf sniff it before stroking its head. They stayed like that until the wolf’s ears perked and it stood. Weakly, she pushed herself up and faced the direction the wolf was. She held her breath as a larger silver and white wolf walked towards them with four other wolves behind it. She lowered her eyes sensing that the lead wolf was an Alpha. She waited for him to shift to his human form, but when it never happened she looked up again to only find one human among the wolves.
The human was unlike one she had seen before. On the surface he looked normal. He had tan skin, was about her brother’s 6’1” height, and had space black eyes. But on further inspection, he was different. His hair was pure white, instead of nails he had claws, and his teeth were more pointed than blunt; he was almost a perfect cross between human and wolf in features. When he caught her staring, she returned her eyes to the Alpha. The wolf came to sit before her with his head held high. The wolf that currently stood next to her, moved to sit behind its Alpha.