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Chapter 4 - Aggression

The room was bare of character; blank off-white walls, steel and glass desk and tiny wall-aligned table. The bedsheets bore the insignia of the Terran Space Exploration; a blue-green world upon an ivory shield, though made entirely of some unnameable fabric. Glinting Silver dresser with black drawers and metal handles. Even the carpeting was a bland gray. The room was small, but spacious. Fourteen people, perhaps, could fit inside comfortably.

The two within the room slowly moved, enraptured in each other's arms, towards the downy bed. Vulpine tears soaking lupine chest and neck as Jasyn tried to soothe his friend.

'The Falchion is gone...' the wolf thought to himself. 'My father... mother... they're all dead.' His own eyes rimmed with tears, suddenly feeling the loneliness that they were now faced with.

"Atlas is dead, Jayse..." Jasyn heard the fox weep, just keeping his head upon the covered chest. "My brother is dead. And mom, and dad. Everyone is dead Jay..." Axis babbled; hot, fresh tears soaking through Jasyn's thick pelt.

Jasyn watched, his eyes clouded with his own tears as he saw the fox's gaze meet his. Time seemed to halt as their gaze grew longer and the one thought on his mind was that he never wanted to be without the fox.

The seconds seemed entrapped in ice as slowly distance fell away; and for the briefest of moments, all that mattered to the wolf was to close the space between them.

It was clearly a shock to the fox as much as it was to him - like lightning from the sky, highlighting some unspoken, unseen bond - when their noses brushed together. Axis' ears fell, Jasyn's rose, and quickly fears and loss were banished from his mind and surely the fox's too.

The gaping void between them had been closed in half a heartbeat, and Jasyn felt the fox's lips upon his own. The warmth and dampness was, to Jasyn, exquisite as he felt Axis' tongue slowly slip the bridge between them. Heat rose in both flush faces as the Jasyn welcomed the tongue with his own, and he was aware in the moments that passed of Axis' heartbeat quickening.

Jasyn's mind was racing, and his teary eyes shut tight while he let himself get lost in the sensations and the instant. A thought struck him from somewhere and with sudden light tugs with sharp lupine teeth he pulled a groan of appreciation from his enraptured fox. As their lips soon parted, Jasyn watched Axis' ears stayed plastered to his skull, and his teary eyes grew drier in the wake of that first passion.

"Axis..." he breathed, a heat alluding to him that his face and ears were flush. The creature he adored had just shared something so primal that his heart had started overtime. It wasn't long, that first deep kiss, but all the same Jasyn grew warmer under Axis' gentle touch.

Violet-black met powder blue as in a breathy whisper the young vulpine spoke the name "Jasyn," from lips he now knew well. The euphoric sense of joy did not relent as Jasyn brushed his finger 'pon Axis' tear-crusted cheek.

"I lied, Jasyn," the little fox admitted, ears flicking gently before resting back again. Jasyn felt his best friend's fingers press so gently on his chest and he saw the fox's eyes dip low to watch them rest. "What I said... back in your room..." he heard him add as though an afterthought.

'Back in my room?' the wolf thought quickly, trying hard to recall the conversation.

"I told you," his friend began, "That I didn't think I was like... you. I said that I didn't think the same of you that you thought of me."

Still holding close to three-tailed fox, the wolf's eyes stayed focused on his friend's face. He didn't push, but pulled gently on the fox's body to let him know his presence.

"Jasyn... the truth is... I think I do," the fox finally admitted, his ears bright pink and head raised to gaze at Jasyn's eyes. The silence broke across him again, not knowing what to say. It felt like waiting for an answer you do not know the question to. The fox's voice quickly, hopefully added, "Last night... too. I said that I'd always be your friend."

Jasyn thought he'd heard wrong, but the white fox allayed those thoughts.

"Jayse... I-I..." a nervous pause, before he quickly tried again. "I want to try... at least."

The wolf had seen it coming. From that first admission of a lie he had felt that this was the inevitable answer. His eyes stared into amethyst but his gaze was well behind his friend, the focus lost from him as he stood in silent shock.

"Jasyn; I want to be with you, everyone else is gone. The ship is gone, you're all I have left. You always kept me close, because you wanted to protect me..." he felt the fox lean closer but he was too lost in thought. "I think I always loved you Jay... but those rules... It doesn't matter now anyway, cause they're gone," came the end of Axis' explanation and he leaned his full weight onto Jasyn's front.

Reeling as he was, Jasyn barely had coherent mind enough to realize that they were falling. The soft bed cushioned him as Axis chests fell hard against his own. He just looked at the fox in amazement, eyes searching deep for any sign of falsity.

"You're sure..." he finally spoke, his paws settling on the curve of Axis' back.

"Positive," came the confident reply, and Jasyn saw the spirit in his fox's eyes.

'Axis,' he thought. 'my Axis,' he corrected. The taste of the phrase was honey on his mind as he rested back with fox and memory upon him. He clearly remembered the day they'd met. He was cleaning the cargo bay as punishment for mouthing off to his father.

_He was only seven at the time, but his father insisted he be disciplined. A curious young Kit had managed to hide himself and was watching the wolf through a space between two containers.

As Jasyn worked, the young fox had begun to quietly creep around the bay. He had always been taught he should avoid wolves, but he had been doing something for his brother, and he didn't want to get caught where he shouldn't be. If he had only made it past the wolf and out of the cargo-bay, he'd have been home free.

The wolf suddenly turned, sniffing at the air. He'd just caught a whiff of the fox on the air currents and he turned his gaze toward the vent.

The kit knew he was caught, so he just stood up and revealed himself. Jasyn had jumped and raised an eyebrow. He'd seen this fox before, but had always been told to stay away from him. He considered getting his dad, and then he asked, "What's your name, Kit?"..._

Jasyn remembered it well, it was the day he knew he'd fallen in love. Axis and him were friends in secret for years, often meeting in the ship's service ducts to just chat and play games. Then a few years later, it was Jasyn's tenth Sirian year. He had 'graduated' the ship's officer program only a week prior and had become an Ensign.

_Jasyn had invited all of his friends. The party had been mostly wolves, but a distinctive group of huskies and a Dalmatian were scattered about the mess hall, a young Azuma, as fate would have it. Axis had been invited too, but the guards outside the door had refused to let him in. When he shouted that 'he was a friend of Jasyn's' Jasyn turned towards the door. The frosted glass gave way to clear in wide bands and he caught the sight of Axis' tails. He had quickly jogged toward the kit and the doors had just parted in time for him to see the guard backhand his Kit.

Jasyn had jumped through the then-open doors and socked the guard right back, growling angrily. The collie guard had been so shocked that he was about to hit back, but Jasyn's father, the second in command, intervened. "Lieutenant!" barked the massive wolf, and Jasyn's flicked back from fright.

"Sir! I'm sorry but he attacked me first," he had heard the guard say quickly.

Jasyn had paid the words little heed, having knelt near his friend. He was looking Axis over for any serious injury as his father turned on him. "Jasyn, get away from him. He should know better than to interrupt a wolf's party," he heard the elder wolf growl loudly._

"Dad, they hit him! I was only trying-" began the small wolf pleading.

"You'll be punished later. You can take him to the brig," the father's orders stung in Jasyn's ears. He watched the dismissive way that the large lupine waved towards his friend and his hatred for his father's ways began.

"NO!" Jasyn had screamed, and he remembered glaring up at the tall man as though he was able to intimidate him. "He's my guest, dad! I _invited him!" Jasyn bellowed loudly. He was surprised at how much his voice rang when he raised it.

Jasyn's father shook his head and he heard the wolf murmur, Jasyn, don't do this..."

"I'll do it if I want to dad! Axis has been invited to my party, treat him like any of the other guests! Or would you have them defy a wolf's orders?" he had contested. It had seemed so important then that Axis be allowed to join the party.

Jasyn was startled greatly when the man agreed. He'd expected to be brigged as well for a few days.

"Alright, the fox can stay, but the minute the party ends he is out of here."_

"You've my word sir..." Jasyn promised, and then turned to Axis. Seeing the wound over his eye, he had frowned and hugged the fox, something they'd done in private before. The party inside had obviously heard the commotion and Jasyn had seen the stares the party goers were trying to steal from around his towering father.

From that day Jasyn always protected Axis. Foxes were almost as possessions to the 'higher breeds' and every second he could spend with Axis outside of his working hours, he had.

"I don't want to take advantage of you Kit. Please, sleep on it..." Jasyn pleaded softly, hoping that his friend would not regret the decision.

"My mind will not change, Jasyn... Please. Consider this slept-on and much-thought-out. Jasyn Emitt... I want to be your life mate," the kit pleaded softly, peering cautiously into Jasyn's lupine eyes.

He blinked and wrapped his arms tighter, letting a sigh pass his throat as he concentrated on the firm resistance Axis' body gave to all attempts to squish him. "Of course... kit..." he said softly.

'I haven't lost as much as I thought...' the wolf told himself. He slowly rubbed his cheek against the fox's and their gazes met again. Wide smiles, no tears. Licking gently at the matted fur beneath his love's eyes, he cleared away the crusted salt of tears. "You look terrible... love," he laughed softly.

The return of a weaker laugh came softly to his ears. "Jayse," whined the fawned-over fox. "Come on... I'm not that bad am I?"

Jasyn pulled back his tongue and shook his head with a genuine smile, lips pulled back to reveal clean lupine teeth. "Course not," he confirmed, receiving a peck on his cheek from the fox.

A light sigh caused the wolf to lift his ears and he smiled as the fox settled against him. It seemed almost natural, the way their bodies fell together, and were it not for the ache of his badly arching back he would have stayed there.

He looked down and saw the cuddled warmth that the fox, his Kit, was enjoying and he was loath to ruin it. "Kit..." he said with a grudging reluctance. "My back..." he pleaded.

Axis' eyes snapped open and the weight was quickly off the wolf. "Sorry..." he heard Axis whimper and he saw the fox's ears flat backward yet again.

"S'alright, Kit. Just..." the wolf sat up and groaned stiffly, the joints of his spine seeming to pop back into place. He turned his slightly anguished face to the fox and broke a smirk at what he saw.

Axis' head tilted sidewards and his high ear lifted up in query as his cheeks and ears flushed pink. "What?" he asked, and quickly Jasyn's smirk grew to a giggle; then an outright laugh.

"You..." the wolf spoke, jovial laughter punctuating the sound. Axis' eyes flicked shut and he tilted his head the other way.

"Me?" he questioned.

"Yeah, you," Jasyn replied.

"What's so funny about me?" he heard the fox huff in distress. Clearly, he was beginning to tire of this game. "Jasyn, I just opened up to you and you-" Jasyn's finger halted the argument.

Leaning slowly forward, with all the casualness of a handshake, the wolf smirked quietly. "You're just cute when you're indignant..." the wolf admitted, quickly pulling his dearest friend, 'no, mate' he corrected himself, close and laying back properly on the bed.

The fox began to object; "I am n-aah..." but a well placed lick cut him off. Jasyn's tongue trailed gently up the side of Axis' neck, a clearly affectionate gesture.

Before the fox could speak otherwise, Jasyn affirmed, "You're good looking all the time, Kit."

The lick seemed to soothe the fox; the sound of deep and slumbering breaths reached the wolf's ears minutes later. Jasyn's arms wrapped snugly around his kit's chest and back and the weight upon him brought a comfort he hadn't expected.

With Axis straddling one of his kegs, he could clearly feel his dear friend's body pressed lightly upon his own. 'Axis... My axis...' he thought silently, as he stroked a paw against the fox's shoulder.

The hangar's bright light filtered into the room through the window at the foot of the wall-bound bed. Despite the bright lighting, though, Jasyn breathed softly at the scent of his love.

The fox's back rising, falling, rising, over the breaths that Axis took was hypnotic and the light pressure of the tails against his outside leg soothed his mind; quickly goading him into a restful, though dreamless sleep he had been missing for two nights.

--

"All onboard crew report to the Hangar Deck," the voice interrupted the wolf's sleep.

Jasyn pushed himself upward and he heard a quiet thump as Axis' body fell off of him and against the nearby wall. He peered around in tired uncertainty at the loud noise that had roused him. "Axis?" he asked softly, waiting briefly for reply.

"Yeah, I hear it too. Sounds urgent..." conceded the fox, and Jasyn saw in his shadow the twitch of an ear.

The voice repeated; "All onboard crew are ordered to the Hangar Deck."

The wolf swung his legs over the side and looked down upon himself. "I think it means us too, Kit," Jasyn guessed, his ears pressing down now from the intensity of the siren.

"Yeah. I'm with you on that one," agreed the fox, and Jasyn saw the flick of tails from side to side just past the vulpine hips.

--

With some unbridled enthusiasm, Axis followed the stream of scattered crew members The humans were dressed in crisp and clean white-and-black uniforms, and Jasyn watched as the fox passed them by towards where he guessed the Hangar was.

Jasyn stopped running and chuckled as one of the crew members, surely stunned by the fox's exuberance, almost walked directly into him. Jasyn saw her at just the last moment and jumped back with a surprised yelp.

"Oh, uh... Hi?" said the woman, at most in her early twenties. Jasyn noticed she had curling flaxen hair and eyes the colour of an emerald.

'Green eyes seem common for humans,' he thought quietly, flicking an ear as he registered the words a moment later. "Hi there, I'm Jasyn." he said, extending his paw like every other human he'd seen so far.

"N-nice to meet you Jasyn... um... are you a Sirian?" asked the woman, her own hand extended to shake his as they walked.

"Yes, I'm one of the Sirians that landed here," he replied, drawing back his hand after the handshake.

"Sorry about your ship... I-I mean... I'm..." she trailed off, and he saw her look about the nearby faces.

"Oh! Sean! There you are, I was just looking for you," he heard her exclaim, and he watched her walk off with another human.

'Humanity is easy to distract...' he said to himself, and then started sprinting after Axis' scent. Making turn after turn with Sirian Lupine precision, he descended a stairwell into the massive hangar deck.

Two whole decks of the echo wind were almost entirely hollowed out. Walls in the shape of the profile of a bullet went from floor to high ceiling in the centre and housed what looked like flight control. Smaller bays lined the outer walls, with massive doors that slid contently into the walls of floors above and below. It was the forward most of these that the crew had grouped around and Jasyn quickly found his fox's tails.

Sprinting quickly to his mate, the wolf found Axis speaking to a lean looking human in one of the unflattering uniforms. The white was cut with lines of gold and violet and Jasyn saw two pins of silver adorning his left breast.

"Hey, welcome to the ship, I'm Lieutenant Commander Brackson. Chief Engineer in Main," he said by way of greeting.

'No handshake,' he thought, regarding the black haired man. He guessed, quite correctly, that this would be Axis' superior officer and peered sidelong at the fox.

"Jasyn Emitt," he spoke shortly, almost gruff, and heard rather than saw the fox's upset.

"Ensign Levi here's been asking about the shields. He seems to understand them fairly well, even if he's never worked on one before," Jasyn heard a little pride in this man's voice at that remark. "He'll make a fine engineer if he can get up to date fast enough."

The sound of Axis' chuckle barely registered in his mind over the tap, tap, tap of a finger on a microphone.

"I am Captain Varu, navigational command.-" he heard over a loudspeaker.

"And I am Captain Kaine, tactical-" came the second voice to Jasyn's ears.

"As most of you know, the ship is hardly complete. TSE has, in their infinite wisdom, decided that with weapons, engines, and defenses working we are good enough to go," said the first man, and the wolf heard clear disdain over the established leadership.

"We're likely going to have to fire upon the intruding ship in orbit," continued the second. "Our nearby ships are keeping a guard up but with that thing up there we can't recall any of our explorers. We'll have to make due with what we have. All you need to do is to follow your orders. Nothing questionable will be suggested, just keep to what you're told and we'll be out of here really soon."

Jasyn listened with a quiet intent at the schedule proposed, and paid special heed to mention of his people.

"Our friends, the Sirians, are to make their way to command momentarily," Varu said with a smile. "As main commander I have some rules to go over with you," he added after a moment of silence.

"You should make your way to your assigned posts now. We will be leaving the ground within the hour," Kaine said finally.

The pair gave a few more statements and left the hangar bay. 'With any luck,' Jasyn thought, 'this will be the only time the crew will be in one place." The number of people this ship seemed to be manned by was massive compared to the relatively tiny compliment of the Falchion, and the dazzling array of scents was almost overwhelming.

Jasyn had to concentrate on Axis' scent, just to keep from getting lost in them.

He and Axis made the trek to the bridge, almost half a kilometer of footsteps and several stories upward.

The main bridge was a large, fan-shaped room with two tiers. On the upper tier, Jasyn noticed screens and displays that bore the crosshair of weaponry controls. Captain Kaine stood poised with a report in his hand on a pad of steel near the entrance and waved them down to the lower level.

As he stepped carefully down the short metal staircase Jasyn spotted many more consoles, some for weapons but most for regular ship operations, recognizing the almost obvious controls for starship piloting at a seat near the centre. A multitude of screens, now dormant, lined the curving forward wall. The ever present hum of technology surrounded him as a crewman motioned, kindly, to a door in the side of the bridge.

Jasyn was acutely aware that this was as forward in the ship as he could get, and in just a few hours the vacuum of space would be just a few feet beyond those screens.

As the pair entered Captain Varu's 'office' Jasyn noticed two things. The Captain was fond of clutter, and was also fond of order. The walls were packed with a variety of artwork, several paintings of the ship and many more abstract pieces.

Lynn and Azuma had already taken up seating opposite the man, and Varu grinned warmly as the wolf and fox arrived.

"Aah, good," he said with a bright smile.

'He likes to be happy,' the wolf thought of the man. With chocolate hair and eyes that were too black he beckoned them to sit upon the small, uncomfortable seats.

"I'm sorry they're so small, but it's all they'd give me," he apologized, and again that strange human compulsion to sympathize seemed to stifle Jasyn's mood.

He began to speak of behaviour, and how they should treat everybody as though they were exactly the same as them. He missed the grumbles the Collie made, and had been paying too much attention to Jasyn, the appointed leader of the Echo Wind Sirians, to notice Azuma's dangerous leer at Axis. Jasyn noticed, but he held back his voice. Varu's voice was smooth and almost as fine as the Sirius Sand Jasyn's father had kept on his bedside tab-

'Not now Jasyn,' the wolf scolded himself, thoughts of his father bringing up a pang of hurt.

"Now, with our delightful friends up there," the man said, pleasant sarcasm on his voice, "we think it would be good to go check up on your home world. I'm sure the Prime Minister has already voiced her concerns about that?" he asked.

Jasyn nodded and said, "Well, we've never even seen our planet. I don't expect to by my death," as though it were the simplest fact.

"Actually, we'll probably cross that distance in about a month. The fold length on this ship is better than most of the fleet."

Jasyn heard Axis stammer, "You mean, we're actually going home?"

Jasyn heard Azuma's growl, his heckles rising in distress at the sound. "Do you have something to say, spot?" he challenged, hoping the Captain would back him.

He was right, "Don't worry, Ensign Emitt. Ensign Azuma, please calm yourself. Ensign Levi makes an excellent point."

"Huh?" the dalmatian raised his eyebrows in curiosity.

"Yes, Ensign. You and your friends are going to see your home in the near future," the Captain answered with a soft chuckle.

"Not our friend," Lynn huffed, crossing her arms across her more than ample chest.

Jasyn saw the Captain's brow twitch. "Well, regardless," he continued, unabated. "I'm going to be putting a lot of trust in you, Ensign Emitt," Jasyn met the man's gaze. "As you well know you'll be piloting this ship."

Jasyn only barely realized the colour of the Captain's stripe. Solid red crossing crossing over his chest with two small golden pins above his left breast. Jasyn's fingertip brushed the pins from his old uniform gently as he nodded his understanding.

"Aye Sir," he spoke without any hesitation.

The Captain began to list some basic dress protocol and said they'd attempted to accommodate them with uniforms. He dismissed them from his office and the four walked out through the upper exit to the bridge.

Jasyn heard Azuma's growl rise, and felt Axis shift past him nervously.

"What the hell is wrong with you Jasyn? You hang around him and protect him like he's your bitch; I mean, come on already? Can't you see that he's just a bloody fox?" contested the spotted white Sirian, short tail down firm but ears up in engagement. He was ready for a fight.

Despite his lack of stature, Jasyn was still a wolf. He rounded on the young ensign with a deadly glare levelled, pushing him against a wall with just a single hand. "Listen, Spot, cause I'll only say this once," he spoke the new nickname for his formerly tense friend with angry hatred.

Azuma met his stare, and Jasyn could almost see their friendship breaking in those eyes. He saw Azuma's resolve cut to dangle by a thread and, when he was convinced he would be heard, the wolf let free his admission. "Axis is my dearest friend, the closest thing to family I have left. If I find out that you've so much as put that dainty tail of yours anywhere near him; I'll personally fix it so it will never happen again."

"Jasyn... what's gotten into you," he heard Azuma question, and he only scoffed.

Turning away, he wrapped his fingers round the fox's shoulder and lead him from the pair. "Mongrel ingrates..." he muttered under his breath, to which the fox gave a quiet snicker.

Jasyn joined his snicker and he quickly lead the fox towards their quarters.