FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

For the first time in recent memory, Hunter woke up by himself. No alarms, no yelling, and thankfully no fire. He stretched and sighed. It was still pitch black in the room, but he could hear Em's breathing slow, steady breathing just below him. Either he had slept more soundly than he was used to or she was an extremely quiet dragon.

He quietly crawled towards the ladder of his bunk and reached down to the small cubby that held the tablet. It clanked against the metal ladder, but that didn't seem to wake her. With a tap, the screen came to life and automatically adjusted the brightness to avoid blinding him. It was still very early in the morning.

Putting the screen to sleep, he placed the tablet on his chest and sighed. His sleep schedule was still way off, but it was progress. It left him with two choices. He could either stay in bed or try to sneak passed a literal sleeping dragon.

Without an easy way to see where her wings were splayed, it would have been a risk to try to leave his bed. He chose instead to do some more reading and started to browse the selection on the tablet. He continued the one on dragons, resuming where he had left off in the chapter on culture. One after another, he flipped through the pages absorbing the as much information his early-morning mind could.

At first it felt like there must have been a lack of information because dragonesses were only recently integrated into combat units, but the more he read, the more intentional it felt.

A sudden thought occurred to him. Is it because males are protective of the females?

"That's a good guess." Her sudden voice made him jump, slamming his knee against the wall.

"Ah! Ow! Did I say that out loud?" Hunter manually increased the brightness of the screen and turned it in the direction of the voice. The light only managed to illuminate a portion of her head, creating a disembodied snout that hung in the darkness.

"Sorry! Sorry, didn't mean to startle you. Going to turn on the lights." True to her word, the lights flicked on, temporarily blinding Hunter as his eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness.

"How long have you been awake?" He squinted and rubbed his throbbing knee. That was definitely going to bruise.

"Few minutes or so. I thought you were sleeping until I saw the light from the screen." She settled back on her haunches and looked at the hand on his knee. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine, you just scared me a bit." Hunter stopped massaging his knee and scooted out of bed with the tablet tucked under his arm.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, you're partially right. There is a lot of resistance to dragonesses talking to wolf researchers, though I believe the books that are already out are just outdated." She watched him enter the bathroom and laid back down on her bed once the door was closed.

"Is it a cultural thing? What you said about male dragons being protective or something?" He had to raise his voice to be heard through the solid door as he checked the state of his fur.

"Yup. Though that's slowly changing. Can't keep determined 'nesses away from things." Her voice was a bit difficult to make out over the sound of running water. Hair by hair, Hunter smoothed down the bedhead and other errant strands.

"It'll be nice to have some more detailed reading on dragons one day." The conversation stopped as he finished up his morning routine. He got himself presentable, brushed his teeth, and took care of some more natural needs before leaving the bathroom.

The two of them enjoyed a leisurely morning. They took a brief walk before the alarm rang and woke up the rest of the barracks. Breakfast was eaten and then they split up to attend individual training. As Hunter walked alone, he couldn't help but mull on what had happened the night before. Their conversations during the morning had been a little more reserved than before their little spat and he cursed himself for ruining it.

He was not the type to befriend others quickly and usually let others come to him, so taking the initiative to spend time with Em was an unusual change. It was an eternal conflict within him. On one side was the desire to be alone and on the other was the desire to not washout of the program.

_And to not washout, you need to be able to work well with Em._Hunter sighed.

The day's coursework was a fair bit longer than the day before and involved a lot more information. The instructor went over a summary of winged flight and how fixed wing mechanics could be translated to dragon flight. Once the basics were covered, they were sent outside where Captain River and his dragon Kean provided a more detailed explanation of what they could expect during flight.

Each explanation was aided by a physical demonstration from Kean as Captain River went over the different maneuvers dragons could do. Kean would show how his wings would move during rolls, dives, flips, and flaps. The Captain would pause him periodically to show restricted firing arcs or advantageous moments to take shots.

They went over the physical capabilities of dragons and how they can easily take g-forces that would make even the best pilots black out.

"This is why there can be nothing less than complete trust between you and your dragon. They trust that you won't put a round through their wing and that you will be able to patch them up if they do get hit. You have to trust that they will know your physical limitations and won't make you black out." Captain River paused a moment and scanned the gathered wolves. "And if they do make you black out, you have to trust that you will wake up again."

After a brief moment to let the weight of his words sink in, they returned to the classroom for equipment instruction. The harness and saddle were thoroughly dissected. Each of the riders was given a new harness and everyone practiced equipping it and adjusting the straps to make it fit.

The harness was was of a very durable material that was meant to fit between the gaps in the rider's armor without causing too much noise or getting in the way of the other gear. It took a while for Hunter to figure out the orientation of the harness and undo the table of straps, but once he did it was easy to get down. Besides the extra straps that dangled from him and the weight of the three carabiners, it was hard to tell he was wearing anything on top of his flightsuit.

"Now, this is what we call the bed." Captain River set what Hunter had assumed was the saddle on the front table. "The reason why we call it a bed instead of a saddle is twofold. One, saddles are for domesticated beasts of burden. Two, you do not sit on the dragon's back, you lie down."

It seemed obvious once he started to explain the reasoning behind everything. To sit in a place that wouldn't throw off their center of gravity too much, a rider's leg would have to go through the dragon's wing. This was also ignoring the incredible drag that would be created and how incredibly difficult it would be to fire while fighting against the winds.

There was significantly more information than the previous days. Equipment hardpoints, clips and anchors, how to equip the bed, and quick mounting and dismounting techniques. It was a basic introduction to the equipment and at the end, all the riders were given a harness and told explicitly not to attempt a flight yet. They were dismissed around midday.

"Specialist Hunter." Just as Hunter was about to leave, the Captain beckoned him over.

"Yes, sir?" He walked over as the last of the other riders filtered out of the classroom.

"I don't think we've formally met. How're you adjusting to Aliquam, no problems I hope?" The captain waved him off when he stood at attention.

"No problems, sir. Just getting used to the sleep day and night schedule."

"That's good to hear." He nodded slowly. "How're you getting along with your partner?"

"Well enough, sir." The reason the Captain singled him out made sense to Hunter now. It wasn't about him, it was about Em.

"Has she told you about her situation? Being the first dragoness in SCAR?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, I won't bore you repeating it all then. Just know that there are a lot of people, dragon and wolves alike that would love to watch her, and by proxy you, fail." Captain River sat down and clasped his hands together.

"And you, sir?" Hunter couldn't help but fidget with the fabric of his flightsuit at his side.

"I'm not one of them. I've seen her fly and as much as I would like to say Kean is the best, the fastest, the strongest, he's not." There was a snort from outside a window that was cracked open. "Ignore him for now, he gets jealous. But if she can fight like she can fly, I don't see why we can't allow dragonesses into combat roles. They'd be a boon to our outfit, but it's a bit of a cultural minefield."

"I'll do my best not to disappoint then, sir."

"I do have one last question for you, though you aren't required to answer." He took out his tablet and set it on the desk. With a few taps, he pulled up an audio file that Hunter recognized immediately. It was the short conversation he had with Fang during their desert PT where Hunter had pointed out the best route that he could see. "Why did you let him take credit for that?"

"I felt like it would've been a poor first impression if I had tried, sir." It only made sense that being partnered with the first dragoness in SCAR would put him under increased scrutiny, but a part of Hunter hoped that these meetings wouldn't be a common occurrence.

Captain River nodded with understanding. "Well, thank you for giving me an answer. If you don't have any questions, you're free to go."

Hunter snapped a salute and left the classroom. Outside, Kean gave him a curt nod, but didn't say anything as he waited for the Captain to come out.

He found himself completely left behind as the other riders had vanished, eager to utilize the free time they had been given. Hunter debated between going to eat or heading back to the barracks, he wasn't very hungry, but he felt like it would be better to eat something now instead of waiting for later. As he walked, lost in thought, he felt a sudden rush of wind.

Hunter turned around just in time to see Em come in for a landing. Her immense wingspan angled to slow her approach, and she touched down on her hindpaws first, trotting to bleed her speed as she quickly approached him. A part of him realized that he should have been scared. A large creature was barreling towards him and any misstep or miscalculation would have ended with him laid out on the hard ground.

"Hey, Hunter." Her wings folded up against her body as she strolled up to him. If Hunter had still been walking, she would have perfectly come up alongside him. "Where are you headed?"

"Good morning, Em. Actually, I suppose it's afternoon now. I was going to get some lunch if you want to join me." The two of them started to walk in the direction of the mess as she tucked her wings up against her sides. "What did you do today?"

"More flight training. Small unit maneuvers and such. How about you? You've definitely been outside." One of her wings bumped into his shoulder, throwing up a small cloud of dust.

"We had some classroom instruction outside. Harness and bed training today." Hunter showed her the neatly folded harness. "I imagine flight training will be soon, but for now they want us to just practice using this for a while."

"Great! We'll get you some practice using it in conjunction with a bed today." Her steps seemed to have more of a spring to them as they walked.

Lunch was rather uneventful. Hunter gave her a portion of his real meat in exchange for a chunk of the synthetic stuff. They learned that eating a small bit of the real meat with a larger bit of the fake meat, it would cover up a lot of the shortcomings that the protein printed stuff had. The conversation naturally drifted to flying, but according to Em, it was difficult to explain without experiencing it. It sent her off on a long speech about the various feelings of different maneuvers and how the wind felt against her wings and face.

It sounded exhilarating, but Hunter felt that there was no way he'd truly understand unless he somehow developed wings.

After eating, they went back to the barracks and Hunter left Em to take a shower as he didn't want to get his equipment dirty while practicing with it. He grabbed a couple extra towels before undressing and dusting off his flightsuit. Clouds of the red powder exploded out of the fabric with every smack. Nothing short of a full wash would remove all the dust, but for now it would have to do.

As always, the warm water gave him time to think as it washed away the red particles. When the water wasn't tinted red, he lathered then rinsed off the fur shampoo, leaving a small pile of suds by the drain. He shut off the water and squeezed as much of it out of his fur as he could before turning on the dryer.

His mind wandered as a maelstrom of hot wind enveloped him. He wondered how everyone at home was doing. Did they miss him? Would they reply if he sent them a message?

It wouldn't hurt to try, right? Though he didn't exactly leave on the best of terms. They are better off without you.

He shook off the conflicting thoughts and shut off the dryer with a harder slap of the button than he intended. With a quiet ruff of sadness, he grabbed a towel and finished the drying from top to bottom. The sounds of others came from the locker room connected to the shower so Hunter wrapped the wet towel around his waist, cinching it above his tail. With a deep breath, he put on the best neutral face he could and went back to retrieve his belongings.

As he left, he saw Fang about to enter the showers and skirted to the right of the doorway that was wide enough for two. The ebony wolf definitely saw him, but offered no greeting, just the piercing eyes that seemed to radiate constant distaste for Hunter.

Fang muttered something as he got closer and as they passed, his shoulder roughly collided with Hunter's. It was hard to tell if it was intentional, but Fang offered no apology either way. Hunter reeled, but managed to steady himself. He considered saying something, but the others in the locker room were looking at them.

Without saying anything, he walked to his locker and retrieved his stuff. The other wolves seemed to know something he didn't. They offered sideways glances between Hunter and Fang as if expecting a fight. Hunter knew Fang seemed to dislike him, but as far as he could tell he hadn't done anything to slight the other wolf. He cursed silently as he realized he hadn't grabbed a fresh set of clothes from his room before coming to shower, so he picked up his things and walked quickly back to the room.

"It's becoming a habit, I see." Em offered as she watched him enter the room in nothing but a wet towel.

A bit flustered, Hunter grabbed some fresh clothes and changed quickly. "It seems so, despite my best efforts." He chuckled, but it felt forced.

"I'm sure I'll get used to it eventually." Em chuckled and looked away when the towel dropped. "If you wouldn't mind giving me a wipe down, we can practice using your harness."

Hunter felt a bit more settled with a fresh set of clothes and got to work cleaning the dragoness.

"What do you know about Fang?" He asked as he used a damp towel to wipe the dust off of her scales.

"Very little. I've never interacted with him, but I do know Cirrus." She craned her neck and watched him work.

"His dragon?" His ears turned slightly towards her as he recognized the name.

"Yup. I haven't interacted with him much, but he seems polite and quiet. Quite different than Fang from what I've seen."

Hunter grunted and nodded.

"Is he still giving you trouble?"

"That obvious, huh?" He rubbed the bridge of his snout and silently cursed himself for making it so obvious.

Em pried a bit and he ended up retelling the events of what had occurred in the showers. He mentioned how he was unsure what Fang had muttered, but at the time, he had heard "runt."

She seemed to mull on it a bit, but thankfully said nothing though she offered an understanding nod.

"As far as I can tell, I haven't done anything to him in the limited time I've talked to him. He just seems to dislike me." He wiped his paws with the towel and he finished cleaning her, dropping the red tinted fabric near the door to be cleaned later.

"Well, maybe some training will get your mind off things. Do you feel up to trying?" Her tail curled and she pulled the bed that had in the corner of the room towards them.

It was larger than the one that Hunter had seen during the classroom instruction, but it was probably special built for Em. He stood up to examine it a bit closer, marveling at the design. The straps hung under it like the legs of an insect, though most of the length seemed to be retracted into the bed itself to help keep it tidy. Three anchors were marked with a small red triangle, making the reinforced points stand out against the all-black material. One on either side and on at the very end where his feet would be. Areas with little importance were sunken in with hardpoints, creating small storage nooks where equipment could be stowed and retrieved with ease.

"Go ahead and gear up. We'll put the bed on later."

Hunter followed her instructions and retrieved his armor. He put the pieces on over his regular clothes instead of changing into another flightsuit. There was a palpable excitement as he donned his armor. For now, it was practice, but it would only be a matter of time before they were flying together.

Then came his harness. He meticulously slid the loops over his limbs, sliding the straps into the gaps in his armor. The black straps vanished into the gaps of his black armor, hiding his normal clothes underneath.

"Wow." Hunter muttered quietly as he ran a finger along one of the straps. It was obvious that these two pieces of equipment had been developed in conjunction for this purpose. If it weren't for the carabiners that hung from the harness, it would've been difficult to tell he was wearing it all. After a few adjustments, he felt ready to try the bed.

He felt a little silly as he straddled the bed on the ground, but he figured this was better than skipping ahead to having her wear it. Immediately, he could tell that it was not designed to be sat on as the place he natural fell made him lean forward. He tried to latch onto the anchor on his right, but he realized that the one in the back would have to be first.

Em watched him as he messed around with the equipment, securing himself, adjusting straps, and moving around to get a feel for the range of movement. Occasionally, she offered him a suggestion on his technique, but for the most part she let him practice until he felt comfortable mounting and dismounting the bed with the anchors. After a couple of tangled tumbles and one bruised elbow, he felt comfortable enough to suggest putting the bed on Em.

"I've seen a few of the veteran riders use their feet to undo the back anchor." The dragoness commented as Hunter worked on working putting her equipment on her back.

"I think I need to master the basics first before trying that." Hunter chuckled as he worked a strap along the back of her neck then down to her forelegs. They looped around her legs and then joined into a single strap that connected to a plate that was held under her chest.

"Just something to keep in mind. I'm sure you'll figure out your own methods." She turned to look at him as he went to secure the rear straps.

He felt himself flush as he reached for the retracted straps. There was no way he would be able to wrap these around her tail and her hind legs without getting literally under her tail. Dragons weren't exactly worried about modesty, but this was very different.

"Just try not to think about it, Hunter. I know it may seem strange, but modesty isn't the same between our cultures. There's also no easy way for me to put it on myself." Em wiggled one of her hind legs, showing him the limited range of motion she had that would make it nearly impossible to equip the bed without help.

With a quiet, deep breath, Hunter reached for the strap and looped it around her tail. He kept his eyes above her haunches, trying to get the harness without leaning too far.

Em stifled a chuckle as she watched the obviously uncomfortable wolf. "If it makes you feel any better, the other riders have to do this as well."

"Misery loves company, I suppose." Hunter laughed awkwardly as he managed to successfully put a loop of strap around one of her hind legs.

"If this is the worst thing you've done during training, I'd say it's too easy."

"I'd say this is entirely different." He managed to get the second loop around her leg without having to look under her tail and it was only a few more clips before the bed was completely equipped. "Everything feel alright?"

"Everything feels fine. Just need to work on speed and your prudishness." She chuckled and gave the setup a shake, feeling for any give.

Hunter grumbled something incoherent, unable to come up with an actual response to what she had said.

"Alright, try getting on." She laid down on the ground and lowered her left wing.

It took some careful maneuvering to avoid stepping on her wing while still stepping over her body, but he managed to do it without incident. He reached back and clipped onto the rear anchor, leaned forward and clipped the other two.

"How snug am I supposed to be?" Hunter asked as he fiddled with the length of the straps a bit.

"Snug enough where you don't move much, but loose enough for you to do your job." She looked back at him, watching him test various lengths.

He settled on what felt like a good in-between and experimented with a range of motions. He swiveled from side to side, leaned, and generally moved as much as he could, trying to imagine what he might need to do in flight. The world suddenly started to tilt and Hunter flailed and grabbed at the side of the bed as the dragoness rolled a bit onto her side, taking him with her. His heart skipped a few beats and he sucked in a gasp as he felt his stomach tingle with a brief weightlessness.

Just as he thought he was going to hit the floor, the straps caught him and he felt himself go back up, repeating the same motion in the other direction. With surprising ease, the dragon jostled him around, straining the straps and quickly testing how well Hunter had secured everything. Luckily for him, he had done a good job for his first time. Everything held and she eventually stopped, laughing as he centered himself again.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself. You did a good job with it though! Nothing moved."

"Except me." Hunter pushed himself up a little and shook his head.

"Except you." She stood up and paced the room. "On the ground, it's probably best for you to be dismounted, but it gives you some practice keeping yourself steady as I move.

"Hard to imagine shooting like this." Hunter did his best not to get jostled around, but without his feet planted, he had to squeeze his knees against the curve of the bed.

"It takes time and practice." It only took a couple laps for Hunter to start learning the patterns of her movements. With some concentration, he could feel the way her back muscles move and adjust appropriately to keep himself relatively stable.

Hook, mount, secure, unhook, dismount. Again and again Hunter repeated the same drill.

Kick her wing. Roll off the other side. Step on her wing. Successfully hook one, then fall off the other side.

Again and again he messed something up.

"You're getting it down. Just watch the angle you come in at." The dragoness encouraged him despite the small bruise forming on her left wing limb.

It was frustrating and awkward and unlike anything he had ever tried before. To do it right, he had to come in at an angle, hook the rear anchor, mount the bed, then secure both sides. Coming in too fast, or at the wrong angle, or missing the anchor would send him rolling off the other side or leave him dangling.

Once in a while, they took a break and went back to practicing gearing up. Hunter did his best to maintain a good balance between efficiency and prudishness as he removed, then reequipped the harness for himself and Em.

They drilled over and over until Hunter's arms and knees were sore from tightening straps and holding himself still against the bed.

"I am not sure I've ever had this specific combination of sore body parts before." Hunter rubbed his knee and he stood up. Several things popped.

"I feel perfectly fine. I must just be in better shape than you." She replied with a toothy grin.

"Considering how intensive it was for you to just lay there, color me impressed." He elbowed her hind leg as he scooted by her and opened the door for a quick lunch break.

From how the other wolves were walking, Hunter could tell they had all been training as well. A few of the dragons also had bruised wing limbs and one of them had a bandage on the membrane of their wing. It made him feel a little better that they were all being meet with similar success.

The next couple of days followed the same pattern. Hunter slowly became more acclimated to the cycle of the planet, attended classwork, and spent the rest of the day running drills with Em. He finally got some hands on training with the medical kit meant for use on a dragon and practiced applying large, adhesive bandages and familiarized himself with how to triage wounds on a body that wasn't even remotely similar to his.

Weapons training with both Splinter and Pack weapons, survival training, vehicle and ship identification, mounted urban combat training, and so on. Most of it was something that Hunter was already familiar with, though it added the new element of being partnered with Em. It was all so familiar, but at the same time an overwhelming amount of new information. There were no breaks. Em pushed hard and Hunter put in as much effort as he could afford without collapsing.

Was it a desire to impress the higher ups or did they just want to be the best that they could be with the given time they had? Hunter didn't think about it too much as the end product was the same. Even meals felt a bit like training as he always spent them with Em. He didn't dislike spending time with her, it was just the complete lack of privacy that was starting to eat away at him.

"That's the point, Hunter." Em said after swallowing a large hunk of food. It shocked Hunter that he had gotten comfortable enough to mention it to the dragoness. "If there is any amount of awkwardness between us, it means that there isn't a total trust."

"Yeah, I get that. I guess we haven't quite gotten there yet." He anticipated more harness training, so he had kept his lunch light. Best not to roll around with a full stomach.

"It hasn't even been a month, you know." Hunter gulped down some water and did the math. It felt wrong, but she was right. The dense and repetitive days certainly made it feel like it had been longer. "The first half the training is very dense because it's stuff you should already know. We should be getting to the fun stuff in a few days."

"You keep saying it'll be fun, but I have a feeling my initial impression will be different." Hunter wasn't anymore scared of heights than the average wolf, but he knew that this would be vastly different than what he was used to. There would be no metal chassis around him to protect him from the lashing wind or sturdy jumpseat to hold him in the event of turbulence. He'd be exposed to the elements and at the whim of the dragon. Three thin straps would keep him from being ripped off and sent tumbling through the air to his death.

He tried to suppress his thoughts of the matter as he had already had this conversation with himself for the last few days. Despite his own doubts, a part of him was excited. Em constantly talked about flight and her excitement was starting to spread. She had compared it to walking, saying it was as natural to them as walking was to wolves.

Hunter was skeptical. He did appreciate walking, but nothing about it sparked as much joy as flying did for dragons. It seemed to be culturally tied to freedom for them. Though for Hunter, it was just a brief moment when Em was most excitable and stopped being a professional soldier. It amused him.

A thunk next to him shook him out of deep thought. "Runt like you doesn't deserve her."

Fang had a paw down on the table and behind him, a couple other rider's watched anxiously. Obviously, whatever conversation they were having had taken a sour turn.

"I-" Hunter began. He was unprepared to respond, but he could feel his hackles raise slightly.

"If you were smart, you'd leave without saying another word." Em cut in before Hunter could finish his sentence. He appreciated the timely intervention, but he couldn't shake the blow to his pride.

"You're lucky th-" Before Fang could finish what he was about to say, Cirrus appeared in a flash of blue and shuffled him away, keeping the irate wolf trapped against his flank.

An angry stream of curses were muffled, though Hunter couldn't help but notice that they weren't direct at him. His face flushed. Anger, pride, exhaustion. It all boiled over before he could stop himself.

"I did not need your help with dealing with him!" He glared at the dragoness who quickly erased the glower she was directing at the retreating blue dragon.

"I was ju-" She looked hurt, but Hunter didn't care. Despite repeated conversations about this, she was still treating him like a pup, sheltering him from the ire and jealousy of other wolves.

"I can handle other wolves! I don't need you hiding me away like... Like some kind of puppy!" Memories of being called a runt and a pup raced back to him and fueled the anger that burned. Was it misdirected? Almost certainly, and deep down he kicked himself because he knew he would be apologizing later. But, it needed to be said. He was a grown wolf. He was capable to handling his own issues. Hiding away would just breed further animosity towards him and Em. He needed to be able to trust the others in his unit and other than Tree and Flint, he couldn't say he really knew any of them.

Em recoiled a little at the unexpected assault. "I'm sorry, Hunter."

A paw rubbed away the sudden tension in his forehead as he exhaled loudly. "No, no. I'm sorry. I think I need a walk. I'll see you tomorrow, Em."

Before she could respond, he scooped up his empty tray and deposited it in the drop off before heading outside. For once, the dusty wind and the dry heat didn't feel quite as oppressive. Aside from showering, this was his first time alone since he had arrived. The rhythmic crunch under his paws accompanied him as he walked without direction.

A jumble of thoughts fought for attention and every step simmered away some of the anger. He found himself parallel to the runway, walking away all the anger he had, leaving an increasing amount of guilty.

It all mixed together until he sat down with a heavy sigh. Unusual situations was part of his job, to be able to adapt and overcome. Being the test case for a special operations unit was something he couldn't say he had been anticipating. Usually, when faced with a problem, he'd have access to more information. Maps, reconnaissance, databases, books, or instructors that could answer questions.

Being partnered with Em? He had nothing. It felt like he was picking his way through a minefield. Was her defensiveness a cultural thing? The other dragons seemed to shy away from her and he could only assume that was because she was noticeably larger than they were.

Then there was Fang. He seemed to have it out for Hunter despite the partner selection process being beyond the riders' control. They'd just been assigned to a dragon, and yet the other wolf seemed to blame it on him.

"Can't really blame a dragon several times your size, I suppose." Hunter said to nobody as an aircraft taxied to the end of the runway.

As it started its takeoff roll, Hunter stood up and headed back towards the buildings. He started to come up with his apology to Em, but wasn't quite ready to return to the barracks yet. The air curtain on the door of the armory made him pause his thoughts. He checked out a weapon from the supply officer and went to the attached shooting range.

He set down the weapon and the boxes of ammunition to put in some ear protection before entering the range. The occasional bang told him he wasn't alone. A pair of wolves had taken the first two lanes and seemed to be having a competition. Hunter took the furthest lane.

Shooting gave him a certain sense of clarity. There could be no distractions with weapons involved, so it was just him and the gun. The SBR-2R, the second iteration of the first gun designed and produced by the Splinter faction. This particular model was modified for Riders.

Hunter was very familiar with the original model, so the new one gave him no trouble as he hefted the weapon and slid in a magazine. It was a bit lighter than he was used to, but the kick against his shoulder was still just as manageable.

He quickly fell into a sort of trance as he fired at the metal targets at the end of the range. Squeeze, pop, ping, squeeze, pop, ping. Small puffs of dust and vaporized metal indicated a hit as he moved from one target to another.

Box after box of ammunition was emptied and sent downrange. The locking of the bolt kicked him out of his trance and he cleared the weapon before setting it down, barrel smoking. He pulled up the digital target tracker and checked his shooting. The screen showed hits as a small red dot and each target he had been aiming at had a small red blob right over the center. Sloppier than he was used to, but he had been firing faster than he usually did.

The benefit of caseless ammunition was that he didn't have to sweep up the hundreds of metal casings that would normally be rolling around. He gathered up the empty boxes and threw them into the nearby bin. Hunter resumed thinking about his apology to Em as he returned the weapon and stepped out of the armory. Night was quickly approaching.

It was around dinnertime, but Hunter instead retreated back to the barracks in the hopes of beating Em to the room. As hoped, she was not in the room, giving Hunter time to change out of his dusty clothes into a clean set before hopping into bed. It was a bit early, but he wanted apologizing to be tomorrow's problem.

He tried his best to settle his mind and force himself to sleep, so he tossed and turned until he heard the door open again. Em returned and quietly slid under his bunk. As he pretended to sleep, he was amazed with how quiet a creature that size could be. She either fell for his ruse or pretended not to know as she was soon snoring away underneath him.

Her soft, even breathing relaxed Hunter and he soon felt himself falling to sleep as well. Apologize tomorrow. All the anger was gone, leaving him only with guilt. They needed to have a talk, that much was clear, but that was a discussion for tomorrow.