Lirya let out a sigh of relief as Rhidi waved goodbye to her and Mohki, hopping back into a tarry-lift with her father and sister so that they could go talk to the court about their imprisoned mother.

  The museum had been followed by a rather interesting lunch at another unit’s nearby DFAC, an experience that Kohan had really wanted to indulge in.

  Lirya had found it rather stressful at first, but the warm smiles of the Human cooks and the soldiers around her brought her back into her own smiles and laughs in good time. There had been Kafya there, too, Rhidi calling them “Regs” and explaining that they were all part of another infantry Battalion.

  They seemed nearly as shocked to see her and she was them, all of them tilting their heads at her and talking quietly to themselves.

  Like Rhidi, they all had bent ears, which after asking Rhidi about it, she had explained it came from their helmets.

  “And don’t ask why they don’t make the ear sections longer,” Rhidi had said, pointing her fork at her after they had all sat down, “They will talk yours off about how much of a ‘tactical issue’ it is to have really tall ear ports on our helmets.”

  When lunch was over and Kohan had viewed some of the barracks from the outside, they had to depart after receiving a message from the Fort Benning court system, marked “urgent”. Icirit was apparently becoming quite the nuisance to her jailers, and they wanted her out of there as soon as possible.

  This left Lirya and Mohki on their own, Lirya waving goodbye to mostly Kohan and Tyllia rather than Rhidi, and Mohki standing there with her hands in her pockets.

  “So.” Mohki began, nudging Lirya on the shoulder. “What do you want to do?”

  Lirya looked up and around her, a stranger in a strange land, then looked back to Mohki. “Mall?”

  “Mall sounds good.” Mohki replied with a grin, then looked around her at the busy road. “... How do we get there?”

  Lirya wasn’t sure either, looking up and down the road for one of the odd little cars that Rhidi had showed up in. She wasn’t sure how to use her data-slate either, but inspiration did take her when she spied weirder looking vehicles coming down the road.

  “Hey!” Lirya called out, pointing to the larger, angular vehicles that seemed to be missing their wheels. “We can go ask those Humans!”

  Mohki snapped her head towards Lirya in time to see her go trotting off after an armored convoy of combat vehicles, their tracks rumbling and clattering down the road.

  Mohki startled, running off after Lirya. “Lirya! No no no! Lirya, those aren’t cars!”

  “Sure they are, Humans drive them into battle and stuff!” Lirya called back over her shoulder, then waved up cheerfully at a rather confused driver, his helmeted head poking up over the rim of his hatch door opening. “Hey! Hiii! Can you guys give us a lift?”

  “Lirya, those are combat vehicles!” Mohki shouted after her, snatching the white furred Kafya by her bandaged tail.

  She had caught it in a hatch door earlier on Kohan’s ship, not used to navigating non-Human doors.

  To Mohki’s horror, the tracked vehicles all rolled to a halt, the lead vehicle clattering to a slow stop beside Lirya as the crew all popped their heads up to see who the hell had flagged them down.

  Unheard to Lirya, the crew were talking to themselves via their inner-helm microphones, and all she saw was the dozens of helmets popping up out of hatches to peer at her through dagger-shaped visors.

  “Is that one of ours?”

  “Nah, look, their ears are all straight.”

  “Could be recruits.”

  “Recruits wouldn’t look like that Murph, it’s work hours.”

  “She certainly looks like a soldier, her ears are all ate up.”

  “Ain’t ever seen a white one before, those are rare right?”

  “What are you talking about? There’s that mean one that works over with the Droppers.”

  “I’ve never seen her.”

  “She was wanting a ride right?”

  “She looks like she came from a firefight. If she’s a civilian then what’s with all the scars?”

  The vehicle leader took off his helmet, his short shaved black hair, green eyes, and handsome jaw catching both Lirya and Mohki off guard. “You were wanting a ride?”

  “Yes sir!” Lirya called out, placing her hands together and bowing forward at the waist. “We are going to the mall!”

  Mohki placed a hand to her face, then slapped the back of her hand lightly to Lirya’s shoulder. “Oh my gawd, stop bowing.”

  Inside the helmets, the soldiers were all laughing.

  “Sir? Goodness, look at who got a field commission.”

  “The mall? We can drop them off at the mall.”

  “Come on Cap’, we can let ‘em ride on top of the lead vic’, would be a hoot.”

  “If they’re tourists it would be a once in a lifetime opportunity too.”

  “Lemon, grab your camera and get some shots of this, the Company news page is gonna love it.”

  “Go on Kilpatrick, let them crawl up on your deck. We can swing by the mall I guess.”

  Kilpatrick nodded, then gestured up at the two Kafya. “Alright you two, climb on up, we can drop you off at the mall.”

  “No shit?” Mohki said flatly, her eyes wide while Lirya went giggling up to the truck, climbing up with the rustle of trousers much in the style of Mohki’s.

  “Hiii!” Lirya cried out cutely as she came up the climbing rungs onto the top deck of the armored personnel carrier, waving to the other crew. “I’m Lirya!”

  Kilpatrick chuckled as he lent a hand to Mohki, nodding towards his vehicle. “We’re Haybale, happy to have you aboard. Say hi fellas.”

  First the crew waved, then the top passenger area of the armored personnel carrier split apart as the infantry inside wanted a look at their two passengers, a mess of helmets staring at them and hands waving.

  “Get moving, Kilpatrick.” Came the voice of the convoy leader, and Kilpatrick nodded, slipping his helmet on and activating the mic.

  “Hang on ladies.” Kilpatrick called out, his voice slightly tinny with the external speaker. “There’s a bit of rocking when Haybale starts moving.”

  Lirya, giggling and kicking her feet along the slant of the front armor, wobbled back and forth with Mohki as the APC began moving. The massive engine spat out a gout of black smoke, but slowly climbed to speed.

  The two Kafya riding on the front of the APC gained quite a few eyes from other drivers on the road, while a few formations of marching soldiers couldn’t help but double take at Lirya and Mohki riding along on a war machine that was known to render steel to slag.

  “Lirya!” Mohki called out over the roar of the engine and wind. “Do you have any idea what this is?!”

  Lirya nodded, pointing down at the armor plating between her legs. “It’s a Human car!”

  “Did you never learn about Human war vehicles!?” Mohki shouted, jabbing a thumb back at the large caliber autocannon. “Or do you think all Human cars have guns?”

  Lirya shrugged, which made Mohki roll her eyes in annoyance.

  Mohki scooted a bit on her rump so she was at an angle, then pointed back at the armored turret. “This is a Bradley M22 Hellknight, it’s a mainline infantry support vehicle! The ones behind us are AMPV sixes, and they hold ten infantrymen per vehicle!”

  “Is that why they are so big?!” Lirya asked over the wind, looking back at the smooth topped APC’s, the guys in the turrets waving at them. “What are those little pod things?”

  Mohki pointed to the one nearby on the M22 Hellknight they were riding on. “Those are anti-ordinance pods! They switch out between a little gatling gun or a laser, and shoot at rockets or stuff coming at the vehicle!”

  “That’s pretty clever!” Lirya laughed out, then waved at the pod. “Hi pod!”

  To the surprise of them both, the AI running the pod at the moment popped awake and deployed its camera, spinning it around to look at Lirya and Mohki.

  To Lirya’s delight, it waved at them with the little wiper on the camera lense, then clicked back into its hidey hole within the pod.

  “That’s Dirty Dog.” Kilpatrick called out, his voice loud thanks to his helmet, and he pointed to the pod. “He’s been with us since we first got the vehicle.”

  “Do you like being in the big armored cars?” Lirya asked him, leaning backwards to look up at the helmeted Human.

  Mohki, spotting the amount of cleavage she was offering, tugged her back forward.

  “It’s pretty fun sometimes.” Kilpatrick said with a laugh to his voice, having seen more than enough for him to have something to talk about for the rest of the day. “Some days more than others.”

  Inside his helmet, Kilpatrick rolled his eyes at the chatter.

  “Man, he’s out there getting the best view on this heap!”

  “The scars are kind of doing it for me, actually.”

  “I’m more interested in the little goth one next to her, see if she’ll lean backwards for a question too, Kilpatrick!”

  “You guys are being so gross, she’s obviously fresh from the station.”

  “I kind of want to take her to the salon on base, let her have some fancy time!”

  “We could always take her to that mani-pedi place down by the commissary, we’ll just have to go when the officer wives ain’t there.”

  Kilpatrick shook his helmeted head back and forth as the convoy continued to trundle down the road, and after some time the mall began to loom into view. After a bit of chatter from the convoy leader, he leaned down towards them and pointed towards the mall.

  “Your stop is coming up ladies. We’re going to pull out of the convoy and drop you off at the doors.” Kilpatrick said, then pointed to the side of the Haybale. “Just climb down those assault rungs and use the tracks as steps if you need to, it’s a little easier for going down.”

  Lirya and Mohki flashed him the “okay” hand signal, something they had both learned from Humans on board the station.

  The vehicle rumbled and clattered up past vehicles going to and from the mall until it parked right outside the walkway into the doors, allowing the two Kafya to disembark onto the concrete below.

  “Bye bye!” Lirya cried out, waving with both hands to the vehicle as it took back off with a roar of the engine.

  Both the crew and passengers waved back at her, with multiple troopers making “call me” signs with their thumb and pinky while others blew them kisses.

  “Humans never change, man.” Mohki chuckled out, looking around as curious lookie-loo’s went back to their own business, or talked quietly to themselves about the odd taxi lift the two Kafya had received. “So this is the mall eh? Pretty big! Should find some cool stuff in here.”

  Lirya snatched up Mohki’s hand as she let out a giggle, pulling Mohki towards the doors as the brown fur nagged at her for acting “too much like an excited child”.

  Lirya didn’t make it too far inside before she spotted the miniature drop towers, just in time to see a laughing and cheering child get dropped from the hoop and sent gently drifting towards a great ball pit.

  These false drops were facilitated via miniaturized drop towers, cranking a child up to the top on a pre-deployed parachute. At the top, a large hoop that held the chute would jangle and deploy the child, allowing them to drift down towards a large ball pit, giggling the entire way and screeching out “Airborne!” when they hit the colored spheres.

  “Oooh!” Lirya breathed out, then pointed to the drop zone. “Mohki, we should do this!”

  Mohki squinted her eyes at the height and weight requirements, then a wry grin split her lips. “Sorry girlie, but I may be too much woman for this ride. Looks like you may squeak by though.”

  At the uttering of the words “you may squeak by”, Lirya went giggling off towards the mini jump towers.

  The older Human man working the machines, his “Ur War Veteran” black ball cap worn by many days in the sun, turned and saw Lirya coming.

  “My goodness, another one!” He called out with a laugh, holding up his hands. “Hold on there sister, what unit are you with?”

  Lirya came to a stop before the man, tail wagging but blinking in confusion. “Unit?”

  “Yeah, what unit are you training with?” He asked, pointing to the miniaturized unit patch on his hat. “We give you guys discounts, but we have to track what unit you’re with for our records.”

  “She’s not in a unit, old timer.” Mohki called out cheerfully as she brought up the rear behind Lirya. “We’re here on vacation.”

  The older man put his hands on his heavyset hips. “Vacation! Well how about that. The first of your kind I sent up on one of these was an odd little pink woman, but you may fit in the harness better than her I think.”

  “I can go up?!” Lirya cried out happily, clapping her hands together with little stomps of her paw shoed feet.

  The old man nodded. “Oh yeah, we ordered a slightly larger harness just for you space foxes, and you look pretty light.”

  Lirya went happy-stepping after the man while Mohki leaned against a nearby pillar, watching as Lirya was fitting into the harness. Another nearby Human, a little younger than the worker but not by much, idled up next to Mohki.

  “She’s not a veteran?” He asked.

  Mohki shook her head. “Nope, just a civilian like me.”

  “What the hell did she get into that spat her out like that, then?” The man asked, crossing his arms. “Looks like she came off nearly four years in the field.”

  Mohki frowned at that, flicking her hair out of her eyes as she looked over at him. “She got those from people who should have never been her enemy in the first place.”

  “Hmm.” The man hummed to himself, both he and Mohki slowly raising their chins as Lirya was slowly hoisted into the air.

  “Mohki!” Lirya yelled out, kicking her feet happily. “Look how high up I am!”

  Mohki waved at her, as well as the man standing beside her, and he turned his head to Mohki as Lirya was paused at the top.

  “Hopefully she heals where it matters.” He said, turning to walk away. “Flesh is far easier to scar than the mind. Those wounds tend to keep bleeding…”

  Mohki turned her head to watch him go, but the metallic “click-crack!” of the hoop letting go of Lirya’s chute took her attention back to her friend.

  “Wooo!” Lirya giggled out, kicking her feet merrily as the Human children below laughed and cheered.

  “You have to say airborne!” A younger girl called out, waving her hands at Lirya as she slowly floated down. “Say the words!”

  Lirya perked up at that, her ears high as she clapped her padded palms together. “Oh! Right! Airboorrnnee!”

  The words were cut off with a cackle as Lirya landed into the ball pit, the chute falling down around her like a shroud as she continued to laugh from under the high tech nylon and risers.

  “What an absolute goober.” Mohki laughed under her breath.

  Lirya’s head popped up from the ball pit like a hidden spider, looking around to the older Human man who ran the machine. “Can I go again?!”

  He looked towards Mohki, who rolled her eyes and pulled out her funding-slate with a sigh normally reserved for parents.

  —

  After four drops on the ride, Lirya was satisfied and more than ready to expend the rest of her energy at the mall.

  First thing she had to hit was the card store, a massive outlet that boasted enough game tables to host a large tournament. Refreshing her deck with some new packs, and buying Mohki a few boosters as a thanks, they then made their way to a tea shop.

  While other races of the stars had been steeping leaves, roots, and other plant elements in water to form their own brews, no planet had honest, true to Terra, tea.

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  Growing in popularity along with many of the other cash crops, tea plants were starting to be found on planets controlled by the Humans, though the plant was oddly aggressive on naturally found plants native to the planets. This required farmers who grew tea plants to fence off their crops of tea so the local plants had a barrier from their advances.

  Tea plants had, after all, been found to be strangling the roots of native flowers to succor their vitality.

  Lirya had tried tea for the first time on Station First Horizon, and had found the herbal concoctions delicious. This store may as well have been a hub to her eyes, the walls filled with drawers bursting with loose and bagged tea.

  The smell alone made Lirya close her eyes and breathe in deep, her bandaged tail wagging as she just soaked it in.

  Mohki preferred coffee, primarily from an ice cold can dropped from a vending machine, and had to fight to not sneeze at the smell around her.

  “Like walking into a gardening center…” Mohki muttered under her breath as Lirya went walking off into the store, sniffing and snuffling at the many drawers.

  To Lirya’s most delight, there were dozens of warm pots that offered free samples, and Mohki had to wait behind her with a tapping foot as she tried every, single, one of them.

  Acknowledging her bubbly appreciation, the workers of the tea shop doted on Lirya as if she were a VIP, brewing fresh samples of tea for her that were not supposed to be free samples in the first place.

  From rooibos, hibiscus, to jasmine and warm chai, Lirya spent nearly an hour in the store chatting with the Human workers and exploring their many teapots. By the time they left, Lirya had multiple teapots, teas, and steepers being delivered to Kohan’s ship, as Mohki had no desire to haul along multiple iron teapots with matching cups.

  To give Mohki a break, Lirya steered them both towards a store named “Love in Steel”, a store primarily catering to jewelry for piercings.

  Here, Mohki was in her element, picking out a lot of jewelry she had not seen up on the station, including several new hoops, screw ornaments, and some new gems for her belly button.

  Despite their best attempts, Lirya could not be lured in by Mohki, and the male Human who worked the shop, to the piercing chair, no matter how much the two told her that “she would look super cute with a naval piercing”.

  One store that caught Lirya’s attention sold tiny, miniature trees, apparently called “bonzai”, and she spent a little bit of time leaning over and peering at the little, manicured trees.

  To Mohki’s relief, Lirya did not bite at many of the deals offered to her on little red maple shrubs, or sweet plum trees.

  A store they both found enjoyment in was a soap, bath bomb, and shampoo store that looked much like a back-alley market on a fringe world, complete with wooden crates, boxes, and salesfolk dressed in aprons.

  Lirya kept threatening to flick glitter on Mohki, who just wanted to browse the bath bombs in peace, while the store workers were running the numbers in their minds on just what would work with their fur.

  This culminated in both Lirya and Mohki turning into guinea pigs, their furred, pawed hands and cheek fur being used to test soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and oils to see what would work best.

  Mohki found the whole thing rather annoying, while Lirya was basking in the glory of it all, her fur smelling like flowers and soft to the touch.

  The store gave Lirya small gifts and extras after the amount of money she spent there, the bags being delivered via AI delivery drones to Kohan’s ship.

  Lirya was still running her padded fingers through her fur, smiling to herself with indulgent eyes.

  “Have you ever felt this soft?” Lirya asked Mohki, humming happily to herself as her tail wagged behind her. “It’s like I’m actually clean.”

  Mohki, still trying to smooth down her downy-soft fur, twisted her lips. “We came out of that store smelling like expensive hookers.”

  “Expensive hookers must smell amazing every day.” Lirya said softly, wrapping her arms around herself to better smell the fragrances.

  Mohki raised a brow at that, then flicked Lirya on her ear. “Yeah, let’s not start planning our professional future on that particular avenue, eh?”

  Lirya just giggled, rubbing at her ear while still smelling at her hands.

  A rather unfortunate find was a store that primarily sold ooze and slime, a sensory toy for Humans and anyone else with smooth skin.

  Lirya’s over eagerness to play in the slime caused a moment of panic when it dawned on a worker who was playing with their product.

  The awe turned into horror as Lirya found the slime stuck to her fur in awful ways, and it was only the quick thinking of Mohki that kept Lirya from getting it any further than her wrists.

  The soap store employees were surprised to see Lirya again, but the sight of her in panicked tears and rapid sobs sent them into a frenzy.

  Mohki, arms crossed and once again gaining the air of a tired parent, got a front row seat to nearly six Human workers doing their best to scrub, pluck, comb, and brush Lirya’s fur clean. The task took nearly an hour to finish, but Mohki had found a small coffee shop in the mall that sold ice cold canned coffee to pass the time with.

  Mohki noticed with a smile that Lirya had the odd ability to make people worry over her, likely due to her innocent nature and infectious personality. Lirya always had the air about her of a favored niece, an innocence that was honest due to her lowly upbringing.

  Once she was clean, refreshed, and soft once again, Lirya spent a long moment tearfully hugging and thanking the staff of the soap store.

  When Lirya and Mohki walked back past the ooze and slime store, a new sign read “Kafya, please do not play with slime”.

  “Little late there, dick.” Mohki muttered, while Lirya took the long way around the store, giving it a wide berth.

  The sounds of steel on steel brought their attention to a store that was not really a store, but a club set into a store space. Within the club, Humans wore odd looking helmets and uniforms, fighting each other with long, thin blades that were blunted at the tip.

  Fascinated, both Lirya and Mohki watched the Humans trade blows for a few minutes before journeying on, then coming across the largest Hot Topic that either of them had ever seen.

  “Oh hell yes!” Mohki squealed out, taking Lirya by the hand and dragging her inside. “This thing is huge!”

  Lirya let out a short cry of aggravation as she was dragged inside, as she had been eyeing a different store that seemed to specialize in casual European fits based off of historical clothing.

  “We have this store up on the station!” Lirya grumbled, but resigned herself to the many noises that were coming from Mohki as she looked around at the many broody and gothic wares.

  Unlike the store up on station, this Hot Topic was currently going through a series of “Odes to the 2000s”, including resurrecting a ton of merch from bands of the era and earlier.

  Mohki held up one shirt in particular, her tail lashing back and forth as she held it up before Lirya. “Do you know who this is?!”

  Lirya squinted at the shirt, which appeared to be two white masks, one laughing and one crying, while the words “Theatre of Pain” were scrolled along the bottom.

  “Is it from some kind of… play?” Lirya asked, looking around the shirt at Mohki.

  Mohki scoffed, slapping the shirt against her thighs before holding it up again. “It’s M?tley Crüe! You’ve listened to them, right? Home Sweet Home? Wild Side? Smokin’ in the Boys Room?!”

  “Uh…” Lirya said as she stared blankly at Mohki, her finger tips starting to fidget. “I’ve listened to Yuri… and Tophamhat?”

  Mohki’s face seemed to crumple. “Aw man, Lirya, that’s… weeb music.”

  “I like it though.” Lirya replied shyly, then stamped her foot. “It’s cute, and it’s happy!”

  Mohki rolled her eyes. “Have you even tried listening to actual music? Iron Maiden? Judas Priest? Poison? Slip Knot? Tell me you’ve at least listened to Korn…”

  “Ew, no.” Lirya said with a twisted face, throwing an emotional dagger through Mohki’s heart. “Those bands just sound like a bunch of noise and screaming.”

  Mohki, wiping away a fake tear, sniffed and clutched the shirt to her chest, looking at Lirya balefully. “How could you say such a thing, Lirya? I guess white furs are as evil as they say they are…”

  “That’s not funny, Mohki!” Lirya growled, Mohki breaking out into a laugh as Lirya rapidly pounded her balled fists on her larger bicep. “It’s not funny at all!”

  Mohki hooked her other arm around Lirya’s neck, pulling her into a strong hug as the white furred Kafya spat at the fur going into her mouth. “Oh come on, it’s pretty funny!”

  “You don’t get to say mean things just because I think your favorite genre of music sounds like people screaming into soup cans!” Lirya said as she fought against Mohki’s strength, only finally getting loose once the brown fur let her go.

  Without prompting, Mohki began breaking down the decades of metal and rock music while Lirya boredly looked around at all the grungy, chained, punk clothing. Lirya had a few outfits from here that required some negotiation around Mohki, but there was no way she was buying anything from this particular store.

  Baggy canvas pants with lengths of chain hung along one wall, shirts and torn tops dotted all therein to break up the selection. High heeled gothic boots sat in tiered racks in height-of-heel order, with long banks of socks hanging below them.

  Fishnet socks hung around the store or clung to mannequins, and Lirya mentally snorted at the thought of her wearing such things.

  That of course did not stop Mohki from trying on multiple pairs.

  To Lirya’s lack of surprise, Kafyan legs and their long hair more or less ruined the effect of fishnet stockings, no matter how hard Mohki tried to make them work.

  Mohki found reprieve in woven mesh stockings, which produced a rather unique effect on Kafyan legs… including causing little tufts of hair around the top band of the leggings.

  This gave Mohki so much energy that Lirya was forced to sit and wait for nearly thirty minutes as she made a run around the store, collecting a substantial amount of band shirts, pants, mesh stockings, and a particular pair of mid-thigh shorts covered in woven white stars.

  Mohki loved the shorts so much that she changed her clothes right there in the store’s dressing room, wearing the ensemble out with a Slip Knot shirt and a black, pre-torn long sleeve shirt under it.

  With a properly-punked Kafya looped around her arm, Lirya steered Mohki and herself towards the store she wanted to look at.

  Mohki’s nose wrinkled when she saw what was waiting inside, and the Humans who ran the store equally wrinkled their noses when they saw Mohki walk in with Lirya.

  Lirya, however, was wide eyed, turning slowly in a circle as she took it all in.

  She had seen outfits like these in some of the movies and cartoons she had watched, recognizing them as “modern fantasy” inspired clothing that spoke of an older time with more modern sensibilities.

  Like pockets.

  There were plenty of dresses, of course, but these were not what drew Lirya’s eye; This store sold women’s pants, but not pants made of denim or normal cotton. These pants resembled trousers, breeches, and leggings of a more casually-combative variety. The trousers were loose and poofy, tucked into long boots that caused the area around the shin or knee to billow out.

  The breeches were made of leather or a thicker cotton weave, while some even boasted of being made of pure wool. The breeches really caught Lirya’s attention, and she spent a long time looking at each sort, eyeing them with little “oohs” and “aahs” as she reached up and felt the woolen, or cotton versions.

  For some reason the leather breeches made her feel… odd. She couldn’t quite put her paw on it, but there was something within the material that made her soul sing a certain note, a feeling of certainty that she had not felt before.

  Mohki, looking boredly at a black, roguish blouse, looked up and saw Lirya staring at a pair of dark red breeches. “Ah, yeah, I think you already knew this but Humans like using a lot of leather in their clothing. They make it out of cows, deer, goats, anything that has a thick skin, really.”

  “Leather…” Lirya murmured, letting the word flow over her tongue as she gently touched a finger to the smooth, soft material.

  As she did, the fur on her body stood on end, and she felt a shiver tickle down her spine. It was like she had touched a low voltage wire, and her body crackled alive with her energy.

  “The hell was that?” Mohki asked, having been holding the blouse to herself to see how she looked in a nearby mirror.

  Lirya drew in a long breath, her nose soaking in the smell of the leather, and she closed her eyes. “I… don’t know… but it feels… right.”

  Mohki raised an eyebrow at that. “You better be careful, you wearing leather as a white fur would probably send people into a fit.”

  “I know.” Lirya said darkly, the tone of her voice catching both Mohki and her off guard. Lirya slowly trailed her padded fingers down the leather, the feeling like lightning across her skin.

  Lirya raised a hand to a nearby attendant, and the female Human came trotting over happily in an outfit clearly drawn from things around the store.

  “Well hi there!” She said happily, placing her hands together in front of her chest. “Did you see something you like?”

  Lirya pointed to the leather breeches. “What are these?”

  “Long knee breeches.” She said with a happy, chirpy voice. “These end just down inside the boot there, and are made from doe skin. Very soft, very comfy, and are graded to be worn as common clothing!”

  Lirya looked up at the breeches, then down at the tall leather boots. “Do you have these for Kafyan feet?”

  “Oh, you like leather?” The woman asked, looking from the tall leather boots then back to Lirya. “We were told that your people don’t like leather, so we mostly stocked woolen and cloth boots with synthetics where leather would need to be.”

  A heavier woman cleared her throat from the back of the store, with the three of them looking over to her.

  She was a gruff looking sort that would have looked more at home behind a butcher counter, but she grinned devilishly at Lirya. “That’s not exactly true.”

  “You mean the pair you ordered for the yellow one?” The other attendant asked from beside Lirya. “I thought you were hoping she was going to buy them.”

  The gruff looking woman let out a dry bark of laughter. “Don’t matter to me who buys them, I can always order more. See if they fit the woman.”

  After a bit of fussing and adjusting, Lirya soon found herself in a pair of doe skin breeches and the nearly knee-high leather boots, the boot part more suitable for Kafyan feet and modeled after the combat boot worn by UAA Kafyan soldiers.

  Mohki giggled in her throat as she could nearly see the shimmering stars around Lirya as she looked at herself in the mirror turning from side to side as she admired her legs. Like most clothing now, the breeches came with a tail band, allowing Lirya to enjoy a seamless fit to her body.

  The tail band was getting a vigorous workout from how fast Lirya’s tail was wagging, and Mohki couldn’t help but smile at the odd little white fur.

  “From here we can work in… anything, really.” The attendant said, holding out one of her hands to keep Lirya’s tail from whacking her. “Blouses, tunics, long sleeves, shirts, everything will go with this kit really. We can go light fantasy, or just heavy and hard with it to the point you will stick out from a crowd from space.”

  The idea made Lirya slowly smile, and something within her soul told her that it would be quite fitting indeed.

  “Let’s do it.” Lirya said breathlessly, while Mohki let out a sigh.

  “My turn, I suppose.” Mohki laughed out breathily, then sat down on a nearby bench to look at her data-slate.

  —

  When Lirya left the mall with Mohki, she too was wearing a whole new set of clothes, the rest of their things whizzing off to the ship via delivery drones.

  While Mohki looked like she had rolled of the set of an early 2000’s punk movie, Lirya looked as if she had stepped through the portal from a fantasy role playing game; Her new sets of leather breeches included a pair with ties up the sides of her legs, letting the creamy white fur show through cheekily, and she had chosen to wear those out of the store.

  She had spied a lovely white cotton tunic and a green cotton jacket with golden edgings, the jacket long at the back but short in the front so as to not hide her leggings. They were made for warm weather, thankfully, and Lirya felt quite comfortable in the ensemble. It was all tied together with a broad leather belt around the waist, giving her a nice tucked profile.

  “You look like a ranger in a Dungeons and Dragons party.” Mohki said, reaching over and lifting a panel of Lirya’s jacket up. “And look at you showing some fur!”

  Lirya slapped the panel jacket down, causing Mohki to laugh out as she pursed her lips. “Showing off a sliver of leg is different than showing off my entire stomach, Mohki.”

  “Hey, I’ll take what I can get.” Mohki said proudly as she tucked her hands into her pockets, her mesh leggings causing more than a few Human men to trailer their eyes after her. “Where to now? We’ll have to call a tarry-lift or walk, because I don’t think we’ll be running into another friendly tank crew again.”

  Lirya chuckled at that, but the soulful thrum of a struck bell caused her to perk up her ears.

  “What was that?” Lirya asked, reaching out and stopping Mohki.

  Mohki perked up her own ears, then shrugged. “Church bell probably. Humans like to ring bells in some buildings to mark time.”

  The bell came again and again as it marked the time, and Lirya began to slowly move towards it. “It’s… pretty.”

  “Oh yeah, they can be pretty nice.” Mohki said casually, walking along beside Lirya. “The larger churches or colleges have entire routines they do and play a whole song at noon. Do you want to go see the church? They can get crazy ornate sometimes.”

  Lirya nodded excitedly, and Mohki hooked their elbows together again as they went stepping down the sidewalk towards the ringing of the bells.

  When the church came into sight, Lirya happily clapped her hands, her eyes rolling up and down the ornate building. “Oh my goodness! It looks like a work of art!”

  The Templar church on base was styled after older European designs, where the church was more of a statement of grace than merely a building that people prayed within. Fort Benning’s Templar church was based off of the Ulm Minster cathedral, though it had more castle-like features to it that also made it a usable fortress.

  Along the top of the grand front doors were the figures of Templars in long flowing tabards, wielding flaming two-handed swords and smiting wicked things that hissed and screamed at their assailants.

  The effect left Lirya speechless as Mohki just let out a sharp whistle at the carvings, and the two stepped inside the already cracked open doors.

  Lirya let out a loud “Wow!” as she stepped into the church, her eyes wide as she gazed up at the carved pillars, arches, and inner spires of the church. Rows of pews lined the inner chamber of the church, all leading towards an ornate pulpit that fell before a grand cross.

  The cross itself was carved from whole, grand timbers, the hilts of ruined swords pounded along the flat edges that gave it an ominous, but festive air.

  What really caught Lirya’s attention was that along the walls, running parallel to the pews, were great carved sarcophaguses, the lids etched with the figures of people.

  “Oh, hold on.” Lirya hushed out, dragging Mohki with her as she went to go. “I want to see these!”

  Mohki, obviously a little under dressed for the church, grunted as Lirya pulled her along. “Lirya they’re just graves, you don’t have to look at them so close!”

  Lirya, ignoring this, hopped up a set of steps to look at the top of the tomb, the lid carved in accurate relief of its occupant.

  Laying inside the tomb was apparently a woman, the marble worker having taken great care to make the stone flow with the same grace her braided hair would have had. She had a strong face, nearly handsome, and the carver even took the time to show that her nose had been broken by having it slightly off center.

  Across her chest was a rifle, at her side was a shattered sword, and her armor was heavily buckled with damage.

  The carving was so detailed that Lirya could run her padded fingers along the deep dent that sat atop her heart, and she let out a soft breath. The added effect of the stained glass windows scattering their colors across the tomb nearly made it seem jovial… but more in a sad way, like looking back on an old memory.

  “Lirya, get down from there.” Mohki hissed out in a stage whisper, tugging at the back of her coat. “You look like you’re about to roll a fucking sleight of hand check!”

  Lirya looked back at Mohki, furrowing her brows at the thought of her robbing the grave, but a voice spoke up from within the church, causing them both to pin their ears.

  “Captain Avras Mograine, slain holding the Sweet Water Bridge while wounded were being evacuated behind her.” The voice intoned, a soft male voice that carried easily in the quiet of the church. “She finally died of her wounds only when the last of the wounded had made it across, succumbing and dying just as you see her there upon her tomb.”

  A priest stepped into view, and it was only then that Lirya could hear the quiet hushing of chainmail under his ornate robe, the shoulders adorned with small pauldrons. He had a humble, fair face, his brown eyes and brown hair giving him a rather common appearance that matched his tanned, white skin.

  “Good evening.” He said politely, bowing his head towards Lirya, and then to Mohki.

  The sight of Mohki did cause him to grin though, and he raised his brows.

  “I must say, you two have chosen some rather unique outfits to visit the church in. A punk princess and a fantasy rogue… though I have seen far worse.” He said, his eyes smiling at them.

  Lirya quickly stepped back down away from the tomb and linked her elbow with Mohki’s again, her face as bright and innocent as ever despite the scars. “We didn’t mean any offense, we just wanted to see how pretty the church looked on the inside! If our clothing is an issue we can come back later.”

  “It is not a problem.” The priest said, sliding his hands into his sleeves with another shush of fine chainmail. “All are welcome into a house of the Ashen Templars and enjoy his warmth.”

  Mohki seemed a little dubious of that, and was slyly trying to pull her shorts down a little lower so they weren’t riding nearly as high as before.

  “Are you two seeking to join the congrega-” The priest began, but then he frowned, his eyes coming to a sharper focus on Lirya. “... No, no, I believe I am mistaken.”

  “Mistaken?” Mohki asked with a raised brow. “Are Kafya not welcomed to join the church of the Templars?”

  The priest slowly turned and tilted his head towards Lirya, and an unnerving wind seemed to slowly flow past Lirya and Mohki. It was chilly despite the weather, winding around the two of them like the soft breath of a giant, and then the priest smiled.

  “My apologies.” The priest said, bowing forward at the neck again and then looking back straight. “I was unaware I was talking to a priestess of another faith.”

  Mohki looked at the man as if he had just asked to take off her leggings with his teeth, but a light gulp from Lirya made her turn her head towards the white fur.

  Lirya was standing there rigidly, and Mohki could feel her shaking.

  “Welcome to the Remembrance of Fire,” The priest said grandly, his eyes locked on Liryas’s, “Lirya Ahbenjay.”