Editing Story:ROAD TRIP! (Warhammer High)/Part Four (section)

===Stranger at Home===

Bjorn the Eldest, presiding Wolf Lord, slowly paced his room in the Fang, reading a message on his dataslate.  “A week and a half before the ship arrives, and then…hmm,” he said to himself.  A loud knock on the door announced a guest.  He switched off the slate and halted his pacing.  “Come.”

Freya walked in, closing the door behind her.  Bjorn spread his arms.  “Little pup.  How did your fishing expedition go?”

“Horrible.  We were attacked by krakenspawn,” Freya said.  She was very careful not to sound like she was accusing Bjorn.  “The bastards actually made it ashore before the gunship got us out of there.”

“Oh?  So much for that trip then,” Bjorn said.  “Are you all uninjured?”

“Yeah, though Jake and Alex are a little shook up.”  She sighed.  “I don’t blame them, they’re not fighters.  The gunship’s pilot and gunner paused their pickup to fire on the krakenspawn, though, that pissed me the hell off.”

“What did they do?” Bjorn asked, his brow creasing.

Freya snorted impatiently.  “We signaled for a pickup.  They flew over our heads and fired on the krakenspawn, and Remilia had to hit the recaller again before they came to actually pick us up.  The spawn had actually managed to get ashore by the time they stopped jacking off and let the ramp down.”

“Disappointing,” Bjorn rumbled.  “I’ll have a word with them.”

“Thanks.”  Freya sank into a massive chair and ran her hands over her face.  “I will never complain about not seeing enough wildlife when I go to town, I promise,” she muttered.

Bjorn nodded once.  “Perhaps later you could return?”

“No, I don’t think so,” Freya said.  The Juvjk dialect lent her words a melancholy tone.  “I feel like shit.”

Bjorn sat down as well.  “Why?”

“I jeopardized their lives, Eldest.  I shouldn’t have done that,” Freya confessed.  “It’s easy for me to forget sometimes that the boys especially can’t really keep up with me sometimes.  I didn’t even bring guns for them.”

“I don’t follow,” Bjorn said.  “Did they slow you down somehow?”

“No!”  Freya stared at the floor.  “Look, I just feel awful for putting them in harm’s way.”

Bjorn slowly stood again, looking down at the redheaded girl with an air of remorse.  “Are you telling me that you regret taking them on this trip to go fish…or to Fenris?  I can not tell, from the sense of you,” he said quietly.

Freya closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose.  “Yeah.  I guess it did sound that way, didn’t it.”  She huffed.  “I don’t regret bringing them here.  I truly don’t.  But the trip today was supposed to be a chance for them to experience the parts of Fenrisian life that I enjoyed so much with Dad last time I was here.  Instead we nearly get eaten.”

“Little pup, I don’t know how to tell you this, but most of the struggles of life on Fenris involve nearly dying in some way,” Bjorn said, sternness hardening his words.

“I was afraid you’d say that.”  Freya stood.  “So what do you recommend?  We leave early?  I just confine them to the Fang?”

“‘Confine’ sounds like a punishment.”  Bjorn opened one hand and extended it to her.  “Let them dine with the Brothers tonight.  If we can not make them feel at home, then speak to me again.  Until then, however…I think it too early to make a decision.”

“You’re right, Bjorn.”  Freya stood.  “All right.  Thanks.  I needed someone to talk to.”  She yawned as the day’s exertions took their toll.  “Would you mind terribly if I showed them the skjalds’ quarters?  The rec rooms, and such?”

“I care not.  Ask before you go.”  Bjorn cocked his head.  “You know that the skjalds find precious little free time here.”

“I do, but I feel that it’s as much a part of the lives of the residents of the Fang as anything,” Freya explained.

“Then of course you may, little pup.”  Bjorn nodded once.  “Now…if you would, I was reading an important message from Terra.”

“Sure.”  Freya turned to go.  “Nothing bad, I hope?” she asked over her shoulder.

“Quite the opposite; reinforcements from Terra are on the way to here and some of our field deployments,” Bjorn said.  “I will speak to you tonight.”


Above, Venus sat down next to Jake on the bed in their suite.  Jake was feeling a little better, but the afternoon’s activities were clearly staying with him.  “Do you want to take a nap before dinner?” she asked.

Jake shook his head.  “No thanks.”  He straightened up, staring into space.  “You know, even living in the hives I never saw someone firing a gun up close?”

“It’s scary the first few times,” Venus said.

“I wasn’t home when it happened to my neighbor.  Did I ever tell you about that?” Jake asked.

“You started to, on Nocturne.”

Jake nodded.  “Right.  I was at work when someone walked up to my neighbor when he was opening his door to go to work, and just unloaded a shotgun into him at point blank.”

Venus shuddered.  “Horrible.”

“Yeah.  The killer just stepped over him, took my neighbor’s stereo, walked back out and drove off.”  Jake sighed.  “He got caught half a klick away, trying to fence it.  An Enforcer Widget caught the sound of the shot.”

Venus blinked.  “A what?”

“A Widget.  Disguised camera and audio pickup built into the traffic lights.  I mentioned them at the dinner in Skarokk,” Jake reminded her.

“Oh, yeah.”  Venus looked over at him.  Jake was still staring at the wall.  Venus sighed.  “This has been a wild trip, huh?”

“Yep.”

“Regret it?”

“Hell no.”

“Good.”  Venus lay down on the bed and held out an inviting hand to him, brushing his arm.  He looked back at her and cracked a tiny grin.  Shucking his jacket, he slid down and rested his head on her proffered arm.

“Thanks, baby,” he said quietly, closing his eyes.  “…Maybe I will take a nap.”

Venus scooted closer to him and entwined her legs with his.  Through his thick thermo clothes, she was nothing more than a comforting warmth.  “Okay,” she said softly.  “Sleep tight.”

Remilia leaned on the frame of Alex and Freya’s door as Freya returned from her status report to Bjorn.  “How was it?” she asked as he cousin rounded the corner.

“I’m starting to regret taking you guys outdoors at all,” Freya grumbled.

“Come on, don’t be like that,” Remilia said crossly.

Freya puffed an out an aggravated breath.  “Fine.  I can’t obsess over it.”  She looked at Venus’ and Jake’s closed door.  “Is Jake okay?” she asked.

“He’ll be fine, he was just a little shaken up.”  Remilia nodded solemnly.  “He’s gonna nap, I think.”

“All right.”  Alex emerged from the room, tousled a bit from removing his thermo kit and slipping on a more normal pair of pants and a tee.  “How about you, baby?” Freya inquired.

“I’m just fine,” Alex said with a shrug.  “What did Lord Bjorn say?”

Freya glanced down at the floor for a moment.  “Not much.  He said we should dine with him tonight before I decide what to do next.”

“Smart.”  Remilia rose from her slouch.  “All right.  We’ve got four hours.  What do you guys want to do?” she asked.

“I think I just wanna read in bed for a while, actually,” Alex said, stifling a yawn.

“Me too,” Freya said, walking past him into the room.

Remilia paused.  “Uh, guys, do you mind if I read with you?  I just don’t really want to be by myself right now, you know?”

Freya’s senses detected a slight urgency to her request.  “’Course not,” she said.

Her cousin nodded.  “Great, thanks,” she said, disappearing into her room.