Rin and Zuan

  "Nav. Yes, I know. I'll be there via roll. I can handle it. Not worth it. They'll get in the way. Realight."

  "A new assignment?" the girl asked calmly.

  "yes."

  "We'll meet again."

  "Undoubtedly." Ross stood up in one fluid motion.

  "Well, take care of yourself."

  He stared at her in surprise.

  "Why are you looking at me like that?" Rin yawned. "Who was bitten by the hand in the water?"

  "Me."

  "It hurt me. And I don't feel like checking out what would happen to me if you were allowed to eat sausage."

  Nav' silently sat down on a rock. He took off his shoulder guard and rubbed the bite. Rin also silently turned her hand: a bite mark was clearly visible on the thin skin, exactly matching the bite on Ross' shoulder.

  "Did you skin your leg seven days ago?"

  "me. Did it hurt too?"

  "A little bit."

  "Funny, isn't it?"

  "Nothing funny." Ross frowned. "why?"

  "I found someone to ask." Rin shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. So take care of yourself, okay?"

  "Good." He smiled. And for the first time, there was warmth in his eyes.

  "Now get lost."

  He gently touched her shoulder. Lightly, fleetingly, like a ghost. As if doubting the correctness of the action. She turned away for a moment, and he was gone. He just disappeared, as if he had never been there. But he was. The thin ray of the call felt clearer and clearer, and now Rin knew exactly who was on the other side of the chord ringing in her soul.

 

  The sky was suffused with twilight, and sticky fear spread like dark molasses in the bends of the canyon, immersed in dense darkness. A group of people slowly made their way through the pile of stones, trying not to lose sight of their neighbor. A barely perceptible gleam of an invisible blade, a wheeze audible on the verge of sensitivity, and silence.

  "Hansor?"

  "Be quiet!" An angry shout in a strangled whisper.

  "Hansor has disappeared...."

  Before the soldier could finish, a curved black blade appeared from his throat as if by magic, and the next moment his head rolled on the rocks. A lightning strike, a jerk, and the third soldier slides heavily into a pile of his own entrails, frantically trying to close his stomach, which was split open with a single swing of the saber. The man ahead raised his rifle, noticing movement in the shadows out of the corner of his eye. There was a silent flash of metal, and the soldier collapsed on his back, thrown back by the blow, choking on his own blood and a black throwing knife sticking out of his throat.

  "Where are you?" The voice of the last of the soldiers rose to a shout.

  "Here."

  He appeared out of the darkness of the deep shadow like a ghost, a dark shadow in the darkness. The impassive helmet mask hid his face. The soldier turned with a jerk, but the warrior was gone. A moment later, a thin sword whistled, and the man fell into the dust, and not a single movement anymore. Silence. The wind howled loudly, echoing low in the rocks. Only a small stone crumb slowly carried away five bodies...

 

  Time passed slowly. By and large, there was nothing to do. Rin slept off all the years of lack of sleep in her home world, swam in the bay, trained baby dragons and a green cat, and learned how to use Ross's weapons. At first it turned out very badly. To put it bluntly, it's disgusting. Periodically, she could hear Ross's mental chuckles. He saw it all. The bond developed somehow, and sometimes they could see the world through the eyes of the other. And communicate. The first surprise passed, attempts to explain it somehow clearly did not bring any benefit, and after a long argument, the topic was closed, accepting what was happening with philosophical equanimity.

  Rin saw Ross quite often. The mighty warrior often appeared off the coast, knocking out small groups of people. Rin saw it periodically. Nav was wary for a while, but since Rin didn't comment on his actions in any way, he calmed down.

  And Rin noticed that she was starting... change. The first sign was that the ship had exploded on the first day. The girl chalked it up to an accident, as did Nav'. But when Rin tore up a huge tree along with its roots, just wishing him all the best and kind... It made me think. A week later, she created fire for the first time.

 

  It was fast approaching evening, the double luminary was setting below the horizon, and all four moons were joyfully shining in all their glory in the sky. A fresh breeze blew in from the ocean, and the grass rustled steadily. Rin stroked the cat's head, taking a bunch of dry twigs from her paws.

  "Ita, stop it!"

  The cat yawned, but took its paws away. The peculiar ritual was repeated day after day. When Rin was lighting a bonfire, preparing to cook dinner, Ita did her best to prevent this. However, not for very long. The yellow fruits with the taste of bread pleased the cat, and when they were toasted, the hefty plain predator turned into a petty thieving beggar, which brought Ross to tenderness.

  Speaking of Ross. Rin raised her head, peering at the darkening horizon. He's been delayed. Have the Ichthans been pinned down somewhere in the passes again? Nav was just having fun chasing hefty six-legged creatures. However, sometimes they chased him too. Like that time on the cliff.

  "Are you looking for me?" A soft voice bathed her soul like a balm.

  "You, you." Rin smiled, trying to light a fire. Wet firewood did not want to catch fire.

  "And how are you doing?" The warrior asked curiously, watching her efforts.

  "Yes, that's it. No way." Rin carefully blew on a tiny flame perched on the tip of a twig. The light went out. "You bastard! May you burn!"

  Nav' barely managed to pull Rin off the rock and roll with her into the water before a firestorm swept over them. Ita was yapping indignantly, floundering in the shallow water, thrown off by the shock wave. Rin was sitting on Ross's lap, hiccupping. Silently. With bulging eyes.

  "How are you?"

  "I don't know ik."

  "Your job?"

  " Ap ik paren-tly, yes. ik" Rin rubbed her cheek.

  "Whole?"

  "Y-hic-yes."

  Ross picked her up in his arms and sat her down on a rock. The campfire was still burning. A steady, clean fire. Without firewood. The flame just hung in the air without any support. A normal campfire, but without firewood. The meat and yellow fruits were completely baked, and the moss on the stone was burned clean.

  "A good campfire."

  "I didn't want." Rin looked at the mess in confusion.

  "Yes, I know." Ross rubbed absently at the bruise on his cheekbone. "If I hadn't seen it myself..."

  "It's impossible!"

  "Apparently, it is possi... Ita!"

  The cat growled with its mouth full. While Ross and the girl were distracted, the brat had stolen one of the fruits, and now, pressing her paw against a stone, she was quickly and greedily eating it.

  "Don't choke on it already, little thief."

  Int grumbled, but she didn't slow down.

  "They tamed it on their own." Rin grumbled, gathering up the remains of dinner, fortunately it was enough for the eyes. "Will you?"

  "I won't refuse. I won't get on the ship today."

  "Far away?"

  "Yes. I moved a lot to the south."

  "Because of me?"

  "Partly, yes. Partly because of Ishon's activity in the area. They still want a base on the plain. And we knock them out quickly."

  "I saw. When I first arrived here, a flight of fighters bombed the underground base. At night."

  "Yes, there was such a thing."

  "Participated?"

  " no. I was leveling another base back then."

  "Alone?"

  "One. My squad has now dispersed throughout the array. There's no need for us to work as a full squad here. They split up into pairs or singly."

  "Professionals."

  "Warriors." Ross corrected her. "We have an army, we have special forces, and we have warriors."

  "Are they some kind of mercenaries in government jobs?"

  "I guess so." Ross took a bite and chewed thoughtfully. "That's funny."

  "what?"

  "You look so much like them, and you don't look like them at the same time."

  "I don't know, I can't compare it."

  "There are many of their posts in the mountain range. You'll run into it again."

  "Most likely. I won't always be sitting on the coast."

  "Not always. Autumn and winter are coming soon."

  "Cold?"

  "Severe. Six months."

  "How much?!" Rin already sat down.

  "Six months. Ours."

  "I can't survive without shelter, without clothes..."

  He didn't say anything. A couple of hours later, he left, disappeared into the night, leaving the girl high up in a tree.

 

  And in the morning, Rin found out that he was caught.

  She saw everything through his eyes. How an armored transport with a pair of machine guns taxied out from behind a pile of rocks. A group of soldiers. The short skirmish ended quickly, as Ross was covered with a taser. Rin felt the deathly numbness that had gripped his body, the cold from the blow, felt his rage, anger, and.. despair. Understanding that this is the end. Ross was mentally apologizing for his own stupidity and overconfidence... He was saying goodbye. And then he passed out from a powerful blow to the head with the butt of the rifle.

  Rin did not see him being loaded into an APC and taken away, she only heard. And then the contact disappeared completely, and only the very feeling of the call made it clear that he was still alive.

  Rin sat on a rock by the water, hugging her knees, listening to the thin tinkle of an invisible thread. Nav would not survive captivity, she understood it very clearly. Ishon won't let him go. He's too strong, knows too much, annoyed them too much. The Russian Ishon warriors were feared and hated.

  They'll kill him! As soon as they milk everything they can, they'll kill him And he himself will not be saved. Confidence is ironclad. He won't be saved. He won't be able to. He won't be able to do it himself!.

  What should I do?

  Somewhere out there, in the mountains, an ichthan howled mournfully. It was low, dreary, and so dreary that her heart ached. And the call grew fainter and fainter, leaving an invisible tear in its wake...

  The decision came suddenly, like a flash of inspiration. A firm, unshakable confidence.

  She'll get him out of there.

  Somehow... As best he can. As it turns out.

  He trusted her, he helped her, and she will help him. When he needs help so much.

 

Chapter 3: Kindred