The soup kitchen

"It took long enough," Accalia said in the snarling Bertulf language. Unlike Ilrica, her entire body was in color.

"The Issaguardian is having me watched," Ilrica explained, pointing her thumb back to the Ssykes man sitting atop the water tower with some sophisticated viewing equipment. He had been invisible before, but in this world of gray he was plainly noticeable. "I had to wait for a chance to accelerate that would have an alibi." Ilrica reached into her bag and took out a large tablet and a silver flask.

Accalia accepted the tablet and opened it, revealing the secret contents within. Rows and rows of processed genetic samples. "This is the last of them?"

"Yes, and with the gel that should be everything." Ilrica stood up proudly. "I am ready to take my place in the bonfire circle."

Accalia raised an eyebrow. "Are you?"

Ilrica was caught a little off guard. "Well, yes, of course. That was the deal."

"The deal was for when your mission is completed. Your mission isn't over yet, runt."

Ilrica balled her fists. "But... I did everything that was asked of me. I got you everything you..."

Accalia slipped the tablet and flask into her tunic. "We decide when your mission is over, ilrica faolan." She spat on the ground, as if the words themselves tainted her lips. "It took years to position you where you are; you can reach places we cannot. We may yet benefit from your continued existence. Stay under cover until you hear from us further."

Ilrica clenched her fists so hard, her claws drew blood. It trickled down around her knuckles. "But..."

"But nothing!" Accalia snapped, her teeth ringing out like tapped crystal. "We are Bertulf; we have no place for subterfuge, or lies, or spies. That is the realm of prey. We are hunters. We stand in the sun and fight honorably."

Ilrica ground her teeth. "Yet, you are perfectly willing to let me do it for you."

Accalia snorted. "That is because you have no honor to lose, half-breed."

With that, she was gone. Ilrica screamed furiously and punched a wall, tearing the entire corner out of the building. Her body trembled with frustration as she looked at her bloody knuckles. "It's not fair! It's just not fair!"

She wanted to cry, but she sucked it in and clamped down on the emotion with bands of iron. "Calm down, get a hold of yourself," she screamed. "A huntress does not cry. You swore you would never let them see you cry."

Ilrica's pride gave out and she hung her head. "But I do cry... sometimes."

She sat down and brought her knees up to her chin. One of the benefits of bending time, was that you could always be alone when you wanted to be. She spent a couple of hours just sitting there in silence. In all that time, a little wisp of dust kicked up by the wind had only moved a fraction of an inch.

She stared at the frozen world around her. Mothers standing like statues in mid-stride, holding their childrens' hands. Men, repairing the masonry on the saloon, stuck in the middle of telling a joke. It felt strangely appropriate. She was in the world, but not a part of it. Only an observer, never a participant. "I've always been alone," she said to herself. "Ever since I was born. But maybe that is for the best."

Absentmindedly, she ran her fingers over her short gray fur, revealing the deep scars on her skinbeneath. They crisscrossed all over her body like a spider's web. If she ever shaved her fur off, she figured she would probably be fairly gruesome to look at. "When you are alone, no one can hurt you."

She looked up at Gerald and Zurra, standing frozen in the street where she had left them. She sniffed and wiped her nose. "Maybe I'm tired of being alone."

* * *

From Gerald's point of view, it took no time at all. Ilrica swiped her claw through the air, and suddenly there appeared in the center of the street a long table, laid out with a dozen pots filled with steaming soup, baskets full of rolls, and a large container of fresh clean water.

"There, you see?" Ilrica said proudly. "Now Gerald has no reason not to go with us to the caravan. His paperwork will be done for him, and the soup kitchen is already taken care of."

"Wow, that is amazing," Gerald said, looking it over. "How long did it take you to get this ready?

"Just a few hours, no big deal. Now, let's go have some fun."

"Well, who is going to distribute the food?"

She gave him a thumbs up. "I already got it covered. I reprogrammed Trahzi's nursemaid robot to pass out the food."

* * *

Inside the ship, Trahzi held the puppy closely against her chest as she sat on her bed, her black eyes lost in thought. Suddenly there was a ray of sunlight on her cheek. She looked up and noticed there was now a hole cut into the bulkhead from the outside where the robot had been housed that wasn't there before. She tilted her head in confusion.

* * *

Back in the plaza, Gerald and Zurra looked over Ilrica's shoulder. Already people were walking up to the robot and receiving bowls of nice, hot soup.

"Compliments of the Cha'Rolette Ssykes mobile charity organization," the robot beeped.

"Nice touch, that," Gerald chuckled, wiping the dust off his mask.

"I thought you'd like it. I even contacted the sector press so you can give an interview later as part of your charity job."

Gerald was impressed. So impressed he really couldn't see a way to refuse the offer without breaking at least three Kli'lim laws. "That was really nice of you," he said sincerely. "Thank you."

Ilrica slapped Gerald on the back, nearly knocking him over. "You see Immestria? Like I told you, the secret to dating Dyson is to give him no choice at all. Now, come on, let's go have some fun."

Zurra turned into a pink velociraptor. "Hey, this is supposed to be just between me and him," she roared threateningly.

"Too late, Zurinite, it's now a threesome."

The dinosaur folded its tiny arms in frustration.

The girls looked at Gerald. He hesitated, looking down at the tablet, then over at the impromptu soup kitchen. "I do like spending time with them," Gerald thought to himself. "But if I do, won't I just end up hurting them like I hurt Trahzi?"

Ilrica's claws grew longer. "Come on, Dyson, I shortened my lifespan to do this for you. The least you can do is come with me."

Gerald dropped his head. "Ugh, fine."

"Yay!" The pink dinosaur yelled, jumping up and down.

"Sheesh, making you have fun is like pulling teeth," Ilrica complained as she wrapped her arm around his neck. "We've got to get you to loosen up. Somewhere inside of you, there lies a shallow, lusty, gluttonous drunk male just waiting to break out. All we have to do is find it."

"I had no idea you held such a high opinion of me."

"Well, now you know."

As the three of them walked off together, Ilrica glanced warily up at the top of the empty water tower.