Page 120 of Sway's Peace
Maybe when his female bred for him, he’d rethink them again. For now, he pushed them back into the deep recesses of his mind as he reclaimed his true identity.
The lightweight, gauzy fabric of his farasie style clothes were tossed aside on the floor. Grace looked breathtaking in these things, but he didn’t much care for them. The high necked, sleeveless black shirt and jumpsuit that he pulled on his legs and tied around his waist were much more comfortable. Familiar. He sealed his boots back on and, from the bag, he took out the emergency beacon – the one that connected only to the ship – and his claws.
His style of fighting was based around kicking – not an uncommon thing for his kind. Male farasie had thickenedskin on their legs and knuckles specifically for defending their females and nests. He’d just used that to his advantage as he grew and trained on Rik-Vane. It was easier, he could deal a lot of blunt damage, and it meant his enemy didn’t bleed. He’d like to say that he considered that a mercy, but he didn’t. Blunt wounds could easily be worse specifically because the damage they caused was all internal. The real reason was simpler, more morbid, and much more selfish.
Blood was so hard to clean out from his feathers.
But he’d rather that be someone else’s blood than his own.
He slid the claws over his fingers and locked the bracelet they were chained to around his wrist, keeping them on.
Armed, properly dressed, and feeling stronger and more like himself, he hit the button on the emergency beacon. It would only work if the Humility wasn’t in subspace, where communication was impossible. But to his relief, the connection was immediate and strong.
“Been wondering when we’d hear from you.” That was Alred. He sounded amused.
“Had some unexpected trouble,” Sway said, setting the beacon down – it wasn’t capable of flight like a combot since it was meant for simple, emergency communication – as he went about gathering his belongings. He wouldn’t be able to get Grace’s since her door was keyed to her, but that was fine. He’d just replace whatever she brought later.
“I’m assuming the trouble has to do with this odd message telling us that you’ve decided to stay and that we should continue on without you?”
Sway threw back his head, laughing. “Is that what they went with?”
“Funny. Trove said theexactsame thing,” Alred laughed along with him. “It even thanked us for the opportunity you had to live and work with us. Like you were quitting a job or something. It’s hilarious. We were already on our way back or we would have turned around. We’re out in the system now. We were forming a battle plan. Vytln and Rok wanted to just break everything and be done with it, but the twins thought a more subtle approach might be wiser.”
“What did the captain say?” Sway tossed the last of his clothes into the bag and sealed it shut.
“He was inclined to do both. Send the twins in secret and once they found you, extract you out and then break everything for good measure.”
Sway grinned. Of course, that would be Tanin’s plan. Their captain was a very calm male, agreeable in most instances, and it could fool a lot of people into thinking that made him unlikely to do anything drastic. When, really, it was quite opposite. Tanin was much more inclined to leave a loud message so that no one would be foolish enough to mess with them twice. He just didn’t do it with a loud show of a temper. That made it more intimidating.
“Well, you don’t have to find me,” Sway said. “So, let’s go ahead with the breaking everything for good measure idea. After I find Grace.”
“Hm? What happened to Grace?”
Sway filled him in on everything that had transpired since they left. Including the fact that he intended to claim her as his mate.It wasn’t really important to the story of his exile, but he knew that Tanin would be listening, and he wanted the captain to know.
Not just because he was going to be bringing her to their crew full time because of it, but also so he would know just how serious her being taken from him was.
If she was his, then she was one of the crew. And no one messed with their crew.
As he spoke, the door to the privy opened and Loyalty emerged. Freshly cleaned, his quills were glowing brighter than ever. He was shirtless and shoeless, having only pulled on a spare pair of Sway’s pants that didn’t quite fit. They were tight on his thighs, and he’d had to rip the back to widen it for his much larger, more muscular tail. He’d ripped the bottom of the legs off as well, probably because they were too short and tight around his calves, turning them into rough capris.
He looked like a wild beast, come striding in all untamed and unbound. He would, no doubt, drive terror into the hearts of the farasie here.
Sway was looking forward to it.
“So, what do you want to do, Sway?” Alred asked, and though it was his voice, Sway could practically hear the captain asking it on the other end.
What did he want to do. Because Grace was his, and that meant this mission meant the most to him.
What would a monster do?
What would the Pacifist do?
“They’ve not killed or harmed us,” Sway said, a grin pulling at his lips. “I want them to survive what I’m going to do to them as well.”
***
The plan was a simple one, but Sway considered it fair for their offenses against them.
