By J. R. Louis, the first chapter in the adventures of Harvey, a distant history to adventures of Leodhas and Spes

Across the frozen tundra of Nivis’ mountain plains, two robed figures marched in a familiar lockstep while one trudged ever further behind. The harsh wind cast the light, cloth coverings behind backward in unruly protest as their composed masters continued to push forward. The only signs of organic life amongst the group’s robotic movements being their sporadic and panting breaths, each of which was visible in the frigid, stinging air. Harvey didn’t mind only having his thin flamenian cloak to cover him, as his sleek pelt kept his body at a relatively comfortable temperature. However, he feared for his master, walking before him and wearing the same robes; he had no such pelt to keep him warm.

“Are we almost there, Master Callen?” Harvey yelled over the blustery, frozen winds.

Without turning around, his master’s voice was carried by the wind into Harvey’s perched ears. “Almost, Harvey, the complex should be just over this ridge!” The shakiness in his master’s voice was evident to his heightened perception; the cold would get to him soon if they didn’t get indoors. “How’s our new friend?” he asked.

Harvey stopped and turned around to check on the young girl who had been struggling to keep up with their pace. She was now nearly six meters behind them–twice as far as the last time he’d checked. She was clearly unable to stay with them for much longer. Harvey felt a look of disgust pass over his face as he glanced back at her, slogging through the knee-high snow banks which for her went up to her upper thigh. She was a tiny thing, incapable of completing the tasks necessary in a mission like this, but nevertheless, here she was.

“Come now, Harvey,” he heard Callen’s voice say watchfully, “She needs guidance, not judgement. We’re almost to the top of the ridge, we should see our target from there. I think I see a cave where we can rest for a moment.”

“Yes, Master,” Harvey called back, heeding his words and continuing up the ridge with only one last glance down at their companion.

Stepping into the round, icy cave, Harvey felt immediate relief from the nip of the winds they’d been hiking directly into for the better part of three hours. It had started to get dark when they’d set off and was now completely black outside save the single source of electric blue light spewing from the distant prick of light that hung in the sky high above them. Harvey noticed his master sitting near a small pile of rubbish which he’d arranged on the floor of the cave, attempting to start a fire with tools from his pack. As he struck them together over the fine strips of paper, Harvey set his pack down and sat beside him, removing his hood to reveal his snow-covered, tiger-like appearance. “Are all the nights on Nivis this brutal?” he asked, breathing warm air into his frozen, padded hands.

“I wouldn’t know,” Callen said, sending a rain of sparks down onto the refuse which promptly began to burn and smoke until they roared into a small but confident flame. “It isn’t night.”

“But, Master,” Harvey said pointing with his eyes to the dark exterior of the cave which now looked to be covered by a curtain of blowing snow as the light from the fire illuminated each individual flake for its momentary appearance. “It is night.”

“No, actually, here on Nivis, there are fifteen more hours of day left. What we are seeing now is just past midday.” Harvey looked dubious as his master spoke. “That moon you see up there,” he said pointing a finger up toward the distant point of light they’d watched and followed as a marker to this location, “is no moon at all. It’s actually one of this system’s stars.”

“That’s a star?” Harvey asked.

“Yes. One of two. The other, we saw earlier, bright and yellow, and much larger. However, that star orbits the much smaller, denser blue star at the center of this system. It’s very unique and very interesting.”

Harvey nodded along, taking in the information as his master spoke it to him. To think that there could be such a variety of planets in the galaxy made Harvey’s mind strain. He’d only been allowed to leave the monastery a few years ago, and since then had seen more than he ever thought possible. Master Callen had been his guide, and his mentor through it all.

“How far back was she?” he asked, warming his frostbitten hands against the fire. His eyes met Harvey’s with a kind of paternal expectation which one would find funny seeing from the outside-in. A human, rather fit but still dwarfed by the feline mass of muscle next to him, ordering around a Felida. It was a sight that had been pointed out to Harvey many times as his race had only recently entered into a newly-formed galactic Confederacy. His world was only a small principality, a segment of a much larger kingdom within an even larger union of kingdoms, and the complexity of it all made Harvey’s head spin. Even worse, he’d never even seen his home planet for himself.

“Not too far,” he said, brushing the snow from his fur. “Only a few meters away, I saw her following us toward the cave, and even she could see the light from the fire.”

“Harvey,” Callen started scoldingly, “She is still young, she has much training left to complete but she is part of our order and deserves due respect.”

“Yes, Master,” Harvey grumbled as Callen’s eyes shifted to the flames in disappointment, seeing clearly that his message had not yet taken root in his young apprentice’s heart.

A silence fell upon the cave, as the two men sat listening to the crackle of the fire and the howling of the wind. Not long after, the trailing figure appeared, a silhouette emerging from the cold. As she did, Callen stood to greet her with a large smile. 

“Lucretia!” he said, welcoming her into their cave, “Come, rest and warm up by the fire, set your pack down and relax before we continue. I knew you’d make it up on your own.” His words brought a smile to the young Felida’s face as she removed her hood to reveal a much more petite, yet equally feline face to Harvey’s. Her pelt was a light gray and shimmered as the flakes of snow reflected the orange firelight. 

“Thank you, Master Callen,” she said, her eyes wide with an overeagerness that Harvey had spotted as soon as he’d met her. There was something off about her personality that he couldn’t exactly place, but it burned him to his core. “Will we be spending the night here?” she asked, feigning innocence. 

Harvey couldn’t help but scoff. “Night isn’t for another fifteen hours on Nivis. This is still midday.” As soon as the words came out, Harvey felt Callen’s eyes boring holes straight through him. He didn’t dare match his gaze for risk of having his soul sucked right out of him.

“Oh, how awful,” Lucretia said, “who would ever want to live in a place like this?” 

“No sane person,” Harvey muttered.

“I know I wouldn’t,” Callen said, seating himself once again by the fire. “And luckily, we won’t spend one second longer than we have to. We’ll rest up here for a bit, warm ourselves up before continuing toward the complex.”

“What do we do once we get there?” Lucretia asked.

Harvey rolled his eyes and Callen gave him a scolding look before answering her question, “We need to find the source of some unusual energy readings that have been reported coming from the series of abandoned structures just north of here.”

“Is it much farther?”

“It shouldn’t be. Once we’re rested up we’ll keep going. Maybe by then, the storm will have passed.”

The three huddled around the fire for nearly an hour. Harvey stared into the flames, watching them rise and disappear into the sharp, frosty air. He saw Lucretia through the corner of his eye wrapping her scrawny arms around herself in a desperate attempt to keep warm. She too was dressed only in the light robes of a flamenian apprentice, and was not yet disciplined enough to harness her inner charge. She would need to learn eventually if she hoped to make it in the flamenian order like he had with the help of his master. Harvey looked to Callen, sitting cross-legged across from him with his eyes closed. He was meditating, concentrating. His body looked unreal in the orange light from the fire which cast dancing shadows on the wall behind him. Even more unreal to the uninitiated would have been the fact that Callen’s body wasn’t touching the ground. He floated in place, hovering just inches above the icy cave floor. Harvey had never mastered the meditation technique himself, but still found it fascinating to watch his master at work. He remembered the first time he’d seen Callen meditate this way, he was just a cub, newly taken up as an apprentice; he’d sat and watched for hours in the monastery, trying to emulate his master’s technique, thinking foolishly that he would be able to acquire the high-level skill so quickly. Now, all these years later, he still couldn’t hope to match his master’s abilities. It made Harvey smile to think back to those early days.

“What’s he doing?” Lucretia whispered, her soft voice tearing Harvey from his thoughts like a splash of icy water. “Is he floating?!”

“Yes,” Harvey said abruptly, “It is a higher-form of meditation than someone like you could possibly comprehend.” his spite faded to reverence as he continued to explain the complexity of the form. “Only those who are in-touch with their inner flame, who have moved beyond the need to bask in the glory of the galactic center possess the wherewithal and skill to meditate in such a manner. It is said that when a flamen floats, he is letting his inner flame carry his soul to a different plane of existence where he may commune with the past great masters.”

Lucretia looked dubiously at Callen’s unflinching, hovering body. “Can he hear us?” she asked.

“No, when a master is set within his trance, reciting his mantra, he allows only his instincts to guide him. His other senses are dulled, for they are mere distractions from the goal of peace and mediation.” Harvey’s words rolled out as though he were reading them from a book.

“Can you do it?”

His face drained of blood, “No,” he spat. “I can’t do it!”

“Then how do you know so much about it?”

“I’ve studied the texts at the monastery, trying to learn the intricacies of the meditation style, but I haven’t been able to figure it out.”

Her cat-like eyes focused on Callen’s body, examining his form before squinting with determination. “How do you do it then?” Lucretia asked, a driven smile spread across her face.

Harvey looked at her with disbelief. “Didn’t you hear what I said? You can’t do it–I can’t even do it. It’s something only masters can do after years–lifetimes–of study!” Lucretia’s tented ears dipped behind her head in a show of sadness. “You have much to learn, little one,” Harvey said, mimicking the phrase he’d heard Callen tell him time and again growing up. 

“Please?” She asked, staring up at Harvey with golden, pleading eyes. They were the same eyes he’d seen in other Felidae, which were extremely useful for swaying humans. Harvey, on the other hand, was far less easy to control with what master Callen always called ‘misplaced charm’. But just as Harvey was about to decline her entreatment, the thought of her facing a harsh reality check brought a thin smile to his face. “Okay, Lucretia, I’ll tell you everything I know.”

She smiled gleefully before sitting down in the usual meditation stance she’d been taught to use thus far during her training at the monastery. Harvey was impressed with her posture; the form looked to be nearly perfect, but good form was only part of the source of a flamen’s power. 

“Now,” Harvey said, channeling his inner instructor. “Close your eyes, clear your mind, and take a series of deep, slow breaths; these will help fuel your inner flame.” As he spoke, she did exactly what he said without hesitation. “Begin to chant your mantra, while a master doesn’t need to speak aloud, there is nothing wrong with doing so. Its only purpose is to focus your mind and soul on a single point and drive toward it; doing so stokes the flame within you.”

“What should my mantra be?” She asked, opening one eye to peer up at Harvey. “Master Lilium at the temple says that a mantra should be ‘focused and pertinent’.” 

Harvey shook his head impatiently. “This meditation style is personal and intricate. There is no ‘right’ way to do it, but there are countless wrong ones. Now do as you’re told and close your eyes! Use whatever mantra comes to you first.” His words came out as a snarl. “It doesn’t matter anyway,” he said as Lucretia began murmuring inaudibly, “you will fail no matter the mantra you use. There is no way that one so young as yourself could–” His words trailed off as he realized what he was seeing before him. Lucretia, having fallen so easily into deep meditation, was beginning to rise slowly off the cave floor. He was speechless as she lifted up only a few centimeters from the ground. It wasn’t as high as master Callen, but it was infinitely more than Harvey had ever been able to achieve. He shook his head in disbelief as his blood began to boil. 

Just as she leveled out in the air, Harvey heard Callen begin to awake from his meditation. Before he could see Lucretia, Harvey placed a firm hand on her shoulder and forced her back down to the ground abruptly, shaking her out of her concentration. 

“Did I do it?” Lucretia asked eagerly.

“As I said,” Harvey answered sternly, “a mere apprentice like yourself could not achieve such a high-level state of meditation.” 

“Oh,” she said, letting her eyes drop to the icy ground. “But I thought I felt it, I really did!”

“Felt what?” Callen asked, standing and stretching above the fire. 

“Harvey was teaching me to meditate and strengthen my inner flame!” Lucretia said, returning quickly to the eager young girl she so often appeared to be. 

“Is that so?” Callen said, smiling to his old apprentice. “Well you couldn’t have been in better hands. Harvey knows everything there is to know about meditation.”

“Not quite everything,” Harvey mumbled sourly. 

Callen continued, not hearing Harvey’s complaint. “I found the power source while I was meditating. It isn’t far from here, just another short hike. Are the two of you ready to keep going?”

Putting out the fire and donning their survival packs yet again, the three set out into the stinging cold of the Nivisian snow storm. Callen took the lead, being led himself by his flamenian instinct, Harvey followed close behind, and Lucretia took up the rear, trailing ever distant as the hike drug on. When finally they reached the top of the ridge, Callen raised a hand off into the distance. 

“See that over there?” He yelled over the howling winds.

Harvey squinted, his heightened eyesight struggling to peer through the dense fog of snow. “What am I looking for?”

“Our target.” Callen, pointing to three blips of light that began to make themselves known as Harvey brushed the accumulating snow from his cheeks. He did see them, yellow lights flashing on and off, most likely spinning atop tall marking poles. There was almost no other civilization on Nivis, so that had to be the complex they were looking for.

“That’s it,” Harvey said, holding his pack tightly against his shoulders and beginning to make his way down the snowy slope before him. “Let’s get down there!” But before he could take even two steps, a firm hand stopped him in his frozen tracks. 

“Wait, where’s Lucretia? She didn’t get lost coming up here from the cave, did she?” Callen looked through the blizzard with frantic concern. “Lucretia!” he cried, cupping his gloved hands to his mouth. “Lucreeetiaaa!” 

There was no response. The only sign of life in the cold, dark air was the single light shining just above the horizon, moving rather quickly by stellar standards across the sky. The blue star barely illuminated the surface of Nivis, making a difficult task like finding Lucretia nearly impossible. 

“I can’t sense her anywhere near us,” Callen said desperately.

“Her flame isn’t strong enough to sense through this storm, master. She should be able to just follow our trail through the snow to find us.”

“She can’t follow our trail if she’s collapsed from exhaustion…or worse.” Harvey had never seen Callen so distraught in all his years of training under him. The flamen master was usually so collected and disciplined, but the thought of losing Lucretia had set him into a panic. “We need to find her,” he said. “I won’t fail her at the beginning of her training.” Then, following his footprints back toward the cave, Callen trudged through the snow, calling out for Lucretia.

Harvey pulled down his hood and followed, slumped in annoyance. “This girl is more trouble than she’s worth.” he grumbled to himself. He knew the flamen were supposed to protect those less fortunate or capable, but this was not a usual circumstance. “If she were a civilian, I’d agree, we should do everything we could for her. But she wants to be a flamenica, and holding her hand through this mission won’t only put us in danger, but it won’t teach her anything!” Harvey cursed as the frost began to bite at his tongue. He stopped talking to himself and continued looking for Lucretia, bemoaning his luck since his master had taken on this new apprentice.

Harvey marched through the snow, holding his hood down tightly to keep it on against the wishes of the turbulent gale that threw snow against him from all sides. He was surrounded by a swirling vortex of icy flakes that moved so quickly that they felt as though they were cutting into him when they struck his uncovered hands or face. His leather boots were beginning to soak through  as snow seeped in from his frozen legs. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could last sifting through the deepening snow, and however bad off he was, he knew Callen must be doing even worse. But still, his master pushed on through the blizzard, calling with all his heart for the young girl who he’d only recently taken on as his apprentice. Harvey was nearing the age where he would be allowed to leave his master and train independently as a full-fledged flamen, but had been held back for one reason or another. Now, he was forced to share his master with this girl, Lucretia because of some extenuating circumstance that was brought before the Flamen Dialis, the leader of the order. Harvey glanced down at the snow to recenter himself on the footprints they’d made from the cave, but was surprised to find smooth, undisturbed snow before him. The blizzard was covering up their tracks, and with no familiar surroundings to regain their bearings, there would be no way for them to find the cave again for shelter, let alone the complex of buildings. “Master Callen!” Harvey yelled out to the blizzard. No response. “Master, we need to get to shelter, the storm is getting worse!” Still nothing.

Harvey began to frantically spin, looking for someone or something familiar to orient himself so that he could find the cave again. If Master Callen found Lucretia, then that’s where he would take her. There would be little chance of them reaching the complex until the storm passed. But Harvey couldn’t see anything. The wind and snow had become so violent that he could barely see a meter in front of him. Then, suddenly from the white curtain of snow came a dark figure, a short figure hobbling through the snow. It was Lucretia.

“Lucretia!” Harvey called, rushing toward her and wrapping his loose robe around her shaking body. “Have you seen Master Callen? He went looking for you and–”

“He was right behind me!” She yelled weakly, trying to speak over the wind. “I collapsed in the snow and he dug me out. I could barely move.”

Harvey looked at the frail girl standing in her frozen grave if she stayed out here much longer. Whether or not she was a flamen apprentice, she needed his help. He lifted his head and swiveled it around, looking once more for his master. “We need to get you inside,” he finally decided. “I’m sure Callen will find his way back to the cave!” 

As Harvey’s head turned frantically around, looking desperately for the cave entrance they’d lost in the blizzard, he felt Lucretia’s hand go limp as she collapsed in the waist-deep snow. She’d fainted from exhaustion or hypothermia, Harvey didn’t know. Nevertheless, he scooped her up in his burly arms and began to charge through the snow in the only direction he thought the cave could be. If he was lucky, they’d find it before Lucretia suffered any serious health problems; if he was really lucky, Callen would be there, waiting for them to arrive. He would know what to do to save Lucretia’s life–there was little denying his abilities to harness not only his own flame, but the flames within others. But as Harvey plowed through the rising snowdrifts, he heard his master’s voice in the back of his mind. There’s no such thing as luck, Harvey. A flamen follows his instincts for guidance from the great source. He didn’t see the cave anywhere, and could feel the life draining out of Lucretia as the winds picked at them both, circling round them like buzzards sensing their next meal. Harvey’s fur was thick and could keep him warm for a time, but Lucretia’s pelt was much thinner. No matter how tightly Harvey wrapped her, their thin robes would be soaked through with snow and cold instantly, leaving her in an even more vulnerable position. The only thing that could keep her warm enough now was her inner flame, but she couldn’t harness it while she was unconscious. An apprentice would usually need weeks or months to learn to harness their charge in such a way, but after seeing Lucretia meditating in the cave, Harvey wasn’t sure what this young Felida was capable of. But he knew she wasn’t capable of anything in her current state. Digging deep down within himself, Harvey focused all his energy on his breathing. He felt the heat from within his chest rise up through him, building up until it felt like a roaring flame beneath his skin. He relaxed his muscles, allowing that charged energy flow from his torso into his arms which wrapped tightly around Lucretia like he was carrying a child. In reality, there wasn’t a great age difference between them. Harvey had been an apprentice for seven years, and Lucretia was in her third. But looking at them now, the sheer difference in size was enough to make one think they were completely different species.

He could feel the life within her, settling in the warm wrapping he was providing in spite of the harsh storm he was being forced to endure while searching for the cave. It was taking all his charge to keep her stable. He wondered if he could have used a passive meditation technique he’d been studying to locate the cave again but in this blizzard it would have been nearly impossible to focus. Now, without all his energy, there was no hope. He could feel his knees weakening and beginning to buckle beneath the weight of both he and Lucretia. The snow was so high that each of his steps forced his knees to his chest. Harvey was panting, exhausted and nearly blinded by the incredible snow. He shut his eyes tight and felt his energy weaken along with his limbs. Falling to his knees in the sharp, stinging snow, Harvey dropped his head and let out long, painful breaths. There was no way he could keep going like this forever. They needed to get to the cave, not only for Lucretia, but for him as well. 

Suddenly,  a distant, despairing voice cut through the wind and snow. “Harvey!” It was Master Callen. Harvey couldn’t see him clearly, but as he lifted his eyes, he noticed a dim orange light just a few dozen meters before him. His instincts had led him back to the cave, but his body was unable to finish the journey. He looked through the snowy fog at the haven which gleamed with a dull brilliance. Sanctuary. “Lucretia!” he heard the voice call out again. “Where are you?” Callen didn’t see them; he didn’t know they were so close. Harvey wouldn’t have seen him either if it weren’t for the fire he’d lit in the cave. 

Harvey tried to call back to him for help “Master!” but his voice was as weak as the rest of his muscles. His oxygen was lacking as it hurt to take breathes into his over-exerted lungs. They were so close and yet so incredibly far from salvation, kneeling in the cold snow as the storm slowly mummified them in a white shroud. “Master,” he tried again, but to no avail. Harvey’s vision was blurring as he began to succumb to his fatigue. Running through the snow while keeping Lucretia warm had drained all of his energy and now he would die here with her in his arms. Harvey hoped his body would manage to keep her safe and warm until the storm passed and Callen was able to find them. That was the type of noble death a flamen hoped for, but Harvey’s heart wasn’t satisfied. He didn’t know if it made him a bad flamen or not, but he didn’t want to die. He needed to live, to rise through the ranks of the flamenian order, to show Master Callen how much his training meant to him. Harvey wasn’t ready to die, and as these thoughts of scorned potential raced through his head, one last surge of enraged energy welled up within him and burst from his chest and out his fanged mouth with a rippling intensity that created waves in the snowy air. The sound of his roar echoed across the frozen tundra and lasted for only a few seconds before Harvey’s will left him, causing him to collapse into the snow, cradling Lucretia in his arms to protect her from the snow. In his last moments of consciousness, Harvey heard the voice of his master calling out to him through the snow, struggling to move through the storm toward the source of the bellowing roar.

It was hours later when Harvey finally awoke. As his eyes slowly slipped open, he found himself lying in the icy cave wrapped in another set of robes next to a waning fire. He was sore everywhere from exerting his muscles in the snow while trying to find this place, and he could feel the prinkling sting on his skin as the ice melted off of his fur. He was alive, and for now, that was all that mattered. He took a deep breath as he twisted his head around, searching for his master. He saw the opening of the cave in the distance, a white portal to a snowy hell he’d just barely escaped alive. Trying to roll over to see the rest of the room, his shoulder gave out, causing him to collapse as a dull but excruciating pain seeped over his body. He stayed still, relaxing as much as he could to keep the pain away.

He felt a hand set down on his shoulder as a familiar form knelt down beside him. He was shirtless and shaking noticeably; his hands were warm to the touch, but appeared bright red as though they were nearly frostbitten. 

“Master,” Harvey said, concern pouring from him as he saw the wretched state Callen was in.

Callen lifted a trembling, red finger to his lips and guided Harvey’s eyes with a gentle glance to the other side of the cave. There, Lucretia was resting, wrapped in whatever extra cloth Callen could scrounge from his person when he finally managed to somehow get them both out of the bold. “She hasn’t woken up yet,” he said. He noticed Harvey’s concern shift to her then turned to guilt as he saw her limp, helpless body. “No, Harvey. She’ll be fine. It was your quick thinking that saved her out there. Without your cunning, both of you would have certainly frozen to death within minutes.”

Harvey soaked in the praise. It wasn’t often that Callen spoke so highly of him–of anyone. Throughout his years as Callen’s apprentice, he’d barely received anything more than a handful of compliments or plaudits from his laconic master. Now that their time together was coming to a close, Harvey was almost taken aback by the commendation. “It’s all because of your training, Master.”

“I can’t take credit for everything, Harvey,” Callen said, smiling. “You have skills I could never hoped to have taught you. Your dedication to personal study has helped you grow into the fine flamen you are today.” Harvey watched with bated breath as his master continued to speak. “I have been your master for seven years, Harvey; I have seen you grow and develop. I know you will be ready to pass on to the next step in your role within the flamenian order once we reach the monastery again. I don’t mind telling you that the other masters agree with me.”

Harvey wasn’t sure what to say. He’d been working to achieve the rank of master his entire life, and now that it was at hand, he was speechless. His pain subsided as he imagined himself seated with Callen and the other masters, an equal at their table. Callen saw a smile creep across his face and matched it with a caring, paternal grin.

“I know I don’t say it enough, Harvey,” he began. “But–” Callen found his words interrupted by a violent fit of coughs echoing from the other side of the cave. His eyes shot to her convulsing body as Lucretia began to wake up from her icy slumber. Without another word, Callen stood and shot over to the young girl, leaving his student alone, restless and once again simmering in annoyance and pain. Harvey watched enviously as his master coddled the young Lucretia as though she were a baby. She had been near death some time ago, but like Harvey had had sufficient rest; she should have been perfectly fine. 

But that was not the appearance she was putting forth. Howls of anguish and pain spewed from her boxy snout. Callen was doing everything he could to stop her suffering, but Havery could tell there was only one thing that would stop her moaning: attention. He’d experienced such bratty personalities before, but only amongst initiates who were not chosen to proceed in the flamenian rites. It was expected that those who were chosen be of higher moral standing than their peers; Lucretia seemed to Harvey to be an obvious outlier from that goal. Usually, that wouldn’t have bothered him, but to see his master grovelling at her beck and call made him feel very close to sick.

“I don’t think I’m going to make it, Master,” Lucretia said between harsh, dramatic coughs.

“You’re going to be fine, Lucretia, just please hang on. The storm will pass soon, then I can take you back to the ship; you can rest there while Harvey and I retrieve the power source and complete the mission.”

Lucretia’s eyes brightened with a sinister gleam that, once again, only Harvey was privy to. He noticed her glance in his direction, calculations running behind her large, green eyes. Despite this newfound life in her gaze, her face sickened as she began to gag forcefully, trembling on the frigid ground. Harvey could tell there was something more to this act.

“But, Master,” She continued, her voice weakened and hoarse. “I wanted to go with you–to help you complete the mission and make you proud.”

Callen’s brows raised with sympathetic guilt. “You already have, young one,” he said in a soothing, genuine tone that Harvey had never heard before. Even on the multiple occasions he’d been near death, lying before his master while he furiously attempted to heal him by transferring his inner charge, Callen had always had a cold and unforgiving bedside manner. It was as though he were a completely different man from the flamen master Harvey had come to know.

“Master,” Harvey called out, sitting up and leaning against the cave wall with every ounce of energy he had.

“Not now, Harvey,” Callen said back, not even lifting his gaze.

“Master,” Harvey said, more sternly. “Please.”

He heard Callen sigh and whisper what he thought was an apology to Lucretia before he stood and strolled across the icy floor to kneel at Harvey’s side. “What is it? You should be resting. Lucretia is much worse off than you; she needs my attention.”

Harvey stared at him in disbelief for a moment. The man who had spoken to him just moments ago was far gone. There was a coldness in his voice that was uncharacteristic even for Callen. “Can’t you tell she’s faking?” Harvey whispered. “She and I experienced the same storm, her fur kept her warm enough, not to mention my quick-thinking when I used my flame to keep her alive. She’s not dying.”

“She’s fragile, Harvey!” Callen shouted back in a whisper. “You’re three times her size and even you barely survived. She would have died if she were out in that storm for only a few more minutes, and while you were responsible for finding her out there, that doesn’t give you the right to dispute a young girl’s suffering!”

“But she’s not suffering!” Harvey fired back. “This is all an act, I can see it in her eyes.”

“Do you know what I see in her eyes, Harvey?”

“Master, if you’d just–” Callen held up a hand to his apprentice that had taken on a meaning throughout their years together which Harvey knew well. It meant, ‘stop talking, and listen to your master’.

Once Harvey had stopped, Callen took a breath to bring himself under control. “I see a young girl who’s already lost one master and is eager to impress her next one, whom she was forced upon against her will despite that master already having an apprentice. I see an apprentice who’s master failed to note her ill-preparedness for the mission ahead and put her directly in harm’s way without thinking, almost leading to her death, buried beneath a meter of snow.” Callen paused to stare Harvey down, daring him to contradict. “I don’t see a maniacal, selfish actor, Harvey. I see a young girl who needs help, just like you did in the storm. She wasn’t lying then, Harvey, so why would she be now?”

The two men sat there on the cave floor, eyes locked in a fight of will which Harvey readily submitted after pondering his master’s words. With that, Callen stood and briskly made his way back over to Lucretia’s side, where he knelt down and helped her adjust so that she would be more comfortable. Harvey wasn’t sure what to think, he watched as she writhed in pain, wondering if his instincts, which Callen had always taught him to follow, were really justified or if they were pointing to an innocent little girl. There was no sure way to find out except to wait and see. “Time solves all mysteries,” Harvey thought, remembering the quote from a famous master within the flamenian order. Uncertain of the future, but confident that he and Callen could face it together, Harvey closed his eyes on his master’s sycophantic musings and tried to get some sleep. 

Harvey awoke in the cave, his eyes opening to find the fire doused and his two companions suiting up without him. Lucretia was standing, no longer ill or weak in an perceivable way, and Callen was helping her adjust the thin straps on her pack to fit against her body for the journey. Harvey tried to sit up, and felt his muscles resist with every fiber of their being as they were forced to leave their tense, frozen form. His groans caught the attention of Callen and Lucretia just before they began to leave the cave.

“Harvey,” Callen said, surprised. “I’m taking Lucretia back to the ship where she can rest in the warm.” He walked closer to Harvey and spoke softly so that Lucretia couldn’t hear. “She needs to rest somewhere warmer than this cave, and I’m not sure she has the strength to make the trip back alone. I’m going to take her there, and I’ll meet you at the complex. Don’t wait up for me, I’ll catch up to you soon. See if you can’t find the energy source and we can figure out what to do once I meet up with you.” He could see the confusion on his apprentice’s face.”You remember where the complex is, right?” He asked, annoyance boiling in his throat. 

“Yes, Master,” Harvey managed to spout instinctively. He did, in fact, remember where the complex was, but his mind was too shaken to think clearly. “How long will you be, Master? How long should I wait?” 

“I shouldn’t be more than a few hours behind you. Just make sure you’ve found the power source by then–we’re running far enough behind because of that storm. If we don’t report back to the monastery soon, they’ll send a rescue party after us.”

“I understand, Master,” Harvey said, eyeing the young felida standing near the mouth of the cave, quaking in the frigid air. Behind her, he could see that the storm which had almost swallowed them up had stopped, leaving a dense, gleaming blanket of snow which sprawled outward from the icy portal. As the two of them tramped out into the pristine snow, leaving deep, asymmetrical footprints, Harvey collected his own belongings and prepared to journey off in the other direction. This would be the first mission during his training where he was, in all meaningful ways, alone, and he felt nothing but prepared for the trek.