Arthur dragged his exhausted body through the hole in the ship’s hull, next to several humans and Drakkhan. There were fewer humans in his squad compared to before they set out. It was only natural. Even though the past three months were filled with life-and-death battles and opportunities to grow stronger through fighting, most humans still hadn’t learned Aura. This meant that they were at a severe disadvantage compared to their enemies, although they stayed mostly in the rear. Casualties were to be expected, but this time there had been too many.

The operation had failed. They were flanked by enemy squads, which cut through their army’s rear like a hot knife through butter. The Drakkhan were caught off-guard, while the humans were unable to support them as properly as they should, resulting in a slaughter. Arthur’s squad had barely escaped, having lost many of their members from both species.

Arthur didn’t know how he managed to trudge all the way to his squad’s quarters but soon collapsed on a bed with hazy eyes. Someone sat next to him, heaving. He turned his head. A young man could be seen with his hand over his chest.

“Are you alright, David?”

“No!”

Arthur sat up and put his hand on the 18-year-old’s shoulder.

“Don’t worry. You’re alive. Everything’s fine.”

There were traces of genuine worry in his voice, but his eyes were hollow. Though he had tried to get closer to the teen and be his close friend, in the end, Arthur couldn’t leave aside his distrust and previous tendencies. It meant that even after three months, he was still emotionally distant from David.

“Barely!”

David’s eyes were trembling as he looked into Arthur’s own. They were filled with dread and terror; it was a fear born from his most basic survival instincts.

“I don’t want to die, Arthur.”

Arthur slightly shook. Then, he unhesitatingly grabbed the boy’s hand.

“You won’t.”

His voice was firm. He was trying his best to act like Liam, as he had promised he would. Though he couldn’t be considered to be worried, he couldn’t help but feel mixed emotions towards the boy. While there was still a sense of distance between them, the past three months hadn’t been for naught. They had spent almost every waking hour side by side, fighting, planning, and surviving. Just like it was common for comrades-in-arms to develop strong bonds with one another, the entire squad had grown closer over the course of the military campaign. Both Arthur and David put up walls to protect themselves from these emotions, given how distrustful they were, but made a point to keep from doing so when they interacted with each other.

Simply put, the relationship with David was now the closest one he had apart from the ones with Liam and his parents, even though it couldn’t be described as a proper one. Arthur realized this hollow shell of a friendship was the second one he had ever had and remembered David’s words when they first talked.

‘One normal friendship before death.’

Of course, this made him think about Liam. Arthur was worried. Where was he? What was he doing? Was he also fighting? Was he even still alive? Endless questions assaulted his sanity, but he forced himself to forget about them and focus on the present. There was nothing he could do for Liam at the moment. What he could do was grow stronger and help the poor kid in front of him manage his fears.

Arthur looked at David with a pensive look, these myriad thoughts flashing through his mind.

“I will. You saw them yourself. Those monsters. Only the Drakkhan can handle something like that. We’re just animals waiting to be butchered!”

David was shaken, Arthur noticed. The slaughter he’d witnessed was probably being replayed in his mind over and over, putting him on edge. He needed to calm down first. While thinking of ways to help the boy, Arthur blinked. Since when did he care about David enough to try and help him? Anxiety pooled in his chest before he forcefully pushed it back down.

‘I need to be more careful.’

His feelings were getting uncharacteristically out of control ever since he and Liam got separated. He needed to rein himself in before he ended up being betrayed.

“That’s why we’re in the rear. What happened back there wasn’t our fault. The Drakkhan failed to anticipate the enemy’s movements and act against them. We would’ve been safe if not for this mistake.”

“So what? The mistake was made and we almost died! We were just lucky! Lucky not to be part of the ones who were torn apart by the monsters!”

By now, David was almost screaming. The rest of the squad had arrived in the quarters, looking at both of them. The humans listened to David’s words attentively and shivered, shifting in place uncomfortably. Arthur glanced at them, cursing under his breath. Of course. The two’s dialogue could be considered to be triggering to them, who had also witnessed the same massacre. By talking about it this openly, they were risking mass hysteria. David was too shaken up by his first near-death experience to notice or even care, but Arthur had realized how dangerous their conversation was, and he wasn’t the only one.

“Enough!”

A tall, purple-skinned female Drakkhan yelled at them, fury burning within her eyes. She was their Captain.

‘Shit.’

The Captain appeared in front of their bed in an instant, grabbing both of them and putting them on their feet. She stared down at their comparatively smaller frames.

“Continue this conversation and I will make sure that you two won’t be able to talk ever again.”

Arthur analyzed the scenario as calmly as he could. Judging by the Captain’s expression, she seemed to be on the verge of executing them. He glanced at David’s unfocused gaze. He wasn’t in the right state to make any rational decisions. Arthur would have to get out of this situation by himself. Immediately, he bowed, pulling David’s head down as well.

“We’re sorry. We won’t talk about it again.”

The Captain’s Aura rumbled inside the room, pressuring both of them as Arthur lifted his upper body back up. In her eyes, he could see not only anger but also contempt and grief. She had lost good friends in this conflict and adding that to her disdain for humans in general, it was a wonder that they weren’t already dead.

Without additional words, the Captain turned around, her voice softer as she faced the Drakkhan.

“You’re all dismissed. Get some rest.”

The others listlessly walked to their quarters. Today’s events had affected everyone deeply. Arthur observed all of this with calculating eyes.

‘We shouldn’t be going to the field for some time.’

Their squad, alongside many others, suffered the brunt of the attack. It was natural for them not to jump back into the battlefield in such a damaged state. Other troops would be transferred to them to fill up the now empty spots, and the chain of command would have to be reorganized. This all took some time. Of course, humans wouldn’t take part in any of the decisions made. In spite of their status being that of allies, in practice, Arthur had found out that it was as if they were subordinates to the Drakkhan. In a way, it was natural. Humanity was not strong enough to compare to Empire and could be annihilated by the Drakkhan at any time; as the weaker species, they had no choice but to acquiesce. Their alliance was never equal from the beginning.

Arthur frowned in distaste, but quickly hid his expression. This wasn’t the place to outwardly show his emotions. He turned to David, whose eyes were still unfocused and trembling. In his opinion, the boy was overreacting. He had killed before and had close encounters with death, but never behaved in such a way. Was he tougher than he thought? Or was David more sensitive to death than average? Either way, he would have to wait until the teenager calmed down to talk about it.

It was only two hours later that David returned to his normal state, though he was still shaken. He smiled ruefully as he faced Arthur.

“Sorry. You must think of me as a child now, huh?”

Arthur shook his head.

“No. Different people react differently to different things. I was surprised, yes, but it didn’t make me think less of you.”

David let out a small laugh and looked away. He stared into space for some time, opening and closing his mouth several times before finally deciding to speak.

“My parents were killed when I was young.”

He glanced at Arthur and then quickly looked away, gulping. It was only then that Arthur belatedly realized that this was a difficult moment for him. It might be the first time that he shared his life story with someone else, given their similar distrust for others. Despite all of the hesitation and fears he likely had, he had decided to share his story anyway. Arthur blinked. David continued to speak.

“I was then passed around from family member to family member. They all… Tried to exploit me in different ways and betrayed me before I finally ended up on the streets. And, well…”

David’s gaze was distant as he reminisced. His expression was pained.

“…The streets are their own world. You’re the only one you can trust. Sometimes you’re forced to do things you don’t wanna do, and… Sometimes you’re forced to just run away. I guess somewhere along the way I started to associate the death of my parents with everything bad that ever happened to me. I think that’s why I react negatively to it and why I’m so afraid to die. I don’t… I don’t want to suffer anymore or cause that amount of suffering to anyone.”

The boy seemed to be struggling to find the right words. Arthur pensively looked at the ceiling, mixed emotions in his eyes. Cold sweat soaked his back before he realized it and his hands tightened into fists. He closed his eyes.

‘Just go for it.’

He opened his mouth.

“I lived on the streets too.”

David’s head snapped towards him, his expression one of clear surprise.

“I never knew my mother. My father would make me go out and earn money however I could before returning home. If I didn’t earn anything, he would leave me outside.”

It was as if a dam was broken. The moment he decided to talk about himself, words came pouring out of Arthur’s mouth.

“It didn’t take long for me to run away. After that, I spent many years without a home. I finally ended up in an orphanage. There…”

Arthur’s eyes shook. He gritted his teeth. Memories flooded his mind, memories he desperately tried to shut out every day. The trauma that remained with him ever since his childhood.

“…Stuff happened. I… I was abused by the woman who owned the orphanage and took care of all of us kids. It only happened once, but it was enough for me. I was about to run away again when I met my best friend. I don’t really know how our friendship was built, but it happened. We spent years together in the orphanage before deciding that we were old enough to take revenge on that old bitch. So, we burned the orphanage down with her inside while she slept. We got all of the kids out before we set the place ablaze, of course.”

Arthur’s eyes were merciless and cold as he spoke. They turned warm when he mentioned Liam, before getting colder than ever right after. David was silent throughout, but his eyes reflected his shock. Arthur’s casual confession to murdering his abuser during his early teenage years hadn’t gone unnoticed.

“After that, more stuff happened and I ended up in foster care. I changed homes many, many times before I was adopted by my current parents. So yeah, that’s my story.”

“…I see.”

An awkward silence ensued. David was still processing the information, but Arthur knew that wasn’t all. The boy had simply never learned how to connect with someone. He didn’t know what to do in this moment of deeper conversation. Frankly, Arthur didn’t know either. While he had learned to talk to someone because of his friendship with Liam, he had never learned how to converse with someone not as close to him. In short, he didn’t know what to do in order to build up a relationship, since his friendship with Liam was formed on its own.

Both men remained silent for almost thirty seconds before David hesitatingly began to speak.

“Thank you for telling me that.”

“I should be the one thanking you.”

“We should be thanking each other, to be honest.”

A very slight grin made its way to Arthur’s face. It was genuine. David looked nervous as he asked the question that was in both of their minds.

“So, what now?”

“…Nothing. We just continue like this, surviving, day by day.”

Arthur lay back down on the bed, looking at the ceiling. This was the answer he found. If neither of them knew what to do, then why do anything at all? It was better to leave things as they were.

“Yeah, that makes sense.”

David looked relieved. Arthur grinned and started to speak.

“Still, good job. I’m glad that you managed to open up.”

David smiled. The two of them shared a fist bump.