Kozantei, Fourth Quarter, Andromeda Galaxy.

Mya was bored out of her mind; she was currently wondering the halls of the palace alone and trying to think of a way to get to see the outside city or even the forests and the creatures that lived in its protected premises. Six weeks-solars had passed since her arrival and she'd been allowed to explore the grounds freely. Nezerra was occupied with her duties, and she'd seen very little of Yavik. She halted her thoughts from venturing toward the commander she'd been itching to see, he was remarkably busy. The palace was beautiful of course, ivory walls, with gold engravings depicting battles, love making and many things she couldn't name, but she'd spent her days looking and observing. She'd even went to the library, reading as much history as she could about Kozantei, learning about the lineages, the peoples and anything else she could get her hands on. She always grew antsy when she had no purpose, nothing to build or fix with her hands and it seemed that even lightyears away from her old home on a new planet she was still prone to that tick. She wanted something to do, something to keep her busy, there was only so much she could read, now she wanted to experience new things too.

She started when she heard the clash of metal meeting metal, curious she followed the sounds. The guards that were dispersed throughout the castle nodded at her as she passed them by, she found herself looking down at Kozan and other beings of different sizes and sexes involved in sparring. It was no type of fighting she'd ever seen before, this was brutal and unhinged, almost as if there were no rules. Two females circled each other slowly, cat like grins on their faces and sprang so fast her eyes couldn't follow. Mya's heart quickened at the sight, she walked forward to get a closer look.

They were in a large grassy field and walking through the fighting groups was Mara, correcting stances and barking commands that the trainees were quick to follow. Mya had avoided her as much as possible, she felt that Mara hated her for some reason, although Nezerra assured her that she did not; in fact, it was just the way that her eldest sister dealt with strangers whenever they were around her family. Mya understood that, she had been just as standoffish and difficult after she'd lost her mom. Making sure to keep everyone away from her so their leaving would never hurt her again. She definitely understood the caution and the distrust, it was only when she'd remembered her mother's words on the ship that she'd decided to truly embrace her new life and to be open to new experiences; but still the constant grimace on Mara's face whenever she was around rubbed her the wrong way.

Mya gasped as she saw Nezerra take a running leap and body slam a male into the ground. Young Nezerra who was always so kind and friendly, it had made Mya forget that their gift was destruction and that they were a brutal race. This was the first time she'd seen training, and she was intrigued. Lower down the sloping field she saw others firing blasters, things resembling arrows and some type of lasers that eviscerated the targets that had been set up. To the left she saw simulations for space battleships and smaller warships that were probably for use within the atmosphere based on their size. A broad grin spread across her face; she knew what she wanted to do.

....

It was lunch time when Mya had finally been able to approach Nezerra -who smiled and beckoned her to follow as she entered her quarters. Nezerra was energized and bouncing around from her training session and undressed right in front of Mya who'd sat and waited for her. Mya had realized a while ago that the Kozan did not care about nudity or public sex acts seeing it as natural and a part of life -it was still something Mya was becoming comfortable with. She was comfortable with her body but baring it at nude celebrations or any of the sort took some time to get used too, her eyes had nearly fallen out of her head the first time she'd witnessed one. Zogan had grinned at her when she'd entered the room causing her to flush from head to toe, she hadn't known what to do with herself.

"Are you okay Mya?" Concern creased the princess' face.

Nezerra had been speaking but she hadn't heard a word. "What was that Nezze? I'm sorry."

"I asked if you enjoyed the training session, I saw you looking down from the veranda."

Mya nodded, thinking on how to broach her subject carefully, "How do you select those who train with you? I saw many other species down there too."

The princess walked into her cleansing room and said loud enough for Mya to hear, "They volunteer, anyone can, it is up to them to last through the trial period."

Mya's excitement grew, "So anyone can just show up?"

The nozzle's hissing sound filled the room and Mya waited for the princess to return; a good five minutes that seemed like an eternity had passed.

"Anyone who's anyone, why do you ask?"

Mya bit her lip nervously, "I- I kinda would like to become a pilot."

Nezerra straightened and looked her straight on growing unusually serious, "To do that you'll have to go through the trials and prove yourself to be worthy of being promoted from runt to air warfare." She pulled on a luxurious gold robe that sent her ebony scales cascading into a beautiful dance of color. She sank down next to Mya, "Are you sure you want to?"

Mya thought for a moment, she'd really been feeling useless and had grown restless, the moment she'd seen the training, the energy and the flying her heart had soared and she'd known that if her mother were with her, her approval would've been absolute. It was everything she'd been aiming for when she'd been studying aeronautical engineering. It wouldn't hurt to try to resurrect that dream.

"Yes, I'm sure, is that okay?"

"Of course it is okay, you can do whatever you want but," her eyes slid towards Mya, "You're going to be trained by Mara, it is she who handles new recruits before the Trials."

Mya shuddered involuntarily, Nezerra pulled her into an embrace, her scales were warm to the touch, smelling of a fragrance that reminded Mya of roses and jasmine, a sweet heady scent.

"I won't let her kill you, that's the most I can promise."

Mya didn't know if to laugh or cry. She audibly swallowed, and Nezerra's pointed ears twitched as if she'd heard the pathetic sound. She turned sympathetic eyes towards Mya. "Not too late to decide.... but you should know tomorrow is the last day for a recruit to show up for the season."

Mya groaned.

On earth thanks to her mother's encouragement, she'd grown up training in mixed martial arts as an extracurricular and had taken a particular liking to Muay Thai and Judo right up until her eighteenth birthday when her mother had been ripped away from her.

She'd begun exercising religiously since her landing, reminding her body of the training that she'd once tried so hard to forget - her body had begun to flourish and fill out under her care. Mya hoped that it would be enough to keep her from feeling like death tomorrow. She flopped back onto the princess' bed who let out a loud barking laugh at her theatrics.

"Let's go eat, I know that's the way to cheer you up." The princess rose and pulled Mya by the arm, completely raising her off the bed. Mya groaned more dramatically but obviously followed her to the dining area, food was in fact what she wanted most of all at the moment.

"Congratulations!" Mara clapped her hands together loudly as she stood at the front of the gathering of twelve new recruits. "You've been allowed to train for the legion, I hope you all plan to make this opportunity count."

She walked down the line of standing could-be-soldiers and looked them over. Mya stiffened as she approached her, Mara scoffed and moved onward. Mya clenched her fists to keep from trying to slap the sneer off her face, that was the best way for her to get her ass beaten and so she would never give into the impulse. Mara was Zogan's lieutenant for all his armies and that told any potential opponents all they needed to know about her ability to rip them apart. The fact that she could train the most devastating force in this galaxy was plenty incentive to stay far away from her in combat. Still Mya thought that she would've been able to get in a few hits before being completely destroyed by whatever combative moves Mara had up her sleeves. Probably all wishful thinking though. Maybe.

"You'll be learning the basics this week, for five rotations and hopefully you won't need any others." She stalked back to face the group head on, "You know there is a war coming and you want to be part of it, part of defending your home and our Quadrant...do your best, and maybe that'll be good enough," she paused looking them all in the eye with her burning gaze, "maybe."

Mya had read a little on the war and the Ajal. A greedy and horrible race that wanted to enslave the remaining quadrants to rebuild theirs, the first quadrant. It seemed that unnecessary violence transcended the entire species. The fact that they had orchestrated the attack on the Qai ship made Mya hate them, she found them to be pathetic, not even able to do their own dirty work because of the dwindling of their species. A definite scourge within the galaxy, helping to defend the Kozan and destroy them all would be her pleasure. If she could make it through this damn training and trial.

The basics included punching, kicking and core work, before which was a warmup that left Mya feeling like she was unable to breathe, she'd had to stop and throw up two times total during the whole session. She'd still managed to finish though and at that she felt a glimmer of pride especially when Mara had scowled at her a bit less when she'd limped out the doors.

Mya felt no such thing as she collapsed into her bed like a sack of potatoes after she'd taken a bath in her pool. She couldn't even lift her arms to do her hair. She couldn't send for food. Nothing. 'I'm going to die right here on this bed,' she thought mournfully. She lay there trying to will her pulsing muscles to move, she needed to eat dammit. That was the only way her muscles would recover. Her door suddenly chimed and she could only click her allowance button since her comm was near her. She winced as she turned over to see Zogan staring down at her from the doorway, he quickly shut it as he realized she was naked.

"Nezze told me you were training," he pulled out a package from behind his back and smiled -bared his sharp teeth more like. "I remember what it felt like after that first day."

He walked over to her and sat on the edge of her bed, resting down her meal and taking off his boots so he could join her fully on the bed. The smell of whatever was in the package wafted over to her and she tried to reach it, rolling on the bed like a turtle that was stuck on its shelled back. Zogan snorted when he noticed her dilemma and reached over to help her up. She bit her lip to keep from shouting in agony.

"Is it that bad?" he asked eyeing her reaction and handing her a cup holding some leevine. She took it and drank gratefully; she'd had enough brae-water for the day. She nodded not bothering to speak as she tore into the sandwiches he'd brought. He looked down at her with a small smile on his face letting her finish.

She sighed, "Thank you, I thought I was going to die of hunger in here."

She burped loudly, laughed at the surprised look Zogan gave her, and promptly winced when her abdominal muscles tightened.

Zogan got up, "I've brought you something, up into bed with you."

He picked her up gently and laid her with her head resting on her pillow, she could've cried, she honestly hadn't known how she would reach it to sleep comfortably during the night. He pulled out a sort of tin from his trouser pocket and pressed the center of the cover causing it to click open. A tangy dirt scent filled the room.

"This is a something soldiers use to accelerate healing of injuries," he removed his shirt and Mya's eyes roved over his body, she began to grow heated from her visual exploration.

Zogan hissed, his tongue shooting out, "You cannot even move, why are you torturing me with your arousal?"

She bared her teeth at him, copying his attempt at human-like smiles. He scooped up some of the ointment and started rubbing her down. Slowly massaging her sore muscles, rubbing until they relaxed under his attention. She moaned loudly and closed her eyes enjoying the sensation of his hands gliding over her body.

"Hopefully it works the same way on your muscles, I've never used it for this purpose before." He said conversationally, trying to distract himself from the feel of her body. A slow smile spread across her face, "Mhmm" was all she could offer.

Whatever it was that was blossoming between them had left her surprised. She'd never had anything more than sex buddies, so she didn't know what to do with the abundance of emotions that battered her whenever she thought about Zogan. He'd been busy the past few weeks but had made time to stop by her room, tired as he was from planning and organizing for the war throughout the day. She'd made sure to fuck his worries and stresses away whenever he came and sometimes if they weren't thoroughly exhausted by their activities they talked about his family, his home world and hers. She hadn't brought up her sad past though. Whenever she felt compelled to, she froze, almost like she couldn't form the words to share that part of herself with him, she didn't know if he noticed. He always seemed to easily guide the conversation back to comfortable waters whenever she paused for too long. It always left her feeling disappointed with herself after.

She hadn't meant for this thing to grow between them, she'd only wanted to experience a new possibility, but Zogan had arrested her with his prowess in the bed and out of it. There was this power he yielded that came without the arrogance usually found in the same person, he cared deeply about his family, and guarded them fiercely along with his people. He was completely dedicated to them and they to him, the fact that he was loved and revered throughout the fourth quadrant spoke volumes about his character and work ethic. He made her feel safe, wanted and it scared Mya senseless, it was those exact feelings, stirrings of more than lust that she had avoided thoroughly on earth. But she wasn't on earth any longer, her circumstances were no longer the same and she couldn't control the fall that had begun to take place. She had no idea if he felt the same, but she was content to be his lover and let things run its course, regardless of where it ended up.

She was not going to be some lovesick puppy running after a male's love, not like Aini, who'd been staring at her with such hatred that Mya wanted to throw her down some stairs. Poor woman, she was truly delusional. Nezerra had told her everything that had happened between Zogan and Aini and Mya was shocked that she was still allowed in the palace. Nezze had to explain to her that it was how the palace was governed, the non-private parts were open to the citizens of Kozantei and Aini made sure to use it to her advantage. She'd always seemed to be nearby, hoping to see Zogan, but she was dutifully ignored by Nezerra so Mya had followed suit. It was only Mara who, whenever she appeared could send her running with just one look. Mya loved her for that, even if she would never admit it.

Zogan finished his rubbing and Mya was almost drunk with sleep and probably a little leevine if she cared to admit, he tucked her into his side and kissed her softly, it was mere seconds before she was lost to sleep.