A Deal Among Scientists

The cold started to seep in shivering Astra to her bones yet she stood strong, the scent of burnt powder still lingering between the trees as the winds carried it along.

"You want me to what?" Astra hissed, her knuckles whitening around her grip She took a half-step forward, dirt lifting up slightly under her boot. Her eyes flicked to the gun—her gun—now humming ominously in his grip.

"Astra, there's—" Celi tried to speak, only to be cut off by her.

"Not now Celi!" she snapped, clearly on edge with the problem in front of her.

Belk's lips quirked. With a deliberate click, he thumbed the safety off, the sound sharper than a distant thunder. "Oh, this?" He raised it, letting the barrel drift casually toward the treeline. "Took it off your corpse-wannabe self. Fixed the power core, using amber as—"

"Stole it," Astra cut in, her voice a blade.

"—salvaged it," he corrected, unflinching. The gun dipped, now aimed at Celi's bound form. The Neo wolf froze, her mechanical growl stuttering. "Fully functional now too. See?"

Without hesitating he shot near Celi's ear, burning the tips off her fur. The sudden fire caused Astra to flinch, her heart dropped as she watched the beam barely miss her furry companion.

"Look, I don't expect you to do it for free, I can make your troubles a whole lot easier," He shoved the gun back into his pouch, his arms crossed as he spoke. "If just me can wipe out your army of muts then imagine an even larger army of Alevarians,"

Astra's eyes widened slightly, her gaze falling to her feet as she thought about his warning. His words make sense, though she wasn't too sure. 

"You expect me to trust you?" She pondered, her question more rhetorical than anything, inciting a sigh from the young scientist. 

"Trust's a luxury, otherworlder," He snorted, holstering the gun with force that betrays his calm, rubbing the nape of his neck, leaning his head to the side as he got to a hard to reach spot, his posture surprisingly relaxed in front of his foe. "Don't you see? I'm offering leverage, monkey."

"What did you call me, tree-rat?!" Astra snapped, marching in the face of the Aelvarian and grabbing him by the collar, her eyes glaring into his. 

"You think your mangy crew scare us? We've long adapted to the trees, we can snuff them out in an instant," He laughed, his gaze was feverish, he knew he'd get his way, it was only a matter of time. 

 My father's hunters gut Neo wolves for breakfast. But me?" His voice dropped, raw and sudden. "I can turn their rituals to ash. Make your war a footnote."

Astra growled, roughly letting go of the scout, his feet stumbling backwards at the sudden momentum before he planted his feet with a heart chuckle.

"Why…" She pondered, her nails digging into her palms as her face tightened and tightened.

"Why?" he mocked, raising the amber to the moonlight , the moon giving it a dim desperate glow, as if it's trying to spark to life. "This is a cage. And I'd burn this planet to taste the stars,"

"I want to see what my mother wanted to escape to for all these years, where her interest lay," His words were confident, but his hands shook ever slightly, his own true emotions shining through. "I'll do whatever it takes, even if it means killing my own father,"

"You say that but you're just as scared of the unknown as everyone else," She pointed out, "Space is nothing like the open forest, there's no trees for you to scurry into,"

"Is it not natural to fear the unknown?" Belk commented, pushing the amber back into the gun, "As long as it's outweighed by curiosity, and a deadly thirst for knowledge,"

'I want to see more, beyond the cage me and my mother rotted in for so long…' He thought, taking in a deeper breath. 'And this person has the keys to my prison,'

"So? What do you say?" Belk outstretched his hands towards Astra, waiting for her to take it. "Let's exchange our keys,"

"and unlock every door that stands in our way!"

"Besides, it's not like you have much of a choice…" He quipped, Astra letting out a groan of frustration before roughly taking his hand, sealing the deal for the both of them.

"Fine!"