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# Part 11
At the camp, Echo was sitting by the lake, looking out over the still water. There was a mist rolling from the mountains and settling itself over everything. It was gorgeous…like something out of a dream. She swished her tail along the grass and smiled softly, imagining Blue and Charlie back here…and Delta too. They could all sit here together and laugh while they watched the mist drift along and the sound of birds chirping could sound them to sleep.
But could that ever happen? Echo frowned as she thought that chilling statement to herself. Her mind drifted back to the island…the place they were born and where theyd lived before meeting Alpha. There were no pretty views like this in the island base. There were no birds chirping. In fact, the more she thought about it, Echo didnt remember much of what the outside of the base looked like. She remembered stuffy rooms and large running spaces with little to see or look at. She remembered observation windows on all sides where men in military uniforms and lab coats watched her and her sisters while bickering. Shed remembered a time shed wanted their approval…wanted to prove something to them. She thought back to those days with no small degree of contempt as her hand gently ran along the scar on her face.
“Who says you get to be our alpha?” Shed mocked Blue. “Just cause youre the oldest, you get to be in charge? Im every bit as tough and as knowledgeable as you.” Charlie had been hiding behind Blue then. They were still young…Charlie being the youngest. She hadnt wanted to make a scene, and she hated being watched. She often stayed close to Blue or Delta. Delta just smirked as she observed. She knew Echo wasnt fit to be leader…but she thrived on the competition. Always one for a bit of action, perhaps the thought of a little sibling rivalry would shake up the mundane for her?
Blue hadnt budged. “If I thought those things were all it took to be leader, I wouldnt care about handing over leadership. But they arent all that matter.”
“What else does?” Echo asked.
“Patience. Humility. Wisdom.”
“There you go again,” Echo laughed, “holding yourself over us with your self righteous bullshit.”
“Echo stoppit…Blues a good leader.” Charlie whimpered, not wanting to see her sisters fight.
“Yeah she is…but we need a better one.” Echo took a step forward, flashing her foot claw. Now Charlie was scared and quickly stumbled away. Delta backed up too, but didnt take her eyes off of them. “Lets see if you can fight your way to the top, Blue.”
“…Dont do it, Echo.”
“Dont tell me what to do!”
Echo remembered it all. The vicious attack she made on Blue…the ferocious striking at the hip, which Blue had evaded. How Blue had not thrown the first strike but kept dodging and weaving out of her way. It made Echo furious…it was ridiculous. Fight back Blue, shed thought. Show me you deserve to be leader more than me! Do something with your useless hide. We all wanted off that island, so why not prove you could be the one to take us there!? If you wouldnt help us off, she had said to herself, then Ill take the lead…and leave you here to rot.
But it was her own arrogance that did her in.
The last thing she remembered about the fight was her making a flying kick at Blue. Blue pivoted to dodge and brought up her leg in a round house kick, which struck Echo across the face with the claw of her foot. Echo had meet it with the full force of her own momentum and was knocked back several feet, her face practically ripped open. Charlie had screamed. Delta had gasped and run to her side. Blue…she stood there stiff as a log, unable to believe what had happened. As for her…as for Echo…she faded out of consciousness.
The stiches took weeks to finish healing, and the scar would never fully heal. Every day she looked at that scar, it broke her internally. It was a reminder that Blue had given her, even if not intentionally: Youre not fit to lead us. Shed taken that message to her heart and soul, and it broke every ounce of confidence she had. She didnt resent Blue…she loved Blue with all her heart…and she followed her willingly as her leader from then on. But nothing would ever bring back her old confidence. Delta had tried to spar with her to bring it out, but little worked. Charlie had tried playing with her and cuddling close at night to make Echo feel better…but it never made a difference. She was broken. The old Echo was gone, she thought.
Was it a bad thing though? She wasnt entirely sure.
“You okay out here?” Echo spun around in surprise to see a tall young man standing on the hill. He had brown hair and deep brown eyes. A full beard covered his chin and sides of his face making him resemble something like a lion of a man, but he had a handsome smile and he didnt look especially dangerous. He reminded her a little of Alpha. “Sorry, didnt mean to startle you. Names Baloo.”
“Baloo?” Echo asked.
“Yeah, my staffer nickname. But if you wanna know my real name, its Garth. Just dont tell the kids.” Echo blinked a few times, amazed this person would be so open to talking to her. “If Im interrupting anything…”
“No I was…just thinking.”
“The Lake is a fine place to do that.” He agreed. “But you know, the campers are done with lunch and the staff has plenty of leftovers…Honcho wanted to know if you and your sister would like to…you know…have some?” Echo didnt answer at first and Garth walked closer, sitting down beside her. “Guess youre not that hungry.”
“I would like to but…I dont want to impose.” Echo replied shyly, trying to cover her face. She didnt want him staring at her scar. Garth laughed and shook his head.
“No imposing around here. You and your sister are our guests here.” When she didnt answer he shrugged and grunted. “Well, in that case, I may go for a swim.” He stood up and took off his shirt and Echo glanced up. The first thing she saw as his shirt came off made her gasp in horror.
Three long scars ran up from his hip to his left bicep. They were long, ugly, and dark red. One looked massively torn up and rigged and she quickly looked away. Garth paused and flushed a little.
“Oh right…youve never seen this before. Its why I got my nickname. This right here I got on my first year as a staffer.” He explained.
“What happened?” Echo asked. Garth laughed and threw his shirt down, shaking his head.
“Everyone always asks…alright alright, guess you can hear the story.” He stands in front of Echo and starts speaking loudly and clearly. Hes obviously become used to telling this.
“So when youre a first year staffer, you have to go on a hike for three days with your other first year staff and Honcho. We hike out into the mountains and camp among the wildlife, we share stories, get our nicknames…all that fun stuff. Well on our second night its raining really hard and I see a cave up ahead and say we should camp out in there. Why set up a tent in the rain when a dry cave will do? Honcho says we shouldnt because bears live in caves…and…well bears are crazy.”
Echo giggled, and Garth continued.
“So Im too full of myself to listen. I was excited, arrogant…maybe even a little stubborn, and I go up to investigate the cave. Sure enough, I take three steps inside when a huge old black bear suddenly roars at me. I scream and start to run, when that beast takes a swing at me and cuts me wide open.” He pointed to his scars. “I fell down the hill a bloody mess. Honcho had to run over and shoot at the bear to scare it off, and as for me? It looked REALLY bad.”
“Whatd they do!?”
“Well I faded in and out of consciousness a few times, but I remember they carried me as far back to camp as they could and called for a rescue chopper. Soon I was being hauled out of the woods by a bunch of medics and carried off to a hospital.”
“Thats horrifying!” Echo cried. “Im…I dont know what to even say to that. Are you really okay now?”
“I wasnt for the first week or two. I could barely walk or move. I was bed ridden for a while. And worse was the wound got infected so I got sick for a while too. It was…really awful.” Garth sighed. Echo sighs long and low and curls up on the grass.
“I got my scar in a fight with my sister…” She admitted. “I was kind of…arrogant too, I guess.” Garth nodded.
“I kind of guessed that might be the case.”
“How could you guess that?”
“I dunno…just…sort of the way you carry yourself. You look like someone who was on top of the world and got knocked off.” He explained.
“Well…you dont.” Echo growled, darkly, feeling a little insulted. “Whats your excuse for not being timid and miserable?”
“Me? Heh…I guess I dont have time to be miserable.” He laughed. “These scars on my gut are just a reminder of the fact that I ate myself a slice of humble pie and lived to tell about it. Not everyone can say that.”
“But youre mutilated…scarred for life.”
“Just a reminder not to be an arrogant moron.” He laughed. “Im glad I have these. For one thing, theyre a fun story to tell. And for another reason…a lot of people are arrogant or full of themselves these days and they have to work hard to remember to be humble. Me? Ive got three nice big reminders I can look at every day. Saves me a lot of trouble.” Echo just laughed to herself and shook her head.
“I never thought of it that way. I always saw this as…well…a reason to be ashamed.”
“Sure, I feel ashamed of what I did back then, but I also am proud of myself for getting over it.” Garth beamed proudly and then walked to the water. “Anyway, Ill let you decide if youre hungry or not. The mess hall is back that way.” He pointed back up the road towards the center of camp. Echo smiled as she watched Garth dive into the freezing cold water and then ran a finger along her scar across her face and flushed deeply.
“…Proud of it, huh?” She whispered. “Could I be proud of this? Would Alpha…be proud of me?” She asked.
From the edge of the forest, Delta watched Echo get up from where she sat to walk to the mess hall. When shed seen that councilor guy walk over to talk to her, shed stuck around to see if anything happened. Nothing seemed to be wrong, and she hadnt heard what was said…but the smile on Echos face told her she had nothing to worry about. What was it theyd talked about, she wondered.
At the courthouse, miles away, Owen Grady was finally being called to the stand. The courtroom was silent as he approached the bench and sat down. Blue and Charlie both sat stiff as they watched their Alpha prepare to be interrogated. Hed told them not to say or do anything during this…not to move a muscle if they could help it. As Hammond had said, his testimony would be critical. The prosecutor walked up and smiled politely, but with as much civility and kindness as a pit viper.
“Lt. Grady, do you know why were here today.”
“To judge whether or not the Raptors should be considered sentient and responsible for their own actions. That they arent just tools or weapons.”
“You think they are sentient?”
“Ive lived with them and trained them for quite some time now…I can tell you honestly they are perfectly sentient.” Owen answered.
“Why do you think this?”
“Because they think for themselves. They can be stubborn and hard headed and there are times they wont do what I tell them to do. They have their own interests and dislikes, like any normal person would.” Owen replied.
“Certainly, so they make decisions for themselves…what about for you?” He asked.
“Objection, the witness is not on trial.” Hammond called.
“Lt.. Grady is the raptors handler. He bears a degree of responsibility to these events.” The prosecutor replied.
“Sustained.” The judge replied with a nod.
“Ill reask the question: The girls can make decisions for themselves, but what about for you?”
“I dont think I understand the question.” Owen answered honestly.
“Whats the relationship between you and the girls?” He asked.
“Relationship? Its like you said, Im their handler.” Owen laughed.
“Anything more?” Owen paused a moment, taking in the question. Now he understood…now he realized what angle this was going. He stiffened and his eyes shot to Blue and Charlie, both now curious to what he said. He was trapped….and he knew it. His eyes spun to Hoshkins in the back of the room, smirking to himself. This was his doing too, wasnt it?
If he answered that they were nothing more than his squad that he handled, the girls faith might be shaken in him, and it would ruin the years of hard work hed done with them. But if he said it was more complicated…said that they were more to him than just his agents that he worked with…then his ability to be objective and professional would be called into question publicly and they might be removed from his care. There was no way out of this…no way out of this trap.
“Goddamn you…” Owen hissed.
“Im sorry, I didnt hear that, could you speak up?” The prosecutor asked.
“Answer the question, Lt. Grady.” The judge urged.
“Ill ask one more time…what is the relationship between you and those raptor girls?”