Happy birth, Dai!

In-game, Dainan celebrated his 24th birthday today. So I figured I'd do a short story on what that might be like. Enjoy! Or don't. I'm not here to tell ya what to do! (Credit to Altamira for the snappy title.)

The young Fyros rose just before the morning sun could beat him to the punch, still somewhat worn from the 12-hour shift he worked on the sands not nearly long enough ago. Being a Legionnaire certainly wasn't high-paying or glamorous, but at least Dainan wouldn't have to worry about a lack of work for quite some time.

He chuckled dryly at the last thought, not yet awake to the point where the pain the motion caused his ribs truly registered in his sleep-addled mind. He had no idea what so many frahar were doing congregating outside of Dyron this fall - no one did, really - but his job wasn't figuring out where they came from.

His job was to figure out how to keep 'em from bothering the harvesters. At least, it was most days. But today, he hoped, would be a little bit different. It was Dainan's 24th birthday, and birthdays usually meant the best gift a soldier could ever receive besides an honorable discharge with full pension - a day off at full pay.

The last thought cheered him quite considerably, rousing him fully from his stupor and quickening his step a shade or two as he made his way out of the barracks, down the hall and to the common room for the assignment sheet. He could see torchlight flickering into the hallway from the room unobstructed, meaning his comrades had already been up, posted the sheet and gone on about their day without him. Annoyed at the prospect of yet another chewing-out from The Boss about tardiness, he stole in quietly and breathed a sigh of relief to find the room as empty as he suspected.

His relief turned quickly into sullen despair as he found the job sheet - with his name, solo, next to the title of Harvest Patroller: Dyron.

At first, all he wanted to do was the usual - curse, shout, scowl,  strongly consider firing a few hundred rounds into the nearest wall before thinking far better of such nonsense - when something inside of him snapped.

For once... in sort of a peaceful way.

I don't know why I expected any different, really, he mused - a bit to his own surprise. For one, I'm the newest recruit with rifle experience; for another, this is kinda supposed to be a punishment anyway so they probably weren't even allowed to give me the day off...

The last thought comforted him quite a bit. It was certainly preferable to the impotence of feeling abandoned, anyway. Accepting his fate - and noting mentally to wonder later why he did so with uncharacteristic expedience this time - he turned to his locker and got ready for another day on the dunes. His nose wrinkled slightly as he slid his feet into the boots he had worn just a few hours previously, the only piece of clothing he was able to remove before hitting the bed.

Given the cold, damp feel of the lining as well as the musk that emenated with each step he took as he left the Legion compound, they hadn't been off nearly long enough.

= = =

"Hey, FRAHAR! I know why you're so crabby - I would be too if I were that ugly!" Dainan shouted with a mocking laugh, grabbing the attention of a frahar that had strayed too far from its pack and threatened a group of harvesters digging for sap. The taunt seemed to grab the beast's attention well enough, as it charged snarling at its now-retreating tormentor.

That's it, ya stinkin' brute, Dainan thought, trigger finger at the ready as he fell back. Just a little bit further away from yer friends there...

The frahar lunged quickly, trying to close the gap between it and the offending homin. Dainan reacted reflexively, his finger something of a blur on the trigger as he fired shot after shot at the monster's head. One particular shot found its mark dead between the creature's eyes, stunning it. The frahar wobbled, adrenaline not allowing it to topple but the forced evacuation of its meager senses not allowing progress either.

The Fyros grinned, lined up his final shot - and heard the primal screams of a much more deadly creature just a short distance behind him mingled with slightly higher, decidedly more terrified sound emanating from the homin it was likely chasing.

Dainan's head swiveled instinctively on hearing the homin's cries, just in time to catch a glimpse over his left shoulder of a varnyx chasing a lightly-dressed Trykette past the ruins of East Dyron workshop. Judging by the trails of dust kicked up by the pair, the young-looking woman had just finished an impressive sprint that appeared destined to come up short. The varnyx was closing fast - there wasn't much time before it had a meal.

"Stay put," he told the still-stunned frahar, knowing full well what was about to happen as he turned his attentions toward the varnyx. "I'll be back to shoot you momentarily."

Muttering a quick incantation under his breath, the young rifleman zoomed toward his new target and just out of the now-coherent frahar's range. Chambering a round as he ran, he gauged the distance between him and the big cat. He stuttered a step to make a small adjustment in his approach speed, angled slightly to the left, and rushed right in between the predator and its prey as the latter struggled to run up the massive dune between her and the safety of town.

The varnyx's attentions were promptly - and painfully - diverted as T'kalian caught four claws to the face that were once intended for another just a split second ago.

Fighting back the urge to fall to the sand in pain for what he knew would be the last time, Dainan struggled to line up his shot against the angry, agile beast whose dinner he interrupted. Missing the first two, he finally found his mark on the third and achieved a steady firing angle on his target. Glancing back to check on the proximity of his new pursuer, Dainan faked right and cut left -

Directly into the path of his old pursuer. Or, more accurately, its fist.

The blow staggered the Legionnaire briefly, allowing the varnyx to close from the rear and rake a powerful swipe of its claws across the back of Dainan's legs. The searing pain brought him back to reality, and with very little stamina to spare, the young gunner broke right and used the remaining energy he had to sprint toward the contingent of Frahar Hunters posted a few hundred meters to the east.

The Hunters were ready for them all, and Dainan barely made it to the guard post before the frahar was felled by a well-placed Rimeleus round.

"Thanks," Dainan said a bit breathlessly, sliding down the wall to come to an unceremonious rest in the sand, wincing as he did. "Very timely assist there - much appreciated."

The pair of Hunters regarded the winded, wounded homin with equal measures amusement and admiration, obviously considering him the underdog in such an altercation. The bald female guard who fired the Rimeleus smiled. "Our pleasure, kid," she said, offering the homin an outstretched hand to help extricate himself from the ground. Dainan took it, a bit miffed at the guard's slight condescending tone and knowing he was in no position to do anything about it. "What are you doing out here, anyway? The harvest zone is over the hill, by the town guard patrols. It's safer over there."

Dainan's indignation could not be kept out of his voice as he responded. "I'm well aware of that, thank you, Hunter," he replied with a bit of a snap. "I happen to be a Legionnaire gunner assigned to protect that zone and had to take on a pair of aggressives at once. Without, might I add," he continued, glancing at the female guard's hulking partner, "any kind of backup unless I have to run like Oflovak to get to one of y'all's outposts!"

The guards both laughed heartily at the kid's righteous indignation, which did nothing to help Dainan's mood. "Look, people, I really don't have the time for this - I have a zone to protect and since it's my birthday, I'd like to end it without incidence to myself or anyone else so if you'll excuse me..."

The towering male Fyros, who until now had been silent save for a few laughs at the Legionnaire's expense, immediately fixed his gaze on his younger, slighter counterpart. "Today's your birthday, soldier?" he asked with a bit of what Dainan thought might be something resembling respect.

Dainan's stiffened, indignant posture relaxed slightly, caught a bit off guard by the massive warrior's change of tone. "Yes, it is," Dainan said with far less of an edge in his voice. "I'm 24 today."

Both Hunters immediately sobered, snapped to attention and treated the exceedingly surprised T'Kalian to a proper salute. Stunned momentarily by something far more incapacitating than a frahar's fist, Dainan recovered and returned the salute. The Hunters then went at ease, soft smiling expressions of near-acceptance on their faces.

The larger guard noticed Dainan's puzzled expression, and answered him before he could ask. "It's our birthday as well. But we work this shift every year. Have for the past forty years now."

The puzzled look on Dainan's face only grew. "That just raises further questions," he asked quizzically. "I mean, I'm nowhere near as okay with it as you guys seem to be, quite frankly."

The larger guard smiled. "It's what we were born to do - act selflessly so that others may enjoy life ahead of us, content to enjoy ours when we retire at the end of service. That doesn't seem even a little poetic to you - something in which to take even a small measure of real pride?"

Dainan blinked. He never really thought about it that way. Then again, he'd been shown quite a few new thought processes recently. Maybe it's as spot-on as the others were, too, a small voice in the back of his mind seemed to intone.

The Legionnaire shook his head slightly, a sign the guards knew all too well. They flashed a quick salute once more and turned back to their assigned post, more than ready to re-assume their chosen and sworn duty even on the day of their birth.

They knew he needed to get back to work. And he knew that too. Saluting the pair as they walked away, Dainan turned and strode back to his own assignment on his own day of birth with a sense of renewed purpose he didn't quite understand... but that he rather liked.

= = =

Another fourteen frahar fell to T'kalian's marksmanship that day, the volume of work really helping to pass time before his replacement arrived at dusk to take over. Absolutely wiped, Dainan made it back to base far faster than he would have any other day. His mind was elsewhere, deeply processing and analyzing his encounter with the Hunters. He knew there was a lesson to be learned, and he knew he'd eventually learn it, but at present it just felt like he simply couldn't properly translate what they were saying, what they were doing, into words and deeds he could understand in his own right.

As it was this morning, the common room was empty but bearing signs of recent habitation. Just as well. I'm way too tired to interact with anyone else today. Resolving to check the job sheet at dawn instead of obsessing about one more thing tonight, the spent Fyros shuffled down the hall to his bunk - unaware until just a few hours later of the following message left for him tacked to the post just underneath:

"Dainan - heard from the Hunters about your efforts today. Very well done. One of the guards said you might need some reflection time to think about something he said to you today. He suggested a weekend off to visit Zora. I agree. You are hereby ordered to sleep in and head for Zora after a long night's sleep tonight.

If I catch you awake, you will be shoveling the mektoub stables. So I hope you didn't go to bed again before checking the job sheet like you should.

But you probably did. See you in the morning. - The Boss"

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Thanks for reading! And no, Icus doesn't really make me shovel mektoub stables. He's actually quite nice! -bp