Lartara led the way, through several security checkpoints. The warriors manning those checkpoints recognized her on sight, even in her shifted form, and we were allowed to pass. Aside from Eira, most of the warriors with us seemed to know the way. None of them had bothered to put on uniforms before we'd set out, apparently disliking the formality when they were off duty. Aside from the captain, we were all wearing nothing but what the gift had given us, pelts ruffling in the night air as the gates opened to let us out. It felt more right than I'd really expected. I knew I had a uniform waiting for me back at the barracks, but I had nothing to be ashamed of amongst my sisters, and they'd already shown no shame showing me their bodies. I wondered if I'd feel the same way once my fur receded.
My eyes adjusted quickly outside. There were woods in the distance, as well as mountains, but the area immediately around the facility looked to be overgrown meadows. Still, as my almost luminous eyes focused on them, I could see they were dotted with saplings. They must have been planted only a year or two ago, but it was obvious they were there to expand the forests.
"Oh wow," Eira said, looking out at them. "There's so many."
"They'll become a deep forest within our lifetimes," Lartara said with some reverence. "The kind they had on Old Lycothos before the war. I've only seen the history files but... it'll really be something."
"They grow that fast?" Eira asked.
"No, not much faster than Earth trees," Lartara answered. "Though these are engineered from cuttings from the Last Grove on Lycothos. The one only the Alphas are allowed in. They'll replace the Earth flora, in time."
"Then how-" Eira began to ask before Verozza cut her off.
"You're new, you don't know. What the Captain meant is that if we're lucky we'll live that long."
"...how long are we talking, here?" I asked with a quirked, furry brow.
"The warrior caste can live to be just over three hundred in Earth years," Lartara said. "The alphas can sometimes reach a thousand. It's why the war happened. Overpopulation."
"So we're..." I trailed off, my jaw dropped.
"In for the long haul, as long as we don't get ourselves killed," Verozza nodded. "All the while we get to see Earth become what Lycothos should have been."
I didn't know quite how to feel about that. About living that long. About the Earth being terraformed into this lost ideal of a planet. Part of me thrilled to the thought of thick primeval forests in which my sisters and I were the apex predators. Against my human judgment, my tail began to wag.
"See, Harkaal gets it," Marrh said with a laugh. "We do this right and Earth becomes paradise."
"And the cities?" I ask.
"Those are the alphas' projects," Lartara said. "Most of them are being demolished for the reclamation, but the biggest ones are being renovated to Lycothan standards."
"More access to the open air, and no more having to worry about bumping your head," Marrh added. "I got sent pictures from Baltimore by a sister stationed there. It's really shaping up."
I resisted the urge to ask what Marrh had meant by sister, suspecting I already knew. I took a step back, still looking around, but to my surprise I felt a shaggy arm drape over my shoulders. I looked to see clawed fingers affectionately running through my wild mane. A sniff revealed that Eira had sidled up to me. I turned towards her, and she just gave me a toothy smirk.
"What? I just wanted to touch it," she laughed. "We're going to be spending a lot of time together, after all."
"I'll have to have it cut soon, they said."
"Last part of your initiation," she nodded. "Like they did mine. Just means I have to touch it now before they get a hold of it."
"She makes it sound like a punishment," Verozza said. "It's not. It's a mark of pride. Let the alphas be all prissy about their hair. The crest is all we need."
I nodded slowly, just before the rumbling of my stomach cut in.
"Well, maybe not all we need," Eira laughed again, patting my furred belly.