by Loki Renard
This place wasn’t boring. This place was absolutely spectacular. It was just all hidden away out of sight from the palace by the weather, super hot steam storms which would have burned the shit out of her if Alf hadn’t let her keep the suit.
The weather might have been supremely shitty, but the city was incredible. Spread across several landmasses, connected by bridges across which merchandise was moved, this was a city worth investigating. Even though everybody could fly, most were still walking, she noticed. The Homelanders weren’t all natural flyers. They were heavy and muscular, and though the king and his coterie were obviously agile in flight, she saw more than one of the more average Homelanders struggle to flap their way up to the third floor.
“Even aliens need wheels and wagons,” she mumbled to herself as a heavy transporter chugged by. It looked like it was being powered by lava, which seemed dangerous, but probably no more dangerous than cars which were powered by petrol explosions.
She liked this place. This felt almost like home. Everybody was busy, and they were everywhere, dashing about among one another, except unlike NYC where people pushed past one another on the streets, the air was also full of traffic. Feathers drifted down in puffs when Homelanders collided above. This city was magical and filthy. Finally she had found something to love.
And then there were the aliens. Well. Other aliens. Aliens who weren’t human and weren’t Homelanders either. Aliens with springy legs and coiled tails. Aliens with four eyes and two mouths. Aliens of all manner of configuration and imagination. Aliens that slimed along the streets, and aliens made of blades.
Katie sat on a street corner and just watched the world go by. There was so much to take in. So much to learn. It was as strange a place as she had ever imagined, and she was entranced by it all.
9 Oh No
A couple of days later, shit inevitably hit the fan. She managed her first two nights in the city just by catching naps in a few public places and by snatching up food where she could. She was homeless, sure, but it didn’t have the same stigma here that it did on Earth. A lot of Homelanders seemed to just wander around day and night, wrapping their wings around themselves and snoozing when they needed a rest.
“We are looking for a human.”
She heard the soldiers say that to another alien, and knew that was her cue to get off the street. She went into the nearest store. She had no idea what it sold. Apparently, she could speak their language seamlessly, but there was no such compensation made for alien text. The signs were gibberish to her, and the contents of the shelves were just as mysterious. But that didn’t matter. She just had to stay the hell away from the soldiers… who had fucking followed her right into the same damn shop.
Katie kept her head down and tried to be as quiet as possible. Maybe they were following her, or maybe this shop had just been their next stop too. One big coincidence.
“We’re looking for a human female,” the soldier said to the shopkeeper, an older Homelander woman with the most astonishing red wings and hair.
“What’s a human female?” The shopkeeper asked the question in the same tone she might have asked what was smeared on the bottom of her shoe.
“Sort of like a Homelander with no wings, and a smaller build. This one is the prized pet of Dominax himself.”
“The king has let some deformed Homelander loose on the city?”
“She’s not deformed. She’s a human. It is an entirely different kind of entity.”
“Sounds disgusting.”
Katie was offended, but couldn’t express it. She had to keep her back to the soldiers and the shopkeeper and shuffle upstairs as if she were a genuine customer. The suit was doing her a lot of favors, hiding her lack of wings and helping her to blend in with the rest of the customers.
Crowds were her friend. She had always liked them. Crowds were the perfect way to blend in and stay safe in numbers. Some liked to stand out in crowds. Not Katie. She liked being one among an endless number of others.
The soldiers turned around and walked out. They didn’t really seem that motivated to find her, and from the sounds of things, they also didn’t actually have any idea what she looked like. Apparently Dominax didn’t have pictures.
The stores were crowded with goods, and Katie had grown up in similar terrain. The suit had deep pockets, enough to slip a few relevant items into. Once she’d picked up what she hoped was food and drink, she headed back out of the store and up through the stairways to what looked like a park, except instead of trees there were rocks, and small lava installations like waterfalls but more likely to burn your face off if you fell in.
Katie made sure not to do that. She found a seat not too far away from the crowds, somewhere she wouldn’t stick out, but not so close anybody would take a second look at her. She pulled out her little stash of stolen items and started picking through them.
“Cute suit.”
A young male Homelander was standing next to her, his hair tousled, his feathers ruffled in what looked like a deliberate fashion. He smiled broadly, and welcomingly. He had pale eyes and dark hair, cut much shorter than the king’s.
“Thanks,” she said. “A friend gave it to me.”
“Bit old to need a suit, aren’t you?”
“I have a skin condition,” she lied smoothly. It came so easily to her. She never realized how much living in New York had prepared her for fitting in on a fucked-up alien planet.
“My cousin had a skin condition,” he said. “Had to spread cream all over himself twice a day, but eventually he sort of got over it. Moved off-planet. It’s the vapor.”
“Yeah,” she said.
“You’re eating a lot of junk food.”
“Is that what this is? I thought they were the components of a healthy meal.”
“You’re funny.” He laughed. “I like your sense of humor.”
Shit. He was hitting on her. She wasn’t going to get into this, not with anyone. Not because she belonged to Dominax, but because…well, she didn’t want to get anybody killed. She could only imagine what Dominax would do to this alien skater boy.
She did what she would have done to a guy on Earth. She looked through him without smiling, until the smile fell off his face. He shrugged and walked away.
None of the food tasted good, but some of it did seem vaguely edible. She nibbled at it and watched the Homelanders and their alien counterparts wander about in a vague sort of way. There was another winged beast up there somewhere, higher, up toward the sun, circling overhead. It had a much wider wingspan than most of the Homelanders, and there was a certain imposingness which made her want to cower from it.
Dominax.
She knew it was him. She could feel him, even at this great distance. She had to trust in the power of the crowd, and in keeping her head down, that he would not find her. He might be the most spectacular thing in the sky, but she was one dot among many thousands. There was no way to catch her. Not unless she fucked up somehow.
10 Consequencelessness
“Stop! Thief!”
Well, that didn’t last long. Katie scurried through the streets of the city, a big batch of Homeworld currency tucked under her arm. She shouldn’t have been so brazen, but she’d gotten away with every theft so far.
She’d gotten cocky. That was her mistake.
It had been thirty days since Alf sprang her from the palace. Thirty days in which the city had been searched and swept enough times to annoy the citizenry into near rebellion. She had not been found, obviously.
But she was about to get fucking caught by the guards who were flying way fucking faster than she could run, overtaking her with gusty beats of their wings.
It was fucking hard to run in the suit. The filtration could keep up with normal breathing, but it didn’t work for running. She was gasping for air that just wasn’t there, dropping a trail of stolen money behind her as she headed for the overbuilt area of the city where the poor lived, and where the soldiers would be forced to land
to catch her.
That was the plan, anyway, but she didn’t think she was going to get a chance to execute it. They were gaining too fast, and she was about to fucking pass out…
“Come here.”
A hand reached out and dragged her into the shadows, yanking her off her feet and against the hard body of a Homelander who shut a big heavy door behind her.
“You!”
It wasn’t Dominax. Thank fuck, it wasn’t Dominax. It was the Homelander skater boy, the one with the light eyes and dark hair who liked her sense of humor.
“You’re trouble,” he said, pressing a finger to her lips as the guards rushed by outside the door. “I’ve been watching you.”
“What do you mean, you’ve been watching me?”
“I mean the first day we met, you were sitting out in the open with an armful of stolen food, shoe cleaner, and a dildo. That sort of thing gets a guy’s attention.”
She blushed, remembering how little she’d known in those first days of freedom. Turned out she had accidentally stolen a sex toy. Oh, well. It had been good to trade with later. Got her a new set of clothes underneath her suit, and began her savings.
There was really no need to be stealing anymore. She’d even found a place to stay. Wasn’t an apartment, was more of a pod. Just a small space with a door, big enough to lie down in.
“Didn’t mean to get your attention. Didn’t mean to get anybody’s attention. Trying to do the opposite.”
“That’s why you’re running through the city with stolen money falling out of your pockets?”
She guessed she liked stealing. Being a criminal on an alien world came with a sense of consequencelessness. Was that a word? In her head, it was.
“Nope. That’s not why.”
“Why is it then?”
On Earth, she would have been afraid of what could happen if she was caught. Here, she didn’t care. She hadn’t spent a lifetime being primed to respect the laws and culture of these aliens. She had human values, city values, and survival values.
“I don’t know. I guess it’s fun.”
“Is it fun? Or are you trying to get caught?”
She didn’t even know this guy's name.
“Who are you, exactly.”
“My name’s Darma.”
Darma. A pretty chill name for a pretty chill guy. She felt that pull again. Not quite attraction. More like familiarity.
“Okay, but who are you? Why did you just save me?”
“Like I said, you got my attention.”
“Yeah. That’s what you said. But we met weeks ago. It’s weird if you’ve been following me. Really fucking weird.”
“You’re so suspicious,” he laughed. “Which is funny, because you’re the criminal. Still in that same suit, too.”
“I like it.”
“Uh huh. Tell me who I’ve saved,” he said. “I need to know who you are. I need to know what you are.”
“Or what?”
“Or I turn you into the authorities,” he smiled cheerfully.
“I would really feel a whole lot better if I didn’t tell you any of that,” she said. “What about the money? Take that, no questions asked.”
“Nope. I want answers to my questions. Not money.”
“So you’re rich then. Rich enough for this money to mean nothing to you.”
“You’re figuring me out,” he smiled. “How about you give me the chance to figure you out.”
“There’s no point hitting on me. I’m taken. Double taken on this planet.”
“I am not hitting on you. I just think you’re interesting. Besides. I have a guy.”
“Oh, you have a guy.”
“Yeah.”
“Oh. Okay. Cool. Cool.”
“So. Who are you?”
“Well, now I have no idea why you would care?”
“Not everything is about trying to fuck someone,” he said bluntly. “I notice something weird, I follow it up. You’re weird. Even in a city this size. You stand out.”
“I hope not.”
“Why? Are you trying to hide? Because running around in a bright pink suit, stealing from shops in broad lava-light is not a good way to hide.”
“I guess that’s a good point,” she admitted. “Thanks for helping me out there.”
“I was being selfish,” he admitted. “I’ve been looking for an opportunity to speak to you since we met. I know you’re not from here. You’re something completely different. There are rumors in the royal court about a beast from a very foreign planet being kept by the king.”
“Do you know Dominax? Are you from the palace…”
She was worried. This big Homelander seemed to have his own agenda, and she had no idea what it was. He’d saved her from the guards, but that didn’t mean he was going to keep helping her.
“I have a place in the royal household, as do many thousands of others,” he said. “So I hear rumors. Some, like this one, interest me especially. I’ve always liked strange things — and you are a very strange thing.”
“Are you going to turn me in?”
“Not at the moment,” he said, rather irritatingly.
“So what do you want from me? If it’s not sex, and it’s not money, what, then?”
“Let’s hang out.”
“What? Why?”
“I think you’re the human Dominax is missing. If you are, then you’re something even the king of Homeworld can’t have. I like that. And you obviously don’t want to be at the palace anyway, so maybe we can help each other out.”
“I still don’t see how I’m helping you.”
“You’re making me slightly less bored,” he shrugged.
“Uh huh.”
She was getting rich kid vibes from this guy. Someone who had everything and therefore wasn’t entertained by anything. That did not inspire a whole lot of trust as far as she was concerned.
“Okay, well, thanks, I guess. I need to get out of here.”
“Hey. No. Come on. You owe me more than that. Tell me who you are, where you came from.”
“You want to hear my life story?”
“You don’t seem to realize how interesting you are. This city sees a lot of aliens, but none like you. None Dominax is hunting down relentlessly.”
“Is he? It doesn’t feel relentless. It feels like…” she didn’t know what it felt like. She was thinking that Dominax had probably forgotten about her now, or assumed something had happened to her. Like the time her cat had gotten out when she was just a kid, and was never seen or heard from again. She’d looked, but then her mother had insisted they go home before the birds following them caught up to them. So that was that.
She looked up and realized Darma was still looking at her with that fascinated expression on his face.
“What does it feel like?”
“Feels like he forgot about me.”
“Oh, he hasn’t forgotten about you. He just can’t rip up the entire city without causing chaos.”
Well, that was nice, or maybe not. It was nice to be wanted. Every woman wanted to be pursued. Well, some women did. What the fuck did she know about every woman. Anyway. It was romantic. But it was also fucking terrifying.
“You know Dominax?”
“You could say that. Like I said, I live up at the palace.”
“Wow, you do. Huh.” She was trying to work out how to get away from this guy as quickly as possible. He reminded her far too much of Dominax.
“Don’t worry. I’m not like them. I am not like him. I’m a friend.”
“No, you’re not. You’re a stranger, and I’m a fugitive.”
“I’m the closest thing you have to a friend here. I knew what you were the first time we met, and I didn’t turn you in. And you know I know who you are now, and I’m still saving your ass.”
“Who am I, then?”
“You are the king’s pet,” he smiled. “You’re the human who got away. You’re the girl with a bounty on her head. If Dominax knew about
the pink suit, you’d be snatched up in seconds.”
“That’s not who I am. That’s not even a part of who I am. That’s what Dominax defined me as, and it’s how he justified ripping me from everything I ever knew, and it’s why I’m here…”
“Okay. You’re not the king’s pet. You’re the human fugitive who is on the verge of being caught and dragged back to him any moment now. And you’re so arrogant you don’t think you need help. You plan to thieve your way to freedom, and tell everyone else to… what’s that human phrase? Oh. Right. Get fucked.”
“How do you know that phrase?”
“Because I, like you, am curious. I want to go to Earth. I want to see the world where the Homelanders don’t have wings. I want to see everything the universe has to offer. I was on the ship Dominax took to your world.”
Every time he spoke, he accidentally revealed more about himself than he wanted to. It was almost amusing.
“Okay. Fine. You don’t seem like a complete asshole. And thank you, for helping me escape the guards. But I know you want something. And it’s not just hanging out with the cool Earth chick.”
“Does it matter what I want, as long as you get what you want?”
She pushed her head out the door. There was no one there. Not a single soldier.
“Okay. I’m going to head out. Thanks for the help.”
“Katie…”
She was gone, dashing into the street. She had a place not that far from this little nook, and she was not interested in making friends with anybody who helped Dominax abduct her.
This entire encounter had taught her one thing: she was too visible, and she had to get further away if she wasn’t going to be recaptured. Or she had to get better at being a fugitive.
11 Missing Katie
Dominax sat upon the winged throne. It was what it sounded like it would probably be – a great chair with wings which extended the same way his own wings did when he was at his most dangerous. They arched up above his head, two golden extensions of pure power, and he sat below them, his own wings tucked tightly behind his shoulders.