Gael 

My mind is blank as the escape pod finally lands, sitting in the cockpit for a few moments to breathe and will myself to get up. Eventually I’m getting up and grabbing the clothes I had changed out of when I put my suit on. I didn’t want to leave them to be abandoned because they were good quality clothes and they’re comfortable. I sigh as I exit, shivering a bit, being hit by a cold wind immediately after opening the doors, peaking out cautiously.

I whirl with my awakened blade in hand when something grasps my shoulder, finding a familiar red and black space armor clad, pale human half-ling with his hands raised and yellow eyes wide. “Benji? Is that you?” I stammer, dropping my blade and climbing out of the escape pod full.

His eye brows furrow in confusion, running a hand through his blue-black hair, pulling it out of the loose bun he usually had it in, “Gael? Where have you been? Gaeletca has had half the Spirits looking for you for the past couple of weeks. Thanlan had told him that you were sent off to be an alpha’s potential mate but when nothing more came out of it we were getting worried that something happened to you.” He was reaching out to grab hold of my arms, looking me up and down to get a better look at me, definitely trying to make sure I wasn’t hurt anywhere. 

I let out a soft sigh as I let him take my arm, looking away from him as he continued to look me over. “How did you find me? I thought Pylos was going after Vishnu.” How long have I been traveling? It can't have been that long, right? At least a few days… Gods, I hate the timelessness of space sometimes.

I could practically hear Benji’s furrowed brows at me when he asks, “How did you know Pylos was going after us?”

“He was the alpha I was handed over to, he told me that he planned to go after you all before I ran away.” I explain with another sigh, looking back up at him to meet his surprised yellow gaze. “Now, again, how did you find me?”

He sighs and rubs at the nape of his neck, “Well, we kind of followed you after we saw your escape pod. We didn't know if you were a fugitive finally escaping or a soldier trying to trick us.” I nod in understanding. “Pylos targeted us a couple days ago and we actually spotted your pod after we found and rescued Ryusei, so we should get going.” After they found Ryusei? I furrow my brows in confusion after hearing that, tilting my head at him in question. I hadn’t realized the leader of the Knights of Vishnu had vanished  while I was gone. So much time had passed since the mission I was originally part of and got caught during, something must have happened during the fight they had planned so meticulously with Emperor Morteon. 

I let the younger omega take my free hand and lead me away from the escape pod to the sentient wolf shaped space ship, though instead of leading me to his usual red wolf ship, he leads me to the larger black one. The one that I had thought Ryusei flew. I raise my brow in question, but say nothing for now, allowing him to lead me into the giant wolf ship and then into the ship’s cockpit. I stand behind his seat in the cockpit, watching him maneuver the black wolf ship through the atmosphere of the planet that I had landed and into the emptiness of space. Soon catching sight of the large Drydian castle-like ship as we approach it. My stomach starts to churn with anxiety, unsure of what the other Knights of Vishnu will ask the moment we get in the castle ship. They were definitely going to ask questions and I didn't want to answer any questions they may have. I know they'll be curious, it's in their nature. But it's not something I care to deal with anytime soon.

“Everything's gonna be fine.” Benji says, as if he could hear my anxiety. “Everyone will just be glad that you’re okay. Trust me.” He sighs, glancing back at me from over his shoulder. “You have no idea how freaked out everyone was when they found out you went missing.” 

I sigh at that, knowing they meant well with their worry, but it also irks me a little, feeling guilty over being irked by their honestly natural response to a friend going missing. “I'm guessing they were all trying to volunteer to help search and rescue me from my predicament?” I ask, not meaning to sound as annoyed by the thought as I felt, but I couldn’t really help it. 

“Uh, yeah, there were mainly alpha volunteers, of course.” Benji chuckles at the tired groan I let out when hearing that. “Yeah, that's about how I felt too. But you know they can't really help it. It is something they're kind of hardwired to do.” He adds with a tired sigh. “At least now they can stop trying to convince Gaeletca to let them go save you.”

“I can't imagine how tired he is from having to deal with all of that.” I mumble, looking away from the image of the giant castle ship the closer we get to it.

The rest of the ride was quiet and fairly short, Benji letting me mentally prepare myself for the interaction that is about to happen. As soon as we landed, Benji was slow to walk me out of the sentient wolf ship and into the castle ship's hangar. The other residents of the castle ship are quick to greet us. Ramon sighing in relief when he saw we were okay, his deep blue eyes focusing on his lover that walks next to me before he steps up and wraps his arms around the smaller knight, his darker skin making Benji look even paler than the smaller man already was. Malo and Flit came running up to hug me the moment they laid eyes on me, Malo nearly squeezing the life out of me with his thick arms as Flit’s thin beaded braids smack me a little as they cling to my side. The two Drydians smile fondly from a few steps away as they watch two younger knights squeeze me in their embrace. The princess’s bright blue gaze shields her slight discomfort, though clearly not very well,  as she brushes nonexistent dust off her usual black and gold floor length dress. While Zesly’s pink gaze was warm as usual, his lip wobbled a little as he watched us from his station beside his princess.

“We're so glad you’re alright.” Princess Donria sighs, her  voice as elegant as it always is. I send a strained smile her way, partially because I'm currently getting the life squeezed out of me. I couldn't do or say anything else after all. “Flit, Malo, why don't you let Gael go so he can breathe?”

They do as they were asked, both helping me stay steady on my feet as I catch my breath, embarrassed smiles plastered on their faces. “Sorry, we’ve just been so worried about you.” Malo apologies, his rich brown skin darkening with a flush in his cheeks as he tucks his long black waves behind his ears. 

“He came over a lot before he got captured and would hang out with us. We were just so worried when we never heard anything about him after he went missing. We’re just relieved to see he’s okay.” Flit explains, their own brown skin darkening at the cheeks from their embarrassed flush, the pale splotch on their left cheek turning more of a pink. 

The princess sighs softly, nodding, “Yes, I'm quite aware of that.” She walks up to me and hesitantly takes my black clawed hands in her deeply tanned ones, looking into my black and red eyes with her bright blue ones. “We will provide you with whatever you need until Gaeletca is able to come get you.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” I murmur, my discomfort at her closeness hopefully not as noticeable as hers was.

She nods with a small smile, “I'll be sure to get it ready as soon as possible”

I sit crosslegged on a soft cushioned sofa shaped in an incomplete circle in the main lounge area that the Knights use in the large castle-ship with Benji and Ramon, Ramon laying on the floor while Benji sprawled out on the sofa above him and across from me. After a few moments of sitting in the rather comfortable silence, Ramon stands and tells us he’s going to go grab some food, leaving me and Benji to sit together alone. We stay like that for a little while longer, with me fiddling with the little rectangular device that was once my holo tablet but is now an uncharged useless hunk of metal.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Benji asks tentatively, breaking the silence.

“You just did.” I point out in a monotone, glancing over at him as I pocket the little device.

He sends a half-heartedly glare my way, “You know what I mean.” I couldn’t help the little breathy chuckle I let out and nodding for him to continue. “I was wondering why you were sent to Pylos of all the people and why did it take you so long to escape? I know how well you fight and I know the reason you got caught was because the witch was on that ship. Sure he’s got those generals, but you’ve taken down so many soldiers before that were for than twice your size. But it’s almost been a month, you were gone for almost a month and yet, there’s not a scratch on you. You haven’t even lost any weight or muscle mass.” He seemed to have caught himself going on a bit of a tangent before I needed to stop him, sighing. “Sorry, I’ve been meaning to ask you this all day but I didn't want to ask in front of the others, so that all just kind of built up.”

I let out a deeper sigh than I meant to, looking away from him and down at my lap. “You don’t have to apologize, you’re understandably confused. I was sent to him because he was the least likely to abuse me and it turned out he was actually in search of a mate and found me interesting.”

“Oh,” He was quiet for a moment before hesitantly asking his next question. “Did he, um, did he make you do anything?”

I shake my head, “No, that's actually something that I found weird about him. It was obvious that he wanted to make me his mate, but he never really made a move to do so.” I explain, pulling my braided hair over my shoulder and my tail into my lap. “He would buy me things, like these clothes, he would show off his combat skill and would even enjoy watching me showing off my own. He was kind in that aspect, and surprisingly respectful, all of them were really. Though the only thing he really did that I disliked was insist on not giving me any suppressants until I went into heat.”

“Oh…wow,” He murmurs, furrowing his brow. “That is really weird, especially for the prince of the  Ekati Empire. Maybe he was raised differently? Like not by his father?" I shrug at the questions. He hums in thought, then shrugs himself. “Well, whatever his deal was, at least he let you go. If he really didn’t take to following his instincts to go after the omega he was so interested in, then he probably knew you wanted to come back to your team.”

I sigh, the hurt and betrayal bubbling back up in my chest like it had in the escape pod where I had sobbed for an unknown length of time, my ears drooping and the tip of my tail flicking in my lap. I hated the thought of Pylos possibly fighting all his instincts to follow me and get me back because of my desire to escape. Staying was never an option to you. You just grew complicit  for a little while. He’s the leader of your enemies. But would it have been so bad to stay? He was so kind to me, so gentle and caring. He liked every aspect of me despite the way I was trained to be and how hostile I was towards him. “Yeah, probably.” I stand when the feeling of tears start to sting in my eyes, starting to move towards the exit of the lounge and pausing only long enough to mumble a quick, “I need to go.” My voice warbling as I rush out into the hallway and sprint to the room that the princess is letting me use while I wait for Gaeletca to be ready to pick me up. 

It’s a standard room, a plain single person bed with sterile white walls and bland grey carpeting and a white desk in the corner of the room. Nothing like the one Pylos shared with me. It was just another thing I found myself missing about being with Pylos. The beautiful room decorated for complete comfort, the caring alpha that did everything to show me he liked me for me, the ability to finally live as a pampered omega while still being allowed to do as I please and not just be used as a toy. My tears blur my vision as my chest aches, tapping at the door’s control panel to lock it as I lean back against it, no longer fighting my body’s need to sob. I slide down the smooth surface until I’m curled up on the floor, clutching my chest as sob after sob leaves me, my voice grows hoarse and my throat burns.

I’ve been shot and stabbed and even had bones broken, but none of that compared to the ache in my chest as I cry. I never realized how attached I grew to the half-Ekatian prince. But here I am, sobbing on the itchy grey carpet of the Drydarian castle-ship bedroom that was lent to me while my heart aches for him. Gods, I’m hopeless.