That morning

Zaria had received her summons the day before, or rather had demanded she be included in this round of scouts. She had been on probation for some time and was finally granted permission to leave the city.

Since the accidental death of her family three years earlier, she had been placed on watch. The councilmen of the city had assumed she had something to do with the explosion, even though she had in fact attempted to prevent it from happening in the first place. With no one as witness to vouch for her, she agreed to accept punishment for her late husband's stupidity.

She was anxious to get out of the city. Things had been bad from the beginning, when she had decided to date outside her race to begin with. Both races of people saw her and her family as traitors, it was unethical to mix Lexians with Maltrothans. She ached for the comfort of her family, but had grown accustomed to being alone. Her hope was that she would be able to survive on her own and never return to the colony, or at the very least regain her rightful citizenship.

She packed what few things she had in a small backpack and headed away from her home for what may be the last time. The sun was just starting to peek over the trees, the silence was starting to subside as other creatures awoke. Her home was on the outskirts of town, so it was a bit of a walk to get to the courthouse, even still, she was determined to arrive early. She stooped to sip from the small stream that ran near her hut, then surveyed the landscape one last time. It was bittersweet leaving this place, full of memories of her precious children: twins, boy and girl, on the cusp of adolescence, and her little girl who had barely turned three before they died.  She smiled at their memory, but quickly wiped a stray tear from her eye, straightened up and continued on her way as if nothing bothered her. She scavenged some peculiar berries (native to the planet) on her way.

As she made her way through town, she traveled down side roads in hopes of avoiding contact with anyone. Any people she met on the way would look to her with scorn, or would scoff as they quickly closed their shutters offended by the sight of her. She made good time, and arrived at the courthouse even before the judge or officers did. She waited patiently behind a shrub at the side of the building until they unlocked the doors, then she was ushered into a large hall where the instructions would be given.

It seemed like forever before anyone else arrived, but then suddenly the hall became quite crowded to where a person could hardly move without touching someone else. Most of the others who had gathered were Lexians, but she remained in the back despite being unable to see who was giving directions.

Having so many people gathered in such a small space made it stuffy and almost unbearable, the meeting seemed to last much longer than necessary. Zaria was about to give up and just leave until she noticed a peculiar person enter the hall. He had the right idea, come when it's nearly over to avoid smelling these awful brutes!. Then she recognized him. He was Ivar. She had heard rumors about him, one of the first Lexians created. The people said he was a mutant and they felt he didn't deserve to live. The speculated that he was only alive because he was very special to his creator, Alexander. She had often wondered what he looked like up close, but kept her distance knowing he used magic and was therefore extremely dangerous.

He shifted into the room and stood only a few feet away from Zaria when he settled on a place to stand. She could tell by his demeanor that he was annoyed, she suspected he didn't have much choice as to whether or not he attended this meeting.

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when a pompous little man pushed her shoulder. He stood barely as high as her shoulders, but had an air of great importance about him (she still thought he was annoying), he was her parole officer, "Pay attention, mutt. You've got to get with your assigned leader straight away so he can direct you." Then flipping through his handheld device, "ah yes, of course, here it is. Hmm, how unusual. Your group seems to be a bit smaller than the others. Why, normally we'd send 20 or 30 scouts with one leader, but you've only got a dozen or so. Perhaps it's because you're such a high threat to society..." he trailed off, "nevertheless, let's make the best of this shall we?" He rambled off a few provisions she was supposed to be taking with her, then reiterated the instructions that had been given earlier.

"Let's get on with it already!" Zaria interrupted, "who am I supposed to report to?" She huffed.

"Well," the officer huffed, "aren't we in a mood today?! It says here you're supposed to report to... this can't be right.... Ivar? Well, that's what it says. Go stand by that fellow over there with the strange pet. I wish you the best. He gives me the creeps." With that, the officer walked away to find his next assignment.

Zaria glared at the officer, then glanced over to the strange man he told her to join. Ivar stood there motionless, his eyes like stone fixated on her. Obviously, he had heard her parole officer, who hadn't? This should be interesting. She was skeptical. How could anyone be a leader if they couldn't talk? On the bright side, I won't have to put up with any derogatory comments from him. She thought, trying to be optimistic. She gathered her courage and decided to walk over to her new leader.

Without removing her hands from the straps on her pack she said, "I'm Zaria, I guess you're my leader now. I won't give you any trouble if you don't give me any trouble." With that, she stood beside him and didn't utter another word, just awaited the rest of the group. He gave her a sideways glance and raised an eyebrow, nothing more. The two stood awkwardly in silence for quite some time before anyone else joined the group.