A new day, and some revelations. As always, thanks to u/RiftZombY, u/Inside_Judge5855, and of course, u/SpacePaladin15.

Gotta split this chapter in two, as it's over the character limit otherwise.

Character list is at the bottom, as usual.

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[FIRST](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1meztlg/strength_in_secrecy_an_ordinary_paw_1/)|[PREVIOUS](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1rju3tz/strength_in_secrecy_class_in_session_6/)|NEXT

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I awaken with a start, not due to a yotul banging pans in the doorway, but from a nightmare. Rubbing my eyes, I take a moment to adjust to the darkness of the barracks. 

No one but me is awake, at least from what I can tell. I can hear the soft snores of Craig, faint chirping from Jalu, and rhythmic bleating from the twins. There is, however, one more noise in the room.

Whimpering.

Looking over at Reqi, I can just barely see her shoulders shivering under the covers.

*Poor girl…*

I quietly remove my blanket and walk over to her bedside. Reaching out, I gently shake her shoulder. She shoots awake, looking at me and covering herself for some reason.

“K-Konsa? What the hell?” she whispers. “What time is it?”

Looking at my phone, I scowl.

“Like…way too early,” I say.

“Why are you up, then?” she asks groggily.

“Nightmares.”

“O-oh…I know the feeling.”

“It’s why I woke you up. You looked like you were having a bad one,” I explain.

“Ah, sorry. It’s better to ignore me,” she says. “N-nothing you can do about them.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Also, if we’re going to talk, can you put some clothes on at least?”

I tilt my head at her.

“What, you don’t like me au naturale?”

“Everybody walking around naked makes me uncomfortable,” she says, covering her eyes. “Spent too much time around humans, I guess.”

“Ah, damn, makes sense. I can,” I reply, walking away until an idea forms in my head. “Say, think you’ll be able to fall back asleep?”

“Doubt it, I was barely sleeping in the first place,” she says. “Why?”

“I want to go for a walk. Not outside, just in the halls. I also kinda want to see the Dungeon.”

“Oh, shit, I’m in. Think I have to get into uniform?” she asks.

“Probably not, given what time it is. Besides, we’ll just say we couldn’t sleep if anyone asks.”

“Works for me.”

She gets up from bed and stretches. Although it shouldn’t be surprising, given what she just said, seeing her in shorts and a sleeveless shirt feels odd. The only two things I’ve seen her wear were that sundress outfit and her uniform. 

“Cute outfit,” I tease.

“Shut up. It’s comfortable.”

“I’d imagine. The shorts are…short.”

“Astute observation, Konsa,” Reqi says, reaching into her bag.

“I couldn’t think of something funny to say.”

“Obviously,” she replies, scowling as she pulls things out of the backpack. “Ah…shit.”

“What?”

“I ran out of contacts,” she says, closing it.

“You wear contacts?” I ask, surprised.

“Yeah, my eyes are pretty bad. Guess I’ve gotta pull out the spares.”

Opening up the front pocket, she withdraws a little case. From inside, she pulls out and puts on a set of wide, round, thin-rimmed glasses. Adjusting them, she scowls.

“I hate these things,” Reqi says.

Getting a good look at her, my brain surprises me with the right thing to say.

“I think they’re cute.”

Even in the dark, I can tell her face goes blue.

“R-really?”

“Yeah. They suit you.”

“I…damn, you’ve got me all blushy,” she says, tail wagging. “I always got teased for wearing them.”

“Really? They make you even prettier.”

“Prettier? I—” she starts as her tail begins to wag. “Stop that. You’re just teasing me. Let’s go."

What was that reaction about?

I pull on my uniform pants, my own tank, and my hoodie. I also make sure to grab my datapad before joining her. Looking back at our squad and confirming all of them are still in bed, we head out. The vibes of subfloor one are even more oppressive than usual, thanks to the eerie silence. There is a choking darkness to the eerily empty halls, and it’s not made better by the sparse, low-power lighting. Reqi holds onto me quite tightly, and judging by the rest of her body language, she’s as put off as I am.

“Spooky, huh?”” I ask, poking her in the side.

She flinches but continues holding on to me.

“Yes, jerk, it’s spooky. Don’t act like you're so tough,” she growls.

“I’m not tough; you’re just an easy target,” I reply, sticking my tongue out at her.

She huffs as we continue down the shadowy hallways. Although I wish I could say that I know better, the thought of something jumping out at us from the dark while I’m still injured doesn’t sit quite right.

This job is gonna give me a fear of the dark, I swear to God.

A faint, but noticeable, movement in the shadow catches my eye. Watching it, it looks organic. Alive. But it’s perfectly flat to the wall, as if it were two-dimensional. After a second of deliberation, I turn to Reqi.

“We should speed up,” I say, watching the thing in the shadows disappear.

“Why?”

“Bad feeling, I dunno.”

She looks around, scanning the hall before squeezing my arm even tighter.

“Okay…”

We pick up the pace, cursing the fact that the elevators are across the compound from our barracks. I continue to see measured movement in the shadows, but steel my resolve by telling myself that it’s a trick of my mind.

*Like Tessa.*

Finally, the elevator is in sight. As we walk up, my hackles rise, and Reqi’s seem to do the same as she halts. We stand there, listening, watching. Both of us yelp as a pair of freezing paws grabs us by the shoulders. The paws quickly cover our mouths, silencing us.

“Quiet, morons, people are sleeping,” Vahni whispers, releasing our faces.

I rub my lips to remove the frost. Reqi does the same but is shaking.

“Well, sorry, but we weren’t planning on having someone sneak up and grab us. How did you even do that?” I growl.

“Don’t worry about that. Better question, what the fuck are you two doing awake right now?” Vahni hisses.

“We were having nightmares and decided to go for a walk,” Reqi answers, still holding onto my paw.

“You decided to go for a walk in your underwear?” Vahni asks.

Reqi looks down at her get-up.

“Well, not underwear. Pyjamas,” she sheepishly answers.

“Right…where are you two actually going?”

“We wanted to see the Dungeon,” I answer frankly.

Vahni’s eyes go wide for a moment before they narrow again.

“You want to see the Dungeon at one o’clock?” she asks.

“Yeah, we can’t sleep,” Reqi says again.

“Actually, why are you up, Vahni?” I ask, taking my turn to narrow my eyes.

“I’m on night sentry duty. I do patrols every four hours. There are other venlil who cover the rest of the time.”

“The…*secretary* is on patrol?” I question.

“Yes, the secretary is on patrol. I told you that I do more than bureaucracy,” she answers, rolling her eyes. “Anyway, given how early it is, you’ll need an escort if you’re going to go down there. I’ll join you.”

My pyjama’d companion and I look at each other. I scowl, Reqi shrugs.

“Sure,” we say in unison.

More accurately, I groan while she says it.

The dark skalgan strides over and calls the elevator, gesturing for us to get in when it arrives. The elevator ride is long, far longer than I feel makes sense, but trying to make sense of this place just isn’t worth it. Simultaneously, as I’m having existential thoughts about anomalously long elevator rides, Vahni is chatting, or rather arguing, with Reqi.

“You really thought it was a good idea to walk around in that?” she asks.

“Yes, because it’s comfortable, and no one but you is up.”

“They only cover like half of your rump, young lady,” Vahni replies.

“Yeah, I know. They’re *shorts*. They’re meant to be *short*,” Reqi scoffs. “And it’s not like they’re tight.”

“What would that change about anything?” the dark skalgan asks, narrowing her eyes.

“Flowy, loose clothes are much more respectable. Not my fault that my butt hangs out of them. And besides, nobody will be seeing anything but you and Konsa.”

I narrow my eyes at her, but make the correct choice not to get involved.

“Yes, and a majority of the Sapient Relations team,” Vahni adds, smirking. “Or were you not aware?”

Judging by how blue Reqi becomes, she wasn’t.

“Uh…yeah, I am. It’s n-nothing they haven’t seen before,” she says, swallowing hard. “R-right, Konsa?”

“I’m choosing to abstain from this conversation,” I say, still looking forward.

Reqi stares at the ground, wringing her paws.

“C-coward…”

I chuckle as the elevator door opens, and we are blasted with a cold wind. Reqi’s ‘flowy, loose clothes’ don’t fare well with the wind, and she is left shivering. I pull off my hoodie and pass it to her. She looks at me for a moment, seemingly stunned, before putting it on. The relief is immediate, as her expression softens, although it’s equally brief.

The Dungeon, unlike the rest of the base's concrete and steel structure, is made of polished black stone. Inscriptions in a language I recognize but can’t quite place cover the walls and pillars supporting the lofted ceilings. Whatever the inscriptions are, they set my fur on end. Reqi seems to feel similarly, her ears pinned back and her shoulders shaking. Even Vahni is uncomfortable, which really doesn’t help my nerves.

“Uh, Vahni?” I ask, rubbing my arm.

“Yes, Konsa?”

“Why is this place called the Dungeon?”

“I t-think I can guess…” says Reqi, scanning the room.

“From what I understand, it just kinda fit. Or agents gave it a nickname, and it stuck. One or the other,” she answers, shrugging.

“Oh…”

“Th-that’s cool,” whimpers Reqi, grabbing my paw.

I welcome the reassuringly warm contact, while Vahni makes a face.

“Cute, you two. Just remember that you wanted to come down here,” she says, glancing down at our interlocked paws. “Let’s go. We’re only in the entrance.”

We follow her over the shiny floor. Despite its polished surface, it feels significantly grippier than any of the flooring upstairs. Slightly squishy, even.

“Is the, uh, rock down here like the concrete they use in the cities?” I ask, stepping on it as gently as I can.

“No,” Vahni replies. “It’s just weird.”

“I r-really don’t like it,” says Reqi. “It feels like w-walking on thawing m-meat.”

Vahni looks disgusted by the idea, and I stare at my companion.

“Ex-fucking-scuse me, Reqi?” I ask.

“What?” she says. “I j-just said what it feels like.”

“I would really rather not think about that,” says Vahni. “It’s already bad enough down here.”

“S-sorry…”

“It’s gross, but I agree,” I say, squeezing her paw. “Even if you’re a little weird for saying it.”

“A little weird is better than a lot weird, I guess,” she replies.

We continue on our way, approaching a massive set of stone doors. While they don’t have any visible handles, Vahni walks up to them with confidence. She raises her paws, claps them twice, and a rumble emanates throughout the massive hall. The doors begin to lift into the ceiling. Waving us in, we hesitantly walk under them and are met with an even larger hall. Gargantuan arches support the roof, all carved with the same inscriptions.

Strangest of all, though, is the all-too-normal office environment contained within the area. Average-looking people, dressed in business casual outfits, sip small cups of coffee and chat. They also stare at us as if we’re disturbing their false normalcy. Despite the oddness of the entire situation, Vahni strides through the office like she owns the place.

“There you are, you two. The Dungeon. Is it everything you thought it would be?” she asks, accepting a small cup of coffee from one of the workers.

*I could use that right now.*

As if on cue, another brings one over to Reqi and me. Taking it and flicking a ‘thank you,’ I take a sip. I immediately regret that decision.

*Bleh.*

“Uh, yeah, I think so,” I say. “Honestly, this was the opposite of what I was expecting, given the surroundings.”

“I thought they’d be d-demons or something,” Reqi says, pulling the ends of my hoodie's sleeves over her paws. “Also, why is it so c-cold?”

“Seems to be something about the stone,” Vahni replies. “It saves on air conditioning costs, though, so that’s nice.”

“Do you even feel the cold, Vahni?” I ask.

“I mean, I feel it, but it really doesn’t bother me. Heat is the same way.”

“Lucky. I get cold way too easily,” I say. “I’ve learned to live with it, but it sucks.”

“I do too,” Reqi adds, before shaking her head and squinting at me. “Wait, why’d you give me the jacket, then?”

“I’ve got enough clothes on without it,” I reply frankly. “You…”

“Shut up,” she huffs. “I get it.”

Vahni giggles as she looks behind her, deeper into the Dungeon.

“Want to continue?” she asks us. “There’s more to go, and it only gets spookier from here.”

“Sure,” I say, glancing at Reqi.

She looks more apprehensive but sighs.

“Let’s go.”

Yet again, we follow Vahni into the depths, passing more office workers. The stares get far more intense the deeper we go, as does the cold. After we’ve walked through the fourth massive hall full of cubicles, the cold is so overpowering that Reqi and I are struggling to keep up with our guide. Thankfully, she notices and turns to us.

“Are you two alright?” she asks.

“N-n-no, V-Vahni. We a-a-aren’t,” I say, my teeth chattering.

Reqi doesn’t speak, simply pulling her arms tighter to her body.

“Hm, suppose we should leave, then? You two have had your fill?”

We both nod in agreement, as our ears and tails don’t seem to be cooperating. However, something is wrong.

As I look into the dark of the far Dungeon wall, I feel a faint pressure begin to build at the base of my skull. Like something worming its way into my head. Focusing on the darkness, I find the source of my discomfort.

A tiny, nearly nonexistent blade of light comes from the bottom of the wall across from me.

*A door.*

Glancing at my companions, a small part of me wants to ask them what that is. But deep down, I know that they won’t answer my question.

*I’ll have to find out myself.*

“Come on, Konsa,” Vahni says, “we’re leaving.”

“D-don’t want to l-leave you behind!” yells Reqi. “Otherwise I’ll h-have to keep the j-jacket!”

Her voice snaps me out of my funk, and I realize that they’re already halfway across the room. Running after them, trying desperately to ignore the bounce of the stone below me, I find it impossible to push the image of that door out of my mind.

*Soon.*

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[FIRST](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1meztlg/strength_in_secrecy_an_ordinary_paw_1/)|[PREVIOUS](https://www.reddit.com/r/NatureofPredators/comments/1rju3tz/strength_in_secrecy_class_in_session_6/)|NEXT

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[Character List](https://hypernotepad.com/n/2c4c856d9dab060c)

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Strength in Secrecy 7 - Thawing Meat (Part 1)