Chapter Text
The only thing normal about Camelai is that she’s a girl.
And then her normality stops about there. Unlike all the other kids, Camelai had settled when Chuck was three. Apparently, Chuck had told his parents, Camelai is going to stay that way when he was three, not quite understanding its implications. All the other kids in his class had daemons who were constantly changing, but Camelai stayed her form since he was three.
Camelai, also, was an albino fox. That didn’t happen, apparently, not that Chuck found out until much later in his life. People had thought she was an arctic fox, but a specialist had deemed that she was actually an albino red fox. She’s sleeker, more slender with a narrower jaw.
Chuck gets teased and bullied relentlessly because of it, but he just sets his jaw and bears through it.
His father’s daemon is a white Jindo dog. She’s big, bigger than Camelai, and she looks so vulpine that she and Camelai look related.
The first time they meet Stacker Pentecost (Chuck is thirteen and the top of his Academy class) and his gigantic, orange-and-black Bengal tiger, Camelai and Chuck press themselves to Eulalia, watching the tiger with fear. Eulalia, on the other hand, looks disinterested. He meets Mako for the first time, and her boa python daemon that curls around her shoulders.
“Weren’t you scared?” Chuck asks her, once they’re out.
Eulalia snorts and says, “Did you know that Jindo dogs are one of the few dogs in the world that can take down a Siberian tiger?”
Chuck and Camelai have infinitely more respect for Eulalia (and grudgingly Herc) after that. They all know what it means. It means that Herc and Eulalia might not look like they’re in charge, but if they want to, they could be. Chuck sidles up to Camelai, who sidles up to Eulalia, and she curls protectively around them as Herc ruffles Chuck’s hair.
—
Chuck is 14 when Yancy and Raleigh Becket are assigned to Gipsy Danger. Yancy’s daemon is a tawny peregrine falcon that sits majestically on his shoulder. Raleigh’s is a rough-looking, pitch-black wolf. Camelai whimpers when Chuck reels. “It looks scary.” Chuck tells her, and she nods fervently in agreement. “I bet Eulalia could take her down, anyway.” Camelai and he relax after that (like the wolf could burst through the TV to attack them.)
But Raleigh is 19, and that gives Chuck new hope to everyone telling him that he’s too young to pilot.
Over the year, Chuck learns Yancy’s peregrine falcon is the fastest bird on the planet, and that her name is Aesina. He also learns that Raleigh’s wolf is actually a male wolf. He gets all excited when Valerian turns out to be male. “He’s weird like us.” Camelai echoes his glee.
—
Chuck is 15 when he’s chosen as a pilot. Eulalia is against it, which means Herc is against it too, but Chuck and Camelai strap into the Jaegar and become the youngest pilot-daemon to stand in a Jaegar cockpit.
—
Chuck is 17 when his father presents him a tiny bulldog puppy for his birthday. Camelai is incredibly excited about Max, licks him all over like he’s her own son. Eulalia and Herc watch them, smiling a little, and it’s almost like Chuck didn’t just come back from his 4th Kaiju kill.
Later that year, Knifehead attacks Anchorage. Yancy Becket dies, and Raleigh Becket goes MIA.
—
It’s not until Chuck is 21 (almost 22, thank you very much) when Raleigh Becket and his huge wolf strides into the Hong Kong Shatterdome. Camelai and Chuck are no longer threatened by this gigantic wolf. Chuck thinks has-been, traitor, deserter, you used to be my hero, and Camelai makes her distaste of the shaggy wolf known immediately.
Mako and Adrastos think Raleigh and Valerian are amazing, and Camelai and Chuck almost fight them one day after a failed Drift before Raleigh and Valerian cut in. Chuck and Raleigh are pretty evenly matched, but even though Camelai dives at Valerian and bites into his flank, he’s about three times her size. Raleigh takes Chuck’s momentary stun from Camelai crashing into the floor to punch him to the ground.
Chuck would’ve dove at him again, but Herc steps in between them, and then Eulalia is a flash of white as she kicks Valerian to the ground. She’s about as small as Camelai is, but Chuck sees Eulalia’s fierceness for the first time, really, as she snarls and keeps a wolf three times her size down easily. Valerian looks surprised and tries to kick back up, but Eulalia growls, “Stay. Down.”
Raleigh backs up, stunned, and Valerian goes limp under the dog’s paw. Camelai twists up and jumps beside Chuck, growling low in her throat, ready to pounce again. But Eulalia turns her attention toward her, growling in warning, and Camelai stops. Eulalia lets Valerian go and he waits until she’s back to Herc’s side. He stays low, bows his head in respect, and Raleigh looks like he’s going to say something.
But Marshal Pentecost barks orders at Mako and Raleigh, and that’s that.
—
Chuck is fuming when he’s back at the Kwoon. Mako is waiting for him, Adrastos curling around her. “That was rude,” she tells him, and Camelai whimpers. “And you are hurt.” She huffs in exasperation as she beckons both of them over. She slaps bandages over the cut on Chuck’s nose and cheeks and slathers something sticky on Camelai’s bruised left side. “Don’t lick it off.” She warns Camelai, when the fox scowls in distaste. “Or I will have Adrastos hold you down.”
Adrastos laughs. It’s weird to hear him laugh, a small symphony of hisses and laughter, but he does, and he taps Camelai affectionately on her nose with the tip of his tail. “Should know better than to dive at something three times your size.”
“Eulalia was able to hold him down.” Camelai says in protest, although they all know Eulalia can probably take a Kaiju down herself if necessary (only slightly exaggerating). She curls against Chuck’s side, letting Max curl up around her paws. Max is hesitant around Adrastos even after all these years because he’s huge, but apparently curling up near Camelai takes a bigger precedence.
“Chuck.” Mako says, smiling her I-know-all smile. She doesn’t say anything else, and Chuck and Camelai just try to glare. She’s not even a little fazed.