*Author's Note* This is the first time I have written fanfiction for about 10 years (when I was 14 or so) and back then I wrote about 3-5 stories total. And this is the first time I have published fanfiction online. This takes place starting in Chapter 23 of Fathoms of Forgiveness. This is my entry for Nadia Scrieva's Fanfiction Competition. I intend for this to be a two-shot (can I do that? X). And I am more comfortable with theatre than writing, so my chapters are pretty much going to be called Acts. Also, I'd like to note that I am weaving my story in with the actual story and the first scene borrows a lot of dialogue from the book for that reason. Finally, I have pretty much been immersed in the author's writing for a most pleasant couple of months, so my writing is strongly influenced from hers. I hope you enjoy.
"Gen-er-ral Ra-mar-is!"
"Gen-er-ral Ra-mar- is!"
She wasn't shy, but she didn't usually find herself in the center of such beautiful chaos. Of course when we were younger we pulled the ole' switcheroo on Kyrosed and tried to for Vachlan, but that bastard knew you pretty well...but being little sis might be more fun than I had anticipated.
Biting the tip of a dagger, she winked at a couple of young men, ever so slightly swaying her hips on her way to the stage. She placed her dagger in-between her breasts. Inhaling the glory of Visola Ramaris, she raised and brandished her sword into the air proudly, granting a louder cheer.
Work the crowd. Just like in Soldotna…
She closed her eyes sending a brief prayer to Sedna for the wellbeing of her sister.
I know this is the right thing to do. I will never know that I will see my sister again, but what great hope it will give our people to see me…her alive and well.
Aazuria ran to Sionna and threw her arms around her. The hug that was returned was not as strong as she expected, and she frowned. She pulled away slightly to look at the woman's face.
"Sio?"
Damn.
"Shh, look at how energized they are. We don't have to tell them that it's me. We don't have to disappoint them." Sionna said tilting her head and speaking close to Aazuira's ear so that the audience could not read her lips.
"No one would be disappointed to know that you are alive," Aazuria said quietly. "You have done so much for everyone in this room—you have helped them for centuries with your knowledge of healing."
A small smile cracked on Sionna's face.
"Come on, Zuri. Let's give them a little faith. No one would cheer for little old me—besides, 'Doctor' has only two syllables."
Aazuria smiled. "Now that's the type of thing she would have said. How is she?"
"She will be fine," Sionna said softly. "She managed to say one word to me in Aleut. She told me to prepare ayxaasix before Vachlan cut her off."
"Ships?" Aazuria asked. "She wants us to do battle by armada?"
"Then we will prepare the ships," Trevain said, approaching both of the women and putting an arm around each of them. "Good to have you back, Aunt Sio."
"It's good to see you, kid," Sionna said, hitting him on the back with excessive force. "Sorry, I am trying to act like my sister. Ideally, I should grab your ass, but that's a bit too much for me. I think we should prepare the navy, but I want to hold out and wait for some kind of signal from her before we attack. I know it sounds crazy and whimsical, but I really believe she will find a way to give us one."
"That's not crazy," Aazuria said. "We will wait."
"Until then—if it makes them happy, I will become her." Sionna winked and walked to the edge of the stage, smiling and thrusting her sword in the air. "For Adlivun!" she yelled. The crowd roared for Sionna.
She grabbed the nearest unrelated man (who happened to be an older Japanese general) and planted an enthusiastic smooch on his lips. The Ningyo warriors burst into good-natured cheering and laughter, as the Adluvians giggled at the antics of the woman they believed to be Visola.
Sionna blew kisses to the audience as she walked offstage with a little swagger in her step.
That's enough of that for one day she thought to herself on her way to the infirmary.
Sionna patrolled the healing springs, checking the vitals on each patient.
There isn't a whole lot going on in here today… Elderly female, complaint of calf pain, steady progress. Young adult male, sustained injuries after a boat grazed his thigh, bleeding has stopped…
"Doctor Ramaris! Doctor Ramaris!"
Sionna's head snapped up, looking towards the entrance to the infirmary. A woman stumbled forth carrying an unconscious adolescent girl with her limp arm upon the woman's shoulder for support. Bruises and wounds adorned the girl's dark skin upon her upper-body and her face. Sionna ran to girl, picking her up into her arms, rushing her to a spring, and carefully lowering her into the springs.
"What happened Mam?"
"We were exiting the ceremony and happened upon her along a side-path, she was on the ground, left for dead it seems. Poor girl must've had some kind of a scuffle. Thank goodness General Ramaris has returned, I have faith in her capabilities of keeping our people safe. Is she going to be okay Doctor Ramaris?"
"Time will tell. Thank you for bringing her to me Mam, she is in good hands." Sionna said as she removed the clothes and a vaguely familiar gold bracelet from the girl. She took a cloth and lightly, but firmly rubbed blood off of the girl's face, following with her neck, shoulders, chest, and back; tinting the spring in a light mist of pink.
Adolescent girl, found on the ground bruised and wounded – no apparent cause at this moment, prognosis unknown. She mentally recorded with a sigh.
"There she is…" Sionna signed slowly. She approached a window of Tizheruk peeking into it, scrubbing the window with the armor covering her forearm, and looking in again. The inside of the ship appeared so quiet.
Eerie. She doesn't exactly invoke positive memories, does she.
"We've got some work to do on her Mrs. Ramaris"
"Then make it so…honey!"
She circled the ship examining it up and down.
A few blemishes, but not bad for a few centuries. Not bad at all. She will make a fine vessel to protect the people of Adlivun. Her purposes will be more noble than they ever were for Kyrosed.
Back in the infirmary, Sionna was sending off her elderly patient wishing her peace and comfort in her further endeavors. She had acquired a few casualties to some skirmishes on the outskirts of Adlivun. They were soaking up the nourishment that the springs provided and their conditions were surely improving.
What about the girl?
She approached the spring of the adolescent girl that had been brought in the day before.
What had she been doing just outside of the coronation? There was more than adequate seating in the amphitheater. Perhaps she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time when some centagers got into a fight, but our centagers are normally much more mature than that. No...no, that's not right at all. What happened to this girl within our…
Water burst from the spring. The girl was thrashing about throwing blows at a foe that had long since disappeared.
"Whoa, whoa, hold it there babygirl. You're all right. You're all right. It is beyond me, but whatever it is, it is no longer in our presence." Sionna said to the girl grasping her upper-arms and rubbing them soothingly.
The girl looked up at Sionna in a daze.
An angel? She thought to herself before falling back down into the springs, unconscious.
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
"Hah!" Sionna quickly, deeply belted out several warrior's cries as she entered the training facility, thrusting her fists into the air.
Bright, young faces of the Adlivun militia gleered towards their General; as well as, a sprinkle of young Ningyo adults who came with their families to Adlivun.
"Strength…comes from in here!" Sionna announced to Visola's eager trainees while punching her chest with her fist.
"It is our lungs that provide us with fuel for our bodies basic exercises, nourish our brains, sanctify the deepest wishes of our hearts. Powerful lungs, powerful body. Swim, fast, backwards and forth, touching the surface of the cave on either side, exhaling your battle cry each time you reach this wall."
The future soldiers of Adlivun complied. They pumped their legs to either wall, a handful being hindered by their fellow students.
"Spread yourselves out, spread yourselves out kids!" Sionna called out to them.
"Hah!" Sionna belted out.
"Hah!" the trainee's called back.
Sionna paced back and forth examining the forms of the individual recruits. The crooks of her mouth began to appear and she quickly put them back in their place.
"Hah!" Sionna belted out.
"Hah!" the trainee's called back.
"We all know I love a good slit throat as much as the next guy, but we are merciful. We harm only when it is necessary. We kill only when it is necessary. Hah!"
"Hah!"
"Practice this. Practice swimming as fast as you can. Endurance is key here, endurance must be gradually learned by the body. Practice your war cry. Loud, proud. Tomorrow, exercises of strength of the arms. Powerful lungs, powerful body. Hah!"
"Hah!"
Sionna entered the infirmary heading to the spring that held the girl.
Her wounds were not that deep, what happened to her? The capabilities of our healing springs are great. She should at least be conscious by now. Sionna laid down on the ground in front of the spring containing this girl. She examined her face.
Bruises are almost completely healed, wounds have long-since mended themselves. Her jaw is so…defined, smooth. She's so…young.
Sionna shook her head. She put her arms underneath the naked arms of the girl and wrapped them around her chest, pulling her up and out of the springs, laying her onto the ground. Sionna examined the girl from her face, to her neck, shoulders, chest, breasts, abdomen…
It appears she did not take any damage below the waist. She's quite healed at her chest; that appears to have been hit the hardest.
Sionna ran her hand along the girl's right collar bone, slightly pressing at a bruise just above it. The girl blinked the water out of her eyes. She blinked her eyes again and shot upwards.
"Ahhh. Owwwwwwww"
The girl blinked again, examining her surroundings.
"You are in the infirmary. Are you okay sweetie? Is there anything that I can provide for you?"
"Queen Aazuria,"
Sionna began to set her lips in a grim line, but promptly reset them to the calm, understanding position that they had began in.
"Queen Aazuria, is she okay?"
"Yes, yes, it's okay dear. What's wrong? What is your name?"
Zuri? Is she okay, geez, I've been so busy being both of us at once I haven't really had the time to keep up with Aazuria. This will be my highest priority after having confirmed that state of this girl's condition.
"Namaka. Your sister entrusted me with Queen Aazuria's life. Well I guess at that time she was Princess Aazuria. But King Trevain had Queen Aazuria protected well at the coronation ceremony, so I decided to view from afar. I heard a 'click'. A 'click, pop'. I rounded a corner and came across a tall woman with shoulder-length blue hair. She was cocking an underwater rifle. I charged at her and grabbed the rifle, she lifted it up, me along with it, and I kicked her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. That was the only good shot I got at her. When General Ramaris entered the amphitheatre and the crowd stood up to applaud her, this woman lost her shot and she lost her mind. She was much stronger than I was, she took the back of that rifle and whacked me across my face with it. I hit the wall and she began pounding me with her fists. I had nowhere to go!"
Sionna dropped her jaw slightly, eyes burning compassionately.
"She beat me until I fell to the ground and…well, now I'm here. So, how much damage did she do Ms. Sionna?" Namaka said examining her chest, arms, and fingers.
"The outer physical parts of your body are almost completely healed Namaka. It would do you good to remain in the springs for one more night to get proper rest and complete the healing process."
"I cannot. I have a duty to protect my Queen, of which I have been incapable of meeting for obvious reasons. I must get back to her. I must see for my eyes that she is safe. My Que…my…my bracelet! Did that bitch take my bracelet?"
Sionna handed the bracelet to the girl.
"I'm sorry Doctor Ramaris. Doubly so, I must return to work. I am grateful for your services" Namaka stated as she dutifully exited the infirmary.
Zuri…
"Aazuria, there was an attempt on your life at the ceremony. I cannot properly express how glad it makes me to know that you are safe. Namaka came to the infirmary black and blue. The woman who planned to take your life is strong in combat. We prepare so much protecting the borders of Adlivun that we overlook the inside. What do you propose my Queen?"
"There has been a lack of stability since I expunged of father. Perhaps this citizen believes that my reign will follow the same path that Kyroseds did; that I killed him for the purposes of taking on the throne. Is hunting down this woman a task that Visola is capable of handling with her current obligations?" Aazuria asked eyeing Sionna.
"Of course, Zuri. And I should inform Viso to diversify our troops within the city?" Sionna replied understandingly.
"Yes Sionna. Comb the palace. Take Namaka with you; at this point, she is the only known witness."
Sionna took her friend into a deep embrace. It certainly wasn't the first time her life had been in danger, but it was never something that she could get used to or ever wanted to get used to.
Dozens of javelins punctured the water. Thrust up, thrust forward, thrust left, thrust right, thrust down, and around.
"Hah!"
"Hah!"
Sionna paced back and forth examining today's pupils when she noticed something. Namaka. Sionna weaved her way through students, seeking to keep a closer eye on Namaka.
Powerful thrusts. Quick. Distinct. She is young, but she has been well trained. It is necessary that I mix training up for them.
"Drop them!" Sionna commanded with her hands.
The sound of dozens of javelins, force-ably dropped, whizzed through the water to ground.
"Swim fast, strong."
Sionna led the troops to a wooden sunken ship. Along the hull of the ship were circular targets, defined by confiscated shark's tooth jewelry of fallen members of the Clan of Zalcan. After having distributed shuriken to the recruits, she placed the container to the side, swiftly turned around, extracting a shuriken from her bosom mid-turn, whipping and impaling it to the center of the ringed target.
The students were impressed, but eager to throw their own.
"It takes great force to effectively shoot your shuriken through water. Do not be rash. Draw strength from within. Feel the strength in your appendages. Hah!"
"Hah!" Stars shot forth to the water landing just short of the targets, some more than others.
"Retrieve your shuriken. Again!" Sionna remained on the sidelines, examining her pupils with her arms crossed.
"Focus."
This time the shuriken shot forth faster and further, still not quite making their targets, spare for a couple of Ningyo students.
"Again!"
Sionna approached Namaka from behind her. She ran her hand from Namaka's elbow to her arm, resting it at her underarm, positioning Namaka's arm to hit the target, cocking it back from above, and shot the shuriken forth. This time many of the students hit the targets like the most lethal meteor shower one could imagine.
After having completed her lesson, Sionna dismissed the students, and began packing away her weaponry.
"General Ramaris…"
"Yes Namaka?"
"I have failed you."
"What are you talking about baby?"
"You trusted me to protect Queen Aazuria. The day you returned to Adlivun, a woman attempted to assassinate her and I let her get away."
"No sweetie, you stopped her. The queen is safe, that is what is important." Sionna signed, looking intently into Namaka's eyes and pulling her to her chest into a hug.
"Not everyone is as skilled as me. You have many years ahead of you to hone your talents Namaka. I'm actually glad that you brought this to my attention Namaka...I need you. We must search the castle for this woman and when we find her, I'm going to kill the shit out of her!" Sionna said as they emerged from an underwater hallway.
"Yes Mrs. Visola." Namaka said while saluting.
"Rest now pudding-pop. In the morning we will hunt her down." Sionna said, placing her hand on Namaka's small shoulder.
"You ready to catch you a no-good twat?" Sionna inwardly gagged while saying.
"Yes General Ramaris."
The women circled the volcanic caves on the lookout for the tall, blue-haired woman.
"So…what are your ambitions kid?"
"It is clear that I have a passion for serving our city. I have been trained for combat. It is the only life that I know. Perhaps one day my skills could be as great as yours."
"Nama do you see that?" Sionna said in a whisper as she observed blue hair poking out of a door.
"Shhhhhh…stay here."
Sionna quietly, quickly approached the door, swung her fist through the door, connecting it with a blue shaggy rug that had been hung over the door, slamming it into the inside of the door.
"Hey! What's the idea General?" yelled a family from inside their home.
"City business, carry on!" Sionna chirped, shaking her hand out.
Namaka pushed out a laugh under her breath. They continued scouring the city, finding themselves in the center of the volcanic caves, where the sea floor raised above the water.
"I never knew this was here..." Namaka remarked.
A sparkling 3-tier ice fountain sprayed water forth from the top of it.
"It's beautiful." Namaka said sitting down on the first-tier of the fountain.
"So where are you from?" Sionna asked sitting down next to Namaka.
"Aus...Austria!" Namaka said while quickly capturing some of the water from the bottom tier of the fountains into her hands, sipping it, allowing ice cold water to trickle down her throat.
…
They sat in a comfortable silence.
…
"You're very talented Namaka. It was pretty wise of your parents to train you to defend yourself in these uncertain times."
"Actually, I never knew my parents. We were separated when I was young…I've kind of grown-up admiring you Visola…always self-sufficient. I could only hope to grow up to be half as strong as you. Half as be…beautiful as you." Namaka said with a shameful sigh, slightly emotional, mainly unsure of her words.
Sionna's heart beat slowly. She was so touched by Namaka's words that she had forgotten they were spoken of her twin sister.
"I…"
Namaka looked into Sionna's eyes, fear showing in her own. She leaned into Sionna's face, planting a kiss in the crevice of Sionna's cheek next to her lips. She remained there with her eyes closed for several seconds. Sionna's heart began to beat faster, slowly she turned her face to dock her lips onto Namaka's. Namaka's heart jumped inside her chest. Namaka massaged Sionna's lips with her own. Sionna pulled away from Namaka slowly.
"Namaka. I…I can't. I'm sorry."
Sionna stood up from the fountain and marched out of the volcanic caves.
Namaka sat dumbfounded rubbing her gold bracelet looking down to the ground. Integrity, it read.
What the hell just happened? There are strict rules about Doctor-patient relationships. No, not relationships! ...But she didn't kiss the Doctor… She kissed the General...Who the hell am I? My sister? Well, I guess…where are you Viso? Sionna questioned, looking to the glass ceiling atop the throne room at the sea above her, as she sat in a corner.
Naclana entered the throne room, escorting Visola…
"Vi…Viso!"
"Sio"
The eyes of twins glazed over staring intently at one another, both sharing identical pouts that perked in the corners of their lips as the subtlest of smiles.
Pan Briefs
No day but today.