A/N: Ahola, everybody! Hope everyone's enjoying the ride, after this chapter it's going to get a bit bumpy. (1 A/N)This Pele hula chant was found on sacred-text dot com. Not anything I made up, it is in fact a traditional dance. That Nyota solo chant though, yeah the Hawaiians didn't do it nor do they want it LOL. Review pretty please so I can know how to direct some of the next chapters :) trying to keep this poi dog interesting ;p. Valyria beta'd again though I wrote in a lot of stuff afterwards so any thing that causes a side eye (spelling, grammar, etc.) it was me, LOL. Shaka~!
He woke from his healing trance with an hour to spare to arrive to Nyota's hula recital on time. He did a quick mental check list of his current condition and found himself to be functioning satisfactory.
His arm did not ache but there was a dark emerald bruise surrounding the teeth indentions around his bicep. He lightly ran his finger across the teeth marks and was pleased to see that it was not tender to the touch nor did they reopen.
Spock placed a hand his temple and winced. He did have a slight headache though, probably from dehydration. He poured himself a glass of water from the sink, sipping it though his body wanted desperately to chug it. Spock would have none of it, he was a high born Vulcan after all. He continued to refill it until he found his thirst was diminished.
He hurried into the shower and reviewed his relationship check list. Things went well with the flowers and chocolates, though they did not get to share a meal yet with the shark's rude interruption on their day out to the beach. Spock could not qualify their shave ice dessert as a meal, it was a single sweet course at the very most. Then there was playful teasing and joking to strength their friendship and the creation of what one book called ' inside jokes'. Spock did not think they had one yet as it was a bit early for him to lovingly take on the name 'shark bait'. He raked the shampoo through his hair as he thought of what to do next.
Spock did not want to dance so he crossed that off. It would be too soon to...'consummate' their relationship, so he put that further down on his to do list. He could tell her more about himself? Like being a commander in Starfleet or having formed a permanent bond between them. He rinsed the shampoo out and the soap off and turned off the shower head.
Spock bent a bit and braced himself against the tile wall. His heart rate had increased and he found himself breathing more heavily. Spock allowed himself a small frown at his body's reaction to telling her all he knew. He paused and started a short breathing exercise. What had triggered it? He was quiet before he spoke the answer aloud.
" I am afraid."
Yes, that was it, he was afraid. Fearful of Nyota's possibly angry reaction to the truth, scared of her rejection but most of the possibility of losing her. He calmed himself further with a logical plan of action. He would not keep these things from her forever, perhaps for just a while longer until he found the most convenient time to divulge the information. Nyota would surely have questions and it was best to be prepared with answers at hand. Yes, he would wait. Even if she did get angry the likelihood of her staying upset with him for longer than a day were slim. Nyota did after all care for him a great deal unlike other human that still tolerated his alienness, even after he had offended them unknowingly.
Spock dressed quickly and left the hotel in a taxi flitter waiting outside. Tonight Spock planned to check romantic dinner off of his list. He made sure to check his comm on the ride over if she had left any messages about a change or cancelation in the program. Spock scrolled through and found none from her but one from Starfleet detailing his classes. He clicked on the missive and reviewed the listing feeling his heart start to race once more.
Spock displayed a calm that he currently did not possess as he exited the flitter. Finding Nyota's Halau ( school of hula) was simple enough and he spied one last seat in the front row. As Spock sat he took a number of slow, deep breaths. His relationship with Nyota was growing increasingly difficult. Only four days into their bond and their prospective future did not bode well.
He read and reread his roster for his phonology I class in the upcoming fall semester on his comm screen but it remained unchanged since his flitter ride over.
There at the very bottom was Uhura, Nyota: Freshman.
He had not thought to ask her about her schooling when they first met. Instead Spock had been too busy 'flirting' and practicing his humor on her. Now, because he followed an illogical impulse, he found himself bonded to a freshman cadet. Worse yet he was also her commanding officer and instructor.
Nirak he thought to himself. He was the very definition of a Vulcan fool, acting on emotions on a given situation rather than the logic. How could his mind have abandoned him at such a critical time and given way to his heart?
He snapped his attention to the stage just as the Alaka'i ( Hula teacher) took to the corner of the stage. He was adorned in ferns with circlets around his limbs and atop his head. An Ipu(large hollow drumming gourd) was positioned in front of him, held in place between his massive tattooed arms.
" Ahola and Mahalo, everyone. Tonight our school is going to do a bit of a twist on Hula Kahiko, traditional hula, by having Pele, the godess of fire and vulcanos, strike out from her search of a home to look for a companion. As with everything Pele does, she does so with a passion and boldness."
The teacher turned to his line of dancers standing off to the left hand side and shouted. " E makaukau (Ready)?"
His students sung back to him, voices booming into the air and hurting his ears. Maybe he shouldn't have sat in the front.
" Emakaukau (Ready)!"
Immediately after the words left their lips, the teacher slammed down the Ipu and thundered out a beat. The line transformed into a living organism of sound and movement, steps and arm gestures all in unison, directed by the beat and sound teacher's ululating voice. They answered in between his chant and a sense of anticipation swelled within him. Nyota? She buzzed with excitement against his mind. He did not see her among the wriggling mass of bodies. Spock's eagerness to see her grew.
Spock glanced at his playbill in which the chant had been translated for those who were not familiar with the Hawaiian language. As with everything he saw and experienced he involuntarily committed the script to memory, freeing his eyes to take in the performance.
He read:
A Kauai, a ke olewa a iluna,
Ka pua lana i kai o Wailua;
Nana mai Pele ilaila;
E waiho aku ana o Ahu.
Aloha i ka wai niu o ka aina;
E ala mai ana mokihana,
Wai auau o Hiiaka.
Hoo-paapaa Pele ilaila;
Aohe Kau e ulu ai.
Keehi aku Pele i ka ale kua-loloa,
He onohi no Pele, ka oaka o ka lani, la.
Eli-eli, kau mai!
Translation:
To Kauai, lifted in ether,
A floating flower at sea of Wailua-
That way Pele turns her gaze,
She's bidding adieu to Oahu,
Loved land of new wine of the palm.
There comes a perfumed waft-mokihana-
The bath of the maid Hiiaka.
Scene it was once of Pele's contention,
Put by for future attention.
Her foot now spurns the long-backed wave;
The phosphor burns like Pele's eye,
Or a meteor-flash in the sky.
Finished the prayer, enter, possess! (1 A/N)
The line halted at the end of his song and called out in voices loud and shrill. The lights dimmed and a resounding stomp wavered through the air. Another deafening footfall and then another until the spotlight flooded the center stage. There, Nyota stood and Spock's breathing hitched. She looked terrifying just as much as she was gorgeous.
Nyota's wrists and ankles were roped in oily, red leaves, her skirt was streams of dead, faded flowers strung from a belt of bright yellow feathers. A bouquet of ashen ferns crowed her teased and billowing hair. Her blood shot eyes were heavily lined with mascara and darted about wildly. She found him and sneered.
The music resumed and she began to hula in a turbulent frenzy. The teacher and the rest of the line repeated their verses as Nyota stomped and twirled about the stage, her eyes never once leaving his. If he were superstitious he would say she appeared possessed by the spirit of fire itself, her demeanor was so changed.
Nyota rocked from the flats to the balls of her feet and she rolled her hips in a way that Spock had never known humans to be able to do. Each swing of her belt, turn of her head and reach of her arms was precise and aggressive. Spock felt challenged with each passing movement the choreography demanded of her body, awakening his Vulcan possessiveness. The drumming felt like it was coming out his ears as he continued to take in her agile form.
Jumping down to her knees, she started wailing a goading song:
All would want,
but none can have,
All would burn in the flames of my passion,
Where others lost,
so you would lose as well,
In Maui they shuttered.
From Oahu they shied from me.
To Kauai I come,
daring any and all,
Come and try,
Take on Pele!
I shall swallow you whole,
and watch as you are consumed
by the fire you kindled within me!
Take on Pele,
Mighty Pele,
Who could stand before me?
Who could stand against me?
No man, No God,
All would want
but none can have.
Nyota glared at Spock with a confrontational smirk and hopped back up to her feet in a squat. She swung her hips and gestured with hands as she listed her feminine charms.
The line finally joined her and tore her way through them as if searching among them for her equal. She looked like lava racing through the jungle towards the waves. Each dancer Nyota encountered would shimmy to the ground as if burned and killed. She continued her rampage until they all kneeled before her.
She approached the edge in a running step and roared out to the crowd her macabre attire trembling about her.
None can tame Pele,
None can quench fire!
Then the stage when black.
A moment of silence passed before the audience clamored up and applauded. Spock winced from where he was seated and stared at Nyota when the stage lights lit back up.
Everyone on the platform bowed and graciously received any tokens that were offered to them. A number of Nyota's friends appeared before the stage, whooping and showering her with praise. Nyota thanked each person who approached her and shook their hand vigorously. Spock anger flared at the males' lingering gazes upon her body but he took small comfort as he touched her within the bond. She froze midsentence and looked over to where he was sitting. He inclined his head and she excused herself away from the confused Ferengi.
" You summoned the great Pele?" she chuckled as she came to stand before him.
His mind yet again examined and noted the behavior of this evening. Though he had proven himself bravest and strongest among the males and his female accepted his presence he had yet to prove himself worthy of her attentions. Yes, he could possibly provide sturdy and healthy young but did he enrapture her? He needed not only to woo her but to claim her and gain her submission. The Vulcan in him relished the notion, while human aspects of him seemed equally excited at the prospect.
" Indeed. I challenge you Pele and take you on as my mate."
Nyota's eye widen a bit at his declaration but she continued along in her playful mood not knowing him to be serious.
" Oh you dare challenge me, Fire and Lava come to life? How do you hope to survive my flames of passion?"
Spock's lower eyelids lifted in his people's version of a smile. " All that came before me were human and I am Vulcan. Where they would run from your fire I would embrace it. When they would be killed by your flames I would refine from it."
Nyota unwittingly reached out to him in the bond and he could feel her lust for him mounting. She stepped forward into his space, more than what would be socially acceptable for a Vulcan's comfort and looked up at him through her dark, slitted eyes. The whites were still a bloody red and circled with think eyeliner. As she exhaled onto his face, he briefly let out a low growl.
" So you are not afraid of my inferno?" she asked. The double meaning of her words was not lost to him as Spock felt the budding flower of her love towards him.
" No, Nyota. I yearn for it." And he felt her bloom.
