Defiant as Hell Ch. 9: Vision Quests, Quests of Visions


This is a light chapter full of filler, but it sets up some of the stuff that has to do with Irisa's powers.

Also, I am putting in some of Meh's past in. ;) for some fun.

Italics - means the speaker is speaking in their native language.


Irisa knew that she was in a vision.

But this felt different.

"Hello Child." Irisa knew that this was the past but she could move, which was very disconcerting to her. In her limited experience she usually had a stationary position to view events from. But this felt like a dream where she could walk around.

Irisa turned towards the voice to see a woman standing in what looked to be a traditional irathient house. Irisa had only seen a few of them while growing up with Nolan during their travels, but this one felt like it had been around for decades… perhaps centuries.

"How can I move? This is the past?" Irisa said to the woman as she felt that stating the matter before her would make the situation make more sense.

"Your past, my people's future." The woman said walking up to her. "A bit on the short side." The woman said looking Irisa up and down. "How many winters old are you?"

"Nineteen... I think..." Irisa said feeling very uncomfortable before the elder. "I was raised in the Badlands by my father during our journeys. We didn't have an accurate calendar to work with there."

"Um..." the elder spoke as she looked at Irisa. "Warrior throwing knives sheathed on your back, your taste in leggings is strange. So are your boots." Irisa shifted some as the woman grinned at her. "Is this the traditional garments of your tribe?" Irisa felt concerned.

"No... It is the garments I used when I used to Ark Hunt with my Father."

"Ark Hunt? Why would you hunt down an Ark?" The woman said with curiosity.

"Ark Hunting is what I used to do with my Father... It is ship salvage. When I was very young, there was an explosion on one of the Arks that brought our people to this world. The explosions and debris crashed into the other ships in orbit and caused a buildup of wreckage from the other ships in orbit. Many died that had not yet been awakened. Given the vastness of the fleet, the ships tend to crash down to the planet below every few months. Sometimes there are survivors that have been found in the pods that have survived the explosions and the crash down to the planet below. The rest of the time, it is to get materials and tools that we can use to survive on this world."

"Why did the ships explode?" Irisa felt uncomfortable.

"I guess that they were old, the parts just wore out after being used for so long. They were several thousand years old. Something had to break. When one exploded, debris crashed into another one and it just cascaded from here destroying the remaining ships in orbit."

"What about you, were you born on the Arks?"

"No... I was born on the planet." Irisa said seeing the woman question her. "This is the only home I know. Mostly since I was young, my father wanted to take me to Antarctica. It is near one of the Polar Regions, since Arkfall, the day the ships exploded, it became a paradise." Irisa felt a twinge of guilt. "But we didn't get there; we are currently living in a town called Difaaigyaants. We had to sacrifice our payday, a terasphere that would have paid for our passage to Antarctica to save the town. For our troubles my father was given the title of Lawkeeper." The woman looked at her quizzically. "A Law Keeper is one that keeps the peace in a settlement, prevents violence from breaking out among the locals and outsiders. I am one his deputies... one that aids him in keeping the peace."

"Are you happy with your role?"

"Somewhat... I want more...I have had my dreams dashed to many times."

"But there is something more, something you found in that place that keeps you there. Something that makes you happy." Irisa nodded at this.

"A boy…. He is different. I…" Irisa felt uncomfortable talking about talking about her sex/love life with a stranger. "He has gone through some dark times like me, but there is a connection there. He doesn't push, he just lets things unfold. He is like a gentle stream against the strings of my heart." Irisa felt like it was her term to ask questions. "Are you a seer like myself?" Irisa knew the answer but hearing the woman say it made it stick.

"Yes, child I am." Irisa felt uncomfortable. "You haven't experienced a vision like this have you."

"No... I haven't experienced a vision like this one. I have had others, sometimes they are of the past, and sometimes they are of the future. But this is the first time that I have been in one like this." The woman grinned.

"This is the first one I have had that reached so far into the future." The woman said motioning her to the chair around a simple table whose top was covered in several drawings. "I am Rynn." The name more startled Irisa than anything else. "Irisa... but I am known to some of my fellow Irathients as Tishinka." Irisa didn't know if saying her name would insult the woman or scare her off. Irisa looked down on the table and the drawings that caught her attention. "These are Arks?" Irisa had only seen them as wrecks or pictures of them intact in history books like Nariah's.

"Pictures that my grandson Sukar drew."

"Sukar!?" This got Irisa's attention.

"You know of him?" Rynn said looking at Irisa.

"Not sure... Does he have a thin scar down the right side of his face going over his nose?"

"No, but in the visions I have of him in the future, he does."

"Black fur coat, goggles, and strange hat that is sort of like a cylinder with a flat round brim around it." The woman nodded in confirmation of this. "That is him. The leader of the Spirit Riders."

"What type of person has he grown up to be?"

"Decent... a bit of a troublemaker, but slowly meeting the people the settlement part way and a spiritual guide that is helping me understand my gift. He is a understanding person when it comes to seeing a larger picture of what needs to take place with our people. Amanda is doing her best to help guide him into working with the community more and heal the wounds caused by an incident that caused some bad blood between the settlers and the locals in the area. Amanda has her work cut out for her; she has her hands full in dealing with Datak Tarr since he joined of the council. Piece of Castithan Shtako. He should have left Elah Bandik alone, disgrace to Liro be damn! Banish the man, exile him...just don't kill the man for being scared." Irisa didn't want to talk about it, but it was coming out. "He was scared. he ran, the Volge just came at us, the settlement with so much firepower, the towns folk had to pin them down with weapons fire so that they could detonate a teraform device to take them out, The only reason I fought was to buy time when the explosion to destroy the Volge didn't go off on schedule so they could reset the charge to set it off. Sukar and the other Spirit Riders were beside me as we bought them time to save the settlement. We ran like creatures feeling the underworld just to get out of range of explosion."

"Did you see, Elah's death?" Irisa nodded.

"As a vision before it happened."

"There are some visions we cannot change, others we can." This is when the woman knelt down before her and caressed the side of Irisa's face. "The trick is understanding there are visions we can change, while others are meant to happen in the stream of time."

"I could have done more..." Irisa pleaded.

"But, what happened as a result?"

"I became more determined as a Lawkeeper to protect the people of the settlement."

"What else?"

"There was outrage by the Castithan youth that Bandik's death for something so minor. if the guy had hurt a child, murdered someone, shtako... blown up a building. The punishment would have been worth it. But for such a small infraction against Castithan law, slitting a guy's throat for being scared of the Volge wouldn't have been worth it."

"Do the youth feel the same way?" Irisa hadn't realized was a bigger picture that she was being forced to see.

"Don't know... i don't know that many Castithans. Even then I only know Alak Tarr, even then my Father helped clear his name of the crime of murder he didn't commit because he wasn't around when the crime took place. Alak was with murdered boy's sister at the time at a celebration dance."

"Is this Alak related to Datak?" Irisa nodded.

"Alak is Datak's son, why?" The elder grinned.

"The death had implications too; Alak will be less likely to perform such actions in the future for such a minor offence." Irisa hadn't seen it that way as the generational divide between the young Castithans and their parents had become more prevalent throughout Defiance.

"You sound like Amanda. The leader of the settlement." Irisa said sensing that this person knew more about what it was like to live with this gift than she did.

"Having a gift like ours is difficult, but not without advantage. Sometimes it can provide us with comfort in our darkest hour in knowing that one day our enemies will fall, or that the bad events will shape events that will help us protect others in the future."

"I could have done more?"

"Irzu wanted you to learn. Not all lessons are meant to be easy, but they are meant to make an impact on our lives and shape us to be better." The Elder seer reached out and touched Irisa's face. "The time is coming where you have to return to your own time and me to mine." Irisa looked at the woman. "It was good to hear that my grandson grows up to be a great warrior and leader of our people. For you, you will have many trials ahead of you in the new world that you live. They will shape our people for generations to come and your name will become known to all."

"Rynn... Thank you... For helping me not be afraid."

"I to, Tishinka. Have a safe journey back to your land and time." That was when Irisa awoke.


"Hey kiddo..." Nolan leaned over a kissed his daughter on the forehead.

"Nolan..." Irisa felt a little foggy, but more comfortable with herself. "I had a vision, I think..." Irisa reached up to feel something on her head.

"Well, you can take off the nural scanner off of her head." Yewll said looking over at the readings on a peice of her equipment.

"Is she going to be alright Doc?" Nolan said as Ywell looked at her readings.

"Well, given that her neuro chemistry was all over the place five hours ago, her brain has settled down."

"Well, putting Irisa on a seers diet should settle things down." Yewll nodded at this with Conte.

"I agree with you there. Putting Irisa on a diet high on the phytomedicinals for her condition should help her regulate her medical condition, Conte."

"Well, considering that you haven't changed all that much from when you were young Meh. Though a lot more mileage on you." Nolan swore Yewll was blushing.

"Yeah, you did walk in on me and my lover when we were sneaking in a chapter of the Karma Sutra." Yewll said clearing her throat.

"Yeah... You were less reading it than doing it." Conte shook his head. "And I didn't know Indogenes could be that limber."

"I'm still that limber, just that I keep that part of my life private."

"Like Niky..." Yewll looked like she was about to kill Conte.

"Niky and I parted ways a long time ago, after I got dumped for a younger intern who was more limber. Then years later Niky tried to talk me into doing some harebrained scheme, when i found out what it was, I left Niky... again and that time I dumped that Piece of Shtako's stuff at the door and not have spoken to that..." Meh cleared her throat and perfectly announced a phrase that given Nolan's understanding of the Various Votan languages was not sutible to be heard by children within a seventy kilometer radius and a ton of soap to clean out the mouth afterwards.

"Ouch..." Conte said as Nolan blinked with his jaw on the floor.

"Yeah, I took up jogging after that first time to put my energies somewhere productive." Yewll seemed to relax more. "Still do... even after Niky round two."

"Wait, is that the reason that you started to run with me and the other Iraths when we worked up in the Portland area?"

"Yeah." Yewll said grinning. "That and a few of the runners on the trail had some great buttocks. Made me forget about Niky and the Shtako about the break up. I was wild back then, I just needed more stability in my life than having my brains Fracked silly out of my skull by my supervisor every other evening."

"Okay..." Nolan said getting the feeling that he now knew more about Yewll than he should have in the last few moments. "More information than I wanted to know."

"I'm older than i look, and a woman doesn't tell her age... that and sex is a physical athletic activity." Yewll hinted as she headed out to grab some medication.

"How long was I out Nolan?" Irisa said sorting out the images that Yewll had a life before Defiance.

"A few hours. Things got a little scary there for a bit."

"Sukar. He..." Irisa felt ashamed at what had happened.

"He understands. If it wasn't for the stuff he had in his pack, your vision would have been worse."

"You don't believe i have visions." Nolan sighed.

"Kiddo, whatever it is you have, Conte and Sukar know more about how to treat it than I do." Nolan sighed. "I am out of my element here." Irisa looked at her father concerned. Nolan didn't get this way unless he really screwed up. "I should have brought you more in contact with your people sooner. Got you more help." Irisa reached up and caressed the side of his face.

"You did what you knew among your own culture was best for me." Irisa didn't hate him. "I need to explore my heritage. But I am still your daughter." That was when Irisa watched as she saw someone standing behind Nolan. "Sukar."

"Tishinka." Sukar looked at Nolan as Yewll and Conte brought over the medication for Irisa to take. "You are right, I need to meet you halfway'. There is so much of the culture you were raised in that i do not know about, and you have questions about your own heritage."

"I do." That was when Yewll handed Irisa cup of a strange smelling tea.

"Drink..." Yewll said as Irisa sniffed the glass and she winced.

"Irisa, the tea before you is used to help seers after their post vision state. It sort of smells bad right now, but given Irathient noses tend to be sensitive to some scents, it should help keep your head from swimming against the flow and into the rocks." Nolan didn't get the reference. "Just drink it slowly." With that Irisa lifted the cup and drank. Nolan could smell the herbs but as Irisa finished it she took the cup away and winced at the taste.

"Tastes weird..." Sukar grinned.

"It was my grandmother's recipe. She gave the same look on her face after she drank it." Then Irisa gagged for a moment as she finally got a full breath in. "And now it has worked."

"Shtkao..." Irisa coughed out as she took in another breath. "What was in that?"

"Now, your head should not feel like it has been hit by the rocks of the river." Irisa waved for several seconds to force the scent from her nose.

"Irisa!" Nolan leaned over his daughter concerned. "Are you alright!?"

"Nolan... guess that I just found something to give you for when you have a hangover." Irisa said as her eyes were watering like crazy.

"Guess that you can hear the backboards of the mice being pounded on in the walls of the NeedWant?" Yewll said as Irisa winced through the pain as her brain chemistry was balanced.

"Hear... the mice. I can tell which ones are in threesomes." Irisa groaned.

"is Irisa going to be alright?" Nolan said with concern.

"Well, given that what she went through on a neurological level was significant, she just needs some rest." Irisa shot Yewll a sour face. "Given how moody she is, I doubt that will happen."

"I'll do my best to make her rest." Nolan said as Irisa flopped back onto the pillow.

"Great, Shtako and more Shtako to deal with in my life." Irisa said like the moody teenager she was.


After a day or so Irisa decided to take a walk after the Pol Madis mess had played out. Nolan had done his best to convince her otherwise that she didn't need to head off to the Irathient settlement, but when she knocked on a door of Tommy's place Nolan realized that his daughter wanted to talk to someone other than him. Tommy was the closest thing she had to a Friend in Defiance and she needed to talk this out.

"Nolan, I am just heading to Tommy's to just talk and have a bite with him." Nolan watched as Irisa walked down the street to Tommy's apartment and knocked on the door. Tommy came to the door and Irisa walked in taking a open door as an invite to enter the premises.

"Irisa, Nolan... Hi." Tommy watched as Irisa chewed her lip. "You said that I could come over. I need to talk. You said that you had my back, now I need you to do that."

"What is it Irisa?" That was when Irisa walked over to the door and started to close the door. "Nolan... I will be back a little later to get some stuff. I'm heading to the Irathient settlement with Tommy. There are things I need to do there with him that I can't with you. You wouldn't understand. He is more open about what needs to take place and I told Amanda about some of this."

"What does Amanda know about it?" Nolan said as Irisa closed the door with the words:

"Ask her, and she will tell."

Irisa looked at the door for a long time after she felt her hand against the steel of the storage container.

"Irisa, what is it?" Tommy said walking over to her.

"I just learned about my Uncle Eddie. Eddie Braddock. The stuff that he did to save me." Irisa looked concerned.

"Irisa, what did you learn about the guy?"

"Tommy what do you see when you look at me? A Irath? A human girl? A lawkeeper? A...freak."

"I just see you." Tommy said as he stepped forward and took Irisa in his arms. "...just you."

"I don't know what I am." Irisa said as she pushed her nose into his chest.

"And you want to go to the Irathient settlement to find out?" Irisa nodded.

"Is this official business or is this something that you made up to get Nolan out of our hair?"

"Amanda knows." Irisa said as she let down some of her guard, but she did have a knife in hand. In this case there was literally a knife in her hand.

"Want to tell me about it?" Tommy said she looked across the small structure that was Tommy's home.

"It is like since I got to this town, I have been pulled every way that I don't like. Too many people, Too many needs, wants, desires, contracted air. I feel closed in."

"You want to be back in the badlands. Where things made sense." Tommy caressed her cheek. "Where you knew what was right or wrong. Where you did what you wanted and no one criticized you that it was wrong." Irisa reached up and took Tommy's hand and sucked in the warmth of his touch on her cheek.

Irisa's nod spoke volumes.

"I want to do this without Nolan... He raised me, but he doesn't understand. He... Raised me like a human girl. I'm an alien! "

"You know that you have a heritage. One that if it wasn't for your screwed up brainwashed parents, you might have had a chance to experience." Irisa nodded.

"I know the facts, the language, some of the rituals, but..."

"You see it through the eyes you were raised with." Tommy ginned. "Why do you want me to come?"

"You're different." Irisa said moving closer. "You see me for me..." Tommy reached over and brought her closer.

"So... you want to head to the irathient settlement not only to learn about what you need to eat to treat your visions, but to dive into your heritage and learn who you are." Tommy leaned down and kissed her on her forehead. Irisa blushed, or the Irathient equivalent of it given her orange skin. "I believe in the pre-Arkfall days this was called a road trip. A few youths traveling on a trip away from the parental units to have some fun and learn who they were." Tommy nodded. "I gladly accept your offer."

"Good. Pack for cold weather, bring extra blankets and bring a good pair of boots." Irisa said as she turned and headed for the door and stopped. "Tommy, I had a dream about you. Well your past. You better bring a deck of cards with you so you can tell me about it. Shadow Protector." Irisa looked back and grinned before she headed out.


As Irisa and Tommy followed Conte to one of the several settlements that had emerged during the mass exodus that had taken place from Defiance eight years earlier was strange. For Irisa the landscape almost felt like she was returning the Badlands. Irisa felt like she could breathe once again. Tommy turned and looked at her for a moment as they went down a straightaway path through the valley area.

"You know, you look like you are about to stick your head out of the window like some dog with his tongue out." Tommy said as Irisa looked back at him.

"What?

"This is the happiest I have seen you." Tommy held off a beat before he added: "Ever. That is including the time we had sex."

"I can breathe." Tommy watched as Irisa rolled her shoulders and stretched out like a cat. "Feels good. Like a dream... vision I had when I was young... Not a bad one."

"Want to tell me about it?" Irisa looked at Tommy with concern. "I mean, if you know what is about to happen, remembering it might help things out."

"I remember the warmth of the sun, and some of the cooking. But it is the sound of a heartbeat that sticks with me."

"Heartbeat?" Tommy noticed that Irisa seemed calm about it.

"Yeah, a heartbeat." Irisa said as she relaxed more as she noted. "Conte is making a turn."

"I see him." Tommy said as he made the turn on the road and saw several Irathient caravan wagons set up with a mix of rollers, quads and motorcycles surrounding the camp. Irisa watched as Conte got out.

Several individuals came up to Conte that looked to be lightly armed. Mostly long range rifles and what looked like to be the occasional assault weapon. Irisa recognized Aren, Conte's wife and a few Spirit Riders that she had seen around Defiance, but most of the individuals there didn't have that rugged wild feel of the Spirit Riders that Sukar usually ran with.

Even the Spirit Riders of the Group seemed to be more clean cut. That was when Irisa saw Nariah running out to her father as Tommy brought the roller to stop beside of Conte's roller. Irisa watched as Conte knelt down to her daughter and give her a hug before the little girl saw Irisa in the roller.

"Irisa... Tishinka..." The girl was out of her father's arms and sprinting over to the door of the roller jumping up to look through the window as Irisa opened the door and got out.

"Looks like there is someone here to see you." Tommy said getting out. That was the time that Tommy stopped cold by the feeling of cold steel against the Adam's Apple of his throat.

"You are not welcome here human." A female voice said. Irisa got out and walked around the roller to see Sukar getting off of his motorcycle and Irathient who looked to be holding Tommy at knifepoint looked to be just old enough to be wearing her first bra.

"Zekka, leave Tishinka's friend alone." Sukar said as the girl slowly removed the knife from Tommy's thoat.

"Tishinka!?" the girl looked over at Irisa and back to Sukar who just nodded. The girl looked very unnerved. "This is Tishinka's..." there was a loud gulp from the girl as she slowly took a step back from Tommy. "Friend."

"Zekka... is it?" Irisa said as she moved forward with her hands raised. "Tommy is my friend. A fellow Lawkeeper, he watches my back. He is my Partner."

"Partner?!" Zekka was looking to Tommy and back to Irisa.

"Yes, my Partner..." Irisa said as she reached over and touched the girl and got a few flashes from the images of Zekka's past. "You're one of Rynn's friends. Though not a Spirit Rider." Zekka gulped hard. Irisa took a more soft approach to Zekka. "You looked up to her as a mentor. She taught you about insects. Something you liked. How to create those little sample jars and some of the flower patterns you like that made that place in the field seem like home." Irisa touched the girl's face. "I did not slay her. But I had to put her on her path of where she needs to be."

"You Sent her to Vegas... Do you know what they do to people in Vegas!" Zekka looked scared and a bit angry. Irisa had heard the stories of people that went to Vegas and just disappeared never to be heard from again.

"She didn't go to Vegas. She went to the Bay Area." Irisa grinned. "She is using her gifts to deal with the Hellbug problem there. She is finding her way. Though if she can keep one of her new friends sober during that girls night her Indogene friend is hosting, the better."

"You... had a vision of her?" Zekka said a bit scared and less angry now.

"She and I share deep wounds in our past. It is difficult not to have a vision or two of someone whose path down the river is so close to your own." Irisa caressed the girl's cheek. "Don't worry, she will return once she lets go some of the anger in her heart."

"Tishinka..." The girl handed Irisa the knife. "I am sorry." The girl looked defeated as Irisa noticed that Rynn and this girl shared some history together.

"Tell me about Rynn. How do you see her?" Irisa said as the girl looked her confused.

"You are a seer, you should know that!" Zekka spoke harshly.

"I only get to see moments, segments of a person's life. I'm not with them all the time." Irisa stepped forward and touched her forehead to the girl's "You were. You know the path of her past. Also you might tell me how come she is able to see or sense my spirit form."

"She sees your spirit form?" This got the girl's attention and Sukar's.

"She does..." Irisa felt a little uncomfortable about saying this but in a way it spoke to her inexperience as a seer. "Scares the Shtako out of me. Others I am able to not be sensed by. Rynn she is different... She just glares at me knowing that I am fully there."

"She always glares at people. She said it makes her look meaner." Zekka said touching Irisa's face. "Most people think that if an Irathient looks mean, they will back down. She does it to scare Humans and Castithans. But she was cheerful when I knew her."

"And I was raised by humans..." Irisa kicked herself feeling like her own inexperience with her powers is what had put her at a disadvantage when she projected herself out of her body. This was something she needed to work on before she even did another remote view on Rynn. Realizing that Zekka knew Rynn as a clan sister might be her way at understanding why Rynn was the way she was when it came to treading other indivudals. Irisa already knew the big events of the female Irathient's life, but not the stuff that shaped Rynn into the woman she was. "You said you knew her from before." Zekka nodded. "Tell me about your clan sister so I might see her through your eyes."

"My eyes?" Zekka said in shock. "What do you mean?"

"I have only seen her through her eyes and those of her parents. Not that of a sister." Irisa grinned. "A seer sees, but does not have perspective without context. Something I have learned from speaking with my predecessor." This caught Sukar's attention.

"Your Predecessor?" Sukar said concerned.

"The one of this clan." Irisa said grinning. "The same one that you named your daughter after."

"Oh, Shtako..."

"Nice drawings that left on the table when you were a child. Though I got more from the experience than telling her about you." Irisa said feeling that things were coming full circle for Sukar and herself.

"Okay, Irisa... you are seriously getting disconcerting." Tommy said as Irisa ginned.

"No... This is the first time I am starting to feel like I am truly myself." Irisa said closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath to fill her lungs with the wildness of the natural world. "I am not a freak. I am a child of Irzu." Irisa grinned. "Oh and Sukar, I saw the baby picture of you where your grandmother was giving you a bath."

Tommy looked over to see Sukar mumbling something in Irathient that he got the feeling that whatever Irisa knew about that picture was the type of stuff that would put people into therapy.


I used the Irathient spelling of Defiance for Irisa to state where she lived to the elder Seer, given the "Murphy Defiance Language Guide" that I found online to spell it right.

Let me know what you think of this chapter so far. Please Review!

Also, let me know what characters or stuff that you want Irisa to go through at the Irathient settlement while she is there?