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Caladria spent the rest of the day working, and sneaking upstairs under one pretense or another. Shireen slept a good part of the time, and occasionally Caladria would heal a few more scratches, take away another bruise, and meld another broken bone back together. By the end of the day, Shireen was looking much better. Farron hardly said a word all day, pretending to ignore Caladria, and at the same time, act as absolutely nothing was wrong. Akil knew that his daughter must be hidden in someone's home, as here was no sign of her anywhere near the outskirts of the village, but everyone denied knowledge of her whereabouts, including Farron.
That night, Caladria began to teach Shireen. They sat together in Caladria's room, and Caladria would teach her words and phrases from the Common Language, while Shireen lapped them up. She was very eager to learn the language her new friend was teaching her, for on Sorena, it was known as the language of men, only men and very upper-class women spoke it. The idea of being able to understand and speak it herself was quite appealing to Shireen, and she desperately tried to learn everything possible. Without her knowledge, Caladria was telepathically helping her to remember it all, instilling the words in her memory and consciousness. The two made quite a bit of progress that night, but after Shireen went to sleep, Caladria quietly sat cross-legged and began meditating once again.
The next day, things went much the same, Farron again quietly giving Caladria an extra meal. That night, Shireen made even more progress in speaking the common language with Caladria's help, and began to be able to speak haltingly. Two more days after this, and Shireen was almost well again, and was able to fluently understand whatever Caladria said, but speech was coming a little bit slower. Caladria began truly talking with her that night, not simply trying to teach her. Shireen began the conversation, with a question.
"Why you heal me?" She asked. Caladria ignored the forgotten word, thought for a second, and finally responded.
"Two reasons, actually. If I hadn't you would have died, and I knew that. And then I was tired of being alone all the time, of Farron being the only one who spoke to me." Shireen mulled this over for a second, and then spoke again.
"Why you here?" She asked. "They say you 'gift of the gods,' but you do not believe in gods." She looked confused. Caladria sighed.
"My people were attacked by the Goa'uld whom you believe to be gods. They captured my mother and I and so I've spent the last several years under their control." Caladria looked at Shireen. Yes, she did trust her. The girl had gone through quite a bit for her age, and Caladria could sense that she wanted the friendship as much as Caladria herself did. She continued speaking to the girl, a little quieter.
"My mother died around a year ago, she was murdered by Baal. After that, I became angry, angry enough that I actually became a threat to him, and he sent me here until my anger calmed down." Caladria barely remembered anything from the time shortly after her mother's death, it was all pain, confusion, and a terrible, terrible rage.
Caladria remembered that time with a shudder. The first thing that came to her mind shortly after her mother's death was hunger, an insatiable, enormous hunger. Caladria had begged the Jaffa that fed her for more food, something more than the small plate of rice she received once a day. Baal laughed at the request, telling her that her pleas were pitiful. Soon though, the un-abated hunger which was seeking a source of energy began sacrificing parts of Caladria's body to provide it. Caladria had no idea what was happening, she just felt the ripping pain from inside of her, and her screams were almost constant. Baal became much more concerned at this, but even more worried when she began dying. He could sacrifice Caladria's mother, especially if it would make Caladria weaker as he had hoped, but he could not afford to lose both of them. He had Caladria placed in a sarcophagus, where she healed. She was then given as much food as she needed. Another two days and she was finally well again.
Caladria felt different though, somehow . . . stronger. She remembered once when her mother had gone through something similar, calling it a "growth spurt." This caused Caladria to wonder, what had she grown? Then, only a few days after her mother's death, Caladria was brought in to see Baal yet again. But this time, her strength had returned, along with her anger. Baal was torturing her again, with words, accusing her of murdering her own mother. Something in Caladria snapped, and in her anger, she took up the knife beside Baal with her mind, and threw it at him. Baal died instantly, and Caladria was shocked beyond belief. Telekinesis was extremely rare among her people, almost nonexistent. The ability to move something with a thought was . . . completely staggering.
After that one point of killing Baal though, Caladria's memory waned into flashes. She wasn't sure exactly what happened she just remembered killing Baal again, yet again and again he would rise. Still her anger still burned though, becoming a threat to everyone around her. She killed any of the Jaffa or other Goa'uld that were around her, and no matter what Baal inflicted upon her, Caladria would survive and continue her battle. She became a threat, and Baal saw this. He didn't want to kill her, yet keeping her locked up was getting just as dangerous, in case she should escape. Then he remembered a small world filled with humans that were in complete subservience to him, they also were not known for their kindness to women. If he sent her there, they might teach her, break her. Baal immediately had Caladria taken to that world, where she was left in the care of the people.
Caladria got there, and her anger waned somewhat. Instead, it was replaced with despair.
Back in the present again, Caladria looked at Shireen, thrusting her memories back. That despair had probably been the worst part of it all. But it was gone, done, she had a way of escape now, and even better than that, she had a friend.
