Chapter LIII (50)
The Black Forest Thins
Sedena could not stop herself from moaning and flinching as the doctors treated her wounds; she laid on her belly on a bed, while the doctors washed away the blood and sealed the wounds with great amounts of styptic. The wounds were too great and close together to apply laceration gel; eventually, when the bleeding stopped, they would just wrap her entire torso in bandages. The healing accelerators would have her out in one week, but now, as they finished applying gel and left her there in nothing but briefs, all she could do was lie their in misery. Her back throbbed so terribly that she thought it was one, big pulsating lump. Her head ached from the stress, and she shivered uncontrollably; feeling exhausted but unable to sleep. And the loneliness. The only sound was the white-noise buzzing of the lights above, and the muffled voices from outside, barely audible behind the thick walls and door. She thought of the scars on her back that would come...if Stone saw her bare back...Stone...
She never fought so hard in her life then, and never was defeated so terribly in her life. She grabbed her pillow and put it on top of her head as she wailed in sorrow. She had been trying so hard to not cry for her friends, she had completely spaced Stone. And now that she thought of him, that emotional breakdown she did not want the shame to display consumed her. It was a half-an-hour later that she finally cried herself to sleep; and one visitor that arrived after her breakdown, took the pillow off her head, then rested her head on it again. He gave her a light, sad pat on the shoulder then left to wait for her to awake again.
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The next day doctors had come again to check on her wounds; they were already good to be bandaged up, and they stood her up (she had some strength returned to her, so she insisted on standing herself). They wrapped several feet of the white material around her torso, then had her get back in bed. One week of laying here...better than three weeks if the healing accelerating gel hadn't been applied. And then after this...all of this...she didn't know how much more she could take. She was going to break. Probably just before graduation if she was lucky, but then either be expelled, or simply denied acceptance of being a Special Operations soldier; after that, she would have to wait to re-begin her training at age eighteen, rather than jumping into duty immediately. She slammed her bed in frustration, then clenched her pillow, puncturing the fabric with her claws. She did not look up when the door opened and someone entered. He stood there for a moment, watching her, then shut the door behind himself. Sedena was uninterested in this person until he sat on the bed with her. She looked up in surprise, then gaped to see it was N'tho, smiling kindly but sadly down at her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked; surprised at her own weak voice; just above a whisper.
"Trainers are allowed one visit during any time of the seven months...I decided to come at this time...at the right time it seems; no offense, but you're a wreck. And I highly doubt you deserved what you received."
"No, I earned it in my own way; if it happened in the first place, then I deserved it." N'tho frowned, but then Sedena grunted as she sat up.
"Sedena..." he said, moving his arm to gently push her back down, but he did not stop her from hugging him. He allowed the act, returned it, taking care not to put pressure on her back. "Hang in there. Do not allow them to take your rightful place among warriors. Earn it by defeating them." Sedena let go, lying again, hissing as her back stung.
"I will," she said, confident now that her master had come at this time. Her brother figure...she suddenly missed Samos; more so than the usual reminiscing of him. N'tho was her brother figure, but not her brother. She knew he would be proud of her, but still wondered exactly what he would do, say, or how he would treat her after all of this...and her mother too. She had not had a return of sorrow for them like this since their deaths were recent. N'tho saw this in her eyes and asked her what the matter was.
"Just remembering my mother and brother..." she replied softly, turning her head away from him, suddenly not wanting to make eye contact.
"You know they would be proud."
"I know...but knowing how they would generally feel is different than being with them and speaking of it...watching their expressions and eyes; understanding them, and them understanding me...never have I wanted to be with them more than now, even after their deaths."
"You need friends in this time, and in a time like this you think of all your friends. I am here for you, and I have confidence in you. Surly you must have a group of friends. I know I did when I was here, so long ago. Everyone was a loyal warrior and friend generally, but we all had our small fellowships of particularly strong friendship."
"Jennifer, Zayus and Elo." Sedena smirked suddenly. "Elo is like a sister, Jennifer is a Spartan, and Zayus is my sex partner." N'tho burst out laughing at Zayus' description, despite his surprise, and Sedena grinned, chuckling lightly herself.
"Ah, yes, the only problem with allowing both genders alongside each other in a place like this; especially young hormonal ones such as yourself."
"Great isn't it?" N'tho chuckled again.
"Makes me wonder..."
"Stop wondering and go get a girlfriend."
"Hey," N'tho replied, trying to sound serious, but he couldn't stop a small smile from lifting his mandibles, "I do not need criticism on my sex life from someone like you."
"Chances are I've scored more than you, even when the aristocratic laws still applied."
"Okay, enough," N'tho said crossly. "But that is unfortunately true." Sedena giggled while N'tho looked away and smiled sheepishly. "I am guessing your original trainer left for some reason; the one you have now..."
"Yes. His mother was diagnosed with the Slow Death."
"Terrible..." murmured N'tho. An incurable, but still rare disease. Scientists and medics alike did not know why Sangheili caught the slow death. They had been trying to figure that out for years. The theory was it was a genetic trait passed down from evolutionary ancestors, back when the wilderness was fresh on the slowly forming planet, and things were hectic with strange occurrences. The Slow Death might have been one of those strange occurrences in the planet's immaturity. But it was just a theory, still. Their current animal ancestors did not suffer the disease nowadays. Silly sentient beings, so arrogant in their brilliance but more flawed than the animals they look down upon.
"They could cure her...they have, rarely, cured others. It depends on the person and their body," N'tho said supportively.
"Yes, they could. I just do not want to hope, because if I do, it is for the return of Ki'nata, and not of his mother. A selfish hope."
"Sedena...what would your father say?" groaned N'tho as he rubbed his face.
"What?" Sedena asked, feeling more agitated than she thought she should be.
"You act like the gaunt, feudal state people of the old days; not the usual bright and intelligent young woman you usually are...not saying you've lost intelligence, however."
"N'tho...you have no idea what I've been through. This," Sedena gestured over her shoulder at her back, "Is nothing. Jiku calls me 'Ini.' Just Ini, that's right," she said to N'tho's baffled expression. "I am surprised he even applies a name to me; probably out of respect for my grandfather I supposed, and fellow dick. He hit me, as if I was some whore that was out of line. And all I was trying to do was help Zayus when Jiku had hit him first. Yala is nothing, I think the four of us should just brutalize Jiku instead. And that sonuvabitch Councilor!"
"Sedena!" N'tho hissed, "Keep your voice down! If someone heard you make a threat to a Councilor you could get into even more trouble. In the trouble you are already in: expelled. You are letting them win, Sedena. If you fail here, then you fail in their eyes; and they succeed. Their mindset is, if they can't stop all females from joining in the military, they can probably stop atleast one at a time. Now stop it, Hakrenini! Rest here, heal, then leave and finish your training! And nothing more!" N'tho stood abruptly, walked to the door, then left Sedena. She was so surprised at his sudden departure that it felt like a dream, sitting there alone. As if she had accidentally drifted to sleep while sitting with him in real time. But he left for a purpose, and she knew what it was. She wanted to atleast bid him a farewell, but the last things he said, while being said before by others; they rang in her head more than ever. Did it really take all these repeating speeches to motivate her? The point was, she needed to motivate herself, and with a grin, she realized what that ingenious man had just done.
"By my father's blood and name, I am leaving the academy in full armor, a warrior," she vowed to herself. Already, the trees of this black forest were gradually becoming sparse.
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In the afternoon, after all training had been completed by the students of the Lom State's Military Academy, Sedena was released from the medical wing. With nothing but a mass of pale scars on her back, she walked proudly in the afternoon setting suns; there had been a short rain spell, weather was quite erratic on Sangheilios, and the concrete and buildings glistened with raindrops, as did the jungle trees, shimmering, and the sleek skyscrapers of the city. She walked to her common room, feeling refreshed, confidence regained. The lashings had failed, this female was not punished and broken, they only strengthened her. And she just couldn't wait to show them that when she was reciting her oath with her peers on the graduating stage, in front of her loved ones.
She came to Common Room Three, turning the door knob, then stepped inside. The first thing she saw, which made her freeze and her mandibles go limp, was at the the end of the aisle. Yala was tied up on the wall with sheets, looking around in fright, and surrounded by Jennifer, Zayus, Elo, Entu and Zima; was Jiku, looking nervous as well.
"Well, Sedena, they can't whip us all," said one of the boys to her, she looking at him, slowly getting her bearings back.
"But..."
"Nothing to 'but' about," he replied with a smile. "We just needed to make them see things our way for a moment. Ah the majority; just be careful not to get too wrapped in the numbers, the minority can be a powerful foe as well." Sedena walked down the aisle, her fellows beaming at her, seeming to be proud of what she had endured; supporting her. She looked up at Yala when she stood below him, and by the look on his face, he probably thought she was going to do something. She merely smirked, seeing one particular knot in all of the knots of the makeshift web of sheets. She pulled it, and as a result, the others loosened and Yala toppled to the ground, yelping like a pup.
"Go on 'n get, boy," Sedena said to him, imitating a slight southern accent. He scurried away, right out of the common room. She then turned to Jiku.
"You can abuse and harass me however you see fit; I am not giving in. It's okay, friends," she said to her fellowship, "Let him go." The six of them stepped back, and Jiku glared at Sedena.
"Rest, assured, Sedena Gossard Hakrenini, I am not through with you," he said coldly, then stalked away.
"(Cough)cliché(cough)," Jennifer said, Sedena chuckling.
"It definitely was," she said to her friend. It was then Elo squeezed Sedena in a big bear hug, making her laugh and return her affection.
"Are you sure you want to let him continue?" asked Zayus, Sedena and Elo letting go of each other and looking at him.
"Yes," was the only reply Sedena gave him. He gave her a look that said, You're a whacko, but said nothing more. Instead, he grinned and embraced her, then the two nuzzled; and they ignored their peers as they snickered while watching.
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As was said before, Jiku would go to drastic measures. And even his next measure would be too drastic for him; it was simply a half-accident what happened.
"Jogging in the jungles," sighed Elo as she sat up in her bed, then looked out the window, "While it's raining."
"You'll probably never be able to wipe that big, stupid grin off your face when we head out," Jennifer replied quietly, Elo tossing a pillow at her in annoyance. It was early in the morning, before the alarm clock was supposed to go off, and the Jungle Jogging they spoke of was exactly that. Rather than taking the laps around the grounds, from now on, they ran on the rough trails of the jungles behind the academy. No doubt the trails would be slightly flooded. Elo, of course, didn't mind.
"What can I say: I love the rain," Elo said with a shrug. "Why don't we go eat something small before we're supposed to wake up. I'm hungrier than usual."
"You're more unusual than usual," Zayus said to her.
"Is that so?" Elo asked.
"You never want to be out and about early," he answered as the four of them dressed in their undersuits; they would put on their armor when they returned.
"Well I just want a change of pace," she sniffed, giving him a light punch in the arm.
"Don't hit my boyfriend," Sedena said suddenly.
"Or you'll do what?" Elo asked challengingly.
"Oh I'll put something in your food; nothing like poison, but more embarrassing."
"Laxatives? Yes, Sedena, I know what they are," Elo sighed at Sedena's sighed face when she said "laxatives." Jennifer and Zayus snickered. The four of them quietly left the common room and hurried to the messhall through the morning rain. They entered the room, seeing the meals just be brought on display. One of the cooks snorted when they approached.
"Up earlier I see," she stated, grabbing some plates and sliding them down the counter-line to them, which they took. "Maybe you should get up even earlier and go to one of the restraunts. They open early for those who end their shifts at this hour and need to fill their bellies. They don't mind young trainees like you," the cook suggested.
"Really?" asked Zayus in surprise.
"Yes, really," the cook chuckled.
"Thanks for the advice," Sedena said, the cook merely nodding in return. Sedena took a glance at a trainer that stepped out of the kitchen, but didn't recognize him as his head was turned away. She shrugged it off as nothing then sat at a table with her friends, beginning her meal.
"Do you think Jiku will try and pull something?" asked Jennifer.
"Not with my bodyguards around," Sedena replied with a smirk.
"If the pay is good," Zayus said before taking a bite of his meal.
"Pay? Oh, fair labor, is this?" Sedena asked critically.
"Union and all," Jennifer confirmed.
"I think your union leader should have a bodyguard instead," Sedena replied.
"Oooh, you're not a USSC soldier after all, but a double-agent for the mob. Well you made one fatal mistake, Sedena, if that is your real name: you admitted it." Elo and Zayus watched in amusement as the two went back a forth, not knowing what they were referring to, which made it all the more fun; they couldn't know what they were saying was cliché after all. Eventually they finished their breakfast and hurried through the rain back to their common room again. Fifteen minutes until the buzzer would go off, that'd give them enough time for their stomachs to settle. They felt a bit sorry for the ones who had run without a neatly tucked breakfast in them, but oh well; atleast now they knew they could wake up extra early for better food at a restaurant. They spoke quietly on their beds for ten minutes, then pretended to sleep when Jiku came in. The buzzer went off and the room awoke, standing at attention when Jiku barked some typical morning orders.
"All of you know we will be running for half-an-hour on rough trails in the jungle, so get into your armor quickly now." The room got into their suits and armor, then followed Jiku outside at a jogging-pace, out through the back gates, down the back road, and finally turning into an indeed lightly flooded trail. The rain splashed on the water, making it look like it was alive, and their boots splashed, in, breaking the natural, strangely beautifully moving mud water. As they ran Sedena groaned to herself, feeling sick to the stomach a bit.
I guess eating early was a bad idea after all. Zayus noticed her groan however.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"The food, it's mad at me. But it doesn't feel too bad, just a rumbling," Sedena said. Zayus grinned grimly.
"That's life."
"It is isn't it?" sighed Sedena in response.
"Quit chatting and pick up, you are falling behind!" Jiku suddenly shouted next to Sedena. She raised an eyebrow, looking where she was in the group. She was far from behind; no one was behind at all, they were all fairly close together, but far enough as to keep their traffic from congesting. She rolled her eyes, knowing that Jiku's first petulant jabs would progressively get more atrocious. Her stomach rumbled again, and her limbs became numb ever so slightly.
Not a matter of settling down, I must have caught something. Cheap military shit, She thought bitterly. They had only been on this trail for five minutes now, still twenty-five more to go. What a pain. Another five passed, and Sedena's limbs became more tingly, the the rumbling in her stomach became more sickening. As a result, she did indeed get further back into the line.
"What is the matter with you, keep a consistent pace!" Jiku snapped at her as he jogged behind to chastise her.
"A bit difficult to do when you're sick," she snarled.
"I have been sick while doing this too, deal with it," he growled in return, then sped up to lead the way again.
"Sick? How so?" asked a boy to her.
"Eh, me and my friends got up early for breakfast; I think my meal was spoiled," she grumbled, her stomaching rumbling as if to emphasize.
"Aching?" he asked.
"Yes, but my limbs feel like boiled noodles."
"Say what now?" he asked, not knowing what noodles were.
"Soft, weak," she snapped. "Sorry," she said a moment afterwards.
"Just a bit longer, hang in there," he said supportively.
"Thanks..." And by another fifteen minutes, Sedena received a headache, and she tripped, almost falling but someone caught her just in time.
"Stop!" the girl that caught her shouted to everyone, making them hesitate.
"No! I'm fine, not much longer," Sedena hissed, injecting more venom into her voice than she had intended, but she just didn't feel like apologizing either.
"Deal with the sickness, Hakrenini! If you are marginally wounded in combat you will still be expected to move at a fair pace!" Jiku shouted, stomping over to her.
"I am, excellency, let us just go," she said vehemently, beginning to jog again, but she found it hard to breathe now. She gasped for air when a wave of pain made it seem like her stomach was being rung out like a wet washcloth. That was when her legs failed and she fell face first into the water.
"Sedena!" Zayus exclaimed, going over to her, but he was shoved back by Jiku.
"Are you so weak, Ini?" he called down to her as she breathed heavily, trying to keep her head above the shallow, yet still potent water of the puddle she laid in, as if she was litter thrown out of a car window and into a gutter. "Are you so weak as to bear a much controlled whipping, but cannot even show resistance to your own body? Any man would have resisted so. Women, stop jesting to yourselves and deal with reality; we are stronger, we are better equipped to deal with these situations. You are both mentally and physically weak, whether in the short run or the long run, you will always fail. Let the fighting be to the men, and we ourselves grow tired, and we need someone to do things for us at home, when we receive our well deserved rests. And we need more children to fight for us; so open your vagina and let us have our way! It is our sole right as the dominant fucking gender! We are strong and you are weak, it is nature! I seem to be the only man bluntly honest enough to say what needs to be said! Raw truth, it hurts, Ini. You are no bladerunner, you can't even just run."
All he had said just went right over her head, whatever sickness she had caught was now rapidly taking hold on her. She tried to get up, raising herself with her arms, but she only vomited, shocking even Jiku. Zayus saw the look on his face; the look someone makes when they realize they have made a fatal mistake. He looked at the vomit. It was white, no color. The food of this morning was floating in the water her face laid in, but it was colorless. Having knowing his herbs and poisons, he slowly realized what had been fed to her...by that trainer that had left the kitchen this morning; the same trainer that stood with them now, and realized he had overdone what he had done. She had been poisoned...fatally. She was dying.
"Help her up," Zayus said menacingly, Jiku snapping his head in his direction.
"She will lay there until she can get up herself," he replied. Zayus couldn't believe it. Even in the light of his revelation, he was still treating her like this. He would let her die! He probably thought he could get away with it. Zayus then scooped up some vomit from the puddle.
"Put that down!" Jiku shrieked, but Zayus only looked coldly up at him, his peers looking at him as if he were a fool as he put the vomit pieces in his pocket.
"You treat it as if it were incriminating evidence against you," Zayus said hotly. The eyes of everyone widened, and they murmured in shock. The fear now apparent in Jiku's eyes was grimly satisfying, as he looked around at the students.
"What did you do to her!?" Jennifer shouted suddenly; unlike herself, tears were streaming from her eyes. "Murderer!" At that word, they all screamed in fury and anguish at him.
"SILENCE!" she bellowed at the top of his voice, but no one listened. They kept shouting at him, slowly advancing around the terrified trainer, ready to tear him to pieces.
In all their anger of what he did to Sedena, they ironically forgot about her laying in a puddle riddled with her own bile. Everything was a blur to her; the voices, her vision, the weakness of her limbs; the only sharp, clarified feeling was the pain in her stomach, and her lungs breathing, but seeming to not take air. Her head swam, and not because of the three inch water she struggled to keep from drowning in; and in the cacophony of her enraged peers, Jiku's denying voice was the most prominent. The voice that abused her, led her to the whipping post. He had poisoned her. And now she was choking on that poison. He could do no more that was worse, and the burning hate that was painful had now replaced her stomach and lungs; it gave her a sudden burst of strength she would have never imagined. More so than the rage that had tried to murder N'tho when she was only a small child, a small child thought to be incapable of such an atrocity.
Sedena, voice silent, suddenly lifted herself up from the puddle; time seeming to slow. Her friends slowly turned in bewilderment, Jiku's face etching in shock as he watched the girl ascend right before him; then she slugged him in an uppercut punch, sending him flying in the air; the adrenaline induced strike boosted her strength, making him flop on his back in mid-air, then fall and splash into the water, unconscious. Sedena collapsed again after that had been done, but this time Zayus caught her. She looked wide eyed at her partner, her gulps of breath wheezing, her body shivering uncontrollably.
There's still time... he realized. He knew the treatment for this particular poison, but it was a brutal one. With any medication she could swallow it would do, but this was an emergency and he had to do it the rough way.
"There is only one way to save her from this particular poison. We need her to regurgitate thrice," he said.
"How in the hell do we do that!?" asked Elo, baffled.
"We need to hit her in the stomach, spot on. It should be unstable, so she will regurgitate easier. We also need her to drink the water; basically, we have to rinse her stomach. The poison infects from the stomach, rather than traveling anywhere else. We flush out the poison, she will live, but we need to do this without argument or she will die!"
"Sinning Christ, what kind of poison is this?" whispered Jennifer as she and Elo lifted Sedena by her shoulders, others taking off her armor so she could be struck.
"The poison is actually a sedative, but if it is overdosed it can prove fatal; just like any other sedative," Zayus told her. He stood before the lolling Sedena, seeming to have passed out, as her eyes were dull and uncomprehending.
"I am doing this for your own good, love..." he whispered before striking her in the stomach. She coughed, doubling over in Elo and Jennifer's grips, then she threw up a bit more.
"Make her drink water, even if it is mud water!" Zayus shouted. They got scoops of water and fed them to her, and Zayus struck her again, the water she regurgitated having traces of the poisoned food. This was done two more times, before everyone teamed up to create a makeshift stretch for the now unconscious Sedena.
"The poison has been flushed out, or atleast the fatal amount removed. She will live," Zayus said. Elo let out a breath of relief, bowing her head over Sedena as she laid on a moss covered rock they had placed her on. Jennifer sat on her haunches, head hung back on a tree she leaned on, closing her eyes. While it still rained, the clouds were thinning, and white light of the suns came through breaks in the clouds. That was the signification of Sedena's metaphorical Black Forest thinning. Thinning and ending into a clear, sunny coast; where the sun was still a pale yellow as it closed in on the horizon over the pristine ocean.
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They lifted Sedena on the stretch they had made from cut down saplings and tightly bound leaves, and simply dragged Jiku as if he were a sack of potatoes (and everyone knows you don't drag potatoes). They came to the gates of the academy, the two Honor Guards running up, looking surprised.
"What is it?" one asked as they came to the four students he held Sedena's stretch; Jennifer, Ian, Elo and Zayus.
"She was overdosed with a Tuma sedative, but we managed to discard the brunt of the poison. But she needs care, still."
"What of your trainer?" asked the other.
"He got only a fraction of what he deserved," Jennifer replied. The Honor Guards seemed cool with that answer as they took Sedena, and they dragged Jiku with them as well.
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Jiku, holding a pack of ice to his mandibles, sat outside the medical room Sedena was in while she was being examined by the medics. Her fellowship sat gloomily across from him, none making eye contact. They glanced up when the Kaidon appeared, the cook from this morning with him. Zayus smirked at the look on Jiku's face that said, I'm fucked.
"Scanning the evidence Zayus gave us," the Kaidon said to him, nodding at the boy, referring to the sample of Sedena's vomit Jiku had not wanted him to take, "It is true that Sedena was overdosed on the Tuma sedative, which would have lead to her death if it were not for the quick thinking of Zayus again," he smiled at Zayus, who became self-conscious, but Jennifer patted him on the back with a grin. "And as Hila here testifies," he gestured to the cook, "it seems he did indeed see you, Jiku, enter and exit the kitchen at the time Sedena received her meal and unknowingly consumed the sedative within. Now, I will be gracious enough, Jiku, to terminate your employment here without adding attempted murder." Jiku looked up in horror at that, and Jennifer couldn't stop from snickering.
"Kaidon!" boomed the voice of Omuka as he stomped down hall determinedly, but he turned around harshly at the Councilor and barked,
"Nothing out of you, Doyema! Not! A! Word!" Not a word did come out of Omuka indeed. He turned back to Jiku.
"You tried to sedate Sedena Gossard Hakrenini, in the hopes you could add more to her 'undesirable record', enough so that she could be expelled; deemed 'unfit for active duty.' Pathetic," the Kaidon spat at Jiku, whom flinched and looked down at the ground. "You are indeed lucky I do not charge you with attempted murder. And it is ironic that I received a phone call from Common Room Three's original trainer today." Jennifer, Elo and Zayus looked up with wide eyes, the Kaidon smiling at them. "The doctors were able to treat his mother's disease; it is a miracle, they say."
"Quite," the man himself said, the three of them standing. He had just rounded the corner, looking new and refreshed. He smiled even more brightly at Jiku.
"Well good day to you, friend. Having a nice time torturing and killing my students? Or should I say just one particular student, whom I care for equally with the rest."
"I did not try to kill her!" Jiku cried, standing abruptly.
"What with the speech you gave to her about half-an-hour ago, I thought you would have loved to see the useless female die. Oh wait, you haven't had a chance to fuck her yet, that's why you were so horrified when you saw you had overdosed her," Jennifer said darkly, making him turn violet.
"I believe that," the Kaidon said with a snort.
"Excuse me," said of the doctors, making them turn their heads; they hadn't even realized he had opened the door. "She is doing well, she is awake. Quite a recovery; quick thinking, Re'eit," the doctor nodded to Zayus, who was starting to grow weary with the praise. Where he came from, it was common knowledge. No matter where you live it should be common knowledge, he thought. He and his friends, including Ki'nata and the Kaidon, even Jiku, entered the room. Sedena looked tired but awake, alert and responsive enough. She had her back propped up on a pillow, blankets draped over her. She was dressed in a hospital robe (they were more dignified looking than human hospital robes and gowns), and a little drained of color; but she smiled when Zayus entered, then lit up in glee when she saw Ki'nata.
"Your mother, she is...?" Sedena asked him, and he grinned.
"Doing well, thank you. I have come to take Jiku off yours hands." Sedena gave a blank look to Jiku, while he glowered at her. Something about her blank, emotionless stare made him even more angry.
"Fine," she said mundanely.
"'Fine'?" Jiku repeated. "'Fine'? That is it, after all we have been through? All we have warred against each other-"
"Jiku," hissed the Kaidon, but Sedena said serenely,
"Let him speak, Kaidon." He looked at her in surprise, not thinking she would want to deal with this right now (and also how she spoke to him as if she were an old sage). Nevertheless, he turned to Jiku and nodded.
"Bitter enemies for life, we are," Jiku continued. "And all you can muster, when I am banished, is 'fine'. Where is the hatred, Sedena Gossard Hakrenini? Where is the hatred we once shared?" Sedena shook her head, still serene in her eyes, expression, and voice.
"I don't know, Jiku Forgumi. I just don't know, and I just don't care." Jiku blinked, staring, and they stared back at him. He looked at each face, and hatred was void of theirs as well. Already they had moved on, accepted his demise from their lives. With no more words to be spoken to them for the rest of their lives, Jiku turned and walked away, never to be seen by them again.
Despite the clear, beautiful, coast with its salt-water aroma; one which Sedena saw, smelled, and felt the warm water breeze on her face; and she stared at the setting sun, which would soon be gone and she received a peaceful night's sleep after trudging through the black forest all day; she still had one obstacle to overcome before she could sleep on a sandy beach, to hear the lullaby of the crashing waves. One more hurdle.
A hurdle she would make herself.
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