30 Cycles later
"Wake up."
"Go 'way." K'Tahli Ferrian pushed the hand of her husband away, trying to steal another arn under the covers.
"I have to go to the village before I go to the med center. I thought you wished to travel with me?"
"Ashan," she whined, still buried under the soft fleece, "If you keep spreading yourself this thin, you will be exhausted." She flounced the blankets from her face. "You have been so tired I think you would be immune to Heppel Oil."
"C'thha, you know what the village is going through." He addressed his wife with the Sebacean term for beloved one. "They need a healer. They are too remote and can't be reached by Karn." Karn was the healer who usually visited the village, but his body was tiring with his advancing cycles. The mountain region to this village was not an easy journey.
"Besides," he leaned down and kissed the side of her neck, "think of the time and quiet you would have to work on your tele-linkage." She barely heard the actual words, as he was speaking them down the warm hollow of her neck and collarbone.
"My.. hmmmm." he had trailed both hands up her arms to her shoulders and bent to kiss her. Instead of the sweet warmth she expected, he stepped back, taking the blanket with him.
"Hey! Give me that!" Her attempts at blanket retrieval were unsuccessful; she was still a bit dazed from her husband of less than one cycle previous near seduction.
"Please come with me. The journey is cold without you, C'thha."
She looked up and saw the smoldering behind Ashan's eyes. It pleased her heart and the feline ego all females seem to posses that he was as affected by her as she was by him.
"I will come with you." She rose from the bed and pressed her face to his, three times so that their foreheads touched, then both cheeks. The action was a familiar one off affection on their planet, touching the facial tattoos together. Her mother had explained that a Luxan refugee had sat around the fire with them, healing from a poisonous rage that had once consumed him. He spent time with Marata's people, telling of the tattoos and their meanings. Some of the young people adopted a modification of the tradition, and opted for a symbol to bear your name, a symbol to bear your chosen calling, and a central symbol when you chose a life mate.
"While you dress, my lazy" he ducked as a pillow sailed toward his head "I meant, lovely wife.I will contact Mother."
As he knelt on the padded prayer matt in front of the fire to clear his thoughts and contact Marata's mind, she picked up the pillow she had previously tossed at him, preparing to return it to the bed. She noticed the small frown marring the normally serene face of Ashan. Ashan had been able to contact those he had a bond with since he was a small child. He went to study off planet with a Delvian to develop his cerebral gifts and discovered that he had an innate ability to heal. The Delvian teacher had explained that random individuals were possessed of a cellular substance that enabled them to manipulate the body's cells, to heal. He needed to learn, to study to be able to use the talent though. Being a passionate and fierce Sebacean male, he had also chosen the Delvian race to study under to learn self-control. He suspected, somewhere in his past that was so shrouded, there was and would be violence. Marata, although not the flesh that gave him life, was the only mother he knew, so he could most easily link with her mind. This morning, he was finding no response to his gentle entreaties. The frown deepened, sweat that had nothing to do with his proximity to the fire broke out on his brow.
Noting that the life essence was so focused it was nearly glowing, K'Tahli went over and knelt beside Ashan. She could not help him with the link, but she could lend her energies, which were considerable. Ashan had teased her that she had been born during a particularly active solar flare and that had flash burnt her brain. She would be quick to point out that he was less than a cycle old when she was born so he could remember nothing of the sort.
It was unknown if K'Tahli's talents were the result of unusual stellar flares or if K'Tahli herself caused the flares. Even as an infant she seemed to be an amplifier for those around her. Prophecies would be clearer, telekenetics could shift the planetary orbit and healers could return beings from the direst of circumstances.
K'Tahli was the child of the woman who had shown up with child on Marata's doorstep the week before Ashan's arrival. Her mother was adamantly clear that K'Tahli's father was and always would be a mystery. Her mother always got a far away, misty expression when she spoke of K'Tahli's father. As a girl, K'Tahli fantasized about the race of peoples that her father may have come from. As a young girl, she thought of dashing bravery, devilishly handsome peoples. As she grew, she thought more of her own innate talents that may be explained by her paternity.
Her looks gave nothing away, she could have passed for Sebacean with her dark hair, so dark that it seemed to absorb energy. Her mother was part Interion, so K'Tahli's hair, although always a rich raven's black, would reflect colors. The colors would change with her strong feelings. Her eyes were gold, a gleaming warmth that let all who saw her be unable to turn away angry. She had Sebacean strength and Khalish flexibility. For all the intensity in her talent, she had a lightness of spirit, her ability to make light in a situation was the perfect foil for Ashan.
Ashan was serious to the point of formal in public. When he reached his eighteenth cycle, Marata had given him a middle name. In the tiny, unnamed planetary civilization they lived in, no one had middle names. Marata swore him to uphold peace and the saving of lives, all lives. He complied, as was his nature. He was a fierce opponent with a sense of what was right that matched the village holy men. One had to be looking very hard to catch the brief flash of mischief in his dark eyes. He was tall, standing nearly a head taller than his wife. He had the rangy muscular build of a man comfortable with being on the move, from the labors of everyday living. The men of the village trained one another with weaponry to be able to defend their homes.
"I cannot link with mother. Perhaps she sleeps late this day." He said, without much conviction, as Marata was an early riser.
"Perhaps she and Win are." K'Tahli winked.
Ashan's eyes grew wide. "K'Tahli! That is my Mother and Father you are talking about!" Despite his apparent horror at considering his parents recreating, the light moment enabled him to table his worries and continue his preparations for the trip to the village beyond the ridge. He valued the increased healing ability he had when K'Tahli came with him on these visits, but he earlier had spoken truth. He enjoyed the company of his life mate, and was filled with a bittersweet feeling of joy and dread when he considered her. Joy at the life they were building together, dread for the thought of ever losing her. The Peacekeepers seemed to be paying more attention to the ragtag bunch of planets nearby. He continued preparing his pack with an unshakable notion that the next several arns would be pivotal. He could not begin to know how right he was.
"Go 'way." K'Tahli Ferrian pushed the hand of her husband away, trying to steal another arn under the covers.
"I have to go to the village before I go to the med center. I thought you wished to travel with me?"
"Ashan," she whined, still buried under the soft fleece, "If you keep spreading yourself this thin, you will be exhausted." She flounced the blankets from her face. "You have been so tired I think you would be immune to Heppel Oil."
"C'thha, you know what the village is going through." He addressed his wife with the Sebacean term for beloved one. "They need a healer. They are too remote and can't be reached by Karn." Karn was the healer who usually visited the village, but his body was tiring with his advancing cycles. The mountain region to this village was not an easy journey.
"Besides," he leaned down and kissed the side of her neck, "think of the time and quiet you would have to work on your tele-linkage." She barely heard the actual words, as he was speaking them down the warm hollow of her neck and collarbone.
"My.. hmmmm." he had trailed both hands up her arms to her shoulders and bent to kiss her. Instead of the sweet warmth she expected, he stepped back, taking the blanket with him.
"Hey! Give me that!" Her attempts at blanket retrieval were unsuccessful; she was still a bit dazed from her husband of less than one cycle previous near seduction.
"Please come with me. The journey is cold without you, C'thha."
She looked up and saw the smoldering behind Ashan's eyes. It pleased her heart and the feline ego all females seem to posses that he was as affected by her as she was by him.
"I will come with you." She rose from the bed and pressed her face to his, three times so that their foreheads touched, then both cheeks. The action was a familiar one off affection on their planet, touching the facial tattoos together. Her mother had explained that a Luxan refugee had sat around the fire with them, healing from a poisonous rage that had once consumed him. He spent time with Marata's people, telling of the tattoos and their meanings. Some of the young people adopted a modification of the tradition, and opted for a symbol to bear your name, a symbol to bear your chosen calling, and a central symbol when you chose a life mate.
"While you dress, my lazy" he ducked as a pillow sailed toward his head "I meant, lovely wife.I will contact Mother."
As he knelt on the padded prayer matt in front of the fire to clear his thoughts and contact Marata's mind, she picked up the pillow she had previously tossed at him, preparing to return it to the bed. She noticed the small frown marring the normally serene face of Ashan. Ashan had been able to contact those he had a bond with since he was a small child. He went to study off planet with a Delvian to develop his cerebral gifts and discovered that he had an innate ability to heal. The Delvian teacher had explained that random individuals were possessed of a cellular substance that enabled them to manipulate the body's cells, to heal. He needed to learn, to study to be able to use the talent though. Being a passionate and fierce Sebacean male, he had also chosen the Delvian race to study under to learn self-control. He suspected, somewhere in his past that was so shrouded, there was and would be violence. Marata, although not the flesh that gave him life, was the only mother he knew, so he could most easily link with her mind. This morning, he was finding no response to his gentle entreaties. The frown deepened, sweat that had nothing to do with his proximity to the fire broke out on his brow.
Noting that the life essence was so focused it was nearly glowing, K'Tahli went over and knelt beside Ashan. She could not help him with the link, but she could lend her energies, which were considerable. Ashan had teased her that she had been born during a particularly active solar flare and that had flash burnt her brain. She would be quick to point out that he was less than a cycle old when she was born so he could remember nothing of the sort.
It was unknown if K'Tahli's talents were the result of unusual stellar flares or if K'Tahli herself caused the flares. Even as an infant she seemed to be an amplifier for those around her. Prophecies would be clearer, telekenetics could shift the planetary orbit and healers could return beings from the direst of circumstances.
K'Tahli was the child of the woman who had shown up with child on Marata's doorstep the week before Ashan's arrival. Her mother was adamantly clear that K'Tahli's father was and always would be a mystery. Her mother always got a far away, misty expression when she spoke of K'Tahli's father. As a girl, K'Tahli fantasized about the race of peoples that her father may have come from. As a young girl, she thought of dashing bravery, devilishly handsome peoples. As she grew, she thought more of her own innate talents that may be explained by her paternity.
Her looks gave nothing away, she could have passed for Sebacean with her dark hair, so dark that it seemed to absorb energy. Her mother was part Interion, so K'Tahli's hair, although always a rich raven's black, would reflect colors. The colors would change with her strong feelings. Her eyes were gold, a gleaming warmth that let all who saw her be unable to turn away angry. She had Sebacean strength and Khalish flexibility. For all the intensity in her talent, she had a lightness of spirit, her ability to make light in a situation was the perfect foil for Ashan.
Ashan was serious to the point of formal in public. When he reached his eighteenth cycle, Marata had given him a middle name. In the tiny, unnamed planetary civilization they lived in, no one had middle names. Marata swore him to uphold peace and the saving of lives, all lives. He complied, as was his nature. He was a fierce opponent with a sense of what was right that matched the village holy men. One had to be looking very hard to catch the brief flash of mischief in his dark eyes. He was tall, standing nearly a head taller than his wife. He had the rangy muscular build of a man comfortable with being on the move, from the labors of everyday living. The men of the village trained one another with weaponry to be able to defend their homes.
"I cannot link with mother. Perhaps she sleeps late this day." He said, without much conviction, as Marata was an early riser.
"Perhaps she and Win are." K'Tahli winked.
Ashan's eyes grew wide. "K'Tahli! That is my Mother and Father you are talking about!" Despite his apparent horror at considering his parents recreating, the light moment enabled him to table his worries and continue his preparations for the trip to the village beyond the ridge. He valued the increased healing ability he had when K'Tahli came with him on these visits, but he earlier had spoken truth. He enjoyed the company of his life mate, and was filled with a bittersweet feeling of joy and dread when he considered her. Joy at the life they were building together, dread for the thought of ever losing her. The Peacekeepers seemed to be paying more attention to the ragtag bunch of planets nearby. He continued preparing his pack with an unshakable notion that the next several arns would be pivotal. He could not begin to know how right he was.