This chapter is late due to a little bit of virus trouble... no matter. It's back and hopefully better than before!
(Mariah's POV, the present)
At this point, I could have killed my daughter for having telekinetic power extending only to immediate family. Ray was staring at me like a deer in the headlights and I was surprised that he hadn't started questioning what Trinity had been talking about.
I was doing my best to keep my fourth pregnancy a secret, a secret that I obviously couldn't keep forever but heck, I was willing to agree that I was getting fat if it ever came down to that. Ray had made it pretty clear that three extra mouths to feed were enough; perhaps I was afraid that he was going to feel that I'd let him down...
So that was now... seven people that knew. Lee, because he was my brother and I doubted he'd tell Ray over his dead body, Emily, because she was the doctor, Max, because Emily was a good person but she didn't know when to shut up, Trinity, and the three kids, who undoubtedly had found out through each other or reading my mind or whatever they did.
Ray was still staring at me stupidly, as though he was expecting the answers to the riddles to jump out and bite him on the ass. Sheesh... for being pregnant, I was in a particularly foul mood. All the doctors reckon women are happy when...
"Mari..." Ray started, in his warning tone, cutting through my thoughts.
"Yes, Ray?" I replied, a little quickly but succeeding in sounding very clueless and unconcerned.
"What did Trinity mean?"
I felt other people staring at me besides Ray and looked downward to see Kurai and Lita staring up at me with some sort of bemused wonderment.
'Yeah... everyone look at the woman who's fallen victim to an immaculate conception.'
"What was Trinity talking about?"
"I don't know what you mean, Ray." It was as though I was reading from a script: tilt head to the side slightly, look concerned.
"She looked directly at you and said you were keeping a secret," Ray said, almost sarcastically, but then he frowned to show he was serious. "You know there have never been any secrets between us."
Of course I knew that. If it was any different I wouldn't feel so guilty about not telling him about exactly what was wrong.
"I know that."
"Well, what's wrong?"
"Nothing. Like I said, I don't know what she was talking about."
Ray opened his mouth to speak again, but shut it when I gave him the look- aah, the almighty Look. It was halfway between 'why are you mad at me' and 'I thought you loved me'.
"If you need to talk, you know you always have me," he said finally, before getting up and leaving the room. He poked his head back around the door momentarily and grinned. "Don't forget that Gary and Kevin should be arriving soon."
Phew- I was off the hook for a little while longer. I don't know how it's going to last, however...
(The future)
...A sudden rush of blood to the head... vision blurred... voices in the background... clean kind of smell... reflective surroundings...-
'What the Hell? Where am I?'
-Get out of here!-
'What if it's dangerous?'
-GO! NOW!-
Marth snarled and lashed out at whatever was surrounding him, leaving six large scratches in the otherwise immaculate metal on the floor of the cell where he was being kept, and immediately felt weak after the usual burst of power that came when Kintora decided to make its move. Immediately afterwards, Marth felt exhaustion take him and he fell backwards, onto his back and panted lightly, trying to move but he was unable to for some reason...
He could sense different life forms all around him; some primitive one (probably some sorts of lab animals), to genetically modified humans or creatures, to some that weren't human at all...
He sighed and shut his eyes; he could feel them prying into his mind...
'You can hear me, can't you?'
'Very good, Kintora. Then again, I really shouldn't be calling you that. After all, you alone are not Kintora...'
'Cut the crap,' Marth hissed. There were a few things he couldn't stand and one was the horrible, mocking tone whoever-it-was was using; like they were talking to a small child or an animal... 'Why did you come after me? My sisters are older and therefore far beyond my own level of strength.'
'Who says that we didn't make a multiple choice?' the voice replied, and Marth felt cold sweat slide uncomfortably down his back. 'We were only going to take you and one of your sisters, but by taking all three of you it's safer for us, don't you think?'
'Why do you need one of each gender?'
'To... experiment... so we can find out which side of your family you inherit the Kintora powers from.'
'You idiot!' Marth snorted. 'We get our Kintora traits from both our parents. If either of my parents had children by other people, they would be normal. As would any children we mothered or fathered.'
But is that true?
The niggling, obvious little question that had been haunting the back of Marth's mind ever since Kurai and Lita were born resurfaced. There was no denying that his sister's two children were special... but their father had not relation whatsoever to any of the Holy Beings, except for possessing the Red Phoenix... They were not a bit-beast combined like he and his sisters were, but they radiated Holy Being energy and they could talk to him and Kirra through telepathy, just like he and his sisters could.
'Finally figured it out, huh?' the mocking voice returned. 'The Kintora gene isn't recessive. None of the other Kintora-hybrids like yourselves had children, so how could you really be so sure?'
'What... how can you hear that?' Marth asked uncertainly. Even he could keep his thoughts from his sisters if he really wanted to, so how could these guys hear them?
'We're monitoring your brainwaves, you fool. I should be thanking you, because the way you and your sister communicate gave me the idea for this particular machine. But your niece and nephew can also communicate with you in that way... not as unique as you thought you were, are you?'
'Leave Kurai and Lita out of this,' Marth snarled in reply. It was a completely empty threat, but it made him feel slightly more confident in himself.
'If all goes to plan, all we'll need is their mother.'
'You won't be able to hold Trin the way you're holding me. In fact, I doubt you'll hold me here for much longer anyway. That injection you gave me... it was strong, it used too much of its power first up. I doubt it will last much longer.'
As if on key, a girl (yes, a human girl) walked through the sliding door of Marth's cell. She was about eighteen years of age, with dirty blonde hair and dull brown eyes. It was easy to see that she was being controlled by whomever it was that had been talking to him, as she had a large syringe filled with clear liquid in her right hand. She held it up to the light and flicked it, squirting a miniscule portion of the serum out of the hypodermic to rid the liquid of air bubbles. She then walked over to Marth and hoisted his upper body onto her lap, yanking up the tattered sleeve of his Senshi battle uniform and jabbing the syringe swiftly into his arm and emptying it in about ten seconds flat, which was mildly disturbing in itself, as the needle looked like it was designed for particularly large elephants and not humans. Marth's entire body was still numb from the previous injection, so he didn't feel the needle pierce through his skin.
The girl placed him back onto the floor and hurriedly left the room, tucking the hypodermic back into her pocket as she went. If it was possible
'We have more than enough of the fluid we just gave you for you and your sisters. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more important things to do than be discussing things that are none of your business with you.'
Marth didn't reply; he knew it was pointless. They wouldn't be listening anymore; so he couldn't wheedle any more information out of them... not that it would be any good anyway... he was too weak to make contact with his sisters. However, this did present quite an opportunity... but which Holy Being would he waste it on?
He shut his eyes and concentrated, already feeling what little energy he had left in him ebbing away... just whoever was closest...
'I can hear you, Kintora.'
Keturah...?
'We all assumed that you would have perished.'
'So did I,' Marth admitted to the reptilian bit beast. 'Is everyone alright?'
'Tasha is fine, if that is what you mean,' the dragon replied smugly, but her voice had a tone that made it sound like she wanted to add, 'Physically, but perhaps not mentally' at the end of the sentence.
'... That's good,' Marth replied awkwardly and slightly belatedly, 'What about my sister and her squadron?'
'To my knowledge, they are fine for now, at least.'
'At least now I have a clear conscience... I don't want any of them to get hurt for my sake.'
'Even if I told them that, I highly doubt that they would listen,' the black dragon replied sceptically.
'Either way, thank you Keturah.'
'Good luck, Kintora,' she replied, worry crossing her usually calm voice. 'She will come for you soon...'
'Who...?' Marth started, but the black dragon had already gone. Marth once again felt exhaustion sweep over him and he shut his eyes, trying to recuperate. But it was a long time before he fell into a fitful slumber.
Kirra kicked the last tent peg out of the ground, towards Kamali who was swiftly packing the entire thing up, and hoisted her now light knapsack onto her aching back. Loch watched on, with the biggest, stupidest smirk Kirra had ever seen in her life plastered across his face. He looked like an obese from that had just devoured the giant cockroach she had found in her 'food' just the day before. Kirra was extremely peevish (being around Loch just made it come naturally to her, combined with being kicked out of her own family's profession) but her rage was no-where near the level of Tasha' malice. The younger woman's eye blue eyes flashed with an anger Kirra had never seen before, her muscles were tensed and her jaw occasionally slipped to the side when she made a slightly more obvious grit of her teeth.
The four now-dismissed Senshi finished packing and looked towards the barren lands to the west of where they stood. Kurai and Lita had simply done something unruly, so they had been dismissed back to the base. Artemis had been badly injured, so they couldn't send her out into the middle of nowhere; she had also been sent back to the HQ. No such luck for 'traitors' such as them.
Mahalia was the first to start moving. She stormed forward without looking back, but made sure to jam two particular fingers back, in Loch's general direction. He snorted in a very pig-like way, but otherwise made no response.
Kamali started after Mahalia, gripping Kirra's hand and pulling her along with him, as she had just opened her mouth and started saying something to the effect of "You fat fu-" to Loch. She let Kamali lead her away but she continued to glare over her shoulder at Loch until she could no longer see him.
Tasha stayed behind, waiting until the others were out of sight until she picked up the bag with her tent in it with two hands and slung her backpack haphazardly over her right shoulder. She was still facing Loch, glaring at him furiously.
"I was loyal to the Senshi."
"That loyalty became void when you chose to help Martheo Kon."
"I don't see why I should be punished for one... error in judgement. Other than that, I was loyal," Tasha reprimanded herself for taking so long to think of an excuse. She couldn't have just stood there and watched Marth get killed, no matter how annoying she had found him at times.
"Loyalty means nothing out here!" Loch snarled.
"That's obvious," Tasha replied hotly, before spinning around on her heel and stalking after the ex-Squadron A.
"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is find a place to peg this tent again," Mahalia said, brushing at a particularly determined fly, that kept buzzing circles around her head. Kamali nodded without looking back but Kirra didn't respond, and it didn't take a genius to figure out why. She was in one of those incurably shitty moods that she got herself into regularly, and there was no point in trying to get through to her until she calmed down (although Kamali regularly tried to calm her down, it was really an uphill battle).
Kamali's eyes caught Mahalia's, and both pairs of eyes were immediately rolled in the direction of the heavens.
"I say we make the most of this," Mahalia said, purposefully raising the volume of her voice, "At least we're all together. We should look on the bright side."
"Whatbright side is there to look on?" Kirra asked.
"That's actually a fair question," Kamali commented, but Kirra ignored him.
"We're stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with enough rations between us to last for a week, and no friends or help! What's the point?"
"You know very well you could just leave Kamali and me to die, so what's stopping you?" Mahalia asked, and Kirra halted. Mahalia knew that she'd centred in on the very topic Kirra obviously didn't want to discuss. Mahalia thought that Kirra would barely think twice if it were only the two of them, but knew for a fact that she wouldn't leave Kamali behind. The reason? They were too close. Or perhaps the sex was just too good to pass up. Either way, she wouldn't leave him behind to die, let alone Mahalia herself; one would have to duffer through a serious case of the guilts if they wanted to do that.
They continued to walk in an uncomfortable silence for a while until the land started to elevate to match the temperature; semi-large rocks and small cliffs and inclines surrounded them. Kamali noticed a particularly sheltered looking place and stopped. Kirra and Mahalia followed his lead and looked in the direction he was looking in.
"Looks like a good place... sheltered from the elements a fair bit, reasonably concealed..." Kamali muttered to himself.
'The pet Golden Retriever has taken over household management,' Kirra noted mentally, a small smile crossing her lips.
Kamali strode towards said area, and dumped the tent on the ground, unzipped the bag and began the daunting task of reassembling the structure.
Mahalia flopped lazily down on the nearest flat rock, and noticed the younger, pink-haired woman gazing after her lover and her face cracked into a grin.
"The way you're looking at him, I can tell you're thinking something dirty."
"I was actually just wondering if he needed any help," Kirra replied lightly, but it was a transparent excuse.
"Leave him. Men just love having a project to work on. Keeps 'em entertained."
"If you say so."
"Speaking of love, what about you and Kamali?"
"Please don't say the 'L' word."
"And why not?" Mahalia inclined an eyebrow and Kirra spun around to face her.
"Because from my past experiences, once you say the 'L' word, men think you're theirs to do with what they want."
"You mean, when you were with Kamali, it wasn't the first time you'd slept with someone?"
"Of course not," Kirra retorted irritably.
"Who, then?"
Kirra didn't reply.
"Hello?"
"Don't make me answer that," Kirra replied, a low tone in her voice.
"What? Bad experience?"
"You could say that. For one thing, I was off my face. Secondly, it was because of a lost bet. And thirdly, the phrase 'bad experience' doesn't even come close to what happened. It was worse."
"You were off your face the first time you kissed Kamali," Mahalia commented, while something in her mind clicked about how repulsive the loss-of-virginity occasion had been for Kirra.
"What? How did you... damn it," Kirra said finally, glaring at her friend, who simply blinked innocently in defence.
"So you were drunk..." Mahalia said, trying to avert Kirra's anger from herself, whilst thinking, 'no wonder she has such a hard time opening up to people'.
"Do you really need to know this?"
"Just the name really, but gory details won't go astray."
Kirra shook her head. "If Kamali found out, I'd never forgive myself. I doubt that you and Kamali could ever look at me the same, either."
"You have my complete confidentiality and support," Mahalia nodded and folded her arms across her chest stubbornly.
"You're not going to give up until I tell you, are you?" Kirra cocked her head to one side and surveyed the dark-haired woman.
Mahalia grinned, "Nope."
Kirra sighed and averted her gaze from Mahalia and stared fixedly at the ground.
"... It was Loch..."
"WHAT!" Mahalia exclaimed, falling backwards off the rock she was sitting on at the same time.
"I told you," Kirra accused.
"Okay, you've made some pretty stupid decisions in your life, Kirra, that's pretty obvious, but..."
"That was the stupidest?" Kirra completed the sentence for the older woman.
"How'd you guess?" Mahalia asked sarcastically.
"It's exactly what my sister said when I told her. And just who said it was a decision, perse?"
"Oh..." Mahalia murmured, pulling a dead twig out of her hair and brushing the dust from her already filthy clothes.
"The next day it was like I was transparent and he could see right through me."
"That's generally how it goes. My ex-husband saw right through me and saw our marriage councillor on the other side."
"Now that sucks," Kirra commented; she didn't want pity- she despised it. Possibly the only thing she hated more than pity was Loch.
"Kirra, I can assure you, I pity you more than anyone else I ever knew, but at the same time I envy you."
"And why is that? I can assure you, Loch has the sexual abilities of a deflated balloon," Kirra snorted. That was the way she did it: playing it tough.
"I envy you because you have Kamali. Whether you think so or not, that kid worships the ground you walk on and loves you more than anyone else. And whether you choose to love him back is once again your decision, although I'd recommend it. You both need each other now more so than ever. And I'm petty sure even an innocent kid like that could beat Loch in the category of sexual ability."
"You're not wrong..." Kirra murmured, her eyes glazing over slightly before she realized what she was doing and snapped out of her thought to find Mahalia grinning at her.
"So you see? Forget about that stupid prick Loch and focus on the present and Kamali."
"Yeah... I think I'm in love with Kamali. I think. I just don't know how to say it or show it, I suppose."
"You'll figure it out, I'm sure," Mahalia smiled.
"Marth told me that too... and I'll do my best to figure it out for my own sake. I'll be able to concentrate on helping him if I get these other matters out of my mind first," Kirra frowned determinedly and clenched her fists slightly.
"That's the spirit!" Mahalia commented, sitting back down on the rock, yawning and stretching.
"Thank you, Mahalia," Kirra said; "I doubt I could have seen through my own stupid self-pity if you hadn't helped."
"No probs," Mahalia grinned. "Mahalia Zeona, resident shrink."
The two women smiled at each other, and Kamali called out to them; "Hey! I could use a little help, if it isn't too much trouble..."
"MAO-CHAN!"
Mariah let out a short, soft grunt, as Kevin slammed into her stomach in an overdone hug. Ray tensed but said nothing as he watched his green-haired friend nuzzled into his wife's chest in an ecstatic embrace. Gary also stepped into the entrance of Ray and Mariah's house, surveying his surroundings before he gave Ray a pat on the back, which almost knocked the dark-haired man over. Lee watched on, clenching his jaw tightly as he watched his short friend getting a cheap fondle out of his sister, although he doubted that Kevin even knew what he was doing. He also doubted that Kevin was aware of the fact that Ray was most likely mentally skinning him with a blunt penknife.
Eventually, Ray's natural instincts of protection and jealousy got the better of him and he managed to pry Kevin off Mariah and say hello to him. Mariah and Gary exchanged hugs and friendly words and Kevin and Gary advanced on their ex-team leader shortly afterwards and had the usual exchange of polite words between old friends.
"Now that we're all here, we should go into the lounge room," Ray decided, turning on his heel and leading the way. Gary followed, but Mariah, Lee and Kevin lagged behind.
"Hey Mao, have you put on weight?" Kevin asked in a voice that seemed too loud for he situation, blinking his one visible eye innocently the whole time. Aside from being extremely rude, it was shying on a topic that Mariah didn't want to discuss, especially with Ray and Gary around to hear it.
"Shut up, you idiot," Lee snarled, voicing was Mariah was thinking.
Kevin frowned and thought about it for a moment, and then opened his eye(s) wide in realisation.
"Are you pre-"
"Sow-sen!" Mariah hissed at Kevin who snorted indignantly and turned away.
"Tsao ni zuzong shiba dai..." Kevin muttered under his breath.
"What?" Mariah questioned. Her voice had fallen to a deadly, low decibel.
"Nothing..." Kevin replied. But, judging from Lee and Mariah reactions, he knew his assumption was right...
(AN: Must clarify: Lee and Mariah were speaking Cantonese and Kevin retorted to Mariah in Mandarin.)
Tasha continued through the barren land, gripping the heavy tent bag with one hand and her beyblade with the other. The bit chip shone comfortingly as she looked down upon her 'blade, signalling she still had her bit beast's support, at least. For the very first time, she craved to have Marth or Artemis near her; she showed no physical signs of her loneliness, but felt her chest hollow as she remembered the sickening snap as Artemis' arm broke and Marth being engulfed by darkness as they captured him...
Tasha shook her head to clear her mind of such thoughts, right now she needed to focus on the present and find the ex-Squadron A members so she had at least a little bit of backup in case of attack, aside from Keturah.
'Keturah, how far are Squadron A?'
'Not far, Tasha. You should reach the place in approximately five minutes, if you continue to move at your current pace.'
'Thank you, Keturah.'
'My pleasure,' the black dragon responded heartily, causing Tasha to crack a small grin.
The dark-haired girl continued on, slower now- she had almost been running before. But, to her shock, the sun quickly sunk low in the sky, half-disappeared behind the horizon, dyeing the sky a brilliant purple colour, the same royal purple that her bit chip glowed every time she needed Keturah's guidance. She began to feel slight panic creeping up on her; it was very dangerous to be out at night with all of the scouts and spies of the enemy out, looking for that one opportunity...
'Be calm, Tasha. I can see the light from the lamp in their tent.'
Tasha squinted into the distance, not having such sharp eyesight as the dragon, but eventually seeing a pinprick of light in the distance. Sure enough, the bit beast was correct. She could now see the outline of the tent in the thin, pale moonlight that was giving the surrounding area a haunting, eerie glow.
As she approached, Kirra stepped out of the tent and surveyed her, as she got closer, but made no attempt to help her whatsoever. Tasha was glad for this fact; if Kirra had attempted to help she probably would have rejected her anyway.
"Decided to join us, eh?" Kirra asked as Tasha walked past her without looking at her. Tasha decided not to dignify that question with an answer. Kirra shrugged a 'be that way' shrug but watched with slight amusement as Tasha stared blankly at the tent she had just pulled roughly out of its carry-case. Kirra raised one arm and fisted her hand swiftly and Tasha subconsciously tensed. Kirra then hit the tent directly behind her.
"Kamali!" she snapped.
A slightly grunt and the sound of someone rolling over on an extremely squeaky camp bed were the only replies she got.
"C'mon!" she half-shouted irritably, whacking Kamali again and this time she got a proper response.
"Argh! What the Hell...?"
"Come out and help me, please."
"What with...?"
"Tasha just arrived and she's clueless as to how to set up a tent."
After a few moments, the front of the tent unzipped itself once again and Kamali stepped out, rubbing his bleary eyes and attempting to stifle a yawn. His shirt was on backwards so Tasha assumed he'd pulled it on rather hurriedly.
Kirra smiled, without any hint of a smirk, and gestured to the tent. Kamali scowled.
"I live to serve you, mistress."
"Don't forget it," Kirra replied. She was smirking now.
Tasha lay back in her newly formed tent, completely alone... aside from the large dark violet dragon, whose tail was sticking out of the tent entrance, and flicking lightly against the side of the tent.
'You're lonely, Tasha.'
'I am not lonely, Keturah,' Tasha replied hotly. She was getting rather tired of the bit beast's mollycoddling, although she knew the dragon meant well.
'You miss the company of your Squadron. Over the last four months you have grown used to their companionship.'
'I do not miss the company of the squadron.'
'Fine, I shall be more specific; you miss Marth.'
'Fine, I shall be more specific; you miss Marth.'
Marth was swiftly awoken from his fitful slumber at the rich, rippling sound of the black dragon's voice. He automatically tried to sit up but of course couldn't manage, having no control over his numb limbs. Tasha didn't reply, and Marth felt Keturah's smugness. She was obviously very pleased with herself.
'It seems I have touched a nerve, Tasha.'
'What are you talking about, Keturah?'
'It's rather obvious. Don't forget that our minds are one in the same.'
'... alright, I admire his courage. Nothing more.'
'You admire his body...' Keturah replied heartily, and Marth choked on the air he was breathing. 'And the way he kisses...' the reptilian bit beast added, and Marth felt his face flush to a colour that was roughly equivalent to the colour of his mother's hair.
'Keturah...' Tasha said in a slightly embarrassed tone of voice.
'I do believe I am right, Tasha.'
'You're not wrong... look at it that way, rather than you being right.'
'I am sure...' Keturah retorted, with slight sarcasm.
'I'm tired now, Keturah,' Tasha said abruptly, obviously looking for an excuse for not answering the dragon's persistent but subtle questions.
'If you say so... goodnight, Tasha.'
The dragon received no reply from her dark-haired mistress. Marth was in emotional turmoil. He'd been having trouble sleeping before, but Hell, he'd NEVER get to sleep now!
(Three hours later)
The snap of a twig, and the sound of someone brushing past the tent...
Kamali sat bolt upright, causing Kirra's head to slide off his chest and land lightly in his lap. Kamali was able to ignore this for the moment, because he was rather used to Kirra's head resting on his lap (or, rather, it wasn't the first time she'd been face-down in his crotch).
He heard another sound and saw a shadow rushing past the side of the tent, illuminated by the moonlight.
Mahalia sat up and looked to where the shadow had disappeared.
"What was that?" she whispered to Kamali, who shook his head.
"We should go and look."
"Uh-huh," Mahalia said, smiling, "But first you'd better get Kirra out of that unfortunate position."
Kamali showed no sign of embarrassment as he lifted Kirra up onto the pillow he'd been lying on.
"Come on," he whispered, flicking himself off the bed with as much grace as someone of his stature could muster, and followed Mahalia out into the pitch-blackness that now surrounded them, due to the moon being shrouded by a cloud.
The two ex-Senshi slunk out into the night, showing the stealth skills that at least Mahalia had picked up; it wasn't exactly easy to hide someone who was six foot tall and looked about a metre wide. 'But, Mahalia supposed, he could probably beat off any attacker with brute strength.'
The creature slunk up behind the two humans, its large ears pinned to its head, long gleaming white fangs beared.
At this point, it unintentionally stood on another twig.
Kamali and Mahalia spun around to face the sound.
And screamed.
Kirra's eyes shot open as she heard her friends' screams. She ripped the top sheet off the bed and wrapped it around her otherwise bear skin, having no clean things to wear at night in her possession, and dashed outside of the tent... and running headlong into Kamali's back.
"Ouch!" she snapped, but Kamali reached back and grabbed her hand to silence her. Both his and Mahalia's eyes were locked on the peculiar creature that sat before them, but neither dared to move. The creature's ears were still pinned to its head and its tail flicked irritably. It looked human, but no. It couldn't be... could it?
Kirra broke free from Kamali's grip and ran around him to get a look at what both he and Mahalia were staring at.
Her eyes widened when she saw what, or rather, who, it was.
That's...
"Mysticisia?"
The human/bit beast sat back in a feline sitting position and surveyed Kirra with overly large eyes.
"Aah! Kintora, I am glad to see you. These human eyes do not provide such good vision as my own..."
"I know..." Kirra murmured, before turning her attention back to the bit beast. "Why are you here?"
"My master is gone, so I come to his next-of-kin," the tiger responded.
"Are the others with you?" Kirra continued to interrogate her brother's bit beast.
"My youngest female litter-mate is here... Mystellara is not here."
"I didn't think she would be."
"I think she has gone back to your sister. No doubt she feels that Trinity needs her now more than ever."
"I don't doubt that. My sister... does not have many lines of defence back at home."
"She would protect your parents to the death," Mysticisia commented, a slight purr erupting from his throat as he pronounced the 'r' in 'protective'. It sounded like some sort of bizarre, poorly done French accent. "And I don't think that is an especially wise choice."
"Would you protect Driger and Galux if they were in danger?" Kirra questioned, starting to lose her temper with the Mystic's calm, deep voice and relaxed nature.
"I have little to do with my parents," the tiger responded, flicking his rosette-dotted tail once, in slight annoyance.
"I know that," Kirra retorted, becoming extremely frustrated, "But would you allow yourself to simply watch on as they were torn apart for the threat they supposedly impose on the enemy?"
"I would have to say no," Cisia said.
"Then do not criticize my sister's choices."
"As you wish, Kintora."
"Go and patrol or go catch a rat to eat or something," Kirra flicked the tips of her fingers on her right hand at the bit beast and used her left hand to prevent the sheet she had wrapped around her from falling down.
"I am no common house cat," Mysticisia responded, but began to move off anyway, moving awkwardly in him 'human on all fours' way. But before he left entirely, he turned around to face Kirra and pulled his darkish lips back over his pure white fangs in a strange-looking grin.
"I know you humans prefer to hang all sorts of cloth off yourselves, but I have never seen anything quite like that."
"Just go," Kirra sighed. "Go and stand watch."
"As you wish," Mysticisia responded, springing forward and dashing off swiftly into the night.
(Two hours later)
Mahalia awoke slowly to a slight grunting sound outside of the tent. Her immediate thought was, "That darn bit beast is back!" so she decided to investigate, naturally. The idiotic animal didn't know when to stop!
She slipped out of the tent stealthily, glad that she didn't even stir Kamali or Kirra. Technically, she should have awoken one of them to use as backup, but they looked so disgustingly adorable all cuddled together like that...
The moon had slipped behind a cloud; there was darkness as far as the eye could see. A cold breeze brushed past her as her eyes flickered from one side of her, to the other, alert, and watching for any sign of movement.
...A slow pace was all that was needed... as long as she didn't hear...
Mahalia shivered- she felt like she was being watched, but she was unsure where she was being watched from. Her stomach gave an uncomfortable lurch and she stayed perfectly still.
... So close now...
Something rushed past her, causing her to jump back and call out in surprise. She felt her stomach heave with fear as she backed into something completely different. She spun around and screamed. But this was no mere surprised scream, like the one from hours earlier. No, this was a scream of pure terror...
Kirra sat up, awoken by a loud scream from outside the safe haven of the tent. It could have been some animal or something, but no. This scream was definitely human.
Kirra automatically looked over to Mahalia's bed, to see if she had also been awoken, only to find Mahalia's bed empty. Her eyes widened and she desperately shook Kamali's sleeping form.
"Kamali!"
"... Huh?" he murmured under his breath, looking up at her worried face.
"Mahalia's gone!" she whispered hurriedly.
"What?" he sat up promptly and stared at the woman who was sitting in his lap.
"... I heard a scream," Kirra tried to keep herself calm, but she couldn't stop the stuttering and trembling in her voice.
Before she knew it, she had been placed on her feet by Kamali, who was now standing up and yanking on his gloves quickly.
"Come on," he muttered, darting out of the tent. Kirra scrambled around desperately, looking for her own gloves, but this method did not prove thorough enough. She forgot about her gauntlets and dashed out into the cool night air, so different to the humid climate of the tent.
The first thing she saw was Kamali, crouched in the shadows (although this did very little to hide him). The second thing she saw was a youma, crouched over a motionless human form. She felt the colour drain from her face as she moved slowly towards it, watching as it revelled in its own craftiness. It was gloating like anything to something invisible, it reminded Kirra of a child showing off his new toy to a bunch of jealous friends.
Kirra was close enough to attack now. She knew that the only reason Mahalia had been attacked was due to her being caught off-guard... well, perhaps it was time to use the youma's own tactics against it. The creature hissed delightedly and crouched over Mahalia, flicking its snake-like, black tongue over its yellow teeth.
Kirra dashed forward and grabbed the creature around the neck, throwing it violently to the ground, and kicking it, causing it to slide a few metres across the sand. She was vaguely aware of Kamali rushing over to Mahalia, picking her up and running back to the tent with her, but this fact could be easily ignored at that point in time.
She was on fire, completely fuelled by her pent-up rage and frustration. After bashing the youma senseless for a while, and letting out her anger, she raised her fist over her head and slammed her hand through the creature's gut. It gagged and coughed up some of the oil-like blood that fuelled it, and Kirra winced as she felt the electric burn on her gloveless hand. She shut her eyes for a moment, gritting her teeth as she felt eh skin on her knuckles burn, but opened her eyes when the creature sniggered.
She stared down on it, and it had a look of triumph on its face.
"We told you... and you know now that we were not kidding."
"What are you talking about?" Kirra snarled, and then something clicked in the back of her head. "We'll be back for you. Until then, everyone you care for is in danger..."
"He..."
"What?"
"He will be next..." the youma spat at her, finally becoming still and saying no more. What little colour was left in Kirra's face quickly disappeared, and an unsettling feeling of guilt replaced it. It was happening, just as she feared it would... Mahalia had been the warning. And Kamali would be next, unless she bowed to their will...
Kamali's eyes flickered up from Mahalia, but only momentarily, as Kirra entered the tent. The woman's breathing was extremely shallow and she had a severe cut across her stomach. Kirra felt her face pale again and she turned away. Instead she became fixated on Kamali, who was digging through their small first aid kit, looking for bandages, she assumed.
He grabbed various items and just dumped them on the floor, albeit carefully, as he came to them; antiseptic cream, a box of bandaids ('Perhaps if he used the whole box?' Kirra thought weakly), cotton swabs (never opened or used), condoms (opened and presumably very well used) and finally, underneath the rest of the stuff, bandages.
Kamali grabbed the community katana and cut of a sizeable hunk of the white cloth, and looked up at Kirra.
"I need you to hold her up while I bandage her up."
He said this so frankly that Kirra had a sudden spark of confidence. She crawled over and supported Mahalia's back with her good hand and Kamali just wrapped the bandage around her, over and over again, until there was none left.
"I don't like the way this is going for her," he finally admitted, "That cut is pretty deep and she's having a lot of trouble breathing."
Kirra nodded and watched the blood slowly begin to soak through the bandages, staining them a sickly red. Kamali's eyes flickered to her burnt hand and he blinked. Kirra turned away from Mahalia, only to find Kamali staring at her hand.
"It's okay. It doesn't hurt. Plus I can just heal it if it gets really bad."
"You're too tired," Kamali said firmly.
"You sound like my father," Kirra snarled.
"Maybe that way you'll take my advice," Kamali grinned.
Kirra rolled her eyes and stuck her hand out indignantly. Kamali grabbed what little of the bandages were left, and the antiseptic cream, and held her hand softly in his own, leaning down to kiss her palm softly before he quickly but efficiently swabbed and bandaged her hand.
"Now, you sleep," he commanded. "I'll keep watch."
Kirra opened her mouth to argue, but she felt so tired... she nodded exhaustedly and flopped half-heartedly onto the camp bed. Kamali watched her until she went to sleep, and then continued to watch Mahalia.
"Kirra!"
Kirra's eyes shot open and she sat bolt upright. Kamali was taring at her gravely.
"Mahalia hasn't got any better... I'm gonna take her up to the Senshi ranks and see if they'll just take her back."
Kirra laughed humourlessly. "She wouldn't be happy to know that we begged for her life if she was awake."
"No, she wouldn't... she drifted in and out of consciousness last night, but whenever she was awake, she was weak."
"It's worth a try..." Kirra murmured, "But I doubt that Loch will show us any sympathy whatsoever."
"Like you said, we at least have to try," Kamali decided. He reached for Mahalia, but Kirra stopped him.
"I'll carry her," she whispered, glaring at Mahalia for a second before her eyes glinted gold and Mahalia began to hover off the ground, her limbs drooping down lifelessly beside her.
"Come on," she whispered, in a voice deeper than the norm. Kamali nodded and followed Kirra.
Tasha glared out into the bright sunlight of the morning. Keturah was lying beside her, scales glinting in the sunbeams, a reptilian smile on her lips. The black dragon's tail flicked once and Tasha looked at her bit beast enquiringly.
'She's approaching... I thought they would be coming this way.'
'Who?' Tasha questioned. Her question was answered when she saw Kirra and Kamali walking past, with Kirra glaring furiously at an injured Mahalia, who was levitated into mid-air.
Tasha's right eyebrow rose as she watched them pass. Neither of them noticed her staring at them.
"Welcome! I'm so glad to see you down here!" Loch simpered to the woman in front of him.
The woman's grey eyes flashed dangerously. "I want to know where Kirralee and Martheo are."
"They are out on an assignment, I regret to inform you," Loch replied, "But I will certainly tell them that you were asking for them."
"Why do I doubt you're telling the truth? You've lied one too many times for my liking for me to believe you," the woman snapped, narrowing her eyes.
"I can assure you, they will be back shortly."
"Good. Now take me to the Medical Tent."
"We're almost there," Kamali breathed in relief. Kirra nodded but didn't reply, still completely focused on keeping Mahalia levitated.
They could see what was left of the Senshi camp over the hill; for some reason it looked even smaller than it was when they had left it.
'Surely not that many people could have died in such a short time?' Kirra thought.
They made it to the camp and as soon as they entered it, they felt judging glances and hatred weight them down.
"We'll go straight to the Medical Tent," she stated, and Kamali nodded in reply, his eyes darting nervously to either side of him.
They headed in that direction, and they felt eyes on them, even more so than before. Hopefully they weren't following them; begging to Loch was going to be one of the hardest things Kirra would ever have to do in her life.
The medical tent was reached, and it stood up, overshadowing Kirra like some sort of emblem of doom. She gulped, making sure to swallow her pride at the same time, and ducked into the tent, with Kamali almost having to crouch to follow her.
Loch was in there all right, facing the door as if expecting for them to come through it ('But that's impossible,' Kirra thought, 'How could he have known that we were coming?') and grinned like the cat that ate the canary.
"Back, are you? Ready to beg for forgiveness?"
"We just want you to take Mahalia," Kirra spat. "She's hurt, and we can't care for her as well as you can here."
"What makes you think we'll take one of you traitors back for a reason like that? The reason we send you out there is because we want you to die," Loch explained smugly.
"Please, just take her back!" Kirra was ashamed to feel tears budding at the corners of her eyes. She must have been trembling, because she felt Kamali's arm slide around her shoulder protectively.
"I'm not arguing with people I have no respect for! Now get back out there and be happy that you were banished and not killed!"
"Excuse me?"
Kirra looked behind Loch (which was no easy feat, because he was wider than he was tall) and Emily was standing there, hands on hips, eyes flashing a steely grey, orange hair swept back behind her.
Emily stormed over to Loch and stared him straight in the face.
"What were you just saying then?"
"Erm..." Loch started.
'There'll be no way for him to get out of this one,' Kirra thought happily.
"Get that young lady onto a bed now!" Emily commanded. Two young, nervous looking doctors rushed up and took Mahalia, rushing away with her.
"I'll be talking to Trinity and Kai about this, mark my words!" Emily shouted at Loch, making him take one step backwards. Kirra didn't blame him; Emily could be frightening when she was angry.
Emily turned to Kamali and Kirra and grinned.
"Just find somewhere to sit until we've finished patching her up. It was good of you to bandage her up to stop the bleeding."
"It was Kamali's idea," Kirra replied.
"Good job," Emily grinned, and Kamali beamed. Getting a compliment from one of the top dogs of the Senshi must've been something for someone who wasn't even an Elite yet.
Emily retreated and Kirra flopped down to the floor, weak with relief.
"We'll just wait here until they've finished and we'll find out how she is... then we'll have to leave," she muttered.
Kamali slid down next to her, resting her head on his shoulder and sighing.
(Two hours later)
Kirra was half-asleep on Kamali's shoulder when Emily returned to them. She vaguely wondered how he could be so alert after having so little sleep.
"Good news, we've revived her and she'll most likely make a full recovery. She lost a lot of blood, but we've got her hooked up to a drip."
Relief descended onto Kirra and she let out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, Kamali? She wants to see you."
Kamali's eyebrows shot up into his hairline.
"Me?"
"Yeah. She won't see anyone else."
Kirra looked slightly downhearted at this, so Kamali gave her good hand a quick squeeze and kissed the shell of her ear.
"I'll be back in a tick," he muttered, heaving himself to his feet and letting Emily lead him away. Emily shot a quick wink back at Kirra, who stiffened and blushed.
'Looks like someone's soothed the savage beast,' Emily chuckled mentally. 'And it was the most unlikely of people, too.'
Kamali looked from one injured person to the other; the Medical Tent had never been so full, and he doubted the injuries had ever been so horrific.
Emily stopped in front of one particular area, which was curtained off, and gestured to it.
"She's in there?" Kamali asked.
"Yes. Please don't let her talk too much, it'll just weaken her further," Emily said.
"Alright."
Kamali entered the curtained off area and saw Mahalia and almost retched. She was linked up to the most ridiculous amount of machines he'd ever seen, yet he knew ever one of them served a purpose.
Mahalia's eyes brightened slightly when she saw him and she raised one hand weakly in greeting.
"How are you?" Kamali asked uncertainly, kneeling beside Mahalia's head.
"I've been better," Mahalia whispered.
Kamali smiled weakly and nodded. "I should've known you wouldn't have changed."
"Kamali, the only reason I asked for you was to talk about Kirra."
"Why would we need to talk about her?" Kamali questioned.
"As you know, she has a hard time connecting with people. Have you ever stopped to consider why this is so?"
Kamali shook his head, and it was the truth. He'd just assumed it just came naturally to her.
"She was raped, Kamali, and it disgusts me to mention who by."
"Who..." Kamali said uncertainly.
"Loch. Please don't take it out on her," Mahalia rasped, watching the expressions on Kamali's face change rapidly. "She didn't want it to happen."
Kamali frowned and refused to meet Mahalia's eyes.
"She loves you, Kamali. She might have a hard time admitting it, but she loves you with every fibre in her being. You bring out the best in her, as she undoubtedly knows, and you've got to keep it that way for her, to keep her strong."
"Why did she tell you, and not me?"
"Well, you undoubtedly knew that she wasn't chaste," Mahalia commented dryly, "And I think she's scared of what you might think."
"I don't care," Kamali said firmly. "I just... wish she'd told me."
"Like I said, she was ashamed. And as I also said, don't hold it against her. She's a nice person; she just has trouble finding the right people to get close to. And she made the right choice in you."
Kamali nodded slowly in reply.
"Like I said, I don't care."
"Then get out there and show her you don't care," Mahalia commanded, with such finality in her voice that Kamali immediately got to his feet. Before he left, he turned around and smiled at Mahalia.
"I hope you get well soon."
"So do I," Mahalia replied lightly, before coughing into her hand softly, and looking after him pointedly. Kamali nodded and left the room.
(Back at the tent, night time)
Kirra was completely buggered. She was so tired that she was going to bed at 7:30. Who the Hell goes to bed at 7:30? Her, obviously. She took up her usual position, snuggled into Kamali's chest, calmed by the rhythmic rise of fall of his breathing.
"Kirra, I want to talk to you about something..."
"Uh-huh?"
"You know how when we... you know... for the first time... and you were already taken?"
"Yeah?" Kirra whispered weakly. He was going onto a topic she definitely didn't want to discuss.
"It was Loch, wasn't it?"
Kirra tensed and Kamali knew Mahalia hadn't been lying to him.
"So, you found out," she whispered dryly.
"Yeah... Mahalia told me..."
"Just go on and say it."
"What?"
"That you hate me."
"I could never hate you, Kirra," Kamali whispered. "I love you, and nothing will ever change that."
"Even though I did it with Loch?"
"I also understand it wasn't to your consent."
Kirra nodded slowly, feeling the hot prickle of tears in her eyes once again.
"Shh... I don't care, okay?" Kamali whispered.
"You don't?" Kirra sounded more surprised than she'd meant to. She sat up to stare him directly; she knew it was hard to lie to someone when they were looking right at you.
Kamali still shook his head. Kirra felt as though the world had been lifted off her shoulders. And as he leaned forward to kiss her, a single tear escaped from the corner of her eye, but was quickly brushed away as he caressed her face and leaned closer...
(Later...)
Still clinging to Kamali and still wide-awake, Kirra stared out into the night, feeling happy yet sad. He was endangering him here... and she didn't want to see him get hurt. Her decision was made.
She slipped off him silently, grabbing her clothes, which had been discarded to the floor what seemed like hours ago, and dug around in her knapsack for a pen and paper. She scribbled hurriedly on the paper and pressed in gently into Kamali's hand.
She then slunk out of the tent and into the night. She stood still, under the foxfire, for what seemed like hours, until she heard the voice...
"So, you have made the right choice."
"You hurt him, and I swear I'll kill you," she hissed to the darkness.
Silence for a moment. Then "You have my word."
Kirra nodded and shut her eyes. She immediately felt the cool rush of bodies running past her, a sharp jab in her right arm, and her limbs go numb. As the darkness consumed her, all she could think of was Kamali, and whether they would keep their promise...
Kamali woke, vaguely aware of the lack of weight on his chest. He shot up to a sitting position when he realized Kirra wasn't in the tent. He suddenly became aware of the piece of paper in his hand. He stared at it curiously, unfolded it and scanned it.
Just three words, written in Kirra's cramped handwriting.
I love you...
And it was at that exact moment that he realized he'd lost her.
