Chapter 34: Trials.
The whole world felt like it was made of liquid, as he tried in vain to focus Ryan's vision wobbled and swirled like he was looking through murky water.
He'd dragged his mind out of the void that it seemed to have been plunged into only to find that most of his senses seemed to have been left back in there, it had taken him a while to drag them back out as well and kinda felt like he was having to put his mind back together piece by piece.
First off it had been his hearing, all he'd been able to hear was a pulsing whine noise which while it had been very annoying had helped him to pull his mind together, then his sense of smell returned and he smelt damp and musty, next up had been touch and he'd felt that he was on a cold hard surface with what appeared to be some form of restrains on both his ankles and wrists, they were heavy and kinda weighed his arms and legs down, now was sight and this was being the most difficult so far.
Eventually Ryan's senses managed to reconnect and he was able to see the room he was currently in, he appeared to be in some sort of cell, it was dark and rather dank in here. He could see large chains holding his wrists and ankles down, for the life of him he couldn't remember how he'd gotten in here, the last thing he remembered was kissing with Sheena and then everything when black, his head was pounding like someone was hitting a drum in his mind and it made it difficult to focus properly, as he was trying to focus he heard footsteps approaching, the boomed seeming to echo off all the walls so that he couldn't actually tell what direction they were coming from, but that was a question that was swiftly answered.
As Ryan turned his head he noticed a large male standing behind a large cage door that sectioned his cell off from where ever he was now, the male wore some form of ceremonial armor that he recognized as Yaujta from his Matriarch's tales, it was black and silver over lapping plates that made their way up from his waist to his chest where a large crested breast plate sat, the markings were the same one's that Sheena had tattooed on her head.
The male had two large pauldrons covering his shoulders where dual plasma casters sat in an inactive state, his face was covered by a silver colored decorated hunting mask that seemed to have teeth of some kind glued to it, he seemed to have some sort of leather coat or cape draped over his back, it was the type that his father was rather fond of and it flowed all the way down his back to his ankles.
"So you're finally awake" the male said in a gruff voice, Ryan looked at him and a billowing white and grey aura swirled around him, this meant that he wasn't evil but Ryan felt that caution would be best advised here,
"Who are you? And why have you done this to me?" he asked trying to turn around and sit up so that he could face the door, it was a serious effort considering the weight of the chains restraining him, but determination made him achieve it and he finally got himself up right into a sitting position.
"I am Fen Ra Sharna Arbiter of the honored Shadow Claw clan and you are here to face your trial" the male said in a gruff voice, this confused Ryan,
"Trial? Trial for what? I have committed no crime" he said, the Arbiter huffed behind his mask,
"Your crimes are existence and corrupting one of our clan" Fen replied, this confused Ryan for only a moment before he realized what he meant,
"So wait, you're going to persecute me for merely existing!? And corrupting one of your clan? Who the hell did I corrupt!?" Ryan yelled his anger building at the sheer audacity of this, Fen Ra Sharna reached up with both hands and with a swift movement pulled his mask from his face, it was the face of a very battle hardened warrior, full of scars from the many battles he'd weathered, his bright green eyes focused on the young half breed.
"You corrupted Shena Black Crest daughter of the honorable Black Crest family, and in answer to your other question yes, your mere existence is an affront to the decency of our society, the Yaujta are a pure blood race and deviants who choose to mate with lesser species will be punished for their gall to defile Yaujta blood, in fact the only reason I didn't kill you both where you were was because of her family's status and yours as a Dream Warrior, so you're to face trial for what you are while she had been exiled on that planet you were on for hers, she's damn lucky she's not dead, if it wasn't for her family's status she'd have been a head on my wall" Fen said, now it was Ryan's turn to huff, in fact he confused Fen by bursting out into a fit of roaring laughter, Fen snarled at him.
"Why are you laughing half breed!?" he roared through the bars of the cell hitting them with his armored fists as he did, slowly and laboriously Ryan got to his feet and shuffled up to the bars smiling at the massive Arbiter as he did, the heavy chains made every movement painful and difficult but he was determined to look the massive Arbiter in the eye as he said his next bit,
"So let me get this straight, my crime is daring to exist and try to live a life that I had no choice in being given and for daring to fall in love with a member of your clan? And the only reason you didn't kill us both is because her family hold a lot of power within the clan and because I'm a Dream Warrior?" he said still smiling through the bars, the big Arbiter snarled at him,
"So? What's your point?" the Arbiter snarled, Ryan grinned broadly drawing his mandibles up and retracting his lips to show off his teeth,
"Well don't you see the double standards in your own actions?" he asked, Fen looked confused now,
"What double standards?" he snarled as if he was being accused of corruption,
"Well you say I am a being that should not be allowed to exist because I symbolize the mixing of Yaujta blood with that of another lesser species, yet you don't kill me like your so called moral honor dictates because I happen to be one of things that Yaujta revere, bit hypocritical don't you think? On one hand you have your honor screaming at you that I am a symbol of deviancy that can't be allowed to live because I could be used to show Yaujta everywhere that there is another way, but on the other hand you won't kill me because I am also a symbol of what the Yaujta revere the most" Ryan said grinning at the big male.
Fen Ra Sharna had to admit the young half breed did have a point with that one, on one hand he was honor bound to kill him because he symbolized deviancy and yet on the other he couldn't because of the fact that he was a Dream Warrior,
"Then on the other point you have what you did to Shena and don't get me wrong I'm damn grateful that you chose to leave the girl I love alive, but again with the double standards, you accuse her of deviancy because she dared to fall in love with someone that's not fully Yaujta, I mean really? You'd have been perfectly fine with her living a life of misery and sadness, you turn a blind eye to all the humiliation and pain she suffered at the hands of her own kind, but the second she steps outside of your precious little box and dares to seek happiness and love for herself she's condemned, your precious honor then dictates that you kill her, but you don't because it would piss off her family, who are perfectly fine with her being left on a planet to die alone or worse to be caught and raped by bad bloods, no they don't give a shit about that just as long as their precious honor is intact" Ryan spat, Fen Ra Sharna huffed again, he did have to admit that the young half breed did make a good point here, he'd always been a firm believer in the sanctity of the law, but it did seem to him that far too often things like status and power were factors in the rulings and people that were blatantly guilty got off either lightly or totally.
"You want to know something Arbiter?" Ryan said walking right up to the bars in almost a challenging manner, he knew the male wouldn't be able to resist the challenge, the Arbiter stepped right up to the bars himself and looked right into his eyes,
"What's that then?" he growled in response,
"You look at me like I'm something vile or disgusting and you blatantly think that I should be ashamed of myself, but I'm not ashamed of myself or my family, I am a product of pure love between two beings that dared to live their lives the way they wanted to, without either of their species telling them that they couldn't, they both sought happiness and love and they found it in each other and I'm damn proud to be the product of their love because I know no matter what that I am their joy as they are mine" Ryan said, Fen growled at the boy's defiant words, but he could see the fire and determination in the boy's bright eyes, in fact he was staring so intently at the boy's eyes that he didn't notice his hands moving till it was too late.
Ryan's hands shot out though the bars and seized the large male's exposed wrists and used the chains to loop around them to hold his hands in place so that he couldn't pull away, Fen looked down and tried to remove his hands but found that he couldn't because of the heavy chains looped around his wrists, "What are you doing!?" he demanded, Ryan smiled slyly in response,
"You want to judge me for who I am? Then see who I am, all of it" he replied, then as he looked at Fen his eye's flashed from purple to green and suddenly Fen's mind was flooded with images and emotions that were not his own as Ryan invaded his mind.
Fen Ra Sharna stood frozen in place as the young Dream Warrior invaded his mind, he'd heard the stories of the Dream Warriors and their legendry powers but this was the first time he'd ever seen one up close, the entirety of the young teenager's life flashed through his mind's eye in a fast forward, he saw everything the boy had lived and felt everything that he had felt, every triumph every failure, everything.
Then just as suddenly as it started it finished, Ryan sagged backwards and as he regained his senses Fen removed the looped chains from around his wrists, this caused Ryan to fall down backwards onto his arse, Fen grabbed the bars in his hands and looked though the bars at the young Dream Warrior as he sat panting on the floor, "What the pauk did you just do to me!?" he roared at the boy, Ryan opened his eyes and looked up at the big male and to his surprise he saw tears streaming down his face,
"Simple, I showed you the life that you would condemn in its entirety" he said,
"Take it back!" Fen said his voice sounding desperate as he reached through the bars for the young Dream Warrior, the feelings and thoughts that were spinning through his mind were now a mixture of his own and the young boy's they were entwining like colored smoke in his mind infusing together to become one, the feelings and thoughts scared him because of how different from his own they were but how familiar they felt, he'd seen everything from the joys of hunting with the boy's mother who felt rather familiar to him to the intensity of the love he felt for the young Black Crest girl,
"What is done cannot be undone, embrace it Arbiter, you judge others for daring to be different from your prescribed life in a box, this is what it feels like when the box is taken away, welcome to my life" Ryan panted, Fen slammed his fist against the bars hard enough to cause the metal to dent and the boom of it to echo though out the prison area, then with that he turned and walked away from the young boy as fast as he could, he couldn't bare to look at him any longer, his feelings were a totally jumbled mess now, on one hand he was seeing the things that he'd always seen, but now in his mind was another voice and it was questioning everything he'd every believed in, but what scared him the most was the fact that the voice wasn't the boy's, it was his own.
Ryan panted hard as he watched the Arbiter walk off in a hurry, he smiled to himself as he watched him go, his plan had been successful but it had really taken it out of him, he knew that right now the Arbiter was questioning everything he'd ever believed in, this would keep him on the back foot for a while. Ryan struggled to right himself, this memory transference lark was pretty useful even if it did knock him for six, it didn't help that he'd really over exerted himself this time as not only had he flooded the Arbiter's mind with his life, but he'd torn everything out of his mind at the same time, now Ryan knew everything he did, all he had to do was organize these memories and he'd be able to use them to figure his way out of this place.
Fen Ra Sharna proud Arbiter of the Shadow Claw clan sat in his quarters aboard the clan ship, no matter what he did the tears wouldn't stop, his mind was like a tornado of thoughts and emotions, his mind kept flashing through all the people what he'd judged on behalf of the clan, he'd always prided himself on his ability to remember every single judgement that he'd passed and every life that he'd taken in the name of honor, but now that little voice in the back of his mind was tearing apart everything that he'd held as sacred, he saw the faces of the people that he'd killed for nothing more than daring to be different, or for falling in love with someone that they shouldn't like a member of another species, at the time he'd felt justified and honored to have been chosen to uphold the honor of the clan and the sanctity of the Yaujta species by hunting down these deviants, but now having seen the happiness and the joy that this young boy had experienced in his short life, he'd seen the love and care that his ooman father had showered on him, he'd seen the fact that this ooman had taught him what honor truly was in protecting the one's you care about and standing up for those that couldn't defend themselves, he'd also seen the fact that this ooman was also a Dream Warrior, a fact that rocked him to his very core, the most revered and prestigious of Yaujta hunters and this ooman was one, not a single part of him was Yaujta and he was one of the revered, how was this even remotely possible?
But it was in the boy's memories as clear as day, as was the ooman's love for his son and for his family, the boy's memories were filled with images not only from his mind but those that his father had shared with him when he'd discovered that he too was a Dream Warrior and he had melded with him, they showed of the way the ooman had showered the Yaujta female that was the boy's mother with love and affection and the way he fought for her with all of his strength, this ooman male was like a force of nature, he possessed strength that he should not have, but he was a being of true honor and loyalty, he was like a pure embodiment of what every true Yaujta aspires to be, but what he saw also told him that this ooman male was coming and he got the distinct feeling that with all his power and strength there wasn't going to be a single thing they could do to stop him from reclaiming what was his, but then Fen had a startling realization, he didn't want to.
It was at that exact moment that Fen Ra Sharna's world fell apart, everything he'd believed in had been a constructed lie, all the so-called 'truths' that he'd clung to, they were constructs to preserve the Yaujta way of life and they were merely controls put in place to keep him and the others in line.
Careful constructs and belief's put in place by those with power over thousands of years to construct a society based on the morals and values of others, controls so severe that they would take the lives of any and all who dared to step outside of the boundaries of what these few saw as moral and decent, all to show others that these things were wrong and to serve as an example to keep others in line, all these years he'd been a puppet of this system, suddenly a memory sprung into his mind, it was of a hunt two hundred years ago where he'd hunted down a rouge young blood who'd run off with a Kemlin girl, the Kemlin's were a sentient reptilian species, he remembered the happiness he's felt as he'd caught up with them and killed them both, but now he saw the young girl's face in his mind as clear as glass, he saw the pain and fear and horror in her eyes as he struck down the young male, she didn't even care that she herself was bleeding to death from the wound he'd inflicted, she was more pained by the fact he'd struck down the man she loved and it all suddenly made complete sense to him, what had he done? Destroying something so beautiful and pure was nothing short of a travesty, all for a belief based on lies, yet here he was doing it all over again, this had to stop.
In his cell Ryan was deep in thought as he fought his way through the mass of memories that he'd torn from the Arbiter's mind, there was so much pain and so much hate in here, iit took all of his strength to keep himself from falling into the void that the Arbiter's mind had opened in his own, it took all of his resolve to remain who he was, now he knew the true power of Memory transference, not only could it allow you to show another your point of view, but it allowed them to show you their but it could also be used to change another's mind in its entirety and it scared Ryan, but he fought through all the darkness and pain that man had caused and so far he'd gotten the lay out of the clan ship out of the jumble, also in there was where the weapons were kept, the codes for the doors and a few other useful things, but while he was doing this he felt something strange, a crawling on his skin, it was like he was being watched.
Ryan opened his eyes and there in front of him sat a young Yaujta woman, she was dressed all in white and was strikingly beautiful, an aura billowed around he like non he'd ever seen before, it was pure silver and was the same color as her eyes, "Errrr where did you come from and how did you get in here?" Ryan asked in a rather surprised voice, the young Yaujta woman smiled at him broadly,
"I've always been here Ryan, watching over you from the very beginning" she said in a voice that was so sweet sounding it was like liquid honey being poured into your ear, seeing the look of confusion on his face the young woman stood up, "Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Paya" she said causing Ryan's mandibles and mouth to literally fall open, standing before him was none other than the goddess of the hunt herself.