"Damn that bitch!" Katrina cussed as she found herself staring at the empty liquor cabinet. Ram had promised to fill it up again but the cabinet was empty and the blond was nowhere to be seen. Trina cussed passionately few more times before she got an idea. She left a note on the penthouse door and descended to the floor below. The redhead waited for the retinal scan to clear her before walking straight to her ex-room mates liquor cabinet. She didn't even note the eight year old girl eating a pizza when she grabbed the first three bottles of Tequila.
"Hey aunt Trina", Andria said, "Did auntie Ram forget to order the weekly booze delivery again?"
"No! She never forgets that. She wouldn't dare to forget it", Trina said and took her first swig.
"Then what are you doing here rummaging through mum's cabinet?" Andria asked.
"I finished our last bottle and I need something to replace the blood deficit in my veins once Vincent comes over", Trina explained and leaned over the bar trying to decide whether to steal a piece of Andria's pizza.
"Don't take food out of my daughter's mouth you slut!" Kandi shouted from across the room to Trina, "What the hell are you doing here? I thought tonight is your date night with Vincent?"
"Ram promised bring more liquor but she's running late", Trina explained backing away from the pizza and taking her fifth swig. The first bottle was almost empty.
"Ram? Running late? Doesn't sound like her?" Kandi said, "I hope nothing has happened to her."
"She knows how to take care of herself", Trina assured her Amazon sister and finished the bottle.
"Yes she does but it doesn't hurt to make sure. Have you tried calling her?" Kandi asked and pulled out two candy bars from her pockets and offered one for Trina.
"Don't I get one?" Andria complained.
"Finish your food first."
"Yes, mom", the girl retorted.
"Hey kiddo, watch it."
"You can have mine if you call Tifa to bring me two boxes of vodca and tequila", Trina promised Andria and turned to speak to Kandi, "I tried but she's not answering."
"I guess I'll have to trace her then", Kandi sneered.
"Can you? From here I mean?" Trina asked.
"Sure. As long as she has her phone with her we can find her anywhere", Kandi said and went to the office and worked her magic. Few moments later Trina and Andria heard a stunned cry.
"Shit! This can't be right."
"What is it?" Breathless Trina inquired from the door. Kandi's red streaks seemed somehow more crimson.
"According to this, Ram is in the sewers only few blocks from the Shinra building."
"What would aunt Ram be doing there?" Andria asked.
"I don't know kiddo, but according to this, she hasn't moved in hours."
"You know what to do", Trina said to Kandi and headed to her gun safe. Kandi nodded and picked up the phone.
"Hey Ak? Would Az like some company tonight?"
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Ram and Neha walked up the last hill and then down the last slope to the shore.
"Do you want to swim first or inhale some smoke?" Neha asked.
"Smoke. I can swim anywhere but they don't make smoke rooms like they used to elsewhere", Ram replied and headed to the small, smoking cabin. She undressed and was in the process of counting her knives when Neha gasped.
"What?" Ram asked.
"Those scars! What happened?"
"Those little cuts? Nothing, just few training mishaps. Soon you wont even know they were there", Ram placated the hyperventilating woman, "Get inside and inhale some hot smoke." Ram pushed her naked cousin through the door and followed her. They went to the hatch and Ram sat down on the upper bench and forced herself to inhale the thick and smoky air. She soon relaxed enough and asked:
"What is this mysterious talk about your groom Neha? Didn't Ashclay want to accept your proposal?"
"That's just it. I didn't propose to Ashclay. I proposed to his older brother Greystone", Neha replied.
"What the hell were you thinking Nettle Hazard?" Ram exclaimed, "Why would you want to marry that sodden pinhead?"
"Because I love him. And he's not the man you knew Ram!" Nera replied, "I just think that you resented Greystone because our great-grandmother Auburn saw that he would be the first to marry a Moccasin woman of our age and it was always presumed that you would marry first."
"Mother presumed it, not I", Ram replied inhaling deep.
"You just feared it. I guess that's why you ran away too", Neha probed.
"You know perfectly well that's not true. First of all I didn't run away and secondly, that's not why I left. I left because of my mother. As nutty as she is, she always seems to have clear head when tormenting me and trying to bend me to her will", Ram sighed, "But let's not talk about me. What happened Neha? Why did you jilt Ashclay?"
"I didn't jilt him", Neha cried indignantly, "Nor did he jilt me. He gave me Nella and I'll be forever grateful to him but I never loved him. Once you left, Greystone finally opened his eyes and saw me for the first time. I was pregnant with Nella but he didn't care. Mother encouraged me to reconsider and to at least try few other lovers before surrendering to my true love but I didn't listen to her."
"Nor should you. I'll explore your share of the possible lovers for you", Ram giggled.
"Is it time to test the water?" Neha asked and Ram agreed. The two young woman sprinted out of the smoky hut and ran to the ocean. Their naked and soot covered bodies crashed with the waves and they swam.
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"Are you sure the signal is coming from here?" Trina asked for the fifth time. She was sober and focused and that was enough to tell Kandi just how worried the redhead was.
"I'm sure", the red streaked woman replied as they crawled ahead, "We are close."
"I don't see an Amazon anywhere", Trina said dryly.
"What the hell?"
"What is it Kandi?" Trina saw her sister holding out a gun, "Is it Ram's?"
"Yes it is", Kandi pouted, "That bitch! If we find her alive, I'm going to kill her."
"Only if I don't kill her first!" Trina retorted.
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"I haven't felt this good in years", Ram whispered to the wind while stretching her muscles.
"Since you last breathed smoke?" Neha asked.
"Yes. Baths and showers can only do so much. Nothing relaxes a body like an hour in steamed smoke", Ram nodded. She stepped on a rock and leaned to the wind letting it caress her skin. The salty air filled her pores and woke her senses.
"You don't know how I've missed this", Ram said and jumped to the sand.
"I think I have an idea", Neha laughed, "Are you ready to go back and face your mother."
"Did you have to bring her into this?" Ram sighed.
"Yes."
"Damn you for living in reality. I guess it's time to go back", Ram admitted and picked up her dress, "This is ruined. Your little girl was right."
"She's the smart one in the family. Let's just walk back and I'll find you some clean clothes", Neha said and went picked up her dress. Ram took her knives and threw the dress into the fire.
"You still need to telll me what great-grandmother Auburn saw in the runes for you and your hearts choice?" Ram asked as they headed up the hill.
"Why don't you look the runes yourself? You have the gift unlike the rest of us", Neha suggested and jumped to the side as her cousin sent a slow blow towards her.
"Don't you start. It's enough that mother will bring it up in the Mothers Circle and ask them to bind me", Ram groaned.
"Aunt Aquamarine wouldn't do that to you! She's still your mother", Neha protested.
"Wouldn't she?" Ram scoffed, "She wants me to continue the tradition and she wants to control me. If she would have the gift herself, she wouldn't be as controlling of me as she is."
"You might be right about that", Neha admitted, "but that doesn't change the fact that you have the gift and the rest of us don't." Ram glanced at her cousin and hesitated.
"Are you sure? What about Nella?"
"She's too young for us to know for sure", Neha said quickly, "Ram you have to face it, this family needs you and you can't spent the rest of your life running away from your responsibilities."
"I can try."
"No, you are too responsible for that. You'll come back once you are ready to settle down", Neha said confidently.
"I'm not sure as you are cousin", Ram said, "Settling down means giving birth and becoming a mother. It means choosing a father for all the children and dropping him for someone better after few years. It means sacrificing all my dreams and becoming the seer. It means giving up what I've built for myself in the city."
"Not necessarily. Things change", Neha reminded Ram, "We might be too young to remember but our ancestresses were wayfarers. We haven't always lived here."
"I know it, but a huge part of me loves this place", Ram said and looked down to the valley, "I wouldn't want to pack everything up and move our lives to somewhere else nor am I ready to give up my friends in the city. Maybe I'm lucky and the Mothers Circle will appoint you as the next leader. You were the first one to marry after all."
"That'll never happen."
"Never say never Neha. Miracles do happen", Ram countered.
"Don't even try to introduce runes to Nella", Neha forbade, "She'll ask if she's interested and Auburn will teach her if she has the gift of seeing."
"I wont, but if she asks-" Ram grinned.
"She wont!", Neha tried to hide her smirk, "Let's go in."