- Getting so close to the end of the story of K'Shai & R'chnt. If you've made it this far over so many years, thank you so much! The final chapter and epilogue are complete. They will be posted soon -
There was a blur. Maybe a light. Maybe a voice? It was too hard to tell. There was definitely a haze. Was that surrounding her, or in her mind? That was hard to tell too.
It was bright; it seemed like a blazing white light the intensity of which she had never experienced before was filling her entire body and soul. But there were definitely voices.
Was this death? Were the Yautja Payas there to meet her, judge her? Or was it another God? It felt strange enough to be death, didn't it? She felt heavy, fuzzy. She wasn't sure she had arms or legs, or even if she was breathing. Was this what death actually felt like? Funny; she didn't think death felt like anything at all.
Slowly, she took a deep, long breath; a half combination of a sigh and a gasp, through her nose and out of her mouth along with a little bit of a moaning groan. It was the first sound she had made in weeks.
She wasn't aware, but there was a pacing R'chnt nearby, who had been told no less than three times just this day alone that walking a rut into the stone floor was not going to be of any service to anyone, not to L'ruch, nor K'Shai, nor R'chnt himself and not even the eto who he joked would have to patch the hole.
L'ruch got a forceful snarl from R'chnt each time he offered such a reminder, but none the less, it had made R'chnt at least stop pacing for a few minutes. L'ruch managed to keep the mighty, and obviously worried Elder, preoccupied by having him tend to her, rub her with lotions to help soothe the body and generate healing blood flow, and most of all provide her with his touch, which he was sure would provide stimulation and healing.
She was a fighter, he has said multiple times as a reminder to them. She had fought to be Yautja, fought for her family, fought for that closeness they clearly all shared, he pointed out. She would continue to fight and to heal, even if it took a while.
K'Shai hadn't been aware, but A'ryin'di and El'tude had both been watching over her as well as their sire during this time. K'Shai hadn't been aware of much, and as such, before R'chnt, A'ryin'di and El'tude could really even step over to the side of the bed while L'ruch closely monitored her, the first thing she mumbled was "what happened?".
"My K'Shai…" R'chnt whispered as he gripped her hand.
She took another long slow deep breath, not daring to move. Her eyes began slowly to adjust. Was any of what she was seeing real? She saw deep set golden eyes staring down at her from behind a faded white brow, and long gray and white locks falling to her face. She saw familiar faces if they were really there. A'ryin'di just next to R'chnt, El'tude at her feet, L'ruch looking over her from her other shoulder.
"Is this real?" She moaned in a delicate, disoriented whisper. "Am I…. really here?"
She took another breath, felt the warmth of R'chnt's hand gripping her a little more clearly now and tried to shift her body to sit up.
Moaning in pain she immediately realized that was a very bad idea, and that odds were she wasn't dead, because death couldn't possibly hurt so much.
As her eyes became clearer she saw worried faces that were starting to somewhat break with perhaps a look of relief. She opened her eyes further and glanced at L'ruch and then turned to R'chnt and formed a smile.
"Hi," she said in a long, drawn out whisper as she reached her hand to his staunch face.
She hadn't noticed before, had she? R'chnt looked different. He looked thin and deflated, maybe more frail than she had ever noticed before. How long had she been out? What had happened?
"What… what happened, R'chnt?"
"You were hurt on a hunt, badly." He responded.
"You will have a mighty story to tell K'Shai." L'ruch proudly added and then asked, "What do you last recall?"
She took a deep, slow breath, realizing now that it was actually painful to do so. As her mind and body started regrouping and communicating, suddenly more things hurt than she realized when she was still in the fog.
"I… I remember the rock world. I remember the aliens. I think I killed one. Maybe two?"
"There was one alien dead. We followed your trail and found you." R'chnt said quietly, his hand delicately rubbing her head.
She reached up and gripped his hand.
"Thank you for coming for me," she said lightly and actually managed to draw out a chuckle from R'chnt.
"How long has it been?" She asked aloud.
"You were unconscious when we found you, and you stayed that way." R'chnt began to inform her.
"I thought once we got you on board, you might wake up. We did what we could for you on board. That was sixty-eight rotations ago."
"What?" She whispered, stunned. "I've been unconscious for …. How long?"
L'ruch reiterated, and added that, "it probably saved your life."
"Do you have pain?" He asked.
"Yes!" she confirmed emphatically.
"Good," L'ruch said easily. "You have been healing, your body is finally waking up."
"I'll heal," she said as if to reassure herself more than anything.
L'ruch reassured her further.
"You are quite strong, K'Shai." He said. "More so than perhaps even you knew. I'm not sure every full blooded Yautja could survive what you did."
"What exactly did I survive?" She questioned.
L'ruch delicately pulled the sheet off her torso and K'Shai glanced down for the first time to see her naked body laying there. It felt numb, but didn't look exactly different. She could see her toes, her legs, her thighs.
There was a new scar, but for the most part everything looked like it was where it needed to be. That's when she noticed her abdomen bore a large scar that definitely wasn't there before. It went clean across from one side to the other, and it was wide. It looked at if someone had cut her in half with a thick blade, and then thought that wasn't enough so cut her again just to make it wider.
"Oh," she moaned. "Well, that's new."
"What happened?" She asked again.
R'chnt filled in some missing details.
"When we found you, I couldn't even believe you were still alive. You were sitting up against a boulder, and you were still holding yourself together. You looked as though you had tried pushing your intestines back in yourself.
"You are a true fighter, K'Shai." L'ruch added with a subtle nod.
"We got you back on board," R'chnt continued. "You had bled almost completely out. Your intestines started to die. We had to remove parts of them immediately."
He stopped for a moment and produced a small chuckle.
"I thought I was going to fly the ship apart trying to get you back."
She pressed her lips together in a small smile and allowed herself to remain still, finally understanding why felt so weak.
"Here I am. I made it." She whispered. "I get my strength from you, you know that."
That was no figurative statement. K'Shai knew beyond a doubt that some of her strength and ability to heal came from R'chnt's own blood so many years ago. A distant memory for some, forgotten completely about by others, but there was not a rotation that passed that K'Shai could not swear she felt the effects of his blood in her even after all that time.
In response he simply smiled.
"Well, let no one question your strength, mother," A'ryin'di said triumphantly. "There will be songs about you both."
"And you, of course, my only daughter. Clan Leader."
She nodded deeply.
El'tude watched silently, gently touching his mother's arm in support; it was all the statement necessary.
K'Shai rested and eventually ate, and rested more. Day after day R'chnt remained with her, only leaving once she had fully convinced him that she was healing, getting stronger, and wasn't going anywhere. Even when he did leave, it was only for a short while.
When he was gone, at her prompting, to bring back some me'tha meat, one of her favorites, and not always the most readily available, she finally tried to pull herself out of bed. L'ruch was not anywhere in sight. She was alone. She slowly shifted her legs over to the edge of the bed. It was uncomfortable, but not outright painful. She spun her body and slowly with great strain, propped herself up, gasping for breath as she did so.
That was more painful but mostly it was that her body felt so weak. She had been laying in bed for more than days than she could keep track of after all; the muscle atrophy was apparent. K'Shai did not quite feel like herself anymore. She felt tired, weak, and pained. Every bone in her body ached. Every muscle seemed to scream in agony as they tried to support her torso until she was sitting up.
Without thinking on it further, she slid off the bed and righted herself on her weak feet. They did not do the job she was expecting. Her legs and knees gave out almost immediately and she collapsed into a crumpled heap on the stone slab floor, just as L'ruch reappeared in the doorway. He sprung over to her and gripped her to help her upright again.
Immediately, K'Shai looked around, making sure no one else at least had seen her. L'ruch ticked in his usual whimpering way as he steadied her while he surveyed her.
"Just like your mate." He muttered. "Who I see who've sent away so you could try to get up in solitude."
"Well, I'm not alone am I?" She huffed, clinging to L'ruch's arm even tighter as she tried to turn.
"K'Shai, this will take time. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You and your mate both try to hide your truths from all other eyes."
"What does that mean?" She looked at L'ruch while she steadied herself between his arms.
"Is he hiding something from me?" She asked.
She couldn't help but notice that L'ruch's eyes widened with fright just a bit as he gave his standard high pitched whimper and interjected.
"Let's work on getting you walking first. And if you don't want R'chnt to see you struggle, I will help you. We can make sure your Elder mate is gone while I help you."
K'Shai nodded appreciatively.
"You still didn't answer my question."
L'ruch clucked and redirected her attention towards getting her to take small steps. He reminded her to move slowly and carefully, and supported her as she slid her weakened body a few feet and turned and went back to the bed. She was already exhausted from that effort when he helped her to precariously sit sort of upright in the bed, although she was leaning awkwardly.
"No, I'm OK. It doesn't hurt too much if I sit like this." She said as he tried to shift her.
He built her up with a smattering of blankets rolled and curled all around her.
"L'ruch," she said softly, almost in a whisper. She knew she wouldn't get very far with him if she demanded.
"I noticed R'chnt looks almost as pale and …. thin… as I do. Is there something wrong with him? Is he hiding something from me?"
"K'Shai, he has been by your side every day. While you've been unconscious, he waited. He has only left your side long enough to relieve himself and return back to you. I do believe he has forgotten to eat most days."
"You didn't have food brought to him?"
L'ruch nodded, accompanied by a high pitched whimper as if he was shocked by the question.
"Apparently, he forgot to eat most of that too."
"Is there something more?" She asked, suspicious that L'ruch wasn't exactly being forthcoming.
It was then that El'tude, accompanied by W'rsa, entered the medical quarters. K'Shai tensed, not particularly wanting to start full on visitations, and definitely not wanting to end her prying of L'ruch, but she was glad to her son and dear friend all the same. She knew she would get L'ruch to speak up sooner or later, and while she was greeting her visitors, she was also simultaneously strategizing ways to tread carefully into the subject with R'chnt.
"Where is R'chnt?" W'rsa asked as if reading K'Shai's mind. "Not here?"
She smiled coyly. "I sent him on a most important mission. He will be back soon."
W'rsa's visit was short, but just as he was turning to leave, R'chnt returned with fruit, meat, and drink for K'Shai. She was hungry, and she was glad she could get the chance to be alone with R'chnt, get food into him and perhaps try to find out what could be going on. Unfortunately, W'rsa drew him away. El'tude finished his visit, and by the time R'chnt returned back, though the food was much colder now, she still prompted him to sit and eat.
They talked half the night, and not one single word came up of anything suspicious. K'Shai danced and tiptoed around the issue, but R'chnt never indicated anything that could make her suspicious. She knew she couldn't just outright ask him if something was wrong; it was not at all in a Yautja's nature to admit to any kind of ailment or issue or openly note weakness of any kind. That was simply unheard of, especially for someone of R'chnt's stature.
It was one thing to proudly come see one of the very few practicing medics for a minor procedure that would leave a good story; a broken tusk from a hunt needing to be ground and replaced; an arm having been amputated when an opponent's blade slipped just the wrong way. But if there was something more; something that could cause staunch skin, lack of appetite, maybe some kind of internal weakness, disease, there was not a chance any Yautja would ever dare admit such a thing out loud let alone see a healer, except in utter secrecy.
K'Shai couldn't help but wonder if R'chnt and L'ruch were keeping such secrets, but he seemed fine as he sat and readily ate and talked with her. Eventually she fell asleep and when she slowly awoke, she was leaning against his chest, sharing the bed with him, listening to his heart thump. It sounded strong and healthy as always; a very reassuring rhythm.
She had intended to get L'ruch's private assistance again today with standing and walking, away from R'chnt's no doubt worried eyes. It was a secretive thing, after all; something to be ashamed of and keep hidden at all costs; being injured and unable to walk; too weak to even stand. Those Yautja; they die. They die miserably and without any shred of honor left, and they definitely don't do it in front of an audience if they can avoid it.
That, she realized, was such a Yautja way of thinking. She didn't even realize how naturally and easily she glided right into that without even a conscious thought. No. She had to try a tactic with R'chnt that might open him up. He needed to see her weak, to see her fall and gasp for air. He needed to help her, and know that she needed his help, and that he could help her. Perhaps, she thought; perhaps that might just work.
It turned out, that his help, day after day, repeatedly for hours, did help her. He helped her stand and walk, and he supported her as she determinedly moved and declined resting. For days, she stood on her wobbly legs, hunched slightly over from the discomfort in her abdomen thanks to missing intestines. R'chnt helped her stand, supported her when she wobbled, and allowed to try on her own when she demanded out of frustration. He stayed blessedly patient with her as her irritation with the whole process grew.
It was a long, painstaking process of regaining muscle strength, balance, and core power, as L'ruch continually reminded her. It took her three full weeks before she felt ready to even leave the medical chambers, and that was only upon condition that L'ruch would make regular visits to their home.
Being back at the beach, listening to those ocean waves was comforting and reassuring. It felt like she was gone for so long she had almost forgotten what that sound was like. The eto had done as they should and kept the house in good order. K'Shai rested on the chair on the rear deck, over looking the ocean, halfway wishing the large, Yautja-eque throne actually rocked.
Perhaps she would requisition the eto into making her a rocking chair. What a look she would no doubt get from the eto as she tried to explain that one to them, she thought and gave herself a bit of a chuckle.
Slowly, her strength returned. L'ruch was coming to check on her several times a week, but he seemed satisfied with her progress, though he clearly wanted to study her healing process. R'chnt started her training back from nearly the beginning, and slowly it came back to her. Muscle coordination and balance seemed to be the absolute last things to develop. It was frustrating for sure, but K'Shai eased away the stress with relaxing soaks in the hot pool and the sounds of the ocean.
R'chnt trained regularly and often, almost daily, and K'Shai worked on regaining herself. It was taking time, but R'chnt seemed pleased with her progress. She preferred to train only with him or alone, so she did not join him if he had partners, but she would sometimes watch him spar with W'rsa, El'tude, and half a dozen or so other hunters that would join in and often stay for days at a time while the group sparred and hunted through the jungles.
It was a rare, quiet night when no one else was about that K'Shai worked in silence on her own exercises; pushing hard past that pain in her side and the aching joints in her knees; ignoring the sore muscles of her lower back which the warm soaks no longer seemed to help like they used to. L'ruch had come up with a concoction that she injected into herself which did help take away the discomfort, but once it wore off, after barely a full rotation, she felt every ache and pain that came with age and injury after injury.
R'chnt had just come around the corner in time to see K'Shai finish out a spin, stumble slightly and allowed her spear to sag uselessly at her side. She sighed deeply and clapped a hand over her achy abdomen as she noticed R'chnt approaching.
"Are you feeling pain?" He asked.
"No, not really. It's just a bit … sore. Inflexible. I just sort of ache all over."
R'chnt clicked softly in reply. Without much further discussion, the pair prepared a meal. They sat with the fire nearby, finished dishes scattered on the ground, and the stars shining above their heads.
"What do you see up there?" R'chnt purred to her softly.
She pressed her lips together into a smile.
"I was just thinking about how long it's been since we've been out there. And how long it's been since… that very first time."
"Oh, did I tell you that El'tude now has four offspring expected next year?" She mentioned suddenly, to which R'chnt grunted softly.
"That will be exciting to see them all start their lives in the mei'sa." K'Shai added.
"I will be spending a lot more time in the mei'sa," she laughed lightly. "I'm looking forward to seeing them all grow, and A'ryin'di's as well when she decides to mate finally. A whole new generation of mixed breed heritage."
"I have no doubts they will accomplish great things and bring our bloodline Honor." R'chnt said with certainty.
"R'chnt…" K'Shai whispered softly, taking a moment to listen to the waves swoosh back and forth.
"I don't think I can hunt anymore. I can't do it. I just can't be out there." She said in a calm, distant, factual tone, glancing down at her scars on her abdomen and thigh.
"You have earned your place, K'Shai. You do not have more to prove to anyone. There is no need to hunt more if you wish." R'chnt said simply.
"My place shall be in the mei'sa; as much as I used to say the complete opposite." She responded.
"That was a long time ago, K'Shai. Much has changed, and your influence in the mei'sa cannot be denied." R'chnt confirmed.
"Ha!" K'Shai laughed loudly. "For better or worse, I suppose."
"So, I had been talking with L'ruch a lot lately," she whispered delicately. "And he had mentioned that you had seen him at least a couple times."
K'Shai clenched her jaw and stared straight into R'chnt's eyes, peering as best she could into his soul. "What is going on?"
R'chnt paused for a moment and responded simply, "Just a minor concern, K'Shai."
K'Shai exhaled deeply. At least she got a response. She couldn't be sure if she had just sentenced L'ruch to a bitter fate, but all the same, she tried again as delicately as possible.
"I'd like to know."
R'chnt harrumphed with an upward twist at the end.
"K'Shai," he groaned. "I merely wanted him to give me something to help me sleep, nothing more."
That seemed reasonable enough and she decided not to press further. She didn't want to see L'ruch turn up with his skin missing or a broken mandible. The last few months had no doubt been stressful on R'chnt, who always kept literally everything bottled up inside. There was no room for expressing stress or concern or injury or anything else in the Yautja life.
Sometimes, the Yautja had too much pride for their own good. That R'chnt might have asked L'ruch for a little help with something would have been a huge undertaking for him, and a truly private matter.
K'Shai felt better slowly over time, but stiff. Her body had begun to change in ways she had even forgotten happened to humans. No matter that she had Yautja blood in her, or her body had been tattooed, hair beaded and braided; there was no getting past the fact that she was very much human, and was feeling her age and natural body changes in every way.
The heat of the world seemed even hotter than usual for months without end; she often woke up sweating and then quickly turned freezing. R'chnt would find her often piled under blankets with a fire going, or stark naked spraying herself with iced water from the shower heads. She spent months having even more trouble than usual sleeping, and it just seemed like her body ached a whole lot more than it ever had before.
She had explained to him in as much as description as she could that even she had now lost the ability to breed. It wasn't quite the same as what Yautja females would go through in their lives, but R'chnt all the same, accepted what she was telling him without much concern. Such matters were of no consequence to him anyway.
K'Shai took back to the mei'sa, and R'chnt managed his position on the Clan council, and that was their Path. K'Shai slipped back into it like a comfortable hot bath, and R'chnt still continued to display his prowess of both mind and body tackling Clan matters and sparring opponents without missing a beat.
The suns rose. The suns set. Generation after generation of hunters were born and Blooded year after year. This was the Dance of the Payas.