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Bubbles surge round her knees as Davied shouts from the shore, "…Watch out, Kasumi! Beneath—"

Tetonbaum rises from the surface to gasp for a breath of air before he goes under again, unable to see the hunur that has caught Kasumi and carries her up to his stretching mouth, the marking fangs full of venom pushing out as Davied screams for him to release her.

Looking for the sharpest object he can find, Davied disappears—his mirage-camouflage making him into the invisible apparition he is able to become, and lifting a sharp split of driftwood, he lumbers himself up, back into the water…The hunur sinks his fangs into Kasumi's neck, bursting venom into her bloodstream as he clamps and ejaculates the chemical to subdue her and use her as prey—Kasumi hits him frantically, again and again, with a dagger from her waist sash, and Tetonbaum can hear her energy below the surface of the water, as bubbles leave his nose.

Davied launches his fist and the driftwood barb into the side of the hunur, digging it through fabric and flesh with a ripping punch of sound, and the hunur releases Kasumi from his mouth, leaning over to swipe at the chimilys stabbing him repeatedly in the side, "…Take that, Vileness!" Davied screams.

Kasumi falls into the water. With a sudden explosive release, Tetonbaum throws everyone off—leaving Ylyssus and Roisminas to stand back in defense of the hail of rocks, water, and victims of the power's force…The I'lorie punches through the waves, his arms and legs driving him half-swimming towards the hunur picking up Davied by the neck, about to sink his fangs into him as well, "…A Veriune ( Possessed )," Tetonbaum snarls and forms a ball of energy between his hands, unable to reach them in time to prevent the next attack.

The middle of the hunur opens in a ghastly spray of viscera—freed of the belly region—and Davied falls atop the collapsing dead, spitting out curses as his lower half is covered in the gut and blood and venom.

Tetonbaum continues his plowing run towards the floating form of Kasumi, picking her up to him with his power lifting her dripping from the waves.

Her eyes cast about, delirious with the venom in her veins.

Tetonbaum cradles her to him and turns as he begins to wade backwards towards Davied, kicking away from the dead hunur.

Ylyssus and Roisminas wade through the bay through the carnage, staring at him with the prisoners fleeing with him.


Casnar looks up from cleaning out the used durril from the reactor glass, Braith seated at the other end of the coffee table, watching how fastidiously he attends to the care of the device and its waste product inside. Tor is with them, Tiran and Iulia back at home with Vykka, and he keeps a wary eye to the banton inside Braith's office with them while he waits for the estimate to be performed by Braith's company, also excellent at conducting appraisals to used and abused vehicles.

The banton has written his name in glyphic-style on the wall, which is scratched from his claws digging the symbols in, and the pixies are nowhere in sight. He has repeatedly pointed to himself that morning, saying, "…Syus…Am syus." Braith now has him seated next to her like an overgrown canine that looks crossed with hairless gorilla and sharks, the eyes most fetching about him and his size. And though Braith cannot feel her power when she is near the banton, she knows he makes up for it in other ways…So does she…Braith carries a pistol in the holster of her company-issued uniform, which is plain gray and blue shirt and pants, held up by a standard black belt and buckle with the holster attached by a slip of leather. She has ordered a new pair of boots from her stocks, coming up in the lift sometime today.

Sieis plants his big hindfoot next to her small ones, bare against the floor. Casnar looks down at the dust on the table after taking a long drink of his mate across from him, "…This is completely expired..."

"How can you tell," Braith asks, sitting forward some and leaning on her forearms, her fingers laced together…Sieis leans forward from his haunches too. He bends his neck, shoulders, and back to sniff the dust across the table, and Casnar and Tor shield the banton from taking the dust into his small nostrils…They have quite a pull.

"Not a good idea," Casnar says, "…Durril having reached its life expectancy is very volatile…It will smell sweet and can be used for other things…But must be purified first of certain qualities."

"Like what."

"It's very addictive, and promotes unruly behavior," Casnar allows a small smile and glances at Tor, whose lips form a grim line.

"You can recycle it?" Braith asks, taking a hint from Tor and Casnar's expressions not to dig into it.

"Oh yes," Tor answers for Casnar, having worked with the chemical, "…Durril is a wonder of the galaxy…It is very potent, and from its dust much can be made, but as Casnar says, it must be taken care of with much caution."

"We use it to grow our crops in Nualavera," Casnar expounds, "…Afterall, it is fertilizer from the rachni."

"Crazy…But wait, I've known rachni and I've never seen this exist nor heard about it before," Braith raises her hand skeptically, her fingers relaxed in a supinated cup.

"We have a different race of rachni," Casnar explains, pushing the dust into a pile on her coffee table and scooping it into a small jar he obtained from the Vitale's household, "…It is due to their anomaly that rachni shit doesn't corrode through metal, and they are far more benign than those that have caused war in this galaxy…Unfortunately, they do not defend themselves well against enemies attacking their colony and rely on symbiotic alliances to survive."

"Such as with the Sousan," Tor says, Casnar nodding as he finishes moving all signs of the dust into his container, and sets this down with a secured lid atop it to move back onto the reactor.

Braith nods slowly, "…Okay, so you have an alliance with a new rachni species is what you're saying? How do we not know about them from our rachni?"

"An old rachni species," Casnar corrects her, "…There are no others like N'ynnyaw and her ilk…Not that I'm aware of, and perhaps their song is unheard by the rachni you are familiar with."

"A species can live in isolation of its kindred ties for many years and not know they exist, kind of like the theory that drell are from another planet."

"Like…Not from Rakhana, you're saying?" Braith asks Tor.

He smiles, "…Old Rakhïk belief states the drell on Rakhana were brought there long ago and abandoned for some reason, no one knows, though the religion stemming from Musaphat and Ysuphet's birth—"

"Stupid drell folklore," Casnar snorts quietly as he works on the reactor, "…Don't buy into any of it."

"I'm surprised at you, Casnar," Tor looks at him and Casnar ignores the glance, "…Drell believe there is another world beyond our own where more drell exist and don't know we're here."

"Huh," Braith smiles, "…That would be interesting…You never know, Casnar," she turns her gray eyes from Tor's dark ones to the golden drell intent on his reactor, "…Could be some truth to it."

"If there were," Casnar retorts, "…They'll stay far away from the mess they left behind—if they abandoned the lot that was sent to Rakhana."

"Drell have a habit of migrating," Tor says thoughtfully, "…And are natural wanderers."

"What about Kahjic drells then?"

"Brainwashed and completely manipulated to suit the hanari needs," Casnar quickly answers.

"I'm not interested in your answer," Braith says, leaning back, "…I know yours…What do you think, Tor?"

Tor considers, placing his weight on the sofa as he sits, "…It is true, the hanari have a way of life and drell are very distinct from it…Many drell have lost their markers," he points to his teeth, his lip curling a little to show his was removed, "…and they are taught how to exist on a planet that accepts them because of the labor they provide freely…Drell born on Kahje will be very different from the natives."

"So, to go back to what we were discussing about this species of rachni your clan collaborates with, Casnar," Braith turns her gaze to his—screwed onto the bottom of the reactor, into which he is picking at something with his nail after giving up with a screw-magnet drill, "…These rachni are old, but have lived in isolation from the others?"

"Yes, and they bonded with my ancestors," Casnar says distractedly, "…The bond is chemical, and carries through the blood of my ancestors' descendants."

"Casnar is one of the last," Tor adds, laying back against the comfortable backing, "…Along with his brother, his mother…"

"My sister…"

"And Kolyat."

They nod to her deduction, Casnar finally lifting his emerald eyes to give her a chill with the intensity of his stare. "Correctly put."


Smoothing back her hair, Tetonbaum checks the bitemarks, cursing inwardly at the possible infection introduced to her body from the strange hunur's fangs…He wades back to shore, joining Davied as Roisminas surveys the area, Ylyssus watching Tetonbaum, his eyes going from him to the chimilys to the woman…"Help me," Tetonbaum says to Davied, "…Chimilys have a neutralizing saliva, please…Suck what you can out…"

"I will do no such thing," Davied snarls, "…Not for you…but for her…" He takes Kasumi from Tetonbaum's arms and kneels down on the shore, one eye to the drells about to confront him, and looking at Kasumi's neck, Davied covers the bloody marks with his mouth, a grimace at first of the taste of offensive venom, and begins to draw out what he can, allowing his saliva to pool and help kill the bacteria introduced by the other's offensive body…Kasumi gasps and tries to push the new mouth away, her eyes full of blurry vision and hearing voices near and far.

"Stop…Stop, please," she cries out, distressing everyone with her shrilness. Tetonbaum looks at Ylyssus, who comes to a stop in the water, up to his knees.

Roisminas advances, however, his eyes full of accusation, and Tetonbaum warns him off, "…No farther, Brother Roisminas."

"Don't call me brother," he points an arm at Tetonbaum, "…You have betrayed us…For why? Why did Brother Grelan poison himself!" Davied looks up with his eyes. "Why do you have these two abductors with you! Ylyssus was assaulted and stolen by them—to be sold!"

"I have been released," Tetonbaum says, "…Brother Grelan's last words were for me to leave…The Kratos intend to move against the Sousan heirs…No good shall come of it."

"Liar," Roisminas spits, taking out his menjaga, "…You will come with us for questioning, and likely then you will be permanently released from this life, Tetonbaum Soterios…Come with me, and perhaps judgement shall be kinder with a show of good will from you."

"I am no longer bound to the institution that raised me…I cannot go back. Brother Grelan has seen to that…You blame me for his death."

"I do," Roisminas snarls, "…Shoot him, Ylyssus, I will take care of the others."

Tetonbaum looks from the high th'ane to Ylyssus, who raises his sleeve, revealing the black and brown bolsun attached to his arm.

"Do you doubt me, Ylyssus?" Tetonbaum asks, pausing the drell's aim.

Ylyssus feels his heart beat steadily on.

Tetonbaum witnesses the following transpire—As Ylyssus readies the bolsun to follow the directive of a high th'ane, who very much has authority to command him shoot Tetonbaum, Kasumi's scream rips through the air, startling a flock of the blue and gray seacaws alighting on the waves to feed…The venom is being drawn out and by no pleasant means…Davied's saliva burns.

As Tetonbaum turns to see what Davied has done, out the corner of his eye he also sees Ylyssus look to Roisminas as the smaller high th'ane lunges through the water, leaps with respectable distance, moving his menjaga through the air to arc towards Tetonbaum's turned back. Ylyssus triggers the feather-light catch on his bolsun and releases a bolt into Roisminas's hand, knocking the menjaga free with a burst of blood and oil.

Roisminas turns, clutching his wrist as he glowers vehemently at Ylyssus, "…You shot me, what is wrong with you…" Ylyssus approaches him, his face calm and thoughtful.

"Tetonbaum has done nothing that would require such force," Ylyssus says simply, "…Sorry about your hand…Your menjaga fell in the water over there somewhere," and he points, waving his fingers in a vague direction towards the incoming current, "…Let me go reason with him." He walks passed Roisminas, staring at him and at his bleeding palm, the fingers curled towards the black bolt sticking through it halfway.

Tetonbaum goes to help Davied lift Kasumi, and cradles her head to his wet chest as Davied gives him the sum of what he has accomplished, "…I do not taste anymore of that vileness in her blood, but you will need to replace it with your own if you wish to give her comfort…" Tetonbaum looks at him, "…You can do it…I know what you are, and who you belong to."

Ylyssus's splash through a wave deters Tetonbaum from answering Davied's surmise, and he turns towards the other th'ane, who stops between him and Roisminas's glare at his back.

"What's this all about, Brother Soterios," Ylyssus says, taking in a closer view of the chimilys and the woman, "…Why did you leave me that note," he says softer so only they—not Roisminas—can hear.

"Do you believe me," Tetonbaum asks him, "…Do you believe, that is the only answer."

For a time, Ylyssus studies his eyes, then looks at the chimilys, "…Who is my mother's name…It is not known by any beyond the Isle who my parents are, but especially my mother…She was—"

"Melanctha Tan'nanshul…Your father took her last name, which is uncommon, but where they live, it was thought more prudent," Davied interrupts, his patience short.

Ylyssus stares at the chimilys, then at Tetonbaum, nursing the woman to him with a whisper now and then in her ear, "…He speaks the truth."

Tetonbaum looks from Kasumi's pale cheek to Ylyssus, "…Stay, or go…Time is running and we have yet to swim."

"Again?" Ylyssus asks, confirming to them his decision.


The boat leaves the last island, Tetonbaum and Ylyssus swimming alongside it as Kasumi and Davied huddle together on its seats within the bow…They push, guiding it out into the open water, the faroff cries of seacaws hidden by the mist, Roisminas having come to stand on the last, farthest reaching rock to see what direction they go in, and soon they are lost to him, enveloped in the sea's fog between Merce'des and the Birutise'aha.

Tetonbaum floats ahead, swimming on his back a while as his hand steers the prow of the small vessel for them, "…We will go as far as Nualavera…Avoid Umay at all costs and any groups. There must be a way to reach my brother before he returns, I hope."

Ylyssus swims round from the other side, his robes and cloak in the boat to keep dry, "…Where are we going? Was this not planned?"

"I do not know," Tetonbaum can hear the peaceful silence in his tenesses underwater, "…But Brother Grelan informed me Miss Kasumi can get us off the planet…She is my only opportunity to stop Casnar, my brother, from meeting his death here."

"Is that why you want to get into her pants," Davied sneers from the boat, overhearing, "…She has no way of leaving this world!"

Kasumi shivers against Davied, opening her eyes from the haze of the venom, "…My cuff," she whispers to him.

"What, what about your sleeve?" Davied turns instantly more gentle.

"Cuff…Smooth…Black," she points at her arm, and Davied sees a roundish-box connected to her pale wrist.

Tetonbaum rocks the boat some as he peers over the side at what she shows them, and with a shaking digit, wrinkled by the damp and cold water, she opens the lid and depresses a single pad.

Ylyssus peers over the opposite side to balance the boat, and a chirruping ring can be heard.


Braith walks to her desk and opens her computer console, "…Goto, why are you…" She looks at the static view coming up before her eyes, "…Goto, you getting some interference?—"

"Shepard," Kasumi's voice sounds weak, Casnar, Tor and Sieis turning to the sound of the woman's silk-thin voice, "…I need…pickup…I'm on…"

( "She's on a boat in the Beirchardt," ) some foreign dialect is rasped out, ( "…She's sick, send a ship to claim her," ) the voice is in Rakhïken.

Tor and Casnar come over and listen, ( "…Where are you in the Beirchardt," ) Casnar says, not recognizing the voice.

( "Casnar? Casnar—I know that voice," ) a third voice can be heard in the background, now closer and the sound of thumping, hollow like a barrel, as if one were moving around on a boat in water, ( "…Casnar!…Is that my brother!" )

"What are they saying," Braith asks Tor as Casnar spins the display and starts talking animatedly to those using Kasumi's communication tool, speaking in their fluid language.

"It sounds like it's Tetonbaum, Casnar's half-brother."

"The assassin?"

"Quiet," Casnar glares at both of them, then returns his attention to the call, ( "…Tetonbaum, what did you say about my family?" )


Tetonbaum pulls the boat onto the sandy shoal and covers Kasumi with another cloak, not to keep her warm, but to hide her from the risen sun clearing over the desert.

Ylyssus does not mind that it is his, "…I didn't take you for one to be overcome by a human infatuation, Brother Soterios," he chuckles, "…You have been listening to my monologues about the species, it seems true now."

Davied rolls his eyes and limps-hops over the edge of the boat, hissing as his wounds hit the warm salt water, "…Gah!"

Ylyssus looks at him, "…You need medicine for those cuts…Can you still disappear?"

"I'm functional," Davied grates in a low octave. The cuts on his ankles and wrists look red and putrid, the scales unable to shift into camouflage. Tetonbaum turns the boat over while Kasumi stands ankle-deep in water, the cloaks making her look like a tall brown and red mound, and she watches him in a groggy daze.

"We can hide for a few days in that canyon while we wait for their ship to arrive," Tetonbaum says, "…But Nualavera has medicine and family."

"We'll never make it over the Meir without a skim, what, are you going to force her to walk," Davied points at the woman layered in cloaks, "…She's sick on foul venom."

"I know, I know," Tetonbaum shakes his head.

"You could give her your own, Brother Soterios."

Tetonbaum turns to Kasumi and pushes back her hoods to check her face, "…I'm thirsty," she whispers.

"How are you going to give her liquid in a desert! This is salt water, we can drink it but she cannot!" Davied lifts the boat and drops it in frustration, "…No water here!"

"Did you have anything helpful to suggest," Ylyssus bends his neck to look firmly at the chimilys, and Davied slaps the water off the keel at him.

"Stupid drells! Stupid humans! Stupid fate—Ka hala'm m'rusth imai…" He trails off in more chimilys curses.

Tetonbaum sighs and picks up Kasumi, walking through the water as her cloak tails drip and her boots stick up between him and the converging Davied and Ylyssus.

"Giving her some of your venom will help deceive the body of its deprivations for a time," Ylyssus suggests, "…It has been tested on the others in Merce'des."

"I will not mark her with my teeth," Tetonbaum murmurs away from them.

Davied limps and flails an arm, "…It is obvious you want to!"

"I will not force it on her," Tetonbaum says, "…That would make me—"

"She cannot go without water, and the venom would help! Quit being so prudish!"

Tetonbaum glares at the chimilys, "…Do you have a mate who abides your unpleasing temper when you are not hobbling next to me?"

"If I knew where she was, I would ravage her many times, but I do not and there are other ways to spread my ill-content," he glares back at him, "…The human is sick and since we cannot whisk ourselves to this city of healing we must stay in the canyon…You must mark her."

"I will not."

"You want to though!"

Tetonbaum strides ahead of them both. "I tried to tell him," Ylyssus says, Davied making a rude gesture at the I'lorie's back.


The canyon is white with bands of cream and pink patches. Several promontories reach in thin veins—supported by emaciated stone structures from the eroded valley floor—crossing the top of it like webbing. Tetonbaum and Ylyssus walk quietly along with Davied hobbling still in the rear. Kasumi sleeps in Tetonbaum's arms.

Ylyssus feels her head with his fingers, "…She has fever," he looks with alarm at the I'lorie, "…She needs fluids, Tetonbaum."

Taking them into a hollowed space along the canyon wall, Tetonbaum sets her down, "…There are springs in the desert, but I must leave her here to move faster. Stay with them, Ylyssus—" Tetonbaum feels his hand on his shoulder as he tucks Kasumi into the alcove.

"Tetonbaum," Ylyssus looks from her pale, drawn face to the others, "…I realize you have feelings for her…If so, give her your venom, it will only help."

"She may have a mate."

"Her mate will be grateful, if that is even true…"

Tetonbaum sighs and turns his face to her…Kasumi's eyes are closed. He feels her skin, and it is not cool as before, but so hot, "…Kasumi, look at me?"

Her eyelashes twitch, and slowly her eyes open, "…Teton…"

Leaning forward, "…I need to give you my venom…I will try to be gentle…I need your permission…It will leave a mark…"

A permanent mark…

Kasumi moves her lips, "…Leave it…Leave it..."

Cupping her cheek, hair in his fingers, he moves her head to expose her neck, and opposite the fang punctures by the hunur, Tetonbaum blows on her skin, licks his lips, "…Here will it lie," he whispers.

Kasumi's body tightens, an arousing cry coming from her lungs, and Tetonbaum drains his venom into her skin.


The effect is remarkable. Tetonbaum understands why th'anes are discouraged from taking mates, and why on Kahje the marker fangs are removed completely. As he walks through the canyon alone, he is distracted by the release of his venom into her skin, as he recalls it…It is typically done during sex so his seed has gone nowhere and he is heady with a torturous desire to finish.

Leaning against a spar of white stone winding up to the top of the canyon, he steadies himself, licks the receded fangs that have retracted into his upper and lower palates…No wonder the hunur was so ready to bite…The urge is orgasmic and the adrenaline in Tetonbaum has no place to go and be utilized.

He quiets his mind, listening to his surroundings, and takes out a slim case from his belt pouch, removing a roll of teresha leaf. Far off, an audible rumbling can be heard, and it echoes through the canyon. Tetonbaum raises his eyes to the height of the sky through the land structures above, "…I must find her water," he reminds himself, and pushes away from the pillar, focused on returning with a gift for his desired mate.


The interior of the skyrunner is sleek and refined. Tor lifts his crests out and grins, "…We cannot accept this," he says this to Braith, standing next to him.

"Iuls isn't going to ride in the damaged one so I don't think you have a choice," she replies, lowering her voice confidingly. Tor looks back at the shiny blue polish of the exterior and whistles wantingly.

"It's very different from what we fly normally, and a BC core to boot…We're in style…Well then," he turns to her, smiling, "…I'll keep it in one piece—until the old one is returned to us repaired."

"I accidentally had it scrapped." She drops the fob into his hands, his lips parting in surprise. "You'll have to keep it."

"You didn't…"

"No," she smiles with her eyes, "…But what will it take to make you accept the gift?"

Tor's smile beams as Casnar stalks over, tired of the flirting, and he tugs Braith to him, "…We need to get going. I need to head back to Rakhana." Sieis snorts at Casnar's grip on her and Casnar eases his hold, "…Please."

Braith crooks an eyebrow at Tor, "…Any advice on this one?" She points at Casnar.

"Plenty, enough to write a book or two on," he opens the door and lowers himself—comfortably one should add—into the loaned ride. Braith chose a skyrunner with the necessary leg room and Tor no longer looks squeezed…He lowers the window. Casnar sets his hand on the window runner as it descends into the door frame.

"Take care of that family of yours, Tor, and thanks again," they clasp hands.

"You try and take care of yours, Sered," he says softly, Braith tilting her head to listen, "…You be careful there…Don't get caught by the wrong drells—or anything else on Rakhana with an appetite," he looks meaningfully at Braith, "…I hope your friend is okay."

Braith's smile is smaller, "…Yeah, Kasumi usually comes through okay…We'll see you when we get back, I hope."

"Here's hoping," Tor extends his hand to hers.

The skyrunner lifts to coast its way out of the garage under Nolyn. Sieis sits on his haunches and grunts once, a banton goodbye.

"I think he likes him," Braith says and points to Sieis as Casnar drags her with him, back towards the lifts.

"We need to get to Rakhana."

Sieis follows them on his feet and hands.

"So you say," Braith tugs her elbow from him, her shoulder sore, "…You haven't explained to me what was said, or why Kasumi Goto—my research help—is on Rakhana with your half-brother."

"I don't know how they know each other, but it has something to do with Merce'des."

"What's that?"

"It's more of a where," he steps into the lift, squeezing over for her and the banton to fit, "…This thing doesn't break we'll be lucky," he grumbles.

"Where then?"

"Where…Merce'des, right…It's a school for drells like my half-brother, and partly a prison."

"It trains assassins?"

"They're called th'anes…They do more than kill, but that's in the details…What you need to know is that your research friend must have stumbled on it for some reason…Why would you send a spy to Rakhana?"

"I—" Braith frowns at his suspicious glower, "…She's into her own things…I don't keep tabs on where she goes, I keep in contact with her because she's good at finding me information…All my friends are…It's what we stay in touch with."

"Information, secrets and spying," Casnar says.

"When you put it that way—"

"Don't you free citizens of the galaxy have anything better to do, like go shopping or grabbing ass together," he squeezes out of the opening doors, on the top level with access to the ships meant for heavy-duty travel.

"What, you don't talk about whatever it is you get into on Rakhana?"

"Your friend got into trouble," he says, redirecting them, "…And I need to go learn what she has done, and bring this back before anything else goes wrong," he lifts the reactor hooked by a strap to his belt, an option from Shepard Analytics.


His footsteps echo through the hold of the ship and Casnar turns about, "…This will do, I think..." He looks towards Braith, moving a few cartons in with her biotics. Sieis is helping, along with two employees from her firm. Braith floats the boxes down and balances these from toppling over, Sieis picking off the top one and setting it to the hold's metal floor.

Casnar comes running over, "…You can use your power with him!"

Braith suddenly looks up at Casnar, startled, and turns to look at Sieis bending his long face to peer down at them, "…I didn't even notice."

Sieis issues a long trill from his chest, (: …You are friend…I give you permission. :)

Casnar gapes.

"What," Braith hears the purring and rubs Sieis's smooth nose—No fur, and it feels like velvet.

"He can communicate in Silent Tongue!" Casnar exclaims, "…All this while!"

"Is that real?" Braith asks, "…I'd heard about it, but Thane never—"

"Watch," Casnar opens his throat tebris to exemplify for her the usage of the organ of tissue, and the structures deeper in, (: …You speak like I do, :) he issues in a low harmonic purling to the banton.

Sieis's eyes lift to Casnar's display of his blue-silver-violet tebris, and lifts his head, the chest baring more, and Casnar sees the hidden slits among the powerful muscles, just below the clavicles…There are only two, but Sieis does not need more to trill back, (: …I was wondering when you would figure it out…Not so bright as you think you are all the time, are you… :) The banton makes no change of expression—opposite Casnar's sudden frown.

"What did he say?"

"Nothing, other than revealing he's a bit of a conceited beast."

Casnar hears next, (: …No wonder we did not get along when I first saw you. :)

Braith screws up her lips into one side, "…Are you two communicating? You don't look happy."

"Ssh," Casnar glares at her, then returns his focus to Sieis, (: …Okay, wise one, :) he trills sarcastically, (: …Where are you from and are there others like yourself. :)

The gold-sapphire eyes slit slightly, (: …There are more, hopefully… :)

(: What do you mean, :) Casnar asks, his tebris shivering to Braith's observant eyes as she steps closer and raises her fingers to touch the smooth skin of the vibrating slits in the flesh…These are thick and well-hidden, easily misunderstood to be part of the skin's natural shifting over his chest.

(: My planet was taken by a force of mutants, :) Sieis purls, (: …They call themselves the Assemblymen and women…My caretaker, who adopted me, she was one of them, and she helped me avoid mistreatment with the assistance of another. :)

(: What happened, :) Casnar's folds shiver rapidly, and Braith looks at his throat.

(: Faultoth was being harvested for the Assembly's utility…They upturn everything and forced hundreds of my kind into small communities…We were guarded with weaponry adapted to our particular biological defenses, and we were forced to only watch as our world was pillaged and applied for their needs…And then, they began to experiment on our children... :)

Casnar lowers his eyeridges, (: …Let me guess, your ability to block off the biotics, and apparently now, open them to use at your permission… :)

Sieis's shoulders seem to do a straightening as he tilts and lowers his head, (: …Accurate to some extent…They discovered that our talent to use energies we uncover in others, they could manipulate forcefully against their enemies, obstacles in their path, whatever they could think to apply us towards…It was easier to control the children as they had not learned how to use the skill maturely…The Assemblymen and women took my son from me… :)

(: You have family… :)

(: I do not know if any remain alive, :) Sieis issues a long trill that carries no other meaning besides that of a mournful sigh, (: …They are resourceful, these Assemblymen and women, they are intellectual, but have no empathy for life forms…No respect…for beautiful things formed in nature, naturally…They determine everything's end for its most benefit to themselves alone…They are strange, elegant-looking even, but cold and not alive like you or your friend here, :) he tilts a bump on the side of his head towards Braith, (: …My friend, Catherine Smythe, and her companion, Consil Mruabi, were the only ones who departed from that of the Assembly's reputation as my people came to know… :)

(: How did you escape? :) Casnar asks, holding his arms across his chest as he listens and communicates with the banton.

(: I was with Catherine and Consil…They stole me and we were on a ship, out of the system— :)

(: What system? Excuse me for interrupting…Faultoth was your homeworld? :)

(: Yes…Faultoth…is in Culmina Secta, far from here, I guess…I recall only that Catherine and Consil said we would sleep a long sleep together, and they made the ship enter a complete freeze…It was very cold and I remember nothing after I went into the darkness…When I awoke, I was in a cage and that blond man, Erec Brünner, was talking to me, saying I would be the next new marvel of weaponry, and he would make so much wealth from me. :)

(: I bet, :) Casnar replies, tilting his head, (: …You were separated from your flight companions somehow…Or did they sell you? :)

(: I do not know…If they did turn on me, then that would be surprising…Catherine was my friend, and she taught me to trust Consil too. :)

(: Where could they have gone? :)

(: I do not know…Your Brünner enemy may have information I myself could not gather. :)

(: How did you happen to get out of the cage you were inside at the warehouse? :)

(: There was an energy in it, I was able to close it down and the rest was simple for these, :) he raises his hands, which have five fingers like a drell's. Casnar examines them, now having the invitation to do so. He puts his hand on top of Sieis's, Braith and her employees leaning forward to watch.

(: Are there…others…like me? :) Casnar suddenly asks, staring at the closeness in physiology.

(: Thousands. :)

Looking up sharply at the banton, Casnar lifts his hand, rubbing his fingers in a pinching motion thoughtfully.

Sieis replaces his upon the bay floor.

(: You're not a liar, are you, :) Casnar trills.

The banton squints, (: …Why would I have the need to lie?…That is something only the Assemblymen and women think to do…It is how they are, and then, they are not... :)

Sieis glances down in reflection of his missing companions. Casnar gazes hesitantly at Braith, "…Do you have access to any of Erec Brünner's files, Braith?"

"Yeah, why," she snaps her fingers at her employee—the woman—who pulls up a program on her omni-tool, "…Chambers, run a query," Braith looks at Casnar, "…Ask her whatever you want."

Casnar chuckles at her smile, "…Bad woman to piss off."

"You betcha."


The backend of the ship pulses a lazy red and orange as the drive core throttles and builds in power. Aboard the Lion Gale, Casnar settles into his seat, reviewing the files that Kelly Chambers had pulled and downloaded to the ship's computer system so Casnar could study the files while en route to Rakhana…Pinching his chin thoughtfully, he doesn't look up from the display over the board on which his other hand taps through the icons when the door to his cabin opens, producing a familiar scent…"Hey…" He sits up at the feel of her arms, her hands rubbing down the swell of his pecs inside the tight Shepard Analytics uniform he has been given to wear.

"Kelly had a lot to say about you…She thinks I'm a masochist," Braith murmurs into the tebral folds around the void of skin that contains his ear.

Casnar leans back and gropes her breast as she kisses his neck and nips a spine among his tebris, "…Ouch," he says with half effort, "…You can be…You're more of a sadist," and turned on by her sniffing of his caramelesque scent, Casnar stands and picks her up, carrying her to the wider bunk in the cabin.

Setting her down, he undresses himself, watching her eyes, her face, the way she removes her top once it is certain they are about to do what they have in mind, and flicking the clothes off the bunk, Casnar crawls on after her giggles, his shoulders and neck muscles flexing as he prowls towards her.

Lifting up her knees, she lays on her back and pouts, "…What's that face for," he looks at her shoulders and sees the work from her body's healing, and the Vitale's touchup, "…I find you very attractive, even with the cuts."

"You made one pair," she sighs as he crushes his weight on her, spreading her knees and sliding his arm under her shoulderblades, inhaling the valley of her scent between her breasts and pressing his lips to her nipples, biting her skin, probing her folds between her legs with a hot, hard prick.

"I love it on you," he opens his mouth, the fangs pushing out again.

Braith sighs as he bites into the same spots, injecting his venom as he pushes into her heat…The soft velvet tightness gripping and sliding, making him swell with each stroke…Casnar exhales as he releases her shoulder, licking the blood and dripping trail of venom beading and breaking down the curve of her freckled skin.

He slaps faster into her, holding his jaulses tight after the last hit, watching her face relax from the punishing taste of his energy. "You want it hard, or softlike," he whispers in her ear.

"Hard," she urges back.

Setting her legs up—straight so her calves are against his chest, he grabs her thighs and shoots his hips as if these were set to an automatic hammer, turning her hamstrings flush with redness, and he parts his lips a little at the overwhelming sight of her face turning out those sexy little pouts and Os. Taking her heel into his mouth, he bites down, grazing her skin with his markers.

Braith starts to climax, her body stiffening, his shaking hers while she prepares for the explosion.

Bending her legs forward, he stops, ejaculates, and holds it in.

She reaches up and tries to rub his arm, but he takes hold of her wrist and lowers it, then slides out to pick up her hips, turn her, slap her bottom with a hard, lifting palm, and grasping the tight rounds of her buttocks, he pulls her slowly onto his cock.

Lifting her by her throat, he presses his nose into the hair beneath her ear, "…Now I'm going to fuck you from behind…Can I put it in your ass," he whispers, licking her earlobe tenderly.

The way he says it makes her so turned on, "…No," yet she says.

"Ah," he pushes in again, "…You not comfortable with it back there?"

"It's dirty," she moans out as he thrusts deliberately in time to make her voice hitch.

"I like it when you talk while I'm fucking you," he bites her neck, grazing her skin with the fangs and giving her a rush.

Braith raises her arms behind her head to loop his neck, and turns her face to his so he can dart his fluttering tongue into her mouth, his hand massaging down her underarm to lift her breast and squeeze it firmly and gentle.

Casnar sighs as she leans forward, away from him, and rocks her hips back along his length, his hands moving to the slopes of her muscular back, and guiding her down on him.


The suck and pull is keeping him rigid and hot…Taking hold of her leg, he straightens the left out on the bunktop, slaps her bottom left cheek up, and encourages her to arch her back as he rocks his hips faster, moving the mattress and shaking the pillows.

Braith turns her head and looks back at him, her expression something so exciting to Casnar, he hops onto his feet on the bunk, pins down his fists into the mattress, and leaning over her back to look down at her silver-gray eyes framed by the thick black lashes, he smiles as she does, and gives it to her as fast as that look implores...

Afterwards, they lay in the bunk, Casnar having moved his files to view on the omni-tool he has from Shepard Analytics, and moving his finger to flick down the screens, he talks with Braith, whose leg is thrown over his thighs. "Sieis wasn't alone when he came here, I think…There were two others smuggling him away from his homeworld, and they put him into cryo-sleep, maybe themselves…Erec must have found them somehow, but Sieis doesn't know where his friends are."

"Maybe if they were smuggling him, they weren't really all that nice, Casnar."

"Not saying they were, but Sieis considers these two—Catherine Smythe and Consil Mruabi—friends."

"I thought he said some kind of human name when I first heard him try to speak in my language."

"They're not…I wouldn't call them human yet…He made clear that they're different, mutated, something that looks elegant and graceful, but that has the reptilian needs of serial killers…They're sophisticated and they used his homeworld for their desires…He lost his son, from what I understand.

"He had a son?"

Casnar nods. Braith lifts her cheek off his pec, her shoulder aching from the venom bite again, "…What have you found that might be of help in Erec's files?"

"Nothing so far…I'll keep looking, but he's either really shitty about organization, or he deliberately sends you these crap files that are full of miscellaneous bullshit…I'm no accountant, but maybe we need someone who can help look at the numbers on these bills and payouts, see if someone can find the pattern faster."

"I think I know who we can talk to," Braith sits up, and Casnar quickly pulls her back down, putting the omni-tool on his chest as he hooks her in his arm and pulls her to him for a kiss.


The sand roughs against her cheek, causing Kasumi to wake from her fever sleep…Sitting up on her hip, she shakes the cloaks off her, and turns to see Tetonbaum holding onto her leg…His sapphires leave her thigh to meet her eyes, and he smiles, "…It is not what it looks like…" He points down at her leg, "…There is someone on your thigh." Looking down, she sees something like a black sinuous capsule locked to her pale skin.

"What is that?" Her tired voice carries some alarm, and Kasumi pulls up a rock from the ground to kill it…

But Tetonbaum's hand stops her, "…Peace…It is only a pup, and it is abandoned through some fate that has left it without a mother to keep it safe…Place down the rock, Kasumi…I will show you, it is no danger to you."

She still holds the rock, but slowly lowers it, her chest rising and falling as he pries the capsule off her thigh.

"Ylyssus and Davied were resting and when I returned, they were leaving to fetch more water, food…" He pulls up what appears to be a tail at first, but separates into baleen whiskers…The capsule about her thigh is warm and feels to vibrate against her. "As I came to check on you, I saw her crawl out of the canyon wall and fall beside your leg, then work her way under your cloaks…Do not be alarmed…She is scared." He pries at it with his fingers…Kasumi widens her eyes as he removes what appears to be another limb, and the capsule moves suddenly into a ball again, but has transferred itself into his arms. Tetonbaum looks from the black ball at Kasumi, "…Have you ever seen a beren pup?"

"No," she licks her dried lips, "…I've…heard of berens though…I thought they were rare, that…the pups never leave the mother's side?" Tetonbaum holds onto it as he crouches and walks to take a seat next to her, pulling up the cloaks to her shoulders and feeling her neck…His hand comes swiftly away—something in the way he looks at her neck—and Tetonbaum tugs a skinsac off his belt, passing it to her.

"Drink, you are dehydrated, but make sure to wet only your lips at first and pat some onto your skin…Ylyssus says you may go into shock if the water hits you too quickly." Her eyes move from the skinsac to the ball of flesh in his arm's crook.

Tetonbaum motions for her to apply the water.

The ball starts to slide over itself in his arm's hold, and Kasumi hears the vibration coming from it…Tetonbaum looks down and drums his chest with his fingers.

"Aah," Kasumi gasps drymouthed, and witnesses the blind eyes come into reveal from its protective pill. Tetonbaum rubs his palm over the smooth black skin, trilling at it with his gold tebris shivering.

The beren pup looks like a hairless otter, two prominences on either side of a triangle-shaped head, and the eyes—these are sealed but glow red behind the thin films covering them. The nose flaps are opened, small feathery webs risen above the small holes. Its claws look like those of a sloth's—now Kasumi sees these are opening to curl around Tetonbaum's fingers.

"It's so small," she rasps.

"The parents are so big too," he chuckles, "…It is amazing to see such goliaths with such a small start…And vulnerable," he raises his gaze to Kasumi's, "…She must have sensed your heartbeat through the ground."

"That's not possible…They're that sensitive?"

"They are attuned to vibrations, particularly those that are regular…The mother must have lost this one…I wonder what happened to separate her…" He holds the pup up, its heavy weight unraveling its elongated body, and Kasumi can see the cloaca and the black feet above the start of the thick tail.

"If that's the baby, the mother must be nearby," she says, and pours some water onto her fingers to pat moisture onto her lips, "…We should probably leave it alone. Mom might get mad we're holding it here…" She looks at Tetonbaum beside her, a sadness in his normally happy eyes.

"Beren pups only leave the mother's side when she has died…They usually perish shortly after."

Kasumi reaches over and hesitantly brushes the pup's skin with her dried fingerpads, "…It's so soft…It would make a fine purse or belt, and the color is so rich for its blackness."

"Their skin will be thick as armor, impervious to…" He pauses, aware he might be revealing too much with how he ends that statement, so taking a sharp left, "…Many kinds of weapons…" Kasumi gives him a suspicious, feline tilt of her head under her cloaks' hoods as she lifts the skinsac to her lips and applies a lick to the fashioned mouthpiece capping its end. Tetonbaum's sapphire eyes twitch ever so, following that naughty curl of her tongue on the skinsac's nipple, and he closes his eyes, shuddering noticeably.

"You were going to say something else." Her voice is rough as rawhide, and she takes a sip of the skinsac to quench her thirst finally, unparching her throat of its dryness.

"No, I wanted to be brief, not bore you with a list of many possible…" Kasumi swallows much of the skinsac, gasping for air afterwards, "…You should try to ration that…Would you like to pet her again?" He offers the pup to distract her from drinking more, and the pup coils around his arm. Kasumi smooths her fingers over its head and the eyelids squeeze together. She can feel as well as hear the hurried uptick of vibration in its body. "And one day its voice will cause quakes in the rakka," he adds with a thoughtful whisper, "…Well, if she survives."

"How do you know it's a female?"

"They all begin as female, and later they change," he shrugs his shoulders, "…Nature is unique like that."

Kasumi places her skinsac down in her lap and looks at him.

"Very unique, that I feel," he can see she is doing better, and the way she is looking at him suddenly tells Tetonbaum to make the move, "…the way I do for one unlike myself," he turns and moves to press his lips to her mouth, curling the pup tighter to his opposite ribs. Kasumi remains still, and her lips, though cracked, are moistened from the water…He doesn't care that he tastes a little blood, and brushes her ear with his free hand.

Moving closer to her, they partake in another kiss that may or may not be forgiven.


Shuffling back between the pillars stretching to the canyon top overhead, Davied releases a skinsac full of water to the ground, "…You can't keep your hands off each other, tut-tut."

Tetonbaum hangs his head as Kasumi covers her lips with her fingers, and bites a cracked corner, looking at the chimilys as he drops his camouflaged manner.

"Davied, you usually have better courtesy..." She glances at Tetonbaum as he returns to his seat away from her, but smiles at the pup on his arm, distracting himself from the kiss.

"I have no manners in this hell you have subjected me to…" Davied sits in the sand and tosses the skinsac at her feet, "…Go on, drink as much as you want, Kasumi. We found a spring thanks to this one," he makes a finger towards Tetonbaum, "…And you, you have something connected to your arm."

"It is a beren pup," Tetonbaum says, raising his arm for him to better see the pup.

Davied leans forward on his hips, "…Is it edible?"


The thrum in the engine core room gives Sieis some comfort aboard the Lion Gale. The noise reminds him of family.

All two-hundred-sixty-four of his colony were herded into a camp one day, sealed off from the forest that was their summer migratory homestead…Assembly droids conducted the selections and separations of the children from their parents and relatives.

His son was taken from he and his mate…Violence was met with destructive consequences…

Sieis trembles at the memory of his mate being turned to ashes before he and his son's very eyes—and everyone else's.

…Standing to her full height, Miue had attempted to attack an Assembly droid drawing her son with a glowing chain around his neck, and some weapon attached to the child's shoulder. Distressed by Gulan's mewls of fear and pain, Miue charged the droid—and an eight-hundred-pound banton female is no small matter.

But the droid raised its silver head towards her, and from the single bar of its eye, it turned a blue light out that hit her—throwing her clear across the grounds.

By the time Sieis reached her, Miue's ashen body was dissolving into the wind coming through the stripped faul valley floor...He had picked up what remains he could and buried her in a circle of their relatives, mourning the tragic loss.

Faultoth had many red skies after the Assembly came, all foretelling of the rape of the planet…The battles being fought to push back the invasion of the Assemblymen and women…They were elegant in their annihilation of credible resistance, but Faultoth was a world living in its early stages, with its inhabitants enjoying a peace and unity with the forest, its indigenous life forms…They were not at all prepared, nor capable of fighting the Assembly's technology…And the Assembly offered empty promises of hope for working together…They arrived in great ships full of bright-blue lights, and liquid fire.

What resistance they did eventually encounter was from the species reminding Sieis of Casnar Soterios and Tor Vitale…There were a few colonies in the mountains, and they traded with the bantons on occasion…They warned them early on of strange lights in the sky, coming and going to land…

They provided sound fights where they could, but the Assemblymen and women had the element of rare technologies and savage monstrosities they released into the mountains, and they quickly turned anything they took out of Faultoth into poisoned good, or weaponry.

They used bantons against the D'resca, and brought fighting to the isolated colonies in the mountains, driving them deeper into the sanctity of rock over Kugioe and Mruistha valleys…

Sieis was amazed to see more that reminded him of the D'resca in this world, among other species he had not encountered before he woke from his cold, miserable sleep…

How long had he been sleeping and where, where had Catherine and Consil gone?


Walking through the hold, Casnar departs Braith's side to listen to the inner workings of the ship. "Do you hear that?"

"I hear the usual noises…What are you listening to?" Braith asks, coming to stand next to him.

"There's…I think it's Sieis," he takes her hand, and leads her to the engine core room.

Sieis looks up at their entrance and immediately shifts his body to greet them.

"Why are you in here," Braith asks, "…I thought the bay was more spacious for you?"

He looks to Casnar to translate, and after a brief silence—the while of which they are communicating, "…He misses his family," Casnar relays to her, "…The core room reminds him of them…The noise and vibrations…The energy is familiar."

Braith steps closer to Sieis, "…Interesting, there's Eezo in this core, one of the last few we have available." She reaches up and touches her palm to his nose, seeing the nostrils shiver. "Have hope, Big Guy…We'll help you get back to them."

"Don't make promises you might not be able to keep," Casnar warns her, "…We may be able to find his lost companions because they are here in this galaxy, or so we can conclude…But no way can we travel to another galaxy, what without mass relay stations working, Braith."

She frowns, "…Well, if they were able to send him here, there has to be some way, Casnar, to send him back."

"Maybe, but until we find them," he looks at Sieis's eyes above Braith's black mane of hair, "…That remains to be seen…It could have been a one-way trip and his friends could be dead for all we know."