A Mission Post by Lieutenant Commander Jin Rha-Yaleii
Mission: Coil of Darkness
Location: Vulcan
Timeline: 2410
[Near T'Shen monastery, Shi'Al province]
How long Sakarra stood watching the stars' stately dance over Llangon she did not know, but when T'Khut's ragged surface slowly began to lean over the horizon, she breathed like a woman waking from a dream and turned to find Warya waiting patiently nearby, half dozing, his massive head resting on his paws.
"I believe it is time to find my other child, old friend. If I know him he will not be content waiting for news of my condition much longer."
"Wrow." Well, it wasn't as if Warya hadn't a great deal of practice retrieving wayward little ones. The one standing in front of him like one of the ancient desert spirits come to life notwithstanding. Stretching his legs in the rapidly cooling air, the Sehlat shot his favorite biped a questioning glance "Rarr?"
"A rather long story, but I promise I will tell you all of it."
"Hrrrow." The sehlat nodded his agreement and carefully set his paws, following her light footsteps down the slope. He liked stories. What he liked even more was the prospect of another cub to care for. If this second one's arrival was somewhat sudden and unexpected, Warya knew well that such things happened.
At times family meant one born to your own blood, at times it meant blood spilled and bonds forged in its emerald wake. When all you had was each other, you held on and became more than the sum of you.
It was enough.
[T'Shen Monastery Courtyard]
"T'sai ri-la."
"Dan`ri-padonrúmik."
Nveid edged away from the solemnly conversing adults, the V'Shar and a kindly old healer monk, sniffing the fragrant air. There were trees, so many trees as he had never believed to find on a planet purported to be naught but a ball of dust; hardy grass and a myriad of flowers. Little lanterns with Gespar candles floating on water gave a mellow light to the sturdy, elegant open arcades enclosing the gardens on three sides. But it was the fourth side, the one open to the vista of tall mountains, that drew him like the magnet to iron.
To the right he saw the silent, flat surface of a lake reflecting the giant twin-planet's garnet light. Ancient conifers painted shadows on the water, blurred by the gentle sway and nod of branches in the soft breeze. To the South giant mountain peaks stood jagged against the dark sky, stark black painted with a glow as if from a distant fire. It was more beautiful than any story his grandam had ever told, more majestic and heartbreakingly lovely.
One day, he vowed, he would walk these mountains with his thaessu, and they would find a place for three little pennons spelling names in a script alien to this world. And he would speak those names for the Elements to hear, so that They might grant the weary souls a home here. Here, where there was peace and beauty like they'd searched for all their lives and dreamed to find and never had.
His almost dreamlike steps had taken Nveid outside the glow of lanterns into velvety shadows. A steep incline blocked his path, but there were stairs in the rock, worn smooth by centuries of use. Would she have gone this way? Eyes used to turquoise skies and silvery green moons the colour of new leaves squinted at the trail lined by little flowers clinging to crags and outcroppings in the stone.
"Nu'riko. Ki`yuzhat." The kind old abbot's gravelly yet so pleasant, deep voice floated towards his ears and Nveid nodded absentmindedly. "Ka'i."
There. To his left, sheer cliffs with mighty trees perched precariously on top. He cautiously picked his way across rocks and gnarled roots, huffing in frustration when the venerable thaessu's silhouette appeared before him as if he'd always been there, a shadow among shadows, silent as the trees.
"So you are."
"Ohassu. Forgive me, but I must-"
"Peace, young one. She is not far now." A secret smile, barely visible in the crinkles appearing at the corners of the old abbot's eyes. Hands folded serenely in the sleeves of his robe, Sejet appeared to listen to the rustling of the trees, the soft chirping of insects, and the agitated breaths of the child straining to dash off into the forest. Like as not he'd break a dozen bones before he even reached a deadly cliff.
"Where, ohassu? Where?" How could you have left her out here all alone, why did you not care for her, don't you know what they did to her? The accusations burned in his throat but he swallowed them; knowing, ah, knowing all too well her stubborn will around which steel must flow like water. If only that will would bring her back to him, alive and whole. He clutched the sword to his chest, snorting like a jarel before the charge. If he had to scale these mountains by himself and brave whatever predators lurked beneath the trees, he would …
"Ttęra." His face turning towards the East, the small wrinkles at the corners of the old monk's eyes deepened.
A shadow among shadows. She had taught him to look for such things. To not merely look, but see. To understand that the two were not the same.
Beneath the trees, something moved more silently than the wind. And then a patch of darkness took shape, two patches, two silhouettes emerging from the velvety black into the soft garnet twilight.
He breathed her name like a curse, or a prayer.
Nveid had feared to find her battered, hurt, the lithe but so terribly small body broken and weak.
The woman walking from the shadows was none of those things.
She carried herself like a sword, a slender, deadly blade. If her movements were slow, mindful of scarce healed bone and muscle, only one who knew her well could have seen it.
In T'Khut's burgundy light, the eyes shining in her exquisite face were like glowing embers awaiting the wind to set them ablaze.
She was different. He felt it like one feels the charge of a gathering storm prickling on the skin.
Different, with an aura of steel and danger, held in check by a will at once fierce and silent; tranquil as the shimmering lake and enduring as the mountains.
Different - but so unmistakably … her.
The sound that emerged from his throat was a sob of relief, of too much pain and sorrow for much too long, and the unspeakable joy of finding that he had not lost everything.
Alive. Oh Elements, alive.
Heedless of the monk, the trees, the rocks and roots, the massive creature with frightful fangs, he raced towards her and found himself caught in warm, slender arms before he had even crossed half the distance.
"Nveid." Her low, mellifluous voice held no surprise, only tender welcome. He felt her heartbeat, strong and steady, her warm breath, her cheek leaning against the top of his head as he pressed his face into her shoulder and wept.
Home.
How long he stood there, holding on to the slight, small woman in his arms, with the giant beast whuffling his hair and his tears soaking into the soft fabric that smelled of forest and her, ah, her…, Nveid could not have said. Minutes, hours. A lifetime.
"I found you."
"Yes, love. You did."
He pulled away, reluctantly, as if the moment he no longer touched her she might disappear like a mirage.
She smiled.
Eyes darker than the night sky, deep pools like shining black pearls, filled with tenderness. And a smile, a true smile, all the more radiant for its rarity. The truth he had seen in a flash of light at the crowded spaceport, standing before him in wondrous reality.
"Can we … can we go home now, mother?"
"Yes, love." Her small hand slid into his, and together they started the journey down the mountain.
His mother, the sehlat, a path to walk together.
It was enough.
~Fin~
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