trans_9 | there were nightblooms in the east

Arha found herself staring at an unfamiliar ceiling for far too long with the rush of her Mothers-Within all but quiet in the dead of night. As much as she commanded herself to sleep, it would not come, and she rose, slipping from her bed and pulling on the pale blue nightgown and robe she had purchased not five hours prior. Half way down the steps of the tiny beach hut she had found for sleeping, she paused, weaved and sat down. In her mind, she saw the face of Sana, the Fremen child she had watched die during the Ohm invasion. She let out a breath and stood, letting her robe puddle behind her as she strode across the sand.

Her bare feet, long used to sand fell into the Fremen style, slip-sliding, random but sure in the moonlight with the alien sound of water crashing to shore ringing in her ears. The moon was full-bellied in the sky and cast pale, silvery light that touched seafoam and washed out the world. She should have been resting, but she walked. There were no true footprints to follow, but she did not go too far before she found herself flowing into the hybrid fighting style that was Jed-Eye and Bene Gesserit both. Sana's face welled up in her mind's eye, fiercely Fremen, and in response, her movements jerked.

Her crysknives were out and she moved quickly as the wave of enemies swarmed. She blurred and cut down many, kept moving, always moving to protect the child who fought as well. Little Sana was fierce with her blade. Arha didn't pause even when she felt the stab of something sharp rip into her.

She sliced its stabbing arm off and in her detached state, she realized she had been stabbed clean through her midsection. The small cry that came from her left jerked her head around. Sana's fingers and torso were bloodied, her crysknife still gripped in her hand. Arha pushed herself up, fighting the dizzying waves of pain and nausea to slash at another creature and found herself unable. She watched the dust motes swirl and felt the heat of the rock beneath her cheek.

And she stared, bearing witness to Sana's death.

This was what came of telling Kyle that she was fine. She was not. No one could be fine after such a thing. No one could be.

[OOC: Open, new tags mean new threads.]

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The sight of her eyes gave him pause, for just a moment - not a colour he'd seen before, and certainly not on this planet. Nor was the accent familiar or local. Almost definitely one of the crew, then.

The Doctor smiled slightly, starting down the side of the dune and toward her, hands in his pockets. "My mind is almost never clear, but if it helps you... well, I think I might be a bit jealous, actually."

His mind was a bit too big and full of stuff to be easily cleared; the best he could hope for most of the time was a distraction, and right now, apparently, that was her.

"My own mind is calmer than it was," Arha said with a bird-like tilt of her chin. "I am Bene Gesserit, Fremen, and now Jed-Eye in this place. My mind is a full thing but compartmentalized in its own fashion. I carry with me the genetic memory of my female ancestors. Oddly enough for me for reasons I cannot determine, that includes those who will be my descendants as well. I supposed that is a rare sort of clarity and filled to brimming. There are thousands of years of voices and memory. My Mothers-Within, they are quiet tonight. It is a night of reflection, I think."

The Doctor tilted his own head to one side, curiosity sparking in his eyes. Genetic memory was common enough in several species, but actually fairly rare in humanoids, and genetic memory that included future members of the bloodline... That was even more unlikely.

The Doctor's fondness for "unlikely" was generally surpassed only by his love for "impossible."

"Really? I've got a few dead men's memories knocking around in my brain too - lucky for me they're quieter, or I'd drive myself mad." Bad enough having his Fifth around to annoy him on the ship - if his past selves were anything more than memory in his own mind... well, it wouldn't be pretty.

He shook his head after a moment, dismissing those thoughts, and his smile turned a bit apologetic. "I'm the Doctor, by the way. Didn't mean to interrupt your... practice."

"I am not...quite sure how I was able to acquire future memories. The spots where the memory should be are fuzzy as if someone does not wish me to remember. This is a frustrating thing. It was a life of much training to be able to master myself in such a manner that the process that enabled me to acquire the memories did not kill me outright. It was still a...difficult process." She shook her head slightly. "In any case, it is a good thing to have company. One appreciates it when the silences grow long," Arha said softly, extending her hand as was the custom of most species she had yet to encounter.

"I am Arha Masaari and am pleased to meet you, Doctor. Practice is practice, it can be resumed. The chance to meet a new face, such does not always continue."

"Well, there's not many people I know who could hold much more than their own lifetime's memories in their head without..." He trailed off for a moment, frowning. Burning up, is what he was going to say. Not that he had first hand experience or anything, not that the thought bothered him, except... okay, yes, it did, quite a bit. Not Arha's fault, though. He smiled anyway and went on, "Difficult process or no, it's a bit brilliant that you managed."

He shook her outstretched hand cheerfully. "Arha. Lovely name, and it's a pleasure to meet you as well. You are from the ship, aren't you? I haven't been there long, still haven't had the chance to meet everyone." And big ship and large crew or not, he did plan to get to know everyone, sooner or later. It made it much easier to stick his nose into their business, that way.

"Many die in the attempt," Arha said thoughtfully. "I faced the Water of Life alone save for the presence of a young Shai-Hulud, a small sand worm. Had I died, the desert would have reclaimed me, instead, I awoke on the ship, which yes, I am from. I am sure you shall meet many more by the end of this war that we fight."

there were nightblooms in the east

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