trans_9 | Between Time and Space

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Between Time and Space

She had no idea how long it had been since that day she had come upon Sietch Tabr with her Sister Sheeana. Part of her had been worried it would be gone, although she knew that was a fairly baseless fear: the place was hidden well, much like, as Sheena would have told her, anyway Sietch built by a Fremen. It was still here, next to the building that looked like a precursor to a skyscraper: the same limestone build, the same precarious steps to reach it. This was, as Sheeana had told her, the place where the original Muad'dib had hidden, where the Fremen had taken shelter before the days of the Tyrant.

It was where she went now, to reclaim a piece of herself.

The Tarot card reading had not been her first indication. After the death of Ozai, she had thought long and hard about where she'd been not long ago: she had accepted that there were people who lent themselves to chaos, to discord, and that they signed their own death warrant when they infringed themselves on others. It had been here Sheeana had attempted to have her delve into the mysteries of the Bene Gesserit, here where she had first partaken of Spice.

One cautious step, two, and then the caution was gone once she remembered that day: the Nightmare King had had her in his grip, or at least her fears were getting the best of her then. Somehow Sheeana had picked the right time to bring her down this hallway, past the treasure hunter bodies to the chamber. There she entered the place where the water was drained, all moisture kept, and she felt herself stumble only a little. It had been Sheeana's second time coming here too, and one mistake would keep her lost.

Quickly she made her way through each trap, just as easily as Sheena had the first time, since Kaya had been itching for a chance to use her limbs again, to dart quickly around a corner or to sidestep another obstacle before coming to THE chamber, where the ancient writing had been before. She could already smell the cinnamon waft that was the remainder of the Spice, the drug the Fremen used to travel through space, to heighten their awareness, to give them the ability to see the future.

Here, Kaya remembered, she had strengthened her mind against the Nightmare King once. Now, in this familiar place where many had gathered in celebration, in orgies, in reverence to the one that would triumph over the Harkkonans in time, for a time.

Kaya, however, was not here to get misty eyed about the loss of her teacher and many like her over time. Nor had she come here to take Spice to enjoy herself. She was here, mainly, to reclaim that part of her she had bravely taken a time before, when she had traveled the stars and seen the future, seen herself. This was a journey she knew she had to take again, if she thought she would be the girl she had strove to be once before.

She took the Spice from the floor, sniffed, then took it into her mouth again, and once again, tasted bitter cinnamon.

Kaya remembered herself, and regained. She endured, and she pulled into herself. She was here a long time.

Several hours would past before she emerged from the Sietch, but those that saw he would say she looked different: she stood straighter somehow, but she looked in a trance, one induced, and her eyes were bluer than they had ever been in the time they knew her. Her hair was loose around her, her feet bare, her clothes dusty and smelling faintly sweet, What was unmistakable was the look on her face: it was silent, accepting, but with a reserved joy that only one who asked would know.

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"I wonder, sometimes, what would happen if we combines our powers and strengths and wills, and directed it toward defeating the enemy that has forced us to live the way we do now," Kaya said. "Not that I think it would be easy, but think of what we are capable of."

At least, she hoped there was a way they could go the route that Aang chose to pursue.

"I saw my life, then and now, she said to Nokosi. "I could see how you, just by being around me, you were able to bring me to this point. You reminded me how to question myself, my motivation, the reasons I chose to go the path my teacher laid out for me. And I realized how grateful I was, to have you and Billy and Ronnae with me, whatever strife might come."

She smiled. "I felt a waave of euphoria and understanding, just thinking of you."

What.

Wait, what?

This was one of the very rare moments where the usually nonchalant and collected elf was...flustered. After all she'd said all of those overwhelmingly adoring things so casually.

Nokosi's eyebrows furrowed and his lips pulled into a lopsided smile. The flush to his face caused it to glow a bright plum color; the elf looked positively humbled.

"I, that is..." He let out a heavy breath of air, a sudden joy apparent in his silver eyes. "Thank you."

Kaya turned, took the elf in her arms, looking up earnestly in his eyes.

"No, thank you. You made every day since we met unexpected, unrestrained, and even in fighting I find myself happy we know each other. No matter what might become of us in the time after this,a and those times will come, I will cherish every moment we have. Something like this is too precious to take lightly."

And with that, she kissed him tenderly, though her fingers gripped him arm with a ferocity that told him how that passion stirred in her.

Both arms slid around her waist and he leaned down, pressing his forehead against her own. "You humble me and I think you are being far too kind. Either way, I am very glad for it."

Nokosi leaned into the kiss, and though he was enjoying the subtle taste, sound a feel, his mind was racing to etch this singular moment to a place in his head where he could always recall it.

His hands began moving on their own accord, tracing a phrase of adoration along her back and he smiled, just a bit, at the tightness in which she held his arms.

Kaya disagreed about being too generous, he could see it clearly in her eyes. But she had spoken enough, she thought, when she could simply do as she had told him: cherishing the moment,

And so she did: her hands run up and down his scalp, find themselves around the nap of his neck, still kissing him deeply. Like Nokosi, she felt this moment, and the Spice only intensified all of it. She could feel something like a wave dip in the grid before them, and that was their feelings, coalescing and holding onto this particular point in time.

A point, Kaya knew, where the two of them chose the path they walked.

The fingers at her back made her shiver, and the wave them made seemed to shake all over.

Ah, she felt so warm in his arms and her fingers weaving through his hair were more than relaxing. The shiver hadn't gone unnoticed and he hugged her closer, pulling the girl almost against his chest before continuing that kiss with a fervor that she had previously shown with the grip on his arms.

There was a strange sense of urgency for him, one that caused the elf to pepper her lips, throat and ears with short suckles and nips.

She felt herself yielding to his sudden aggression: this was Nokosi after all, and though he hardly showed his more feral side, seeing it now did intensify her feelings. This, she knew to herself, had been something she had been curious about with Nokosi for awhile, and now that she was able to see it, she was overwhelmed.

Kaya held him tighter, biting at his neck a little before stopping the both of them, breathing hard, with a smirk on her face. "Anymore, and I think we would be causing a spectacle, Kosi."

Edited 2011-11-05 22:52 (UTC)

Nokosi blew out a short breath then smiled, both at her words and speaking his seldom used nickname. "I know, I planned to restrain myself, though it is quite difficult when you admit things such as that," he said with a laugh. "You needn't worry just yet."

He raised a hand and pressed it against her breathless face, remembering at once what he'd admitted to her, Billy and Ronnae at the beach so long ago, when he'd been asked a string of questions about his preferences. It still held true.

Kaya lay her head on his shoulder. "You know I'm not worried about that. You're a perfect gentleman, Nokosi. I was actually talking about me, honestly. You're at least experienced those feelings before they're new to me, and intensified now. But you're right: no need to rush."

She stood on her tiptoes up kissed Nokosi again, wrapping her arms around him. This was one of those few times Kaya would find herself wanting to be the aggressor.

"Then it is important that you take each moment to bask in such things, yes? Everything else goes by much faster than you would think, anyhow."

Nokosi returned the embrace and nuzzled his cheek against her own. He wasn't going to be dishonest to himself, though; it was a real struggle suppressing urges and instincts when she was being like this.

"I did learn that," Kaya said. "Among many things. I know now that I have to manage the time and the skills I have carefully. That is why I will return to being a healer for med bay, so I have the time to enjoy these things."

She would be glad to know that, but for now, this was enough. Just being able to stare in his eyes, find herself curious with the next day was enough. She leaned over and kissed him agaon, and when she let go, she took his hand.

"We should do something you want to do today!"

"Something I want to do?" he question, a lengthy, violet brow raised. "I was under the impression that many of the things we did were things I already wanted to do. But I suppose," he said, lacing his fingers through her own.

"I think that today...today I would like to go on a ride, and catch the sun. And you." Nokosi looked at her and grinned. "If you think you can outrun me."

She meant something that they had not tried before, but she was sure he got the point. Besides, right now he probably had a clearer head for things the two could do together, and she was not disappointed.

Kaya gave him a playful look? Are you sure you want to do that Nokosi? I'm pretty fast. The ride and the sun are easy enough, but I'll give you a bit of a workout for the latter half."

"Positive," he said, smiling so widely that his fangs showed. "Night Elves are known for their unnatural dexterity and speed--beyond that there are also my aspects, but I will not call on them. Not for this." It wasn't that he didn't think it was worth using or he was cheating by doing so, he simply wanted to have to really work for his reward.

"I have been running through the forest and trees for one hundred and sixty-seven years. I think I will manage."

Kaya would give him work. She was fast (though likely not as fast as Nokosi, he DID have more experience) but she had also partaken in Spice, so people seemed to move sloe to her now anyway. She grinned in spite of this: this would be nothing like the fast ones Howard had pulled on her. Just speed against speed.

"All right," she said and a blink of an eye later, she had gone several yards, looking astonished at the speed herself a moment.

He watched as she sped off and his tongue darted out to slick over his lips. For a moment he didn't move to go after her. Instead he allowed her to put some distance between them before finally picking up his feet and moving.

Most of the fun was in the chase--it just wouldn't be as enjoyable if it was too easy to follow after her as she fled. Well, maybe she didn't know that she should currently be fleeing from him, but he was the predator after all and he would make sure he caught his prey.

He was wrong: in this state, Kaya had not missed out on his meaning, When she saw that he was letting her go forward, she did mistake that for anything less than him letting her go forward so he could catch her. And she had no intention of disappointing him either.

She moved farther into the city until she was a blur, knowing in the corner of her mind that Nokosi, having lived in a forest all his life, would be able to track her. That would be the fun in this (besides the rollercoasters, of course).

At least she wasn't underestimating him. Tracking was one of his prominent skillsets and his increased senses only added to his success rate.

The elf peered into the distance until she disappeared, already sure of the direction she'd gone in. Once he was further along he would need to keep her scent and what footprints he could make out, in order. It was just a bit odd, though--he couldn't remember her being so quick on her feet before.

Kaya knew better than to do that. Altered state or not, she was well aware if his abilities, and thought this would be fun. Just to mix signals, she double backed to a place where she once was, then streaked forward several years again.

She even did her best not to leave any footprints, hard as that was.

He followed her path all the way to the point where she'd led him in a circle. Nokosi stood for just a moment, his eyes roaming over the various, towering buildings. He couldn't feel her anymore, not in this area. He couldn't feel much of anyone or anything in the vicinity, actually, and that was always an annoyance when he was in the city.

Still, he had his sense of smell and elven vision. Kneeling down to the ground, he pressed his nose nearly to the pavement. It only took a few seconds, but he was back on his feet, one leg in front of the other as he sped down the city block.

Kaya was, of course, watching him: she had never intended to lose him completely, and she would vanish and appear again, although she made sure she stayed a go d distance away. She was curious to see how he would pursue her, what methods he would use to track her down.

This was, after all, less about her using her speed, which she was fully aware was breakneck, and more about him trying to catch her. The Spice did a lot, but it did not deaden Kaya's playfulness (not after a few hours, anyway).

He paused in his stride in front of one of the larger buildings and raised his nose to the air, wriggling it as he sniffed. With an unsure head shake, he glanced around the immediate area, as if searching, then continued running into the alleyway cast in darkened shadows separating the two buildings.

Once he was inside, he tugged at the sash folded around his waist and made quick work of wrapping it around his lower face and across his ears to muffle the sounds usually made by jerking motions. He knelt into the shadows, crawled a few feet before the mouth of the alley and waited. As soon as he paused, the shadows shifted and melded around his form. The elf was already hard to spot in the darkness provided by the building, but use of his racial boon obscured him completely from view, here.

He waited, eyes focused on the direction he'd caught her scent, and hopefully she would be thrown off by his little act of confusion and reveal herself. And then. Well, then he could continue the chase.

Kaya had THOUGHT she was seeing him, but suddenly he disappeared. Kaya's eyes widened in shock, and the idea that Nokosi actually able to blend in so well should have been something she anticipated, and she shook her head, smiling to herself.

Not that she was going to be lax because she couldn't see him. She raced forward again, double backing, running further and further into the city, finally settling somewhere in the Jedi temple and then running near her own hotel.

The elf chewed on his thumb as he waited for her appearance, his form still crouched in the shadows. He frowned when he saw her dart forward then out of sight. So it wouldn't be as simple as setting a trap--fair enough.

As soon as he took one step forward, the shadows receded and he could be seen again, albeit it was still dark in that alley. He walked forward and looked this way and that, then began down the street he'd seen her dart into. Once he arrived in front of the hotel he rubbed his nose, annoyed. Her scent was everywhere, here and while that may have been a good thing when he had time to kill and sat in front of her building waiting like some sort of loyal puppy (which Fontaine always thought was ridiculously amusing), it definitely worked against him, here.

Even so, that muted sweet smell she had about her lingered here, so she had been by, however short her stay was. Nokosi stood still, though his ears wobbled as he strained to listen to the sounds of the otherwise quiet city.

Kaya may not have been able to see him, but her senses were not dulled: quite the contrary. She could see how he was stalking for her, and while running this way and that might throw him off the scent, running haphazardly would give her position away.

Still, that running DID help, so she ran a few more laps before finally settling in the Statuary, hiding amongst the rest of them.

Let's see him find her now!

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