Fated Love
Characters: Rankati, Titunri.Rated PG-13 for adult themes. Warning: mild violence, homosexuality, harsh language.
Story Unfinished.
(husky whisper) 'Please, Ti. I know that the crisis is over, but we survived it together. And don't look at me like that, with tears in your eyes... I'm not dying, don't even think it. Just... I know we'll go our separate ways now. Don't forget me, okay?'
(tremulous murmur) 'Kati... I'll never forget you. How could I?...'
A mocha-skinned, long-fingered hand scratched underneath a thick, bleached-blonde braid as Rankati shook her head. "Memories again. Damn." The earth demon sighed, sharp golden eyes blurring momentarily as her mind strove to recall the gentle features of Titunri, wolf spirit and Illusionist. Dust-brown skin and a soft face framed by wavy, storm-grey hair. It's those eyes, 'Kati decided as she rose and stretched her lean body. Those eyes... Soulful and glimmering with a constant emotional mist, such a deep brown and without a single highlight of sandier hue marring their dark perfection. 'Kati shook herself rapidly, trying to shrug the memories away. She'd not seen Titunri in two years, and had no idea if the wolf was even still alive. And if she was, it was doubtful that Ti would know she, a disowned Ayshu, was alive as well.
"Dammit! Get out of my head!" Spitefully, with sleek mocha ears flattened against her messy blonde hair, Rankati swiped at the grey-green mist surrounding her. It was misty when we last saw each other... just like when we met... just like this... The earth demon swore under her breath, using a human oath, "Gods blast! The wind even smells the same!" She sniffed a few times, wishing her nose would make some distinction between surging memories and current situation... but there was none to be made. With a sigh resigning herself to the past, 'Kati seated herself again on her damp rock, folding toned legs and letting her long-fingered hands go limp in her lap. Idly, she coiled her long, sinuous tail around her waist, the appendage wrapping almost two times with the blonde tuft of silky fur resting against her left thigh.
As much as she disliked being held prisoner by her own memories, they were much preferred to the harsh reality of her life. At any moment, she could expect a Subishi assassin, a bounty hunter, or even a disillusioned once-ally to sink a knife into her back, cast a spell over her, or simply beat the living daylights out of her. Not that they'd do so easily. The earth demon might have been unimpressive in earth-toned trousers, a sleeveless shirt, and a loose shirt-jacket tied with a cloth belt, but she was far from average. Her Ayshu weaponry belt was hidden under her baggy jacket, and her face, with pronounced features but a casual feel to it, did not hold the stress of a hunted person. No, she held the strain inside, and held it so tightly that it could not escape to claw at her. She was one of the few who could live as a fugitive from the world at large without falling apart.
It was misty like this, and had the spring-green-rain smell... only tinted blue and salty, because we were near the ocean, Rankati recalled in a sad mental tone. We'd finally stopped the Subishi... I had killed the ones in the immediate vicinity, though I'd been badly wounded. They'd hit Ti, who was the target, but only a shallow scrape across her arm. I was reclining on the ground, struggling to keep myself from falling to the oh-so-welcoming earth... she was kneeling at my side, injured arm tucked against her waist and the other... her hand on my knee. She was looking so worried and I... I was so sure that she would forget me, even after months of my saving her tail from those damnable assassins...
The Ayshu demon sighed heavily, letting her gaze fall with her head until her chin rested softly against her chest in a rustle of braid against cloth. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears coalesce on her lashes, though her ears swiveled constantly in search of danger. But her memories consumed her. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, that I wanted her to stay with me. But an Ayshu and an Illusionist... hah! What a pair! It was then... after I said what I did... my Ayshu partner scurried up, looking terrified. Said that I'd been disowned and so had he, by our House, by the government of Serutaya herself! I'd learn a week later of his death by Subishi hands, but for the moment I was simply shocked. And Titunri... was my only comfort. I didn't realize how much I loved her until I realized I would need to go into hiding, be on the run for the rest of my probably-very-short life... and I'd never be able to hold her as I'd ached to for weeks... or was it months? If only fate had blessed instead of smote...
A tiny crackle of dead leaves broke the silence, and Rankati's sharp eyes snapped open, her yellow gaze whipcracking from shadow to shadow. Cattish pupils dilated as a blur of silvery grey arced from the mist; she narrowed her eyes as she effortlessly caught the long, thin, hiltless throwing knife between two fingers. Dark liquid glistened in the muted sunlight on the edges of the blade. "Poison?" 'Kati called into the fog, rising effortlessly and turning the blade to throwing position. "I don't think so." She chuckled, almost amused, and with more force and speed than most thought possible even from an Ayshu warrior of her calibre, she flung the knife back to its owner. A muffled cry was the first sound, followed by the soft thud of a body falling to the fertile soil. "Fool." The demon sniffed the air, identifying the rich, almost saccharine sweetness of Subishi blood.
For once, the memories were only banished briefly during the danger and came flooding back as Rankati turned, leapt lightly off her boulder, and began walking through the sparse, fog-obscured forest. That... that mission, crisis... was where I met Titunri... ten years ago. Since then... oh ghosts, since then... The dark-skinned blonde shivered compulsively, unable to finish. In the intermittent times that the two women had met since then, their time together had been more dangerous and more strangely wonderful than either had expected. Most demons and nearly all humans hated Illusionists, those talented few who could warp reality as they wished; Ayshu were not well-loved by those not Allies or among the People that they'd already helped in some way. Not to mention Titunri herself had made quite a name for herself with her deft control of illusions, and Rankati was renowned as one of the strongest (and now most hated) Ayshu demons alive. It was common to fight all day long, nearly dying dozens of time, only to flee into the night, into safety, and into a secret, sensual realm of their own.
'Kati sighed. "Memories ain't goin' away today," she murmured to herself, grief and pain tingeing her tone. She'd tried to find Ti since the last time they'd been together, almost two years ago. Near the ocean, just like where they'd met, with the same damned smell of mist, saltwater, and forest... But the wolf spirit had elluded her search; 'Kati was always one step behind. Was Titunri avoiding her on purpose, or did the humans to whom she was a Spirit Guide need her so badly to keep her moving, even uncatchable by the talented Ayshu? Or maybe Ti was dead and all 'Kati was chasing was just a rumor of life... The earth demon snorted skeptically. Ti wasn't likely to die anytime soon. It was the Ayshu who had the short life expectancy... in fact, she should've been dead five years ago by the usual Ayshu average.
The earth demon sighed. Every time the mist came up near the ocean, she remembered... Now if only she could find Titunri. "You know, my wolf," she murmured aloud, raising her piercing golden eyes to the dripping leaves, "I will find you or die trying. It's been too long. I never thought I could need anyone this badly..." The vocal admission of her own weakness rang dully against the soft walls of fog and dew-moistened tree bark, rough and fissued with age. Shoving her hands into her wide jacket pockets, Rankati coiled her long tail tightly around her waist and continued padding barefoot through the silent wood. She had to keep searching, or she would, indeed, die.
A little human girl nodded, reaching out one hand for the reassuring feel of cool, silky fur. A slender mist-grey wolf, translucent, turned a brilliant gaze on her before slipping away into the twilight. The human stood and, after brushing the dirt from her rough clothing, jogged back home, refreshed. Another human helped, a mellow, quiet mental tone celebrated as the silvery wolf vanished into the shadows and emerged on a different trajectory as a young woman, seemingly about nineteen. Dressed in knee-length leggings and a loose, sleeveless poncho-like top with a more form-fitting shirt underneath, Titunri slid subtly towards the human town, casting a mild illusion about herself to conceal her claw-like nails, storm-grey wolfish ears, and plumed tail of the same iron hue. It was nearly night and she was exhausted; she didn't have enough energy to actually change to her human form. For the past year, she'd been traveling so much, and with so many humans now under her guiding paw...
The wolf spirit paused in mid-stride as fog gathered, unusually quickly, on the beaten dirt road. It swirled suggestively around her slender frame, wispy tendrils caressing her dust-brown skin like the kiss of a long-lost lover... "Rankati." Titunri bowed her head silently, coming to a full halt as the sun sank behind the horizon and the fog thickened. The memory of the Ayshu demon emerged as the stars did far overhead, twinkling merrily as though to mock Ti's sudden sadness. It had been two years, more than that now, since she'd last spent time with Rankati. It had been almost as long since she'd thought of her lover.
Titunri shook her head, resuming her steady pace towards the little village several miles outside Jesipek City. The Ayshu, if rumors could be believed, still lived. And so she could hold hope in her surreality-enmeshed heart that perhaps, someday, maybe even soon... 'Kati could find her. To an Illusionist, time was only another string of the world to be woven at her will, a facet of "reality" to be allowed to shine at certain times and clouded at others. It was nothing for Titunri not to think of the only being in the world she held dear for two years. But she missed 'Kati dearly, and as she allowed herself to reminisce, she found her body responding very strongly to her memories. It was the first time that Titunri felt what the Ayshu had been feeling for years. And it hurt.
Rankati nearly screamed when she opened her eyes to find that her so-real dream was not fact. Clenching fists, the earth demon sank a few inches into the soft dirt, half-dozing again with a stern determination not to dream any more, but also not to awaken to the loneliness of a wanderer's life. Restlessness forced her gold eyes open again and she sighed, staring blankly past winding tree branches to see the day-brightened sky. The dreams were getting worse as the weeks passed and Titunri eluded her grasp. At first it had only been memories replayed with painful intensity... but then it accelerated to surreal fantasies mixing pleasure with the pain of loss. And now to the lack of pleasure, only replaying scenes of destruction and betrayal. It was so rare to simply relive her memories, but in those dreams like tonight's, 'Kati died each time she awoke only to realize that it was only a dream.
The Ayshu slowly sat up, her thick blonde hair falling about her dark face like a pale sun-bleached curtain. "Da-a-amn," she shivered, compulsively gripping her left shoulder with her right hand, feeling the heat in her palm against bared skin. Resisting the shivers that now raced up and down her spine and ricocheted downwards from her solar plexus, 'Kati leaned forward, grabbed her cloth jacket, and shrugged into it, nestling into the cooler material securely. Adjusting the collar, she rose to her knees and buckled her weaponry belt about her hips, then knotted the cloth belt of her jacket. Listening to the birds wailing away in what humans so erroneously called music, the earth demon stood.
It was getting harder and harder to concentrate on staying alive. Her vision seemed constantly overlaid with hazy images of Titunri; the wolf spirit's scent mingled with blooming flowers and would often send 'Kati into a frantic hunt, only to find herself led to a rose bush or open meadow; and the Illusionist's voice tricked the Ayshu's ears into forgetting about subtle signs of danger for a split second. In the past weeks, 'Kati had nearly been slaughtered dozens of times due to foolhardy carelessness. She knew that if she didn't find her lover soon, she'd make the final mistake, and a Subishi assassin would become famous with her life as a trophy kill. And she refused to die as an insane, bereft woman. No Ayshu was ever killed by a broken heart. Or unrequited love.
Rankati dove to the side, avoiding the barrage of throwing stars by millimeters. Long fingers snatching a handful of thin knives, she rolled and came up to one knee - her left hand shot out, snatching the hilt of the dagger that had been flung at her skull, and then her right threw the knives in perfect formation. However, her Subishi hunter was skilled enough to meet her attack with his own, four razor-sharp blades colliding point-to-point and shattering. 'Kati swore under her breath and, gathering her legs under her, leapt into the trees. The Subishi's black-clad form met her there, exchanging a furious attack with twin dirks, which she met with her own. Sparks flew and sizzled on the dawn-damp tree bark, tiny tendrils of smoke spiralling upwards to create a surreal haze about both warriors' faces.
The Subishi grinned. Though its silent green eyes didn't move from her face, Rankati knew what was coming and twisted to the side in time to avoid a flung dagger from behind; the sharp blade plunged into the assassin's solar plexus, crackling once like lightning before the demon fell backwards, dead. 'Kati didn't pause for thought, darting to another branch and raising her gaze in time to see another knife hurtling towards her skull. As her hands swept upwards to catch it, thread-like vines looped around both wrists and stopped them midway-- gold eyes stared at incoming death in shock, a last-second twist not enough to dodge fully--
The vines snapped. Rankati's hands, freed just in time, clapped onto the blade, sharp edges slicing through leather gloves and into skin. As time restarted for the Ayshu, she flung herself downward, writhing mid-air to land on her hands and knees and dart behind a thick tree trunk for a brief respite. She stared at the vines still cutting into her wrists and the loose ends that appeared cut, and quite suddenly slumped hard against the rough bark. Vision blurring, she raised one hand to find that the edges of the cut had turned black, a tell-tale sign of Subishi poison. Pointed ears tracking the lightning-fast movements of the second Subishi as it circled above in the trees, Rankati struggled to stay awake, but she couldn't tear her eyes from her blackening palms. Dead from poison? How dishonorable...
Much to her surprise, the earth demon found herself abruptly unable to see her own hands. And when she looked down, the rest of her was missing as well. Is this death or a hallucination? she wondered blearily, feeling her mind become unfocused and thoughts smeared. She deliberately shifted her weight and heard the motion, but a quick mental hiss froze her, Don't move, 'Kati. The Subishi above was confused, and as the demon cast her gaze upwards, she saw that her would-be killer was a human. Mocha ears flattened against bleach-blonde hair, but Rankati half-grinned in her poison-induced haze when she realized a mere human could not hear her nigh-silent movements. And the illusion cast about her hid her from its eyes.
The Ayshu, long fingers twitching in tiny muscle spasms, reached into her belt and drew a long knife, the last of her 'big' weapons. Using the remainder of her energy, she pushed it into the earth and let it surface several meters away, out of the Subishi's sight. She herself was unable to throw accurately enough to kill it, so the Illusionist would have to do the job. Feeling the poison consume her, she felt strangely happy; Titunri was here at last... she could die fulfilled. Hold on, 'Kati. The soft voice was surreal as the earth demon slowly fell from her sitting position, sliding left off the trunk and hitting the dirt without feeling it.
The wolf spirit gripped the knife and sprang into the trees, an illusion wrapped around her to conceal her movements and muffle the sound of her passage on the boughs. Dark brown eyes narrowed to slits and storm-grey wolfish ears perked to track the swift black-clothed assassin, Titunri paused and, as he flitted by, plunged the knife into his chest. Though not above killing to protect, she found no joy in watching the blood bubble from the human's throat and spill over pale skin, nor in hearing his lifeless body hit the ground as he toppled from the trees. Quickly, she let fall both illusions and tensed to see her long-lost earth demon motionless on the ground.
"Kati!" she cried, dropping from her branch to land gracefully next to the fallen Ayshu. The black-lined wounds told the story, and the Illusionist swore under her breath, rocking back on her heels to think. Though all Ayshu training included developing an immunity to most poisons known to men and beasts, Subishi were always one step ahead and tended to pack potent venoms on their person, often coating their knives with the deadly liquids. And Illusionists were not warriors nor healers, nor were wolf spirits especially renowned for any talent other than guarding errant humans. Titunri, while an exceptionally good Illusionist, had no particular talent in healing, nor did she know enough of local herbs to help.
"Rankati, I can't do anything...!" A lone tear slipped down dust-brown skin to splash lightly on the earth demon's cheek. Bowing her head, Titunri pressed her palm against her lover's heart, feeling the weak but steady rhythm; hope began to dawn as she followed the stable beat. Perhaps 'Kati would be able to fight the poison herself, and if that were the case, Ti did know how to deal with a demon in such shock. Gathering the taller, mocha-skinned woman in her arms, the slender Illusionist rose, unaccustomed to the strain of weight. With deliberate gentleness of step, Titunri disappeared into the forest.
Days later, Rankati stirred weakly and raised a bandaged hand instinctively to touch her heart. The absence of a heartbeat startled her into opening glazed, dilated golden eyes, and slowly she realized that her hand was numb. Gentle dust-brown fingers replaced the bandaged hand at the earth demon's side, and 'Kati slowly focused her blurry gaze on the soft-featured face hovering nearby. "...T...Ti...?"
The wolf spirit smiled. "Aye, 'Kati. I'm here. Drink this, and then rest." A slender vial was put near her mouth and the Ayshu drank thirstily, slowly regaining control over her body as days of sleep wore off.
"Ti, where are we?" Rankati whispered roughly, unable to summon her voice from wherever it still slept.
The Illusionist laid a soft hand on the demon's hot forehead. "Safe. Keep resting, 'Kati. Your body isn't done fighting off the poison. No one will find us, so don't worry about that. Sleep." And almost as though her lover's words were a command, Rankati found herself quickly falling back into the blackness of slumber.
It was a week later before the Ayshu was strong enough to rise and walk about, but after that she recovered very quickly, regaining her full strength within days. Within the safety of the hidden cave, she sat cross-legged across from the wolf spirit and shared stories of the past two years; they had a lot of catching-up to do. Rankati would watch Titunri as she told her of her travels and trials, how many humans she had sworn to protect and how taxing it was to keep them out of everyday trouble... let alone help them when emergencies arose. And in turn, Ti's beautiful eyes would never leave 'Kati's face as she recounted people - humans and demons both - being saved from Subishi... but the earth demon never spoke of how long and hard she searched for her lover.
To Be Continued...