First Star I See Tonight (Kala)

[Freya]

Freya did not raise a complaint when Kala offered to take the lead on what remained. Already her head was beginning to pound and a deep ache filled her body as she slowly pulled apart the hex within her soul. She closed her eyes and let her head rest against the wagon, and did not look up again until she heard Kala finishing up her work. The Kathar did not stir throughout the procedure, hopefully a blessing, but they could not be sure if it was due to trauma, the curse, or something else entirely. When Kala finally moved away the man was slowly lowered to the ground as the dome of magic faded, revealing the true stars in the night sky above them.

Closing her eyes once more Freya signed as she felt Asteri return to his lizard form, flopping onto the ground before scurrying up the carriage to settle in his usual spot on her shoulder. When Kala rested her own head against Freya's leg the Dragonborn did ponder even a moment before resting her hand gently on the woman's hair that seemed spun of starlight. It was warm, and comforting in a way Freya could describe. Had she been less exhausted she might have felt embarrassed for the intimate display, but as it were Freya simply felt relieved that for now their patient survived.

"I think so as well." Agreed Freya. Looking down she saw how Kala's form was growing translucent, more so than before. She considered Kala's words before answering.

"Let him rest here for the night. Your time with me seems to be coming to an end, and we are both weary." She motioned to the Kathar, "I can look after him for a day, and tomorrow I will pray for your return. Perhaps if we intend for it this time, you might be able to appear here in full form, and be able to take him home when you are rested."

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

Kala would have been embarrassed to admit how much comfort she drew from the hand upon her hair. Her own mother had been cold for many years after the untimely death of Kala's father, and she was used to drawing comfort from her soul-bonded twin, but they had been equally young and confused in their mourning. Now, this dragonborn woman who was surely older than she was called her Star Mother. It felt right on a spiritual, almost ineffable level, but at the same time, there was a cognitive dissonance, as well.

She was fading.

With a quiet grunt, she pushed herself up, taking a moment to raise her face to the stars in the sky, infinitely older than her, but also singing "mother! mother! mother!" at her. Divinity notwithstanding, there was a great deal about herself and her place in the cosmos that she didn't understand. With a weary smile, she reached out a hand, not petting Asteri without permission, but offering him a touch if he desired it. Then she nodded grimly.

"I hate to leave you to the work." There was little choice, however, and Freya's plan was sound, inasmuch as either of them understood how any of this worked. "I will have my necromantic tools with me, and my friend, as well. If I can pull him along with me, then he can take the Kathar back with us." As she continued to speak, it took her a moment to recognize from Freya's voice that her voice was going silent. She looked down at her hands and could barely see them any longer. Her smile was rueful, and then it was all that remained of her like some Cheshire grin. And then even that was like a glittering bit of starlight, which shot skyward.

*~*~*

The following evening, as the stars began to pierce the sky, Kala secured a rucksack full of her carefully prepared tools—soul totems, sinew thread, blood liqueur—about her person in a manner that was comfortable enough. She was still getting used to existing with wings, even if she had grown up feeling them almost like phantom limbs. She still didn't know if that had been real or merely how her mind coped with the fact that her brothers had wings and she did not.

Another winged near-brother stood ready.

"Come, Indric," she said softly. "Meditate with me, and I will try to take you with me when the call comes."

The Avialae towered over here, but nodded in deference. He and his lover Ceran had finally found themselves a family in each other, and then in the Leukos twins, and they had been present if not for the moment of apotheosis, then the time before and after. Indric had seen Atoria and many other wonders, more than he could have hoped to as an orphan with no means of his own. Now he was a Silver Wing, a mercenary company that had become a sort of holy order though the object of their idolatry remained as yet only quietly divine.

He was dressed for tracking and battle should they come. This would not be their first foray into Imperial territory together, but he had grown up with an almost atavistic fear of the Imperium, their Obelisk, and the chattel slavery of their Kathar cousins. He was brave, wanting to return in order to save one, but she understood his struggle.

They knelt quietly and waited, finding a shared rhythm for breath, a shared peace in mindful no-mind, and then even their hearts fell into sync.

.

[Freya]

Freya tried to smile with all the comfort and reassurance she could muster as Kala faded away, but with her fading form Freya's smile too evaporated and she looked down at the unmoving Kathar. For several minutes she simply sat there, looking at the man, the reality of the situation growing on her. She looked between the Kathar and the direction of her tent, the distance seeming to grow as she realized how large a full grown Kathar really was.

*****

The next night...

He was 8 feet of pure muscle and feathers, which Freya herself was 5 feet of... not that much muscle. It took a long time, and many stops but between her own draconic heritage giving her needed strength and Asteri controlling the man's weight they finally managed to get the Kathar into the tent. Normally the tent was large and spacious, but it was barely large enough to house the Kathar's bulk. Freya even moved out some of the pillows back into the carriage to make room for the wings which seemed to always be in the way. He was finally settled onto his side, back propped against a pile of cushions and a blanket that was comically small laying across his shoulders. His booted feet stuck out of the opening of the tent, but there was little lese Freya could do.

Throughout the day she had checked on the man, wiping him down with cool cloth and removed his boots near the afternoon to check his feet for injury they might have missed. His temperature was high, higher than was normal even for Avialae, but it wasn't clear if that meant he was sick or if it was a result of some abnormality of his biology. Her repeated examinations did reveal some information. There was a rune of elementalism on his shoulder, and scarring across his back and abdomen. His breathing was steady and regular, but thus far he showed no signs of awakening.

Freya waited patiently until darkness had fallen, and when the first star blinked into existence she and Asteri knelt by the tent and gazed upward at the sky. She wasn't certain how to go about it, but eventually Freya decided to trust her instincts. From her robes she pulled out a deck of cards, not looking even as she withdrew the cat headed mother of stars, her smile wide and knowing.

"Star Mother..." Freya whispered, looking at the card and then up at the sky, "I pray that the first star I see tonight carries a wish to you. Please send your aid to this traveler, and the one who is in her care."

She spoke the words with intent and meaning, truly praying for Kala to answer as she closed her eyes and rested her hands in her lap to wait.

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

The youngest goddess was awake this time, and felt the pull. Through her bond, she shared it with Indric, as well. In fact, she opened the floodgates of their bond, hoping that the more entangled they were, the easier it would be to carry him with her.

"Cold," he murmured, and shivered, though he let the sensation pass over him and through him, not truly letting it touch the calmness of his mind.

Come, she bade him, as she felt the chill as well. It was like the stars themselves offered her their power, translating her into stellar light, carrying her aloft, and then putting her down. When she opened her eyes, she saw Indric with her, spun out of starlight much as she had been the previous night. Back home, Kaus and Ceran would check to see if their bodies remained or if they had somehow skated on starlight to exist in a state of flux there in the Imperium. At least, she believed they were in the Imperium. Freya hadn't specified. Kala had just assumed based on their previous meeting. She really ought to have asked.

He flickered, but he remained when she poured her own will into his presence. She was glad, suddenly worrying that he might not be made of strong enough stuff for such divine travel. She really, truly knew nothing.

Freya... Then, "Where is the patient?"

She didn't intend to be abrupt with the seeress, but she knew she would see her again. The patient was the one in critical condition. They had managed some miraculous first aid and field triage, but he needed a hospital and, she imagined, to meet Talon as Baudric had. Perhaps this one would be able to pull away from the cursed Obelisk and remain.

"Ah, of course." She smiled at Freya, acknowledged Asteri, too. "In the tent. I hope it wasn't too difficult... I melted before I could help move him."

"Freya, Asteri, this is my friend Indric." The Avialae straightened at what was a great compliment to him, but mere truth to Kala. She hadn't yet gotten so big for her britches that she couldn't have friendships with other mortals. "Indric, Freya the Seer, and Asteri, a potent star spirit. Our Kathar cousin is..." She laughed at the sight, but it was more out of relief than anything else. She saw his feet sticking out of the tent and sensed that he was alive. That was enough to relieve much of her worry.

"He is mostly inside the tent."

.

[Freya]

This time Freya expected the miraculous appearance of the goddess, and so smiled in greeting when they formed from starlight. She too laughed at Kala's words, and nodded to Indra before replying.

"Your kin are quite heavy." It was said rather pointedly, but the dragonborn's expression showed she was not truly put out, "I worried we would not be able to transport him, but fortunately we managed somehow."

She stood and offered a slight bow to Indra, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

Asteri now sat on his usual perch on her shoulder, head tilted slightly as he observed the group, but quickly seemed to lose interest and ducked back into the locks of blonde hair. With a wave Freya invited Kala to inspect the patient, moving into her report on his condition.

"He has not stirred even once since we found him." she began, kneeling beside the Kathar as she continued, "He is warm to the touch, but it might be natural for him to burn hotter than normal. Besides the wound you stitched last evening the rest of his injuries were fairly mild."

She said this, but the reality of it was that to most his injuries would have been crippling. Already in the single day since she last saw him his injuries had begun to heal. Breaks sealed to thin fractures, bruises all but gone, and even the wound on his back was steadily forming a new scar as his flesh gained a healthy luster. It was remarkable, and a sign of the strength and durability of the Emperor's greatest warriors.

"I have checked but can find no other curses or hexes present." she said, her face growing solemn, "But the one which we purged was... vicious. Perfectly suited to his aether and pathways. Had it not been removed he likely would have died by now."

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

"Miss Freya," Indric greeted with a bow. "Master Asteri."

But then he fell quiet. To his mind, he was here to help his star lady bring this fallen cousin home and, if necessary, protect her as well. They were here on her power, mysterious as it was. Now, he began to map the slipstream around them. He had been to Dardouen, but he hadn't traveled extensively through the Imperium. Few Synnekar had, fearing for their lives, their dignity, and their freedom.

Kala, for her part, listened and, when Freya pulled back the curtain so she could see the patient, she observed. Her senses opened, augmented through her Rune.

"Well," she said finally. "I won't waste sinew thread on him when he obviously doesn't care about scarring." She smiled softly. "But I have blood liqueur and marrow gum which ought to speed bone growth and support the healing, especially if he isn't eating. A body that big, that muscle-bound, requires a mind-boggling amount of food." She and her twin ate a lot for their size, but their elder brother, who was closer to Indric in size, ate more than most two men combined. He was more difficult to move than a stone wall.

"Before I do that... I don't know if it will help you at all, but I can show you what I sensed of yesterday's curse. I have a different Rune from yours, and I don't know your trade. It might provide some context, however, to help you break more terrible curses in the future." She rested a hand upon an uninjured expanse of their patient's skin, recalling what she had sensed previously, and what she sensed now, the shape of the emptiness left in his aura by where the curse had been. It was already recovering, albeit slowly. Many things took care of themselves given time; it was the emergencies like the night previous where effort was required so a body could heal itself.

"If I might?" she asked permission before placing her fingertips delicately to Freya's temples. Then, she Shared. Sometimes, her Semblance parsed impressions as if they were one of her mundane senses with augmentation. When she was deep into it, however, it was its own sense. She didn't have the vocabulary in any language she knew to describe some of the feelings, so often she had to speak in terms of sight, sound, and the like, though that wasn't it. This way, at least, she could share those impressions directly from mind to mind, aura to aura, and hopefully Freya could glean more from it than she already had.

.

[Freya]

Freya nodded and did not resist Kala's touch when she reached out. She had never experienced semblance before, but through Kala Freya felt a sudden expansion of her senses. At first Freya could not make sense of what she felt. It was like her sight bled into her sense of touch, and smells sang with music. It was disorienting and confusing, but she leaned on the other's power and closed her eyes to focus on the sensation that was most familiar to her.

She reached forward and rested her own fingers against the Kathar's chest and threaded her aether into his body. She did not see so much as feel as her aether passed into him. The threads were like an extension of her sense of touch, and with Kala's own power forming through her that sensation seemed to expand and grow more refined, more detailed. It was almost as if his aether reached back out to her to offer their own probing touches, and with each new strand of sensation there came a greater understanding. There were more layers to it, sounds and vibrations that Freya felt were coming from Kala herself, or her interpretation of the stimulus being transmitted between auras.

Twisting her aether into a knot around the origin of the Hex, Freya sent a pulse from that center point and opened her eyes to watch as Kala's senses were merged with her own. It was an odd unity of selves, and in a way it made Freya feel... small.

There was nothing in the way of curses left, no malformations of aether, and from what Freya understood his aura seemed steady. In fact if his aura was akin to a heartbeat it seemed to quicken its pulsing.

Before she could ask Kala about the shift in aura Freya felt fingers curling around her throat and she gasped as she looked down into two burning green eyes that stared at her with pure hostility. The grip was light, but she felt a sharp prick where long sharpened nails like talons pressed into her skin.

The Dragonborn didn't move, didn't dare to breath, and her eyes flicked to Kala for help.

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

Kala didn't know how she didn't sense it coming. She had mastered Semblance and her senses were wide open. But she had missed it and now Freya was in danger.

Later, perhaps, she could consider what went wrong, and why she reacted as she did. But in the moment, she merely reacted. Indric came running at the alarums resonating along their bond. Kala threw off her cloak, whose glamours hid her wings from both mundane and arcane view. She mantled her wings, but rose off the ground without their help. Perhaps it was the starlight. Perhaps it was something else. The bluest of eyes gave way to black, sclera, iris, and pupil becoming a field of stars.

Desist, she ordered. We saved your life. Unhand her, or I shall take it back.

Her hand came up more for effect than anything else, and she squeezed it into a fist even as she focused on the Air in his lungs, turning it hard and immobile as stone. If he could breathe solid air, then he was more formidable than she imagined.

Release the seeress, or I will sever you from the Obelisk.

Her other hand came up and when she clenched it into a fist, he could feel the strangest thing: a physical body held a spiritual tether, a sensation he had never known. Unable to breathe, and a hand on his leash that wasn't a Handler's. Of course, she wouldn't kill him. He would pass out from lack of air soon enough, and she would release his lungs. She knew how to force his body to breathe. And she wouldn't sever his tie to the Obelisk; not yet. She needed him to want her to do it, and that would take time.

.

[Freya]

The Kathar's hand squeezed ever so slightly, but the pressure was enough to bring a small trickle of blood from where they pressed into Freya. Still the Dragonborn did not move, her breathing shallow as she looked into those hard eyes that were now looking around him. He seemed confused, but he was well trained and his body had reacted before thought could catch up to his situation. Now though his thoughts seemed to be racing to catch up, just as Freya's were struggling to form anything coherent.

Kala's order shook the man's attention away from his surroundings and he turned to face her, eyes widening slightly at the sight of her wings before focusing once more. Even when his breath was stolen from him he did not immediately release his hostage, nor seem particularly uncomfortable. What did cast a shadow of doubt across his expression was the sensation of his bond to the Obelisk being touched. This more than anything seemed to rattle him, and he cast his gaze from Kala to the Dragonborn in his hand.

Over the course of several long seconds the Kathar and the Dragonborn stared at one another, one with barely repressed fear in her eyes, the other a cold gaze that weighed the odds. The talons withdrew back unto his skin, once more forming humanoid nails, and his grip on Freya's throught was released, but he was already on one knee with one hand still gripping the seer's shoulder.

The discomfort did not show, but Freya knew it must be a terrible feeling to be unable to breath, so she looked at Kala and raised her hand placatingly, moving slowly so as not to aggravate the situation.

"It's ok... Please release him." She looked at the Kathar who was eyeing Kala with a complicated expression, "Lets talk."

"When the Stars Align"

[Kala Leukos]

.

oh, when she’s angry, she is keen and shrewd!
she was a vixen when she went to school.
and though she be but little, she is fierce.

The diminutive woman might not be the first person one would expect to win a game of chicken, but today, she was that woman. At Freya's request, she allowed the Air in his lungs to move as it would and the tension in his slave-bond lessened. But as he kept his hands upon the woman who, while not a devotee, was someone she considered to be under her protection, he could still feel a tingle in his lungs and a hand upon the chains binding his soul. If he kept Freya hostage, Kala kept him hostage.

Indric was there then, and Kala raised a hand to forestall him.

Hold. He did.

She furled her wings, and began to negotiate.

"I am Kala Mizal of House Leukos. My companion here is Indric. The woman in your grip is Freya. She removed the curse afflicting your soul. We saw to your wounds and broken bones. Indric is here to help us get you to a hospital. We are not your enemies. You must be confused, disoriented. You have been traumatized. Speak with us. Violence is not necessary."

Though she could control her voice, she could not—as yet—control her starlit glow. She didn't know how he saw her, nor what he was thinking. She kept her Semblance out of his mind for the moment. Indric knelt at her side; surprised, she looked at him. She hadn't asked him to do so, but perhaps it was quick thinking on his part. A Kathar would be used to Avialae submission. As a woman, she would not fit into his worldview, but seeing another Avialae humble himself to her might key him into old, hardline habits, and perhaps he would be more inclined to obey if all else failed. Her fingers brushed affectionately through his hair, and then she rested her hand upon his broad shoulder.

The spangled expanse of stars cleared to reveal her normal blue eyes as she looked at the Kathar.

"What is your name?"

.