Mine.
Prepared.
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Warnings:
If you’re still reading this, you don’t care
anyway.
Pairings: …
Disclaimer:
I only wish I owned them. I don’t, and I don’t make money off of this either.
Author’s
Notes: Man, it’s been so long, I know! You would not believe how ridiculously
busy I’ve been this semester, with uni and time in schools. I haven’t had time
to scratch myself, let alone write. And when I have had a little time, I’ve had
no wish to be writing, because all I’ve been doing prior to that is writing
essays! But now I’m holiday! Yay for me! So here is
the next chapter for you!
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>My love and kisses go out to
picture! I heart him to death, and if I had a colour
printer, I would print him and put him on my wall. He’s just gorgeous!
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>
Without
further ado, here is the fic in which /something/ represents native speak and
due to the / things, fanfiction dot net eats the
punctuation at the end of native speak sentences. It is not that I don’t know
where a question mark goes…
Mine.
–
Chapter
Fourteen – Prepared.
“/Are you
sure it’s safe to go near… that… Krerah?
Could have been anywhere…/”
felt Krerah tense beside him. The native smirked and turned to face the
face.
“/You don’t
much value that pretty face of yours, do you, Nirrin
cocked hip. There was unmistakable warning in his voice and an air about him
that certainly made
crossing him.
“/You’re
wasn’t sure why he hadn’t noticed the small group behind the other taken
earlier. They were all taken, or what Zell had told him were called switch.
“/You’re a
flash of white teeth. “/To bring so many and attack us like this
“/
be involved,/” a tiny taken
woman said with a giggle.
Krerah gave
a derisive laugh and
useless. He wished he had his bow and arrows.
“He’s my
taker’s brother’s taken.
as my bloodkin
if you please, we have things to do and to prepare for.”
Krerah
turned and lifted aside the teepi flap for
who turned as well and started inside. He barely had time to react when a
foul-smelling Cockatrice egg whacked him fair in the middle of his naked back,
sending him sprawling inside Krerah and Ahshey’s
teepi with a yelp. But the native did react. He was across the ground
separating them and on Nirrin’s fleeing back while
the rest of the group scattered and
picked himself up. He placed a foot in the small of Nirrin’s
back, the other on the ground and crouched over him, the heel of a hand between
his shoulder blades keeping him down.
“/Was it
worth it?/” Krerah snarled, his
other hand fisting in dark hair and pushing Nirrin’s
face viciously into grass and dirt. “/Was
it worth the coward’s act of hitting a man in the back to see him fall? Will it still be worth it if I
head back.
“/I-/”
“/Would you
have us all be the savages these people,/”
he nodded at
to be? It’s base behaviour, Nirrin.
see where you stand… if you can still stand./”
The native
stood, leaning all his weight briefly on the foot at the small of
himself down.
“/Zell
Ahshey will pay with him. Are you willing to pay as well
his back to the other brave and continued to fastidiously dust off his hands as
though he’d touched something particularly nasty. “/His taker can’t be there
all the time, and you know
his blood will be spilled. Will you spill yours in his defense
“/
against the Old Law itself, taken. Once Zell Marks him, he’s one of us. You’d
spill the blood of one of your own people…?/”
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>“/Oh, no.style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'> Zell is-/”
“/Speak
your poison elsewhere, Nirrin,/”
Krerah snarled suddenly, glancing at the horizon. “/We’ve things to do
“/I’m going
to get Zell killed…/”
Krerah led him away to a nearby hot spring.
Krerah
smiled as he took off his loincloth.
“/
proves you’re more worthy of him than the likes of Nirrin. Believe
They speak of him in every camp. There is no taker to match him.
a lot of them are jealous of you. Any taken would wish Zell’s Mark
“/
putting yourself in that position for me./”
“/
Krerah purred at him and
laughed and rolled his eyes.
“/Is that
“/Yes
serious. “/I would do it again. Ahshey loves your taker and I love Ahshey. More
than that, I like you, my brother
He turned
his head to press a kiss to the hand at his shoulder and
started, totally unable to respond. He had no idea how he should respond, and he was amazed that Krerah had addressed him as
“brother”. In the end, he just smiled, and felt it a ridiculous gesture. But
the native just grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.
“/Thank you
blurted and Krerah laughed, making him blush and scowl at the same time.
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>“/Now,
just because of a large, rotten Cockatrice egg, either
say what I do and say, and all will be well./”
in which the native seemed to be waiting expectantly, then he finally gestured
at
The cowboy refrained from hitting himself, though he felt he deserved it, and
he untied the scrap of clothing, dropping it to lay with Krerah’s.
He followed
when Krerah stepped elegantly into the water, up to the level of his thighs and
mimicked his position, feet apart in line with his shoulders, hands resting on
the surface of the water. They took a deep breath and swept their hands in
easy, relaxed patterns across the water. He was only a heartbeat behind when Krerah
dove smoothly under and they broke the surface in unison, auburn hair plastered
to lightly tanned, pale skin, black hair plastered to chocolate skin. The
native spoke, words
but he copied them, their ritualistic, chanting quality calming him and easing
him into a state of not-sleep where he still felt restful.
“/It is
done,/” Krerah said softly
with an infectious smile that
couldn’t help but return. “/Now, we can just enjoy the water
“/What did
the words mean?/”
wondered softly, floating closer to the other taken.
Krerah made
a thoughtful noise in the back of his throat, lifting a hand to brush
hair back behind his ear. The cowboy just smiled a little, relaxed and vaguely
happy about absolutely everything at this point in time.
“/
remain, but not their meaning. They prepare us for the HeartSeer, and the
Marking./”
it didn’t matter to him that he didn’t know the exact meaning. Their symbolism
was all that mattered, and he knew it must be the same for Krerah.
“/I think
Zell has chosen well,/”
Krerah said suddenly after a few moment’s companionable soaking in silence.
embarrassed and proud all at once. His earlier, instinctive animosity towards
the pretty taken was completely gone. It was obvious Krerah dearly loved Ahshey
and, furthermore, that Zell dearly loved him,
and that meant no amount of prettiness would make a difference. At any rate, he
found he liked having Krerah’s approval.
“/I’m glad
of white in return.
“/You don’t
even ask why?/”
playfully.
“/Why, then
“/
enough to make me regret my decision to Choose
an exclusively taken role. More than that, I don’t think you’re one to bow and
scrape to him like a kicked lap-dog. I think you have fire, and he likes
nothing better than a challenge. Don’t listen to rumor and nasty comment. They
do./”
On impulse,
hugged Krerah, and he was glad when he felt arms come around him in turn, the
native’s lilting voice laughing gently against his ear. A hand stroked up and
down his back briefly and Krerah squeezed him companionably,
style='mso-ansi-language:EN-US'>“/Now, now, my brother.
HeartSeer. It is unfair of you to
tease me so when nothing can come of it./”
chuckling. He was just glad that here was someone he would be able to talk to,
aside from Zell. And someone willing to call him brother, to be his friend and
support him. More than that, Krerah just liked
him, and that was nice to know.
“/We must
go,
“/And do
what?/”
wondered as they stepped out of the water.
“/You want
to impress your taker, do you not?/”
“/I think I
have. Several times,/”
replied with a smirk and Krerah laughed.
“/I’m sure.
Come./”
A grin curved
elegant mouth and he reached for his loincloth, but Krerah put a hand out to
stop him.
“/What…
“/
not jeopardize that. No loincloth is ever completely clean, no matter how often
we wash it…/” he said with a slight smirk.
The native
headed off through the trees and
had no choice but to follow, naked or not. Suffice it to say, he stuck close to
Krerah’s back.
- - - - - -
-
“/We could
always put flowers in your fringe, since you can’t gel it
silvered the family crest on Zell’s shoulder with powdered thrustaevis
beak. (24) The blond didn’t even dignify the ‘suggestion’ with an answer, only
rolled his eyes, even though Ahshey couldn’t see it.
“/Flowers
are for taken…/” he said after a while, drumming his fingers against his thigh.
His brother
laughed softly, then blew gently across Zell’s family crest, displacing the
excess silver and drying the light glue used to apply it. They had cleansed
themselves as well, and now sat naked in Zell’s teepi, preparing.
Zell found
it difficult to sit still. He was ten times more nervous than Ahshey, and it
showed. When his brother announced he was done, the blonde stood and paced the
confined space, wishing
was there, needing him.
“/
sit!/”Ahshey demanded after
several minutes of this.
Zell sat,
but he fidgeted while Ahshey combed his hair.
“/Aren’t
you nervous?/” he asked,
fingers tapping an erratic beat against a taught thigh.
“/Not so
nervous as you, evidently./”
Ahshey replied, continuing the rhythmic motion of the comb even after the
golden locks were neat. He hoped it would calm the other native.
But Zell
didn’t wish to be calmed.
“/What if
he says no?/”
“/
for the HeartSeer to accept that. What happened to the confident taker from
this morning who’s possession
was clear? Are you so weak that your
taken will forget his need for you in so short a time? Is he so pathetic that he will
give in to other taker’s advances?/”
“/Mind you
tongue, Ahshey!/” Zell
snapped. “/I am not weak and my taken
is in no way pathetic. I can still
lay you flat in seconds, and don’t you forget it
“/Ai
giving Zell a slight shove. “/Here
is my little brother’s bite! I prefer it to his previous lack in confidence
Zell gave a
slight smile, realising Ahshey’s
clever manipulation, and turned to hug him. His thoughts still lingered with
but he knew Ahshey was right. The HeartSeer would find no reason to deny his
claim, and besides,
wouldn’t deny it in the first place.
It
- - - - - -
-
his hair be laced with flowers, dyed chocobo feathers and shining beads.
Furthermore, he could hardly believe he
was lacing the same things in Krerah’s hair – and he
was doing it well. He enjoyed it,
too. The rhythmic smoothness of the regular movements had a calming effect on
him.
“/Is he a
good lover?/” Krerah wondered
while
had been taking turns so neither would have to do one thing for a long stretch
of time.
The cowboy
smiled.
“/
Zell’s hands on his skin, the stroke of his tongue and flex of his hips.
“/You’ve
had others?/”
“/Yes, but
none male./”
“/
grin. “/Then you have no
other to compare. How do you know he is so good
“/He tells
me so!/”
“/Ha
“/This is the answer you give to him, or Ahshey, not I!/”
The cowboy
considered, fingers darting easily in and out of Krerah’s
hair. How did he know? He just did. The way Zell made him feel – special, cared
for – and the pleasure he gave had
hating their time apart.
“/He
touches all the right places…/” he said eventually, and after an encouraging
sound from his companion, he went on; “/He makes… me cry out for need of him…
then answers that need… I crave his
touch and I can’t stop thinking of him, or wanting him. The moment we…/” He
paused, embarrassed, but he knew how open these people were, so he continued.
“/The moment he finishes loving me, I want him to again… and again
“/Ai…/” the
native groaned, long and breathless. “/Yes,
a good lover. I’m jealous./”
“/Is Ahshey
not a good lover
Krerah
started to protest but the words died in his throat and replaced by others as a
heavy bell began to sound.
“/The
HeartSeer calls.
stops, we must not say a word unless
directly questioned by the HeartSeer. You can’t speak, even to Zell. Do you
understand?/”
rang out and Krerah smiled encouragingly as they stepped outside. The cowboy’s
stomach gave a disconcerting lurch as he followed Krerah through the camp to a
teepi set slightly apart from the rest. It was patterned all over with strange,
curling symbols and leaping creatures and long, coloured strips of woven
material hung from it all over, flapping in the breeze.
The entire
camp seemed to have turned out for the Marking, little children laughing and
darting in and out of adult’s legs. They seemed to be dressed in their best
finery, hair and skin adorned with all manner of decoration and paint, and
noticed several jugs being passed among the adults, presumably with some sort
of liquor inside.
He would
courage.
To one side
of the tent sat four muscled braves, meditating quietly while a fifth,
slenderer and more graceful, stirred a pot of black liquid which steamed above
the roaring fire beneath it. Two children, a little girl and boy with ribbons
bound through their hair kept the fire blazing.
A hush fell
over the crowd when the teepi flap twitched, then they gave an almighty cheer
when it was pushed aside and a woman stood there. She was naked and her skin
was like chocolate, but her hair was almost white, it was so pale. Her eyes,
too, were a clear, icy blue. They settled briefly on each of the men before her,
and when it was
as though she stripped him naked all over again, and more. She struck him as a
very severe woman, straight brows, a hard mouth, muscled legs and arms. He
noticed there was no tattoo around either thigh.
“/The Seer
calls Ahshey of the Snake, Grendel Slayer, Heir
to the Old Songs. The Seer calls in the name of the Old Law, which we all obey,
and in the name of the Heart, who is in agreement./”
Ahshey took
one step forward and offered his hand to Krerah, command evident in every line
of his body, though he said nothing.
The smile
Krerah gave made
and, with a last pat to the cowboy’s shoulder, Krerah went to his taker.
“/The Seer
Berries, Keeper of the Silver
Path. Ahshey of the Snake calls in the name of the Old Law, which we all obey,
and in his own name. The HeartSeer is in agreement
She turned
and the pair followed her, the patterned flap falling shut behind them.
they’d been first.
- - - - - -
-
Author’s
Note: Oooo! What’s going to happen?!