Escape. Flight.
Driven off.
Beaten!
The sting of that burned worse than the twin cuts upon X'kirra's throat. It would have been bad enough to fall to X'anista's spear, though not unexpected. The woman hadn't even used her spear. Hadn't even had one on her! Kirra's mind grasped back for things overheard, to make sense of this, for details; the Nunh claimed she wasn't fighting with her spear now, that she WOULD not, and that had made so little sense to the huntress that she'd all but discounted it. Of course X'anista would use a spear. It was what they did. What they WERE. But no.
She could have beaten her! She did! She buried her spear in the damn girl's stomach!
A brief, manic giggle burbled up, tasting of blood. Which brought back fresh the pain and rage and humiliation of her wounds.
Wounded! By an outsider... by meat!
Never mind that that other huntress - she had almost been good, that one, and used a spear like you should - and X'anista had pushed aside her guard. Never mind that she was fighting four at once. Never mind that she hadn't stepped into her Dance, nor taken one of the soulgems for power and speed (she lost her satchel - no, don't think of that). She should not have lost, not to outsiders, not to X'anista without her spear, and most definitely not to some bastard with knives who almost cut out her throat!
X'kirra came to a halt, sweat gleaming in the moonlight, breasts heaving for a moment with exertion before she stilled herself. Pensive of a sudden, a summer squall terminated.
"Maybe I should not have fought four at once. That was kind of dumb."
She threw back her head and laughed, manic and abrupt, the sound ringing across the barren sands.
"I should kill them one by one! I will, I will. That will make X'zarann happy. He wants his huntresses to be strong. That is most important."
A grunt, almost like agreement, sounded behind and to her left. She whirled-
CRACK
-and saw stars, then darkness.
~
She woke, coming to with a gasp and a jerk and a nauseating flash of disorientation. Her head throbbed where she'd been struck, and it took a moment to realize she was lying on her belly. Tied, ankles bound, wrists behind her back. She saw her spear on the ground, in front of her, just out of reach even had she not been bound, and had time to notice little else other than that she was still in the same area, and it was still night, before someone stepped up in front of her. The butt of a spear planted in the dirt before her face. She looked up... and recognition came in a cold ripple through her body.
"Ah.. X'addo..."
Mummies not being part of the Falling Stars' lore, the comparison would have been lost upon the figure who stood casually before the supine huntress. Which was unfortunate, because it was a good one. Wrappings of nondescript cloth covered them almost entirely, some of it looking new, most in various states of wear, as though constantly replaced.
Despite that, patches of skin did show through, though it was difficult in the moonlight to ascertain the coloration. Difficult in light, too, X'kirra recalled. Even the figure's tail was mostly thus ensconced, though here and there the distinctive white and blue of the Falling Stars could be seen.
Lithe and thus wrapped, it was.. not easy to determine a gender, though Kirra was pretty sure he was male. Which could be good, right now, or very bad. Huntresses who showed weakness were fair game, after all. A female might have humiliated her, lowered her standing, but a male could do other things...
X'addo looked down, leaning on his spear, black eyes vaguely amused. They were the only visible part of his face, an arresting, glossy ink even in the moon shadows. Now was a time to play it cool, and talk her way out of this. X'zarann wanted them working together. All she had to do was calmly remind him of that.
"What the hells X'addo?!" Oh well, she never was good at 'calm'. "Why'd you hit me, you scarring moron!"
The hunter raised his brows. Looked at her neck, then at her waist, where her pouch should have dangled. X'kirra sagged. Her tail lashed.
"Alright, yes, I fucked up. I will make good though! They outnumbered me ten to one, and I killed half of them, but they got lucky! I'll go back and kill the rest!"
X'addo cocked his head, further arching a single brow.
"A-alright, it was more like six to one.." A soft cough. X'kirra's ears flattened. "Four to one! Fine! And I went in half-cocked! I almost killed X'anista though!" She glared up at X'addo, daring him to refute it, but the hunter only shrugged, and gave her neck a little pat with the butt of his spear. Kirra winced, and growled. "I know, I know, I didn't get sent to fight, I should have just.. scouted or something..." Her eyes narrowed suddenly, and she grimaced. "That's what you were doing out here. Scouting for X'zarann." X'addo's eyes glittered in amusement. "Dammit! You.. you saw everything didn't you? Ugh..." She sagged again. He could report on her, and that would ruin her standing. She would be humiliated...
The hunter's foot tapped in the sand, and X'kirra looked up to him, forcing her face into a pleading expression. It was not one she was used to wearing, making his brows raise slightly in alarm. "Please don't tell X'zarann? Or any of the others. I.. I could have been scouting too. There's a lot of desert. Right?" The hunter watched her, tail slowly swaying, dark eyes pinning her. X'kirra swallowed, feeling desperate. She couldn't fall from X'zarann's graces. Couldn't! "I.. I'll do anything."
It was a peculiar offer to make; he had her at his mercy. He could take what he wanted. But sometimes more long-term arrangements happened, between hunters and huntresses... not actual mating, since Blackmating was the punishment for stealing from the Nunh, and any other death was preferable, but everything short of it was fair game. Still, such things were.. frowned upon. There was always the risk of betrayal. It would probably be safer, if he so wished, for X'addo to take her, helpless as she was, and slit her throat afterward, before dumping her body in a canyon where she would never be found.
He moved, suddenly, jarring her back to the moment.. stabbing his spear into the sand, before reaching down and picking her up like a sack of grain. She struggled reflexively, but he laid her on her belly, on a large rock. Pinning her with one arm and his body as he took something from his pouches. A knife? A drug? Kirra gritted her teeth, fighting the edge of panic, ready to at least try to take a bite of him... but then he foresaw even that, gripping her head and tilting it to the side, exposing her sliced throat. Her heart pounded with terror. For a few moments nothing happened. He was going to finish her, tear her throat out, he was..
..licking her?
"..oh!"
Numbing coolness spread through her body, fanning out from the injury. He was licking her wound. She knew this. His weight had shifted and.. yes. His fingers pressed into her shoulder muscles, one hand kneading, as he licked the salve into her wound. Azeyma's Touch, it was called. Some males learned it. Those who wouldn't be Nunh, the Tias. Healing massage. Herbs you chewed, then spat or licked onto wounds, to soothe and treat them. Along with rubbing of the muscles, loosening and tending. X'addo knew it?
"Oh... hmm."
X'kirra had never benefited from it before. She injured people, she didn't get injured. And it required submitting yourself to someone's attentions, which was something her pride wouldn't allow. But... she was tied up. He was forcing her to be healed. In a strange way, it was a salve to her pride, as much as to her body.
She felt a flash of absurd gratitude, and bit her tongue to keep from expressing it. Or other sounds. It felt.. very good. Slowly, she felt herself go limp, groaning a bit under the treatment. Heard a soft sound from him, that might've been a chuckle, but didn't care. It just.. felt so nice...
~
It was dawn when X'kirra arrived back at Rock Falls. X'addo had treated her for what must have been bells, leaving her wrung out and soothed and limp in ways that she wasn't used to. He hadn't taken her, as she had more than half-expected. Everything but. His tongue hadn't just stayed on her neck...
"Ngh! Stop that!" she snarled, feeling herself flush yet again. She belonged to X'zarann! She.. she needed to get back. To report. X'addo had left her, once he was done the treatment, had frayed her ropes enough for her to get free and then simply vanished. As always. A small, treacherous part of Kirra wondered when she'd see him again, and she pushed it down, stubborn and angry and conflicted.
So conflicted she didn't even notice the others until X'zarann cleared his voice just ahead of her. She started, jumping back, face flushed.
"Welcome back, X'kirra. Did you have a nice little.. excursion?"
Conflict vanished, replaced by fear and adoration, at the sight of him. Flanked by X'vurr and X'ogun, lounging amidst the ruins. X'zam was.. above. How did someone so big perch like that? The stone pillars were strong, those that still stood.
X'zarann walked forward, and cupped Kirra's face, and her breath caught. He was... incredible. Those eyes - a flash of anger, at how much X'anista's looked like them, how dare she steal his eyes! - held her in place, and she couldn't tell if he was about to kiss her or kill her.
"X'addo brought me an interesting report," he drawled, and she felt a surge of alarm. Her voice caught. Had she been betrayed after all? Had he tended her, just to turn her over to X'zarann?
"It's a good thing she did. I was rather upset when you vanished on your own. I might have killed you out of hand, when you returned, had I thought you disobeyed my command to leave Anista alone..."
Relief, then confusion. 'She?'
"But now it turns out you were investigating something very interesting," the Nunh continued, hand slipping from her face as he turned away. X'kirra released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She couldn't talk just yet.. his presence was just... she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Fear and adoration and desire... all she could do was nod, though she had NO idea what he was talking about!
Thankfully, he told her. "You have my leave to return to Ul'dah, and bring me some of these... relics. The dragon amulets. A wyrmtear, especially. A materia attuned to draconic essence..." He laughed, the sound playing up her spine in a thrill. "Fascinating. I want one. I will have one."
Turning back, X'zarann regarded her with his smile, and she felt things melt inside. "I'm sure you won't disappoint me, Kirra. X'addo will go as well. You are to support each other on this mission. Succeed.. and I will be most pleased."
He left, leaving her with a roiling mass of wants and confusion. X'ogun went too, looking thoughtful. X'vurr walked over to her twin, regarding her critically. Reaching up and touching the cloth strips that covered Kirra's wounds, making her start. Vurr arched a brow, then smiled a bit.
"I am glad you are not dead, sister."
Kirra nodded absently. X'vurr tilted her head, then shrugged, and made to depart.
"Vurr."
"Mmm?"
"Ah..." she looked around. Even X'zam was gone now, leaving them alone. Probably alone. "Is, um. Is X'addo..."
"X'addo?"
"Yes. Is he.. I mean she... a 'she'? Or a 'he'?"
X'vurr blinked slowly at her. At length, she spread her hands.
"Who cares?"
Kirra flushed. " I.. he knows Azeyma's Touch but. The Nunh said. I mean."
Vurr shook her head. "Just do your mission, X'kirra. I will protect the Nunh." She smiled, a bit tauntingly, which had the desired effect; Kirra bristled, her attention returning to what really mattered. She snorted, and gave her sister a little push on the shoulder. "Do not get too used to it! I will be back before you can warm his bed!"
The other girl chuckled, and nodded. Then, before Kirra could head off, she stopped her. "Here." A satchel. Inside, the glow of soulgems... Kirra looked at her sister, who met her eyes, and shrugged.
"Don't die."
They embraced, and parted, one to rejoin the hunters, and the other, back toward the distant city...
Driven off.
Beaten!
The sting of that burned worse than the twin cuts upon X'kirra's throat. It would have been bad enough to fall to X'anista's spear, though not unexpected. The woman hadn't even used her spear. Hadn't even had one on her! Kirra's mind grasped back for things overheard, to make sense of this, for details; the Nunh claimed she wasn't fighting with her spear now, that she WOULD not, and that had made so little sense to the huntress that she'd all but discounted it. Of course X'anista would use a spear. It was what they did. What they WERE. But no.
She could have beaten her! She did! She buried her spear in the damn girl's stomach!
A brief, manic giggle burbled up, tasting of blood. Which brought back fresh the pain and rage and humiliation of her wounds.
Wounded! By an outsider... by meat!
Never mind that that other huntress - she had almost been good, that one, and used a spear like you should - and X'anista had pushed aside her guard. Never mind that she was fighting four at once. Never mind that she hadn't stepped into her Dance, nor taken one of the soulgems for power and speed (she lost her satchel - no, don't think of that). She should not have lost, not to outsiders, not to X'anista without her spear, and most definitely not to some bastard with knives who almost cut out her throat!
X'kirra came to a halt, sweat gleaming in the moonlight, breasts heaving for a moment with exertion before she stilled herself. Pensive of a sudden, a summer squall terminated.
"Maybe I should not have fought four at once. That was kind of dumb."
She threw back her head and laughed, manic and abrupt, the sound ringing across the barren sands.
"I should kill them one by one! I will, I will. That will make X'zarann happy. He wants his huntresses to be strong. That is most important."
A grunt, almost like agreement, sounded behind and to her left. She whirled-
CRACK
-and saw stars, then darkness.
~
She woke, coming to with a gasp and a jerk and a nauseating flash of disorientation. Her head throbbed where she'd been struck, and it took a moment to realize she was lying on her belly. Tied, ankles bound, wrists behind her back. She saw her spear on the ground, in front of her, just out of reach even had she not been bound, and had time to notice little else other than that she was still in the same area, and it was still night, before someone stepped up in front of her. The butt of a spear planted in the dirt before her face. She looked up... and recognition came in a cold ripple through her body.
"Ah.. X'addo..."
Mummies not being part of the Falling Stars' lore, the comparison would have been lost upon the figure who stood casually before the supine huntress. Which was unfortunate, because it was a good one. Wrappings of nondescript cloth covered them almost entirely, some of it looking new, most in various states of wear, as though constantly replaced.
Despite that, patches of skin did show through, though it was difficult in the moonlight to ascertain the coloration. Difficult in light, too, X'kirra recalled. Even the figure's tail was mostly thus ensconced, though here and there the distinctive white and blue of the Falling Stars could be seen.
Lithe and thus wrapped, it was.. not easy to determine a gender, though Kirra was pretty sure he was male. Which could be good, right now, or very bad. Huntresses who showed weakness were fair game, after all. A female might have humiliated her, lowered her standing, but a male could do other things...
X'addo looked down, leaning on his spear, black eyes vaguely amused. They were the only visible part of his face, an arresting, glossy ink even in the moon shadows. Now was a time to play it cool, and talk her way out of this. X'zarann wanted them working together. All she had to do was calmly remind him of that.
"What the hells X'addo?!" Oh well, she never was good at 'calm'. "Why'd you hit me, you scarring moron!"
The hunter raised his brows. Looked at her neck, then at her waist, where her pouch should have dangled. X'kirra sagged. Her tail lashed.
"Alright, yes, I fucked up. I will make good though! They outnumbered me ten to one, and I killed half of them, but they got lucky! I'll go back and kill the rest!"
X'addo cocked his head, further arching a single brow.
"A-alright, it was more like six to one.." A soft cough. X'kirra's ears flattened. "Four to one! Fine! And I went in half-cocked! I almost killed X'anista though!" She glared up at X'addo, daring him to refute it, but the hunter only shrugged, and gave her neck a little pat with the butt of his spear. Kirra winced, and growled. "I know, I know, I didn't get sent to fight, I should have just.. scouted or something..." Her eyes narrowed suddenly, and she grimaced. "That's what you were doing out here. Scouting for X'zarann." X'addo's eyes glittered in amusement. "Dammit! You.. you saw everything didn't you? Ugh..." She sagged again. He could report on her, and that would ruin her standing. She would be humiliated...
The hunter's foot tapped in the sand, and X'kirra looked up to him, forcing her face into a pleading expression. It was not one she was used to wearing, making his brows raise slightly in alarm. "Please don't tell X'zarann? Or any of the others. I.. I could have been scouting too. There's a lot of desert. Right?" The hunter watched her, tail slowly swaying, dark eyes pinning her. X'kirra swallowed, feeling desperate. She couldn't fall from X'zarann's graces. Couldn't! "I.. I'll do anything."
It was a peculiar offer to make; he had her at his mercy. He could take what he wanted. But sometimes more long-term arrangements happened, between hunters and huntresses... not actual mating, since Blackmating was the punishment for stealing from the Nunh, and any other death was preferable, but everything short of it was fair game. Still, such things were.. frowned upon. There was always the risk of betrayal. It would probably be safer, if he so wished, for X'addo to take her, helpless as she was, and slit her throat afterward, before dumping her body in a canyon where she would never be found.
He moved, suddenly, jarring her back to the moment.. stabbing his spear into the sand, before reaching down and picking her up like a sack of grain. She struggled reflexively, but he laid her on her belly, on a large rock. Pinning her with one arm and his body as he took something from his pouches. A knife? A drug? Kirra gritted her teeth, fighting the edge of panic, ready to at least try to take a bite of him... but then he foresaw even that, gripping her head and tilting it to the side, exposing her sliced throat. Her heart pounded with terror. For a few moments nothing happened. He was going to finish her, tear her throat out, he was..
..licking her?
"..oh!"
Numbing coolness spread through her body, fanning out from the injury. He was licking her wound. She knew this. His weight had shifted and.. yes. His fingers pressed into her shoulder muscles, one hand kneading, as he licked the salve into her wound. Azeyma's Touch, it was called. Some males learned it. Those who wouldn't be Nunh, the Tias. Healing massage. Herbs you chewed, then spat or licked onto wounds, to soothe and treat them. Along with rubbing of the muscles, loosening and tending. X'addo knew it?
"Oh... hmm."
X'kirra had never benefited from it before. She injured people, she didn't get injured. And it required submitting yourself to someone's attentions, which was something her pride wouldn't allow. But... she was tied up. He was forcing her to be healed. In a strange way, it was a salve to her pride, as much as to her body.
She felt a flash of absurd gratitude, and bit her tongue to keep from expressing it. Or other sounds. It felt.. very good. Slowly, she felt herself go limp, groaning a bit under the treatment. Heard a soft sound from him, that might've been a chuckle, but didn't care. It just.. felt so nice...
~
It was dawn when X'kirra arrived back at Rock Falls. X'addo had treated her for what must have been bells, leaving her wrung out and soothed and limp in ways that she wasn't used to. He hadn't taken her, as she had more than half-expected. Everything but. His tongue hadn't just stayed on her neck...
"Ngh! Stop that!" she snarled, feeling herself flush yet again. She belonged to X'zarann! She.. she needed to get back. To report. X'addo had left her, once he was done the treatment, had frayed her ropes enough for her to get free and then simply vanished. As always. A small, treacherous part of Kirra wondered when she'd see him again, and she pushed it down, stubborn and angry and conflicted.
So conflicted she didn't even notice the others until X'zarann cleared his voice just ahead of her. She started, jumping back, face flushed.
"Welcome back, X'kirra. Did you have a nice little.. excursion?"
Conflict vanished, replaced by fear and adoration, at the sight of him. Flanked by X'vurr and X'ogun, lounging amidst the ruins. X'zam was.. above. How did someone so big perch like that? The stone pillars were strong, those that still stood.
X'zarann walked forward, and cupped Kirra's face, and her breath caught. He was... incredible. Those eyes - a flash of anger, at how much X'anista's looked like them, how dare she steal his eyes! - held her in place, and she couldn't tell if he was about to kiss her or kill her.
"X'addo brought me an interesting report," he drawled, and she felt a surge of alarm. Her voice caught. Had she been betrayed after all? Had he tended her, just to turn her over to X'zarann?
"It's a good thing she did. I was rather upset when you vanished on your own. I might have killed you out of hand, when you returned, had I thought you disobeyed my command to leave Anista alone..."
Relief, then confusion. 'She?'
"But now it turns out you were investigating something very interesting," the Nunh continued, hand slipping from her face as he turned away. X'kirra released a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding. She couldn't talk just yet.. his presence was just... she could feel her heart hammering in her chest. Fear and adoration and desire... all she could do was nod, though she had NO idea what he was talking about!
Thankfully, he told her. "You have my leave to return to Ul'dah, and bring me some of these... relics. The dragon amulets. A wyrmtear, especially. A materia attuned to draconic essence..." He laughed, the sound playing up her spine in a thrill. "Fascinating. I want one. I will have one."
Turning back, X'zarann regarded her with his smile, and she felt things melt inside. "I'm sure you won't disappoint me, Kirra. X'addo will go as well. You are to support each other on this mission. Succeed.. and I will be most pleased."
He left, leaving her with a roiling mass of wants and confusion. X'ogun went too, looking thoughtful. X'vurr walked over to her twin, regarding her critically. Reaching up and touching the cloth strips that covered Kirra's wounds, making her start. Vurr arched a brow, then smiled a bit.
"I am glad you are not dead, sister."
Kirra nodded absently. X'vurr tilted her head, then shrugged, and made to depart.
"Vurr."
"Mmm?"
"Ah..." she looked around. Even X'zam was gone now, leaving them alone. Probably alone. "Is, um. Is X'addo..."
"X'addo?"
"Yes. Is he.. I mean she... a 'she'? Or a 'he'?"
X'vurr blinked slowly at her. At length, she spread her hands.
"Who cares?"
Kirra flushed. " I.. he knows Azeyma's Touch but. The Nunh said. I mean."
Vurr shook her head. "Just do your mission, X'kirra. I will protect the Nunh." She smiled, a bit tauntingly, which had the desired effect; Kirra bristled, her attention returning to what really mattered. She snorted, and gave her sister a little push on the shoulder. "Do not get too used to it! I will be back before you can warm his bed!"
The other girl chuckled, and nodded. Then, before Kirra could head off, she stopped her. "Here." A satchel. Inside, the glow of soulgems... Kirra looked at her sister, who met her eyes, and shrugged.
"Don't die."
They embraced, and parted, one to rejoin the hunters, and the other, back toward the distant city...
![[Image: MBLxxyE.gif]](http://i.imgur.com/MBLxxyE.gif)
