Joined in Mind and Body - Chapter 18
#18 of Joined in Mind and Body
It is time for the hunt... But nothing goes as planned. And yet everything works out well in the end.
Joined in Mind and Body
Chapter 18
Andrew sat in the audience waiting room for the clan meeting house. It was somewhat awkward, since there were only huge Kat-sized bowl chairs and he didn't feel like relaxing. He ended up sitting perched on the edge of the bowl, waiting for somebody to come and get him or tell him that he should enter.
Thankfully, he wasn't bored at least. Serina was sending him the information from inside the meeting chamber, where family representatives in the clan were lounging around and the entire outside space was filled to near capacity with the rest of the clan members. The recent major event had pulled the vast majority of the clan members from far and wide for the meeting the prior day. He had no idea what it was, and didn't feel a right to ask.
Several people were wondering why a new meeting had been called so soon after the prior day's meeting. Had something changed with the problem? The revelation that there was a Very Special bid for a new mate to join the clan caused some jumps in the clan. A number of Kats mentioned that they had heard of a large consulate issue with a new clan member for a clan, but had not known which clan. They voiced wonder if this was that issue. All they knew was that the situation they had heard about was very out of the norm and that the clan in question would have an interesting, though not unpleasant surprise.
Andrew could feel Serina's nervousness. Shi knew that some of hir clan did not like surprises, or even anything out of the norm. Shi fidgeted under the gaze of the larger Kats as shi was called to the center before the clan leader. "Be proud and brave, trus. You know you have the most wonderful thing in the world for yourself, and I have the most wonderful thing for me. We have each other!" Andrew sent to hir. Shi took the encouragement to heart and stood straighter with greater dignity as shi took hir spot.
When Serina announced that hir mate was bidding for membership to the clan, the surprise was palpable. Nobody had expected that this tiny feline would ever find a suitable mate. Unlike human populations, the incidents of smaller Kats were exceptionally rare, and the 'smaller' ones as small as Serina was were even more rare than that. The timing and the fact that it was a mate of this small Kat caused even more consternation that this might be the secret issue that one clan would need to deal with.
Serina was asked to replay the pair testing from either hir or hir mate's point of view if shi could, or allow the clan leader to take the information and replay it. Shi chose Andrew's point of view, forming a sphere of shielding above hirself in the meeting chamber and working with its energies to show the scene on it. Non-paired members of the clan averted their gazes as the scene played out, since it was forbidden for them to know what pair testing involved.
The reaction to the end result was interesting as well. Some of the clan were obviously impressed and proud. Others were wondering whether it was safe to even put the new pair through a hunt if they were that strongly attached to each other. The clan leader nodded as the scene ended with the carnage of scattered Kats. It wasn't asked, but Serina assured them all that nobody was permanently injured by the event, since hir mate was a powerful healer too.
Serina was then instructed to call hir mate in. Andrew sighed and stood up off the edge of the big bowl chair. He had told Serina to be brave and strong, but he had weak knees himself in all honesty. He walked towards the door as it was opened from the other side and the youngling page who had been sent to open it blinked at him. The Kat looked around the room, seeing no other occupants, and gazed at Andrew. This Kat was even smaller than Serina or Chari, being a true cub. The cub stood as high as his chest. Might be four, maybe five or six. Hard to believe that that would mean sexually active in Kats.
"Are you...?" the young Kat asked quietly.
Andrew nodded. "Andrew Foster, Serina's mate and bidding for clanship," he answered as he approached the door.
"You're small."
"Small body, big heart," Andrew said with a smile, reaching with a hand to caress the Kat's cheek warmly and linking just lightly to show his affection to this young Kat. The action successfully got a purr from the smaller feline and Andrew hoped that this show of kindness would be taken in by the young cub's parents and perhaps help sway favor to his side.
"You're nice!" the cub exclaimed, then stepped aside so Andrew could pass before working at closing the door. Andrew smiled and helped the small Kat close the big door, then headed into the main meeting chamber.
The feeling of things being big from Serina's point of view was amplified by the fact that he was a human and Serina was used to Kat-sized things more than he was. He felt dwarfed as he came to the entrance to the meeting chamber from the short hall. Not to mention that everybody in the place with the exception of Serina and the younger Kats all had no choice but to look down on him.
"Teleport the rest of the way to me," Serina sent. "The clan leader told me shi's the only one who knew this was coming and shi says that a small show of capability will help to encourage the rest of the clan to favor you."
Andrew nodded and reached to the center of the chamber beside Serina with his mind. Under the watchful eyes of the Kats, as he was in the middle of walking, he simply vanished. There was a bit of a search before they spotted him again leaning lightly against Serina with his arm around hir waist. There were murmurs around the chamber, but most of the Kats were starting to shield better, so Andrew couldn't really make out the tone of feeling any longer.
He took a moment to look around the meeting chamber. The place was impressive. A single, huge, mostly-complete sphere of nearly solid glass-like substance at least a foot thick. He wasn't sure if the sphere of glass extended below the floor or not. The outside was very rough and painted with decoration, while the inside was wavery on its smooth surface. Thankfully the glass was thick and opaque enough that the UV from the sun was well-filtered, so Andrew was not uncomfortable.
The glass sphere seemed like it was made by digging a huge round hole in the ground, then lining the outside with glass and letting it cool before digging it out. Upon this observation, he realized that the sphere likely didn't extend too far beneath the floor here. The sliced off top where the hole was dug into the ground or whatever the glass was filled into simply made the flat hole in the top of the sphere. Then flip it upside down and cut the appropriate doors in it. The vast size of it even allowed seating to be built well up the slope of the walls, with the thickness of its construction allowing it to support the weight easily.
"Andrew Foster, pair mate of Serina Alathir," Andrew announced in his heavily-accented Katharin, following the cues that Serina sent him. "I seek clanship with Serina." He did pick up some disgruntlement over his accent. "Sorry about the accent. It's very hard to speak Katharin without a muzzle. That's why I'm about the only human who speaks it, rather than just being one of the few who understand it. Seriously, how would you feel trying to pronounce some of this with a flat face and not enough tongue?"
He stuck his tongue out and stared crosseyed at it for a moment. A lot of the Kats in the chamber chuckled, which had the intended effect of relieving tension. The clan leader even laughed lightly, but quickly regained hir dignity, though a smile still crossed hir face. "It's good to see a human who not only likes Kats, but is one in mind with us. The consulate told me about this just this morning," the leader said. But then a clouded expression crossed hir features. "I almost wish it had been any other clan..." shi muttered and then hir features brightened again before Serina or Andrew could notice.
"Serina, do your parents approve of this bid?" the leader asked.
"We do, most definitely," Arith answered from the side of the room.
"Andrew, do your parents approve of this bid?"
"My parents were only able to make a short visit," Andrew said. "I apologize for their absence. Serina's family has a record of their approval." The clan leader looked to the group made up of Serina's family and nodded as shi was sent the information.
"They have approved," shi confirmed, forwarding the information to the rest of the clan. "By clan law, all that remains of the bid is a Hunt. Clan members may express their approval, contest, or disapproval through the normal hunt means." Serina and Andrew smiled and Andrew snugged hir closer. Then they noticed the unhappy look on the clan leader's face as shi continued. "And this is where we have a problem. We would normally have a Hunt tonight, but we may not be able to. It may have to wait for a number of weeks in fact."
Andrew and Serina both frowned. They didn't have any extra time and Andrew would be in danger if they went back to the ship without him being in hir clan. Serina opened hir mouth in concern, but the clan leader cut hir off. "I know, Serina. You don't have the time. I know that all of our clan who would approve or contest would be happy to do a hunt if it weren't for the problem."
The clan leader sighed. "That was the business item last night. For the past few days, our plains have been subjected to varying degrees of severe psi storms. Several of our herds and hunt beasts have been badly traumatized or injured by the storms. Air traffic over our lands is hazardous as it is and ground traffic even more so. Having a Hunt with a potential for quick and heavy psi storms can be very dangerous."
Serina's ears wilted and Andrew could feel hir desperation. Shi had no intent to go back and have hir mate be in danger of being killed by the humans. But he could also feel hir fear of the psi storms. He searched hir mind for the information and soon found it.
Psi storms were similar to electrical storms on any other planet, however with millennia of exposure to psionic energy, this planet's storms were psionicly charged. Not just mere static electrical sparks from ground to sky, the loose and wild psionic energy could be highly destructive. Then he blanched as a fact came to him.
It was a little known fact on Terra that lightning striking sandy ground would blast the ground and melt a glass tube through or glass spike into the sand, as deep as the strike went before dissipating its energy fully. These items were known as fulgurites. Fused sand and soil making a glass-like structure, completely opaque in general and carrying the color of the soil impurities from where they were formed.
This glass sphere that formed the clan chamber was the result of a psi storm strike. The vast energy release of the strike blasted the spherical hole in the ground, the psionic energy washing away impurities in the small bit of sand content amidst the soil before the regular energy carried in the strike melted it into glass, lining the outside of the blasted hole. The greater the concentration of psionic energy in the strike, the larger and clearer the sphere would be. It could then be extracted from the ground and have the outside sandblasted to remove the stuck soil and sand there, leaving the milky, opaque sphere.
The spheres were common enough that they were often cut in half to make a fancy version of the bowl chairs that Kathari liked to lounge in. Smaller ones were made into decorations, bowls, and other items of value, and even sold as an export. Having psi storms on your clan land was a show of the psionic power of your clan, as well as a great source of income for the clan when they exported the resulting blast spheres. Just normally they were not too extremely common or concentrated and had much greater warning or forming before they became powerful enough to have a strike.
As he considered how much energy it must have taken to form the sphere that was used to make this chamber, he realized just how dangerous a psi storm could be. And to top it all off, a Kat, being psionic hirself, would act like a lightning rod to a strike. The energy was much more likely to choose a route through the Kathari, using the Kat as an amplifier. Psi storm strikes were invariably fatal. Even well-shielded Kats couldn't take a strike. Nobody was sure whether it overpowered the shielding, or simply ignored it. The only bit of good news was that it was easy to notice a storm cell forming and they normally took at least a half hour to an hour to gather enough power for even small strikes. So clearing out of the area covered by the storm cell, even on foot, was normally no trouble.
The clan leader sighed, shaking hir head. "We'll see how conditions are come tonight. Depending on clan views, we may be able to have the hunt regardless." She walked over to Serina and Andrew. "Trust me, I know, and now the clan knows how important this is. I, and probably most of us, have no interest in seeing you subjected to human testing, Andrew. I know your mate definitely doesn't want to see that either. As such, I will say that we will plan for one tonight and tomorrow. You two go get some sleep as best you can. Be back here in three hours for the clan examination before we see if we can start a Hunt."
"Yes, clan leader," Serina said with obvious relief. "Trus? Would you teleport us both home please?" Shi added mentally, "Quickly." Andrew blinked, but scanned for the nearby home and did a teleport without hesitating or questioning hir request.
"Why so quickly?" Andrew asked when they arrived.
"Clan leader's idea," Serina murmured, looking around hir home. "Shi didn't say why. And now shi is asking for you to teleport back and bring the rest of my family back from there by teleport one at a time, as fast as you can do so safely. They already know and are waiting." Shi tilted hir head. "Andrew, do it as fast as you can. I think the leader has a cunning plan and shi's good at those."
Andrew nodded and concentrated, porting back to the chamber, directly beside Arith. He reached out and touched hir side and teleported back to the house even as shi was opening hir mouth to say something. Then back to the chamber before those words came out and back home with Ralinda. Repeated teleporting took a small toll on his concentration as he got Varessina, Gerarrin, and finally Chari. He let out his breath in a woosh. Oh, he had been holding it. Well, that didn't help.
"WOW!!!" Chari exclaimed. "That was sooo great! I wanna do that again sometime! Much better than just going across the bed."
Serina glommed onto him from behind. "The clan leader is very impressed. That took about twelve seconds for you to get all of them. Now I'm sure shi's plotting something." Shi scooped him up into hir arms. "Now we go nap." And without further ado, shi carried him back into the family fun room, where shi stripped him naked and ignored any of his preference as to how he should be positioned.
He ended up twined in with a huge pile of the whole Kathari family, the weight comfortable against him and thankfully not too heavy. He wasn't sure who all he was in direct contact with and who was elsewhere in the pile, but he was pretty sure he was touching at least four of them. His legs had ended up spread around Serina's low waist and Chari's forepaw was cupped on his bottom, that was the only thing he was sure of. Overall, even though he wasn't even completely sure which way was up anymore, this was the most comfortable place he'd been in a long while. At least as long as Chari didn't knead. Claws could be uncomfortable.
* * *
They all woke to the shrill beeping of the alarm letting them know the time had come for more to happen. Andrew felt very refreshed. Napping in a huge pile of huge felines had a very good feel about it. Stretching and untangling of body parts began to occur at a leisurely pace and Andrew joined in just like the others. He couldn't achieve nearly the magnitude of stretching that the felines could, but the effort was still good.
With about an hour to get ready, everybody settled down to brushing and grooming each other properly. Brushing was a good social activity and straightened and smoothed fur. Beyond that, Kats didn't shed constantly like Terran felines, so brushes stayed clean. Then a quick snack of pastries and they were off.
Andrew was advised to leave his clothing there. Everything until the end of the hunt would require him to have nothing with him except himself. So he simply didn't put them on. The sun was low, but the UV outside would still be an issue, so he would have to stick to the shade until the sun went down. Thankfully the rest of the daylight time right now was going to be in a party structure near the edge of the plains. Serina helped him with remote sensing to the proper place and he gathered the whole family together for a teleport.
This was the point at which he finally discovered the limits of his teleportation ability. He wasn't able to focus enough to spread the energy to cover all six Kathari. After a bit of experimentation without actually doing the teleport itself, they decided that his limit was pretty much three Kathari at a time. So he took the two parents and the oldest sibling first, then the two younger siblings and his mate as a second trip.
He had failed to ask what the examination was about. Turned out that he ended up linked to all of the clan present at once and they got to politely examine his mind and body as a way of determining whether they wanted him in the clan. He was subjected to numerous questions, light pokes and prods, caresses, licks, and pretty much any other contact of mind and body that didn't hurt or upset him. Overall, it wasn't too bad and he got a good feeling from most of the clan. With over a hundred present to deal with, he hoped things went well.
Just before the sun dropped below the horizon, he was taken up onto a large platform to see the plains. Well, guess they were mostly rolling plains. He spotted everything from hilly areas to forested regions to massive maze-like networks of cracks and crevasses in the ground. Once he had had a good view, they headed back down and everybody waited for the clan leader's decision.
The clan leader took to the stage and stepped up to the podium. Shi looked distinctly pleased with hirself as shi looked at hir gathered clan members. "While it is not the best solution, a solution has been found nonetheless. The consulate has sent twenty-five Kats from military duty to monitor energy levels and warn us of forming psi storms. With such detailed work as they do, we will have no trouble pulling out anybody who is within a cell, even though we're having under five minutes of warning before the cell forms enough energy for strikes."
The clan looked amazed and gratified as thirty new Kats with military arm bands took to the stage. Murmurs of approval flowed through the assembled felines. The leader continued, "They have also sent five teleporters. We're not going to ask anybody to try to run out from under a cell if one is detected forming over them. If a cell forms over you, you will be saved by direct teleportation, so stay put and wait for the teleporter. They are not as fast as Andrew-k'is is, but they will have plenty of time to reach you and get you out of there before a storm gathers enough power to strike."
More murmurs of approval from the crowd as the leader touched Andrew's mind and called him to the stage. He climbed carefully up the ramp as shi looked at him. "Andrew-k'is... this is where things get strange. If we have an emergency, and we need to get anybody out more quickly than the teleporting Kats can function, we will need you to go save them. You've proven that you are exceptionally fast at teleporting."
Shi dropped to hir belly and looked at him. "I understand this is completely out of the ordinary, but it's a necessary precaution if we are to have a hunt before these storms settle down. Because this may cause an unfair disadvantage for you, we have decided unanimously that if you need to save a Kat who was trying to challenge you, you will receive all of hir feathers and be allowed to teleport back to where you were before being asked to act. Obviously any teleporting other than that will still be prohibited."
Shi gave him a warm hug, then stood back up. "It is time to make preparations!" shi announced. "The youngsters will be passing out feathers, everybody may make any allowed preparations they desire." Shi went to the podium again and took out a long band and a short band, both of which shi gave to Andrew. "These are your feather carrying bands, Andrew Foster. Normally a Kat would have one around each part of their body, so they have a selection of where to hold the feathers they collect. Obviously without a lowbody, you're going to have to use the smaller one. The band will hold the feathers securely and allow you to have your body free to move."
Andrew took the smaller band and strapped it around his waist, putting the holding part on either side of his hips. The clan leader smiled down at him. "Ready yourself mentally and physically as you need to, Andrew-k'is. As you should already know, any psionics that affect anything outside your body directly will be prohibited during the Hunt. I will be the only one linked to you during this time, as I will be linked to everybody, monitoring to make sure everything is fair." Hir mind touched his and he accepted the strong link, dropping his link to everybody else, even shrouding the link to his pairmate. Shi crouched to hug him again, then walked down the ramp to oversee the preparations as the military Kats began setting up to monitor the weather.
Andrew went to the side of the stage, mostly ignored now as he was allowed to do his preparations. From here on, he would have no contact with Serina until the hunt was over, whether it went well, or failed. He hoped for the former.
Gathering his energies within himself, he began touching up his body enhancements. Sitting cross-legged, he concentrated one every aspect of his body. His eyes closed as his awareness flooded through himself, examining everything and leaving no cell unchecked. Muscles and bones were strengthened, senses were heightened, and changes were fulfilled to give him the edge he would need.
In a fit of inspiration, he washed the outside of his body with energy, changing the makeup of his skin and its operation. For now, he would not sweat, and he would not shed dead skin cells. He would leave no scent behind as he traveled. No smell of his would be carried on the wind or left on the ground to be tracked.
His energies flowed freely though his body, and then he gathered yet more energy, scanning the extent of the plains. He was allowed to do this as preparation, though he could not do so later. His mind wandered the plains, gathering the information on their geography, seeking out the nooks and crannies where things and people could hide. He found a huge number of psi strike spheres. The psi storms had obviously been troublesome. He soon had a full map of every detail in his mind, and examined it further from there, extending his energies more greatly as he concentrated both on taking care of his own body as well as well as exploring the fields and forests he would be hunting in.
Once he was satisfied with the information he had gathered and the state of his body, he let himself relax and his awareness return to himself. He realized that the whole gathering area was strangely quiet. He opened his eyes and looked around to come to the realization that everybody in the whole place was both staring at him and heavily shielded, all at the edges of the room.
"Ummm...?"
The clan leader approached him cautiously, hir shielding still up. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Andrew said, puzzled. "What's... going on?"
The clan leader peered at him for a moment and slowly lowered hir shielding to a more normal level. "The amount of psionic energy you were manipulating... it seriously exceeded the capacity that a Kat can work with... We expected a massive backlash. Or even that you might self-immolate psionicly. Er... we're glad none of that happened, but it definitely had us frightened for a while. Are you sure you're okay? That amount of energy use would burn out a Kat in a heartbeat."
Andrew shook his head. He hadn't realized he had been manipulating that much energy to do his work. "I'm fine," he insisted again. "No trouble working with that much energy at all. Really, I'm fine."
The rest of the Kathari began to relax and drop their shielding to normal privacy levels. They began to go back to what they had been doing, but they threw respectful glances at him now. Andrew sighed and shook his head softly. New things all the time and now he was scaring Kats. He flopped on his back and stared at the ceiling until preparations were completed.
It was well into darkness as the hunt started. Seventy-four clan members chose to take part, the rest abstaining. That was enough to have legal results. Because Andrew was so short, they had reversed the feather bands for the feathers to point down their arms from just above the elbows and down their legs near the top of each. The scanning Kats had catalogued five individual psi storm cells that fully formed and several that never got up to full power. Three were still out there at power, but were a ways away.
The whole clan moved outside into the darkness, backlit by the lights from the building. The clan plains stretched off to the east, mostly rolling hills here. Serina approached Andrew with ceremony, with hir four escorts surrounding hir. The escorts all took a battle stance on cue, as if about to attack him. Their bodies low, claws extended as they looked ready to pounce. Then Serina turned away from him and put hir hands behind hir back, symbolizing hir false capture. The escorts jumped up and two took off towards the southeast, Serina following close behind, then the other two taking up the rear.
Andrew watched as they headed up the nearest hill, into the darkness. He didn't have the benefit of any moon out right now and the near light behind him was making other Kats around him already strain to see the group of five. Serina's grey coat also blended in with the color of the vegetation very well. He was aware of the rest of the Kats losing attention when they could no longer see the group in the gloom and was pleased that his enhanced vision allowed him to still see them. He saw them slow for just a moment to look back, then change direction to head to the northeast instead. Well, that was to be expected, trying to fake him out.
Andrew had an hour to wait now while they were running to get to where they decided they would be. He fretted and was constantly assured by the clan leader that there were not being any storms near them at all. The fact that he could see the brilliant flashes of psi storm strikes off in the distance didn't help him feel any better though. He gazed at the dark and starry sky with trepidation.
Psi storms didn't have clouds, only nodes of energy. One had to remotely sense to avoid them. They never formed over populated areas, since the flow of psionic energy into the atmosphere in those places was strong enough to keep a deficit from building up. Only over clan plains, where psionic energy flowed out through the ground to the plains and then was released to the atmosphere when deficit nodes formed above the ground. It worked just like a lightning strike in that way, the energy flowing from ground to sky.
Andrew sighed and stretched, staying as comfortable as he could in the somewhat chilly air. When he was running, he'd have no trouble, that was sure. But for now, waiting.
* * *
"Keep trying, trus. You must be able to do something! Reach him, or see more clearly... something..."
"There is interference. Powerful interference. Everything is clouded. You know I'll do everything I can though."
"I just hope it's not too late."
* * *
Andrew paused in his pacing as the clan leader announced that the first hour had passed. All of the Kats taking part in the hunt got up from where they were resting and took off into the night. Andrew watched as they all spread out, fanning out across the fields. There were too many for him to watch all of them, but he knew he would meet many of them along the route. He didn't expect to meet all of them, so he knew that he would need to gather extra feathers.
When the last Kat had vanished out of sight over the hills, Andrew went back to pacing and fretting. Another hour to wait before he was allowed to go and hunt. He couldn't shake off the uneasy feeling. Like something was looking down at him like he was a bug. It tingled down his whole back and made him shiver from feeling more than cold. He continued to receive assurance and comfort from the clan leader that the storm activity was much lighter than in the past week, and still no troubles.
He felt empty somehow though. Like something was missing. He marked it down to not being in contact with his beloved, but it still felt wrong. He sighed and sat to wait so he would not waste his energy. Soon it would be midnight and he would be sent off to find his mate.
* * *
"Any luck? Others are helping now, but nobody can make out anything."
"Nothing. Damn it, nothing at all. It's gotten worse."
"Could it... could they be here early?"
"It's the tenth cycle of ten... anything is possible."
* * *
Andrew looked up as the huge paw landed in front of him. The clan leader was looking down at him and smiling. "It's time. There's good news also." Shi pointed to the edge of the light, where at least fifty of the feathered Kats were standing in a semicircle facing where Andrew would be let to start. Andrew blanched. He'd have to take on all of them so soon?!
The clan leader caught his concern through the link. "No, no, Andrew-k'is. Don't worry. Come and see."
He couldn't shake his worry, even with hir words. But he stood up and took his place at his starting point as the time approached. He took one look at the sky, sending a silent prayer to the stars, then faced the massive semicircle of Kats. Steeling himself, he crouched, ready for the signal to start. If they wanted a fight, he'd give them one. The Kats didn't even look ready to pounce. Not one of them. Did they think he would go down that easily?
"You've all gotten poor Andrew worried," the clan leader said to them all from beside him. "I suppose nobody told him." Andrew blinked. Told him what? He was about to ask when the clan leader raised hir arms to the sky and broadcast to the whole clan, "The hunt begins!"
Andrew steeled himself for the onslaught of one of the Kats, but was suddenly shocked when every single one of them crossed their arms and removed one or two feathers from their armbands. Then they all dropped to their lowbellies and flattened their entire fronts against the ground, their arms extended and holding the feathers in presentation to Andrew.
"Er... wha...?!" Andrew blubbered, flabbergasted.
"They all approve of your entry into the clan, Andrew-k'is," the clan leader said from behind him. "They are offering you their support directly, in the form of their feathers. You technically can try to take more from them, but they WILL defend themselves if you try. And it would be bad form."
Andrew stepped out into the field, approaching one end of the line. In a daze, he began collecting the feathers from the Kats that were offering them. One and two feathers at a time and a warm hug from most of them. He counted the feathers as he took them, watching the numbers tick up. As he got to the final Kat, accepting hir two feathers as well as hir hug and affectionate lick, he realized that he was now standing with seventy-two feathers in hand. Two shy of enough to be successful.
Andrew stood with a tear in his eye as he tucked the feathers into his waistband. The Kats had moved to the side, smiling and all wishing him well. Andrew nodded and thanked them all, then jogged up the hill in the direction he had seen Serina and hir escorts take to start. May as well add to the throwing off track.
He was amazed by how easily he could follow hir scent. He found the place where they had taken off at right angles and discovered that several Kats had crisscrossed the path to obscure footprints. By scent, they were none of the ones who had given their approval and feathers. But he wandered a bit and quickly picked up Serina's scent again on some rockier ground that didn't hold footprints well.
He followed the scent up to the top of the hill and gazed off into the distance. A few flashes of storm strikes caught his attention and he shivered again from that feeling of dread. He had about three hours before sunrise and the UV would be too much for him to avoid a sunburn shortly thereafter. Then six hours to finish the hunt during the day. Thankfully his changes to himself didn't extend energies outside his body, so he was able to do them if need be. But he wanted to keep his new form a surprise in the night.
He knew that the escorts would not just go in a straight line as far as they could. After all, it would only take a Kat about two hours to run across the whole of the fields. Skirting the edges would do them no good. They would either try to find a place to hunker down and hide, or they would zig and zag and cross in places to confuse the hunt. If he skirted downwind of things, he'd be able to home in on them with the scent. If he found them quickly enough, he would have plenty of time to backtrack and hunt down a challenger or hider if needed for the extra feathers and still pick back up on their trail afterwards.
Taking off at a good steady run, he trailed just downwind of the path they had taken. The breeze carried the scent he followed to him, and he figured if he noticed any changes, he could track to check what was going on. He ran as silently as he could, supporting his muscles with psionic energy internally. His breath was deeper than usual, but with the psionic support, he was definitely not panting or gasping for air. The breeze felt good on his bare skin and he was astounded by the difference that his modifications made now that he had them in use. He just wished that the sinking feeling... the darkness that seemed to shadow everything... would go away.
Something else felt wrong now too. He had this nagging feeling that always before now, there was a small break after a certain amount of happenings. Like a pause for his thoughts to be gathered, even if the pause seemed to leave off with a cliffhanger or impending doom. Yet the last pause like this he had been aware of was just after he felt like everything was going well for a change and was worried about the normal pattern being broken. It seemed that now the pattern was somehow broken again. Too long since that last pause... but why should it worry him so?
He shook his head to clear it of the concern, and continued to run.
* * *
"I have found even more to help. Thousands of us here now, trus. Surely together we will have enough energy to see?"
"I can't pierce through... more than that... when I tried, I received a backlash."
"You were attacked?! HERE?!"
"It must be them. I don't know if there is anything we can do anymore. But I don't intend to stop trying. They are putting massive energy into blocking us and no amount of energy we throw at it will get through. Gather the others... Do not give their energy to me. Open contact to the ships. Be ready to send messages."
"What do we tell them?"
"Nothing... yet. Just have the lines open and be prepared. While they block us, they can't possibly put much energy towards other, more sinister things. When they act, I will be able to see again."
"I hope the light is with us."
"We all do, trus, we all do."
* * *
Andrew slowed as his nose picked up a new scent. Herd animals... Yes... but also a Kat. The Kat would never be able to be close to hunted animals, but shi could mask hirself using the scent of the tended herd. Andrew had the upper hand, knowing shi was there and being downwind of hir. Perhaps now called for a form change.
Calling the energy into himself, he carefully molded his form into the feline one he had taken in the ship. He felt the fur and tail grow, ears changing to be perked atop his head as his legs swapped into shape. He felt surprise from the clan leader who was monitoring him, but he knew that he had not extended energy outside himself. Shi noted the new state of his body and sent approval as well as the fact that shi was laughing merrily now.
Dropping to all four paws, he began to creep slowly through the grass, focusing utterly on the Kat he could sense clearly now. Shi was just downwind of the herd, so he would not have to move through those animals, possibly alerting hir. Lifting his head just slightly, he peered over the grass, spotting the Kat in the grass ahead. Shi was crouched to hir belly, hir own head just barely showing above the grey grass.
He could hear hir muttering softly to hirself and focused more, straining his ears to hear. "... smell well enough to track them, but he may come by here anyway... if he does, he'll be easy to challenge... if he doesn't, we'll move on. But with both of us watching, we should have no problem." Andrew blinked. Both...? He only smelled...
His extreme focus turned out to be his downfall. The rustle behind him went unnoticed until it was too late. There was a rush of air as the other Kat pounced, paws landing on either side of Andrew as the Kat leaned down to scoop him up. His arms trapped against his sides and held at arm's length by the huge feline who was obviously unsure what to make of the bipedal feline, he was definitely in trouble.
"What is...?" the Kat who held him asked as he twisted and bucked, trying to break free of hir grip. "ANDREW?!" shi exclaimed in surprise, noting the band full of feathers around his waist. The other Kat jumped up in surprise and approached quickly, taking in the scene of the Kathari holding the struggling little grey humanoid feline.
Andrew twisted his ear around at the rustle of a feather on the Kat's arm. He had no trouble locking in on exactly where it was by sound, but with his arms pinned, he had no way to reach it. "That's Andrew?!" the Kat who Andrew was originally stalking asked in amazement. Then shi tilted hir head. "Yes, the clan master says he is."
"I wasn't expecting THIS," the Kat who held him muttered. "But no real challenge, which I was expecting. Obviously most of the clan supports him. Look at the feathers he has! But his hunting skills are lacking. I snuck up on him with no trouble. The clan has to maintain standards."
"Not much is a challenge for you," the other Kat observed.
Andrew blinked as he had a sudden idea. "I intend to be your first challenge then!" he growled, coiling himself. The Kats were aware of him engaging psionic energy, but they had no idea what he was trying to do within himself, so they had no chance to block it. Andrew suddenly uncoiled violently, and at the same time, he instantly shed all the fur on his arms.
The Kat that was holding him was suddenly left with the loose fur acting as a lubricant. The quick twist that Andrew had taken caused him to slide out of hir grip, propelled faster as he wrenched his arms up. As soon as one shoulder dropped free, his arm snapped back and his clawed hand snagged the feather from hir armband, tugging it loose.
There was a small flash from the band indicating that the feather had been pulled free as Andrew dropped to his feet with a new feather as a prize. The Kat who had been holding him backed away in surprise, knowing shi was unable to take offensive action against him anymore. Andrew turned to face the other Kat, crouching and preparing to take an offense himself. Then he staggered as a wash of darkness flowed past...
* * *
"I can see! It's... oh... this is BAD! NO!"
"Trus?!"
"We may be too late... Open the links to the ship to me... I will speak directly. If ever we've needed the light before, we need it now."
"Here are the links. I feel what you know from your mind, beloved. Light save us all!"
* * *
"Andrew! Emergency! I'm linking you into the military Kat's network!" It was the clan leader. All rules of the hunt were suddenly off as the link engaged and information flowed freely into his mind. He stood in momentary shock at what it told him. Psi storm cells were forming at massive velocity everywhere, many seemed as if they were almost specifically targeting the clan members in the field. A powerful one was forming even just over him here.
"COME HERE!" he commanded the two Kats nearby. The one who he had just been ready to face off against met him quickly, but the other was frozen in fear as the knowledge of the emergency spread through the clan. Andrew wasted no time, reaching out with his mind kinetically and lifting the Kat physically off the ground to meet him. He already had the teleport energy ready and the moment he could touch the other Kat, all three of them were suddenly in the safety of the gathering hall.
Andrew was gone in a heartbeat though, already off to meet more Kats in the swiftly forming storms. He used the tactical expertise of the military Kats to judge which storm cells were forming most swiftly. They were all forming with completely preternatural speed as it was. His mind set on the task of saving the Kats out in the field, he worked with as much speed and precision as he could.
Seconds ticked by as more Kats were brought in, most by Andrew himself, though a number by the other teleport-capable Kathari. Andrew was in a pure focus, his mind only stable because of the fact that he had received no word of threat to his mate yet. He got a swift alert of a critical situation and gathered his energy to teleport to that Kat.
Andrew, NO!
He reeled, thrown off his energy, unsure what had just stopped him. Then there was an explosion of agony throughout the clan, followed by dissolution of a linked mind. Andrew staggered and engaged the teleport...
To find no ground beneath his feet. He barely caught himself with his own kinetics and shielded himself quickly from the glowing-white heat of the glass lining the vast hole beneath him. The Kat that he was supposed to find here?! Shi was gone! He was just a second too late! He clenched his fist in rage at himself for having hesitated.
You would have arrived just as the bolt struck and been killed too.
He could take no comfort in the fact. He already thought of the clan as his family and with the link, the death struck everybody a hard blow. Without hesitation, he teleported directly to the next Kat, landing on hir back and taking hir to safety.
"Your mate!" the clan leader suddenly sent. Andrew leaped off the back of the Kat he was on and reached into the psionic network to focus on his mate, now that he was alerted to trouble for hir... and he found nothing. Not just a psi storm cell, but a full storm vortex had suddenly formed directly where Serina and hir escorts had been. A psi vortex normally took hours of massive storm activity to create and here was one out of nowhere! The vast amounts of energy in the vortex completely killed the remote sensing network of the Kats.
"FUCK NO!" Andrew muttered. Something was fighting him here. That was the feeling of dread he had been experiencing. Something dark and sinister. And he was DAMNED if he was going to let it steal his mate from him.
Kats around him shielded again in surprised response to his sudden energy draw as he forced his mind into the swirling winds of the vortex. The amount of psionic energy was so powerful that it drove the very air to near hurricane force. He refused to allow the storm to block him though and thrust his senses into the maelstrom. He quickly sensed one Kat off by hirself and four others near the slightly calmer center of the storm.
"ANDREW!"
It was Serina!
"One of my escorts got injured! Save hir first! We're near the center of this mess, so it's less strong! We're following the eye!"
Andrew had some misgivings about leaving hir there, but he knew that what shi said was sensible. The vortex would be putting so much energy into the winds that it would not have psi strikes, so as long as they stayed safe from the winds, they would be fine. And he could feel the pain of the injured Kat as hir shields began to fail from the onslaught of psionicly charged winds. He got a lock on hir position and teleported.
He threw his own shields into overdrive as he arrived, extending them around the prone Kat. He could feel the power drain in himself as the winds beat against his shielding, but the relief from the Kat was palpable. Shi looked at him as hir savior, and indeed, he was, even in feline form. His arms went around hir and he struggled to pull enough energy to teleport without dropping his shields. But he made it.
He was left panting with exertion as he lifted himself off the Kat, others rushing to hir aid and to examine hir broken leg. "I'm a healer too," he told hir, "But right now I have four last Kats to save, especially my mate! I'll be back, I promise!" As his energies flowed from his massive pool into his cache, he recovered enough to extend his mind into the storm again. He engaged the teleport and his shielding helped support the slowly moving crew of Kats that struggled to stay within the calmer eye of the storm. He was amazed by the power of Serina's shielding, as hirs was definitely the strongest of the Kats.
"Take them first!" Serina shouted over the howl of the wind. "You can only teleport three at a time. My shields are stronger than any of theirs! If you take me, whoever is left will be in trouble!"
Andrew winced as everything in his heart told him to not listen, but he knew again that shi made sense. Shi would be safe enough for the few seconds between trips and shi was the only one of the four who would be. Grabbing the other Kats as he could, he extended energies into them and took them safely back to the building. Only a brief few seconds to regain necessary energy and he was back on Serina's back.
He threw his arms around hir waist. "Let's get the fuck out of here!" he shouted, getting the lock back at the building and sending the energy through both of them. Then he let the energy take...
It never got a chance to take hold.
The bolt that struck them was impossible. It could never form in a psi storm vortex, especially not in the center of one. But impossible as it was, its energy was all too real. The charged bolt left no warning before it tore through both of their shielding as if it were nothing. They had no chance to scream, nor even feel pain as their bodies were atomized in a flash of energy and chaos. The glowing shell of glass left behind was twice the size of the vast clan council chamber, as the clan would discover when they went to investigate.
The plethora of storm cells and the vortex itself all began to dissipate as one. But high overhead, a darkness blotted out stars in the night sky. If anything on the planet below could sense it, they would have gathered a sense of accomplishment from it. The energy taken had been vast, but success had been acquired. The only two that could have been obstacles were no more. It was over. The darkness had won.
The End
But that was the end... right?
Why are you here?
Andrew tried to shake his head to clear it, but he had no head, and no neck for it to perch on.
I know you wanted to save me... Not doing so saved you...
Andrew tried to look around, but his eyes would not open. Was he blind? No... He had no eyes. No body...
When I got here, I knew that my death without you had saved you... but you should not be here...
Andrew?
It was Serina!
Andrew... trus...
Shi was so sad!
Serina, what's wrong? Why can't I see you? Why can't I hold you? I want to hold you, trus.
Andrew-t'rus... I want to hold you too, but... we're dead. We are part of The Shadows now. We have no bodies, only minds. We can never hold each other again...
Andrew was in shock at that news. He wanted to cry out, to scream, yell, and wail. But he could not. He could do nothing but feel the overwhelming grief of their loss, echoing infinitely through the vast reaches of an almost empty universe.
Neither of you should be here. The Dark worked hard to send you here.
Andrew wasn't sure who that was, but they seemed familiar somehow. Close to him in a way.
Even the Dark can't break the rules though. So we now work to send you back. Stay close, both of you. You may not be able to join in body here, but join in mind and soon you will have your bodies back.
Andrew was nudged by whoever it was. He was given a gentle push, until he suddenly found Serina. Shi had no body either, but he knew it was hir. He embraced hir without arms and shi embraced him. Their link and their love transcended the boundaries of the mere physical world, extending even to here, in this... afterlife? With hir, he was complete. Joined in mind and soul now.
He remembered. The Hunt... The storms... the Kat he could not save...
I will never hold that against you, Andrew-l'es. I was young, but my time had come. If you had arrived before I was struck, the two of you would have been split, and hope would be lost. I had no mate to leave behind, and soon I will join the ranks of those who watch over you. I will be proud to have you join my clan.
He felt a growing pain. It started as a discomfort through his whole body, but was steadily increasing. Soon it felt like his entire body was ablaze and he could do nothing to quench the flames. He couldn't stand it anymore. His mouth opened and he screamed out his agony. He heard Serina scream nearby at the same time.
The pain vanished abruptly, leaving him lying on something soft with a cool breeze flowing over his skin. Whatever he was lying on felt very pleasant to the touch. He blinked his eyes, but his vision was exceedingly blurry. His hand stretched out and met something furry. The contact sent a thrill through him and elicited a strong purr from whatever it... Wait... It was Serina.
He could make out fuzzy shapes that were slowly resolving themselves around him. Most of them didn't become completely unfuzzy, because of their fur, but the fact that the ones floating in the sky resolved themselves into a good portion of the Kathterran fleet didn't escape his notice. He blinked as he realized that even the Karenthis was hovering directly above, its shadow saving his human skin from the harsh sun. That ship was not made to be atmospheric!
Even as that realization hit him, the Karenthis' engines whined loudly, audible even from this distance as it worked to ascend and regain orbit. Its shadow was quickly replaced by the shadow of the clan leader and a blanket was thrown over him as more Kats surrounded both him and Serina.
The clan leader dropped down and took Andrew's hand and placed it in Serina's. "The Alathir clan recognizes your successful hunt and hereby accepts you as a member into the clan. Congratulations, Andrew Alathir."
"But I only had 73 feathers... I needed 74," Andrew protested weakly.
The Kat glared down at him harshly. "Are you challenging your clan leader already, Andrew? You should know better than that." Andrew caught the amusement in hir voice and the teasing tone and couldn't help but chuckle. Shi smiled as he did. "Given the circumstances, we decided unanimously to forgive the final feather. Especially seeing how you two both made your way back from The Shadows to make sure you finished the hunt."
Serina pulled hirself closer to him, snuggling against his side. "I don't know what happened, but I know I don't like dying. No touching, no hugging, nothing. Andrew, we need to make sure we store up thousands of memories of those things before we ever see The Shadows again. So lots of hugging, and snuggling, and definitely lots of mating. And don't you dare try to tell me no!"
Andrew sucked in a breath of chilled air and cuddled close to hir soft fur. "Just not here..." he muttered with a chuckle. He had his memories of what had happened and would find out soon what everybody else knew. But for now, he knew that the current emergencies were over and he just wanted to love his mate. What came next would come soon enough.
The End ... For real ... For now
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