Closed Steam Makes All the Difference (Chemar)

[Kovac]

Timestamp: 27th Day of Fall, 512 AV
Locations: Wind Reach, The Unforgiving and Smokey Waters

----

Location: Wind Reach

Kovac had gone to bed still reeling from his encounter with Chemar, and arose the next day with the pressing sense of unfinished business. Developments between he and the Tisserand had become both more clear and more complicated. All the half-breed really knew was that we wanted to spend more time with Chemar, and Wind Reach was intent on preventing it. The dreamwalker's sister Rae had established her opposition to anything going on between her twin and the mongrel, and Kovac knew any attempt to connect with Chemar further would be jeopardized by the meddlesome sibling.

So he schemed a scheme. He knew of places where there would be no human interference over a prolonged period. There was danger in his proposed plot, but the smarmy hunter was confident he could keep the city girl safe. He justified the excursion as a dual purposed mission, to scout and hunt, and to teach the dreamwalker the time-honored Inartan skill of archery. Having received clearance, Kovac had laid out his course and collected the supplies needed, rising early to set his plans in motion. He did not want to give Chemar enough time to talk herself out of it, or have her sister discourage her. Kovac would ambush Chemar, give her little opportunity to tell him no.

Already clad in his heavy duty bryda and an open green vest, Kovac strode to Chemar's room, not sure whether the woman would still be there, or already at the Dreaming Lady. He stared a moment at the closed door. The Avora remembered the last time he knocked, or banged, on that door a year earlier. He was angry when he arrived. He did not walk through it again until the next morning. After a sound rap on the door with his knuckles, Kovac spoke through the stout wood.

"Chemar? Its me..." He assumed his voice was familiar enough that he did not have announce himself. "Come on...open up." The archer was a bit impatient to get on their way.

[Chemar Tisserand]

No sleep had been forthcoming to Chemar after leaving the Dreaming Lady the night before, had there been opportunity, her moments with the half blood would surely have kept her from sleep, but this time he was not the cause. The root of her insomnia had been Rae; or more accurately, the sound of Rae's voice, driving home her disapproval of Kovac, or any kind of inclusion of him in her life. Actually, it went even deeper, the elder Tisserand disapproved of the very idea of him. She had used the remainder of the night to browbeat Chemar into seeing things her way, for her own good, of course. It was only when the dream walker, dead tired and longing to be alone, agreed to wipe the Avora from her list of possibilities that Rae took her leave.

Chemar gave her bleary-eyed word that Kovac would not find his way back into her life, mind or bed, and Rae let her be. Before leaving, her tone had changed from lecturing elder to big sister, and she took Chemar in her arms as the two of them agreed it was all for the best. the two walked to the door of Chemar's rooms and said their goodnights, the younger sibling beyond ready to say their goodbyes.

"Goodnight Rae. I will be in later, after I sleep." She offered no time, or opportunity for any option other than hers and patiently waited for Rae to leave through the open door.

"You know I love you, Aughty." Chemar rested her forehead against the back of her hand as she held open the door.

"Yes. But please go now,I don't want to talk to you anymore right now."

After she was gone, Chemar deflated against the door and closed her eyes, savoring the first silence of her life, or so it seemed in that moment. Her body was beyond tired, the combination of a full days work, an utterly draining encounter with Kovac and the raw assault of her dear sister had left the dreamwalker with nothing left. She pushed off the door and padded toward her bedroom, peeling off her clothes and dropping them along the way, careless of where she left them. Never had the warmth and softness of her fur blankets felt so welcoming, it was as close to utopia as she had ever been. She cleared her mind of any thoughts, no promises to Rae, no desire or confusion about Kovac, no clientele , nothing. Within the dark stillness of her bed she quickly lost herself to the power of sleep.

***

A shiver crept across the whole of her body, sending tremors through her, but she could not move. Not one muscle would respond to her urgings. She did not draw breath, or speak, she could not even muster a blink of her eyes.

When Chemar finally took note of the rest of her predicament she noticed Rae, along with Kovac, fighting over a puppet. They each had a firm grip of one arm, and were tugging as though their claim of the doll were first and final. Another combatant joined in, stepping out of the wall as though it were made of the stone itself. The newcomer had no physical mass, but Chemar knew it was there, and as it began to draw the puppet into it's void, she could feel herself growing warmer. The puppet lifted it's head and slowly the features shifted into a reflection of herself. The moment the face was her own, Chemar could feel the pressure of being pulled in opposite directions. She watched as the puppet began to split, and could feel a fracture beginning deep in her chest. She wanted to scream at them to stop before they hurt her, but all she could do was watch like a frozen voyeur.

The stranger who was there and not there tried to wrestle the puppet away, but Rae and Kovac began to drive the tips of their fingers into her skin like claws, their hold growing more and more solid. She could hear the sound of cracking wood and tearing fabric, but both were secondary to the searing pain that began to rip through her chest. Growing warmer and warmer she still struggled to make some protest. A plea arising in her subconscious offered strength to the stranger, and moments before she was split in two, the invisible bonds that held her dissolved and she screamed at the top of her lungs

"Stop!!!"

***

Chemar bolted upright, her furs clutched in tight fists. Petch! A long breath brought a little clarity and separation from the dream, but she couldn't help feeling a little sick. She could not exist in combat between Rae and Kovac, she needed to find some resolution.

As she began to lay back she heard the soft knocking from the outer room. If she ignored it, perhaps Rae would go away , what more could she possibly have to say?

Chemar? Its me...

Kovac. Her head was not far enough buried in the pillow to block out his voice.Why was he here? When she'd gotten past the shock of him returning after Rae's unfiltered attack, the inner cynic within Chemar began to offer up the only fathomable reasons for his return.

Come on...open up.

Even if she were able to ignore his request, curiosity would not let her sleep, so she gathered her furs around her and made her way to the door. She paused before unlocking it, trying to gather any semblance of composure, then she opened the door with one hand, while securing the furs around herself with the other. An annoying flip occurred in the pit of her stomach when she saw him, but for the most part, she ignored it.

"Sorry. I didn't have time to get dressed up." She gave a little smirk and searched his green eyes for a motive to his visit. "Did you come from breakfast?"

[Kovac]

Finally, Kovac heard the lock of the door jangle and the portal opened. Once again, Chemar met him with the unexpected. His mind revisited the last time he knocked on her door, and she answered in skimpy sleepware. Now, she was wrapped only in a fur blanket. Does she ever wear clothes in her rooms? The half-breed could tell he had awakened her, the inartan's usually piercing gold-rim gaze was puffy and bleary eyed. But the woman's wit was already engaged.

"Sorry. I didn't have time to get dressed up. Did you come from breakfast?"

Kovac laughed, his head shaking slightly. "Uh, no...already ate, I have been up for a while." He rested his hand on the door jam, leaning against it. "Sorry to have awakened you, and I had promised I would not do that again, didn't I?" The Avora's eyes darted down the length of the fur blanket, finding it securely closed without a gap.

"Well, I have a ..." He wanted to say proposition, but it sounded so business-like, "...I want to get away, you and me. And to be honest, I think it would be good for you to see something beyond this big crater, beyond traisping through other people's dreams...have some adventure of your own."

Looking at the dreamwalker standing there, just roused from sleep, Kovac realized how odd it sounded, and rather abrupt. He was talking about a trip that would take several days, through somewhat perilous country at times. Chemar looked small and comfortable and hardly the type to embrace such a big undertaking. But the hunter felt that was just what the woman needed. Her work had made her isolated it seemed, not only from Inartan social life, but from the world at large. And no small part of him wanted to finally find somewhere where they could do some personal exploration without some damned interruption.

"We are going into the Unforgiven. You will be amazed, I promise. We will be gone several days. I have all the supplies we need, you just need to pack whatever personal items you wish to take, you have an hour."

The wry grin appeared again, waiting, with some anxiety, for the woman's reaction.

[Chemar Tisserand]

At first sight, Kovac appeared for more rested and resolute than Chemar, and she instantly wondered what he was up to. Why, for the second time, he had torn her from sleep. Her wait was not long, as he quickly launched into defense of his intrusion.

Away?

As he continued, she understood. He sought to take her out of her element. He sounded unsure, tentative, his usual brazen authority was only an undertone instead of the driving force of his words. Chemar rested her back against the heavy wooden door, her furs still tightly gathered around her. A charge went through her when she saw the Avora's eyes searching for a hint of skin, at least they both had some residual feeling from their meeting. When he spoke of adventure, she began to think that his offer was exactly as it seemed, in the face of all common sense. Perhaps he saw it as an opportunity for them to be alone, to enjoy each other.

The opportunity for her to speak was stolen as Kovac continued. After a brief pause in his request, he began again, but this time his unsure request had shifted into a stalwart decree. There he was. A smooth smile curled her mouth as she listened, as Kovac laid out the parameters of their departure.

You have an hour.

Really. For several beats she waited, giving him ample opportunity to say anything else he saw fit, only then did she respond. She took a step toward Kovac placing herself beneath the arch of his arm as he leaned against the doorframe, letting the soft hairs of her fur blanket brush against his ribs and stomach. The tone if her voice was more husky than normal, but still warm and low, made so by no sleep and the continued arguing with Rae.

"Because there is no color from the sun upon my skin." The tips of her fingers traced a line across his stomach, tanned by the sun."Or a layer of callus on my hands." She lifted the palm her hand to his face, running the softness of her palm along his cheek, briefly releasing her grip of the furs. "You imagine that I possess no capacity for adventure." She used her voice to disarm him, to warm him from the inside out. Closing the gap, Chemar glanced into the hallway before continuing, with her eyes fixed on Kovac's she whispered. "If you ever drag my from sleep again, it better be with a kiss. She lifted a little closer, poising her mouth over his."I won't need an hour."

There was no kiss, only a jerk of his arm to pull him from the hallway into her rooms. She closed the door behind them and smiled. "Wait here." Under the guise of bravado, Chemar left the room, her heart pounding. While she talked a good game, the thought of being out of touch with Kovac for an extended time had her anxious. Of course he would know of her fears, but she would not be the one to betray them. Standing by her bed, she tried to calm her nerves and get ready.

The dreamwalker possessed little that could be useful for what Kovac had in mind, so packing was easy. She donned an everyday Bryda and vinati, boots over feet that she preferred to be bare and a long katinu. She stuffed sleeping clothes into a small leather bag and looked around.

Father's bow. Her father's bow would be the one thing that could be of some use, she had a remedial grasp of how to use it, something that would certainly entertain the half blood. What was she getting herself into...?

After blowing out a long breath, Chemar took her few items and went out to join Kovac

"Be careful what you wish for Kovac." She stood before him, as ready as she would ever be. "Now that you have me...what will you do with me?"

[Kovac]

Though he spent lonely moments during his stay at Thunder Bay in deeper thoughts, Kovac was not a man of contemplation. He had never really considered what it was about Chemar that captivated him. He certainly could admit that she was beautiful, but it was not just her beauty. Wind Reach was full of beautiful women, yet the dreamwalker distracted him above the others. Maybe it was the nearly mystical intimacy the dream walks had fostered, where Chemar compelled him to search a heart he worked so hard to seal closed. Perhaps it was simpler, maybe it was Chemar's unpredictability, or the fact that she herself was closed, yet had offered the Avora entrance to her own guarded heart. Whatever it may have been that lured him back to her, there was no denying that her flares of sultry behavior hooked him every time.

Kovac found no words to answer the sassy retort of the awakened beauty. A wave of scintillation had washed through Kovac's body at the touch of her soft hand on his cheek, the taunt of the withheld kiss, the honey-coated whisper. Equally surprising was her strong yanking that dragged him into her room. For a moment, the archer thought that the dreamwalker wished to resume the amorous interaction that was so rudely interrupted by her twin sister the day before. But it became clear that he was to wait, that the woman was not going to hesitate to join him on his trip. A renewed excitement brought a grin to his olive-hued features.

In short order the slight redhead reappeared clad in travel gear with a small pack and, to his delight, a short bow. Kovac's grin expanded to a smile, then slanted crooked. Chemar with a bow. He remembered his first dream walk with her, the incident with his mother and the bow, the rather violent interactions between Chemar and himself in the dreamworld. He never considered that she would have a weapon on the trip. But, surpirsingly, the thought of it made him rather invigorated.

"Be careful what you wish for Kovac. Now that you have me...what will you do with me?"

His emerald eyes met the gold-rimmed gaze of the woman. "Oh...I have some ideas..." his hand reached to touch her smooth chin, "...I just have to decide in what order I am going to do them." He winked and seized hold of her hand. "Its time to go."

Once they left Chemar's quarters, Kovac lead her to his own. He had not expected the Inartan to be ready so quickly, and he still had to pick up his gear. Swinging open the door, Kovac lead her into his room. It was sparse but tidy, with only a couple empty wine bottles sitting on a side table. The bed was made, his supplies laid out upon it. Unlacing his fingers from Chemar's, the hunter donned his dark, fur-lined katinu, then slung the large pack over his back. The quiver was draped over a shoulder as well. His composite bow, unstrung, was strapped to the stuffed backpack, a small, rolled tent was hanging below it, a blanket roll tied to the top. He picked up a last oddly shaped bag with a strap, and handed it to Chemar. "Carry this...be careful, its my lute."

"Are you sure you want to do this? " The mongrel asked, not stopping to hear her answer, but guiding her back out of the room with an arm around her waist. "It will be just you and me, and if things don't go the way you want, you won't be able to just wake up." He hoped that Chemar indeed wanted to do this, and to do the things that he had planned. Already, Kovac was exhilarated to have Chemar by his side. Securing the door, Kovac headed again down the corridor that would eventually get them up top to the Sanikas Gates.

[Chemar Tisserand]

Before Chemar knew it they were off down the hall, hand in hand, to begin their 'adventure'. Her mind was so full of questions that the sheer multitude had stolen her ability to voice even one. One look at Kovac revealed a side of him that Chemar had never seen, the cynical smirk that usually curled his lips was gone, replaced by something lighter, a boyish grin that seemed momentarily innocent. A flash of something in her subconscious made her look more closely at Kovac, but the glimpse passed and once more she was running down the hall with him.

The first stop was his room, she had never been, and was surprised by the tidy order within. While he gathered his supplies, she looked around, the only thing that betrayed Kovac's ownership of this place was the empty bottles. Nothing within gave her a glimpse of the passionate, headstrong Avora who continued to storm into her life uninvited to pull her in directions she never intended to go, she hadn't known what to expect, but this was not it. Kovac thrust a wrapped parcel into her hands before gathering her in the circle of his arm and pulling her once more into the hall.

Be careful, its my lute. Lute? He played the lute? As he guided her down the hall, she had the sinking feeling that she was venturing into the wilds unknown, with a stranger. A chill flashed through her, born of excitement or fear, she did not know, but regardless, it did not stop her. His question seemed cursory at best, and had she offered a reply it would have been lost on him. The arm around her waist, as well as the giddy smile on his face were enough to take away the doubt, for the moment, but he brought to light a detail she had not admitted to herself in the flurry of their activity.

You won't be able to just wake up. She was submitting to him, something she felt little comfort in doing. Whatever he had planned for them, she would not be the driving force as she had in the past, in the dreaming world. This was Kovac's battlefield, she glanced at him with a raised brow and smiled, whatever happened, it was his game this time.

They approached the Sanikas Gates and she looked for the familiar face of
Val Imsun, the gates guardian. He was a frequent visitor to the Dreaming Lady and had become a favorite of Chemar. The Dreaming Lady. For the first time, Chemar considered her absence as it affected the Lady, and Rae.

"Did you..." The question dissolved on her tongue as she looked at who she was asking. Of course he had not notified Rae.The thought made her laugh aloud, and she spontaneously lifted on her toes to kiss Kovac's cheek, he could very well be the only person within Wind Reach that did not consider every minutia of detail when he acted, and she found that refreshing, and by no small means, irresistible. As well, he saw her as a woman, not something to be protected and coddled. In that moment, looking at the line of his jaw, and feeling his fingers pushing into her waist, she silently made a promise to herself that she would rise to the occasion, and be more of a woman than Kovac would ever have expected.

"What if we arrive at our destination, and you have tired of the sight of me?" She grinned up at him, holding the lute in a gentle but protective grasp. "You warn me, but do not consider that you will be stuck with me." Under the watchful eye of the gatekeeper, she leaned against Kovac and whispered hotly in his ear. "What if it turns our that I am just another rabbit, and you grow bored of my company?" She drew a long breath and expelled it against his throat before pulling away.

"Good day Val." She offered the sweetest, most sincere smile to the weathered gatekeeper. "It has been too long since I've seen that face? Are you steeping out on me? Did you find another to tend to your weary bones?" With a flirty lilt to her voice she spoke to the old man until his eyes sparkled.Winking as a little coclor began to flare in his cheeks. The look on Kovac's face as she spoke to Val with such familiarity gave Chemar a little charge. She did love to surprise him. "When I get back, I expect a visit from you. Do you know Kovac?" She smiled up at the halfblood, the mischief adding a glint to her gold ringed eyes. Though she spoke to the old Val, the look she offered Kovac was one more suited to either of the nights they had spent alone, and she waited for him to speak, she could feel a driving beat speeding up their shred heartbeat.

[Kovac]

The unlikely couple reached the Sanikas Gates, the exit from Wind Reach, and Kovac knew once they passed through them, the adventure would begin. The Avora nodded in greeting to Val Imsun, a figure he was quite familiar with, and after a quick glance at the half-blood's companion, gave Kovac a wide grin.

The archer looked down at Chemar. He was pleased, and a bit surprised, that the girl so readily agreed to the trip, given the rocky nature of their relationship over the past few seasons, and the isolation they will experience once out in the Unforgiving. There was a tinge of trepidation on the part of the hunter as well, for what would transpire between himself and the Inartan was as unpredictable as the dangers they may encounter along the way. As if the beautiful woman not only walked his dreams, but read his mind, her soft lilting voice lifted to address the very topic.

"What if we arrive at our destination, and you have tired of the sight of me? You warn me, but do not consider that you will be stuck with me." The press of her small body against him increased, as her innocent tone took on a more sultry timbre that seemed to insist her own question was moot. "What if it turns our that I am just another rabbit, and you grow bored of my company?"

Shooting a glance at the old gatekeeper, Kovac turned his head slightly, his own voice low and sardonic. "Then I will leave you out there. Chances are you won't be able to find your way back to taunt me again." He teased, winking and leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. The man could not imagine ever coming to the place where that woman would bore him. There was so much to explore with the dreamwalker, even more than the physical exploration the mongrel was rather anxious to pursue. Kovac was infamous for his insincerity, his flippant affairs. But Chemar had managed to reveal that there was a bit more to the man, revealed it even to himself. That fact made the Tisserand of unique interest to the man. Then there was the heartbeats. No matter what came of the trip, they would always have that connection.

Watching the dreamwalker converse with Val was unexpected, for Kovac had never really seen Chemar interact with others. She employed a familiar flirty tone, one she had used to ply his own libido. Her Irresistibility was equally effective against the old man, who flushed like a schoolboy at the girl's attentions. Kovac had to wonder, had he misjudged the seclusive dreamwalker? Did she flirt so with other men? Part of him teetered on jealously, while something else found the revelation a bit exciting.

"Yes, I know Val well, I pass through his gates all the time, and he has taught me some of the common language the outsiders speak." Kovac again gave the senior Inartan a nod, then placed his hand on Chemar's back.

"We should get going, we have to make it halfway down today." He insisted, anxious to get underway, alone with Chemar.

"Safe travel Kovac, and beware, there are things out there after The Storm that are not...natural. Ms. Tisserand, I shall see you when you return." A wide smile was offered to the young woman, and the gatekeeper saw the two of them through the gates.

The day was sunny, the air still warm but not searing with the heat of summer. The first part of their descent consisted of narrow steps that ran from the landing at the gate house straight down until it met the first loop back of the road. At the top, the stairs were short, and Kovac took the lead. After more than a bell, they met the road again. The next portion of steps were wider and deeper, allowing Chemar and Kovac to walk side by side.

Once he could walk next to her, Kovac looked over at the Chemar often and openly. He had never really seen the woman in daylight, not in the sun like it shown outside of the crater. Even though he did not give her time to prepare, Chemar was no less beautiful for it. Ivory skin, crimson hair, sure...almost every Inartan was pale and redheaded. But he found Tisserand to be exceptional. Maybe it was her eyes, the gold-rimmed emerald gaze that seemed able to peel clothing and flesh from you and stare at your soul, all the while making you want to jump into their depth. Her plush lips certainly didn't hurt. Kovac almost tripped staring at her mouth, recovering quickly with a question.

"Why did you agree to come Chemar? Do you trust me that much? Or are you really the adventurous type deep down, ready for a challenge...no matter how hard?" Kovac's question started out serious, but took a snarky dip before sounding almost suggestive by the time he uttered the last word.

[Chemar Tisserand]

As with the door to her rooms, Kovac seemed to rush her past the gates as if she might change her mind if given the slightest opportunity. This sense of new found urgency tickled her, and even as he rushed, she ambled, stealing glances at the Avora when he wasn't looking. They said their goodbyes to Val and Kovac guided her through the gates.

Being less familiar with the path they now walked, Chemar kept her focus on her footing, well mostly. As Kovac walked in front of her, she was able to appreciate the strong carriage of his shoulders, and the ease with which he traveled over steps that slightly intimidated her. In light of his ease and comfort, her anxiety and discomfort would seem even more evident so she tried to distract from her failings using the only weapons she had.

"I have a strong feeling that were you to leave me in the wild to fend for myself, Val would be my champion." She smiled, knowing her words would inspire a grin on Kovac's face even though she could not see it. "He may best you in years, but I imagine that he would be quite a handful if he had a mission." She laughed quietly and continued her descent. Being away from the Lady was exciting to the dreamwalker, terrifying, and exciting.

When the path was wide enough for the two of them to walk side by side she could feel Kovac watching herand his continued focus made her wonder if she had something on her face. When the ground lifted to trip him up she bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. So he was as distracted as she...

"Take care, it's a long way down." He comment was quiet and playful, and he chose not to acknowledge it. Instead he tried to find her motive for accompanying him while at the same time planting images in her head that would make it more difficult to concentrate. So that's how it is. Whether in her world or his, Chemar was always prepared for their wordplay, she looked forward to it. She leaned closer to Kovac, taking away any distance that separated them before she answered his question.

"Why did I come?" She took a pause and looked at him, focusing on his lips as she unconsciously chewed on her own, then locked on his eyes for a moment before she continued. "Why indeed. Well, perhaps I wanted to have a chance to unravel you. To get you so used to being truthful and vulnerable with me that anything else would not be enough." She shifted the carriage of his lute, puling it closer the her chest. "Perhaps I want you to crave the feeling of being exactly who you are with me, like an addiction." The word addiction stuck on her tongue, as though held there by the honey in her voice, and it took a pause before she spoke again. "Hmmm. That is one possibility. Or could it be that I wish to learn the art of the bow. It cannot have escaped you that I brought my own." She flicked a quick glance at him to see whether her words found their mark. For the next several steps they took she was quiet, perhaps it was to consider her own words, or to give Kovac time to consider them, but regardless, she was silent.

"I could be that I needed a break from the dreaming, from Rae and from the crater itself, and that anyone who offered me an escape would have been considered." The corner of her mouth curled, knowing that Kovac would immediately see the perjury in her statement. As she continued to speak, it was as though she voiced the possibilities as they occurred to her, but the reality was as always, her words were carefully chosen. In this place, her words were her only advantage, and she fully accepted that once they reached their destination, her interaction with Kovac would be as it continually turned out to be... beyond her control, a thought that made the muscles across her stomach dance with anticipation and excitement. "What other reasons might I have?"
She was teasing him now, and enjoying it. "It could be that I wanted the chance for uninterrupted sex." Though It might have been her hopeful imagination, she thought she felt a misstep in her partner. But if there was, he hid it like a professional. She would have to work a little harder to drive her point home. "It could be that I wanted a few days where we could concentrate on leaving no measure of skin untouched by lips, tongues or hands, or to learn every manner of kiss your mouth can offer me." Her own words had begun to betray her, crystallizing images in her mine that were slowly taking away her verbal advantage. But if she was influenced, she was damn sure that he was too, and as always, she could not resist the allure of driving him to distraction. She leaned close, resting her cheek against his shoulder to speak her next thoughts in a whisper. "I think it may be that I wish to fall asleep as we did that first night, still tangled up in each other with you inside me, but then to have the luxury of waking that way, and repeating it again and again." As those words dripped from her lips she pulled away and cleared her throat.

Satisfied, she returned her concentration to the path.

"It could be any of those reasons." She grinned widely and made sure she did not stumble. "Or it could be that you just caught me off guard. I didn't know you played lute."

[Kovac]

The descent was steady, the man and woman finding a rhythmic cadence as they moved down the mountain, step by step. The distraction of conversation made the time pass unnoticed. Conversation was an insufficient description though. Kovac found engaging Chemar in conversation was challenging, enjoyable, often frustrating and almost always laced with enough innuendo to act as an aphrodisiac to the randy Avora hunter. Case in point, the Dreamwalker's response to her companion's rather blunt inquiry about the reason why she joined him on the trip.

"...perhaps I wanted to have a chance to unravel you...perhaps I want you to crave the feeling of being exactly who you are with me, like an addiction."
Chemar knew Kovac almost intrinsically. She walked his dreams, analyzed his psyche, judged his actions. It unnerved the mongrel at times, only becuase he had been relunctant to discover those things himself. But her comment did not carry the sterility of a clinical dissection of his being. It smacked of intimacy, an offer to peel away the layers and lay himself before her in a way he had with no other. Somehow, Chemar made it sound so sensual.

"Or could it be that I wish to learn the art of the bow...It could be that I needed a break ... and that anyone who offered me an escape would have been considered."

Pfft. Kovac did not buy that. Chemar was Avora had could have learned to use her bow at any of the ranges by any of the instructors. No, she was a home body, and though he believed she would not have gone with anyone else, Kovac felt a tinge of jealousy at the thought.

"It could be that I wanted the chance for uninterrupted sex."

There it was. Kovac swallowed hard, hoping he concealed his surprise. Chemar was all about the surprises. Relentless, the beautiful woman described with detail the very inclinations he had regarding their trip. Within himself, he had no question as to what he planned. Exploration of the Unforgving was secondary to the intimate, thorough exploration of every inch of Chemar's petite physique and the discovery of everything that made her squirm with pleasure.

Nerves scintillated, tittering already by her suggestions, as he laid her head on his shoulder, her voice came in a low with a familiar tone. "I think it may be that I wish to fall asleep as we did that first night, still tangled up in each other with you inside me, but then to have the luxury of waking that way, and repeating it again and again."

An involuntary grunt of agreement slipped from Kovac's throat, finding the prospect Chemar described as near to a perfect night as he could imagine. The impulse to stop right there, on the steps, and make love to her was strong, and he was about to turn to her when the dreamwalker withdrew, undertaking a hairpin curve in conversation as adept as a Wind Eagle riding the heated air over Skyinarta.

Just like that, she threatened to dismiss all her tempting suggestions for the explanation of a simple whim. The lute was now the subject of conversation, and once again Kovac's libido rode the uncertain rise and fall of Chemar Tisserand's deliciously tormenting feminine wile.

"Yes," Kovac's eyes lingered over curves and contours he had been so close to claiming before his emerald gaze fell to the bundled lute in Chemar's arms. The half-breed avoided the ensnaring gold-trimmed gaze of the woman, at least until his lust abated some. "It belonged to my mother. I taught myself to play." Here came some of the truth the deviously gorgeous woman sought. "And I compose some of my own music. I am not good at expressing myself." Kovac's eyes did dart up to Chemar's, to see the agreement in his understated confession. "I vented my emotions through playing that lute. Usually alone and intoxicated. There are only a few methods I have to release what I have inside me. Music is one...we have touched upon the other." A wry sidelong glance made his meaning clear.

Hungry green irises met the dark gaze of Kovac's growing obsession. His eyes dropped to follow the stairs draped down the crater's side. "Not much longer and we will be at the midway shelter. We will stay there tonight."

[Chemar Tisserand]

The mention of the halfblood's mother did not pass his lips easily, and with each word he avoided Chemar's gaze. That is, until he sought to confirm his shortcomings. She smiled a little, being an authority on that subject, just as he was on the flaws in her character. The chance to hear him play was very intriguing and her curiosity was awakened. The talk of music and mother was brief, and soon Kovac slipped back into his usual topics.

Music is one...we have touched upon the other. Indeed. Touched, being the operative word.

"We have." She muttered under her breath, a quirk of a smile curling the hidden side of her mouth. Her eyes dropped to the path before her, concentrating on her footing as she tried to ignore the slight anxiety that grew in her stomach with every step she took away from her business and home.

At first she thought is was merely the shock of being surprised by Kovac, and pulled from her comfort zone, but now Chemar was beginning to feel a fearful tension growing in the pit of her stomach. It will go away. She kept telling herself, but so far it had only grown stronger so she tried to mask it by tormenting Kovac with innuendo and flirtation. He spoke of stoping for the night, at the half way point, and immediately the thread of escape flashed through her mind. Her throat tightened a bit at her cowardice, and she buried the thought at it's source. She could not give him the satisfaction of scaring her off, though with a quick glance at her companion, he did not seem eager to be rid of her.

Though she was healthy and fit, walking for the entire day was beyond her experience and she felt a thin line of moisture trickle down the back of her neck. Slipping the loop of the bag over her shoulder, she secured the lute before freeing her hands to tie her hair in a lazy, looping pile on top of her head.

"That's better." Before taking hold of the lute once more, she ran a light touch behind her ear, following the column of her neck until it slipped between breasts. "Now it's your turn. No games. No dodging. Why have you really taken me away from my home." She blew a strand of hair from her face and continued without looking at him, a growing smile on her face. "Start now, tell me the truth, you can do it. Is it just sex, I would think that there would be a line of willing participants, with better survival skills." Flashing a playful look in his direction, she spoke on. "This is where the unraveling begins, so surprise me, be yourself, because I will know if you're not."

Though her banter was playful, and light, Chemar had begun to feel strangely ill at ease. She could not put her finger on it, but there was something unnerving, she could no longer feel the mountain's effects and the absence had left a void. It will be fine. She kept reassuring herself between teasing comments to Kovac. "I'm waiting." She looked at him, her lower lip snagged lightly between her teeth. She waited for his answer, trying to squelch the nagging fear that she was walking down the road to becoming one of Kovac's useless 'rabbits'. It had been less than one day since he'd shown up in the shop, how was it that she now journeyed with him into intimate isolation. A shiver ran through her and she stopped on the steps, feeling a squeezing pressure on her heart.

"I need a moment." It began then, her mind raced with panic-fueled thoughts that pounded against her psyche like rain on a pane of glass. She braced her palms on her knees and took a deep breath, doing her best to calm both heart and mind. When he sleeps. Her inner voice offered her the way out. She would retrace the trail and return home when he slept. Just the inkling of a plan began to calm the panic that gripped her, slowing her heartbeat until it neared normal. She stood and smiled. "That will teach you to take a hothouse flower into the wilderness." Her smile was superficial at best, but she was not in a place where she felt like explaining her actions, nor was she sure that Kovac was the person to act as witness...

"Let's go. You've still some questions to answer." To stop his questions before they were posed, she began the descent once more, taking the lead for a few steps while once again waiting for him to answer her questions. She could not see that something had set in motion, something that would not easily be shrugged off.