Boat Ride [Lucette +Veldrys]

[Lucette]

Late Spring, 212 AV The sea never quieted, the motion never ended. The ship continued on its course and the Cheetah, head hanging low, madly paced her own circuit around the deck. Lucette’s course never varied, she stalked the same path, in light and often dark. The movement bordered on the obsessive. If Justus had need of her; she went to him, but the priest often let her be… her body and mind needed rest and healing since the tragic loss of the baby. Justus protected her always, and it was by his wish that she did not accept visitors to her chambers. The Symenestra was the exception… Even now he had the power to soothe her, for had they not both shared in the loss of the cub? He had wanted it, much more than she – yet the pain in her heart did not reflect that initial hesitation. This both surprised and confused the simple Kelvic. The baby would have killed her… Lucette wanted to hate it, but instead she lamented the stark absence in her belly. Hollowness was there now! And awful sadness... She paced the deck, wondering why Sewor had stolen such a tiny thing. More and more, after the sorrowful casualty, the Kelvic retreated into Cheetah form. Otherwise tears would form and fall, and never end. It was easier to be animal now… and Lucette was uncollared. She paced the deck. How could she trust anyone, after what Sewor had done… and was reminded of Roland, and what that master had also done. Lucette’s spirit was worn. Perhaps Justus upon making landfall in Zeltiva would discard her too… Her long claws clicked against the old wooden boards and she paced again. Denvali children ran past, shrieking with laughter as small feet slapped the deck. The Cheetah startled at the sudden shrillness. The ship was too crowded for the Kelvic; the press of bodies seemed to follow her everywhere. Snorting at the strength of their unwashed stink, she wished to be off this floating box with its rationed food, its meager dried meat. She would go mad without a freshly raw meal. Her body starved - she had lost the baby weight, was lean again, sleek. But her muscles felt unused in the cramped quarters of the ship. She longed to race the back alleys and streets of Denval, in peace and alone. Movements were stilted in the crowded press of refuges. Lucette rounded a corner and before her was a crate of black and white chickens. She stuck her velvet nose against the bars. The chickens squawked loudly in the presence of such a predator. Wings beat against the bars and each other in an effort to fly away. Feathers floated in the air. Lucette’s long, rough tongue licked her muzzle lazily, exposing sharp fangs. It would be easy to open the box… she knew how and- “Stay away Lucette,” a woman’s voice said near her, with a chuckle, “we need the eggs.” Immediately, the guilty Kelvic, cowered and slunk away, not looking to see who it was that had chastised her. The pacing resumed, between legs and past thighs of the populace of Denval. The Cheetah moved quietly, but for the clink, clink of her non retractable claws. The stench of sweat and bodies too closely confined filled her nostrils. To be away from them, she jumped easily upon a low wooden shed and settled herself down with a huff. Long legs stretched out, and one paw bent as the Kelvic began to lick sea salt from between her pads. Over and over, her tongue stretched to work between each pad. Eyes half closed, Lucette ignored the milling people. The sea breeze blew across her face and she shifted to catch its refreshing scent, though mixed within it were the heavy odors of the Denvali people. A nap began to settle upon her, but black-tuffed ears flicked forward at the sound of a chattering child. Instinctually her eyes opened, searching the small crowd for the sound-maker. Deep within, Lucette’s Cheetah nature flared; the pull to seek out the old, the infirm… and the young, became paramount. The child babbled. Lucette’s eyes regarded it and grew cold… it was no more than a toddler, and it sat upon the deck in front of her, playing innocently. It was of good size, but not too large… the Cheetah’s head rose and her chest leaned forward. It was alone… and separate from its pack of adults. Terrible instinct burned in the normally docile Kelvic… It was young, it was weak - an easy kill. Soft and plushy. Her throat softly vibrated in an urgent chittering. Her jaw opened and amber eyes froze upon it. Once she had known its name. In this moment it was forgotten, but for the blonde curls upon its head. Lucette knew she was faster than the slow humans that had left. She could snatch it and be gone… eat it before the others laid claim to it. Already the taste of blood was upon her lips. Bloodlust found her and consumed her… that child… that thing, would fill her empty belly. Almost in slow motion the Kelvic slid from her perch, one paw then the next found the wooden planks, muscled haunches followed as her tail twitched wildly. Death was coming… the cycle of life continued.

[Veldrys]

While Lucette walked around seemingly aimlessly, always following the same pattern, the Symenestra often just stood there and stared at the water that extended endlessly around the boat, but not really seeing it. In the matter of a few short days his whole life had been ruined. In Denval he had lived the quiet existence of a healer and dreamed of becoming a priest one day. The people had accepted him for the most part, and the desperate situation of his race had just been a vague nightmare. He had looked forward to the birth of his child. If the storm hadn't come, if it hadn't been for that man ... he was convinced that Lucette would have survived, surrounded by so many skilled healers.

He had already thought of names for his child, had even dared to wonder what he or she would be like. He had tried to picture them as a family, Lucette, him and the child that had died before it had ever seen the world. The thought of them, living together somewhere in Denval, had made him smile, but maybe he wasn't meant to be happy. His people were facing extinction, their life was a constant struggle, so why should his situation be better? He had condoned their crimes. Maybe he deserved to suffer.

He tried to comfort her whenever she would let him. As much as he mourned the loss of their child, it was twice as hard for her. She had carried it inside of her, had been looking forward to it (and feared it, sometimes). Under normal circumstances he would have tried to persuade her to stay human on the ship, but maybe being a cheetah helped her. Coping with this kind of loss was probably easier for an animal whose life wasn't governed by as many rules.

He heard the children laugh. They seemed to cope with the situation much better, but then they hadn't lost as much. He looked at them for a moment, but then he quickly pulled his gaze away. He couldn't bear the sight of happy people at the moment. Instead he focused his gaze on the cheetah, that graceful, beautiful predator. He still found it hard to believe that the animal and the woman were one at the same, that she could change so quickly.

But there seemed to be something wrong. He furrowed his brow. There was something about the way she looked at one of the children, as if she ... as if she wanted nothing more than to eat it. A part of him actually considered letting her do it. It would make her happy, if only for a moment, and fill her stomach.

He wanted those people to feel the same kind of loss he did. They hadn't done anything to help, but on the other hand all blood was holy, no matter where it came from. He needed to distract her. Viratas would not want anything to happen on the boat.

He approached, making sure that the cheetah saw him. "Lucette!" he called out her name, tried to divert her attention from the child. "Lucette, come to me. Are you hungry? I have food for you." He had eaten very little since they had left Denval. Surely they wouldn't mind if he claimed a bit of meat and then gave it to her rather than eating it himself.

[Lucette]

"Lucette!" The voice insisted, though the Cheetah did not hear. "Lucette, come to me. Are you hungry? I have food for you. Only at the second calling of her name, did the slave lift her head and black-tuffed ears toward Veldrys. She had not heard the Symenestra’s words as a command; it sounded like a question, softly spoken. And the tone failed to distract her from the lone child. No! Lucette thought, No! Her lips pulled back silently to expose predator’s teeth. His food did not satisfy, she wanted none of it! She wanted to eat this little, live thing! The Kelvic was not herself… with the loss of Denval, Lucette had lost her place in the world. With the loss of the baby, hope for the future had vanished. In restless, the Cheetah’s animal instinct grew stronger. Perhaps Justus had been too busy with the tragic fall of Denval, or perhaps Lucette’s handlers had been too gentle with her after the forced miscarriage. They had cared for Lucette like a human women - who could blame them? It was easy to forget the Kelvic was not really one of them. But human frailties had no place in a Cheetah’s psyche, and the kind treatments only caused her further issue, for the predator forgot her submissive place as the women coddled her. The Cheetah sensed their kindness as lack of dominance, and the wild feline surfaced more fully, no longer hidden within Lucette’s submission. The Cheetah mind and intellect surged forward… Suwor might have killed her baby… but now, she would devour the child before her. And so, Lucette only glanced at Veldrys, and her eyes held surprising challenge. Couldn’t he see she wanted this! Deserved this! Irritated, her tail twitched in the air. Veldrys’ meat was cold. And old. She would eat it no longer! And the child… the child was fresh… and young. Tender, its blood ran hot. Nostrils flaring, she thought she could smell it. Veldrys was a blood priest, surely he would understand! It was so simple in the Kelvic’s mind… she would share it with him… She would make him happy once again! Driven by primal, unseen forces, Lucette swung her head away and her black nostrils widened to find the prey’s delicious scent once more. Tensing, her spots rippled along her length. The child moved, and the Cheetah froze lower to the ground, eyes penetrating its movements as her tail twitched, never resting. Should it try to escape, it would be run down easily, but it settled, to play in the dust on the wooden boards. Satisfied, the child would remain, Lucette took a single step forward with her front left paw, and her body followed, slowly beginning to lower into a crouch.

[Veldrys]

„Lucette!“ he called her name again, in a more forceful tone this time. For a moment their eyes met, but she was too far gone to react to anything he said. Her attention was still on the child, and he wasn’t sure how he was supposed to prevent a catastrophe. He had cared for her, he had comforted her after the loss of their child, but he had treated her like a human woman – because that was what she had looked like. Now that she was standing in front of him, baring her teeth, he realized how wrong he had been.

She was not a human woman. She was an animal, wild, hungry and desperate, and she wouldn’t like to see her meal taken from her. He had hoped that the child would have enough common sense to leave, but it didn’t seem to realize in how much danger it was. It was still in front of her, playing on the ground, and she had lowered into a crouch, as if she were about to jump her prey. He realized that there was no room for the gentle, understanding doctor now.

She didn’t seem to be able to be persuaded by the promise of food, but wanted fresh meat – right now.

„No!“ he told her in no uncertain terms. He was in front of her now, raising his hands, trying to block her view of the child. „You cannot have that child! It is not food! I will give you meat, I will give you blood if that is what you desire, but you must not lose control!“

„Do you hear me?“

[Lucette]

Her name! Lucette growled, not looking at Veldrys. Her eyes narrowed, thoughts dark. Don’t look! Don’t look at him! The Cheetah thought. The man’s command was not said with the whip crack tone that Justus often used… but still there was edge to Veldrys voice she had not heard before. Control lurked within his words. The Kelvic could not ignore them; she had been trained too well, but selfishly, the feline tried to focus on the child anyway. The sound of her growl was soft in relation to the lapping water against the ships boards. Lucette licked her lips and swallowed, and the throaty sounds began anew. Almost the Kelvic wished the toddler to be further away, so that her long legs might be stretched before she brought the little thing down. It- Veldrys blocked the child! Standing in front of it, he hid it from her sight! The Cheetah was forced to move to see it, her head bobbing low. It was there still, just beyond him. Lucette took a step forward, the rumble returning to her throat. But the thin hands moved and the child disappeared from her vision again. Bloody thoughts interrupted, Lucette avoided Veldyrs stern eyes and slunk silently to the side, to skirt around him. It was no use, the man had turned and she shifted to the other side. She could not get past him and her body lowered, more submissive with each block of her progress. Always he was in the way, breaking her vision and her concentration. They stood at a standstill, and Lucette’s frustration rose. Her growl turned louder, fuller. Even as she began to cower she was at her most deadly. The closest of the Denvali heard the sound, and fearful voices lifted. Most remembered the Festival night when the Cheetah had attacked the healer. From somewhere close, the mother wailed long and loud, and the sound was familiar to Lucette’s ears, for she had also cried out sorrowfully for a lost child once. ‘No,’ the Symenestra told her. ‘No.’ The Kelvic’s eyes shifted from the child to Veldrys. Her eyes were softer now, as if Veldrys’ lover saw him instead of the hungry Cheetah. Veldrys did not want her to eat it… Veldrys did not approve… Veldrys had asked a question. Lucette sniffed the air as the ship swayed. It was not in her to ignore him. Sadly, the great head drooped, and her tail lowered submissively, the Kelvic had heard him. The desire to run to him was great, but the beast was skittish, unsure now that she had angered him. And her senses flared to taste fear in the air from the Denvali. Fear and hatred. Quickly she looked to them and remembered an arrow that had been imbedded once into her shoulder. The Kelvic hissed at the memory and at the people that surrounded her. Cornered and trapped, the hiss became a spit and her paw scratched the deck. She was very afraid.

[Veldrys]

As Lucette made a step, Veldrys made a step as well, trying to hide the child from her. He wouldn’t let her have it, no matter how hungry she was. He wouldn’t allow it! She would not eat it! She was his. She had once told him that she was a slave, that she lived to serve. If that was the case, she would obey. He wouldn’t let her commit a murder on the boat.

He noticed that she avoided his gaze, and his heart began to beat faster. „Lucette, look at me!“ he ordered her. „Lucette, I’m here!“

Somewhere behind him he could hear the child’s mother, but he didn’t dare to turn around and talk to her, lest Lucette took advantage of the situation. She looked as if she were only waiting for an opportunity to kill her prey. He didn’t dare to think of what the Denvali would do if she succeeded. They might just throw them off the boat, but they were more likely to kill her, and he couldn’t allow that either.

He needed Lucette.

After a few moments he noticed that her gaze had softened. He could see a hint of the woman he had loved in the temple. He dared to come closer and extended a hand. „Don’t be afraid“, he said to her. „If you let the child be and come with me, I will share my blood with you, and then we’ll eat. And the next time we’ll leave the boat I’ll hunt with you.“

As he said this, he quickly gestured for the mother to come and take her child away.

[Lucette]

Incensed and angry, the crowd loomed near, not yet having worked up the courage to approach more closely to the clearly dangerous animal. Lucette uneasily looked from the child to them, and then to the lone man that thwarted her meal. The Kelvic did not trust them to look away for long. But the Symenestra commanded her gaze, and the Cheetah was forced to keep her eyes upon the man. He had not backed down, or given ground. Dancing lightly upon her paws, Lucette’s sleek body turned sideways, unsure of which direction to go. She felt outnumbered… The desire to run, stole upon her, and her head turned to search for a path away. But with his tone, Veldrys kept her in place, assured her that he was there… for her. He was there… The change in Lucette’s demeanor was immediately evident. Her body lowered submissively, tail tucked between hind legs. Disappointment and shame both worked to fuel the Kelvic’s fear of the crowd, and a low keening sound erupted from her, frightening the onlookers even more. The child’s mother wailed loudly, causing Lucette’s ears to prick towards the shrieking woman. But Veldrys had called, and her head swung back to him, to study his length and demeanor, instead of the child’s. Deliberate, each step fell, and the Kelvic neared. A hand was offered – Lucette could smell his familiar, soothing scent, his medical herbs… and dried blood. Black nostrils flared to inhale the sweetness. She padded to him, a painstakingly lethargic pace among the whispered threats and harsh tones of the bystanders. Head lowered, the Kelvic stood at his side, grazing his pant leg. One ear twitched at the closeness, but her eyes stayed upon the displaced townspeople. Lowly, she growled, lips pulled back in fear, to keep them from her. She would not hurt them, not now… but her eyes caught again upon the child just beyond the man. Stiffening, Lucette made no noise. She stood and blinked, as she observed it. As the mother rushed to snatch up the child, Lucette’s body pressed into Veldrys’, feeling the beat of his blood, his breath. The woman shot Lucette a look of bitter hatred. But the feline eyes only returned a cold stare. It was the most inhuman gaze anyone had yet seen from the Kelvic, and their hearts hardened further to her. Rubbing her cheek against the Symenesta, the Cheetah’s body was encompassed and hidden by a myriad of twinkling, shimmering lights. In the silence, Lucette knelt at his side, naked and beautiful. The sea air blew coolly across her skin and her hand touched upon his wrist with the lightest of caresses, “I am hungry, Veldrys…” she whispered, watching the others. “I can not eat it… what they give us…” It was her explanation, and she looked to where the mother had disappeared among the safety of the crowd. “Please… don’t be upset with me.” He couldn’t be angry at her! The thought was too painful! The touch lowered to his inner leg, to distract him. “I won’t hurt it. I was only hungry…” she purred, falling back to Roland’s training, trying to persuade him to forgive. “Take me hunting…hunt the meat, hunt blood with me,” it was a dizzying thought, and her torso pressed closer, breasts and chest, and hips. It was apology, it was an admission of what she had done… but it was also calculated distraction.

[Veldrys]

As Lucette lowered her head, the Symenestra touched her, stroke her, felt her soft fur beneath his fingers. „I won’t let them hurt you“, he whispered to her as he noticed the fear in her eyes. He too looked at the townspeople for a moment and raised a hand as he did so to let them know that he had everything under control. Their eyes were hard and full of hatred.

He had kept Lucette from eating the child, but would they be content with that? Would they trust him to watch her? Would they leave her – her and him – alone or punish them regardless? They were all Denvali and had escaped the catastrophe together, but in this moment it seemed as if there were an insurmountable barrier between them. They only saw the animal, the potential killer and not the woman that had given a lost man hope.

He was mad at her as well – part of him wanted to scream at her for what she had almost done – but that feeling passed the moment she rubbed his cheek against him and changed into her human form. Even after all that time she still had that effect on him. With a sigh he took her hand and looked into her eyes.

„I know that you are hungry, Lucette, and that the food that they give us is disgusting, but you cannot eat one of them. They would hurt us both. I’m not upset with you. I just need you to realize that the children on this boat are forbidden.“

„I already said that I would take you hunting“, he reminded her and put his arms around her. „As soon as we see land.“ It would be good if they got away from the Denvali. It would probably take some time for them to forgive Lucette – if they ever would.

„Come with me. We should probably go somewhere where they can’t see us for a while.“

[Lucette]

His arms encircled her, slid along her skin, and easily Lucette’s body conformed to his. She knew his angular frame well. The Kelvic’s nimble fingers traced the veins beneath Veldrys’ pale arm. Sadly, she whispered to him as he led her away, “They have changed so much…” When she bumped into the Symenestra, Lucette barely noticed – for she was looking over one shapely shoulder, her sight never leaving the gathered humans on the deck. Less than three seasons she had known them, but Lucette had felt welcome and accepted. Such things were now gone from their gaze. Malevolence hung in the salt-laden air, distrust rested on the hard lines of their faces. Lucette watched them, and they watched her in return, though with an anger barely controlled. The human form no longer frightened them, as the Cheetah instinctually had, for the Kelvic appeared softer in her womanly skin, less threatening though exotic and wild still. “Best put a tight collar on that one Veldrys,” A heavyset man warned the priest. “We protect our own... hate for something to happen to that Kelvic.” Not Lucette, but that Kelvic. He didn’t use her name, though the slave remembered when he had once lustfully cried it out one rainy night in the Temple. Lucette wondered that he had forgotten. No longer was she considered one of them; one simple primal action had seen to that. And with the destruction of Denval, the Denvali wanted to feel strong and needed to stand united. Lucette was an easy target to unite against. “She’ll be sorry if she so much as blinks at someone with that… that… hungry cat look… We all seen it, we’ll know it again.” The man talked as if Lucette wasn’t there, or wouldn’t understand. Perhaps the spokesman didn’t care. Carefully, the Kelvic looked from face to face, nervous and skittish. Veldrys hands were calm upon her arm, urging her away. She was glad to go; she wished solitude and its safety. Worried, Lucette flowed beside him, though the worry did not reach the sway of her hips, which rocked to the undulation of the sea. Her hands slid lower along the Symenestra’s arm, to entwine his fingers with her own. Veldrys said he would protect her… Veldrys said he would feed her... The Kelvic transformation renewed her great hunger. Her head cocked with an ill timed, incessant question, “When will we eat?” she asked “You said we wou--” The man hollered after them, “You hear me, Priest? You keep her close and behaved, or maybe we’ll find out if she swims… or sinks.” More than a few among the crowd murmured agreement at the threat. Lucette had crossed a line threatening one of the Denvali children… a line she could not hope to ever uncross. And the Symenestra… he protected her… would he be the next to turn upon the beleaguered Denvali? There were stories of his kind… And times were more than difficult…