Shelter Beneath The Waves (Raiha)

[Kavala]

Kavala listened to Kani and looked thoughtful. "This isn't some temporary situation, Kani. Raiha is going to be a key part of something greater in Sanctuary. We're just biding our time, being patient, and letting things evolve a little first. Besides, both you and Raiha need some time. You aren't exactly even considered adults yet and there's a reason for our patience. Sanctuary isn't a stopping point for Raiha, it is definitely something she has a heart and hand in and it is as much hers as it is mine. We mean to do something here. She understands that. I don't think, however, that you do." Kavala said softly, standing up to the Akontak, knowing she was powerful but also knowing that emotionally she was immature. True strength wasn't always physical it was mental and Raiha and Kani still had a long way to go before they were in as solid as a place that say Hatot and Radris were in.

But Kani had more to say and Kavala gave her the courtesy to listen. It was clear though, more than clear, that Kanikra was a little ill. Kavala shook her head, her hair fanning out around her. "I don't bet on people's lives. Besides, you are sorely mistaken if you think Raiha has to loose it all to be strong. Sometimes true strength comes in holding on tight to something you love. She loves all her kelvics, their bonds are deep, and she loves her friendships here. I think it is a great deal harder to fight for what you love and keep it rather than letting it all go and somehow letting that strength reforge you. I would much rather have fought for my family than simply fought for myself." Kavala said. "There's no strength in what you are suggesting. There's even no strength in what I went through." Kavala said softly. She'd tell Kanikra alright. Kavala would tell her every bit of the truth and keep telling her until she understood.

Kanikra kept talking, kept spewing her hatred, and Kavala recognized it for what it was. No, it wasn't anger purely, thought that was part of it. It was something far deeper, something Kavala could recognize immediately.

The Konti lurched forward, thrust through the water with an agileness born of having been a child of both worlds. She caught Kanikra by the hair and forced her head around, half to get her attention and half to make her actually look at Kavala. A twist of her wrist gave her a firm grip on it, and she began speaking in a cold deadly voice.

"No, I don't see it as anger at all, you stupid girl. I see it as arrogance and hatred because you grew up something different that never quite fit in. But Raiha and her sweet ways got all the attention because she was inherently stronger than you are. If she hadn't been, you'd been foremost and already wearing ink the first moment you stepped foot in this city. The only reason you are still free is due to her vigilance, not yours. All the plotting and planning in the world can't change that." Kavala gave the hair a vicious tug, decidedly wanting the Akontak's attention now and talking to her in the only language she figured Kani understood.

"But as for what you wish for her, let me tell you how it is. If you take everything away from her, strip her down to nothing and let her rebuild, there's the journey to get to that place to consider. For me it wasn't easy. I've been there and won't ever go back." Kavala said, took a deep gill full of water, and began speaking once more. This time her face was close to the Akontak's and there was a mean twist to her lips.

"I woke up after I ran my horse through at tripwire which brought us both down. I was already raped. Some might think of it a small blessing having not been conscious enough to know the moment some pig forces his way into your body and rips through your maidenhead. I don't even know whom or what they used. I was staked out like a deerskin being readied to scrape for its leather. My womb felt on fire, torn and ripped apart by the abuse. There were bite marks all over me mixed with the stickiness of blood, slobber, and their seed. I could smell them on my skin. And once I was awake, the ones that liked to hear the new girls scream came to play. I can't tell you the helpless feeling, Kanikra, of lying on the dirt in your own blood having men force themselves into you in all manners, laughing as they do so. You scream and forget how long you've been screaming - maybe because of the pain, but mostly in fury at their actions. And finally those screams change to hoarse little sounds because your vocal cords are as shredded as your womanhood. But you don't feel the pain any longer because you go somewhere else inside yourself. So the noise you make isn't one of pain which causes some of the slavers to get bored. What it is instead is disbelieve and indignity that this is all happening to you." Kavlaa said softly, her grip on Kanikra's hair firm.

"But it never gets any better. Days turn into weeks and your body remains their plaything. They start carving at it to get you to make new and interesting noises. They beat you to draw the fire back into your eyes because they don't like mounting lifeless things and spill their seed into them. You watch others get the same treatment. You have no choices. You make no decisions. You eat when they feed you. You are warm when they finally give you a blanket. And your body is their toy whenever they look at you and feel lust. It breaks things inside you, Kanikra, especially things you don't know about and can't see. Your world narrows down to their shafts, their tongues, their laughter, and how badly they hurt you. And they hurt you a lot. I would wish it on no one. I wouldn't wish that kind of loss on anyone, not even a sister I hated because she was better than me in all ways that count." Kavala said.

And then she backhanded Kanikra hard across the face before releasing her hair. Kavala's eyes were wild and she didn't seem to care that she neatly split the girl's lip. It was an open invitation for a fight. Kavala knew it. She also knew she was too early to truly worry about the baby in her body. It was tucked safely in her womb and not making itself heavily known or vulnerable quite yet.

[Raiha]

Kanikra listened to what Kavala had to say – not that she had much of a choice with the grip that the Konti had on her hair. This close, Kavala could really see the minute details that made the twin souls of the body different. Oh, when Kanikra wanted to show it was her, it was there in her body language, in the way she moved and spoke. But silent, there was something in her eyes that wasn’t Raiha. There was no warmth, no openness, no curiosity that the quieter, softer sister seemed to view the world with, looking for new things to learn about as she went about her day. It didn’t have to be some arcane, profound piece of learning; sometimes it was as simple as watching Kavala work a particular stitch, or watching Akela with her blade and the way she moved and held it, or the way Asim lumbered and grumbled about. Whether Kanikra took in anything Kavala said, or if she even processed it was up in the air. There was no impressions, no expression of impact in those cold, almost empty eyes that looked at Kavala and looked through her.

Not strength, she said. Not for the first time, Kanikra wondered about others and how their emotions clouded their judgment. She got out of it. Alive. Kanikra could only imagine what kind of Konti the one grabbing her hair had been like before. Had she been like Akela? Or was she more like Raiha? Did she see something in the quiet Akontak that reminded her of herself before her capture? She could only guess, while Raiha was beginning to start to harass her sister-soul. It’s not being clouded, Raiha told her. It’s being alive. It’s feeling things. That’s what’s normal, not the never feeling anything that you do.

And it’s still being clouded. You don’t see things. You overlook them, you look for good when there’s none to be had. And when you’re looking at everything else like a lamb, you blissfully ignore the glassbeak waiting for their opportunity to make their next move and snatch you up. You are not getting it, Raiha.

And neither are you!

Kanikra’s head was twisted a bit as Kavala tugged on her hair. She made an idle, albeit solemn vow that she would never let Raiha wear her hair long and loose again. The tugging brought her gaze back to Kavala’s face, and this time, the girl was listening. There was something separate and unmoving in her face, but she was listening. It gave to weight to the idea that Kanikra was broken in some way – there was no horror, no sorrow, nor sympathy or pity there. While Raiha was appalled by her friend’s revelation, Kanikra absorbed it, analyzed it, and drew from it a few things. But before she could even open her mouth to reply to any of that her head jerked like a puppet’s from the Konti’s backhand. That pale bitch!

Kanikra’s hand shot out, reaching for Kavala’s cloud of white hair, trying to get a grip on it, beginning to smile. She wanted to fight. Fine. She'd backed out before, but now... now, she would indulge her. The smile almost made her look like Raiha again, her eyes losing the cold emptiness, warmth creeping into her azure features. And then Kanikra spoke. “Do you know what Raiha thinks?” Kanikra used the floor of the cave for leverage to push herself at the Konti. “She’s horrified. Poor Kavala, the nightmare she survived. But she, like you, doesn’t see the lesson. Do you know what it is?” The smile became ever more radiant. “You deserved it.” She enunciated clearly, stressing each word. “You let your guard down. You didn’t see that wire, and then you failed to save yourself. Is that why you’re so fond of Raiha? Because you see in her what you used to be before you were raped? Soft and innocent and weak?” The smile faded, turning into a wicked grin, and her other hand, balled in a fist, rammed right for Kavala’s kidneys in as hard a bunch under water as the Akontak could muster.

[Kavala]

She was angry. Emotion welled into her that had been long buried in that cold dark place she tucked all the memories of that time with the slavers. Hatot's behavior had driven her here, but the truth was her own self denial had put her in a position that made her vulnerable to Raiha. And Raiha knew how to use words like weapons.

She deserved it.
She deserved it.
She deserved it.
She deserved it.
She deserved it.

The words rang like a gong in her head and her hands automatically went to her ears as if to shut off and deny the ugliness that had festered inside her. Raiha was right. She was careless, stupid, vulnerable, untrained, spoiled, pampered by her father and brother, and everything unsuitable to live in the world. Kavala let out a cry that was almost a precursor to the kidney punch that would have doomed Raiha to death had it been witnessed by an Akalak. But they were sheltered beneath the waves, in their own world, a gift of their konoti heritage. The fight would not be witnessed. There would be no judgment. Death could come here by a child closer to the gods and nothing and no one would do anything about it.

Kavala almost welcomed it.

But the rage got in the way. It was fueled by the anger that had built up in her for seasons after her capture and release. Kavala took the punch in the kidenys and doubled over bringing one arm up to shield her vulnerable side. At the same time Raiha extended and punched, it put her in Kavala's range. So with her side shielded, a scream coming from her lips colored in the bubbles of pain both internal and external - Kavala punched as well, aiming straight for Raiha's neck where her gills were. She wanted every breath to hurt, every inhalation and exhalation of seawater to burn. The Akontak might be a child of two worlds, but Kavala was a child of the sea and knew what one needed to survive being so.

[Raiha]

There was no joy at the way her words had had an effect on Kavala. Perhaps there should have been glee, or whatever warped twisting of it that would be Kanikra’s interpretation of triumph. No, what there was an acceptance that the words had hit home, better than she might have expected them to, and from that Raiha could only try to gauge Kanikra’s version of satisfaction. But her twin wasn’t satisfied with that tiny victory. She never was. It wasn’t enough to merely hurt someone, no... You had to hurt them so badly, destroy them so utterly, that they wouldn’t think of retribution. As such, her other half wasn’t satisfied. And Raiha knew she never would be.

No. Even if Kanikra managed to win down here, even if they left Kavala’s lifeless body jammed in here, weighted down by rocks and buried on the sea floor, it wouldn’t be enough to make her stop. And Raiha determinedly did not want her friend dead. And clearly, all too clearly, her worries were a little more unfounded when Kavala determinedly slugged the Akontak in the gills. Kanikra, who had been reaching for Kavala’s hair on the side that the Konti was favouring, recoiled, her fist closing on water instead of its target. The simple act of just sucking in a lungful of water to filter the air out of it burned. It burned going in, and it burned going out. How stupid of her that was. How many times had she chastised Raiha to always protect herself no matter what she was doing? Too many. And yet she had failed to protect a vital part of her own anatomy. Stupid of her. But there was no point in dwelling on it – other things required her attention, like making that white bitch pay for that blow. But it was a successful shot in that it made Kanikra draw pause in her own attack.

Even as she gasped for more air, agonizingly forcing the water back out of her gills and accepting the pain that came with it as a lesson in her own failure, Kanikra sought to follow through on her original plan. It still wasn’t enough to wipe that grin off of her face. “Small wonder you love Riverfall… The humans weren’t big enough to satisfy you anymore, were they?” Kanikra didn’t normally care for small-talk in a fight, but psychological warfare had its place and oh-so-many uses… particularly now that there had been a moderate amount of success with her last barb. The Akontak lunged for Kavala’s hair again, reaching with her hand to try to seize those long white locks. She tried to get a good grip on it as she brought her knee up, looking to take advantage of the woman’s posture, to profit on the way she was protecting her side. She wanted to introduce the Konti’s delicate nose to her leather-covered knee, aiming to break it good and proper.

[Kavala]

Kanikra neatly captured Kavala's hair because the Konti was too busy being pissed off to pay attention to what was actually happening to her - like the assault. The control of her head also resulted in the the delicate curve of her nose being snapped. Kavala trailed blood through the salt water and shrieked her rage. There was no dignity left in the pale-skinned scaled Drykas as she fought like a glassbeat, suddenly turning up her game. Her face hurt and she was stunned momentarily as her life force filled the water with a cloud of red around the two women.

"How would you know, Kanikra? The only male that's ever going to touch you is a Dhani because your personality is so snake-like." Kavala spit out, almost hissing through her broken nose, moving more slowly now than she had before. Since Kanikra had a hold of her hair painfully, Kavala easily grabbed the Akontak's as well, forcing her head to twist to the opposite side exposing the gills she hadn't punched yet. Kavala figured the only way to actually stop her blathering was to smack her in the other gill as well cutting off any ability for her to breath and more importantly make any noise.

Like talking.

As Kavala threw the punch, aiming for Raiha's undamaged gill, she couldn't help but think how hard it was to tell the Akontak's personalities apart. Was Raiha hitting her or was Kanikra? Wasn't Kanikra the one with the mouth and Raiha the one with the brains? Hatot and Radris at least had something to clue Kavala in when they were switching roles. But even Raiha's expression hardly changed, so there was no visible clues. What she needed to do was watch her closer, question her more, try and understand her once she got done killing her.

[Raiha]

The prospect of being alone in the world had never bothered Kanikra. Oh, it meant there was a lack of suitably accessible outlets for emotional abuse, maybe, but in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t phase her. Being wanted, desired, may have been useful in terms of manipulating others. But in terms of companionship and being touched and loved… it had no particular appeal to her. She had her sister to torment. She wasn’t going to change because people thought that she was strange. She was who she was. Her only response to that remark was Raiha’s rarely seen, really-truly-genuinely-happy smile, which only made the Akontak an even more confusing entity. Kanikra could masquerade as Raiha perfectly well when one didn’t know what to look for. If she could trick her sister’s bondmate, snake-souled bitch that she was... no one could possibly blame Kavala for that confusion, considering the way that the Akontak oftentimes kept to herself.

There was nothing Kavala could have said that would have removed that joyous smile as thoroughly as the Konti’s punch landing on the Akontak’s gills. She released her handholds on Kavala’s hair, her hands flying to her neck as she pushed herself backwards, ready to lash out at Kavala if she made another move for her as she splayed her fingers around the damaged organs as water burned going in, and burned going out, blood leaking around her fingers and neck.

Always protect herself. She’s done that well, hadn’t she? She wasn’t going to beat herself up over it as she focused on Rak’keli’s Gnosis and sought to try to repair some of the damage done to her gills, her eyes as cold as she had seen them yet. She was still hurting, and the blood continued to flow, but at least she didn’t feel the water sluicing around in her lungs now. Still, it was only a temporary measure. She was going to have to get to the surface soon so she could vomit blood and water. Distracted as she was, it gave Raiha an opportunity to squeeze in past her sister-soul and take control of the body once more, her posture slackening slightly, losing some of the more rigid discipline that Kanikra displayed, but it was still defensive nonetheless. They would just have to continue it another time – because Raiha had decided that she had had enough of their hitting Kavala, and Kavala’s hitting her. “I need to go to the surface now. It is hard to breathe,” the Akontak tried to say, though it came out far more as a croak, even as she backed out of the cave. They had done enough damage to each other for now, and she didn’t want to think about what sort of predators they were going to entice with all of the blood in the water.

[Kavala]

Kavala was broken inside, torn up into a thousand shredded fragments all rent and scattered on the winds of her mind. Outside she looked fine. Her body had healed. Her smile was bright. Her business successful. But inside there was nothing left worth salvaging. Hatot had taken the best of her while Radris had convinced her there was absolutely nothing wrong with her. But they had both been wrong. She'd just punched a teen in the gills, an Akontak at that, to shut her up and to hurt her. Kavala had wanted to hurt her, and that horrified her.

Raiha had enough abuse in her life. Growing up among the Konti in the peace and civility of Mura had to have played a number on her psyche, especially her dark twins. Kavala couldn't think of a more damaging state of being. The Akontak, for all they had Konti features, had nothing in common with the Konti. They needed to be raised here, in Riverfall, among the men who understood them and gave both aspects of their minds nurturing. It wasn't Raiha's fault, and after all she'd come to help Kavala, not be abused by her. The Konti felt sick in her heart, ashamed, and quickly kicked after the Akontak, following her closely.

When Raiha waded to shore, Kavala was right behind her. The Konti's own problems were forgotten as Kavala seized the teen whom dwarfed her in a hug, turning her to face her at the last minute. They wore no clothing and there was something raw and unbridled about the embrace. Kavala stood on her toes soothed back Raiha's hair even as she tapped the two marks on her ankle and poured healing power into Raiha's body. "I'm so sorry, Raiha. I have no businesses taking my anger and frustration out on you. It's not your fault. Not you or Kani's. I love you both so much. Sometimes I forget how much I need someone like you around, someone who is everything I cannot be. It should have never came to blows down there, not ever, not between us. We were meant for more, Raiha, than just petty arguments. Can't you feel that? That isn't how we are supposed to be. This is." Kavala said, still holding the dark-blue woman close to her, soothingly... even after she'd stopped the pain in Raiha's throat and gills.

[Raiha]

Throughout the swim back to the shore, Raiha had been trying to think of how to phrase an apology. Her lean frame moved almost like a dolphin's did, her legs together, occasionally using her hands, normally kept at her sides to help steer and direct her flow in the water, to paddle along, or to cup her gills and attempt heal them a little more. Baby steps - every bit could help, surely. But for the most part, they weren't something she could fix on her own. She headed straight up - her gills were screaming, at her, and her lungs were going to have to do some of the work now. One of the two gills, while being painful, wasn't something that incapacitated her. Both being damaged meant that breathing the water was hardly an option. Once she broke through the surface, though, it was all she could do to vomit blood and seawater as she tread water before paddling for the shore, sucking in lungfuls of air. While her gills hurt, they could now enjoy a very well-deserved break.

With her back to the sun, she occasionally stuck her face in the water, holding her breath, focusing on imbuing her vision with her Djed, and scanning, searching for auras that were approaching the two on their way to shore. She checked the seaweed, the water, the little fish, the crawlers, looking for something dangerous and predatory. The absolutely last thing they needed was for a lean, hungry shark to decide that the two sources of blood would make a lovely snack. Neither of them was in any condition to deal with such an event, though Raiha knew the best way to get rid of a shark, or at least stun it, was to punch it in its oh-so-sensitive nose. Of course, the trick was doing that and keeping your fist and not losing whatever limb the shark was trying to rip off while you hit it.

And since she liked all of her limbs, and Kavala's limbs, right where they were, a shark attack was something she would rather avoid. Once she was walking, though, the water at her knees or lower, she breathed a sigh of relief, cutting the Djed once more, the overlapping auras fading from sight. And then, much to her surprise, she was grabbed and pulled back into a tight hug from the Konti. The girl was stunned. She didn't think Kavala would quite want anything to do with her right then - Kanikra's words had been used very deliberately for an exacting purpose... to hurt others and to make them suffer, in some way, shape, and form. Words, used appropriately on the right targets, were effective weapons. Unfortunately for Kanikra, and by extension for Raiha, Kavala was more effective with her fists. Her battered body was a testament to it.

But she was shocked at this reaction. She had figured to get back to Sanctuary and stay out of sight for a little bit while she figured out how to apologize properly to Kavala. But now the older Konti was apologizing to her. It made no sense. It boggled the mind. But she was relieved, beyond that, even, as she let Kavala hug her, listening to what she had to say, her gold eyes searching Kavala's face as the agony in her throat and gills faded... allowing her to breathe without the constant feeling that she was going to be sick. Her relief was palpable. Kavala wasn't going to send her away, despite the events and revelations of the afternoon. "I am sorry, too," Raiha wiggled her arms up just enough so that she was able work them out from being squeezed at her side in the embrace as to cup the Konti's face with both hands, spreading her wet fingers out over her white cheeks, resting her forehead against hers. Her fingers stroked Kavala's skin gently. The height difference made it a trifle awkward, but it wasn't anything Raiha couldn't deal with. Up close like that, Kavala could see what Kanikra had been driving at - Goddess knew how many years Raiha's other half had been working on systematically pushing Raiha towards the edge of a very high cliff. This was the first time Raiha had ever stood that close for so long, to really let Kavala get a good look at her.

But Raiha was close to her breaking point. Years of isolation, only rarely interacting with others besides perhaps her mother, and all the while being in Mura and Konti Isle where she couldn't nurture natural tendencies from her father's blood in her without being stared at and disapproved of, had taken a toll. She had told Kavala once that she had her mother, and no siblings, not beyond the sister-soul whom was always there that shared in every aspect of her life, no matter how much both had wished that they didn't. She didn't mention friends or teachers or companions the way Kavala could likely recall from her own experiences with her pavilion. Her father had stayed for her birth, and never came back. She hardly ever talked about him, either. While she was quiet and always there if Kavala needed her - the girl was getting used to helping with the horses and didn't do too badly with them - she walked the line between Konti and Akalak by herself. Her habits of solitude continued, even with Asim, gruff companion though he was. But there was a reason Diallo was almost always with Raiha - Kavala could sense and feel that between that dog and the goshawk... those were the last few threads that kept Raiha tied to solid ground as the very cliff that Kanikra aimed to push her off of threatened to crumble beneath her feet.

That the destruction of all that made Raiha her was Kanikra's overarching plan didn't... quite surprise Raiha. She would have expected nothing less than that from her. That was how Kanikra operated - she knew that you destroyed your enemies so utterly they never attempted revenge... because there was nothing left to. Who knew? Kanikra probably figured that Raiha would thank her for purging her of that weakness, once she saw the light and truly understood what a gift she could give her. "She will never apologize for what she said and did to you." Raiha's eyes searched Kavala's, hoping for understanding, even as Kanikra snorted. Raiha was right - she would never apologize. She chalked it up to a learning experience, and continued her thoughts and plans from there. "That is not her way... It never was, and it never will be. But I am sorry on her behalf."

[Stranger]

XP Award!

Kavala:
Swimming +2
Philosophy +3
Unarmed Combat +3

Lore:
Kanikra (Basic)
Waging the Impossible Battle


Raiha:
Auristics +1
Intimidation +1
Philosophy +3
Unarmed Combat +3
Swimming +1

Lore:

At War With Oneself
Kavala's History (Basic)

Note: I enjoyed reading this very much. Excellent writing from both of you, and such a neat character development thread. I wouldn't mess with either of them in a wet cave, just saying. Hit me up if you think I missed something!