☆☆☆Brynne☆☆☆
Brynne stepped through the portal. She felt a slight tug above her belly button. Cold air whooshed at her. It's been a while since she used a portal, and she wasn't used to the feeling of being lifted off her feet every two seconds.
Once she got to the other side, Brynne looked up at a sky full of stars spilling over a beautiful black sky. Hira walked out of the portal shortly after and sighed contently.
"Well, here we are," Hira said, her smile brighter than any star in the sky. She looked up, her eyes reflecting the sky. Over the past few days, Brynne noticed the rakshasi's eyes were a bit different than the average human eye. They were upturned, and her pupils were crescent-shaped, rather than circular. It was terrifying and mesmerizing.
"This place looks different than yesterday's," Brynne noticed, taking in her surroundings. The girls were on top of a rocky mountain peppered with trees. Somewhere behind them, Brynne could hear the sound of aggressive water splashing over rocks. The previous day, they had landed in a forest filled with evergreen trees, but today, there were more birch and deciduous trees around her.
Brynne stuck up her finger in the air, sensing directions. As the daughter of Vayu, she could control the wind and tell exactly where they were. "We're at roughly thirty-five point-five degrees north and seventy-eight point-five degrees west. Yesterday we were way further at forty-four-ish degrees north and like a hundred ten point-six---"
Hira nodded. "This is Shenandoah National park." She pulled her hood up. "We're in Virginia. Yesterday, we were at Yellowstone." Hira grunted as she climbed up a rock and hopped onto another. "I like this place better, though," she said, turning back at Brynne, holding out her arm. Brynne took her hand, zipping her coat up higher.
As the cold front continued moving south, it left the northern states warmer, making Virginia slightly warmer than home in Georgia. "Great. So we're on a National Park stargazing spree."
The rakshasi laughed. "If that's what you wanna call it, Tvarika." Hira wrapped her arms around Brynne's neck and kissed her, smiling against Brynne's lips. "Come on, let's go."
Hira climbed up rocks with such ease and grace, as if she'd done it a thousand times before. Oh wait, Brynne thought. That's because she did. At home in the Otherworld, if Hira had climbed up trees to look at the sky every single night, climbing a few rocks was no challenge for her. Still, Brynne marveled at her new girlfriend as she trekked with inhumane skill.
"Here we are," breathed Hira when they reached a patch of rocky ground hundreds of feet above the ground.
Brynne frowned at the cold slapping her nose. She pulled her hood up. "We're more than four thousand feet up. Is this Hawksbill Mountain?"
"Yeah. The higher up you stand, the closer you are to the stars," Hira mumbled amazed.
The last two days, the girls have made it a habit of sneaking out at night and visiting remote spots to stargaze. Brynne had first suggested it to Hira as an option to get out of the house. Alone. Just the two of them. Hira was more than happy to join her, and, well... here they were.
"The closer I want to get to you," Brynne added, lacing her fingers through Hira's. She let out a heavy sigh. "So... the last day of highway closure, huh? Damn, this passed by so quickly. At least I can still see you at Mini's house." The smaller girl looked up and smiled, but it faded quickly.
"About that... there's something I should tell you," Hira swallowed. "I might have to leave soon."
Brynne's heart dropped to her stomach. "What?"
Hira tucked a hair behind her ear and shoved her hands into her pockets. "Last night... I received a message from back ho---from the Otherworld," she said, her voice dangerously quiet.
"What did it say?" Brynne asked, carefully regulating her tone, trying not to let any hurt or surprise escape.
"I'll be back soon, I promise!"
"What did it say?" It came out sharper than Brynne would have liked.
"Riots are happening, and Surpanakha's minions are slowly taking over small village regions." She shivered. "Chaos is happening, Tvarika. They're dousing the houses with poison, lighting them on fire. They're killing the children in front of their parents' eyes. Anyone who flees is caught and publicly hung. And my mother..."
Brynne felt as if someone had hit her with a sand pillow in the chest: a hollow, airless feeling. "Hira, no. That's terrible." She took her hand in hers. "I'm so sorry about your mom---"
"No, let her die. I don't care," Hira spat, her words touched with venom. "She deserves a painful death. She deserves to rot in the pits of Narakam. Let Lord Yama torture her." Her fangs were showing, but just barely. Brynne had never seen the rakshasi like this. She was acting like what she truly was... a rakshasi. A monster.
Brynne could barely recognize her girlfriend. "Hira---?" But Brynne couldn't blame her. From time to time, she also wished the same fate upon Anila. Any parent who loved their child only to throw them away later deserved Narakam.
"It's Navdeep and Tarun and Jayesh I'm worried about. I'm just worried about what they'll do to me," Hira continued.
Brynne hadn't heard of the last name Hira mentioned, but she assumed he was just as bad as the first two. She shook her head and placed her arms firmly on her girlfriend's shoulders. "Let me go instead."
"You're so stupid," Hira laughed. "I can't believe you'd do something like that for me." She turned and sat on a nearby rock. "I have to go. It's for the funeral and ritual. Besides, I can't let Tarun do the same to you, Tvarika." She turned to face Brynne. Brynne was expecting tears in the rakshasi's eyes but found nothing more than a blank, emotionless face, used to years of pain and torture. "You have no idea what they're capable of," Hira said, playing with her hair.
Brynne sat next to her. "Okay... we'll go together. If that asshole Tarun even looks at you, I'll beat him up so bad he won't even remember his name."
Hira sniffed and shook her head. "I can't ask that of you---"
"No one's asking. I'm telling. You're going and I'm coming with you. You'll carry out the rituals and we'll return safely."
"You can't do that," Hira disagreed calmly and firmly. "If people see you with me, they'll kill you. They already know I'm the disappointment-runaway-daughter of the village. If they find out that you're the disappointment-runaway-daughter's girlfriend..." She shook her head. "This is something I have to do on my own."
Hira looked at Brynne with intensity and confidence she'd never seen in her eyes before. It was clear that Hira was no longer the scared shy girl from the forest Brynne thought she was when they first met. She was stronger and more resilient.
"Okay. If you think you should," Brynne agreed. She slung her arm around Hira's shoulder.
"Are you mad at me, Tvarika?" Hira asked, resting her head on her shoulder.
Brynne pursed her lips. "To tell you the truth, I'm proud. I'm just not sure if you'll be safe."
"I'm not sure either."
"But," Brynne continued, her eyes swimming across the sky, "I know if you put your mind to something, you can do it. You can handle it." She leaned down and kissed the rakshasi's forehead. "And when you come back, you'll always have a home at my place."
"Aw... Tvarika...." Hira cooed, looking up at Brynne. "Honestly, I wish we had more time together."
She sat upright, wrapping her arms around Brynne's neck. The two were so close to each other that their noses brushed together. Brynne could feel Hira's chest rise and fall with excitement. Hira kissed her cheek and pressed her lips onto the asura's. Brynne hugged her tightly, not knowing if---when----she'd ever see Hira again. She ran her hands down Hira's back, taking everything in: the sound of the wind, the beat of her heart, the fresh pine scent of Hira's hair, the softness of the rakshasi's lips on hers...
Brynne pulled away. "Yeah, I wish we had more time," she muttered trying not to sound disappointed. "We didn't even make lasagna together," she laughed.
Hira giggled. "When I'm back, we can make all the lasagna we want."
When, she said. But when was when?
The girls stood up and walked around the trail, their pinky fingers interlocked. "Hey, remember that time we wore matching chef hats to Aru's birthday?" Brynne reminded.
Hira buried her face in her hands in shame. "Oh, gosh, don't tell me. That was so embarrassing. What were we even thinking?"
"I don't know. I think you looked kinda cute."
They walked around talking for hours until a wink of sun peeked in the crack of two mountains.
"We should be getting back," Brynne noted. "They'll be looking for us."
Hira smiled sadly.
Brynne's throat throbbed. No, don't tell me.
"You go," the rakshasi urged. "I'll be back soon."
"Are you sure---"
Hira gripped Brynne's hand one last time. Two portals opened. One shining gold for this world, and one magenta, for the Otherworld.
"I'm sure. I love you, Tvarika." Hira released her grip and stepped into the magenta one. "I'll be back soon."
And with that, she left. Just like she left Malini Aunty's study days ago. Damn, that felt like a lifetime ago. The portal closed with a shing!
"I love you, too." Brynne stepped through the gold portal, particles rushing all around her.
I'll be waiting for you until you get back. I'll always be there, my door wide open to you. Once you're back I can't wait to see you looking at me with those rakshasi eyes. Looking at me, and I'll be looking at you.