It had taken her longer to get him up and moving, than she had hoped. It was near bloody well almost noon, and all of the good morning joints were switching to their midday menus. So much for breakfast!
"Want to get an ice cone?" Lync asked as he held her hand down the walk way.
"It's too cold for an ice cone!" She laughed and shook her head, pulling at the ties of her jacket with her freehand.
"The sun is out, and it's not too cold!"
The sun was out, and the rain drops had all vanished from the places they had landed only a few hours before; but she could feel the chill on the wind, every hair on the back of her neck, standing on end. It had been like this, since she'd come home from the hospital, every sense, heightened, every urge, increased.
She wasn't complaining though, not when it had meant sharing more of those sinful moments with Lync; but the visions had intensified as well. She had witnessed much, remembered even more thanks to her bloodline, and yet recently...
"What about a wrap?" His voice brought her back to reality, and the little food cart before them.
"I'm good!"She smiled back at him, and he shook his head.
"You have to eat!"
"I will, when I find something I want!" She cocked a brow at him. "No worries, I'll find something, Lync! I won't starve!"
"Those chains are sounding real good, right about now! I'll tie you down and feed you myself if I have to!" He let out with a growl and ran his hand through her hair.
Long, dark, and sort of tied back, well it had been until just now. She couldn't help but let out a small laugh as he kissed her forehead.
"You worry too much!" She told him, but the sight across from them had her frozen stiff.
He could sense her discomfort, felt the tension in her muscles as his hand slid down her arm. "What's wrong?" He asked as he turned his head in the direction she was glaring, and let out another low growl.
"I thought I saw something!" She replied, and squeezed his hand.
"Good!"His smile returned and he lay another kiss on her forehead. "Cause I'm starving!" He added, and urged her to follow him.
The marketplace was a mix of refugees and city hoppers. If you had come to this planet for trade, this was your destination. Kelmarians,Kalvashians, Samonians, hell, you could even find an Demon or two, casing the stalls and alleyways. It was called Waterfront, for at onetime, there had actually been water in that giant bay, nestled just to the south a few blocks; but that was before the big quake that split the sea bed and swallowed the waters of the bay.
Now, the people who lived here called it Middle Ground, the beating heart of the city; sure, it you liked the idea of a heart filled with hate and greed. It was more like a den of thieves, everyone bartering for the best prices, coin changing hands for more than the goods you saw before you; he dark and dirt misdeeds that went on behind the scenes.So full of life, so full of rift raff, one had to take care to notice the difference
Like she had a few moments ago, standing among all those people, all those different species, and she managed to find one she had only ever before seen in a dream. Standing tall, with large shoulders and arms like branches of a tree; with skin a dirtied green. It glared at her, watching her as she stood beside her mate, and a moment later, and it was gone.
Had she been seeing things? Maybe she had hit her head that night?
"Soup bowls?"Again he'd taken her from her thoughts, and plunked her right back where she belonged. He was literally, her anchor to the world of normal. He was her rock.
"Um, yeah!" She replied, not quit sure, what she had agreed to, but just to get in off the streets was good enough. Lync gave her a look, one she had seen so many times before when he was trying to figure her out, and couldn't. "I'm fine, Baby! Honest! And look, The Soup Pot is right there!" She leaned in and kissed his cheek, letting go on his hand as she walked towards the door. "You coming?"
He looked at her again,stood there for a moment, and then popped her a wicked grin. "We definitely need some chains." He laughed, and then followed her inside.
The male was something else, that was for sure. Always finding ways to make her laugh, even when she herself had no idea if she could, he was a miracle worker, and at times, she couldn't help but wonder how she'd gotten so lucky. They weren't officially mated, that took time and coin, and a lineage search that neither she, nor he, could provide for. 'Hi, my name is Navina, and I come from a long line of time travelers, but I was banished for saving a life and I've been stuck here for... I don't know how long! No, you can't verify that, the Order doesn't exist in your time, and those who are here will not answer any of my questions, let alone yours! Oh, him? He's a.....' And that's about where it stopped.
She could tell them just about anything they wanted to know, except where Lync had come from; not even he knew. He wasn't Human, but he wasn't... See, she just didn't know! They wouldn't tell her either. It was part of her new curse, she'd never be able to see his past, present, or future. Not, when it pertained, to her. He had stolen her heart, and with it, her sight into their, everything. She was flying blind when it came to Lync; and it didn't help the fact, that so was he.
Damn the Order.
Damn her lineage.
And damn...
"Vina?"
"Yeah?"She blurted out as they stood at the counter, "Oh!" She let out,and looked up at the menu.
Shit! She'd zoned out; again. "I'll have a veggie combo! No sauce on the sandwich!" She told the male behind the counter.
"I'll take the stacker combo, and a bottle of H2O? And can we get those to go?" Lync inquired, and Navina felt her heart sink into her stomach.
No, they weren't going home yet. She felt absolutely fine. Sure, she was zoning in and out, but she had a lot on her mind. And by a lot, she meant a few thousand years worth of shit, and it wasn't going away, any time soon.
Spend and eternity with a male she could never read. Check.
Spend an eternity remembering lifetimes that weren't yours. Check.
Never again have any contact with members of the Order. Check
Never interfere, again, for fear of total memory loss. Check.
Do not speak about the Order...
You see, she couldn't check that one. She had told Lync, and Kember, about as much as she could remember about them. She had to tell someone, she was going absolutely crazy, trying to keep it all locked in. So many memories, so many people, she had been on the verge of losing control when Lync mentioned the journal. 'Write it all down! Figure it out later! No sense keeping it all locked in...'
And he had been right!
Like he probably was right now!
"You ready to go?" He asked, and she noted how she had manged to walk the five feet from the till to the pick up line, and was standing beside him.
"Go? Where are we going?" Navina asked.
"I figured we'd find a park!" He smiled back at her, "It's too nice to stay inside!"
Again, he had made her smile. He knew what she had wanted to hear, and he had provided for her; too bad she could not read his deepest wishes, or see into what the future might hold for them.
"I think that's an awesome idea!" She replied, and took the hand he offered her.
***
The sun was high in the sky, and Navina not only felt its warmth on her skin, but she felt the sharpness in the breeze that wafted past them as they sat in what was called a park. There were trees, but most had seen better days, when the waters ran freely from the fountains that littered the stone paths. Water was a commodity on the planet of Pentar, with the mass changes happening all over the world,the water was disappearing at an alarming rate.
In all honesty, if Navina were to walk to the cliffs and look out over what had once been a mighty bay filled with ships and sea life, it would look like she was staring out over the endless sands of Insidia once again; a planet so far away from Pentar...
She shuddered a the thought of standing on those sands once more, she shuddered again for the thought of what would happen next...
"Vina?" His voice grounded her, pulled her head from the clouds and the thoughts that plagued her. "Tell me what troubles you?"
If only she knew!
"Tell me your troubles so I can fight them with you!"
She melted, laying there beside him, his touch so gentile and yet commanding as he lifted her chin.
"It's all seems so..."
It wasn't that she couldn't find the words, she knew what she wanted to say, it was the fact that he already worried about her, if she was to confess anything more...
"So, what?" He urged her on, his green eyes shining down on hers, so full of life and light.
But she did not get the chance to say anything more, as the shadow loomed over head, blocking out the suns rays. "What,the, shit?" Lync let out, "What is that?"
He wasn't asking her specifically, just a random what the fuck moment as he looked on towards the sky. He held his hand up over his eyes, trying to get a better look, when the com in his pocket started to go off.
"It's Kember!" He told her, and a moment later, the look on his face had her heart sinking. We have to go!"
She had no idea what was going on, but as the sky grew darker, and yet another mass appeared overhead, she knew there was no need to argue with him; they had to get the fuck out of there.
"Kember's gonna meet us at the safe house!" He went on, "We have to pick up a few things before we head off world!"
Navina was trying to listen,trying to make out the words he was saying, but the shouts and the screams as everyone ran for cover...
"Come on, Vina!" He shouted over the crowd, looking back over his shoulder as the ships...
They were ships; but she had never seen ships like these before, not so close to the planets surface. The ground beneath her was vibrating, the people falling all around her, she had to keep up to him, she couldn't loose sight of him.
"Kember...friends... help us... to them!" His words were scattered as she followed him through hundreds of people and broken down stalls.
A sudden shrill let off behind them, and Navina almost bumped in to Lync when he stopped short and started glaring up at the ships above.Giant doors had opened up, like a gaping hole from which dozens of smaller...
She watched as the ships let go of their gliders,smaller, sleeker vessels with just enough firepower to wipe out a small city. They were transporting squadrons of troops to the planet's surface; a planet that they had deemed worthy...
"Gliders!" She shouted, and Lync turned his gaze up her. "We have to get inside, now!"
"We have to get to Kember, she has a way off this rock!" He reminded her, his hands on her shoulders, if anything, to make sure she was real, and still there.
"Those gliders are carrying dozens of soldiers, they're going to land and try to take Middle Ground!"
"How do you know...? Never mind!" He shook his head, "Kember is waiting in the woods house behind the old school on Dobins!"
"That's too far! We'll never make it that far!"She was scared.
Scared for him, scared for herself, scared for everyone if even one of those gliders landed.
"Who are they, Vina?"
"I don't know!" She replied, shaking her head. "But we have to go, now!"
"How do not...? No!"He stopped short again. "We can take the tunnels!" He offered,taking her hand.
Digging deeper and deeper into the planets crust, they dug their tunnels, their eyes adjusting to the darkness as they flourished in their new surroundings. Always digging deeper, always expanding... This was the way of their people, this was how they'd survived; and this, was how they planned to take this new world. They would burrow deep within the city, planting explosives at key located, and digging great caverns that would swallow the city whole...
"They'll use the tunnels!" She let out, feeling the pull of his hand as they started running again.
"But we're faster!" He grinned,offering her a hint of hope.
He was so optimistic, so, levelheaded when he wanted to be; and right now, that was exactly what she needed.
He had stopped asking questions, and by the time they reached the old underground train platform, he was asking her, where they should go next.
"I don't know!"
"Okay! Then let's get clear on what we do know!" He was still smiling, and yet she could see the worry in his eyes.
"Fine!" She sighed, and leaned against the wall to catch her breath. "Um, we've been invaded!"
"Yup! Which kind of sucks, considering I had a whole date night thing planned out..." He let out with a quiet laugh.
They were alone, for now. Sitting next to what used to be a train, but those had died away when they outlawed automobiles. So here it sat, just like they did, waiting for the world to pass it by. Seemed like the perfect place to get lost, except for the fact that in a few minutes it was probably going to be crawling with whatever was on those ships.
"We need to find Kember! And we need to get off this planet!" Navina went on, tucking her long dark hair under her hood.
"Yup, and yup! What else?"
"They're coming for us?" She added with a grin.
"Probably not, we're not really leader material!" He cocked a row at her."I'm more interested in the fact, that no one knew they were coming, but you! Did you see them, Vina? Did you see this happening?"
"No, not at all!" She replied and shook her head. She knew how bad this looked.
"Then, what the fuck?"
"I don't know, Lync! I just see bits and pieces triggered by certain words." She sighed, and buried her face in her hands. "You said tunnels, and my mind went to some vision of an army digging deep beneath the city, carving out mass caverns and then collapsing the cities to suit their own needs..."
"But who are they?"
"I see warriors, that's all! I'm too far away to see their faces, only their armor! It all looks so foreign, so, otherworldly."
The sounds of shouting were getting closer and the smell of blood was thick in the air. She feared what she would find if they strayed back up those stairs, and so they made for the tunnels entrance, with nothing but a stick and torn fabric they'd turned into a torch, to light the way.
There was not telling what awaited them down the tracks, how many of the homeless had wandered down for the solace the dank, darkness provided? What other horrors lurked in the shadows?
"I got you!" His voice startled her, and she realized she had been shaking.
"I'm glad somebody does, cause this is freaking me, right out!" She told him in a whisper.
"We've gone on worse assignments than this!" He reminded her.
"Yeah, I don't have Lyla!" She grumbled, wishing nothing more than to feel the comfort of that sawed off. "And I hate the dark!"
"Anything else you want to confess, my child?" He teased,pulling her in closer. "I got, you! Now, and always!"
She was scared, and extremely happy, all at the same time. She wasn't even sure there was a name for what she was feeling, only that it filled her up and confused the hell out of her all at the same time.
Yeah, I'm losing my mind! But she couldn't tell him that, she needed him to be strong, she needed them both to be strong.
"No!" She giggled, and let him hug her. "But we need to keep moving!"
"Not going to argue with you there!" He grinned, and held the torch forward. "Shall we?"
Shit!
"I guess!" She replied, and it was taking everything in her not to scream.
"Besides, if anything happens, she'll save us again!" He smiled.
What had he just said? Who was she?
Navina stopped, not only because he had totally stumped her, but because the ground seemed to be rumbling under her feet. "Lync?"She whispered, afraid of what may be moving beneath the rocks and dirt she stood upon.
"Vina?" He called back to her, but the vibrations had grown stronger, and the ground gave way beneath her feet. "VINA?" She heard him shout, before darkness consumed her.