Emeth placed the Huntress on the bed of her quarters in the outpost and set two of the other Wraith as guards in the hall. He sent another to learn anything he could of the Hive and its crew. The last he sent back to the other's, he needed to know how many were incapacitated, should they need to fight again. Emeth only had a few moments to organize his own thoughts before another Wraith knocked at the door. Without a second in command all the mundane questions and comments from any Wraith fell to him, this quickly annoyed him.
"Until someone can bring me something useful, do not open this door again!" he shouted and locked the door to the Huntress quarters. When he turned to look back at her she was still unconscious, and he sighed out of exhaustion. He placed himself close to the Huntress side and tried to allow his mind to rest.
Emeth felt cold, it was strange, he thought. When he heard something impossible.
>What is this?< Emeth called out, as a figure appeared in the darkness around him, it was his commander, the Keeper. Everything was still dark and cold but in front of him stood the image of his commander and it confused him.
>Do not look so surprised. I told you, I am never far from her side.< the commander reached an arm out and turned Emeth around. When the Wraith spun around he could see the image of the Huntress laying on what looked like a sheet of ice, surrounded by darkness. Emeth tried to move closer to her but his commander stopped him. >Let her rest< he whispered.
>This is her mind?< Emeth questioned.
>Yes.< the Keeper answered as he stepped back in front of Emeth. >She needs you now, more than she ever has. < he whispered.
>They called her Nec'kre'vana. What have you done?< the smaller Wraith questioned his commander.
>When I bonded with her as Oncar, I knew I could not keep you from her side, either.< the commander whispered.
>You think I have betrayed her, as you did?< Emeth spat irritatedly.
>I have never doubted your loyalty to her or me. If I had, I would never have allowed you to remain at her side.< the Keeper laughed.
>This is an illusion. You are a mere remnant of my true commander.< Emeth grumbled.
> It is true, as my essence fades from her, so will I. All that I was, is now within her, my knowledge, my memories, my very soul. That will all fade with time, but I will never leave her.< the Keeper calmly stated.
> She does not belong to you. Can you not feel her call for him? < Emeth growled.
>She reminded me what it felt like to be Parvana, again. As you will learn, in time. < the commander responded but Emeth only answered him with another growl. > There is no point in denying it here, you could only sense me if you were fully bonded with her. < the commander purred.
> What is the point of this, illusion? < Emeth asked.
>She needs your guidance now. You must teach her how to sort out our thought's, our mergence is driving her to madness, that's why she is here. In the cold and dark, at the edge of her bond with the elder, its the only place she can find rest.< the Keeper purred.
> You have poisoned her mind.<Emeth spat back at him.
>It was the only way to reach her, the Matriarch she...< the commander couldn't finish his statement. When he had sensed the Huntress in that moment during Conclave, she was dead, it was the mere fragments of her bond's, that kept her body alive. He was faced with an impossible decision, let them all die, or sacrifice his own life, to restore her's. The commander did not wish to speak of it.
Emeth just growled in response. > Ahh, you are angry, I kept you both apart, yet again.< the commander groaned as he figured out Emeth's irritation. >Take comfort in the knowledge she will recover from my loss, with your help. She would never have recovered from your death, had that fate been so. Go to her, guide her, protect her, and live, brother. Live a life full of glorious victories, and endless honor. < the Keepers imaged faded into darkness than in an instant Emeth was awake again.
The Wraith shook his head and opened his eyes to see the sleeping Huntress still in her bed, he let out a sigh and leaned back in his chair. Emeth had never wanted a command of his own, that's why he had severed the Keeper for so long and was so trusted. Until he witnessed a human female kill a Wraith queen in defense of his life, he had never even thought about it. Suddenly it was all he could think of, he was in command. He was now expected to not only make the decisions he had always looked to the Keeper for but also to serve the need's of his Queen, all while protecting the Hive. The responsibilities of a Hive commander weighed heavily on him, as he stared at the sleeping human.
"How can I go to her now? Knowing her pain is so great, even I couldn't bear to turn her away." Emeth whispered into the empty room, but there was no answer. The Wraith sat wallowing in his own frustrations until the huntress began to stir.
******************* ( hell hath no fury... )******************
When Emeth saw the Huntress move for the first time since Conclave it was unlike anything he had ever sensed from her, she felt cold and hollow. She completely ignored his presence in the room, she just sat up suddenly then got out of bed. Once she was on her feet she walked over to the door and opened it.
"Huntress?" Emeth questioned her, but she continued to ignore him as she left the room. Emeth would question her again ever few halls, as he followed her closely through the outpost. When he finally realized where she was going he tried to move in front of her.
"Huntress, you do not need to see this again." Emeth said calmly as he tried to stop her from returning to Conclave.
>KNEEL< the command from the Huntress mind was nothing but unbridled rage, and Emeth was on his knee's before he could hiss another breath. She held him there until after she entered the large room, they referred to as Conclave. She didn't have her mask on, she didn't need it, Emeth was behind her in the door way, there was several Wraith off to one side tending to several more wounded. In the middle of the floor was his smell, her keeper, they had not moved him yet. The Huntress could not see him or even feel him apart from within herself but she was able to make her way to his corpse.
The Huntress stepped over him and leaned down to touch his face. She gasped when she felt wrinkles, Wraith did not age, not like that, unless they had been feed off. What lied on the floor beneath her was nothing more than a mere shell, and it boiled every emotion within her. Emeth slowly moved closer to her but just as he got within 10 feet of her, the Huntress let out a howl that shook the very outpost around them.
The very ground beneath their feet shook, and the Huntress' howl was matched by the tones of the outposts horns. Every Wraith, hissed in pain when they heard it. Something snapped inside the Huntress, like a twig, and they all felt it. Wraith were actually a very emotional race, they allowed emotions like pride and vengeance to guide them, and they felt passions far more intense than any human. Emeth stared at the Huntress as every wall in her broken at the same time, it was an unfiltered wave of emotion, not just one emotion, but all of them, at once.
When it was finally over, the door's did not close, it was not a sentential that sounded the horn, it was the Huntress. Her mental pressure alone was strong enough to not only shake the very ground they stood on but also connect with the organic outpost around them long enough to roar through it. As her unbridled emotions rang through everything around them, the other Wraith sire's started appearing in the doorway to Conclave.
The Huntress could feel the Wraith question her, death was a part of life to them. Even thou the loss of the commander, her Keeper was great, it was a simple part of life they all understood. Moving on from here was easy for them, and that only fueled her endless rush of emotions. Wraith were telepathic, not empathic and that's where everything differed. The Huntress had known all her life she was an empath, that she able to sense the feelings and emotions of other's, sometimes without even touching them. Just another reason she fought so hard to maintain control all her life, a control that was gone in this moment.
The Huntress did not care, she did not care what any of them thought, so long as they stayed away from her. The Huntress stood up, and every device in the room stood up with her, most of them were still on the ground where they had fallen. The Huntress focused on her rage, her pain, even her love, and every emotion rang through her like music. She focused on that music, the sound of her uncaged soul. When Emeth saw everything move around him he waved the other Wraith back and fell to his knees where he stood. Emeth had seen the Huntress practice angry before, even he was not safe from her rage, but this, this he feared, was something much worse.
The Huntress spun her hands in circles, as her mind began to tap out the music heard. The devices, her eye's, all flew in close to her, making spirals up and down the length of her body until all the devices were in the swarm around her. The beat of her mind hadn't been heard like this among the wraith since her first defense of Emeth during the Queen's attack, but this time it was immeasurably stronger. Her flesh danced to the beat they heard and so did the devices around her.
Circle's began to form on a horizontal plane around her waist, at first one circle, then another and another as she danced to the beat of her mind. Thirteen smaller circles, formed one larger circle all around her, just big enough to include Emeth inside the circle, as he knelt motionless a few feet from her. None of the Wraith around her had any idea what was happening, including Emeth, all they could feel was the explosion of countless emotion's, and her mind dance to the beat of it all. Her eye's flowed around her as she moved, and her mind was connected to them all, it was more intense than anything any of them had ever felt.
The tone of the music changed suddenly and several more groups of eye's flowed in a pattern through the circle's around her. Emeth could not tell was she was doing, until she reached out with both her arms and the whole pattern rose slowly to a vertical spin around her. The inner symbol he recognized immediately, it was a starburst pattern, two point's on top, three on the bottom, with the eye in the center. The elder, her Parvana, Emeth thought. Which meant the other symbol, the thirteen circles, it was her's, he could only guess. The mergence of the two symbols, the tune of her soul that the huntress mind played out. Everything only started to make sense was he saw another symbol form on the horizon around them. This one he knew all too well. It was his commander's, and as it formed on the horizon around them the beat of her mind changed again.
This time it was harsh, erratic, she was losing focus, when she suddenly howled with rage and a wave of emotions burst inside her, that only fueled her strength. She leaned down to touch the Keepers flesh one last time and when she rose, his symbol rose with her. It lined up a crossed the other over laid symbol's and the whole contraption rotated around her, as she swayed to the beat of it all. By this point, all the Wraith stood in the doorways around conclave watching the display, in awe of it all.
The emotions she felt, fell in-sink with one other slowly, and everything steadied around her. First was the Huntress herself, the beat of her soul flowed like pain through every once of her being. Then her Parvana, brought completeness, love, a sense of wholeness that steadied her soul. The Keeper brought calm and rage, loyalty and betrayal, victory and defeat, it was all difficult for her to balance, but she did. The Huntress focused with everything she had, and finally past all the pain she felt, she found a balance in the music of all three souls, as her mind played their tune's together.
Several more devices took off an drifted randomly through the three symbols as they rotated around the room. After a moment the Huntress mind reached out and with the flick of her hand, another much smaller symbol appeared out of the devices. The tune of her mind added another beat and yet another small symbol appeared randomly around them. Then another and another, the Wraith quickly figured out what was happening around them. This was some sort of physical manifestation of the bond's the Huntress kept, was this her soul made manifest? They all questioned her mind but she just ignored them. Symbol after symbol continued to appear in the air around them, more of the Wraith questioned if she even had this many devices. Let alone, how she was strong enough to manifest a physical representation of each and every one of them, except one.
All the Huntress sire's watched as her mind let loose all the emotions she normally kept at bay, the whole illusion danced around the room as she brought the beat of all twenty souls into harmony with her own. As her mind tugged at each wraith, he fell into harmony with her, and their body began to hum, as she danced to the tune of it all. Once she had them all under her thrall only Emeth was left to witness everything around him and he sighed with the pain, thinking he was excluded, again.
Everything shifted and moved as the Huntress turned toward the kneeling Wraith only a few feet from her. She walked toward him until she was inches from him as he knelt. She pushed the beat of the music to the back of her mind and she brought Emeths pain to the forefront.
"You believe I would allow you to stand alone, my most faithful friend?" the Huntress' voice was human but her mind rang with the voice of all the wraith around her. They spoke as one mind, it was unlike anything even a single queen had the power to do. And it struck fear into the depths of Emeth, if she could not only connect but control the mind of so many Wraith at once, she was far more powerful than he had ever thought possible. Emeth could only stare at her in disbelief, as she searched his mind for answers.
After a moment the Huntress reached her hand out and allowed one of the devices to scrape against it. She did not wince in pain, as far as anyone could tell she barely felt it, but she did ball her hand up to make the blood flow more freely from it. Once the blood dripped from the end of her hand she reached out and placed it on Emeth's shoulder. She held it there, as another set of devices started dancing around the horizon. When Emeth looked at her, he was certain the blind human stared back at him.
"You, I would have you stand with me, in the absence of my Parvana." the Huntress' voice was calm and she still held the devices in their dance around the room. She took her bloody hand from Emeth's left shoulder and made a fist to draw more blood from it. "You who I would have known, my endless faith, is in him." the Huntress took a deep breath and place her hand on Emeth's right shoulder, then gripped it tightly. "You who would sacrifice his fate for mine, without a second thought." the Huntress released her grip from Emeth shoulders leaving two bloody hand prints on either side of him. "I would have you rise to my side. Should you choose to be, not only my faithful friend, but also my Hive Commander, and Guardian? I would have no other in your place, Emeth." the Huntress gently touched the Wraiths chin with her left hand then took a step back from him to await his response, she did not have to wait long.
Emeth rose to his feet with a respectful bow and the Huntress brought the horizon devices into a vertical position with all the rest. It was him, a physical representation of her connection to him and it was as large as that of her own or the keepers, and it joined the flow of devices all around the room. It was a sight to behold with everything rotating differently around them. There were four large symbols in all, a representation of the Huntress and the Wraith they referred to as the Elder, her Parvana. Those two were the only symbols that rotated interlaced with one another, at the same pace. The second of the larger symbols was that of the Keeper which rotated at a faster paced fluidly in between the others, as did a symbol to represent Emeth which fell into ration at a different pace than the rest. The 19 smaller symbols all rotated in rings around the whole contraption, with Emeth and the Huntress in the middle.
"To be a vessel, I must know the mind of all of you. And you must trust me with that knowledge, there can be no doubt between us. Step forth my sire's, the choice to stand with me is your's." the Huntress looked out to the Wraith who just stared at the scene from the door's when one of them stepped into the room. The Wraith hesitated a moment then stepped into the path of the devices and they flowed fluidly around him, then he took another step, and another until he was standing in the center of the ring with the Huntress. When she nodded to him he knelt in front of her, then she placed her hand on his shoulder. After a moment she took her hand from him, leaving behind a bloody hand print on his shoulder.
"Rise, Sire of my Hive and trusted brother. You will always have a place at my side." when the Wraith stood up one of the small symbols floating randomly in the air moved into place within the larger symbols. More Wraith stepped into the room and each one the Huntress said and did the same thing too. Until all twenty Wraith stood in the center of all the devices with her. The Huntress focused on the beat of their heart's, and the sound of their breath as they watched her. Her own breathing slowed to match their'sand she steadied her heart to a calm pace as she focused on all the wraith around her.
Emeth placed his hand on the huntress' shoulder and began to hum in tune with her mind. Slowly the huntress started to regain control of her emotions and another Wraith joined Emeth. When he placed his hand on Emeth's shoulder the Wraith began to hum in tune with the others, then another and another joined in.For several minutes all twenty Wraith and one human hummed in unison as the devices all buzzed around them.
"Of one mind, of one soul." everyone in the room spoke at once, it was a sight to behold, as they fell right back into a hum. It was a pain that struck the huntress that finally threatened to break the connection, but instead of pushing it away the huntress embraced it. It was the pain of loss, the feeling of loneliness, the dark and the cold she felt every time she reached for her Parvana's mind. Emeth's mind pushed her to search for him, and she did.
The Huntress used the strength of her connection with the wraith to search the Hive mind. That subtle connection between all telepathic Wraith in the entire Galaxy of Pegasus. They called it the Hive mind. The Queens used to often to search the minds around them, and it was the main reason they guarded their mind's with mental walls at all times. But with the strength of her sire's behind her, the Huntress could easily step from one Wraith mind to another a crossed the vast distances of space, even those she was not connected directly, to any of them. She couldn't be certain if they could sense her, as well, but she did not care. She continued to search one hive after another. One Wraith mind, after another
There was nothing, no word of the Elder on any Hive in over a year. No thought of him or even a mention of his alliance. The hum of the wraith around her kept her mind from panic, as she found herself in the cold and dark. This place where she felt nothing at the very edge of her minds reach. It was like being blocked by an unbreakable wall, and it boiled her frustrations until she cried out in rage. It was like an explosion all around them, the force of her attack cracked the ice all around her mind and shattered the darkness. The image of Atlantis burned in her mind, and for only a moment she felt him, it was a pain like betrayal, but it was not her's. >Shepard!<, her mind lashed out when she realized, Shepard did not believe anything Todd at told them. Her Parvana felt betrayed when they locked him away in status without his permission, something had suddenly changed though. When the Huntress mind lashed out she changed something, she could feel it, she couldn't be sure, but her Parvana, he was waking up.
When the Huntress tossed her head back in pain, as her strength began to waver, Emeth knew he had to break the connection himself. Emeth pulled away from her while he nudged the other Wraith to do the same, and one by one they fell silent around her. When the last connection was broken the Huntress gasped, and fell to the floor with all the devices around the room. Everything was calm, and the Huntress struggled to regain control, as Emeth reached out to comfort her. The Huntress wrapped her arm around his neck and pulled herself into his grasp, the Wraith just embraced her and pulled her to her feet. She did not let him go.
"Will you rest now my Huntress?" Emeth questioned her and he wrapped her in his embrace, even as the other Wraith watched.
"Not until I find them. I can not rest until I find them." the Huntress whispered as she buried her face into Emeth's chest. The new Hive commander just leaned down and scooped her legs up in his other arm, the Huntress gasped but only clung to Emeth as he picked her up.
"None of us will truly rest until you are reunited with those lives that are lost to you, my Huntress." Emeth growled painfully, he made no effort to hide his own pain on the matter. When the Huntress felt how strongly Emeth felt on the matter, it gave her strength, and she allowed herself to feel the pain of all the Wraith around her. As she felt their pain, she also felt the confusion that went along with it.
The Keepers knowledge granted her anew level of understanding that she could never have achieved on her own. The Huntress understood why they did not feel the loss of their young as deeply as she did, and it was no fault of their own. It was not customary to share the parentage of any wraith, and it was even rarer for young to be raised by there own parents. When Wraith first took to the star's it was not by choice, their home-world was poisoned. Because of this, the Queens took different measures to ensure the survival of their young. Only drones where the only young ever kept on the Hive and raised in incubation pods until fully matured. The other Wraith both male and female who grew up, needed a safer place, then the Hive to be raised. The Wraith called it Sanctuary, and only the mature females among them knew of its location. It was the most closely guarded secret among Wraith, and not a single male knew how to find it.
Hearing the matriarch claim she took their young to sanctuary only proved too easy the male's fear's, but for the Huntress, it only deepen. The Huntress looked out to the wraith around her and took a deep breath. She couldn't bring herself to fault them for being who they were, so instead, she accepted them. She accepted their concern for her, and when she finally asked Emeth to take her to her quarter's, she felt the wave of relief wash over them. A Hives concern was always for its Queen, above all else, it was their way. The Huntress could finally accept that, no matter how much she disagreed.
**...Meanwhile at Atlantis... **
"What do you mean the status pod just broke, that cant do that. Can they?" Shepard looked to McKay who was typing furiously into a computer pad.
"I don't know what happened, all the read out's are fine. It is like a power surge hit the whole system, it just stared shutting down." McKay's voice cracked with irritation as he spoke.
"Todd's life signs are all over the place, if we don't pull him out now we will lose him." the voice was that of doctor Keller, who was punching up readouts on the console connected to the status pod.
"Just when I was getting used to not having our friendly backstabbing wraith around. Fine, wake him up." Shepard's voice rang with aggravation.