Post by Kite on Jan 5, 2012 22:39:16 GMT -5
((For the purposes of this thread, some special considerations will be in place: Involved parties will all be speaking Konranian, and I will express this by putting text in their language in <text> brackets. Thank you <3))
<I have a favor to ask of you, Kite...>
Kite clasped the baby's body tight against her own, sweat and blood making them both slippery. She'd been sloppy - she'd made a mistake and she'd gotten a head injury. She was still a bit muzzy and could feel the trickle of cool running down her back (Konranian bodies are colder than their homeworld's atmosphere), making her shudder involuntarily. She couldn't feel it, it wasn't bad she was sure... but it was still there. She was sure the child was alright, though.
Looking down into the tiny male's face, she again confirmed that this was so. The fiery orange-red of his eyes, bright and watchful, gazed up at her. The glowing green stuff smeared on his face and body in the coolant pad, she knew it was her blood. She sighed a little, and clasped him to her again, the child gripping a handful of her hair.
<This is my son... but he was not sired by my Husband, Kite... He will find out that this is so very, very soon...>
She pushed away from the overhang ceiling she'd been hiding against, and darted into open space, high above the volcanic flow that ran beneath the Greatcity. She'd held that spot, hidden, for as long as it took for the guardians to be convinced she wasn't in the area anymore. Using the child to catch her blood, using his clothes to soak up the little bit and keeping it from dripping down, that had been counter-intuitive, but it'd worked a treat. All that was between her and the port was... three hundred guards with spotlights, scouters, and telepathic radios, a lot of open air, and a small span of the city.
<I want you to save my son, Kite - I need you to take him away from here. You're the only one I trust with this...>
Lady Meso, her godmother... the voice echoed in her adrenaline-sharpened mind. Kite was the only one the empress of the world trusted to save her son. Of course she'd agreed... how could she not? With her mother and father looking over her shoulder? With the memory of their sacrifice in the service of the royal family having been the thing that saved her from life as a street urchin? She gritted her teeth, and dove.
The flow of magma rushed up rapidly, and the temperature rose, the child squirming in discomfort, but she stopped some ten or fifteen feet above the flow, and jetted forward along it. It was best to stay low, to stay out of the way of a whole lot of agitated soldiers who'd been ordered to kill her, and the child, on site. Ladyship had to give that order... had to paint her as a kidnapper to hide the child's origin, prevent the Greatking from finding out the truth of the child, and save herself some face. Kite knew that - that blow hadn't stung because she'd been expecting it. She knew Ladyship loved her - the politics of her homeworld were... dicey, at best, and greek to her... but at least that was a comfort.
<They will try to kill you...>
A siren began to rise in volume far above, a spotlight alighting on her mad dash for the opposite shore. Without further warning than that, a ki ball struck molten rock not ten feet from her. She swerved, crying out in surprise, but shielding the child with her own body.
<... They will hunt you, Kite...>
The searing droplets that had struck her back had burned right through her armor and met flesh, cooling quickly, but leaving painful burns and firestones in her skin, like bullets. She pulled up, bleeding more now, but determined...
<...and if they catch you, they will kill you and Wheat...>
A figure dropped at her from above, an energy blade roaring his intent to kill her in a single stroke... but she'd been expecting that. Combat wasn't too much unlike Siege - attack from unexpected angles. But... she'd been trained by the best.
<You must not let them... If they stand in your way... destroy them.>
She juked at the last moment, stopping and pitching her ascent at the last moment, her head matching speed with the blade just behind, cutting a lock of her hair. She was grinning at him as her arcing foot caught the back of his head, knocking him senseless - she'd not even slowed, just used his torso for an added boost, kicking him into the fire below deftly. He didn't even have time to scream as she accelerated, and she didn't dare look down.
Kite sailed upward, twirling herself in a controlled spin as she ascended, strafing side to side - the light was still on her, and they were firing on her from above, but the key was to be unpredictable. She was good at it, too - the light and heat of passing ki balls as a constant theme of her ascent. She held the babe with one hand, and holding the other low, she let the familiar rote flow down her arm. A searing green globe of energy formed, springy in her grasp.
<You've been taught an ancient martial art, Kite... One used by warriors of our people for over a thousand years.>
She blasted above the ledge line of the flying island-city, and warriors tried to keep their open palms trained on her - they might as well have tried to chase the veins on the edge of their vision. Then, the first strike came, a flash of green that knocked one of them into the spotlight and exploded, sending the other two flying. She dipped again, and her feet touched the street. Her mother had pioneered this trick - she called it slipping. The metallic sheen on the bottoms of her boots had a purpose... it was very, very smoothe. It was a little more weight, but weight she'd trained hard to be used to. There was a bit of yellow blood on it, but that soon scraped away as she skatedalong the ground, kicking up ash and soot.
<Use what you know... I believe in you, Kite - you're one of the greats, girl>
The streets were packed after the big game, but the masses certainly didn't expect there to be suddenly soldiers coming out of every orifice and populating every walkway. The streets were packed! What the heck was she going to do? Blend in? Yeah, right... Not bleeding like she was, in a Comets uniform - she was Kite! She'd stick out like balls! Cursing, she accelerated just the same. A plan had already formed.
The first shots missed her broadly - Kite saw to that, darting and strafing madly between them. They weren't that quick, really... and she most definitely was. Maybe ladyship was right - It took fear for her life to take this seriously... but her kung fu was indeed strong. She was... well, she was having fun! Pain faded, endorphines took the reigns, and she lost herself in... the game. Ever-flowing, every-changing, but always the same game... A life or death struggle? No, this was practice. Soldiers bent on her destruction? Hell no, those were Shields trying to protect their goal. And she had dirty tricks up her sleeve.
She'd practiced at this trick for ages. Time to show her stuff. As she closed the distance with the first guard, she suddenly jumped, right over his head, and juked to the wall, feet meeting stonework... and accelerating, her own body field simulating gravity. She cried out with joy, feral and wild, forming another Ball, pushing it point blank into the face of a soldier that was waiting until she'd just passed him to let her have it. One second, his face was trained on her with a look of deep concentration. The next, it was being blown clean from his shoulders, sending his body limp like a ragdoll into the crowds below.
The child in her arms grasped her tightly, his eyes shut tightly as he whimpered in fear, but something of her joy got through to him, kept him from letting go. He would never remember this night... he was not even a year old yet, and this woman was not his mother... but... but she was protecting him. To the child, this was sufficient. He cooed a little, burying his face against her, letting the sound of her heartbeat drown out the roar of rushing air and shifting g-forces, and fell to sleep.
Jumping from the wall, Kite's body spun gently in a calculated twist, and her feet once more planted on pavement, on the other side of the largest part of the city. All that was left... was getting to the starship that had been set up special for this purpose. Fishing in the space between her underarmors and her body, she fished out the necklace Ladyship had given her, grasping the cool little datacube tigtly. She'd need it in short order.
<I will have a ship waiting for you... just put this cube into the computer and it will take you to another world, Kite... it is inhabitable, I am sure of this...>
And there it was. She could see the astronomy beacon ahead, and on it... well, there was some kind of well-to-do. It was a departure, she'd heard about it. Was this what Ladyship meant? There was the stellarnaught, mounting up. She sped up, pushed herself to her limit. Just before the hatch shut, she planted her foot on the bottom, braced the top with her shoulder, grabbed the surprised male and tossed him out of the ship.
<Good luck, Kite.>
The cube fit neatly into place, and the controls turned from grey to red, the starpod sealing up tight behind her with a soft click. The child in her arms... was asleep? As her heart raced and her blood pounded in her ears, she smiled a little at that... She'd done it. The soldiers were well behind her... she was going to make it! The hum of the Hyper-Afslaan engine beginning to spin up caused the cabin of the pod to tremble a little, surprised people backing away and looking more shocked than upset... all except for one. Kite stared through the blue-tinted glass at the figure, and made out... Ladyship. She was smiling her faint, almost sad little smile, and gave her a nod. Just as the guards made it up, unsure of what to do, the ship lurched and blasted outward, taking to the black sky with a terrible roar that could be heard for miles, even over the seismic chaff noise of the planet.
The G-forces, even if they were dampened severely, pressed Kite into her seat. Normally, she would have been able to cope... but after losing some blood, and the trials of the evening, exhaustion and unconsciousness enclosed the girl in their arms, and she joined the child in slumber. Konran faded quickly into the distance behind them, and with it, childhood, royal decrees, and everything she'd ever known.
<I have a favor to ask of you, Kite...>
Kite clasped the baby's body tight against her own, sweat and blood making them both slippery. She'd been sloppy - she'd made a mistake and she'd gotten a head injury. She was still a bit muzzy and could feel the trickle of cool running down her back (Konranian bodies are colder than their homeworld's atmosphere), making her shudder involuntarily. She couldn't feel it, it wasn't bad she was sure... but it was still there. She was sure the child was alright, though.
Looking down into the tiny male's face, she again confirmed that this was so. The fiery orange-red of his eyes, bright and watchful, gazed up at her. The glowing green stuff smeared on his face and body in the coolant pad, she knew it was her blood. She sighed a little, and clasped him to her again, the child gripping a handful of her hair.
<This is my son... but he was not sired by my Husband, Kite... He will find out that this is so very, very soon...>
She pushed away from the overhang ceiling she'd been hiding against, and darted into open space, high above the volcanic flow that ran beneath the Greatcity. She'd held that spot, hidden, for as long as it took for the guardians to be convinced she wasn't in the area anymore. Using the child to catch her blood, using his clothes to soak up the little bit and keeping it from dripping down, that had been counter-intuitive, but it'd worked a treat. All that was between her and the port was... three hundred guards with spotlights, scouters, and telepathic radios, a lot of open air, and a small span of the city.
<I want you to save my son, Kite - I need you to take him away from here. You're the only one I trust with this...>
Lady Meso, her godmother... the voice echoed in her adrenaline-sharpened mind. Kite was the only one the empress of the world trusted to save her son. Of course she'd agreed... how could she not? With her mother and father looking over her shoulder? With the memory of their sacrifice in the service of the royal family having been the thing that saved her from life as a street urchin? She gritted her teeth, and dove.
The flow of magma rushed up rapidly, and the temperature rose, the child squirming in discomfort, but she stopped some ten or fifteen feet above the flow, and jetted forward along it. It was best to stay low, to stay out of the way of a whole lot of agitated soldiers who'd been ordered to kill her, and the child, on site. Ladyship had to give that order... had to paint her as a kidnapper to hide the child's origin, prevent the Greatking from finding out the truth of the child, and save herself some face. Kite knew that - that blow hadn't stung because she'd been expecting it. She knew Ladyship loved her - the politics of her homeworld were... dicey, at best, and greek to her... but at least that was a comfort.
<They will try to kill you...>
A siren began to rise in volume far above, a spotlight alighting on her mad dash for the opposite shore. Without further warning than that, a ki ball struck molten rock not ten feet from her. She swerved, crying out in surprise, but shielding the child with her own body.
<... They will hunt you, Kite...>
The searing droplets that had struck her back had burned right through her armor and met flesh, cooling quickly, but leaving painful burns and firestones in her skin, like bullets. She pulled up, bleeding more now, but determined...
<...and if they catch you, they will kill you and Wheat...>
A figure dropped at her from above, an energy blade roaring his intent to kill her in a single stroke... but she'd been expecting that. Combat wasn't too much unlike Siege - attack from unexpected angles. But... she'd been trained by the best.
<You must not let them... If they stand in your way... destroy them.>
She juked at the last moment, stopping and pitching her ascent at the last moment, her head matching speed with the blade just behind, cutting a lock of her hair. She was grinning at him as her arcing foot caught the back of his head, knocking him senseless - she'd not even slowed, just used his torso for an added boost, kicking him into the fire below deftly. He didn't even have time to scream as she accelerated, and she didn't dare look down.
Kite sailed upward, twirling herself in a controlled spin as she ascended, strafing side to side - the light was still on her, and they were firing on her from above, but the key was to be unpredictable. She was good at it, too - the light and heat of passing ki balls as a constant theme of her ascent. She held the babe with one hand, and holding the other low, she let the familiar rote flow down her arm. A searing green globe of energy formed, springy in her grasp.
<You've been taught an ancient martial art, Kite... One used by warriors of our people for over a thousand years.>
She blasted above the ledge line of the flying island-city, and warriors tried to keep their open palms trained on her - they might as well have tried to chase the veins on the edge of their vision. Then, the first strike came, a flash of green that knocked one of them into the spotlight and exploded, sending the other two flying. She dipped again, and her feet touched the street. Her mother had pioneered this trick - she called it slipping. The metallic sheen on the bottoms of her boots had a purpose... it was very, very smoothe. It was a little more weight, but weight she'd trained hard to be used to. There was a bit of yellow blood on it, but that soon scraped away as she skatedalong the ground, kicking up ash and soot.
<Use what you know... I believe in you, Kite - you're one of the greats, girl>
The streets were packed after the big game, but the masses certainly didn't expect there to be suddenly soldiers coming out of every orifice and populating every walkway. The streets were packed! What the heck was she going to do? Blend in? Yeah, right... Not bleeding like she was, in a Comets uniform - she was Kite! She'd stick out like balls! Cursing, she accelerated just the same. A plan had already formed.
The first shots missed her broadly - Kite saw to that, darting and strafing madly between them. They weren't that quick, really... and she most definitely was. Maybe ladyship was right - It took fear for her life to take this seriously... but her kung fu was indeed strong. She was... well, she was having fun! Pain faded, endorphines took the reigns, and she lost herself in... the game. Ever-flowing, every-changing, but always the same game... A life or death struggle? No, this was practice. Soldiers bent on her destruction? Hell no, those were Shields trying to protect their goal. And she had dirty tricks up her sleeve.
She'd practiced at this trick for ages. Time to show her stuff. As she closed the distance with the first guard, she suddenly jumped, right over his head, and juked to the wall, feet meeting stonework... and accelerating, her own body field simulating gravity. She cried out with joy, feral and wild, forming another Ball, pushing it point blank into the face of a soldier that was waiting until she'd just passed him to let her have it. One second, his face was trained on her with a look of deep concentration. The next, it was being blown clean from his shoulders, sending his body limp like a ragdoll into the crowds below.
The child in her arms grasped her tightly, his eyes shut tightly as he whimpered in fear, but something of her joy got through to him, kept him from letting go. He would never remember this night... he was not even a year old yet, and this woman was not his mother... but... but she was protecting him. To the child, this was sufficient. He cooed a little, burying his face against her, letting the sound of her heartbeat drown out the roar of rushing air and shifting g-forces, and fell to sleep.
Jumping from the wall, Kite's body spun gently in a calculated twist, and her feet once more planted on pavement, on the other side of the largest part of the city. All that was left... was getting to the starship that had been set up special for this purpose. Fishing in the space between her underarmors and her body, she fished out the necklace Ladyship had given her, grasping the cool little datacube tigtly. She'd need it in short order.
<I will have a ship waiting for you... just put this cube into the computer and it will take you to another world, Kite... it is inhabitable, I am sure of this...>
And there it was. She could see the astronomy beacon ahead, and on it... well, there was some kind of well-to-do. It was a departure, she'd heard about it. Was this what Ladyship meant? There was the stellarnaught, mounting up. She sped up, pushed herself to her limit. Just before the hatch shut, she planted her foot on the bottom, braced the top with her shoulder, grabbed the surprised male and tossed him out of the ship.
<Good luck, Kite.>
The cube fit neatly into place, and the controls turned from grey to red, the starpod sealing up tight behind her with a soft click. The child in her arms... was asleep? As her heart raced and her blood pounded in her ears, she smiled a little at that... She'd done it. The soldiers were well behind her... she was going to make it! The hum of the Hyper-Afslaan engine beginning to spin up caused the cabin of the pod to tremble a little, surprised people backing away and looking more shocked than upset... all except for one. Kite stared through the blue-tinted glass at the figure, and made out... Ladyship. She was smiling her faint, almost sad little smile, and gave her a nod. Just as the guards made it up, unsure of what to do, the ship lurched and blasted outward, taking to the black sky with a terrible roar that could be heard for miles, even over the seismic chaff noise of the planet.
The G-forces, even if they were dampened severely, pressed Kite into her seat. Normally, she would have been able to cope... but after losing some blood, and the trials of the evening, exhaustion and unconsciousness enclosed the girl in their arms, and she joined the child in slumber. Konran faded quickly into the distance behind them, and with it, childhood, royal decrees, and everything she'd ever known.