right in [★] front of me

[Tena M.]

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Tena Moonspinner —
'Te masu em lukkema.'

Her eyes open slowly.  Fighting a vicious war against heavy sleep.  Snapping awake all at once, abruptly.  Her paws, oddly numb, trying to move.  Shift her weight.  Freezing solid, when she felt the brush of plush fur.  Soft breathing.  'Te. Te, I don't know what that means...'  Her chest squeezed.  Throat closing, she tried to simply pull air into aching lungs.

Burning.  The air burns.  Her face burns.  Her breath is rough.  Heavy and choking.  A frantic gasp for air when there's too much... Too much smoke.  Flames.  Too much fire.  She'd been burning, burning.  A star gone supernova.  Shining too brightly then... Nothing... Stardust.

But if she was dust... How...?  "… Lavi..." Her voice is cracked.  A bare murmur against the air.  She's alive.  Somehow.  No.  Not somehow… Lavi...

---

'You should be safe enough out here.' Tena kept her voice measured, free of the tension that had sunk deep into her bones.  'You could always come with me.' Elysium was safe enough.  Their problem with foreign deities aside. 

Perhaps the wariness in her eyes showed.  Her companions, a small collection of different desert creatures, offered small, apologetic smiles.  'We appreciate it, but we'd like to continue on the trail.  Start fresh.'

'... I'll stand guard with you for the night.'

---

Tena felt the fur on the back of her neck raise.  Ears perking as bright eyes shifted, alert.  The crack of a twig should mean nothing.  A rodent.  Insects.  A bird, landing to take a rest.  But her breath stilled.  Waiting.  Straining for an extra sound... Dust raising beneath her feet.

When the enemy finally pounced, she was ready.

---

With the sand slicing through the air all around her, she didn't hear the warning.  A warning from a voice that belonged in Elysium.  A voice stubborn to follow her through hell and back.  Even if she left without warning.  A voice that never left her alone.

Her muscles ached.  Her chest squeezed every gasp of air.  When a weight suddenly slammed into her, she went sprawling to the ground. 

But not without a fight.

Her claws found purchase in flesh even when she felt the first touch of flames.  Even when she saw sparks and stars, vision blaring white.

---

Tena nearly fell flat as she attempted to stand.  Paws wobbling beneath her.  The world tipped as she took the first step away from the window.  Away from Lavi's still sleeping form.  Away from her pounding heart.  Taking uneven steps towards the stairs, counting her breaths.  Wincing as pain shot up her bandaged legs.  Exhausted.  Everything burned.

Her sense of direction is off.  She nearly trips up the first steps.  Muttering curses under her shaking breath.  She needs air.  Fresh air.

---

Death did not scare her.  Death had never scared her.  When Tena stood on the edge of danger, her chin was always raised high.  Eyes bright and undaunted.  For moons, death had lingered close to her.  Not as another foe but as a promise.  In death, no one could own her.  She had always been prepared to die if she must.  Ready to throw herself into the fire.  Dukkra ba dukkra.

Death did not scare her.  Or she would have never done this.  Never taken a single step outside of Elysium's borders.

'Te.  Tena.'  Lavi's voice frightened her.  Why was he here?  Did he want to throw himself to the wolves?  Throw away the freedom he had been born with?  'Tena? Can you hear me?'

'Go.'  He had to go.  Had to save himself.  Protect the other chelii.  'Go... It's fine.'  Death did not scare her.

---

He wouldn't leave.

His voice sounded muffled and distant, but no less insistent as he spoke.  'Te.  It's okay.  I'm going to take you home.'  Home?  They wouldn't make it.  Not together.  He had to leave her behind.  He had to go...

'Lavi.'  Her voice seems to come from faraway.  Her throat protests every syllable.  She could barely see him.  'Go.  Don't waste your time.'

It was as though she was pleading with a brick wall.  He doesn't answer immediately, but she could still feel him near.  Hear the sound of his breath.  Calm and steady.  Had the fighting stopped?  Was it too late?  He had to go. Why was he being so obstinate in the face of obvious danger?

'Lavi,' she presses, desperation rising.  'It's okay... I... I'm not scared...  Te masu em lukkema.'

'Te. Te, I don't know what that means...'

---

The sun was rising.  Indigo skies turning into shades of molten orange and pink.  Tena sucked in the cold air greedily, ignoring the stab of pain piercing through her chest, eyes reflecting the sky.  The air bit into tender flesh.  Burns.  Her teeth grit together.  Biting back a hiss.  Eyes stinging.  One eye burning. 

But she was breathing.  She was still breathing.
[align=right]— I tell you this story, save your life, set you free

[Warringkingdoms]

  [font=trebuchet ms]The morning was silent.

  Rin had slept more deeply that night than she had in a long time. In spite of the incident at the border, the vanishing of Idyllfields, and the knowledge that someday soon the gods would attack again... sleep had come easily, for just a few hours. It was enough for her. Staring out into the cold sunrise, however, she couldn't shake the feeling that something had gone horribly wrong while she was asleep.

  It wouldn't have been the first time.

  Stepping outside, she swept her eyes over the streets. There were no signs of a scuffle, or at least not any that she could immediately see. There were a few Elysites she could foresee getting into fights outside of the sea town- Lemy, Tena... maybe that was it? She hadn't seen Tena recently. There was a perfectly good explanation for that, of course; Tena was probably, understandably, avoiding her.

  Still. It worried her.

  Furrowing her brows, Rin walked out into the streets, heading for the tzai shop. Tena wouldn't appreciate the appearance if in fact she was trying to avoid the Magna, but Rin only needed to check for a brief moment. It's probably nothing, she repeated to herself. She couldn't have her paranoia going out of control and bothering Nemhain again.

  ...Someone was sitting on the roof, Rin could see as she approached. Someone... small. Someone... bandaged, burnt-

  blinded.

  His one good eye meets her horrified stare, his wings extended behind him, his fangs bared. It's probably nothing? Just like it was all those winters ago? She tries to open her mouth, but no words come out.

  He curls his lip. You let her lose her eye. You promised to protect her. His jaws part in a roar. You SWORE to protect her!

  She couldn't- she can't steady her breathing, shallow and ragged. His face melts into that of a sand cat's, infuriated, bitter. She feels her psyche splitting a few seconds ahead of time-

  -and then she is separated again.

  There are bandages on Tena's frame. She has been treated, probably by Lavi if Rin has to guess. Still, the burns will need constant redressing. Aloe, more dressings, probably water too- all of them, Rin can locate and bring here. Simple instructions play in her head as she turns and leaves, without so much as a word.

  Taking the necessary supplies from her house, Rin brings them back to the tzai shop and sets them down in front of the door. She doesn't look back up at Tena, who might... ask questions, if she saw the prevalent blankness in Rin's eyes. She hadn't seen the incident with the deer. No one who had any reason to question had seen it.

  She has done what she needed to. If Tena grants her permission to enter the house and go up to the roof, she will, but until then she will remain there. Once she delivers the supplies, or Lavi takes them, and she tends to Nemhain (who she knows is impacted by the detachment), then she can reattach and tend to herself.

[lavi s.]

Lavi came to with the sudden realization Tena was not there.  Alarm splashing him awake.  Had I fallen asleep...?  Tired muscles protested as the mountain cat rose to his paws.  Chocolate eyes quickly scanned the room, his stomach twisting uneasily as he continued to see no sign of the fiery sand cat.

"Te?" His raised voice is gentle.  Hopefully, his ears perked for a sound or sign.  Somehow, he felt sure she was still close by even if she was not obviously inside.

The sight of the stairs reminds him.  The feline breathes out a heavy sigh of relief and trots up the steps.  When the option to sit outside was available, Tena often snatched it.  Lavi stepped onto the roof tentatively, blinking at the sunrise.  It had been late when he had reached her home, struggling for the strength to keep walking, unwilling to put her down until they were inside.  No wonder he had fallen asleep without realizing it.

"Hey Te you really shouldn't agita-" The young Jedi closed his mouth.  Pushing Tena to care for herself had never been an easy task.  He didn't want to press her now.  He would continue to care for her instead.  Now she was awake and fully conscious it may be more difficult.  Tena may as well be a brick wall most days.

Last he had seen her awake... Lavi swallowed a lump back in his throat.  The thought he may have been losing Tena had terrified him straight to the core.  He had not dove into the fray only to lose her.  Not Tena.  Luckily, she had not been dying, though as far as he could tell, she thought she was.  Questions still lingered in his mind, to the words she'd murmured before she fell unconscious.

The feline felt inclined to ask how she felt, tongue halting on the roof of his mouth as he caught movement below.  Lavi knew he should have brought up where he thought Tena might have been headed to when he noticed she'd been absent.  He should have told at least one other Elysite.  Talking about Tena's past without her present had never felt right to him and he found himself acting more impulsively -- following her headfirst into the fire.

With the few supplies Tena's new allies offered him, he did his best.  Tending to her wounds first.  His scratches could be mended another day.  Then, as they parted, he lifted his unconscious friend on his shoulders and carried her home.  Quietly, he took care not to draw attention.  He knew Tena would not want excessive attention.

Now, she was awake, the sky reflecting in her eyes and Lavi knew she would still push it away.  She wouldn't let anyone get close if she could help it.  Not me.  So, he let his thoughtful gaze flicker between Rin and Tena, reluctant to move from his friend's side.  "I'll get those supplies," he offered quietly, rising to his paws once more.