Expeditionary Episodes of the Mercicle and the Cactus Queen

[Quietus]

There came no reply to the ask veiled in a command, but Aver might feel the curious mental nod of attention. As if Quietus had looked up in acknowledgement despite saying nothing.

The mute did not move from her spot for a short while, intent on finishing the project she was presently engrossed within. Not until the blade she worked on gleamed with a razor's edge and slid home into its sheath. Even then, the woman took her time for there was no real need to hurry in this realm on Thral. At least not while one's life was in a place of peace.

Certainly there were times to hurry, otherwise.

Quietus pulled herself up to the platform where her mate lay sprawled across the boards, exposed skin warm and pink still under the sliver of setting sun. She noted the lack of golden sheen and the abundance of irritation, drawing a curious gaze of her own. With silent movements Quietus moved to sit at Aver's side, feet joining her own over the edge to dangle in the open canopy beneath. The rising moon played over the green horizon, laying a metallic sheen over everything as far as the eye could see.

A quiet smile pulled over Qui's expression, the sensation of nighttime and moonlight rejuvinating to her as sunlight was to the plants surrounding them. Tanned skin gave off a faint bronze glow, green eyes illuminated as wild pools of emmerald.

She felt alive and completely at peace.

Do you like it out here?

 

[Aver Brand]

As fervent as natural selection was on Thral, her own life here passed in quietude. (And in Quietus.)

She felt another mind brush against her own and thought of the lake – gentle waves lapping against a shore tangled in a lattice of roots. Thus shielded from erosion, the trees and soil could partake of the water and her cool kiss without fear.

Time trickled by like molasses as the warmth of the sun retreated behind the mountains. The merc remained silent even as soft footfall marked the arrival of her lover. She scooted over to give the blonde more room, and then they watched the moon rise together.

Aver hummed. “It’s quiet.”

It wasn’t, of course. The jungle was abuzz with all manner of insects; nighttime hunters crept about in search of food; their prey fled through rustling leaves and whipping branches, crying for help that would not come.

Up here. Her mouth quirked upwards, as slow a smile as any. That much was true – her irritation was only skin-deep. The ancient forest caught between a sea and an ocean was as still as ever (though not, perhaps, as dark).

Aver slid her gaze over the other woman, blue eyes agleam with appreciation. Grinning wider, she turned her gaze skyward again.

“What did you make?”

 

[Quietus]

Desdemona smiled easily in return. There was a small sense of relief in knowing that Aver seemed to enjoy her time here and did not simply feign it. Not that she imagined the Mercenary to be the sort that would purposefully put herself through the effort of mock pleasantries. That visiting her here might be more of a chore or a bother than she let on.

Rest assured, Quietus knew that Aver Brand couldn't be made to do much of anything that she didn't want to.

She turned her face towards the moonlight and closed her eyes in the same way one might bask beneath the rays of the sun, Make?

Cool air slithered around her feet and between her toes while her legs dangled over the edge of the platform, heels gently swaying back and forth.

It's not finished yet. Maybe by your next visit it will be done.

You will see it then.

Qui's smile stretched wider despite the fact that she wasn't looking at Aver.

Do you have your design planned out or do you need more time?

 

[Aver Brand]

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. “What is it, though?”

Not that she truly expected an answer – twenty years in, Aver knew damn well how cryptic Qui could get when she wanted to ruffle her feathers.

Thing is, twenty years in, she just didn’t get prickled anymore.

The merc pulled up into a cross-legged position and settled behind the blonde. She traced her lips up the arch of a tanned back, through the valley between shoulder blades, along the back of her neck.

Blue eyes closed as she nuzzled away the golden mane and pressed a kiss against the one spot that made a Queen go weak in the knees.

“I’m good.” She breathed out, warm and slow against her skin. “Are you?”

 

[Quietus]

No answer given, as expected. Just a persistent smirk of silence.

Quietus leaned into the affections given, having learned to take them as they came over the years. Neither of them were particularly affectionate people beyond the time spent tangled with each other, but she found she did enjoy the rare instances of closeness. It would have been easy to say that this behavior only represented personal growth for Aver, but the truth of the matter fell equally on her own shoulders, too.

If not growth, then simply rediscovery of an aspect of herself she'd buried long ago.

No, I think I need another 20 years... Qui's smirk split into a broader grin.

Of course she was good.

 

[Aver Brand]

“Ass,” Aver muttered under her breath. She took in the scent of the jungle one last time, then leaned back to retrieve Sa Sevai from the deck.

The blade glinted silver in the light of the moon, as content to rest in her palm as it would be prying her flesh apart. The merc swept the golden tresses away from Qui’s neck and promptly sliced her forearm open.

Between decades of war and an alchemical edge, it stung no more than a papercut. Wouldn’t heal much slower than that, either – so she dipped her finger in the well of redness and went to work.

Two circles side by side, one a fraction smaller than the other. She split the latter at the base with a short, perpendicular line; the mark of herself, and her home. Then, finally, Aver connected the pair with faint, concave lines at the top and bottom, and leaned back on her heels.

The quiet chant died on her lips, and the jungle burned.

 

[Quietus]

It had been at the very least twenty years since Quietus had a Bloodtrial performed upon her, and even those most recent by her children had been but a single drop of blood upon the sternum of her chest. Four spots, centimeters apart each, stacked one atop the other, one of each child. In return, each child had her own bloodtrail placed upon them.

In a galaxy that span for countless star systems, a family known for its wanderlust and penchant for getting into trouble, it was imperative that they be able to find her, and she them, when the need called for it. It strengthened their empathic bond as well, allowing for ease of communication across long distances as revealed years prior by Arathul.

Quietus wondered if this would be the same.

The burning sensation caused a slight crease to form on her brow. It wasn't a typical pain like that of fire, but something that went much deeper - more akin to an acid eating away at one's flesh, sinking down through the layers into muscle, tendon, bone. Down into the soul. A mark of permanence that would never fade until the day Aver Brand died. Beyond her own death, even, it would remain, such were the powers of the deep magics of Dathomir.

When the mantra died on the nighttime breeze and the searing subsided, Quietus lifted a hand to gently brush her fingertips across the raised flesh. Though it would smooth overtime, for this brief period she could uncover a tactile visual of the mark that she would likely never see in her life. It wasn't one she wished to forget, unlike her Mark of Darkness that sat several inches away on the back of her left shoulder.

After a few moments her hand slipped away and Desdemona slowly released the breath she'd not noticed she'd been holding, ...thank you, Ygdris.

 

[Aver Brand]

How simple the change from minor to major.

The remains of her blood trickled down her arm, forgotten in the wake of the new thread she had woven between them. She brought her own fingers to the mark, a touch that belied the strength coiled in her muscles with its softness.

What had been an exercise in trust two decades ago was now as simple as reaching across the tangle of their minds.

Aver hummed, and let Quietus see through her eyes.

 

[Quietus]

Submersing herself fully into another's mind was not something she did often nor lightly. With her beast companions, especially those of the flying mount variety, it was an excercise in working together, movements and senses acting in unison. With Aver? It had only ever been to share dreams and memories.

Strange to think that just twenty years ago the very act of speaking into Aver's mind had caused the woman such discomfort that every single doorway had been firmly shut, locked, and reinforced. Now, Quietus was fairly certain, she might be able to walk the mind of Ygdris unimpeded. Not that she'd want to.

Now she opened her eyes to the sensation of a bridge constructed between them, presenting to the jungle world of Thral not the eyes that reflected its wilds, but the eyes that froze it in place. She was seeing not what lay before her, but that which sat before Aver: her own figure, wild tangled braids brushed aside, and a symbol drawn in blood at the back of her neck.

For the briefest of moment, the silent woman was wordless, but not for the mark.

She stared, searching for words to speak on what had struck her doubly silent, and found none. Finally acting, instead, upon the smallest curiosity on the outside of her thoughts, What is it?

 

[Aver Brand]

Sharing her headspace with another mind was now preferred to its absence. If she were twenty years younger, that might’ve been terrifying. Aver found some amusement in the thought; and, in turn, at the fact that Qui would find her amusement amusing.

The merc stretched out over the deck, red and black spilling across the wood. Even after nightfall, the warmth seeped into her back. She made a content sound in the back of her throat and closed her eyes for them both.

A certain amount of trust… and sacrifice. Aver smirked at the sky. How’s it feel?

 

[Quietus]

...like a bloodtrail normally does.

Quietus smiled, her hand now returned to the back of the neck once the visual of Aver's gaze had cut off. She didn't look back, but maintained her gaze out towards the horizon, fingers idly tracing the raised flesh of her newest permanent marking. Quietus had yet to fully digest what the symbol was, or what it represented, but with time to ponder on it she was sure something would present itself.

It burns, she returned with a quiet thought to Aver's mind, all bloodtrails do. Though I suppose you were a little distracted when I gave you yours to notice...

Having sunk her fangs clear down to the bone on Aver's chest, there had likely been far more pressing pain ... or perhaps pleasure, to consider. The smile grew on her lips at the thought.

I have bloodtrails of my all my children but...You're the only mate I've ever allowed to mark me.

 

[Aver Brand]

It was both, she answered the unspoken question, tongue-in-cheek. Their musings drifted aimlessly through the doubly reinforced connection, and Quietus – perhaps just to spite her title – had never been one to hold them back.

Can’t do that anymore, though. Her chest rose in mute laughter, and Aver propped up on an elbow to smug more fully at her mate. The Beastia had nearly chipped a tooth on fused metal and bone.

(And karked her good for it, too.)

Her mind wavered from the crimson of carnal thoughts as Qui spoke again. The echo of a smile ghosted along the lines of her bloodtrail; Aver glanced down and let out a noise of surprise.

She prodded an experimental finger at the decade-old markings, and pointedly didn’t look up again. “Why?”

 

[Quietus]

A soft exhale of breath escaped the silent one's nose, smirk spreading at Aver's jibes. Yes, the reinforced skeleton forced a bit more attentiveness to where she planted her teeth on the woman, but there was still plenty of flesh available. Plenty of areas to sate her lust without chipping a fang.

The inevitable why pressed her lips back together, a line forming in thought. Brow pinching at the strange considerations she'd given Aver over the years and the curious development of their friendship into something closer and stronger over two decades.

Because they weren't like you, her mind said after a few moments, green eyes glancing back to blues, drifting over Aver's figure in appreciation for its uniqueness and all that it embodied. The missing piece of herself she'd told her about one night on Nadir.

 

[Aver Brand]

Aver scoffed. “Nobody is like me.”

Still, she sat up proper, and rejoined the blonde in her watch over the emerald sea. The gaps in the canopy twinkled just so in the twilight. Light cascaded over the leaves like a boon of silver from the moon itself; and the parting blossoms, as if rejoicing in the chill brought by the evening breeze, nodded their heads skyward.

The merc scooted closer to the edge and peered with curious blues at the kaleidoscope of colors below.

But that’s not an answer.

After what might’ve been seconds or an age, Aver finished her thought in silence.

And… I think I’m okay with that.