Grace of An Elder

Chapter 25

Dahdtoudi had not left her quarters in several days except to bathe in order to keep from further distressing Zaiyu. Her mother brought food and drinks to the door for her, and the girl had resorted to lying on the cold metallic floor to combat the fevers. She did not sleep, as whenever she dreamt, she dreamt of death. Either her family was murdered by bad blood rogues, or she was with child and misscarried, resulting in a stillbirth. Instead she kept the room brightened at all times and she focused on her training.

At one point she had stayed awake so long that her body simply gave out in the middle of a training session and she collapsed onto the floor. Daih'kea had rushed in to check on her, but she was not injured in the fall. Her brother had died in a hunt during that dream, and when she finally woke, her face was streaked with tears. She didn't understand why she cried in her sleep; she never cried when she was awake. She had come close a few times, but she had never given in to the human display of emotion. To cry was to show weakness, and weakness was not the way of the Yautja.

Dahdtoudi stood in the center of her room, her body heavy with exhaustion. Sweat covered her skin as she stretched the muscles in her shoulders, the ornate dagger catching her eye from the workbench. She had given up on training with sharp weapons since she was not resting enough to use them safely, but she still liked to hold the dagger and memorize its intricate detailing.

She could feel the familiar darkness pulling at the edge of her vision, and she hopped in place to keep her body occupied. "Dahdtoudi," her mother's voice called from the corridor, "I must go to the markets and your father has gone to the arena to settle a dispute. Do not do anything that will get yourself hurt until I return."

"I understand, mother." She knew the older female meant she needed to lie down, but she didn't want to risk falling asleep. Reluctantly the young woman climbed onto the bed and sank into its comforting softness. I just have to keep myself busy, she thought. For a moment her grey eyes wandered toward the small storage drawer at the side of the bed...the storage drawer that held the embarrassing items that her mother had acquired on her behalf. A familiar painful, throbbing pressure began to build inside her as thoughts of the items filled her mind. Anything but that, she thought to herself.

Glancing to her gauntlet, she remembered that she had downloaded various musics during the visit at the pyode-amedha settlement, and she scrolled through the list before closing her eyes and choosing randomly. A moment later, Dahdtoudi breathed a sigh of relief. The human words filled the room and she smiled as she focused on the words.

"Get on your knees and bow down!
Yeah, I come alive, I'll survive, take on anything.
So paint a target on my back, let 'em come for me.
I don't fall, don't quit, don't ever sleep.
'Cause I'm on another level that you'll never reach.
If you seek forgiveness, you'll get nothing, you'll get nothing from me!"

Dahdtoudi's grey eyes wandered about the metallic ceiling and she could hear a light echo of footfalls in the corridor; likely Zaiyu moving through the dwelling.

"You will never know, it's the price I pay.
Look into my eyes, we are not the same.
Yeah, this is where you fall apart,
Yeah, this is where you break.
'Cause I'm in control, and you'll know my name.
'Cause I gave my life, gave it everything.
Yeah, this is where you fall apart,
Yeah, this is where you break.
To everybody who doubted:
Get on your knees and bow down!"

A message displayed on her gauntlet now; it was from Zaiyu. Where are you?

She frowned at the device. Hadn't he just wandered through the dwelling? He should know where she was. It wasn't as though she would be wandering the streets right now. Despite her irritation, she typed a response and forwarded it to her brother. My quarters. Where else?
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Zaiyu stood at his door, awaiting her response. Recently he would never leave his quarters without checking with someone in the home to see if Dahdtoudi was up and about. His amber eyes stared intently from behind his mask, waiting for anything, or very well nothing. He wore the bio-mask almost constantly now, trying to filter the maddening sweet scent from the air as he breathed, but still a small amount would reach him. It was hardly noticeable, barely even there...but it made his skin prickle like an electrical charge.

Finally a response came through. Nothing but gibberish. She had either been asleep or not far from it. Quickly he activated the controls for his door and stepped out into the corridor before rushing down the corridor, through the gathering area, and out of the dwelling.

He was being called to pilot a ship for a group of blooded warriors who were looking to travel to the Netros System in search of five missing young bloods. Their last transmission had been two days ago, stating they had landed on Planet Fargas. Since there was no suspicion that they had abandoned the clan and gone rogue, there was no need for an Enforcer to be called out. Instead, he and the other blooded warriors would go to Fargas and locate the young bloods (or their remains) and find out what was going on.

Once outside the dwelling, he sent a final message to his younger sister. I am being sent out. Will return before your chiva. Do not do anything stupid while I am gone. A few moments passed with no response. She had either fallen asleep it or didn't care that he was leaving. He jogged down the stairwell of the building before making his way to the street. I swear to Paya, if I make this trip just to find out they "forgot" to give routine status updates, I will skin them myself.