The Chains that Bind (Sai+Addy)[Cont. Raptor]

[Dreamcatcher]

It was a brisk fall morning within Sairque and Aidara rooms. The hot water pipes kept the rooms warm against the high cool air. Sairque was coming out of a dream that she could vaguely remember, she felt warm, snuggled under her blankets. Catabasis was still a sleep, which to Sairque’s mind she had never awoken before him. As Sairque opened her eyes she realized that this wasn’t her room, it was Addy’s smaller room. Confusion set in as Sairque blinked, her bedroom came into focus. Sai began to feel that something was off within her. An irrational fear began to settle on her, Sai felt so alone without Catabasis or her sister, she began to feel that no one had confidence in her, and it began eroding her to nothing. Sai needed someone to tell her that she was worth something, she had always been taken care of and now she needed it more than anything. Sai realized that she could still think logically, the fear pressing against her mind was alien beyond anything else. Addy began to wake up and in her half sleepy nature began to feel like someone had cut off a limb. As she concentrated on the feeling, it grew, and something was wrong. She was missing a deep part of her, it was painful. She felt like there existed holes in her being, like chunks of her limbs and her mind were missing. As she came fully awake she realized that she was huddled in Sairque’s master bedroom, then as she wondered why and began to move, she realized her vision wasn’t changing. It was as if she was blind, but was only seeing Sairque’s master bedroom. Addy began to feel Sai about thirty feet towards her right. Catabasis began to awaken and Sairque could feel his mind brush up against hers, for a moment she wanted Catabasis to approve of her, she wanted him to choose her. As the mental fog vanished, he realized that something was wrong, instead of answering any of her questions, he began to feel like a huge presence within her. For a brief moment, she almost felt strange in a woman’s body, the sense that she was a he was that strong as Catabasis entered her mind. Slowly the fear began to subside and Sairque felt her eyes close against her will. It was Catabasis forcing her mind to do things that took all his strength. Addy all of a sudden became blind, it seemed like she had closed her eyes tightly. For a moment, every hole in her was filled with a male essence. She felt stronger, more powerful, then slowly points of male presence began to slip away except within her mind. Catabasis felt like a large man, muscles built from hammering iron and steel. It almost felt like he had his back to her, Addy began to feel like he was constructing something, like he was hammering boards and grates into place. As she felt him put one more board up, she began to see the room in black, greys, and whites. Catabasis pushed an idea towards her as he began to fashion a crude door knob. The idea was that in all of Addy’s and Sai play they had caused something to happen, something very dangerous. Catabasis opened the door and Addy’s vision returned to normal. The fears dropped from Sai as Catabasis released his presence from her mind. She could feel Catabasis close to exhaustion and sickness. He was shuddering in the Aerie, his stomach was churning, and the feeling of heat came from him. Sai, we need to talk. Catabasis said in a hush and ill tone. OOCFeel free to describe the room and what you do as Catabasis repairs the bond. Addy you are seeing what Sai sees, but otherwise you are blind and can’t turn on the vision willingly. The lost of limbs was due to the expected connection of Catabasis your mind wanted to see. Sai, Addy’s fears of not being good enough are eating at you, you can walk around or do other things, but the sense of that none of it matters is in the forefront of your mind. Also Catabasis won't be able to hear or talk with you until after the repair. The sensing of what Catabasis does can be semi felt by the both of you. The sense is more mental, like a vision and feeling wrapped into one. Almost as if your imagination pieces in the details. Anyway have fun.

[Sairque]

67 Fall, 510 AV

The furs caressed the woman's bare skin as she stretched, her legs spreading until her feet felt the cold chill of sheets that hadn't absorbed any body heat during the night. Toes curled under tightly, she jerked her legs back up, turning onto her side at the same time. If anything, it was that Catabasis was still asleep that cleared her groggy mind. Lips smacking after a satisfying yawn, yellow eyes pulled open and settled on a familiar ornate sconce. There was another one, and another spaced relatively close together. Beneath them was a desk with stuff neatly stacked and grouped atop it, healing stuff. Addy's healing stuff. What had happened last night? She hadn't been drunk, they had just stayed up with some friends before retiring relatively early. Closing her eyes, she rubbed the sleep out of them, moisture sticking to the fingers and a small crusty bouncing down her cheek. She went to sit up, opening her eyes and checking to see if Addy was sharing the bed with her. She was alone and the blankets were pure white, the myriad of colors that Addy adored and had greeted her upon waking were gone.

Had she been dreaming she was in her sister's room? No, the alarm was too acute, her heart had already picked up a higher pace, for her to have imagined the false awakening. But that was something she would do, wasn't it? Such a pathetically weak soul that her mind would conjure up dreams and she wouldn't be able to tell them apart from reality. She wouldn't even have the guts to face her delusions and prove them false. Other people had the courage and the strength of person to explore their own mind. But her, no, Catabasis leaves for a few hours, no, just the few minutes before he shook sleep off, and she fell apart without his strength to lean on, without his presence to fill the vast space of her mind. She was nothing without him. Or Addy. Addy's little box in the back of her mind, providing another external crutch on which she could lean. He would wake up and dutifully maintain the bond between them, too loyal and stubborn to admit that he had made a mistake in bonding with her. And Aidara, she was always pretending that her confidence was as shattered as her sister's, always pretending that she was second best in everything to keep Sai from falling apart. She already knew that Sai wasn't going to shake this bumbling failure, how long until she got sick of dealing with it? Eyes closed on the room she didn't deserve, she curled into the fetal position in the bed that she had scammed her way into receiving. The bleak darkness of her eyelids pushed her physically into the void of useless mind she had and she popped them open, gasping for a breath.

Why had it taken him so long to waken? Was sleep his escape from the never-ending duty of keeping his human propped up? He had chosen her for a reason, he had seen something in her. Was it still there? Whatever flash of promise she had held that day? As expected, his presence in her grew as he shook the last vestiges of sleep off. This was it, he grew and grew, he was going to suffocate her mind, put it out like a wick between thumb and forefinger. He was going to return to his place as a human, where he could do the job that she couldn't, leave his Eagle body behind for another lifetime after he had wised up and learned which human would be a proper bond. He wasn't extinguishing her mind quickly enough, he was filling her body too soon. He should have wiped the last vestiges of her from the body before he started imposing himself, her body was already changing to reflect his mentality. Darkness, her mind cut off from the senses, no...his first order of business had simply been closing her eyes. Her eyes; her lungs pulled air in through her throat, it was her body resting in her body. He had seen something in her, it was still there, whatever he had first seen. She would be okay.

She would get out of bed, get Aidara, and go to breakfast. Everything would be fine. They would go about their day, this would not be mentioned, it would be filed away and maybe the subject would be broached with Catabasis at some point. She would go hunting, or run drills, Catabasis her partner. Catabasis. Confusion set in, he was weak from illness. This brought up more questions, questions she was too frightened to ask. Had she fought him off? Had he been sick last night? Was her episode a product of his own feverish dreams? Had this stemmed from her or him?

"Sai, we need to talk," he gasped in her mind and Sairque needed nothing else to prompt an exodus from bed. Goosebumps broke out over her bare skin in the gust from the heavy blankets being thrown back as she jumped out of bed. The stone was cool on her feet, the occasional plush fur luxurious, but neither were paid a lick of attention as she rushed/stumbled out of her bedroom into the common room. It was quiet, warm, a silence hung over the aerie, the city was still asleep this high up.

[Aidara]

Aidara slipped from the dream world and back into reality not long after her sister, although this fact wasn't known to the groggy woman. She lay on her back, the sheets and blankets that were twisted around her body evidence of a fitful nights sleep. Any lack of sleep her body might be suffering from made no difference, for once Addy became a little more aware of herself, she knew that there was something wrong before she even opened her eyes. She felt....weak. As if a major organ or limb was missing. A wriggle of fingers and toes assured the woman that she did, in fact, still possess all of her vital appendages, but the phantom limb feeling still lingered. Shaking the sensation off as a bad dream, Addy stretched her arms above her head, extending her legs until her toes were pointed as far as they would go. She started every morning like this, with a full body stretch. It was the best way to start out ones day limber and refreshed. She lifted her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes as she opened them....to complete darkness. Shock drove the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping as she sat bolt upright in her bed. She knew there was no way her room was as black as midnight. Her internal clock told her that even with her door shut, light would be peaking through the gap between the door and floor. Not only that, but she had left her door open the night before, and Sai was always up before she. The light from the common room... Addy screwed her eyes shut and rubbed her fists vigorousness against her lids. Hesitant, as if she expected a huge scary monster to be stooped over her when she finally re-opened her eyes, the woman covered her face with her hands, leaving just a wide enough gap through her first and second finger to peer though. Slowly, oh so slowly, one green eye opened. Shock caused Addy to drop her hands from her face, her mouth hanging agape. Was she going crazy? She knew she was in her room, but her hands groped around the bed as if just to make sure. Fimilar pillows, blankets and furs slid underneath her fingertips. Yes, she most defiantly was in her room. And she was staring at her door. The orientation was all wrong! Everything was tilted, as if she was still laying on her side. She could clearly see the edge of her bed, and a portion of the wall directly in front of her... Wait. Her bed was round, with green everything. Stark, crisp white met her eyes now. Panicked, Addy wondered if she was still dreaming. How could she be in Sai's room? Why wasn't what she felt and what she saw matching up? And what in Rak'keli's name was this weak feeling? Her encroaching fear made thoughts hard to hold on too, but she grappled at that feeling, drawing it into her mind for further inspection. Her brain felt too big for her body...no, not her brain. Her head? Her mind, awareness....too large...With a weakness, not just in her muscles, but within her mind...The feeling of loss and separation for a strength that she didn't even know she'd had made Addy cry out softly in despair, throwing herself down onto her back, feelings for a pillow to throw over her face to smother away the despair. It was then that the room began to move. Caught up in her emotions, Addy's situational awareness had faded to the back of her mind. As she fell backwards on to her bed, she saw the room tilt up. Bile rose in her throat, nausia overcoming all other emotions. The falling sensation obviously stopped when she hit the bed, but she continued to see herself rise and rise...until she was standing? The movements were all so quick and focused that it made Addy's head spin. There was no doubt about it, she was in her sisters room. Everything her eyes passed over was a crisp, clean white and not hers. Unable to control herself anymore, Aidara cried out. She felt tears running down her cheeks from her sightless, yet still seeing, eyes. "SAI SAI! SAI! HELP ME! Heeeeelp!" The unadulterated fear in her voice sent shivers down her own spine. She blindly flung herself from her bed, crashing to the floor as her vision didn't follow her own bodies movements. Closing her eyes, Addy attempted to make it to the door of her room, but it didn't help. It was as if Sai's room was burned into her retinas. She was leaving Sai's room now, into the common room. Floundering in her actual position in her own room, Addy hurled herself towards where she thought the door was...and went face first into her dresser. Another cry of fear and pain, and she used the piece of furnature to heave herself to her feet. Hands pressed against the stone wall, the healer felt her way along the wall, tears streaming down her face as she sobbed for her sister, her protector. "Sai...Sai...Whats happening to me!" It wasn't until she reached the door that Addy became aware of another....person?....in her mind. A big, strong, muscular man she had never seen before. Yet....so familiar. He was....building something? In her mind? How could this be. Another wail escaped her lips and Addy's hand flew to her hair, as if she could bash or scratch the man from her mind. She was going insane. She was sure of that now....But that was when a familiar voice echoed in the caverns of her mind, piercing through the fear that pumped through her body like blood. She found herself unable to focus on what the man was saying, or building for that matter. But she heard the tone of the mental voice...It was worried, scared even. The crisp ringing that his voice left behind gave Addy an intense feeling of shame, and guilt. This was somehow her fault, she now knew. She was to blame.....It wasn't until that moment that Addy wondered if her sister was alright. This brought the tears anew, her scrabbling across the wall increasing exponentially with her panic as she renewed her screams for her sister.

[Sairque]

Aidara'a screams of terror shot throughout their home, freezing the flight leader at the door to Catabasis' nest and settling as an icy ball in her chest. The door was cool and smooth under her fingertips and behind it was the Eagle who had summoned her. Catabasis wanted to speak with her; perhaps to chastise her for this morning. Folding into herself further, the Endal took a step back and hurried to the healer's room, pushing through the door with little warning for the occupant. The healer scrambled along the wall, groping with wide eyes that blinked furiously, as though she were straining them. Sai was at her side before the door had even finished it's arc toward the wall behind it. No where in sight was the methodical precision that would have guided her actions in the situation with Addy and/or Catabasis.

"What is it?" She tried to demand, but the force normally present in her voice was missing. Even as she held her sister, it was less her pulling the woman to her to provide sturdy presence and assurance that everything was all right, and more fitting herself into the embrace of the healer so that Addy could take comfort if she wanted. Sai couldn't tell her that it was all right, Addy was the only one who could know if everything was okay, despite the fact that she was hysterical and only levelheadedness would solve the problem, whatever it was. Although Addy had called for her, she felt only as an observer, not a participant. Even with the self confidence stripped away, anger unattainable because what good would getting angry do(?) it wasn't like she could fix any of this, emotions were tucked away deep after the initial shock.

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? There's no one here," she told the healer in confusion, at a loss for what to do or how to help; the vacancy of her mind pushed her to do nothing but provide a companionship. Her eyes stared at a nondescript point on the floor, spending little time on her sister when they raised to observe her state of recovery. Commenting on her state of emotions would be stating the obvious. Asking her to move to the bed was silly, if she wanted to be on the bed or sitting she would be doing that herself right now. Clearly, Addy would tell her what needed to be done, what she needed from the younger twin.

It occurred to her that this was a strange coincidence after her own ordeal of the morning. Still, the rebuke she was expecting from the Wind Eagle in the next room prevented her from reaching out. Just as her lack of proof kept her from asking Addy about this. Now wasn't a time to share the strange events of her own waking, this was the healer's time to recover a bit and tell her story.

OOCSorry, it's rough but I don't think taking longer would lead to a better product.

[Aidara]

"What's wrong? Why are you crying? There's no one here" Crying? Who was crying? Desperate, scrabbling hands stopped their path along the wall as Sai found her. Addy turned into her sisters embrace and clung, clung like she was standing on the edge of a cliff about to topple over the side. She clung like Sai was reality, feeling that if she let go, she'd be letting go of so much more than her twin. "Who is that in my head? WHY IS HE THERE!" She didn't really expect her sister to have an answer, but the words were tumbling from her lips before she could really stop and wonder if she made sense "Sai. I can't see. Well, I can see. Right now, I see me. I am you. I'm...Your eyes are my eyes. I. CAN'T. SEE! Stop shaking, it's making me nauseous." Her last sentence came out very harshly, her fear making her words bite. When the woman stopped her panicked rant long enough, she actually registered what she was seeing. Ooooooh, she was crying. She saw her face the way her sister saw it: deathly white and tear streaked. Her eyes were wide and even though Addy had thought she was looking directly at her sister, but in actuality, according to Sai's eyes, she was actually looking slightly up and too the left. Fear was temporarily pushed to the back burner as morbid curiosity took over. It was the oddest sensation, feeling her own eyes moving, working the muscles in her own face, but watching them through the eyes of another, sliding left and right in their sockets, yet at the same time....not feeling the actual energy it took to do so. That was enough to bring the fear back, like a cold wet trickle down her spine. "Sai...Sai, what's wrong with you?" Her sister was clinging just as desperately back. Addy could feel her fingers digging into her skin, could feel the her rapid heartbeat. It didn't even occur to her to check along their bond, for Sai never produced emotions such as fear and desperation on such a palpable level, and there was no need. Addy couldn't see her sisters face. She couldn't see if her eyes were wide and frightened, confused, angry....Addy was partially unaware of the inward crumple of her twins self confidence. The waver in Sai's voice was ticked off as fear, and nothing else. "We need to fix this. Who can fix this? There is no one here but us! NO ONE! I can't even walk in a straight line and you feel as if you're about to topple over. Maybe Fen had more of an effect on us than we thought, if we're so apt now to just get frightened and faint...Sai, if you faint I'm going to tell everyone." She was trying to anger her sister into action, knowing that emotion could be a stable one. But she was also trying to joke, lighten the mood despite her chilling fear. Where....did this initiative come from? Normally Addy cowered while Sai stomped around in her bossy boots. " WAIT! Catabasis! Sai, take me to him! Have you spoken to him today? Have you gone to him? Something is telling me to go to him. Now. NOW SAI!" She blindly reached towards her sisters face, feeling her cheeks. Just to make sure that they were tear free, for she wasn't going to yell and order if her sister was, in fact, crying. But she met tearless, clammy skin. Taking hold of her sisters arm, the healer pushed them both out the door, wishing she could shut off what she was thinking of as her "Sai goggles". It really was disconcerting to have your vision not match up with your body movements. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to get used to it. Sai didn't look at things that Addy liked, and it would be rather embarrassing to watch her sister fawn secretly over Renol every time they met in their special Endal places, or whatever it is the Endal did when not flying around. Shakily, Addy grasped her sisters arm, after shoving them out of the room, and held on tight. "It's up to you now, unless you want to be my meat shield while I bash my way through the common room trying to get to the aerie."

[Sairque]

Sai clasped the elder twin to her, Addy would see Sai's hand reach out to cup her chin and tilt her head just so to look into those green eyes. "I don't see anyone in there. What's he look like?" she asked, peering into the depths of Addy's emerald eyes, like the algae growing in a swamp. To someone that had had two other someones in their head quite frequently, one male and the other female, the outburst wasn't all that startling. But it was another disjointed piece of the morning puzzle. Sai assumed that Addy just didn't want to stare back at her, keeping her eyes up and to the left, but was nice enough not to move them when she tilted the healer's head down to be able to look directly into them. There was something wrong, they were kinda...unfocused, moving together but not pointing at the exact same spot. "Wha-" But Addy interrupted with the answer to the half-formed question.

Blind. But not. Even after being asked to stop moving, Sai couldn't help but nod dumbly, jerking back a bit when her sister grimaced in response. "Sorry." While Addy freaked out about being home alone with no one else to fix this, Sai felt pieces falling together. She had seen Addy's room this morning, but must have won whatever battle was waged for dominance; now the elder twin was stuck in her eyes. Not in her eyes. She had to be spliced into her mind. Or. Or she was projecting a straight stream kind of like when Catabasis would show her a picture or a scene. So Addy was fine. Just stuck only seeing what she saw. Sai stepped back, leaving her hand clamped over Aidara's shoulder so the girl would have a sense of placement.

"I already fainted, you just didn't see it. 'Cause you're blind," she deadpanned in the space of a breathe in the healer's soliloquy. A soliloquy that Sairque didn't mind listening to in the least, especially when Aidara finally made a decision. The order snapped out even met with a sigh of relief, though Sai didn't realize that she was being not only patient, but hanging on every word the healer said. Even when the woman was spouting ridiculous and inane babblings. The fingers suddenly poking and prodding at her cheeks met frowning lips, but no resistance.

"Addy!" she yelped when a finger found it's way into her eyeball during the woman's expedition for tears, batting the hands away. The healer was a blurred mess when she finally stopped rubbing the optical orb and peeled it open again. She was still blinking furiously when pushed back through the door and ordered to lead the way. It occurred to her that Addy would probably freeze her love handles off out in the nest, but the woman knew what it was like out there and would have stopped to grab herself a robe or something if she really wanted one. Sai, on the other hand, left Addy at the door to the nest, the same door she had fled from earlier, to pop back into her room and grab herself a nice soft and furry robe. Then she sulked back to lead the way, eyes on the ground, picking out stray stalks and feathers, to the ill Eagle. Which was all her fault,

Finally, she lifted her eyes to Catabasis, dreading the lecture she that was certainly coming.

[Dreamcatcher]

Catabasis shook and shivered as Sai entered the nesting chamber. It almost looked like he was mottling, small soft down feathers were puffing out of his coat, while the bird sat there drinking water from the cool sink. She felt the uneasiness in his stomach, the bird felt like he was going to vomit. Yet he had no biology to do so. As his head came up she could see that his eyes were unfocused, his irises were pin pricks like he was staring miles away. Finally he side stepped and leaned against one of the cavern walls. The cool sensation of the rock slightly helping the fever flesh, Catabasis closed his eye lids. To Sai, she had never seen Catabasis so weak or so sick before. His voice came to her, it sounded almost like he was breathing hard from sheer exhaustion. Sai, you are a very strong mental communicator, just like your sister. The reason why our bond works is because you augment my own communication skills. Now I could have chosen a few others, but you and your sister were able to break my depression with your screaming. To put it bluntly Sai, you’re like a child that screams for their mother even when she is two feet away. Now because you and your sister are that strong and have shared the same womb, you have a certain bond. This bond normally doesn’t do anything besides giving one another feelings about the other. However, you have been pushing down your emotions through it, playing with your sister! His voice sound angry, like he was ready to yell at a child caught with their hand in the food pantry. Do you know how utterly stupid and dangerous that was? You could have killed her, or pushed out her soul, what you didn’t think there were any consequences to what you were doing? Every night I put protective barriers around your mind before I went to sleep or started the day, and sure enough you broke through them to play your little game. Let’s see if I can make Addy lustful, or perhaps curious, or angry. After your little fun I would patch up the break, not wishing to examine the bond to see how much stronger it became from your pushing. His voice changed filled with worry, Sai, you have made the bond so strong that should one of you die, your soul will challenge the other for their body. Do you understand what I am saying? Should you die in a hunting accident, your soul would fly through the bond to Addy and attempt to destroy it, for her body. Do you want your sister’s murder on your metaphoric hands? And what happens to me if she should win? My bond is with your mind and soul, should she destroy it, I will be all alone again. A wave of despair came over Catabasis at the thought of losing another rider. Sai could feel the depression rock her mind, it was perhaps the deepest feeling she had ever felt from him, one that she wasn’t sure he could survive if it happened again. A well spring of strength came up from inside of Catabasis, along with some images. They were bits and pieces of Addy and her voices that brought along with it was the will to live. To Sai it felt like almost a relieve from the crushing sense of despair. Also, do you know if somehow the two of you were to coexist what would become to you? You would become crazy, insane, off the mountain! Maybe that’s what you want! Maybe you want to merge minds with your sister and leave me alone. Sai realized that Catabasis had become even more feverish, and then he lashed out in her mind and a small hole between the two twins opened. To Addy it felt like someone had pried off a board, and she felt Sai’s presence dimly in her mind and heart. The memory of everything that Catabasis had just said came to her, and like a small child listening to their parent’s door she began to hear another voice. If that’s what you want Sai, perhaps I should just use the last of my strength to break down the barrier and strengthen your bond to a point of instant access? I mean that way you and Addy can even have your heartbeats sync up. And while sharing a mind, you will realize that when one of you gets pregnant and the other isn’t… your minds will kill the baby because of the confusion. Or how about duel storage? Would you like that? Being able to store memories in each others heads, giving you a perfect memory, but when one of you dies, you mind has huge gaps? Oh I know, perhaps I can strength the bond so that you can switch bodies with one another… that way you can mate with other men just using one body why the other one can do something else! Would you like that Sai? Catabasis began to mentally cough, an image of a man sick on the table came to them.

[Aidara]

Catabasis' voice echoed in through the confines of her skull, loud and distant all at once, as if he was shouting at her through a door or a particularly thin wall. Muffled, exhausted, irritated and scared sounding aside, Addy could understand each of his words as if they were meant for her- but she knew she was only hearing the great eagle because either he intended her to eavesdrop on his conversation with Sai, or this malfunction with their connection had allowed their Endal bond to leak over into her...mind. Synonymous with the arrival of Catabasis' voice was another huge shift in Addy's head. The room lurched, and all of a sudden she was seeing it from another angle. Staggering as if she'd been physically pushed, the woman fell sideways and onto her knees, her elbow cracking against the rough stone as she attempted to break the fall. Aidara rebounded quickly despite the confusion and exhaustion she now felt, accentuated by the acute dizziness that plagued her via the rapid shift from Sai's vision to her own. On her feet and immediately back at her sisters side, small hands closed around the Endals upper arm, as if she expected her to suddenly topple over as well, her wide green eyes focused on the ailing bird once more. The fact that Catabasis wasn't speaking directly to her allowed Addy's awareness to roam a bit more than if she had been pinned beneath the hard, strong voice of the bird. It was quite unlike her sister to balk at anything, but she could feel Sai flinching beneath her hands, unable to even look towards her eagle let alone stand upright under his beratement. Her gaze swung towards where the majestic bird sat hunched and shivering, head drooped and far worse for the wear. She felt a twinge deep inside, around her heart area. Okay, so her heart felt for the poor animal, despite the quiet (and sometimes loud) resentment she held towards him, deep down inside. She felt that black knot of a feeling loosen a bit at this sight, what exactly he had been doing for the twins...both of them, not just the one he was bonded too. The longer she looked, the more the bit of resentment began to disperse and disappear. Despite her internal monologue, Aidara clung to each of Catabasis' words as they echoed through her mind, panic trickling down her spine like a steady drip of ice water as each point in his lecture became more and more dire. But why could she hear Catabasis anyway? That was not a good sign. "Do you know how utterly stupid and dangerous that was? You could have killed her, or pushed out her soul, what you didn’t think there were any consequences to what you were doing?" All the color drained quickly from her face as these words sliced through her panic. Killed?! But they were having fun! Just....testing. All twins had this link, right? That is what Aidara always thought. Her mouth opened and she sucked in a deep breath as she intended to intrupt the Eagle in his rant. However, as Catabasis plunged forward, the next bit sent her head reeling. "Every night I put protective barriers around your mind before I went to sleep or started the day, and sure enough you broke through them to play your little game...." "But it wasn't a game! ...Not at first! How can we have such an ability and be expected not to use it? And you knew this whole time? Why didn't you stop us, Catabasis, if we came that close to death!" Her panic made her lash out, her heart having missed multiple beats as the reality of how close the reality that she could have lost her precious sister washed over. Regardless of her mental staggering as shock consumed her, Addy's grip on her sister stayed tight and firm. Nothing was really sure anymore, not a this point, and she was not going to let Sai fall over from shock or anything of the sort if she was as emotionally weak as Addy thought. Especially when she felt the shadow of the monstrous wave of despair that the Eagle sent crashing down on the mind of her twin. Sucking in a deep breath and squaring her shoulders, the healer turned her sister around to face her. Small hands cupped her nearly identical face, guiding her jaw until Sai had no choice but to look at her. Stealing herself for what exactly she might see in her sisters usually hard, confident gaze, her voice started out in a whisper. "Sai...Saisaisai, listen to me. We're all right. Catabasis will be all right. I'll fix him, we'll fix him. We'll fix this" a wild hand gesture encompassed her head, and then her sisters "You can feel me. I'm real, I'm sane. I can see now. I don't know what's going on with you but we need to find that iron rod you keep in your spine and shove it back in there. I need you, Sai. I always have. You cannot give up on me, not on Catabasis either. He needs you more than I do." Another wild gesture to the cowering, rather pitiful looking bird across the room from them "Go to him, Sai. Go to him. I'll be fine, but I'm not going over there until he's ready for me." She knew the bird too well, and rather valued all her limbs and her overall appearance at this stage in her life. She wasn't stupid, and she wasn't going to move from her safe spot against the wall. Plus, she didn't really trust the way her knees shook at this particular moment. Whether or not her sister moved immediately, eventually or at all, Addy turned her gaze once more to the bird, speaking directly to him, with a bit more respect as he finished with his soliloquy. Her voice shook increasingly, as well as what seemed to be a shiver moving down her body as his words sunk in a bit more with each passing second. His mention of what would happen now if one of them died chilled her to the core. Not only did she refuse to ever think of her sister as anywhere but within easy reach if Addy needed Sai, but death was just too much to handle. Not to mention thinking of their souls battling each other into destruction for use of whatever body was left. The healer felt her stomach heave, and fought to keep the contents of her stomach down. "What do we have to do, Catabasis? Is there even anything we can do, or are we going to be on the fragile brink between normality and insanity for the rest of our existence? I do not look forward to going to bed, wondering if I'm going to wake up with two souls duking it out behind my eyes. It rather puts me out, y'know?" Addys shaky attempt at humor fell flat on its face, her pathetic chuckle dying instantly on her lips. The image of him laying broken and half dead on a table flashed across the healers mind, and she cried out in shock and dismay, reaching a hand out towards him as if that would help. "Catabasis! NO! How can I help you?! What do we have to do" Her voice was hardened by her panic, green eyes flying to her sister, wondering if she saw the same image too. She was much to far away to do anything if her sister reacted poorly. With a slight sob, Addy felt the harsh taste of bile rise in her throat, caught in a limbo of despair.

[Sairque]

If there was one thing that would always be there for her, it was the physical and mental strength of Catabasis. Currently, there were only a handful of other birds rivaling him for size, and he was still far too young to be as wise as he behaved. His constant presence in her mind had taken her unguided urges to take care of the people and focused them on a narrow path that when treaded would push her goals to fruition. Her own personality had blossomed once the path was shown, though the blossoming was all centered rather externally. Truly, it left her woefully undeveloped in some areas, emotions for one, but with the few risks she took in that department, it hadn’t bitten her in the butt yet. Not until this morning, anyway, when she stood, ashamed and afraid, before one half of the most important being in her life; Catabasis weakened and subject to the physical manifestations and repercussions of the desperate work he’d done to spare the twins a dark end.

He needed a doctor, he needed Kaden and Mother Ilish and Val and all the other elders to come help him, he needed the other Eagles to help him. There was nothing Sai could do, in her blind ignorance of his mortality she had never paid attention to the things that falconers did when a raptor was ill. Catabasis could never be ill. Why weren’t the other Eagles intervening and augmenting his mental strength? Surely they knew what was happening. Why did no one help? Did he not want help? Was he so stubborn as to rely solely on himself and the twins to take care of this? Two women who hadn’t known the dangerous game they were playing, hadn’t had a clue that they risked not only themselves but their protector? A protector that needed them as much as they needed him; their antics and bickering, the upheaval in their mental state that occurred every day for the simple fact that one was violently unhappy with the other’s lack of attention. A ridiculous cycle considering everyone else knew how much they meant to one another. Not to mention the fact that they had a direct line into each other’s feelings. What a coupla dunderheads.

All the communicative strength of her mind meant nothing when that brain wasn’t competent enough to know what games were acceptable and which weren’t. She couldn’t even figure out when someone else was messing with her mind, though Catabasis had been doing it purely from love and for her own good. No more. The severity of the situation, of the repercussions from playing with things she knew not of, demanded a higher level of mental acuity. They needed solutions. Catabasis would forgive her when she found them, and it wouldn’t matter that he had been passive in his monitoring of their bond, despite the risk he knew it posed. His anger sparked her own, and though it smoldered with no real heat, the smoke was rising. She hadn’t known, and he hadn’t been bothered to tell her about the danger she was putting Aidara and him in. Did he know so little about her that he thought she wouldn’t prefer to know the risks? That she would rather put her head in the sand?

Her spine straightened, shoulders squaring up, the physical reformation lending strength when his worry and despair washed over her, soaked her to the core and filled her bones. Every nerve impulse carried with it a dark tendril, implanting at the destination and colonizing until her lungs labored under the heavy blanket of depression. There were solutions out there, but for long minutes she had no interest in finding them, they could do it later. They could just not touch their bond in the meantime. That shouldn’t be so hard. No one would murder anyone, no one would be left alone. They could pretend like this never happened. In a few days, Catabasis would become secure in their safety and they could go flying again. If she could strengthen the bond, maybe she could shut it off, too; on that thought, the well spring of strength surged through their bond. They had to learn to control it.

Sai’s mind filtered through the images, putting pieces into the large landscape of her memory, a faint smile eased the troubled furrows on her features. It was short lived, however, as she felt his over-heated mind losing rationale and malevolence growing. Before she could react, even really comprehend his attack, the breach had been opened and She became aware of Aidara next to her, gripping her arm tightly and telling her that everything would be all right, that they could fix this, reacting to the memories of their conversation belatedly. Sai nodded, exploring the increased communication between them. Aidara was panicking, but she was right about one thing. Her spine was indeed straight, the muscles along her back tense and keeping her erect. Yes, she could fix this. With help, yes, but it wasn’t insurmountable. It had to start with calming her man down. His fears were unwarranted and torturous in a way that she couldn’t stand or allow.

He was rambling, feverish and spiraling down a dark crevice. That mental image was taken in fully, processed and released to the realm of her imagination. If this was how he saw himself, this would be the form she used to help him. First, she put herself beside the table. It was, of course, an ideal picture of how she viewed herself, but that was necessary. She stood tall, erect with confidence, and dapper. The end of her braid, bright blue silks, his favorite color, woven throughout, and two glass beads tinkling softly like his favorite chime, the one she had made him immediately after their bonding to add a touch of warmth to his new nest, against the table as she leaned down to soothe his feverish forehead with a cloth moist from glacial water. It was, of course, the perfect temperature to alleviate his suffering.



Next, she changed the table to the shallow end of his favorite lake, the brackish one down by the coast, not far from Thunder Bay, it was early fall, when the atmosphere was rife with the scents of life. The cool water gradually cupped and tenderly swaddled his ill body. Beneath their bodies, the softest bed of sand conformed and supported their bodies. Nothing was spared from the vision, the clouds were floating by in fluffy pods, the breeze stirred rolling ridges into the water, the fish and frogs frolicked below the surface while butterflies batted overtop it. Scents, sounds, sensations, it was all there, she was all there, existing solely in this world. Now she rested, legs folded to provide the man with a pillow for his head and shoulders, cradling his inflamed head, caressing his cheeks and forehead with tender fingers and a moist cloth, just as she reached out and cradled his despairing psyche.

Her voice came to him, robust with all the emotions that even he had a hard time grasping in her mind long enough to enjoy, so fleeting and ephemeral were they. The gratitude, adoration, pride, loyalty he stirred in her, in addition to the plethora of similar emotions, all strengthened by the current concern and devotion, blossomed in his mind, sang to his ears, embraced his skin. I want nothing more than to tend to you, Catabasis. His body calmed, the water pulling overzealous heat away from every epithelial cell and transmitting it to the dark depths where it couldn’t return. The raging inferno of his physical center was pulled outward, drawn away from tormenting his body and mind. My actions have cost us all dearly, none more so than you. It’s time for me to repay the work and care you’ve repeatedly demonstrated for myself and Aidara. Setting the cloth neatly on his forehead where it wouldn’t droop to bother his eyelids or lashes, the nurturing woman took a page from his book and set about making her own support structure for him. Cold water from the unknown depths came toward the surface in long tendrils, it bracketed and piped the fever polluted water down deep in the lake. There, a cistern of pure, icy water gathered and contained it far from where it could blight the tortured man in her arms. These pipes, the impermeable sides composed of thick whirls and eddies of dark water, pushing and rushing every heated molecule away from Catabasis, rebuffing every attempt at breaching or infecting.

Her will went into the body cradled to her, trying to recreate the health and safety he had known not two bells before, with only a finite amount of attention paid to what she was giving of her own body. I will never leave you alone, love. If I haven’t got you and Aidara, I haven’t got a reason to draw breathe in the morning. He knew there was no Sai without Addy, but still she focused on the golden warmth that spread throughout her whenever she focused on what the two of them meant to her. There was nothing there that craved rupture or fracture, there was only the selfless compulsion to care and provide for them.

Outside the scene she shared with him, the adaptation of his final image, augmented and held strong with her imagination, Aidara stood beside her, the wind whistled in the gradually warming atmosphere beyond the nest, but Sairque heard, felt, nor saw any of it. Her head was bowed, eyes narrow slits that saw through the stone floor, unfocused and sending no information to her interrupt the vital communication with Catabasis. Perhaps Aidara could see what she’d created for their friend, perhaps she could help, with the widened connection they shared. Perhaps they could make use of the breach Catabasis had created out of fear and despair.

[Dreamcatcher]

As Sairque began focusing on the mental image of the lake she began to feel her sense of body fade and the presence of the man grow stronger. Flashes of sky began to overwhelm Aidara vision, she heard the cold slap of water against the shore. In the room, Aidara and Sairque fell to the ground unconscious as the mental dream she had created took over. The both of them stood at the shore of the lake feeling with every sense as if they had been teleported there. Between them was a naked Inarta, his heavily muscled frame was that of a twenty something blacksmith. His upper body shivered against the cool water, eagle feathers were tied throughout his hair, and scars of knife fights appeared over his heavily muscled chest. Then the world shook in a earthquake, Aidara felt a distant memory stir and the landscaped began to change into a healers den, mountains shifted and half the sky became rock, tables of herbs, mortars, and philtering equipment sprung to life, Aidara felt her deepest desires for healing began to fill second half of the landscape. It flowed from her bring out desires and letting her imagination shape them. Idea’s and thoughts half formed took life, and she began to feel like a core part of her began to take shape in the world. Finally the world shook a third time, screams of eagles filtered throughout the sky, and a storm front came in lighting struck the ground exploding rocks as thunder roared destroying glass bottles on tables. The wind began to blow and the lake began turning into a giant whirlpool, the naked form of Catabasis began to float away from the girls. The tug began to grow harder and harder and in the distance two form began to drop down on eagles. The first eagle landed, and a female inarta slipped off its back. To the girls, she had the features of each of them intermingled, yet somehow she oozed sexuality. In the middle of the storm, her hair hung perfectly, framing her face like a red silk cloth. Her face possessed the finest of both of their features, allowing her eyes seemed to naturally have a come hither look, while her lips seemed plump and ready to kiss, her face had no blemishes and seemed to be just right. Her body was a combination of the twins, and her clothes seemed to show off her flesh perfectly while hinting at what lay beneath. The second eagle that landed was so dark that the girls hadn’t notice it was dead. On the back of the eagle was a second female inarta, her features encompassed the worst of the twins and seemed to be in decay. The second women’s clothing did its best to conceal the decaying flesh, but couldn’t completely do so. They walked towards the twins, the first one with a step that seemed to scream look at her hips and perfect legs. While the second one seemed to be limping and had spoke of decay. “We are what drive you! Now release him, if you wish to save him.” The spoke in unison, once voice sultry while the other almost breaking in harshness.