Dichotomy

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"Then why did you bring me here?"

Tai tried to listen, tried to be impartial as her sister could be, and as the new person apparently was. It was not, Tai knew, a bad thing. Some small, rational part of her still saw that, that Kohe was greater, was more than her big sister. That Time, whether Kohe was a part of it or not, could not afford morals or inclinations, that it had to be distant, unaffected. Not by Empathy, and not by Hope.

But Kohe was not that person, for all she insisted, and Tai could not understand why she would bring her here just to say nothing could change.

She knew she was being petty, childish, that she had always been that way, just as Kohe had always been wise far, far beyond her years. It seemed now that they had left their home, they were coming into these positions more than ever, and Tai knew it was a good thing, maybe. They could neither of them accomplish what they were meant to without the other, and without their mates. Even Tai knew that.

But she did not like the thought of sharing Kohe. Not with her mate, nor with Tai's, and especially not with 'Time'. She did not like that Kohe -- was it Kohe? -- no longer saw Tai, but Hope. Even if it was true, it was such a small, insignificant portion of who she was. It had not been Hope to sit there beside Kohe on the night she had come back from her first jump. It had not be Hope whose name she had screamed when Rask pulled her from the freezing river. It had not been Hope with whom Kohe had left her home to wander into the darkness.

It would not be Hope beside her when at last their paths went light or dark.

Tai would never leave her sister. She could not say the same of this person, this thing her sister professed to be.

"What if I lit them all now?" Tai said quietly, tracing her fingers through the stars, without looking at her sister. It was as close as she had ever come to challenging Kohe on anything. "Could you put them back? Would you? Would you take them away from those paths? How can you know they're so bad until they've tried. People can be better, Kohe, people can change! Why can't we give them a chance?"

She realized with a start she felt very near to tears and turned away, embarrassed and frustrated. She knew she was being naive and foolish. She knew she asked too much and yet too little of her sister all at once. Kohe was right -- no longer could she afford to dabble in the petty wishes of her childish little sister.

"I've seen enough," Tai said quietly, still staring at the few lights balanced on her fingertips. "I want to go now please."
 
"I could not." Time replied simply and she gave Tai an unfathomable look, seeing just as much about the younger Demisan's future, her potential paths as anyone else. What she saw made her smile just a little. "I have told you, I can't force someone to choose a path. Neither can you. We can only influence." She seemed to sigh, this entire place did as Tai professed her desire to leave and without a word, Time let her, giving no further words, knowing she could not explain what Tai seemed to not want to grasp.

It was to mismatched eyes of scarlet and sapphire that violet looked into when they opened and Kohe smiled a familiar smile to her sister, but she shook her head a bit and tugged gently on a strand of Tai's white-purple hair.

"You didn't get the point, Pejkia." she teased softly before standing and pulling Tai up with her. Slender hands brushed the tears from Tai's face, knowing her sister would not like them, would not like that she'd cried even a little and the elder Demisan pulled the younger twin into a tight hug, resting her head on Tai's. Her voice was soft and patient, loving for she did not wish to anger her sibling or to push her away as she felt the part of her that was Time had started to do.

No, that had been Kohe's mistake and she knew it now.

Tai was not yet Hope. Oh, she was, but she'd not accepted it. The part of her that was Hope had not awakened, could not converse with Time and Tai was not equipped to deal with all of what Time was. Just as Kohe herself could not fathom Hope. Two sides to a coin, two coins, four potential personas.

"Tai, people can change. They can be given chances. Time wasn't saying they couldn't. And you and I could influence that change any time we wished." She pulled back, but cupped her sister's face, making Tai look at her. "But it would bring consequences. And some would be good, but perhaps not all. We can't force a person to do as we like, no matter how much we might tell them or show them. That doesn't mean we can't try, it doesn't mean we can't succeed. It only means that in the end, it's not our choice to make."

She dropped her hands and looked down, unsure how to say anymore to make her sister understand something that came so easily to Kohe, that made perfect sense in her head. But Tai wasn't like her. Tai was GOOD and Tai was INNOCENT - far more than she knew - and Tai was HOPE. Tai was EMPATHY and LOVE. Tai was JOY.

Kohe could not be those things, not like her sister was, but she needed them. She needed her sister. She needed to know and feel those things lest she lose herself to what she was. Time.

"I can see all their paths, Tai. Every single one. I can see every outcome of every choice down to the last detail. I can see what COULD BE, not what WILL BE. Not yet, not until that choice is made by the life who lives it. I can see what HAS BEEN with perfect clarity. I can see what IS as its happening, but the FUTURE is a mystery, even to me. I can see every possible outcome of it, but not which outcome will be chosen. Change is well within possible. When someone like us touches a life where the paths are already set, only waiting to be traversed, those paths crumble and change and become something else. Even the paths themselves can change, but it takes someone like you or me to change them, to give a new set of choices. THAT is why we are here. To change the paths that no one else can, to give the life that must take them a better choice. Whether they take it is up to them."
 
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Tai nearly whimpered at the return of her sister -- not Time, though she could still feel that presence hanging around Kohe like a pall, a chill aura Tai could not accurately understand, nor Empathize with, and perhaps that was what unsettled her so -- and hugged back, a bit too tightly and a bit too long. She knew Kohe would never willingly leave her, not like that. No abrupt departures in the middle of a strange forest while Tai was feeling lonely and vulnerable and confused. No, Kohe might be dragged away by the gift she had been born with, but she would never abandon Tai, and Tai would stay in one spot until she turned to stone if it was for Kohe.

So, she only nodded in wounded understanding at her sister's gentle teasing, violet eyes somber with unspoken apologetics. She knew Kohe, at least, wasn't over frustrated with Tai's inability to grasp what Kohe seemed innately to know. It was strange for Tai, to miss those vast, inexpressible ideas which so often showed themselves to her as brightly colored wisps of whimsy and imagination. But what Kohe posited was even beyond that, and while Tai knew she could learn it, it was uncommon stubbornness that disallowed her even the ability to try.

She consoled herself with the reminder that there were other things, more, much more between herself and what her sister thought, between Kohe and the Time that threatened to take her away. Now, at least, Kohe stood here in front of her, gently teasing, but loving and understanding and there and familiar and warm and beautiful and...Kohe.

Tai smiled, a sniffly, wet smile, because she was crying despite all her best efforts. But it was a brief stint, now that she could feel Kohe back and smiling. Tai leaned into her sister's palm catching up her hand before she could drop it, turning her head while holding Kohe's eyes, mismatched gaze familiar and gentle, to press a gentle kiss to her sister's delicate fingers.

"I'll try to understand, 'setta," she promised solemnly. It was all she could say, and yet she meant it, so she knew it was enough.

She was about to hug her sister, suggest they move on while they had the light, when something pinged gently against her consciousness. It was unfamiliar, but she knew she hadn't imagined in, and a faint frown of confusion fell across her features as she turned automatically to search for the source of the strangeness in her mind.

It was, she knew, another mind, but none she had felt before. There seemed to be no real consciousness, no real emotion behind it, and so it felt empty and cold, though not distant, to the Empath. There were no emotions there, save for maybe a faint glimmer of satisfaction. Rather, this was a mind fueled by base need. Hunger, cold, warmth. Survival.

A hunter in the truest form.

She realized it was danger even before she knew what it was, and without thinking, she slammed the silver-gray orb down around them just as thing thing came barreling out of the forest. It collided with the shield, eliciting a cry of pain and surprise from Tai before it rebounded and charge them again.

And now Tai felt an emotion, another feeling.

Pain first.

Then anger.
 
Perhaps Kohe should not have been surprised, being Time and all, but she honestly was to see the Canaris come charging toward them, watching as it hit the shield her twin erected. It was a deadly, majestic creature with a cat's body and lizard-like features, possessing both leathery skin and fur in camouflaging patterns and patches. Its tail was long, lashing this way and that and it's fangs dripped with poison, ready to sink into prey and immobilize it immediately. It was a creature of skill, grace and the top of the food chain in the jungle, even able to challenge a fully grown Aavan.

Something like Tai and Kohe would be considered a snack.

The thought made Kohe's eyes widen as she froze for a just a moment, but Tai's cry of pain instantly snapped her out of it and sharp, crystal focus replaces the fear, making mismatched eyes narrow swiftly. The first thing she did was search for an anomaly, the feeling that came over her when something wasn't right, when time had been manipulated, bent - to check if this attack was more purposeful than just a Canaris hunting. She knew even before she'd extended her power, though, that this was not the case. She would have felt it long before now and there was nothing. No, this was just an animal hunting.

Dealing with a time-traveling Ashkerai might have been easier. She knew how to deal with those.

A wild animal?

Not so much and mismatched eyes looked to Tai in question and then back at the Canaris who was continuing to ram into the shield, hurting Tai. Hurting her sister.

Anger rose in the elder Demisan then and she felt something unfamiliar, something so very foreign and yet strangely comforting all the same, rising in her chest. As the Canaris came in for another crashing impact, Kohe opened her mouth and let the pressure out....no, the sound. It was a roar, a true Aavanian roar worthy of any full-blooded, shifting Aavan and the Canaris pulled up short to hear it, looking extremely confused. In that moment, Kohe grabbed Tai's hand and with a grin of amazement and excitement brought on by adrenaline, she started to pull her twin.

"Come on!"

Maybe if they could get moving while the creature was uncertain they could get away!
 
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For a moment, Tai couldn't move, either. The shield around them held by some miracle, but the pain and surprise were forgotten in wake of the absolute shock as Tai stared at her sister, her twin sister, who had suddenly become something else entirely. Not en enigma, not the Time being who so mystified and unsettled Tai...but a huntress, and Aavan, plain and simple, and for the moment, Tai could do naught but stand and stare at her sister, open-mouthed.

"...'setta?"

And then the thing -- the Canaris, the word sprang to her with no warning and no explanation -- was regaining its bearings, and Tai was realizing she needed to run.

Or rather, she needed to fly. Kohe needed to run.

As the Canaris began to growl and start toward them again, Tai quickly undid her shield, redoubling its walls around the Canaris, caging it in, at least until she got too far to maintain its strength, while she and Kohe took off through the forest. She had been practicing for years for a moment like this, a time to grab her sister and fly them both out of danger. But it was too dangerous in the forest. The trees grow too tight, too close, and while Tai might have been able to manage it on her own, bringing extra weight with her would only trip her up, and she couldn't risk it with the Canaris on their tails.

Instead, panting as she ran alongside her sister, she began to plan. Sort of.

"Kohe...you should run on ahead. Don't worry about trying to trick it or trip it up, just run, get as far as you can, maybe across a stream or up a tree or something. I'm going to double back and lead it off. Don't," she interrupted, grinning sidelong at her sister as Kohe began to argue. She flared her wings behind her as she began her brief flight. "If it gets too close, I'll fly. It's not like it can follow me into the air. Now you -- move it. Hurry!"
 
Oh, Kohe did NOT like this plan, but she didn't continue arguing, merely nodding and she sent love after her sister. If there was even the slightest chance they wouldn't see each other again, she wanted Tai to know how much she was cared for, how adored she was by her elder sister. Still, she'd have some belief in her sister, that Tai could do this. She was right; the Canaris could not fly. Tai would have more hope of escaping than Kohe ever would.

Canarisii could climb. With cat-like bodies and sharp claws, it was ridiculously easy. They could swim too with their long lizard-like tails and sleek builds. There would be no safety in the water or the trees. The only hope Kohe had was to go underground or to fly and she could not do the latter. And the former would only trap her.

Her only choice was to run and the Demisan did exactly that, racing through the jungle, hearing the creature pursuing her...and there she heard nothing. It was in that moment that Kohe knew Tai's half-though-out plan had worked. And she knew it was only a half-cocked idea because she knew her sister. Tai would throw herself into something without even knowing what the true problem or solution just to DO something, just to HELP. It was what made her twin so incredible, but right now it just caused a knot to form in the elder twin's throat....but she continued running because she trusted Tai and that's what the other had wanted her to do.

And then Kohe found herself coming to an abrupt stop, skidding really and landing back on her hands before she rapidly rolled and twisted away from the snapping jaws of the Netorc. The creature was wolf-like with viper overtones, lending it a long, lean appearance, six paws - four forefront and two hind - and long, narrow jaws with fangs that curved inward. Hisses left their mouths for they hunted in packs of eight to ten and Kohe gave a shriek as she avoided the first pair of teeth only to come face to face with another.

Somehow she managed to scramble to her feet and this time when she ran, it was with a pack of Netorc at her back.

Oh, Tai was gonna either laugh her head off or kill her....if either of them survived this.

The thought nearly had the elder Demisan smiling despite herself.
 
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"Kohe?"

Tai had been ducking low beneath tree branches, swooping around fallen trunks and massive boulders, and just generally evading danger when she realized Kohe was having fun.

Not the normal kind of fun, maybe -- and certainly not the sort their mother would approve of -- but fun nonetheless, and for a moment, Tai was sincerely confused, wondering if Kohe had been bitten or poisoned and was now delirious or hysterical. It wasn't until Tai looped around a broken branch dangling a few feet above the slightly damp forest floor then felt the clawed thing behind her barrel into it with a wince that she realized she was having fun, too.

A laugh -- perhaps just slightly manic -- escaped her lips and she clamped both hands over her mouth, eyes wide.

"Kohe, what are you doing?"

Had this all been a joke somehow? The Canaris had looked -- had felt -- real enough, but why else could Kohe be feeling so mysteriously amused? Tai was equal parts intrigued and terrified.

"'Setta, hang on, I'm coming back to find you." Tai angled her wings and flapped hard, breaking through the canopy of green to a dim gray dawn overhead before swooping back down to find Kohe again.

With a pack of strange, snarling beasts on her tail in the most literal way possible.

Tai's eyes widened as she automatically threw a wall down between Kohe and her pursuers, closing in quick on her sister, trying to figure out how far she could fly them both away before her wings gave out.

"'Setta!" Tai hissed, somehow thrilled and terrified at the same time. "What did you do?!"
 
Kohe would have answered had she had the breath or the mental focus to do so, but as it was, all her mind, all her thoughts were on keeping her hide intact and she didn't have the time to answer. When a Netorc got too close, her tail got violent and the Demisan had taken out two - one with a snapped neck, the other a broken jaw - by the time Tai came swooping down with her glorious shield.

At her sister's words, the elder twin couldn't help but laugh, hands on her knees as she pulled in air a bit raggedly. Oh, she could run for miles, but to sprint for that long while fighting, skidding, dodging and generally trying to stay alive? That was different. And it had left Kohe filled with adrenaline, but also with the sense of being ALIVE and her sister's words genuinely amused her.

"I decided I wanted to play tag, too, Taibug!" she shot back with a grin and then released a careful stream of breath, getting her lungs back under her control as the Netorc snapped and hissed angrily at the edge of the shield, trying to find a way in. They weren't Canaris, though, probably only about the size of a large modern earth-dog and they didn't have the power to break the shield, nor the true drive to do so. They preferred much easier prey and even as the sisters' watched, Kohe giving back a snarl to their snapping fangs, they started to slink away back into the jungle, leaving the clearing.

Kohe looked to Tai then and raised a brow, pushing her two-toned hair away from a sweaty forehead, her tail snapping with residual agitation behind her. She hadn't had that much excitement in a while. The closest thing had ever been training and that was strictly controlled. Putting some of her skills to the test had been nice.

"You all right? Did you lose the Canaris?"

She was checking Tai over even before her sister could answer and in that moment the only person standing in front of the younger twin was Kohe. No Time, no strange power, no knowing or duty. Just a worried big sister and the elder Demisan smiled to find no injuries, ruffling Tai's hair affectionately.

"Well, that was fun. I don't recommend we do it again, though."
 
Tai was many things -- earnest, naive, genuine, a bit rash -- and while she knew she had power far beyond what the average Aavan or Cerebra could manage, she was also generally quite grounded, at least in terms of her abilities. Still, she had always thought she'd known every facet of her sister, aware of 'Time' nearly from birth, though not nearly so intimately as she was now. She knew happy Kohe and sad Kohe, and serious somber Kohe, and Kohe-with-all-the-weight-of-the-world-on-her-back. That last Kohe seemed to be the only Tai ever saw anymore, and she loved that Kohe just as much as she loved the others.

But she had missed the rest of her sister so badly that when she returned, Tai could only stare, and then lurch forward, eyes wide, terrified that Kohe had been hurt, bitten.

"'Setta?" she said carefully. "Maybe...maybe sit down, alright?" She couldn't feel any pain or fear coming from her sister. She couldn't feel anything but adrenaline, excitement. Exhaustion, sure, but tainted with an edge of wicked glee.

Kohe really was just having fun.

Tai blinked once. Twice.

Then she broke into a smile of relief and absolute delight, so excited, she was actually hovering two feet off the ground before she realized she was moving. Tai's wings were not nearly so traitorous in giving away her emotions as Kohe's tail was, but they did have a mind of their own that most often took over when she was excited. And now she was excited. Kohe had changed. They had both changed, and left their childhood home to search for a danger that would further change them, if it didn't kill them first.

But Kohe, just Kohe was still there, and that was the best news Tai had had in days.

She laughed once, and shook her head in complete and utter disbelief. Then she let the shield fall down around them and stepped forward to hug her sister, nearly knocking both of them over in the process.

"Whatever you say, 'setta. I know you're just jealous I got the bigger one."
 
"Oh, right, THAT'S why."

Kohe rolled her eyes with a snort and gave Tai's shoulder a gentle shove, still mirthful herself as she let out an uncharacteristic giggle. It was nice to hear, even nicer to do and the Demisan simply enjoyed that for a moment - just being, letting the happiness wash over her as both she and Tai started to walk, in no hurry all the sudden. Simply walking to where they were headed.

It was peaceful and it wasn't long before they were teasing each other, playing games of chase and pranks, for the first time in a long time, they were children again and it was a good thing. A needed thing and Kohe felt the bond between them braid and twist itself all the tighter. She knew, the knowing part of her knew, that such was needed and would serve its purpose later, but right now she didn't focus on that.

The elder twin just enjoyed it and that night they curled up together like they used to do when they were little and they knew some peace.

--

The Black Canyons.

Kohe had been dreaming about them since she was young and they were no less intimidating now than they'd been in her nightmares. It wasn't really the rock walls themselves that bothered her, but rather the aura that came off of them. This had been a place of darkness for so long, it had forgotten when the touch of sunlight felt like. These canyon walls had housed more corrupt rulers and armies than anywhere else on the entire planet and the very rocks themselves cried out their stories.

And Kohe knew that if she could feel that - not just know it, but feel it - Tai could doubly, triply so and it worried her as she looked back at her younger twin, watching Tai closely. Kohe didn't know what she could DO to help besides send love, light and reassurance to her sister, but she wanted to be aware of Tai's state anyway. They were far from being in a safe environment and after traveling for nearly two weeks, both sisters knew that danger hunted their every step. They had not been presented with anything they couldn't deal with together, but there had been challenges nonetheless.

Now Kohe knew there was going to be a trial here. One unlike anything they'd ever faced....and she knew that this time, it was going to be Tai who would make the most difference. Oh, her sister didn't yet know it, but if anyone was going to get through to Tai's mate, it would be Tai. The Demisan had just been waiting for the right time to break it to Tai that her mate was an Ashkerai....who would want to kill her.

Somehow, the elder twin didn't think her sister would take that all that well....and Kohe wasn't sure telling Tai was the best path to take anyway. There were a multitude to choose from right now, in this precise moment, but in the end, the one Kohe chose was the path of silence. There would be enough potential problems without adding the stress of her knowing to the situation.

"Tai, stay close."

Kohe's eyes scanned the canyon walls above them with a harsh, piercing gaze, her demeanor somewhere between Tai's capable sister and Time itself, not full either. Not safe to be either completely.

"We aren't alone."
 
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Tai was afraid.

She knew she was afraid, and she knew Kohe knew, as much as she would have loved for her older sister to be oblivious. Tai could feel the fear in and around her like a physical presence, like cold that seeped into everything nearby, Kohe included. She could hide the fear no more than she could hide a winter storm from her sister, and she hated it, because she could feel Kohe dealing with her own fear, with an understanding that went beyond Tai's, and with a palpable concern for her sister. She wanted to tell Kohe that she was alright, just tired. But they both knew it wasn't true.

After two weeks, the pain of leaving home had faded to a dull throb. Tai felt closer to her twin than she had in years, perhaps since Kohe had returned from her first time jump, though none of that had ever changed anything for Tai. She'd always been the more dependent of the two. Even perfect strangers were quick to recognize the simple fact. It was evident in the way Tai looked to Kohe for assurance before she tried anything new, before she moved too far away. It was clear in the way she hovered close to her older sister, seeming to mirror her moves without ever realizing what she was doing. Tai was too impulsive, too naive to ever truly fear anything (most things), but Kohe had always been a part of that. Tai wouldn't hesitate to jump off a cliff just for fun, but only if she knew she could look back and see Kohe following, or return to her sister later to explain what had happened when she tried. In recent years, while Kohe had been growing into what she had always been -- into Time -- Tai had been following, as quiet and reserved as she could be, watching sadly as her sister changed. She never resented Kohe, understanding feeling Kohe still loved her. But Kohe was discovering parts of herself Tai couldn't understand, and it hurt.

These last two weeks had been heaven all over again, such that Tai had almost completely forgotten they'd left home at all, or that they headed to a darkness she could feel deep in her bones. If she had any concerns, it was over meeting the one Kohe had called her mate. She had no reason to be afraid of him yet, and in fact saw it only as her duty to help him, as she would help Kohe's mate. But in her mind, they were just two people who needed their help, and nothing more. Tai had seen the Bond shared by their parents, by Lyra and Rask, and loved it, because she was an Empath. The sort of affection shared by two with such strong Bonds felt like bliss, pure and unadulterated. She'd been fascinated, but never jealous. Mori had been born alone, with two older siblings, three with Rask. Lyra and Rora had been born as part of one hundred children. None of them had ever known what it was to share a twin, and certainly not on par with what she and Kohe shared. She could not begrudge them their Bonds, because they had not been born with those bonds, like she and Kohe.

She hadn't ever shared it with her sister, but Tai didn't want a mate. Not for herself, and not for Kohe. She knew Kohe didn't feel the same way, and so never said anything, but Tai was hovering as close to jealousy as she could get when she thought of Kohe's mate. If she had any misgivings over their adventure, it was only that -- it would end with her losing her sister to a stranger, or so she thought.

But those fears were not in her head as they entered the Black Canyons. Tai had sensed it growing colder for days, think it was only that they had left the warmth of the city. But when she had tried to summon a Kohe's butterfly, an old habit she'd fallen into without any real thought, she'd been unable, and only then realized that the Black Canyons were not just a dark place -- they were darkness.

That was when the fear started. It went beyond the knowledge that if she and Kohe were in danger, she could not simply summon a shield. It would be an effort, and even then, it might break. It would simply shatter, like the bridge under her feet had almost fifteen years ago, dumping her into the water where a new kind of darkness had taken root, nearly killing both her and Rask.

And it wasn't just fear. It was sadness, and cold. It was so cold here. Tai knew it wasn't just the temperature, just as it wasn't just the absence of light. There was some light. There had to be, or she wouldn't have been able to see anything at all. But the light, like the warmth, was little, and beyond that, it was inside her, eating away at her, like some invisible disease.

For the first time, Tai began to understand what she was -- who she was.

She began to understand she could not survive without Light, without Hope, without Love. It was Kohe keeping her alive now, but the desolation, the hurt and pain and anger in the Black Canyons was making her sick. It was not often Tai could go even a few moments without finding something to make her laugh or giggle; to remind her of a joke, or even just create a small spark of starlight to pass the time.

Here, it was all she could do to stop shivering. She walked quietly behind Kohe, her arms folded across her stomach, ready to bolt if she had to. She had tried creating a shield on instinct when they'd first approached the Canyons, not yet understanding why she disliked them so much, understanding only that she had to protect Kohe from something. But even a few minutes of keeping the shield up had exhausted her, and she'd had to let it go before long. She wanted to tell Kohe she didn't like it here, that she wanted to leave, but she knew Kohe didn't like it here either, liked it even less that Tai didn't like it. And she knew this was the place Kohe had been dreaming about for long, cold years. No. She could not abandon her sister here.

But neither could she stop shivering.

She started slightly when Kohe spoke, then quickly moved up next to her, slipping her hand into her sister's without looking at her. Her wings trailed on the ground behind her and she couldn't seem to summon the energy to smile.

But she pulled up the shield. It was weak, thin, barely enough to protect them against another Canaris, let alone Darkness itself.

But there was nothing else she could do. She had to protect Kohe. And she could not abandon this corner of the world to life without hope. Or Hope.
 
"Tai, stop. You will exhaust yourself." Kohe admonished softly, giving her sister's hand a gentle squeeze, but her mismatched eyes were serious in their warning. "I know you feel it and I know it scares you. I scares me, too, but it is not a threat to us. Not yet and you need to save your strength for when there is a threat." And there would be. Kohe knew there would be and she'd just told Tai the same in her own way, knowing her little sister would understand the message for what it was. And Kohe hated that she had to say it at all, that they had to be here...but this was where it all started. It would be here that their true fates would start to unravel into the paths that would lead them to redemption or destruction.

Kohe had waited twenty years to be here and she would not turn back now.

She was not afraid of this place and she was not afraid of the Darkness. No, what was the Darkness but another species? Another threat that could be turned to an ally? No, the Ashkerai did not scare Kohe, it was the chance, the great possibility of failing what she knew she and Tai had to do that scared her so thoroughly. They were not just changing the present, but the future and the past all wrapped up in one jumble for their mates came from different points in time, Rask did and who knew who else would follow. If time was to change and not collapse in on itself regarding these paths, then careful steps were needed.

And she knew not everyone was going to be careful.

THAT'S what terrified Kohe, but she let Tai think it was the Darkness because right now that was all Tai could handle. It's all her sister needed to know right now and even that was nearly more than the younger Demisan could tolerate at the moment. Kohe didn't blame her for that. Tai was Hope and Tai fed off light and love and laughter. She would not survive long in a place like this, felt vulnerable and weak. She knew that about her sister and Kohe also knew that in time, Tai would discover a way to draw light from within herself, not just outwardly. Kohe knew that Tai would find out that as a source of hope, Tai WAS light.

But that wasn't today and the older Demisan pressed in closer to her sibling, offering comfort, sending waves of light and love, warmth and comfort along their wordless connection, knowing that Tai needed it and badly.

"It will be all right, Pejkia."

Kohe said the words and then snapped her head up, sharp hearing catching the sounds of approaching feet, many of them. The creatures that came racing down the canyon walls like ants were unlike any animal she'd ever seen before, but somehow Kohe knew their name; Icehounds. They numbered nearly fifteen and then gave piercing shriek-like whistles that bounced off the rock walls as they bared sharp fangs. The one in the very front leaped and Kohe's hand came up without thought, an invisible force making the animal fly back with an almost humanoid kind of scream before it hit the canyon wall.

The rest of the Icehounds stopped them, showing a remarkable intelligence and they paced and circled and kept a constant streaming sound of a screech in that back of their throats as they seemed to wait for something. Kohe knew they wouldn't be waiting long and her eyes flickered to the middle of the path even before a dark shadow, blacker than pitch came to settled there and then grew into a solid form. It was a male with long black-blue hair and cold brown eyes, regarding the two sisters with calculating interest even as his hand settled on the head of one of the Icehounds, the others quieting just slightly at his presence.

It was the first time either Demisan - and perhaps anyone since Rora and Mori that day on the battle field - had seen an Ashkerai in flesh. Kohe knew it wouldn't be the last....and she knew this was the one, this was Tai's mate, even as he spoke. Chills erupted on her skin and a nauseous feeling clenched in her stomach, tightening her chest as the presence of Time Energy washed over her, threatening to make her ill with the sheer amount of it cloying around the male.

Her hand tightened on Tai's as Kohe fought not to be sick.

"Well, well, and here I thought my hounds wouldn't find any interesting prey today. You're Demisan, right?" His smile was not friendly.

And Kohe knew that the truth was that he already knew what they were, who they were. The switch had taken place with him already and it was this version, this personality of Tai's mate they had to be wary of.
 
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Tai had never been afraid of another person in her life, and she was coming quickly to find she did not like the feeling in the slightest. It was entirely close to those horrible black feelings that had cropped up the night Kohe had come back from her first jump -- feelings like anger, hatred, loathing, blame. Feelings that made her want to hurt another living thing, and that feeling alone was enough to fill her with a cold dread.

Tai was an Empath through and through. Though her empathy was not as strong or far-reaching as her mother's, nor was it her primary ability, it was flexible, broad in a way neither Aavan nor Cerebrae had ever seen before, and Tai adored it. It meant that even deflecting the Canaris with her shield had struck a cord deep inside her, one that rang with understanding at the beast's fury and hunger, the base desire to hunt, the need to eat. It meant she went out of her way to avoid stepping on insects, and that she watched with an expression of mingled sadness and regret as the first creature tossed aside by Kohe bounded away. It meant she was able to do precisely what Lyra had instructed all those years ago. It made her good with people, just like it made her spontaneous and courageous and trusting and altruistic to a fault. It meant she could see through people, like a mind-reader, knowing things, like Kohe, albeit in her own way.

It meant she was keenly aware of her sister's nausea and her own fear, and of who and what the person who now stood before them was.

In him, she felt no light, no laughter, no hope, no love. In him, there was only darkness, and beneath that, hatred and blame.

Fear.

She felt the bond she'd formed with him to stop Kohe's pain, too, but now, for the first time, she could not understand it. She couldn't understand him.

It scared her.

Tai watched, wide-eyed, as he stood before them, sneering, smug, cold -- both physically and emotionally -- and for a moment, she couldn't speak. She had never been afraid of someone before. But with this person, literally crafted of Darkness, she could find no other way to empathize.

Still.

She tried. For Kohe, she tried. She tried, because she knew she wasn't perfect, just like she knew -- knew -- people weren't bad. People felt bad things, and sometimes did bad things, but there was always, always a reason. She tried because some small part of her, without even realizing it, recalled reaching out to one thousand and one Ashkerai twenty years ago, and finding something good. Something light.

She turned briefly to smile at her sister, taking her eyes from the Ashkerai (though she kept the little light about them tense, ready for defense) for just a moment.

And then she turned back to him and swallowed hard and smiled and extended a hand and stepped forward. In front of Kohe. Just a little.

"H-hi," she said uncertainly, then louder. Because whatever Tai was, whoever she was, she loved people. All of them. Even Ashkerai. She was almost certain.

"I'm Tai. And this is Kohe. She's my sister. You're right. We're Demisan. And..and we've...been traveling a long time. My sister's sick. Can you...do you have any water?"
 
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It was a different instinct entirely that made Kohe move.

Not being Time. Not being Cerebrae. It was Aavanian instinct, a sense of danger, the raising of her hair along her neck, that told her the male would move before he did.

He lunged for Tai and Kohe grabbed her sister, pulling her back against her even as the elder twin raised her hand. It seemed that two concussive forces met then in an impact that shattered the air in a silent wave, the power more felt than heard or even seen as Kohe's eyes flashed purple and the Ashkerai's smoldered black from their original brown. The Ashkerai had stopped in his movement, but he didn't look concerned by what Kohe was doing, a smile spreading across his face.

"You can't send me back, Koheera. You're not strong enough. Tairisa's not strong enough." he hissed and the Demisan merely smiled back, just as self-satisfied, just as challenging. She was not disturbed that he knew her name, knew Tai's name. Of course he did. "And you're not strong enough to kill us. Not yet and you know it. So stop playing games and wasting moves you can't possibly accomplish."

The male chuckled, the sound dark and somehow dropping the temperature, but he withdrew his power first and Kohe did the same, loosening her grip on Tai, speaking only to her sister, but looking away from the Ashkerai, recognizing he'd no longer be a threat as he'd turned away from them and was examining the Icehound Kohe had thrown against the canyon wall.

"This Ashkerai is your mate, Tai, but not like this. He is even as he's not. This version of him came from the future, kind of like Uncle Rask. He's been sent to kill us, but right now is too soon and he doesn't know it, but our deaths is not the only path he can take. We're here to show him that, to change him for the better, just like you said. You did the right thing, trying to speak to him." She touched her sister's cheek gently, reassuringly. "He won't try anything again and being with him in this place will actually keep us safe."

She knew it didn't make sense, but hoped Tai would trust her.

"Are you two coming? I assume the two princesses didn't travel all this way by their little selves to turn back now." The voice made the Demisan looked back to the male and sure enough, he had climbed up a ways on the rock's side, silent as a wraith, and was looking down at them with that irritating smirk that Kodi knew she'd never be able to tolerate.

Tai would see past that, though. Tai could do those things. Kohe...found it much more difficult.

The male raised a brow, smirking, looking directly to Tai. "Well? You did say you wanted water for your precious, sick sister." He meant it to mock and Kohe rolled her eyes, but started after him, taking Tai's hand as she did, wanting to keep her sister close, partly because she was Time and she knew that Tai was out of her element right now, that she didn't understand. Not yet. But also because she was her twin and Kohe wanted her near....because Kohe was scared, too, and trying to be brave.

"You never told us your name."

The Ashkerai laughed, not turning back to look at them again, Icehounds swarming him, running ahead, coming up behind the twins and his reply was as cold and provoking as anything else he'd said up until now. "I suppose you aught to know the name of the one who will kill you. It's Eliko."

"Hmm, I wouldn't be so sure you'll kill us, Eliko. Time isn't set in stone, not even paths already taken."

For just a moment, just a brief one, the Ashkerai glanced back, sharply, and there was something other than smug, arrogant confidence in his eyes. There was uncertainty.

And then he was facing forward again and nothing further was said.
 
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Kohe was right in suspecting Tai did not at all comprehend the conversation -- banter on the surface, threats deeper down -- going on between her sister and her 'mate', the Ashkerai. She had kept quiet through his suspected attack, lurching forward only when she thought he'd hurt Kohe, determined to keep them both from harm, for reasons she could not explain. Kohe was easy. Kohe was her sister, her beautiful, brave, powerful sister.

This stranger...was none of those things. The bravery he put on was a facade built of an affected kind of power and strength -- real enough in themselves, but worn like a mask instead of an asset. And while the Ashkerai was not unattractive (not that those things had ever mattered, or even really made themselves known to Tai), there was too much cruelty in his dark eyes and in his smile for her to see anything but darkness there.

And she was still afraid. There was no longer that cloying feeling of suspense, or at least not as suffocating as it had been. But the Canyons were still dark and cold and hateful. There was still not enough love here, not enough light or laughter. The kind the Ashkerai bought did not count.

She had nodded in quiet, if bemused, acquiescence to Kohe's revelation that that Ashkerai was her mate. Yes, she knew, if only because she could sense the bond she'd formed, very, very deep down inside him, like he was not even aware of it, or of her. In fact, it was so twisted, so recessed, even Tai had barely recognized it, and it was only when Kohe revealed that the Ashkerai was meant to kill them she realized just what it was she and Kohe were meant to do.

She had followed reluctantly then, suspecting Kohe needed her, and beyond that, the Ashkerai needed her. She did not want to be needed by him. It was difficult for Tai not to like anyone, let alone not to love them right away. But he was unrooting new things in her, first and foremost, a mild concern that he and Kohe did not seem to like each other. Her first instinct, as always, was to mediate, the step in and fix the fighting, to infuse love and calm and understanding into every fiber of their separate beings, so they might see each other as more than adversaries, and perhaps come to understand each other as Tai did everyone.

But she could not understand him, or not beyond the cold her carried, and Kohe would likewise not yield.

She frowned slightly as she and Kohe followed, her thumb gently massaging the back of her sister's hand, now offering what warmth she could.

"It's okay, 'setta. He won't hurt us. I won't let him. I just...we just have to talk to him."

She did not know if it was true. But she would certainly try.

"She is sick," she insisted quietly. Not arguing, but genuinely trying to explain. "But she'll be alright." Tai studied the Ashkerai's back a moment, and then smiled a little. Tai could be infuriating in her refusal to take offense at things, particularly where offense was meant. But Lyra had taught her well, if unintentionally, and while she sensed a great deal of anger and cruelty in this Ashkerai, she also sensed things behind it. Big things. She couldn't read them yet. But she would.

"You'll be alright, too, you know," Tai added gently, knowing he would not see that she was trying to help. Not yet, anyway. "We can help you. You don't have to do any of this alone." She looked at Kohe, and then Eliko, and she smiled, and for just a second, the temperature around them seemed to rise again.

"No one has to be alone."
 
"We're not going in there."

They'd climbed the canyons for nearly two hours before coming to a cavern that instantly turned nearly black only a few feet in. It radiated a tangible cold that seemed to breathe over Kohe's skin and her tail automatically raised in a strike maneuver, everything in her crawling over itself to get away from the darkness within. She'd spoken without hesitation, rather calmly considering how she felt about the place that made the nausea within her claw its way to her throat and the fear spike.

If this was what it was doing to her....she could only guess what it was doing to Tai and Kohe stepped in front of her sister, reaching back to take her twin's hand, offering reassurance, strength as the Icehounds disappeared into the cavern and Eliko looked back at the sisters, a cruel smile at his lips.

"Who said you had choice?"

Kohe's eyes snapped fire. "We're not prisoners."

"Oh? And what gave you that idea?" A brow rose, challenging and Eliko's brown eyes glittered, just searching for an excuse to enforce the power he held. Kohe wasn't going to give it to him, though, something in her demeanor growing harder, harsher, colder and she KNEW Tai would not like it, would not understand it, but THIS was the position that Kohe had to take with Eliko. SHE could not bring him back, could not make him better, make him what he could be. Only Tai could do that. Right now, the elder twin was the buffer between the two, giving Eliko something to lash out at, keeping him on a leash and muzzled so he couldn't cause harm.

It was Tai's fate to try and tame him.

The Demisan gave him a small smile, just as devious as anything he'd directed their way. "Fine. Take us in there and see just what you unleash on your people." There was an edge of crackling power at the edge of her words, in her eyes, over her skin and the Ashkerai's smiled dropped, a far more serious coldness about him, a touch of true danger.

Because no matter what Eliko was, loyal to his people he would never fail to be. It was a new kind of emotion perhaps for Tai's power to latch on to. It was something different than hatred, stronger than his drive to kill them. His people were everything to him and everything he did, he felt he was doing for them, for their good.

And Kohe knew it was a weak point. Oh, Tai might be able to use that weakness to bring about good, but right now, Kohe was exploiting it without remorse to keep the Ashkerai in check.

"You wouldn't." He nearly growled it and it was Time who smiled, flecks of glowing, flaring purple in scarlet and sapphire eyes. "Oh, you confuse me with my twin. See, Tai is Hope. She is peace and love, compassion, forgiveness and joy. She is everything that is good in this world. I'm not. She would never harm anyone unprovoked and even then, she might refrain. I wouldn't hesitate." There was no lie to her words and that more than anything was what finally made Eliko back down, just a little.

No, they could not destroy each other, the three of them, not yet, but his people...had no defense against someone like Kohe. Their only shield was him. Just as Kohe was Tai's shield. Those were the roles the Ashkerai and the elder Demisan played against each other right now and it couldn't be any different until Tai got through to Eliko. She didn't have to convince Kohe. She already knew.

It was the male that needed to come back from the brink of destruction.

Eliko smirked, his brown eyes dark with loathing, but cunning also. "Pity you weren't born an Ashkerai, Koheera. You have the heart of one." He did not miss the way she flinched and nearly purred his satisfaction for it even as the Demisan spoke again, holding her ground on the matter.

"We're not going in there."

The male shrugged, turning away with all the deadly grace of the Canaris that had chased them in the jungle. "Very well. Then find yourself a shallow cave if that's what suites you."
 
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Tai had remained quiet as they climbed, half saving her energy, half observing. The Canyons had grown no kinder, and neither had she quite aclimatized to their strange, cold darkness. But her attention was now more captured by their new...companion did not seem the right word, though with anyone else, she'd not have hesitated to call him a friend.

But he was different than anyone she'd ever met. There had been no instant smile and laugh at her introduction. The tension did not ease from his shoulders when she spoke, nor did the calm she tried to exude seem to have any effect. He was not comfortable with her as others were, did not take to her immediately, and she to him, as she was used to. Their seemed to be almost a barrier between her that she found alarming at the very least. In fact, for once, he seemed more suited for talk with Kohe...though Kohe had insisted he was her mate.

For the first time, she began to doubt her sister. Oh, she trusted Kohe...but she also knew her sister had been under a strange strain in the last weeks, terrified of something not even Tai could understand. Kohe had never been wrong before, but if ever she was to be, wouldn't now be the time? There was nothing between Tai and Eliko but coldness, and dark, and all manner of things that made Tai flinch away. And Tai never flinched away. She may not be hope, but she was Empathy, and empathy was good and kind and understanding. How was she to help the Ashkerai if she could not even get near him?

But all of her curiosity and concern was soon shrouded in absolute, stark fear as their journey appeared to near an end. Tai felt the cave before she saw it, and was only able to keep walking because she did not want to leave Kohe.

She was stammering it almost before Kohe could even speak, her hand in her sister's, clutched tight to keep it from trembling.

"Kohe? I...I can't go in there, I can't, it's too dark, it's too cold, I don't...don't want to...please, let's find another way..."
But her sister was already arguing with the Ashkerai for that same thing, and while Tai hated the tension there, she had to hold her breath to keep from sobbing with relief.

At least until the two began to bristle and fight again, and then Tai was pouring out as much warmth and comfort as she could still draw up, this near to that cloying darkness in the cave. It was not much, perhaps more than she could afford, but she had no choice in the matter. It was as if something deep down inside her -- something whispered luxamos and then flitted away before she could decipher what it meant -- recognized the strength, the power in these two...and what they would come to mean to her. The two most important people in her life, and even Tai, especially Tai could not stand to see either of them unhappy. Even the darkness was worth that much.

"We'll go," she blurted as the Ashkerai turned away. She stepped up beside her sister, and then around her sister, though she kept a firm grip on Kohe's hand and shivered at the renewed touch of the darkness.

"We...we can manage," she said, offering a smile that did not quite touch her eyes. She turned cautiously toward Kohe, knowing she couldn't and wouldn't do anything unless the older Demisan was comfortable with it. And she had not like the words that Eliko had put on her. Tai could see that.

"He's wrong," she said quietly, reaching out with a more earnest smile and a gently trembling hand to smooth Kohe's hair from her eyes. "To try and wound you. But his words hold a deeper meaning, too, 'setta. No one can know your heart like I can. I know what you are, and I know what you are not. He meant to hurt you. But you know what an Ashkerai can be. He means you have the heart of a warrior, of someone willing to die for everything they love. That is you more than any I've ever met."

She chewed her lip, looking back to Eliko, and then Kohe again. "He only hurts because he is afraid. Because...because he loves his people as you love me." She knew it was true as soon as she spoke, and the words both surprised and comforted her. The Ashkerai was still far beyond anything she had encountered before...but there was love in his heart. Love, light, loyalty. And if she could understand that, she could begin to understand him.

"I won't let him hurt us, Kohe. I won't leave you alone. But...I don't think we should leave him alone, either."
 
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"Do make up your minds, princesses."

The remark was scathing and Eliko meant it be, looking back at the twins, almost unable to believe he was standing in front of them...and yet thoroughly unimpressed at the same time. After all the legends and lessons, the training and pain he'd gone through, the Ashkerai had expected...more. Oh, he could sense their power and Kohe had been right: no one of the three of them were near enough to full strength to destroy each other, but power or no...they were not what he'd been expecting.

Not at all.

They were young.

He supposed that made sense, but it was still a surprise. It didn't particularly matter, though. He'd kill them just the same, would have done so if they'd been INFANTS. That didn't bother him. It was just...odd. All the information he'd been given had him believing the twins were older, more....well, MORE. The elder one almost was. The Midnight within him could feel it, the power she held, on the cusp of truly being a lethal threat, but the younger?

Oh, he knew she was who he'd been waiting for, just like her twin, but...she was different. Her power was...new, like a fledgling bird still in the nest, just beginning to wonder if it should approach the edge, if it should consider flying. Kohe's power was already on the edge, ready to launch into flight, but it waited for something.

Or rather, someone, Eliko would guess. For Tai's power because as the legend said, they were two halves of a whole. Yin and Yang as an old Earth-term went. The younger twin wasn't ready yet. That was clear. She was too...scared. Not at all confident like had been described to him.

And there was something fascinating about that. Something within him, something foreign and unwelcome, but persistent, equally as stubborn as the rest of his mind - perhaps even more so - was curious about the younger twin. The elder was behaving with the same kind of hostility he was showing - what he'd been expecting all along - but the one with white-purple hair was...sweet. There was no other word for it. She was just sweet, trying to pacify. He could feel her power washing over him, warmth and comfort, trying to appease and while he was shielded from it, was not effected by it as the Midnight didn't allow him to be, it still piqued his interest despite himself.

It was as if his will wasn't entirely his own...or as if there were two wills in the same body.

That was alarming.

--

Tai's words froze Kohe's blood and she looked at her sister with eyes that did not widen, did not show alarm or even distress, but they stared and her younger sibling would FEEL the fear that coiled through the older Demisan's chest. It was not the dark that Kohe feared, but rather what she knew was in the dark - and it wasn't the Ashkerai like Tai would assume. No, it was something else, something she could sense in Eliko himself and she knew that to make contact with it....would hurt her.

Her sister would be able to handle it. It might harm Tai, too, but Tai....could relate to it. Tai was it's opposite, but she would be able to UNDERSTAND it. Kohe could not. It was something she could not fight as effectively and it filled her with an icy dread that she was trying hard to keep from her expression.

She didn't want to go in.

Kohe hadn't been bluffing with Eliko. She could cause devastation to his PEOPLE. But the Midnight? No, she couldn't effectively fight that and she didn't want to be closer to it, already feeling the hairs on her body stand on end at just the part Eliko carried within him. But Tai was saying they could go in.....and Kohe trusted Tai even as she knew her sister didn't fully understand the stakes here yet. But maybe that was a good thing. Maybe it was Kohe who knew TOO much and she should trust Tai's instincts.

So it was that the elder twin found herself nodding, accepting her sister's words, swallowing down the chilling fear within herself. "All right. We'll go in, but Tai...he is meant to be yours, but...he's not yours yet. Be careful."

She did not acknowledge Tai's reassurance about Eliko's words because she knew that while one could see a deeper meaning within them - someone like Tai who was good and kind, who wanted to see the best in people - Kohe knew they hadn't been meant like that. No, they'd been meant exactly as they were said and the Demisan knew they were somewhat true. There WAS a darkness in Kohe, something she didn't like her sister to see, but it was there. It had to be there. She was Time and Time was not good, but nor was it bad. It had aspects of both, of righteousness and evil, it had to be both, have equal measures of both and therefore, Kohe knew she could be terrible indeed.

Just as surely as she could be good. She just wasn't afraid to be either, not hesitating one over the other and that was something she didn't want Tai truly realizing yet.

The white-black haired Demisan sighed and looked to Eliko who was watching them with an unreadable expression, arms crossed. A brows rose. "Well? I don't have all day to babysit you."

Kohe grinned. "Oh, that's too bad because I think you'll have to. Get over it and lead the way, Ashkerai."
 
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Tai felt the spike in her sister's fear like a fist to the gut, and more than likely gave herself away by whirling abruptly to look at Kohe, afraid something had already attacked her sister.

She didn't understand Kohe's fear. She didn't know what she was afraid of, but she knew it was something big and bad. It was greater than the darkness, and maybe even greater than the Darkness. That was what Tai feared. It was a simple, basic fear, that came simply from the element so opposite her own enveloping her, swallowing her whole. It was so much more here than it had been in the Canyons, and with Kohe's fear, Tai found herself second guessing her decision to let them go. She could handle her own fear -- Tai had always been weaker, more dependent than her big sister. It was natural that she should be afraid of something so simple, so ineffective as the dark. But Kohe? Kohe was smart and strong. If she was afraid of something...it was bad.

And Tai didn't want to put her sister in danger.

She was just thinking she should back out, testing whether she could carry her sister away if she flew, and how far and how fast and how long...when something happened.

Eliko said something again, more picking on her sister, and Kohe picking back, and on instinct, Tai tried to soothe, to warm -- not just her sister, but the Ashkerai as well, oblivious or uncaring that she could do nothing for him. She squeezed her sister's hand, and looked back to the Ashkerai...and found him looking, staring at her.

Inside, the moment took her aback. She could not read the expression on his face, but it was not the same as the sadistic grin he had been wearing thus far. It was not friendly, quite, but neither was it cold. Instead, it was...vaguely interested, if only a mild interest. Inside, Tai was startled, and then curious.

But outside, Tai was...Tai.

She knew she was not and would never be as powerful as her sister. That was fine with her. If anyone was to wield such power, it would be Kohe, who could be graceful and strong and impartial and fair like Tai could never be. Her sister was a born leader. Tai just wanted to be everyone's friend.

And while the young Empath had power of her own, it was her charm that had won so many hearts from her birth and on through her life. It was something she was almost naively unaware of, the way she drew people to her, even without her Empathy. Her smile could light a room, her laugh, the world. And in that instant she'd found Eilko staring, while the small part of her logical mind had been stunned, the rest of her had simply seen an opportunity. Someone who went beyond just frightening her. A person looking for a friend.

And she'd smiled.

Eliko had looked away in the same moment Tai realized what she was doing and frowned, more confused then upset. She stared at him another moment longer, as if trying to puzzle something out. But the moment had passed, and Kohe's fear was greater.

She turned back to her sister, a different smile on her face, as she started to soothe instinctively.

But there was more light, more warmth about her now. Tai didn't, couldn't recognize it, but that brief interaction with the Ashkerai had brought her something, something valuable and far more powerful in her hands than she would realize for some time.

And with it, she called up a shield around herself and her sister. It was not as strong as she might have been able to produce in the light, away from the darkness and the It her sister was afraid of. But it would, she hoped, take the brunt of the pain, the fear, from Kohe. That was all that mattered.

Tai smiled again and brushed a strand of hair behind Kohe's ear.

"C'mon, Setta. It'll be okay. I think...I think I can shield us from It a little bit. From the darkness and...and the other stuff."

She took her sister's hand, and she squeezed it and smiled and led them forward into the cave.

And she would not know for some time that the Ashkaerai she so feared had given her what she needed to protect her sister.

He had given her hope.
 
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----

"Pejkia?"

No response.

"Tai?...Tai, are you listening to me?" As if Kohe didn't already know the answer to the question as her eyes followed where her sister's focus was. Sure enough, Eliko was in the cavern, checking on one of the Icehounds that was close to whelping. It was the only time the two sisters ever saw the Ashkerai display patience, gentleness or concern - when he was interacting with his hounds whom he seemed to care for deeply. It was more than Kohe had witnessed regarding his interaction with his people.

They'd been here three days and Kohe had seen nothing but coldness, fear, anger, harshness from one Ashkerai to another, and Eliko seemed to be the most violent perpetrator. His people feared him and it was clear to see, but what Kohe could not see, what she did not understand were the reasons behind it.

But Tai did.

Where Kohe saw fear, Tai knew it was of the unknown. This version of their Prince, they did not know, did not understand. The violence was born of that fear and most of the time it was centered with ten to fifteen soldiers who enjoyed bringing chaos. Where Kohe saw nothing but darkness, cold and harsh, Tai looked beyond and saw something more. She saw the reasons, the emotions, the motivation that drove these people.

Like how Eliko didn't seem to have a connection to anyone, almost acting as if he was lost in his own world, with all the Ashkerai around him. As if the love he had for his people...was somehow misplaced, not here, but somewhere else, for someone else. Perhaps those he'd left in the future, those he'd known.

And it was Tai who was slowly opening Kohe's eyes not to what could be or what had been, but what WAS concerning the Ashkerai. She was making Kohe see individuals, not just the whole and see not just the individual, but the heart of that person. It was Tai who'd helped their mother all those years ago in the war. Not Kohe who could see so much and yet felt so little of it, but Tai, who could only see the now, but who saw so much of the now that she brightened the world with what she knew and brought clarity wherever she went.

It was clarity, Tai had explained one night in their cavern, that Eliko needed.

And Kohe had only nodded in agreement before going to sleep, curled up with her sibling to stave off the chill as well as to protect - and truthfully, to be protected. She had thought about those words often, though, as they explored the caverns, always making sure they looked at the unique markings on the 'doorways' that Eliko had reluctantly shown them after Tai had almost fallen down a cavern hole. He'd grabbed her, hauling her back with ease into his chest and his arm had stayed around her waist for just a fraction of a second longer than it should have. Afterward, he'd released her with something almost verging on a shove back into Kohe's waiting embrace, but he'd not gotten away with the rescue as the elder Demisan had raised a brow, reminding him that they were supposed to die. So why had he acted at all?

Eliko's reply had been that he wanted the pleasure of killing them himself before he'd left. That had been just two days ago.

And since then, Kohe had taken note of the way Tai watched him. It pleased the elder twin, but concerned her as well.....hence why she was trying to explain something to Tai now....without much success.

"Tai!" This time Kohe reached out and grabbed her sister's arm, pulling just slightly so Tai's elbow bent, nearly sending her toppling backward. Kohe tilted her head then with a grin at her young sibling, the expression something Tai would have not seen in days for Kohe was on edge in this place, surrounded not only by hostile Ashkerai who only left them alone because Eliko had killed the first two who protested his orders, but by the Midnight as well, stronger down here, pressing on her. On Tai as well, but just as Kohe had thought...her sister knew how to fight it without even knowing she was.

Just be seeing the good in those around her.

"Hello there. You were lost in dreamland again." was the tease before Kohe raised a brow, glancing from Eliko to her sister. "Are you going to listen to me or should I just call Eliko over, hmm?"
 
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