Let's Play!

That was just the problem, though: Kiaati wasn't healing. She wasn't even bleeding more than what gravity pushed out. She was literally a walking corpse. Either way, even as Drandar came in she didn't move or seem any like any of her pain had been alleviated.



It wasn't until daybreak that she did anything at all. However, when she did, it nearly scared the pants off of everyone inside the cave. With fingers knotted into her hair and eyes scrunched tight, Kiaati began to shriek with no notice whatsoever. Her ruined voice made the sound all the more gut-wrenching. As she tossed her head from side to side, some of the screams were wordless. Some were not.



"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! GO AWAY! LEAVE ME ALONE!"



Drandar had backed up against the wall instinctively upon waking, and Ariel was just clinging to him, staring at the woman in horror.

Zandra returned inside the cave, watching kiaati without much emotion touching her face. Honestly the former demon queen had so many thoughts running through her head right now she'd bed hard pressed to show just one emotion anyway.

Brushing at her dirty, dusty knees Zandra sat between Drandar and Kiaati. She reached over, place her hand over the obnoxiously wailing mouth. She waited, either to be bitten or to at least get the dilapidated human's attention.

" The rest of us aren't dead yet, but if you keep that up we will be. I'll die for my child or even my fiancee, but I'll not let my friend just hand us over for slaughter. You must stop."

No matter psychotic breakdown that she was having. Zandra waited for Kiaati to listen to her, or a sign that she'd have to silence Kiaati by her own means. Either way, once the human was no longer creating an enemy summoning ruckus, Zandra would slide Ariel onto her back.

"We'll have to leave, now."

Because anyone wanting to locate the rebels just got a great big hint. Zandra didn't offer anything else to her love, starting off towards the hazy forest fog in the pitch-black night.

Drandar slowly stood up, moving towards Zandra with Xamien's hand held in his own.

"What are we going to do about her?" he asked softly with a slight gestured towards Kiaati.

It was a running theme, especially with Drandar, assuming that Kiaati existed in at least partial madness. However, that had only ever been the case once, and only for a short time. At the moment she was being harassed by some spirits that had come to look at the Chaotic Chi that existed between their world and that of the living. News had spread quickly from the one that had stumbled across her on the beach, and though no single one could stay more than thirty minutes, the constant shifting presences were only adding to Kiaati's torment.

One of the spirits that could not be seen by the rest of the group grew angry with her denial. It yanked her backward by the hair, and Kiaati's unnatural limbs lashed out as she fell from her crouched position. She struck away the spirits and clambered through them, past all of the beings, living or dead. She paused at the door to look back at them despite the spirit gale whipping the jagged, bone white locks about her face, and that face held a clarity it had lacked a moment before. With that clarity came a seething bitterness, though.

"I'm not your friend."

Zandra had said so herself.

"And it's not like it matters. You'll die eventually, and it'll be a blessing for you. He'll be kind and gentle and doting with you because you're a demon - all precious and prized and coming out on top."

It was only all of Zandra's stitching and bandaging that was currently allowing Kiaati to support her own weight and move around, but Kiaati used that to make her body stumble into the fog. But just pushing through the pain didn't mean that it wasn't there. Tears trickled occasionally down either cheek as she threw herself from one tree trunk to the next. The son she had missed so terribly had been taken care of, given to people that would take care of him. The people she had once considered friends had said their peace and done what they came to do. And none of it had been for her. The child's voice within her wept for this, screaming words inside her that she had long ago forgotten. It begged for someone - anyone - to help her.

Zandra watched the human, glancing to Drandar.

"And then they wonder how they become prey."

She turned to look at Xamien, wanting to just walk away from the child. Considering his second mother was presently trying to turn into a zombie, Zandra let things be.

"I'm no more treasured then you. My genetic make up isn't the item in question. But come along then, human. Because we have work to accomplish."

Free the other humans, ones that might actually appreciate it.

Kiaati slowly turned, dragging her eyes to Zandra as though it took every ounce of effort.

"Human..." she repeated faintly.

"You say you're not any more than me, but you reduce me down to what I was... Don't you see the contradiction in your own words?"

She was hurting. Her heart... Each word ripped through her like she was nothing but paper. She could hear the wind and the taunting voices of spirits and real voices of people she had once trusted with her life, all tearing her down. Faintly like a niggling, buzzing song in her ear, she moved towards Chaos, as the Chis so often did. She lurched and after a moment of unnatural impossibility had wrestled Zandra to the ground, trying to pry away a weapon to stab with. She just wanted it to go away. If only she could make it be quiet. Didn't Zandra see? She wouldn't last long enough to do whatever work. Kiaati longed for it, for every the tiniest sliver of peace. She just wanted it to stop hurting. She had for the moment drifted towards true madness.

Drandar ripped the woman off, hurling her into the tree. Something cracked, but Kiaati slowly began dragging herself up again, sobbing as she did so.

"What the heck?!"

Zandra wasn't the sort to do that with. One moment she was close to killing Kiaati herself. The next she wanted to lift the dear friend into her arms and comfort in every way she possibly could. Attacking her wasn't going to push her in the right direction.

The look Zandra leveled at Kiaati now was something off pure contempt. The former queen reached back to ensure Ariel was alright. After that Zandra stepped towards Kiaati with slow, deliberately heavy steps.

"I would not do that again if I were you. Now come on."

She glanced to Drandar.

"She acts like that again we'll have to bind her."

And likely treat her much more 'human' like.

Glares and threats made little difference to Kiaati. She turned a bit more to face the woman, wiping blood from the corner of her mouth.

"No," she said firmly and darkly.

"I have given you what you need. I won't serve you."



Drandar's brow furrowed as he looked between the two: the human rebel and the demon queen. It was like they were playing parodies of themselves, icons built up by rumor and reputation alone.

"Guys, stop. You can't do this."

Zandra hissed softly.

"I can do whatever I like and this fool thinks she can just randomly attack people. Even the damn people working to keep her hide intact and alive right now. You should serve us with as much damn effort we've had to put into you."

It was anger speaking. Anger, fueled by frustration, exhaustion, hunger, fatigue, stress, and even surrender. The trio were being purposely broken once more.

"Instead we treat you as an equal, follow you as a leader, kept you as a friend. For what? Failure."

Kiaati raged at her with equal force.

"I'm not alive! I gave you every ounce of effort that I had. I DIED for all of you. I lost my only chance at peace because of you while you can still have whatever you want. Life. Love. Happiness. Death. Peace. I won't give you any more. I can't."

More of the stitches holding her together popped as she moved, but she didn't even notice. It was hardly a drop in the bucket.

"But I guess that's my fault. My fault for ever thinking that my kind and your kind could peacefully coexist. My fault for letting you fool me into trusting you. I see you for what you are now, and it's my own fault for being so let down by that. Once a monster, always a monster."

And she jerked, one of the gashes ripping back open, bone showing in her thigh as she pushed off with it, disappearing into the mist.

Drandar just stared.

"Zandra... She's harmless. Why...?"



Kiaati ran for a while before just slowing to an uneven, limping shamble. She had work to do. She had to finish...

Zandra silently walked after Kiaati. She reached to forcefully stop the human. Even as the former queen put the Picasso of a person back together again, she was thinking. She could handle anything Kiaati could dish out right now.

Eventually she stood her temper settled, Kiaati sedated. She just picked up the human to resume walking.

"Hate is a powerful emotion. It might be the only thing keeping Kiaati going."

Zandra eventually shared with her fiancee as they walked through dawn into dusk.

Kiaati fought the woman this time, beating at her any time she tried to touch her. At least, that was, until the woman succumbed to the toxins paralyzing her. Her blood wasn't flowing, but they spread slowly anyhow, keeping her from being able to work her muscles. She could not speak, could not breathe, but could not sleep either. Distantly, though a wall of impossible pain, she was aware of their words.

Drandar was quiet for a while, thinking really hard.

"Hate does terrible things to people, though. Hate might even be what started all of this. And Kiaati..."

He rubbed the back of his head, feeling uncomfortable.

"I've never seen her so out of control. I don't think I've ever seen her hate. I mean, she was trying to make things better for everyone. Hate doesn't seem to go with that... what if it's not keeping her going? What if it's the hate that's destroying her? What if we lose her to it... for real and for good?"

Zandra shrugged.

"She's losing anyway, Drandar. We can't stop it quick enough. I can't keep patching a corpse forever. That's all she really is.... And neither life, nor death will claim her right now."

Zandra was so tired, emotionally and physically. That didn't stop the worn soul as she kept walking. She knew they needed as much distance as possible right now, knowing they needed to get back to where Kiaati started as soon as possible.

"Besides, if she hates me, she'll have someone other then herself to blame if we fail. Perhaps hating me will give her peace when she is finally allowed to rest in peace."

As angry as she had gotten earlier, as many emotions tried to get the best of her; logic won. Kiaati was her friend, and her friend deserved to rest in the end.

Zandra would keep pushing them to walk, keeping up with Kiaati's sedatives. She eventually had to stop a couple hours shy of sunrise, starting to stumble into trees

"Just rest. I'll keep her from going anywhere."

Drandar helped to get them settled.

"We'll figure something out. We always do."



Kiaati's dry lips shuddered out a sentence later that night before the rest of her could even really move.

"You don't know."

It was that simple. They didn't know what she actually thought or felt. They didn't know what she was going through. They just didn't know.

Zandra was battling exhaustion as Kiaati spoke. She slowly closed her eyes as those words haunted her fitful sleep. No matter how tired Zandra was, she thrashed about. After only a handful of hours she roused enough to realize any further attempts to rest were.


Zandra carefully worked to sort out and braid her hair. The she patiently braided little Ariel's hair. She even braided a couple wildflowers in, kissing the top of the child's head.

"Drandar.... Without Kiaati we can't win...."

She whispered, presently worried for the outcome of their lives if they failed.