A Big Shiny Blue Marble Ch. 47

What she should have been doing now was reaching over her shoulder for her blades, since she'd likely need them in a minute. The application of a little pain was about the only thing that could hold their attention for any length of time. Well, after she'd killed one or two of them.

Instead, she reached for her blades and let them fall to the ground as she walked forward. She was beyond her thoughts of having Shawa and she was farther away than she'd ever been to having Cesar. She was so far gone as she thought back to the very first one that she'd ever held a silent dream of loving.

That was so long ago, and like all of her crushes, not a single thing had ever come of it but her quiet longing and some silent tears on her pillow.

She didn't care anymore. They'd rape her and rip her up six ways from Sunday and if she was still alive in the morning, then it would only be another bright plan of hers which only came to nothing.

But they didn't move; their leers and grins fading from them as they began to back away.

"What the fuck?" Noriko said, "I'm not good enough for this no more?"

"The first one who touches her will get his balls fed to him," a voice growled from behind her, low-down and dripping with menace, "You want to see the last beats of your hearts, motherfuckers, I'll do it for you. I'll even let you hold them as they stop. We ought to have open-season on you worthless fucks."

Noriko turned then and she saw that it was Maria, doing her best to hold down her temper and only barely managing it. Like a lot of them, she stood there with a pair of bandoleros on her, hers crisscrossed over her chest, each loop there holding a shotgun shell, causing her breasts to stand out a little.

She was barehanded for the moment, but that changed in a heartbeat and Noriko saw the cut-down double muzzles winking in the darkness a second or so later as the tall bitch leaned forward a little.

"Boo!" she said and in the next instant, they were alone.

"Maria ... I-"

"You shut up, Noriko," Maria said, though she did try to take the edge out of her voice as she looked at the smaller female for a moment. She sighed heavily to let out the tension then, "Just shut up and pick up your blades."

As Noriko stood up, sliding her weapons back into their scabbards, Maria walked up and put her arm around her shoulders. "What the hell were you doing?" she asked as they walked away, "You know what they'd have done to you. A lot of them would kill you only for the way that you've humiliated them in the past.

Shit," she said, "They'd probably kill you first and THEN fuck you. They're not all that bright, those ones."

Noriko kept her gaze down, "I know that. I was kind of banking on it."

Maria stopped and turned to Noriko, "Why?"

"Me, I'm tired of everything," Noriko said wearily, "I'm not the kind of girl who does single life all that well. I -- I need somebody, and I'm too stupid to find anyone."

She sighed then as she looked at her own feet, "Right then, I just didn' wanna to go on anymore. I been like this for a couple of years now. I lived in a huge house full of people, but I was the loneliest one there. You know that.

I wanted to try for Cesar, but I just never had the guts. Tonight, it's too late."

Maria watched as Noriko raised her head and looked off across the mountains in the moonlit darkness, and she saw the tears which had begun again on that face, "I even had a shot at Shawa. He was so lost -- and I know that he liked me, 'cause I saw the way that he looked hurt when I said something really stupid to him. Now, ..."

She smirked bitterly, "I feel it, Maria. I ain't dead. Rosa is takin' us away, leadin' us to a better place where we can live for ourselves. We're makin' friends, too. Look at all of them demons who came here to join us. Something like this just doesn't happen, this is special -- and it's even a mating moon."

She shrugged then, "I guess there's just not enough magic or whatever this is left over for me, that's all."

"Stupido," Maria said softly, "Maybe that's what I'll call you from now on. While you're so busy kicking the shit out of yourself every bit as hard as my cousin has been, do you think that you have any time to look around at all?"

"Yeah," she shorter one said, "I guess. Why?"

"Oh yeah?" Maria grinned, "Well then you tell me who it is that I sleep with these days."

"That's nuts," Noriko said. "You and Raul, you're so tight --"

She stopped as the suddenly knew that she was wrong. "You're not?"

"Not for long over a year," Maria said, "We just fell apart. We don't hate each other and we need each other to run everything. We get along great, we just can't live together, that's all."

She watched as Noriko thought about it, trying to answer the earlier question. Now that she knew, she tried to think of any times when she'd seen Maria with anybody else. "Well then, who are you with these days? I think you're right. I am stupid if I missed that."

"Nobody," Maria replied with a shrug, "I'm such a strong leader and everybody and their fleas depend on me to handle things for them. There really isn't a male among us who has the balls to handle a foul-tempered bitch like me."

She laughed a little, "They're way wrong of course, but that's how they think, I guess. I can't really ease off either, not with dumb fucks like those ones back there always looking for a crack in the armor. The truth is, that I'm not all that hard if I'm alone, and I'm alone far too much."

She put her arm around Noriko's shoulders again and they began to walk. Noriko felt bad now. "Shit, you mean you've been goin' through bad times, an' I don' even know? Maria, that's just nuts. Thass all wrong. You're always helpin' everybody. You pull my ass outta so many fires. Now I feel worse that I didn' know for one, and for makin' you waste your time when you had to drag me outta the stupid things I do sometimes.

Is there anything I can do for you? You just tell me, ok? We been friends since, ... I dunno how long and -- " "School," Maria grinned a little, "fourth grade, end of April, at the edge of the yard under the only tree that still grew there. I was pounding the shit out of a guy that you were a little sweet on and I just got done with him for reaching under my dress for the fifth time that day.

That was the first time that I broke anybody's nose, but when I turned around, I was looking at a little hornet's nest of a girl with fire in her eyes and the foulest mouth I've ever heard, fixin' to bring a little justice as you said. I pulled you off my face over and over but you just kept getting up. You always were a stubborn thing.

Fuck, Noriko, I HAD to make friends with you. I've never known anybody like you before or since. I even used to go to your school afterward so we could walk home when your folks stuck you into that special school to get us apart."

Noriko stared, "You remember that?"

"Uh-huh." Maria chuckled as they walked, "You haven't changed much, either. You're still getting stuck on a guy for some reason that you don't even know, but you'll defend him with your life til the end. That's the kind of friend that there just aren't enough of."

They walked in silence for a minute before Maria finished her thought, "It's just too bad that you're always so hungry for the wrong one."

"I know, "Noriko sighed, and then she looked up, "Wait ... What do you mean?"

The tall werewolf chuckled a little, "I'm right," she smiled, "Stupido.

How long were you hoping for Cesar? A year, right?"

"Uh-huh," Noriko nodded, "Why?"

"He's my cousin, yeah? I know how bad he was broken up over what happened to his family. I'll tell you one thing; his wife was a stuck-up bitch, though she didn't deserve to die for it that way. Same goes for his kids, though thanks to how hard he worked, he wasn't around enough to see that she was turning them into smaller versions of herself. As far as the world is concerned it's no great loss, but to my cousin, it was the end for him.

So I had to stand there off to the side and watch as somebody really nice tried so hard because she wanted to love him. I had to let you try, old friend, because if you were right and it worked, then everything would have been ok again -- except for the loss of his family. But it didn't work and I knew that it wouldn't. But it's not my place to say anything, no matter how much it might hurt me."

Noriko looked over, "Hurt you?"

Maria sighed then and looked at her own feet as they walked. After a moment, she just said it.

"Noriko, Hang onto your socks here, but ... I've been in love with you since we were in school, ok? You're not the only one who can never get her courage up. Now, I don't care about it anymore. I've just accepted that I love you, while you run around all over everywhere hoping that somebody will love you back. I've always been here. I guess I'll die this way, but I do love you."

Noriko stopped then and her mouth fell open for a moment. Just a moment and then she began to cry again.

Maria rolled her eyes, cursing herself for revealing what she'd kept hidden for over a decade. "What have I done now? Look baby, if there's anybody who ought to be crying here, it's me, ok?"

Noriko almost jumped at Maria as she pulled herself up a little to kiss her quickly while she whimpered a little, before anything else happened. When she pulled back, she looked into Maria's eyes, "I've loved you since the end of the fourth grade, Maria, since I was ten years old."

She wiped her eyes, but at the rate that she was sobbing, it was a little pointless. "I don't remember the kid's name - the one that I was sticking up for," she sobbed, "but I walked away that afternoon with your name on my lips, and that was before I even knew that I like girls too. I only knew that I loved you. I always have and I always will. I just didn't think that you'd ever feel that way about me. I've been trying to find somebody 'cause I just don' wanna be alone anymore, thass all. I'm just so tired of feeling hopeless."

"That's the best, absolutely shitty word that says how I've felt for so long," the tall one said softly.

They looked at each other and Maria smiled, "So, ... maybe we don't have to feel hopeless anymore?"

Noriko nodded a little, wiping her face again as she tried to stop crying, "I never knew. All those times when you'd come so we could walk home? Those times when I'd sometimes just hug you for nothin'? That was me, as brave as I could get."

Maria smiled then, "Yeah, I remember. Those were my best days, when I'd get a hug from you."

"Didja like the kiss, Maria? I kinda need to know," Noriko said as she smiled softly, "'cause I got a few that's been waitin' a good long while for you. There's maybe a whole warehouse-full of hugs that I wanted to give you too."

"Ohh," Maria smiled as she whispered, "Oh yes, Noriko."

"Then shut the fuck up and lemme kiss you like I need to," Noriko chuckled, "It's a mating moon you know."

They walked on a lot happier later, holding onto each other. Noriko looked up, "If we're together now, that means that what I do can sorta reflect on you, yeah?"

Maria looked over, a little puzzled at that, "I guess so. Why?"

"Well, I think that maybe it's time for me to try to talk a little nicer to people. I'd never want to embarrass you, that's all."

"You don't embarrass me," Maria said, "I'm just with somebody that I've always been very proud to know. Look, after all that we've been through, I'm not ashamed of anything anymore."

"Yeah," Noriko said, "and I've always looked up to you, but I'm always getting into these spots and you're always saving my ass for me. I don't want to make you mad over the dumb things that I do."

Maria laughed, "Baby trust me, I only put that on 'cause I have to. Most times, I want to laugh because that's just who we've always been. I don't mind helping you out of a jam, Noriko. That's been my hobby all of our lives. I sure wouldn't want to change anything now."

No one saw them as they made love that night. Maria dropped to her knees as she took Noriko's hips in her hands and leaned in to begin something which she was so happy to do and prayed as she did it that they'd go one forever now that they'd found each other. When Noriko couldn't stand for very much longer, she pushed Maria a little as she moved back and fell to her knees with her.

She reached out and rose up on her knees as she took the face of the one that she'd ached for over all of her life and she kissed her with everything that she could put into it. Neither of them felt the cold night air, they only felt their hearts pounding against each other. After a time, they just held on.

Maria's bed was only a pair of blankets under a small rock overhang where they ground themselves together and hung on to each other for an hour to trade a lot of kisses and some hopeful talk until they fell asleep, tired but happy.

---------------------------

As the night wore on, there were a lot of revelations for the six individuals on-board the coal black cutter which rocketed through the mountain passes heading in a general north-easterly direction. There's been time for only quick introductions and a brief meeting with everyone inside the mountain as the old skiff had been left behind.

"The old automated security is still there, "Tirran said, "We ought to be fine until it's noted that the old bastard is not on-bard and that it's not just me that gets out of this thing. I don't know what will happen then."

"I might still not be seen as unfriendly, "Arrax said, I still have access and it was agreed that I was to file reports if I found anything as I supposedly searched for Dahlgren and Nahl'een. I hope that it's so, anyway. I'll be needed, I think, if the systems detect what they would decide were intruders, ... and also, there is at least one idol there to pass visual and audio information on to Mer. It probably has highest priority, so someone will be paying attention to it if it starts sending. How much time do you need?"

"Not long," Tirran said, "a minute or maybe two. I need good, healthy engine starts, and then I can meet up with you, Barrett, if you think that you can hold this thing steady long enough for me to pull you aboard in this."

"I can try," Barrett smiled, hoping that he looked a little more certain than he felt. Arrax had been teaching a few of them how to operate the skiff and Barrett had been his best pupil so far.

"You really had me fooled when you started to question me before we met," Tirran chuckled, "I kept thinking that it had only been days since I flew him out to Lozenjellis, and on my way back, there's suddenly Xer here and they've set up patrols? It didn't make sense to me, but you sounded so official that I just bought it. I'd really like to think that I'm not that foolish, but I guess I was wrong."

In the event, there was little in the way to stop them or even slow them down. Barrett was on the controls in the co-pilot's seat when Tirran handed control over to him, and he just held it at a ground idle as they all disembarked. The security systems became active, as they'd been designed to do, but they didn't really pass any information to Mer. The old bureaucrat was no fool. He'd disabled that ability when he'd come here the first time. He wasn't here in any official capacity, though he had the clearance to be.

He was here breaking Merren laws, and he needed to hide that fact until he was ready for it to become known.

Arrax found the deactivated idol and Sheavre destroyed it with a burst from her meg anyway.

They took a little longer than they'd intended to and the two minutes had turned into twenty instead.

Well, they'd found the gold storage.

The stonemen rumbled up the hillside, but by the time that the first of them had reached the crest of the hill, the frigate was already airborne and was heading off to recover the Barrett and the cutter. The stone guardians would have taken less time, but Selena had a little fun knocking them apart as she stood at the top. They were determined not to destroy the place, but the dark shadows which howled as they came down the long corridors at them caused a nervous moment until Ksyusha stepped forward and held out her palm.

She knew what they were and at a word from her, they stopped and only stood waiting. She asked for the leader and when that one moved to the front, there was a strange conversation.

"They have been held here against their will for centuries," she said, "I have offered to free them, but they say that they would not know anymore where to go. They ask to be taken along, and offer to guard in a new place in trade."

"Do you trust them?" Arrax asked and she nodded, "These ones do not lie, for they cannot. They would add no more weight to the load than a shadow, and would feed themselves on the wicked that they find."

Arrax looked at Selena, who nodded her agreement, "I doubt that we'd need to ever close the doors with them around."

And with that, Cheyenne Mountain had real hellhounds to walk the grounds and the passageways.

Selena stood close to the garden, looking at the birds. "I wish there was a way to bring this home for Nahl'een. It's something that she misses a lot."

With everyone aboard, Tirren got his good engine starts and after stopping to recover the cutter, the large black bird shot through the night on its way to a new home.

-----------------

Cerinthe and Yuan walked among the others, a little in awe of them all and what was being attempted if they wished to remain together. Their travels brought them to where Cesar lay asleep and Talen sat wrapped in a blanket watching him. When he saw Cerinthe, he stood up and walked over, reaching for her as she pulled him close.

"You have found what you sought and never knew yourself what it was," she smiled as she kissed him.

"Yes," he said, "Who is this?"

Cerinthe chuckled a little, "I was told that this is what is known to these ones as a mating moon. It seems to have a lot of power. In an evening, my family has all taken mates, I as well. This is Yuan, a male draken for me. Tomorrow, we will all journey together another step to this place where we might live."

She kissed his cheek, "Go back to your lover, Talen. He stirs and will miss you soon. bring him to me tomorrow so that I can meet the one who holds your heart so in such little time."

The young male looked back and nodded as she released him and said that she loved him.