Part 6

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It didn't exactly look dagyo, but the four bamboo poles were pretty sturdy when tied together. The worst part seemed to be trying to latch the three sets of them together. At first, she couldn't quite figure out how to get them to hold and still support her weight. Finally she had the idea to strap two long bamboo poles to either side of the attaching ends, so that they bent into the mid section of those two rather than break apart and strain at the strips of bed sheet she used to tie and weave them together.

Satisfied with the makeshift ladder, she tried standing it up again, wobbling and staggering with it to get it to lean down on the balcony above and across from her. This time it was just long enough. She tested her weight on it, not feeling as brave as the big fat idea of shimmying across it to get over there. Still ...

She scooted up by her knees, pausing again as she listened to the bamboo creek and shift. Her hands stung with pins and needles from the fright it might slip away from the balcony railing above and send her down to the eighty foot drop. One hand came up, then the other, then she scooted up on her knees again, pausing once more to peer below her from either side. After a few more microts of reflection she crawled up at a faster pace, hand over hand as she planted one knee before the other. By the time she made it to the balcony her breathing was short, almost hyperventilating. She jumped down, tilting her head back over what she had just done with a wild sparkle in her eyes.

She eased into the room beyond the balcony, poking her head and a shoulder in before she dared much more. It wasn't much of a room, just a spot with a couple of couches and pictures on the walls. She slipped through it, peering out the next door way into a short, wide hall. There were four large archways leading to larger rooms from it on either side. At each end were metal gates blocking passage to two more archways.

"Frell," she muttered to herself as she stepped into the hall. She walked down it, gazing into each of the larger rooms on either side. Each of them were about the same, full of different, weird junk, including cages and chains that hung down from the ceiling. She bypassed them to the gate at the end of the hall, grabbing one of the bars as she looked into the room it blocked her from.

The room was round with a circle cut out of the center of its floor, from it she could just barely make out that it was some type of levitation device, like an elevator down to the bio-dome.

She squeezed through the bars without much of a problem and stepped along the gaping hole, peering down at the long shaft below to the forest floor of the bio-dome. She brought her foot out, toeing the open surface with a tentative test. Almost immediately her touch set off a purple lens across the opening. She tested more weight on it, the odd lens of deep purple supporting it, and then giving way.

She cried out as she began to fall, flailing her arms as she landed on the top of the falling lens on her backside. She gaped up at the hole in the floor above as it streamed away from her, jolting when the lens finally came to the forest floor and disappeared, leaving her laying on smooth, cool stone.

"Frellin drad!" She gasped as she shook her head, resting up on her elbows. She parted her bent legs, blinking slowly as she gazed out on the forest of the bio-dome beyond her knees.

---

Chiana stood slowly, gazing out with her elbows drawn back. The trees here were fairly tall, rising a good twenty feet from the richly earthed flooring where ferns shot up like a soft green feather down. She wandered out into it, walking slowly within the pristine, crisp tropic. Ahead she could make out a rise to the land by a large collection of boulders.

The boulders rose up in some places as fairly good sized hills, coated in mosses and ferns. Trees clung to them where they could, their roots splayed over them, thrusting into cracks and spilling across the gray, splotched surfaces the thick moss beds hadn't reached.

Chiana climbed along it, finding a feral sense of pleasure in prowling through, her senses expanding. She could hear birds here and insects. It was almost like there was no metropolise here at all, near impossible to believe there was anything pre-designed to such a sublime and massive garden.

She edged along some of the stones, coming to a crouch where a stream bubbled up from somewhere along a higher rise of moss coated rock down to her feet. She ran her hand through the cold, clear water that trickled through the network of cracks, smiling to herself as she rested her chin on top of her arm on her knee.

She felt like she could almost remember something but it seemed so out of place. She blinked several times as the stream blurred in her vision, not realizing her eyes were becoming very gray, nearing to white as a subtle chant filled her thoughts, consuming her.

She found herself deeply absorbed into the memory. It was a dark place at first, unable to see anything except a dim light. The more she walked closer to it the more she found herself in the hum-drum of a trade square on some station. She was picking through some things, looking down at a small selection of branding decals ... to tattoo the skin by burning it.

She stood sharply, resting her hands against the moss covered stone, letting the streams of cold water that came down it run over her bare hands as she tried to force her vision back. Her nearly white eyes came to focus once more, graying back into a shining black.

The chanting stayed.

She tilted her head as she listened, easing around the greater stones and between them, disappearing.

---

Oshana sat on her knees in the nook between the great boulders, continuing her low chant as she opened the leather satchel before her. She pulled out a small bundle, opening it until she had the smooth cloth spread out around the object it contained.

The designed metal piece was tarnished. That it was an antique was of no doubt. Many parts of the delicately inlaid grooves had drawn black with the cycles. It was of an almost star shape of one long oval shape, the most rounding center set off by the splay of an underlying piece.

She held it up where she knelt, sitting on her feet, rising the object up to the sky shield that was simulating day time from the more normal view of space and the comets and miners moon that orbited the metropolise.

"Sister of the Cause," Oshana continued gently. "Your strength has grown since the arrival of the new ones. Sister of Resistance, come to me with strength, divine your will to me that I may share it with the keepers of your following ... Stek'rair nafren'illru metarack Sacred Stillness, shen'srue dajara kholeth dirs Lhuxa ..."

Chiana came up on her knees, soundless behind Oshana, the ferns around her barely even stirring. She slipped her arms around Oshana's neck and held on to her forearm, tightening it on Oshana's neck as she pulled her back against her chest, adjusting her head to smooth the woman's longer hair past her cheek as she rested it along Oshana's.

"Tell me," Chiana spoke gently, quietly as she turned her face to hers, brushing her lips along Oshana's temple. "How do you get out of here?"

"You don't," Oshana muttered nervously as her hands came to Chiana's arm. "I'm kept here just like you."

"Is that right?" She smiled as she slid her knees along side Oshana's sides and sat up straighter. "Then what are you doing out here?"

"It's among my privileges," Oshana tried to look to her, swallowing as Chiana's fore-arm squeezed her a little harder by her neck into the Nebari's chest. "I'm Stakira. It helps me - this center helps me channel the remnants of the Sister! To divine her word ..."

"Sister who?" Chiana jerked her arm, causing Oshana to gag. "Aren't you supposed to help the dying cross over or something? Why should I believe you? Maybe you're in it with Larran, yeah. Maybe you're getting your kicks off watching him get his."

"Nerris'," Oshana stated more calmly as she relaxed in Chiana's grip. "Yes, Nerris' ... Nerris'. She will cross over, I swear it. She will, but she's needed. Needed, he does not torture me when she's needed. I have her with me, can't you see? As long as I can channel the spirit, he won't torture me! Let me go!"

Chiana let her slip away from her grasp, gaping at Oshana as she lunged forward and grabbed up the satchel she had, huddling over it cradled into her arms.

She swallowed hard, tilting her head with her arms stretched out as she watched Oshana wild eyed from the throws of her ash white hair. She didn't like this feeling, it was too weird, too close.

Oshana darted her eyes to her from their corners as she reluctantly let her satchel go, setting it back on the ground. "You've come," she stated softly as she looked to it, resting her object down on top of it. "You - heard me? And come to this ..."

Chiana's lips parted, gaping at her as she tilted her head to the other side. "You - you w-w-were pretty noisy. Do what ever you're into, I'm just looking for a way out of here."

"I can sense ..." Oshana licked her lips as she sat up straighter. "I mean - of course, you are advocating for - the Resistance."

"Right," Chiana creased her brows, eyeing her from the corners of her eyes as she eased in a little closer. She looked to the object Oshana had laid down.

"Where did you get this?" She asked as she drew her fingers along it and then swept it up into her hand, tilting her head, wide eyed as she noticed the dulled and faint markings on the metal that were once glimmering chips of gold and green opal to depict a dragonish lizard. Slight stencils of pictographs surrounding it were still somewhat visible in places.

She could remember having something just like it. She bought it or snurched it really. But, she was going to give it to someone only, she never had the chance to, so she just kept it in her pouch at her belt. She was going to pick a better time, maybe when he forgave her for ...

She tocked her head with a sharp sniff.

"You know what it is?" Oshana asked, wide eyed with her own fascination.

Chiana glanced to her as she lowered the item. "It's a - a Luxan head dress piece, for the middle tanka. I thought this - I mean I-I thought they were-weren't so fancy ..." she smiled uneasily as she set it back down. "Where did you get this?"

Oshana looked away, taking it back. She began to fold it back into its cloth. "It is said to have belonged to the Sister. It was found among the remains that were collected."

"Remains," Chiana half nodded, lowering her head as she looked to her beneath her fold of hair. She half shrugged, tocking her head again slightly. "Where'd they find those?"

"In the remnants of a shattered Leviathan," Oshana explained softly. "One that had exploded seven Bannik generations ago."

Chiana stood, staring at Oshana with an odd expression for a moment - beginning to wonder if she really wanted to remember anything at this point. Maybe it was just some odd past life déjà vu, only, Oshana's past was Chiana's real present ... She scratched at her hair as she turned around, settling her gaze on the trail Oshana must have used to get here. It wasn't such a difficult concept to grasp but how could one little Luxan thing make her this sister dren? It couldn't be ... her lips parted as she glanced towards Oshana from the corners of her eyes. She shifted her weight on her feet before moving down the trail between boulders.

It just had to be some sort of psychic babble. She heard the Stakira chanting, frelled her up, after all she could have visions of her own ... just, they were never like remembering something just before seeing it ... were they?

Besides, the Luxan headdress piece was old and off some dead Leviathan. Some remains which couldn't be her because she was ... alive ...

Chiana paused as she came into a small grove thick with bushes, most of them bearing a mango-like fruit budding out from a corn husk wrap of yellow leaves. She picked one, her stomach growling, twisting in her gut as she rolled it over in her hands and stared off.

"Perhaps it may be of help to help you in your seek for ...?"

Chiana gave the fruit a skeptical quirk of her brow at Oshana's voice. "It'll - it'll help me remember?"

"Not specifically. It's hallucinogenic," Oshana's eyes brightened. "... Oh! Oh! Yes, your memory of course, I - I understand, I understand."

Oshana ducked her head almost reverently as Chiana looked to her. She felt like throwing the fruit at her at that moment. She wasn't anybody to be ducking her head to, she didn't like the - the things Oshana was suggesting, not that she could understand her ... "What - you lost your memories too?"

"No - no!" Oshana quickly corrected. "I do understand it is only for you to understand, not I. I can't understand, not me, for you, not me."

Chiana blew her breath out at her bangs, blowing them away from her eyes as Oshana squirmed in a near frantic. She wasn't saying what Chiana thought she was thinking but she was well aware of them both playing around it, thinking the same thing ... she cut her eyes to Oshana with a wry smile. "Yeah don't ... yeah its okay. Me - me, you - you, I-I know how you are sometimes ... from somewhere ..."

"You - you do!" Oshana gulped.

"Well sure ... just, don't start the me, you, this, that thing."

The Bannik's eyes looked aside lost in a frantic attempt to divine the meaning of that.

She swept her hand out at Oshana as she blinked several times. "I-I-I - I mean that you're, y'know, magra fharbot."

"Oh yes," Oshana lowered her head with a slight curtsey as she glanced from side to side. "Of course ..."

"Not poisonous?" Chiana asked as she tossed the fruit in her hand up and caught it.

"No," Oshana shook her head. "There's only a slight physical effect, it burns body energy much faster instead of supplying nourishment. You can eat it though ..."

Chiana snarled her face as she brought the fruit up and took a big bite out of it.

"But not now!" Oshana gasped in alarm as Chiana chewed, juice dribbling down her chin.

Chiana blinked with a tock of her head, taking another bite before she could swallow decently. "Frellin hungry," she muttered as her legs gave out from under her. She gave the sky above an odd look, blinking as her body began to jerk on the forest floor. She could hear Oshana chanting as everything seemed to fade away.

Chiana sat in a dimly lighted room, gazing down at something in her hand. She set what ever it was down, gazing over a dull, barren carpet. She turned at her shoulder, gazing behind her. An open door way lead to a very small kitchen where the light was coming from. It wasn't much of a kitchen though, the refrigeration unit was left open, mostly empty.

She stood, looking up as a young Nebari boy came racing out of the kitchen with something in his hands. He laughed, crouching down as he held his cupped hands down to the floor. He looked up to her brightly. "You ready? Where's yours?"

"I ..."

"Come on Chiana," he smiled as he nudged his head at her. "Get set!"

She smiled slightly as she picked it up again, coming to a crouch beside the boy. She cupped it in her hands as he was, aiming towards another darker doorway off to her right.

"And go!" He shouted as he threw his hands open.

Chiana did the same, gaping in wonder as two small, furry creatures began to scurry for the other door as fast as their six legs and padded, hand-like feet could carry them. Just as they gained on the door a much older, taller Nebari came standing in front of it. Chiana felt frozen as she watched the two creatures reach the older Nebari's feet.

Chiana stood sharply as one of the creatures scrambled on top of their foot and began to climb up their pant leg. She pointed out to it. "Mmhya! It's going!"

"You two aren't supposed to be in this room," the Nebari scolded as the walked in only to turn towards the kitchen. Chiana grabbed the Nebari boy's shoulder, clenching it tightly as she clenched her teeth.

"It's on you! Get it off! Get it off!" She shook the boy's shoulder franticly as the older Nebari paid no attention, slamming the refrigeration unit's door shut.

"Nerri!" Chiana shouted, pleading as she looked to the boy's face, shaking him again. "Nerri! Get it off of em!"

She gaped at the young boy as he finally turned his face to her, giggling to himself as his face twisted into a sudden bright, crisp laughter.

"Whu - whu ...," Chiana tocked her head, her heart racing as she awed at the boys guffaw. "Tha - tha - that's not funny," she blinked as she shook his shoulder again, beginning to giggle. "Nnnnnot funny ..."

"Just relax," Oshana spoke urgently as Chiana squirmed in her hold again. She stopped dragging her down the trail, dropping to her knees at Chiana's side as tears threatened her eyes. She touched the side of Chiana's face, her eyes slowly turning from a deep royal blue into a shining sunlight gold.

Chiana opened her own eyes as a gentle, golden glow cast over her gaunt face. Her eyes were completely white save for the pupils. Her twitching and jerking began to lessen as she moaned.

"Oshana!"

Oshana slammed her eyes shut. "Yes, my guide!" She sobbed with a sudden desperation as she grasped her fist into Chiana's hair.

"Step away from her," Larran ordered as he came up to them. "What are you doing to her?"

"I - I ..." Oshana shook her head, devastated as she watched Larran take Chiana by her shoulders.

"The frell," he muttered as he forced her eyes open. "Did you do this to her?"

"No!" Oshana gaped at him as he cradled Chiana up into his arms. "I-I-I-I mean, yes! Yes! I did that to her, I blinded her! I ..."

She froze, unmoving as Larran turned enough to glare down at her with a cold glint in his sharp eyes. "You lie ... get up! Get my chamber ready, I want her prepared before she wakes up."

"Please," Oshana pleaded to him as she half rose, backing away. "Please just send me to my quarters ..."

"Oshana," Larran glared into her harshly as he began to step past her. "Do not delay me!"

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