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Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah. I don't own Avatar; James Cameron does. All the Avatar stuff belongs to him. However, my Na'vi character, myself, the Dragon Weyr and its technologies, and the Pandoran animals of my menagerie are all mine. The Protoss - apart from my characters - all belong to Blizzard Entertainment.

Pandora's Templar

A Work-In-Progress Story by Coranth Dehanae

Chapter 25

(Continued from Chapter 24...)

When the enormous Toruk-sized Ikran smashed into the Clinic, there was no warning at all; one moment she was not there, and the next the room's doors were utterly torn to pieces as she -was!- The Queen of a great Palace, bursting into the quarters of her servants. For the Healers of Clan Tawkami, engrossed in their work - assisting the nawm fngap toktor as it not only tended to the recovered females of Tawkami, but also to the Clan's beloved Olo'eyktan, Txa'vit whom was deathly ill - this surprise visit did not bode well. Unarmed and unable to acquire weapons - as the nawm ioang let out a terrible, thunderous, bellowing roar - the Healers froze. Their entire beings froze - body, mind, blood, soul - paralyzed with shock and fear.

The females and Olo'eyktan were more alive than they. Once the Healers were suitably cowed, Ieesha entered the Autodoc and then - with a sure, measured step - she walked toward the bed within which her beloved David lay and then stopped before it, sitting upon her haunches and lowering her head to get a good look at him. The sight of her love filled her at once with immeasurable happiness... but as she beheld his clammy, bone-pale complexion and heard the breath rattling in his chest, the happiness she felt soon turned to terrible distress; a soft, keening cry escaped her as her eyes misted over with unshed tears. Her beloved Lifemate, her fearsome Templar Warrior, her Everything... was, indeed, fading away before her eyes.

Having passed through both the Human and Protoss systems of education, Ieesha was highly learned in the disciplines of science and medicine; she knew of many different methods of healing that might be used to aid her Lifemate. Unfortunately, they all would take much time to put into practice--time that she did not possess. There was, she knew, only one thing that could be employed quickly to help him: an ancient and highly dangerous method of bonding, simply called Ma'hirr'kayya, or "To Take Within." It had only recently come back into use; a few of her kin whom had chosen to join with humanoid companions after the dissolution of the Triad had used it in emergencies, but not all of those few whom had dared to use Ma'hirr'kayya had met with success...

A soft whimper escaping her, for a moment, Ieesha furiously debated with herself. 'Can I do this? Should I do this?' she wondered. 'I made the correct biological modifications to my new Ikran body long ago; aside from the ability to exist here on Pandora - the ability to eat the food that grows here and respire within the planet's atmosphere - this new body has the same draconic internals as my previous dragon body once did, including the special systems required for Ma'hirr'kayya. I still possess the memories of my draconic kin, so I know how it is to be done... but I have never attempted it before! What if I should fail? The consequences would be disastrous for us both! Still, it is the only thing that might help him now, and perhaps a certain room within the Weyr might help... Bah, enough of this; I shall attempt it. The time is now!'

Pulling herself from her internal debate, Ieesha heaved a deep, saddened sigh as she carefully looked upon the form of her beloved human Lifemate, committing every detail of his form to her physical and psychic memories - perhaps for the last time, should she fail in what she was about to attempt - and then, raising her head to the sky, she offered prayers to her gods . ~May the Great Dragon - whose hallowed name is Trag'Oul - grant me strength for what I am about to do, and may Adun, and Eywa forgive me for my sins if I fail...~ she uttered softly. With that done, employing but a touch of her psychic power, ever-so carefully, Ieesha extracted her beloved human from the bed in which he lay and stripped away the hospital gown that he wore.

Although it might not have appeared so this was a very important prepatory step, for clothing or other items hindering Ma'hirr'kayya could spell disaster for both parties involved. Once her rider was as naked as he had been upon the day of his birth, with but another touch of her latent psychic power, Ieesha lifted David from the bed and over towards her such that he was level with her muzzle. Then - as the healers looked on in horror - Ieesha opened her mighty jaws, extended her tongue, wrapped it about his body, and ever-so-gently drew him feet first into her muzzle! Once he was inside - wrapped gently but firmly by her tongue such that he would not move - ever-so-slowly, Ieesha allowed her jaws to close.

Then - as the Healers of Tawkami began to weep in anguish at what they had seen - with heavy heart, Ieesha turned and solemnly walked from the Clinic. Once back within the Weyrheart, Ieesha turned and headed into the Laboratory of the Dragon Weyr; then, from there, she made her way up a carefully concealed set of stairs to a very special room within the Weyr, situated directly beneath the enormous, Khaydarin Crystal Capstone at its top. For Ieesha, dear readers, that simple journey was the most difficult journey of her life. Not only was every instinct within her balking and rebelling at what she was doing - she was carrying her Lifemate in her mouth like a... like a piece of meat - but also, her body was becoming slow and lethargic, as the ancient genetics of her ancestry prepared her body for what was to come...

She almost didn't make it - she collapsed heavily onto her side raising her head up to begin - but at the final moment, she snapped back to reality. ~No!~ she snarled to herself internally, reaffirming her tongue's grip upon the frail form of her beloved. ~Not here, not now; it's too soon!~ It took a supreme effort of will and energy, but Ieesha heaved herself to her feet and made her way up the stairs to the Psionic Therapy Chamber, whereupon she entered said chamber and sealed the huge doors behind her with a psychic override that only she could lift. The Psionic Therapy Chamber unlike the rest of the Dragon Weyr, was a small place, barely large enough to house her, and it was terribly spartan, for the only feature within the room was a Fleece Pile upon which she could lay.

The features of the room did not concern her, however; the room itself did. The Psionic Therapy Chamber was called such because the entire place was continually bathed in the immeasurable psionic energies produced via the enormous, flawless Khaydarin Crystal Capstone situated at the top of the Weyr. Much of the near-limitless energy generated by the great Capstone was funneled down through specialized conduits into the Power Core of the Weyr such that it could be stepped down to the proper voltages needed to run the construct's psionic systems, or converted into electrical power for running the electrical systems within the great Nexus. A large portion of said energy however, was funneled - in its untouched, raw form - into the Psionic Therapy Chamber.

Here, its benevolent properties might be used to aid all who set foot within; as a result, this room was the most psychically permeated place in the entire Dragon Weyr, its walls appearing to be cerulean instead of gold as a result of psychic light. The tremendous, potent energies here - so thick in the air that she could practically taste them - would be of immense help to her as she, in turn, helped her Lifemate. Thus she began the rare and ancient practice known to her kin as Ma'hirr'kayya. Gently laying herself down upon the Fleece Pile - closing her eyes to avoid being blinded by the light - Ieesha carefully tilted her head back, as she prepared to swallow her beloved, alive and whole.

It almost didn't happen, dear readers; the former Omari Kirata had never eaten live prey before, like her ancient ancestors once had, and the mere thought of swallowing her beloved human companion like prey felt utterly reprehensible to her - she gagged, choked, retched and almost brought him back up - but in the end, finally, she managed to swallow him. As he began to move down her esophagus toward her stomach, instinctively, she knew that a critical stage had been reached. The ancient practice of Ma'hirr'kayya wasn't borne of some typical 'vore' fantasy; Ieesha knew that if she failed to act at the appropriate time - if David ended up in her stomach, instead of where she desired him to be - she wouldn't be able to regurgitate him alive and well

Nor would he be able to pass through her, such that she could magically excrete him, healthy and whole. He would end up within her stomach and there the powerful acids within would kill him -and swiftly, at that - and if that happened, all would be lost. Therefore, she wouldn't fail in this. She couldn't fail! Once her beloved was halfway down her esophagus, exactly where she needed him to be - allowing the instincts of her ancestral kin to guide her - she swiftly executed a series of vigorous muscular contractions, opening a tightly closed sphincter muscle within her esophageal tube and then pushing him through it, into a second esophageal tube within her body.

* * *

From one moment to the next, I half-awakened, feverish yet lucid. I blinked my eyes open, noting the darkness, then the slick flesh sliding past much faster than was comfortable. I tried to rouse my muscles to move, but they had been so atrophied due to lack of exercise, the best grip I could make would have been beaten by any newborn infant. My feet came in contact with a ring, a treacherous hole that threatened to pull me inside of its own accord. I managed, somehow, to force my legs to spread, catching my toes on the very edge of... whatever this was, but I couldn't climb out, even if I did have the strength. One foot slipped, caught by the muscular tube to which the ring was attached, and drawn inside.

The other followed shortly thereafter, and I found myself buried to my knees in less to no time. The strange tube caressed my body in a deceptively gentle grip, pulling me down until I was nearly up to my chest. I dug my elbows desperately against the sides of said tube, tears running freely down my cheeks. "Please," I managed to rasp hoarsely, shivering. I fought the tube's grip, trying to hold myself up, but my spiritual strength gave out with the flickering remnants of the physical, and I took a deep breath, pinching my nose and closing my eyes. I slid down, assisted by the muscular contractions of the tube in which I was constricted. The speed at which I moved through the tube was astounding, and within a few seconds my feet reached open air.

At any moment, I expected to feel bile on my toes, but as my chest was released from the grip my feet came into contact with soft, almost fuzzy skin. I was deposited in a slightly claustrophobic space, but the warm, soft flesh felt good against my tired, aching body. There wasn't enough air for me to stay down here forever, though. Soon I would asphyxiate... or worse. The chamber I was in seemed to have other plans, though. Something the width of a thumb brushed against my lips, and I drew back, only to have it follow, giving me something as akin to a kiss as a thing with no lips could get to.

It was persistent, and wouldn't leave me be until I had parted my lips and allowed it to slip over my tongue. I gagged, squirmed, and then swallowed. Another larger appendage came into contact with my lips, and my tongue soon felt that it was a branching of the first, or vice-versa. I willingly swallowed that one as well, my mouth accommodating as much as it could hold. Both branches of tubing slid down my throat, an odd sensation in itself, and I started to panic when one of the branches blocked my airway. I needn't have worried, for soon fresh air was being sucked into my lungs through the tube. My stomach became warm as it, too, was filled with what it needed.

Against my shattered will, my eyes drifted shut against the blackness. I felt something slide against my legs, and instinctively adjusted my position just as whatever it was slid over my penis and tightened gently, effectively locking itself into place. Another one of the strange appendages chose my rear, sliding up inside and effectively settling into place there as well. It wasn't until I had slipped back into fevered sleeplessness - again losing control of my bladder and bowels - that I learned that these were meant to carry away my waste, and for them I was deeply thankful; I would no longer suffer the indignity and humiliation of Na'vi Healers needing to change soiled sheets. So deep was I in my state of fevered delirium, that I never felt two more of the appendages gently pierce the skin of my neck and feed into my carotid arteries...

* * *

As she felt the last of the Shah'haan Vr'in, or "Life-Links" settle into place within his body - Ieesha wept like a hatchling relieved to find its Mother! She had done it; she had completed the most critical stage of Ma'hirr'kayya! Her beloved Lifemate, her sweet David, was safe, deep inside her Chall'vaen, or "Hearthome"; the specially grown chamber within her chest, protected by the solid, ossified plates of her unique ribcage. There, with the help of the Shah'haan Vr'in, she could feed him whatever food she ate, offer him the air she breathed, bring his solid and liquid wastes into her own body for later expulsion, and even share with him the very blood that flowed through her veins! Effectively, she could sustain him for as long as needed - forever if need be - and now, his healing, and her reunification with him, could begin in earnest.

However, even as her tears, like thick, pearlescent, liquid silver, continued to run from her eyes, down her cheeks and then drip from her muzzle to fall upon the fleeces - she realized that there was so much to do! As she continued to weep within the physical world, with her mind's eye she looked David over... and what she saw only made her weep all the more. He appeared so sickly, so ill, so very, very near death; his body barely living, his mind caught within the grip of horrible nightmares, shattered by the thoughtless actions of the Dragon Weyr, the very being she had helped engineer and forge into life! But she was here now, and he was within her where he would come to no more harm.

Ever so carefully, she reached out to him with her mind, pushing past non-existent psionic defenses to reach deeply into his thoughts... and what she found within filled her with a mixture of monstrous horror and devastating grief. Beyond the chaotic nightmare-storm of battles where her beloved had failed to succeed - sometimes due to his own error and other times due to events beyond his control - she beheld the mind of her beloved David; how he had held on, yes, but also how he had missed her so and how, on that terrible day - when she had been crushed by that great stone block - he had wished to die with her... And encompassing everything was the void - the all-consuming darkness-silent and cold; a shattered remnant of their once legendary bond.

Even as Ieesha curled in upon herself in the physical world, keening softly with grief as she rested her head upon her forepaws, she began to work. Slowly and gently, she repaired the awful damage caused by the vicious attack from the Dragon Weyr, and then gently stopped the cycle of night terrors that David had been suffering by replacing them with wonderful, happy dreams of the time she'd spent with him long ago, when she'd been Omari Kirata. When she felt the subtle shifting of his conscious mind - as it first relaxed into an Alpha state and then shifted into Delta, before transitioning into the final state of deep sleep known as Theta - Ieesha heaved a deep, physical sigh of relief, for now her love was truly at rest and her real work could begin.

Ever-so-carefully she twined her soul about his own, establishing thousands upon thousands of spiritual and psionic essence linkages deep into every aspect of her beloved's mind and spirit, filling the void in him with her warm, cloudlike presence as she reestablished their bond the way it should have been established long, long ago. In time, she knew, the linkages would become permanent, and the bond he and she shared would be even greater than it had been before! At that moment, she couldn't help herself - a rush of her reptilian happiness transmitted through their newly established bond - she had missed him terribly and was thrilled to be with him again! With the groundwork completed, and their bond reestablished, Ieesha moved carefully through David's memories and shared with him her own experiences such that his memories became hers and hers became his, until all were synchronized and up to date.

Whilst she did this, Ieesha also took the time to do a little house cleaning, so to speak; she dulled the most painful memories within David and herself, sharpened up other, positive memories that had grown hazy with time, and even supplemented a few of her beloved's half-formed thoughts and ideas with her own insights. Additionally, the former Kirathian Dragoness took the time to permanently establish herself within her new body - no longer was she one of the Omari Kirata, a shapeless entity of conscious psionic power, or even an elderly Palulukan! She was Lady Ieesha - Nawm Ikran of kifkey Eywa'evengä, Grand Matriarch of the Dragon Weyr and Lifemate of David Boucher, human High Templar and Tawkami Olo'eyktan!

And so within the Therapy Chamber Ieesha stayed - resting in a near trancelike state - as she tended carefully to her beloved's mental and spiritual health and directed her immune system to treat the illness afflicting his body. For thirty days, and thirty nights Ieesha remained within that chamber atop the Weyr - pausing only to eat and relieve herself - until finally, one month after she had taken her rider into herself, she at last felt that he was ready to return. Subsuming herself deep within their newly established bond - to a point so deep that there was no concept of "David" or "Ieesha," together, they spoke as one; a rolling stream of consciousness comprised of their thoughts shared. / David, please, wake up! / Ieesha? Ieesha?! No - what - how?

I'm dreaming this must be a dream I saw you die I helped you die I held your head in my hands as you said your final words this is just a terrible fever dream I know it sadness grief anguish be gone leave me damn you / warmth affection love calm Ssh, ssh I know but you don't understand as long as you live I can never die tethered to you tied to you bound to you forever / bound to me? / yes just before I died I was able to move myself out of my body as an entity of conscious psionic power I followed you to Pandora so I could reunite with you than looked for a vessel / a vessel? / yes a body that could hold me at first I chose a Palulukan but attempts to reunite with you didn't work your Viperwolf friend Falkor found me and you healed the body but it was too old and the brain was too different I couldn't reach you.

Still I tried to show my love for you as best I could and we spent wonderful years together but then the Palulukan vessel died and I had to choose another / wait, you were Sa'nok? / Yes, that was what you called me, my love still, the body was elderly and it eventually passed on when it did I had to leave again / I understand / I tried to visit you before your battle with 'they who cannot see' / you succeeded / I did? / Yes, you passed through the Dragon Weyr's defenses but I thought you were a figment of my imagination why didn't you make an attempt to show me you weren't? / Embarrassment shame fear I was... afraid of how you would react, sweet David / understandable but you know I would have helped you had you chosen to reveal yourself to me together we could have built a body for you to inhabit! /

I know that now but... shame / it's okay Ieesha please continue / I left the Weyr, resumed my search for a vessel, and finally found the form called an Ikran it was very similar to my old Omari Kirata body so I modified one to suit my purposes when I felt you become ill I placed myself within it and came back to you to heal you... and to be with you again, if you still want me / want you missed you love you so much will always want you! / I love you too yours forever / hope truly? This isn't a dream? / Affection love Yes bonded with you again yours-yours-yours! / Where... where am I? / Inside me; I believed it was the only way I could heal you. / Inside you? Am I dead?!

/ No, not at all; you are inside a special chamber in my body made for you to support you I took you inside me to heal you please, wake up now I need to expel you / alright... / Gently, Ieesha 'surfaced' from the deep layers of the bond, pulling her consciousness away from David's, but only enough such that - although they were still bound - she and he could once again be defined as separate beings. As she pulled back from him, she felt the subtle shifting of his consciousness as he began to stir and - in the physical world - she started to purr deeply, reveling in the fact that once again she was bound to him, sharing with him her soul. ~That's it, David,~ she called, ~come on, wake up now; you've surely had enough rest for at least conversation after everything you've been through...~