Zion: Light of the New Moon, Doen's Post Milestone
Zion - Light of the New Moon
Doen Bitter Sweet
With almost the entire caravan destroyed it only makes sense that the party mourn for those who are lost but, at the same time, celebrate survival. Amidst this duality, Zeke must also look within himself to explore his conflicting desires.
It took the survivors three days to gather up the dead, scavenge salvageable supplies, and figure out their next move. Though everything had been consolidated at the center of what had once been their camp, there was one more thing that Zachary wanted done before the party continued on its journey.
"Something about this feels wrong." Taggart commented, standing beside Zachary, holding the rabbit's paw in his own.
"Of course it feels wrong." Lord Rust responded, "Hundreds of people were put to death in the name of the Sun Goddess."
The dog shook his head, "No... not that... I mean..." he gazed down at the large number of wooden slabs the survivors had gathered from the damaged wagons, "Sending bodies down the river? Shouldn't they be buried or burned?"
Narissa looked up from her lute, "In ancient times when the cities were new, the Faithful would send their dead to the sea via the many rivers that flowed through these lands." the tigress explained, going back to tuning her instrument, "The sea is Her domain, and so we send them to Her."
"But... so many things could happen that they might not make it." Taggart pointed out.
"They'll make it." Zachary commented, giving the dog's paw a squeeze, "Jasper is giving the bodies their final rights." he motioned to the rat, who was providing a blessing to numerous bodies that Zeke was securing to the wooden panels, "The Sickle Moon has rights for the departed. If they were faithful then the Goddess will protect them on their final journey."
"Shame she can't do as well for us on OUR journey." Dillan added.
Lord Rust turned to regard the ferret, "You're alive, aren't you? Shouldn't that be good enough?"
"Normally I would say 'yes'... but there IS something to be said for having a few hundred bodies between you and something that wants to kill you." the merchant acknowledged, "and in the Wild Lands there's ALWAYS something that wants to kill you."
"Then we'll make due." Haldyn interjected, "We'll follow the Highway so we can benefit from Her favor as much as possible."
"And hopefully there won't be more sun cultists." Dillan acknowledged.
"I'm ready." Narissa noted, standing up from her position on the ground.
Lord Rust nodded, standing beside her with his hand on her shoulder. Narissa began a simple, mid-tempo set of chords on the lute and, as everyone watched, she released it; the musical instrument remained floating there, repeating the same chords she had been playing in exactly the same way. She reached down and picked up a mandolin and repeated the process, creating a harmony with the new instrument before leaving it to repeat on its own. Finally, she picked up a fiddle and joined in. Once all three instruments were playing together under her direction, the tigress began singing.
"You're gone, my dear; taken far too soon, blessed be in the light of the moon. Now even the ages can't touch all the beauty deep in you we love so much." she released the fiddle, and began to walk slowly down toward the shore, where Zeke and Jasper were finishing preparing the bodies. Everyone followed in quiet procession.
"Sorrow felt in word and rhyme, 'cause you're gone before your time." Narissa offered a small satchel to Jasper. The rat accepted it and paused, seemingly surprised when he saw the contents.
"Please find your sleep peaceful. Let our thoughts surround you. Use our love as your blankets; embraced cause our arms can't reach you." the tigress continued singing as Jasper pulled out pinch after pinch of silver dust and sprinkled them atop the wrapped bodies.
"You're gone, my dear; taken far too soon, blessed be in the light of the moon. Now even the ages can't touch all the beauty deep in you we love so much. Silver Light find you sublime... though you're gone before your time." the tigress took a step back away from the shore as Lord Rust, Zachary, and Taggart went into the water to help Zeke and Jasper slide the bodies into the river's faster moving flow.
"And you'll be wearing blue as you make your trip to the sea; the same color as your eyes and you drift out farther from me. You're gone, my dear; taken far too soon, blessed be in the light of the moon now even the ages can't touch all the beauty deep in you we love so much." Narissa continued singing while one after another, the dozens of rafts were sent drifting.
"Sorrow felt in word and rhyme... and you're gone before your time. So go into the light, and forgive us our tears. Wait for us in the beyond. You're gone, my dear; taken far too soon, blessed be in the light of the moon now even the ages can't touch all the beauty deep in you we love so much. Silver Light find you sublime... though you're gone before your time." as the last of the bodies were sent out into the water, the survivors climbed ashore and watched as the dead were carried away by the river.
The music slowly faded as the instruments floated gently back to the ground, and Narissa's last line was a capella, "So go into the light and forgive us our tears."
"That was beautiful." Zachary spoke softly once the tigress had finished. He helped her pick up the instruments, "I don't think I'd ever heard that before."
"You haven't." Narissa acknowledged, accepting the instruments from the rabbit. She made her way back up the incline toward where the remnants of the camp were located, "I wrote it several years ago and never sang it before now."
"It was not the usual kind of dirge." Jasper acknowledged, "I think I like your song better... it has more..." he paused, looking for the right word."
"...intimacy.... compassion... meaning." Lord Rust chimed in.
"Thank you." Narissa offered, returning the musical instruments to their cases, "I wrote it in the hopes that someone would sing it at my funeral." the comment made everyone freeze in their tracks.
Jasper returned the pouch of silver dust to the tigress, "Writing your own funeral song?" he chuckled hesitantly then offered with an uncertain smile, "Were you spending too much time in Myrh around then?"
"I'd rather not talk about it." she responded and, with nothing else to say, she headed off toward her wagon. Lord Rust glanced around at the gathered party and, with a quick farewell, jogged after her.
"Everyone get some rest." Zachary suggested, "We've been here too long already; tomorrow we continue on."
"We're not turning back?" Dillan inquired, "We're maybe a THIRD of the way there!"
"Exactly." the priest acknowledged, "And that's our destination."
"But this is a catastrophic loss." Dillan motioned around at the destroyed campsite, "There's just a handful of us left. Zion's important... I get that... but it doesn't help if we don't live long enough to get there."
"We'll get there." Zachary acknowledge resolutely, "All those people aren't going to have died for nothing." and, without anything more to be said, the rabbit walked further into the burned out camp, Taggart in tow.
"Insanity better not be contagious." the ferret mumbled, and stalked off.
Haldyn looked to Zeke and Jasper, "I hope you two have a good trail picked out... I have a feeling we'll want to avoid the Highway for the next few days... just to be sure." and, with that, the lion left the Wild Landers to themselves.
"So..." Jasper began, turning to regard the fox. The two had not seen one another since the defeat of the Cult's forces, each having been responsible for searching out a separate area of the Wild Lands, "What happened, exactly?"
"I looked into the mountain pass further east... it looks like it could work, but it--" Zeke began, but the rat interrupted him.
"I don't mean the mountains." the rat explained, lashing out with his tail and grabbing hold of Zeke's wrist with it, walking off into the trees with the fox in tow. Jasper turned around to regard him, "After you drained that Delani."
Zeke shrugged, "I'm not sure... it was the first time I'd ever used the Transference Prayer before... I guess all of his power just started burning me once I had--"
"I'm not talking about the fire." Jasper answered, leaning forward and forcing the fox to back up against the tree trunk. The rat leaned forward until his muzzle hovered in front of Zeke's, "I'm not used to being kissed out of the blue."
Zeke shirked away, wilting at the inquiry, "It was..." he flicked an ear, "...with all the energy..." he glanced down and to the right, "...and saving my life..." he flicked his ear again, "...with..." he cleared his throat, "...and stuff..." he looked up hesitantly back toward Jasper, "does that make sense?"
"No." the rat answered, features fixed in stone as he focused on the fidgeting fox.
"Could you..." Zeke gave his arm a light yank against the rat's tail's grasp, "let go of my arm?"
"No." Jasper answered.
"You're scaring me." the fox pointed out.
Jasper's tail loosened around Zeke's wrist, "I'm open to a lot of things with almost anyone, but kissing is usually off limits."
"Well... you DID save my life." the fox offered.
The rat let go of Zeke's arm entirely, his tail going back to its usual position, "You were a Sickle Doll, weren't you?"
The fox paused at the comment, "A what?" His lie of ignorance wasn't very convincing.
Jasper smirked faintly, "I thought so."
"It wasn't by choice!" Zeke quickly spoke up, reaching out to grab Jasper by the tunic, "I didn't mean to like it!"
The rat nodded, patiently removing the fox's paws from his clothing, "I know... I know... but a Sickle Doll becomes obsessed with being abused-- there's no difference whether it was by choice or not." he took a moment to assess Zeke, "I take it that you and your handler had a falling out."
"I killed him." the fox admitted quietly.
"That would explain your part in the Fertility Ritual." Jasper nodded, pulling back from Zeke.
"I promised someone I wouldn't let anyone abuse me ever again." Zeke explained, "What I learned at the temple is wrong... pain isn't something..." he glanced toward the ground, rubbing his paws together, "...it's not something someone should enjoy."
"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself of that." the rat pointed out.
"I thought I was over it." the fox explained, "but then... when you pulled that cultist's power out of me..."
"Maybe you need to learn the difference between solicited and unsolicited." the rat grinned.
"The difference between what and what?" Zeke asked.
"Someone causing you pain because they want to, and someone causing you pain because you want them to." Jasper noted languidly.
"I think it's probably a better idea to just--" Zeke began, but was thrust hard against the tree when Jasper pushed against his chest with an open palm, "Hey!"
"The problem with finding someone who will hurt you when you want it is that they sometimes want to hurt you when you don't." Jasper's free paw went to his belt, pulling out a large knife.
Zeke's eyes opened wide, "Wait... what are you.... don't. Stop."
Jasper let go of Zeke immediately, and put his knife away, "But finding someone who wouldn't mind hurting you but listens to you when you tell them to stop... that's rare." the rat grinned.
The fox paused, his paw going to where Jasper's palm had struck his chest. Zeke looked up at the rat, "What are you talking about?'
"I'm talking about you paying me back for that kiss you stole." the rat's tail curled across his body, sliding through the buckle of Jasper's pants, and nimbly pulling it free. Jasper stepped forward as his leggings fell to the ground, "And, at the same time, you get to learn a little about yourself."
Zeke's eyes went wide and he backed up against the tree, "You're kidding..."
Jasper held out his paw, palm out; a faint shimmer of coalescing power rising up from it. "Why not find out?"
The fox stared at the offered paw for several moments. Squinting his eyes, he grit his teeth, and shot his paw out to grab hold of it. Zeke's body went taut, back arching as he felt the invading presence of entropy strike him like a blow. He gasped for air as his breath was stolen from his lungs and fell back against the tree when he felt his heart skip a beat. Agony coursed through his body and, when Jasper let go of his paw a split second later, the fox fought to regain his breath, wheezing out, "Oh Goddess... it's..." he lowered his head, "so good...."
Jasper walked up to the fox, pressing his body against Zeke's as he slid a paw up beneath the fox's leather armor. He curled his fingers, raking his claws through Zeke's fur, making him gasp, "You can enjoy the pain you like as long as you keep some control... only if you give that control up do you become a victim..." he leaned forward, "does that make sense?" and he bit one of the fox's ears. Zeke yelped.
"Do you..." Zeke breathed, "like hurting people?" he shivered.
"Not as a rule..." Jasper answered calmly, rubbing his erection against the fox's exposed belly fur "but I have to admit I'm enjoying hurting you." he chuckled, nibbling down the side of Zeke's neck. The fox tensed up the moment the teeth grazed his flesh, and was just starting to relax when Jasper bit him in earnest, "Should I stop?" he added as tears rolled down Zeke's cheeks.
"No..." Zeke whispered, "Don't stop..."
Jasper chuckled, slowly turning the fox around so that Zeke stood with his paws against the tree. The rat pulled the clasp open that was securing the fox's breeches and dropped them to the ground. Resting a paw on Zeke's back, Jasper whispered softly, using just the first few syllables of the Transference Prayer. Zeke moaned, blunt claws digging grooves into the bark of the tree as his legs almost faltered. The fox widened his stance to retain his footing, and that's when Jasper moved closer.
Wrapping his arm up under Zeke's armpit, the rat grabbed the front of the fox's neck, "I'm not going to be nice about this..." he warned, his flesh sliding up beneath Zeke's quivering tail.
"....good." Zeke rasped.
Maintaining hold of the fox around his throat, Jasper powered forward. The fox yelped, his feet picked up off the ground as his body was forced against the tree. He began crying immediately, his sobs punctuated intermittently with murmurs of pain followed by elation. The rat pulled back enough so that Zeke's body wasn't forced against the tree, and that's when he renewed his prayer. Jasper wrapped his other arm around the fox, pressing it to his chest. Zeke quivered, entering body tensing as the divine energy continued flowing again.
"You can tell me to stop any time you like." Jasper offered softly, the patient compassion in his voice a stark contrast to the pain he caused as he sunk his teeth into the fox's shoulder hard enough to draw blood. Zeke cried out, but the sound only got louder as the rat's tail wrapped itself around the fox's erect member and began undulating around it, the tip even slipping into Zeke's urethra, "You're not going to tell me to stop... are you?" Jasper guessed; he was right.
* * * * *
Well folks, here it is: the bridge between the Milestone and the first Chapter afterward.
The plot was chosen by the readers and involves an Extreme tag, Jasper, and Zeke-- I'll leave all of you to figure out what that means.
The Post Milestone chapters this week constitute my contributions to the character bonus for the involved Author-Contributed Characters. In this case, the focus of the post was Jasper and Zeke, so I'll have readers vote on which Author Contributed Character should get the bonus: Zachary, Narissa, Haldyn, and Dillan are all available for your votes.
One final note: Watch for an upcoming Journal vote regarding the expenditure of experience points-- that's coming up VERY soon!