Posted by Lieutenant Laraan (Counsellor) in The Heleen Homeworld (Presim)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in The Heleen Homeworld (Presim)

Posted by Lieutenant Commander Stark Nightstalker (Chief Intelligence Officer) in The Heleen Homeworld (Presim)
Posted by… suppressed (2) by the Post Ghost! 👻
Stark had needed to be alone. He had taken leave of his recently wed wife. He knew there was a good chance she’d follow him and so he made it obvious where he had gone by deliberately breaking the odd branch and even leaving some scratch marks at just the right height.

T’Pon and S’Raal had likewise gone out for a walk leaving Orvos in deep conversation with Michail talking some insane gobbledegook about whether the Nexus was actually a time portal that interacted holographically with your brain waves.

Sharp ears picked up the sound of running water ahead and Stark picked up the pace. There in all it’s glory was a clearing with a deep pool and crystal clear waterfall falling into it. Even sharper eyes picked up that he had not been the first to find this place. T’Pon and S’Raal were already bathing at the base of the waterfall. Stark didn’t want to intrude on their privacy so he turned to the left and trudged unbidden into the deeper forest.

Suddenly he felt a pricking of his skin, a warning he had honed for decades, a holistic sensory block that told him in no uncertain terms that he was no longer alone.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

The Heelar stepped out of hiding and silently appraised the dark form before him.

Stark in turn looked the ancient powerful breakaway of the Heleen up and down. The elvish ears were a giveaway but there was also the way the being stood, arrogant, powerful, potent. This was not the same Heelar they had broken free form the Mirror Universe Guardian of Forever planet. This one made Stark tense up in unspeakable ways. Stark was used to taking on beings more powerful than himself but in this instant he knew that this creature was smarter, faster and stronger. All options accounted for Stark decided to use the most formidable weapon in his arsenal…

He stood there and did nothing…

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Just as quickly and quietly the being left again but Stark knew exactly why they had met, somehow it was emblazoned on his heart and his mind. “We will meet again, our paths will converge, our destinies share many paths”.

Stark stopped cold. Also planted within his mind was a planet, a solar system, a dark cavern, a path. He knew where Skotos had reappeared, the Dark Sword of Time was calling to him again…

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Laraan had let hin go, instinctively feeling he needed to be alone for some time, which was perfectly fine with her. Besides she was enjoying the feeling of the warm soft wind on her bare skin much too much as she lay in their bed, looking up through the invisible force field into the canopy of the tree into which their home was built. It was like lying beneath the sky, bare to the wild forest around them. She could see some stray clouds pass by. Oh, how she had missed this feeling.

• Laraan

As he returned he was acutely aware that she was awake. Conflict rose within him as he questioned himself for the thousandth time and cursed his selfishness for dragging this beautiful creature into the darkness of his world.

He sank down beside her and just breathed for a moment, matching his breathing with her own. Words filled his mind as he remembered the things she had said to him. She was going to see this through, he knew that. Frustration at himself gave way to wonder at what he had gained in being mated with such a one as this. He realised that in all this he had not yet celebrated what they had gained. He smiled in the darkness not trusting to words, just willing that she would understand how much he was glad simply for the fact that she existed.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

As if in silent answer, she reached out with one hand and laid it on his chest above his heart and he felt the by now usual warmth spreading from her hand, his own energy responding to hers as if they made love with each other while the two of them just lay there. It was a different kind of intimacy, one most species would never understand, but in some ways it was even more intimate than the physical variant.

• Laraan, CNS

Stark reflected on the irony of his situation. He who had kept everyone at arms length for decades was now firmly ensconced in a relationship that had a closeness beyond anything he’d ever dreamed bringing him face to face with his greatest fear, the pain of loss. He kissed the back of her hand, carefully avoiding cutting her with his sharp canines.

“Skotos is calling me to battle Laraan” he said simply knowing she would understand. “Will you help me?”.

His last statement was infused with all that he held within. Desperately he wanted her by his side but desperately too he did not want to lose her to danger.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

A deep, slow chuckle erupted from her chest, it seemed to have its own echo, as multi-layered as her voice. She didn’t open her eyes though, she just smiled.

“What a silly question my love.” she said, then she turned towards him, to her side, propping her head up on her hand so she could look into his black eyes with her almost white ones. Still smiling, but there was worry in her eyes.

“We have to do it together, all of it. You love me, what do you think would be a worse fate. Dying with you or wondering where you are, if you are still alive and if I could have saved you in some way, had I only been with you… and wondering that, and missing you for 300 more years?”

• Laraan, CNS

Stark nodded smiling slightly and tracing the curve of her chin with his paw, “I know where the first of the seven swords is” he said intently, “Or more importantly, when it is”.

He paused and then continued with a rueful shake of his head, “I was just visited by a very old, very powerful Heelar. I got the distinct impression he could see through time. He put something in my head somehow and now all of a sudden I… know things”. His smile dropped a little, “You don’t think he’s manipulating me do you?”

Stark Nightstalker CIO
bump

Stark continued his shoulder muscles making his fur ripple as he moved. “It seems that the rift we healed here exists in other dimensions as well. Q once remarked that he found me on that mountaintop because I was a curiosity, a being that existed not in parallels across the multiverse but here and here alone. Skotos is calling to me from the Mirrorverse, from the ruins of the destroyed Guardian of Forever, the place where you were taken when you were kidnapped. It must have sensed me when Michail, Kamdaar, Orvos and I freed you”.

Stark Nightstalker CIO

Laraan nodded. “Another Helaar? Wow. For the fact that they are supposed to not exist at all, we surely see a lot of them. They scare me. Those pointy teeth and eyes and the way they channel as if it was child’s play… into more than one channel. It still feels unnatural, although I’ve now done it myself!” she sighed.
“Who knows his motivs. Indeed who knows anything for sure in this mystical chess game. I don’t like the fact that our lives depend on a constant guessing game.” she said.

• Laraan

“Agreed” Stark said looking intently at her ears and mouth. “Now that you’ve channelled more than one channel do you think you might actually become Helaar yourself?” The questions was half playful, half serious.

Stark Nightstalker CIO