Protector...
Shyva trembled, staring into Vakiyv's icy white pupils, a sharp contrast to the whiteness of his eyeball. She just had the worst nightmare in her life and Vakyv's presence startled her as well. He was so close she could feel the intensity of his gaze burrowing through the depth of her soul. He was leaning over her, invading her space and feminity. This wasn't the first of his creepy behaviour, but the thought that she had awoken to him and not some intruder eventually felt relaxing. Her heart pounded loudly in her ear, and his mint fragrance tingled her nostrils.
A mysterious feeling swam in her stomach like swimming fish in a pond. It was dreamy. Shyva parted her lips and fluttered her lashes, staring back into the void in his eyes. She raised her fair fingers, reaching gently to touch his face. She had never felt so alive in a long time, and she needed to be certain Vakiyv felt the yarn of connection pulling them closer. She envisioned Vakiyv would pull back, but he stayed, challenging her hesitation. He didn't take his eyes away from her, watching her intently.
Don't do it. A voice screamed in Shyva's head, but she needed to know how he felt about her. Suppose he saw her as an enemy. In the depths of her heart, rescuing her countless times was proof enough. But this feeling kept growing, snagging at her emotions and arousing feelings she didn't know existed. It burned between her thighs; she trembled slightly.
Finally, two slender fingers settled on his hard mask, darker than soot. He seemed unfazed by the connection until she saw the twinkle in his eyes, diminishing the hardness in his stare. Her hands reached higher to cup his mask. He was tense, and their connection was short-lived when she pulled away from him and winced at the pain from her bruises. She wasn't in her bodysuit but found that her clothing was different.
Did he dress me in slacks and a suit? Had he seen parts of me? Had he touched me? More personal questions birthed in her mind.
"You'll hurt yourself," Vakiyv warned, now standing on his feet at the dripping mouth of the cave. It must have been his idea to hide them from their pursuers. But how long?
"I didn't ask for your thoughts." She snarled, gliding her hands past her dressed and covered injuries. Flashes of her torture angered her so much she was torn apart, curling her fist so tight her knuckles whitened.
"I hear your thoughts every time. Besides, I had to change you from what was left of your suit." His tone was stern, and she knew the reason behind the switch in his demeanour. What they had experienced earlier had driven a wedge between them presently.
"You still blame me for my actions?" She rose to her feet, hissing at the stabbing pain around her torso.
"I do not wish to speak of the past."
"I saw how angry you were, nasvit. The look in your eyes when you saw me. You were scared for me."
"I said I do not wish to talk about it, Shyva. Do not push me." Vakiyv's stride brought him face to face with her. "Then respond to me. Did you think I wished for all that to happen. You do the orb away from my world, knowing the consequences. Don't come playing the guilt card."
"What did you just say?" his pupils dilated as if something new had come to light. "You cost me everything. I shouldn't have been so attached to you. So determined to save you. I just chose you over the people I had trusted my whole life. My life has taken a drastic turn as a castaway belonging to no one and nowhere. Do you have any idea how I could live with that? Torn from my position and suddenly on the run. Do you know how that feels? So don't direct guilt at me."
"All these wouldn't have happened if you hadn't visited my world."
"Then I probably shouldn't have saved you. After all, you seemed to be defending yourself just fine before I showed up." His words stung so much that she lashed out with so much buried energy, a striking blow to his face, pushing him back a step.
"Iritivenor."
Vakiyv was frozen, watching her and lifting his gloved hands to touch the impact on his cheek. His gaze nearly pierced her, and she stumbled backward. His eyes glowed with a darkness, and he teleported before her, heightening her shock. Vakiyv grabbed Shyva's arm, nearly yanking it from its socket. She cried for her release, but he wasn't planning on doing that soon.
"Never repeat what you just did. Do not insult me, Shyva. I protect you, and this is what I get!" Vakiyv released her, turning away while he battled his emotions. Sooner than later, the cave reverberated with his gyrating laughter. Echoing the menacing sounds through the ojoroc. "You have any idea what they would have done to you? What they do to women?" He swirled to catch the fear she hid poorly on her pale face. "We're nothing like the Dome. Your fancy technology to save the world. Women are basically used for pleasure."
"Pleasure?" she asked, confused at the use of a woman to fulfill men's pleasure. "Oh, so little you know." He neared her and didn't give her a choice to doubt him. He ran his gloved fingers over her face.
Flashes from the scene on the Vermeen's ship to the torture chamber sent shivers down her spine. "I didn't mean for this to happen." Shyva's voice lowered as she wrapped her arms around her, feeling vulnerable and weak while reliving her capture. "I was doing my duty, and you were doing yours. I didn't wish for the tragedy of losing your home and your family. You've done so much for me." She stuttered, barely finding a balance to control her emotions.
His eyes moved over her innocent features. How could a warrior be gifted with such purity? Her purple eyes wetted as she fluttered her lashes rapidly. Her warmness to his touch. The small yet pointed nose sitting perfectly on top of moist rouge lips. How could he resist such fire? He burned for her every passing moment. There was the jerk her throat made again anytime she was around him. Vakiyv plucked the dark hair, shielding her eyes ever so gently, and packed them behind her ears. The unusual observation sent his eyes drifting in question at the change. Pulling apart, shocking Shyva, he just watched her. Everything about her puzzled him. How many vasa since he witnessed a similar event? Shyva was definitely going through changes he couldn't explain.
"What's wrong? Why do you keep doing this?"
"Doing what?" his snide remark put her on edge. Too confused to explain, she shook her head. "Do I scare you?"
"Not in the slightest."
"What are you not telling me?" Shyva pleaded, distraught and pale. She walked past him when he had shifted to being a mask of himself. She couldn't stand being with him. He wasn't good at working as a team, neither was he good at sharing. Just when she thought they were connecting on a deeper level, he was ruining it.
"I can't stay with you." She brushed past him, and he grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving him. An electric jolt coursed through them, and they couldn't resist what pulled them together. Shyva was dealing with so many turbulent experiences that she couldn't be vulnerable and treated unfairly. She zapped out of it, pulling her arm away, but he was so strong.
"Don't touch me." She screamed, "You made it clear you don't want us together."
"I… I… You're different."
"What?" His confession infuriated her even more.
"Are you blaming me?" she sighed sharply, rolling her eyes and then squinting them to scrutinize him. His white eyes didn't give much away. "Get your hands off me. Tikada."
"I can't let you go. I have to protect you."
"I can protect myself." She struggled to be released.
"You haven't been doing very well with that task."
Shyva flushed with anger, "I didn't ask for your help." She was resisting, and he was scared of losing her.
"In many years, I haven't seen a fast transformation such as yours." He slid a few strands from her dishevelled midback hair, and she saw it too. "Transformation? How long had this been happening?" she murmured, yanking the strands from him.
"Not very long."
A bright purple hue had taken a significant part of her hair. It matched the colour of her eyes. And it was stretching higher to claim the whole of her hair.
"You couldn't tell me." She punched his arm, betrayed at how long he kept this from her. It was a striking blow to his biceps, catching him by surprise. He was forced to release her, wincing at the stabbing pain that might leave a dent in his skin. "Perhaps it was something dangerous. That would take my life instantly; I would have died, Vakiyv. It would have been too late. Damn you."
Shyva hurried to the dripping ojoroc, washing her hair in the droplets, but the colour didn't wash away. She struggled violently to wash the new hue, but it didn't come off. She didn't like this. Her irritation was focused on Vakiyv, who stood watching her at ease, hands behind his back.
"Delighted watching me?" Shyva shrieked, focused on the difficult task.
Unexpectedly, Vakiyv shifted, hurrying toward Shyva, who was absentmindedly washing her hair. He grabbed his hand around her waist and covered her mouth with his palm, lowering her to the ground. She was amazed at his audacity and wrestled against him until he whispered into her ears, "Don't fight me, Shyva. This is bigger than us at the moment, Look! Look!"
She obeyed, straining her vision miles away. "Take it easy there. Your vision isn't as powerful as mine." His husky voice brushed over her ears, and she shivered. "Focus all your strength into your eyes and ears. You'll see. Eliminate every distraction."
That is easy for you to say.
Shyva heightened her hearing, raising the tip of her ears. She closed her eyes to distance herself from her thoughts on Vakiyv's closeness. She forced every intuition into her senses, sharpening her eyes and ears so that when she opened them, they were a vicious purple.
She saw them. People just like her.