Sæll Burðardagr III

Posted on Wed Sep 27th, 2023 @ 4:42am by Lieutenant Commander Lyra Cassiel & Lieutenant Commander Andrei Petrov

Mission: In-Between (S1:E5-S1:E6)
Location: Holodeck 1
Timeline: Date 2371-08-30 at 1900
4871 words - 9.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Once Lyra had finished with Naiva, she decided to purposefully go and find Andrei. The young woman’s words had zero impact on her really given that as Lyra had said, she didn’t understand Terran ways. She knew where she was looking, and it didn’t take her long to find him stalking through the trees. She found one she could pull herself up into, and moved to intercept him by going in front of him. She sat down on one of the strong branches and waited, then when he came into view she gave him a smile. Her body and face were once again painted in the mixture of black and crimson blood of their victims.

“Hello, darling. Are you having fun?”

Andrei’s skin, his pants, and the bear belt were covered in a mixture of black and crimson blood as well along with sweat. He was a frightening sight to see, and his white teeth drew a sharp contrast to the dark colors on his face. He rested next to her on an opposite branch.

“Oh yes. Some of them are starting to work together, which only increases the thrill.” He said, balancing his bulk there. “And you?”

There was no fear in Lyra’s eyes as she looked at her lover. There never had been, really. Instead as she looked him over and considered the carnage they had inflicted, her interest began to shift to something much more carnal. Her legs swung slightly and she playfully nudged at his legs with her bloody feet.

“I am. It’s been quite some time since I’ve done something like this.” She gestured toward the sword hilts. “How do they handle?”

“They handle as designed; well balanced and perfectly suited to me.” He said with a semi-excited expression. “You did a very fine job with them.”

It didn’t escape her notice that he had seemed much more enthusiastic about the violin he had received than the swords and his hunting gift. She knew he had a tendency to put on more of a show especially around his father - it was his way - so perhaps it was simply that, but she considered the possibility she should lean into their shared love of music more. She stopped her playful nudging and simply smiled and nodded

“Good. I would loathe to give you anything less. Let’s go and find these last ones then, darling. I have a new place I want to show you afterwards.”

“Ah yes, the final two. Our clever birds have been smarter than the rest, it seems.” Andrei said with an anticipatory few steps. They would have to track them down and, only then, would their work here be done.

—-

Kiva and the remaining Banean, a man named Tavo, had successfully eluded the two hunting Terrans to that point. They had decided that sticking together would be their best way to even have a chance of getting out of this alive, though in her heart Kiva knew that it would likely be the end of her. She’d hurt the fragile man’s pride and he would make her pay for it undoubtedly. They were moving as quietly as possible through the lush underbrush of the forest with space between them, but always in line of sight of each other. They looked to the trees, would stop and listen now and then, and generally just tried to remain highly aware of what was going on around them.

Andrei had abandoned his travel through the trees and had opted to walk beside Lyra. Tracking the two remaining aliens wasn’t exactly easy as there were tracks and signs of damage to the underbrush created by all those whom they had already caught and killed. He had and was refraining from using his ocular implant to search by holding it closed at times and relying on the other one. Where was the sport in anything else? Eventually, his still open eye found a pattern and he stopped.

“These tracks run parallel to one another.” Andrei said quietly through lips stained black and red with alien blood. “And they were made by two beings moving slowly.”

“I see it too.” She agreed, looking at the tracks next to them a moment and then moving the small distance over to more directly look at the other set. “A man and a woman.”

Her eyes moved up again to Andrei though she didn’t say anything and instead started to walk parallel to the woman’s tracks. “One of them must be your friend Kiva.”

Andrei smiled weakly, seeming to entertain a thought or vision in his mind alone at the mention of her name. While Lyra took the woman’s path, he moved along the man's, his eyes fixed on trodden leaves in front of him.

“It’s fitting to save her for last. I do wonder who the man is though.” he said with some interest.

“We’ll find out. Too bad they are useless as fighters, really. Their bones are just as brittle as a bird’s.” Lyra was musing to herself more than anything, but decided to focus on what was in front of them. After a couple of minutes more of following, she noted the difference in the tracks.

“They’ve slowed down. Tired or plotting something.” She looked across to Andrei and smiled. “Your birthday, darling; how do you want to do this?”

“They’re virtually useless. They’re security and memory technology is all I care about. After that, it would please me to find them wiped from the face of history, their only legacy their disobedience to us and their utter destruction.” he said, his tone amiable and simple, seeming to feel nothing about what he was saying. “I want to take them by surprise. Computer. Produce a replica of Lyra Cassiel and myself, designed to follow our orders.”

In an instant, exact replicas of the two of them appeared in front of them. Andrei looked at Lyra and smiled.

“We send them in and give our prey an opportunity to think they’ve won. Imagine the look on their faces when…” he said, leaving the rest unspoken.

“Continue forward until you find the non-Terrans. Put up a good fight, but fall to them, eventually.” Lyra commanded the holograms and watched as they turned and obeyed. She looked at Andrei then, her playfulness gone; it was killing time. “Back to the trees then, darling? I can’t swing around and be Tarzan like you can, but I can keep up.”

“I’ll stay with you, love, trust me.” he said, the fingers of his right hand finding hers.

The two replicas had followed Lyra’s orders, and had immediately turned and proceeded after the tracks they had been following. A few moments passed as they walked in silence, some simulated conversation occurring between the two of them for the sake of making them seem legitimate. Eventually, they came to the edge of the tracks in a large clearing, and they paused to look about, pulling out their weapons and readying them.

Seeing nothing immediately, the holographic version of Andrei moved away from Lyra and out slowly into the clearing while she kept to the outskirts of the forest. After a few long moments, the two Baneans finally appeared in a flash. They both ambushed the wandering Lyra, the man driving her to the ground with his knees on her back while Kiva grabbed her spear and wrestled it away from her just in time to brandish it at the hologram of Andrei who had come charging back. She held it firmly in her hands, but it was clear she had limited if any training with the weapon.

“Stay back! I don’t want to kill her!”

“Naaaaahh!” The holographic Andrei said, pulling his swords out from his sheath and charging at the two of them in a mad fury. His movements were reckless, far less skilled than the real Andrei would have been. I’m the heat of the moment, however, this would have never occurred to the Baneans.

“Stop!” Kiva demanded, brandishing the spear at the charging Andrei. She didn’t notice Tavo was struggling with the hologram of Lyra until he was unseated and falling down to the ground next to her. She half turned in time to see Lyra grab the spear. They began fighting over it, though Tavo was getting up to his knees and started to make a grab for Lyra again.

Andrei’s charge toward Kiva was diverted to the place where Tavo and Lyra were fighting. With a grunt, he gave the Banean man a sturdy kick, collapsing his leg and preventing him from getting up. He took hold of the man’s neck and began to slowly squeeze, putting pressure on the weak avian bones. He had turned his back to Kiva completely, however.

Lyra reeled back from Tavo, her hand on her own neck as she coughed. She reeled slightly, and it was just long enough to leave him undefended. Kiva took the spear in her hand and jabbed Andrei in his side with it as hard as she could. While this wouldn’t have hurt the flesh and blood Andrei given the weapon was a hologram, it was a holographic weapon against a holographic Andrei, so the spear bit into his side. Lyra let out a scream of rage and threw herself at Kiva, starting to beat the Banean woman violently.

“Grrrrr! You fucking bitch!” Andrei shouted through his teeth, his hand going to the spear which was gushing blood from his naked side. The cut was very deep and the pain on his face was evident. He reeled and fell to the ground trying to get the spear out. No sooner had he hit the ground than Tavo was on top of him, his foot roughing pressing on the spear until it went nearly through his entire middle. Andrei’s eyes went wide and life went out of his face. He slumped then and breathed his last, his green ocular implant going dark.

“Andrei!” Lyra cried out, shoving Kiva away roughly in favor of moving to catch her lover before he hit the ground. She cradled him with one arm, the other hand brushing his jet black hair from his face. “No… no no no stay with me.”

Her voice was pleading and she hugged him close. “Don’t leave me.”

To her pleas rang only silence as the holographic man was dead. His blood had pooled under him and now covered her legs and hands. All of the strength and vigor that has made him so intimidating now and faded away almost completely. The silence in that moment was deafening as Kiva and Tavo stood at the ready.

“We didn’t want to do that. You gave us no choice.” Tavo said, his eyes wide. “No choice at all! Damn you Terrans! Damn you!”

The holographic Lyra continued to touch and caress Andrei’s still face and then closed his eyes for him. Her hands found the spear in his side and she pulled it free. “You’ll pay for his life with yours. I am going to rip you apart!”

She lunged at them both then, striking out with her spear which wouldn’t severely hurt them if it made contact, but they didn’t know that at all.

Tavo tried to dodge her but took a slight cut in the belly from a glance with the spear. He growled and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground. When she dropped the spear, he pulled her down and looked at Kiva.

“Get the spear! We have no choice but to kill her too!”

Kiva had been slightly caught off guard by the ferocity in which Lyra had charged them, but Tavo wrestling Lyra to the ground snapped her out of it. She grabbed the spear and made ready to stab down at the Terran, but the way she was fighting and thrashing underneath Tavo made it difficult to get a clear strike. “Hold her still or get her to where I can reach her!”

Tavo continued to struggle with Lyra who almost unseated him a few times. Given their biology, Banean men simply weren’t that strong to begin with. He eventually got his arms through Lyra’s and locked his hands around her chest, then rolled with her so she was on top of him and exposed. “Do it!”

Kiva gave a cry as she shoved the spear down into Lyra’s core and twisted it. She immediately stopped struggling and gave a muted sound of distress. Kiva pulled the spear out, and Lyra gasped and sputtered. Tavo let her go, and she crawled her profusely bleeding self over to Andrei, lowering herself half on top of him with an arm around him. Whatever Kiva had hit, she bled out quickly and lay still after only a moment.

From the threes above them, the real Lyra and Andrei watched with stone faces. It was an undignified and shameful thing to watch such great potential snuffed out by those so terribly unworthy, even if it was all fake.

“I didn’t like that even a little bit.” He said quietly to her.

Lyra lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his fingertips in a near reassuring fashion. “Well, we did tell them to fall, darling. That will never really happen.”

Kiva was panting, still holding the bloody spear and then reached down to help Tavo up. “Come on. We have to figure a way out of here. There has to be one. They have to have a shuttle or something nearby.”

Andrei nodded and gave Lyra the cue, and just as the two aliens were starting to sculk off, he leaped from the tree and fell heavily on his two feet directly in front of them. He smiled brightly.

“Did you miss me?” He asked, his green eye glowing with the emeralds that served as the eye of his bear pelt.

Both of the Baneans jumped and instantly their expressions filled with despair. Kiva clutched the spear tightly and pointed it forward toward Andrei. “What kind of trickery is this? You are dead!”

“I’m afraid not.” Lyra herself spoke up from behind the two. She hadn’t dropped down like Andrei had, opting instead to move down silently so he could be the one to have that initial shock value. She was standing far enough back that when Kiva whirled around she wasn’t hit by the spear.

“Silly little birds. I wonder do your feathers do well in pillows?”

“You’re sick! Leave us alone! I did nothing to you!”

“I think you’ll find killing us a bit harder this time.” Andrei said before grabbing Kiva by the wrist with his strong hands and pulling her close to him. He grabbed a mess of hair and feathers together and pulled roughly, bringing her ear to his. “Let’s have a little fun, shall we?”

“You bastard!” Tavo squawk and moved like he was going to lunge at Andrei while his hands were tied up on holding Kiva, but Lyra brought her spear up at a lightning speed and cracked him in the side of the head with it. He went stumbling and reeling back, clutching where she had impacted and hitting a tree.

“Wait your turn, bird boy.”

“Let me go!” Kiva demanded, struggling against Andrei’s grip.

Andrei dragged Kiva like a doll, dragging her over to a tall tree on the other end of the clearing. He pushed her against it and released her.

“Don’t bother running. If you do, it’ll cost you two fingers.” He said simply as he removed a rope from his side.

Kiva continued to fight and struggle, even resorting to trying to bite Andrei when his hands moved close enough briefly. She kicked at him, wriggled about but to no avail. Then she let out this strange alien warbling sound of despair. “I was just doing my job!”

Lyra watched the scene with interest, though kept half of her attention on Tavo as he was slowly bringing himself around again from being struck in the temple. She wasn’t worried about Andrei violating Kiva or anything of the sort. Andrei wasn’t the type of man to do that himself - she was quite sure of that at least - so perhaps he was planning on making her watch as they tore Tavo apart.

Andrei ignored her mulling as he threaded the rope around the tree. When he was done, he shoved her back against it with enough force for her to hit her head on it and tied her to the tree.

“You say you were just doing your job, and that is fair. It’s only that you have a new job now.” He said to her, “To watch and then to die. I always pay my debts in the end, Kiva. Didn’t I tell you this would be your end?”

Kiva chirped slightly, struggling but finding it just as useless as anything else they had tried. She had been so sure they had won…

Andrei turned to Tavo and walked to the struggling man. He reached down and lifted him to his feet by the arm with his considerable strength. He then smiled at Lyra.

“This one’s for you, Love.”

A smile appeared on Lyra’s face and she squeezed the shaft of her spear in a certain way; it slid in on itself and left her with something no longer than the daggers she usually used. Her hands disappeared behind her and reappeared with her dagger instead of the spear. Instead of paying attention to either of the Baneans, she walked straight to Andrei with her eyes on him.

“Sharing your toys with me; you’re so good to me, darling.” Her free hand found his mostly bare chest and slid upward from his abs over his chest, brushing over his nipple and then coming to rest around his neck and shoulder. Her nails pricked his skin and she leaned up to kiss him deeply.

Andrei returned the kiss with interest, reaching his arms around her and grabbing her bottom with both hands in an audacious and unapologetic way.

“I like to play with your toys as well.” he said, and then he moved his hands up to her waist and kissed her on the forehead.

Lyra smirked, accepting and enjoying the kiss on her forehead. She returned with a quick kiss to the point of this jaw and then released him to turn her attention to the Banean man. “Let’s see here…”

Walking away from her, Andrei pulled out his dagger hilt and held it so that the blade slid out quickly. He stopped directly in front of Kiva and looked into her eyes. He seemed to drink in the fear that was there.

“Tell me about the Banean Gods. What are they like?” he asked, running his finger slowly over the blade, careful not to cut himself.

“G-gods?” Kiva stuttered and visibly winced as Tavo let out a shriek of pain. Her eyes drifted from Andrei to her companion and immediately she paled. She looked back to Andrei; he was preferable apparently to whatever was occurring behind him. “We don’t really believe in gods. Not anymore.”

“Incorrect response.” Andrei said, and reached to grab her hand in his. He applied the dagger to her smallest finger and sawed there quickly as she began to scream, only stopping when the bloody digit fell free from her hand. He lifted it up to her face and raised an eyebrow. “Wrong answer, Kiva. Try again. And this time, I’d think harder if I were you.”

Kiva’s alarmed screeching was echoed by Tavo’s behind Andrei. It created a strange musical suffering between the two Baneans. The frightened woman looked up to Andrei again, tears in her eyes.

“We… we believed in gods of the sun and moon, earth and water. Two males, two females.” She licked her lips, at a loss for what he wanted to know. “The sun gives us life, she helps things grow, helps them thrive. The moon brings not only rest and peace for us, but for the sun. He takes care of her in this way by watching over us all in the night.”

“Boring!” Andrei said, smiling.” I don’t care about your imaginary sky gods. I asked you about the Banean Gods. The real ones.”

He pressed the knife to her ring finger on the same hand and sawed gently. It stayed sharp at all times by design, so it went through quite easily with a burst of red.

“Hopefully you run out of wrong answers before you run out of fingers or I might have to move on to something that will really motivate you.”

“The gods aren’t real!” Kiva protested loudly, trying to fight out of Andrei’s grasp. “We have no real gods, we just have legends and stories! I don’t know what you want from me, just tell me!”

“Everything you need to know you’ve ALREADY been shown, you stupid excuse for a creature. You are evidence, alone, of the superiority of some species over others!” He said, “Wrong again!”

He grabbed the same hand and, despite her trembling and fighting, he sliced off her middle finger.

Kiva screeched again, fighting even harder now. Her eyes inadvertently went over Andrei’s shoulder however and she suddenly just stopped and stared, then slumped against the tree and in his hold. “I’ve been shown, I know we are weak.”

“Answer my question.” He said simply, his finger tracing her jawline in a way that was almost tender. “Tell me about the Banean Gods.”

As Andrei stood there holding Kiva, he would feel the familiar arms slide around his waist and the familiar weight on his back. Her lips touched his shoulder and then her chin rested there. Her chest was still covered, but he could feel her breasts pressing against either side of his spine.

“She’s not very smart, is she?” Lyra all but purred into Andrei’s ear. Her voice was enticing, her body was warm. Her hands moved down and began to undo the ties on the front of his pants.

“Mmm…” he said, feeling her warmth against him as he felt her hands go to his pants. “She thought she was very clever when she had me arrested though. Maybe all her blood has rushed from her brain to somewhere else.”

Kiva’s eyes moved to Lyra over Andrei’s shoulder and then they immediately widened and filled with anger. “Take those out right now!”

Lyra burst out laughing, her fingers more hastily working the ties of Andrei’s pants until they were open. She nibbled on his shoulder and one of her hands slid down into the pants and the underwear he was wearing while the other started to slowly move back up his magnificent body. “No. I will do whatever I want. Now… who are the Banean gods?”

“We don’t have any!” Kiva insisted.

“I worry about this one.” Andrei said with half a moan as he felt himself harden and lengthen in Lyra’s capable hand. Soon, the underwear became quite crowded as he lifted Kiva’s hand and pressed the knife to her index finger, slicing it off easily.

“I don’t.” Lyra grinned, her nibbles becoming a sharp bite, though it didn’t draw blood. She grabbed his manhood pointedly with a hand to start stroking him, wanting to play with him again as she had at lunch; bringing him so close, but never quite there.

“Who… are your gods, Kiva?” She asked, a purr.

As the Banean woman watched what was going on in front of her, her eyes couldn’t help but go downward. She was equally curious and horrified, and when she looked back up, she frowned. Finally, it seemed to click. “... you.”

“Very good, Kiva!” Andrei said as he looked down to enjoy the visual results of what Lyra was doing to him. He looked back up at the Banean woman, releasing her bleeding hand with only her thumb remaining. “Now, have you ever heard of an act of contrition?”

“No.” Kiva replied, pulling her ruined hand back close to her body. “I haven’t heard of such a thing.”

“It’s where you say sorry to your Gods, Kiva.” he said, allowing his voice to waver a bit at the rhythm of Lyra’s strokes. “You express sorry for the wrongs you’ve done against them. And not to avoid punishment….but just because you have offended them.”

“I’m sorry for wronging you.” Kiva replied automatically, lowering her head in some form of submission or perhaps out of sheer defeat.

“Well that isn’t good enough at all.” Lyra sighed as if she were bored. Her hand left Andrei’s manhood and joined the other, moving up his body and dragging her nails along his skin.

Andrei fluttered his eyelids a bit at the scratching, a bit of frustration showing on his face as she stopped working him. He would take it out on Kiva. He seized her arm again and placed the blade at the base of her thumb. This one was harder to get through, but with a bit more effort, it too came loose.

“If I didn’t know any better, Kiva, I would think you weren’t sorry at all.” he said, leaning in and talking to her quietly. “You must do better if you want our grace. What are you sorry for, exactly. Be specific.”

Lyra grinned against Andrei’s skin and ran the tip of her tongue just under his ear. Perhaps she knew she had frustrated him into taking the woman’s thumb, perhaps not. She wanted him hot again though, it made everything much more fun. She could not have cared less about Kiva anymore but she was content to let Andrei toy with her while she in turn toyed with his body.

Kiva was crying now, distressed chirps and croons lacing through her sobs. She dropped to her knees as best she could, her head still lowered. Pain was of course singing through her body and had been ever since she had lost the first digit, but that was hardly a concern to her now. “Please forgive me for challenging you. For arresting you both and not allowing you to see each other. I was wrong to move against my gods…”

“I don’t believe you, Kiva.” he said, looking down at her darkly. “You’re just saying what you think I want to hear.”

He grabbed her other hand and held it out in front of him above her head. He readied the knife but he didn’t use it yet.

“Don’t you think I can tell the difference?”

“I’m still tied up my… lord? I can’t show you the proper deference and prove my apology.” Kiva pointed out, her voice quiet this time.

Andrei pulled his pants up, stuffing himself back inside, and fastening them again, at least for now. He reached out then, releasing her wrist, and cut the rope that held her to the tree.

“Go one then.”

Kiva managed to keep herself from immediately lurching forward and falling face first into the ground. With some effort, she lowered herself down in front of Andrei and Lyra. She leaned forward, her forehead touching down against Andrei’s boot with her good and ruined hands put on either side.

“Please, my lord. I am deeply sorry for my transgressions against you and my lady. I thought what I was doing was correct, but I was so very blind.” Kiva paused, searching, trying to find the words that would cause the least amount of pain. “Now I know the truth and I would never move against you again. Your punishment has helped me to see the truth and I thank you for that.”

Andrei smiled and leaned down almost to her level, leaving Lyra’s touch for a moment. He reached up and touched Kiva’s face gently.

“Your faith is beautiful.” He said. Then, fast like lightning, his dagger went up under her rib cage. “Behold my mercy then.”

He followed her down to the ground and pulled his dagger as she lay there dying. He stood back up again silently.

“Countless more will fall before us.” Lyra whispered into his ear, promising, provocative. Her lips touched the meeting of his neck and shoulder with a passionate kiss and then she pulled back from him. Her weight and warmth left him completely and when he turned, she was still backing away from him.

“And where do you think you’re going?” He asked, taking quick steps towards her with a chuckle and a smile. “You started something, I’m sure, and it’s time to finish.”

TBC