shiegra (shiegra) wrote in no_true_pair, @ 2010-03-31 23:44:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 2010 harlequin challenge, author: shiegra, crossover: black jewels/legend of the se, pairing: cara/surreal |
Flight (Black Jewels/LotS, Cara/Surreal)
Title: Flight
Author/Artist: shiegra
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker/Black Jewels
Pairing/characters: Cara/Surreal, Kahlan/Richard
Rating: PG13
Warnings: implied xeno feeeelings
Prompt/challenge you're answering: If Cara isn't careful, Surreal SaDiablo might just do something that deserves Cara's respect.
A/N: There was that meme a while back that was just totally crackish 'give me two characters and I'll write you an AU where one is a dragon soul bonded to the other' and I waylaid it for this prompt. (Ugh, I wanted to do more but left it unfinished too long.)
Surreal worked her knife free of the wet suction of muscle, cleaning it carefully and deliberately while still crouched over the corpse. She sheathed it when she'd finished and then rolled the man over, tugging back the torn edge of his leathers.
The brand was there, clear as day.
She felt a rill of irritation ripple across her mind, like wind over a still pool. It wasn't hers, she reminded herself as her body automatically reacted, tensing, her breath briefly shortening as it intensified. She had to get used to it by the time she went home; her partner was usually irritated, and it was bad enough finding herself snapping left and right at the incompetent soldiers in the camp, who she might have snapped at anyway. She could see Saetan's deliberately raised brow even now, and damn if the man couldn't chastise even in her own imagination.
Oh, hellfire. She stood and turned, craning her neck; through the branches, the long sleek neck -- a dark wine red, smooth and leather -- arched, but the head was hidden. She could see the line of scales raised along Cara's throat, though, and she abandoned her own aggravation for worry and hurrying through the trees. She was glad, because by the time she reached the clearing, Cara's wings were angled the way they were just before she attacked.
"Hello?" She called, pitching her voice to carry. She realized too late, just as she came around Cara's side, that she probably looked no more reassuring; blood spattered, her hair coming loose, her expression grim. But the woman who stood there, face to face with the red dragon, smiled at her.
Oh, wow. She was tall and statuesque, with a tumble of gleaming dark hair, pale blue eyes and a starkly beautiful face. And the warmth in her smile made Surreal flush before she knew what she was doing.
She felt the subtle bristle that ran through Cara, and laid one hand on her shoulder -- crouched, she came up to Surreal's, but her wings were half spread, and had allowed Surreal to approach unseen. Surreal offered a polite smile in return, scanning the woman and her dark clothing, split up to her thighs to reveal sturdy boots. And unless Surreal was very mistaken, the woman carried her own share of weaponry. "Are you lost, traveler?"
"I'm afraid not," the woman answered. "Only cutting through the forest."
Surreal kept the are you insane? to herself and said only, "risky shortcut."
"I'm afraid it's not a shortcut," Kahlan said dryly. "We needed a resource that's only kept here, and I'm waiting for my companion to return."
You didn't need to be an empath to detect the emotions in her tone, and there was only one kind of companion that subtle emphasis belonged to. A brief feeling of voyeurism flashed through Surreal's mind, and she masked it with a thin smile. "Surreal SaDiablo. You?"
"Kahlan Amnell," the woman answered readily.
Surreal felt her eyes widen before she could stop them. "The -- "
Kahlan inclined her head, calm and regal.
"I'm...honoured." She examined her with a keener eye, seeing all over again the easy cloak of command, the comfortable certainty in her own skin the woman imbued. The lethal grace in her smallest movement. She flattened her palm against Cara's side. "Is there any aid we can render?"
They were...new together. Cara was sharp, sardonic and independent and dangerous, and she pushed Surreal -- emotionally, physically, constantly challenging her. But she couldn't block her unless she concentrated, suffering the same inconvenience as Surreal, and Surreal could tell that she knew this woman, and knew her well.
Kahlan smiled at her. "There's no need," she said gently, and returned her gaze to Cara. "I'm glad to see you well."
The dragon flicked out her wings and settled, her dark eyes narrowing briefly. Her tail lashed once in the dirt, coiling, and then she snorted dismissively. I could hardly be anything else. All enemies in this region are barely stronger than chattel.
Surreal smiled, leaning against her side and inordinately amused. That was true, if unkind.
Kahlan laughed. "You're as harsh as ever, Cara."
The shadow of wingbeats circled above, and Kahlan's face lit up, a brilliant grin spreading across her face. She tipped her head back to study the sky, and Surreal swallowed an oh shit as a long, sinuous dragon circled down. He wasn't much bigger than Cara, but he was sleek and battle-scarred, and he landed light as a ghost next to Kahlan. Surreal would have been more impressed if she suspected that Cara's less considerate landings didn't result more from deliberate lack of consideration than lack of grace.
Kahlan's eyes were luminous as she turned to him, and her hand stroked down his neck. He bent his head to hers and his great eyes drifted closed briefly, muzzle pushing briefly against her body as she stroked down his cheek.
Cara's emotions were a tangled mess, and for a second Surreal lurched and almost saw through her eyes -- and then she was abruptly back in her own body, but still looking at them through the lens of someone else's emotions. A complicated mix of jealousy aimed at both or neither in particular, exasperated, weak contempt that felt more like a forced emotion than anything else, and affection.
Surreal squeezed her eyes shut until the world steadied and took her hand away from Cara's side. That was probably enough of the emotional roller coaster for now.
When she opened her eyes, Kahlan had turned back toward them. "I'm sorry, Surreal," she said, her smile faintly embarrassed. "This is Richard."
She gave him a brief nod. He blinked liquid eyes and flared out his wings, settling on the leaf-strewn ground. Fair tidings.
Cara gave an explosive snort.
His gaze turned to her. And you, Cara. There was amusement in his voice, but mostly it was full of warm and honest affection, like a companion used to the foul moods of their lover.
Cara rolled her eyes like a teenage girl, but the curve of her neck betrayed the prickliness of her voice, gentle and sinuous. We should really get going.
Surreal shrugged one shoulder. They didn't, really, but she wasn't going to argue with Cara. "We should let you get back to your journey."
Kahlan gave her an assessing stare -- cool and measuring, it lasted only a moment, but she felt naked under it. No wonder the woman was such a good leader. Her full critical attention was like being scrubbed with steel wool, but still made you fiercely hope for her approval.
"You'll take care of her," she said. It wasn't a question.
Cara made a derisive sound, sharp and rasping. I don't need taking care of.
"Nonetheless," Kahlan said, mild and implacable.
Richard crouched and Kahlan moved lightly onto his back; the slits in her skirt, Surreal saw, allowed her to ride astride and for the middle flap of fabric to be folded back, a barrier between skin and scales. Efficient, if you were attached to skirts.
Cara's neck arched, and then stretched as they leapt into the air. She probably wasn't even aware of doing it, so Surreal decidedly closed off her mind, strengthening the barrier with everything she had, and looked away to give her a moment of privacy.
Well? Cara said only a moment later, voice cool and brisk. Let's go.
The problems came two hours later, when they were in the air.
"Is that fire?" Surreal squinted through the haze of clouds. She whispered a curse when the haze solidified into dark smoke. "Something's wrong." It was off of their path, but --
Alarm coiled in Cara's long, sleek body. Her thoughts were a knife across Surreal's mind, vicious and alarmed; too jumbled for words, but Surreal comprehend the gist. That was where Richard and Kahlan were going.
For a moment Cara was almost suspended in the air. Surreal's mission took precedence; she carried messages of political importance, and Cara had consented. Surreal wanted to be home, they both knew, hungered for it. And if they didn't get there in time, there could be a whole snarl of lethal misunderstandings.
On the other hand, she could feel Cara's need, aching in the back of her throat, cold and sharp in the pit of her stomach. Surreal made the split-second decision. "Go after them," she confirmed, and Cara wheeled in a frighteningly quick snap of her body, plunging through the air like a stone through water, the trees flashing past below them. Surreal gritted her teeth and hung on.
You just might be worth keeping, Cara said, her voice prickly and sharp all the more for the distance sting of her gratitude. Surreal grinned into the wind.