0-SA (The Last Ship Series)

Chapter Seventy-Five: A True Queen

"Are you sure she took the path we did? W-what if she got lost? She's never been outside the ship before, Osa." Raven sat quietly in the main control room as the other Irinaut's controlled the ship, "How far away do you think we are?" The woman read over the map throughly, she patted her head with a wet cloth. The woman was doing her best to stay cool; even keeping a compress on the back of her neck just to ease the feeling of her body burning.

Raven didn't know how to feel anymore. For her, everything just seemed to blur together into one giant day. It was as if just yesterday she had met Osa, fell in love, and gave birth to their beautiful daughter. Even when things were bad then, they still had each other. She couldn't stop the feeling of guilt for leaving Osa and Luna behind like this. It was all she could think about, and at this point there was no hiding it from Osa. Even if she wanted to suppress the thought, it wouldn't be quick enough to avoid Osa's ability. He was too worried to stop him from doing so, and Raven was too tired to argue with him about it.

The entire group was obviously worried about Raven. Sage had been doing her best not to cry around the other woman, but found herself bursting into tears when Raven had gone unconscious the night before and had to be put into a chilled bath to cool her down. While Sage kept Raven supplied with cold water, Zio kept to Osa's side. Though Zio was reserved, it was clear he was keeping tabs on Osa to ensure he was alright.

Osa's golden eyes hadn't left Raven. Even with her here, alive, his heart was aching, and felt as if it were sinking deep into his chest. He wanted nothing more than to bring Raven comfort, but there was only so much he could do with the condition she was in. His hollows pulsed on his head lightly; his feathers flat against his neck. He didn't answer for a moment as he watched her carefully. The purple skinned Irinaut seemed to be deep into thought himself.

"Osa? Could you ask them? Please?" Raven spoke up again, "I need to know if they've spotted anything."

'What is your mate asking, Osa?' Lou barked out lightly, a low hiss came from him. The white skinned Irinaut was at the head of the ship as they flew. He had wasted no time getting into the air to head towards Luna's location.

Osa's feathers ruffled, his pupils slit. The male gave a light nod of his head, 'Are we getting close to their location?' He shifted before leaning over to glimpse at the map as Raven did the same.

Lou opened his own map; rolling his hand over a large sapphire looking orb, 'Without an exact location, it is going to be difficult to tell where she really is. Once we get into the proximity of the location, we will drop and send out a group to search for her. With those Yetis, it should not be any problem finding her.' Lou's eye brightened, a low hiss came from him, 'If she is a true queen, all of us will feel it. She will be found in no time.' The snow skinned male scanned over the map, 'We should be dropping in less than a hour.'

The purple skinned Irinaut nodded. He understood why he meant. The connection the Queen had to alpha and beta Irinaut's alike wasn't something that was just a feeling, it was a true connection. Finding a Queen simply meant being close enough to feel her own current.

It was what made Yok so dangerous once she was infected. Any Irinaut to close or unable to fight the urge, would end up falling to her control and infected. Osa sat quietly as he recalled watching his fellow alpha's walk into the spores and remove their masks or simply start attacking one another. It was something he wished to stop, and Luna was all they had left to do this.

"Osa? What did he say?" Raven leaned forward into Osa's view. Her long peppered hair fell to the side as she looked over him. No matter how hard he tried, the purple skinned Irinaut had never been good at hiding his emotions. Even when the Irinaut was angry, he had a way of being calm about him, but his expression said it all.