Grace of An Elder

Chapter 28

She was floating in the darkness, cold and alone. She felt afraid. She wanted to leave this place. She longed for her mother.

A warmth touched her shoulder, and she turned toward the sensation; a small white light that held the warmth of the brightest sun. She wanted to be closer to the sensation, and her bare form began to draw nearer to it. The strange essence grew larger, the sound of white noise accompanying the blinding warmth. Still she pushed on, eventually shielding her eyes as she was enveloped by the comforting feeling that the brightness provided. The sound gradually rose to a heavy static, and then to a deafening roar that shook her very being. She rushed forward and soon the roar went silent and the area around her stilled as the warmth was coming from every direction now.

She forced her eyes open, allowing them to adjust to the overwhelming brightness, and the sight of a human man with a long beard clothed in white robes holding a book in his hand filled her with brief confusion. She didn't question the feeling, only pushed it aside as she neared the person. She stood before a large, pure white gate that was almost disturbingly tall.

"What is this place?"

"Come, my child. Speak your name." She approached the strange man, her head tilting to the side as she looked him over.

"Who are you? How do you speak my tongue?"

The man chuckled now, clutching the thick book close to his chest. "I am Peter. I hold the keys to the gate. My great Teacher granted me the ability to understand and speak any language that I hear. It proves very useful when I receive someone like you." The man gave a kind, gentle smile as he met the girl's grey gaze with his own brown eyes. "Tell me your name, and I will see if you are in my book."

"My name is Dahdtoudi of the Dark Blade Clan." The man began to flip through the thousands of pages, a thoughtful expression crossing his features.

"Dahdtoudi...that is a unique name. Who gave you that name?"

"My brother, Zaiyu. Our father found me when I was very young. My family had been killed, so he took me in. He and my mother raised me at our home, and we visited the human planet, but-"

"Visited the planet?" The man stopped flipping the pages as he looked up at the girl. "You travel the stars?" Dahdtoudi nodded and the man furrowed his brow in confusion. "You travel the stars and yet mankind is currently unable to find much less reach any living planets aside from their own..." he stood up straighter as he looked her over once more. "Tell me, where is it that your father is from?"

"We are from Yautja Prime." The one known as Peter mouthed silently to himself before an amused smile spread across his face.

"It has been a long time since I have met a person who has lived among the Yautja. There have been others before you, but they are rare. And for you to have been raised as a young child, that is a first for me. Tell me, do you know your name that was given to you at birth?" Dahdtoudi said nothing for a moment, not wanting to remember her visit to the colony, and Peter seemed to pick up on her hesitation. He gave another reassuring smile, slightly easing Dahdtoudi's discomfort.

"Sarah...Sarah Macintosh of Loriette." Peter flipped through the pages of his thick book once more before stopping on a page toward the end (though several thousands still remained) and pointed to something on the page.

"Yes, here you are. Though it seems you have arrived sooner than expected...you are not ready to be judged yet, Dahdtoudi of the Dark Blade." She relaxed a bit at the sound of what she felt to be her 'real' name.

"What does that mean? Do I wait here until I am ready?"

Peter shook his head, a blank expression on his face now. "No, my child. You will simply go back."

A chill crawled up her spine as her stomach began to churn at the thought. "I do not wish to return to the darkness, Peter. I wish to stay here..."

"Do not fear, child. You will not be sent back to Purgatory. You will return to your rightful home. Your father is quite distressed without you. He was not ready for you to come to us, either." Before she could respond, Peter outstretched his arm and held his palm less than an inch from her forehead. "God is with you, Dahdtoudi." He pressed his palm firmly against her forehead, and she lost control of her body, falling limply to the ground, but losing consciousness before she made contact.
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Tah'kath used his cape in an attempt to slow the bleeding from her head as T'ahrou tried to send a communication to A'ytu. The Elder knew nothing of human resuscitation and thus felt completely useless in his attempt to save his daughter. Something caught his attention from the corner of his eye; he looked but nothing was there. He held his gaze in that spot near Dahdtoudi's arm, and seconds later, her fingers moved ever so slightly. The action was barely noticeable, but it was there. Perhaps some sort of rigor mortis setting in, he reasoned. A moment later, a soft, gurgled breath left the girl's cold body.

She began to choke, so instinctively Tah'kath rolled her onto her side where she began to convulse and vomit a mixture of blood and water. She tried to gasp for air, but continued to retch and vomit. T'ahrou was at their side within a moment, forcing her eyes open to see the usual gray irises and dilating pupils. The normally white sclera were streaked with red lines throughout, but otherwise fine. She coughed again for several seconds before finally managing to take a massive gulp of air.

The lightly tanned hue of her skin slowly began to return as well as the warmth of her body, but she was shivering violently. "Get blankets..!" He didn't waste time in following the Elder's command as he rushed through the dwelling before entering one of the private quarters and grabbing a heavy, black fur skin blanket from atop a bed and rushed it back to the bathing area. Tah'kath wrapped her naked body in the fur before lifting her in his arms and pushing past T'ahrou. "We can't wait for A'ytu. We will go to him."