Characters: Chaeval/Stana
Authors: stana
date 12/6/01

Waking up is more a process of regaining control of those function that the
night have taken from you, rather than just opening your eyes.

It had never been more true that morning. Several forces were vying for
interest in the mind of the one called Chaeval, and not the least was
himself. 

Ultimately, though, the dawn came, and the other forces were forced to
recede. When Chae opened his eyes, it was not the beginning of wakening, but
the end of it. 

"Good morning." Orchid bade cheerfully from her spot by the fire. "You slept
later than usual, so I started breakfast."

Always trying to be helpful. That was Orchid.

"Thanks, sister." he answered. "We need to talk some things over when I get
back from the stream. I want to wash some of the sleep from my eyes, think
alone for a bit. I'll be back soon."

No need for explanation. No apologies.

"That's fine."

No questions.
___________________

Audion had fallen silent again after their last exchange. Quiet had
descended among them, but it was more comfortable this time.

Stana had finally gotten to her feet, legs shooting pins and needles at the
movement. Trying not to attract attention, she shook her sleeping appendages
out.  

Time must have passed, she reckoned. But how much, or how little, she could
not tell. She fancied she could feel herself growing older by the moment. It
was silly, but with nothing but four walls, a comatose boy and a
recalcitrant elementalist for conversation, there was little left but a
short trip to the bizarre.

of course, growing old could be moot. If she was really a Unicorn, she might
have a lot more time to play with than she had thought. Barring any untimely
and messy deaths, of course.

But was she a real Unicorn? Or was she like the Matrons that Chaos had
alluded to? Clip and the princess had mouthed some about them as well.
Neither human nor Unicorn, but a mixture of both. Mortal, born human, and
returning to human before they died.

Like Rashka...and perhaps like herself.

Allot of uncertainties here. Things had gone from confusing to downright
mind boggling. Maybe if they got out of here, she would have time to try and
think these things through some.

Stretching, she turned back to Shinji when she felt a sharp stabbing pain
through her temple.

Moaning, she touched her forehead, feeling the slight bump through the
bandanna she now wore. The pain was emanating from there, from her alicorn,
but why?

Suddenly, she felt hot. But not from any internal source, no...the entire
room had just gotten amazingly close and warm. Sweltering.

The discomfort increased until she had to close her eyes to deal with both
the vertigo arising from the temperature, as well as the stabbing sensation
driving through her eyes.

The room tilted jarringly, capsized and collapsed around her.

_________

The water was cool in a morning that promised much to do. Splashing a
scooped handful in his face, Chae stopped to consider what had transpired
through the night. 

There had been some sort of battle, he now knew. One that had been
stalemated through several sacrifices. Stace, Clip, and how many other
Unicorns had been forced to give up their lives for what could be nothing
but a few days, weeks, months more of desperate machinations.

And...how much did Stacey really know about what she had done? There was
likely no time to explain the repercussions before she had acted, and from
the Princess's words, noone thought it wise now to bring the subject up.

Which meant she likely didn't know.

Disgusted, he finished cleaning up and sat his back to a rock, watching the
sky. 

Wheels within wheels. Games of dominance, Chicanery, manipulation.  Games he
played, games others played.

He had tired of them a long time ago, but people needed their intrigues.
People needed their heroes and villains and illusions to find meaning.

Even he...

Chaeval sighed. There were some things that you just could not abide with.
The question then became -

Would he tell her?