Across Time: Book Two

Chapter Four

Wanderlust found Senneth.

After staying with the Desert Dwellers for a month, he found himself longing for the surface world. One of his dreams as a child was to become a great adventurer. His imaginary travels had been what kept the demons away. Slowly the memories returned to him and made him long to leave.

"Mr. Sen!" An insistent tug on his pant leg brought him back to the present. A semi-circle of small children gazed expectantly up at him, all silently begging for the end of the story. The little girl asked, "What happened to Cassie?"

Quickly, his mind brought his hand-written, food- and ink-splattered copy to mind and couldn't not remember the end of his story. Hurriedly, he made up something. "Um, Cassie finds her dog in the linen closet. He wasn't lost after all!" The kids simultaneously groaned and laughed. "Okay, time for lunch. Wash up... and don't shove each other in line! There's more than enough food to go around!" he called after them.

He tidied up the playroom, collecting empty juice cups and putting away stray toys. A presence at the doorway caught his attention and his spirits rose even more.

"Having a good day, Ki?" he asked with a ready smile. Seeing his mate always put him in a wonderful mood.

"I am," he replied, "and it's just gotten better." Kilan proffered his arm. "Shall we be off? They've made your favorite again."

They linked arms and headed from the small playroom to the dining room just down the hall. All the people they passed along the way extended a friendly greeting or a smile. It was a far cry from the behavior of most Crenix Capital citizens. At best, same-sex couples were ignored. At worst... Well, it was better not to consider the extreme. The environment of the Underground had done wonders to help speed along Sen's emotional healing.

The teenager rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Hungry boy comin' through!" he announced. People parted, knowing very well how he could get, and watched him descend upon the food with amused laughter.

"Excuse us," Kilan said as he followed close behind. "I've tried to teach him manners but nothing sticks."

The table they'd first occupied was now reserved especially for them. A placard sat in the center that informed newcomers if there were no others around. Both sat down, Sen's many dishes spread everywhere, and were just about to dig in when rapid footsteps made their way into the hall.

A shocked gasp went up from the people closest to the commotion. Many questions were asked at once, words overlapping to form nonsense. Iliza pushed her way through the gathering crowd with Kilan and Sen close behind. Kneeling in the center of a small cleared circle was a very pale young woman dressed in a lightweight traveler's robe.

"My dear, what is the matter?" the doctor asked. She joined the exhausted girl on the floor and took her hands. "Speak slowly."

The girl nodded, her chest heaving with breathlessness and fear. "Biran. I need to see Biran." Her shaking hands pulled free a plain scroll case and thrust it into Iliza's hands. "The Fourth Outpost needs help," she said. Then she collapsed.

The doctor checked for a pulse and found one, though weak and thready. "Take her to a sick room. I'll be along shortly."

She pulled the parchment free of its protective shell and read it quickly. Her eyes widened, her face paled, but her voice remained steady as she handed it to Sen. "I must attend her," Iliza said faintly.

"What's going on?" Kilan asked. He examined the scroll case and found nothing unusual about it. "I guess we'll have to talk to Biran."

His mate immediately removed, and unrolled, the scroll. "Wanna bet?" Written there was a single line of text.

And so it begins.

***

Biran hadn't moved in ten minutes. Her guests constantly exchanged glances with each other and gazed around the small bedroom in mild curiosity. A soft rustling caught their attention and the two young men watched her gently replace the scroll in its tube and cradle her head in her hands. "This is terrible," she whispered. "Very terrible."

Kilan stared intently at her. "Please explain what's going on and maybe we can help."

"I don't see how, Kilan. No one on Saiya is equipped to handle this. A threat on his scale is unprecedented."

"They're in trouble and you're just going to sit here and not do anything?!" Sen's outraged explosion surprised her. Then he slowly sank back down onto his pillow and nodded.

"What's that look for, Ki'chin?"

"We'll do it. I don't care what's the problem because we'll help anyway. But," he smiled, "we need more information such as the location of the Fourth Outpost."

She dubiously thought they would follow-through, but she explained anyway. "The Outpost is right on the coast, about 500 miles away. Wilch, the leader over there, sent Bethany here with a missive. She ran almost the entire way and it still took her half a week." Biran rose and paced. "A Lelian priestess came to him a few years back. She was young and still influenced by the outside world so there were few that she trusted. Wilch was made known to her by a mutual friend. She carried with her an ancient scroll that was literally falling apart. It had been brought to her for translation because that's what Lelian priestesses do most of the time."

"Who brought it?" Sen asked curiously. "What does this have to do with you?"

Kilan covered his mate's mouth with his hand and smiled apologetically when Biran glared at the teen. "He's sorry. Please continue."

"She was worried about what was on the paper, worried that something horrible would happen that no one could stop."

A muffled explosion of sound burst forth from Sen. His eyes widened fully and his arms waved around in the air excitedly. Kilan removed his hand when the single sounds became sentences.

"The scroll was a prophecy, wasn't it?" The look on his face was far from worried. He thought of the stories he'd read as a child and wondered how this story would end. "What did it say? Was it really bad?"

Biran was very close to doing something drastic to Sen and both young men knew it. To preserve the peaceful atmosphere, Kilan whispered something into Sen's ear. "If you let her finish, I'll do that special thing you like."

His eyebrows shot up and a lecherous look entered his eyes. "Only if you take a turn."

"Deal." They shook on it. Kilan nodded at Biran. "You won't be interrupted anymore."

"I hope not." She scanned her mind for what she'd previously said. "We were both skeptical at first. By believing in the 'prophecy', we felt that we were giving up our control. But what if we ignored it and the events came to pass? I know I would have never forgiven myself.

"In the end, we put it to vote. There are three other outposts on Saiya, all of them in remote locations. Runners were sent and for a month we waited impatiently for news."

"All had voted to wait except one.

"So, the prophecy hasn't been discounted. We've waited for some sign that meant that the Time was at hand for a long, long while." She smacked one fisted hand into the palm of the other. "Just when I was finally starting to relax, Wilch sends me a message like this! There's no doubt in my mind that we have trouble on our hands."

"How long?" Kilan questioned. "How long before all Hell breaks loose?"

Collapsing heavily into her chair, she grabbed double fistfuls of hair in tense hands. "I don't know the situation on the coast so I couldn't say for sure."

"We'll go check it out and be back before you know it." Sen smiled and winked. He took Kilan's hand and pulled him along. "We have planning to do."

Biran's tired voice followed them down the hall. "If you see Iliza, could you send her to me? Thanks."

When they were out of earshot, Kilan confronted Sen about his willingness to take on problems before he'd even heard what they were. "This is big, Sen! We shouldn't go into this lightly."

Hot and startling temper flared in the insulted eyes of his mate. "Are you implying that I didn't think this through?"

"Yes! That's exactly what I'm implying." He took a deep breath and tried to remain calm. One of them had to, after all. "I agree that we owe them a great deal, but getting ourselves killed isn't the way to repay them."

"Don't you see, Ki? This is bigger than all of us! It will reach you and I no matter where we are. No one can escape their destiny." Gently he settled his hands on his shoulders. Their eyes locked with the same intensity they felt the first time their paths crossed in Crenix. "I know you feel this, too. We're meant to go."

Kilan's resolve crumbled. "I'm afraid," he whispered brokenly. "If I lost you-"

"You won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

Sen moved closer so that their faces were centimeters apart. "You're stuck with me, Kilandreau. Forever..." He kissed him, pouring all his love, all his conviction, into the contact. He spoke again. the words lost in the mounting passion. But Kilan knew. He felt an answering cry well up from deep inside.

"...and beyond."

~*~

Vegeta frowned at the words. He had never heard of any prophecy and this was the history of his people. From the first book, he'd wondered why it had been included. A simple love story between two young men -- no matter how special -- wasn't important enough by itself to be included in the History of the Saiya-jin. But add a little mystery and fear on a global scale...

"You've never heard about this before."

Dark eyes blinked and focused on Goku. "Nani? Oh, iie. This entire thing is new to me. Why did my father keep this story a secret?"

"Maybe he never read these books. That's possible, right?" Goku stroked his back in an effort to comfort. He knew exactly where his small mate's thoughts were headed. "Maybe he wasn't trying to hide it."

"Even though you've never met him, you know as well as I do that he was. We are Saiya-jin and, therefore, not capable of anything other than cold-blooded murder and unadulterated lust, after all." His eyes were shadowed. "This story proves that all I've been taught, that all my father and his father before him has been taught, is a complete lie. Our entire belief system has been compromised."

He caught the train of thought and went with it. "In their eyes it made you all look weak."

"Hai, but I know better now." He smiled faintly and cupped Goku's face in his hands. "Being in love with you has given me strength undreamed of."

His eyes leaked. There was no way to stop it. On those rare occasions when his mate became romantic, it touched him so deeply there were no words to describe the feeling. The first time he cried because of something Vegeta had said, it had alarmed the small Saiya-jin so badly that he spent the entire day trying to make up for a non-existent grievance. Now, he simply smiled and used to fingers to wipe away the salty fluid.

"Ai shiteru, Kakarotto. I don't say it nearly as much as I should."