Fic: Captured...
Title: Captured
Author: chickinwhite
Rating: PG 14
Pairing: Cara/Kahlan,
Word account: ~2800
Summary : ... She felt someone shaking her shoulders and slowly recognized it was Richard..
claimer: Nothing of LotS belongs to me (such a pity!) - no business, just fan-fun
How it began? look here: 1-Hunting, 2-Troubled, 3-Confused, 4-Obsessed, 5-Touched, this follows "Touched..."
Note: I know the last part was shocking... Let´s hope, that Cara finds a way...?!... Well,here it is ;o)
Captured...
She felt someone shaking her shoulders and slowly recognized it was Richard. He was yelling at her. She didn´t hear the words, but she saw his eyes, wide, full with worry. His face was twisted and slowly the world around him came up from the blur…
Cara frowned and looked around, confused. Richard held her still in a firm grip and shook her heavily. Behind him she could see Zedd staring at her with eyes wide open, frightened. She tried to sit up and moaned. Her gaze barely realized the scenery in her surrounding. She was on the path which should lead them back to their campsite. She frowned. She had been with Kahlan at the pool…
In the dust beside her feet her eyes caught a lonely dagger …
Her brain suddenly restarted its work and crushed her down with the brutal realization of what had happened.
Kahlan…
She remembered Dahlia, her contemptuous grin, the hate in her eyes...
“I have killed your hardest enemy…”
Richard could watch how her face froze in shock.
“Damned, Cara! Talk to me! What happened with you? Where is Kahlan?“
Her eyes stared into space. Her mouth opened very slowly, “she…is dead…”
Richard stopped abruptly to jerk at her shoulders. His arms fell limply to his side. With a dump loud he slacked to the ground, stunned… Through the veil of her watery eyes Cara saw Zedd clapping horrified a hand to his mouth to hold his breath.
In the next moment her world twitched again into a whirling shadow before darkness covered her mind.
**********
Cara couldn´t tell how the wizard had been able to bring them both back to the camp. Perhaps he had used a spell. She was sure that none of them had been able to walk on his feet. They sat in deep silence. Richard´s face was empty, his eyes red and swollen. He didn´t seem to realize the world around him. Zedd cowered on the other side of a miserable campfire. He held a cup of tea, which had gotten cold long ago and stared into space. Grieve and despair lay over the campsite like a dark and heavy fur choking every move down.
Cara felt stronger now. Her external wounds had healed immediately when Zedd used magical power. But inside her she had felt her blood humming loudly through her veins, every heartbeat an unimaginable pain.
Cara knew pain, had felt so many different kinds of it in her life, had learned to control them, to use their power…
But no pain in her entire life had prepared her for what she felt after she had regained her consciousness ….
Her heart had been ripped out and blown into little bits and lay somewhere in the dust beside her feet…Her hands clenched her agiels, her knuckles white under her gloves. She tried to focus on the pain, on the thought of Kahlan. She tried to control it and to win her reasoning back…
Much later Zedd was the one who spoke first. His voice was rough and low.
“Richard you should lay down and sleep a few hours. You need to rest. We have to leave early in the morning…”
Cara stared at him. Leave? To where would they leave?
Zedd caught her gaze and started to explain:
“We had a visitor, while you and…” he swallowed; “while you were gone. Shota was here. She appeared as usual out of nothing. She had a new vision and wanted to share it with us.
If she is right, the Keeper and the Sisters of the Dark are close on our heels. It looks like there is no time to waste if we want to find the Stone of Tears before them. Shota told she saw the place where the Stone is to be found…”
He shot a worried look to Richard.
“… She also said that Richard would be alone on the path to the Stone…”
“Zedd, she would have told us if she spoke of Kahlan´s death!” Richard pressed out.
Zedd watched him in deep sorrow.
“Richard, we have to face the fact that she won´t come back. Kahlan would never have wanted…”
An angry voice interrupted him.
“She ´s not dead!“ Cara´s first words since hours made them both whirl around and stare at her.
“Cara…” Richard frowned, couldn´t see what she meant.
„She´s not dead!“ Cara shook her head decidedly.
Richard looked at her with watery eyes.
“But, you said you´ve seen…”
“She is - not - dead!” She repeated stubbornly in a harsh voice. “Don´t you see it? That is why she left me unconscious. I shouldn´t see them giving Kahlan the breath of life. They wanted me to believe she´s dead. I should tell you that. If we are convinced of her death, we won’t haunt them but go on for the Stone of Tears and they can bring her to Rahl, without been followed.”
“How can you be sure about that? Dahlia hated Kahlan! It was her personal revenge to kill her!” Zedd asked in disbelieving, his brows furrowed.
Cara stared at him with angry eyes.
“If Dahlia´s intend was only to murder her, she would have left her body to show you she had taken bloody revenge, and to aggrieve you even more then with my simple report … And she would have killed me too. Just to ensure that I couldn´t bring her back. The fact that I´m still alive proofs that Kahlan is too!”
She turned to Richard: “Rahl needs you to find the Stone of Tears and close the veil. He is afraid of the Keeper´s revenge. That is why he can´t risk you to follow Dahlia...”
Richard breathed heavily, focusing on Cara´s theory, considering. Zedd´s eyebrows had risen, but he nodded very slowly. They shared a glance and Richard jumped up, a glint of hope in his eyes:
“Then what are we waiting for? We can still catch them. We have to start to…”
“Richard!” Zedd stood beside him, laying a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. “You have heard Shota. We have no time to go after them! I´m sorry, son, but we can´t rescue her AND find the Stone of Tears in time!” He squeezed his shoulder sadly. “You know I love her like a daughter! But the quest is more important than any of us…”
“No, Zedd!” he interrupted the wizard enraged and shook his hand off. “I can´t allow them to escape with her! We will not abandon her! We can´t!” his voice broke, he stared at his grandfather, stirred up, not believing that Zedd refused to help Kahlan.
“She always knew that the quest comes first, Richard. Confessors know the risk they take joining the Seeker.” Zedd´s voice was low and shuttered with sorrow. “She wouldn´t want to be the one for whom´s sake the world would perish…”
“I will follow them!” The men turned around in surprise. Cara had raised, standing straightly; her face was steely, her gaze glowed grimly decided. She looked up at Richard:
“Don´t try to detain me, Richard. You once gave me the chance to decide whether I follow you or leave… Now I will leave!”
“Cara…”
“No, I will not discuss it! You have to go on for the Stone. But I am free in my decision; that is what you told me! Right?” He nodded.
“Then let me go! I swear I will find her!”
Not waiting for an answer Cara grabbed her pack and glanced at the men.
“I wish you good luck!”
Richard placed his hand on her shoulder with a desperate look, sighing under his breath. He was torn between his quest and the urgent needing of rescuing Kahlan. But he knew that Zedd was right.
“Same for you, Cara! Please, find her! I know if anyone can, it is you!...
We will see us all again!” His voice broke. Zedd didn´t say anything, just stared at her with watery eyes and nodded good bye.
*********
They had been on their horses the whole night trough. Kahlan felt deeply exhausted, but tried to not show it. She felt the horse trotting carefully behind its companion. She was tied to the saddle; a keen metallic thing around her neck seemed to be a Rada´Han and a dark band over her eyes detained her from recognizing who had captivated her. But the low creaking sound of leather had told her soon, that they were Mord Sith. And Kahlan could have sworn that Dahlia was the one in charge. Perhaps it had been the sharp aura of hate that Kahlan felt sneaking under her skin that betrayed Dahlia, even though she hadn´t spoke a single word.
Kahlan had been dizzy when she had restarted to breathe after her return from the underworld, tied and blindfolded. First she couldn´t puzzle out what had happened. She remembered Cara´s face, their kiss, and then a sudden hard blow in her back. The next she saw were dead bodies in green glowing light. The realization of being dead had been frightening. It couldn´t be true! Her life had just restarted. She remembered her eyes flicking around to search for Cara, but she wasn´t there. So if Cara was alive, she would give her the breath of live! She would return, Cara needed just a few moments to strike their attackers…
And indeed she had felt her heart restart beating after a short while and the urgent need to fill her lungs with fresh air; the view had changed from glowing green - into a deep darkness under her blindfold. Kahlan had suppressed her horror that it wasn´t Cara who had given her the breath of life. She could feel her nearby but she couldn´t tell if the blonde was alive… There were only a few words murmured between her attackers. She had heard something like “..tell the Seeker…”that she could not identify while she was roughly shoved on the horse back and tied to the saddle. So she concentrated on wearing her Confessor´s face even under the blindfold and used the passing time to consider the new development.
When they finally stopped for a rest someone pulled her gruffly from the horseback. She felt herself tumbling to the ground and picking herself up with her tied hands needed a second. Gloved hands pulled the rag from her eyes and she had to blink a few times against the sudden light.
She was surrounded by nearly a dozen Mord Sith who stood alarmed but motionless, staring at her, their agiels ready to strike.
In front of her she saw Dahlia. With raised chin and a lifted eyebrow she looked clearly contend with herself. Dropping with scorn, her voice reached Kahlan´s ear:
“It is an honor to have you as our guest, Mother Confessor. Surprised to see me? I really hope the way was not too pleasant for you?”
Kahlan could barely suppress a Cara-like eye roll with her words.
“I am sorry to disappoint you Dahlia. It is not a bit a surprise to see you. I knew in the first minute who is the chicken-hearted Mord Sith that had to shoot me from behind to captivate me.”
Dahlias eyes darted flashes, her lips were small lines while Kahlan gave her a smart smile.
“So let´s get it over with it: What do you want from me?”
Dahlia approached slowly and stared Kahlan directly into her eyes. Kahlan could see the hate whirling inside her, could sense it sliding razor-sharp through the air she breathed. She clenched her jaw.
“I´ve come to take revenge, Confessor! First I´ve taken you from your beloved. There is no one to come for your rescue… The Seeker is bound to his quest, you are alone, hopeless! “ Her voice purred smugly.
“Next, I will see how strong the Mother Confessor is in fact… You will suffer, Kahlan…”
Dahlia showed a wide grin.
“I have won, Confessor! Your life belongs to me!”
Kahlan furrowed her brows and looked at her, stunned. She saw Dahlia narrowing her eyes and turning pale when she finally laughed out loud.
“Oh Dahlia! Do you really think I am silly enough to believe your words? You are here because the maniac Rahl ordered you. If you would be allowed to torture me, you would have started with it right after giving me the breath of life! But it seems to me that Rahl don´t want me to be injured. And you can´t do a step without his permission! And why did we hurry the whole night through? I tell you: you are afraid that someone will follow us! That is why we were splashing long time through water; you hoped to cover our tracks.
Your revenge is just a gutless murder from behind? Isn´t it a little bit low-grade? Poor Dahlia! And you even can´t enjoy it because you´re ordered to bring me to Rahl, alive! “
Dahlias face was painted in a deep red. She barely controlled her rage. And that her sisters witnessed Kahlan´s scoff nearly made her mad. But Kahlan did not stop speaking, mocking…
“And you are so much mistaken, if you think I am hopeless! You don´t know the first thing about friendship, and even nothing about love!
But be sure, if Richard really can´t, Cara WILL come for me! And you know that!”
Dahlia draw back. Her expression was evil; her face burnt with ferocity. She stood straight and proudly before Kahlan and a cruel smile curled her lips slowly up:
“Cara…IS DEAD!” She turned and went to her horse, snapping a few orders to her sisters…
Kahlan stared at her back. The echo of her words hammering in her ears. Suddenly the loud hum of her racing blood floated her brain. Her stomach revolted.
No, this could not be true! Cara was not dead! Cara could not be dead!
The shock caught her breath. She felt her knees buckle and she dropped slowly to the ground.
It took Kahlan a few minutes, before she was able to clear her mind bit by bit. She breathed deeply, taking as much of the fresh air in as possible. She listened to her heavily pounding heart, wondering how it could still do its work.
She tried desperately to recall the moment of her resurrection. She had been bound and blindfolded, couldn´t see if Cara was there. But she remembered the very strong feeling of Cara being there.
Kahlan closed her eyes, creating the same darkness that had surrounded her when she had taken her first breath after the attack. The impressions she had had came slowly back to her mind. The recognition that she was bound, that the darkness was caused by a blindfold. She smelled a faint scent of Cara very nearly. The hint of blood that was mixed with it. She felt prodded by gloved hands… - and then she heard it again in her mind, the murmured question of a Mord Sith:
“What about her?” - and Dahlias low answer: “ We leave her. She can tell the Seeker that she´s dead!...”
Kahlan sighed in relief. That was what she would stick to. Dahlia tried to harm her, she just told lies.
Cara was alive… and she would follow them. And she could leave her a sign that she waited for her!
*******
The Mord Sith were preparing their departure. None of them saw Kahlan twitching at her clothes until she had a small piece of fabric from her undergarment in her hand.
This time Kahlan was not blindfolded when they left. This too proofed to Kahlan that Cara had been left behind, maybe unconscious, but alive, and she should not been given the chance to notice it…
When they left, Kahlan shot a short glance to the tree she had been leaned to, where she knew a small piece of fabric would brighten up Cara´s day…
“Come on Cara! Please, hurry up - but be careful ! I´m waiting for you…”
...click to continue...