I'm Not Six

"Yes, I am a traveler," Meirys confirmed. "Father Superior Starwind did not consider Six an acceptable host and tried to kill her when I declined to abandon her. That's why we left the hospital--to protect Six."

"I see," Lady Snowpearl said slowly. She returned to the foot of the bed and sat down again, clearly thinking. After a moment she observed, "He is not wrong."

Three drew in a breath to protest, but fell silent at a warning look from his mother.

"I disagree," Meirys said simply.

But why did she disagree? That was what Gunnar still didn't understand. Why had Meirys chosen the novice nun, when there were plenty of higher-ranking vessels to be had?

Lady Snowpearl's mouth thinned. "Fine, you disagree. Six is a lovely young woman and I see how why you might have become attached to her. But surely you realize that it would be best for everyone if you were to agree to remove to a different host. Six's life would no longer be in danger, and you would have the benefit of host who is properly trained--"

"NO!" From the surprised expression on Meirys's face, it was Six who had shouted the denial. The woman burst into tears, whirled around, and fled from the room. For a moment Gunnar, Three, and Lady Snowpearl stared after her in astonishment.

The Three swore, remembering Meirys had told them about unwelcome visitors, and hurried after her. He frowned as he stepped into the dark hall, muttering, "Why are the lights turned off?"

Six's door was wide open. Three took a step towards it, but a scream from down the hall had him turning and racing down the darkened corridor. At the intersection he stopped, looking wildly in all directions, but there was no sign of Six. Or anyone else.

"SIX!" Three yelled. "Where are you?!" Six did not answer. "Dammit Six! Answer me!"

A muffled yelp came from the left. Three turned and ran towards the sound.

'Slow down, you'll miss her,' Gunnar warned. With a snarl, Three flung open the first door he reached and stuck his head in side.

"SIX!" Three yelled.

'Stop shouting. You won't be able to hear anything,' Gunnar warned, as Three looked wildly around the room.

It was empty. So was the next one. In the third room Gunnar and Three got an eyeful of an amorous couple and hastily retreated in the face of the couple's cursing. They startled an elderly man awake in the next room over. The room after that was occupied by one of the women Six had ignored throughout dinner.

"No Six here, but why don't you stay anyway?" the woman purred, shrugging her shoulders so that her sheer robe dropped to the floor. Three didn't bother to answer as he spun and charged back to the hall, drawing in his breath to bellow yet again as he reached for the next doorknob.

But he froze as, two doors down, there was a thud and a muffled grunt.

'That room,' Gunnar said, and when Three continued to hesitate, took control of his host's body and moved towards the source of the noise. The monk stirred at the sound of a muffled scream and the sound of something falling over, but Gunnar had had enough mindless blundering around. He locked Three down into a mental box as the man tried to take back his body.

'Settle down and be quiet,' Gunnar barked silently, and opened the door.

There were no lights on in the room and the curtains over the windows were drawn. It must have been very dark until Gunnar pushed the door wide and let the light from the hall spill through to illuminate the three people inside. Gunnar immediately recognized the two men--tall Ber, and shorter, stockier Cobalt. The two men were trying to flank Meirys/Six. Apparently they'd caught them briefly, because their mouth was gagged and their hands were bound together. But that wasn't stopping the women from fighting. They were currently trying to fend the men off with a chair, but they were also being herded into a window.

Which evidently the women knew, since they swung the chair wildly, managing to clip Cobalt in the head. As he staggered, they darted forward, nearly making it to safety before Ber made a grab and managed to catch hold of an arm. With an infuriated but muffled scream, the women spun around. Lifting one foot, they drove a heel furiously between Ber's legs. With a shrill howl, the tall man let go and crumpled to the ground. The women spun around again and raced towards the door. Gunnar realized they weren't going to stop and hastily stepped out of the way.

Six/Meirys stumbled down the hall, ineffectively trying to pull the gag loose and wipe away tears at the same time. Gunnar had no difficulty keeping pace with her. Three battered against the mental box he was in, desperate to get control again and call out for Six.

'Settle down,' Gunnar told him. 'I'm not going to let Six get hurt. You have my word.'

He continued to follow Six/Meirys as they raced blindly through the manor, down flights of stairs and along random corridors. Eventually they burst out into a garden, cutting across paths and flower beds until they finally stumbled to a halt and collapsed onto a patch of grass beside a small pond. Their entire body shook as it was wracked with sobs.

Gunnar grimaced as he slowly approached. He would rather face down a dozen rabid enemies than this sobbing woman. He'd lived for centuries, more lives than he could clearly remember most days. He'd been married and raised children. But he had still not mastered dealing with a soul in pain.

He'd much prefer to let Three handle this, except Gunnar wasn't convinced the idiot wouldn't make things worse. So he sat down beside Six on the grass and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. A moment later she flung herself into his arms, knocking him flat on the grass. Since trying to sit back risked further injury to the broken wing, Gunnar sighed and shifted Six into a slightly more comfortable position and then worked to untie her hands. As soon as they were free, Six huddled in even closer. With a sigh, Gunnar stroked her hair gently.

Still trapped in his mental box, Three raged and demanded to be freed. Eventually the monk tired himself out and asked grimly, 'Could she do this to Six?'

'Yes,' Gunnar answered. That inspired another brief round of cursing.

'Why hasn't she?' Three asked. 'If this Meirys is as evil as you think, why didn't she do this to Six?'

'I don't know,' Gunnar admitted. He continued to pet Six's hair soothingly until she final cried herself out and her breathing steadied. Gunnar shifted her again, and saw that she was asleep. Relieved, he breathed, "Finally."

Six's eyes snapped open. The anger in them was chilling. Her entire body stiffened and she pushed herself up, rising to her feet and hugging her arms close as she shivered. Gunnar stood and stepped forward, holding his arms wide.

"You're cold," he said. "We should--"

"If you say 'share body heat' I will smack you."

Meirys. Gunnar couldn't quite suppress a smile as he finished, "Go back inside."

She nodded and turned. Gunnar caught her arm. As she glared, he pointed a little to the right of the direction she was aimed. "Door's that way."

Meirys nodded and altered her course in the direction Gunnar indicated, still hugging herself for warmth as she moved. There was a distinct difference in the way the two women walked. Six moved in darts and jumps, wings twitching frequently as if she was on the verge of launching herself in the air at any moment, and often as much side to side as forward. Meirys, on the other hand, moved with purpose. Quickly and efficiently. In a fight, she would would be all fluid, deadly grace, no motion wasted.

"Stop staring at my ass," Meirys said waspishly, and Gunnar bit back a chuckle. He moved to catch up so that he was no longer behind her but didn't deny her accusation. Meirys slowed a moment, until Gunnar was at her side, then gave him a sidelong look.

Something about that look set Gunnar's instincts jangling. He invested everything he had into strolling along as though he was entirely unconcerned by her scrutiny. When she stopped, he took another couple steps before turning around to look at her with artificial confusion. As Meirys continued to study him, Gunnar prompted, "Come on, Six. Let's get inside before you freeze."

"Six is asleep, which I think you know," Meirys replied softly, frowning. Gunnar's nerves screamed a warning at him. Something was about to happen. Something bad. Something that--"Move!"

Meirys lunged forward and shoved Gunnar backward. He staggered and got tangled in a bush. Arms milling, he toppled into the bush as something whipped past the space where his head had been a few moments later. There was a crack as it smacked into Meirys instead. She cursed the attacker furiously as she staggered to the side.

"Just stay down, little cousin," Cobalt advised, swinging a club of some sort at Gunnar's head, while Ber advanced on Meirys. "We're just gonna take poor Sister Six to the temple where she belongs."

"Why?" Gunnar grunted, and Cobalt flashed a toothy grin.

"Cause Father Superior Starwing's offering an enormous reward, of course," came the answer. As Three erupted into fury again, battering mindlessly against his mental box, Meirys gave a yelp and let loose another string of curses. Gunnar swallowed a curse of his own. He couldn't see past Cobalt to find out what was happening to her, and couldn't do anything even if could see.

Cobalt took another swing with his club. Gunnar reached up and caught it, ignoring the pain as spikes in the club bit into his hands. He yanked on the club, not quite managing to wrench it way, but enough that he pulled Cobalt off balance. Shifting the line of the weapon a little, Gunnar drove it back towards the other man. The breath whooshed out of Cobalt as the heel of the club slammed into his chest. Gunnar was fairly certain he heard the snap of ribs cracking, and smiled in satisfaction.

As Cobalt released his hold on the club and stumbled back, Gunnar thrashed his way out of the bush and back to his feet. He flipped the club around, nearly dropping it as his hands, bloodied by the spikes on the club, slipped on the smooth handle. He gave the club an experimental swing, testing the weight, as he eyed Cobalt.

The short man's eyes widened and he took a step back, "Ber! Gonna need an assist!"

"Busy now," came Ber's voice, from somewhere off to the left.

Gunnar swung the club. Cobalt stumbled back. So Gunnar swung again. Cobalt kept back pedaling until he stumbled over a bench and went sprawling. Wordlessly, Gunnar lashed downward with the club, catching Cobalt in the side. As the man curled to protect his belly, Gunnar smacked him in the head. Cobalt lifted his arms to protect his head, so Gunnar jabbed him in the belly again. The man's arms dropped and Gunnar smacked him in the head again, this time hard enough to knock him out.

One enemy down. Gunnar turned slowly, listening for sounds to tell him where he'd find Meirys and Ber. It turned out to be easy, as Ber was calling softly, "Come on, Sister. We just want to take you home. Be reasonable."

Moving with stealth born of centuries of practice, Gunnar followed the sound of Ber's voice. His eyes scanned the shadows and greenery and finally caught sight of a the dim copper gleam of Ber's hair. Gunnar shifted his course, trying to stay out of the man's line of sight. Ber made it difficult though, as he was turning in a circle, squinting into the darkness.

He yelped in surprise as Meirys launched herself from a pool of darkness between a tall shrub and a cluster of close-growing trees. She slammed her shoulder into him, driving him backwards for several steps, then abruptly backed away and ran back towards the darkness.

"Bitch! You don't have to be alive when we deliver you!" Ber shouted after her as he pulled gun from his belt and took aim. It was Gunnar's turn to rush forward. Ber sensed him in time to turn , but Gunnar still clubbed him in the head. As the tall man staggered, Gunnar dropped the club and grabbed his gun arm, twisting until Ber let the gun fall. Gunnar drove an elbow into the man's face and he went limp as Gunnar kicked the gun away.

As Gunnar let Ber fall to the ground, something pale flashed at the edge of his vision. He turned in time to see Meirys straightening, the gun in her hands.

She looked very uncomfortable holding it, which was odd. Gunnar knew for a fact that Meirys had served in several armies. She knew how to handle a gun. But right now she looked like she'd never held on in her life. Frowning, Gunnar moved towards her. "Give me the gun, Six."

"I'm not Six," Meirys said again, backing away. Gunnar stopped moving. He could probably rush Meirys before she could shoot him, but it wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Not when at the moment she still had it aimed awkwardly at the ground. "I'm not Six, and you know it. And you're not Brother Forty-Three."

F**k.