Habithi was pleased.

It didn't even take omniscience to tell that, though Terebinth had the benefit of her Gift, as well. It was obvious even without it. He rarely smiled, being a grim sort, and though his current smile-- whenever he wasn't making an effort to scowl, like now, he was wearing it-- was a small one, it was still there. There was even a little bounce in his step, he who usually had a heavy tread despite his young age.

For her new "sponsor", her new "guardian", despite his size-- which was false to his true mass-- and obvious strength-- which had no relevance to age, anyway-- was hardly older than she was, hatched barely three months before and still, to all intents and purpose, a hatchling himself. She knew this about him, just as she knew his hatred and his ambition and his bright, bloody shadow. And he was fit to guard her, she who was not violent but who loved violence and relished every instance of it throughout the course of history and into the distant future. There would be times when she needed that protection, unable or unwilling or simply knowing that she had no need to protect herself. And he would give it to her-- willingly, readily, gladly.

She knew this, just as she knew everything else. There was an eternity of knowledge in her head, and she had a very long time to process it all-- to enjoy it all, for she knew that there was very little she could not take enjoyment from. Already she looked forward to the daily meditations she knew she would be partaking in, organizing the endless information in her mind and perusing it at her leisure. She had no one except, perhaps, her siblings with whom she could share such an experience, not without the confounding riddles she was forced to impart when speaking to someone without the knowledge of which she was dealing, but that was all right. It would be a personal experience, after all.

But that time was not now. Now, she was seated primly on the couch of a bed in the sparse, cave-like Chosen dormitory room, watching Habithi at the organic-seeming machine he was tapping away at with his stubby little claws. They would grow into proper appendages, far more attractive than her own emaciated arms, with time; she could see them now, as if he were full grown already.

But he wasn't. For that matter, neither was she, despite knowing everything there was to know. Terebinth would have to be patient, for that.

"Are we staying on the Kastor long?" she asked innocently, both heads in tandem-- she liked the sound that produced, the eerie choral effect. She used the ship's proper name, in its proper language, since of course she knew that language. She knew all languages.

Just as, of course, she already knew the answer to her question. She saw no harm in asking anyway, however.

As Habithi was well aware. He shot her a disgruntled look. "As if you didn't know." Terebinth batted both sets of eyes at him, and he rolled his ceiling-ward before looking back at the screen. He did answer her, though. "You're going to be useful-- more useful than I'd anticipated, actually-- but you're not the whole reason I came here."

"You're hiding from your shadow," Terebinth smiled, delighting in her own "cryptic" name for Netahiln, his wayward, traitorous, unworthy bond. When she spoke of a shadow, then, he would know who she referred to-- and she had a few things to say to him now, in fact. "A shadow who, through clarity of mind, seems no longer to be blind." Cryptic nonsense, but it was nonsense she knew he would quickly grasp the meaning of.

"Eh?" He shot her a glare, but checked on his bonded through their link. Of course, as she-- a much more powerful talent than he-- could not reach him, he could certainly not reach her all the way back on Star City. It was a reflex, a habit, one he had indulged in automatically-- and cursed himself for doing-- exactly four times the past day and a half while waiting for Terabinth's hatching, and once since. Twice, now.

Except this time, he could sense her. The glance he shot Terebinth now was surprised and a little troubled. She smiled back at him serenely and flowed off the bed. "Would you like to go meet her before she gets herself into trouble?"

Not that she would. Netahiln was crafty, and she had her lie all planned out. Actually, she had her lie all spoken. As it was only a partial lie, it would even work-- to an extent.

"I'd rather not," Habithi grumbled, but he turned away from the computer anyway.

The had only just gotten outside the room when they were interrupted by one of the Custodians. Terebinth had been expecting her, and fixed both pairs of eyes unblinkingly on her. Habithi, who had not been holding a particularly large size-shift just then, looked disgruntled again at the appearance of a Custodian larger than he was. But as it would be silly to shift now, he simply remained as he was and said gruffly, "Yes?"

::Er,:: the dragoness began, a little nervously. The inhabitants of the ship stepped cautiously around the Balespawn; the "treaty" Anathema had made with them was tentative at best, and few really trusted the Balespawn themselves to even hold to it if provoked. ::Mister Balechild, you have a visitor-- your bond. We didn't want to send her away without checking with you first.::

Habithi extended a tendril of telepathy-- he couldn't read Terebinth, but he could talk to her. It felt, to him, like sending his thought into a black hole, into nothingness, and the sensation made his skin crawl. But she heard him nonetheless. Even if she hadn't, she would still know what he sent. It was a question: ::Can we just get rid of her, or do you want to meet the "shadow"?::

::The shadow will see what the shadow cannot be,:: Terebinth answered, giving her mind-voice-- this was the first time she'd actively used it, but she already knew exactly how and what it would sound like-- a doubled quality, just like her real voice. She liked that, as well.

Habithi grunted, not really understanding all of that-- of course he wouldn't, she knew he wouldn't, but she preferred it that way at this point-- but latching onto "she will see". He took it to mean that yes, Terebinth did want to meet Netahiln, which was close enough to be going on with, for now, since she knew they were going to meet Netahiln today. He nodded curtly at the dragoness and said, "I need to have a talk with her, anyway."

::This way, please,:: she said meekly, and led the way back to the hangars.

Not that either of them needed any guidance to get there, but they both politely kept their mouths shut and simply followed along. That was just simpler.

Aha. There she was. Habithi's "shadow", bond, and now... enemy. Netahiln. Exactly as Terebinth knew she would be: half-grown but still bulky beneath her shaggy, metallic fur; red eyes glowing faintly and fixed furiously on the entrance from the hanger to the rest of the ship; bristled with indignance, only half-feigned, at being detained. She would be a beauty, if one liked the contrasting look of her colors, when she grew into her feet and her wings. Right now, she merely looked awkward. Terebinth smiled, and though she knew she looked just a little bit smug, she didn't care. Netahiln wouldn't pay her any attention... yet.

::Habithi!:: Netahiln barked, her voice merely mental but still carrying the strength of will that had brought her this far.

The Balespawn flashed his tailblade at her in a negligent threat. Though she was not privy to his sending-- or hers-- Terebith knew exactly what was said. ::What is it now, peon?:: His tone was bored.

::What do you think you're doing up here, you worthless little lizard?::

Habithi responded to the insult-- and the implication that he was small-- with a warning growl and a growth of exactly ten feet and eight inches, so that he stood well taller than she and, approaching her predatorily, reminded her of his father despite the hatchling stubbiness. Netahiln backed up a step instinctively-- more at the memory than out of any fear of him, Terebinth knew, but he didn't know, for her mind was hidden from him-- hissing between her teeth. He stopped, satisfied and smug at her supposed submission. ::What do you think I'm doing?:: he answered irritably. ::I am recruiting.::

Netahiln snorted. ::And you didn't even tell me where you went?::

::You found out just fine on your own,:: he growled sourly. ::It isn't as if you were worried about me. Now go away.::

::Not before you tell me-- what the hell is that?:: Netahiln's muzzle wrinkled with distaste, catching sight at last of Terebinth. When he growled at her again and didn't answer, she merely lifted exactly what she was-- everything Habithi had found out about her from her supposedly-genderless mother, the scientist he'd cornered the day before, and what hints Terebinth herself had managed to give him-- from his unprotected mind. Terebinth didn't have the psionic strength to protect him-- she knew she would not be the one to do that-- and because she knew Netahiln was going to find out-- even better, she wanted Netahiln to see what an ally he had on his side-- she made no move to warn him.

::I don't believe it,:: Netahiln muttered in disbelief, staring at what seemed to her merely an ugly, two-headed hydra-- ugly because she looked much like her hated bond in color-- making Habithi narrow his eyes at her suspiciously.

But now that she knew... Terebinth was free to speak. ::Believe it, Netahiln. I know everything about you-- your plans, your hopes, your fears... and I know who you run to... when you are frightened....:: She smiled cruelly-- far too cruelly for a child, she knew, but who could truly be a child with all the knowledge of the universe and then some in their head?-- at Netahiln's shock and dismay. She smiled even more when the shaggy dragoness hastily backed away, back onto the teleport platform where her nervous "ride", a particularly small and delicate-looking humanoid, waited for her.

::Good riddance,:: Habithi muttered when she disappeared. ::What did you say to her?::

Terebinth smiled at him, a secret and enigmatic smile, and didn't answer. That wasn't something he needed to know-- and she knew she wasn't going to tell him... so she didn't.

The Twisted Fate

Chapter Seven

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