Tegan and Taj- An awkward romance

Rasera smiled at Sorrahkin, of course she would now, even being a horse she was a female and a very smart animal. When Mask turned back at her she smiled and cocked her head in a confused state when he kept pausing and then it came. The L word, he loved her. Tears formed in her deep blue eyes as she put her hands to her mouth to stifle any noise that might come out. "Akar...are...you serious...?" It wasn't like him to say something he didn't mean so she believed it, well her heart did but her mind had to ask, had to know what she had head was correct.

Without waiting for a reply she hugged him close to her, her head on his strong chest. "I love you too Akar, I have for a long time..." She admitted putting her hand softly to his chest and inhaling his masculine scent. She was happy, really happy.

That was all she needed to hear, her chest full of warmth from his admission and she was truly happy. When he pulled way from her and the horse had nudge them she giggled at the creature. "I hope you don't mind sharing him." She said to Sorrahkin, patting the horses nose and then looking back to Akar. "Do you think its still too soon for you to be moving? You head must still hurt..." She said, eyeing the wound with some amount of concern as she did so.

She stood going over to Sorrahkin and pulling a canteen of water out and handed it to him. "Perhaps just a few more minutes?" She asked, kneeling back down with a soft smile on her gentle features. "I can't have you dieing on me just after saying you loved me, that's cheating." She teased.

Rasera easily found his larger hand fitting into her own as warmth once more crawled into her heart and wrapped around it tightly. She moved into his lap on his accord and laid her head against his chest with a small content sigh. “Oh, big man Akar is going to listen to me this time?” She teased back, looking up to him with her glittering blue eyes that held playfulness and love in them. Love for him.

She played with the end of his shirt, content to sit in his lap as she was and closed her eyes, listening to his strong and steady heartbeat in his chest. “Akar, I know I may not be a lot of use to you in fighting, or battle but…” She looked up to him to ensure he knew she meant every word that she spoke. “I’ll be there for you.” He had been as alone as she was even before she had met him and she wanted to ease that burden of his sister from his shoulders if only a little.

Rasera knew the responsibility she was putting back on Akar for having her with him during war, even if she was trying to ease his loneliness with her company. It was a double edge sword that he would have to decided was worth it or not for him to bare. If he decided that he couldn’t handle the strain of her being with him in such times of chaos then so be it, she had been asking more of him than she first realized.

As the horse started becoming restless and then the distant sound of horse hooves pounding into the ground became apparent, Akar grew more agitated beneath her. When he said that they had to go right now, she easily got off his lap, holding out her hand to him to help him up if he was still dizzy. “Are you sure? Your injury…” She supposed that if he sensed something she didn’t, something dangerous than that would be far worse sticking around.

Rasera easily got on the horse with him, having much practice from doing it so often in the past and slipped into the saddle with him. She held on as tightly as she could without being too unreasonable and braced herself as they began to move out. She looked behind her to see the group of riders appearing and then an arrow wiz by the side of them. She was tempted to give a dry look to Mask's sarcastic remake towards the nature of the man but refrained from doing so as she kept her attention behind her. Someone had to watch to ensure they could get out of harm’s way...well as reasonably as she could help...while Akar pushed Sorrahkin to get them away from the oncoming trouble. Were they really that much of a magnet to exciting dangerous things? They were going to die young if this kept up, from either heart attacks or actual ones. She felt her own heart racing then but she was determined to keep a level head and watch for Akar's back.

As they had began to pick up speed and Akar wrapped his arm around her she could no longer watch behind them, concentrating on just holding on. As the tree line came into sight Rasera knew they were falling, she felt Mask slipping first and then with no weight to hold her small body down she went with him. She felt his strong arms wrap around her in protection as she landed on him. As she was about to say her thanks, Mask rolled and then she felt a sharp pain rip through her back. A small yell of pain escaped her lips as the arrow sunk deep into her soft flesh and shoulder blade.

As the pain rippeled through her shoulder she felt warm liquid run down her back and bit her lip to keep from making anymore noise. "A-Akar, you didn't get hit did you?" Her voice was shaky, half out of pain half out of fear. Her heart beat painfully in her chest as she tried to clear her mind and think of how to get out of this mess.

Rasera was shaking like a leaf in Mask's arms, more than glad to hear he had not been hit. Before she realized what it was he was doing, Rasera felt them slipping into the weird portal like they had done once before. "No-!" Was all she could get out, far too late to stop Mask from expending the injuries to his head. When they landed however Rasera had landed on her back, pushing the arrow through her skin and the rest of the way into her body. She scream in pain, rolling onto her side, but she had been there for long as someone picked her up. There was a fine layer of cold sweat on her small body, her skin was turning a pale grey color and her shaking had grown even worse. Suddenly, she was feeling rather tired, that if she just closed her eyes the pain would be over with...wouldn't it? Her back was slick with her blood as more of it trickled down her breasts and arm from the new puncture wound.

Rasera bit her lip so hard that she drew blood to keep from screaming when the arrow was broken off and slid out of her body. She was nearly unconscious now, the life essence of her blood spilling out onto whatever she was laying on. Eventually the raw pain lessened slightly as they began to heal her, making it so she was a least not gushing blood anymore. Her breathing was shallow and slow making soft rasping noises whenever she exhaled. Her conscious was floating somewhere in between being awake and not and her only thought was on Akar. "A.....kar...." She moaned so lightly that any normal person might have missed it, and then she laid still not wanting to expend any more energy. She was tired. Was it over yet?

While Rasera lay in her half dream like state she heard Akar's voice calling to her. He sounded so distant and also so sad. She felt the soft press of his lips against her own and felt droplets of water on her face. She opened her blue eyes which had been recently clouded with pain. She smiled gently as she saw his face come into focus. He looked so sad, and she weakly lifted a hand to the side of his face. There was no anger, no judgement for Akar, only the love that she had for him. "Don't look so sad..." she said, stroking the side of his face with her thumb. Her hands were ice cold, along with the rest of her skin. "And I love you too..." she whispered, closing her eyes for a moment to rest.

Rasera wanted to make the lines of sadness disappear from Akar's face. "I feel a lot better already." She smiled gently, she was telling the truth. There was a dull ache in her shoulder and she felt incredibly tired from the large blood loss but the overwhelming pain was gone now and it made it so she could relax. She watched as the red haired woman entered the room and gave her a blanket that sent warmth crawling through her cold body. Before she was able to thank her however, she was gone again. She looked to Akar and frowned, "Is...she angry at us? Do you know her?" Rasera asked, snuggling into the warmth of the blanket and feeling weariness set and was finding it hard to keep her eyes open.

Rasera felt soothed by Akar running his hand through his hair, relaxing further into the warmth of her blanket. Her skin was still an ashen grey but her eyes were no longer clouded with pain. She listened to Mask explain who the people taking care of them were and smiled. I bet they were interesting friends as children. When the man, who she assumed was Canice, came back into the room and handed her a cup with some warm liquid in it she pulled herself up slightly. She not dare ask what was in it but brought the contents to her lips and drank it. When he left again and left her and Akar alone she closed her eyes, holding his hand in hers gently after she had laid back down. "You know it wasn't your fault right...?" She asked, feeling the pull of her body to rest and replenish what she had lost. She gave one light squeeze to his hand before she slipped into a light sleep unable to keep herself from doing so any longer.

Rasera woke to soft voices coming from the other room, she had expected Akar to still be holding her hand but the only thing in the room of him was his cloak. She frowned, sitting up and let the covers slide down in her lap. She rubbed the sore muscles where the scar had formed but otherwise it didn't hurt. She was still a little lightheaded but otherwise there wasn't any alarming symptoms that she could feel.

She slid off of the bed, her blonde hair slipping over her shoulders and down her back. She very quietly walked towards the voices, soon figuring out that one of them was Akar's and the other the red headed woman that she had seen earlier. They were fighting, about how she looked like his sister. Instead of going into the room, she leaned against the wall by the door and couldn't help but listen to the argument. She had always thought that Akar might be crossing a line by being with her but...She let her head hang, her hair framing her face as she listened.