Down on the Farm (Closed)

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

Kali let out a pleased snort when Strov marched away. Okay, so maybe one impression went foul. It wasn't like she told the guy to shoot up an animal with her around. Her shoulders tensed up in defense at Mahak's sound, but horrible reasoning.

"I don't care about what doesn't happen under my nose," she defended. "But I'm here now and I've seen them and now I want them."

The fact that she now had to choose one was even worse. Her bottom lip quivered and she tried putting on the full, manipulative charm when she wasn't having her way. "But I've already named them," she whined softly. "How can you expect me to toss away Jethro or Brimsby or Juniper..."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

"We're all born to die, Kali." Mahak told her soberly. "Every living being, from tlanda to you and I. We do not know if these beings are meant to be kept as pets. It is also not guaranteed that they will be killed. Either way, are we not interfering with their natural course of life? Even doing so with one is a violation of that."

He had her, or he hoped he did. If she saw fit to pull rank on him he could wave the Prime Directive in her face right back.

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

His compromise just wasn't enough. Her mind immediately blanked out past the logic Mahak was trying to instill in her.

Because behind Mahak's shoulder, the world was burning through her eyes.

"Screw that and screw you!" she snarled and then turned tail and ran from the imaginary fire. Because the squeals in her arms weren't the baby tlanda; they were screams of young children who would have never lived on Harmony. Their unmarked graves were on another planet. On New Canton.

She was too afraid to run back and save the other colonists a long time ago. Not this time.

So she ran off through the brush and down the hill with a hat full of sadly squealing pig-kitties. Some of the altava birds heard the meek cries and quickly followed. It was a masterful display of whimsy on the surface, but what was going on through Kali's head was much more sinister.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

"Kali, no!" Mahak said as he took off after. Before he got too far he shouted over his shoulder, "UNCLE!"

His boots crunched over the hard stones as he stomped off after her. There was no telling the trouble she could run into. Reyes was unfamiliar with the terrain, the planet. The last thing he needed was his hysterical mate plunging through the bush with a hat full of tlanda piglettens.

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

As Kali ran down the hill like her hair was caught on fire, a young Vulcan male sat in the underbrush nearby one of the outlier farms. He was as still as stone in furious meditation to combat the burn running through his veins. It was far too early, but logic dictated that he meditate immediately as a strong precaution, and thought he may have made a break through instinct with a douse of cool control.

Something shuffled distinctly from the breeze and he made the mistake of opening his eyes. As if in slow motion, he watched a beautiful woman dance across the field (though it was more like stumbling like a chicken with its head caught off), with luxurious dark hair fluttering behind wild eyes and a furious expression.

It reminded him of the females in ancient text - where Surak ceased to exist in history and the depravity of their emotions ruled above all else.

He watched her as still as water when she stumbled and practically disappeared into the tall grass. There were familiar squeaking sounds coming from her, but not really. Tlanda piglettens, he managed to construe, and her head suddenly burst from the grass in her frantic attempt to grab at the scattering pups.

"Hey! Wait!" she cried out frantically. It was the loveliest thing he had ever heard. The altava birds squawked and circled above her when he suddenly lurched forward with a twitch of his shoulders and practically crawled along the ground to inch his way to her.

"Shut the hell up, you stupid birds!"

He paused when the woman took out a phaser and shot at the air, making the birds scramble for cover. What an uncouth, emotional, messy young woman. Logic dictated that she was made to be tamed and his compromised mind decided he should be one to do take up that mantle.

Kali managed to grab a pup before the rest scattered safely into the brush and away from predators. Whether they were going to survive quickly vacated her thoughts when she saw something move not too far off - and it was way too big to be a pig-kitty. She trained her phaser at it. "Whoa there, nelly!" she shouted. It was a glorious sight for the male. "Up you get!"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

Mahak crested the hill and started down the other side. The tlanda piglettins were scampering in every direction, or rolling around in the stony soil joyously. This was a busy day for them.

He caught sight of Reyes aiming her phaser at something in the brush. Immediately, his own hand flew to his holster, but it was empty. Mahak realized it must have rattled loose in his rush to get to her. He made his careful way down the hill, skidding with every few steps.

"Kali," He said when he was within earshot. "Strov is on his way soon with the rifle. What is the matter?"

His keen eyesight picked out what she was pointing her weapon at. Mahak knew who it was immediately

"S'trel." The Vulcan said when he got closer. "You are far from your family ranch."

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

The tlanda squeaked and huddled against her chest. Approachable, maternal - these were the words S'trel was thinking about when he slowly pulled himself up from the brush, his gaze hard and solely on her.

Kali made a little nudging motion with her phaser to make sure he was all the way up. The burning wasteland was no more in her vision. Just near endless brush and a humble farming colony. The Vulcan guy looked a little upsetting though. The way he moved reminded her of a caged tiger.

Mahak quickly followed and his presence changed the man's stance from like water to cold steel. As it should be; S'trel could smell Mahak on the female quite clearly now. Threat, competition, kal-if-ee-

Kali. Mahak said kali. Their ancient word for challenge. Was he intending on fighting him, then?

"You know this yahoo?" Kali asked Mahak before reluctantly handing him the phaser. She always hated carrying those damn things. Joffery was starting to made weird snuffling sounds against her chest so she placed her discarded hat over him.

S'trel somehow managed to form words. "I was meditating. It is not a crime."

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

The other Vulcan had a flush of green to his skin, a fierce hunger in his eyes. Mahak recognized the signs well enough, and was glad that Reyes had tossed him the phaser.

Mahak caught it smoothly and made sure it was in the correct position in his hand. He would need it if this got ugly.

S'Trel looked ugly. He was covered with sweat, and even from his seated position he looked ready to pounce on Reyes. Mahak protectively stepped in front of his lover, just a few feet from the fiending man.

"S'Trel," He said with every ounce of authority he could muster. "It would not be logical for you to mate with a random female, and one who mas a mate herself already. I am sure that you can find an eligible mate of your own here."

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

That was quite obviously the weirdest thing she's heard in this situation ever and yet the S'trel guy flinched as if burned, like he had been caught. "Who's mating what?" she asked in confusion.

S'trel's focus was now completely on Mahak. "Logic? You called for kali. The challenge. I can challenge." He sounded almost desperate. "I can challenge your claim."

"Kali's my name, you big donut," Kali retorted. "And what challenge? Like a math competition or something?"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

"Kal-if-ee is the traditional call of challenge during pon farr," Mahak told her. "S'Trel is currently undergoing it."

"Your challenge was logical. Your mate is..." The other Vulcan got to his feet, fists clenched. "...worthy of it. Put down your phaser, Mahak. We must fight in the traditional way."

"There will be no fighting," Mahak replied tightly. "If you attack me or Chief Reyes I will be forced to subdue you with any means at my disposal."

"You never were one to stand on ceremony." S'Trel said, eyes blazing. "When I am looking down at your crushed body I will forego the ritual words."

"Get back," Mahak said sharply to Reyes just as the other Vulcan attacked.

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

She was really going to have a talk with the geneticist that named her. When he mentioned pon farr, it reminded Kali of what Mahak was talking to A'lera about during the symposium. "Oh." Oh! "Listen buddy," Kali began with a wince. "I'm flattered that uh- you decided that I'd be perfect to get your loins all in a blaze, but yeah. I'm gunning in Mahak's gate now."

Clearly everything just went over S'trel's head because he managed to flash a confused look at her before refocusing on Mahak. "A physical reciprocation is irrelevant," he hissed at him. "I will scour your scent from her skin and bind her mind until we are not two, but one!"

It escalated from one to ten so fast, Kali wasn't sure what just happened when S'trel suddenly launched herself at them. She instinctively hopped back in alarm. "Hey! Stop that!"

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

Mahak was strong, and fast. Probably more so than the average Vulcan thanks to his training. But S'Trel was in a full on blood rage. The other man came at him with a ferocity born of billions of years of instinct, and he could not withstand it.

His hands had barely made it to position before his body was rocked by sweeping hooks. Mahak felt his ribs hammered, then his side, then his stomach. Coughing green blood, he fell to his knees.

"AGH!" S'Trel crowed in bloodthirsty delight, and caught Mahak neatly under the chin with a knee rise that sent the other Vulcan sprawling in the dirt.

He had no reprieve. The other man launched himself onto him in a flurry of punches and bites.

Mahak was losing, and badly. This was no boxing match. This was a street fight, and he was finding himself woefully unequipped to deal with it.

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

She was flabbergasted. Just what the hell just happened?! Before she knew it, Mahak and this S'trel guy were locked in combat, but the latter was fighting to kill. The beatdown was fierce enough that it stunned her for a moment.

Kali dropped Joffery and grabbed the discarded phaser the second S'trel started using his teeth. "Get off of him!"

She stunned him once, blinked when it didn't phase him, and then shot him a second time. S'trel backed off, stumbling slightly, and then staggered for her instead, the blood lust overriding his body like some kind of zombified disease.

He was weakened, but still on his feet. She had never seen anything like this. For a second, she slapped at the base of her phaser to make sure it was working correctly and then flinched backwards when he tried to stick his hand on her face.

[Malcolm Adeyemi]

[Harmony]

Mahak saw more stars than he had ever seen in the ring or on a starship, black comets that swung in his vision and bounced crazily off one another. He felt something warm and liquid on his chin. Touching two fingers to it confirmed that he was bleeding from the mouth, and therefore internally.

When S'Trel made a move for Reyes Mahak tried to get to his feet but quickly stumbled back down. The other Vulcan's attack had left him drained and nearly unable to stand. With great effort, he heaved himself to his feet and felt a thunderclap of pain rack his entire body.

"S'Trel!" He yelled.

When the other Vulcan turned, Mahak smacked him full in the jaw with the large rock he'd thought to gather in his hands on the painful journey to his feet. The blow could not be delivered with much strength, due to his being wounded, but the rock was large and jagged enough to deliver a debilitating injury to the other Vulcan.

Mahak fell, too, to his knees, and somehow found the strength to lift the rock over his head. When S'Trel neglected to move but still visibly breathed, Mahak let the rock fall to the side.

[Kali Reyes]

[Harmony]

It was just a quick brush of his fingertips. No harm done. Kali's phaser whirred to life after a much needed discharge, but Mahak had staggered to his feet and took a heavy rock along with him. For a horrifying moment, Kali thought he was going to kill S'trel. That's the last thing they needed: a homecoming followed by murder.

It was a smart smack to the face that left S'trel collapsing to his knees and then, with a final grunt, fall face forward into the dirt. Kali quickly dropped down to her knees to check his pulse with one hand and possibly her comm for an expensive lawyer on the other, but she could feel the beat and relaxed.

"Holy shit!" she gasped out, then scrambled to steady Mahak by his waist before he could collapse. She wanted to laugh from the absurdity, but couldn't. Instead she wiped the blood off his chin with her thumb. "Damage report, Mahak! Anything broken?" There was guilt, utter guilt. She just wanted to save a litter, not catch herself in some kind of weird mating display. She started shouting for Mahak's uncle - wherever he was.