Lots fic: We're a long way from home and home is a long way from us (3/?)

[seriousfic]

A lot of exposition this time around. Sorry about that. Next chapter should be big.

Title: We're a long way from home and home is a long way from us
Fandom: Legend of the Seeker
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,755
Characters/Pairings: Cara/Triana, Cara/Dahlia, Richard/Kahlan, Berdine/Raina
Author’s notes: Betaed by the lovely, talented duo of ivanolix and susurrusnight
Previous: Part 2
Next: Part 4
Summary: Cara finds out who she has to kill. Finally.



Amfortas breathed deeply, some screaming part of himself smelling the burning flesh and ozone stink of magic. Kieran was dead. Viviane was gone. Soon, he would have to bind Kieran's spirit to make sure the Keeper didn't use his rage against the light. But for now, he stood there, feeling nothing but tired. Around him, the village continued to burn.

Minutes or hours later, he heard the boom of drums underscoring a chorus of hoofbeats. Jagang was approaching. Amfortas walked out of the town to see the black blanket of Jagang's forces being drawn across the horizon. As they saw the smoke that had been their home, the soldiers stopped banging their drums, and all that was left was the desperate din of the horses. They surrounded Amfortas, though a hundredstrong fraction of the army broke rank to run to the town. They found nothing.

It took minutes, but Jagang made his way from the middle of the army. His palanquin was too slow-going; when he caught sight of Amfortas, he leapt down and stalked toward him like a screeching bat. The piercings and chins that gleamed in his dark face gave the impression of teeth and claws. "What have you done, wizard?"

"You, who slaughter innocents and burn fields fallow, ask me that? The Seeker has responded in kind."

"My wife…" Jagang's voice broke. "My children…"

"I'm sorry."

In a heartbeat, Jagang's pain changed to anger. He poured a flood of fire into Amfortas, and the wizard blocked it. When Jagang's rage was finally exhausted, the grass had wilted for a hundred yards and a battalion of his own men were skeletons.

"Where is he?!" Jagang demanded.

Amfortas's voice was equally bitter. "You'll be happy to hear I was forced to kill him. He went too far."

"Happy?" Flame bubbled from Jagang again. Fire surrounded him, but he didn't burn. "You've cheated me of my revenge!"

"Jagang, please. I've had my fill of spilled blood. Can it really be too late to negotiate? This war has become too costly."

"Costly! You have not begun to pay. You wizards will name another Seeker and carry on Kieran's tradition! No! I'll tear away everyone who calls out for the Seeker's help! Destroy everyone who ever offered him love or hope! Break the world open and let the Keeper feast! All will feel my pain!"

"To be honest, I was hoping you would say that. The Seeker has completed his quest. The Clear Eye's Flame has been found." Amfortas held it up.

Jagang screamed as his world turned green.

***

Richard stared at the Hartland Inn. It looked just the way he remembered it, except for the tattered D'Haran insignia that no one had bothered to tear down. He casually disintegrated it with wizard's fire as he walked inside. Old Man Malley was still manning the bar, probably still using the same cloth to wipe it down.

"Mr. Malley, I need rooms for the night," he said, setting his hands on the counter.

"Yer not stayin' at the Cypher place."

"It was my father's place," Richard said meaningfully.

"I understand."

Richard reached into his vest to draw out a bag of coins.

"What the hell you wearin', boy?"

Richard looked down at his leather vest and the other clothes he'd purchased in the Midlands. They struck a nice balance between offering protection and not making him want to kill himself when he walked all day under a hot sun. "Oh, just some things I picked up in the Midlands. Kahlan seems to like them." Although with the way she'd pulled him out of them, you wouldn't be able to tell. "You see, it turns out my brother is an evil tyrant, and there was this prophecy that said I was supposed to kill him. So I did, but by doing that, I caused a tear in the Veil. Did you notice that?"

Old Man Malley shook his head.

"Well, believe me, it was a big problem. That's where I picked up Cara and the other Mord'Sith. Oh, they'll be needing rooms too. They used to serve Darken Rahl, my brother, but now that he's dead, they follow me. Although he came back to life, so now they serve me because they're worried that Darken Rahl will bring Emperor Jagang back to life. You've heard the story of Emperor Jagang?"

Old Man Malley shook his head.

"Well, I doubt it would be a good thing. Oh, and I have a sister…"

"Here's your keys," Old Man Malley said, dropping them on the counter.

"I might not need all of these," Richard said. "The Mord'Sith are… very close, and so some of them might share a room. Heck, for all I know, they'll all pile into the stables because it's a 'superior tactical position.' I gave up trying to understand them a while back. I mean, they have these weapons called Agiels which hurt when you touch them, even if you're the one wielding them, but they stay with that instead of using a sword or arrows or a mace… well, sometimes they use arrows…"

"You don't keep a diary, do you son?"

Richard shook his head.

"You might want to start."

"Better yet, I could talk to Chase! Wait, he's somewhere in the Midlands. I'd better go tell him that the Boundary is down and he can go home, once I'm finished with this Jagang business. You see, his wife Emma was kidnapped by the D'Harans and we had to get her back—"

Old Man Malley sighed.

***

When she got back to Hartland, all Cara wanted to do was sleep. Shooting Dahlia had… taken from her. She felt all the pain she'd accrued, but instead of it making her feel alive, she felt like they were hooks, pulling her apart. She missed the days when nothing hurt. Or at least she hadn't felt it.

Rikka pointed her to her bed. "Pleasant dreams," she said, which struck Cara as odd. She pushed open the door to her room and found Berdine and Raina in her bed. They had started without her.

Berdine managed to pull herself away for a moment. Cara envied her resolve. "Triana told us to keep your bed warm. We'll keep you warm too."

"I'm tired," Cara replied. "I want sleep."

"You'll sleep much better once we're done with you."

They ran their hands over each other, as if showcasing the other's virtues. "Which of us do you want?" Berdine asked.

"Or which of us do you want first?" Raina drew her Agiel across Berdine's body and Cara found it hard not to track its progress. "We know it's been a long time since you've used your Agiel the way it was meant to be used. You must have worked up quite the appetite."

Cara was tempted. It was good to know she still had that much. But the hunger she once would've felt… the yearning to make them submit to her, not just in words but in deeds… she didn't feel. She had no desire to strive for the sated contentment she had once derived from battle, in or out of bed. She knew it wouldn't last near long enough.

"I'll be having words with Triana," she informed them. "I expect you to be gone by the time I'm back. If not, I'll throw you out no matter what state you're in."

Raina made one last attempt, slipping the Agiel down where the covers still offered Berdine some modesty. "Will you be gone long?"

"No. I won't take long at all."

***

Triana hit the floor, her cheek already glowing from the blow Cara had struck. She reached for her Agiel, but Cara's boot dropped across her throat, choking her enough to dissuade her.

"If you want to fuck with me, do it in person," Cara said.

Triana gazed upward fiercely. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you're not fit to lead, then stop before you get us all killed!"

Cara knelt down, still on Triana's throat. "I'll lead. But I won't do it your way. You will respect Richard's ways. And mine."

"And what was so wrong about the way things were?" Triana gasped. Even as her eyelids fluttered, her hands were traipsing up the leg Cara had across her windpipe. "Don't tell me you didn't love it. Every bit of it."

Cara let her have air. It was something Richard would do. "The person I was enjoyed that. I don't."

"Bullshit," Triana replied breathlessly. "You build this thin little shell over your desires and you think you're a Confessor? You were woven of blood and sex and rage, and not all the chastity in the world can change that."

Cara returned Triana's Agiel to her. The hard way. "You might be right." She dropped the Agiel into Triana's hand. "But I do wonder if you resent that I've turned my back on the old ways… or on you."

Despite the pain she was already feeling, Triana wrapped her hand around the Agiel and let its magic work on her. Cara knew that sometimes, pain was a curative.

***

"My research has been fruitful!" Zedd announced. He had gathered them all in the common room of the inn, probably the busiest it had ever been. It also kept him close to the pig roasting in its pit.

Richard and Kahlan were practically canoodling on a bench. The Mord'Sith were gathered along the far wall, in the shadows, looking unimpressed. Cara sat between the two, her feet up on a table, systematically decimating a slice of meat on her plate with knife and fork. She wished they could just go to wherever Darken Rahl was and start killing his people. That was what the plan always ended up being, if no one had to dress up as someone they weren't.

Cara would have to remind everyone to repress the episode with the dress, which was how she chose to remember the business with the Margrave, or she was joining the Sisters of the Dark. If anyone breathed a word of it to her Agiel-sisters, the only sane course of action left would be to destroy the world.

"Have any of you ever heard the story of Kieran and Viviane?" Zedd asked.

"The last great Seeker," Richard said. "He died a thousand years ago."

"He died stopping Jagang," Cara added. "Your great predecessor couldn't put an end to his evil, he could only contain him in the Underworld. Did your story mention that?"

"Honestly, I kind of fixated on the part with them dying in each other's arms, swearing eternal love."

Cara found herself carving D+C on the table, just like she had done to countless trees in her childhood. She and Dahlia. "You remind me of a little girl," she said to Richard.

"The story was incomplete, as we learned years ago in his tomb. You weren't there for that," Zedd told the Mord'Sith, Cara included. "Viviane Confessed Kieran in her love for him, and when she killed herself to release him, he went mad under the combined stress of the Seeker and Confessor's magicks. At least, so I thought. Now, knowing what has occurred between Richard and Kahlan…"

Cara heard the Mord'Sith raise eyebrows as one.

"—I believe that Kieran was never Confessed at all."

Kahlan spoke up. "But Amfortas himself told you that Kieran became obsessed with protecting Viviane, to the point of neglecting his duties."

"Merely a byproduct of their growing relationship. Viviane died for nothing. And between her death and the war, Kieran went mad." Zedd cut off another slice of roast. He noticed he was being stared at. "With eleven Mord'Sith around, I expected more snide remarks, and more time to eat! You can work up a great appetite, researching all day! Try it!"

"Mord'Sith," Cara said, "you have permission to attack the roast if the wizard doesn't get on with it."

"Not the roast! It's seasoned to perfection!"

"Zedd, Cara has a point," Richard said. "Besides, what was stopping you from eating while you were reading all those dusty tomes?"

"And get dust all over my roast?"

"On the count of three, sisters," Cara said.

"Alright, alright!" Zedd swallowed the pork he had hastily stuffed in his mouth. "Maddened by grief and pain, Kieran rode through enemy lines and sacked Jagang's home city. I'm sure we're all aware of how terrible the wrath of the Seeker can be."

The Mord'Sith looked vaguely intrigued. Richard looked vaguely shameful. Kahlan squeezed his thigh. Her hand still had a ring on it.

"Jagang's family, his friends, his entire home was destroyed."

"Fair penance, if you ask me," Triana said. "Jagang's warfare was atrocious, even for us."

"With the Seeker unable to continue his quest, Amfortas must have sealed Jagang and his army away," Richard said, rubbing his chin.

"Nice of him to mention it," Cara replied.

Zedd shot Cara a 'shut up now' glance. "Then, Richard, when you used the Stone of Tears, you not only closed the rifts in the Veil, but all the places where the Underworld and the World of the Living cross."

"Like the Boundaries," Kahlan said.

"Exactly!"

"Then no one sent Jagang to the Underworld at all!" Richard exclaimed. In his excitement, he stood up and paced. Cara wondered if he registered the Mord'Sith's eyes tracking him, ready to protect him at a moment's notice. "It was just a corruption of history. He was sealed within the Underworld, by a Boundary!"

"And now the Boundaries are coming down," Zedd said. "It's taken more time with the Boundary between the Midlands and Westland, because that rift is wider and has been there longer. Jagang's Boundary predates all others. It's probably still up!"

"That must have been Darken Rahl's plan all along," Kahlan said. "When he betrayed the Keeper, this was his endgame."

"You're right," Richard said. "Rahl never does anything without some ridiculous master plan."

"He must get it from his mother's side of the family," Cara remarked.

"But wait." Richard stopped in his tracks. "How can Jagang still be alive? It's been a thousand years."

"You'll remember the spell I discovered to make myself young again," Zedd lectured. "A wizard of Jagang's power could do the same. The good news is, his army couldn't. They weren't wizards. There was only a small, elite order of wizards under Jagang's personal command who could still be alive. The war wizards."

"So let the Boundary come down," Cara said. "We'll capture their magic and turn it to growing apples for hungry children."

"Or something like that," Triana said.

"You don't understand. I am only a brisk hundred and twelve years old, and I'm still learning new facets of magic. There's no telling what Jagang and his forces could accomplish now. Even a thousand years ago, they nearly succeeded in taking over the world. They didn't call him Emperor Jagang for nothing."

"What stopped him?" Kahlan asked. "If he gets loose, can't we just use Amfortas's same magic to put him back?"

"My research hasn't yet gleaned how Amfortas erected the Boundary, or got Jagang inside it. Our best chance is to stop Darken Rahl from ever unleashing him. Now that we're here, he'll take no chances. He'll try to bring down the Boundary, as he did before at Hartland."

"Can you restore it?" Richard asked.

"I believe so. But only if the Veil is still torn. If it's repaired… I don't have the power to rip a new hole in it. All the Boxes of Orden exploding could only weaken the Veil."

"Well, we know Jagang's Boundary is in Westland," Kahlan said. "Otherwise, why would Darken Rahl be here?"

"I'd guess it's to the north," Cara said. "Past the Ven Mountains and the end of Hawker's Trail." She held up a map.

Kahlan rushed over to take it. There was a path drawn on it that led to a large X where Cara had described. "Where'd you get this?"

"Dahlia lent me a hand."

"You went into the enemy encampment, are you trying to get yourself killed!?"

"If I died, I could no longer serve the Lord Rahl."

While Kahlan was still fixing Cara with a glare, Richard took the map from her. "Then we know what we have to do and where we have to do it. Everyone, find horses. We ride for the Boundary!"

Zedd looked longingly at the roast. "Are you sure we have to save the world… right this minute?"

Comments

[mayireadtoday.livejournal.com]

So true: "She wished they could just go to wherever Darken Rahl was and start killing his people. That was what the plan always ended up being, if no one had to dress up as someone they weren't."

So squishy: "Cara found herself carving D+C on the table, just like she had done to countless trees in her childhood. She and Dahlia."

[rtarara.livejournal.com]

I loved the carving. Also, I think the true love story of the SoT series and LOTS might be Zedd and food. He just loves it soooooo much.

[lurkete.livejournal.com]

LOL

"You're right," Richard said. "Rahl never does anything without some ridiculous master plan."

"He must get it from his mother's side of the family," Cara remarked.

[chesirecatmug.livejournal.com]

Thanks for this fic! I love that you're working on this epic story and merging book stuff and show stuff together.

Just so I don't get my hopes, is this fic going at all towards Cara/Kahlan?

[(Anonymous)]

Ooh please say that it does end up in K/C goodness eventually!

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

Not at this point, I don't think. Kahlan is very happy with Richard and Cara has more or less accepted that, so unless things change desperately, they'll only be platonically involved.

[simplesetgo.livejournal.com]

Oooo... interesting. Can't wait to see where you take the story!

[jaws-of-fenrir.livejournal.com]

"You don't keep a diary do you son?"

"If you want to fuck me, do it in person."

LMAO, I'm slain. I like Cara thinking about Dahlia complete with doodling. I actually wouldn't mind seeing Triana evolve a bit but now that you've brought Dahlia out to play it's hard to do anything but slavishly worship at the C/D altar.

[sunata314.livejournal.com]

I really appreciate the pace of HITPWIF. I want more like RIGHT NOW but after re-reading, I am content with the amount of plot/development/story-i-ness you've put into this part so I will patiently wait for the next installment.

Cara carving a D+C heart into the table <- *giggles*

"You remind me of a little girl," she said to Richard. <-- LOL so true. He's just like one isn't he? Always running his mouth, talking about eternal!LUV...

I like your Triana, Berdine, and Raina. Hehe.

[seriousfic.livejournal.com]

"You remind me of a little girl," she said to Richard. <-- LOL so true. He's just like one isn't he? Always running his mouth, talking about eternal!LUV...

I love that double entendre, because Cara is literally talking about Dahlia, but... the other thing kinda fits.

[olli01a.livejournal.com]

Triana gazed upward fiercely. "I don't know what's wrong with you, but if you're not fit to lead, then stop before you get us all killed!"

Thats what I feared about.

Can't wait to get to the next part.