Blood of the Lost

[Salem Ave]

The Delinquent burst into the atmosphere of the dune-planet Tatooine with a silent pulse of energy. The ship rocked very gently before slowing, its exit from hyperspace clean and smooth. On board the ship, the pilot and two passengers looked out into the inky-black sky, their eyes stung with the light of the nearby twin suns. Salem Ave, Razielle and Jezebella Shadana had come the distance from Kirrek to the outer rim to reclaim something of theirs that had gone amiss, but to do so the two vampires had required new vessels in which to travel. With human bodies, now walking as ghouls, they would be able to face the harsh light of day on the planet. Their only obstacle now was locating the dormant vampire who slept beneath the sands…

[Razielle Shadana]

Razielle's fingers dug into the cargo net behind her head as the ship touched down upon the sand. She was usually quite good with travel but for some reason this time had been torture. Perhaps the girl whose body she had taken over suffered from vertigo? Whatever the reason, she was feeling shakey, nauseated and overall like she had been run over by a dewback. "Nice landing Jez..." Her tone dripped with sarcasm.

Shoving to her feet, and just barely staying there, Razielle gave herself a little shake and started forward to rattle out the only plan they had at this point. "Jez, you look about the most sensible out of the three of us. Go find out where they bury unclaimed bodies.." Blowing a strand of hair out of her face, Razielle sat back down again. Being in the Ghoul's body negated her talent for focusing on the ebbing heartbeat of Xanatos, they were already at a loss.

[Jezebella Shadana]

"Yeah.. whatever." Jezebella mumbled quietly as she departed for the ramp that lead to the planet's surface. Shielding her amber eyes from the harsh blaze of the sun above, she moved to the back of the ship and clicked the controls that locked her speeder against the under-belly of her ship. Unlocking the S-swoop model, she perched atop it and began her way toward Mos Eisley.

Upon reaching the settlement, portraying herself as looking for a lost family member, Jezebella inquired of a settlement official where unclaimed bodies would have been buried. "End of the street. They aren't too deep though, so if you have a weak stomach maybe you should pay your respects from here, Miss." Turning her nose up she marched off.

Once she was pointed in the right direction, finding the shallow graveyard was not a problem. But she was going to leave it to Salem and Razielle to discover which one of the corpse-ridden ditches that Xanatos inhabited. A short while later she returned and imparted the joyous news. "Your boy is in a ditch down the street."

[Salem Ave]

Salem stalked out into the light right away, glancing back for only a moment to see Jez pointing which direction he should head. Soon though, he became aware of the smell of decay. The burial grounds were just a short way ahea. The ghoul paused, looking back to see Razielle approaching slowly behind him. He looked down into his hands - luckily, as a Ghoul, he was able to summon claws, that would aide in digging the body up.

"I don't think they'll take kindly to me exhuming each body. You might need to keep them occupied while I work."

[Razielle Shadana]

Not speaking, Razielle just nodded her head and grabbed both her saber and a blaster pistol out of the ship. Not that she was fond of blasters, but she was not feeling up to getting in a scuffle right now. Better to pick them off from a distance. Trudging behind Salem, she leaned against the gate post and offered some quite obvious and unneeded advice.. "Start with the fresh one's..."

At his glance that clearly said to go straight to hell, Razielle grinned. It was a stupid comment after all. As Salem started digging, her eye's widened when a thought struck her. "Maybe we should wait a few hours? We wouldn't want to burn him to a crisp.."

[Jezebella Shadana]

Jezebella watched the two for a moment before canting her head back and listing up the ramp that led to the inner sanctum of her ship. She didn't need to be told what to do, she had been notified as of what to do before they had set down upon the settlement. Upon reaching a narrow cut on the ships interior, Jez slipped inside and fiddle about with the controls. She was rewarded with the sound of the storage compartment lowering down from the ships under-belly,

Returning outside a short while later, she slipped around to the now open section of the ship's storage and shoved her hands inside. They locked tightly around two straps, and before long, a large sarcophagus was drawn out from within. Slipping to her knees, Jez began connecting the loose wires and tubes that hung limply about the coffin.

The power cell of the ship would fuel the energy through the coffin filters, allowing her sister's buried friend to stay safe without the delicate protection of the Earth laid over him.

'It's ready.' She mumbled, slowly sliding to her feet, her arms lifting to cross over her chest.

[Salem Ave]

Salem worked quickly. His large, heavy claws acted as ploughs in the Earth, tearing it out of its place and casting it aside in one simply gesture. He worked methodically through the graves, exhuming a handful of bodies before finally Razielle showed some recognition. The body was caked in dirt, dust and sand, but beneath all the grime there was a face she remembered. The coffin was brought into place quickly and quietly, and the body of the vampire deposited inside with minimal upheaval. Salem dusted off his hands as the lid on the box slid shut. “There.”

[Razielle Shadana]

Leaving behind a desecrated graveyard, bodies tossed about and the stench of death on the air, Razielle covered her mouth and returned to the Delinquent. She was not usually the type to go silent. That fact should have tipped off her sister and Salem that something was not right.

Staggering on board, Razielle moved to the controls over the compartment where Xanatos was being stored. Shaking herself to stay awake, she keyed in the sequence that would begin the revival of her friend. The datapad lit up with a red glow, a humming was heard from below and it had begun. The blood of many had been spilt prior to their journey to Tatooine. It had been collected, and stored for use now. Several intravenous tubes emerged from the sides of his coffin and flawlessly sank into his vampyric flesh. The transfusion had commenced, he would be revived shortly after their return to Kirrek.

Rising Razielle turned to Salem to tell him that everything was in order, but unfortunately her ghoul's body chose that moment to go against her wishes. Her eye's rolled back in her head and Razielle slid forward, completely unconscious.

[Jezebella Shadana]

Salem had always struck Jez as the stand there and sneer type rather then a more useful man of action whom would rush in and catch his lady love. So, shoving past him, trying her best as not to stir a violent reaction from the hunched form, Jez caught her sister as she pitched forward.

Razielle was not one given to fainting spells, so something was not right. Giving Salem a stony glare, Jez cast the wilted form of her sister into his arms and snapped out a retort.

''Here, hold this a sec.''

Fiddling with the ships meager medical supplies, she called over her shoulder. ''Just bring her over here!''

[Salem Ave]

Slightly wide eyed, Salem did as Jezebella instructed, carrying Razielle over to her. With her limp body draped over his arms, he knelt down beside the Cabal ghoul and looked expectantly at her. His knowledge of medical procedures was limited to destroying things, not helping them, so he would be of little use in the this situation, unfortunately.

[Razielle Shadana]

Jezebella, admittedly, was no whiz with anything healing. Fortunately for Razielle, her ship did have quite an advanced medic program uploaded. Kneeling Jez deftly ran her fingers along the keys booting up the system. "Computer, what is wrong with her?!?!?!"

A staticy electronic voice replied back. "Invalid medical question, please rephrase." Slamming the heel of her hand into the ship Jez glared and muttered a curse. "Computer - What caused the patient to faint?"

After a series of beeping and scanning, the electronic voice answered:

"The patient is unconcsious due to a decreased orthostatic hypotension - consistent with first trimester changes in the body. Mild dehydration is noted. Advise rest, fluids and iron for both the subject and prenate."

A shocked silence filled the cabin. A few seconds later, Razielle's eyes fluttered open to focus on Jez's extremely wide ones. Groaning, she slammed her eyes shut against the light and muttered to her sister and Salem. "Okay so what is it? Am I dying?" She was only joking but their silence was somewhat disturbing.

[Salem Ave]

Salem looked blankly at Razielle for a moment, as his mind processed what the computer had said, translating it into language that he understand. “The computer,” he said, “appears to think that you are pregnant.”

[Razielle Shadana]

Her eyes widened. Salem wasn't given to joking and her certainly looked serious. "Impossible.. I can't be." Razielle slid her gaze to Jezebella's for confirmation of the fact that she was having a bad dream. Jez simply nodded, confirming the truth.

"Sorry Raz, its true. According to the damn computer, I can tell you more. The baby is the product of you and Salem, but its gene's are also those of the humanoids of Kirrek, you are inhabbiting. You'll only be carrying it three months instead of the normal nine. " Jez met her eyes again and grimaced. "Its also going to be one hell of a labor with the child growing so fast..."

Razielle shut her eyes and tried to let it sink in. She was pregnant. She was having a baby, Salem's baby.. Although she was still a tad incredulous about the whole thing, the prospect made her grin ever so slightly. Peeking out of one eyelid she tried to gauge Salem's reaction. She was sure he would be just tickled..

[Salem Ave]

“What.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement. Salem turned to the computer, briefly considering punching it. “That’s not possible,” he stated, completely sure of himself, “there’s something wrong with this computer.” He looked down into the screen, willing it to speak again, apologizing for its mistake. It said nothing. Salem shook his head and turned away, pacing away towards the storage compartment that held Xanatos, to pretend that he was checking that everything was in order with it.

[Razielle Shadana]

Well, that was a typical Salem manuver. Razielle wasn't surprised at the reaction, she wasn't quite so foolish as to think the news would have been readily accepted and used to bring him around to her way of feeling. With a slight roll of her eyes, she turned her attention back to Jez stating the obvious. "It means something else too, dosen't it. I can't leave this body without damaging the baby..."

Jez nodded and strode away muttering the last of the facts. "Once the child is born it will continue to age rapidly until it hits the beginning of its pre-adolescent years. Roughly, what we would consider ten. But this will all happen within the span of the first year. The child will have one more period of accelerated growth after that, another ten year leap. It looks like the species ages fast and dies young, sis.."

The thought didn't overly concern her, her child was not in any danger of imminent death. It would be easy enough to convert the child to the life of an Immortal.

She had come to Tatooine to find Xanatos, misson accomplished. She hadn't counted on bringing yet another life back with her but fate had a lovely way of intervening....