Kindred Spirit Lodge Presents
Ghosts of the Past
Part 1 - By Lady Ally & Picifico
Late 2004/early 2005____****____
Picifico could not believe her eyes when she walked into the barn and saw Shea standing only a few feet from Kratos’ stall. Her mind raced with a thousand questions, first and foremost in her mind was Shea was supposed to be dead! Before Picifico could process the concept of Shea being alive she noticed Kratos weaving in her stall. The next thing she heard almost tore her soul from her. It was a God awful high-pitched whinny followed by an almost human sounding groan. It was at the point Kratos went down like a rock, her body hitting the ground with a sickening thud.Picifico raced from the barn entrance to Kratos side; carefully she placed the mares head on her lap. The moment she looked into your friend’s eyes she knew their time together was about to come to an end. With tears already blurring her vision Picifico looked up at Shea.
“What have you done to her? Why?”
For a moment Shea just stood looking down at Picifico and her mare with a triumphant smile. When she finally spoke, her words crawled up Picifico’s spine like a parasite attaching itself to a host.
“Why? I don’t need a reason, the nag belongs to you and you belong to me. So the animal is mine to keep or destroy, I chose to destroy it. As we both know, it is a very dangerous and should be put down.”
Picifico was stunned by the words that Shea spat at her, somewhere deep inside she knew Shea was right. As she lovingly caressed Kratos’ majestic head, her first true friend released her final breath. All Picifico could do was stare at Shea as her heart splintered into a thousand pieces and her world began to collapse.
Lady Alison awoke to find Picifico struggling in Her arms like she was at war. Alison's heart ached as She heard Picifico cry out in her sleep, a sound full of anguish and hopelessness.
Lady Alison, began softly stroking Picifico's head, "Shhhhh...only a dream love...only a dream."
Picifico awoke with a start, her eyes held a far away haunted look, her skin covered in sweat, and her body trembling. Alison continued stroking her brow and whispering soft soothing words to Her littling until the trembling had subsided.
"What was it littling?"
Picifico struggled to clear her mind, the images of Kratos felt so real her heart ached with the memories. Lady Alison’s quiet words and reassuring touch slowly brought the real world to the forefront. The only thing she needed at this very moment was to feel Lady A close to her, feel the strength of her Warrior surrounding her. As the images slowly faded, Picifico debated with herself whether to tell Lady A what she had dreamt about. They had discussed who Shea was and very briefly what she had done to Picifico but that was about it. It was not a point in Picifico’s life she really wanted to remember, and the fact that she was having nightmares about the woman did not sit well with her. Picifico decided there was no need to worry Lady A with the details of her dream, mentioning Shea would only worry the Warrior and it was only a dream, wasn’t it?
“It was nothing to worry about Lady A, just a bad dream. Already it is fading from my mind.”
Lady Alison held Her littling close, not happy that something had disturbed her slumber. In the time they had known each other, Alison could remember only one subject that intruded on Picifico's slumber; it was a subject neither of them particularly liked.
"Littling, you have slept peacefully in My arms since we got together. I want to know what disturbed you so that you cried out."
Alison continued softly stroking Picifico's head as She waited for the truth about the dream.
Picifico hated this, one side of her wanted to just hide away, the other cried out for comfort. The more she thought about it the angrier she got, Shea had almost destroyed her life twice, she was not going to let her ghost mess with what she had now.
“I just dreamt that Kratos was hurt. It just seemed so real, would You mind if I went to see if everything is ok?”
Lady Alison gently took Picifico's face in Her hands and locked eyes with her. "I will go with you and when we get back you will tell Me the whole truth littling. I know there is more to the dream than what you are telling Me. Isn't there?"
Alison placed a tender kiss on Picifico's lips, She would not push now but as soon as they had checked on Kratos, Picifico had best be prepared to tell it all. Lady Alison knew Her littling and knew when she was keeping something from Her.
It took everything Picifico had to look into Lady A’s beautiful brown eyes and not break down.
“Well…I…a bit more but…I just need to know Kratos is ok right now.”
Picifico crawled out of bed and without looking at Lady A, proceeded to put on her shirt and boots. Just the thought of Kratos being injured was tearing at her heart and now she would have to tell Lady A why. When she was finally dressed Picifico took a deep breath to steady herself, she couldn’t believe how she was letting a simple dream bother her so much.
Lady Alison followed Picifico from the bed and tossed on some clothes. Pulling Picifico into Her arms, Lady Alison stood there holding the woman to Her. She could tell whatever it was, it had not faded...She also knew Her littling would tell Her.
"Let us go see about Kratos. I am sure she is fine and then we shall see what we can do about you."
Picifico practically ran the entire way to the barn; every step heightened the feeling of dread that crept over her. When she stepped into the barn she spotted her mare lazily chewing on her morning feed, at first glance everything looked normal. Like a schoolgirl picking up a newborn pup, Picifico wrapped her arms around Kratos’ strong neck protectively.
“Hey girl, just me being overprotective. Everything ok with my favorite four legged lady?”
Picifico was not surprised when Kratos immediately engulfed her in one of her patented horse hugs. She giggled when she felt Kratos soft muzzle against her neck.
“By the Gods, I love you girl, you always seem to know when I need one of these. It looks like you, everything, is ok here, in fact you are looking a little too ok”
Picifico playfully patted Kratos’ rounded stomach to make her point and was greeted with an indignant snort from her friend.
Lady Alison followed behind Picifico and stopped just inside the door when She saw the beast looking, well healthy as a horse. Alison leaned back against the frame of the door, arms folded across Her chest, an amused look on Her face. She could not stop the smile that broke upon Her face when She watched Picifico's joyous reaction to seeing Kratos just as she had left her.
Alison had never had a connection to an animal, but that didn't mean She couldn't or wouldn't. She knew how much the horse meant to Her littling, watching the relief that washed over her when she found all was well, only reinforced that.
She made Her way over, patted the horse on the head, scratched Picifico behind the ears and sat down on a hay bale, an old horse blanket covering it. Alison knew that if it could talk, the tales would burn down the place.
"Feel better now littling?"
Picifico looked over to at Lady Alison when she spoke and slowly made her way over to Her. Feeling relieved and a little shy, Picifico crawled into Lady Alison’s lap.
“Ya, a lot better. You must think I am silly to get so upset over a simple dream.”
Lady Alison wrapped Her arms around Picifico tenderly. "No, littling, I do not think that at all. Something tells Me it wasn't just a simple dream. Now are you going to tell Me what it was about freely or do I have to bend you over this hay bale. I am sure I can find a nice leather strap around here somewhere."
The mention of a leather strap quickly got Picifico’s attention.
“I don’t think You will need that, it was only a dream after all.”
Picifico proceeded to tell Lady Alison about the dream from beginning to end. Even though it was difficult to talk about, she felt safe in her Warrior’s arms, which made it a lot easier.
Inside Lady Alison silently sighed in relief, last thing She wanted to do was have to get the information the hard way. She held Picifico close as she told Her about the dream.
"Why do you think you are dreaming about her now? I mean...she is dead right?"
When Lady A asked of Shea, the hair on the back of Picifico’s neck bristled.
“Yes, I left her body in the woods to feed the animals, I figured at least in death she could do something positive. I know I have not thought about her in quite some time, so I am not sure why I would dream about her now. The only thing I can figure is I ate something that didn’t agree with me.”
Picifico chuckled quietly at her last comment, she didn’t feel comfortable talking about Shea and a small joke was her way of relieving the tension a bit.
"Perhaps, littling, it is your subconscious telling you it is time to deal with that part of your past. Just because she is dead, doesn't mean that the damage she did to you is dead. I know you don't like thinking about it but maybe it is time."
Picifico listened to Lady Alison’s words; they struck a chord that she thought was long since buried. She still did not remember large parts of her past but the time she had spent under Shea’s roof were as clear in her mind as if they happened yesterday. She decided right then and there that she would tell Lady A whatever She wanted to know.
“I think You might be right, but I would not know where to start.”
Lady Alison rose, set Picifico on her feet, took her hand and together they made their way back to their chamber. Once inside, Lady Alison undressed, undressed Picifico, picked her up and carried her to the bed. Lady Alison laid Picifico against Her chest and wrapped Her arms around Her littling.
"We start here littling." Lady Alison tenderly kissed her and held her close for a time before speaking.
"Start by telling Me how Shea came to be in your life to begin with."
The last thing she wanted to think about when she laying naked with Lady Alison was Shea, but she knew why Lady A had decided to start the conversation this way. If there was anyplace in the world that Picifico felt safe, it was in Her arms. She took a few moments to organize her thoughts then began.
“From the first day my duties in Brenna’s household changed and I became her body servant it was obvious that we were not just slave and owner, I could tell that she cared for me. Over time that started to become a problem, rumors were flying all over that she had fallen in love with me. That was not acceptable to her family or the rest of the aristocracy, to keep the peace she had sent me to her sister's home to prove to everyone that the rumors were false, even though they were not. I understood why she had to do it but it was still hard to be away from not only her but the only place I knew as home. I will never forget that day, Brenna looked so lost as she walked away from me, I did not even get the chance to see her ride over the horizon before I felt the sting of Shea’s whip. She informed me then just what she had planned, I was going to learn my place. I was Brenna’s slave not her lover.”
The last sentence was one of the hardest picifico ever had to speak, even though it was only a memories it still tore her soul apart to remember it.
Lady Alison said nothing as the tale poured from Her littling, She simply held the woman until she was done. Alison could tell it had not been easy and She could also tell that Picifico had cared deeply for this Brenna.
"You are safe now littling. I promise, you will never be treated as a slave again. I wish things had been different, yet I know that if they had...." Lady Alison found She could not bring Herself to finish the sentence.
“I would never have found the Lodge and You.”
Picifico finished Lady Alison’s sentence for Her. In her heart, she knew that she felt the same way; she would gladly go through everything again to be where she was at this moment…safe in her Warrior’s arms.
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Part 2 of 13 - Ghosts of the Past