The Staircase Home

Posted on Sun Jan 17th, 2021 @ 8:28pm by Chief Petty Officer Remal Kajun & Captain Rhenora Kaylen

Mission: Healing of Minds
Location: Bajoran Village
Timeline: Current

The Stairway Home

Leaving the temple behind, there was no need to sneak anymore. The battle with the Brothers had shown that they were no longer needed or welcome in the village. Remal waited as they stepped out of the temple for Rhenora to use her combadge to call for a ride home, not knowing that the Liberty was just out of range.

"Kaylen to Liberty" she started as they moved out of the village they had resided in. The Brotherhood of course said nothing.

Silence was the only answer, causing Rhenora to wonder if this was part of the vision still.

"Liberty come in, please respond" she tried again. Without a tricorder there was no way of knowing if the ship was even nearby or had been called away and were well and truly out of range.

Nothing could be heard. No static, no answer. Just nothing.

“You did say at some point they were on training exercises. I suppose we can catch a shuttle, but you know what that means right?” His voice was already apologetic.

"The training exercises kept them within comms range in case we needed a quick exit. Something must have come up that has them out of range. " She looked at the long flight of stairs that had brought them to this place in the first instance.

"Nooooooooooo, not the stairs….." her voice trailed off as the reality of the situation sank in.

He chuckled, “I can carry you if you’d like.”

"I wouldn't do that to you!" She chuckled and made a move towards the stairs. It would be a long slow trip down with sore legs and a confused mind.

“One foot in front of the other. Just keep walking. I will be with you the whole way, I promise.”

One step, two steps. They started the epic descent, the constant movement soothing worries and allowed each the space to air their thoughts and feelings.

" Damned bloody wormhole aliens" she couldn't help but start, letting the frustration and anger bubble to the surface. It would do her no good shoved back inside, better to let it out and be done with it.

“Do you need a fighting session with the Brother’s to help release your anger, or would you rather just talk about what’s bothering you still?” He was sympathetic and understanding allowing her anger and frustration to dwarf his own.

"I think my legs would chop themselves off rather than endure another one of those sparring sessions." Rhenora snorted, thankfully that her husband knew just how to disarm her rampant temper before it got going. Self preservation in its finest form.
"As for what's bugging me, I just wish we had a say in the matter, I feel we have been played as puppets and the future will only hold more of the same"

"I feel the same, despite Sisko's indications that choice was more important. The overall arc of the narrative seems to be that we were preselected and no matter what we do we have no choice but to obey their will. On the other hand, perhaps they are not actually in control rather just delivering a message."

He knew it was a stretch considering he had just argued otherwise but as he thought about the details he was coming to realize, from that first moment they were given a message, it was one of warning. A road sign along their path. Since that moment they personally had made the choices that sought to change that path. And now it felt like all roads were open.

"Maybe" she mused to herself quietly, tossing that idea around her already jumbled mind. She needed food, sleep and a few days to process this all before any sense of normality could be achieved.

"But if you need a counselor, I may know a guy." He said still trying to make lite of the situation.

"Really? Anyone good you recommend" she teased, knowing he was more than qualified to assist her in the journey. More so, there were things only he would ever know.

"Maybe one.” He said with a smile. Then turning the conversation back to her frustration he asked, “How many lessons would you say you had?"

"4 I think, and my goodness they were brutal" she replied, pausing for a moment to catch her breath. The stairs were relentless but the goal was getting off this planet and back into space where they belonged, a solid motivation.

"And what would you say you took away from each of those lessons?" He was digging in order to make his point.

She looked at him, a bemused expression on her face. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" she smiled, not exhausted enough to pop her hands on her hips and give him sass.

He stopped as well, one step slightly lower, yet he remained taller. Pointing his finger he mocked, "Oh you're a cheeky one. Well let's see, first I had the deep cleansing treatment followed by the swirling hot tub where I suppose I learned not to drown. Then there was this beautiful five course dinner. I'm telling you the salmon was to die for." He made his fingers kiss his lips as though kissing perfection.

"The next day, continental breakfast followed by woodshop. Still picking out the splinters actually. What did it teach me, oh, to make sure I label my tools with my own name. Then later I had a sparring session with one of the brothers, who taught me humility and respect," he brushed his fingers upon his jacket. "And that I've still got what it takes to kick his butt. I would have finished off with a good rub down but thought I should come check on you." He was smiling and on the verge of laughing when he heard a stomach growl that was not his own.

"Damnit now I know you're just teasing me" she swatted playfully, making only the barest contact with his cheek. She had trouble picking what actually happened and what he was making up. Damn he could still pull the wool over her eyes when he wanted to.

"Truth be told one brother cleansed me in the river to the point of drowning where I met Sisko. He told me I was a lost soul and gave me some questions in order to help me find my own path. He also suggested that our choices define us."

"Then It was nicely suggested I help by removing a stump which gave me time to reflect on those questions and my path as it was." He looked deep into her eyes, "I rediscovered that my path has always and forever been wherever you travel. My place is at your side. Sentimental sap I know." He added while rolling his eyes.

He threw his hands up, "And then the sparring thing was mostly true. They said the lesson was them learning if I was ready. I think it may have been mine in that I no longer need them or the old ways they represent." He smiled, "You should have seen the look on ole Lager's head when it hit the floor the second time."

She listened quietly, letting him speak and explain what he had been through. It had been a completely different path for him it seemed.

" My first day I spent in the fields, then a sparring session and the world's longest meditation" she started as they slowly descended the stairs some more. Retelling her story took her mind off her legs. " There was soup that smelt like your socks, and sore feet. I'm telling you I'm too old to go barefoot any more." She huffed down a few more stairs.

He listened with an understanding mind and a grin on his face, responding only when he felt necessary, or had something funny to add. “So toiling, fighting and praying. And my socks are not ‘that’ bad.”

" Then the next day after another cold shower and some more old sock soup, there was chopping vegetables, yet more field work...what is it with the field work?" She continued, trying to ignore the protesting in her knees and quads.

“So kitchen work, more toiling. There is a constant need to tend the fields, for some reason.” He nodded while he remembered how often he had spent out in those fields.

" Then there was the orb experience. Well that was a doozy. I was back on the Sunfire with the old crew, we were stuck in a spatial rift...and had to do.. nothing. That was a hard one. Then I spent the next day journaling to try and get everything out of my head so I could think straight again. Then you came along'' she paused again to catch her breath.

“Wow, so a lesson in… letting go. Hmmm didn’t think you would need that.” He rolled his eyes away so he wasn’t looking at her directly. Then he smiled and returned “And writing. Therapeutic. So, what would you say you’ve learned from each of these?”

" A lesson in letting go, listening to your inner self, trust in others and trust in something bigger than yourself" she mused, ignoring his eye roll. " As for writing, let's just say several ghosts were laid to rest on the page. I hope no-one ever reads it" she admitted.

They continued on in companionable silence for a while, each consumed in their task of just getting to the bottom of the stairs.

"What of your Brotherhood friends...what were their names again? Hops, Rye, Barley and Lager?" She asked as they neared the bottom of the stairs.

He stopped mid stair and eyed her with a funny look. “You know, the monks give up all worldly possessions when they join the order. Would you like to guess what one of things is?” The smirk on his face was too big to miss.

She looked bemused at his expression and raised an eyebrow towards him.

"Please tell"

“Let’s just say, there is a reason I like to tell Barley that I like Hops better, and vice versa. Upon entering the Brotherhood they give up their names. That’s why they approach you and speak directly to you. Rarely do they speak in the company of others. They don’t use names. So as a boy, when they first brought me there, in order to remember who was who, I assigned them each a name. Which they absolutely hate.” His smile broadened somehow until he was chuckling out loud.

She looked at him "You had another name? Was it as corny as hops and lager?"

“They never gave me a name. And I never thought to give myself one that was unique. I just thought it was funny that every time you talked to one of them, using the name I gave them, it was probably like nails on a chalkboard to them. Well, if they let it bother them, anyway.”

"That's funny, in a weird kind of way. Almost like rubbing their noses in it" she admitted, liking the way he worked even all those years ago. "So you didn't have a name, but they all got one from you. Surely they had a name for you" she prodded, happy that there were only a few flights of stairs left.

He mused, “Well to be honest, they don’t talk very much. But…” He said as he finished the last three steps in a bound and then reached back to help her down the remaining steps, “If you’d like, you can give me one to your liking.”

She hobbled down the last few steps, thankful it was the physical and metaphorical end of their ordeal. "A name, let's see, all your names to them were related to one particular abstinence. I shall name you - Grapes" she smiled at the joke and stopped walking to stretch. There was still quite the hike to the local transport hub, but at least it was flat ground.

“Hmmm, Grapes huh? Wouldn’t be because you like Springwine so much would it?”

She summonsed the energy to laugh and smacked him playfully on the shoulder. "Nooooo that would never be the case" she snorted, ambling down the pathway that would lead them eventually to the transport hub. She'd tried to raise the ship a few times but had been meant with silence. Without a tricorder she had no way of locating them.

“Nooo, never. Of course not.” He was looking through the tree line towards the shuttle pad. Night fully enveloping them, the moons barely visible in the night sky. “Looks like we may have to camp out here until morning comes. In the meantime, maybe I can come up with a nickname for you, other than Rhen.” As they had walked the stairs, with each one, he felt they were leaving a piece of weight behind them.

This journey wasn’t all for not. They each had received answers as well as questions and together they had each learned a few things, not only about the Prophets but about themselves.

"Thank goodness for clothes and shoes" Rhenora admitted as she took his hand in hers. She had little desire to camp but the weather at least wasn't inclement. The night air was warm but not oppressive with a mild breeze. "What I really want is a hot shower, good meal, and our bed. I'd even forgo coffee for that"

“Wow, willing to forgo coffee. That’s impressive, even for you.” He looked to the west, “The nearest village is halfway around Lake Drakkar, so unless you want to walk, I will get us shom shelter set up and we can wait for the first shuttle. Maybe by then the Liberty will be in range.”

She groaned, realising just how far that would be. She was sorely tempted to use the emergency transponder but that would be a misuse of privilege and resources. They would be fine for one more day. She set her communicator to repeat her hail to the Liberty on an hourly basis. Whenever they were back in range they would get it. Until then she was off duty with a head full of dreams and visions she needed to process.

“Forget what hurt you
But never forget
What it taught you.”