Storm’s Eye: Legacy

 

Bonds

 

Slow times followed up until September. During the months before, I guess Jool established a new kind of relationship to me. She would still give me some strange looks occasionally, mostly when Kitty was attached to me in some way or another. It seemed that Jool became a relatively close friend, something I had been missing since my days in the sandbox in Rasha’s park… Kitty was of course important to me, but there was so much more to tell about Jool. Our relationship went well, between Kitty and I. That’s all…

Jool was more or less a play-mate. She always asked me if I wanted to go and play VR-wars and such boyish things. Careen changed slightly after meeting someone, though I can’t remember his name, she stopped being of the cuddly type I knew her as. She became even more silent and didn’t seem to like touching people after she got dumped by the guy. Poor girl.

In mid-September, things started to get interesting. Foxxy was a bit overdue, but Jusuf seemed calm. I met him at the humans’ base, when Jool dragged me out there, the day before Foxxy gave birth to their twin sons; Cain and Abel. The very same day as the birth, Star acted very strangely and would sometimes slip into some sort of trance and mumble incomprehensible gibberish. Though dad said he probably had an idea of what it was, he just smiled and shook his head when I asked him what it was.

Mom told me that she could remember an angel, who was the exact likeness of Star, and that this angel had played a crucial role in dad’s life. It was way over my head, seeing as I didn’t exactly believe in any higher powers. Mom had also started to establish a friendship with the mothers of Star’s group and Foxxy. She would frequently ask them over or go visit them, if she wasn’t out on some trip with dad that is.

 

There was a full moon on the day Foxxy gave birth. “It was of course planned,” Jusuf said. Mom gave Foxxy some advice in the background. She had asked me to take her on my bike to Jusuf and Foxxy’s house. “It’s not every day you get to make a new “genesis”,” “What?” I asked Jusuf confused. He smiled and looked at his sons being showed off. “You’ll find it out in your lifetime. After mine has ended… But anyway,” He seemed to be avoiding something. “Why don’t you say hi to your little cousins, eh?”

Dad and Jusuf were obviously like brothers… They often did business with each other, and would often socialize with others who had been warped to “Tellus” or whatever.

Mom was quite a different person around infants. Trying to entertain them with strange sounds and actions… I kind of hoped she didn’t do that kind of stuff when I was little.

Foxxy was so proud of the little boys, and her breasts were a whole lot bigger than when I last saw her. She let me hold Abel. He was entirely black, it even seemed like his eyes were black. Kain was the exact opposite; being white and his iris had a very slight shade of blue, almost looking like ice. I felt there was something special about those two, either if it was because they were so cute and innocent or something more like a gutfeeling.

 

When mom came home later in the evening, and walked in on Kitty trying to get laid, she told me something interesting. Foxxy’s real name was actually Xenia, but “Foxxy” was just her stage-name to begin with. Also, she was probably my aunt, as it seemed they were half-sisters. I had always thought I had no extended family, but it was cool to hear that I was related to an idol. “So that’s where you get your handsome voice from,” Kitty said jokingly.

Mom made me some food in the evening, when I was alone, mostly to lure me out of my room so that she could talk to me. She had a certain thing for meat, but I fully agree that it’s better than fruit and vegetables.

“You’re 16 next month,” She put her feet up on the coffeetable and turned down the volume of the TV. I nodded and took a bite of something called steak. “So… Have you thought of what you’re gonna do?” She gave me a half-worried look and started to slowly chew a piece of the meat. I shook my head and tried to keep my eyes on the plate. “What about Kitty then? What kinda thoughts do you have about her?” I smirked and snickered, as it would have been weird to tell mom about my actual thoughts around Kitty. She smiled. “Oh, you know what I mean… You know how tradition is. Do you think she’s someone you’ll be happy with for the rest of your life?” “I dunno…” I replied. Mom poked her steak with her fork with her half-worried frown. “Thinking that Zil might have been the one, huh?” I had not thought of or heard that name for months, but now that she mentioned it: “Yeah…” I said with a sigh. She sighed too and took a new bite. After swallowing, she said: “You’ve been through so much shit, honey, and still I see great things in your eyes,” I turned my head towards her, as her voice sounded so sincere. She smiled. “I don’t know how the hell we’ve survived this fucked up world, but you sure give me a reason to get up in the morning,” She sniffed and sounded like she was about to cry. I didn’t know what to do or say. I was touched, I guess, and mom knew it well.

We were quiet for a little while and ate most of our steaks. Star came through the living room from the kitchen with a notepad scribbling down page upon page with circular and elegantly drawn symbols. Her hand moved like quicksilver, only stopping to click out more lead from the pen. She walked slowly past us, not seeming to care that we stared at her. “Maybe we should have asked her what she was doing…” Mom said once Star was out of the room. “Probably…” I nodded, caught up in thoughts about my own future. It kind of suddenly hit me: “Zil wants me to be with Kitty…” Mom gave me a confused look. “It sounds a bit weird, I know, but I sometimes see her as a ghost. And she told me that she wanted me to be with Kitty some time ago…” Mom nodded. “Well… Gee… Do what you feel is right. Your father keeps complaining that he keeps getting haunted at his office, so I guess it’s sort of natural to see ghosts… Heck… I can remember seeing more weird stuff in one week than anyone probably could imagine!” “Demons, angels and machines?” I asked, as I seemed to recall some of the stuff Eve had showed me. Mom nodded and smiled. “That among other things… And of course I’ve experienced a few miracles along the line, and strangely enough; I named one of them Fredrik…” Mom chuckled, and made me feel awkward somehow.

 

The following day; Dad wanted me to come along and help him out. Or rather he wanted to give me an idea of what he wanted me to do with my life. I drove us both downtown. The weather was cold, but survivable with my trenchcoat. Dad worked in a large building, but only his department covered the two top floors. He unlocked a big door with a keycard and showed me his enormous office on the top. The morning sun was still very low and dusky, or so I could tell from the panoramic windows. “Yep, yep, yep… Great view, huh?” He sat down behind his desk and put his briefcase on it. “Somehow I actually run this town from here. Not to mention most of the eastern parts… It’s really boring…” He got back up again and answered me before I asked the question, waving a finger at me. “Because I am capable of it. I set machines and interested people to do the boring bits, when I can of course…” He slowly paced about the office and hung my coat on a hanger along with his jacket. “What I try to use my position for is to bring an absolute freedom of choice when it comes to partners. You know how it was…” I nodded and looked at the plentiful rows of shelves, fully packed with what I guessed were records and other documents. He sat back down with a sigh. “This just isn’t your kind of place, is it, son?” I didn’t exactly understand what he meant. I had just arrived and not even gotten an impression of what he actually did in his office. He already knew all my answers. “No… You’re too much like your mother. You are shy, you prefer to be anonymous, you are ashamed of being who you are,” He spun slowly in his chair. I didn’t know what to say. “We are both freaks, son. I know that’s what you think you are. You neglect our gift, only to feel normal. Are you sure that your friends want you to be like any other guy on the street? Is that really the one both Zil and Kitty fell in love with? And can you ever become “normal” again, if you ever have been?”

Everything dad said was so true it hurt. I felt sick. He stood up and slowly walked over to me. “Just remember that I’m saying all these mean things because I care about you,” He drapes his arm on my shoulders and turns me toward the windows. “You’re becoming an adult, you know, and I just want you to be prepared. When I was your age…” “You had nothing but loincloths and huts, I know…” He had told me such things not too long ago, and I didn’t care to hear it again. “Yep… and of course…” “You got warped to another world and experienced a whole lot of weird shit…”

Dad smiled. “Use your abilities to its fullest, and I know that your future will be as interesting as my past,” He let go of me and looked at his desk. “What do you say, son? Should I be a responsible leader and bore myself to death, or should I be your father today?” I didn’t know what to answer. As I didn’t know what consequences his absence might have had. He dug a coin out of his pocket and tossed it. “Heads, I’m coming with you,” I could feel a sort of surge of power from dad right before the coin hit the floor. It turned up heads. “There we go… fate has spoken,” Dad grinned and suddenly there was that surge again. The coin was back in his hand. “Handy when you drop your pen…” He snickered and picked up his briefcase.

 

Dad led me to around where the graveyard was, due east of town on top of a hill, and took me inside a stone building which was under construction. “You already know what the name of this place is; you’ve seen it in your dreams,” Dad stepped up to an altar, covered with a white piece of cloth. “This’ll probably piss off Jusuf, but hell…” He pulled back the cloth. The altar was made of finely carved stone, with row upon row of symbols etched into the sides, and four sets of handprints on top with some more symbols around them. The symbols resembled those Star kept writing down. I stepped closer up to the altar. “There’s really something special with this place…” Dad looked up at the sky. I looked down at the handprints in front of me and felt compelled to place my hands there. As I touched the sockets, they fitted perfectly to my hands, the place was covered with a pale blue shroud and I could only move my eyes. “Do you remember that dream, Joon?” I recognized the voice behind me as Zil’s. The symbols etched into the stone had a golden glow. Zil stood beside me, placed her hands on the altar. As she removed her hands, a new set of handprints had appeared. “You wanted for us to be together forever,” Zil glowed with a white aura. Her hand felt warm on top of mine. “I wanted it too,” She embraced me, pressed herself up against me from behind. It made me feel warm and relaxed. “I’m sorry that fate had other plans for us…” She gave me a kiss on my cheek and vanished, along with the blue mist and glow from the altar.

I pulled my hands away from the sockets, and noticed the new pair next to it. “Temple of Storms,” I said a bit creeped out. Dad looked back down and noticed the new set of hands. “You saw her, didn’t you?” He asked me, and I nodded. “I know how it is… I’ve experienced my share of divine intervention. Although, it stopped as soon as you and Star were born,” “Can we go somewhere else? Something just feels wrong about this place…” I said. Dad nodded and covered the altar again. “Yeah… I feel it too. Something strange is gonna happen here some day,”

We left the site and headed home. It was still early in the morning, and the sun was still low in the east. Once home, dad tried to catch up with my past and give me a brief insight as to how his life had unfolded up until lately, but he was often disturbed by his phone. He rejected most of the things those on the other end wanted, and told them he was sick or dead or something in between.

“Would’ve made a hell of a story,” was his conclusion to my life. His life, after we were separated, seemed to be an endless spiral of promises and lies, but he had been making his way towards the top.

“I would like to train you though… To control your energy and such,” “Eve’s taught me to focus,” I told him. “But she never showed you how to harness maximum power,” He smiled and went to the kitchen to get us some blood-plants. “You’ve unleashed it, but you weren’t fully atoned with it,” “What do you mean?” “You became a beast for the first time because of rage, and you couldn’t fully control yourself. The second time, when you actually managed to control it, you blacked out for a few days. I don’t know if you’ve been feeling the strange vibes from Star, but I think it’s time for dear old dad to help you out with your heritage,” The rest of that discussion was rather pointless, but ever since that coming weekend; dad would teach me new stuff about myself weekly, and some months later Star would join in on the lessons.

This September had still more to offerThe same day as dad took a day off to spend with me, Jool called me because she was depressed and wanted someone to talk to. I went over to her place. This was late in the afternoon, and Mr. Stone let me in and Jool was waiting behind him. She seemed happy that I came over. She was wearing relatively nice black clothes and had her hair in a tail as usual. I was taken to her room. “Well… This is where I live…” Jool said and introduced me to a somewhat untidy bedroom, with clothes almost everywhere. She plopped down onto her bed and put her knees up. She sighed, waved her knees to each side and told me: “Today’s my birthday,” “Happy birthday,” I said, and she smiled. I sat down in a comfy chair at the foot end of her bed. “Thanks,” Jool smirked and looked at me between her legs. “Actually, this day isn’t so happy if you ask me… I mostly try not to have anything remind me of this day,” Her expression was somewhat sad, or so I noticed, even though my vision was limited by her legs and breasts. “How come?” I asked her. Jool took a deep breath and stretched her legs out on the bed. “My mom was murdered on this day…” I was kind of stunned by that. “I can still remember how it was to wait for her to come home. You know… I was waiting to see what she had got for me, and dad kept telling me she would be home soon,” Jool rolled onto her side, curled her tail and held it in her hand. “And then, late at night, your uncle showed up and broke the news…” She fondled her tail and stared blankly into the room with a sad face. I was pretty much beyond words. I thought Jool would burst into tears any second, but she was not like the humans in the TV. She crawled around in her bed and stretched flat out on her stomach, resting her head on her crossed arms, looking at me. She lay silent for a while, looking very thoughtful. “It’s kinda weird…” Jool said. “What?” I asked. “You and me…” She wagged the tip of her tail. “I never thought a guy and a girl could be just “friends”. Kinda hoped there’d be some sex involved,” “Hoped…?” She blushed. “Uh… I meant THOUGHT,” We both smiled. I looked around and noticed her rather violent posters, and noticed that one of them depicted me… The larger and more savage side of me… I didn’t really want to ask her about it. In her not so neatly organized shelves she had a large reddish conch, with some holes in it. Along with it there were plenty of bracelets and stuff with spikes.

“Joon?” Jool asked me, now lying on her back, pointing her muzzle up towards me. “Have you had any dreams about me?” “Uhm… Why do you ask?” I asked her, not really to keen on telling her that I had had plenty of them, most of them dirty… “Well… I’m just curious. You know… And I’ve had you swing by in many of my dreams,” The way she said it made me know that she had undressed me in her dreams. “Well, yeah I’ve had some dreams of you,” I told her. “Was I any good?” Jool asked with a perverted grin from ear to ear. I cleared my throat and replied: “You were okay…” Jool grabbed after my shirt and pulled at it. “Oh, come on… Just “okay”?” She said, almost laughing. “Between you and me; you were dreamy…” I told her with a grin. She pulled me closer and grabbed higher up on my shirt with her other hand. “Well… Between you and me; you’re the one I finger off to…” Her grin beamed after whispering the last bit. I felt like pulling myself away from her, but I didn’t and felt the distance between our muzzles being slowly reduced. “Are you trying to do something, Jool?” I asked her and hoped my breath wasn’t too bad. “Maybe… Are going to struggle?” She sounded dead serious, and I couldn’t see if her eyes had a playful look of sarcasm. Her warm breaths rolled down my chin and cooled down on my neck. It was arousing in a strange kind of way. She stroked her muzzle up against the side of mine. “Are you sure there’s nothing more you would like to do with me?” Her voice was curious and low. I was too nervous to say anything the first seconds; my thoughts had revolved more around Jool than Kitty lately. Jool sighed and loosened her grip, but I didn’t lean back. “Kitty’s so lucky to have someone like you… Handsome, kind, faithful…”

I sighed, and placed my hand on her shoulder and felt a smile stretch on her muzzle. “Does this mean you’re in doubt?” I swallowed and hoped she didn’t notice, even though she looked right at my throat. “No…” I answered. “It means that I like you really much and that I just don’t want us to do something that might make things weird for us,” Jool nodded and let her head hang down from the edge of the bed, and then placed one of her hands on her crotch. “You know… This is how I usually lie, so that I can see that poster, and dream myself away with you…” She pointed at the poster of me, and I looked at it and noticed certain details; such as the length of my claws, the mangled corpse behind me and my bloody mouth. The bad memories were there, but they didn’t seem to bother me too much anymore.

“Uhm… Joon?” Jool slipped into a new position; sitting with her legs crossed. “Eh… I don’t know if it’s a bit much to ask, but… could you… “change” for me?” She looked up from her crotch and into my eyes, with her anxious/anticipant eyes. I stood up, started to unbutton my shirt. “This will be my gift to you then, huh?” Jool’s eyes widened and looked surprised along with the rest of her. “Really?!” I nodded and removed my shirt. “I’ll at least try…” As I pulled down my pants, I prayed that I wouldn’t go berserk or anything. As I pulled down my underwear, I hoped that her father wouldn’t walk in on us… I faced the other direction, so that Jool wouldn’t see more than necessary. On my knees and with my hands planted firmly on the floor, I started to focus. It took a little while, but I finally starting feeling a bursting sensation on my back and this was relieved relatively quickly. I felt icky moisture on my back along with my extended wings. Then, after concentrating hard on myself, I could feel my muscles swelling and painfully stretching my skin. The claws grew long and thick and my skeleton seemed to grow as well. The pain was indescribable, but survivable. My heart pumped harder and faster, my mind started to go cloudy. I felt the rage coming back to me, even though I knew well that I was in no danger at all. It was as if I was about to snap, barely able to suppress my own body from flailing uncontrolled. That is when I felt it all stop, as the air was filled with a blue light. Zil picked up my chin with her small hands and stroked my head. I suddenly felt calm and in control when I gazed into her divine eyes. Zil vanished after hugging me. As I got up and turned around, I noticed that Jool was absolutely stunned. She looked a bit smaller, and I couldn’t stand upright. I stretched my hand out to her, but she looked somewhat intimidated by it. I took a step closer and put my hands around her abdomen and picked her up. “Oh my god…” She finally said while looking me up and down, and felt my scruffy looking fur. “You’re so… big…” She said, and she was strangely enough looking at my crotch when she said it. I smiled down at her and she smiled back. “Am I all you hoped for?” I asked her and held my hand on her back. “This must be the best birthday present ever…” Her eyes twinkled like stars at me. “Take some pictures,” I suggested, and she dashed out. I could hear so much more than usual; such as Jool asking her father to take some photos of the two of us. She forgot to mention a small detail though.

I got down on my knees, as it was a strain on my neck to bend down. Jool walked in and stood next to me, she was still a bit shorter than me. Mr. Stone came in with a camera, and then noticed me with his daughter leaning against me. I was obviously a dreadful sight, as Mr. Stone lived up to his surname… “Come on, dad. You gonna take a picture or what?” Mr. Stone slowly raised the camera, and Jool put my arm around her and pressed up against me. The camera flashed. Jool put her arm around my neck and sat down in my lap. “Take another one,” She said. Another flash. Jool got up and put both arms around my neck. “And a last one,” She said and kissed my cheek as the camera flashed for the third time. “Thanks, dad,” She pushed her father out the door, him still being in a state of shock. I felt a sort of headache building up, but it didn’t exactly feel like a headache. Jool gazed at me and seemed to be somewhere else at the same time. “Wow…” She said and came over to me. “This is just SO unreal,” She stroked my arm. “Didn’t it hurt?” I nodded. “And you put up with it just for me…” Jool hugged me; her right hand touched the base of my left wing. Something started to feel strange, my thoughts started to become more primal, bending over to lust. “You’re bleeding…” She saw her hand has ruddy and wet. I don’t know why, but I took her by the arm and started licking her hand clean. She giggled a bit. My tongue was almost larger than her hand. I leant forward and nuzzled her bare belly, it seemed like I had lost control of myself. She didn’t try to resist when I maneuvered her top up, instead she took it off. It was as if I could hear her thoughts whispering: “This is my chance”, but I didn’t seem to care at that moment. I put my arms around her and held her underneath my abdomen. Her feet rested on the floor, and her eyes gazed wondrously into mine; telling me to go on… A strange feeling of pleasure filled me as I bent my head down and licked her abdomen, going further up with each lap of my tongue. She had unhooked her bra, and I picked it away with my teeth. Jool seemed to enjoy this quite a lot. She pulled my muzzle closer to her so she could kiss me. I could hear her unzipping her pants underneath me, slowly and almost without a sound, while her other hand caressed my belly. It was as though she knew what she was doing, and what she did worked. She took a quick look down as she tried to wriggle out of her pants, where she most likely saw my erection. Suddenly a stinging feeling shot through my body, and I was again in control of my own mind. The pain continued, and I put down Jool on the floor and shoved her aside. My muscles cramped and left me curled up into a fetal position in front of Jool. She quickly got to her feet and did up her pants again. “A-are you alright?” She squatted down beside me, with a scared look in her eyes. I shook my head, shaking like a leaf. My erection withered quickly. Every time before, when I was a beast, I had passed out after I was safe. Much like my erection, the huge mass of my body retracted into me, somehow… It was more painful than growing into my beastly hide. When all was retracted, I felt exhausted and weak. My breath was heavy, but at least I had regained control of my muscles. Jool helped me up onto her bed. “Damn…” I had to lean up against Jool to sit upright. “You don’t look so good,” She said and tried to comfort me. “Tell me about it… Could you just grab my boxers?” Jool picked up my pile of clothes and dumped it on the bed beside me, she quickly got back into her bra and top while I couldn’t even get my underwear on. She helped me to get dressed and gave me a shoulder to lean on while she wanted to excuse herself. “I really didn’t mean to try to do anything to harm your relationship with Kitty… really… I just don’t know what came over me…” She sounded sincere enough, and her arms felt so strong and safe to have wrapped around oneself. “It’s probably my fault, Jool… Don’t take it too hard. I just wasn’t myself… just lost control, only wanting to…” I sighed instead of finishing the sentence, as I hardly could believe that I could be so aware of my own disability. “You and me both, buddy,” Jool sympathized with me.

Mr. Stone served us some cake before Jool helped me home. The 20-13 unit functioned as an autopilot, while Jool made sure I didn’t fall off. Jool told mom what had happened, leaving out some minor details of course. Mom thought it was a nice gesture of me and took me to my room. Jool socialized with Star, but popped in before she went home. She hugged me and thanked me. I only smiled at her. “Bye, and thanks again,” She said with a small wave as her beautiful curves left my sight.

I was limited to my bed the rest of the day, not that it lasted so much longer, but I couldn’t seem to get any real sleep. Dad came in, with Kitty in his heels. “Look who has come to visit her favorite sex-machine,” Dad jokingly said, but Kitty gave him a strange look. “Your secret is safe with me, kids,” Dad patted Kitty’s shoulder on his way out. Kitty seemed a little creeped out by it. Dad penetrated my mind, drawing out the few seconds he used to leave the room. “Hey, great, you know how to control yourself to some extent. We should work a bit on that, and increase your ability to control your own behavior under the influence of increased levels of your own juices… Kitty’s a bit sad, so I’ll leave her to you now,”

Kitty sat down next to me and took my hand and smiled down at me. “Hey, how’s it going?” “Been better…” I replied and tried to squeeze her hand, but couldn’t seem to get any pressure into the grip. “Poor thing. Saw Jool on my way over here. She looked a bit guilty,” Her gentle hands were like silk against my hand. “Did she want to play with you as usual?” “No, not really… She was a bit down and I cheered her up by crippling myself, kinda…” Kitty was of course curious, but understood a bit more after I told her what I had done; only telling her the most important bits. “Gee…” Kitty looked thoughtful. “She’s never told me when her birthday was,” I thought for a bit and said: “Maybe there’s a reason to why she don’t want everyone to know… She told me some pretty heavy stuff that she’s been through and I’m sure she wouldn’t appreciate me telling the world about it,” Kitty nodded. “Yeah… Star probably knows about it, but you two are good at keeping secrets, so… I mean, Star has known Jool since the days in the sandbox, and… well… she’s refused to answer me if I asked her about private stuff about other people,” Kitty stretched out alongside me. “But, I can’t blame you for being a good friend,” “You’re not jealous, are you?” I thought out loud. “Nah, not really. Would be cool if you could showed me sometime though,” “Of course I will,” I assured her and put my arm around her neck.

For some reason thoughts of SGs roamed my mind, even though I thought I was thinking of Kitty. She had almost fallen asleep in my arm, but I couldn’t seem to get through that barrier. I shook my arm a bit, woke her gently. She lazily opened her eyes at me and jumped all of a sudden. “What?” I asked her. “Holy shit! What’s happened to your fur?!” Her response told me enough to know what had happened, but I pulled away the blanket from my upper body and found myself in red, as I expected. “Uhm… Well… It’s just one of those things I do… I guess…” Kitty was sort of impressed, but mostly surprised. I remembered that the last time I did this was when I took Zil to see her parents’ burial. “Could you get my mom down here, Kitty?” I thought she might like to see her boy the way he once was. Kitty walked out of the room and returned shortly with my dear mother. It was obviously a happy surprise for her. She was beyond words and beamed. Kitty smiled as well. I managed to sit up in my bed, even though it was quite a strain. Mom came over and touched me, stroked my fur. “It feels just like my own,” She said and smiled, then she hugged me. She was right, though. “Try to get some rest, honey,” She said and turned around to walk out. I leant back and held myself up with my elbows. That’s when I felt a sudden drip on my chest. As I looked down, I noticed that it was red and my nose felt stuffed. Kitty turned my mom around. “Oof… I’ll get something to wipe that up with. Keep his nose up,”

Kitty made sure I held my nose up, getting a bit blood on her hands as a few drops rolled down my muzzle. Mom came back with a damp cloth and wiped away what had hit my chest, then started on my muzzle. “Go clean your hands, Kitty,” She told Kitty and wiped my muzzle gently. After placing the cloth in front of my nose she tipped my head forward and gently said: “Blow your nose gently, hun,” I did as ordered, and she put my head back. Everything around me started to blur. Drops of bloody water rolled into my eyes. I closed my eyes, and could seem to hear some faded calls for my name from somewhere beyond the darkness seeping into my eyes.

Finally, either if I passed out or fell asleep, I could get some real rest.