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Random Quote of the Day:
Kokkei: It's gonna be just two female girls, against each other.
Ryuen: (pause) Two female girls? As opposed to...?
Kokkei: Gaaaahh. (pause) Ahhh, no, don't quote that!!
Ryuen: (evil laughter)
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Chapter 4: Riley, Warrior Princess
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Kats' house was only about a ten minute drive away from mine, so I didn't have all that much time to wallow before she came screeching up the driveway. As it was, I took advantage of the time-limit to creep back upstairs to my room, check the fabric of my blankets for hallucinogenic substances, and then rip the whole pile off the mattress and drag it down to the washer. No use taking chances, right? I'd just managed to stuff it all in and get the detergent to stop splattering on my hands when, right on cue, the doorbell rang. Knowing Kats was, ahhh, less than a patient individual, I slammed the lid closed, twisted the ancient little knob, and let the washer work its anti-hallucination magic. A few moments later, I'd vaulted up the cellar stairs and was jogging towards the front door.
And, there was Kats, her nose pressed up against the narrow window beside the door, her breath puffing out against the glass. "'Eyyy, Riley, open the damn door!"
The glass muffled her words, and so of course, I had to stop just in front of the door, puzzle out what she'd said, and then grab the knob and unlock it. Kats pushed in through the door even before I'd got it all the way open, and from the puff of icy air that followed her, I gathered it'd cooled down a bit since I'd been out earlier. Not that I'd been in much of a mood to notice temperature or anything, of course... But, still. Well, I mean, it was January. I frowned. You'd think I'd spent my life in a warmer place than Western Pennsylvania, the way I always seemed to take it for granted that it'd be warm outside...
Kats reminded me a lot of a two-year-old sometimes. And, not that she was immature...necessarily...or that she had a bad temper and tended to "accidentally" destroy things...necessarily...but, more because, when she wanted someone's attention, she would do just about anything--jumping up and down, waving her arms, grabbing you by the shoulders and shaking you until your brain twisted into your ears--to get it.
So it was that I found Kat's hands in front of my face, snapping out a jaunty little tune as I stared off into space. I "snapped" out of it. (Inward groan. GAAAH, no more puns!) "Sorry," I managed. And, noticing the mottled brown carton now resting on the floor at Kats' feet: "You know what caffeine deprivation does to me."
"Well, then," said Kats with a grin. "Let's open the sucker up, huh?"
I nodded weakly. "Please. I'm dying, here."
Kats' smile bent a little, and something like concern trickled into her eyes. "Yeah, I can tell. You don't look so great, Ri." Another grin, made all the more amusing by the fang-like protrusions of Kats' canines. "You were watchin' ep thirty-three again, weren'tcha?"
No! my mind offered cheerfully. I thought, for some variety, I'd stop -watching- Nuriko's death and actually experience it for myself! Livin' the dream, here!
I scowled inwardly, but somehow managed to keep the majority of the expression from my face. "Nah, it's just the lack of caffeine. It does weird things to people--especially me." Speaking of which, ha ha ha, have you ever woken up and been in awful pain and then seen a seishi symbol pop up on your chest? What, you have? Yeah, it's a bitch, ain't it?
Kats was frowning at me. "Ri, 'd'you hear anything I just
said?"
I blinked. "Wha?
Ahh, sorry..."
"Ehhh, s'arright. C'mon, let's get you some iced tea before ya
start hallucinating or something'."
Large inner sweatdrop. "Sure!" I said brightly.
Why did I have the feeling it was going to be slightly difficult to bring this up in casual conversation??
---
"No, seriously, man. The producers were lookin' for some kinda war cry or somethin' for her, and so Lucy Lawless just started doin' that 'IYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYIYI!' thing, and they loved it."
And, God said, "Let there be Xena," and it was good.
I raised an eyebrow. "Interesting..." Then, having fulfilled my Random Fact of the Day quota: "Hey, Kats?"
Kats was sprawled on the
recliner, rocking herself idly back and forth (of course, it wasn't supposed
to be a rocking chair, but that's what happens when enough kids jump on a chair
for enough years), but she stopped when I spoke, twisted her neck and looked
back at me. "Yeah, Ri?"
I felt all the blood rushing to my skull. "Ahhh...I...uhhh..."
"Man, you're actin'...weird today. You--" She jabbed a finger at me. "--need some more iced tea."
I sighed, pressed a hand to
my forehead, and somehow managed to nod.
"Gah, you're right. Thanks,
Kats."
Kats grinned. "Get me some too while you're up, 'kay?"
Grumble-grumble, I slave all day over a hot stove for you...
Nonetheless, I pushed myself off the edge of the couch, rose to my feet, and stalked out to the kitchen. "One cube or two?" I called darkly.
I heard Kats laugh, then, that high "eheheheheh!" that could, I was quite sure, shatter just about any silence, no matter how thick. "Two cubes, kudasaaaaaai!"
Grumble. Did we even have any ice cubes? Hmm, it bore investigating... Not that it would be a tragedy or anything if we didn't, of course, but ice was nice.
Ya know what's also nice? Rice.
But not with lice.
Now, say it thrice...
Thrice blind mice?
Idiot.
Ignoring the fact that Kats had, in my absence, turned the TV volume up loud enough that I swore I could hear the leather squeaking on Lucy Lawless, I halted in front of the fridge, stretched out a hand, and tugged open the freezer. A wash of frigid air swept out, made me close my eyes briefly against the sudden chill--
...a face out of nightmares--yellow eyes, piercing like a wolf's but intelligent, too, awake and aware like a man's; and, fur, matted and tangled and dotted with snow, dangling into those eyes, touching the severe curve of rigid cheekbones, whispering against lips bathed in blood that I knew were hiding back the fangs...
I staggered back from the freezer door, gasping for breath, and felt my back hit into the counter. Wha...wha...what...was...that?
Okay, that's it. You've lost it. Better tell Mom to rent out your room, because you're gonna be in a psych ward by the end of the week. B-B-B-But, what the hell -was- that?! Because...because, it looked like...it...
It looked like--
Something touched my shoulder.
Now, logically, I knew that (1) there was only one other person in the house besides me, and (2) that person was Kats. Thus, as said logic would dictate, the hand on my shoulder was, indeed, Kats' hand, and therefore if I peeled my fingers off of my eyes and turned my head to the side a little, I'd see Kats standing there. Simple.
Unfortunately, while my mind was cycling through this lovely bout of logic, the rest of my body was...ahh...reacting. I spun away from the touch on my shoulder, my socked feet sliding easily on the linoleum, and--before anything (such as the shocked look on Kats' face, who was, indeed, standing there behind me) registered, sent a defensive fist flying out through the air. It thudded into something soft a second later, and Kats went sprawling backwards and onto the floor.
... ... ...
Ahhhhhh! WhathehellwasIdoing!?
Shaking and still breathing hard, I hurried across the kitchen floor and into the family room where, after skidding backwards, Kats had finally landed. "GAAAH, I'm so sorry!!!" I wailed. I felt absolutely sick with guilt. Good God, I'd never hit anyone in my entire life, let alone my best friend who was probably only worried about me, anyway, and--
"Shit!" Kats exclaimed, and I was shocked to find that--even though there was a light mist of surprised tears in her eyes--she was grinning. Wait. G...Grinning? "Shit, man, that was unbelievable! How'd you do that??"
"I...ah..." Pause. Deep breath. Let it out slowwwwly. There ya go. In, out...in, out...calm blue ocean... "Aren't you hurt?"
Kats shrugged it off, already
halfway back onto her feet. "Eh,
I've had worse. But, damn, man,
that was amazing! Why the hell
didn'tcha tell me you knew how to do that?"
"Uh...because I..." I frowned. "Because I didn't know I could do that."
Kats laughed, rubbing at her
shoulder where I'd hit it. "Like
hell, Ri. You don't just...do
something like that. You gotta train
first, get your muscles built up--learn how to punch so ya don't hurt yourself
when you do hit somebody." She
cast a surveying eye in my direction, gaze flickering to my small frame, thin
arms, and all-around weak-looking exterior.
Her eyes narrowed a little.
"That's fuckin' weird, man.
I've never seen somebody who could pack that much power into a punch and
still look like they weighed a hundred pounds."
"One-twelve," I
said a bit irritably.
"Whatever. The point is--" That fanged grin crept back onto her face. "--that was awesome. Man, I never woulda thought it, but next time I'm in a fight, I want you there alongside me, 'kay, Riley? Damn, man. Fuckin' Nuriko or somethin'." Pause. "Hey, 're you all right? You're lookin' kinda pale all of a sudden."
Without a word, I turned, brushed by Kats, and hurried up the steps. A few minutes later, I was in the relative safety of my room, curled up on the naked blue of my mattress, trying vainly to stop myself from shivering.
Fuckin' Nuriko or somethin'...
I buried my face in my pillow, clamped my hands over my ears, and squeezed my eyes shut. It was only a few minutes later when, finally deciding to trek back downstairs and try to explain things to Kats, I caught a glimpse of metal on my dresser, flashing like silver in the sunlight.
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