AN:
NDZ: Yay, another chapter up n runnin. I doubt I'll get ch 13 up today, but here's two new chapters in one day for ya!! Now its time to sit back n play a little GTA3, because I just feel the need to steal a tank and ruin Liberty City!! Until the next chapter, take care!!
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12: Thoughts between Felines
Reading the newspaper, Jane couldn't help but sneer at the shrewd observations made about zoanthropes such as herself. Why do they always have to jump to such conclusions? Stupid media, I guess it'll never change. Raising her coffee mug to her lips, she sipped at the now luke-warm liquid encased in the porcelain container.
Placing the mug back down on the table, she peered at her father as he threw on a jacket, its massive length cut short by his enormous bulk. Giving his daughter a quick glance, nodding his head in saying good-bye, he headed out the door, presumably towards some sort of meeting for the UN.
A she saw his form slink away from the draperies, she couldn't help but wonder if he would ever achieve his goal. All of them wanted to end the prejudice in the world, not only against zoanthropes, but racial and religious. To them, all the hate the world exhibited was meaningless, minor squabbles set aflare by idiotic persons.
I wonder how everyone's doing… I haven't had time to catch up with any of them besides Jack in a long time. I guess I'll see Long first; he always seems so desolate and lonely to me. Maybe me making a surprise appearance will cheer him up!
Chuckling to herself, she suddenly realized that surprising the Kenpo master would be extremely difficult, and only a court jester could possibly make him smile. But then again, maybe he'd kill the court jester before smiling…
* * *
Sitting comfortably on his couch, the Kenpo master watched the news quite attentively, taking in every detail of the ever-changing world. Though many "tragic" happenings came about in the world, he knew that only one stayed on topic throughout the media.
"Zoanthropes around the world are nothing but a menace. They do nothing but cause havoc and destruction. We need to get rid of this evil if we are expected to progress into the future."
This coming from a man who is probably paid to state illegitimate facts. That is what is wrong with the world. It is not us that are plaguing the world, it is corruption of decent people, people who should disregard such temptations. But no, they do not, because no person alive is void of greed.
Disgust formed on the tiger's face. He wanted to spit at the man, tell to him the true facts of the world, not the rubbish fed to the drones that walked the earth, wandering about with no cause.
Moving towards the kitchen area, he proceeded to make some herbal tea, its intoxicating aroma one of the many pleasures he enjoyed out of the forsaken world they lived in. True, he believed there was good in the world, and a good quantity of it too, but the world would pay no heed to any amount of good they would give.
People such as that would give their very heart and souls to leave a good mark upon the world. There isn't as many as we'd like there to be. That and they're not recognized as much as they should be.
After setting the kettle on the stove, he moved back to the television, its dim glow lighting the few feet in front of it. He chuckled to himself thinking about how Uriko had complained that he get a newer TV. I don't think I'll ever get used to that child. She is so full of energy. Put no matter how much she persists in other matters, it always shocks me to see her training in Kenpo, training her mind and body as one, giving fluid movement to the delicate art.
Thinking back to the first time he had seen the young feline, he remembered the small glint that had inhabited her delicate pupils, though it was subdued by her tears. At first he thought she would never have gotten the art, for she either got bored from the meditation, or applied too much energy to simple moves. But eventually, to his surprise, she learned the art, in some way or another, adding in her own unique moves as she saw fit.
This had shocked him, as he had been trying to teach her the proper art, not adaptations of it. But she had gone off anyway and changed some moves to fit her style, developing some of the more difficult moves into simpler, more erratic moves. He had thought this as rash and foolish at first, but after she had shown her skill by fighting the young Ohgami boy, then the deadly assassin Bakuryu, she proved him wrong.
That was one of the deadly things about her, her erratic movements and spontaneous moves confused even the most adept fighters, causing them to loose sight of her, or fail to see the slight variation she exhibited.
Hmm…. He thought, she certainly is a unique child, and I feel some pride in teaching her that which I knew, and I hope she can put it to much better use than I have found. There isn't much need for fighters such as myself in the world anymore; it seems more and more warriors like myself are going extinct in the technological world. But when will man learn that machines will only pose a problem to themselves?
Staring at the small table before him, he sought deep into the surface of it, deep into the granular surface, asking it for its opinion. It merely gave its indifference towards the subject, dismissing it with solemn silence.
Hmm… They say they are closer to this artificial intelligence, yet they progress with bio-genetics and genetic warfare. They go on and on about how close they are coming, but they never reveal their blunders, their failures. Are some of the zoanthropes such as Uriko and Uranus, or Stun for that matter, such failures that have gone out of hand? If so, how do they expect the real world to deal with such things? After all, we can't all just pretend like they don't exist…
After thinking some more about the matter, he decided to put it aside for the moment. The kettle began to hiss and whistle from the steam escaping the narrow hole it was provided with. Walking back to the stove, he reduced the heat to nil, removing the kettle from the heated coil and pouring the hot water into a small mug, replacing the kettle onto a coil that had not been heated.
Pouring the herbal mix into the mug, he relaxed into a chair and slowly stirred the concoction. After the tea was thoroughly mixed, he sipped the hot liquid, forcing his body to not recoil from the burning hot liquid. Allowing himself to fall into a trance-like state, he enjoyed the vapors emitted from the herbal mixture, letting them enter his nostrils, easing him away from the world that only existed to destroy itself…
* * *
A few hours later, the leopard receded from her structure, leaving the establishment to the slight tinge of darkness that had begun encompassing the orangish hue that blotted the sky. Hmm… I should hurry to Long's. I don't want to overstay my welcome, or rather stay there so long that Gado will suspect something…
A heavy leather jacket upon her frame, she jogged down the now barren streets, moving towards the heart of the city, which she lived in the outskirts of. It should only take me about a half an hour to get to his apartment.
Looking at her watch, she noted that it had taken her about forty minutes to reach his residence, for she hadn't taken a jog such as that in a long time. I guess I should get back into shape pretty soon, considering we're gonna attack that complex fairly soon.
After entering the apartment complex, she walked up the three flights of stairs, coming upon the fourth door on her right. Numbered 312, she hesitated a moment, thinking that maybe it wasn't such a good idea. Dismissing the thought with a shake of her head, she ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, still fairly stiff, though it had been 8 hours since she had done it up such as that.
After summoning up some courage, she knocked on the door, softly at first. After getting no answer, she knocked again, with a little more force than her previous attempt.
She heard some rustling, assuming Long had either been sleeping or meditating. Hearing steps approach the door, and a chain being unlatched seconds later, she watched the door open, Long holding an arm towards the inside of his abode.
"I didn't expect you to come here Jane. Is there anything wrong?" He asked of her, sounding a little concerned, though she noted a tinge of red creeping across his stone-masked face.
"No, no, nothing's wrong, but thanks for asking. I just thought it'd be nice to give you a little surprise visit is all. Is it so wrong?" She questioned of him, giving him a smile while turning her head to the side slightly.
"No, there is nothing wrong with an act such as that. I just never thought that you would come unexpectedly like this, especially since night is edging upon us." He responded, suddenly feeling guilt sweep over him at his remark.
She gave him a small sign of hurt, for she thought that their relationship wasn't as strict as he had made it sound. After letting the emotion fade, she sat down on the couch, turning off the television and patting the cushion next to her, asking him to join her.
Knowing that he shouldn't refuse, seeing as his remark had hurt her in some way, he sat down next to the blonde haired zoanthrope, of whom he felt a strong attraction.
"So what've you been up to? Anything interesting?" She asked after a small awkward silence had passed between them.
"Nothing of great importance. Meditation, watching the coverage the news channels have to offer…" He seemed to let the last thought trail off, and Jane noted his head lower, as if it had struck a chord of disgust within the great tiger.
Lifting up his chin with her index finger, she looked into his eyes, searching for some sort of answer to his sudden emotion.
Watching her eyes search in his, he felt a sudden urge of lust flood through his system, releasing the hormonal effect upon his body. For a moment, he felt as if he couldn't control this sudden urge, but he had also learned to control his emotions and urges through long, tiresome meditation sessions.
Jane also noted this, but also saw him push it back down. She noted the way he exerted control over his emotions, wondering if he could truly control them in other situations, though the certain one she had in mind she had to dismiss, knowing that she shouldn't be thinking about that right now.
Removing her finger from his chin, her eyes asked him what was bothering him. He knew she felt the same way he did about the current state of the world, but this hardly seemed like the place to talk about it.
Turning his head to the side, Jane felt anger build up within her, growing stronger by the moment, fueled by Long's futile attempts at disregarding her questions.
"Come on tiger," she started, trying to subdue her feelings. "You know as well as I do that you can't hide your feelings from me for long. It just doesn't come second nature to you. Now just tell me what's wrong, I really want to know…"
Hearing her words, he knew that she was right. Sighing, he turned back to face her, finding remnants of courage piecing themselves together for him once more.
"Well…." he started, trying to find words for his feelings. "I just feel strange about the world. I mean… That is to say… How can the world hate us so much when they are causing they're own downfall? We are human to begin with, right?"
He sounded confused and troubled by the thought, and she suddenly found herself void of an answer. Opening her lips to reply, she found them left open, finding no words to answer his query.
Noting her silence, he got up and retrieved another mug, feeling that he should be a respectable host and offer her some tea.
After an hour of silence, and a few servings of tea, Jane had finally encountered an answer that she hoped would ease her friends tension.
"Long, first I want to apologize for my rudeness. I came here hoping to cheer you up, to surprise you, but I found that you were far more troubled than I thought. I've wasted so much of your time, and I feel I should ask for your forgiveness…" She ended her sentence by bowing her head, hoping the silence-stricken tiger would allow her to repent.
"No Jane, I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have dodged your attempts at help, I've become foolish. I have just….. found myself confused I guess. I just don't understand the world as it is now."
She looked up at him, seeing him distressed, confused and somehow feeling his loneliness.
"Long, we can't hope the world to change on its own. That's why we have my father in the UN and Yugo and Alice in the WOC. They're working to change the world's idiotic viewpoints on us. We want the world to live in peace, without prejudice. I don't know how long it'll take for them to realize their idiocy, but we'll continue working until they do change." She ended, hoping that her response had answered his question.
Slowly lifting his head, the Kenpo master smiled a little, giving his gratitude towards his delicate leopard. He felt the darkness that had enshrouded his mind give way, removing some of the weight it had poured upon his consciousness.
"Thank you Jane, you have indeed helped me more than you know. I am eternally grateful that I have a friend such as you. I just wish there were some way of repaying you for your unselfish deed…" He replied, giving a slight smirk towards her.
A look of shock developed on her face for a moment, but after closing her mouth, she returned the smirk, shaking her head back and forth. Naughty little tiger you are. I guess I never thought of you as such a romanticist.
Grabbing her seemingly small hand in his, he lifted her from the couch, both of them stretching for a few moments, allowing blood to circulate and muscles to loosen.
After arching his back downward, he noticed a playful look upon the leopard's face, and he knew that she was more than willing to accept his silent offer. He returned the smile, taking her frail hand once more, closing the drapes and leading her to his room for her payment…