Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and the characters in this chapter.
-
Four cats, invisible to the normal eye, sat staring a the fountain that was the center of the Detroit airport's main terminal. None of them moved, and for once none of their eye's were on the shimmering weave of energy that hovered about the fountain. They were all staring unblinkingly at the water, thinking over the plan they had conceived and trying to see a loop hole around the part none of them liked.
The dusty brown tabby shifted once and then spoke quietly without moving his head "Sil-" But he was cut off by the indignant cry of the kitten he was addressing.
"No, it's too wet!" Was all she said, and though she squinted as if worried she was going to be cuffed, she held her ground. After a brief moment in which Iowru licked his daughter's ear sympathetically, Hihwo spoke again.
"But you're small that the humans wouldn't notice the places where your paws went. You could just walk up there and you..." He voice tapered away as he spotted Ailah's expression and Silao's fluffed tail. Gold eyes flicking between the two he tried not to look like he was afraid of Ailah's glare.
"That's all very fascinating," said Ailah. "But did you know that She said you've just worked with water? And Silao shouldn't have to do this when she's still in training. Why don't you go up there?"
For a moment both of them bristled, glaring at each other in a staring contest of sorts. Then, with lashing tail, Hihwo broke eye contact and began to wash furiously. Iowru, who didn't like fights and didn't mind water that much, said a few words in speech that would make the water flow off of him, leapt up.
Even with the spell it was very wet and much colder than he expected. Feeling his fur itch, he tried to dodge around the streams of water that surrounded the gate. It was nearly impossible. The flow changed continually, and there was no dry way to the part of the gate he needed to access. Giving up, he let himself be spurted with water as he walked straight towards the gate. Once in the center it was like the eye of the storm, all of the streams pointed away from him for once. Growling softly, he gritted his teeth, and plunged his paw into the weave.
A great power surged over him, into him, through him. He gasped and tried to pull his paw out, but couldn't. He felt himself being explored by something unfeline, and not alive, but also not dead. It searched through him and he found himself searching through it, stumbling and unsure of what anything her felt really meant. Everything was very new and empty, like a blank slate about two million miles wide, waiting to be filled, though he did sense something older behind it. 'The power source.' Thought the logical part of his brain. Just then he was lead through more places as if the gate was showing off everything to him.
Then it was done. For a few moments he stood there stupidly, his paw still in the weave. Then, slowly, he pulled it out. Some impulse made him look at it, as if to check that it hadn't turned white or something. Then her sat down in the water.
"Iau..." He breathed, completely amazed by what had just happened. The power, it had been unbelievable, and he had seen everything in it. Excitement rode over him like a wave and for a moment his heart thrummed in his chest. Then he heard a small splash and turned to see Silao run up to him, her big green eyes wide. Butting heads with her in greeting, he saw that Ailah and Hihwo were walking on the air above them. They were on separate block of solid air, he noted. It wasn't doing them much good either. The flow of streams had come around and they were getting slashed. Ailah hissed, but stood her ground. Hihwo decided to use the water spell instead, and dropped down beside the pair.
"What happened?" The pale tom asked eagerly. "You went really stiff for a moment and then you went all bright, thank Iau the humans can't see that."
"Yeah!" Said Silao, and for once her tail was not fluffed. "Then you got normal again and your face looked really goofy." Her whiskers shot forward at the memory of his expression, and Iowru saw the other's whiskers twitch too. Feeling slightly stupid, he started to rabidly explain what had happened and how it felt.
"Huge!" He repeated several times. "So much of everything; power, space, time, but very new. Ready to do things."
He also commented that it did indeed feel rather unstable, like it hadn't pinned down what it was supposed to do. Ailah nodded at this. The fact that it was new had worried her. It could just unravel, or when asked to perform an operation it could malfunction and break down entirely. It might also be more susceptible to outside changes, and malfunction at that or it could-
She stopped herself before her agitation escalated. She assured herself that, yes, there would be problems, but they could be solved. Breathing deeply, she growled at the next wave of water and leapt away from the wetness. It took a moment for the others to follow but soon they were standing on the dry floor again.
"Okay, that was educational." Said Ailah in a sort of lets-not-all-go- insane-when-I-say-the-next-thing voice. "Now we need to move it."
They all groaned inwardly.
-
Four cats, invisible to the normal eye, sat staring a the fountain that was the center of the Detroit airport's main terminal. None of them moved, and for once none of their eye's were on the shimmering weave of energy that hovered about the fountain. They were all staring unblinkingly at the water, thinking over the plan they had conceived and trying to see a loop hole around the part none of them liked.
The dusty brown tabby shifted once and then spoke quietly without moving his head "Sil-" But he was cut off by the indignant cry of the kitten he was addressing.
"No, it's too wet!" Was all she said, and though she squinted as if worried she was going to be cuffed, she held her ground. After a brief moment in which Iowru licked his daughter's ear sympathetically, Hihwo spoke again.
"But you're small that the humans wouldn't notice the places where your paws went. You could just walk up there and you..." He voice tapered away as he spotted Ailah's expression and Silao's fluffed tail. Gold eyes flicking between the two he tried not to look like he was afraid of Ailah's glare.
"That's all very fascinating," said Ailah. "But did you know that She said you've just worked with water? And Silao shouldn't have to do this when she's still in training. Why don't you go up there?"
For a moment both of them bristled, glaring at each other in a staring contest of sorts. Then, with lashing tail, Hihwo broke eye contact and began to wash furiously. Iowru, who didn't like fights and didn't mind water that much, said a few words in speech that would make the water flow off of him, leapt up.
Even with the spell it was very wet and much colder than he expected. Feeling his fur itch, he tried to dodge around the streams of water that surrounded the gate. It was nearly impossible. The flow changed continually, and there was no dry way to the part of the gate he needed to access. Giving up, he let himself be spurted with water as he walked straight towards the gate. Once in the center it was like the eye of the storm, all of the streams pointed away from him for once. Growling softly, he gritted his teeth, and plunged his paw into the weave.
A great power surged over him, into him, through him. He gasped and tried to pull his paw out, but couldn't. He felt himself being explored by something unfeline, and not alive, but also not dead. It searched through him and he found himself searching through it, stumbling and unsure of what anything her felt really meant. Everything was very new and empty, like a blank slate about two million miles wide, waiting to be filled, though he did sense something older behind it. 'The power source.' Thought the logical part of his brain. Just then he was lead through more places as if the gate was showing off everything to him.
Then it was done. For a few moments he stood there stupidly, his paw still in the weave. Then, slowly, he pulled it out. Some impulse made him look at it, as if to check that it hadn't turned white or something. Then her sat down in the water.
"Iau..." He breathed, completely amazed by what had just happened. The power, it had been unbelievable, and he had seen everything in it. Excitement rode over him like a wave and for a moment his heart thrummed in his chest. Then he heard a small splash and turned to see Silao run up to him, her big green eyes wide. Butting heads with her in greeting, he saw that Ailah and Hihwo were walking on the air above them. They were on separate block of solid air, he noted. It wasn't doing them much good either. The flow of streams had come around and they were getting slashed. Ailah hissed, but stood her ground. Hihwo decided to use the water spell instead, and dropped down beside the pair.
"What happened?" The pale tom asked eagerly. "You went really stiff for a moment and then you went all bright, thank Iau the humans can't see that."
"Yeah!" Said Silao, and for once her tail was not fluffed. "Then you got normal again and your face looked really goofy." Her whiskers shot forward at the memory of his expression, and Iowru saw the other's whiskers twitch too. Feeling slightly stupid, he started to rabidly explain what had happened and how it felt.
"Huge!" He repeated several times. "So much of everything; power, space, time, but very new. Ready to do things."
He also commented that it did indeed feel rather unstable, like it hadn't pinned down what it was supposed to do. Ailah nodded at this. The fact that it was new had worried her. It could just unravel, or when asked to perform an operation it could malfunction and break down entirely. It might also be more susceptible to outside changes, and malfunction at that or it could-
She stopped herself before her agitation escalated. She assured herself that, yes, there would be problems, but they could be solved. Breathing deeply, she growled at the next wave of water and leapt away from the wetness. It took a moment for the others to follow but soon they were standing on the dry floor again.
"Okay, that was educational." Said Ailah in a sort of lets-not-all-go- insane-when-I-say-the-next-thing voice. "Now we need to move it."
They all groaned inwardly.