Stalling…stalling…stalling…*gets smacked by Starling*

Starling: Stop with the stalling! You've got an idea you can use, so use it!

But it doesn't really involve Saffron!

Starling: Big whoop. Set up some suspense for your readers and explain who that bishie-boy Kalerian is.

Okay, fine, have it your way.

Starling: That's better.

_-_

Chapter 13: What does a cat never give? (A cookie if anyone can answer the riddle correctly!)

*************

The small bell hanging over the door of the Cat Café chimes as the door is opened and Rei walks in. Her expression does not match the bell's bright sound. Cologne herself pogos up on her staff, since there is only one or two customers sitting at the tables and counter. It is the day after the torrential rainstorms, and the weather seems to be making up for it with one of the most perfect days they've had this year.

"What's the matter, Rei? You look like someone just told you Jusenkyo's been destroyed." Rei gives her a weak smile and sits down at the table nearest the door, propping her chin in one hand and regarding the Amazon Elder with utter seriousness.

"It may be that bad, Elder. Something has happened that was not supposed to happen for another two and a half months, and it worries me."

Since Rei's shift does not start for at least another few minutes, Cologne takes a perch on the sturdy table and gives Rei her full attention. "What is it, child?"

"One of my friends came close to being slain by a tribesman of Saffron." Cologne manages to resume her composure reasonably fast and manages to avoid letting her jaw drop.

"And this was supposed to happen?"

"Much as it pains me to say, yes. What scares me is that he was not intended to sustain the injuries for quite a long time, and since the timing was off, it concerned me greatly that his survival might no longer be assured. Thankfully," she sighs, "he did survive, even if I did nearly kill myself putting him back together."

"How did you do it, if I may be so bold in asking?"

"Have you heard of a man named Yuki Ogawa?

"Yes. He is one of the most respected healers that uses ki, after all. Even in the tribe of the Amazons, which gives you a measure of his skill." A mirthless laugh from Rei.

"I know his abilities, Elder Cologne! I trained under him for five years. The technique I used to put my friend back together yesterday is his greatest technique, called the Ring of Cleansing. In my case, my ki effectively burns away the injuries."

"I take it there are other methods."

"Three. One for each student that studies with me under him. Kalerian--my friend--is another of his students. He's the aspect of Water. We call him Mizu for short." Cologne nods to show her understanding, and Rei continues. "Anyway, like I said, it's the fact he's been attacked and branded so soon that seriously worries me."

"Yes, you've said that three times. Except for the branding part."

"He wasn't supposed to be branded at all. He'll carry that mark for the rest of his life, and if any of the Phoenix tribe finds him again, he'll be taken as a slave." Anger burns in Rei's eyes as she says this, and it is obvious that she is using quite a bit of self-control to not start breaking something. "That man will pay for this, I can assure Mizu of that."

"Well, you can work some of that anger out cleaning tables since your shift's about to start." Rei sighs and rises to her feet, inclining her head to the small woman.

"Yes, Obaa-san," she replies in a somewhat more normal voice, and goes into the kitchen for a damp cloth.

****

Meanwhile, the boy in question is busy getting his muscles to remember how to work properly. He's balanced on a pole in Rei's mini Jusenkyo replica, wearing a spare gi of pale blue left behind from a visiting dojo. Of course, what's really unusual is that he's balanced in a handstand on one finger and he's doing the splits. Hiei, requested by Rei to keep an eye on her fellow student, is actually impressed that a ningen boy who was at Death's door last night could recover so quickly--even considering Rei's not-insignificant healing abilities. Of course, Kalerian is apparently unaware of Hiei's presence, since the koorime is sitting in a tree across the yard with his ki firmly muffled. One must keep in practice.

Eventually he gets bored of watching this stranger exercising and decides to amuse himself by trying to get some answers out of Rei's friend. He darts over and stands calmly on the pole directly behind this 'Kalerian', waiting for him to notice his presence.

When Kalerian does, his reaction is all Hiei could wish for in his mildly-vindictive heart. The stranger (to Hiei) finally gets out of his finger-stand and flips into a Crane-like stance that is identical to the one Ranma once used when the unlucky teenager made his visit to the real Jusenkyo. And ends up face to face (well, almost--Hiei is pretty short) with the spiky haired young man. With a startled, undignified squawk of surprise, Kalerian loses his balance and tumbles back into the pool directly below. Hiei merely waits until the boy surfaces and coughs up a lungful of water before saying in the toneless voice he's perfected, "I'm sorry. Did I startle you?"

The blue-eyed boy glares as he climbs out of the pool and takes off his shirt to wring it out. "As a matter of fact, yes! Was there a friggin' point to that??"

"No. Now if you don't mind there are some questions I want you to answer."

"Gimme a good reason." His eyes widen as the fact that a sword's tip is ju-ust brushing his Adam's apple actually registers, and he works out just how fast Hiei is by that one movement.

"I take it this will be reason enough."

Kalerian simply moves back and put a finger to his throat, looking relieved when it comes away as clean as it was when he put it there. "Do that again, and you're going to be needing a blacksmith." So, naturally, Hiei does it again, but the ending is much different.

When the katana and Hiei's arm are fully extended, Kalerian merely grabs the blade with a hand covered in his ki and hits the back of the blade with the side of his other fist. With a metallic 'snap' the blade breaks in half, and Kalerian simply tosses the piece in his hand over his shoulder, listening to it hit the water with a loud splash. Hiei looks mildly impressed, and rather displeased that his weapon is ruined.

"You're going to have to ask more nicely if you want to get answers," Kalerian tells him, flexing the hand that had struck the sword, "Or, you know," he suggests impishly, "you could always stand there like a statue and glare at me and get nothing."

Hiei merely blinks at him impassively before sheathing what remains of his sword. "You and Rei act very much alike."

"I've been around her almost constantly for the past five years," Kalerian says with a broad grin, hands his gi's pockets and cocking hip and shoulder. "She tends to rub off within the first few months." He holds up his wet gi top and whistles sharply; all of the water remaining squeegees itself out of the fabric, starting from the top and working down until it is bone dry. He whistles again and the process repeats itself with his pants, and then the strange boy goes and sits on a bench. "So. What do you want to know?"

"What is Rei?" This, for some reason, had been the question itching in the back of Hiei's skull for several days now.

"Wow, you sure don't start off with the easy ones, do ya?" Nevertheless, Kalerian gets himself comfortable and begins.

"Rei is a mystery overall, frankly, but I can tell you about a couple of her facets. I'm sure you know about her healing expertise?" A nod from the koorime. "Yeah, well, she got that training with me and two others under the greatest healer-by-ki in the world, a man named Yuki Ogawa. And like I said, we spent five years together, studying individual styles within his 'school' of martial arts. Rei's Fire, I'm Water. We tend to spark off each other, but we also provide a dampening force, that kind of thing.

Rei's also the best damned weaver I know. She can take rough wool yarn and turn it into a plushy wool cloak with as much effort as it would take for you to kill someone, I'd wager." A bland expression in those garnet eyes, and Kalerian chuckles. "She's also a damned good judge of character, so I'll have to take that judgement at face value and consider you a possible ally, despite your earlier transgressions."

"Hn. Continue."

"She's fortune teller, a really, really good one, and she's as loyal as all hell to people she cares about. She's a good friend. Beyond that, can't tell you much else. Rei, she's got a cat's love of secrets, she does."

"I'd noticed," is the sour comment, and the fire apparition is rewarded for it with a cheery smile.

"Yeah, we all want to give her a good shake and tell her to spill, but she's hard to catch as her element. And if you don't treat her right, she'll burn ya just as quick."

Hiei winces at the memory of a few choice thwacks and verbal barbs she'd given him when he'd seriously stepped over the line the first time he'd met her, when he'd basically somehow managed to insult her intelligence, her gender, and her skills all at once. He still wasn't sure why that particular comment had escaped from his mouth--it certainly wasn't anything he'd say under normal circumstances. But the result of it had stung for several hours for the physical, and several days for the verbal. In fact, a couple still smarted.

Their conversation is cut short by a cheery call from the gate, and Rei comes striding up. "Hey, guys! Playing nicely?"

"By whose standards?" This is from Kalerian, still stretched out on the bench.

"Mine."

"Pretty nicely, then. I only broke one of his toys and he's only threatened me once or twice. Why're you back so soon? Thought you had work."

Rei nods and flicks her long braid back. "I do. I just forgot something and had to come back and get it."

"Like what?"

"Nothing you need to be worried about," is the evasive reply. Rei ducks into the house and comes back out a few minutes later, carrying her small backpack and a pair of sunglasses. "Later! And play nice!"

"Bai-bai!" Kalerian calls teasingly. "See you later, Spider!"

"Bye, Mizu-Koneko!"

"Neko, at least! Enough with the 'ko'!" Laughter merely drifts back as Rei takes off down the road. "She's also a pain in the ass," the green-haired boy adds as an afterthought to the koorime, who fervently agrees, if silently.

****

Later that night…

"So. None of them know about any of us, do they?"

"Nothing that needs meddling with. They can know about the surface. It's the depths we don't want them exploring. Keep your shields up."

"He might know something. I was leaking when I first woke up."

"Already checked, and he doesn't. Which is good. Poor guy's got enough blanks as it is without them being added to."

"Bet that rubs."

"Does. Are the others coming?"

A chuckle. "Don't you know? You're supposed to know everything."

"Your bailiwick's been messed with, too, you know. This isn't a laughing matter. Everything's been altered, sped up, and that might not give us enough time."

"That's why you're training the girl, isn't it? So if she gets taken, she'll be able to put up a fight long enough to delay them?"

"Right. But keep your shields and your mouth closed, chatterbox. You told him enough this afternoon."

"Nothing that will cause us trouble."

"Tell that to Falcon and Horse."

*******

Starling: Okay, I'm stumped. What's Kalerian got to do with this?

Niana: You're the one who wanted him in there. You figure it out.

Starling: Meanie. Playing off my addiction to bishies--oops. Did I just say that out loud? . =O.O= .

Niana: Nyah. Serves you right, pushy wolf. Anyway, please read and review, and thank you to my loyal r&r's. Sorry this chappie's so short, I'm kinda dry on ideas at the moment.