Things you need to have read to understand this chapter: Crimson (general background), In the Shadows (again, general background)
Really lazy disclaimer of Doom:
Urby is really lazy right now, so you'll have to put these words together to make the disclaimer:
Urby, ToS, does, own, not.
Either that you can remove the commas and pretend I'm talking like Yoda.
When I said I wanted to be in danger, I wanted to at least be able to do something about it!
Shadow hid in a log, hoping that the Lobos that were chasing her would give up, but they were intent on catching her right now.
I bet they're debating what kind of sauce to put on my bones...and the worst part is, I'm helpless.
A giant paw kicked the log aside, sending it sailing away. Shadow gasped, clinging to the sides for dear life.
Luckily, the Lobos didn't realize she was gone.
Unluckily, the log hit a rock, causing her to lose her hold on it. She yelped, careening into a net, getting so tangled all she could see was part of her shoulder and her right wing.
"Hey. What the hell is this?"
"I dunno. Maybe we should take it to boss, meow."
"So what...who exactly are the Marion's Brigade?" Sam wondered, looking at the note.
"They are fearsome thieves...can pluck a piece of dust from underneath the noses of a thousand guards," the Head Penguinist explained.
"We have to steal Ruby back," Sam kicked at a pebble, not realizing it was a bomb-pebble. It detonated on a wall.
"Whoops."
"Don't worry about it."
The purple Penguinist waddled by, stopping to gawp at the wall.
"Ah, Violet...can you go visit Byruu for me?" the Head Penguinist asked.
"What for, boss?" Violet saluted.
"We need a thief...to steal something back from the Katz."
Violet waddled over to the inn, followed by Sam, who wasn't doing anything else, so "might as well".
They went to Byruu's room, but she wasn't there.
"Byruu?" Violet called out.
A scream, some breaking dishes, and yelled cursing erupted from downstairs. A moment later Byruu appeared, with a tray filled with food.
"Where did you get that?" Sam questioned, waving her flipper in a tut-tut way.
"Legally," Byruu stuck out her tongue.
The two Penguinists did not look convinced.
"Period," Byruu concluded.
"Full stop," Sam corrected.
"Period!" Byruu snapped.
"Full stop!" Sam retorted.
"Okay, okay, break it up," Violet stepped between them. "The little dot-thing at the end of a sentence, there."
"Period," Byruu stuck her tongue out, determined to have the last word.
Violet groaned, put her hood down, and pull out some of her hair in frustration.
"So, what is it you want, mew?" Byruu sat, munching on a piece of toast.
"We need a thief," Violet nodded firmly.
"Really now?" Byruu crunched a burnt part of her snack. "How good?"
"Good enough to steal a...say, 90 pound Katzinist from a hoard of Katz," Sam gestured vaguely.
"Hrmmm..." Byruu reached for a brownie and nibbled on it. She made a face and threw it over her shoulder.
"Not good?" Violet ventured.
"Not like Colette's brownies," Byruu mumbled. "So, yeah, not good. Good news though, I found your thief."
"Any bad news?"
"Just a little...she's in prison over at the old Sylverant base."
"Hey Dragon, meow?"
Dragon opened one eye.
"This had better be good, meow..."
"We found this," a tan Katz held up a struggling black and grey kitten.
"Interesting," Dragon held it by the scruff of the neck. "Where did you find this?"
"Over by the game nets. Crashed into them."
Dragon studied her, making sure she wasn't close enough to do any harm.
"What's your name?" Dragon pointed at the tan Katz with his tail.
"Russet, sire. Want me to do something?"
"Yes. On my desk is a little green box. Go fetch it."
Russet nodded and left.
Dragon fiddled with the collar and tag on the kitten's neck.
"Shadow, is it? Shame...that means you're not the weapon...but you're close, and will do...meow."
It was what looked like would be a quiet evening, fire going, snow falling, dog asleep with a Pow Hammer in her mouth.
"I hate winter," Colette sighed, looking out the window.
"How come?" Lloyd looked up, awakened by her comment.
"There's so much...death," she sighed again, giving her wings a shake. A few feathers drifted around.
"All the plants wither and die...animals starve and perish...and the trees lose all their leaves."
Lloyd looked outside, finding a bare tree that looked rather like a giant twig.
"I see what you mean."
A feather landed on the dog's nose and she sneezed.
"Are you alright, Maria?" Colette asked, turning to her.
"Maria? Is that what you called her?"
Colette nodded and smiled, rubbing the dog's belly.
"You seem quite attached to her," Lloyd remarked.
Colette hugged the thing, flapping her wings sadly. "She...reminds me of Mitsmuzz, you know? The same color...the eyes..."
She sighed again, closing her eyes.
"It wasn't your fault she died..."
Colette shook her head. "Yes, it is...my chakrams were next to her. I was next to her..."
"It wasn't you," Lloyd said, kneeling next to her and picking up a few feathers. "It was Crimson...he was using you."
Colette nodded slowly. Maria gnawed on the Pow Hammer, which squeaked softly.
"You wouldn't kill her," Lloyd continued. "You cared for that puppy-which is why you probably adopted my pillow, you weren't done taking care of something, you know?"
Colette mused on this for a moment while Maria's tail thumped against the floor.
"It was winter when she died," she finally said. "So much death..."
"Everything has to die sometime. Make room for all the new life that comes."
"All the new life..." Colette nodded, rubbing Maria's belly. "You hurry up and have plenty of lovely puppies, okay?"
Byruu walked down the dark hall, wondering if she should stop by the oracle and say hi. She passed by her door, decided she might as well, and opened it.
A heavenly smell, melting chocolate and ginger, greeted her.
Cookies...oracle's secret recipe.
Currently the oracle was writing in another one of her giant books, she wouldn't notice if she nabbed a cookie or fifteen.
"Cuum to take my vittles, likkle one?" the oracle said without looking up. Byruu froze.
"How did you know?" Byruu sighed, but not in an unfriendly way.
"I saw it," the oracle gestured vaguely.
"So that's what you're writing?" Byruu sniggered. " 'A little half-Katz attempts to steal cookies from her grandmother but fails miserably?', mew?"
"Ah, no, child," the oracle cackled. "I write only the important stoff. Likkle things like that, don't bother."
Byruu sat down on the floor, thinking. "So, uh...you said you saw this war a long time ago, right?"
"Yees, zat I did."
"Did you see beyond it? Find out what happens next?"
The oracle scratched her head a bit, trying to remember. "Ahhh...don' quite recall...can look. Right now?" she asked.
"Please," Byruu requested. The oracle concentrated, bits of dust swirling around her. After a few minutes she opened her eyes.
"I see...two pairs of wings getting mahrried."
Byruu tipped her head questioningly. "Pairs of wings? Married?"
"Ahhh, I don' know," the oracle shrugged, shaking her head. "All I see is two pairs of wings at 'n altar. I 'sume they's getting mahrried. Don't know, may be getting sacrificed. Eet's as clear as ze visions get. Jes' good at guessing what they's trying to tell meh."
"So...it's all just a bunch of guesswork, mew?" Byruu said to distract her grandmother, so she could sneak off into the kitchen and pinch some cookies.
"Weel, yes. I don' see all what happins...that would spoil ze surprise, not make eet worth living throo."
Byruu smiled inwardly at her own luck, she hadn't noticed her intentions yet.
"Fine, have a cookie if you must!"