Disclaimer: I don't own. Also, few dragons are great dancers. You have been warned.
:}
That evening, at dinner, Gary shared some good news. "We found him." He told the gathering. "The Seer, Sikowitz, I know where he plans on being tonight. Assuming your willing to head out for a while, you can go and talk to him. It's a tavern, a place I visit sometimes. I can have a coach take you there, after dinner, if you'd like."
"Okay, we all go, or just the core group?" Tori asked.
"The knights, the ranger, the sorceress, and Tori." Gary suggested. "I feel you have the best chance to talk for your father."
"Technically, the only reason I'm not a knight is I'm a girl." The noblewoman defended herself.
"Trina's a knight." Beck stoked the flames a bit.
"Trina's a special case." Ryder said. "From what Sir Gary told me, she's the kind that bends the rules."
They broke into another small argument, ended only when Gary put his foot down and insisted that it was nothing against Tori, but her sister was going to rule the Dale, so being knighted was necessary. He then recommended they all remember they needed each other, and for the remainder of this trip, they should try and stay civil to one another. Jade found him inspiring, while Cat was constantly in her mind making observations about this or that, often with no logical connection to the argument at hand, which the long lived fae found boring. "Just the way the boys bond. Don't worry, though. You and Victoria will be bonding soon enough, just through other means…" The visuals she sent didn't help.
After dinner, Jade found herself crowded into a couch, meant to carry six, and whisked off to the tavern where this supposed seer might be found. "Okay, we're just a group of nobles and their retainers out for an evening." Tori reminded the others. "Sorry, Jade, but this'll be easier if we don't have to pretend your anything but a woman along for the ride."
"Not how I'd have included you.' Cat told her. "Still, I saw her ass, and you could do worse. So, relax, and lets play along, for now. But this seer, he'd better be worth the trouble…"
Jade rolled her eyes, and focused on the trip, even as Cat snuck down and checked out each boys pants, really close up. "Not the biggest, but it's not about the size of the trouser snake. It's about soul, and mark my words, I'm gonna rock this rangers world before this trip is over."
"Cat, behave." Jade sent, then focused on the trip, and the city as it flowed past them.
Soon they disembarked from the coach and entered a large building that Jade would be shocked to know was just the tavern, and a few rooms for rent upstairs. The five of them were escorted to the VIP section, and allowed to order drinks from a wench who made it very clear to both Ryder and Beck that she was reasonably priced, should they wish to sample one of the private rooms. "Okay, lets find this Seer." Tori sighed.
"Oh, miss…?" Beck asked the waitress. "We're looking for a man names Sikowitz…"
"That crazy seer?" The woman sneered. "I'll let him know your interested."
It would take a good ten minutes for the man to show up, walking right up to their table in the VIP section and sitting himself down like he belonged. It begged the question how, as his dress and mannerisms hardly fit in with that part of the tavern, or just about anywhere. "Okay, you're the one's on the quest, right? I walked up to the wrong table earlier, and let me tell you, some people don't like strangers just sitting themselves down."
"And you're the seer?" Tori asked.
"Hmm, you're not the witch…" His eyes darted around to where Jade was sitting. "The one with the invisible familious, yes, you're the witch."
"That could have been a lucky guess." Ryder said, even if he didn't believe it for a second.
"So, what else can I do to prove to you my skills?" Sikowitz asked. "Please note, my advice on how to deal with this quest, that's separate, and will be charge appropriately."
"We're looking for a minstrel, names Andre, who is said to have connections to clan Azure." Beck said.
"Hmm, if I were to check with the portents, look at the stars, and ask the spirits, I might be able to find him." The old seer said. "Or, you could maybe give me a moment…" He stood up and walked out of the VIP section, heading to a corner of the tavern where a half dozen minstrels were taking turns performing, while using the time in between to drink, talk and socialize. Soon, he was talking with a dark skinned male, and gesturing to the warm, dry area where the important people were given every comfort the tavern could offer.
"You don't think…" Tori asked her cousin. Moments later, the two man walked back towards them, the old seer accompanied by the dark skinned minstrel, the latter of whom had his lyre in hand.
"Andre Harris, at your service." He gave a quick bow, and then dropped his voice deeper. "Hi there." he said directly to Jade.
"Careful, she's a witch with an invisible, celestial faerie as her familious." Sikowitz warned.
"I don't mind that." The minstrel chuckled. "As you've said, I have family and allies in clan Azure. I've seen plenty weird."
"Why don't you introduce your familious?" Beck tried. "Just, quietly, so we don't make a scene."
Jade wasn't sure, but since the seer had already noticed, she figured 'No harm, just as long as the waitress doesn't notice. Then again, she's been flirting with the boys since we sat down, mostly those with coin…' She focused on her familious, and asked the fairy to turn visible.
Cat, at Jade's minimal urging, turned visible, bowing to the new members of the group. "Hii, my name is Catarina….."
"Crinsona….!" Andre said in a hushed tone, his eyes widening.
"Red wings….!" Sikowitz muttered, before he moved, followed almost immediately by Andre, both men diving for whatever cover they could find.
Cat, who had been interrupted before she could finish giving her introduction, just looked back at Jade. "I can explain…"
Already, the dark skinned man had managed to act in a second way, his skin turning scaly, even as his eyes turned reptilian. Claws formed on his fingers. "Um, is that normal?" Tori asked, pointing to where the man had half hidden behind cover, and was moving from cover to cover to try and exit the area.
Sikowits, however, had used his own hidden abilities to turn himself ghost like, and flowed down through the floor. "Uh, I think we're drawing a LOT of attention." Beck noted.
"Jade!" Ryder warned his sister.
"I swear, I had no idea…" Jade begged her brother.
"Oh what, you're assigned a minor noble with a tenuous bloodline connection to the Petrified Throne, and you never once asked why I'm doing the community service?" Cat asked. "Jade, you have high potential, someone with connections was gonna be your familious. I just got hella lucky in that, while they could have done much worse with me, they just bound me to that amulet, and sent me to work with you. Now, if you don't mind, explain how bound I am, and let them know I'm not gonna go randomly burning this city down, kay?" Then she looked back at Andre. "Dragon touched. Wonder how deep it goes?"
"People, time to go." Jade announced. "My lord…" She kept her face straight as she addressed Tori, "You stay behind, see if you can't rustle our new friends back to us once the drama has calmed down. Everyone else, with me."
"I'm staying." Beck insisted.
"No, you go." Robbie said. "I'll stay. As you said, I'm the help. No one will much care if I stay or go. The rest, save the lord here, you all go. Time to calm this down. And please, later, I wanna know what the hell that was all about."
Jade nodded. "You and me too." She said, and led her brother out of the establishment. Beck reluctantly followed, glancing back several time to confirm most eyes were following him.
"That went well." Tori told Robbie, even as she moved cautiously forward to talk the dragon touched boy down. His half crazed look wasn't muted by his new skin and body. Still, she knew what had to be done, and in front of all those people.
Tori spoke calmly to Andre, worried about the dragon touched boy. Only, she didn't have a lot of time, because apparently, to the locals, his change was far more intense then Jade's familious. "Look, Andre, we really need to go…." She pointed towards the door, not foolish enough to actually do anything beyond just point.
Andre was watching the door through which Jade had left, faerie on her shoulder. "Crimsona.…" He repeated.
"DUDE!" Tori tried the slang of her own clan, hoping his families alliance would have let him recognize their friendly greeting. "We need to get going." He blinked twice as he came back to himself.
Andre managed to get to his feet, shifting to look human again. "Sorry about that, folks." He called to the assembled crowd. "Illusion gone wrong. I need to practice my tricks more before I try that again…" He then turned and all but ran out of the building.
Tori started to follow, only Robbie stopped him. "We go that way." He pointed towards a different door.
"We'll lose him." Tori protested.
"We'll find him again." Rob promised. "But we can't be seen following him. No, we go that way…"
They went out the way Robbie urged, and quickly he had her help him climb a building. Soon, he was going from roof to roof, looking. Tori followed, embarrassed at how they were traveling. She was even more embarrassed by the small number of other people who seemed to use the same method of transport. "Looks like others have the same idea." Rob said.
A blond girl was shadowing them from roof to roof. "Hay, did you maybe see a dark skinned man leaving the tavern?" Rob called out, letting her know they saw her.
"You're not one of us." The short blond replied, a feeling of menace in her voice.
"We were trying to make contact with Andre the mistral, and things went sideways." Rob explained. "We need to find him, make sure everything's okay."
The blond girl smiled. "Gonna cost you." She promised, but started leading them in a direction.
"Can we trust her?" Tori wondered.
"Probably not." Rob speculated. "But she's our only hope, so lets just pray she's more interested in a finders fee then anything sinister."
A short run later, they were overlooking a nondescript building. "Tell me, what happened to make this guy you were looking for rabbit?" The blond girl asked.
"Something we were gonna ask about startled him, and he kinda started to…" Tori explained.
"VIC!" Robbie cut her off. "Sorry, but we don't know you…"
"Some of us know that certain members of Clan Azure are dragon touched." The girl said. "Andre Harris made the sacrifice, and is progressing more then many. See, from what he explained to us, some dragons cannot reproduce the way you'd think. Instead, they find likely candidates, and give them a tastes of being a dragon. Me, I don't know what to believe, except we have this safe house for him, for times when something startles him." Her blue eyes looked through the ranger. "Must have been some major something." She nodded. "I'm Samantha, but everyone calls me Sam."
"Robbie, a ranger." Rob introduced himself.
"Um, I heard of something…" Tori finally figured out what this girl was. "Are you maybe part of the Puckett Crime family?"
"By blood." Sam said. "More of an independent now. You pay, we keep this between us."
"We still might need you." Robbie pushed. "What we had gave him quite the startle."
"Boy just might be slowly turning into a dragon." Sam said. "Can't imagine what could scare him that much, except maybe inquisitioners."
"Clan Vega has no love for the inquisition." Tori promised. "We do need that mans help to stop a marauding monster from destroying our lands."
Sam smiled. "Price just went up."
"HAY!" Tori started to protest.
"You're gonna be getting a LOT more for your money, so calm it down, my lord." Her blue eyes narrowed. "I am assuming you have some blood in the Vega hierarchy…"
"Related to Lord David himself." Rob promised. "That is, Vic is. Me, just a common born Ranger."
"I'm more an enforcer then a street thief, but I can cover a lot of ground if I have too." Sam said. "Lets get us off of this roof, and talk to that minstrel. Maybe, as a part of this, you can fill me in on what one of Lord Vega's kin is doing looking for that man?"
"Honestly, we had need of a dragon." Tori said. "Didn't expect him to be one, or turning into one. We just, we've known for a while now that Azurban, the head of Clan Azure, is a dragon…"
Across town, in Sir Gary's manor, Cat was doing some explaining. "Look, it's not that I particularly like destruction, but the red wing are fall colors, and fall is a time, in nature, of dying. Really, I'm just a part of the grand experience of life."
"What was that about burning down the city?" Beck demanded.
"Fires natural, like a forest fire, or a volcano, and I may have had a bit of a temper in the past." Cat said to the small gathering. She'd managed to limit her explanation to Jade, Ryder, and Beck. "It's not my fault they sent me out to help a young wizard in training far too early in my own, and in a moment of weakness, I succumbed to that part of my nature. As I said, fall is the color of destruction…"
"And harvest." Jade added. "Joy and celebration…"
"The end of the year." Cat pushed. "Not counting winter, which is when everything is already dead. No, I cover a lot of ground, and at that time, I may have overreacted to being in the wrong place, which led to my charge dying. Not gonna make that mistake again. When I seduce that Robbie guy, Jadey will be good and safe, so I won't go cray cray and release a bit of destruction. I mean, like I said, I erupted. At the time, I could. Bound here, right?"
"Why didn't you mention this to me?" Jade wondered.
"We're still in that getting to know you part of the relationship." Cat said, trying to act as if it was all normal. "Sides, you could well be far more dangerous then I ever was. It's why the Petrified Throne wants to personally oversee your training. Man, I got so lucky when I drew you, and not just cause I get to snuggle betwixt your bosoms. No, I get to be a part of this new, and with it, I can maybe make up for the city I erased from this world… I'm sure it was this world now, cause of how everyone reacted…"
Ryder looked uncomfortable. "Um, not sure if this is important, but you seem infatuated by my sisters breasts…"
"Yea, I like a big, soft, warm place to sleep." Cat said innocently. "I don't get sexual with my charge. Too many conflicting emotions. No, I just, I feel like I get the best of both worlds. Side, I wanna get closer, in that romantic kinda way, with your ranger. I don't know why, but that nerdy thing, it really gets to me…." She offered her best smile.
"Still uncomfortable." Ryder muttered.
"Look, I'm Fae, so I'm gonna approach certain things from a very different perspective then you mortals would." Cat tried. "But I'm also celestial, which means I'm good, kinda, sorta, cause celestial is more an honorific when you talk about the whole of the celestial faeries. I mean, we're creatures of nature, but that just makes us as wild and unpredictable as the weather. We're creatures of emotion, drawn to act quickly based on what we're feeling. And as I said, I'm autumn natured, making destruction more natural to me then it might otherwise be. And FYI… That's for your information, destruction can very much be a force of good, if used right. Clear out the old and used up that's just getting in the way of the new. Too many people just don't use it correctly. So, now that we've gone over that, lets all agree that what I did a few centuries ago is in the past, no one remembers, except maybe a few sages, seers, and dragon touched mistrals, and move on. We have a threat to deal with, and I have a mage to train, or help train, cause she needs to be cunning, clever, and deadly when needed, and like it or not, I can be all of those things. Also, I need to put this adorable braid in her hair…"
"Well, I'm comforted." Beck said, not sounding the least comfortable with this new development.
"Cat's bound." Jade finally admitted. "Back at that ambush, she told me she had limited options for helping us. No, she's not the danger she used to be. She is, however, a complication in dealing with our hopeful allies we're gonna have to figure out. So, Cat, invisible for now. I may, in a bit, need you to scout out our missing Seer, minstrel, and the Lady Vega. Honestly, things are going poorly…"
"No, they're going good." Ryder promised. "Best to have as few secrets among our own as possible. Not crazy about the thing your master has saddled you with, but we will have to trust that Aleister had his reasons."
"Yea, trust." Jade nodded, not sure what her master had gotten her into. 'Jade, my girl, you thought things were just gonna get better after you recovered from that assault, didn't you…' It was a lie, with Jade always believing her life was just going to get worse and worse. But she was sarcastic, even with herself.
"Jadey, look, it only looks hopeless cause we're here, on this side." Cat said, offering support. "If we make it to the other side, where the monster is beaten, and everyone gets what they deserve, including me, cause in my defense, at the time, what I did felt like the right thing to do. Plus, been on punishment for a while now. Only let loose to help train you cause I've earned the right to be among mortals again, even if they kinda sorta bound my powers a bit. And sure, maybe I have an overly strong affiliation with fire, but in nature, that's one of the big destroyers. Like I said, kinda volcanic, and I know that now. I just need to keep better control over myself should my charge, that's you, die. So, lets just agree you'll live forever, and move forward under that perfectly reasonable assumption, kay?"
Beck found himself really liking the crazy little faerie. 'She can be amusing…' He mused. "Okay, lets just focus on getting what we need here, and finding the beast that was ravaging the dale. I want that monster slain…"
:}
Don't you agree thar few lines are less comforting then "I can explain"? Hoping Cat's past doesn't cause too many problems, cause she's bound. Still, there is comfort in knowing that the one's you go to for information may have heard of her. So, lets see what happens with this new, slightly expanded group.