NationStates Jolt Archive

"Quite a bit."

"Alright*Kisses her*I'll see you later*

She kisses him back, then summons her work to her and takes a seat.

He sat down and re-opened the book, quietly reading

The only sound she makes comes from her quill as she writes.

He finished what he was reading, and sat there for a moment, thinking about what he had just read. It wasn't good, by any means. He stood up, crossed the room, pecked her on the cheek and then left

She smiled at him briefly as he left, then continued working.

When she came back, he would be lying face up, with his eyes closed and earphones in

She smiled slightly and bent to give him a kiss, before lying down next to him.

He opened his eyes, and rolled slightly, taking the earphones out as he did so,"All done?"

"Finally."

He leant over and kissed her softly,"Well, you got it done at least"

She kisses him back. "First time ever." ((Not really, but it's not often she manages, esp since she got married.))

He smiled, and looked at his watch,"It's getting late, and it's been a long day."

"We ought to get some sleep, then."

He smiled, kissing her again,"We'd best do. Good night Rhenna"

One of the things Cougar read on kajeenith was:

"One of Kajeenith's favorite attacks, if the Myths are to be believed, is Guerilla Scare Tactics. This is where he raids small towns and villages, and takes random citizens prisoner. The prisoners in the Myths were never heard from again, Kajeenith's favorite past time was torturing them into insanity, then Death."

He smiled, kissing her again,"We'd best do. Good night Rhenna"
"Good night."

As he slept, his mind ran over the things he had read about Kajeenith. He favoured terror over direct confrontation. Spread enough fear and dischord, and resistance would crumble... well, so the theory said.

At about four, he woke up suddenly, breathing heavily. He sat up, trying not to wake her. He sat there for a moment, trying to remember the dream... but he found he couldn't. He sat back against the headboard, and just stared outwards

OOC: Kajeenith is attacking the Council at the WC boards

Her eyes open, and she sits up. "What happened?"

"A nightmare... but I can't remember it... I think theres something bad about to happen... but I can't be sure where"

"It'll be okay, James." She pats him gently on the arm.

His breathing had slowed down slightly, and he flashed a quick, tight smile her way, before looking back out at nothing,"I know how he's going to attack Kaymiril... I need a map"

"D'anthe."

The glider roused itself to look at her.

"Show us a map of the country."

He goes over, spreads out, and shows them the map.

Cougar looked at it for a moment,"He should, theoretically, attack the smaller towns and villages... scare tactics. Take random prisoners in a lightning raid, then withdraw. Not give us time to engage... we need to increase security everywhere... and especially in these areas... if Kaymirilian troops can't do it, the Snake Eaters will"

"It's already been done...both with regular troops and with mages. Have you noticed how quiet the city's been today? And Vedt left right after his class."

"I did notice that... it's the older ones. If I'm honest, I was surprised you were still here"

"Someone has to stay in the city. I'm the only adult left, save for you."

"I see... have the Snake troops been notified of the situation? Or kept in the dark?"

"We have taken our precautions, and left them to work as they see best fit."

"Knowing Garion, the Crisis teams will be deployed across a wide area, to places where they think they can do the best. The infantry will have thrown up defence points... and be readying to drop onto any force"

She nods.

"Well, let's just say I'm never reading that book again"

She kisses him softly.

"Don't, then. Go back to sleep, James."

He kissed her back,"I'll try... not making any promises though."

He lay back down, and tried to sleep. He eventually managed it, but it was fitful

She gently ran her fingers through his hair as he drifted off...it relaxed him, she knew. She'd gotten five hours of sleep, she didn't need any more.

Even with her help, he only slept for an hour more in total, unable to keep himself asleep. He eventually just gave up, and rolled onto his back, his eyes wide

She leaned down to kiss him. "Well, I guess that's it for tonight, then."

"Pretty much, yeah," he said, kissing her back,"What time is it?"

"Five thirty. Not altogether an unreasonable time to be up."

"Not unresonable... but not desired either"

"Since when? Before we were married, you'd be up at all sorts of hours...shortly after we got married, as well."

"I still am from time to time"

"Yes, true."

"Anyway, you're not exactly one to talk. Before we were married, you only slept half an hour every three days." He said all this in a semi-teasing manner

"True, but I only need that much. I sleep with you every night because you're nice and warm."

"Oh thanks. Glad to see other things such as you love me and enjoy being with me enter into the equation"

"Well...that's part of it, too." She took his hand and brushed his fingers gently over the scales on her neck. "But you make a very good heat source."

He smiled as he felt her scales, a little warmer than usual. Most likely resuidual heat,"Well... it's one of the advantages I suppose"

"Exactly."

He leant up to kiss her,"Well... I'll just have to stay as the heat-source then"

She kisses him back. "Well, that was my plan, anyway."

He laughed slightly, though it was hollow at that point in time,"At least you're guaranteed a heat source... whenever I feel cold, I stay that way"

"Odd, though, since your magick manifests as fire." She ran her fingers through his hair, soothingly.

"Doesn't mean it warms me up... I've never had cause to try it like that*relaxs*Ahh... now that is nice"

She smiles slightly. "You thought so the first time I did that, as well...wel, no...I don't know how you felt about it the first time, you didn't say."

"Let's just say, it's still pretty much the same thing. Nice, soothing. And you say I missed my calling"

"There isn't much demand for people to run their fingers through other people's hair."

"It's a very relaxing thing to do.. you'd corner the market"

"I'm happy enough as a mage." She laughs. "But that doesn't mean I won't keep doing this for you, over the years."

"And I'll keep rubbing your back at every decent oppurtunity," he smiled

She smiles. "Fair trade."

He smiled, and kissed her softly

She kissed him back and smiled.

He reached round her, and began rubbing her back slightly, using his fingers to pinpoint the best places to rub

She half-closed her eyes, comfortably, then laid down on her stomach so that he could continue more easily.

He smiled as she did so, and sat up himself. He started at her shoulders, rubbing them both at equal speeds. Her nightware was thin, so it didn't stop him feeling every tense part. Cotton was thicker, it made it harder. The silk moved under his fingers easily enough. He rubbed down her back, and came to rest just above her waist line

She leaned up to kiss him softly as he finished.

He kissed her back, pinning her there briefly

She lets the kiss linger for a bit, then gently breaks it. "I have to be getting up...I have a city to run, remember."

"Given that, I'm guessing all but your classes are cancelled for the day?"

"Actually, all classes are cancelled for the day...you work on your own."

He let her get up, kissing her again as he got dressed,"All right... I guess I'll be seeing you around"

She kissed him back, dressing herself. "Pretty much. You know where to find me, if everything goes bad."

"I'll figure it out... let's just hope it doesn't"

She smiles briefly, then leaves.

He saw her leave, and wasn't that far behind her, only he went a different way. The day was his... he had much work to do

The city was very quiet, as even the older children had left. Only the younger ones remained.

He liked the quiet... it reminded him of the SHADOW training. Or at least part of it.

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

Rosie was wandering around, wondering where everyone had got to. Up ahead, she saw a small child who she had seen before. She wandered up to him, and miaowed at him

He reaches out to pet the cat, imitating (badly) her meow.

Odd... a Drow imitating a cat... must be very young

She rose her back to meet his hand

He kept on petting her. He wouldn't pick her up, as Shan did, b/c she was still about half as big as he was.

Jesus Christ, he's tiny

She enjoyed the petting though, purring slightly

Monian looked like he'd gotten an idea. "Come on, cat!" He started half-running somewhere.

I wonder if anyone here, other than James, is going to bother learning my name? Where are we going?

She ran after Monian, easily keeping pace beside him

He goes into a room, where everything is easily out of his reach. He climbs on a bench, and knocks a little blue ball of something soft down.

Ohhhh... is that wool?

She pounced on the ball

It wasn't exactly wool, but it was close enough. Monian sat down to watch her.

Rosie spent an entertaining ten minutes attacking the ball of wool-like stuff. She knew it wasn't wool, and so wanted to stop... but there was something in her head that made her keep fighting it. She batted it around, pounced on it, even went so far as to bite it... it should make the kid laugh

He did. "It no bite you!"

Hey, did I ask you? It's a ball... it's needs attacking

Monian clambered down off the bench he was sitting on and grabbed the ball, bounce-checking it.

Hey.. gimme... come on, play fair

She tried to bat the ball with her paw when it came down, but missed every time

During this, it started unravelling.

She managed to get her claws into the trailing end,'Ah-ha, you're mine now'

Seeing that she had part of it, he took off running with the ball itself.

Right... this is getting stupid now... come back here

She chased after him

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

Cougar stepped out of a training room. All he saw was Monian run past, a ball of something in this hand, a length of string behind him, and his cat running after the string. He rubbed his eyes, blinked, then burst out laughing, having to steady himself against the door

Monian turned when he heard Cougar laughing, and grinned.

"Don't let me stop you"

Rosie had pounced on the string, and was even now trying to stop it moving

Monian took off running again, almost tripping when he managed to yank the string away from the cat.

Rosie looked at Cougar,'What'd you go and do that for?

She took off after Monian, leaving Cougar to laugh even harder as he watched Monian round a corner, and leave

After a merry little chase, Monian collapsed against a wall, winded.

Roise just pounced on the ball as it fell out of his hand, rolling with it

Monian started coughing a little bit, but not much.

Cougar had followed them eventually,"You alright, Monian?"

He nods.

"Sounds like an odd cough*looks at Rosie*And I think I know why"

"Why?"

"I think you might be allergic to cats"

"What is 'allergic?'"

"It means your body doesn't like cats very much, so it makes you sneeze and stuff. But it can be dangerous"

"But I like cat."

"And cat like you... I'll see what I can do about it, alright?"

"Okay."

"Good, now run along"

Cougar picked Rosie up and walked off

Monian got up and headed off. Where, he didn't know.

Cougar took Rosie back to the room. He'd scanned Monian, and confirmed the kid had allergies. He whipped up something to stop that, and then injected Rosie with it. In this manner, it could be spread everywhere.

Ow... that hurts you s.o.b... right, I'm not coming back tonight... well maybe

She jumped down off his lap, having scratched his hand, and ran off

Rhenna came in a few minutes later, and notice his hand. "You and your cat have a disagreement?"

He looked up from what he was doing, and smiled,"Yeah.. she hates shots"

"What did she need one for?"

"Monian's allergic to her... and I doubt he's the only one. The shot I gave her will stop that"

"Ah." Rhenna sat down beside him, taking his hand and casting a healing spell. "Well, that's one way to deal with that problem."

"Thanks... and yeah, it's better than having to give everyone a shot"

"And here I thought that on your planet, medicine was delivered through these painless little cylindrical things."

"What, this*hold up a hypospray*It is... doesn't mean everyone or everything likes them"

"True enough."

"So, hows running an entire city working out for you?"

"Pretty easy, since no one's really here."

He smiled,"True enough I suppose... it feels really weird though"

"It does...too quiet."

"They'll be back soon enough... and then you'll find yourself wishing it was this quiet again"

She laughs. "No, James...the city is dead without the people."

"That's true... for the first time since I came here, I found myself wishing some of the others were around"

"But soon enough...hopefully...the vast majority will return, and everything will go back to normal."

"Or as normal as it can be here, from my perspective"

She laughs. "True."

He laughed as well,"And the strangest thing is, we normally don't see each other till gone five. It's only just gone one"

"Well, if you want me to go I can..." She starts to stand up, but her tone was teasing.

He smiled, and grabbed her hand,"I never said leave, did I? *Kisses her*I was just commenting"

She smiles slightly and kisses him back. "Yes...life has both of us as busy people."

"Yes. But, as we've said before, that is but the life we chose for ourselves. Combining them was something that was always going to be tough, but it's worth is more than people can imagine... the first true couple in Rendelmar ever"

"And very likely the last."

He thought about it,"Very likely, yes"

She gives him a kiss and stands. "And now I really do have to go...make sure no one's gotten themselves into trouble."

"Alright, I'll see you later," he said, kissing her back and watching her leave to go back to running the city

She's gone for the remainder of the day.

As was he. Leviathan had taken to coming to see him, with Cougar's consent and also the agreement that he never tell anyone what he saw in Rendelmar. He knew the rules well enough.

Leviathan, knowing that the war was coming, for like Cougar he could do many things, but had additional things such as being clairvoyant to a small degree. It was something that Cougar would learn eventually. In any case, Leviathan could see that this war was going to be bigger than anything they had yet seen.

He spent a few hours teaching Cougar how to more effectively use the White Flame, as it was so similar to the Black Flame that he felt it necessery. He also presented Cougar with two blades, similar to his original katana, with ebony handles, obsidian blades, but slightly curved. He explained that they were orginally from the High Elves of the White Tower themselves, and Leviathan had made the request on Cougar's behalf. He was teaching him to wield them as effectively as his Gunblade. By the end of the day, Cougar had learned more about the Flame, and was also holding his own against any level of opponent that his holoprojector called forth. Leviathan left him, saying that he had done all he could without breaking the laws of the gods. He suggested that Cougar ask for Rildorath to finish, for a time, his dual wield training. He left as he had arrived, without warning. Cougar made his way out of the training room, and sat down in the canteen

It was completely empty. There was a plate there for Coguar, since no one else would be home that night, and Rhenna was feeding the little ones separately.

He smiled. Although he normally ate alone, tonight it felt extremely odd. He would've cooked for himself... but obviously that problem had been taken care of. He ate quietly, thinking about everything he had learned during the day. In just over twelve hours, he had learned as much, if not more, than in the previous two and a bit years. He finished up, and then left, moving through Rendelmar like a ghost does on an abandoned ship. He eventually found himself in the library, where he pulled out a volume on Snake Eaters, and started to read

Rhenna finishes up with the children, gets them to bed and asleep, and goes to bed herself. When taking care of thirty-odd small children, one tends to get drained of all energy.

He returned about ten, and smiled as he saw her lying there. Even from here, he could see that she was exhausted. He was quiet as he came in, or as quiet as humans can be, and after getting changed, lay down next to her. He watched her sleep for a little while, then kissed her forehead and went to sleep himself

She doesn't wake as he moves around, but does cuddle in closer when he lies down.

He smiled as he drifted off, feeling her cuddle closer. He put his arm round her, as a reflex more than anything, and moved closer himself. There he stayed, fast asleep

She woke when D'anthe woke her, and leaned over to give him a kiss before getting up, changing, and heading back out.

He woke, finding her gone. He rolled onto his back. He knew why it was... still, he doubted she liked it. Seeing as he had no classes that day, he spent the morning looking over the technical specs for the new Crisis suits. He was impressed... they were useful, no matter the battle.

After that, he sent a note to her, via teleportation
Have gone to Valshanth. Back before seven

He teleported to the Valshanth, and set off to find Rildorath

Rildorath and Haldosir are sparring in one of the courtyards. The two warriors move with blinding speed, but neither manages to land a blow -- very fortunate for them, as they're sparring with real swords.

Cougar stood off to one side, watching. Now he saw why Leviathan had sent him... these guys were impossibly fast.

They finally bring it to the end, with no apparent winner or loser, and called over towels.

R -- "We're slowing down."

H -- "Must be getting old." He spots Cougar. "Well, if it isn't the human who married the Velkyn. What can we do for you?"

Cougar ignored his first words,"I need some help"

R -- "With what?"

"Leviathan started teaching me how to dual-wield... but he can't teach me anymore without breaking the laws of the gods. He suggested I come here"

R -- "Ah. Okay, well..." He goes and picks up a pair of blades, not much different than Cougar's.

"Show me what you can do, first."

"Alright... don't expect miracles," said Cougar, unsheathing his own blades. When he did attack, the blows were fluid, not as fluid as they were with a single blade, but still there. They were also well placed, but again, lacked the exact precision you would have normally expected from him.

Rildorath blocked the blows, then attacked back, staying at Cougar's speed, fighting at his level. He lashed out at an area that Cougar had well guarded with his left hand, then with his right hand, he struck at a place the human had seemed less steady with.

Cougar saw the strike. He blocked the first easily enough, but the second caused him to buckle. He moved backwards, and then brought his other blade across to knock the other away

Rildorath shook his head. "No. The blade in your right hand covers your right head and torso, and your left leg. The blade in your left hand covers your left head and torso, and your right leg."

"Theres always room for improvement"

"Yes, I agree. Now, again." Rildorath attacks, driving his leading blade in toward Cougar's chest, while his trailing blade stays in close for defense.

Cougar saw the leading blade going for his right hand side, and defended as he should, using the right blade to block the blow, whilst striking out with his left

Rildorath blocked the blow, then kept on coming, smashing his knee into the human's stomach, and his forehead into the humans, before darting back.

"Xsa... Cougar, did your wife ever tell you you have a hard head?"

Cougar didn't take too much damage from the blow to the stomach, though it did cause him to double up. As Rildorath darted backwards, asking about his head, he lept on the chance, attacking himself,"Yes... on a number of occasions"

Rildorath blocked with one hand, locking the blade, then attacked with the other, forcing Cougar to lock the blade, before reaching out with his foot and yanking the human back.

"It's true."

Cougar fell, his other foot snapping upwards to smash into Rildorath's kneecap with surprising force. The posture let his blades come free, and he rolled with the impact, coming up in a crouched position more akin to knife fighting,"It's a useful trait to have"

Rildorath's knee snapped back momentarily, although he gave no sign of pain. He brought his blades back up.

"Not bad...much room to improve, but not bad."

"Given I only really started yesterday, I'm not surprised there is much room for improvement"

H -- "The swordmaster is both ambidextrous and swift."

Cougar didn't hear him, more concious of the weight of his blades in each hand. He straightened up, and sheathed the blades on his waist, one over the other.

R -- "Where to start you...?"

H -- "Reflexes. Come on...the only reason you didn't cut off his foot is because you restrained yourself...he needs to have the swift relflexes, but also the control."

"Fine... reflexes it is"

Cougar got ready. He had no idea what was about to happen

R -- "Consider yourself lucky...in our day, we trained with clay disks."

Haldosir launches sets of sponges at Cougar...almost faster than the eye can see, but not quite.

Cougar dodged two easily, but the third struck him the chest. This left him open to the fourth, which almost took the skin of his nose, before he regained his balance enough to dodge the fifth, and subsequent ones. He was fast, for any human, that was sure enough. Occasionally, about one in every five, one would hit him, but overall, he seemed to be enjoying it

R -- "Reach out and strike them down. This is not one of the dodge games that mages are so fond of."

Oh, so now you tell me

Cougar's fist shot out to connect with one, and it withdrew quickly, the elbow connecting to another. He continued to use all parts of his body to take out the sponges

And they kept coming, getting progressively faster.

His training held him good stead, or so he thought. He knew that most likely to them, this was a waste of time. Teaching a human was something they wouldn't care for... still, they hadn't told him to leave when he asked. He continued to hit the sponges, until he missed too many in a row. He stood there,"I can't hit them anymore"

Haldosir stopped, and Rildorath tossed him a towel. "Cool down some."

H -- "Not bad, for a start."

Cougar dabbed around his neck and face with the towel,"At least I can do some of it"

R -- "We heard you'd experienced a great misfortune lately...your master was sparing on the details, though."

Cougar felt a cold chill run down his spine, and it was a while before he spoke"... yes... a misfortune that could have been avoided... and he was right to be sparing with the exact details"

Haldosir nodded, and handed the human a glass of water. The two Drow warriors would speak on it no more.

He was thankful that they wouldn't continue to press the issue, and found himself wishing that the water was something just that little bit stronger

H -- "We begin again whenever you're ready."

He stood up, and removed anything that would slow him down,"Alright, let's go"

The sponges began flying again.

The mere mention of the incident had fired his blood up, and he was much faster, much more accuracte the second time around

Haldosir begins to speed them up.

R to H, softly -- "Ukt jiv'undus belbaue ukta z'ress."

H -- "T'yin ukt jiv'undus z'klaen tlu ves zhennu, ke."

Cougar didn't hear this exchange, and merely sped up to match the sponges. All his years of martial training, genetic enginnering and nanite-enhancment had made him far faster than the average human

Eventually, the speed leveled out...at slightly faster than Haldosir could move.

By now, Cougar was struggling to keep up. After only a minute or so at this pace, he had to call the halt

R -- "Not bad. Take some time to catch your breath."

He took the time, splashing some water on his face to help cool himself down. The heat from that workout had been off the scale

Rildorath put some water on a towel.

"Here. Put it on the back of your neck, it'll help."

Cougar took the towel gratefully, and pressed it to the back of his neck. The relief was almost instant,"How'd I do? Really"

"Very well. Much better than we'd thought you would."

He smiled,"That's a relief to here... but oh gods, am I gonna be stiff tonight"

H -- "Take a hot shower."

R -- "Or you could ask your wife to help you."

Maybe combine the two again... no, that's not for the here and now... well, not out loud anyway

"I could try either of those... dunno which would have more effect though. In any case, it seems to be getting late, I'd best get back"

They nod, and let him get going.

"Thank you both," he said, before teleporting back to Rendelmar. He headed to the canteen, and went into the kitchen... he felt like cooking for himself tonight. He missed human food, he had to admit... and most things seemed compatible with his recipes. He cooked up some chicken-like bird, and also some rice, and created a sauce to go with it. Healthy, and it tasted great. Little bit spicer than he remembered it, but that might be due to not having eaten it recently. He finished up, and went back to the room

Rhenna's still out.

Cougar smiled, as he thought about what he had thought earlier. He dismissed it, as he knew she would be tired... although he still decided to wait

She comes in a bit later, then leans down to kiss him.

"You look worn out."

"Training with legends is tougher than it looks"

"Ah, I see. Have fun?"

"Yeah... in a manner. I'm so stiff though... they suggested a hot shower, or let you take care of it"

She sits behind him, putting her head on his shoulder and starting to gently rub his back.

"Either sounds possible...but you could use a shower."

"I know that, but *whispers into her ear"

"Well..." She kisses his cheek. "I don't see why not."

He smiled, and lent back to kiss her,"Shall we?"

She nods and kisses him back.

He got up slowly, and took her hand, leading her out of the room...

*About thirty minutes later*
He rubbed his hair with a towel, stopping briefly to kiss her for a moment, before returning to the movement,"Looks like it helped both of us"

She kisses him back, and goes to sit on the bed. "I'd say so."

He sat down next to her,"How was your day?"

"Relatively uneventful...for working with little children."

"That doesn't sound right to me"

"That's why I said 'relatively' uneventful. They like to run around and scream."

He smiled,"I'm sure you did great"

She rests her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes. "I just hope their regular caretakers come back soon."

"They will... although I suspect that the battle may have been joined... I saw the Crisis teams leaving the Valshanth"

She nods. "Then it should be over soon, and everyone home tonight. I'd better start cooking, then...they'll be hungry when they get back."

"Do you want some help? I've already cooked once tonight"

"All right...but remember...we're cooking for eighty-three people."

"I've always loved a challenge"

"Which is probably why we're here now." She stands, then snaps her fingers, dressing appropriately to be wandering the halls.

"True enough... I got to learn how to do that"

He quickly dressed, and was ready to leave

She takes him to the kitchens and starts cooking, using magick as well as her hands.

He aided her as best he could, using his hands to a large degree, but also using his magick to help her

When the cooking's done, she sets the food out.

"Come on...let's get some sleep."

"That is prehaps the best idea you've had tonight"

She laughs a bit, taking his arm and walking back with him to the room.

He smiled as she took his arm and walked back to the room. As they entered, he put his arms around her, and kissed her,"I missed you this morning"

She kissed him back. "I decided to let you sleep in...aside from that, some of them are little enough to need fed every few hours."

He smiled,"I know... still, I didn't sleep in much longer"

"I didn't think you would...What time did you get to bed, anyway? I didn't hear you come in."

"You were so tired, a bomb could've gone off and you wouldn't have noticed. I got in about half ten... you were completley gone"

"Ah. I'm not surprised I was out, really. I will be again, pretty soon after we get to bed. I have you to thank for that."

She pokes him gently, playfully, in the ribs.

He smiled, and poked her back, just as playfully,"Well... you weren't complaining"

"No, not really."

He smiled, and kissed her softly