From: spider@zk3.dec.com (Spider Boardman) Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Subject: Jac & Kadrys: Crossed paths and cross purposes Date: 19 Aug 1993 06:24:41 GMT Message-ID: [ADMIN: This story was co-written by Andrea Evans and Spider. It takes place an hour or so before Jameson came to Kadrys in the Inn in the post titled "[MG] All that's best of dark and bright". ] As the Inn door opened, Kadrys' nerves ached in that old familiar 'here's trouble' feeling: a distant precursor of the true pain he felt when close to holy forces. His eyes tracked the massive newcomer as he moved up to the bar, narrowing as they fell on the sword slung over his back. Some sort of paladin. Great. And then the man put his back to the bar and started to scan the tables. Kadrys shifted his gaze. Too late. The man suddenly began dodging past the other guests, making a path straight toward him. Kadrys tensed imperceptibly, and his eyes fixed themselves on the other man as he homed in, watching his face, and also his hands. The first movement toward that sword would come from there. Fifteen paces. Ten. Five (anytime from now, bystanders are out of range). Three (he should draw soon, that sword's too long for close work). Two paces. And then the man had arrived at his table, without many outward signs of the usual paladin desire to do some Righteous Smiting. --- Coming back into the Inn, Jac walked up to the bar. "Some more of your fine Scots whisky, please." He took a sip, and turned away from the bar. As he started looking for a table, he felt a hint of wariness from partway across the room. Snapping his attention to its source, he saw a figure sitting alone at a table. His mage-sight revealed this to be a vampire. He began to stride purposefully toward the table. [[Careful. Remember your encounter with that undead ranger?]] <> Jac's pace slowed. He started trying to look for such information as he could get about the vampire before reaching him. Jac reached the table. "Excuse me," he said, speaking so softly that no normal hearing should be able to eavesdrop. "I couldn't help noticing that you're not exactly alive in the conventional sense." Jac seated himself. "I'm rather curious about what a being like yourself is doing in a pub. If you're what I hope you are, you'll understand when I say that such a sight does not usually bode well for the other customers. Perhaps you'd be willing to talk about it?" An eyebrow lifted slowly. "And if I'd rather just enjoy a private moment, alone with my thoughts?" A rueful smile twisted one corner of Kadrys' mouth and he gave a brief, dry chuckle. "Don't mind me. I indulge myself in these wistful little fantasies, now and again. ...What would you say if I told you I'm here for much the same reasons all the other patrons are? For the warmth of the fire, the sound of Listener's music, the convivial atmosphere, the sheer enjoyment of good company?" He widened the smile, just a fraction. "Perhaps it'll relax you if I tell you that the main way my reasons and others' differ, is that I'm _not_ here for a drink." He added into the other man's quizzical silence, "Oh, you can believe me. Look around. Do any of the people here seem to share your feeling that I don't 'bode well' for them?" Kadrys gave a sudden, impatient shake of his head, looked away. "No, of course, that doesn't matter, does it? I suppose you could always say that either I've tampered with the minds of everyone here, or that no-one has ever discovered my true nature." He sighed, brought slightly weary eyes back to the man's face. "Do you know any truthspells, sir paladin? Feel free to cast them if you want to test my words." Jac raised his eyebrows, and the corners of his mouth twitched, as though he couldn't make up his mind whether to smile or frown. He set his glass down on the table as he spoke. "You raise many points. I'm afraid it's in my nature to try to respond to each of them." He brought his hands up, placing his fingertips together. "For one, it is possible for a vampire to conceal his nature. There are persistent rumours of groups of undead which enjoy doing so. I'm told they call it 'The Masquerade'." Kadrys grinned faintly, shrugged. "I've heard it called by many names. I see no point in _enjoying_ it. Perhaps infants find enjoyment in activities such as breathing, take pride in accomplishments like walking. For me, concealment is simply a very basic tool for survival. 'Kill the monster' has always been a favourite pastime of humanity. _Usually_, it may even be justifiable." The smile widened and he gave a brief snort of amusement. "Therefore, of course, your point has a certain justice. I do conceal myself. From strangers. Friends are a different matter. And yes, I do have them." The last comment could easily have been bitter, but his tones held only quiet wonder. A soft smile appeared for a moment, then faded. Jac nodded silently, then continued. "You've obviously been faced with overzealous vampire hunters in the past, and I didn't think enough about that possibility before coming along so bluntly. Thus, I've been even ruder than usual. I'm sorry." Kadrys chuckled, eyed Jac appraisingly. "Touche'. Gentle revenge for my chilly greeting. Such courtesy does you proud, as does your restraint. Though, I'd've said that overzealotry is the chief job requirement for vampire hunters." He grinned, "But then, I'm a little biased..." Jac grinned back. "So am I. I don't find vampire hunting as such to be an honourable occupation." He paused to take a deep breath. "Beyond that, I'm not a paladin, though I can see why you would think so." Quick surprise from Kadrys. "But you have an air of holy forces." He gave a momentary pained frown, as of a man squinting into the sun. "I am - sensitive to such things." Jac flashed a grin. "Rather inherently so." He pursed his lips, and squirmed a bit in his seat. "Hmm. I do find it a bit embarrassing to explain that, even after several years." He glanced down, looking at his hands. He took a deep breath, then raised his eyes again. "Many of those who know me would tell you that I'm a saint. I suppose they're right, with the definition they're using. I'm not entirely comfortable with that designation, but I don't have a better word to offer in its place." He sighed. "There are some things which come with being a saint, however. One of them is a certain truthsense. Besides that, you're still human enough where it counts that plain old empathy works." He smiled again. "I know that you've told me the truth." He cocked his head a bit and gave Kadrys a speculative look. "It feels like some of the form of your response is related to recent pain. I'm sorry for that, too." He lowered his hands to the table. "Still, while your methods would doubtless have been more circumspect, I think that you'd have wanted to make sure I wasn't dangerous had I been another vampire coming in here, wouldn't you?" Kadrys shrugged. "I would have watched another vampire very carefully. If he had made no aggressive moves, I would have left him alone. I have no desire for contact with my kind. If he had shown aggression, I would have forestalled it. If he refused to see - reason, I would have done my best to kill him." Kadrys said flatly, meeting the massive warrior's eyes. "As I said, I have _friends_ here." His tones gave a wealth of meaning to the word. Jac nodded. "Good. I'm glad you have friends here. Too many people refuse to see beyond _what_ a person is to _who_ the person is." His face changed suddenly, growing fur, whiskers, and a snout. His voice was deeper and more throaty, and his eyes glinted with reflected light. "I, too, know this firsthand." He suddenly looked human again. Kadrys blinked in an uncharacteristic display of surprise. So _that_ was the reason for the faint strangeness in the man's scent. "Pardon my curiosity, but it's extremely rare that a holy order will even allow a Were to live, let alone canonise him. Or were you cursed afterwards? And why hasn't your god removed either the curse or your favoured status?" Jac grinned. "I'm a cat. Of _course_ I'll pardon curiosity." He became serious again and looked down as he considered how to reply. "Well, I became afflicted with tigranthropy before I was acclaimed as a saint. I'm not actually a member of any holy order, as it happens. I didn't become even a lay cleric until afterward." He sighed heavily. "I'm not really answering your question this way, am I? In order to explain why they'd have to accept an accursed saint, I think I have to explain the processes of canonisation where I make my home. "There are two kinds of recognition of sainthood for us. They are distinguished by capitalisation when written. The capital Saint is someone whose sanctity is recognised posthumously. That designation has been around for a long time. More recently, there has been a recognition of the living who show signs of developing some kind of sanctity. The lowercase saint is a living person who has come to a particular turning point in spiritual development. The change that comes then is discernible to at least some of the church hierarchy." Jac looked up with a sardonic grin. "As well as to the undead." The grin faded as he continued. "The turning point is noticeable because it is real. It was rather hard for people to ignore it or deny it after I had found it necessary to return a fallen construction worker to life." Jac's grin returned. "So, to finish answering the first part of your question--there are people who don't like the situation, but they haven't been given a lot of choice about accepting a weretiger as a saint." He chuckled. "In fact, that's part of the answer to the rest of your question. One of the reasons I'm still a were is because it teaches people a lesson about prejudice." He paused to sip his drink. "The biggest reason, though, is that it's merely an occasional inconvenience, and not a debilitating curse. Oh, for many people it's rather crippling, and they do need to have their affliction cured. However, I learned early on how to accept the beast nature within me. I no longer have two warring minds, but a single whole one. Finally, even an inconvenience that's sometimes useful could be removed if it were appropriate. It turns out to be a consequence of my own impetuous nature, though, so it's more appropriate that I have the reminder." And then, soft music started to rise into the silence that followed their words. It was coming from Jac's smaller sword, which was hung from his belt. As Kadrys peered, intrigued, at the artifact, its music gained words. He could just make them out. "Tell us what you've seen, in far away forgotten lands, where empires have turned back to sand." A sudden, bright smile. "Well! I've heard of singing swords, but this? A poetic poniard?" Kadrys chuckled, but there was no mockery in his mirth. His grin faded slowly into a more contemplative expression, as the memories rose in him. "Empires have turned back to sand... A very apt turn of phrase. And a perceptive one..." He directed a sudden sharp glance at Jac. "Agesense as well as truthsense? Talented..." he said with a teasing lift of an eyebrow, before grinning and leaning back a little in his chair. "It's also a request that could take a very long time to fulfil..." Jac smiled and chuckled. "No doubt." Looking down at the sword, he said, "M'arrella, since you asked him for some reminiscing, perhaps you ought to show your other self." The sword metamorphosed, becoming a large black cat sitting on his leg. The cat had a ruby set in a gold collar. Its claws and teeth were silver in color, as were its whiskers. It looked at Kadrys, while lying down in Jac's lap. Golden eyes met black ones. Neither blinked for the space of a long moment. Then Kadrys' stare softened into a smile, and the cat's eyes closed in a single slow blink of acceptance. Kadrys looked up at Jac and nodded toward M'arrella. "As for your friend there wanting to hear my story, well I can see that she has quite a long tale of her own behind her..." At that comment, the cat's ears flattened and her tail twitched, once. Jac grinned widely, and Kadrys gave them both a rueful grin of his own. "Sorry. I begin to think that whatever sense of humour I once had, degenerated into a weakness for bad puns long ago..." He sobered. "Would you care to tell me more about your companion?" he asked more formally. Jac started scratching M'arrella behind the ears as he spoke. "She comes from a proud line of elvish sword-cats." She was already purring. "Her kind started out as some natives of the elemental plane of metals who were caught by a dimensional rift. The Virren elves met them, and helped them to adapt to life in the physical world. As cats, they still have metal fangs and claws, which have effect as though enchanted. As swords, they are magical weapons. They average rather high in intelligence, so they're almost always telepathic with their wielders. They always have the power of speech." Jac paused for another sip of his scotch. "I have spent some time off and on living with the Virlendi. During one of those stays, I met her when she was just a kit, not yet weaned." He flashed a grin. "One of the sometime advantages of being a weretiger is getting on well with cats. Anyway, M'arrella and I took a liking to each other, and her mother chose to approve. Once she was weaned, we became companions. Sometime later, when I had learned a reasonable ritual for such an action, she chose to bond as my familiar." "Your familiar?" An arched eyebrow and a sharp white grin. "When I called you 'talented' a moment ago, I hit nearer the mark than I knew.." "Yes, that means that I'm a mage, too. Sorry to disappoint you so that I'm not just another jock on steroids." Jac grinned, eyes dancing with suppressed laughter. "I specialise, as you might have guessed, in transformation magics, although I've been known to do other varieties as well. Sometimes I even get them right." Jac stretched, raised his glass. "But M'arrella reminds me that I'm keeping you from holding up your side of the conversation..." [ADMIN: M'arrella's bit of song is from "Lovely to see you" by Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues. Part two coming soon... ] -- Spider Boardman spider@zk3.dec.com DEC OSF/1 development ...!decvax!spider I don't speak for DEC, and vice versa.