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solarbaby614) wrote2008-12-03 09:35 am
solarbaby614) wrote2008-12-03 09:35 am
Entry tags:
Mommy Dearest: Chapter 21
Title: Mommy Dearest
Author: Solarbaby
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.
Words: 2120
Summary: Karone gets an ugly necklace and Casey and Tyrlin scuffle.
Spoilers: Nope.
Notes: One more chapter and an epilogue left. Spoiler for next chapter: Biting!
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter 21
Losing courage to hope,
Losing courage to enjoy,
Losing courage to believe…
Doro W. (Losing Courage)
Silence had long since descended over the loft, something that was becoming a regular occurrence. Ever the normally vocal Sorani hadn’t said a word since they arrived. The only noise that had been made was when Lily had called Fran, once again saying that the parlor would be closed for a few days.
There had been some slight murmuring between Scorpina and Swoop but Dallina really didn’t want to that about that. It was just too much all at once. Even she wasn’t immune to it. Stress was beginning to show on her face.
RJ had immediately made a b-line for his chair the moment he had entered. No matter what Lily or Theo or even Swoop said about checking for wounds and him needing to sleep, the wolf master just waved them off. The last thing he wanted to do was sleep.
The land line had been taken hostage by Karone right after Lily had placed it back in its cradle. She had disappeared out through the window to the balcony, muttering something about finding help.
Both Lily and Theo had given up on trying to budge RJ. Lily had headed for the kitchen. She couldn’t remember the last time she, or anyone else, had eaten. Nothing seemed appealing to but she was intent on making sandwiches even if she wasn’t sure anyone could stomach it at the moment. Theo had taken to attempting to meditate. It wasn’t working to well. Every time that he closed his eyes he saw Casey convulsing on the ground, heard horrible sounds like something dying.
They didn’t know what else to do.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Strength.
Power.
Freedom.
The tiger felt it flow through his system as he raced through his forest. Crisp, clean air filled his senses. Earth was damp under his paws and scenery flew by. Everything was tinged with darkness, muted in color.
At the end of the path, he caught sight of a tree. This wasn’t so strange; the forest was full of them. However, it was the red apples dangling from its branches.
He drew closer, pawing at one of the ground. It seemed to glow in the moonlight. After nosing it for a few moments he reached down and picked it up.
The tiger barely noticed the change. Hand instead of paw, tan skin instead of his pleasant fur.
He shrugged his shoulder as he raised the glistenin red fruit to his lips. Wincing at the warmth that seeped into his skin from it, he bit down gently. Blood filled the tigers mouth, coated his throat, trickled from his lips. Gasping, the apple slipped from his hand and plunged to the ground below.
The tiger woke with a jerk. Blinking, he raised his paw (hand… it was a hand…) and ran it though his hair. Cold made its way to him, wrapping itself around his torso. He grasped the blanket around him tighter and revisited the past day.
It had been all that damn wolf’s fault.
Because he had been just that pissed, cornered, and so damned fascinated with his once captive all at once. Maybe he couldn’t control himself completely and trying to convince himself differently wasn’t anything more than an excuse. But he had wanted to hurt the wolf, to break him, have him suffer and force him to have some kind of respect for a being other than himself, but he did not want to lose control. If he had done that, he’d have killed the wolf.
The tiger growled and threw of his black comforter. These thoughts were from the human part of him. The part of him that he made sure was locked away, safe and tight in his unconscious. Off the bed and out the door, the anger at himself didn’t subside and he took it out on anything he could find. Rinshi were destroyed and he was fairly sure he had seen the Chameleon disappear behind a column. Even statues and other decorations weren’t safe from his wrath.
“My lord?” A tentative voice called out.
He turned to find the blue skinned one there. Ally but not Pride. No Pride. There was a momentary shock of pain, but it was easily tossed aside. “What?” The tiger didn’t recognize the sound of his own voice. It was deeper, almost sub-vocal.
“How are you feeling, you highness?”
The title made him grin slightly. It a difference to him as an Alpha that filled him with pride. “How am I feeling?” He went quiet, thoughtful. His instincts called out to him, wanting to destroy everything it perceived as a threat. Unfortunately, everything here called out threat.
But they were useful for the time being. The tiger turned back to the blue skinned one, who was looking at him warily. He returned it with a dangerous grin. “Gather some Rinshi and a few other of your creatures. I want to go hunting.”
oOoOoOoOoOo
Karone had appeared back inside the loft a little after dark. By that time the yellow ranger had begun getting nervous. The last thing they needed was for one of them to go missing on top of it all. But the former pink ranger had just tossed the phone down in front of Theo and said something about waiting on someone. Theo merely blinked at the action and glanced from where Sorani had fallen asleep next to him. She had apparently recognized him as a source of warmth and was cuddled up against him. Theo seemed to startled by the action to move her.
If it hadn’t been for the slight look relief and hope that had appeared on Karone’s face Lily might had thought that she had given up and was leaving. But she didn’t say anything, just scrapped the remains of now picked, mutilated sandwiches into the trash compactor and then dug out a blanket to cover RJ, who had fallen asleep at his chair.
It hadn’t taken more than twenty minutes before feet were pounding up the stairs. Karone re-entered the room, clutching something in her hand.
“Karone?”
Lily’s voice had been the first sound in the loft for a while, other than Swoop’s light snores and those weird cooing noises RJ kept making, and it echoed. Swoop woke with a jerky movement, falling from the couch with an un-master like crash. The other’s attention was caught as well by this. But she ignored them all. “Did you find something?”
“I think.” Her voice was uncertain and her fist tightened around the object.
Scorpina was down there in a flash, followed closely by her daughters. Swoop followed more slowly, still bleary from sleep and not wanting to take another fall, this time down the stairs. “You found something to help Casey?”
“Help Casey.” It was a soft murmur from RJ, who shifted under his blanket but didn’t wake.
“Again,” Karone replied, “I’m not sure.” She held out her hand, showing them what was sitting in the palm. “It’s something that one of my friends dropped by. TJ said that this might help. It had been created by a friend of his. Its primary purpose is to absorb negative energy.”
The necklace was a simple flat disc dangling from a strap of leather. It was… unappealing, to say in the least. Not pretty enough to be considered gaudy but large enough to be considered obnoxious.
“So, this will absorb the remaining energy from the ring?” Dallina plucked the necklace from her hand. It was lighter than it looked.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Theoretically, anyways.”
“Theoretically?” Theo really didn’t like the sound of that.
Karone gave a nod, immediately wincing at the action. The movement had shot pain down her shoulder from where she had landed earlier. “The truth is, there is no way of know whether this will work or not. We’ll have one shot at it and if we fail…” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Well, I don’t think who ever tries to put that necklace on him will have a good chance of surviving.”
“It’s a suicide mission,” Dallina commented flatly.
Looks were exchanged. No one knew what to say to that.
“I’ll do it.”
The voice held none of the sleep it should have, make Lily wonder if RJ hadn’t just been faking all along. She turned to look at the wolf master, who had tossed aside the blanket and was coming to join them. “RJ?”
“Give me the necklace. I’ll get close enough and get it on him.” He held out his hand for it.
Dallina frowned at him, not letting go of the leather. She eyed him cautiously.
It was Karone who grabbed it from her, placing it in RJ grasp. She wrapped his hand around the flat disk. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
He just nodded and looked at the necklace. The wolf hadn’t been able to stop his cub before but he was going to know. Either he saved Casey or Casey killed him.
…right.
oOoOoOoOoOo
This was not supposed to happen this way. It had been planned out so carefully. So much time and effort had been put into this.
And now this… unforeseen incident had occurred.
General Tyrlin glowered at the man in the woods. The boy who would be ruler was currently tearing one of the Rinshi literally apart. Blood lust was evident on his face even though there was no actual blood involved. He couldn’t help but wonder if this would keep Casey’s blood lust filled for long. If not, it wouldn’t be long before he turned on Tyrlin.
He had no idea what to expect from this new Casey.
A grimace escaped him as he watched the man rip on arm off one of the creatures. Casey seemed to take great pleasure in the pained noises that was admitted.
“My lord,” he bit out.
There was a growl in response and Tyrlin was suddenly face to face with the vicious looking man. “Blue-skin.”
He blinked at the name. “My lord, I worry for you.”
Something that sounded that a cross between a laugh and a bark escaped Casey. Then he was snarling in the General’s face. “You can’t hide from me,” he hissed.
Tyrlin was sudden thrown backwards, hitting a tree and rolling to his feet. Casey was staring at him, seeming unfazed. He shifted forward, ready to attack when the tiger moved.
The tiger was in his face again. “You think I can’t see. That you want me gone. Don’t know how I never saw it. Now I see everything.”
He made a move for his weapon, unsheathing it. It would be so easy just to take him out now. No one would know the better. Blaming it on the rangers would be easy enough. Shoving it forward, there was a clang. Metal met metal and Tyrlin caught sight of a familiar red handle.
Suddenly he knew he had made a huge mistake.
The moves were destructive and violent. Casey actions were reckless. They seemed to be pattern-less, leaving opens that he tried to take advantage of only for the tiger to be faster. Sharp blade passed his defense and buried itself in his side. Casey wasn’t even trying to hold back.
He barely pulled back in time to avoid the sword coming at his other hip. Pain shot through him as he pressed his hand against his side. This was proven to be a bad idea since Casey was able to pass his defenses again and plant an elbow in his face. The sword came and grazed his arm.
General Tyrlin collapsed to the ground, finding a blood stained blade at his throat. A form was on top of his, pinning him to the ground. A set of knees were pressed again the wounds on either side, eliciting a moan of pain.
Casey was grinning, like this was the biggest joke in the world. A sharp pair of canines glistened in the light. “Listen well. You’re usefulness is beginning to wear out.”
Suddenly the weight was gone, Tyrlin glanced up to find Casey standing above him, wiping some of the blood off of the sword.
The assassin’s son idly licked his fingers, with a thoughtful look on his face. “Pull yourself together and get inside. There is work to be done.” Casey stalked off, playing with his weapon. Rinshi violently jerked out of the way as he passed them.
Tyrlin pulled himself up only for his world to start spinning. Okay, bad idea. He laid back down, breathing deeply. Both of his hearts were working overtime, trying to replenish the lost blood. It wouldn’t take too long for it to work.
Maybe he’d just stay here and wait for that to happen.
Author: Solarbaby
Disclaimer: All I own is the plot.
Words: 2120
Summary: Karone gets an ugly necklace and Casey and Tyrlin scuffle.
Spoilers: Nope.
Notes: One more chapter and an epilogue left. Spoiler for next chapter: Biting!
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Chapter 21
Losing courage to hope,
Losing courage to enjoy,
Losing courage to believe…
Doro W. (Losing Courage)
Silence had long since descended over the loft, something that was becoming a regular occurrence. Ever the normally vocal Sorani hadn’t said a word since they arrived. The only noise that had been made was when Lily had called Fran, once again saying that the parlor would be closed for a few days.
There had been some slight murmuring between Scorpina and Swoop but Dallina really didn’t want to that about that. It was just too much all at once. Even she wasn’t immune to it. Stress was beginning to show on her face.
RJ had immediately made a b-line for his chair the moment he had entered. No matter what Lily or Theo or even Swoop said about checking for wounds and him needing to sleep, the wolf master just waved them off. The last thing he wanted to do was sleep.
The land line had been taken hostage by Karone right after Lily had placed it back in its cradle. She had disappeared out through the window to the balcony, muttering something about finding help.
Both Lily and Theo had given up on trying to budge RJ. Lily had headed for the kitchen. She couldn’t remember the last time she, or anyone else, had eaten. Nothing seemed appealing to but she was intent on making sandwiches even if she wasn’t sure anyone could stomach it at the moment. Theo had taken to attempting to meditate. It wasn’t working to well. Every time that he closed his eyes he saw Casey convulsing on the ground, heard horrible sounds like something dying.
They didn’t know what else to do.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Strength.
Power.
Freedom.
The tiger felt it flow through his system as he raced through his forest. Crisp, clean air filled his senses. Earth was damp under his paws and scenery flew by. Everything was tinged with darkness, muted in color.
At the end of the path, he caught sight of a tree. This wasn’t so strange; the forest was full of them. However, it was the red apples dangling from its branches.
He drew closer, pawing at one of the ground. It seemed to glow in the moonlight. After nosing it for a few moments he reached down and picked it up.
The tiger barely noticed the change. Hand instead of paw, tan skin instead of his pleasant fur.
He shrugged his shoulder as he raised the glistenin red fruit to his lips. Wincing at the warmth that seeped into his skin from it, he bit down gently. Blood filled the tigers mouth, coated his throat, trickled from his lips. Gasping, the apple slipped from his hand and plunged to the ground below.
The tiger woke with a jerk. Blinking, he raised his paw (hand… it was a hand…) and ran it though his hair. Cold made its way to him, wrapping itself around his torso. He grasped the blanket around him tighter and revisited the past day.
It had been all that damn wolf’s fault.
Because he had been just that pissed, cornered, and so damned fascinated with his once captive all at once. Maybe he couldn’t control himself completely and trying to convince himself differently wasn’t anything more than an excuse. But he had wanted to hurt the wolf, to break him, have him suffer and force him to have some kind of respect for a being other than himself, but he did not want to lose control. If he had done that, he’d have killed the wolf.
The tiger growled and threw of his black comforter. These thoughts were from the human part of him. The part of him that he made sure was locked away, safe and tight in his unconscious. Off the bed and out the door, the anger at himself didn’t subside and he took it out on anything he could find. Rinshi were destroyed and he was fairly sure he had seen the Chameleon disappear behind a column. Even statues and other decorations weren’t safe from his wrath.
“My lord?” A tentative voice called out.
He turned to find the blue skinned one there. Ally but not Pride. No Pride. There was a momentary shock of pain, but it was easily tossed aside. “What?” The tiger didn’t recognize the sound of his own voice. It was deeper, almost sub-vocal.
“How are you feeling, you highness?”
The title made him grin slightly. It a difference to him as an Alpha that filled him with pride. “How am I feeling?” He went quiet, thoughtful. His instincts called out to him, wanting to destroy everything it perceived as a threat. Unfortunately, everything here called out threat.
But they were useful for the time being. The tiger turned back to the blue skinned one, who was looking at him warily. He returned it with a dangerous grin. “Gather some Rinshi and a few other of your creatures. I want to go hunting.”
oOoOoOoOoOo
Karone had appeared back inside the loft a little after dark. By that time the yellow ranger had begun getting nervous. The last thing they needed was for one of them to go missing on top of it all. But the former pink ranger had just tossed the phone down in front of Theo and said something about waiting on someone. Theo merely blinked at the action and glanced from where Sorani had fallen asleep next to him. She had apparently recognized him as a source of warmth and was cuddled up against him. Theo seemed to startled by the action to move her.
If it hadn’t been for the slight look relief and hope that had appeared on Karone’s face Lily might had thought that she had given up and was leaving. But she didn’t say anything, just scrapped the remains of now picked, mutilated sandwiches into the trash compactor and then dug out a blanket to cover RJ, who had fallen asleep at his chair.
It hadn’t taken more than twenty minutes before feet were pounding up the stairs. Karone re-entered the room, clutching something in her hand.
“Karone?”
Lily’s voice had been the first sound in the loft for a while, other than Swoop’s light snores and those weird cooing noises RJ kept making, and it echoed. Swoop woke with a jerky movement, falling from the couch with an un-master like crash. The other’s attention was caught as well by this. But she ignored them all. “Did you find something?”
“I think.” Her voice was uncertain and her fist tightened around the object.
Scorpina was down there in a flash, followed closely by her daughters. Swoop followed more slowly, still bleary from sleep and not wanting to take another fall, this time down the stairs. “You found something to help Casey?”
“Help Casey.” It was a soft murmur from RJ, who shifted under his blanket but didn’t wake.
“Again,” Karone replied, “I’m not sure.” She held out her hand, showing them what was sitting in the palm. “It’s something that one of my friends dropped by. TJ said that this might help. It had been created by a friend of his. Its primary purpose is to absorb negative energy.”
The necklace was a simple flat disc dangling from a strap of leather. It was… unappealing, to say in the least. Not pretty enough to be considered gaudy but large enough to be considered obnoxious.
“So, this will absorb the remaining energy from the ring?” Dallina plucked the necklace from her hand. It was lighter than it looked.
“Yes,” she confirmed. “Theoretically, anyways.”
“Theoretically?” Theo really didn’t like the sound of that.
Karone gave a nod, immediately wincing at the action. The movement had shot pain down her shoulder from where she had landed earlier. “The truth is, there is no way of know whether this will work or not. We’ll have one shot at it and if we fail…” She chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Well, I don’t think who ever tries to put that necklace on him will have a good chance of surviving.”
“It’s a suicide mission,” Dallina commented flatly.
Looks were exchanged. No one knew what to say to that.
“I’ll do it.”
The voice held none of the sleep it should have, make Lily wonder if RJ hadn’t just been faking all along. She turned to look at the wolf master, who had tossed aside the blanket and was coming to join them. “RJ?”
“Give me the necklace. I’ll get close enough and get it on him.” He held out his hand for it.
Dallina frowned at him, not letting go of the leather. She eyed him cautiously.
It was Karone who grabbed it from her, placing it in RJ grasp. She wrapped his hand around the flat disk. “Are you sure about this?” she asked.
He just nodded and looked at the necklace. The wolf hadn’t been able to stop his cub before but he was going to know. Either he saved Casey or Casey killed him.
…right.
oOoOoOoOoOo
This was not supposed to happen this way. It had been planned out so carefully. So much time and effort had been put into this.
And now this… unforeseen incident had occurred.
General Tyrlin glowered at the man in the woods. The boy who would be ruler was currently tearing one of the Rinshi literally apart. Blood lust was evident on his face even though there was no actual blood involved. He couldn’t help but wonder if this would keep Casey’s blood lust filled for long. If not, it wouldn’t be long before he turned on Tyrlin.
He had no idea what to expect from this new Casey.
A grimace escaped him as he watched the man rip on arm off one of the creatures. Casey seemed to take great pleasure in the pained noises that was admitted.
“My lord,” he bit out.
There was a growl in response and Tyrlin was suddenly face to face with the vicious looking man. “Blue-skin.”
He blinked at the name. “My lord, I worry for you.”
Something that sounded that a cross between a laugh and a bark escaped Casey. Then he was snarling in the General’s face. “You can’t hide from me,” he hissed.
Tyrlin was sudden thrown backwards, hitting a tree and rolling to his feet. Casey was staring at him, seeming unfazed. He shifted forward, ready to attack when the tiger moved.
The tiger was in his face again. “You think I can’t see. That you want me gone. Don’t know how I never saw it. Now I see everything.”
He made a move for his weapon, unsheathing it. It would be so easy just to take him out now. No one would know the better. Blaming it on the rangers would be easy enough. Shoving it forward, there was a clang. Metal met metal and Tyrlin caught sight of a familiar red handle.
Suddenly he knew he had made a huge mistake.
The moves were destructive and violent. Casey actions were reckless. They seemed to be pattern-less, leaving opens that he tried to take advantage of only for the tiger to be faster. Sharp blade passed his defense and buried itself in his side. Casey wasn’t even trying to hold back.
He barely pulled back in time to avoid the sword coming at his other hip. Pain shot through him as he pressed his hand against his side. This was proven to be a bad idea since Casey was able to pass his defenses again and plant an elbow in his face. The sword came and grazed his arm.
General Tyrlin collapsed to the ground, finding a blood stained blade at his throat. A form was on top of his, pinning him to the ground. A set of knees were pressed again the wounds on either side, eliciting a moan of pain.
Casey was grinning, like this was the biggest joke in the world. A sharp pair of canines glistened in the light. “Listen well. You’re usefulness is beginning to wear out.”
Suddenly the weight was gone, Tyrlin glanced up to find Casey standing above him, wiping some of the blood off of the sword.
The assassin’s son idly licked his fingers, with a thoughtful look on his face. “Pull yourself together and get inside. There is work to be done.” Casey stalked off, playing with his weapon. Rinshi violently jerked out of the way as he passed them.
Tyrlin pulled himself up only for his world to start spinning. Okay, bad idea. He laid back down, breathing deeply. Both of his hearts were working overtime, trying to replenish the lost blood. It wouldn’t take too long for it to work.
Maybe he’d just stay here and wait for that to happen.