Kevin's Watch

Pausing briefly, I say, "Yes. I hope we need not leave too soon?" as my attention returns mostly to Sasha, and the delightful noises she's making.

"You may begin your journey whenever you please. But know this: arrive too late, and all hope of an alliance is lost. Brude will not be insulted at his own feast."

And then, though there continues to be no sight of anybody there, there is now a more empty quality to the silence.

We don't have an audience. That's good.

But it's bad, too. It was a little exciting that someone was watching us. Maybe they still are watching us.

I start to <CENSORED> with my hand. "Let's go home."

<CENSORED>

"How do we get to the Scorched Moon?"

<CENSORED>
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<CENSORED>

"Mmmm....I don't know. But I'm sure you could use your nose for finding secrets" *playfully nip at said nose* "to find it. And maybe there could be a prize for you... " *wicked chuckle and smirk*

I'm starting to get a little afraid. It squashes my libido a little bit.

In the dream realm, I say to Ekaterina, "I don't know of any way of finding a secret caern."

I think for a second. "I could ask the King. He might know."

"But then what do we do? Who is the message really for? I don't want some powerful monster mad at me. And I don't want King Brude mad at me either."

"I think I can get the message to where it needs to go, can you wait here for me? I'll be as quick as I can" with a wining bright smile

OOC--see PM

Ekaterina steps sideways and vanishes from this world. She does not return for at least an hour, during which time Sasha presumably stays in this alley.

I wander around the alleyway. I change to lupus and catch a rat from somewhere.

"King of Cats, I got you a present. Nice and fresh. Come and talk to me?"

It's still quite some time before Ekaterina returns. Sasha hears a voice from behind her, "Thank you, lively one. This is indeed a lovely meal." She feels a stroke down the back of her head, with just a hint of claw under her ears in a pleasant scratch. As she turns to see him, there's nothing there. However, when she turns back the rat's corpse is gone.

Again from behind her, "What would you like to talk about, kitten? Your friend will return 'er long, and then I should think you'll be busy. So only a short conversation, I think."

"Awww. You're hiding from me? No fun."

"I think I want to go to the Sept of the Scorched Moon. They all sound so stuffy. Can you tell me where it is? Or show me? Or give me a hint? We can make a game of it."

"And what if I'm hiding from the others here, that you can't see? Is that still no fun?"

Sasha feels a tug on her tail, but only a gentle one.

"The Sept of the Scorched Moon is muchly far, kitten. Far to the north, where the day and the night can last for months at a time. They are indeed stuffy folk, but that place... she is very harsh. Are you sure you want to go play there? Long is the journey, and cold. You would cross great seas of water and greater seas of snow."

"Oh, but a game. You have offered, and I accept. So really, weather you will or no is no longer for you to say. A game has begun."

Now there are fingers scratching Sasha on the head, almost thoughtfully. "And what are the rules? What the prize? Yes, interesting."

<sniff> "Oh. Your plaything belongs to that child of the Weaver and the Wyld. Well, that should be fun."

"So, when you are ready, when you are done playing here in town, you must travel far to the north. Cross the Kattegat, and land in Oslo. From there, the game is simple: find the Sept of the Scorched Moon. If you attend the moot, you win. If you do not..."

I frown. "I agreed to play before I knew the rules, didn't I?"

"Oh well. That's why you love me better than anybody else. Because I'm so much fun to play with. When I win, what's my prize?"

The King of Cats, still invisible, chuckles into Sasha's mind. "You know not what you desire, kitten? How can you value a prize?" Fingers find that spot behind the ear, and scratch deliciously. "Still, perhaps if you arrive at the moot, I will tell you a story."

I yawn.

"A story? That's all? No shiny?"

"No, no shiny. But this story tells of a girl who wakes up surrounded by dead puppies."

"Oh. That sounds like a shiny story."

I look around. "Where's my Kat? I want to go north, now."

"Be careful of that one, kitten. She belongs to another. One who doesn't share."

I giggle.

"You know how I am. I play with something until I get bored."

"But I'm not bored with her yet."

I sniff around. "I'm bored without her. Where is she..."

I swipe at some stones. I leave a scratch.

"Where are you? We have to go now."

I use Spirit Sight to look into the Umbra.

In the Umbra, you see Ekaterina dancing a strange dance. It looks like she's doing some kind of ritual, but you don't know what it is. You watch this for a while, and eventually a small spirit appears to her.

She whispers to the spirit, and then it flies away very fast to the SouthEast.