Secrets and Lore: Gayther and Marelyn's Story

It was amusing to watch Gayther get distracted by every little flash of light or moving gizmo on Star City, even as anxious as he was about Liatha and as upset as he was about her being used. She smiled every time his attention wandered and he exclaimed at the many fascinating things that caught his eye, but she kindly didn't comment. It wasn't difficult to tell she thought he was funny, of course, and between discoveries he shot her furtive, embarrassed, and annoyed looks. At those times, she focused on the flickering picture-screen above the door to the little moving room they'd settled in to take them to the Abstract Destiny and wondered what a "discount holovision" and a "certified cyborware surgeon" were.

The trip in the moving room was was over almost before it had begun, and the doors opened to a completely different place: a rounded hallway and couple steps into a circular portal leading... somewhere. The Abstract Destiny? Marelyn wondered if she was perhaps out of her depth here-- but she would die before acting like it, even if so. Gayther crept out of the moving room first and approached the open doorway cautiously, but Marelyn brushed by him with confidence, determined to put up a good example for the big cats and a good show for the dragons, and climbed the human-sized steps next to the larger ones while he and Naoryn followed.

They all peered up at the doors to the bays. Gayther was the one to speak. "Bravo Bay... Bravo Bay is... this one, right?" He padded up to the one on the right, his longer stride overtaking Marelyn again. She supposed she could shift and not have the smallest step here, but that would ruin all the surprise. The huge bay door slid open automatically as they approached-- she was honestly still getting used to that, doors opening all on their own-- and revealed the relatively empty bay below: stairs, rows of benches, some soft-looking lining on the bay floor, a small collection of round eggs, and....

"Gayther!"

Liatha. The pastel cat bounced to her feet with a delighted grin and bright eyes, and Gayther trotted down the stairs to greet her, all but radiating relief.

"Hello, Liatha." He touched noses with her, whiskers forward to brush with hers warmly, and sniffed along her shoulders and back, reassuring himself she was all right.

"More potential candidates?"

With delight Marelyn recognized Sylira's voice, the river dragon she had shared words with and who she felt almost relived to see-- almost... pleased. Her tone, unsurprisingly-- like most of the dragons' seemed to be, most of the time-- was a little mocking. Marelyn was merely mildly disappointed, but Gayther actually glared at her over Liatha's rump while Liatha, oblivious, purred softly and happily.

"Not exactly," Naoryn mumbled in answer, just ahead of her, but Marelyn just smiled a brilliant, pleased, predatory smile. It was all about the walk, pretending she wore the silks and velvets she had worn before her choice to live wild. When you walked as if you wore a beautiful gown instead of borrowed clothes that didn't fit you, people paid more attention to you.

"Fancy meeting you here, Sylira," she said, ignoring Liatha's cheerful babbling at Gayther. Something about "her babies"-- apparently she knew that her blood was involved, somehow. "It's been a while."

Sylira's eyes darted away from the larger two with what might have been distress, or at least recognition-- aaah, would she be distressed to know who it was? Would Marelyn's presence worry her? She was obscurely flattered. But when those eyes found a human instead of a tall, black cat she relaxed again. She sounded even haughtier as she asked, "Do I know you?"

"We've met," Marelyn smiled even more. "Back home. On Kilandaia."

"Some human who works at the Lodge, no doubt?" Sylira commented, though not as if she wanted an answer. She turned to Naoryn instead. "I know you. Did Mykha send you to check on us?"

"Not exactly," Naoryn answered, looking around as if trying to avoid the conversation entirely. "Catrice isn't nearby, is she?"

Sylira's eyes narrowed, but Gayther, gently hushing Liatha, interrupted before she could comment. His voice was surprisingly hard-- she hardly recognized him-- when he said, eyes on the dragoness, "I need to have a word with Sylira, and then I can listen to everything you have to say, I promise."

"If you want me to have that word instead, Gayther, I would be perfectly willing," Marelyn put in. "So you can listen to your kitten to your heart's content."

"I do believe I need to say a few things myself, thank you," Gayther told her, and paced over to the river dragon. "Why are you doing this?" he asked her seriously. "Why are you here?"

"I'm here because my fearless leader commanded it," she said-- evasively. That wasn't an answer at all.

Surprisingly, it was Naoryn who pointed it out quickest of all. "None of that, Sylira," he growled. "We know you don't prance to Catrice's tune."

Sylira eyed Naoryn, heavy tail flicking aside as if she was thinking. "How much do you know?" she asked him suddenly, then answered herself, "No, don't answer that, I can see you know everything. How much do they know?"

Now it was Naoryn's turn to do the eying, and Gayther actually bristled indignantly when he said, "They know about the Council, and the Society; further than that, they know nothing."

More secrets? This was intriguing. "Well, then, they really don't know anything, do they?" Sylira pointed out, quite as if they weren't even there.

Looking righteously insulted, Gayther spoke up angrily. "Now wait just one minute--"

"Gayther, calmly," Marelyn interrupted before he could say something he would certainly regret later-- or one of them would. "This isn't like you at all."

"I rarely come across people I don't like," Gayther replied, but he let her speak.

"If," she began with a serene smile for Sylira, "you respect anyone or anything at all, perhaps ought to try respecting the intelligence of others, before you make yourself yet more enemies. Refugees from grand councils cannot afford more enemies, don't you agree?"

"Don't think you can threaten me," Sylira said sharply. "If a puny human such as yourself could even get to a meeting of the Dragon Council, they'd as soon kill you as listen to you. The Council does not take kindly to humans, or goprin." The last was said with a glance to Gayther, who was getting angrier by the second. Poor fellow, he was definitely out of his league, though Marelyn was feeling more and more in hers, now.

"You dragons are so terribly short-sighted," she drawled insolently, pricking at the dragon's nerves and temper. "You think that there is nothing in the world to fear or pay attention to except yourselves. It would not take a trip to your precious council to make life difficult for you, my dear, there are much more mundane things that could be done. I would perhaps take this into account before you continue talking down to your so-called lessers. Treat us as equals, for we are at least as intelligent as you-- whether or not we have quite as much mass as you do."

That was enough. Sylira reared back, extending her height with her hind fins and tail, quite as if she was going to strike, snake-like, at the "puny human" who dared insult her. Marelyn was ready for her, if she did.

"Oh, lord, here we go," Naoryn said, and stepped quickly between them. So did Gayther, actually bristling and growling, as the patched cat cried, "Sylira! Mykha sent us!"

Sylira's only response at first was to violently lash her long, heavy tail, which, though it narrowly missed the eggs-- oh, that wouldn't be good-- it swatted Liatha. The pastel cat yowled, leaping to her feat, and there was a flare of sudden heat. Sylira's head snapped back as if it were struck, and the energy-- the magic-- dissipated against a hastily erected shield. Liatha's glare and lashing tail turned into bright, delighted surprise as she realized what she'd done. Naoryn looked utterly shocked, and silly Gayther bounded around Sylira, heedless of danger, to gleefully congratulate her-- "Liatha! That was marvelous! You didn't even say anything!"-- but Marelyn just stood back, smugly pleased that the point she'd wanted to make had been made even better, for her, without even ruining her cover story of being human.

"Even those weaker than you can be dangerous, Sylira," Marelyn said smiling fiercely. "Perhaps you ought to learn a little humility."

Sylira didn't even snap at her, or Liatha. In fact, she looked decidedly off-balance, one of her large hands coming up to rub her face. It probably stung; even with most of it deflected, doing nothing more than heating up the room a degree or two, it had been quite a bolt of raw power. Gayther cast her a warning look, as if expecting her to try and take revenge, but his concern was obviously misplaced: she didn't look like she was even considering it. She hoped the dragon would pull herself together quickly; that uncontrolled magic so near the eggs was liable to attract attention, if anyone was paying attention to this room.

Naoryn spoke first, coming up to loom impressively over Sylira. She had the sense to look a little concerned that a goprin, who was twice her height and who had proved likely able to use magic now that he was off-world, was looking so sternly down on her. "All right," he said, "if we're going to talk, we need to get away from the eggs, and preferably somewhere not just anyone can walk into at any time."

"The hotel room might be a good idea," Maleryn suggested. "No chance of running into any of the rest of this 'Society' there. And, if I might suggest we do it soon...?"

Her point was made quickly enough, because right then the bay doors slid open again and a very ugly beast stood there, on two legs, and with a shiny, metal disc in his hands, glowering darkly. Or perhaps his face was just made that way? ::What is going on in here?:: he demanded.

"A simple misunderstanding," Naoryn replied placatingly, to which he glared even more fiercely, not placated at all. "And we were just leaving."

::Good,:: the beast grunted, holstering his metal weapon-thing on his thigh.

Liatha flicked her tail happily. "I'm staying with my babies-- you want to stay with me?"

The big guard looked less than enthusiastic about it, but after a pause, he seemed to sigh and started down the stairs. ::Someone must,:: he answered briefly, then added, ::Raesun will come down, as well, if you would like to play with him again.::

Whoever Raesun was, Liatha seemed pleased with that idea. Sylira, meanwhile, heaved herself back up onto her hands, and she looked expectantly at the three goprin. "Lead the way."

As they passed the brown guard-beast, Marelyn suggested sweetly, "Perhaps one of us could help you up the stairs, Sylira?"

"Don't push it, midget," Sylira growled, managing an ungainly sort of levering to get up them, with her tail-fin hoisted over her shoulders and her back fins pushing her upwards. Marelyn just laughed delightedly and brought up the rear, determined to get the "best" view possible.