<HTML> For those of you who didn't get part 8b last night - my apologies. Here it is!! ***************** The title of this chapter may seem weird but if you've been paying attention you MIGHT get the joke :) It's a little tip of the hat to one of my favorite TV shows. If any one can geuss the reference (It is a bit obscure) and be first to tell me and the list - then you've been watching FAR too much british comedy. :) One clue - you need to look back at a previous part to fully understand the joke! Chris. ***** 12/24 - 6:30 "OW!" "Sorry." "Damn it!" "Sorry!" "What is this hedgehog doing in the punch?" "Sorry!" "Don't be sorry, be rid of it!" "Sorry!" Yes, it looked like the party was going exceedingly well, Kayla reflected as she returned. From where Rickkter was standing, next to a fox, a wolverine, and four humans - one of whom was wearing heavy leather gloves - it appeared that he hadn't noticed her briefly slipping out. Of course she had no desire for him to find out, and so slipped through the crowd until she was standing behind her raccoon. His first indication that she was there was when she slipped her arms around his front, pulling him towards her and nuzzling his shoulder, which he indicated with a small yelp. "Miss me, love?" she murred, nuzzling his back. "Always." Rickkter reached back and pulled her around front, resting his arm over her shoulder. "Where were you?" "Oh, around. I just finally decided to see what all the fuss was about." "Well, you certainly did miss a show. Why, one time Misha..." Rickkter stopped mid sentence and leaned his nose down to Kayla's head and sniffed around the fur there. "Have you been around Muri just now?" Kayla turned her gaze down to the stone floor. Scent couldn't be hidden from an animal morph, that was one thing she knew all too well. "Yes, that's where I just came from. He wanted to meet me in the library, someplace quiet. Private." "What did he want that for?" asked Rickkter. Kayla could detect a hard edge creeping into his voice. "He wanted to exchange gifts and he knew that Llyn wouldn't like him doing that with me. But he really wanted to do it, and I agreed that we should; he needs to get used to human interaction again." She sighed. "I wish that he could have stayed here a little longer. He needs to be around others." "Well I suppose I can understand that." Rickkter hugged her close, his voice having lost the edge. "I saw he and that mink of his at the feast, but briefly. Why aren't they here now? All the other Longs are." "Well, two reasons really. First is Muri, of course. He's still not comfortable with large, noisy crowds, as you know." Kayla spared a brief glance around the room. "And she didn't want to put him through all this, and so decided to spend the day with him." "Well, that's too bad for the both of them, I guess." He turned back to the main spectacle and hugged her with one arm again. "Let's just hope that you haven't missed too much." By this time Norman had managed to extricate himself from the punch. "Hey, Norman," called out Misha. "Are you alright?" "Fine, just fine," muttered the hedgehog, sucking a little of the remaining wetness from his arm. "Though I think this batch of punch could use some more spices." Misha took the pair of heavy leather gloves from the burly human who had them last. He quickly pulled them on and gave the palms a quick slap. "Well, we can worry about that later, Norman," said Misha as he moved out onto the empty section of the floor. The fox flicked his paws towards the hedgehog and took up a bowlegged stance. "Come on, now. We're not done with you yet." Kayla could only groan and roll her eyes as she nuzzled her cheek against Rickkter's. "Well, for the rest of the day they'll be together," amended the skunk, getting back to her story. "Llyn spent the morning with him, but is getting a new dress now." Kayla looked down at her own apparel. "I guess she just wanted to look beautiful for him." Rickkter caught her tone and turned her around to face him. "Hey, didn't I tell you that you look absolutely stunning in that outfit? I know it's old, I can smell some of the age on it but that doesn't matter. You'd look just as ravishing now if that dress had been tailored last week." Reaching down, he used his crooked finger to lift up the edge of her chin. "If I were to give you a necklace today, would it make any difference if I were to tell you that it was once worn by a queen over two centuries ago or that I picked it up from Will the day before?" Her love's eyes had a mischievous twinkle to them that made Kayla smile instantly. "Are you hinting at something, Rickkter?" He leaned down and licked the white stripe between her eyes. "Maybe." The female mephit's laugh was a delighted burr as she hugged close then nuzzled the raccoon that meant so much to her. She looked out over the hall filled with faces of people she had known for years but had only recently come to be friends with; friends who were setting up pins at one side of the hall and talking to a still dripping hedgehog on the other. Briefly she wondered how much stranger this party was going to get in the next several hours or so before it was over. From the look of Misha and the other Longs, she wasn't going to be making any predictions. Not that it really mattered, she realized as she rubbed Rick's arm. She had everything she needed right here. ** Dec 24, 6:30 p.m. Ryuo knelt upon the bamboo tatami mats of his small room, breathing in the incense and actively thinking about nothing. After hours of study, the oriental warrior was taking a much-needed rest for his heart to contemplate the evening's lesson. Outside, the winds continued to howl as the winter storm that had suddenly blown up battered at the stone walls of the Keep. Ryuo had long since closed the outer wooden shades of his small nook of the Keep. Hidden in a small crack between the towering spires of the Keep, it was spared from the harshest winds of the winter storm. Still, the snow piled high outside, although the paper walls insulated remarkably well. As Ryuo inhaled another long, deep breath through his nose, the spicy incense floated lazily about his head, circling out to the four corners of the square room. Sitting serenely on his right was a leather bound tome of mammoth proportions. Faded gold leaf on the cover revealed it as a copy of the Ecclessia's New Testament, written with a translated gloss of the North-eastern Ma-yonshu script. Ryuo was having trouble comprehending some of what he read; A man made of bread and wine? He thought incredulously. Other passages, however, seemed to contain words of wisdom. Ryuo could only assume that this Yashua must have been a truly enlightened individual. His sacrifice was particularly noteworthy as an example of his warrior spirit. Apparently, it was his birth that many of the others celebrated tonight in the Ecclessia Cathedral. Most of the others had gone to the great shrine of the Keep to have the priestess help them call out their prayers to the gods. Ryuo, however, had felt no draw towards either, and had retired to his room after his shift on the wall. Here he had stayed, reading and meditating while the storm raged outside. Gathering back his wandering mind, Ryuo stared calmly at the blank wall before him and once more began to send his thoughts into blissful oblivion. ** 12/24 - 6:45p.m. The lighthouse was packed that day. The whole tower was cozy and warm, despite the raging storm outside. A great many of the residents were feeling warm and cozy as well. For most of them, it was an exceedingly joyous occasion. It was going to be a real Christmas, complete with feasting, gifts, and happy times spent with good friends. Most of them thought that they would never live to see another Christmas. Their days of hiding in the wilderness after Hipocc was destroyed had almost crushed their hope of living through the year, and yet here they were, singing carols in the lighthouse sanctuary. Desuka was trying to lead the singing, every now and then forgetting to translate a word. Mong Ho, having had a touch too much nog that night, was launching into a song in her native tongue. Ye just sat there and smiled at her, happy that she was having such a good time. Gornul sat perched on the back of a pew with Mitok and Qualin on either side. His family had been working hard to keep the fire burning on the top floor to serve as a beacon to those hardy souls who were braving the storm to be at Metamor Keep for the Christmas festivities. Natalie had taken over from them so that the lot of them could take a break and come join the fun. Jesse Roo was busily sampling the Christmas cookies and recommending various varieties of goodies to Blake Tizzo, who nodded in a polite manner and snuggled up to Shamgar, who had come down from the keep a couple hours earlier, for warmth. Vitra sat alone in a corner with a cup of punch. Every once in a while, she would hold the cup out to the side. It was obvious what she was doing. She was imagining that her late husband, Ushka, could be here for the festivities. Though Vitra was his wife now, Oren understood that he could not replace Ushka nor diminish the love that was there. Nor should it be so. Oren understood how she felt. This would be his very first Christmas without his parents, and without many of his loved ones. His sister was alive and present, as was her young son, Alyxander, but she was the only family he had now. Even Ana, the woman he almost married once, was gone. Everything, both happy and sad, seemed just as it should be. Why, then, did Oren feel so ill at ease? He could not understand it. Here it was, almost Christmas, and yet the otter could not be merry. Something was simply and basically wrong. Slipping away from the crowd, Oren headed up the stairs. Up, past the residential floors he went. Up past the armory and the food stores. All the way up to the top level. There, he found Natalie, who had shifted into as human a form as she could get, the better to brave the cold. She was also fairly small, presumably to minimize the area of her skin. Oren knew that this storm had to be rough on the reptiles, especially dragons. When she noticed him, Natalie smiled and said "Do you have any idea what's wrong with Leo?" Oren looked around, but didn't see the person in question. "Where is Leo?" he asked. "Up on the roof." she replied. "In this weather? He's nuts." Natalie tilted her head to the ceiling in affirmation. So, feeling like a moron for doing so, Oren climbed the ladder to the roof. There was Leo, standing like a statue amid the blowing winds. Oren supposed that he was equipped for such a thing. Like the other Hipocci who had already transformed, Leo had been given a double transformation. He had become a polar bear with the suction-cup feet of a hyrax. Like the otter, he wore only the blue vest and briefs of his uniform, decorated only by his cuffs and the red cape which flapped in the breeze. Even now, it seemed strange to see him dressed like a warrior, when Oren's memories still depicted him as a lad less than ten in his mind. "Leo?" he said, shrinking as he approached the bear. He was glad that he no longer had to become female to assume a more lutrine form, for he wanted an excuse to hug the roof as the violent wind whipped past. "Oren?" Leo responded, raising his voice against the storm. "What are you doing up here?" "ME?" she called back in a rising voice. "What are YOU doing up here?" "Looking. There's something out there." "You see something?" "No. But I know it's out there. I can feel it." A chill went down Oren's back which had nothing to do with the storm. He knew that Leo was never wrong about these things. "What is it, Leo?" he asked. "I don't know, but I think we ought to get folks moved inside the keep. At least the civilians." "All right. Come on down, Leo." ** End part 8c </HTML>