The sky was finally clear after days of rain. The sun reflected off the
remaining puddles in the park while the birds in the forested areas tried their
best to sing their lungs out. Geese swam by the lake honking their opinions from
time to time. A young woman sat on one of the benches of the park playing her
guitar. The song formed into "People are People" by Depeche Mode, an odd
sounding song on a guitar.

It was a peaceful, happy Sunday morning in Tokyo, even the explosions of
destruction were muffled from being on the other side of the city. A young
female with brown hair and blue eyes ran down the path by the bench chasing a
young man in robes. The young woman was wielding a vicious looking mallet and
screaming "BAKA!!!!" As she ran after him, she took a few swings at his head
which he barely ducked.

The young guitarist looked up with a smile to think to herself, "Ah, young
love." A smile formed as she watched the couple run off deeper into the park.
Just after they got out of sight, Katt could have sworn she heard a "THUMP!"
"OW!" followed by another "BAKA!!!"

The sun, as it did it's best to burn the few remaining clouds out of the sky,
glistened off Katt's crimson red hair, thankfully her baseball cap that read
"Fix it, don't hit it" kept the light from her eyes. She wore jeans that were
slightly ratty and a half-top that was a few sizes too big. She was fairly plain
to look at, but her stance and eyes gave her a quiet, unassuming sense of
cuteness.

A jogger, the ever early masochictical type sped past as Katt changed to "Hit me
with your best shot," a Benatar classic. He gave her a thumbs up and kept
jogging. Katt gave him a tentative smile in return.

As she finished her song, she smiled happily and packed up her guitar. She
really should head back to the garage. Even though it was her day off, she still
had this itching to try a few tweaks and twirks on the mecha that had been
dropped off.

As she stood up, a young man with blonde hair and a trench coat flapping in the
wind behind him ran past, disappearing into the trees. An older man wearing
nothing but jeans and boots appeared shortly there after. The older man stood
close to 6'4, with salt-and-pepper brown hair, a muscular build, and a very
strange tattoo on his left shoulder. The man sheathed his broad sword, closed
his eyes and placed a couple of fingers to his temples. He appeared to be
scanning the area. Katt watched with interest.

"Where did the boy go?" The man asked without turning to face her or opening his
eyes. His voice sounded slightly hoarse, but carried well. "He is a run-away, I
have been hired to locate him and bring him back. You do not wish to interfere."

Katt frowned, the man seemed like a big bully. The one he was chasing appeared
half his size, had no weaponry and scared senseless. "He went over there." She
pointed towards the lake.

The man cracked open one eye to see where she pointed. Katt opened her mind to
where the geese were swimming. *Fly my friends, Fly! You are frightened, Fly!*

Suddenly, the geese took to the air, squawking as if their tails were on fire.
The man nodded and ran off towards the lake. Katt exhaled the held breath in
relief. Scratching her cheek, she decided it was probably best if she checked on
'the boy' and see if she could help him.

The forested area of the park was a lot denser and larger than Katt remembered
it, only a few birds seemed to be chirping now, though she could hear animals
moving around in the underbrush. The light was diffused through the trees making
the area look haunted. She picked her way carefully, not making a sound.

Someone dropped out of a tree behind her, landing softly. Katt whirled,
preparing for an incoming attack. 'The boy' looked to be in his early to mid
20's, blonde hair fell past his shoulders, tiny braids hidden in it here and
there. Bright green eyes watched her carefully. He stood in a defensive
position, legs spread apart as if ready to kick. "You sent Bacharu the other
way." The young man started, his voice rich and sure, hostility lacing it.
"Why?"

Katt shrugged nervously, all her old fears of handsome men rushing back. She
wanted to run, to escape his company, but she knew the minute she tried to
escape he would take that badly and attack her. "Don't like bullies" she managed
to say, not looking up from the ground. "As long as I didn't look into his eyes
again, I should be okay." Katt told herself, her heart pounding a mile a minute.

"Well, Bacharu is certainly a bully. Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen
someone with ears like yours before."

Katt placed a hand over an ear self-consciously, "I am elf, my name is
Kattarina." She shifted from foot to foot, eager to get out of this situation
and back to her safe garage.

"I'm Tenris." She feel him studying her, she felt her cheeks start to burn at
the scrutiny. "Well, uh thanks for sending Bacharu the other way, but I better
be going before he catches up again."

"Good luck," mumbled Katt, feeling brave enough to look at his knee caps.

"And luck he will need!" Bacharu's voice interrupted. "A silly distraction,
elf-girl, you will pay for it after." Both Katt and Tenris whirled to see
Bacharu standing in an attack position, a glowing yellow globe between his
hands. "CONSCIOUS TAKER!!" He yelled, releasing the ball that flew to Tenris.

Tenris had time to gurgle, try to fight it and then fall to the ground, out
cold. Katt didn't waste a moment in grabbing the mech wrench out of her guitar
case and taking a defensive position.

Bacharu smiled, "I will finish you as quickly as I finished him, it is best you
stay out of this little elf."

"I am NOT a little elf!" Katt yelled, springing up into the air to get a shot at
Bacharu from above. Bacharu pulled out his sword and easily deflected the blow,
knocking Katt sprawling with his parry.

"You chipped my sword you bitch!" Bacharu barked, and moved in on her prone
position. Katt scrambled to her feet and got the wrench in the way as the sword
clashed inches from her face. Katt slid the sword down the wrench and tried to
kick at him with her free foot. He easily dodged her kick and brought his sword
back up to the ready.

Katt rolled towards her guitar case, Bacharu looked amused as she frantically
opened it. "Planning on playing me a lullaby?"

"No.." Katt said shifting the wrench to one hand and pulled out her stun-gun. "I
have better methods than that." She aimed at his chest and pulled the trigger.
Bacharu did his best to dodge, Katt's beam hitting him in the shoulder. Bacharu
dropped to the ground.

Katt wiped the sweat from her face and put the wrench down. She untied her shoes
and used the shoelaces to tie up the bully. She then decided it best to check on
Tenris.

When she touched him carefully on the shoulder, Tenris grabbed her wrist and
started to pull her in for a toss when he realised it wasn't his foe he had.
Katt dug her heels in. Tenris opened his eyes. "Ah - uh, sorry." He let go of
her wrist and sprang to his feet. He looked over at Bacharu. "Is he dead?"

"No, I only stunned him." Katt looked indignantly at Tenris' chest. "A thank you
might be nice." She muttered.

"Mmm? Yes, thank you for your assistance, it has been most welcome and
unexpected. You are an angel amongst mortals." She watched his feet wander over
to Bacharu's body and a hand came into view to pick up the sword. As soon as
Tenris' hand touched the sword, Bacharu was awake and fighting the bonds that
held him.

"Ah, good morning Bacharu, it's so nice of you to place a wake up device in your
sword. I do want to see your expression when I kill you." Tenris raised the
sword.

"You can't kill him!" Katt yelled and jumped in front of Tenris, glaring up at
him. Her knees shook slightly, her heart pounded at the thought of obstructing a
handsome male from his wishes, but she couldn't let him kill in cold blood!

"Why not? I'm the prince." Tenris looked more confused than anything else at her
actions.

"That doesn't matter, you can't just take lives as you wish!" Katt continued to
yell.

"Oh. Well, that's not what I've been taught, but I'll go with your wishes Lady
Kattarina. What should we do with him then?"

"You could let me go so I can kill the both of you!" Bacharu frothed.

"Uh, no, somehow I don't think that would be the best course of action." Tenris
argued.

Katt hurmed. "Well, where are you from?"

"Dimension 281763, fourteen north, sixteen east, and twenty four up from this
dimension on the dimensional standard map." Tenris responded without much
thought.

Katt closed her eyes and called to a Kitsune, the nearest was good enough.
Shortly there after a translucent form materialised in the grove. The being
stood close to 5'7, including his ears, and appeared to be a multi-tailed
metamorphic fox. He was wearing mage robes and looked slightly annoyed at the
summons as his four tails lashed lightly. "Who calls CLR?"

"I, oh honourable Kitsune, Kattarina Delshard of house Systerana, I need your
assistance. These two have been misplaced and need guidance back to where they
belong."

The Kitsune looked over Bacharu and Tenris. "I don't want to go back!" Tenris
declared. "Its a horrible, cold place. I want to be somewhere where people think
of things other than war and battle, death and destruction. I like it here, I
want to stay!"

"If you send me back, Elf, I'll just find a way to return!" Bacharu threatened.

Katt sighed and looked back to CLR. CLR shrugged, "In return for one tamagutchi,
I shall take this one back where he belongs, for a second tamagutchi, I shall
see that he is unable to leave his dimension again."

Katt looked at Tenris. "Guard him, do not harm him. If he tries to escape, slash
out his eyes or something, but leave him alive!" Tenris nodded. CLR rolled his
eyes.

Katt dashed off to the nearest store to purchase two tamagutchis, quickly
returning. She pulled a gizmo off her belt and ran the tamagutchis through it.
The Kitsune then picked up the two toys from the gizmo, seeming most pleased.

CLR held out his arms and started to chant, Bacharu started to glow. Bachura
snarled to Katt, "I curse you, Elf, I curse you for your life and unlife in
eternity! May you never again feel the touch of nature, may you never again have
the gifts of the low elves that you flaunt, may you suffer as much as you will
make me suffer!" As he finished his 'curse,' he disappeared in a flash, along
with the Kitsune.

Katt tried to open her mind to a squirrel, testing to see if the strange man had
actually succeeded in his curse. *Come here little squirrel, I have some
hazelnuts for you..* The squirrel didn't even look at her. Katt, in a panic, ran
over to the nearest tree, cringing at the noise she made, she placed her hand on
the tree and tried to feel its soul. She felt nothing but bark. She summoned a
gold coin, twirling it on her fingers, then dismissed it back to Underhill. She
summoned her sword and armour, cursed, and sent those back to Underhill. She
dropped to the ground and started to cry.

Tenris stood and watched her with confusion as Katt did all sorts of strange
things and he wasn't quite sure what to do about a crying woman. He approached
her carefully and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. "Uh, Lady Kattarina?
What's wrong?"

"Gone! All gone! My nature sense, my ability to shift into a cat, my ability to
talk with animals and spirits, my ability to summon spirits, all gone. All I
have left are the gifts that only  the high-elves can use, that of summoning
defence and offence coupled with summoning gold. I can't even summon a single
flame." She sobbed some more. Tenris held her very awkwardly.

It didn't take Katt long to realise she was tear staining a stranger's shirt. He
was patting her on the back and seemed very uncomfortable. Katt snuffled. "I'm
sorry, I didn't mean to cry all over you.."

"Nono, its okay!" Tenris quickly amended, "It should be me whose apologising,
after all Bacharu did this to you for defending me, you shouldn't have."

Katt's eyes gleamed, "I would do it again! I can't stand bullies!" She jumped to
her feet, almost knocking Tenris over. "Come on, lets get out of here."

"Uh," Tenris was rather surprised by the quick turn around. "Where are we
going?"

"Do you know anything about fixing mechs, Prince Tenris?"

"No, not in the least." A pause. "What is a mech?"

"Oh! Do you have a lot to learn, and you have just the right elf to teach you."

"Oh boy." Tenris muttered, Katt was too enthused at having a student to let lack
of enthusiasm get her down.SAUCE00Spirit Wolf         Hallucigenia        

PSAUCE00Kindred Souls                      Spirit Wolf         Hallucigenia        

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