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 Posted: Wed Apr 15, 2009 4:54 pm
Thump...
Thump...
Thump...
Thump-thump-thump!
Over and over again, Chesh's head banged against a tree-trunk off to one side of the small grove that was the special cat's home. Sounds of fighting echoed in the clearing from small pool some stride-lengths away from where the pink feline was currently engaged. Chesh used the pool to help sort the images that swam through the cat's head, allowing Chesh to better view the goings on in the Oasis.
And what was to be seen was very upsetting.
So much more evil was showing up, giving the local heroes a run for their money. That stupid fool had gone and upset Evil and now all hell was loose. Which really frustrated Chesh, because a lot of the creatures in the Oasis were the closest things the cat had to real friends.
"You know what? I think I've had just about enough of this high school drama," the cat hissed in an annoyed tone and phased into a control plane. It was a place like Mirage and Fashir's private planes, but this one was... empty. There was nothing around the cat beside a swirling gray fog. There was a small clearing so that those meeting one another there could see one another. Mist swirled around the cat's paws.
"Fashir! I require your presence," the Cat called loudly, backing the summon with the power and feeling needed to get the request to the agent of good.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:14 am
Fashir heard the Cheshire's call, he considered ignoring it, but then again he was in her land for the time being and he was used to being courteous. With a sigh he slipped a paw sideways and felt himself pulled into swirling grey mist, a far cry from the lush green pastures that were his own private hold.
"I am aware that evil seems to be having another tantrum..." He murmured softly.
It was going to take twice as much work to sooth the havoc that Mirage was wreaking and he feared that in the process precious souls would be twisted. Already he was uncertain of the family that had shown such promise, and as for Angelus and Buffy his hope for them was dying a much quicker death. He was busy trying to pick up the pieces and figure out how to fix things.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:40 am
The Cat sat back on its hind paws and crossed the others in a very human-like manner, golden eyes glowering at the blindfolded wolf.
"Yeah, and you're about to get a hissy-fit from me," Chesh shot back in a tone dripping with sarcasm. What a bothersome pair these two were! It was enough to drive a cat to drink!
"And this isn't just a tantrum this time," Chesh continued, bobbed tail tapping the floor in lieu of a tapping foot, "This whole Angelus fiasco was the last straw. You broke that itty-bitty piece of the old Mirage that was still clinging her."
It was the first time the Cat had even used the embodiment of Evil's given name. Chesh wasn't really one to use given names, not with beings of equal or higher power, but in this point in time, exceptions seemed apropos.
"You two in general messed up big time, and normally I wouldn't get involved. This lovers quarrel you two've been at is for you and her to work out, but I'll be damned if you bring the rest of us down with you." Gold eyes, no longer glowing with a jovial sort of madness but instead with a stern wisdom, watched the wolf in expectation. Almost like a parent waiting for an explanation from their child as to why he just painted the cat blue, or some other childish mischief.
"So, what do you have to say for yourself?"
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 8:51 am
Fashir frowned as he listened patiently to the feline, he couldn't deny her words every one was true. Yet what was he supposed to do, Mirage was evil incarnate, it was not his job to show her any affections. How could he go to her and tell her how he felt, they were both so much more then what they had been.
"I am sorry for the disturbance, and I will do my best to settle things back down...Perhaps I shall go to Mirage...and see if we can't...settle things."
He snorted a bit at that, for settling matters between good and evil was as simple a task as mice trying to bell a cat.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:03 am
Chesh's head leaned down a bit so that one paw could whack the deep pink forehead.
"Even former mortals never cease to amaze me," the cat muttered, head shaking slowly.
"Things aren't going to settle, not after what you did," Chesh replied in a louder voice and sighed heavily. Fashir was the older of the two of them, that Chesh knew. It was a strange thought, thinking of someone as older, besides a family the cat hadn't seen in so very long. But right now, it felt like the rolls were reversed. Chesh wouldn't pretend that Fashir and his past were an open book, as everything was open to interpretation, however there was one undeniable thing. Unlike Chesh's kind, Chaos, and Fate, Fashir had once been mortal, as had Mirage. The cat couldn't believe that something like becoming one of the creatures that helped to keep the world spinning properly had changed them that much. Gods knew Mirage hadn't changed much, that Chesh had noticed in researching the new thorns in the guardian's backside.
"I think you need to take a good look at those around you, Good. You might notice an interesting moral that seems to have escaped you."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:27 am
"I think often...on the very moral that I have sought to teach Mirage, That True Love Conquers All...and yet..."
He looked down a moment before sighing and shaking his head. "There is no force now that could keep Mirage or myself from being what we are, the sun may love the moon but they could never live together."
The words were laced with a pain and sadness so deep, and yet frightfully certain. The pain of hopelessness, from one who preached hope and tried so hard to restore it to the world.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:46 am
Chesh's eyes rolled a bit as the cat's head shook once more.
"And yet he who seeked to bury and control his bloodlust and protect the world from all evil went and fell in love with one who, at one time, was intent on consuming him and making innocent creatures into baked goods," Chesh pointed out and a touching image of the troubled angelic and his comforting, albeit cannibalistic, mate sharing a tender moment of just holding one another shimmered briefly in the mist. Chesh cared for that bittersweet little family. There was a lot of trouble in their past and probably their future as well, but what warmed the cat's soul was how much they cared for one another, despite everything.
"Love can conquer. I, personally, believe that it can never conquer all, but I've seen it conquer enough that a pair can be truly happy with one another. You've forgot the other things love needs to help conquer great obstacles, Fashir," Chesh added, waving a paw so that the image faded away.
"Forgiveness and compromise. Everyone makes mistakes and not all battles can have just one victor." And sometimes, no one won. Sometimes, an opponent fled the battle. The cat knew that one all to well.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:10 pm
Fashir smiled at the image of Nightroad and Lovett together, they had faced so many challenges. The cannibalistic demonic might have tried to turn her love into a pie had something not tugged her heart. The righteous angelic may have cut down his love had he not given her a chance.
Together they had produced a beautiful family, overcome so much, and now their children faced even greater obstacles. It was almost painful to know that what was born of their love was slowly darkening.
"Forgiveness..." He sighed and looked away as the image faded.
"Perhaps I ought to try then...I cannot deny my heart what it desires most of all, yet to let evil touch it...I must be very careful."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:19 pm
Chesh's face broke into a relieved grin and a tenseness left the cat's posture.
"Finally. My suggestion is you take a bit of time to think about what you'll do. Just not too long. The more time we take trying to fix this, the worse damages may occur," the cat replied with and small nod, let its front paws touch ground again, and approached the wolf. Chesh reached up and gently tapped Fashir's nose with one paw, grinning all the while.
"Don't be too careful, though. Try and keep a balance between guarded and open. And remember that the Mirage you knew and cared for is still in there somewhere, begging to be forgiven and accepted again. Pride's a hard vice to get over," the cat paused there, golden eyes softening a fraction before a small laugh came out. "It's a good thing I don't have to deal with it."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:40 pm
Fashir sighed and nodded taking the feline's advice to heart, this was going to be doubly hard. He had to focus on the Oasis trying to keep evil from spreading too much, and think of how to reconcile with Evil herself.
"Do you really think she still is?" He sighed wondering if his loving Mirage could possibly be manipulating the forces of evil and still hold a grain of her former love for him.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:27 pm
That made the cat's grin fade and the expression became more pensive and mature.
"Honestly? Yes, I do. Maybe I have too much faith in others, but I really think so. Keep in mind, though. You two have been through a whole lot. I'm probably biased, but I think she's been through the most and so you'll have to be careful. I don't see finding what was left of her will be the easiest," Chesh replied and patted his shoulder.
"Just do your best. Things'll work out if you try."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:38 pm
Fashir chuckled "It is easier to tell others such things, and not so easy to believe them for yourself."
He nodded at Chesh and twisted his head his nose twitching. "Do you not feel alone little one? Perhaps you are beyond such things, like Chaos you could not dwell in the heart of another or have another within you." He shrugged unwilling to intrude of the feline any further.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 2:46 pm
A shadow passed over the cat's eyes, grief and pain mingled in one. But it was gone so quickly it may never have been there in the first place.
"It's hard, to let someone in when you've never been accepted as another being. Tools don't need love any more than clay does. They're there to be used or be shaped into something better. One has to wonder what it'd be like, to be cared for," Chesh responded before shrugging in kind. It was hard to get past the scars that marred the guardian's soul. Maybe, one day...
The cat smiled again, though it was empty. Fake.
"Go on, now. I've had my rant, you've got my advice. Let's see if we can't get some flowers out of this mud puddle."
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 3:08 pm
Fashir watched the feline a long moment before nodding and turning, he twisted his head back despite being blindfolded.
"You know, I wonder sometimes why mortals like Mirage and I were chosen for our roles, now we are so much more...and you who have always been something more, perhaps still have that grain of mortality within." He turned and headed quietly off towards his own peaceful plane to think.
There was something in the cat, a desire that she might never speak of, yet Fashir could see it as plainly as those with eyes saw what they wished.
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Posted: Thu Apr 16, 2009 4:17 pm
Chesh sighed and laughed a bit.
"Fate chose mortals because you were always the best candidates," the cat replied softly. "It takes a lot of life and hard lessons to earn a bit of mortality. You guys don't know how lucky you are."
Chesh watched as Fashir left. The fog and mist swirled around the pink cat before solidifying into another image. This one was a group of cats. The two younger ones were bobcats, one a molted light green and brown, the other similar only a darker color with bits of another shade of brown. Both had large bits of white here and there, as if they were going between summer and winter coats. There was a larger, desert cat, completely sand-colored with silver eyes. It was older as it watched the two younger cats play. Sahara. Appalachia. Sherwood. Cheshire had known them well.
With a frustrated, pained hiss, the cat banished the image and faded from the control zone and returned to Wonderland. Even though the image had lacked sound, the sounds of the young cats' laughter echoed in Chesh's ears. The cat's eyes closed in pain. That was the one thing Chesh hated. Memories were hard to forget. Even for the gods.
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