[Doctor Who Fanction] An Alternate Ending : The Angels take Manhattan.

Tired of beating my head against an Ultima fanfiction that just doesn't want to be a good set of ducks and line up, and too sore to write anything of my own.. so have some Doctor Who fanfiction. (Sorry Mr Mick, no bunnies this time.)

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Alternative Ending : The Angels Take Manhattan

River Song was trying to mother hen the Doctor into taking better care of his TARDIS, Rory and Amelia exchanged proud, if amused, looks over the interaction. Before the two could get into married squabble mode, Rory decided to jump in with a quick subject change. "Next time, came we just go to the pub?"

Before they group could get into the TARDIS, however, Rory's attention was caught by a gravestone that had his name and age on it. Had that been there a moment before? Had the writing on it changed? Was time still in flux?  "Amy, come and see this." he called. As much as he hated to admit it, his wife was better at figuring out this stuff.

"What?" She said, half into the TARDIS and already thinking about dinner. It had been a long time since the aborted picnic, in more ways than one.

"There's a gravestone here for someone with the same name as me." He pointed out; a mix of amused and confused.

"What?" Amy repeated, walking over to Mr Pond.

Opening his mouth to speak, he suddenly disappeared. Amy's eyes switched from the gravestone that she'd been trying to read without glasses and the angel that had appeared behind Rory. "DOCTOR!" She bellowed, panic and confusion. Had she just lost Rory again? How many times could your heart be ripped away from you in one short period?

"Where the hell did that come from?" River growled, absently trying for a weapon she hadn't found a place to store in her dress. Oh, her love may claim the brain was the best weapon, followed by swift talking, but some days a girl just wanted a sonic blaster and some bad guys to use it on. Any being who had just sucked her father away from her mother certainly counted as a bad guy!

"It's a survivor. Very weak, but keep your eyes on it." The Doctor was already grabbing his sonic screw driver from his pocket. Why hadn't he scanned? He should have known how much Angels loved graveyards, the lost time, the death, the misery.

Amy's dispair was rapidly turning into the deep burning anger that had kept the Scots surviving on moors and oatmeal. "Oh, I'll keep my eye on it." She growled, stalking over to it. A glance at the marker now showed an age to Rory's name. Fine, if that's how it wanted to play it. She glared back at the Angel who hadn't moved, only lowered its arm a bit as if the alien was rather unsure. "Must be male," she growled.

"What?" The Doctor asked and started to move forward, but River put her hand on his arm; this wasn't his battle. It wasn't their battle. As much as she wanted to rip the universe apart, it just wasn't their battle.

"This is how we're going to do this." She told the Angel. "You can't bring him back, can you?"

She blinked and its hand was lowered completely now, claws finger nails once more. It almost looked confused. People didn't just accost the statues.

"And the TARDIS, if we bring it to him, we pretty much blow things sky high, yeah?"

Blink. It was looking to the left. She blinked again, it looked to the right. It almost seemed like it was looking for an escape route.

"So, here's what we're doing to do. I am going to touch you and you are going to bring me to him. In exchange for that, he and I are not going to try and escape. We're not going to figure out a time and place that it'd be safe for the Doctor to land. We're not --"

"Amy!" The Doctor protested, trying to shrug off River's hold.

"We're not," she repeated, louder, ignoring her best friend, tears growing in her eyes, "We're not going to do anything but live our lives, grow old, and die and give you whatever it is you want to give. You are going to bring us together." She stepped forward to the Angel, inches from it, "Because if you don't, I will hunt down every single one of you, I will smash you all to ribbons and rubble, I will make you weep blood for the moment you targeted my husband and thought you could keep him from me. Do you understand?"

"AMY!" The Doctor was struggling with River now.

"My best friend, my dearest friend, is that man. That man is the man who makes the Daleks step back, that man is married to my daughter. My daughter who makes Daleks beg for mercy. Who do you thiknk she learnt it from, yeah? Its not all genes and weak whiskey!"

Blink and the Angel had actually stepped back.

"Do we have a deal then? You'll take me to him? We won't fight, you get what you want, I get what I want, and I don't need to found a sledgehammer factory." She wasn't quite sure how one would make a sledgehammer that would connect to an Angel that wouldn't suck you up in their little time games, but there had to be a way to destroy them beyond starvation and she was perfectly willing to spend the rest of her life to find that way if she needed to.

She blinked, the Angel stepped forward and she too was gone.

"NO!" The Doctor cried, rushing to where the Angel stood. "You bring her back!" He demanded.

"It can't." River said, following slowly. The Doctor knew that, but what else could she say?

"I don't care! It shouldn't end this way! Why does it always end? I don't want it to end!" Tears blurred his eyes long enough to find the Angel moving backwards, its job done.

River briefly considered finding a way to blast the statue to rubble, a warring notion of vengeance wanted and curiosity of what they looked like on the inside. "Everything ends, my love." She said softly.

He looked at her, a whole new level of pain in his eyes. They both knew that her time was catching up with her quickly, how many more stolen days would they have?

"Let's go." She said, putting arm around him to guide him into the TARDIS. There was nothing but pain to be found here.

"Your parents." He said as she closed the door behind them.

"Mm." She said. "Yes, I suppose I'm about done raising them, aren't I?" She said, squaring her shoulders and looking at the console. A pub with video games somehow no longer seemed like such a good idea. She wasn't so good at this side of things. She watched the Doctor practically crumple to the floor. "Where are we going?" Her eyes hardened, "And don't you dare say New York!"

There was silence in the magical box.

"I don't know." He finally said.

River bit her lip for a moment before making a decision. She disappeared into the realms of bed chambers and bathrooms to return with a blue covered journal. On the front, in Amy's writing, was the word 'The Spoilers of Mrs. Williams."

"Mrs. Williams? Who's she kidding?" The Doctor muttered, staring at it as River patiently held it out for him to take. Within was the story of Melody Malone, probably the draft that would be taken off to be published. He flipped past the words he'd already seen, the story already told until he got to the end.

"Well Raggedy Man, I am here and you are there. If I know my Doctor, he is sitting on a step plotting on how to change what is without hurting anyone. Rory and I have had a lot of years to think about that, and we both say 'Don't.'. I know its not the ending any of us would have chosen, it's without its goodbyes and hugs and tears, but maybe that's for the best. We all know you don't much like goodbyes.

"The Angels never really showed where they wanted us, whether it was here physically or just here in this time so we stuck it out in New York. A promise is a promise and all that. Don't think we just sat around though, that would be too boring. Rory worked as a nurse, ignoring all stupidity attached to a male nurse in this era, I made fashions like I almost knew what was next, raised kids and tried to stay out of trouble.

"Oh yes, children.. lots of them! It started with Rory, as it always does. He found a boy rummaging around in the trash for food and so, Rory told the boy (Daniel, by the way), that he was coming home to be fed. You'd think this feral child would think it some sort of trap, but he just fell in and we fed him.. and others. After all, not all Melodys can find their parents to raise to stay off the streets.

"I miss you terribly, but we do good here and that's what you taught me, do good wherever we go. Bloody Americans can't make custard worth anything either, and the less said about their idea of tea is probably for the best. You take care of my daughter, she pretends she's tough, but she needs you. You keep her out of what trouble you can and enjoy the trouble you can't.

"Its not the end. Not by half. So don't you go sulking in your box, you hear me?

"And clean the pool, Rory says he forgot to do it before we went on our picnic. Probably starting to stink a bit by now, the TARDIS does like to toss you in it at its worst and everything.

"I love you. Thank you.

"Amy Pond Williams and Rory."

The Doctor rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, River sitting beside him now, resting her head against him.

"I miss his stupid face." The Doctor said before wrapping his arm around his wife. "Still won't try the fish fingers and custard, will you?"

"I'm not her. I can't be her. But I can travel with you .. sometimes. Only so much insanity allowed in the blue for any length of time. And you won't be alone. Because I won't allow it and we Mrs Ponds always get our way."

"Yes, you do tend to do that." The Doctor said, closing his eyes to lean his cheek against the top of her head. No, he'd not be alone, never alone, he always had his memories and regrets to keep him company.

[A long introspective] Why I am who I am.

 (Too Long, Don't Want to Read : Send money to this Kickstarter, please.)

I know it will sound just a little crazy to say that a video game helped me become who I am. That's okay, I'm more than a little crazy, I'm happy to sound that way.  When I was a young thing, my brother was a computer addict. I, too, was soon bitten by the bug. Of course, not being the hard worker my brother was and still is and being three years younger, I didn't have a computer of my own and had to bug him, as only little sisters can, to use his. First it was a Vic 20, and then it was a Commodore 64. On that C64, he played CRPGs; computer role-playing games.

I'd already been introduced to the world of RPGs via his gaming group who said "We need a cleric" and Dave looked at me, handed me a piece of paper and said "When we say heal, heal." and I said "Okay!" The magic, at first, was being included with my cool brother and his awesome older friends. I was getting to play a "grown up" game at the grand age of 11.  However, as the Game Master (Gordon Westbroeke) described this world and what was happening (Mostly my brother and his friend Chris having a complex duel, which I don't remember who won.) I fell in love with this concept. Here was an imaginary world (and I'd created lots in my head) that didn't require props of any sort. I could be anyone I wanted to be and I could do anything!

The problem with the computer versions of these role-playing games was that they were very linear. You went from a to b to c to d. You were this male who may or may not be a native of the world, you did magical things and heroic tasks. Don't get me wrong, they were pretty cool and I sunk many hours that I probably should have been spending on academic things on them.  However, I always felt there was something a bit missing. Then my brother came home with "Ultima IV".

Not only in this game could I actually play a GIRL, I could do ANYTHING. I could go anywhere, I could kill anyone, I could save anyone. I had this huge and heroic quest to save this wonderful detailed world. I was in awe and I was in love. I don't think I ever actually finished Ultima IV myself, I watched my brother finish it a couple times, so I never sat down to go through the Abyss, etc, on my own. The only flaw with the game was you could only save on the main map, which meant once you started dungeonering you were pretty committed. And let's face it, my brother has always been a much more patient individual than I. (Some might say it was from growing up with me as a little sister.)

But the most magical thing was, you had to be a good person to win. Well, actually, you had to be an incredibly awesome person to win but that's not hugely relevant. This game came with some guidelines on how to be a good person. Be honest, be brave, be humble, be compassionate. Now, I'm not saying at the age of 11 I suddenly became the grandest person on the planet. One of my biggest problems with being an imaginative and creative kid, and later teen, was I enamoured of embellishing my life with tales of untruth, writing them in my diary as if I had this totally awesome life. This, unfortunately, developed into a person who lied about pretty much everything. I lied about who I was to even myself. It took meeting someone with the exact same qualities and a rough break-up to shake my world enough to say "Oh. I don't want to be that way." I would love to say I became a great person overnight, but alas, no, it took years upon years to get there, and it took years upon years to become the person I wanted to be. I first had to start unweaving the web of lies I'd built. Some were obvious, some were subtle and well woven, some just so well developed over time everyone just took it for granted.

Somewhere in the morass and mess that was my life at the time, I gained a copy of Ultima VII. It'd been out for a while, but Ultima VIII hadn't arrived yet. I explored every corner and inch of that world, in love with being back in Britannia and the rich, wonderful worlds Lord Britishcreates. I was also happy to be that heroic person again who goes forth and saves people, who helps people, who is noble and wonderful, and hey, a pretty hot lady in or out of her armour. I pestered and harassed the Origin team with questions, suggestions, bugs, problems. The poor people had shipped this game two years before and I'm bugging them about it? Two years is aeons in gaming time! I then opened Ultima VII part two. My biggest issue with part two was it felt like it didn't have the polish of part one, like it was 95% finished and then shipped rather than 100% finished. However, I still got to be this awesomely avatar person. (Who may have cried in real life when Dupre died.)

These games, as strange as it seems, sat in my subconscious. I didn't have a lot of problems with lying and stealing to and from those I loved growing up, I don't know why, powers know my parents tried and tried.  The penny dropped, however, when I started Ultima VIII. A friend gave it to me saying the game was terrible, I could have it. I was overjoyed. I put it in, I started playing and.. Good Lord, what was this horrible thing? It was buggy, it was unfinished, storylines would just hang, the population was next to zero and I had to play Mario and jump and slash and, well, let's just say I loathed it in comparison to the other games. I finished it, I'll say that much, mostly just to get the story and say I finished it. What, I think, was lacking the most was the virtues, the lessons, this example of being a shining beacon. Somehow, everything that my parents had been trying to drill into my head, everything my friends were (I won't deny my friends were better people than I was at the time!!), sunk in. I realized, I wanted to be the Avatar. Not the sword swinging, armouring wearing avatar; I wanted to be the lady who is honest, who helps people, who can be counted on to guard your most precious possession or secret and return it to you as you gave it. I wanted to be someone who my parents could be proud of. I wanted someone my friends could say "THAT'S why we're friends with you, doofus! We knew that was underneath!"

Then I started playing Everquest (which didn't become linear, no matter what Mr Garriott says, until long after WoW came out.) I got sucked into this magical world where I got to hang out with hundreds of other people. Some of them were cool, some of them were asshats, most were in between. I eventually stumbled into a guild called "Sanctus Covenir."  They'd started as an Ultima Online guild and grew into other gaming worlds. The general gist was you lived your life by the code of the Avatar. This is challenging enough in real life, its even more so in the game world where there's actually no real consequence for going through the city of Freeport and killing the guards and merchants and griefing other players.

If I hadn't had the love of Ultima, I probably wouldn't have joined Sanctus Covenir. I would have written them off, as many did, as goofy role-players on a non-role-playing server. But somewhere, Max with his polite thees and thous, with his willingness to help no matter the cost to him, Glofindle with his polite pokes in the ribs when I was being a bit of a, well, bitch, Delphinae and Thalstan with their teaching me how to play my druid with grace and patience, amongst others. There were many laughs, many long, long, long, nights in dungeons, and there was camaraderie. Unfortunately, I was getting bored with the mid-level content and wanted to raid, real raids against dragons and gods, not just dungeoneering. So, off I went to another guild that was chaos and a cess pool that I didn't swim well in, and really missed my old companions.  It wasn't until I found another guild with similar principals to Sanctus Covenir and Ultima's virtues in the end gaming world, that I found another home.

When I was faced with dealing with an asshat situation, I often thought of what would the virtues have me do. I forgave people, I was honest with people even if they didn't necessarily want that honesty but had asked, I tried to be courageous when I'd rather just cower under my bed, and I tried to help people however I could. I thought about the leaders of Talaire, Max, Moonchaser, Sierrah, these people who guided with patience and respect and tried to emulate. (Though, Sierrah was pretty good at the Gibbs smack too. That taught me to hit delete rather than enter on some of my more choice observations and comments.) And even over a decade later, these people are still friends and still in my life.  Its gotten to the point where I don't have to stop and think (okay, except when talking with stupid people, I still have to stop and hit delete instead of enter sometimes) "What would the Avatar do?" I just carry on with my life and I like to think I'm a good person.

Maybe I would have developed into this person anyway, maybe my parents would have managed to get sense into my head, maybe I would have found another source that made me think "Wait, is this who I want to be?" But, what it boils down to, is this series of games, and let's face it, Richard Garriott, had a huge impact on my life. And that's why this long huge ramble, to in essence say, if you have a few dollars, please throw it Kickstarter'sway, and help him bring this world of virtues back into play.

Shroud of the Avatar - A Kickstarter funded production.

[Gerbil Fiction] Party at Speedy's!

(One comatose gerbil)

Thank you, Speedy! I had a wonderfuls time at your birthday, even if Mr Mickey is teaching everyone to call me "Foo' Gerbil" instead of my name! I'll forgive Jensen, he's young and doesn't know any better, but I think Maddy'll be donating to my nest if she keeps it up! (Little gerbil stomp)

Be sure to thanks your Mum for the wonderful spread! I'm not sure who spiked the punch. (Looks in the direction of Mickey's Den) Anyway, it was fun, though the world is a little spinny and I decided to spend the day in my nest, only coming out for a piece of popcorn. I almost took a nap on the green wheel.. fortunately, I managed to rouse myself before my human noticed. Phew.

And another party coming up! Mario over at Roadbunner is having his *tenth* birthday party this weekend! TEN! That's like, ancient! He must be using a cane! I hope its metal though, 'cause other wise he'd chew on it and it'd collapse when he needed it, which could be kinda  embarrassing. Wow, Ten. That's almost as old as Mickey's breath!

The Mum muttered something about promising she was gonna writing SOMETHING every single day of March. (Not necessarily posting online) Then the zombie drugs took over. It wouldn't even be so bad  if she wasn't still bitching about paid. (Sighs) See what a gerbil has to put up with?

Anyway, this wood hut isn't gonna gnaw itself! Thank you again for the party, Speedykinz! See you all at Mario's on Saturday!

[Random Fiction +1] Bird in flight.

My apartment was at the top of the building. It was an afterthought, I think. You took the elevator up to four, then you went down the hallway and took the stairs up to the top. You crossed the 'trying to be a patio' to my door and stood in the rain before you let yourself in. The bonus was, no neighbours to bitch about noise. The downside was, well, this was Langley, I entered my roost soaked more often than not.

Oh, you touristy types are all like 'Why not bring an umbrella?' Well, let me tell ya, if I bought an umbrella every time it rained, I couldn't pay rent. Perhaps if I didn't lose them every time I got on a bus it'd be a different story, but few are the Vancouver'ites who use the damn things anyway. Pull your hood up and squint, that's our answer.

So, my place. If it looks like some sort of hoarder lives in it, well, there's a pretty good reason. Though, I prefer extreme pack-rat to hoarder. I mean, you can walk through the place, there were seats to sit on, and there weren't any fire hazards. However, it was packed with sparkly things, various ingredients for various crafts, CDs, cassette tapes, VHS, Beta, you name it if it was a media form, I had it. I liked technology; I was generally the first to buy the new spiffy thing no matter how expensive it was. Which is kinda why I'm always broke. I should just steal them, but I kinda always felt guilty about that. Why can I steal a diamond encrusted watch off a guy who beats his wife but not his beta max? I don't know, just the way I am, I guess.

I was greeted at the door with a demanding meow. Apparently poor Miss Fluffikins hadn't been fed in a week. Or at least, that was her story. Cats can only tell time when its to do with things they don't like; medications, vet trips, sleeping hours of the two foot, that sort of thing. I looked down at her, "If I go into the kitchen and find plenty of kibble with a hole in the middle, I'll wring my hair out on you." I told her quite firmly. She just flicked the tip of her tail at me, we both knew I was bluffing.

I was fairly sure that Miss Fluffikins was a spy for one of the cats. I didn't think Cougar, I'm not sure he would even talk to his smallest cousins. Actually, for all I knew, there may well just be a Cat now. Certainly cats get worshipped enough. I can't say I know all my cousins, I'm pretty busy trying to make it day to day. By the way, next time you see a magpie, do say hello, okay? Every bit helps. Anyway, what would I do with her? Toss her back out into the rain? When I'd found her she'd been huddled under a juniper bush. Yeah a juniper bush in the Pacific North wet, I had to wonder whose brilliant idea that was, the plant wasn't doing much better than the soggy cat and her fresh born kittens. What can I do but pick them all up, bring them home and eventually find homes for everyone but the single mom. She'd decided I was her pet and didn't want to leave.

I put the kettle on with a yawn. As it boiled I checked email to find Horse had sent me a frighteningly large amount of money. How expensive was Toronto these days? I transferred said small fortune into my bank account and went over to WestJet's site to get myself a flight. I love WestJet, they're all about the happy. If I have to be stuck in a tincan with a bunch of mouth breathers and whiny children, I at least want people trying to placate me and make me happy while I'm there.

I'd just booked the flight and had started my tea when the door crashed open and a storm rushed in. I turned, a bit wide-eyed to look up at a soaking mad Cougar. "Dude! It was unlocked!"

Cougar's about five ten, but he seems twice that, just due to presence. Dirty blonde hair he kept gelled back, well, when it wasn't dripping wet, muscles of a lacrosse player and green eyes you could lose yourself in. Too bad he's such an asshole. "I know." He said, stepping forward. I couldn't help the meep as I scrambled out of the chair, it scrapped across the cheap lino, and backed up. "I opened it and then smashed it open. I would just hate to let you lose your damage deposit." He was snarling, that couldn't be a good sign. What had I done now?

I hit the wall, shit. "Whatever it is, I didn't do it!" I squawked.

He grabbed me by the front of my shirt. It was an easy swipe, he didn't even seem to be trying, the bastard. "It wasn't funny." He growled down at me.

"Shit dude, you never think its funny." I muttered, looking from side to side. Miss Fluffikins was about my only ally and she was quite sensibly hiding under the couch. I could see the tip of her tail lashing; not Cougar's then.

"Decapitating Lynx to make him reform for no reason? Washing my place in his blood? How is that supposed to be funny?" His face was like an inch from mine and he was growling. I could feel his hand starting to shift to paw. Shit, Cougar was bad enough on two feet with no claws.

"Wasn't me!" I yelped. Unfortunately, he wasn't listening. My shirt was starting to rip. Son of a bitch, this had been a steal at Value Village, did he know how long I had to camp the place to find something this cool that had actually made it to the floor? I don't have many options when it comes to violence, my answer is typically to book it out of there at top speed. Unfortunately, that's a little hard when you're practically pinned against the wall, hung onto, and aren't fast enough to get out of arm's reach of your aggressor. So, I did what any incredibly canny girl would do, I hopped up onto tip toes and planted a kiss on his lips.

I think I was flying across the room to land very heavily on the second couch before he even realized he'd tossed me. This, however, gave me a chance to scramble for the balcony. I managed to grab my medic's bad on my way past. "I don't do blood and guts, Coug! You know that! Someone's playing you!" He just growled wordlessly. His form was starting to get more than a little fuzzy. Shit, he was practically all berserk. Had that someone been screwing with his head? While I'd be the first to call Coug a bit of a psycho, he wasn't usually this bad!

I managed to get the glass door open and scrambled out onto the balcony. It would probably be a more useful thing if it hadn't been built on top of the concrete squares that were trying to be a patio. But, I suppose, it did define my land from no man's land. Cougar was down to all fours and his words were yowls. Well, I could still understand him just fine, but since it was just profanity at this point, I won't bother translating.

I decided the hell with it, shifted and launched myself into the sky. One thing I am good at is shifting, I can do it faster than any of my cousins, and I could take whatever I was carrying with me. Many of them lost their clothes when they alter. I didn't know if hoped a mad Coug was one or not, considering he'd have to take my clothes. On the one hand, it'd serve the jerk right, on the other, I didn't have so many clothes I could spare a set. I circled my building a few times, but it didn't seem that he was going to be calming down any time soon, just growling and spitting, growling and spitting.

It was with a long sigh that I turned east towards Abbostford. I really could have used the break of not having to find somewhere safe to change back. My neighbours, if they looked up, might see a really angry tom cat spitting up a fuss, but humans would kinda notice someone appearing were a bird used to be. Some would rub their eyes and decide they needed more sleep, some would see. I really didn't want to deal with the crap that was someone seeing.

I totally hoped my phone was in my bag, I was going to need some luggage too. I started to alter course to head towards the Value Village when I grinned, I didn't have to go second hand, I had a large wad of cash in my bank from Horse. My chuckles may have sounded like caws to the locals, but it was a pretty merry sound to me. I'd managed two victories so far today, hopefully I wouldn't need to make for a third before landing in the self proclaimed centre of the universe; Toronto.

[Gerbil vs. Human] Round 3 - KNOCK OUT!

See that green wheel? That's the one I swore I was never, ever, ever, ever, EVER putting back in their cage and was only keeping because I'm too cheap/much of a packrat to throw it out.

Last night, having not taken my zombie meds that morning so I would at least be able to drive to the doc's office and back, I was doing my usual round of insomnia. Mr Freddie would run on the wheel till it started making noise and stop. He would do this over and over. And I finally said, "Dude, that's kind of irritating." If a gerbil could say "I know, right??" he would have.

So I went to investigate and see if I could fix that wheel so it wouldn't rattle back and forth against the cage bars. Nothing obvious came to mind and I fiddled with it for a while. A small grey furry creature sat on the top of his house and looked smug. Ha. Well, I fixed his little red wagon.. er, white wheel.. green wheel.. SOMETHING! I scooped him up, put him in his travel carrier (there may have been a  squeaked  protest) and  dissembled  the cage so I could put the dreaded green thing in. I KY'd the contacts. I bounce tested the wheel. It didn't sound so bad.

I put Freddie back in the cage. He gave me a very good dirty look and promptly investigated everything human hands had contaminated in his home. He then found the green wheel. He hopped on it and started running. He ran on it for a good five minutes before hopping off for some water.

Poor gerbil, humans just train so very slow.

[Random Fiction] This has been stuck in my noggin

It seems most stories start in coffee shops, I wonder why that is. Perhaps its because writers are often broke and a cup of coffee is all they can afford; but this seems a bit unlikely to me considering the amount the fancy trendy shmucky places charge for a cup of over burnt beans. Perhaps its because you can people watch; although I’d have thought a mall a better place for it. Maybe its because its somewhere warm they can sit on their asses for hours and have washrooms nearby. Well, whatever the reason, I, Horse and Bear were meeting in a coffee shop. Bear paid for my coffee since I was a bit between successful jobs. Cougar had been invited but he was still a little cranky at me because of an incident twenty-six years ago. All I’d done was.. well, that’s not important, really. Let’s just say it was really funny.

My true name is Magpie, I’m the spiritual embodiment of the animal. I guess in the lingo of some, it makes me a demi-god. Mostly, it just means I have some tricks at claw and I don’t age. I’ve seen a lot, you know. I’ve even done some things. I’m not like Horse, he’s done all sorts of battles and wars. I’ll heal if I can, but I don’t like wading in blood and guts and anger and hate. Bear’ll fight if he feels home and family are threatened, otherwise he’ll stick to his cave. Its probably why I like Bear more than Horse. Anyway, these guys call me ‘Maggie’ and I call Bear Barry and Horse was Hearne. I was trying to resist calling them Barry and Harry. Mostly because Bear didn’t have a very good sense of humour.

Let me tell you what we must have looked like to a person looking on us. We sat at a stained wooden table, etched with grafitti of so-and-so loves so-and-so and opinions of various past politicians. I was on one side, Bear and Horse sat on the other. Bear is big. If Bear signed up to play linebacker for the CFL no one would be surprised. He’s not as tall as Horse, but he towers over me. He has sort of middling brown hair that he tends to wear shaggy since he forgets to get it cut and then just sort of hacks at himself. His hair is forever falling in his eyes and he’s forever brushing it out. He has really big, sort of blunt, hands. His skin, these days, is mostly metis. He looks well tanned with an undertone of red.

Horse is really tall. I don’t mean basketball player tall, but he’s just over a foot taller than me. He looks thin, part of its how he dresses, but he’s really whipcord atheletic. I’ve seen Horse pick up more than he should without even burning energy to do it. He’s kind of like a long distance runner meets ballet dancer. Though, I really don’t want to picture him in tights thank you very much. He has blonde hair that he wears long, falling down his back, thick, kinda wavy and makes any girl walking past want to dig her hands in and braid it. He has these bright blue eyes that are always moving, he knows where everyone and everything is around him. Horse looks so white he practically reflects. We like to tease him that the sun is trying to turn him back to red man. Its probably a good thing Horse has a sense of humour or he’d have stomped me long ago.

Me, well I’m like five feet, four inches. Yeah, pretty short, right? I wish I could say I was delicate like a bird, but unfortunately I’m more stocky than anything else. Of course, if I didn’t wear layers of clothes in a mix of Lolita and street hag, I’d probably look slimmer. I suppose I should care about that sort of thing, being female, but I really didn’t. Anyway, so, as I said, short, stocky, dark brown eyes, skin that’s more olive than red, and slim fingers good for reaching into pockets. A girl’s gotta make a living, although Bear made me promise long ago to keep my fingers to myself when he’s about. I suppose its the least I can do since he often buys me food and drink. Bear’s a good guy. I have black hair with a white streak, most say ‘Oh, totally Rogue!’ or ask if I’m a Dragon’s Den fan, but let me tell you, I had it centuries before either existed. Its my fashion statement, not their’s!

This was possibly the first time Bear had ever called us together. Normally it was Horse or Wolf, or y’know, one of the rabble rousers or war mongerers. So, we’d been really curious. I guess we four (gotta count Cougar even if he didn’t show) were the only ones in the area to hear the call, ‘cause I know some of the curious like Vixen and Mink would have been here in a shot.  Maybe we should teach Bear how to use the internet.

“So, what’s up?” I finally asked since it didn’t seem Bear was going to do much but compare crafting tips with Horse. “I mean, I don’t think you wanted me here to know how to stick one bit of wood into another.”

Bear gave a bit of an ironic smile, brushing that shag out of his face yet again, “True. You’re better at taking things apart than putting them together.” Horse snorted, amused. I just rolled my eyes, no point in disagreeing since it was true, but I wasn’t going to encourage him, either! “No, I .. we, need to do something about the pipeline.”

Horse and I exchanged a startled look. Horse ‘cause Bear didn’t exactly start fights, he more ambled into them and cleared up the mess by knocking everyone out. Me, ‘cause, well, “Uhm, Bear, the people’ll are like 65% against the thing. The First Nations are refusing to let it be built on their lands. What’s to be done?”

Bear sighed, “I don’t know. I just have a feeling.” He shook his head, “I think the government knows its on the way out and might see a way to get power and money before they’re replaced. They’re projecting a lot of hate in other directions and ducking the pipeline as much as possible.”

“The premier totally told Alberta not a chance!” I said.

It was Horse’s turn to shake his head. “No, she didn’t. She gave a price tag and said ‘meet it or beat it’ in the Michael Jackson sense. What if they meet it?”

I gave him the ‘you’re crazy look’ and then gave it to Bear too for good measure. “C’mon Bear, what’s the real deal? You don’t just stick your nose in.”

“I have a feeling.” He repeated.

I sighed. Bear was not one of us who had visions or foresights. He really wasn’t. I mean, we may help and support all the good people of the land no matter when or how they got here, but we still had our areas of influence and this so wasn’t one of Bear’s. My eyes narrowed, “Snake asked you, didn’t he?” Or at least, I think Snake was male at the moment, he kind of changed back and forth as he saw fit.

Bear shrugged a shoulder, “Does it matter? I feel he’s right. We need to look into it.”

I wanted to ask ‘why us?’ but Horse was already agreeing. I could probably finish the coffee and high tail it outta there, I mean, technically speaking while we were family we were more like third cousins from opposite sides of a bunch of marriages. I had no official obligation, I had no blood sworn duty here, but I like Bear, I’d even tried to seduce him a few times. Besides, as I said, he feeds me and that’s not something to forget. “Okay.” I said, startling them both. “Do you have a plan?” I asked.

“No.” He looked to Horse.

Horse looked briefly up at the ceiling, the whole ‘I should have known’ gesture. “Alright. Let me think.”

So, Bear and I ignored talking about Snake and my feelings about him and his visions and talked about ways I could go straight and get a real job and I told him why not and well, basically, it was the same argument we’ve been having for centuries. Hey, at least I wasn’t into prostitution. That argument always got me Bear’s droll look. 

“Maggie’ll go to Toronto and infiltrate their HQ, find out all information you can on what the big wigs are doing about geting their way. Bear’n’I will go to Edmonton and figure out what they have so far and what they’re prepping for. I’d be surprised they’re not already building supplies if they thnk they’re going to get the go ahead.” I opened my mouth, “I’ll cover it, Maggie.” I closed my mouth again, wondering if I should be insulted.

“Okay.” I agreed. I didn’t like Toronto much, but then, I didn’t like any city much. I was a suburbs and rural kind of gal. A sigh, I suppose I’d have to find some sort of office slave outfit or six too. The things I did for my friends. Another sigh, yeah, they were friends. I know Bear’d be there in a heartbeat if I, say, needed bailing out of jail or something. Horse’d be there for any fight, ready to defend me even if I was in the wrong. 

“I’ll Interac you the funds.” Bear looked puzzled at Horse’s words.

“We’ll teach you computers sooner or later, Bear.” I said. I loved computers, the wonders you could do with hacking. Not to mention video games were fun. 

“That’s okay. I’m happy coming to you when I need the technological help.” He said. He looked ready to get up and go right now. I guess our meeting was over.

I drank down the last of my disgusting coffee, I wasn’t one to turn down free caffiene no matter how rude it was, and stood up. Swinging my vintage world war 2 medic bag over one shoulder (I only mention it because I totally love the thing) I stood up. “I’ll let you know what flight I get and stuff. But I’ll have you know I’m flying out of Abbotsford. YVR is a beautiful airport, but that many people just gives me the hives.”

Horse blinked, Bear sighed. Neither, however, tried to convince me otherwise. Probably ‘cause YXX was cheaper to fly out of anyway. Either way, I was soon out the door and back into the rain of the Pacific North West; the Pacific North Wet to us locals.

I didn’t much like flying. Wait, let me rephrase that, I didn’t like flying when it wasn’t my wings doing the beating. But, I guess shifting to fly all the way to Toronto would be a bit of a waste of energy and take forever besides. It was possible to do a translocate, but that really would be a waste of energies and I really would be a useless bird for quite a while after; I only used it in the uptmost of emergencies. I wasn’t like Beaver who had an entire country’s worship, I didn’t have the energies to waste. I gave a glance up at the murky overcast sky. Maybe it’d be warmer in Toronto; I didn’t mind rain but I was getting a bit tired of all the gray.

[General Update] Just a few words on .. zzzzZzz..

(A Freddie clone, not the original.)

Thank you Speedy for another award, and thank you Mick for checking up on me. And thank you Hannah for the very nice quilt, don't worry, I won't tell your Mamma that you stole half her supplies to make it.(*) Maddy's personal nibbles with Umbra's fur all over it made it even better. ;)

Where I have been.. As some (most) of you know, I have all sorts of physical issues which result in pain. There is never NO pain, its always a scale of how much pain. Anyway, the  codeine  he had me on was working less and less after A LOT of bitching he's finally exploring different ways to deal with the pain. He won't prescribe "short acting" (4 - 6 hour) pills, only the long release. The problem is, PharmaCare don't cover most long release. Their opinion is, the short acting do the same thing and cost 1/10th the price. I can see their point, but the long release and short release actually do have quite different effects.

ANYWAY! So he put me on this medication that's supposed to regulate the nerves. While they'll still say "Ow." they'll do it properly and not  manically  and in full force. Or at least, that's the theory. I'm on week three now and I haven't really noticed any changes except I'm trying to not pop more pain pills because the pain is not fun. One of the side effects listed is "May cause drowsiness." I say it may cause narcolepsy. Holy crap, I go from drowsy/blurgh (where I am now) to SLEEP NOW! And if I don't want to fall asleep as I am, I have about 3 minutes to reposition or relocate myself.

So, as you can imagine, this has done WONDERS for my creative abilities. (Ah. Ha. Ha.) It also means I'm conscious for about 4 - 5 hours a day. (Seriously.) It wouldn't even be so bad if it were at least restful sleep.. but of course, its not.

Anyway, that's where I've been. Freddie is happy and chipper. My Cabana Boy is still far too good to me. And I had a dream the other night Mr Mick came to visit, stole all the bed covers, snored, and farted in my bed. I do so miss having a rabbit about.. :)

(* - No actual quilt was made. Honest. Truly. I don't know where all those supplies went, 'Shell!)