Summary:This has to be the unluckiest cat in the world, the one that finds its way into Fenris' backyard. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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I was the one who had it all. I was the master of my fate.
I never needed anybody in my life. I learned the truth to late.
I'll never chase away the pain. I close my eyes and she's still there.
I let her steal into my melancholy heart. It's more than I can bear.
Now I know she'll never leave me, even as she runs away.
She will still torment, calm me, hurt me, move me come what may.
Wasting in my lonely tower, waiting by an open door.
I'll fool myself she'll walk right in, and be with me forevermore.
Fenris is picking at his guitar, singing a song from a recent rather popular film. His voice is deep, nearly matching that of the actor who sang it to begin with. This is a habit of his, frequently after dinner, that he gets the guitar out and plays and sings. They say that music has a soothing power and it might be true. Fenris first took up the art of music because he found it calming and he has been an avid student of many instruments in the thousands of years he's lived on earth.
His singing voice isn't bad either. But then, he's had a long time to practice.
"I should ask if that makes me the beauty or the beast." Astryd smirks in Fenris' direction as he sings. She's seated on the couch next to him, reading a book of some sort. Though her attention might not be fully on it.
This is their evenings for the most part and has been their routine from at least the time they arrived in New York. Dinner completed, kitchen tidied - if the events of the universe didn't need their attention - this is were you find the Kerensky's.
"I'm the beast, obviously." Fenris laughs as he picks at his guitar. It might seem like a slow paced, idyllic life, but immortals just move at a different pace than most people. Rarely will Fenris find something that needs to be done RIGHT NOW and even when he is moving quickly his plans can take days or weeks to come to fruition.
There's a noise in the back yard and Fenris turns, his hands stopping on the strings. "What on earth…?"
It's a cat. A cat that has jumped - well, fallen - into the yard and knocked over a potted plant. A sleek, black cat.
That is bleeding from it's side.
"And of that I'm glad…" Astryd smiles back. "… very glad." Does it seem idyllic? Perhaps it does to mortals who's lives are so hectic and rushed. For the blonde, it just is. She's really just traded hearths for something more modern as the ages have passed.
"What's that?" The noise has her laying the book aside and rising, heading the glass sliding door out the back.
Seeing the cat, the Valkyr takes a moment to gather a towel so she can wrap the poor thing up and lay it gently on the picnic table out the back. "Try not to scare it, won't you my heart? I really prefer to have all the skin on my hands."
Keeping her voice low, as she bends she speaks to the feline. "Hello there, little one. Let me take a look at you. I know someone who would expect me to…"
Is this one of Basts? Someone elses? Or just a plain moggy?
Fenris doesn't move any closer than he already is. The cat looks up at Astryd with yellow eyes and then changes. Expands. Soon it is a dark haired woman with cat's ears laying on the picnic table. Which is at least better than the ground. The towel is draped over her side but reddening quickly.
"Sanctuary…" She murmurs, asking to be protected according to the old ways.
"Granted." Fenris murmurs. "What happened?"
"Curiosity almost killed the cat."
"Get the first aid kit and we'll need your talents…" Astryd instructs Fenris without really thinking about the fact she's doing it. This woman is hurt and needs help before they can do they anything else.
"Lay still Bast, while we tend you. Sanctuary is granted, of course." She should probably ask more questions but it's not in her nature to refuse it. Anyone could request that in their home.
Pressing the towel to the womans side while Fenris brings the kit and himself, Astryd gives the Cat-Goddess a once over. "Were you investigating the goings on at Rahm-Tek and someone not like it?"
"Yes. I had been doing that a bit." She says weakly as Fenris retreats into the house to get the medical supplies. He returns by the time the wound is exposed. It's a nasty cash and bleading a lot. But that's the only danger to it. It hasn't hit anything vital. And that's hard to do on beings like Bast anyway.
"Someone was waiting for me at home. I didn't get a good look at them but they didn't… I didn't sense them coming. They were hidden somehow. Hit me with some kind of blade. Bit into the flesh like fire."
Fenris kneels down. "Hold still. I'll see what I can do about the bleeding."
It is indeed a nasty gash and as Astryd tries staunch the bleeding, she also tries to get a feel for the type of blade that would have made it. "I know it hurts, Bast, but you aren't in any danger." She lets Fenris near, so he can do what he does.
"You didn't sense them?" Bit into the flesh like fire has the Valkyr looking at the God-Wolf "Did you recognise anything else about them once they attacked?"
Could it be the Sluagh who'd been sent to hunt to Baldur? That really doesn't make sense to the blonde but she doesn't discount anything at the moment.
"I know they had a khopesh." Bast offers as Fenris works. She winces. He pretends not to notice that she is wincing… but he notices.
"An Egyptian saber. Interesting. That suggests one of yours. Or do you think it's a red herring."
"I don't know…" Bast says, laying her head back and trying not to focus on what Fenris is doing to stem the bleeding and close the wound up.
"It… might have been a shade of some. He, it, whatever… smelled like death… Smelled like he was dead…"
"That explains the wound but not the fire." Astryd murmurs, smoothing the hair back from the Goddesses face. "An enchanted blade or blade treated with a serum might." She's thinking aloud, getting the cat-woman to focus on her. "If he smelt like he was dead, could he have been one of Anubis' Jackal soldiers?"
Then again it could be one of Osiris'. The Khopesh is probably the key to that.
"Tell us what you had been doing … "
"Perhaps, but I didn't think Anubis had it out for me. Unless he is somehow subverted or otherwise… not himself." Bast closes her eyes as Fenris finishes up and seems to be thinking. "That hurt by the way."
'Hurt less than doing it with just my claws and the thread." Fenris smirks.
"Point. Hmmmm. No, Astryd. It was less the scent of someone who had been around death a lot and more the scent of one of the departed. But I have no idea who from those realms might be able to harm me, or would want to. Unless…"
Her eyes narrow. "That's not possible…"
"I'd been going through the company's financial documents. I had thought I had found something that might lead me to what I needed to figure out how these devices were being paid for. It was just a case of making some calls in the morning and getting some bank information. Of course when I got home…"
"Anubis isn't the only one in your Pantheon to be associated with the Underworld." Astryd points out. She can think of two others she's run into. Not that she says anything just yet.
"It might hurt, Bast, but you should see the pretty stitches he's making. So small and dainty, you'd swear he's born to ply to needle and thread."
"It wouldn't be first time that a Lord of the Underworld has used its denizons as foot soldier." She adds as Bast continues. "And the fact you said the Kopesh burned as well, is telling." Fenris will need to finish dressing the area, but that won't take long.
"You found someone then. Who? They are clearly watching the company records to see who accesses them."
"It's possible that the King of the Dead sent someone forth but…" Bast frowns. "There's an old story from our past of a man who turned his back on us. He tried to take our people away, to worship another. Eventually the priesthood revolted and had his desendents killed and his memory erased from the histories but… his god was a god of light and fire…"
"Akhenaten." Fenris supplies the name. "I've heard this story. What happened to his soul?"
"We… don't know. It never came before Anubis for judgement."
Fenris looks at Astryd with interest. A dead man did this perhaps? A very vengeful human. But how did he come into this world? And why now?
"I don't know names yet. But the transactions are related to our research department."
"Originally Amenhotep IV" Astryd adds with a sigh. She's heard the stories as well. "He turned his back on Osiris and Ra to worship the one known as The Aten." Both Basts and Fenris' stories match with what she's heard. "You can sit up now, if you like. Would you like help?"
Soon, she'll usher them all inside and get them comfortable.
"I might know …" the blonde says quietly about the souls whereabouts. "… or at least, I might know where to search. But why him? And why now? The Aten has remained aloof from the affairs of the realms for all this time."
Her mind is filling in details as they speak.
"What were the transactions then?"
Bast offers her hand up for that help and does sit up. Her ears flick in pain but she's not bleeding now so Fenris must be doing something right.
"We were never especially sure who the Aten was. There have been… rumors that connected him to other popular beings worshiped in monotheistic religions here on earth but nothing we've ever confirmed."
If Astryd actually knows who The Aten is, it's news to Bast. News that the Pesedjet would probably find quite interesting.
"I don't know why now. But if we could confirm that he is missing from wherever he went, that would at least be a start. AS to why now… it has to be connected to the attempts to start Ragnarok and sew discord between our tribes. Is it possible that something or someone offered him something?"
"They were disguised as resource requisitions but deliveries were never made. I think they were payments or coverups for getting something else. I just need to find out whose authorization is on them and see if the banks can confirm the identity of the person who made that signature. I suspect… the man in the film and the man we have on file won't match."
"No one does but they leave a trail through the Underworlds." The blonde answers quietly, helping the cat goddess to her feet and then gesturing inside. She'll collect the towel and the detritus from Fenris' work later and deal with them.
When the woman is settled on the couch, Astryd looks to Fenris to pour drinks. Something … strong, preferably.
"You will stay the night, won't you Bast? You did claim Sanctuary, after all."
"I can search the places I know and see where they lead me. Akhenaten is almost much there as anywhere. No one knows for certain who The Aten is, that's true but he hasn't featured in the affairs of Midgardians since that time."
"What would it take for a deity like them to get involved? Not a lot, I wouldn't think. The promise of a rise to prominence, to set their accounting straight - maybe even get revenge for what was done to their followers in the doing."
That's a chilling thought and there's more than one deity that might be bought with such a promise.
The information on the bank has Astryd nodding slowly. "Then I shall go to the bank with you first thing. Do you think wearing my armour might be a little much?"
"Provided he doesn't chase me up a tree or something like that." Bast smiles weakly. "I don't think I'm in much of a condition to leave. Not with a potential assassin wandering around."
"No promises." Fenris teases mildly.
"Even if it IS Akenaten, there's no reason yet to think that The Aten is involved. He might have been offered a chance at revenge by someone else." Bast points out. "Either way, that bank information is key and I can't let it get erased, hidden or similar so yes, someone needs to go. Making a… fashion statement with your armor might alarm the mortals a bit though, don't you think?"
"Drinks, please Fenris." Astryd murmurs. She could of course make tea but something stronger seems in order. "That's possible too, Bast. That it is just Akenaten seeking revenge for what was done to him. I can make some enquiries in the Underways and see what information I can glean." She looks to Fenris and then to Bast considering carefully. "I should go tonight. The shades of the dead don't remember well and their sense of time is fleeting. If he was active, the sooner I investigate the more luck I will have."
And luck it will be in a way.
"Getting chased up a tree by Fenris can be quite … exhilirating." The blonde teases adding "My armour should impress the serious nature of your visit on the mortals." That's deadpan but she winks.
Fenris gets up and when he returns he has three tumbles of Asgardian Ale. It seemed the most appropriate given the situation. It's also strong enough to dull the pain Bast is feeling.
"The last person I chased up a tree didn't seem to enjoy it. But perhaps I did it wrong. Maybe I should try again." He says with a small smirk.
"Just don't practice on me. You might catch me and I'm not sure I want to find out what happens when you do that." Bast says.
Fenris smirks more.
"Do you have enough time to walk the underworlds and still return to escort Bast to the bank tomorrow?" The Old Wolf asks of his companion. "That sounds like a busy night for you."
"You never know, Bast, you might enjoy it as well." Astryd says lightly, accepting the mug from Fenris when he brings them over. "And the last person you chased up a tree was a Mortal, Fenris. You were *also* in wolf form when you did it. It was rather amusing to watch, to be honest."
"I should, my heart," Astryd answers though her look clouds just a little "As long as nothing goes wrong. It's not like I *require* a full nights sleep to function, after all. If I don't return in time, you can escort Bast in my stead. Just try not to send too many mortals grey if you do."
"I didn't think you'd want me to enjoy it." Bast says sticking her tongue out. She accepts the drink and takes a sip. Then she slowly, very slowly, sits up.
"If you went missing that would be a bad sign though." The cat goddess points out.
Fenris nods. "Were you to disappear in the underworlds seeking out this particular clue that might be an indication of how far our opponent's reach has spread. And it seems quite far indeed."
Astryd chuckles and helps Bast up. If the Cat Goddess is teasing like that, she's on the mend. "I didn't say missing, I said didn't return in time." The blonde points out. "Time runs differently in the Underworlds and I don't know what type of obstacles I might encounter when I get there. Not everyone who dwells in those places are as favourably disposed to me as you are."
"But if I did go missing, you would indeed know and I don't think a certain God-Wolf would give up a Raven quite so easily as Odin One-Eye discarded her."
"No, indeed not." Fenris murmurs. "Very well. If you are unable to escort Bast tomorrow for some reason I shall do so. Just don't be too late. If your armor would make a statement, my presence would be like painting a sign on their windows. With foul language. In neon pink."
It's sure to get people's attention is what he means and probably not in a good way.
"Be careful, Astryd." Bast says. "Whatever attacked me was easily capable of harming one of us."
"As careful as I ever am, Bast." Astryd answers glancing at Fenris. "You must remember who I decided to associate with when you consider that statment."
"Now, let me make sure our guest room is made up and see what what spare clothing I have that might fit you for tonight and tomorrow." She takes a deep breath. "It wouldn't be the first time I've been hunted by something similar."