Board Thread:Archive/@comment-24866242-20140529204815

Subject: A Day in the Life.... Date: Thu, June 4, 1998 2:10 PM From: KatrylleM

Woke up, fell outta bed, dragged a comb across my head. Found my way downstairs and had a cup and looking up, I noticed I was late... -Lennon & McCartney

She had started her day much as she had any other since Ilrea's arrival. Alarm at 6:30, hit the snooze once or twice until 7:00 then struggle to get her daughter up, washed, fed dressed and off to school. Once back in heaven, amongst the squalling of Joke and Avalon over some minor conflict, contrived either innocently or maliciously, she would complete the various household chores that had mysteriously cropped up of their own accord.

It had been during one of these menial tasks that the realization had hit her with the all the clarity spoken of only by those unfortunate enough to fall witness to their dull and humdrum lives passing before their eyes. She had become something that terrified her more than the threat of dying or, worse yet, being alone and destitute could ever instill in her....she was a housewife and mother.

Suddenly, the faces of all those women who could put the likes of Jason Vorheese and Michael Meyers combined to shame floated through her mind; Mrs. Cleaver, Mrs. Cunningham, Mrs. Brady............Mrs. Ryax.

She was shaking badly and, without a glance at the pile of dirty dishes left over from dinner the night before, she kicked her way though the three neatly separated piles of dirty laundry and skittered out the door in search of Mognieo.

She had been nearly as long in her neglect of her daily workouts as she had been in transforming into a Stepford Wife. At first, it had been to heal the various and fairly serious wounds she had received at the hands of Cordyne and the Drow. Then, Ry had left her in command of not only the Vextis, but of Ilrea, when he was called back to Orian. There had always been some excuse. This morning's realization had shattered every one of them.

It was later that morning on holodeck three in the merciless hands and relentless staff of her mentor that Rah's urgent call had found her.

"Kat, I hate to disturb you, but.....see?...Ryax...he's on a shuttle exploring a nebula and th'comm can't get through...he isn't.....or can't....we can't reach him."

Kat frowned, but she wasn't overly worried. She knew her husband well enough to realize that if there was a problem, he'd find a way out of it or find a way to call for help.

"Tis alright, Rah. Git a hold of Ryan. I'm sure he kin handle wha' ever came up."

The extended silence on the other end of the comm. gave Kat the distinct impression she could be mistaken on this last little point. Her suspicions were confirmed not a moment later.

"Kat. It's Ilrea. The school's been trying to find either of you. They finally got a hold of Yazmen who's taken her to Heaven."

She didn't need to hear any more. She had known for a long time trouble was headed in their direction.

"Alright Rah. Thanks....an' keep trying t'raise Ry, will ya?"

Kat barely heard Rah's confirmation. With a heavy sigh, she turned to find Mognieo right behind her. In his own way, he too knew what had happened to disturb the day's lessons.

"Remember, little one, she is young and, although she seems secure, she is lost in a place she still does not know or understand." Kat's only response was a slight nod. Over the past two years, she had become use to Mognieo's insightful observations. This didn't mean she understood them any better, but she *had* become use to them.

So, for the second time that day, Kat found herself hurrying through the corridors of the Vextis.

Subject: Re: A Day in the Life.... Date: Thu, June 4, 1998 2:30 PM From: KatrylleM

Found my coat and grabbed my hat Made the bus in seconds flat. Found my way upstairs and had a smoke And somebody spoke and I went into a dream. AHHhhhhhhh...... -Lennon and McCartney

When she arrived at the doors to Heaven, she paused to steel herself against what was about to happen. The morning's workout had left her sweaty and breathless, but the rush towards the confrontation she was about to engage in wreaked indescribable tortures on her mind and body. For the first time since meeting Ilrea, Kat truly wished she hadn't taken on the responsibility.

Taking a deep breath, Kat finally opened the doors. Apparently Yazmen had been pacing. As Kat stepped into the living room, her sister-in-law was in her arms, trying to comfort or take comfort in the closeness.

"Where's Ryax?" The simple question brought a slight frown to Kat's face and, rather than making up some trite excuse for him, she simply shrugged in reply, bringing a deep sigh from Yazmen.

Kat's gaze shifted to the hallway that led to the bedrooms in the back of the house. Again Yazmen sighed, this time, however, she added a gentle pat to Kat's shoulder and half whispered "Good-Luck" before heading out the front door.

Yes, luck. She half heartedly prayed to her favorite local deity, the Lady Tymora, goddess to all gamblers and fools.....the Goddess of Luck.

With a sigh to better anything Yazmen had produced, Kat began the hardest journey she would ever take in her life...the 20 some-odd feet to her daughter's bedroom.

Subject: Re: A Day in the Life.... Date: Thu, June 4, 1998 3:45 PM From: KatrylleM

I read the news today Oh-boy. Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lankinshire. And though the holes were rather small, They had to count them all. Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall. I'd love to turrrrrnnn youuuuuuu onnnnnnnnn. -Lennon and McCartney.

Kat found Ilrea where she knew she would, sitting cross-legged on her bed. The zoo must have sensed something was wrong because there wasn't a single pet to be seen. Even Grizz, who could and pretty much always did sleep through anything that had nothing to do with food, was no where to be found.

"Friggin cowards." flicked quickly through Kat's mind at the abandonment of the animal kingdom. Folding her arms across her chest, Kat leaned against Ilrea's door jam and studied her.

Ilrea was like no human five-year-old. This went without saying in most cases, what with having Ry for a father and, not one, but two Drow women as birth mothers. But it wasn't just the girl's physical appearance that varied. Her strength and intelligence had far surpassed that of her peers and Kat had the feeling this contributed to the current problem even if only slightly.

For the moment, however, Ilrea was like any other young child who had done something very wrong. Cross-legged, her arms folded defiantly across her chest, Ilrea had not bothered to look up when Kat appeared. Her gold-green felinoid eyes remained locked angrily on a toy laying in the middle of the floor as if somehow willing it to self-destruct in some fiery blaze of glory. Although trembling slightly, her lower lip protruded in the ever familiar position of the infamous 5 year old pout. Kat's resolve softened greatly, though she made no move towards the girl.

"Wanna talk aboot it?" Ilrea didn't move so Kat shrugged and pushed herself away from the doorjamb. "Alright. Suit yerself. But I cannae help ye ifin y'dinnae tell m'yer side o'it."

Ilrea suddenly came to life. "What do you care?! You're not my mommy!!! I don't have to listen to you!!!"

Kat frowned as the girl's sudden outburst bit deep. Without another word, she turned and left the room.

Subject: Re: A Day in the Life.... Date: Fri, June 5, 1998 1:21 AM From: KatrylleM

I read the news today Oh-boy About a lucky man who made the grade. And though the news was rather sad, Well I just had to laugh. I saw the photograph. -Lennon and McCartney

It had seemed like hours had past since Ilrea's outburst. Kat had spent the entire time on the "back porch" of Heaven nursing a bottle of whiskey.

The back porch was actually a small holodeck built as part of Heaven, and, at the moment, it had been set to represent a warm starry night on the side of a mountain that had once been theirs. The soft sounds of the night creatures had soothed Kat only slightly.

Kat made no indication she had heard Ilrea step out. For a long time the two remained completely silent. When Ilrea finally placed her small hand on Kat's shoulder, the older woman still said nothing, preferring to take the hand and draw the child gently into her lap to cuddle in silence.

Ten minutes later, the first words were spoken softly. "Y'know y'need t'be punished fer wha' y'did a'school."

Ilrea's small voice nearly broke Kat's heart. "I know." was all she said. Kat had suffered all forms of pain in her life, both physical and psychological, but none of it had come anywhere near what she felt hearing Ilrea's outburst. Sighing softly, she began absently stroking the girl's long white hair.

"Ready t'tell m'wha' happened?" At first, the only response to her question was a slight nod against Kat's chest. Soon, however, Ilrea took a deep, shuddering breath and began her story.

It had started about two months before. During class one day, the subject had turned to mommies, daddies and marriage and Ilrea had quite innocently admitted that her birth mother and her daddy had never been married. The taunts and name calling began. To add to the child's pain, the other children kept reminding her that Kat was only her step-mom, not her "real" mom. Kat had known about all of this almost from the moment it begun and had spoken to the teacher on several occasions about it. Unfortunately, the teacher was of the mind that this was just children being children. *She* didn't have to see the pain in Ilrea's eyes or hear her softly crying at night.

As Kat had feared, the torment escalated to violence and Maria Delgato, also age 5 and head tormentor extraordinaire, came out the worse for it. She had chosen the wrong day to "accidentally" pull Ilrea's hair, adding a few quips about having no mother to the injury. Ilrea had had all she was gonna take and shoved Maria. Maria, lacking in common sense as most children do, did not back down but pushed Ilrea back. Ilrea lost some control, the ending result climaxing in the fracture of Maria's right arm. Maria didn't know how lucky she had been. Not only did Ilrea have Ry's claws, the kind that could shred with the slightest touch, but she had also been trained by Ry, Kat and Mognieo in fighting techniques. Perhaps it had been all this training that had caused Ilrea to maintain at least some of her control. In all reality, Maria had gotten off light. Kat was pretty sure her parents wouldn't see it that way, however.

Only when the battle was over and Maria was screaming bloody murder did the teacher realize what Kat had been trying to tell her. Unfortunately, it was too late and now, lord only knew what was going to happen to Ilrea because of the teacher's inability to understand the mind of a five year old.

Kat sighed softly. The pain and regret in Ilrea's voice made her want to cry for the child. Still, Kat couldn't condone what had been done. Understand it, yes, but condone it, no.

"Ilrea, I know I've said this afore, but wha' tha' brat said....they're only words. Nae more. I've seen more stupidity....more fightin an' deaths than I care ta simply acause sumone said sumthin sumone else dinnae like." Kat held a hand up to silence Ilrea's protests. "Ignore 'em, honey. Ye know it ain't true....Daddy an *I* know it ain't true...who else matters? In m'heart, almost from th' day we brought ya here, y've been m'daughter. Nae m'step-daughter....M'*daughter*. I love ye as much as Maria's real mom loves her....perhaps more. Point is, Maria is a moron. She's shootin off a'th' mouth wi'oot knowin th' facts. I love ye, Ilrea. Plain an' simple."

Kat felt Ilrea tremble as she cried silently. Again the two slipped into silence as Kat rocked her daughter.

Ryax posted June 30, 1998 12:03 AM

Ryax didn't care about nebulae but this one reminded him of home. A place within his own universe called the Red Lands. The one place he ever truly felt at peace. The fact that the nebula broke down communications, and cut him off from Vextis, worked out just fine.

One of these days he'd have to bring Kat into the nebula with him, but for now it was time to head back. No sooner did he clear the nebula, than the shuttles comm begin to beep.

"Captain, we've been trying to get a hold of you for a while now."

Ry couldn't stand being called Captain or Sir but he couldn't get the crew to call him anything but, so he dealt with it.

"There's been a, problem, with your daughter at school."

"Ah jeeze" Ry shook his head. He knew it was coming, he had hopped it wouldn't but deep down he knew it would. He pictured the worse. He saw images of the many holodeck sparing partners Ilrea had shredded in fits of rage. Ry knew this rage well. Very well. His had even grown to a point where it gained its own name. It was definitely the one thing Ry didn't want to pass along to his children. This was why he focused Ilrea's training on control, why he told her over and over to ignore them.

"Captain?"

Ry just sat there for a moment, lost in thought, before finally drawing a deep, calming breath, and answered.

The shuttle ride back to Vextis wasn't nearly long enough. He stepped off of the shuttle and started the long march to the private turbo lift that would take him directly to Heaven.

"Ryax"

Dante, one of the few crew members of the ship who didn't bother him with Sir or Captain. Except of course, when he *wanted* to bother him.

"Yeah." Ry stopped in front of the lift, picturing the worse, hoping the best.

"it was a broken arm. She will be sore for a while but she is fine."

"Thanx, Dante" He let out a small sigh of relief and entered the lift. As he came closer and closer to the eventual, talk, he was supposed to have/give to Ilrea Ry found himself silently hoping for something, anything, to happen. So, of course, it did.

"Captain"

"Yeah Rah, wha's up??"

"We're receiving a distress signal"

"Anybody we know??"

Be careful what you wish for...

"Unidentified, Sir"

"Okay... set a corse for th'signal an' le's see wha's goin' on. I'm on my way to th'bridge now."

...You just might get it

LaeAnne posted June 30, 1998 12:37 AM

The Mandala was almost done. In the dimness of the room, lit only by several small candles, LaeAnne smiled softly. It had been years since she had settled down enough to work on the memories of the Buddhist high monk she had replaced due to an assassination attempt. His thoughts on the sand creation of the mystical Mandala fascinated her, though the religion itself was of no real interest. Just the idea that it would take weeks, months, sometimes even years to create such an intricate and detailed sand painting only to destroy it moments after its completion was incredible to her. But, as she had discovered these many weeks, the work was extremely satisfying.

Once the Mandala was complete, she had promised herself, she would destroy it herself then send the combination of multi-colored sand and crushed jewels across the farthest reaches of space. In theory, this was to release the soul to a higher plane. LaeAnne wasn't quite sure she was ready to believe that part of it.

The comm broke through her reverie. Rah's soft, pur-like growl produced a faint smile across her lips. "LaeAnne to the bridge. We've received a distress signal and are setting a course for the heading provided."

LaeAnne unfolded herself from the lotus position she had been in while working on the outer edge of the Mandala and approached the comm. "Message received. I will be there in a few moments."

With none of the residual stiffness she should have normally felt from holding that position for so long, she made her way into her bedroom to change from the traditional robes into her security uniform. It would seem the darkest reaches of space would have to wait to receive her offering for a while longer. 