Date: Mon, 15 Aug 1994 18:11:05 EST Subject: Fluff: The Joshua Chronicles, part 2 At long last, part two appears. My apologies for the delay, and I ask you to remember that this is shared fluff. This is actually the first half of part two, part 2B (or not...) will follow by the end of the week (I hope). This is a joint effort between myself and Evighet, who you may recall as the one who forcibly met Gideon at the Equinox party. *grin* Enjoy! Sincerely, Joshua ___________________________________________________________________ Evighet wandered slowly through the outer gallery of Christie's New York auction house, only glancing at the art works installed there. They were meant as a lure, to bring in more buyers and higher prices, but she didn't care. She already knew the pieces she was going to acquire for the Museum, and she knew she'd have no real problem getting them. Besides, the people were far more interesting at the moment. A short distance away a plump woman wrapped in skin tight black silk stood trying to get her lover to buy her the "cute little picture" on the wall. Evighet wondered if she'd ever heard of the name Waterhouse. Probably not. She probably thought Pre- Raphaelite was a time before the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles. To her left a man, decked out in a Santini original, held a heated argument with a cellular phone over the best profit to be made purchasing one ancient vase over another. And beyond him...Evighet stopped. The man in the corner stood quietly studying the merits of a piece of Elizabethan furniture. Tall and lean, with sandy hair and an air of gentle self-assurance, he stood out in the crowd. At least to her he did. Curious, she quickly crossed the room and quietly came up behind him. "Joshua?" Joshua turned from his contemplation of the bulbous-legged table and smiled down at the 5'4" woman in the emerald green business suit. He'd last seen this same woman slam-dunked into the back of Gideon's head, but tonight she had her feet on the ground. "Evi--" he began, but she quickly put a finger to her lips. "Just Ev," she smiled. "Here, I'm just Ev. How are you? More importantly, how's the Baron?" "He's just fine," Joshua laughed softly. "He hasn't had anyone thrown at him lately. Prudence," he teased her. She winced. "Of all the unlikely names..." She shook her dark blond hair. "So, what are you doing at Christie's?" "I'm looking for antiques for a client," Josh replied. "I'm on commission to buy furnishings for her new condo." Evighet raised her eyebrows as she looked around at the well-heeled crowd. Bidding would go high for good items tonight, she could feel it. "There are cheaper places to look," she pointed out. "Mrs. Sims-Jones doesn't care about price tags," Joshua replied. "Besides, I really don't know where to look for the items she wants. I think I'm on a wild goose chase, and I'm the goose." "What does she want?" Evighet wanted to know. He told her. "Haunted?!", she mimicked in disbelief, "You're kidding. What would anyone short of a mage or occultist possibly want with something like that?" "Mrs. Sims-Jones likes the unusual," Josha replied. "I think she wants to have her Society friends over and point out a walnut what-not, telling them that it's possessed by the spirit of George Washington." He sighed. "I don't know whether I'm more worried that I won't get her what she wants, or that I will. She doesn't have any occult powers that I'm aware of." "She ought to be careful about what she requests, then," said Evighet thoughtfully. "Will _you_ be able to recognize what you're looking for?" "There's an off-hand chance..." Joshua began, noticing the look of concern in her eyes. He didn't get a chance to ask her about it, as they were interrupted by a gentleman in black announcing the start of the auction. As they entered the auditorium Evighet thought of how much Joshua reminded her of Erik. She could feel herself warming to him in a way she had never expected. She also found herself worrying about him. "What did you mean about an off-hand chance?" She whispered as she and Joshua took their seats with the other would-be purchasers. "I'm slightly psychic," Josh admitted, grinning at her widened eyes. "Nothing major, I can't see the future or anything like that, but I can sense the occult sometimes. I can see ghosts, for example, which comes in handy when Cecily drops by." "Especially if there's blood-tainted booze nearby," Evighet laughed as she remembered back to certain tipsy ghost a recent party and her sword-brandishing adventures. The auction began. Joshua carefully scrutinized each piece up for bids, both waiting for his unreliable sensitivity to tell him something and keeping a couple of other clients in mind. Evighet was waiting for two of the Greek vases and an early Papal manuscript to come on the block. As they came up, she bid fiercely on them, enjoying the challenge of the bidding much more than actually acquiring them. As money was really no object, both vases, the first depicting heracles at his labors and the second showing a battle at the gates of Troy, were soon hers. A librarian with shaggy grey hair, a beard and a reddened nose from too many two-hour lunches in a student pub gave her a hard fight over the manuscript, but Evighet eventually won out. Bored now, she only half listened as the auction continued. "And the next item here today is this exquisite 18th century corner cupboard......" The piece was auite astonishing, with inlaid strips of wood, standing on enameled bronze legs. It stood over nine feet tall, including the exquisite clock that topped it. Cherubs played across the lower shelf, and the upper one bore two candle sconces in the shape of flowers. To Evighet, the smell of blood and power was mesmerising. It was ancient, but still potent, and it was coming from the cupboard. "Joshua". Laying her hand on his arm she never took her eyes off the cupboard. "Bid on it." He blinked in surprise, for he sensed nothing from the cupboard, but he placed a bid on it. It was raised, and Joshua felt the keen enjoyment of competition. He topped the second bid by an amount meant to be enticing rather than crushing, and wasn't surprised when his own bid was bettered. There seemed to be only one other person in the running for the cupboard, which was a little surprising, but the reserve was out of most peoples' range. Hoping that Mrs. Sims-Jones wasn't kidding when she promised more funds, Joshua bid higher. And was immediately outbidden. He turned his head slightly to see a man several rows back just sitting down. He looked like a fairly ordinary man in his late thirties, blond and bearded, dressed in a good business suit that fit well. Lots of money, obviously. "Sir?" the auctioneer was looking pointedly at Joshua. He topped the last bid by a thousand. The bearded man bid another two. In the selling room, the crowd sensed a good fight and sat hushed, more reverant than they would be in church. Evighet was looking at Joshua with real concern now, but he gave her a reassuring wink and bid again. The blond bearded one shook his head violently when the auctioneer looked at him. "No other bids?" asked the auctioneer. "Yours, then, sir." He nodded to Joshua as the audience applauded politely. When the sale was finally over, Evighet accompanied Joshua back into the bowels of Christie's to see their purchases safely packaged for delivery. The cupboard was just being carefully crated, and Joshua gave them the address and phone number of where to send it. "Wonder what it was you felt," he murmured to Evighet. "Power," she said. "That cupboard's been used for blood magic. It leaves a taint that never comes out." She touched his arm again. "Isn't that the man that was bidding against you?" The blond man with the Jack Cassidy beard was arguing with one of the shippers on the dock at Christie's. Arguing and pointing at the crated corner cupboard. Joshua walked over to find out what was going on. "What seems to be--" The bearded man turned on him, swinging a fist so quickly that Joshua didn't see it coming. The crack! sounded across the loading dock as he was thrown to the ground. "Joshua!" Moving with unnatural speed Evighet was at his side in a moment, taking in the bloodied lip and the slightly dazed expression. Relief washed over her. He would be alright. As her hand moved down his check her anger grew. His attacker wouldn't be so lucky. She didn't give him time to react. She didn't care if he knew what she was, so much the better. Let him know what was going to take his little life. Spinning around she rose, her hand flashing out to wrap around the bearded man's throat. In the next instant she found a blackness wrapped around her, causing pain and draining her strength. _________ Any complaints, comments or e-brownies may be sent to the Fluffmaster at: fraser@vax.library.utoronto.ca, who will pass them on to the fluffsters involved. It's never too late to join the story! Date: Wed, 7 Sep 1994 19:53:20 EST Subject: Fluff: The Joshua Chronicles, part 2B Ahem. One red-faced breather here, apologizing for the long delay in bringing you episodes of my foray out into the world of antiques and the occult. I hope you enjoy it, however late it is! Joshua __________________________________________________________ Steph wandered the back streets of one of the wealthier financial districts of New York City, contemplating her current hunger and just what she was going to do about it. She wished that she hadn't been chased out of her domain in Boston, but what was she to do when faced with two magic-backed street gangs on bloodhunts for her? She made a dive for the nearest shadows as she heard the arguing begin and felt an immediate 'power' build-up somewhere in her vicinity. At first she thought that the hunters had found her again, but then she noticed the difference--even the most powerful of her adversaries didn't have the 'control' or sheer 'age' she felt in this field. After a few moments of contemplation, she allowed her youthful curiosity to override even her hunger and the terror that remembering her last night in Boston had revived. She crept forward between the narrow walled alleyways towards the dimly lit loading dock at the back of Christie's. From a well hidden nich in a nearby wall she observed the progression of an argument between an overly dressed man and one of the dockworkers. From what she could understand of their conversation, she realized that the 'suit' was trying to pay off the worker to 'lose' the crate he was trying too load. *Just another case of urban corruption*, she thought with the feline equivalent of a shrug. But then another 'suit' appeared to question the first and Steph settled in expecting a 'street comedy' as the two suits debated money and lies -- but what she saw was something utterly different. Without so much as a word of introduction the first 'suit' struck the second. Steph growled under her breath at the audacity of his uncultured, cowardly attack. *After all*, she thought, *from what I've seen, even the least of feline combat is an structured and honorable duel, not this unhonorable brawl*. Her anger continued to grow as she saw a woman appear by the fallen one's side, attempting to aid him only to be blasted by some sort of magical attack. Howling her rage Steph leapt at the antagonist, unconsiously shapeshifting to crinos (wereform) in mid flight. The 'suit' saw her out of the corner of his eye but misjudged her true nature and merely tried to bat her away with one hand. This was his undoing for the impact of theyoung werecat sent him flying against the wall with his suit shredded and bloody from her claws. Staggering backwards and seeing that his other two opponents were recovering, he dodged into the shadows to be quickly swallowed up by the night. Now that the excitement was over, however, Steph felt her ` vulnerability out in the open. Unconcously shape-shifting to her human form she turned towards the remaining two occupants of the alley and slowly backed away with her hands held ready to defend herself from any attacks. ************************************************************************** Joshua sat up, gingerly touching his bleeding lip with his fignertips. "Ow," he said. "He hit me." Concious of uttering the same thing that was said by everyone clobbered unexpectedly, he looked around for Evighet. She was slowly sinking to the floor, her expression blank, while the bearded man glared at her. Magic. Joshua could dimly feel the power. The man with the beard was a mage or a sorcerer, and not one of the CotN. Joshua looked around frantically for some means to distract this new enemy in order to save Evighet. The shipping clerks had all fled for cover. There'd be time later to worry about his reputation at Christie's, Josh reflected. Even as his hand closed around a hammer used to nail crates shut, a demented alley cat sprang at the bearded stranger. In a display of frantic feline frenzy, the cat tore at the stunned mage until he turned and ran, dripping blood in his wake. Dropping the hammer, Joshua ran to Evighet's side. She was just opening her eyes and trying to sit up. "Who _was_ that guy?" she asked. "And what chased him off?" "The alley cat from Hell," Joshua replied, pointing in the direction of the puglistic pussycat. He found himself pointing at wild-eyed young woman in torn jeans and an equally disshelved T-shirt, who was crouching on her haunches like a frightened cat. "A werecat!" Evighet exclaimed. "We do seem to attract an unusual type of people..." The woman shrank further back, looking for an escape route. "It's okay," Joshua called out to her. "We won't hurt you. You helped us against ... whoever that was." He felt his lip again. "Don't keep touching it!" Evighet chided him. Her own recouperating powers had already let her recover from the sorcerous attack on her. She'd love to go after the magic user and try for a rematch, but she wasn't about to leave Joshua. "We are glad you're here," she said, looking over at the werecat. "Don't be afraid of us. What's your name? (Friendliness was something she'd definately have to work on) "Steph," the woman replied, uncrouching ever so slightly in a movement that was uncertain and sinuous at the same time. "Hi, Steph," Josh smiled, then winced. "I'm Joshua, and this is Ev. Perhaps we should go somewhere that we can talk." The Christie's staff were beginning to return to the shipping room, looking around to see what damage had been done in the fight. Other than a misplaced hammer, Josh's lip, and a few specks of blood the fleeing mage had shed, there was no physical evidence of the encounter. Evighet turned toward the staff, a slight suggestion took care of what they did and did not notice. They still saw the blood, they simply didn't care. Not a hard thing to do in New York. "Anything else you need to take care of Joshua?" Joshua shook his head slowly, "Then let's get out of here." Taking his hand she led him and Steph to a rented limo around the corner... They adjourned to an all-night restaurant, where they quietly talked over the auction and the subsequent events. Steph, reassured that these two people meant her no harm, began to relax and told the them how she had seen the brief struggle in the loading dock. Unsure how far to trust them, she told them nothing of her own background. Joshua was a very open person in some regards, but understood his new friend's reticence. Neither he nor Evighet volunteered much about themselves, either. Since she seemed so alone, however, Evighet did tell Steph a little about the CotN, dropping hints that she should seek out the help of those who understood her special talents and could help her develop them, as well as offering some protection from enemies. When Steph had absorbed this information and nodded her comprehension, Evighet glanced at the clock on the far wall of the restaurant. "It's getting late, and I have to get back to West Coast before the sun comes up. Where are you off to Joshua?" she smiled at him. "Funnily enough, the West Coast," he grinned back. "I wanted to go surprise Azh and see if she's got anything unusual in her shop." "Then come with me," Evighet urged him. "We'll take the red-eye, and we can talk. Did you ever hear about Daes's first party?." As he shook his head she mumbled softly, "you will...", and turned to their rescuer. "Is there anywhere we can drop you Steph?" She looked uncertain. "I don't really know..." she said. "Do you think there's anyone who can help me?" Joshua looked at Evighet, then back at Steph. "Maybe I could call Samantha," he suggested, retreiving his cellular phone from his briefcase. "Too Yuppy," he grinned at Evighet, "but indispensible, in my line." He dialled a number in Atlantic Canada. "Sammie? It's Joshua. No, I'm fine. Everyone's fine, as far as I know. I'm in New York, and I think there's soembody here you should meet, and speak to." He quickly filled in the vampiric cat on the situation with Steph, and Samantha agreed to arrive ASAP in New York. Five minutes later, she walked through the door of the restaurant. "I thought you said she lived in Canada," Steph said, turning wide eyes on Joshua. "She does," he grinned. "Over here, Samantha." She arrived at the table, and sat down for a serious talk with Steph. "We have to go, or we'll miss our plane," Evighet said to Joshua. "Steph, I think we're leaving you in good hands?" "Yes, thank you," the little were-cat replied. "I hope I will see you again soon." "I hope so, too," Joshua smiled. "Sammie, you take good care of her, you hear?" "I won't feed her to the Wulf Pack, Uncle Josh," Samantha replied with a grin. Evighet and Joshua said goodbye, then were whisked away in the limo. They stopped briefly to pick up Joshua's things and let him check out of his hotel, then rushed to the airport on time to make the red-eye connection to Los Angeles and San Franscisco. ________ This is shared fluff, brought to you by the co-operative efforts of Evighet, Nightshine/Steph, and Samantha, the Vampiric Cat. And, of course... The Fluffmaster fraser@vax.library.utoronto.ca