Mirandahh Asche Drachenn slipped into the cafeteria. She hoped to hide from the trauma for a moment a with a nice bowl of mystery stew.Bliss Nadine Lovejoy toddled out of the kitchen carrying a big pot of stew. Her glance flickered to Ash as she set the pot down. "Evening uhm ... Medic, right?"
Ash wrinkled her nose at the fine smelling concoction, the question taking a moment to register. "Eh? Oh ... Just call me Ash."
"I hope no one minds, the kitchen staff didn't mind me coming in and practicing my cooking skills. Especially since I brought my own meat and stuff."
"Hell, have a blast." Ash replied with a wisp of a smile.
Bliss grinned. "Sort of my way of paying back for all the tests I've been having done."
A slender young man dressed in a black longcoat entered the hospital. He fingered a small crystal at his neck as he headed for the cafeteria. Shad Grey sniffed the air and spoke in a quiet, almost skeptical voice from the entrance. "Real food tonight?"
Garth Lowinn emerged from the stairwell, with a powered down taser in one hand. The aroma from the cafe attracted him, though he had a different reason to be out. Garth moved up behind Shad and poked him in the side with the inactive taser. "Go on in, son."
"Ah ... nice to see you up and about Garth." Shad walked in and glanced quietly about. "Aye ... I've been a bit busy."
"Nice to be up and about, Shad." Garth followed Shad in, sniffing.
"Well, the meat isn't a mystery tonight." Bliss assured Ash. "It's a nice little beastie I caught myself."
"And she cooks, too." Garth grinned.
Ash thought she could live with that. She scrubbed her fingers through her crew cut. "Yeah? Well, what is it?" She inched closer to the pot.
"Rabbit stew. Well, my Gran called them rabbits anyway."
"Smells great." Ash nodded, amazed as miraculously, her stomach actually grumbled.
"Real food that I hunted and cooked myself." Bliss grinned. "I also have apple and peach tarts cooling in the kitchen."
"What's a tart?" Ash asked, practically salivating as she edged to where the bowls were stacked.
"Tart? A pastry ... whatever a pastry is." Shad shrugged slightly. "Actually I think it's like a pie."
Bliss blinked. "Something my Gran taught me to make. Yeah, a pastry ... a sweetened fruit in a flaky crust."
Shad gave a sage nod, "I saw something like that once."
"I also made lots of biscuits and nothing muffins." Bliss lifted a lid revealing the muffins and biscuits.
"Biscuits and muffins?"
"I'll go get the tarts." Bliss wandered back into the kitchen, adding over her shoulder to Shad, "Yeah, biscuits and muffins."
"Woh..." Shad smiled sincerely. He held his motorcycle helmet under his arm and watched as Ash dished herself out some of that stew. Ash grabbed up a spoon, a look of awe glowing on her features. She'd lived with hospital food her whole life and never looked at it as more than food; sustenance. She selected a corner table to become one with her meal in earnest.
Bliss came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of apple and peach tarts. She set them down off the side of the stew. A pair of roasted Ski'ribbs joined the stew as she bustled about laying out the food she'd caught and cooked.
Ash continued to eat alone, chewing slowly as she savored each bite. She mumbled quietly, "This is ... is ... delicious."
"Thank you, Ash." Bliss grinned. "I'd have made jam for the biscuits, but there wasn't enough fruit."
Ash darted a quick look up, but since her mouth was still full of stew, all she could do was nod and take another spoonful.
Garth twirled the taser in his hand and sniffed again. The aroma was making him hungry even though he'd eaten previously.
Shad glanced at the taser, curiously. "Where'd ya get that?"
"From a guard. During the kidnapping."
"Kidnapping? Guard?" Garth's offhanded reference had Shad confused for a moment. "Oh ... a child right?"
Garth nodded to Shad as he moved toward the coffee pot. "Yep ... right out of the nursery."
"Uh ... heard a baby was kidnapped." Shad frowned. "Grreat..."
"Tried to stop him ... in the process he killed six guards."
"Looks like a regular taser. Heard there are some that shoot out something to shock from a relative distance ... six guards?" Shad rubbed his chin. "Wow..."
Garth nodded. "Yeah..."
"The guards must've been not that good..."
"I did all I could..." Garth chuckled as he poured a cup of coffee. "That's an understatement Shad."
"Yeah ... I hear ya..." Shad nodded. "News gets better. An orphanage of the Fellowship was attacked ... By the Church. Think they used some new weapon of some sorts."
Overhearing their conversation, Bliss agreed with Shad, "I think I heard about that in my wanderings through the city."
Garth raised a brow, "Everyone picking on children?"
Shad glanced at him quietly and frowned. "There was a Freeman base there too."
Garth sipped the coffee as he moved away from the pot, then turned back to Shad. "Why are telling me that?"
"This weapon could seriously crush the Freemen and Fellowship."
"That's not my fight anymore, Shad."
Shad nodded. "I don't care much for the Freemen myself now, but they are better than the Church ... Well, some of the people in it are." He shrugged.
Garth nodded, then moved over to Bliss, not particularly wanting to talk about the outside conflict at the moment. "Bliss, did you speak to Caine?"
"I haven't seen him yet." Bliss smiled. "He's a busy man and I have been out hunting or cooking. Hmm, now if I could get my hands on some tomatoes I could make up a nice lizard roast." She mused softly. "Course I would have to catch the lizard first." Bliss winked at Garth. "My Gramps taught me to catch it, my Gran how to cook it."
Garth nodded. "Works best that way."
"Well, it's been a while since I had an actual stove to cook on." Her smile beamed, "It was fun and very relaxing."
Ash listened to the conversation, which served as a background to the real food as she watched Bliss set out a pot of mashed tubers, and another of assorted steamed greens. As her bowl was half empty, Ash pushed to her feet to rescue a few biscuits from their basket. Just behind her, Shad meandered over to the food. He quietly murmured, "Hhhhhellllo..." then reached to snag a few biscuits and muffins.
With a sidelong glance at Shad, Ash hugged the biscuits she'd selected to her stomach -- Then scurried away back to her table. She dipped her biscuit into the stew, even as she sat, and almost cried at the flavor -- Never having thought food this good could be possible.
Shad took a bite from the biscuit, almost hungrily finishing it off. "Hmm ... nice cooking Bliss." He smiled and grew quiet, stuck momentarily in a reverie of better days.
"Thank you." Bliss gave Shad a pleased smile.
A woman known by the name, Sierra Black, stepped into the room. Her hand rested near a pistol handle at her hip as her blue eyes cast about in caution. She was followed by a man who only gave a glance to the others as his arms crossed over his pristine white jacket. "All clear, Caine." Sierra advised him as she took a stance near the door to let him pass.
"Thank you ever so much, Sierra." Caine strode past her and took a slow look around.
Garth looked around, giving a twirl of the taser, then noted Caine. "Here's your friend now, Bliss."
"Evening Caine." Bliss waved from behind the little bounty of food she had prepared.
Caine offered a small smile for Bliss. "Good evening, Bliss." He moved to find a seat near the back of the room, where he had a commanding view of those around him. Sierra's measured steps took her along Caine's side, crystal blues appraising the others.
Quiet, cautious steps brought a young woman named Abra Linn into the lobby. Her arms were tight around her waist and her eyes darted about. Slowly she stepped in, the look on her face more confusion than the usual fear. Her one arm was at her side, the other gripped it tightly, as she backed up into a corner with short, hurried breaths. Abra quietly thumped against the wall. Her eyes continued to dart nervously about.
"Well, that's it for me." Bliss started taking off the apron. "The staff can serve the rest of the food." She grinned. "Made as much of it as I could with what supplies I had access to."
Garth chuckled. "You did good. What possessed you?"
"Just went out to catch something to eat and caught more than I needed. I decided to share it with the folks here at the hospital. They took good care of me when I was hurt. I was just going to hand it over to the staff until they gave me a bunch of blank looks when I walked in."
Garth smirked. "And you tried to get out by pointing a gun at doctors."
Shad glanced at the muffin, "May I ask ... what this is made from?" wanting to know the recipe.
Bliss ignored Garth's comment and smirked at Shad. "Nothing, which is why they are called nothing muffins."
"Nothing? Shad chuckled and nodded. "Then I must be eating an illusion ... or something magical."
"Flour, water, a bit of sugar and butter ..." Bliss paused a beat then added, "Or what ever else is on hand to use as fat. The original recipe calls for butter, but that is hard to come by these days."
"Thanks ... yeah, hard to produce. It's been too long since I've had something like this. Actually developed a taste for rations. It's delicious ... whatever you used." Shad proclaimed in an appreciative tone.
"Thanks, glad you are enjoying them."
"Yer welcome." Shad nodded, then mused with a slight grin. "Butter ... wonder if the Church flunkies have any ..."
"Hmmm.. butter..." Caine simply grinned and glanced to Sierra. The woman's blue orbs caught the glance from Caine and the insinuation. She slipped a palmtop out of her jacket with a soft, "I'll see what can be done."
"Excellent, my dear."
Garth slid the taser into his belt and laid a hand on Bliss's shoulder.
Bliss glanced up. "What?"
"Business. You mind doing the introduction?"
"Sure." Bliss agreed, and headed for Caine. "Come along." Garth followed along behind her.
A veiled figure entered the hospital and slid out of the lobby to general safety. He scratched his chin and addressed the computer. "Elliot, are there any She vines in this building after the one I destroyed?"
"No further infiltrations have been reported, Ed." Elliot-7 replied.
Ed, still incognito, moved to enter the cafeteria. He glanced immediately to Garth, then looked to Ash and said gruffly, "Is there food here?"
Ash was quietly mopping up the stew juices with the last of the biscuits. Her mouth was full of food as she nodded, pointing to the serving line with a muffled, "You'd like it."
"What is it?"
Ash swallowed. "Ask Bliss. She made it."
"Who's Bliss?"
"I'm Bliss." Bliss said as she passed on her way to Caine.
The stranger nodded. "What's in the food?"
"Only critters I caught while hunting."
"No huumunns ... that's good." He moved to help himself to the food and eagerly consumed a bowlful of the stew with another bowl of biscuits. As he ate his meal, he stared at Caine in interest.
Bliss stopped upon reaching Caine and grinned. "Caine?" Garth paused behind Bliss to wait.
Caine's grays drifted to Bliss once more. He stood as she reached him and straightened out his jacket. "Hello again, Bliss. What can I do for you?"
Sierra's fingers stopped tapping over the palmtop as they approached. One hand dropped to her side cautiously.
"I'd like to introduce you to a friend of mine who wishes to discuss business with you. Caine, this is Garth Lowinn," Bliss turned to Garth and continued. "Garth, this is Caine."
Caine's gaze moved over to Garth with a small smile. "Always honored to meet a new customer." He extended an immaculately clean and manicured hand.
Garth nodded and shook his hand. "Especially after you hear what I have to offer."
"I'm all ears. Please have a seat." Caine said to Garth as he seated himself again.
Bliss shot Sierra a big grin.
"Good evening, Miss Lovejoy," Sierra responded.
"Evening Miss Black." Bliss returned. "Feel free to have a bite to eat."
"Perhaps another time, Miss Lovejoy." Sierra returned the palmtop to her jacket as her blue orbs slid over Garth once more.
"I'll tell you what I have to offer first," Garth began as he sat down. "You can judge its worth."
"Very well." Caine replied.
"There's a place, a few miles north of here ... Not sure how far. It's called Havenn."
Shad glanced over to them momentarily. He continued to listen covertly, the mention of Havenn having caught his attention. He noted that Caine nodded, almost knowingly at the reference.
Caine felt the usual tension in the woman beside him. He slid a reassuring hand on her hip for a moment. With the knowing touch to her hip Sierra slid the PT out again and calmed. Caine's demeanor remained the same, but he was listening intently.
"It has trees ..." Garth continued, "Big ones, grass, a fresh water spring. There's a small mine there as well."
"What kind of mine?" Caine leaned back into his chair, his legs crossed in an utterly casual manner.
Garth followed a different line of thought. "There are also people there, however."
"I would be surprised if there weren't." Caine remarked in return.
Bliss crinkled her nose at the mention of people. She toddled over to the food and snagged herself an apple tart. She sat on a nearby table, and munched her tart, swinging her legs and suddenly looking very young.
"I want them wiped out." Garth stated simply, as though this wouldn't be a shock to anyone.
Shad glanced at Garth and Caine. "Wiped out?" Surprised, he walked back to Garth.
Caine lifted a raven brow and tossed a glance to Bliss. "How many?"
"A tribe of Syrynykks ... a small cluster of people. What I'm offering you is Havenn."
"I am afraid I do not do that kind of thing, Mr. Lowinn." Caine stood and moved toward the door. As he left, Sierra walked past Garth to follow Caine.
"They are very bad people Caine." Bliss said casually. "They may actually decide to hunt me down."
Without pausing or even acknowledging Bliss's comment, Caine walked casually for the door and out into the night followed closely by Sierra.
Shad glanced at Bliss and Garth. "Evil eh? Heard the greatest darkness disguises itself as light."
"They do," Bliss countered resolutely.
"But killing a whole people." Shad frowned slightly. "That's the same ... just as dark."
Bliss frowned and blinked in surprise at the sudden exit then strolled casually away to take a peek. She headed for the door of the cafe and continued until she got outside. Garth followed suit and walked out of the hospital behind the others.
"Perhaps, cut off the evil at it's source? Instead of a total wipeout." Shad continued with a dark frown. "The greatest evil can be inside yourself. Everything has light and dark."
Ed, looked over his shoulder at the departing huumunns as he sat in his seat. He wondered what these people knew of evil, musing that huumunns possessed a latent evil within ... They just tried to hide it with good deeds.