[SirMax]

Dust was everywhere. That was the first thing that Kalitia noticed, which maybe said something about her. Not to say she was a neat freak- but the dust hear was choking, clouds of brown drifting across the burnt sand. It made her cough and was not the most pleasant of introductions to the desert. No one had mentioned this.... Must be a windy day or something.

Kalitia scowled. How could this harsh place possibly be Yojimbo's second home? It wasn't even the heat that bothered her. She couldn't care less about burning sun or scorching sands. She was, after all, covered in WHITE fur, unlike Yojimbo. Her fur reflected the sun, and she didn't mind the temperature at all.

It was the air. The dust clouds choking her, the sand stinging her face, the occasional intrepid insect- It was unbearable. Still, if she wanted to get into his head and his life, she had to at least visit the desert, the place he had- literally- grown up. Not that she'd ever be able to find the exact spot, but she could wander the area.

A light sigh slipped from between rosy lips. Actually, Kalitia was proud of her lips. Everyone she'd met had always thought she was wearing lipstick, but that wasn't the case. As Maybelline would say, she was "born with it." It was something that she hoped would attract Yojimbo at first sight. Well, that and a couple of... other impressive features. A smile played on her lips despite the sand. She was pretty sure she had powerful first impression down. And now was the time for groundwork, getting to know him and how he thought.

It was HARD to attract someone you'd never met. Stupid war.

Kalitia sighed again as she walked through the blazing desert, past what appeared to be a skeleton, bleached pure white by the merciless sun, no hint of flesh or fur anywhere on the frame, long since consumed by insects and scavengers. How disgustingly efficient... Kalitia thought, slightly disturbed by the sight and the thought that the creature's own mother wouldn't recognize it now, and could have just been exploring the desert when it was attacked by a random predator...

Thoroughly creeped out now, Kalitia looked around her for anything hostile looking. What if there was a hidden predator. What would she do then? She wasn't so powerful a fighter that should could defeat someone with the element of surprise to an extent where they got a free attack... She didn't want to die an anonymous meal in a dusty Hades!

[[1]]

[SpringsSong]

[center]

So she was out here again.  Why?

She had a tear in her eye as she thought about when Kendoras had left so suddenly when she had been carrying her three kits.  She loved him... but in loving him, she had blabbed about his past life to him and he got scared and ran.  Now she was lost forever.  She loved him; didn't want to be with anyone but him... and she'd scared him off.  Shaking her head, she looked into the distance as she neared the old training grounds in which she, Tali?±a, and Ryen had trained along with Sarah, Yojimbo, Sam, and Sethor.

Yojimbo.  She'd broken his heart, she had.  Just because of Kendoras.

As she looked on, she thought she saw someone.  She at first though it was a mirage; a memory of her training days playing before her eyes.  But no... no, none of their companions had had snow white fur or fading Ancient markings.  This had to be... an Elder Kuhna!

"Excuse me!" She called out.  Walking up to the Elder, she cleared her throat.  "A-are you lost, miss?  No one's been out this far since before the war... I should know; I was one of the last to leave... along with Tali?±a, Sethor, Ryen, Sarah, and Yojimbo." She said, lookinga t the femme Elder curiously.

{170}

[SirMax]

Kalitia jumped, spinning around to face this new person in shock. Was there a predator after all? Well she wasn't going down without a- oh. Nevermind. Not a predator, then. And she- it looked like the Kuhna was a she- was coming closer. And starting to talk, so probably not a predator.

Was she lost? Was SHE lost? Was she LOST? Actually, WAS she lost? She wasn't sure where she was, and she wasn't sure where she was going... that sounded pretty lost to her.

But whether or not she was lost became instantly trivial as soon as the Trikuhna mentioned Yojimbo. She knew Yojimbo! And Sethor and his lifemate, and Sarah... that would make her Ashilata, wouldn't it? A Trikuhna who had been out with Max and Fire's war pets... "Are you Ashilata?" she asked, smiling sweetly at her.

Jackpot~! Ashilata was bound to know tons about Yojimbo! And Kalitia could study her, find out what had attracted Yojimbo. That would be very useful information indeed, knowing what had attracted Yojimbo to his first love!

She'd just have to make sure to reign in her smug contempt for her, throwing away Yojimbo at the drop of a hat for some old boyfriend. Then again, she probably didn't know as much about Yojimbo as Kalitia, but still. Even without knowing the secrets surrounding the first Flarend to show up on Evelon, or his mysterious father who had fathered the first kits in many ancients strands, this girl should have been able to tell Yojimbo was something special.

Oh well. Ashi's loss, Kalitia's gain.

[[2]]

[SpringsSong]

Ashilata nodded.  "Indeed, I am Ashilata." She said calmly.  Looking around the desert, she felt memories come back to her.  But then again, there was the memory of Kendoras lying in her arms, dying... No!  Focus!

"So... why has one such as yourself ventured all the way out here to Wilt'no?" She asked.  "None venture out here for just the sake of it, you know... It's far too hot for anyone to just come out here without a purpose... like training, or trying to save a friend." She said, recalling Sethor's previous venture.  "Has it anything to do with either Fire's or Max's war pets?" She asked, hoping that there wasn't grave news--Tali's fall had been bad enough...

{171}

[SirMax]

"Well, um, sort of." Said Kalitia, slightly evasively. "I meant, nothing like they've been killed or anything, but I just came here because this is where Max's pets trained." she explained. As if I care about where Sethor and Sarah trained... she thought scornfully.  But, but, no reason to tell Ashilata this!

"But I guess I found where the place they trained was." she said, laughing and looking around. Not that she really cared, but she couldn't let Ashilata know too much, or she might get suspicious about why Kalitia wanted to know about  Yojimbo. And if Ashilata got suspicious, Kalitia's best source of information would dry up.

So she'd look around the dust and poke at that oasis over there and play the girl oh-so-interested in Max's war pets, the act that she'd pulled on every other source she'd run into so no one would ask any questions about Yojimbo. And it would work, just like it had before, over and over. It always worked, because people wanted to believe it.

"So this is really where they trained, huh?" she asked, enthralled. Well, at least she seemed to be enthralled to anyone looking. In reality she was impatient to get on with interviewing Ashi. But, but, she had to wait.

[[3]]

[SpringsSong]

Ashi's head inclined curiously.  "I see." She said at first, and then, she said, "Well, I was out here not too long ago myself, so I of all people should recognize this place..." She said, walking over to a rock.  "We trained and sparred here... I saw the first Flarend grow up here... I saw bonds unbreakable form here..." She said, recalling everything.  "I saw divisions of families, and I saw things happen that wouldn't have happened before."

Turning her head, she said, "I know what has happened to Fire's war pets and one of Max's.  Tali?±a fell, Ryen killed, and Yojimbo... Well, he went through a... transformation, per se." She shook her head.  All because of me. She thought.

{172}

[SirMax]

"A transformation?" asked Kalitia innocently, feigning a lack of knowledge. Ha. As if she didn't know more about Yojimbo's transformation than Ashi. And how much of a waste that someone who had so much control over their own body that they could transform themselves, and the only thing he'd used it for was a literal manifestation of inner demons. And now it was likely that he'd never be able to do it again.

Oh well. Personally, Kalitia thought Yojimbo looked good in black. Rawr.

But back to being the reporter type. "So Yojimbo grew up here?" she asked, curiously. "And what do you mean, unbreakable bonds? What about Sethor, I heard him and Tali?±a had some kind of moment here...?" Again, not something she cared about, but she couldn't steer her questions towards Yojimbo too much. One had to be believable, and Yojimbo was, as far as fighting ability, the weakest among Max's war pets. For the moment, anyway.

But if Kalitia's research was right, he might be the only one to do something amazing. Something historical.

[[4]]

[SpringsSong]

Ashi nodded her head.  "Indeed.  It was at that very spot, next to the oasis, that he asked her to become his lifelong mate." She said.  She shook her head.  "Not that that's important.  After all, that's them.  And yes, I saw Yojimbo become an adult here.  A Kuhna that I live with decided she was going to reprimand me for sparring with him, and he got slightly upset with her and--poof!--there come the tail flames." She said, recalling the scene perfectly.

{173}

[SirMax]

"Awww! That's so sweet!" Kalitia gushed, playing the part of the romance lover perfectly. "Did he say it some kind of special way? Like, a speech or something like that?" she looked at Ashi expectantly with a grin. Pausing, she added "What do you mean it's not important? Sethor's the strongest one of Max's war pets, after all." With a short pause, realizing she didn't actually know what Sethor had said.

"And what do you mean, poof? Did it just happen all of a sudden?" Again, she feigned ignorance, pouting cutely at Ashilata in confusion. "Or do you mean his fire, like, got alot bigger or something?" she knew all about how ancients grew up, but not many people seemed to have any idea.

"Oh, and what about Sarah?" she added. "She's one of Max's war pets too, and didn't all of them train here?" she asked, smiling sweetly. More silly questions, more useless information...

"You know what, it's actually pretty... um... dusty, out here. How about we go somewhere else to talk, since I'm so full of questions today? Maybe a nice cafe or something like that, maybe over in the city of Guardians?"

[[5]]

[SpringsSong]

Ashi nodded.  "He said simply, 'Would you make me the happiest Lucain on earth by giving me the honor of being my lifemate and the future mother of my children?'  And I say that that's not important because that had nothing to do with them training in any way whatsoever." She said flatly.

"Yes, it did just happen all of a sudden.  One minute, there's no flames; the next, pretty blue flames." She said, "And yes.  We all trained here; some Imperial, some Purine." She added.  "And I wouldn't mind moving to the City of the Guardians.  I don't really care for this infernal place anymore than I cared for the war grounds." She said.

{174}

[SirMax]

"Yeah, but it's so cute!" Kalitia said, grinning. "So what if it doesn't matter to their training, it's important, isn't it?" Ashi did seem to be a bit of a grouch... Was there something going on she didn't know about? Maybe it had something to do with that Kendoras fellow that she'd dropped Yojimbo like a hot potato for.

"So just... like, he was a kit one second, and an adult the next? Wow. That must have been pretty amazing to see... You're so lucky, I would have loved to see that!" said Kalitia in awe, this time actually meaning what she said. She would have killed to be there when Yojimbo grew up...

"Well then, let's go!" said Kalitia cheerfully, turning and starting off towards the city of guardians.

[[6]]

[SpringsSong]

"Very well; I guess I'm just a little... I don't remember much about what happened to me before I came to live with Fire.  Before, I knew a lot of things; mostly warrior training, and I remember none of it now... all for the sake of someone whom I thought loved me." Ashi said, shaking her head.  "Anyways, let's go.  I know of a good cafe in the Guardian's City." She said, turning to leave this accursed desert.

{175--left for Lamenolai}