Partner

Fwahahahaha. So I did a "bad" thing. But it's okay.

Mainly because ... yeah. If I said that it'd give it away.

Sidhe can, and do, combine tribes via "hostile" take over. And these two tribes are tiny, like ... a tenth of the size of a normal tribe. So it's not like Souse doesn't have the means or the personality to take over Violet's tribe. Even being outnumbered, Souse's tribe is stronger.

Just thought I'd point that out.

Probably not going to be another update today, due to odd schedualling. But there might. The end of this and the next chapter, I find, make me giggle obscenely.

The base, with the field is nearly an hour out of the city, so it's not like the base is surrounded by anything but nature.

*coughs*

Read, Review and enjoy.

EDITED: because I missed the first line *facepalm* really, really have got to stop screwing up. Or... need to sleep more. I dunno



The two males seemed to break off into a group that was not quite its own, not quite part of the tribe. This,
Paw explained, was because they were now lesser than Paw was amongst the tribe. They would remain so until the pair could prove otherwise.

Paw wouldn’t look or talk about the third male. The male who stayed there until his partner came in and then slid over to the man as if the man were the only thing keeping him alive. Violet’s group, who had watched in mild confusion as Souse’s tribe had poked Koln and Mik, wouldn’t have the man. The girl seemed disinterested as Hohi and the male with the cast murmured to her.

Either explaining it or suggesting something else. Either way… Mik wasn’t certain that he wanted to know.

Koln, at Souse’s growl, explained about the military field and then explained that the field was not riddled with explosives or planes or metal. Though the soldiers, who were on a ‘top secret’ mission of their own, would likely gawk and stare because they were young and stupid.

Souse grunted and asked if he could invite Violet’s tribe as well, using Violet’s nickname. Koln looked confused but replied in the affirmative and Souse walked over to the edge of Violet’s tribe’s territory. No ceremony, no pomp. Souse held his hands from the side so that they all could see that he had no weapons and then invited them along.

For a moment confusion, and then absolute delight came over Violet.

Which was why Mik was sitting on a hot damned bus, riding into a military base at noon. With a hangover. Or whatever it is called when one is coming down off of drugs. The bus lurched to a stop and for a moment nothing happened.

Souse stood and walked down the bus, offering Violet his hand. Violet placed her much smaller hand over his and he led her to the front of the bus. Souse stood there until the driver got the hint and opened the door. Souse stepped off first, and then Violet.

It was only when the Sidhe relaxed that Mik realised they had been holding their breath. Paw stood and took Mik’s hand, leading the man off of the bus and depositing him beside Violet. The girl looked him up and down and then looked away as if she weren’t interested.

Mik was puzzled but turned his attention to the other Sidhe who gathered around. Souse looked over the grass and seemed confused. There were a few trees, a few hills. But it was the basic military field where mock battles occurred. And while real battles didn’t happen on grassy knolls, recruits were taught how to fight on them.

Sure, it made no damned sense, but it happened.

Souse looked at Mik and pointed at the grass, “what is this doing here? This is the creature people force to grow on their lawn and then chop the heads off of.”

“Grass. Souse. It’s a plant.”

“It’s the hair of the world,” Paw muttered, reaching down and rubbing his hand over the top of the grass, “it won’t notice us playing on it.”

“Why do people insist on cutting it so short?”

“So that it looks nice.”

Violet said something to Souse and Souse snorted.

“She says many people would look better without their heads. Perhaps we should go cutting heads off because people look better without them.”

“Grass is still alive, Souse, taking our heads off will kill us,” Koln growled, walking past the leader and onto the grass.

Mik really should have stopped him, but he let Koln stumbled through this relationship. Maybe it would be better that way.

“We have free reign of the field. Now, this is the best we can do for several weeks. The grass is growing, there are trees, the sun is over head. What more could we do?”

Souse looked up and squinted, turned his head to the side and squinted harder, “there is something between us and the sky.”

“Yes… yes there is.”

Stealth technology. Of course the military wouldn’t allow the Sidhe to go outside into a free and open field. Not after Nort’s stupidity.

“Why not puts one of those over apartment?” Paw asked Koln.

“Because that,” Koln jabbed a finger upward, “makes us disappear. Hard to make an apartment disappear and have no one notice. Or to explain away the cars that come and go each day.”

Souse said something in Sidhe and gave a jab of his chin across the field. Violet bared her teeth to the older male and took off running.

Or… whatever the hell that was.

For having such a shorter leg than Souse, Violet was some how managing huge steps that ate up the ground like it was nothing. Souse was after her a moment later, his own stride due entirely to his stride. Souse ran with an easy speed, loping after Violet as a dog does it’s owner.

Hohi called something out behind them and Violet turned and continued to run, run backwards. Backwards. Her pace hardly slowed and she shot Souse a killing look. Souse’s response was to slide in, behind her and startle her into stopping. The larger male didn’t touch Violet, not once, but Violet bent away from his hands as if he were diseased.

Lillow squeaked when she saw how Violet was being treated and dashed out to save her. The girl, larger of her and Violet, slammed into Souse full speed and forced him to the ground as she chattered angrily at him. Lillow folded her arms, sat on Souse’s chest and pouted as he batted ineffectually at her legs.

“Ehm…” Mik made to step towards them, knowing that it was not pleasant to have someone sit on his chest.

Paw caught Mik’s wrist, “it’s fine. They are fine. Souse could not be so easily taken by ones the size of Violet and Lillow.”

Paw gave Mik’s cheek a peck and walked away from him. The smaller male cuffed Hohi upside the head before taking off in a run. Hohi hopped once, twice, and leapt through the air and caught Paw. The two wrestled as Essuan sighed and took the hand of the female from Violet’s tribe that had been pregnant. The females looked over the field, sighed and moved off, seemingly heading towards a tree across the field.

The two males that had attacked Souse earlier drifted away from the main group and sat well into the field, brushing their hands over the grass as they murmured back and forth to one another.

The Sidhe with one eye, Osht, moved stiffly, not quite over the attempted poison.

Osht was still partner-less. As much as they tried, the Sidhe rejected all people who were presented to him and drew himself closer and closer to the nurse that happened to be working there one day. If it had been one nurse, it would have been obvious. But six of them?

The Sidhe moved to sit between the pair of males and where Violet was rolling through the grass with Lillow. He picked at the grass and tried eating a piece, only to spit it out with obvious disgust.

“Maybe,” Mik murmured to Koln, “this base doesn’t need just a field.”

“What exactly do you suggest we do?”

“Well… us and the north aren’t doing so well.”

“What with the nuclear weapons pointed towards us and all,” Koln growled.

“So…,” Mik rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, “why not plant a few things that… you know… grow in the northern countries. Sort of like… so the recruits can recognise them?”

“Mm. Yes, that would be necessary, what with the missions they will be doing,” Koln muttered, “flowers. A person can tell a lot about the land by flowers.”

A startled sound cut across the field. All Sidhe turned to look as Essuan and the female from Violet’s tribe stared down at something in horror.

“Oh shit-” Mik and Koln took off running towards the females, as did the other Sidhe.

The Sidhe got there first, crowding around and muttering to one another as Mik elbowed his way through the crowd and looked down at the large space of grass that Essuan was pointing at and chattering at Paw about.

What…?

Mik got down on his hands and knees and brushed a hand over the grass. There, between the blades of grass, was a small sprout. From his mother’s garden he knew it wasn’t a flower. Smaller plants grew up and above grass and shady areas quickly, using up most of their energy to do so. Larger plants used their energy slowly, conserved it for when it was needed.

“Okay,” Mik said, looking up, “it’s a sprout. What kind of sprout is it. Does it mean something bad?”

Paw frowned at Essuan, seemingly not hearing Mik at all. The two got in a heated argument as Koln knelt beside Mik.

“What is it?” Koln asked.

“I don’t know. But don’t touch it,” Mik smacked the back of Koln’s hand as the other man reached for the sprout, “For all we know it’s an old time tree.”

“Or. It’s a drug.” Koln muttered.

“Don’t touch it. Damn it.”

“Fine. You touch it.”

“I’m not touching it,” Mik growled, slapping Koln’s hand away from the sprout once more.

Souse reached over the two men, took their hands and placed them on the men’s laps, “keep your hands there while the adults talk.”

“What is it?” Mik asked as Lillow knelt across from him, and Violet beside her.

“Let the adults talk,” Souse patted Mik and Koln’s heads, “then we will discuss with you.”

“I want to pull it up,” Koln muttered, looking at the sprout.

“And I say we leave it.”

“Pull it up. We can put it back later.”

“Leave it.”

“Children,” Lillow exclaimed, “behave. Dun make Lillow come over there.”

The two men looked at each other, huffed and looked away.

What the hell was going on?


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