Takin' a break

So yea, there is a break at hand. There is two stories to be published, as soon as they are written. Let's see when they are finished!

The Astral Quest

I tried to spend a lot of time with my followers, but I occasionally spent time with Shrew as well. We had only a week left before we went back to the Arcology. We all made lots of preparations. Shrew learned a spell that could fool the machines as well as people. She had some troubles accepting the fact that she had to go to a teacher. I believe it was some shaman, some reptile-shaman, who was going to teach her the spell. I volunteered to come and look if the reptile would eat her, but she didn't want me there.

A few days later Shrew asked if I wanted to go with her to get her ally spirit back, to go to the Arcology with us. It seemed like an interesting journey, and after thinking about it for a while, I agreed on going. Of course I wanted to know if I was able to remove my clothes, transform and heal, but no one seemed to know for sure. I thought that my life is already dangerous, so what's a little bit of more danger for me...

I went to Shrew's friend's place. Shrew's friend was called Rose. She was apparently some magical person, who had a shop. She sold magical equipment, and knew a lot of mages and shamans and other magical things. She was like a fixer but for shamans and mages.

When we entered her place, she took us to her back room. There was a shining ball floating in the air. Apparently it was the thing that sent us to the astral plane. It was some kind of spirit. It asked if I wanted to owe it a favor. It didn't have a shifter that owed it a favor. I told it I could owe it one if it could help me with my mission. It wasn't ready to do that, so we didn't have an agreement. Shrew asked if it was trying to collect favors, like some people collect stamps, but it didn't say anything. Weird being in my opinion.

I tried to ask if I should go there as a human, what would happen to my clothes if I took them out there, but neither Rose nor the shining ball knew. Oh, and the most important thing was that I wanted to take my sword with me, for protection, but they didn't know if I could take that with me or something... And I wanted to know if I brought the sword with me, could I lose it there... No one knew. Rose asked me to tell what happened when we got back. I decided to transform, because as a leopard I have my weapons with me all the time, and I'm more magical, and I'm more effective against spirits and magical things than in my human form. So I took all my clothes off and transformed.

The shining ball opened some kind of a portal. Lights were shining, and we could see a view through the portal. We went through it. Suddenly we were in a rainy park. I immediately tried, and succeeded in transforming. It was a bit cold in there, so I transformed back quickly.

Shrew saw a fire, and we decided to go there, maybe there was something of interest. Well, I didn't know anything about astral quests, but I think Shrew had tried one before. It felt real. It felt like it was a real world. I also saw the astral plane, so it felt like the physical world, not like astral. I had always thought astral space was this weird wavy place with spirits and things. But this was like our own plane.

There was a metallic barrel, and on it was a fire. Just like with the homeless in Seattle. The homeless people warm themselves around this kind of fires. There weren't any homeless people around it, only Tik. Tik was a guide we had met ages ago. Tik told us that we had to prove our knowledge to pass through. I answered some questions about the Arcology, correctly. Shrew seemed to struggle with the questions, but managed to get the correct answers in the end.

I wondered how Tik knew our plans on going to the Arcology, but apparently the astral plane is different. I got the idea that Tik wasn't real, that Tik was just a person who we both knew from our past, and had taken a form of a guide here. Oh, and I got some juicy information about Shrew. Tik tried to make me ashamed of myself, and told Shrew that I had massacred a bunch of people in a hotel some time ago. Well, who cares? They're people! And Shrew didn't mind, she knows what I can do. But the thing was, Tik told me Shrew's old street name. PRINCESS TERMINATOR!! She must've been quite the interesting person to know back when she remembered who she was. I laughed so hard. Well, I answered the questions as a human, but I tried to do it very quickly, because it was very cold there. I laughed as a leopard.

After we had proven ourselves to Tik, we got to go forward. Tik told us that flames guide us forward. That we should jump into the barrel. Tik showed that the flames didn't burn. The flames felt warm, but when I stuck my paw in the fire, it didn't burn. So in we went.

We fell down, and suddenly we were standing in a field. It felt familiar. It seemed to be some kind of a sports field. I was sure I had seen this on TV. Then I saw a football. It seemed like the most natural thing to do, so I started running. I ran towards the ball and when I reached it I kicked with full power. It was a bit tricky, with my paws and all, but I managed to make a goal. The ball flew through the air, and apparently it went where it was supposed to go. There was a huge noise. People cheered in the stand. Shrew started walking towards me. The cheering was louder and louder. It felt like the noise went through my skull. It felt like my ears were bleeding inside. It physically hurt me, that's how loud it was. Shrew seemed to feel the noise as well.

Then the cheering faded. Doors from the sides of the field opened. I had seen these things on TV as well. Zombies. They were stumbling towards us. We didn't have a place to run, because they had surrounded us. We decided to run through them before they were too close. So we ran. The zombies tried to follow, but they weren't fast. They stumbled a lot. They dragged themselves towards us. Oh, and they kept this weird sound, like growling, but not quite. It sounded creepy

We got past the zombies and saw a flame. We remembered that Tik had told us that flames were portals. We tried to reach the flame. I felt the pain in my head. It was strange, I didn't heal. I started to feel a bit scared, because the pain didn't go away at all. But I didn't have any choice. I went towards the flame with Shrew. But it didn't come any closer.

We first tried to go around the flame, but it seemed to stay in its place, not going further, not coming closer. Then we tried to go away from it, towards the zombies, but nothing happened but the zombies came closer. Then Shrew seemed to have an idea, and tried to call the flame to us. It worked. And then I felt myself getting really tired. It felt terrible. The feeling didn't go away. The flame got closer, and it was the spirit. It asked what we were doing there. Shrew told it we came to get it, and that we should go back. The zombies were following us still. We had to get out.

We decided to go back to the place where we started. Oh, and it was still raining there, not much, but enough to get ourselves wet. We got to the place we started from, the zombies still behind us. The barrel was empty and cold. I touched it, but it wasn't a portal. Shrew told the spirit to start a fire to the barrel. The barrel lit up. I jumped in, and Shrew and the spirit were right behind me.

Suddenly we were back in the room from where we had left. In Rose's place. Rose was there, and so was the shining ball. I was wet, so I shook myself to get more dry. Others didn't agree, but they had no chance but to accept the water. Then I transformed and asked for a towel. I got one, and I dried myself. The shining ball told that its work there was done and disappeared, just like the portal.

When I got back to the real world the pain faded normally. But the tiredness didn't. It felt strange. I had never felt anything like it before in my life. I thought to myself that my astral-exploring- days were over. Astral plane was a terrible place. I didn't heal, and there were these strange things. And anything could hurt you badly. I do not like that. I want to be able to fight back. Astral plane is not for me. I prefer the Arcology. But I was happy to get to know something from Shrew's past no one else knew. I was ready to use it later on.

Preparations

The gang met my followers. There was a huge fight and Billy was seriously injured. One of the gangers was caught. Billy was rushed into a hospital. He was in critical condition, but apparently he was going to live. I called Juggler and told him the gang had been incompetent. I had hired them to kill Billy and they just beat him senseless. Juggler promised to take care of it. I ordered a malpractice. Juggler told me it would be best for me to wait until the ganger had been let out from jail, so that he wouldn't face murder-charges. Well, it was all the same to me. I trust Juggler, so I agreed to wait and paid him to get the malpractice. If that doesn't work I’ll go and explode the shit out of the hospital.

The otaku had been preparing for the trip to Arcology for some time now. Apparently they live to go there, they exist so they can go to Arcology. I have no idea why they want to go there this time, but I have my own agenda. Me and Shrew, we want to check the door 1835 and cash in millions. It’s written on Dunkelzahn’s Will, that he promises to leave 5 million nuyen for the first team of runners who find out what it is behind that door and report to Draco Foundation. And after the incident in Arcology Draco Foundation raised the stakes and promises 8 million nuyens. That, or even a part of that, would prove useful in my mission. I could go and have my revenge.

Shrew talked Morgan into going with us. Nerdy was coming too, because he owed a favor to the otaku. The otaku also told us that they always help us and ask no questions, so we should help them in exchange. Well, it’s true. I could easily go there and help them and check the door with Shrew. Something tells me it’s not that easy, because that amount of money is not given away just because. It will be a dangerous mission. If I’ll survive, I’ll be stronger than ever.

I had an argument with Shrew. I had to talk with her about fireballs in alleys. I think everyone within a mile heard our argument. But after that we were okay again. But I know I will beat her up if we end up in a similar situation, before she has time to try to kill us all. And her ally spirit. Apparently the huge fireball it was helping to create was too much for it. It had disappeared, just like when it had been beaten up by a fairy.

I spoke with Juggler and asked about trainers. I wanted to offer Shrew a chance to train unarmed combat so that she had a choice. I got a very good trainer and gave the number to Shrew. Nerdy seemed to be interested to go as well. So the next morning all three of us went to the gym.

I tagged along to see if the trainer was good. She was. She went by the name Hellkit, and seemed a bit older than your average runner. Well, she wasn't’t a runner, apparently. I think she was in her mid-forties, but seemed to be very fit.

Hellkit wanted to know what kind of training Nerdy and Shrew wanted. I told her they needed basics for dummies. Then she started by telling them that they were going to start by learning how to hit, and they started by hitting her stomach. She said they didn’t know how to harden their stomach so they could hit each other. I mumbled something about that if I had been teaching I would've done it differently. She told me to shut up if I wasn't going to participate. I shut up and watched. Oh, and I had brought my sword with me so I started sharpening it while watching the show.

I started to have a bit of respect for Hellkit. She was strong and patient. I never would've had that kind of patience with Nerdy, or even Shrew. I’d just try for a minute and throw them in Death Zone believing they either learn quickly or die.

After hours of hard training I asked if Hellkit would have a fight with me. She agreed, set her price and asked if I wanted to have a real fight or friendly fight. I never do friendly fights, so we agreed on a real fight to the end, until one of us was knocked out. I knew she was quite good, but I thought I’d still kick her ass, I’d heal quickly anyway. She put on her brass knuckles. I put on my hardliner gloves, thinking I should get brass knuckles to look more intimidating in the streets.

We circled around a bit and then I went for it. I tried to hit her, but missed. Then she pushed me so that my stupid hair was in my face. I had trouble seeing, and she hit the air out from my lungs. I fell down, unconscious. I will cut my stupid hair.

When I woke up I had a quick thought. I thought about jumping up and surprising her, kicking her ass. Then I thought she just was better than me. I got up as she was taking off her brass knuckles. She didn’t seem all that surprised to see me up so quickly, maybe a bit puzzled, but she seemed to cover it very well. I needed to say “what, did we finish already?”, even though I knew I had lost. I tried to keep some of my tough attitude alive. I was a bit ashamed to have lost to a petty human female, but then I thought she taught this for a living. I didn’t fight for a living, I was a runner. My life depended on my skills to fight and shoot and sneak. I had a wide variety of skills to keep me alive. Mostly I trusted my shotgun and my sword. I knew how to kick ass of an average ganger or an idiot, but teachers like Hellkit weren't my specialty. I’d deal with them by shooting them or hacking them to pieces with my sword before it would come to hand-to-hand-combat.

I also had to get someone to look after my followers while I was gone. I had my snitches, but they were incompetent. So I asked Juggler to get me a hired leader for two months. We weren't planning on staying that long, but I prepared for the worst. And I could also die there. So I paid for one month and gave Juggler the money for the next month. If after that I wasn't back, I was probably dead, and I don't care what happens then. Well, of course I will be a bit restless about the fact that I never got my revenge, but maybe I'll come back as a vicious ghost. Who knows.