Subj:	 [ffml] [MW] Catching Up
Date:	00-09-05 10:55:51 EDT
From:	larathia@mcs.net (Larathia)
Reply-to:	ffml@egroups.com
To:	ffml@egroups.com

Nighthawk was stunned and delighted that her beloved had returned to her so
quickly, and as a being with arms and hands. Usually, when he died, she was
alone for years if he reincarnated as a humanoid, or months if he
reincarnated as a beast. But this time, it was mere weeks, and he was again
blessed with all the attributes the average humanoid took for granted. It
was enough for her to forget herself and her dignity, and give him a big
bear-hug right in the middle of the camp.

"I am so glad you're back, my love," she grinned. "Will we fight
back-to-back, as we did in days of old?"

The Lance Hendriksen that was her reborn bondmate quirked an eyebrow.
"Don't you have flights to command? I saw some of your people flying around
earlier..."

"I gave them over to the human commander," replied Nighthawk, some of the
joy leaving her step. "I don't really have much of a choice."

Her bondmate looked surprised. "You, forced into a corner?" He started
turning over rocks. "That demon god has to be around here somewhere, he's
the only thing I ever saw that spooked you...did you hide him somewhere?"

Nighthawk chuckled, and playfully punched the Hendriksen on the shoulder.
"I mean it, love. I can't command them. Not for this battle. Tim's a nexus;
we're in a legend-vortex. The only hope they have is to be led by the Hero.
I don't qualify."

"A nexus?" replied Lance. "I don't..." his eyes clouded a moment, as he
remembered studies undertaken long before. "I have to tell Kat," he said.
"What makes you sure?"

Nighthawk shook her head. "Don't tell Kat, don't tell anyone," she said.
"They're inside the legend-vortex, a part of it. They won't see it, any
more than our ancestors did when the Elfwar began. Even if you could
explain it - and given that you're part of this world now, you might pull
that off - they wouldn't appreciate the idea that Fate is playing with
their lives, and using a stacked deck and marked cards to boot."

Lance thought about it, and slowly nodded. "I see. I can feel the ideas,
and know they're right, and at the same time I want to reject them. That's
what you're talking about, isn't it?"

Nighthawk nodded. "They won't see the inevitability of their actions. It
will take a few centuries'-worth of distance for them to even begin to
question the necessity of the battle. I didn't know what was going on when
I came here - not the full story, at least - and now my people will pay the
price of that ignorance. I'm hoping that by surrendering personal command,
at least a few will survive."

Lance blew out a long breath. "Well, it's your call. Yes, I'll fight
back-to-back with you. It's been a while. What's been going on since Hiel
Keep?"

"Well, I've got liasons in place to deal with the human commanders,"
replied Nighthawk, settling down to business. "Triu is Tim's, in more than
one sense of the word, but she's got wind between the ears so I'm not
overly concerned she'll try to subvert him or even cloud his orders to the
flights. And it keeps her out of my hair, which is something I've come to
greatly appreciate since the fatigue struck me."

Concern darkened Lance's eyes. "Hey, you didn't mention you were ill. Is
that why I heard you arrived on a wagon? What are you hiding?"

"There's something really big, evil as the lowest layers of the Abyss,
walking this world...it tried to talk to me, and I must have collapsed. I
don't remember what happened, but it knocked me flat for days."

"Describe it for me," Lance said, in a tone that brooked no argument. When
he took that tone, it meant he suspected something but needed facts to
prove it.

"Um..." Nighthawk tried to remember. "Big, in all senses...football size
big...black, scaly, sort of like a lizardman but much, much nastier...aura
so evil you could taste it."

"You're in trouble," said Lance. "Sounds like the Dark Lord, the god of
evil around here."

To his surprise, Nighthawk smiled. "Well, that explains a lot," she said,
and sounded like she meant it. "That's the best news I've heard all day."

"You've lost me."

"I've been wondering for days what could do what that thing did to me," she
said. "I didn't know gods were allowed to walk around down here - but
better than that, for some reason *I'm still here*. Not only is something
about us being here of concern to an evil god, but he's not going to
flatten us or he'd have done so by now. So there's *something* we avariel
can do that's positive in this war. We're not just pawns."

"I see," replied Lance, and smiled. "Ok, back to recap. What about the
liasons?"

"Well, as I said, Triu has Tim, and I have no worries on that score. She'll
do whatever he says and kiss his feet for letting him order her.
Glory-hound if I ever saw one, she'll hang around him to catch the
afterglow. Torbeno's going to shore up Kat's lack of confidence, as there's
nothing like having an intelligent man fall for you to make you believe in
yourself." She paused to give Lance an evil grin. "Both of them will alert
me to trouble spots so we don't get a three-way war going, but since none
of us really trusts the others, it's delicate."

"You don't trust the Lance Hendriksens?" said Lance, completely surprised.
"What brought that on?"

Nighthawk shook her head. "It's not like humans," she said. "It's not a
matter of thinking ill of you. It's a difference in approach, a difference
in goals. You know the Hendriksens now, you're one of them. Think like one
of them for a few minutes, as you were yesterday. You know how we operate.
Do you honestly think your new kin would stand for it?"

It took only a moment for him to understand her, and he had to agree. The
Lance Hendriksens as a whole would never stand for such a privacy-minded
people as the avariel founding a sovereign state within their borders. "But
that does not preclude common interests," he said hopefully.

"I'm working on it," Nighthawk replied. "I'd like to keep things as
friendly as possible, since it's a near guarantee that the Hendriksens will
survive the war. If you can come up with any way to make things friendlier,
let me know. Meantime, I've got some moogles to skin."

"Right," said Lance. "Ah...how much can I tell Kat of what's going on? I
mean, she *is* my commander at the moment..."

Nighthawk gave him a hard look - the one that said even though she loved
him, if she had to she'd kill him. "You can tell her exactly as much of
this as you think she's really equipped to handle, as a human and as a
native of this world," she said. "My estimate is that you'll be able to
tell her who you are, and that's it. Anything else would upset a delicate
situation, and by all the gods and goddesses and little green men under
leaves, we've got a godsdamned *war* to fight and I want it to be us
against the moogles and not us against each other!"

Lance's face set in stubborn lines. No matter what he came back as, he'd
never taken orders at all well. "I'm not stupid," he snapped. "And I've
never betrayed you. I'd appreciate it if you gave me credit for having a
brain."

Nighthawk shook her head, tired of having to juggle the perceptions of
every leader and commander in her head. "You haven't always," she said
tiredly. "And I don't know very much about the Lance Hendriksens, to make
any estimate on how much of your capabilities are within reach. Perhaps
you'd better explain who you are to General Kat, and see if she'll release
you from service to work with me. Perhaps you can call yourself the Lance
Hendriksen ambassador or liason or whatever."

"Captain Nighthawk!" came a call. Nighthawk groaned, recognizing the voice.

"You'd better get going," she said to Lance. "I've got to deal with this."
Quickly, her bondmate walked off, losing himself amid his clones.

Nighthawk stopped and turned, putting on a surprised face as she greeted
Tim with a salute.

"I am glad I found you," said Tim, approaching and saluting in return. "I
was hoping we could talk."

Nighthawk closed her eyes briefly in a slow blink. Whatever it was, she was
sure it wasn't going to be pleasant to deal with, but she maintained her
outwardly pleasant demeanor. Inside, she mentally voiced a prayer to the
gods of this world: Thank you for making him such an annoyance, she prayed,
otherwise I'd regret having to watch him sink or swim.

"Indeed, Lord Tim?" she replied. "I am, of course, all ears."


From:	skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)
Reply-to:	ffml@egroups.com
To:	ffml@egroups.com

  Tim stood next to Nighthawk, looking down into her eyes.
  "I have heard very little from you recently and was wondering how you are 
fairing after that incident. Do you have any idea what had happened?"
  Nighthawk made an expression that Tim took as a shrug. "I have no idea, 
Lord Tim. It is something that dealt me quite a blow and took several days 
for me to recover, but as you can see, it dealt me no permeant damage, only 
drained me of energy."
  "I see," said Tim, studying the avariel. "Well, I am pleased that you are 
well." Tim looked about. "We will soon be carrying out the attack on the 
moogle positions across the river. As with our previous plan, the avariel 
will remain here at this fort as their main base, but I will want one or two 
flights with the lead elements of the Doman army to act as scouts and 
messengers."
  Nighthawk nodded, slightly annoyed at how repetitive this plan had become.
  "And I was curious if you and your people are well and have need of 
anything?"
  Nighthawk was surprised at this question.
  "I have been neglecting my responsibilities and I desired to know if you 
and your people have need of anything to make them more comfortable."
  Nighthawk looked thoughtfully at Tim.


From:	larathia@mcs.net (Larathia)

Nighthawk looked thoughtfully at Tim. From this human, all gruff angles, it
was a most unusual question. Almost, she could believe he was working down
a list, making comments by rote. But she could do no other than answer. "We
are a very independent sort, Lord Tim," she replied casually. "By your
standards, we require very little. It is polite of you to inquire, though."

She steeled herself inside for what she had to say, bitter pill though it
was to her pride. "The flights are yours to command, Lord Tim. All of them,
not just the few you requested. I am not quite up to the physical strain of
remaining airborne for the entire battle, and if my people are to be
commanded from the ground it is best that an experienced ground leader do
the honors. I know that you still have the amulet I gave you, and that you
do not choose to wear it. Triu wears hers, however - through her, you can
command the flights. I have...other fish to fry. I will need to be free to
work." The notion of handing over her people's lives to another went
against everything she believed in or had been taught, but there was no
choice. It was hand them over or watch them all die for certain. She
steeled herself to show no sign of her inner grief. Even if he held them
all at the camp, that was no guarantee of their safety...but ultimately,
they were warriors. They could not flee the battlefield; this battle was
why they had come. She turned away from Tim; it had been a long day, and
there was still much to do.

"Do not mew my people up behind your walls, Lord Tim," she said quietly.
"To your eyes we look delicate, perhaps even soft, but do not be fooled.
Release them as you would release a trained falcon from its jesses, and
they will each reward you with scores of moogle dead. Before they came
here, I called for soldiers willing to die to defeat a menace none of that
world had ever seen. They came here for this fight, Lord Tim - abandoned
forever all they have ever known, to win this battle. Allow them their
strike; guide them where the blade will bite deepest. They have already
paid its price, in their hearts where it counts."

Without another word, Nighthawk moved off, quickly disappearing again in
the chaos of the camp.


From:	skyhall@hotmail.com (Sky Hall)

  Tim stood in shocked silence as he watched Nighthawk hurry away from him. 
He could tell how difficult it was for her to hand him command.
  "She must truly be in dire straits," thought Tim. He shook his head. He 
felt very sad all of a sudden. To see such a great warrior reduced to this 
was almost too much for Tim.
  What had happened to her? Why was she no longer this stalwart, forthwright 
figure of respect and dominance? Why did she suddenly loose this character?
  Tim could find no answers, since getting any information out of Nighthawk 
was like serving a prison sentence.
  Tim sighed. He held the amulet Nighthawk had given him, watching her 
retreating figure.
  "I will treat the avariel as true warriors," said Tim aloud, unsure if 
Nighthawk could hear. "Not one death shall be in vain."
  He turned and walked to his tent.


--Sky