From: "carina norris" <carina@norris25.freeserve.co.uk>

Scene: [Cat's room, inside the warren, during the chaos!]

Cat and Dizzi watched as Amy hurriedly disappeared around a bend in
the corridor.

"Where's mama going?" asked Dizzi, looking up at Cat with big eyes.

Cat cursed inwardly for not finding out before Amy had left. Amy had
seemed distracted, anxious even, and hadn't volunteered the
information, simply asking Cat to look after Dizzi for a while.

"Going to visit some friends, I think," Cat said, hoping her
uncertainty didn't show in her words.

Dizzi seemed to accept this.

"Now!" said Cat, cheerfully. "What are we going to do? It looks like
everyone else in the warren is busy, so it's up to you and me to keep
ourselves occupied!" Cat didn't mention that most of the combat riders
were fighting wraiths, and Dizzi's parents had disappeared gods knew
where. She hoped the child couldn't hear the muffled sounds of
shouting outside...

Dizzi was looking around the room.

"Is this your bedroom?" she asked.

"Err, yes," said Cat.

"It's kind of big for just you, isn't it?" said Dizzi.

"It's not just for me, sweetheart," said Cat, sitting on the floor
beside Dizzi to put herself more at the little girl's level. "Soon,
there's going to be a dragon living here too!"

"Oooh!" said Dizzi. "Like mama and papa's?"

"No," grinned Cat, "not as big as that - just a little baby dragon,
but it'll grow."

"I've never seen a baby dragon!" said Dizzi excitedly. "Can I come and
see it?"

"Of course you can," said Cat. "But you'll have to wait - it hasn't
even been born yet."

"Now - lets see if I can find something for you to play with," said
Cat, getting up and walking over to the little cupboard that held her
few possessions. The door was slightly open.

"Hmmm..." said Cat. "Come and take a look at this, Dizzi,"

The little girl trotted obediently over.

"If I'm not mistaken, there's something living in my cupboard," said
Cat. "Shall we look inside,"

Dizzi's eyes grew big again. "Do you think it's dangerous?" she asked.

"Oh, no," said Cat with a smile. "Listen, it's making a friendly
noise."

Dizzi nervously leant closer to the cupboard. Sure enough, a contented
purring was coming from inside.

"You open it," whispered Dizzi.

With a flourish, Cat flung the door open, and a pair of amber eyes
blinked at her sleepily.

"OK, Furface, out you come," she said, reaching inside and hauling out
a grumpily protesting Mr Purr, and putting him on the floor beside
them. Then, Cat took out her leather backpack from her travelling
days.

"There *must* be something interesting in here," she said, motioning
for Dizzi to sit on the floor beside her.

Dizzi's jaw dropped when she saw some of the things in Cat's backpack.

"That's a big knife!" the little girl said, lifting up a wicked
looking
blade.

"Yes, it is!" said Cat, rolling her eyes and deftly removing it from
Dizzi's fingers before she could cut herself.

"What are these?" Dizzi asked, looking at a pair of dull wire rings
decorated with glass beads.

"Oh, those are my old earrings," said Cat, "I'm wearing some new ones
now,"

"Let me see!" asked Dizzi.

Cat proudly showed her the gold cats with the gemstone eyes, that
K'lvin had given to her.

"They're pretty!" said Dizzi.  "Can I have the old ones?"

"Of course," said Cat.

"Can you put them in my ears?" continued Dizzi.

"Sure," said Cat, then, "Oh, no, sorry - I can't, sweetheart - you
need to have holes in your ears to wear earrings."

"Can you make holes in my ears, then?" asked Dizzi.

Cat grinned inwardly at what Amy would say if she returned to find
that Cat had pierced her little daughter's ears!

"No, Dizzi - it would hurt. Better wait until you're a bit bigger,
eh?"

Dizzi looked disappointed. Quickly, Cat tried to distract her. "Let's
see what else is in my bag," she said.

Dizzi delved in once more and produced a little velvet bag. Opening
the drawstring, she put her hand inside and brought out a tiny rat
skull.

"Oooh - beads!" she said.

"Err, yes, I suppose they could be beads," said Cat, uneasily.

"There are loads and loads and loads of them!" said Dizzi, peering
into the bag. "Can you make some into a necklace for me?"

Cat's lips twitched into a mischievous grin. "Sure, why not?" she
said.  Taking a
length of soft leather cord, she picked up a little skull and threaded
the cord through the eye sockets. Then she tied it around Dizzi's
neck.

The little girl held up the skull and examined it proudly.

"Sure you like it?" aske Cat.

"Yes!" said Dizzi, returning her attention to the backpack.

Next, she brought out a big, soft brush. "Is this yours?" she asked.

"No," laughed Cat, "it's Mr Purr's. Here - let me show you. C'mon, Mr
Purr."

Obediently, the fluffy grey cat jumped into Cat's lap and sat quietly
while she began to brush him.

"Would you like to have a go?" Cat asked Dizzi.

"Would he mind?" said Dizzi.

"No - just be gentle. He'll enjoy it."

Timidly, Dizzi began to brush Mr Purr.

"Go on, Mr Purr," said Cat, "go and see Dizzi,"

Obediently the cat got up, then curled up in Dizzi's lap. The girl
giggled excitedly. "He's all soft!" she said.

******

Cat walked to the door of her room to see if she could get a better
idea of what was going on in the warren. Aside from the muffled
noises, she could hear nothing, and the rooms and corridors nearby
appeared to be deserted. Eerily deserted.

She glanced back at where Dizzi and Mr Purr were playing - the little
girl was rolling a ball to the cat, who was chasing after it then
batting it back to Dizzi with his paw.

"That's right, little fella - you keep her happy," Cat murmured.

Mr Purr looked up, then continued with his game.

Suddenly, Cat heard footsteps in the corridor, and had a premonition
that something was wrong - very wrong. An icy shiver ran down her
spine. She thought of shutting the door, but realised that this would
draw the attention of whoever was in the corridor. Instead, she
slipped into the shadows beside the door, and waited, silently willing
Dizzi to be quiet.

[tag anyone!]

[NRPG: Well, who's in the corridor - I've no idea, so jump in, anyone!
Cat's 'premonition' is nothing psychic - just one of those niggling
feeling's that something bad's going to happen.


Respectfully submitted
Cat and Mr Purr - Norwall
Fabrice <& Lazara> - Keldarra
Jeneve - Telnor (soon)

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