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


[K'lvin and Cat, at the Lake]

He pulled her close to
> steady her and before either of them knew what was happening their lips
> met in a brief kiss.
>
> Seconds later Cat pushed him away, slapped him hard across the face and
> ran down the beach as if all the devils of hell were on her heels.
> Before K'lvin could even call her name she'd plunged into the water and
> was swimming with long, angry strokes towards the centre of the lake.
>

With strong strokes, Cat swam out across the Lake, her mind in turmoil.
Why'd he have to do something like that? Who did he think he was? Why'd he
have to ruin a good
outing by going and kissing her? Her lips were still tingling from the
brief touch. They felt strange and ... Cat slowed to a halt and began to
drift ... kind of, well, nice.

By now Cat was in the middle of the lake, and some distance from the rest
of the picnic party. She rested for a while, treading water, and
thinking...

"Stupid, stupid, *stupid*!" she said to herself. She'd said she'd never
get
involved with a man, said it was OK to flirt, and laugh, and joke - like
that comment to Antwin about Kalena, on the beach - that was just teasing.
But nothing
more than that. She'd seen what happened to girls who let their feelings
get
the better of them. They ended up heartbroken - or pregnant. And Cat
didn't
fancy either of those options.  Both involved being dependent, or
vulnerable, and both were anathema to the forthright young woman.

But, the more she thought about it, the more alien her previous standpoint
seemed to her. K'lvin, was, well ... different.   Certainly, he didn't
have Antwin's striking looks and slippery charm. But, now that she had
seen a little more of Antwin, she could detect that more than a touch of
his charisma came from his bardish charm - the practised charm of a
performer. Not genuine, Cat thought. And K'lvin had brought her a present
... even if it was just a squashed pastry!

And now, as she pictured him in her mind, she realised that K'lvin was
rather handsome, in a more manly, solid sort of way than Antwin. He was
tall - much taller than Cat, and she was tall for a woman - and she liked
that. She began comparing his
neater, shorter haircut with Antwin's flowing blond locks ... and seeing
K'lvin in the more favourable light.

It wouldn't hurt to get to know him just a *little* better, she thought,
with a smile.

She could see K'lvin on the shore now, sitting beside the untidy heap
formed by her warm jacket and cloak, guarded by Mr Purr. He was just
staring moodily  into space, his mind far away...

'Now, if I could just get him out here, away from the others, I could
'apologise' for that little scene back there on the beach...' she thought.

With that, Cat dove silently below the lake surface.

She swam deep below the water, moving strongly towards the shore. With
luck, she'd be able to get ashore without having to surface for a breath,
and sneak up on K'lvin without distracting any of the others. Then,
perhaps they could slip away from the rest of the picnickers.

Suddenly, a cramp shot through Cat's leg. The muscles locked in a spasm,
and Cat's face twisted in pain. Doubling over, she grabbed her shin and
attempted to massage the rock-hard muscle back to life, but all the while
she was sinking, sinking into the cold, dark depths of the lake...

Valuable moments passed.

Suddenly she realised that the surface was far above her. It rippled, as
the light played tricks on her oxygen starved brain. She felt her body,
and her mind grow numb, as she steeled herself for one final effort. Her
arms were like lead, and her head was swimming, but she put every ounce of
strength into hauling herself back to the world above.

But to no avail. Despairingly, she let out the last bubbles of air from
her lungs in a long, agonised scream. One last, irrational thought
flickered through her mind ... "Perhaps I'll never get to know K'lvin
now."

Everything went black.

[Meanwhile, on the beach...]


Suddenly, Mr Purr leapt up from where he had been snoozing on Cat's jacket
and cloak. His fur seemed wired with electricity as he let out an almighty
yowl. Leaping at K'lvin, he raked his claws down the young man's bare arm,
drawing blood, and eliciting a yelp and a curse.

[tag Les... ]

[NRPG: Cat is a (totally untrained) telepath, though she doesn't realise
it. As yet, she can only 'send' thoughts, but she doesn't know she's doing
it. (That's why she's able to get Mr Purr to obey her, and how he heard
her scream - he picks up on her thoughts. But although he can pick them
up, he's still just an animal, with animal intelligence. That's the only
thing that's 'special' about him.

He 'hears' Cat's scream, but he doesn't really understand what's
happening. He just knows something's *very* wrong, and he's *very* scared.

As well as Mr Purr, any dragons, and other telepaths nearby will have
heard Cat's scream. ]

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