We met up with the Horde team about an hour later. It was uneventful. We both spotted each other at almost the same time. I saw them first and told Zane to drop flat on the ground in the high grass and stay there. They glassed me and I flashed them our recognition sign. It was probably out of date but it was generic enough to be recognizable to one of us. What was surprising was none of the team were mine. They had Ninjas patch but there was no Ninja leading them. No Night either. I wasn't sure what to make of that. As soon as they approached close enough that we could talk quietly I asked the three man team leader "Where's Ninja?"
"He's busy sir."
"What kind of busy?"
I hadn't told Zane to move yet and I was pretty sure they didn't know exactly where he was.
"Sorry sir. He wanted to come, as did the Lady Night, but they had to stay for a meeting."
"No shit" is what I said. What I was processing was 'the Lady Night' thing which was a little weird. This was the first time I had heard that. What strange shit had gone on that I had missed? I mean I hadn't been gone for that long.
"Sir...we should get going. Where is the boy?"
I wasn't getting a bad vibe. I recognized all three of them. One had turned to watch behind his team and the other had split off about ten paces and was watching the horizon and not me. Never the less I decided to ping him "What boy and who the hell are you?"
He let my implicit challenge roll over him and calmly told me who he was, and what he did in Ninja's company, battalion, or whatever the hell we were calling it this week.
I stared at him and told him to wait here. I backtracked a bit and called for Zane. After a couple of beats he popped up and we joined up with our welcoming commitee. We headed back with them walking a wedge, Zane behind that, and me walking drag.
Note: I am using a laptop without spellcheck to write this as I am at work dealing with a down circuit and a tech that was supposed to be here an hour ago.
I didn't see any spelling errors and neither did MS Word when I popped a copy paste into a document. Looks tight.
ReplyDeleteLady Night? Does that make him Lord Gardener? Do we have a King Max? Hmmm, it's going to be fun to find out.
@ D^2 That would make Zane a prince. He'd be Gardenr's boss. I'm getting confused but I like it!
ReplyDeleteLooking good Nova, this reunion thing will be interesting but I can also see it as being rather mundane. Readers need to remember the long time since WE were with the horde is only a couple weeks in story time (I almost wrote game-time, which it is too!)
ReplyDeleteLady? Well yeahhh, it is a term of respect and considering Freya is an anachronism, it fits well. Hmmm, not respect the very formidable Night? (You know what I mean.) She is hardcore naturally, not evil, and do remember the facts around her growing up being involved in the 'family business' and its cultural aspects. She is true to her beliefs.
I think she is a little hard on the Carol deal, but that is judging from our time, not theirs. Would you be digging some dude that had the ability(past history and assets) to seriously tempt your serious girlfriend/wife? No, you would want to BREAK them... I'm not hypocritical, I been there too(snickers with a dark grin...) I think this is a great workingpoint for our main character's further development. There is no reason for everyone to be unchangeable. THAT is unrealistic. Nothing is constant. Can't imagine Max not being intrigued by his kid- that would actually be out of character- Carol is not a shoein for Max's GF but no reason she can't be around. She has skills in managing people and medical! I think Night could prolly find the kid very reminiscent of Ninja and his cousin at that age from back at the hotel. Maybe there is common ground there to work with? Course Nova may have some other surpises in store already and this is all moot.
When it is convenient, we will find out, LOL!
Thanks, Nova!
JO:)
I am at work dealing with a down circuit and a tech that was supposed to be here an hour ago.
ReplyDeleteHas he gotten there yet?
Those circuit guys are on a timeframe all their own. It brings back Lily Tomlin saying: "We're the phone company - we don't care, we don't have to".
Zane is more Gardener's boy than he is max's. Interesting tensions there...
ReplyDelete"Lady Night? Does that make him Lord Gardener?"
ReplyDeleteI was thinking Gardner might be a knight, so I guess that would make him "Sir Gardner." :)
I don't know what to do with the "Lady" stuff yet. I just threw it in there.
ReplyDeletebobn,
Yeah. Ain't that the truth. He came by 3 hours late, checked it, and said it was AT&T's problem. Not Verizons.