>From: joan@med.unc.edu (Joan Shields)
Subject: Bad Moon Risin'
Date: 22 Mar 91 16:25:45 GMT
Lines: 99
Originator: joan@ocean


Well, folks, here's another from my friend Ken.  Remember, send all
comments to him at: aubey@gimli.asd.contel.com.  We appreciate your
business :-).

Joan
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"Yo, Nightflyer." I say to the ambulance tech. He looks surprised. Not many
people this far west recognize the Owl Tribe tattoos. "Cops don't need to hear
about this, right?" I toss a credchip to him. He smiles at the readout and
answers, "Hear about what?" as the vehicle rolls off into the darkness.

<Medicine Hawk is silent as he looks down at the blade in his hands. There is
the tiny concavity, a nick lovingly resharpened, where it had once met an iron
club in a foeman's hand. There was the scratch along the the handguard, where
an arrow had once richochetted away. A discoloration on the blade was the mark
of a near-miss from a laser rifle. The hilt-wrapping was new, but the pattern
was all-too familiar, tens of centuries old. Li's sword.>

<He remembers the day old Thorwulf Starhammer finished the making of that
blade; the look on Li's face as she first lifted it. Fierce joy, wide-eyed
wonder at the perfection that a half-blind and better-than-half mad Dwarf could
call forth from the fires of his forge.>

<He remembers, too, Li's face as her lover, Arthalin the Wardancer, completed
the first hilt-wrapping on that same sword, binding it's spirit with that of
its owner and its owner's House and ancestors. She was about to protest when
the tall warrior stood, presented the sword and spoke The Naming in the ancient
language of the Sidhe. "Be it known forever that you are Liralen - She Who Sees
Within.">

<Medicine Hawk looks around at the group of companions that has yet to disperse
to their beds, shocked by the night's surprises.>

"This is hers. It's Li's sword. Sendin' us a message."

"They tried to kill Argent with Li's sword? Why? They trying to warn us off?"
asks Leadfoot.

"Worse. It was Li, herself. I'd bet my ass on it. How many *other* people you
know could get past this bunch without being seen?  Hell, I wasn't even asleep
yet."

<He holds out the sword, offering it to Running Wolf. "Med'cine man, can you
learn anything from the sword? Anything about Li?"

Running Wolf leaves Ylse's side, takes the weapon. He looks grim as he runs his
fingers along the hilt-wrappings. "You sayin' she sold us out? She sold out
Argent?"

"Hell, no. Somebody else runnin' her, but she sent us a message, anyway.
Spelled it out for us. You know how she felt about that blade - 'Warrior's
sword is the warrior's soul'. She'd leave her arm behind before she'd just
_forget_ that sword.. She's telling us what happened, don't you see? "

<The light of understanding dawns in Nekoko's cat eyes. Her voice is small as
she says, "Li's telling us that she's lost her soul . . .">

"She and I, we were . . ." I feel that I will make a fool of myself if I
continue to speak. I look at Running Wolf.  My hands move quickly. Tribe sign
speech. He nods, he raises an eyebrow in surprise.

<Medicine Hawk's face grows dark and angry. He brings up the Matsushita M-89
that he had absent-mindedly slung over his shoulder when he went to the door.
Blunt fingers eject the flechette magazine. He looks at it - grey stripe -
shocktox - causes muscle tetanus - makes your whole body freeze up.  Hurts like
hell but it usually won't kill you. He flings the magazine across the driveway
and replaces it with one from his pocket. One with a narrow red stripe along
its edge. Explosive warheads.>

"We gotta find her, get her out. Right away. No fuckin' prisoners."

<The bearded man walks back into the mansion, swearing under his breath.>

<"What the hell was that all about?" asks Leadfoot, moving his hands in
imitation of Medicine Hawk.>

<"What he said was this:", Running Wolf begins. Right fist strikes chest. " 'We
share one heart '- means 'I will die for you',  sign for 'Tribe brothers'. He
and I could say that about each other." >

<The fist moves sharply down - "The knife stroke. Means 'I will kill for you.'
The sign for oath brothers - battle brothers".>

<Right hand, palm down circles clockwise, fingers point upward, wiggle
slightly. "The Circle of Fire - Blood Brothers - means "I would go into Hell
for you. Very heavy stuff. Man, I didn't know they were *that* close.>

<There is little noise as the group, chilled, return to their beds.>

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-- Ken Aubey  ( kaubey@europa.asd.contel.com)
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