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Hale mutters something in the Old Tongue in his sleep as he feels Kya's weight settle upon him. Being a lightweighted animal, the vixen can't crush him or suffocate him with her body.

However, her presence bothers him in other ways. Just like a housecat, the very fact that she is there, on his torso, prevents him from shifting in his sleep and thus she prevents him from getting comfortable while he rests.

And no doubt as Kya had planned, Hale awakens with a grumble and a grunt, and stares at the near-black shape now lying on his chest.

"What do you want?" he demands...

Only to see if you have awakened yet, she says with a laugh. The look on her bonded's face, however, tells her he hasn't fallen for her deception at all. They knew each other better than anyone else ever could.

Well, that and I have news for you. Good news too, she adds with a slightly more serious tone.

Again he swears. There were days when he could've sworn it was Kya's prerogative to drive him mad - after her usual duties as his lir of course.

"Some days you are of little help," he grouses, desperately wishing Kya would just get off his chest and allow him to get up.

"So. Tell me what you've found. Better not be the usual discovery you tend to make..."

And just what is that supposed to mean? "The usual discovery"? the vixen says as she complies with Hale's wish - though more because of her now-grumpy mood than because of any kind of altruism.

As soon as she's on the floor she begins to clean herself, putting her pelt into order again.

Well, despite your rather rude method of asking me to divulge my secrets I will comply with your request. At least, one of them anyways, she says in-between straightening out her bushy tail. The abridged version of my discoveries is this: we are not alone in this world.

He winces and squeezes his eyes shut, pinching the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Kya was most definitely at her most maddening at that very moment.

"Aye of course we are 'not alone'!" he says with a curse. "There are other people in this madhouse; naturally we are 'not alone'!"

Maybe it was the morning; maybe it was his being in a strange place.

Or maybe it was just the fox he kept as his closest companion that had succeeded in putting him in the worst mood he'd been in since his rebirth.

"Kya, I swear, you can be of little help some days..," he growls in a rhetorical manner.

Kya, to her credit, didn't respond to his sour tone. Hale had always been the type one definitely would not call a "morning person". It wasn't until after a stiff shot of honey brew that his temper and spirits lifted, and he became somewhat more agreeable and good-natured.

You apparently did not understand me, the vixen tells him with more patience than Hale's rudeness warrents. Aye, I know we are not alone in this place, but that isn't what I meant.

She moves to lick a foreleg in the manner that tells Hale that the vixen is annoyed and is doing her best not to let him on.

When I said "we are not alone", I meant that we are not the only ones from our world in this place. There is at least one other here who is like us, and comes from our world. But you will not recognise him lir; he is not of your time, but from another.

That revelation managed to silence Hale. He sits there, watching in stunned disbelief at the vixen, while she continues her preenings, unable to comprehend just what she has just said.

Another one... Just like me... In this place...

Aye, the vixen says, this time her tone very much brightened. I cannot say if he is even now here in this tavern, but there is only one way to know, and that is to head downstairs and see for ourselves.

Feeling that her appearance is now much tidier than it was before, she gets up, and with a yawn, stretches out to her full length, before turning to face the door.

If you're ready - and in a better mood - we can go now, she says, not bothering to look and see if he's even on his feet yet.

He snaps out of his momentary stupor. "Of ... course..," he mutters, still not completely recovered from the shock of Kya's news.

Seeing a fresh set of leathers on the chair by the bed, he hastily gets dressed - but not before stumbling and crashing into a wall (and waking up another patron in the process - something that earns him a lot of angry swearing in an unknown language).

And once he's fully dressed, he falls into step behind the vixen, who leads him downstairs and into the bar, and does his best to recover his warrior's demeanor and dignity while preparing himself for whoever it is that's downstairs...

'Whoever' turns out to be Brennan, sitting in the corner table he prefers and drinking honey-brew while reading the book on Homanan politics that he had last time he was here. Sleeta is sitting primly at his feet.

Hale scans the room for the object of Kya's interest, but given the motley assortment of patrons in the bar, finding another Cheysuli warrior - even with their unique attributes and qualities of appearance - is like trying to find a needle in a haystack while wearing gloves and a blindfold.

Kya, if you could be of some help here...

The vixen seems to sigh. Apparently Hale just isn't in the mood for patience, it seems.

Follow me lir; I will lead you to our fellow kinsman, she says to him, wagging her tail slightly the way she always does when she's determined to be his better.

Brennan doesn't look up as the fox and warrior approach, but Sleeta cocks her head and sits up.

Ah, hello, Kya. It is good to finally put a face to the names we've all heard.

Yes it is, the vixen says as she approaches the mountain cat. You are a little larger than I expected you to be, but I am happy to meet you nevertheless.

She turns her head to look for her bonded. Apparently he had just finished apologising to the patron he'd woken up only minutes before (how they'd gotten there was anyone's guess), and was now having a hard time trying to find the vixen in the shuffle.

If you're quite finished playing "Lost Little Lamb".., she says in an exaggeratedly patient tone, I am over here, a few paces to your front and a little to your left. See the man sitting and reading his book lir?

I am a mountain cat, after all. I am much larger than Kiri as well; she is about your size, but red, not silver. And I am very pleased to meet you.

Sleeta looks at Brennan and sighs. And my lir seems not to notice anything, I'm afraid. He does get caught up in his books sometimes.

She notices the warrior making his way over. That is Hale, I assume?

Kya didn't make any remarks regarding Sleeta's species, but she couldn't exercise the same kind of restraint when the species of another warrior's lir was mentioned. If there was one thing that seemed to be a source of pride in lir, it was in knowing that another warrior had linked with another of their kind.

Another fox eh? she said with considerable enthusiasm, as she watched Hale make his way. Down here, she said to him. There appears to be another seat; why not take one and have a drink? Get to know your descendant while you're at it. And please, a little more manners than you displayed this morning? she added as he stood next to her, unsure of what to do next.

Lir. Pay attention to what is going on around you.

Brennan looks up at that prompt, slightly surprised. Upon seeing another warrior - another Cheysuli - he stands up, smiling, and offers his hand.

"Good evening. I hadn't realised there was another of our kind here."

He could hear Kya's mental laughter as he saw the young man look up, and then get up to greet him. Apparently there was some kind of great joke going on, and far be it for Kya to share it with him.

"Evening," he replies, taking the younger man's hand in his. "I'd say the sense of surprise in finding a kinsman in this place is mutual," he added, deciding to take a seat after all and ordering his first honey brew of the day.

With luck it will make you more pleasant, his lir quipped, still laughing heartily over her private joke.

Sleeta seems amused by something; Brennan ignores it, as she'll fill him in if and when she deems it necessary, and not a moment before.

"My name is Brennan; my lir is Sleeta."

His tone is somewhat deferential; the warrior is older than he is by at least a decade, and looks far more experienced.

Again Kya laughs; again Hale feels himself at a loss as to why. Just what was going on here anyways?

Oh, manners...

"Brennan is it? Sleeta?" he says as he looks at each in turn. "This is Kya, my lir, and my name is Hale," he added as he felt a growing sense of anticipation within the lirlink between him and the vixen.

Brennan...

...freezes. Stares at Hale with an expresison that could be horror, disbelief, awe or some combination of the three.

Whispering, "you can't be."

For several moments the air surrounding the table they were seated at reverberated with tension. Brennan was looking at him with a look of utter horror - as if he'd just seen a ghost.

Well, perhaps I am one, Hale thought to himself, unsure just what to make of all this.

The truth lir, came Kya's unusually-gentle tone. Just tell him the truth: you are as you claim to be.

And that is..? Hale asks.

His kinsman. And his kin.

Kya's comment about "descendant" made sense now - now that he knew why she'd said it at all.

He looked at Brennan, who apparently still hadn't yet recovered from his surprise.

"I am as I said I am: I am Hale. And apparently, your ... ancestor..."

Brennan keeps shaking his head, going as pale as a bronze-skinned Cheysuli can.

"There's no way this can be possible. You - you died! You died years ago! My - my grandsire was your son..."

He starts laughing; wildly, nearly hysterically. "An Ihlini claims to be my son and now this - Keely may be right, Gisella's madness infects us all--"

The young man is clearly not taking this well, Hale observed, given the near-pallid look on Brennan's face and his head shaking. He could use a little humour in regards to that, but he knew - even without Kya's input - that making jest of Brennan's predicament would only worsen things, not improve them.

"I ... I know... This is as bizarre to me as it is you. One minute I was in the afterworld; the next I was back in the realm of the living. And all Kya can tell me is it's my 'tahlmorra' to once again be alive."

There's a pained look in the older man's eyes as once again his thoughts turn towards his elder brother, how he died, and how Hale wished that Corri could be with him now. It would ease the loneliness he felt ever since he once again drew breath as a living being.

But Brennan's comment about the Ihlini brought him back to reality, and his expression intensifies as he looks for his knife.

"An Ihlini demon ... claims kinship? To you? They are here in this place as well?"

"An Ihlini ku'reshtin claims that I am his father, aye. He's the only one I've seen here..." Brennan trails off, still staring at Hale.

'Sleeta? This... this can't be true? It's not - it's not possible.'

Many things are possible, lir. Please, try to calm down. You are going to cause damage to yourself.

Unfortunately, Brennan really isn't in the right frame of mind to pay attention to Sleeta.

There is no Ihlini here that I can sense, Kya assures Hale before he can inquire further. There is no need to contemplate gelding him as I'm sure you're thinking of doing right now.

Hale sighed inwardly. Would the Ihlini forever torment his race? From the sounds of things, they probably would - for as long as they could.

Lir, Kya spoke again. The young man is still distressed.

"I know it seems confusing to you young warrior, and it's confusing to me too. Perhaps there is a reason for my being here. Maybe the gods think my task in this world is not finished.

Or maybe they think it is an endless source of amusement to do this to mortal men.

Either way I did not intend to cause you distress. And I hope that I won't cause you any future distress as well."

There. Maybe that would help. The gods knew he was not much for being of use when emotions were involved...

Sleeta puts her paws on Brennan's knees and looks into his face, trying to calm him down.

Lir. He is Hale, and the vixen is Kya, and it is very strange but you do not need to fear that you are mad. This place is a strange place, and who is to say people from the past or the future may not walk side by side with those from the present? Lir, please, you must calm yourself.

She looks helplessly at Kya. He has gone through much of late, it has taken its toll on him. He is rather overwrought. Under normal circumstances he would be calmer - though seeing one's great-grandsire alive and well can never be 'normal' circumstances I suppose - but as it is, his nerves are a little frayed.

Lir do not.., Kya began. Hale had apparently gone for his knife, preparing to physically remove the mountain cat and prevent her from harming the young warrior by whatever means necessary. She is lir, bonded. Lir. And you know what it means to mortally wound one...

Aye he did. And so he watched on as Sleeta did what she could to steady the young man who called himself "Brennan".

I wish I could help you, the vixen said to the large cat. But at present there isn't much I can do. I'm not large enough to hold him down, and I doubt being held down by someone who is not supposed to be alive would have the desired effect anyways.

She turns her head to look at Hale. We'll have to wait until Brennan calms down it would appear...

It takes some time for Brennan to calm himself enough to look at Hale and force a smile. He ignores the insistent voice in his head that tells him this is not right, that insists this warrior cannot be the Hale of legend who sired Duncan and Finn, that claims he must be going mad or the warrior must be lying, because nothing is making sense.

"Forgive me. I am a little on edge of late, your revelation came as rather a shock."

He buries one hand in the soft fur on Sleeta's neck; that, at least, is real. He doesn't know for sure whether the warrior calling himself Hale is telling the truth or not, but as long as he reminds himself that there is something real here, he can hold onto sanity.

"It is understandable," he says, noting just how much of a shock it would be for someone long dead to just suddenly appear before you. It would've been the same for him had his own grandsire appear in front of him without warning.

He does not appear to be sure, was Kya's voice. I cannot speak with him; only Tasha, yet I suspect he is still having trouble digesting this particular change in events. Give him time; let him see you are not a product of imagination or sorcery first.

He wanted to say something about that, that he wasn't a product of sorcery at all, but then again, it'd be hard to say for sure if that was or was not even true.

"Understandable," he repeats. "Now. About the Ihlini bastard who claims kinship to you..."

Brennan laughs shortly. "If he is kin to me, then he is without doubt a bastard; no Cheysuli would lower themself by wedding an Ihlini. I do not know whether he is speaking the truth or merely toying with me... it's their way, as I'm sure you're familiar with, but usually they're more subtle than this."

He shakes his head. "I do not see how he can be telling the truth. Sleeta would know an Ihlini. He can't be kin to me."

He hopes. He doesn't believe that Lochiel is telling the truth, he doesn't want to believe that Rhiannon would betray him when she's all that's keeping him from despair at Hart's absence... he doesn't know. If Lochiel is telling the truth... he doesn't want to think about what that might mean.

Aye, the lir would always know who was enemy and who was not. It was, after all, one of their primary purposes: guard the ones they were bonded to. He grinned inwardly. Much as he was fond of his lir, he could not imagine Kya presenting much of a threat to an Ihlini sorcerer.

Lir.., came Kya's now-darkened tone. Do not judge potency on size alone...

He ignored her; the image of Kya snapping at Brennan's Ihlini tormenter was too humourous for him to heed her words.

"No, I think he is toying with you, as is the way of all Ihlini to meddle with the mind of their prey. I doubt very much that he speaks the truth at all."

"Most likely. I've had a rather trying few weeks, that's all, so I wasn't exactly thinking straight. But as I said, Sleeta would know any Ihlini before I came into contact with them, so there's no possibility that I could father a Cheysuli-Ihlini halfbreed."

That does make him feel a little better; Sleeta would have known, if Rhiannon was Ihlini. Lochiel can't have been telling the truth.

He seated himself back into his chair and ordered another honey brew, while Kya - in a temper that rivaled his own from earlier - curled up next to his boot and shut him out of their link for the time being. It didn't bother him; he knew things would be restored between them in time.

But the Ihlini that troubled his kinsman...

"Gods help us all if any of us should ever produce such an abomination..," he said in a tone of agreement. It made his back tense to think of such a creature walking the world, and the battles over who would raise it. "A shame that the prophecy requires it though. I however do not envy the man or woman who must do it."

Brennan shudders. "Not myself, nor my rujholli, thank the gods. I'm bound to the Princess of Erinn, and there is no Ihlini blood in her. Hart is in the worst danger, going to Solinde, but I very much doubt he will be interested in laying with an Ihlini."

He orders a cup of usca, deciding that the stronger liquor will probably help calm his nerves, and leans back, still stroking Sleeta absently.

The princess of Erinn... Obviously the prophecy was well under way if the younger man had found himself in a bethrothal to another woman. Cheysuli men as well as women normally chose their partners; for someone to do the choosing for them indicated some kind of special circumstances were involved.

He watched Brennan stroke the large black cat, once again feeling a slight twinge of jealousy at not having a large or powerful animal as his lir - something Kya must've sensed as once again she started preening herself in an aggressive manner.

"Hart is your rujholli? Just the one?" He nods slightly. "I had a rujholli of my own. We were the only boys our parents had..," he added before trailing off, thinking about Corri and how he died, no thanks to Shaine's over-blown pride.

"Hart is my twin rujho, aye, but I have another, Corin. He is a year younger than Hart and myself, and twin to our full-blooded rujholla, Keely. Our jehan also sired our half-sister Maeve, who is part Erinnish and lacks Cheysuli gifts - a fact Keely enjoys flaunting whenever possible," he adds, his mouth tightening. Fond as he is of Keely, he's equally as fond of Maeve.

"Our line" - if he believes what Hale is saying, which is getting easier to do - "has never been strong in sons; my generation is the first to have more than one legitimate son whom the Homanans will accept as Crown Prince. Naturally, we all hope that the same fortune passes to me, otherwise the hold on the Lion Throne may become tenuous again."

Five children, he pondered. Five of them. What Shaine would've given to have had five children of his own, instead of just one... Four sons. He would've been beyond proud to have sired that many, instead of only siring Lindir, Hale's beloved.

But then the prophecy would not now be closer to fulfillment than it is now.

"This Keely, your rujholla... She has Cheysuli gifts? You mean she has all the atributes of the Old Blood?" He leaned back: now it was his turn to be amazed at what had happened.

The Old Blood has returned to us at last...

He smiles fondly. "Keely has the Cheysuli gifts, aye. And she loves to flaunt them and claim herself just like a warrior. She can speak with the lir and shapechange and heal, though we've had little reason to use that last gift. For all she shares jehan's Homanan looks, she is very much a Cheysuli. She is fearless."

He looks troubled for a moment, remembering his own fear, then dismisses it. Keely's claims that Gisella's madness is hereditary are nonsense, he tells himself; she was born mad because her mother was shot from the sky, not because of some genetic defect. His fear is nothing to do with Gisella.

He's not sure whether that comforts him or not.

He laughs at this. "Aye, what woman with such gifts would ever consent to being a meek little mouse? Especially since it is in our history as well as her blood that she be a warrior in the same right as either of us?"

He grinned, then downed the honey brew in a single swallow. Despite all the regrets he'd felt after he took Lindir as his cheysula, knowing what became of it - how the Old Blood had once again made itself known and that the prophecy of the First Bord was now one step closer to completion - made it all seem quite worth it in the end.

"I don't deny she has the right to be something other than a meek little mouse, but Keely does make things... awkward, sometimes."

He strokes Sleeta again, thinking. "Speaking of making things awkward, I'm probably wanted back home. Jehan has scheduled another council meeting and he wants me there."

He was about to inquire further, when the younger man informs him that he is needed elsewhere. Nodding, he decided to take the opportunity to ask the question that had been on his mind ever since he got here.

"Council meeting eh? You speak as though it is possible to leave this world.

Is it?"

He kept the question brief, not wanting to keep Brennan here longer than he should be.

Brennan shrugs. "It's possible for some to leave, I know that much. I can leave whenever I wish, although coming back is more arbitrary."

He's not sure if Hale can leave. He'd thought dead people were Bound to Milliways, but he could be wrong.

He nods. "Then perhaps that is a good thing, that you be able to return to your home easily. I doubt your jehan would like it if you found it as hard to return home as it is to leave it."

And so he orders yet another honey brew as he gives Brennan his chance to return home.

At that, he smiles. "No doubt, if only because then Hart would have to be Crown Prince, and Corin would take Solinde's throne, and then jehan would have Atvia still on his hands."

He stands up. "Despite my reaction, it was good meeting you, Hale. Be well."

And with that, warrior and cat leave the bar.