Path: usenet.ins.cwru.edu!hookup!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!news.ultranet.com!news.sprintlin k.net!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsrelay.iastate.edu!newsxfer .itd.umich.edu!zip.eecs.umich.edu!newshost.marcam.com!charnel.ecst.csuchico.ed u!news.xmission .com!xmission.xmission.com!not-for-mail From: kralk@big-top.com Newsgroups: alt.devilbunnies Subject: Re: [STORY] Calliope Music Followup-To: alt.devilbunnies Date: 20 Mar 1995 17:38:01 -0700 Organization: DevilBunnies News<->Mail Gateway Lines: 192 Sender: snowhare@xmission.xmission.com Message-ID: <3kl759$m2d@xmission.xmission.com> Reply-To: kralk@big-top.com NNTP-Posting-Host: xmission.xmission.com > "Oh." The kit blinked. "I'm a--a bunny now, aren't I?" > > "And a most pretty one you are." Kralk bowed his head. "I am > sorry. It was the only way to save you--" > > "Ooo, I *love* it." She sighed with pleasure, resting her head on > his flank. "I feel so free, so light. Everywhere I look, there are such > pretty colors. It all smells so clean and new. > > "Thank you, Daddy." > > Kralk hugged her close. > > "You are very welcome...daughter." > The truckers left the circus trailer just outside Claysville, parked on a dirt road. Two hundred yards away, Kralk could hear vehicles passing by on the highway; the rendezvous point itself was between two hills to conceal them from view. He performed one last recce to be sure no-one uninvited stumbled upon the meeting. Robin yawned. Kralk concealed his anxiety as she sleepily hopped out of the trailer. The grey-furred kit had slept through the journey to Claysville. At times, when they passed over a bump in the road, she would open her golden cat-like eyes. Their pupils, thin slits, would reflect back a greenish glow in the darkness. Then they would close, and her body would twist about in the grip of intense dreams. Kralk was not quite sure, but he doubted such a degree of lassitude was normal for a devilbunny child. "Hello." His daughter laughed. A rank, corrupt odor wafted over Kralk. He turned to face the uglybunny who had noiselessly crept up from behind. Its blood-red eyes, framed by matted fur, glared at Kralk without emotion. Kralk pulled Robin close, away from the apparition. "Dr. Kralk?" it whispered. "One and the same." Bucking up his courage, he made a mock-bow. "Scientist, doctor, and Lord Death of the Four." "Dust, servant to our leader the Cheshire." The newcomer waved a paw at the two trailers. "Are these ready for transport?" "The one on the left can be hitched up in a flash. We can unload the animals from the other; they shouldn't take too much room, except for Bonga." At the mention of his name, the orangutang knuckled out to hunch by Kralk's side. Dust leaped a few yards away, startled by the ape's sudden appearance. Good, Kralk thought. An open invitation is all well and good, but nothing beats honest fear to maintain one's position in a relationship. Bonga ooked while his master paw-signaled a series of orders. Pursing his lips in understanding, Bonga began unloading cages from the trailer. Dust, shaking his head in disbelief, loped up the hillside. Kralk called for Robin to follow him...before catching sight of her dozing beneath a pine tree. Snorting in exasperation, Kralk left her to her slumber. Trying to shake her awake would merely waste time. With Bonga and the Capewarren crew about, she was in little enough danger. He followed Dust to the Ark. ******* Whelan yelped as a stray spark from the welding torch landed on his white fur. The Capewarren squirrel scampered over to Scree. The uglybunny medic, after a quick examination, pronounced him perfectly fine. Somewhat disappointed, Whelan returned to his task of attaching the trailer hitch to the back of the schoolbus. Kralk wished Scree had been as sure in Robin's case. She slept inside the Ark, atop a pallet of hay. The medic had confessed he didn't know what was causing her unusual sleepiness. The circumstances of her conversion rendered any conventional explanation moot. He could only tell Kralk her vital signs were passably normal. "We should be ready to leave in half an hour, doctor." Dust hopped out from under the bus, near the disturbing spraypainted "smile". "Whelan says he's almost finished with that hitch." "I take it Jonah's driving." The human wandered past. His eyes were vacant, and he giggled at the oddest moments. "Is he...safe?" "Oh, yes." Dust smirked. "Cheshire made sure of *that* the first time they met." Kralk shivered. He had few compulsions about killing--if anyone was foolish enough to interfere with his plans, too bloody bad. Slaughtering a group of innocent schoolchildren did seem a tad over the top, though. He resolved to have a little talk with the boy about reserving his energies for the real enemy. Jonah beat his forehead with the heels of his hands. Perhaps, Kralk amended, such discussions could wait until later. Much later. His design for the multiple rocket launcher was far from complete. "Cheshire as an uncle." Dust chuckled. "I'm still getting used to the idea." "I do hope he takes to the child. She needs proper role models for a good upbringing, after all." "Yeah. And it'll be nice to have kits around the warren." Dust looked almost sad. He sniffed the air, as it to mask his weakness. "Smells like Carl'll be back from patrol." Carl? Kralk was about to ask who this was when he saw the ferroti. It was silhouetted against the moon, peering down from the brow of the hill. Stomping alarm, Kralk hid behind the left rear tire of the Ark. Blast it, what is wrong with those fools? Neither Scree nor Dust took any notice of the creature. The ferroti slinked down the ridge with terrifying grace; Kralk waited, paralysed, for it to consume them all. Until Robin innocently hopped right into its path. Screaming, Kralk blindsided the ferroti with a lunge to its flank. His claws barely had time to scratch skin before the predator neatly slapped him out of the air. He groggily got to his paws, knowing he would never get up in time-- Odd. The ferroti was shying away, sacrificing a sure opening for attack. Kralk prepared for another leap. "Doctor, no!" Dust interposed himself between the two combatants. "That's Carl!" "Urgh--wha'?" "Carl's one of us. Cheshire took him in when he first established Capewarren." "He...he wouldn't hurt Robin?" "No. He's learned to smell the difference 'tween uglybunnies and normals. See, he--" Dust stared. "Oh, wow." Shivering, Carl rolled on his back. He whimpered, craning his neck in a submissive posture. Robin gazed at him with her strange eyes. The pattern of black fur on her pelt appeared to flicker--rearrange itself in a new configuration of line and curve. She put one paw on Carl's muzzle; it seemed a gesture of benediction. The ferroti whined in fear and anticipation. ******** "Robin, never *ever* do something like that again," Kralk scolded. Carl lay curled around Robin on the floor of the schoolbus. The beast had not strayed from her heels since their meeting. "Oh, he wouldn't hurt me." She settled down on her living pillow. "Next time you will not be so lucky." Kralk sighed. "Dearest, ferroti *kill* rabbits. That's what they do. Carl's only nice to you because Cheshire taught him better." "[giggle] You're smart, daddy, but he wouldn't hurt me anyways. I'd tell him not to in my dreams." Kralk groaned in frustration. Lost causes were, unfortunately, all too familiar to him. "Promise me you won't take any more chances, sweetums. For me." "Oh, all right." She seemed about to drift off to sleep, then tugged on his forepaw. "Daddy, I don't think I'm a 'Robin' anymore." "You want a new name?" "Yes." "Hmmm, that could--" An inspiration hit Kralk. Dreams...she always talked of them. Even lived through them, most of the time. And, under his guidance, she would flower into a nightmare for those who stood in their path. "Kitlin, how do you like...Mara?" " 'Mara'." She savoured the ring of the word. "It's perfect, daddy. Thank you!" "Por nada, daughter." TBC