Trouble...
The following is a short story, dedicated to my love, life and soul-mate, ayashii_1 and follows the series of events leading up to my formal introduction to her tamed saber-cat, Trouble...
Trouble
"No, no, no, Tacita," High Priestess Laurena shook her head at her pupil, who had come to her several months ago seeking to exchange wisdom with those whose purpose it was to guide and look after the souls of those upon the soil of this new world. Laurena had gained that tell-tale little whine just beneath the surface of her words that told Tacita the woman was nearing the end of her patience, which was a very thin rope to begin with.
"You are not listening. You must concentrate on the message when you read, that is true, but if you ignore syntax all together the words just run into each other..."
"Forgive me, Mistress, the language you speak today was difficult enough for me to learn," Tacita paused to mark her place upon the scroll with one dark finger, "But, the words of the ancient Azerothians can be, if you will once more forgive me, baffling."
"That is one of the reasons why you must learn to listen as you speak them," Priestess Laurena smiled, "Merely translating them onto a scroll and saying them in your head isn't enough."
"But, why all of this...", Tacita waved her arm, indicting the surrounding scrolls, housed within their own nooks within the walls of the Cathedral of Light, where she had been coming to study under the tutelage of the High Priestess ever since she first stepped foot through the gates of the great human city of Stormwind, the bottles of ink and quills, the many, many rolls of marked and unmarked parchment at her feet and beneath and around the alter. "I feel as if I am back in school with other youngings at my side and I am, I daresay, older than your great-grandmother."
"Part of learning about another's religion and culture, Tacita, is learning their prayers and stories. In their ancestors own words and language. We have a saying also, that you would do well to remember: 'Within the mundane there is greatness'. There will time enough to hone your magical skills, those which are your naturally and those which have been gifted you by, as your people call him, 'The Great Naaru', by and by."
"Now, repeat Thessialian 22:18 in the old tongue and mark you remember your syntax this time!"
Tacita stood to recite the words she'd been reciting, it seemed long enough to have them wedged within her memory for an eternity, when a soft, nearly transparent shadow eased around the corner of the entrance hall and came forward on four silent paws. The small 'o' of her mouth grew into a smile before it altered once more to a worried frown as she recognized her lifemate's tamed beast, Trouble. She knew that were Trouble was Ayashii was never far.
A graceful shadow stepped into the light of the flickering candles behind the ghostly spotted, very dangerous, feline, and was promptly greeted by the alter boy and Brother Kristoff. As she approached the alter and the High Priestess and her student, The Archbishop Benedictus gave her a respectful nod while a glint of good-hearted teasing flashed within his eyes. Both Tacit and Ayashii had like the Archbishop upon sight and got along well with him out of sight of Laurena.
The frown of worried Ayashii had expected. It was the same look Tacita gave every time she set eyes upon the great spirit-like saber cat, even after Ayashii had done all she could reassure her mate that he was only dangerous to their foes and those creatures she hunted for food. She knew it was just a matter of allowing Tacita to get used to the animal and that, she knew in her heart of hearts, they would really take to each other once she did.
The other reason for her frown was High Priestess Laurena, who was silently tapping one foot on the floor waiting for her student to finish her business and get back to her work. Ayashii didn't often interrupt her sessions with Laurena, but when she did, her teacher seemed to take it as an insult to her, for some unfathomable reason Tacita hadn't yet been able to figure out. She didn't, of course, want her teacher feeling so.
Ayashii knew the only reason Tacita was still timid around Trouble was that Tacita was forever locked behind these walls and hadn't had any time at all to form any sort of bound with him as Ayashii had done. She would not be able to rest or hunt properly until this was settled, she knew.
With a signal to Trouble, Ayashii strode down the center isle towards Tacita. Trouble yawned, showing all of his teeth, including his dagger-like fangs which were larger than both her forearms held side-by-side, and lay down upon the carpet near a young man who went sickly pale at the sight of that sword filled maw. Trouble did not move other than whip his tail back and forth periodically.
"My apologies, High Priestess," Ayashii said, bowing low before Laurena and once more towards Archbishop Benedictus, "But, I fear I must steal your pupil from you for a little while."
"Ayashii, I was just in the middle..."
"You were just in the middle of rotting in here," Ayashii interrupted. Trouble gave a soft growling noise that startled Tacita, as if in agreement with his mistress, "I know this is important to you, and what is important to you is important to me, but, I cannot stand aside while this world passes on without you even taking one single note of it."
"All worlds will pass on, my love, as do people," Tacita said, even as she allowed her lover to lead her from the building and outside into the bright sunshine, "I learn to keep our souls from those deep, dark and very warm places that may come to certain folks after one or the other occurs."
"Well, if the world is to be no more," Ayashii argued, "What's wrong with taking in a few sights before so?"
"Come," she said, instead of awaiting an answer, she could feel Tacita giving in anyway, "You can treat me to one those local treats; ice cream. I hear they are delicious."
A few of the children playing from the orphanage nearby heard the words 'ice cream' and came to flock around them. Laughing, Tacita reached down to pick up a little girl with blond pigtails, "And what flavour do you fancy, little one?" she asked. The little girl exclaimed excitedly, "Stwaberry...Stwaberry ice cweam!" which, was, of course, taken up as a chorus by the other children as they wove their way towards the canals; "Stwaberry ice cweam! Stwaberry ice cweam!"
After the ice cream, Ayashii thought to herself, we will begin the other work. She looked at Trouble as she said this, which of course, had been following close beside Ayashii and dodging the children at the same time. One little boy reached out to stroke the cat's fur and Ayashii could feel Tacita tense, ready to spring and snatch the child away.
Trouble merely licked the little boy's head and face, smearing him in slobbery saliva before a rumbling sound began which they all recognized as the universal feline signal for pleasure: the purr. "His tongue feels like sand stuck on paper!" The little boy laughed, wiping his face on his sleeve, "What's his name?"
"Trouble," Ayashii answered, touching her cat with one hand tenderly, "And believe me, he's earned his name!"
She'd been watching Tacita from the corner of her eye and was relieved to see the tenseness had lessened a bit. Perhaps there was hope after all?
~*~*~
...To be continued
-Tacita
Trouble
"No, no, no, Tacita," High Priestess Laurena shook her head at her pupil, who had come to her several months ago seeking to exchange wisdom with those whose purpose it was to guide and look after the souls of those upon the soil of this new world. Laurena had gained that tell-tale little whine just beneath the surface of her words that told Tacita the woman was nearing the end of her patience, which was a very thin rope to begin with.
"You are not listening. You must concentrate on the message when you read, that is true, but if you ignore syntax all together the words just run into each other..."
"Forgive me, Mistress, the language you speak today was difficult enough for me to learn," Tacita paused to mark her place upon the scroll with one dark finger, "But, the words of the ancient Azerothians can be, if you will once more forgive me, baffling."
"That is one of the reasons why you must learn to listen as you speak them," Priestess Laurena smiled, "Merely translating them onto a scroll and saying them in your head isn't enough."
"But, why all of this...", Tacita waved her arm, indicting the surrounding scrolls, housed within their own nooks within the walls of the Cathedral of Light, where she had been coming to study under the tutelage of the High Priestess ever since she first stepped foot through the gates of the great human city of Stormwind, the bottles of ink and quills, the many, many rolls of marked and unmarked parchment at her feet and beneath and around the alter. "I feel as if I am back in school with other youngings at my side and I am, I daresay, older than your great-grandmother."
"Part of learning about another's religion and culture, Tacita, is learning their prayers and stories. In their ancestors own words and language. We have a saying also, that you would do well to remember: 'Within the mundane there is greatness'. There will time enough to hone your magical skills, those which are your naturally and those which have been gifted you by, as your people call him, 'The Great Naaru', by and by."
"Now, repeat Thessialian 22:18 in the old tongue and mark you remember your syntax this time!"
Tacita stood to recite the words she'd been reciting, it seemed long enough to have them wedged within her memory for an eternity, when a soft, nearly transparent shadow eased around the corner of the entrance hall and came forward on four silent paws. The small 'o' of her mouth grew into a smile before it altered once more to a worried frown as she recognized her lifemate's tamed beast, Trouble. She knew that were Trouble was Ayashii was never far.
A graceful shadow stepped into the light of the flickering candles behind the ghostly spotted, very dangerous, feline, and was promptly greeted by the alter boy and Brother Kristoff. As she approached the alter and the High Priestess and her student, The Archbishop Benedictus gave her a respectful nod while a glint of good-hearted teasing flashed within his eyes. Both Tacit and Ayashii had like the Archbishop upon sight and got along well with him out of sight of Laurena.
The frown of worried Ayashii had expected. It was the same look Tacita gave every time she set eyes upon the great spirit-like saber cat, even after Ayashii had done all she could reassure her mate that he was only dangerous to their foes and those creatures she hunted for food. She knew it was just a matter of allowing Tacita to get used to the animal and that, she knew in her heart of hearts, they would really take to each other once she did.
The other reason for her frown was High Priestess Laurena, who was silently tapping one foot on the floor waiting for her student to finish her business and get back to her work. Ayashii didn't often interrupt her sessions with Laurena, but when she did, her teacher seemed to take it as an insult to her, for some unfathomable reason Tacita hadn't yet been able to figure out. She didn't, of course, want her teacher feeling so.
Ayashii knew the only reason Tacita was still timid around Trouble was that Tacita was forever locked behind these walls and hadn't had any time at all to form any sort of bound with him as Ayashii had done. She would not be able to rest or hunt properly until this was settled, she knew.
With a signal to Trouble, Ayashii strode down the center isle towards Tacita. Trouble yawned, showing all of his teeth, including his dagger-like fangs which were larger than both her forearms held side-by-side, and lay down upon the carpet near a young man who went sickly pale at the sight of that sword filled maw. Trouble did not move other than whip his tail back and forth periodically.
"My apologies, High Priestess," Ayashii said, bowing low before Laurena and once more towards Archbishop Benedictus, "But, I fear I must steal your pupil from you for a little while."
"Ayashii, I was just in the middle..."
"You were just in the middle of rotting in here," Ayashii interrupted. Trouble gave a soft growling noise that startled Tacita, as if in agreement with his mistress, "I know this is important to you, and what is important to you is important to me, but, I cannot stand aside while this world passes on without you even taking one single note of it."
"All worlds will pass on, my love, as do people," Tacita said, even as she allowed her lover to lead her from the building and outside into the bright sunshine, "I learn to keep our souls from those deep, dark and very warm places that may come to certain folks after one or the other occurs."
"Well, if the world is to be no more," Ayashii argued, "What's wrong with taking in a few sights before so?"
"Come," she said, instead of awaiting an answer, she could feel Tacita giving in anyway, "You can treat me to one those local treats; ice cream. I hear they are delicious."
A few of the children playing from the orphanage nearby heard the words 'ice cream' and came to flock around them. Laughing, Tacita reached down to pick up a little girl with blond pigtails, "And what flavour do you fancy, little one?" she asked. The little girl exclaimed excitedly, "Stwaberry...Stwaberry ice cweam!" which, was, of course, taken up as a chorus by the other children as they wove their way towards the canals; "Stwaberry ice cweam! Stwaberry ice cweam!"
After the ice cream, Ayashii thought to herself, we will begin the other work. She looked at Trouble as she said this, which of course, had been following close beside Ayashii and dodging the children at the same time. One little boy reached out to stroke the cat's fur and Ayashii could feel Tacita tense, ready to spring and snatch the child away.
Trouble merely licked the little boy's head and face, smearing him in slobbery saliva before a rumbling sound began which they all recognized as the universal feline signal for pleasure: the purr. "His tongue feels like sand stuck on paper!" The little boy laughed, wiping his face on his sleeve, "What's his name?"
"Trouble," Ayashii answered, touching her cat with one hand tenderly, "And believe me, he's earned his name!"
She'd been watching Tacita from the corner of her eye and was relieved to see the tenseness had lessened a bit. Perhaps there was hope after all?
~*~*~
...To be continued
-Tacita