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Post by Fulong|Clara on Jul 25, 2009 20:32:13 GMT -5
Winter had finally departed Noatak, taking with it most of its blustering winds and sudden snows. Slowly, the last vestiges of slush and ice had begun to fade from the sidewalks and eaves. While the temperature had not yet dropped noticeably, that, too, would come in due time.
Clara loved springtime. Granted, she could arguably find something to love about every season, but there was something in particular about spring that she'd always enjoyed. It was mostly something to do with the ruins.
It wasn't as if the ruins were closed during the winter; it was simply that she'd broken her wrist clambering around the ice-covered boulders when she was a child, and she'd always been a little wary of doing so again. But as the weather warmed, so did her feelings toward the ancient structures, and she'd always made a habit of returning to the place in the spring. There was something strangely appealing about it--something that seemed to speak to her, weird as it seemed.
Here was the little niche where she used to be able to fit when she was a kid; there was the tree where she'd carved her initials after she'd graduated from high school. Clara beamed as she made her rounds of the place, ending at last, as she always did, in the temple itself. She knew this place like the back of her hand, and it hadn't changed at all.
The sudden, unexpected sound of footsteps caught her attention. She turned instinctively; then, before she could help herself, she had dashed up the crumbling rock to another little niche, this one near the ceiling, that bore her weight surprisingly well. There, hidden in the shadows, she crouched and waited, grinning to herself.
This would be fun.
[Feel free to be the intruder!]
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 6, 2009 2:04:47 GMT -5
Sidestepping the lonely remains of a snowman--a pile of slush, carrot long gone, topped with several black-grey stones that still resembled a grotesque sort of smile--Katya approached the ruins. The Shaman Ruins, some had named them, but she preferred to call them "the ruins." The legendary shaman had not built the temple, nor had he been its only inhabitant. He hadn't owned the grounds, either. So for Katya, simply "the ruins" would suffice.
Usually, at this time of day, she would be helping her father run the clinic. But today, Dr. Pushkarov had insisted that she take a break. They weren't too busy today, he'd said, and he could handle the afternoon's work. Reminding her to put on a jacket, he'd returned to his current task: paperwork. As willing as she was to help her father, paperwork was inexcusably, undeniably dull. So she'd dutifully pulled on a winter coat (even though the outside temperature would be considered warm by Russian standards) and stepped outside, allowing her feet to take her wherever they pleased.
'Wherever they pleased' happened to be the woods, and the ruins. This came as little surprise to Katya. When she had first moved to Noatak, she had found herself inexplicably drawn towards the temple grounds. It used to be an ancient gathering place for their kind, her father had told her when she'd asked. What these assemblies were for, no-one knew, but even after these hundreds or thousands of years, shifters still felt an attraction toward the temple.
She stopped at the entrance and listened. The songbirds were beginning to return, their chirps and twitters nearly masking the cries of a few species that had no business being in Canada--or North America, for that matter. Her talisman's ears perked up when it caught the call of a grouse, but Katya remained where she was. Hunting could wait for later.
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Post by Fulong|Clara on Aug 7, 2009 10:43:17 GMT -5
Clara curled further into the niche as the footsteps grew louder, then halted by the entrance. It was impossible to see the visitor herself from this angle, but her shadow fell clearly across the threshold, and Clara's grin widened.
It was about time Katya got some fresh air. Either Dr. Pushkarov was doing paperwork or her friend had abruptly gone mad. Granted, this made her instinctive prank a little more difficult--she'd never been able to get the jump on her friend, no matter how hard she tried--but that certainly didn't mean she wouldn't be trying now. There was always a first time for everything.
She held her breath as she waited for Katya to step into range. Just a little closer...there.
Clara sprang out of the shadows, arms flung up and hair flying as she kicked off the wall. "BOO!"
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 7, 2009 13:39:47 GMT -5
Stepping into the temple, Katya paused to examine the bas-relief on the walls. The detail was extraordinary; at some point in the distant past, one could probably see every feather of this sandpiper, or every hair on that coyote. The fingers of countless visitors brushing over the figures had worn the stone to a shiny gloss, smoothing away the fine detail. A shame. The images higher up the walls were more well-preserved, but Katya was nowhere near tall enough to get a good look at them. The only times she'd been able to examine them up close was when she'd been younger, when her father had lifted her up onto his shoulders so she could see.
She walked further, and a faint rustling reached her ears, coming from somewhere behind her. Before she had the chance to locate its source, someone was flying towards her with a gleeful "BOO!"
Even as Katya twisted out of the way, she knew exactly who it was. A glimpse of red hair and an open, playful grin merely confirmed it. In the many years they had known each other, Katya's friend had never changed.
"Good afternoon, Clara," she said mildly.
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Post by Fulong|Clara on Aug 7, 2009 19:57:56 GMT -5
Clara overbalanced slightly as she flew past Katya, catching herself just in time to avoid an undignified faceplant into the far wall. She was still grinning unabashedly as she shifted into a turn and slowed to a halt in front of her friend. It had probably been too much to hope that she could have caught the younger girl on an off day, but it had been worth a try anyway.
"Hi!" she said, hugging Katya quickly. "I haven't seen you in forever!" Then, rocking back slightly on her heels and shoving her hands into her pockets, "So what are you up to these days? I didn't expect to see you out of the clinic. Your dad let you out early, huh?"
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 8, 2009 0:40:38 GMT -5
Katya returned her friend's hug, a light one-armed squeeze. Clara was one of those types who enjoyed physical contact, a fact she'd discovered very early on in their friendship. The first couple of times the older girl had enfolded her in an enthusiastic bear hug, Katya had wriggled wildly (and unsuccessfully) to get out of her grip. Afterwards, when Katya gotten used to the normal hugs, Clara had gotten the idea that surprise tackle-hugs would be a lot more fun. To date, she hadn't caught Katya with one of those--though it certainly wasn't for lack of trying.
She smiled at the redhead's enthusiasm. It didn't take a lot to elicit a grin from Clara, and her happiness was often contagious.
"We've been busy recently." Hunter and Innocent activity had increased, with more people than ever showing up at the clinic with all manners of injuries, from gunshot wounds to claw marks. She didn't mention it to her friend, however; as far as Katya knew, Clara had no clue about the talismans, and she was all the more happier in her ignorance.
"Yes, he told me I could have the afternoon off. Paperwork," she said, making an uncharacteristic face. "What have you been doing? How was university?" Because of the daily rush at the clinic, Katya hadn't really gotten a chance to talk to her friend since she'd returned. But now, with no plans for the afternoon, she would not object to doing a little catching up.
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Post by Fulong|Clara on Aug 10, 2009 20:53:52 GMT -5
"Yeah, it kind of sounds like you have been." Clara tugged at a strand of copper-red hair, her smile disappearing for the briefest moments into a slight pout. "What's up with that? It's like there's been a sudden spurt of gang violence and stuff while I was away. Everyone's so tense all of a sudden. I didn't think Noatak was big enough to even have gangs."
The sudden influx of people into town hadn't escaped her notice, either. Sure, more people moving in was good for the local economy, and she certainly wasn't complaining now that the music store had more customers and her pay had gone up, but it was still kind of weird. Nobody had an explanation for it, either, at least not the people she'd asked, and her parents had moved out of town shortly after she'd left for university, so asking them was out of the question.
The pout vanished back into a grin at Katya's face, though, and Clara laughed. "I can understand that. I got a job at Shake It Up, but I'm looking for something bigger and better, you know? University was great, but I have the feeling I should've enjoyed it more while I had the chance. The real world sucks."
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 11, 2009 11:10:46 GMT -5
Sometimes she wondered how Clara could have lived so many years in Noatak without an inkling of what was going on. Katya shrugged; shifter activity rose and fell quite regularly. "You happened to come back at a bad time."
She was a little surprised to hear that Clara was working at the music store. The older girl hadn't spent the better part of four years at university to end up at Shake It Up--not that Clara hadn't thoroughly enjoyed the years she spent in Toronto. When Katya had found time to check her e-mail, there was usually a message telling her how fun it was in the city, and that she should come and visit sometime.
Smiling slightly at the declaration that "the real world sucks," Katya walked deeper into the temple, pausing only briefly at a relief of a pika on a boulder. "Clara, be careful out there, all right?" She herself was not emotionally invested in the ongoing fighting, but the last thing Katya wanted to see was her friend getting caught in the crossfire.
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Post by Fulong|Clara on Aug 11, 2009 18:37:58 GMT -5
"Yeah, it looks like it," mused Clara, her face creased in an uncharacteristic frown. "I could swear I'm missing something, though. Something important." Then she shook her head, and it was as if the frown had never been there. "I'm sure it'll clear up, though. Keep me informed if you hear anything interesting, okay?"
She followed Katya into the temple, brushing her fingers gently across the pika's stone fur. She'd come here often enough as a kid, but as far as she was concerned, she hadn't appreciated the stonework nearly enough. The small mammal almost seemed as it might spring off the wall at any moment.
"Clara, be careful out there, all right?"
Clara dropped her hand, a little startled at the sudden admonition. Then her mouth turned up slightly at the corners, albeit a little less than it had before. "I will. But you make it sound a little like a war zone. Should I be that nervous to come back home?"
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 12, 2009 0:30:09 GMT -5
"I could swear I'm missing something, though. Something important." Clara looked thoughtful, an atypical frown on her features, but she brightened again almost immediately. "I'm sure it'll clear up, though. Keep me informed if you hear anything interesting, okay?"
Katya's expression did not change. "I'll let you know."
She stopped before another figure, one of her favorites: a grizzly, half-grown cub at her side, catching salmon in a rushing river. Katya tapped the cub on the nose and ran her fingers over the bear's back, looking oddly at peace.
She turned to her friend. "I just don't want to see you hurt." Many of the skirmishers could care less about the well-being of bystanders like Clara. They were too preoccupied with looking out for themselves--and doing a terrible job of it, if the number of injuries at the clinic was any indication.
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Post by Fulong|Clara on Aug 12, 2009 10:22:38 GMT -5
"Great, thanks." Clara still couldn't shake the feeling that there was something downright weird about this entire business, but she trusted her friend, and if there was anything she needed to know, she was sure Katya would tell her.
Katya was looking at a relief of two grizzlies, one she'd noticed the younger girl came back to fairly often, and she grinned slightly. They'd always reminded her of the Pushkarovs. She'd never admit it, though, mostly because she wasn't entirely sure how Dr. Pushkarov would take her mental image of him as a mama bear.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Katya, and she nodded slightly, a little more serious for once. "I understand. I'll be careful." Then, because curiosity always got the better of her, "What kind of stuff have you been seeing in the clinic, Katya?"
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Post by Aras|Ofelia on Aug 13, 2009 1:48:30 GMT -5
"Gunshot wounds. Knife wounds." Katya didn't elaborate; her friend would probably not appreciate the details. It was the sort of things one would expect from the so-called gang violence--except the clinic also got not a small number of patients who appeared to have been ravaged by wild animals. One girl in particular seemed to have particularly ill luck with the local wildlife, showing up twice in as many months with injuries ostensibly caused by aggressive animals.
"We recently had a patient who wouldn't stop raving about a shark falling out of the sky," she added in an attempt to lighten the mood. Clara would find the story interesting, at the very least. "He didn't seem hurt, and I don't know why he came, but he wouldn't stop going on about how it went through a roof."
The distinctive call of a kookaburra rang outside, and Katya frowned slightly. She'd heard the same bird many times before--it evidently hadn't learned caution, even in times like these.
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