Knighties: At The Loft (1/2) Date/Time: November 8, 2004, 4:59pm EST, sunset After Knighties "A Call to Arms" Place: 101 Gateway Lane, Nick's Loft By: Knighties Brooksie and Katrinka The old freight elevator creaked into action, but it couldn't drown out the excited voices of its passengers. Eowyn looked at Nat, and remarked "That must be them arriving now. Let's turn all the lights out!" Debbi Knightcrusader, who was snacking on a bowl of popcorn and drinking a Diet Pepsi, looked up from the kitchen table as Nat plunged the loft into darkness. The elevator reached the second floor, and ground to a halt. Someone slid the door open along its tracks. The Knighties inside suddenly got very quiet when faced with the unlit loft. But not for too long. They were too excited to be dissuaded by the gloom. So the chatter started up again as they began to inch their way out of the elevator dragging and rolling their luggage. "Who turned out the lights?" "Ouch! Watch where you're going!" "I thought I left the lights on!" "Not even a candle?" "Hey, don't stop short like that." "I could have sworn that Nat, Eowyn and Debbi were going to be here." "I smell popcorn, so somebody must be here." "Where's Nick?" "*He* doesn't need to have the lights on." "But, I do! Ouch! You stopped again!" There was an ear-piercing shriek and everyone stopped talking. "What it this thing that has his nose in my face!" Sandra found the light switch for the kitchen and Nat activated the motors on the automatic shutters. As light came into the loft, everyone saw that Clifford had Eowyn pinned in one of the leather chairs in front of the fireplace. "Woof!" he said lovingly. Katrinka smiled, "Relax, Eowyn. His name is Clifford and he likes you!" "He doesn't have to like me this much. Tell him to get his nose out of my crotch, Kat! Please?" Everyone laughed and so the ice was broken. Soon everyone was busy claiming their corner of the Loft, inflating their air mattresses and finding a spot to plug in their laptops. They were making calls to their loved ones, letting them know they had arrived safely. After all, Knighties are polite and considerate and wouldn't want anyone to angst over them. Nat, Eowyn and Brooksie, having arrived earlier, were finished with their settling in. Now they were sitting on the stairs up to the second floor and deep in conversation over the war premise. "I can't believe that Vachon had the treaty all this long and never thought to translate the writing on the edge!" mused Brooksie. "Well, Brooksie, you got to see Vachon's slacker attitude up close and personal in the last war when he inhabited Nick's body. For *three* days no less!" replied Nat with a faraway look on her face, no doubt remembering Nick in those tight leather jeans. "Besides," added Eowyn, "He isn't unhappy about being a vampire. Just Nick." "But I thought he liked Nick?" "Eowyn and Nat are right, Brooksie," said Nick appearing out of nowhere and sitting down between them. "There wasn't any reason for him to be curious about that writing. After all, he was there when the treaty was written and signed. Sometimes," he added as his eyes started to glaze over, "When you are that close to something, you don't see the obvious." Just then Katrinka came up the stairs, with Mindy and Gemsong in tow. "Nick" she said snapping her fingers. "Nick! It's too early for a flashback!" Nick eyes came back into focus. He smiled. "Carpe Noctu, Kat! But don't quote me on the Latin!" Then he stood up and made his way down the stairs. Glancing around the disarray in his Loft he added, "I see you ladies have everything well in hand. I have to go now." As his back disappeared behind the closing elevator door, he shouted, "Don't wait up for me!" Nat looked at the others, "Don't you sometimes just wanna smack him?" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Mindy and Gemsong were moving around the Loft handing those Knighties, who didn't already have the walkie-talkie phone, their personal unit. Soon chirping phone sounds could be heard all around the Loft. Brooksie turned on the "group" function of her phone. "Hi everyone - we need to get together to talk about why were are all here." All eyes turned towards her. Brooksie turned to Gem and smiled. "Guess all the phones work!!" A buzzer sounded somewhere in the background. "What's that?" asked Cindy. "It's the buzzer for the door," answered Sandra from behind her laptop. "Yeah," shouted Knightcrusader as she jumped up to go down to get it. "The food has arrived!" "Food?" Cindy looked hopefully at Nat. "She wouldn't happen to have ordered some Slouvaki?" Nat shook her head no. "Garlic knots?" Nat sighed, "You're not playing with the FoDs this war Cindy!! We're the Knighties and we have been sworn not to bring garlic into the Loft." "Yes," added Eowyn, "It's bad enough for Nick that we bring food in here at all. But garlic? He would tear up our Knightie membership cards if he caught us." Knightcrusader came back with her arms laden with grocery bags filled with Diet Pepsi. "Can someone give me a hand here?" Cindy looked at the bags filled with beverage and just shook her head. "I miss the Deli already." Knightcrusader continued as if she hadn't heard the comment, "By the way, who owns that truck and trailer out in the yard? It's a pretty spiffy rig." "I dunno, it was there when we got here." replied Nat. "Hmmmm." Kat looked thoughtful. "This could cause us some mischief." "Mischief?" Eowyn grinned. "I like to make mischief!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* Former leader Katrinka rolled her eyes at Senior Advisor Eowyn's remark! Kat wasn't too sure what to expect when she arrived at the loft. She had dumped her stuff in a corner and unpacked her rice cooker, and then decided to put on a pot of rice. With her cooker it would stay warm all day. That way if any Knightie suddenly felt hungry she could eat. As she looked around the loft, she was happy giving her leader's keys over to Brooksie. She was a much more organized leader then Katrinka had ever been. She was much less likely to come up with mayhem. "How long will it be until the rice is ready?" Tracey asked looking at the cooker on the kitchen counter. "I haven't even started cooking it yet." "Oh," the woman looked disappointed. "Tell you what; if I start now, it will be finished in thirty minutes." she promised. "Kewl mate, that gives me time to unpack!" The Kiwi Knightie went off to arrange her things. Katrinka turned back to the rice. First she had to find some. She found a several large bags in the pantry. She opened a bag and measured out the correct amount. Then she went back to the kitchen and began to rinse the rice. Then it hit her, as she put the rice in the rice cooker, the Knighties needed someone to cook for them! As she had nothing better to do, other than the paperwork she brought with her, she decided that she would be the one. She went to find the Knightie leader. She found Brooksie hunched over a map on the coffee table. "What's up Kat?" "I wanted to know if I could take over the faction's cooking?" she asked. "Sounds good to me." She took out a credit card. "You better order some groceries. Obviously we can't rely on Debbi to do the shopping. Better yet, have them delivered here." "Thanks." she put the credit card in her pocket and let the leader get back to work. "Make certain you have Diet Mountain Dew on that list," called Nat from her spot on the couch. "I need my caffeine!" Katrinka called back, "There's no caffeine in the Diet Mountain Dew sold in Canada, Nat. What something else instead?" She looked expectantly over at the Senior Advisor. Nat chewed on her lip in thought. "Well, maybe we can import some from across the border -- what's the nearest US city to Toronto? Or, if you want to be with a truly crazed Knightie, you can get me Canadian Diet Mountain Dew and watch me go through withdrawal! Your choice, Kat!" Kat harrumphed, scowled, and then took out a pad and began to make a shopping list. Even though Nick had made sure the pantry had been well stocked, he had left out the perishable items. And apparently the cola drinks as well. As she made the list, Clifford walked up to her and deposited a rock at her feet. She picked it up. "What's this?" She examined the rock. It looked like it might have some fossils embedded in it - or were those engravings? "Where did you get this, Cliff?" Debbi came into the kitchen. Her hand found Clifford head and started scratching it. "Where did that rock come from, Kat?" "Clifford found it somewhere." She put the rock in a drawer and shrugged. "He's always finding things." "But a rock?" The 2IC's, Mindy and Gemsong, wandered over and reached out to look at the rock. "If he can carry it, he finds it." Katrinka continued. "At one time, he even found me." "That I don't understand." prompted Debbi. "He one day appeared on my porch. He wouldn't leave." Kat explained. "Found out later that he belonged to the family who lived at my new house before I did. They divorced and abandoned him." "That's sad." said Mindy. "It was good in the long run." Kat watched Clifford wander off. "He finds me the most interesting things." "Like the rocks!" Gem smiled. "Perhaps you could make some stone soup!" The Knighties laughed, and Katrinka went back to her shopping list. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ End Part 1/2 Knighties: At The Loft (2/2) Date/Time: November 8, 2004, 4:59pm EST, sunset After Knighties "A Call to Arms" Place: 101 Gateway Lane, Nick's Loft By: Knighties Brooksie and Katrinka "OK Knighties. Listen up!" Brooksie called the group to order, many of whom were sipping on the Diet Pepsi, thoughtfully provided by Debbi Knightcrusader. For her part, Debbi was looking worried that she hadn't bought enough, and was peering over Kat's shoulder to ensure that the exquisite elixir on her shopping list. "Julia, of the Unnamed Faction, called Nancy over the weekend," Brooksie started, getting right to the point, "and told her about something interesting that Julia found on a copy of the Mississauga Treaty that she has recently acquired. This is the Treaty that Vachon actually signed." Knighties around the room nodded as they remembered that third season ep. "It seems that there was some marginal comments on the Treaty itself. Vachon supplied a rough translation. It goes like this: Vachon says that's a reference to Niagara Falls," Brooksie added by way of explanation, "" As Brooksie finished, everyone started speaking at once. After a few moments, Sandra raised her voice and asked, "And?" "And," Brooksie continued, "We are here to help Nick find this sacred stone because he believes that it holds the cure for vampirism." "Oh, my" was the general comment from all the Knighties. Nat spoke up, "But we are not certain that this is a cure for vampirism. Is vampirism even a disease? That inscription could easily refer to the flu or the common cold." Sandra added, "Oh Nancy! Not that old argument! Just think of the field trips we could get out of this one." "Yeah," added Brooksie, "And now I regret leaving my horse at home - traipsing through the woods is so much better on horseback than on foot." "We can always rent some horses!" replied Mindy. "Well," Debbi piped up, "Clifford seems to have a nose for special rocks - look at the one he just found!" "Maybe Clifford could help us find this sacred rock near the white cliff." added Gemsong. Kat stated, "He's all yours," as she got up and went over to the phone to call in her grocery order to the delivery service. Tracey added, "Well at least we don't have to worry that LaCroix is living in Nick's body, like last war." "No but we *do* have to worry about LaCroix," Roz noted. "He's *not* going to let Nick find any cure, much less try it out." "If it *is* the cure," pouted Maria, the dark Knightie. "Well, then, we just have to keep him from finding out about it!" Cindy said. "Pah!" Sandra shook her head. "You can bet that if we know about it, LaCroix knows about it. The UF are one of his factions, sort of..." "What does Nick say about all this?" asked Lisa. Eowyn answered. "That's what we were talking about when you guys were unpacking. I think he went off to find Vachon and maybe look at the treaty again." "He's going to the Church?" asked Cindy excitedly. "Ooo, can I go too? I haven't been there since I was a Vaquera!" Brooksie frowned at Cindy. "Just how many factions have you played with anyway?" Kat patted Brooksie's arm, "Now, now, dear. Don't get too excited. It's good to have somebody in our faction who has a variety of war experiences." She looked at Cindy and smiled. "We are very happy that you are with us for this war." Brooksie's frown lightened. "True. It could come in handy." Then she reached out her hand to Cindy. "Welcome aboard Cindy. I do like Schanke, and Vachon isn't too bad to look at either. And he did make a pretty good Nick Slacker last war." Cindy shook her hand and smiled back. "So what can I help you guys with?" "Mischief?" squealed Eowyn. Clifford picked up his head and whined and wagged his tail at the petite Senior Advisor. "Will somebody please tie her down?" pleaded Nat. "I think she's had too much Diet Pepsi!" "Well, it sounds like we have some planning to do... We have to see if Nick went to talk to Vachon, and we need to find this sacred rock," concluded Brooksie. She pinned up the map, she was looking at earlier, on the flipchart that the practical project manager had found in Nick's storeroom. All the Knighties crowded around to peer at the map of Ontario province. Sandy looked at the map and smiled, "Road trip!" ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ End Part 2/2