WAR:NA:One Canadian's Trash is an Addict's Treasure (1/1)
Time: Tuesday Morning, November 9, 2004
      Between "Trailer Trash" and "Behold the Power of Cheese"
Place:  A Landfill Somewhere in Toronto
By Christy Stillman

Much to Kriel's amusement and delight, Patt had told him to roust
Christy from the warm, snuggly, king-sized bed at the crack of dawn to
do Nunkies' bidding and lead the expedition to search the construction
debris at the landfill.  Grumpy from lack of sleep and from seeing
Jackson Hugh yet again in animated conversation with the NunkWrangler,
she tersely ordered that Beverley, Dee, and the strong backs of the
newbies accompany her on LaCroix's quest for the all-important
vampire-negating Stone. It being Nunkies' will, they had (more or
less)willingly complied, eager for the full War experience.

Of course,that was before the Addicts-in-training discovered exactly
what "the full War experience" entailed.

Now at the landfill and decked out in their "fiscally-friendly and
environmentally-pretty-safe outfits," as Christy had described them,
they were certain that Nunkies' will was not always in their best
interest. Go figure.

Caren had told Shelly firmly but gently to "make yourself useful," so
she'd gone along with the trash heap treasure hunters. Now she was
very, very glad that Paul was elsewhere and couldn't see her in her
homemade hazmat suit. Hip waders covered her lower half while a lawn
and leaf bag with cut out neck and arm holes covered her top half like
a tunic. On her hands were latex gloves in a shade Beverley had termed
"Evil Pink." It was an apt description, Shelly decided. She expected
the gloves to slide off her hands on their own and slink away into the
rubbish surrounding the group. The one thing for which she was truly
grateful was the clothespin clipped across her nostrils, which more or
less kept out the stench of Canadian refuse.

Shelly noted that Christy had added her own personal touch to her
makeshift suit.  A mouse-eared hat was firmly ensconced on the
Nunketeer's head as she shoved rocks and grumped at the other girls.

Cheyenne, who normally only wore black and red clothing, was busily
attempting to drown her Evil Pink gloves in the contents of a bottle
of red food coloring she had found in a trash bag. "It just won't
dye!" she complained to Dee.

The veteran addict nodded knowingly. "Evil Pink never dies. Just ask
Erik sometime." She considered for a moment. "On second thought,
don't. It would be far too cruel."

Alyce and Krista had struck up a friendship, deciding that they both
had great taste because Krista's hair was an almost exact match for
the color of Alyce's pimp-job-in-progress minivan. They chattered away
happily in their area of the dump as they rolled discarded rocks
around to check for carvings.

"Less talk," Christy said, scowling. "More searching." She went back
to her solitary pile, shoving rocks intently and muttering under her
breath.

"What bee got in her bonnet?" Krista complained.

Alyce nodded. "Really. She's been ordering us around like she's the
General himself ever since we got to the Shrine."

"Cut her some slack," Beverley whispered to the two. "She's usually
not like this at all. Generally very friendly and smiling all the
time. She's just..." she hesitated, looking toward her friend,
"...preoccupied right now."

"Well, I hope she moves on to 'occupied' soon. She's turning my War
into Hell," Kat interjected. "Alyce, maybe you can take her aside for
some counseling."

Alyce shook her head. "Gotta build up trust for that,and she's staying
away from all of us right now." She studied the Nunketeer's angry rock
shoving. "Either she'll work it out herself or she'll find someone she
trusts enough to help her work it out. Or..."

The other addicts looked on expectantly. Alyce shrugged, "Or she'll
explode. Geez...that was a freakin' boulder she just moved by herself!
We're talking Anger Management classes here."

"Look!" Kat cried, pointing at a rock. "There's a design on this one!"

Everyone ran to investigate.

Cheyenne blushed as she realized what the Banshee had found. "Um...I
did that when we took our lunch break." She shrugged. "What can I say?
I like to draw."

On the stone was a drawing of a lighthouse standing high on a cliff.
Its beacon shone into the distance as waves crashed against the
cliff's base.

Christy stared at it a moment, a slow smile spreading across her face.
Then suddenly she burst out in hysterical laughter. The others joined
in, tittering nervously. They hadn't heard the redhead laugh since
Patt had been dug up. Perhaps she'd finally gone 'round the bend.

Wiping tears of laughter from her eyes, Christy hugged a startled
Cheyenne. "Thanks. I needed that."

Noticing the strange looks she was getting, the Nunketeer smiled and
said, "It's a long story. Just do me a favor." They waited
expectantly. "Somebody help me get this thing into the bus. I have a
friend who NEEDS this in her yard."

The laughter cleared the tension, if not the stench, from the air, and
the afternoon plodded on toward evening without any luck.

"There are tons of rocks around here," Shelly said, speaking aloud
what everyone else had been thinking all day. "It would take us years
to go through all of them."

Christy sighed,hands pressed to her lower back as she stretched. Gawd,
she was getting too old for this sort of thing. "I know, but LaCroix
wants what LaCroix wants, and far be it from us to stand in his way."

The other Addicts nodded vigorously.

Shelly, not being an Addict, shook her head. "So, you're going to let
this guy order you around like this?" (More vigorous nodding.) "And
you're going to keep looking for this Stone thingie for him so he can
torment some other guy?" (Such vigorous nodding that the Addicts
looked like a swarm of bobble-heads.) "Why?" (Great, huge, dreamy
sighs and slight drooling.)

"Because," Dee answered, "he's suave and smooth."

"With elegant hands...a pianist's hands..." Beverley continued.

"He has the most sexy voice, like he's always whispering to you
alone," Kat went on.

"And his eyes are clearer and bluer than the ice in the venison
freezers," Krista sighed.

"Besides," Alyce said, "Nick needs a little torment. He's a whiner."
(More nodding of agreement.)

"Not to mention that LaCroix's a vampire, and we won't always be
protected by the War rule of 'no permanent damage,'" Christy added.
"That's always excellent incentive."

Shelly was afraid they'd all suffer permanent brain damage from
nodding so hard this time. Then again, she figured, it was probably
already too late to worry a whole lot about that. She poked around
some more among the rocks then gasped as something caught her eye.

"I think I've found something!" the fair-skinned girl exclaimed. She
held a largish rock in both hands. "Look! It looks like a map in the
shape of Tiko Lake!"

"Never heard of a Tiko Lake around here." Kat drawled.

"It's from an online game I play."

Dee examined the rock more closely. "Looks more like Lake Ontario to
me. See...here we are in Toronto." She pointed at a spot on the rock.

Shelly squinted. "You're right. It sort of does." Heading toward the
bus, she said, "I think I'm going to take this one back with me. Never
know, it could be something."

Calling a short break, Christy plopped down on what used to be a
column of the Shrine. The tired,dirty, sore and...um..."heavily
perfumed" Addicts pretty much fell in their traces.

"I thought War was supposed to be FUN," Krista complained, rubbing at
her sore back.

"Oh, it is, but there's work involved as well," Christy replied as she
rotated her neck to relieve the stiffness. "I hear the UF is having a
party tonight. Some of you should go so you can enjoy the fun side of
things and get to know members of other factions."

"I hear there's no real dress code, either," Beverley said. "The
Ravenettes, who are absent this War (bowed heads and moment of
silence), always throw killer parties, but you have to dress to the
nines."

"Remember the last one?" Dee smiled at the memory. "We got to wear
slinky sequins."  The newbies began to gather closer. Story Time!!

"Oh yeah," Beverley said. "But the Mercs GIVING AWAY candy there?
(startled gasps) That was just wrong! (murmurs of agreement)"

"And someone got to get all up-close and snuggly with a certain boat
repairman on the dance floor," Dee said with a sly smile in Christy's
direction.

"Yeah," the Nunketeer said wistfully. "Too bad Erik had to go and
figure out that the characters were switching bodies right about that
time." She sighed, reliving the feel of strong arms enveloping her
body and her head on a broad shoulder. What was going on? What was
Jackson doing to her? What. . .? What the heck was the sticky stuff
she'd just put her hand in on the side of the column? Ewwwww.... She
looked down at her hand with a grimace.

"A honeystick," she breathed. "I don't remember anyone having any
honeysticks in the Shrine before it fell." She looked at Beverley and
Dee. "Did you have honeysticks?"

The dark heads shook negatively.

"Then why is a honeystick here?" Christy pondered for a moment, and
then it struck her. "Dee! Beverley! We picked Nay up at the Shrine
after an attack, do you remember?" The other veterans thought for a
moment.

"YES! We did! Someone had replaced all the drinks at the Shrine with
prune juice and then glued the toilet lids shut!" Beverley crowed. A
collective "Ewwwwww" rose from the newbies.

"So," Christy posited. "There were honeysticks at the Shrine when
there shouldn't have been, and we were attacked by faction or factions
unknown before the destruction of the Shrine!"

"But I thought the UF pretty much just tended their bees, had parties,
and imbibed their adult beverage of choice during the War," Dee said.
"I find it hard to believe that they're the ones who attacked us."

"I know," the redhead agreed. "But we can't take any chances." She
looked around the group. "Beverley and Dee, I need you to take a
couple of volunteers to the UF party tonight. Look around. Check for
any suspicious behavior. We have to at least rule them out."

The dark heads nodded once in acknowledgement. Attacks on the Shrine,
even a Shrine that no longer existed, had to be answered!

The Nunketeer looked around at the bedraggled group and then took a
look toward the sun. It was late...almost dusk, in fact.

"All right ladies," she grinned, "and I use the term loosely. I
suggest we head back to the Temporary Shrine and get cleaned up. All
volunteers might want to take a short nap once G.R.O.U.T. has cleared
the premises. It could be a long night." She sniffed at her arm. "I
just hope there's enough hot water. Ugh!"

"You suggest?" the Banshee inquired. "What? No ordering?"

The newbies held their collective breath, waiting for the axe to fall.
Surprisingly, there were no scathing remarks forthcoming.

Christy blushed and looked at the ground for a moment, then lifted her
head to face her sister Addicts. "Look,I'm sorry I've been such a
pain. I just...I just have a lot on my mind right now. I promise to
try not to take it out on y'all anymore, okay?"

"I think we can live with that," Alyce replied, arms crossed on her
chest and one eyebrow raised. She grinned broadly. "Come on, let's get
going! I want to sneak around that mansion and see if we can come up
with any clues as to who attacked us!"

Laughing and teasing one another about their unique scent, the Addicts
headed for the orange bus., not noticing the hooded figure that
detached itself from the shadows of a tall pile of debris to watch
their departure.

------- End