Title: There are Days pt 1 of 2
Author: Rauhnee Ranshanka and Todd McCall
Email: GateKat@SWATKats.Net and dtmccall@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Fandom: Original (CoSG universe)
Pairings: The (expanded) NightBlades
Codes: Not much.
Status: Finished, for now
Date: 2/16/2002
Archive: Yes
Website: Rauhnee Ranshanka http://www.gatekat.org
Todd McCall http://www.shadowynd.com/~todd-mccall
Disclaimers: Basically, these guys are ours, but if you like them, we're usually willing to
share. Another writer is likely welcome.
Summary: Domestic bliss and heroes don't mesh well. Add kittens as dynamic as their parents
into the mix and you're just asking for trouble. This is a lesson the NightBlades know well,
and still they have more kittens.
Notes: You should be able to follow this beast just fine without knowledge of the CoSG
universe. It's not like we're following any real canon in this one.
Warnings: As disturbing as it is, I actually think it might be a G rated story from us,
certainly no more than PG.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There Are Days: Kittens! by Rauhnee Ranshanka, Todd McCall ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Cazi!" Jake roared from the chefs' kitchen in the NightClaw's airy home quarters.
The Lion came in at run, in Primal form shifting only when he entered the kitchen. "Is there a
problem, Jake?" He asked reasonably calmly.
"If this is one of your jokes, it is _not_ funny." The lean cinnamon tom growled with a
snapping tail as he waved a hand at containers that usually held kitchen implements. "If you
want lunch, give them back."
Cazi looked around. "Sorry, Jake. I can't take credit for this one. Seriously, I leave the
kitchen alone at least since time 'Reena suggested other uses for the rolling pin." He
grinned.
"I can imagine." Jake snickered despite his irritation.
"All the utensils missing at once, huh? Have you checked the location of various kits? A
certain Tiger medic liked to 'borrow' my tools when he was young, it might be inherited."
"Not yet." He grumbled. "You actually come when called." Jake winked.
"I thought maybe you'd found my missing nanobot." Cazi grinned back.
"I better not find it in the soup." The Kat grumbled playfully. "Might as well start check
kits, staring with the stripped ones."
"It was one of the explorer models." He chuckled. "Want a hand?" Cazi offered.
"Definitely." Jake shook his head. "They're a handful and a half. Who's closest?"
Cazi concentrated for a moment. "That'd be Kynar."
"Getting the least likely out of the way first, I guess." Jake shook his head and chuckled at
the thought of the caramel King Cheetah tomkit doing this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nearest turned out to mean that Kynar was just outside, in the small garden by the side of the
residence. He was happily sitting in the dirt digging with a large serving spoon while a
number of utensils were stuck in the dirt apparently as markers.
"Kyn, just _why_ is my cooking gear decorating the yard?" Jake raised his eyebrow and crossed
his arms as he regarded the six-year-old caramel King Cheetah.
Kyn looked up with complete innocence in his bright green eyes. "Hi, Dad." He smiled. "I was
getting ready to plant and I need to mark where things went, and well I adapted this stuff to
do what I needed." He said innocently.
Cazi sat down hard on the deck, laughing loudly. "He _adapted_ them." He said wiping tears of
laughter out of his eyes. "Gee, wonder where he got that trait from?" He said as he vainly
attempted to control laughter.
"Who _couldn't_ he have picked that up from?" Jake shot back before signing. "I need those
back, if you want lunch anytime soon."
Rynar smiled. "Sure thing, Dad." He said as he gathered the makeshift tools. Once they were
together he gave them to Jake. "That's all of them."
"So did you snag everything in the kitchen, or just what you needed?" The lean Kat asked
pointedly, though he'd lost most of his irritation in face of what his kit was doing.
"Just what I needed, though there wasn't much left when I got there."
"Wonderful." Jake shook his head. "I don't suppose you know of anyone else who raised the
kitchen for parts?"
Rynar shook his head. "I'd been studying father Nathan's garden for ideas most of the
morning."
"I'm sure we'll find them." Jake shook his head as he turned to send the now-retrieved
utensils through a wash cycle, and to figure out if he could make lunch with what he had.
With a disgruntled growl he turned back to Cazi. "Who's next?"
Cazi concentrated. "Calla."
"One of these days I'm going to tag those kittens so I can find them without a Telepath
around." Jake huffed as they headed off for their youngest daughter.
"That'll just challenge them to do something about the tags." Cazi grinned.
"Only assuming they know about them." Jake smirked slightly as he stuck that project in the
back of his mind to simmer.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The youngest was demonstrating a certain level of musical talent by using a pair of wooden
spoons to direct the orchestra that was playing on the entertainment system. Her florid
gestures were very much in time with the music.
"Calla, daddy needs the spoons back now." Jake walked up to the cream on caramel tiger-tabby.
"Okay, at the end of the movement." She said cheerfully, without looking behind her.
Jake looked almost ready to argue with her, then shook his head to wait out the last few
minutes.
Ten minutes later, she turned bowed and handed her father the spoons.
"Do you have anything else from the kitchen?" He asked.
She then handed him three pots that were serving as drums, and a large lid that was serving as
a cymbal. It appeared that she'd been practicing percussion earlier.
"Thank you Calla." Jake nodded and tried to control his aggravation as he headed back to the
kitchen.
"Now you see why we stick to small numbers of young kits." Cazi smirked as they headed back to
the kitchen. "She has a good sense of rhythm though."
"It's not _my_ fault biology gives Kats litters." Jake grumbled. "And they're hardly a handful
if _everyone_ helped out. There's only a couple dozen adults around here to look after
fourteen kittens."
"True, not nearly enough adults." Cazi agreed. "Unfortunately, my original teammates are more
like a bunch of teenagers themselves." He chuckled fondly.
"They are fun though." Jake chuckled before stopping dead as he entered the kitchen. "I'm
going to kill something."
"That was fast." Cazi commented. "Gone ten minutes, and somebody took the spoons."
"Okay, Cazi, this is beyond group improving." The lean tomkat growled softly as he set up to
sterilize what he had. "You go get what you can from the other kits, and whoever _else_ you
can track down. I'm staying guard, and working on lunch."
"Okay, Jake." Cazi said agreeably as he went first to check with Rynar, who had acquired more
proper tools from Nathan. Calla was also not involved since she was lying quietly on her bed
with headphones on listening to music. Having double-checked the kits already involved he
headed for the closest, Mayri.
"Hi Cazi." The black on caramel King Cheetah shekitten waved at him as he entered Medical.
"Hi Mayri." He smiled back. "I see you've cleaned the kitchen out of containers. It would be
a good idea to get them back, before the chef reaches orbit." He chuckled lightly.
"We have to take care of the critters in them first." She insisted as only a six-year-old can.
"They're my responsibility, right, uncle Nate?"
"We'll try to get them returned as quickly as possible, but I will _not_ have them running
loose in Medical." Nareena said flatly. "Give Jake my apologies, but this is necessary."
"It was my mistake that stranded them here." Mayri admitted quietly. "I had to help them."
"Of course you did." Cazi smiled. "Okay, I'll let Jake know." He said as he wandered out.
"There's probably one heck of a story here, but I'll hear it later I'm sure."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cazi wandered through the kitchen on the way to the next possible culprit. "Mayri has
converted all the containers into a zoo of sorts, in Medical. She'll return them as soon as
they figure out what to do with the critters."
"That should be an interesting story." Jake shook his head as he worked on building a growing
pile of sandwiches. "At least they didn't take the food, even if it is back to extreme
basics."
"Agreed." He said as he headed off looking for Timothy and Martin, the identical twins from
Nathan and Ashley's one litter.
As expected, the pair were deep in the guts of an old interstellar fighter Jake had 'found' for
them to keep the pair out of _his_ workshop.
Cazi looked around to see if there was any sign of the missing kitchen equipment, and did see
some suspicious looking additions to the wiring and various control panels.
"Hay, Caz!" Martin dropped his head down from a vent to look at the Lion from above. "We
think we can get her ready for a first test flight this week." The deep flame-red kit with
tiger colors and king cheetah black markings grinned widely.
Cazi looked up and chuckled. "And how much of the kitchen did you convert to replacement
parts?" He grinned at how quickly the twins were mastering their talents, and how much they
were taking after their godfather.
"Just a few things, nothing important." The kit shrugged. "Jake had lots more of everything
we used."
Cazi shook his head, as he reached out his own talent to identify the items used. "In the
future it would be a good idea to ask Jake first." He said gently. "Very nice repair job
however." He said as he stepped out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ========================= ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A number of items have been converted to serve as starfighter parts." Cazi said as he
wandered back through the kitchen. "However, the twins assure me that you had 'lots' of the
items they took. They expect to have it ready for a test flight in the next week or so."
"Cazi, I don't suppose you can just magic up a few things while the rest are on order?" Jake
dropped his face to one palm and shook it. "I think it's time for a family chat again."
"Sure, Jake. What would you like me to magic up?" He replied helpfully. "I expect regular
family chats will be needed for quite sometime." He shook his head.
"Yeah, like *weekly* from now on." He grumbled. "I need plates for everyone, a couple serving
trays for the sandwiches, bowls for the chips and glasses to drink from."
Things started appearing slowly as Cazi concentrated. He spoke quietly while working. "Jake,
as frustrating as it may be, appreciate the fact that you still have them to grumble about."
He sighed, remembering how much of his eldest son's childhood he'd missed.
"I know." He hugged the shorter Lion affectionately. "And I love that they're all creative
and following their interests. But as the cook, I *do* have the right to bitch when my kitchen
disappears on me." He grinned and kissed Cazi on the cheek. "Thanks, love."
"Oh, I wasn't denying that you had the right to bitch, I just wanted to keep things in
perspective." He chuckled and kissed Jake on the cheek in return. "You're welcome."
The Lion thought a moment. "Maybe what we need to do is meta-tag the stuff that belongs in the
kitchen, once we find it. That way I could just tell the missing stuff to 'come home'." He
thought and then chuckled. "Of course that would've brought Mayri's zoo into the kitchen."
"Mmm, why not just tag it so we can find all the pieces and who has them without running all
over the place?" Jake suggested as he went to work setting the simple lunch out on the serving
table. "Might want to make a habit of doing that to _everything_ around here, considering the
number of folks who are creative." He chuckled.
"Well, it only really works well with things that 'belong' in one room like the kitchen.
That's because there's a metamagical connection between them." He said giving some thought to
the idea.
"Not like it really matters. If we proof one room we'll just move on to swiping stuff from
another." Jake chuckled as the NightBlades started to filter in.
"True, but the other rooms don't interfere with meals when stuff disappears." Cazi smirked.
"True." Jake nodded as he stood between the kitchen and dinning room as the family clan
gathered. When most of them had arrived, frequently with curious looks at him for the
unusually simple meal, he cleared his throat for attention.
"All right folks," Jake spoke up when they were looking at him. "The meal today is courtesy of
at least several of you using the kitchen as supply." He crossed his arms and leaned against
the doorway arch as several guilty looks were exchanged. "Normally I'm the last one with a
right to complain about creative uses for items, but emptying the kitchen like this is not
acceptable. I expect to have my kitchen back in order before dinner."
There was a general murmur of agreement, as the guilty parties seemed shocked that there was
that much missing. The general consensus was that no one could remember emptying the kitchen,
but they'd put back what they'd appropriated.
"Good." Jake smiled with a bit of a chuckle. "Once you've returned what you took, we'll
figure out who made the rest disappear." He snorted as he put his own lunch together.
--End: There Are Days 1 ... 1/1 by Rauhnee Ranshanka GateKat@SWATKats.Net
http://www.gatekat.org by Todd McCall dtmccall@yahoo.com http://www.shadowynd.com/~todd-
mccall
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--End: There Are Days 1 ... 1/1
Part 2
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