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

Summary: With everything returnable returned to the kitchen, and the rest replaced, there are
_still_ difficulties.  But at a week later, it's Nareena's turn to be irritated.

There Are Days 2: Don't Piss the Chef Off by Rauhnee Ranshanka and Todd McCall
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  =========================  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*'Jake, did you put the spatulas anywhere unusual?'*  Nareena reached out to the other
NightBlade that commanded the kitchen.

*'No.'* His mind went suspiciously irritated.  *'I'll be right there.'*

As Jake walked in Nareena was looking a little put out with a serious baking spread laid out.
"There is not a single spatula of any description in this kitchen."  She said shaking her head.
"But nothing else is missing, only the spatulas."

Jake slowly drew a hand down his face.  "Checked the usual suspects?"

"The kits all deny having the spatulas, in fact they deny being in the kitchen since lunch."
She grinned. "I think you made an impression last week."

"At least there's that, and you scared Cazi into behaving."  He shook his head.  "Do we have
any tracking on them?"

"The spatulas?  I don't think so."  She said curiously.

"Cazi was considering something, I wasn't sure if he'd put it in effect yet."  Jake sighed.
"Let's see if they found the reserve."  He waved her out of the kitchen the back way and into
the cellar of the two-story pantry off the kitchen, where there was not a single spatula to be
found.

Nareena raised an eyebrow.  "Someone has a serious obsession involving spatulas."  She
commented dryly.

"And is extremely good at finding them."  He raised an eyebrow.  "At least it's spatulas, and
not something more ... sensitive."

"Jake, I think we should get Nathan down here.  He's the best psychometrist we have, and
whoever came down here had to touch something."  She suggested.

"Yes, and probably Cazi and Tracker too, to cover the magic and general physical end of
things."  He glanced at her.  "Can you tell if Psi was involved?"

"Nothing active enough to leave a trace.  Which only leaves out active things like telekinesis,
psi-teleport and such."

"Well, hopefully one of the others can find *something*."  Jake shook his head.  "Before it
decides to go after things like weapons and crypto-keys."

"So far it seems fairly harmless.  Inconvenient and aggravating but harmless."  She said
quietly.  "And Ebon hasn't said anything, so I doubt it's really a threat."

"So far."  Jake agreed darkly.  "But anything that steals this well could become a threat
without meaning too."  He cocked a sheepish grin at her.  "I've dealt with _far_ too many
creative totters to not worry about it."  He shook his head.  "And a few memories of my own."

Nareena smiled. "I'll bet."

"What's up?"  Nathan's voice asked curiously from the head of the stairs into the cellar.

"We're having a problem with spatulas. Or more accurately, a lack of spatulas."  Nareena
explained, with a slight chuckle.

"Even the secret stash is gone, and I didn't even tell Reena about them."  Jake added.  "All we
know is it's *damn* good, doesn't leave any obvious traces, and isn't actively Psi."

"How many ways down, and was it locked?"  Nathan asked trying to pin down the most likely entry
points.

"The door you came in is the only way in, and it was locked."  Jake nodded.  "But not security
locked.  Anyone who really wanted could have picked it."

"Especially given the amount of lockpicking talent around here." Nathan smirked as he extended
his psychometric senses to examine the door and frame. "Whoever's responsible either managed to
leave no psychic impression, or was talented enough to wipe it clean." He said quietly, and
then added. "Or they didn't come in through the door."

"Both of which drastically limit the possibilities."  Jake said quietly.  "Especially as we
know it's not active Psi."  He considered a moment.  "Would it be difficult for you to scan the
walls, ceiling and floors for passage?"

"It's more a matter of time, than difficulty."  Nathan replied.  "If you and mother would step
outside the door, I can get started."  He said as he sat down cross-legged in the rough center
of the room.

"Of course."  Nareena smiled and went up the stairs with Jake.

Nathan went into the deep psychometric trance he used for detail work.  Slowly as the
dragonfire began to flicker around him, he could see the room in his 'minds eye.'  Strangely he
could see where the spatulas had been, and where they had left the room.  The strange thing was
it had appeared to have left on their own, either that or the being taking it was invisible to
psychometry.

"Okay, I'm done."  He said tiredly, after about fifteen minutes of scanning.

"So do we have a culprit, or do I get my shot?"  Tracker asked curiously from the door.

"So far all I have is unescorted spatulas leaving through the west wall."  He shook his head.
"Maybe you can figure out how they did that."  The tiger said as he stretched and stood before
getting a kiss and hug from Jake.

"At least there aren't many possibilities with that description."  The deeply scared Jaguar
Felsin chuckled as he set up the scanning gear. He ran an initial scan, then worked on the
setting and walked through the area again.  After two more rounds, he came back with a bemused
grin.  "Well, I have _something_.  What we seem to have is an energy creature.  Fairly small,
and not anything in the catalog."

"That'll make energy species number four then."  Nathan commented. "And this one is notable for
an obsession with spatulas.  Do we have any non-kitchen tools, that resemble spatulas in
shape?"  He asked quietly.

"Several."  Jake startled.  "And the ones I can think of off the top of my head are missing
too.  Not that it's that unusual."

"Sounds like a shape fetish."  Nareena chuckled.  "Perhaps one of our brilliant inventor types
can design something that works like one, but doesn't _look_ like it?"

"Well, it would be a little clumsy for a while, but I think I can work something up with force
fields.  Turned off, it would be the handle, the rest would never be visible."  He plotted as
he talked.  "It'll take a couple hours though.  Might want to ask Cazi to magic up one for your
use right now, and keep an eye on it."

Nareena smiled.  "Excellent idea."  She chuckled as she left the cellar.

"So now all we need to do is find where it's hiding all the real spatulas." Nathan chuckled.

"Get more and put a tracing device in them?"  Jake suggested absently as he walked up the
stairs.  "Maybe we can make contact with it ... we have enough telepaths around we should be
able to if it's possible."

"Probably the easiest way."  Nathan agreed, as he followed.  "And one of us _should_ be able to
establish contact."

"Yes, between the NightBlades present, I don't think there's a frequency that can't be checked,
used normally or not."  Tracker chuckled.  "Especially those DS that Jake keeps attracting."

"I think we've opened up a few new frequencies over the years." Nathan smirked.  "But if it can
communicate we can do it, assuming it wants to talk that is."

"And even if it doesn't, we can still find that much out, at a minimum."  A sleek black shekat
with long, wavy crimson hair and rosettes appeared out of nowhere.

"Hi, Amee."  Nathan smiled at the DS.  "That's true, and I guess in that case we'll just have
to contain it."

"Are we doing a coordinated effort?"  She asked conversationally.

"We're applying all resources to find it, yes."  Nathan shook his head.  "Before it takes a
liking to shapes other than spatulas."

"After lunch then?"  She asked curiously as they headed upstairs. "Since Lady Nareena will be
busy until then."

Nathan nodded.  "After lunch, definitely."

"I'll be ready."  The shekat nodded before vanishing.

"Hopefully, the critters repertoire of shapes doesn't expand beyond spatulas."  Nathan
muttered.

"And at least nothing critical looks like one."  Tracker looked into the kitchen with
fascination, though he kept a safe distance from Nareena and Jake as the pair began to work in
a coordinated effort to get everything ready and Cazi retreated to a corner near the other
males.

*'Hey, Cazi.'*  Nathan projected around the busyness of the kitchen. *'We're going to need a
few more spatulas magicked up, only these need to have tracers in them.'*

*'Already done.'*  The short, stocky Lion replied with a touch of uneasiness.  *'And I don't
get to leave until they're done cooking.'* He added unhappily.

*'In case, they need more spatulas?'*  Nathan asked, teasing gently.

*'Yeah, and for when they're done with them, to find out where they go.'*

*'Ever consider dropping one of those nano-transmitters on to the spatulas?  That way we could
triangulate using electronic sensors.'* Nathan suggested.

*'Those are in them too.'*  The Lion nodded.

Nathan chuckled. *'Covering all the bases, I should've known.'*

*'I have _no_ intention of being dragged back into the kitchen by an irate cook again.'*

*'One irate cook was enough, but now we have two.'*  Nathan chuckled.

*'One is too many.'*  Cazi shook his head at the strange pair working easily around each other.

*'Yeah, but the results can't be argued with.'*  He grinned, as his nose began to pick up
smells from lunch being prepared.

*'I'll settle for lesser meals and less stress.'*  Cazi stated emphatically.  *'Especially
considering how good they are *without* being ticked.'*

*'True, but the disappearing kitchen utensils is a bit aggravating.  I don't imagine I'd be too
pleasant if all the bandages disappeared from Medical.'*  The Tiger grinned.

*'Neither would _she_.'*  Cazi grumbled.  *'Let's not start tossing ideas out, okay?  I'm in
enough trouble for things I _do_.'*

*'As Ebon tells it, you've been in trouble like that since you joined the NightBlades.'*  He
grinned.  *'But Mom always gets over it. Remember that month you went without pulling something
... she did a full physical on you, cause she was convinced you were sick.'*  He smirked.

*'Yes, I remember.'*  The Lion pouted.  *'Damned if I do, damned if I don't.'*

*'Cazi, she might grouse a little but she always smiles more.'* Nathan said, a little
distressed by the strange mood his father was in. *'She's always felt your stunts served the
purpose of keeping things from being too serious, and though she rarely admits it.  She does
enjoy the ingenuity you put into them.'*  He said quietly.

*'I know.'* He cracked a smile.  *'Jake, however, has _never_ learned to appreciate my efforts.
Though I keep trying.'*

*'He doesn't have a lifetime of exposure to them, either.'*  He chuckled mentally.  *'Though I
think you almost got him, when you got that DS hooked on Alliance Top 40 music.  But who knew
it thought it could sing.'*

*'Kat wouldn't sleep with me for a month for that one, and it _still_ comes back to haunt me.'*
He huffed, then chuckled.  *'It was pretty priceless, though.  That look on his face when he
realized the reason he couldn't get anything but the Top 40 to play.'*

Jake shot a warning look at Cazi when he heard the chuckle before returning to cutting up
vegetables.

Nathan managed to keep his face even, while chuckling internally.  *'I think he knew what you
where chuckling about.'*  He smirked mentally. *'One of these days he'll learn not to take
things so seriously.'*

*'Though I know he's intent on breaking me of my 'bad habit' before I break him of his.'*  Cazi
snickered mentally.  *'He has no idea what he's up against.'*

*'Neither do you, love.'*  Nareena smirked mentally.  *'Be grateful he's mute on this band.'*

Nathan grinned.  *'You only heard it, cause of the LifeMate bond.  It was shielded otherwise.
Sounds like an irresistible force meeting an immovable object sort of event.'*

*'Something like that,'* the Tigress chuckled along the link. *'Though I swear they _both_
enjoy it.'*

*'You think they'd both keep at it if they didn't?'*  He chuckled back.  *'Neither of them can
resist a challenge.'*

*'As if _anyone_ in this family can?'*  Cazi cut in.  *'I seem to remember a particularly
interesting response Ebon gave to loosing a dare with me once.'*

*'And I never regretted it.'*  The senior NightBlade chuckled as he leaned against the other
door to the kitchen.

Nathan looked at the two of them curiously.  *'Oh, this sounds interesting.  What dare was
that?'*  He asked always curious about the early days of the NightBlades.

*'How our pairing became a triad.'*  Cazi supplied with a smirk softened by far too much love
to hold it.

*'He tells it much better than I do.'*  Ebon told their eldest son.

Nathan smiled. *'That dare, I wasn't sure if it was that one or not.'* He grinned.  *'He put it
on one of the memory crystals.'*  He smirked.

*'Now why am I not surprised?'*  Nareena chuckled softly.

*'What kit doesn't eventually want to know how their parents met?'* Cazi tried to look
innocent.

*'Just how ... detailed _was_ this?'*  Ebon raised an eyebrow.

*'Well, there wasn't any video footage.'*  Nathan grinned.  *'But it was pretty thorough
otherwise.  Something about being careful who you play truth or dare with.'*  He chuckled.

*'And be more careful about saying things like 'make sure it's something that's actually a
challenge for me'.'*  Nareena added with a mental chuckle.

Nathan smiled mentally.  *'The one-night-stand that lasted a lifetime, I believe was the
summary line he used.'*

"Remember it's impolite to mind-talk that obviously when a mute is around."  Jake commented a
bit sharply as he stirred the soup.

Nathan chuckled embarrassedly. "Sorry, I think we sometimes forget that we are mind-talking.  I
know I do, but learning to mind-talk first will do that."

"I know."  Jake said a little softer, though there was no hiding his frustration, despite his
efforts to be accepting.  "Same way I'll fall back on my first language."

"Though that usually means, 'Duck! something isn't cooperating and Jake's about to give it
flying lessons.'"  Tracker chuckled, teasingly.

"_That's_ not usually from an actual language."  Jake shot back and stuck his tongue out at the
Jaguar.  "At least not the part that's taught."

Cazi suddenly made a great effort to be nonchalant as he examined the refrigerator.  Nathan and
Tracker were losing a hopeless battle with broad grins and mirthful chuckling, as they noticed
the explorer nanobot on the lean Kat's tongue.

"What?"  Jake flattened his ears in threat at the three of them.

"I do believe we've found that explorer nanobot that's been missing for the last week."  Nathan
said chuckling.  "Though I'm completely at a loss for why it's where it is."

Jake very slowly stuck his tongue out and focused down his muzzle at it.  Very carefully he
scrapped the tiny metallic object off onto one claw.  "Cazi, do try to keep better track of
your projects."  He said, completely calm as he extended the unsheathed claw to his mate.  "I
really don't want to find it in the soup again."

"Is that where it was?" Cazi said casually, as he pushed the 'bot into a special container he
pulled out of his pocket.  "I'll have to check the mapping program."  He said absently.

"Do that."  Jake smiled pleasantly.  "Next time I find one, it will be in your bowl."

"Harmless, and completely clean." Cazi smirked.  "You could swallow one and it wouldn't do any
harm."

"Though I expect the crunch would be a surprise."  Jake smiled serenely before turning back to
the cooking.

*'Watch out, love.'*  Ebon tried not to smirk.  *'He's plotting something big for you.'*

*'Heh, I figured that out.  I'm already planning a response.'*  He smiled innocently.
"Assuming that your teeth actually hit it.  In which case it'd be like biting a small piece of
solid metal."

"Love, just make sure _I_ don't find any of your projects in the kitchen."  Nareena smiled
warningly.

"Okay, okay."  Cazi ducked his head, and then dramatically turned into a small housecat and hid
behind the refrigerator as everyone chuckled.

"So, what have we found out about our unusual thief?"  Ebon asked conversationally as the
kitchen began to smell truly mouthwatering.

"That it's pure energy of an unknown classification."  Tracker began. "And that it has an
obsession with things shaped like spatulas, and is very good at finding them."

"To put it mildly."  Jake added as he pulled a casserole out of an oven.

"Any ideas how to contact it, or if it's hostile?"  The first NightBlade leader asked.

"Well, we've got enough different methods of communication we can try, including every known
frequency of telepathy both biological and cyber."  Nathan replied.  "No sign of deliberate
hostility, but if it's pack rat behavior expands beyond spatula shaped objects, it could become
dangerous without being hostile."

"Better than it could be."  The large Panther-morph nodded, staying just outside the actual
kitchen as they spoke across the room.  "Do we know where it resides yet?"

"No, but we will _very_ soon."  Nareena huffed.  "One of the new ones is missing."

"Cazi, do you think you come out from behind the refrigerator now?" Nathan said as he leaned
next to it.

After a few moments, the golden brown housecat walked out and turned back into the Lion.  He
looked around.  "That way."  He said, as he walked out of the room following something no one
else could see.

"Follow that Lion."  Jake shook his head with a chuckle.  "I'll watch the food."

Following the Lion became a case of everyone shifting to primal form as they crawled through
some rarely used emergency ventilation ductwork.  It was very dusty, and full of cobwebs.

*'Are we getting close?'*  Nareena asked with a touch of displeasure for the conditions in the
back of her mind.

*'I think so, but it's hard to be certain in here.'*  The Lion thought back, as he absently
worked on plans for some nanobots to keep ductwork clean.

*'We couldn't get a packrat who hid things in the TV room, could we? Nope, we had to get the
ductwork variety.'*  Nathan said with a shake of his head, as they turned a corner and headed
down a shallow slope.

*'Well, if it hid things in easy to get to places, we would have found them before now.'*
Jackson commented along the team bond.

*'And we'd have missed out on this fun, Ow, Damn that hurt.'*  Cazi projected along the team
bond.

*'What is it?'*  Ebon asked with a touch of concern from the middle of the group.

*'Damn conduit was weak, and I fell through, so everyone should be careful.  Teach me to scout
ahead.'* He grumbled.  *'Damn portable light broke in the fall.  Lets see if I can talk
something in here into glowing.'*  He muttered as the walls of the room took on an eerie blue
glow.

*'Okay, I have our missing spatulas.  Our mysterious packrat has been laying them out in
patterns of some sort.'*  He projected back along the link as the others entered the room more
gracefully.

*'So I see.'*  Nareena raised an eyebrow at she settled down in the center of the room.

*'Contact time?'*  Amee appeared next to a silver shewolf.

*'Maybe, I'm not sure if our mysterious whatsit is here or not.'*  He thought, looking around.

Nathan pulled out a bag and started collecting spatulas. *'Maybe if we mess things up it'll
make itself visible.'*

*'Nate, leave things be.'*  Nareena said with a stern mixture of worry and a plan.  *'Let us
try to contact it, before potentially upsetting it.'*

Nathan shrugged. *'Okay, but is it even here?'*  He said, a little frustrated at the invisible
creature.

*'Nate, dear, settle down and help us look.'*  The Tigress smiled softly at him.  *'You are a
strong bio-path as well.'*

Nathan closed his eyes, and then sequential ignored all the mind he knew, which should,
logically, leave the mind he didn't know.  That was assuming it wasn't biopath invisible.

"While he wouldn't exactly call it a mind, there was _something_ just on the edge of his
frequency range.  Something that was quite close, and more curious than anything.

He adjusted his frequency to be compatible, and sent a gentle, welcoming feeling.  A moment
later he felt his mother join him, her calm warmth adding too the welcome.

The presence came a little closer.  Though it made no attempt to communicate, it didn't feel at
all hostile either.

Nathan simply concentrated on a welcoming, non-hostile feeling.  He wondered, behind his
shields, if the creature was unable to communicate, or was choosing not to.

There was a wave of power from the entity, directed at the spatula-objects.  As they watched,
one lifted, and was moved slowly towards Nathan.

*'Fascinating.'*  He thought, as he watched the approaching spatula with some interest.  He
added curiosity to the welcome he was projecting.

The was a flicker of confusion from the entity, then it made a clumsy attempt to project
something back as the spatula set down right in front of Nathan and a physical touch of it's
invisible form brushed against his face.  Something between 'for you' and 'affection'.

Nathan projected gratitude with some warmth as he picked up the spatula.  He looked at one of
the patterns, and projected a curiosity that he hoped came across as 'what meaning'.

What came back was best described as 'I like it' or 'pretty' and a sense of pleasure.

*'Nathan, I think we're dealing with a pre-lingual child of some kind.'*  Nareena send on a
tightly shielded and hidden band.

*'I agree with pre-lingual, I'm just not very practiced at this.  As far as I can tell, it was
simply decorating.  I'm just not sure of its level of abstraction, or if it will understand if
I try to explain what we need those for.  Pure energy lifeforms often have difficulty
understanding the need to ingest solid matter.'*  He responded on the same band.

*'Well, it seems to like you.'*  She observed.  *'Have you ever tried Linguistic Transference
with an energy creature?'*

*'The only ones I've met already knew Galactic, and I've never tried it with a pre-lingual.  I
don't suppose it can hurt ... I hope.'*  He said as he focused on transferring the meta-
language patterns of galactic to the critter.

Almost immediately there was a high-pitched mental screech of fear, confusion and upset as the
entity vanished from the mental awareness of the telepaths.

*'That's a unique reaction to Transference.'*  Nathan commented.  *'I guess maybe the whatsit
wasn't ready to handle language, though it's behaviors _seemed_ to indicate advanced enough
thought patterns.'*  He sighed.  *'You know I think I know enough about it, to keep it out of
the kitchen now.  So perhaps, if Cazi can magic up some more spatulas we can leave these here?"
He suggested.

*'No problem.'*  The Lion nodded easily.

*'Leaving these would be good, though I think you should keep the one it gave you, in your
quarters.'*  Nareena nodded as they slipped out of the deep mental state.

*'Agreed, it may choose to come back.'*  He said as he looked around the room.  *'Anybody have
any idea where this room came from?'*  He asked curiously.

*'It's the net result of too many paws making too many revisions without talking to each
other.'*  Amerith chuckled.

*'I'm not sure I follow you.  This room lacks any perceptible entrance, except for the one we
added through a weakened vent. Speaking of which, this room doesn't have any vents aside from
that hole either.'*

*'Well, it used to.'*  The black and red shekat shrugged as they climbed up, back into the
ductwork.  *'It's one of the hidey-holes we incorporeals modified when you couldn't use it any
more.'*

*'I take it, it hasn't been used in awhile.'*  He guessed, as he shifted to primal, and sprang
back up into the duct.

*'Not in years, even by us.'*  She shook her head and dematerialized into the main computer
system.

*'Explains why it went unnoticed.'*  He thought out loud, as he crept back toward the exit from
the ductwork.  *'Hope the critter wasn't hurt.'*  He said quietly.

*'I don't believe so.'*  Nareena replied.  *'I didn't sense any pain, just fear and
confusion.'*

*'That's good, I got so much backwash it was hard to hear specifics.'*  He said, as he crept
along in the duct.

*'It may well come back, after it's absorbed the shock.'*

*'I hope so, its a fascinating case of cross-species communication, and may provide some
insights into non-verbal communication.'*  Nathan replied, sounding like a research paper.

*'Well, if it does come looking for you, try to be a little more empathic.'*  Nareena half
teased, half advised.  *'I really do think it liked you.  You did grab the spatula it gave
you?'*

*'I was being empathic, I just don't do non-verbal well.'* He shrugged.  *'Of course, I did.
It's right in my left hand, where I left it.'*  He chuckled.

*'Not when you were talking about hoping it came back.'*  His mother retorted softly.

*'One can be empathic, and see the potential for new knowledge at the same time.'*  He grinned
broadly.  *'Besides, I'm hardly emotionally attached to it, or anything.  Though there's
something on its part I think.'*

*'Though whether it understands what it feels I'm not nearly so certain.'*  Nareena shook her
head as they climbed out into the Felsin-sized areas.

*'Agreed.'*  Nathan said as he jumped down, shifting back to Felsin form as he touched ground. 
"Got the spatula."  He grinned holding it up triumphantly as Cazi climbed down.  "You realize
Jake isn't going to be thrilled with the outcome."

*'It's not like he uses them much.'*  Nareena chuckled as he feet his the floor.  *'I'm the one
that does most of the baking.'*

*'True, but after last week he's gotten awfully protective of the kitchen.'*  Nathan chuckled
fondly.

*'Let me deal with him.'*  She smiled serenely at everyone else snickered.

*'Yes, mother.'*  Nathan snickered agreeably as they came within smelling distance of lunch.

"Smells like you made progress."  Nareena greeted the tom warmly.

"Did you?"  He raised a questioned look at the hunting party.

"That would depend on the definition of progress."  Nathan said with a slight smile.

Jake glared at him and crossed his arms before leaning against the counter edge.

Cazi leaned against a wall casually.  "We did indeed find the culprit, though we can't actually
claim to have seen it."  He smiled.

"All right."  Jake looked doubtfully at the Lion.  "Did you get the spatulas back, and will it
happen again?"

"Not yet, but Nathan and I think we can set up a field to keep the intruder out of the kitchen.
Then I can magic up some more spatulas."

Jake muttered something under his breath before shrugging.  "I guess it'll have to do.  At
least it didn't have a thing for bowls."

"C'mon, Nathan let's see if we can pin down the frequency."  Cazi said dragging the Tiger out
of the room, after leaving a half dozen spatulas sitting on the counter.

--End: There Are Days 2 ... 1/1 

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