A traveling clockmaker's predicament (closed)

[Red_Tower]

Bill watched as Kano finally drifted off to sleep, petting the purring cat next to him. He sat there, as the moon moved through the sky, and the sun slowly begin to rise; watching over her while she slept. "Sleep, such a nice thing. Can I even sleep anymore? Its been awhile, hasn't it... She's an interesting girl, but in what way? Her past is mostly a mystery, of course, so is my own to her. What drives her, motivates her? And this power she has, I've never seen something quite like it... I guess I'll just have to see how things go... What do I do once we reach the peak?" Bill thought, a few of many thoughts he had as his mind raced throughout the night. At one point he pulled out a small journal and wrote a couple words in it, closing it quickly afterwards, grinning. "Let her rest as she needs to, it was a long day."

[Deleted]

Tuono himself eventually fell asleep as well, but his tuning to Kano's sleep schedule had him up about thirty-seconds to five in the morning. Dawn hadn't come yet but the sky had just started to lighten, this was barely perceptible but the cat quickly grabbed the shifter's one working watch and tossed it at Bill nudging him in warning and glancing at the watch face.

The instant the hour hand ticked onto five the feline fluffed and shot backwards, hitting something and scrambling under the bed. In his panic he didn't know quite what it was but he knew one thing, hiw owner was wide awake and hurriedly pulling her things together. It happened every day, no matter where or how long it had been since she had left the clock shoppe. Up at five, ready for the day in four minutes having gathered everything and made sure each pocket had what was required of it along with giving a glance at her one blade.

Kano had leapt off the bed, under her breath repeating 'I'm up.' over and over again as she pulled on her coat and began checking its contents quickly. Pulling the strap of her pack over her head and satisfied with this the girl froze. "Tuono." The cat was suddenly moving watch in his mouth he jumped onto her shoulder tail still puffed. This had probably been odd to view as the routine was rushed but adaptable. Spinning on her heel in a motion done quite often and undoubtedly balance rocking when tired the shifter spoke "Sorry. Did I wake you up?"

[Red_Tower]

Bill looked at the watch as it ticked over to five, before staring wide-eyed as Kano rushed out of bed and started getting ready. After staying in shock for thirty seconds or so, he hurriedly got himself ready, grabbing his bag and simply sweeping his plant off the window and into the satchel. He rushed buckling up his boot and throwing on his coat, and was standing with staff in hand ready to go when she was. "She sure doesn't waste any time." Bill thought for a moment.

"No, no, I don't really... No, you didn't. Are you ready?" He asked, making sure his hair was up and splashed a bit of water on his face from the wash basin.

((Really sorry for the delay, been having to write a bunch of stuff for a scholarship program application for college and it was just zapping all of my writing energy.))

[Deleted]

"Yes I am." She opened the door and passed through, holding it once out of the way. Vaguely noting that he had meant to say something but deciding against it. 'So how come..No that doesn't make sense. Is it possible he didn't sleep? That would explain why the illusion isn't back, but then..'

Eying the cat who's tail remained far larger then usual she grinned behind her hood. Kano knew without a doubt that the feline would eventually decide to push it down so long as he remained on her shoulder. The shifter shook her head and looked to Bill, only a little unsure of the next course of action but without clue as to what would happen when that was done with. She was not an engineer but her knowledge of machinery got her jobs and gave her a better understanding of the contraptions surrounding her in towns. Bill, well Kano wasn't quite certain what he did, but he seemed to have knowledge in magic and took interest as soon as the illusion shattered.

(It's fine I'm a bit tired too, so it's going to be short. Still fun though.)

[Red_Tower]

"Alrighty then, need to get anything before we head out?" Bill asked as he briskly followed her through the door, giving a nod of appreciation as she held it open, before marching them down the stairs. While he walked, he was thinking quickly himself if he was needing anything, patting different parts of his satchel as he mouthed off a checklist silently. He was also considering what would happen after they had reached the end of their journey. "I mean, it'll be very nice on the mountain top, a sunset from up there is unforgettable, but then what? She'll probably want to get back to work, or some such. I suppose I could 'escort' her to a town... I mean I can find work easily enough, and she can too, but do I want to go back to work so soon? Bah, I'll figure it later..."

(Yep, always fun.)

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"I che-no. No I don't, do you?" Bill's marching pace was easily kept by fast practiced movements of paws with Kano herself stepping over two at a time quickly. 'He's not the old man, he wont interrogate me to make sure I didn't miss anything.' Her instinctive responce would have been to say that she had checked everything and begin listing what she had on her to prove it, but thankfully she had enough control to stop at the start. It would be quite odd to go on like that to Bill.

Tuono growled almost silently and the response from his owner was almost instant. The shifter halted and stepped back putting an arm out in front of the man while motioning for her other companion to move to her shoulder. Kano could only hope Bill got the message as she ducked out of the way of an empty bottle. Running and vaulting over the counter while shoving her cat off to break line of site with everyone for that crucial moment. She didn't even know why everyone was fighting, just that she needed a way out without contact.

The illusion, which might as well been the real thing considering that the shifter didn't really exist to the eye or nose anymore, wove through the fray almost to quickly following an unsteady and random path towards the door. Tuono who had been previously on her shoulder and then roughly shoved onto the counter did the sensible thing for a cat and ran along shelving and tables towards the same goal. With a sigh the clockmaker vaulted the table again and followed a path along the other side of the large room, closer to the wall than the Kano everyone else perceived.

(And then fighting in closed spaces.)

[Red_Tower]

"Nope, I'm se-" Bill was saying before getting cut off by the sudden action. His eyes flashed across the room in a moment, assessing the situation. Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a bottle coming at him, whacking it with his staff in an instant, before hopping behind a table. He glanced around, still not exactly sure why this conflict started, but now just looking for a way to the exit. He spotted the Tuono sliding along the shelves, making an easy escape. It took him a little longer to spot what he thought was Kano darting for the door, knowing he couldn't match that level of speed amongst the angry fighting men.

Finally Bill decided he might as well just make a path, or so he hoped. He slipped his hand into one of his coat pockets and pulled out a small ball, throwing it on the ground in front of him, a burst of puffy white smoke rising instantly and spreading quickly through the room. Bill rushed for the exit, but now men were just swinging blindly, so he took a good hard punch to the face on the way out, before finally reaching the sunlight and fresh air of the outdoors, looking around to see how his companions faired.

[Deleted]

The smoke had made things frustrating for the final steps out in both forms, but she managed. Hissing a bit under her breath when she realized she'd have to force the illusion down, Kano glared at 'herself'. Tuono stood and watched as it seemed as if there were two of his owner, one with glowing eyes and the other normal, both seeming to be not quite there. He looked up as Bill burst out staring blankly at him for a moment while he got his priorities straight.

With a final push of willpower just a few seconds after the clockmaker's non-feline companion came out Kano was back in control with two sets of eyes to keep it in check. Hood pushed down by the habitual rubbing of the back of her neck, the shifter looked rather sheepish. Almost as if it was her fault they had wound up in this situation. "You okay?" The girl rocked on her heels a bit until Tuono pulled at her pant-leg to make her stop. 'I guess it's okay to be able to do that sometimes..' Still she felt a little bad about 'lieing' again despite it having been necessary.

[Red_Tower]

As Bill stepped out of the smoke cloud and saw Kano and Tuono standing there he let out a quick sigh of relief, before nodding. "Yeah, I'll be fine. But I know this'll bruise..." He said, thinking the last bit to himself, lightly tapping his face, flinching a little. They hit harder than he thought. He could tell Kano was uneasy right now. "What about you, everything okay?" He asked as he dusted off his coat and patted his leather bag to make sure nothing broke.

[Deleted]

"Just fine. Tuono?" She looked to the cat as he responded, "Mrrr." Kano noticed the flinch and began digging through one of her many coat pockets. Pulling out a small vial of a clear amber hued substance, she spoke again, "If you don't already have some you can keep it. It's for bruising, a little goes a long way with this stuff though so I wouldn't use too much." Sure Kano knew he had vials of various things, but the bruise medicine may not be among them and as with many things she carried on her she knew where to go to get it.

Extending the vial she felt a bit more at ease despite the sound of brawling from within the building they had just exited. The tom had begun to bat around a cup that had rolled out of the inn for amusement, his blue eyes following it as it rolled away from him.

[Red_Tower]

"Oh, thank you." Bill said with a little grin, wincing again when it moved his check. He took the vial and opened it, smelling it a moment. "Ah, I thought so..." He thought as he identified it. He normally carried some around with him as well, but only really for others to use. Why use it himself, he would think to himself, when he already looked so tired and worn. Still, she had offered, and this once, for her, he didn't want to be rude, so he put a dab on his finger and rubbed it into his check, ignoring the pain. After he was done he extended it out to her to hand it back.

Bill knocked the cup around playfully with his staff, grinning at Tuono. He couldn't tell what the cat thought of him yet, so for now he continued to appease it, hopeful that this would be the first cat to actually like him.

[Deleted]

Placing it back in her pocket she grinned as Tuono purred and chased after the cup happy to play. When the cat looked up she gave a bit of a glare, the two locked eyes and remained glaring for three seconds before both looking away. Many had said in the past that they should trade eyes, the idea was absurd but as far as coloring went it made sense. At least Kano thought it did, there weren't many people with eyes so feline in appearance.

"Want to get going?" Her voice held more confidence than she held inside at the moment, but it wasn't as if the shifter was truly shy. The girl was merely unused to the unfiltered contact with others or even speaking with someone for longer than it took to work with them to fix something. The tom on the other hand was used to many looking right at him and seeing him as a pest or worthless stray, Kano didn't she was the one who had saved him despite their semblance of rivalry. Both were quite fond of eachother and enjoyed Bill's company if for different reasons.

The path to the mountains was quite near, and with only one main square here it was hard to get lost. It wouldn't be to steep but to those unused to hiking or with little stamina the mountain would be quite a chore to hike. The path curved up the side of the mountain and split in two, one branch heading to the summit and the other to the opposite side of the base. It was there that hiking would get harder, the duo from the clock-shoppe would be fine with this the only concern would be Bill who seemed to have experience.

[Red_Tower]

Bill continued to play with Tuono for a moment, before nodding to Kano, looking over at the road leading into the mountain. "Yeah, let's get out of here..." He said, starting off on their way, making sure Kano and her feline companion were with him. The summit appeared to be taller than most he was use to, but he knew it looked bigger with them so close to the base. Still, it would be quite the trek, but it had been a while since he went up a mountain, and he was looking forward to the challenge.

Bill would always pretend in his mind that if he stepped off the peak of the mountain he would catch the wind and soar away. "Nice thought, but hardly possible. And why are you being such a downer now Billy boy? Thinking about the first time you climbed a mountain? Shush, we don't talk about back then..." He thought to himself for a moment, before shrugging it off, blinking and looking at where he was again.

[Deleted]

Kano had moved ahead as soon as Bill nodded, hoping to get out of town as soon as possible seeing as people might still be angry. By the time she reached the edge of town Tuono had given up on playing with her coat and walked silently at her heels, glancing at Bill every-so-often. As soon as the shifter stepped off the cobblestone to the dirt path her pace changed, returning to the even relaxed strides she had on the hills they were walking yesterday.

Perfectly comfortable with the height and steepness ahead the shifter started up the base. 'He did seem intensely curious yesterday, I wounder if he has anything else he wants to ask?' "There anything you want to know?" Kano had things she'd rather not talk about, but so did everyone she presumed. Still he wasn't out to get her, that she and or Tuono would have picked up on within the first few minutes of meeting so there was little harm to be done. 'Right?' The shifter could only hope.

[Red_Tower]

Bill quickly realized her change in pace, adjusting seamlessly. When Kano asked him if there was anything he wanted to know, he thought of a billion and one stupid things to say that would get him a fist in the face, or worse. "Well, I've seen a few similar abilities like yours, but never quite like it. Were you born with it, or did it suddenly develop? Was it passed- Nevermind that one. Besides line of sight and physical contact, what are the limitations of it? How do you activate and control it? Wha-" He cut himself off when he realized eventually that he shouldn't pile a bunch of questions on her.

"What's your past like? Now there's a stupid question..." Bill thought to himself as they climbed, giving her a chance to answer.