"Good gried, lad, what happened to you?" Thean said immediately. "Triana didn't say anything about you growing as big as a tree! And you've fetted!"
Tarrin sighed in irritation. "I'll explain what happened to me later," he promised. "You're looking well, Thean."
"You too, lad, outside of the obvious," Thean grinned as they shook paws. "Lad, this is Jeri. Jeri, this is Tarrin, Triana's bond-child. Though calling him a child seems a bit outlandish," Thean added with a wink at Tarrin.
The other male Were-cat looked up at Tarrin with a stiff posture, and his scent radiated his strength. Thean was right; Were-cat males really did put up their hackles when they met. But no matter how much Jeri postured, he couldn't match Tarrin's overwhelming aura of power and confidence, the same aura that surrounded his bond-mother Triana, and made her so intimidating. An aura Tarrin radiated without even trying. "Thean's told me some about you, Tarrin," the smaller Were-cat male said guardedly.
"All the bad things, if I know Thean," Tarrin said with a neutral expression.
That made Jeri laugh suddenly. "Of course. It enhances a male's reputation," he said with a surprisingly disarming smile.
"Jesmind, you're looking as lovely as ever," Thean said with a smile, taking Jesmind's paws. "It's been what, fifty years now?"
"About that, Thean," Jesmind replied, smiling. "You're looking as ratty as ever."
"You really have to tell us what happened to you, Tarrin," Singer said, taking his paw as Kimmie took the other one.
"I kind of miss the smaller you," Kimmie smiled.
"How are you two doing?" he asked.
"Same as always," Singer laughed. "Mother keeps me hunting."
"Where is Shirazi, anyway?"
"I have no idea. She wandered off before winter. She'll wander back in my direction when she feels like it."
"Mist told me to say hello, Tarrin. Well, actually, she threatened to gut me if I didn't tell you that," Kimmie laughed.
"That's the Mist I remember," Tarrin chuckled. "How is she, and the baby?"
"They're both doing just fine. If not for Eron, she'd be here herself."
"I know, and I'm just fine with her staying to be with her baby," he told Kimmie with a smile.
"Jeri, you're growing again," Jesmind greeted the younger Were-cat with a laugh. "You're almost a half a head taller than that last time I saw you."
"That was when I was eight, Jesmind," Jeri told her. "I'm nearly twenty now."
Tarrin was right; the male was indeed very young.
"I thought you'd done all your initial growing by then," Jesmind told him with a grin. "You're going to be a very tall elder, cub. Maybe as tall as my mother, or Tarrin."
"I hope so," Jeri sighed.
Jasana had gotten up from Ariana's lap, and was tugging at Thean's trousers urgently. The male elder looked down, then laughed and picked her up, holding her over his head. "And this must be Jasana!" he announced brightly. "It's good to meet you, little cub. Your grandmother can't say enough good things about you!"
Jasana giggled and allowed Thean to spin her around, then he boldly passed her to Jeri by literally tossing her through the air. Tarrin was about to intervene, but when he saw that Jesmind was taking no such similar steps, he decided to let it go. Jeri bounced Jasana up in the air a few times, making her laugh, then handed her off to Singer. He watched as all the adults took turns picking up and holding Jasana, handling her and letting her get close to them so she could learn their scents and see that they weren't a danger to her. Tarrin wasn't sure what custom or practice it was, mainly since his bond-mother had been very brief about her conversations about Were-cat society. She hadn't told him anything about things like this. Jesmind allowed the adults to handle her child, and when Kimmie held her in one arm and tickled her with the other paw, Jesmind nodded and turned back towards the fire to turn the meat.
"All of you, I'd like you to meet Ariana," Tarrin announced, motioning towards the seated Aeradalla. "She's agreed to help us."
"An Aeradalla," Thean said with bright eyes. "You and I are going to have a very long talk, madam. I'm dying to hear about where your people have been hiding for the last thousand years."
"I'd be happy to talk with you, Master Thean," Ariana smiled.
"Thean. Were-cats aren't ones for frilly titles and platitudes, madam. It's not us."
"I've come to notice that, Thean," Ariana laughed.
"There's rabbit and deer roasting," Jesmind offered. "You're welcome to it."
"I thought you'd never ask," Singer said quickly, hustling over to the firepit.
Rahnee had been curiously quiet during the initial greetings, and that made Tarrin a bit curious. She didn't look or smell upset-in fact, she looked like she was having a good time now, flirting with Jeri as they ate the offered meal, sitting on the grass around the cheerily crackling fire. He shrugged it off as Kimmie asked him for the fifth time what had happened to make him grow, and he chuckled and put down the bone he'd been gnawing. "Alright, alright. Have you ever heard of a Succubus?"
"I have," Thean replied. "Nasty creatures."
"The winged lady," Jasana piped in. "The winged lady did magic on papa, and it made him grow."
"Well, that's the short of it," Tarrin agreed with a rueful chuckle, scratching the back of his head. "The Succubus drained me, and this was something of a side effect."
"Drained? What does that mean?" Singer asked.
"Succubi are Demons, Singer, and they can drain the life energy out of mortals," Thean told her. "I'm guessing that since Tarrin here is still alive, Were-cats aren't completely vulnerable to that form of magical attack."
"Not completely," Tarrin agreed. "Vulnerable enough to be affected by it, but not so much that it can kill us. She drained me, and I guess a side effect was that it caused my body to age. When that happened, I grew up to the height I would have been at that age."
"That sounds pretty wild," Singer laughed. "When did you meet a Succubus?"
"She was in Dala Yar Arak," he replied. "You'll meet her."
"I will?"
Tarrin nodded. "She's on her way to Suld. Me and her kind of mended our fences. I don't really consider her a friend, but she's not exactly an enemy either. She's bringing Arakite Legions to help defend Suld."
"How can a Demon control Arakite Legions?" Jeri asked.
"When she's the Empress," Tarrin replied calmly. "After I killed the Emperor, she revealed herself and took full control of the Empire."
"You what?" Kimmie gasped, then she laughed. "Denthar's tomes, Tarrin, what have you been doing since we left you in Shoran's Fork?"
"I think a full story is in order here," Thean said with a smile. "You just managed to get me very curious."
"Well, we have time, I suppose," Tarrin shrugged. "I'd rather only go through this once, though, so where are the others?"
"Nikki should be here any time now," Thean said. "I don't know about Shayle."
"They'll just have to suffer," Singer said intently. "I want to hear the story!"
"So do I," Ariana agreed.
"You've heard it," Tarrin told her archly.
"So? It's worth hearing again."
"Alright," Tarrin acceded. "Where do you want me to start?"
"At the beginning, of course," Thean told him. "Where else would a story begin?"
"There are several beginnings to this story, Thean," Tarrin told him patiently. Jasana, who had been wandering from Were-cat to Were-cat boldly, padded over and dropped herself imperiously into his lap.