Ringy Runs

'Dreff coughed. And coughed. And hacked. And coughed. "Frackit, can't sleep." Ringy rolled out of bed like a coil of steel. The useless little spot mumbled something and snuggled into the warm spot she left in the covers. Fie. She was too cute, sometimes.

The air was crisp. There was still a little heat in it, but it was black out. Luna hid her grand face. The Great Way shone. Ringy lit a cigar and puffed on it tightly. Perfectly still, like the air, she held her pose, tail rigid. And then she exhaled, over a good full minute. She peeked over the edge. Unsatisfied, she hopped onto the railing, paused, and settled. The ground below welcomed her. There was a circle down there. Ringy grinned like a lunatic. Pacing, tail high and curled, she trilled, crouched, paced, and leapt. A short, accurate hop, taking her all of two feet out from the rail. Gravity noticed, and bid her welcome the Earth with great love. Given zero alternatives, she obeyed. The circle hammered upward. She flared her legs, shot out her tail, and thudded into the metal plating with the clang so loud, the buildings around her repeated it in surprise. The fel chirped and skittered into the night.

She ran. As fast as she could, feeling her muscles strain and sing and warm. The pitch black fields shied away from a pool of light. She leapt, and growled. The intersection was trim, lit, and deserted. Ringy mau'd softly in disappointment.

"CONTACT, DAMNIT. I GOT HEAVY FIRE AND NEED BACKUP." She yowled. She was perfectly taken off guard. She hated that. "DO. YOU. READ. MEE." The perella in her ear was full of quite the racket. She poked it. "Wha?" "RINGY CURTAIL ARE YOU READY FO-" "Will you quit yelling?!" Mrowl. "COMBAT I REPEAT, COMBAT, HEAVY WEAPONS, I GOT TANKS, THIS IS YOU CAT, ARE YOU READY FOR PORT?" Ringy perked her ears straight up, and her heart sung a New Light carol. "Eeee!" The ground rippled under her.

Flashes. Machinery rumbles. Petrol. A flare, high above. Something exploded. And stank like death. Buzzing flicks zipped past her face. One lodged in her cheek. She brushed it away. Stalking through the brush, she found the middle of the battlefield. The cottage. It was on fire. "Who burned down my Summer home?" Her booming voice was unheeded. She lightly dashed to the front lawn and tried again. "I said, who b-" The house attacked her. Shrapnal, wood, glass. Ringy pined, and a brick, encouraged towards her at incredible speeds by the explosion, clocked her forehead, shaming any sniper.

The roar shattered the windows of the truck he was hiding behind. He covered his ears, and then frantically threw up a shield. Even then he could feel it vibrate his skin. Oh, so she made it after all. He peeked over the bonnet. Unsatisfied with its attack, the house seemed to have decided to bother off down the pub, as it were. With tiny, black and grey legs and a tiny white and.. black.. Tail. The little cottage was a brick. Solid. Military grade stuff, all metal girders and concrete. Picked up by an invisible hand from the sky, it was then pushed sideways, like a glass down the bar. It flew from his right to his left, and had a brawl with a tank. The two objects rolled down the hill like boistrous lovers, and were gone. Ben looked around and quickly found her. Or rather the jeep she was marionetting across the yard. He popped to her side, and dodged. Vehicles make for poor light weaponry. "WHERE." "Allo, Ringy love. If you could just-" "WHOO." He sighed. There was no point. "Those g-" The jeep occupied the spot he stood at precisely 2.3 microseconds ago. Shutup, brain, shutup. Ringy lunged. Ben flicked behind her. "Those fellows-" Flick! "Up there on the hill-" Flash! "Where you like to cuddle-" Dodge! "Adia have decided to kill you." Always with the roaring, really fel, really? She was off, a lumbering, if lithe, line of darkness with a checkered, lashing tail. The jeep smashed fitfully into the ground next to him.

They were prepared. There was nothing to fling, nothing to hide with, and nothing within reach. Ringy prowled under the hail of a handful of snipers. She was cooling off. Holy crap if she gets bored and leaves I'm screwed. And then he saw it. The shrug. The lowering of her tail. Flatness of her ears. Ooh no, no no no no.. He dashed. He could do it. He just had to think positively. Be the tank. Feel the tank. Carry the tank. He stared at the freakin huge thing. "Fuck." Voices cheered in the background. Ringy was sulking off. No. He locked his arms toward the behemoth. The weight was just one datum. It was iron, and nickel, and carbon. It was pulled by the Earth below him. The Sun pulled at it. The Milky Way pulled at The Sun. The will pulls at everything. The tank shifted. Time stilled. He watched, mesmerised, as a chunk of dirt fell off the tanks tread. Fell, down, slowly. Swimming. Obeying. Ben did not obey. He pushed the Earth away from him, and rose. The dirt rose. The tank rose. The heft of the object settled within him, and listened closely to his heart. He glanced at the frowning alien, and threaded a line of influence, leading it over her shoulder.

The tank slammed into her so hard it hurt. It bent around her neck and held her down. Someone laughed. The laughter drooped into a curse of dismay, as the tank rocketed towards them.

Padding quietly, Ringy purred hard, climbing back into bed with the spot. She snuggled, her fur chilly against the deep, homely warmth of the little body and the covers. Adia licked at her fae's ears until they both fell asleep.