The Mad Hatters Tea Party.

[I L Y I C H]

Perched vulture like on my stump I remained silent, watching them all sleep. I knew in the back of my mind that my form was obvious despite the lack of light. Despite the rain pelted my heavy shoulders. A light in the shadows I was obvious, a halo surrounded me in the rivulets of rain. A sign, it would seem. A prophecy for the greatness of this germanic pride. Time then. It was time. Akando was as good as forgotten. Cheta ran that desert nation now, lost to his attempts to hold a brittle family together. Eznox lay in shambles, so small in their numbers that no threat could truly come from them. Zonta remained the only true threat. Alphonse! Oh Alphonse! How that angel hated me! How he wished to roll upon my dead carcass and how I would love to see his face now; precious Noelle made large by my seed. Oh but she was beautiful. Kindness shown in those honey hued eyes, but what terror she felt. How fragile she was. Not like my women. Not like my little soldier girls.

Noelle would belong to me soon enough, along with my children. A family proper at home within Ende, but not yet. Let Alphonse roll in his self loathing. In his fury. Let him stew just a bit longer so Noelle could see it. Let them all see it. Alphonse could not love in his paranoia. Could not feel and as such made himself worse then even me. At least I looked towards Zonta with excitement. It was a sad sad day when a rapist could love his victim more then her own brother. Silly bastard just couldn't get over his anger. Couldn't get over the idea of just what was growing within his young sibling. So much anger in a body not yet fully grown. So much hatred for a man he had never truly met. Oh but I hadn't killed his precious mommy and our war hadn't been personal. Only a child took such things to heart. Only a child could not simply see the reasoning and bring caution forward. Paranoia proved nothing.

A light in the darkness of the constant rain I could not help but smile, ivory lips pulling away from my fangs. Jaws parted wide I let loose my cry roaring right through the silence of the night. I saw to my left ,as my jaws came closed once more, Verona leap to her paws so fast that she stumbled back over. Monte was beside her, standing stiff as ever, eyes bouncing to me and her daughter in tern. My head tipped to her tail flicking to indicate the lack of danger. "Come to me my children! It's time to light this rain a flame!" Voice ringing high despite it's depth I turned in a tight circle upon my stump, claws ripping strips of bark free of the wet slippery thing. Coming back around I faced the lot of dripping but alert faces with a patented smirk. "My precious soldiers. This is Ende's time! Will the rain drowns out those around us we shall slip our way to the top." Tail tip flicking I settled once more, haunches pressed to wet wood and waited for the questions.

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

I had been partially awake, watching Fuhrer changes colors as he cried out, my mind trying desperately to fight back the dreams I would never admit I had. I was a soldier, and soldiers do not dream. Yet I did, in the quiet of the night, those stupid little fingers fishhooked into my brain and dragged me to worlds I knew did not exist. Oh, but it meant nothing. The fact that I slowly climbed to my feet to stand before a green Fuhrer simply meant my brain would take a minute to read that he was actually white. I knew what was real and what wasn’t. That is the sign of a soldier, being able to tell reality from falsehood.

Ah, and there the true colors came to focus. Symphony was back to being the white devil that ruled over all us little demons. To my left, Ahote took calmly to his feet, alert and obviously having been awake all along. He took a seat close to Verona, having the child firmly between him and Montego. He lowered his skull and nudged her in a warm welcome, obviously tired enough to be unaware that his usual action would be to mentally distance himself from the child. Even more eager was Orenda, who was the closest to Fuhrer, sitting with her posture in her respectful salute. I knew she would have been asleep, but her engraved need to obey forced sleep from her form as soon as the call was given. Beside sat a groggy Shanandoah, who’s drooped eyes made me aware that she may not have even been awake now as I watched her; most likely she was simply propped up by Orenda’s paw and nothing more. Then there was a newer member, Malcolm, who had done nothing but lift his head halfway from the ground to look drowsily at Symphony, showing no signs of having any thoughts to getting up and sitting before the Fuhrer with any amount of respect.

Having assured myself of my surroundings, I looked back to the Fuhrer with interest just in time to catch his words. My paws buzzed in anticipation, tail tip flicking lightly in response. “The plan, Fuhrer?” It was a short question, heavily accented in the rough tongue of the Germans, but it was all I could muster. Though my senses were now awake, my brain was still twisted by exhaustion enough to keep from allowing me to muster too much of the English language I had learned.

[I L Y I C H]

Symphony->
My smile grew vitriolic and I couldn't quiet help but lean forward playfully. electric blue eyes sliced back and forth over the lot, black back ears flicked forward and back spasmodically. Oh it was time! Time to hold our place. Time to play god once more. Game time! Goal time! Tail lashing I stood abruptly, claws ripping further gashes in the tree stump I stood atop. Montego stood with me, her large ears standing stiff atop her small skull. Verona emulated her, before turning to nuzzle the heavy leg of her 'father' before launching away to prance up to the rather lazy Malcolm. She was a cunning little girl, and she quiet lavishly began to demand that he had to get up so she could sit next to him too. Clever clever little lion cub. Turning my eyes away from such displays I locked my gaze on Annora. "Oh Generalleutnant the plans I have for us!"

Digging claws further into my poor podium I took to raising my skull high, motioning towards the thick cloud covering the moon. "The rain has come my friends, and with it downpours that have turned the world to marsh." My massive white skull dropped once more, face curling into a Cheshire grin. "Where water flows scent does not." Surely the threat in my voice was not too hard for the lot of them to find. Monte was leaning forward, practically quivering. How glad she would be, for this new plan on which to prove herself. With those horrid wounds completely healed that silly servile would be welcome amongst our ranks once more. Klei stood off to the edge as well, practically jumping foot to foot her tufted ears lurching this way and that. Gleeful with my families excitement I leaned forward again, drawing all of them into my circle.

"War is coming, and with the chaos that follows Ende shall lay it's claim." Electric eyes bounced about, demanding ideas. Darkness moved and for a moment I thought the jaguar a state of my mental disorders but he came forward on silent paws and Klei moved aside for him, stub tail twitching. He'd only been here since the day before, but this clever little bastard was absolutely adorable. Sherlock settled on a graceful note, just behind Annora.

"What of when the rain ends.... Fuhrer?"

I turned towards him immediately, joyful for this new member along with the rest. Ideas! "When the rain ends will withdraw. There is no point in our out stretching ourselves." Green eyes met mind, that ebony brow rumpled slightly before it cleared and he nodded. Such objects made sense. Acceptable to the genius. Obviously. Smiling I turned back to Annora. "Wile we are well fed and strong from their prey they will be scrambling to retake ground and we shall be safe. When or if they do attack, well we are many and they are few." Eyes turned towards Orenda and I lifted a paw to point at the little cougar, asking her to be awoken further. This was important, and as much as I wished for my poor cats to have a good nights sleep it was far more important to have them ready for what is coming. "These prides hate each other more then they hate us. We have trained for months, Ende. It is time to take the world to war."

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

Behind me a new feline sat. I knew not his name; just that Fuhrer had accepted him willingly a day prior to this moment. I twitched my tail in agitation, not yet knowing this cat well enough to feel him worthy of my pride, my family. Since the lost war against Zonta I had come to feel an emotional tie to this pride. No, there was no emotion to it, just a tolerance for more that Symphony Bava’. This man, however, had not yet earned a space of tolerant indifference from my close-minded frame of mind.

I looked over my shoulder at the jaguar, a blank look plastered on my face. “Lassen Sie uns sehen, wie Sie im Guerillakrieg ergehen, mein Freund.” A smirk played my expression as I offered the words to the stranger. The beast reeked of Eznox, so I could not imagine him surviving our playground. If he did, I would welcome the brute into the confined space of my loyalty. If he did not make it out alive, I would merely piss on his corpse and walk away. It wouldn't be the first time I degraded a fallen comrade. Many bodies of german soldiers, human and feline alike, had been defaced by my claws as I spat on their failures.

Turning my expression to the beings that Symphony indicated towards, I saw Orenda’s salute falter as she looked downwards at her slumbering companion. Part of me mocked the woman in my head, her fear of disturbing a child unbearably sad. But, noticing the scar along her eyeline that I had planted when the girl cowered during the war against Zonta. I sneered at her, remembering how small she had allowed herself to be, quivering beneath my paw. It had been Shenandoah that had finally coaxed the girl into battle. I stared, watching as Orenda pulled her paw away, letting the young girl crash to the ground, jolting away. Her eyes flew up to Orenda, who pointed at Symphony. The cub tensed, sitting bolt upright, not quite a salute, but holding respect and confusion in her eyes. I let a soft hiss pass my lips at the childishness of it all.

Looking further, I saw Malcolm drift his expression over to Verona. Her proximity took the arrogant beast by surprise, and he scrambled to his paws before smiling dumbly at the girl. Well, his attention was not quit on Symphony at this point, but Verona’s presence had at least woke him up. “Verona, care to be my partner in war?” The little boy waggled his eyebrows, smirking a half grin that was almost comical, if I had not been already so irritably disgusted. The comedy continued as Ahote entered my line of vision, eyes hard set on the male as he wedged himself between Malcolm and Verona. He looked to the little girl and offered a nod of approval at her getting the boy from his slumber, but then turned a venomous stare at the boy.

“Fuhrer is speaking. You can make arrangements for war partners later.” His voice was harsh, and it was obvious the brute would not let this foul womanizer alone with Verona.

Ah, but I had allowed myself to become distracted. Symphony was beckoning for war tactics. I focused my attention on him as I considered former battles of my own. We had done some guerilla warfare in Germany, but it was mainly straight forward battle lines. “Fuhrer, we could use the deep wasser as cover. Sink our Körper beneath the surface with only eyes and nose above, like a Krokodil. Also, like Krokodil, we wait. No one can live on muddy wasser. They have to come to the deeper wasser at some point.” It was a last resort idea, but I didn’t see anyone else raising their paws to contribute.

Damn my rough tongue rasping out such pointless dribble.

[Kunabee]

Camira
Being woken up in the rain irritated the she-cat like nothing else. She had been taking shelter under one of the larger cats, but no, the Fuhrer had to call a stupid old meeting. So, tail lashing, she stalked up, crept through. The shadows allowed her to be blacker then usual, and as the Fuhrer so smartly pointed out, water didn't allow for scenting. So that was how little Camira had managed to land on Symphony's back, claws outstretched, and hissing furiously.
"Father, why!" she cried, translating Fuhrer into English as was her way. She was obviously irritated, and the best thing to do with an irritated Camira was to pull her off of what she was clinging to and dump her unceremoniously away from her irritation.
In this case, out of the rain and under some larger cat.
However, respecting his leadership in her rather odd way, Camira dropped off on her own and willingly suffered the rain. Now her ears were pricked up, continuing to flick back and forth as she listened. Well, she had some patience and some ability to behave herself.

Eisley
I settled down near the Fuhrer. Symphony. My... well. I didn't have much of a word for it. I had no idea what our relationship was, at this point. I just simply moved to a slightly closer place, and still sat in a salute. In private I was a little more affectionate, but around the rest of the pride... nope. It was awkward for me, and I just didn't know what to do. I mean, I did have feelings for him. and he, well, he had feelings for me.
I think.
It was rather ironic how we were talking about Montego's and Ahote's relationship of awkward and hidden love, and now we had a relationship of our own...
Love really is blind, isn't it?
I stayed quiet throughout the meeting, not as militariastic as everyone else. I hated this da**ned rain. I was shaking a little in it, trying to stay calm. Thinking dry thoughts. Water. Why water.
As Camira attacked Symphony, I knew how the cat felt. She didn't like water. She wasn't scared of it, like me - why was I so acursedly scared of this acursed water?! - but she didn't like it. It was something.
Something I, embarrassingly, clung to. I clung to my similarities with a stupid housecat, who attacked...
whatever his relation was to me.

[I L Y I C H]

Slate gray eyes turned slowly, watching them all with a keen interest. They were all so... queer. This place was not Eznox. Not in the slightest. For the time I could focus on these felines with every vital neuron straining to understand. John... wasn't important right now. Falling silent to watch Symphony shake off his bur, I eyed the little feline with skepticism. That was a domesticated feline, a true pet, but I supposed I had no real right to judge at the moment. Not in my current situation. Symphony shifted working to hook a paw around and drag the little dark pelted girl back to his belly; shielding her from the rain. How incredibly... odd. Eyes lightening to a greenish blue in curiosity I only slightly flinched when the soldier spoke. Ears curled slightly to the left even as I fought to keep an air of indifference. The twinge of need for the knowledge of this new faction burned deep. I needed to understand all of them and know how to control them.

With the slight turn of my skull I eyed the woman almost lethargically. Symphony had turned his amused stare from the male tiger's protective nature to watch me with glee. I'd 'deduced him' as John would state upon meeting and he had taken a rather odd liking to it. "Soldier. German front, unknown enemy they never told you. You were six months old upon initiation to the front. American zoo after they didn't need you anymore. Killed a keeper. Male. Middle aged." My body turned fully to face the woman, eyes turning blue once more. "Lassen Sie uns sehen, wie Sie im Guerillakrieg ergehen, mein Freund" Perfectly emulated back to Annora I dipped my head slightly. "Guerilla war, my friend? Explain." eyes hard as flint, i waited for the following explanation even as I proceeded to ignore her offering of ideas. Clever as they were. Last resort sort of things. 'Krokodil'. A light smirk pulled at the left hand side of my ebony lips.

Symphony leaned back again revealing his pet to the weather for a moment before he slouched forward once more with a brilliant grin. Eyes turning to lock on him once more I returned to my blank mask. For his relative insanity this white tiger was a cunning brute. The main reason for my interest but not nearly the most important in the scheme of my remaining here. Indifferent I listened silently as he spoke. "Brilliant! Brilliant yes!" Electric blue eyes seared over us all, making even my own tail flick uncomfortably. "But what of now? Shall we simply use our wolf pack procedures?" He looked about ruefully, and though I didn't understand the reference I did incline my own head just a bit. Montego had agreed, and I trusting her judgment had been a lesson I'd already learnt. It had something to do with dual punishment, of that I could guess. Wolf pack and the way Symphony looked between us as if splitting us up in his mind.

This... could prove to be highly interesting. Ende attacked for no reason, not one that he had seen yet. It seemed they were simply in it for the thrill and the hopes that this 'family' would be safer at the end of it. Proven by the end of it. My face tweaked into a small frown, I sat slightly straighter claws sinking into the mud. It didn't make any sense at all, and bloody hell it needed to.

[/size]

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

“Erklären?” I blinked out the word, staring oddly at the creature. My mind tried to fold around all the man had said. He had just declared my history, and my eyes narrowed in suspicion. I flicked their icy grip to sit on Symphony, accusing the man of sharing my history. That was mine to share, not the foul oaf’s. My glare was lethal, but a small part of me granted the stranger the credit for the deductions. How, I could not fathom. But there was always the possibility.

“Ah, good reasoning.” It didn’t sound right coming off my tongue, the odd worded compliment. My tone was venomous. I did hope the man would read the meaning of the misworded deformation of a sentence. If Symphony was innocent, that meant the man had simply read my past through my physical being. I hated to admit it, hence the venom in my voice, but it was impressive. Oh, but the man was not looking for my grudging acknowledgements to his skills, he wanted me to explain my words.

Lips curling into a cruel grin, I merely shook my head. I had something to hold over this man now. He was like me, hungry to learn every aspect of the world. And, if he was like me, being refused knowledge would drive him up a tree. I looked away. “I am no Sprachlehrer, uh, teacher of words. You wish battle knowledge, I will lehren.” I shrugged, dancing my cold eyes back up to Symphony. “Wolf Taktiken, ja.”

In my peripherals, Malcolm glared into the side of Ahote’s hide, though quickly looked away when the tiger returned the stare. Ahote inched closer to Verona, attempting to corral her back towards Montego. The whole thing struck me as odd, his guarded concern for the child, and quiet trust in Montego. But I ignored my curiosity, dismissing it as foolish observation. I would not be entangled in the web of emotional affairs. No, it was more than a discipline telling me to stare clear; it was simple lack of interest. The curiosity was a passing one, and it had fled as quickly as it had sprouted. Now, eyes remaining focused entirely on Symphony, I flinched as his odd little pet. Camira had joined only recently, and it was obvious she was nothing more than a housecat.

“Damn Hauskatze. Kein Recht.” Though I gave an inward pout with my mumbled curse, my outside remained rigid and soldier like. Good Annora. Good Soldier. Good Generalleutnant. That was all that mattered.

[Kunabee]

Eisley

After Camira had ceased attacking Symphony, he pulled the housecat underneath him to shield her from the rain. I smiled at the sight. What other prides didn't know was that Symphony was extraordinarily kind. He was militaristic and insane, most certainly, but also kind. He was a feline like all the rest, and just because Ende was our asylum didn't mean we were incapable of normal emotion. For example, right now, Camira was purring in an almost furious manner underneath Symphony, expressing her gratitude. Or at least I assumed. She was rather hard to understand sometimes, and at other times obvious, and just in general rather confused.
I was sitting rather stiffly, feeling the rain soak me to the bone. Rain. I hated rain. At the moment I was scared of flooding. If everything flooded -- I didn't allow myself to continue the thought. Water scared me like nothing else. I had my reasons, or maybe I didn't. I myself wasn't sure.
I felt weighted down and it took all my willpower not to crawl away or lay down and cower. Why was there so much of the accursed wet, the wet that was trying to drown me? I focussed hard on everything being said, on person to person, trying to forget it. But at this point, it was too much rain, I was too wet. I felt like I was drowning. I did the best I could, focussing on breathing in and out, in and out.
Don't draw attention to yourself, Eisley. This is too important.

((wooc;; How can something be half a page on word but take up barely any room on here? fjfj
Anyway, the post is here =D I like it ^.^))

[I L Y I C H]

Sherlock->
show me how defenseless you really are.

She spoke again in that tongue. It was well known that many of these cats came from some form of Germanic background, or simply spoke the language for convenience. It was rather short sighted of me to not make a note and learn it before this time. Lack of mind thoroughly noted I went about pretending to completely ignore the lioness, rounded black ears twisting towards Symphony instead. The man's eyes almost glowed in the night, sending lamp light out in an electric haze through the rain. This place was incredibly eery without meaning to. Another thing that Ende seemed quiet proud of for no particular reason what so ever. In less then a day one could name a disorder to every creature within these now marshy lands, however, and perhaps it was poorly worded that previous thought.

White head lifted towards the draining cloud base once more this bulky new leader of mine gave Annora a long look. Pleasure crept through the general maddened blue stare though it was waved away for the more important emotion of blinding amusement. Oh yes these two, they were playing games. As they all seemed to do. Playing games with everyone around them. My lips twisted down, almost petulant before I remembered where I was. Death was not a thing I particularly wished for at the moment. Not with so many questions unanswered. It took will power to not bite back and that acidic tongue half knotted itself in my efforts to appease the creatures around me. Funny. Appeasement was never a robe I thought to walk under. John would be pleased.

"We have much to learn from each other then." It was spoken quietly, almost silently but the tones of my voice carried so well despite the mumbled soft manor in which they rang. Solid gray eyes stared straight forward, narrowed slightly at the edges. A perfect mask molded into place. Uncaring with the snide edge of interest. Symphony rocked about on his haunches pleased it seemed for the moment to simply look like a lunatic and gloat silently over his pride of madmen. Free for a moment as the blue eyed devil watched his lioness I allowed another swift look about. My eyes did not turn however my jaw parted just enough to allow scent to flow forward. Verona, the child had returned back to her odd caretaker's sides having happily waved a yes to Malcolm apparently not understanding his references. The female tiger was fighting the urge to run away, form the rain it seemed. Some age old bad experience.

But Symphony was speaking again, and I forced my eyes back to the man's form ignoring the downpour and the resulting mud in favor of knowledge. Ever spilling knowledge. "Yes yes wolf tactics." Those mad hatter eyes turned about, one paw lifting to tug the house cat closer once more. Settling back into a semi-haunched position the white tiger offered his mile wide grin to us all, entrapping us in an unbridled love that could only be given by a crazed monster. Ears rotating backwards I tipped my own skull slightly forward leaning into the man's aura. No matter the odd tilted way he spoke this tiger was charismatic. The aura was noticeable. "They look to us my friends and see evil. Would it not do, then, to prove them correct?" paws shuffled. Verona leaned forward, tail rolling to slid against her 'father's' leg. Not that that relationship made much more sense then this speech.

"Rain has come with the destruction of Akando's king. With the sun gone Ende can come forward as the rightful heir to Ezy's petty little rubbish crown. Silly man didn't use it well at all." A crown of garbage? Playful blue eyes bounced about locking on my own for a moment in which for half a second I considered looking away. "We wont go hungry any longer. We will never lack a thing, and as we grow strong from our war others will go weak." Symphony's long white tail lashed the black tip almost invisible in the miserable night. "And we shall be feared and safe for seasons to come."

[Bhu ♥ Irwin]

I was…unnerved. Little Shenandoah sat rigidly by my side, her posture only slightly more slouched than my own salute. She seemed unphased by all this talk, unconcerned at the speak of war. How could she be so sure when I was not even positive what wolf tactics were? I toyed with the idea of asking, but my lips seemed to be cemented shut. Eyes traveling only for a moment, I took in a vague idea of what the others were doing.

It seemed I was the only one remaining in such a firm salute. Ahote had successfully corralled Verona to Montego, then proceeded to keep himself between Verona and Malcolm, who had inched after them to keep no more than three feet between. The boy avoided Ahote’s eye contact as the tiger shot him lethal warnings, but I could see the smug arrogance on his face. A small part of me judged Malcolm for thinking so highly of himself, but most of me was indifferent. The boy would need to learn ranks; he could do as he so desired to me, but Ahote was his superior officer.

Annora, I judged, was doing her best to avoid looking over her shoulder at Sherlock. The man took her denial well, and I envied that skill. I made a note to offer my services after this meeting was adjourned. I could teach him what little German I knew, then he could impress Annora with it and she would have to give in and let him learn her language. I knew a good deal of the culture, having picked up bits and pieces with my time in Ende. I could get by and understand the main point of almost everything Annora said now. I would let Sherlock share in that assurance, and then expand on it.

As I pushed to look back to Symphony, Ahote caught my attention once more. He had leaned his paw into Verona’s touch, the slightest of smiles tugging the corners of his lips. I recalled the day he had sent me spiraling into the woods to hunt alone, knowing I would panic when I realized he wasn’t with me. He had found amusement in my terror as I raced back into camp, confronted by Montego. The female had rebutted him respectfully, but Ahote had reacted aggressively, trying so hard to push it into her head that she was a woman. I smiled warmly as it hit me why he had been so passionate in his argument; Ahote wanted a family, and Montego fit his bill. Now he had Verona, and he had come to terms that he wanted to be a father. The smile grew bolder on my face as I drifted my expression back to Symphony. “Symphony, what are our wolf tactics? I can’t recall.” The comfort of Ende’s relationships had given me confidence enough to ask without recoil or fading of my smile.

Yes, we are a family.

[I L Y I C H]

Sherlock

Electric blue eyes cut across us all, and I felt my head lift a fraction higher. I lived on the idea that others could not effect me, but it seemed I was wrong. Charisma was a brilliant tool, and an acting tool I would have to learn from this massive pallid warlord at some point in the near future. Ebony fur bristled under that carving stare, and with a low grumble I dropped my skull back to it's original unamused stance, face pulled into a lightly disgruntled expression. The fuhrer crushed bark under his claws, sending splinters tossing themselves through the air in terrified death spirals. "Wolf tactics, my little friend, are a splitting of our forces." Two groups then. I had been correct. A fraction of my despondence left at the assertion. "We will go to Eznox together very soon, and when we cross the river the rift has surly become then under the cover of mud we will split in two and attack them North and South."

Eznox?

Well... of course that was the pride to be struck first weak as the lot of them were. It was only logical, and such factors tide into most of the decisions I had ever made, but. John. It seemed wrong that one man's thoughts controlled my own emotions, but- no! Lip curled slightly I watched in bitter silence. John was a soldier, he could take care of himself. The man wasn't a complete imbecile. Slicing through the flutter of humanity I turned my thoughts to better places. Bloodier places. That damn cougar was mine. He had been so cruel, not just towards me but towards every other creature in that disgusting hole in the ground. Claws slipping from their sheaths in a rare show of anger I turned ice blue eyes to the ground. As Symphony finished his speech I remained in this position glaring at the ground in my attempts to wrestle the beast away again.

"So off to bed with you lot! Tomorrow night when the sun falls we ship out." I could feel those eyes as they curled around my form, and looked up sharply to turn emotionless eyes on that face. Symphony smiled broadly, teeth bared in a predatory smile. He stood them, pressing a black tipped white tail against his little pet's jaw before whisking off his podium. He'd failed to mention that after that we would ignore Akando completely as he didn't see fit to attack them just yet the water had work yet to do. Zonta was next after this. The war was on, and no matter what happened Ende was set to win and win big. Jack pot for the maniacs. The freaks. The idea brought a small smile to my lips, though it was swiftly gone when Symphony turned his bedraggled grin towards me. "Problem, Mr. Holmes?" He wanted to be sure I wouldn't turn on them this round, and of course I would not. Fickle as I was loyalty came second nature. Eznox had never found the room to earn it, which was rather pathetic as Ende had claimed it in an instant.

"None 't all, Fuhrer."