Cross of Swords: Part 5:
Joe's Place
September 1995
A few days later, Cat walked into Joe's bored. She was staying with Duncan for a while since Richie decided to go off on a motorcycle trip and Cat went off somewhere. Cat would always be grateful for what Duncan had done for her, but he was always either in a bad mood or not home. He said it had something to do with his friend Charlie being home from the Balkans. Also there was a lot of tension between he and Joe, and Cat didn't want to intrude any more than she had to.
When Joe finally noticed Cat he walked over to her. "What's up?" he asked. Joe hoped she wasn't spying for Duncan. With all the problems they were having, Joe wouldn't put it past Duncan to send Cat as a spy.
"Just had to get out for awhile. Need any help around here?"
"No, I've got things under control here, since we don't open for a few more hours. Is there anything else you want to talk about?"
"Well," Cat hesitated for a moment. "When do I get to move in with Chris? Or have you not decided yet?"
"I've been thinking about it, and I don't think it's such a good idea."
"Why not!?" Cat said half yelling half shocked. She and Chris had gotten along so well together, and Cat wanted to have Chris as a Watcher and teacher. They had gotten so close after that conversation.
Joe looked at Cat and saw how disappointed she was. "There are just to many things I didn't take into consideration."
"What, the fact that she lied about her Immortality, or that you're having problems with Duncan?"
"My problems with Duncan are none of your business." Joe snapped. He didn't mean to sound cross, but he had a lot of things on his mind and didn't need Cat getting involved. "I'm sorry. I'll give it some more thought, ok?"
"I guess that's all I can ask for. If you see Duncan tonight, will you tell him I'll be at Richie's apartment. With all this stress, I need some time alone. OK?"
"Sure, whatever." Joe said as he walked away. Cat wasn't sure if he had heard or even cared. She hoped she wouldn't get into trouble.
Richie's Apartment: Later that day
Cat had some time to think at Richie's. It was a small apartment, but she could think and practice. All her life she had been around swords, and she knew how to use them. It was ironic since she was Immortal because to an Immortal, knowing how to use their sword could been the difference between life and death.
Her sword was special. It had been made six centuries ago and passed down to the youngest child on their sixteenth birthday. Due to certain circumstances, Cat got it early. It was a saber with a beautiful aura about it. The hilt was laid with purple and gold braids, the blade was silver and had a cross of swords with 6 machetes pointing up like blades of grass. One machete for each generation. Etched in the blade was the phrase "Potest Esse Nur Unus" which translated into There Can Be Only One. That was another thing that was ironic that Cat should be the one to get it, because with Immortals, in the end there could be only one.
Cat tried to practice with her sword using her shadow on the wall as her enemy, but it didn't feel right. She kept thinking about when she was watching Chris the other morning on the docks and realized their styles were very similar. Then again, they were both trained by Duncan.
Cat practiced the way she had seen Chris go through the Kata. She found the movements were almost natural. They came out slow and smooth but at just the right aggressiveness. Cat didn't know where the energy was coming from, but it felt good to get it out.
When Cat had finished, she sat down to think. When she learned she was an Immortal, she thought it would be so cool. She had grown up around swords and knew how to use them for as long as she could remember. But when she took Jayden's head, her first head, she wanted Duncan to take her head. She realized it was at that moment of the Quickening that she had lost control of her life. And now almost a year later, she still had no control. If she was to convince Joe to let her stay with Chris, she would have to change.
There was something special about Chris that amazed Cat. Something that drew them together. Like some sort of psychic connection. They had so much in common, and if Cat needed to talk, Chris was there. When Anne had returned to America after she and Duncan broke up, she was to busy to talk. Cat had missed Anne because she had been like a mother to her throughout her whole Immortality adjustment, but the connection they shared was nothing like the one she had with Chris even though she wasn't sure what that connection was.