Cliodhna stiffens with surprise for a moment, and then relaxes into Memnon's strong arms when she realizes it's him. "Sorry, Mem-- I couldn't sleep. We're so close ta Him now...the final confrontation, it seems." Cliodhna brings her hands up to clutch Memnon's forearms tightly. "I'm afraid, mo hanla...no, I'm terrified..." She never takes her eyes off of the shifting Tempest.

Memnon bends down and kisses her cheek. "Do you want to talk about it?" He says squeezing her a little.

Cliodhna closes her eyes. "It's all the same bullshit that I've been worryin' about fer months...but...all the questions will be answered so soon, an' I'm not sure if I want ta know the answers. Not even Ahuru knows what's goin' ta happen now-- he looks scared, mo faol...how am I supposed ta feel when even Ahuru's scared?" Cliodhna sighs a shuddery sigh.

Memnons sighs and brings Cliodhna around to face him. He holds her to him and puts his chin on her head.
"Well he's lived his entire life here knowing what was coming without a doubt. Now he's learning to live like the rest of us. Not knowing what's around the corner."

Cliodhna brings her arms around Memnon and clasps her hands behind his waist. At Memnon's words she gives a wry laugh. "I guess ye're right, Mem." She sighs again. "I'll tell ye the same thing I told Amon. I'm not workin' against the Lady o' Fate...I'm not workin' against Ahuru or Amon...I'm just goin' ta try ta save me father, an' I'll keep tryin' until it's clear that I've succeeded...or failed..." Cliodhna's voice grows quiet when she speaks those last words.
Cliodhna shakes her head and presses her forehead against Memnon's chest. "Mother's sure done her best ta make sure I care about His fate...the question is, does He even care about mine?" Cliodhna pauses for a moment. "Time grows so short, an' yet I feel like I need more an' more of it, the more things I learn!"

"I don't know what he thinks, but I'm sure your mother has told him all about you," he says as he looks out into the tempest.
"Come, Cliodhna, let's get out of the Tempest," he says.

Cliodhna's breath catches as she realizes that Memnon's very likely right about that...her mother DID mention that her father had wanted to see her old bedroom, didn't she? Cliodhna gets lost in her thoughts for a moment and completely misses Memnon's last statement.
She pulls away from him and turns to grip the ship's railing, and her eyes grow sharp and piercing as she stares across the Tempest. "Why are ye so stubborn, ye foolish man! Why can't ye see it?? Will anythin' I say make a difference?" Cliodhna murmurs, barely audible to Memnon. Then Cliodhna gives a sudden bitter laugh, and returns to her quiet murmuring. "Well, I have a secret, Father-- wait 'til ye see what I inherited from ye!" She grips the railing so tight that her knuckles turn even whiter. "Damn it, Father!!" she says in a louder voice, and then suddenly pounds her fist once on top of the railing to punctuate her words-- her eyes shining with tears.

Memnon raises his eye at her questioningly and takes a hold of her arm.
'Damnit, why can't things ever be normal,' he thinks.
"Cliodhna, come on. Let's go downstairs so we can talk.."

As Memnon tries to pull Cliodhna away from the railing, one of her hands comes off, but she clings to the railing with her other hand for one stubborn moment before finally letting go and stumbling distractedly after Memnon, who continues to lead her along until they finally reach their cabin and go in, shutting the door behind them.
Cliodhna begins to pace with her hands held behind her back. "Mem-- Amon told me that he doesn't even know what's goin' ta happen, an' he's a god. He doesn't know what he's supposed ta do ta be with Issa, either, but I get the feelin' that...well, just be careful...PLEASE Memnon." she finally stops pacing and looks at him intently.

Memnon nods, his hands on his hips.
"I'll be fine, don't you worry about me," he says as he sits on the bed and pats next to him.
"Come here, let's get our minds off of this and enjoy our time together." he says with a smile, tilting his head.

Cliodhna narrows her eyes and purses her lips, folding her arms in front of her. "I HATE when ye try to change the topic...although ye do it in such an irresistable way that I can't fault ye fer it." Reluctant to abandon serious conversation, she hopes that Memnon was really listening to her, and really WILL try to be careful, and finally walks over and sits beside him on the bed. She massages her temples for a moment, and then laughs.
"Ye're right, Mem...what am I thinkin'? We should be takin' advantage of every second we have." She stands, takes off her jacket and puts it over a chair. "Mem," she begins, walking back and sitting on the bed again. "I've been doin' most o' the talkin'-- what would ye like ta talk about? You..." Cliodhna thinks. "Ye could tell me about what ye were like when ye were livin'..." she glances over at him. "...an' what happened ta bring ye ta the Shadowlands..."

Memnon leans back on his elbows, and looks at her with a puzzled look on his face.
"Me? I didn't have an interesting life, Cliodhna. You're the one with the stories," he chuckles and scratches his chin. Memnon lays back, his knees dangling over the bed.

Cliodhna lets out an exasperated sigh and lays back next to him-- her ankles hanging off the bed. "Ye an' yer brother-- how did ye get along? I noticed he didn't come ta Ireland with yer parents as much as ye did." Cliodhna flips over on her side with her elbow on the bed, hand supporting her head. "An' what do ye mean *I* have the stories?? That's only because ye havena told any! Ye're Garou! How could ye NOT have an interestin' life!" Cliodhna wills herself to calm down. "Please, Mem...tell me about yer life." She gives him a charming smile.

Memnon looks at her and nods, "Ok ok you twisted my arm. Let's see, I was a little shy because I was bigger than most of the kids. And well you should know the reason I came to Ireland all those times..."
He says wriggling his eyebrows at her.
"And this is pretty much me, I wasn't too different alive, I don't think."

Cliodhna throws back her head and laughs. "SHY?? YOU??" She continues laughing for a moment, and then shakes her head. "Me poor Mem...an' I was shy because I was smaller than most o' the kids! We coulda been so good fer one another growin' up, if we'd lived closer..." She reaches up and cups his cheek in her hand, and leans in to give him a short but loving kiss. Then she lets her hand fall to rest on his arm, and gets a serious look on her face. "Mem...why won't ye tell me how ye died? I promise I won't judge ye...I died a fool-hardy death, an' ye know every terrible thing about me past...I know ye died by violence, but that's all." Cliodhna squeezes his arm and looks at him imploringly.

Memnon lays back his head on his arms and looks up to the ceiling.
"I got shot in the head by a guard. It was stupid and right in the begining of our raid. It wasn't what I was hoping for. Next subject."

Cliodhna watches him with surprise, and then her eyes grow faraway as she gets a mental-picture of the scene, and shuts her eyes for a moment. "I'm sorry, Mem...I hate how I died, as well. I was able ta accomlish the mission before I died, but at what price? Did it really move our cause forward in the end...when under the new leadership they refuse ta take the peace-talks seriously?" Cliodhna sits and slides up next to Memnon, lifting his head and placing it in her lap. She takes his hair out of the leather thong and spreads it across her leg, and begins to run her fingers through it.
"OK, new topic. What's yer brother like-- what auspice was he? Did ye get along?" She continues to play with his hair as she waits for him to answer.

"That's nice," he says glancing up at Cliodhna.
"Hmm my brother was a theurge, and yeah we got along. We were inseperable...unless we were coming to Ireland. He hated to fly."

Cliodhna chuckles, and begins separating Memnon's hair into sections. "That sounds wonderful-- ta have a brother ye like so well. I wish I could meet him now! Perhaps-- if all goes well-- we could...make a little trip ta France?" Cliodhna grins and begins working on Memnon's hair again. "How long did Uncle Jack, Aunt Marie, an' the twins stay with ye? Ye said Uncle Jack taught ye ta fight-- oh, that's somethin' else we need ta do when this is all over...find Uncle Jack. He must be goin' outta his mind with grief about now."

Memnon sighs and clasps his hands on his chest.
"Hmmm they stayed quite a long time that first time, but their visits got shorter every year," he says and glances up at Cliodhna, "How long did they visit you?"

Cliodhna thinks. "They came up a lot, but only fer weekends. They had that luxery with Uncle Jack's plane. I never really got ta know the twins, fer the same reason I never really got ta know ye-- I was always off somewhere..." Cliodhna continues to work with Memnon's hair. "How long did it take ye ta become captain o' the guard?" she asks curiously.

Memnon considers a moment...
"I don't know....I remember waking up in the shadowlands...but I don't remember how I became the captain..." He sits up and puts his hands on his temples.
"How did I become captain?"

Cliodhna pauses her work and looks at him in concern. "Ye don't remember?" She thinks for a second, and then a grin slowly spreads across her face. "Why don't ye ask Ahuru, then..." she offers. She moves her hands a few more times, and then her grin becomes wider. "Look in the mirror Mem-- what do ye think?"

Memnon cocks his head over to the mirror.

Cliodhna pops her head up behind Memnon's, grinning. She's parted his hair down the middle of his head and given him a lovely set of braids. "Aah...ye look just like yer father now!" she laughs, putting her chin on Memnon's shoulder and tugging on one of his braids.

Memnon smirks, nodding his head and rubbing his chin. Suddenly he turns grabbing Cliodhna by the waist and tackles her on the bed, tickling her sides.
"Thought that was funny, eh?"

Cliodhna laughs and then squeezes her eyes shut as one of the braids hits her in the face. "I don't know what ye're talkin' about, Mem! Ye...ye don't like it?" she asks, pretending to be sad as she grips his hands, trying to push them out and away from her sides, attempting to arm-wrestle him.

"Oh no you don't!" he says getting her arms pinned. He smiles and flips his head hitting her with his braids. "Hey maybe I can get used to these." he says continuing to swat her with his hair.

Cliodhna shrieks, turning her head from side to side to avoid the braids, and clenching her eyes shut, struggling to get her arms free. Finally when she realizes she can't break her arms free, she holds very still and pretends to be unconscious-- trying to keep a straight face.

Memnon notices her no longer moving and he smiles and lays next to her.
"Finally, now it's time for the good stuff." he says as he moves her up to the pillow, making a big show of it.

Cliodhna almost opens her eyes, and has to try even harder to keep a straight face as Memnon arranges her on the bed. And just before he moves to position himself over her, she suddenly brings her knees to her chest and plants her feet on Memnon's chest-- thrusting out and knocking him onto his back. She laughs and rolls to the edge of the bed, flipping off of the side to land on her feet, and waiting there in a defensive stance.
"Mem...truly, I'm shocked! Ye say ye just lay there an' watch me sleep, but now I'm not so sure! Are ye guardin' me body, or molestin' it!"

Memnon laughs as he lands on his back. The bed springs him to the edge and he slides off conking his head. He stands up rubbing his head laughing. "That was pretty good," he says.
Memnon circles the bed after her, cracking his knuckles with an evil grin.

Cliodhna's eyes widen with concern when Memnon falls off the bed and hits his head, but when he's back up in a second, laughing, she relaxes and resumes her wary watch. Suddenly Memnon lunges for her, and she grabs a nearby chair and flings it into his path as she runs and jumps onto the bed, standing in the center, ready to turn or jump based on his next move. Her cheeks are flushed and she's laughing-- having the time of her life-- and, for once in weeks, forgetting completely about the little island that the Ulysses is steadily approaching in the night.

The chair catches him off guard as Cliodhna makes it onto the bed. He feints to the left then runs to the right side trying to catch her. Memnon gives her a big grin the entire time.

Cliodhna laughs and lets out a little whoop of excitement as she turns and jumps off of the left side of the bed...and then realizes that she has nowhere to run now! She waits for Memnon to change direction and come running at her so she can jump back onto the bed and roll to the other side.

Memnon laughs and gets on the bed and begins to crawl towards Cliodhna. He snarls and grits his teeth baring them.
"You are in trouble now, miss."

Cliodhna laughs a low laugh-- suddenly wondering "now why am I runnin' from him, again?"-- and then remembers a fantasy she'd shared with Memnon on another night, and a slow grin spreads across her face. She takes a step towards him and raises her hand. "Let's resume this chase...outside," she says in a low voice, and pushes her will into Memnon's mind.

Memnon looks at her puzzled, then suddenly his eyes begin to droop and his arms wobble. He looks about in a daze and looks back to Cliodhna.
"Hey...no...fair..." he says with a slur and he collapses heavily upon the bed.

Cliodhna grins and walks over to the bed, rolling Memnon until he's laying comfortably with his head on the pillow, and then lays down beside him, moving his arm up and laying her head on his shoulder and her hand on his chest. She closes her eyes, concentrates, and soon she's in Memnon's dream.
Memnon looks around to find himself standing in a thick, green forest. Mist lays on the ground in patches, and the air is cool, but comfortable. Suddenly he sees a figure approaching slowly through the mist-- crouched down like it's...hunting him. He squints, and finally the figure moves into view. It's...Cliodhna, wearing the furs and leather armor that Memnon used to see her wear when she was...a teenager. He looks harder, and suddenly notices that she IS a teenager! Her dark hair is coiled on top of her head around a long braid that hangs down her back, and she has on a lot more face-paint than she does as a Wraith. She's carrying a short sword in one hand, and a shield in her other. She narrows her eyes at him and she lifts her sword.

Then suddenly she stands up straight, smiles, and her sword and shield disappear. "Ah Mem, ye were a handsome lad even back then." She shakes her head. "Well...handsome or no, ye're still slower!" She lets out a high-pitched shout, and turns and flees into the woods laughing.

Memnon scratches his head, looking around, then smiles. 'Oh she wants to play in dreams does she?' he thinks. He runs after her whooping and hollering. He feels young again, his body a little less muscled, a little more wiry. He stops looking for her trail and sniffs the air. He turns to the direction of her scent.
'Got you now,' he thinks as he runs off stealthily after her.

Cliodhna quickly unwraps the short fur cloak she had wrapped around her upper body and tosses it onto a tree branch as she runs, and then veers off to the left. She runs down a sharp embankment, splashes through the stream at the bottom, and then runs up the other side and hides behind a tree, peeking out slightly and keeping her breathing quiet.

Memnon runs a bit further and stops. He turns quickly, scenting her just a few feet away. He quietly walks over to the tree and jumps out from behind it. He snarls and takes the cloak from the branch. "Damn," he says as he puts it back on the branch. Turning towards the river he sees several broken twigs and branches. He runs down the embankment, into the water and over to the other side.

Cliodhna shrieks and runs out from behind the tree. "Damn Garou and their powerful senses!" she thinks, and takes off like a bolt through the forest. She zigzags through the trees-- trying to make it harder on Memnon to follow her. She has no idea where she could run now to stall him-- he figured out where she was, even across the river! Suddenly she remembers a Greek mythology story she read about Atalanta, and starts throwing off her leather vambraces...bracers...and finally breastplate, hoping this will help. She giggles girlishly-- suddenly feeling younger and more care-free. She is from a time before she ever heard of Sean...a time when smiling was still an acceptable facial-expression.

Memnon hears the rustle of bushes and branches and turns in that direction. He sprints after her, and after a few yards stops, finding her vambraces. A bit more down the trail her bracers....then breastplate. He smiles and takes off his denim shirt and runs after her taking off a piece of clothing for every one of hers he finds.
Memnon laughs, true laughter, the laughter of when he was young when he still had hopes and dreams of a life...with her.

Cliodhna runs for a few more seconds, and then peers over her shoulder quickly. She doesn't see him or hear anything...she stops running and peaks out from behind another tree. Then she hears a rustling coming towards her, hears a small twig snap, and then there's Memnon coming...in his undershirt, jeans, and...barefoot?? Suddenly she figures out what he's doing and lets out a little yip, darting from behind the tree to go sprinting into the woods again, laughing freely. She hops on one foot, pulling off the boot and throwing it, and then the other foot, before going off into the trees again, laughing hysterically. After another 10 yards she slows enough to unzip her leather greaves and then stops to quickly pull them down off of her legs and jump out of them-- almost tripping-- and then resumes running and laughing. She still has on her form-fitting black long-sleeved turtleneck, underwear, and socks-- running out of things to throw to distract him!!

Memnon turns to his left hearing her run off and he jogs that way. He notices her boots and he takes off his undershirt and drops it on them. 'If she keeps losing clothes like...this...' he thinks and then smiles, running even faster. He takes off his belt and drops them on her greaves.
"Now you're in trouble!!! Wait till I get a hold of you!!"

Cliodhna hears him shout his threat, and yells-- between giggles-- "Still too slow ta catch me, Mem-- even when I stop fer breaks!" She slows again to hop on one foot-- pulling off one sock, and then the other-- then goes dashing off once more, zigging and zagging the best she can, but the long chase and her constant laughing is starting to wind her, and she knows it won't be long now before she's caught.
She calls upon one last big burst of energy, and runs faster than she's ever run before-- putting a bit of distance between them. Then she quickly pulls off her shirt-- her cheeks turning red-- and then even more quickly she gets out of her underwear and lays the articles of clothing flat on the ground carefully so the shirt is above the underwear, and then runs laughing a ways away to press her back against a large tree, facing away from where she laid her clothing, and waiting, her chest heaving.

Memnon stops suddenly and sees the rest of her clothing. He smiles as he strips off his pants and underwear. He quietly listens and can hear her breathing. He spots the tree and slowly walks around it. He smiles as he sees her and he jumps out arms upraised.
"Gotcha!!"

Cliodhna lets out a scream that was louder than she meant it to be, and springs forward, laughing hard, and just starts running-- knowing she's going to be grabbed any moment, but making a dash for it, nonetheless.

Memnon watches her run a few paces ahead of him, smiling a wicked grin. Then with a speed he didn't know he had he races after her, grabbing her by the waist and taking her to the ground. He grabs her wrists, one in each hand, and pins them behind her head. He brings his lips down onto hers and kisses her forcefully.

Cliodhna kisses him back with a strength that she usually keeps in check, partly because of her shyness, but also partly because she's held that firey passion back for so many, many years that it was almost extinguished. But now-- living out this fantasy with Memnon...this second chance at being together as teenagers...a dam has burst within her, and her fire has finally been rekindled, and fanned. She brings her legs up, wraps them around his waist, and pulls him down, locking her legs behind his back. And when he looks into her eyes, he sees that strength and fire, and it sets him afire, as well, like a match to gasoline.

Wraith Game 16 (final game): "Sleep No More"