Shar's eyes fluttered open to the sudden onslaught of light. He lifted his head from Jeffrey's chest, twisting around to watch the doctor slip quietly into the room, his nose against a clipboard. He flicked his eyes toward Jeffrey and jumped when he saw Shar staring back at him.
"Ah, good morning...?"
"Mr. Tah."
The doctor nodded, his pale lips parting with a slight chuckle,” That’s very proper, isn't it? Sleep well?"
Shar nodded, slipping off the bed and into the chair. He shook Jeffrey gently until he awoke. Consciousness returned to his bond slowly, slipping lazily from the residue of sleep and whatever dream he'd been subject to. He rolled onto his side without thinking. Immediately a hiss tore itself from his mouth and flipped back onto his back, eyes wide and one hand clutching his ribs. Shar smiled sadly, reaching out a hand toward him. Jeffrey took it gratefully.
"Ah, good morning, Mr. Eldon. Sleep well?"
Wincing, Jeffrey propped himself on his pillow,” Quite, thank-you. May I inquire as to what time it is, s- Doctor...I'm sorry, I don't think I remember your name."
"Ah, my apologies, sir. I'm Dr. Krum, and it's eight am in the morning,” he turned his attention back to the clip board,” Feeling better today? No nausea? No unusual pains? Any trouble breathing?"
Krum? Shar's brow furrowed. That was a German name. The man certainly didn't speak with a German accent. Shar shivered a little. He'd had enough of Germans the passed few days.
Jeffrey bobbed his head to various questions, and Dr. Krum continued his inquiries, scribbling things on his clipboard as he went. Finally he flipped it shut again and nodded to them both,” You’re free to go then, Mr. Eldon. Do you need to call a cab?"
"No, thank-you, I have a ride arranged, but if I could have my clothes?"
"Oh, yes, certainly,” the doctor rang for a nurse and slipped out the room with a pleasent,"Good-day, Mr. Eldon, Mr. Tah."
The nurse came and went, and Jeffrey dressed. They left the room, Jeffrey walking a little more slowly and a little less smoothly, and made their way into the visitors section to wait.
.:Something has been bothering me, Shar:.
Shar turned to him, eyebrow lifted curiously.
.:Where did Bishop get a gun? McKale has never once owned one, and in all the...unfortunate years I have known Bishop, he's never bothered with weapons.:.
That was Tor and Dagstae's job, of course. There was no sense at all in ruining one's own name when they had bodyguards at their beck and call. Shar nodded his head in understanding. But he didn't know either. Perhaps they could...
.:I don't believe using the watch without Miss...Sir...McKale's permission, again, would be wise. In fact, I don't believe it's usage at all would be wise, but there's very little we can do about that...:.
.:I returned it to McKale:.
Jeffrey let out a low hum and nodded slowly.
They watched the clock for an hour and a half before realizing McKale wasn't coming. Jeffrey called a cab with shaking hands.
.:.:.::.:.:.
The light faded quickly as if it were being sucked back into the watch, and McKale, along with his three dragon-ish companions, found themselves falling with a hard thump onto something cold and unrelenting of their weight. The watch flew from McKale's hand as he landed rather painfully on previously mentioned derrière.
"Ouch."
The twins scrambled to their feet, crawling up over McKale's robe and perching themselves on his shoulders,” So, where, or when rather, have we gotten off to?"
"Thirteen-oh-seven,” said McKale, puffing out his chest,” First time I tried to get to, you know, but Jeffrey- What's that?"
Cy had picked herself up off the stone...thing beneath her before McKale had had a chance to drop the watch, and watched with horror as the thing had flown up into the air and bounced down a flight of equally hard, stone stairs. With a yelp she shot to her feet and scrambled down the stairs. Exchanging a puzzled look, McKale and the twins followed after her.
"It's broken!"
"What's broken?"
"Did we have something to break?"
Cy turned to them, eyes narrowed and teeth bared. She lifted her paw, where the watches' gold chain had been tangled around her fingers. McKale and the twins' followed the chain with their eyes until they came to the watch.
Or what was left of it, anyway. The face had smashed open and the hands had snapped off. The back, too, was hanging open, and all around Cy's paws were little gears and springs.
Cy let out a groan and tossed the thing at McKale's feet, succeeding in making a few more gears rattle out and spill over the stairs,” You broke it!"
"I..." McKale gaped. He reached down and plucked it up off the stones by the chain, cradling it in his hands. It ticked uselessly, completely out of synch and in no comprehendible pattern before, finally, the last little hand stuck fast and it silenced completely.
"Well, that's rather rummy, isn't it, Sakay?"
"Most unfortunate, certainly, Hush."
"What do you suppose that means, then, love?"
"It means we're stuck here, is what!" Cy growled, storming up the stairs and planting herself at McKale's feet, jabbing a paw at his legs,” We’re stuck here! Here in..."
"Thirteen oh seven,” offered one of the twins with a grin.
"That's the medieval era, isn't it?"
"Dark ages, or some such thing?"
"Oh, great, just great. This is absolutely perfect."
"It can't be that hard to fix, what?" McKale prodded the watch, swallowing hard,” I’m sure there's someone-."
"It's the dark ages, for god's sakes! They don't even have fire yet!"
"Of course they do, darling..."
"...that's the stone age your thinking of."
"You down there! Servant!"
The four exchanged a quick glance between them before snapping their gazes in the direction of the voice. Standing on top of some sort of tower, not a few meters away from them, was a burly looking man dressed from head to toe in chain mail and plate armor. He brandished his sword at them, motioning for them to head over to him.
McKale chewed his lip and stepped up to the edge of the...what were they on, anyway? A quick glance around answered that for him. Perched on some walk way of a stone castle. Clearing his throat McKale rested his hands against one of the walls separating him from the rather precarious drop below,"Uh, what-ho there, chap. I think you must have us mistaken for some one else, what? No servants here."
The man let out a chuckle,” In that case, my lord, carry on with yer business."
"Oh, well, thank-you,"McKale grinned down at Cy,"Pleasent blokes, aren't they? And here I was thinking we'd be facing savages!"
"Well, love..."started one twin, chewing the inside of his cheek.
"...I wouldn't let down my guard yet, if I were you."
"Did those there things on yer shoulders talk?"
McKale glanced back up at the guard,” Yes, of course! Why shouldn't they?"
The man's eyes widened a little and he hurried off the tower, disappearing from sight.
"Well, that was dashed on, wasn't it? It's not good manners to run off when you're talking to a chap."
McKale felt something sharp prod his back and let out a little yelp, twisting around and holding a hand to his spine. The man stood in the middle of the stairway, holding his sword out at them,” Where’s yer crest?"
"Crest?" McKale blinked,” What crest? I didn't know I was supposed to have a bally crest, when I came here."
"Yer crest o' the king, o' course,” he jabbed his sword at him, which earned the objects a few swats from Hush and Sakay,"Ye know the rules, no wandering around without it,” the man frowned, his big, furry eyebrows lowering over his eyes,” What’s that ye are wearing?"
"This old thing?" McKale ran a hand down his robe,” Just a robe."
The man scoffed,” What is that?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, old thing, didn't know you were hard of hearing, my apologies. A robe."
"I can see that, what's it made of?"
"Cashmere, of course."
"Cash-what?"
"Cashemere,"piped up one of the twins, kneading their forepaws in it.
"Quite nice, really."
"Awful soft."
The man frowned,” All right, all right. Yer ploy's up, sir. Those are the king's parrots, there's no mistaken that." He sheathed his sword, grabbing McKale roughly around the wrist and yanking him forward,"Yer in trouble now, servant, stealin' from the king."
"Stealing!" McKale squawked,” I didn't steal anything, dash it all! They're mine!"
"We're his,” said one twin.
"And we're no parrots, either,” said the other."
"Honestly, Hush, parrots!"
Sakay rolled his (her?) eyes,” Terribly degrading!"
The guard ignored them and proceeded to push McKale down the stairs and along the corridor,” The king's goin' t' have yer head for this, boy."
"My head!" McKale craned his neck downward,” Well this is dashed unpleasant, isn't it Cy...Cy?!"
Cy, it seemed, had run off.
.:.:.::.:.:.
"This is wonderful, just wonderful!" Cy growled, slinking along the pathways between the towers,” Why the hell did I listen to them anyway?" She kicked at a rock, sending it skittering down a second flight of stairs,” They don't have half a brain between them! Not an ounce of self-preservation! Nothing! Ugh!" With a growl she kicked her rock again and slumped against the wall.
That bloody watch! You'd think someone would make it a little less fragile, considering how d- fragile it was.
Ugh!
At least she had been smart enough to slink off before that guard got to them. She may not be as history savvy and McKale or Shar, but she knew trouble when she saw it. It was going to be off with their heads, no doubt about it! No doubt at all! And good riddance to them, too! Anyone stupid enough to break the watch and trap them thousands of years in the past deserved to have their heads chopped off! Cy wouldn't feel any remorse at all.
But then she'd be alone. Dreadfully alone, and probably not able to show herself to anyone without being subject to torches and pitch forks, and over excited shouts of "DEMON!" or some such thing. Ugh.
And then she'd really have no way of getting back home. McKale still had (what was left of) the watch, after all.
Not that she thought there was any possible way to salvage it, but maybe they'd be able to make something out of all the bits left. She hadn't seen anything particularly unusual fall out of it, after all, and it certainly had to be more than gears and springs that gave it is unique ability.
That was all there was to it, then. Cy would have to devise some sort of rescue plan.
She grinned to herself.
That's right. That's exactly what she'd do. And she'd do it better than Shar ever could, too!
Nodding triumphantly to herself she rose to her paws, puffing out her chest and lifting her chin before proudly stepping out of the shadows.
A skinny looking man wearing a sack and a crest skidded past her corner, spotted her, and took off down the walkway with an over excited shout of,” Demon!"
Cy sighed and slunk back into the shadows before bunching her muscles together and taking off down the walks toward the nearest tower.
This was going to be rather trying on her, wasn't it?
.:.:.::.:.:.
The taxi arrived at McKale's house shortly after Jeffrey's call. Jeffrey tossed the driver a few pounds and hurried to the door, Shar in tow, and a hand glued to his stitches. Obviously, running wasn't on the list of 'thing he could do' right now. He unlocked the door and shoved it open, rushing into the house. Immediately, he and Shar thundered up the stairs and threw open McKale's bedroom door.
The bed was empty.
A quick glance between them and Shar hurried back down the stairs to check the first floor. Jeffrey rushed across the hall, yanking open his door (empty), the bathroom (also empty), and the spare room (again, empty).
.:They're not downstairs:.
Jeffrey's breath hitched and he stumbled back into McKale's room, sitting down defeatedly on the edge of the bed.
Shar appeared moments later and rested his head on his knee, pulling one of Jeffrey's hands from his face to Shar's mane.
"It simply doesn't stop, does it, Shar?"
Shar frowned and lowered his gaze to the floor,” They’ll be back."
"I hope so, Mr. Tah, I most certainly hope so."