But first, It's Sunday Selfie Time...........
I'm joining the Sunday Selfies, hosted by the fantastic Kitties Blue.
The Sunday Selfies is a wonderful weekly celebration of blogs and bloggers from across the world, and shares stories and pictures for others to enjoy.
Why not join the fun by adding the code from our hosts, (a link is on their page) and posting your own selfie. It really is that easy...
This week I have spent a lot of time checking the whether forecast.... The ‘whether it's too cold to go out’ forecast MOL
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And now, it's Adventure Time!!!
Yesterday, on Valentines post, he did battle with the horrid Camembert and found an old acquaintance that helped see off that fiend..... BUT the adventure isn't over..........
So without further ado, please join Captain Count Prince von Valentino and I, for the next exciting chapter of our story.....
Chapter 14:
Surely Wounded......
Erin awoke to an indistinct clamour and clash of blades. She felt bleary eyed, dizzy and parched, and wanted to retch up a fur-ball. This had to be the worst of dreams or hangovers. Maybe it had been a wedding, she thought, but whose? But then it came to her where she was and the straits she was in.
With her memory of the events came a sizzling throbbing pain in her head. Reaching up she winced as her paw made contact with open wounds across the tops of her ears. Seeing blood on her paws, she looked at the dock and saw the congealing pool that lay above where her head had rested. She had lost some blood but not enough to be life threatening in itself. What she feared was infection or blood poisoning. She had no clean cloth to wrap her ears, nor hat to stave off the flies.
Whatever was happening further down the dock had focused Camembert's attention elsewhere, for the time being at least. Conscious she had little time to make an escape, Erin looked around for something to treat and bandage her ears.
Through her blurred vision she made out what seemed to be a leather work bag. Taking up her cutlass that still lay at her side, she managed to hook the blade tip through it's strap. As she drew it near, praying it wouldn't snag on the worn wooden planks, she could smell Valentine's scent. Her heart jumped and a reflex action made her check her neck, but the silken pouch still rested there.
Moments later the bag was in her paws, and the sweet smell of his cologne wafted to her nose. Unashamedly she sniffed the leather of the bag. The comfort that it gave was so immense she wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let herself until she found where he was.
Emptying the bag's contents onto the dock, Erin pawed through objects but found no salves to help. The contents of Valentino's bag reflected that of a well-groomed gentle cat, and adventurer. Besides personal grooming kit and cologne, the bag also contained a bottle of premium nip, and small pouches of kibble, treats for his steed, and marshmallows. For the life of her though, she couldn't understand why he also carried a bottle of oil?
And then she recalled him saying how Oil of Marshmallow was great for his breathing and allergies, and that the oil could also be used on wounds. No time like the present, she thought, and having checked for signs of marauding insects, broke the seal on the small bottle, neatly labelled 'Oil of Sweet Marshmallow'.
She clawed the bung out of the bottle and pawed it onto her left ear. The initial jolt of pain as she touched the wound made her yelp, but quite quickly it was replaced by a soothing numbing sensation. Braced for the next jolt, she applied some onto her right, and even being prepared it still made her whimper.
The relief was palpable, and as the pain subsided so her vision became less blurred. She felt tired now, and it seemed that Arion's breath, which had carried her that far, was leaving her. Repacking and shouldering the bag, she made to make her escape and hide out for Valentine. But first though she would see if she could release the kraken from under the dock, for no matter what the other kraken may have done at the carriage, she could see now it did it for love and the safety of its partner.
Camembert had abused this kraken for his own gain, and pained the other to the point it would kill. Nature was one thing, hunger another but to trap and torture a sentient creature as Camembert had done was beyond wrong. The hatch was still open and peering in she saw the occasional bubble come to the surface. She also saw the thick iron bars of the cage that kept the kraken hostage. A chain linked what she guessed was a gate in the cage to a counter weighted lever on the dock. If she could set the weight loose then the gate would rise and free the kraken.
Erin crept to the lever and looked at the chain that secured the handle in place. Her sabre would with some wielding cut through the chain, and the noise of the fight going on would cover her actions, but only if she were quick about it. Never had her sabre felt so heavy, but never had its keen edge been needed more than now.
She lofted the blade and brought it down with as much force as her limbs could muster. The blade made contact with the iron chain and sent a spark into the air, together with a dull clang. The metal was clearly inferior in quality for there was a deep slice in its surface, the blade on the other hand, was still as keen.
She hefted five more blows in quick succession and found her mark. But with each blow her strength was drained and she wondered if she could stand upright let alone do what need be done.
After a brief rest Erin raised the blade for a final blow, if not to the chain then for her own strength. The blade didn't reach the height it had before, and part way through the downward strike she lost consciousness......
Moments after, the weakened and stressed chain gave a sharp ping, and split. As the counterweight descended into the harbours murk, the cage gate started its own assent to the surface, and with it the kraken came too.
Erin felt a warm wet sensation about her body, and a sensation of floating through the air. Still very tired and groggy, she guessed she was in a dream. She tried to stand up and reach out but there was nothing about her, to hold onto. It all seemed so real, the sweet smell of the ocean came to her nose and then the smell of cheese and the sounds of sword play. A pirate's dream, for sure.
She opened her eyes and then, in shock and disbelief, shut them again. What she saw seemed impossible, crazy, certifiable in fact but it was true.
Valentine and Frank stood with their backs to the dock, out of the mid-day glare. Frank talked at length about his plans, now he was rid of Captain Mignon Mouse-Morsels, to develop his new found liking for cheese, and a possible franchise opportunity for Val.
Lowering Erin onto the dock with the utmost of care, the tentacles unwound and then acted as a cushion for her lifeless body and head. Valentine, tears in his eyes dropped to his knees and took Erin's paw in his own, and kissed so gently not a hair was disturbed.
His sweet dear had been killed by a monster, but not of kraken kind but a feline. Such brutal cruelty, such a rotten fetid end for one so sweet, and soon he hoped to be engaged. To end up after so much travail in pursuit of love and happiness was beyond sorrow, and the pain he felt was beyond words itself. Openly weeping, Valentine placed her paws on her chest and kissed her cheeks and her ears. Even in death he would not steal a kiss on lips, that she had not herself requested.
Her ears tasted sweet, and Valentine seeing the scars, realised she had at least found comfort before she passed. "OH my dear, sweet Princess," he mewed softly "no honey could ever match thy flavour or sweet nature. I shall ever keep this bottle with me, to remember you by."
Erin sighed and opened her eyes to see the bereft Valentine sobbing into a handkerchief. "Just so long, my sweet," she managed to utter, "you don't expect me to wear it at night. It will ruin the sheets and attract no end of ants!"
To be continued by Valentine, in 'Dearest, You Are ALIVE!' .................. Click HERE
To read the previous chapter, 'The Gallant Hero.' .................. Click HERE
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Credits:
Decking image: Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com:profile_daizuoxin'>daizuoxin : 123RF Stock Photo<:a>.jpg
Wall Image: Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_tortoon'>tortola / 123RF Stock Photo</a>
Kraken shadow: Copyright: <a href='https://www.123rf.com/profile_natchapohn'>natchapohn / 123RF Stock Photo</a>
Pizap paid photo image tool used for all other aspects of images, and all text and images Copyright Noirkittymews.com, and Erinthecatprincess.blogspot.com
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