Briar Ch 7
#7 of Cadi, Volume 4: Briar
It had been a long night. Heck, even as the sun rose, Briar was still going. She'd known better. She always knew better than to get too carried away with it, but... with the way things were going these days around the district... it was tough to hold back. She'd said goodnight to the others and staggered off into the dawn of the district, heading to the place she knew she could get a good, hearty meal to breathe some life back into her at this time of the morning.
Carla's was a welcome sight as Briar staggered in through the door. On a certain level, she did register that there was a new face here... a tigress with some pretty interesting coloration to her. Maybe some kind of a Russian Blue tiger? Anyway, Briar was normally pretty steady on her feet, even when drunk... but she'd gone a little too hard last night. She was staggering around a lot worse than usual.
She was surprised when the tigress slipped in and wrapped an arm around Briar's waist, helping provide an anchor point for her. "Here we go, let me just help you get somewhere to sit, and I'll bring you some food, alright?"
Briar laughed but didn't fight her, letting her help her along to one of the tables where she sank gratefully into the seat. "Heh... thanks... I think I... mighta had a bit too much t'night..." she said, slurring her words pretty badly, her Highland brogue coming out very strongly.
The tigress zipped off to the kitchen, not running, but moving very quickly through the room. There was some talking from behind the door, and a moment later, the tigress came back out of the kitchen and poured a nice, tall glass of water, which she brought over to the table. "Here's some water to get you started with. Robbie's going to have breakfast for you here nice and soon," she said as she pulled a chair around to sit at the table with Briar, clearly watching over her.
That brought a smile to Briar's face. Whoever Carla's new waitress was was was a good woman. She patted the back of the tigress' hand appreciatively. "Thank 'ye... just what a body needs after a night like that..." She did at least make sure to start sipping on the water, knowing full well that she would need that.
Briar was surprised when the tigress brought her hand up to stroke her head, going still for just a brief moment before she just kind of melted into the touch. And then... something even more surprising happened. Briar could feel the pounding in her temples quickly die down to... nothing. Her eyes were having an easier time focusing, and her head was clearing quickly, as was the heaviness in her limbs.
She shook her head and breathed deeply, sitting up straighter and taking a good pull from the glass of water. She turned her head to look at the tigress, confusion plain on her face. "Now... isn't that a funny thing..." she said, finding it so much easier to speak.
The tigress looked just as surprised as Briar, but before she could say or do much, Robbie called out that the food was ready, and the tigress went to go bring Briar her beautiful, steaming hot plate of food, which Briar was aching to dig into. There was even a pot of tea... Robbie understood what she needed. That was one of the big reasons she loved this place. "Good old Robbie... always knows what I need on a morning like this..." She started with a cup of tea, adding milk and... going a little heavy on the sugar, taking a nice, big sip of that before she started eating, not even trying to hide her enjoyment of it.
After she had eaten through a good chunk of it, she straightened up and looked at the tigress. "Now, lass, that's quite the little magic touch you've got there. But it was appreciated." She held her hand out to the tigress, who seemed to take a brief moment to register what she needed to do, but shook Briar's hand all the same. It was just a heartbeat's gap, but it was curious. "My name's Briar Morgan. Robbie and I are both Scotts by birth, and this is the one place I can get a proper fry-up around here."
The tigress laughed, shaking her head with a big smile on her face. "But... why were so drink? This early in the day?"
Briar grinned just a little sheepishly, "Oh, for me, this isn't early, it's late. I run a bar in the area that... sometimes runs later than is, strictly speaking, approved. It's a damn fine place, though. We brew all of our own beer, and I even distill some of my spirits. I'd do more of that, but I can't really get hold of all of the ingredients I'd need in order to do that."
She let out a groan as she stretched, just feeling her spine popping back into place, and when she pulled it back in, she was sitting much straighter. The tigress finally registered Briar's stature, and seemed a bit surprised by it. "I don't drink so much every night. Just some nights, when things are getting a bit rowdy, I... join in a bit." She laughed and took another go at her plate.
It was about then that Carla came back in and stormed right over to the table that Briar and the tigress were sitting at, hands on her hips as she glared down at the badger. She had never been intimidated by Briar's stature, but she knew her well enough to know that she was a sweetheart underneath. Still, that never stopped her from scolding Briar. "Briar. You know better than that... you know it..." she said in a huff before she looked to the tigress, "I'm so sorry you had to deal with that on your own, Cadi... I really am..."
So, her name was Cadi. The tigress smiled at Carla, laughing as she said, "It's alright. Gave me a chance to learn that I've got a bit of a healing touch."
That stopped Carla in her tracks, looking back and forth between the two of them in confusion. Clearly Briar's clarity at the moment was finally sinking in. "Yep. Cadi here just plucked the hangover away like it was nothing at all."
Carla turned to look at Cadi with wide eyes, "Don't... don't tell me that you've got magic..." Her tone was less excited, and more one of... desperately not wanting to have to deal with that extra wrinkle as well right now.
Cadi shrugged. "Best Explanation I've got for it." The tigress sighed and shook her head, clearly getting an idea into her head. She picked up one of the mugs at the table and closed her eyes, her face intense. As Briar and Carla watched, the mug filled up with coffee from the bottom up... the color telling them that it even had cream added to it. Cadi smiled before she opened her eyes and looked at the mug and took a drink from it. "Yep... definitely magic..."
Briar and Carla were just... dumbfounded by what they'd just witnessed. "But... magic... doesn't..." Carla said in exasperation before she continued. Though... Briar did kind of know better than Carla, she'd just never shared any of the family stories with her. Still, Carla continued. "But you... you said that you went through that... black place... and came out... behind my restaurant... That..." She trailed off, turning to look at Briar. "Briar... we've never had any clue why people changed... there's no viruses... could it have been magic all along?"
Briar breathed deeply, rubbing her hand over her mouth before she said, "It's... possible... never came up with any better explanations, yeah? I... it's all just so... random..." She paused, taking a deep breath, her face intensely sober. And no, she'd never come up with a better explanation. Neither had Bran, Janelle, or the rest of the family. And this kind of magic... Bran had never talked about anything like this. "I wouldn't have taken that seriously until about now. But..."
Cadi was thinking about something intently, her head tilted to one side before she looked at Briar. "You... said that your big problem with being able to make more of your own drinks is with the supplies... is there any chance that I might be able to help with that?"
Briar raised her eyebrows in surprise, as much that the tigress had taken the conversation down that route while they were trying to wrap their heads around this magic in the first place. She was certainly an odd one. After a moment, though, she shrugged, putting that question off until later. "I don't see where we couldn't have a go with that..." she looked up at Carla, seeing as Cadi was her helper at the diner right now. "What do you think? Could I borrow your new server for a bit?" She couldn't help but laugh at that, giving Carla a big grin.
That got a good laugh out of Carla, too. "Oh, I think I'll manage if you take her for a bit. Go ahead with Briar, and see if you can help her, Cadi."
The tigress looked as curious as could be... honestly, looking more like... a house cat excited about investigating something new in their world. "Thank you, Carla. Alright Briar, let's see what I can do."
Briar took Cadi back to the pub, walking her into the back, where all of the brewing and distilling took place. She had Cadi try filling one of the bins with grain, and when she not only filled it... but filled it with even better quality grain than she'd had to examine for context, Briar pretty much hired her on the spot. She even got to work teaching Cadi how to brew and distill.
Still, Cadi had to excuse herself after some time, saying that she needed to go check on her mate. Briar didn't have any problem with that, having... well, a lot of material to work with now. No, what surprised her was when Cadi returned with a doe who looked very familiar. And then it clicked, she'd been at the pub the night they'd all changed. Daisy... Donna... Dawn, that was it. What's more, Briar was tickled by the fact that Cadi asked if Dawn would be able to come work at the pub, too.
Briar smiled at the pair, seeing the love between them. "Aww, I don't see why not. I'll have Maisie help teach you the ropes, Dawn. She's the head of the front of house. As for you, Cadi, I'm going to need to teach you how to work my kind of magic."
She brought them out into the main room, having Maisie take Dawn to work on getting her a uniform that would suit her and start teaching her what she needed. While the vixen spirited the doe away, chattering happily with her, Briar brought Cadi over to the bar. "Now, this isn't your average bar, where people can only get the bug basic mixed drinks. I do a lot of work with herbs and other unusual ingredients. I even get to use a lot of the science I learned in Uni to good use," she said with a chuckle, having Cadi sit on the opposite side of the bar from her. "Now, are you familiar with cocktails?"
Cadi blinked, a blank expression on her face. "Cock... tails... like... the back end of a rooster?"
Briar blinked, looking every bit as blankly at Cadi as she had at her. "Ok," she said after a moment, chuckling softly, "Where are you from that you don't know what a cocktail is?"
Cadi smiled at that, her ears perking up. "The jungle."
That stopped Briar in her tracks all over again, and it took her a moment to think of how to respond. Eventually, she settled on, "You're... going to have to explain a bit more than that," she said, her tone flat.
Cadi couldn't help but giggle and grin broadly. "I'm... okay, so I understand pretty much everyone here was a human before they became furs, yeah? I've learned that much since I got here. That's not what happened for me. I'm a tiger first. I fell into a portal, and kind of... got mixed up with a human. He's a pretty nice guy, though. His name is Dorran. He is still there... just kind of in the back of my mind. He helps me understand human things, and know what to do with them. I'm pretty sure I'd be a complete mess without him there to help."
Briar stared at Cadi for a long moment, not entirely sure how to respond at first. Eventually, she replied, "Huh... okay... that's a first one for me..." she said, nodding her head slowly. "Good to know where I need to start, though. Do you have any experience with alcohol?"
Cadi couldn't help but laugh at that. "Just fruit that had sat around for too long. I really liked the papayas when that happened," she said with a big smile.
Hmm... papaya wine... something to play with. Briar smiled and turned to the wall of liquors, considering what one to grab first. She finally settled on a peach liqueur that she'd made before she'd become a fur. She pulled out a glass and dropped a large ice cube into it, pouring a measure of the liqueur over it before sliding it across the counter to Cadi.
She sniffed at it tentatively at first, but when she smelled the sweetness of it, she initially went to lean in and lick the ice before she stopped herself and sat up, picking the glass up and taking a sip from it. Cadi perked up immediately at it, her tail dancing while her ears stood high. Even Dorran enjoyed it. "So. That's one kind of alcohol that I made from fruit. But you can also make it from grain... wheat, barley, rye, rice... those kinds of things. They've all got their uses, and they all have their special flavors," she said, getting a bottle of whiskey down to pour Cadi a little to taste.
Given that she was a feral tigress underneath it all, Briar wasn't sure how she would handle that one, but as it turned out, she really liked that, too. Briar smiled and walked over to the wall, pouring a small cup of beer, going with a light wheat beer to try first. "This is one that isn't distilled, but just allowed to develop alcohol over time in a controlled container, with the help of little micro-organisms called yeast. They're so small that you can't really see them, but they are what eat the sugars in the ingredients to make alcohol. The reason that papayas left out too long become alcoholic sometimes is that natural yeast in the wild gets into it and turns the sugars in it into alcohol."
Cadi listened intently as she sipped on the beer, not recoiling from it at all. So far so good. Now to kick things up a notch. "A mixed drink is when you take multiple ingredients and combine them into one drink, and when they are alcoholic, they are called cocktails." She explained to the tigress, who was watching everything that Briar was doing very intently. Briar made a couple of simple cocktails on a small scale for Cadi to try, and she really couldn't help but giggle at how cute Cadi was being about it all. And still, every last one of them was a hit.
"You can make simple ones like those, which are still really tasty, or you can make fancy ones," she said, taking a step back and stretching before she gathered up her ingredients. She started her little magic act, giving Cadi something to really get tickled by... and the tigress was just eating it all up. She was amazed by the way the color of the drink in the glass changed with each added ingredient before Briar dropped a big ice cube and cracked a second one into the larger metal cup before she dumped the drink into the bigger one, put the glass on top of it, tapped it and picked it up to shake.
Cadi's tail was just dancing away, and she was giggling like a fool, beaming so brightly as Briar strained the drink into a stemmed glass, looking up from it at Cadi as she set the shaker aside. "And now for the real magic..." she said, dropping her favorite little secret ingredient into the glass to make the flavor pearls. When Cadi took a drink, she very nearly fell out of her chair. Thankfully, Dawn was just getting back to the bar, and was able to catch her.
The tigress giggled and beamed at her love, holding the glass out to her. "Dawn! Dawn! The thingies in it... they taste really good when you pop them!"
The doe smiled warmly at Cadi, very amused by how caught up in the moment her tigress was. Clearly she wanted Dawn to try the drink, too, and the doe didn't hesitate, leaning forward so that Cadi could lift it to her lips to give her a sip of it, making sure she got some pearls. Dawn giggled as Cadi put the drink back on the bar. "Wow... that's really good..." she said, though Briar knew that she'd tried a few of her special drinks before. She couldn't remember if Dawn had tried one with pearls, though.
Cadi let out a breath and took a moment to calm (and sober) herself before she looked at Dawn much more fully, finally taking in the uniform (honestly, way more of a costume, but that was the fun thing about their uniforms) that she was wearing, and her eyes took on a laser focus on the doe, her ears laying back while she made a deep sound half way between a purr and a growl, which made the doe blush badly and bat at Cadi. "Stop it... not here..." she said, adding a plaintive, "Please?"
Cadi sighed and shrugged, shaking her head and grinning as she said, "Can you blame me, lovey?"
Dawn pouted and shook her head cutely, "No..."
"Okay, then that's settled," Cadi said, nodding her head firmly before she looked at Briar. "So... you're going to teach me how to do all of that... and start me with the simple ones, and build up to the fancy ones?"
The badger grinned and nodded. "Given how well you've taken to being a human, though... you'll take to this in no time."
It really didn't take Cadi long at all. Within a matter of days, she was mixing like an old pro. She even learned the theatrics from Briar very well. She was a lot of fun to have around the pub, taking on the role of the "Witch's Familiar," at least as a part to play in the grand drama of the pub's narrative.
When the lockdown came, Briar didn't begrudge her going around to help people. Hell, she let most of the staff go to help the people of the district by making sure they had food and things to drink to help keep morale up - though she mainly stuck to non-alcoholic beverages for that. Still, even her mocktails were morale boosters. She just didn't want to feed into an alcoholic retreat from what was going on.
But then, almost as soon as it started, it was done. Briar insisted on getting the details of Cadi's encounter with the senator, and just could not help but laugh at how she'd handled it in the end. Still, things got better, and that was what the district needed... and Briar was happy to be able to do more to help morale than just send Cadi and food around.
And then... Cadi went on her mission. Briar hid it very well, but she was very anxious for her friend. There was a lot that could go wrong with something like this... but she had to remind herself how powerful Cadi was getting. Something she had to remind herself of all over again, when Cadi reappeared suddenly, telling Briar and the other employees to get ready to leave, they were getting out of the district that night.
Briar didn't argue, and she made sure that she got the most important things to get set up at wherever they were going. Through the exodus that night, Briar was just amazed at how many furs from all around the world were making their way out onto the beach. She wasted no time in directing her team to get set up and start cooking food for the arrivals. It made her happy to see that she wasn't the only one who did. The true chefs of this new community understood that people would need food in their bellies.
As the evening wore on, Briar coordinated with Cadi to get more of her supplies moved over, though she reassured them that they could get the brewing equipment later. Right now, it was about getting settled in.
She learned of Christine becoming the water guardian of the island, and only a short while later, she was thrilled when Kestrel let her know that she'd become the air guardian. There was a strange, tingling sensation at the back of her mind, but she shrugged it off for the moment.
She heard about Kestrel's plan to build a town on the east end of the island for her family, and Briar was eager to get out there to see the spot. Kestrel looked at her oddly when she brought that up, but she waved that off. "Tell you what, Briar. Let me take you around to the village on The Sparrowhawk. It'll be a nice little ride, and I know you've missed being out on the water with me."
Briar really couldn't argue that fact, and it wasn't long before she, Alisa, and Maisie were aboard The Sparrowhawk, cruising north along the coast. Oh, it felt good to be back out on the water. She really had missed this... not that she hadn't appreciated being able to get out on the lake, but the lake was nothing compared to open water. Kestrel even let her take the helm as they cruised along, helped by Kestrel's powers, though Briar wasn't really aware of that.
As they sailed along, though, nearing the north point of the island, Briar eased off on the sail, slowing the ship down as she looked toward the island. Her little nose was just going, wiggling about as she sniffed at the air. Alisa and Maisie looked at her in confusion, but Kestrel held a hand out to them, silently telling them not to disturb her. She soon brought the boat in to shore, close enough to take the dinghy onto the beach, letting the others come with her.
She began pushing through the undergrowth, snuffling at the air as she trudged along. After a long while, they reached a clearing, not far from a line of cliffs along the waterfront. She snuffled around the ground, searching for a particular spot before she began to dig at the bare earth, her mighty claws built for such digging. She dug down and found a stone, putting her hand to it before she was sucked down into the earth.
Alisa and Maisie cried out in shock, starting to rush to the spot that she had been digging, but Kestrel came up and stopped them from digging, guiding them to come back from the spot a bit. "Don't worry, girls. She's alright. She's where she needs to be right at this moment," she said, smiling as she started explaining what had happened to her.
While she did, though, Briar shot straight through the earth into a cavern. The place echoed with the sound of dripping water, and it caused a powerful shiver to go through her. She looked around, somehow able to see in the lightless cavern. "Wonderful to get to meet you at last," a voice in the cavern said, though even with her ability to see in the dark, she couldn't see anyone around.
"Who's there? And what the fuck is this about 'finally getting to meet me'?" She wasn't angry exactly, just wary. She really didn't know how she got down here.
"That's a very reasonable question, Briar. To say the least, I'm the one who helped you with the soil problem back in the district."
Briar scowled, but she remembered back to how... she couldn't explain how she had known what to combine. "So... what? You just... took over my body and made me mix the right stuff together?"
There was a distant laugh and the voice said, "No, no, no... nothing so crass and blunt force as that. No, I guided your instincts... which are very good instincts, don't get me wrong. I just helped nudge them in the right direction. No, Briar... by now, you know of the magic of this place. The being that works with Cadi... the window into the other place. Here, the window was left open, and there was no one to help it grow as it needed to... and the magic... found places of power on the island. The being who was connected through that portal... without the ability to connect with anyone... his influence built up... fragments broke away, latching onto the elemental centers."
"Christine is connected to the water elemental node, Kestrel, the air elemental node. And you... who were so desperate to serve the community in the district that you were trying to command the earth to be clean and give forth the sustenance that people needed... You who became the rock of your community at the pub, especially the night when everything changed... You who would not yield to the cruelty of those who thought themselves strong, and showed the weak just what strength they truly possessed. You are the one that I was drawn to. I, the one tied to the elemental node of earth."
Briar blinked, looking out into the darkness, breathing deeply and slowly as she felt a charge run through her. "This is that node... I am here... as I am with you. I am here to help you protect those who need protection. I am here to help you build up a community of strength and tolerance, where those who have been robbed of their power can find it again and flourish without having to fear what the human world will do to them."
As it spoke, Briar's senses were lighting on fire, a shiver running throughout her body as a smile spread across her face. "Okay. So... what now? Do I just have to dig my way out of here and... build a bloody shrine to you?" She asked with a wry chuckle.
"Oh no. You've already built your place of power. And it has already joined you once before in a new home. It will do so again, this time without Bran's help. As for how to leave this cavern... simply... rise."
Briar wasn't sure what to make of that last part, but she closed her eyes and focused inward, breathed slowly and steadily.... and she rose.
In the clearing, Kestrel was sitting with the other two, waiting for Briar to come back. At one point, she perked up, and said, "Oh." She got up and stretched a little, holding a hand out to the two vixens, "You're going to want to get up and move back a bit," she said, guiding them to the edge of the trees.
The sight that greeted them was... well, supernatural. The earth of the clearing rose up into a great mound that towered above them... and then the soil just seemed to crumble away and fall back down to where it had been. Only, where it had risen up... there was a building. It took a moment as the earth settled back down, but as soon as the front door of the building was revealed, the two vixens stared in shock, their ears standing high on their heads. It was the Cauldron!
Before they could dash to the doors to go inside and investigate, the doors swung open, and Briar strode out, standing tall and proud as she looked at the other three, grinning from ear to ear. She gave Alisa and Maisie a hug before she walked up to Kestrel and punched her lightly in the shoulder. "You sneaky squirrel, you knew just what you were doing when you had me sail by here," she said with a big old grin before she picked Kestrel up bodily in a hug, rubbing the side of her head against Kestrel's.
"Thank you."