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Chapter 6
Woe, oh ancient one
When all that you know is gone
Where will you wander?
"Never corner a fox, if at all possible. When foxes are trapped with no hope of escape and their lives in danger, their first instinct is to attempt to talk their way out of peril. Anyone who has spent sufficient time in the company of foxes could explain why this is undesirable for all parties concerned.
"Foxes, of course, think themselves quite witty. The average todd or vixen has such a high opinion of themselves and their intelligence that they will approach the task of talking themselves through life-threatening danger with the utmost confidence. One supposes they reason that once their adversary is angry or distracted enough that judgment is impaired, the fox can make their escape with impunity. Anger or distraction on the other party's part is all but guaranteed, given that when a fox speaks at length, their words inevitably become insulting, offensive, or both.
"So provoked, the fox's adversary will resort to violence, lose their temper, or otherwise make an effort to force the fox to stop talking by any available means. In the ensuing confusion, the fox will take advantage of their clouded judgment, and more often than not will flee the premises, laughing all the way. While the adversary may experience significant frustration over this turn of events, it is often eclipsed by relief that at least the talking has stopped. Thus, a favorable outcome for both parties, all things considered."
[An excerpt from The Art of Diplomacy, by Gaius Primus Fulcinius]
"Look," said Faun. "I'm just saying, there's been some kind of huge misunderstanding here."
The jackal did not answer.
"I mean, I get it. Three thousand years alone, you're looking for companionship, I come along and… well." She smirked. "Nobody would blame you."
The jackal did not answer.
"I'm just saying. There's better ways to solve that problem, ones that don't involve me."
Still the jackal did not answer.
Faun sighed and leaned against the back wall, playing idly with her tail fur. Blasting her way out of her prison was no longer an option; after a few more useless grenade volleys, Seker had taken her boom belt from her. When he grew bored of her constant attempts to retrieve it, he made both the bandolier and his hand insubstantial with a spell that Faun had to admit was rather impressive, then sank the belt into the brick floor. Now it was embedded there, completely out of reach. The only way to access the tower shaft to the lower chamber was by his will, so that was out. That left talking as her only viable option. It was not going well.
Seker stood immobile before the tower's enormous crystalline picture window, his hands clasped behind his back, as much like a statue as the first time Faun saw him. The jackal cut a noble figure, there was no disputing that… but every time she felt faint stirrings of sympathy for him, she remembered that he intended to keep her there against her will until she agreed to be his eternal companion or died, whichever came first. Any pity she had for him shriveled in a hurry when she thought of that.
At this point, the sole comfort she had was trying to annoy him. It was something she had quite a knack for. "For example," she said with a wicked grin, "why not try, you know, indulging yourself? I swear it doesn't really make you go blind, that's a myth."
She thought she saw his shoulders twitch, but perhaps it was a trick of the light.
"Or a hobby!" said Faun. "That could help pass your time. Do you have any hobbies? Painting, sculpting, collecting bird feathers? I had a friend back in Unify once that loved bird feathers, he collected all kinds. Sparrow feathers, chicken feathers, swallow feathers, pigeon feathers, seagull feathers, duck feathers, red-tailed hawk feathers, white-tailed hawk feathers…"
As she babbled on and on, Seker was unreasonably glad that the vixen could not see his pained expression, nor his eyes rolling behind his mask. He stood in silence, trying to ignore his slowly growing suspicion that this entire situation was spiraling out of his control. However, he took solace in the fact that eventually, given enough time, she would stop talking. Eventually, given enough time, she had to stop.
Didn't she?
The jackal suppressed a dry chuckle. Thousands of years spent yearning in vain for the sound of a voice other than his own, and now he found himself wishing for silence. What an irony.
For the third time in the last thirty minutes, Rowan completed a circuit of the tower, his striped face aglow with excitement like that of a pup with a new toy. "Astonishing," said the badger, casting his eyes up and down, up and down. "No bricks, no mortar, no wood, and no nails, only solid stone underneath the roses. And the architecture! It's like no modern design I've ever seen…" He stroked the bristly charcoal hairs on his chin, enraptured. "Ostentatious, yes, to be sure, but at the same time, it's so simple, so elegant… Magnificent. I must speak with the builder. Only a truly gifted mage could have constructed something like this."
A few paces back, Zero smirked and folded his arms. "He's found a new friend. Maybe we should leave the two of them alone for a while?"
Hanami giggled despite herself. "I think it's cute."
"I beg your pardon," said Rowan once he came back around for a fourth time. The sheepish expression he wore clashed with his massive size and intimidating build… as if the excited pup had just been scolded by a parent. "I did not mean to delay us for so long."
"You'll have a lot more time to admire it if we can't find a way inside." Zero took a few cautious steps forward, his hand on the hilt of his sword. "Whoever built this didn't seem to be too fond of doors. Did you see any on your way around?"
Rowan shook his head. "Not a one. Solid stone through and through."
"Hmm." Zero took another step… apparently too close. The black roses rustled as if startled by the noise, and the network of thorned vines knit itself tighter together over the stone.
Squeak, went Hanami behind them. Her tail fur stood on end as she peeked out from behind Zero's back. "Do… do you think they know we're here?"
Finally, the jackal moved, if only slightly. "Ah," was all he said.
"'Ah' what?" Faun raised her head from between her knees. She was beginning to worry that the big lummox would just stand there, immobile, silent, and gathering dust until one of them died. Given that he had taken a bomb at point-blank range without flinching, she wasn't too confident that he would go first. "I hope that was 'Ah' as in, 'Ah, I've changed my mind, you're free to leave…'"
"No." The golden mask tilted to one side, as if listening to something. The Mage Flower held between his massive fingers twitched, but he did not notice the movement. "There are visitors down below."
"Way down there? How can you tell?!"
"The tower told me."
Faun stared.
"Three sentients," said Seker. "Two squirrels, one buck and one doe, and a boar badger. Your friends?"
Something stirred in the vixen's heart, warming her from the inside. Hope. "Well, I'll be damned, it's a rescue party." A wild, audacious grin spread across her face. "Now you're in trouble, Helmet."
"Everyone gets a nickname. Even jerks like you."
"Hello," said Rowan. "What's this?"
It appeared to be a doorway. An enormous arch, built for a creature even larger than Rowan, who towered head and shoulders over the two squirrels. At the peak of its arch, it was at least two-and-a-half meters off the ground. More alarmingly, it simply appeared with little fanfare before them, opening in the stone behind the curtain of thorned vines like the mouth of a giant, dark and cavernous. The rose vines unknit themselves and crawled back, and now there was nothing between them and the inside of the tower but air.
"A trap, most likely," said Zero with a dour expression.
"Oh, I have little doubt." Rowan nodded and scratched his chin again. "An obvious one, at that."
Hanami swallowed. Her throat was too tight to speak. Staring into the absolute blackness of that doorway was an unpleasant reminder of the spiders' cavern, and the nightmares they found inside. Her fur standing on end and her ears flat, she made an instinctive grab for the Mage Flower behind her left ear, a source of comfort… and then she remembered. Faun had it. And Faun was, for whatever reason, inside this strange tower, doing Gods knew what with it.
If only things were simple. All she really wanted in life were two things: to live in peace tending to her gardens at Haven Grove, and to be able to talk to Zero, to understand more about the strange swordsbuck with the dark, wounded eyes, always dressed in black. Now, at last, she had a few more tantalizing details about who he was, how he had come to be this way… and thanks to Faun's predicament, she might never know anything more. Another addition to the list of reasons to be angry with her.
Hanami was so preoccupied with these thoughts that she almost missed Zero and Rowan's next words to each other. When they registered, she gave off another, much quieter squeak.
"We're going in, aren't we?" said Zero.
"Of course," said Rowan. "By your leave, my friend."
"But-" The word had trouble making it past the sudden dryness in Hanami's mouth. "But it's a trap. You know it's a trap! Shouldn't we wait, call for reinforc-"
Zero actually laughed, though the sound was sour. "Sometimes I forget that you haven't been here for long, Hanami," he said. "We're Outcasts, we're on our own. Even if we did call for help, who would bother to come? Drake?"
"Definitely not," said Rowan. "Our elderly wolf friend only acts on affairs that interest him. This is not one of those, I think." He looked up the length of the tower. "And even if it were, I cannot imagine his health would survive a climb such as this promises to be. I believe such endurance is beyond him."
"But you can't just- where are you going?!"
"In." Zero put a hand on the hilt of the timeworn sword at his hip as he strode toward the dark doorway. "Faun's somewhere in there, she has something of yours, and I intend to get it back."
"Agreed." The badger unslung his morning star from his back and followed after him.
Hanami, having little choice, followed them both, wringing her hands together. The alternative was staying outside at night in the wild, uncharted part of Tasakeru; even with the spiders gone, she wouldn't feel any safer outdoors. First Zero disappeared through the stone arch, then Rowan, then the black was all she could see as she crossed the threshold, it was as if she had gone blind, and- and then there was light, dazzling light-
"My Gods," Rowan breathed.
She bumped into him from behind, as the badger had stopped dead a few paces ahead of her. For the second time that night, she rubbed her poor snout, her eyes blurring with tears.
"What the hell has Faun been doing?!" said Zero's voice, awed and confused.
Once her vision cleared, it was easy to understand why they stopped. Hanami goggled; while it was an autumn night outside, it was a blazing summer's day in the tower, with a noonday sun gleaming off countless jeweled or golden surfaces, and off the still waters of a shallow square reflecting pool set in the center of an impossibly long entrance hall, with spotless ebony floors and great stone columns covered in hieroglyphs flanking each side.
"This…" Rowan spoke past the lump forming in his throat, with some difficulty. "This is extraordinary. I've seen rooms and symbols like this in books on the Lost Ages, but this…" He trailed off. "The vixen could not have made all this. No one could have."
"If she didn't make it, who did?"
For once in his life, Rowan had no answers.
"They are inside," said Seker. At last he turned away from the crystal window. It was a statement of fact, not irritation, like someone commenting on the weather.
Faun snorted. "Heh. Yeah, not much can keep us Outcasts out of a place we don't want to be. Or keep us in. Feeling nervous yet, Helmet?"
"Not at all. I allowed them entry," he said, tucking the Mage Flower into a groove that formed high in the stone wall at his touch, out of reach of any but himself.
"You-" Shivers ran down Faun's spine to the tip of her tail. "… What are you doing?"
"It occurs to me," said the jackal, "that perhaps the hope that these friends of yours will come to your aid is cause for you to refuse my offer. If that is indeed the case, then perhaps witnessing their deaths will change your mind."
Silence fell, in neat concert with Faun's stomach.
"Yes," said the jackal. "I shall take no pleasure in killing them, but if doing so is the only way to force you to see reason, so be it."
"Bastard," said Faun, hissing the curse from between clenched teeth. Callousness and indifference were one thing, but threatening murder? Any remaining traces of sympathy for him withered away. "You bastard."
A brief examination of the cavernous entrance hall yielded no sign of Faun, or anyone else. In truth, only Zero put much effort into the search; Hanami much preferred not to stray too far in a strange place, and Rowan was too enraptured by the details of the hall to concentrate.
"It doesn't make sense," said the buck, tapping an angry rhythm against the ebony floor with the tip of his boot. "The tower's more than tall enough for multiple floors, but I don't see a single staircase, or anything that even looks like it leads to an upper floor. Where could she have gone?"
"Maybe she got lost?" said Hanami. "It's a big tower."
"Bigger on the inside." Rowan chimed in as he leaned over to examine the gem-encrusted throne on the raised stone dais. "Hmm. Rose quartz on the crest rail, with inlaid rubies, sapphires, garnets, amethysts, and pearls distributed on the body. This is quite an expensive throne."
That drew Hanami's attention. "Are all of those real?"
"Difficult to say, but I would suppose so."
Reflections of the gems' facets gleamed in Hanami's widened eyes. "But… but how? Gemstones are supposed to be rare, how could someone find enough to cover an entire chair?"
"I do not know, Milady. However it was built, it's a wonder that Faunelle hasn't made off with it."
"This whole place seems like it was built with her in mind," said Zero, coming to stand on the throne's other side. "Gold and jewels plastered everywhere… it's like one of the Shichi Meimon estates back in Unify, but this looks like it's worth more than all seven families put together."
"Which Meimon estates have you-" Hanami started.
It was then that the dais shook. All three Outcasts started and grasped the throne for support as the sandstone rumbled beneath them like a localized earthquake. Stone grated on stone, and to the accompaniment of that awful sound, the dais lifted off the floor, beginning a slow climb into the open shaft above their heads.
"It would appear," said Rowan, shouting to be heard over the grinding, "that we have been invited to the upper floors!"
Zero swallowed and put one hand on the hilt of his sword. With the other, he grasped Hanami's hand. "Stay close to me!"
That wouldn't be a problem. High places made Hanami nervous… squirrelkind used to make their dreys in trees in prehistoric times, but she couldn't see the appeal; she always felt more comfortable being as close to the ground as possible. Zero's grip on her hand made her shudder for a quite different reason, though… not even the temple pepper could stop the burn when he was so close. The tip of her tail curled and uncurled as she found herself drawn to the details of the buck's face, which was bathed in light from the top of the shaft, Gods only knew how far up. His eyes really were intense, the color of black tea with milk in it. Bright like stars and sharp like knives, but there was a glimmer of constant hurt in them that she recognized: she saw it in the mirror every morning.
Apparently, the walls of the shaft widened out to accommodate the dais after a certain point; now it floated unsupported by anything else. "Zero?" she asked once the noise subsided. "About that battle…"
Zero turned those intense eyes back on her, making her shiver. "Right," he said. "I didn't finish telling you the rest of the story. It's only fair. Rowan, you know some of this, but… you should probably hear it too."
"As you wish." Rowan had been preparing to feign deafness for another few minutes, but Zero discussing his past openly was a rare opportunity that should not be ignored.
"I warn you both," said the buck, his voice dark. "It's not easy story to hear. Even less easy to tell."
Rowan's whiskers drooped. "If it involves the Fangs, I expect nothing less, my friend. You have my deepest sympathies."
Hanami squeezed his hand. Her heart fluttered in her chest.
Bowing his head, Zero began again. "Of the Seven Days of Blood, the battle I was in happened on the second-to-last of them. I don't remember the actual fight at all. Everything was a blur… my hands were moving my sword on their own. What I remember was afterward… the smell, the smell was the first thing that hit me. The air was so heavy with the scent of blood that I was almost choking on it. There were flies… huge swarms of black flies, buzzing everywhere like living clouds. It was like I was waking up from a dream… I just stood there with my sword, wet. Shaking. I couldn't understand how I got there."
A breath caught in Hanami's throat. She knew that feeling.
"And then I saw… Tornado. Tatsuya, my squadmate," Zero continued. His voice trembled with old rage and sorrow, and his free hand balled into a fist so tight that his claws dug into the pads on his palm. "He looked like something thrown from a fishmonger's stall, and his… his everything was dragged out in front of him. He was staring, wide-eyed. I don't even want to think how much of it he actually saw before he died. Wildfire, Oni, Slash, Falcon, Madeye, Earthquake… all slaughtered. Butchered. They murdered seven of us, and ten civilians who tried to help us fight them off. Everyone else who lived was badly injured… Yuudai had a huge slash across his face, and Bolt… Bolt never walked again. All those bodies lying there rotting, all that suffering, all for a stupid little patch of land that didn't mean anything… and in the middle of all of them was me, alive and unhurt. Somehow, I survived… with just a few dents and cracks in my armor. My body? Not even a scratch."
Anyone else would call that a miracle, but true miracles were in short supply, Rowan thought. For someone to survive the Demon Fangs unscatched would take divine luck and immense skill. He made to say so aloud, but what Zero said next silenced him.
"It made no sense," he said, shaking his head, his eyes haunted and far away. "No sense at all. I wasn't the best fighter in the squad, I wasn't the best strategist. Hell, I was so terrified, I don't even remember what I was doing. So why wasn't I hurt? Why did I walk away when they couldn't? Why me?"
In sympathy, Hanami laid a hand on his shoulder, unable to speak.
"Back at the Gakuen… they congratulated me," said Zero. Now his words grew cold, cold as a midwinter's night. "They told me I had proven myself as an exceptional warrior, and that I would make a fine samurai someday. They told me to be proud. To be proud, while five of my friends were barely alive in the infirmary… and seven of them were in the mortuary in pieces." He stared down at the dais floor, and his eyes disappeared into dark hollows in the shade of the black headband he wore. "I couldn't take it," he said. "The guilt. Surviving, knowing that I wasn't worthy. So that night, I snuck out of the infirmary, took the family sword, and I ran… I deserted. I wasn't gone six hours before they found me and dragged me in front of a tribunal. Disloyalty, they said. Cowardice. Dereliction of duty. I went against three of the Seven Virtues the samurai swear by in one night, so it didn't take them long to decide. 'The samurai who feared death' had to be punished. They declared me a ronin, made me an Outcast, and sent me here to Tasakeru. I'm a coward, a coward who failed my comrades, my father, Naole, and my family legacy… and I don't have a single scar to show for it." Zero stared right at Hanami then… and in that expression, in his eyes, she saw the ghost of the kit he was nine years ago, the young buck who only wanted to make his family proud. "That's me," he said, hushed. "That's who I am."
Part of him died there. The thought struck Hanami and would not be dismissed. It was followed shortly by another: It's not true that he doesn't have scars. His scars are all on the inside…
Secrets. Scars. Family betrayal. In that moment, she felt kinship for Zero unlike anything in the past. It was not mere attraction, though that was still there, if muted. Whatever the circumstances that led them to this moment, they were not mere friends or fellow Outcasts anymore. There was a deeper connection, beyond physical: the bond of two souls that both knew great suffering. It was almost as if the rest of the world were falling away as the two of them rose to the heavens on the dais, closer together than ever before…
A strange, low, throaty sound broke the spell. It took them both a moment to realize what it was: the sound of Rowan sobbing. Tears spilled freely from the badger's warm, honey-brown eyes, matting his stripes. "My friend…" he choked.
Zero bristled, suddenly uncomfortable. "R-Rowan, it's nothing. Please, don't."
"No," said Rowan, wiping his eyes, then his snout. "It is most emphatically not nothing. You are a brave, brave soul, Milord."
"I'm not brave at all, I'm a coward-"
"Nonsense." After a long, prolonged snort to clear his sinuses, the badger seemed more composed. "I have always sided with the mentalists in thinking that repressing trauma makes it worse, you know. Negative emotions need an outlet, or they will fester and grow. So many sentients fear that they will be seen as weak for sharing their pain, but that is foolish and illogical, I think. It is more shameful to hide the pain, pretending it does not exist… and it takes far more strength to acknowledge and face it. What you have just done, baring yourself to us with openness and honesty, despite how awfully you have suffered… That is, without question, one of the greatest acts of sheer courage I have ever seen. You have not only my sympathies, Lord Zero Takaishi… but my awe, and my purest and utmost respect." And to the buck's complete shock, Rowan bent to one knee, bowed his head, and put his fist to his breastplate… an old, old gesture of great humility before a superior, just as a true samurai would do before his master.
Stunned, Zero opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out.
"And mine," said a soft voice behind him. "I can't put it as well as Rowan did, but… you're not a coward. You're not, and you never were. Even if you think that about yourself, I never have, and never will." Hanami smiled through her own tears, and he thought his heart might stop. "I wish I were as brave as you."
He was shaken to his soul, well beyond words. "I… th-thank you," Zero managed after several seconds. "Thank you." Nothing more than that. The shame of his actions would always be with him to the end of his days, but for the first time… he felt it lighten, just a little. A break of sunlight coming down through the clouds of the last nine years. For Rowan to know of his disgrace and still humble himself in that sacred way, that was gracious enough. More respect than he was worthy of, Zero thought. But for Hanami to say what she just did, to hear that story and still be able to smile and say that…
I wish I were as brave as you.
Zero's mind drifted away, a feather on the wind. For a few seconds, he simply basked in the warm glow of her smile and her words.
When he regained his senses, his first thought was: Naole was right. I've been such an idiot. "Hanami," he said, clasping her hand. "If we make it out of this, there's something I-"
With that, the dais shuddered to a stop. At once, a rumbling bass voice washed over them like a wave from the eternal ocean: "Seker the Last bids welcome to the Outcasts of Tasakeru. Presumably, you have come to my tower to retrieve the vixen, have you not?"
His moment with Hanami broken, Zero stood, one hand flying to the sword hilt by instinct. The voice came from the enormous black-furred figure in the ancient loincloth, standing in front of a crystalline window and blocking their way to Faun, who waved from behind him with little enthusiasm. The giant's entire head was encased in a mask of what looked like solid gold. Zero bristled, took a breath, and prepared to launch into the sacred samurai ritual: a formal introduction and an intent to challenge-
Evidently, rituals would have to wait, as he was interrupted by a gasp of delight from the badger before he could begin. "A Titan," said Rowan, his eyes aglow. "There's no mistaking that build, no other sentient on Earth looked like that! Faunelle, how in the Gods' names did you find a living Titan?! This is a historic event!" He sank into a bow, giddy with unbridled joy. "Milord, however you have come to this era, I bid you welcome. I beseech you, if you would deign to answer a few questions, and perhaps allow me to take notes…"
Seker wasn't listening. The golden mask pivoted back to Faun. One could sense his eyebrow raising beneath it. "'Faunelle?'" he said.
Faun's ears flattened in disgust. "Oh, thanks a lot, Stripehead."
Growing frustrated, Zero tried again. "Seker the Last, I am Zero Takaishi of Tasakeru, and-"
This time, he was stymied by Hanami, who barged between him and Rowan in a very un-Hanami way to stand at the front of the group. It seemed she did not even see the Titan, for her gaze was locked on Faun…
"Er," said Faun. "H-hi there, Flowers." The vixen swallowed and backed a little further up against the crystalline window, her tail dropping between her legs. Her image of Hanami was of a soft, cute, delicate thing… but the wild-eyed look of bilious rage on the doe's face now suggested she could fight a dragon bare-handed, and Faun wouldn't take odds on the dragon winning. The dissonance was unsettling. She swallowed a whimper.
"Hanami," said Zero over Hanami's shoulder. "You should flank us until we get your Mage Flower back…"
"But Faun's right there, and she-!"
"I know, I know! I just don't want you getting hurt!"
Seker coughed to catch their attention. Amplified by the golden mask, the sound was like a muted cannon blast. "Excuse me," he said. "If all of you wish to make any final attempts to change the vixen's mind before you expire, I suggest you do so now."
"Obviously, Milord, you have not spent long in Faunelle's company," said Rowan, not bothering to suppress a smirk. "In our experience, changing her mind requires at least a dozen flagons of Firewater and an act of divine intervention, and you seem to be lacking both."
Faun made a sound that indicated that the badger would pay for that one.
"Seker the Last, I am Zero Takaishi of Tasakeru," said Zero, having finally pushed to the front again. His long-delayed introduction was delivered with no small amount of relief. "I have to insist that you return both Faun and the flower she stole. Do so, and we can end this here and now. Refuse, and you leave us no choice but to take them back by force."
The mask's impassive black crystal eyes looked down on him. "Your kind used to talk less, Zero Takaishi. Another adjustment to be made once I reinstate my reign."
"May I take it that you do not intend to surrender, Milord?" Rowan's tone was tinged with disappointment.
A long silence from the jackal, as if allowing Rowan to consider the folly of what he had just said. Then: "You may, badger."
"Then," said Rowan, unslinging his morning star, "I suppose we find ourselves at odds."
Beside him, Zero drew his sword from its scabbard.
"Come now," said Seker in growing irritation. "Will you truly be so stupid as to-"
"TENRAI!" Zero's shouted battle cry echoed off the stone as he charged. A downward slash across the chest should do it, he thought. His target wore no armor, carried no weapon. He was a big fellow, but big usually meant slow, so if he kept out of reach-
A huge, muscular arm shot out like lightning. One giant hand caught the razor edge of the sword as it came down and stopped it dead. Zero's charge came to a sudden and unexpected halt; not only could his sword not even scratch the Titan's flesh, but his body absorbed all of his momentum… how was that possible? Then he was hurtling backward into Rowan coming up from behind, the two of them landing in a tangled heap…
"Perhaps you have not grasped it yet," said the jackal. His footfalls rang out heavy as he advanced, like distant drums. "I am immortal. None of your weapons can harm me, no magic can-"
Extricating himself, Rowan pounced to his feet. The badger moved like water up to Seker's side, dodging under an outstretched arm as it reached for him. The spiked morning star whirled on its chain in a circle, emitting a deadly hum as it lashed the air. Its motions a blur, it wove up, down, around behind the jackal's masked head, and it struck at the back of the skull with a thunderous crash-
Seker did not even flinch.
"Hmm," said Rowan. In an instant, the Titan tore the weapon from his grasp, tossing the heavy weapon aside like an old rag. Rowan saw the fist sailing toward his face, shoved hard against the wrist to deflect it, and it struck his breastplate with a noise that flesh and bone on steel should never make… the metal yielded and crumpled.
Stars clouded Zero's vision as he attempted to sit up. There was a ringing in his ears; he shook his head to clear it.
"Are you all right?" That was Hanami, having rushed to his side.
The buck winced, tasting blood. "We may need a new plan," he admitted. "Get behind him and take Faun, see if the two of you can escape while we distract that monster."
"But he'll kill you!"
"If we're fast enough, hopefully not."
Too late. He was already up and charging again.
Hanami felt tempted to use a few of Faun's favorite words. Instead, she hugged the wall, trying hard to be invisible and stay as far away from the battle as possible as she edged toward the vixen. To her relief, the Titan seemed too focused on proving his invulnerability to the buck and badger to notice her.
"Listen, Flowers-" Faun began as she came near.
An icy blue glare stopped her short. "Sometime this year, you may find poison sumac growing in your den, and I won't tell you where."
Faun swallowed again. "So you're still mad, then. Point taken."
"Idiots!" bellowed the jackal, startling them both. "Have you no sense?! I cannot feel! I do not bleed, or tire, or sleep, or breathe! Why continue this pointless struggle? What hope do you have to stand against me?" His voice rose like thunder, heightened, maddened with rage… rage, and a hint of sorrow. "What hope does this world have…?"
A meter away, Zero coughed and spit out a bloody fragment of a tooth, righting himself once more. He brandished his sword, useless as it was. "I can't speak for the world," he said. "But as for us? I suppose we're just stupid that way."
A savage growl built from inside the mask as Seker strode forward. Without breaking step, he backhanded the badger attempting to mount a surprise attack on his side, sending him back to the stone with an earthshaking thud. Moonlight gleamed off his golden mask… there were so many ways to hurt these fools. So many ways to kill them for daring to defy him, with magic or with his bare hands. The swordsbuck called Zero gazed defiantly up at him, still attempting to resist though the battle was long lost.
It made no sense.
Seker raised his fist again…
"OI!" said a sharp voice behind him.
"What are you doing?!" hissed Hanami, tugging at Faun's hand. "Faun, stop!"
"Don't try to stop me, Flowers!" The vixen pulled away and stomped across the room, tail held high. "OI, I said! That's enough!"
"Do you wish to plead for your friends' lives, harlot?" said Seker. One of the mask's rock crystal eyes looked back at her.
"'Harlot?''' said Faun, incredulous. Her eyes blazed with emerald fire. "That's the best you can come up with? Three thousand years of time to think, and you can't come up with anything more creative than 'harlot'? Listen here, you metal-headed lummox, I was being called 'harlot' when I was eight. You gargantuan, stuffed-up, milksop son of a taint, look at me! I'm tired and hungry and grumpy as hell and I can still think of a dozen better insults than that!"
Seker turned to her in abject shock. He raised a hand to speak-
"Don't start with me!" Now Faun's voice built to a roar of her own. The fur on the ruff of her neck stood on end as her tirade raged on: "Why don't you go back into your hole in the sand and lie in it, you mangy, shedding, pigboar-snouted, flea-bitten, pathetic excuse for a wart on a senile goat's hind! Better yet, do us all a favor and go back to the Beneath that spawned you, you pigeon-livered, dropsy, addlepated, toffee-nosed, bearingless, short-sticked waste of matter! I'd spit on you if it weren't wasting perfectly good fluids! What's the problem? Worn out your tongue from grooming your mother, or did you finally go deaf?"
Silence fell upon the tower. A long, uncomfortable silence.
It was only broken by the most unexpected of sounds, one that the world had not heard in three thousand years: the sound of Seker the Last howling with laughter.
From their positions on the floor, Zero and Rowan stared.
Hanami stared from the crystalline window.
Faun didn't blink. She kept her blazing eyes locked on the jackal as he doubled over, hands on her hips, waiting for him to finish.
It was a considerable length of time before Seker regained enough control of himself to speak. There would be tears in his eyes, were he still capable of producing them. "My dearest Lady Muranaka," he finally said. "Please forgive me for my lateness in realizing what I should have long ago…"
"Which is?"
"I cannot be your mate," said Seker. One got the sense that he was grinning underneath the mask. "Among many other reasons, I see now that I do not deserve you."
"You're damned right you don't," Faun huffed.
"All the same, thank you, Faunelle Muranaka," the jackal said, bowing deeply to her. "Thank you, for shouting some sense into this old fool's head in your inimitable fashion."
"You're welcome." The response still had quite an edge on it. "And don't call me Faunelle, ever. So no more of this mating or companion nonsense? You promise?"
"Certainly not. I promise. If you will allow me." Seker stepped away from the fallen Outcasts, leaned down, and sank his hand into the stone floor as easily as dipping into the surface of a lake. He rose back up with Faun's boom belt held gently, almost reverently, in his hand. As if submitting an offering to the Goddess, he presented it to her on bended knee.
Faun took it, with considerably less grace.
"What…" said Zero, perplexed. "What just happened?"
"I believe Faunelle just saved all of our lives," said Rowan, flexing his jaw. It felt a bit loose. His ribs felt worse, so he had no desire to test those. "In, as our Titan fellow said, her own inimitable fashion."
From across the room, Zero and Hanami shared a baffled expression. It quickly turned to one of mutual embarrassment, so they averted their eyes.
Before them loomed the borders of the forest, dark and foreboding. Lily shuddered, remembering the fear that gnawed at her the first time she came to Tasakeru with her mother, so many years ago. She wondered if her mother had felt that way her first time, or if Nadeshiko felt that way now. This was not her first time, of course, but they had not made the journey since she was very small.
If she did feel fear, Nadeshiko would never show it. Clad in full armor, every plate spotless, she turned on one heel and faced the knights, her voice carrying to the back of the ranks. "Halt!" she barked, raising the great slab of her enormous greatsword. "Stay in formation until the Grand Mistress gives the word!"
"Aye, Ma'am!" came the reply in chorus.
Giant spiders and mysterious towers appearing in the space of a single night were not the kinds of problems the Silver Order's Grand Mistress was expected to deal with, Lily thought. Preserve Life, the faith demanded above all. And following that: Protect the Weak, Feed the Hungry, and Shelter the Poor. It was easier in the days of her mothers and grandmothers.
With a few exceptions. Her brows narrowed. She hoped that one of those exceptions was not involved with the black tower. Lily thought he knew by now to keep himself out of the Order's eye, but one never could tell with that one.
"Grand Mistress?" said Nadeshiko in a whisper. Observing protocol while on duty, as always. "Are you all right?"
"Of course, Vice-Mistress," said Lily smoothly. A lifetime's experience taught her how to mask the turbulence of her emotions under a veneer of calm. "We will advance momentarily. I was merely gathering my thoughts."
"Are you expecting the mission to be difficult?"
"I sincerely hope not, but one must always be prepared."
"At last, I have realized," said Seker, standing once more in front of the crystal window, "what terrible mistakes I have made."
The four Outcasts watched him from behind, Faun and Hanami standing, Zero and Rowan sitting while the doe tended their injuries with poultices of onion flower and plantain. Treating battle wounds was new territory for her, so Rowan took her through it step by step. Seker retrieved her Mage Flower from the wall and presented it to her with many apologies some minutes ago… the moment her hands closed around its stem, she hugged it tight to her bosom as if she would never again let it go.
The jackal's shape threw a sharp silhouette onto the strange clear crystal. "It was a mistake to brew the immortality potion in the first place," he said, his voice low. "A mistake to take it. A mistake to usurp and murder my Faraou… and a mistake to pursue you, Lady Muranaka, when I was finally freed. Many, many mistakes."
Faun was silent, for once.
"I have existed for far beyond my natural span." Seker folded his hands behind his back and gazed out at the world, the world he once was foolish enough to think he owned. "I should have vanished into dust, into history along with my people, but here I stand. I cannot help but think how… futile… it has all been. Clearly, I learned nothing from my imprisonment. I gained eternity, at the cost of life… I made a fool's bargain. By your grace, Lady Muranaka, I see that now."
The vixen's ears turned down. Something about the Titan humbling himself was deeply embarrassing, but she couldn't place what it was.
"Perhaps I was instrumental in my people's downfall. I do not know," said Seker. The golden mask bowed in shame. "What is done is done. I must bear the burden of my sins… until I find a way to finally have my rest."
"Y-you…" Hanami swallowed. "You want to-"
"I do not seek death, precisely. Only the knowledge that I can one day walk that path. There is a certain horror in silence and darkness. I shall not submit to it again." Seker sighed, a mournful sound that spoke of every one of his many years. "I shall go now, to seek a way to break my curse. Perhaps, beyond the eternal sea, there is a land where that can be done."
Zero shuddered. The thought of welcoming death was almost foreign to him, but… If he's been awake this long, I suppose it really will be like going to sleep.
"Are you certain you will not stay?" said Rowan next to him, wincing as Hanami applied another poultice to his ribs. "I feel we would have much to learn from each other."
"That we would, Lord Longstripe," said the jackal. "I regret that we cannot share our knowledge, but I must first consider whether or not mine is worth sharing. Knowledge unearned is a warning unheard, and I have troubled all of you too much already."
"Well," said Faun with great reluctance, "will you ever come back? I mean. We're sort of all you've got."
"If there is nothing out there, then perhaps." Seker faced them. "I confess, there are certain people in the modern age that I would enjoy knowing further. In a strictly platonic sense, of course."
Now Faun's ears went flat. "Um."
The jackal's laugh boomed off the tower walls. "For now, I shall trouble you no further. I thank you once again, Lady Muranaka, for my freedom. Someday, I hope to repay my debt to you properly. When I leave this place, you are all free to go. May your Gods bless and watch over each of you." With that, the jackal bowed, then dissolved into a cloud of glittering white sand. Stone grated on stone once more as the tower's interior shifted, rearranging itself around the baffled Outcasts. Bricks ran like rivers in a bizarre display, melting and rearranging themselves until-
They found themselves staring at a massive open doorway, seven and a half meters tall, where the window had been seconds before. The grand entrance hall was gone, and only an interior of sparse, bare black stone remained. Through the doorway was the deepest part of Tasakeru, quiet and still. The cloud of sand that was Seker the Last streamed through the doorway with a flourish and was gone.
One by one, the four Outcasts looked at each other.
It was Hanami who broke the awkward silence. "Faun," she said, refusing to be distracted any longer. She crossed her arms and gave the vixen her best glare. "I believe you have something to say to me."
Faun actually cringed. "I was wrong, stealing your flower and lying to you was a mistake, I paid for it, and I'm sorry…?" she said hopefully.
"That's a good start. Keep going."
Miles away, a pair of tattered ears perked up. It took the ancient wolf's rheumy vision a few seconds to focus on the sand cloud swirling before him, but when a huge, black-furred figure stepped out of the cloud-
"Surprises upon surprises," said Seker. "I hardly expected to see one of your kind again."
Drake's lips pulled back in what was either a grin or a grimace, it was hard to tell. He leaned on his knobbly old walking stick for support, a strange light in his golden eyes. "Hrmm. Might do you good to walk with me for a while, stranger. We have a fair bit to talk about."
"It speaks!" The jackal sounded quite pleased. "That is new. Well met, then. We shall talk."
No more than thirty meters into Tasakeru's depths, Nadeshiko held out an arm to stop the advance of the contingent. "Halt," she said. "Don't move. Someone's coming… I smell it."
Lily could do more than smell it. The two approaching figures were not bothering to keep their voices low or muffle their tracks. One voice she recognized, the other- "Goddess," she breathed, reaching for her greatsword.
Rounding the bend was an enormous figure, seven meters tall and built like an ebony statue, its entire head encased in a solid gold mask. Next to it was a withered old figure of a wolf with fur as white as driven snow, bent double over a walking stick.
Both parties stopped. For a moment, no one dared move.
"Your pardon," said the Titan in a booming bass voice. "I mean no harm. I was about to take my leave."
Lily gaped up at it, forgetting about the wolf entirely in her disbelief. She had seen the carvings. She knew the stories. They were all supposed to be long dead, their bones and their cities nothing but dust. Yet here one was, plain as the nose at the tip of her snout. It could be nothing else; no other sentient race could grow to that size.
Nadeshiko, professional as ever, took a stance and hefted her greatsword. Not even a walking, talking dead creature would keep her from her duty. "Halt! We are the Silver Order! In the name of the Goddess, I demand that you identify yourself!"
"Merely an old relic whose time has passed," said the Titan. "You need not concern yourselves. Please excuse me." Before they could react, he simply melted, his body crumbling into a million grains of sand that blew past them in a gust of hot, dry air.
That was enough to crack even Nadeshiko's composure. "Someone, stop that creature!" There was a foreign note of strain and panic in her voice. "It's only a dust spell, do not-"
"Don't bother, Young Lady." Drake chuckled and leaned back on his stick. "You couldn't catch that one if you tried. And where he's going, you don't want to follow."
Sure enough, the sand slipped away through the trees and was lost to the night, leaving the Silver Order company shaken.
"Stars above," said Drake, breaking the silence as he squinted at the younger floris. "You can't be little Nadeshiko… the last time I saw you, you were barely above my knee…"
"You-" Nadeshiko sputtered and drew back, eyes blazing. "You have interfered with an official Order investigation. You will tell us all you know of that creature, now."
"Stand down, Little One."
Her mother's breach in protocol was enough to shock Nadeshiko out of her stance. "G-Grand Mistress…?"
Lily stared not at her daughter, but at the old white wolf, her expression unreadable. "Drake Who Walks Alone," she said, inclining her head.
"Lady Lily Argenteus." Drake did the same. "It's been a long time."
"Vice-Mistress," said Lily without breaking her gaze. "You will take the knights back to Tasakeru's border and await further instructions. I shall return to you shortly."
"But Mother-!" Now it was Nadeshiko's turn to breach protocol. The knights behind her exchanged stunned glances. That was unprecedented.
"That is a command, Vice-Mistress," said Lily, in a tone that discouraged further questions. "I expect it to be carried out."
For a few seconds, Nadeshiko stewed in place, her ears flat against her skull. Finally, she performed another lightning turn on her heel, failing to suppress a growl of irritation. "Fall back," she said to the contingent. "Grand Mistress's orders."
There was much hemming and hawing among the knights, and a few grumbles of protest, but they all complied, filing down the path. Nadeshiko's striped tail streamed behind her like a banner as she followed, kicking up dry leaves in her wake.
"She has your eyes," said the ancient wolf once they were out of hearing range. "And your attitude, at that age."
"Out of the courtesy I am due to you," said Lily in a cool voice, "I will not insist upon you accompanying me back to the city. I doubt you would comply, even if I did. However, I must insist that you tell me all you know of that creature and the black tower, at once." One eyebrow raised. "I will also take your usual report on the whereabouts and activities of your fellow Outcasts at this time."
Drake snorted. "Am I the warden of this damned forest, or its ward?"
"Both, on your own recognizance."
"Fair enough." Drake flicked an ear and beckoned to her with as low a bow as he could manage. "If you would walk with me, Milady."
Hours later, Hanami sat curled in Faun's favorite divot on the couch in Haven Grove, gently stroking the Mage Flower's crinkly red petals. The only remnant of her old life, and she had almost lost it. Never again. Despite how bittersweet those memories were, she would never lose sight of it again.
A knock at the door interrupted her. Puzzled, Hanami rose from the couch and moved to answer it. "Oh…"
"Hanami," said Zero. He shuffled from foot to foot, trying to hide something hastily wrapped in cloth behind the bush of his tail and doing a bad job of it. His ears were flattened, and he seemed to have a hard time meeting her eyes. "Sorry for coming so late."
"No, not at all! I'm sorry to make you go out of your way. Do you want some tea?" That last sentence came out perhaps a bit more hopeful than she intended.
"No, thank you, I'm not staying. I just-" Zero swore under his breath. "I just wanted to give you this." Swallowing heavily, he pressed the cloth-wrapped bundle into Hanami's hands.
"Oh." Hanami's eyes widened as she took it. Heavy and solid, and she felt straight lines and angles within it. "Th-thank you. What is it?"
However it was possible, Zero's ears pressed lower against his skull. "A book. The book I was borrowing when you… surprised me before. One of my favorites. I shouldn't have run away from you, I apologize." One eye peeked out from beneath his headband. "I was… embarrassed, but I shouldn't have been."
Mystified, Hanami took great care in unwrapping the cloth. The book inside had all evidence of being someone's favorite: its leather covers were worn down at the corners, and it fell open easily in her hands, to a yellow-tinged page titled "In Shadow Lay She" which looked as if it had been thumbed to many times over the years. There was a pleasant smell to the book, that wonderful, leathery, musty, bookish smell… mingled with Zero's own scent of sword polish and stubbornness. Hanami closed the covers again to read the title: In the Heart of That Eternal Sea: The Romantic Poetry of Sanshiro.
"It's from Rowan's library, but he told me you could have it," said Zero in a rush. "I… you know, everyone knows Sanshiro for his samurai poetry, especially Wind Dancing on Graves… but I've always liked these better. Just my preference."
He was prepared for laughter. After all, Naole laughed for a week when she first found him reading romantic poems years ago. What he was not prepared for was Hanami's bright, sunlit smile, for the breathless gasp of joy as she clutched the old book to her heart like a precious treasure. That smile made remaining upright all the more difficult.
"Thank you," said Hanami, bowing low. "Thank you, Zero. I love it."
"I love it too. I hope you'll enjoy it."
"Of course! I will. Right now, in fact."
"You don't have to read it right now if you don't want to-"
"Dijo! I wasn't doing anything important. Honestly, this is wonderful."
Silence feel between them, broken only by the singing of crickets and night peepers.
"I'll go," Zero said simply. It was blunt, very blunt, but it was all he could think of when she smiled at him like that.
"Go well," said Hanami, who didn't seem to mind. "And come back soon."
"I will. I promise."
Then he was gone in a rustle of leaves, a shadow blending into the night.
Hanami remained standing at the door for quite a long time, beaming, warm, and delighted. In truth, she had never even heard of Sanshiro. By tomorrow morning, though, she promised herself she would know at least one of his romantic poems by heart.
"So long as my name and deeds and creations are remembered, so shall I forever live… the very stars shall weep to see my grandeur."
[Inscription from a fragment of a Titan archway, found buried in the Jiburi Grasslands. Presumed to be a quote from Faraou Marduk the Fourth, the true author is unknown.]


text: On Friday 05 November 2004 15:53, Adam Conrad wrote: > Dave Ewart wrote: > > > > FWIW, for me, a manual '/etc/init.d/apache reload' *does* cause the > > problem too. My difficulty therefore reduces completely to be > > "/etc/init.d/apache reload makes Apache die". > > > > Apache is version 1.3.26-0woody5 and included PHP support (version > > 4.1.2-7.0.1) - on a Woody system. Problem started happening > > at the same date as Jon has indicated. > > Hrm. Looking back through DSAs, the only thing even remotely related > that was updated around that time was libpng{,3}. Do you have php4-gd > (or php4-gd2) loaded, by any chance, or perhaps some other apache module > that might be loading libpng? Does downgrading all relevant libpng > packages to the previous vulnerable versions help (or disabling > php4-gd)? If not, the date seems to be a bit of a red herring, as > nothing directly related to apache or PHP was updated in Woody around > October 25... FWIW, mine is from a slightly earlier date and on a sarge installation, but otherwise clearly the same. -- richard

subset: commoncrawl


text:
The 700 Club - June 14, 2018
Best-selling cookbook author Holly Clegg opens up her, "Guy's Guide to Eating Well" with recipes that are both nutritious and delicious. Plus, hear what happens when a stripper gets an offer she can't refuse.
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- MAKING IT EASY FOR MEN Holly says most men cook out of necessity, for relaxation or simply to command the grill! Sometimes, they don't know exactly what to fix that will make a meal both nutritious and delicious."My father was very abusive to my mother and at five years old my parents split up. My father got custody of my siblings and I and it was during that time that the physical abuse started, beating my siblings and I with up to 60 licks at a time to where there were bloody welts.Balamani is a widow, and mother of two. She earns a living cleaning houses, and gets a widow's pension from the government.Free Factsheet: Get delicious recipes from the book, Guy's Guide to Eating Well: A Man's Cookbook for Health and Wellness. Download Now!Informative and approachable EASY MEN'S COOKBOOK that targets men's health and wellness. Not about pumping weights and fad diets, this healthy man's cookbook includes practical hearty, full flavored recipes using everyday ingredients for wellness and preventive health.Get this powerful teaching on angels by Pat Robertson. Call (800) 700-7000 to find out how to get your DVD!The most important decision you can ever make is to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. When you invite Him into your heart, you are born again. By acknowledging that He died on the cross for your sins, you receive forgiveness for your sins, freedom from guilt, and a fresh start. By His grace – not your own works – you are saved from eternal punishment and receive the assurance of going to heaven when your life on earth in finished.Give using Pledge Express, CBN's secure electronic giving and receive a powerful teaching every month!The powerful new short film series, "To Life," shows how Israel is fulfilling prophecy today. Get your DVD.
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Title: The Innocent by Kailin Gow
The Protege Series Book Two
Publisher: Kailin Gow Books
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance
Length: 270 pages
What started out as revenge has turned into passion. Serena Singleton, the innocent music grad student must now deal with a past that is consuming her future. She deals with it in the only way she knows how by falling heads first into the web of power and deception. Has she cast Sebastian Sorensen, her handsome and brilliant professor aside for the powerful and controlling billionaire Price Turnsby or has she found a way to keep them both?
Sebastian Sorensen wants Serena more than ever, and he's willing to fight for it, even against a powerful foe like Price. But no matter how much he fights, is Serena lost to Price's charms and sexy ways more than she appears?
Follow book two of the sexy Protégé Series where nothing is as it seems.
For 18+ for strong sexual situations and mature subject matters.
Purchase Links: Amazon US / Amazon UK / Amazon CA
Click HERE to find The Innocent on Goodreads.
4 Stars
Personally as a reader - I think that this is the Best of Kailin Gow's adult series to date.
The heat has been turned up and found it to be very smooth flowing and delightful in many a scenes** waggles eyebrows**
The cover is sexy - appealing and certainly delicious.
In The Innocent we see a stronger side to Serena. A smokin hot sexy side to Sebastian and of course the arse that Price has always been, we see that he considers Serena a possession rather than a person. One form of abuse that stands out like a neon light.
All relationships are put forth for the reader to see - the dangerous yet kinky side to Price and Serena's past and present. Also Sebastian's side I very much enjoyed – I have to say this surprised me, but loved it none the less.
Kailin has put forth in this story one of abuse - and maybe even paybacks a bitch. Abuse is not right no matter which scene you may enjoy. Whether Vanilla or kinky - there must always be a safe haven- safe word.
I found that Price never offered this to Serena - his standoffish nature didn't appeal to me and even the exhibitionist that he was, I found that Serina was just a pawn in his life. One, whom he used, abused and manipulated for his benefit. He was certainly not a DOM I'd like to be submissive to. Or a Dom doing the right thing towards his submissive.
We may all like our many flavours when it comes to sex, but one thing I did notice is that Price rules the roost and really as a Dom - I didn't find him to be acceptable and caring enough.
Pleasure and Pain comes in many forms for all people, but it must always be consensual. This is demonstrated within one aspect of this story between two willing participants however we also see that another is not always.
So as a reader if you are not into a BDSM read - detailed descriptions, (bondage) – use of toys, and other implements including - smokin kinky scenes, then this read is not for you.
Those who enjoy a little kink or two you will be happily surprised.
Kailin has touched BDSM throughout this story very mildly really but has increased the par with this instalment. I enjoyed seeing another Side of Sebastian and really like him as a caring character with needs like everyone. However he shows his differently in The Innocent and certainly - With love.
I read this instalment in one sitting - it kept me intrigued, stimulated and certainly dazed in many a scenes. I have to say this author delivers a sexy, kinky story with a storyline behind it - that shows through the pages.
It is a short read but will certainly have you awaiting book three


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For Ages: 6-10 years (Grades 1-5)
Organization/Author: The Anywhere Library/Michael A. Jones & Stéphane De Greef
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Hentai Picture: There is a tentacle monster in Gravity Falls – Wendy knows it for sure!
Find your way around the land of Gravity Falls pussy-pounding where the most explicit banging scenes never fail to turn you on. A whore from Gravity Falls being caught between a two-way fuck with hard baby-makers that spatter her hot face with a shower of manly cream… Stacked whore having fun with her milk jugs, losing her tiny panties and revealing her sexually eager cunt!
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On Sunday, Ron Paul addressed a group of supporters near the Republican National Convention in Tampa. Ever vigilant, Paul told the gathered crowd that they will "become the tent eventually" and despite what Washington may think, the Ron Paul "revolution" is still going to happen. Now it is up to Paul supporters to listen to what their leader is saying.
I support Ron Paul. I voted for him in the primary. I was hoping that he would be the Republican nominee for president. However, my vote and my hopes were not enough to get him the support of the wider Republican base. Boo hoo. Too bad, so sad. I believe Ron Paul is right in his claim that true conservatism will eventually become the predominant characteristic of the Republican Party and will take over "the tent." But that time is not yet. We didn't get where we are overnight, and we're not going to get away from where we are overnight. Patience and determination will be required. Paul supporters have already shown that they are determined, now they must show that they can be patient as well.
Think about how much progress the Tea Party movement has made in four short years. It is (for the most part) decentralized, privately funded, and full of zeal for true conservatism. The Tea Party is an example of what "we the people" are capable of when we have a common goal. Ron Paul alluded to this when he told the audience: "With the energy that we have, it seems to me they would be begging and pleading for us to come into the party." Indeed. The Tea Party and Paul's campaign have forced the GOP to at least listen to the concerns of a growing number of Americans who want limited government, more freedom, free-markets, and a return to Constitutional principles. Paul has helped to solidify and galvanize a group who primarily want to be left alone to conduct business and live their lives in peace. That is an amazing accomplishment, in and of itself.
Although Tea Partiers and Paulbots have made much progress and generated large amounts of publicity for the cause, they must not fall prey to the "my way or the highway" mentality. Paul lost; now get over it and get on with it. Taking a movement from the grassroots to a national powerhouse is hard and tedious work; it takes time and lots of blood, sweat, and tears. Denying that Mitt Romney earned the nomination is tantamount to mutiny. It is using the system until the system yields an undesirable result. If Paul supporters were always intending to vote for Paul—no matter the results of the primary—then why bother wasting time and money on the primary process? The answer, obviously, is to get the word out. The word has been sent, loud and clear. In this regard, Paul's failed bid for the nomination was still a great success. Romney may not be what we were looking for, but he is what we got nonetheless.
Tea Partiers and Paul supporters must view the Republican voting base as its mission field, not simply getting the "right guy" into office. In order to make a real difference, there must be hundreds of Ron Pauls in Congress, not just one sitting in the Oval Office. This is the real task to be undertaken. Refusing to vote for Romney because he's "just like Obama" is a denial of the very system we want to change. Paul seems to understand this, now his vocal and loyal supporters must show that they understand it as well. Four years is a good start, but it is only the beginning. There is much yet to be done.


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If you're having your own concert, have you thought about table and chair hire yet?!
Chris Brown fight over Rihanna
While New York police department sort out the fight which left Chris Brown along with an awful cut on his lower jaw on Thursday, and the media is left out with conflicting points which are generally be attributed to nameless sources.
It was really a "brutal attack" which injured Chris Brown, Karrueche Tran, his model girlfriend and his bodyguard. Chris Brown and his party are co-operating with the authorities in New York who are following this event further.
Rihanna and Chris Brown are planning to come together on stage for a performance at Supafest in Brisbane, Australia. The former high profile couple are said to be in talks for a surprise duet performance at the event in the month of April after teaming up on two songs together.
It is reported that Rihanna has paid £15,000 for an urgent haircut after she found her hair to be in a mess in a sauna.
The singer who has recently changed her red curls to blonde flew to her hair stylist to London from Los Angeles to get set them right. According to The Sun newspaper, the singer had gone for a swim at her hotel and used its steam room and sauna before her hair got into a mess.
Rihanna to Perform with Coldplay
Barbadian pop star Rihanna is set to perform with the British alternative band Coldplay at the 54th Grammy Awards. They will be performing their collaboration work "Princess of China" on the big stage. This will be the first time the pop star will be performing live with the band Coldplay.
The Barbadian singer has been nominated in four categories at this year's Grammy Awards. Her album "Loud" has been nominated for The Album of the Year.
Rihanna and Chris Brown are still maintaining their conversations on Twitter. Breezy's tweet to RiRi read, "[You] got that pic I sent you" before deleting it quickly. Online sleuths were able to snag a screenshot of the tweet, confirming that the pair has been in friendly contact in recent days. Although some outlets are reporting that Brown meant to privately message the Barbadian beauty, neither side has stepped up to confirm the story behind the tweet.
Rihanna has defended her performance on the stage with Britney Spears. The Parents Television Council issued a statement, declaring the performance and the kiss oversexualized and not an accident, and that ABC and their sponsers "knew EXACTLY what they were getting." The organization has also called for a boycott of the networks sponsers, which indclude Old Navy, McDonalds, and Chevrolet.
Rihanna managed to beat Justin Biber in the race for winning the most fans on Facebook. Rihanna just edged out Justin Beiber by finishing in ninth place to Justin's tenth in this week's chart of Facebook's biggest risers.
Despite Beiber's popularity with tweens around the world, the Canadian boy wonder is not the most liked artist on Facebook. According to data from Famecount.com, in terms of total fans Bieber charts in seventh position, three places behind Rihanna, five places behind Lady Gaga and six places behind the most liked person ever, living or dead, on Facebook - rapper Eminem.
Ottawa is going to witness the arrival of Pop superstar Rihanna as part of the LOUD summer tour. The Grammy darling brings her lavish new production to Scotiabank Place on June 8. Tickets go on sale at noon March 4.
Prices range from $19.75 to $99.75, plus surcharges, available at the Scotiabank Place box office, Sens stores and Ottawa-area Sports Experts locations. For credit card orders, call 613-599-3267 or 1-877-788-3267, or go to capitaltickets.ca or livenation.com.
The collaboration between Rihanna and the Brits has cancelled and she will not be performing. "Tinie's team thought it was in the bag but there seem to be problems from Rihanna's side. It doesn't look like her schedule will allow enough rehearsal time," a source told the Daily Star.
It means those who were going to tune in to the show to see the Caribbean artist sing may be left saddened.
Rihanna is currently at number nine and 24 in the official charts with What's My Name and Only Girl (In The World) respectively.
Ed Sheeran is battling Rihanna for the top spot in album chart. At the time of writing, only Grammy award winner Rihanna has sold more copies - for her album, Loud.
No 5 Collaborations Project was funded by Ed and sees him joined by 10 of the UK's leading MCs.
"I feel great, but it's a lot to take in," said Ed. "It's all down to the fans being really supportive - they are the main reason it is where it is."


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The Exhibit Bar in Balham, having been running for 15 years, re-opened its doors at the beginning of 2015 following a complete redesign and refurbishment.
Design and Contract Interiors supplied a mix of brand new furniture including dining tables and banquette seating, as well as reupholstering some of the bar's existing dining chairs and bar stools to match the design scheme of the new interior setting.
Housed inside a restored industrial storage unit, the art-inspired bar and restaurant has many function rooms including a cinema and art gallery to form a creative social setting. The new interior of the Exhibit Bar displays monotone colours and regular patterns which are reflected in many aspects of the furniture supplied by Design and Contract Interiors.
Over 50 brand new square dining tables with a polished ebony or white lime wash finish have been placed throughout the bar and restaurant to create a mosaic effect, accompanied by 130 bespoke refurbished dining chairs.
The retro chairs were reupholstered with Kirby District Gold and District Havana fabric, an iconic pattern commonly associated with the District line underground tube seating. This patterned fabric is widely used across the bar, and included on eight recovered retro bar stools, also reupholstered by Design and Contract Interiors.
Over 25 metres of new freestanding banquette seating was upholstered in Sunbury sable green Torino Tuscan leather to be used for both dining and socialising purposes. The sofa style chairs create comfortable seating for customers whilst also co-ordinating with the overall theme of the bar.
"I created and managed all of the design work myself and therefore had a clear vision of what I wanted to achieve. I must say that the end results have far exceeded my expectations and this would not have been the case without the excellent service from the Design and Contract Interiors team, as well as their extensive help and support throughout the whole process."
"I really am pleased with how well Design and Contracts were able to meet the specific requirements of my designs and how well the furniture creates the perfect atmosphere for the new era of the Exhibit Bar."
Tim Weatherhead, joint owner of the Exhibit Bar
Contact us for a free 'no obligation' telephone consultation and we'll help you put together the right products for your project.
Alternatively if your query is more urgent please call us on:
+44 (0)1344 628 108


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Who knew???
A buffalo can jump as high as 6 feet!
In the year 2000, Tiger Woods caddy made 1 million.
Detroit has more registered bowlers than any other American city.
It takes 10 pounds of milk to make 1 pound of cheese.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to own a cat.
A pineapple is actually a very big berry.
A potatoe's closest edible relative is an eggplant.
The Great Salt Lake is six times saltier than seawater.
The worlds largest consumer of sugar is Coca-Cola.
Most lipstick contains fish scales.
The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the english language.
The first St. Patricks day celebration in the United States was held in Boston in 1737
President Lyndon Johnson had an aunt named Frank.
According to the Guinness world book of records, the highest number of leaves found on a clover is 14.
One cord of wood (14ft x 8ft) will make 75 million toothpicks.
Just some little bits of highly saught after information is now yours!!
Have fun surprising your friends with all this knowledge..


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Welcome, everyone, to the Scott Pilgrim Book Club. For those who missed our earlier announcement, we're revving up for Bryan Lee O'Malley's Scott Pilgrim's Finest Hour (due out July 20) and the Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World movie (due out August 13) by discussing each volume of the series over the course of six weeks. This week, Techland's Douglas Wolk, Graeme McMillan, Mike Williams, Evan Narcisse and Time.com's Christine Lim are talking about volume 1, Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life, and we'd like you to join in–please comment below!
DOUGLAS: Looking at volume 1 almost six years after it appeared, it's pretty fascinating to see how much O'Malley's work has changed, and to notice the ways in which it hasn't. From the very first page, it's a huge leap over his previous book, Lost at Sea, but he's still figuring out what he's doing–the look of his characters is a little bit inconsistent even over the first few dozen pages. (Even the bit at the end of the book with the "studio audience" going "ooooh!" seems like more of a gag that would have appeared in Hopeless Savages when O'Malley was working on it.) At first, it just looks like he's playing with manga tropes in the context of a Canadian relationship comedy. Actually, "relationship comedy" is one way to put it, but–without having seen volume 6 yet–I'm starting to suspect that Scott Pilgrim is actually what Stanley Cavell would call a "comedy of remarriage."
GRAEME: I came to Scott Pilgrim late – I think it was between the second and third books, but it may have been the third and fourth? – and so read the first two together, and it always surprises me when I re-read the first how unfinished the art seems, and how "unlike" the characters everyone looks. There's a confidence in line that comes later that is missing this early, and as a result, it feels at times like someone else trying to do Bryan Lee O'Malley, if that makes sense. Visually, it all begins to fall into place as the book goes on, which is interesting; it's as if Bryan suddenly realized at some point "Oh, THIS is what it's meant to look like." But still: Compare the way that Scott looks at the end of the book and the beginning – there's a definite shift.
DOUGLAS: I think just about everybody came to Scott Pilgrim late (aside from Matthew Perpetua, who's perpetually ahead of the curve). As Christopher Butcher (the real-life Wallace Wells!) has pointed out, the first volume wouldn't have made Diamond's current cutoff mark for distribution based on its original orders. I didn't discover it until sometime after volume two came out, when enough people said "no really dude I seriously think you'd like this" that I finally sat down and read it. And they were right, of course.
(More on Techland: Wonder Woman Undergoes Reboot, Redesign)
I'm not sure at exactly what point O'Malley realized that grafting the tropes of old video games into a relationship-comedy comic book would be unbelievably hilarious and effective, but that's the point when Precious Little Life really takes off, I think. "This really convenient subspace highway happens to go through your head" reads like a joke explanation for an earlier scene that was too good to let go of; maybe O'Malley planned the whole thing earlier, but that particular moment feels like a breakthrough one way or another. Certainly, the first couple of chapters don't look like they're the beginning of a book that's going to end with the big Matthew Patel fight scene/dance number and the "Sweet! Coins!" moment.
The characters and dialogue, on the other hand, are there from the get-go: Kim Pine–that has to be her speaking the first line of the book, right?–Knives, and especially Wallace, who's one of the great supporting characters in comics. (My first crack-up on this rereading was nine pages in: "You're totally my bitch forever, Scott.") Ramona's a little bit of an idealized dream girl, but that's also her job at this stage of the plot: to be somebody that Scott's so in love with the idea of that he doesn't pay enough attention to the actual person.
Other people have annotated the game references at length (any favorites, gamers?), but it's probably worth calling attention to a couple of music references, besides the Stephen Stills/Young Neil gag:
Scott Pilgrim himself is named after a song by Plumtree–he can be seen wearing a Plumtree shirt (with their album Mass Teen Fainting namechecked on the back) both in this book and in the movie trailer (and the song's going to be on the movie soundtrack).
Sex Bob-Omb: Thanks to my post-2600 game illiteracy, I totally didn't get that this was a videogame joke. For years. The part of the joke I got was the reference to Flipper's American punk classic "Sex Bomb"–one riff, over and over forever, with exactly as many words as there are in the chorus of "Scott Pilgrim"-the-song.
(More on Techland: Interview: J.H. Williams III on Batwoman and More)
MIKE: Well, of course, there is the Shoryken uppercut to the air juggle. Scott could do Street Fighter schtick till volume 30 and I would still eat it up. Then there's allusions to Super Mario warp pipes and Metroid rolling ball attacks. And let's not forget DrumMania. These are all well and good but some of the in-jokes in the later volumes crack me up, specifically the RPG ones. We'll get to those when the time comes.
CHRISTINE: All of my knowledge of video games comes from the era of NES, Super Nintendo, chunky Gameboy and Sega Genesis–no later. I play NES and Gameboy "Color" (not DS) to this day, so I enjoyed the many video game references and gave myself a nerdy pat on the back for understanding them.


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- Search thousands of known courses by name or locate nearby courses for a quick fix.
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A breakthrough has been achieved in the July 5 attack near the makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya as security agencies nabbed some persons in this connection.
Informed sources said that it was now confirmed that Pakistan based Lashkar-e-Tayiba was behind the attack.
The militants who attempted to carry out the suicide attack near the makeshift temple were speaking Sindhi or Baloch dialects, the sources said.
During the 10-day investigation into the case, which sent ripples across the country, the security agencies found that some of the militants had originated from Jammu and Kashmir, they said.
During the investigation it was found that the militants had stayed in Akbarpur for four days before carrying out the attack, the sources said.
Nearly four to five people had been picked up from Jammu and Kashmir for allegedly providing logistical support to the militants, they said.
About the involvement of Rehan Alam, the driver of the militants' vehicle in during the attack, the sources said one of his relatives was working in a Gulf country, which could have been the reason behind his frequent visits there.
The Uttar Pradesh police have been continuously informed with intelligence inputs about the concentration of Pakistanis in Akbarpur, from where the attackers had travelled to Faizabad and its adjoining districts.
Six heavily armed terrorists made an unsuccessful bid to storm the high-security makeshift Ram temple at Ayodhya on July 5 but were killed by the security forces before they could strike at the shrine.


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This theology can prepare humans to reach the sublime state of realized souls, described in SankaracharyaŌĆÖs Nirvanashtakam, that go beyond any concept, and enjoy the status of chidanandaroopa (the mind bliss state). Christ speaks of the Kingdom of God within each one of us, a kingdom of truth and justice, a kingdom of peace and reconciliation of everything and everyone in a unique God-human union. Again these are human expressions about the incomprehensible. Let us focus on living right, doing right, taking things as they come, praying for grace to accept what we get when we do not get what we pray for. Everything, both good and bad, happens for a reason. We can mentally and spiritually grow if we are able to decode or decipher the message contained in everything that happens to us. It is also good to remind ourselves of the great insight imparted to us by the great Roman thinker, Epictetus: ŌĆ£It is not what happens to us that matters, but what we make of what happens to us that mattersŌĆØ. The powerful Serenity Prayer that says ŌĆØGod, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the differenceŌĆØ is also a powerful guide in our daily living.
We are asked to be as perfect as our heavenly Father is perfect. We are GodŌĆÖs, and God is ours. God is love, and love is God; God is truth and truth is God. God is freedom, beauty, compassion, justice, and all other attributes. God loves us and wants everyone to become what he/she is capable of. GodŌĆÖs corrective - not punitive - justice brings us back to his ways. God does not want anyone to be lost. Even the one who rejects God sincerely will be saved. God gives humans unconditional freedom knowing the possibility of abuse of freedom. It is important to have an attitude of profound gratitude for the entire creation, nature and its wonders, this magnificent world and all its beauty, and all the blessings freely given. A heart-felt feeling that all is well, that there is a universal Providence looking after everyone and everything, that all are co-creators with God is ours to have. We need to constantly thank God for creating us as GodŌĆÖs children.
Next -Life to Live
Previous: -Insane Culture


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Province Almanac for September 22nd, 2016. Today we celebrate the Autumnal Equinox - the first day of Fall in the Northern Hemisphere - "when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal."
Fall has always been a melancholic season for me. One associated with going back to school, cutting and piling winter firewood, and the arrival of colder darker days. To get through those short Fall days and long Michigan winters I used to look up at the cloud cover that sometimes stretched for weeks and remind myself that just above that gray blanket the sun was shining and the sky was blue. If you hopped on a jet plane, you could burst through the winter doldrums and in minutes be right back in the summer sun.
Now that I've hopped that jet plane to L.A., I still have to remind my conditioned brain that I don't have to worry about winter storms or keeping the wood fire burning through the night. It's my second autumn in California and my heart still sinks a moment when I wake to morning clouds. The marine fog layer yet to dissolve in the afternoon sun.
At noon today I spotted a brush fire in Elysian park. Just across the valley on the neighboring hill, in the shadow of downtown Los Angeles and adjacent to Dodger's Stadium, the smoke plume grew quickly and I was glued to its drama like a television set. Three water dropping choppers and a crew of 100 on the ground. With fire dangers at their red-flagged peak in this week's stretch of 90 degree days, whatever they call winter here is still a long ways away.
I did some writing today then drove down the hill to drop off a shipment of vintage at the post office. When I came home I took a walk through the garden to see how the plants are coping with the first day of fall. Pretty much the same way they did the last day of summer, I suppose. I wonder if this baby watermelon will work overtime to present us with a Halloween treat?
A lizard left us a treat of its own on the patio furniture. I guess a pile of pillows is a soft place to trade in your summer layer for a new winter coat. I still enjoy watching the lizards nab ants in the yard, so they're welcome to shed their skin and stick around.
Less welcome was the scorpion that crawled under the front door and greeted us coming home the other evening. Not interested in supplying creature comforts to all species, I gave him a fling down the hill. With the weather fluctuating wildly, it seems the insects have been behaving badly.
It's a breezy early evening now. The wildfire is out and in a few hours the marine fog will dissolve the heat of the day. I'll keep the screen door open until bedtime-- cool fresh air for sleeping, dogs barking in the valley, mourning doves pecking a few last seeds before roost.
Looks like back home they'll be spared another night from frost. And we'll all wake tomorrow with another equinox behind us. A small milestone until the next. The days between filled with quiet moments and little surprises.


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City of Peterborough Ladies continued their push for promotion from East Division Two North West with a handsome 3-0 win over Pelicans at Bretton Gate on Saturday (February 7).
Once again the deadly duo of Lyn Tancred (2) and Tierney Augustine scored the goals as City maintained second place, two points behind Spalding.
On a difficult surface, it took the home side some time to get into their stride, however a dominant performance from the starting midfield three of Claire Steels, skipper Loz Finding and Nicole Duffin, together with Lisa Deacon leading the defence ensured that the Pelicans threat was nullified.
However, it took until half way through the first-half before Lyn Tancred, darting in from the left ran solo before converting at the near post with a crisp shot past the keeper. This settled any nerves that may have been there for City and within minutes the lead was doubled as the other part of the 'TNT' strike force, Tierney Augustine, picked up the ball at the top of the 'D' and converted past the goalkeeper's left-hand post to make it 2-0.
With a comfortable lead at half time Peterborough looked to manage the game whilst ensuring that any threat
The second half was more dominant for the home side as they got more comfortable with the conditions and some restructuring ensured the Pelican's playmaker found the going tough.
City continued to press and once again, as the ball broke in the 'D', Tancred was on hand to score her 19th goal of the season from close range to effectively end the game.
Late on City were awarded a flick after Pelicans had stopped the ball illegally on the line, however, on this occasion skipper Finding only managed to find the right hand pad of the goalkeeper.
This week Peterborough find themselves away at bottom of the table Ely, with complacency being the watch word. Pushback is at noon.
City of Peterborough seconds staged a late fightback against Cambridge University seconds in the same section, but just came up short. The students scored after 30 seconds and were 3-0 ahead by the break before Anna and Emma Faux pulled goals back in the second-half.
City thirds lost 2-0 to March in Division Three, but City fourths beat Bourne Deeping seconds in Division Four.


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Today I noticed a strange behavior with jQuery and Internet Explorer…
The jQuery function below worked just fine in Firefox & Chrome …
but on Internet Explorer it somehow never triggered the 'success' event callback:
$.ajax({ type:"GET", url:"handler.php?id="+$.id, dataType:"json", success:function(json){ /* do something */ } });
In case you don't use jQuery, this is the required request header (it's identical to dataType:"json"):
As it turned out, IE has certain compatibility issues when delivering with the correct headers.
For example, this response header causes the AJAX request to fail dearly on Internet Explorer:
<?php header("content-type: application/json; charset=utf8"); echo json_encode($json); ?>
But when sending out the response without any header – the JSON gets parsed on IE:
<?php echo json_encode($json); ?>
Some people on the jQuery forum wrote, that IE even requires that content header,
but the trick definitely is: not to send out the content-type response header to IE.
One has to detect Internet Explorer server-side and just skip the header in that case:
<?php if(!preg_match("/msie\s(\d+).(\d+)/", strtolower($_SERVER["HTTP_USER_AGENT"]), $arr)){ header("content-type: application/json; charset=utf8"); } echo json_encode($obj->get_some_array($id)); ?>
This makes JSON applications even work on IE6, believe it or not 🙂


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- This event has passed.
Advanced Rides L8-10 (Male & Female)
December 8 2018 @ 9:00 am - 11:00 am
Our Advanced skills rides are very technical. You can expect to practice Enduro and Downhill routes. You will need to successfully complete our Rock, Drops and Jumps (RDJ) Workshop or have ridden with us on our intermediate rides. The advanced sessions are open to any male and female rider capable to enjoy technical and steep terrain. We also include junior riders who proved themselves. 😉
These sessions are 2 hours in duration and run in true Enduro style. Comfortable pace to the head of a trail. Inspecting trail features and lines and repetitive riding of certain sections, initially slowly and then faster. Depending on where we are riding, expect around 18-22 km of distance and 300-400m of ascent.
Date Location
6 Oct Contermanskloof DH course
27 Oct Table Mountain/Glen/Boulders DH lines
3 Nov Contermanskloof DH course
17 Nov Hoogekraal
24 Nov Tokai
8 Dec Table Mountain/Glen/Boulders DH lines
R390 per person
-Adventure and skills
-Our sessions are 2 hours in duration
-6:1 rider to coach ratio for individual attention
-Quality skills and fitness training with relaxed vibes
NB: Please note that permits are not included.
Email firstname.lastname@example.com to receive our information brochure and book your first session with us.


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CRU London is Y's go to for the super on trend bucket bag. The Appleby bags design is simple, stylish yet practical and is the perfect size to carry everything you need whilst on the go, I might even fit...
If you love the bag as much as I do then you are in luck as the lovely team at CRU are giving you the chance to win the handbag of your dreams, be it the bucket bag or one of their amazing Gordon Backpacks which I definitely have my eye on so I will be entering the competition as well so good luck!!
- Visit the CRU London website
- Select the handbag of your dreams and then tweet or Instagram a photograph of it
- Be sure to use the hashtag #DreamCRUBag and mention @CRU_London
The lucky winner will be chosen at random at midday on November 12th. Good luck and thank you for joining in! The Ts&Cs can be found on the blog section of the CRU London website here