8 Too hot to Trot! Learning the ropes.

"Could someone turn off that incessa-" he was cut short as his head throbbed with pain. Groan in ngvhe opened one eye and blinked at his surroundings. White walls and sanitary conditions along with medical monitors told him he was in a hospital. 'Better than a grave.'

His gaze landed on a stunned and stunning looking recruit sitting nearby. She quickly jumped up and bolted to the door, shouting for the nurse.

"He's awake, Nurse, nurse! He's awake!"

Kano started to tell her to quiet down, but he was distracted by the nice and round shape of her lower extremities, even in the MARPAT pants that are normally loose on everyone, she filled them nicely. She turned back to him and his eyes slowly moved up to her face. Golden hair was pulled back tightly in a bun due to regs, but those damn sapphire eyes just melted any thought he had. Apparently his dazed look caused the young woman some concern as her face changed to a look of worry.

"Are you okay?"

"Eyes like that, a bump on the head is worth it to get lost in them, even if only for a moment."

'Damn, heroic and smooth. The muscle sure isn't bad either.' she thought, not about to speak but her blushing face betraying her anyway.

Kano was going to press his luck but the nurse showed up with a doctor and his newfound friend was pressed out of the room. He did manage to catch her name on her blouse though. 'Vulf. sounds german... like me. Bet it used to be Wolf before her ancestor emigrated. If I see her again, I have another icebreaker. Be good to at least talk to another gal at least. Get ready to be back in the game once I'm active.'

He let go of his thoughts as the medical staff began to poke and prod away at him, trying to determine if he was injured worse or not.

***

Kano woke up with an easy groan and stretched. A bit of straw poked at his leg which meant he was back in Chelandria. Bolting upright, he began to search for Bill.

"Old man! How long has it been?"

"Shut it, ya fool! Not long enough. Still sleepin'."

He looked to the windows and noticed it was still dark. Judging from the tone Bill had, it was the same day, or night as it were. Kano grinned at his success. After the doctors and nurses had finished their examinations, he was ordered to get some rest and with luck he would be back in his platoon before the week was out.

As the sun's rays gleamed through the yellow and green glass, Kano began his new morning routine. Wash face, cut firewood, sweep the floor and then eat breakfast. He found himself looking forward to today, Bill had decided to let him help sanctify the deceased that was brought to them last night. Thankfully, Bill knew a spell that kept a body fresh. His necromancy was much more refined than Kano's.

The afternoon found them at the creek only an hours walk away. The calming sound of water flowing eased any and all cares they may have had. Kano's own father never had the opportunity to take him fishing as a young boy, always away on deployment or exercises.

His reverie was broken as Bill erupted into a fit of coughs. Looking over at him, Kano was stunned for a bit before being able to speak.

"I thought Deathless cant get sick?"

"Just a dry throat is all. A tickle."

He could tell that Bill was hiding something, but he knew better than to pry. The cough was much worse than some dryness of the throat. Figuring it was better to let it go, he once again looked out over the scenery. Before long another thought struck him.

"When was the last time you were back on Earth?"

He knew that bill was thinking as his hand had come up to touch the mask he always wore. The classic plague doctor mask, bird like beak and all. He even wore it to sleep. Kano had asked him about it early on, and his answer was a simple, 'I'm used to it. Don't really think about it.'

"Well, I had managed to work my way into being a vizier for a czar. But he was overthrown and I was killed. I was caught up in a war over here too, so I kept waking up over there again and again to heal myself. Bastards on both sides just kept killing me. Finally, I just played dead over here until they left me alone. Tried to go back once, but I was frozen in some blasted ice somewhere far to the north. The Arctic I think."

Kano frowned as he thought, 'Czar, Russian. Overthrown. Killed over and over...'

"Wait, you were Rasputin?!"

"You heard o' me?" The mask pointing Kano's direction with surprise.

"Heard of you?! You were one of the greatest supernatural tales that actually held up! Rasputin, the evil warlock that heralded the end of an empire and could not be killed. Shot, hung, stabbed, poisoned, and drowned."

"Yeah well, it didn't feel famous or historic. It hurt." Bill shuffled his trench around as he changed to a more comfortable position on his log.

"So why did you want to kill Anastasia?"

"What? Kill the princess? Why? She was a little girl. I was a trusted and loyal vizier. I was trying to help the Czar and Czarina escape to loyalists. Did the people make me a scapegoat?! What shite."

The grumpy doctor huffed and leaned against the tree that was behind the log. The air was still again, only the water cheerfully flowing along.

"Try to see if you can beat your time. Be back here before I wake up and then we will head back. You need to read your history."

Kano sighed, but he had to admit, it was pretty fun to be able to travel backwards for a few hours. He had managed to spend a few days back on Earth, and wake up here in Chelandria the morning after he had went to sleep. Mandatory fun was coming up, July 4th... Independance day. Maybe, he would see Vulf again. The grin on his face could not be wiped away as he placed his pole down and lay back on the soft grass of the creek bank. He let his mind wander back to the world he had called home for so long. An image of himself, asleep in his bunk, only barely distracted by thoughts of a certain hourglass shaped recruit with blonde hair. A low chuckle rumbled in his throat as he slowly drifted away...

***

His reverie and thoughts about a certain voluptuous marine were broken by the distinct trumpets of Reveille. Kano quickly mustered his thoughts and hurriedly got dressed and ready for morning formation. A few minutes later he found himself doing pushups as inevitably, someone had gotten up too slowly for the Drill Instructor's liking, as usual. If he was honest with himself, he was quite used to it now. Five weeks had gone by pretty quickly and today was going to be a 'post beautification day.' In other words, he and his platoon would be picking up litter all day, all over the base until his DI got tired of it. Still, that did not matter as he was certain to look for Vulf tonight. Maybe, he would get her first name. First names were like gold at basic. Everybody was known by their last name, but only a select few buddies ever learned your first.

Sure enough, after a good morning 'fun' run, they had morning chow and then showered, only to be back outside in the hot California sun to pick up trash. But even that could not ruin his mood. He knew he would find her. All the platoons were going to be there. He just had to look, and he had a little trick up his sleeve.

While he had been studying, Bill had let slip that while spells do not work in the Home realm, passives do. Thus, Kano had started practicing his <Undead Fortitude> Spell until he had mastered it. Now, it was considered a passive ability and always active. He could turn it off, but he only did that to get to sleep if he could not due to being stressed. He had also started using a new spell, bringing him up to three in his head. <Arcane Trace> It was a very useful universal spell that many casters had taken. He only had to focus a perfect image in his mind of what he wanted to find, and a magical trail would appear, leading him to his target.

Apparently his grin was rather easy to spot, as his bunkie tagged a fist into his shoulder.

"What are you grinning at, Hoff? Got another song for us? Get a nudie from your ex?" The fist belonged to a tall and muscular black man. All six feet and five inches of Rockimia Lafi III leaned into Kano, using his 268 pounds to force him to falter a step. The man was the penultimate smooth talker with the ladies and extremely profound with his words when he wanted to be. He also could be as foul mouthed as the next marine too. Of course, that voice was not as deep as people would expect, it held a slight comfort to it, and the way he spoke, his inflections and pauses only amplified his veritable coolness. Not to mention, he had perfect diction with no hint of an accent whatsoever.

Kano laughed and shook his head. His last name being Hoffstedder, he automatically got the nickname, 'the Hoff' and the DI had made him do a rendition of 'Looking for Freedom,' by David Hasselhoff, or the original 'Hoff.' Kano had taken it in stride and had even looked up some more songs to sing as cadences. The platoon loved it and he found himself popular. It was a first for him. It felt unbelievably good to be a part of something, to be accepted.

He was grinning because he had also performed a major taboo for casters. He had learned one more spell and pushed past his limit. It had hurt at first, but then it was just annoying. The words of power screaming around his brain, especially the ones that had multiple uses. Mastering a spell only helped a body to cope, not be immune to the effects. But, it did make it easier to cast almost instantaneously.

'<Mien of an Incubus>, this spell may be of some use.'

"Lafi, let's just say that I hope fireworks aren't the only thing going off tomorrow night." Kano winked at the big man and grinned once more. "I've got a wolf to hunt."