Be warned this will be a huge story once it's finished. (If it gets
finished)
Disclaimer: *sighs* Unfortunately, I don't own Voyager, but
fortunately Paramount doesn't own our imaginations.
Rating: If you are old enough to watch the show, you are old enough
to read this. Just some deep kissing and little romance. Have fun.
Therefore, I rate this as PG.
Scavenger Hunt part 13
The main hall was a relief after the abuse Kathryn and Chakotay's
ears had suffered. They had completed six courses. They were both
having the time of their life. "Do you want to try and finish off
the first floor?" Kathryn asked.
"I don't see why not," Chakotay replied.
"Now, let's see. We've been to all of the rooms except for those to
in the corner and the two across the room near the entrance. Any
preference?" Kathryn said most of this quietly to herself.
"Let's go to the closest one," he said and they walked over to the
door on the right side of the left spiral staircase. Chakotay opened
the door and inhaled deeply. Kathryn and Chakotay were bathed in the
smell of fresh rain and flowers. The couple walked in, not knowing
what to expect.
They went through a short ivy encased tunnel and came out into a
bright, wet garden. Tulips, violets, lilies, roses, violas,
periwinkle, morning glory, petunias, daffodils, pansies, sunflowers,
lilies of the valley, and many more flowers were growing everywhere
and filled the scene with a panorama of wild color. All were overly
bright from a rain that had apparently just ended. The sky was
filled with threatening dark clouds. Despite the lack of light,
everything was glowing with a life of its own. Chakotay and Kathryn
criss-crossed the garden along the stone paths, exploring and taking
in all that they could. They soon ended up in the back of the garden
that had a large bubbling fountain. Behind the fountain was a large,
smooth piece of stone with words carved into it. The stone was set
low to the ground and gently sloped. The couple silently came to the
stone to read it.
To leave this realm, you must solve this riddle.
~First think of the person who lives in disguise,
~Who deals in secrets and tell naught but lies.
~Next, think of what's always the last thing to mend,
~The middle of middle and the end to end?
~And finally give me the sound often heard
~During the search for a hard-to-find word.
~Now string them together, and answer me this,
~Which creature would you be unwilling to kiss?
"A person who lives in disguise...imposter? No, that's not it...
Spy! That's the first part," Chakotay said while Kathryn was
repeating the riddle to herself.
"The middle of middle and the end to end. Last thing to mend. What
does it mean by that?" Kathryn muttered. "Ah ha! It means by
letters! So, the second part is d."
"A sound often heard during the search for a hard-to-find word...Uh..
Uh...No, that's not it. Hmm...So far we have spyd. A creature I'd
be unwilling to kiss...er-" Chakotay was cut off in his musings by
and excited Kathryn.
"Spider! That's it!" she exclaimed. Just as she said this, the
clouds parted and the sun began shining on the garden and the couples
back. The garden was under an eerie spell of light. A mist seemed
to rise up from the wet earth. Chakotay smiled as he looked at the
garden. He took Kathryn's hand and when she looked at him, he drew
he attention to the gorgeous scene by pointing. "Wow," she said as
she was dazzled by the colors. A cloud then floated in front of the
sun and everything was returned to faintly glowing from exploding
with vibrancy.
Chakotay turned back to the stone to read it one last time. Laying
on top of the riddle was picture of the garden as it had been a few
seconds before. He leaned down and picked it up, while Kathryn was
still admiring the garden. Chakotay stood back up and said, "Look."
Kathryn smiled as she took the picture from him and said, "I think
we should replicate it before we leave tonight."
"I agree." He graced her with a charmingly dimpled smile and start
forward to the exit. He stopped when he realized that Kathryn wasn't
following. She was totally immersed in the image she held in her
hand. Kathryn looked at Chakotay after a few seconds and grinned
sheepishly.
"I'll just put this away now. I think I'll paint this next time I
get the urge to paint." Kathryn put it away slowly, delaying the
time for them to leave. Then finally, she had nothing more to hold
her there, except for the feeling of peace she had. Kathryn smiled
and started for the exit after she had convinced herself that she
could come back.
They reached the tunnel and Kathryn opened the door and came out into
the hall first. Chakotay was right behind her, smiling thoughtfully
at her reaction that course.
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Scavenger Hunt part 14
By lissa
The hall seemed dim and dreary compared to the garden. Kathryn gave
a small smile to Chakotay, which he returned like a Cheshire cat. She
laughed and said, "Seven down, five to go."
"Seven already? We better hurry if we want those 60 replicator
credits." They walked around the spiral staircase to the next door.
Chakotay opened it with flourish and bowed deeply causing Kathryn to
laugh again. She walked through and he followed closely. They
stepped into a long torch lit corridor. The walls were arched and
made of a dark grey stone. A deep claret rug ran down the center of
it. But the most noticeable feature of this course was that it was
twisted. It dizzyingly spiraled down to a room so far away that it
was barely a pinprick of light. They couldn't stop the door from
closing this time because the door had disappeared in to solid, stone
wall.
"I don't like this, I really don't like this," Kathryn said as she
swayed slightly in her effort to remain upright. Her eyes were not
helping her in this mission. They completely disagreed with her feet
touching the ground, her middle ears, and the artificial gravity
holding her to the floor. Chakotay steadied Kathryn and he stuck out
a hand to the wall to help him keep his balance.
"Just close your eyes and keep your hands on the wall," he said as he
gently pulled her to the wall in front of him.
"Thanks," she sighed, feeling better already. "Keep your hand on my
shoulder, so I know where you are."
"Okay," Chakotay said, but put his hand on her waist instead. "That
way, if you stumble, I'll catch you."
"Works for me." They walked in silence for an eternity. Kathryn was
getting severely bored. "Are we there yet?" Kathryn asked mimicking
children on a family trip.
"Nope," Chakotay chuckled. He opened his eyes to see how much
further they were. "Kathryn, open your eyes! We haven't moved!"
"What?" she opened her eyes, "Oh, Hell."
"Wanna make a run for it?" Chakotay said with a gentle tease in his
eyes and at the corners of his mouth.
"Eat my dust," Kathryn said as she speed forward, and was rather
surprised to see Chakotay step up beside her and stand there
grinning. "But, how?...It's a delaying trick."
"Yep. We haven't left the first 8 feet of corridor yet. That was
some mighty impressive dust you had," he said laughingly. Kathryn
scrunched up her face and said nothing, but then she grinned.
"It was, wasn't it?" she asked while lightly punching Chakotay in the
arm. "Let's explore what we can." She inspected the wall they had
started at in minute detail. Kathryn checked for pressure switches,
felt for drafts and pulled on the one torch she could get at.
Chakotay did the same at the opposite wall. He looked at the torch
and suddenly got an idea.
"Kathryn, pull out that torch near you." She did, and as she lifted
it up, Chakotay mirrored her actions. There was a rumbling and they
looked at eachother, wondering what was next. Then as suddenly as it
started, the rumbling stopped. They looked forward and the corridor
was straight. With smiles of relief they tried putting the torches
back, but when the rumbling started again, they quickly changed their
minds.
"I think they want us carry them, what do you think?" Kathryn smirked.
"I agree," he said, "Shall we?" Chakotay held his arm out in
gentlemanly fashion. Kathryn loop her arm through his.
"Definitely," she said struggling to keep a straight face. They
speed-walked towards the room, almost leaving a streak behind them.
Finally with hurried breaths they came into their goal. In the
middle of the room was pedestal with a small figure set on top. The
figure was clear, luminescent glass. Its base curved gracefully up
at two corners. The figure spiraled artfully up.
"It's beautiful," Chakotay said as he walked to it. As he reached
for it his hand unexpectedly stopped. A strange looked crossed his
face. He looked up around the small chamber. "Ah ha," he took his
hand away from the figure, "Kathryn go to that torch holder and put
your torch in when I do." They each stepped to opposite sides of the
wall and mirrored eachother yet again. This time instead of a
rumble, a bright light flashed from the glass figure. Kathryn smiled.
Chakotay tried to pick up the figure again and did so with ease.
"Finally, let's go," Kathryn said right before a mischievous looked
came over her face. "Last one there is a rotten egg!" She dashed
off ahead of Chakotay. She had a good lead, but soon he was catching
up. He was only a few feet behind Kathryn when she made a flying
leap for the now back door. Chakotay skidded to a stop just before
he would have body slammed her into the door. They panted for breath
and laughed gaspingly. When they were able to talk again they left
their eighth course.
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Scavenger Hunt part 15
by Lissa
They came out of the course flushed and sweating. The hall was not
as near as dreary as it was last time. Compared to the stomach-
churning twisted corridor, it was sheer heaven. "Three more courses
on this floor," Chakotay said softly in Kathryn's ear.
"And only four more to do altogether." Kathryn smiled at Chakotay
and took his hand as they walked to nearest undone course. She
opened the door and led them through it as they were engulfed by the
smell of chlorine, sweat, and sunshine. The sun was blazing down on
them and an amusement park. "Wow."
"This looks like fun," Chakotay said looking at a huge, multicolored
sign that said, "Paint Ball". The sign had an arrow pointed at the
only way they could go. Everything else was blocked off by a well-
worn wooden fence.
"I agree. Ever play before?" she asked when they started walking.
"Yes. I ended up looking like an abstract painting," he laughed at
the memory.
"I haven't. Anything I should know?"
"I'm not telling, or else this could become a repeat of my first
round," Chakotay said coyly. At this, Kathryn raised her eyebrow.
"Well, maybe it will and maybe it won't," she said mysteriously as
they reached the entrance to the arena. There was no one there to
interact with this time. So, Kathryn and Chakotay read the rules.
~Suit up in the clothing covers provided
~Wear the goggles provided
~Use ammo provided
~Stay in Paint Ball area
~No mercy
"Sounds like fun, alright," Kathryn said wryly and looked around at
the battleground. There were all sorts of things to hide behind and
piles of hay to fall into. Everything she could see had been
splattered with paint several times over. Even the rules had been
wiped off and had a slight tinge of green and blue around the words.
"I'm glad we have clothing covers, even if it is holographic paint,"
said Chakotay as he walked over to a wall that had several hooks. On
those hooks were amazingly white suits that were fastened with
velcro. By each suit was a stained canvas bag full of paint-filled
balloons and a pair of goggles.
"I think I'll leave the backpack here and wrap it up with one of the
clothing covers. That will keep our holographic loot from getting
holographicly stained," Kathryn said with a good-natured grin. She
took a suit off the hook and proceeded to put it on. By the time she
was putting her goggles on, Chakotay had already disappeared.
Kathryn smiled slyly and pulled a paintball out, for easy use. She
crept up to a shadow that did not belong, and slowly looked over
the top of the pipe sculpture, with her arm poised to throw. Kathryn
made a face of disappointment. It was only another part of the
sculpture that she hadn't been able to see.
"Olly, Olly, Oxen Free," she called. When Kathryn got no response
she tried, "Marco."
"Polo," came the word from about ten feet away. Kathryn silently
made her way to a short wall not too far away from Chakotay. She
hunkered down and searched for a pebble. When Kathryn found one she
peered over the top of her wall.
"Marco," she said again.
"Polo," Chakotay said again. Kathryn did her best to pinpoint where
Chakotay was and threw the pebble to land about two feet in front of
him. He sprang up and threw his paintball. Chakotay's eyes widened
when he saw Kathryn and he ducked. But not quick enough. His nice,
white suit now had a red starburst on its chest.
Kathryn spotted another good hiding spot and immediately ran for it.
Now she was behind a plyboard cutout of a cloud. She chanced a look
over the top to where, Chakotay had been a few moments before. He
was standing and looking cautiously at Kathryn's previous place.
Chakotay slowly and stealthily went over to where he thought she was,
not even noticing the crop of auburn hair and blue-grey, goggled
eyes looking over the top of a cloud a few feet away.
Kathryn grinned and grabbed another slippery ball. She took her aim,
got him square in the left shoulder, and ducked. Chakotay saw where
she was and crouched by her hiding place. After a small wait, he
took two paintballs, one in each hand, and quickly stood, throwing
them down at Kathryn. One missed by a mile...and the other...well...
let's just say, Kathryn is truly a redhead now.
"Oh, no," Chakotay laughed and made a run for it. Kathryn simply
wiped most of the paint off of her head and muttered darkly. Then
she stood, determined and smiling wickedly, to find her prey.
"Oh, Chakotay? Where are you?" she cooed in a sickeningly sweet
voice. "Marco."
"Polo," said softly somewhere to her left. Kathryn smirked and
gathered in her hands four paint balls. Two, cumbersomely, held in
each small hand. She crept like a cat to the source of the sound.
Just when Chakotay chanced a peak, Kathryn gave him a hair-dye job.
Very pretty, blue and green. The couple continued in this fashion
until only one of them had any paintballs at all left.
Chakotay held the last paintball gently in his hand. "Kathryn? You
might as well come out. I know you're out of ammo. Come out and
meet your fate."
"What fate might that be?" she called from the opposite side of the
arena rather wryly.
"To be hit with this paintball," Chakotay replied as he walked
towards her. "Marco."
"Polo," Kathryn said softly. He stepped up to her little barricade
and raised his arm to throw the last paintball. She popped up like a
jack in the box. As he threw the ball, Kathryn raised a makeshift
shield of plywood in front of her. The paint ball exploded with a
dull thud, sprinkling Chakotay with yellow paint. Kathryn giggled as
he wiped his face off. She struggled to pull her goggles off.
"Do you think that is funny?" Chakotay said with a hint of humor in
his voice.
"Uh huh," Kathryn said between giggles. Chakotay raised his eyebrow
as he heard this. Finding only one solution, he took his goggles
off, leaned forward, put his arms around Kathryn, and gave her a
smoldering kiss. This silenced her giggles. They were perfectly
content to stand there forever.
But then they were interrupted by a jovial voice saying, "Another
happy couple." Kathryn and Chakotay reluctantly pulled apart enough
to see the new person. They saw before them a short and pleasantly
plump man. He was beaming at them. "I'm glad you enjoyed my
business. Do come back. Here's a card that tells of my friend's
businesses and their seasons, as well as mine."
"Thank you. It was really fun," Kathryn said as she reached for the
card from the man's hand.
"Can't wait to come back," said Chakotay as he began to undo the
velcro of his suit.
"I'm glad you had a good time. Here, let me have your suits,
goggles, and bags and I'll go get them cleaned." Kathryn and
Chakotay did as told. Then the little man bustled off to take care
of the colorful apparel. The couple walked back to the front to get
the backpack and to put proof of their ninth course's completion in
it. They had bright smiles on their faces as they reached the exit
of the course.
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Scavenger Hunt part 16
By Lissa
The colorful couple came out into the bustling activity of the hall. "We must have caught one of busy periods, finally," Kathryn said to Chakotay.
"Captain, I must say, red is certainly one of your colors," Harry said as he passed by with Seven, who looked like she would rather be in Astrometrics at the moment. Kathryn grinned and the potential couple.
"You two should try this course. I think you'd both love it," said Chakotay as innocently as he could.
"Is that where you acquired your striking colors?" Seven dubiously inquired.
"No, it was the one before," Kathryn fibbed. She barely managed to look truthful, seeing as a wicked grin was trying to be seen.
"Shall we?" an all to trusting Harry asked.
"Okay," Seven stated blandly. Just as the door closed, trapping Harry and Seven inside, Kathryn and Chakotay burst out laughing.
"Oh, I can't wait to see them when they come out!" Chakotay said as they walked the few feet to the next course.
"You wicked, evil, delightingly witty pair. That was my idea!" Tom said as he and B'Elanna walked over to them. B'Elanna's hair was orange and Tom's was green, making them clash, just a tinge.
"I see you already had the pleasure. Who was worst off?" Chakotay asked with his dimples firmly in place.
"Who do you think?" B'Elanna asked with a smirk. Tom raised an eyebrow and made a very amused face at this. "Alright, I confess, Tom got me thoroughly splattered." All of them laughed. "We should get a move on, I heard someone say that they already had eight courses finished. They were morethanlikely bragging, but it wouldn't hurt to hurry a bit."
"Agreed. See you later," Kathryn said as she led Chakotay through the entrance of the next course. When the door shut, she said, "We should hurry, we've got nine courses now. And if someone said they had eight, then they are too close for my comfort."
"Okay, then no more time wasting," Chakotay said in a mock-stern voice. "We're doing fine, don't worry about it." She smiled at him and took his hand. Then they looked around at this new little puzzle for them to sort out. It was semi-dark and had neon arrows on the floor pointing a path out. As they followed the arrows, they noticed several other paths breaking off into the chamber. After many twists and turns, they came to a round room with several doorways. As in the previous course, they were all alone and there was a sign of instructions for them to follow.
Laser Tag
~ Wear the sensor vests located in the center
~ Use laser guns provided
~ Recharge at stations as you come to them.
~ Three tags and the game is over
~ Play to win.
"We get another course of fun and cat and mousing, it seems," Chakotay said to Kathryn as they picked up vests.
"Well, we don't have to start yet, so, will you help me get this thing adjusted?" she asked as she struggled to get a grip on one of the straps.
"Sure." He gently got her vest fixed for her stature. Just before he stepped away to fix his own, she turned around and kissed him briefly on the lips. And, like lightning she had dashed into the maze. Chakotay just grinned and got his vest adjusted before beginning the pursuit.
When he had made two turns, a loud beep registered that he had been tagged and he saw a red dot hit his hand as he glanced at his laser. He whirled to find Kathryn, but she had slipped away. Kathryn decided only to make her first hit after she had found a place to recharge her weapon. As Chakotay was searching for her, she was already getting the laser juiced up.
Kathryn set off to find her prey again when the meter was at full. She wandered through the maze until she had either come back to the recharger or found another, she wasn't certain which. She was getting disoriented. Then, her vest beeped twice in a row. She spun and fired at the movement. She heard Chakotay's vest report. Kathryn was grinning. They were tied, two to two.
Each tried to stalk eachother, but more and more, they found that they were stalking their own shadows. Kathryn eventually decided to find the center of the maze again, a venture that was aided by the rediscovery of the neon arrows. She stepped carefully along the path, aware that each wall could be hiding Chakotay. Every few seconds, Kathryn glanced back to be sure that he wasn't behind her.
Chakotay was doing the same thing. Only, he was slightly ahead of her. He stopped and closed his eyes to listen for movement. When he heard Kathryn's light step, he got behind a wall as far as he could and laid in wait. She inched closer and closer, then just when she passed, Chakotay hit the trigger. A red dot hit her square on the sensor above her heart. The beep was accompanied by a mechanical sliding. Kathryn grinned as she realized that the walls were going down, making the trip out far easier than she expected.
"You beat me, fair and square," she said when Chakotay stepped up and begun to loosen her vest. She, in turn, unstrapped Chakotay's vest.
"Yes, I did. The ever invincible Kathryn Janeway lost at laser tag to her humble first officer."
"Make that devilishly handsome, and it'll be very true." They smiled and went to the center to receive their proof. It wasn't there, so after they put the vests and lasers back, they walked back to the exit. It wasn't there either.
"Let's try the rechargers," Chakotay said. It turns out that there was only one. So, when they got to it, they found a little package with note. It said, 'Bet you wish you had these when you were playing.' Inside the little package were some double A batteries. This earned a slight grin from Kathryn and Chakotay laughed.
"Let's go. I'm starting to get tired. I can take only so much of my heart beating wildly and having so much adrenaline rushing for so long a time," Kathryn said with a yawn.
"Only two more, only two more," Chakotay said as he opened the door.
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