Okay, I'm not entirely sure I'm going to use this ending for the story, nor am I even done with the story in question. I just thought it was a cool ending, because it's like an ending at the beginning sort of thing. It's the Lord of the Rings type one. So yeah.
Faug and Valin decided to go to the Lazy Dog on Midsummer's Eve the next year, exactly five years after their adventure had started. Strangely enough, they were seated at the exact same table as they had been that fateful night.
Then Faug noticed a shadowed figure dressed all in black in the corner, with a hood over their eyes.
Faug grinned. He kicked Valin under the table and pointed discreetly. Valin turned cautiously, and grinned once he saw where his brother had been pointing. They knew the drill from there.
They sat there talking very late that night. Then Faug glanced over to the corner again, but the figure was gone.
Then he heard a soft voice in his ear.
"Room fifteen," whispered a voice he recognized. "Five minutes. Don't be late, or else suffer the consequences."
Faug nodded, and grinned.
Valin looked questioningly at his brother.
"Upstairs," he muttered. "Five minutes."
They obliged.
Entering room fifteen, they saw the figure exactly as they had seen her on the night they had met her five years ago-her back to them, staring out the window. She turned at the sound of the door. She was visibly grinning now.
The two brothers grinned back, glad to see the fairy-elf. She didn't seem very different, except for maybe a bit taller and filled out.
"I've got something to show you," she said.
"What?" Valin wondered.
"Do you remember my scars?" she asked.
They both nodded, remembering the scars that had marred her entire face for thousands of years. Now, Shyasha lowered her hood.
The scars had disappeared.
"Where did they go?" Faug wondered.
"I unfroze," she explained. "And I guess that activated the magic. If I'd learned to move on, they'd go away."
"But you and Telsiel are still...?" Valin asked, his voice trailing off.
Shyasha grinned again. "Yes, we are," she said. "In fact...."
She held up her left hand. A small gold ring shone on her fourth finger.
"Seriously?" Valin laughed. Faug just gaped. Somehow, marriage and Shyasha did not seem to go together in his head. He could not see her in a white dress at all, just as he could not see how his brother could do something as weird as knitting. But, as he had come to realize, people could surprise you.
"Yes," she said, laughing as well. "I couldn't believe it either, at first. But it's set for about two weeks from now."
"But how did your scars disappear?" Faug asked.
"I just had to forgive him, basically," Shyasha told him. "And unfreeze. The two had to go together. If I forgave him but didn't unfreeze, they'd still be there, and if I unfroze but I didn't forgive him, it wouldn't work either. But I only unfroze for about a year."
"So you're sixteen now, then?" Faug asked.
"Actually, if you remember correctly," Shyasha said, her grin broadening, "I'm technically four thousand seven hundred and eighteen. But yes, one can call me sixteen now."
"Did Telsiel de-freeze?" Valin asked.
"Yes," Shyasha said. "He's frozen as sixteen as well. It would have been awkward, you see, if he was still 45 or something."
Okay, that's all I can do for now.
Showing posts with label Shyasha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Shyasha. Show all posts
Friday, November 20, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
a bit of a story
So I have this habit of writing random bits of stories. Like, they have the same characters and stuff, but, chronologically, I'm not at the point where the bit should go, if that makes sense. As in, in the last story post Shyasha is about to beat up Telsiel, but I've already written a bit of The Epic Kill-All Battle that goes near the end. So, for want of something better to post, here it is. Yes, The Epic Kill-All Battle That is Supposed to be at the End. It was inspired by the battle for Minias Tirith in Lord of the Rings: the Return of the King. I always think there should either be knitting needles or female warriors involved in those epic battles, you know? Just to break up the conventional battle. Anyway, here it is. It's in either Norasona, Lira, or some other city that I have yet to make people encounter.
“Faug!” Shyasha yelled between swings of her sword and dodging arrows shot from the orcs below.
“What?” Faug yelled back from the alley behind her.
“Go find your brother’s stash of knitting needles! I need them!”
Hyan, who was throwing spells right and left at the orcs that had mounted the wall, heard the hybrid’s odd request. “I hate to break it to break it to you, Shya,” he hollered over the cries of the dying orcs. “But we’re sort of kind of not really in the middle of a WAR here!”
“I know!” Shyasha screamed at him. “Trust me on this!”
“And how exactly are Valin’s knitting needles going to help?” Faug demanded. “I don’t think they’re exactly the best material for shooting people!”
“Yes, but they don’t know that!” Shyasha told him.
“Your point being what?” Faug demanded.
“If it’s sharp, pointy, and colorful, the orcs will flee!”
“How in the name of magic did you work that one out?” Hyan wondered.
“You saw them on the road!” she said. “As soon as one of them saw Valin’s needles he said something in their weird language and then they all ran away!”
“Those were URUK-HAI, Shya!” Hyan bellowed.
“What’s the difference? They’re big, ugly, and have weapons!”
“The Uruk-hai are bigger, uglier, and have weirder weapons!” Hyan explained. “You should KNOW that!”
“I always get them mixed up!”
“And,” Hyan added as an afterthought, “The Uruk-hai aren’t color blind.”
“Oh, great,” Shyasha muttered. “That’s helpful.”
And that's it. yay randomness!
“Faug!” Shyasha yelled between swings of her sword and dodging arrows shot from the orcs below.
“What?” Faug yelled back from the alley behind her.
“Go find your brother’s stash of knitting needles! I need them!”
Hyan, who was throwing spells right and left at the orcs that had mounted the wall, heard the hybrid’s odd request. “I hate to break it to break it to you, Shya,” he hollered over the cries of the dying orcs. “But we’re sort of kind of not really in the middle of a WAR here!”
“I know!” Shyasha screamed at him. “Trust me on this!”
“And how exactly are Valin’s knitting needles going to help?” Faug demanded. “I don’t think they’re exactly the best material for shooting people!”
“Yes, but they don’t know that!” Shyasha told him.
“Your point being what?” Faug demanded.
“If it’s sharp, pointy, and colorful, the orcs will flee!”
“How in the name of magic did you work that one out?” Hyan wondered.
“You saw them on the road!” she said. “As soon as one of them saw Valin’s needles he said something in their weird language and then they all ran away!”
“Those were URUK-HAI, Shya!” Hyan bellowed.
“What’s the difference? They’re big, ugly, and have weapons!”
“The Uruk-hai are bigger, uglier, and have weirder weapons!” Hyan explained. “You should KNOW that!”
“I always get them mixed up!”
“And,” Hyan added as an afterthought, “The Uruk-hai aren’t color blind.”
“Oh, great,” Shyasha muttered. “That’s helpful.”
And that's it. yay randomness!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Part #7 of Shya/ Valin/ Faug
It was true, he thought. Akalu had quite liked the boy, actually, before he decided to cut off something that was good for him. It was a rare thing to find that kind of love in that measure anymore, and that boy had completely killed the chance that he had.
The meal was very quiet at the beginning, and the only really productive thing that happened was that they agreed that the council would be at noon the next day.
“Walk with me,” Telsiel said to Shyasha when they both were done.
Shyasha glared at him for a moment and then rose.
“What?” she demanded as soon as they were out of the hall.
“I have something to tell you,” he began. “And it’s rather important.”
“Spit it out,” Shyasha ordered, with all the authority of a princess, even one who has tried to live it down for four and a half thousand years.
“This way,” Telsiel said.
“Why?” Shyasha demanded.
“I want it to be private,” Telsiel told her shortly.
“If this is about what happened-” Shyasha threatened.
“No, it’s not that,” Telsiel said hurriedly. “I just don’t want people to hear.”
“Why?” Shyasha repeated.
“Just because.”
Shyasha gave him a doubtful scowl and then consented to follow him down the hall, not entirely trusting him. When they had reached a place where Telsiel was certain that they wouldn’t be overheard (having taken several turns and gone down two staircases), he finally turned and said, “I have part of it.”
“Part of the Crystal?”
“Yes.”
“Why is this supposed to be private?”
“Because I didn’t want anybody to know about it.”
“And yet you’re telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?” Shyasha posed the question as abruptly as possible, keeping her face and voice as impassive and expressionless as possible.
“Why do you want to know?” Telsiel’s voice was suspicious all of a sudden.
“This is something really, really serious. And after what happened, do you honestly expect me to just trust you right off the bat?”
“Yes.”
“What gives you the impression that I would just trust you without verification?”
“Because you’re a girl.”
“I’m a girl, yes, but I’m not an idiot. If you have it, where is it?”
“Promise you won’t tell.”
“I can’t promise that. This entire mission is supposed to be about getting the pieces and destroying them, not keeping secrets and telling lies and getting power. You either have it or you don’t, and if you do, I’d like to see it.”
“Why? So you can have it for yourself?”
“No, so I can take it to the council tomorrow so we can decide what to do with it. Now, give it.”
“Why should I?”
“Telsiel, do you WANT me to hurt you?”
“No.”
“You have it. I can tell. It’s powerful, and it’s got dark magic in it. Sonru wants it back, and he wants to gain power and followers. That’s why he made the Crystal. And he gave part to you, and it’s gotten a hold of you, I can tell.”
“How can you tell?” They began circling each other, like two lions about to kill each other.
“You’re acting really weird. You’re darker. You’re expressionless at best. Ad your eyes aren’t the color they’re supposed to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your eyes used to be light blue, not black. And you’re more secretive and forcibly polite. It’s disturbing.”
“Very good.”
“Give it.”
“No. It’s mine. Sonru gave it to me. He told me not to give it to anyone else.”
“What else did he tell you?”
“He said I was one of the most powerful rulers in the world and I was going to be more powerful with the Crystal. He said I was the strongest person out there, that I would be utterly invincible with the Crystal.”
“Telsiel, you jerkface. Can’t you see he was lying? Couldn’t you tell he was just flattering you into accepting it? He was actually saying how powerful you are, so therefore he wanted you under his control so he could gain control the Three Cities.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Telsiel, where are the refugees?”
“Gone,” Telsiel laughed.
“Sonru has got them, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, he has. And they’re not coming back.”
“Yes, they are. You’re an idiot if I ever saw one, Telsiel. Now, give over the crystal, or else I’m going to have to hurt you.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“What makes you say that? I was a top student in Ranger training while blind. I was taught by the top Ranger master, too. I’m better than you think.”
“Stop bragging.”
“I will if you hand the freaking crystal bit.”
“NO!”
I haven't been able to work on that one for a while. So...yeah. That's where I am right now in that one.
The meal was very quiet at the beginning, and the only really productive thing that happened was that they agreed that the council would be at noon the next day.
“Walk with me,” Telsiel said to Shyasha when they both were done.
Shyasha glared at him for a moment and then rose.
“What?” she demanded as soon as they were out of the hall.
“I have something to tell you,” he began. “And it’s rather important.”
“Spit it out,” Shyasha ordered, with all the authority of a princess, even one who has tried to live it down for four and a half thousand years.
“This way,” Telsiel said.
“Why?” Shyasha demanded.
“I want it to be private,” Telsiel told her shortly.
“If this is about what happened-” Shyasha threatened.
“No, it’s not that,” Telsiel said hurriedly. “I just don’t want people to hear.”
“Why?” Shyasha repeated.
“Just because.”
Shyasha gave him a doubtful scowl and then consented to follow him down the hall, not entirely trusting him. When they had reached a place where Telsiel was certain that they wouldn’t be overheard (having taken several turns and gone down two staircases), he finally turned and said, “I have part of it.”
“Part of the Crystal?”
“Yes.”
“Why is this supposed to be private?”
“Because I didn’t want anybody to know about it.”
“And yet you’re telling me.”
“Yes.”
“Where is it?” Shyasha posed the question as abruptly as possible, keeping her face and voice as impassive and expressionless as possible.
“Why do you want to know?” Telsiel’s voice was suspicious all of a sudden.
“This is something really, really serious. And after what happened, do you honestly expect me to just trust you right off the bat?”
“Yes.”
“What gives you the impression that I would just trust you without verification?”
“Because you’re a girl.”
“I’m a girl, yes, but I’m not an idiot. If you have it, where is it?”
“Promise you won’t tell.”
“I can’t promise that. This entire mission is supposed to be about getting the pieces and destroying them, not keeping secrets and telling lies and getting power. You either have it or you don’t, and if you do, I’d like to see it.”
“Why? So you can have it for yourself?”
“No, so I can take it to the council tomorrow so we can decide what to do with it. Now, give it.”
“Why should I?”
“Telsiel, do you WANT me to hurt you?”
“No.”
“You have it. I can tell. It’s powerful, and it’s got dark magic in it. Sonru wants it back, and he wants to gain power and followers. That’s why he made the Crystal. And he gave part to you, and it’s gotten a hold of you, I can tell.”
“How can you tell?” They began circling each other, like two lions about to kill each other.
“You’re acting really weird. You’re darker. You’re expressionless at best. Ad your eyes aren’t the color they’re supposed to be.”
“What do you mean?”
“Your eyes used to be light blue, not black. And you’re more secretive and forcibly polite. It’s disturbing.”
“Very good.”
“Give it.”
“No. It’s mine. Sonru gave it to me. He told me not to give it to anyone else.”
“What else did he tell you?”
“He said I was one of the most powerful rulers in the world and I was going to be more powerful with the Crystal. He said I was the strongest person out there, that I would be utterly invincible with the Crystal.”
“Telsiel, you jerkface. Can’t you see he was lying? Couldn’t you tell he was just flattering you into accepting it? He was actually saying how powerful you are, so therefore he wanted you under his control so he could gain control the Three Cities.”
“No, he wasn’t.”
“Telsiel, where are the refugees?”
“Gone,” Telsiel laughed.
“Sonru has got them, hasn’t he?”
“Yes, he has. And they’re not coming back.”
“Yes, they are. You’re an idiot if I ever saw one, Telsiel. Now, give over the crystal, or else I’m going to have to hurt you.”
“You can’t hurt me.”
“What makes you say that? I was a top student in Ranger training while blind. I was taught by the top Ranger master, too. I’m better than you think.”
“Stop bragging.”
“I will if you hand the freaking crystal bit.”
“NO!”
I haven't been able to work on that one for a while. So...yeah. That's where I am right now in that one.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Part #6 of Shya/Valin/Faug
Chapter 6
A few minutes later, a servant showed up at Faug and Valin’s door to show them to the dining hall. It was a massive room that was bathed in a soft, golden light that was supplied by hundreds of candles that somehow hovered from the ceiling unsupported. The table went the length of the entire room, even though there were only a few places set at the far end. Faug wondered why they didn’t just use a different room, or even a different table. It seemed kind of a waste of space to use the massive table when there were only a few people there. Telsiel was sitting at the far end of the room, at the head of the table. He glanced up when the two boys entered, smiled slightly, and beckoned them forward. The brothers approached apprehensively. Even though they technically knew everyone except for the dark-haired girl by Hyan who was most assuredly NOT Shyasha, and the small girl near Dalar who was most definitely NOT Shyasha, it was still kind of intimidating. Every one of the eight or so people present seemed both older than them-except for the girl near Dalar-and had some sort of magic about them.
Vain lanced around the table, seeing how many people he could name. That was Telsiel at the end, and on Telsiel’s right was Dalar. Next to Dalar was a small girl with very dark skin who looked no older than eight. Next to this girl was Hyan, and on Hyan’s right was a slender young woman who could pass for his sister. This was probably Tiba, Valin thought. Next to the maybe-Tiba was a male dwarf. Across from Tiba and Hyan were three more people who looked like elves-one female, two males. By the female elf and the dwarf there were two empty places that had plates but no people in the chairs. Telsiel motioned for Valin and Faug to sit there. As he sat down, Faug noticed there was also a spare seat on Telsiel’s left. He also noticed, with a pang in his stomach, that Shyasha wasn’t there. This made him kind of uncomfortable and very nervous. At least he knew Shyasha. Now all he had to talk to was Valin. And suddenly he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to talk to Valin. In fact, Faug wasn’t quite sure whether he was physically capable of opening his mouth anymore.
Finally, Telsiel spoke. “Quick introduction, just so everyone knows everyone. Just go around the table and say your name. I’m Telsiel.”
“Dalar.”
“Liea.” The small girl’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Hyan.”
“Tiba.”
“Shangru.” The dwarf had a very gruff, deep voice.
“Valin.”
“Faug.”
“Tayana.” The female elf next to Faug sounded like she could be a singer. “Shya’s mother.”
“Akalu,” said the male elf by Shyasha’s mother. “Shya’s dad.”
“Iluri. I’m just here.”
“Where is Shya, Telsiel?” Tayana asked in her calm, slow voice.
“She’s coming,” Telsiel said. He glanced up again, noticing movement at the top of the staircase to the dining hall. There Shya was. She was the closest thing to beautiful that he could remember.
Faug and Valin hadn’t thought Shyasha was the kind of girl who would willingly put on a dress and let people catch her in it while she was still breathing. They had thought that she was the kind of girl who would roam the forest in male clothing, never showing her face to anyone and remaining a mystery for the rest of her life. She was a tomboy and was always willing to fight, both humans knew that. She would never be fully contained by anything. However, the intricate braiding of her hair and the pastel dress she was wearing were coming frightfully close to be the thing that contained her. However, they noticed she was still barefoot. Nonetheless, Shyasha was NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, going to wear formal shoes, too. AT ALL.
"Why is she wearing a dress?" Faug muttered.
"Because this is how life is when you're royal," Valin muttered back.
"She looks tired," Tayana murmured to her husband.
"She hasn't slept for four days," Akalu replied. "She told me-she was the night watch on the road."
"Couldn't that older human do it?" Tayana asked, glancing at Valin. "He looks strong enough."
"Shya was the one that was supposed to be protecting them, they weren't supposed to be protecting her."
"She's the princess. She's the one that's supposed to be protected."
"She never cared about that."
"She never cared about anything."
"She cared about staying alive. And she’s named ‘the shadow warrior’ for a reason. She wasn’t going to be like our other daughters, sitting in a tower or going to balls or whatever in order to get married.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let her.”
“And because I wanted one daughter who could think for herself.”
“Maybe she thinks for herself a little too much.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“But after what happened-”
“There’s a difference between mistrust of people because you’ve been hurt and independence because you don’t want to be treated like an idiot.”
A few minutes later, a servant showed up at Faug and Valin’s door to show them to the dining hall. It was a massive room that was bathed in a soft, golden light that was supplied by hundreds of candles that somehow hovered from the ceiling unsupported. The table went the length of the entire room, even though there were only a few places set at the far end. Faug wondered why they didn’t just use a different room, or even a different table. It seemed kind of a waste of space to use the massive table when there were only a few people there. Telsiel was sitting at the far end of the room, at the head of the table. He glanced up when the two boys entered, smiled slightly, and beckoned them forward. The brothers approached apprehensively. Even though they technically knew everyone except for the dark-haired girl by Hyan who was most assuredly NOT Shyasha, and the small girl near Dalar who was most definitely NOT Shyasha, it was still kind of intimidating. Every one of the eight or so people present seemed both older than them-except for the girl near Dalar-and had some sort of magic about them.
Vain lanced around the table, seeing how many people he could name. That was Telsiel at the end, and on Telsiel’s right was Dalar. Next to Dalar was a small girl with very dark skin who looked no older than eight. Next to this girl was Hyan, and on Hyan’s right was a slender young woman who could pass for his sister. This was probably Tiba, Valin thought. Next to the maybe-Tiba was a male dwarf. Across from Tiba and Hyan were three more people who looked like elves-one female, two males. By the female elf and the dwarf there were two empty places that had plates but no people in the chairs. Telsiel motioned for Valin and Faug to sit there. As he sat down, Faug noticed there was also a spare seat on Telsiel’s left. He also noticed, with a pang in his stomach, that Shyasha wasn’t there. This made him kind of uncomfortable and very nervous. At least he knew Shyasha. Now all he had to talk to was Valin. And suddenly he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to talk to Valin. In fact, Faug wasn’t quite sure whether he was physically capable of opening his mouth anymore.
Finally, Telsiel spoke. “Quick introduction, just so everyone knows everyone. Just go around the table and say your name. I’m Telsiel.”
“Dalar.”
“Liea.” The small girl’s voice was barely above a whisper.
“Hyan.”
“Tiba.”
“Shangru.” The dwarf had a very gruff, deep voice.
“Valin.”
“Faug.”
“Tayana.” The female elf next to Faug sounded like she could be a singer. “Shya’s mother.”
“Akalu,” said the male elf by Shyasha’s mother. “Shya’s dad.”
“Iluri. I’m just here.”
“Where is Shya, Telsiel?” Tayana asked in her calm, slow voice.
“She’s coming,” Telsiel said. He glanced up again, noticing movement at the top of the staircase to the dining hall. There Shya was. She was the closest thing to beautiful that he could remember.
Faug and Valin hadn’t thought Shyasha was the kind of girl who would willingly put on a dress and let people catch her in it while she was still breathing. They had thought that she was the kind of girl who would roam the forest in male clothing, never showing her face to anyone and remaining a mystery for the rest of her life. She was a tomboy and was always willing to fight, both humans knew that. She would never be fully contained by anything. However, the intricate braiding of her hair and the pastel dress she was wearing were coming frightfully close to be the thing that contained her. However, they noticed she was still barefoot. Nonetheless, Shyasha was NOT, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, going to wear formal shoes, too. AT ALL.
"Why is she wearing a dress?" Faug muttered.
"Because this is how life is when you're royal," Valin muttered back.
"She looks tired," Tayana murmured to her husband.
"She hasn't slept for four days," Akalu replied. "She told me-she was the night watch on the road."
"Couldn't that older human do it?" Tayana asked, glancing at Valin. "He looks strong enough."
"Shya was the one that was supposed to be protecting them, they weren't supposed to be protecting her."
"She's the princess. She's the one that's supposed to be protected."
"She never cared about that."
"She never cared about anything."
"She cared about staying alive. And she’s named ‘the shadow warrior’ for a reason. She wasn’t going to be like our other daughters, sitting in a tower or going to balls or whatever in order to get married.”
“Only because you wouldn’t let her.”
“And because I wanted one daughter who could think for herself.”
“Maybe she thinks for herself a little too much.”
“No, she doesn’t.”
“But after what happened-”
“There’s a difference between mistrust of people because you’ve been hurt and independence because you don’t want to be treated like an idiot.”
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Part #5 of Shya/ Valin/ Faug
Chapter 5
Shyasha, Valin, and Faug strode across the barren courtyard. Even though it was nearly dusk and the day was cloudy, there was only one light on in an upper window. When they were about halfway across, Dalar came storming out, flanked on either side by the two companions he had had on the road. Shyasha paused and indicated to the two humans to wait for Dalar and his companions to reach them. The younger one had olive skin and wide, curious, dark brown eyes. The older man was pale with amber eyes and a very stoic expression.
“You’re late,” Dalar snapped when he reached Shyasha.
“You’re early,” Shyasha replied smoothly, using that same melodic voice that she had used on the first day that Faug and Valin had met her. “We agreed that the latest we should have gotten here was tomorrow. We saw you on the road the first day out of Ciliar. You were traveling fast. What was wrong?”
“You weren’t there.”
“Neither were you.”
“I told you to protect them when you found them, and then to wait until I arrived before leaving.”
“But you also said that, in the instance that you didn’t show up after 24 hours, I should take them on the road. We left after 24 hours.”
“Why didn’t you stop us on the road?”
“I would have rather flung myself in front of a speeding rhino. It would have had the same effect. Is Tiba here?”
“Yes, she is here. And we were pressed for time. And some of us were more worried than others to get back.” Dalar said this with a glance at the man on his right-the older of the two companions.
Under her hood, Shyasha glanced at him, too, and her eyes lingered there for a moment. Even if he saw it, and she wasn’t sure he did, he gave no hint that he felt her gaze or could interpret its meaning.
“People need to be introduced,” the darker-skinned man said politely.
“Yes,” Dalar agreed. “Hyan, this is Shyasha Rinkari. She goes by Shyasha most of the time and is Shya to her close friends. She won’t take off her hood unless she needs to prove a point. You three, Hyan is a sorcerer. You’ll meet Tiba, who is inside. Hyan, the short human is Faug and the taller one is Valin. And Shyasha, Telsiel says that you’ve met before.” Dalar continued, indicating the man on his right.
“We’ve met,” Shyasha agreed, inclining her head slightly at Telsiel, half in greeting, and half in warning. Telsiel nodded. “Nothing more.” There was something in her voice that made it absolutely clear to Telsiel that if he mentioned any reference to any prior contact whatsoever, Shyasha personally would find out about it, hunt him down, and kill him to death until he died and then strangle him.
“Yes, anyway,” Dalar said. He knew, or rather sensed, what Shyasha was indicating with her tone of voice, and he didn’t want Telsiel to die just yet. “We’re going to leave at dawn, day after tomorrow. Be ready to move. Pack light and don’t pack more than two changes of clothes. There’s a council meeting tomorrow. All of you have to attend. When and where the council will meet will be confirmed at dinner. Till then.” He jerked his head, beckoning them inside, before turning and striding back across the courtyard to the castle. Hyan gave Shyasha a curious glance before turning and following Dalar into the castle. Faug started to follow, but Valin stopped him and murmured, “Wait for her.”
“No, it’s okay,” Shyasha said. “Follow Dalar and Hyan and don’t touch anything unless they say you can. Got it?”
“Yeah,” the two boys agreed and strode off, following the two mages inside. Faug picked up his pace and caught up with Hyan. Shyasha heard Faug start babbling away and asking Hyan questions. Hyan smiled and answered the questions easily. Valin was slower to enter the castle, and hesitated at the door to wait for Shyasha. He was more of an introvert than Faug, so he couldn’t randomly go up to people and start charming them as easily as Faug. He was too shy to talk to Hyan just yet, and he trusted Shyasha more anyway.
Telsiel and Shyasha stood facing each other in the middle of the courtyard. Shyasha glared from under her hood. Telsiel stood back and inclined his head, letting Shyasha go first, but she gestured to let him pass.
“You’re the princess,” he said, as if explaining why he was letting her go first.
“You’re the king,” Shyasha countered, no trace of a joke in neither her voice nor the small bit of mouth that Telsiel could see.
“You’re the female.”
“You’re the one in charge.”
“You’re the guest.”
“You’re the one who knows what’s going on.”
“You’re the one who needs to be shown around.”
“That’s why you go first.”
Watching from the drawbridge, Valin realized just how strange the two looked together, looking at each other, but also how different Telsiel seemed from a few moments ago. Telsiel was tall, middle aged, a king, and a very, very stoic one at that, from Valin’s limited knowledge of him. But now he was more open than he had been before. Instead of being very, very stoic, he was now just plain serious. He didn’t look like a carved statue anymore, but he definitely didn’t look like he was about to burst out laughing or singing. Something similar could have been said for Shyasha.
Eventually, the two turned and moved towards the castle side by side, not exactly best pals, but accepting the fact that they were stuck with each other.
“What was that about?” Valin asked when Shyasha passed him in the door.
“Nothing,” Shyasha said shortly, and Valin knew that, however much he didn’t like it, that was all he was going to get out of her for now.
Seeing the put out look on Valin’s face, Telsiel said, “We had this thing going a while ago. Running joke type thing.”
“Right,” Valin said, not entirely sure whether Telsiel’s tone was actually causal or not. He was curious about the relationship between the two elves, but didn’t want to press the subject, consenting to watch Telsiel’s face as Telsiel’s gaze followed Shyasha down the hall. There was a small flicker of something in his dark eyes, but then the flicker went out.
“You’re Valin.” Telsiel said abruptly, as if almost shaking himself out of a trance. Still, the words were more of a statement than a query of his identity.
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, officially.” They shook hands. “So…you’re the king? I think Shyasha said something about something like that.”
“Yes, I guess you could call me King. How’s Shya been treating you guys? Nothing absolutely horrid, I hope?”
“No, not really. She’s pretty nice, and can be a real laugh at times, but she’d get kind of edgy when Faug got on her nerves. But with Faug, either something’s a joke or it’s not worth his time, so he somehow gets some sort of humor out of it. She never really liked it when he did that, especially when she was in a bad mood, but she was all right, most of the time.” Valin was amazed that he had said all that. He was blabbering, he knew it. He was a tentative introvert who was confronted by a king. This wasn’t his kind of situation.
“Yeah, she has a tendency to be like that,” Telsiel agreed, smiling slightly. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad, Valin thought.
“But she wasn’t horrid,” Valin said quickly. “Very sarcastic, but not horrible. But she’s kind of unpredictable.”
“I know,” Telsiel agreed. “She can be rather weird. She’s the kind of person that only needs a few days for you to think you know her really well, and then the next month she’ll completely surprise you with some new idea. And it’s really hard to know one thing about her without wanting to know something else.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know her?”
“We were friends when we were kids. I was the tailor’s son. She was the princess. She was sick of the conformity of being a princess so she stole clothes from the stable boy and roamed the streets of town. She sometimes came into my father’s shop, and once I was done with my chores we’d play Rangers and Outlaws with all the other kids or go into the forest and roam around with another girl she’d met-Tiba, the sorceress. Whenever we’d do Rangers and Outlaws, Shya would always be the captain of the boy’s side, because she called herself ‘Rinko’ and claimed she was male. Since her hair was short everyone believed her. It suited her personality-she’s not one to confine herself to the norm.”
“When did you find out she was a girl?” Valin wondered as they walked down a hall. “And when did you learn she was the princess?”
“Oh, that was a really funny day,” Telsiel laughed. “We were playing our most aggressive game of Rangers and Outlaws ever, and Shya was captain of the boys’ Ranger crew, because she’d been dubbed ‘Best Ranger’. It was crazy-we were all flinging mud at each other and screaming our heads off and running around, being absolutely crazy and having a whole load of fun. Then her governess comes out of the castle and starts looking for Shya in town, apparently. I didn’t see that part; I was busy creating a huge mud ball to fling at Joen Frump. But then the governess sees the fight and stands there for a while, glaring at all of us, and it sort of gradually died down and everyone stood looking at her. She was in this really fancy dress-it was insane. Then she spotted Shya and hollered, ‘PRINCESS SHYASHA RINKARI!!! GET YOUR LITTLE REAR END OVER HERE RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!!! I DON’T WANT TO EVER SEE YOU LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!!!’ That was a surprise to all of us, and what was more surprising was when ‘Rinko’ strode forward with his head bowed. We were only ten, and none of us had entered puberty yet, so the difference between boys and girls wasn’t as obvious. But still, most of the guys thought girls-especially girls in the palace and especially the seven princesses-were complete wimps. Most of them were, but not the youngest princess.”
“Did she ever come down to town again?”
“Yes, but not as often. She came down as often as she could, but she wasn’t as willing to hurl mud at Joen Frump or anyone else anymore. She didn’t really come around the shop until we were in our teens-I think that was when her governess left-and by then she had become more refined. She wore a dress, at least. But after the governess found her out, it was never really the same between us. We were still best friends, and we still had adventures, but we weren’t quite as crazy.”
“So how did you become King?”
“Shya only had sisters, no brothers. We had this policy that, if that happened, the youngest girl’s husband would have to rule. The average marrying age was fifteen, but Shya didn’t want to, nor did she show any prospect of being interested before she’d be dubbed a spinster. Her father knew we were friends-he saw her walk to our shop and saw us walk around town too many times to think differently-and he thought I was worth it, so he named me his heir. Shyasha didn’t take it too well, and somehow, a short time later, went clinically blind and ran off into the forest and stayed there. That’s all there really is to the story, and there’s your room.”
They had paused by a door halfway down a corridor on the East Wing.
“One last question,” Valin said.
“Sure.”
“Cerob said the city was attacked by Wylds, and the survivors took refuge in the castle. Where are they?”
“They’re in the West Wing,” Telsiel said shortly. He said this too fast and strongly for Valin to be entirely convinced of the truth of his words.
“Okay. Just wondering.”
“Dinner’s in about an hour. Someone will be around to show you where to go when it’s time.”
“Do I have to dress up?”
“No, but I must warn you that Shyasha might actually be wearing a dress, so she won’t look entirely the same as you’ve probably grown accustomed to.”
“All right. See you then, I guess.”
“Good bye.”
Telsiel turned and strode back up the corridor to the main entrance. Valin went into his room. Faug was already there.
“Where were you?” Faug demanded.
“I was talking to Telsiel,” Valin told him. “Where were you? And how did you get in here?”
“I was talking to Hyan, who said that Shyasha might be forced to dress up, and that we’re supposed to share a room,” Faug replied.
“Telsiel said that she might wear a dress as well,” Valin said. “It would be kind of weird, seeing Shyasha in a dress, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Faug said in a bored tone.
“Well, guess what I found out about Shyasha from Telsiel?” Valin said. He was glad of this new insight into Shyasha’s life-he knew it wasn’t right to pry into other people’s relationships, but Shyasha’s past was somehow more interesting the more he heard about it. Like Telsiel had said, you couldn’t know just one thing about her.
“What?” Faug asked eagerly. Apparently he, too, was eager to figure out what exactly happened to her.
Valin spent the next half hour telling Faug everything that he could remember from what Telsiel had told him.
“It’s him,” Faug said when Valin was finished talking. “Telsiel was the guy who Shyasha was in love with.”
“What makes you think that?” Vain asked.
“Well, number one,” Faug began. “She acts all solemn around him.”
“She was all solemn when she first met us,” Valin reminded him.
“Good point,” Faug said. “Anyway, number two. If Shyasha’s dad was willing to name Telsiel his heir, Telsiel must have been up to the court at least once, which means they must have had something going on well enough for Shyasha to take him up to the castle in the first place. Am I right?”
“You’ve got a point,” Valin agreed.
“Number three,” Faug continued. “Telsiel said that when they were teenagers they still hung out and went on adventures, but they weren’t quite as crazy.”
“So what’s your point?” Valin wondered.
“My point,” Faug said. “Is that the adventures could have been of a different kind.”
“Faug, I can’t believe you’re nine years old,” Valin said. “You have a very strange mind, my friend.”
“But am I right?” Faug insisted. “They could have seriously been trying to figure out how to capture the kinetic energy of a running unicorn, couldn’t they?”
“I don’t think that they’d be trying to do exactly that, but it’s a thought,” Valin said, glad that Faug wasn’t thinking about what Valin thought he was thinking about.
Shyasha, Valin, and Faug strode across the barren courtyard. Even though it was nearly dusk and the day was cloudy, there was only one light on in an upper window. When they were about halfway across, Dalar came storming out, flanked on either side by the two companions he had had on the road. Shyasha paused and indicated to the two humans to wait for Dalar and his companions to reach them. The younger one had olive skin and wide, curious, dark brown eyes. The older man was pale with amber eyes and a very stoic expression.
“You’re late,” Dalar snapped when he reached Shyasha.
“You’re early,” Shyasha replied smoothly, using that same melodic voice that she had used on the first day that Faug and Valin had met her. “We agreed that the latest we should have gotten here was tomorrow. We saw you on the road the first day out of Ciliar. You were traveling fast. What was wrong?”
“You weren’t there.”
“Neither were you.”
“I told you to protect them when you found them, and then to wait until I arrived before leaving.”
“But you also said that, in the instance that you didn’t show up after 24 hours, I should take them on the road. We left after 24 hours.”
“Why didn’t you stop us on the road?”
“I would have rather flung myself in front of a speeding rhino. It would have had the same effect. Is Tiba here?”
“Yes, she is here. And we were pressed for time. And some of us were more worried than others to get back.” Dalar said this with a glance at the man on his right-the older of the two companions.
Under her hood, Shyasha glanced at him, too, and her eyes lingered there for a moment. Even if he saw it, and she wasn’t sure he did, he gave no hint that he felt her gaze or could interpret its meaning.
“People need to be introduced,” the darker-skinned man said politely.
“Yes,” Dalar agreed. “Hyan, this is Shyasha Rinkari. She goes by Shyasha most of the time and is Shya to her close friends. She won’t take off her hood unless she needs to prove a point. You three, Hyan is a sorcerer. You’ll meet Tiba, who is inside. Hyan, the short human is Faug and the taller one is Valin. And Shyasha, Telsiel says that you’ve met before.” Dalar continued, indicating the man on his right.
“We’ve met,” Shyasha agreed, inclining her head slightly at Telsiel, half in greeting, and half in warning. Telsiel nodded. “Nothing more.” There was something in her voice that made it absolutely clear to Telsiel that if he mentioned any reference to any prior contact whatsoever, Shyasha personally would find out about it, hunt him down, and kill him to death until he died and then strangle him.
“Yes, anyway,” Dalar said. He knew, or rather sensed, what Shyasha was indicating with her tone of voice, and he didn’t want Telsiel to die just yet. “We’re going to leave at dawn, day after tomorrow. Be ready to move. Pack light and don’t pack more than two changes of clothes. There’s a council meeting tomorrow. All of you have to attend. When and where the council will meet will be confirmed at dinner. Till then.” He jerked his head, beckoning them inside, before turning and striding back across the courtyard to the castle. Hyan gave Shyasha a curious glance before turning and following Dalar into the castle. Faug started to follow, but Valin stopped him and murmured, “Wait for her.”
“No, it’s okay,” Shyasha said. “Follow Dalar and Hyan and don’t touch anything unless they say you can. Got it?”
“Yeah,” the two boys agreed and strode off, following the two mages inside. Faug picked up his pace and caught up with Hyan. Shyasha heard Faug start babbling away and asking Hyan questions. Hyan smiled and answered the questions easily. Valin was slower to enter the castle, and hesitated at the door to wait for Shyasha. He was more of an introvert than Faug, so he couldn’t randomly go up to people and start charming them as easily as Faug. He was too shy to talk to Hyan just yet, and he trusted Shyasha more anyway.
Telsiel and Shyasha stood facing each other in the middle of the courtyard. Shyasha glared from under her hood. Telsiel stood back and inclined his head, letting Shyasha go first, but she gestured to let him pass.
“You’re the princess,” he said, as if explaining why he was letting her go first.
“You’re the king,” Shyasha countered, no trace of a joke in neither her voice nor the small bit of mouth that Telsiel could see.
“You’re the female.”
“You’re the one in charge.”
“You’re the guest.”
“You’re the one who knows what’s going on.”
“You’re the one who needs to be shown around.”
“That’s why you go first.”
Watching from the drawbridge, Valin realized just how strange the two looked together, looking at each other, but also how different Telsiel seemed from a few moments ago. Telsiel was tall, middle aged, a king, and a very, very stoic one at that, from Valin’s limited knowledge of him. But now he was more open than he had been before. Instead of being very, very stoic, he was now just plain serious. He didn’t look like a carved statue anymore, but he definitely didn’t look like he was about to burst out laughing or singing. Something similar could have been said for Shyasha.
Eventually, the two turned and moved towards the castle side by side, not exactly best pals, but accepting the fact that they were stuck with each other.
“What was that about?” Valin asked when Shyasha passed him in the door.
“Nothing,” Shyasha said shortly, and Valin knew that, however much he didn’t like it, that was all he was going to get out of her for now.
Seeing the put out look on Valin’s face, Telsiel said, “We had this thing going a while ago. Running joke type thing.”
“Right,” Valin said, not entirely sure whether Telsiel’s tone was actually causal or not. He was curious about the relationship between the two elves, but didn’t want to press the subject, consenting to watch Telsiel’s face as Telsiel’s gaze followed Shyasha down the hall. There was a small flicker of something in his dark eyes, but then the flicker went out.
“You’re Valin.” Telsiel said abruptly, as if almost shaking himself out of a trance. Still, the words were more of a statement than a query of his identity.
“Yeah. Nice to meet you, officially.” They shook hands. “So…you’re the king? I think Shyasha said something about something like that.”
“Yes, I guess you could call me King. How’s Shya been treating you guys? Nothing absolutely horrid, I hope?”
“No, not really. She’s pretty nice, and can be a real laugh at times, but she’d get kind of edgy when Faug got on her nerves. But with Faug, either something’s a joke or it’s not worth his time, so he somehow gets some sort of humor out of it. She never really liked it when he did that, especially when she was in a bad mood, but she was all right, most of the time.” Valin was amazed that he had said all that. He was blabbering, he knew it. He was a tentative introvert who was confronted by a king. This wasn’t his kind of situation.
“Yeah, she has a tendency to be like that,” Telsiel agreed, smiling slightly. Maybe this guy wasn’t so bad, Valin thought.
“But she wasn’t horrid,” Valin said quickly. “Very sarcastic, but not horrible. But she’s kind of unpredictable.”
“I know,” Telsiel agreed. “She can be rather weird. She’s the kind of person that only needs a few days for you to think you know her really well, and then the next month she’ll completely surprise you with some new idea. And it’s really hard to know one thing about her without wanting to know something else.”
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“How do you know her?”
“We were friends when we were kids. I was the tailor’s son. She was the princess. She was sick of the conformity of being a princess so she stole clothes from the stable boy and roamed the streets of town. She sometimes came into my father’s shop, and once I was done with my chores we’d play Rangers and Outlaws with all the other kids or go into the forest and roam around with another girl she’d met-Tiba, the sorceress. Whenever we’d do Rangers and Outlaws, Shya would always be the captain of the boy’s side, because she called herself ‘Rinko’ and claimed she was male. Since her hair was short everyone believed her. It suited her personality-she’s not one to confine herself to the norm.”
“When did you find out she was a girl?” Valin wondered as they walked down a hall. “And when did you learn she was the princess?”
“Oh, that was a really funny day,” Telsiel laughed. “We were playing our most aggressive game of Rangers and Outlaws ever, and Shya was captain of the boys’ Ranger crew, because she’d been dubbed ‘Best Ranger’. It was crazy-we were all flinging mud at each other and screaming our heads off and running around, being absolutely crazy and having a whole load of fun. Then her governess comes out of the castle and starts looking for Shya in town, apparently. I didn’t see that part; I was busy creating a huge mud ball to fling at Joen Frump. But then the governess sees the fight and stands there for a while, glaring at all of us, and it sort of gradually died down and everyone stood looking at her. She was in this really fancy dress-it was insane. Then she spotted Shya and hollered, ‘PRINCESS SHYASHA RINKARI!!! GET YOUR LITTLE REAR END OVER HERE RIGHT NOW OR ELSE!!! I DON’T WANT TO EVER SEE YOU LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN!!!’ That was a surprise to all of us, and what was more surprising was when ‘Rinko’ strode forward with his head bowed. We were only ten, and none of us had entered puberty yet, so the difference between boys and girls wasn’t as obvious. But still, most of the guys thought girls-especially girls in the palace and especially the seven princesses-were complete wimps. Most of them were, but not the youngest princess.”
“Did she ever come down to town again?”
“Yes, but not as often. She came down as often as she could, but she wasn’t as willing to hurl mud at Joen Frump or anyone else anymore. She didn’t really come around the shop until we were in our teens-I think that was when her governess left-and by then she had become more refined. She wore a dress, at least. But after the governess found her out, it was never really the same between us. We were still best friends, and we still had adventures, but we weren’t quite as crazy.”
“So how did you become King?”
“Shya only had sisters, no brothers. We had this policy that, if that happened, the youngest girl’s husband would have to rule. The average marrying age was fifteen, but Shya didn’t want to, nor did she show any prospect of being interested before she’d be dubbed a spinster. Her father knew we were friends-he saw her walk to our shop and saw us walk around town too many times to think differently-and he thought I was worth it, so he named me his heir. Shyasha didn’t take it too well, and somehow, a short time later, went clinically blind and ran off into the forest and stayed there. That’s all there really is to the story, and there’s your room.”
They had paused by a door halfway down a corridor on the East Wing.
“One last question,” Valin said.
“Sure.”
“Cerob said the city was attacked by Wylds, and the survivors took refuge in the castle. Where are they?”
“They’re in the West Wing,” Telsiel said shortly. He said this too fast and strongly for Valin to be entirely convinced of the truth of his words.
“Okay. Just wondering.”
“Dinner’s in about an hour. Someone will be around to show you where to go when it’s time.”
“Do I have to dress up?”
“No, but I must warn you that Shyasha might actually be wearing a dress, so she won’t look entirely the same as you’ve probably grown accustomed to.”
“All right. See you then, I guess.”
“Good bye.”
Telsiel turned and strode back up the corridor to the main entrance. Valin went into his room. Faug was already there.
“Where were you?” Faug demanded.
“I was talking to Telsiel,” Valin told him. “Where were you? And how did you get in here?”
“I was talking to Hyan, who said that Shyasha might be forced to dress up, and that we’re supposed to share a room,” Faug replied.
“Telsiel said that she might wear a dress as well,” Valin said. “It would be kind of weird, seeing Shyasha in a dress, wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess,” Faug said in a bored tone.
“Well, guess what I found out about Shyasha from Telsiel?” Valin said. He was glad of this new insight into Shyasha’s life-he knew it wasn’t right to pry into other people’s relationships, but Shyasha’s past was somehow more interesting the more he heard about it. Like Telsiel had said, you couldn’t know just one thing about her.
“What?” Faug asked eagerly. Apparently he, too, was eager to figure out what exactly happened to her.
Valin spent the next half hour telling Faug everything that he could remember from what Telsiel had told him.
“It’s him,” Faug said when Valin was finished talking. “Telsiel was the guy who Shyasha was in love with.”
“What makes you think that?” Vain asked.
“Well, number one,” Faug began. “She acts all solemn around him.”
“She was all solemn when she first met us,” Valin reminded him.
“Good point,” Faug said. “Anyway, number two. If Shyasha’s dad was willing to name Telsiel his heir, Telsiel must have been up to the court at least once, which means they must have had something going on well enough for Shyasha to take him up to the castle in the first place. Am I right?”
“You’ve got a point,” Valin agreed.
“Number three,” Faug continued. “Telsiel said that when they were teenagers they still hung out and went on adventures, but they weren’t quite as crazy.”
“So what’s your point?” Valin wondered.
“My point,” Faug said. “Is that the adventures could have been of a different kind.”
“Faug, I can’t believe you’re nine years old,” Valin said. “You have a very strange mind, my friend.”
“But am I right?” Faug insisted. “They could have seriously been trying to figure out how to capture the kinetic energy of a running unicorn, couldn’t they?”
“I don’t think that they’d be trying to do exactly that, but it’s a thought,” Valin said, glad that Faug wasn’t thinking about what Valin thought he was thinking about.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
part #4 shya/ valin/ faug
So anyway, I'm going to just randomly rant about what I feel like ranting about.
But I don't know what I want to rant about. This is helpful. Anyway........
I guess I'll type up some more of the Shya/ Valin/ Faug story. Mind you, I'm almost completely winging it from here, because I don't think I have this part typed up. Wait, yes i do. It's on the USB port. The computer on which it's saved got a virus, but I was somehow able to save the two stories onto the USB before mom took it in.
So anyway, here it is:
“When did you live here?” Valin asked Shyasha.
“When I was younger,” Shyasha replied.
“Why did you leave?” he persisted.
“It’s a long story that we’ll have time for when some guts get pounded out of the current ruler.”
Shyasha went up to the wall and hollered, “OY!! YOU!!” up at the guard’s post on the top of the wall.
“I WILL NOT BE ADDRESSED AS ‘YOU!!’”
“WELL, AS YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY NOT THE SAME GUARD THAT WAS HERE WHEN I LEFT, I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO CALL YOU!!”
“NOT THE SAME GUARD? I’VE BEEN HERE SINCE BEFORE THE SCARRED PRINCESS WAS BORN!! HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT YOU LEFT BEFORE SHE WAS BORN? THERE ARE ONLY FOUR PEOPLE STILL ALIVE WHO ARE AS OLD OR OLDER THAN HER!! NOW, WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
“WE WANT TO SEE THE KING OF THE THREE CITIES!!”
“BY WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU WISH TO SEE HIM? DO YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?”
“WE DON’T HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!! BUT YOU AREN’T THE SAME GUARD WHO WAS HERE WHEN I LEFT!!”
“I AM CEROB!! BY WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU DEMAND ENTRANCE? AND WHO ARE YOU?”
“BY THE AUTHORITY OF PRINCESS SHYASHA RINKARI, THE SCARRED PRINCESS!!!”
"DID SHE SEND YOU?"
"I SEND MYSELF WHERE I CHOOSE!!! I'M THE PRINCESS!!!"
With that, for the first time in thousands of years, Shyasha lowered her hood. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. It was long enough to disappear behind her cloak, but the males couldn't see where it went from there. She had chin-length bangs that were swept back by a fabric headband. Her skin was pale, and her round hazel eyes glared upwards at Cerob. The most startling thing about her was the scars. It looked like a bear had slashed the left half of her face, and then someone took a sword and cut a large X over her face.
“Princess?” Faug and Valin gasped in unison.
"Since when?" Faug demanded.
"Since I was born," Shyasha said. "Shut up."
"Good Lord," Cerob muttered. "It's the princess."
There was the sound of a person going down a long, wooden stairway. Then a trapdoor in the wall opened and Cerob's head poked out.
"You're back," he said.
"Yes, I am. Can we come in now?"
"Do you want to see-"
"Yes, I do. Can we, or is it now illegal to admit princesses who chose exile over long and painful death?"
"Fine. But it might hurt."
"I'm ready. We saw him and Dalar and a third on the road. I didn't die. Can we come in now?"
"All right, I guess."
"Thank you."
The door opened. Shyasha pulled her hood back up and the scars, the hair, and the riveting hazel eyes were hidden again as she led the way inside.
That's all for now. It's a chapter change, and I'm not sure what I want to do after that, so it's okay. So yeah.
By the way, for all of you who read this regularly, expect the background of the blog to change a LOT, due to my inability to keep with one thing for more than twenty minutes.
Okay that's all.
But I don't know what I want to rant about. This is helpful. Anyway........
I guess I'll type up some more of the Shya/ Valin/ Faug story. Mind you, I'm almost completely winging it from here, because I don't think I have this part typed up. Wait, yes i do. It's on the USB port. The computer on which it's saved got a virus, but I was somehow able to save the two stories onto the USB before mom took it in.
So anyway, here it is:
“When did you live here?” Valin asked Shyasha.
“When I was younger,” Shyasha replied.
“Why did you leave?” he persisted.
“It’s a long story that we’ll have time for when some guts get pounded out of the current ruler.”
Shyasha went up to the wall and hollered, “OY!! YOU!!” up at the guard’s post on the top of the wall.
“I WILL NOT BE ADDRESSED AS ‘YOU!!’”
“WELL, AS YOU’RE OBVIOUSLY NOT THE SAME GUARD THAT WAS HERE WHEN I LEFT, I DON’T KNOW WHAT TO CALL YOU!!”
“NOT THE SAME GUARD? I’VE BEEN HERE SINCE BEFORE THE SCARRED PRINCESS WAS BORN!! HOW LIKELY IS IT THAT YOU LEFT BEFORE SHE WAS BORN? THERE ARE ONLY FOUR PEOPLE STILL ALIVE WHO ARE AS OLD OR OLDER THAN HER!! NOW, WHAT DO YOU WANT?”
“WE WANT TO SEE THE KING OF THE THREE CITIES!!”
“BY WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU WISH TO SEE HIM? DO YOU HAVE AN APPOINTMENT?”
“WE DON’T HAVE AN APPOINTMENT!! BUT YOU AREN’T THE SAME GUARD WHO WAS HERE WHEN I LEFT!!”
“I AM CEROB!! BY WHAT AUTHORITY DO YOU DEMAND ENTRANCE? AND WHO ARE YOU?”
“BY THE AUTHORITY OF PRINCESS SHYASHA RINKARI, THE SCARRED PRINCESS!!!”
"DID SHE SEND YOU?"
"I SEND MYSELF WHERE I CHOOSE!!! I'M THE PRINCESS!!!"
With that, for the first time in thousands of years, Shyasha lowered her hood. She had dark brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. It was long enough to disappear behind her cloak, but the males couldn't see where it went from there. She had chin-length bangs that were swept back by a fabric headband. Her skin was pale, and her round hazel eyes glared upwards at Cerob. The most startling thing about her was the scars. It looked like a bear had slashed the left half of her face, and then someone took a sword and cut a large X over her face.
“Princess?” Faug and Valin gasped in unison.
"Since when?" Faug demanded.
"Since I was born," Shyasha said. "Shut up."
"Good Lord," Cerob muttered. "It's the princess."
There was the sound of a person going down a long, wooden stairway. Then a trapdoor in the wall opened and Cerob's head poked out.
"You're back," he said.
"Yes, I am. Can we come in now?"
"Do you want to see-"
"Yes, I do. Can we, or is it now illegal to admit princesses who chose exile over long and painful death?"
"Fine. But it might hurt."
"I'm ready. We saw him and Dalar and a third on the road. I didn't die. Can we come in now?"
"All right, I guess."
"Thank you."
The door opened. Shyasha pulled her hood back up and the scars, the hair, and the riveting hazel eyes were hidden again as she led the way inside.
That's all for now. It's a chapter change, and I'm not sure what I want to do after that, so it's okay. So yeah.
By the way, for all of you who read this regularly, expect the background of the blog to change a LOT, due to my inability to keep with one thing for more than twenty minutes.
Okay that's all.
Friday, April 24, 2009
part #3 of Shya/Valin/Faug
Okay. Here it is:
This kept them on the move and proved good for several reasons: the Wylds couldn't find their camp, they could cook food, albeit with only certain types of wood that made small flames but also little smoke so they would lower the risk of being seen, and it kept Faug's mouth occupied doing something other than complaining about the pace, distance, time of day, or other thing that might cause him to start bugging Shyasha out of her mind. When these times came, Valin often came to Shyasha's aid by saying something to get him to shut up. Shyasha was grateful for this-the two boys got to sleep all night while she was keeping a watch from dusk till dawn, making sure that the Wylds, who usually traveled at night, didn't come on them. She didn't need to sleep, technically, but she forced herself to keep Faug and Valin moving in order to get them to Norasona quickly. Since they had seen Dalar on the road, he would probably expect them to be at the city before him, for some reason unknown to her. Maybe it was just the fact that they hadn't seen each other at the Lazy Dog.
The three arrived in Norasona at dusk on the fourth day of travel. Faug, for some reason, still didn't entirely believe that Shyasha wasn't blind, because he was so impressed with her blind instinct when they first met officially.
"But what if she DID go blind, though, at one point?" Faug wondered to Valin when he was rather sure that Shyasha couldn't hear. They were on the very outskirts of the city, just beyond the crumbling stone wall.
"I did, at one point, a long time ago, before you were born," Shyasha hollered over her shoulder. Faug had forgotten about the fact that she still had amazing hearing. "HURRY UP!!!"
"How did you know how old I am?" Faug asked, running up to her.
"Dalar told me, remember? You're nine."
"Well, how old are you?" Faug demanded.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Fine. I am four thousand seven hundred and thirteen years old. So there."
"How do you tell time, anyway, without being able to see anything?" Faug wondered.
"I can see," Shyasha said exasperatedly. "I TOLD you. But when I was blind, I told time by the temperature of the air, mostly. And just by intuition, like my body knew around what time I went to sleep and what time I woke up and when it got dark and stuff."
"When did you tell us?"
"The night before we left."
"Huh?"
"At the Lazy Dog. Don't you remember ANYTHING?"
"Well, when were you blind?"
"A long time ago. It was really annoying because, for that type of blindness, I could only see when I was around my true love. Dalar told me."
Faug and Valin snorted.
"Look, I didn't make it up, okay? I don't do a lot of magic, and I don't do prophecies. That's Dalar, and he's not here right now, so you can't ask him why love is supposed to cure all curses."
"So it was a curse?" Faug asked.
"I didn't say that."
"Yes you did."
"When?"
"Just now."
"I SAID that Dalar isn't around to be asked about curses, I didn't say-"
"But you said that you could only see when-"
"Yes, but that-"
"AND you said 'for that type of blindness-'"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that it-"
"And normal blindness doesn't work like that!"
"I KNOW that, but that-"
"SO," Faug yelled over her. "You must have had a curse."
"Whatever. Either way I couldn't see for three years." She said that as they walked through the decaying wood door of the city.
Shyasha stopped suddenly. Faug nearly walked into her, causing Valin to nearly walk into Faug.
"Something is wrong here," Shyasha said slowly, moving forward slowly, staring around. Almost subconsciously she took her bow from around her shoulders and put an arrow on the string. This wasn't just a display of the Amazing Senses of Shyasha Rinkari and The Quickness at Which They React to Things. Faug and Valin could sense it, too. As they walked through the streets in a small clump, they saw nobody else on the streets and there were no lights in the windows, even though the sky was steadily darkening. Most of the stone buildings were still firmly intact, but there wasn't any life in the city, no sort of buzz that meant that even though you couldn't see the inhabitants, they were there. A breeze made a wooden sign creak on its hinges and blew around the edges of Shyasha's hood. Then silence. There was no other sound except for the soft footfalls and slight breathing of the three travelers.
"This isn't right," Shyasha said, and for the first time, there was something that wasn't sarcasm or certainty in her voice.
"Where is everyone?" Valin asked. "It's like they just all left or something."
"Or maybe they died," Faug whispered.
"I don't think they died," Shyasha said. Then she muttered to herself, "I'm gonna kill him."
"Gonna kill who?" Faug asked. Shyasha had to admit, although he never seemed to get his head around some stuff, he definitely picked up on a lot.
"Nobody," Shyasha said shortly.
"Come on," Faug pestered. "Who's gonna die?"
"The stupid dude who calls himself leader of the Three Cities."
"What are the Three Cities?"
"Norasona, Lira, and Nojura. Biggest concentrated populations of people. Whoever is king or queen has domain over the Three Cities and the general area in between."
"Why are you going to kill him?" Valin asked.
"I might not have to, but if he doesn't give me a straight answer he won't have much more time."
"Do you know him?" Faug asked.
"Yes."
"How?" he wondered.
"Not now, Faug," Shyasha said.
She led them quietly through the streets, taking the alleyways and back roads whenever possible.
"Shyasha," Valin asked tentatively. "Where exactly are we going?"
"To my old house," Shyasha said.
"You used to live here?"
"Once upon a time."
"I thought we were going to see the ruler guy," Faug said. "Why are we going to your old house?"
Then they rounded a corner and the two guys stared.
"Is that your old house?" Faug asked.
"Yeah," Shyasha said.
"House" didn't exactly cover it. "Mansion" might have been a better term, but still not exact. The best term would either be "palace" or "castle".
This kept them on the move and proved good for several reasons: the Wylds couldn't find their camp, they could cook food, albeit with only certain types of wood that made small flames but also little smoke so they would lower the risk of being seen, and it kept Faug's mouth occupied doing something other than complaining about the pace, distance, time of day, or other thing that might cause him to start bugging Shyasha out of her mind. When these times came, Valin often came to Shyasha's aid by saying something to get him to shut up. Shyasha was grateful for this-the two boys got to sleep all night while she was keeping a watch from dusk till dawn, making sure that the Wylds, who usually traveled at night, didn't come on them. She didn't need to sleep, technically, but she forced herself to keep Faug and Valin moving in order to get them to Norasona quickly. Since they had seen Dalar on the road, he would probably expect them to be at the city before him, for some reason unknown to her. Maybe it was just the fact that they hadn't seen each other at the Lazy Dog.
The three arrived in Norasona at dusk on the fourth day of travel. Faug, for some reason, still didn't entirely believe that Shyasha wasn't blind, because he was so impressed with her blind instinct when they first met officially.
"But what if she DID go blind, though, at one point?" Faug wondered to Valin when he was rather sure that Shyasha couldn't hear. They were on the very outskirts of the city, just beyond the crumbling stone wall.
"I did, at one point, a long time ago, before you were born," Shyasha hollered over her shoulder. Faug had forgotten about the fact that she still had amazing hearing. "HURRY UP!!!"
"How did you know how old I am?" Faug asked, running up to her.
"Dalar told me, remember? You're nine."
"Well, how old are you?" Faug demanded.
"You really want to know?"
"Yes."
"Fine. I am four thousand seven hundred and thirteen years old. So there."
"How do you tell time, anyway, without being able to see anything?" Faug wondered.
"I can see," Shyasha said exasperatedly. "I TOLD you. But when I was blind, I told time by the temperature of the air, mostly. And just by intuition, like my body knew around what time I went to sleep and what time I woke up and when it got dark and stuff."
"When did you tell us?"
"The night before we left."
"Huh?"
"At the Lazy Dog. Don't you remember ANYTHING?"
"Well, when were you blind?"
"A long time ago. It was really annoying because, for that type of blindness, I could only see when I was around my true love. Dalar told me."
Faug and Valin snorted.
"Look, I didn't make it up, okay? I don't do a lot of magic, and I don't do prophecies. That's Dalar, and he's not here right now, so you can't ask him why love is supposed to cure all curses."
"So it was a curse?" Faug asked.
"I didn't say that."
"Yes you did."
"When?"
"Just now."
"I SAID that Dalar isn't around to be asked about curses, I didn't say-"
"But you said that you could only see when-"
"Yes, but that-"
"AND you said 'for that type of blindness-'"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean that it-"
"And normal blindness doesn't work like that!"
"I KNOW that, but that-"
"SO," Faug yelled over her. "You must have had a curse."
"Whatever. Either way I couldn't see for three years." She said that as they walked through the decaying wood door of the city.
Shyasha stopped suddenly. Faug nearly walked into her, causing Valin to nearly walk into Faug.
"Something is wrong here," Shyasha said slowly, moving forward slowly, staring around. Almost subconsciously she took her bow from around her shoulders and put an arrow on the string. This wasn't just a display of the Amazing Senses of Shyasha Rinkari and The Quickness at Which They React to Things. Faug and Valin could sense it, too. As they walked through the streets in a small clump, they saw nobody else on the streets and there were no lights in the windows, even though the sky was steadily darkening. Most of the stone buildings were still firmly intact, but there wasn't any life in the city, no sort of buzz that meant that even though you couldn't see the inhabitants, they were there. A breeze made a wooden sign creak on its hinges and blew around the edges of Shyasha's hood. Then silence. There was no other sound except for the soft footfalls and slight breathing of the three travelers.
"This isn't right," Shyasha said, and for the first time, there was something that wasn't sarcasm or certainty in her voice.
"Where is everyone?" Valin asked. "It's like they just all left or something."
"Or maybe they died," Faug whispered.
"I don't think they died," Shyasha said. Then she muttered to herself, "I'm gonna kill him."
"Gonna kill who?" Faug asked. Shyasha had to admit, although he never seemed to get his head around some stuff, he definitely picked up on a lot.
"Nobody," Shyasha said shortly.
"Come on," Faug pestered. "Who's gonna die?"
"The stupid dude who calls himself leader of the Three Cities."
"What are the Three Cities?"
"Norasona, Lira, and Nojura. Biggest concentrated populations of people. Whoever is king or queen has domain over the Three Cities and the general area in between."
"Why are you going to kill him?" Valin asked.
"I might not have to, but if he doesn't give me a straight answer he won't have much more time."
"Do you know him?" Faug asked.
"Yes."
"How?" he wondered.
"Not now, Faug," Shyasha said.
She led them quietly through the streets, taking the alleyways and back roads whenever possible.
"Shyasha," Valin asked tentatively. "Where exactly are we going?"
"To my old house," Shyasha said.
"You used to live here?"
"Once upon a time."
"I thought we were going to see the ruler guy," Faug said. "Why are we going to your old house?"
Then they rounded a corner and the two guys stared.
"Is that your old house?" Faug asked.
"Yeah," Shyasha said.
"House" didn't exactly cover it. "Mansion" might have been a better term, but still not exact. The best term would either be "palace" or "castle".
Thursday, April 23, 2009
part #2 of Shya/Valin/Faug
Well, I'm back again, with the next bit of the story I posted earlier today-the Lord of the Rings type one. And here is the rest of what I have so far (it's not a lot):
“Wait,” Shyasha ordered, suddenly tense.
“What?” Faug demanded. “I’m hungry.”
“SHUT UP!” Shyasha yelled in a stage whisper at him. “I think I hear something. Shut up so I can listen.”
All three were quiet for a moment.
“I knew it,” Shyasha muttered.
“What are we supposed to be hearing?” Faug asked blankly.
“Shut it already!”
“I did!”
“Keep it shut unless you want me to tell you to run in the wrong direction!”
They were all quiet some more. Neither Faug nor Valin heard anything, but their hearing wasn’t as good as Shyasha’s, so it was harder for them to hear what she was apparently hearing.
Then, very faintly, the two humans heard it, too. There was a very faint sound of hoof beats, growing ever louder. The two males couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from, but they could tell by the way Shyasha was poised, catlike, in a defensive sort of way, that whatever was coming was probably not going to be pleasant.
“Who’s coming?” Valin whispered.
“Multiple people,” Shyasha hissed back. “On horseback. They’re very fast horses, maybe even destriers. They’re covering ground like mad, and we’re not going to be able to outrun them if we try. They’re coming from the northeast, behind us, and heading right for us. There’s no time to run.”
“What do we do?” Faug asked.
“Up there,” Shyasha ordered, pointing at the branches of the strong-looking oak above their heads. “Now.”
“Why?” Faug demanded.
“This is not the time for questioning people’s judgment,” Valin said. “Get up there now or when we get back I’m telling mom the exact number of cookies you stole from the cookie jar!”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Yes, I would!”
“Well, we’re not going to be able to test Valin’s daring when it comes to telling your mom about cookies and jars if you guys don’t get off the road and into hiding!” Shyasha said. It was true. The hoof beats were so close that they shook the ground. The three could hear the heavy breathing of the horses and riders as they climbed the tree. Valin went first, ad then Shyasha handed Faug up, despite Faug trying to wriggle free. She was surprisingly strong. Shyasha went up last, hesitating to look over her shoulder before reaching up to grab the nearest branch and pull herself into the leaves.
Three figures rode below. One was on a white and grey horse, wearing a white cloak. They could see him for only a moment, and all they saw that might distinguish him in the future was that he had long grey hair and was carrying a long staff. The second figure was a young man on a chestnut horse who looked no older than eighteen. He had curly dark hair and was carrying a javelin. The third figure was on a black horse. His hair was black and close-cut, and his age seemed somewhere in between his two fellows. He wasn’t carrying anything.
“Telsiel,” Shyasha said quietly, looking after the three figures.
“What did you say?” Valin asked.
“That was Telsiel,” Shyasha said. “With Dalar. I don’t know who the other guy was, though.”
“You could see their faces?” Faug asked in awe.
“You couldn’t?”
“We’re not amazingly amazing, remember?” Faug said.
“Whatever.”
“Which one was Telsiel?” Valin asked.
“The one on the black horse.”
“Who is he?” Faug demanded.
“He’s just…nobody.”
“Really?” Faug said, as if he didn’t believe that Shyasha didn’t know the guy.
“We knew each other a while ago.”
“When was a while ago?” Faug asked.
“Before you were born,” Shyasha said shortly.
“Why do you keep saying that? Are you speaking in code?”
“Of course she’s speaking in code,” Valin said sarcastically.
“Really?” Faug asked eagerly.
“Yeah,” Valin said. “‘Before you were born’ is really, in all reality, code for ‘I am a moose.’”
“Really?”
“Use your brain, dummy. Of course not.”
“BOYS!” Shyasha said sternly.
“What?” they protested together.
“Who wants food?”
Chapter 4
The next few days passed without much hassle. They always woke up before dawn and ate hardy but uncooked ranger food while they were still moving, only stopping for meals when it was light out.
That's all I have so far. I will keep you posted on the story (ha! post! blog! ha! I have to POST an entry on my BLOG in order for you to SEE IT, so if I'm going to keep you POSTED....I'm making absolutely no sense, am I?)
All right. The end.
“Wait,” Shyasha ordered, suddenly tense.
“What?” Faug demanded. “I’m hungry.”
“SHUT UP!” Shyasha yelled in a stage whisper at him. “I think I hear something. Shut up so I can listen.”
All three were quiet for a moment.
“I knew it,” Shyasha muttered.
“What are we supposed to be hearing?” Faug asked blankly.
“Shut it already!”
“I did!”
“Keep it shut unless you want me to tell you to run in the wrong direction!”
They were all quiet some more. Neither Faug nor Valin heard anything, but their hearing wasn’t as good as Shyasha’s, so it was harder for them to hear what she was apparently hearing.
Then, very faintly, the two humans heard it, too. There was a very faint sound of hoof beats, growing ever louder. The two males couldn’t tell where the sound was coming from, but they could tell by the way Shyasha was poised, catlike, in a defensive sort of way, that whatever was coming was probably not going to be pleasant.
“Who’s coming?” Valin whispered.
“Multiple people,” Shyasha hissed back. “On horseback. They’re very fast horses, maybe even destriers. They’re covering ground like mad, and we’re not going to be able to outrun them if we try. They’re coming from the northeast, behind us, and heading right for us. There’s no time to run.”
“What do we do?” Faug asked.
“Up there,” Shyasha ordered, pointing at the branches of the strong-looking oak above their heads. “Now.”
“Why?” Faug demanded.
“This is not the time for questioning people’s judgment,” Valin said. “Get up there now or when we get back I’m telling mom the exact number of cookies you stole from the cookie jar!”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Yes, I would!”
“Well, we’re not going to be able to test Valin’s daring when it comes to telling your mom about cookies and jars if you guys don’t get off the road and into hiding!” Shyasha said. It was true. The hoof beats were so close that they shook the ground. The three could hear the heavy breathing of the horses and riders as they climbed the tree. Valin went first, ad then Shyasha handed Faug up, despite Faug trying to wriggle free. She was surprisingly strong. Shyasha went up last, hesitating to look over her shoulder before reaching up to grab the nearest branch and pull herself into the leaves.
Three figures rode below. One was on a white and grey horse, wearing a white cloak. They could see him for only a moment, and all they saw that might distinguish him in the future was that he had long grey hair and was carrying a long staff. The second figure was a young man on a chestnut horse who looked no older than eighteen. He had curly dark hair and was carrying a javelin. The third figure was on a black horse. His hair was black and close-cut, and his age seemed somewhere in between his two fellows. He wasn’t carrying anything.
“Telsiel,” Shyasha said quietly, looking after the three figures.
“What did you say?” Valin asked.
“That was Telsiel,” Shyasha said. “With Dalar. I don’t know who the other guy was, though.”
“You could see their faces?” Faug asked in awe.
“You couldn’t?”
“We’re not amazingly amazing, remember?” Faug said.
“Whatever.”
“Which one was Telsiel?” Valin asked.
“The one on the black horse.”
“Who is he?” Faug demanded.
“He’s just…nobody.”
“Really?” Faug said, as if he didn’t believe that Shyasha didn’t know the guy.
“We knew each other a while ago.”
“When was a while ago?” Faug asked.
“Before you were born,” Shyasha said shortly.
“Why do you keep saying that? Are you speaking in code?”
“Of course she’s speaking in code,” Valin said sarcastically.
“Really?” Faug asked eagerly.
“Yeah,” Valin said. “‘Before you were born’ is really, in all reality, code for ‘I am a moose.’”
“Really?”
“Use your brain, dummy. Of course not.”
“BOYS!” Shyasha said sternly.
“What?” they protested together.
“Who wants food?”
Chapter 4
The next few days passed without much hassle. They always woke up before dawn and ate hardy but uncooked ranger food while they were still moving, only stopping for meals when it was light out.
That's all I have so far. I will keep you posted on the story (ha! post! blog! ha! I have to POST an entry on my BLOG in order for you to SEE IT, so if I'm going to keep you POSTED....I'm making absolutely no sense, am I?)
All right. The end.
post #wtvr/ part 1 of shya/valin/faug
Okay. So. I know that I've mostly been using the blog to complain about life. But from this point on I have decided something very important: I am NOT just going to blog about how much I don't like being in school. I am ALSO going to post the stories that I write. Some of them, anyway. In part, sometimes. Anyway, I know that it's not going to be as fun as reading about how much I don't like going to school, but whatever. Anyway, I'm going to post a bit of a DIFFERENT story today. NOT the Ungora one, but a different sort-of-Lord-of-the-Rings-inspired one. Because I FINALLY have an excuse to force myself to finish reading Fellowship of the Ring (English project-we get to choose what book we read/do a project on), but before I started reading it I started writing this story. So here it is, in part, anyway.
Chapter 1
Faug and Valin finally reached the inn where Dalar said that they should meet him, The Lazy Dog. They went up to the bar to ask about Dalar and were told that he hadn't been seen for many weeks. "What do we do now?" whispered Valin.
"We can only wait," replied Faug. "He's bound to show up eventually. He promised us he'd be here. For the time being, sit and act normal."
So that is what they did. They sat at a table in the corner with some drinks and discussed their mission in low voices. Valin glanced up often, very nervous. He wasn't comfortable if Dalar wasn't around. Dalar was stronger than both Faug and Valin, and he had magic. After glancing up for the tenth time, Faug finally said, "Would you stop it?"
"No," Valin replied. "I'm not comfortable until Dalar gets here."
"Relax," Faug said. "You're being paranoid. I'm younger than you. I'm the one who's supposed to be freaking out, remember?"
"You're right," Valin agreed, not entirely convinced. Just then Valin noticed a shadowed figure in the corner opposite who seemed to be watching them. The figure seemed to be female and not much older than fourteen, fifteen tops. Her face was half in shadow because her hood was pulled over most of her face, so Valin could only see her mouth, which was in a calm, impassive line. She was dressed all in black, and her clothes were so loose fitting that Valin wasn't sure whether she was wearing a skirt or overlarge pants. He wasn't entirely sure the figure was a "she". The person's hands were hidden in the folds of the long, loose sleeves. Valin could not see what color the person's hair was because it seemed to be tied back and hidden by the hood. Valin didn't know why, but he didn't think he or she or it or whatever was going to help their situation, even if it transpired that Dalar had sent him or her or it. The person looked almost evil, really, with that hood up and the long black cloak and the black clothes. Valin decided to stop staring at whoever it was behind that hood and actually listen to what Faug was saying.
“So, what do you think, Valin?” He asked.
“Huh?” Valin asked, not having paid attention to Faug’s monologue.
"Do you think we should stay here for the night or find shelter elsewhere?”
“Stay here, definitely. Dalar said we should meet him here, so we should stick around until he shows up.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. But what if he came here ages ago, like when he originally said we should meet him, and then got abducted and killed?”
“Dude, you sound like me.”
“So what? It could happen.”
"I don’t know. I mean, he wouldn’t think to send us here if he knew there was going to be danger.”
“But that’s the thing, though. What if there was danger that he didn’t know about until it was too late and he couldn’t send us a message because he was abducted and kept in a sack for two weeks and fed on bread and water?”
“Come on, you can’t stuff Dalar in a sack. He’s too tall. And he’d probably be able to beat up anyone who tried to hurt him, and if that didn’t work he’d probably use his magic. So more likely than not he’s still on the move and whoever tries to challenge him is in a heap of dung.” Valin glanced over at the figure in the corner. As far as he could tell, whoever it was was still looking at them.
“What are you looking at?” demanded Faug.
“Don’t look right away, but there is a person sitting in the corner opposite us, right behind you,” Valin whispered. “I think it’s a girl. She looks no older than fourteen or fifteen and is dressed all in black and has a black cloak with the hood up.”
Very discreetly, Faug turned around and looked at the person in question. Then he looked back at Valin.
“Very fishy,” Faug agreed.
“I’m going to ask about her, once the waiter comes around again,” said Valin.
He did so, and the waiter said, in a very quiet voice, “That’s Shyasha Rinkari. She’s a strange one, even for an Elven fairy.”
“Shyasha Rinkari,” repeated Valin. “And a hybrid, too. Interesting.”
“What does that mean, anyway?” asked Faug. “Shyasha Rinkari?”
“It’s an elvish name,” the waiter said. “It means ‘the shadow warrior.’ She has a reputation for never being loyal to anyone longer than a year and a day. Fierce, she is. Rumor is she was betrayed by a man when she was younger and now she doesn’t trust anyone except a rare few, Dalar among them, I think. She’s a darn good fighter, and is as silent as a shadow both in the way she moves and the way she speaks, that is, IF she spoke. Nobody roundabouts has heard her utter a word, and she’s been around locally for quite a while.”
“You say she was hurt when she was younger,” Faug said. “But she can’t have been around long enough to have enough boyfriends to hurt her, can she? I mean, she can’t be older than fifteen.”
“Aye, you would think she wasn’t, which was why it pained her, you see,” replied the waiter. “She’s immortal-all hybrids are. Mind you, even if she was just an elf or a fairy she would still be immortal. It pained her because, well, even though she stopped aging at fifteen, I think she’s really around four thousand years old, and immortal. Her lover apparently betrayed her and ran off with her sister or something, and she had loved him dearly. Immortals get to choose what age they stay at for the rest of forever, so that’s why she only looks like she’s fifteen.”
“But how do you know all this?” Valin asked.
“Well, the basic hybrid stuff is common knowledge,” the waiter said. “And the rest is just stuff she was willing to let out in the open. Half of it is just rumors, mind, so I’m not sure half of it is true.”
“Well, thank you for your time,” Faug said.
“Anytime,” the waiter replied. “Is there anything else you’ll need?”
“No, thank you,” Faug said.
The waiter left and the two men sat talking for a long time afterwards. It was after midnight when the tavern at the inn was finally devoid of anyone except the staff, Faug, Valin, and Shyasha Rinkari. The two humans didn’t seem to notice, and they talked intently about all they had learned about Shyasha Rinkari and her past.
Soon, however, Valin looked over at Shyasha Rinkari’s corner and realized she was gone. He had barely pointed this out to Faug when he glanced at the table next to them and realized she was sitting right there. She saw his glance and rose, walking over to their table. She bent over to whisper in his ear, “I am Shyasha Rinkari. Do not be surprised. Dalar has sent me to aid you in your quest. Follow my instructions exactly. First, pay for your meal and then ask for a room. I will be around but out of sight long enough to learn the number of the room. Then, slowly, very slowly, make your way up to the room. I will meet you there. It is very important that I reach the room before you do. There are dark creatures about and I am stronger than the pair of you put together, so I stand a better chance if there are any of the creatures up there that are a danger to you. Do as I say soon. I will be waiting for you, Valin.” With that she strode with a mysterious elegance back to her corner. Valin and Faug exchanged glances.
“Let’s do it, then,” Faug said. And they followed Shyasha Rinkari’s instructions exactly, and indeed, when they reached room fifteen she was there.
“Welcome,” she said, in the same strange, musical voice that she had used downstairs when talking to Valin. Valin noticed also that although there was no light, she still had her hood up. “I need to get this over with soon so I can report to Dalar. He sends his regrets that he cannot be with you tonight but he had other business to attend to and he hopes that you will not hold him accountable, you see, he has run into a bit of trouble with the creatures I mentioned earlier. They are called Wynds, and they are very, very loyal to the dark lord Sonru. The Wynds are very violent and will kill you at once and anything in their way if they so much as see a strand of hair that looks similar to either of yours stuck to a tree trunk. This is why you must keep the Blue Crystal Star completely hidden and entirely safe on the return journey.”
“Oh, so that’s what we’re after,” Valin said. “I was wondering. Dalar wasn’t too specific. All he said was that we had to join him on a quest and he would meet us here.”
“Correction,” said Faug. “He sad you had to join him. I had nothing to do with it. He only made me come along because he didn’t want you to travel alone.”
“And he was quite right,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “If the Wynds had gotten you before I had, the quest would have gone downhill from the moment you stepped out the front door.”
“As I recall, you begged him to let you come,” Valin reminded Faug. “And you wanted to know what was going on so badly that you pretended you were my blind housekeeper instead of my best mate in order to learn something worth telling everyone else about-”
“I did not,” Faug insisted. “I had just stopped by and started listening to the conversation; I wasn’t there on purpose-”
“-Which is why he sent you on this mission in the first place, so you wouldn’t go gossiping about it. Mind you, it wasn’t a bad idea.”
“When you two have finally stopped arguing about who entered what conversation at whatever time-” Shyasha Rinkari interrupted.
"But he wasn’t in the conversation,” Valin insisted. “He was listening to the conversation, and Dalar only found him when he was about to leave-”
“POINT IS, THOUGH,” Shyasha Rinkari almost yelled, “that it was a very good idea for Faug to have decided to snoop or impersonate a blind housekeeper or stop by for a visit or whatever he was doing, because it is a very bad idea for anyone to go around alone, especially you, Valin, because you are the person the Wynds are going to by looking for the hardest, both when we are on our quest to find the five pieces of the Blue Crystal Star and our journey to the inner sanctum of the Invisible Castle to destroy it, and then back to your home again, the Wynds are going to be looking for us. So, therefore-”
“Wait, us?” Faug demanded. “What do you mean us? You surely aren’t coming with us. It’s too dangerous.”
“Well of course I’m coming with you,” Shyasha Rinkari replied in a clearly exasperated tone. “What do you expect? Dalar is obviously not going to be able to join us anytime soon, and you to obviously have no idea what you are doing, and I’m way more powerful than either of you, and you’ll need some sort of protection until we get to Norasona, where we’ll be joined by-”
“Hang on, there are more of you?” Faug demanded. “I though that Dalar wanted us to bring along as few people as possible, because of the attention we would get if we were toting three dozen people around the countryside-”
“First things first, Faug,” Shyasha Rinkari interrupted, the irritated edge in her voice growing. Both humans could tell that even though she was older than either of them, she still retained a lot of the fifteen year old characteristics that she was stuck with. “For one thing, there are not more of me, but there are more people who are like me, and different races, too. Life in Anana must have been really confined if the only races you know about are human, elves, and fairies. No, there are way more races than that, and, what’s more, we’re going to need more than two humans and a hybrid to get where we’re going. Second of all, however many races there are, we are not going to be taking representatives from each of them to lug around the countryside, because first of all, there are barely a dozen races in the first place, and second of all we’re going to be dealing with mountains, mostly, so there won’t be very much countryside to lug people across. No, it’ll be mainly the Graynote Mountains and the Silvercourt Forest we’ll be dealing with. And let me tell you, I’m seriously navigationally challenged to a certain extent. If I hadn’t had Tiba with me when I was exploring, I wouldn’t be here because I would still be lost in the Silvercourt Forest. We’re going to meet up with her and a few others later on. Anyhow, the point is, you cannot travel with just each other for company, because, number one, you would get killed in the first three seconds of walking through the Silvercourt Forest, there’s so many different creatures in there who would be very willing to have you for a snack, number two, there are spells and dangers that even I am not entirely sure of, so it helps to have some extra brains that know different things, number three, you have no idea where you’re going, and number four, Dalar would murder me if I let you guys go alone. And besides, if you guys don’t survive, who else is going to finish the mission if you don’t confide in someone?”
“Who is Tiba?” Valin asked.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Shyasha Rinkari replied. “She’s a sorceress.”
“You mean like a witch?” asked Faug.
“No, witches and sorceresses are two entirely different things; they have two entirely different brands of magic that have two totally different means of execution. It’s hard to explain. But do you see what I mean? Life out there would be hard for you since you both are from Anana and obviously know about a hundredth of what the rest of the world knows about magic and whatnot.”
“I think we should let her come with us, Faug,” Valin said. “She knows a lot. And she’s immortal.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Faug and Shyasha Rinkari asked together.
“Well, that mean’s you can’t be killed, doesn’t it?”
“Not exactly,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “I can be killed, it’s just really hard, and it doesn’t happen very often anyway. Not many immortals even bother with love anymore, number one because they think that living longer than everyone else means that you don’t need romance, for some reason, and number two, because it’s so risky for us.”
“What?” Valin wondered.
“There are two ways for elves, fairies, and their hybrids to die-a broken heart or bloody murder. Mind you, the latter is hard because the elves have made so much light but indestructible armor and the fairies move too fast and are generally too small and fast to be killed and all of us have stronger immune systems than humans so poisons have pretty much no effect.”
“Still, I think she should come with us,” Valin insisted.
“True enough,” conceded Faug.
“Well, then,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “Since we’re traveling together, I’ll have you know that my contract is with Dalar, and I never sign out my skills longer than a year and a day, so if we don’t get this done in less than the six weeks I have left, then I’m going to have to leave partway through. I’m not going into detail about my reasons for only signing myself out for that amount of time; it’s just the way I do things.”
“Fine,” Faug said. “When do we start?”
“Tonight, that is to say, when dark comes again. I’ll have paid for everything and will come for you. Be ready by midnight. We’ll be on the move by dawn.”
“Why?” Valin wondered.
“If you’re traveling with a blind ranger, you’ll need all the time you can have. And it won’t hurt, either. If you’re being tracked, leave when they don’t expect you to, in order to catch them off guard so they’ll have a job tracking you for a while.”
“You’re-” Valin started, but Shyasha Rinkari cut him off.
“Blind, yes. I don’t talk about it. It gives people the wrong impression. They think I can’t do anything except walk in a straight line and think things up because I can’t see. But the truth is that I can probably do more than some of the senior rangers.”
“How?”
“Instinct and hearing. Sight is only an asset; if you have it, great, but if you don’t, it won’t harm you.”
“What do you mean?” Faug wondered. He had been through combat training, and he had learned that sight was practically the only way to plot your next move, especially if you were going to have to block.
“You have a sword?” She asked Valin.
“Yes.”
Shyasha Rinkari drew her own sword. “Strike at me,” she ordered.
Apprehensively, Valin drew out his sword and aimed at her head, not intending to actually come in contact.
“Come on, boy, I’m not going to be able to prove anything if circumstances aren’t what they should be. Do a proper hit already.”
Valin obeyed, taking a quicker jab to her side. The other sword was there before he even got close.
“When you’re as old as I am, and you’re a hybrid, and you’re blind, it’s easier to tell, but the blindness helps.”
“How?”
“I think there’s something about the nature of anything when you lose one of the important senses permanently. Losing my sight has enhanced my hearing and my peripheral senses. Again, hybrids have very good hearing to begin with, but blindness makes it all the better. It will be harder for you, but you can do it.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“I can hear the sword,” she said simply. “It makes a noise when it goes through the air. I feel the wind of the motion so putting it all together, I can judge where it’s coming from, and block accordingly. It isn’t that hard. I can also sort of sense where people are, even in combat. Well, I can sense there’s something there, at least. But the point is, sight isn’t important. What are important are the sensing and the hearing. Sight is only confirmation of the truth.”
“But how can you tell that we’re guys?”
“That, my friend, is the most obvious thing ever. Even YOU could figure it out, and that’s saying something.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning you should have realized by now that guys have deeper voices than girls, even though they sometimes appear to be four or six years apart.”
"What do you mean, APPEAR to be four or six years apart?” Faug demanded. “And how do you know that he’s nineteen and I’m nine?”
“Good lord, you really do talk too much,” Shyasha Rinkari muttered under her breath. “Anyway, didn’t that waiter tell you that I was around four thousand years old? Well, I’m older than that. I’m four thousand seven hundred and thirteen. I froze at fifteen because; well…I think he talked about that, too. As for knowing your ages, Dalar told me. Enough talk for one night. I’m next door if you need me, but only need me if it’s an absolute emergency, here meaning if one of you is having a seizure, one of you is having a heart attack, one of you died, or the Wylds are downstairs and have set the place on fire. I trust you both brought your teddy bears. The bathroom is over there. Go talk to room service if you need some water or anything.” She turned to leave.
“Um…Shyasha Rinkari?” Faug said in a tentative voice. Valin knew it was his “I’m-jokingly-going-to-tick-her-off” type voice. “Can I have a bedtime story?”
“Fine,” Shyasha Rinkari said, pausing and turning around in the doorway and leaning against the frame. “Once upon a time there were two guys named Faug and Valin who were going on an adventure with an Elven Fairy who was cooler than both of them. Shyasha Rinkari was not in a very good mood on the night they met because she was tired, so by the time she started telling a story to Faug, who was nearly a grownup, she was ready to punch him in the face. The end. Goodnight.”
Laughing slightly, Faug and Valin said goodnight and turned to collapse into the beds. Thankfully, Shyasha Rinkari had gotten a room with two.
“I think she secretly likes me,” Faug said smugly in the dark.
“You are ridiculously full of it, my friend,” Valin replied.
“Well, she can’t like you, because you’re the chosen one,” Faug said. “And that boyfriend of hers from before ditched her, so she could use a guy to love her. What do you think?”
“I think,” Valin said, “that you have completely lost it. She’s more than just a pretty face, apparently. And I don’t think she likes you that way.”
“Why? I’m decently good looking, right?”
“Well, that’s beside the point. I don’t think girls like her are into guys like you. That’s not her type.”
“Oh, and you’re her type?”
“No.”
“You like her, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t.” Valin’s voice was defensive because, for the first time, he really wasn’t into a girl. Well, not this girl. Maybe Swega Perby in Anana, but not Shyasha Rinkari. She wasn’t the kind of girl he’d fall in love with.
“Who, then?”
“You know who.”
“Swega Perby?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you like Swega Perby anyway? She isn’t that good looking.”
“Come on, just because a girl isn’t a looker doesn’t mean she’s not nice.”
“What do you see in Swega Perby?”
“A person who cares about things that are worth caring about, you know? Like she’s willing to wait if she needs to, and she’s really caring and gentle and stuff.”
“Yeah. Wish I knew a girl like that.”
“You’ll find someone eventually. Maybe that sorceress has a twin sister.”
"Or I could get together with that sorceress.”
“Shyasha Rinkari would murder you. And then chop you up and murder your individual little pieces.”
“Oh, well. Good night.”
“Night.”
Chapter 2
The next night, there was a soft knock on the door of room fifteen. The door opened silently, and two dark figures moved out to join the third, smaller figure in the hall. The three moved off quickly and silently and soon were on the road that led west, towards Norasona.
Shyasha Rinkari was glad to be out. She wasn’t blind, the farthest thing from it. She had only said that to get these two overly-talkative humans to shut up. She had closed her eyes during the demonstration, however, and she had been talking from personal experience when she talked about how you had intensified hearing and senses when you were blind-she had spent three years in a semi-blind state because of that near death experience when she was sixteen. Man, she hated that guy right now. That’s why she had nearly died-she had been in love, and he’d been nice, and they’d been together for years, and then he randomly decided that he was going to break up with her. She had even frozen at fifteen because she had been in such great shape anyway and it was such a good time of life. Her dad had frozen at thirty and then refrozen at fifty, and now all h did was complain about his back and cramps and whatever else. Shyasha sometimes got cramps, but that was only when she was dehydrated. From what she’d heard, her ex had gone into the wild and unfrozen, aged thirty years, and gone back to Norasona and taken over the ruled the city after her father because she’d run away. She hadn’t wanted to see that jerk’s face ever again. And yet, here she was, leading her two charges to witness her certain death. Death not because of the fact that her heart might break again, but death from the fact that she was going to end up trying to beat him up (which was now her lifelong ambition) and get killed by the security guards. Shyasha was now 2% in love with her ex (even after four thousand years and the fact that he looked old enough to reasonably be her father) and 98% ready to rip his guts out, mash them to a pulp, and feed them to his dog. That is, if he had a dog. If he didn’t, then the cat would get them. If he didn’t have a cat, then she would force feed them to someone. Maybe Faug. Faug was annoying. Really annoying. But reasonably funny.
“Shyasha Rinkari!” Faug said at that moment.
“It’s just ‘Shyasha’ when you’re talking to or about me,” Shyasha said. “If you stop talking so much you’d realize how stupid ‘Shyasha Rinkari’ sounds when both words are together.”
“It’s a cool name,” Valin said.
“Thanks,” Shyasha replied. “I honestly think it’s the worst name ever.”
“Well, don’t you know what ‘Valin’ means?” Valin asked.
“No.”
“Squirrel dung,” Faug sniggered.
“Very funny,” Shyasha said skeptically.
“It’s true,” Valin said.
“Seriously? That’s mean. Who’d want to name their kid ‘squirrel dung’?”
"Beats me,” Valin replied.
“Well, guess what ‘Faug means?” Faug insisted.
“Let me guess,” Shyasha joked. “Overlord of the idiots?”
“No,” Faug snorted. “It means ‘intelligent’.”
“Right,” Shyasha said in a skeptical tone. “Well, once you start living up to it; let me know, will you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Faug demanded.
“That you’re immature. And you haven’t picked up an obvious fact.”
“What obvious fact?” Faug demanded in the whiny tone that he did so well, being nine. “And I’m not immature.”
"Oh,” Valin said, comprehension suddenly dawning on his face.
“What?” Faug complained.
“I’m not blind.”
“WHAT?”
“I’m not blind,” Shyasha repeated. “Come on, you honestly expect a blind person to be able to walk through this town without guidance and somehow manage to not fall in the gutter at least twice? And about walking through this town, let’s shut up, because we could wake enemies and that’s not good, and we could provide more of a target for the Wylds, if they find us. Come on.”
They walked the rest of the way out of the town in silence. Shyasha was secretly laughing at Faug. He was so much fun to tease.
Chapter 3
Shyasha, Faug, and Valin walked steadily for a while, and then Faug started complaining, as Shyasha had predicted, in her head. What she hadn’t predicted was how much Faug picked up, and the extreme expanse of his imagination of language. He complained about everything, and cussed something out in the weirdest ways whenever he was annoyed. By the time they sat down for a proper breakfast, when the sun was properly up, he had gotten to the stage of plodding along with no real enthusiasm, his head lolling one way on one step and the other way on the next one. His face was pink from the strain to walk, talk, and complain all at the same time. He complained about everything there was to complain about-the time, the weather, the fact that they had to wake up at dawn, the speed at which they were going (first they were going too slow, now they were going too fast), the fact that his feet hurt, and everything else he could think of. He asked questions occasionally, but they usually consisted of words related to “when,” “are,” “we,” “going,” “to,” “get,” and “there.” Sometimes Faug would trip on a tree root, and he would holler out something like, “HOLY SON OF A YELLING POOP HEADED WORMY GOBLIN!!!”
“Where does he get these ideas?” Shyasha asked Valin, who was walking beside her. The pair was several paces ahead of Faug.
“He’s a writer,” Valin said. “Well, not a writer. His thing is really his comic books. He does stories about people who can shoot fire out of their noses and stuff. He’s really quite good. He’ll probably end up being either a comedian or have his own comic strip in the local newsletter.”
“What about you? What do you do?”
“I…don’t know.”
“Well, what are you good at?”
“It’s weird. You wouldn’t get it.”
“Really. Try me.”
“No, seriously. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Valin, you have to remember how old I am.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that even though there are still a couple of surprises out there for me, I doubt that one of them is going to come in the form of a 19-year-old’s lifelong ambitions. Besides, if you don’t tell me, I’ll start singing, and you do not, on any terms, want to hear me sing."
“All right, all right. But don’t laugh, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Fine. I like to sew and…well…I knit.”
“You knit?”
“I told you it was weird.”
“No, it’s not weird.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not really. When you open up your own fabric shop, contact me and we’ll do a joint business or something. I can knit. Sort of.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mind you, I haven’t picked up a pair of sticks in about fifty years, but, you know, I can learn. Or re-learn. Or whatever. I mean, I don’t have a lot of time to do it, but still.”
“Seriously? You’re not joking? And you don’t think I’m completely out of my mind or anything?”
“Yes, I’m serious, no, I’m not joking, and no, I don’t think you’re completely out of your mind or anything.”
“SWEET!”
“Whaat?” Faug complained.
“Nothing,” Valin said, grinning.
“When you say that-”
“It means he isn’t going to tell you why he’s grinning, so just drop it,” Shyasha told him.
“Are we there yet?” Faug moaned.
"No,” Shyasha said. “And you can stop asking that for another few days.”
“Are we going to eat soon?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“Really?”
"If you promise to shut up for a while.”
“Done!!!”
I have some more typed up, but it's not on this computer. I was only able to post this bit because I had emailed it to my friend who moved to a different country. I also did a handwritten bit, but it comes later, so I'm not going to tell you what happens because that would be spoiling it, even though it's only like two pages to spoil, but what the heck. Plus, there's some transition stuff that I should post before I post what I have in the notebook with me.
This is probably my longest post ever, but what the heck. I don't care. Because it's a story, and stories are fun to write in my opinion. Because I'm a writer. And now I'm all hyper because I successfully put something that I wrote on the Internet for all to see. Okay, not ALL to see, but still. More people will be able to see it. And read it. And stuff.
So anyway, yesterday my mom got some binders for me because I really need to organize all the shit that my teachers hand out, especially my history teacher. Seriously. Mom got a two-inch binder for History, and it's already most of the way full and it's not even the end of the year yet. That's just sad. My history teacher is a very epic tree-killer.
I'm in a good mood, suddenly, for some reason. I don't know why showing people my writing does that, but it does. It's fun. And it's a nice day out and not too cold for once. But whatever. And now I'm just rambling. And stuff. I don't know whether I should open the blog to the general public because that might be kind of dangerous, but on the other hand, nobody really reads it anyway. I don't know.
So anyway, I'm going to have to go to class soon.
And I really don't want to.
Well, this was fun, but I have to go.
And learn.
Not that learning isn't fun.
It's just learning the stuff we're doing in science right now....it's really boring.
Just to let you know.
But now I'm all ORGANIZED so I don't have to worry.
Not really, anyway.
But I left my three-hole punch at home, which is really annoying, because I won't be able to clip stuff into my snazzy new *science binder* (jazz hands!) and I'll probably end up losing it.
The worksheet the teacher hands out, I mean.
I'm already crazy enough as it is.
So anyway, I'm going to go to class now, and actually be on time for once!
Or maybe even early!
Class doesn't technically start for another ten minutes, but oh well.
I have no idea why I'm putting a new sentence on each line, but oh well.
I guess I want to make this post longe
“Okay.”r.
Or something.
I don't know.
Nobody's going to read it anyway.
Except for me.
:)
Goodbye.
Chapter 1
Faug and Valin finally reached the inn where Dalar said that they should meet him, The Lazy Dog. They went up to the bar to ask about Dalar and were told that he hadn't been seen for many weeks. "What do we do now?" whispered Valin.
"We can only wait," replied Faug. "He's bound to show up eventually. He promised us he'd be here. For the time being, sit and act normal."
So that is what they did. They sat at a table in the corner with some drinks and discussed their mission in low voices. Valin glanced up often, very nervous. He wasn't comfortable if Dalar wasn't around. Dalar was stronger than both Faug and Valin, and he had magic. After glancing up for the tenth time, Faug finally said, "Would you stop it?"
"No," Valin replied. "I'm not comfortable until Dalar gets here."
"Relax," Faug said. "You're being paranoid. I'm younger than you. I'm the one who's supposed to be freaking out, remember?"
"You're right," Valin agreed, not entirely convinced. Just then Valin noticed a shadowed figure in the corner opposite who seemed to be watching them. The figure seemed to be female and not much older than fourteen, fifteen tops. Her face was half in shadow because her hood was pulled over most of her face, so Valin could only see her mouth, which was in a calm, impassive line. She was dressed all in black, and her clothes were so loose fitting that Valin wasn't sure whether she was wearing a skirt or overlarge pants. He wasn't entirely sure the figure was a "she". The person's hands were hidden in the folds of the long, loose sleeves. Valin could not see what color the person's hair was because it seemed to be tied back and hidden by the hood. Valin didn't know why, but he didn't think he or she or it or whatever was going to help their situation, even if it transpired that Dalar had sent him or her or it. The person looked almost evil, really, with that hood up and the long black cloak and the black clothes. Valin decided to stop staring at whoever it was behind that hood and actually listen to what Faug was saying.
“So, what do you think, Valin?” He asked.
“Huh?” Valin asked, not having paid attention to Faug’s monologue.
"Do you think we should stay here for the night or find shelter elsewhere?”
“Stay here, definitely. Dalar said we should meet him here, so we should stick around until he shows up.”
“Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. But what if he came here ages ago, like when he originally said we should meet him, and then got abducted and killed?”
“Dude, you sound like me.”
“So what? It could happen.”
"I don’t know. I mean, he wouldn’t think to send us here if he knew there was going to be danger.”
“But that’s the thing, though. What if there was danger that he didn’t know about until it was too late and he couldn’t send us a message because he was abducted and kept in a sack for two weeks and fed on bread and water?”
“Come on, you can’t stuff Dalar in a sack. He’s too tall. And he’d probably be able to beat up anyone who tried to hurt him, and if that didn’t work he’d probably use his magic. So more likely than not he’s still on the move and whoever tries to challenge him is in a heap of dung.” Valin glanced over at the figure in the corner. As far as he could tell, whoever it was was still looking at them.
“What are you looking at?” demanded Faug.
“Don’t look right away, but there is a person sitting in the corner opposite us, right behind you,” Valin whispered. “I think it’s a girl. She looks no older than fourteen or fifteen and is dressed all in black and has a black cloak with the hood up.”
Very discreetly, Faug turned around and looked at the person in question. Then he looked back at Valin.
“Very fishy,” Faug agreed.
“I’m going to ask about her, once the waiter comes around again,” said Valin.
He did so, and the waiter said, in a very quiet voice, “That’s Shyasha Rinkari. She’s a strange one, even for an Elven fairy.”
“Shyasha Rinkari,” repeated Valin. “And a hybrid, too. Interesting.”
“What does that mean, anyway?” asked Faug. “Shyasha Rinkari?”
“It’s an elvish name,” the waiter said. “It means ‘the shadow warrior.’ She has a reputation for never being loyal to anyone longer than a year and a day. Fierce, she is. Rumor is she was betrayed by a man when she was younger and now she doesn’t trust anyone except a rare few, Dalar among them, I think. She’s a darn good fighter, and is as silent as a shadow both in the way she moves and the way she speaks, that is, IF she spoke. Nobody roundabouts has heard her utter a word, and she’s been around locally for quite a while.”
“You say she was hurt when she was younger,” Faug said. “But she can’t have been around long enough to have enough boyfriends to hurt her, can she? I mean, she can’t be older than fifteen.”
“Aye, you would think she wasn’t, which was why it pained her, you see,” replied the waiter. “She’s immortal-all hybrids are. Mind you, even if she was just an elf or a fairy she would still be immortal. It pained her because, well, even though she stopped aging at fifteen, I think she’s really around four thousand years old, and immortal. Her lover apparently betrayed her and ran off with her sister or something, and she had loved him dearly. Immortals get to choose what age they stay at for the rest of forever, so that’s why she only looks like she’s fifteen.”
“But how do you know all this?” Valin asked.
“Well, the basic hybrid stuff is common knowledge,” the waiter said. “And the rest is just stuff she was willing to let out in the open. Half of it is just rumors, mind, so I’m not sure half of it is true.”
“Well, thank you for your time,” Faug said.
“Anytime,” the waiter replied. “Is there anything else you’ll need?”
“No, thank you,” Faug said.
The waiter left and the two men sat talking for a long time afterwards. It was after midnight when the tavern at the inn was finally devoid of anyone except the staff, Faug, Valin, and Shyasha Rinkari. The two humans didn’t seem to notice, and they talked intently about all they had learned about Shyasha Rinkari and her past.
Soon, however, Valin looked over at Shyasha Rinkari’s corner and realized she was gone. He had barely pointed this out to Faug when he glanced at the table next to them and realized she was sitting right there. She saw his glance and rose, walking over to their table. She bent over to whisper in his ear, “I am Shyasha Rinkari. Do not be surprised. Dalar has sent me to aid you in your quest. Follow my instructions exactly. First, pay for your meal and then ask for a room. I will be around but out of sight long enough to learn the number of the room. Then, slowly, very slowly, make your way up to the room. I will meet you there. It is very important that I reach the room before you do. There are dark creatures about and I am stronger than the pair of you put together, so I stand a better chance if there are any of the creatures up there that are a danger to you. Do as I say soon. I will be waiting for you, Valin.” With that she strode with a mysterious elegance back to her corner. Valin and Faug exchanged glances.
“Let’s do it, then,” Faug said. And they followed Shyasha Rinkari’s instructions exactly, and indeed, when they reached room fifteen she was there.
“Welcome,” she said, in the same strange, musical voice that she had used downstairs when talking to Valin. Valin noticed also that although there was no light, she still had her hood up. “I need to get this over with soon so I can report to Dalar. He sends his regrets that he cannot be with you tonight but he had other business to attend to and he hopes that you will not hold him accountable, you see, he has run into a bit of trouble with the creatures I mentioned earlier. They are called Wynds, and they are very, very loyal to the dark lord Sonru. The Wynds are very violent and will kill you at once and anything in their way if they so much as see a strand of hair that looks similar to either of yours stuck to a tree trunk. This is why you must keep the Blue Crystal Star completely hidden and entirely safe on the return journey.”
“Oh, so that’s what we’re after,” Valin said. “I was wondering. Dalar wasn’t too specific. All he said was that we had to join him on a quest and he would meet us here.”
“Correction,” said Faug. “He sad you had to join him. I had nothing to do with it. He only made me come along because he didn’t want you to travel alone.”
“And he was quite right,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “If the Wynds had gotten you before I had, the quest would have gone downhill from the moment you stepped out the front door.”
“As I recall, you begged him to let you come,” Valin reminded Faug. “And you wanted to know what was going on so badly that you pretended you were my blind housekeeper instead of my best mate in order to learn something worth telling everyone else about-”
“I did not,” Faug insisted. “I had just stopped by and started listening to the conversation; I wasn’t there on purpose-”
“-Which is why he sent you on this mission in the first place, so you wouldn’t go gossiping about it. Mind you, it wasn’t a bad idea.”
“When you two have finally stopped arguing about who entered what conversation at whatever time-” Shyasha Rinkari interrupted.
"But he wasn’t in the conversation,” Valin insisted. “He was listening to the conversation, and Dalar only found him when he was about to leave-”
“POINT IS, THOUGH,” Shyasha Rinkari almost yelled, “that it was a very good idea for Faug to have decided to snoop or impersonate a blind housekeeper or stop by for a visit or whatever he was doing, because it is a very bad idea for anyone to go around alone, especially you, Valin, because you are the person the Wynds are going to by looking for the hardest, both when we are on our quest to find the five pieces of the Blue Crystal Star and our journey to the inner sanctum of the Invisible Castle to destroy it, and then back to your home again, the Wynds are going to be looking for us. So, therefore-”
“Wait, us?” Faug demanded. “What do you mean us? You surely aren’t coming with us. It’s too dangerous.”
“Well of course I’m coming with you,” Shyasha Rinkari replied in a clearly exasperated tone. “What do you expect? Dalar is obviously not going to be able to join us anytime soon, and you to obviously have no idea what you are doing, and I’m way more powerful than either of you, and you’ll need some sort of protection until we get to Norasona, where we’ll be joined by-”
“Hang on, there are more of you?” Faug demanded. “I though that Dalar wanted us to bring along as few people as possible, because of the attention we would get if we were toting three dozen people around the countryside-”
“First things first, Faug,” Shyasha Rinkari interrupted, the irritated edge in her voice growing. Both humans could tell that even though she was older than either of them, she still retained a lot of the fifteen year old characteristics that she was stuck with. “For one thing, there are not more of me, but there are more people who are like me, and different races, too. Life in Anana must have been really confined if the only races you know about are human, elves, and fairies. No, there are way more races than that, and, what’s more, we’re going to need more than two humans and a hybrid to get where we’re going. Second of all, however many races there are, we are not going to be taking representatives from each of them to lug around the countryside, because first of all, there are barely a dozen races in the first place, and second of all we’re going to be dealing with mountains, mostly, so there won’t be very much countryside to lug people across. No, it’ll be mainly the Graynote Mountains and the Silvercourt Forest we’ll be dealing with. And let me tell you, I’m seriously navigationally challenged to a certain extent. If I hadn’t had Tiba with me when I was exploring, I wouldn’t be here because I would still be lost in the Silvercourt Forest. We’re going to meet up with her and a few others later on. Anyhow, the point is, you cannot travel with just each other for company, because, number one, you would get killed in the first three seconds of walking through the Silvercourt Forest, there’s so many different creatures in there who would be very willing to have you for a snack, number two, there are spells and dangers that even I am not entirely sure of, so it helps to have some extra brains that know different things, number three, you have no idea where you’re going, and number four, Dalar would murder me if I let you guys go alone. And besides, if you guys don’t survive, who else is going to finish the mission if you don’t confide in someone?”
“Who is Tiba?” Valin asked.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Shyasha Rinkari replied. “She’s a sorceress.”
“You mean like a witch?” asked Faug.
“No, witches and sorceresses are two entirely different things; they have two entirely different brands of magic that have two totally different means of execution. It’s hard to explain. But do you see what I mean? Life out there would be hard for you since you both are from Anana and obviously know about a hundredth of what the rest of the world knows about magic and whatnot.”
“I think we should let her come with us, Faug,” Valin said. “She knows a lot. And she’s immortal.”
“What’s that got to do with anything?” Faug and Shyasha Rinkari asked together.
“Well, that mean’s you can’t be killed, doesn’t it?”
“Not exactly,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “I can be killed, it’s just really hard, and it doesn’t happen very often anyway. Not many immortals even bother with love anymore, number one because they think that living longer than everyone else means that you don’t need romance, for some reason, and number two, because it’s so risky for us.”
“What?” Valin wondered.
“There are two ways for elves, fairies, and their hybrids to die-a broken heart or bloody murder. Mind you, the latter is hard because the elves have made so much light but indestructible armor and the fairies move too fast and are generally too small and fast to be killed and all of us have stronger immune systems than humans so poisons have pretty much no effect.”
“Still, I think she should come with us,” Valin insisted.
“True enough,” conceded Faug.
“Well, then,” Shyasha Rinkari said. “Since we’re traveling together, I’ll have you know that my contract is with Dalar, and I never sign out my skills longer than a year and a day, so if we don’t get this done in less than the six weeks I have left, then I’m going to have to leave partway through. I’m not going into detail about my reasons for only signing myself out for that amount of time; it’s just the way I do things.”
“Fine,” Faug said. “When do we start?”
“Tonight, that is to say, when dark comes again. I’ll have paid for everything and will come for you. Be ready by midnight. We’ll be on the move by dawn.”
“Why?” Valin wondered.
“If you’re traveling with a blind ranger, you’ll need all the time you can have. And it won’t hurt, either. If you’re being tracked, leave when they don’t expect you to, in order to catch them off guard so they’ll have a job tracking you for a while.”
“You’re-” Valin started, but Shyasha Rinkari cut him off.
“Blind, yes. I don’t talk about it. It gives people the wrong impression. They think I can’t do anything except walk in a straight line and think things up because I can’t see. But the truth is that I can probably do more than some of the senior rangers.”
“How?”
“Instinct and hearing. Sight is only an asset; if you have it, great, but if you don’t, it won’t harm you.”
“What do you mean?” Faug wondered. He had been through combat training, and he had learned that sight was practically the only way to plot your next move, especially if you were going to have to block.
“You have a sword?” She asked Valin.
“Yes.”
Shyasha Rinkari drew her own sword. “Strike at me,” she ordered.
Apprehensively, Valin drew out his sword and aimed at her head, not intending to actually come in contact.
“Come on, boy, I’m not going to be able to prove anything if circumstances aren’t what they should be. Do a proper hit already.”
Valin obeyed, taking a quicker jab to her side. The other sword was there before he even got close.
“When you’re as old as I am, and you’re a hybrid, and you’re blind, it’s easier to tell, but the blindness helps.”
“How?”
“I think there’s something about the nature of anything when you lose one of the important senses permanently. Losing my sight has enhanced my hearing and my peripheral senses. Again, hybrids have very good hearing to begin with, but blindness makes it all the better. It will be harder for you, but you can do it.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“I can hear the sword,” she said simply. “It makes a noise when it goes through the air. I feel the wind of the motion so putting it all together, I can judge where it’s coming from, and block accordingly. It isn’t that hard. I can also sort of sense where people are, even in combat. Well, I can sense there’s something there, at least. But the point is, sight isn’t important. What are important are the sensing and the hearing. Sight is only confirmation of the truth.”
“But how can you tell that we’re guys?”
“That, my friend, is the most obvious thing ever. Even YOU could figure it out, and that’s saying something.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning you should have realized by now that guys have deeper voices than girls, even though they sometimes appear to be four or six years apart.”
"What do you mean, APPEAR to be four or six years apart?” Faug demanded. “And how do you know that he’s nineteen and I’m nine?”
“Good lord, you really do talk too much,” Shyasha Rinkari muttered under her breath. “Anyway, didn’t that waiter tell you that I was around four thousand years old? Well, I’m older than that. I’m four thousand seven hundred and thirteen. I froze at fifteen because; well…I think he talked about that, too. As for knowing your ages, Dalar told me. Enough talk for one night. I’m next door if you need me, but only need me if it’s an absolute emergency, here meaning if one of you is having a seizure, one of you is having a heart attack, one of you died, or the Wylds are downstairs and have set the place on fire. I trust you both brought your teddy bears. The bathroom is over there. Go talk to room service if you need some water or anything.” She turned to leave.
“Um…Shyasha Rinkari?” Faug said in a tentative voice. Valin knew it was his “I’m-jokingly-going-to-tick-her-off” type voice. “Can I have a bedtime story?”
“Fine,” Shyasha Rinkari said, pausing and turning around in the doorway and leaning against the frame. “Once upon a time there were two guys named Faug and Valin who were going on an adventure with an Elven Fairy who was cooler than both of them. Shyasha Rinkari was not in a very good mood on the night they met because she was tired, so by the time she started telling a story to Faug, who was nearly a grownup, she was ready to punch him in the face. The end. Goodnight.”
Laughing slightly, Faug and Valin said goodnight and turned to collapse into the beds. Thankfully, Shyasha Rinkari had gotten a room with two.
“I think she secretly likes me,” Faug said smugly in the dark.
“You are ridiculously full of it, my friend,” Valin replied.
“Well, she can’t like you, because you’re the chosen one,” Faug said. “And that boyfriend of hers from before ditched her, so she could use a guy to love her. What do you think?”
“I think,” Valin said, “that you have completely lost it. She’s more than just a pretty face, apparently. And I don’t think she likes you that way.”
“Why? I’m decently good looking, right?”
“Well, that’s beside the point. I don’t think girls like her are into guys like you. That’s not her type.”
“Oh, and you’re her type?”
“No.”
“You like her, don’t you?”
“No, I don’t.” Valin’s voice was defensive because, for the first time, he really wasn’t into a girl. Well, not this girl. Maybe Swega Perby in Anana, but not Shyasha Rinkari. She wasn’t the kind of girl he’d fall in love with.
“Who, then?”
“You know who.”
“Swega Perby?”
“Yeah.”
“Why do you like Swega Perby anyway? She isn’t that good looking.”
“Come on, just because a girl isn’t a looker doesn’t mean she’s not nice.”
“What do you see in Swega Perby?”
“A person who cares about things that are worth caring about, you know? Like she’s willing to wait if she needs to, and she’s really caring and gentle and stuff.”
“Yeah. Wish I knew a girl like that.”
“You’ll find someone eventually. Maybe that sorceress has a twin sister.”
"Or I could get together with that sorceress.”
“Shyasha Rinkari would murder you. And then chop you up and murder your individual little pieces.”
“Oh, well. Good night.”
“Night.”
Chapter 2
The next night, there was a soft knock on the door of room fifteen. The door opened silently, and two dark figures moved out to join the third, smaller figure in the hall. The three moved off quickly and silently and soon were on the road that led west, towards Norasona.
Shyasha Rinkari was glad to be out. She wasn’t blind, the farthest thing from it. She had only said that to get these two overly-talkative humans to shut up. She had closed her eyes during the demonstration, however, and she had been talking from personal experience when she talked about how you had intensified hearing and senses when you were blind-she had spent three years in a semi-blind state because of that near death experience when she was sixteen. Man, she hated that guy right now. That’s why she had nearly died-she had been in love, and he’d been nice, and they’d been together for years, and then he randomly decided that he was going to break up with her. She had even frozen at fifteen because she had been in such great shape anyway and it was such a good time of life. Her dad had frozen at thirty and then refrozen at fifty, and now all h did was complain about his back and cramps and whatever else. Shyasha sometimes got cramps, but that was only when she was dehydrated. From what she’d heard, her ex had gone into the wild and unfrozen, aged thirty years, and gone back to Norasona and taken over the ruled the city after her father because she’d run away. She hadn’t wanted to see that jerk’s face ever again. And yet, here she was, leading her two charges to witness her certain death. Death not because of the fact that her heart might break again, but death from the fact that she was going to end up trying to beat him up (which was now her lifelong ambition) and get killed by the security guards. Shyasha was now 2% in love with her ex (even after four thousand years and the fact that he looked old enough to reasonably be her father) and 98% ready to rip his guts out, mash them to a pulp, and feed them to his dog. That is, if he had a dog. If he didn’t, then the cat would get them. If he didn’t have a cat, then she would force feed them to someone. Maybe Faug. Faug was annoying. Really annoying. But reasonably funny.
“Shyasha Rinkari!” Faug said at that moment.
“It’s just ‘Shyasha’ when you’re talking to or about me,” Shyasha said. “If you stop talking so much you’d realize how stupid ‘Shyasha Rinkari’ sounds when both words are together.”
“It’s a cool name,” Valin said.
“Thanks,” Shyasha replied. “I honestly think it’s the worst name ever.”
“Well, don’t you know what ‘Valin’ means?” Valin asked.
“No.”
“Squirrel dung,” Faug sniggered.
“Very funny,” Shyasha said skeptically.
“It’s true,” Valin said.
“Seriously? That’s mean. Who’d want to name their kid ‘squirrel dung’?”
"Beats me,” Valin replied.
“Well, guess what ‘Faug means?” Faug insisted.
“Let me guess,” Shyasha joked. “Overlord of the idiots?”
“No,” Faug snorted. “It means ‘intelligent’.”
“Right,” Shyasha said in a skeptical tone. “Well, once you start living up to it; let me know, will you?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Faug demanded.
“That you’re immature. And you haven’t picked up an obvious fact.”
“What obvious fact?” Faug demanded in the whiny tone that he did so well, being nine. “And I’m not immature.”
"Oh,” Valin said, comprehension suddenly dawning on his face.
“What?” Faug complained.
“I’m not blind.”
“WHAT?”
“I’m not blind,” Shyasha repeated. “Come on, you honestly expect a blind person to be able to walk through this town without guidance and somehow manage to not fall in the gutter at least twice? And about walking through this town, let’s shut up, because we could wake enemies and that’s not good, and we could provide more of a target for the Wylds, if they find us. Come on.”
They walked the rest of the way out of the town in silence. Shyasha was secretly laughing at Faug. He was so much fun to tease.
Chapter 3
Shyasha, Faug, and Valin walked steadily for a while, and then Faug started complaining, as Shyasha had predicted, in her head. What she hadn’t predicted was how much Faug picked up, and the extreme expanse of his imagination of language. He complained about everything, and cussed something out in the weirdest ways whenever he was annoyed. By the time they sat down for a proper breakfast, when the sun was properly up, he had gotten to the stage of plodding along with no real enthusiasm, his head lolling one way on one step and the other way on the next one. His face was pink from the strain to walk, talk, and complain all at the same time. He complained about everything there was to complain about-the time, the weather, the fact that they had to wake up at dawn, the speed at which they were going (first they were going too slow, now they were going too fast), the fact that his feet hurt, and everything else he could think of. He asked questions occasionally, but they usually consisted of words related to “when,” “are,” “we,” “going,” “to,” “get,” and “there.” Sometimes Faug would trip on a tree root, and he would holler out something like, “HOLY SON OF A YELLING POOP HEADED WORMY GOBLIN!!!”
“Where does he get these ideas?” Shyasha asked Valin, who was walking beside her. The pair was several paces ahead of Faug.
“He’s a writer,” Valin said. “Well, not a writer. His thing is really his comic books. He does stories about people who can shoot fire out of their noses and stuff. He’s really quite good. He’ll probably end up being either a comedian or have his own comic strip in the local newsletter.”
“What about you? What do you do?”
“I…don’t know.”
“Well, what are you good at?”
“It’s weird. You wouldn’t get it.”
“Really. Try me.”
“No, seriously. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Valin, you have to remember how old I am.”
“What’s your point?”
“My point is that even though there are still a couple of surprises out there for me, I doubt that one of them is going to come in the form of a 19-year-old’s lifelong ambitions. Besides, if you don’t tell me, I’ll start singing, and you do not, on any terms, want to hear me sing."
“All right, all right. But don’t laugh, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Fine. I like to sew and…well…I knit.”
“You knit?”
“I told you it was weird.”
“No, it’s not weird.”
“Yes, it is.”
“No, it’s not really. When you open up your own fabric shop, contact me and we’ll do a joint business or something. I can knit. Sort of.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mind you, I haven’t picked up a pair of sticks in about fifty years, but, you know, I can learn. Or re-learn. Or whatever. I mean, I don’t have a lot of time to do it, but still.”
“Seriously? You’re not joking? And you don’t think I’m completely out of my mind or anything?”
“Yes, I’m serious, no, I’m not joking, and no, I don’t think you’re completely out of your mind or anything.”
“SWEET!”
“Whaat?” Faug complained.
“Nothing,” Valin said, grinning.
“When you say that-”
“It means he isn’t going to tell you why he’s grinning, so just drop it,” Shyasha told him.
“Are we there yet?” Faug moaned.
"No,” Shyasha said. “And you can stop asking that for another few days.”
“Are we going to eat soon?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Now.”
“Really?”
"If you promise to shut up for a while.”
“Done!!!”
I have some more typed up, but it's not on this computer. I was only able to post this bit because I had emailed it to my friend who moved to a different country. I also did a handwritten bit, but it comes later, so I'm not going to tell you what happens because that would be spoiling it, even though it's only like two pages to spoil, but what the heck. Plus, there's some transition stuff that I should post before I post what I have in the notebook with me.
This is probably my longest post ever, but what the heck. I don't care. Because it's a story, and stories are fun to write in my opinion. Because I'm a writer. And now I'm all hyper because I successfully put something that I wrote on the Internet for all to see. Okay, not ALL to see, but still. More people will be able to see it. And read it. And stuff.
So anyway, yesterday my mom got some binders for me because I really need to organize all the shit that my teachers hand out, especially my history teacher. Seriously. Mom got a two-inch binder for History, and it's already most of the way full and it's not even the end of the year yet. That's just sad. My history teacher is a very epic tree-killer.
I'm in a good mood, suddenly, for some reason. I don't know why showing people my writing does that, but it does. It's fun. And it's a nice day out and not too cold for once. But whatever. And now I'm just rambling. And stuff. I don't know whether I should open the blog to the general public because that might be kind of dangerous, but on the other hand, nobody really reads it anyway. I don't know.
So anyway, I'm going to have to go to class soon.
And I really don't want to.
Well, this was fun, but I have to go.
And learn.
Not that learning isn't fun.
It's just learning the stuff we're doing in science right now....it's really boring.
Just to let you know.
But now I'm all ORGANIZED so I don't have to worry.
Not really, anyway.
But I left my three-hole punch at home, which is really annoying, because I won't be able to clip stuff into my snazzy new *science binder* (jazz hands!) and I'll probably end up losing it.
The worksheet the teacher hands out, I mean.
I'm already crazy enough as it is.
So anyway, I'm going to go to class now, and actually be on time for once!
Or maybe even early!
Class doesn't technically start for another ten minutes, but oh well.
I have no idea why I'm putting a new sentence on each line, but oh well.
I guess I want to make this post longe
“Okay.”r.
Or something.
I don't know.
Nobody's going to read it anyway.
Except for me.
:)
Goodbye.
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