Well, here is a bit at the end of the story, where Garrett and Simon finally get their butts kicked by Lily for hating each other/ arguing all the time. It references some things that I have yet to write during the middle of the story.
This is after they all kill the bad guys and complete the quest. They're still in the bad guy's castle, and the quest is almost finished, they just have to get back to camp. So then Simon and Garrett start arguing and stuff. I was going to have Lily scream something kinda inappropriate at the end, but I decided not to, because Merlin's Pants and Your Mother are just funnier that way.
"Well, it's all thanks to me that we won, isn't it?" Garrett said. "I got us here and I did a lot of the fighting and I made sure we were safe.
"Oh, and that troll killed itself, did it?" Simon shot at him. "The meals cooked themselves, did they? Maldan was hearing things other than the flute, was he? Or was that just me making stuff up, as usual?"
"Okay, so you three did some of the stuff, but I did most-" Garrett began to say.
"Lily did most of the stuff," Simon interrupted. I had never seen him that mad. "You just don't like to admit that a girl and an outlaw both killed more bad things than you did tonight."
"It's not that I"m embarrassed or anything-" Garrett began again.
"You jsut want to take all the credit, don't you?" Simon hollered. "You hate sharing the glory. I'm surprised you got knighted, you're so selfish."
"Simon, be reasonable!" Garrett yelled.
"BOYS!" I screamed over both of them. They stared at me in disbelief. I guess they weren't expecting me to yell that loud. Or maybe they didn't want to be addressed as boys. Either way, it got their attention, but it didn't hold for long.
"He started it," Simon said.
"Robin Hood started it," Garrett snarled.
"Prince John started it," Simon growled.
"Your MOTHERS started it!" I yelled.
They both stared at me again.
"Now that you two have sufficiently shut up," I continued, but I didn't get any farther than that.
"Don't make comments about my mother," Garrett snapped.
"Don't give her reason to, then," Simon said.
"This isn't a laughing matter, outlaw," Garrett retorted.
"Don't make it one, then, your worshipness," Simon replied sarcastically.
"MERLIN'S PANTS!!" I screamed at the top of my voice. For a third time they stared at me. Just to make sure they'd listen, I grabbed both of them by the ear and pulled them down to my height. They both gasped in pain. I was amazed at my own authority in the matter.
"Now, listen," I said in my most dangerous voice. "I don't care that Simon is an outlaw ang Garrett is a knight. I don't care that it's supposed to make you two sworn enemies. I don't care that you two find it impossible to agree on anything. You were sent on this quest for a reason, and I don't think it's because you hate each other. You both are good at certain things and bad at others, and the sooner you own up to the fact that someone else might actually be better at something than you are, the happier you'll be. And you are NOOT allowed to argue anymore, because I SWEAR I will rip you both to pieces if I EVER catch you at it again, and I will be employing spies, too. Do I make myself QUITE clear?"
"Yes," they both gasped.
"Good," I said, and I let them go.
It was so much fun being a girl. No guy would have been able to get away with that.
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Saturday, October 10, 2009
And by the way...
Here is the rest of the story from Creative Writing. No, it's not done yet, but I'm still putting it up here. We just had to get to a reasonable stopping point in the story, and mine was them leaving. So here it is.
“I’ve got a question, though,” I said. “What about my parents?”
“They already know,” Lheada said. “That’s why they brought you out here in the first place.”
“So why was I brought up by humans?” I asked.
“So you could learn like a human,” Lheada explained. “So you could learn the logical things that humans do. You’ll learn once we’re with more fairies. We typically jump to conclusions.”
“YOU jump to conclusions,” Eohu said.
“Um... okay, then,” I said. “But when do we leave?”
“Right now,” Eohu said.
“WHAT?” I yelped. “What about sleep and clothes and stuff?”
“That will be covered once we get there,” Eohu said. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” I wondered.
“The king’s hideout,” Lheada explained. “The palace was infiltrated and he had to go into hiding, along with everyone else in our world.”
“Do you know him?” I asked.
“We’re part of his guard,” Lheada explained. “The junior part. We’ve only just passed the tests to get in.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Eohu said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I had a sudden sensation of being squished into an over tight tube, and then a sudden sense of relief. We were in a totally new place.
We had arrived in a large clearing with a lot of tents that slouched and tons of dejected-looking people. Some were knights pacing back and forth, some were wild-looking men dressed in Lincoln green, and still others were small and light, similar in build to Eohu and Lheada. All of them looked dejected and worn out.
I realized that all of these people were stuff of legend, myths, and fairy tales-the knights of Camelot, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, fairies, elves, sprites, and nymphs. I glanced around and saw a dwarf tying a unicorn to a tree. Nearby, a giant sat whittling a piece of wood. He looked so sad, and I realized why-he must feel so trapped, being tall enough to stand above the trees; he would never get to stretch his legs, for fear of being seen.
On the opposite side of the clearing, a dragon lay sleeping. It was huge, bottle green, and was the saddest sight I had ever seen. Like the giant, he seemed tired, sad, and trapped, like the nap he was taking wasn’t actually giving him any rest.
“Sad, isn’t it?” Lheada said, noticing where I was looking. “Kenzal’s been there for a few days, and he still hasn’t woken up. He’s still breathing, though,” she added, noticing the look on my face.
“This way,” Eohu said, leading us through the campsite to a section that had a definite sense of magic in it, even though the tents were just as bedraggled and the people were just as morose. I guessed that this part was where a lot of the magical types lived-fairies, like us, elves, nymphs, sprites.
I suddenly felt very out of place, with my beaten-up and drawn on blue high tops and overlarge cargo pants. Everybody here was elegantly yet practically dressed except for me and my too-big pants and my ill-fitting plaid shirt. Both had belonged to my dad at one point. I never thought they would be out of place until now.
Eohu pushed back the flap of one of the less haphazard tents and led the way inside. I realized I was still holding the wooden flute. I shoved it into my pocket and followed.
On the outside, the tent was not exactly brilliant. On the inside, however, it could probably sleep at least twenty on fairly nice beds AND had room for a study and a fire pit.
Sitting at the desk, which was the first thing I saw, was a man of about forty. He looked tired, just like everyone else, probably partially due to the lateness of the hour. However, he had a sort of rugged sense about him that was still sort of regal. I guessed that this was the king. He looked up as we entered.
“Ah,” was all he said. I wasn’t sure whether I was allowed to look at him or not, so I fixed my eyes on the disorganized desk. The room was quiet for a few seconds.
“We did as you asked, sir,” Eohu said lamely after a few moments of the awkward silence.
“I see,” the king said. “Did you fill her in entirely?”
“Yes, sir,” Lheada replied.
“Very well,” the king said. “The search party leaves at dawn in two days. Lheada, I am afraid you will have to remain here. The men need a female presence in camp while the rest are away. Eohu, you are still coming, I presume. Now, any questions?”
“I do,” I said meekly. The king glared at me. I immediately forgot what I going to say under his stern glare. “Um... I was wondering, um... never mind,” I stuttered, blushing scarlet.
“Yes, well, carry on for the night,” the king said. The two fairies bowed and left, and I, not knowing what else to do, followed suit.
Once we were out of the tent, I asked, “okay, what did he mean by ‘fill me in entirely,’ and why do I still feel totally clueless?”
“Not now, Lily,” Lheada sighed.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Eohu said apologetically.
“Try,” I insisted.
“Well, basically, all the creatures and people of legend-fairies, sprites, nymphs, elves, King Arthur and his men, Robin Hood and his men, dragons, wizards, witches, unicorns, dwarves, centaurs, everything-they’re dying out. Now Guinevere and all her ladies-in-waiting and the fairy queen and the princesses and Robin Hood’s daughter, they’ve all been captured. All the girls except for Lheada, basically, were captured and being held hostage in the old fairy castle, or maybe one of the ruins, we’re not sure, and we have to go save them.”
“How was that hard to explain?” I inquired.
“There are a lot of weird prophecies and whatnot that involve a flute player-that’s you-and a quest and lots of other junk that’s all very confusing,” Lheada said. “So we’re going to take you to the grub tent and explain the rest in the morning, all right?”
“Okay,” I said. “But where do I sleep?”
“In our tent, Lheada said, as if the idea didn’t really suit her fancy all too well. And that was that.
************************************************************************
The next morning, after a fitful sleep in a cramped tent, I awoke at dawn, unable to sleep any longer. I don’t know why I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think it was the hard ground so much as the fact that I was sleeping between Eohu and Lheada, and Eohu kept rolling over on top of me.
Rising as quietly as I could, I moved out into the mist of the campsite at dawn. Shivering slightly in the cold, I walked over to a somewhat secluded place behind our tent and pulled out the flute. It was small, really. Looking at it, I was totally befuddled by all the holes and designs. I put it to my mouth, and just as I was about to blow, there was a voice behind me.
“Lily?” a male voice asked quietly.
I turned. The voice belonged to a young man I didn’t recognize, with dark, shaggy brown hair, large amber eyes, and freckles. He was at least three inches taller than me, but he was also kind of skinny, like he had just gained the height.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Simon,” he said, taking a tentative step forward. “I’m one of the merry men.” He barely looked older than me. He still seemed to be in that awkward phase between boyhood and teenager-hood, but certainly not Robin Hood-hood.
“What are you...? I mean...” why was I so terrible at asking questions of these people? Simon wasn’t in the least bit attractive. Well, maybe a little bit, but not that much.
“I saw you come out of your tent,” he explained. “I... uh... I couldn’t sleep either. Can I join you?”
“Um... sure,” I said, sitting down.
“What were you doing before?” he asked, sitting down beside me.
“Nothing,” I said honestly.
“Really?” He asked, as if he didn’t believe it.
“Yes!” I insisted, with maybe a little too much force. Simon still looked doubtful.
“Well, then,” he said.
Another figure appeared over Simon’s shoulder. Simon immediately jumped up, and I followed suit.
The newcomer was tall and broad, in a muscular sort of way. He had auburn hair and bluish-grayish-greenish eyes.
“What are you two doing?” he asked. His eyes traveled over me, and then to Simon, where they donned a look of disgust.
“Nothing,” Simon said. He seemed somewhat intimidated.
“He just introduced himself,” I piped up. “Then you came.”
The newcomer raised one eyebrow.
“Garrett, honest,” Simon said. There was an almost pleading note in his voice.
“Garrett nodded, as if he didn’t believe a word of it.
“Well, then,” Garrett said. “I’ll leave you two to it, shall I?”
He stalked away.
Simon glared after him.
“What is it with you and him?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” he replied.
“It’s just you don’t seem to like each other all that much,” I said.
“He just got knighted,” Simon explained. “And he’s acting like that automatically makes him ten times better than any of the rest of us. The Merry Men, I mean. I can do anything he can. He just has to act all high and mighty about it, because now he’s SIR Garrett of the Southeast Duchy of the Warrior Knights instead of Garrett the Page.”
“And so he was bullying you?” I asked.
“Not exactly,” Simon said, shifting uncomfortably. “He... I can just tell that he doesn’t like me.”
“How can you tell?” I don’t know why I was so curious about these guys I barely knew, but I couldn’t help but wonder what was up between the two of them.
“The way he treats me, you think I was about two,” Simon grumbled unhappily. “And he doesn’t seem to think I’m there. If it’s me and him and a few other guys, and we’re talking about something or another, I’ll start to put in my two cents and then halfway through my sentence, he’ll start talking over me, like I’m from the Land of the Unintelligible or something.”
“I see,” I said slowly. “Well, I had a friend who did that.”
“What happened?” Simon asked.
“We went to different schools after fifth grade and we’ve only seen each other about twice since then,” I told him. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy this time, though. I mean, for you. Is he coming on the mission?”
“Yes,” Simon grunted. “Unfortunately.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” I muttered.
“Are the cooks up yet?” Simon asked, abruptly changing the topic. “I’m starving, aren’t you?”
“Okay,” I agreed. Simon hurried off. Shoving the flute back in my pocket, I turned to follow him, glancing back over my shoulder to survey the area one more time before leaving. As I turned away again, I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me, followed by quiet footsteps that seemed to be going away from me. I immediately swung back around. There was nothing there. I looked closer. Still nothing.
“What’s taking you so long?” Simon demanded, coming back to my side.
“I thought I heard something come out of the bushes over that way,” I told him, pointing. “And then it ran off.”
“Weird,” Simon said. He walked forward and crouched down to inspect the ground where we had just been.
“There are no tracks,” he said, studying the dirt closely.
He went over to the other side of the bushes and crouched down again. I followed him.
“Yep, something has definitely been here,” he said. “See, that print there looks like a human footprint. If it were human, it might fit a kid around seven or eight. But the thing is nobody here is younger than sixteen.”
“Actually, yes there is,” I said. “I’m fifteen.”
“All right, aside from you, nobody here is under the age of sixteen,” Simon said. “And a dwarf’s foot is bigger than that. This means we’re being watched. We need to tell the king. Follow me.”
He rose and started off at a jog. I followed, struggling to keep up with his longer stride.
Simon arrived at the king’s tent moments before I did. He seemed barely out of breath, but he was also taller than me, had a longer stride, and therefore was able to leave me in the dust in a footrace. I was completely winded and breaking a sweat with the effort of keeping up with him.
“We want to see the king,” Simon said to the guard outside the door that hadn’t been there last night.
“The king is indisposed, on account of being asleep,” the guard told him firmly. “So buzz off.”
“It’s urgent!” Simon insisted.
“Whatever an outlaw and a little fairy girl have to say can wait until morning,” the guard said.
“It IS morning,” Simon reminded him doggedly. “The sun is up and everything.”
“Well, you’ll still have to wait for the king to wake up,” the guard insisted. “You have to wait for the king. The king doesn’t have to work his schedule around yours.”
Just then, the tent flap was pulled back, and the king emerged. He looked no less tired than when I had seen him the night before. He was wearing an old coat and pajamas. Everyone bowed.
“What’s wrong, William?” he asked pleasantly.
“They want to talk to you, sir,” the guard named William said. “It’s urgent, apparently, even though I didn’t think-“
“What is it?” the king interrupted, looking at us.
“Footprints, sir,” Simon said. “Brand new, sir. Lily heard whatever it was leaving just a few minutes ago, sir. We were in this clearing near the edge of camp, and-“
“Show me,” the king ordered.
“This way,” Simon said. Simon led the way and the king followed just behind him, with me at the back.
“Interesting,” the king said, crouching down to inspect the marks in the dirt. “Any idea what made these?” he asked of both of us.
“We’re not really sure,” Simon replied. “We were thinking maybe a brownie or something similar in build. Gnomes or goblins, perhaps. It’s really hard to say.”
I didn’t recall ever agreeing to thinking that it might have been a brownie or something similar in build, but I didn’t think it was the time to argue with him.
“I don’t think goblins would be this far from a cave or a mine,” the king said. “And gnomes are just plain stupid. It would be silly to make a fuss if it were a gnome that was watching you, but if it was a brownie, we’re in serious trouble. They’re loyal to Maldan, and they’re very smart. Did it see or hear anything that might have been important?”
“It might have seen the flute,” I said.
“Brilliant,” the king muttered. “Just brilliant. Now they might know we have the prophecy girl. Great.”
Then I heard a rustle behind me again. Spinning around, I saw a small, furry little creature waddling away from me on two short legs, cackling in a voice that sounded like it swallowed some helium or something. If it hadn’t been for the voice, I would have thought it was a walking teddy bear.
It moved away into a little clearing a little farther away. It turned around and, seeing me watching it, immediately dove into the nearest bush and raised its eyes tentatively over the edge of it, seeing whether I was still watching or not.
I turned back to the other two. “So is that a brownie?” I asked them.
“Yep,” The king said.
“Weird,” I remarked. “I didn’t exactly expect it to be so, well, cute.”
“Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Simon said, glowering. “Send out the cute little fuzz balls that nobody will hurt, and you’ll get all the information you need. Nasty little creatures, really. They bite hard and won’t give or tell you anything unless you give them their favorite food.”
“What’s their favorite food?” I wondered.
“Apples,” Simon said.
“I’m going out there,” I decided. “Maybe it will talk to me easier than it will talk to you, because I’m a girl.”
“Why should that make a difference?” Simon asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”
“She’s got a fair point,” the king put in. “But you should take this.” He pulled an apple out of his coat pocket.
“Thanks,” I said.
Cautiously, I walked across the wooded area to the brownie’s clearing. Its eyes watched me from behind its bush. I crouched down and moved slowly towards it.
“Come on,” I said, using the same voice I used with my dog when he didn’t want to get up for his morning walk. “Come on,” I repeated, smiling slightly. I held out the apple.
The eyes behind the bush went wide, and the brownie emerged from the bush. Approaching with caution, its little button nose sniffed the apple, as if to see whether it was poisoned, and then all of a sudden snatched it out of my hand, giggling in the helium voice.
Before it got a chance to run away, I snatched it around the middle.
“Gocha!”
I pulled the apple out of its grip.
“What did you hear?” I demanded.
“Nothing,” the brownie said. Its voice was surprisingly gruff-I’d been expecting more of the helium tones.
“What can you tell me about your master’s whereabouts?” was my next question.
“Give me the apple and I’ll tell you everything,” it told me.
“Tell me first, and then you’ll get it,” I said.
“It’s my price for the information,” it said.
“How will I know you won’t run off as soon as you get it?” I asked suspiciously.
“I won’t,” it promised.
“Yeah, right,” I said. “You’ve got a meeting with my king, mister. Come on.”
Wrapping my arms tighter around the little creature, I walked back over to Simon and the king.
“Lemme go,” it grunted.
“Not a chance, buddy,” I answered.
“I’m not saying anything,” it insisted.
“That’s funny,” I said. “I think I just heard you say something, or are my ears going bad?”
The brownie just rolled its eyes.
“You’re gonna need a lot of apples for this one,” I told the king. “It says it’s not saying anything, but that probably proves it’s guilty.”
“I like the way your mind works, Lily,” the king said. “I’ll take over from here.”
***************************************************************************
Several hours and quite a few apples later, the king and his advisors had eked all the information they could about the whereabouts of the Royal Ladies and Maldan’s stronghold. I knew Lheada had been involved with the persuasion, because she came out of the tent quite a while later. The first thing she did after looking at me was to wave her hand, and my hair had instantly braided itself into waist-length corn rows.
“You’re going to need it,” she explained. “It’s a lot easier to manage if it’s back like that. Dreadlocks are too much of a hassle. And by the way, the king wants you.”
It turned out that the king just wanted to tell me what had happened, and what had been decided.
As soon as possible, the search was going to leave. The party had been greatly reduced to a quarter of what was originally going to be sent out-it was now only me, Simon, Garrett, and Eohu.
In addition to this information, the king also gave me a map of the stronghold, a long, searching look, the news that I should probably keep the boys in line, because they were all rookies, and the advice that I should keep the flute with me at all times.
A few hours later, after getting a completely new but much sturdier outfit from the elves, including something that looked, felt, and worked like a bodice, but was actually armor, and some new boots, we were finally able to leave.
“I’ve got a question, though,” I said. “What about my parents?”
“They already know,” Lheada said. “That’s why they brought you out here in the first place.”
“So why was I brought up by humans?” I asked.
“So you could learn like a human,” Lheada explained. “So you could learn the logical things that humans do. You’ll learn once we’re with more fairies. We typically jump to conclusions.”
“YOU jump to conclusions,” Eohu said.
“Um... okay, then,” I said. “But when do we leave?”
“Right now,” Eohu said.
“WHAT?” I yelped. “What about sleep and clothes and stuff?”
“That will be covered once we get there,” Eohu said. “Let’s go.”
“Where are we going?” I wondered.
“The king’s hideout,” Lheada explained. “The palace was infiltrated and he had to go into hiding, along with everyone else in our world.”
“Do you know him?” I asked.
“We’re part of his guard,” Lheada explained. “The junior part. We’ve only just passed the tests to get in.”
“Okay, let’s go,” Eohu said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward. I had a sudden sensation of being squished into an over tight tube, and then a sudden sense of relief. We were in a totally new place.
We had arrived in a large clearing with a lot of tents that slouched and tons of dejected-looking people. Some were knights pacing back and forth, some were wild-looking men dressed in Lincoln green, and still others were small and light, similar in build to Eohu and Lheada. All of them looked dejected and worn out.
I realized that all of these people were stuff of legend, myths, and fairy tales-the knights of Camelot, Robin Hood and his Merry Men, fairies, elves, sprites, and nymphs. I glanced around and saw a dwarf tying a unicorn to a tree. Nearby, a giant sat whittling a piece of wood. He looked so sad, and I realized why-he must feel so trapped, being tall enough to stand above the trees; he would never get to stretch his legs, for fear of being seen.
On the opposite side of the clearing, a dragon lay sleeping. It was huge, bottle green, and was the saddest sight I had ever seen. Like the giant, he seemed tired, sad, and trapped, like the nap he was taking wasn’t actually giving him any rest.
“Sad, isn’t it?” Lheada said, noticing where I was looking. “Kenzal’s been there for a few days, and he still hasn’t woken up. He’s still breathing, though,” she added, noticing the look on my face.
“This way,” Eohu said, leading us through the campsite to a section that had a definite sense of magic in it, even though the tents were just as bedraggled and the people were just as morose. I guessed that this part was where a lot of the magical types lived-fairies, like us, elves, nymphs, sprites.
I suddenly felt very out of place, with my beaten-up and drawn on blue high tops and overlarge cargo pants. Everybody here was elegantly yet practically dressed except for me and my too-big pants and my ill-fitting plaid shirt. Both had belonged to my dad at one point. I never thought they would be out of place until now.
Eohu pushed back the flap of one of the less haphazard tents and led the way inside. I realized I was still holding the wooden flute. I shoved it into my pocket and followed.
On the outside, the tent was not exactly brilliant. On the inside, however, it could probably sleep at least twenty on fairly nice beds AND had room for a study and a fire pit.
Sitting at the desk, which was the first thing I saw, was a man of about forty. He looked tired, just like everyone else, probably partially due to the lateness of the hour. However, he had a sort of rugged sense about him that was still sort of regal. I guessed that this was the king. He looked up as we entered.
“Ah,” was all he said. I wasn’t sure whether I was allowed to look at him or not, so I fixed my eyes on the disorganized desk. The room was quiet for a few seconds.
“We did as you asked, sir,” Eohu said lamely after a few moments of the awkward silence.
“I see,” the king said. “Did you fill her in entirely?”
“Yes, sir,” Lheada replied.
“Very well,” the king said. “The search party leaves at dawn in two days. Lheada, I am afraid you will have to remain here. The men need a female presence in camp while the rest are away. Eohu, you are still coming, I presume. Now, any questions?”
“I do,” I said meekly. The king glared at me. I immediately forgot what I going to say under his stern glare. “Um... I was wondering, um... never mind,” I stuttered, blushing scarlet.
“Yes, well, carry on for the night,” the king said. The two fairies bowed and left, and I, not knowing what else to do, followed suit.
Once we were out of the tent, I asked, “okay, what did he mean by ‘fill me in entirely,’ and why do I still feel totally clueless?”
“Not now, Lily,” Lheada sighed.
“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Eohu said apologetically.
“Try,” I insisted.
“Well, basically, all the creatures and people of legend-fairies, sprites, nymphs, elves, King Arthur and his men, Robin Hood and his men, dragons, wizards, witches, unicorns, dwarves, centaurs, everything-they’re dying out. Now Guinevere and all her ladies-in-waiting and the fairy queen and the princesses and Robin Hood’s daughter, they’ve all been captured. All the girls except for Lheada, basically, were captured and being held hostage in the old fairy castle, or maybe one of the ruins, we’re not sure, and we have to go save them.”
“How was that hard to explain?” I inquired.
“There are a lot of weird prophecies and whatnot that involve a flute player-that’s you-and a quest and lots of other junk that’s all very confusing,” Lheada said. “So we’re going to take you to the grub tent and explain the rest in the morning, all right?”
“Okay,” I said. “But where do I sleep?”
“In our tent, Lheada said, as if the idea didn’t really suit her fancy all too well. And that was that.
************************************************************************
The next morning, after a fitful sleep in a cramped tent, I awoke at dawn, unable to sleep any longer. I don’t know why I couldn’t sleep. I don’t think it was the hard ground so much as the fact that I was sleeping between Eohu and Lheada, and Eohu kept rolling over on top of me.
Rising as quietly as I could, I moved out into the mist of the campsite at dawn. Shivering slightly in the cold, I walked over to a somewhat secluded place behind our tent and pulled out the flute. It was small, really. Looking at it, I was totally befuddled by all the holes and designs. I put it to my mouth, and just as I was about to blow, there was a voice behind me.
“Lily?” a male voice asked quietly.
I turned. The voice belonged to a young man I didn’t recognize, with dark, shaggy brown hair, large amber eyes, and freckles. He was at least three inches taller than me, but he was also kind of skinny, like he had just gained the height.
“Who are you?” I asked.
“I’m Simon,” he said, taking a tentative step forward. “I’m one of the merry men.” He barely looked older than me. He still seemed to be in that awkward phase between boyhood and teenager-hood, but certainly not Robin Hood-hood.
“What are you...? I mean...” why was I so terrible at asking questions of these people? Simon wasn’t in the least bit attractive. Well, maybe a little bit, but not that much.
“I saw you come out of your tent,” he explained. “I... uh... I couldn’t sleep either. Can I join you?”
“Um... sure,” I said, sitting down.
“What were you doing before?” he asked, sitting down beside me.
“Nothing,” I said honestly.
“Really?” He asked, as if he didn’t believe it.
“Yes!” I insisted, with maybe a little too much force. Simon still looked doubtful.
“Well, then,” he said.
Another figure appeared over Simon’s shoulder. Simon immediately jumped up, and I followed suit.
The newcomer was tall and broad, in a muscular sort of way. He had auburn hair and bluish-grayish-greenish eyes.
“What are you two doing?” he asked. His eyes traveled over me, and then to Simon, where they donned a look of disgust.
“Nothing,” Simon said. He seemed somewhat intimidated.
“He just introduced himself,” I piped up. “Then you came.”
The newcomer raised one eyebrow.
“Garrett, honest,” Simon said. There was an almost pleading note in his voice.
“Garrett nodded, as if he didn’t believe a word of it.
“Well, then,” Garrett said. “I’ll leave you two to it, shall I?”
He stalked away.
Simon glared after him.
“What is it with you and him?” I asked.
“What are you talking about?” he replied.
“It’s just you don’t seem to like each other all that much,” I said.
“He just got knighted,” Simon explained. “And he’s acting like that automatically makes him ten times better than any of the rest of us. The Merry Men, I mean. I can do anything he can. He just has to act all high and mighty about it, because now he’s SIR Garrett of the Southeast Duchy of the Warrior Knights instead of Garrett the Page.”
“And so he was bullying you?” I asked.
“Not exactly,” Simon said, shifting uncomfortably. “He... I can just tell that he doesn’t like me.”
“How can you tell?” I don’t know why I was so curious about these guys I barely knew, but I couldn’t help but wonder what was up between the two of them.
“The way he treats me, you think I was about two,” Simon grumbled unhappily. “And he doesn’t seem to think I’m there. If it’s me and him and a few other guys, and we’re talking about something or another, I’ll start to put in my two cents and then halfway through my sentence, he’ll start talking over me, like I’m from the Land of the Unintelligible or something.”
“I see,” I said slowly. “Well, I had a friend who did that.”
“What happened?” Simon asked.
“We went to different schools after fifth grade and we’ve only seen each other about twice since then,” I told him. “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy this time, though. I mean, for you. Is he coming on the mission?”
“Yes,” Simon grunted. “Unfortunately.”
“Well, that’s convenient,” I muttered.
“Are the cooks up yet?” Simon asked, abruptly changing the topic. “I’m starving, aren’t you?”
“Okay,” I agreed. Simon hurried off. Shoving the flute back in my pocket, I turned to follow him, glancing back over my shoulder to survey the area one more time before leaving. As I turned away again, I heard a rustle in the bushes behind me, followed by quiet footsteps that seemed to be going away from me. I immediately swung back around. There was nothing there. I looked closer. Still nothing.
“What’s taking you so long?” Simon demanded, coming back to my side.
“I thought I heard something come out of the bushes over that way,” I told him, pointing. “And then it ran off.”
“Weird,” Simon said. He walked forward and crouched down to inspect the ground where we had just been.
“There are no tracks,” he said, studying the dirt closely.
He went over to the other side of the bushes and crouched down again. I followed him.
“Yep, something has definitely been here,” he said. “See, that print there looks like a human footprint. If it were human, it might fit a kid around seven or eight. But the thing is nobody here is younger than sixteen.”
“Actually, yes there is,” I said. “I’m fifteen.”
“All right, aside from you, nobody here is under the age of sixteen,” Simon said. “And a dwarf’s foot is bigger than that. This means we’re being watched. We need to tell the king. Follow me.”
He rose and started off at a jog. I followed, struggling to keep up with his longer stride.
Simon arrived at the king’s tent moments before I did. He seemed barely out of breath, but he was also taller than me, had a longer stride, and therefore was able to leave me in the dust in a footrace. I was completely winded and breaking a sweat with the effort of keeping up with him.
“We want to see the king,” Simon said to the guard outside the door that hadn’t been there last night.
“The king is indisposed, on account of being asleep,” the guard told him firmly. “So buzz off.”
“It’s urgent!” Simon insisted.
“Whatever an outlaw and a little fairy girl have to say can wait until morning,” the guard said.
“It IS morning,” Simon reminded him doggedly. “The sun is up and everything.”
“Well, you’ll still have to wait for the king to wake up,” the guard insisted. “You have to wait for the king. The king doesn’t have to work his schedule around yours.”
Just then, the tent flap was pulled back, and the king emerged. He looked no less tired than when I had seen him the night before. He was wearing an old coat and pajamas. Everyone bowed.
“What’s wrong, William?” he asked pleasantly.
“They want to talk to you, sir,” the guard named William said. “It’s urgent, apparently, even though I didn’t think-“
“What is it?” the king interrupted, looking at us.
“Footprints, sir,” Simon said. “Brand new, sir. Lily heard whatever it was leaving just a few minutes ago, sir. We were in this clearing near the edge of camp, and-“
“Show me,” the king ordered.
“This way,” Simon said. Simon led the way and the king followed just behind him, with me at the back.
“Interesting,” the king said, crouching down to inspect the marks in the dirt. “Any idea what made these?” he asked of both of us.
“We’re not really sure,” Simon replied. “We were thinking maybe a brownie or something similar in build. Gnomes or goblins, perhaps. It’s really hard to say.”
I didn’t recall ever agreeing to thinking that it might have been a brownie or something similar in build, but I didn’t think it was the time to argue with him.
“I don’t think goblins would be this far from a cave or a mine,” the king said. “And gnomes are just plain stupid. It would be silly to make a fuss if it were a gnome that was watching you, but if it was a brownie, we’re in serious trouble. They’re loyal to Maldan, and they’re very smart. Did it see or hear anything that might have been important?”
“It might have seen the flute,” I said.
“Brilliant,” the king muttered. “Just brilliant. Now they might know we have the prophecy girl. Great.”
Then I heard a rustle behind me again. Spinning around, I saw a small, furry little creature waddling away from me on two short legs, cackling in a voice that sounded like it swallowed some helium or something. If it hadn’t been for the voice, I would have thought it was a walking teddy bear.
It moved away into a little clearing a little farther away. It turned around and, seeing me watching it, immediately dove into the nearest bush and raised its eyes tentatively over the edge of it, seeing whether I was still watching or not.
I turned back to the other two. “So is that a brownie?” I asked them.
“Yep,” The king said.
“Weird,” I remarked. “I didn’t exactly expect it to be so, well, cute.”
“Well, that’s the point, isn’t it?” Simon said, glowering. “Send out the cute little fuzz balls that nobody will hurt, and you’ll get all the information you need. Nasty little creatures, really. They bite hard and won’t give or tell you anything unless you give them their favorite food.”
“What’s their favorite food?” I wondered.
“Apples,” Simon said.
“I’m going out there,” I decided. “Maybe it will talk to me easier than it will talk to you, because I’m a girl.”
“Why should that make a difference?” Simon asked.
“I don’t know,” I said. “But it’s worth a shot, isn’t it?”
“She’s got a fair point,” the king put in. “But you should take this.” He pulled an apple out of his coat pocket.
“Thanks,” I said.
Cautiously, I walked across the wooded area to the brownie’s clearing. Its eyes watched me from behind its bush. I crouched down and moved slowly towards it.
“Come on,” I said, using the same voice I used with my dog when he didn’t want to get up for his morning walk. “Come on,” I repeated, smiling slightly. I held out the apple.
The eyes behind the bush went wide, and the brownie emerged from the bush. Approaching with caution, its little button nose sniffed the apple, as if to see whether it was poisoned, and then all of a sudden snatched it out of my hand, giggling in the helium voice.
Before it got a chance to run away, I snatched it around the middle.
“Gocha!”
I pulled the apple out of its grip.
“What did you hear?” I demanded.
“Nothing,” the brownie said. Its voice was surprisingly gruff-I’d been expecting more of the helium tones.
“What can you tell me about your master’s whereabouts?” was my next question.
“Give me the apple and I’ll tell you everything,” it told me.
“Tell me first, and then you’ll get it,” I said.
“It’s my price for the information,” it said.
“How will I know you won’t run off as soon as you get it?” I asked suspiciously.
“I won’t,” it promised.
“Yeah, right,” I said. “You’ve got a meeting with my king, mister. Come on.”
Wrapping my arms tighter around the little creature, I walked back over to Simon and the king.
“Lemme go,” it grunted.
“Not a chance, buddy,” I answered.
“I’m not saying anything,” it insisted.
“That’s funny,” I said. “I think I just heard you say something, or are my ears going bad?”
The brownie just rolled its eyes.
“You’re gonna need a lot of apples for this one,” I told the king. “It says it’s not saying anything, but that probably proves it’s guilty.”
“I like the way your mind works, Lily,” the king said. “I’ll take over from here.”
***************************************************************************
Several hours and quite a few apples later, the king and his advisors had eked all the information they could about the whereabouts of the Royal Ladies and Maldan’s stronghold. I knew Lheada had been involved with the persuasion, because she came out of the tent quite a while later. The first thing she did after looking at me was to wave her hand, and my hair had instantly braided itself into waist-length corn rows.
“You’re going to need it,” she explained. “It’s a lot easier to manage if it’s back like that. Dreadlocks are too much of a hassle. And by the way, the king wants you.”
It turned out that the king just wanted to tell me what had happened, and what had been decided.
As soon as possible, the search was going to leave. The party had been greatly reduced to a quarter of what was originally going to be sent out-it was now only me, Simon, Garrett, and Eohu.
In addition to this information, the king also gave me a map of the stronghold, a long, searching look, the news that I should probably keep the boys in line, because they were all rookies, and the advice that I should keep the flute with me at all times.
A few hours later, after getting a completely new but much sturdier outfit from the elves, including something that looked, felt, and worked like a bodice, but was actually armor, and some new boots, we were finally able to leave.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Creative Writing Story
This is part of the story I'm working on in Creative Writing. I'm not done with it yet, which is why it's only part. So here it is.
I guess it all started with Dave's clarinet. I was fifteen, and we had gone camping-me, my dad, my mom, and my dad's best friend, Dave, and his daughter, Julie, who was my age, at the beginning of the summer after my freshman year in high school. Julie and I, we didn't exactly get along.
Dave had brought his clarinet that weekend. I'm not sure why. Anyway, near lunch time, Dave went out in the woods a little ways and started to play. Curious, I followed him. He walked deeper into the woods and I followed like a puppy, entranced by the music. Then he came to a clearing and sat down, still playing. I followed him and watched his fingers dance over the silver keys.
When he finally stopped, I asked, "Will you teach me?"
He tried to, but I was terrible at it. My fingers didn't fit the keys right, but I blew anyway. The sound that emerged was nothing like the sound that Dave had conjured from the tube. Dave's sound was flowing and beautiful; mine was loud, squeaky, and obnoxious. I tried again, to no avail. I was determined to get it, no matter how long it took.
However, Dave had other plans. He pulled the instrument out of my hands and said, in a ver annoyed tone, "Maybe we should try again another time." He stormed off, leaving me in the clearing alone.
For a little while, Iwas happy by myself in the clearing. Then a mounting panic began to rise in my chest. Where was our campsite? Where was my family? How would I get back to the tent? I began to cry quietly. A bear would probably eat me or something out here.
More time passed, and nobody came for me. I began to cry harder, blended with cuss words and tirades uttered under my breath. They had surely all forgotten about me, which, of course, was probably the entire point of the entire enterprise.
Dark began to fall. I finally forced myself to get up and move and try and make a shelter of some sort, so I didn't get eaten by anything.
Then I noticed a small flute by my left hand. I don't know how it got there. It was small and carved out of some sort of dark wood, with little flowers and vines carved on it. The middles of some of the flowers were hollow-the holes where you put your fingers.
I picked it up and blew on it. It made it a low sort of sound, kind of like an owl. I blew it again, and kept blowing. For some reason, this was a lot easier than playing clarinet. The flute seemed to fit my hands perfectly. I began to randomly put my fingers on and off the various holes, and somehow made a melody.
I don't know how long I stayed in the clearing, playing the flute. I just looked up at one point and saw two figures that were glowing slightly in the dark. I stopped playing and started getting scared again. Dark had really fallen now, and in addition, there were two eerily glowing figures in front of me. They looked like humans about my age-one was a boy, and one was a girl. Both had slanted, bottle green eyes and black hair.
"Well, it took you long enough," the boy said.
"Eohu, don't be rude," the girl scolded.
"Well, we've been here for a good hour and a half," Eohu complained. "Can we go now? I'm bored."
"No, dummy, we have to deliver the message," the girl chided.
I watched this interaction with confused amazement. These two figures were probably twins, but what did some creepy glowing pair want with me in a forest clearing in the dead of night?
"All right," Eohu sighed. "Hurry up."
"We have to do it properly," the girl insisted.
"Oh, all RIGHT," Eohu moaned.
"Lily," the girl addressed me, and I started. How did she know my name? "You have been bestowed with a flute that has certain powers. YOu have been brought to this clearing by our colleague, Dave. You need to hear some very important information."
"What?" I asked, curious.
"Okay, Lheada, enough with formality," Eohu said. "Basically, we're here to tell you that you're a fairy, and we need your help in saving the queen."
"WHAT?" I nearly yelled.
"See, I TOLD you we had to do it properly," Lheada told him.
"Hang on... what?" I asked, unable to take it in. Fairy? A queen? A fairy queen? What was going ON here? "Give it to me again, slowly."
Eohu groaned. "You... are... a... fairy," he said, as if I was both very deaf and very slow. "We... need... YOU... to... help... US."
"Are you fairies, too?" I asked.
"Yes," Lheada said.
"So why do you need me?" I wondered.
"Because you know stuff that we don't," she explained.
"Such as...?" I asked, still confused.
"Such as how to play that flute," Eohu interjected. "Only one person can play it."
"And since you grew up with humans, you can use logic," Lheada said.
"Not all humans can use logic," I said. "I'm terrible at it."
"But you also know certain types of defense that fairies never learn," Lheada explained. "Like how to beat people up with your fists and feet. We just use magic."
"Correction," Eohu interrupted. "I can use my fists and feet. You just use magic. I can fight just fine, thank you."
"And, so... why do you need me and my martial arts in order to save the queen?" I asked. "I defenitely can't wrestle trolls or beat up giants or anything."
"Trolls are over rated," Eohu said. "I nearly fought one once. And they're stupid as-"
"EOHU!" Lheada cut across him.
"What?" he protested.
"No cussing!" Lheada ordered.
"I wasn't going to!" Eohu complained.
"Yes, you were!" Lheada countered.
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
"Um..." I interjected tentatively, "Is this relevant?"
"Oh," Lheada said, returning to her poised state. "No, it isn't. Thank you for reminding us."
That's all I have time for right now. I'll be back in a bit to finish the rest.
I guess it all started with Dave's clarinet. I was fifteen, and we had gone camping-me, my dad, my mom, and my dad's best friend, Dave, and his daughter, Julie, who was my age, at the beginning of the summer after my freshman year in high school. Julie and I, we didn't exactly get along.
Dave had brought his clarinet that weekend. I'm not sure why. Anyway, near lunch time, Dave went out in the woods a little ways and started to play. Curious, I followed him. He walked deeper into the woods and I followed like a puppy, entranced by the music. Then he came to a clearing and sat down, still playing. I followed him and watched his fingers dance over the silver keys.
When he finally stopped, I asked, "Will you teach me?"
He tried to, but I was terrible at it. My fingers didn't fit the keys right, but I blew anyway. The sound that emerged was nothing like the sound that Dave had conjured from the tube. Dave's sound was flowing and beautiful; mine was loud, squeaky, and obnoxious. I tried again, to no avail. I was determined to get it, no matter how long it took.
However, Dave had other plans. He pulled the instrument out of my hands and said, in a ver annoyed tone, "Maybe we should try again another time." He stormed off, leaving me in the clearing alone.
For a little while, Iwas happy by myself in the clearing. Then a mounting panic began to rise in my chest. Where was our campsite? Where was my family? How would I get back to the tent? I began to cry quietly. A bear would probably eat me or something out here.
More time passed, and nobody came for me. I began to cry harder, blended with cuss words and tirades uttered under my breath. They had surely all forgotten about me, which, of course, was probably the entire point of the entire enterprise.
Dark began to fall. I finally forced myself to get up and move and try and make a shelter of some sort, so I didn't get eaten by anything.
Then I noticed a small flute by my left hand. I don't know how it got there. It was small and carved out of some sort of dark wood, with little flowers and vines carved on it. The middles of some of the flowers were hollow-the holes where you put your fingers.
I picked it up and blew on it. It made it a low sort of sound, kind of like an owl. I blew it again, and kept blowing. For some reason, this was a lot easier than playing clarinet. The flute seemed to fit my hands perfectly. I began to randomly put my fingers on and off the various holes, and somehow made a melody.
I don't know how long I stayed in the clearing, playing the flute. I just looked up at one point and saw two figures that were glowing slightly in the dark. I stopped playing and started getting scared again. Dark had really fallen now, and in addition, there were two eerily glowing figures in front of me. They looked like humans about my age-one was a boy, and one was a girl. Both had slanted, bottle green eyes and black hair.
"Well, it took you long enough," the boy said.
"Eohu, don't be rude," the girl scolded.
"Well, we've been here for a good hour and a half," Eohu complained. "Can we go now? I'm bored."
"No, dummy, we have to deliver the message," the girl chided.
I watched this interaction with confused amazement. These two figures were probably twins, but what did some creepy glowing pair want with me in a forest clearing in the dead of night?
"All right," Eohu sighed. "Hurry up."
"We have to do it properly," the girl insisted.
"Oh, all RIGHT," Eohu moaned.
"Lily," the girl addressed me, and I started. How did she know my name? "You have been bestowed with a flute that has certain powers. YOu have been brought to this clearing by our colleague, Dave. You need to hear some very important information."
"What?" I asked, curious.
"Okay, Lheada, enough with formality," Eohu said. "Basically, we're here to tell you that you're a fairy, and we need your help in saving the queen."
"WHAT?" I nearly yelled.
"See, I TOLD you we had to do it properly," Lheada told him.
"Hang on... what?" I asked, unable to take it in. Fairy? A queen? A fairy queen? What was going ON here? "Give it to me again, slowly."
Eohu groaned. "You... are... a... fairy," he said, as if I was both very deaf and very slow. "We... need... YOU... to... help... US."
"Are you fairies, too?" I asked.
"Yes," Lheada said.
"So why do you need me?" I wondered.
"Because you know stuff that we don't," she explained.
"Such as...?" I asked, still confused.
"Such as how to play that flute," Eohu interjected. "Only one person can play it."
"And since you grew up with humans, you can use logic," Lheada said.
"Not all humans can use logic," I said. "I'm terrible at it."
"But you also know certain types of defense that fairies never learn," Lheada explained. "Like how to beat people up with your fists and feet. We just use magic."
"Correction," Eohu interrupted. "I can use my fists and feet. You just use magic. I can fight just fine, thank you."
"And, so... why do you need me and my martial arts in order to save the queen?" I asked. "I defenitely can't wrestle trolls or beat up giants or anything."
"Trolls are over rated," Eohu said. "I nearly fought one once. And they're stupid as-"
"EOHU!" Lheada cut across him.
"What?" he protested.
"No cussing!" Lheada ordered.
"I wasn't going to!" Eohu complained.
"Yes, you were!" Lheada countered.
"Was not!"
"Were too!"
"Um..." I interjected tentatively, "Is this relevant?"
"Oh," Lheada said, returning to her poised state. "No, it isn't. Thank you for reminding us."
That's all I have time for right now. I'll be back in a bit to finish the rest.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
another story (ish)
Yes, I know, another story. I'm not done with it and haven't worked on it in a while, but here it is.
Lea was lonely. Then again, she was always lonely. She did not have any friends except for her dog, Fawn, and her only living relative-her brother Leo- was never at home. He was, indeed, twenty or so years older than her, because Lea...well, she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d come about, and she didn’t want to think about it. Both of Leas’ parents had drowned when she was three. Leo looked after her until she was eight, and then began spending increasing amounts of time away from home. Lea never knew why, but from then on, Lea was basically left on her own. Their country, as most, did not have a formal school system and the only rule regarding education was that children were schooled until at least the age of eight. At eight, they could stay in school, drop out for a few years and go into an early apprenticeship, or drop out entirely. With Leo being away a lot of the time and unable to take her to school, Lea had no choice but to drop out.
But today, after seven years of making it alone, Lea felt a particular pang of loneliness. One would think that one’s family, even if the family was rarely home, would at least send a card when a birthday occurred. But, Lea was again disappointed. No owl, phoenix, raven, or mailman came to Leo and Lea’s house. By bird was the common way of delivering mail. Only large packages were sent by ground mail, unless you were lucky enough to have a phoenix, which were strong enough to carry anything. Lea, who wasn’t exactly the world’s luckiest teenager, had neither a phoenix nor a birthday card. It was sad, really.
Lea was a girl of the forest. Although she lived a lonely and solitary life, she had not let the last seven years go to waste. She knew how to knit-it was one of the few things that her mother had taught her before that incident, and her parents had raised five llamas, six sheep, four angora rabbits, three alpacas and a goat in a small enclosure off the back of their house, which they successfully bred-sometimes breeding one of the llamas with one of the alpacas, or other crossbreeds that turned out really strange-and used the fiber for yarn. It was often a hard life for Lea, who lived almost literally in the middle of nowhere. In Lea’s case, nowhere happened to be a forest. The forest in question happened to be a very good spot for a knitting addict to live-it had an amazingly diverse ecosystem that supported everything from oak trees to bamboo, and provided enough of the right kind of herbs to support a semi-vegetarian, more than a few pets, and many sources for dyes and fiber. Lea used all of it, but was sure to not take more than would hurt the forest. She mainly stuck to the earthy tones of her animals, only sometimes going out for certain berries or roots that would add a bit of color.
Lea made all her clothes. She knitted a lot, obviously, but that was mostly for trading purposes. She designed all the things she made. Lea whittled the needles out of bamboo shafts, and had six pairs-two thin ones, two thick ones, and two in-between ones. None of her needles had back ends, so she could work gloves in a seamless circle if she wanted to, or work a sweater on them because they were all long. Lea also weaved blankets and rugs. She also had a special loom that weaved very tightly and was ideal for making fabrics. Lea also used bamboo for sewing needles.
There was, of course, a bit of magic there, and Lea was well aware of it. Lea knew that her mother was a wood nymph, and therefore very in tune with the forest. Lea had inherited some of that one-ness, but nymph qualities favor girls, and Leo had none of the magic.
At this moment, however, Lea was not thinking about her parents, nymphs, alpacas, llamas, sheep, goats, or bamboo. She was thinking about how stupid it was that Leo had not sent anything for her birthday for the seventh year running. It couldn’t hurt him to remember that he was NOT an only child. True, he HAD been an only child for twenty years, but now he had a sister, and he was going to have to put up with it, or else. Lea sighed. Even in her head the words sounded like utter rubbish that would have been thought out by an eight year old. In a way, she still felt like an eight year old. She had nobody to talk to, and nothing to stimulate any emotions except Jack the goat, and he didn’t speak human, and she didn’t speak goat. Lea really hated being so lonely all the time. She did go into town sometimes-to sell knitted and woven objects or trade them for food that the forest did not provide, but that was the extent of her social life. She was very good at making sure she wasn’t cheated, but on the other hand, up until around two years ago she had been treated badly by a lot of the merchants. Two years ago heralded puberty. Although she was still treated like a piece of dirt, she was treated more like a piece of dirt that might have gold in it. Lea did not like that feeling, although it did make it considerably easier to get low prices on things.
The next day, Lea had to go into town for some provisions. Since the cold season was coming, she had to go to town to get a bunch of extra fruit, vegetables, and grains. Even though it was still early fall, she wanted to stock up on the things she couldn’t grow when the farmers and traders still had food to give. Calypso the llama, as always on a town day, was burdened with sweaters, hats, rugs, blankets, scarves, gloves and mittens. Lea was also leading Franz the other llama, who would aid her in bringing back most of the food. While there, she had run into a girl she had known from her school days while leading Calypso and Franz down the main market street. Lea had nearly walked into the girl, but then sidestepped quickly. The two girls recognized each other and Lea smiled shyly. Lea remembered the other girl’s name was Molly Lewis, and that they hadn’t left school on very good terms. However, Molly seemed more than willing to stop for a chat. It was a very odd encounter-they hadn’t seen each other in years, and here Molly was talking to Lea like only a night had passed since they last met.
Apparently, Molly had dropped out at the same age that Lea had. Unlike Lea, Molly hadn’t been abandoned and forced to search all day for herbs in order to keep herself alive. Instead, Molly had gotten an apprenticeship with the astrological healers. They were basically medical seers-they observed the stars and predicted what might happen to a person in any given time. It was a suiting job for Molly-although she had been something of a socialite, she had always had a side that wanted to help people. True, she had always scampered from blood when someone fell on the playground, but she had always had her heart in the right place.
Then, she ran into Isaac Griffin, another person that she had known as a child. She hadn’t exactly been friends with him, but they still had had each other’s backs if they needed it. She gave him a small smile as she led Calypso and Franz along, and he noticed and fell into step with her, starting a conversation. He, apparently, had stuck with school for another two years, and then dropped out at age ten for an apprenticeship offer as an international messenger. He had always been athletic, and apparently he had to go through a lot of training in order to be a messenger. Although being a messenger was typically regarded as being an inferior sort of job, Isaac seemed to love it. He loved running and riding and riding and running all day long.
Eventually he asked Lea what she did, and she replied, “I’ve just been around.”
“Do you have a job?” he inquired.
“No,” she admitted. “I live in the forest. My brother basically abandoned me when I was eight, and so I learned to live alone in the forest.”
“Alone? In the forest? At age eight? How do you live?”
“My mom taught me a few things when she was alive, but mostly I taught myself. She was a nymph, so I’m half nymph, which has helped.”
Lea didn’t know why she was telling Isaac all of this, but she somehow felt that she could trust him.
“But how do you get money? How do you stay warm and dry and get food and whatever else?”
“I don’t need a lot of money. I have nineteen fiber-providing pets, counting Calypso and Franz, plus a dog. I do all the spinning myself, and dye some of the whites with plants from the forest. I grow my own food, for the most part, but I do collect some stuff like wild strawberries sometimes. I also go and get my own healing plants. I dye my own fibers-cotton and bamboo, mostly. I whittle knitting needles myself, and then I use them to make most of this stuff here. I weave some stuff, too, on the loom my mom had. And my dad had built a house before he died.”
Isaac just stood there, staring.
“How do you do so many things?”
“Practice, my friend, practice.”
Isaac did some more staring.
“Wow,” he said. “Wow. How does a girl do all that?”
“I have no clue, but I do it.”
Then, Isaac seemed to remember that he was on a mission in town as well, so he then bade Lea farewell.
When Lea arrived at one of her favorite food stands, there was another surprise waiting for her. However, it was not a friend from her school days. It was her brother. He had obviously gotten a pay raise-when Lea had last seen him, he hadn’t been dressed in what looked like purple velvet. If you judged them by their clothes, it would be hard to tell that Leo and Lea were related. Velvet was very expensive in these parts, and wearing it obviously meant that Leo was earning quite a good wage. He looked better groomed than the last time Lea had seen him too. His hair was brushed, at least. Lea’s long brown hair had basically become dreadlocks because of lack of brushing. But, kind of unfortunately for Leo, he also stood out, and he also seemed to have a bit of an ego and even more of a temper. He seemed to be arguing with the shopkeeper, who apparently did not want the money that Leo was offering him. Lea recognized the shopkeeper as Joe, a tall and rounded man with kind eyes and a sharp tongue when necessary. Lea knew him well-she did a lot of trading with Joe when his harvest was good and he gave her the news when there was something big to report.
“Leo?” she said, startled.
“Lea! What are you doing here?” Leo asked, startled.
“It’s called trading for food,” she replied. “Try it sometime.” Then she said to Joe, “I’ll give you two rugs and three scarves for a bushel of apples and two bunches of bananas.”
“Three rugs,” he said.
“Two rugs, three scarves, and a pair of mittens,” Lea answered.
“Gloves,” Joe insisted.
“Fingerless,” said Lea.
“Done,” Joe replied.
“Thanks,” and handed over the agreed payment.
“Do you know this guy?” he whispered as they tied the apples onto Franz’s back.
“Yeah, he’s my brother,” she replied in equal tones.
“No offense, but you’ve got a brute of a brother.”
“I know it, and I’m saying I’m glad he’s back. He acts like I don’t exist most of the time and he treats me like dirt the rest of it.”
“Tough luck.”
By that time they had finished tying up all the food.
“Just letting you know,” Joe told Leo and Lea. “There have been some strange folks around these parts. Some of the teenage apprentices came down to investigate. They brought an astrology healer, apparently, although I don’t know why. I think that the government thinks that there might be a war or something soon, and they want her around to make sure they can avoid danger.”
“Thanks, Joe,” Lea replied. That explained why she had seen Molly and Isaac around earlier.
“Lea, what are you doing here?” Leo demanded after Joe had helped Lea pack the apples and bananas onto Franz’s back.
“I told you, getting food for the winter. I’m running low on some stuff and I don’t exactly want to starve. Do you want me to get some extra stuff for you, or are you not staying the winter?”
“I’m staying, of course I am. The astrologers are saying it’s going to be the coldest winter in years. It won’t be a good time to travel. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to rent a place for myself in town. No offense, but the forest doesn’t exactly seem the greatest place to stay.”
“Leo, how come you haven’t been around since April and never intended to stay longer than one night in our house or any other, then suddenly show up six months later and intend to stick around for an entire winter?”
“Work. My job makes me move around a lot.”
“But surely you’ve been to towns better equipped than this one?” It was true-although Ameos was a decent town in most regards, it definitely not the finest town in the kingdom. In fact, it was not what most people would call fine, unless they were very, very poor.
“Well, yes, I have been to better towns, but I wanted to come home for the winter. It’s what I always do.”
“You mean you’ve been back more than the times you came to the cabin? And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t think you had to know.”
“Why? Because I’m your sister? Because you’re the only family I have? Because you basically abandoned me and left me virtually no future because you have to have a guardian to go into apprenticeship?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that I didn’t want to see you and get super attached to you and then have to go off again.”
“That’s fair, except for one thing. How is it fair that you haven’t sent me a birthday present for seven years?”
Leo hesitated. He didn’t want to offend his sister by telling her that he had forgotten about her birthday in all the work he had been doing, but on the other hand, he had to admit that it was a pretty huge error to forget about it for seven years running and never once think about how she might feel if he forgot to send a present, even a card, even when it was late. To be quite honest, he had even forgotten when her birthday was.
“You know, you’re awful at hiding what you’re thinking,” Lea commented in a less-than-pleased voice, and giving a slight “humph” of displeasure, she moved on to another stall selling vegetables, and haggled some more, making her way around the square. Leo watched, amazed at how well she traded, haggled, and bargained until she found a decent price to pay.
When Lea had finished her trading, she led the two llamas out of town. It wasn’t a hard climb, but she had a lot to think about. Who exactly were these mysterious strangers that were around town? They at least gave Molly and Isaac a reason to be around town, but she was not sure what suspicious people would do in Ameos. She wasn’t entirely sure what was so interesting about Ameos that would lure even non-suspicious people to its gates. As far as Lea knew it was, in all probability, the most unexciting town in the entire empire.
But maybe, she thought, maybe it was that lack of interesting things that made it a perfect hideout for people of a suspicious nature. It seemed like a good idea, now that she thought about it. The townspeople of Ameos who weren’t farmers owned the shops or had small-town apprenticeships if parents couldn’t send their children abroad to study the big jobs, like Molly and Isaac were able to do. News traveled fast there, but people of a suspicious nature would not care if the rumor traveled faster than the speed of light in a town that small. They would only care if the news was speeding faster than light in a direction away from the town limits, which almost never happened in Ameos. Even though something as minor as how so-and-so’s horse accidentally kicked his master’s new girlfriend on their first date traveled around like fire to wood, everyone knew that the only way that the news would be important enough to get out of the town was if the horse had kicked the lamp and set the barn on fire, leading to an epic destruction of the entire wood-built village. Even then, the news would only go so far as Lea and the few other forest-dwellers who lived higher up the mountain, who would have to help accommodate everyone in their small huts. What happened in Ameos stayed in Ameos.
Lea was lonely. Then again, she was always lonely. She did not have any friends except for her dog, Fawn, and her only living relative-her brother Leo- was never at home. He was, indeed, twenty or so years older than her, because Lea...well, she wasn’t entirely sure how she’d come about, and she didn’t want to think about it. Both of Leas’ parents had drowned when she was three. Leo looked after her until she was eight, and then began spending increasing amounts of time away from home. Lea never knew why, but from then on, Lea was basically left on her own. Their country, as most, did not have a formal school system and the only rule regarding education was that children were schooled until at least the age of eight. At eight, they could stay in school, drop out for a few years and go into an early apprenticeship, or drop out entirely. With Leo being away a lot of the time and unable to take her to school, Lea had no choice but to drop out.
But today, after seven years of making it alone, Lea felt a particular pang of loneliness. One would think that one’s family, even if the family was rarely home, would at least send a card when a birthday occurred. But, Lea was again disappointed. No owl, phoenix, raven, or mailman came to Leo and Lea’s house. By bird was the common way of delivering mail. Only large packages were sent by ground mail, unless you were lucky enough to have a phoenix, which were strong enough to carry anything. Lea, who wasn’t exactly the world’s luckiest teenager, had neither a phoenix nor a birthday card. It was sad, really.
Lea was a girl of the forest. Although she lived a lonely and solitary life, she had not let the last seven years go to waste. She knew how to knit-it was one of the few things that her mother had taught her before that incident, and her parents had raised five llamas, six sheep, four angora rabbits, three alpacas and a goat in a small enclosure off the back of their house, which they successfully bred-sometimes breeding one of the llamas with one of the alpacas, or other crossbreeds that turned out really strange-and used the fiber for yarn. It was often a hard life for Lea, who lived almost literally in the middle of nowhere. In Lea’s case, nowhere happened to be a forest. The forest in question happened to be a very good spot for a knitting addict to live-it had an amazingly diverse ecosystem that supported everything from oak trees to bamboo, and provided enough of the right kind of herbs to support a semi-vegetarian, more than a few pets, and many sources for dyes and fiber. Lea used all of it, but was sure to not take more than would hurt the forest. She mainly stuck to the earthy tones of her animals, only sometimes going out for certain berries or roots that would add a bit of color.
Lea made all her clothes. She knitted a lot, obviously, but that was mostly for trading purposes. She designed all the things she made. Lea whittled the needles out of bamboo shafts, and had six pairs-two thin ones, two thick ones, and two in-between ones. None of her needles had back ends, so she could work gloves in a seamless circle if she wanted to, or work a sweater on them because they were all long. Lea also weaved blankets and rugs. She also had a special loom that weaved very tightly and was ideal for making fabrics. Lea also used bamboo for sewing needles.
There was, of course, a bit of magic there, and Lea was well aware of it. Lea knew that her mother was a wood nymph, and therefore very in tune with the forest. Lea had inherited some of that one-ness, but nymph qualities favor girls, and Leo had none of the magic.
At this moment, however, Lea was not thinking about her parents, nymphs, alpacas, llamas, sheep, goats, or bamboo. She was thinking about how stupid it was that Leo had not sent anything for her birthday for the seventh year running. It couldn’t hurt him to remember that he was NOT an only child. True, he HAD been an only child for twenty years, but now he had a sister, and he was going to have to put up with it, or else. Lea sighed. Even in her head the words sounded like utter rubbish that would have been thought out by an eight year old. In a way, she still felt like an eight year old. She had nobody to talk to, and nothing to stimulate any emotions except Jack the goat, and he didn’t speak human, and she didn’t speak goat. Lea really hated being so lonely all the time. She did go into town sometimes-to sell knitted and woven objects or trade them for food that the forest did not provide, but that was the extent of her social life. She was very good at making sure she wasn’t cheated, but on the other hand, up until around two years ago she had been treated badly by a lot of the merchants. Two years ago heralded puberty. Although she was still treated like a piece of dirt, she was treated more like a piece of dirt that might have gold in it. Lea did not like that feeling, although it did make it considerably easier to get low prices on things.
The next day, Lea had to go into town for some provisions. Since the cold season was coming, she had to go to town to get a bunch of extra fruit, vegetables, and grains. Even though it was still early fall, she wanted to stock up on the things she couldn’t grow when the farmers and traders still had food to give. Calypso the llama, as always on a town day, was burdened with sweaters, hats, rugs, blankets, scarves, gloves and mittens. Lea was also leading Franz the other llama, who would aid her in bringing back most of the food. While there, she had run into a girl she had known from her school days while leading Calypso and Franz down the main market street. Lea had nearly walked into the girl, but then sidestepped quickly. The two girls recognized each other and Lea smiled shyly. Lea remembered the other girl’s name was Molly Lewis, and that they hadn’t left school on very good terms. However, Molly seemed more than willing to stop for a chat. It was a very odd encounter-they hadn’t seen each other in years, and here Molly was talking to Lea like only a night had passed since they last met.
Apparently, Molly had dropped out at the same age that Lea had. Unlike Lea, Molly hadn’t been abandoned and forced to search all day for herbs in order to keep herself alive. Instead, Molly had gotten an apprenticeship with the astrological healers. They were basically medical seers-they observed the stars and predicted what might happen to a person in any given time. It was a suiting job for Molly-although she had been something of a socialite, she had always had a side that wanted to help people. True, she had always scampered from blood when someone fell on the playground, but she had always had her heart in the right place.
Then, she ran into Isaac Griffin, another person that she had known as a child. She hadn’t exactly been friends with him, but they still had had each other’s backs if they needed it. She gave him a small smile as she led Calypso and Franz along, and he noticed and fell into step with her, starting a conversation. He, apparently, had stuck with school for another two years, and then dropped out at age ten for an apprenticeship offer as an international messenger. He had always been athletic, and apparently he had to go through a lot of training in order to be a messenger. Although being a messenger was typically regarded as being an inferior sort of job, Isaac seemed to love it. He loved running and riding and riding and running all day long.
Eventually he asked Lea what she did, and she replied, “I’ve just been around.”
“Do you have a job?” he inquired.
“No,” she admitted. “I live in the forest. My brother basically abandoned me when I was eight, and so I learned to live alone in the forest.”
“Alone? In the forest? At age eight? How do you live?”
“My mom taught me a few things when she was alive, but mostly I taught myself. She was a nymph, so I’m half nymph, which has helped.”
Lea didn’t know why she was telling Isaac all of this, but she somehow felt that she could trust him.
“But how do you get money? How do you stay warm and dry and get food and whatever else?”
“I don’t need a lot of money. I have nineteen fiber-providing pets, counting Calypso and Franz, plus a dog. I do all the spinning myself, and dye some of the whites with plants from the forest. I grow my own food, for the most part, but I do collect some stuff like wild strawberries sometimes. I also go and get my own healing plants. I dye my own fibers-cotton and bamboo, mostly. I whittle knitting needles myself, and then I use them to make most of this stuff here. I weave some stuff, too, on the loom my mom had. And my dad had built a house before he died.”
Isaac just stood there, staring.
“How do you do so many things?”
“Practice, my friend, practice.”
Isaac did some more staring.
“Wow,” he said. “Wow. How does a girl do all that?”
“I have no clue, but I do it.”
Then, Isaac seemed to remember that he was on a mission in town as well, so he then bade Lea farewell.
When Lea arrived at one of her favorite food stands, there was another surprise waiting for her. However, it was not a friend from her school days. It was her brother. He had obviously gotten a pay raise-when Lea had last seen him, he hadn’t been dressed in what looked like purple velvet. If you judged them by their clothes, it would be hard to tell that Leo and Lea were related. Velvet was very expensive in these parts, and wearing it obviously meant that Leo was earning quite a good wage. He looked better groomed than the last time Lea had seen him too. His hair was brushed, at least. Lea’s long brown hair had basically become dreadlocks because of lack of brushing. But, kind of unfortunately for Leo, he also stood out, and he also seemed to have a bit of an ego and even more of a temper. He seemed to be arguing with the shopkeeper, who apparently did not want the money that Leo was offering him. Lea recognized the shopkeeper as Joe, a tall and rounded man with kind eyes and a sharp tongue when necessary. Lea knew him well-she did a lot of trading with Joe when his harvest was good and he gave her the news when there was something big to report.
“Leo?” she said, startled.
“Lea! What are you doing here?” Leo asked, startled.
“It’s called trading for food,” she replied. “Try it sometime.” Then she said to Joe, “I’ll give you two rugs and three scarves for a bushel of apples and two bunches of bananas.”
“Three rugs,” he said.
“Two rugs, three scarves, and a pair of mittens,” Lea answered.
“Gloves,” Joe insisted.
“Fingerless,” said Lea.
“Done,” Joe replied.
“Thanks,” and handed over the agreed payment.
“Do you know this guy?” he whispered as they tied the apples onto Franz’s back.
“Yeah, he’s my brother,” she replied in equal tones.
“No offense, but you’ve got a brute of a brother.”
“I know it, and I’m saying I’m glad he’s back. He acts like I don’t exist most of the time and he treats me like dirt the rest of it.”
“Tough luck.”
By that time they had finished tying up all the food.
“Just letting you know,” Joe told Leo and Lea. “There have been some strange folks around these parts. Some of the teenage apprentices came down to investigate. They brought an astrology healer, apparently, although I don’t know why. I think that the government thinks that there might be a war or something soon, and they want her around to make sure they can avoid danger.”
“Thanks, Joe,” Lea replied. That explained why she had seen Molly and Isaac around earlier.
“Lea, what are you doing here?” Leo demanded after Joe had helped Lea pack the apples and bananas onto Franz’s back.
“I told you, getting food for the winter. I’m running low on some stuff and I don’t exactly want to starve. Do you want me to get some extra stuff for you, or are you not staying the winter?”
“I’m staying, of course I am. The astrologers are saying it’s going to be the coldest winter in years. It won’t be a good time to travel. But if you don’t mind, I’m going to rent a place for myself in town. No offense, but the forest doesn’t exactly seem the greatest place to stay.”
“Leo, how come you haven’t been around since April and never intended to stay longer than one night in our house or any other, then suddenly show up six months later and intend to stick around for an entire winter?”
“Work. My job makes me move around a lot.”
“But surely you’ve been to towns better equipped than this one?” It was true-although Ameos was a decent town in most regards, it definitely not the finest town in the kingdom. In fact, it was not what most people would call fine, unless they were very, very poor.
“Well, yes, I have been to better towns, but I wanted to come home for the winter. It’s what I always do.”
“You mean you’ve been back more than the times you came to the cabin? And you didn’t tell me?”
“I didn’t think you had to know.”
“Why? Because I’m your sister? Because you’re the only family I have? Because you basically abandoned me and left me virtually no future because you have to have a guardian to go into apprenticeship?”
“No, nothing like that. It’s just that I didn’t want to see you and get super attached to you and then have to go off again.”
“That’s fair, except for one thing. How is it fair that you haven’t sent me a birthday present for seven years?”
Leo hesitated. He didn’t want to offend his sister by telling her that he had forgotten about her birthday in all the work he had been doing, but on the other hand, he had to admit that it was a pretty huge error to forget about it for seven years running and never once think about how she might feel if he forgot to send a present, even a card, even when it was late. To be quite honest, he had even forgotten when her birthday was.
“You know, you’re awful at hiding what you’re thinking,” Lea commented in a less-than-pleased voice, and giving a slight “humph” of displeasure, she moved on to another stall selling vegetables, and haggled some more, making her way around the square. Leo watched, amazed at how well she traded, haggled, and bargained until she found a decent price to pay.
When Lea had finished her trading, she led the two llamas out of town. It wasn’t a hard climb, but she had a lot to think about. Who exactly were these mysterious strangers that were around town? They at least gave Molly and Isaac a reason to be around town, but she was not sure what suspicious people would do in Ameos. She wasn’t entirely sure what was so interesting about Ameos that would lure even non-suspicious people to its gates. As far as Lea knew it was, in all probability, the most unexciting town in the entire empire.
But maybe, she thought, maybe it was that lack of interesting things that made it a perfect hideout for people of a suspicious nature. It seemed like a good idea, now that she thought about it. The townspeople of Ameos who weren’t farmers owned the shops or had small-town apprenticeships if parents couldn’t send their children abroad to study the big jobs, like Molly and Isaac were able to do. News traveled fast there, but people of a suspicious nature would not care if the rumor traveled faster than the speed of light in a town that small. They would only care if the news was speeding faster than light in a direction away from the town limits, which almost never happened in Ameos. Even though something as minor as how so-and-so’s horse accidentally kicked his master’s new girlfriend on their first date traveled around like fire to wood, everyone knew that the only way that the news would be important enough to get out of the town was if the horse had kicked the lamp and set the barn on fire, leading to an epic destruction of the entire wood-built village. Even then, the news would only go so far as Lea and the few other forest-dwellers who lived higher up the mountain, who would have to help accommodate everyone in their small huts. What happened in Ameos stayed in Ameos.
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.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Ungora/ Indigo # 9
I watched the decoy grow up over the years into a young woman who could fight better than anyone. She only had one friend her age- a nerdy scholar-mage named Swebo, who could tell you every spell protecting the castle and exactly how to undo it. He also has a bizarre talent for knowing the exact time everything happened-when you walked in the door, for example. He knows practically everything to know about the castle, and showed the decoy princess everything he could when they had time.
Even with her good-intending friend, the decoy, Cacyta, grew up disillusioned. First, obviously, she wasn't actually the princess. Second, Ungora taught her to only trust those who lived in the castle. All other creatures were evil or beneath her. it was in her best interest-he'd always had a soft spot for Cacyta, and he wanted to protect her, even though her upbringing wasn't totally honest.
This morning, however, Cacyta told Ungora that she'd met someone on her hunt. That made me think, but Ungora wasn't happy that Cacyta didn't have the guts to kill. Ungora said to me, after she'd left, "Cancala, you've been around too long. You know too much."
"I do know a lot," I said to him. "And that's why I'm the only one you can trust. And I also know for sure that Cacyta isn't the twin of the princess. Another thing I know is that the real princess is alive and well. And I also know that I'm quitting. You've hurt too many people, and I can't stand it." So I left and got here a few minutes before you did, Indigo. Tat necklace you're wearing means you're royal, and that, obviously, means that you're the princess.
Chapter 5- Indigo
"I'm...royal?" I stammered.
"Yes. You see, that necklace shows up on the true heir to the throne when the crown would be disputed in that person's lifetime."
"But what if I died?"
"Then Ungora would get it."
"But...why should I be the princess?"
"So people will get out of this mess. They're really desperate."
"But isn't Ungora, like, invincible?"
"No, actually, he isn't. Nobody is. Not even you."
"But why do I have to overthrow him? Why me?"
"There was a prophecy-one who has fallen will rise again, more powerful than before. Something like that. It's talking about your father-he was in power, and his power died with him, but he will rise through you, more powerful than him, because you're stronger than him, and people will like you more, probably, for getting them out of Ungora's reign."
"So, basically, I'm supposed to singlehandedly kill this guy, take power, and rule the country without the slightest idea how to do it?"
"Something like that. But you'll have help."
"Like what?"
"You can change your appearance, right?"
"Sort of, yeah. So?" I could change, but it was only minor things like changing my ears when I changed races and growing wings. I couldn't change my hair without something sharp and I couldn't change my height or weight or eye color or anything.
"So change into a human. Go into the city. See for yourself how bad it is. If you talk to people, they'll tell you how much they hate it. Then you can befriend some of them and they'll help you infiltrate the castle."
"That's too simple," Layla cut in. "If they're going to infiltrate, they're going to need someone who knows their way around the castle. Like you, Cancala."
"That's a point," Cancala said.
"But..." I began to protest. they looked at me, waiting for met to say something. I couldn't think of what to say, all of a sudden. "But...why...I'm...how am I supposed to go down to the city and blend in without it being completely obvious that I'm new."
"That should be relatively easy. Somehow," Cancala said easily.
"That's very encouraging," I told him sarcastically.
Even with her good-intending friend, the decoy, Cacyta, grew up disillusioned. First, obviously, she wasn't actually the princess. Second, Ungora taught her to only trust those who lived in the castle. All other creatures were evil or beneath her. it was in her best interest-he'd always had a soft spot for Cacyta, and he wanted to protect her, even though her upbringing wasn't totally honest.
This morning, however, Cacyta told Ungora that she'd met someone on her hunt. That made me think, but Ungora wasn't happy that Cacyta didn't have the guts to kill. Ungora said to me, after she'd left, "Cancala, you've been around too long. You know too much."
"I do know a lot," I said to him. "And that's why I'm the only one you can trust. And I also know for sure that Cacyta isn't the twin of the princess. Another thing I know is that the real princess is alive and well. And I also know that I'm quitting. You've hurt too many people, and I can't stand it." So I left and got here a few minutes before you did, Indigo. Tat necklace you're wearing means you're royal, and that, obviously, means that you're the princess.
Chapter 5- Indigo
"I'm...royal?" I stammered.
"Yes. You see, that necklace shows up on the true heir to the throne when the crown would be disputed in that person's lifetime."
"But what if I died?"
"Then Ungora would get it."
"But...why should I be the princess?"
"So people will get out of this mess. They're really desperate."
"But isn't Ungora, like, invincible?"
"No, actually, he isn't. Nobody is. Not even you."
"But why do I have to overthrow him? Why me?"
"There was a prophecy-one who has fallen will rise again, more powerful than before. Something like that. It's talking about your father-he was in power, and his power died with him, but he will rise through you, more powerful than him, because you're stronger than him, and people will like you more, probably, for getting them out of Ungora's reign."
"So, basically, I'm supposed to singlehandedly kill this guy, take power, and rule the country without the slightest idea how to do it?"
"Something like that. But you'll have help."
"Like what?"
"You can change your appearance, right?"
"Sort of, yeah. So?" I could change, but it was only minor things like changing my ears when I changed races and growing wings. I couldn't change my hair without something sharp and I couldn't change my height or weight or eye color or anything.
"So change into a human. Go into the city. See for yourself how bad it is. If you talk to people, they'll tell you how much they hate it. Then you can befriend some of them and they'll help you infiltrate the castle."
"That's too simple," Layla cut in. "If they're going to infiltrate, they're going to need someone who knows their way around the castle. Like you, Cancala."
"That's a point," Cancala said.
"But..." I began to protest. they looked at me, waiting for met to say something. I couldn't think of what to say, all of a sudden. "But...why...I'm...how am I supposed to go down to the city and blend in without it being completely obvious that I'm new."
"That should be relatively easy. Somehow," Cancala said easily.
"That's very encouraging," I told him sarcastically.
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