Hi everyone! Fourth up! This one's longer, too... It's based on my own D&D character and party. I hope you like it!

I don't own D&D, and thank you to my friends for letting me use your characters.

Vicor'ya struck at the orb again and heard a satisfying crack as it started to give, then the more delicate crashes of shattering glass as Badger's axe bit into the fissure, cleaving it in two and causing it to fall to the stone floor. The sky blue glow faded. The skeletons sunk down (unanimated, Vicor'ya thought, and she hoped it stayed that way!). All that was left were the midnight shards of the orb, a breathless party, and a new orb materialized where the last one used to be; it was smaller than the other and with a purple shine to the blue color, like a large pearl or marble.

Vicor'ya stood still, catching her breath and letting the nervous butterflies flit through her system. For Vicor'ya, the nervousness and panic attacks came after the stressful event, which allowed her to think and act calmly and reasonably under pressure, but required "cool down" time afterwards. A good tradeoff, she supposed. Her friend Badger, being a barbarian, had no such nervousness to deal with ("Ooh! Glowy thing! Skeletons! Must smash!") and so was moving before Vicor'ya could even realize it.

When Vicor'ya noticed her, she was poking the whole orb with interest. "Hey guys? Do you think this hurts if you touch it?"

Quick as a flash, Ace (the cat-boy of the group) was at her side. He looked worried for a moment. Considering what they had just fought, Vicor'ya thought worry was justified.

"I don't think so, shorty," he said, regaining his composure and smirking. He squatted down, wrapped his arm around her waist (she was a halfling, and being 2'6', was not hard to pick up) and carried her back to the main group.

Suddenly, the tension eased. Renee and Swro started chatting about the pros and cons of their wizardry schools (Vicor'ya was so glad she could understand elvish), Fred was healing Renee, who had gained quite a few cuts and bruises, Badger was flailing about and yelling at Ace to put her down, who was smirking and generally disregarding her. Vicor'ya picked up the orb and gingerly dropped it in her pack. "Come on," she said. "Let's get out of here."

"Bar! Bar! Bar! Bar!" Badger, Ace and Swro chanted.

Vicor'ya groaned. The party had decided to take a slight detour to Grunkar (the town in which their current employer was located) through the nearby town Runesil. The plan, Vicor'ya had thought, was to sell unnecessary loot and stock up on anything they ended up needing. Turned out, all half the party wanted was to drink elven alcohol and bed elven people. Vicor'ya's sanity would have fared better if they had skipped this town.

"No! We're not here for fun! We make a few stops in the market and we leave," she said firmly.

"Who made you leader? We're finally in a city with my people, so we should do what I say here," Swro said. He grinned wickedly and brought out a set of pipes. Vicor'ya paled. "And I always have this." Swro looked and acted like a typical elf- ethereal beauty, yes, pleasing voice, yes, but a dangerous, haughty mind. Vicor'ya had a feeling he would as much want to destroy a friend as help them, if it suited his purposes. Yet somehow, she still admired him. What could she say? He was an elf.

"Now hold it right there, Swro!" Renee interjected. Everyone turned to look at her- Renee and Fred were very quiet in general and didn't speak up much. "I'm an elf too," she continued, "and I agree with Vicor'ya. The sooner we finish this job, the better. If we finish this job, we get a blimp. If we get a blimp, we can fly back here and you can have your stupid pleasures. So…" Vicor'ya smiled. She was glad someone heard the voice of reason.

A delicate, breathy tune filled the air. No! Vicor'ya thought. He's not supposed to play that in public… Fighting the terror that threatened to engulf her like an icy sea, she slaaped the pipes out of Swro's slender hands. "Cut it out and help me with the shopping."

"He shouldn't have used the pipes of haunting, granted, but it is useful in shutting you up," Ace said. "Don't be bossy, Vicor'ya." And with that, he turned tail (literally!) and left. Swro followed, and Badger gave Vicor'ya a sympathetic glance (barbarian she was, but she was a girl, too) but followed as well.

Vicor'ya was fuming. Swro was Swro, and Badger was Badger, but Ace was normally more responsible than this… it was because he was a cat. His cat side refused to back down and conflicted with his human sensibilities. Given some time, his animal would fade back down, right? Vicor'ya hoped it was so, but that didn't stop her from wanting to stab everyone in sight. A few sturges would be reeeeally nice right about now.

"Um… I know we were here for a purpose and everything, but can-"

"We'll take care of it," Fred grunted. Vicor'ya smiled. Never one to mince words, Fred. Or expressions, for that matter.

"Thanks. I'll meet you back at camp," Vicor'ya said, grateful for the reprieve. She started to retrace her steps back to the small camp that lay beyond it.

When the small half-elf was almost at the gates, however, she heard a voice (amongst all the other voices of the city). She knew that voice. She'd expected never to hear that voice again.

"Vicor'ya? Is that you?"

And she thought her day couldn't get any worse.

There was silence as Vicor'ya walked through the Ilnisue estate. Silence was normally her natural element, but here it was simply unnerving, as the thief wasn't planning on stealing anything here. The silver and gold gilded walls and the stone-faced elves in the triple-life-size portraits told her she wasn't welcome here, even if the master of the house had allowed her entrance. Anywhere else, she would probably have flipped off the portraits. Here, she didn't feel she could do that. The feeling was new, and rather unwanted.

Vicor'ya glanced at Lord Rendowik Ilnisue, who was leading her through the manor. It was funny- Vicor'ya always thought all elves were slim. It was a well known fact that elves had a much higher metabolism than humans, and dwarves much lower, and Vicor'ya had never before met an overweight elf, so Vicor'ya assumed they were all stick skinny. Lord Rendowik was definitely… larger than average. How much over-eating and inactivity went into that?

What kind of life did her father lead now?

Vicor'ya was lead into a large sitting room. This room was furnished in dark, earthy tones. The walls were elm, light, but the floor was paneled mahogany, providing a nice contrast. There were two couches, one of dark forest green and the other of deep sapphire; each had two comfy looking plush chairs of the same color. All were spotless and made from some doubtless expensive material Vicor'ya couldn't place- she knew nature all right, but not the furnishings of elven aristocracy. They were placed in the center of the room. Up against the wall was a long desk with six high-backed chairs all of purpleheart. Scones hung on the walls and cast a soft light almost everywhere, with shadows flung where the light could not reach.

Vicor'ya strode across the sitting room to sit on one of the wood chairs. She didn't intend to stay and get comfortable. Rendowik pulled up a chair next to her. A long silence reigned.

Lord Rendowik broke the silence, clearing his throat. "I never expected to see you in my city, Vicor'ya." His voice held no affection, no disdain, simply the strained politeness of a noble who had to make a statement.

Vicor'ya felt a suge of displeasure. Where was her father, the man who played hide-and-go-seek with her in the forest, who taught her his home language, who laughed and cried and hated and loved? Where was he?

"I didn't expect to either, after you up and left us. I didn't even know you lived here," she spat, venom lacing her normally docile voice.

"I very well couldn't have stayed there, you know; I came to my senses, realized it simply isn't done. I thought you would understand that." He still sounded rather uninterested.

"I do, now. I see where you're coming from, but you left us alone and unsupported. I had to drop out of school." Remember when my schooling was a life-or-death matter to you?

"I'm sorry about that. I would have taken you with me, you are, after all, my child, but I simply couldn't have evidence of my…erm…"human error," if you will. Speaking of which, how is she? How is your mother doing?"

Vicor'ya felt a lump rise in her throat. Human error! My mother, and me, nothing but a mishap! "She's dead, thank you very much. She has been for fourteen years!" Vicor'ya got out of her seat- she was too riled to sit anymore. "And it's your fault! You left and then you took Mama away!"

Something in the half-elf, something still capable of positive thought, was glad to register a flicker of concern flash across Rendowik's face. Glad to see he wasn't emotionless. "I'm sorry to hear that; what happened? I'd like to know- after all, I loved her."

"Loved her? Don't give me that crap!" Vicor'ya ranted, pacing the length of the desk. "But yeah, you should know! You happened!"

More concern flashed across her father's face, and she sat down, cooling down now that the anger was out. When she spoke again, her voice was broken, cracked. "She was only human, Father. She couldn't understand why you left, and she had neither the mind nor the body to handle the grief. She got sick, couldn't find the strength to even get out of bed. I had to drop out, learning to take of us, thieving just to get by. Five years she stayed sick and miserable, before she died. Over and over again, 'Come back! Why are you leaving me?' Couldn't you see how fragile she was?"

Rendowick shook his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't. One thing about your mother I always admired- she had such a lively air about her, able to bounce back from anything. I thought it would take her a week to get over me. And, Vicor'ya… no matter what you believe, I loved your mother dearly." He stood up. "Will you be needing a place to sleep? I have guestrooms, if you would like."

Stay here? With you? No way. "No thank you, father. I have friends waiting for me outside town. I'll show myself out." With that, Vicor'ya got to her feet, playing with her gray hair. All Ilnisues had the same silver hair and eyes you could see the forest leaves in- those were traits uniquely Ilnisue and uniquely elven. Vicor'ya, who was only half elven, got half the trait- grey hair without the silver shine, green eyes without the forest glow. So completely human.

"Alright, Vicor'ya. Have a good day." And so she left the room, making her way back towards the entrance.

Turning a corner, she bumped into a child. "Oh, I'm sorry," she said automatically.

He was an Ilnisue, for certain, probably around twenty or so. Vicor'ya didn't remember having any uncles. It looks like I've become a sister. Currently, he was picking up the couple books he had dropped. When he came up and saw Vicor'ya, his eyes widened and he dropped them again.

"You must be Vicor'ya!" he said excitedly.

"Yeah, how do you know me?"

"Father told me about you, told me I had a sister who wasn't really my sister at all, and not an Ilnisue. But I don't really understand that, we have the same father and neither of our mothers have the surname Ilnisue, so we're both the same to me. I mean, who cares if you're not fully elf? Does race really matter, all that much? Either way, I really wanted to meet you. What do you do without a father?" Vicor'ya paused- here was an elf, one of what she had considered the most superior race, telling her it didn't matter. What with her father leaving her over racial issues, and being half of one race, half another, Vicor'ya had gotten to thinking that racial integrity was actually very important. But was it, really? Maybe it was simply her father. Maybe he was just a jerk.

Vicor'ya smiled. His optimistic enthusiasm was wonderful, and his grins were absolutely contagious. "I'm a rogue- I go where it suits me, I suppose. Right now I'm adventuring with a group of friends."

The boy's eyes widened further. "An adventurer! That's so cool! I wanted to be an adventurer, too, but Father and Mother want me to be an accountant, or an advisor, or something of the sort. They say I will never be anything in the world without knowledge and make me carry around my studies all the time. I don't think I'll ever be an adventurer if I can't get out of the library."

Vicor'ya thought, for a moment, that Ilnisues must have rebellious streaks- Rendowik eloped with a human, she became a thief, and now her brother wanted to get away, too. "Maybe you could become a wizard. They spend a lot of time in the library; don't forget your studies by any means, but while you're in there, see if you could learn a few spells. Later, maybe, you can adventure with us!... Swro and Renee- a couple of the people I'm with- are magic-users too, so maybe when we come here next time, maybe they could help you! Hey, you know my name… what's yours?"

"I'm Aonrae." Glancing down, he realized his books had fallen again, and bent to pick them up. "I also have to go, but will you call again?" Vicor'ya smiled. Most definitely she would.

"As soon as I can- we're rather busy right now, but perhaps we'll visit later. Alright?"

"Alright!" Aonrae said happily, and he hurried down the hall. Vicor'ya then left herself.

"Where were you, Vicor'ya? I was freaking out over here!" exclaimed Badger when Vicor'ya got back to camp.

"Turns out relatives live here," Vicor'ya replied. "And why are you guys already here? I thought for sure you'd be out terrorizing the town. It's only been, what, two or three hours."

"Well we went to the good bar, but none of the snotty people would talk to us, except Swro so he's not here yet, so the rest of us went to the other bar, but the ale was bad even for me, so we got beer from the good bar and decided to trash ourselves out here. It costs more, but if you want they have wooden jugs you can leave with," Badger said. Vicor'ya did notice that her voice was a bit slurred, but she was nowhere as drunk as Vicor'ya expected her to be.

"I'm surprised; you haven't passed out," Vicor'ya told her.

"I would be, trust me," assured Badger, "but Ace stole my beer. He went up a tree and Fred wouldn't let me cut it down. Then he got really drunk and fell out and the little bit that was left spilled."

"Where is he now?" asked Vicor'ya.

"At the bottom of the tree," said Badger.

Well, that's useful. It wasn't hard to spot Ace, though. He was lying down in the grass, waving an empty wooden mug in the air. He caught sight of Vicor'ya and grinned.

"Vicor'ya," he sang, drawing out each vowel. "It's really niiish ooover heeere." He was amazingly slurred. Vicor'ya sighed. She walked over and surveyed the "damage." Ace's black eyes, staring at her, were glazed over and his cheeks were slightly purple, the alcohol blush showing through his blue fur. "Vicor'ya," he sang again, "the pretty peeeople wouldn't talk to meee, Vicor'ya."

"It's a good thing too," Vicor'ya muttered under her breath. "Who knows what would have happened if you had stayed there."

Ace, with his sensitive ears, heard her. "You're beiiing meeean." Vicor'ya sighed. She loved Ace, really, but when he was drunk, he could make a real fool of himself.

"So you stole Badger's beer?"

"Yesh, I yoinked it." Yoink? Vicor'ya decided not to press it. It was because her was a cat… but her brother's words came floating back to her. Does race really matter, all that much? So maybe, it wasn't him being a cat? Her father and Swro had already proved that being an elf doesn't mean perfection, so that thought was already gone. So maybe, it was just that Ace was like that? His odd, responsible-sometimes personality? "I yoinked iiit, and now I'm druuunk."

"Well, good to see that you know it, at least," Badger said. "Not that you're sorry or anything." She headed towards the tent she, Vicor'ya, and Renee shared. "The sun's going down, Vicor'ya, we should head to bed." Badger cackled evilly. "Kitty's gonna have such a hangover in the morning."

Vicor'ya followed Badger into the leather tent. Tomorrow, the sun would come up, she knew. It wouldn't be dark anymore.

No more illusion.