Hello and welcome! XD Hehe, sorry, but as a true yognaught, that is and forever will be my favourite introduction. Anyway, this chapter is exactly...2 days later than I planned, but my writing is quite delayed because of a lovely new puppy we've just gotten XD And I'm sick...so yeah...

Sadly, Dordtchild, my inspiration, has given up her amazing Fall of Xephos comic for college and her family. Ah well, we'd probably all do the same in her position...And I swear no matter what, I won't drop this!

Chapter 1: Tea at Jasper's

Anora half-stumbled as someone pushed past her. She reached out a hand for support, only to grab another passer-by. "Sorry," she muttered, releasing the annoyed civilian. Saturday morning in the New Mistral market place was madness. As usual.

It took a while, but she managed to get to the quieter side streets. Panting, she made sure her rapier was hanging properly at her side, and that her coin pouch was still in her pocket. It wasn't. She sighed. Despite the New Mistral Watch's best efforts, the city was filled with petty thieves and pickpockets. Just travelling though the market place often resulted in a loss of valuables. It generally didn't happen to a warrior of the Watch though; but then again, most people hardly believed Anora could be in the Watch. It was one of the many "perks" of being one of only two women in it. Subsequently, she was targeted by any one of the low-lives of Mistral, as if she were an ordinary citizen.

The fact of the matter was that there were far too people who knew how to wield a sword these days, yet alone ones who met the strict requirements of the Watch. Most of the warriors of old had been wiped out in the Sand Wars or had joined the Templars. It was a hard time. 'It'd be nice if those blessed heroes would show up once in a while to lend a hand...'

Straightening her cloak, Anora snapped out of thought. She had business to attend to. She took out a slip of paper and peered at it. She finally made out Skylord_Jasper's house's address written on it. 'Ok, Anora awaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!' She grinned, and hurried down the street.

-OFFICIALLYSANDERFANGIRLPAGEB REAK-

Anora rapped on the door again. It had been five minutes of standing outside Skylord_Jasper's house and her patience was wearing thin.

"Skylord_Jasper! This is the Watch! Please open the door, sir!" she yelled. She thought she heard footsteps from somewhere inside, and muffled cursing. Finally, the door swung open. A bald man, presumably Jasper, stood in the doorway, dressed in a baggy skylord uniform. But looking at him was all Anora could do before she burst into a violent fit of coughing. The sickly sweet smell wafting from Jasper's house was beyond withstanding.

It was a good minute before the smell cleared enough for her to stop her fits. Jasper's eyes raked her up and down critically.

"You're a member of the Watch?" he asked scathingly.

"Yes sir! I'm semi-vice captain Anora Oman." She saluted, and immediately felt ridiculous. 'You're acting like some baby girl scout; stop it.'

"Well, what are you here for?" was Jasper's grumpy response. She thought for a second he sounded a little nervous.

"Well, I'm here to ask whether you'd like to...uh...make a donation to the Watch."

"Why would I help that blasted Watch, when it refuses to help me?"

"'Scuse me?"

Jasper actually looked something other than grumpy. Anora noticed the bags under his eyes, and his dishevled appearance. And he had a kind of nervous energy.

"Lysander. He was meant to meet me at the Skyhold three days ago, but he never arrived," Jasper murmured.

"I'm sure he just forgot about it, or maybe he had other business to attend to..." Anora said reassuringly. 'For Notch's sake, Anora, don't stick your nose in where it doesn't belong!' She didn't have the time to go on a wild goose chase around Minecraftia for a missing Skylord.

"That's what that guy, semi-vice captain Pralius, said. But I know Lysander! He wouldn't be late; he wouldn't..." Jasper's voice almost broke, and his eyes looked moist. Fury rose up in Anora, at both herself and the Watch. Yes, the Watch didn't have great resources or many members, but it wasn't an excuse to ignore Jasper's worries. 'We're supposed to be there to help people, damn it!' Anora frowned. She wasn't going to be like Pralius, ignoring everything except looking good. And it would be easy to go investigate. All she needed was an excuse to get away from New Mistral for a few days. If Lysander actually was in trouble, saving him might even get her a promotion to Whole Vice Captain. 'Oh, I could spend days rubbing it in Pralius's face...'

"May I come in?" she asked brightly.

"Oh, um, why?" he answered, his suspicion obvious.

"Well, I need to know everything about this vanishing if I intend to investigate it!" Anora gave her best and most trustworthy smile she had. Jasper managed a weak grin back at her, and let her in. The room she entered would have been cosy at some other time. At that moment, however, it was just a mess. There were a number of beer glasses and other rubbish scattered about, and the sweet smell from before was still hanging around.

"Jasper, you do know that possession of opiates is a crime, right?" she asked.

He rounded on her, anger in his eyes. In a second, he'd grabbed the front of her shirt and pulled her close, so that she was just inches away from him.

"YOU THINK I GIVE A RAT'S ARSE WHAT'S LEGAL?!" he yelled. Anora stayed completely still, breathing short and fast. Gradually, his grip slackened, until he let go of her all together.

"Sorry," he muttered.

"Forget it," Anora quickly excused. 'Okay, don't provoke him, you moron.' She cleared her throat. "Can you tell me what exactly happened? Why were you meeting Lysander?" She paused. "Please, sir."

Jasper slowly settled in a grubby pink armchair. Anora followed suit, although she made sure to pick a more normally-coloured seat.

"We were going to meet to discuss the new recruits' progress," Jasper began. "You know, the Skylord trainees? Lysander always tried harder than me at getting them fully trained and ready to take the test." Jasper sniffed. "Some of the trainees were about ready for the test actually, and that was what we were going to discuss."

"But he never came..." Anora finished quietly. Jasper nodded. "Do you have any idea where he was before he disappeared?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but I think he was had to take his plane out to some meeting in Icaria before he was going to join me at the Skyhold. But I don't know whether he arrived or whether he crashed or-" Jasper was forced to halt as he blinked away his tears.

"Look, even if his plane had a bit of trouble, he's definitely fine,' Anora reasoned. "Sure, maybe stuck out in the middle of nowhere, but-"

There was a muffled bang from upstairs and she froze. "What was that?" she asked in a whisper.

"Oh nothing. I'm sure it was just a window or slamming or something..." Jasper replied hastily.

"What? It could be a robber for all you know!" Anora scolded softly.

"It's fine, don't worr-" Jasper began, but stopped mid-sentence as Anora leapt to her feet.

In a flash, her diamond rapier was drawn, and she rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time. She was going to catch those thieves, or be damned if she didn't. 'Jasper doesn't deserve th- Woah, what the hell?'

Anora stopped dead in her tracks at the sight of room she'd ran into. It was just so...pink. She couldn't get over it. Jasper came up the stairs behind her, and she was glad to see he was blushing slightly. 'No wonder he didn't want me to come up here...'

"Come on Lewis, over the side!" Quick!" someone yelled.

It broke her out of her daze, and she pivoted to look all around the room. There was a door in the corner, opening on to a balcony, and a ginger-haired dwarf was balanced precariously on the balcony railing, clearly ready to jump into water below. There were footsteps behind her, and she turned once again to face the sound. Just in time, too.

A brown-haired man in a red coat came pelting down another flight of stairs, but stopped when he saw Anora. And she caught a glimpse of the golden apple in his hand. Undoubtedly stolen from Jasper.

Her vision blurred, and her mind was cast back to years ago. Anger built up in her. She glared at the man, and when she spoke, her voice was tight. "I really do despise your kind. It'd be wonderful if you'd just all...die." She stepped forward and raised her rapier, until the tip of the blade was touching the brown-haired man's chest. His blue eyes widened, but there was more surprise than anything other emotion in them. Not even fear.

"Uh, Lewis, do you think she knows who we are?" the dwarf called from behind her.

"No, Simon. I'm pretty sure she doesn't."

Arashi: YAAAAAAAAAAY! They finally made an appearance!

Lysander: Well, surely you knew that already...I mean, you are the author after all.

Arashi: Haha, yeah, I did, I totally did...

Lysander: Excellent...You didn't, did you?

Arashi: Nope ^_^

Anora: Wait, who are they? Why do I feel like I'm the butt of some strange joke?

Vitali: Because you are *menacing smile*

Arashi: Ah, right, I actually like how Anora turned out. She's quite self-centered and violent...

Anora: Hey! Watch it! *brandishes rapier*

Lysander: Uh, well, please remember to review!

Arashi: And don't forget to say who you want to die! Otherwise I just might end up killing off your favourite character...*smirk*

Lysander: Oh Notch no...