I have now decided that I am Tayledras! You may now refer to me (in addition to Neverfall) as Nightstorm k'Vala. I have two bondbirds. Here they are-Shamara, a golden eagle (she's big…and doesn't go on my arm or shoulder, ever) and Bavol, a peregrine falcon. Shamara means ready for battle and Bavol means wind/air. I love them! I now have protection! And back-up for my disclaimers.
I have no clue why I am suddenly Tayledras. It might have something to do with the fact that I'm currently reading the Winds trilogy (I'm done with book two! Go me!)
To everyone, I apologize for the change in rating, but it couldn't be avoided. Well, it could, but I don't want to rewrite this chapter, and this chapter is basically what caused the change.
And to Sasha's review on Chapter Two, Cari and Cira's names are so similar because their mother didn't have that much imagination and Cari's father like the name Cari.
Disclaimer: If I owned, then I would be Misty. If I was Misty, I wouldn't be posting on Yuki's friend's names mostly mean something. Ashlin means 'son of the pool surrounded by ash trees.' I love that name! Eh…lessee, here…Elita (mostly known as Eli ) means 'chosen one', Kalei means 'one who works for the king', and Laili (nicknamed Lai) means 'born at night.' I don't remember if Falas means anything or not…I think I made it up. And Alize means charm.
--
The next morning dawned bright and clear. Or rather, I assume it did. As I slept through it, I couldn't really say. When I did wake up, the sky was clear and the air was pleasantly cool. It was still early, at least.
Falas was still asleep, and no one else was in the grove. I started to walk through the forest, hoping that there would be no one else awake to bother me while I ate.
-Yuki!- Falas interrupted. Evidently, she hadn't been too deeply asleep. –May I join you?-
-All right,- I agreed with a mental sigh. Again, I didn't really mind her company.
When we finally broke free of the trees, it appeared that my wish for solitude was not to be granted. Several other Companions were already gathered together in a tight group near the fence. I sent a mental groan to Falas.
-Why do other people have to be up at this hour?- I complained.
Falas's mental sending was tinged with laughter. –Yuki, it's our friends. Shall we say hello?-
-Oh. Why not? The least we can do is grace them with our sparkling presence.-
-You mean my sparkling presence,- she countered. –Yours is definitely less than sparkling.-
-Oh, is that so?-
Bickering amiably, we headed towards the group, who turned as we approached.
-Ashlin, Eli,- I greeted them. –Kalei, Lai. Good to see you all.-
-Yuki, where were you yesterday?- demanded Lai. –We couldn't find you at all.-
-Lai, obviously we couldn't find her,- said Ashlin. –If we'd been able to find her, we wouldn't be asking where she was. But, Yuki, we are curious.- He looked at me expectantly.
I shifted my weight uncomfortably from foot to foot. –Did you try asking the Groveborn?-
-Yes, we did, but he only said that he wasn't stupid enough to try to keep track of you,- replied Eli.
-So, where were you? And what were you doing? None of us could reach you,- Kalei said, finally breaking into the conversation.
I glanced at Falas, but she shook her head slightly, letting me know that she wasn't going to help me with this in the slightest. Great.
I took a deep breath-not that it was really necessary, seeing as we don't need breath to talk-and let it out slowly. And another one. And another.
-Yuki, will you just tell us where you were already?- Lai snapped. She's the youngest, and hasn't felt her call yet. Neither has Ashlin or Eli. Kalei is the oldest, and she had a look in her eyes that gave me a very uneasy feeling that she had the wrong idea-literally. My feelings were confirmed when she finally spoke again.
-Yuki, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to,- she began. I felt a flush of embarrassment-if I was human, I would have been blushing. Falas was having hysterics.
-What are you talking about, Kalei?- Eli demanded. After a moment, in which she was presumably having a private conference with Kalei, I felt embarrassment radiating from her in waves. –Oh. Uh, Yuki if you don't want to tell us, you really don't have to.
By now I think that everyone except for Lai had the wrong idea stuck in firmly in his or her horsy heads. They were backing slowly away from me-well, except for Falas, who knew what had happened. She was going to be laughing for candlemarks, now.
-Nononono,- I said in a rush, -You all have completely the wrong idea-really-it's not what you think!-
-Then would you please spit it out?- Eli cried-squeaked, rather. They all appeared to be in shock from their misguided ideas. Kalei has a dirty mind.
-Uh…well…- I really didn't want to say it. I'd been talking for years about how happy I was to not have a Chosen, that they were really gonna make fun of me. –Itwasmycall.-
-What? Yuki, please say it again, but slower. Much slower.- Ashlin, always the voice of reason.
-Fine. It…was…my…Call. That slow enough for you?-
From the slack-jawed looks I was getting, it was. There was complete mental silence.
-Your…your Call?- squeaked Eli. At this, Falas apparently had to lie down and roll around, as her giggles were getting worse by the minute. She was having trouble breathing.
-Yes, my Call!- I snapped. –I am a Companion, after all!-
-Well, yes, but no one ever expected you to Choose!- This was from Lai, ever blunt.
I glowered. –Well, now you all know. And I'd really like to eat breakfast alone. So goodbye.- With this, I marched away, leaving them all staring at me. Even Falas had stopped her giggles.
At least I was able to eat my breakfast in peace. When I was done, I decided that I'd put off talking to Cari long enough.
-Chosen?- I murmured quietly. –Where are you?-
-Yuki?-
I rolled my eyes. –No, it's some other Companion that's decided to call you Chosen. Yes, it's lovable old me, all right. So, where are you?-
-Umm…I'm not sure. Another Trainee, Kabili, is showing me around. Hang on, I'll ask her.-
There was a moment of blankness before she tuned back in. –Kabili says that we're taking the tour, so we're going to the library right now.-
-Can I eavesdrop? I'm bored.-
-Sure.-
So instead of returning to my surroundings and withdrawing from her mind, I stayed, listening and watching as Kabili showed my Chosen where everything was in relation to her room.
Finally, they came to the end of the tour, which was Companion's Field. I trotted over to the rail and waited for them to approach.
Kabili was a tall, pale girl of about sixteen. I didn't know who her Companion was, but I saw a tall, slender mare approach them as they neared.
Cari reached the fence and immediately started looking around for me. I whickered softly and trotted over, a surprising flicker of happiness rising inside of me upon seeing her face light up. Without meaning to, I thrust my head over the rail and into her chest, nudging her impatiently.
-Now scratch me,- I demanded. She obliged, a grin on her face, and my eyes closed in bliss. I sent contentment towards her.
-Aaaahhh…- I didn't even realize that I'd projected the thought until I saw the other Companion glance at me in amusement.
-There's nothing like it, is there?- she projected with a tinge of amusement.
-Nope. Who are you?- Blunt, as ever. Lai and I contribute to each other's personalities.
-I'm Gali. 'Li likes Cari. 'S that her full name?-
-Huh?-
-Cari. Is it short for something?-
-Dunno…Hang on…- I switched from sending only Companion-to-Companion to sending to Chosen. –Cari?-
"Yes?" she said aloud.
-Is your name short for something?-
"Nooo…why?"
-No reason. Thanks.-
I informed Gali of this momentous revelation. –No.-
At this moment, Cari happened to glance up from me and noticed something that made her frown and stop scratching me. This caught my attention, as nothing should be that important.
-What?-
"Yuki, why are a bunch of Companions headed towards us right now?"
-Huh?-
I turned to look, and-of course-the group of Companions consisted entirely of my friends.
Cue much annoyance.
Before I could try to convince Cari that we should really go for a ride right now, they arrived. My friends surrounded me in a half-circle, effectively trapping me against the fence.
I flicked my tail in annoyance. Cari gave me a confused look.
"Yuki, who are they?"
I sighed. –These, Chosen, are my friends. I suppose that I must introduce them. This scrap heap you see here is Elita, less formally known as Eli.- Cue much bobbing of horsy head from Eli. –Next to her we have Lai, then Ashlin, Falas, and finally Kalei. I'm sure that this was all her idea.-
"Ah." Cari examined each of my friends by turn, her gaze emotionless. "Well, pleased to meet you all. I'm Cari Aflamina, Yuki's Chosen."
-I like her,- Ashlin said, unexpectedly.
-Same here,- agreed Falas. Kalei nodded.
-She seems sensible enough,- Eli muttered. Lai didn't say anything. After a while, the silence was annoying. As in, really annoying.
-Well?- I snapped at Lai. –Aren't you going to say anything?-
-I agree with the others,- she finally muttered sullenly. That was apparently all that she was going to grace me with, as after spitting it out-well, as much as you can 'spit' anything out in mindspeech-she walked away. It was really more of a stalk, giving me the impression that she was mad.
I looked at the others. –What's up with her?-
It was Ashlin who supplied the answer. –She's been getting these really weird headaches and dreams, lately. They're making her snappish at everyone, even me.- The 'even me' would be because Ashlin's Lai's older brother.
Kalei and Falas both stared at him in surprise.
-That sounds like it's her call!- exclaimed Kalei. Falas bobbed her head in agreement.
-I didn't get anything like that with my call,- I argued. –It was just suddenly…well, there.-
-Most Calls grow slowly,- explained Falas. –I had headaches and odd dreams for about a week and a half before going off to find Alize.-
-Huh. Can you two sort her out? I'm gonna talk to Cari some more.-
-'Kay.-
-Have fun, Yuki,- sent Ashlin quietly. –And don't try to kill too many Trainees.-
I ignored him regally and turned back to my Chosen-just in time to see another Trainee come up to the fence on the other side of Kabili and Gali. While pondering the best method to torture him, it occurred to me that he probably didn't know who Cari's Companion was. Therefore, the best way to attack-er, I mean tease-him would be to lie in wait.
Nooo, I'm not evil at all…really…
Anyways.
"Heyla!" he called out cheerfully to Kabili. "How's Gali?"
"Fine," was the reply. "And Fleta?"
"Fine. Who's this?" It appeared that he hadn't noticed me yet. Good…all the better for my evil plots…
"I'm Cari." The sound of my Chosen's voice jolted me out of my thoughts. How annoying. Hopefully this wouldn't happen every time I heard her speak…
"Heyla, Cari. If you're new-which you obviously are-'Li here's probably told you a few of the rules. Knowing her, she probably forgot the non-official ones." By now, Cari was looking baffled and Kabili was looking annoyed. Yet amused at the same time. Bizarre.
"And these would be…?"
"Number one-don't bother Companion Yuki. Number two-do not approach Companion Yuki. Number three-if you can help it, don't even exist near Companion Yuki. And above all, do not get in her way when she's going somewhere." I hadn't realized that I ranked a set of rules with the trainees…interesting. "Who're you bonded to, anyways?"
The abrupt change in subject didn't seem to faze Cari…or at least, it didn't seem to faze her that much. In fact, she had a slight smile on her face. Her answer carried a faint tone of amusement to it.
"Companion Yuki."
This surprised the boy so much, he nearly fell off the fence. To save him the indignity of being caught half-off the rail, I decided to reveal myself. Which, of course, caused him to fall completely off the rail. Onto the Companion's Field side of the rail, in fact.
To my utter surprise, he didn't try to scramble to his feet and run away. Instead, he looked at me quite calmly. When he spoke, however, it wasn't pleas of mercy directed towards me, which was rather disappointing. Instead, he spoke to Kabili.
"'Li?"
"Yes?"
"I'm going to die, aren't I?"
"Most probably."
"Care to try and save me?"
"No, not really."
"Think Fleta could get here in time?"
"Not even Fleta is fast enough to get here in time. She's not stupid enough to get in between Yuki and Yuki's victim, either."
"Not even when it's her own Chosen?"
"Nope."
"Are you sure?"
"Positive."
Because I found this exchange most amusing, it occurred to me that it would work in my interest to keep the human alive for further entertainment. Being the (occasionally) merciful talking white horse, I backed up a step or two to let the human know that I wasn't going to kill him.
Yet.
--
Sorry for lack of updates-school started, so I've been really busy. And I discovered some new manga-Fruits Basket and Godchild! Godchild is fairly disturbing, actually…quite a lot of the characters have pretty messed-up lives. Fruits Basket is just funny, though I've just read book four and I was rather upset in the middle. I'm also reading Megatokyo (it's a webcomic) in collections. I've just finished volume one.
Enough obsessing over manga! (And webcomics.) As always, reviews are appreciated, and if you spot any mistakes, don't hesitate to point them out. (And a sincere thanks to Sunfairy for kindly pointing out my mistake over the saddle. That will be fixed shortly.) Until next time!
