Me: I'm started writing this chapter early for two reasons. Firstly, it's
an important part in the story, and one of my favourite parts, so I don't
want to screw it up. Second, I want to make sure it was finished so it
would be up for Christmas Day.
Mokuba: It's our gift to all of you.
Me: Yup. So sit back, listen to that new CD you just got, break out the chocolate, sip on the left over coke, and enjoy chapter 9 of our tale.
Mokuba: Oh and just so you know, Joey's tunic slightly resembles his jacket from the Duellist's Kingdom.
Me: And I still don't own either Yu-Gi-Oh or 'A Knight's Tale'.
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Chapter 9 - Of the Dance, and Forgings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------
Joey was a little nervous as he walked into the grand hall of the castle. He wore the tunic Yugi had made for him. The sleeves widened at the end, which Bakura said was quite fashionable, he had left the front open, so the wooden toggles that had once held the tent door closed, dangled aimlessly. The back was a little long, so it flapped a bit as he walked, but Joey quite liked it. This was to be the ultimate test of his lie. If he could walk away from this, with all the nobles believing he was one of them, then it would make carrying on much easier. But if he failed, and he was found out, then it would all be over, and he and his friends would end up dead in a ditch. He was also incredibly nervous, because he could not count on any of his friends for help. He especially wished he had Bakura here. The herald could have easily given Joey the perfect set of words to say. Or the newest member of the group, Tea. She would be able to keep him on track if he began to make mistakes while dancing. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He was sure of it. To relieve the building stress, he decided to admire the beauty of the hall. Candles provided the light, and there were many tables laid out with food. He chuckled as he thought of how Tristain would react to seeing so much food.
"Sir Maxamillian."
Joey, who had grown used to responding to this name, turned around and came face to face with Mai Valentine. He could feel his face turning bright red.
In her armoury, Tea pounded away at the metal before her. Joey's armour was not his own, and as a result, did not fit him well and lowered his chances of success. It was also old, and likely to break again. Sweat ran down her face from the heat of the furnace, and of the exertion of pounding the metal. Again and again the hammer rose and fell. Beating different shapes into the metal before her. She had begun work about twenty minutes before Joey had left, and hoped to be finished before morning.
Joey and Mai took a seat by one of the tables. Normally Joey would have begun plucking away at the food, and filling his stomach, but now he was far too nervous. He was closer to Mai than ever before. God, he could even smell her perfume. And her eyes, he had never seen such eyes before. The way they shone was incredible. Her gown was made of much finer material than his tunic (which had been the door to his tent) and flowed around her beautifully. Her golden hair was adorned with red feathers and a rose.
"Congratulations on winning the sword tournament." Mai chose a simple topic to open up conversation.
"Uh, thanks." Joey replied. "Hey Mai. Why did you grant me your favour? Seto Kaiba was doing better than me in the tournament, why didn't you pick him?"
Mai giggled.
"Seto Kaiba is a strong knight. But he's also a total creep." Mai proclaimed in a rather bored tone of voice.
Joey smiled at Mai's blunt statement, the smile proved infectious as Mai also began to smile, and the smiles grew into laughter.
Yugi sat stirring the stew in the pot. It was all right for Joey, off in a castle filled with fine foods and wine, but they still had to make do with what they had lying around. Yugi didn't mind though. He quite liked stew. And with Tristain asleep, he was bound to get a fairly large helping. Bakura was lying on a log that served as a bench, and was composing new openings for Joey in the next tournament. Both looked up when they heard footsteps approaching.
"Good evening."
Isis, Mai's lady-in-waiting stepped round the corner. Bakura sprang to his feet, and bowed with a flourish.
"And good evening to you my lady." He kissed her hand. "And what brings you to our humble camp?"
"What a beautiful night." Mai sighed, as she gazed through the open door at the star lit sky."
"Not as beautiful as you." Joey smiled.
Mai returned the smile, although it was somewhat sly.
"Is that so? And how is that?"
"You remind me of, the bible."
Mai was somewhat confused, and her face now bore a puzzled expression.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." She grinned, trying to hide her confusion.
Joey took a fairly deep breath, and then turned to the sky.
"In the bible, God stopped the sun, so as to give Joshua more time to defeat the Amorites." He turned back to Mai and smiled. "And if I could ask God one favour, it would be to stop the moon," he looked back outside "making this night," his gaze centred once more on Mai "and your beauty, last forever." Mai smiled, blushing slightly.
Bakura began to help himself to his fourth bowl of soup. Isis was still eating her second, and Yugi his first.
"Anyway." Isis continued. "It gets incredibly dull and lonely during the banquets, so I came down here, hoping you wouldn't mind me hanging around for awhile."
Bakura smiled, kissing Isis' hand once more.
"My dear. To have a lady of your beauty and charm in our midst is no burden, rather a pleasure."
Isis chuckled and blushed.
"You are either being very charming, or the heat from the soup has gotten to your brain."
Yugi smiled. He thought of saying 'What brain?' but held his tongue. It was now that Tea slumped back into camp. Very sweaty, and very tired. She dumped her leather apron on the ground, and sat next on the log Yugi was using as a bench.
"So. . . tired . . ." She mumbled, and lay her head down on Yugi's lap and went to sleep.
Yugi turned as red as possible, causing Bakura and Isis cover their mouths, in an effort to stop laughing, lest they wake Tea.
Yugi shot them a glance, and began to absent-mindedly stroke Tea's dirty brown hair, holding her steady with the other hand.
"Now what dance would you like?" The conductor asked the guests, who were very eager to get on the dance floor. "A carranto? Or a bassadancer perhaps?" He preformed the opening footwork for each dance as he spoke the names.
The crowd muttered excitedly amongst themselves, trying to reach a decision. Count Seto Kaiba, who had no intention of dancing, stood up. He was clad in long black robes, but still wore his dark purple cloak. Purple was an incredibly expensive dye, and by wearing it, he could show off his wealth. He was suspicious of this Maxamillian, and also sought a chance to humiliate him, even more so than he had done in their joust.
"What about you, Sir Maxamillian." He called. "Show us a dance from your country. Show us a dance from Domino." A dark grin grew on his face.
"Yes. . . Domino" The conductor uttered.
The crowd seemed to be warming to the idea, and Joey was caught in a burst of panic. He had only learnt how to dance that afternoon, and he knew no dances from Domino. . .he had made that place up when he met Bakura! Then it hit him. If Domino wasn't real, he could simply make something up. Tea had shown him how. But he wasn't Tea. He uttered a silent prayer, hoping he could pull this off.
"Well. Ummm. . ." He stuttered.
'Good. . .He's panicking." Seto thought to himself.
"It's a lot like the farrandor, but with some differences."
The conductor nodded, and then let Joey take centre-stage on the floor, so he could show everyone how the dance went.
Bakura filled up was filling up yet another bowl of soup. Isis chuckled, she herself completely full.
"How can you eat so much?" She chuckled.
"Well. It may not be up to scratch with what they have up there." Bakura nodded in the castle. "But Yugi is an excellent cook, and many servings show appreciation of the cook."
Isis giggled a bit more.
"Even if he's asleep?" She looked over at the sleeping squire.
One arm was now wrapped around Tea, and the other resting on her head, while he himself was slumped over and making small purring noises as he slept. Tea was clinging onto Yugi's arms in turn. A subconscious command to her sleeping form.
"Don't they look sweet?" Isis cooed.
Bakura smiled his sly smile.
"Yeah. Pity they aren't like that awake."
Bakura laughed and Isis shoved him mockingly, accidentally pushing him off the log. It was now her turn to laugh.
"Oh very funny." Bakura smirked, as he mourned the loss of his soup.
Joey stood ready to dance; he was a little nervous, and very happy. He couldn't believe he had managed to scrape together a dance. Admittedly he had had help from Mai in this. His mind had been locking up, and she had managed to provide the final piece for his sequence. And now he was getting to dance with her. This was turning out to be a very good night. The soft, slow music began, and the partners began to move around each other, their arms swaying around their bodies. His eyes never left hers, and vice versa. The dance went on, and the couples separated. Boys to one side, girls to another. As Joey turned and headed back towards Mai, he noted from the corner of his eye, that Seto was starting to look rather ill. As he and Mai danced around one another once more, their smiles growing with the speed of the music, he saw Seto leaving, looking incredibly ill. In truth, seeing the success he had brought for the knight he loathed had shaken him terribly, so much so that his hate was harming him physically. He even had to lean on the door on his way out, so as to stop himself from falling over. When the dance ended, Joey and Mai took a seat by one of the tables. Quite tired out.
"It's getting late. I better go to my room and get some sleep." Mai sighed.
Joey too thought he had best get back. He would be on the road soon.
"I had a great time, Sir Maxamillian." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and then walked off to the stairs.
"Good-bye." Isis waved as she left, a smile still adorning her face.
"Farewell dear lady. Until you next grace us with your presence." Bakura bowed, returning the smile.
Isis giggled and waved once more, then walked off back to the castle. Bakura poured water over the fire and began to clean the soup pot. It was just past 1 in the morning by his guess. If he finished quickly, he would still have time for sleep.
Meanwhile Joey practically floated back to the camp.
"She likes me.she really, really likes me." He grinned as he rounded the corner.
"What ho' sire." Bakura whispered.
He then noted the dopey grin on Joey's face, and could only assume things had gone well for him. Joey helped to clear up and then laid blankets over the sleeping Tea and Yugi, and he and Bakura clambered into the tent and lay down along with the snoring Joey.
"Well. . .How'd it go?" Bakura whispered.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells." Joey replied, his grin still present.
"Ah! But you're not really a gentleman. So go on. Tell me all."
Joey simply winked and began to fall asleep. Bakura sniffed the air and lay back down.
"Great. . .Now I'll be up all night wondering about what happened."
In her room, Mai was preparing for bed. It was then that Isis returned to the room.
"There you are Isis. Come on. Give me a hand in getting out of this thing."
Isis was only too happy to help in getting the corset off of her lady, and then passed over her nightgown to cover her naked form.
"Where did you go off to anyway Isis? I didn't see you at the banquet." Mai asked as she removed the rose and feathers from her hair.
"I was with Sir Maxamillian's squire and herald. They were kind enough to let me stay and share their food."
Mai smiled slyly.
"And were you spying on them, or simply trying to chat up his young herald hmm?"
Isis blushed.
"I was doing no such thing my lady."
Mai giggled, letting her long hair fall about her.
"I know Isis. I know." She then gave off a slight wink. Simply to annoy her lady-in-waiting, and friend.
"I swear I was not. And what of you and Sir Maxamillian? I hear that you made the most adorable couple at the dance."
It was Mai's turn to blush, and she threw a cushion at her friend.
All was quiet as all did sleep. Mai and Isis in their beds in the castle, each wrapped in warm duvets. Joey, Bakura and Tristain, lying on an old sheet in the doorless tent, with nothing to warm them, save the memories of the night. And Yugi and Tea, asleep on a log outside. Wrapped in small blankets, sharing in each other's warmth as they let their dreams drift across the night.
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Me: Awwwwwww.
Mokuba: Yuck.
Me: I think that's my best chapter yet.
Mokuba: I don't. All the sentimental stuff.
Me: Trust a kid.
Mokuba: Hey. Do you think you're getting Isis' personality right?
Me: I don't know. I've only seen 5 seconds of footage of her. I'm still in the middle of the duellists' kingdom tournament.
Mokuba: God save us. . .
Me: Don't be so sour. It's Christmas.
Mokuba: Yeah. I know.
Mokuba & Me: Merry Christmas to all. And to all a goodnight.
Mokuba: Merry Christmas.
Me: And a Happy New year.
Mokuba: And a happy Hanukkah.
Me: And all the other greetings which I either do not know of, or how to spell.
Mokuba: It's our gift to all of you.
Me: Yup. So sit back, listen to that new CD you just got, break out the chocolate, sip on the left over coke, and enjoy chapter 9 of our tale.
Mokuba: Oh and just so you know, Joey's tunic slightly resembles his jacket from the Duellist's Kingdom.
Me: And I still don't own either Yu-Gi-Oh or 'A Knight's Tale'.
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Chapter 9 - Of the Dance, and Forgings.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------
Joey was a little nervous as he walked into the grand hall of the castle. He wore the tunic Yugi had made for him. The sleeves widened at the end, which Bakura said was quite fashionable, he had left the front open, so the wooden toggles that had once held the tent door closed, dangled aimlessly. The back was a little long, so it flapped a bit as he walked, but Joey quite liked it. This was to be the ultimate test of his lie. If he could walk away from this, with all the nobles believing he was one of them, then it would make carrying on much easier. But if he failed, and he was found out, then it would all be over, and he and his friends would end up dead in a ditch. He was also incredibly nervous, because he could not count on any of his friends for help. He especially wished he had Bakura here. The herald could have easily given Joey the perfect set of words to say. Or the newest member of the group, Tea. She would be able to keep him on track if he began to make mistakes while dancing. He took a deep breath. He could do this. He was sure of it. To relieve the building stress, he decided to admire the beauty of the hall. Candles provided the light, and there were many tables laid out with food. He chuckled as he thought of how Tristain would react to seeing so much food.
"Sir Maxamillian."
Joey, who had grown used to responding to this name, turned around and came face to face with Mai Valentine. He could feel his face turning bright red.
In her armoury, Tea pounded away at the metal before her. Joey's armour was not his own, and as a result, did not fit him well and lowered his chances of success. It was also old, and likely to break again. Sweat ran down her face from the heat of the furnace, and of the exertion of pounding the metal. Again and again the hammer rose and fell. Beating different shapes into the metal before her. She had begun work about twenty minutes before Joey had left, and hoped to be finished before morning.
Joey and Mai took a seat by one of the tables. Normally Joey would have begun plucking away at the food, and filling his stomach, but now he was far too nervous. He was closer to Mai than ever before. God, he could even smell her perfume. And her eyes, he had never seen such eyes before. The way they shone was incredible. Her gown was made of much finer material than his tunic (which had been the door to his tent) and flowed around her beautifully. Her golden hair was adorned with red feathers and a rose.
"Congratulations on winning the sword tournament." Mai chose a simple topic to open up conversation.
"Uh, thanks." Joey replied. "Hey Mai. Why did you grant me your favour? Seto Kaiba was doing better than me in the tournament, why didn't you pick him?"
Mai giggled.
"Seto Kaiba is a strong knight. But he's also a total creep." Mai proclaimed in a rather bored tone of voice.
Joey smiled at Mai's blunt statement, the smile proved infectious as Mai also began to smile, and the smiles grew into laughter.
Yugi sat stirring the stew in the pot. It was all right for Joey, off in a castle filled with fine foods and wine, but they still had to make do with what they had lying around. Yugi didn't mind though. He quite liked stew. And with Tristain asleep, he was bound to get a fairly large helping. Bakura was lying on a log that served as a bench, and was composing new openings for Joey in the next tournament. Both looked up when they heard footsteps approaching.
"Good evening."
Isis, Mai's lady-in-waiting stepped round the corner. Bakura sprang to his feet, and bowed with a flourish.
"And good evening to you my lady." He kissed her hand. "And what brings you to our humble camp?"
"What a beautiful night." Mai sighed, as she gazed through the open door at the star lit sky."
"Not as beautiful as you." Joey smiled.
Mai returned the smile, although it was somewhat sly.
"Is that so? And how is that?"
"You remind me of, the bible."
Mai was somewhat confused, and her face now bore a puzzled expression.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand." She grinned, trying to hide her confusion.
Joey took a fairly deep breath, and then turned to the sky.
"In the bible, God stopped the sun, so as to give Joshua more time to defeat the Amorites." He turned back to Mai and smiled. "And if I could ask God one favour, it would be to stop the moon," he looked back outside "making this night," his gaze centred once more on Mai "and your beauty, last forever." Mai smiled, blushing slightly.
Bakura began to help himself to his fourth bowl of soup. Isis was still eating her second, and Yugi his first.
"Anyway." Isis continued. "It gets incredibly dull and lonely during the banquets, so I came down here, hoping you wouldn't mind me hanging around for awhile."
Bakura smiled, kissing Isis' hand once more.
"My dear. To have a lady of your beauty and charm in our midst is no burden, rather a pleasure."
Isis chuckled and blushed.
"You are either being very charming, or the heat from the soup has gotten to your brain."
Yugi smiled. He thought of saying 'What brain?' but held his tongue. It was now that Tea slumped back into camp. Very sweaty, and very tired. She dumped her leather apron on the ground, and sat next on the log Yugi was using as a bench.
"So. . . tired . . ." She mumbled, and lay her head down on Yugi's lap and went to sleep.
Yugi turned as red as possible, causing Bakura and Isis cover their mouths, in an effort to stop laughing, lest they wake Tea.
Yugi shot them a glance, and began to absent-mindedly stroke Tea's dirty brown hair, holding her steady with the other hand.
"Now what dance would you like?" The conductor asked the guests, who were very eager to get on the dance floor. "A carranto? Or a bassadancer perhaps?" He preformed the opening footwork for each dance as he spoke the names.
The crowd muttered excitedly amongst themselves, trying to reach a decision. Count Seto Kaiba, who had no intention of dancing, stood up. He was clad in long black robes, but still wore his dark purple cloak. Purple was an incredibly expensive dye, and by wearing it, he could show off his wealth. He was suspicious of this Maxamillian, and also sought a chance to humiliate him, even more so than he had done in their joust.
"What about you, Sir Maxamillian." He called. "Show us a dance from your country. Show us a dance from Domino." A dark grin grew on his face.
"Yes. . . Domino" The conductor uttered.
The crowd seemed to be warming to the idea, and Joey was caught in a burst of panic. He had only learnt how to dance that afternoon, and he knew no dances from Domino. . .he had made that place up when he met Bakura! Then it hit him. If Domino wasn't real, he could simply make something up. Tea had shown him how. But he wasn't Tea. He uttered a silent prayer, hoping he could pull this off.
"Well. Ummm. . ." He stuttered.
'Good. . .He's panicking." Seto thought to himself.
"It's a lot like the farrandor, but with some differences."
The conductor nodded, and then let Joey take centre-stage on the floor, so he could show everyone how the dance went.
Bakura filled up was filling up yet another bowl of soup. Isis chuckled, she herself completely full.
"How can you eat so much?" She chuckled.
"Well. It may not be up to scratch with what they have up there." Bakura nodded in the castle. "But Yugi is an excellent cook, and many servings show appreciation of the cook."
Isis giggled a bit more.
"Even if he's asleep?" She looked over at the sleeping squire.
One arm was now wrapped around Tea, and the other resting on her head, while he himself was slumped over and making small purring noises as he slept. Tea was clinging onto Yugi's arms in turn. A subconscious command to her sleeping form.
"Don't they look sweet?" Isis cooed.
Bakura smiled his sly smile.
"Yeah. Pity they aren't like that awake."
Bakura laughed and Isis shoved him mockingly, accidentally pushing him off the log. It was now her turn to laugh.
"Oh very funny." Bakura smirked, as he mourned the loss of his soup.
Joey stood ready to dance; he was a little nervous, and very happy. He couldn't believe he had managed to scrape together a dance. Admittedly he had had help from Mai in this. His mind had been locking up, and she had managed to provide the final piece for his sequence. And now he was getting to dance with her. This was turning out to be a very good night. The soft, slow music began, and the partners began to move around each other, their arms swaying around their bodies. His eyes never left hers, and vice versa. The dance went on, and the couples separated. Boys to one side, girls to another. As Joey turned and headed back towards Mai, he noted from the corner of his eye, that Seto was starting to look rather ill. As he and Mai danced around one another once more, their smiles growing with the speed of the music, he saw Seto leaving, looking incredibly ill. In truth, seeing the success he had brought for the knight he loathed had shaken him terribly, so much so that his hate was harming him physically. He even had to lean on the door on his way out, so as to stop himself from falling over. When the dance ended, Joey and Mai took a seat by one of the tables. Quite tired out.
"It's getting late. I better go to my room and get some sleep." Mai sighed.
Joey too thought he had best get back. He would be on the road soon.
"I had a great time, Sir Maxamillian." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and then walked off to the stairs.
"Good-bye." Isis waved as she left, a smile still adorning her face.
"Farewell dear lady. Until you next grace us with your presence." Bakura bowed, returning the smile.
Isis giggled and waved once more, then walked off back to the castle. Bakura poured water over the fire and began to clean the soup pot. It was just past 1 in the morning by his guess. If he finished quickly, he would still have time for sleep.
Meanwhile Joey practically floated back to the camp.
"She likes me.she really, really likes me." He grinned as he rounded the corner.
"What ho' sire." Bakura whispered.
He then noted the dopey grin on Joey's face, and could only assume things had gone well for him. Joey helped to clear up and then laid blankets over the sleeping Tea and Yugi, and he and Bakura clambered into the tent and lay down along with the snoring Joey.
"Well. . .How'd it go?" Bakura whispered.
"A gentleman never kisses and tells." Joey replied, his grin still present.
"Ah! But you're not really a gentleman. So go on. Tell me all."
Joey simply winked and began to fall asleep. Bakura sniffed the air and lay back down.
"Great. . .Now I'll be up all night wondering about what happened."
In her room, Mai was preparing for bed. It was then that Isis returned to the room.
"There you are Isis. Come on. Give me a hand in getting out of this thing."
Isis was only too happy to help in getting the corset off of her lady, and then passed over her nightgown to cover her naked form.
"Where did you go off to anyway Isis? I didn't see you at the banquet." Mai asked as she removed the rose and feathers from her hair.
"I was with Sir Maxamillian's squire and herald. They were kind enough to let me stay and share their food."
Mai smiled slyly.
"And were you spying on them, or simply trying to chat up his young herald hmm?"
Isis blushed.
"I was doing no such thing my lady."
Mai giggled, letting her long hair fall about her.
"I know Isis. I know." She then gave off a slight wink. Simply to annoy her lady-in-waiting, and friend.
"I swear I was not. And what of you and Sir Maxamillian? I hear that you made the most adorable couple at the dance."
It was Mai's turn to blush, and she threw a cushion at her friend.
All was quiet as all did sleep. Mai and Isis in their beds in the castle, each wrapped in warm duvets. Joey, Bakura and Tristain, lying on an old sheet in the doorless tent, with nothing to warm them, save the memories of the night. And Yugi and Tea, asleep on a log outside. Wrapped in small blankets, sharing in each other's warmth as they let their dreams drift across the night.
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Me: Awwwwwww.
Mokuba: Yuck.
Me: I think that's my best chapter yet.
Mokuba: I don't. All the sentimental stuff.
Me: Trust a kid.
Mokuba: Hey. Do you think you're getting Isis' personality right?
Me: I don't know. I've only seen 5 seconds of footage of her. I'm still in the middle of the duellists' kingdom tournament.
Mokuba: God save us. . .
Me: Don't be so sour. It's Christmas.
Mokuba: Yeah. I know.
Mokuba & Me: Merry Christmas to all. And to all a goodnight.
Mokuba: Merry Christmas.
Me: And a Happy New year.
Mokuba: And a happy Hanukkah.
Me: And all the other greetings which I either do not know of, or how to spell.
