Discworld: Tour De Heart
Summary: It's the Color of Magic where Twoflower is a girl and Rincewind and she eventually fall in love. Why? Because I'm addicted to gender bending and I like the RincewindxTwoflower pairing.
Disclaimer: Discworld belongs to Terry Pratchett. All I did was gender bend.
Notes: I haven't read all the discworld books yet, so I might make a few mistakes here and there. And I know, title sucks. I apologize.
New Note: I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors; I got a new computer without a world program, so I'm using wordpad that has none of those features.
Rocky Rooster- Thanks! It's mostly the fact that I already got most the chapters written. I understand perfectly about a hectic life, trust me. Thanks though!
Chapter 9: Ninereeds
"Hrun?" There was a snore from the other bunk. Twoflower padded over to the corner, peering gingerly at the stones, wondering if there was a secret panel.
'What was…'
At that moment the door was flung back thumping against the wall. Half a dozen guards hurtled through it, spread out and flung themselves down on one knee. Their weapons were aimed exclusively at Hrun. Hrun snored. A woman strode into the room. She glanced briefly at Twoflower, as one might look at a piece of furniture, and then glared down at the man on the bed. When she thought about this later, Twoflower felt quite offended by this.
At the moment however, she became distracted when the woman drew a slim black dagger from her belt and stabbed downward. Twoflower cried out, but before it could carry out its intent, Hrun's right hand rose and closed around the woman's wrist with a dull smack. His other hand groped feverishly for a sword that wasn't there. Hrun awoke.
"Gngh?" he said, looking up at the woman with a puzzled frown. Then he caught sight of the bowmen. "Let go," said the woman, in a voice that was calm and quiet and edged with diamonds. Hrun released his grip slowly. She stepped back, massaging her wrist and looking at Hrun in much the same way that a cat watches a mouse hole. Twoflower watched them with interest and a slight bit of worry.
The two exchanged a long array of words and during those words Twoflower learned that woman's name was Liessa and she was the dragon lord of this place, or at least one of them. Listening further, Twoflower learned she wanted Hrun to take some sort of test.
Twoflower, although she was aware it was rude, tried to interrupt.
"Excuse me," They ignored her so she tried again. "Um, look…" Liessa spared her a brief glance, and appeared actually to notice her for the first time.
"Your fair maiden?" she asked Hrun in a mocking tone.
"No, she belongs to the wizard." He replied. Twoflower blinked.
"Pardon?" Liessa smirked.
"Take that away," she said calmly, and turned back to Hrun. Two of the guards shouldered their bows, grasped Twoflower by the elbows and lifted her off the ground prompting a surprise "Oh!" Then they carried her out of the cell and down the corridor.
"Hey," said Twoflower, as a question that had been bothering her since they were brought there bust out. "Where is my Luggage?"
They never answered her and instead pushed her into a dark cell where she landed in a heap of what might once have been straw. The door banged shut, and Twoflower heard the bolts lock into place.
"Well! That was rude!" she muttered. She sat up on her straw and stared into the darkness. She wasn't worried. After all, she was sure this was all some sort of misunderstanding. Besides, she was almost sure that Hrun was sorting things out. The best he could. And if nothing else, she was Rincewind was on his way to sort things. He was good at that.
She wondered how long she had been there. Hours, at least. Days, probably. Perhaps it had been years, and she had simply forgotten. No, that sort of thinking wouldn't do. She was being very pessimistic now and thinking like that never did anyone any good. (Except perhaps Rincewind.)
But still, it was quite lonely here and she didn't even have her luggage to keep her company. She tried to think of something else to occupy her mind and one thought filled it; dragons. Dragons...
There was a sudden sound of scrabbling in the darkness. Twoflower felt a cold shiver spine as the realization that she wasn't alone went down her.
Yet looking around it appeared that way, even with the intense darkness that surrounded her. She let out a surprised breath as she felt the air move. Twoflower lifted her arm and in the air she noted that it felt like the area around the campsite. There was a greasy feel and a faint shower of sparks.
'Oh, I wish there was a light, or something.' She thought. She then fell to the floor as a stream of flame flew past her head and struck the far wall. Twoflower whipped her head up and as she saw her reflection in a pair of large jade eyes, her own eyes widen. Before her was a dragon as multi-hued, horned, spiked and nimble as the one she had always imagined a real dragon. Its folded wings were nevertheless still wide enough to scrape the wall on both sides of the room. It lay with her between its talons. Twoflower didn't know what to say. Suddenly a voice entered her mind;
"I obey, my lady." Twoflower blinked in utter surprise.
"O-obey?" she said, her tiny voice vibrating with surprise and delight. It would have been fear if Twoflower's very small sense of survival and commonsense weren't crushed by her over weighing excitement.
"Of course, lord."The glow faded away. Slowly, Twoflower pointed a trembling finger at where he remembered the door to be and said,
"O-open it? Please?" The dragon raised its huge head and blew a soft flame. When it reached the door the metal exploded into a shower of hot droplets. Twoflower stared in wide eyed amazement then pushed herself up. Cautiously, she stepped over the cooling threshold and looked up and down the corridor. When she saw it was empty, she began to slowly walk down it. The dragon followed.
Twoflower's mind was spinning like fire wheel at the New Year. A dragon! A real live dragon! Right here, with her?
"How did you get in there?" she finally managed to ask.
"You summoned me, mistress."
"Really? I don't remember doing that."
"In your mind. You called me up in your mind." thought the dragon, patiently.
"You mean I just thought of you and there you were?"
"Yes."
"How? Was it magic? Did I somehow do magic?"
"Yes." A soft wow escaped her. She couldn't wait to tell Rincewind! Then she frowned.
"But how?" she said slowly. "I've thought about dragons all my life. And no one's ever shown up before. Also, I-I'm not a wizard, or a witch, or anything like that. So how…?"
"In this place the frontier between thought and reality is probably a little confused. All I know is that once I was not, and then you thought of me, and then I was. Therefore, of course, I am yours to command."
"Oh my."
Just then half a dozen guards chose that moment to turn the bend in the corridor. They stopped, their jaws dropping like draw bridges. After a moment one tried to raise his crossbow, but the dragon's chest heaved and let out a light, but dangerous flame. The guards wisely decided to flee.
Twoflower looked up in admiration
"Can you fly too?" she said, so excited her voice became a whisper.
"Of course."
Twoflower grinned widely. She glanced up and down the corridor. She decided to go in the opposite direction of the guards. For one, she didn't know whether or not the whole misunderstanding had been settled yet and besides, they were probably still terrified of her new dragon friend.
Even though she didn't know which way to go, she optimistically thought that since she was already lost, any direction would be an improvement. They padded down a series of passages that crisscrossed like a maze.
At one point Twoflower thought she heard shouts along the way behind them, but they faded as quickly as they came. The way usually shifted between light and dark because of strange mirrors that were hung, which was not only odd, but head aching.
What Twoflower thought was really odd however that the tunnels were suddenly becoming much wider better was constructed, too. Set in the walls were statues in niches, and here and there were faded, but interesting tapestries had been hung.
They mainly showed dragons; dragons in flight, hanging from their perch rings, men on their backs hunting down deer and, sometimes other men.
Twoflower touched one tapestry gingerly. She let out a surprised squeal as the fabric crumbled, leaving only a dangling mesh where some threads had been plated with fine gold wire.
"I wonder why they left all this?" she said to herself out loud.
"I don't know."said a polite voice in her head. Twoflower turned and looked up into the scaly face above her. It was still hard for her excited mind to process all of this.
She wished Rincewind was here; he would be able to explain things. He was very good at that. She wondered where he was. At the very least, she wished her luggage was there; she would love to take pictures of this place.
"What is your name, dragon?" she asked the dragon after a bit. She then winced inwardly. It probably very rude of her to call the creature by her race. The dragon didn't seem to mind.
"I don't know." It said politely. Twoflower thought for a moment. Since she "created" it maybe she could name it.
"I think I shall call you Ninereeds." She said as they turned a corner. The way the dragon always spoke reminded her very much of her late husband.
"That is my name, then." Whether it liked the name or not, Twoflower couldn't tell.
They wandered through the dust, trying not to suffocate in it. Finally, she saw the path leading away into yet another dark tunnel mouth. From the looks of it, someone had been using it regularly, and recently as well. With the dragon close behind, Twoflower followed it. Ninereeds seemed relieved as its lofty halls and winding corridors were big enough for a dragon.
The hall finally came to an end when they reached a pair of green bronze doors, each so high that they disappeared into the gloom. In front of Twoflower, at breast height, was a small handle shaped like a brass dragon. With a curious hand, she touched it and the doors swung open with a disconcerting noiselessness.
Instantly sparks crackled in Twoflower's braided hair and there was a sudden gust of hot dry wind that didn't disturb the dust in the way that ordinary wind should. Instead, whipped it up momentarily into unpleasantly half-living shapes before it settled again.
In Twoflower's ears came the strange shrill twittering of the Things locked in the distant dungeon Dimensions, out beyond the fragile lattice of time and space. Shadows appeared where there was nothing to cause them. The air buzzed like a hive. It reminded her greatly of the Bel-Shamharoth's temple. There must have been a vast discharge of magic going on around them.
Before her was a chamber was lit by a pale green glow. In the center of the room was a stone chair on a raised dais. In the dim light, Twoflower could see a slumped figure in in, watching her. It did not move, but in a brittle old voice spoke.
"Come in, young maiden."
~*End of Chapter*~
Behold! Twoflower, the summoner of dragons! Hey, if Twoflower and Rincewind have kids, do you think their son will be walking around downtown randomly summoning dragons just because he doesn't know he can't? XD
