Just so we all know, I'm trying to get the timeline right. Kel has been at the headquarters for about a year, so she's 12? Let's just go with that.
Sorry about the late update, things were hectic yesterday! I watched all three lord of the rings for the first time. Can you say amazing?!?!?!
***
And one other thing Kel's friends are all about the same age as her. Rena is about a year older, so she's 13 right now.
"My real name is Renalia. I'm not really from Tortall, but the Yamani Islands," Rena muttered. "My parents were Tortallian, but banned because of a crime they were blamed for. They were innocent, just at the wrong place and the wrong time. Anyway, I was sent to a relative to learn common as to not have that much of an accent. Later I was shipped back to the Islands. But that's not what you want to know, is it? I should tell you why I'm here. About a year ago I was having some trouble sleeping."
***
Renalia woke up and shifted, trying to get comfortable. Wiping the sweat from her forehead, she kicked her blankets off. She laid there for another hour before just giving up. She pulled on a brown dress over her white shift and slipped on a pair of soft brown slippers.
"Mama! Need any help?" she asked her mother, running down the stairs to the bottom level of her house to the shop her parents ran.
"Yes, of course. Start baking bread and sweep the floors, please." Her plump mother smiled, giving her a morning hug. Renalia got to work, kneading the dough. She hummed as she worked, but abruptly stopped and wiped her face of all emotion when their first customer of the day walked in.
"Good morning. What would you like to eat today?" her mother asked, unemotional and in the Yamani language.
"Hello. Bread, please, as well as some of you wonderful hot tea," he requested, eyes crinkling, the equivalent to a smile. She nodded, and went back to the kitchen.
"It's beautiful here, but I can't stand the unemotional thing," she told her daughter, smiling again.
"I know, mama. Do you think I could have a break?" Renalia asked hopefully.
"Sword? Sure, just be back soon." Rena hugged her mother and ran back up the stairs to her room. She took off her dress, and put on a pair of breeches and laced her shirt before slipping a pair of leather boots and laced them up to before buckling her sword around her waist. Next she wrapped a scarf around her head to hide her long brown hair and climbed out the window.
***
"Once at the market, when I was 9, I saw a boy in an alley, with a sword. He was doing a pattern dance, which I knew nothing of at the time, but I was enthralled. I couldn't look away. Although his face was expressionless, I could see his passion in his movements. That night I took my father's sword he kept in his room, and snuck out of the house to find the boy. He was in the same alley, asleep under a rag that could have once been a blanket. He looked to be about 12, and I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. But I couldn't help it. I asked him to teach me to fight with a sword, and at first he said no. But eventually I convinced him. I went to him everyday, and he taught me all he knew."
***
Renalia jogged through the city, dressed as a boy. She finally got to the alley she visited every day, and looked for her best friend.
"Dane? Hello? Where are you?" She walked around the narrow space and drew her sword when she couldn't find him. Sensing something, she twirled around and pointed her sword out, ready for whatever she had to face.
"Hey, Rena. How's the bread baking?" Dane asked, sword pointed towards her.
"Fine. Ready to get your butt kicked?" she wondered. Dane sheathed his sword, and ran past her into the streets. Rena followed his example and chased him, hiding a smile behind her carefully constructed mask at his nickname for her.
"She kept up her chase until they arrived at an empty field. She sighed in relief at finally being able to drop her mask and tackled him. He laughed, also letting go of hold on his emotions. He kissed her cheek, and she giggled. Rena helped him up and they both drew their swords for the second time. The two faced off, and they fought.
"You're like a little pixie," Dane noticed as Rena spun around him, just out of reach of his weapon. She grunted and tried to stab his arm, just barely missing. He stopped laughing and concentrated. They kept at it until she locked swords with him. She smiled grimly, knowing she had him.
Rena grabbed his arm with her free hand and twisted his wrist, forcing him to drop the sword. Not even blinking, he jumped on her. She let go of her sword and kicked him, using all he had taught her to get free. She ended up straddling him, and she brought up her fist to punch him. He caught it in his hand, and he pushed her off of him. She picked up her sword and was about to begin another attack when he gestured for her to be quiet.
"Do you hear that?" he whispered, cocking his head. She listened hard, and noticed what he meant. There was a distant screaming, and it sounded like it was coming from town. He looked at her, eyes wide, and grabbed her hand. She placed her sword in its sheath and ran with her friend, rewrapping the scarf around her hair as they went.
***
"When we finally got there, it was horrible. The whole town was being attacked by Spidren. We hadn't had much trouble with immortals in that area, so no one knew what to do. Dane didn't have a family, so we went straight to my home. When we got there it had already been ransacked by the immortals. My father was dead, I found him with in front of our house. It looked like he was trying to keep the creatures from entering the house.
"I ran upstairs, and my mother was barely breathing. A spidren was in the room with her, and it had just bit her leg off. It was wrapping silk around the stump, to stop the bleeding, I guess."
***
Rena screamed in defiance, and ran into the room. She rammed her sword straight through its spider-like body, and twisted, wanting it to feel pain. Dane came up behind her and chopped off its head, ending its life.
"You're not this person. You know you're not. Go to your mother," he commanded. Numb, she did as she was told. The girl kneeled at her mother's side, stroking her hair and holding her hand.
"Mama? Can you hear me?" she asked the dying woman. She opened her eyes and struggled to move, but Rena held her down. "No, rest. We can get through this," she assured her quietly, knowing she lied.
"Where's your father?" Her mother asked, voice strained.
"He's okay. He went to join the gods," Rena whispered, trying not to cry.
"I'm going to be with him soon. But Renalia, my little girl, promise me you'll run."
"Mama, you're not going anywhere!" she almost shouted, looking around for Dane. She finally saw him, guarding the door.
"Promise me...you'll travel...to Tortall...and go to the SHQ in the Black Forest. Join the spies of Tortall. They'll help you there, and you're so skilled." She praised her daughter one last time. "Promise me! Then I can leave in peace, knowing you're safe."
"I...I promise, mama," Rena said quietly, hugging her mother for the last time. She stopped breathing and all the tension left her body. Rena swallowed back tears and forced her sadness to turn to anger. She picked up her sword and walked to the door, where Dane tried to comfort her.
"No. We have to go to Tortall and join the Spies of Tortall. My mama told me to. Come with me," she said unemotionally.
***
"I finally convinced Dane to come with me to Tortall, and we hid in a boat on its way to Tortall. We lived in the forest for two weeks, surviving off of things we found in the forest, but we practiced with out swords each day. Eventually Lord Furner found us, and told us he had been watching us.
"We joined the Spies, and now here I am," Rena finished simply. Kel stayed silent for a moment longer, Yamani mask up.
"So where's Dane?" she wondered.
"He's been on a mission for the past few months. You never saw him because he's been undercover. I didn't want to talk about him."
"Wow," was all Kel could answer. She frowned, and hugged her friend. "Compared to you, I've had it easy," she sighed.
"Not really. That's all behind me now," she assured Kel. They both spun, having heard something behind them. Rena drew her sword and Kel her glaive and the two stood in their favored stances, ready to take on whoever was there.
Their attacker had suddenly pulled their bow from their back and had an arrow ready to shoot before they could blink.
"Uh, do you two wanna take a breath? I mean, trying to attack me doesn't make me very happy," Casi admitted.
***
I'll put in the other partner's stories throughout, here and there.
Any questions or comments, please let me know!
Oh, and I didn't proofread again...sorry! Tell me if I have any big mistakes, but I'm working on talking my friend into being my beta
This is the last thing, I promise! I know Kel isn't really Kel, you know? But seeing as I'm not really Tamora Pierce, I can't get her exact. However, in this next chapter she's going to be alone again, kinda, so I'll be able to, well, try and get her more Kel-ish...If that was confusing, I'm sorry!