The Magicians' Realm Chapter 41: Guineas and Runs, a yu-gi-oh fanfic

Chapter 41, everyone! In which those who follow me on DeviantArt may be encountering familiar faces….In other news, I've been tapped for jury duty. :( Now for the fun part of evading it….

The movie this week is Ferris Bueller's Day Off—I will tell you why Charlie Deetz had his nervous breakdown and moved to Winter River in Beetlejuice: Ferris Bueller. :D

and yes, our guineas come when we call like that—or at least, they make a lot of noise.

Angiembabe, thanks for the review! From the sounds of it, our gummie worms are very similar to your jelly snakes. Yes, it was nice of Mrs. C—and yes, nothing subtle about Kineil at all. :) Very true—and yes, here's hoping. :)

Fromtheashtrees, thanks for the review! Yes indeed….I find that interesting, considering the Outback Steakhouses have a Crocodile-Dundee-guy advertise blooming onions….True—that would be an interesting letter….True, very true—we'd never be able to use the Internet again. :-\ Ah! I had read something along those lines ages ago, but I wasn't certain. Huh—and sorry about that. ^^; My Mom used to line-dance to it, so that's how I knew it. Yes, you should—surprisingly dark for cartoons, but very good. :)

FicReader, thanks for the review! Yes, Kineil speaks from personal experience. Yeah, onion rings aren't for everyone (I used to hate onions in any format, so I get where you're coming from). Yes indeedy! But she was tired of the moping and such. Ah, glad you liked—I'm always a little concerned about whether I provide too much exposition or not enough, so that's good to know. :) And yes—never anger the Kineil. Bad things happen when she's angry. We wouldn't like her when she's angry….

References:

Original characters + setting © Kineil D. Wicks (myself, not the girl in the story)

Kels' house was nestled in the forest, not as far in as some of the Hippie houses, but enough so that no one in town was too bothered by her avian friends.

Yuki loved visiting her house. Geese, guineas, chickens…it was a haven of fine feathered friends.

Kels was mucking about in her birds' house when they found and hailed her.

"Well well well, what brings you boys here?" she asked, leaning on her pitchfork.

It only took a few minutes to explain things to her. When they finished, she stared at them.

"So you found a spellbook in your attic," she summarized. "And you're going to use it to go behind the Administrators' backs?"

"Pretty much. Wanna help?" Yami asked.

Kels nodded. "Sure, I'm game. What do you need?"

Yami showed her the list.

"'A feather from a guinea on the run'?" Kels read. "You're not going to get that. If you needed one that was shed or one from a roosting one, I could help, but you're not getting one from a guinea on the run."

"Why not?" Yami asked.

In response, Kels turned from the fence. "Guinea-guinea-guinea-guinea-guinea!"

To that, guinea fowl ran from everywhere, flying in, dashing along so fast that their legs vanished.

Kels indicated the running birds. "There's a reason the larger breeds are raced—there's no catching a guinea."

"Maybe if all three of us tried," Yami mused.

"They'd fly away from you."

Yuki, meanwhile, had climbed through the split-rail fence separating Kels's place from the road, heading for the guineas. Within moments, he had explained what they needed to one of the guineas. It considered the request, then plucked one of its smaller feathers off and gave it to him.

"Thanks," Yuki said, accepting the feather. He trotted back over to his brother.

"Is this right?" Yuki asked, holding up the feather.

Kels and Yami both stared.

Kels finally turned to Yami. "Your brother talked to my birds."

Yami shrugged. "I know. We're having him tested."

*\*/*

"Ta-da," Kineil said, indicating a building on the riverfront. "Behold: the River's Run."

Teana scratched the side of her face, deciding that building was being much too generous for a ramshackle shack that they had had to walk through several winding forest paths to reach. There were barrels with planks on them surrounded by folding chairs scattered about the clearing, and the whole thing looked like it had been flooded once or twice.

"So, what do you think?" Kineil asked.

"I think it looked like someone tried to occupy some junk that washed up on a river bend," Teana replied.

"That's actually surprisingly accurate—the first chunk of it was an old ship that got washed up on the shore, and it's been built up from there. Now come on."

"I see pirates and ruffians," Teana argued.

"They know better," Kineil said, heading into the thick of it. The first glanced at her—

And then quickly moved out of the way with a polite ma'am.

Teana followed her quickly. "How did you do that?" she asked Kineil.

"Intimidation is key," Kineil said. She nodded at a few pirates and Gypsians mingling near the river as she headed up to the double swinging doors. "I love these—watch this."

She shoved them both open and strode in before they swung shut. After having a moment to soak it in, she turned to Teana. "Now you," she ordered.

"I don't think so," Teana said.

"You'd better—there's a line forming."

Teana turned to look to see that yes indeed, there was a line forming behind her.

"Do you want to get in?" she asked.

"Actually, we're in line for the doors," a short, scruffy-looking pirate said.

The taller one behind him nodded, two eyepatches on his forehead above his eyes. "It's an attraction."

Teana turned to look at Kineil. "These people impress too easily."

"Would you rather they not impress easily?" Kineil asked.

"Fair point."

So she tried the doors, tucking in a bit to miss being hit by them as they swung shut.

"Well?" Kineil asked.

"All right, I'll admit it," Teana said. "That was fun."

"Perfect. Now the fries and rings. Sanji! My usual please."

Some blonde guy smoking a cigarette and wearing a black suit was in front of her with a platter. "French fries, onion rings, ketchup for fries, ranch dressing for rings, and a Pepsi freshly opened," he announced. "And I see you've brought a lovely friend—how may I serve you?"

"Just be your usual charming self, Sanji," Kineil told him.

"Of course—right this way, I'll escort you to your seats. Any seating preference?"

"Window with a river view all right with you?" Kineil asked Teana.

"I guess so," Teana said, thinking she'd rather have a seat near a back entrance. But she supposed a window next to the river was good enough—at the very least, she could dive out of it. "But I don't see any empty seats."

"That's my job," Sanji said, escorting them to a table with a handful of pirates there.

"You're in her seat," Sanji declared flatly, glaring at the nearest one.

The pirate protested. "Yeah, but I—"

"Now."

The table was quickly vacated and Sanji pulled out a couple of seats for them as he put the tray down on the table.

"Give me a second," he said as they sat down and he pushed their seats in. Within a few moments, the table was cleared of all but their tray. "There! Enjoy your hors d' oeuvres—I'll be back."

Teana waited until he left before addressing Kineil. "What on earth kind of place is this?"

"The River's Run," Kineil answered after a moment of silence and a French fry. "That's Sanji, the proprietor's son and head of staff—word is the ship portion of this place was a floating restaurant they tended before a storm washed them and a lot of wreckage from the mountains up here. And they figured rather than try to dig the ship out, they'd just rebuild here. They still attract a lot of clientele; now they're just easier to find."

"And we get a lot of refuse washed up here."

"We still do—they have to shut down every spring because it floods. Or do you mean the company?"

"They're pirates."

"And?"

"Thieves and scoundrels."

"And?"

"And am I ever going to get anyone around me to see sense?"

"You don't want an answer to that. Now try the food."

"What if I don't want salmonella?"

"Please, Sanji would never poison his female customers. Male, on the other hand…."

"Kineil…."

"Eat the stupid onion ring."

Teana held off on the wonderful part of her thanks before doing so.

"Well?" Kineil asked.

"Oh wow," Teana noised, already reaching for another.

"I told you," Kineil said, dipping one in the ranch dressing and eating it. "Bliss in a ring, isn't it? Now try the French fries."

"It's more than I expected from an appetizer," Teana said, obliging her. "This too, as a matter of fact…."

"Well, if that's to your liking," Sanji said, dancing over with a fresh tray. "Might I recommend the fresh fish fillet with tartar sauce and lemon? Cooked it myself. And a nice white wine to accompany it."

"Did we order something?" Teana asked.

"No, but Sanji likes to feed women," Kineil said as Sanji set the tray on the table and winked at them.

"On the house," he said.

"He makes up for it by charging the men double," Kineil said as he left.

"It's a system that works!" Sanji called back.

"How does he get away with that?" Teana asked. "I'd have thought someone would have gutted him by now."

In response, Kineil indicated the window. "Lovely view, isn't it? Sanji made the hole by kicking someone trying to roughhouse with him straight through the shiplap. The only one tougher than him in here is his father."

"That's more than a little concerning."

"It gets better—you notice how polite everyone is to us? That's because Sanji will give them a beating if they try to mess with the women. This is literally the safest place for a woman around."

"Again, concerning."

"I think it adds some charming atmosphere. Doesn't it, Sanji?"

"We have standards to keep," Sanji agreed, depositing a club sandwich in front of her. "You girls let me know if you need anything else, all right?"

"Certainly, Sanji, thank you."

Teana gave a little smile at his bow. He returned it and departed.

"Well then," Kineil said, unfolding a napkin. "Let's eat."