"Ok, so where exactly are we going again?"
Neal sighed, shook his head and smiled.
"Have you always been like this?"
"Like what?"
"Ummmmmmmmm, confusing?"
Her face turned into a mock frown.
"No, I only just developed that annoying habit, what do you think?"
"Probably."
This time she shook her head, actully, her friends had often told her she was predictable, in her unpredictableness. Nope, she had never been able to explain it either. They continued on, tactfully ignoring the stormwings desecrating the dead. So that's what my world needs, she thought, a price beside death for war. Finally, they walked into a large tent. Suddenly, voices, cries of pain and joy, conversations filled her head. She held her head and whispered,
"Neal, could you possibly asked some of them to be quiet?"
He looked her, then them, and seemed to say something that she couldn't quite hear. Nothing got at all better. He mumbled something incomprehensible again, but it was still deafening.
~QUIET!!~
She winced.
"Ow! You didn't have to yell!"
This time the odd look he gave her could have rivaled the one she got when he first found her.
"You…you heard me?"
She smacked her head, could this day get any more confusing? Don't tempt the fates, she told herself, the ones here are likely to get nasty.
"Of course! You yelled so loud I think they heard it in the Yamani Islands!"
"They could not have heard it there, he yelled through mind, not voice."
A man, about her height, black haired, dark eyed, and olive-skinned came over to them. Neal smiled in relief. He hadn't really wanted to explain that to her. The man looked about thirty five, and reminded her of professer Snape from the Harry Potter books. Well, minus the grease and robe, not to mention nasty disposition. She sighed, this is only going to get worse, she told herself.
"Leam* what needs to be done, my magic is full."
The man sank deep into thought.
"Nothing is truly needed now, they birds are all healed, as are the horses."
Seeing the confusion on her face, he said,
"It is no surprise, Horse and bird magic are the most common forms."
She shook her head, that wasn't it, and she had a feeling he knew it.
"But come, you must tell me of your curious friend here, she has magic, but I cannot place it."
Neal and the man began to talk, and Xlelon stayed out of the conversation as much as possible, looking around at the animals in the tent. There were hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey where she was, farther down were a few livestock, cows, chickens, and then the smaller birds, such as starlings, grackles, and junkos. They all muttered slightly, and she tried to pick apart the conversations. There were two chickens talking of how much the cow was annoying them, and the cow was contentedly chewing its cud, thinking of nothing at all. Two hawks were exchanging messages that they had been sent with before being shot down (both had had arrow wounds). An eagle mother lamented her eggs, which had been in a tree that was cut down. She looked up, bats clung to the banisters of the tent overhead. She stared, she loved bats, but rarely saw them at home. Deciding to try something, she thought out to them,
~ Excuse me, where am I? ~
The bats chittered on, aware of her, but not listening. So she tried something different. She pretended that she was talking in her mind.
~ Excuse me! Where am I? ~
This time it seemed to work, the three bats she had been addressing came to rest in her palm.
~ You are in Port Cayn wing sister. ~
Another bat joined in.
~ Who are you, the only one that can talk to us is her! ~
The third bat seemed the oldest of the three, and seemingly the wisest.
~ Keep your mind open! Perhaps another has come! ~
"Xlelon? Xlelon, are you alright?"
She shook herself, still getting over the shock of being addressed as wing sister.
"Yes, I'm fine."
~ Thankyou, thankyou all of you, I need to sort this out with the humans, so I hope to talk to you again. ~
Two of them flew back up to their friends. The third, the oldest, hid in her hair, tickling the back of her neck.
~ I will stay with you wing sister, you are dark and cool. ~
She did not question him, still slightly bewildered at this new and wild turn of events. Neal sighed.
"Well, it seems as if we must put bats on the list as well."
"And cows and chickens and basically everything in this tent."
A shreik bit the air, one that was not of stormwing decent. She ran out to find a horse-like thing with leathry wings, floundering on the ground. It writhed in pain calling in her mind to end the torment. Neal had brought his dagger out, but she stopped him with a look.
"Sir, I can't do a thing if you don't stop moving!"
To the surprise of Leam and Neal, it did so. She went over it, trying to figure out the problem. It became obvious when she reached the neck. A bright, acid yellow slave collar shone there and her brow snapped together. Well, no world is perfect.
"Ok ok, calm down, I found the problem."
It replied that it could have told her the problem, had she asked. She frowned at her stupidity, and apoligized. It continued to wimper. Putting her fingers on it, she found what the Hurrok already knew, the thing burned like fire. Luckily, she was a pyromaniac, so was used to dealing with heat. She went around the thing until she found the clasp. Undoing it was an adventure though, as undoing it required prolonged contact, She finally got it done, but by that time her fingers were blistered. She ignored them as she had many candle burns before. The Hurrok rose and stretched its wings. It began to take off, before Xlelon held up her hand.
"Stop right there!"
The hurrok stopped dead. Leam gaped. Neal gaped.
"Before you go anywhere, you have to answer a question and promise me one thing."
It asked what it was.
"The gods have decreed that immortals must return to their own realms," she said remebering the books, "I am willing to cover for you to stay here, but you must promise me never to eat livestock, only wild game, and not too much in one place, otherwise, you must go home."
It replied that it had never wanted to be here in the first place.
"Very well, I believe you still have time, go!"
As it took of she called,
"And give my regards to Mithros!"
He called back that he would be sure to, should he see him. She snickered. There were good things about hurroks, they had her type of dry humor. Turning around, she found equally thunderstruck faces on Leam and Neal.
~ Oh dear, ~ she thought to the bat, ~ What have I done now? ~
All the bat could say from his hiding place was that he had no idea.
*()(&*&%&$&^$$@^$#!$#^*&^$
^_^ fun fun. *- pronounced Lee- Ahm and who knows bout the romance?
Neal sighed, shook his head and smiled.
"Have you always been like this?"
"Like what?"
"Ummmmmmmmm, confusing?"
Her face turned into a mock frown.
"No, I only just developed that annoying habit, what do you think?"
"Probably."
This time she shook her head, actully, her friends had often told her she was predictable, in her unpredictableness. Nope, she had never been able to explain it either. They continued on, tactfully ignoring the stormwings desecrating the dead. So that's what my world needs, she thought, a price beside death for war. Finally, they walked into a large tent. Suddenly, voices, cries of pain and joy, conversations filled her head. She held her head and whispered,
"Neal, could you possibly asked some of them to be quiet?"
He looked her, then them, and seemed to say something that she couldn't quite hear. Nothing got at all better. He mumbled something incomprehensible again, but it was still deafening.
~QUIET!!~
She winced.
"Ow! You didn't have to yell!"
This time the odd look he gave her could have rivaled the one she got when he first found her.
"You…you heard me?"
She smacked her head, could this day get any more confusing? Don't tempt the fates, she told herself, the ones here are likely to get nasty.
"Of course! You yelled so loud I think they heard it in the Yamani Islands!"
"They could not have heard it there, he yelled through mind, not voice."
A man, about her height, black haired, dark eyed, and olive-skinned came over to them. Neal smiled in relief. He hadn't really wanted to explain that to her. The man looked about thirty five, and reminded her of professer Snape from the Harry Potter books. Well, minus the grease and robe, not to mention nasty disposition. She sighed, this is only going to get worse, she told herself.
"Leam* what needs to be done, my magic is full."
The man sank deep into thought.
"Nothing is truly needed now, they birds are all healed, as are the horses."
Seeing the confusion on her face, he said,
"It is no surprise, Horse and bird magic are the most common forms."
She shook her head, that wasn't it, and she had a feeling he knew it.
"But come, you must tell me of your curious friend here, she has magic, but I cannot place it."
Neal and the man began to talk, and Xlelon stayed out of the conversation as much as possible, looking around at the animals in the tent. There were hawks, eagles, and other birds of prey where she was, farther down were a few livestock, cows, chickens, and then the smaller birds, such as starlings, grackles, and junkos. They all muttered slightly, and she tried to pick apart the conversations. There were two chickens talking of how much the cow was annoying them, and the cow was contentedly chewing its cud, thinking of nothing at all. Two hawks were exchanging messages that they had been sent with before being shot down (both had had arrow wounds). An eagle mother lamented her eggs, which had been in a tree that was cut down. She looked up, bats clung to the banisters of the tent overhead. She stared, she loved bats, but rarely saw them at home. Deciding to try something, she thought out to them,
~ Excuse me, where am I? ~
The bats chittered on, aware of her, but not listening. So she tried something different. She pretended that she was talking in her mind.
~ Excuse me! Where am I? ~
This time it seemed to work, the three bats she had been addressing came to rest in her palm.
~ You are in Port Cayn wing sister. ~
Another bat joined in.
~ Who are you, the only one that can talk to us is her! ~
The third bat seemed the oldest of the three, and seemingly the wisest.
~ Keep your mind open! Perhaps another has come! ~
"Xlelon? Xlelon, are you alright?"
She shook herself, still getting over the shock of being addressed as wing sister.
"Yes, I'm fine."
~ Thankyou, thankyou all of you, I need to sort this out with the humans, so I hope to talk to you again. ~
Two of them flew back up to their friends. The third, the oldest, hid in her hair, tickling the back of her neck.
~ I will stay with you wing sister, you are dark and cool. ~
She did not question him, still slightly bewildered at this new and wild turn of events. Neal sighed.
"Well, it seems as if we must put bats on the list as well."
"And cows and chickens and basically everything in this tent."
A shreik bit the air, one that was not of stormwing decent. She ran out to find a horse-like thing with leathry wings, floundering on the ground. It writhed in pain calling in her mind to end the torment. Neal had brought his dagger out, but she stopped him with a look.
"Sir, I can't do a thing if you don't stop moving!"
To the surprise of Leam and Neal, it did so. She went over it, trying to figure out the problem. It became obvious when she reached the neck. A bright, acid yellow slave collar shone there and her brow snapped together. Well, no world is perfect.
"Ok ok, calm down, I found the problem."
It replied that it could have told her the problem, had she asked. She frowned at her stupidity, and apoligized. It continued to wimper. Putting her fingers on it, she found what the Hurrok already knew, the thing burned like fire. Luckily, she was a pyromaniac, so was used to dealing with heat. She went around the thing until she found the clasp. Undoing it was an adventure though, as undoing it required prolonged contact, She finally got it done, but by that time her fingers were blistered. She ignored them as she had many candle burns before. The Hurrok rose and stretched its wings. It began to take off, before Xlelon held up her hand.
"Stop right there!"
The hurrok stopped dead. Leam gaped. Neal gaped.
"Before you go anywhere, you have to answer a question and promise me one thing."
It asked what it was.
"The gods have decreed that immortals must return to their own realms," she said remebering the books, "I am willing to cover for you to stay here, but you must promise me never to eat livestock, only wild game, and not too much in one place, otherwise, you must go home."
It replied that it had never wanted to be here in the first place.
"Very well, I believe you still have time, go!"
As it took of she called,
"And give my regards to Mithros!"
He called back that he would be sure to, should he see him. She snickered. There were good things about hurroks, they had her type of dry humor. Turning around, she found equally thunderstruck faces on Leam and Neal.
~ Oh dear, ~ she thought to the bat, ~ What have I done now? ~
All the bat could say from his hiding place was that he had no idea.
*()(&*&%&$&^$$@^$#!$#^*&^$
^_^ fun fun. *- pronounced Lee- Ahm and who knows bout the romance?