The Rainy Day Trip
(Part IV)
By Saphron
Disavowal: (ie: Disclaimer, is this getting old yet? I personally am having fun.) Does anybody really need me to go through this, again for the umpteenth time? *Looks around as no one raises their hands'* Ah-I thought so. Good, I can just skip it then. *Gets evil look from TP's publishers and my practically empty piggybank, which seems to be grunting at me ::no! They'll sue! I'll be emptied! Oh the humanity!:: * Oh all right, everything belongs to Tamora Pierce, I own nothing. There, satisfied? Sheesh, you don't have to get all in a huff…
A/N: Um, well, I don't really have much of an author's note, but I really couldn't just let you get away without reading mindless babble first. I have to annoy you just a wee bit first. Right. Now that that's taken care of, onward to fantasy land!!! ::mounts faithful steed and charges into distance (half falling off of saddle)::
***
Sure enough, the next day they left again, leaving their horses behind and traveling by foot. They were now traveling northeast through the underbrush. Little dry shrubs littered the area, and bracken, brown roots stuck out everywhere. Kel was careful not to trip. Even though it had just rained the plants all looked dehydrated, which just goes to show you how barren and empty the countryside really was.
They eventually reached a remote little village on the outskirts of the Grimhold Mountains. The town was tiny, the maxim number of inhabitants being somewhere in-between fifty and one hundred fifty occupants. The townspeople were all somewhat spastic, as they had never seen such bright tunics and sharp, pointy swords. Children all wore happy expressions as they pointed and laughed. And Kel could see many housewives hanging their heads out of windows chattering away. All together the procession made a very loud noise as it marched down 'main street,' clank, clank, clank, went the armored knights.
They tried to talk reasonably with the villagers but they were all just a wee bit, well, um, I dunno-paranoid. They wanted the party to march right up to the beast's cave and kill it, without making any plans first. They were worried that 'the beast' as they called it, would come back any minute.
(A/N: sorry if I've insulted anyone, I didn't mean to say anything what-so-ever about small-town life, truly I didn't. Sorry, I'm a LA girl though and through. ::grins:: )
Raoul rented a tavern with enough rooms for everyone for hardly anything at all. The people were only too glad to offer free shelter if it meant getting rid of 'the beast.'
Cleon had run off with some local street boys to go have some fun, Joren had disappeared to God-knows-where, and this left Keladry by her lonesome. Raoul didn't need her for anything so she took off to explore the town. It had a few shops, if you could call the one-room buildings 'shops.' They were mostly made up of a few shelves of goods, a few crates for a counter, and a barrel for a stool.
She browsed for a little while, window shopping and observing the eccentric citizens run around joyfully. As she was walking a group of boys ran down the street, waving sticks and pretend swords in the air. She quickly jumped into the doorway of a nearby shop to avoid being trampled. When she turned around she saw an old, old man with sliver hair and a shaggy beard sitting atop a three-legged stool. His eyes were pulled back in narrow slits, and they much resembled the eyes typically found on the Yamani Islands.
The shop looked oriental, there were paper crepe lanterns hanging on the walls and various tapestries with ink characters written on them. It strongly reminded Kel of the Yamani Islands, so she decided to take a look around.
As she was walking by a dusty shelf she noticed a tiny, glassy figurine. It looked like one of her lucky Yamani cats, only it had tiny feathers instead of fur. And the head was shaped rather odd, the snout was longer and more pointy, the eyes a little rounder and more beady than those of a cat. It was grayish in color, with silver entwined. It was too dusty to tell, but Kel could have sworn that there were tiny wings carved on its back.
She picked up the marionette and gently dusted it off with a corner of her shirt. Yes, there defiantly wings, she could see. She went up to the old man at the counter and five minutes later she walked out of the shop; a tiny, lucky, Yamani, cat-like porcelain figurine in her pocket.
***
~*Saphron*~
A/N: Strange little creature isn't it? Part cat part, well, something else. (You've probably all guessed what it is, but if you haven't you'll find out in the next couple of chapters.) Hmm-is any one reading this story? Before I labor for the next nine hours coming up with the next chapter? ::Hint::Hint:: Feedback is very, very good. Where I come from, we worship the ground feedback walks on, we sacrifice valuable things to feedback, and we lay flowers and fruits upon the altars of feedback. Right. Yeah. U get the picture I'm sure. See you next time the next chapter is posted.
A/A/N: And many thanxs to everyone who's already reviewed before, you're reviews are what has made me work four hours straight getting as many parts as I can out before 10:00, when I'm officially banned from my computer. Special thanks to Kira, who has been my most bestest (if that's a word) reviewer.
A/A/A/N: I know, I know, too short. But I'm trying to compensate it by writing several chapters and posting them quick as I can. Maybe I'll just combine the first two chapters, then the next two, etc…or maybe I'll just combine everything into one loooooong story…what's up with this chapter thing from ff.n? I have no clue. Oh well.
A/A/A/A/N: Whew! -That's a lot of A's, sorry. Just gunna say that the next chapter is WAY long, it'll be posted pretty soon.