*sigh* It's 1 am, I've gone through 6 hours of hard labor serving food at a
blasted Applebee's restaurant, 5 hours of staring at my text books and
writing papers, and a two hour fight with my mother on the phone over my
scholarship money. Pshhhhh. I am done with the serious stuff for the day.
I want to write fun stuff.
So I was thinking about 'complications' while trying to go to sleep last night. I was wondering how to go about the next few chapters, because I have approximately a gazillion scenarios of how this story should end rolling around in head. I also had to sit there and figure out how to answer a few questions about the story that seemed plausible. You know, making sure everything fits together nicely without completely making it seem fake. I realized that I have not included Kitten as much as I probably should have. So, I was pondering this little dilemma of mine, thinking, lets include Kitten a bit more shall we; after all, she is way to cute to exclude. But how? I asked myself. I started mentally going through all of Kitten's little facts of existence. Then suddenly, *ping* light bulb! I figured out the answer to one of my most worried questions about the story. And while I won't tell you the specifics, cause why give away such a HUGE part of the story, I will give you a clue. The part I'm sticking Kitten into includes an answer to a huge question having to do with Justice. And no, it's not 'Why is Justice afraid of Kitten?' I'll get to that in this chapter. I wanted to tell you this because when the revelation hit me at 2 am in the morning, I gave myself a pat on the back, because I have such cool ideas. Anyway, enough babbling. Enjoy!
Karigan
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Complications
By: Karigan
Chapter 20
Surprise!
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"HALT!" roared Raoul from the front of the small procession of Tortallans. Alanna flinched the side of her saddle while glaring at Raoul for screaming so close to her ear. He shrugged apology to the Lioness.
Alanna turned in her saddle to look for the small red-headed girl that followed them on foot. "Justice? How close are we?"
Justice looked at her surroundings and blanched. Maybe she should have paid closer attention when being dragged back and forth everywhere. "I think we're close. I'm not sure exactly. It's been a while since I was at his camp."
Numair sighed in aggravation and reached into his pocket for the bracelet he had made so many years ago.
"NUMAIR!" He jumped at his name and looked up to see Alanna pointing at him in reproach. "No! You need your strength. We can find it without that little gift drainer of yours."
"Alanna," he tried.
"NO!" she repeated.
He shoved it back into his pocket and ran nervous hands through his hair. This was taking too much time. Justice said there was a small band of rebels that followed the mage loyally. She estimated about 10 of them from what she remembered. He didn't like feeling this helpless. Daine was somewhere out in the woods; most likely injured; and here he sat, waiting for an eight year old to remember which way to go. His stomach was tied in knots and he constantly felt a lump of fear in his throat.
Alanna sighed. "We need to stop and rest the horses and our own bottom ends." At Numair's glare she said, "We can't push the horses this much Numair and we have to get things ready to deal with these rebels." She patted Numair on the back before barking orders at the men to feed, water and rest their horses quickly, grab something to eat, and prepare their weapons.
The sun was well past noon at this point. Justice had been running since before dawn. She could not have felt better if she had all the rest in the world. She stretched her legs languidly and lifted her face to the sun, feeling the warm heat.
Beside her was Onua's brown riding horse eating a bit of grass on the side of the road. Justice looked around nervously and then reached her hand up in curiosity. She's never touched a hoarse before. She was about to feel the texture of the mare's hair when a sudden rumble came from one of the packs. She squeaked and jumped back a step, eyes wide in surprise. She narrowed her eyes at the pack, taking a step forward to inspect it more closely when it rumbled again. She lifted her hand and was about to lift the cover off the woven basket when it popped up with the help of a little lizard like head. Kitten. Justice shrieked in fright and stumbled backwards. She landed in a pile of dirt, messing up her breeches.
She was hauled up from behind by Onua. "Hey there, relax. It's just Kitten."
"Kitten?!? That is NOT a kitten. That's a DRAGON!" she said as if Onua didn't know any better.
Onua chuckled. "I know she's a dragon, Justice. We just call her Kitten. Her real name is Skysong though. She's Daine's. Poor Kitten is worried about Daine. She wanted to come along."
Justice eyes the little dragon warily. "I can't believe Daine has a dragon. Who would want a dragon?" she said with mild disgust. Then with sudden realization, she announced, "That's the dragon that's been running around the castle. I thought it was just my imagination."
Numair and Alanna walked up to join in the conversation. "I've been meaning to ask you about that. I've just forgotten," stated Numair. "Why do you not like Kitten?"
Justice looked at him with surprise. "She's a DRAGON," she stated as if that were answer enough. When all she got were blank looks, she continued. "Dragons are filthy!" That got a few raised eyebrows. "They're filthy, and disgusting. Who would like scales and slithery tongues and, and, just LOOK at her." Kitten snorted in indignantly while turning a shade of grey.
"You don't like Dragons because of the way they LOOK?" asked Alanna in shock.
"No! That's not all. They're presumptuous, rude, pompous, know-it-alls who are mean to anyone who isn't a Dragon." After a few blinks from the stunned group, she finished off with a dramatic, "Aaaand," she whispered the next part, forcing the three listeners to bend down closely in order to hear. "They're lizards, well, sort of. Do you know what lizards eat?" Onua raised an eyebrow in question. "BIRDS!" yelled Justice.
After a moment of stunned silence, Alanna started shaking in repressed laughter. She tried to hold in her mirth when she saw Justice's unamused face, but couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, turning away from the group with her face in her hands. Onua was crouched on the ground holding her stomach as whoops of laughter consumed her. Even Numair, as worried as he was, gave way to a few good chuckles. Justice simply stood there, arms crossed, a pout marring her small perfect face. "I don't consider that at all amusing." She stomped away.
Entering the edge of the woods bordering the road she picked at the bread and cheese she had been given to eat while strolling lazily. She plopped down in soft grass and leaned against a pine. She looked up at the sky mostly hidden by leaves. Streaming beams of light came pouring through the forest top landing on random places on the forest floor. She sighed. It wasn't as beautiful as the towering redwoods of the great forest, nor was it nearly as full of animals. But it had its own certain something. It was nice.
She let her magic whisper softly to the forest. She felt the tree she was leaning against hum in response, the grass around her sway in greeting, the bushes rustle in recognition. A deep green light glowed from their bark and leaves. She smiled. She MISSED talking with the flora. She felt the tree vibrate against her back and listened as he excitedly explained his pleasure of actually speaking with a firebird. Humans didn't know about this kind of magic. This kind of magic was older than any other magic. It began when the earth began. When the first of life began to appear. The bush questioned why a firebird would be this far north. Wasn't she far away from home? She answered them truthfully. Explaining her situation in silent whispers of firebird magic. The trees, bushes and grass listened with rapt attention as she told her tale, vibrations of their outrage blazed through her mind. Firebirds were special creatures. Even THEY knew that. The flora loved firebirds. To have one in their actual forest for only a few minutes would create enough blessed magic to keep away disasters for an entire season. The pine declared he would spread the news and hopefully be able to help if he possibly could. She thanked him profusely.
She stretched out her legs in front of her, the metal bands under her boots catching her attention. She scrunched her face up at them while she tapped the right band with her left boot tip. 'Odd,' she thought. It was as if he had completely given up on using magic on her. Which was ridiculous to say the least. He was obsessed with having control of her magic. Though he would never really have control over it. It had been HOURS since she had left the magically protected room and she hadn't felt his magic once. Puzzled she scratched her head. She thought that as soon as she had left the room he would have been jumping to get her back. Unless he knew she was coming back on her own.
Justice's eyes opened wide in realization. He KNEW they were coming. He wasn't just hoping they would, he was counting on it. Her head shot to the side looking at the dirt road where the others where resting. As if they had been waiting for her realization that they were stepping into a trap, her advanced bird-like hearing picked up a scream from not to far away. She jumped to her feet and looked to the sky. Her heart stopping in terrifying dread. Somewhere around 50 arrows flew into the sky, arcing at their peeks and began their downward decent. She screamed in warning. The hawk-like screech that emerged from her throat carried for miles through the forest.
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A/N: DON"T YELL AT ME!!!! I know it's a cliffy, but come on, it makes the story all the better. Don't you think? I'll write the next one real soon. I just started writing and I couldn't stop. Enjoy!
And if yelling at me for the cliffy gets you to write reviews, then yell all you want. I LOVE reviews.
Thanks,
Karigan
So I was thinking about 'complications' while trying to go to sleep last night. I was wondering how to go about the next few chapters, because I have approximately a gazillion scenarios of how this story should end rolling around in head. I also had to sit there and figure out how to answer a few questions about the story that seemed plausible. You know, making sure everything fits together nicely without completely making it seem fake. I realized that I have not included Kitten as much as I probably should have. So, I was pondering this little dilemma of mine, thinking, lets include Kitten a bit more shall we; after all, she is way to cute to exclude. But how? I asked myself. I started mentally going through all of Kitten's little facts of existence. Then suddenly, *ping* light bulb! I figured out the answer to one of my most worried questions about the story. And while I won't tell you the specifics, cause why give away such a HUGE part of the story, I will give you a clue. The part I'm sticking Kitten into includes an answer to a huge question having to do with Justice. And no, it's not 'Why is Justice afraid of Kitten?' I'll get to that in this chapter. I wanted to tell you this because when the revelation hit me at 2 am in the morning, I gave myself a pat on the back, because I have such cool ideas. Anyway, enough babbling. Enjoy!
Karigan
////////
Complications
By: Karigan
Chapter 20
Surprise!
/////////
"HALT!" roared Raoul from the front of the small procession of Tortallans. Alanna flinched the side of her saddle while glaring at Raoul for screaming so close to her ear. He shrugged apology to the Lioness.
Alanna turned in her saddle to look for the small red-headed girl that followed them on foot. "Justice? How close are we?"
Justice looked at her surroundings and blanched. Maybe she should have paid closer attention when being dragged back and forth everywhere. "I think we're close. I'm not sure exactly. It's been a while since I was at his camp."
Numair sighed in aggravation and reached into his pocket for the bracelet he had made so many years ago.
"NUMAIR!" He jumped at his name and looked up to see Alanna pointing at him in reproach. "No! You need your strength. We can find it without that little gift drainer of yours."
"Alanna," he tried.
"NO!" she repeated.
He shoved it back into his pocket and ran nervous hands through his hair. This was taking too much time. Justice said there was a small band of rebels that followed the mage loyally. She estimated about 10 of them from what she remembered. He didn't like feeling this helpless. Daine was somewhere out in the woods; most likely injured; and here he sat, waiting for an eight year old to remember which way to go. His stomach was tied in knots and he constantly felt a lump of fear in his throat.
Alanna sighed. "We need to stop and rest the horses and our own bottom ends." At Numair's glare she said, "We can't push the horses this much Numair and we have to get things ready to deal with these rebels." She patted Numair on the back before barking orders at the men to feed, water and rest their horses quickly, grab something to eat, and prepare their weapons.
The sun was well past noon at this point. Justice had been running since before dawn. She could not have felt better if she had all the rest in the world. She stretched her legs languidly and lifted her face to the sun, feeling the warm heat.
Beside her was Onua's brown riding horse eating a bit of grass on the side of the road. Justice looked around nervously and then reached her hand up in curiosity. She's never touched a hoarse before. She was about to feel the texture of the mare's hair when a sudden rumble came from one of the packs. She squeaked and jumped back a step, eyes wide in surprise. She narrowed her eyes at the pack, taking a step forward to inspect it more closely when it rumbled again. She lifted her hand and was about to lift the cover off the woven basket when it popped up with the help of a little lizard like head. Kitten. Justice shrieked in fright and stumbled backwards. She landed in a pile of dirt, messing up her breeches.
She was hauled up from behind by Onua. "Hey there, relax. It's just Kitten."
"Kitten?!? That is NOT a kitten. That's a DRAGON!" she said as if Onua didn't know any better.
Onua chuckled. "I know she's a dragon, Justice. We just call her Kitten. Her real name is Skysong though. She's Daine's. Poor Kitten is worried about Daine. She wanted to come along."
Justice eyes the little dragon warily. "I can't believe Daine has a dragon. Who would want a dragon?" she said with mild disgust. Then with sudden realization, she announced, "That's the dragon that's been running around the castle. I thought it was just my imagination."
Numair and Alanna walked up to join in the conversation. "I've been meaning to ask you about that. I've just forgotten," stated Numair. "Why do you not like Kitten?"
Justice looked at him with surprise. "She's a DRAGON," she stated as if that were answer enough. When all she got were blank looks, she continued. "Dragons are filthy!" That got a few raised eyebrows. "They're filthy, and disgusting. Who would like scales and slithery tongues and, and, just LOOK at her." Kitten snorted in indignantly while turning a shade of grey.
"You don't like Dragons because of the way they LOOK?" asked Alanna in shock.
"No! That's not all. They're presumptuous, rude, pompous, know-it-alls who are mean to anyone who isn't a Dragon." After a few blinks from the stunned group, she finished off with a dramatic, "Aaaand," she whispered the next part, forcing the three listeners to bend down closely in order to hear. "They're lizards, well, sort of. Do you know what lizards eat?" Onua raised an eyebrow in question. "BIRDS!" yelled Justice.
After a moment of stunned silence, Alanna started shaking in repressed laughter. She tried to hold in her mirth when she saw Justice's unamused face, but couldn't help it. She burst out laughing, turning away from the group with her face in her hands. Onua was crouched on the ground holding her stomach as whoops of laughter consumed her. Even Numair, as worried as he was, gave way to a few good chuckles. Justice simply stood there, arms crossed, a pout marring her small perfect face. "I don't consider that at all amusing." She stomped away.
Entering the edge of the woods bordering the road she picked at the bread and cheese she had been given to eat while strolling lazily. She plopped down in soft grass and leaned against a pine. She looked up at the sky mostly hidden by leaves. Streaming beams of light came pouring through the forest top landing on random places on the forest floor. She sighed. It wasn't as beautiful as the towering redwoods of the great forest, nor was it nearly as full of animals. But it had its own certain something. It was nice.
She let her magic whisper softly to the forest. She felt the tree she was leaning against hum in response, the grass around her sway in greeting, the bushes rustle in recognition. A deep green light glowed from their bark and leaves. She smiled. She MISSED talking with the flora. She felt the tree vibrate against her back and listened as he excitedly explained his pleasure of actually speaking with a firebird. Humans didn't know about this kind of magic. This kind of magic was older than any other magic. It began when the earth began. When the first of life began to appear. The bush questioned why a firebird would be this far north. Wasn't she far away from home? She answered them truthfully. Explaining her situation in silent whispers of firebird magic. The trees, bushes and grass listened with rapt attention as she told her tale, vibrations of their outrage blazed through her mind. Firebirds were special creatures. Even THEY knew that. The flora loved firebirds. To have one in their actual forest for only a few minutes would create enough blessed magic to keep away disasters for an entire season. The pine declared he would spread the news and hopefully be able to help if he possibly could. She thanked him profusely.
She stretched out her legs in front of her, the metal bands under her boots catching her attention. She scrunched her face up at them while she tapped the right band with her left boot tip. 'Odd,' she thought. It was as if he had completely given up on using magic on her. Which was ridiculous to say the least. He was obsessed with having control of her magic. Though he would never really have control over it. It had been HOURS since she had left the magically protected room and she hadn't felt his magic once. Puzzled she scratched her head. She thought that as soon as she had left the room he would have been jumping to get her back. Unless he knew she was coming back on her own.
Justice's eyes opened wide in realization. He KNEW they were coming. He wasn't just hoping they would, he was counting on it. Her head shot to the side looking at the dirt road where the others where resting. As if they had been waiting for her realization that they were stepping into a trap, her advanced bird-like hearing picked up a scream from not to far away. She jumped to her feet and looked to the sky. Her heart stopping in terrifying dread. Somewhere around 50 arrows flew into the sky, arcing at their peeks and began their downward decent. She screamed in warning. The hawk-like screech that emerged from her throat carried for miles through the forest.
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A/N: DON"T YELL AT ME!!!! I know it's a cliffy, but come on, it makes the story all the better. Don't you think? I'll write the next one real soon. I just started writing and I couldn't stop. Enjoy!
And if yelling at me for the cliffy gets you to write reviews, then yell all you want. I LOVE reviews.
Thanks,
Karigan