Into the Village
They didn't have to walk far before they reached a small village. It was a secluded little area, surrounded by scattered trees. There were about eight cottages, arranged in a semi-circle pattern.
"This is pretty," Day said, looking around. Night, standing beside her, nodded. The Brain Coral water floated down and up in a nodding head motion, apparently responding to the girls without their thinking about it.
"Just like I remember," Lyndsey murmured. Of course, she probably didn't remember about ten minutes ago, but now that she had Seline's talent, she could.
"This is the village," Seline said, turning around to face them. "That's our house over there." She pointed towards a cottage at the far end of the village. "Maximus and I have to run a little errand, but Raven can take you there, and he'll feed you."
None of the girls looked too upset by this notion. "Oh, I guess I should give you your talent back," Lyndsey said, apparently now remembering about that.
"Oh, no, dear, that's fine," Seline said. "I'd like for you to keep it. That is, if you'd like it." She smiled hesitantly.
"Oh, I'd love it!" Lyndsey said. She smiled. Seline gave her a quick hug.
"Well, it's settled then. Raven will take you to our cottage, and get you fed. Maximus and I will be home shortly." She smiled at the whole group, and with a little wave, she and Maximus walked off into the woods.
"Which means that it is my responsibility to insure you are taken care of," Raven said, smiling at the girls. They all swooned.
"A little food, and then we should sleep," Grundy said, the Voice of Command. "We've had a long day."
"But Grundy, it's not even that late!" Day protested.
"Yeah, we weren't traveling for that long!" Night said stubbornly.
"I want to see the rest of the village," Lyndsey said.
"There'll be time for all that tomorrow," Grundy said. The girls pouted. Raven laughed.
"Please follow me," Raven said, "I'll take you for dinner now." He gestured towards the cottage, then turned and walked towards it. The girls all followed, Grundy looking somewhat less impressed, and Guinever following with a pout.
They soon reached the cottage, as it wasn't very far away. It was fair sized, and when they stepped into it, it seemed even bigger.
Raven stopped, and gestured towards the table. "Make yourselves comfortable. I will be back in a moment," he said, giving them another one of his killer smiles. The girls all smiled dumbly and sat down. Night took Grundy off of her shoulder and set him on the table, and Lyndsey lifted Guinever onto a chair. Raven stepped out of the room.
"Soooo hot!" Day said, her eyes gleaming.
"I know!" Night and Lyndsey said.
"What is?" Grundy asked worriedly. "Is it the chairs?"
The girls all laughed. "Sorry Grundy," Day said. "It's a Mundane term. It means good looking or handsome."
Grundy looked at her strangely. "Hot means good looking or handsome? You Mundanes…so strange. What a birdbrain," he muttered. This just caused the girls to laugh even more.
They only had to wait a few minutes before Raven returned. He brought them some sort of meat, and some cheese, (but it wasn't gorgon-zola, for only the Gorgon could make that), and tsoda popka to drink. They each got a fair sized portion, and Raven sat down to eat, too.
"Wow, this is so good!" Day said, tasting the meat. "What is it?"
Raven grinned. "It is imitation dragon meat. My mother has a snap-dragon plant, and we harvest meat of off it. Of course, it is not as good as real dragon meat, but we find it suffices." Day dumbly nodded, having barely heard his explanation. One smile from him turned a girl to mush!
"Well, I really like it too," Night said. "I haven't ever had real dragon meat, so it tastes awesome to me!" This brought her a smile from Raven, and she turned to mush, too.
Lyndsey took a sip of tsoda popka. It tickled her nose. "Oh!" she said in surprise. "I never had anything like this in the gourd!" Everyone smiled, including Raven. Guinever frowned, apparently unhappy that the attention was not focused on him, and even worse, it was being strongly focused on someone else. His talent kicked in.
"Aww, Guinny, what's that matter?" Day asked, stroking his chin.
"It's ok baby boy," Night cooed, patting his head.
"Don't be sad, Guinever," Lyndsey said sweetly, smiling at him. Guinever's frown wavered.
"There's my boy!" Lyndsey said, grinning at him. Day and Night continued patting him. He smiled, and they were released from the spell.
"Wish I had a talent like that," Grundy muttered. The girls heard him, and they laughed.
"Aw, you know we love you, Grundy," Day said.
"Hehe, yeah, you're the best, G-man," Night added.
"A real friend!" Lyndsey said with a grin. Grundy was confused by Day's confession of love, and the 'G-man' remark, but he smiled, nonetheless. But he would have to be careful what he said to Day from now on. He was, after all, a married man.
"Looks like some of Guinever's talent rubbed off on you," Lyndsey said, laughing. The others all joined in.
Soon enough, they were done eating. The meat had filled them right up. "Would you like some pie?" Raven asked.
"I'll have some!" Day said. Even though she was full, she could never turn down dessert.
"I will too," Night said. She had the same problem as day. But Lyndsey politely declined.
"I'm really full," she said. "Thanks, but I think I'm done." Guinever hopped up and down once. Lyndsey laughed. "Guinny would like a piece, though." He smiled.
"And you, Grundy?" Raven asked.
Grundy looked surprised. "Sure, I'll have a piece. Thanks," he said. Raven smiled again at the group, then got up and left the room. He came back a moment later with some key-lime pie.
"You will have to take the keys out yourself, I'm afraid," he said apologetically. "I did not have time to."
"That's ok!" Day and Night said. Grundy didn't really mind either, but didn't find it necessary to say so quite so emphatically.
"Not a problem," he said, so as not to seem rude. Raven gave them each a piece of pie, and one to himself, too. They all pulled the keys out, and ate it. Lyndsey, the only one without pie, sat quietly, waiting for the others to finish. It didn't take long.
"Wow, that was great pie," Day said, stretching her arms.
"Good whole meal," Night said, smirking at Day. Raven caught the look, and laughed. Then he smiled at them both.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said. Then he stood up, and cleared the table off. He took the leftovers out of the room, and came back a moment later.
"My parents haven't returned yet," he said. "I suppose you can either go to sleep now, or I can show you around the village."
The girls all jumped up, about to speak, but Grundy beat them to it. "We'll go to sleep," he said. They all frowned. But Guinever didn't frown, because if they were sleeping, the girls' attention wouldn't be focused on a certain someone who wasn't him. Grundy didn't say so, but that was part of the reason he wanted them sleeping, too.
The girls started to protest, but Grundy cut them off again. "We'll have plenty of time to explore tomorrow," he said. "We have to stay in the village until Lyndsey's parents come back, anyway." With disappointed looks, and little glares at Grundy, the girls silently consented.
"I'm afraid the accommodations won't be very…well, accommodating," Raven apologized. "We are normally suited for three people."
"We don't want to put you out," Lyndsey said, frowning. The other girls were frowning too, unhappy at making Raven sacrifice something for them. Then Day got a light bulb.
"We're dumb!" she said. But she sounded happy. Everyone looked at her, confused. "We can just go outside, and Night can get us a cottage. And beds, too," she added.
"Hey, why didn't we think of that before!" Night said. "That's a great idea!" Lyndsey was nodding.
"Yeah, then we don't have to impose on Raven!" she said happily. The girls all smiled at each other. Raven looked confused.
"Night's talent is to move inanimate objects," Grundy explained. Raven looked impressed.
"That must be Sorceress level talent!" he said. "Or at least Neo-Sorceress." Night smiled and nodded happily. "If you would like to do that, please feel free," he continued. "But if you would like to stay in here, you are not imposing," he said politely.
"Oh, we'll go out there," Grundy said, happy to have another reason to get the girls further away from Raven. "That way when your parents get home, you can all sleep in your own beds. It's really no trouble for her to do this," he said. Then he glanced at Night.
"Oh, yeah, no problem at all," she said. She was still in a bit of a haze from Raven's compliment. Day was a little less pleased, since her talent hadn't been mentioned, and she hadn't gotten a compliment.
They all walked outside, the Brain Coral water floating behind them. The girls had gotten so used to it that they barely thought about it anymore, and it still remained with them. Night closed her eyes, and thought about bringing a cottage here. Suddenly, one appeared. It was fair sized. Then she stepped inside it, and thought about three beds. Three big beds with tons of pillows on them popped inside.
"There we go," she said. The others clambered in.
"Nice beds!" Lyndsey said, sinking into hers. Guinever was in her bed also. As a crossbreed pet, it was ok for him to sleep with her.
"Truly a great talent," Raven murmured, looking at Night. She almost melted, and smiled dumbly at him.
"Thanks," she said, blushing. Day glared.
"I suppose I should be going," he said, stepping back. "Have a good night's sleep, and I shall see you in the morning." That said, he stepped all the way out, and closed the cottage door. Grundy got into one of the remaining beds, and Day and Night got into the other.
"Way to hog all his attention," Day said. She stuck her tongue out at Night.
"Ha ha, you're just jealous," Night said.
"You know it!" Day said, smiling. Then they both laughed.
"Pipe down, loud mouths, it's time to go to sleep now," Grundy said. He had apparently gotten his ability to insult back.
"Fine, fine," Day said. "Hey, maybe tomorrow we'll get to meet your brother and sister," she said to Lyndsey, unable to get in one last comment.
"Maybe," Lyndsey said softly. Day let it drop, and she and Night continued to chatter quietly. Lyndsey was unusually quiet for the rest of the night.
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They didn't have to walk far before they reached a small village. It was a secluded little area, surrounded by scattered trees. There were about eight cottages, arranged in a semi-circle pattern.
"This is pretty," Day said, looking around. Night, standing beside her, nodded. The Brain Coral water floated down and up in a nodding head motion, apparently responding to the girls without their thinking about it.
"Just like I remember," Lyndsey murmured. Of course, she probably didn't remember about ten minutes ago, but now that she had Seline's talent, she could.
"This is the village," Seline said, turning around to face them. "That's our house over there." She pointed towards a cottage at the far end of the village. "Maximus and I have to run a little errand, but Raven can take you there, and he'll feed you."
None of the girls looked too upset by this notion. "Oh, I guess I should give you your talent back," Lyndsey said, apparently now remembering about that.
"Oh, no, dear, that's fine," Seline said. "I'd like for you to keep it. That is, if you'd like it." She smiled hesitantly.
"Oh, I'd love it!" Lyndsey said. She smiled. Seline gave her a quick hug.
"Well, it's settled then. Raven will take you to our cottage, and get you fed. Maximus and I will be home shortly." She smiled at the whole group, and with a little wave, she and Maximus walked off into the woods.
"Which means that it is my responsibility to insure you are taken care of," Raven said, smiling at the girls. They all swooned.
"A little food, and then we should sleep," Grundy said, the Voice of Command. "We've had a long day."
"But Grundy, it's not even that late!" Day protested.
"Yeah, we weren't traveling for that long!" Night said stubbornly.
"I want to see the rest of the village," Lyndsey said.
"There'll be time for all that tomorrow," Grundy said. The girls pouted. Raven laughed.
"Please follow me," Raven said, "I'll take you for dinner now." He gestured towards the cottage, then turned and walked towards it. The girls all followed, Grundy looking somewhat less impressed, and Guinever following with a pout.
They soon reached the cottage, as it wasn't very far away. It was fair sized, and when they stepped into it, it seemed even bigger.
Raven stopped, and gestured towards the table. "Make yourselves comfortable. I will be back in a moment," he said, giving them another one of his killer smiles. The girls all smiled dumbly and sat down. Night took Grundy off of her shoulder and set him on the table, and Lyndsey lifted Guinever onto a chair. Raven stepped out of the room.
"Soooo hot!" Day said, her eyes gleaming.
"I know!" Night and Lyndsey said.
"What is?" Grundy asked worriedly. "Is it the chairs?"
The girls all laughed. "Sorry Grundy," Day said. "It's a Mundane term. It means good looking or handsome."
Grundy looked at her strangely. "Hot means good looking or handsome? You Mundanes…so strange. What a birdbrain," he muttered. This just caused the girls to laugh even more.
They only had to wait a few minutes before Raven returned. He brought them some sort of meat, and some cheese, (but it wasn't gorgon-zola, for only the Gorgon could make that), and tsoda popka to drink. They each got a fair sized portion, and Raven sat down to eat, too.
"Wow, this is so good!" Day said, tasting the meat. "What is it?"
Raven grinned. "It is imitation dragon meat. My mother has a snap-dragon plant, and we harvest meat of off it. Of course, it is not as good as real dragon meat, but we find it suffices." Day dumbly nodded, having barely heard his explanation. One smile from him turned a girl to mush!
"Well, I really like it too," Night said. "I haven't ever had real dragon meat, so it tastes awesome to me!" This brought her a smile from Raven, and she turned to mush, too.
Lyndsey took a sip of tsoda popka. It tickled her nose. "Oh!" she said in surprise. "I never had anything like this in the gourd!" Everyone smiled, including Raven. Guinever frowned, apparently unhappy that the attention was not focused on him, and even worse, it was being strongly focused on someone else. His talent kicked in.
"Aww, Guinny, what's that matter?" Day asked, stroking his chin.
"It's ok baby boy," Night cooed, patting his head.
"Don't be sad, Guinever," Lyndsey said sweetly, smiling at him. Guinever's frown wavered.
"There's my boy!" Lyndsey said, grinning at him. Day and Night continued patting him. He smiled, and they were released from the spell.
"Wish I had a talent like that," Grundy muttered. The girls heard him, and they laughed.
"Aw, you know we love you, Grundy," Day said.
"Hehe, yeah, you're the best, G-man," Night added.
"A real friend!" Lyndsey said with a grin. Grundy was confused by Day's confession of love, and the 'G-man' remark, but he smiled, nonetheless. But he would have to be careful what he said to Day from now on. He was, after all, a married man.
"Looks like some of Guinever's talent rubbed off on you," Lyndsey said, laughing. The others all joined in.
Soon enough, they were done eating. The meat had filled them right up. "Would you like some pie?" Raven asked.
"I'll have some!" Day said. Even though she was full, she could never turn down dessert.
"I will too," Night said. She had the same problem as day. But Lyndsey politely declined.
"I'm really full," she said. "Thanks, but I think I'm done." Guinever hopped up and down once. Lyndsey laughed. "Guinny would like a piece, though." He smiled.
"And you, Grundy?" Raven asked.
Grundy looked surprised. "Sure, I'll have a piece. Thanks," he said. Raven smiled again at the group, then got up and left the room. He came back a moment later with some key-lime pie.
"You will have to take the keys out yourself, I'm afraid," he said apologetically. "I did not have time to."
"That's ok!" Day and Night said. Grundy didn't really mind either, but didn't find it necessary to say so quite so emphatically.
"Not a problem," he said, so as not to seem rude. Raven gave them each a piece of pie, and one to himself, too. They all pulled the keys out, and ate it. Lyndsey, the only one without pie, sat quietly, waiting for the others to finish. It didn't take long.
"Wow, that was great pie," Day said, stretching her arms.
"Good whole meal," Night said, smirking at Day. Raven caught the look, and laughed. Then he smiled at them both.
"I'm glad you enjoyed it," he said. Then he stood up, and cleared the table off. He took the leftovers out of the room, and came back a moment later.
"My parents haven't returned yet," he said. "I suppose you can either go to sleep now, or I can show you around the village."
The girls all jumped up, about to speak, but Grundy beat them to it. "We'll go to sleep," he said. They all frowned. But Guinever didn't frown, because if they were sleeping, the girls' attention wouldn't be focused on a certain someone who wasn't him. Grundy didn't say so, but that was part of the reason he wanted them sleeping, too.
The girls started to protest, but Grundy cut them off again. "We'll have plenty of time to explore tomorrow," he said. "We have to stay in the village until Lyndsey's parents come back, anyway." With disappointed looks, and little glares at Grundy, the girls silently consented.
"I'm afraid the accommodations won't be very…well, accommodating," Raven apologized. "We are normally suited for three people."
"We don't want to put you out," Lyndsey said, frowning. The other girls were frowning too, unhappy at making Raven sacrifice something for them. Then Day got a light bulb.
"We're dumb!" she said. But she sounded happy. Everyone looked at her, confused. "We can just go outside, and Night can get us a cottage. And beds, too," she added.
"Hey, why didn't we think of that before!" Night said. "That's a great idea!" Lyndsey was nodding.
"Yeah, then we don't have to impose on Raven!" she said happily. The girls all smiled at each other. Raven looked confused.
"Night's talent is to move inanimate objects," Grundy explained. Raven looked impressed.
"That must be Sorceress level talent!" he said. "Or at least Neo-Sorceress." Night smiled and nodded happily. "If you would like to do that, please feel free," he continued. "But if you would like to stay in here, you are not imposing," he said politely.
"Oh, we'll go out there," Grundy said, happy to have another reason to get the girls further away from Raven. "That way when your parents get home, you can all sleep in your own beds. It's really no trouble for her to do this," he said. Then he glanced at Night.
"Oh, yeah, no problem at all," she said. She was still in a bit of a haze from Raven's compliment. Day was a little less pleased, since her talent hadn't been mentioned, and she hadn't gotten a compliment.
They all walked outside, the Brain Coral water floating behind them. The girls had gotten so used to it that they barely thought about it anymore, and it still remained with them. Night closed her eyes, and thought about bringing a cottage here. Suddenly, one appeared. It was fair sized. Then she stepped inside it, and thought about three beds. Three big beds with tons of pillows on them popped inside.
"There we go," she said. The others clambered in.
"Nice beds!" Lyndsey said, sinking into hers. Guinever was in her bed also. As a crossbreed pet, it was ok for him to sleep with her.
"Truly a great talent," Raven murmured, looking at Night. She almost melted, and smiled dumbly at him.
"Thanks," she said, blushing. Day glared.
"I suppose I should be going," he said, stepping back. "Have a good night's sleep, and I shall see you in the morning." That said, he stepped all the way out, and closed the cottage door. Grundy got into one of the remaining beds, and Day and Night got into the other.
"Way to hog all his attention," Day said. She stuck her tongue out at Night.
"Ha ha, you're just jealous," Night said.
"You know it!" Day said, smiling. Then they both laughed.
"Pipe down, loud mouths, it's time to go to sleep now," Grundy said. He had apparently gotten his ability to insult back.
"Fine, fine," Day said. "Hey, maybe tomorrow we'll get to meet your brother and sister," she said to Lyndsey, unable to get in one last comment.
"Maybe," Lyndsey said softly. Day let it drop, and she and Night continued to chatter quietly. Lyndsey was unusually quiet for the rest of the night.
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