Here's the next chappie. Again, mostly Keita's. I just wrote the Kalea part, and changed a few other things. Now to my wonderful reviewers!!!
Keita- Thanks, and thanks again for the compliment on your bio- about this turning into a kick-ass story… Thanks and I hope I'll live up to your expectations!!!
demented-dreamer
6-a-opal- Well, that is a question that's very hard to answer right now….*ponders* Well, let's just say Keita owned it, then gave it to me and Katherine of Heartspark, since we both wanted it. There. So Katherine and I are both making versions of Gem Three, only she calls hers "A Gem Asunder". There you are.
Only 3 reviewers??? *sniff* Well, everyone review now and make up for it!! *smiles brightly*
~ladyknight
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12 years later…
Tallys was walking in her beloved forest taking in the sights and sounds that surrounded her. She always felt some much closer to the trees and plants than she did any people. Even her parents. Sure she liked them and all… they just weren't her trees. She sighed as she plopped herself down at the base of an enormous pine. She really should be going back to do her chores, but she felt so peaceful here. She gazed longingly at the pine tree above her. She wondered what it was thinking? What did it know about the world it had seen so much of? As she leaned back against the dry tree bark she jokingly called out a message to the tree.
What do you know? What can you tell me?
Much, little sapling…
Tallys gasped. What was that voice? Why was it… in her head? The tree! Had the lonely pine really spoken to her? Tallys shook her head and went to do her chores. Anything to keep her mind off of what had just happened.
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In the River Drell, normally a river that swept away and killed anything that dared enter it's waters was a second home to Nerina. She had always remembered swimming in it. She could probably swim before she knew how to walk. Her parents always frowned upon that though, because, although they weren't nobles, they were still one of the richer merchant families in the area. She was supposed to be very dignified. And she usually was… unless she came near a body of water. She loved water, the raging rivers, little happy brooks, large serene lakes, or ponds brimming with life. She had seen them all in her parent's travels through the eastern parts of Tortall. How she wished she could see the ocean, just once…
Quickly glancing around to see if anyone was near, she stripped off her clothes and hid them beneath the branches of a willow tree. Then she dove in. Nerina loved the feeling of water rushing past her. Tickling her. She dove to the bottom of the river and strangely enough, her ears didn't pop from the pressure. She had been there full five minutes enjoying the feeling and the way everything looked when she finally realized why everything looked more interesting now. She could SEE underwater. None of the blurry eyes. I must finally be getting used to water now, she thought. She stayed down a couple more minutes until she realized something more important. She hadn't breathed for almost 10 minutes
Panicking Nerina quickly kicked her way to the top ready to take the huge gasps of air she thought her lungs would need. Strange how they didn't seem to burn like they always did… She broke the surface of the water and found that, she honestly didn't need to breath. In fact, it felt more comfortable to be underwater not breathing than to be above it, forced to take gulps of air. Nerina dove down again. This time she stayed for a good 20 minutes before hearing some muffled noises on land. Wondering what they were she swam up, just far enough so she could see who it was. It was her mother, running through the trees near the shore with a dangerous looking scowl on her face.
Quickly swimming up behind the overhanging branches of the willow she climbed out, her body screaming to be put back in the water. She quickly dressed and ran home, avoiding her mother. With nay luck she could be home embroidering some pillow before her mother got back. She could then pretend that she hadn't gone anywhere.
Brilliant she thought as she ran, her hair drying itself quicker than ever.
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Kalea sat on the cool sand, wiggling her sun-browned toes near the fire she had built. She watched her small fire closely, loving the way the hot flames jumped this way, then that. She sighed. Kalea loved fire, the beauty and grace with which it danced upon it's wood. She loved it much more than her family, especially her mother. Her mother was horrible, not a proper Bazhir woman at all. Of course, the days of veils were over, but her mother was a dancer, a sexy little slut. She had 8 children, including Kalea. None of the children knew there fathers, as about 9 months after a new tribe or company with young men passed through, their mother bore another child. They were all "mixed," the rude Bazhir word for a half Bazhir, half outsider. Kalea did love her siblings, a little, but her mother was out of her range.
She squeezed her tickling palm into a fist, then considered something. Her palm was tickling?!?! She opened her hand again to muffle a scream with her other hand. Her hand was burning!!! She quickly snuffed it out in the sand, then realized something- it didn't hurt. She was confused, but slowly reached a hand into the fire in front of her. It tickled again, but gave her a pleasant feeling. The fire grew a little by little, and 20 minutes later, Kalea, laughing, was almost engulfed in her fire.
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Well, there you are. My personal writing will come in the next chapter. For a preview, I wrote all of Kalea's thingy above. Yea!!! Second chappie is UP!!!! Next one should come soon, but (I'm stealing this from my other fic) if more reviews come, then the next chappie will mysteriously come quicker!!!! *readers wonder* (not really). Yeah, so there you are. And REVIEW!!!!!!!
