[8-19-03: I've decided that thoughts will now be in italics. It makes it a heck of a lot easier to read and write, so...yeah... :) Flashbacks/memories, as long as they're not very long, are also in italics]

Kelty finished up in her temporary room, shut the door, and proceeded down the staircase that lay before her. Upon entering the room at the bottom of the stairs, Rhilent Pender called out.

"I'm in the kitchen!" Following the sound of the man's voice, Kelty found herself in a quaint little room. It had an off-white colored tile floor with golden swirls on it, brown cabinets, two small sinks, and a wooden table with four wooden chairs. The sun shined through the window casting rays of light throughout the room. As Kelty walked through one of them, she grinned as she felt the heat on her face. Walking over to Rhilent, she spoke.

"Can I help you with anything?"

"No, no, my dear, please sit down and make yourself comfortable." Rhilent replied. He proceeded to serve Kelty a steaming bowl of oatmeal and a piece of toast with grape jelly on it. "Milk or orange juice?"

"Orange juice please," said Kelty as she started eating. Within minutes, she had finished her oatmeal. Wow, I didn't realize I was so hungry. Wait--oh, of course I'm hungry; I slept for almost three days! "Umm..." Pender walked over to Kel and poured some more food into her bowl. He smiled. "Thanks." The man sat down opposite of Kelty at the table.

"So," he began, "where are you from Lady Keltaline, and what in Mithros' name happened to your shoulder?"

"I'm from Whitehorn. My parents and I were traveling here, to Irontown, in order to visit some," Kel made a face, "friends."

"I take it you aren't very excited to see them. May I inquire as to why not? They are friends, as you just said, no?"

"Well yeah, I guess... they're more my parent's friends though. Actually, they all used to go to school together. But their son? Well...their son is..." the bright-eyed, round-faced teenager trailed off, but then began to rant, "a rude, egotistical, piece of crap!" Pender raised his eyebrows.

"Well then..."

"Plus, he's just plain mean."

"I see now why you aren't very happy to be seeing them. And what about your cut? How did you get injured?"

"You know," Kelty replied, "I don't really remem--" Voices went through her head as images played in her mind.


~ She spun around and her sword struck his cheek.

"AHHH!" Kahlir screamed out in pain. The cut on his cheek was bleeding heavily. That would definitely leave a mark. "Why you--" Keltaline dashed out of her parent's tent and disappeared into the crowd of fighters. She stopped to think and look around for a second, but that proved to be a bad idea when a Scanran stabbed Kel in her left shoulder.~


 "No...no...," Kel started saying, beginning to get frantic, "that's impossible. How could they...? But my parents...what about my parents??" More memories flashed before her eyes.


~ The Scanran, who was standing above Kel's mother with his sword through her stomach, turned to face Kelty. He was clearly angered because his work had been interrupted.~


Unsuccessful at stopping them, tears flowed freely from Kelty's eyes. Unaccustomed to this kind of emotional display, Rhilent put his hand awkwardly on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm...so...sorry," she started saying, sobs interrupting her sentences, "I don't mean to get all...weepy on you...uh...oh gosh, I'm so sorry! I don't even know your name!"

"Rhilent Pender, at your service," he said, and gave a little chuckle. As the girl still shuddered from her crying, he realized that it probably wasn't the best time to be cracking jokes. Patting her shoulder, he encouraged Kel to tell him what happened. She took a few deep breaths and calmed down. Then she started to tell the friendly old man what happened.

"Well Mr. Pender--"

"Call me Rhilent."

"Ok. Well Rhilent, as you know, my family and I were traveling from Whitehorn to Irontown. When we camped for the first night, we awoke to a group of Scanrans attacking our camp. I ran into my parent's tent and I saw...I saw..." At this point, Kelty had to take another breath to calm herself. She continued. "I saw the Scanran leader, Kahlir, stab my mother, killing her. I don't even know what happened to my father. To sum the rest up, Kahlir saw me, we fought, I cut up his cheek, ran out of the tent, stopped to look around, and got stabbed by some Scanran. I guess I just passed out then. Next thing I knew I woke up here."

Now it was Rhilent's turn to take a deep breath. That must be hard, watching your mother get killed by filth--a scum that the world should be rid of.

"Wow, that must've been horrible for you." What a stupid thing to say! She probably thinks I'm-- well--wait a second. What am I supposed to say anyway? It's not like I can really relate. Kel mumbled in agreement. "What do you think you'll do now? I'm not trying to get rid of your or anything; you can stay here if you want, but your cut seems to be healing up pretty well, so you could leave today even . All I have to do is remove your stitches." Kelty had a thoughtful look on her face, so Pender continued. "I'm going to clean up, then go read in the living room. I've leave to you think for a little bit, so when you've decided on what you're going to do, let me know."

Kel started to consider her options. Well, I can stay here for a little while, but I don't want to be rude. I should probably visit the Trisants and let them know what happened. I need to let the rest of my family know too. I can send a letter to them. Maybe I could find out if my relatives in Galla would allow me to live with them. Er...No way, I don't want to stay with them; it'd be pure torture and incredibly boring. Well, I am fifteen now...I could go off on my own...see what Destiny has planned for me. Hey, why not? It'll be an adventure, and it'll be fun! Kelty thought a little more, then got up and walked to a connecting room, one that was furnished with a few chairs, a rug, a fireplace, and some windows. She approached Pender and started speaking.

"Ok, here's what I'm going to do. I think I should go back to our campsite and give my parents a proper burial...it's only right. I'll come back to Irontown, visit my parent's friends, then travel to...well, I'm not really sure where I'll go after that. Wherever the gods place me, I suppose." While she was talking, Pender got up, retrieved the girl's money, and gave it to her. "Rhilent, I thank you so much for all your help and generosity. I'd like to pay you for these clothes that--"

"No, no, please Lady Keltaline, I'd very much appreciate it if you kept your money. Who knows, you may stumble into a situation where a little extra money will be needed."

"Are you sure you--"

"Yes, I'm sure. Now here are the clothes you arrived in," Pender said as her handed Kelty's clothes to her. "They're washed, and I got the blood stains out. Also, I figured you could use a bag to put some of your stuff in, when you travel." The five-foot-eleven girl bent down to give the older man a hug.

"Thank you so much. You are amazing Rhilent, and I really appreciate this."

"It's nothing my dear, really. Now be off! Go on your way! You don't want to lose anymore time." He smiled. Kel put her money and her clothes into her bag. As she packed it, she noticed that Rhilent had packed an extra pair of clothes too. I should repay him for these someday. I'll send him some money after I'm on the road for a while. Rhilent had gone around back, untied Lighthert, and brought him to Kelty. She mounted her horse.

"Again, thank you. I'll see you again someday," Keltaline said, smiling.

"I hope. Be careful out there Lady Keltaline, you never know what could be right around the corner. Mithros bless, child." And with that, Kelty rode off down the road, praying that she could make it back to camp in time to bury her parents and honor their deaths.


~~~~~

Author: Well, this chapter wasn't very long, but I'm working; I'm working. I still kinda feel like this is getting off to a slow start, but it should start improving soon. I /promise/ it'll start getting a lot more interesting, ok? And again, I really need reviews or emails. Trust me, ANYTHING is appreciated. School starts next week *eep* and my birthday is in *14* days! Whoo Hoo!

Thanks a max-a-million to:

Chrissy (editing, even when she doesn't really want to. Thanks!!)