Hey guys, just for repetitions sake, this used to be the 1st chapter. So, I
hope you like the changes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning dawned on the early risers of the group, attempting to study their respective courses. Kaida, Edana, and Tala lounged under a tree, while Aaralyn and Elcan leaned against a large stone, and Raul paced around a small circle.
"This is impossible!" Kaida glared at the book lying in between her and Edana, as if expecting an answer, "Who in their right mind would *want* to spend hours doing math."
Aaralyn blinked in confusion, her jaw dropping open in shock. "How can you not like math! Are you insane?" The tirade paused for a moment as they all stared at her, "Wait, you *are* insane." Edana chuckled as Kaida glared over her parchment, attempting to concentrate on mastering her evil eye and the math problem at the same time, "I know! I can *tutor* you!" Aaralyn's eyes gleamed, her smile encompassing her whole face, as Kaida crawled away as fast as possible. Sanne walked into the courtyard, walking slowly with her nose in a book.
"NO! NO! Save me! Help!" Kaida opened her eyes wide in a look of mock terror, "You'll brainwash me! You'll turn me into math lover!"
Sanne looked up from her tome of Rethwellan. "SHHH! You guys, you're interrupting my concentration." Elcan began to mockingly shake his finger and shoot stern glares at the others from behind Sanne, "How am I supposed to learn Rethwellan if I have you blaring in my other ear?" The others fell over laughing as Elcan began to mimic every word that Sanne said, "Hey! What's so funny?" She turned around, only to see Elcan looking up at the sky, his face a picture of innocence.
Edana chuckled and tried to pick up Kaida's forgotten notebook, but Aaralyn was quick to snatch it from her. "I'll do it, I'll do it! I love math!" Aaralyn glared at Edana, daring her to protest.
Kaida blanched in terror. "No! Not Aaralyn! She'll keep me locked in a room of math books for hours. It's cruel and unusual torture!"
Raul looked up from his latest invention, a plan forming in his mind. "Aaralyn! Can you help me figure out the measurements for this catapult?" Aaralyn's smile grew as she leapt towards his papers.
Edana laughed, finally picking up the notebook. "Kaida! What in the nine hells does that say? Is that a letter or a number?" She smiled as Kaida turned to glare at her.
"Hey! It's a four!" She crossed out the number and began to write it again painstakingly, as Edana and Aaralyn doubled over with laughter, "There! Is that better? Now, help!" Edana picked herself up from the ground, pulling Aaralyn up at the same time, and bent over the math problems. Tala managed to stop laughing and began to practice the footwork for her fencing, while Elcan went back to practicing his new song.
The friends started as a menacing growl sounded from the entrance to the courtyard. Elcan looked up from his lute, chuckling as Nida stumbled out of the hallway, her pet squirrel perched on her shoulder. She looked around the courtyard, her hair mussed up from sleeping, her face a picture of crankiness. "How are you all awake already? You've been up what, two hours already? You are insane! You're not allowed to be up now!" She sat down next to Elcan, her tirade over, and began to flip through a book on Valdemarian law while petting the squirrel, which was now sitting in her lap, "Ugh! I love anything to do with lawbreaking, but anything can be boring with this kind of writing. I hate homework!" The squirrel jumped out of her lap and began to nibble at the pages of her book. Nida stared at it, and it begrudgingly returned to its place in her lap, after grabbing an acorn from the ground.
"You have such a way with animals, it amazes me." Elcan chuckled, looking over his lute at her book. "That would definitely put me to sleep. Of course, laws in general put me to sleep. Give me a good story, and I'll be fine for hours. I'm so glad I don't have to take law any more. That old bat of a teacher decided I was so inept at it that he wouldn't even bother to try." He grinned as Nida glared at him, quickly putting down his lute so he would be free to fend off her attacks.
***
Kaida slammed her math book closed, finally finished with her homework, "Ugh! That math took two hours!" She paused to glare at her notebook, looking as if she was deciding whether to rip it to bits, "Thanks for your help, Edana." The friends continued to talk, attempting to concentrate on their respective homework, "Hey Sanne, why the long face?" Kaida looked over at Sanne, who was staring out at the entrance to the courtyard.
"Look who's coming to join us." Sanne nodded towards Lamya, walking towards them, a scowl on her face.
"Sanne, just try to ignore her." Edana frowned as Lamya reached their spot in the courtyard.
Lamya clenched her scarred fist, ready to pick a fight now that she was at a safe distance. "So, what are you early birds doing? Being good little children and doing your homework? Just being the little suck-ups that you are? I'm not going to waste my time with you. I have more important things to do with my time." She marched off, not willing to come any closer to the group.
Nida rolled her eyes at the retreating form of the girl. "That is not a face I like to see early in the morning, or any time for that matter. That little tirade was pretty pitiful, though. She just wanted to yell for a while to see how far she could push us. I don't want to waste my time even thinking about her." The others nodded in agreement, slowly going back to their studying.
***
Tala spent the afternoon pummeling out her anger and confusion at some of the recent events. She took a wooden practice blade off of the wall, and made an arc towards the head of the stuffed dummy. *Lamya is pushing our buttons as much as possible, and she's only been here for a day! Why does she have to be such an annoyance? I don't think Lamya's relationship with any of us is going to last much longer.* A seam in the dummy ripped as she sliced at an arm that stuck out enough for a good target. *Raul is driving himself insane trying to keep himself from pummeling Lamya into the ground, as is everyone else.* The arm came flying off, as she belatedly realized that too much pressure on the seams would destroy the weak bonds holding the dummy together. *Lamya has no right to talk to any of us like that, treating us like dirt, no higher than worms. I just want to see her in pain, to suffer for what she's doing to us.* Tala's hair began to sport a deep crimson streak, her eyes shining with the fiery anger numbing her senses, until her sore body brought her back to reality. *One day, hopefully one day soon, we'll travel to Haven. Each of us will find some sort of occupation, so that we can be together, but not quite on top of each other. I'll always have my friends, and maybe Lamya will finally be gone from the picture.* She was left dripping with sweat, the dummy ripped to shreds, but satisfied with the conclusion of her thoughts.
***
Kaida, Elcan, and Edana sat under the shade of the forest, enjoying the peace and quiet away from the buzz from an afternoon spent in the castle. Elcan had brought his lute, and was busy strumming chords as he sought for an inspiration for a new song. "Oh, to the hells with it. I try to write a song, and the only image that comes to mind is Nida growling at us in the courtyard this morning. I don't think I could write much of a song about that!" Kaida chuckled at her twin's antics as he mockingly threw up his hands in despair.
"Oy, Elcan, please don't try to write a song like that around us. You may drive us back to the castle!" Elcan smiled at his sister's expression of dread, "Or worse, we'd have to be polite and listen to it!" Kaida looked over at Edana, who had turned to look at something in the distance, "Edana, what are you looking at?"
Edana squinted, trying to make out a blurred shape. "I'm not sure. I think it's some sort of white or grey animal, and it's moving closer." The twins turned to look off in the same direction.
"Hmmm. A white shape in the distance." Elcan began to mumble under his breath, "I could write a song about that! I have to go write this down before I forget it. Will you two tell me what that shape is once you find out? I must be off!" He grabbed his lute and barreled towards the castle, eager to began his new song.
Kaida smiled at the retreating figure of her brother, "Oy, him and his lute. I swear, we should just permanently attach it to his hand and save him the trouble of having to go back for it constantly."
Edana smiled and turned back to the white shape, unable to tear her eyes away. "It's a horse!" She rose, eager to investigate closer now that the horse had been identified.
Kaida got up, watching her friend walk towards the horse. *A random white horse wandering around in the forest? That is plainly what it is, but why? Wait a minute, a white horse.* Kaida smiled broadly as Edana reached the Companion and stared into it's eyes, completely unmoving, for a couple minutes.
"Rolan," Edana whispered, "Kaida, his name is Rolan. He told me." She rose to cling to the Companion's neck, as Kaida smiled inwardly at her friend's apparent happiness.
"Well, Rolan, you'd better be ready to wait for all of us to pack, since you are not escaping to Haven without us. And you had better take care of Edana, or you will have me coming after you." Kaida gave the Companion a mock stern expression, startled as she heard a voice inside her head.
:You don't have to worry about her coming to harm in my hands, Kaida. I have been searching for her for many months. She is my Chosen, and I will protect her with all of my abilities. And.:
The Companion was cut short as Edana, unaware of the conversation, bubbled with happiness. "Kaida, come on! Let's go tell the others! Isn't this great?" She mounted Rolan and they began to ride all over the forest.
Kaida walked along, brimming with joy for her friend's good luck, only to find herself falling to the ground as she tripped on a root. A jolt of pain flashed through her mind, and then blackness.
"Kaida? Kaida, are you okay?" Edana looked over to where her friend had just been standing.
Rolan stepped in front of Edana as she began to run back to her friend : She'll be fine. Leave her for a second. Trust me. : Rolan's voice sounded in her head, as she stopped short, compelled by some unyielding force.
Kaida woke up to find Edana holding her Companion's neck, staring straight in to his eyes with a broad smile on her face. She shook her head, trying to lose the dizzied feeling from the fall. *It looks like I hit my head on a rock. I've done that before, and this doesn't feel any worse than usual, but why am I seeing double? I swear, Rolan has split into two somehow! I hope this isn't a sign that I've gone completely insane. I don't need imaginary white horses flooding my vision from now on. I have enough trouble to deal with.*
She then looked up, realizing with a start that she wasn't seeing double, but that there were in fact two Companions, only to lose herself in the deep sapphire eyes that held her in place.
:Kaida, I am Gavan. I have been waiting for you to be ready for a long
time now, but I have found you. Nothing will separate us again,
Chosen. :
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning dawned on the early risers of the group, attempting to study their respective courses. Kaida, Edana, and Tala lounged under a tree, while Aaralyn and Elcan leaned against a large stone, and Raul paced around a small circle.
"This is impossible!" Kaida glared at the book lying in between her and Edana, as if expecting an answer, "Who in their right mind would *want* to spend hours doing math."
Aaralyn blinked in confusion, her jaw dropping open in shock. "How can you not like math! Are you insane?" The tirade paused for a moment as they all stared at her, "Wait, you *are* insane." Edana chuckled as Kaida glared over her parchment, attempting to concentrate on mastering her evil eye and the math problem at the same time, "I know! I can *tutor* you!" Aaralyn's eyes gleamed, her smile encompassing her whole face, as Kaida crawled away as fast as possible. Sanne walked into the courtyard, walking slowly with her nose in a book.
"NO! NO! Save me! Help!" Kaida opened her eyes wide in a look of mock terror, "You'll brainwash me! You'll turn me into math lover!"
Sanne looked up from her tome of Rethwellan. "SHHH! You guys, you're interrupting my concentration." Elcan began to mockingly shake his finger and shoot stern glares at the others from behind Sanne, "How am I supposed to learn Rethwellan if I have you blaring in my other ear?" The others fell over laughing as Elcan began to mimic every word that Sanne said, "Hey! What's so funny?" She turned around, only to see Elcan looking up at the sky, his face a picture of innocence.
Edana chuckled and tried to pick up Kaida's forgotten notebook, but Aaralyn was quick to snatch it from her. "I'll do it, I'll do it! I love math!" Aaralyn glared at Edana, daring her to protest.
Kaida blanched in terror. "No! Not Aaralyn! She'll keep me locked in a room of math books for hours. It's cruel and unusual torture!"
Raul looked up from his latest invention, a plan forming in his mind. "Aaralyn! Can you help me figure out the measurements for this catapult?" Aaralyn's smile grew as she leapt towards his papers.
Edana laughed, finally picking up the notebook. "Kaida! What in the nine hells does that say? Is that a letter or a number?" She smiled as Kaida turned to glare at her.
"Hey! It's a four!" She crossed out the number and began to write it again painstakingly, as Edana and Aaralyn doubled over with laughter, "There! Is that better? Now, help!" Edana picked herself up from the ground, pulling Aaralyn up at the same time, and bent over the math problems. Tala managed to stop laughing and began to practice the footwork for her fencing, while Elcan went back to practicing his new song.
The friends started as a menacing growl sounded from the entrance to the courtyard. Elcan looked up from his lute, chuckling as Nida stumbled out of the hallway, her pet squirrel perched on her shoulder. She looked around the courtyard, her hair mussed up from sleeping, her face a picture of crankiness. "How are you all awake already? You've been up what, two hours already? You are insane! You're not allowed to be up now!" She sat down next to Elcan, her tirade over, and began to flip through a book on Valdemarian law while petting the squirrel, which was now sitting in her lap, "Ugh! I love anything to do with lawbreaking, but anything can be boring with this kind of writing. I hate homework!" The squirrel jumped out of her lap and began to nibble at the pages of her book. Nida stared at it, and it begrudgingly returned to its place in her lap, after grabbing an acorn from the ground.
"You have such a way with animals, it amazes me." Elcan chuckled, looking over his lute at her book. "That would definitely put me to sleep. Of course, laws in general put me to sleep. Give me a good story, and I'll be fine for hours. I'm so glad I don't have to take law any more. That old bat of a teacher decided I was so inept at it that he wouldn't even bother to try." He grinned as Nida glared at him, quickly putting down his lute so he would be free to fend off her attacks.
***
Kaida slammed her math book closed, finally finished with her homework, "Ugh! That math took two hours!" She paused to glare at her notebook, looking as if she was deciding whether to rip it to bits, "Thanks for your help, Edana." The friends continued to talk, attempting to concentrate on their respective homework, "Hey Sanne, why the long face?" Kaida looked over at Sanne, who was staring out at the entrance to the courtyard.
"Look who's coming to join us." Sanne nodded towards Lamya, walking towards them, a scowl on her face.
"Sanne, just try to ignore her." Edana frowned as Lamya reached their spot in the courtyard.
Lamya clenched her scarred fist, ready to pick a fight now that she was at a safe distance. "So, what are you early birds doing? Being good little children and doing your homework? Just being the little suck-ups that you are? I'm not going to waste my time with you. I have more important things to do with my time." She marched off, not willing to come any closer to the group.
Nida rolled her eyes at the retreating form of the girl. "That is not a face I like to see early in the morning, or any time for that matter. That little tirade was pretty pitiful, though. She just wanted to yell for a while to see how far she could push us. I don't want to waste my time even thinking about her." The others nodded in agreement, slowly going back to their studying.
***
Tala spent the afternoon pummeling out her anger and confusion at some of the recent events. She took a wooden practice blade off of the wall, and made an arc towards the head of the stuffed dummy. *Lamya is pushing our buttons as much as possible, and she's only been here for a day! Why does she have to be such an annoyance? I don't think Lamya's relationship with any of us is going to last much longer.* A seam in the dummy ripped as she sliced at an arm that stuck out enough for a good target. *Raul is driving himself insane trying to keep himself from pummeling Lamya into the ground, as is everyone else.* The arm came flying off, as she belatedly realized that too much pressure on the seams would destroy the weak bonds holding the dummy together. *Lamya has no right to talk to any of us like that, treating us like dirt, no higher than worms. I just want to see her in pain, to suffer for what she's doing to us.* Tala's hair began to sport a deep crimson streak, her eyes shining with the fiery anger numbing her senses, until her sore body brought her back to reality. *One day, hopefully one day soon, we'll travel to Haven. Each of us will find some sort of occupation, so that we can be together, but not quite on top of each other. I'll always have my friends, and maybe Lamya will finally be gone from the picture.* She was left dripping with sweat, the dummy ripped to shreds, but satisfied with the conclusion of her thoughts.
***
Kaida, Elcan, and Edana sat under the shade of the forest, enjoying the peace and quiet away from the buzz from an afternoon spent in the castle. Elcan had brought his lute, and was busy strumming chords as he sought for an inspiration for a new song. "Oh, to the hells with it. I try to write a song, and the only image that comes to mind is Nida growling at us in the courtyard this morning. I don't think I could write much of a song about that!" Kaida chuckled at her twin's antics as he mockingly threw up his hands in despair.
"Oy, Elcan, please don't try to write a song like that around us. You may drive us back to the castle!" Elcan smiled at his sister's expression of dread, "Or worse, we'd have to be polite and listen to it!" Kaida looked over at Edana, who had turned to look at something in the distance, "Edana, what are you looking at?"
Edana squinted, trying to make out a blurred shape. "I'm not sure. I think it's some sort of white or grey animal, and it's moving closer." The twins turned to look off in the same direction.
"Hmmm. A white shape in the distance." Elcan began to mumble under his breath, "I could write a song about that! I have to go write this down before I forget it. Will you two tell me what that shape is once you find out? I must be off!" He grabbed his lute and barreled towards the castle, eager to began his new song.
Kaida smiled at the retreating figure of her brother, "Oy, him and his lute. I swear, we should just permanently attach it to his hand and save him the trouble of having to go back for it constantly."
Edana smiled and turned back to the white shape, unable to tear her eyes away. "It's a horse!" She rose, eager to investigate closer now that the horse had been identified.
Kaida got up, watching her friend walk towards the horse. *A random white horse wandering around in the forest? That is plainly what it is, but why? Wait a minute, a white horse.* Kaida smiled broadly as Edana reached the Companion and stared into it's eyes, completely unmoving, for a couple minutes.
"Rolan," Edana whispered, "Kaida, his name is Rolan. He told me." She rose to cling to the Companion's neck, as Kaida smiled inwardly at her friend's apparent happiness.
"Well, Rolan, you'd better be ready to wait for all of us to pack, since you are not escaping to Haven without us. And you had better take care of Edana, or you will have me coming after you." Kaida gave the Companion a mock stern expression, startled as she heard a voice inside her head.
:You don't have to worry about her coming to harm in my hands, Kaida. I have been searching for her for many months. She is my Chosen, and I will protect her with all of my abilities. And.:
The Companion was cut short as Edana, unaware of the conversation, bubbled with happiness. "Kaida, come on! Let's go tell the others! Isn't this great?" She mounted Rolan and they began to ride all over the forest.
Kaida walked along, brimming with joy for her friend's good luck, only to find herself falling to the ground as she tripped on a root. A jolt of pain flashed through her mind, and then blackness.
"Kaida? Kaida, are you okay?" Edana looked over to where her friend had just been standing.
Rolan stepped in front of Edana as she began to run back to her friend : She'll be fine. Leave her for a second. Trust me. : Rolan's voice sounded in her head, as she stopped short, compelled by some unyielding force.
Kaida woke up to find Edana holding her Companion's neck, staring straight in to his eyes with a broad smile on her face. She shook her head, trying to lose the dizzied feeling from the fall. *It looks like I hit my head on a rock. I've done that before, and this doesn't feel any worse than usual, but why am I seeing double? I swear, Rolan has split into two somehow! I hope this isn't a sign that I've gone completely insane. I don't need imaginary white horses flooding my vision from now on. I have enough trouble to deal with.*
She then looked up, realizing with a start that she wasn't seeing double, but that there were in fact two Companions, only to lose herself in the deep sapphire eyes that held her in place.
:Kaida, I am Gavan. I have been waiting for you to be ready for a long
time now, but I have found you. Nothing will separate us again,
Chosen. :