Author's Note: Yep, I been a busy ickle girly and got this chappie typed up quickly. Go me! Newayz, you might be glad to know that there's this chapter, then one more development chapter, probably shorter than the rest of them, cuz I've already done a little development on this char in other chappies too, then there's the first big fight scene! So that might take a while to write, k.
Yani is one of my personal favorite characters, so I had fun with this chapter. You're gonna luv him. Especially some of the things he does to Sonari . . .
Sonari: O_O What do you mean . . .?
DAY: ^_^ Oh, you'll find out!
Rigana: o\/o? Should she be that happy about it?
Newayz, back to my author duties. Time to answer questions!
Okie, Regrem, the reason I didn't tell ya it was updated, and the reason I don't talk to ya on neo anymore is cuz I haven't been on in the last week. ;-; I been a very busy girl with school, and all my music stuff, then in my spare time I've been writing this ficcy to keep ya all happy. But I think everyone in the RP forum thinks I'm dead, and I feel so guilty about doing this to them all the time, especially in the mystical labyrinth. That's like the best RP ever . . . partly cuz I'm an Elf. YEEEEEEE!!!!!!!! Okie, that went really off-topic. I will take your advise about saying what peep is talking more, especially when they're more than two of them talking, even though sometimes you can tell who it is just by the way they talk.
And yes, Rigana's a Wingly. She's the mayor of Lahrin, which is a Wingly-only town. Sometimes they have just passersby, like Yani and Sonari, but they don't stay very long.
And aerena, just cuz I have fun torturing Sonari doesn't mean that he doesn't get respect. You'll see in later chappies that he does get an awful lot of respect . . .
Oh boy, that was long. Newayz, here's the next little chappie. Enjoy!
Yani"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Sonari whispered in Yani's ear after the Wingly guard had flown off, saying something about needing to make sure they would be permitted to enter. "I mean, if that guy had to go and ask . . ." Sonari left the question unvoiced.
Yani shrugged nonchalantly. "Do you know what these stones do?"
"No," Sonari replied, "but is it really so important?"
"I dunno. But would you rather find out and not need the info, or find out that these stones are the one thing that stands between the world and destruction, and we can't use them because we don't know what they do?"
"That's stupid."
"Hey, it could happen! I guess . . . in a story . . ." Yani stopped protesting when he saw his comrade's cold hazel eyes lock on his own in a don't-give-me-that-crap look. "Fine, you win. So that's not very likely to happen. You can go if you want, but I'm staying. I don't want to take that chance."
There was silence for a few seconds. Yani knew full well that Sonari wouldn't leave without him. They had become like brothers since the time that they both left their homeland. He also knew that his happy-go-lucky attitude tended to annoy his taciturn friend, but it didn't take away the relationship they had. Yani felt like he truly was the young warrior's older brother. And he truly thought that Sonari felt that he acted like an overprotective sibling. Well, it wasn't every day that you had a sibling like Sonari . . .
Yani was just about to open his mouth to tell Sonari not to be stupid and just stick out a couple of days in a Wingly town, when the guard flew back down towards them.
"You are free to come in, but I was bid to warn you that there is a Festival tonight and that Humans such as yourselves might not like the topic addressed. If you feel that you might be offended, please stay in the inn tonight and don't cause any trouble."
With that statement, the gate to the town opened, and the two Men entered. The guard may have said that there was a Festival tonight, but nothing could have prepared them for what they saw as they entered.
Lahrin was a small town, with a medieval look to it, twisting streets and old-fashioned houses, and the like. But today the streets were full of Winglies bustling around, with the general air of having too much to do and too little time to do it in. Yani walked off into the crowd, yelling to Sonari not to lose sight of him while he tried to find the mayor, or whoever it was that was an expert in these magical matters. Nevertheless, less than 5 minutes into the town, and hopelessly lost in the maze of labyrinthal streets, Yani looked over his shoulder to find his friend gone. He searched desperately, knowing that Sonari's height would give him away if he was anywhere in sight, but Yani couldn't see anyone who was three or four inches taller than most people. He sighed, and followed the road on towards what seemed to be the middle of the town. He would find Sonari at the inn, probably drinking.
He spends way too much time drinking and fighting nowadays. He needs to learn how to have fun again. I don't blame him for forgetting; Lana sucks all the fun out of life . . . But still . . . it's going to be his 23rd winter this year, he should still be out partying, and I should be the one sitting drinking all night. I'm gonna have to work on a way to get him doing things . . . Yani thought to himself, as he wandered aimlessly around the unfamiliar town.
He drew his cloak closer around his body, despite the warm temperature. Well, it was a warm temperature for him, anyway. He wandered for a couple more minutes, and half wondered to himself why no one would stop and talk to him, because someone had to have noticed the confused and lost expression on his face. Was it because they were all so busy that they didn't have a single second to spare for him? Or was it because they had never seen him before, and in a town this small, it seemed that strangers weren't something seen very often? Or was it because they were all Winglies, and he was a Human? Sure, Yani couldn't see the wings of the people around him, but that doesn't mean they weren't there. And he could just tell.
Abruptly, the street opened out into an open area, the square in the center of the town. The street carried on in a circle around the outside of a large garden type of area. Around the outside of the garden, there were benches placed at periodical distances. At one of these benches sat a Wingly woman with black hair wearing a black leather skirt and purple shirt. She was staring into her lap and seemed to be upset about something.
Yani walked over and sat on the bench next to the woman. Maybe if he could talk to her about what she was upset about, then maybe she could help him find out what was up with those stones. He took out the green one he kept for himself, and looked in wonder at how the setting sun seemed to make the stone glow a deep emerald green in his hand. He shook his head, put the stone back in his pocket, and glanced back at the woman beside him. She still hadn't seemed to realize that he was there. He gently touched her shoulder to alert her to his presence. And she jumped a mile. Obviously she didn't realize that he was sitting there. They sat for a moment, just looking at each other. Finally, the silent staring was too much for Yani to handle.
"You okay?" he asked cautiously. "You looked kinda like you were crying."
"No, I'm fine. Just thinking . . ." the Wingly woman responded. She didn't really sound okay, but it wasn't really his business. If she wanted to lie to him, then . . .
"Well, okay then, if you're sure." There were a few more seconds of silence. "Well, I was wondering if there was any way that I could talk to the mayor, or leader, or whatever you call the top man in this town. I need to talk to him about something . . ."
"Um, I guess you found her . . ." Well, that certainly wasn't the response he expected. But he managed to keep his surprise fairly well hidden. That is, he didn't stare at her open mouthed.
"Oh, that's good. Listen, I've got a couple of things I'd like to talk to you about. Might take a while, so why don't we grab some dinner, or something, and talk about it then."
"Um, okay." Rigana was a little bit surprised by that offer. It wasn't every day that some almost complete and total stranger comes up to you and asks you out to dinner. "But how about tomorrow. I've got to narrate the dance at the main event at the Festival tonight. You coming?"
"Sure, why not? Sounds like it'll be good."
"Oh," Rigana just seemed to remember who she was talking to. "Are you sure you want to go? It's all about the Winglies and their reign and fall."
"That's okay. I think it'll be interesting to see the whole thing from the Winglies' point of view."
"Okay then." Rigana stood up. "See you there then." She started to walk away, then turned back. "You know, I never caught your name . . ."
"Yani. Yours?"
"Rigana. Well, see you at the Festival. Then dinner tomorrow, right?"
"Yep. See you around." Rigana walked off, and Yani lost sight of her straight away. He stood up and turned around hoping to find his way to somewhere where he could find Sonari. He turned around, and bumped right into his friend.
"Hey, Sonari! I was just looking for . . ." but the look in Sonari's eyes stopped him from saying anything more.
"Did I hear what I just thought I heard? Did I hear you asking a Wingly out to dinner?" Sonari's voice was cold and hard. The very sound of it almost disintegrated any attempt at humor that Yani might make of the situation. "We've been here all of what? Maybe half an hour, and you're flirting already!" Sonari's raised voice was starting to draw attention, especially seeing and no one could understand what they were saying; Sonari had chosen to make this outburst in their native language.
"Sh! You don't know what's going on!"
"I know exactly what's going on. Come on, we're leaving." The scowl on Sonari's face dared Yani to argue.
I don't understand your hatred of Winglies, my friend. It's been more than 16,000 years since they've wronged us, or our people. Yet still you hold that grudge as personal. But whatever the reason, I intend to stay here until I figure out what's going on. Even if you do scare me a little sometimes . . . Okay, maybe more than a little . . . Yani thought to himself.
"No. I'm staying. Do what you want, but I'm staying."
Author's Note: Were ya right aerena? Probably. I dropped an awful lot of hints . . . Like the fact that she had never seen the man before, and that Yani was still in the town somewhere, ya know, simple stuff like that. More development on Sonari too in that chappie.
Sonari: I do NOT sit and drink all night.
Yani: . . .
Sonari: O_o I don't. Besides, you're always the one who . . .
DAY: *yelling* Right! The both of you shut up right now! Or else I'll banish you to the past. *stops yelling to explain* That's like the worse punishment ever. You'll have Shana glomping all over you guys before you're there for two minutes. *mutters under breath about 'stupid clingy Shana'* (sorry to all you Shana fans, but I hate the girl's guts. She's a pansy . . .)
Yani: :- She pretty?
DAY: *slaps Yani upside of head*
Yani: Ow . . .
Rigana: O_o?
Grrr . . . stupid characters. Good-bye and have a nice day. Don't forget to review on your way out!