Heyla, everyone! Today we have a guest. This is Stormwing, a Dragonchild.
*Stormwing comes up and takes a bow.* If any of you have read some of
Darkfyre's the Royal Dragon fics, they're the same, or as much as I have
the space to explain. For the rest of you, she's half dragon, half
human/elvish. She can take pretty much any form that mixes those features,
straight human, or straight dragon. And she has an amazing array of Gifts.
Winddancer: *hugs Stormwing.* Glad you made it, Storm. I was wondering where you had gotten to. *Stormwing drags Winddancer to a point in which they can't be heard, then tells her something.*
Shadowwalker: I'm awake, I'm awake - oh great. She's back.
Winddancer: Shadowwalker doesn't like Storm only cause she knows almost everything that we need to. And the fact that she threatens to tell everyone his truename when he acts up to often doesn't help.
Stormwing: Well, one of the reasons that I'm here now is to take a survey. Snowfire the Kitsune says they can't wait till Van and Calsa meet. How many of you want to see that happen? Even though, unfortunately, it's a timeline impossibility, Hawk can pull it off. So if you want to see it, just say so in your review.
And frankly, if you don't say you want/don't want to see it happen in your review, I don't give a damn. Just don't expect what you want to happen to show up.
Oh, and I'm one of Hawk-Sister's people too, meaning you don't steal me if you want to keep writing. *Shadowwalker snorts.* She obviously doesn't own Velgarth, or any Lackey characters, or you'd have to buy the book to read this.
*Hawk rolls eyes.* Don't I wish. Well, beloved readers, time for more fic! ^_^
***
The tawny red-brown robes swished slightly as their wearer walked the dusty roads. Thankfully, they never caught on bushes; there were a lot of those along the paths. Journeyman Calsa of the Fire Mountain School was enjoying herself. It was her third day out, and she didn't have a care in the world.
Except for one thing. The way that Vanyel had isolated himself scared her badly. Badly enough that she dropped her icy mask, and her illusion spell. She left it on her eyes, though, not wanting to scare people with her eye colour. And she continued west.
One night, as she slid into bed, she felt something odd, in the part that had her Van-dreams. But when she tried to focus on it, all she got was an impression of music. *This is weird. I guess I'll have to sleep to find out . . .*
---(It's not fair,) he thought plaintively. (I struggle all my life for the music, and they get it thrown in their laps. I wish I was a Bard, then I wouldn't have to worry about going home.) He returned to the suite that he shared with Savil's students, only to see Tylendel come up to greet him.
'Van?' the older boy asked softly. 'Are you alright.' And for one heart wrenching moment, Cal nearly convinced Van to tell the truth, that hearing the music hurt him more than anything else, because he could never have it. To let down his shields, and make a friend.
But then, at the vital moment, the other took a step towards Van. Her power to convince froze, and she would not, could not coerce him. The shields came back up, and Van smiled and said something trivial, about it being crowded in the Hall.
She cursed him silently as he disappeared into his room.
~The ice dream again. But this time, the plain was no longer featureless. Small hills, then chunks of ice welled up in front of Vanyel. He walked around them, then over them. In the end, he was surrounded by ice, with no way to get out.
He knew, unconsciously, what this was doing to him. But the ice never hurt . . . or so he thought. He looked down at his hand, his hand that he had cut trying to get out, and he saw it numb, then freeze, gaining an icy sheen. And it started to spread.
The dream changed. Van stood in the fork of a passageway, blocking an army Lightning flickered overhead, and blood oozed down his leg. And then four mages came to the front. (I'm going to DIE, and I'm all alone, and the pain, it hurts-)
'Vanyel.'
(Why me? What did I do?)
'Vanyel!'
(I'm so alone and it hurts worse than the ice, knowing that I'm going to die-)
'Vanyel!'~
Hands as hot at coals shook his shoulders, Calsa waited for Van's eyes to focus long enough to see who was there. *'Lendel, eh? Well, at least one of them has some sense.*
'Vanyel, it's OK. I won't hurt you, I swear it.' With those simple words, all of Vanyel's shields came down and with it, all the tears of loneliness and bitterness. The older boy just held him till all the tears were cried out.
Somehow, Calsa didn't know how, she knew that the best thing for Van would be for her to leave this to the Trainee. The gods-damned stupid boy had the sheer nerve to try to brush of 'Lendel's attempts to find out what was wrong, but finally gave in.
And when the opportunity came, Van finally admitted the last part of why the dreams affected him so badly. The part about the Trainee.
*If I don't leave soon,* Cal realized, *I'm going to see, or at least feel, something I don't really want to take place in.*---
So she woke herself up. It was daybreak, and she continued in a wandering fashion westwards.
***
From what she gathered later, the two had become lovers. Savil had granted her protection upon the pair, and they did everything possible to keep the fact secret. Once it became public, after all, it would go to Forst Reach. And when it got there, Withen would come to take his son back.
After two months over Cal's wanderings, the unthinkable happened. 'Lendel died, and Van was Chosen by a Companion named Yfandes. And Cal had realized one thing that many hadn't. The pair was lifebonded.
***
---'I did not bloody well run my best horse to foundering just to get a bloody "come back later," Savil.' Calsa recognized that voice, Withen's voice. For the first time since she had had the dreams, she knew that she could lend Van strength, and give his anguish words.
So when Withen came out to see Van, her strength burned in his veins. Her anger fueled his own. And when Withen made that one fatal verbal misstep, they snatched the opportunity. His Mage-Gift pinned down his father, and Van raged, how Withen had never believed him about Jervis, how he had always found his son strange and perverted. About how 'Lendel was the only person who had been able to show him affection.
And when Withen, awed by his son's emotions, asked if an apology would help, the sixteen year-old turned his back and buried his face in his Companion's silky coat, and he muttered, 'Maybe someday, father. But for now, leave me ALONE. I just lost the one person who cared for ME, not what I stood for, or what I could be, but me. And he's dead and gone, and you just try to rant on about how I wasn't manly enough for you.' ---
***
*Oh gods,* thought Cal upon awakening. *Oh dear gods.* She had come to love the other boy as a brother, and his death, not to mention his lifebonded's anguish, hurt her sorely. *I have to get to Valdemar. If I can help Vanyel, I will.*
But the dreams didn't come for a long time after that. So long, in fact, that Cal wondered if her dream-friend had died, emptied by the loss of his lifebonded. When they came back, she was so relieved that she didn't mind the way the dreams hopped around.
And the dreams were as scattered as leaves in fall, never staying in one place for long. Most of them seemed to be about some sort of battles.
By the time that the snow was melting, Cal had reached the Empiric/Hardonian border, and Van had reached a different kind of border.
There was a boy, young man more like, a Bardic student by the name of Stephan. And it bothered Van that no matter how devoted he remained to 'Lendel's memory, Stephan still attracted him. Cal saw it a different way. *It'd be good for Van to make a friend, and, somehow, I think that it would be more of an insult to 'Lendel's memory if Van doesn't accept what he's feeling to Steph. This is stupid. Why am I worrying about it.*
And stupid it was. If Cal hadn't been so worked up about Van, she may have never had the - interesting - experience of her first, non-teacher conjured mage-trap.
***
*Huh?* It was an ordinary road, with no other people on it, so Calsa hadn't been expecting an invisible wall to suddenly pop up in front of her. *Hm. Now what could this be.* A thin tendril of magic, nothing more than a hedgewizard might use, traced the borders of the trap.
*Damn. Egg-shaped, completely smooth, no magic gets through. Kethryveris of White Winds made this famous. And there are what, two ways to get out. Blast myself out and risk frying to a crisp, or wait for someone to unlock it from the outside. And that will take how long?*
She decided to wait. After all, it wouldn't hurt her, and maybe someone could tell her where in Demonsbane's name she was.
***
Shadowwalker: So, that's where this chapter will end. And if the last part didn't make sense, it's not really Hawk's fault. Her high school does a barbaric test called the twelve minute run, and she hadn't really been practicing.
Stormwing: So everyone know's what they're going to do now, right? Read, review, and say whether or not Van and Cal should meet.
Winddancer*quietly*: When are you going to tell her?
Stormwing: SHH! Later, ok?
Winddancer *shrugs*: Sure.
Shadowwalker *plaintively*: Even when I do pay attention they confuse me.
Winddancer: *hugs Stormwing.* Glad you made it, Storm. I was wondering where you had gotten to. *Stormwing drags Winddancer to a point in which they can't be heard, then tells her something.*
Shadowwalker: I'm awake, I'm awake - oh great. She's back.
Winddancer: Shadowwalker doesn't like Storm only cause she knows almost everything that we need to. And the fact that she threatens to tell everyone his truename when he acts up to often doesn't help.
Stormwing: Well, one of the reasons that I'm here now is to take a survey. Snowfire the Kitsune says they can't wait till Van and Calsa meet. How many of you want to see that happen? Even though, unfortunately, it's a timeline impossibility, Hawk can pull it off. So if you want to see it, just say so in your review.
And frankly, if you don't say you want/don't want to see it happen in your review, I don't give a damn. Just don't expect what you want to happen to show up.
Oh, and I'm one of Hawk-Sister's people too, meaning you don't steal me if you want to keep writing. *Shadowwalker snorts.* She obviously doesn't own Velgarth, or any Lackey characters, or you'd have to buy the book to read this.
*Hawk rolls eyes.* Don't I wish. Well, beloved readers, time for more fic! ^_^
***
The tawny red-brown robes swished slightly as their wearer walked the dusty roads. Thankfully, they never caught on bushes; there were a lot of those along the paths. Journeyman Calsa of the Fire Mountain School was enjoying herself. It was her third day out, and she didn't have a care in the world.
Except for one thing. The way that Vanyel had isolated himself scared her badly. Badly enough that she dropped her icy mask, and her illusion spell. She left it on her eyes, though, not wanting to scare people with her eye colour. And she continued west.
One night, as she slid into bed, she felt something odd, in the part that had her Van-dreams. But when she tried to focus on it, all she got was an impression of music. *This is weird. I guess I'll have to sleep to find out . . .*
---(It's not fair,) he thought plaintively. (I struggle all my life for the music, and they get it thrown in their laps. I wish I was a Bard, then I wouldn't have to worry about going home.) He returned to the suite that he shared with Savil's students, only to see Tylendel come up to greet him.
'Van?' the older boy asked softly. 'Are you alright.' And for one heart wrenching moment, Cal nearly convinced Van to tell the truth, that hearing the music hurt him more than anything else, because he could never have it. To let down his shields, and make a friend.
But then, at the vital moment, the other took a step towards Van. Her power to convince froze, and she would not, could not coerce him. The shields came back up, and Van smiled and said something trivial, about it being crowded in the Hall.
She cursed him silently as he disappeared into his room.
~The ice dream again. But this time, the plain was no longer featureless. Small hills, then chunks of ice welled up in front of Vanyel. He walked around them, then over them. In the end, he was surrounded by ice, with no way to get out.
He knew, unconsciously, what this was doing to him. But the ice never hurt . . . or so he thought. He looked down at his hand, his hand that he had cut trying to get out, and he saw it numb, then freeze, gaining an icy sheen. And it started to spread.
The dream changed. Van stood in the fork of a passageway, blocking an army Lightning flickered overhead, and blood oozed down his leg. And then four mages came to the front. (I'm going to DIE, and I'm all alone, and the pain, it hurts-)
'Vanyel.'
(Why me? What did I do?)
'Vanyel!'
(I'm so alone and it hurts worse than the ice, knowing that I'm going to die-)
'Vanyel!'~
Hands as hot at coals shook his shoulders, Calsa waited for Van's eyes to focus long enough to see who was there. *'Lendel, eh? Well, at least one of them has some sense.*
'Vanyel, it's OK. I won't hurt you, I swear it.' With those simple words, all of Vanyel's shields came down and with it, all the tears of loneliness and bitterness. The older boy just held him till all the tears were cried out.
Somehow, Calsa didn't know how, she knew that the best thing for Van would be for her to leave this to the Trainee. The gods-damned stupid boy had the sheer nerve to try to brush of 'Lendel's attempts to find out what was wrong, but finally gave in.
And when the opportunity came, Van finally admitted the last part of why the dreams affected him so badly. The part about the Trainee.
*If I don't leave soon,* Cal realized, *I'm going to see, or at least feel, something I don't really want to take place in.*---
So she woke herself up. It was daybreak, and she continued in a wandering fashion westwards.
***
From what she gathered later, the two had become lovers. Savil had granted her protection upon the pair, and they did everything possible to keep the fact secret. Once it became public, after all, it would go to Forst Reach. And when it got there, Withen would come to take his son back.
After two months over Cal's wanderings, the unthinkable happened. 'Lendel died, and Van was Chosen by a Companion named Yfandes. And Cal had realized one thing that many hadn't. The pair was lifebonded.
***
---'I did not bloody well run my best horse to foundering just to get a bloody "come back later," Savil.' Calsa recognized that voice, Withen's voice. For the first time since she had had the dreams, she knew that she could lend Van strength, and give his anguish words.
So when Withen came out to see Van, her strength burned in his veins. Her anger fueled his own. And when Withen made that one fatal verbal misstep, they snatched the opportunity. His Mage-Gift pinned down his father, and Van raged, how Withen had never believed him about Jervis, how he had always found his son strange and perverted. About how 'Lendel was the only person who had been able to show him affection.
And when Withen, awed by his son's emotions, asked if an apology would help, the sixteen year-old turned his back and buried his face in his Companion's silky coat, and he muttered, 'Maybe someday, father. But for now, leave me ALONE. I just lost the one person who cared for ME, not what I stood for, or what I could be, but me. And he's dead and gone, and you just try to rant on about how I wasn't manly enough for you.' ---
***
*Oh gods,* thought Cal upon awakening. *Oh dear gods.* She had come to love the other boy as a brother, and his death, not to mention his lifebonded's anguish, hurt her sorely. *I have to get to Valdemar. If I can help Vanyel, I will.*
But the dreams didn't come for a long time after that. So long, in fact, that Cal wondered if her dream-friend had died, emptied by the loss of his lifebonded. When they came back, she was so relieved that she didn't mind the way the dreams hopped around.
And the dreams were as scattered as leaves in fall, never staying in one place for long. Most of them seemed to be about some sort of battles.
By the time that the snow was melting, Cal had reached the Empiric/Hardonian border, and Van had reached a different kind of border.
There was a boy, young man more like, a Bardic student by the name of Stephan. And it bothered Van that no matter how devoted he remained to 'Lendel's memory, Stephan still attracted him. Cal saw it a different way. *It'd be good for Van to make a friend, and, somehow, I think that it would be more of an insult to 'Lendel's memory if Van doesn't accept what he's feeling to Steph. This is stupid. Why am I worrying about it.*
And stupid it was. If Cal hadn't been so worked up about Van, she may have never had the - interesting - experience of her first, non-teacher conjured mage-trap.
***
*Huh?* It was an ordinary road, with no other people on it, so Calsa hadn't been expecting an invisible wall to suddenly pop up in front of her. *Hm. Now what could this be.* A thin tendril of magic, nothing more than a hedgewizard might use, traced the borders of the trap.
*Damn. Egg-shaped, completely smooth, no magic gets through. Kethryveris of White Winds made this famous. And there are what, two ways to get out. Blast myself out and risk frying to a crisp, or wait for someone to unlock it from the outside. And that will take how long?*
She decided to wait. After all, it wouldn't hurt her, and maybe someone could tell her where in Demonsbane's name she was.
***
Shadowwalker: So, that's where this chapter will end. And if the last part didn't make sense, it's not really Hawk's fault. Her high school does a barbaric test called the twelve minute run, and she hadn't really been practicing.
Stormwing: So everyone know's what they're going to do now, right? Read, review, and say whether or not Van and Cal should meet.
Winddancer*quietly*: When are you going to tell her?
Stormwing: SHH! Later, ok?
Winddancer *shrugs*: Sure.
Shadowwalker *plaintively*: Even when I do pay attention they confuse me.
