Aether Winds
Chapter thirteen- Terror's Afoot
By- IceWind
A/N:
This is my first fanfic for The Protector of the Small books by Tamora Pierce. The names, places, things, ect, all are credited to her. The word Aether goes to Juliet E. McKenna, but the way I use it and the gem idea is all mine. This fanfic is set in an alternate universe. I.E: Joren is NOT dead, Cleon and Kel are not together (hehe), and other incidents that have I messed up on and don't feel like making it exactly like the book. Please REVIEW *grins* and as long as its not flames on how Kel and Cleon should be together or something of that trivial nature, flames are fine. This story is PG-13 for anything that might come up lol.
IceWind: *grins* We are finally getting somewhere in this chapter!
Kaori: *yawns and flicks her wings* Finally
Raen: *pads up* Ignore her. *grins at everyone* Hope you like this chapter!
Caitie: ehhh I've seen Lord of the Rings, but I DIDN'T get the elf idea from that! I got it from a book I read… anyway… And I've never read Robin McKinley…. And personally I thought I made the word hizar up! (it was for an rpg that I was playing) hmmm weird.
dj dim sims: *groans softly and smiles in apology* Sorry, but I have never taken Latin *shrugs* If it doesn't make any sense think of it as a new language! *grins* Again, my apologies *bows*
Rhysati: Hmm… how long until I get the elves in huh? A couple of chapters most probably *grins* And yes she was ooc *smirks* You can't expect a person to keep them in character all the time! *rolls her eyes* If I did that, Joren and her would NEVER fall in love, don't ya know that? hehe
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They didn't talk about what Kel had accomplished too much, Joren didn't seem to care, and Raen thought that since she finally learned how to use one aspect of her powers, it was enough. Kel sighed softly, still thinking about what had happened, Raen said that it began because I got angry… Now is that good or bad? I'm not sure if I can control it if I get furious… goddess… They were heading towards a nearby town to get some supplies and maybe a couple of horses to hurry up the journey to the elves, the town of Morain. Raen said that it is about a couple of candle marks away, she quickened her pace, sick of walking everywhere.
Beside her, Raen lengthened his strides, his walk fluid and graceful, eyes and ears alert for anything else that might come their way. Unbeknownst to Kel and Joren, his thoughts were distinctly different then what they were thinking, the Jerogil are a peaceful species… Why did they attack? Unless… No, the seven gods no… Concern entered his eyes as he glanced up at Kel, have they found out about Mistress? I have to keep her… and that boy… safe.
Joren walked easily ahead of Kel, scouting the way. One hand seemed to never stray from it's position at the hilt of his sword, eyes wary, there is something wrong with that hizar, it hasn't been telling us everything… stupid over-grown cat. We have been attacked to many times in such a short span of time, why? His thoughts were dark as he brushed a tree branch aside, ice blue eyes cold. His wound from the night before was bound up well, Raen had tried to get Kel to heal it for him, but Joren told them firmly, no. He smirked a bit at that recollection, I would probably be set on fire, thanks, but no thanks. He gave a soft snort in derision, as if I'd thank Kel and that creature of hers anyway.
Kel watched Joren's back, frowning slightly to herself; he hasn't spoken since this morning… is something wrong? As she mulled that thought over, another struck her, wait a minute, why do I care anyway? Her frown got deeper, and unknowingly she began to walk faster once more, finally reaching Joren's side and asking cautiously, "Are you okay?" Stupid, stupid question Kel… That sounded incredibly daft. She gave herself a mental kick in the head.
He glanced at her, a smirk lighting his face, "Why do you care?" Raen trotted up to them wordlessly, just watching…
She gave him a good-natured scowl, "Because…" she paused for a second, thinking about her reply, finally saying with a touch of exasperation, "I just do!"
Joren raised a brow at her wordlessly, still smirking, "Interesting, Mindelan." He continued to walk, still not replying to her question.
With irritation she intoned her question one last time, "Well?" Beside her Raen watched with something akin to interest in his gaze, amusement over the duo. His ears pricked slightly, but other then that pretended no concern in the conversation.
He stopped, almost causing Kel to walk on without him; she whirled around and tilted her head to the side, looking up at his face. His voice cold he replied to her, "Don't mess with ice, it would leave you feeling more empty then before," with that said, he strode on, ignoring the amused Raen and the confused Kel.
She scowled at his retreating back and began to walk again, muttering, "Well you aren't exactly made of ice." Kel rolled her eyes slightly, and isn't it: don't mess with fire or you'll get burned? Eh… well, for Joren I guess he is more closely related to ice rather then fire.
~
They stood at the edge of the town of Morain, about to enter, when Raen abruptly stopped. Dark blue apologetic eyes looked up at Kel, Mistress… I think that it is better if I do not go in He stood rather tense and kept his back to the shadows, blending into it smoothly. The only thing that stood out was his silver gem, which caught on small slivers of light and sparkled lightly.
Joren glared down at the hizar coldly, hand lightly fingering the hilt of his sword, "Cat… you are going to go in. We do not know if we can trust you, now do we?" His eyes swiftly calculating took in the situation, "For all we know you could be leading us into a trap."
Kel winced slightly at Joren's glacier cold voice, looking down at the hizar sorrowfully, "Actually, I trust you Raen, Joren doesn't. Why?"
Raen almost shuffled his feet in self-consciousness, eyes flickering with disdain over Joren's figure, to stare up into Kel's warm hazel brown eyes. Finally he answered her with a tinge of regret in his mind-voice; I haven't been… fully honest… with you Mistress
A soft snort echoed in the air, causing both Raen and Kel to look at Joren. He almost ignored Kel, focusing his attention on the hizar, "How can she trust you if you haven't told her everything?" Raen bristled slightly, teeth showing as he bared them at Joren, a low hiss emitting from his muzzle. Joren glared down at the hizar with contempt. They locked gazes, the tension mounting between them.
"Hey!" Kel's voice cut through their glaring contest; her hands were on her hips as she glowered at them both. Raen was the first to break away from Joren's gaze, looking up at Kel with a mental sigh. Joren quickly followed suit, looking archly at Kel while leaning against a tree. She frowned, but continued to speak, "I trust Raen, I really do!" Her last comment was directed to the non-believing Joren, "But Raen…" The hizar cut off his triumphant look at Joren to stare at her, "You have to tell us more about what's going on! Why shouldn't you go into town? I know it would make Joren less suspicious if you do so."
Raen was distinctly arrogant as he replied to her, Mistress, I do not care what he thinks. I care about what YOU think His tail flicked insolently towards Joren's direction.
She scowled down at him, displeasure in her eyes, "But I care what Joren thinks, so you should to!"
Joren widened his eyes slightly at that statement, why should she care about what I think? He watched with renewed interest towards them both.
The hizar sighed and curled his tail around himself, his mind voice low as he muttered at reply.
"What? I… err… we can't hear you Raen!" She looked down at the hizar in confusion, straining to hear what he was saying.
Because it wouldn't be wise if you did Mistress! Raen's mind-voice was vehement, eyes looking up pleadingly at Kel's.
Kel asked softly, "Why?" She glanced at Joren quickly, seeing his impassive face before looking back down towards Raen.
Raen sighed, defeated; Hizar's are regarded with displeasure in this world. We are seen as murderers, monsters, and thieves… Humans hate and fear us, they are afraid of what we can do. They on occasion strive to eradicate us from this world… but they always fail His eyes darken as he continued, They do have some justification, we see ourselves better then mere humans and we flaunt that fact in their faces repeatedly. They hate us, we hate them. We NEVER bind ourselves with others except for our mates, only in extremely rare cases and never with the human kind He looked up into Kel's eyes and proceeded, If I go into town there is no telling what the humans would do to you, it would be better if I stick into the shadows and wait for you…
Joren scowled down at the hizar, "So we are walking with one of the most hated and feared creatures on this world? Mithros!"
Kel threw him a sharp look, for once cutting off his remaining words. She looked down at Raen, thinking to herself, and finally saying, "You should have told us you know."
Raen gave a miserable nod, regret filling Kel's, and lightly touching, Joren's mind. For once the proud hizar looked defeated and unhappy with the turn of events. His ears were flattened and his tail was curled up against his side tighter then it had been before.
Finally Kel knelt down before the hizar and touched the bottom of his muzzle with her hand, bringing up his head so they see eye-to-eye. A soft smile appeared to the startled hizar, "It's okay Raen, really."
Joren remained silent, just watching Kel with interest, she forgives so easily, if it had been me I would have thrown the hizar somewhere hard and full of raging beasts, his hand still laid near the hilt of his blade, but he didn't think that he would have to draw it anytime soon.
She continued to speak to the hizar, a grin on her face, "But that doesn't mean your getting away with it." Her face was amused as the hizar began to blubber out what he would do to regain her confidences and she gently, but unknowingly, put a mental block on him so that she could actually speak without him interrupting, "Your coming with us into town." That done she got up from the ground and swept the dust away with her hands that appeared on her breeches.
The hizar looked up at her with something akin to awe before he used his own magic to eliminate the mental block, You sure Mistress? At her nod he fell silent before giving her a happy overtone in her mind.
His face impassive, Joren watched the exchange calmly, finally asking, "You done?" At their nods he smirked, "Good, let's go."
With that done, they all strode into town, Raen still trying to stick in the shadows so he wouldn't be so noticeable. The people around them began to whisper amongst themselves; not only about the appearance of a hizar, but also about the fact that the strangers were carrying an assortment of weapons and that the woman was wearing men's clothing.
Joren gave a mild glare at Kel, a smirk on his face, "Did you have to wear that today?"
She gave a scowl at him, well aware of the many eyes on their little group, "You know very well that I had to wear this. We weren't exactly packing for a vacation when we landed here now were we?"
A soft chuckle emerged from his mouth, getting a wide-eyed look from Kel, "Sarcastic now aren't we?"
Kel shrugged and glanced around at all of the people, "I tend to get nervous around big crowds." She glanced around at the shops and places, "Where are we going anyway?"
Raen appeared briefly in front of her and gave an arrogant look around, Humans and their stores A couple of gasps appeared from several nearby people at the sudden manifesting of the hizar, and several of them seemed about to draw their weapons. At that sight, Raen once again seemed to melt into the shadows, following Kel and Joren discreetly.
Joren gave a dismissive glance around, "We'll get some supplies and head towards the inn to see if we can find a place to buy some horses," he started walking in the direction of a store.
She hurried to catch up with him, muttering softly so that people around them can't hear, "What will we use for money?" Her concern was apparent as she looked up at Joren.
He scowled and shrugged, an amused smirk on his face, "If anything else we can try to pawn off your gem." He continued to stride forward towards the nearest store.
Kel gave him a glare and shook her head, saying flatly, "No way." She turned to the patiently waiting hizar with a questioning look, "Raen?"
The hizar seemed to smirk, an idea lighting in his eyes, Go ahead Mistress… I'll get some money… Seeing as she was about to ask something else he shook his head, No Mistress, you would not want to know how
Joren grinned slightly at the hizar's remark, giving him a slight nod as a go ahead to do so. With easy strides his body vanished into a nearby store.
She pursed her lips in exasperation, finally saying, "Fine, I don't want to know, just hurry up okay Raen?" Kel smiled at the nod he gave her, "Meet us inside," she went into the store after Joren, humming under her breath.
Raen pricked up his ears and chose his prey carefully, making sure that he wouldn't be noticed. His sharp eyes spotted a rather fat man with a heavy moneybag by his side, wealthy. He looked at the two guards that the man brought with him and he seemed to smirk, they will be easy to deal with. He stalked quietly behind the trio, keeping himself well hidden; I need a distraction… His gem glowed softly and his eyes flash red for a second.
The two guards milled around, until one of them blinked and asked the other, "I smell smoke…" The other one shrugged and muttered, "It's not our concern, all we have to do is guard our employer and we collect our pay later." The first gave a shrug also and then his eyes widened, "Look!" He pointed towards the second guard's back where a lick of flame started to grow. The flame grew at an astonishing speed, causing both guards… and others around them, to panic. "Water!" the second guard cried, both of them now preoccupied with their current predicament.
The hizar snickered softly, feeling no remorse for the humans, his focus now towards the angry fat man with the fat moneybag. He crept up behind the man, eyes locked onto the jingling money, usually hizars wouldn't bother with such trivial things, but he doubted that his Mistress would like it if he killed the men and took the money. So… he'd just steal it.
Raen moved easily, his body blended in perfectly in the deep shadows of nearby buildings and trees, he stalked the man with care and precision. Finally he was at the back of the fat man and he darted in quickly, claws flashing in the sun. With careful strikes, he severed the bag from it's strings and picked up the fallen bag without even alerting its owner, gathering his strides he darted away into the shadows. The hizar had the bag firmly clamped in his jaws and looked amused at the fat man who walked without knowing that he had been pickpocketed by Raen. So easy… humans… He snorted softly and gripped the bag in his teeth better, trotting away to where his Mistress and Joren went.
~
Joren finished getting the supplies and all that was left was to pay the owner, he gave an annoyed glance around, not spotting the errant hizar. He mumbled softly, loud enough just so that Kel could hear him, "Where is the over-grown cat?"
Kel gave Joren a soft scowl, smiling nervously at the waiting shopkeeper before muttering softly to him, "He'll come, just wait a bit Joren." Belatedly she added, "And he's not an over-grown cat!" All he did in reply was to smirk at her. Suddenly something soft was pressed into her hand and she glanced down. There was Raen pressing a moneybag in her hand. She grinned at him in thanks and picked up the bag looking at the shopkeeper, "How much is it all?" She ignored the apprehensive look he gave the hizar.
Raen looked at Joren and said something so that only he and Kel could hear, Don't call me an over-grown cat!
~
The serving girl smiled at Joren, showing a great deal of cleavage and purring softly in his ear, "Hello, what shall I get you milord?"
He grinned in appreciation at her and was about to answer in kind when an irate Kel broke in, "I'll have an ale." She frowned in annoyance at the serving girl, we aren't here for fun… Raen lay unnoticed at her feet, looking upon them with interest.
The girl pouted and detached herself from Joren, looking at him in a sultry way, as she waited for his answer. Joren raised a brow at Kel before saying calmly to the girl, "I'll have the same." The girl sighed in defeat and left to go fill their orders. He grinned in amusement at Kel, asking, "What? Jealous Mindelan?" He chuckled inwardly as he saw her face become slightly red.
I am like stone… She breathed deeply, her face become impassive once more. "No, of course not." Raen nudged Kel lightly on the leg. She looked down at him, and tilted her head as a question.
What about me Mistress? He chuckled softly in their heads as Kel looked down at him in confusion before understanding dawned in her eyes.
"GAH!" Joren gave Kel a sharp glance and she quieted down slightly, "Oh, I'm sorry Raen! What would you like?" She smiled at him apologetically.
Raen's laughter echoed in their minds, Nothing except a bowl Mistress he curled his lip in disgust as he gave a glance around, I would not trust drinking their water
Kel hid a grin as she signaled a server to get them a bowl, when it arrived she placed it in front of Raen, "Here you go." Her eyes looked on in interest as she watched what he was about to do.
The hizar looked down at the bowl and his gem flashed. His eyes turned a deep blue and a ball of dim energy appeared in the bowl. With a flash of showy light, the ball faded away and left a bowl full of fresh clean cold water for Raen to drink. The hizar lapped delicately at the water, grinning inwardly at Kel's awed look, I will not tell Mistress yet that most of that was for show…
Joren watched them interact before he looked up at the serving girl who arrived with their drinks. He flashed her a charming smile and watched, amused, as she blushed lightly and began to flaunt her 'assets' once more. Beside him Kel rolled her eyes, which when caught by Joren, made him smirk.
The girl gave a pout when someone else hailed her from their table, she had to go over there or else stand the chance of losing her job. Giving a wink at Joren she moved over to the three rowdy men, covering her distaste at them with practiced ease.
"She really needs to pay more attention to her job," Inwardly Kel was berating herself, why in havens name do I care so much? Raen looked up from his spot at his Mistress, a knowing look in his eyes.
Joren gave a glance at her and shrugged, a cocky smile on his face. He was about to answer, but something caught his attention near the door, so instead of replying her he shifted his attention to some men who just arrived at the tavern. They didn't seem to come here for drinks, all of them looked decidedly arrogant and were talking to the tavern's keeper in hushed whispers. Bits of the conversation floated to his ears, making his curiosity grow and his eyes to narrow.
There were three men in total it seemed. Two of them were shaggy in appearance and decidedly unkempt, the other seemed to be the leader and was radically different in appearance. He was clean-shaven and though he was smaller then his companions, he held a commanding aura around him and the others deferred to him. The other two men were nondescript, just the sort of mercenaries you could pick up from anywhere for a moderate sum of money. Both had brown hair though one had lighter hair then the other. The one with light brown hair had a muddy blue color for his eyes, while the other had a dark brown color. The leader had dirty blond hair with light green eyes, something that Joren thought to be slightly unusual on a person. They were all wearing commonplace clothing, though green-eyes had seemingly better armor and fabric for his clothes. The men were talking in moderately hushed tones, and if Joren hadn't been sitting so close to the door he would have missed the conversation.
Green-eyes looked over at the tavern keeper and said in a smooth tone of voice, "We are looking for people." His men positioned themselves to the side of him and looked as threatening as they could… which was rather effective by the frightened expression on the tavern keeper's face.
Kel looked over at what Joren was concentrating on and spotted the three men, wha? She adopted an expression and position that seemed to show that she wasn't listening and concentrating on her drink. With her right hand she picked up her mug and held it to her lips, silently eyeing the men over the rim of her cup with hidden curiosity in her eyes.
Raen looked up at his Mistress in slight confusion before he too looked over at the men. At the sight he seemed to disappear more into the shadows, though Kel and Joren could vaguely make out his form lying down slightly tense. He picked up dark overtones from the men's minds and was on high alert. The hizar's ears pricked in the trio's direction, dark eyes locked onto their bodies.
The tavern keeper seemed to gain some courage from his words, and his eyes lit up in a greedy gleam, a business like look settling over his features. He talked in a brash and uneducated voice, "Really now Milords? I do not know what yea means. Describe 'em for this poor man so I could help youes be on your ways."
The leader spoke easily, though a warning look flashed through his eyes, which went unnoticed by the tavern keeper, "I am looking for two people for my master. One is a boy around six feet, blond hair, light eyes, around 20. The other is a lass a couple of inches shorter then him, brown hair, hazel eyes, same age. They may be traveling with a hizar; you know what they look like. Have you seen them?" The two men around him shifted so that they could be seen with their hands on the pommels of their swords, looking distempered.
The tavern keeper sensed that he should be wary in dealing with these kinds of folk, but he decided to press his luck a little bit more in hopes of getting some coins for his trouble. So he eyed green-eyes evenly and spoke with trace amounts of greed apparent in his voice, "What's in it for me?" belatedly he added in, "Milords."
Blue-eyes looked at his leader in inquiry and green-eyes gave a curt nod towards him. The man smirked at the tavern keeper maliciously and slammed him into the wall, pulling out his sword blade and holding it at his throat. He pushed the blade in deep enough to make a thin line of blood appear at the edge and slowly start to drip down, at that point the man stopped pushing his blade in though he sneered down at the cowering keeper.
The man was terrified for his life; he dared not to move further. With the sudden bang of his body to the wall the patrons in the tavern quieted down, eyes now locked onto the cringing man and the three strangers. With frantic haste the tavern keeper yelled out, "I'll talk! I'll talk!"
With the hushed tones of the people around him, green-eyes raised his lips into a small smirk, no remorse for what he ordered his man to do in his eyes. The other man, brown-eyes shifted to face the others in the tavern to make sure that none of them tried to do anything foolish, such as trying to help the tavern keeper. He continued to smirk as he said with everlasting calm to the tavern keeper, "Then talk."
Kel transferred her eyes from the scene to Joren's, panic beginning to rise in them. They are looking for us, they have to be! Why? She slowly began to edge out of her seat, ready to bolt at a moment's notice. As she does so, she begins to slip out her silver-bonding dagger, Silver Falcon.
Joren gave her a sharp glance, and seemed to communicate through his eyes, We have to get out of here He gave a slight smile satisfaction when he saw her give him a nod in assent. With that done, he too began to move out slowly from his seat, eyes narrowed, and hand moving subtly towards his black dagger.
Raen looked with something akin to panic in his eyes when he looked at green-eyes, seven gods, please, not him. Anyone but him… He felt his hopes dim then get smashed completely when he saw what green-eyes wore around his neck… gems such as Kel's only there was more then one and in the colors of a dark red, the color of blood, a sickly looking yellow, and a dirty green. Horror rose from deep within him, no… before he vainly tried to shove it down again. I have to protect Mistress and that boy, I MUST! He leaped up from his spot, now partly visible to others; his mind-voice was loud and desperate as it rang in Kel and Joren's minds, Mistress! Boy! I will hold them off, run fast! He and Joren locked eyes for a moment, ice blue clashing with dark blue, before Joren gave a nod in agreement, grabbed Kel's arm, and ran out, tugging her along after him.
"There! Them running out!" The tavern keeper yelled to green-eyes and the other two. Believing that his task was done, he began to squirm, though not too much that the blade cut any deeper into his neck.
Kel felt sick as she ran out when she saw blue-eyes nearly sever the tavern keeper's head from his neck using his sword, the man's usefulness over. Bits of panic bubbled up from inside of her, and Joren pulling her out was not helping her at all. She suddenly looked at Raen from the corner of her eye and gave out a choked, "No!" Pulling on her arm she tried to go back to her bond seibutsu to try to help him stave off the men.
"Damn it Kel! Move!" Joren shoved her along out the door, eyes hard and cold, "he'll be fine!" No doubt of that spread through his mind, he knew what those claws and teeth could do in battle and didn't think that a human could stop Raen from killing him.
Raen prepared himself for the coming battle; eyes locking onto the leader's pale green ones. He sent one more message towards his Mistress and Joren, Go, faster and faster. Go into the woods, if I am… able… I'll find you His body tensed as he leaped in front of green-eyes, glaring at him in malevolence.
Green-eyes looked down at him in slight recognition, before a sneer spread across his face, "Well, well, well… I heard that one of you arrogant hizar's finally bonded with someone other then your own species, but you Raen? How low have you sunk?" He nodded at his two men with a smirk, "Get the boy and the girl, do NOT kill the girl, Master needs her. I can take care of the mighty Raen of the Eclipse Guardian pack himself." He deftly unsheathed a dark gray sword and took a fighting stance as the two men ran out of the door in hot pursuit of Kel and Joren.
The hizar gave a quick glance around the tavern, panicky thoughts flashing through his mind; it is not an ideal fighting area. He bared his teeth at his opponent and his eyes flashed silver once and they both disappeared from sight.
~
They reappeared in a large clearing filled with rocks, small tuffs of grass, and not much else. Raen glared at green-eyes, anger pulsing through his veins. Why him… why the demon of Acrolish? Is it my fate to end up like my pack? He snarled defiantly at the man, fur bristled, the sun beating down upon his black coat unrelentlessly.
Green-eyes took the scenery change with complete cool, a mocking grin on his face, "I shall take your gem from you forehead and hang it with the others," he lightly touched the other gems that hung around his neck, "You should feel proud, not many have that honor." He then once again took fighting stance, eyes narrowed, sword held horizontally.
Never shall you do to me what you have done to others! Anger dominated his mind and he gave a soundless roar, leaping at the man in rage, You shall die for what you have done TAKASHI! His claws flashed in the sun as he struck towards Takashi's leg in incredible speed.
But as fast as he struck, Takashi moved even faster, dodging to the side and darting in with his sword. Crimson blood sprayed through the air as he scored a deep gash into the hizar's side.
~
"Joren! Let go of my arm! I'll run, really!" Kel glared up at him, legs pounding into the ground, dust rising from their steps. She nearly growled in frustration when she realized that he was ignoring her, "Joren! I can hardly feel Raen anymore! He's too far off for me to track him down!" A slight amount of pain suddenly lanced through her side as she said the sentence, she just ignored it and raced on, trying to get her arm out of Joren's grip.
Joren risked a glance behind him and nodded tersely, letting go of her arm and running through the streets, glancing around him for someplace to hide. Why am I running anyway? Am I not one of the best knights that Tortall has? He spotted the two men slowly, but surely gaining on their tracks, Damnit… Ice-blue eyes took in Kel's condition with one glance, no, better not unless I want to get killed. Mindelan looks too distraught over her over-grown cat to do much damage. He cursed fluently inside his head, stupid hizar getting us into this in the first place. He knew that the thought was irrational but he really didn't care, he needed to blame the occurring incident on something and the hizar seemed to be the best choice. He shoved those thoughts to the back of his mind, he had more pressing issues to be concerned about first. Eyes calculating he yelled to Kel, "We can't out run them! We have to do something else." He looked up ahead where some trees lay in the center of town.
She ran up beside him, stride for stride, and nodded, "Right, let's see if we can lose them in there. If not, we can go hide in some alley and hope that they would run of in another direction." Her strides lengthened as she began to run faster, feeling a burning sensation in her thighs from the run. I can't keep up this kind of pace for much longer…
They both began to weave in and out of the trees, each intent on loosing the two following them. When they emerged, Kel noticed that the men were still nearby, though they seem to be slightly disorientated. Switching swiftly to plan B, she grabbed Joren's arm and dragged him into a dark alley. When she got in there she pressed her back to the wall and tried to be as inconspicuous as she can, hoping the guards would just continue running past her.
"Shit!" She heard Joren curse from beside her as he saw that the men were still moving in their direction, though at a slightly slower pace. He glanced about slightly wildly, his blond hair getting slightly mussed from all of his movement. Finally deciding that it was the only course of action they could take he got off from the wall and moved in front of Kel.
"What?" She whispered to him, confused. She didn't dare speak out loudly, the men were drawing closer. Kel stiffened slightly as she felt Joren's breath near her ear.
He moved his mouth to the side of her head, his warm breath tickling her ear as he whispered back, "Shut up and let me do this." That said he wrapped his arms around her, both of them still shrouded in the alley's shadows.
Kel stiffened even more as she felt him move around her, his warm, clean scent wafting up to her nose. Alarms immediately set off in her head, What in Mithros name is he doing?! Goddess he smells nice… AHH! BAD THOUGHTS! BAD! She started to yell at herself mentally.
Joren looked down at her, in what passerby's might have seen as a loving look, though his was more like a glare, "Relax Mindelan! You're as stiff as a board!" The men continued to draw closer to them both, and he tightened his arms around her.
She almost tensed up more before his words registered on her muddled brain. Slowly she relaxed into his arms, almost shyly even. Warm…he feels so warm… BAD THOUGHTS! Oh Goddess… Her heart began to race slightly faster and her palms felt slightly sweaty. SHIT! NO ACK! Hazel brown confused eyes looked up at Joren's, different emotions conflicting and warring with each other.
He paid almost no attention to her, keeping his focus on the two men, absentmindedly he thought to himself, Vanilla and strawberries, that's what she smells like… What in Mithros names am I THINKING about? Kel is the lump, is my rival, my enemy… yes… He stoically repeated that to himself as he eyed the two men drawing closer. Damn no, they are not moving away, do we look suspicious? Joren looked down at Kel and mentally sighed, hell yes, we do. People just don't go on HUGGING others in alleys. His face was impassive as he muttered at her, "I'm going to kiss you." It's our only chance…
Kel opened her eyes in shock and was about to say something to dissuade him when he suddenly leaned down and roughly put his lips against hers, kissing her with slight desperation. She gave a soft moan in surprise and tried to fight against it all, the heat, the kiss.
As she moaned Joren thrust his tongue into her mouth, deepening the kiss. He was setting out to do this as realistically as he could. His tongue played with hers until she couldn't hold back anymore and began to tentatively return his advances until it became as wild and passionate as his. She melted into his arms and he subconsciously drew his arms around her tighter.
Her mind screamed at her to stop, to at least slow down, they didn't have to look this realistic. She ignored it and swept her arms around Joren's neck as they continued to kiss, clinging to him. Any of her rational thoughts swept away from her to goddess knows where.
The men looked into the slightly dark alley and saw two people start to make out with each other. With smirks on their faces from the sight they moved off to go find their quarry and to bring it back to Takashi, that first and foremost on their minds.
A couple of seconds after they left Joren jerked her head up from Kel's and breathed slightly heavily, looking down at her. Her wide hazel brown eyes stared back up at him, shock completely dominating all of her other emotions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N:
IceWind: *laughs softly* Can I just say CLIFFHANGER? And look! The chapter is pretty long for me!
Raen: *he gives a rueful smile* Just as long as I don't die I will not mind the mushy parts.
Kaori: *is off to the side gagging*
IceWind: *she laughs* I happened to LOVE this chapter, and it wasn't because Kel and Joren kissed. (In fact I felt awkward writing that part because I can't really do romancy scenes, can you tell?) Oh! One more thing, I finally found out where the word Aether was from! (bet you guys didn't know that I didn't make it up lol) It's from a series of books by Juliet E. McKenna! ^.^ The word came from her, but the way I use it is different from her books. So just keep that in mind. *is going to start adding that part to the disclaimer* Something else, Kel and Joren are really kinda ooc ok? *grins slightly* it's hard to keep them in character when I don't want them to be! :P
Raen: *grins* This was fun!
IceWind: *nods* Ya! Oh! One last thing (REALLY! It's also IMPORTANT) I'm thinking about starting another series with Kel and Joren (of course) I'm just wondering if you guys would like it to come out after I finish Aether Winds or do I just post it now and work on them both? You guys think about it and tell me ok? Ja!
~
*Updated*
Facts:
Seibutsu Bond: A bond between a creature and a humanoid. It is less powerful then a life-bond yet it is strong none the less. The bonded can thought-speak to one another and they also feel the others emotions. If one of the bonded dies, the other feels a deep and wrenching pain in themselves, but they don't die also.
Seibutsu Items: These are the items that Raen and Kel got when the bonding was over. Kel had gotten a dagger and Raen a chain. If one of them breaks it symbolizes that one of the bonded has died.
Hizar: A highly intelligent species who are organized like wolf packs with a dominant male and female. All hizar are black and look like large cats, panther sized. They are lithe and graceful, all of them agile and fast. Each one has their own type of magic and that type, and power, is shown by the color of the gems on their forehead. When using their power the hizar's eyes turn that color. The types of gems are fire, water, earth, air, light, dark, ice, lightening, psy, and a silver unknown color. The alpha males must have the silver kinds of gems to lead, the alpha females can have any kind and are chosen by the males.
Jerogil: A type of creature in the world of Medea. They are usually peaceful animals and tend to stay away from others except their own kind. Their color range from black to a muddy gray and they have large eyes for seeing at night. Their tails are curved like a monkey's and can pick things up in that fashion. All over their body they have hard plates for armor, something not easily dented or broken through. Running along their backs is a series of sharp spikes.
~
My e-mail address is flyby311@hotmail.com and put Aether Winds, so I know what the e-mail is about. Anything you want to add/criticize/comment/whatever you guys just review it… please? Thanks for listening to me ramble for that you get a tootsie pop *hands person a tootsie pop*
Raen and Kaori (hizar and rabblite) are MINE! GET IT? MINE!!! *they sweatdrop in the background* no stealing or else I'll blow you up! MWAHAHAHA! Also any other made up characters in the story are mine to, if you want to use any of them please ask before doing so, same goes for Raen and Kaori. ALSO, the poems that appear in the story are also mine (duh) I'll tell you if I use any that aren't. BYE NOW!