Yet Another Dumb Teenager Falls Into Tortall
by an anonymous geek
Disclaimer: Do you really think I'm Tamora Pierce?
Chapter Four
[Lauren's POV]
I started working on "Plan A" a week later. However, it did take me a while to figure out was "Plan A" was going to be. I knew that I needed to show Joren that women could fight well, but how was I going to do that? Then it came to me. I find that I can be quite a genius at times, but at this point I was just acting like a, as my friend/enemy Brian would say, "Master of the Obvious". I would duel Joren. It was plain and simple. Now, whether to duel to the death or just in practice was the real question at hand. I finally decided that to the death would be best. However, this made me quite worried. I was not a real, what you might call, "chicken", but I also did not like running into things where my own death was at stake. In the end I realized that it was either my own death or Joren's (at which point I readily realized that it was my own life that was more important) but then was quite assured by my conscience (we regularly have nice long conversations with each other) that the gods would not be too happy if I did not fulfill my prophecy, not even including all the people of Tortall. I would soon be on the Most-Hated List of Tortall, and I definitely value my reputation more than my life (I know it sounds weird, but it's true).
Then there was the problem of getting Joren to agree with this duel. I couldn't exactly go up to him and insult his mother, could I? I didn't think that it was exactly a respectful thing to do. I didn't really want an enraged Joren running at me. It would be quite a messy business. I don't know if they would be able to scrape me off the walls. There had to be a much easier way. I finally decided that the best way would be to pretend to hate him and make him hate me. Then he would force me to duel him, and I would just have to oblige. However, after a few moments of thinking about this, I realized that I was trying to make Joren a better person, and by making him hate me, I was actually making him a worse person.
I knew that I could always go up to him and just ask him for a duel. That could always work, but I didn't know if he would want to, and then if he refused (though I doubt he would, his pride was at stake, but there was always a chance) he might realize the plan that I had in mind and everything would be ruined. As I thought about all of this, I gradually began to exit the palace and walk through the city of Corus. Then, just like it had before, a vision came to me. I saw a dark alley somewhere deep in the city, where no one dared lurk for there seemed to be dark magic around. In this alley, there was a small glimmer of light, and I somehow felt drawn to this light. As suddenly as the vision came, it passed, and I was left with the knowledge of where this light had come from and I knew that I needed to find it.
Quickly, I started running through the city, my feet leading me places I knew I had never been through before, yet for some strange reason, I knew where I was going. It was if I was watching myself from afar, and my soul was no longer attached to my body. I was drifting away, and then suddenly I found myself in that same dark alley. For some strange unknown reason, I didn't stop to think about how weird this was, I just walked toward the light that was steadily penetrating the darkness around me. I looked down and saw a very familiar silver amulet. It was then that I realized that this was my portal through which I might be able to return to earth.
By now, I was smart enough not to touch the amulet with my fingers, or else I would be thrown into another world, and who even knew if it would be earth that I would be thrown into? It could always end up being some other strange land. I pulled part of my sleeve over my hand and picked up the amulet. At first, I felt a sudden immense feeling of power that tugged at my soul, but then I started to hear a song that was being sung in a language that I did not understand. The voice that sang the song was the most beautiful and angelic that I had ever heard before and I felt myself being drawn to this music. However, deep down inside I knew that I needed to stop the music before it pulled away my soul completely. Therefore, I dropped the amulet in a pocket and immediately, the song went away and I could not hear it anymore. Once again, I had the feeling of not really being in my body, and suddenly, I was back in the center of the city. I shook my head to recover from the shock of everything happening, then I returned to the palace.
.~ * ~ . ~ * ~ . ~ * ~ .
I quickly ran to the spot in the Mess Hall where Sarah sat and I sat next to her. She jumped up in surprise and then sat back down again when she saw who I was.
"Lauren? What's the matter?" she asked me, and I realized that she must have noticed the bewildered look on my face. I took out the amulet, careful to make sure that no part of my skin touched it. She gasped. "That's the amulet that brought me here!"
"I know, it brought me here too. I think this can bring us back to earth!" I smiled at her, but she returned it with a frown and tried to look away. I noticed her discomfort and asked, "What? What's wrong? Don't you want to go back?!" She looked me in the eye for a moment and then shook her head. Now I was really confused. Then I began to comprehend the matter. She didn't want to leave Neal. 'We could always bring him with us!' I told myself, but inside I knew that Neal was not meant to go to earth. He belonged here in Tortall, as did Sarah. I nodded and closed my eyes in thought. My mind drifted away to oblivion as I tried to work things out. After what seemed like years, I felt a strong hand shake my shoulder.
I opened my eyes and realized that I was still in the Mess Hall and so was everyone else. No time had seemed to pass at all. As I rubbed my head, someone I knew all too well started speaking to me.
"Lauren? Have you a plan yet?" Joren asked. "Tonight's my Ordeal!"
It came as quite a shock to me, and I did not believe it at first. "What?! Your Ordeal's not for days! What are you smoking?" He gave me a weird look at my question. Then Sarah decided to butt into the conversation.
"Marijuana," she answered. "Hence the blank stare." Both of us burst into laughter at the expressions on Joren and Neal's faces when she said this. They, of course, had no clue of what we were talking about.
After I recovered from my laughing fit, I answered Joren's question. "I don't have any plans yet. You know, you could always just run away!" Joren looked appalled at this suggestion. In fact, he looked like he was going to hit me for even thinking of such a thing. Before he could do this, though, I said, "Hey! It was just a suggestion, no need to get offended."
He seemed to calm down a little. "Well, I need to leave soon, for the ceremony will start in half an hour." Then he left, leaving me practically pulling my hair out in exasperation. HALF AN HOUR!! How in the world was I going to figure something out before then?? I then reminded myself that he didn't enter the chamber until very early in the morning, so I didn't need to freak out until then. 'That's no consolation,' I told myself as I started running toward my room.
Once inside, I sat down on my bed and thought as hard as I could about the problem in front of me. What was I going to do? After a few minutes, I felt myself drifting off into a long, dreamless sleep.
. ~ * ~ . ~ * ~ . ~ * ~ .
I woke up to a dark room. For a moment, I just lay on my bed, thinking of nothing in particular. But, for some unknown reason, I felt as if I needed to be doing something. The feeling soon became more and more urgent. It was then that I remembered Joren. I jumped out of bed and pulled on my old jeans and green shirt that I had worn on the day that I had arrived here. Then I took a piece if cloth and wrapped it around the amulet. I did not know why I did this, I only knew that I needed to do it. After I had put the amulet in my pocket, I ran through the halls of the palace, once in a while bumping into a servant who was in the way. Finally, I opened a pair of doors and found myself in a dark room. A priest was leading someone through a door.
"NO!!!" I shouted, hoping I wasn't too late. Both the priest and Joren stared at me, and I took the time of shock to grab Joren's arm and pull him out of the Chamber, which he was just starting to enter.
"What are you doing?" Joren demanded of me, but I ignored him. I just pulled the amulet out of my pocket. I kept a good grip on Joren and took off the wrappings that covered the bright object. Then I wrapped my whole free hand around it and once again felt the strange sensation of traveling through time and space. This time, though, I had a heavy person that I was dragging along with me. Then, like it did before, everything went black.
. ~ * ~ . ~ * ~ . ~ * ~ .
There it is! I finally got a chapter up!!!! Merry Christmas everyone!
~Kristin
