Greets, all! Melime, Queen Isis, and Nerwen Calaelen (I'm callin' you Cally from now on :P) are the special ones at the moment for reviewing.

Melime - Glad I made you laugh. ^.^

Isis - Glad you're back! We will be seeing some more of her widow friends eventually, but not for a while. And no, it's nowhere NEAR the end. :P

Cally - Thanks for the advice about reviews! It makes a lot of sense - I read my reviewers' profiles, too... can't believe I didn't figure that out earlier... *goes off to submit ten billion reviews*

You know what's a good movie? Mulan. :D

Disclaimer: Dis (verb) (slang): to insult or disrespect. Claimer: (noun) one who makes a claim. Therefore - Disclaimer (noun): One who makes an insulting claim. I am a disclaimer, and I claim that you all have cheese for brains. Which wouldn't actually be so bad.

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Farahaa'sa Net (Chapter Ten): In Which Saali Hopes Practice Makes Perfect

Saali and Tai finished pitching their tent in a record amount of time, for it was COLD in the cave, and they wanted somewhere to lie down and get warm again. But, apparently, Saali's day was not over. Sir appeared out of nowhere, as he was wont to do these days, and gestured to Saali. "Come," he commanded, and Saali did.

He spoke to her as they made their way through the maze of stalagmites and pools. "Tomorrow, you will go into real spy training with me. Tonight, however, you will brush up on your Common skills - you are of no use if you cannot understand the talk you are eavesdropping on. I have found the man most fluent in Common of all the men in the camp to tutor you, as I am not so skillful."

Saali groaned inwardly. She was too cold to learn a language. "Yessir," she mumbled tiredly.

At this point, they were standing in front of a tent. Sir pulled open the flap and bent to look in. "Here she is," he told the men inside.

Saali bent to look as well, and when she saw who they were, her insides turned to ice. On the bedroll to the left sat Brown-eyes, Anrami's companion, and on the one to the right, surrounded by large and intimidating-looking books, sat Long-face, his other friend. Long-face peered at her out of large, dark, suspicious eyes, whereas Brown-eyes looked a bit afraid of her, as well as curious.

"Tasaali, meet Private Panim, your tutor," Sir said briskly. "Now get on with it!" he added in a bark, then left.

Saali stood awkwardly at the opening in the tent, not sure whether to step inside or make a break for it. Brown-eyes murmured, "Think I will leave you two alone," and crept past Saali and out into the cave with an apologetic glance back at his friend.

"Er, hello," Saali muttered, eyes cast down.

"Will she not come in? She is allowing the cold air into our living space," Panim intoned somberly. His voice was very deep and rich-sounding, and he spoke eloquently, perhaps even too eloquently to be appropriate. And he spoke to her using "she" instead of "you". At least he was not being openly nasty.

Saali hurried in obligingly, taking care to tie the tent flaps into place, and sat on Brown-eyes' bedroll. "So. Er. Shall we get started, then?" she offered, then, figuring she should at least try, added, "You really can speak straight to me, you know. Kentai has not died yet, and he talks with me all the time."

"She does not understand that I am just taking all the possible precautions. I have no qualms with her specifically, I simply do not wish to be sent by Fate to an early grave at the moment, although like all other things that walk this earth, I must eventually perish." Panim's huge, sorrowful eyes met hers, and she thought they were very pretty, although she would never admit it to anyone. His voice was nice as well, although he sure did take a roundabout route in getting to the point. "Surely she understands," he finished, and folded long, elegant hands in his lap.

"She" sighed. Basically, he was a coward, like the rest of them. But, in a way, he was speaking to her, and she did not want to make an enemy, although up until now she had thought of him as one for being allied with Anrami. "I suppose I understand," she said gruffly, and suddenly she felt sad, as she had realized she would never hear him say her name in his beautiful bass tones.

"Good. I am thankful for that. Now, then, let us begin. Is she even mildly proficient in the Common Tongue?" he inquired rather condescendingly.

"She is - I mean, I am," Saali said hastily, although "mildly proficient" could mean many things.

"Of course she is," the elegant man said sweetly. "Now let me hear her say 'I am mildly proficient in the Common Tongue.' "

Saali cleared her throat. "Er. Ah. I am... jushish n'faraah (a/n: mildly proficient in Haradic)... in the Common Tongue." She blushed brightly.

Panim gave a long, sad sigh. "We have much to accomplish," he said in perfectly un-accented Common, then translated it into Haradic: "Insilhe n'tiham sjihalla adroh'ianahi." (a/n: remember that all along they've been speaking in Haradic, they didn't just start now, it's just that steelsheen didn't want to go to the trouble of making up words until it was absolutely necessary.)

"We have much to a-com-plish," Saali parroted his Common words, before blushing and falling silent.

"That was fairly good. She has some potential. However, she will have to learn much in very little time. It shall be a hard task. I doubt it shall ever be done," Panim said pessimistically in Haradic. "For practicality's sake, we shall start with the numbers. Ik, nieh, riha, shai, douf, owt, siha, elone, nihi, net - one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten."

Saali recalled this vaguely from when her father had taught her. She repeated the numbers perfectly, and was very proud of herself afterwards.

"Good," Panim said in Common, then again in Haradic. He continued in their own tongue - "Now y - she shall learn up until one hundred, since she has proven her intelligence so excellently. Here - all the numbers ought to be contained somewhere in this text," he instructed her as he hefted a very large leather-bound book into her lap. "And she should learn as many army-related words as she is humanly able from this Haradic-Common dictionary." He dumped another fat book on top of the other one, making Saali feel like there was a large boulder in her lap. She wondered where he got, and kept, all these books. She had the feeling he was fairly upper-class - well-schooled, eloquent, the keeper of all these fine books, and just the slightest bit snobbish. Perhaps the son of some sort of lesser noble.

"Now, if she would allow me to obtain my necessary nighttime slumber..."

"Er, yes, of course. Thank you," Saali said sincerely as she attempted to pick up her homework. She then repeated "thank you" in Common - her father had taught her that the worst thing to be when closing a deal with a foreign trader was ungrateful.

"You are - SHE is welcome," Panim corrected himself belatedly. "May the Faceless Ones ignore her body, once it is strewn out bloody on the battlefield along with the rest of her fellows," he added morosely and with much unnecessary gore.

This was the second time Saali had heard of these "faceless ones", and now she knew it wasn't just a nonsensical Kentai curse. "Who - who are these Faceless Ones, could you tell me?"

"They are..." The man paled visibly for a moment, enshrouded in his own memories. "She will find out for herself, soon enough," he said finally with a shudder.

Saali nodded, confused, and made for the exit.

"She should wait a moment, if she so pleases," said Panim hastily. "If she could keep the details of our meeting from the rest of the soldiers, I would be very much obliged."

He does not want to be known for associating with me, Saali thought, face burning. "Perhaps if you would speak to me directly, I would be more inclined to consider it. As it is now, I am not so sure," she said coldly, and her voice only trembled a bit. With that, she rushed out of the tent for a long night of studying.
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The next day, she awoke very achy from a night sleeping on the lumpy rock floor of the cave. Tai echoed her emotions. "Owwwwwwwwwwwww," he moaned as he sat up stiffly. "Fate curse these floors!" she heard him grumble through the blanket that separated them.

"You should not say that. Perhaps now the tarks will come and kill us all in here," Saali scolded. "And now I must go off to be trained... as a spy..." It is all so strange, thought the young widow as she pulled on a second and third undershirt, her defense against the cold. All so sudden.

Tai let out a long and very joyous string of curses from just a few inches to the right of her, and she jumped. It was funny, how she never knew exactly where he was on his side of the tent. "That was impressive," she informed him.

"I try," sighed he, and that was the last she heard before she slipped out of the tent and into the bracingly chilly air.

Sir waited for her at the mouth of the tunnel, as he'd said he would. "Tomorrow, you are awake before dawn," was his greeting. The widow stifled a groan.

The captain continued. "I want twenty push-ups," he announced.

"What?" Saali couldn't help but gasp before clapping a hand over her mouth. This early? And she wouldn't need to use her arms, anyway, being a spy!

"You heard me," Sir drawled.

Saali gritted her teeth and dropped to the ground. After seven, her arms gave out, and she could not push herself up again. Upper body strength was not her strong suit.

"Keep at it," Sir barked, and Saali did six more before she collapsed again. She gave a low growl and forced herself up. She had to finish, she was as strong as any boy... I can do it, Papa, look how well I can swing a sword, look how fast I can run...

"All right, enough already. Get up," commanded Sir, and Saali shakily managed to assume an upright position, wiping her now grimy and frigid hands on her third undershirt.

Sir seemed to be waiting for her to say something, but her lips were firmly closed. At last, he gave her a very obvious cue. "I suppose you are wondering why you just did that."

"No, not really, sir," Saali mumbled. Her face was still flushed with embarrassment.

"Er." Sir didn't seem to know how to respond to that, and apparently decided to revert to his original answer. "Well, you did it because you must always do as I say. Trust your commanding officer. Never question him. It may make a life or death difference."

Saali nodded. "Yessir."

"Er. Let us begin, then."

"Whatever you say, sir."

Sir, apparently, had been expecting her to be much more difficult. He did not know she had stayed up until the wee hours learning the numbers from one to one hundred and the words sword, soldiers, men, camp, shield, mail, plans, top, secret, information, and location in Common, all the while shielding her candle with one hand and balancing her book on one leg so Tai wouldn't see the light and tell her to go to sleep, Fate curse it! Therefore, the captain dived right in.

"Let us begin with a hypothetical scenario. You are eavesdropping on an important conversation, when one of the people involved sees you and asks you who you are. What do you say?"

Saali answered immediately, "I am Tasaali of Harad. I did not mean to interrupt your private conversation, sir, and I am very sorry."

Sir made a face as if he'd been stabbed. "No, no, NO! You NEVER tell them your name. 'Sorry' will not make a difference out there. Talk around it. Try again."

"All right, then." Saali thought a moment. "I do not matter to you, sir, I am simply collecting the delicious, er... forest fruits."

Sir looked only slightly less pained. "Well, that is a bit better, I suppose. Now, they ask you if you are a spy. Or, more likely, they just start shouting, 'Spy!' What do you do?"

"I am not a spy, sir! I was, er..." Saali got an idea. "I was a hostage! Oh, woe is me, they had me in their clutches, but I escaped! Those filthy Haradic soldiers! Curse them! Curse them for all of eternity! Thank you so much, you have saved my life -" Realizing she had worked herself into quite the fit, Saali blushed and cleared her throat.

Sir's mouth showed what might have been a smile. "Good. Very good... You have some skill, Tasaali, daughter of Eishali." His smile disappeared, however, when he saw something over Saali's shoulder. "And what might Private Kentai be doing out and about so early in the morning?" he said icily.

"We have come to watch, if you do not mind," Tai said cheerily, indicating Reni behind him. "Who knows, I may just decide to take up spying as a backup career. In case people stop needing nails and the like, you know."

Sir scowled. "Well, if you are here, you might as well help. Stand beside Tasaali." Tai did so. "Tasaali, what do you do if someone grabs you from the side-" he motioned for Tai to do so - "when you are unaware?"

Tai grabbed her arm; he was in for it now, she knew this one in her sleep. Shoving herself at him, she stomped with the heel of her boot as hard as she could in the region of his big toe, then, when he loosened his grip, she stabbed him beneath the ribs with a sharp, bony elbow. Tai gave an "oof" sound and loosened his grip; she was able to wriggle her arm from his grasp.

"Very good. Now come at her from the back."

Tai straightened, gritting his teeth. "Must I?" he whined. Saali smirked. Reni was grinning his head off.

"You must," Sir informed him, and Saali could tell he was enjoying seeing his least favorite underling injured.

Tai rushed at her from the back, pinning both her arms in a surprisingly strong hold. Saali rather liked the closeness of his body to hers, even in such a strange situation, and his heat was welcome. But she was also ready for him; she jumped and kicked back, her heel colliding with his kneecap as the other one found his instep. When his hold loosened just a bit, she used the extra freedom to slam her torso into his. The man gave a whimper and released her.

"The front," Sir commanded briskly, and Tai glared at him. Limping slightly, her friend jumped forward and seized her upper arms.

Automatically, Saali did the easiest thing, which was to knee him in a particularly painful spot.

Poor Tai gave a sort of a drawn-out squeak before falling to his knees, keeling over and curling up into a ball, emitting little pain-noises.

Reni keeled over, as well, but that was with compressed hysterical laughter.

Saali gave a cry and rushed forward to kneel at his side. "Tai! I am sorry, I did not mean - it was just a reflex, that is all, just a reflex, I am so sorry, I did not really mean to hurt you -"

Sir had only just a bit of an evil smile as he interrupted. "You never apologize to your opponent. It is sensitivity that will lose the battle," he felt it his duty to tell her.

Some of Tai's squeaks formed words. "That - is not fair - I cannot do - that to her -" He broke off and began to writhe around in little circles on the ground.

"I am SO sorry!" Saali cried. "I did not mean - "

"Oh, stop already," Sir said with some irritation.

Reni was a shaking heap on the stone floor.

All of a sudden, however, he sat up with a cry, and it soon became apparent why.

A horrible sound penetrated the walls of the cave, vibrating and echoing within the stone so that the fearsome screech filled every ear and buzzed through every bone in the camp. Tai sat up, letting out only a whimper. Sir froze and looked up at the ceiling. The men in the camp, who had all begun their morning exercises, halted in their tracks at once. The sound made Saali's teeth ache fiercely, and filled her with a chill like she had never felt before, one that clenched her stomach and made her cry out and drop to her knees. Accompanying the sound was a pulsing throb of whooshing air, like the beating of giant wings.

Sir broke the trance and turned to them with a great effort. "Stay here," he almost whispered, even more hoarsely than usual, and began to walk slowly and hesitantly up the tunnel.

"What - what is that?" Saali stammered. The screech had subsided, but she could still feel the chill presence of the thing in her bones.

Reni shuddered, looking at the ground. Tai replied, voice strained and a bit higher than usual, "One of the Faceless Ones, I would bet my life on it. Come to have a little chat with Sir."

Saali was curious. She was strangely drawn to go and look at the thing, if only to find out what a Faceless One was. After a moments' hesitation, she let impulse take her and stood shakily, beginning to climb up the steep stone slope, and very much enjoying the alliterations that went along with it.

"You are crazy. I am not coming," Tai called from behind her, but she continued to climb. Her hands and feet slipped on the slimy, jagged rock; she trembled all over, but she had to see this thing, whatever it was.