Disclaimer: I do not own...yadayadayada...blah blah bleh...you know that
it's just me, slightly insane *cough* fanficcer, Fireblade K'Chona...no, I
don't own...this is a very long disclaimer...
Happy Turkey Day, Americans! Have pie! (no, not punkin...unless you want punkin...I don't really like punkin pie that much...)
...and now it's Christmas. *guilty squirm* Um...finals caught up with me, so I kinda...forgot? *looks hopeful*
Ssjbookgirl: I'll keep that in mind!
Cat McDougall: Go hide somewhere. Preferably in a cave on a sheer cliff...kyree don't climb sheer stone all that well.
Q. Jackson: Thankees!
Cerulean Sky: I know...well, she'd already half-admitted it to herself, but Frayley just kinda kicked her into it because he's exasperated at all the angsting...and he's an inveterate matchmaker.
Hawk-Sister: Here's more.
Mysticmoods: I'm not quite sure...Frayley is bi, but I think Liluye's just all-around shaych.
Faeborn2930: Thankees! I'm flattered!
Kierseth: Yeah, I thought she needed someone too...
Cookxenya: Yeah...currently we're at point A, and then there's point B, being Helia falling in love with Liluye, but there's the distance between them, first...and we don't even know if she's shaych, do we? Well, actually, I know, but you don't!
RayeNightstorm: Heylo, Online Shoulder! Glad you reviewed...aww, warm fuzzies.
Lightning Rain: Well, the thing is, I don't know what would be a nickname- you pronounce Liluye as Lil-(as in lily)-U-(as in you)-Yuh. (as in duh, with more pronunciation of the H.)
EvilGenius: Thank you for the mini-Firebirds! Want one of them? Take your pick...and yes, misspelled countries count...
*huggles all reviewers and loads them with pies*
Muse responsible: Rrissa!
Onto the story! You know, I should put the sidenote BEFORE I say "Onto the story..." but oh well.
Sorry for leaving this so long! Scary things are probably happening...mercs and their parties...tsk, tsk.
------------------------------------------------
The days passed in sort of a blur of training, training, language class, Survival, and training.
I was becoming quite proficient with the two axes, and was currently working with a battle-axe, and trying to figure out how I could shrink them and use two at the same time.
Chester turned out to be a fairly good fighter, for a horse, and Kree, deadly even without training, had become nearly unstoppable. Someone had come up with a very light armor for his chest-proof against arrows, supposedly-but it didn't work too well.
Kree now wore the bracelets for jesses, even though I did not possess jesses. They could be used for carrying a light rope over things, I supposed, but didn't have any clear idea why Kree wanted them.
But the training season for us was nearly over-soon, "my" group of recruits would go into the field.
Leon was in officer-training, presumably to command the little scout-group. There were eight of us in all-Helia, Tuvya, Leon, Frayley, Necia, Jaonsen, Kree, and me.
The Wanderers had taken to Kree with extreme liking, pampering him and talking to him, even swapping jokes with him, with me along as "translator."
All in all, our scout group was mostly ready.
I lay in bed one night, staring at the ceiling. Helia slept quietly in the other bed. She always fell asleep quickly, but I had become something of an insomniac...
[It isn't enough to keep me busy, really. I can speak most trade-tongue dialects, Rethwellan, of course, Jkathan, and the Tayledras that Kree deigns to teach me, I'm training hard with an axe, but I still feel like there's something missing.]
:Sleep, probably,; muttered Kree into my mind, having picked up my train of thought-again. :Shield, bondmate, I no can sleep.:
I put up a thin screen of a shield and continued musing. [He's probably right...I don't sleep well anymore. Even that trick my dad taught me isn't working too well.]
I got out of bed quietly and went to the window, scratching Kree's crest as he shifted on his perch, muttering.
I looked out at the stars, picking out different constellations idly. [There's the Wain, and the Hunter...the Cat...]
I chuckled quietly. [And there's a grouping of stars that looks sort of like Wendell.]
Moving away from my window, I sat back down on the bed, now looking into the fireplace.
"Can't sleep?" came Helia's voice, unexpectedly.
I started. "No, I can't. Did I wake you?"
"No," replied Helia, sitting up and stretching.
"Oh," was the only reply I could think of.
"Sleeping is difficult, these days, sometimes," said Helia, twisting to sit on the edge of the bed, facing me.
"I know. They're going to send us into the field, soon, if we get an offer," I said, moving my gaze from the fire to her face.
"Even if we don't get an offer, we'll be gone," said Helia, "This is a peculiar Company. I like it."
"Any offers had better come soon, or they won't find us!" I said, grinning.
"No, they won't."
I picked up the knitting I had started a few days ago and continued on my scarf, as was a farmgirl's habit.
[Though I'm not really a farmgirl anymore...]
"There's been something going on with you, and I want to know what it is," Helia said, suddenly, looking sharply at me.
I faltered in my knitting for a moment, the steady click of the needles halting before I caught myself.
"Thought so. Now, what is it?" pressed Helia, reading the signs of my uneasiness.
I studied my knitting for a moment, picking up a dropped stitch before I answered. "There-there's nothing to tell," I said, working my needle through the yarn.
"You're lying."
I looked back at Helia, my insides twisting, trying to keep my expression steady. I knitted the dropped stitch back in without looking, continuing the steady rhythm of the needles. "No, I'm-"
"Yes, you are," said Helia, all traces of sleepiness gone from her voice. "I'm your friend, Liluye. You can tell me," she said, her voice turning gentle.
I remained mute, staring down at my knitting. Helia waited, patiently...
"Well, I see you're not going to tell me. If you need anyone..." her voice trailed off.
I nodded, finishing the row and putting the knitting down.
Slipping back into bed, I stared at the ceiling, an unhappy lump in my throat.
If I hadn't been so absorbed in my own turmoil of thoughts, I would have realized that the silence from Helia meant that she was lying awake as well...
------------------------------------------
Poor Liluye-kins. For those of you who said you wanted...action...I'm trying to keep this realistic and take it slowly. Hope you like.
~Fireblade K'Chona
Happy Turkey Day, Americans! Have pie! (no, not punkin...unless you want punkin...I don't really like punkin pie that much...)
...and now it's Christmas. *guilty squirm* Um...finals caught up with me, so I kinda...forgot? *looks hopeful*
Ssjbookgirl: I'll keep that in mind!
Cat McDougall: Go hide somewhere. Preferably in a cave on a sheer cliff...kyree don't climb sheer stone all that well.
Q. Jackson: Thankees!
Cerulean Sky: I know...well, she'd already half-admitted it to herself, but Frayley just kinda kicked her into it because he's exasperated at all the angsting...and he's an inveterate matchmaker.
Hawk-Sister: Here's more.
Mysticmoods: I'm not quite sure...Frayley is bi, but I think Liluye's just all-around shaych.
Faeborn2930: Thankees! I'm flattered!
Kierseth: Yeah, I thought she needed someone too...
Cookxenya: Yeah...currently we're at point A, and then there's point B, being Helia falling in love with Liluye, but there's the distance between them, first...and we don't even know if she's shaych, do we? Well, actually, I know, but you don't!
RayeNightstorm: Heylo, Online Shoulder! Glad you reviewed...aww, warm fuzzies.
Lightning Rain: Well, the thing is, I don't know what would be a nickname- you pronounce Liluye as Lil-(as in lily)-U-(as in you)-Yuh. (as in duh, with more pronunciation of the H.)
EvilGenius: Thank you for the mini-Firebirds! Want one of them? Take your pick...and yes, misspelled countries count...
*huggles all reviewers and loads them with pies*
Muse responsible: Rrissa!
Onto the story! You know, I should put the sidenote BEFORE I say "Onto the story..." but oh well.
Sorry for leaving this so long! Scary things are probably happening...mercs and their parties...tsk, tsk.
------------------------------------------------
The days passed in sort of a blur of training, training, language class, Survival, and training.
I was becoming quite proficient with the two axes, and was currently working with a battle-axe, and trying to figure out how I could shrink them and use two at the same time.
Chester turned out to be a fairly good fighter, for a horse, and Kree, deadly even without training, had become nearly unstoppable. Someone had come up with a very light armor for his chest-proof against arrows, supposedly-but it didn't work too well.
Kree now wore the bracelets for jesses, even though I did not possess jesses. They could be used for carrying a light rope over things, I supposed, but didn't have any clear idea why Kree wanted them.
But the training season for us was nearly over-soon, "my" group of recruits would go into the field.
Leon was in officer-training, presumably to command the little scout-group. There were eight of us in all-Helia, Tuvya, Leon, Frayley, Necia, Jaonsen, Kree, and me.
The Wanderers had taken to Kree with extreme liking, pampering him and talking to him, even swapping jokes with him, with me along as "translator."
All in all, our scout group was mostly ready.
I lay in bed one night, staring at the ceiling. Helia slept quietly in the other bed. She always fell asleep quickly, but I had become something of an insomniac...
[It isn't enough to keep me busy, really. I can speak most trade-tongue dialects, Rethwellan, of course, Jkathan, and the Tayledras that Kree deigns to teach me, I'm training hard with an axe, but I still feel like there's something missing.]
:Sleep, probably,; muttered Kree into my mind, having picked up my train of thought-again. :Shield, bondmate, I no can sleep.:
I put up a thin screen of a shield and continued musing. [He's probably right...I don't sleep well anymore. Even that trick my dad taught me isn't working too well.]
I got out of bed quietly and went to the window, scratching Kree's crest as he shifted on his perch, muttering.
I looked out at the stars, picking out different constellations idly. [There's the Wain, and the Hunter...the Cat...]
I chuckled quietly. [And there's a grouping of stars that looks sort of like Wendell.]
Moving away from my window, I sat back down on the bed, now looking into the fireplace.
"Can't sleep?" came Helia's voice, unexpectedly.
I started. "No, I can't. Did I wake you?"
"No," replied Helia, sitting up and stretching.
"Oh," was the only reply I could think of.
"Sleeping is difficult, these days, sometimes," said Helia, twisting to sit on the edge of the bed, facing me.
"I know. They're going to send us into the field, soon, if we get an offer," I said, moving my gaze from the fire to her face.
"Even if we don't get an offer, we'll be gone," said Helia, "This is a peculiar Company. I like it."
"Any offers had better come soon, or they won't find us!" I said, grinning.
"No, they won't."
I picked up the knitting I had started a few days ago and continued on my scarf, as was a farmgirl's habit.
[Though I'm not really a farmgirl anymore...]
"There's been something going on with you, and I want to know what it is," Helia said, suddenly, looking sharply at me.
I faltered in my knitting for a moment, the steady click of the needles halting before I caught myself.
"Thought so. Now, what is it?" pressed Helia, reading the signs of my uneasiness.
I studied my knitting for a moment, picking up a dropped stitch before I answered. "There-there's nothing to tell," I said, working my needle through the yarn.
"You're lying."
I looked back at Helia, my insides twisting, trying to keep my expression steady. I knitted the dropped stitch back in without looking, continuing the steady rhythm of the needles. "No, I'm-"
"Yes, you are," said Helia, all traces of sleepiness gone from her voice. "I'm your friend, Liluye. You can tell me," she said, her voice turning gentle.
I remained mute, staring down at my knitting. Helia waited, patiently...
"Well, I see you're not going to tell me. If you need anyone..." her voice trailed off.
I nodded, finishing the row and putting the knitting down.
Slipping back into bed, I stared at the ceiling, an unhappy lump in my throat.
If I hadn't been so absorbed in my own turmoil of thoughts, I would have realized that the silence from Helia meant that she was lying awake as well...
------------------------------------------
Poor Liluye-kins. For those of you who said you wanted...action...I'm trying to keep this realistic and take it slowly. Hope you like.
~Fireblade K'Chona