Wow, I really don't like to waste this time...
Ah well, I'll try writing in rhyme!
Now you know that I own Liluye and Kree,
But the rest of it sure don't belong to me!
Hope you liked the disclaimer. *bow* And in a break from tradition, I'm doing the review responses at the end! *gasp, horror*
I don't own most of the songs, either, but I do own the Wanderer's theme song.
Muse responsible: Tis the Lady Rrissa.
Rrissa: :I'm not a lady, I'm an it. A neuter. Get that through your head or I won't help you.:
Fireblade: *gulp* OK, I'll try again...
Muse responsible: Tis the Honorable Venerated Kyree Rrissa.
Rrissa: :Better. Onto the story.:
-----------------------------------------------
I skipped into Helia's and my room, caroling with joy. "We get to leave Wandersrest and do one of Wendell's 'training missions!'" I sang, dancing around the room gleefully.
Helia whooped with joy and leapt up. "In other words, he's bored and wants to leave," she said, grinning.
I mock-scowled at her. "Now, now, training missions are nothing to be joked about," I said sternly, then ruined the lie by laughing.
Kree landed on his perch outside the window, fixing us with a bright golden eye. :We go?: he queried, rather confused by the dancing around the room.
"Yes, Kree, we get to leave and go see interesting things!" I crowed, attempting a cartwheel, failing miserably, and crashing into the foot of my bed. "Ow-no, I'm all right," I said to Helia.
Kree's end of the bond surged with happiness as he leapt off the perch and flew high, giving a joyful scream as he rode the wind.
"What should we take?" said Helia, immediately getting down to business. "And when do we leave?"
"This afternoon!" I said, still grinning from ear to ear.
"That only gives us two candlemarks!" said Helia, her eyes widening as she dove for the chest at the foot of her bed.
I moved to my chest, which I had moved against the wall, and tossed my packs onto the bed. "Clothes, clothes, raincloak-Supplies will have the tent and things. I think they go on the packhorses," I said as I flung more things onto the bed.
I hauled out the Kree gear and eyed it, wondering how much I could reduce the weight. "Um..." I murmured, looking through the box, selecting out several things. "Imping kit's a given...the hood, basic medical kit, leather-repairing kit..." I leaned back, biting my lip. "Still need a perch, and the one in the corner's too big," I muttered.
"Do you have an arm-gauntlet?" asked Helia, glancing up from her trunk.
I waved my left arm at her, showing the stiff gauntlet attached to my wrist. "I'm taking the staff, but..." I said, letting my sentence trail.
"I suppose we could lash it on the tent somehow..." said Helia, eying the staff by the door, marked with clawmarks at one end. "Shouldn't be that hard, with an ex-falconer and an ex-farmgirl..."
I nodded, forming a picture of what it would look like. "That'd work if there weren't any trees around. And if it rains...well, he's smart, I guess we could bring him in the tent."
That figured, I went back to my packing.
Eventually, I ended up with a few sets of spare clothes, my raincloak, Kree gear, a medical kit, my knitting, and a few other odds and ends. The packs weren't that much bigger than the one I'd left home with-the problem was that there were two of them.
I stared at them as Thera poked her head through the door. "Got everything? Looks like it...good." She looked over Helia's set of packs, then mine. "That looks fine. You'll have a packpony between you, so you should be all right. Let's go."
I strapped on my axes and picked up the staff by the door, laboring out under the weight of the packs to where Chester waited. Helia's horse, Dusty, waited nearby, a shaggy spotted packpony tethered beside him.
:Kree!: I called, setting my packs down and bracing the staff over my shoulders.
Kree wheeled above and gave me a momentary glimpse of the stableyard through his eyes-filled with people laughing and loading their horses.
Diving down, he settled onto the edge of the staff across my shoulders. Despite myself, I staggered under his weight-he had grown quite a bit since we had first bonded.
Picking up the packs, I transferred Kree to Chester's saddle as I loaded them onto the pony. Helia grinned at me from the other side of the spotted gelding, saying, "We should name him."
My treacherous heart had twisted at her smile, but my feeling of well-being was too strong to be easily unseated. "How about Poochie?" I said mockingly, tossing a name from one of her falconer's stories back at her. One of the sons of Lord Nadoc, about seven years old, had been given a merlin. He had promptly named the poor bird Poochie. Helia swatted me with a loose packstrap. "No, no, no, and no."
"Well, why don't we call him Spot until we feel more original, then?" I asked, tightening the buckle on one of the packs.
Helia nodded and tethered "Spot's" rein to the back of Dusty's saddle. I swung up into Chester's, taking Kree onto my arm and somehow ending up in the proper seat. Chester, used to Kree's presence by now, didn't move as he scented hawk.
I braced my hand on the pommel of the saddle as Kree shifted for a better view. "Stay with me till we get out of Wandersrest, and I'll launch you," I promised, and Kree sent a surge of assent down the bond.
After about a quarter of a candlemark, after which my wrist was aching, Wendell finally motioned us forward. Leon, proudly wearing his co- officer's badge, motioned my recruit group into formation.
At last, we rode out of the town, a great stream of mercs in a good mood, bantering cheerfully and some of us singing songs.
I launched Kree with a great heave of my arm as he flapped, flying majestically through the air and over the Company, to pull up and hover a few moments above Wendell, who glanced up at him and laughed. :Show-off!: I called to him mockingly.
:Me?: Kree asked innocently. :I only meek bird.:
I chuckled quietly at him.
"Where are we going?" asked Helia, nudging Dusty over to chat with me.
"I think Kata'shi'na'in," I said, "I could be wrong, but I think Wendell wants to get us raw recruits some better horse-gear."
"Mm," said Helia, thoughtfully. I stole a sideways glance at her...the sun reflected off her short hair, pulled into a small tail at the back of her neck, and she was absently chewing her lip, as was her habit when thinking...
:Moon-eyed,: said Kree.
Blushing, I yanked my eyes back to the road. :Thank you for your unvarnished opinion,: I sent back sarcastically.
:You're welcome,: said Kree-and I couldn't tell whether or not he was serious. [Bird's getting smarter by the day...]
"Liluye?" said Helia.
"Yes?"
"Why are you so red?"
I bit off a curse, blushing again. "Um-I don't know," I lied.
Helia raised an eyebrow. [She suspects...] came the sudden, horrifying thought.
"Well, if you're sure," said Helia.
I shifted in my saddle.
"Ride, warrior, ride!" came the sudden sung lyric from behind us.
"With a blade by your side!" Helia and I chorused in unison, joining the song.
"Follow on your spirit-steed, while wounds darken and bleed! Drink the wind as you fly!" sang the rest of the Company, joining into the song, surprisingly on-key.
Kree swooped low over the Wanderers as he heard 'drink the wind as you fly.' He soared upwards again at the rear of the Company, with the extra packponies in strings.
"Hear the night beasts cry! Cold tears run with the rain...down a horse's mane..." we sang.
"That's not a song to be going on with! Too gloomy!" shouted a voice with a broad country accent from the back.
"Deep into the stony hills, miles from town or hold!" the voice continued, and we changed songs.
"A troupe of guards comes riding with a lady and her gold!"
We continued singing as we rode, switching from adventurous ballads to raucous drinking songs, at last falling into the song that every Wanderer knew.
"You might see us wandering under the sky, come rain, come snow, come sleet and hail-"
"But if you're not watching we'll silent pass by, not even the jingling from our silver mail!"
The song didn't always make a whole lot of sense, per se, but the tune was easy to learn, and it was our song.
Several hours of easy riding passed. At last, Wendell signaled a halt, and, catching my eye from the rise, jerked his head at Kree and moved his mouth. I nodded-I was near the end, and could hardly see him, and that was exactly the point. He would give orders, Kree would relay them to me, and I would relay them to everyone else.
:Captain say, 'We've gone easy for you new recruits. Expect to be saddle- sore from now on.':
I repeated the orders in the "officers voice," so named for the ability to carry over a battlefield.
At the edge of my hearing, I could hear the chief Healer talking to the supply lines-this part of the road was narrow, and the Company was large.
:Wendell say, 'We camp now.' He turn and lead, now.:
"We camp now!" I called out, and nudged Chester forward.
Soon, the camp was laid out precisely in order-the tents in neat rows. Helia and I figured out how to get the tent up by watching several others and remembering our training, but we still took three times the time it took the veterans.
Kree circled above, and I sent to him-:I'm coming.:
"I'm going to hunt with Kree," I said to Helia, and she nodded, this having been our dinner on the way to Wandersrest.
It didn't take long for Kree to find us two rabbits, and a bird I didn't recognize for himself.
Helia and I ate contentedly in front of our tent, to the rather envious looks of a few who had to hunt their own supper, choosing not to take from Supplies. [I could probably earn money off Kree catching dinner...] I thought to myself.
"As fun as this is," said Helia as the sun began to set, and Kree found a tree to roost for the night, "I can't wait for our first campaign..."
I nodded, not really finding anything else to say, except for the vague feeling that campaigns weren't "fun" in any aspect.
---------------------------------------------
Darkfyre: Disturbing indeed. And Rethwellans tend to be homophobic...poor Liluye. Mercs are more open-minded, though...
Hawk: Me too, but there's no commanding the muses.
Ckk: The pie is a reward, but you get cupcakes today! Virtual ones, don't electrocute yourself, please!
I am sorry if these updates take so long. The thing is, my muses have decided that they don't like winter and have relocated to Bermuda for a while. *sigh* I managed to get Rrissa back for a bit, but she's leaving soon...oh well. I'll work hard to get these up as fast as I can.
~Fireblade K'Chona
Ah well, I'll try writing in rhyme!
Now you know that I own Liluye and Kree,
But the rest of it sure don't belong to me!
Hope you liked the disclaimer. *bow* And in a break from tradition, I'm doing the review responses at the end! *gasp, horror*
I don't own most of the songs, either, but I do own the Wanderer's theme song.
Muse responsible: Tis the Lady Rrissa.
Rrissa: :I'm not a lady, I'm an it. A neuter. Get that through your head or I won't help you.:
Fireblade: *gulp* OK, I'll try again...
Muse responsible: Tis the Honorable Venerated Kyree Rrissa.
Rrissa: :Better. Onto the story.:
-----------------------------------------------
I skipped into Helia's and my room, caroling with joy. "We get to leave Wandersrest and do one of Wendell's 'training missions!'" I sang, dancing around the room gleefully.
Helia whooped with joy and leapt up. "In other words, he's bored and wants to leave," she said, grinning.
I mock-scowled at her. "Now, now, training missions are nothing to be joked about," I said sternly, then ruined the lie by laughing.
Kree landed on his perch outside the window, fixing us with a bright golden eye. :We go?: he queried, rather confused by the dancing around the room.
"Yes, Kree, we get to leave and go see interesting things!" I crowed, attempting a cartwheel, failing miserably, and crashing into the foot of my bed. "Ow-no, I'm all right," I said to Helia.
Kree's end of the bond surged with happiness as he leapt off the perch and flew high, giving a joyful scream as he rode the wind.
"What should we take?" said Helia, immediately getting down to business. "And when do we leave?"
"This afternoon!" I said, still grinning from ear to ear.
"That only gives us two candlemarks!" said Helia, her eyes widening as she dove for the chest at the foot of her bed.
I moved to my chest, which I had moved against the wall, and tossed my packs onto the bed. "Clothes, clothes, raincloak-Supplies will have the tent and things. I think they go on the packhorses," I said as I flung more things onto the bed.
I hauled out the Kree gear and eyed it, wondering how much I could reduce the weight. "Um..." I murmured, looking through the box, selecting out several things. "Imping kit's a given...the hood, basic medical kit, leather-repairing kit..." I leaned back, biting my lip. "Still need a perch, and the one in the corner's too big," I muttered.
"Do you have an arm-gauntlet?" asked Helia, glancing up from her trunk.
I waved my left arm at her, showing the stiff gauntlet attached to my wrist. "I'm taking the staff, but..." I said, letting my sentence trail.
"I suppose we could lash it on the tent somehow..." said Helia, eying the staff by the door, marked with clawmarks at one end. "Shouldn't be that hard, with an ex-falconer and an ex-farmgirl..."
I nodded, forming a picture of what it would look like. "That'd work if there weren't any trees around. And if it rains...well, he's smart, I guess we could bring him in the tent."
That figured, I went back to my packing.
Eventually, I ended up with a few sets of spare clothes, my raincloak, Kree gear, a medical kit, my knitting, and a few other odds and ends. The packs weren't that much bigger than the one I'd left home with-the problem was that there were two of them.
I stared at them as Thera poked her head through the door. "Got everything? Looks like it...good." She looked over Helia's set of packs, then mine. "That looks fine. You'll have a packpony between you, so you should be all right. Let's go."
I strapped on my axes and picked up the staff by the door, laboring out under the weight of the packs to where Chester waited. Helia's horse, Dusty, waited nearby, a shaggy spotted packpony tethered beside him.
:Kree!: I called, setting my packs down and bracing the staff over my shoulders.
Kree wheeled above and gave me a momentary glimpse of the stableyard through his eyes-filled with people laughing and loading their horses.
Diving down, he settled onto the edge of the staff across my shoulders. Despite myself, I staggered under his weight-he had grown quite a bit since we had first bonded.
Picking up the packs, I transferred Kree to Chester's saddle as I loaded them onto the pony. Helia grinned at me from the other side of the spotted gelding, saying, "We should name him."
My treacherous heart had twisted at her smile, but my feeling of well-being was too strong to be easily unseated. "How about Poochie?" I said mockingly, tossing a name from one of her falconer's stories back at her. One of the sons of Lord Nadoc, about seven years old, had been given a merlin. He had promptly named the poor bird Poochie. Helia swatted me with a loose packstrap. "No, no, no, and no."
"Well, why don't we call him Spot until we feel more original, then?" I asked, tightening the buckle on one of the packs.
Helia nodded and tethered "Spot's" rein to the back of Dusty's saddle. I swung up into Chester's, taking Kree onto my arm and somehow ending up in the proper seat. Chester, used to Kree's presence by now, didn't move as he scented hawk.
I braced my hand on the pommel of the saddle as Kree shifted for a better view. "Stay with me till we get out of Wandersrest, and I'll launch you," I promised, and Kree sent a surge of assent down the bond.
After about a quarter of a candlemark, after which my wrist was aching, Wendell finally motioned us forward. Leon, proudly wearing his co- officer's badge, motioned my recruit group into formation.
At last, we rode out of the town, a great stream of mercs in a good mood, bantering cheerfully and some of us singing songs.
I launched Kree with a great heave of my arm as he flapped, flying majestically through the air and over the Company, to pull up and hover a few moments above Wendell, who glanced up at him and laughed. :Show-off!: I called to him mockingly.
:Me?: Kree asked innocently. :I only meek bird.:
I chuckled quietly at him.
"Where are we going?" asked Helia, nudging Dusty over to chat with me.
"I think Kata'shi'na'in," I said, "I could be wrong, but I think Wendell wants to get us raw recruits some better horse-gear."
"Mm," said Helia, thoughtfully. I stole a sideways glance at her...the sun reflected off her short hair, pulled into a small tail at the back of her neck, and she was absently chewing her lip, as was her habit when thinking...
:Moon-eyed,: said Kree.
Blushing, I yanked my eyes back to the road. :Thank you for your unvarnished opinion,: I sent back sarcastically.
:You're welcome,: said Kree-and I couldn't tell whether or not he was serious. [Bird's getting smarter by the day...]
"Liluye?" said Helia.
"Yes?"
"Why are you so red?"
I bit off a curse, blushing again. "Um-I don't know," I lied.
Helia raised an eyebrow. [She suspects...] came the sudden, horrifying thought.
"Well, if you're sure," said Helia.
I shifted in my saddle.
"Ride, warrior, ride!" came the sudden sung lyric from behind us.
"With a blade by your side!" Helia and I chorused in unison, joining the song.
"Follow on your spirit-steed, while wounds darken and bleed! Drink the wind as you fly!" sang the rest of the Company, joining into the song, surprisingly on-key.
Kree swooped low over the Wanderers as he heard 'drink the wind as you fly.' He soared upwards again at the rear of the Company, with the extra packponies in strings.
"Hear the night beasts cry! Cold tears run with the rain...down a horse's mane..." we sang.
"That's not a song to be going on with! Too gloomy!" shouted a voice with a broad country accent from the back.
"Deep into the stony hills, miles from town or hold!" the voice continued, and we changed songs.
"A troupe of guards comes riding with a lady and her gold!"
We continued singing as we rode, switching from adventurous ballads to raucous drinking songs, at last falling into the song that every Wanderer knew.
"You might see us wandering under the sky, come rain, come snow, come sleet and hail-"
"But if you're not watching we'll silent pass by, not even the jingling from our silver mail!"
The song didn't always make a whole lot of sense, per se, but the tune was easy to learn, and it was our song.
Several hours of easy riding passed. At last, Wendell signaled a halt, and, catching my eye from the rise, jerked his head at Kree and moved his mouth. I nodded-I was near the end, and could hardly see him, and that was exactly the point. He would give orders, Kree would relay them to me, and I would relay them to everyone else.
:Captain say, 'We've gone easy for you new recruits. Expect to be saddle- sore from now on.':
I repeated the orders in the "officers voice," so named for the ability to carry over a battlefield.
At the edge of my hearing, I could hear the chief Healer talking to the supply lines-this part of the road was narrow, and the Company was large.
:Wendell say, 'We camp now.' He turn and lead, now.:
"We camp now!" I called out, and nudged Chester forward.
Soon, the camp was laid out precisely in order-the tents in neat rows. Helia and I figured out how to get the tent up by watching several others and remembering our training, but we still took three times the time it took the veterans.
Kree circled above, and I sent to him-:I'm coming.:
"I'm going to hunt with Kree," I said to Helia, and she nodded, this having been our dinner on the way to Wandersrest.
It didn't take long for Kree to find us two rabbits, and a bird I didn't recognize for himself.
Helia and I ate contentedly in front of our tent, to the rather envious looks of a few who had to hunt their own supper, choosing not to take from Supplies. [I could probably earn money off Kree catching dinner...] I thought to myself.
"As fun as this is," said Helia as the sun began to set, and Kree found a tree to roost for the night, "I can't wait for our first campaign..."
I nodded, not really finding anything else to say, except for the vague feeling that campaigns weren't "fun" in any aspect.
---------------------------------------------
Darkfyre: Disturbing indeed. And Rethwellans tend to be homophobic...poor Liluye. Mercs are more open-minded, though...
Hawk: Me too, but there's no commanding the muses.
Ckk: The pie is a reward, but you get cupcakes today! Virtual ones, don't electrocute yourself, please!
I am sorry if these updates take so long. The thing is, my muses have decided that they don't like winter and have relocated to Bermuda for a while. *sigh* I managed to get Rrissa back for a bit, but she's leaving soon...oh well. I'll work hard to get these up as fast as I can.
~Fireblade K'Chona