Disclaimer: After the one in verse last time, let's just refrain for a
while, shall we?
Muse Responsible: Rrissa!
Darkfyre: Here's your update!
Hawk: Yes, she is paranoid. Very, very paranoid. Little eccentricities.....
Lightning Rain: Somehow, I think you're going to laugh at the nickname Liluye gets stuck with.....
Zila Kaelar: Thanks. I need the good luck. Wimpy muses.....*mutter, mutter*
Kierseth: O.O
Well, here's more in any case.
Ssjbookgirl: I know. But I'm trying to keep Liluye going at her own pace. It's not just, "I love you!" "I love you too!" *muchas smoochas* There's a plot involved.
.....ok, there may be muchas smoochas in other cases, but not this one.
Shahanna: Liluye's just got Mindspeech, and fairly weak at that. If she met a Herald, (which she probably won't) she'd probably be able to Mindspeak the Herald in question, but not much more than that.
Onto the story!
----------------------------------------
This was fun. I couldn't remember when I'd been happier. Some may have called me insane, living with a whole company of people, rising at dawn, riding the full day and stopping only at dusk-but despite all that, I was still happy.
As was Kree. He flew for most of the day, performing aerial acrobatics to beg treats off the other Wanderers. I teased him about that, but he ignored me in favor of the choice bits of meat he was earning.
It was dawn, and I was awake. Kree had a habit of getting me up to feed him-a worthy cause, so I didn't complain. It was really rather nice, in the chill before morning, just me and a hawk-eagle sitting outside a tent and eating.
After he ate, I would launch him into the air and shake Helia up. This morning, she wasn't in the mood to awaken. "Helia!" I said, cheerfully, shaking her right shoulder.
"Ahrnfg."
"Time to get up."
"Go 'way."
"You know, this conversation is getting old."
"Fine."
Fairly quickly, Helia was up, we were packed, and the tent was down. Spot patiently waited as we loaded our gear onto him and tied him to Dusty.
Mounting Chester, I held out my arm.
Kree came flying in, settling onto my forearm. [I'm getting stronger.....I can hold him up!] I thought.
We rode.
I had discovered that I could ride in a sort of trance, as it were. Kree glided lazily above us, and I distanced myself from the world, watching passively.
And returning to my thoughts. The one problem with this monotonous riding was that it gave you plenty of time to worry and agonize over things.
[I love her. I'm sure of it,] I thought, glancing at Helia, who was involved in a lively discussion with Necia.
[But if I tell her, it will destroy our friendship.]
This wasn't anything new. I was thinking in circles, but I couldn't shock myself out of the loop.
We rode.
After a few hours, Wendell halted the Company. Kree floated forward and listened, relaying his words to me. I wasn't needed as much on the wider roads, but we were still large enough for me to be useful.
:He say-"We will be stopping at a town in half a candlemark. We stay until noon tomorrow. Try not to get too drunk.":
I relayed this, to a rumble of laughter at the last comment.
A town! A sight other than the road!
It didn't take us long. We stopped at the edge of town and made a rough camp, before most of the mercs headed for the taverns.
I took some of the afternoon to hunt with Kree. He ate well and, crop bulging, fluttered to a tree to digest.
Trying not to laugh at him, I headed for the town.
The inn I wandered into was called the Horse's Head. Not that many Wanderers were there, but those that were there waved at me. "Tweetie! Sit here!"
I had gained a nickname-I had a bondbird, hence "Tweetie."
"That's not very merc-like!" I protested, heading over. "How am I supposed to become a great hero with a name like 'Tweetie?'"
"Your enemies will die of laughter!" shouted Frayley, the one person from my recruit-group there.
I hit him and sat down. "That wasn't nice, Tweetie," he protested, rubbing his shoulder.
"You deserved it," I said primly, ordering a drink.
The discussion carried on, gradually growing louder as the servers refilled our mugs. A young man, probably about nineteen, kept winking at me and topping off my beer.
Not wanting to be rude, I drank it.
It couldn't have been much later, but it was dark as Frayley and I staggered from the tavern, singing.....something.
"You're off key!" I said, managing not to slur the words.
"I'm not, you are, Tweetsh," said Frayley, apparently having trouble focusing.
"You're drunk."
"Sho're you," he slurred, staggering again.
I shook my head, which made the world swim oddly. Taking Frayley's arm, I led him slowly back to camp, keeping him upright.
I left him at his tent door and wandered over to my tent. Helia looked up at me from where she had been patiently sharpening her belt-knife.
The look she gave me was funny, somehow.
"I drunk I'm not shw-swear," I said, trying to keep the words straight. The world was tilting.
Helia gave me a very startled look this time. "I see," she said, standing. "Liluye, come with me."
She took my arm gently and led me away from the tent. I leaned on her. "I think sh-something in the beer dish-disagreed with me," I said, again trying not to slur.
"It certainly did," said Helia, bringing me to the stream at the side of the camp. I looked at it.
"Why're we here?"
"Kneel down so both of us can look. I have something to show you," said Helia, helping me down.
I looked at the surface of the water. "Do you sh-see the colors, Helia?" I asked.
She didn't reply, and a second later I found my head immersed in ice-cold stream water.
She let me up, spluttering. "Wha-why-" I managed to get out, before she dunked me again.
It took several more dunks before she was satisfied. "It'll take a while for this to wear off," she said sternly. "I expect you'll be better about drinking next time, mm? Well-" she amended, "Unless I'm getting drunk with you."
This made very little sense to me.
Helia led me back to our tent and let me crawl into my bedroll. I said- something. I couldn't understand it.
She looked at me sharply and said, "Go to sleep, Liluye. You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."
I fell into the blackness of sleep.
And awoke the next day with the mother of all hangovers. "Ahwneghblrr," I groaned, sitting slowly up. Helia was still in the tent, darning a sock. "I thought you'd be waking up about now," she said, without any sympathy. "Remember-no getting drunk unless I can get drunk with you. It's no fun the other way."
I rubbed my head, and a few facts clicked into place, burning whatever drunkenness I had left into sobriety.
When I drank, my tongue started flapping.
Helia had been privy to rather the worst part of my drunkenness.
"What did I say?" I asked, my head snapping up, hangover forgotten.
Helia's fingers didn't falter in their darning. "You said you loved me. You were drunk. I expect you thought I was.....Frayley, or Leon, or someone."
I stared at her. [Oh, damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.]
"There's willow tea by the fire," said Helia, waving vaguely outside the tent. "You'll need it."
I slowly headed outside. There was indeed a mug of willow tea there, sitting beside the tiny campfire three tents shared. I swallowed it without tasting it.
:Stupid bondmate. Not-drink. Head hurt, my head hurt,: said Kree, irritably.
:Sorry.: I shielded.
[Gods. Oh, gods. I said I loved her.]
I stared into the fire, more sober than willow tea and any amount of dunkings could ever make me.
-------------------------------------
The plot thickens. Mwahaha.
I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but here's a nice update, so no worries, eh?
Review, please! I'm review-starved, lately! (Course, it's because I haven't been updating.....*shifty eyes* Sorry!)
~Fireblade K'Chona
Muse Responsible: Rrissa!
Darkfyre: Here's your update!
Hawk: Yes, she is paranoid. Very, very paranoid. Little eccentricities.....
Lightning Rain: Somehow, I think you're going to laugh at the nickname Liluye gets stuck with.....
Zila Kaelar: Thanks. I need the good luck. Wimpy muses.....*mutter, mutter*
Kierseth: O.O
Well, here's more in any case.
Ssjbookgirl: I know. But I'm trying to keep Liluye going at her own pace. It's not just, "I love you!" "I love you too!" *muchas smoochas* There's a plot involved.
.....ok, there may be muchas smoochas in other cases, but not this one.
Shahanna: Liluye's just got Mindspeech, and fairly weak at that. If she met a Herald, (which she probably won't) she'd probably be able to Mindspeak the Herald in question, but not much more than that.
Onto the story!
----------------------------------------
This was fun. I couldn't remember when I'd been happier. Some may have called me insane, living with a whole company of people, rising at dawn, riding the full day and stopping only at dusk-but despite all that, I was still happy.
As was Kree. He flew for most of the day, performing aerial acrobatics to beg treats off the other Wanderers. I teased him about that, but he ignored me in favor of the choice bits of meat he was earning.
It was dawn, and I was awake. Kree had a habit of getting me up to feed him-a worthy cause, so I didn't complain. It was really rather nice, in the chill before morning, just me and a hawk-eagle sitting outside a tent and eating.
After he ate, I would launch him into the air and shake Helia up. This morning, she wasn't in the mood to awaken. "Helia!" I said, cheerfully, shaking her right shoulder.
"Ahrnfg."
"Time to get up."
"Go 'way."
"You know, this conversation is getting old."
"Fine."
Fairly quickly, Helia was up, we were packed, and the tent was down. Spot patiently waited as we loaded our gear onto him and tied him to Dusty.
Mounting Chester, I held out my arm.
Kree came flying in, settling onto my forearm. [I'm getting stronger.....I can hold him up!] I thought.
We rode.
I had discovered that I could ride in a sort of trance, as it were. Kree glided lazily above us, and I distanced myself from the world, watching passively.
And returning to my thoughts. The one problem with this monotonous riding was that it gave you plenty of time to worry and agonize over things.
[I love her. I'm sure of it,] I thought, glancing at Helia, who was involved in a lively discussion with Necia.
[But if I tell her, it will destroy our friendship.]
This wasn't anything new. I was thinking in circles, but I couldn't shock myself out of the loop.
We rode.
After a few hours, Wendell halted the Company. Kree floated forward and listened, relaying his words to me. I wasn't needed as much on the wider roads, but we were still large enough for me to be useful.
:He say-"We will be stopping at a town in half a candlemark. We stay until noon tomorrow. Try not to get too drunk.":
I relayed this, to a rumble of laughter at the last comment.
A town! A sight other than the road!
It didn't take us long. We stopped at the edge of town and made a rough camp, before most of the mercs headed for the taverns.
I took some of the afternoon to hunt with Kree. He ate well and, crop bulging, fluttered to a tree to digest.
Trying not to laugh at him, I headed for the town.
The inn I wandered into was called the Horse's Head. Not that many Wanderers were there, but those that were there waved at me. "Tweetie! Sit here!"
I had gained a nickname-I had a bondbird, hence "Tweetie."
"That's not very merc-like!" I protested, heading over. "How am I supposed to become a great hero with a name like 'Tweetie?'"
"Your enemies will die of laughter!" shouted Frayley, the one person from my recruit-group there.
I hit him and sat down. "That wasn't nice, Tweetie," he protested, rubbing his shoulder.
"You deserved it," I said primly, ordering a drink.
The discussion carried on, gradually growing louder as the servers refilled our mugs. A young man, probably about nineteen, kept winking at me and topping off my beer.
Not wanting to be rude, I drank it.
It couldn't have been much later, but it was dark as Frayley and I staggered from the tavern, singing.....something.
"You're off key!" I said, managing not to slur the words.
"I'm not, you are, Tweetsh," said Frayley, apparently having trouble focusing.
"You're drunk."
"Sho're you," he slurred, staggering again.
I shook my head, which made the world swim oddly. Taking Frayley's arm, I led him slowly back to camp, keeping him upright.
I left him at his tent door and wandered over to my tent. Helia looked up at me from where she had been patiently sharpening her belt-knife.
The look she gave me was funny, somehow.
"I drunk I'm not shw-swear," I said, trying to keep the words straight. The world was tilting.
Helia gave me a very startled look this time. "I see," she said, standing. "Liluye, come with me."
She took my arm gently and led me away from the tent. I leaned on her. "I think sh-something in the beer dish-disagreed with me," I said, again trying not to slur.
"It certainly did," said Helia, bringing me to the stream at the side of the camp. I looked at it.
"Why're we here?"
"Kneel down so both of us can look. I have something to show you," said Helia, helping me down.
I looked at the surface of the water. "Do you sh-see the colors, Helia?" I asked.
She didn't reply, and a second later I found my head immersed in ice-cold stream water.
She let me up, spluttering. "Wha-why-" I managed to get out, before she dunked me again.
It took several more dunks before she was satisfied. "It'll take a while for this to wear off," she said sternly. "I expect you'll be better about drinking next time, mm? Well-" she amended, "Unless I'm getting drunk with you."
This made very little sense to me.
Helia led me back to our tent and let me crawl into my bedroll. I said- something. I couldn't understand it.
She looked at me sharply and said, "Go to sleep, Liluye. You're drunk. You don't know what you're saying."
I fell into the blackness of sleep.
And awoke the next day with the mother of all hangovers. "Ahwneghblrr," I groaned, sitting slowly up. Helia was still in the tent, darning a sock. "I thought you'd be waking up about now," she said, without any sympathy. "Remember-no getting drunk unless I can get drunk with you. It's no fun the other way."
I rubbed my head, and a few facts clicked into place, burning whatever drunkenness I had left into sobriety.
When I drank, my tongue started flapping.
Helia had been privy to rather the worst part of my drunkenness.
"What did I say?" I asked, my head snapping up, hangover forgotten.
Helia's fingers didn't falter in their darning. "You said you loved me. You were drunk. I expect you thought I was.....Frayley, or Leon, or someone."
I stared at her. [Oh, damn. Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.]
"There's willow tea by the fire," said Helia, waving vaguely outside the tent. "You'll need it."
I slowly headed outside. There was indeed a mug of willow tea there, sitting beside the tiny campfire three tents shared. I swallowed it without tasting it.
:Stupid bondmate. Not-drink. Head hurt, my head hurt,: said Kree, irritably.
:Sorry.: I shielded.
[Gods. Oh, gods. I said I loved her.]
I stared into the fire, more sober than willow tea and any amount of dunkings could ever make me.
-------------------------------------
The plot thickens. Mwahaha.
I'm sorry I haven't updated in a while, but here's a nice update, so no worries, eh?
Review, please! I'm review-starved, lately! (Course, it's because I haven't been updating.....*shifty eyes* Sorry!)
~Fireblade K'Chona