Hey, this is a quick one, and I know that it does like nothing, but I
tried to get it off fast for you guys before I left. I'll be back the
25th. And I leave in 22 minutes. Give me lots of reviews as a going
away present!!
Solei walked determinedly through the forest, brushing away branches that occasionally threatened to smack her face and catch in her blond curls. Patiently she continued on her way, yet she knew that once more something followed her. A blinding flare of orange light interspersed with flashes of purple polka-dots lit up the air in front of her and Solei raised her glaive, preparing for the worst. A creature emerged from the light, and Solei was forced to step back from the portal. A glob of wet, disgusting something hit her face as the light faded away, and she wiped it off slowly, trying to get every drop of the spit that had landed on her. Only when she had herself sufficiently clean did she chance a better look at the creature.
"A llama?" she asked, trying to determine if she was dreaming.
An unintelligible string of a language followed, and it took Solei a moment to realize that it was coming from the llama. It had a significant twang to it that Solei determined to be from the Bronx in New York.
"Sorry about that." Solei glanced up to see the llama's rider speaking. "His name is Bob. He speaks Swahili."
She looked at him, confused. "Swahili? Do you speak Swahili?"
The rider looked taken aback. "No. But Bob does."
"Oh...Who are you?"
"It depends. Who are you?" The rider appeared to be completely serious, and Solei answered without hesitation.
"I am Kyoueino Solei, the Thirteenth Dark Angel Kamai, Daughter of Caelestis, Destroyer of Worlds, and the Goddess Protector."
He smiled widely and waved, teetering slightly on his llama. "Hi. I'm Ryndacko."
"Where are you from?" she asked, trying to determine if he was a friend or foe.
"I am from the land of the One-Named-People." he said grandly. "From far to the up."
She gave him a look saying that he should be in a nuthouse. "Why are you here?"
"I was sent by the god Thaddeus" he paused. "Ted for short; to turn straw into gold." His thick, dark brown brows furrowed together. "Or gold into straw. I don't remember which."
Solei barely resisted smacking her forehead with her free hand. "The god Thaddeus?" she questioned, certain he was being sarcastic.
"Yes. The god Thaddeus. Ted for short." His deep brown eyes caught hers. "He is the god of hedgehogs, blueberries, and waffle irons."
"Uh huh." Solei was unconvinced. "What do you want?"
"I have come for all steak."
"What?"
The knight blinked twice, and then grinned and waved. "Aloha." The sky flared again in the same eye-smarting colours, and Ryndacko was gone.
"What an odd man." Solei stared at the spot he had vanished from, and was temporarily blinded when a flash of lavender-white announced the opening of another portal. A tall, auburn haired woman on a beautiful pure white steed stood in the place of the rickety knight.
"Are you okay?" she asked, starting to dismount from the horse.
Solei waved her back up. "Fine. Who are you?"
"My name is Nicole." She glanced around and her eyes fell on the spot where Solei had flicked the llama's spit. "Did you by any chance see a tall man in armor riding a black llama?"
"Does the llama speak Swahili with a Bronx accent?"
Nicole nodded. "That's the one."
Solei grinned. "He left just a moment ago."
A frustrated expression came over Nicole's face and she concentrated for a moment. "Thank you." she said as she disappeared in another flash of light. "Bye!"
Solei waved. "Bye." she responded to the empty space. She shook her head. "Focus, Solei. You have a god to kill." A hardened look entered her eyes, and she resumed her determined walk into the forest.
Liz glanced around. "Does anyone have a pair of earmuffs?" she looked slightly desperate to block out the prophetic babblings of Raya and Des.
Heads shook a disappointing no around the garden. "Damn." she muttered.
Hotohori was absently combing his hair when he noticed a chunk of rock. "AH!" Liz and the others turned to look as he pulled out a mirror. "Dust! In my hair!" He started to comb it out frantically, but Liz grabbed his hands.
"Stop." she commanded. "Sit." She pointed to a rock, and Hotohori sat gingerly, flicking his hair out from underneath him as he settled in. Gently Liz began to pick the dust and rock from Hotohori's hair, discreetly running her fingers through the silken strands. A burst of tie-dyed light blinded all of them, and when the spots disappeared from their vision, they didn't believe what they saw. A tall man in rag-tag armor was on all fours, and a pitch black llama sat primly on his back. The llama dismounted, and the knight stood up.
"Aloha." He smiled goofily and waved, looking slightly down at everyone from his height of 6'3".
Raya turned to face him as he spoke. "BEHOLD!" she thundered. "THE BEARER OF THE BRONZE PICKLE!" Something flashed in the knight's eyes, and he dropped back to his knees, feverishly digging. The dirt flew everywhere, forcing all of the warriors to cover their eyes. They heard a soft 'thump' and an even softer voice. "Ryndacko, cut it out." The dirt stopped flying immediately.
"Why did you do that?" Selene asked quickly.
Ryndacko poked his head out of the hole. "Do what?"
"Dig a hole?"
"What hole?"
Selene growled. "The hole you're standing in."
Ryndacko looked down. "This isn't a hole."
"Then what is it?" Liz asked, still flicking dirt from Hotohori's hair.
He stood thoughtful for a moment. "It's a negative hill." he answered a moment later.
"A negative hill?"
Ryndacko climbed out of his creation, futilely trying to brush dust off of his armor. "Aloha." he answered.
"What kind of answer is that?!?" Amber emerged from behind Tasuki, who looked less than pleased at having been used as a protector from dust and dirt.
The woman interrupted, answering for the goofy knight. "It's a typical Ryndacko answer."
"Who are you?" Hotohori's regal tones overrode any other speech.
The woman smiled. "I'm Nicole Kamoku." She glanced over to the knight who still smile slightly and smacked his arm to get his attention.
He waved. "Aloha. I'm Ryndacko."
"Where are you two from?" Nuriko asked.
"I'm from..." Nicole paused. "Somewhere other than here." Ryndacko was less than inclined to answer as he was studying his negative hill, so Nicole continued. "Ryndacko is from the land of the One-Named-People."
The knight looked up from the hole. "From far to the up." he added.
"Nicole?" Raya had inched away from Nuriko as the two had introduced themselves, and now focused intently on the woman. "Is that you?"
Nicole looked over to Raya. "Raya!" She raced over to the quiet watcher and enveloped her in a tight hug, leaving everyone confused except for Selene.
Nuriko shook his head. "Did I miss something?"
"No." Selene answered. She turned to the pair of girls. "Would you like to explain?"
Raya stepped out of Nicole's arms. "We're sisters." she said simply. "Separated for..."
Nicole cut in. "A long while."
Nods went around, and Amber jumped even further forward. "HI!" she said, extending a hand to Ryndacko.
He took it and pumped it up and down extravagantly. Nicole laid a gentle hand on his bicep and he stopped immediately, snaking his arm around her waist.
Nicole faced the group. "Who are all of the rest of you?"
Selene rolled her eyes and began. "I'm Selene."
Mitsukake walked forward and set one of his hands on Selene's slender shoulder. "I'm Mitsukake."
"I'm Elizabeth." Liz stuck her hand out, still standing behind the Hotohori. "Call me Liz." Nicole shook the offered hand.
Des took a deep breath. "HI! I'm Desaria! If you call me Desaria I'll be forced to pull out your entrails and hang you with them. So just call me Des." Selene, Amber and Liz looked ready for the kill, but Des stopped herself before launching into prophecy, completely to the surprise of the others.
"My name is Nuriko." He nodded his head to the new pair, and glanced sidelong at Raya, trying to be discrete. His glance went largely unnoticed, but Liz saw and got a matchmaking glint in her eyes.
"I am Hotohori." Hotohori sat straighter on the rock, and Liz paused in her preening for another moment.
"HENTAI!!!!!!!!" Everyone slapped their hands to their ears except Ryndacko who seemed unaffected by the shout.
"That's Amber." Selene explained. A loud SMASH punctuated her words, and she didn't even blink in astonishment. "And the pancake is Tasuki." Tasuki weakly waved a flat hand and Amber flailed her whole arm in greeting, her smile bright. Amber walked over after flattening Tasuki a second time for good measure.
"Why are you guys here." Ryndacko answered before Nicole. "I was sent by the god Thaddeus, Ted for short, to turn straw into gold." Nicole sighed. "Or gold into straw. I don't remember which."
"I was summoned, same as the rest of you."
"We were summoned?" Amber looked startled.
"Why?" Des asked.
Selene cringed. "You were summoned because you are essential to the Prophecy of the Goddess." she repeated. "Amber, you're the Daughter of the God, Liz, you're the Wanderer, Des, you're the Companion-"
"EEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!!" Des screamed.
Selene shook her head. "Not like that, Des. What it means is like, Friend."
"Why don't they just call me 'the Friend'?"
"It doesn't sound as prophetical, Des." Liz said, acting as though it was obvious.
Selene continued. "I am the Guide, Raya is the Watcher, and Nicole-"
"Is the Queen." Nicole finished her tone turning just sharp enough to discourage questions.
"What exactly is this prophecy about?" Amber asked.
Selene glanced to Hotohori. "Is there a place more secluded than this garden?" she paused. "This could take awhile."
Hotohori nodded. "I'll have the servants prepare a room, it should be ready when we get there." He summoned a servant and gave them very detailed instructions, waiting until the boy had raced off to face the group. "We'll take the scenic route through the gardens." They nodded, and he slowly rose, leading the group through the elaborately twisting paths of the Imperial Gardens.
please review!!
Solei walked determinedly through the forest, brushing away branches that occasionally threatened to smack her face and catch in her blond curls. Patiently she continued on her way, yet she knew that once more something followed her. A blinding flare of orange light interspersed with flashes of purple polka-dots lit up the air in front of her and Solei raised her glaive, preparing for the worst. A creature emerged from the light, and Solei was forced to step back from the portal. A glob of wet, disgusting something hit her face as the light faded away, and she wiped it off slowly, trying to get every drop of the spit that had landed on her. Only when she had herself sufficiently clean did she chance a better look at the creature.
"A llama?" she asked, trying to determine if she was dreaming.
An unintelligible string of a language followed, and it took Solei a moment to realize that it was coming from the llama. It had a significant twang to it that Solei determined to be from the Bronx in New York.
"Sorry about that." Solei glanced up to see the llama's rider speaking. "His name is Bob. He speaks Swahili."
She looked at him, confused. "Swahili? Do you speak Swahili?"
The rider looked taken aback. "No. But Bob does."
"Oh...Who are you?"
"It depends. Who are you?" The rider appeared to be completely serious, and Solei answered without hesitation.
"I am Kyoueino Solei, the Thirteenth Dark Angel Kamai, Daughter of Caelestis, Destroyer of Worlds, and the Goddess Protector."
He smiled widely and waved, teetering slightly on his llama. "Hi. I'm Ryndacko."
"Where are you from?" she asked, trying to determine if he was a friend or foe.
"I am from the land of the One-Named-People." he said grandly. "From far to the up."
She gave him a look saying that he should be in a nuthouse. "Why are you here?"
"I was sent by the god Thaddeus" he paused. "Ted for short; to turn straw into gold." His thick, dark brown brows furrowed together. "Or gold into straw. I don't remember which."
Solei barely resisted smacking her forehead with her free hand. "The god Thaddeus?" she questioned, certain he was being sarcastic.
"Yes. The god Thaddeus. Ted for short." His deep brown eyes caught hers. "He is the god of hedgehogs, blueberries, and waffle irons."
"Uh huh." Solei was unconvinced. "What do you want?"
"I have come for all steak."
"What?"
The knight blinked twice, and then grinned and waved. "Aloha." The sky flared again in the same eye-smarting colours, and Ryndacko was gone.
"What an odd man." Solei stared at the spot he had vanished from, and was temporarily blinded when a flash of lavender-white announced the opening of another portal. A tall, auburn haired woman on a beautiful pure white steed stood in the place of the rickety knight.
"Are you okay?" she asked, starting to dismount from the horse.
Solei waved her back up. "Fine. Who are you?"
"My name is Nicole." She glanced around and her eyes fell on the spot where Solei had flicked the llama's spit. "Did you by any chance see a tall man in armor riding a black llama?"
"Does the llama speak Swahili with a Bronx accent?"
Nicole nodded. "That's the one."
Solei grinned. "He left just a moment ago."
A frustrated expression came over Nicole's face and she concentrated for a moment. "Thank you." she said as she disappeared in another flash of light. "Bye!"
Solei waved. "Bye." she responded to the empty space. She shook her head. "Focus, Solei. You have a god to kill." A hardened look entered her eyes, and she resumed her determined walk into the forest.
Liz glanced around. "Does anyone have a pair of earmuffs?" she looked slightly desperate to block out the prophetic babblings of Raya and Des.
Heads shook a disappointing no around the garden. "Damn." she muttered.
Hotohori was absently combing his hair when he noticed a chunk of rock. "AH!" Liz and the others turned to look as he pulled out a mirror. "Dust! In my hair!" He started to comb it out frantically, but Liz grabbed his hands.
"Stop." she commanded. "Sit." She pointed to a rock, and Hotohori sat gingerly, flicking his hair out from underneath him as he settled in. Gently Liz began to pick the dust and rock from Hotohori's hair, discreetly running her fingers through the silken strands. A burst of tie-dyed light blinded all of them, and when the spots disappeared from their vision, they didn't believe what they saw. A tall man in rag-tag armor was on all fours, and a pitch black llama sat primly on his back. The llama dismounted, and the knight stood up.
"Aloha." He smiled goofily and waved, looking slightly down at everyone from his height of 6'3".
Raya turned to face him as he spoke. "BEHOLD!" she thundered. "THE BEARER OF THE BRONZE PICKLE!" Something flashed in the knight's eyes, and he dropped back to his knees, feverishly digging. The dirt flew everywhere, forcing all of the warriors to cover their eyes. They heard a soft 'thump' and an even softer voice. "Ryndacko, cut it out." The dirt stopped flying immediately.
"Why did you do that?" Selene asked quickly.
Ryndacko poked his head out of the hole. "Do what?"
"Dig a hole?"
"What hole?"
Selene growled. "The hole you're standing in."
Ryndacko looked down. "This isn't a hole."
"Then what is it?" Liz asked, still flicking dirt from Hotohori's hair.
He stood thoughtful for a moment. "It's a negative hill." he answered a moment later.
"A negative hill?"
Ryndacko climbed out of his creation, futilely trying to brush dust off of his armor. "Aloha." he answered.
"What kind of answer is that?!?" Amber emerged from behind Tasuki, who looked less than pleased at having been used as a protector from dust and dirt.
The woman interrupted, answering for the goofy knight. "It's a typical Ryndacko answer."
"Who are you?" Hotohori's regal tones overrode any other speech.
The woman smiled. "I'm Nicole Kamoku." She glanced over to the knight who still smile slightly and smacked his arm to get his attention.
He waved. "Aloha. I'm Ryndacko."
"Where are you two from?" Nuriko asked.
"I'm from..." Nicole paused. "Somewhere other than here." Ryndacko was less than inclined to answer as he was studying his negative hill, so Nicole continued. "Ryndacko is from the land of the One-Named-People."
The knight looked up from the hole. "From far to the up." he added.
"Nicole?" Raya had inched away from Nuriko as the two had introduced themselves, and now focused intently on the woman. "Is that you?"
Nicole looked over to Raya. "Raya!" She raced over to the quiet watcher and enveloped her in a tight hug, leaving everyone confused except for Selene.
Nuriko shook his head. "Did I miss something?"
"No." Selene answered. She turned to the pair of girls. "Would you like to explain?"
Raya stepped out of Nicole's arms. "We're sisters." she said simply. "Separated for..."
Nicole cut in. "A long while."
Nods went around, and Amber jumped even further forward. "HI!" she said, extending a hand to Ryndacko.
He took it and pumped it up and down extravagantly. Nicole laid a gentle hand on his bicep and he stopped immediately, snaking his arm around her waist.
Nicole faced the group. "Who are all of the rest of you?"
Selene rolled her eyes and began. "I'm Selene."
Mitsukake walked forward and set one of his hands on Selene's slender shoulder. "I'm Mitsukake."
"I'm Elizabeth." Liz stuck her hand out, still standing behind the Hotohori. "Call me Liz." Nicole shook the offered hand.
Des took a deep breath. "HI! I'm Desaria! If you call me Desaria I'll be forced to pull out your entrails and hang you with them. So just call me Des." Selene, Amber and Liz looked ready for the kill, but Des stopped herself before launching into prophecy, completely to the surprise of the others.
"My name is Nuriko." He nodded his head to the new pair, and glanced sidelong at Raya, trying to be discrete. His glance went largely unnoticed, but Liz saw and got a matchmaking glint in her eyes.
"I am Hotohori." Hotohori sat straighter on the rock, and Liz paused in her preening for another moment.
"HENTAI!!!!!!!!" Everyone slapped their hands to their ears except Ryndacko who seemed unaffected by the shout.
"That's Amber." Selene explained. A loud SMASH punctuated her words, and she didn't even blink in astonishment. "And the pancake is Tasuki." Tasuki weakly waved a flat hand and Amber flailed her whole arm in greeting, her smile bright. Amber walked over after flattening Tasuki a second time for good measure.
"Why are you guys here." Ryndacko answered before Nicole. "I was sent by the god Thaddeus, Ted for short, to turn straw into gold." Nicole sighed. "Or gold into straw. I don't remember which."
"I was summoned, same as the rest of you."
"We were summoned?" Amber looked startled.
"Why?" Des asked.
Selene cringed. "You were summoned because you are essential to the Prophecy of the Goddess." she repeated. "Amber, you're the Daughter of the God, Liz, you're the Wanderer, Des, you're the Companion-"
"EEEWWWWW!!!!!!!!!" Des screamed.
Selene shook her head. "Not like that, Des. What it means is like, Friend."
"Why don't they just call me 'the Friend'?"
"It doesn't sound as prophetical, Des." Liz said, acting as though it was obvious.
Selene continued. "I am the Guide, Raya is the Watcher, and Nicole-"
"Is the Queen." Nicole finished her tone turning just sharp enough to discourage questions.
"What exactly is this prophecy about?" Amber asked.
Selene glanced to Hotohori. "Is there a place more secluded than this garden?" she paused. "This could take awhile."
Hotohori nodded. "I'll have the servants prepare a room, it should be ready when we get there." He summoned a servant and gave them very detailed instructions, waiting until the boy had raced off to face the group. "We'll take the scenic route through the gardens." They nodded, and he slowly rose, leading the group through the elaborately twisting paths of the Imperial Gardens.
please review!!