I have been reinspired to babble on some more about how madly in love with Neal I am by reading some more Kel/Neal fics. Somehow, these are always so much more angsty than the other ones… That's probably because to have a good one, most of the time you either have to get rid of Yuki somehow (Die Yuki DIE!) or have it during the page years, when they have stupid classes and stuff and you can't dedicate all of the characters' time to your 'romantic purposes'. Or they could just skip their classes… but then they'd get in trouble from The Stump and have to muck the stables or something… Enough. I'm done. And because you so kindly read my Kel/Neal story rant, I won't even make you listen to how much I love Neal. Well at least not now.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this extremely random plot twist where Kel is kidnapped. Which is pretty cool, cuz just guess who's gonna rescue her… wiggles eyebrows suggestively tee hee hee!
A dull throbbing ache consumed Kel's head as she came to, a contrast to the tingling numbness in her arms. Where in Mithros' name am I? She wondered to herself. And how long have I been here? It was black all around her, so she supposed it was nighttime. But it was always pretty dark in the Royal Forest, so Kel's guess meant nothing. She was standing on a slippery surface, with her upstretched hands tied to something high above her head. Taking a deep breath to muster up courage, she stepped forward in one direction and her foot fell out into nothingness. Kel started shaking violently. There's nothing there; I must be up high! Losing her balance, she screamed as her remaining foot slipped out from beneath her and she was left dangling by her wrists. She blinked her eyes against the tears of pain as rope dug into the tender skin on the inside of her wrists, cutting off her circulation.
A dim light shone from far beneath her and a worried voice called up to her, "Kel? Are you alri-" It was cut off by a loud thunk. Then the light disappeared. Kel bit her lip as she hurriedly tried to re-find the surface she had been standing on. As soon as she found it, an icy gust of wind blasted into her, nearly knocking her off again. She was so cold! She looked down at the thin nightgown she was wearing. Of course I'm cold, she thought angrily, it's freezing out here and all I'm wearing is a scrap of cloth! She vowed that next time she was kidnapped, she would at least be fully clothed. It's just not fair though. This whole thing is wrong, I'm supposed to be able to protect myself. As Kel thought, another emotion added itself to her jumbled mix of terror, anger, loneliness, self-pity, sadness and confusion—shame.
Neal tuned out Master Oakbridge's droning about bowing as he sat in his next class. He couldn't stop thinking about all the horrible things that could be happening to Kel.
"Page Nealan!" Master Oakbridge's angry voice cut into his daydreamed nightmares. Neal nearly fell over trying to stand up quickly to answer his question. "I asked you to demonstrate for us the difference between how you would bow to a Yamani emperor as opposed to a Yamani nobleman."
Yamani stuff, Kel would know this. Gods I miss her, but where could she be? His eyes wandered to the window, where he saw the Royal Forest looming, dark and ominous. That's it! If Joren had someone kidnap Kel, that would be the perfect place to hide her.
Suddenly Neal became reaware of his surroundings, and his classmate sniggering at him. "I'm sure I don't know Sir," he mumbled, sitting down hastily. He didn't even hear the punishment the vexed teacher gave him as he plotted to sneak out that night and find his best friend.
Dinner went by quickly and silently. Neal told no one of his plans to go out and find Kel. He didn't know why, it was probably a good idea to have help if things took a turn for the worse, but he also didn't really want anyone else to screw things up. He briefly told everyone that he didn't feel well and he wouldn't be able study with the group that night. Then he gave his tray to the cleaning ladies and hurried up to his room to get ready to leave.
As Neal crossed the palace grounds to the forest, a shiver went up and down his spine. Faleron is right; I'm completely mad. How am I going to find Kel anyway? This forest is huge, and she could be anywhere. He shook his head. No, I can't think like that. Kel is out there somewhere, I know it. I'm going to find her. Before he could talk himself out of himself out of it, Neal proceeded into the woods, keeping the knife he had tucked into his belt. After a few minutes of him creeping around, he heard a crackling nearby. His heart skipped a beat as he whipped around to face his foe, knife in hand. There was nothing there. Confused, he looked down to see that it was only a squirrel, which simply cocked its head at him and scurried away. Neal let out the breath he had been holding and waited until the throbbing of his heartbeat stopped pounding in his ears. Then he saw a dim glow traveling through the trees about twenty yards away, accompanied by low muttering. He followed it quietly, keeping at a safe distance. Finally, it stopped in a small clearing after about fifteen minutes. Neal crouched down carefully to watch what would happen. There were two men who had been carrying the lantern. They approached a bulky form with red hair slumped at the base of a broad tree. Neal stifled a gasp. Cleon. One of the men nudged him roughly with a heavy booted foot.
"You," he grunted, "Get up, yer goin back to the palace. They be missin' yeh too much."
Cleon stirred, then slowly stumbled to his feet. "What? Who are you and where am I?" he inquired, rubbing bleary eyes.
The other man jerked him by the arm and commented to his partner, "Poor chap, doesn't r'member a bloody thing… Must be the spell they put on 'im," he led Cleon out of the clearing, saying to him, "Ye'll remember soon enough, just not what happened in the last couple days. We can't have ye blabbin' about, can we?"
Neal waited until they were a safe distance away, then sprang out of his hiding place to look around. Well, I found Cleon, but where's Kel? He walked around the tree. At the backside of it, a thick rope hung down. His gaze followed it upward, to where it was tied to a sturdy branch, about forty feet off the ground. Puzzled, Neal circled the tree. There, at the top, was a small white figure. His head screamed with relief and he could hardly contain himself. He had a strange rushing sensation in his stomach as he tried to hold back his tears. "Kel!" he called out joyfully. Why in the world would Jorenhave her put at the top of a tree? He must know how she's terrified of heights. But she's not moving. She can't be… He didn't want to think about it as he hastily grabbed the rope and hoisted himself up the tree. I never would've been able to do this if I were still at the university, he thought scathingly as he quickly scaled to the top of the rope. I never would've found Kel either… Gods, please let her be all right, he prayed as he circled the trunk to her limp form. Stepping onto the branch she occupied, he looked at her in shock.
Kel's face was dirt-streaked, and pale except for some large bruises, which were swelling up a sickly shade of purple. Her eyes were closed, and she looked as if to be sleeping, although how she managed to sleep in such an awkward position Neal had no idea. She was shivering violently, with only a thin nightgown on to protect her from the bitter winter winds. "Oh Kel…" he breathed, his heart wrenching within him. He braced his back against the trunk while he held the freezing girl with one hand and used his knife to cut the rope around her wrists with the other. When he had freed her, he held her cold body in his arms, drawing her close to him. How the hell am I supposed to get out this tree? Having what he would later call "a stroke of genius", Neal grabbed the rope that had bound Kel's wrists and used to tie her to him. He then somehow got back to the other rope and slid back down, getting a nasty rope-burn on his hands. It's worth it, he told himself, shaking them off. Then he untied Kel and sat back against the tree, cradling her cold body against his warm one.
Feeling her friend's warmth, Kel slowly drifted back into consciousness. Her hazel eyes opened to look into his tear-filled emerald ones. "Neal, you came!" she uttered before she flung her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder. She betrayed her Yamani training and wept in joy.
"Of course I did," he choked, stroking her tangled hair with long trembling fingers, "Kel, I love you, I couldn't leave you to die!" He pulled her closer to him, feeling her heart beat wildly against his chest. Gently turning her face to look at him, he placed a hand over her forehead to heal her bruises. Kel in turn placed trembling lips against his own in a sweet kiss.
"Aww, what a sweet reunion," drawled a voice from the clearing entrance, "I'm touched, really."
Neal shot to his feet, holding Kel behind him protectively. "Joren."
Mwahahahaha! Wasn't it splendidly fluffy? But now Joren's here- eeek! I'm going to just leave it there until I get… maybe 10 more reviews. See? My standards aren't too high. So go ahead and review and I'll tell you what happens next!