Chapter 12!! And here come regular updates again...yes!! My marching band season is almost over, school's in a bit of a lull, and time is no longer of the essence when it comes to the many, many projects I have. Life is good, therefore I have given you a good chapter. Enjoy! ^_^ %~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Cam dreamed happily of mounds of books being shared with his favorite older cousin who shared her chocolate with him and made the other meany boys leave him alone. Waking contentedly, he looked up towards the window in his room...
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
A blur that might've been Cam streaked out into the hall and down to Kristen's room, hiding under her bed as Kristen was rather rudely awakened by the commotion and sat up slowly.
"This had better be good," she growled as she looked at Cam shaking under her bed, watching as he pointed out the door towards her room. "This is way to early for any sane person to be up..."
Getting up and tossing on an over tunic to go with her worn pants and shirt, she found Mike laughing gleefully to himself as he unhooked the stuffed snake he'd rigged next to Cam's window with wires and string.
"Morning!" he said happily as he coiled the last of it up and placed it in the bag he'd brought with him. "Hope you slept well...uh...Kristen?"
The said person was slowly raising their hands over their head, a large meat cleaver appearing out of nowhere as she suddenly grew fangs and her eyes took on a devilish, red gleam.
"You know..." Mike gulped as she began to advance on him slowly. "I think...I'm gonna go now!"
"DIE!!!!"
"PLEASE DON"T KILL ME!!!!!"
A mad dash followed until Mike crashed into Matt and then ducked behind for shelter, the latter looking up with round eyes as he saw the arch of metal coming down towards him.
"EEP!!" Matt jumped back just in time, the cleaver ending up a few scant inches from his manhood in relation to where he'd landed. "Oh, that was close..."
"Don't get in my way if you don't want to get hurt!" snarled Kristen as she pulled the weapon out of the wood and continued down the hall at a sprint for Mike who'd taken off again the moment her attention was diverted ever so slightly. "GET BACK HERE, YOU MORON SO I CAN KILL YOU AND BE DONE WITH IT!!"
"I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE IN MURDER!!" cried Mike over his shoulder as he slid down the ladder and into the kitchen.
"I'M MAKING AN EXCEPTION JUST FOR YOU!!"
"REALLY, YOU DON'T HAVE TO...!!!"
"I INSIST!!!"
"AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!"
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Briteyes wandered through the temple grounds, being let in by the guards who'd recognized her immediately and pointed towards Discipline Cottage as always. Something compelled her on, her mind haunted by the images of the slaughter at the camp and the look on her brother's face as she was unable to protect him any longer, knowing it wasn't enough for her revenge and her spirit broken to the point that it seemed it no longer mattered.
She wore only a shirt and pants, her boots long since taken by the swamp in her battle with it and the other clothes she might've had left having been torn into strips to bind her small, but numerous wounds with. Her feet were bound in cloth too, just enough to protect them from the burs and sharp rocks that littered the roadside. Her bladed staff, the blade itself wrapped in heavy canvas she'd managed to purloin along the way, was the only thing she carried with her besides the clothes, the last remaining clue of what she'd gone to do.
"Briteyes?" The young woman looked up just in time before she was engulfed in a huge hug, a woman's arms wrapped around her tightly. "You're back!!"
"Of course, Lark," replied Briteyes automatically as she recognized the voice and hugged the woman back, a very, very thin smile forcing its way on her lips. "I promised I'd come back, didn't I?"
"I know, but still..." Briteyes loosened herself from her friend's embrace and whistled towards the house, a hopeful look on her face as she did. Seconds later a streak of silver came charging out, followed by a very confused Rosethorn who has obviously come from the garden in the back.
"Mila, she just took off like the wind!" the dirt-covered dedicate exclaimed as she came up to Lark's side, panting ever so slightly. "Whatever got into that beast..."
"Rosie," interrupted Lark gently as she turned the other dedicate towards where Briteyes now sat on the ground, her squirrel cradled gently in her hands as the small creature hung around her neck for dear life. "She's come back."
Rosethorn's face looked surprised, then relieved as she let Lark lead her over to Briteyes and help the performer to her feet, the three of them and the squirrel all exchanging more hugs and greetings before taking it all back to the cottage where they could talk over a warm cup of tea.
"Goodness, you've gotten thin," clucked Lark as she busied her way through the small kitchen, Rosethorn sitting in her usual seat as she observed the young woman under her eyes where she sat on one of the side benches. "Come, now, it's close enough to noon that we might as well have our meal now and get you some proper meat on your bones again."
"I have meat on my bones," replied Briteyes lightly. "It's just very stringy and tough."
#You look like you've just woken up from a winter's sleep# chattered Silven, Briteyes chuckling at this but keeping the comment to herself as she did. #Though I'm still not happy that you left me behind...at least you had the sense to return alive and well!#
Rosethorn murmured thanks to Lark as a mug of tea as set before her, still intent upon watching the performer as she did. Something was very different about her, and not quite right. She ate the food Lark set before her without complaint, or praise either. From what the Dedicate remembered, the performer had loved to eat and praised Lark's soups and breads many, many times. However, now she ate without relish, merely placing each bite in her mouth for the sole purpose of keeping herself relatively healthy. That wasn't the Briteyes she'd known before, and it worried her to be honest.
Silven watched her friend as well, noting the different nuances in her voice as she spoke and how she reacted so...distantly to everything around her. Rosethorn and Lark were dears, and she'd gotten to care for them while they'd 'taken care' of her here, but she could no more approach them about this than she could talk. She'd have to find a way to get to Dedicate Moonstream, and soon.
"So, you're business out there is finished?" asked Rosethorn out of the blue, a hush falling over the room for a moment as everything went still.
"I will not be going back out for it again," came the hesitant reply.
"Then...you know for sure?"
Briteyes rose suddenly, her eyes down cast as she took her pole arm where it had been set in a corner and headed for the stairs now. "I am tired and need rest. Please excuse me."
"Of course, dear." Lark and Rosethorn exchanged worried glances as Silven sat there on the table, tail twitching sadly. No, something was definitely not right.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Brenna and Libby walked side by side along the faint paths of the woods, gathering any and all plants they found that might somehow be useable either by the guide Brenna carried with her or just hope that it might be useful in someway. Plant life itself was rather scarce, spring having barely begun so soon after winter in these parts and only the hardiest of the plants up from their long winter sleep.
"I still want a pink found," sighed Libby as she stuck out her bottom lip remorsefully.
"I swear, you have the cutest puppy eyes when you do that," replied Brenna with a teasing grin.
"I do not!" replied Libby indignantly, screwing up her face into a scowl as she shook a fist at Brenna as if to threaten her. "Never!"
"But you do, really!" exclaimed Brenna as she help up her hands as if proclaiming her innocence. "Especially now, you look like a puppy who's trying to be all big and tough but is really too sweet inside to do a think about it..."
"Hey!! I am not!! I'm mean, and tough, and cruel, and downright nasty sometimes..."
"Nasty mean and nasty....otherwise are not the same things dear," coughed Brenna as she rolled her eyes. "As I'm sure Darrel would agree..."
"I DID NOT HAVE-" Libby slapped her hands over her own mouth as she glared at Brenna angrily.
"I have to say, I haven't gotten you that close to saying it in quite a long, long time," laughed Brenna as she dodged back out of Libby's hitting range. "Please don't hurt me..."
"Schmoo," grumped Libby, crossing her arms over her ample chest as they tramped onwards, picking bits of flowers and plants along the way without ever taking the whole thing so it might grow back and have more to give later on.
They'd just started walking back when Libby pounced to the side with a cry of delight, Brenna close behind in puzzlement as Libby yanked something root and all out of the earth and stood there snuggling it to her chest, a completely content look on her face.
"What's going on?" asked Brenna, still confused as Libby went into a round of cute happy dances.
"Look!!" cried Libby, holding the plant she'd picked before her like it was the most wonderful thing in the entire country, and perhaps planet. It was a flower with a deep, emerald green stem and leaves and (most importantly) bubblegum pink flowers all over it. "Isn't it wonderful?? Can you make some dye from it?? Huh?? Huh??"
"I don't know," admitted Brenna as she took it from her, examining it carefully. "Maybe..."
"YEAH!!" Libby leapt for joy and turned back down the path skipping merrily along the way. "I'm gonna dye my bed sheets and the curtains and some of my clothes and maybe a pillow or two and some towels and if it sticks on leather all my tack for when I go riding..."
Brenna just sighed as she listened to her friend go on and on and on. This was going to be interesting indeed.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
The three mage students were on the road again, Bryanna and Randy riding on opposite sides as Olivia suffered through another day of sitting in the middle of them. Things were more on edge than ever since Bryanna had discovered the medallions, with both groups becoming even more stubborn than ever in their assurance that it was they, and not the other person, who was right in their reaction only. She'd talked to them both time and time again, but nothing, not even the threat of turning them into living ice statues had enough of an effect to get them to break their silence and hopefully reach some sort of a truce. Even if they'd stop sending poisonous glares at each other for awhile, that would be enough for at least a few months. After all, toleration was acceptable, right? Why the heck couldn't they just do that instead of dragging this affair out for weeks on end...
The fact that Randy had kept the medallions, though, and now openly wore his around his neck did not help the situation in the least either. Bryanna was terrified to death of them for some reason, and found it more impossible than even if she was even in the same room as one of them to concentrate so much as to even heal a simple scrape.
Their next stop was a small town that was rather out of the way, and this time not for teachers but instead some rare mage's supplies like the other elements Olivia used to make her mage's ice or Randy his fireworks that were supposedly in large, and cheap supply. Anything that might lower the cost of living for them was accepted immediately, and thus they were headed for this particular small town.
Olivia sighed as she glanced from one to the other. Randy was slouching in his saddle, a sulky look on his face as he messed mindlessly with the disk that hung around his neck. Bryanna was riding straight and smoothly as she always did, but she kept her horse as far way from theirs as she could and had to force herself not to glance over and stare at the medallion every few moments. It was insane, and she had no way of escaping from it right at that moment.
Though she'd rather enjoyed going to another realm and getting magic and all, there were times like this that she wished more than ever that she could just go home and sleep until it all went away....that sounded very nice indeed.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
The Traders each helped to direct the loading of their ship at the next dock, each person looking over another part of the hold as it was filled completely full of goods and trade items for the first time ever. Trevor had found out the market for some of their original items was very rare, and striking the best deal they could've hoped for in such a place they'd roughly doubled their money already from this one port alone. If all their trades went this well, they might be able to purchase another ship and crew in less than a year!
Tanner, as eager as a child as he rushed about the deck, was completely for their decision to reinvest the money right away and buy more goods that always sold well a few ports to the north. Shouting directions, and scolding the extra hired hands when they dropped a box or was careless with a crate, he was everywhere at once and had a hand in everything that was happening on board that ship all at the same time.
Neither of his brothers shared his enthusiasm, though. At least not to his extent, anyways. Tyler thought it might be a good opportunity if they'd invested part of the money back in the ship, but not all of it. He may have only been an older boy at best, but he'd been around ships and trading all his life, it was in his blood, and he was rather cautious at times over things like that when it came right down to it.
Trevor hadn't wanted them to put the money right back into more cargo at all, he'd wanted to save it and use it to put in a fund for later emergencies. While he knew Nicole was a very powerful mirimander, or wind mage to his people, he couldn't help but think that if a storm large enough came by it would take a good bit of wear and tear on the ship before they'd get free of it, right? They'd need money to fix the ship, and only by putting money in reserve could they be sure it would be there when the time came and it was needed.
Jack, of course, was un-opinionated as usual, so whatever he thought about it was completely irrelevant or just plain didn't matter.
Jenny, Gwen, and Nicole were of a like mind that right now, what they cared about most was they would be heading NORTH out of the dreadful heat that had begun to well up from the south as spring there quickly began to turn to summer just a few moons into the new year. None of them cared for the heat in any real way, shape, or form and while Nicole could use her breezes to keep herself cool, she much preferred a cool wind to a stiflingly warm one and the sooner they headed north back towards Summersea, the sooner she'd find them again.
The ship, floating a littler lower than it had before, sailed at sunset back north and towards the slightly milder summers they hoped to find up around there for a few months at least before the true heat of summer began to set it. Fully filled with cargo, supplies, and goods that they themselves used, they were ready for anything.
Or, at least that's what they thought.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Alyse ducked into the band room, so intent upon getting to her locker and getting her clarinet out at warp speed that she hardly noticed what the others were doing around her. Dressed in her usual jeans and tee-shirt, she'd let her long, straight black hair hang free for once. They were supposed to be in a Wind Ensemble rehearsal right now, and she was going to be late if she didn't hurry...
"Miss Schuver!"
"Hm?" Alyse looked up to see Mr. Payne standing there, his usual genial look on his face. A young man stood beside him who was about her age, holding a bass clarinet in one hand and some music books in the other. "Mr. Payne! I'm sorry I'm late, really! We got stuck in traffic and my mom was sick this morning so..."
"You didn't get the phone master message?" asked Mr. Payne, his eyebrows raised ever so slightly in surprise. "The practice was delayed an hour due to some extenuating circumstances, so since you have some free time I was wondering if you could take this fine young man here who's just moved here to North Carolina and show him around a bit."
"But, I uh..." Alyse scratched her nose and then sighed. Looks like she wasn't going to get out of this one. "Sure, I can do that."
"Thank you for your cooperation!" Mr. Payne gave her his usual slight bow/childish smile combination. "Alyse, this is Landon Taver and he's just moved here from Wales."
"Nice to meet you," said the young man as he nodded politely, his voice a light tenor that matched his open face and mischievous sky blue eyes perfectly. His hair was black and very short, but silky just the same and she had to ball her hands into fists to keep from running one through it just to see what it would feel like.
"Landon, this is Alyse Schuver, a Senior like you who plays clarinet it the Wind Ensemble," said Mr. Payne as he backed up a step. "Thank you again, Alyse. I have to get going, though, so if you would kindly take him by to see Amanda to get him a uniform as well as perhaps show him where his classes will be his first day of school, I would be most grateful indeed."
"We'll go there right now," replied Alyse with a half smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Landon. Come on, the extra time will probably have put Amanda in a better mood than usual, so it'd be best to get this over with now instead of later."
"The uniform, you mean?" he asked as he placed the bass clarinet and music in the locker he'd been given and Alyse put her own instrument up as well. "What is it used for, exactly? We wore uniforms to school everyday back home, but Mr. Payne seemed to imply they're only for 'special occasions'?"
"They're what we perform in," explained Alyse with a light shrug. "They're made to look like tuxedoes when worn one way and regular marching band uniforms when another. We, of course, use the tuxedo version. It's not the most comfortable thing in the world, but it looks good from the audience and that's all Payne cares about."
"'Payne'?" asked Landon, frowning as he did. "You act so very familiar with him, is that the way all the students here are with him?"
"Most are," admitted Alyse, heading out the door and towards the uniform room in the back. "He doesn't take it as disrespect, and actually encourages us to treat him as one of us. Obviously there are times when treating him like that are completely inappropriate, but most of them are pretty good about figuring when it's ok and when it's not."
"I hope that I will learn quickly, then," he said with a smile as they walked into the empty, and rather messed up uniform room. "He seems like a very nice teacher...not like my old director at all."
"Amanda?" called Alyse as they walked in, checking behind the racks and then back outside the door in confusion as Landon watched her from where she'd sat him on a stool at the door. "Where in the world did she go, she never leaves the uniform room while she's got work to do..."
"Who is this Amanda you speak of?" asked Landon as she stood there for a moment in thought, her brow furrowed in concentration. "Is she a teacher, like Mr. Payne, whom you are informal with or a student like us?"
"She's a student who graduated last year and comes back to help every now and then," replied Alyse as she checked among the notes tacked to the wall to see if Amanda had mentioned leaving for somewhere or she'd had some other task that had called her away shortly. Finding nothing, she muttered to herself under her breath and then sighed. "Stay here," she ordered Landon, picking up the keys she found by the door and heading out into the main room again. "I'll be right back, ok? If Amanda comes, tell her I went to go get something with her keys. If someone asks why you're in here, just tell them who you are and that you have permission, ok?"
"Alright." He smiled as she left, getting up and poking about the room a bit as he pulled out a uniform and studied it curiously. Alyse had been right, it didn't look like it would be very comfortable at all, but they did all look the same and he could imagine at a distance the effect would be...well blended together.
Tripping over something he hadn't noticed was there while hanging the uniform back up, he looked down and spotted an old, leather bound volume of sorts. Being bookish by nature, generally those of some sort of fantasy, he picked it up and studied the cover more carefully, turning it over and over in his hands before opening it and looking at the first few pages. Beautiful, colored pictures of those he assumed were the characters were interspersed with the text, and he was about to settle down and read it when someone called his name.
"Landon?"
"In here still!" he called back, taking the book with him as Alyse found him and grabbed his arm. "Wait, I found this really neat-"
"Show it to me later, Mr. Hough just got back and wants you to play for him," cut in Alyse.
"Oh...ok, then." Landon shut the book just as the reached the door to go back out into the main room, the fateful flash of light appearing with the two young people disappearing as always.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"Please tell me this is the last of them," muttered Gretchen as she watched Devan to through his usual round of gleeful dances at having more people brought in.
"Of course," he replied indignantly, sticking his tongue out at her childishly. "Now, what in the world shall I do with them...?"
Gretchen suddenly smiled, a light bulb popping up over her head. "Hey, why don't you....*whisperwhisperwhisper*. Hm?"
Devan's own smiled widened considerably. "I like it! Now down to business..."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Mike quietly snuck through the house, wincing as the bruises he'd gained from dodging Kristen's cleaver for an hour to so made themselves known again and again. Making sure no one else was home, he snuck up behind Cam and blindfolded him quickly, but not roughly.
"Hey, what's going?!!" cried Cam as he tried to fight back, Mike managing to get the blindfold on and his hands trapped at his sides before he could so much as squeak. "Mike, I'll tell Kristen if that's you..."
"It is me, brat, but she told me to do this to you," he said sarcastically as if he really didn't want to be doing this at the moment. "They have a surprise for you upstairs, and want for you to go up blindfolded to see it."
"They what?? What is it??"
"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" replied Mike lightly, rolling his eyes. "Come on, up you go. They'll be waiting for you, you know."
"Alright, alright..."
Mike carefully guided the younger boy up the ladder and then down to Jon's room, using the ladder he had there to lead Cam up onto the roof.
"Wait, we're outside!" protested Cam as he stopped suddenly when he felt a cool breeze. "What's going on, Mike??"
"They're on the flat part of the room where we go and stargaze sometimes, ok?" he amended quickly. "Come on, they're waiting just for you..."
"Well...ok, if you're sure."
Mike chuckled to himself. "I am." Leading him farther on, he quickly crossed the top of the narrow, covered walkway which connected the two buildings and with Cam in front of him and onto the steep, slanted roof of the training complex.
"Mike..." said Cam warningly as he suddenly felt him let go and back off quickly. "Mike, what's going on?!"
"Take off your blindfold and see," replied Mike as he quickly scampered his way back across the walkway cover and to the entrance to Jon's room from the roof.
"I'm not sure I want to..." Cam did so anyways, freezing in a slightly crouched position as he tried to lower his center of balance without actually getting off his feet as quickly as possible. "AHH!! Mikegetmedowngetmedowngetmedown!!!! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!! Getmedowngetmedowngetmedowngetmedown!!! PLEASE GET ME DOWN!!!!"
"Nope," replied Mike with a shrug as he went back into the house with a wave. "Kristen will be home soon, get her to help you down."
"BUT I CAN'T WAIT THAT LONG!!"
"Sure you can," replied Mike with a smile as he disappeared from view with absolutely no intention of showing his face anywhere in the house for the next few weeks. Matt could take care of his classes and he didn't exactly have any responsibilities around the house except his own room, so he wouldn't be terribly missed.
Kristen, right on time as usual, walked up to the house a few moments later, a basket of meat and bread over one arm and a net of fresh vegetables in the other. Humming to herself as usual, she let herself in the gate and looked up, expecting to see the sun shining of their wonderful new home...and instead saw a scared to death Cam clinging to the top of the roof for his life!
"CAM!!" she cried, dropping her things by the front door and jogging over to the edge of the two-story building as quickly as she could. "CAM, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"MIKE LET ME UP HERE, HE TRICKED ME!!" Cam sobbed back, obviously in the middle of some sort of a mental break down due to his current state. "KRISTEN, PLEASEGETMEDOWNPLEASEGETMEDOWN!!!"
"I'm coming!!" Kristen yelled back, heading for the door as fast as she could. "Just hang on!"
"I AM!!!"
Kristen, as faithful as ever, rushed onto the roof and had just reached the edge where she had to walk across the cover of the walkway to get to Cam when it hit her...she was every bit afraid of heights as he was.
Going to her knees instinctively, she gulped as she peered over the edge of the roof for a moment and then jerked back, her head dizzy already from glancing at the ground below. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no..."
"Hurry, Kristen!!" sobbed Cam even harder, the tears flowing freely down his face to soak the neck of his shirt. "Please, you gotta hurry!!"
"I...uh...I'm coming just...I'm coming, I swear!! I just...ah...eh..." Kristen gulped again then began to crawl forward slowly, every part of her body tense as she tried to remain balanced on the arduous journey across. Halfway there her hand slipped to the side and Kristen found herself staring at the ground below, panic seizing her heart and freezing her body where it was as she tried to even just breath at this point. "Oh my gosh..."
Someone touched her shoulder suddenly, making her jump with a start that nearly sent her tumbling over the edge had she not caught herself in time.
"Easy," said a familiar voice, the same hand as before taking her wrist and helping her to her feet. "Come on, just go backwards the way you came..." Kristen looked up and saw Jon, dressed as sloppily as usual, with a serious look on his face for once. Nodding once, she began to back up very slowly and very carefully while keeping her eyes on his shirt collar the whole time. "There you go, just a step at a time...there. You good now?"
Kristen nodded and motioned to Cam as she sat back on the platform Jon had built into the roof for stargazing and such. "Just go get him, ok?"
"Alright, I'll be right back."
"Ok."
He walked across the cover of the walkway as surely as if he'd been on solid ground, gently helping Cam who had been reduced to mere whimpers to his feet and then onto his back, Jon carrying him across and setting him next to Kristen where he collapsed into her lap sobbing again.
"Oh Cam...relax, it's over now, see? You're safe..." Kristen clumsily put her arms around him and did her best to rock him back and forth, feeling somewhat awkward as she did but going on with it just the same. After awhile he stopped and looked up, Kristen messing his hair up affectionately as he self consciously wiped his tears away with his sleeve. "There, that's better. I guess I'm going to have to thank Jon here for getting you down for me..."
They both turned and looked behind them, expecting to see him standing there with his usual, cocking grin...but he was gone.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Briteyes sat up gasping again in the middle of the night, immediately getting up and going out to the roof as she tried to sort through the hundred of images that continued to bombard her mind. The faces of those she'd left dead, no one smeared with their own blood but then also this blackness, darkness, that seemed to eat away at them from the inside out...she'd wake with a silent scream, her throat raw from keeping them inside. What did this all mean? She hadn't gone a night without spending half of it awake from nightmares and it got worse as each night progressed. Eventually she'd go back to sleep and begin to dream again, about something completely random and calm until those pictures and memories began to invade again and repeat the process all over again.
Shivering in the cool night air as the sweat as quickly absorbed into the winds, she sighed and closed her eyes wearily. Finding it all to cold all of a sudden she went back inside, climbing down the ladder to the attic, taking the stairs to the kitchen and then into the side room where the fireplace and library was. Picking out a random book she began to read, sitting by a window where the moonlight poured into the room until dawn when Rosethorn found her sitting there still and worriedly shooed her back upstairs to get dressed for the day.
#Where were you this morning?!# demanded Silven as she slowly dressed, her limbs like lead and head feeling as if she were just a passenger in her body rather than in complete control of it. #You always sleep late when given half a chance...#
"Couldn't sleep," came the flat, automatic response.
#Where were you, though?? I checked the roof, and couldn't get out of the attic 'cuz someone closed the door...#
"I was downstairs, ok?" Briteyes turned away from her and headed for the stairs, arriving in the kitchen moments later as a worried Silven scampered along behind. Unusually silent, she ate her meal with the two dedicates and then excused herself from the table, going back up to the roof to lay there motionlessly except to occasionally play the simple reed flute she'd brought with her.
Silven watched her leave for the roof and sighed, staying there and nibbling worriedly on the remnants of a scone Briteyes had consumed moments before.
"You're worried too, aren't you?" asked Lark as she scratched the rodent behind the ears gently, scooping her up and cradling her to her chest. "Rosethorn, I really think something is wrong with Briteyes. This isn't like her, to remain completely...motionless all day and then staying up most of the night wandering around like a zombie."
"I'm not a Mind Healer, how can we be sure?" replied Rosethorn, though even she knew her voice held a note of doubt. "I suppose we could take it to the Honored Moonstream, if you really think we should..."
"I do," replied Lark with a firm nod. "Go and fetch her, will you Silven? I'm sure she remembers you."
Silven nodded and whisked herself out of the cottage, leaving the two dedicates sitting together at the kitchen table.
"I swear, that little beast acts less like an animal and more like a human everyday," murmured Rosethorn to herself, before shrugging helplessly. "Lark, I completely agree that Brite is acting...strange, but considering what she's probably been through...did you look at her pole arm? It was caked with blood and some other stuff I'd rather not name."
"Regardless of what she's been through, I think she'd tell of us if she were in complete control and something were wrong," replied Lark cautiously. "Remember last time? She was willing to lean on us then..."
"She had little choice," Rosethorn reminded her dourly. "It was that or fall to the ground as she tried to hobble her way to the outhouse."
"Rosie, you know what I mean..."
Someone knocked on the door right then and Lark rose to answer it, the Honored First Dedicate Moonstream slipping in and closing the door firmly behind her, the silver squirrel perched on her shoulder. "Silven tells me you wanted to see me?"
"Uh, yes," replied Lark, puzzled by her choice of words. "Would you like some tea?"
"No, thank you," replied Moonstream as she sat down on one of the benches at the table and Lark went back to her stool. "Briteyes is back, though?"
"She is," replied Lark quickly. "But...something's very wrong, Dedicate Moonstream."
Moonstream frowned. "She's not hurt again, is she?"
"Not physically," explained Rosethorn carefully. "Physically she has a few scrapes and scratches, perhaps a shallow cut at best and bruises to match it, but she's been acting very strangely..."
"How so?"
"She's....distant, disconnected from the real world, almost," murmured Lark distractedly, a far away look in her eyes. "She hasn't said as much, but I can tell she doesn't sleep very much at night and spends the days lying and walking about like a...shell of what she once was. Like she's lost some important part of herself while she was gone, something that affected her even more than the loss of her brother."
"Hm..." Moonstream frowned in worry as she folded her hands neatly before herself. "I must go take care of something, but I will be back soon and I wish to speak with Briteyes. Make sure she doesn't leave, ok?"
"We will," promised Rosethorn with a nod as she rose and bowed as Lark did as the Honored Dedicate rose to her own feet and headed out the front door. "I hope she can set our friend straight."
"As do I," added Lark, sipping her tea slowly as Silven came and curled on her shoulder, petting the small creature absently. "It's the only hope we've really got."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Brenna had fun as she ground the different plants into powders or pulps that she then formed into cakes or placed in separate pouches before she began her experimenting with them. Placing them in waters for bases most of the time, and occasionally pure alcohol when she found one that wouldn't mix with water, she began her trials and such, tossing out dyes that did her little good and keeping those colors that those she and others in the house found appealing in one way or another.
Grinding up the flowers Libby had found, she found they only worked with alcohol and then began her dying experiments with them, coming up with a very color fast bubblegum pink that wouldn't fade in the sunlight, wouldn't wash out with water, and took to the fabric so well that not she or anyone else could tell that the pink wasn't its original color.
Libby, becoming exceedingly excited over this new development, stole some of her pre-made dye and snuck it out to the barn, determined to try for herself to see if it would work and hold as well as Brenna had claimed it would. Taking one of the older, more mild-mannered horses out of his stall, she tied him to a post in the middle and bundled his tail up in a ball, dunking it in the dye and letting it set for a moment, taking it out a moment later and (making sure none got on her or her hands) let it back out and rinsed it with fresh water from the well, doing so again and again until the water ran clean and all the excess dye was gone.
Bringing the fine hair o the horse's tail close to her face, she noted that each and every strand had been dyed the bright pink, perfectly done to the point that she couldn't tell the hair hadn't been pink all along all the way to the root. In fact, she was sure she hadn't taken it all the way to the root and was slightly puzzled as to how it had gotten there regardless. Deciding such information was trivial, she hugged the dye to her chest and squealed with joy. Next to be dyed pink with this stuff: her BUNNIES!!
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"Bryanna?" called Olivia as she stuck her head into her friend's new room, each of them lucking having gotten their own room for their stay here.
"Right here," replied Bryanna from the corner where she sat at the desk behind a mound of books and texts she'd borrowed from the library. "Do you need something, Olivia?"
"Just to talk to you." Olivia sat on the bed and crossed her legs, Bryanna looking up in surprise and pushing away from the desk so she was in full view.
"Oh...uh, what about?"
"Well, I thought why we can't all just get along would be a good place to start," said Olivia flatly. Holding up her hands to cut off Bryanna's protests, she went on. "I know these last few weeks, maybe even months, have been rough and Randy hasn't made the best of choices, but he is male, you have to remember that. They're not the brightest crayons in the box."
"Maybe," replied Bryanna sourly. "But not only is he the crayon that the dog chewed on and then got ground into the carpet, he did it to himself on purpose!"
"Now that's being a little unfair," Olivia chided her with a pointed look. "He may've had a hand in it, but I doubt Randy planned for all of this to happen. You know he couldn't hurt a fly on purpose if his life depended on it."
"Yeah, except I'm not exactly a fly, am I?" retorted Bryanna shortly. "Look, Olivia, I'm sorry you got stuck in the middle of all this, I really truly am. But I have no intention of giving to that little fat bastard just because things are a little rough for you right now. You don't know what it's like when I have to stand near him and know that he's got that...thing around his neck. It makes me want to crawl in a hole and never come out until I know for sure it's been destroyed..."
Olivia sighed in annoyance. "You're sure you're not willing to try and talk this out with him? This is why I came to you first, I was kind of hoping you'd be reasonable..."
"Ha, females maybe smarter but that does not mean we're reasonable, you should know that," Bryanna snorted as she pulled her chair back up to her desk. "I have to get back to work, ok?"
"Alright...just, think about what I said, alright? That's all I ask."
Bryanna paused, then nodded. "Alright, I will."
Olivia nodded and got to her feet, heading out the door back to her own rooms. "Thanks."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Tyler paused, poised on the rail of the crows nest at the top of the mainsail as he judged the distance between the rope and himself one last before leaping into the open air and grabbing onto to the rope to swing across the sails of the ship with it. Coming close to another rope, he jumped from the one he was on to a mast, leaping straight from it to the next rope and, coming to the end of his momentum there, let it swing him back and did the whole thing over again.
"RRRRAHHHHH!!" he yelled as he did, finally sliding down one and landing on the deck as surely as a landsman on solid ground. "Hheha!! Man, that felt great..."
"You're gonna fall and break your neck one of these days," commented Jack as he walked by, tossing the boy another coil of rope regardless to add to his fun with a wink as he headed back under the deck to take care of some other small chore. "Just don't do it when I could get pinned with it, alright?"
"Yeah, sure." Tyler eagerly took the rope and slung it over his shoulders, immediately climbing the main mast again to find where the rope would fit best in his course of ropes, sails, and rigs that he flew from one to the other in. "Hm...I could put it over there....or add it right about there, which would mean I wouldn't be jumping straight over the sea, which would be nice...hm..."
"You know, swinging is fun, but flying is so much better," commented Nicole as she suddenly appeared at his side, randomly letting her breezes flit about him so his hair and clothes were ruffled occasionally.
"Ok, yeah, but there's one small problem here," replied Tyler with a shrug. "Me, a trader who can swing and has no fear of heights. You, a miniature mirimander who calls herself a nymph and has pretty much complete control over the winds. Anyone else see difference here?"
"You know, flying isn't completely out of range for you," commented Nicole as she drew her breezes up around herself with a smile. "You don't need your own magic to fly...."
"No, you just need to buy someone else's," replied Tyler with a shrug. "I'm not clever, like some Traders, but by Loki, I'll not spend good silver on a pleasure like that which does my ship no good."
"It won't cost you a cent, I swear!" promised Nicole immediately. "All you have to do is trust me."
"Easy for you to say," shot the Trader boy wryly, his white teeth flashing against his dark skin. "Not so easy for me to do, aye?"
"Aye...but, what would I have to do to get you to trust me?"
"Four silvers aught to do it," shrugged Tyler with a wink. "Maybe five..."
"If you don't like it, I'll give you the silver," said Nicole promptly. "Deal?"
Tyler paused, then nodded. "Deal."
"Okay, then...relax and don't fight it when you start to move, ok?"
"Alright..." Tyler could feel the winds shifting, and then somehow, almost hardening themselves beneath him, making themselves solid enough to lift him slowly and gently from his perch up in the sail to the air above, hanging there for a moment before he began to descend towards the deck, slowly picking up speed with each few inches that he went.
"Uh...Nicole?" he called as he began to move faster than he'd like, the deck coming closer and closer at an alarming rate. "...NICOLE!!!" Coming within a foot of the deck, he suddenly leveled out and when skimming along it's surface, coming to the rail and going right over it, coming back around to make a low pass over the tops of the cabins before zooming off into the rigging itself.
"You called?" she asked, suddenly appearing on his shoulder as he held himself still and hoped for all he was worth that she wouldn't suddenly lose control and drop him to the sea, or even worse, deck below.
"What the heck was that for?" he asked angrily as she just giggled and sped them along even faster than before. "You almost killed me, you know!! Another foot, or not even, and I would've been just a smear on the deck!!"
"A very cute smear, but none the less a smear," replied Nicole with a shrug. "You're alive, aren't you? I don't see what you have to be complaining about. I didn't cut it that close, and besides, aren't you having fun??"
Tyler closed his eyes as the wind rushed by, enjoying the feeling of being completely suspended in midair as she took him through a series of gyrations he never could've done swinging on a rope overhead through the riggings and sails.
"I am," he admitted with a smile as he stretched his arms open wide and laughed as they took another dive towards the deck. "Look at me ma...I can FLY!!!"
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Alyse and Landon appeared in the middle of a huge field, waist-high grasses surrounding them on all sides as Landon sat down hard in amazement and Alyse just blinked a few times.
"I know they said they have technological wonders in America," murmured Landon as he ran a hand through his hair, crossing his legs Indian-style as he continued to sit on the ground. "But this is beyond anything they've ever told me!! It looked like just an ordinary book, though..."
"This isn't a technological wonder," replied Alyse slowly as she sat down across from him, carefully folding her legs beneath her as she smoothed her long, flowing skirt to the side. Her outfit as a whole consisted of the long, gray skirt that flowed to her ankles, a lighter gray blouse that tucked into it and a leather vest with a belt around it, but trimmed in silver and the main color matching that of the skirt. Her boots, also of the same gray leather, laced up to her knees and she found as she moved to make herself more comfortable that what appeared to be one skirt was actually two, cunningly cut to give her just about as much freedom as a pair of pants. "If it's what I'm thinking, though, it's fairly close..."
"I could swear all of this is real," murmured Landon, who was similarly dressed except his own outfit was of pants and a shirt with the vest over it that was belted securely at the waist, trimmed with the same silver bits and his boots coming halfway up his calves. The gray with his sky blue eyes wasn't a bad match at all, and Alyse had to remind herself to stop staring and gather her wits together once again.
"Tell me what the book said, Landon," ordered Alyse as she looked at him solemnly. "This is very important, ok? What do you remember about the cover of it?"
"It was old and leather bound, one of the best replicas of a medieval volume if not one from that era itself. There was a title on it too....Circle of Magic, I think. There was more, and some author name below it that started with a T....Tansor? Tamsy?"
"Tamora Pierce?" offered Alyse slowly.
"Yeah, that's it!" Landon paused and scratched his nose. "You obviously recognize it, so where are we?"
"Well, we're not in America anymore, that's for sure," replied Alyse ruefully. "Landon, do you believe in magic?"
"Nope," he replied with a shrug. "Can't say I do. I do believe in an overactive imagination, and things like computer games that actually take you inside them, but...I can't say that I believe in magic, per say. Why?"
"Well, m'lad, you are in for a very rude awakening," said a young boy as he suddenly appeared between them, sucking on a candy stick while eyeing Landon curiously. "Name's Devan, boy. Who're you?" Landon just sat there slack jawed, staring up at the boy in total and complete shock.
Alyse stood up quickly and circled around beside Landon as she and the boy studied each other for a moment. "You wouldn't be related to Trystan, would you?" she asked carefully.
"Aye, her little brother," replied Devan with a rueful grin. "Since you've obviously already had her, though, then I'm guessing you probably have a good handle on what's about to happen."
Alyse sighed. "Don't tell me we're the mage-seeker-peoples in this round of it all?" she asked grumpily.
"You are," replied Devan, as cheerful as ever. "And now..." He snapped his fingers, the field disappearing, and a mage's workshop reappearing about them. "It's time to begin your training."
Landon fell over in a dead faint, muttering things under his breath about not getting enough sleep, strange America technologies, and the pressures of moving from one country to another.
Devan nudged him roughly with the toe of his boot. "What's up with him?"
Alyse just sighed.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"We've got a hole in the main building's roof," commented Jon as he walked into the kitchen for a late breakfast, Kristen sitting at the table with a mug of coffee and one of the old books she'd found in the attic of their old place that had to do with defense stances. "Gonna need some help fixing it to....you think you'll be up to it?"
Kristen looked up at him, a blank look on her face. "The roof?"
"Yeah," he replied, glancing up as he got himself a mug of coffee from over the fire. "The roof. You know, the thing that covers us and is about twenty some feet or so off the ground?"
Kristen gulped. "T-twenty some feet?"
"Yeah." Jon took a swig of his drink, then paused with a grin. "Oh...that's right, you're scared of heights..."
"I am not scared!" snapped Kristen as she slammed her book shut and stood quickly, banging her knee on the table as she did so. "I just prefer to stay on solid ground, that's all there is to it."
"Right, you weren't frozen like a statue the other day while Cam was stranded on the other roof," replied Jon lightly, sitting back as he enjoyed making her squirm for once.
Kristen, having been pushed to her limits for hours that were before noon, grabbed the knife she'd used to slice the bread earlier and held it to his throat. "I'd suggest you forgot that ever happened, Jon..."
"You know you won't kill me with that," replied Jon lightly, though he watched it nervously out of the corner of his eye regardless.
"You're right I won't," replied Kristen. "But that doesn't mean I wouldn't leave a rather nasty mark..." She pressed ever so slightly, just enough to dent the skin without breaking it.
"We could make a deal," offered Jon quickly, holding up his hands in defeat. Kristen backed away and put the knife down, cocking her head to the side as she did.
"Well?"
"I'll help you get over your...difficulty with heights using the course I built, and if you manage to pass it I'll never bug you about it again."
"And if I don't pass it?"
"You have to fight me up there in front of your classes," replied Jon with a confident smirk. "You might be faster and better than I am, but up in the beams you haven't got a chance if you're not sure of what you're doing."
"Ok then...deal." Kristen stuck out her hand and they shook on it, Jon getting up and placing his mug by the sink.
"Meet me out in the other building tomorrow morning," he called over his shoulder as he went. "We start then!"
"Alright..." Kristen sighed as she gulped down the rest of her coffee and prepared herself for the first class in a few moments. What had she gotten herself into this time?
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Briteyes writhed in pain and grief and more and more images flooded her mind of what she'd done, those whose lives she'd taken in both her present trip and that one of the past. Screaming, crying, she fought against the bounds of nightmare which held her, yet she was powerless to wake herself...
#_#_#_#_#
Silven ran a paw over Briteye's brow as she watched her friend with worry. She had been murmuring in her sleep for awhile now, something that usually led to her other nightmares. The squirrel had changed her habits since Briteyes had returned, sleeping during the day and laying awake at night to keep a silent vigil over her restless friend who did naught but turn and toss during those long, dark hours.
Tugging her ear gently, Silven tried to wake her friend as the murmurs turned to soft cries and she began to move as well, her body jerking to and fro with spasms she had no control over, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps as the cries began louder and more hoarse.
The squirrel could do no more than hang on to her neck, calling for her in her mind again and again, but getting no reply in return.
@_@_@_@_@
Rosethorn lay in her bed, fast asleep as she dreamed of her plants and other green, growing things that pleased her when she was suddenly woken from her sleep by a sharp bite on her hand.
#STUPID HUMAN, WAKE UP!!!#
The dedicate sat straight up, her bewildered eyes taking Silven who had falling back from the sudden movement, springing up a moment later and clambering her way up Rosethorn's shoulder as fast as she could to grip her chin with her paws and stare into her eyes.
#GO TO BRITEYES NOW!! SHE NEEDS YOU!!#
"Wait...what the..."
#JUST GO!!#
Rosethorn heard a scream above her and threw back the covers from her bed, running up the stairs with Lark just a few steps behind her as usual. They found Briteyes lying there on her mat, soaked in a cold sweat as she continued to struggle with an unseen foe, the Dedicates each grabbing a limb as they struggled to subdue and wake her somehow.
Silven, as desperate as the other two, leapt back up on the bed and took Briteyes' ear in her paws, opening her mouth wide as she chomped on it hard enough to draw blood.
"AHHHH!!!"
The pain accomplished what the rest of their efforts had not, the performer instantly opening her eyes, but then closing them again as she passed out completely, Lark running for Moonstream and Rosethorn staying at her side to make sure her vital signs remained normal for the moment.
"Well, this isn't good," said Devan as he suddenly appeared, rubbing his chin as Trystan appeared as well, a worried look on her face. Rosethorn stared at them in shock, though Silven recognized them immediately, and with a cry of anger launched herself at them with fangs and claws bared.
"Stop behaving like a child," ordered Trystan, catching her in midair with a bit of magic and turning her back to a human with a flick of her wrist. Lyssa landed on the floor with a thump, getting up slowly as she grumbled under her breath about mages who were good for nothing except screwing around with other's lives.
Rosethorn, who'd never seen such a thing happen before in her life, got to her feet and put herself between them and Briteyes, her hackles rising at the thought of three strangers intruding her home. "Who are you?!" she demanded as she prepared her magic in case she needed to use it. "Why have you come here?!"
"We're just mages, like yourselves, only slightly different," replied Devan slowly as he help up his hands as if to defend himself. "I swear, we're only here to help. Amanda...or Briteyes as you know her, is my responsibility while she'd here...and my sister agreed to lend her powers as well in this effort."
"What was with trapping me in that squirrel body?!" demanded Lyssa as she stretched out carefully. "You know, I was just fine with being a human...."
"I thought it'd make things interesting," replied Devan with a light shrug. "And you're going back into it the moment we get this settled, you might as well deal with the fact that you're going to be treated like a pet for the next couple of years."
"You know, I really don't like you..."
"And I really don't care." Devan stuck out his tongue at her, then turned back to Rosethorn, who was still watching them warily. "Now, back to business..."
Moonstream and Lark came in just then, both freezing in their tracks when they saw the other mages. "Lord Devan!" said Moonstream in shock, going into an automatic bow as she did. She glanced at Rosethorn and Lark, who were watching her for a sign of direction. "Go downstairs, you two. Everything's going to be alright now, and I will explain everything when I come downstairs."
"If you're sure," replied Rosethorn hesitantly, letting herself be led away as Lark took her arm and pulled her out of the attic.
"I am." Moonstream turned to Devan and Trystan, giving both a curt nod before glancing over at Lyssa lightly. "You're Silven, aren't you?"
"My real name's Lyssa," replied the girl turned squirrel turned back human grumpily. "But yeah, I'm her."
"Ah." Moonstream went over to Briteye's bed and laid a hand on her brow, frowning as she ran a magic check through her body with a frown. "This...is not good. She's tainted with something...I've seen it before, but I'm hoping it is not what I think it is..."
"It is," replied Devan gravely as he took a seat on the floor, Trystan doing so as well silently. "It's unmagic." Both no-so-human mages shuddered as he said it, Moonstream glancing at them both in puzzlement. "And, unfortunately....there is very little we can do to stop it."
"If we don't," she'll go mad very soon," whispered Moonstream as she pulled away from the performer, kneeling beside her mat. "What would you have me do? For that matter, what can any of us do?"
"We, unfortunately, can do nothing directly," sighed Devan as Trystan shifted tensely beside him. "Unmagic, even just the tiniest bit....well, we're not exactly human, Moonstream. If it touches us, it will eat us alive to be perfectly honest, so we can never come into contact with it at all."
"Not even your magic?"
"Not even our magic."
"Then...how do you plan to stop this??"
Devan glanced at Trystan, who drew a pouch from her sleeve and tossed it at the dedicate. "That powder, if you dissolve it in water and drink it and then give some to her, will give you the ability to go into her mind itself," explained Trystan carefully. "What you must do is wall off the part of her mind which is linked with the unmagic right now...to be exact, any and all memories since she came here. She'll remember where she is, who all of you are, and who Silven is....but her memory of her brother and all that's happened with him will be blocked from her with a wall of pure light and life essence. It is the only thing that will hold off the unmagic until her return."
"She'll notice it's there," replied Moonstream warningly. "How should you deal with that?"
"We will simply let her keep her mage skills with combat, and explain it off as that," replied Trystan with a shrug. "As for all of you...she is to be told she suffered from a terrible accident and never fully recovered. None is ever to mention the past to her, understand? Let her roam and travel as she pleases, we will take care of her meeting up with those who would be troublesome out there....but here, inside the temple, we will depend upon you to do that for us, Moonstream."
"It is the only way?" asked Lyssa worriedly as she sat beside Briteyes, holding one of her hands firmly. "If there's any other way it could be taken care of...?"
"We can't destroy it," said Devan firmly. "And those who will be able to soon are not yet trained...you will understand what I mean by that later on. For now, this is the way things must be."
Moonstream and Lyssa exchanged glances and nodded, the powder dissolved in water and the girl turned back to a squirrel moments later. "Let us begin..."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"Please??" wheedled Libby as she sidled up beside Brenna in the kitchen. "Pretty pretty pretty please with sugar and chocolate and the a bunny on top?"
"Isn't that supposed to be a cheery on top?" asked Rupal as she wandered by, munching on some pie she'd purloined from the pantry.
"Yeah...but I like bunnies better!"
"Ok."
"I want to know what you're going to do with it first!" replied Brenna firmly as she gathered her own snack together and headed out into the main room and towards the back door. "Libby, just tell me, please??"
"You have to pinky swear that you'll make me the dye if you do," replied Libby firmly, sticking out her hand with her pinky the only finger that wasn't curled in her fist.
"Fine," agreed Brenna tiredly, linking pinkies with her and giving them a slight squeeze. "I pinky swear. Now what are you going to do with it?!"
"Dye all my bunnies pink!!" replied Libby with a wide grin, spreading her arms out wide as she did. "Can't you see it now?? Everyone will come from miles around to bye my pink bunnies..." Libby sighed in contentment a she let herself be carried away in her dream for a moment, her eyes glowing with a childish glee. "Ahh..."
"Earth to Lib." Brenna poked her in the side, Libby coming back to reality (or as much as she ever was) and nodding firmly. "I did promise...well, I was actually thinking of you while I was doing the other dyes and made up a vat of it already. It's waiting out behind the barn if you want to start now."
Libby's eyes flew open as she gaped at Brenna in surprise. "You didn't!!"
"I did," replied Brenna with a grin. "Get going now so you can get part of it done before dinner. Kaitlin's making meat pies tonight, and she'll kill you if you're late after she's slaved away over them all afternoon long."
"That's right I will!!" replied Kaitlin from where she stood at the counter, putting the top on one of the said famous meat pies. "You all better appreciate my cooking or there's going to be hell to pay...respect my authority!!"
"Right..." The two turned away as she went off on another one of her 'Kaitlin' rants, where no one's really sure what she's saying, but it's funny to watch regardless. "Yeah, go have fun, Lib."
"I will, thanks!"
"Welcome."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Randy appeared just side Olivia's door as the icemage finished another one of the books the most recent teacher had insisted they read. And while he was heavy on reading assignments, at least he didn't give them written exercises to go along with it or anything like that.
"You need something?" asked Olivia as she glanced up at him, motioning for him to take a seat by the desk from where she sat on the bed. He took the offered chair and nodded in thanks.
"I don't need anything, I just wanted to apologize," he said after a moment's hesitation, Olivia watching him in mild surprise. "I mean, I know you say you don't mind being caught in the middle of all this but...it's got to be hard still."
"You know, you could just go apologize to Bryanna like you just did to me and everything would probably be ok, thus ending the need for the first apology all together," offered Olivia, noting the change in Randy as he stiffened considerably and his eyes flashed with anger. "Or not..."
"I won't apologize to her, because she is the one who's wrong," he retorted gruffly, keeping his temper slightly more in check than normal as he did. "Like I said, I'm sorry that you're stuck in the middle of it all...but that's all I'm sorry for."
"You're both as stubborn as mules, you know that?" asked Olivia as she leaned back on her bed, studying him out of the corner of her eye. He really was kinda cute when he wasn't aggravating her, causing trouble with Bry, or acting like a total moron. "I do accept your apology, though I would like it even more if you swallowed your pride long enough to go and attempt to have a conversation with Bryanna."
Randy considered her words as he rose from the chair, crossing his arms over his chest as he did. "Maybe. I'll think about it."
Olivia shrugged as she watched him leave, frowning to herself. "That's all I can really ask you to do."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"Nicole, you know better than that!!" scolded Jenny as she looked at the small nymph who sat pouting on her knee, her winds completely and dejectedly still for once. "You almost dropped Tyler, and what would I have said to Tanner or Trevor? 'Oh, I'm sorry, but the resident nymph just lost her control for a moment and smashed your little brother on the deck of the ship? Luckily we didn't sustain any damage, but he's been made into a human jelly?!'"
"I didn't drop him." Nicole stuck her bottom lip out even farther. "Come on, Jenny, it was just a little harmless fun..."
"It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt," replied Jenny firmly. As an afterthought, she added, "Or killed. Just promise me you won't do it again, ok?"
"Alright..."
"Alright, what?"
"Alright, I promise."
"Promise what?"
"I promise not to do it again."
"Do what again?"
Nicole glared at Jenny, who just raised her eyebrows ever so slightly in reply.
"I promise to never, ever take Tyler or any other member of the crew flying with me again."
"That's a good little nymph." Jenny sat her on the desk and stood, heading for the door. "Now be a good little nymph and run along and play."
"You know, you can be a real pain sometimes," loused Nicole as she flew out the door.
"Yeah, but you love me that way!"
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Alyse and Landon stood side by side as they observed the oozing black substance before them with curiosity. Alyse, who of course had more than an inkling of what had been going on, had somehow managed to convince Landon that all of this was not just some technological wonder and was indeed magic. He had accepted it, though she wasn't sure just how much he actually liked the thought of it yet, and they'd spent the last two weeks training in their new powers with the 'tool' Devan had given them.
Landon's was a short sword with spikes along the hand guard and serrated half-moons on one side. Hers was a fan much like those she'd wielded back in Tortal, the only difference being she could not wield her magic through them this time.
"This is unmagic?" she asked as she carefully dipped her hand in as he'd suggested, finding it slid right off. "Oh...right..." She probed it as he'd taught her to, finding it to be so in her sight as a black, ominous presence that seemed to glow somehow to her mage eyes with an unnatural light. "Wow...why doesn't it affect us, though?"
"You are saturated with life and light essence, the one thing that can destroy and hold off unmagic," explained Devan as Landon pulled some out as well, playing with it and stretching it out to form long strands as he watched the way the light reflected off it with fascination.
"I never thought I'd find something so...mystical to be so...real," he murmured to himself as he let it pool back in his palm. "It's almost like the Matrix with the mirror, only this stuff does not have the power to harm us like the mirror's substance seemed to with Neo, does it?"
"Do not treat it lightly," warned Devan as he came a tad bit closer, but only a very small tad. "While you are protected, others are not. You must destroy it whenever you find it, that is where your powers lie."
"I see...like this?" Landon called upon the blue fires that ranged inside of him as his 'magic', not actually magic in the sense that it was like what ever other mage possessed, but something very similar to it indeed. The unmagic inside hand jerked, and then disappeared into a pile of ash, leaving nothing of itself behind.
"Exactly."
"What are we going to be doing?" asked Alyse as Devan transported them from the 'otherworld' they'd visited in order to complete their learning of unmagic. It was actually a plain far to the east where no man had ever wandered and lived, but it would do little good to destroy it as it was right then so he let it be for the moment. Ending back up in the field where they'd been their first day, Devan smiled.
"Oh, you'll find out soon enough," he replied with a shrug. "Take the road you'll find that way to the south, and there you'll find the role which you've been brought to play. Finding the others is a priority of course, but even if you did not attempt to search for them your paths and theirs will cross eventually, they always do. Toddles!" With that he vanished, leaving the two young adults standing there with the clothes on their backs, some packs that appeared on the ground at their feet, and the weapons he'd given them.
"You know, I'm beginning to see why you liked his sister better," muttered Landon as he picked up the pack and slung it over his shoulder as Alyse had already done, following her in the direction Devan had pointed. "He's not exactly very specific, is he?"
"Nope, not at all," replied Alyse as she rolled her eyes. "But then again, who said this was going to be easy?"
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
"Jon?" called Kristen as she walked into his side of the fighting hall, glancing around as she did. "I know you're here, you left the door open!"
"I'll be down in a second!!" he called from the rafters, sliding down a few moments later on a rope he had hanging down from the ceiling. "Right on time as always, I see."
"Of course," she replied with an uneasy shrug. "So, are we back on the balance beam today? I...uh....didn't make it over the 6 foot high one yet...."
"Yes, I know, but I've got something else in mind," he stated with a shrug as he pointed to the ladder that led up to the platform on the edge of the course. "Up you go."
"Up there??
"Yeah."
"Why??"
"Because I said so, and you're taking my course," replied Jon with a shrug. "Go, or fail, either way it's the same to me."
"Alright, alright..." Kristen climbed the ladder slowly, taking her time getting to the top as he rummaged through one of the crates below. Coming up the ladder rather quickly himself, he found her standing a few feet from the edge, the latter white as a sheet and doing her best not to shake.
"I'm thinking no," she said quite simply, turning around to find him barring the exit with a harness in his hands.
"The only way you're getting down is if you go down the ladder on the opposite side," he said as he tossed the harness at her, her catching it in her numb hands.
"You're incredibly cruel," she said after she figured she had little chance up budging him from the spot without a great deal of wasted effort.
Jon just smiled and nodded. "I know."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Briteyes woke the next morning, her body feeling like she'd run to the moon and back a dozen times it was so worn out and her head aching ever so slightly just behind her eyes. Blinking them wearing, she slowly sat up with a wince. Man, she was sore, but...she wasn't tired for once.
"You're awake," said Lark as the dedicate offered her a cup of tea, watching with relief as she took it and drank it down immediately.
"Yeah, I...." Briteyes sat there for a moment, staring at the empty cup in her hands as she tried to sort through the haze that her memories had become. "How did I come to be here? I can't seem to remember..."
"You were caught up in some rather...nasty happenings and were badly injured. You were brought here, remember? And we cared for you."
"I do remember that much," admitted Briteyes slowly as she ran a finger down the familiar scar that ran the length of her face. "But why was I involved? Do you know?"
"You wouldn't tell us," replied the dedicate with a shrug, going on the tale Moonstream had told them to tell her when she'd explained things that morning after waiting all night to be allowed back in the attic again. "Silven, who's right there, came with you. She doesn't know anymore than we do...and due to your injuries you lost a great deal of your memory of what happened. You may get it back someday, but until then..." The dedicate shrugged.
Briteyes stared at her hands again as Lark excused herself to bring her some breakfast, trying to sort through something that was solid enough for her hold on to for sure from the past. Her real name was Amanda Frias, and she was in Tamora Pierce's Circle f Magic series. Not exactly a lot to go on, but it was a start...Silven, the squirrel, was really Lyssa, one of her oldest and dearest friends. And she could talk with her just like she could anyone else.
Here in this world, she was a performer, and she had music magic. She had traveled for a long while, she was sure of that, and had seen many things and met many people. Who was with her, just Silven? Somehow, it didn't feel right, but she let that small detail go with a shrug and continued on. She had somehow, she wasn't even sure where it all began, gotten into a fight of sorts. Whether she started it or the other person did or who or how many had been involved, she had not idea, but she obviously had been badly injured, her scars were proof enough of that and she could vaguely remember lying in a similar bed to this one in vast amounts of pain for long periods of time.
Also, in this world, she was immortal, as were anyone else who'd gone to Tortal with them the first time, like Silven. Should would always eventually come back to life, though she doubted it would be good for her to die multiple times over. She'd died once, she was somehow sure of that as well. Was it from the fight, or something else? She wished she knew, wished that one small part of her memory wasn't blocked from her view.
Small details, little day to day things she remembered, like the cavern of performers and such, but...still...there had to be something very important that she'd forgotten. Sighing in frustration as she wearily laid back down, she wondered in the back of her mind what in the world it could possibly be.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Libby struggled to hold the wiggly creature in her hands, this particular bunny, and a male at that, having decided that he did not want to become a bright, bubblegum pink like his companions. Pinky, Rose, and the rest sat there patiently on the platform to the side already dyed the shade of pink and waiting for the rest to finish like they had the day before. Pink from the tips of their already pink noses to their fluffy, cotton tails they were what she considered to be truly perfect.
"Hold still, will you?!" she cried as she finally grabbed the bunny the ears and hind legs, stretching him out like a rooster who's going to be killed for a Sunday dinner. "It's just a bit of a bath that'll make you quite lovely indeed, I swear....ah!!!"
*SPLOOSH*
Libby sat there dripping with the pink dye running down her in rivulets, the bunny having escaped to the side with no more than a drop or to on his hindquarters. Pulling a few strands of her hair in front of her face, she gasped. It had been dyed the same pink as her bunnies...
"It's...it's...." Everyone, as in the bunnies, scattered as Libby shot to her feet and danced in circles for joy. "IT"S PINK!!!!!"
"Holy freakin cow," murmured Kaitlin as she came out of the kitchen to see what the fuss was about. "Man...I am so glad I'm just me and not a bunny! As cute as I would be, and happy to hop around all day, I'm thinking I'll pass on being permanently pink...."
"I'M PINK I'M PINK I'M PINK!! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!"
"Please tell me I'm dreaming," said Brenna as she appeared beside Kaitlin, trowel in one hand and her robe hitched up around her knees with dirt everywhere.
"You're not," replied Kaitlin with a shrug. "I'm headed for the kitchen, because at least if there's insanity there, it's insanity I create, and I know I can deal with it too cuz it's mine and only mine."
Brenna watched as she walked off, then back to where Libby danced around and then turned evil for a few moments with her pinkness before going back to dancing again. "Oi..."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Olivia cooled her too-hot tea with a touch of her magic, knowing she would need it as Bryanna and Randy sat stiffly across from each other with her in the middle as usual.
"Randy, you first," she said pointedly, giving him a look that brooked no argument as he opened his mouth to protest, snapping it closed a moment later.
"I...uh..." He gulped and forced himself to go on. "I am sorry for some of the things I said earlier, Bryanna, they were wrong and unjust of me to say them. I hope you will accept my apology."
"Now you, Bryanna," said Olivia, giving her the same look as she sighed and gave in without a fight.
"I apologize as well," she ground through her teeth, not angrily but it was a struggle none the less. "For what I said was baseless and I didn't have proof to back it up with." She paused, then added, "I hope you will accept my apology as well."
"Very good," said Olivia with a sigh as she sat back and nodded. "I'm glad that's over with at last..."
"If I might suggest something?" asked Bryanna as she sipped her own tea, still sitting there rigidly with her eyes downcast.
"Go on," replied Olivia with a nod.
"I still thing there's something wrong with the medallions," she said slowly, holding up a hand and Randy began to protest. "Not necessarily evil, just wrong! I want to go back and see how the Masters we've given to have faired, to see their impression of them as well. They may see something we couldn't detect, Randy....and if they're harmless, I'm willing to leave it at that and never mention it again."
"I have the man who gave them to me word that they are," replied Randy immediately. "We need no more proof than that, I think, so it would be a waste of time to do so and we're not exactly free to do as we please, you know."
Bryanna frowned as she toyed with the cup in her hands. "I still feel we should check..."
"We can decide that later, it's getting late as is and it took me longer to convince you both to come than I thought it would," said Olivia as she rose suddenly, heading for her own room door as Bryanna and Randy followed her example. "Goodnight, you two."
"Nite."
"Night, Olivia."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Nicole checked and rechecked her small vessel again and again, shaped from bits of leather and wood the others didn't need about the size of their hands, more than big enough to make her a regular little ship. Getting Trevor to help her had been a synch, and now with a mast made of some old rags she was more than ready to test it out on open waters along side the ship. Lowering it into the water with her winds, she flew down to it and secured it to the ship with a long line that Trevor had tied to the rail so incase it did flip over they'd be able to retrieve it and try again.
"Ready?" he called from the railing as she waved at him as was agreed.
"Ready!!" she called back, giving him a thumbs up before letting down her mast so it would catch the wind and sail along without being entirely towed by the ship. Feeling her little craft skitter about a bit, it caught a fresh, strong breeze and took off, coming up beside the ship far enough out that she wouldn't get caught in the waves that splashed off of it.
"How is it?" called Trevor from his post, watching her with a smile.
"Great!!" she called back, giving him another thumbs up before settling back in her position at the helm. "Oh ho ho, and a bottle 'o rum! Nymphs are better than everyone!"
Trevor laughed as she went on singing, making up verses about scurvy winds and how nymphs had to tame them all. It was a good day to be sailing indeed.
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
Alyse and Landon walked into Summer Sea, Landon enthralled by another one of Alyse's tales about her 'past' visit to Tortall and some of their doings there.
"I still do not see why you would associate yourselves with common thieves," he commented as they walked up to a pub one of the merchants had been kind enough to point out to them. "Though, as they were past friends of yours, I suppose I might understand why..."
"Thieves or not, they still did their fair share of the work," countered Alyse with a slight grin. "And they kept their paws to themselves while on Amanda's holdings, she and Brenna, or Vixen as she was called then, saw to that. I think not even the gods above could've saved them from their combined wraths had they attempted to double-cross the pair."
"You said she was your cousin there, this Amanda and her 'sister' Elizabeth, but the same ties were not so back home in the 'real world'." Landon paused and then motioned towards her slightly. "If you could explain how that is so...?"
"I'll try to, but you might find it a bit confusing..." Continuing their conversation as they ordered their food and then found themselves a quiet corner where no one would overhear them, Alyse began to feel a small itch in the back of her mind that grew ever so slowly as she tried to ignore it.
Landon noticed her divided attention and paused with his sandwich halfway to his lips. "Is something the matter?" he asked ever so slowly, putting the food down and scanning the room slowly.
"I'm not sure," she admitted carefully. "Well...hang on a moment..." She tranced out as Devan had taught her and gathered her mage senses together, looking over the room and people around her until she found the one thing that had been bothering her, a brilliant black smear in her vision that denoted unmagic. "Ah..."
"What, you see something?" asked Landon curiously.
Alyse opened her eyes as she came to and glanced at him. "Unmagic."
"Oh! What do we do now??"
"I'm not sure," admitted Alyse hesitantly, "There's so many questions, like if the person knows he has it, or if he does know he has it or if he intends to use it or is even just a carrier, taking it to another mage for their use. I don't want to act without knowing more, but if we stall ourselves for too long we could be too late..."
"Link with me," offered Landon as he held out a hand to her suddenly. "I won't be able to identify it without you showing me, but once you do I can tell who it is, remember?"
"Right..." She took his hand melded her power with his, feeling him as a constant presence in the back of her mind as she went back through the sorting of her mage senses and let him look through her 'eyes' at what she saw around her, pointing out the unmagic to him and then waiting him to pull away before she brought herself out of her trance as well. "Well?"
"It's the boy over there among his friends," explained Landon as he nodded in the direction of the table to their right. "He doesn't look like a mage to me, and he's dressed in a livery of sorts..."
"He's incapable of using the unmagic, I can tell you that much," replied Alyse with a shrug. "More than that...well, I'm not sure to be honest. He looks like he's about to leave...shall we follow him?"
"Only thing I can think of to do." Together they rose, having already paid for their meal and drinks before slipping out into the crowd and tailing the boy from a few yards behind. "Hey...weren't they had that place as well?" murmured Landon as he motioned to their left, three people dressed similarly to them walking along the other side of the road and keeping their eyes trained on the boy as well.
"They were," replied Alyse slowly. "Something's going on here, and I wish I knew what...stupid mage boy! He should've given us more details than he did!"
"Can't be helped now," stated Landon quietly. "Off there to the right the boy's gone and his pursuers with him. Shall we?"
"Yeah." They rounded the bend in the shadows to find it was a dead end, the boy trapped there with the three figures closing in on him quickly.
"Just give us the box, and you can go free," said the tallest of the trio, all of them swathed from head to toe so their faces couldn't be seen, and nothing more could be told about them other than they were obviously human.
"I can't, it's for my master's friend!" replied the boy stubbornly. "It's very important that it gets to him!"
"What's more important, the box or your life?"
"That's enough!" Alyse stepped out of the shadows just as one of three drew their blade, whipping her own fan out and holding it at ready. She may not have magic that worked through it anymore, but it was far of useless. "Let the boy go."
"You don't know what you're meddling with, Miss," said the tallest, turning his black eyes on her in annoyance. "You'd best get out while you still can..."
"Catch, sir!!" All five glanced over in surprise as the boy launched the box overhead...straight into the hands of a richly robed servant who sprang into the carriage that waited there at his side and sped away down the streets of the city.
"Meddling imbeciles! You let it get away!" cried one of the other gray-swathed figures, running after it but finding it gone once he was out of the alley. The boy slipped away during all of this, disappearing as well, much to all of their annoyance. "You sure as hell better have a decent excuse for your....hey, will you listen to me?!"
"Can you see him?" asked Landon, completely ignoring the man as Alyse went into a half trance, and then shook herself awake again.
"He's gone east," she replied quickly, placing her fan back in her belt and going over the plan of the city in her head. "Out of the city and towards another town. We might catch him if we rent a pair of horses and hurry..."
"You can sense the taint?!" demanded the tall one, latching on to her arm as she tried to leave.
"Yes," replied Alyse, understand what he meant just by the inflection of his voice. "And we have to hurry...."
"Rio will take care of it," he state as he made a motion with his fingers, one of the two left slipping off and into the streets. "You two, I think, had best come with us...."
%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%~~~*~~~%
And the random insanity goes on. ^_^ I do hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, please, please review. It's really something that makes me want to keep writing more chapters, ok?? Thanks!!!
'Innocence is a luxury that quickly becomes nothing but a memory in the controlled chaos known as marching band.'
~Crosseyedbutterfly~