A/N:
Thank you so much for your reviews!
Always the Romance
lady gwen
Ninja-Slayer
CrimsonEnchantress– It actually took me a while to find a "code name" for Tania. I went through names such as Tyrell, Wraith, Raythe, Devon, etc. Then I finished with Viper, which was one of my first choices.
Danna
Megan
Caronee
Sassafras
Oops
Fairypixie3
Stubble96
Tayk
Blue-hello-kitty – It is the chapter after Fairy Blood, but it's four months later.
Awaiting impatient person
Dragonfirechick– I still have to read it. But I will. I really will.
Beatrix B.
Lil Bazza
SnoopyViz
Ana
A Vision
wonderxwoman
Chapter Two
"Nalyan! We're leaving!" Lucas cried out impatiently as he placed his belongings on his horse's back. He mounted and followed behind Farvon, who was riding a feisty black stallion.
An unperturbed Tania, dressed as Viper, came out of the stables. She was riding a white mare with grey flecks in some places. On its back were her own belongings, much more than Lucas' and Farvon's combined. Lucas took one look at it and snorted.
"You're such a girl," he commented.
She glared at him. "For your information, I'm the one carrying the food supply, so shut up."
He rolled his eyes. "Sure, sure."
"Stop it, you two," Farvon snapped. Then he mumbled to himself: "I feel like a father."
"Will we be staying at any inns during the trip, Farvon?" Tania asked as she took her place behind Lucas.
"It's a three-day trip, Tania. Of course."
"Well, I wouldn't mind camping instead."
"I would!" Lucas interjected.
"Look who's being a girl now."
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up."
Farvon sighed to himself. "This is going to be one loooong trip," he muttered.
"Where are we again?" Tania asked as she sat plopped down on the bed at the Red Apple Inn.
Lucas rolled his eyes. "You have such bad memory. Endon, Tania. We're in Endon. Can you remember that?"
"We've been traveling for two days!" Tania argued. "We must have passed by a thousand cities and towns."
"You're exaggerating."
"Well…um…duh."
Lucas rolled his eyes. Again. "I'm going to go make my moves on that innkeeper's daughter," he announced. "I won't be back soon."
"Good luck to her," Tania mumbled to herself as Lucas left the room.
"I heard that!"
Tania sighed as she laid her head on the pillow. The room was slightly chilly, but tolerable. And it had this completely silent air that made her…think. She wasn't sure if she wanted that. She didn't like the way her thoughts were roaming at the moment.
Of course she realized that there was a possibility of Darrin being in the tournament. And maybe Ethan, too. Both were well-known warriors back in Déoras. The question was how she could avoid being seen by them. By anyone from Geldrin. The Autumn Fest Tournament was about three months long. There was her Viper disguise…it was possible, though she wondered about her voice. It could give her away, unless it changed dramatically during her four months in Kyrria. Though that was pretty unlikely.
Four months…that was double a summer vacation to a typical scholar. Before, four months seemed short, an insignificant number to her. Now, she realized that it was a pretty long period of time.
Tania sighed and rose from her bed. She decided that thinking and worrying about all this wasn't good for her. She tied up her mask and pulled on her hood, then left the room.
She didn't know where she was going, but that was fine. They wouldn't be leaving until tomorrow morning, at six o'clock. It was getting pretty dark, but she had confidence in her self-defense skills. Besides, she looked like a guy. She was in no danger of being raped or whatnot. Beaten up…maybe. But didn't she look intimidating?
"Hi," came a husky voice.
Tania turned and saw a middle-aged woman. The scandalous dress she had on was obviously used to show off her…assets. She was leaning against a wall, outside an alley. And she had on this smile which was supposed to be seductive. To Tania, it was scary rather than appealing. She tried not to show her shudders.
"I'm feeling lonely tonight," said the scary woman. She still had not lost that fake husky voice. "Cheer me up?"
"Um…no…" She had every intention of making it sound really polite, as to not hurt the woman's feelings, but it came out wrong. Oh well. She shrugged it off and began to walk away.
"Well, FINE!" the woman screeched, all traces of her husky voice gone. Now it was just squeaky, high-pitched, and…scary? Yup, scary.
Tania quickened her pace. She looked back and saw that the woman had stayed where she was. Good. She didn't want to be stalked; she was sure that she could handle that woman, no big deal, but the idea of it (being stalked) was still scary.
She found herself entering a tavern after that. A good cup of hot tea seemed so inviting. She entered and found herself a spot in the corner. It was the type of spot that made the person unimportant, in the shadows. It was the type of spot a person would take when she or he wanted to be left alone.
A barmaid paraded forward, a seductive smile on her face. Tania resisted the urge to roll her eyes. Really. Why did some women and girls feel that they had to seduce men? Sure, some had no choice, but what about the ones who did? Did they do it just for fun?
"What can I get you?" the barmaid purred.
"A cup of tea, please," Tania replied calmly.
The barmaid was startled. She gave Tania a look of disbelief. "You want…tea?" she said slowly.
Tania nodded. "Yes. Tea."
"You're in a tavern, and you want…tea."
Tania hid the impatience in her voice. "Yes, tea."
"I'll be…right back." She left, her face with an expression of bewilderment.
Really. What was so strange about a supposedly intimidating-looking man-in-disguise wanting a cup of tea? Tania paused at the question. The answer was already in it. Okay, so it did seem strange, but she wasn't a man.
"Here you go." The barmaid placed the cup of tea on the table and left quickly. Tania didn't even get a chance to say thank you. She shrugged to herself and began to drink.
She wasn't even halfway done with her drink when an obviously drunk man wobbled forward and placed himself on the empty seat in front of Tania.
"H-hey…you n-new here?" he slurred.
"What's it to you?" Tania countered, disgust evident in her voice.
The man's beady eyes widened. "Hey y-you!" he cried (at the same time snorted…was that even possible?) "You being…rude!"
She raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really? My apologies. I don't do well with drunk men." She wasn't usually this mean, but she could tell that this man was very bad news. He was the abusive, always-drunk type. His whole rugged appearance was practically screaming it. This man was the type who wouldn't mind doing any dirty work, if it was for a hefty reward.
He glared drunkenly at her. "You want a piece of me?"
Tania wrinkled her nose. Ew. Not really.
The man scowled. "You looking for a fight?" he sneered. "I can take you!"
"No, thank you."
"Whassa matter? Scared? You scared of…me?" he taunted.
"No," Tania replied coldly. "I just don't have time for cheap drunks like you." She placed a few coins on the table and stood up.
She was about to walk away when she suddenly felt this force hit her. She stumbled and fell to the ground. It didn't take her long to realize that the drunken man had tackled her down, and was now fighting her. He wasn't doing too well, though. The alcohol was making him weak.
She fought back, throwing punches here and there. She tried to push him off, but the man had quite the weight. Her build was nothing compared to his. So she settled with punching. She wasn't giving him her most violent blows, thus, giving him the opportunity to throw punches as well. And there was this one punch that was the highlight of the event. Maybe it was because of where he had punched.
Yes, right in the chest. Tania successfully bit back a cry of pain. Her eyes watered a bit. She was glad that she was wearing a mask, since it concealed her hurt expression. If people had seen it, then they would have eventually figured out that she was a girl. Thank the heavenly mask.
That move set her off. Growling fiercely, she raised her palm…and aimed right for his nose.
He let out a howl of pain as the bottom part (the stone-hard part) of her palm hit his nose. Dark red blood spilled out, and he cried loudly. Tania used this opportunity to free herself from him.
None of the blood spilled on her clothes. She was glad at that. She didn't want to do laundry. And stains were such a pain. She dusted her clothes (in a manly way, of course), and when she looked up, she saw that the people in the tavern were staring at her. Some in fear, some in curiosity.
Then it happened. Tania didn't know what it was that made her do it, but for some reason, she turned around...she had felt someone's piercing eyes on her.
She was right. Someone was staring at her. He was sitting in a corner, his black hood pulled up, so she couldn't see his face clearly. One arm was resting lazily on the wooden table. To an inexperienced eye he looked relaxed, but Tania could tell that he was very alert. It was in the way he was sitting. His back was straight and rigid.
And he was staring. It wasn't the normal stares like the others were giving…no, this was a different stare. It was as if he was studying her, calculating her. It was definitely unnerving.
But she was Viper. She wasn't Tania, she was Viper. So, she straightened her back—almost regally—and sent him a hard look. Then she did a curt nod of acknowledgement, turned, then walked boldly out of the tavern.
The noise didn't break out until she was long gone.
"Where were you?" Lucas demanded the moment Tania entered the room.
She shrugged nonchalantly. "Just…out."
"You didn't get into any trouble, did you?" he asked suspiciously.
She sent him a hard look. "No. Any success with what's-her-name?"
He sighed dramatically. "She's engaged. The love of my life is engaged! Oh, the way my heart broke into a thousand pieces when she told me of her man…if only I—"
"Shut up," Tania said, rolling her eyes. "She didn't mean anything to you, and you know it. And stop trying to be poetic. It's not really you. But then again, if you want to sound stupid, be my guest."
Farvon chose this moment to enter the room. "Go to sleep, you two," he said. "We're waking up early. Tania, you take the bed. Lucas and I can sleep on the floor."
"W-what?!" Lucas sputtered. "But I want the bed!"
Farvon shot him a stern look. "Tania will have the bed, Lucas. We will use bed rolls like good gentlemen we are."
"Fine," Lucas grumbled. He turned to Tania. "Be grateful."
"I am."
"Wanna rock, paper, scissors for it?" he asked hopefully.
She stared at him. "No."
He groaned. "Fine," he mumbled. He lay grudgingly on his bed roll. "G'night, loser."
"Goodnight, fatty."
"I'm not fat."
"That's what you think."
"Shut up."
"No, you shut up."
"Both of you shut up!"
Moment of silence.
"'kay."
Tania felt someone nudge her in the head. She groaned and tried to swat the offending article away, whatever it was. But unfortunately for her, it only resulted into a harder nudge.
"Hey. Wake up."
She forcibly opened her heavy eyes. She blinked a few times, and when her vision finally came into focus, she saw something shiny glinting down at her…a dagger. Immediately she let out a blood-curdling scream, which was followed by someone else's laughter.
"Really, Tania," Lucas said in between chuckles. "I thought you would be past the screaming by now. I thought you were a warrior."
She shot him a death glare. "Your ugly face that scared me."
"Sure, sure," he replied with a knowing grin.
Tania looked at the dagger he was fiddling with. Her eyes widened. "You woke me up with that?!" she screamed.
Lucas winced at the volume of her voice. "Relax, Nalyan. I didn't use the sharp end."
"IT'S STILL A DAGGER, YOU STUPID OAF!"
Farvon chose this time to enter the room. Taking one quick look at Tania's glare and Lucas's half-guilty expression, he sighed heavily and said, "What happened now?"
"Confiscate his dagger, Farvon!" Tania spoke up, pointing at Lucas. "He thinks it's a damn toy!"
"I knew what I was doing!" Lucas interjected. "She exaggerates!"
"There could have been an accident!"
Lucas snorted. "Me? Have an accident with a dagger?"
"It's possible!" Tania retorted.
"But highly unlikely."
"Arrogant git."
"No…just being truthful, Nalyan."
Tania didn't know what to say to that. Lucas was right, after all. Daggers and knives were his specialty. It was where he excelled at the most. His hands were so nimble and precise when it came to wielding them. Tania got lessons from him, so she was also good, though not as good as him.
"I'm not helping you two straighten this out. I'm too tired," Farovn said wearily. "Get ready. We're leaving in fifteen minutes." He left the room.
Tania scowled at Lucas. "Next time, when it's my turn to wake you up…"
Lucas rolled his eyes. "Just get ready. I'm going to go and make my moves on the other innkeeper's daughter."
"Good luck to her," Tania whispered to herself as Lucas left the room.
"I heard that!"
"So…how are you?" Tania asked the innkeeper's daughter.
The girl, Marla, looked up in surprise. Upon seeing Tania dressed as Viper, her cheeks turned into a light shade of red.
"I'm fine…why do you ask?" she mumbled, almost to herself.
"Oh, my partner can be pretty scary sometimes," Tania said nonchalantly. "He was here earlier, wasn't he?"
"Oh! Him."
Tania smiled in amusement. "Yes. Him. I apologize for whatever behaviour he had earlier."
Marla nodded. "He was…"
"Scary?"
"Persistent."
"Ah…well, that's Lucas for you." Tania offered a grin, but since she was wearing a mask, it didn't show. She then said a goodbye to the girl (who blushed more deeply) and was about to head out to the stables when something made her turn, like what happened last night. When she did, she felt her heart skip a beat.
There he was again, sitting in the corner with his black hood propped up. And she could tell he was looking right at her. She could feel his deep eyes on her.
Is he following me? she thought suspiciously.
He wasn't moving. Imagine a cat sitting on a table, alert, but not moving. He was sort of like that.
Once again, Tania made herself look important. She sent a brisk nod towards his direction, and quickly strode out.
A/N:
The thing with the staring man…does that sound familiar? Well, it should because I got if from "Fellowship of the Ring," when Aragorn (as Strider) was staring at the hobbits at the Prancing Pony. :) And I'm learning Latin!
Pater noster, qui es in caelis
Sanctificetur nomen tuum
Adveniat regnum tuum
Fiat voluntas tua sicut in caelo et in terra
Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie
Et dimitte nobis debita nostra
Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris
Et ne nos inducas in temptationem
Sed libera nos a malo
Amen
