AN: This is the other half of what was chapter two…it was too long to put up as one but I guess it could be a chapter by itself…hope you like it.
Guan- No jude…sorry he's in chapter three…I think he has the first speakingline. I really like the rumors part too… but I stole them from my first day of High School so it's not that amazing (and no I wasn't the one the rumors were about, LOL)
Firilya- I loved Punkin getting a piece of her own medicine since she's usually the deceiver. Meris is about the only person that can pull the wool (or hair whatever) over the bard's eyes. Akyrra was made after I drank why too coffee and thought it would be cool to make a valley girl monk. LOL. :-).
Tash- I'm glad that you like my dialogue…my characters got away from my a bit so I've got to give them some props too.
WitchWolf- I think the idea of an Academy is pretty dumb as well. When I first NWN, I was totally disappointed that the plot sucked so terribly in the beginning…especially Fenthick making you wait a week to start an important quest. But I'm not talking about that. Punkin and Akyrra's dialogues were so much fun to write "Like you know whatever." LOL.
Chapter 2.5
"It's time to get up, Punkin." Akyrra's face appeared before me. Just what I needed to start my day with, I thought to myself.
I looked around at the dark room with only the torch-lamp giving light, "What time is it?"
"I'd say it's like six in the morning, chica. Why do you ask?"
"Because the sun hasn't come up and it's dark as a Yuan-Ti's heart, that's why."
"Oh…I just wanted to know if you like wanted to go for a jog with me."
This girl was off her rocker, I wonder if all monks were like this. But I really wasn't that tired and going back to sleep wouldn't work. I needed to do something, maybe a little jog would inspire a new song to come to me…what's the worse that could happen.
"Sure Akyrra, let me get ready." I grabbed some knee length shorts and an old shirt and threw them on as Akyrra waited outside the door for me.
I walked out and saw the contorted face of the monk, "We're going for a jog not changing a horse's hay…what's with the rags?"
"I didn't know that I was going to a fashion show," I said as I looked at her jewel bodysuit that ended at her mid-thigh.
"Suit yourself, but that's why everyone says what they say."
I rolled my eyes and we made our way down the stairs to the gates of the Academy.
XOXOXO
There was a small group of people congregated at the exit…they appeared to be dressed similarly to Akyrra. As we got closer I noticed that the two other girls were dressed exactly like her and the threeguys had similar outfits but seemed a little looser.
"Hiya guys," Akyrra said in her cheerful manner. They all mumbled half-asleep at the greeting, "This is my roommate Punkin Capernum, she's like totally famous and she wants to work out with us."
WORK OUT! I was under the assumption that I was jogging. I didn't know much about monk workouts but I knew that I didn't want to be involved. "Ah…Akyrra, I've got to go…I think I didn't hang the wisp back up on the wall…"
"We don't have a wisp in our room," Akyrra laughed and grabbed arm and dragged me over to the five sleepwalkers, "This is my class…we are monks of an ancient order of Shenron. Have you heard of them?"
"A bit, I am a Bard Extraordinaire, right." Akyrra smiled a bit, "They are monks with draconic blood and study the way of the great guardian, Shenron…I think that many think of it as the forger of the world as we knew it."
"That pretty close…" said a guy with long blond hair who seemed a bit older than the restsaid, "We train to protect all things nature…similar to druids and rangers but not their extremity. We also focus on Shenron's entire creation; earth, wind, water, moon, sun, wood and spirit."
"Oh," I said and looked at his necklace with a gold ball hanging from it, "What's that ah- I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."
"I never threw it," he laughed and held his hand out, "I'm Instructor Bardock and this is just my good luck charm. This is Theo," a short-haired young boy nodded, "Cami," a gold with blond bangs and long brunette hair twiddled her fingers, "Maxine," a tall girl with very short spiky pink hair blinked, "and my son Bardock Jr," the skinny boy to his left smiled at me.
"Well, I'm Punkin Capernum, as you all already know and I thought I was just going for a little jog…"
"We are going to jog," Maxine snorted, "And I doubt that you'll be able to keep up…monks are able run faster than normal humans, you know."
"Well," I said feeling my ego take over again, "I'm no ordinary human…and I'm sure that whatever you do to train will not be too strenuous for someone of my physique."
Maxine shrugged and motioned for everyone to line up in two lines, boys on one said and girls on the other. Akyrra pulled me and I was placed between her and Cami. Bardock moved to the front between both lines and began to run in place for a moment to create a rhythm for us to follow.
At that moment, feeling my legs spark with new life, I remembered that the last time I actually ran was in the Source Stone…three years ago. Maybe this wasn't the best idea.
We ran swiftly through the town and into the forest of Neverwinter, along the river. I pleaded with my lungs to stay inflated as we trotted across the forest floor with as much speed as on horseback.
I wanted to stop but every time I thought about it I looked up to see that little pink-haired witch in front of me…I wasn't going to quit until my body did. As we ran I started to see the world in a different manner though. In the pre-sunrise world everything seemed new and diverse, everything had a chance at becoming what it wished to be. The trees could become greener, the flower could smell sweeter and the animals had new hope to survive another day…this is what life was about…making it to another day and it quickly approached.
Suddenly we all stopped and Bardock said, "Okay guys, sun's about to come up, this were we'll meditate."
My feet thanked me as I stopped and looked around for somewhere comfortable to sit down. I looked around and found a cliff side. I looked at the sun as it peeked over the mountain top painting the dark sky with splashes of yellows and oranges and warming the night air with golden breezes. I listened to the morning sounds, the crickets called out, the hummingbirds resonated a new song, and even the owl was bidding the night goodbye as it made it's nest ready for it's slumber. Then I heard the most peculiar noise, it sounded like chants…dark chants. I had to find out what it was. I closed my eyes and moved closer to the sound as it grew louder I opened my eyes and the he was in all his beauty.
"Now I know you're talking me," Meris said as he in between a pair of trees without a shirt on. I would never forget seeing him this way, though he seemed scrawny without any constraints over him he was very muscular…if I were more like Akyrra I would have easily fawned over him.
"I was just out jogging…what are doing out here and topless to say the least."
"This is part of my training, you know what we are here to do…it's an old concentration exercise…"
"Talking to yourself without a shirt on is a why to strengthen your mind. I'll never understand you mage types." I said and noticed a swarm of bees circle around him. I spotted the X on his chest painted gold…I was guessing it was honey. He must be crazy, I thought and sat on the ground and watched him. He stood straight up and slowly moved his finger pointing it at his chest. Methodically he fired a tiny red beam on energy at each bee, never moving as he chanted his spells. Each time a bee fell he became stiffer, more focused and I grew more frightened.
I've never been afraid of anything, we would I be afraid if something happened to this jerk, I thought to myself. I felt a song forming inside of me so I did what any self-respecting bard would do, I wrote it down…
Delusional
I believe I can cure it all for you
Coax or trick or drive or
drag the demons from you
Make it right for you purple beauty
Truly thought
I can magically heal you
You're far beyond a visible sign of your awakening
Failing miserably to rescue
Purple Beauty
Drunk on ego
Truly thought I could make it right
If I could kiss you one time to
Help you face the nightmare
But you're far too poisoned for me
Such a fool to think that I can wake you from your slumber
That I could actually heal you
My Purple Beauty
Poisoned and hopeless
You're far beyond a visible sign of your awakening
Failing miserably to find a way to comfort you
Far beyond a visible sign of your awakening
And hiding from some poisoned memory
Poisoned and hopeless
Sleeping Beauty
"What are you writing," I jumped as the wizard appeared out of nowhere behind me. I think I just got to involved with write my thoughts down.
"It's nothing," I lied.
"Is it about me," Meris asked.
"N-N-No."
"I can see it in your eyes, it is about me," he face grew sad, "You think I'm out of my mind, too."
"No I don't!" I said and looked up at him as the rising sun looked back at me, "I think you're a bit different and you're more than you seem but out of your mind no."
"You don't know anything about me, how can you say all of that…"
"A bard's nature instinct is to study people, their movements, the way the carry themselves and most of all their eyes," I looked into his purple pupils them seemed depthless, limitless, "Your eyes reveal a lot about you."
"What do mine say?"
"You want to be more than what you are. You have more confidence than you show. That no matter what happens that you must bee true to a promise to yourself…"
"And that promise is?"
"I don't know but from what I see, you want to be a stronger mage. I'd guess you know that difficulties are in store for your future."
He stood still for a moment not saying or doing a thing then he grabbed his shirt and said, "You're much wiser than you appear…perhaps you are more like the Punkin Linu told me about." With that said he disappeared into the trees…my mysterious Meris. I wonder what weighs so heavily on his heart and what made him seem so lonely.
"Punkin!" Screamed Akyrra and I ran to her voice. I was meet with the six monks fighting a shadowy creature; it was large probably twice my height and as most shadows are, he was semi-transparent.
Bardock deflected a black orb that was fired at him and said, "We can't land a hit on him…I doubt it's from this plane…are you able to cast any magics."
I chanted a group of invisibility spells on the six of them as quickly as possible, "Go back to the Academy and get help! I'll hold it off." I wished I had enough magic in me to cast an invisibility spell on myself.
"But!" Bardock said.
"Don't worry, I've dealt with worse that this." When.
"You five go back…I'll help her out," Bardock directed and Akyrra and company ran off. The shadow looked down at me and raised his clawed hand. He slashed downward at me but I flipped backward pulling out me blade, Patheon. I gripped the hilt with both my hands and took an offensive stance as he moved in for another attack. I cross-slashed him across his gut…nothing happened. I tried to think of how to deal with a shadow creature. He started a barrage of physical attacks on me as I stepped back and defended myself from all of them with my rapier.
"Do you have any ideas of how to take of this problem, Bardock?" I asked as he was focusing his energy inward with his fist clenched.
"I'll try to disable him with my Ki-energy." His body started to glow with a yellow light and he started to shake a bit then punched the air in front of him causing a stream of energy to flow forward on directly hit the shadow…
The shadow fell forward as I rolled out of the way and sprinted over to the exhausted monk, "Did that do it," he asked as I caught him when stumbled forward.
"I think so but we nee…"
Bardock threw me to the side on to the ground as a black orb hurled into his chest and exploded into a blast of prismatic light. The shadow stood tall with red eyes glowing and his hands burning with a gray steam.
"Bardock!" I screamed. No answer. Okay here goes nothing, I thought and dug my nails into my rapier. The shadow leaped in the air and flung his claws at my head. I ducked and ran my blade into him…through him was more like it. I was starting to hate this thing. That's the last time I caught without my scrolls, I told myself.
The shadow relentlessly pummeled me with physical attacks that put me into safe-my-life mode and I continued to block, duck and evade his attacks. I could tell this was really angering the monster…I had to keep it up. I took my defense stance and defend myself from the black monster but I guess he had found a flaw in my seamless block scheme and landed an attack on my chest causing me to fall to the ground.
I sucked in all the air I could as I laid on my back and prepared for more clawed damage.
"DIE." The shadow said as he raised his claw high into the air and just as he brought it down to plunged deep into my chest a beam of red light hit him in the head and caused him to tumble backwards.
"Punkin." Meris' voice beckoned, "Move back."
I attempted to stand and fall back down, "I can't."
"Move or you'll end up in the spell." He warned.
"I can't," I said and clamped my fingers into my sword.
"Just let that stupid sword go!"
"I can't."
"Do it, I can't let this thing get near the town," he pleaded. I looked over at him his eyes seemed to swell as he started to chant.
"Just do it. Kill it." I said as I clutched my bloody chest.
"Not if you're going to get hurt."
"I'll hurt you later okay…just kill this thing…Ican't do it myself."
With that I swear that I saw a tear roll down his face as he cast a spell that cause my see nothing but darkness then I felt my body go limp and the last thing I remember was Meris carrying me…my mysterious Meris…to my rescue again.
AN- I cut out a lot of the fight scene with the Shadow (not me, LOL) because I didn't think it was three-page important. I hope it didn't seem like an easy fight...it wasn't but I'll let you see that in the next chapter. :-), Laterz.