3/12/2005 Disclaimer: I don't own LOK. I own Sarah, but I don't own her dialogue when she's quoting or singing.
Sarah sat on the floor in front of the fireplace. Her eyes, which had previously been marked with red splotches, were now ringed with dark circles. She was huddled in a white blanket. Stacks of paper surrounded Sarah, and she held a soot-based crayon in a pale and trembling hand.
Sarah had fallen ill while at Vorador's mansion. The hedonistic vampire had assumed that her affliction was caused by the stress of living amongst vampires, though he also considered the possibility that something from the swamp was a likely culprit. Either way, Vorador had made arrangements for Sarah to stay with Janos instead.
Janos was reading aloud to Sarah from a book written before the pillars were raised. Even though she was staring fixedly into the fire, Janos knew that she was listening intently. He found that he actually enjoyed Sarah's company. They spent the first half of every evening like this, Janos translating the texts that Sarah couldn't read herself. Though she rarely shared her insights with Janos, but it was amazing what he could learn simply by watching her. It rekindled his hope.
Janos coughed slightly and paused to rest his voice. He was unused to speaking so much. Once, he had gone five years without saying a word. When he finally did speak, Janos was surprised to find that his voice had roughened from disuse and gained a gravelly quality.
In the silence, Sarah began scribbling her notes. Janos noted her body language. The smooth progression of the crayon across the paper suggested that Sarah had already come to a conclusion about what she heard, while the speed suggested that it wasn't vitally important. The sour expression on her face was a little disconcerting.
Janos marked his place and flipped further into the book. It was an account on the history of the war, along with a record God's guidance for those times. "Shall I continue?" Janos asked Sarah.
Sarah tapped the air over her notes with the crayon. "Not right now," she said slowly. She stared at her notes in thought. "What was the name of that one?"
"Ianna's Record, anum 6285" Janos said as he laid the book aside. He picked up the next one and opened it to a random page. Suddenly, Janos jerked his head up and said, "I sense something." He laid his book aside and strode out of the library.
While Janos was gone, Sarah began sketching distractedly. Within moments, a rough sluagh leered out of the paper at her.
Janos' voice echoed down the hall. "She's still not fully recovered, Kain."
Both vampires entered the library. Kain grimaced as he saw Sarah's condition. He had learned about her illness from Vorador, but he hadn't expected her to look so frail.
Kain held the balance emblem so that Sarah could see it. "There is a piece missing. Where is it?"
Sarah's eyes flicked to the artifact. "Moebius has it."
Kain growled. "How am I to get it?"
Sarah gazed distantly into the fire. "He laid it out for you to find." She paused in thought. "It's not a huge concern yet."
Kain noticed how Sarah guarded her words. "Are you hiding something?"
Sarah trembled visibly. "I'm not… I'm not planning on doing that to you."
"Do not be mysterious," Kain warned, his voice blanketed with cool hostility.
"I'm afraid of telling you everything. You might not do what you need to do," Sarah said. Tears of fear flowed freely down her face. "I know you don't want to trust me, but I won't repeat Ariel's cruelty."
Sarah's gaze was locked on the floor. She listened to the gentle sounds of her breath, and wondered why she still had the ability to make them. She risked looking up to see Janos holding Kain's wrist in a firm grip. The two vampires stared at each other. Kain's heavy brows were drawn into a deep scowl while Janos' gaze was merely stern. Kain pointedly yanked his arm out of Janos' grasp and angrily stalked away.
Janos guided Sarah back to her room. She was stumbling down the hallway. Janos would have carried her, except that she weakly tried to bat his talons away. Janos simply walked beside her, ready to lend support if it was needed. Sarah's progress was slow, but Janos was nothing if not patient.
Kain stood brooding on Janos' balcony. His pale hair shone in the moonlight, surrounding him with an ethereal glow.
"Do not be disheartened," Janos said as he approached the scion. "Sarah is elusive with her knowledge, but I believe that she is willing to do the right thing."
Kain scowled. "I am not so swift to trust." He crossed his arms. "I didn't think that she would have the courage to defy me; it's troubling to imagine what she is planning."
"Kain, I do not believe that she intends to be devious," Janos said sagely. "Indeed, I think that she wants to say what she knows, but she seems afraid of the consequences."
Kain's leather gauntlet creaked as he tightened his fist. He silently sifted through his twisted memories, setting aside the dead ones and examining those that were still valid.
Kain blinked in surprise as he realized something. "Janos, what has she told you about your destiny?"
Janos sighed, "Very little, I'm afraid. Mainly that I haven't reached the end of my obligations. I sense that whatever she's hiding from me, she's trying to protect my feelings."
Kain growled. "She will learn that I do not need or want such consideration."
Janos frowned at Kain sternly. "Sarah is delicate, you should treat her as such." His tone softened slightly. "She is doing all that she can; try to remember that."
Authors Notes: I know, bad me for letting this slip off of the first page. I've been combatting serious writer's block. Then a couple weeks ago, I finally got something good down, but I lost it to my own stupidity. Then real life happened to me, and I didn't have the time, inclination, or patience(to deal with failing equipment) to re-type it. Fortunately, most of this chapter had originated on paper, and I wrecked my wrist and alienatedmy friends in an attempt to get the rest of the chapter onpaper before I forgot it. That,and once the block is broken, it's easier to get to the next iteration, I think this is slightly better than what I lost. I'm just going to paste the responses that I did while I was combatting the stupid block, though I can't remember what I was talking about.
Raziel has/ dark, light, fire, water, and air; in that order. He couldn't get through the air forge at first because originally kain had gone through all of the shrines roughly 500 years before Raziel, and had knocked a hole in the wall. I purposely kept Raziel out of the earth forge because that part was too confusing to deal with.
As for kain and the center of the balance emblem; yes, in the game it was the first thing he came across. However, it was placed in Kain's path by Mobieus, in a room that iooks like William's chaple. One major disruption that Sarah's presense caused was that Kain wandered around the Stronghold sooner than he did in the game, (it seems that he went somewhere to rest and wait for the mayhem to die down,) and then the Squid didn't tell mobius to bring it out.
Daily life: I guess I should have mentioned that Janos went back home at some point. I think it was right before Vorador confronted Raziel in the dining room. Sarah's not really doing anything interesting. Each morning, one of Vorador's senior wives escorts Sarah to the library so she can do the research that Kain told her to do. I do have something interesting in mind, but it doesn't fit with the current plot and personality.
I also have a scrap that just didn't want to work. (I guess I was going to post it ondeviantart, but Ican't remember which scrap I was talking about.) The rewrite is going to have the same bones as this story. The flesh is going to change mostly based on the suggestions. The skin is going to change quite a bit. With any luck, most of you will be able to read the re-write without getting bored.
Raziel's basic personality hasn't changed that much. The things that caused the Sarafan to be a righteous bastard, and then the vampire to be so loyal, are still an integral part of his personality. Besides, if your Lord and master had done that to you, wouldn't you be parnoid too?
Varyssa, he does inspire you to violence. I knew he is an author, but I guessed that he would be on the bussiness end of one of those weapons rather quickly, so I pretended so I could keep my concience clear. Hi Cpt. K!
Istari, I've decided to cut that line completely, it just sounds too devious for Sarah. She's more of the type that simply doesn't volunteer as much information as she should.
lunatic pandora: yeah, I know it's short. I think I shall have to work on that one again.
Tomlette, thanks for the suggest.
John-Paul, I don't have a buffer for this one. WhenDAS gets delayed, it's because of problems.Glad to hear from one of the invisible ones.
Demino, I haven't forgotten about the Squid or his lacky, but I also don't know when they're going to come in, (other than some things in the far future.)