Disclaimer: Hi everybody! I'm here today, yay! (Does victory dance) Anyway, the scary lady with the knife isn't here right now. She said she had to (screws up face in concentration) take care of Lindsey Lohan? Anyway, she isn't here right now. So I get to keep you all to myself! YAY! (Guy with head set comes up and whispers something in his ear) What? I don't get to play with them? NO FAIR! WAHHHH! (Runs off, crying)

Headset Dude (HD): Er, hi. Eveiveneg says to tell you that she is unavailable at the moment, and desperately hopes that you will forgive her for the interruption. She also told me to say that none of the characters in this story are hers, except Gayle, Percy, Kaelin, etc., etc. She says that if you don't know it by now, you don't deserve to read this story. Uh, I think that's all. Enjoy the story. (Edges off stage as the disclaimer runs by again, screaming)

Disclaimer: I WANT TO PLAY WITH THE READER PEOPLE!

HD: What are we going to do with him?

Other Guy: How should I know?

HD: I don't know. I was just wondering if you had any ideas. But I guess you don't since you're such an idiot! (Put emphasis on the word idiot)

Other Guy (OG): Oh, now you've done it. Come on. (Pounds chest) Bring it on, girl!

HD: Nobody's supposed to know that I had a sex change!

OG: Well, you're not so smooth as you thought!

HD: AHHHHH! (Tackles OG)

OG: You ! Get off of me!

HD: (Punches him wildly)

Disclaimer: I WANT TO PLAY! WAHHHHH!

Discovery by Eveiveneg

"What do you mean by that Corporal?"

"Too funny!"

"And so I said…"

Gayle listened to the babble of the Third Company. She was interested by it and wanted to see if she could find out any…interesting things. In case the time ever arose that she would need any information. Not that she thought it would, but you never knew.

A group of men were sitting around a small fire, laughing and talking to each other. Since she'd set her tent up, to the amazement of the knights who'd accompanied her, she decided she'd see what they were conversing about. "Wolset, you maniac, give that back!" A short man had stolen one of the others foods, holding it out of reach. "Not till you admit that you're courting Lady Greta!" He teased. Gayle joined in the rest of the soldier's laughter. Hearing an unfamiliar chuckle, the men turned to look at her. "Greetings." She said cheerfully.

"Who are you, young man?" One man, asked. His brown eyes were searching as he surveyed her. She shook her head. "What is it about me that makes everybody assume I'm male?" She complained. "Do I really look that bad?" The one who'd addressed her blinked. "Yup." She told the astonished group. "I'm a girl." She grinned at them. "Close those mouths. I can see every bit of mashed up food. It's not exactly nice to see. Or do you want all the lovely ladies to see how well you grind food up with your teeth?"

A laugh sounded behind her. Turning to see whom it was, she smiled. Dom strode up and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Nice to see you're getting along with the boys." He commented. "Men, meet Gayle Falconer. She's Percy Miller's friend, and has joined us on our journey back to Corus." She waved her fingers at them. They all stumbled to their feet and tried to bow, but only ended up tangling themselves in each other's feet. She laughed. "No, no. Don't do that. I'm just a girl, same as you find in any other place."

Her eyes alighted on the food. "Hey," She asked. "Anyone want to help feed a girl?" All of them scrambled up to offer her their food. She laughed and sat down. Through out the meal she laughed at the other men's stories, being serious when needed.

One story in particular caught her attention. "We got word from a rider group a few hours ago." This was the man who'd spoken to her earlier, Lerant. "The commander of the Queen's Dogs was attacked this morning, while you were visiting your friend." All movement and other talk stopped. "What happened?" Dom asked him. "She was checking out one of the latest raid victims, you know, the unsolved ones." They all nodded. "Well, she was looking around, by herself, when a group of spidrens attacked her. She only survived because the others heard her screaming." Gayle was shocked. That was what she'd seen in that image. She looked at her hands. What did this mean?

"The commander had been searching for traces of a girl that was missing. Apparently she'd been taken during the attack, since she'd been there the night before." All of them frowned, and descended into silence. Gayle felt uncomfortable. She didn't ever like serious silences like this. A young man sat down on the ground with them.

"Hey meathead!" She greeted. The dark-haired boy raised an eyebrow. "Meathead? Isn't that my Knight-master's name?" Kaelin asked. "What?" She asked, all innocence. "Do you not like it?" He rolled his eyes. "Fine." She said, shrugging. "I won't call you that." Kaelin looked pleased.

"Good."

"You can be Blossom the Mule instead."

He stared at her. "Excuse me?" She looked at him. "What's the matter Blossom? Are you upset? Whatever for?" The men around the fire burst out laughing. Dom looked thoughtful. "Blossom? I like it. Hey Blossom, can you pass the fruit?" Kaelin looked less than pleased at his new nickname. Gayle smiled sweetly at him, then turned back to her food.

When she finished, she casually stood up and walked up behind the squire. Feeling a tap on his shoulder, he turned around and looked at her questioningly. "I need to talk to you." She said in a low voice. He shook his head and stood up. She led him away from the fire, away from the men until their voices were only soft murmurs.

She turned to look at him, and was startled to find how close he was. She found that she was only up to his chin, and had to tilt her head up to look at him. In the light of the setting sun, his eyes were almost black, and his dark hair was swept back from his tanned face, letting her see every small detail, from the crow's feet at his eyes to the laugh lines in the corners of his mouth. She took an involuntary step backwards to get some room.

She looked down, trying to compose herself. His nearness had thrown her off balance, and she had to be convincing when she did this. "Well?" He demanded. "What is it?" She didn't answer. Kaelin threw up his hands in defeat, and started to stalk off, annoyed at her silence.

"Wait." She caught his hand. As soon as she touched him, sparks shot up his arm. He was intensely aware of her hand on his as he turned back to look at her. As soon as he had done so, he knocked her hand off and crossed his arms, trying to hide the fact that his heart had sped up from a steady beat to a fast, staggering pace when she'd stopped him. "Yes?" He asked. She took a deep breath, then met his gaze.

"I..." She started. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. It wasn't right of me to have hit you, even in jest. It was even worse of me to have then led you off on a chase, taunting you. I realize that you only stole my hat to get back at me. So…sorry."

He blinked. This wasn't what he'd expected to hear. He'd thought she was going to carry out her threat of harm from earlier, not apologize to him.

"Really?" He asked, skeptical. "Really." She told him. She held out one of her hands. "Forgive me?" She looked up into his eyes, sincerely appearing to be sorry. He smiled. "Sure." He put his hand in hers.

He really should have suspected she was up to something. It was just so obvious. But he'd been completely off guard. So it was no surprise that he'd been startled when she tightened her grip and tossed him over her hip. He'd sailed through the air, shocked, then landed on the ground, hard. He let out a moan when he could actually feel again, which, to tell the truth, he hadn't for a second. Where in the world had she learned a move like that? It was a Yamani flip, something Sir Neal had taught him.

He looked back at her, still trying to comprehend what she'd just done. She was dusting her hands off. "Never believe a girl who goes all dewy like that." She called to him. "They're obviously lying." With that she put her hands in her pockets and strolled back to the camp, whistling cheerfully.

Gayle was pleased at how her plan had gone. He hadn't even suspected her to flip him after that little apology of hers. She grinned happily. All she'd had to do was look up at him with a puppy face and he'd fallen for it. She had a feeling that she and Kaelin were going to have an extremely enjoyable time together.

OOOOOOOOOO

She was running. She had to get away from the thing; it would kill her if it caught her. She could hear it behind her, breathing hard. But she knew. She knew no matter what that it would follow her until the end.

Her breath was coming in hard, gasping, coughs. She was slowing down. No, no, she couldn't stop. That would mean certain death. Her muscles were sore and tired. She'd overused them.

An unseen root tripped her. She tumbled to the ground. A black shadow was standing above her, unmoving. Then it leapt down toward her. She lifted her hands in front of her face and screamed…

Gayle sat up, sweat pouring down her back. Her breath was ragged, as if she'd just run far without stopping. Her hair hung in her face, mussed from her tossing and turning.

She eventually regained her breath. What had that been about? That-that thing that had been chasing the person in her dream. It had been the shadow creature. The one she'd seen in the fire that had killed her parents. The one the Lady Knight had talked about. She put her head in her hands. What was it?

Fifteen minutes later she stepped out of her tent, boots pulled on over the breeches she wore to sleep. She'd braided her scarlethair and wound it around her head, to keep it out of her face.

She glanced around the camp, then walked quietly towards the woods. She needed a quiet place to think and do her morning exercises. She wanted to clear her mind of the dream she'd had. All it was going to do was cause trouble; she knew it. She'd wandered into the forest; deep enough to be free of the sounds of the camp, but close enough she wouldn't lose her way trying to get back.

She was about to sit down to start the first stretch, when a foul stench hit her. She covered her nose. It was terrible. Where was it coming from?

She followed the smell, both curious and afraid to find out what it was. There was only one time she'd smelled something even remotely like this…

She stepped through two trees and gasped. She stared in horror with her hand over her mouth, then ran.

OOOOOOOOOO

Kaelin stepped out of his tent, refreshed. He'd gotten a good night's sleep, despite Gayle throwing him flat on his back. He scowled at the memory. He'd made the mistake to tell Dom, who hadn't been able to stop laughing. A few of the other men had heard it too. He knew that by now the entire Third Company would know.

He frowned, then looked around. Usually there were few people up by now. But now most of the squads were up and awake, running around. What was going on? He wondered.

He headed off to where most of the people were. The woods. He followed people running into the trees then running back out again. After about half a mile, he could see the large figure of Lord Raoul, as well as the Lady Knight. He approached them quietly, then saw what they were staring at so intently.

He inhaled sharply. Though he'd seen many gruesome things in his life, this had to be high on his list. Blood was spattered everywhere, on the trees, in the grass, everywhere. A cadaver lay on the ground under a large oak tree, half rotting. It was split wide open in several places. Its face had been mutilated entirely, making it impossible to tell the gender. A long cut severed the body from the left shoulder to the right hip. The person's intestines had been pulled out and strewn all around the area.

"What happened?" He asked in a quiet voice. He was horrified by the scene before him. "Gayle got up early and went out to exercise." Neal told him. He hadn't even realized he was there. "She walked out into the woods and found this. She ran back to the camp and woke Kel. After Gayle told her what happened, she went and got Raoul, Flyndan, and pretty much everyone else."

Kaelin looked over to his right. Gayle was sitting under a tree nearby, her head in her hands. She was wearing dark brown breeches and a white shirt with the sleeves torn off. She pulled on some boots over her breeches; he supposed that she hadn't wanted to bother with getting dressed.

He walked over and crouched down next to her. She looked up and half-smiled. "I guessed you'd be here sooner or later." He put a hand on her bare shoulder. "I'm sorry that you had to be the one to find this." He told her quietly. Her smile disappeared. "Thanks." She replied softly.

He sat next to her the entire time the area was inspected. When the Riders arrived, a few of them turned several interesting shades of green.

"Well," Raoul announced after discussing for several minutes with the commanders of the Rider groups. "I think we found our missing girl." Gayle clenched her hands. She wasn't surprised. The village that had been attacked wasn't too far away, only three or four miles.

Soon it was decided that the Third Company would continue on to the capital while the Rider groups would stay here and deal with the murder. That afternoon the Company was off, Gayle riding a new horse that had been found for her by Dom.

She was quiet for the next few days. Nobody considered this so unusual. After all, she'd found the mutilated carcass of some poor young girl.

But Kaelin didn't think it was just that. He'd known her about three days and he could tell that something else was wrong. She was being quiet and unsocial; that just wasn't like her.

He rode up to her one day a week after they'd left for Corus. "Hey." He said. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Hey." She answered quietly. He got right to the point. "Gayle, you haven't been acting like yourself. What's wrong?" She looked at him. "I found the ripped up corpse of a sixteen year old. Doesn't that tell you?" She didn't seem to be able to take her gaze off the back of the horse's head.

He waved it off. "No. That's not why you've been acting like this. You could have dealt with this, after a day or two. It's been a week. There's something else on your mind. What is it?" She smiled slightly. "Nine days since you've met me and already you can figure out what I'm thinking?" She asked. He didn't relent. She sighed.

"All right. There is something else." She paused for a moment. "Did Percy ever tell you?" She asked. "Tell me what?" Her eyes were dark and haunted. "About two months ago my parents were killed in a fire." He stared at her, waiting for her to continue. "I was asleep in bed when it happened. I woke up in the middle of the night and smelled something. I went to investigate, and when I came down the stairs I saw the flames. I wanted to go and get my parents, but they were blocking the door to my parents' room."

Her gaze was focused on something in the distance. "Some man, I don't remember who, dragged me out. He told me that at least my parents were asleep when it had happened." She shook her head. "They didn't know, though. My parents never went to bed very early. They were awake. I heard them screaming when I was pulled out. I could smell the smoke, and everything. They were pleading, to whom, I don't know, but they were begging for someone not to do something. I remember what they said. 'No! Please, anything but that! Just leave her alone! She didn't do anything! Leave her alone!'"

Her eyes were watering slightly. "When they found their bodies the next morning, I went up to see them, when they weren't watching me. I could smell them, burnt raw. It was just like when they had cooked meat, or anything else. But it wasn't dinner roasting that I smelled. It was my parents' flesh."

A single tear fell and splashed onto the saddle. "That smell, it was like the one in the forest. Meat, but insteadit was uncooked and left out for a few days too many.And there was that other smell, the blood." She took a shuddering breath and closed her eyes. "I-I'm sorry." She said with a soft and raspy voice.

She was trying to get her emotions back under control. It wasn't often that she cried, but it was her parents' death, after all. Telling him had been like reliving the entire thing. But she hadn't told him about that shadow. She hadn't been able to figure it out on her own yet and still needed time to think.

Something warm and soft touched her cheek. She opened her eyes, startled. Kaelin was wiping away her tears with a gentle finger. "Hey," He told her softly. "Don't cry. It wasn't your fault." She opened her mouth to protest and he put a hand over her mouth. "No." He said firmly. "No matter how much you disagree, it wasn't your fault. There wasn't anything you could have done about it. You said yourself that the fire was already in front of their door by the time you got down there. What would you have done? Run through the flames to get them?" He shook his head. "No. It wouldn't have done anything except kill you. They wouldn't have wanted that. The thing to remember is that you're still alive."

She looked at him withsad and desperateeyes. "And why is that good? What has that done for me?" He held his head up. "You met me, obviously." She chuckled slightly. "Yeah, and everyone who meets you suddenly has a better life, right?" He sniffed delicately. "Of course." She laughed outright. "I take offense at that!" He said indignantly. "Somehow, I think that's the point." She told him. She patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Thanks Blossom." He scowled. "What's wrong with Kaelin?" He asked the clouds. "Am I to be cursed with friends whose greatest joy in the world is to torture me?"

"Yes." She answered solemnly.

He glared at her then shook his head in disgust and trotted off. She grinned happily. Her mood had lightened considerably now that she had harassed Kaelin. He was someone she could depend on in the future, should she need it.

Up ahead, Kaelin was thinking over the conversation. He'd never suspected something so, so tragic in her past. The way she acted, you would have thought everything was perfect in her little world. But it wasn't. Gods, that poor girl. She hadn't deserved anything like that.

"So how's it going, lover boy?" He looked up and scowled at Dom. He didn't seem to be able to get the grin off his face. "Lover boy? Are you implying what I think you are?" He questioned. "Indeed, I am." Kaelin rolled his eyes. "Please. I am hardly in love with that demon from hell sent to torture me until the ends of time." The sergeant raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?"

He snorted. "You're one to talk." Kaelin noted with satisfaction that he'd gone a pale, but definite shade of red. "I'm not in love with anyone." He rolled his eyes again. "I beg to differ, Domitan." He looked pointedly at the lady knight's back. Dom's face went a degree redder.

"Now that we've gotten that out of the way," Kaelin began. "What exactly are we supposed to do when we arrive in Corus?" Dom, who was still a bit flushed, answered. "Well, for the moment, nothing. Raoul's going to give Alan some more lessons." Kaelin winced. He'd seen some what the men of the Own had dubbed 'flying lessons'. It wasn't a pleasant sight. "That poor boy." He said sympathetically. "What did he do to deserve that?"

"Picking him for a knight-master in the first place." Kel had come up behind them. "I remember my own lessons with milord, every painful second." She rubbed her arms. "It was like being rammed over and over again by an elephant." She shuddered. They all laughed. It was good to get such heavy thoughts, if only for the moment, such as the ones Gayle had told him of, off his mind.

OOOOOOO

Hmm. This story was a bit better. Sorry about the gruesome imagery. I was thinking about Jack the Ripper. I did a report on him last year and saw some pictures of the murders. It was a lot like that. So if you didn't like it, don't ever, ever do look up anything that has to do with Jack the Ripper.

I was thinking about doing some sort of truth or dare scene in one of the chapters. I can't decide though. Let me know if you have an opinion.

Eveiveneg