(Chaos ensues. HD and OG are beating each other to bloody pulps. The Disclaimer is running around, screaming like a maniac. Because they're bored, other random people have begun to partake in fights. It's quite loud and noisy. Like when a herd of crazed stampeding llamas is coming towards you. Has that ever happened to you? 'Cause it happened to my little brother once. Then suddenly the door bursts open, revealing a tall girl with red-brown hair and an extremely self-congratulatory smile. Upon seeing the room, her face starts to turn an extremely odd color of red, pink, and purple. Nobody has noticed her, yet…)

Me: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?

THE FOLLOWING SCENE IS FAR TOO BLOODY AND GRUESOME FOR VIEWERS TO SEE. UNTIL IT IS OVER, WE SHALL SHOW YOU CLIPS FROM JERRY SPRINGER, WHICH IS FAR LESS VIOLENT THAN THIS.

(Clips from the show are shown, which readers gasp at and applaud for. Don't ask why, that's just how I feel like making it.)

(Suddenly the room reappears. The walls are covered in a strange red substance and screams of pain are heard from around the room. Many llamas are wandering around. The girl steps forward, smiling)

Me: Hallo all! Nice to see you. I'm sorry wasn't able to be here last time, but there were certain…things that I had to take care of. I left it to the Disclaimer to take care of things. That was a terrible mistake on my part, and I profusely apologize. I took care of it though.

(A screech is heard from off screen. She takes a knife out and throws it in the direction of the scream. A gurgle is heard, then everything goes quiet)

Me: Here we go again with the disclaimer thing. I do not own, nor will I ever, the Tamora Pierce characters. Please, enjoy the story.

(Another scream is heard and the girl takes a chain saw with red liquid on the sharp edges. She pulls the little string and it starts whirring. She whistles and a llama races over to her and she mounts it. She nudges it with her feet and it gallops off)

White Fireby Eveiveneg

She was tossing and turning, speaking to things that weren't there. A hand shook her gently. "Sweetling. Sweetling, wake up." Her eyes fluttered open. A tall woman with warm brown eyes stood beside her bed. "Mommy?"

"Yes, it's mommy." The woman crooned. "Did you have a bad dream?" The girl nodded. "Was it the same one?" She nodded again. The woman sighed. "Try to get some sleep. I know it's hard, but you need it, after that fever you had."

"But if I go to sleep, the black monster will get me." The little girl protested. "I want to stay up with you, mommy." The woman stroked her hair. "I know, I know." She murmured. "How about this? I'll stay here with you, and the black monster won't come near you. He never dares to go near a little girl when her mother is near, and especially when she has her special charm."

"Charm?"

"Yes. It dispels bad things from the area, no matter what they are. It keeps you safe when you sleep." She pulled a small ring off her finger. It seemed to be woven out of amber and gold. She placed it on the girl's finger. "Thank you mommy." She whispered. "You're welcome sweetling. Now try to get some rest."

Gayle opened her eyes. Her face felt wet. Touching her cheeks, she found the tracks of tears. She sat up and pulled her legs up. She rested her head on the tops of her knees.

Ever since she'd joined the Third Company on their way to Corus, she'd been having dreams. Every single night. Every one of them had been some memory of her parents. That last one had been of one night when she was six. At that time, she'd been having nightmares. She couldn't remember what they'd been about, but she remembered having them. It had been, what, the seventh night she'd had them? She wasn't sure. Her mother, wanting her to settle down, had given her that ring.

Gayle smiled slightly. She still had that ring. Soon after that night, she'd taken a chain and put the ring on it. Though the nightmares had stopped, she'd never stopped wearing the necklace. At night, when she'd had trouble sleeping, the ring had eased her mind and allowed her to fall back asleep. When the fire had killed her parents, it had brought her comfort.

She sighed. Sitting here moping around wouldn't do her any good. She crawled to the flap of the tent and peeked out. It was an hour or two before dawn. She sighed again. She might as well get dressed now. She wouldn't be able to sleep. She quickly changed and stepped out of the tent.

She absently rubbed the ring under her shirt. Where should she go to stretch? She couldn't do it in the tent. She'd tried that once and she'd nearly caused the tent to implode on her.

She wandered along the lane of tents, doing her best to stay quiet. It was entirely silent. Well, not really. She could hear herself breathe, and if she listened hard enough, she could hear her heart beating. But that was all she heard.

Surveying the camp quickly, she spotted a place. It wasn't perfect, but it would do. She quickly walked over and sat down. She stretched out her long legs on either side of her and reached her hands out to rest on her toes. She sighed happily at the feeling of her muscles being pulled taut. It always refreshed her, to stretch. At times she wondered if she could still feel, since thoughts of her parents usually made her go numb. But this was a way to escape from that; it was a way for her to remind herself she was still capable of feeling.

She bent back until her hands touched the ground, leaving her legs still spread apart and her upper body in an arch. She contemplated her dreams. Why was she having dreams about her parents? Was that normal? She guessed so. Who would want to forget their parents entirely? Not her.

She slowly lifted her body off the ground, keeping her legs parallel to the ground. She missed her parents dearly. She remembered the day she'd gotten a dog from them. At first she'd been worried that she wouldn't get along with her mother's cat, George. But that had soon passed. He and the dog, Gremlin, had gotten along splendidly. She smiled slightly at the memory. Then her face fell as she remembered that both pets had died in the fire as well.

She raised her left leg straight up, then her right. She heard a bird cheep. She smiled. At least she wasn't the only one awake. Delicately putting all her weight on her left hand, she lifted her other arm. What if they hadn't died? What if they'd, somehow, survived the fire? She'd probably be awake right now, doing these same stretches. But instead of being alone, her mother would be with her. She'd always said that getting out of shape was not something to even consider. Gayle took her words to heart.

She curled her legs down towards her head. Her father, after an hour or so, would come out and see them. He'd shake his head, muttering something about insane women waking him up at ungodly hours of the morning.

She lowered torso onto the ground, placing her feet just in front of her face. She and her mother would just laugh and join him for breakfast. After that, if it were the weekend, her father would fence against her. It was always hard to tell if she would win or her father would. She'd go on to practice archery and hand-to-hand combat. Later in the day she'd read, her mother sneaking up on her once or twice and surprising her. They'd run around, giggling, until her father found them. He'd shake his head at them again and go on doing whatever he'd been doing before being interrupted.

She heard a rustling, and frowned. It sounded like somebody was walking towards her. Not wanting to be found, she untangled herself from her position and climbed up onto a branch and was hidden by the leaves.

She watched below her, then smiled as the lady knight walked into the clearing. She was holding a long wooden staff topped by about a foot and a half of curved metal. Gayle dropped down behind her, then went crossed eyed as the sharp tip of metal stopped right in front of her nose, inches from slicing her face.

"Gayle!" Kel sounded surprised. She was still watching the metal in front of her. "Whoa. That was pretty close." She commented. "You scared me out of my wits!"

"So you're crazy right now?"

Kel sighed and pulled the weapon away. "I nearly cut off your nose." She said. "I hadn't noticed." Gayle responded. "What is that thing?" Kel looked at the long wooden weapon. "It's a Yamani naginata. It's also known as a glaive." She tilted her head. "Naginata? Weird name." Kel shook her head. "What were you doing out here?" The knight asked.

"Stretching." She was fascinated by the glaive. It was a beautiful weapon. She would like to try it…

"Stretching? This far away from camp?" She nodded absently. "If I tried to do it in my tent, it would collapse on me." Kel smiled. "I know what that's like." She smiled in return.

"Well, I'd better get back to stretching, or I'll get out of shape. That's not going to do me any good." Kel nodded. Gayle went over to where she'd been sitting moments before and lay down, lifting her feet over her head and onto the ground in front of her. It took her a few moments to notice that the knight was staring at her.

"What is it about this contortion that you find so intriguing?" Kel started. "You're-You're-"

"Flexible?" Gayle suggested. "Yeah, I am." Kel was still staring at her. "Do you want to try?" Kel cheeks flushed a dull red. She nodded slowly. "You know," she said. "I never thought I'd see the day where you blushed. It's not bad, not knowing how to do something." Kel still seemed embarrassed.

"Come here and I'll show you how to start."

For the next hour Gayle showed the lady knight how to do the stretches. Kel was trying to do them, but not succeeding. "You do realize that you have to take things slowly, right?" She asked after getting her into a split. She thought the knight's face might burst; it was so red from keeping cries of pain in. "You have to work up to doing what I did." Kel shook her head. "I'll never be able to do that."

Gayle snorted. "Nonsense. You'll do just fine. For more than ten years you've been working on building up your muscle, not your flexibility. It only makes sense that it would be hard." Kel sighed. She patted her consolingly on the shoulder. "Let's try that leg stretch."

Gayle sat down and contorted her body into the position she'd first been doing when Kel came.

"What in the world?" She looked up. A tall, dark haired boy and strawberry blond boy were watching her disconcertedly. "Blossom!" She cried. "How nice to see you!"

Kaelin ignored the comment. "What are you doing?" He asked. She grinned wickedly at Kel, and then answered, "Teaching our famed lady knight how to contort her body." Alan raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Indeed." She replied. "Why?" Alan seemed curious. "Because she asked." Kaelin grinned at the woman trying to do splits on the grassy ground. "Did she? There was never a thing that Kel didn't try to do."

"Is there a specific reason you came over here?" Gayle asked. Kaelin looked surprised, then answered, "Actually, yes. We came out to practice." He gestured to the swords in their hands. She looked at them interestedly. "Swords?" He rolled his eyes. "No. Sausages."

She looked up excitedly. "Sausages? Where?" She looked around with a hungry light in her eye. He stared at her. "What? I like sausages." Alan laughed. Kel did too; despite the fact her lower body had gone numb from holding the same position for so long.

"So you're going to play around with swords…" Gayle looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't think I want to stick around for that." Seeing the look Kel gave her, she answered, "I'd rather not be sliced into bits, if that's alright." She stood up on her feet, head still upside down. Slowly unbending her legs, she drew herself up until she stood straight.

As he watched, Kaelin couldn't help think how graceful she was. Her long legs accentuated all her movements. As she uncurled herself from the strange position, his gaze went up her body, taking in her slim, curved waist, which was being shown off so nicely by the sash she'd wrapped around her hips…

He suddenly realized he was staring, and turned away from her, hoping she hadn't noticed. She hadn't. "Well," She said when she finally stood straight. "I'd best be off." She was about to stroll off when somebody coughed. She turned back. Kel looked incredibly uncomfortable and she made some very definite gestures, obviously telling her to help her up. "You won't get anywhere with my help. Get up yourself. But on the other hand, you should stay here and keep that position until they're done. And," She added with a mischievous grin. "It'll give you practice in stretching with distractions."

She turned around, laughing when she heard the lady knight's decidedly rude comment.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Gayle threw down the tinder in frustration. She'd been assigned the task of setting the fire for the camp that night. She'd placed rocks in a circle to keep the flames from getting out and she'd piled a small stack of wood in the middle. The problem was that she couldn't get the damn fire lit.

She drummed her fingers on her knees, angry at the fire for not getting lit and angry with herself for not being able to set it. Why couldn't she do it? Was she just that incompetent? Probably, she thought with a sigh. Insane, too. That much was obvious. She stared gloomily at the pile of wood. She wished she could just light the fire without having to use anything. It would just be so much easier.

Suddenly, a small white flame sparked and began to burn. It slowly changed to a normal color as it grew, but it was a bit paler than it would have been normally. Gayle stared at it. What had just happened? Had she…Was that…Did she…

"Gayle!" She started. "What?" She called back. "Is the fire lit?" She stared at the flames a second longer, then shouted back, "Yeah! Hurry before I decide to put it out."

Even with all the soldiers of the Third Company there, all Gayle could think about the rest of the night was that small white flame and what it meant.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Sorry, sorry. This chapter, except for the first one, is the shortest one I've written. Don't hurt me, don't, please. (Puts hands up to protect self) I swear, the next one will be a better. Though I can't promise it'll be any longer. This one just plain sucked. I needed some sort of intro for her… Sorry, almost said something there. Though if you haven't figured it out yet, you're just plain dumb. Sorry, but it's true. DON'T HURT ME! (Screams as crazed monkeys jump on her. Don't ask where they came from. You just don't want to know)

Eveiveneg