Me: (Sitting on a llama, humming happily to self. Realizes people are staring at her, then greets readers) Holar! I am a Spanish pirate. See my outfit? (Gestures to clothes. A silk, puffy-sleeved shirt and big Spanish skirt. Underneath you can see black breeches and boots. A rose is in her hair and a sword is at her hip) I'm happy right now! (Listens for a second) Why? Because, Cookie, (Pats the llama) I finally took care of the Disclaimer, OG, and HD.

Disclaimer: Who are you talking to?

Me: What are you doing here?

Disclaimer: I was hiding over there. (Points to a corner)

Me: That doesn't answer my question.

Disclaimer: Kwesteeon?

Me: You're an idiot.

Disclaimer: (Blinks)

Me: (Sighs) I don't know why I bother.

Disclaimer: Boother?

Me: Bother.

Disclaimer: Boother.

Me: You're a numbskull, moron, Neanderthal, and imbecile.

Disclaimer: Overload. Overload. Do not know what you are saying…

Me: Why did I ever hire you? You can't even pronounce, let alone understand, the words I'd have you use in the disclaimers.

Disclaimer: (Pauses for a second, then) I WANT A MUFFIN! (Runs off in pursuit of muffin)

Me: Right. All right, most of the characters, except the obvious, are mine.

Random Guy (RG): You're on! (Switches on spotlight and shines it on her)

Me: (Pupils dilate) LIGHT! NOT THE LIGHT!

Other Random Guy: (Shakes head) You shouldn't have done that.

RG: Why not?

Me: WHO THE HELL TURNED ON THAT LIGHT!

ORG: That's why.

RG: Uh oh.

Me: Charge! Charge, Cookie, charge! (Gallops toward RG on llama)

Encounter by Eveiveneg

Gayle was lying on the bed in her temporary room at the palace in Corus, the capital of Tortall.

Her arrival in Corus had been uneventful. They'd ridden through the market as she looked on in interest. There had been all sorts of things on sale that never would have been there back in her world. Pearls, finely woven silk robes, and so on. All too soon they'd left, off to the palace.

Gayle had watched uneasily as they approached. She'd recognized the palace as the one from her… what would you call it? Vision, she supposed. But she hadn't needed to worry. Raoul and Numair had been summoned to see the King immediately. Everyone else wandered off to do other things.

Percy had gone to his rooms, which he stayed at when he came to the palace. He'd told her a while ago that he was a spy for the kingdom of Tortall, and she knew he came often. She'd told him while on their way to the city that she wanted to join the Riders. He'd smiled sadly and told her he'd miss her company, adding that if she ever changed her mind she was welcome to stay with him.

For the moment, though, she was staying in one of the rooms in his suite.

She rolled over and sighed. She was incredibly bored. Percy was at some private meeting with the Spymaster of Tortall, and had left her here on her own.

She sat up and rolled off the bed. She couldn't just lie here all day. She'd die of boredom. She'd explore the palace, since there was nothing better to do.

She left Percy's rooms, heading in a random direction. After at least an hour of wandering, she suddenly found herself in a courtyard. At one end was a tall, tall tower. There was a door that led inside. A staircase wound around the outside of the tower all the way to the top. She looked in the door and saw another staircase, going up in the opposite direction.

Something about the structure touched something in her memory, but she couldn't remember what it was. Thinking for a moment, she turned to the outer staircase. It looked dangerous and daunting; just looking at it made chills go down her spine. It excited her. She had always liked to take a risk…

Gayle started to climb up the long, winding staircase. Each step was designed to look like flower petals and leaves. It was extremely delicate and interesting. She was a bit disappointed so far. Sure, there were a few rusted spots, but it wasn't that bad. Sometimes entire steps were rusted over, and she had to hop over them to get past. Every once in a while, not often enough for her taste, of course, there were three or more steps rusted over. Then she got to jump far over them, the stairs shaking to her satisfaction. It was a lot of fun, going up this staircase. She doubted there were any staircases like this where she came from.

All too soon she reached the top. If only it could have gone on longer…she mused. This train of thought was brought to an abrupt stop when she saw the platform. It was uncovered, with a thin rail at the edge to keep people from falling off. Some areas were rusted, just like on the stairs. In one place there was no rail at all.

Gayle stared. This was the tower she'd seen. The one with Numair and the other two people. She walked over to the broken rail. This was where she'd fallen…

Suddenly she heard a sniffle. She turned around. There it was again. She walked over to the door to where she guessed led inside. Looking in, she didn't see anything. But when she heard it again, she turned to a dark corner near the wall. A little girl was curled up, hugging her knees with her head buried in her legs. She went over to her and crouched down.

"Hey," She said. The girl looked up, startled. She watched Gayle out of tear filled blue-gray eyes. Her curly black hair was pulled back in a ponytail, but some strands escaped the ties and hung in ringlets next to her light brown face.

"Are you all right?" Gayle asked concernedly. She nodded slowly, clearly unsure of what she should do. "W-Who are you?" She asked in a small voice. "Gayle Falconer. What's your name?"

"Sarrayln Salmalin. But everybody calls me Sarra."

Gayle looked at her more closely. Yes, she was Numair's daughter. She had the same hair and nose. But there was also a stubborn chin there, as well as the surprising eyes, which certainly weren't Master Salmalin's.

"All right Sarra," She started. "What are you crying for?" The little girl looked down, ashamed. "Nothing." Gayle shook her head. "Nobody cries for nothing. What's wrong?"

Sarra looked up, eyes watering again. "A boy said mommy was a witch that should be gotten rid of. I told him that at least she had moral values, unlike others." Gayle smiled slightly, then nodded for her to go on. "He pushed me down and said I was an enchantress who deserved to be burned at the stake." Her chin started to tremble and she buried her head in her legs again.

"Shh shh." Gayle wrapped her arms around the little girl's thin and shaking body. "Don't worry sweetling, don't worry. It'll be ok." She murmured soothingly. After a while Sarra seemed to settle down and sit contentedly in her arms.

"Your mother is Veralidaine Salmalin, right?" She asked. She got a nod in reply. "Well, from what I hear, she'd done a lot for this kingdom. Isn't she the one who mapped out the enemy during the Immortal's Wars? Doesn't she spy for the King? Those seem like things that should be proud of, not to be ashamed of." Sarra didn't answer.

"Do you have her powers? Can you talk to animals?" She questioned after a moment of silence. Another nod. "Then you should be proud of that too. I'd love to be able to communicate with animals. Don't let them get to you. If you do, they won't stop picking on you. Next time somebody says something like that, you just rattle off what your mother's done and ask them what their parents have done. I doubt they'll be able to answer."

Sarra looked up with curious eyes. "How do you know?" She asked. Gayle was silent for a moment. "I've observed these kind of things before. It happens a lot. But when you have a reply like that, most people are so embarrassed they can't respond. It works, believe me. Now," She said. "Would you like to go outside and see the view?" The little girl raced out on to the platform as an answer. Gayle grinned.

She strolled out the door and stood at the rail with Sarra. They both stared out a long time, admiring the scenery. "Why are you here?" Gayle looked down. "Why? I came with Percy Miller. I didn't want to be at his house all by myself." Sarra's eyes lit up. "Percy? He's here? How is he? How's Elle?" She laughed and replied to each question as they came flying out of the eager five-year-old's mouth.

Before she could come up with another response, she asked her one. "You have the ability to shape-shift, don't you?" Sarra nodded. "Can you change your eyes or ears to detect sounds and sights you wouldn't be able to normally?"

"Yes. Do you want me to?" She seemed so excited to be able to Gayle had to say yes. The girl's eyes went out of focus, then, to Gayle's surprise, changed to eagle's yellow eyes. It was one thing to hear about one's ability to change, but to see it…

She turned to the rail and asked the shape-shifter, "What do you see?" The girl stared into the distance for a moment, then replied slowly, as if naming them while seeing them. "A golden hawk. Storm clouds. A group of soldiers. A knight and his squire." It continued that way for a while, Gayle asking what she could see, Sarra describing in detail.

They had just discovered a young couple sneaking off to exchange kisses when a low voice said, "Sarra! Where've you been?" Sarra ran towards the direction of the voice, giggling excitedly. "Da!" Gayle watched the two hug. It had probably been a while since they had seen each other, since Numair had been traveling with the Third Company to fetch Percy. The scene made caused her to think back to all the times where she'd done the same thing with her father. She felt tears come to her eyes and looked back to the forest below.

It was hard to see anything down there, just vague figures. Some were larger than others. Some were incredibly short. Just like her father. Damn it! She just couldn't seem to get those thoughts out of her head. She tilted her head back, keeping the tears from leaking out.

"Gayle!" She looked around. Sarra was jumping up and down happily, ecstatic to see her father again. "Gayle, this is my Da. Da, this is Gayle Falconer." She smiled. "We've met already Sarra. He was traveling with the Third Company, who I came down with." The five year old looked disappointed. "No need to be upset. You can make us better acquaintances." The little girl blinked. "Friends." Numair explained.

"Oh." She seemed to contemplate this for a moment. "I'm going to find Ma. Bye Gayle. Bye Da." She gave him a kiss on the cheek, waved good-bye to Gayle, then trotted off to the stairs. She shook her head. Kids, She thought. They're so sweet. Just like those ones at the park. She had to get her mind off that. That was too confusing.

"It's nice to see you again, Master Salmalin." She told him with a smile. "You as well." He replied. She became uncomfortable with the silence. He was looking at her like he had so many times on the trip: contemplative and curious.

Nervous, she sat down on the thin rail. It wiggled, then supported her. He looked at her with confused eyes, as if unsure how she managed to sit on the rail. She turned to look at the view again, swinging her legs over so she would be more comfortable. "Are you sure that's safe?" She looked back at him. He had a worried expression on his face. "Not really. But I'll do it anyway." She responded happily. He stared at her. "I like dangerous things." She explained. He still looked confused. She shook her head. "Never mind. It's not really something I can explain."

He came up beside her. "I've been meaning to talk to you." He started. "To introduce yourself personally?" She asked hopefully. "No."

She sighed. "I hadn't thought so." She stared back moodily at the vista. The wind made the platform seem even lonelier. Something caught her eye. Another picture appeared.

A lone figure stood on the wall of a castle, sword raised. Long brown hair blew back in the wind, mail covered their chest. "Fight me!" She screamed. "Fight me! Gods damn you, FIGHT ME!" A wall of arrows suddenly appeared in front of her. A sheet of red fire came into existence, causing the arrows to burn as they touched it.

"COME OUT AND FIGHT ME SHADOW!" She shrieked. She didn't seem to notice the magic creeping up the wall, pure black and full of malice. Another figure appeared and dove towards the short woman, covering her in a shield of green fire. The black substance fought at the protective covering, but did nothing. The magic burst into nothing and the other warrior stood bow at her side, quivers on her back.

"Holly, leave." She told the other quietly. When she opened her mouth to argue, she replied, "No. Leave now, Holly. I know what I'm doing." The shorter one seemed to battle with herself, then nodded. She ran low, hiding behind the crenellations of the wall as she went to retreat.

The young woman stood in between two of the stone pillars, calmly facing the mass of invaders. She dropped her weapons and raised her hands, green magic gathering…

Gayle blinked and the image vanished. That one had been strange. That had seemed like some sort of war. That woman with green fire. She seemed familiar…

A hand came on her shoulder, nearly causing her to fall off the railing. "Steady." Numair told her. "Don't fall." She wouldn't meet his eyes. "Sorry. My mind was wandering." He shook his head at her.

"Don't bother lying." He said. "I know what happened." Still trying to appear ignorant, she raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you? What, then?"

"You just had a vision."

She looked at him. "Excuse me? Vision? What, are you suggesting that I have magic?" Seeing the look on his face, she snorted. "Please. I'm the most unlikely person in the world to have magic." He raised an eyebrow of his own. "Why?"

She turned back to the forest, eyes clouded. "You don't want to know." She answered sadly.

"Gayle," He turned her back to him. "I know what magic is. I am the most powerful mage in Tortall, after all. You just had a vision. I saw the magic." She stared at him. "Magic. You saw it." He nodded.

"You're crazy."

He opened his mouth to reply and she put a hand up. "No. Don't even think about it." He opened his mouth.

"Gayle-"

"No."

"Listen-"

"Uh-uh."

"You-"

"What part of no do you not get?"

"Gayle," He seemed to be losing his patience. Small world, she thought, annoyed.

"Shut it." She closed her fingers around her thumb, mimicking zipping something shut. He seemed to be trying to say something, but he didn't. Like he was unable to, she mused. In any case, she was glad he didn't. She swung her legs over the rail and set herself down on the platform.

With one last poisonous glance at the mage, she set off down the stairs. Gods. How one man managed to be so bothersome…

It never occurred to her as she stormed down the rusty steps of the staircase that Numair hadn't said anything was because he hadn't been able to.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Ok, if you're confused about this last part, it means that she unwittlingly used her magic to silence him. That's what it is, just to clear things up. I'm not making sense, am I? Oh well. Naginata, Naginata, Naginata…

Eveiveneg