WS- Well, thank you. I pride myself in grammar and spelling. Plus, I thought adding Yaz and Hrald as alcoholics would put some comical material into this. My goal was to make it seem like their behavior (when they were drunk) made Argul get kind of protective of Claidi, why he stayed so close and seemed to send off those vibes at H and Y.
Well, anyway, thanks!
Oh, and I have a full summary for this on my profile page. Truly, I do for all of my stories on here…. Oh, you get it. Anyway, enough blabbering! Let the story begin! Erm…no…. It's "continue". Okay, I'm gonna stop before I hurt myself.
Chapter Two: A Farewell
Well, Yinyay was still just as spectacular from the inside. There was furnishings, running water (hot or cold), lights (hard lights, yuk), and moving stairs—which reminded me of the RT—to get to different levels.
She was huge as a Tower! If no one from Panther Halt had seen her, then it would be a miracle, or everyone was blind. No, I'm not kidding; I'm quite serious.
Anyways, Argul, H, and Y seemed even more stupefied than I was. How's that for a shocker? When I went in—hesitant, of course—even Argul hesitated after I had passed through. When he saw me waiting for him to follow, he came in quickly, as if he wanted to get it over with.
I couldn't believe it! Of course, he hadn't seen everything that I had even slightly like this. Of course, it was his mother who had made this ship…. But when she bore him, she wasn't using her science much. This was—is—all so confusing!
Y and H saw that neither of us were hurt, so stepped through. Y's jaw was wide open, and H's eyes were wider than I ever though was humanly possible. I almost laughed, but remembered my wide eyes and dropped jaw when I first saw Yinyay "transforming". I suppose I just got over the shock (slightly) because I had seen a lot more like that.
Still, it was a huge surprise.
I asked Yinyay if anyone would have seen her from the Tent that was PH. She simple said (her words seemed to come from everywhere at once) that they couldn't—my ring made sure that we were the only ones who could.
Yet another shocker. (Sighs.) I really should get used to the unexpected, you know. But, with my being only a slave's daughter it's hard to do that. Oh, I should also let that go. My heritage has nothing to do with my capability.
"Where are we going to go?" I asked Yinyay. H and Y seemed too filled with wonder (looking everywhere and at everything in the Tower) and Argul was just taking everything in. Of course, he didn't leave my side. He's still a bit protective. But who can blame him after my being kidnapped? Again.
"Wherever you want to go, of course," came Yinyay's reply. "I can't go anywhere of my own accord, it's not in my programming. Where would you like to go?"
I had somewhere in mind, but I didn't know how Argul would react to it. Going to the Hulta might be breaking their Law. Of course, I had survived by breaking the rules…. You get it.
"I'll have to talk to the others to figure out where we should go," I told her. I didn't think Y and H would be very happy with the Hulta, either. There's a lot of pretty women there, but they aren't interested in men.
Argul nodded in agreement. "True. I don't want to have to put up with those two on a long journey. We should just drop them off where they want to go."
I chuckled. "You just haven't gotten used to them yet. But, yes, they can get awfully annoying." I looked back to where Yinyay's voice was strongest. "Where are they now?"
"Level 10, room 3," she replied. Gee, that was a big help.
"Um…where's that?" I asked her, and smiled sheepishly. I swear I heard Argul chuckle next to me.
"Just a moment." I furrowed my brows. Why would Yinyay need a moment?
I squealed as a light, so bright I had to shield my eyes, engulfed both of us. I didn't feel anything other than that, though. It faded quickly and I realized Argul had his arms around me, as if it had scared him, too, and he was trying to protect me. That was fine with me.
I looked around, blinking, and saw that we were in a whole different room. The furnishings were different, and Y and H were there, staring.
Yinyay's voice boomed through the room. "I have just teleported you to their location. I trust you are alright? Sometimes the process of de-molecularization," (if that's spelled right. I have no idea), "and re-molecularization can result in shock or trauma to people." She sounded truly—slightly—worried.
"I'm fine," Argul replied, sounding confused. I echoed him. I was sure neither of us knew what all that meant.
"Well, that was exciting." Yaz. He had a wide grin on his face, and I saw a twinkle in his eyes. They must have gotten wine from Yinyay. H was the same way: drunk.
I almost laughed. They were truly addicted to wine. On a table, set with ornate carvings straight into the wood, were a few wine glasses and an open wine bottle. How quaint. Not surprising.
Hrald spoke up. "Very. Now, why did you come all the way up here?"
Argul was probably exasperated, so I answered. "We needed to talk to you both. Do you want us to drop you two off somewhere? Anywhere. Just name it."
Hrald and Yazkool exchanged looks. They laughed. Wait, they laughed! Why would they do that? What's so funny?
"This works out just fine for us, madam," Y replied. "We're happy right where we are. You don't need to go the trouble of bringing us anywhere but with you on your next journey."
"Oh, but I insist," I replied. I knew how to work with these guys, amazingly. Make them think that I'm giving them something, a gift, going out of my way for them, instead of going out of my way to get rid of them. I can't believe I just wrote that. Oh, well.
Hrald looked at Yazkool, and raised his eyebrows. "Looks like the lady wants to give us a present," he said, evidently even more drunk than I thought he was. If he was, then so was Y. Oh, they were going to feel that in the morning.
Argul must have seen the same thing that I did. I'm not surprised, he always was observant. Still, they definitely weren't making a great impression on him, as far as I could see. He seemed to want to drop them off somewhere, too, and not take them where we were going…wherever that was.
Y and H seemed to fall for my ruse. Good. "Well, alright, lady, I suppose we could…."
"Good." I was truly relived, and hoped it didn't show through. "Where would you both like to go then?"
They exchanged glances, and nodded to each other. "Kelemara, lady," Yaz finally replied. He smiled. But, I had no idea where that was.
Argul, next to me, blinked a few times. He seemed to have heard of the place, of course. The bad thing was, he seemed either surprised that they would want to go there or that they even knew about it.
"Why would you go there?" Yep, he knew about it.
"There is said to be many riches there, beyond imagination. We've always been trying to find someone who could find the location for us. If this ship can take us there, then we would be greatly in your debt," H said. He seemed thrilled be the idea of going there.
Argul raised his eyebrows, then furrowed them. There seemed to be something bad about them going, or something else connected to all this. What it was, I had no idea.
I stored it in the cupboard in my head of questions to ask later, and shrugged to the two in front of me. "Alright, then. I'll ask Yinyay if she knows where Kelemara is."
They both broke into huge grins. Still, Argul seemed apprehensive of the whole idea…. What was wrong? I had no idea, but I had told them that I'd get Yinyay to drop them off wherever they wanted to go. I keep my promises.
Yinyay's voice boomed through the room. "Of course I know where Kelemara is. Would you like me to start on the way now?"
"Yes, please," I replied. That was easy. Of course, with Yinyay, she always made a point of making of easy for me. Yes, I liked that.
"How far is it?" Argul asked, seeming to aim his question at Yinyay.
"Closer than you would think. It's only about a day's trip to get there. But when you reach it, you still have to walk for a ways… about a mile, at least. And there are a lot of beasts there, vrabburs and tigapards."
"Do not worry about us. We can get around those kinds of beasts," H replied cockily. So, when drunk they are just plain foolish.
If they said they could, I had to take their word for it. I nodded, as if understanding and believing them. Little did they know.
Well, Yinyay was right: it took a full day. Y and H were had gotten over their being drunk quickly. Yinyay had quit giving them wine, saying they had had enough. I was surprised by how quickly they got over being drunk. Maybe they drank so much their body got used to it and they could no longer stay drunk for very long without actually drinking for every minute of it. Or maybe I'm just thinking too much.
Anyway, they still didn't seem very nervous.
"See ya some other time. Thanks again," Yaz called, walking towards the treacherous-looking jungle that Yinyay said they would have to trek through for over a mile. Either they were very good, or they were very dumb. I figured it was a little bit of both.
"You're welcome. Be careful, okay?" I replied, watching them in the shadows of dusk. The trees and everything looked almost exactly like at the Rise, except for some mountains on the horizon that were so far away that you couldn't tell whether they were covered in sand, snow, trees, grass, or rock.
They must have been out of earshot. I could see them, but the wind was blowing my words away. They walked straight into the jungle. I sighed, and walked back inside.
"Sometimes I think they're just insane," I said to no one in particular.
"I've been thinking the same thing ever since I met them outside the Guest House," Argul replied, one eyebrow raised. He had been beside me while Y and H left, and had come in beside me.
I grinned. "Yes. But why does Kelemara seem to make you tense?" I asked. I had to get the question answered now or never.
He hesitated (What's up with that?) and answered, "There are rumors about monsters there. It's nothing really, but many have ventured there and never come out."
"Oh." That was all I could say. Pathetic, no? You would think I would be able to answer things like that with a bit more bravado when exposed to people like Argul for so long.
He nodded. "But we will not have to go there, so there is nothing to worry about. Now we can go to our own destination." The door to the outside closed (Yinyay must have done it, getting ready for our next orders) and he pulled me close.
I have a feeling we were both glad that we finally had some time to ourselves. Of course, there was always Yinyay, but unlike Y and H, she didn't interrupt things she knew she shouldn't.
We kissed briefly (I won't go into the details) and then I called Yinyay. Of course, she was waiting for our orders, as I expected.
I smiled slightly, excited at what I was about to say. I had to admit, I wasn't sure whether this was the best decision, and Argul also seemed hesitant, but we had to give it a try.
"Bring us to the Hulta camp, please," I said.
"Do you want me to find them the same way I did before?" Yinyay asked.
"Yes, please. That would be great. But, please, set down about twenty minutes' walk away from them, so as not to scare them all like last time."
I swear I heard Yinyay chuckle. Looks like Ustareth-Zeera programmed her with a sense of humor, too. "Yes, ma'am. According to my sensors, they are two days' travel nor-northwest."
"Good. That's not near as long as the first time, is it? Let's hurry, please," I replied.
Argul nodded his approval. "Good. But, once a leader of the Hulta hands his rank to someone else, the Law is that he or she has to leave the Hulta—"
"Oh, Argul, I'm sure they'll let you come for a little, reassure them that you're alright. And because of the circumstances that you left in, Blurn might give you back the role. When I went, he made it clear that he didn't want the position. He wished you hadn't left."
He smiled slightly, just a shadow playing across his lips. "I'm sure. He always hated responsibility. I suppose they might make this exception….Quite a few have made it known that they don't agree with a few of the Laws, such as that one."
"Good." I smiled, too. "But, we still have two days to wait. And, it's dinnertime. Let's go get something to eat, talk over dinner, shall we?"
He grinned, and laughed. "So like you, Claidi-baa-baa. Of course, I agree." He walked over to the door, and opened it. It led to the hallway. The dining room (the one on this level) was just down the hall. I am glad to report Yinyay never thought it was necessary to use that beam of light again.
Yinyay served us steamed potatoes, a light salad, and what she called roast beef. It was a good dinner, but something I'd never seen before. Surprise, surprise.
Of course, we did talk over dinner. I'm sure we were both glad to be rid of Y and H, and have some privacy. I know I was.
"I wonder how they'll react to our entrance," Argul remarked.
"I don't know, really. But, you heard me ask Yinyay to land about twenty minutes' walk from them. That will at least show them that we're not attacking."
"Very true. That will be important." He seemed to only then notice what was in my belt. "A dagger? How did you manage to get that?"
I looked down. My clothes were different, thankfully. Yinyay had supplied us with clean, better-fitting, more comfortable clothes. I saw the jeweled dagger he was gesturing at, and smiled.
"When I went back to the Hulta camp, I didn't leave right away. Or, I stayed in the Ship, but I didn't tell Yinyay to take off. I stayed there for the night like that. Dagger came when it was dark and asked me to tell my side of the story. She believed me when I told it. And she brought me the dagger that she had given me the day we were supposed to be married," I explained.
He nodded, and smiled even wider. "Someone believed you, then. Maybe the others will come to trust you again when they hear what we both have to say. They will believe me, and if I back up your story, then they will most likely believe you."
I nodded. "Yeah, that is good. And true. I could tell they all missed you, though, just by their body language when Blurn mentioned you. This is probably going to be even better than I expected."
He raised one eyebrow. "Don't get cocky, Claidi. When you get cocky, you put your guard down. There's still a chance that we will have to do more to get them to believe us," he warned.
I grimaced. That was true…not good, but true.
The entire dinner went like that. Of course, we finished dinner shortly after that. Oh well.
Yinyay's voice rang from the walls as we walked out of the dining room. I jumped when it did. I still wasn't used to that.
"The Hulta are moving again. Thankfully, they're coming towards us. It will only take about one day instead of two at this rate. If you'd prefer, we could go a tidbit faster," she said.
I grinned. "Yes, please, Yinyay. I would like to get to them as quickly as possible." I then turned to Argul, still smiling. "Stroke of luck, aye?"
"Yes. I suppose it is."
And, of course, that night I lay awake, thinking, daydreaming, etc. I was so very excited, I tell you. Maybe they would accept us back? That would be absolutely great! But the little voice in my head kept nagging at my thoughts—what if they didn't? But they had to!
Didn't they?
WS- How is it? Well, you've already said it's good, but is it getting better? Oh well.
Oh….Please, don't hit me with a blunt instrument! AAH!