The Vessel

Chapter One

What have I gotten myself into this time, thought Lily, mentally scolding herself, as she lay, facing the clear blue sky flat on her back.

Lily had always been a very bright girl. She had gotten into several selective high schools, of course. However, she had a tendency to lack a certain amount of common sense when doing something she labelled as 'awesome' and others labelled as 'downright reckless'.

"Mum, I'm off, I'll see you after school," Lily yelled frantically, grabbing a piece of toast that had just flown out of the toaster, swinging her bag over her shoulder and racing out the front door, not bothering to close it behind her.

It's just like me to be late today, Lily thought humorously as she ran up the hill as usual. Lily was always late. It wasn't because she wasn't an early bird, but more due to the fact that she lived several hours away from school, and she was required to get up at latest four thirty.

However, Lily liking getting her sleep, had slept till six, meaning she'd get to school at ten.

I had been doing so well. First time late this week. Even with those morning detentions…

Oh. I forgot.

I had detention today as well.

Oops.

But worse, she had her first HSC examination, high school certificate. It was only for French, and it was the only exam she had for another two years, only being in year ten, but still.

It was now quarter to seven. Barely panting, (she'd been doing this run five times a week for the last four years) Lily glanced sheepishly down at her jeans and shirt. In her haste to get to school, she'd forgotten to wear her school uniform. But at the moment Lily wasn't all that concerned with the school dress code.

More like how much shit I'll be in when I get to school.

In fact, Lily should have been expelled years ago, if it weren't for her outstanding test results. Combining being late every day, about once a week an hour late even, and the mischief she pulled, without managing to get flown out of Australia for both academic and sporting reasons, she would have had to long since find a new school.

Honest, the pail-of-water-hung-over-the-door-with-a-string-to-upend-it-on-the-first-person-to-walk-through-the-doorway wasn't intended for the principal.

When Lily finally got to the bus stop, she stopped dead, seeing a newspaper reading, 'Bus Drivers Go on Massive Strike!'

The emotions Lily felt at that moment were rather unusual, one might say. She was torn between marching up to the nearest government official and shouting every swear word in her vocabulary at him or beating the storekeeper of the newsagent, which had the newspapers on display to an inch of his life.

She settled with swearing viciously, thinking loosing her cool couldn't be good for her record.

I can just see the headlines. Outraged Fifteen Year Old Girl Half Kills Newsagent Due To Bus Driver Strike Causing Her to Miss French HSC Exam.

Front page material, isn't it?

It was perhaps why she didn't notice that her feet were carrying her to the local parachuting site, a place that she visited often, mainly because of her love of adrenaline rush.

She only stopped her cursing when a familiar voice broken through her musings and said, "Lily? Aren't you supposed to be at school?" It was Joel, who worked there full time. Lily knew him quite well, having gone there for a couple of hours after school since she had been ten. Training was required to be able to go on the parachute runs, more if she wanted to go on the highest one. Training included having to be able to climb a fifty metre rope-

Don't ask.

- be very flexible, be fit-

Duh.

-etc…

"Bus drivers went on strike," Lily replied, now grinning, seeing the humour even in this situation, "So in approximately…" Lily checked her watch. It read seven thirty. "An hour and fifteen minutes, I'll be missing my French HSC. Think you could get me onto the Sling?"

Joel shook his head, unable to keep a straight face. Lily had that effect on people. She was awfully easygoing, but for some strange reason, in school, she didn't have a whole lot of friends. (Probably scared that the teachers will hate her for it. God knows they detester her, Joel though ironically) she knew was friends with her, unless they were cruel, or angered her. Lily was definitely an easygoing person, but when she lost her temper, she was, in Joel's opinion, dangerous. She also held grudges for a very long time.

"You're certainly a piece of work," Joel remarked. "Only you would want to go parachuting after finding out you're about to miss your French HSC."

Lily raised her hands, grinning, totally at ease with the

He reached under the desk and pulled out a harness that was 'Lily Size' and thrust it at her. Lily's smile broadened, and she stepped into the harness, not caring too much at the time about what she was going to do when she went back to school.

If everyone lived in the future, then no one would enjoy life, Lily thought, I'll deal with the principal later.

Joel beckoned for her to follow him, and she did so slowly, hopping on one foot, trying to follow him and put the harness on at the same time. Needless to say, it wasn't working all too well.

Hey, I was impatient!

Finally Lily managed to tighten the harness around her waist and followed Joel through a door, and outside.

Lily's home was in the mountains, right at the top of one. This meant that the parachuting was incredibly dangerous and, in Lily's opinion, hysterically awesome.

Fun just can't measure up to it, Lily mused.

Making idle chatter with her, Joel fastened her to the parachute to her harness, and looked up, "Wind's picked up a bit. You sure you still want to go through with this?"

Lily's smile widened if possible. "All the more exciting," she said, before waving and a, "See ya later."

Then she jumped.

It started like a normal parachuting run. Lily free fell for about twenty metres, before the parachute gathered enough wind resistance force to slow it down. The wind caught hold of the parachute and pushed her over into a ravine. Lily wasn't particularly worried. It had happened before now, and she knew the place unexpectedly well.

Well, I had to do something until the search party found me, thought Lily as she unbuckled her harness.

Thing was, Lily was still suspended ten feet in the air, and consequently, fell ten feet.

Or should have fallen ten feet.

Because what actually happened, was that Lily found herself falling into a big, black tornado like thing.

Man that's weird, she thought, and curled up into a defensive ball; she didn't want to know what might hit her while in the vortex.

So now Lily was here. Flat on her back, watching the clouds float by. She was to exhausted and sore to move… willingly, in any case.

Lily let her eyes flutter shut and opened up her senses. She found this was the key to going to sleep.

She let herself feel the hard dirt track she was laid upon, she smelt the fresh air, and the cool wind. Thinking half dazedly to herself, she'd never been anywhere with such fresh air, and she listened, hearing a faint pounding of horses hooves coming from a distance away, and growing louder…

What? Rewind and pause, Lily thought, Horses hooves?

Lily could feel the ground trembling. Judging by the speed of the hammering, she guessed that they- whoever they were- were trotting.

She just lay there, eyes shut, using her other senses to confirm that the horses- and their riders, presumably, were drawing closer. She knew that if she didn't move, it was likely that she would be trampled, but she was so tired she didn't really care.

Later, she presumed she must have drifted off, because next thing she knew, she was being drawn into full consciousness, and there were several people leaning over her. Three to be exact.

Before she reacted, she took in how they were dressed.

They were dressed in what she recognised as chain mail, with blue and silver elongated sleeveless shirts that went don to the upper thighs and had a leather belt around where the waist would be, and had a strange sort of white… cloak. Lily was sure she knew that… well, uniform, even though she had never seen it before…

Shit, Lily thought in sudden realization. She didn't know how she could have forgotten! It was only in one of her favourite books!

From as far as she could tell, she had been transported into the Tortall Realm.

A/N OK, it's not my first fiction, but it's my first try in Tamora Pierce! I think this'll be set in Squire, or maybe Lady Knight, but Lily will be around Kel's age, give or take a few years. And no, she's not going to become a knight. I know this is an overused plot, but this will be different, I swear! I was more setting the scene in this chapter, but I was thinking that I'd put a vote in each chapter, so for this chapter it'll be…

Should there be any pairings with Lily in it?

If yes, who?

I'll just jot a few faves down here.

Dom (drool)

Neal

Some random knight friend of Kel's

Some other random soldier etc…

And

Any1-Who-Has-Not-Been-Catagorized-Above!

So, peoples, REVIEW!