Varyssa: Ack, I think I need to pay attention to things like Kain smiling. Oh well, he was torturing his traveling companion, so he had a reason. With the allowableness of randomosity, (dear squid, now I'm using words that don't even sound real,) I imagine that Kain will break into song at some point. Congratulations on finding the fiver.
Razielim Vampiress: The bad part is that I've got a positively pornographic image of exactly what that looks like. (Up close and personal under his cowl type image.)
Meitantei Kudo KID: I'm glad I wasn't wrong about "Interlude" passing the eyebleed test. Beatles rock.
RockyShoreline: This fic is going everywhere that my imagination takes me. As for the skill in potraying drunkeness, it's all about writing what you know. (Comtemplative pause) I think I'd rather know Kung-Fu.
20050715 Disclaimer: You know the drill.
I woke up groggily, trying to remember where I was. My eyes flew open as I became aware of the itchy texture of the grass against my naked stomach. I slowly levered myself to my knees and sat back on my feet. Not only were my clothes missing, but my backpack as well.
Kain, Janos, and Vorador were all as naked as I was. Kain had his arms crossed over his chest, but otherwise he hid his slight discomfort well. Vorador seemed as if he was completely comfortable being naked. Janos was doing nothing to hide himself, but he was muttering some spell under his breath. Raziel must have still been unconscious because I couldn't see him.
Noticing that I was awake, Kain growled, "Where are our clothes?"
"I have no idea," I said. I did not want to stand up. Fortunately, Kain respected my space. "I really don't like this."
Though I did not stare, I could see the vampires out of the corners of my eyes. I could tell that they weren't really looking at me, either. Well, Vorador did check me out, but he quickly cast his gaze away in disappointment.
"Where's Raziel?" Janos questioned in concern.
"He's behind that block," Kain gestured. He still had the ability to sense his son as long as he stayed in the physical realm.
"Raziel, are you all right?" Janos questioned as he walked towards the block.
"I'm naked." Raziel's voice was dejected.
"We're all naked," Janos assured him, "and you don't wear much… Dear God!" Janos hastily retreated from the unexpected sight of Raziel's face.
"He really needed to hear that from you," I muttered sarcastically. I could sense Raziel's embarrassment and shame. Putting my own modesty aside, I climbed on top of the stone block. I could only see the top of Raziel's head, and right now it was bent forward. "Look, Raziel, Janos was just surprised, that's all. You know how he gets when anything unexpected happens."
Raziel tilted his head slightly. It was like he had started to turn towards me and then remembered that his cowl was missing. "Just leave me alone."
A loud whistling sound ended with a crash behind me. I dove forward in fright and landed in Raziel's lap. I paid no attention to Raziel as I roughly pushed away from him and peered over the top of the block.
"What was that?" Raziel asked.
"I'm not sure," I admitted. All I could think of was something large and inanimate falling from the sky. Slowly, I became aware of Raziel's gaze. "What are you staring at?"
"I've never seen a woman with so much…" He stopped when I fixed him with an accusatory glare. Raziel's throat muscles contracted in an approximation of a nervous swallow. "…beauty."
I liked seeing drawings where Raziel was unmasked, but I decided right then that he was as hideous in person as he seemed to believe. I spared his feelings and hid my thoughts on it by focusing on how he had been about to call me fat.
"I'm going to find out what that was, and you're coming with me," I insisted as I stood up and grabbed Raziel's talons.
Raziel's eyes grew wide in panic as I slowly dragged him to his feet. He was much stronger than me, but I was more than twice his weight and strength means nothing without leverage. He dug his feet into the ground, but I stubbornly pulled harder and his hooves ripped through the sod.
After a minute of this, I decided that I had tortured him enough and released his claws. Raziel clumsily stumbled backward and tripped on his wing. He hit the ground with an undignified flop and lied motionless.
The three vampires were staring at a large wooden chest. It had dented the ground when it landed, but it was still intact. "Be careful, it might be a mimic," I quipped nervously as I came up behind them.
"That symbol was on the plot hole," Kain pointed out.
I looked at the design etched into the lid of the chest. It looked like the blood script 'M' with an extra diagonal line in the lower part. "Okay, so it's mine."
Vorador pulled on the lid experimentally. "How do you open it?"
"I don't know," I said, crouching down to examine it. "That symbol is left over from an old penname, all the letters are on top of one another." I traced a runic 'S' over the symbol, and the trunk unlocked with a loud clunk. I realized that I had just added the two necessary lines to change the old symbol to match my current name.
The trunk was filled Wild West costumes. Kain wound up with a typical pair of black jeans, a red shirt, a light brown vest, and a light brown cowboy hat. Vorador wore a top hat and a tight black jacket that looked like it would belong to a bank owner. Not finding a shirt necessary, Janos settled on a pair of fringed leather pants typical to a 'wild injan.'
I had my choice between a black dress with red lace and a bustle, or a more practical outfit with a split skirt. After I put on the more sensible outfit, I grabbed some spare clothes and brought them to Raziel.
"Here ya go, blue boy," I said as I blindly threw the clothes over the block. I heard Raziel give off a small grunt of surprise, but he didn't say anything.
A few minutes later, Raziel emerged. His face was covered with a large red bandana, and his angry glare was magnified by the shadows of his black hat. He too had dispensed with a shirt, but he had a pair of black jeans slung around his hips.