Hello once again, we're back. For security proposes my co-writer and I will be going under code names, or more like the stereotypes we fall under (Damn popular kids). Punk Me, Gothco-writer.

Punk: Thank you anyone and everyone who decided to read this cracked out story(It gets better, at least I think it does). Please excuse any bad English, spelling (Me) or large words (Goth). A special thanks to um ( ) who was our first (and as of yet only) reviewer. As to your question about the bold writing we have decided to stop showing the different parts each of us wrote, Goth will answer your other complaint.

Goth: Hello all! I would be the other, crazy author of this interesting story, hope it isn't too painful to read. . And my sincerest apologies for making Numair a bad guy... It was hard (Myself being a diehard Daine/Numair fan and all) but necessary for the more original pairing of Daine/Neal. Okay, anyway, this was really fun to write, hope you all enjoy, and please leave reviews. But be gentle, tis our first fic. .

Disclaimer: It's on the first page, look their

The next morning sun shone brightly through the window of Daine's room. She went to roll over and say good morning to Numair when she hit the floor. Now she remembered what he did, where he was, and where she was. She had slept of the couch with a cat at her side and a squirrel on her pillow. She didn't sleep in the bed last night because she hadn't washed the sheets yet. She groaned and got up, apologizing to the animals as she did. She got dressed and headed toward the stables to care for Spots and Cloud. She walked down the halls and into the stables. Cloud freeted her and prepared himself for the morning cleaning. Daine sighed; brushing Cloud always made her feel better. She was in half stroke when she heard a crash as something fell down the stairs from the loft. "Ow," groaned the person who had been the cause of the sound. Daine ran over to the stairs. The chile who had yelled "Cat fight," the day before was sprawled on the floor. The child had green eyes but from far away they could be mistaken for blue of torquoise. The kid's hair was goldish-reddis, almost the same color as runs but slightly darker red. Daine tried not to laugh. "Are you alright?" she asked. The child quickly got up. "I didn't do anything." Dain raised her eyebrow. "A little bit of a guilty conscience, hm?" "No, it's not, it's just when ever anything bad happens I'm always blamed," the kid said while looking down. "Oh. Well, do you want to help me with the horses? Plenty of brushes around here, and I could use the help," she said as she tossed him a brush. "You take Spots; Cloud is very territorial." "Whatever you say." Daine smiled. I think I am going to like this kid. She sjust sat talking to Cloud and idly brushing her. I haven't seen the stork-man lately, said Cloud, where'd he go? A tear slid down Daine's cheek. He's not coming back, Cloud. I never liked him, anyway, Cloud replied, he was just a stupid human. "Hey, um, lady, are you alright?" Ran asked seeing another tear fall. "Oh, I'm fine. And, by the way, I'm Daine." The kid cocked his head to the side. "Daine the Wild Mage?" Ran asked curiously. "Oh, yeah, but don't bother with formalitles. Just Daine." The kid smiled bigly, "You got it." Daine just smiled and shook her head. "So what were you doing in the loft?" Ran's eyebrows rose in a questioning look then his face quickly changed to a smiling one. "I went up there to get the pitchfork so I could put some new hay in the stalls," he said smiling. He looked up at Daine whose expression showed that she was waiting for him to continue. He looked down, "Well, the pitchfork happened to be stuck in the floor board, don't ask how it got there, so I tried yanking it out. Unfortunately it was stuck pretty good, so when it finally cam out I flew backwards, down the ladder, and that's where you came in," he finished. He had one hand behind his head and a slight blush on his face showing his embarassment. Daine chuckled. "Sounds like something I would do! Incoordination must be contagious around here." He tried his best to look shocked. ":gasps: Surely not you, miss, never you!" She gave him a reproving look and they both started laughing while Cloud wondered how Daine had gotten so clumsy. Daine was the first to stop laughing. "So," she said, "how long have you been at the castly? I've never seen you before, except for yesterday." "er… A while. Anyways, where'd Master Numair get to? Was that his experiment, the huge fire coming from your tower last night?" She looked sad for a moment then grinned ruthlessly. "Heh… Master Numair left, and I'm making sure nobody messes with me again!" She blushed when she saw the horrified, questioning look on his face. "I have quite a temper, you see… Oh, have you seen Varice? I can't find her anywhere…" "Oh, yeah, you're the one who fought her yesterday. Great job by the way. Well, Varice is… uh… well… he he he." Ran gave a guilty look. She glared at him, trying to get the information out of him. "Where is she? Come now, this is important… Have you seen her " She gave him the look she gave the little ones back in Snowsdale. He sighed, "OK, well, you know how Varice is considered a lady," Daine nodded, "Well, she's basically turned all the Lady's against you and since there's Midwinter Festival coming, well, that's a lot of ladies," Ran said in a hurry. "What?" Daine yelled. "And that's not all, since your good friends with Keladry of Mindelan, she turned everyone agaisnt her, too," Ran added quickly. Daine stopped and thought for a minute. The court ladies wer gullable and would believe anything, so this wasn't much of a surprise. But this was her home… Kel's, too! And she didn't even do anything, either. "Is she still here?" Ran's face lit up mischeviously, "Yup." "Good, good…" This would be interesting. First, I've gotta talk to Kel. "Thanks Ran, I have to go now, but I'll see you around." She grinned and walked off with a purposeful air.

"Great green globs of greasy grimey, Oh man, Ran totally got that song stuck in my head," Ron said while he was walking down the halls to the practice courts. "Now… where is that… Oh, Hi Daine," Ron said as he saw Daine coming his way. He raised his hand in a freiendly gesture only to have Daine rush past him. "OK, bye then," he said, confused.

Again, fate being the twisted, malicous lady that she is, Daine found herself falling backwards after yet another collision with a rather solid, cloth encased object. "Mithros, Mynoss, and Shakith! I'm so sorry, my mind has escaped me…" She was interrupted by soft chuckling. "You know, I can't get very much done if I'm always lying on the floor… and with a lady, nonetheless. My reputation will be shot!" Neal dramatically proclaimed. Daine smiled despite herself. Nooo, I have things to do! Damnit, this is getting ridiculous. "I really must be going," she said, trying to make the thoughts resume their track in her head. "Let me help you up then," said Neal. "Thanks," said Daine as she blushed. Neal took her hand and pulled her up, a little too hard. She rammed into his chest. "Sorry," Neal said. Daine looked up into his eyes again. Oh shit, not again, she thought. Neal leaned down and then- "Yo Neal, where the holy fucking shit are you?" Neal pulled back quickly. He turned around, "Over here, Ron." "Oh, dude, you are supposed to be my sparring partner, where have you been?" Ron said as he approached Daine and Neal. "Hey Daine. So, where've you been?" he asked with complete innocence. "Uh…" she tried desperately to make her mouth work again. Shit, shit, shit! "Around." Yeah, that's witty, good going genius, she thought. "Yeah, how can you have not seen her around, she's everywhere!" Neal said with a lopsided grin. "Woo woo," Ron said while waving his hand in front of Neal's face. He sighed, "This is completely hopeless." "Huh, what?" Neal said, finally snapping out of his trance. Daine laughed, Leave it to Ron to make an embarassing moment into a funny one, Daine thought while watching Ron and Neal play fight. She shook her head. They were really good friends, you could tell just by looking at them. I have good friends, I should go see one of them, she thought, her eyes not leaving his shrinking figure for a second as he walked away. Whoa! Stop looking, bad bad! Oh yeah, I gotta go see Kel. Yeah, that's it. Gotta see Kel. With that she ran down the hall and to Kel's room. She came to the door and gave three loud knocks. Kel came to the door and said, "Hi. I was expecting you. Come in." "Thanks. So, how's life going?" Daine said, obviously trying to make small talk. "Well, I somehow deserve more than the usual glares from the ladies…" Daine sighed. "I don't know what to do anymore, I really don't. I mean, what did I do? What did you do? Daine was wandering around Kel's room, pacing from the unrest. She stopped by the open window and greeted the flock of Sparrow then stopped in her tracks. That voice was familiar, she thought, and then she looked out the window, but just saw the other various birds. Wow, I've really lost it if I'm hearing Neal's voice now, she thought. "Er… Daine?" Kel asked gently. "Oh my, I'm so sorry Kel, you don't deserve this at all! Where did Varice go, I'll kill her…" Daine was shaking with rage, now. "Whoa there, calm down! I'm used to it, besides, I'm sure if any of the guys hear anything they'll put a stop to it, I've already talked to them." Kel smiled down at Daine. "Now, let's go down to the practice grounds… A good round of shooting might help calm you down."

When they got there, there were lots of pages, squires, and knights practicing. Kel spotted Owen and went to practice with him while Daine strung her bow and focused. Hitting the bullseye everytime she thought, Wow, Kel was right, this really does help. "You really are great at this, you know," Neal whispered, hardly a hair's breadth away from her ear. She gasped and dropped her arrow. Oh yeah, she thought, that's smooth… here we go again! She bent over to grab the arrow and came up inches away from his face. Oh boy… Definitely not good. Huh, she thought, I guess I never realized just how awesome green is, before. "I'm sorry, I've veen out of it the past couple of days… I can't even seem to manage holding an anrrow," she choked out, her voice rather raspy. Just then, she felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to discover that Kel was back. Kel looked between the two and noted that Daine was definitely happier, though she was pretty sure that wasn't just from shooting. She grinned and said, "If I may borrow her just for a time, Meathead, pressing matters at hand beg for discussion." And with that, she lead away a rather unwilling Daine. Neal shook his head and refocused his eyes on Kel and Daine. Gods, he thought, Numair must be the luckiest man alive. (A/N: Or so he thinks… LoL)

Meanwhile, In Carthak:

I think that I'll stay here, nice climate, beautiful ladies, and good food. The king always said that I needed to take a vacation, Numair thought while sipping a drink with one of those umbrella thingys. Yep, Life is good. (For now)

Back in Tortall:

"Okay, so I was talking to Owen and he said that the Midwinter Festival starts in two days, as you may remember, and… well… Varice made it a bit difficult." Daine looked grave and said, "Go on." (Uh where are we going with this, SOS) Right then, Dom and Ron walked by Daine and Kel. Dom had just gotten back for the festival and was obviously greeted by Ron who he became friends with between Neal. "Hey, Daine," Ron started, "have you seen Meathead?" Dom finished. "Yeah, he's back there," Daine said while pointing her thumb behind her. "Thanks," Ron said with his innocent smile. "Who was that?" Kel asked referring to Ron. "Oh, I guess you're never met him before." Kel shook her head. "Weird. He's in the Own. I thought you would've at least seen him around being friends with Raoul and all," Daine said. "Hmm, which group?" Kel asked. "Thirteenth." Kel stopped. "There's really a thirteenth group? I thought it was a rumor." "Oh no, it's real alright, the reason nobody really knows about it is because that group usually goes undercover kind of like spies. It's made up of convicts, thieves, assassins, you name it who have agreed to serve the crown," Daine said as she tried to keep in her laughter as she saw Kel's shocked face. "So what were we talking about before we were so rudely interrupted?" Daine asked. "Oh yeah, well, apparently since Varice and her sidekicks ran word of us being so disgusting, we won't even find company for the ball. Well, they say that about me… they say you won't find good company because of your being disrespectful or something," Kel said. (A/N: Isn't that what you said yesterday:shrugs:) (Yup) "Oh," Daine said while deep in thought. Hmm… first we have to probe her wrong, and then we have to get her back, thought Daine. She grinned evilly. "Uh Daine? Are you OK?" Kel asked nervously seeing the evil glint in Daine's eyes. "Quite fine, actually," she said. "So, you want to prove her wrong as much as I do?" she asked. Kel grinned, "Oh yeah, but how?" "Well, first of all," Daine started as they walked through the stables, "we have to probe her wrong." "Oh, OK. So that means we, in lame terms, have to get dates." "Yup." "OK and you have to go with someone respectable like… Neal!" Daine stopped. "What?" Kel gave her a smug look. "And I'll go with a friend." "Which one? They all already have people to go with, well, except for Dom." Kel glared. "Fine." "One problem," Daine squeaked in surprise. There was Ran hanging upside down from his knew which were on a support beam. "Well, what's that problem," Daine asked after getting over her surprise. "Simple," Ran said while doing a flip off the beam and landing on the ground, "Dom's engaged." (Mwa ha ha ha ha).

Later, 10 o'clock that night, Kel knocked thrice on the door. Neal answered and said with a grin, "Can't you come calling at a more decent hour? Some of us do enjoy sleep." "Well, if you don't want to listen I'll just leave," Kel said sarcastically while going towards the door. "OK, OK, jeesh," Neal said while pushing her back in the room. "So, what's up?" "We need your help…" she said. "With … come on, spit it out!" Neal said. "OK, uh… well, wouldyougowithDainetotheball?" Kel asked. Neal looked confused. "Say that again, but slower." "OK, would you go with Daine to the ball?" Kel asked. He looked at her suspiciously. "And why would I be taking her to the ball? There must be plenty of people who don't need to have you recruit them… and what about Numair?" Kel took a deep breath and explained everything to Neal about Numair and Varice to how Varice was trying to ruin their reputations and finally to why they needed his help. "Wow," he said. Then he got angry. "Wait a second here, you mean to tell me that Numair somehow was not happy with Daine? We're talking about the Wild Mage, here! And he liked that nasty wench Varice instead? The man must be nutters!" he said exasperatedly. Kel hid a laugh. "I know," she said, "Completely." "Of course I'll help, why wouldn't I? And who are you going with since the fact is Dom is pre- oops!" Neal looked a little sheepish. "I know Dom's proposing to some court lady and everyone else has a partner, a little birdy told Daine and me." Seeing Neal's face, she quickly added, "I didn't mean a real bird." "So," he said, "Who are you going with?" "No clue," she said as she sighed. "So who was this little birdy?" "Oh, Ran… he really is quite a useful source of information, you know," Kel said. "The stable boy?" Neal asked. "Yeah, he's pretty cool, according to Daine." Haven't really ever talked to him." "So you'll help us then? You don't mind taking Daine? I know how much she bugs you…" Kel said. Neal punched her in the arm then said, "Yeah, right… bugs me." Kel's stomach grumbled. Let's go get some food, I'm hungry!" "Sure," Neal said while opening the door. He bowed, "After you." They walked down the hall when all of a sudden, SPLASH. Water had fallen all over them. Neal and Kel looked down and saw a small string that they had walked into. They turned around hearing laughter, there were Ron and Ran laughing their heads off. "I can't believe you walked into that," Ran choked. Ron was trying to hold in his laughter. "Squirt has a point," Ron said calmly. "Very nice," Kel said equally as calm. "That's it, you got me at the practice courts too!" he yelled, remembering how Ron had cut the sides of his breeches "on accident." Neal ran after him and Ran started laughing even harder, clutching his sides as he doubled over. Neal, even though he was one of the fastest knights in the realm in running, Ron didn't qualify for that title so he wasn't considered fast. Big mistake by those who judged him easily. Neal lunged at him and Ron easily dodged. Damn it, he's fast, Neal thought. He was right. They'd been at this for 15 minutes, Neal running fast as he could and panting while Ron looked like he was walking slightly fast and wasn't even winded. Must be from being a runner, he thought. Never mind then, embarrassing myself even MORE wouldn't do very much good, so instead, heh heh heh, I will get him back in a more planned out way. He stopped running and found his way back to Kel and said, "Come on, let's get some food." "Yeah," said Kel, "We have lots of work to do."

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Ok. That must have been confusing for those of you who had read it before I did this. See me and my friend already wrote this so making chapters out of the original piece sucks. I accidentally posted the third chapter instead of the second, my apologizes. Please review and have a nice day (Jeesh I sound like a Wal-Mart employee.)