Punk: Yes we are back, and finally getting things right. WoooHooooo! Just so all of you know setting up a story is a lot harder than it looks. At least for me, the unusually low IQ student. I am loading the story if you couldn't tell by all the mistakes or my pen name. We are trying to work on getting distinguishable paragraphs, but so far not so good.
NOTE! Criticism is fine as long as it is help full. Not for example: I'm sorry I ever read this or That wasn't exactly great. I am sure that both of these opinions have much motivation behind it, but I a sorry to report that really we don't give a shit. Don't like it don't read it, simple. :cough: LionessLoves Amethyst:cough: Man I think I am coming down with something.
Goth: YAY, reviews! Love to all you reviewers(yes we know it's out of character)
The next morning, Daine woke up and stretched, ready to start her revenge. Then she remembered she had a problem: who was going to go with Kel? She rolled out of her sleeping mat and made a mental note to ask someone if she could trade beds with them. Walking down the hall, she turned around because she thought she heard something and, AGAIN, ran into Neal. She sat up on the floor and rubbed her head.
"Sorry… Again," Neal said while bending down. "So, do you want to go to the
Midwinter Festival with me?" "Daine tried not to look into his eyes. "Yeah, that would be great." "Good," he said while helping her up. "By the way, who have you thought of that can go with Kel that she can not only tolerate but can have a good time with?"
"Well, I've been thinking but I only know Riders, mostly, and they're either not here or paired off. Don't you know anyone?" she said. "Not really…" he smiled evilly. "I know someone that would be perfect, he hates balls, getting dressed up, and all of the snotty nobles just like Kel." And this will be complete revenge since he hates all of these things. "Who?" Daine asked. "Ron of course! It's perfect… heh heh heh…" Daine giggled, "I thought you were his friend, so why so sadistic?" "Revenge is sweet," Neal said. "Oh, you're still mad about the prank," Daine said. "Wha, how did you-" "Ran told me." "Oh."
"Well, I was just on my way to go see Kel, we have lots to do," said Daine. "May I accompany you?" he asked gallantly. "I really want to see her face when you tell her about Ron." "Of course," Daine said as she straightened her back and took his extended arm. They walked down the hall together and knocked on Kel's door. She opened it to see them both talking and laughing, still arm in arm, and hid a smile.
"How may I help you?" Kel asked. "Well, more like how can we help you," said Neal with a grin. "Yup," said Daine, "we've found you a date!" Kel raised an eyebrow. "Who?" They both grinned, exchanged looks, and said in unison, "Ron." "Wha-wha?" Kel asked aghast. "You take it from here, Neal," Daine whispered in his ear. "Well, you see, everyone else had a date, and well… desperate times call for desperate measures, heh heh," he finished lamely. Daine smacked her head, "Great job taking it." Kel laughed. "Riiight. Well, I suppose it's true, we have to go, and I need a date to show Varice…" she said. "I'm not sure if I'll like him, though," she stated doubtfully. "Oh yeah, I keep forgetting you hardly know him…" Daine said. "That can be taken care of, though. I've been known to work wonders," said Neal grinning. Oh no, thought Kel, I'm in deep shit now! "Oooh, I got an idea!" he said. "Okay, I'll go talk to Ron, you stay with Kel," he said, looking down at Daine. "Or we can just go talk to him all together?" Daine suggested. "Fine," Neal said and they were off looking for where Ron might be.
A knife came out of nowhere heading straight for his head. Ron quickly grabbed the knife and kicked his opponent in the stomach. And to think this started out as a training session for the squires, Ron thought as he head his head.
Flashback:
"No Alan, look, when someone comes at your side you use," "Your knife to block it." Ron looked up to see who had finished his sentence. There right in front of him was one of the most famous King of Thieves, George Cooper.
End of Flashback
So now he was having a spar with the former King of Thieves. How did Alan talk me into this, Ron thought as he leapt out of the way. Then Ron saw it, an opening, and instinctively, he took it. Ron's knife slipped up to his throat while he blocked George's other knife by hitting the side of it with his hand. I won. Thank God that's over, Ron thought. Then he heard some loud clapping; he turned his head to see Neal clapping, Daine and Kel standing next to him. Ron put a hand behind his head and blushed (a very Ran like gesture though Ron used it more).
"Wow, Ron, even taking on the likes of George Cooper is the stuff of nightmares for most people," Neal said coming up to him. "Impressive. Oooh, and I hate to bother you after such a fight, but I need a favor," he said, adding to it his sweetest smile. Ron raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "What kind of favor?" "Oh… well… you'll see," he said. "Come here. I need to introduce you to Keladry of Mindelan. Kel this is Ron, Ron this is my dear friend Kel. Go on, shake hands now," he said as they silently greeted each other.
Ron turned to Neal, waiting for him to talk. "Well…" Neal was stalling. "That favor you spoke of?" said Ron. "Oh yeah! Er… Daine, a little help here?" he pleaded. "What Neal is trying to say," "And failing horribly at doing," added Kel. Ron smirked. "Is, well, you'd better sit down, this could take a while," Daine said and so she explained everything.
Ron looked to Kel, seemingly sizing her up, and Neal and Daine crossed their fingers. Kel flushed, "What are you looking at?" "Well, I thought it was kind of obvious, you of course," Ron said flatly. Kel would have laughed if the situation were different. "And," Daine said going to stand near Kel, "do you like what you see?" Neal snickered as Kel tried her hardest not to look horrified at the suggestion. "Are you sure you want me to tell you?" Ron asked jokingly. Kel glared at him. "Seriously though, even though you cover it up with your large clothes you have a great body," Ron said calmly.
Self discipline necessary for court life was strained to its thinnest as Daine and Neal tried their hardest not to let on that they found this extremely entertaining. "Alrighty then," Neal said. "You've got Lalassa to get you all gussied up… Am I forgetting something?" "What about the plan to get Varice?" Kel asked, her face still red. "Oh yeah," said Daine, "about that… she made it personal, so I think Kel and I will, too. Gentlemen, excuse us." And with that, she dragged Kel off by the arm. "So, what do you think about Ron?" Daine asked Kel. "He seemed nice enough," she said, turning even redder. Daine hid a grin. This might go even better than I expected, for all of us.
"Well, good so now what are we going to do about Varice?" Daine asked. "Well," Kel started, "I dunno, you're the one with all the fury." "Okay, so first we walk in right past her with our dates… nothing dirty, but clearly having fun. There's a really small margin of error, so make sure you are both happy, but just don't do anything gossip worthy. Okay, then we'll get our lovely Neal to amplify her voice and hire one of the court ladies to ask her why she was after Numair again… I'd like some answers myself! And we'll make her get some other nice secrets out of her while we're at it. Then, she'll get embarrassed, run out of the hall, and Ran will step on her dress! Neal will come in again here making the threads weaker and it'll rip right off!" Daine said. "I bet you haven't thought about this very much at all," said Kel. Daine smiled up at her, "Not at all. Now we have to go find Lalassa!" Daine said happily.
"So, were you telling the truth about you liking Kel's body?" Neal asked Ron while he was destroying a dummy with various kicks and punches. "Well, you know I haven't ever really been able to think about girls with the Own and all, but as far as girls go, Kel is probably at the top of my list, she's really pretty, she doesn't show it, plus she uses her brain." "So the fact that she's kind of masculine and likes to fight doesn't make her any less attractive to you?" Ron kept on punching as he began to sweat. "No way, if anything it makes me even more attracted," Ron said truthfully. Neal smiled. Without even trying he had found the perfect person for Kel. Perfect, he thought.
Lalassa fitted them both, insisting that they both look their best for such an event. They met up with Ron and Neal for dinner as the sun began to set. Neal and Ron were waiting for them when they got there. Neal was freshly clean and Ron the complete opposite, "Do you ever take a bath?" Kel asked looking at Ron. "Yeah, it's just I don't stay clean for very long," he replied. Kel smacked him on the back of the head and dirt flew up. "I prove my point," Kel stated as she looked at his hair that looked brown and his face wasn't much better for you could barely distinguish his features. Run stuck his tongue out at Kel and she just smirked.
"We did well, my friend," Neal said coming up behind Daine. "As well as we could have hoped for," she said looking up at him and smiling. He sat down next to Daine. ""So Ron, what did you do today when we weren't around you?" Neal asked his friend. "Well, I trained the pages and squires," he said naming the things off. "What did you girls get at Lalassa's?" Ron asked curiously. "Some dresses, things like that," Daine said. Neal smiled mischievously. "Good dresses I trust?" Then he went for innocence. "Kel mentioned that your dress was very nice." "Yeah," she said, "Lalassa's wonderful."
Neal's stomach grumbled and Daine giggled. "Hungry?" she asked. Right then the food came. "Great, Neal said and began eating. After they were finished they decided to go out to the practice courts and watch the new groups of Shangs demonstrations. (I like the practice courts if you can't tell)
"Where did they come from?" Daine asked lightly as she watched them do warm up drills. "From Carthak," a disgustingly smug voice answered. She spun around ready to fight again but saw a group of young squires and knights around her. Daine looked at her feet, frustrated that this came back when she was almost happy again, and left the practice courts. Neal went after her.
"Come on, you're going to have to face her or she might become suspicious," Neal said calmly. Daine sighed so she listened and came back to watch. "Oh my gosh, Keladry of Mindelan, is there really a girl in there or is that just a rumor?" Varice spat. Kel stood up and was about to go over to Varice when Ron grabbed her arm and shook his head. Kel got the message. Kel looked around to see everyone was staring at them, even the Shangs. "Is there a problem?" one asked as he cam over and stood next to Varice.
Kel looked at him: he was obviously extremely handsome with his brown hair but his blue eyes were like ice. He was the Shang Siren one of the best and that was good especially for his age. "No, nothing's wrong," Ron said evenly, his mischievous eyes crinkled up in a fake smile. "No, you're just too coward to talk to me because of my boyfriend," Varice said hotly. Kel smirked, "Yeah, and pigs fly," she said under her breath. Ron laughed. "What's so funny, Street Rat?" Shang Siren said to Ron while giving him a death glare. Before Ron could stop himself he blurted out, "Your face, what else?"
"You know Varice, as a noble I don't see why you can't have even the tiniest shred of honor and finish your fights with the one you started them with," Daine said coolly as she came in, Neal standing behind her with his hands on her shoulders. Fear flashed through Varice's eyes as she saw Daine again. "I finish my fights," she said icily, reaching for the Shang's hand. "Saying things behind my back and making my friends miserable is not finishing a fight," she said getting tense. "Whatever you say, wench. Come on, Siren, time to leave," and with that the congregation broke up. Kel and Ron glanced over at the fuming Daine Neal signaled them that he could handle it, so they left.
"Hey Daine, you OK?" Daine sighed. "Yeah, I guess." "That's good," Neal said as he sat down next to her. He put her in his arms, "I'm sorry about this whole thing." Daine rested her head in the crook of his neck, "It's not your fault," she said. She lay her ear on his chest and listened to his breathing and the rhythmic beating of his hear. "Thank you," she said quietly. "For what? I didn't do anything," Neal replied. "For being here," she said as she nestled up closer to him. He wrapped his arms tighter around her and breathed in. She doesn't deserve this… Numair must be the stupidest man alive. She reached around and hugged him, trying to pull him closer, and sighed. Neal chanced a look down at her face and saw a smile pulling on the ends of her lips and couldn't help but smile himself. She tilted her face up and opened her eyes.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you its rude to stare?" she whispered. "No, is it a bad thing?" "Absolutely," she said sarcastically, "and this is even worse since I didn't get to stare back." Neal grinned as her reached to gently push back the rogue curls that always seemed to break their bonds. He stopped, though, thinking something wasn't right with this situation… Daine was depressed, this couldn't be… but his thoughts were cut short as she wrapped her arms around his neck and brought his mouth down to hers.
Neal just went with the flow while his mind was in an uproar. He shouldn't do this… but he didn't! He was completely innocent this time, and she was the bad one! Like I mind, he thought, I mean, come on, it's Daine here. In spite of his problem, his every nerve felt as if it were on fired as she refused to let go (Again, like he minded) and hugged him closer with the other arm. She slowly pulled away, panting heavily and obviously hating herself for what she was about to say.
"I really think I have to go," she said. Oh, God's curse respectability! "At least let me take you back to your room," he said his voice rather gravelly. Oh boy, I dunno, will I be able to leave the door? "Okay," she said glancing around, "but we have to be quick." She took his hand and led him down the halls, reminding herself that she would have to let go. She purposely took the longer, hardly used corridor as they slowed to a walk and entwined fingers.
Okay, next attempt at forming words, she thought. "Thank you again, for everything today… it helped a lot." "It was noth-" "It was everything," she interrupted. They reached her door and she had to bite her lips shut to not do anything stupid like – "Would you like to come in?" No no no no no! What are you thinking you dolt, I mean why would you say that? She looked at him for an answer… Oh yeah, that's why. She couldn't believe how great he was. He hardly knew her and he was just there for her in an instant! He looked around again then snuck inside.
They shut the door and he said, "I just wanted to give you a proper goodnight." Again, he wrapped his arms around her waist, as did she around his neck. He pulled back, hair tousled, lips swollen and bright red, his eyes darker yet had a new light to them. "Y-y- :ahem: You know where to find me… Oh, breakfast tomorrow." One last entrancing kiss and a bone-crushing hug later, "Sweet dreams," with a lopsided grin was all Neal could seem to manage, and the door was shut. Daine groaned and fell onto the couch thinking I can't believe I shut the door! Neal walked down the hall and groaned thinking I can't believe I went in there…Oy, why can't people just mind their own business? "Damn honorability!"
Yay, we finally got it in the right order. Please bare with us through or retarded disabilities . Please review, reminder with either praise (it helps build our confidence, which is very low to begin with) or helpful critisisim like with the paragraphs (we've been working on that)