The OC and NPC's belong to Obsidian. Liberties taken with character development and time line. Dialogue from game was taken from memory and is not exact. Some errors in grammar were left for syntax and dialogue. As always, reviews are welcome.
MEMOIRS OF AN OUTSIDER
Chapter 3: "The Hard Goodbye"
Khy awoke to the new day with great anticipation, for today was the High Harvest Fair. She, Amie, and Bevil had been practicing for weeks. This time, she
thought, they were going to win the Harvest cup. She put on her tunic, leather armor, stockings, and soft deerskin boots, then brushed and braided her
hair. When she arrived downstairs, Daeghun gave her an errand pertaining to his furs. She met with Amie and Bevil outside, and together they explored
the fair. The day went by quickly with a victorious end. They had won the Harvest Cup! Khy retired that evening exhausted by the days' activities and the
cheers of the town's approval lulled her to sleep.
-----
Khy was startled out of a deep sleep by the sound of Bevil shouting. West Harbor was under attack! Khy quickly dressed, and grabbed her weapons from
the small chest by her bed. The trio descended the stairs with caution. Seeing that the room below was empty, they moved toward the door. In an
instant, the door burst open and the onslaught began. Khy dived into the fray with masterful agility, and one by one, the attackers fell to her blades. The
flurry of the aggressive invaders ebbed and flowed throughout the night. At last, the village had succeeded in quelling the brutish foes, and a sense of
normalcy returned. Khy looked around at the dead and injured people, trying to quiet the adrenaline rushing through her body. Blood was everywhere.
Splashed across her armor, and covering her hands. The horrific events of the battles crept slowly into her mind. She had killed! She had fought and killed
the gray dwarfs without a moments thought. She could still feel the way their soft flesh yielded to the steel of her sword. She had killed, and yet felt no
sorrow, no transgression, and no guilt. She felt alive, powerful, and almost invincible. Khy reveled in this feeling of strength and confidence. To pit her own
cunning and skills against those of another and to prevail was intoxicating.
-----
"Lass, come over here". Daeghun said. She walked the short distance, and stood by his side. "I see you're alright", he said,"Others did not fair as
well". With that one remark, all that she had been feeling disappeared. She thought, "There had been no concern for her well-being. No relief at
seeing that she was unharmed. Not even sorrow at the loss of her friend---nothing! This was her atar, her father, couldn't he tell her once, just
once, that he cared." The monotone voice of her father continued with instructions for a task that she was to perform. He had known what these
perpetrators were after and had said nothing. She wanted answers to the myriad of questions buzzing through her head. As usual, she was admonished
for asking, and told to focus on the task at hand. Retrieve a fragment of steel, a shard, as he called it, at the ruins in the swamp, and return to him.
Daeghun then drafted Bevil to aid her, to which he verbally protested, but relented."Poor Bevil", she thought, as they left the village, "Always so
unsure of himself". "Trying to live up to the heroic achievements of his older brother, Lorne, and never quite having success".
-----
After walking for a few hours, she looked around at Bevil plodding behind her, head down, shoulders hunched, and looking completely dejected. "Bevil",
she said quietly,"Let's stop amoment". Khy walked over to a small defensible area and signaled Bevil to follow. They sat down to rest and work out the
kinks from over used muscles. Khy dug through her pack for her water flask and some jerky, and then handed them to Bevil. He took a long swig from the
flask and bit off a hunk of the jerky, chewing slowly.
-----
"What's wrong"? She asked. He looked up at her and said, "Amie didn't have a chance against that evil bastard"! "He killed her without any
warning or a shred of mercy"! "She's dead, and I didn't do anything to help her"! Khy could see the hurt and helplessness in his eyes. "Bevil", she
said, "There's nothing we could have done to prevent her death". "It happened to quickly for any of us to react, even Tarmas". "I cared for her,
you know", he said with a quivering voice. "I know, Bevil", she said,"I cared for her too". "NOT LIKE I DID"! He shouted. "I should have told her
how I felt; now it's too late and there won't be any other chances". Khy scooted toward him and put her hand on his knee."She knew, Bevil". She
said softly. "How do you know"? He asked. Trying to explain how she knew would be difficult for him to understand."You know", she said, "What the
people of the village say about me"? "How I sometimes know things I shouldn't"? "Yes", he said flatly."Well", she said taking a deep breath, "It's
true". "I can sense how people are feeling and what they feel about something or someone". He looked at her with a renewed hope in his eyes.
"Amie felt the same for you as you did for her". She said. "You'd have to be an idiot not to know that they cared deeply for one another". She
thought. "She also knew that Wyl Mossfield was infatuated with Amie, and picked on her incessantly, just to be near her". Bevil finished off the
jerky and they checked their equipment. Bevil said, "Let's go", and they resumed the trek into the swamp.
-----
The journey to and through the ruins was difficult, but, the exhilaration from the previous battles returned, and Khy felt empowered. She took on
whatever the Mere threw at her with the grace and ease of a seasoned warrior. Even Bevil stepped up to the job and focused his frustration into the
fights that ensued. Khy managed to talk her way out of a particular nasty skirmish with the Chief of the lizard men and a small unit of his troops. She then
claimed the shard, and they returned to Daeghun as fast as the swamp allowed.
-----
"Here's the shard, atar". She said. Daeghun examined the shard, turning it over in his hands; all the while, a strange look haunted his features. He then
returned it to Khy. A puzzled look crossed her face as she accepted the shard and stowed it in her pack. Daeghun then explained to her that she would be
leaving the village and taking the shard with her. The village would never be safe with the presence of the shard, so she should leave as soon as
possible. She opened her mouth to speak, but Daeghun got that annoyed look, as he did every time she asked questions, so she kept silent. She was to
go to Neverwinter by ship and seek out a man named Duncan, who was her foster-father's half brother. An uncle. She had an uncle! Daeghun finally
finished his oration and she could not stifle the many queries she had any longer. Why Neverwinter? Why go by ship? Why he had never told her of an
uncle? What were the dangers she would face? The fruition of the situation finally dawned on her. Say your farewells and leave West Harbor was all
Daeghun had said.
-----
Leave West Harbor kept ringing through her ears. He had told her to leave and not to come back until the shard had been dealt with. She would be
leaving and possibly never returning, and her father had said this with no more emotion than he would to tell her to fetch water. "There's no other
way"? She asked. From his expression, she knew not to ask anything further. She spoke with a few of the people in the village to say goodbye. Mrs.
Starling asked her to please find out about her son, Lorne, who had not been heard from since the war. Brother Merring told her to keep up with her
divine studies, and then gave her a few scrolls. Khy thanked him for all the kindness he had shown to her. He said,"Remember, child, you have great
power and the light of Sune inside you". "May Lathander watch over you"? Tarmas bought the surplus items she had found in the ruins and gave her
a couple of potions. He kept blaming Amie for her own death, and Khy wanted to tell him to SHUT UP, but then she felt it. . . great pain and utter loss. He
had cared dearly for Amie, maybe as the child he would never have. Khy touched his hand, and nodded with understanding. She said farewell to a few
others, Bevil, Georg, Orlen, and Chandry. She then went to her room, stuffed as much as she could into her pack, and with reluctance, walked out the
door, perhaps for the last time.
-----
Daeghun was waiting for her with a few last minute instructions. The shock and distress of leaving her home and setting off into the unknown had left her
emotionally spent. She looked deep into Daeghun's eyes, pleading for some sort of reaction to her impending departure. "Atar, cael lle kai a' quen"?
("Father, have you nothing to say"?) She asked. "Good journey", he said,"And stay off the roads". Daeghun was the one person she could not
read. It was as if an invisible shield surrounded him, with no way in. "Kai ner"? ("Nothing more"?) She inquired, with sadness. "It's getting dark, leave
now while there's still light". He said sharply. She took a long, deep breath, determined to say what she needed him to hear. "Atar", "Diol lle amin
ten' ilya cael amin". "I' ona en' lle luume', none no' amin, tat' il hest". "Aaa' eithel, atar, ar' namaarie". ("Father", "I thank you for all you have
done for me".) ("The gift of your time, spent on me, will not wither".) ("Be well, father, and farewell".) A single tear made its way from her eye,
to roll down her cheek. No embrace, no vow of caring, no emotion-----nothing, as usual. She turned and walked away.
-----
She took a last glimpse at the only home she had ever known, and the people staring back. She felt sadness and a sense of loss, but to her amazement,
no regret. She had always been an outsider here, and a burden to Daeghun. She would miss the people who had enriched her life, and the comfort of
familiarity with her surroundings. She had always depended on no one but herself, and even as a small child, she had been left to her own devices.
"What's done is done". She she felt a sense of freedom. She could finally be herself with no frowning faces, no imposed rules, and no disapproving
whispers. A feeling of relief flowed through her."Goodbye West Harbor". She said aloud. "Good luck to you all". With that said, she began a new verse
in her song of life.
-----
Khy had been walking for hours. With no rest since the attack on the village, she was completely exhausted. She stopped and stretched, then looked up
at the stars to get her bearings. "Oh, damn"! She said. It was the new moon. She had completely forgotten with all the commotion that with the new
moon came her devotional to Sune. Khy searched the area, and found a good spot for her camp. She grabbed a fallen tree limb, and swept the debris
from the little clearing. As she tidied the area, and collected items for a fire, she thought about how the people of the village hated to venture into the
Mere. Georg's stories and the lizard folk kept them in fear. She somehow found the Mere and the surrounding escarpments of the sea, comforting. She
had always been more at home here than the village. "Good". She thought. "There's the small stream, she had remembered was nearby". She
gathered fallen leaves and dried moss, then shaped them into a mound for a bed. Unfastening the large bearskin, Daeghun had given her; she tucked it
around the mound. "Comfy". She thought. She pulled a couple of woolen blankets from her pack and placed them atop the fur. Khy started the fire, then
searched the area for as many flowers as she could find. She sat down near the fire, and with a long piece of twine, she strung the flowers together. She
removed her leathers, noticing the blood and dirt stains."These should be cleaned", she thought, "And I should bathe as well".
-----
Aiming to complete all her tasks at one time before sleeping, she collected everything she would need, and headed for the stream. She pulled a cloth from
her pack to clean the leather armor and boots. She dabbed, scrubbed, and scraped to remove the dried blood and dirt. When she was done, she draped
the leathers and boots across a low hanging tree limb. She then removed the last of her clothes, and retrieved a small vial from her pack. Stepping into
the stream, she laundered the remaining items. With everything hung out to dry, she pulled four small candles from a bag inside her pack. She walked to
the fire, and with a small twig, captured a flame to light the candles. Placing one of her blankets on the bank of the stream, she positioned the candles on
either side. Khy knelt on the blanket, sitting on her feet, and loosened her braid so her hair hung free. She felt a warm breeze stroke her naked body as
she arranged the rope of flowers around her neck, and let the ends dangle over her breasts. She scattered the remaining flowers about her. She looked
out over the water, catching the reflection of the bright moon and stars. "Beautiful". She thought."Sune would be pleased". She folded her hands into
her lap, and closed her eyes. "Sune", she said softly,"I give you reverence and beauty". "May this small gesture bring you joy". She began
humming a non-descriptive tune while swaying to and fro. She then rose to her feet and walked into the cool water, immersing herself completely.
Suddenly, she sprang from the water, simulating the birth of a new cycle of life, a new beginning."Thank you Sune, for all the elegance and grace you
give to the world". "May I be forever worthy of such loveliness.
-----
This reverence to a God was new to her, and she hoped that the small ceremony would suffice for adulation. She removed the flowers encircling her neck,
and tossed them into the water, watching them slowly drift down the stream. She blew out the candles, returning them to the bag in her pack, and threw
the remaining flowers onto the water, watching them spin and dance. She reached into her pack for a sleeping tunic and a cloth wrapped package. She
peeled back the cloth, revealing a large cake of soap. She held it to her nose, and inhaled the rich scent of vanilla blossoms. Retta Starling concocted the
soap every year for the Harvest Fair and she had made a point of purchasing several bars during the day. She then removed a large vial of liquid soap she
used for her hair, and a clean cloth.
-----
Wading into the stream, she set the vial onto a large rock ledge, jutting out of the water, and applied the vanilla soap to the cloth, and then to herself.
The sweet smelling soap created a thick lather that she scrubbed onto her arms and face. She lavishly smoothed the foam across her breasts and hard,
erect nipples, stopping to let her fingers stroke the scar that lay between the large, round, fleshy spheres. It had faded with time, but was always there
to remind her of how lucky she had been to survive the wound. She washed her hair, and submerged into the chilly water to rinse. Khy perched herself
atop the stone ledge to cleanse her legs and feet. She was glad that her legs were nearly hairless, as the women of the village complained constantly of
the hot, itchy hair and the rashes it caused. Using the soapy, sudsy cloth, she cleansed the hidden, almost cloistered cleft between her legs. She dived
into the water, removing any remaining soap, then, used the blanket to dry herself. She slipped into the linen sleeping tunic, and did not bother to tie the
laces. She hung up the last of the wet items, and brushed her long damp hair, sitting on the make shift bed. After banking the fire for the night, she
crawled under the blanket and soon floated off into a much-needed sleep.