"Look at them," said Talo darkly, eyeing the lot of soldiers seated around a hearth. "Making themselves at home. Bunch of twats, they are." He whistled loudly. "Hey meatheads!"

Colin reached over and clapped a hand over Talo's mouth. "Shut up, Talo! They're going to decapitate us if you don't watch your mouth!" He pulled his hand away as Talon bit it angrily.

"I won't have it!" Talo cried, and his brother glared at him.

"I know goats who are smarter than you," Malo remarked.

"Really," sighed Beth, who was filing her nails ten feet over. "You ought to act more civilized. They are soldiers of Hyrule. They're from the city."

"That's goat crap, Beth, and you know it," Talo remarked. "You just think they're handsome."

Beth blushed violently. "Well aren't you full of yourself, Mister Angry Pants..."

"You wanna go?"

"Not this again..." sighed Colin, whose attention was soon diverted to Link, who was walking in their direction. He had just exited the mayor's house.

"He looks tired," said Beth, who had stopped bickering, and had glanced up.

"Yeah, he does..." Colin mused. Link came closer.

"Colin. Can you come with me?" he asked. Colin's face lit up with delight at his idol's request.

"Yes. Yes, of course! Where are we going?" he asked.

"Just for a walk."

"But it's dark out..."

"That's okay. C'mon," Link helped Colin up, and they set off across the village. Link was quiet for awhile, and Colin could sense him tensing up when they passed the encampment of soldiers.

There were six tents in all, four men to a tent, which had all been set up after the command to clean up everything involving the Fall Festival. The party had ended early- usually it lasted all night- and the children had been heartbroken when the adults announced that there would be no fireworks that night. Usually, Fado would set them off in the middle of the night, and it was usually the highlight of the celebration.

But this year there would be no such luck.

"Maybe next year," Pergie had comforted Talo when he cried over the cancellation of the fireworks.

"Commander Rasire has decided to lodge at your house," Link began, and Colin let out a groan.

"You mean the mean guy that rode at the front of the group?" he asked.

"Yeah," Link answered. Colin trudged angrily beside him.

"This stinks," he decided.

"I agree. Colin, things are changing around here. You know that, right?"

They had reached the outskirts of the village and Colin faced Link and frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that..." Link stooped down so that his face was level with Colin's. "Bo might not be mayor for much longer. We might get a new mayor."

Colin frowned. "You can tell me the truth, Link. I'm not a child anymore."

Link felt a pang in his chest as he comprehended exactly what Colin was saying. It was yet another reminder that he and the people of Ordon Village were on two different wavelengths.

He stood up straight and cleared his throat. "Right. I know that. Colin, listen these guys-" he jerked a thumb toward the soldiers- "are not to be trusted. They're shady, Chancellor Crevan is shady, it's all very strange. I don't understand exactly what's going on but as soon as I get back to Castle Town I'm going to consult my friend Auru about it."

"But what's your point?" asked Colin, and Link looked him dead in the eye.

"My point," Link said, "is that this town needs someone to look after it. Your father will return to Hyrule eventually, and Mayor Bo might not be in charge much longer. And gods know I won't stick around to keep an eye on the place." He rested a hand on Colin's shoulder. "I want you to promise me that you'll look out for Ordon Village when the rest of us can't."

Colin was stunned. "...Me?"

"Of course you," Link answered. "You're the obvious choice."

Colin smiled in spite of the circumstances. "The obvious choice?"

"Oh, yeah," said Link. "By far."

And he wasn't lying.

The presence of soldiers in Ordon Village for the first time in years really offset the attitudes of the townsfolk. For one thing, Crevan's soldiers were mean. They made fun of the lifestyle of the villagers, calling them "hicks" and "treehuggers."

Then there was the fact that they were remarkably demanding, as they made clear as soon as their food supply ran out. They demanded that Fado slaughter his prize goat early, which broke Fado's heart but had to happen for sake of appeasing 25 armed soldiers.

And they were loud. They drank and made noise all night, keeping up Uli's daughter until the wee hours of the morning, and preventing the rest of the villagers from getting any sleep, thus making them even more irritable than usual.

To top it all off, they were completely perverted, eyeing Ilia and Ashei in inappropriate ways all day long. Link could feel anger beginning to boil in the pit of his stomach. He felt strangely possessive, and had to fight back the urge to remind all of the soldiers that only he could check out Ashei in inappropriate ways, although technically she wasn't even his to check out.

The soldiers completely disrupted the way that the village functioned, but despite their undeniable influence, the villagers did what they could to carry on with life as usual.

...

Shad did not like the soldiers.

Well, nobody liked the soldiers.

But Shad disliked the soldiers most of all.

For one thing, they whistled at Ilia a lot. For example, there was one evening where Ilia put on a skinny little outfit to go bathe in the creek. The soldiers were quick to notice, and they cheered her on in a very obnoxious manner. Shad thought it was terribly rude of the soldiers to objectify Ilia like that, not to mention that it embarrassed Ilia so much she had to go back inside. Shad was upset after that because he knew that Ilia had been looking forward to swimming, and now she wouldn't get the chance thanks to those dumb soldiers.

And then there was the fact that the soldiers made fun of him. He was reading a book in the shade of an oak tree one morning, and enjoying himself, too. The book was interesting, the weather was delightful, and he had no intentions of moving for a long time. But the soldiers noticed and made fun of him for wanting to sit and read. They jeered at him, told him he was not manly, and asked him how he planned to get a girl if all he did was read all day.

Shad answered politely that he would only want a girl if she liked him for himself, and he just happened to be a book nerd, so he'd have to get a girl who liked book nerds.

"I won't lie for love," he declared.

The soldiers roared with laughter and retaliated with the claim that Shad was a pansy- a boring pansy- and Shad slammed his book shut and returned inside.

A few days later, Shad and Ilia were taking a walk through the village. A soldier was making fun of Beth, and when Shad shouted to leave her alone, the soldiers only laughed and picked on him instead. Then they made fun of Ilia for preferring to spend her time with such a "boring book-wuss," and Ilia said, "Better a book wuss than a blockheaded bully." And then Ilia kicked the soldier in the shin, and she scooped Beth up, and she and Shad ran as quickly as they could from the enraged man.

And afterwards, when the man hunted Shad and Ilia down and claimed he could have Ilia arrested, Shad asked how he knew. And the soldier claimed he knew that attacking a soldier could earn you a fine of 100 rupees because it was in Crevan's rulebook.

So Shad just smirked, and called the man a "book-wuss," and didn't bother with those soldiers ever again.

...

Rusl hated that he had to cross his village armed. Before leaving the house each morning, he would don a layer of chainmail, cover it up with his usual clothes, and then he would strap a sword and shield to his back for good measure. He made sure Colin was armed with a wooden sword and shield as well, and told Uli to make sure the baby stayed at home, and told her if she needed to go anywhere, he would be her escort.

He was not risking the well-being of his family. Not with this raunchy lot of soldiers pacing about town.

When they were at their tents, the soldiers kept fairly to themselves. They drank, played cards, sharpened their swords, and polished whatever armor they had. Sometimes they shouted and jeered at passerby, other times, they just watched pedestrians with a menacing glare.

Early one morning, Rusl was pacing by. The soldiers were quick to interrogate him.

"Where you headed, lad?"

Rusl forced a polite smile. "I'm on my way to to forest to gather firewood."

"Why you got a sword and shield for gathrin' wood?" the soldier pressed further. He was tall and shockingly skinny for a warrior, with a long, thin mustache across his upper lip and dark, sunken eyes.

"The woods are dangerous," Rusl answered matter-of-factly. "Surely you would know that."

The soldier narrowed his eyes. "'Course we know that! We ain't stupid, is we, boys?!" The soldiers howled in agreement.

"Well then surely you'll let me on my way," Rusl said, and would have carried on, if the soldiers didn't keep shouting.

"Ain't you got a hatchet?!" the same man cried. "Or you gonna cut down them trees with your teeth? Like them... them... er, what they called, boys...?"

"Beavers!" one soldier cried.

"Yeah, yeah! Them beavers."

At this point, Rusl just sighed and kept walking. "I hope you'll return to your posts," he said, but the soldiers were hot on his trail.

"You're awful suspicious, mate," a new soldier remarked. "Why don't you join the army? You'd make a good soldier with weapons like that."

"Weaponry does not determine a good soldier," Rusl preached. "You've proven that yourselves."

...

If there was one thing in the world that Ashei hated more than anything else, it was being doubted. She hated when people doubted her, hated when people thought she was anything less than what she thought she was. Some people might have called her pretentious. Some, ostentatious. But Ashei liked to think that she wasn't bound by the limits that bound other people, and that was quite enough for her.

So when the soldiers started making fun of her, she was quick to resort to anger.

"Look at the girlie, thinks she can handle a sword," one of them teased as she was walking past their encampment one afternoon. She stopped in her tracks and wheeled around.

"Say that again to my face, yeah?"

The soldier just laughed. He's probably drunk, Ashei thought to herself.

"You think that carrying that sword will make you stronger than you actually are," remarked another of the soldiers.

The first soldier chuckled. "Girlie thinks she's a boy."

Ashei's jaw dropped. "Excuse you!" she cried. The soldiers turned to one another and their faces cracked into expressions of pure joy and disbelief.

"What?!" one cried, turning back to her. "Afraid to admit it, are you? Afraid to admit you dress like that 'cause you don't want to be a girl!"

"That's not the case at all!" Ashei cried. "I've been training as a warrior since I was a young child. It was never my decision to begin with!"

"Yeah, yeah," the second soldier remarked. "I'd be willing to bet you tell that to your girlfriend, too."

"My- what?!"

A third soldier chuckled from behind. "Don't worry, m'dear, you're no good at hiding secrets."

"No girl who likes boys would dress that much like one, " the first soldier clarified. Ashei was speechless.

"What would you know about me by the way I dress?!" she cried. "Because I wear tunics, because I carry a sword? Because I could best any of you in battle, you think that I'm inadequate of the standards placed on me by my gender?" She exhaled loudly. "You're all thicker than I thought," she said with a roll of the eyes.

"Yep," the first soldier said after a short pause. "Definitely a lesbian."

"Don't worry," a voice echoed from behind Ashei, and she jumped as a pair of hands landed on her waist. "We'll straighten you out..."

Ashei broke free of his grasp almost immediately, her blade at the man's throat in a split second. He was frightened for a second, but then he just smirked.

"Have it your way," he said smoothly, and turned to the rest of the soldiers. "C'mon," he said. "Let's leave the bitch alone."

Ashei snarled at them. "You'll definitely leave me alone, or this bitch will bite."

They almost seemed shocked, their eyes wide, their mouths shaped like o's. And then, with a final smirk, they drew away, back into the camp they'd set up. Ashei sheathed her sword warily, but she couldn't help but wonder what might have happened to her if she hadn't been armed...

...

"I'm boooored," said Talo as he lay on the floor of his house. Malo, Colin, and Beth all lay next to him with the same dull looks on their faces.

"Of course you're bored, you twat," Beth muttered. "There's nothing to do."

"Every time we go outside the soldiers make fun of us," Colin sighed. "They're really mean."

"No shit, ya spud," Talo ridiculed.

"Talo! Don't swear!" Beth cried.

"Oh, please," Malo mumbled. "He's incapable of expressing himself any other way."

"Malo, I will punch you," Talo stated.

"Go ahead. I'll tell Mama."

Talo narrowed his eyes and turned to Colin. "He's an evil genius," he whispered.

"I know," Malo said, and Talo groaned loudly.

Jaggle entered the house and slammed the door behind them. "Damned soldiers are wastin' all the pumpkins!" he cried. The children all bolted up, eyes wide.

"TALO'S DAD SWORE!" Beth cried.

"Runs in the family," Malo mumbled, giving his brother a sidelong glance.

"Dad, we're bored," Talo said, and the children slowly sank back onto the floor. Jaggle looked down at them.

"You could go throw things at the soldiers," Jaggle suggested, and the children jumped up suddenly, faces alight with mischief.

"What- no, I didn't mean it-" Jaggle shouted, but the kids were already running out the door.

At this time it was beginning to get dark outside. Talo picked up a few rotten apples from the ground and tossed them to his friends.

"Here," he said, keeping his eyes on the group of white tents where at least fifteen soldiers were sitting around several campfires. "When I give the command, throw as hard as you can!"

"This is a bad idea," Colin said nervously.

"Ready..." began Talo. "Aim..."

Colin and Beth glanced at each other nervously, cracked a grin, and then stared back ahead.

"FIRE!"

A myriad of aerial apples assailed the camp, bonking soldiers' heads and backs and knocking over a frying pan, a stool, and a small stack of poorly-placed firewood. A final, hesitantly thrown apple collided with the head of Commander Rasire, who happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. He turned on the spot, his eagle eye landing on none other than Colin, whose hand was still aloft with the follow-through his father had taught him.

Rasire rubbed the back of his head and scowled, and then began marching over.

"Run!" cried Talo, and the children scattered. All except for Colin, whose fear kept him tethered in place.

"I- I-"

"You're Rusl's kid!" Rasire remarked. "Respectable man like him, well, I'd never expect him to raise such a little bastard..." He grabbed Colin's collar and leaned in menacingly. "Just what do you and your friends think you're going to accomplish by assaulting my men? Did you think we would leave? Think we'd abandon your village, scared off by the petty attempts of some dumb kids?!"

Colin gathered all of his courage and spat in the man's face, fully aware that he would regret it. Rasire stumbled back and wiped the spit from his forehead, absolutely glowering.

"That's it! I'll teach you a lesson, you little devil!" He unleashed and raised his blade, and Colin thought for sure he was about to meet with an untimely and embarrassing death-

"Stop it right there!"

Rasire halted, his sword suspended menacingly over his head. Realizing that the point of another blade was at his back, he lowered his sword and turned.

Link and Ashei stood behind him, both of their swords pointed at Rasire, who, despite his surprise, did not sheathe his blade.

"Look at this," he scorned. "Ordon's own swordsman... and swordswoman. Or so she pretends."

"Leave Colin alone," Link said through gritted teeth.

"Or?"

"Or you'll have me to answer to."

Rasire laughed. "I'm sure I will. Tell me, what do you expect me to do? Behead the child?"

Link scoffed. "No man raises a sword unless he has intentions of violence."

Rasire's upper lip curled in disgust. "I merely meant to strike him with the blunt side of the sword as a means of teaching him a lesson. He and his friends meant to attack my camp!"

Ashei smirked and tossed an apple into the air. "Good thing they've got such calamitous ammunition," she deadpanned.

Rasire rolled his eyes. "All technicalities aside..." he said, and then turned to Colin. He'd barely moved an inch in Colin's direction before Link's blade was against his throat.

"Don't you dare."

Rasire was still for a moment. Then, his grip tightened on his sword, and he smirked.

"Very well," he said. "I must say, I find you quite compelling, Master..."

"Link."

"Link. I've heard stories about you. The Hero of Hyrule. My, what a title. I'm sure you wear it well. How about you and I have a little duel, Master Link?"

Link was skeptical. "What kind of duel?" he asked slowly.

"The usual kind," Rasire answered smoothly. "We fight until one of us is dead, maimed, or gives in."

"You're mad," Link decided, and turned to Ashei. "Can you believe him?" he said incredulously.

Ashei, however, didn't seem surprised at all. "I say you go for it," she decided. "Put this guy back in his place."

"Don't do it, Link," said Colin quietly. "Just let me take the beating."

"No," said Link firmly. "You won't be taking any beatings on my account."

"Link, this is just stupid," Colin advised. "Please, you're just making a mistake!"

Ashei just smirked. "C'mon, Link, if you don't want to fight, I'll fight for you-"

Rasire threw back his head and laughed. "Good heavens!" he cried, and his expression turned suddenly serious. "Do you mock me? A girl thinks that she is worthy of a duel?"

"I could kick your ass straight out of Hyrule and back into whatever shithole you came from!" Ashei threatened, and then paused. "Sorry, Colin," she added, noting that her foul language had probably offended him.

Rasire just brushed off her comment. "I'm more interested in what he has to offer. Come on, hero. Don't tell me you're really a coward? I would hate to hear that the man doesn't live up to the legend."

"Leave him alone," Colin said quietly.

"Silence, boy," Rasire snapped, and he twirled his sword with a smirk, eventually ending with the blade turning outwards. "A battle. To the death, if you'd like."

Link sighed. "I don't want to hurt you-"

"Yes you do," Rasire corrected. "Look at you! You're angry- angry that someone could ruin a shot at happiness. And, oh, how unhappy you've been. I can tell by the glint in your eyes, boy! You've had a miserable time these past days. Or... has it been days?" Every word hit home, and he knew that Link knew it, too.

Link raised his sword cautiously. "You're making a mistake, Rasire," Link said, and Rasire just gave a dark laugh.

"Everything you say is an empty threat, boy!" he cried.

"It is not," Link answered, and Rasire glared back at him.

"Then prove it!" he shouted.

"I'm about to!" Link cried back, and he raised his sword above his head. Rasire grinned like a madman and deflected Link's oncoming blow. He gave a sneer, but Link attacked from the side, and the force of his swing knocked Rasire's blade out of his hands. It landed in the grass twenty feet away, and the point of Link's sword ended up pressing lightly into Rasire's chest. Rasire fell to his knees in shock.

"Tell me why I shouldn't just kill you," Link threatened. Rasire gave a strange smile.

"You're far too afraid to kill anyone. You've cleared that up yourself."

Link's jaw clenched in anger. "Say that again, Rasire. Call me a coward one more time."

"You're a coward and a fool to try and hide it," Rasire said easily. Enraged, Link raised his blade above his head- made to swing- this was it, he was going to kill him-

His hands froze above his head, and his grip on the hilt slackened. Move, dammit, he told his arms. Strike him down. Kill him now!

The rage was there. It thrashed around and burned inside of him, several days' worth of rage that he had been keeping bottled up. One swing of the sword and this man's head would split open, and black-red blood would come gushing out, and his eyes would stare blankly ahead as the life drained out of him, and he would be dead, and Colin would be safe-

The vision shattered in Link's mind as he was hoisted back into reality like a drowning man rescued from the water. He lowered his sword slowly, sheathed it, grabbed Colin by the collar, told him to run along, and then ran along himself, all the way back to his house with Ashei in tow.

And once he was inside his house he took his sheathed sword and threw it upon the ground so hard that the noise continued echoing for seconds afterwards. Ashei followed after him and shut the door delicately behind her, jumping in surprise as Link's hand slammed against the wall and he sank to the floor, arms around his knees, head in his arms. She took a few steps toward him, her tread light and reluctant. He was shaking; she wondered whether he might be crying, and rested a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"What did you do?!" Link answered darkly.

"I egged him on... Egged both of you on. I should have remembered how you feel about fighting."

"It's not you," Link said. "It's never you, it's me. It will always be me."

He pulled his head from his arms and faced her. He wasn't crying, but he was visibly shaken. He was pale, and sweaty, and downright scared.

"I wanted to kill him," Link explained. "Right then and there, I wanted to kill him. I wanted to bash his head in and watch his brains leak out, I wanted to see blood, I wanted to watch him die. I wanted to do it for Colin and for you and for the rest of this whole gods-damned village!" He slammed his fist on the floor and collapsed back into his shell. Ashei didn't know what to do, so she just sat there, dormant.

It's getting to a point, she thought to herself, where I don't know what I can do to help him. And that frightens me.

"You're not getting any better," she asked quietly, "are you?"

Link shrugged. "I thought I was. I really did. But then that fucking chancellor and his legion of soldiers had to ruin everything! It's like someone's out to personally get me."

"That's what I'm starting to think," Ashei said. "But we can't let that scare us off. We're strategic warriors, right? We can use their tactics as a... I don't know, a behavioral analysis. To predict further actions, to retaliate effectively-"

"Ashei, for once in my life, I don't want to be a warrior. Just this once can we treat this as what it really is?! It's me wallowing in self-pity, and that's the end of it." He exhaled, trying to calm himself down. "Don't try to turn me into a martyr. There's no excuse for the way I act sometimes, for the way I'm acting now. Just let me be sad for once, and stop trying to glorify it. Stop trying to give everything meaning.

"I asked you a few days ago to treat me normally," Link continued. "When Ilia got upset a few nights ago, you didn't take pity on her. What makes it any different with me? Is it because you respect me more, because I'm a hero? Because I fought Hyrule's way to freedom? Because if that's why you have respect for me, then I don't want it. I don't." He was quiet after that, and Ashei was hindered unresponsive.

The silence was broken by a scream.

It echoed from all the way down in the village, a scream of pure terror, of someone in need of immediate aid...

"Oh, goddesses," Ashei whispered in horror. "Link, it's Ilia. That's Ilia's voice."

Link tried to stand up, but Ashei forced him down.

"You stay here," she advised. "You're a wreck."

"But Ilia-"

"I'll save her," Ashei promised, and she was on the run before Link had time to protest.

...

It was late at night, and Ilia was headed home. The night was dark and still around her, and her gut squirmed in discomfort, telling her that something was definitely astray...

She glanced back and forth, but all she could see through the darkness was the firelight from the soldier's camp about 100 feet away. Everything else was a silhouette in the light of the waning moon and Ilia wrapped her bare limbs around her torso in the cold air.

But she still couldn't shake off the feeling that there was something eerie going on. It was silent... dead silent, except for her own breathing and the distant sound of the creek...

She stopped in her trail and took a few shaky breaths, the silence around her pressing- a twig snapped-

"MMMPH!" she cried as a hand clapped over her mouth and another hand wrapped around her stomach. Her eyes widened in alarm but her further screams were muffled as she was dragged off to the side, into the shadow of the treeline. She writhed in her attacker's grasp, but it was to no avail; she was too weak, and her assailant was too strong...

She was thrown against a tree and the attacker pinned her against it, his breath hot and smelling heavily of alcohol. It's one of Crevan's soldiers...

"Hold still, girlie..."

No. This wasn't happening, there was no way this was happening... Ilia's heart was hammering in her chest. She summoned all of her strength and kneed the man squarely in the crotch. He stumbled back in pain.

"You bitch!" he cried, and Ilia's attempt to escape failed as he wrapped his arms around her and threw her down into the grass. Her head rattled at the impact and all she could see were stars as the man tore her shirt off of her and exposed her to the cold air. She shrieked and tried to cover herself; it was to no avail.

The man laughed sinisterly and Ilia braced herself for the worst...

And then she screamed in utter shock as the man's head was sliced clean off of his body. Ashei stood behind him- when she'd gotten there, Ilia didn't know, but she was terribly embarrassed.

"Ashei- I-"

"Run!" Ashei ordered. "Get out of here!"

Ilia's eyes widened in terror and she gave a nod, scrambling to her feet and sprinting across the village as fast as her legs could carry her. She flung herself in the direction of her home, feet sloshing through mud and grass as she gasped for air, her throat and chest dry and in desperate need of oxygen.

She ran up the steps of her house and threw the door open, ducking inside and slamming it behind her. She slid down slowly until she was slouched against the door. For a second, she just sat there blankly, trying to catch her breath, arms wrapped protectively around her.

And then she broke down into tears.

Shad found her this way ten minutes later. He was already in his pajamas, and he looked newly washed, warm, clean, and sleepy in a heavy woolen housecoat.

When he saw her, adrenaline shot through him. He approached her slowly, overcome with shock. And then he knelt down slowly, touching her forearm gently.

Ilia glanced up, eyes red, lips blue from the cold. He noted in terror that her torso had been stripped bare, and noticed bruises developing on her arms, and didn't even need to ask what had happened. He just pulled off his bathrobe and gave it to her, and she wrapped up in it, tying it securely around her waist.

Then he pulled her into a long embrace, feeling her cold, damp body shake against his warm, dry one. He held her there for a long time, and when she was ready to move, he brought her upstairs. She changed into a nightgown and he helped her into bed, lit an oil lamp, and made to leave.

"Wait." Her voice was meek. It was the first word she'd said since she got home. Shad took a few steps back in her direction.

"Yes?"

"Lay with me," Ilia commanded, without looking. So Shad climbed into the bed next to her, utterly bewildered, but not about to complain.

"Now hold me," she requested, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him, and resting his face in her thick, soft hair. He inhaled her scent and tried very, very hard to tell himself that this wasn't a sensual thing. Ilia didn't love him back, right? But he loved her, and he was going to hold Ilia right here, hold her here and make her know that she was safe with him, that she could trust him, that she could lay herself down, that she could be at peace.

Because he was her best friend. And that's what best friends do.

Next chapter: Something has to be done about these soldiers.

For some reason, I'm on a roll right now. I'm cranking out chapters at an unprecedented pace. That doesn't mean I'm trying to rush my updates, it means that I literally have spent all of my time writing because a.) I'm not allowed to leave my room or I might accidentally give someone radiation poisoning, and b.) I've been doing a lot of reading lately, which spurs the desire to write.