Post by Yoshiko on Mar 7, 2006 9:57:14 GMT -5
Yeah, I got chapter six. Read it, leave a comment if you'd like, and then go... do something else. XD
The Shadow of the East
Chapter Six
Finally, a Break
It had taken some time to escape from the large mass of people in the tavern, but Bryan had finally waved them away with, “I have to leave, my people! I have to leave on a great quest to save the world, but I will return! I will return to you all, and we’ll all have beer! BEEEEER!”
Lance shoved aside nonsense, and quickly pulled him from the bar, Jenna following absent-mindedly.
“Bryan, listen to me, and listen perfectly. I’ve got a few questions for you.” Lance told him, as they passed by a large willow tree. “How often do you get drunk, and how bad is it when you are drunk?”
“You saw me last night.” Bryan replied flatly, rubbing his eyes. He had slept in the latest, and thus, was awake; just thought it was a bit bright. “I was pretty drunk, you must think, but that’s not even the half of it. Oh, if you’d seen me back in Xiovi, you’d have been amazed at me!”
“Silence!” Lance said quietly, putting a hand on the alcoholic’s shoulder. “How bad are you when you’re as drunk as you can get without passing out?”
“Pretty bad.” He answered in a singsong voice. “Like I said, in Xiovi, back in Talinor, I was pretty bad. I mistook a pole for a woman, tried to pull it from the ground, and when that didn’t work, I grabbed my sword, and tried to cut it down.”
Lance was silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed. “You can’t be like that if you’re coming with me. And you are coming with me.”
All after that, the group walked on in silence; Bryan was thinking of what exactly Lance wanted him with them for. Just as a bodyguard to Xiovi? Well, that made sense. Roads these days were rather treacherous.
The town behind them quickly disappeared behind a tall hill, and into a valley they went. It looked as if it weren’t populated, and upon closer inspection, Quizzle noticed that a large population of ugnarooks inhabited the area. He hoped he and the group would go unnoticed.
“Lance.” He said quietly in the Prince’s ear, as Jenna fell in step beside him. “…Have you noticed…?”
“Yes, I have, Quizzle. They’re everywhere, but thankfully, they’re dumb beasts. They probably won’t notice us.”
The filark seemed to nod his head in agreement. Jenna looked at him for a moment, turned her head, and looked at Bryan, who was on the other side of Lance. “Bryan?” She said quietly, and what could be described as intimidation.
“Yes, little missy?” He answered back, smiling genuinely at the girl. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering… Would you… Is there anyone…?” Jenna couldn’t seem to finish her sentences at all.
“Out with it, girl! What are you trying to say?”
“Not now.” Lance said quickly and quietly. “The ugnarooks are really, highly sensitive to sounds and vibrations. I suggest we don’t talk for the time being.” And with that, he motioned to his lips, that they should all seal theirs, and it was so.
On the group continued, being wary of the ugnarooks that seemed to draw closer everything now and then. Whenever this seemed to happen, the travelers would just slowly and quietly, as if they didn’t notice, walk in another direction, but still in the generally same path. Bryan would occasionally attempt to taunt them, but would end up with either a dagger firmly against his side, or with a small ball of fire threateningly held to his eye level. That would always quickly and effectively silence him.
Night fell quickly upon the travelers, with an uneventful day of dodging ugnarooks and walking. Not much happened, and then they sat, in a nice, large area with a nearby stream, and a fallen tree, which made as a nice seat, as well as wood for burning in the dark, thick night. Quickly, the dark velvet blanket of nightly darkness descended upon the valley, and the ugnarooks had retreated to their homes, to escape the darkness, and sleep for the night.
With Lance’s sword, Bryan had cut all the available limbs from the tree, and thrown them into one large pile, growing larger with every branch. By the time Bryan was finished, the pile was a very nice, neat six-foot pile. Lance took a few branches from this pile, put them into another, smaller pile, and held out his palm towards the wood. Then, a large burst of fire erupted from the center of his hand, which immediately set the limbs aflame.
“The fires I can make will last us all night.” He promptly said to the other three after that. Bryan nodded, Jenna looked straight at the flames, and Quizzle had just taken a seat next to her on the ground. Lancelot then took a seat next to the Xiovian, and looked at his face from the side.
“Bryan. Fight me. Now.” Lance said quickly, too quiet for Jenna or Quizzle to hear.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what?” Bryan seemed completely surprised, as well as almost worried for Lancelot’s well-being. “Trust me, no you don’t. I’m… A little too good for you, I think.”
“Thinking a bit highly of yourself, are you not, Bryan?” Lance answered, standing. Jenna nor Quizzle seemed to take notice of this, and so, he took Bryan out further, into the shadows, but with enough light to have a decent fight. “We’ll use branches! Please, Bryan. You fight well when you’re drunk – I want to see how you are when you’re sober.”
“Listen, I’ll just tell you, I’m even better then. But, if you really want to fight me, so be it. I won’t stop you. Branches, you say?” At this question, Lancelot nodded, and Bryan sighed. “I’ll do my best.” He bent over, lifted up a large, thick log, and twirled it idly in his hands. It had to weigh at least thirty pounds, and was what seemed to be ten feet in length.
Lance blinked for a moment, sighed, and then found himself a good, thick and sturdy branch. He swung it a few times, then nodded to himself; facing Bryan, Lance smiled weakly. “Well, let’s have at it, shall we?”
To this, Bryan nodded, and rushed Lance insanely quick for someone carrying something so large. Lance ducked under the horizontal swing quickly, then jabbed Bryan painfully in the ribs with his stick. It really seemed to have no effect, for the man quickly back-stepped, then brought down the log, using the weight of it to do so. Lance slid between Bryan’s legs, then quickly stood up, and hit his back with the sword-like weapon.
“What!?” Lance cried out in disbelief, as Bryan didn’t even delay his next move. He spun quickly, brought the log around, and hit the Prince in the side painfully and powerfully; Lance flew through the air, across the small field, and came to an abrupt stop against a thick tree, with a loud ‘thunk’. Bryan quickly tossed aside the large log, and ran to Lance as quickly as he could – the space between where Lance had taken off in the air, and where he had hit the tree was at least twenty yards.
“Lance! Lance!” Bryan urged his eyes to open, but to no avail – Lancelot was either dead, or severely injured and unconscious. He lifted the Prince on his shoulder, and carried him back to the camp.
“Jenna…” He said, quickly laying the Prince on the ground before her. “He’s hurt. We were having a practice fight, and I got carried away.” Bryan blurted out, not caring if she would scold him later; Lance was his top priority right now.
“Ah!” She cried, kneeling down next to Bryan. “You’re right, he’s hurt quite bad, but I think I should be able to manage to help.”
“Jenna, make sure you know what you’re doing!” Quizzle Malarky spoke aloud, knowing of the mere apprenticeship rather than the mastering of the healing arts she knew.
“Silence.” She commanded, placing her hands over Lance’s forehead. First, through his mind, she would speed up the regeneration of his wounds. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, as well as from his head, but everything else seemed fine.
A soft, white glow spread from Jenna’s hand to Lance’s forehead, and traveled all throughout his body, right to the tip of his toes. The girl, after the white light had disappeared, went into a pack and pulled out a small, white cloth. She took a small water canteen, dribbled a bit onto the cloth, and then washed away the blood from Lance’s face.
Meanwhile, Bryan had gone into his own pack, and rummaged for a bit. Finally, he took out what looked to be a roll of bandages. He took off three or four feet of it, ripped off the cloth-like bandages, and began gently but firmly wrapping it around Lance’s head. Then, he was laid down, and left alone. Only time would tell if the Prince would awaken to his old self.
Back outside, the fire had become dimmer than before, but still shone brightly in the darkness. Without Lance, though, Bryan and Jenna would have to keep the fires going; so, figuring he may as well be a gentleman, Bryan stood from his seat on the log beside Jenna, and placed a few more branches in the fire. The flames licked up at the wood, and quickly began to consume it; then, without a word, he sat down again, right next to the black-haired apprentice mage.
Quizzle, who’d been watching everything in silence, finally spoke, breaking the silence of the night. “He’ll be fine. Lance is a strong lad, and I can tell just from the couple days I’ve known him.
Jenna replied, “Of course, Quizzle. Lance is very… Let’s just say he’s very… Oh, I really don’t know how to describe him; but, really, he is quite a fighter.”
“Yeah.” Bryan admitted. “I was surprised that he was so fast – he just doesn’t seem like that kind. To me, Lance seems more of a head-on-head fighting kind of guy.”
“Yes.” Jenna admitted, smiling cheerily at Bryan Walker. The man smiled back, brushing a bit of black hair from his soft, green eyes.
There was silence after that. Jenna figured Quizzle had found a nice, large tree to sleep in, and figured he was lucky for it; no ugnarooks could reach him up there. The mage simply sat in silence, as did Bryan. Eventually, he lifted a small branch from the fire, and began twirling it carelessly in his fingers.
“Erm… Bryan, is that safe?” Jenna queried, looking at him in a surprised manner.
“Oh, this? Eheh… Yeah. Sorry.” He answered sheepishly, giving her a smile of the same state. Placing the limb back in the flames, he turned and lay out comfortably on the log. Jenna blinked, watched him for a moment, then got down from the makeshift bed, and lay down on the ground just beside it. Lance was on the other side of the fire, still unconscious, but still alive. Bryan shortly drifted off to sleep, as did Jenna, Quizzle long gone.
It was long into the next morning when Lancelot had awoken. He found himself with a throbbing head, bandages here and there about his body, and a rather painful jolt in his right side whenever he tried to sit up, or for that matter, move at all.
“Bryan? Jenna?” He sighed, feeling the air painfully exhale from his chest. “…Quizzle?” No one answered. Painfully and rigidly, Lance managed to roll on his side, which provided him a few of the burned fire of the night before, and Bryan and Jenna, sleeping rather comfortably. The Prince recalled all the events from the night before, and sighed. He had lost quite horribly to the professional fighter; or, Lance at least assumed him to professional, considering how quickly he had knocked him out last night.
Then, taking in a deep breath, Lancelot let his voice ring clear in the bright sunlight of Darleanna: “Bryan Walker, get up, now!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, which, promptly afterwards, left him with a piercing pain in his chest and side.
Walker leapt up, shouting, “What!?”, leaning up on his arms. Then, he turned, saw Lance, and shrugged. “Oh. What do you want?” He questioned quietly with a yawn, as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Bryan, do you recall what happened last night?”
“Oh, um… Yeah, last night. I… Slept?” Bryan looked at Lance, half asleep; he really, honestly seemed baffled.
“No, not that. Yes, you slept, but that’s not what I’m referring to. You almost killed me and you can’t remember? What’s wrong with you!?” Lance almost shouted incredulously. Jenna was, oddly, still asleep; Quizzle was nowhere to be seen.
“Aha! That. Yeah, I remember. I’m just tired.” Bryan said cheerily, a happy grin adorning his face.
“Of course, of course. I’ll have you know, I’m in a lot of pain right now. I don’t think I can walk, but I’ll try. Now, wake up Jenna, and get her to find Quizzle. We move out as quickly as possible.”
“Right, Lance. Five more minutes.”
Well, there you go and there you have it. Sorry for such a de-lay. More to come soon, hopefully.
The Shadow of the East
Chapter Six
Finally, a Break
It had taken some time to escape from the large mass of people in the tavern, but Bryan had finally waved them away with, “I have to leave, my people! I have to leave on a great quest to save the world, but I will return! I will return to you all, and we’ll all have beer! BEEEEER!”
Lance shoved aside nonsense, and quickly pulled him from the bar, Jenna following absent-mindedly.
“Bryan, listen to me, and listen perfectly. I’ve got a few questions for you.” Lance told him, as they passed by a large willow tree. “How often do you get drunk, and how bad is it when you are drunk?”
“You saw me last night.” Bryan replied flatly, rubbing his eyes. He had slept in the latest, and thus, was awake; just thought it was a bit bright. “I was pretty drunk, you must think, but that’s not even the half of it. Oh, if you’d seen me back in Xiovi, you’d have been amazed at me!”
“Silence!” Lance said quietly, putting a hand on the alcoholic’s shoulder. “How bad are you when you’re as drunk as you can get without passing out?”
“Pretty bad.” He answered in a singsong voice. “Like I said, in Xiovi, back in Talinor, I was pretty bad. I mistook a pole for a woman, tried to pull it from the ground, and when that didn’t work, I grabbed my sword, and tried to cut it down.”
Lance was silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed. “You can’t be like that if you’re coming with me. And you are coming with me.”
All after that, the group walked on in silence; Bryan was thinking of what exactly Lance wanted him with them for. Just as a bodyguard to Xiovi? Well, that made sense. Roads these days were rather treacherous.
The town behind them quickly disappeared behind a tall hill, and into a valley they went. It looked as if it weren’t populated, and upon closer inspection, Quizzle noticed that a large population of ugnarooks inhabited the area. He hoped he and the group would go unnoticed.
“Lance.” He said quietly in the Prince’s ear, as Jenna fell in step beside him. “…Have you noticed…?”
“Yes, I have, Quizzle. They’re everywhere, but thankfully, they’re dumb beasts. They probably won’t notice us.”
The filark seemed to nod his head in agreement. Jenna looked at him for a moment, turned her head, and looked at Bryan, who was on the other side of Lance. “Bryan?” She said quietly, and what could be described as intimidation.
“Yes, little missy?” He answered back, smiling genuinely at the girl. “What can I do for you?”
“Well, I was wondering… Would you… Is there anyone…?” Jenna couldn’t seem to finish her sentences at all.
“Out with it, girl! What are you trying to say?”
“Not now.” Lance said quickly and quietly. “The ugnarooks are really, highly sensitive to sounds and vibrations. I suggest we don’t talk for the time being.” And with that, he motioned to his lips, that they should all seal theirs, and it was so.
On the group continued, being wary of the ugnarooks that seemed to draw closer everything now and then. Whenever this seemed to happen, the travelers would just slowly and quietly, as if they didn’t notice, walk in another direction, but still in the generally same path. Bryan would occasionally attempt to taunt them, but would end up with either a dagger firmly against his side, or with a small ball of fire threateningly held to his eye level. That would always quickly and effectively silence him.
Night fell quickly upon the travelers, with an uneventful day of dodging ugnarooks and walking. Not much happened, and then they sat, in a nice, large area with a nearby stream, and a fallen tree, which made as a nice seat, as well as wood for burning in the dark, thick night. Quickly, the dark velvet blanket of nightly darkness descended upon the valley, and the ugnarooks had retreated to their homes, to escape the darkness, and sleep for the night.
With Lance’s sword, Bryan had cut all the available limbs from the tree, and thrown them into one large pile, growing larger with every branch. By the time Bryan was finished, the pile was a very nice, neat six-foot pile. Lance took a few branches from this pile, put them into another, smaller pile, and held out his palm towards the wood. Then, a large burst of fire erupted from the center of his hand, which immediately set the limbs aflame.
“The fires I can make will last us all night.” He promptly said to the other three after that. Bryan nodded, Jenna looked straight at the flames, and Quizzle had just taken a seat next to her on the ground. Lancelot then took a seat next to the Xiovian, and looked at his face from the side.
“Bryan. Fight me. Now.” Lance said quickly, too quiet for Jenna or Quizzle to hear.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait, what?” Bryan seemed completely surprised, as well as almost worried for Lancelot’s well-being. “Trust me, no you don’t. I’m… A little too good for you, I think.”
“Thinking a bit highly of yourself, are you not, Bryan?” Lance answered, standing. Jenna nor Quizzle seemed to take notice of this, and so, he took Bryan out further, into the shadows, but with enough light to have a decent fight. “We’ll use branches! Please, Bryan. You fight well when you’re drunk – I want to see how you are when you’re sober.”
“Listen, I’ll just tell you, I’m even better then. But, if you really want to fight me, so be it. I won’t stop you. Branches, you say?” At this question, Lancelot nodded, and Bryan sighed. “I’ll do my best.” He bent over, lifted up a large, thick log, and twirled it idly in his hands. It had to weigh at least thirty pounds, and was what seemed to be ten feet in length.
Lance blinked for a moment, sighed, and then found himself a good, thick and sturdy branch. He swung it a few times, then nodded to himself; facing Bryan, Lance smiled weakly. “Well, let’s have at it, shall we?”
To this, Bryan nodded, and rushed Lance insanely quick for someone carrying something so large. Lance ducked under the horizontal swing quickly, then jabbed Bryan painfully in the ribs with his stick. It really seemed to have no effect, for the man quickly back-stepped, then brought down the log, using the weight of it to do so. Lance slid between Bryan’s legs, then quickly stood up, and hit his back with the sword-like weapon.
“What!?” Lance cried out in disbelief, as Bryan didn’t even delay his next move. He spun quickly, brought the log around, and hit the Prince in the side painfully and powerfully; Lance flew through the air, across the small field, and came to an abrupt stop against a thick tree, with a loud ‘thunk’. Bryan quickly tossed aside the large log, and ran to Lance as quickly as he could – the space between where Lance had taken off in the air, and where he had hit the tree was at least twenty yards.
“Lance! Lance!” Bryan urged his eyes to open, but to no avail – Lancelot was either dead, or severely injured and unconscious. He lifted the Prince on his shoulder, and carried him back to the camp.
“Jenna…” He said, quickly laying the Prince on the ground before her. “He’s hurt. We were having a practice fight, and I got carried away.” Bryan blurted out, not caring if she would scold him later; Lance was his top priority right now.
“Ah!” She cried, kneeling down next to Bryan. “You’re right, he’s hurt quite bad, but I think I should be able to manage to help.”
“Jenna, make sure you know what you’re doing!” Quizzle Malarky spoke aloud, knowing of the mere apprenticeship rather than the mastering of the healing arts she knew.
“Silence.” She commanded, placing her hands over Lance’s forehead. First, through his mind, she would speed up the regeneration of his wounds. Blood dribbled from the corner of his mouth, as well as from his head, but everything else seemed fine.
A soft, white glow spread from Jenna’s hand to Lance’s forehead, and traveled all throughout his body, right to the tip of his toes. The girl, after the white light had disappeared, went into a pack and pulled out a small, white cloth. She took a small water canteen, dribbled a bit onto the cloth, and then washed away the blood from Lance’s face.
Meanwhile, Bryan had gone into his own pack, and rummaged for a bit. Finally, he took out what looked to be a roll of bandages. He took off three or four feet of it, ripped off the cloth-like bandages, and began gently but firmly wrapping it around Lance’s head. Then, he was laid down, and left alone. Only time would tell if the Prince would awaken to his old self.
Back outside, the fire had become dimmer than before, but still shone brightly in the darkness. Without Lance, though, Bryan and Jenna would have to keep the fires going; so, figuring he may as well be a gentleman, Bryan stood from his seat on the log beside Jenna, and placed a few more branches in the fire. The flames licked up at the wood, and quickly began to consume it; then, without a word, he sat down again, right next to the black-haired apprentice mage.
Quizzle, who’d been watching everything in silence, finally spoke, breaking the silence of the night. “He’ll be fine. Lance is a strong lad, and I can tell just from the couple days I’ve known him.
Jenna replied, “Of course, Quizzle. Lance is very… Let’s just say he’s very… Oh, I really don’t know how to describe him; but, really, he is quite a fighter.”
“Yeah.” Bryan admitted. “I was surprised that he was so fast – he just doesn’t seem like that kind. To me, Lance seems more of a head-on-head fighting kind of guy.”
“Yes.” Jenna admitted, smiling cheerily at Bryan Walker. The man smiled back, brushing a bit of black hair from his soft, green eyes.
There was silence after that. Jenna figured Quizzle had found a nice, large tree to sleep in, and figured he was lucky for it; no ugnarooks could reach him up there. The mage simply sat in silence, as did Bryan. Eventually, he lifted a small branch from the fire, and began twirling it carelessly in his fingers.
“Erm… Bryan, is that safe?” Jenna queried, looking at him in a surprised manner.
“Oh, this? Eheh… Yeah. Sorry.” He answered sheepishly, giving her a smile of the same state. Placing the limb back in the flames, he turned and lay out comfortably on the log. Jenna blinked, watched him for a moment, then got down from the makeshift bed, and lay down on the ground just beside it. Lance was on the other side of the fire, still unconscious, but still alive. Bryan shortly drifted off to sleep, as did Jenna, Quizzle long gone.
It was long into the next morning when Lancelot had awoken. He found himself with a throbbing head, bandages here and there about his body, and a rather painful jolt in his right side whenever he tried to sit up, or for that matter, move at all.
“Bryan? Jenna?” He sighed, feeling the air painfully exhale from his chest. “…Quizzle?” No one answered. Painfully and rigidly, Lance managed to roll on his side, which provided him a few of the burned fire of the night before, and Bryan and Jenna, sleeping rather comfortably. The Prince recalled all the events from the night before, and sighed. He had lost quite horribly to the professional fighter; or, Lance at least assumed him to professional, considering how quickly he had knocked him out last night.
Then, taking in a deep breath, Lancelot let his voice ring clear in the bright sunlight of Darleanna: “Bryan Walker, get up, now!” He shouted at the top of his lungs, which, promptly afterwards, left him with a piercing pain in his chest and side.
Walker leapt up, shouting, “What!?”, leaning up on his arms. Then, he turned, saw Lance, and shrugged. “Oh. What do you want?” He questioned quietly with a yawn, as he rubbed the back of his head.
“Bryan, do you recall what happened last night?”
“Oh, um… Yeah, last night. I… Slept?” Bryan looked at Lance, half asleep; he really, honestly seemed baffled.
“No, not that. Yes, you slept, but that’s not what I’m referring to. You almost killed me and you can’t remember? What’s wrong with you!?” Lance almost shouted incredulously. Jenna was, oddly, still asleep; Quizzle was nowhere to be seen.
“Aha! That. Yeah, I remember. I’m just tired.” Bryan said cheerily, a happy grin adorning his face.
“Of course, of course. I’ll have you know, I’m in a lot of pain right now. I don’t think I can walk, but I’ll try. Now, wake up Jenna, and get her to find Quizzle. We move out as quickly as possible.”
“Right, Lance. Five more minutes.”
Well, there you go and there you have it. Sorry for such a de-lay. More to come soon, hopefully.