Okay, sorry this took sooooo long, but I had it almost done, in a shared folder on our LAN network and then my baka dad said "Oh look. Her file cabinet and Anime folders are in two places, let's delete one…" so it went poof cause it WASN'T in two places, it was in ONE place on the NETWORK and… okay, three deep breaths… I'm calm… the basic point is, it's late, sorry.br
Disclaimer: Please, PLEAAAAAAAAAAASE write your OWN story? ;_; br
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Monks, Suspicions, and
brMornings, Oh Mybr
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br "I bet the boys have already started arguing," Lisian said, untying the ribbon from the end of her braid, "If we're lucky, they'll kill each other by morning."br
Elly wriggled into her nightgown. Lisian was just kidding, and they both knew it. br
"Personally, I'm going to have a nice, long talk with that man when he wakes up. My arms are sore like…" Lisian trailed off, trying to think of what her arms hurt like. "Well… like I've been carrying a man around," she finished lamely. She shrugged and began attacking her hair with a comb. br
" What're we gonna do with him?"br
" I suppose it depends on what he tells us ."br
" But I think we should wait 'till he can stand, then get him away from us," Elly confided.br
"Elanistar!" Lisian said, shocked. She put the comb and prepared for a Little Chat. Elly didn't understand this, as they tended to be long and one sided. br
" He growled at me!" Elly protested, trying to prevent a Little Chat. " He's creepy! You didn't notice anything weird?"br
"I did feel unusual power," Lisian admitted, " But that doesn't mean anything. He's a monk, maybe he has some sort of holy powers or something."br
" It's not normal. He should be dead. I know iI/i wouldn't have survived a Big Bad and Scary like that."br
" You," Lisian said, retrieving her comb, "Are a very young elf. He is a full-grown human."br
"I'm not that little!" Elly cried. She made her best pouty face, sticking out her bottom lip. "I'm taller than Driscal!"br
"Driscal doesn't count."br
Elly glared at her for another moment, then slid under the blankets with a disgruntled "Hmph!"brbr
A thief and a human rested under a single beam, of moonlight, long since given up on arguing. The curtains of the room's only window flapped slightly, reluctantly giving in to the night breeze. A slight noise broke the silence, and a shadow suddenly blocked most of the moonlight. There was a hiss, and the shadow eased itself slowly back down. A moment later, it rose again, carefully. It cocked its head questioningly, then dug in its pockets. There was a sigh of relief and a silver glint. The pendant slipped over the head of the figure, shining in the moonlight. The Halfling opened one eye and saw the shadow. br
"Well," the shadow said, in the tone of one who has no idea what the universe has just flung at them but will pretend to just to spite it, "I know where ithat/i is, now all I have to do is figure out where iI/i am…"br
A shout. A thump. An angry halfling holding a sitting human at knifepoint.br
" Not somewhere I want to be," the human decided nervously, "That's rather uncomfortable, you know."br
Driscal sighed and lowered his bootknife.br
"Oh, just you…"br
"Just me? Wait- what?"br
"S'okay," Driscal murmured, patting him on the shoulder, "I'll explain everything in the morning. G'night."br
"Ow! That hurt," he moaned. br
"'Course it hurt," replied Driscal, stumbling over to his pallet, "You had an arrow there an hour or two ago…"br
"Wait, but- Danor, my head hurts, and this isn't bloody helping it!"br
"You thieving little ruffian!" The shout rang out sharply against the quiet, and the human winced and covered his ears. A very short old man scrambled to his feet. "You go around in the middle of the night, stealing things! My coat is-"br
"You're wearing it," interrupted the thief in question, "You forgot to take it off last night."br
"Oh," the man said, staring at the window, "I see. He's awake, is he? What's his name?"br
"I dunno. I dun wanna know till mornin'."br
"What? You mean you haven't asked him?"br
"No," said the human, "He put a knife to my throat and patted me on the shoulder."br
"Sorry, 'm not a mornin' person."br
"I noticed. My name, since you seem so eager to find out, is Nakurei."br
"Naked iwhat?/i" Driscal asked dubiously.br
"Nakurei," he repeated patiently. br
"Cool, Now can I go to bed?"br
"Yes, please do, go away," Thomas replied. br
The door opened slightly, revealing Lisian and Elly. Lisian looked almost as tired as Driscal, but Elly seemed awake enough. br
"What's going on?" she wondered. She caught sight of Nakurei and backed up to hide behind Lisian. Nakurei managed a slight smile and waved. br
"Hello," he greeted, "Danor bless you all, whoever you are at this ungodly hour of morning."br
"I want a full explanation," Lisian grumbled, glaring around the room. She paused. "In the morning."br
"I want to know. Tonight," Thomas added obstinately. Without waiting for a reply, he began interrogating. "Who are you?"br
"Naukrei, I told you that already."br
"Can you all shut up?" groaned the lump of blankets that was Driscal. "I'm tired."br
"What are you and where are you from?"br
"Human. I fought in the demon war, then came to serve at a temple a little ways away."br
"Mister Monk, why'd you growl at me?"br
"Speak up, I can't hear you. Who hurt you and why?"br
"Stop," Lisian ordered, walking over to kneel beside Nakurei. She whispered something, and he laughed and whispered back. Lisian stood up to face Thomas, Elly, and the lump. br
"He's tired, and so am I," she announced, "He's promised to explain in the morning. Now we're all- ALL- going to go to sleep. Don't bother him."br
"Don't worry," the lump mumbled, "I'm asleep already."br
"And you sleep well, alright, Nakurei? Goodnight," Lisian said gently, ruffling his hair as she rose to leave. Nakurei flinched and smoothed it back. The lump sprouted a head and watched Lisian walk out, wearing a purposefully blank expression. The elf vanished around the corner, and the head vanished back under the blankets. br
"Humans don't growl all scary," Elly said finally, shutting the door as she left. Nakurei and Thomas looked at each other, shrugged, and crawled back under the blankets. A few minutes later, the room was quiet again. brbr
The next day dawned clear, cool, and right in Lisian's eyes. She squinted, cursing the window for facing east. Elly's unnaturally large eyes moved above her, blocking the light. br
"You slept late."br
The eyes moved away to finish brushing her hair. Lisian looked out the window. The sun, however bright it had seemed, was barely above the horizon. br
"It's hardly dawn," she groaned, lying down so that the sun was at her back. br
"Come on, Elly persisted, shaking her. She stopped, and the blue eyes reappeared. "Hey, what did you say to Mister Monk last night? He seemed to find it funny."br
"I told him he'd have to excuse my companions, they had recently suffered from an illness to the head."br
Elly giggled. br
"They sure act like it sometimes."br
"I was including you."br
"Oh."br
There was a pause, then an odd mixture of shrieks, giggles, protests, and finally maniacal laughter as Elly pulled away Lisian's sheets. Lisian sighed and sat up. br
"Okay, you win, I'm awake."br
She rose, heading across the hallway to get her clothes from Driscal's pack. She knocked on the door. It was flung open by a fully dressed, wide awake, and sulking Thomas. br
"Good morning," Lisian greeted, "May I come in to-"br
"If you'll help me wake them up," Thomas interrupted, jerking his thumb towards two sleeping lumps. Lisian shrugged. br
"I think we should let them sleep. I'm not awake by my own choice, you know."br
"Yes!" Driscal's voice cried. "Leave me alone!"br
Lisian walked over and kicked him. br
"Second thought, if I suffer, you suffer. Where's your pack?"br
"Ow! Over in the corner! Ow!" br
"See you downstairs for breakfast in half an hour. We need to talk."br
"Oh, sure… I need to talk to you about as much as I need a hole in the head, 'specially this early in the mornin'. Arindel, smack her for me, will ya?" br
But the click of the door announced her departure, just before the 'arindel' gave Driscal a good, solid knock to the head with his staff. brbr
Elly nibbled at a blackberry muffin, looking around the table. Lisian was droning on about something boring, apparently oblivious to the fact that nobody cared. Sir Thomas appeared to be counting the number of hats in the common room, Driscal had fallen asleep, and Mister Monk hadn't come down yet. Lisian had insisted that he needed rest, and no one but Sir Thomas, who moaned of curiosity, seemed to mind his absence. br
"…And so, after a week of investigation in Wolfsbane Port, we will help Thomas find an escort, and go wherever our clues lead us. Right now, that's likely to be Nare'Thel, but we'll see. As for Nakurei, we'll figure out what to do with him- hey, is anyone listening?"br
Sir Thomas nodded, mutteringa final number. br
"Heard every word you said, dear."br
"Then wake Driscal up and repeat it to him."br
"Huh? Oh, I'm awake," Driscal mumbled groggily. He pulled his head off the table and nodded. br
"Yeah. Real awake." br
He set his head back on the table. br
"He didn't hear you," Elly piped up, "But he wouldn't care even if he had."br
Lisian glared at Elly. Elly smiled back. br
"Elly, I think we need to have a Little Chat about- Nakurei!"br
"What about him?" Elly asked, but Lisian was already getting up and walking to the stairs. Mister Monk was stumbling down the stairs, clutching the railing. Lisian met him halfway, blocking him. br
"You should be upstairs resting," she accused. He smiled pleasantly. br
"Good morning to you too. I won't get any real rest until I know who you are and what happened. Not that I mistrust you, but I'm curious."br
"Later. Go up. Now."br
"I'm hungry!"br
"I'll bring some food up."br
"If both of you don't stop blocking the stairs," a woman said impatiently, "I'm going to be very angry with you."br
Lisian reddened and stepped to the side. Nakurei bowed politely as the woman passed, then continued down the stairs before Lisian could move back. br
"Explain," said Thomas as Nakurei pulled up a chair. br
"Patience is a virtue," Nakurei chided, ignoring Lisian as she caught up, still sputtering protests. "Besides, I could ask you the same. First, it occurs to me that I don't know your names."br
"'An' just why should ya?" Driscal asked acidly, snapping his head up. Nakurei raised his eyebrows. br
"What kind of ice is he made of?" He asked. "I just thought it might be nice to know."br
"I'm Elly, the old guy who's too curios is Sir Thomas-" Thomas tried to protest, but Elly continued. "The grumpy boy is-"br
"None o' your business."br
"Driscal, and my sister who's making pouty faces is Lisian."br
"Your turn," Thomas declared, "what happened last night?"br
Nakurei frowned for a moment, made a face, and finally shook his head. br
"I don't remember."br
"Oh," Thomas said, looking very disappointed, "I guess there's no helping that. Come to think of it, you did have a little gash on the head, I wouldn't be too surprised if you had gotten knocked or something."br
"Which is exactly why he's getting breakfast and going back upstairs to rest. He may remember when he heals."br
"Ma'am," Nakurei interrupted, "I believe you're being a tad obsessive about the rest. I heal quite fast you see, Danor's holy powers and all."br
Driscal snorted. br
"Holy powers? Don't remember?" He sat forward and narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "If you ask me, this all sounds a lot like a frantic lie."br
"Please, Driscal," Lisian groaned, rolling her eyes, "Spare us your paranoid verdicts."br
"You know," Thomas said, "He's got a point."br
"Boys…!" Lisian protested, exasperated. br
"He says he's a monk, but obviously is involved in something violent," Driscal said, rising and circling the table.br
"Knows his name, knows something happened, but won't tell us what," Thomas continued, standing and pointing at Driscal, "You may be right for once, youngling."br
"Just like always, arindel."br
Elly watched, intrigued, as they began a fistfight. Adults were so funny sometimes. Lisian turned her attention to Mister Monk.br
"You," she commanded in a tone that allowed no argument, "Upstairs. In bed. Now."br
"But what about breakfast, ma'am?" Mister Monk intended on arguing anyway. br
"Here, have Driscal's bagel. He hasn't touched it, I promise. Now go. I probably need to change those bandages." br
Elly watched as Lisian half-led, half-dragged Mister Monk up to the girl's room. br
"…Yes it was!" Sir Thomas insisted, grabbing a handful of Driscal's hair and pulling, "You put them together!"br
"No it wasn't!" Driscal countered, digging in his heels and tugging on his staff. "You didn't tell me the shards reacted like that! Ow!" br
"If it weren't for you and your little experiment, the stone wouldn't ibe/i in shards, now would it!? Get your filthy hands off my staff!"br
"My hands are not filthy! They're clean, aren't they Na-" Driscal cut off and cocked his head at Mister Monk's empty seat. br
"He went upstairs with Lisian," Elly informed him. A strange expression settled on Driscal's face. Suddenly, he spun and ran up the stairs, heading for the left corridor. br
"I'd get out of here if I were you," Elly advised Sir Thomas, "He's gonna be really mad when he comes back down." br
"Why?" Sir Thomas asked, a little bit surprised. br
"Because," Elly replied, "They went the other way. Seeya later!" br
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Well! There ya go, how'dya like it? MY INSANITY WILL RULE THE WORLD!!!!! MWAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Anyways. It took me FOREVER to type this, sorry. I'm almost caught up to my writing on paper now. That's cool. I'm gonna start another story set before this one on the same planet, watch out for it… Review! Domo! ^^ br
align=right~Kaylana