Bookish dragon with a pen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bookish_dragon) wrote2006-11-15 05:55 pm
bookish_dragon) wrote2006-11-15 05:55 pm
Entry tags:
NaNoWriMo, part 10
Bleary-eyed people sat eating their breakfast. The temperature outside had dropped considerably during the night. People had lain shivering in their beds. Outside the ground was white with rime. The kitchen tried to compensate by making the porridge hotter than usual, leading to people burning their tongues and leaving it so long the kitchen's efforts were wasted.
Ameena and Bjernu were already in the mess hall, not talking. The silence between them was comfortable. Neither felt inclined to break it, that was not necessary. They were waiting for the others to join them. Ameena was the first to finish eating. "It looks like we will not be able to train tonight, if this weather keeps up."
Bjernu's mouth was full and he did not answer right away. He swallowed. "Afraid of some cold? Training will keep you warm. It helps the blood flow."
"That coming from someone who does not like to spar. That is a surprise." Olgyu was standing behind him. She took the seat next to him and nodded to Ameena. She was feeling good this morning. Last night had been very pleasurable, Sister Emmar had proved to be a very fast learner. Her body hummed. Ameena nodded back.
"That was different. I can not spar with you, you and I are not on the same level of expertise." Bjernu ate some more, and rubbed his nose. The swelling had gone down, it still hurt.
"Different how? Are you saying I am worse?" she asked with an underlying tone of amusement. She did not feel like getting angry, it would ruin her good feelings.
"No, I am not. You are better, much better than I am. I am not learning in that situation, and neither are you. We will need another solution for this." He smiled serenely.
What are you going to suggest?" Olgyu did not trust where this was going, or his smile.
"Feyador has a fighter-academy."
"The Feyador? Hero of the Necromar-war? That Feyador?" She could not believe what she had just heard. "I thought he was dead."
"That Feyador. It is not that far away from here."
Ameena could also not believe what she was hearing. Bjernu was not doing what she thought what he was doing. Was he?
"Where is it?" Olgyu asked, eager to know.
Bjernu smiled wider and continued to eat. "Do you really want to know?"
Olgyu nodded. "Yes. Now tell me before I burst from curiosity." Her bowl stood forgotten in front of her.
"It is in Larghain. When do you want to go?"
Olgyu felt floored. "You little...Do not try to make me responsible for going there. We do not even know what it is like." Furious, she started eating. Her good mood started to evaporate. Ameena was quiet.
"It has a good school. What more do you need? And I want to meet the hero Feyador, so it will not be your sole responsibility."
"Have you talked to Marnak yet about this?"
"Not yet. He was asleep when I went to bed. Let's do that later."
"Do what later? What do you want to talk about?" a voice came from Bjernu's other side.
"You two need to be outfitted with bells so I can hear you coming," Bjernu said. "Good morning, Marnak."
"You need to use those ears of yours," Olgyu grumbled. Bjernu glared at her. Marnak raised a hand.
"Not again, please. Good morning Bjernu, Olgyu, Sister Ameena." He sat down opposite them. His black hair was sticking out at odd angles. It looked spiky.
"You have not looked at yourself today, have you?" Bjernu asked him. He stifled a giggle. The sight was working on his sense of the absurd. Marnak usually paid more attention to his appearance. "Devotions more energetic than other days?" The two women kept their eyes on their plates. They did not want to burst out laughing. Olgyu knew how Marnak would react to being laughed at.
"What is the matter? They were not more energetic than what I normally do," Marnak said. Bjernu ran a hand through his hair, drawing attention to the gesture. The elf looked bemused at him, thenrealised what Bjernu meant and raised a hand to his own head. Bjernu turned another giggle into a cough as Marnak started to pat down his hair. He was grumbling while doing it. He did not like being out in public looking less than neat. It did not help your position to look sloppy when trying to negotiate. Bjernu nodded when Marnak had succeeded in smoothing down the last of the stray spikes. Ameena and Olgyu looked back up from their food.
"You are looking different today, Marnak. Did you do something to your hair?" Olgyu asked him. Marnak scowled. The rest of breakfast was passed in silence. "Are we leaving today?" Olgyu asked. "There is not much for me to do here. I am bored." That was not true, but she did not feel like telling the others about her night.
"Am I coming too?" Ameena asked. The others looked at her. Since Father Morgenstern asked you to." The trio looked at each other.
"I told her about that," Bjernu said. Marnak and Olgyu stared at him. "She had noticed herself. And she can fight, I saw her train."
"I am still sitting here." Ameena was somewhat peeved by what was happening, now that she had had time to think about it. She did not know if she wanted to go along with them, though she liked Bjernu.
"Do you want to come with us?" Marnak asked her. A novice walked over to their part of the table. He was young and spotty and bowed nervously to the group.
"Sister Ameena? Father Morgenstern wants to see you. With all due haste." His voice was high pitched and trembling. Ameena got up from her seat.
"Thank you. If you will excuse me." She made a quick bow and walked off. The novice also left, almost tripping over his own feet.
"Body is growing faster than he can handle," Bjernu said. "The animals I failed to shoot due to that..."
"Fascinating, your childhood-memories, but what are we going to do?" Olgyu drummed her fingers on the table. The other two were silent.
"We need to go somewhere. Does either of you have any idea?" Marnak finally said. Olgyu and Bjernu shared a look. Marnak sighed. "Do tell. I know I am not going to like it when both of you look like that."
Bjernu cleared his throat. "Feyador's academy." Seeing Marnak's blank look he explained. "The hero Feyador? He who slew the goblin-army of Narzag by himself?"
"Really now?" Marnak raised his eyebrow.
"Maybe not completely on his own, but he was the driving force behind its destruction. Have you never heard of him? He is quite famous."
"With humans maybe. He has not been dead long enough to be of interest of us. We will sing songs praising him in a century or two."
"How do you manage to survive with a view like that?" Olgyu asked, peeved at the belittling.
"That we do not care for recent heroes does not mean we are behind in all affairs. We prefer to wait and see whether his fame will last. You humans can be so fickle. Rushing off to worship someone just because he can capably wield a sword and the next week trade him in for someone who can crack a whip in a nice loud manner. It is tiring to watch."
Olgyu looked at Bjernu. "Does that make sense to you?"
He shook his head. "Raised by a human, me. I do not have the foggiest what he is on about. The elven mind is a closed book to me, even if I can speak its language." He looked at Marnak again. "Feyador has been a renowned fighter for the past thirty years. Even for you that should count. He has founded his own school. It has a good name. We would like to go there. Olgyu for training, me because I want to meet Feyador." Olgyu nodded in agreement. Marnak was not looking happy.
"You are conspiring against me. Where is this academy located?"
"Larghain," Bjernu said. He was watching Marnak to see what his reaction would be.
"I should have guessed after this whole song and dance. You two delight in driving me crazy, do you not?" He looked at them, sourly.
"It is a chore we find no delight in." Bjernu smirked. "Seriously, we do want to go there."
"Does our newest member think so too?" Marnak asked.
"I doubt it," Bjernu said. "She does not seem keen on the whole place. Not that I can blame her, from what she has told us."
"You seem to be getting along with her," Olgyu said. "Anything you want to tell us?"
"We talked last night. It does seem likely she will be coming along. If only for Sigil."
"You bored her with that and she still wants to come along? My admiration for her has just gone up." Olgyu rubbed her hands on her trousers. "Or she has trouble saying 'no'."
"Let's not make right now, and wait what her conversation with the abbot ends like. In the meantime, get your stuff together. With or without Sister Ameena, we are leaving today," Marnak said. 'Into the lair of a red dragon', Marnak thought to himself. He did not like the new destination, but the others wanted to go there.
I almost made my target for this day! Only a 1,000 more! Woot!
Ameena and Bjernu were already in the mess hall, not talking. The silence between them was comfortable. Neither felt inclined to break it, that was not necessary. They were waiting for the others to join them. Ameena was the first to finish eating. "It looks like we will not be able to train tonight, if this weather keeps up."
Bjernu's mouth was full and he did not answer right away. He swallowed. "Afraid of some cold? Training will keep you warm. It helps the blood flow."
"That coming from someone who does not like to spar. That is a surprise." Olgyu was standing behind him. She took the seat next to him and nodded to Ameena. She was feeling good this morning. Last night had been very pleasurable, Sister Emmar had proved to be a very fast learner. Her body hummed. Ameena nodded back.
"That was different. I can not spar with you, you and I are not on the same level of expertise." Bjernu ate some more, and rubbed his nose. The swelling had gone down, it still hurt.
"Different how? Are you saying I am worse?" she asked with an underlying tone of amusement. She did not feel like getting angry, it would ruin her good feelings.
"No, I am not. You are better, much better than I am. I am not learning in that situation, and neither are you. We will need another solution for this." He smiled serenely.
What are you going to suggest?" Olgyu did not trust where this was going, or his smile.
"Feyador has a fighter-academy."
"The Feyador? Hero of the Necromar-war? That Feyador?" She could not believe what she had just heard. "I thought he was dead."
"That Feyador. It is not that far away from here."
Ameena could also not believe what she was hearing. Bjernu was not doing what she thought what he was doing. Was he?
"Where is it?" Olgyu asked, eager to know.
Bjernu smiled wider and continued to eat. "Do you really want to know?"
Olgyu nodded. "Yes. Now tell me before I burst from curiosity." Her bowl stood forgotten in front of her.
"It is in Larghain. When do you want to go?"
Olgyu felt floored. "You little...Do not try to make me responsible for going there. We do not even know what it is like." Furious, she started eating. Her good mood started to evaporate. Ameena was quiet.
"It has a good school. What more do you need? And I want to meet the hero Feyador, so it will not be your sole responsibility."
"Have you talked to Marnak yet about this?"
"Not yet. He was asleep when I went to bed. Let's do that later."
"Do what later? What do you want to talk about?" a voice came from Bjernu's other side.
"You two need to be outfitted with bells so I can hear you coming," Bjernu said. "Good morning, Marnak."
"You need to use those ears of yours," Olgyu grumbled. Bjernu glared at her. Marnak raised a hand.
"Not again, please. Good morning Bjernu, Olgyu, Sister Ameena." He sat down opposite them. His black hair was sticking out at odd angles. It looked spiky.
"You have not looked at yourself today, have you?" Bjernu asked him. He stifled a giggle. The sight was working on his sense of the absurd. Marnak usually paid more attention to his appearance. "Devotions more energetic than other days?" The two women kept their eyes on their plates. They did not want to burst out laughing. Olgyu knew how Marnak would react to being laughed at.
"What is the matter? They were not more energetic than what I normally do," Marnak said. Bjernu ran a hand through his hair, drawing attention to the gesture. The elf looked bemused at him, thenrealised what Bjernu meant and raised a hand to his own head. Bjernu turned another giggle into a cough as Marnak started to pat down his hair. He was grumbling while doing it. He did not like being out in public looking less than neat. It did not help your position to look sloppy when trying to negotiate. Bjernu nodded when Marnak had succeeded in smoothing down the last of the stray spikes. Ameena and Olgyu looked back up from their food.
"You are looking different today, Marnak. Did you do something to your hair?" Olgyu asked him. Marnak scowled. The rest of breakfast was passed in silence. "Are we leaving today?" Olgyu asked. "There is not much for me to do here. I am bored." That was not true, but she did not feel like telling the others about her night.
"Am I coming too?" Ameena asked. The others looked at her. Since Father Morgenstern asked you to." The trio looked at each other.
"I told her about that," Bjernu said. Marnak and Olgyu stared at him. "She had noticed herself. And she can fight, I saw her train."
"I am still sitting here." Ameena was somewhat peeved by what was happening, now that she had had time to think about it. She did not know if she wanted to go along with them, though she liked Bjernu.
"Do you want to come with us?" Marnak asked her. A novice walked over to their part of the table. He was young and spotty and bowed nervously to the group.
"Sister Ameena? Father Morgenstern wants to see you. With all due haste." His voice was high pitched and trembling. Ameena got up from her seat.
"Thank you. If you will excuse me." She made a quick bow and walked off. The novice also left, almost tripping over his own feet.
"Body is growing faster than he can handle," Bjernu said. "The animals I failed to shoot due to that..."
"Fascinating, your childhood-memories, but what are we going to do?" Olgyu drummed her fingers on the table. The other two were silent.
"We need to go somewhere. Does either of you have any idea?" Marnak finally said. Olgyu and Bjernu shared a look. Marnak sighed. "Do tell. I know I am not going to like it when both of you look like that."
Bjernu cleared his throat. "Feyador's academy." Seeing Marnak's blank look he explained. "The hero Feyador? He who slew the goblin-army of Narzag by himself?"
"Really now?" Marnak raised his eyebrow.
"Maybe not completely on his own, but he was the driving force behind its destruction. Have you never heard of him? He is quite famous."
"With humans maybe. He has not been dead long enough to be of interest of us. We will sing songs praising him in a century or two."
"How do you manage to survive with a view like that?" Olgyu asked, peeved at the belittling.
"That we do not care for recent heroes does not mean we are behind in all affairs. We prefer to wait and see whether his fame will last. You humans can be so fickle. Rushing off to worship someone just because he can capably wield a sword and the next week trade him in for someone who can crack a whip in a nice loud manner. It is tiring to watch."
Olgyu looked at Bjernu. "Does that make sense to you?"
He shook his head. "Raised by a human, me. I do not have the foggiest what he is on about. The elven mind is a closed book to me, even if I can speak its language." He looked at Marnak again. "Feyador has been a renowned fighter for the past thirty years. Even for you that should count. He has founded his own school. It has a good name. We would like to go there. Olgyu for training, me because I want to meet Feyador." Olgyu nodded in agreement. Marnak was not looking happy.
"You are conspiring against me. Where is this academy located?"
"Larghain," Bjernu said. He was watching Marnak to see what his reaction would be.
"I should have guessed after this whole song and dance. You two delight in driving me crazy, do you not?" He looked at them, sourly.
"It is a chore we find no delight in." Bjernu smirked. "Seriously, we do want to go there."
"Does our newest member think so too?" Marnak asked.
"I doubt it," Bjernu said. "She does not seem keen on the whole place. Not that I can blame her, from what she has told us."
"You seem to be getting along with her," Olgyu said. "Anything you want to tell us?"
"We talked last night. It does seem likely she will be coming along. If only for Sigil."
"You bored her with that and she still wants to come along? My admiration for her has just gone up." Olgyu rubbed her hands on her trousers. "Or she has trouble saying 'no'."
"Let's not make right now, and wait what her conversation with the abbot ends like. In the meantime, get your stuff together. With or without Sister Ameena, we are leaving today," Marnak said. 'Into the lair of a red dragon', Marnak thought to himself. He did not like the new destination, but the others wanted to go there.
I almost made my target for this day! Only a 1,000 more! Woot!