At the time

We spent the night at the edge of the forest, keeping a more alert eye than ever. The beasts weren't well known for leaving the forest, but one could never be too wary. I had the third shift, and I watched the dwarf as she slept, the moon offering a clear illumination. She was brash, and loud, and decidedly crass, but the same could be said of any other dwarf. But there was something different about her. I hadn't met many dwarfs in my (admittedly short) life, but those I had met had be far more cheerful. There was a wounded sadness about my companion that was just too hard to ignore.

I didn't know why I was so obsessed with her state of being at that time. To be honest, I didn't consider it odd that I was thinking so deeply about her. It was late, and however vigilant I might have been, I was still half-asleep in my reasoning skills. So I though little of it.

When I woke Leonard Stone for his watch, I walked past the Dwarf on my way to a comfortable-looking bit of grass just beyond her. I thought I heard her mutter something that sounded like, "Cronan", but I couldn't be sure. I wasn't sure why that struck me, but it did, and that one little mutter stayed in my mind for the following months.

Betrayals

I woke up the next morning to the dwarf jabbing me in the side with the hilt of her ax.

“Must you be so violent?” I asked.

“Must you be so lazy?” She replied.

“That wasn’t a very good comeback.”

“Yeah, we’ll, you can stick it up your” She was interrupted by Stone’s call to breakfast. I was almost disappointed. I’m sure that despite her earlier failure to come up with something clever to say would have been deeply overshadowed by whatever insult she could come up with.

We continued on our journey without much fuss, and by mid-afternoon, we were coming up on the Kogen forest. When we reached the border, Sir Knocks called us to a halt.

"It won't take us long to go through it," He said. "But the beasts will be glad of our visit, and we all need to be fully rested to face them. Plus, we'll be letting our horses go here."

"Why?" the dwarf demanded to know.

"They're a liability in the forest. While the beasts enjoy human and elven flesh, there is nothing that gets their mouths watering like horse flesh."

"What about dwarfs? Why didn't you mention dwarfs?"

"For some reason the beasts have an aversion to dwarfs. How do you not know this? It's rather common knowledge."

"I'm of the deep south. Not much of your northern 'common knowledge' reaches to down in the mines."

"Any road, I'm sure we'll be relying on you quite a bit these next couple days."

We set up camp, and soon the men were napping. Neither the dwarf nor I needed as much sleep as them, so we sat together in tense silence. After a while, it seemed like she couldn't take it anymore.

"What's the deal with you and that brother back at the Order?" She asked suddenly.

"You mean James? Oh, well, when my parents were killed in the Cainlin Fires, the Order took me in with the rest of the orphans. James just happened to be one of the novice brothers assigned to caring for us. We took a liking to each other, and while the other orphans found homes for themselves outside of the Order, I stayed, helping with whatever tasks I could."

"How old were you then?"

"Hmm... 24 human years, I think."

"What does that translate to in elven terms?"

"About 10, give or take a cycle."

"I see."

"What's your story then? How did you escape from the mines?"

"It wasn't escaping. I was forced up here by various unpleasant circumstances."

"Like what?"

"My sister stole my betrothed."

"What?"

"My sister, jealous of the fact that I got the most handsome dwarf in the community for my betrothed, seduced him, while looking like me I might add, became with child, and stole him from me."

"That's harsh. Did you get revenge?"

"It's against our nature to get revenge, at least for something like that."

"I see. But that can't be the only thing that drove you up here. What else happened?"

"There is something else. But it is best left alone."

"Are you certain? I'm a great listener, perhaps it might help you to say"

"Leave it, half-breed." With that, she stood up, and walked a ways away. I'd obviously struck a chord. I was curious, but not enough to go after and pester her. If she didn't want to share, then I wouldn't force her. Even if I desperately wanted to know what her secret was.

Love is a battle field

The following day we exited the Bona forest, and found ourselves on the plain land in between the Bona and Kogen forests. The soil there is infertile and rough to plow, so no one, not even dwarfs inhabited the long strip of barren waste. The sky was overcast, so we were free from the sun's blistering rays, but our journey had become even more tedious. I ended up reading five more myths from my scroll that day in an attempt to stave off the boredom. The men seemed to enjoy them, but the dwarf remained apathetic, or even hostile.

I couldn't understand her mood. The old myths were rather hard to believe, but never had I seen one so set against them. When I read the story of creation, she frowned. When I read about the birth of the Sun and Moon, she glowered. When I read about the birth of the races, she glared. The men remained oblivious, but I was well aware of the searing looks she was tossing my way.

Before too long, it got dark, and we set up camp. We didn't have a fire, for there was no wood around to fuel it. The clouds cleared though, providing a full moon to illuminate our little group. We sat in a circle, idly munching on some nuts and berries the dwarf and I had gathered the night before. Just when I was about to fall asleep from boredom, Leonard Stone began to whistle a familiar tune. It was the Ballad of Sir Newt, and once he had gone through the tune once, I began to sing the words.

I am not near as talented as any fully-blooded elf, but I have a better voice than most humans or dwarfs, and none of them complained. The men seemed enchanted, and even the dwarf had a satisfied look on her face. When I was done with the song, they clapped, and I nodded my head.

"A person of many talents." Sir Knocks remarked. The dwarf snorted. "You do not think so?" Sir Knocks asked her, polite as ever.

"Everyone has many talents. Some just aren't as obvious, or well-honed as others. I can sing and read stories too, but if I did you wouldn't call them talents, simply because I don't do them as sweetly as our pretty half-breed here." I could have taken that many ways, but there's only one thing I managed to dwell on.

"You think I'm pretty?" I asked with a teasing smile. The dwarf blushed.

"Merely an observation."

"Ha Ko-ra." I said in a teasing tone.

"What did you just say to me!?" The dwarf demanded.

"You like me." I replied, in the same teasing tone as before. The dwarf turned an even brighter shade of red, but said nothing. The men watched it all with amused glances, obviously enjoying the banter as much as I did. Not long after that, the three of them went to sleep, and I sighed, not looking forward to my two hours of watch duty. It was boring work, but it had to be done.

I stared at the moon, and wondered what the dwarf really thought of me. She was hostile towards me, but she was hostile to the men as well. More than that, she had the tendency to stay close to me. It was possibly because we were both female, and when traveling with a mixed group like us, it was better to stay close to your own kind. The only thing I was certain of, was that she didn't hate me, and as far as I was concerned, that was half the battle.

Fools

We continued our journey just a little after sunup. The dwarf was groggy, but the men were bright eyed and bushy-tailed after chewing on what Sir Knocks described as 'magic beans'. The day was long and boring, spent entirely in the saddle, without any friendly banter. I wasn't completely upset by this, but I was rather discontent at the whole situation. Halfway through the afternoon, I pulled a scroll out of my saddlebag, hopeful that my horse (who I had mentally began to call Algaeca) wouldn't notice that I wasn't holding the reins. The dwarf noticed, however, and called out,

"Oy! What've you there?"

"A scroll of myths" I replied as calmly as I could.

"Why'd you bring that?"

"To entertain myself."

"Why should you be the only one entertained?" I had no response to that. Sir Knocks, ever the diplomat said respectfully, "Perhaps you would be so kind as to read us a tale or two?"

Slightly miffed, I looked to the scroll. I guess it wouldn't be that bad sharing... They were just myths after all. And I did love reading aloud...

"The Story of Fortune's beginning. Long ago, when the world was fresh and new, and only the gods existed, there was a whisper on the wind. That whisper was Prosperity. It was what caused the plants to grow, and the birds to sing. No one, not even the gods know how Prosperity came to be, but it has been with us since before the moon left the sun's womb. As the years went on, the whisper grew in volume. When dwarfs, elves, and men were created, Prosperity was so loud, that it could embrace all of the new-created souls. They all were aware of it's presence, and thanked it with all their hearts when things were good. The creator grew jealous of this however, and banished Prosperity to the center of the world, where it could embrace no one. Soon, everyone forgot about Prosperity, but for one elven maiden, who had fallen in love with the mysterious being that had embraced her as a child. She thought about it constantly, forsaking her duties in order to seek after it. She spent her whole life looking, but never could find it. When she was old, white-haired and withered, she found herself in the Forest of Peace. Her steps were weary, and her mind gone. She collapsed by a stream, where the freshest water flowed. She looked into the water and said to herself, "If only I could find it, I would die happy." The creator had watched her all these years, and hearing her plea, was moved with pity, and allowed Prosperity to rise up through the stream. Prosperity had heard her cries as well, and when it saw her, was overjoyed, but sad, for her life was almost at it's end. Prosperity looked to the creator and said, "Let me have just this one love. I will never embrace another if you let me have but her." The creator was moved, and with his power, renewed her life, and made her into something more. "There is a clause." The creator declared. "She can be yours, but she also must serve the world, bringing what good things I give to those that deserve it. She shall be called fortune, and she shall be your wife." Prosperity and the newly-born Fortune were glad, but were unaware of what was to come. For while Fortune is Prosperity's wife, she must serve elves, dwarfs and men before she can serve her husband."

At the end of the story, the dwarf snorted.

"What a load of feces."

"It matters not what is real and not," Leonard Stone said, "But what you believe."

"Do you believe that some elven broad seduced the creator into making her a goddess?"

"No, but I do believe that Prosperity and Fortune are united."

The Dwarf shook her head.

"You men are all fools."

"Bari ne, cortrul bari ha." Leonard Stone replied. I covered to hide a laugh with a cough, hearing the familiar elven phrase. It was one James had quoted at me several times over the years.

The dwarf glanced at me, then glared at Stone. "I get the feeling I've just been insulted."

"Please don't be." Sir Knocks was quick to interject. "It is merely an old Elven phrase, something along the lines of, He that says fool, is fool." The dwarf darted dark glances at us all, but said nothing more, and there was silence among us until it was time to set camp.

Continuation

I really don't like horses. They're smelly, foul, and no matter how well they're trained, there's always a chance that they could trample you. James often tells me that my father was one of the greatest elven horsemen when was alive. My mother, on the other hand, was a clumsy human that never once in her life rode a horse. I wonder what father saw in mother. It can't have been her charm. She was even foul-mouthed than I was (if the stories I've heard from the villagers are true). Either way, it's quite obvious that I take more after my mother than my father.

I wouldn't make mention of this, but for the fact that we were to carry out our journey on horseback. This, of course, made me absolutely miserable. The horse the Order had provided for me was a temperamental mare that was fond of going into a trot without notice. The humans were ridiculously oblivious of my discontent, and the dwarf smirked at me from her perch on her shaggy war-pony.

My dislike of our mode of transportation aside, we made good time, and were halfway through the Bona forest by nightfall. We halted only when Sir Knocks (our official leader) declared that it was unsafe to continue traveling. I could see fine of course, but the humans eyes weren't used to such an absolute dark. The only light we had was from our lanterns, and even that only illuminated the nearest trees.

We pitched our camp, working together almost seamlessly. The dwarf and I cleared a space for sleeping and gathered firewood while the men unpacked the necessary items and built a fire. Before long, we were all sitting around on logs with rats roasting on sticks in the fire. Occasionally Leonard Stone would shift them for better cooking, but apart from that there was little movement, and even less talking. When the rats were done, we ate, tearing at them with our fingers and spitting out any bones we came across. When we were done with our meal, we threw the sticks back into the fire, but still said nothing to each other.

Soon enough, we got tired of the silence, and one by one, began to crawl into our blankets. Sir Knocks agreed to keep the first watch, promising to wake Leonard Stone up in a couple hours. That night, I dreamed of a vast underwater cavern, covered in blue stones. I woke to the dwarf's unpleasant face as she shook me awake for my watch, the last one before sun-up. I blearily arose, and poked at the fire as I went by it on my way to relieve myself. The other three were sound asleep when I returned, and I shook my head at them as I made myself comfortable by the fire. There was some advantage to having companions, but I still would have preferred to be alone.

Turning Japanese

I'm beginning to think that I should have been born Japanese. Their ritualistic culture and traditional foods appeal to me in a way that my own American roots just can't compare to. I'm all for American freedom and support the troops and all that rot, but I really think that being Japanese would suit me. Of course, any attempt to conform to Japanese culture I do now would be seen as foolish, so I will pine from afar... (Pining happens to be something I'm really good at)

It all started with James calling me into his office. This was not in any way unusual. James typically called me into his office at least once a week 'to talk'. What was unusual, was that when I arrived, there were already several people in the office with him. There were two human males, and a female dwarf, and all of them looked directly at me when I entered with a loud, "Oy! James! You need to get laid so you'll stop bothering me all the time!" That was slightly embarrassing, but nothing compared to some of the things that had occurred in my youth.

"Comments about my sexual relations aside, Rina, allow me to introduce your new traveling companions."

"What in High Heavens? Traveling companions! What are you on James?"

"Nicre's been at it again."

"So? Why does that matter to me? Or even to the Order for that matter?"

"Rina, you're the only one who's been able to defeat him so far, so reasonably, you can do it again." I looked over to where the smaller of the humans and the dwarf were standing.

"Then why do these clowns need to come along? I can do it alone."

"Think of them as... insurance. We don't want you coming back in the same state you did last time."

"Excuse me, but I'm offended by being referred to as 'Insurance'." The dwarf was looking rather grumpy, but not quite as 'offended' as her words lead one to believe. Ever the polite one, James was quick to assure her.

"You're not JUST going as 'insurance', I assure you. Part of your journey will take you through the Kogen Forest, and no matter how skilled Healer Rina is, she's no match for the beasts there."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, James." I quipped.

"Either way," The smaller human said. "I think we'll all benefit from each other's company."

"Well put, Sir Knocks." James smiled at him, and I wondered if my earlier comment wasn't too far from the mark.

"Hey," The larger (and far more muscular) of the two humans spoke up. "Before we get into braiding each other's hair and talking about who we fancy, can we at least know all of our names?"

"Certainly." James said, unusually flustered. "The gifted healer among us is Rina Lostchild. This slim young man to my left is Sir John Knocks, the burly giant to my left is Leonard Stone, and this charming dwarven lady is Wylma Bluestone. Now that you are all met, you can begin your journey tomorrow at sunrise."

There was some hemming and hawing, but slowly the others began filing out. I stayed in James' office, outlasting even Sir Knocks (who obviously wanted to say something to James). When they were all gone, I went over, closed the door, then turned sharply to James.

"What. The. Hell."

"Rina, what ever do you mean by that?"

"You know bloody well what I mean. Why are you doing this to me?"

"I'm not doing anything to you! The High Priest demanded that you be in this party!"

"Is that so? And why is the High Priest of the Order of Illumination so interested in this case?"

James mumbled something.

"I'm sorry, what was that?"

"He's burning down the forests of Peace."

"Who is? The high priest?"

"No. Nicre. No other religious sect cares about the forest anymore, so no one else is doing anything about. The High Priest feels the pain of the trees however, so he NEEDS someone to stop Nicre."

"I see." I sighed. "Very well. I'll go on this 'quest'. You had better hope that I make it back in one piece though."

"I always do."

Smiles in Seattle

So... my trip up to Seattle wasn't THAT spectacular (the only time I spent in Seattle proper was spent in a fencing studio), but it was still a lot of fun. I got to spend the night in a really nice Condo in Tacoma, and I slept in a bed with a really cushy comforter that made me feel like I was sleeping on a cloud. We stopped in Portland on our way back, and walked around Pioneer Place a bit. The stores there are kind of pricy, and it's a little claustrophobic, but it's still really nice, and I had a really good time. Obligatory gushing out of the way, here's a short tidbit of writing for you:

He smiled at her, the first time they met. She smiled back, but only because it was polite. "Hi, my names James." He said. She said nothing. It was disconcerting, but nothing he couldn't adapt to. "Have you lived in Salem for a while?" He asked. She nodded, but still said nothing. Now she was just plain getting on his nerves. He tried one more time. "The weather's been awfully warm for this time of year." She raised an eyebrow at him, but still said nothing. He glanced over to where their mothers were standing, chatting away. He looked back at the girl. He squinted. He made some vague gestures that could have been considered Sign Language by a child. She pursed her lips. She started to shake. Before long, she burst out laughing. "You are so weird! You know how badly that could have offended someone?" "No worse than not talking to them at all" "Toche. Anyhoo, the name's Harriet, but don't you dare call me that." "What am I supposed to call you then?" "I don't really care, so long as it's not Harriet." "Hm... Rose it is then." "Why Rose?" "I'll tell you when I feel like it, and not a moment sooner." "Fine. But that makes you more weird, just so you know." "I can accept that."