Post by Lisa on Mar 22, 2010 13:10:14 GMT 10
Title: The Holiday Arc (2)
Rating: G
Length: 815
Competitor: Alanna
Round/Fight: 3/A
Summary: Alanna and Kel find themselves together on another holiday, two wallflowers enjoying a chance to talk.
A/N: We’d heard that sharing is fun, so Meghan and I thought we’d try it. Really we’re just inspired by Kit and Nicki. ♥
May 1, 463
Alanna can’t remember the last time she celebrated Beltane. Last year she’d been at the Swoop, at least, but she’d spent the day scrying for Aly. It’s ironic, she realizes, that a holiday dedicated to lovers and fertility would pass with her fretting over a wayward byproduct of these kinds of celebrations.
A year before she’d also thought that the war was winding down, but here she is, still stuck in the north. At least there are lulls in battle. She finds herself traveling between Mastiff and Northwatch, in the vicinity of New Hope.
It’s hard not to think about that scrappy little refugee camp – almost a full-fledged town, nowadays. Lord Wyldon, for all his idiocy, had done right by putting Kel in charge. She’s proving herself each day, and Alanna enjoys every moment they’re able to spend just talking after so many years of not being able to.
This particular evening, she watches the refugees add kindling to the bonfires in the center of the camp. Kel keeps walking up to them, telling them not to let the fires too close to the flagpole – now decorated with ribbons – and pulling children out of the way. She’s a mother hen, and it amuses Alanna. Kel’s infamous for caring too much.
“Numair spelled the camp, didn’t he?” she asks, when Kel finally returns to her side.
“Yes. But I don’t know if he protected many of the things within the walls.”
“He’s thorough.”
“I’d rather not test it, just the same.” The taller woman grins wryly. Alanna loves her smile; it’s genuine, and it lights up her face.
“Are you planning on jumping the embers tonight?”
Kel laughs outright. “I’m afraid I’ve no lover to jump with. The war has kept me rather busy.”
“Yes, I noticed you plowing this morning when I rode up.”
Kel ducks her head bashfully. “I’m more useful out there on days without any raids. They need all the bigger folk in the fields.” She sighs almost wistfully. “No, there isn’t time for love when you have a refugee camp to take care of.”
Alanna studies her silently. Kel’s not exactly a quiet person, but she’s calming. She speaks only what’s necessary, and doesn’t allow her emotions to take over her words. Only someone who knew her well could see that, under the calm surface, she was lonely. Incredibly lonely. She laughs it off, Alanna thinks. Rather than feel sorry for herself, or be angry that she’s out in the middle of nowhere, she jokes about her duty.
“You love it out here, don’t you?” she asks after a very long pause.
Kel nods. “At first I thought it was a dungheap of an assignment. I wanted combat. Even when my lord assured me I would see fighting, I worried that he protected me. And I didn’t know what to do about Blayce.”
Alanna frowns. “I was told – privately, mind you – that you were charged by the Chamber to deal with him. Is this true?”
“Yes. It was after my Ordeal. And then when I went into the Chamber a second time.”
Alanna recoils. “Why in the name of the Goddess would you be crazy enough to try that?”
“Because I needed to know more,” Kel answers with a smile and a shrug. “It’s just a bully of a room.”
Remembering spiders and Duke Roger and the wounds on her hands after it was over, Alanna shudders. “It’s a bully all right. Numair says elementals are trickier than gods – and as someone who’s dealt with both, I wouldn’t argue.
“Gods try to understand, at least,” Alanna continues. “They have no concept of time, and they don’t prance around your fears and hesitations. Elementals, though,” she shudders, “they like to play with people.”
“People aren’t made to be played with,” Kel says darkly. “The Chamber is done with me, and I intend to keep all of those forces out of my life, if possible.”
“Easier said than done,” Alanna says with a laugh. “But even the gods-touched and elemental-driven have their own say in what happens with their lives.”
Kel looks at her with a thousand questions in those dreamer’s eyes. “I never thought my life wasn’t mine. Did you?”
“At times.” Alanna loves her Goddess, but there were, in fact, times that she felt like a weapon to be wielded rather than a rational thinking human being. “But I know that things happen for a reason.” She gazes meaningfully at her friend, finding it hard to say the words she wants to say. Hoping Kel will understand.
The strains of a fiddle reach their ears. “The dancing will begin soon,” Kel says. “I’m thinking it’s time to start working on my reports, before they ask me to do a jig. Will you join me?”
“I’d love to,” Alanna says, grinning wolfishly. “I hate dancing as much as the next lady knight.”
Rating: G
Length: 815
Competitor: Alanna
Round/Fight: 3/A
Summary: Alanna and Kel find themselves together on another holiday, two wallflowers enjoying a chance to talk.
A/N: We’d heard that sharing is fun, so Meghan and I thought we’d try it. Really we’re just inspired by Kit and Nicki. ♥
May 1, 463
Alanna can’t remember the last time she celebrated Beltane. Last year she’d been at the Swoop, at least, but she’d spent the day scrying for Aly. It’s ironic, she realizes, that a holiday dedicated to lovers and fertility would pass with her fretting over a wayward byproduct of these kinds of celebrations.
A year before she’d also thought that the war was winding down, but here she is, still stuck in the north. At least there are lulls in battle. She finds herself traveling between Mastiff and Northwatch, in the vicinity of New Hope.
It’s hard not to think about that scrappy little refugee camp – almost a full-fledged town, nowadays. Lord Wyldon, for all his idiocy, had done right by putting Kel in charge. She’s proving herself each day, and Alanna enjoys every moment they’re able to spend just talking after so many years of not being able to.
This particular evening, she watches the refugees add kindling to the bonfires in the center of the camp. Kel keeps walking up to them, telling them not to let the fires too close to the flagpole – now decorated with ribbons – and pulling children out of the way. She’s a mother hen, and it amuses Alanna. Kel’s infamous for caring too much.
“Numair spelled the camp, didn’t he?” she asks, when Kel finally returns to her side.
“Yes. But I don’t know if he protected many of the things within the walls.”
“He’s thorough.”
“I’d rather not test it, just the same.” The taller woman grins wryly. Alanna loves her smile; it’s genuine, and it lights up her face.
“Are you planning on jumping the embers tonight?”
Kel laughs outright. “I’m afraid I’ve no lover to jump with. The war has kept me rather busy.”
“Yes, I noticed you plowing this morning when I rode up.”
Kel ducks her head bashfully. “I’m more useful out there on days without any raids. They need all the bigger folk in the fields.” She sighs almost wistfully. “No, there isn’t time for love when you have a refugee camp to take care of.”
Alanna studies her silently. Kel’s not exactly a quiet person, but she’s calming. She speaks only what’s necessary, and doesn’t allow her emotions to take over her words. Only someone who knew her well could see that, under the calm surface, she was lonely. Incredibly lonely. She laughs it off, Alanna thinks. Rather than feel sorry for herself, or be angry that she’s out in the middle of nowhere, she jokes about her duty.
“You love it out here, don’t you?” she asks after a very long pause.
Kel nods. “At first I thought it was a dungheap of an assignment. I wanted combat. Even when my lord assured me I would see fighting, I worried that he protected me. And I didn’t know what to do about Blayce.”
Alanna frowns. “I was told – privately, mind you – that you were charged by the Chamber to deal with him. Is this true?”
“Yes. It was after my Ordeal. And then when I went into the Chamber a second time.”
Alanna recoils. “Why in the name of the Goddess would you be crazy enough to try that?”
“Because I needed to know more,” Kel answers with a smile and a shrug. “It’s just a bully of a room.”
Remembering spiders and Duke Roger and the wounds on her hands after it was over, Alanna shudders. “It’s a bully all right. Numair says elementals are trickier than gods – and as someone who’s dealt with both, I wouldn’t argue.
“Gods try to understand, at least,” Alanna continues. “They have no concept of time, and they don’t prance around your fears and hesitations. Elementals, though,” she shudders, “they like to play with people.”
“People aren’t made to be played with,” Kel says darkly. “The Chamber is done with me, and I intend to keep all of those forces out of my life, if possible.”
“Easier said than done,” Alanna says with a laugh. “But even the gods-touched and elemental-driven have their own say in what happens with their lives.”
Kel looks at her with a thousand questions in those dreamer’s eyes. “I never thought my life wasn’t mine. Did you?”
“At times.” Alanna loves her Goddess, but there were, in fact, times that she felt like a weapon to be wielded rather than a rational thinking human being. “But I know that things happen for a reason.” She gazes meaningfully at her friend, finding it hard to say the words she wants to say. Hoping Kel will understand.
The strains of a fiddle reach their ears. “The dancing will begin soon,” Kel says. “I’m thinking it’s time to start working on my reports, before they ask me to do a jig. Will you join me?”
“I’d love to,” Alanna says, grinning wolfishly. “I hate dancing as much as the next lady knight.”
Besides, Beltane is about fertility, and that's not really what they're looking for....
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!