(I love floppy disks. I made a friend sign on for another half hour- so I got ten minutes or so out of it to transfer this to disk \'n\' all. Thank you soooo much Valfaran! You have no idea how much I love your stuff! (I had been reading your stuff before I started my own RP board thing.) There\'s nothing like Colorado sunny rocks, inspiration, and a laptop. Hope you enjoy what\'s been written so far!)
Rhuarhii dreamed. It was not an unpleasant dream, but not altogether what one would consider memoriable. But for Rhuarhii, she who had never dreamt before, it was a marvel. It was, in itself, a strange dream; but when one took it on a whole with the recent events in the young Enkidukai\'s life, it was not so strange for her to feel as she did on the dreamscape.
Rhuarhii described it as being trapped, she was herself, as she could see her paws and tail, but the bars or walls of her cage were unseen, darker than the sky of thunder, yet not black. There was nothing that she could see or touch that held her, but restrained she was. Her mind panicked as she struggled against her tormentors.
Then she was suddenly blinded by a dazzling azure light that cut through the dark like a blazing knife. The ray of shimmering color flickered, struggling to displace the darkness, penetrating deeper and closer to Rhuarhii\'s dream self. Tiny droplets of darkness trickled down the gleam, leaving small trails of grey behind a halfcircle of utter dark.
Then the grey began to spread. It followed the darkness like hunter to hound, intertwined with the azure until the last remnent of light was but a pale shine. It spread still further, flooding the dark and enveloping Rhuarhii until she too was but shades of grey.
When she awoke, the memory of the dream dimmed, like most dreams, until it was forgotten but minutes after awakening. It was during those minutes that she reoriented herself on where she was and why. The room was dark, still shadows arose from the darkness, identifying themselves as outlines of furniture and the door.
So enrapt she was in her surroundings that she deigned to sit up, and found that she could not do so without much pain. A gasp escaped her lips as she fell back onto the pillow, eyes narrowed, face contorted in an expression of the wrenching pain surging through her.
A door opened and a narrow face peered around the edge at her. \"Are ye awakened, miss? Caet wished me to check in on ye.\" The youth inquired, his voice not yet deep with adolescence.
?Aye, Ah am. Bu\' Ah wish Ah weren\'t. \'Ow long \'ave Ah slept? Et seems like ages ta meh.\" The pain had subsided as Rhuarhii resigned herself to sitting still, but her voice was still laced with effort.
\"Ye have slept long, a month and two days-\"
\"Yer joshin\' me, yah ly\'n rat. \'Ow coul\' Ah \'ave possibly slept fer a month \'n\' two days, eh? Tha most Ah\'ve eva \'eard o\' sleeping is three days. A month is downraght imposs\'ble. So quit ly\'n \'n\' tell me straight.\"
\"I would that ye would nae yell at yon apprentice, m\'lady. For he speaks truth.\" The Ylian from before opened the door fully and stepped into the room. \"Thy unnatural sleep was due to mine draught which heals thy bones and body quickly.\" He crossed the room and cupped a hand about one of the candle lanterns, uttered a word, and a small flame erupted on the wick. The youth had already dismissed himself with the priest\'s arrival.
\"Ah dun think et worked, beggin\' yer pardon, Ah cannae move wit\'out pain- An\' yer a magic user!\" Rhuarhii replied, her last sentence more of a question than a conclusion.
\"By the power of the mighty Laanx, aye.\" The Ylian crossed towards her and sat on the edge of her bed. \"Do ye wish to learn the secrets of Laanx\'s power, m\'lady?\"
Rhuarhii stared wide-eyed at the Ylian priest. Learning magic always required vasts amount of money, not to mention a rank in life she did not have. He was offering her a fortune. \"Ah..Ah\'d be most in ye- thy debt, iffin yah please...\" The priest smiled, and Rhuarhii felt as if she would do anything to please him, just to glimpse that smile. \"Bu\', well, Ah need to find out wha\' happened to meh brethren..\" She watched as the smile on his face froze, it no longer was sincere, but a mask.
\"I would have that ye would forget thy unfortunate past, m\'lady. But we will speak of that later, ye cannae venture outside for a while yet, but come, I shall assist ye to the breakfast hall so that ye may fill thy stomach.\"
Rhuarhii felt reprimanded, and it upset her, yet a little part of her rebelled that she should obey this priest without question. \'Bu\' \'e did save meh, so Ah\'m jess bein\' ungrateful..\" She thought to herself, while nodding in agreement with the Ylian.
\"Take mine hand, m\'lady, I shall sooth the first use of thy muscles in a very long while.\" Rhuarhii reached out and grasped the man\'s hand, feeling a warmth seeping into the pain and dulling it. It was in this fashion that Rhuarhii slide her feet out from the bed and stood, discovering that she was wearing a long pale yellow robe, and not her old clothes. She started to pull her hand away from the priest\'s, but he held it firm.
\"Where are meh clothes?\" Rhuarhii demanded, looking sharply up at him, and regretting it as a flash of pain crimped her neck. \"I had them burned. They were not suitable for such a fair young lady.\"
Rhuarhii felt another pang of regret that she had upset the priest, but continued to question. \"And meh things? What of them?\"
\"Ye will have no use for such things, m\'lady. Now come, let us go eat, and I shall answer all thy questions later.\"