A Pirate's Tale

[Ameryth]

((This story weaves through the history of my main eq2 character and character's of the past and present that I have.)) <div align="center"><u>A Piece of the Past</u> <div align="left"> Adanya sat quietly out of the way on the floor of the Nexus, nestled into the hallway that led to the Bazaar.  She had managed to find a convenient nook where she would be relatively unseen and hopefully left in peace.  All around her lay books that had been "borrowed" from the Plane of Knowledge.  They were filled with stories and legends about the creation of the world and the different ways the races of Norrath followed the faith of their gods.  Ever since she had decided to follow the path of a healing Priestess of Innoruuk, she had been plagued by…something.  Some strange apparition that never spoke, only watched her every move upon the world.  Sometimes she thought the being was a tool sent by the Father to help her focus her hatred.  After all, she had come to hate the thing intensely.  But truthfully she did not know what it was, and had spent many years pouring over volumes in countless libraries around the world.  From the library of Erudin, to the libraries of guild houses across the land, she had quested for an answer.  She had yet to find one, but her desire had not subsided.  She just knew there had to be an answer…somewhere. A rumbling began to build softly under her feet.  At first she paid no mind, the Nexus was full of strange sounds after all, but as it grew steadily louder she looked up.  People were rushing past her toward the arrival platform room their faces full of confusion, curiosity…and something else.  The Teir'dal ran a delicate hand through her closely cropped, black hair, a motion often made when she was confused.  She stowed all the books she had spread out on the floor into her Rallic pack and stood up.  With a quickened pace she followed the torrent of people.  Standing on her tip toes she could just make out a strange pulse of light coming from the center of the Nexus.  The rumbling stopped, though its echoes still reverberated, and the pulse of light transformed into a glowing portal, through which poured huge beings with flames swirling about their heads. The crowd of people screamed and pushed back the way they had come.  Adanya was thrown back and skidded across the floor before coming to rest against a wall.  She shook her head clear of the stars that had taken an invitation to dance there when her head hit the concrete wall.  She looked to her right, blinking at the crowds of people pushing against each other to get into the Bazaar.  To her left the Antonican Scion trembled with fear and as she made eye contact with him he called out to her. "Quickly girl, if ye can gate do it now! The spires have gone dead!" Adanya need not be warned twice about the danger.  She scrambled to her feet and began the old familiar incantation that would send her back to her binding point.  Luckily she had remembered to bind outside the gates of Neriak, a place she now had to return to sooner than expected.  As the final words of her spell drifted through her lips, her eyes opened to a view of one of the fire-headed warriors looming over her, it fiery gaze burning itself down and through her.  He raised his monstrous arms above his head, a flaming sword crackling in his grasp.  Just as he began the downward swing that would her little frame in two, the gate spell threw its final bubble out and with a 'pop' she was gone. She landed in a crouched position outside the gates of Neriak.  Moments passed like years.  Soon Adanya came to realize she had not been sliced asunder by the demon's sword.  She rose to her feet, gazing around with uncertainty filling her eyes.  A faint scream came to her pointed ears on the soft breeze that always flowed through Nektulos Forest.  It had come from the direction of the spires.  The sound was that of a person in need of healing and instinctively the cleric began running as fast as her feet could carry her.  She knew she was getting closer, yet she could not hear the hum of the spires.  She did not see any trace of the soft glow it always emanated.  As she rounded a hill the spires came into view.  Their towering stone arms looked dead.  Adanya had seen them this way before, but had not realized until now how truly magnificent their reactivation had been.  Now they were cold, quiet, and the sight of them chilled Adanya to her core. </div> </div>

[Ameryth]

<div align="center"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>A Step Toward the Present</u> </span> <div align="left"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">      A filthy, scrawny, phantom of a girl, left to fend for herself in a wild world peaked over a bush that was growing between a dense forest and a field cultivated by something other than nature.  Her blonde hair was tangled tighter than treant roots and her body was caked in mud.  Tattered clothing that had obviously been outgrown for a long time clung to her slight frame.  She could not remember how long she had been alone.  She knew she had had a mother, and she was old enough to understand she must have had a father as well, but she could not recall either of their faces.  The sounds of the ocean had faded far away, though its scent still flowed on the wind, even this far inland.       Her journey had led her over rabbit trails and past the den of a bear that chased her even farther into the forest than she had planned to go.  Hopelessly lost, she walked for days, eating berries when she grew hungry and spewing them out when their poison acted on her body.  Water she had found in great quantities, from clear sparkling streams that criss-crossed through the forest like so many merchants dashing through streets of a marketplace.  On this day though, her hunger had become nearly unbearable.  It was a single promising whiff on a soft breeze that led her in a specific direction.  It was the unmistakable smell of food. She walked out from behind the bush as soon as her other senses comforted her with the knowledge that nothing dangerous lay waiting in the fields ahead.  Following her nose, she stumbled upon strange plants she had never seen before.  She pulled one out of the ground, amazed at the shiny reddish root that followed her hand.  One bite and her whole body tingled with the pleasure that only a person, starved for days, can know.  She snacked eagerly on this wonderful food, pulling a new one from the ground before she had finished the one she was already eating.  Her belly swelled painfully, but still she ate more.  One final bite passed her lips and down into her throat, settling into the last possible bit of room her stomach had before her body threatened dire consequences should even one more morsel enter her mouth.  Satiated, the girl laid down on the soft earth-bare patch she had created and dozed off under the warm caress of the sun. That is how she remained until Saraney found her.             Saraney, a middle-aged human, and the wife of the farmer who owned this land, was a kind-hearted, loving woman that had been cursed to a barren life.  She and her husband had tried many times to quicken and bear a child, but never succeeded.  Now, to old to hold any hope of offspring, she spent her days playing mother to the plants and animals of the farm.  The day the jumjum field was ravaged, she had been in the barn feeding the horses and mucking their stalls. Her husband had left a week ago to sell their goods at market and would not be home for several months.  After caring for the horses, she  began harvesting the freshly ripened jumjum.  It was not long before she spotted the little girl that had fallen asleep in he middle of her husband's crop.   She walked between the rows of long, flat leaves that swayed on the head of each plant, her cloth slippers making no trace of sound on the soft soil. When she got close, Saraney gazed over the small child that was sleeping in a small clearing of dirt. She looked horribly famished, but, judging how the ground seemed newly disturbed, she could tell the youngster had just partaken of the rich sustenance the crop offered.  The farmer's wife smiled softly.  She knew it was very fortunate her husband had gone away, for if he had not, this vulnerable child would have had to endure his wrath.  He would not tolerate trespassers of any sort not even ones who are young and starving.            Saraney placed a gentle hand on the sleeping little one, trying to gently rouse her back to wakefulness.  The result was startling.  The child jumped straight to her feet and dashed away, looking like nothing more than a blur against the dark green crops.   Saraney called to her as kindly as she could hoping to calm the little one from her terror.  The child stopped running, nearly toppling over as her momentum tried to keep her moving forward. The little, mud-covered face turned to meet Saraney's gaze. Her golden eyes held Saraney entranced.  For one so young they were filled with a fear that Saraney herself was all too familiar with.  But she could also see a glimmer within them.  Not all this ones innocence had been lost, her spirit was still as untainted as only a child's could be.   Saraney smiled and motioned for the child to come back.  </span> <div align="center"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><u>Five Years Later</u> </span> <div align="left"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">     The Eve of Salitha's fifth anniversary of being taken in by Saraney found the teenage sitting alone in her room.  It was a small, dusty, cramped pitiful excuse of a place to call home, but that's what it was to her.  Saraney had protested at her husband's treatment of the little girl, but after the fourth time of being beaten to unconsciousness, she stopped fighting it.  She had tried to please her husband Baltith by making Salitha's name a combination of both their names, hoping that finally having a sweet, beautiful child in the house would calm his rage, but it did not work.  Baltith's reason for keeping Salitha under his roof was that she was an extra set of hands to do work.  He kept her, but did not keep her well.  He shoved her away into the small attic room with little more than a moth-eaten blanket and dusty bedroll for comfort.  She ate scraps, drank filthy water, mucked horse stalls, helped Saraney with the planting and she was utterly miserable.  The only time she could feign happiness was when Baltith left to sell the product of their hard work.  But tonight he was home.      She could hear the raised voices of argument again.  Baltith yelling at Saraney for whatever idiotic thing he felt she had done wrong.  Saraney held her own most times, though Salitha boggled at why her adoptive mother tolerated the man at all.  The voices got louder and louder, then the unmistakable sound of a hand contacting skin and the crash of a large object.  Salitha closed her eyes tightly, trying to change reality with her mind. '<i>Leave her alone brute…don't hit her again</i>' She thought to herself, her mind's words rumbling like a monster in the darkness.      She imagined herself stepping between Baltith and Saraney.  She imagined herself telling him to stop.  Always he laughed and raised his arm to show her what he thought of her threat.  In her reality, she caught his wrist deftly and snapped it, relishing in the sound of breaking bones and the pitiful wimper she knew Baltith would make.  But inevitably she knew that should she actually make such a move the hand would connect and Salitha's small frame would go flying.      Booming footsteps broke Salitha from her desperate dreams.  She always listened closely, waiting to see if the footsteps passed by the small door that lead to her room, or if they stopped at it.  Her breathing increased as the footsteps came closer and closer.  Her mind reeled with thoughts of what would happen if he came in here again.  As the footsteps moved passed and began growing distant Salitha's breathing eased and her heart slowed its wild racing. Hours passed, the umistakable rumble of Baltith's snoring could be heard and Salitha mustered the courage to go down and check on Saraney.        Saraney was in the kitchen, leaning on the sink, crying so softly Salitha's normally sharp hearing could barely hear her.  Quietly she moved beside woman who had been her mother for years, and placed a hand on her arm.  Saraney looked up, her brown eyes bloodshot from the salty tears, and a newly forming bruise decorating her cheek.  Her lip was freshly split and blood caked the edge of her nose.  Salitha's yellow eyes flared with anger, their fire spreading through her whole body. 'I think one of my ribs is broken Salitha…can you fetch me a sturdy piece of cloth from the linen closet?'       Salitha nodded and retrieved the item, her face burning as she glanced up the hall to the room from where Baltith's snores resonated.  She aided Saraney in wrapping her torso to help stabilize it until the ribs could mend. 'You need to see a priest, <i>Naneth</i>.'  Salitha looked at Saraney with a pleading expression. 'Nonsense, I'll be fine…takes more than what that brute can give to get me down.' 'I know, but one day he will give too much, and you won't get up…what shall happen then?' 'Don't worry luv, he…' Saraney coughed and the pain of the motion dropped her to her knees. 'Come <i>Naneth</i>, come lay down on the couch.'     Saraney did not argue.  Salitha supported her and helped ease into the worn cushions of the sofa.  She then dashed quietly upstairs and retrieved the tattered blanket that lay across her bedroll.  When she got back downstairs Saraney was already asleep. Her breathing shallow, but steady.  Salitha placed the blanket over her tucking it around her body as best she could.  She sat there a long time, watching the woman who had taken her in and shown her nothing but love.  The woman who stood up to an evil man day in and day out.  Saraney never admitted it, but Salitha suspected most of the fights had been about her and what she was.   She had caught tidbits now and again of Baltith's tirades. Most of the time it was something about how he hated having such an abomination in his home.  He felt Salitha was a curse, where Saraney felt she was a blessing.  Baltith's farm had flourished since her arrival five years before, but nevertheless he was convinced that the half elf youngling would bring him ruin. As Salitha watched Saraney sleep her mind turned over the past five years.  Saraney had been happy at the price of extreme pain.  Salitha knew that pain was not her fault, but Baltith's, however if the half-elf was out of the picture maybe Saraney would be spared.  Salitha desperately wanted to remove the source of the pain, but she was not sure how to accomplish such a task.  In this world it was difficult to give anyone True Death.  She would have to seek out a way.  It was then that Salitha decided to leave.  She moved softly away from her sleeping <i>naneth</i> and moved to a desk where parchment and ink lay.   She sat down, removing the writing insturments from their drawer she began to pen a letter in a delicate flowing handwriting; <i>My sweet Naneth, All this time you have taken care of me, watched over me, and taught me all I know.  Now though it is time for me to protect you, and I feel the only way I can do that is by dissapearing.  I love you as any child would love a mother and because of that love I cannot see you hurt anymore.  I am leaving to seek answers that cannot be found in jumjum crops.  Please understand and know that I will return to you one day when I have found what I seek. Your daughter, Salitha </i>Salitha sat back and reread the letter.  She frowned in frustration at it knowing that she had clumsy way with words at best, but hoping it would help Saraney understand her actions.  Silently she slipped back to where her adoptied human mother slept and she folded her letter into a square big enough to fit in Saraney's skirt pocket, which the letter was then slipped into.  Salitha stood and regarded the woman for a few more moments, memoizing every feature of her face.    She then turned her gaze toward the stairs, hearing the saw grinding sound of Baltith's snoring she grimaced.  Flooded by doubt, the half-elf faltered.  Her thought's turned to the fact that if she were gone she would never be able to protect Saraney physically.  Only a coward would run...what is she doing? Why is she doing it?  But slowly her plan came back to her, she knew she had to take that step out into the world.  It was time to go.  The half-elf snatched up her tattered cloak hanging by the door and quietly slipped out into the night.  Her bare feet badded softly on the worn wagon trail that moved toward the woods as if two giant snakes had worn their bodies into the ground.  She took in a deep breath, held her head high and moved on into the maw of the forest, never looking back, following her nose to the sea. ((Edited, revising the story cuz I don't like the way it's going.  Far too developed and dark for the way Salitha's RP is developing in game.  )) </span> </div></div> </div></div>

[Amethest]

whats she going to do? oh cannot wait to see what happens next <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[Ameryth]

 ((deleted this chapter as part of the revision))

[Ameryth]

((this part goes too, will rewrite))

[Ameryth]

<div align="center"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: helvetica"><u>A Face Revisited</u> </span><div align="left"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: helvetica"> It seemed that ages had passed.  Adanya now found herself aboard a ship sailing toward the city of Qeynos.  The Tier'dal cleric had grown tired of living in squalor under the reign of Lucan D'lere.  She had watched in horror as the armies of Rallos threatened to overtake the world.  She had stared in awe as the legendary Green Mist came and destroyed the army of Rallos, just as it had centuries ago against the Shissar race.  She had endured cataclysmic changes in the world.  Volcanoes, earthquakes, flood, drought, she had seen it all and managed to live.  Now though, she had had enough.  She disliked the idea of living amongst all the races of light, but to her it would be far more endurable than living in the stink of Freeport. Now she sat quietly on the deck of a merchant ship, reading one of the many books she had preserved from her past life.  The great book had been one of the few she had managed to keep preserved from the Plane of Knowledge.  She was grateful that it still remained concrete despite the loss of access to the upper Planes.  She had a few others tucked safely in her packs, always with her, always serving as a link to the life she once knew. "What's that ya have there?" came a soft, curious voice.  It's accent rang of a life lived in the southern lands. Adanya looked up at the female half-elf that had come to stand beside her. "Oh," she replied, attempting to reflect feigned interest in her new company,"Just a history book, nothing you'd be interested in." "Try me" The half-elf girl sat down, her long blonde braid swinging over her shoulder. Adanya sighed softly, and stayed silent a moment, hoping the sailor woman would be called back to some duty. "Well?" the girl said, her voice raising slightly with mock impatience. "Alright, it tells about the creation of everything." "Of everything, eh? In that itty bitty book?" The tome Adanya held was a giant among tomes.  It had within its binding at least two thousand pages, and it was so wide it easily filled the dark elf's lap and spilled over the points of her knees.  Adanya couldn't help but give a startled look at the woman beside her. "Well," the girl continued in explanation, "Seems to me there's a whole lot out there's been created, more than can fit into any book." "Nicely put, and yes, there is too much out there to fit into one book, but this tells one version of how it all began." "I'd be mighty interested in hearin' it, if you would be so obliging." Adanya flipped to the first page and let her purple eyes flow over its text.  She had read this story so many times she now saw no words, only flowing images conjured by the faded writing. "In the beginning there was nothing but the void, and in this void a sentience called the Namele…" A hot bolt of pain swept through Adanya's arm, causing her to moan and grasp her shoulder.  The book fell from her hands as she rolled onto her side. "Lady?  Lady, you ok?" The half-elf grabbed the book, grunting softly at its weight.  She moved to the cleric and placed a hand on her.  The sailor woman's gold eyes sparkled with worry. "What's the matter storylady?  What happened?" Adanya pushed herself up, fighting against the pain in her arm. "There is about to be trouble…get the water buckets ready." "Wha..I don't undrstand." Just then the alarm sounded and the lookout in the crow's nest screamed down to those on deck. "Drakota! Drakota! Heading right for us!!" Adanya cursed and grabbed the book from the half-elf.  She dashed below deck to her quarters, leaving the ship's crew to fend off the approaching reptile. The half-elf stood for a moment in disbelief, watching the dark elf run below decks.  "Coward," she muttered. "Salitha!  Look fast!  Get yer axes!" The half-elf looked up at her captain and nodded.  She dashed to a nearby chest, secured for passage, but easily accessed.  Inside she retrieved her bandolier and the heavy throwing axes.  She knew that she would never get through the beast's hide, but she might be able to hit a wing or his belly, where it was more vulnerable. The drakota bore down upon the vessel.  Crewmembers dashed around, trying to stay out of the way of its fiery breath.  The animal seared wood, and charred cargo as it swept over the ship, breathing fire at any target it chose.  Below deck Adanya could hear the screams of those struck by the fire.  She was frozen with terror and blinded by pain.  She had peeled away the cloth on her arm, revealing the glowing mark that was now white hot and charring the flesh around it. <i> GO! Go you fool and fight! </i> came a voice in her head. Adanya fought against the urge to run above to the deck and face the drakota.  The voice continued its assault on her mind until she had no choice.  She grabbed her rusting morning star and ran up the stairs, preparing herself for death. When she reached the deck, she locked eyes with the drakota.  It stared at her and instantly its mood went from bloodthirsty rage, to vehement recognition.  Adanya could see its mind tumbling over in indecision.  At last the creature screamed threateningly in her direction and turned on its tail, speeding away from the ship. Salitha moved to the cleric's side, her breathing labored from her attempts to fend the beast off. Both women watched until the animal was well out of sight. "What…the…hell..was…that? Ya knew that thing was comin'?" Salitha finally stammered out to Adanya. "You wouldn't understand." The captain yelled down at them both, breaking any chance Salitha had of pressing more questions out. "Lassies! Help put those fires out before they reach the…" He had no chance to continue.  The fire from the drakota attack reached the powder magazine in the cargo hold.  The ship blew apart throwing everyone on deck into the sea, some of them in more than one piece.  Adanya flopped to the surface and grabbed hold of a barrel as it floated by.  She watched the burning remains of the ship slide by on the current.  Her books…her armor…everything that she had saved from the old world…it was all gone.  It was all too much to bear and the cleric slipped into unconsciousness and floated along in the current with the rest of the flotsam. Salitha snatched hold of a large chunk of timber from the ship's mast.  She scrambled on top of it and look out in horror at what was left of the Pheonix.  It seemed almost an appropriate death for the ship, but she had not imagined she would see it burn in her lifetime.  All around her bits and pieces of the ship's cargo floated by.  Among it a pack that Salitha recognized as belonging to the dark elf lady she had spoken with before the drakota attacked.  She plucked it from the water and laid it beside her.  Turning her head she saw that the current was turning eastward toward a small island.  She hoped she would have time to read a few of the books before the need to burn them for warmth arose. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cool ocean water rolled over the white sand beach, roaring softly and slowly leading Adanya's mind back to consciousness.  She peeled her eyelids open, breaking the bond of salt-crust that had formed around them by the drying sea water.  The beach stretched before her as far as her blurry eyes could see.  The sound of waves crashing against the sand, along with the buzz of sand flies, reminded her that she was not on the ship anymore.  With shaking arms she lifted herself up, but, when she tried to move her right leg, pain proclaimed itself to be the ruling force of her body and she collapsed back onto the soft sand. "Hey now, take it easy story lady." The familiar voice aroused a groan from Adanya.  She turned her head over to meet the gaze of the smug looking half-elf woman she had met on the ship. "Well," Adanya muttered, sarcasm painting her voice, "Aren't you a sailor with a bag full of luck." "Naw, we were just standing in the same place when the ship blew.  Your luck is my luck." Salitha beamed a smile at the dark elf, who snorted in response before turning her head away.  The Ayr'dal stood up and walked around Adanya, then plopped back down in the sand to face her. "I think you broke your leg though…and..seeing as I'm not a healer, it's still broke.  But I did put a splint on ya, well, as best as I could remember how to make one." Adanya rolled over on her back, grimacing at the protests her leg created, and propped herself up to examine Salitha's handiwork.  The crude splint was made from stripped tree branches and torn cloth.  She frowned at the primitive contraption, appalled not only at its mechanics, but at the fact that she was now stuck here on a beach with a woman who seemed to have been placed on Norrath solely to annoy her.  The splint could not stay on her, she knew she'd be able to heal herself once she had rested.  With that thought, Adanya reached down and attempted to untie the cloth. "Heh," the half-elf chuckled. "What is so funny?" Adanya growled. "Nuthin' just think it's gonna be mighty funny to watch you try and untie my knots." "It's cloth…how well could you have tied it?" Salitha shrugged, "Cloth, rope, thread, hair…if it can be tied I can knot it." With an exasperated sigh Adanya sat back on her elbows and looked out at the sea. "How long have we been here?" "Only a couple hours, some of the ship is still burning over there down current..you can see its smoke." Adanya's eyes followed the half-elf's tan finger that was pointing eastward.  She frowned and looked back at her companion. "How long until someone finds us?" "Well," Salitha began, her forehead creasing as her eyebrows came together in the manner that signified she was calculating very carefully, " Lessee, we traded with that Qeynosian ship a week ago, and, had the ship not blown up so catastrophically, we would have been making another trade with a Freeport ship in two days…so..by that reckoning…" There was a long pause before Adanya sighed loudly, rolling her eyes as she did so. "I figure there should be a Freeport Militia patrol here tomorrow." "Well, then we'd best hide."  Adanya turned her head to take in the surroundings. "Why?  You wanted there for somethin'?" "No, I just don't want to go back. If they come and see me here they'll take me back, or kill me if I object." "Why don't you want to go back…isn't that where the dark elves hang out?" "Many do, yes, but I cannot stand living with Lucan D'Lere as overlord." "Who does like that bag a wind?  You don't have to like him to live there…jes don't make him mad." "You wouldn't understand…" "Gnoll Scat I wouldn't.  I understand not liking those that's in charge of ya, but you're gonna have that in lotsa places.  Learn to live with it, or at least live and not be noticed by it. " "What are you talking about?" "Look, there's dark elves in Freeport what feel the same as you.  They want to rebuild Neriak or some such like that.  Why don't you go find them? Join up with em.  Lucan doesn't know they're there." Adanya blinked in disbelief at the woman.  How could this slow speaking, simple-minded creature know more about Freeport than she did, she'd lived there for years, likely for longer than this girl had been alive. "How is it that you know about them and I don't?" "If you act there like you did on the ship they pry didn't want to tell you.  'Fraid you'd act all stuck up and better than them like you do with me, like ya do with Lucan." Adanya brimmed with anger.  She could not believe the woman had the audacity to speak to her that way.  The cleric could feel her power returning to her and was mustering up a smite spell to send flying at the half-elf's face.  Salitha was no longer looking at her though.  The woman's gaze had traveled past her and outward.  Adanya turned her head in the same direction to see what had caught the sailorwoman's attention.  Nothing stood out right away so the cleric squinted, straining to see whatever it was Salitha was looking at. Salitha's voice chirped up from behind her. "Looks like it won't be tomorrow after all…I'm real sorry storylady." Adanya began to turn her head back to face Salitha and inquire about her apology when the world went black and her mind slipped back to the unconsciousness it had left only a short while before. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Salitha watched from the branches of a nearby tree as the Freeport Militia boat that had anchored offshore sent out a dingy toward the beach.  The Tier'dal woman could be seen easily, her dark skin contrasting sharply with the white sand around her.  Once the dingy had reached shallow water, two of the four occupants jumped into the surf and pulled the vessel onto the beach.  Two humans, a half elf and a dark elf made up the rowboats crew all were male and it was the humans pulling the boat in.  Once hull met sand the dark elf jumped out, taking long strides on the soft ground toward the unconscious woman. When he reached her, he ran a hand under her chin to check her pulse, then placed his ear near her mouth and listened to her breathing.     Once he confirmed that she was still alive he barked an order at the half-elf still in the boat. The Ayr'dal man dashed over to his side like a dog following its master's command with fear for its life.  They picked the girl up and gingerly placed her on the deck of the dingy.  Salitha sighed in relief, but her relief was short lived.  One of the humans had disappeared from sight.  She strained to hear any sign of movement from near her, but no clues presented themselves.  When she turned her attention back toward the dark elf, she saw he was walking back up the beach, his eyes staring fixedly her way.     "Dam," she muttered.  Her hand eased back and clenched around a bow she had strung over her shoulder, another bit of flotsam she had salvaged from the wreck along with some ammo.  Slowly she notched an arrow, watching every step the dark elf man made.  When he had come closer than she felt comfortable with, she raised her bow and loosed the arrow.  It whistled through the air and sunk deep into the sand at the man's feet. "Come no closer!" she yelled at him. He stood still, staring at her with eyes the color of ice.  One of his hands rested on the hilt of his sword, but he made no motion to draw it. "Why do you hide from us?" "If I was hiding you wouldn'ta seen me.  I was merely watching." "Are you stranded here? Like her…"  He pointed back towards the dingy where Adanya had been placed. "Nope, I live here…she was trespassin'" "Is that why you knocked her out?" "I didn't do that, she washed up that way.  I just put her where she'd be most obvious." "Was it you that splinted her leg?" "Yup, I'm not a healer or I'dve done more for the poor thing." The two stared at each other in silence a few moments before the dark elf spoke again. "Why don't you come with us?  Freeport is always in need of those good with bow and arrow." Salitha tilted her head back and laughed with a slightly too much amusement then swung her head back down and met the man's gaze. "Truly I'm no good t'all with a bow and arrow," she replied as she jumped down from her perch and slung the bow around her shoulder. The man looked down at the arrow that sat only inches from his foot and looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh that…I was aimin' for yer heart." The dark elf stood taller, rearing his shoulders back and tilting his head while his eyes widened in mock surprise.  For just a second his eyes snapped from her face to somewhere just behind her and then back.  Too late he realized his error.  Salitha had already pulled her dagger and sent it flying in the direction his gaze had gone.  The blade's point found home in the throat of the human male she had lost track of earlier and he fell dead, blood pouring onto the white sand and a sickening gurgle escaping broken voicebox. Salitha looked back at the dark elf, her eyes emptied of their impish amusement, filled instead with dark cunning. "I'm much better with axes and daggers…" The man nodded in understanding and began to move toward the fallen human, but stopped when Salitha drew her other dagger.  "Go," she said, "Return to Freeport and send that girl to the Temple of War.  She's a gifted cleric and will be useful to your city." "I thought," the dark elf spoke, his voice tinted with the smug tone of someone who has caught another in a lie, " I thought you said she washed up unconscious."      A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth, but Salitha only returned his statement with a smirk of her own. "Let me at least revive that man, so he can return to the ship with us…" he continued, seeing that this woman was too alert to deceive with typical tactics. "No," Salitha replied, stepping between him and the fallen human, "Let him revive back in town and wait for his shard to return to him.  It will remind him of the consequences one gets from trying to sneak up on a swashbuckler." The dark elf clenched his jaw and grasped his hilt, but, with a final look toward the dead human, nodded and turned away, calling for the others to return to the ship.  He grumbled under his breath in his native tongue and took one final look back toward where Salitha had stood.  She had disappeared from sight, behind the trees where she knew he wouldn't see her. He made an insulting gesture toward the woods before ordering the remaining human and half-elf to push off and head back to the ship. Salitha made her way up another tree and looked out to the horizon, away from the Freeport ship.  She could just make out the shining white sails of a ship that could belong to no city but Qeynos and smiled. "The storylady got her ride and here now comes mine." One final look toward the Militia scout ship, sails unfurled and wake foaming at its bow confirmed their final departure had begun, and Salitha leaned back on the tree trunk, reveling in the soft sea breeze that played about her and waited for the ship that would take her back to Qeynos. </span> </div></div>

[Amethest]

aawwwww she let her be taken back to freeport knowing she did not want to go there and knowing a qeynos ship would be coming also.....hmmmmm wonder why? and whats gonna happen next.....?

[Ameryth]

(<span style="font-size: medium; font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif">(This was written long before Neriak had been reopened)) Adanya awoke in unfamiliar surroundings.  Darkness around her was broken by a single flame from a candle resting near the doorway on an old, but sturdy, nightstand.  She sat up, grabbing her stomach, as the room began to swirl, her head aching at each revolution.  "Your awake, good." The soft, but shadowed voice crawled over her like a fog swooping silently over a forest.  She looked toward the source and found a dark elf male looking back at her.  His garb spoke of his profession as an inquisitor of Freeport, and she could only assume that was where she had been returned to.  The spinning had begun to subside, but her stomach still turned itself over, making her feel as if her skin was changing from purplish blue to green.  The man must have noticed her discomfort, because he raised a hand and whispered into the air.  A soft golden glow pulsed around her before flowing into her flesh.  Warmth spread through her veins and her stomach righted itself, bringing normalcy back to the world.  "There…better?" "Yes, thank you." "Now, maybe you can tell me, why it was you were found on an island with a Qeynosian half-elf." "What? I don't know what you're talking abou…" The man had moved with a flash from near the corner of the room farthest away from her to directly by her side, hand clenched around her throat. "Do not lie to me whelp…It will only bring you pain." Adanya could guess by the man's eyes that he was deadly serious, but she could also tell that he was young, and like most of those blessed with youth, he was also cursed with foolishness.  Adanya stared into his eyes, anger and hate welling up inside her until it was loosed in an arcane spark that wrenched itself free from her body and surged through his, sending him flying across the room. "I suggest," she muttered softly, not looking in his direction " that you not lay your hands upon me again." The man shook his head clear, his eyes raising to focus on her face.  He had hatred burning in his gaze, but made no move to counter her attack on him. "I know," she continued,"that in this new world, Tier'dal men have been granted far more power than they had possessed in the old life, but do not presume to control that which you do not understand." "I have been ordered by the Overlord…" He began, his voice waivering slightly as her eyes turned toward him. "The Overlord," she hissed, "did he truly speak to you himself? Was it he that gave the order to interrogate a no name cleric found stranded on some unknown island in Hate knows where?" "Well…no…but" the man stammered, trying desperately to regain his composure, but thus far having no success. "Of course not…I will tell you what your superior will come to know from your report." The man stood, smoothing out his tunic and pushing a strand of his shoulder length hair back behind his ear.  He stood silently by the door, listening. "I was aboard a ship bound toward the island of Zek.  The ship was boarded by pirate's and I was taken prisoner, along with the rest of the crew and passengers, and then the ship was scuttled into the sea.  The pirate's took us on a course, away from Zek, but towards where I do not know.  Fortunately for me that ship was attacked by a drakota and blown into tiny pieces.  I was flung overboard and managed to float on a piece of flotsam to a nearby island.  Once there I encountered one of the pirates and fought for my life, but my exhaustion got the better of me and I blacked out.  The next thing I knew I woke up here." "Is that all?" "Yes, that is all.  The woman on that island was no Qeynosian, but a pirate…" "Did you catch her name?  She will be hunted down for kidnapping and assaulting a Cleric of Freeport. " "I am sorry, but I didn't have time to make pleasantries and introduce myself while she bore her dagger to my throat." "Why did she not kill you?" "If you find her maybe she can tell you." The man nodded and looked at her with a disbelieving eye. "Is what you speak the truth?" "Why would I tell you anything but that?" "Well, if you are a Qeynosian spy…or planning to betray…" The man stopped midsentence as the look in Adanya's eye squelched any further accusation. "Very well, M'Lady, thank you for your time.  I am pleased to see you healed and again able to serve the Overlord." Adanya remained silent. "I shall leave you now, feel free to resume your duties when you are ready." He left without another word.  Adanya watched him go then lay back down on the bed.  She stared at the ceiling, searching the rotting wood boards for an answer to what she should do next.  Finally, after the boards had been given sufficient time to provide epiffany and failed, she got up, dressed, and made her way to the Temple of War. From her on out she would fulfill her duties to Freeport, but always leave an ear open for those who, like her, longed to return to Neriak, and the glory that all Tier'dal deserved. </span>