Subject: RPG Stories
Date: Sun, 28 Feb 1999 16:41:13 -0800 (PST)
From: Stana Hierspiel <darkannex@yahoo.com>

        The "camp" consistd of some sleeping bags and a big fiery
blaze in the center of the group.  Immediately she noted that her
"honor guard" were moving in closer, puffing out their chests with
self importance.  Apparently she ahd been quite a catch. Good thing
they didn't know about Clip then.  In the back she could see that
there was a wagon of some sort, she fliched when she realized that it
was crammed full of people.
          "Bandits." The Captain told her, following her gaze.
"Thieves and murderers. They come to these woodlands to hide, and
continue to pillage unwary trespassers. These are the King's lands,
only he may come here."
           She shook her head, looking away. There was nothing she
could do about those people. They had chosen their lives. Pity was
wasted, since she might need a healthy dose for her and Clip if they
couldn't get away. She couldn't trust anyone, nice as they may seem.
Deference was all well ad good but she was still their prisoner.
            There was an armed force coming towards them, and Clip
cleared his throat uneasily as the soldiers pressed in closer, then
Stana was standing apart. Alone in front of several armed men.  He
struggled to get free but the arms that fell on him were very very
tight. They didn't understand that she had to be with him at all
times. especially in the beginning.  Her control was flimsy against
the  powr in the Unicorn's Medallion. Too long left alone and it would
make her over in its own image...and the last time that had happened...

             Stana glanced at the weapons, then to the unsmiling
faces. A sussuration of whispers were growing ever louder around her.
She could feel the tiny vibrations of a thousand living things under
her feet. Burrowing, eating, breathing...The moon was very bright and
she thought there was a face in that rock.
              Suddenly an intense wave of dizzeness hit her and she
thought the sky tilted. There was pain and suffering and blood in the
ground. A resovoir underneath, not of water, but of death.  Blackened,
scorched earth....
              She looked up, and power blazed around her. A Coniferous
tree besides them reached out with leafy arms and  knocked  the swords
out of the gaurds'  hands. Nonplussed they looked, as her soldiers
cheered.  She didn't see any of that...only the images in her mind. A
wind began to pick up.
             With a hoarse cry Clip  shrugged  the grips off and threw
himself in front of her.  A feather touch of his hand on her face was
all it took, and  she  peered at him.  Stana  swayed a bit but made it
look good, reaching out to touch the tree that had taken the soldiers'
weapons.  Almost like a benediction.
              "Now" said the comander  "I trust you have been
satisfied as to her part in the prophecy? Good I want to see the
Captain. Immediately."
              She didn't say anything against the encouraging murmurs.
She was trying to sort through the shock of what had just happened.
She had been overwhelmed with a feeling of violation and rage. For a
moment she had felt hands against her, raping and killing. Then the
cool white calm of the moon and Clip was there.  His face was as
inscrutable as ever, but she was hoping that there was something less
than inhuman contempt in them.
               "Take the Keeper to my wagon. She and her ...companion
can sleep there." The commander turned his back and walked unhurridly
away.
               "Clip." she said when they were alone. "what happened
back there?"
               He didn't look at her. Wouldn't. His voice when he
spoke, was the same as always.  "When I told you taht the medallion
was never given a mortal before, I spoke not the truth. Legend
bespeaks of a time when it had been. Before what the mortals called
the "Rending". He was a friend and protector of my people. The
Princess in turn honored him."
                "With this?" she asked, looking and fingerign the
pendant
                He nodded. "We knew so litle then. We ourselves still
a young and innocent race. He took his place among us. The amulet
grants longevity you see, although not immortality. "
                "And-?"
               Clip finally met her eyes and there was a great sadness
in his gaze. He told her. Stans' heart frize iver, and her hands
gripped the sides of the bed harder.