No. No good. It just wasn't any good.
Norman scratched out the lines on the paper, walking along with the others---frustrated. As of late, he just couldn't write. He was usually a master of words, and poetry came easier to him than speech half the time. But he just didn't have it, and he didn't know why.
He was too embarrassed to ask anyone for help, so he didn't. Besides, the last time he did that---to Jaoullin---all he ended up with was some drivel about "cold dark darkness" and large breasts. He sighed, remembering. Jaoullin was NOT a poet.
Looking around, Norman shook his head. It was no wonder he couldn't put his thoughts on paper. There was just too much going on, and his feelings about it all were actually quite messy.
Lately, he had... been paying a lot more attention to Ronnie, for some reason. She had somehow become much more than his leader, at least to him. Her spirit kept them all going, but he knew that it was very likely to break when they reached her home, and something inside of him wanted very much to be there to catch her when she fell.
But what was he thinking? Did he feel for Ronnie like....like it SEEMED like he was starting to feel for her? Honestly, he almost felt like asking Jaoullin again. He may have been a poet, but he really didn't know that much about romance. Norman hadn't really been in love before.
He knew brotherly love, to be certain---Jaoullin was his best friend in the world---and he knew what it was like to be a part of a 'family'. But as for romantic love between two people, he was as stumped as to how to proceed as he was about making the lines on his paper stop sounding like shit. Hating himself with every step, he kept walking.
******
Ronnie felt her insides tighten the closer they got to her hometown. What was it about this simple visit that had her so tense, anyway? It was...just a visit. They were there to help. That was all. Right?
She glanced over at Clara, and kicked herself again for her selfishness. That poor girl had just gone through unimaginable terror at the hands of something lower than SCUM, and here Ronnie was thinking about herself again. As usual, she tried to hide it, but Scotch picked up on everything. She both loved and hated that feature of his...
"Ronnie, you all right with this?" he asked.
"Of course. Why wouldn't I be? It's just helping." she repeated, like some kind of drone. He shot her a look.
"I think we both know why." he said matter-of-factly, but didn't elaborate. It was true, after all. Everyone, except perhaps Cornelius and Clara, knew Ronnie's reasons for being less than comfortable. It had been...ten years...
The village appeared before them, almost too suddenly, at the crest of the hill. It had seen better days, but Ronnie remembered every bit of it. She braced herself, and they made their way to the fringe of the town.
******
The bastard. The BASTARD. He would never get away with this. What, one might ask? As far as Tefra was concerned, existing was enough of an offense when it came to his odd partner, Renaldo. According to Renaldo, all folk that he gazed at would melt like butter at his good looks, charm, utter mystery, and fangs.
It was dog shit. Tefra would show him 'melt'---with his TRUE FIRE RUNE! He reminded himself to push the dope off a high cliff one of these days. Then, no one could stop him!
"Mweeheeheeheehee!" the vampire cackled. Renaldo gave him a look of pure, heartfelt concern. The fool.
"What is the matter, O Companion?" the prettyboy asked, flipping his luxuuuuurious locks behind his head. "I promise you I can... mend... any ILLS... that you have..." His eyes shone with meaning and purpose. Tefra scowled, as the two walked along in the fields of Lorimar.
"Quit talking like that, peon!" Tefra shrieked. "I'll burn you to a crackly crisp, and I'll like it, too!"
"Anything for you... Tefra..." Renaldo murmured gently. And that was that.
Until he accidentally hit the pyromaniac in the face with his luxurious locks, and it got ugly.
******
"M-mother!" Clara cried, running to her mother as soon as they reached the village, and hugging her tightly, breaking down. Clara's mother, a woman Ronnie recognized from years ago, looked at them with fear.
"W-what happened?? Honey, what's the matter??" she asked, bewildered. Ronnie decided that a half-truth would suffice.
"She was...attacked. At the fortress." Ronnie said. The girl's mother turned to stare at her, starting, suddenly.
"...Where have I seen you before??" she inquired suddenly.
"Don't mind that, now. Your daughter needs you." Ronnie supplied. She didn't really feel like being recognized, just yet.
"Y-yes, of course. Thank you...for saving her." the mother said, ushering her daughter away from the growing crowd.
Unfortunately for Ronnie's wish to remain currently anonymous, almost as soon as Clara and her mother were gone, an all-too-familiar face emerged from the crowd. Flat, graying hair framed a thinned-out face of a woman who looked like she had learned too much in too short a timespan. Wearing a housedress with a dirty apron, the woman's eyes told a story of someone who had finally grown up.
"Mira...?" Ronnie, to her surprise, spoke up first. "Mira??"
"It can't be...it can't be you?" Mira replied, stunned.
"It's me, Mira." Ronnie assured her.
"Ronnie Bell??" Mira said aloud, as if she was afraid Ron would vanish before her eyes. "Y-you left..." It was a simple statement, but Ronnie still felt guilty about it.
"Yes...I did." She grasped for a way to change the subject. "How...how have you been, Mira?" For a woman who had undoubtedly been through hell, Mira responded surprisingly calmly, especially for a woman who a decade earlier would have collapsed into a heap of sobs.
"Hollard passed away." she said without much regret.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Ronnie said politely. "...Was it...the vampires?" Mira rolled her eyes.
"Booze."
Of course. Ronnie should've known that one.
"Ronnie...I never thought I'd see you again." Mira said. Ronnie noticed her gaze getting more emotional, which she found odd, as Ronnie had never been that important a fixture in the woman's life. She soon found out why, though.
"Ronnie...have you seen...er...how is...Biggs?" Mira asked desperately.
"I actually saw him quite recently. He's...he's doing very well, Mira." Ronnie said. The woman smiled sadly, and she knew that all she wanted was to see her son again, but she still seemed happy to know he was still alive and well.
"Thank you, Ronnie..." Mira said, hugging her suddenly.
"Listen, Mira, right now we have some things to take care of, but why don't I stop by for tea, or something, later...?" Ronnie said gently, releasing her. Mira nodded. With that, Mira Amell turned and made her way into the village once more, more confident than Ronnie had ever seen her.
Things really had changed.
******
Cornelius Anterra-Lobel, hunter of man and beast, was bored out of his skull. They had arrived in the fabled Warrior's Village, and for what? There were no vampires, werewolves, or even remotely bad-tempered tree spirits, let alone escaped convicts, or real bounty to be found. What was a guy to do? He decided to go over to a local messageboard in town he'd been hearing about and see if there were any vampire details posted there for his reading pleasure.
Unfortunately, he found no such details. But he did find that young winger boy, Eyesoar. He was sitting crosslegged on the ground, pawing at the dirt.
"Something eating at ya, boy?" Cornelius asked conversationally. Eyesoar was quick to deny that anything was wrong.
"Oh...no...I just kind of want to talk to Ronnie, but...it can wait. She's really busy." Eyesoar rationalized.
Too quick. Cornelius thought. His hunting instincts told him that...this kid was being eaten...by ANGST.
"Angst biting ya hard, kid?" Cornelius asserted. Eyesoar blinked.
"Um...what?" he asked.
"Listen." the bounty hunter said candidly, "I know you aren't yer usual chipper self because you're not flying all around my head and tempting me to shoot you down like a duck in season, right? So here's the deal. I can help. I've been through it all. Tell uncle Cornelius what's eating you, huh, so he can kill it?" He smiled a horrible smile. The winger blinked.
"I...I... just wanna talk to Ronnie about something. I probably shouldn't, anyway... I know this place makes her sad, so I shouldn't be bothering her with anything I have to..." Eyesoar mumbled.
"You're feeling neglected, aren'tcha? Afraid she's too caught up in her business to notice, eh? I knew it!" Cornelius burst out, "You know that old folktale, about the fox? See, the fox just wanted to get that titty magazine very badly, but he couldn't, until he embraced the fork. Without the fork, he can't GET that magazine, and the same goes for you. Understand?"
"No..." Eyesoar said, doing his best not to stare blankly.
"You will someday, kid. As for now, don't fret." Cornelius said with an air of finality and reassurance. As he walked away, he nodded to himself satisfactorily. Yessir, it felt good helping people. Killing them was still damn fun, but the helping had its points.
******
"We're almost there." Renaldo noted in a tone that reminded Tefra of some kind of buttermilky-sweetish...PANCAKE.
A pancake that needed to DIE.
"You don't need to say it out loud. I know we're almost there!" Tefra snapped, setting some dry underbrush aflame in hopes it would spread like, well, wildfire.
"I could never keep anything from...you, Tefra." Renaldo said, adjusting the lace that seemed to creep from every inch of his outfit.
"You know the part where your eyes become twice their natural size whenever you say my name??" Tefra said in a dangerous tone.
"Yes, Tefra...?" Renaldo said, leaning closer, his eyes enlarging with sparkly-goodness.
"STOP it! It's disgusting, vulgar, vile, and I'll poke your eyes out with a stick and BARBECUE them for the wildlife to FEAST upon! Quahahahahahahahahaha!" Tefra screeched, jumping up and down somehow at the same time as he floated along.
"Very well. Until we reach our destination, I shall keep my eyes under control... Tefra." the vampire said, swishing his cape.
"Why until then? What's so special about Wa---" Tefra said.
"Quiet, quiet!!! You can't reveal our destination!!!" Renaldo gasped, beside himself with hysterics.
"You fool! I can reveal whatever I like!! Besides, you ass, we're the ONLY ones here!! Who would CARE??" Tefra exploded.
"Mystery," Renaldo said simply, "Is very complicated."
"I'm going to kill you." Tefra promised gleefully.
"Oh, Tefra, you can do WHATEVER you like to me, so long as the atmosphere of mystique is not disturbed..." Renaldo purred, his eyes enlarging to twice their normal size.
Tefra proceeded to burn a hole in the atmosphere the size of a large melon, and that was that.
******
Ronnie walked along one of the lanes between huts and houses in the village, making her way slowly but surely to her old house. She knew they really should have been gathering information, but... she had to go see it. It was eating a hole in her.
Unfortunately for her plans, she was stopped before she could reach it by a large, formidable man in tradition garb.
"So...it is you. The whole village is whispering about your sudden return, Ronnie." he said. She suddenly felt very much like a little girl again---before her stood Largould Aegolas.
Tristan's father.
"Oh...I...I...er...hi..." Ronnie stammered. What could she possibly say to this man? She had promised him and his wife, the day before departing ten years earlier, that she would solve the mystery of their son's disappearance. What did she have to show for it?
"Listen, Ronnie, we can talk later if you're uncomfortable about anything. But right now I'm here on business..." Largould said.
Business? That meant trouble.
"I'm not sure I follow." Ronnie said cautiously.
"The elders wish to speak with you." Largould clarified. Ronnie suddenly realized what it must be about. She was back, with a band of strange fighters, and she knew what they would want. Explanations about where she had been and what she was doing. Worse, they might forbid her to help in the fight against the vampires---after all, women weren't allowed to wield a weapon against anything in Warriors' Village.
Ronnie wouldn't allow it. She wouldn't. Quietly steeling herself to reject any way the elders tried to refuse her services, she nodded to Largould.
"Ah, of course. Let's go, then." She allowed herself to be led away to the elders' hall by her former father-in-law-to-be.
Soon, Ronnie found herself looking into a sea of stern faces of older men. She wasn't comforted by the fact that more than half seemed... less than thrilled to see her.
"My fellow elders, I brought back Ronnie Bell as requested." Largould announced. Ronnie gave a sheepish little wave. She was feeling somewhat less feisty---after all, these were the men who scolded her for whoknowswhat when she was growing up.
"I see you finally decided to come back." sneered one of them, "We thought you were long dead in a ditch somewhere, you good-for-nothing deserter---"
"That's enough, I think." came the voice of the chief, Zorak.
"What's this about?" Ronnie asked, cutting to the chase, but being very careful to specifically address Zorak. She didn't need a huge argument.
"The elders and I were just curious as to what brought on your, ah, rather sudden return, Ronnie Bell." Zorak explained casually. For a verbose man like she knew the chief could be, this was an extremely rare concise explanation.
"My men and I heard about the vampire attacks, so I decided to come see if I could help here..." Ronnie began, resisting the urge to add 'you have a problem with that?' to the end of her statement. As it was, the use of the terms my men and see if I could help elicited gasps from several of the more conservative elders.
"I see," Zorak said brightly. Largould tried to hide his smirk.
"Outrageous." one of the elders mumbled. "A former child of this village...leading men around like that. How degrading." Ronnie felt her anger rising. She had had about enough of these chauvinist fools---had her village really been this archaic before?!
"You listen here! I'm here to help, and I'm going to help whether you like it or not!" Ronnie burst out, unsure afterwards of how really threatening that actually was.
"Ronnie---" Zorak began.
"NO!" Ronnie plowed on, "I'm tired of all your attitudes! Just because I'm a woman---"
"Ronnie, please---" Largould stopped her, "We're trying to tell you..."
"That law has been rewritten." Zorak told her, "Women in this village now have just as much right as men to carry a sword, especially against vampires."
Oh. Well, I feel stupid.
"I.....er....sorry..." Ronnie said, reddening. "I...shouldn't have been so quick to...yes. Um."
"I know some of the elders are a little slow to change, but you have to admit, it's been centuries... this is a new thing for us." Largould said, leaning closer to her.
"Why don't you have a seat, get us up to speed on what you've brought to the table, and we can tell you about those filthy bloodsuckers." Zorak said. Ronnie, though relieved, knew she was in for quite an afternoon---Zorak LOVED to talk, after all.
Still, she sat, grateful despite some of the dirty looks she got.
******
The sun was just setting when Ronnie got out of the meeting of the elders. She felt like her ears had been talked off---Zorak hadn't changed, that was for sure.
She walked down the dirt path towards her house again, yearning to see what it was like after all these years. Little did she know, she was about to be interrupted again.
"E-excuse me!" came a female voice from behind her. She turned to find Clara, and smiled.
"Hi...how are you feeling?" she asked gently.
"I just want to thank you for saving me... " Clara said. "They say you're from around here, but...I don't remember you at all."
"You were too young, I think..." Ronnie said wistfully. "In any case, no thanks is needed. No one deserves what happened to you."
"Can I get your name?" Clara asked. Ronnie nodded, and made to step closer to the teenager, but suddenly found her sleeve pinned to the side of the tool shed she had been standing next to.
There was a fabulously shimmering rose holding her sleeve back.
Oh, shit.
A literal whirlwind of flower petals fluttered past Clara and Ronnie as two figures materialized. There was no mistaking who they were, of course. The tall one, with the flowing cape and flowing hair and flowing everything sat in just the right light to accent all his perfect features.
The other, dressed in flamboyant colors, was setting fire to an anthill and giggling like a schoolgirl as he watched it burn.
"It's... um... you!" Ronnie said, sort of ruining the moment. The one with long hair seemed extremely put out by that fact, but tried to hide it by flipping his cape dramatically.
"We have returned!" he announced.
"I hadn't noticed." Ronnie said with a scowl, trying somewhat unsuccessfully to yank out the rose from the shed. Clara wasn't sure whether to scream (because they were vampires) or faint (because the tall lacey one was so fabulous mortals couldn't handle it). She chose the former.
"Do you have to squeal like that all the time, Renaldo?!" groused the pyro vampire, who wasn't really paying attention to the proceedings.
"Hmph. That wasn't me. It was the damsel, DAZZLED by my features!" Renaldo said, swooping down on Clara, who just sort of whimpered and trembled a lot.
"I'll dazzle your features, you..." the pyro mumbled, sneaking up on his counterpart while his back was turned.
"Tefra!" Renaldo said suddenly, whirling on him. "Don't just stand there, help me DAZZLE!"
"Bwak! I wasn't sneaking up to kill you!" Tefra cried, setting a house on fire.
Ronnie really wasn't sure whether there was a threat here or not. And she was still stuck.
However, just as she had gotten over the taste of flower in her face, a flurry of yellow rose petals (what the hell was wrong with these people?) blasted through the lane. Appearing with them, of course, was someone. Dammit. Showy people these days.
You wouldn't catch me DEAD throwing flower petals out whenever I appeared somewhere. Ronnie thought grumpily to herself. Unfortunately, she almost did as she looked over to where the swirl of rosepetals obligatorily met the sunset---for the person who had appeared was dressed almost just like her.
A tall woman, still shorter than Ronnie herself, but still tall---stood grandly, or rather, crouched...maybe sort of posed, in one spot. She was wearing a yellow Warrior-Village-style dress like Ronnie, and had her brown hair put back with a headband. She brandished two small swords and looked like business.
"Oh, yay!" Clara gasped, to Ron's surprise.
"Clear off, beasts of the night. You don't belong here." said the woman in a voice that reeked of fake. Tefra gave the woman a quizzical look and Renaldo looked ready to dazzle, but neither moved.
"BURN, wench! Prepare to meet the tried and true power of my TRUE FIRE RUNE!!" Tefra cackled gleefully, dancing around in preparation of making this woman into a cooked meal.
"Mystery woman! The power of your mystery cannot counter the mysterious mystery I possess within my countenance!" Renaldo proclaimed.
"Is that so?" the woman said, arching an eyebrow. She tossed one of her swords like a blur at Renaldo. Amazingly, he blocked it with one of his stupid roses.
"That DOES it. I've had it with this ludicrous fight!" Ronnie shouted, ripping herself free off the wall finally. "One or more of you are going down, right now!" She blasted Tefra with her Hate Rune, something he evidently was not prepared for. He went sailing over a shrub onto the ground.
"Run, run, ladies, while you can!" the mystery woman said. "I'll handle these two!"
What was she, dense? Ronnie wasn't going anywhere.
"Um, no. You know they're vampires, right, lady?" Ronnie said.
"That's right! I'll burn you and set you on fire and BITE you!!" Tefra said delightfully. As if to prove this, he sprang like a rabbit in the attempt to descend on Clara with the burning and the toasting and the biting. Ronnie and the other woman both rushed over in an attempt to save the girl.
They ran into each other with a resounding crack, but at least Clara managed to remove herself of her own accord from harm's way.
"Love is like an arrow," Renaldo said thoughtfully, "It does not always hit its target, but when TRUE, it cannot miss!" His poetry hung in the air like some kind of sparkling dew. What sense it made, on the other hand, was less certain.
"...and?"
"Just saying." Renaldo said huffily.
"Hmph, you idiot." Tefra snapped. "If we're talking about TRUEness hitting things, then leave it to my...TRUE FIRE RUNE!" He began setting everything in a two-foot radius on fire.
"Perhaps we should, ah, rethink our strategy." the mystery woman said.
"WHAT strategy?" Ronnie fired back, dodging the fireballs that were now raining down all around them.
Luckily, before they had a chance to debate it, Tefra's arm was pierced by a crossbow bolt, and Renaldo barely dodged one, somehow (the bastard).
It appeared, unlike all the other showy idiots (okay, there was just that one...), Cornelius had actually done something right for once, and had come to the rescue.
"Hah! A direct hit!" Cornelius crowed happily, ignoring that he had missed one of them completely. Tefra, meanwhile, appeared in shock.
"My...my arm!" he wept. "I liked that arm!"
"Oh, Tefra, my dearest companion..." Renaldo said sympathetically.
"How will I knit, now?" Tefra said, sniffling. Renaldo swooped over to his partner.
"You...you knit, too...?" he said, his eyes enlarging to....far too large.
"NO, you IDIOT! I was being witty! I'm in fucking pain!!!" Tefra scowled, biting Renaldo on the nose. "Go away! I hate you anyway!" He hopped away, steam actually coming out of his ears. Renaldo looked heartbroken for a moment, then thoughtful.
"It appears to be farewell for now, my worthy opponents, but we shall meet again! By the sun, the stars, the moon, and the love that flows in my heart, farewell!" He blew a kiss, tossed a complimentary rose, and vanished with Tefra, hoping that no one noticed his nose was bleeding like there was no tomorrow.
"Come back!" Cornelius demanded. "I'm not done hunting you yet! ...Oh, damn." He turned to the three women. "You all okay, here?"
"You almost shot me, scruffy man!" the mystery woman said, affronted. Ronnie supposed she would be angry if almost shot by Cornelius, too. Then, she remembered, she HAD been.
"Listen, who are you, anyway??" Ronnie asked her. She looked offended, again, like Ronnie was already supposed to know.
"I'm the warrior protectoress of this village, of course. My name is Tigerlily." she introduced.
Ronnie wasn't even sure 'protectoress' was a real word, but had no time to debate that.
"TIGER-lily?" she repeated incredulously.
"That's what I said. Who are YOU?" Tigerlily asked. Ronnie knew exactly who this Tigerlily was, now. When Ronnie left, she had just been ordinary old Lily, a girl near her in age, who, like everyone else, had been groomed for eternal housewife status come adulthood.
Apparently, the whole women-fighting thing had reeeeaally gone to her head.
"...TIGER-Lily???" Ronnie repeated, dumbstruck. How stupid could one get?
"I asked you a question." Tigerlily said haughtily.
"I'm Ronnie Bell. Gee, didn't you know that? ....TIGERLILY?" she said.
"You are Ronnie? The one who abandoned us all? Well, I have to say, I don't think very highly of you at all."
Really.
"T-Tigerlily, Ronnie Bell saved me...!" Clara said, not comfortable with this at all. Ronnie could see how watching two people one looked up to fight would be uncomfortable, but her temper was getting the better of her. She did not like Lily, and she never really had.
"Ain'tcha even goin' ta thank me for saving you all?" Cornelius asked.
"Thanks." Ronnie and Tigerlily both said in a somewhat curt, icy tone. Cornelius shrugged, muttered something about women and forks and magazines and walked away.
"Listen, Lily, I appreciate your help and all, but I'm not in the mood for a critic's review of my life, so if you wouldn't mind, I was on my way to my house." Ronnie said shortly, turning to walk away.
"Oh, you mean that place your family used to live in? Why, I live there now! What a coincidence. I can show you around if you want." Tigerlily said in a self-important tone.
Ronnie froze. Her knuckles turned white, and she clenched her teeth. She tried very hard not to incinerate this woman on the spot. LILY...living in HER house?
"That...would be...lovely..." Ronnie said through clenched teeth. Someone upstairs had a very bad sense of humor.
"Right this way, then." Tigerlily said, walking past Ronnie.
"I KNOW the way, THANKYOUVERYMUCH." Ronnie said, scowling. But she followed just the same.
******
Eyesoar sat despondently on the rooftop of one of the houses in the village, watching the stars start to come out. He felt stupid. Because he was being so selfish. He knew this was the worst time to bring up something of his own business to Ronnie. She...had a lot of her own messes to deal with, and couldn't be bothered with his.
But still...Eyesoar was beginning to feel neglected. He was beginning to wonder if Ronnie had really forgotten. Which was stupid of him. And thus, he felt worse.
"Gah. I wish I could dump all my problems on YOU," he said to his mini-flag of Barbarossa. "But that's silly."
"It kind of is." Scotch admitted, climbing up on the roof.
"Hey. I picked this spot so people without wings couldn't get up here." Eyesoar said with a smirk. Scotch picked that moment to be uncharacteristic and stuck his tongue out.
"Too bad. I've noticed you dragging your feet around here, and Cornelius came to me saying something about how he had 'cured you' with his wonderful advice, so I know there's something wrong." Scotch said.
"I'm fine!" Eyesoar said, with a little too much fake cheer. He waved his flag.
"Quit it. What's bothering you? You can tell me, right? I keep lots of secrets around here." Scotch said with a winning smile. Eyesoar nodded half-heartedly.
"It's stupid."
"So is Jaoullin sometimes, but we don't tell him that, do we?"
"Yes, you do. All the time." Eyesoar pointed out.
"That's different." Scotch said, winking. "Just tell me, will you? I'm sure it's not as bad as you think."
"...I'm just kinda bummed. Ronnie promised me something a long time ago, and I'm starting to wonder if she's forgotten it..." Eyesoar said.
"I---" Scotch said, opening up his mouth.
"See, that's stupid, huh? She's got too much to worry about. It's dumb." Eyesoar said.
"It's not dumb, but I still wouldn't worry too much. Ronnie's not big on forgetting things, and that sounds important. Whatever it is, I'm sure she'll get around to it." Scotch reassured him.
"I sure hope so. It's important to me."
"I'll mention it to her when the moment's right, how's that? She'll know what I mean." Scotch offered. "In the meantime, please get some sleep. I don't need Cornelius handing out sleep remedies to you next, okay?"
"Right." Eyesoar agreed, shuddering. With that, he fluttered off the roof to find a place to sleep for the night.
******
After several excruciating hours of 'touring' her own former home---which brought back sweet memories that were punctuated by the sour moments of Lily telling her how she changed everything completely---Ronnie left in a hurry, before she wound up strangling the stupid bitch.
For some reason, Tigerlily completely irked Ronnie in every way, and she had yet to pinpoint why---though she had an ugly feeling that she would.
She found herself wandering in the dark. It seemed aimless at first, but more purposeful as she went. Suddenly, she knew where she was going, and before she knew it, she was almost there.
Her mother's gravestone loomed in the darkness ahead of her, on the outskirts of the village, near a thicket of trees and bushes. To her surprise, there was someone already there as she approached.
A young girl of perhaps late teens to early twenties stood in the darkness. Ronnie could scarcely make her out. She had chin-length purple-black hair, and pretty green eyes. She wore a blue dress and stockings, with black slippers.
The girl bent and placed a single white flower on Natascha Bell's headstone. She then straightened, glanced over at Ronnie, and smiled sadly.
"Um...hello...?" Ronnie said. She didn't recognize the girl from her childhood in the village, or anywhere, really.
Wordlessly, she walked away into the darkness.
"W-wait, where are you going? Can we talk...?" Ronnie called out, bewildered. She walked forward until she was at the headstone.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She remembered this place. She remembered burying her mother here. There was an emptiness next to Natascha's grave as if for someone else.
Ronnie had refused to place a headstone for her father. She had refused, back then, to let go of the thought of finding him alive someday.
She fell to her knees and wept silently for a while.
"...Oh! Jeez. I didn't know you were here. Sorry." came a voice from behind her. Ronnie scrambled to find her composure, but suddenly realized she didn't really care.
"I'll just...uh...I'm sorry..." stammered the voice. Ronnie turned, still kneeling.
"Don't leave. You don't have to...don't.." she said.
"I didn't mean to interrupt." Norman apologized again.
"You aren't...interrupting anything." Ronnie lied. "I was just...tidying up." She patted a pile of dirt nearby, feeling extremely stupid. Why was she covering up? Norman didn't care, and wouldn't be fooled, anyway.
"Do you mind if I...er...just sit here?" Norman asked, as if he was entering a possible mine field. Ronnie shook her head.
"No." He sat down beside her and stared at the tombstone, not wanting to make eye contact.
"They were wonderful, you know?" Ronnie said suddenly, running her hand across the writing on the stone. "I couldn't have asked for a better family."
"I believe you..." Norman answered.
"I'm going to find what happened some day. I will." Ronnie said. Norman wasn't sure if she was saying it to him or herself, but it didn't really matter.
"Er...what was....ah...his name?" Norman asked vaguely. Ronnie knew what he meant.
"Tristan." she replied. Norman was silent.
"Sometimes, I regret leaving this place. But other times... it was probably better for me. In any case, I'll die protecting it."
"Of course."
With that said, both of them sat in silence until the sun came up.
******
The next morning, Jaoullin and Pauline were sitting together on a large boulder near the town square, eating muffins. It could have been such a precious moment. But it wasn't.
"Y'see, if you don't end up using the WHOLE carcass, then these carrion birds'll start gathering, and then you've got trouble. And oooh, the STINK! Yes, it's best just to gut it and salvage what you can." Cornelius explained graphically to Eyesoar.
"Um, yes." the young winger looked slightly green.
"...I don't think I can eat any more..." Pauline said, wrinkling her nose.
"Weren't you listening to a word I said??" Cornelius said, disappointed. "That's incredibly WASTEFUL! Just imagine if that muffin was a juicy animal carcass!"
That about did it as far as breakfast went.
"Say, where's Norman gotten to? I haven't seen him all morning." Jaoullin wondered aloud.
"He wandered off last night. Probably writing." Scotch noted. Cornelius cleared his throat.
"So when do we get to kill vampires, eh? We've been here over night and still no kills! I caught one of 'em in the arm, but it's unfulfilling." he complained.
"Will you pipe down about all that? It's positively nauseating." Pauline snapped.
"Wait, vampires attacked HERE? Yesterday?" Jaoullin gasped.
"Yes, they did. I understand Ronnie and some woman she's not fond of fought them off." Scotch said plainly. Cornelius scowled.
"Where are you hearing these LIES? It was none other than I who dealt the finishing blow, though the ladies helped a generous amount, I'm sure!" he announced.
Norman and Ronnie approached the group, picking up muffins from a tray that Eyesoar had, though he definitely wasn't eating any.
"Where've you two been?" Jaoullin asked loudly.
"I was taking care of some personal business. You should know better than to be so nosy." Ronnie said severely. "Watch it, or I'll de-nut you."
"Sheesh, I'm sorry, already." Jaoullin said. He leaned over to Norman. "So where were you two?" he whispered.
"Out." Norman said, knowing full well that Ronnie was about to lash out at Jaoullin.
"I thought I told you---"
"Which one of you is Bell?" came a voice that made them all jump. Everyone turned to see a man of average height, with short, bleached-blond hair that was sort of spikey. He was paler than death, and the color of his eyes were eerie and unnatural. He had a black tattoo around the left side of his face, and was dressed in the manner of a swordsman.
"Who wants to know??" Jaoullin said confrontationally, his hand on Star Ostrich Sword.
"I won't ask twice." the man said. He made Ronnie's skin crawl.
"I am. Now what do you want?" She said sharply. He sort of smiled, but Ronnie noticed that his lips were pressed together very deliberately. It looked ...wrong.
"Good." he said shortly, approaching her. He extended a slip of paper that literally glowed.
"What...is this??" she asked.
"An invitation." he replied. Oh, that's nice. Like it explained anything.
"Care to elaborate, sir?" Scotch asked pointedly.
"The Black Lady extends her welcome, Ms. Bell. She would be honored if you would be her guest at Castle Neclordia. And your friends are welcome too, of course." the man said, breaking out finally into a full grin. Ronnie saw fangs.
"Vampire! Stand back, this one's mine!" Cornelius shouted, unsheathing Akularoe.
"That is all." said the vampire slickly, "But remember. You won't make it to the castle without that invitation. So don't lose it." He grinned again, and vanished into thin air.
"Why didn't you kill it while you had the chance??" Pauline cried.
"How was I to know?" Cornelius fumed, furious with himself.
"Quiet down, all of you. What are going to do about this?" Scotch prompted.
"Go to the castle, of course. How else are we to get near any vampires?" Ronnie said.
"It's a trap, you know." Norman said. Ronnie nodded.
"Of course, but what else can we do?"
"We were invited, I guess...." Eyesoar shrugged. Jaoullin swung his sword in an arc.
"Then we'd better go, and kick some---"
"Good morning." a female voice floated over. Ronnie ground her teeth. It was Tigerlily. "I couldn't HELP but overhear that you were about to go to the castle! I must warn you, it's suicide for those who aren't prepared. I can't help but think that they goofed on the invitation!"
Of course. Ronnie thought sourly, They'd much rather eat YOU.
"I'm afraid I'll have to impose on this little expedition, then." Tigerlily said. "As protectoress, I can't pass up this opportunity."
"We'll need all the help we can get." Jaoullin said eagerly, his eyes fixed somewhere below Tigerlily's neckline. Ronnie almost de-nutted him right there.
"There's no time to lose!!!" Cornelius cheered. "To the vampire castle!"
"It's south of here, of course. I'll lead the way." Tigerlily said, marching off.
Once again, Ronnie found herself following Lily, but this time she was certain it was so she could stab her in the back.
