Wide-eyed Wanderer
a NWN fanfic
by Meagen

Book 1: Neverwinter

Chapter 1

 Meagen Image hurried her pace, gripping her bow more securely in her
left hand. Her pointy ears were picking up the sounds of conversation
being carried along the pipes. She knew she was close to her quarry.

 She found them around the next corner - two groups of smugglers,
glaring at each other through a thick iron grating. It almost seemed
like they were already caught and incarcerated, each side blaming the
other for their plight. 

 The bandits on her side of the bars turned towards her, and the
illusion was broken. She tried to be civil and reason with them, but
she knew it was a lost cause. Sure enough, the leader of the gang
spat out a few angry words, and ordered his men to attack.

 She sighed slightly in frustration as she put away her bow and drew
a thin sword from her side, all in one smooth motion. 'Why can't it
ever be *easy*?', she wondered as she dodged an attack and countered,
striking at the man's huge arm and drawing blood.

 As her weapon swished through the air with a sound not unlike the
crack of a whip, she kept a wary eye on the smugglers on the other
side of the grating. They occasionally fired their bows, and either
were trying to help her or had very, *very* bad aim. There was also a
large packing crate there, and Meagen was pretty certain it contained
the creature she was after. Or what was left of it, anyway - luckily
she only needed one feather.

 As one of the bandits fell with an arrow in his chest, Meagen
noticed a fourth person on the other side of the bars. A tall male,
most likely human, with brown hair in a ponytail, dressed in flowing
black robes that clearly marked him as some kind of magic user. He
was talking to the leader of the other gang, quite amicably as far as
she could tell.

 She felt a small surge of irritation. Who was this guy? She knew,
more or less, who the key players were here, but she couldn't place
him. And he didn't look like a common bandit, either. 

 "Hey!", Meagen called, further annoyed when neither of the men
turned around. "HEY!!!", she repeated, this time sucessfully getting
the attention of both. "You! Wizard boy! Who the hell are you?"

 They looked at each other - he was too far away to see his face
clearly, much less meet his eyes - and then, to her surprise, he
began casting a spell.

 'Does he want to spell his name out in lights or something?', she
wondered briefly, before she recognised the spell. 'Magic missiles?!'

 Two bolts of energy flew from his hands, tracing shimmering arcs in
the air as they converged on her-

 -on the smuggler who had been about to run her through with his
sword. He reeled from the attack, and Meagen had enough presence of
mind to add her own strike, taking him out. 

 This still left the leader of the gang, however, and while he was no
great fighter, he had enough skill to keep her busy for another
minute or so. When he finally joined his men, Meagen paused to
breathe and wipe her brow. (And search the three bodies for
valuables, but that's another story.) A quick look to the other side
of the grating showed that the others had fled while she was busy.

 She ran along the passage as fast as she could. It was, of course,
pointless, as her target wouldn't be any less gone if she took three
hours to get there - but she felt a burning need to make sure.

 The crate's lid grinced as it was lifted, revealing no more than
dirt at the bottom.

 No trace of the cockatrice, or any part of it.

*********************************************************************

 Amadeus Mandrake strolled along the docks nonchalantly in the
deepening twilight, the feather secure in his pack. He was looking
forward to telling Lady Aribeth of his first success.

 He wondered idly if he'd made a mistake in helping out the bandit
girl. Fights between smugglers were no concern of his... but she had
been so careless that his chivalrous instinct had kicked in. A good
thing he cast the spell in time, or he'd really look foolish...

 His musing were interrupted as a shadow detached itself from a
nearby doorway and pounced upon him. He didn't have time to cast a
spell or defend himself - in a minute he was pinned against the wall,
a thin blade pressed against his throat, a pair of azure blue eyes
glaring daggers into his.

 The owner of those eyes was a girl, the same he had helped - he
recognised the light blue and white armor she was wearing. "Glad I
could still catch up to you", she told him with some smugness. Her
voice was rather girlish, which combined with her petite figure and
rounded mop of dark brown hair made her seem quite young.

 But her grip was strong and her voice was firm. "In the name of Lady
Aribeth, I demand you hand over that feather." This was no spoiled
young princess, playing hero on her parents' budget. This woman meant
buisness.

 Amadeus smiled, trying not to show his amusement too much. "I happen
to be on the Lady's service myself. I'm taking this feather back to
her."

 "Oh, really?" Her voice was almost dripping with suspicion. "So you
wouldn't mind if I tagged along on the way to the Hall of Justice,
would you?"

 "Not in the least", he said smoothly, then added as she slowly
withdrew her blade from his throat. "I'd be honored to spend some
time in the company of such a beautiful lady."

 She stared, obviously thrown off by his remark. She glared at him
some more, then looked him up and down. He didn't balk at her gaze,
and she seemed satisfied. 

 "Lead the way, then", she said with a courteous gesture, and
followed him close, but not uncomfortably so. She kept her rapier in
hand.

*********************************************************************

 Meagen watched him like a hawk, determined not to let him get away
or overpower her, but he seemed to have no such plans. He strolled
down the street unconcerned, hands in the vast pockets of his robe.
He didn't seem to be looking at her at all, which was rather
insulting. But then again, she'd probably feel nervous if he *did*
look at her. This was a no-win situation for him, and he was very
wisely keeping to himself.

 "That was a nice trick you pulled back there, by the way", he said
suddenly, startling her a bit. He was still looking at some point on
the unseen horizon. "You were as good as invisible, I never saw you
coming. Not to mention how you managed to find me in the first
place... I made sure I had a head start, after all."

 "Tricks of the trade", she replied, a small smile making its way
onto her lips. "A ranger knows how to track the prey and catch it
unaware."

 "Ah, that explains it. I have had some training in matters of the
bow as well."

 "The bow is what interests me most, actually", she admitted. "I'm
not too big on the talking to animals or the unity with nature
stuff... back home, the ones who do become druids. The ranger's is
the path for a man who wants to meet his challenges with arrows and
steel."

 "Man... or elf?", he asked, phrasing the question as delicately as
possible.

 "Half." The reply was short and to the point.

 "Ah." Sensing that this topic was exausted, he gestured to her
rapier. "I see you're carrying an Academy issue sword", he observed,
recognising the straight, plain blade, so called because one was
given to recruits at the end of their training. "It's very...
quaint."

 He immediately knew he'd made a blunder. Her face darkened, the
smile vanishing like snow in the sun. "Mind your own buisness", she
snapped at him.

 She did her best to hide a furious blush as she trotted along. Sure,
she wanted to tell him, I've seen all the lovely weapons they sell in
the shops. But this job pays very poorly, and all my money goes into
restocking my healing potions, and I barely scrapped together enough
for this armor. Who knows when I'll be able to afford a new bow, much
less a blade, and do you know what that dwarf requires to make me a
good rapier? *Dragon's blood*!

 But as blowing up like that would be embarassing, not to mention
careless, she just fumed quietly as they stepped through the gates
and into the City Core.

*********************************************************************

 Aribeth welcomed both of them back, and was very happy when Amadeus
gave her the cockatrice feather. The two young adventurers took turns
telling her about their respective investigations which brought them
to the same goal.

 "...you have both done well", Aribeth told them after they'd
finished. "I'm afraid the city doesn't have much money, but please
accept this as a token of our gratitude." She handed Amadeus a sack
filled with coins. "And this is for your help." To Meagen's surprise,
she recieved a smaller but equally full sack.

 They thanked the paladin politely and excused themselves. While
Amadeus chatted up the priest and bought some suppies from him,
Meagen walked to the front of the temple, and had a short
conversation with a suspicious-looking halfling. They struck a
bargain, and the halfling followed her as she went outside. She
paused for a while, letting Amadeus catch up to her.

 "So. Where to now...?", the sorceror asked, trying to sound
nonchalant.

 "There's something going on up in Blacklake", Meagen told him.
"We're going to check it out."

 "Oh." He didn't miss the lack of invitation. "Well, I heard there
was some kind of outbreak in the prison on the Penisula. I think it
needs looking into. Goodnight, madam." He bowed, and turned to walk
away.

 "Wait!" Meagen called, a slight note of panic in her voice.

 "What?" Amadeus half-turned around, one eyebrow raisied inquiringly.

 "Would you- I mean- you never told me your name", she said, blushing
slightly.

 His eyebrow went a bit higher, but he smiled politely. "Mandrake.
Amadeus Mandrake."

 "Meagen Image", she responded promptly, then seemed to lose her
place. "I- We'll- I guess I'll see you around", she finished lamely.

 He smiled at her, and kept smiling as she turned around and vanished
into the night.

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