"Ow ow ow, Lina, leggo, leggo, leggo!"
"Jellyfish! Yogurt head! Stupid!" Every epithet was punctuated by a punch or an elbow to the skull. One day, she'd knock some sense into Gourry. She hoped. Finally letting him collapse into a quivering mass on the ground, she resumed scoping the layout of the bandit hideout. The only reason she hadn't blasted him all the way to Saillune was because the were very close to the hideout, and she preferred to surprise the bad guys.
Glancing down at the whimpering Gourry, she wondered why she bothered sometimes. It wasn't like he still had the Sword of Light. But usually, they made a good team. Of course, Lina suspected that the reason she still travelled with Gourry was because they'd been together for so long now, it wasn't worth the effort to try something else. Now, if she had any idea where Zel was hiding out these days, it would be different... now THAT'S a fellow that would make a good partner!
Lina sighed, then plotted her attack. First, a Fireball to the gate. She liked to make a grand entrance. Then a few Flare Arrows to add to the mayhem, coupled with a few Freeze Arrows for a captive audience. THen she'd say a few words about how they deserved everything they got..... wait, no, that was too Amelia-ish. She'd just let them figure it out, confirming their fears, but if anyone brought up that 'flat-chested' bit, there were so TOAST......
BBBOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!
Lina's jaw hit the ground as a Fireball destroyed the whole front of the bandit fort. She could hear the screams of terror from the bandits, the sounds of property damage crackling in flames. Well-roasted bandits fled the hideout, some still on fire, howling "A Monster! A Monster!" as they leapt into the nearby, and oh so convenient, river.
A recovered Gourry knelt beside Lina. "Uh, Lina? Did you do that?"
"NO, YOU IDIOI! I was too busy beating up you!"
"Uh, Lina, didn't you say that you wanted to be quiet?"
Must resist pounding Gourry! Must resist sending him flying with a Burst Rondo! Gritting her teeth, Lina wrenched her attention back to the bandit hideout below. The screams had died out, but the wooden walls still crackled merrily. If Lina were down there, she'd be finished interrogating the leader, and be happily stuffing her dimensional pockets with loot......HEY!!
"C'mon, Gourry!" She grabbed his arm and cast "LEVITATION!"
As they flew to the scene, Lina spotted a figure leaving the main building of the hideout, a large sack over his shoulder. Lina and Gourry touched down in front of the hideout, Gourry whimpering, just as the figure gave a merry wave to the moaning, broken, bandits scattered around. The voice carried over the ambient noise.
"Well, so long, boys! Thanks for the donation!" Laughing, the figure gestured, gathering magic, then cast "REY WING!" and flew off.
That's MY gold, Lina thought angrily, and cast her own flight spell to give chase. Her Rey Wing bubble zoomed after this other 'bandit-killer'. Gourry, though perfectly safe within the spell, still wrapped his long arms around Lina's waist and kept his eyes shut. About two miles away from the hideout, the other sorcerer's bubble dipped below the tree canopy. Lina dropped herself and Gourry about thirty feet away from where the other disappeared. Kicking Gourry off, she whispered, "Now, be quiet, Gourry! We want to sneak up on him."
"Lina, why are we chasing this guy?"
"Because, you idiot, we had that bandit camp staked for ourselves! I'm not gonna let some nobody waltz in and take off with MY gold!" She started sneaking in the direction of the other sorcerer. "Now, shut up and come on!"
Ahead, in a clearing, a sudden light appeared, as if the other sorcerer had used a limited Fireball to start a campfire. Lina could hear him humming a cheery, pleased, little tune to himself. Ha, Lina thought, he's checking out what he got. He's just so damned chipper......
SNAP! went the twig under Gourry's foot, and Lina shot him a sour glare. Can't he get anything right?
"Cad e sin?" called the stranger, whirling to face the trees where Lina and Gourry hid. "Stad!"
"Huh?" Gourry responded so intelligently. Lina elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow!"
"Anseo tar!"
"Lina, what's she saying?" Gourry whispered.
"SHE?" Lina stared up at Gourry.
"Yeah, it's a woman. Can't you tell?" Gourry gave Lina a puzzled look.
"Ni bhogfaidh me! Anseo tar!"
Lina shrugged. "Let's go, Gourry." Lina walked through the trees to the edge of the clearing. In the light of the campfire stood a woman, backlit by the flames, in a fighting stance with a rapier in one hand and a dagger in the other. Behind her feet lay a sack of loot, gold and gems sparkling in the firelight. She looked ready to slice Lina and Gourry into bits. Gourry's hand went to his swordhilt.
"Hold it, Gourry," Lina ordered. Her eyes narrowed at the woman. "Who are you?"
"Who are YOU to sneak up on folks in the woods at night?" The woman's voice was accented. Lina was relieved to hear that she spoke the common tongue, but she'd clearly learnt it as a second language.
"I'm the one you stole that gold from!!" Lina fumed.
"Och, I didna steal from you! I liberated it from a pack o' bandits. And them that cliam to ally with bandits must be bandits themselves!"
"Now hold on one minute!" Lina yelled. "I'm no bandit! I am the powerful and beautiful sorceress Lina Inverse!!"
"And I'm Gourry Ga......"
"SHUT UP, Yogurt-head!" Lina smacked Gourry upside the head.
The woman straightened up to a normal stance. "You're the great Lina Inverse? Bandit-Killer? Slayers of Shaburnigdo?"
"Yeah," Lina confirmed, suddenly wary. Was this about to become the usual shpeil?......
"Cead mile failte! Sit, relax!" The woman sheathed her blades and gestured to the fire. "I didna realize. Sorry, but I've been wand'ring these parts for years, and didna expect to ever see YOU around here." She gathered the loot back into its bag, and tossed it aside. She walked around the fire to make room for them, and invited them to sit. "Failte romhat."
The fire illuminated the woman's face, and Lina gasped in shock. The woman stood a bit taller than Lina, though nowhere near as tall as Gourry. Her hair was a shiny deep brass, and her skin the color of sandstone. Literally. In fact, the patterns of stone on her face matched HIS almost exactly. Her brass hair was braided in an intricate pattern, and the borders of her rich purple tunic had a gold embroidery that nearly matched the braid. Lina couldn't help staring. Dear L-sama, she thought, there's another.....
"What's the matter?" asked the woman.
"You're....you're...."
"Och, I'm no Mazoku, no worries on that score."
"But.....but....."
The woman smiled. "Aye. I'm chimera. Do'na fear. You'll have no harm o' me. In fact," she sat by the fire, "I've been patterning meself after yourself a bit. Fine idea, raiding bandits. A bit o' fun, no problems with town folks, and ya get rich quick without a murmur. Truth, ya get to be a bit of a hero from it!"
Lina sat down hard. Gourry kept looking from one to the other with a dumb expression. "Lina what's the matter?"
She ignored him. "How?"
The chimera said, "Och, I got the magic down pat. And the swordwork's a fine bit o' exercise.."
"No no no no. I mean, the chimera-ism...."
"OH! An enchantment from me old Master. He spend a year studying and working, then finally he asks, would ye like to try? And I say, sure, canna argue with the benefits. So he casts the spell and here I am." She told the brief tale with a shrug, as if it were no big deal. "Been chimera for going on three years now. Canna complain. Me Master was good on the details."
"Um, Lina...."
"NOT NOW, GOURRY!" Lina tossed off a punch that knocked him over and out. Turning back to the chimera, she asked, "What's your name?"
"Aoife Gruaig-geal. That's Aoife Bright-Hair to you. Or just Aoife." She pronounced the name 'Ay-fa'. "I assume the now-sleeping chap is your partner, Gourry Gabriev?"
Lina nodded. "How do you know about us?"
Aoife shrugged again. "Word gets around. But didn't yous stay around the main kingdoms, Saillune and the like?"
This time Lina shrugged. "I cleared them out. Eventually, with Amelia at home, there wasn't a bandit within a hundred miles. Booooorrrr-inggggg."
"I kin see that. Anything I can do for ya?"
"YES!!!" Lina nearly bowled Aoife over with that. "Do YOU know a cure for your chimera-ism?"
Aoife leaned back in surprise. "Aye! O'course I do! Ya didna think me Master would put a spell on me without a Counter,eh?"
Lina leapt to her feet. She swooped down on the unconscious Gourry and shook him until he woke up and almost passed out again. "GOURRY! We gotta find Zel!!"
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