Disclaimer: Violent thoughts expressed. <<Thanks Lee. And hurry back Geoff!>> In a Drachian alleyway... >FastTalk decided to see if she had remembered anything else that he >taught her. He covered his mouth to somewhat muffle the sound, and >screeched like a jay. It was a normal enough sound that it would not >arouse much suspicion, but strangely enough, he hoped that his >one-time >apprentice would recognize it as out of place and >investigate. Or even >better, recognize it as one of their call >sounds. This one roughly meant, >�Is everything going according to >plan?� FastTalk stood in the middle of >the street and waited. After >all, one of the tenets he so tried to drill >into her head was �The >best place to hide, is out in the open.� Tawny turned away from the dropped figure of the man she hardly knew, prepared to depart into the alley with him and his bundle of goods. And then she heard the jay bird call. The noise seemed to rip through her eardrum as it brought back a flood of memory. Suddenly she was crouched beneath a window, anxiously awaiting FastTalk's signal, her heart pounding furiously. With a swallow and a slight shake of her head, shrugging off what might well be another hallucination, a leftover mirage of her sand trap nightmares. Nonetheless, her lips pursed instinctively in that moment and she prepared to answer. But she paused a fraction longer, her eyes on the figure nearest her, but in her perpheral vision she caught the other form's shadow in the street. She froze. FastTalk watched the subtle movement with a wry smirk. 'So she hasn't forgotten everything...well it's nice to see that she paid attention once and awhile' he thought. He stood silently, then shrugged to no one in particular and called again, this time making the screech a bit more urgent, all the while silently musing 'I wonder if she still wants to kill me...' FastTalk...the guy was like horse manure, always about, always underfoot. 'Ignore the bastard. Turn and leave with the your newfound prize. If you stay, he'll only take whatever he can from you. That's the way it works. Hell, you'd do the same T.' Her hazel eyes narrowed in the darkness and she turned to stare at her former teacher for a heated moment. Finally she called out her response, low but unmistakable. *~Things were going as planned.~* Her jaw clenched. Bloody right they were. FastTalk laughed out loud in spite of himself, not worried about any noise he might make, after all, HE hasn't taken anything that isn't his. He began to whistle a merry tune as he walked straight towards the duo, figuring if this doesn't get her moving in one direction or the other, nothing is going to. FastTalk decided to sing a bawdy drinking song he'd learned only nights before...if only to further irritate her. "The ale is tasty...and the wench is too...Have another round mate...We're well past stewed..Oh pass the cup around me hearty..pass the cup around...The ship will soon be deep sea bound..so pass the cup around.." The younger and far more beautiful thief glanced quickly to guy with the satchel of goods and nodded to him as if to say it was alright. Crossing her arms, masking her features, she turned to FastTalk and watched his amble approach. She didn't move either toward or away for the moment. Better to face him than have him follow unknowingly. Hell knew where ol Silverhaired was going with his loot, but it wasn't going to be the back alley if she had anything to say about it. Silently, she drew in her questions. Was FastTalk drunk? Oh one could only hope. Was he stranded in Drache? And more importantly, might he have the plague? She heard it even made a man's bit parts fall off. These questions passed over her face unnoticed as she studied him. FastTalk smiled inwardly at the brash lack of motion his one-time apprentice showed. Silently he thought 'If she was as trainable as she is gutsy..she'd have been maybe the greatest thief these Lands have ever seen..since she isn't though..it'll still have to be me.' He decided to show the youngster that she wasn't the only one who could stare down the business end of a longsword and grin. So he walked right over to where the duo stood, leaned on the corner of a nearby building and without so much as a nod of acknowledgement to the "gimmicked" elf, FT turned to Tawny and with his famed half-smirk speaks. "Well, well, well...the desert dweller in the big city..how's tricks Apprentice?" The girl glided smoothly between the two men, a few effortless steps that did much to quiet her mind. She also took a step away from FastTalk, to better see him in the moonlight. She knew his actions could be lightning if he wanted. She knew there was much she might still have learned from him, but that chance was lost long ago. She wouldn't admit these points however, not even to herself. She'd gotten along on her own for many seasons now and that was just fine with her. The scar beneath her eye itched suddenly as she studied him, but she didn't move 'cept for a slight twitch of her cheek. Desert dweller...what did he go calling her that for? Had he learned about her time away...*stop, no more thoughts on that topic* "Too crowded for three I'd say..." her voice was even-toned, low. "True enough..why not send your magician friend home...it's probably close to his bedtime anyway...Unless that is..you'd rather go in that direction." FastTalk makes a subtle motion with his chin down the dark alley. The slightest raise of her eyebrow bore the resemblance of a dark mountain peak rising. He *was* truly insane if he thought that she would hang about with the likes of him, now, here. Had he forgotten her despisement? Of course, he was merely goading her, always trying to get a rise out of her. He'd so loved to that. The memory made her jaw clench again quickly. She nearly whispered out the words, hoping her gender guise was still in effect for the other thief. "What did you do, wash up on shore like the rest of the plagued souls? I would think Drache is a little out of your league..." The scar itches furiously now but Tawny only cracks a slight smile after her taunt. FastTalk quirks a brow to the sky, as he looks from Tawny to the elf. He double-takes as he looks back to Tawny, seeing her in dressed in leather garments, he looked curious. FastTalk smiled warmly at his one-time apprentice, even more impressed. "Looks like you learned a thing or two out in those deserts..didn't you Tawny? As for the plague..don't worry about me..I've done tougher illnesses than this flu they've got floating around here..By the by..if Drache is too tough for me..doesn't it make it impossible for you little 'boy'?" He'd bloody spoken her name in front of a stranger! First rule broken! Tawny stared hard at the man she once loved with all her being. Granted, it was fantasical puppy love mixed with an idolist worship for her all powerful mentor, but it had been so all consuming for her a few years ago. Obviously, he cared not a wit for her, he would go so far as to even hint at her ruse! If it would place her in harm, what did he care? She uncrossed her arms and let them dangle now, the leather of her outfit adjusting itself with the motion. "Believe me, I don't worry a moment about you. I learned more than you could ever teach me ol' man. Drache isn't as hard on the young and the clever as it is on the old and slow. *Be well now.*" She grits before taking a step backward, then another sideways. FastTalk watched her do a calculated retreat, in fact any other then the arrogant Fast might not even consider it a retreat, just a movement, but Fast thought he knew better. The old man crack had stung, but only for a moment. He may not be the youngest rogue in the world, but then he knew that. "Going so soon Tawny? We have so much to catch up on youngster..Maybe I could even show you around Drache..There's quite a bit of coin one who knows where to look..And four hands can carry more than two..." FastTalk wondered why in the Nine Hells he even bothered? She had often professed her displeasure with him and he himself so enjoyed watching her squirm under his stinging words. Underneath it all though he would always think of her as his apprentice and decided that above all it meant something. No matter how little. Tawny gave a short chuckle and a shrug of her shoulders, the most animated movement her body made in the encounter. A quick glance behind her saw the other thief briefly. He was still there right? The timing was most inopportune. Facing Fast once more with a mocking gesture, Tawny brought her hands to her chest, bound though it was, with her eyes fixed steadily on Fast. "I think I shall choose the future over the past this night, though it breaks my heart so," her voice dipped sarcastically. "Another time, another place..." and maybe I would drop my dagger bewteen your ribs. She smiled and offered a little salute. FastTalk let his lips curl into a mocking little smile. "The choices we make are our own Tawny...if nothing else I hope you learned that from me. Well let me conclude our little tryst with two more quick lessons child. Lesson the first...when you decide to go fishing..pray that the shark doesn't infest your waters. Lesson the second...just because you make your own decision..doesn't mean it was the right one." With that FastTalk produced an ebony dagger and flipped it in the air and replaced it in his bandolier in one deft motion. He then turned and started heading down the center of the street, singing his bawdy drinking song. 'Crazy manicial bastard!' she wanted to scream, to rail at him, with her fists pounding against his chest. She wanted to reach for his dagger and run it down along the side of his face. Tawny stood, fists clenched at her sides and let her thoughts fester into dreams for a moment. Quickly, she moved in the other direction to encourage the other thief though most likely he needed none to spur him. Her eyes remained on Fast and she vowed silently that one night...she would be rid of him forever. She brought her thoughts back from straying to the insufferable FastTalk and what it would be like to work with him again by wishing a fate worse than the plague upon him. Then she focused on the situation at hand. What did the silverhaired thief think now? Actually, she wouldn't be surprised if he'd vanished on her. Tawny scowled beneath her cap. ~~*~~ http://www.dragonmyst.f2s.com/char/tawny.html _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. -- To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] with "unsubscribe dragontales" in the body of the message.
