Part 7, part of Act One
Part 7 is sort of short, so I'm prolly going to mesh it with Part 6 in later drafts. All of the Parts are part of the Prolouge. Hereonout, they'll be Acts. I'm hoping the Acts will be longer, but I make no promises.
Part Seven
In the morning, Rayen left for school before Tienne awoke. It didn’t surprise him, seeing as this happened from time to time, but it left him with a gut feeling of worry and unease the remainder of the day. He worked in the Denthe family’s fields for most of the day, clearing out random debris and doing some shopping for them to make some money; he found a mucklesap-lolly by their farm fence, no doubt left by Elis Denthe, and he was more than happy to liberate the treat from his undeclared foe. The lolly, he reasoned, was rightfully his, seeing as Elis had stolen it from him at the parade.
When he returned, still sucking on the caramel colored lolly, Rayen was sitting in Ma’s chair, her hands folded in her lap.
“Good evening, Rayen,” Tienne said cautiously, curious. Rayen usually went out of herself with excitement when he came home, but now looked somber and quiet. “How was your day?”
“We learned more about night-elves today,” she said softly, almost dreamily. She paused. “And I ate a blood-lolly.”
“Didn’t you eat your blood-lolly last night when we got home?”
Rayen’s head snapped up, her eyes almost wild with something Tienne couldn’t name- she then looked down at her lap again. “Yes, of course. I meant a night-lolly. I ate a night-lolly.” She nodded, slowly.
“I’m going to go out to Town to buy some things for dinner,” Tienne said, still cautious, as to not upset her in her fine state. “If you’d like to come with me to watch the Nobleman leave for Eastern Wood-”
“No, that’s alright,” Rayen interrupted softly. “Goodbye, Tienne.”
Tienne frowned, started to say something, stopped, and, too confused for words, walked back out the door. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rayen uncover the flower necklace from underneath her hands and stroke the petals lovingly.
When Tienne returned, Rayen was gone. And she would never be there again.
He returned home not long after he had scrounged up some groceries. He missed the Nobleman's goodbye parade, though he did hear the sounds of trumpets coming from the Eastern Wood. Tienne pushed the door open, greeted by silence.
"Rayen," he called cautiously, wondering if his sister had gone to bed early. "Rayen, I'm home."
Still, silence.
Tienne set down his groceries, blinking in the sparse light and walking towards Rayen's room. He pressed the door open softly.
A petite lump on the bed rolled over. Tienne saw a flash of golden hair and let out a relieved sigh.
"Goodnight, Rayen."
He slept well that night, and the next morning, he found a mucklesap-lolly. His luck was certainly changing.
Tienne walked into his sisters room, the morning light illuminating the wooden floorboards. Dust rose as he walked.
"Rayen, wake up," he said broadly, feeling rather pleased now that the nobleman buisness was over. He hadn't liked feeling all that night-elf dark magic around him, and felt like a certain amount of weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Rayen, I'm making mucklesap treats, and I'll eat them all if you dont wake..."
He shook his little sisters shoulder, but the lump was unresponsive. He jerked back the covers, and a curled up form made of sparkling gold mist appeared. The illusion began to fade.
That's how Tienne got here, in a shady town near the Roughshack Mountains.
Act One
"Elf," the bartender snorted, giving Tienne a squinty glare. "What can I get you for?"
"...I'm fine," Tienne replied, shaking his head. He pulled up the hood of his scratchy brown cloak, tapping the heel of the black leather tavelers boots he had taken to wearing. Tienne drew circles in the dust on the bar idly.
He hated this town- Aelad, it was called. Mostly full of half-gnomes, humans and other people of little consequence. He had seen another elf, but the elf-girl had left before he had the chance to speak with her. It was in these sort of towns that Tienne got homesick; though after a year, one would expect that the homesickness would fade.
A year. Tienne sighed. A full year next week from the day he had left his father in the care of the Denthe's and headed out to find his sister. He thought-- he knew-- she was with the Nobleman. The Nobleman, who now rested at his grand castle in the center of the night-elven woods, in the Twilight Caverns, where no-one but a creature of dark could find him, so it was said. Tienne was determined. Determined, headstrong, and completely hopeless.
He stood, leaving the flickering shadows in the bar and taking a deep breath of acid-tang air. Smoke from the forges across from the bar had permeated the air for at least a mile every direction. The cobblestone streets were grimy. Aelad was quite possibly the worst town he had ever come upon, including the tribe of insane half-night elves. At least the night-elves had decent food.
Tienne's feet carried him North, towards the town gate, towards his next destination. He had heard that Ouaide, just northeast from Aelad, was full of all sorts of people, and there was bound to be a night-elf or two he could pry dark secrets from.
He could only hope.
Notice: In the next update, I'm planning to introduce a new charachter: Lorin, who's one of the biggest plot points in the entire story. Well, not really, ut he does a whole hell of a lot. So, you know. Lorin. Coming up next on The Lolly Project.
Part Seven
In the morning, Rayen left for school before Tienne awoke. It didn’t surprise him, seeing as this happened from time to time, but it left him with a gut feeling of worry and unease the remainder of the day. He worked in the Denthe family’s fields for most of the day, clearing out random debris and doing some shopping for them to make some money; he found a mucklesap-lolly by their farm fence, no doubt left by Elis Denthe, and he was more than happy to liberate the treat from his undeclared foe. The lolly, he reasoned, was rightfully his, seeing as Elis had stolen it from him at the parade.
When he returned, still sucking on the caramel colored lolly, Rayen was sitting in Ma’s chair, her hands folded in her lap.
“Good evening, Rayen,” Tienne said cautiously, curious. Rayen usually went out of herself with excitement when he came home, but now looked somber and quiet. “How was your day?”
“We learned more about night-elves today,” she said softly, almost dreamily. She paused. “And I ate a blood-lolly.”
“Didn’t you eat your blood-lolly last night when we got home?”
Rayen’s head snapped up, her eyes almost wild with something Tienne couldn’t name- she then looked down at her lap again. “Yes, of course. I meant a night-lolly. I ate a night-lolly.” She nodded, slowly.
“I’m going to go out to Town to buy some things for dinner,” Tienne said, still cautious, as to not upset her in her fine state. “If you’d like to come with me to watch the Nobleman leave for Eastern Wood-”
“No, that’s alright,” Rayen interrupted softly. “Goodbye, Tienne.”
Tienne frowned, started to say something, stopped, and, too confused for words, walked back out the door. From the corner of his eye, he saw Rayen uncover the flower necklace from underneath her hands and stroke the petals lovingly.
When Tienne returned, Rayen was gone. And she would never be there again.
He returned home not long after he had scrounged up some groceries. He missed the Nobleman's goodbye parade, though he did hear the sounds of trumpets coming from the Eastern Wood. Tienne pushed the door open, greeted by silence.
"Rayen," he called cautiously, wondering if his sister had gone to bed early. "Rayen, I'm home."
Still, silence.
Tienne set down his groceries, blinking in the sparse light and walking towards Rayen's room. He pressed the door open softly.
A petite lump on the bed rolled over. Tienne saw a flash of golden hair and let out a relieved sigh.
"Goodnight, Rayen."
He slept well that night, and the next morning, he found a mucklesap-lolly. His luck was certainly changing.
Tienne walked into his sisters room, the morning light illuminating the wooden floorboards. Dust rose as he walked.
"Rayen, wake up," he said broadly, feeling rather pleased now that the nobleman buisness was over. He hadn't liked feeling all that night-elf dark magic around him, and felt like a certain amount of weight had been lifted from his shoulders. "Rayen, I'm making mucklesap treats, and I'll eat them all if you dont wake..."
He shook his little sisters shoulder, but the lump was unresponsive. He jerked back the covers, and a curled up form made of sparkling gold mist appeared. The illusion began to fade.
That's how Tienne got here, in a shady town near the Roughshack Mountains.
Act One
"Elf," the bartender snorted, giving Tienne a squinty glare. "What can I get you for?"
"...I'm fine," Tienne replied, shaking his head. He pulled up the hood of his scratchy brown cloak, tapping the heel of the black leather tavelers boots he had taken to wearing. Tienne drew circles in the dust on the bar idly.
He hated this town- Aelad, it was called. Mostly full of half-gnomes, humans and other people of little consequence. He had seen another elf, but the elf-girl had left before he had the chance to speak with her. It was in these sort of towns that Tienne got homesick; though after a year, one would expect that the homesickness would fade.
A year. Tienne sighed. A full year next week from the day he had left his father in the care of the Denthe's and headed out to find his sister. He thought-- he knew-- she was with the Nobleman. The Nobleman, who now rested at his grand castle in the center of the night-elven woods, in the Twilight Caverns, where no-one but a creature of dark could find him, so it was said. Tienne was determined. Determined, headstrong, and completely hopeless.
He stood, leaving the flickering shadows in the bar and taking a deep breath of acid-tang air. Smoke from the forges across from the bar had permeated the air for at least a mile every direction. The cobblestone streets were grimy. Aelad was quite possibly the worst town he had ever come upon, including the tribe of insane half-night elves. At least the night-elves had decent food.
Tienne's feet carried him North, towards the town gate, towards his next destination. He had heard that Ouaide, just northeast from Aelad, was full of all sorts of people, and there was bound to be a night-elf or two he could pry dark secrets from.
He could only hope.
Notice: In the next update, I'm planning to introduce a new charachter: Lorin, who's one of the biggest plot points in the entire story. Well, not really, ut he does a whole hell of a lot. So, you know. Lorin. Coming up next on The Lolly Project.