Pseudo-new Canon
Sour Cherry #2. Two in the Bush
Story : title & index pending
Rating : PG
Word Count : 727
Sooo... Too much anime + a semester of Egyptian Myth + painful writers block = something new...sorta. I could call it an AU, but I don't want to. Think of it this way, I'm taking the basic idea of Lyssa, Sethan, and all the rest, and shaping a whole new world around them. I considered renaming them, but I've transplanted characters before without changing names and had each version grow into a separate character in their own right before. Though attitudes and relationships are bound to be similar, the old canon has no bearing on this one and you don't need to know anything about it to follow this. Also, I am not giving up on the old canon, just really needing a break from it.
Hands in his pockets and eyes on his boots, Sham paced up and down the narrow strip of grass that stood between the road and the edge of the wood. He scuffed the dirt with his toes as he turned around to make another pass and wondered just how long Lyssa was planning on keeping him waiting.
He swore sometimes that she was only talking to herself, or that maybe she sent him off like this so she could take a nap. He never could manage to pick out anything being said. Once, when he’d first started travelling with her, he had tried to catch a glimpse of her visitor, and all it had earned him was a promise to slather him with butter and sling him from a tree for the orcs to find if he tried it again. Sham suspected there was at least a slim chance Lyssa might actually do such a thing, and so he’d kept to pacing at a safe distance since.
He had wandered a good deal farther down the road this time before he decided to head back, and when Sham turned around again, the glint of sun off something gold at his feet made him stop short. He dropped to one knee to sift through the grass, where he found a gold disk half the width of his palm. The side that had caught his eye was perfectly flat, but he felt a raised relief on the other with his thumb as he picked it up, and he turned it over to find a fountain embossed at the center with three plumes of water rising from its base to curl round into the form of three faces in the air above. The carving was quite detailed and the piece had to be solid gold, it was easily worth more than any take they’d seen in weeks, or it could be if Lyssa didn’t blow it on liquor. Of course, he was just about to tuck it safely in a pocket when the bushes behind him stirred.
“What’cha got there?” Lyssa called.
Sham stuffed the medal in his pocket as he stood and spun to face her. “Nothing,” he said, then quickly, before she could protest, “What did your friend have to say this time?”
By the time he was up, she was only a few feet away, staring him down, with the string of horns from their latest bounty still slung over her shoulder and rattling as she walked. At the mention of the demon, Lyssa made a face. “The usual,” she said. “Wants to know why I’m wasting my time picking off two-bit bandits and orcs instead of going after something more worthwhile.”
“Maybe he’s got a point,” said Sham, falling in behind her as she swept past. “Why are we spending our time picking off lousy orcs? I thought you were supposed to be some big time hero.”
Lyssa sniffed. “Not what it’s cracked up to be,” she said. “Course, neither is having your own demon.”
“That so?” said Sham, picking up his pace to match her long strides and grinning to himself. He’d heard this speech before, but if it would keep her attention off the contents of his pocket, he would gladly listen again.
“Too much work,” she said. “Bad enough I’ve got old four eyes on my back. Don’t need a bunch of whiny people constantly asking me what I’ve done to serve them lately.”
“I bet heroes get paid more,” said Sham.
That brought her to a halt. She turned and started backpedaling down the road, looking him over thoughtfully. “You know,” she said, with a smirk, “sometimes I like the way you think.”
Sham shrugged. “Think of all the drink you could buy on a hero’s pay.”
“As if I’d have to buy my own drinks anymore at all.” She laughed. Then her look turned serious again. “What were you doing on the ground back there?”
Sham did his best to look innocent, even as his fingers slid over the medal in his pocket. “Tying my boot,” he said.
“Hmph.” Lyssa spun back around, with a swish of her long, red cape and another loud rattle from the string of orc horns. “S’pose we should be getting back to town to see what sort of non-hero pay we get for this lot.”
Story : title & index pending
Rating : PG
Word Count : 727
Sooo... Too much anime + a semester of Egyptian Myth + painful writers block = something new...sorta. I could call it an AU, but I don't want to. Think of it this way, I'm taking the basic idea of Lyssa, Sethan, and all the rest, and shaping a whole new world around them. I considered renaming them, but I've transplanted characters before without changing names and had each version grow into a separate character in their own right before. Though attitudes and relationships are bound to be similar, the old canon has no bearing on this one and you don't need to know anything about it to follow this. Also, I am not giving up on the old canon, just really needing a break from it.
Hands in his pockets and eyes on his boots, Sham paced up and down the narrow strip of grass that stood between the road and the edge of the wood. He scuffed the dirt with his toes as he turned around to make another pass and wondered just how long Lyssa was planning on keeping him waiting.
He swore sometimes that she was only talking to herself, or that maybe she sent him off like this so she could take a nap. He never could manage to pick out anything being said. Once, when he’d first started travelling with her, he had tried to catch a glimpse of her visitor, and all it had earned him was a promise to slather him with butter and sling him from a tree for the orcs to find if he tried it again. Sham suspected there was at least a slim chance Lyssa might actually do such a thing, and so he’d kept to pacing at a safe distance since.
He had wandered a good deal farther down the road this time before he decided to head back, and when Sham turned around again, the glint of sun off something gold at his feet made him stop short. He dropped to one knee to sift through the grass, where he found a gold disk half the width of his palm. The side that had caught his eye was perfectly flat, but he felt a raised relief on the other with his thumb as he picked it up, and he turned it over to find a fountain embossed at the center with three plumes of water rising from its base to curl round into the form of three faces in the air above. The carving was quite detailed and the piece had to be solid gold, it was easily worth more than any take they’d seen in weeks, or it could be if Lyssa didn’t blow it on liquor. Of course, he was just about to tuck it safely in a pocket when the bushes behind him stirred.
“What’cha got there?” Lyssa called.
Sham stuffed the medal in his pocket as he stood and spun to face her. “Nothing,” he said, then quickly, before she could protest, “What did your friend have to say this time?”
By the time he was up, she was only a few feet away, staring him down, with the string of horns from their latest bounty still slung over her shoulder and rattling as she walked. At the mention of the demon, Lyssa made a face. “The usual,” she said. “Wants to know why I’m wasting my time picking off two-bit bandits and orcs instead of going after something more worthwhile.”
“Maybe he’s got a point,” said Sham, falling in behind her as she swept past. “Why are we spending our time picking off lousy orcs? I thought you were supposed to be some big time hero.”
Lyssa sniffed. “Not what it’s cracked up to be,” she said. “Course, neither is having your own demon.”
“That so?” said Sham, picking up his pace to match her long strides and grinning to himself. He’d heard this speech before, but if it would keep her attention off the contents of his pocket, he would gladly listen again.
“Too much work,” she said. “Bad enough I’ve got old four eyes on my back. Don’t need a bunch of whiny people constantly asking me what I’ve done to serve them lately.”
“I bet heroes get paid more,” said Sham.
That brought her to a halt. She turned and started backpedaling down the road, looking him over thoughtfully. “You know,” she said, with a smirk, “sometimes I like the way you think.”
Sham shrugged. “Think of all the drink you could buy on a hero’s pay.”
“As if I’d have to buy my own drinks anymore at all.” She laughed. Then her look turned serious again. “What were you doing on the ground back there?”
Sham did his best to look innocent, even as his fingers slid over the medal in his pocket. “Tying my boot,” he said.
“Hmph.” Lyssa spun back around, with a swish of her long, red cape and another loud rattle from the string of orc horns. “S’pose we should be getting back to town to see what sort of non-hero pay we get for this lot.”