Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

"Oh......" Susanne looked down, feeling suddenly put out. Then the Lady and Micah had known each other for sometime. She glanced back to Shyanne and was bold enough to ask "Do you like him?"

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Daniella suggested, "Hey, let's go spy on the Givers. We woudl have to be very quiet, so tha twe don't get caught.." She wasn't always one to enjoy confrontation, but he rmischevious side was coming out. BEsides, how else would they know what the Givers are up to.? "We cna either do that or I'll go ask them myself.," she declared bodlly.

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

Shyanne looked at Susanne, her brow slightly lowered. She lifted her chin a notch and said, "That's a bold question, Susanne, but since I'm a bold person, I'll answer truthfully."

There were a few seconds of silence before she answered, "Not as much as I used to. It doesn't matter anyway; my father disapproves of the match. And what he says goes...unfortunately for me."

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

"Oh I see. But your not with your Father now, and it doesn't look like you'll be seeing him again for sometime" She stopped, and put a hand over her lips. Blushing deeply and feeling quite upset with herself, realizing she had just almost told Shyanne to go ahead and love Micah. She hoped the Lady wouldn't catch that....

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

"My father will come for me. He won't stop until I'm safe and sound." Shyanne said, looking toward the entrance of the cave. To herself, she thought, I hope...

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

Grace gave Liam a sympathetic look, then looked at Stendar. "Alright, I'll be back with some soup." She smiled at them both, then stepped out of the room. When she came back she had bread, cheese, soup, and ale on a wooden tray. She gave the food to Stendar, then said. "If you need anything else just tell me. I'm usually down stairs, but if I'm not down there, I'm in room three." Then she turned to leave.

~*~ Brywhar Academy ~*~

Lilly was never one to be pushy, bet she really was getting worried about her dove, besides, what if they were caught? She tugged hard on her braid and looked at the ground (why did it feel as if she'd been doing this all week?).
"If you please," she said "I'd rather not, I- I would rather like to go and find my room..." there wobble to her voice, as she was still on the edge of once more falling into tears, Another reason to get to my room. She thought. and then she plucked up the courage to ad more, "Perhaps some other time..." she shifted from one foot the the other and looked up in a rather pleading sort of way.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Daniella was disappointed when the girl seemed afraid to, but glad when she said "maybe some other time." She allowed hte girl to go off and joined Brownie. "Something has got to be done about the givers. We can't just let them control us like this!"

Vayond: The Shadowed Hunters

Liam watched Grace leave, then whispered to Stendar "How long do you think it will be before the guards come here as well?"

"No telling. After I had slain the few that ambushed us, at least ten more chased me. I confused them pretty well in the shadows of the forest, but we live in hope" he took a piece of bread, slapped on some cheese and dipped it in soup. "Until then, rest. You'll be no good on a horse or in a fight until your healed" He then took a large bite.

The young man made a face, then laid down. "We can trust her, right?" He liked to think that women as gentle and as pretty as she would be trustworthy, but even beauty could hide underlying motives.

"I think we can. But Liam, say nothing of who you are around her."

He nodded "I know....I wouldn't tell me bestfriend that."

"Wait, one minute! I'm yours bestfriend!" Stendar protested playfully

"Ooops...for got" Liam jested then closed his eyes, snickering at the humph noise Stendar let out.

*******

Susanne staid silent after that, turning away from Shyanne and moving deeper into a shadow. Her cheeks were flushed with slight embarrassment and she wished to longer speak with anyone. For a minute, she had thought her and Lady would become friends but now, she realized how much finer she was then her. Another things coming crashing down on her head. She wiped a few stray tears from her cheeks and sat in silence.

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Lyssa smiled at the insult Stella had just thrown at Dorothy, and shook her head. She just couldn’t get over how awesome this Stella girl was. “Okay,” she said understandingly. “Well, I guess I can’t blame you for taking advantage of such a lucrative opportunity. I guess if I was her roommate, I would use every minute of it against her too.” She chuckled. “But if she ever gets to be too much for you sometime, my offer still stands.” She gave her one last friendly smile before walking further down the hall, and into the classroom to retrieve her text book.

~

Brownie looked up. The sound of Daniella’s voice brought him out of his deep thought. He was still so spacey from the incident with Lilly that he barely heard what she said -- something about how awful the Givers are. “Hmm, yeah,” he said. “Pretty bad people… the Givers, I mean. Don’t know what to do about it.”
He was quiet for a moment. His stomach was still twisting inside, worrying about how much he had made a fool of himself with Lilly a few minutes ago. “Daniella, I need your advice. Do you think she’ll ever talk to me again? That girl Lilly, I mean. I didn’t look too stupid, did I? When I told her that thing about the flowers? She ran off so quickly… you don’t think she took it as an insult, do you? I don’t see how it could have been taken that way, but it’s hard to tell about those things. I hardly know anything about girls, after all. Do you think she felt it as an insult? I meant it as a compliment when I said it. Well, actually, I didn’t mean to say it at all. But if I had, I would have meant it as a compliment. What do you think, Daniella? You think she’ll ever talk to me again?” (That’s what he loved about Daniella. She already had a boyfriend, so, unlike with the other girls, he felt he could ask her anything about girls he liked, without there being a chance of it bothering her.)

~

Stevie joined Alder and Kasey just in time to see Sam fly out of the room. The girl was screaming like a maniac, and getting more violent every second. She took a vase sitting on a nearby table in the hallway, and threw it against one of the walls, shattering it. Then she stopped, stood still, and glared at the three girls with such fire that it looked like she might fly at them any minute.
Stevie (who was a much more cowardly girl than you would have guessed from her episode with Brownie) would have run for her life, if her terror of this new girl hadn’t frozen her stiff. Alder was scared as well, but not too scared to move or speak. She cautiously moved a little more toward the girl, instead of further away.
“Are… are you alright, miss?” Alder asked.
Realizing that someone was speaking to her, Sam completely lost her head in her rage. She flew at Alder, pinning her against a wall.
“Stop!” A clear, authoritive voice rang through the hall.
Not even a wild girl like Sam could help but heed it; she let go of Alder immediately. Alder and Stevie looked up and smiled. There was no mistaking that voice. it was the student -- out of all the Receivers -- who had been at Brywahr Academy the longest. It was Nan.

~

All the Givers continued to stare at the mysterious silhouette of Wryorden up on the screen. His heavy, deep breathing could be heard clearly as they all waited for him to speak again.
“Very good, Nvust,” he said. “That is just what I like to hear.”
He was quiet again for many agonizing minutes.
“Tivvens. Report.”
She swallowed hard and stepped forward. “The new Receiver -- the one they call Sam -- I sent to Punishment. There she received a triple dose of discipline. I will continue to keep her under observation. Other than that, there have not been many outbursts from anyone in any quarter. The Receivers have been too terrified of us of late to try to break any of our rules. There was one incident with Browning. I did nothing to him.”
Wryorden’s silhouette could be seen leaning back in his chair, as his deep breathing became quicker and heavier with excitement. “That is even better news.”
A few of the Givers gave each other small, secret smiles at this moment.
Again it was silent. But not the same fearful silence as it had been a few moments ago. Now, it felt like a glorious, somewhat victorious, silence to everyone.
“I have news,” announced Wryorden at last. “As you well remember, you all were the Academy’s first Receivers. Then, you were nothing greater than the mere children which you discipline today. But that was many years ago, and you have all grown since then in many ways. You have chosen to follow me and to obey my orders. And in turn, I have revealed to you parts of my plans -- but only small parts. Now, I give you an offer. I wish to make one of you, and only one, my confidant. Someone to whom I will reveal great parts of the truth. An honor and, beyond doubt, the most valuable offer you have ever been given.
“But how will such a person be chosen?” he continued, with a light, sinister chuckle. “Whichever of you shows the most initiative, whoever goes beyond their duty, in order to show their loyalty to me -- yes! He or she will be the one! You will have many opportunities of doing so. In the future, such changes will come over this school, it will never be the same. More students, different rules. The old Order of the Academy, I will abolish -- with the same authority I used to put it in place. The Receivers will not like the new rules. You may use their rebellion as your opportunity to prove your strength and loyalty to me. The time is not yet. But it will come soon. It is possibly even a matter of only days or hours. In the meantime, continue in your routines. Gather your courage. Lash out in Discipline. Now go.”
“We hear. We obey,” the givers chanted, as is the tradition at the end of each Gathering.
And in a single file, every Giver marched out of the Hall of Prismel.

~Riella

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Daniella sighed. It was obvious from his response he was not interested and had no clue how she felt. "WHy don't you go ask her?" Then, she rea;lized thaat sounded too obvious. Besides, she had a boyfriend! "I mean, I don't think you insulted her. I mean she didn't say any htign bad about you. She's pretty shy."

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

Stella smiled and nodded as Lyssa walked away. Realizing she was alone, she sauntered down the hall, ran up the stairs and opened the door to her and Dorothy's room. Dorothy was sitting at a small vanity. She looked up and rolled her eyes as Stella entered.

"Oh, Dorothy..." Stella said as she shut the door behind her. She flopped onto her stomach on the bed and propped her chin on her elbows. "Why didn't you stay? You would have loved Lyssa!"

Dorothy looked through the mirror at Stella. "Don't you have anything better to do? Can't you go read in the library?"

"Why would I do that when my room is perfectly obliging?" Stella rolled over and pulled a book from behind her pillows. "Besides, my book is up here." She held up a green, leather-bound book, showing it to Dorothy. "It's a bloody epic that ends in tragedy and death." A sigh escaped her as she flipped open the book. "Would you like me to read it out loud?"

Dorothy shook her head. "Please, no."

Stella shrugged and began reading.

~*~ Brwahr Academy ~*~

Evan Donal Doe (or Dan for short), had been watching Brownie for a bit and now he decided that his friend was in need of a little brotherly companionship, Brownie's face betrayed a few rather flustered thoughts (and why not, after all it's not every day that you say something you don't mean to say, especially when that something was rather embarrassing.) and so Dan walked over to him, and clapped the younger boy on the shoulder saying, "Come on old chap, 't can't be that bad can it? You look as if you've gotten your very guts knocked out, and all because you said something that you didn't mean to say," Dan draped his arm over Brownie's shoulders in a brotherly fashion and pulled him towards the opposite hall that Lilly had hurried down, and continued, "Besides it was just a bit of good practice, eh?" he chuckled.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lilly started down the hall only to remember that she had no idea where she was or how to get back to her room, she sighed and sat down at the base of one of the tapestries and tried to remember which passageways she'd taken to get here and which ones she would have to take to get back. When she thought she had it figured out she stood up and started to untangle her way back, after a while she realized that she had only succeeded in getter herself more thoroughly lost, and not only that but the lamps on the walls were getting few and far between thus the lighting was getting worse and worse. oh bother she thought whatever have I gotten myself into and at this unfortunate moment she tripped over something very solid (which she later found to be some uneven stones in the floors) and smacked her head smartly on the stone floor beneath her, at which point her vision went suddenly black.

~*~ Brwahr Academy ~*~

Daniella followed Brownie and Evan down the hall. "All he did was call a girl pretty and she got shy." Besides, she knew Brownie thought of girls as more than just practice and meat, didn't he?

~*~Brywahr Academy~*~

~*~ Brwahr Academy ~*~

Daniella followed Brownie and Evan down the hall. "All he did was call a girl pretty and she got shy." Besides, she knew Brownie thought of girls as more than just practice and meat, didn't he?

Brownie looked at Daniella. "Well... I hope shyness was all that was wrong with her. But I'm worried that I might have actually hurt her feelings somehow..." his voice trailed off.
Then he frowned at Dan. "What do you mean practice?" He gently edged out from under his arm, and looked in his face earnestly. He hoped his friend hadn't meant that the way it sounded. "Lilly isn't practice. She's the most beautiful, sweetest angel I've ever seen. And how could I not be upset? If I've hurt her, then... then... Well, I don't know if I could live with myself!"

~Riella