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 Posted: Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:01 pm
Joeye continued to listen to the magistrate and Mrs. Bibb talk. They really should be lowering their voices, talking about serious stuff like this, she thought. Then she reckoned she really shouldn't complain about it. Made things easier for her.
"Have you any leads on the killers, Mr. Caldwell?" asked Mrs. Bibb. Joeye's hands momentarily shook, and the plate flew out of her hands. She scrambled to catch it, dunking both her elbows in the basin full of murky, grimy water.
"No. Many townspeople are urging us to send someone to see Elohim about this."
"Oh, yes, Elohim would know what to do."
"But my dear Mrs. Bibb, it would take at least weeks, if not months, to find Elohim!"
Elohim? Joeye's eyebrows rose. And the she sneezed again.
She was so busy blowing her nose that she didn't realize Mrs. Bibb had returned to the kitchen. Hastily, she dunked her bloody hand palm-down in the basin full of murky, grimy water. "Ah, good, good, the cauldron's done," Mrs. Bibb said with relish, setting it back on the old iron stove.
As the good old woman filled the cauldron with water, Joeye blurted, "Who's Elohim?"
Mrs. Bibb turned to her in surprise. "Have you overheard?"
"Ah...I didn't mean to," she lied.
"Well," the good old woman folded her hands and took a deep breath, as if she was about to recite in class. "Elohim is a wise man who lives by himself in the mountains. We value his advice very much."
"A hermit?"
"Hush, not a hermit. A wise man. I believe he shut himself from the rest of the world so he could be more...in tune with nature," said Mrs. Bibb, now busying herself tossing vegetables into the cauldron. "I'm sure he would welcome visitors if only they could find his cabin. But it's hidden so deep in Mt. Kiadawel..."
Joeye glanced down at her right hand, which was starting to prune after being in the murky, grimy water for so long. A wise man, huh? "He dispenses advice," she echoed.
"Oh, he does more than that, too, dear," said Mrs. Bibb. She plucked spices form the shelves, continuing to prepare the stew and not missing a beat as she spoke. "He's also a very powerful white mage. He could cure anyone of anything. If only he's more accessible..."
Elohim. Joeye filed away the name in her memory, hoping she would remember despite her stuffy head.
ooc: sorry i'm getting all excited over here, everyone XD i'll try and take a short break so everybody won't panic about being behind. joeye's really not that ahead. it's hard to make headway in your adventure when you're a dishwasher at a tavern XD
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:42 am
Letalus increased his pace to a smooth jog, darting around trees and over fallen logs. The foliage and brush that whipped past him barely made a whisper, and he might have caught up with Merro, but his mind decided that this was an opportune moment to blink out. "No..." he whispered, and as the light in his eyes dimmed, his boot got caught on a tree root, and he stumbled to the ground, skidding a few feet on the rough earth.
He lay on his side, the dust that had billowed up settling on his dark clothes. He stared at the forest floor and roots with unseeing eyes, and his quarry moved ever further away.
When the world came into focus again, Letalus had no idea how long he was out for. In truth, it had only been roughly twenty minutes or so, but all thought of the time vanished as he heard a strange musical laugh.
Blinking, he slowly sat up. His eyes narrowed, he looked for the source of the unnatural sounding titter, and froze at the sight of the slender, glowing creature perched gracefully on top of a fallen tree. Though she was only three feet tall, her body was perfectly proportioned and clearly female. She was naked, long white hair flowing down her back. Her pointed ears twitched as she giggled again, and the wings behind her flickered with the movement.
Letalus stood carefully, one hand hovering over his sword, face blank as he stared into the slanted eyes of the fairy. They were completely black, shining with glee as she gazed back.
The scene seemed suspended in time for a moment -- he, poised and steady, eyes narrowed, and her, smiling sweetly and giggling in her bell-like language. Then, the fairy grinned, and the lovely mouth split apart in a horrifically wide grin, baring rows of long, pointed teeth. Her hair bristled, and she pushed herself off of the tree, talons from her graceful fingers extending from the skin like a cat's claws.
The golem dodged as she slashed her hand toward his throat, and by the time she turned around in the air to have another go, he had unsheathed his sword.
She was fast, as most fairies are, but she was fragile. Letalus had missed the first few times, but when he feinted to the left, he dodged to the right, bringing his blade down quickly and strongly, decapitating the fairy as she still flew at his left.
The head bounced away, contorted in a mask of animalistic fury. It opened its mouth and shrieked, the piercing sound echoing through the woods. Then, as the body finally hit the ground, both it and the head exploded into glittering dust.
Letalus scowled as the glitter settled onto his clothes. "I hate fairies."
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 10:22 am
Merro started off at a determined walk, but soon found herself loping along easily, eating up the distance remaining between herself and the village. As she ran, she pondered this way and that with as much of her attention as she could spare from seeking out the best path for her bare feet to tread and for avoiding low-hanging branches.
The fact that her body seemed to be taking no account of her rough night and exhausting morning activities could have been due to the adrenaline from the chase and brief battle, but that seemed unlikely as about half a mile slipped away without her collapsing to the ground. The long strides she was taking seemed to come easily and steadily despite occassional vagaries of terrain, and it was hardly probable that the fading heat of battle would so improve her ability to run through a thin wood. With all the ignorance of a sheltered nobling, she wondered if perhaps she had simply becomed accustomed to moving about in the wilds after just a few hours. After turning over some few theories in her mind and coming up with no satisfactory explanation, Merro discarded her wonderings and gave herself over to enjoying her run. The reason for her flight seemed less important now. She pulled the cool, damp air into her lungs, sought out the best spaces in the trees and brush ahead with her darting eyes, and began leaving her old life further and further behind. Most of it, anyway.
The enchanted sword, awoken by Merro's blood and sated for the time being by the life of the game hen, now began to impart the essence of the excess life force it had received to its new master. The vibrancy of a young life, the endurance of a wolf, and the kinship with the forest were now seeping into the young woman. The as of yet clueless young woman.
As if the forest sensed that this unusual intruder had settled more comfortably into her surroundings, no further other obstacles or occurances rose up to hinder her and in less time than she could have dreamed possible, she found herself at the edge of a copse. She looked out from between a few trees, panting heavily but still not so winded as to make a long rest necessary. This sparse gathering of trees seemed to be the last stronghold of the woods before the wilds gave way to a gentle slope of grass which led down to a bustling village.
She stayed at the edge of the trees instead of heading directly down into the village, making some final preparations. Though her clothes were beyond saving in her current water- and soap-less situation, she lifted up the yoke of her tunic and scrubbed at her face with the inside of the garment for a bit to clear away any blood and grime that might currently be decorating her visage. Her hands received the same rough treatment against the bottom edge of the tunic and then she picked the worst of the dirt from under her fingernails with a twig. Her ivory comb was far off with most of the rest of her belongings, but a bit of finger combing took the worst of the snarls from her hair. She even smoothed down the headless hen's feathers and tucked it into the crook of her arm as a final attempt to civilize her appearance somewhat.
Right, she thought to herself, with a deep breath. Go down to the village, pawn off the dagger, and then trade for supplies in the marketplace. With any luck there will be a fowler who will trade me coin or sausages for this pheasant. Having prepared herself in mind and body as well as she was able - which was not saying much, to be sure - she stepped boldly out from the copse and began walking down the grassy slope.
ooc: Whee~ Have received permission from cardi to walk into the same village Joeye is in and hurl Merro straight into the storyline like a grenade. *pulls pin on the plot bunny and chucks it* FIRE IN THE HOLE!
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:19 pm
Shu had been walking away from the town's edge for a good ten minutes when she thought she'd give her golem summoning powers a go. Just as a little practice session.
She found a nice deserted grassland area, and slammed her Bo Staff in the ground, so it'd stand on it's own. She closed her eyes and hung her head, put her hands together, with her fingers closed in, except for the index finders, which were pointed outwards, towards the sky. Shu appeared to be mumbling a few words, and the jewel on her forehead began to have a small gleam of light in it. That's when the earth started to rumble beneath her.
The area around her was shaking so furiously that the very trees were almost uprooted and tossed aside, but Shu took no notice of it, still performing her summoning. Suddenly, a hole emerged a distance away from Shu, and the earth itself started to pile up, looking like it was trying to climb out of the inside of the ground.
Debris, stone, roots, foliage. It was all piled together in a large hump ever growing. It started move around by itself in a weird pattern, as if it was building something. The dirt was the main chunk of golem, the roots and foliage reinforcing the weak areas, and the stones put into the fists for power. The end product was an earth monster, roughly seven feet tall, and very fat and wide.
The beast took a step out of the hole it had created, stared at Shu for a moment as she opened her eyes, and let out a defying "RAAAAAAAWR."
Shu thought to herself, "A little battle practice would do me good. I'll set him loose." And with that, Shu grabbed her bo staff with her right hand, throwing it upwards to catch it. She positioned herself, ready for the fight. She couldn't help the feeling that she wasn't alone, however. She felt as though somebody was nearby. Very nearby...
ooc: Now you guys know, I'm going to have to make a reference of this golem for you guys to draw, right? XP He's just sooo awesome. XD Don't worry though. His powers are in check. :3
Meri: Her feeling of being watched can either be a fluke, or it can be Merro running by. Up to you to decide. ;D surprised oc
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 12:59 pm
If a summoner leaves a village at two miles per hour and a runaway leaves the forest a quarter mile away at two and a half miles per hour, how soon will the two meet? The answer is "sooner than could logically be expected," if the summoner happens to stop and shock the living hell out of the aforementioned runaway by unleashing an earthquake that belches up a few thousand pounds of pugnacious dirt.
Merro had come down along the gentle rises and valleys of the meadow at a wide angle to the path the silverhaired stranger had been walking, and had fixed her eyes so intently upon the village that she might have missed noticing the other young woman entirely had it not been for the sudden quake. At the first faint rumble, Merro stopped and looked about her in surprise, catching sight of the summoner just in time to be thrown down by the violence of the earth's response.
Magic was an asset, and assets were valuable, so Lord Kisan had bribed, hired, and in some cases blackmailed enough mages into his service that his daughter had a passing familiarity with most of the Arts, both dark and otherwise. Mere gold and manipulations could not buy the sort of power that would have made the merchant prince truly dangerous, however. This level of elemental violence was something beyond Merro's experience, and she stared in shock for a moment before swallowing hard and tearing her eyes away from the monster and over to the master. Before she could come to a decision on whether to approach this stranger or simply try to creep away unnoticed, the golem roared.
That tore it. This was one adventure too many for a sheltered little nobleborn to face with poise intact. One could almost hear Merro's nerve shatter into brittle fragments as she scrambled to her feet and began running pell-mell for the village. She threw both dignity and the dead hen to the wind as she blew past the golem's master, hair whipping crazily about and the sword and her baggy trousers threatening to trip her up at any moment.
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Posted: Wed Jul 27, 2005 1:46 pm
ooc: Terra's being led to the same village Merro and Joeye are in or almost in. i have no idea who this arhcer guy is but hes just some villager that i mey decided to call bert for the sake of it, oh and 'bert' is goigng to lead Terra eventaully to Mrs. Bibb's inn for some assitance with her wounds...
Terra looked at the arrow now firmly lodged in her shoulder, it was throbbing uncontrollably and blood was pouring down her arm, ironically even though she was wounded she had to admit the arrow was finely made and the archer was of good shot. Thinking of the archer, a brown dirty looking mare and rider came riding up to her almost as if to inspect what he had shot. Terra gave the dirtiest look she could muster to the man who was now clearly holding his bow aimed ay her heart..
Archer~ "well what do we have 'ere, I'd of said you looked like a princess with that tiara and all, but you're carrying a bow and arrows, and fine ones at that."
"I can't believe you shot me! What harm have I caused you? I'll have you know my father the lord will not be happy about this!"
Terra guessed he was merely an archer seeking to protect his home, so she put on her best snotty voice and acted so spoilt she almost revolted herself!
Bert~ "Now lassie calm down, i be bert. I thought you where trouble, we've 'ad murders around this place lately so we can't be to careful, now drop that snotty act and I'll take you to the village and get that fixed up."
Bert lowered hos bow and flung it over his shoulder after replacing the arrow...
"i'm Terra and Thank you. Forgive me for the act me but you can't be too careful."
Terra had dropped the snooty act and gone back to herself. However she did remove her tiara from her head...Terra had been carefully avoiding looking at her shoulder, to avoid making the pian more noticable, but she would have to at some time. Terra grabbed the back of the arrow and snapped it. She then dropped that bit on the floor before pulling the rest out front fist, she then threw the arrow to the floor, her face showing pain, but she still looked composed...
Bert~ "you're a strong lassie I'll give you that most would of fainted at the sight of that wound."
"I've had worst trust me."
The conversation followed the same sort of suit as the hurried on towards the village before Terra lost too much blood...
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 1:49 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Thu Jul 28, 2005 3:05 pm
ooc: ooh, i don't mind at all ^^ it's about time joeye got to be around people her age.
Joeye was wondering how long she should keep her right hand in the murky, grimy water. It seemed Mrs. Bibb wouldn't leave. The longer she stays here, the longer it'll take me to finish the dishes! she silently growled.
"...as the one over there."
At the new voice, Joeye looked up in surprise to find that she and Mrs. Bibb weren't by themselves in the kitchen anymore. At the doorway were a man and a girl about her age. Joeye didn't pay as much attention to the man; he looked like any one of the men that she'd come across so far. The girl interested her more. Her eyes went from the girl's brown hair to her large, green eyes. Joeye didn't know if the girl's white color was normal, or if it was due to the blood that covered her right side.
Before Joeye could say anything, Mrs. Bibb sprang into action. "Oh, but of course, Bert! You don't even have to ask!" cried the good old woman, rushing to the girl's side. "Joeye, dear, wait for the stew to boil and then blow out the fire. I'll go patch up this poor dear here. Goodness, girls getting wounded all over the place. You really should be more careful, Bert! You could've seriously hurt her!"
Joeye could still hear Mrs. Bibb scold the man as she hustled the man and the girl out of the kitchen. Will she take my bed? suspiciously Joeye wondered. She tentatively flapped her wings and frowned. But I'm wounded too! Mrs. Bibb can't let me sleep elsewhere. Or...oh horrors, sleep in the same room as she is. I can't. Not with that snore.
Reluctantly, she returned to washing the dishes. Mrs. Bibb knows an awful lot of people. Her thoughts went to the magistrate, and she began to wonder if the good old woman had clues as to Elohim's whereabouts.
Or the stone.
Joeye gave a start at the sudden thought that reared its tiny head. She took out the stone from under her shirt. It twinkled brightly again. Maybe Mrs. Bibb could tell me more about the stone of Alaina.
ooc: mrs. bibb is all yours, midnight ^_~ i kind of took mrs. bibb's perspective and decided she'd take over things and fuss over terra before anything else happens.
edit: i just posted this when i realized i forgot that you'd actually like terra and joeye to chat (insert gonk here). there'll be more opportunities for them, though ^^
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 8:45 am
ooc: I now have to decided what happens next, weather Terra stays here or moves on... I'll decided later I think or let someone deicded for me, as of now I'm borowing Ms. Bibb to clean up Terra's wound; hope you don't mind (insert sweat smiley here)
Terra and Bert were ushered out of the kitchen and over to a table, Ms. Bibb sat Terra down and hurried off only to get some bandages and medical alcohol to clean the wound. Ms. Bibb returned minuets later and sat down beside Terra...
Miss. Bibb~ "Some times Bert you really should watch who you shoot. What if this poor girl had died?"
Bert~ "well with these 'ere murders an' all I thought she looked a bit suspicious. I didn't mean to 'urt anyone"
Terra continued to sit silently, it stung like hell when Miss. Bibb cleansed the wound with the alcohol, but Terra was determined not to grimace so she kept her pale face with a blank expression, once Miss. Bibb had finally finished cleansing the wound she dressed it, before standing up and returning the rest of the bandages and alcohol to where it came from... Miss. Bibb then returned to where Terra and Bert where...
"Thank you Miss. Bibb"
Miss. Bibb~ "no problem dear, but your pretty dress is ruined"
"I never liked it much anyway"
Bert~ "well I be off now, 'ave to patrol the village, nice meeting you"
Miss. Bibb~ "now don't you dare go shooting arrows at innocent people Bert!"
But Bert had already left the inn, Terra only nodded a good bye.
Miss. Bibb~ "sorry about that dear. What do you plan to do now?"
"I'm not sure actually."
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 6:29 pm
Cartoonkid's note: Sorry I haven't been here in a while. I've been busy getting ready for the Gaian Masquarade sweatdrop
Shoneya flew as fast as she could to the portal. The wind stung her eyes with tears. The tears weren't just from her stinging eyes, they were from her aching heart. Questions were bustling in her head.
Why'd they take Teddy?! Why?! What do they want from me?!
Shoneya finally got there. The portal was an oval-ish shape with swirls of blue and purple spinning in circles. To check to see if the portal was okay to use, she put her hand through. In the mist of blue and purple her hand started to disappear. She pulled her hand out. She looked down at her hand and sighed in relief.
Good. They're not gone.
Now that she knew it was safe, she grabbed her satchel. She stepped into the portal and closed her eyes. She felt herself spinning. She kept bumping into nothingness. Finally, she opened her eyes. She was in the human world. She looked back. She gasped, her wings were gone! She looked at her reflection in a pond. Her birthmark was gone too! eek She tried to flicker a spark of magic. Purple sparks shot out her fingertips.
Whew. I still have my magic.
She started to walk around. She walked by a little market place and some cottages. While she was walking around she was taking in the sights and smells. When she was looking at some beautiful flowers, she didn't notice somebody walking on the same path.
"Oof!"
She fell onto the ground. She sat up and rubbed her head. When she did she noticed she had bumped into a young boy. He looked about her age. He had navy blue hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a cloak with black pants and a brown T-shirt with patches on it underneath.
"Oh. Pardon me. So sorry! I wasn't watching where I was going."
"It's ok. I wasn't watching where I was going either sweatdrop ."
They gazed at each other for a while, almost like they were in love. Then they snapped out of it.
"I'm sorry. I must be going now. By the way, what is your name? I'm Matthew."
He got up and held out his hand to hep her up. She grabbed his hand and got up.
"I'm Shoneya."
After that, she was off.
To be continued....
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Posted: Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:42 pm
ooc: @midnight: you can use mrs. bibb as much as you want ^^ joeye would be ecstatic about that XD
no matter how much i say i'm taking a break, i just can't stay away XD right now, i'm trying to figure out a way to jump-start joeye because she seems to be in a slump. i think my muse went to vegas for the weekend (insert gonk here) XD
The stone. She had been gazing at the stone every now and then, but with all the events that happened, its mysterious title had been the farthest thing from her mind. Joeye checked the doorway to make sure she was really alone in the kitchen. Then she withdrew her right hand from the murky, grimy water. She used both hands to pull out the stone from underneath her shirt, not caring that she slopped dirty water over herself--she was already covered in sweat, grime, and snot, anyway.
As she gazed at the necklace again, a warm glow came over her as she remembered the first time she saw it in the pawnshop. It appeared to glitter all the time, with or without lighting. She felt as if she could never get tired of looking at it. It's so much prettier up close.
Why is it called the stone of Alaina?
What is Alaina? A place? A person?
Her thoughts shifted back to Mrs. Bibb. I suppose I could ask her... And then she caught herself. Wait. What if she knew it was from the pawnshop?
It was a risk. Joeye glanced at her wings and tentatively fluttered them again. And she shook her head. No. I have to credit that woman some intelligence. Gullible, sure, but at least semi-intelligent.
But I can ask her about Elohim. She began to feel hopeful. Elohim's probably powerful enough to deal with my...hand problem. And I bet he knows all about the stone of Alaina, since he's a wise man. The more she thought about it, the more certain and excited she became. A rare smile lit her features. Yes. Find out from Mrs. Bibb where Elohim is, and then have Elohim fix things and answer questions. He's a hermit; he wouldn't know about my involvement in the pawnshop.
Suddenly, there came a little voice from within her. It was not similar to the little voice that recommended she ask Mrs. Bibb about the stone. You can always go back to Crewel Manor. Mom's worried. Teve and Leo are worried too. You know they are.
Joeye's eyes narrowed. No. I'm fine here. The stone winked up at her again. I've come this far. I got this pretty, expensive necklace. I won against a magic-wielding opponent. I got myself set up with board and lodging. I can survive by myself. This'll teach Mom not to adopt any siblings for me.
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Posted: Sat Jul 30, 2005 10:49 am
Shu was about to begin training with her earthly golem, when a young woman flew by without any second mention. Shu could hardly blame her, though. Physical golem summoning was a special trait to her family line, and not many at all have ever seen something of such calibur. Shu thought it might be a better idea to go and apologize for scaring the young woman.
Shu turned towards the golem, closed her eyes, and tapped the ground once with her Staff, quick and sharp. In an instant, the golem had broken apart and fell down in a pile in the whole it had created before.
Shu looked around a bit, deciding which way the stranger had gone.
"Hmm... Looks like she was running towards the town."
Shu ran off in that direction, hoping to catch up to the woman, if for nothing more than to apologize.
ooc: Sorry 'bout the delay, Mer. Next time, feel free to post before me. I'll catch up. :3 surprised oc
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 1:06 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 5:00 pm
ooc: Wow, I thought for sure that this thing would be at least 10 pages when I got the chance to get on the internet. The hotel where I'm staying has free internet access so yeah smile surprised cc
Siri's stomach growled as she walked along the path in the forest she had entered a while ago. That while ago was a little bit after she'd stuffed the key into her bag. And seeing as it was an even longer while before that was when she'd eaten last. The previous night to be precise. She figured she'd try a conjuring spell again. She hadn't quite managed it yet, but she thought it would be better to gain blue ears by trying instead of getting poisoned by picking the wrong fruit. She concentrated on the forest pulling small bits of energy that was radiating from the life in the forest. She visualized a simple bowl of stew and concentrated hard on that image of the stew slowly appearing in her now outstretched hands. She slowly felt something hard land in her hands and the something hard gain weight. She almost dropped the bowl in excitement when she saw that the stew was exactly what she'd pictured, but then realized she hadn't visualized the spoon. She smacked herself hard on the forehead and then proceeded to conjure the spoon. After eating the stew, which surprisingly tasted quite good, she set off again.
"Seems odd that I haven't encountered anything yet. You'd think I would have at least seen a squirrel or something," Sirir said looking harder through the trees that seemed to be thinning. Then just a short bit after she'd spoken her confusion out loud she saw somthing brown and feathered laying on the ground. It was slowly moving and looked like it was having a very difficult time breathing.
"It's a hawk," Siri said.
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Posted: Sun Jul 31, 2005 8:02 pm
Now Joeye had a plan, she couldn't wait to put it in action. Suddenly, washing dishes became more tedious, especially when she could be searching for Elohim already. She knew she had to tread carefully, though; she couldn't afford making Mrs. Bibb suspicious.
Once I get enough information about Elohim, I can leave this place, she thought as she glanced around the little kitchen. It was small; it could've easily fit in her bathroom back home, and by no means was it comparable to Crewel Manor's kitchen. It was also run-down, from the rickety fixtures to the scratched plates that she had been washing all day, but very clean. Either Mrs. Bibb was a neat freak, or the last kitchen helper always tidied up.
Suddenly, she was struck by a pang when she realized she would be leaving the tavern someday. Soon. The good old woman would have to look for another dishwasher, after having invested so much in her. Joeye had to dismiss her guilt pangs with a shake of her head, as if they were just bugs that settled on top of her. Nobody told her to take me in. She decided it on her own.
Her reverie was interrupted by a loud voice that almost sounded like a hiss. "What are you doing dawdling, you lazy girl? Get back to work!"
She turned in surprise to see an old crone at the doorway. She could have easily been old man Louie's female counterpart; she was as thin as Mrs. Bibb was fat, and her narrow face seemed to be pinched in a perpetual frown. Her hair was scraped back in a white bun. Joeye drew herself up to her full height and gave the newcomer a scathing look. "I beg your pardon?"
"Get back to work! We need more spoons!"
"Do you work here?" she asked coldly.
The crone puffed out her chest. "I manage the orders, missy! I've a better mind to tell Mrs. Bibb about your need for manners! Honestly, you'd think you'd be more grateful, having her take you in and give you a job..."
Any guilt that Joeye might have about leaving the tavern dissipated. Ignoring the crone, she turned back to washing the dishes and tried to stifle a new sneeze that came on.
The crone was clearly affronted--Joeye was watching her out of the corner of her eye. "Bring out clean spoons," she snapped before returning to the tavern main room.
What an a**! Joeye sneezed a few times after the crone was gone, and she wiped her nose with her sleeve again. It was tempting not to bring out a single spoon. But common sense got the best of her and she figured it wouldn't do to piss off the crone and possibly antagonize Mrs. Bibb. So it wasn't long before she had a small pile of clean spoons. She bundled them in a clean towel and marched out, loathing the prospect of seeing the crone again.
The main room was much bigger than Joeye thought, and it was packed with people for the lunch hour and bustling with gossip about the pawnshop murders. The crone was, indeed, taking orders. Specifically, she was snapping at someone at the bar. But Joeye noticed that Mrs. Bibb was sitting at a table with the wounded girl, who looked much better now. Joeye was walking past a pillar when she overheard Mrs. Bibb.
"But of course, my dear! You could help Mrs. Riley with the orders and serving. Once you spend more time in this town, you'll find that I could never leave a poor soul in trouble! Let's see...you could share Joeye's room--we have an extra cot, and I'm sure Joeye won't mind--and I could pay you...ten golds a week! How does that sound?"
Joeye's eyes widened. Share her room?! Her surprise gave way to a frown. But the room's tiny enough as it is already! Who the hell is this girl, anyway?
The only consolation she had was that the girl would be working with the crone. Mrs. Riley, eh? At least Joeye was safely in the kitchen, dealing with the good-natured Mrs. Bibb and prying information about Elohim. This girl better not snore.
ooc: there ya go, midnight ^^ i'll leave it to you to decide what happens with mrs. riley. and as for joeye...she's just possessive by nature, so don't worry about it ^_~
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