Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn
From: aaron@space.ualberta.ca (Aaron Humphrey)
Subject: [KQ] Nirvan[Low City]: Young Love
Message-ID: <1992Jul14.185728.23410@kakwa.ucs.ualberta.ca>
Date: Tue, 14 Jul 1992 18:57:28 GMT

Nirvan came back to himself with a sensation of warmth and healing.  The
darkness he'd been immersed in had not been entirely friendly, full of
jarring remembrances unleashed by the Seer's mindblast.  But the vision of
Jacinthe somehow appeared to soften the blows.  He could almost hear her
voice...

He could hear her voice.  Suddenly he knew he was conscious.  "...really thank
you, sir healer, for your prompt attention.  Are you sure you won't let us pay
you?"

A laugh.  "Please, call me Tvarne.  That is my name, Jacinthe.  And I make it
a policy >never< to charge on the first visit."

Nirvan tried to open his eyes, and flinched from the light.  Tvarne said, "Ah,
it looks like he's awake.  How are you feeling?"

The light was only that of a candle, placed beside the bed he lay on, and his
eyes soon became accustomed to it.  He was feeling surprisingly good,
considering how bad he'd felt not that long ago.  "I've still got a bit of a
headache, but apart from that I don't feel to bad."  His voice was hoarse, and
a figure beyond the candle's flame--Jacinthe, he realized--got him some water
in a cracked cup.  He drank it greedily.

Tvarne frowned.  "A headache?  Well, let's start from the beginning.  What is
your name, and what happened to you?"  If it had been just a concussion, he
thought, the headache would be gone--the other signs have disappeared.

Nirvan didn't know who Tvarne was, so he thought he'd play it safe.  "I was on
a rooftop, when I saw some people down below.  One of them looked at me, and
then it felt like my brain was on fire.  I lost control of my body, and fell to
the ground.  That's when Jacinthe found me.  Oh, and my name is Nirvan."

Tvarne frowned again.  "What did these people look like?"  Nirvan described
them dutifully, leaving out important details like that he knew they were...

"Wasters!"  Tvarne growled.  He mused to himself, "I wonder if they're after
Kron again..."

Nirvan sat up excitedly--and then sank back again, dizzy.  "You know Kron?" he
managed to get out.  "I was with a friend of his, a big black man called
Malayoo or something like that.  I helped him take out Thrugg, the big strong
one."

Tvarne looked at the youth with new respect.  Then his mind started working.
"We're right on the edge of the Shunned Center here.  And you said you saw
them going >into< the Shunned Center?  Hmmm...I have a feeling this information
is going to come in very handy if we can find Kron to tell him.  Do you have
any idea where they were going?"

Nirvan shook his head.  "On the other hand, with Maleiu and the lizardman--
yeah, the lizardman was with us--they were probably pretty conspicuous.  So
it shouldn't be too hard for us to go look..."  He tried to sit up again, and
this time Tvarne held him down firmly.

"You may feel better, but you're body's not healed yet.  You need another day's
rest or so.  Jacinthe, you won't mind if he stays here, will you?"

Staying here with Jacinthe!  Nirvan forgot all about Kron and Maleiu and Thk
and the Wasters.  "I can pay, too," he said.

Jacinthe smiled, and Nirvan's heart went all gushy.  "There's no problem with
that...Nirvan, is it?  With Tvarne's generosity to Agoust, we have more money
than we've seen for a while.  Still..." she paused, unsure, "...if you wanted
to give us a small gift, I would not be totally shamed."  She blushed, as if to
contradict her statement.

Tvarne, oblivious to the passion-play around him(or at least tactfully ignoring
it), said, "Well, that's settled, then.  Jacinthe, can I borrow your brothers,
then?  Three can cover more ground than one.  And I'm sure their efforts will
be further rewarded."

Jacinthe blushed again.  "You are too generous, sir.  I've been in Low City
too long--I've almost forgotten what it was like to be on the receiving end
rather than the giving end all the time.  By all means--Agoust, Hercli, go
with Tvarne."

The healer took a sleeping draught out of his bag.  "Give this to Nirvan if
he gives you any trouble," he said with a wink.  Then he turned to the eager
boys awaiting his command.  "So, let's go out there and look!  We're trying
to find a sizable party that includes a tall black man and a lizard man.  If
anyone actually saw them leaving the fight, that'd be even better."  He
ushered them out onto the street, and smiled at the looks he'd caught passing
between Nirvan and Jacinthe.  Ah, young love.  No matter how many times he saw
it, it was always touching.

ADMIN:  Back to you, Sean...I imagine with the mob, not many people were
actually around in Low City, or looking out their windows...finding witnesses
may be harder than it seems!  I hope I didn't take any undue liberties with
Tvarne's character...

--
---Alfvaen(a.k.a. Aaron V. Humphrey, Page of Newts)
Canadian Network For Space Research, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
"Close the Dreamtime door and drive away." -- Anna Amabiaca, "Ivory Tears"
Current Album--Sinead O'Connor:I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got
Current Read--Dave Barry:Dave Barry Talks Back