From alt.pub.dragons-inn Fri Dec 17 09:26:49 1993 Newsgroups: alt.pub.dragons-inn Path: netcom.com!netcomsv!netcomsv!decwrl!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!usc!howland.reston.ans.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!yale.edu!cs.yale.edu!news-mail-gateway!daemon From: SMS27538@vax1.utulsa.edu Subject: [Fire] Journey to Generica (part II) Message-ID: <931216151303.22a12c7f@vax1.utulsa.edu> X-Unparseable-Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1993 15: 13:03 -0600 (CST) Sender: SMS27538@vax1.utulsa.edu Organization: Yale CS Mail/News Gateway Date: Thu, 16 Dec 1993 21:10:03 GMT Lines: 121 The Journey to Generica. [Previously on "Journey to Generica" Fire had gotten a ship ride from Etarus'ia to Cathy from an old friend, and managed to make it as far as the Dragon's Pillow in the village of Ku-fu.] Part II: It was twilight as Fire began to set up camp out side the village of Ku-fu. The valley of Cho was a beautiful, with its small lake an numerous wild-flowers. "It's too bad it so hard to get here," Fire though, "none of the roads are the least bit straight." She finished off the last of her meal. She laid back and looked up at the stars, watching the twinkle of little lights, holes in the blanket of night, and she began to wonder what the future had in store for her, and what mysteries her past held. As she watched her mind began to drift, as she slowly descended into sleep. Her mind drifted from image to image, Kitsune, Hananiwa, Toshima, and the other student all appeared to her. In her dreams she saw Kitsune-bi fighting a killer mushroom. "What an odd dream," mused Fire, half awake, "I wonder if Kitsune's been trying to make another one of those 'pizza' things he's always talking about. Kitsune-bi may be a good cook, but he always make a disaster of those really exotic dishes." Fire began the day fresh, with the smell of flowers. She prepared her pack and was all ready to go, when she heard the voices of children playing, she snuck up to watch. Her childhood had not been a happy one, until Kazia had taken her in, and she always felt a bit bitter about it, but she didn't begrudge the children their fun. In fact, she liked to see children happy, it gave her some idea of what her childhood could have been like, and rather than being jealous, Fire was happy for them. "Never dwell on what you don't or didn't have, Mariko," she remembered Kitsune saying, "think only of how to make the best of today and tomorrow with what you do have." It was a lesson Fire had taken to heart. As she watched, she heard the words of the ghost coming from the children "Jade plate, six, eight. Fire that burns hot, night that is not, Fire that burns cold, first silver then gold." The same strange riddle. Well it was not her place to solve it, she had travelling to do. The journey went well, and the Misty Mountains approached swiftly. Flare was moving at a good clip, when she suddenly stopped. "Bandits," Fire thought, and her instincts weren't wrong, for an arrow shot out grazing her left shoulder. Moving on instinct, Fire leaped from the saddle, doing a back flip in the air. When her feet reached the ground, she had a dagger in each hand. She ducked down curled over and rolled, just in time to avoid two more arrows. When came out of roll her hand flashed out, sending a dagger hurling into the woods. Their was a cry followed by the sound of crashing branches, her dagger had found its mark. "That's one down, and two more to go." she thought. The next shot came from above, Fire rolled under it, letting it strike just behind her. Now she knew where he was, she rolled right up to the tree he was perched in. She dashed up the like a shot, moving from branch to branch as if she had been doing so all her life (which wasn't to far from the truth.) She was above him in a flash, and before he could even think of reacting, she had swung from a higher branch, planing both feet into his chest, knocking him to the ground, he was out of it. She was alerted to the approached of a horse. "Ah, their friend must want to join the fun," Fire thought, "well let him try." She leaped out of the tree with an acrobatic flip. When she saw her opponent, Fire wasn't so sure. He was covered from head to toe, in black armor, with only a slit on the helmet for him to see through. Leaped up and hit him with flying side kick, knocking him from the saddle [Note: that is what flying side kick were designed to do.] "Nice move," the figure said in a deep throaty voice, but it will take more than that you can master, to take out Grandos." With that, he rose from the ground a drew his sword. "You are quite pretty, little one," he began with a smug air in his voice, "surrender now, and I won't kill you." "Never!" Fire grabbed two throwing stars off her belt. "Very well, but that leather you are wearing won't save you," and as he spoke he slashed out at Fire with his sword, an attack she narrowly avoided with a side roll, into the woods. "Try and catch me now!" yelled Fire "you tin plated buffoon," as she ran into the woods. "I won't have to," cried Grandos, "you won't go far without a horse." At first Fire thought he meant to steal Flare, which was not a problem, she was well trained, and could follow Grandos back to his lair, and take Flare back, but he hand something else in mind. As he raised his sword to kill Flare, Fire through a smoke bomb, leaped from the cover of the forest and into the smoke emerging just in time to throw a handful of dirt into Grandose's eye-slit. Grandos responded by striking out blindly, and knocking Fire back. His strength was astonishing, if Fire didn't roll with the blow, her ribs would have been cracked, which was Fire worse than having the wind knocked out of her. They both recovered at the same instant, but Fire was still out of breath. "A little dirt won't stop me," Grandose's raised his sword. "Perhaps this will be more permanent," as Fire spoke her hand dashed out with two throwing stars heading straight for Grandose's eye-slit. Fire said a little prayer to the goddess of luck an instant before they hit their mark. "Arrrrrrggggggg!!!!!!!!" Grandos was in great pain. "I will get you for this!! I will have my revenge." "Well they say justice is blind..." Fire smiled, "... but revenge is just plain stupid." Grandos lunged at her voice, but she calmly sided stepped him and mounted up. "Don't worry about me," she cried as she rode off "You'll never see me again!" It was cruel, be he deserved it. The rest of the trip was uneventful, but Fire felt confident that she could survive on her own now. -------Marc Seebass (sms27538@vax1.utulsa.edu, seebam@euler.mcs.utulsa.edu, or seebass@hpserv.utulsa.edu) comments and constructive criticsm welcome. Oh and happy holidays. ---- "Back in Soochow we grow men so big that their heads brush the clouds and while their feet are planted on the ground."(said by a Thug) "Indeed? In my humble village," said Master Li sweetly, "we grow men so big that their upper lips lick the stars and their lower lips nuzzle the earth." The thug thought about it. "And where were their bodies?" "They were like you," said Master Li, "All mouth." -----Bridge of Birds.