From: Date: Wed, 10 Jun 1998 12:57:04 EDT Subject: Misadventures in Hicho Teri was stabbing Roland's quarterstaff into the dust at every step as they passed the city gates. The loosely packed dirt of the road should have been packed hard with the day's merchant travel, yet swirled in the air around their feet as the three travelers slipped slowly and exhaustedly into the city. Dusk hung on the tall stone of the buildings that leaned close together over the streets; a faint wind whispered from one alley to another. Teri looked around, brows drawn together as she slowly glanced from doorway to doorway. She drew her leather jacket, recently donned, closer around her neck, holding the collar tightly closed in one hand as she continued to walk. Her strength was gaining slowly, but about the only thing on her mind was a bath, some coffee, and a nice, clean bed. "This place is creepy," Shinji chirruped, then flushed in surprise as his words echoed back at him.. then faded away. Roland, tight-lipped, kept hard eyes on the road. "I don't like this either," he grumbled softly to Teri, who nodded. "Let's find an inn.." One-track minded she might be, but none-the-less, an Inn was the obvious course of action. A dog skittered across the cobblestone intersection infront of them, chasing a sort of red shiny globe that seemed to roll through the streets on its own accord. Shinji's eyes widened and he drew closer to the other two.. "I know that creature.." he was hushed and serious-- a change from the optimistic Boy Scout that had been journeying with Teri for the past hour.. Teri sighed as she searched the grey stone walls for street signs or directions, "I know that 'creature' too. It's called a 'dog'." The word 'dog' tasted strange in her mouth, her tongue rolling over the syllables... but neither Shinji or Roland noticed what must have been a strange accent on the word. Shinji was shaking his head, and ran his fingers through his hair, "No.. not that one.. the Jiy." Teri looked at Roland, who shrugged. "Jiy?" she said, as she started walking to the left. "No, this way--" Roland pointed right, the way the dog had run. "The inns are this way." "You're wrong, I can tell that they're--" Teri pointed to a faded picture of a bed sketched in the rock, which pointed in the direction she had been headed. "Highway signs-- though i've never seen them this far into a city before. Frankly speaking, I didnt' know Pennsylvania had ruinous cities like these. Though I suppose UPENN has a few buildings like this. Better kept, though." She walked, assuming the men would follow-- which they did. She was too tired for politeness, too tired to put on a nice expression. She wanted a bed, she wanted to call Paul and Stana, and she wanted the next train out of this place. Before that, she wanted a bath and some coffee ... the same wants and wishes kept running round and round her head, with every step... "beds and baths and coffee, oh my... beds and baths and.." Her ankle flared in pain and she yelped, crashing to her knee... a small reddish globe skittered to the right and then sped down the street... "God DAMN that hurt!!!!" Roland was standing, his back almost against the wall, looking in each direction while SHinji knelt next to Teri.. "You ok?" "Shit, my boot's ripped!" the back of the boot, by the ankle, had been sliced clean, but the gash went no farther than her sock. She looked up towards the lingering memory of the red ball as Shinji helped her to her feet. "The Jiy.. They're a small, mage-created globe of some of the more notorious religious sects on this continent. Sometimes they go bad, or a mage loses control over them.." Teri held her hand up and SHinji stopped talking, "Wait a minute here-- mages?" She looked at the boy closely, "What kind of crack are you on?" She turned to Roland, "We picked up a crack-head boyscout. I didn't think those kinds of kids did that stuff. He better learn the difference between fantasy and reality quick. The reality is that we all STINK, and I'm delerious and I need an Inn NOW!" She rounded the next corner and sighed in relief. "It's about damned time." Teri handed Roland his quarterstaff, and he shouldered it with a small amused smirk as she took a step and her knees buckled again. She swore, furious at herself for still being so exhausted, muttered something about killing Paul when she found him, and walked through the door of the inn, with the help of a friendly wall or two. The inn was filled with people quietly eating their meals, faces staring at their plates, none talking, no eyes shifting, no gazes directed at the newcomers. The fire was green. Teri pressed two fingers to her forehead and mumbled to herself. The innkeeper came to them, rubbing a clean apron against his chaffed hands. "Can I.. help you?" he whispered nervously. Teri opened her eyes, lowered her hand, and forced her face into a charming and helpless smile. "Yes, I'd like a room, please." The man nodded, "1 gil" Teri blinked, "Do you take Visa?" The man blinked. "Vee-za?" he tried to repeat the phrase. Teri's eyes widened, horrified. "american express?" blink. "Discover?" blink. blink. Shinji reached over Teri's shoulders, where she stood petrified with horror, her black bag dangling from her hand. "Here-- and the lady would like a bath, and we'd like supper in the room please." The innkeeper nodded, sifting the coins in his palm with a stubby finger, before dissapearing as silently as he'd come. Shinji took Teri by the elbow and ushered her up the steps: she was now staring, glassy eyed, at three thin shiny cards in her hands. Shinji didn't recognise them, but knew the girl was quite out of her mind, at this point. Must have had too much sun. **** Teri soaked in a big wooden tub. At least the water was hot, though her long legs were cramping in the small confines, and she wasn't all that thrilled about sitting in a tub, with no bubbles, in what appeared to be a co-ed communal bath. She didn't know that they had these in Pennsylvania, and while it seemed to be a neat-sort of feudal adventure, the fact that should couldn't use her credit cards was still a shock to her already shocked brain. Her clothes lay soaking in a small basin which she'd filled and rinsed five times prior-- the water was still a reddish sort of clear. She had a pair of jean shorts with her, but no other pair of shoes save her now sliced combat boots-- but she'd have to deal with the fashion faux pas until she got back to Kutztown.. Teri blinked and sighed, ran a hand raggedly through her hair. Kutztown. Fuck, she didn't know what had happened, where the hell she was. She knew she was clinging to some vague notion that she was still in PA, USA... "We're not in kansas anymore," she whispered bitterly. It was too much to handle. How could she possible give in, and accept that her greatest wish-- to be part of some wonderfully vast and powerful fantasy world.... no, it couldn't be. This must be some.. horrible... drug experience or something... maybe Paul had taken her to a frat party and she'd... no, but she didn't do strange drugs and.. Teri sighed and stood up, the water sloshing in the tub, running down her skin. She grabbed for the towel-- coarse but clean-- and Roland walked in. ***** Shinji sighed as he looked around the room. One bed lay orderly to one side. A large dresser, a woman's vanity, and a table with three chairs made up the remainder of the furniture. Well, what could you expect for a gil? Not much, but better than nothing. He spotted the three cards Teri had been staring at a while ago (before they'd pried them out of her hands and pushed her towards the bathroom) on the table. He walked over and carefully picked them up. Raising one up for a closer examination, he saw, in a very neatly painted, or what seemed to him like painted, the word Visa. Hmm...some sort of currency perhaps? But no, this material didn't appear valuable. Perhaps a weapon! Yes! She was trying to intimidate the innkeeper for a room! ... Then again it didn't look very dangerous. Oh well. He carefully replaced them on the table, taking care to put them back the way he had found them. Maybe Teri could tell him what they were later. Looking around the room, his eyes focused on the near-by bed. He plopped down on the matress, just staring up at the ceiling for a while. he shifted several times, trying to get comfortable, then gave up and got off. "Forget it," he mumbled to himself. He walked over to the window and undid the latch. They swung open with a loud creak of protest, but that was all. Shinji stuck his head out and looked around. He didn't want anyone seeing him and thinking he was a theif or anything. Satisfied that he was alone, he gripped the edge of the roof and pulled himself up. The tiles were old and far between, several gone altogether. Securing himself, he stretched out on it, the surface still warm from the afternoon. The stars were not quite out yet, but they would be soon. He was just starting to dose, when all of the sudden he heard Teri scream. He swung through the windows just as he heard a large crash, and Roland walked through the door. The man was calm as usual, but instead of a scowl, a small sarcastic smile tugged at his lips. "Teri's--" Shinji blurted, moving towards the door. Roland blocked him with one arm, and almost chuckling, said, "She's just pissed that I went to the bathroom." Shinji blinked. "Huh?" Roland shrugged, "Apparently, there's no co-ed bathrooms where she comes from." He walked over to the bed and stretched out, "Spoiled little--" *** Teri wrapped the towel around her body-- beat red, and not just from the heat of the water. The ends of the towel dragged in the tub as water soaked the edges. Roland walked, seemingly without noticing her, to the far end of the bathroom, unzipped his breeches, and relieved himself, his back to her. Teri's eyes widened and she gasped a little. Turning quickly around, she stepped from the bath and wrapped the second towel around her head. Keeping HER back to Roland, she busied herself wringing the pink water from her clothes over and over again until she heard him close the lid to the ancient- looking toilet and leave the way he came. The door clicked closed and Teri let out a strangled cry of frustration, standing quickly up and kicking the small basin of rinse water into the far wall. How DARE he come into the bathroom without knocking!? Sure, she knew that she'd have co-ed bathrooms when she got to college in the fall-- but she sure as hell wasn't going to share one with some stinky psychotic man who thought he was living a Spaghetti western while she was trapped in what was seeming less and less like a dream and more like some strange reality from a fantasy novel... With her back to the bathroom door, keeping it closed against any other smelly persons who chose to enter while she was cleaning, Teri slipped on clean underwear, her jean shorts, and a blue t-shirt. Her other undergarments would have to dry, as well as her jeans and tank top, before they could be worn again. She padded out of the bathroom and to her room, bag and boots in one hand, dripping clothes in another. She opened the door to see Shinji, shirtless in the heat, balancing on a two- legged stool while scrubbing the dust from his boots. Roland was lounging on the bed, his arms crossed beneath his head. Shinji looked up as she came in, Roland looked up only when the boots fell from her slack hands. Did she dare ask what they were doing in her room? She grimaced a bit, not wanting to be offensive, but not wanting them to share a room, much less a bed with her, if they continued to smell the way they did. And just like any good fantasy book-- the heroine always wound up sharing a room with some dirty, musky mercenary. ***** Roland was running his fingers over the leather gun holster. He had refused to relinquish his spot on the bed-- and all Teri's charm had failed against him. She was more tired than she had thought, if she couldn't get a merc to sit on the floor for a girl's comfort. Either that, or Roland was NO gentleman. Shinji had offered his stool, but she didn't particularly feel like balancing on two legs-- and he seemed to be doing it with ease. Teri sat on the floor, her back to the bed, her knees drawn to her chest, and watched as Shinji methodically scrubbed at his boots. She wondered absently why he was taking such care of his boots, and neglecting the rest of him. He looked up and met her eyes, but his stare was blank. She could feel the built-tension in Roland, behind her-- his frustration at some unnamed source, but it was balanced by an even calm from her other fellow traveler. She rubbed at her forehead with a hand and let out a tense sigh. She was so out of it. Couldn't focus on anything, was so on edge that she was picking up the slightest change in their body language and scrutinizing it... "I'm just paranoid--" she muttered under her breath and dropped her head back against the bed. "What's that?" Shinji asked, not taking his attention away from the boot. Teri, eyes closed, didn't answer. There was no telephone in this room-- and from the looks on the guy's faces when she'd ranted about there not being a telephone... it seemed like neither Shinji nor ROland had heard of such a thing before. Honestly, where the fuck was she, and what happened? It looked like england in the 1400's or something crazy like that. Except that people wore such strange clothing and talked with funny accents and were WAY too damned good at martial arts for her own sanity. I mean-- what're the chances of her winding up.. ok, she'll let her mind wander for a bit... what're the chances of winding up in some fantasy world and meeting, within a day, two semi-trained mercenaries? Roland felt constantly on edge to her, anxious, frustrated-- he didn't seem to entirely fit into the surroundings, despite the smell that seemed to cling to most of the travelers. Her skin itched when she was around him, like there was something she was forgetting, something strange. And Shinji-- well, once you got past his boy-scout demeanor, seemed quite withdrawn into his own head. She couldn't pin him down either. So she watched them both, her hands clasped under her legs. **** Shinji was finishing the last of his boots-- a training habit he had been forced into at the monastery (never to go to sleep without first cleaning your boots, your weapons, and your face/hands), when he heard that awful skittering noise.. he jumped to his feet, the stool clattering to the ground as it lost its support-- Teri scrambled upright as a small hole exploded from the wall opposite the bed, and a small red globe shot towards them. Shinji, almost without thinking, lunged at the globe and in the split second it took for it to travel from wall to his hands, trapped it neatly within his boot. The boot shuddered, smoked, and the room heard a small *pop* as the boot fell silent and still. Teri was holding on to the bed to steady herself, Roland was on his feet, quarterstaff in hand. Teri took the opportunity to secure herself some bed- space before asking, wearily, "What the hell now.." Shinji upended the boot into his hands; shards of red glittering glass and droplets of a thick, shiny fluid that smelled of berries filled his hands. Teri peered close as he walked to sit on the bed-- they all gathered to look at his hands. "It's a Jiy.. i was trying to tell you earlier, in the street." "The same thing that ripped my boot--" Teri tucked a strand of wet hair behind her ear and looked from Roland's creased and stormy eyes to Shinji's veiled ones. "Exactly.." shinji moved the shards around in his hand with one finger, rubbing the liquid between forefinger and thumb before pushing shards again. "They're a kind of mage creature created by the Aoli religious sect here in Manshu." "Manshu?" teri asked, carefully taking a triangular red shard from shinji's hands and holding it up to the light. "The country we're in. It's pretty far south. Though Hicho's to the north west of the country. My monastery was located over the southern border of Manshu." "Right, right, that's nice-- but what the hell is this thing?" Roland burst in, gesturing at the shards still cupped in Shinji's hands. "He's told us three times-- it's a Jiy.. a mage globe thingie--" "no, not a mage globe," Shinji interrupted, "it's a creature-- barely sentient. Used as messengers, but this one went haywire, apparently." "How can you tell?" Teri asked, and Roland burst out laughing, scornfully. "Isn't it obvious? It blew a damned mouse-hole in our wall!" Shinji smiled, "It's red." Teri blinked. Roland expelled a "huh?" before shinji continued. "The glass is different colors depending on mood of the being, and its task. Jii who aren't put to a task will be a bunch of mottled colors, swirling. The solid colors tend to be for specific tasks. I dont' know that much about them, except that the reds are ones that have gone.. well... i guess you would say Insane, so much as a barely sentient mage-created being can go insane." "How'd you know all this?" Teri asked, rubbing the glass between her fingers. It felt cool and static. Shinji stood and looked around the room, finally grabbing Teri's discarded towel, wrapping the remains of the Jiy in it, and placing it on the floor. "Crush that," he said to Roland, who, after a small amount of shock at being ordered by the clearly younger man, did so, with his boot. Shinji picked up the towel, now containing what appeared to be fine, ruby-like dust, and shook it out the window. "I came across them occasionally at the monastery. We would destroy any reds or any clears that we came across." "Clears?" ROland asked, as he moved to lean against the wall by the bed. "Clears-- almost spies, i suppose." Roland caught Shinji's eye and nodded towards the bed-- Teri was curled on her side, asleep, the shard of red glass clenched in her hand.