Fan Fiction ❯ Fey at Heart ❯ Chapter 02 ( Chapter 2 )
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: Rosy the Cat 
Rosy the Cat *singing!*: "A whole new world!"
...
I'll leave you guys at that. *grin!*
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Romance / Supernatural | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 210 | Status: Completed
Rosy the Cat *singing!*: "A whole new world!"
...
I'll leave you guys at that. *grin!*
Anime/Manga: Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Adventure / Drama / Fantasy / Romance / Supernatural | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 02.27.2004 | Pages: 3 | Words: 1.8K | Visits: 210 | Status: Completed
Fey at Heart
By Emily R. Bryant
Chapter Two
The first thing Alex noticed when awareness started creeping back into
her addled mind was that it was warm. Surprisingly warm for that matter,
considering the fact that, last she had checked, it was winter. Mentally
shrugging, her face automatically buried itself back into the pillowy-
softness that was surrounding her arm, an action that shifted her glasses
so that they were pressing uncomfortably against her face.
Grumbling, the girl lifted her head and squinted against the pre-dawn
light that beat against her eyelids, shifting the lenses one-handed
further down her nose. They probably had smudges on them now, something
she confirmed by managing to ease one eye open enough to see through
the slightly-curved rectangular panes. How in the world could she have
forgotten to take them off before she fell asleep? She must have drowsed
off reading, but that didn't make sense with the feeling of firm ground
underneath padded clothes.
Her eyes finally snapped completely open, her arms instinctively rolling
her onto her back and sitting up. Even so, she winced slightly as she put
weight on her still half-asleep limbs, looking around cautiously.
Okay, first things first. She was in a forest clearing. That was consistent
with where she had been last, although she had been expecting a cold cement
ditch, not dew-soaked loam and grass. One hand even now went up to brush
some cold moisture from her face, then set to work brushing the same from
her mussed mouse-brown hair, some of which had escaped its braid in the
wild and crazy dash down the hill.
Second, she was most assuredly alive. A bit tender, likely bruised, but
no broken bones. That was a plus.
Third, it was starting to get warmer, so she was already yanking off her
coat and groping about for her pack, and garments more suitable for warm
weather.
Fourth, Adam was no more than twenty feet away, and quite all right, going
by the volume of his snores. Relieved and annoyed, Alex set to work removing
her snow-appropriate garb, replacing it with a t-shirt and jeans, hiking
boots taking the place of snow boots. Her coat, which would probably take
up far too much space in her pack, she tied around her waist.
Fifth, no psychotic murderous stepfather, which left her feeling much better,
although lack of worry over her own continued existence left her mind free
to be occupied with fears of the same nature regarding her mother.
'Mom won't have any idea what is going on!' Alex distressedly reminded
herself. 'Oh my gosh, what if Bill decided to take his anger at Adam and
I out on Mom?! She could be in danger, or dying, or dead, or-'
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!! DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT, YOU BOOGER!!!" At
her brother's worried touch to her shoulder, Alex had promptly spazzed.
Now she was heading dangerously towards hyperventilation.
"Yeesh, Al, tense much?" Adam quipped, but he couldn't quite keep his
concern over his elder sibling off his face or out of his voice. Her
concerns, for all that they hadn't been voiced yet, had already occurred
to Adam in the time between his sister's movements waking him up and his
trying to bring her out of her funk.
That was one of the most contrary things about his sister, Adam mused. For
the most part, she was calm, collected, and perfectly logical. He actually
admired the way she had gone about investigating the situation with Bill,
as well as her orchestration of their escape plan, for all that they were
now apparently lost. What worried him the most about Alex, however, was
her tendency to suppress all emotion, which would explode one way or
another if she were startled particularly badly out of her little bubble
of calm. Most times she pulled through admirably, but lately she had become
more touchy. He suspected that their father's abandonment had hit Alex far
worse than anybody else in their family, for all that it had been twelve
years. Their mother's second marriage hadn't helped any, either. Alex had
been insistent from the moment their mother had started dating again that
Dad would be back, that Mom was betraying him. She had gotten even worse
after Bill started hanging around, but then, so had he. There was just
something about that man that rubbed both of them wrong, but Melanie
Andersen kept pushing aside their concerns, putting it off to jealousy
at Bill's suggestion, which he supposed, in hindsight, should have sent
off warning bells there and then.
Alex had only gone quiet again shortly before the wedding, and only then
because their then-dying, now dead, grandmother had insisted that all it
was doing was upsetting their mother, and that she deserved some happiness.
That hadn't stopped them both from having an oddly strong urge to object
to the union at the ceremony when the minister had asked. Granna's glare
from the pews at Adam beside her and Alex standing next to their mother
as a bridesmaid was the only thing that had kept either of them from
saying anything, but only just.
Alex's breathing finally slowed down, and her face lost its panicked
look. One last calming breath, and she was back into her Vulcan-esque
logical mode.
Now that he thought about it, Adam wondered if that utter calm was doing
more to damage his sister than help her. But now was clearly not the time
to bring that up, as Alex took charge of the situation.
"Okay, first of all, we obviously aren't in Big Bear any more, and we
equally obviously didn't die when we went flying into that ditch." Alex
paused, frowning in thought. "So the first thing we need to do is figure
out where we are, and how to call Mom and make sure she's okay."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "I'm wondering more how we got here, wherever
'here' is." He perked up at a thought. "Hey, maybe that ditch was an
inter-dimensional time-space wormhole that spat us out into an alternate
universe!"
Alex groaned, saying, "No more Sliders re-runs or DS9 tapes for you,
mister."
Her brother responded by elegantly gracing her with an outstretched
tongue and a loud raspberry.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Alex declared that the toboggans were
far too bulky to bring with them, not to mention useless without snow,
and the two shouldered their packs and headed in a random direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was rather lucky that brother and sister left when they did, because
no more than half an hour later a swirling inter-dimensional time-space
wormhole erupted into being about fifteen yards from where the teenagers
had awakened. Far more disturbing than the glowing portal, however, was
the figure that stepped through. Cricking his head from side to side,
William Beard's eyes narrowed, focussing in on the two pale-blue plastic
toboggans resting abandoned off to one side, then zeroed in on the scuff
marks left in the rich grass-covered dirt by man-made boots, leading away
through the trees, his sharp mind taking note that the tracks disappeared
as their makers left the rich woodland and crossed into the much drier
dirt of the meadowland.
Tracking his now-dead wife's children would be a bit more difficult out
there.
Taking the safety off of his high-powered sniper rifle, he proceeded to
chamber a fresh round.
"I do so love a good challenge," he murmured to himself, a maniacal gleam
in his eyes as he set off after his quarry.
No sooner than the madman had left the clearing, a small, twisted figure
crept out of its hiding place up in a tree, where it had fled after noting
the impending wakening of the two young strangers, and had stayed until
now, driven by the instinct that was more than instinct, the hand of
Fate and Destiny.
Giving a long look after the two newcomers, the Fey grumbled to himself
one sentence before popping out of existence, hopefully to reappear
ahead of the youths.
"Bluebeard's come back; may the Lord and Lady have mercy on us all."
*************************
Author's Notes: Sorry I've been so silent on the writing front of late;
writer's block is quite annoying. But, before you guys get all cheering
and stuff (I hope!), I'm being a bit cheat-y here. The prologue and
first four chapters were written in November (2003); I honestly kinda
forgot about this story when I conceded defeat with NaNoWriMo.
Nonetheless, I plan on putting out a chapter of this a week until either
I've got everything so far up, or my writer's block backs off on
something else. Either way, you guys win.
As always and forever, thanks go to Rhonda-sensei, my muse, and God.
And on the reviews front...
ice_4_a_spirit- Thanks! Glad you like my writing style! I hope you keep
reading, though I am unfamiliar with the story you compared mine with. If
I ever get around to finishing "Mists of Avalon" and the other stuff I've
bought but haven't gotten around to reading, maybe I'll look up this "I
am Morgan Le Fay".
Anyhoot, thanks to y'all, and if you liked this chapter, please leave me
a nice review or e-mail. Who knows, maybe reviews will kick start my muse.
-- Rosy the Cat
rosythecat@yahoo.com
2-25-04
By Emily R. Bryant
Chapter Two
The first thing Alex noticed when awareness started creeping back into
her addled mind was that it was warm. Surprisingly warm for that matter,
considering the fact that, last she had checked, it was winter. Mentally
shrugging, her face automatically buried itself back into the pillowy-
softness that was surrounding her arm, an action that shifted her glasses
so that they were pressing uncomfortably against her face.
Grumbling, the girl lifted her head and squinted against the pre-dawn
light that beat against her eyelids, shifting the lenses one-handed
further down her nose. They probably had smudges on them now, something
she confirmed by managing to ease one eye open enough to see through
the slightly-curved rectangular panes. How in the world could she have
forgotten to take them off before she fell asleep? She must have drowsed
off reading, but that didn't make sense with the feeling of firm ground
underneath padded clothes.
Her eyes finally snapped completely open, her arms instinctively rolling
her onto her back and sitting up. Even so, she winced slightly as she put
weight on her still half-asleep limbs, looking around cautiously.
Okay, first things first. She was in a forest clearing. That was consistent
with where she had been last, although she had been expecting a cold cement
ditch, not dew-soaked loam and grass. One hand even now went up to brush
some cold moisture from her face, then set to work brushing the same from
her mussed mouse-brown hair, some of which had escaped its braid in the
wild and crazy dash down the hill.
Second, she was most assuredly alive. A bit tender, likely bruised, but
no broken bones. That was a plus.
Third, it was starting to get warmer, so she was already yanking off her
coat and groping about for her pack, and garments more suitable for warm
weather.
Fourth, Adam was no more than twenty feet away, and quite all right, going
by the volume of his snores. Relieved and annoyed, Alex set to work removing
her snow-appropriate garb, replacing it with a t-shirt and jeans, hiking
boots taking the place of snow boots. Her coat, which would probably take
up far too much space in her pack, she tied around her waist.
Fifth, no psychotic murderous stepfather, which left her feeling much better,
although lack of worry over her own continued existence left her mind free
to be occupied with fears of the same nature regarding her mother.
'Mom won't have any idea what is going on!' Alex distressedly reminded
herself. 'Oh my gosh, what if Bill decided to take his anger at Adam and
I out on Mom?! She could be in danger, or dying, or dead, or-'
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAARG!!! DON'T SNEAK UP ON ME LIKE THAT, YOU BOOGER!!!" At
her brother's worried touch to her shoulder, Alex had promptly spazzed.
Now she was heading dangerously towards hyperventilation.
"Yeesh, Al, tense much?" Adam quipped, but he couldn't quite keep his
concern over his elder sibling off his face or out of his voice. Her
concerns, for all that they hadn't been voiced yet, had already occurred
to Adam in the time between his sister's movements waking him up and his
trying to bring her out of her funk.
That was one of the most contrary things about his sister, Adam mused. For
the most part, she was calm, collected, and perfectly logical. He actually
admired the way she had gone about investigating the situation with Bill,
as well as her orchestration of their escape plan, for all that they were
now apparently lost. What worried him the most about Alex, however, was
her tendency to suppress all emotion, which would explode one way or
another if she were startled particularly badly out of her little bubble
of calm. Most times she pulled through admirably, but lately she had become
more touchy. He suspected that their father's abandonment had hit Alex far
worse than anybody else in their family, for all that it had been twelve
years. Their mother's second marriage hadn't helped any, either. Alex had
been insistent from the moment their mother had started dating again that
Dad would be back, that Mom was betraying him. She had gotten even worse
after Bill started hanging around, but then, so had he. There was just
something about that man that rubbed both of them wrong, but Melanie
Andersen kept pushing aside their concerns, putting it off to jealousy
at Bill's suggestion, which he supposed, in hindsight, should have sent
off warning bells there and then.
Alex had only gone quiet again shortly before the wedding, and only then
because their then-dying, now dead, grandmother had insisted that all it
was doing was upsetting their mother, and that she deserved some happiness.
That hadn't stopped them both from having an oddly strong urge to object
to the union at the ceremony when the minister had asked. Granna's glare
from the pews at Adam beside her and Alex standing next to their mother
as a bridesmaid was the only thing that had kept either of them from
saying anything, but only just.
Alex's breathing finally slowed down, and her face lost its panicked
look. One last calming breath, and she was back into her Vulcan-esque
logical mode.
Now that he thought about it, Adam wondered if that utter calm was doing
more to damage his sister than help her. But now was clearly not the time
to bring that up, as Alex took charge of the situation.
"Okay, first of all, we obviously aren't in Big Bear any more, and we
equally obviously didn't die when we went flying into that ditch." Alex
paused, frowning in thought. "So the first thing we need to do is figure
out where we are, and how to call Mom and make sure she's okay."
Adam raised an eyebrow. "I'm wondering more how we got here, wherever
'here' is." He perked up at a thought. "Hey, maybe that ditch was an
inter-dimensional time-space wormhole that spat us out into an alternate
universe!"
Alex groaned, saying, "No more Sliders re-runs or DS9 tapes for you,
mister."
Her brother responded by elegantly gracing her with an outstretched
tongue and a loud raspberry.
Rolling her eyes in annoyance, Alex declared that the toboggans were
far too bulky to bring with them, not to mention useless without snow,
and the two shouldered their packs and headed in a random direction.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was rather lucky that brother and sister left when they did, because
no more than half an hour later a swirling inter-dimensional time-space
wormhole erupted into being about fifteen yards from where the teenagers
had awakened. Far more disturbing than the glowing portal, however, was
the figure that stepped through. Cricking his head from side to side,
William Beard's eyes narrowed, focussing in on the two pale-blue plastic
toboggans resting abandoned off to one side, then zeroed in on the scuff
marks left in the rich grass-covered dirt by man-made boots, leading away
through the trees, his sharp mind taking note that the tracks disappeared
as their makers left the rich woodland and crossed into the much drier
dirt of the meadowland.
Tracking his now-dead wife's children would be a bit more difficult out
there.
Taking the safety off of his high-powered sniper rifle, he proceeded to
chamber a fresh round.
"I do so love a good challenge," he murmured to himself, a maniacal gleam
in his eyes as he set off after his quarry.
No sooner than the madman had left the clearing, a small, twisted figure
crept out of its hiding place up in a tree, where it had fled after noting
the impending wakening of the two young strangers, and had stayed until
now, driven by the instinct that was more than instinct, the hand of
Fate and Destiny.
Giving a long look after the two newcomers, the Fey grumbled to himself
one sentence before popping out of existence, hopefully to reappear
ahead of the youths.
"Bluebeard's come back; may the Lord and Lady have mercy on us all."
*************************
Author's Notes: Sorry I've been so silent on the writing front of late;
writer's block is quite annoying. But, before you guys get all cheering
and stuff (I hope!), I'm being a bit cheat-y here. The prologue and
first four chapters were written in November (2003); I honestly kinda
forgot about this story when I conceded defeat with NaNoWriMo.
Nonetheless, I plan on putting out a chapter of this a week until either
I've got everything so far up, or my writer's block backs off on
something else. Either way, you guys win.
As always and forever, thanks go to Rhonda-sensei, my muse, and God.
And on the reviews front...
ice_4_a_spirit- Thanks! Glad you like my writing style! I hope you keep
reading, though I am unfamiliar with the story you compared mine with. If
I ever get around to finishing "Mists of Avalon" and the other stuff I've
bought but haven't gotten around to reading, maybe I'll look up this "I
am Morgan Le Fay".
Anyhoot, thanks to y'all, and if you liked this chapter, please leave me
a nice review or e-mail. Who knows, maybe reviews will kick start my muse.
-- Rosy the Cat
rosythecat@yahoo.com
2-25-04