Fan Fiction ❯ The Emergence Of A Legend ❯ Chapter 4

Nikki Kelly

Disclaimer: All of the characters portrayed in this story are completely

fictional and the sole creations of moi. Any resemblance to any

living person or other fictional character is purely coincidental.

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Chapter Four

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"What is this?!" Olban's voice boomed through the room. Coress jumped up and fell on the floor, startled into cold reality by her brother's sudden outburst. What is he doing? She thought, upset that he had interrupted a wonderful dream she'd been having. She looked up at him with annoyed eyes.

Olban was absolutely ready to burst. Not only his face, but every last bit of his body was flaming red. His normally calm eyes were bugging out of their sockets, glazed over like a wild animal's. She was completely confused. "Why are you yell..." she stopped abruptly when her eyes caught up to the victim of her brother's malicious glare; it went directly to the bed. There lay Tystan, yawning groggily and squinting in the morning sunlight. He obviously had no idea what was happening.

Coress swore silently. They had forgotten to get up early. Tystan was supposed to have left at dawn, before everyone else was up, but they both had overslept. Coress couldn't really be angry with him; he had been through a lot the night before, physically and emotionally. She couldn't think of what to say. Surely Olban wouldn't think that anything had happened.

Wrong. "Why am I yelling? Why am I yelling?!" Olban still hadn't composed himself in the slightest. "Oh I don't know, Coress! Could it be the fact that you have a guy in your bed?! And not just any guy! Oh no! You have the guy who has slept with every fucking woman in the city! Could that be why I'm yelling?!"

"No! Olban! It's not what you think! Nothing happened! I was just helping him!" Coress pleaded with her brother.

By now, Tystan had gotten some idea of what had happened. He was fumbling around the bed, trying to find his shirt. Not being able to, he turned to Olban. "All we did was sleep in the same bed. There's no reason to get all mad. Coress was just doin me a favor," he said calmly, no doubt trying to reason with the enraged man.

"Is what you wanna call it?! A favor?! You're a sick fucking bastard! Taking advantage of a helpless girl! I'll kill you boy!" He lunged at the innocent young man, but Coress threw herself between them. Olban stopped before he hit his sister, thankfully coming to his senses. But his anger had still not subsided. "Get out of my way Coress! That bastard has got to pay his dues!"

He tried to push her aside, but the stubborn beauty would not relent. "No! He didn't do anything! I let him sleep in the bed with me!" She screamed this, desperately trying to get her brother's anger off of Tystan.

Unfortunately, it worked. Olban immediately turned his hate filled eyes to her, and they became somewhat shocked. "You wanted him to?" he asked incredulously, than spat at the words as if they had a bitter taste. "I should have known, I mean, when I came in, your dirty little arms were wrapped around him!" he screamed right into her face. Immediately his eyes glazed over once again. "Then I'm just going to have to kill you both!"

Coress's eyes widened. She had never thought he would say that to her too. She and Tystan skidded back towards the window like a small animals about to be devoured. This was totally unexpected, and she had no clue how to effectively react. The terrified girl was about to jump out the two-story high window, thinking it the better option, when she saw the slightest movement in the corner of her eye.

There, in the doorway of the room, stood Barnovo. He looked, as he almost always did, absolutely composed. Coress looked at him with pleading eyes, to which he simply smiled and quickly disappeared from view.

Olban was slowly stalking towards them, as if he were a predator, summing up his prey for the easiest kill. Tystan looked around frantically, searching for some alternative escape route, and Coress squinted her eyes shut, wishing it would all just go away.

The gods must've been on her side that day, because when she opened her eyes at the sound of a loud "thump", her brother lay on the floor unconscious. Despite her fear of him, Coress rushed to Olban's side. Barnovo was suddenly in front of her. "I'll revive him later. He has to be out in order to deal with this situation efficiently. He would just make things more difficult." He saw the concern in Coress's expression, and reassured her, "Don't worry, it's just a simple Kordanian fighting maneuver. If you hit a person in just the right spot in the back of the head, he goes out until you want to resuscitate him. Nothing will happen to him, it's just like he's taking a long nap."

Tystan had an amused grin on his face. "Oh man, Barn, you gotta show me how to do that!" He waved a hand in front of Olban's open but unfocused eyes. "I mean, it's like he's dead, but not."

Barnovo simply smiled at his comment, and reached down to close Olban's eyelids. Then he went on, "Now that he's taken care of, we have to go get Granger and sort out this whole thing out with your father, Tystan. So go get dressed, the both of you, and in separate rooms please."

"Wait!" Coress interrupted. "How'd you know?" she exclaimed, her wide eyes searching Barnovo.

The dark little man sighed. "Coress, I thought you would have known by now. I know everything that concerns you," he said plainly. Then he smiled. "Why do you think I stopped Olban? If you had really done what my friend here had thought you had done, I would have let him have you, or let you jump out the window. Either would have ended up messy." He laughed at his own comment.

Coress frowned. She still didn't understand. He must have overheard us last night, when Kiltees was explaining. I mean, he's not exactly quiet, she provided herself with the simplest solution. Her mind, however, still wouldn't accept something. But what about the whole bed thing? I mean, he couldn't have watched us all night! I wonder if he knows... Her train of thought was interrupted by the close of her door as Barnovo and Tystan left the room, dragging Olban behind them. She had no more time to think, right now she had to get dressed. She did so quickly, and was soon downstairs, heading out with Barnovo and Tystan to go find Granger, and fix this mess the boys had gotten themselves into.

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Barnovo walked back into the shop at his regular quick pace. Coress slumped along behind him, accompanied by Tystan, Kiltees, and Tosorin. It was only mid-afternoon, but the four looked exhausted. They day had been long, and Coress had talked so much that she felt like her jaw was going to fall off.

They had settled things, however, and Coress had a huge pressure lifted off her conscience. Granger had explained everything to the officers and Tystan's father, and all seemed to be well now, but Coress still had her doubts. I'll have to talk to Ty later; see what he thinks will happen now.

Coress and her companions collapsed on some sacks in the back storage room, while Barnovo went into the kitchen to fix them some drinks. He had done the most that day, but he still seemed to have full energy, as if he never tired.

After asking Barnovo if he needed any help for the fifth time, Coress finally turned her attention to her friends, flopping down on a sack, and leaning back to watch them as they talked amongst themselves.

Kiltees sat beside her, gibbering like he always did. His mind was constantly ticking, and he always had something to say. But he, like the rest of them, was still tired, and his words came in between yawns. His voice was scratchy from too much use; he had to explain the entire incident of the day before (in full detail, mind you) countless times. His clothes hung loosely on his skinny body and were extremely dirty and torn, "Don't worry, babe," he had reassured her earlier, "Got em torn up last night, tryin ta get ta Lorenna. But she'll fix em up nice for me, so don't get your heart in a knot thinking bout em." But Coress wasn't just thinking about his clothes. She was worried about her wild friend. She knew the situation he was in, and he had a tendency to think with his heart, not with his mind.

Coress casually moved her attention to Tystan. He sat, if you could even call it that, next to Kiltees, worn out in every possible way. He had gone through a lot of yelling and apologizing that day. His beautiful eyes had lost their shine and stared mindlessly at the wall. He spoke very little, just a few side comments here and there, and he did it without being noticed, since the redhead did enough talking for everyone. Coress wondered what he had been planning to do, had Barnovo not come to their rescue. She couldn't think of anything, and finally realized she would never guess anyway; he had such insane ways of thinking. She turned to her final companion.

Tosorin was a strange sort of person, at least compared to Coress, Kiltees, and Tystan. He seemed as if he didn't really belong; he was always extremely quiet, and avoided any sort of confrontation. He instead seemed to always be quietly observing them all, much in the same manner as she was doing right now. Physically, Tosorin looked like his brother. He had the dark skin, the dark hair, and the shimmering eyes. But he was bigger than Tystan, from every perspective. He towered over the rest of them and his muscles were huge, bulging from every corner of his body, from being an apprentice to his father, and skilled blacksmith. He was also bigger than his brother maturity wise, although he was two years younger. His superior intellect intrigued Coress, and when they were younger, she would just debate with him for hours on end about any subject. Just as she had with his brother, however, Coress had somehow grown apart from Tosorin. He rarely spoke to her any longer, and instead, she would catch him constantly staring at her. She did not understand his sudden silence, but she respected it, knowing that everything Tosorin did had a purpose, and it would be explained in time.

It was Kiltees who finally noticed Coress's silence. He stopped mid sentence and turned to her. "Hey, Coress. Why so down? Cause if you're still worried bout today, ya don't hafta be. We fixed it all up good. Ty won't be in no trouble. Ya look kinda sick, do ya wanta go ta bed? Or are ya sad? I could cheer ya up! I know this great song, it's really funny! Wanna hear it?" He beamed at her with open enthusiasm.

"Ah, no thanks, Kiltees. I'm alright, just a little worn out, that's all," she said, smiling gently. Coress then turned to address the whole group. "Let's go get those drinks from Barn, then we better go wake up Olban, and explain it all to him. I don't think he'll be very happy that he missed all of this, but it's better that way."

They all nodded their approval, and got up to go to the kitchen, where Barnovo was suspiciously taking forever to make the refreshments. As they were leaving the little room, Coress beckoned for Tystan to come near her. Kiltees was oblivious to the action and just left the room, but Tosorin scowled at his brother, and gave Coress a side-long glance. Then he too left the room.

"What was that all about?" Coress asked Tystan when they were all alone.

"Who knows with Tosorin. I don't know what he thinks anymore. He doesn't talk to me, well no more than he does to you," replied Tystan. "So, what did you wanna talk about?"

"What do you think will happen when you go home tonight?" she asked carefully, knowing it touched a very sore spot in his heart.

Tystan gave her a tiny smile. "Oh don't worry about me, Coress, I'll be fine." Then he frowned slightly, his dark eyebrows furrowing. "Sure he'll hurt me. But definitely not as bad as he would have last night. I can handle it." Then, noticing her concerned expression, he added, "I said don't worry! You just keep yourself on track, I'll be fine."

"Okay, I will," Coress lied. Tystan grinned at her, and left the room to join the other guys in the kitchen. Coress followed, putting a pleasant smile on her face to cover up the terrible worry she felt building up inside. He's not telling me everything…I can just feel it. I hope he'll be alright… Then she caught herself again, Oh, what am I thinking? This is Ty we're talking about. He'll be fine. He can take care of himself. The little voice in the back of her mind still persisted, however. But what if he can't?

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End of Chapter Four

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~~Hmmm….I'm not exactly sure about the end of this chapter…it sounds a little dull to me. But I needed somewhere to stick in fuller descriptions of the boys, and I thought this would be the perfect time…..hmmmm…..I dunno…anyways, tell me what you think…please? Oh yeah, and for any of you who have read the beginning to my Inu Yasha fanfic, I have some good news for you…I should be posting another chapter within the next couple of days….let's just hope I can switch over modes fully…I don't want Kagome sounding like Coress….now that's a weird concept, isn't it?????