Forgotten Realms Fan Fiction ❯ The Fateful Coin ❯ Chapter 5: All For A Bath ( Chapter 5 )

 

Chapter 5: Just To Be Clean.

 

Thalen was near the lake, he could now hear the waterfall rushing down to meet the lake's surface. He picked up his pace; oh, it would so nice to be clean again. In his eagerness to be clean again, he did not notice the sounds of water splashing. Thalen had finally reached the waterfall pool. He looked up and dropped his mouth open in surprise. There was a woman bathing in the pool. Thalen felt his cheeks flush, for she was completely nude. He tied to turn away to give her some privacy; but found he was rooted to the spot. * Beshaba's black balls!* Thalen thought to himself. He was not a pervert but neither was he made of stone. Whoever she was, she was quite lovely, with her long hair and pale skin. Ah, CRAP! She had looked up and noticed him standing there. He heard a whoosh and saw that she had wings. Thalen's mouth gaped open again. She was yelling something in Elvish, a language that Thalen did not speak very well. However, he got the gist of it, something about “Go away, and Orc.” However, by the time he could think of an appropriate reply she had begun to chuck rocks at his head. Thalen could not quite blame her. He heard a THUNK as one connected solidly with his head. He keeled over backwards and saw the forest canopy spin and grow dark. The last thing he heard before he passed out was the sound of splashing coming from the pool.

 

 

Thalen groaned softly, and tried to roll over. However, could not, since both his hands and feet were tied together. He slowly opened his eyes, and wished he had not. Everything was a bit blurry and he saw double. His head was throbbing something awful and he did not even have his pack with him. Thalen's mouth watered, as he inhaled the smell of cooking food. The winged woman had noticed that he was awake. *Great, just great.* Thalen thought. She glared at him, and stared to speak rapidly in Elvish.

 

“Sut tyava lle? Mani lle esselle? Esse'amin Anashra Thrade. Nostach be Orch gaer.” ²Thalen just looked at her blankly and blinked. He had understood only a bit of the last part, and had to do with him smelling like 10 Orcs! He glared at her again, he admitted that he did smell, but not like an Orc, let alone 10! Thalen growled at her, “I would not reek if I had been able to bathe. Let's see you go without a bath for a tenday and see how nice you smell.” This made the woman's face flush. She then said, “Lle hinuala quendi Tel`Quessir?” ³ Thalen understood this time and replied curtly, “No, I do not speak Elvish.” He was not in the best of moods, and he was still tied up. She made a soft “Oh.” sound. The woman frowned, and began to speak haltingly in common. “How... How are you feeling? What be, err... is name? My name be, are Anashra Thrade.” Thalen replied, “I am hungry, tired, thirsty, sore, and my head is ringing like a bell. My name is Thalen Nightshift. Now, can you untie me? This whole captive thing is irritating.” Anashra spoke again, “I... I untie you; you no try to attack me! I... no wish to fight you.” He looked at her, raised his eyebrow, and said, “Attack you? Lady, I just want to bathe and find something to eat.” Anashra nodded and untied him. “Ah, now that is much better.” Thalen stood up, and grinned. “I think that a bath is now in order.” He then winked at her, “Now don't go peeping.” Thalen headed off to the pool to finally get that much-needed bath. Anashra threw a rock after him and replied loudly, “Dôl lost lîn!” ³

 

Thalen quickly reached the pool and stripped off his tattered clothing. He practically dived into the water. It took forever to get completely clean. There was a ring of dirt floating around him in the water. Thalen got out of the water, and shook off the excess like a dog. He grabbed his spare clothing that he dropped and got dressed. The clean, silky fabric felt really good against his skin. He walked back to where he had left Anashra; she was still sitting by the campfire. He threw his old shredded, filthy clothing on to the fire; then sat down and watched it burn. An uneasy silence filled the air, neither one had a clue about what to say to each other. Thalen was very hungry and past being polite about it. He asked if he could have something to eat. Anashra nodded, and served him a bowl of the stew she had made. Thalen devoured the stew it was good. Thalen finished eating and made to leave. Anashra stopped him and pointed to the sky. Thalen swore, “Between the Dragon and the Desert!”³ It was nearly dark, he did not want to stay here with Anashra; and he did not want to get himself killed by wandering around in the dark. He walked to a point about ten feet away from Anashra's campfire and made one of his own. He rolled his cloak up into a makeshift pillow and lay down to sleep. It took a while, but he managed to drift off to sleep.

 

Anashra lay down on her bedroll, her hand tightly grasping the hilt of her sword. She forced herself to relax and soon slipped into reverie...

Author's notes:

 

Hey there, hope you liked this chapter. More to come soon.

By the way, Beshaba is a female goddess and therefore has no balls. ; )

Between the dragon and the desert is like saying: “Stuck between a rock and a hard place.” Thalen is cursing the two equally unattractive options.

 

Elvish Translations:

1. “Sut tyava lle? Mani lle esselle? Esse'amin Anashra Thrade. Nostach be Orch gaer.”

“How are you feeling? What is your name? My name is Anashra Thrade. You smell like ten Orcs!”

2. “Lle hinuala quendi Tel`Quessir?”

“Do you speak Elvish?”

3. “Dôl lost lîn!”

“Your head is empty!”