City of IF

[Shady Stoat]

The vote went for exploration of the city. Here it is...

Chapter Nine

A sense of futility pushed at Keli from all directions. Just like that, she was alone again. First Shakal, now Sara.

It wasn’t fair! She hadn’t done anything!

She closed her eyes. That was an old cry; one that she had wailed out ever since she was five years old. The child within her wanted to stamp her foot and sob and scream out at the injustice of it all. With difficulty, she wrenched her emotions back into check.

This wasn’t about justice – this was about survival. Those protests belonged in the past, and there was nobody left to help her but herself. It was time to salvage what she could.

She walked forwards, no longer bothering with the pretence of a limp. She took the proffered gold piece, feeling a fresh stab of pain when she saw the barmaid wince at her touch. It was this more than anything that made her speak.

“Sara?”

The girl avoided her eyes. Keli tried again.

“Sara? Who are ‘they’?”

This time, Sara did look at her, seeming genuinely puzzled.

“Them at the church, Miss.”

“Who?” Keli’s voice rose in frustration. Again, she reined herself back. “I need to know! What have I done? Who’s going to come after me? What will they do to me?”

Sara’s look held confusion, and just a touch of pity.

“You shoulda told us that you had the mark o’… that you had magic, Miss. Da woulda let you move on before you’d had to register. Not our problem then, y’see? We don’t want no trouble.”

“Magic?” Keli flushed with an old shame, but argued against it anyway. “You think I did this to my feet? It wasn’t me! Something happened in there – something…”

“Aye,” Sara interrupted. “You was marked by the beast, Miss. That’s what they’ll say. They’ll send the guards here to get you. You was new, they’d have kept a close eye out for how you acted.”

“I didn’t act…”

“Yes you did.” Sara stated it flatly. “From the moment you got into the temple, you was actin’ weird, Miss. You think they didn’t notice? You’d best be gone by the time they get ‘ere, that’s all I can say.”

“Where will I go?” Keli asked, despising the plaintiveness in her tone.

The barmaid merely shook her head, pity plain on her face. Then she moved to one side, leaving the doorway clear.

The message was obvious. It was time for her to go. Keli’s mouth set into grim lines as she grabbed her backpack and stuffed her few belongings back into it. Tears stinging at the edges of her eyelids, she put her boots and cloak on. Then, staring straight ahead, she walked past Sara, down the stairs, through the crowd of drinkers and out into the night.

The streets still had a few stragglers about. There was none of the eerie silence of the night before. Still, Keli didn’t feel safe. It was dark and moonless in the streets, and soon the night-citizens would appear. If she managed to avoid the beggars and the muggers and the slavers, then she would still have a peppering of guards to contend with.

She needed to get out of plain sight. Looking quickly up and down the street, she decided to head to the left. It would take her back past the river and, more importantly, away from the temple.

Keeping close to the edges of the buildings, she began to jog towards the river. Her feet were still tingling, but the burning was gone, just like the blisters. So, too, were the dozens of cuts, scratches and bruises that had niggled at her since she had left Great Lake.

She should have been tired. Instead, she felt charged with energy. Running felt good and right; something that she could keep up for hours. The path from the river to the Inn had seemed to take forever only a single day ago. Now it was eaten up in a fraction of the time, under the tread of her boots. She followed the cobbled street as it ran parallel to the waterway, keeping her eyes open for a likely alley to take refuge in.

The city was all store-fronts and businesses, this close to the river. Only the inns seemed open, and Keli did not want to be swayed by the invitation of a warm fire and a meal again. Not until she had figured out the best thing to do.

Finally, the wall of shops ended in a brick archway, spanning the gap between a stables and a butcher’s shop. Keli took a quick look around, to make sure that none of the wandering silhouettes seemed to be watching her, then ducked into one of the city’s black corners.

Out of the main street, the city seemed even darker and more menacing. She strained her eyes, trying to see the details in the shapes and shadows around her. The aromas of old meat, rotting hay and horse manure mixed queasily in her nostrils. She tried to breathe through her mouth as much as possible, but the smell of decay was almost tangible in the back of her throat.

There was something else. She stopped and tried to focus on the movement of shadows at the far end of the alley. Her stomach knotted with dread as she imagined guards, closing in on her stealthily. Then she heard a muffled grunting, soft but urgent.

Blood rushed to her face, as she realised what business was being conducted in the alley. Her instinct was to back out into the main streets again, but she realised she had nowhere else to go.

She leaned against the bakery wall, trying to ignore the accompaniment of moans and whimpers, trying instead to think and plan.

What was she going to do now? The city was closing in on her, like the jaws of a predator. She had to find some way to stay alive.

Maybe she should just leave? Get out before the alarm was raised. Even as she considered it, though, she realised that it may well be too late. If the gates had been too risky yesterday, how could she rationally justify trying to leave by them after ‘they’ had been alerted?

The river, then? She shook her head. Impossible! The north-eastern waterway had pulled her into the city with a strength far beyond her own. Going out the same way would be an insane struggle against the current; one which she could never win. The river was flowing out to the south, but she had no Shakal this time, to pull open the grating that stood between herself and freedom. She would get that far and no further on her own.

If she hid in the city, though, the guards would eventually track her down and hand her over to the church of Itharien. She had no wish to find out first-hand what would happen to her after that. Even if she got a job, she would have to go to other church services, just like everyone else seemed to. It all seemed hopeless.

There had to be other people like herself in this place, though. People who didn’t believe in Itharien, people who were scared or hiding, or who wanted to fight back. If only she could find some of them, it would be a start.

Risky as it may be, she was going to have to make her way through Shift City, keeping her eyes and ears open for anything that might be useful to her.

The cries in the background rose to an indiscreet crescendo. Keli hesitated, torn between getting out of here before she was seen, and staying some place where she could plan in relative safety. In the end, she moved into the shadows of an old pile of hay, crouching and gathering her cloak tight about her.

A few minutes later, a man and woman walked past her, arm in arm, whispering and laughing. They never spared a glance in either direction.

Keli breathed out, slowly. She was alone, at last. After a couple of moments, she picked up on her thoughts again.

If she had to make her way through the city, she would draw as little attention to herself as possible. The night would hide her tracks for a little while yet, but by morning she intended to be a completely different face from the one the guards sought. For one thing, they would be looking for a girl, and Keli knew she could make a fairly passable male. The rest of her family (and she smothered a wave of longing at the thought of them) had always teased her that she looked more like a boy than a girl anyway. It was time to put that to the test.

She took out her backpack and hunted through it. She found her knife and the sharpening stone underneath the rations. Crouching in the darkness, she began the slow process of honing the blade. She was going to need the sharpest edge she could get.

It was clumsy work, cutting her hair with a knife. A pair of scissors would have been far preferable. Here in the darkness, there was no mirror, and no way of telling whether she was doing it right. However, years of cutting her brothers’ hair had left her as well-prepared as any. At dawn, she could go to the river and use the reflection to tidy herself up a little. In the meantime, she had the advantage that no-one expected young boys to take much care of their appearance.

Finally, she had done the best job she could. Her long hair was gone, lying around her feet in dark clumps. What was left was curled into her neck, just above shoulder-height in the style of a local youth.

As she picked up the strands of hair and hid them in the hay-pile, she mentally ran through the things she needed to do.

Change her clothes. She would need the garb of a boy, although her travelling clothes might pass a casual inspection if she looked the part in every other way. She would need to get to a shop early in the morning, before any alarm was raised. A risk, but not a large one, she thought.

Strap down her breasts. Well, there was little enough in that department. Although she was fourteen, she was thin and undersized. A loose enough shirt could be made to give the impression that she was a boy. Still, it wouldn’t do to get careless. She used the knife to cut a strip of thick cloth from the bottom of her cloak. Then, shivering nervously in the darkness, she went through the process of binding the cloth around her chest before slipping her shirt and cloak back on.

Arms wrapped around herself to hoard her heat, she thought about what else she could do. Her face was unchangeable. Maybe she could buy some dye and change the colour of her hair, though. Any halfway decent herbalist would be able to sell her a henna based concoction. Who would look twice at a redheaded boy when the church would be looking for a girl with mid-brown hair?

Again, though, that would have to wait until morning. For now, the best thing she could do was stay out of trouble and keep moving. She stood up, feeling the strangeness of the bindings rubbing against the inside of her shirt. Then, with a final look back at the alley, she headed out into the city again.

The rest of the night was spent wandering and watching. Keli soon learned that Shift City had quite an active populace prowling the streets between sunset and sunrise. Within an hour, she had been accosted by a gamine who tried to snatch the pack from her shoulders and run with it. Luckily, the waif had given it only a cursory attempt before fleeing. Keli got the message, though, and put her knife belt in plain sight around her waist. While her right hand hovered on the hilt of the dagger, her left clutched tightly at the money-pouch.

Itharien didn’t seem bothered about cut-throats, thieves and prostitutes, she noted sourly. Such guards as she saw were wandering straight through the more disreputable streets, flicking no more than a casual glance this way and that. It seemed that ‘normal people’ were still free to practice whatever vices they always had. Maybe that was why the Cult was so popular, she speculated. One clear message, telling the people who they should hate, and why. It didn’t matter what you did, just what you were.

A gloom settled over her, as she tried to survey the city from one shadow to the next. Even so, she was not in the least bit tired. Whatever had happened to her in the temple, however much it had hurt at the time, it had cleansed the pain and the days of exhaustion from her like… well… like magic.

A religion that preached against magic whilst simultaneously using it. Not for the first time, Keli found herself wondering what, exactly, was going on. Once again, she shelved her curiosity. The only way to discover more would be to go back, and she was determined not to set foot in that temple again.

By the time that dawn came, Keli had made her way across a fair arc of the city. Much of the residential sector had been bypassed. One set of timber huts looked very much like another, squashed together as they were in narrow streets. The traders took up the city centre, though, spreading out from the river in concentric circles of stores and stalls. There were more shops, selling more goods than she had ever seen in her life. Though none were open, some of the businesses claimed to sell wares that Keli had never even known existed!

As the sun came up, the market square began to fill. Traders in town and those passing through the gates started to set up their wagons. Early morning was obviously the time for purchasing the best bargains because, even before the stalls had finished putting out their displays, people were converging on the market. For the first time in hours, Keli began to feel almost safe. Here, lost in a crowd of passers-by and potential customers, she felt like she could walk unobserved.

Again, she kept her money pouch held in the cup of her hand. There would be no more when her store of gold and silver had run dry. She had to make it last. Even so, she would have to exchange some of her coins for a better disguise. She set to the task of finding the things she needed.

Little by little, buying each item from a different stall, she managed to get hold of everything on her list. Finding somewhere quiet enough to use them was a much more difficult affair. Eventually, she found her way back to the river. Trying not to attract too much attention, she scrambled down a section of pebbled bank and took refuge under the arch of a stone bridge. There was nothing but a nest of pigeons to observe her as she shrugged out of one outfit and into another. She quickly packed her old clothes away, then looked at the henna dye thoughtfully. The river would be an uncomfortable place to wash the colour into her hair, but it was as quiet as anywhere in the city. The chances were she would be unobserved and that was more important than any level of comfort.

Nearly an hour later, a skinny auburn-haired boy emerged from the underside of the river bridge. He looked no different from any of the street-waifs that had been hanging around the market. A little cleaner, perhaps, but after a few hours on the streets, even that difference would be gone.

Keli thought about her next move, as she got to the top of the riverbank. Even looking as she did, it would be safer to head to the south side of the city. At six o’clock, the city-folk would head to worship. She was determined to avoid that if she could. On the off-chance that it became necessary, though, she wanted to be as far from the Pig&Pilgrim as possible. In a different temple, she might have a slightly better chance of survival.

She shuddered at the thought and looked at the sun overhead. It was already close to noon and all she had managed was an alteration of her looks and a depletion of her money. Now it was time to get a move on.

She began to pick her way south, walking the rough cobbles that paved the streets. There was no ultimate location in mind. As she wandered, she reflected that she seemed to spend her whole life running from forces over which she had no control. Even in her dreams, she struggled to escape from one trap after another.

What did the visions mean, anyway? The scenes of sacrifice had been horrible, but at least she had understood them. The golden hall and last night’s vision had left her lost and confused. Blurred images, waking dreams – they had never happened before. Was she getting closer to the truth, or merely closer to the heart of evil?

The increase in the number of city guards was not something that she noticed immediately. It was a subtle change, a loitering of two or three uniforms here and there that finally made her slow her steps. She glanced at their groupings from the corner of her eye, keeping her face averted.

What if they were looking for her?

No. That was stupid. Surely the whole city would not be out in arms because of a single incident in a single temple? One small-town girl could not be that important.

Could she?

Her heart was beating too fast. Looking around, she consciously noticed details that she had only taken in subliminally before. The cobbles were smooth and well worn on the avenue that she was travelling. It was still a trading part of the town. That much was obvious. It was also clear that she was wandering around the lesser frequented fringes now. On one side of her, there was an area of green and cultivated land, fenced off from the idle tread of the citizens. On the other, the shops seemed to specialize in such things as clock-making, jewellery and cabinet-work.

Hardly a hot-spot for the criminal element. Yet the guards were unmistakable, dressed in the black and gold insignia that marked them apart.

She had the sense to carry on walking, but she was looking desperately for a way to make her escape. Her eyes marked the crossroads a little way ahead. If she could get that far, she could take whichever route looked safest; but to get there, she was going to have to pass three small groups of guards.

Gritting her teeth, she decided to go for it and hope.

She needn’t have worried. One or two of them regarded her casually, but most seemed intent on their own conversations. She forced herself to appear relaxed as she approached the junction.

To the left, the road followed the edge of the park around. Two more sets of guards lounged against the bordering fence.

Ahead, the street continued to a row of rickety shops that looked in a poor state of repair. Another trio of guards, and a couple of singles that patrolled up and down the cobbles.

To the right, she saw a wider road with more pedestrians hurrying along it. Trees lined the route. So did the occasional uniform.

She only had a second to decide. In the end, she went left, hoping that the guards would disappear as she followed the park around. For the next ten minutes, she turned from one route to the next, trying to avoid the presence of the city watch. Whichever path she tried, she would see at least one or two of them, always just standing there. Sweat began to trickle down her back as she sensed the jaws of the city closing further on her.

By now, she was fairly certain that this was not about her. It wouldn’t help if she were stopped or questioned, though; and, if she were found out, there was no chance of avoiding capture against this many of the city’s ‘protectors’.

She turned another corner – and almost froze. Diagonally opposite from where she stood, there was a large building made of sandstone. The wide double-doors were wood and studded iron, with faded steps leading up to them. On either side of the entrance, looking at her from eyes of jade, were two statues made of silver. Both were nearly four feet tall; one was a snarling panther, the other a domestic cat with an almost sublime air of serenity.

Five guards were gathered around the steps of the building. Unlike the others, though, they were not idling. They surrounded a thin figure in white robes and a cloak. He held a basket in his arms and he was protesting in a thin and high-pitched voice as the militia shoved him from one member of their group to the other. They laughed as he stumbled, picking him up only to send him reeling into another of their group again.

“I’m breaking… unghh… no law!” wailed the man as he was sent stumbling again.

“There’s some that would say you were.” One of the men stood slightly back from the others, toying with the bound leather on the hilt of his sword. He made no move either to join in or to hinder the rest of his group, and his tone was easy as he spoke again. “Feeding the filth could be said to be a crime in itself.”

The rest of the guards bellowed with laughter as the old man tripped over one of their outstretched legs, only to tumble heavily down the stairs. The contents of his basket spilled to the floor. Heavy packages of meat and bread rolled away in all directions.

“You have no right…” wheezed the old man, almost in tears.

“Of course,” smiled the guard, looking almost as predatory as the statue behind him. “Of course. If you wish to give succour the beasts, we have no right to stop you. In fact, allow me to add a gift of my own.”

Keli watched in disgust as the uniformed man unbuttoned his trousers and proceeded to urinate on the scattered packages. The rest of the guards clapped and laughed as if he had performed some deed of great brilliance. Their victim watched, unable to conceal the fear and loathing on his face. Then, to the guards’ continued amusement, he grabbed at the soggy packages, stuffed them back into his basket and scuttled past them in a sidelong crouch. A few moments later, he had made it through the door.

Suddenly, the head of the guards seemed to notice her. The cocky smile faded from his face and he gave her a hard stare. She was paralysed with fear, unable to do anything but meet his eyes.

“You,” he said, curtly. “Move along. Or we’ll make sure you do.”

She forced her legs to obey her. Breaking into a run that was more like a lurch, she followed the junction away from that place. Frantic thoughts raced through her head.

The golden hall… silver cat statues, with gems of jade for eyes… a blurred figure on a throne… Shakal, standing in a doorway of thick, studded wood… ‘give succour to the beasts’… ‘feeding the filth’…

Aware that yet more of the guards were watching her headlong flight, she forced herself to slow down again. Even as she walked away, she couldn’t stop thinking.

Was it the same place as she had seen in her visions? If so, was that a good thing or a bad one? Most of her dreams were warnings – terrors that she wanted to stay far away from. Only the golden hall had been filled with such ambiguous signals. What was she to make of it all?

She couldn’t go back anyway. Not now. The guards had taken note of her. Even if they hadn’t, she had no wish to run the gauntlet of their attentions at the front gate.

She bit her lip, frustrated. At the beginning of the day, she had vowed to explore and find resources and friends if she could. Now she was surrounded by the city militia, and the one place she wanted a closer look at seemed barred to her.

Maybe it was better to keep moving south, as she had originally intended. The gathering of guards was bound to thin out, sooner or later.

As she followed a skewed path south, she became aware of her hunger and thirst growing. The afternoon was wearing on and she hadn’t had anything to eat since she had been thrown out of the inn. Reluctant to break further into her provisions, she looked around for a shop or stall selling food. She sighed. There were only two signs hanging in this street. That of a rat-catcher and of a seamstress. Neither seemed promising.

Aware of the eyes of the guards on her, she began to rummage in her backpack for some of the smoked pork. It was dry and chewy, but perfectly edible. She munched with one hand and began to look for the water canister with the other.

Just as she drew it out, the town clock struck three. She saw movement from the corner of her eye. The slouching guards had suddenly dusted themselves off. They started moving down the street, in the same direction as she was heading.

Keli glanced around. Behind her, another group of guards had done the same. Now they were following her, even as the others were flanking.

Sweat began to form on her upper lip. Not wanting to do anything to bring attention to herself, she continued to wander in a slow and aimless manner. The guards to the side of her drew ahead and the ones behind began to catch up. She reached another four-way junction and looked to both sides.

Now the uniforms were heading to the right of her, and more were following from the side-streets. There was no chance that this was random! They were following something, or being summoned to something. Either way, Keli was curious to know what it was.

Conflict warred within her. Now that she knew where the guards were heading, she could easily take another track and stay out of their way. Or she could follow them at a discreet distance – after all, she had wanted information, hadn’t she? Then there was the image of the golden hall, beguiling her. Those guards had behaved differently than the rest – but maybe they had to follow the call, the same as the others did. If the cat building was unguarded, there might be a chance that she could get inside. She tried to think what she would find within those walls… but imagination failed beyond that point.

Even as she was standing here, events were racing on around her. She would have to do something, and she would have to do it fast!

[Smee]

Another great chapter. :)

Her actions and disguise so far are good, but for now I think she needs to ignore the guards. She's noted their locations throughout the day, and also found the cat building.

She still needs to find somewhere safe to stay tonight, and also somewhere to hide at 6 when the call to go to the temple is raised. Wasting time following guards etc isn't a priority just yet.

She hasn't noted any general excitment, or interest from the guards about this mass convergence, so logic suggests it's something that happens fairly often if not every day. She can follow them again some other time.

She needs to focus on finding allies instead. Once she has a relatively safe base she can worry about finding information out about Itharien, but for now survivial is still the concern.

Happy Writing. :)

[Night Walker]

Good chapter

I agree.First she should try to find a safe place to go,while other people goes to church.

Secondly,finding something to eat,woldn't be such a bad idea, because she hasn't eaten anything in almost a day.

[ethereal_fauna]

She shouldn't let her curiosity undo what she's managed so far. I agree with Smee, that for now she needs to ignore the guards and find a safe place to stay. If she continues to observe, she'll know what places and people to avoid. Eventually that'll lead her to people that are potential allies.

[DukeReg]

On one hand, the hall with the cat statues is not going anywhere. If something is worth guarding, its quite possible there is a new shift of guards on the way to it. That could be all the bell was signalling for all Keli knows.

However talking to the man in white who was being bullied by the guards could be the opportunity she needs to find someone who will not go giving her to the guards. At worst he will tell her to mind her own business, but he sounds like he's not that kind of guy. It was also implied that he had sympathies that ran contrary to the church.
Besides, if she tosses away this opportunity as too risky, what oppurtunity *will* be good enough to take?

Therefore, although I agree that finding somewhere to hide is more important than working out visions at the moment, I strongly think going back to the building and finding the guy could be the best way to do it.

[Smee]

I thought that a possibility as well Reg, but she's moved on, eaten something and also walked away from all the guards since then. I think he'll be long gone after what happened to him near the temple.

I think it's highly unlikely she'll be able to find him again today.

[Tazgirl180992]

Brilliant chapter like usual! I think everyone-or nealy everyone- thinks she should find a place to hide, work out what her dreams, find others that aren't going to turn her in ect. ect.
:clap: :clap: anyway i love the story!!

[LadyK]

I agree she needs to find shelter and food, though I think she should stay near the place with the cat statues and investigate further later. I think she could find allies there.

[Ingrothechundyer]

Nice chapter :)

Now might be a good chance to check and see if she can get out of the city. Or she could find a place to hide at 6 then climb over the wall and get out :P

[Tazgirl180992]

May I ask whether a poll is going to be put up-if it is??

[Shady Stoat]

Hopefully on Jan 1st. If not then, very soon after :D

[Tazgirl180992]

Yes!!! xThankx!
oh :shock: can anyelse read my new story-it's my first i want to know what people think of it please? :(
xThankx

[Shady Stoat]

Voting commences for 3 days :)

[Chinaren]

I voted for the Cat building because, er. I did.

Nice chapter as per old Stoaty! :D

[Suneila]

[color=ff#3500]Don't any of you have any curiosity? Stay out of sight and follow the guards, if something is happening, or changing with the guards, Keli should find out about it. It might make it easier for her to avoid then later.

~sunny[/color]

[Dean]

Ooooh, my vote is winning. Hide, hide!

The story's coming along beautifully, by the way. :) Nice job.

[dovesland]

OMG, Ive been reading for hours. I actually told my mom to call me tomorrow so I could finish it and catch up to chapter 9 tonight! Pardon me for chiming in a little later than most, but im new and fell in love with the imagery created in this storygame!!! The writing is amazing, I can see the park and the temples in my mind, awsome!!!!!!!

Ok, now that I've gushed on forever, here is my opinion on the next move.

Yes I think that she should find somewhere to hide from the 6 oclock service, the best thing to do is find a friendly place to do so. By the way this has emerged, with her in the park near the cat building, and seeing someone sympathetic to the "beasts", she needs to seek out the man the guards accousted. It would be a nice twist if the man was the father or a relative of the boy who gave her the talisman. the urgency of her well being and her desguise has been rectified, and her original quest of finding the boy before he is killed should resurface sometime soon. Not to mention that there is a connection to the werewolf and the temple from that vision. I feel that the insignificant ends have been tied up and it is time to delve back into her visions.

JMO.

[Suneila]

Maybe her vision didn't have anything to do with the man carrying the food. Although that seems the logical choice, maybe it had to do with the guard who was speaking. What she remembered from her vision were the lines: ‘give succour to the beasts’… ‘feeding the filth’… . The vision could just as likely been pointing at the speaker, not the listener.

~sunny

[Shady Stoat]

I'm finding the commentaries on this chapter quite confusing, and I'm beginning to wonder if I've given the wrong impression in my writing.

Keli actually saw the cat building, really opposite where she was stood. There were real guards, a real man with real food... and although she had flashes of memory while she was running away, I'm not sure where all this talk of 'vision' came from?

So far, there has been the original vision from chapter one, of people being sacrificed.

Then two visions of a golden cat hall with a mysterious throned figure and a massacre (the latter dream containing Shakal too)

Then a brief vision while Keli was in the Temple Service, of a cracked, foul and dark room with a presence...

Does that clear anything up or have I just confused the issue?

[ethereal_fauna]

Clear as mud... ;)

[dovesland]

Shady, I dont see any confusion. the cat building was real she saw it in the garden, I dont understand how it can be perceived as a vision when she was walking in the park and saw the guards and the man being acousted. The only confusion I see is that of someone thinking that the finding of the cat temple to be a vision and not real. I know that I am waiting with baited breath for the next chapter. no matter where it takes us I feel that Kelli will find something atounding where ever she ends up. I hope that no one finds this post as berating or mean., I just dont see how the confusion can be perceived......

[Shady Stoat]

:cool: Thanks Dovesland (and Ethereal for muddying the waters even more).

Seeing as the poll is now over, I'll write what I perceive people voted for, and hope that it's actually what they wanted - although knowing my chapters it's almost bound not to be. ;)

Writing now... :D

[Shady Stoat]

New chapter's up, everyone. Happy reading... :)