City of IF

[Lilith]

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS STRONG LANGUAGE! NOT FOR THE ONES WITH PARENTS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS OR WHO HAVE NEVER, EVER HEARD A CURSE WORD IN THEIR LIFE!

A SIDE NOTE! THIS STORY IS BUILT ON THE SILLY RUMOURS AND THINGS THAT GO ON IN IF AND IN THE INN! IF, FOR ANY REASON, THE JOKE THAT IS MADE IN A CHAPTER ABOUT YOUR IFIAN PERSONA YOU CAN'T TAKE... THEN GET OVER IT AND DON'T READ THE STORY. THIS STARTED OFF AS FUN AND WILL REMAIN SO AS LONG AS I HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD SPORTS WITH THEIR SENSES OF HUMOR!

Chapter 1: Introductions



King Key speaks:

Many Ifians remember the days of 2 years ago when Masterweaver had his 'Vengeance' on the Council and Mayor of IF. The City of IF was no longer active at that point as it was, and older IFians started fading away as new ones stopped arriving. However, a few months ago, a new Mayor was elected, and this one's agenda sent ripples through the city, not unlike an earthquake, waking IF and it's residents up, and bringing them back to their homes. But that wasn't the only thing Thunderbird's renaissance brought to City of IF.

Whizz… thunk! Whizz… thunk! Whizz… thunk! Darts flew from one pale hand into the pictures taped to the wall across the room from the barstool placed square in the center of the City of IF Inn. A pair of discarded black, mid-thigh length, leather, high-heeled boots sat on the floor beside it and the dart-thrower’s bare feet were hooked into the legs of the bar stool as she leaned back to throw another dart into a picture. A red dragon, a black robed figure with cherry red lips, a dark haired vixen who dressed in red, a knight with a bottle of hard liquor in hand, a roller skating artist with a pencil clenched between his teeth, and an ominous looking man with dark eyes and dark hair all had darts thrown exactly in the center of their foreheads. The woman smirked and waved another drink from the barkeep, who eyed her dubiously as he poured her another glass of whiskey, his attention taken by the dagger she was playing with, flipping over and over in her fingers and letting the tip or the handle, rest on the table between dart throws. As she leaned back to take her shot, deep red-auburn hair teased itself out from the bun she had it tied up in at the nape of her neck.

The Inn was otherwise devoid of patrons, even washed up ones like the faerie sitting at the bar who threw some Strata-gems on the counter and waved for another drink. “Miss Lily, I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut you off after this.” Bruno told her, stashing the empty bottle underneath the bar counter again. Lilith gave him a sour look and knocked her last shot back, flicking more coins at him first before she bent down and tugged her boots back on swiftly, lacing them up in a trice. She slid off the barstool with a quiet click as her boots touched the varnished wood floor of the empty bar, and more clicks resounded through it as she strode towards the door and exited into the dark, moonless night.

In any normal city, it’s not always wise to take off in the middle of the night from a bar, alone, especially for females. The faerie-woman tugged the bun down from her hair and let it hang loose around her shoulders, even while she buttoned up her jacket, giving a piercing green glare at passerby who gave her an up and down look, but that was as dangerous as it got. This was is IF after all, so Lily made it through the dark streets to the outskirts of Fantasy Forest without a problem and even managed to unlock her door without too much of an issue from her drunken state, kicking it closed behind her and flopping down on her bed in the next room before she even took off her jacket.

***
Ice cold water splashed the faerie in the face the next morning, jolting Lily awake with splutters and gasps.

"Time to get your arse out of bed, Ladybird."

The speaker stood over her, a slightly disapproving expression set upon her face, softened by the mischievous smile that twitched at the corners of her mouth. Tikanni looked Lilith up and down, taking in the tangled birds-nest that was her hair, and the clothes from the night before.

"Quite the night you had, I take it?" she continued, crossing her arms over her chest, and flicking back her head, to remove a thick tendril of long, perfectly-brushed, dark-chestnut hair from her view. She raised her eyebrows enquiringly, but was answered with a pillow being lobbed very accurately at her head. It hit her in the face with a thunk. "I suppose I deserved that one, for the water," she replied, smoothing out her ruffled locks.

She made her way over to the dressing table, and began to straighten out the array of possessions strewn across it's surface. She looked back at Lilith, who still lay on the bed, watching her as she worked.

"So you gonna tell me why you got yourself in such a state last night? Or was it just a little spur-of-the-moment over indulgence?"

"How'd you get in here anyway?" Lilith asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed, and sitting up. She groaned and held her head, earning her another smirk from her friend.

"That'll teach you for going overboard with the booze. And through the keyhole, of course, how else?"

"What did you shape-shift into this time? A cockroach?"

Tikanni let out an exaggerated fake gasp.

"How ever did you guess?" she said, in mock surprise, and poked her tongue out at the red-haired faerie. Her actions earned her another pillow directed at her face, but this time she caught it, and threw it back, giggling. "Right, arse out of bed now. I've made a pot of tea, and you seriously need a shower, and a brush put through your hair, before it becomes one giant knot...if it hasn't already."

She smiled sweetly, before she turned and made for the bedroom door, the long, sweeping, peacock-blue gown trailing along the floor behind her.

"Come on, chop-chop!" she said, a clap emphasizing each 'chop', then she left the room, closing the door behind her.

~~~

After leaving the room, Tikanni set about attempting to tidy Lilith's lounge. She pondered the faerie's recent behaviour. She'd taken to drink ALOT more than usual lately. Lily wasn't adverse to the odd tipple, but this was very unlike her. The shamaness knew that there was something wrong, and would discover what that something might be, even if she had to badger her friend about it all day and night.

She smiled, as she remembered their first meeting, some months before...

It had been an uncomfortably warm night, humid and sticky. Tikanni had been making her way through the Fantasy Forest, gathering supplies for her potions, her loyal pet gryphon, Gwyar, at her side as she did so. Her position as Guildmistress pending, she'd needed to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city, and forget about everything for a while, concentrating instead on something else entirely.

She had climbed up one of the Swamp-walkers, to obtain the blossoms of a Fire-vine, when she heard the gryphon call out, the shrill, musical cry carried easily through the forest. Stuffing the last of the blossoms into her supplies bag, she'd leapt down to the forest floor, and looked around for her pet.

Even in the dim light of dusk, she'd spotted her a short distance away, bending her head towards something on the forest floor. As she'd approached, Tikanni had seen a pair of booted feet sticking out of a mass of Strangler-vines, and had unsheathed her sword, chopping down the deadly plant, and hoping that she wasn't too late. Upon unwrapping the vines from their intended victim, she'd found a faerie, dressed in a typical pixie-style dress, with long, thigh-high boots, and rather crumpled, transparent, green wings. Bending to listen, she'd found the faerie's heart was still fluttering in her chest, and had transported her immediately back to her extravagant abode, at the edge of the forest, near the site of the newly constructed Guildhall.

The faerie hadn't taken long to recover from her ordeal, especially with Tikanni's experience with healing potions to aid her. A couple of days later, she'd been up and about, and the two of them started to converse, finding that they got on very well. She discovered that the faerie's name was Lilith, and that she’d been hibernating when the vines found her and the things didn’t kill her because she was asleep and not struggling. They quickly became firm friends, and when Lily had left, to return home, they'd remained in touch constantly.

And that had continued. Tikanni halted in her reminiscing, and her thoughts returned to pondering about her friend's recent odd behaviour. She again wondered what was wrong, and how she might be able to help. The shamaness smoothed her dress as she arranged the pillows on Lily’s chaise just how the faerie liked them and then plucked the whistling tea kettle out of the air, where she’d magicked it to float and heat up nearby. Then Tika stuck some soothing peppermint leaves in the cups she stole from Lily’s kitchen nook and had the tea steeped and ready when the faerie herself exited the shower, wrapped up in her favorite blue towel and snagged one of the cups, sipping at the tea.

“Oh, this is heaven for my headache, Tika, thank-you.” Lily murmured gratefully as she stretched out on her chaise, inviting Tika to sit on the armchair nearby.

Tika smiled and flicked chestnut hair back from her shoulders as she settled into the chair by Lily and played with her towel a little before tapping the faerie’s freckled nose. “My dear Fey, I’m going to throw niceties aside for the moment and ask you straight out, why in the bloody hell were you so pissed last night?” She watched faerie groan and seemingly shrink into her towel a little, auburn hair damp on the arm of the chaise.

“I was throwing darts in the Inn, and there was no one there but Bruno.” Lily explained, looking evasive.

The shamaness narrowed her eyes and gave Lily a piercing look. “I know that there are no dart boards in the Inn and I also know that look, Lilith. What were you throwing darts at?”

Lily shook her head and refused to elaborate stubbornly as she finished her tea, before rising from the chaise and dropping the cup in the sink. “Tika, why are you here anyways?” She asked, curiosity sparking in her hazel eyes as she watched the shamaness with interest.

Tikanni smirked at Lily secretively and finished her tea before setting the cup down on Lily’s coffee table. “Well, I’ve some information and a proposition for you, Lilith. But you have to promise to stay sober, missy.” She held up a finger and wagged it at her teasingly with a wink.



© Lilith & Tikanni


DP Time! What is it that Tikanni's about to tell Miss Lily?

Edits to add: Guys, seriously, it can be a very mundane thing for this DP. The real fun starts next chapter when I start abusing the rest of you. :) :lol:

[LordoftheNight]

I think Tika knows the location of an ancient buried treasure, and at least half of the secret stealthy hidden measures to unlocking it, but they still need help to work out the others.

[Lilith]

:rolly: Thank-you, Lordy. So, secret buried treasure! Any other takers?

[Thunderbird]

I should be finding some reading time later. This is high on my list.

[Lilith]

Well....

Poll is up folks! You've got a FANTASTIC myriad of options to choose from! Congratulations and thanks for the monumental amount of support!

^_^ Enjoy!

~Lily~

[LordoftheNight]

I voted for the treasure, and currently it's winning.

[Tavanesh]

I read it and thought of a DP but I didn't get a chance to post it until now thanks to vacation time. Damn. Sorry Lil.

[Lilith]

With a whooping... (1) vote, we've got an option and Tika and I will beginning scratching out your next chapter.

Thanks for the votes and the support everyone who posted for the DP and voted!

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

I really want to read this, but something about the chapter stretches the screen so that I can fit it all in my screen, I have to pan back and forth with each sentance. I think it's the giant page breaker. I don't want to pop in and change it because it would be rude, but it would be great if you could shorten it to make the screen shrink a bit. i'll try and get to this even without the change, but it would be nice if we could fix that. . . . .

[Lilith]

Asterisk page breaker shortened. Better?

[PopeAlessandrosXVIII]

Sank you so much! I'll get on this A.S.A.P. !!!!

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Lol, The descriptions were just amazing!! :P

I am, obviously, tooooo late. But I shall be waiting for the next chapter :)

[Lilith]

You're not the only one Vikas, but I'm holding no grudges. ;)

Thanks for the comment and the read the ... three-four people who have. Tika and I really appreciate it. Out of my own curiosity, can anyone tell the style transitions in the above chapter between myself and her? We couldn't so we were really pleased. :)

[Tikanni Corazon]

Okies, new chappie up and my turn to post. Though this, like the last one, is still a joint effort between Lil and myself. Enjoy peoples! ;)


WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS STRONG LANGUAGE! NOT FOR THE ONES WITH PARENTS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS OR WHO HAVE NEVER, EVER HEARD A CURSE WORD IN THEIR LIFE!

A SIDE NOTE! THIS STORY IS BUILT ON THE SILLY RUMOURS AND THINGS THAT GO ON IN IF AND IN THE INN! IF, FOR ANY REASON, THE JOKE THAT IS MADE IN A CHAPTER ABOUT YOUR IFIAN PERSONA YOU CAN'T TAKE... THEN GET OVER IT AND DON'T READ THE STORY. THIS STARTED OFF AS FUN AND WILL REMAIN SO AS LONG AS I HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD SPORTS WITH THEIR SENSES OF HUMOR!


Chapter 2: Man in Black


Lily pushed herself upright and watched Tika interestedly waiting for the shamaness to spill the secret. “I... know the location of some buried treasure, and it’ll make us so rich not even Chinaren will be able to compete with us.” The shamaness had taken on a victorious light while the redhead had stood up, looking skeptical and started towards her bedroom to change.


“Riiiight. Sure. I believe you.” Lilith replied, as she quickly pulled on clothing and joined Tika in the main room again. “Let’s go out anyways, but I really doubt you know the true location of buried treasure Tikanni, I mean how did you find - ….” The redhead stopped and glanced over at her mirror on the wall. Someone was approaching the front gates of Seelie Court. “Someone’s here, and they don’t look too fun.”


Tikanni turned to the window, and looked out towards the gates, focusing fully on the tall, hooded and cloaked figure, that now stood stationary just outside them.


"Shit!" she hissed, ducking down on to the floor. "That's the guy that gave it to me..." She looked up at her friend, from her position on the carpet, and saw the quizzical expression on the faerie's face.

"If he gave it to you, Tika, why are you hiding from him?"

Tikanni rolled her eyes.

"Fine, he mightn't have given it to me..."she replied, plucking an imaginary speck of dirt from the carpet, and taking care to not look at Lily's face. "...I may have...borrowed it."


Lily sighed heavily and tugged on the belt loop of her jeans before twisting her hair up on the back of her skull and sticking a clip there, starting for her front door barefoot. “Fine, whoever it is, I’ll tell them off and get them off my property.” The redhead rolled her eyes at Tika, before dodging a sprite that was hurtling through the air after a couple of it’s buddies had seized it and chucked it across the room by using a rubber band and pencil slingshot. “You make a mess, and you will clean it up or so help me, I will hang you from the ceiling by your wings.” Lily told them sharply, her green eyes narrow as she twisted the handle of her door and opened it to tell off the hooded figure, one hand on her hip as she got herself in a yelling mood. “Alright, you, whatever you are.. get the hell off..” Lily paused as she was simply pushed aside and the person stepped inside her home patting her on the bottom almost absentmindedly as she stared at it in shock.


“Yes, yes, I understand Lily, get the hell off your property and out of your house before you gut me like catfish and mount me on your wall. Is that about the gist of your threat?” The voice was masculine and familiar. The redhead, of course, recognized the speaker, which put her in a bad temper and she tore the hood back from his head, revealing a humanoid-like demon. He gave Lily a wide grin, looking for all the world like he was going to eat her, which is how he normally looked. “What? Not happy to see me?” He asked, trying appear innocent. “I mean, I know you’d otherwise mount me on your bed…”


Suddenly a balled up fist connected with Lordy’s cheek and he staggered backwards from the force of the blow. “Aww, come on now Lily. You know you wa-“


“You finish that sentence and your intestines will become my new jewelry.” The redhead snapped before storming to the hallway and shouting in the direction of her bedroom. “TIKANNI CORAZON! GET YOUR BUTT OUT HERE THIS INSTANT!”


There was a moments pause, before the bedroom door opened, and Tikanni stepped out of her hiding place, her hands behind her back. Upon seeing Lordy though, she gave a sigh of relief, and allowed them to drop to her sides, revealing the shimmering silver sword she'd had hidden there.

"Phew! It's just you," she said, evidently glad that he wasn't who she thought he was.


She placed the sword upon a table, where the light gleamed upon the shining cabochans of amber that were dotted along the hilt and centre of the blade. She wandered over to the other two, and eyed Lordy's cheek where it had recently connected with Lil's fist.

"I guess you've paid enough for scaring me," she said, with a grin, before returning to the sofa, and sitting down. Crossing one leg over the other, she examined her fingernails. "Besides, I wouldn't need to take physical action against you, so the sword is not required...Not like this other guy."

"The one you stole the map from?" Lil enquired, and was answered with a nod.

"It was so weird," Tikanni continued, tapping her fingers against the arm of the couch. "I was in the bar last night...long before you left," she said pointedly to Lil. "I was sat having a quick tipple, and I happened to overhear these guys in the bar. There were three of them. Two of them were just normal looking, and I didn't pay too much attention. But the other was tall and broad-shouldered, and was cloaked in a long, black, hooded cape. He spoke quietly, but I deciphered from the parts of his speech that I caught, that he had a treasure map. One that would lead to a treasure beyond the dreams of any living thing. I saw him show the other two the map, and also took note of where he returned it to.


I decided that I wanted the map, and immediately began to work an enchantment to send them bye-byes, so that I could sneakily pick the guys pockets and scoot off, before he was any the wiser. The other two went to sleep sure enough, as did half the bar, before I realised that it was having absolutely no effect whatsoever on the big guy in the cloak. I strengthened the force of the spell, hoping that it might make some difference. But it did nothing, though it had others dropping to the floor mid-walk, and lying there in deep slumber.


I couldn't make out why it wasn't working, but decided to not to risk drawing any more attention to myself. I instead transformed into a rather large bolas spider, and managed to get the map in that guise. Not easy, granted, but I managed it. But still, I am a little unnerved by the lack of effect that my magic had on him, and would prefer not to run into him again. Hence the reason I ran to get one of my swords.”


When Tika had paused to draw breath, Lily moved quickly over and covered her friend’s mouth before she spoke anymore. “Okay, okay, I’ve got the picture. So you got ornery and tried to steal a map from someone who is magic resistant.” She released Tika’s mouth and dodged the hand trying to tickle her ribs from the blue ball gown, giggling.


Lordy looked pensive and then held up a finger before he spoke. “What did his companions look like, Tika?” Lily scoffed and turned away from him, seemingly suddenly interested in her fingernails as she strode back towards her kitchen, not too far away from her foyer. As Tika opened her mouth again to speak, Lilith’s voice cut across, seemingly irritated.


“Well, if you lot are going to be staying a bit, come on and have breakfast.” She called, and having been given the order often enough, Tika started towards the kitchen, knowing not to push the faerie’s temper this early in the morning before breakfast and coffee.


“Well, one of them had long green robes and a pointed green hat, like a wizard. Even had a walking stick with a ball on top of it and everything.” Tika was saying as the three IFians sat around the kitchen island and picking at a pastry. Lilith was reviving from her hangover almost completely over a mug of strong coffee before her and leaned back with a frown, taking a deep gulp from it and smacking her lips in satisfaction after swallowing.


“So you’ve got a wizard, and what did the other one look like? You said there were two besides the sinister mystery cloaked man.” Lily teased, waving her fingers at Tikanni in a mock mystical manner. Clearly, the former Queen of Fantasy Forest thought this entire idea was a load of rubbish.


“Lily, quit being a bitch, alright? Just for once, let her talk and explain before you start scoffing at her?” Lordy snapped at the redhead irritably, having finished his glass of chocolate milk shortly before and took another bite of pastry. While his mouth was full chewing, the faerie pulled a face at him so he couldn’t respond and then Tika reached over and smacked both of them in the back of the head, hard.

“OW!” The sound of them both replying in their pained whines gave Tika a smile of self-satisfaction.


“Now, the second man can only be described as a pirate. He’s got a peg leg, an eye-patch on his left eye, one of those odd bandanas over his bald head, and a three-pointed hat. There was even a Macaw parrot too!” She said excitedly, standing up again in while she talked, pacing around the kitchen and ignoring the quiet sounds of ‘Ouch!’ coming from the demon and the faerie alternatively as they prodded and pinched at each other.


Then Tika reached over and pushed Lordy’s hand down on the table when he was just reaching over to pinch at Lily’s bruised shoulder again. “Lordy, why are you here in the first place?” She said slowly, watching him suspiciously. Lordy suddenly looked abashed and cleared his throat. “Well, I’m here… alright, damn it, I’m here because I don’t know if Lily’s noticed it, but the Mayor’s changed recently.”


“Well yeah, they just had an election you stupid prat.” The faerie snapped as she got up from her chair and started collecting the empty plates that were now empty and put them in the sink.


“I didn’t mean like that, bitch. I saw that Tika’d left her place and figured she’d be here. So I wanted to kill two birds with one stone.” Lordy retaliated scathingly. “The man looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks now and have you seen some of the new laws he’s passing? They’re ridiculous!”


Tika and Lily both looked over Lordy’s shoulders curiosly at a large poster with:

“A.S.S. ENFORCES NEW CURFEW LAW FOR ALL IFIAN’S INSIDE BEFORE 10!”

© Lilith & Tikanni


Uh-oh. Conspiracy thoughts are running rampant now… what do our small trio (as of now) do in response to this ODD behavior?

[Vikas Muralidharan]

Wow!!!

Well, firstly, even though the chapter sere written by two different people, I believe that the two styles compliment each other and the story is flowing smoothly. In fact, I couldnt really tell too much of a difference between the two. Either that or the sotry had me so absorbed that I didnt bother to notice the difference.

Lol, this is really fun to read and Im pretty sure it would be fun to write as well.

The new law is kinda weird, seeing that everyone enjoys late night drinks at The Inn.

There are 3 things that I can see them doing
1) Get all IFians to break the law and force the mayor to reconsider it. (The Martin Luther King/ Gandhi way :P)
2)Stick to the law but try to get a meeting with the mayor. Shouldnt be too hard ;)
3) Get depressed and start drinking from earlier in the day..

I really love this SG and want to see it move on.... On that thought, Im bout to favourite it right now :D

[Lilith]

Thank-you!!! Tika and I really appreciate it Vikas!

EDITS TO ADD:

Alright, thanks to the (1) person who gave us a DP, we are now having a poll! Please vote for your favorite option and watch Tika and I slave away to appease it. Oh, and it really is polite manners to read and comment, if you do take time out of your busy lives to read.

[LordoftheNight]

Voted for staying legal, and winning.

I'm sure they could convince the Mayor...and if not, someone must have compromising photos of him somewhere to use as leverage.

[Vishal Muralidharan]

Look, a tie! :D

[LordoftheNight]

You fiend!

*shakes fist*

[Tikanni Corazon]

Come on, peoples! We want more votes!


By order of the Fantasy Guildmistress, all who do not vote, will be stripped, tied to a stake in my courtyard, and have apples thrown at them, both rotten and not (rotten because they're gross, and not because they will hurt more ;))

...Dear god! I've gone mad with power!

*takes a few deep, soothing breaths*

Okay, maybe that is a little harsh...*ponders*...I will remove the non-rotten fruit from the equation. You have been warned! *looks very stern and points at the poll*

[Lilith]

CALLING ALL IFIANS, CALLING ALL IFIANS! *rings a bell* We have a tie here, will someone PLEASE break our tie?

Or else I'll have to turn you over to the Guildmistress Tikanni...

[LordoftheNight]

You could try posting in this topic to get a tie-breaker.

[Lilith]

Not that I think it's going to matter much, but done.


http://www.cityofif.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=148235#148235

[Lilith]

WARNING! THIS CHAPTER HAS STRONG LANGUAGE! NOT FOR THE ONES WITH PARENTS OVER THEIR SHOULDERS OR WHO HAVE NEVER, EVER HEARD A CURSE WORD IN THEIR LIFE!

A SIDE NOTE! THIS STORY IS BUILT ON THE SILLY RUMOURS AND THINGS THAT GO ON IN IF AND IN THE INN! IF, FOR ANY REASON, THE JOKE THAT IS MADE IN A CHAPTER ABOUT YOUR IFIAN PERSONA YOU CAN'T TAKE... THEN GET OVER IT AND DON'T READ THE STORY. THIS STARTED OFF AS FUN AND WILL REMAIN SO AS LONG AS I HAVE PEOPLE WHO ARE GOOD SPORTS WITH THEIR SENSES OF HUMOR!

Chapter 3: Tika Gets Bossy

The three looked down at the poster, that Lordy had laid out on the table.


"All IFians inside after 10..." Tikanni read quietly, looking thoughtful. "...But why? What is the point of such a rule? Especially with no other information explaining the reason in more details. It's madness."


She looked down at Lordy from over his shoulder.


"And these are all over the city?"


He nodded, and Tikanni turned to look at Lil.


"Looks like you're up a certain creek without a paddle when it comes to your all night boozing, if we can't make the mayor reconsider," she continued, with a cheeky smile, trying to inject a little humour into the situation. "Guess everything has it's good points, huh?"


This comment earned her a glare from the redhead and then the faerie strode away from the demon and the shamaness standing in her kitchen, tapping her finger on her lips as she walked.


"So the mayor has suddenly decided that we're all going to be in bed and asleep by ten in the evening.... that sounds suspiciously like trouble to me. Mind-control, drugging him.. who's pulling the strings. Normally, I'd blame you.." She pointed at Lordy, who frowned at her immediately and opened his mouth to retort, but a wave of Lily's hand silenced him, leaving a piece of duct tape plastered over his mouth.


Tika giggled as Lordy ripped the tape off, grumbling slightly as the faerie woman continued her rambling. "But as you're the one that is showing us, I have to assume it's not you. And besides, restricting curfew isn't your style. You're more subtle."


"Surely there can't be too many people who have that kind of power in IF, or the ability to be in a position to administer any kind of drugs?" Tikanni thought out loud, frowning in concentration. "I guess we could widen the possibilities by adding the taking of a transfiguartion potion by another person, or a shapeshifter?"


Both eyes turned to her, and for a moment, she looked startled.


"...Don't you look at me like that," she went on, pointing at each in turn, an eyebrow raised. "I haven't done anything, and I'm not the only shapeshifter in the City, I'm sure. Like I would suggest something that would insinuate that I was responsible. And Tat's isn't either," she added, to clear any suspicion on her little sister too. "I was just saying it's possible that the one that is responsible could have such abilities."


She ran a hand through her long, dark hair, and looked suddenly tired.


"Here I was getting all excited about a treasure map, and now look what we're getting into. Guess the treasure is going to have to wait." She paused and looked from Lordy to Lil. "So what should we do? Try and cause an uprising?"


Lordy shook his head at them both, standing up himself and glaring at the two women. "You've both lost your minds. I'm going to see if I can snag a meeting with him to discuss-" Lily scoffed loudly and cut the demon off, which earned her a 'if-looks-could-kill' stare.


"Lordy, if he's being controlled by another party, that won't help, and if he's not, well, that still won't help." She replied, poking him in the chest. "Besides, if you go, he might, I dunno, drag you off to have you brainwashed too, and we can't have that..."


"Oh, Red, are you worried about me? I'm touched." Lordy sneered at her, to which she balled up her fist and pulled back to deck him again but Tika grabbed her arm and held on with both hands to stop the faerie.


"Not now, Ladybird. You can hurt him later when this has all blown over. I promise." The Shamaness informed her, as Lily relaxed and lowered her arm. Then the brunette turned away from them both and paced further, obviously in her thinking mode. "You know, there's something to the rebellion theory -" Lordy scoffed again but at a withering look from Tika, stopped. "And if we get enough support..." She stood up straight, turning around to face them with a smile, putting her fist down in her palm. "I've got it."


Lily and Lordy glanced at each other as the Shamaness led the way out of the kitchen and exited the building. Then she poked her head back in, narrowing her eyes considerably. "Well? Get moving, lazy bones!" There was a struggle, elbows and feet nudging and kicking side to side. Lily got to the door first however, and she gave the demon a sharp elbow to the gut to prevent any arse-grabbing ideas he might be coming up with.

********* ********* *********

Outside the main gates of Seelie Court, Tikanni gave a loud whistle. For a moment nothing happened, then there was a faint noise of some large, winged beast, from somewhere above them. Suddenly there was a scattering of dust, as the creature landed beside it's mistress.


Tikanni reached out a hand to stroke the gold-hued feathers of the Gryphon's neck, which earnt her a soft chirupping noise from the beast.


"Good girl, Gwyar," the shamaness said softly, climbing up and sitting astride her pet's back. "We have business to attend to, my beauty. We need to get back to the Guildhall right now."


She turned to the others.


"We need to get the attention of the other residents of the City," she said, holding on as Gwyar shifted her stance slightly to look at Lil and Lordy too, followed by a stretch of her golden wings. "If I get back to the Hall, I can send out a message to each of the other Guildkeepers, and then work from there. I just hope that none of them are in the same position as the mayor. Are you guys coming, or have you got ideas of your own?" She raised an eyebrow at Lordy. "Though going to see the mayor is still not an option. Lil's right. We can't risk the same happening to anyone else. Even if you are a pain in the arse."


She smirked, and ruffled Gwyar's feathers, while the Gryphon herself fixed Lordy with a disapproving stare.


Lilith gave a smirk to the both of them and unfurled her blue-green gossamer-thin wings and lifted up from the ground, flying around first Tika's head and ending with tapping her nose before she rubbed behind Gwyar's ears fondly. Lordy, not to be outdone, materialized his own wings from thin air. These were great, black leathery wings, not unlike a bats' pair. They looked frayed at the edges and in some spots, had holes worn through them as if he'd been in a fight, or several, mid-air. He rose from the earth too and with a smile, Tika and Gwyar flew upwards and led the way to the Guildhall, which wasn't very far away, considering Lily liked to keep house nearby the Fantasy Forest.


"So while you're getting the message out to the other Guildmasters/mistresses, what are we going to be doing? Teaching Gwyar how to use the bathroom indoors?" Lordy asked crudely, as they all landed on the balcony specifically expanded for the purpose of a landing gryphon. The gryphon whipped around and gave her opinion on the matter with a screech of indignation at the demon.


As the faerie landed behind him, she gave him a sharp smack in the back of his skull, shaking her head at him. "Do you really have to be such an ass?"


Lordy shrugged. "Depends. Do I get to smack yours?" Her glare was the only respond he needed, to which he smirked and looked back at the narrow-eyed Guildmistress.


"I would watch your tone with Gwyar. She doesn't much like the taste of demon, but she has eaten them before." Tika reprimanded him, her hands on her hips, slightly sliding off of the silky material as it was hard to keep a firm grip on it. Finally she gave up trying to hold them there, and placed an affectionate hand on the Gryphon's head.


"Or, if she doesn't fancy the job herself, she's only too aware of the way down to the treasury...and we all know what one would find in there."


She was of course refering to the great, red, treasure-keeper, Inferno the dragon, and she smirked slightly as she turned away, knowing that it was quite the threat. Gwyar was known for having a mind of her own, and one could only guess what might happen when she got annoyed.


Tikanni walked across her quarters, swishing aside the long, vibrantly-coloured viole curtains, that hung at random intervals from the high ceiling. She sat down at her desk, and began to write out a message, in indigo ink, on a piece of parchment. Lil and Lordy wandered around the room, as they waited, looked at the many interesting objects that were scattered around, occassionally picking them up to look more closely.


Just as Lordy picked up a pearl-studded sword, from off one of the gold tables, the Guildmistress finished her message with a flourish, and got back up from her seat. She wandered past them, to the door, and yanked on a turquoise bell-pull, which resulted in a thunderous ringing. She approached them, taking the sword from Lordy's grasp.


"That's my favourite. No touching," she scolded, placing it back where he'd found it. "Right, while we wait for Cy to carry on with this task..." She held up the newly written message, as she approached a vibrant turquoise bell-pull. "...we must decide what other forms of action we can take. Cy will reproduce the message as many times as needed, and then have them on their way to the other Guildkeepers within the hour. Oh bugger it! No time to wait."


She turned away from the bell-pull, and instead walked over to the window, and whistled melodiously. A dove the color of vibrant lilac flew down, and landed upon her shoulder.


"Take this to Cy, okay. Quick as you can."


The little bird gave a coo of ascent, and, taking the piece of parchment in its beak, it took off, heading down towards the Guildmistress's second in command's quarters. She turned back to the others.


"Now, how do we get to the other citizens of IF?"

Lordy looked puzzled and then deep in thought, as did Tika herself, but Lily on the other hand smiled widely and chuckled. “It’s so simple. We start a gossip.”


“Start a what?” Lordy looked confused. “A gossip? Why? How is that going to help us get other IFians to help?”


“A gossip chain to be precise. If I word it right and tell it to the right person, they tell it to someone else, and that person tells it to another, and so forth. But as with any other being out there, IFians are imperfect and sometimes we change a certain detail in a phrase and then the next person changes something else and so forth. So I’ve got to word it right.” Lily explained, her face pink with excitement as she paced around Tikanni’s Guildhall.


The demon reached out and grabbed Lily’s ponytail and pulled her back to the shamaness and himself, receiving a clawing faerie woman in return when he finally let go. Lordy ducked one of her hands and backed away a bit as Lily fixed her hair again. “Do that again and I’ll cut your ****s off. Both of them.”


Lordy simply shrugged and clapped his hands together, seemingly with relish. “But who will you tell, Lily? I for one think that a gossip chain is unreliable and I still fully support the idea of getting a meeting with the Mayor –“


Lordy stopped speaking as the floor of the Guildhall began to quiver and shudder beneath all of their feet. Gwyar screeched in discomfort; she did not like this. Lily hovered in mid-air and reached out a hand for the trembling Tika to grab so she wouldn’t be shaken so much by the quaking floor.


© Lilith & Tikanni

What the heck is all the quaking and shaking about?! HELP!

[Lilith]

Well. This is encouraging. I posted the third chapter of this on September 20th, 2011, at 1945 Eastern Standard Time. It is now October 7th, 2011 and close to 1900. So nearly seventeen days EXACTLY to the hour. That’s OVER half a month. And we have not one single suggestion.

Allow me to process this for a moment. I made a button, with I think is very humorous in it’s “Upside-Down City” fashion, as the City does become topsy turvy when IFians are on a roll, and I did a short video advertisement. But also, the last poll, I had five people besides the authors vote.

And those were:
Lebrenth, LordoftheNight Tavanesh, Vikas Muralidharan, & Vishal Muralidharan.

For Chapter 2, our commentators were:
Lordy, Vikas & Vishal

For Chapter 1, our commentators were:
Lordy, Thunderbird, Tavanesh, Pope & Vikas.

So by ALL rights, we should have a comment from.. *counts* seven different people.

And I know for a FACT, that both myself and my co-author, read and comment in other people’s stories faithfully, who haven’t even bothered to think of being considerate enough to go to this. If you need proof of that from me? Click my 4 years award button, it’ll take you straight to Seelie Court where you’ll see in the VERY first post at the TOP of the page I have names, and links of authors I am reading currently and have read before. That won’t be staying the way it is for very long however.

I admire someone who has a thicker skin than mine, because this really must be what being blacklisted or low-balled or whatever feels like. Can’t even get into a flow before the crap starts in the background and the readers are being bribed or threatened to not read or post. That’s really immature, and really f***ing stupid. Puntanas.

Tikannki, wrap this up in a nice tight locked thread, and stick it in the freezer, please. I don’t want to see it again. And I won’t be attempting an IF Tale anymore, that’s for damn sure. Why would we bother trying to entertain you jerks with some humor and featuring the new ‘Guild Leadership’ with our next chapter if you lot won’t even let us move forward?