Library: compilation part 2

Part 4 - I, Thief ----- Anni had shrieked to her heart's content. Behind me, I could hear the bear running through the caves, confused as to where such a sound could come from. I think I could pick out some fluttering of bats as she yelled too. "Done?", I asked, placing my hand back on my sword. She shrieked for a little while more, and finally whimpered, backing onto a wall. I approached the cornered child. "Your parents, who are they?", I asked the child. "Mommy and daddy, mommy, daddy...", she whimpered. "Who's mommy?", I asked. "Azure, mommy", she said between tears. I looked on with determination. "Nnn nn", I replied, shaking my head. "I am your mommy, not Azure.", I ordered, looking into her. The tears stopped as she fight herself. "Mommy is... is...", she whimpered, and then regressed. "No! My mommy is Azure." I reached for my sword again, but I must have not heard the heavy footsteps or the massive body behind me. Not until the beast hit me with a claw, or hand, something unpleasant like that. "E-ar... my head.", I mumbled, jumping to my feet. Quickly, I drew my sword. I had to get my bearings. In front of me, I saw Anni, but she was not as scared like she would have been. I quickly turned around, and recognized only that bear. Friendly?! Bakane...", I muttered, thrusting it with my sword. It jumped back as I thrust it, as if that was some kind of natural reaction. Smart bear. I was a little suprised when it simply turned and ran. "Hey! Git, c'mere.", I yelled quickly, chasing after it. Fortunately, I was still a tad dizzy from being knocked out. As it turned a sharp corner, I went facefirst into the wall, and shortly after lost my footing. "Only ground, rrrgh.", I mumbled. It had been so nice all those years, why? It was. I was. I got myself back up, and grabbing my sword, stabbed it into the side of the cavern wall. It's only going to get me into trouble, I thought, advancing on the child again. I don't know how she was feeling, she was just shivering a tad, I guess she was just scared. When I got next to there, I repeated myself. "Your mommy?", I asked. "Azure!", she yelled, still defiant. I can see this may not be as easy as I originally thought. I kicked her in the shoulder, trying not to hit anything vital. The impact knocked her into the side of the cavern wall. "I've never heard of Azure. Pirotessa is my mommy.", I ordered the kid, kicking her again. This time in the side of her chest, that ought to hurt some. She wasn't giving up. She defiantly flung herself into me, and I put my hands around her neck, forcing her back into the wall. I hit her with my knuckles on the face a few times. "Piro. Mommy. Azure. Nobody.", I repeated interlaced with painful hits on opposite sides of her face. "Kuso!", I mumbled. I'm doing this all wrong, I know I am. It's gotta be the other way, left side is the creative one? Or right, gosh, I can't remember anything now. Finally, I decided I'd given her enough of it, and I stopped for a few seconds. "Okay, mommy. Who?", I demanded. "Azure... Azure is." I just stared her straight in the face, and she looked away. "Mommy!", I yelled. "Azure!", she repated. "Mommy!" "Azure!" "Mommy!" "Azure!" Bakagenei. "Mommy!" "Azure..." "Mommy!" "Pirotessa, Piro is my mommy.", said the kid shyly. I quickly knocked her out with a sharp blow to her chin. Good, she'll remember that. Elves are resilient, especially children. Okay, at least she has resolved that now. Shortly after, the bear showed up again. Retrieving my sword, I used it to keep him at bay. "Stay back, if you had cubs I wouldn't interfere either.", I explained. I'm talking to a bear. A bear. I flattened out the dirt beneath the cave floor and softly laid Anni down on her back. Then I tenderly covered her with some of the animals skins to keep her warm. Why am I doing this? I reached to yank them off, but stopped myself. "Time to hunt", I insisted, and quickly found my way out of the cave. I grabbed for my sling and left hte cave. The bear was cowering away from me, what's with him. Even Sly was keeping some distance. Which is too bad, normally I took him along when I was hunting. I eventually got him to follow me as I left the cave. I came back with a few rabbits, a gopher, and a duck. Sly stalked a bird and took it to himself to eat it in front of me. "Okay Sly, we're going back now", I told him shortly after. I gave the bear a few bunnies, and then headed back into the cave where the kid was. I would stop having to make friends of animals, now I had her. Perhaps that's why the bear was so upset, he knew the kid was there to replace him. I found the kid where I'd left her. "Okay, get up.", I demanded, pinching her cheek. I stood her upright and shook her a little. She would be up soon. "Already, Anni, Hey!", I yelled in her face. She shook a little, and her eyes opened. She just stared at me for a while. "Who?", I asked her, pointing at myself. "Your my... no!", she shrieked. Not again, I thought, covering my ears. Good idea. I ran back down the cave and grabbed the elder's crown, and then came back. When she stopped yelling, I showed her the crown. She was confused, she just stared at me. "Here, mommy's giving you a present...", I said, tenderly placing the crown on her head. She continued to stare, struggling, inside. "Mommy...", whined the child. "C'mon, Sly!", I yelled back into the cave. He came and scampered, and I continued, "This is your cat, and you're my daughter. Right?" "No!", she answered, defiant. Here we go again. "Right?" "No!" "Say it..." "No!" "I'm your mommy!" "No!" This isn't getting anywhere. Reaching for my blade, I thought maybe I ought to just start over. No, Anni will have to do. I'll find a way. "You rae mine. My kid. Right?", I asked. She did what was expected of her. "Okay, this is getting nowhere, I will try something different.", I mumbled at her. "Okay, listen", I uttered slowly. "I say I'm your mommy, and you know I'm lying, so I'm therefore not really your mommy, right?", I asked. For once she nodded. "But since I'm really lying to you when I say that, I therefore am your mommy, which means I really am not." She just stared at me, a little confused. "Understand?", I asked. She whimpered a little, and backed into a wall. "I won't hit you anymore, you're my child. I'd never do that.", I admitted. I felt a little essence flowing through me as I said that. It was a feeling hard to explain, sorta like a tingling all over my body. "Oh, you're hurt!", I said, looking at the child and touching the bruises on her face and shoulders. "Have Auntie Azure and Uncle Ravesh been abusing you again? Don't worry, mommy will take good care of you now." I hugged her. "Mommy...", she said, finally hugging me back. I smiled, I had just what I wanted. The demon that had helped me get the kid spoke to me slightly after. "You are not right, you are taking away her will.", said the disembodied voice. "Why do you care, you're a demon." "That is why I care. Chaos is not possible without free will, free will is. Without teh snake, there is none." "What are you babbling about?", I demanded. "She must decide on her own.", insisted the voice. "Go away. Study your chaos and demonology all you want, but don't tell Pirotessa what to do with her children." I did an exorcism, and the voice went away slightly after. Part 5 - The new world ----- I had banished the demon from my mind, but I could still feel its presence. That's the best I can do for now. Later on I can set up a ward, but the child is most important to me. My child. "Anni, you're a good daughter. I'm very proud of you.", I complemented her. She was still a tad confused, but the message was getting through to her. "You remember your mommy now?" "Mhmm, mommy.", she pointed, and I walked her back to the center of the cave. I felt a disembodied presence within the cave, so I figured I'd better do something soon. I didn't want it trying to possess my kid or something. Anni, come here.", I asked, and she walked beside me. I cut my finger with the sharp end of my sword and then turned to her, parting her hair. "Stay still.", I told her, drawing a pentagram on her forehead in blood. I had that strange tingling sensation again as I invoked the ward. The blood grew white for a few seconds and then turned black. Anni was confused. "What's that, mommy", she asked. "Just a ward. Keep the demons away from you." She shrugged and nodded. "C'mon, you're probably all tired out. Let's put you to bed.", I said, holding her hand and taking her to the back part of the cave. I moved some of the furs I normally slept on to make her a bed, and then told her "Okay, here you go." She stared at me and frowned. "Sorry, Anni, I'll find you something better someday.", I said, holding her. "C'mon now", I lead her to the bed. She reluctantly laid down on the furs and I covered her up and extinguished the torches around. Shortly after that I met Christofer. As I slept there was suddenly a bright light and a portal opening. It looked sorta stupid and stereotypical, exactly what I had expected a portal to look like. Shortly after some poor elf popped out. He chose a bad place, he fell right on top of the bear, startling it. He was a tad disoriented too, the bear promptly turned over, and he fell off. The bear proceeded to pounce on him and hug him. I shrugged, muttering "Fucker, that's the end of him." Probably a botched attempt to kill me, but who and why? "Eat him alive, big guy". I asserted. I grabbed my sword and quickly jumped up. My daughter stirred a little bit and said "Mommy? What is happening?" "Watch and learn.", I replied. That bear was about as angry as bears got. It snapped at his neck and he barely managed to dodge; it only got a small chunk of flesh off the side. If anything, the bear seemed determined to get a meal out of him. The bear scratched his back with its claws, drawing blood over some of the ground. Then he somehow produced a dagger and stuffed it into the side of the bear, uttering some incantation as the bear chomped on his shuolder. That part confused me a little, I just shrugged. As the bear chomped on his shoulder, huge bite marks appeared where the dagger had lodged into the side of the bear. "The fuck?", I mumbled in desperation. The bear tried his head next, his shoulder was perfectly undamaged. The wound just got larger, it was as if someone had perforated and ripped the flesh right out of it where the dagger had been. "Yeck!, that's sick.", I mumbled as some guts, and yucky stuff started to come out of the side of the bear. Shortly after, the bear stiffened and went limp. My daughter gripped my arm as I just stood there, stunned for a second or two. The elf was still trapped under the weight of the dead bear, so I placed the tip of my rapier next to the side of his neck. "kuma satsu ni naru nara, kusodokyou ga nakereba dame da", I ironically admitted to him, poking him with my rapier. "Nhnn.", admitted my daughter, nodding. The elf just groaned, and tried to push the heavy thing pinning him off of him. "Hey! Speak before I kill you!", I ordered him. He just mumbled a little. "Yah, I suppose you ought to.", he admitted, not paying much attention to me. "Why's that?", I demanded. "B'cos if you don't I'll kill you once I get this thing off me", he admitted between multiple breaths. He tried to press it off him but he was getting nowhere. Even though it was dead, I'm sure it was pleanty heavy. I didn't recognize this one from my former village. He was too pale, he couldn't have come from this region. He must have been a mercenary. I grabbed a large rock and dropped it on his face, knocking him out. "Get me some strong branches or something strong outside, Annie.", I asked. I led sly over to the scene, he seemed a little perturbed. "What do you think, Sly? Kill him?", I asked. Sly hissed at him and then backed off. Anni returned and handed me some large branch which I wedged between him and the bear. Lifting it up a ways, I ordered her "Okay, yank him out, Anni." She pulled him out from under the bear and I dropped it again. I turned him over and took off his pack and belt. Hmm. Throwing daggers. Handcuffs. A whip? What kind of suck guy was this, I thought. I turned him over, pulled his hands behind his back, and put the handcuffs on him. A stilletto. "What's that, mommy?", asked Anni, pointing to the whip. I shrugged. "That's a cat o' nine tails, Anni. Its not a terribly effective weapon, but..." "If this was an Assasin, why did he have the whip and handcuffs? Perhaps he was trying to capture me instead. No, I think he's sicker than that, why would he need the whip if he wanted to capture. I wonder what these orbs are. Who knows. They were like marbles, why would he carry all this stuff if he has no intention of using it? Time to wake him up. I ripped his shirt off and using his stilletto lightly stabbed his back with the tip of the stilletto. I moved it in a line, trying to create a shallow but painful cut. He must be out pretty bad, I thought, rubbing dirt from the cave ground into the cut. This is not working, turning him over and sitting on top of his chest. I took the stilletto and stabbed it into his face, drawing some blood. Anni just watched patiently. He's pretending, he must be awake by now. I pried his eyes open. "Why the handcuffs? And the whip?", I demanded. He squirmed a little but realized it was useless, I had him totally pinned. Again, he didn't seem to be paying too much attention to me. "Okay then, we can do this your way.", I admitted. I turned him back over and grabbed the whip. I normally wasn't sadistic, but I thought of what he had been planning for me and so on, that was enough. Anni winched as at th sound it made, prob'ly more of an effect I'd get from him. "Oh, I understand now mommy, what it is.", she nodded. I just ignored her and whipped him again, but he was still silent. Then laughing even. I turned him back over. "What's so funny?", I demanded. He just stopped. "They said 'she's sadistic, just let her beat up on you a tad, then she'll enjoy that and like you'.", he admitted. "They?" My daughter and the cat watched with intrest as I grabbed the stilleto again and placed it next to his neck. "This is my job, you see, they hired me.", he mumbled as I poked his neck with the stiletto, drawing a little blood. "You like it so far?", I asked. "What's the pay?" "We'll, actually, I did this for free, it sounded like they had a good cause so I helped out." "You mean, the village?", I mumbled, pulling out the dagger and stuffing it in his throat again. "Nn Nnn.", he replied. They thought they could get you to join, so as a token of kindness I was sent." "What?", I asked, now a little confused. "You think I like?" My daughter shrugged and then knelt to pet Sly. "Dunno really, but they seemed to know what they were doing.", he admitted. Heh. I see. "okay then. Say your blurb even though I'll have nothing to do with it.", I demanded again. "They say 'Ever since we were done away with, and simple exiled, no... banned from this" he seemed to be reciting a speech he had memorized. "region, some of us have been fighting a secret war. Some said 'we have too much to lose' and politely left, but others, like them, had grown attached to this region and refused to go peacefully. They feel that they are already dead, and so they continue to fight." "Huh? Restless un-dead?", I asked, pulling the dagger out of his throat. "You aren't making any sense." I stabbed him again, this time a little deeper than before. "Erff, they called themselves 'the unwanted' or 'those not chosen'. Or 'the not-first born', a reference to ancient culture and customs. They've been fighting a society of devils, powerful and ambivelent." "Devils? What do you know? They are barely even hostile anymore, all that shit about 'choas' and 'demonology' is all the care about now." Uck. I always get a little flustered when I explain too much. "Nn nnn. Not the same, I mean. They're both the same." "Iiiyaa", I mumbled, making a third hole in his neck. With his luck I'd prob'ly hit a vein soon. "Gods and devils or demons.", he mumbled. "What do the elements care about to you or me?", I asked. He's going off. "Elements? To one, they said 'She is his must favorite you must win her over.' So, err, y-" "Go on, pet? Like that kitty?" "We'll yes I suppose." I think that someone pulled the quack job on this guy. Normal elves don't get this disillusioned, unless they're drunk. They were just trying to get a free job out of him. "Okay then", I mumbled, turning him over again. "You're quite useless, go to the elven village. They could use you there." "I suppose.", he said into the dirt. "Anni, get me the key for his handcuffs." She ruffled through his stuff and tossed me a key, so I unlocked him and then kicked him to make him stand up. "Go now", I demanded, and he began to slowly pad off without a word. Silently, i grabbed his stiletto and snook up to him as he moved over a noisier part of the cave floor. I stabbed the dagger right into his back, aiming for his heart. As he was hit, he relled around, causing the impaling wound to become even worse. Heh, this assasin is rather pitiful when the situation is reversed. I tackled the weakened elf and turned his face toward me. He tried to utter a death-curse, but I took the dagger and shoved it into his skull. I made sure my face was the last thing he saw, and after that I dragged his body to a nearby swamp and left it lying beside the muck. When I returned to the cave, I had to move all my stuff to a different part to get away from the blood and smell. "Mommy, why did you kill that elf?", my daughter asked as she helped me carry some furs. "Leaving too slowly.", I replied. "Nnn?", she asked as she stared at me. "He was going to kill me. I killed him first, Anni." She put down her stuff and turned her back to me. "Oh." --- End of Part 5 ---

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Library: compilation part 2