So ... alright. (Aliyah 2)

[Mikayla]

Author’s note: I have not been logging my conversations, so I have to reconstruct them from memory, which of course, means they will be incorrect. The story, thus, is my recollection and perception, not a precise recounting of what occurred. At best, I can say the story reflects what I perceived happened. As always, there will be errors.

My thanks to kiyoti (Prince Ali’Hussein), Mr. Duncan (Rain), and Aitana (Nisha). Thanks also to ThinkPig (Sayid) who was not here for some of this, but whose actions and conversation prior to these events helped set Aliyah on the path to this.


So … alright.

“So, have you fucked Rain yet?” Aliyah asked Nisha.

Ali’Hussein began to chuckle, while Nisha just stared at Aliyah for a moment in disbelief.

The three of them were sitting at a table in the courtyard of the Golden Oak, an inn and tavern in Silverymoon. Rain walked up, carrying a plate of white powder in his hand. He dropped onto Aliyah’s bench hard enough to bounce her.

“Take this.” He said gruffly to Aliyah. “Go do your share of the drugs and shut up.”

Must have heard my question, Aliyah thought. “Testy, testy. I was just curious.” Aliyah replied, picking up the plate of white powder. The powder was some sort of hallucinogen they had taken off a goblin they had killed. Aliyah called it simply ‘goblin powder.’

She knew Rain was mad about the question, but Aliyah did not really care; she had just smoked two bowls of their opium, as had Ali and Rain, and she was feeling … good. Opium did that, of course. Made all that anger and fear and everything else bad go away as it wrapped you up in a warm blanket of ‘it will be alright’ feelings. And that was pretty much what Aliyah thought at the time. It will be alright.

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

“So, who did it?” Ali snarled at Aliyah.

The two of them were standing in the woods outside of Silverymoon’s North-Western gate.

“Who did what?” Aliyah asked. She was afraid she knew what Ali was asking about, but with this group, you could never be certain. Drama abounded as did violence, theft and occasionally, murder.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Ali started off sarcastically, “how about Rain telling me he quit the crew!” The hin was angry now.

“Yeah, that was me.” Aliyah answered somewhat sheepishly. It was not the question to Nisha about sex that had pissed Rain off to the point of quitting though. While Rain had not liked that question at all, it was a different, even more personal question that Aliyah had asked that set this series of events in motion. Aliyah wondered what she could say to make it alright.

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

“So, Rain, are you … please don’t kill me for asking this .. are you a eunuch?” Aliyah asked.

Ali and Nisha tried to stifle laughs, while Rain just blinked in shock. They were all at the table in the Golden Oak, smoking opium and drinking. Aliyah had not yet asked Nisha whether she had sex with Rain yet – that question was still on the horizon. Aliyah had been sipping a very expensive Moonshae brandy, and suddenly, her curiosity got the better of her, as it often did.

“I mean, no judgment if you are.” Aliyah continued. “Its alright with me if you’re a eunuch. I am just curious, because, you know, you don’t show much interest in women.” She paused. “Or men.” She added.

Rain made it clear that he was not a eunuch, but the others kept laughing at the boldness and ridiculousness of the question. Ali’Hussein jumped in, and asked Rain if he had a penis. That was when Rain threatened to cut off Ali’s hands. Despite the opium, Aliyah suddenly did not believe things were going to be alright.

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

“So, Rain, how old are you?” Aliyah asked as she lay down on a bench at the Golden Oak. She and Rain were the only members of the crew up and about. It was just after noon in Silverymoon, the day after she had asked Rain whether he was a eunuch, and Nisha whether she had fucked Rain.

“Seventeen?” His answer was more of a question. “I think. What does it matter?”

Aliyah nodded. “Good, then there’s hope for you.”

“What does that mean?” Rain asked.

“I wanted to know if you were a boy who might grow into being a man, or one of those men who still had a boy’s head. Last night you threatened to cut off Ali’s hands. Your best friend’s hands. I mean, Rain, you carry a sword longer than a hin is tall, you wear armor thick enough to stop arrows and axes, and you have muscles strong enough to snap a man’s neck, but you let simple words wound you to the point that you would chop the hands off your best friend.”

“My best friend does not say such things about me.” Rain answered, anger seeping through his words.

“He is your friend Rain.” Aliyah countered. “I know he is, because earlier that same day, he saved your life when we were fighting that swamp-thing.”

Rain was unconvinced. They argued more, until Rain finally stood and started making threats.

“Shut up.” He commanded. “Shut up or you won't be working with me any longer.”

Great. Aliyah thought. All the killing power of a grown man, and all the emotional maturity of an adolescent boy. What a wonderful combination. And here she was, stuck with a tongue that could do nothing but piss people off. Where was Nisha when you needed her? Nisha had a silver-tongue. Maybe she could have done this better. Certainly Nisha would not have made Rain even angrier. But Nisha was not here now.

This conversation is not going to end well. Aliyah thought. And for once, Aliyah was right. The conversation ended with Rain stomping off.

Aliyah did not really believe this was the end of Rain being a part of the crew, but at the same time, the fear of losing Ali, Rain, Sayid and Nisha ran through her like a cold steel blade. This band of Calishite runaways were a bunch of immature, lying, thieving, murderers, but they were Aliyah’s bunch of immature, lying, thieving, murderers and she did not want to lose them. There had to be a way to make this alright.

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

“So which one of us is dead?” Ali asked Aliyah, as the two stood out in the woods beyond Silverymoon’s gate. He had been scolding and lecturing Aliyah about her conversation with Rain for what seemed like an eternity. His point was that Rain’s threat was only a threat; Rain had not actually killed anyone on the crew. Of course, Aliyah did not want to wait until after Rain had killed someone to do something about Rain’s temper and prickly ego, but Ali was relentless in his argument.

Is this what the hells will be like? Aliyah wondered to herself. Listening to the self-righteous go on, and on, and on, and .. ugh. Its enough to make you appreciate the promise of oblivion.

Ali was still talking, naturally. Aliyah held up empty hands in a gesture of submission. She pursed her lips to show she was not going to talk anymore. And she held up three fingers to show Ali that this was the third time she had yielded in the argument. If it took Aliyah shutting up to keep the crew together, so be it. Aliyah had told Ali that she had taken Rain to task because of Rain’s threat to chop off Ali’s hands, but Ali was not concerned. So be it. One way or another, they had to make it alright.

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

"So, that was exciting." Aliyah gasped. She was panting, so badly winded she thought she might puke. At her feet was the fresh carcass of a brown bear. A brown bear that, until a few seconds ago, had been trying to eat her.

Ali, Rain and Aliyah had gone hunting south of Silverymoon. They had tracked a huge mountain lion out in the woods and after a vicious fight, they had killed it. While Aliyah drew her arrow out of the big cat’s chest, Ali had cut its heart out. He offered the heart to Aliyah first, because it was her arrow that finished the beast. It was a nice courtesy, especially considering that it was Ali and Rain who were the ones going blade-to-claw with the feline monster. Aliyah took a big bite of the bloody heart and found it was about the toughest thing she’d ever tried to eat. She persisted though, and finally got a mouthful ripped away. It was awful and warm and bloody, but bit by bit she choked it down. She offered it to Rain, but he shook his head. “Those things are terrible.” He said simply. She wanted to laugh, but she was afraid of vomiting. When she had finally choked down the last of her bite, she used her blood-covered fingers to paint two stripes, like tears, running down from her eyes. She didn’t know why she did it, she just did it. Why not? She thought.

Hours later, while walking through a village south of Silverymoon, a brown-bear came charging out of the woods and killed one of the horses grazing in the pasture near the village. Aliyah loosed a shaft at the bear, while Rain hurled his throwing axe. The bear forgot about the horse and charged. It came straight at Aliyah, who had loosed one more arrow and then ran for her life with the bear right on her heels. She ran across the dirt road that divided the village, scattering the panicked peasants who had been gathering to see what the commotion was about. Aliyah felt claws rake at her leathers but she kept running.

And then it was over. Ali and Rain killed the bear while it was chasing Aliyah. “Praise Malar.” They said. Again, Ali cut the heart out, this time offering it to Rain whose great-sword had killed the beast. Rain took the offered heart this time. When he had his bite, he offered the heart to Aliyah, who took a bite herself. This time she knew what she was in for, and this time, she reveled in it. When she was through, she painted two-more tear-like stripes in blood on her face. Why not? Praise Malar. Isn’t that what they said? She had never prayed to Malar before, but today, she would; she had been the hunter and the hunted, and she was still alive. He might not be her god, but give respect where respect is due. Praise be to Malar indeed.

More importantly, Rain could have let her die. He could have waited until the bear caught her and then killed it after it had killed her. But he did not do that; instead, he cut the beast apart before it had a chance to rip Aliyah in half. The crew was still intact.

See, Aliyah thought, it was going to be alright.

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

“So, I still haven’t heard an answer to my question.” Aliyah asked Nisha. Aliyah had just returned to the table at the Golden Oak, after dashing off to snort the goblin powder. Rain sat on the same bench as Aliyah, silently drinking his rum. Ali smirked happily. It had only been a minute since Aliyah first asked Nisha if she had fucked rain. Aliyah had gone off to their shared room to snort the goblin powder, then came rushing back to the table. She did not want to miss Nisha's answer.

“Is it the custom in this group to kiss and tell?” Nisha asked.

Aliyah shrugged. “Well, we don’t have any customs yet.” Aliyah answered. “It could be though!” She added with mock excitement.

“Well, I don’t kiss and tell.” Nisha answered finally.

Aliyah frowned a little. That was a boring answer. And not at all what Aliyah wanted. Aliyah really was not too concerned about who Rain was sleeping with or not sleeping with, but Aliyah had a crush on Nisha. If Nisha admitted f*cking Rain, then maybe Aliyah could stomp that crush of hers to death and forget about pining away for the beautiful Nisha. Aliyah leaned her head back on the bench and stared up at the stars through the boughs of the great oak that dominated the courtyard.

“Actually,” Nisha said in a slow purr, “I was more interested in you.”

Despite a bottle of brandy, two bowls of opium and several snorts of goblin powder, Aliyah suddenly felt stone cold sober. Sober, and panicked. She looked away from the stars above and over to Nisha, whose beautiful eyes were looking straight back into her own.

Aliyah rocked her head back onto the the bench. looking up at the stars again.

Oh, I am such an idiot. Such a f*cking idiot. She thought. And then … a moment later … Aliyah realized she hadn’t just thought those words. She had said them out loud. The others were already chuckling.

Yeah, I’m an idiot. She thought. Nisha is beautiful and talented and smart and everything I want, and I am going to blow it. And if by some miracle, I don’t blow it, she’s going to break my heart. This is so not going to be alright.

[Aitana]

I loved this! Some really great scenes and a lot of fun rp. I can't wait for more.

Dani