Grail the First

Here follows yet another Rapture story. I'm having a lot of fun with these, can't ya tell?

Which reminds me, no topics for absumpf. JUST POST SOMETHING. That way it can be a little more like a writing group and less constricting. So for the love of god, post ANYTHING. Screw structure, just post it whenever and everyone else can comment on it. We'll see if that works better.

Anyway, like before, I'm writing at work so it'll go slow and I'll say something when I'm done.

It's done!!! Well, the first chapter is. It's actually serious in parts. I think this is going to be the longest one. I'm excited.

Rapture Installment III


CHAPTER I

Koi slammed his tankerd down on the oaken table, dextrously sloshing watery ale everywhere but on himself.

"We'll do it!" He proclaimed with another thump.

"No. We won't." Aporno corrected.

"I agree with Appy." J'ai said, eyes squinted ever-so-attractively as she used a knife to fish for the cherry at the bottom of her cocktail. "We're mercenaries. I'm a dark paladin, evil, fey elf, unscrupulous, all that kind of stuff. We have no business going after holy objects."

Grundin the Dwarf sneered. "I would expect a weak little elf to shy from a challenge. Why don't you take your fruity little cocktail and go prance under the trees? Leave the questing to the real men."

J'ai glared as she chewed on her cherry stem. "Wanna see a trick?" She mumbled though the stem.

"You're going to tie it in a knot" Grundin rolled his eyes. "Are you a hired sword or a bar floozy?"

"No, no. It'll be cool, see?" J'ai grinned, the cherry stem clenched in her teeth.

"You didn't knot it." Grundin look closer. "You just folded it."

J'ai dropped the stem and blew out, lips barely parted. A tiny fireball floated from her mouth and ignited the dwarf's beard.

"Elf-witch!" He exclaimed, patting out his beard. Several of the bar patrons laughed or raised a toast.

"Here." Appy offered, sloshing some of her cider onto his face. "That ought to put it out."

The dwarf glowered, droplets of cider sliding down his rugged face. "It was already out, you little rat."

"Well," He brushed himself off, though it was little benefit to his well-stained jerkin. "I know a bunch of cowards when I see them. I thought I was speaking to mercenaries. Now I see I was wrong. How stupid of me to suggest a quest to..."

He stared at Koi ".. a talentless chancred drunk,"

Koi bristled as Grundin looked to Aporno. "an undergrown pickpocket,"

She readied her glass again as he turned to glare at J'ai. "and an oversexed half-bred coward."

He slammed his own tankerd down with finality. J'ai sword was immediately at his neck and Appy's long knife making a deep depression in his leather jerkin. From just behind him, Koi's long serrated blade pointed toward a less fatal, but far more uncomfortable point of entry.

"We'll do it." Appy said.

"Well," Grundin stared past his nose at the blades. "I suppose you are worth your brands. Now get those away from me. The Holy Grail awaits you. And a thousand gold for it when you return."

J'ai cocked an eybrow. "It's an ancient and sacred object which can extend the mortal life through the most fatal wounds. This is a priceless artifact we're talking about."

"Two thousand." He countered.

"Ten." Appy replied. J'ai nodded.

The dwarf squirmed a little, pulling at his singed beard. "Fine, fine. Ten thousand gold, you greedy bastards."

"Two thousand in traveling expenses." J'ai added.

"WHAT?!"

"We like to sleep in a bed."

Grundin glared. "Half that would let you sleep in a bed every night for six months!"

"He'll drink the other thousand." Appy jerked a thumb at Koi, who nodded.

"You want your grail or not, dwarf?"

"Fine, fine. Here. Six thousand now, and the rest when you return." He handed the pouch to J'ai, who smacked Aporno's hand away.

"You know the rule." She scolded and pushed her sword a hair closer to Grundin's throat.

"Shortchange us on the rest and we'll sell your skin to make up the difference." She sheathed her sword, Aporno's knife disappeared into her clothing and Koi's into his boot.

They stood and Koi clapped the dwarf on the shoulder. "We'll sell your skull too, to cover the inconvenience of flaying you. Cheers!"

He downed his ale and the three left the bar under the windblown sign of the Rancid Cheese, attractively represented by a yellow wedge, green stink-lines billowing off.

"Well, where to now?" Aporno asked. "It's getting pretty late. We should start out in the morning."

"And we can't get all this gold and not spend any of it." J'ai pointed out, patting the purse at her belt.

Koi grinned. "I could use a warm bed and warm man to go with it."

"Couldn't we all?" Appy said. "Let's head to the Burning Blade and share our good fortune with the rest of the mercenaries."

"Hell yeah." Koi raised his wineskin and took a long drink as they made their way through alleyways and into an unassuming home.

"You's three again?" The Widow McCrawley exclaimed, glaring at them with her good eye. "I'druther hoped you'd died."

"Good to see you, ma'am." Appy grinned.

The Widow smiled, though she hid it well. "You's try not to set any fire now."

She focused her eye on J'ai, the other rolling off in it's own direction. "Mos'ly you, young lady. I's dun care what any man says 'bout your pointy ears."

"Yes'm." J'ai faked a sheepish grin as Koi pushed open the wooden door branded with a sword of fire and they headed down the dark steps into the guild bar. Hanging lamps, as much a fire hazard as any dark paladin, cast a warm yellow glow on the old wood of the floor and counters and on the faces of the mercenaries.

"Hey!" Appy called out to a few theives in the only dark corner and split off from Koi and J'ai to join them. Chances were that she would spend the night playing the 'stab my knife between your fingers' game, getting steadily more intoxitcated and steadily more clumsy. The remaining two took a seat at the bar and ordered.

"Anyone interesting?" J'ai asked.

"Not interesting so much as hot." Koi pointed out a young red-haired man. "Now that's what I call an ass."

"That's what I call a child." J'ai took a gulp of her cocktail. "He's barely in his majority."

"And we're so old? I think I might have to go talk to him. Or," He added, examining his nails with assumed arrogance. "I could let my fame and fortune call him silently to my..."

"I'd stick with the talking. Your fame and fortune are too quiet."

"Just give me a minute to think of a sonnet to his beauty and I'll have my warm bed plus a bonus." Koi downed his drink. "Oh, the glories of musicianship."

"One gold says he laughs or slaps you."

"You're on! Another says you spend the night drinking alone."

"Done, and it's not such a bad way to spend a night."

"No, but there's better." Koi grinned lecherously.

J'ai swallowed the remainder of her drink and ordered another as Koi wandered off, lips moving silently in composition.

The sonnet must have worked for mere minutes later, the redhead was listening with sparkling eyes as Koi spoke with wide hand gestures. J'ai could only guess what he was saying, but judging by the blush spreading across the redhead's cheeks, the bard was moving quickly tonight.

"Dreaming of someone? Not me I hope." Lady Amaya slipped into the seat Koi had abandoned. Amaya, the daughter of a courtesan and a common soldier, had no noble blood to speak of, but her elegant bearing and commanding attitude gave her the nickname. It became only too fitting once she had earned her rank as the best, and most feared poisoner in the Lands of the One God.

"No, not dreaming. Considering my chances in a bet."

"Will you win?"

"I doubt it."

"Shame." Amaya smiled, her face hauntingly pale against the black lace of her gown.

"Can I buy you a drink?" J'ai asked. "Or do you have some other suitor tonight?"

"No, I left my suitor a few streets back. I came here alone."

"No second date then, I assume?"

"No sunrise. For him, at least."

"Oh." J'ai sipped at her drink, staring at the holes and pockets age had worn into the wood. A few moments of silence passed.

"Scotch." Amaya informed the bartender. "The halfling's buying."

J'ai grinned. "I feel favored. The Lady Death accepts my offering."

"You have more than that to offer and I will take that as well, but after my drink."

J'ai grinned, a little foolishly, in an attempt not to blush. "If you keep spending the night with me everytime we meet, I'll have to start calling you my lover."

"I wouldn't. I tend to kill lovers."

"Right. Not lovers, then."

"But I'll give you my favor to wear, Knight." The Lady replied, with an impish smile.

"Yeah?" J'ai looked curiously into Amaya's dark eyes.

She smiled, showing sharp white teeth.

"Oh, right. That favor.. heh."

Amaya downed her scotch. "Follow me, my little changeling."

J'ai hurriedly laid some money down and jogged to catch up, giving up on not blushing.

[Later that morning...]

J'ai finished buckling the last greave and began to pull on her linen gloves, to keep her skin from chafing under the metal bracers.

"Up so early, Knight?" Amaya rolled lazily over, seemingly unbothered by her naked body's exposure to the morning sun.

J'ai blushed. "We have a quest."

"For courage or coin?"

"That last one. But we took it on pride."

"You shouldn't choose jobs so rashly." Amaya ran her fingers through her long, full, hair, unwinding it's tangles.

"I know. We fucked up there. Normally we pull through just fine, but I'm not so sure about this one."

Amaya leaned forward, interest sparkling in her deep black eyes. "What exactly, dear elf, did you agree to do?"

"Steal the Holy Grail."

"Oh ho! Now that's a risky one. Prove yourself a true knight so that you can betray chivalry itself."

She stood, the thin sheets loosely draped around her hips and ran her long fingers across J'ai's cheeks.

"Careful, my changeling. To do evil within evil is harmless. It's balanced. But to do an evil thing, surrounded by the greatest good, you tempt fate."

"We'll see if we can actually get close to it. Only a true knight can touch the Grail."

"You underestimate yourself and your companions." Amaya turned back to bed, but J'ai stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"You think we can do it? You think Aporno, Koi and I can approach the Grail?"

"Would I be warning you if I didn't? Go on now, it's been dawn for some time."

J'ai nodded and picked up her pack. "Thanks for the show of faith, Amaya. I feel a bit better about this."

"I said I thought you could touch the Grail. I didn't say you'd do it in one piece."

J'ai gulped. "You make a good point."

"Here," Amaya pressed a small velvet wrapped package into J'ai's palm. "I know how you like your pipe. Remember where you come from, halfling, and honor your ancestor's ways. That will bring you further than your sword."

"You know you're creepy when you talk like that, right?"

"Quit stalling."

"Right." J'ai turned and left, closing the door quietly behind her and stowing the velvet bundle in her pack.

Downstairs, Aporno and Koi already sat enjoying a bit of morning warmth in the form of a few pints. Koi's red-headed friend sat with them. J'ai took the last empty seat.

"Morning." Appy greeted, raising her glass with a bandaged hand.

"What happened there?" J'ai asked, motioning for another pint to be brought to the table.

"An unfortunate mix of alcohol and pointy things. What happened to your neck?" The theif gestured toward one of Amaya's 'favors'.

"A more fortunate mix of alcohol and pointy things. You owe me a gold piece, Koi."

"You owe me one as well." Koi winked at the red-head. "Guess we'll have to call it even."

Appy glared. "Once again, I spend the night alone and in pain."

"Well, you're usually not bleeding." J'ai grinned. "Poor little Appy. So, aern't you going to introduce us, Koi?"

"Yeah, this is Doyle. He's going come with us for a ways." He reached out a hand to tilt J'ai head to the side, exposing a few of the bites. "Amaya, eh?"

J'ai smiled. "What can I say, I have a way with women."

"Lady Amaya?" Doyle suddenly spoke. "The Black Widow? You're lucky you woke up."

Appy rolled her eyes. "The Lady is Guild. She's bound by oath not to hurt us, or any other member, paid or no."

"Oh." He smiled brightly. "How exciting."

"Ummm... yeah. Exciting." Appy said flatly. "Are we ready?"

"I didn't get my pint." J'ai pointed out.

"Here," Koi offered a glass. "Finish mine."

J'ai gulped it down as she stood, then wavered. "Whoa, light-headed."

"Bloodloss?" Appy asked innocently, holding the door.

J'ai ignored her and jogged up the stairs, waiting at the top while Koi and Doyle struggled to find a way to pass the threshold at the same time. Finally Koi dropped his arm from the red-head's waist and went ahead.

As he reached the top, J'ai took his arm and whispered "How far are you dragging that boy along with us?"

"Just until the next town, that's where he's headed anyway. It'll be fun, I swear."

"Yeah, I'm sure it'll be 'exciting'."

[A few days later and a few miles outside the next town...]

"So I gave up knighthood to become a bard." Koi finished, as J'ai and Aporno exhanged suffering glances.

"How exciting!" Doyle exclaimed.

"It really is. We travel everywhere, drink a lot, all that fun kind of stuff."

"How exciting!"

"Do you want to stop for a while?" Koi asked. "I'm getting pretty beat."

"Sure." Appy grumbled as J'ai nodded, reaching for her pipe.

"That would be exciting." Doyle said, dropping down onto the grass.

"You know what would be more exciting about now?" Appy whispered to J'ai.

"What? A flesh-eating monster with a fetish for red-heads?" J'ai considered the lock of her own hair, resting on her breastplate and shining red in the sunlight. "Male red-heads?"

"I was thinking more along the lines of an execution, but that works too."

"What are you guys whispering about?" Doyle asked wit ha broad grin. "Is it girl stuff?"

"Umm yeah." J'ai replied. "We're talking about our periods. Isn't that right, Appy?"

"Oh of course, what else would we talk about?" Appy smiled.

"How exciting." Doyle said with feeling. "What's that pipe for?"

"Herbs." J'ai snapped, opening the velvet pouch Amaya had given her and beginning to load pipe.

"How exciting. What kind of herbs?"

"Poison. We're fulfilling a suicide pact."

"That's exciting."

"I'm gonna kill him." Aporno hissed. "He just said 'exciting' for the last goddamn time."

"Patience little one," J'ai muttered. "The pipe's almost loaded."

"For the love of all that is holy make it quick. I can't deal with this guy sober."

J'ai shook her head. "I'm sick of him too, but Koi'd be pretty mad if we hurt his little boyfriend."

"Oh don't worry about that. I intend to hurt Koi too. Greviously." Appy's hand twitched toward the knife in her boot.

"Take the pipe." J'ai shoved it into Appy's mouth and lit it. The thief glared, but puffed.

Doyle had turned his attention toward Koi, who was regaling him with one of the grail legends.

"Sir Herman, brave and true, lay dying upon the ruins, his life spent upon the silent stones, when his lady-love came to him and pressed the Holy Grail to his pale lips.
'Drink, my knight' She bade him. 'And let the sweet nectar of the ancients revive thy ailing soul.'
Though 'twas only water filled the sacred cup, Sir Herman drank and lived anew for Grail-Magic gave mere water God's breath of life."

"I love poetry." Doyle swooned. "It's so exciting."

Quicker than her own thoughts, J'ai rose to her feet, sword drawn and leveled at the back of Doyle's head. Unaware of the threat to his life, Doyle went on.

"Tell me another one!"

Koi gave J'ai a warning look. "Sure, how about one about King Reginold?"

"Sure, that'll be exciting."

J'ai's sword moved closer.

"Reginold the Kind was a well-loved king, brave but merciful and generous toward the weak." Koi motioned for J'ai to sheath her sword.

"I thought he slaughtered the heathens." Doyle pointed out.

"Umm, yeah. Slaughtering heathens is a great pastime." Koi gave J'ai a significant look. "I've been considering it myself."

J'ai returned her sword to its sheath.

"How exciting." Doyle replied and J'ai stiffened, hand returning to hilt. She moved slowly back however, taking her pipe from Aporno, and inhaling long and deep.

"You shoulda offed him." Appy scolded.

"Probably."