Today is Day 7 of NaNoWriMo and the second and last day of Blizz Con! It's also a day I go to a horse rescue to help out. THis means it'll be hard to get my word count in, but I've proven to be able to overcome the obsticles that are thrown at me, and today won't be any different.
My total for day 6 of NaNoWriMo was 2,727 words! I've gotten to a point where I didn't plan out some events. This usually means I'll skip around until events finally start meshing together, but I want to challenge myself. I want to try to do this in order, for you guys, since so many of you are enjoying this daily storytelling. This may mean, we're going to get some super boring installments or installments that just seem weird, but it'll be a learning experience for all of us, and we all know the end published result will fixed up and far more entertaining.
All passages were in order from yesterday's post, so here's what I wrote:
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“I live her, meathead.”
“Oh shit.”
I stood up. “Oh shit is right. You have to get out of here before my father finds you.” Vesser jumped to his feet but wasn’t too inclined to rush. So I began pushing him towards the window. “What is your problem, Vesser? Do you want to be caught by him?”
“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to understand—”
“Understand later! My father doesn’t like anyone in here and I won’t have the power to stop him from tearing you apart.”
“But who is your father? Is it really Fallon?”
“By the gods you’re so dense. Yes, Fallon is my biological father. Now get out of here!”
I shoved him at the window. He complied this time and took off in the shape of an owl, but not because of me. I spun around to find my father standing in the doorway with a scowl.
“Why did you do that, Rinneth?” he demanded.
“Because I was fully capable of handing the situation.”
“Letting him go isn’t handling the situation. He needs to be taught what happens when you try to steal from this clan.”
“He didn’t know,” I defended. “I know him, and he didn’t know this was our home.”
My father stared at me. “How do you know him? You’re forbidden to converse with Dragons outside this clan without my knowledge.”
I sighed and pushed past him. “Because he’s my new teammate.”
“What? I’d better have miss heard you.”
I rounded on him. “You listen and you listen good, Father. I am not to be controlled by you. You don’t own me. I make my own choices and I don’t give a rats ass if you agree or not! I’ve joined this Evenstar PvP team because I want it and I don’t care what races my teammates are as long as they treat me with that same respect I give them. So far, they do a whole hell of a lot better than you!”
I stormed off, ignoring the clan members who were now poking their heads out of their room with curiosity. I slammed my bedroom door shut and flopped down on my bed with a groan. This night kept getting better and better. Now Vesser knew I was a Halfling and I really hoped it wouldn’t cause any issues, but I suspected it would. To the others, it may not matter, but a human-dragon hybrid was rare, one only happening….well when ever my soul was reborn. Over and over I did this rebirth process thanks to Rashta and for Dragons, they chose one of two sides; they wanted me dead, or wanted to be my ally, and you could never predict who would choose which side.
The clan was a good example of that. When my father took my mother as his mate, the clan’s structure was shaken up pretty bad.
“Would you like to talk?” Rashta asked.
“No, I just want to be left alone right now.”
“All right. I’m here if you need me.”
My messenger buzzed and I looked at it with confusion. Who would send me a message this early in the morning? Activating it, I found the message to be a missed communicator call from a signal I didn’t recognize. That’s when I noticed my communicator flashing, indicating an incoming call. I slipped off my bed and attached the communicator to my head.
“Hello?” I answered when I activated the call.
“Rinneth?” some guy said on the other end.
“Yeah. Who’s this?”
“Vesser.”
“Oh, hey.”
“Hey. Look, sorry about earlier. I really didn’t think it was your house.”
“It’s whatever. No harm done.”
“So everything is cool?”
“I think so.”
“What’s wrong? I didn’t get you in trouble with your father, did I?”
“Don’t worry about him. I’m always butting heads with him.”
“Then what is it? Something is bothering you.”
I chewed on my lip for a second. “Are things cool between us?”
“Yeah, why would it be? I don’t care that you’re a Dragon.” I sighed. “What? What did I say?”
“You’re such a dense moron. I’m only half Dragon, you twit.”
The line when quiet. When nothing was said for at least a minute I hung up. No need to stay on the line… I knew that silence all too well. I flopped down on my bed and looked at my messenger, half expecting to see my notice of team removal already, but it hadn’t arrived yet. Only a matter of time…
“Don’t be so quick to judge, Rinneth.”
“The lack of response has always meant they’re not a fan of knowing the truth about my lineage. Comes from those who would rather I didn’t exist.”
“I can also mean he’s shocked because he went from thinking you were a full human adopted into a dragon clan, to being a full dragon only to be insulted and given the truth.”
“Well, he is a moron.”
“I’m not arguing that, I just think you could have been a bit more tactful.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Then tell me, why you have a missed call and your communicator is now flashing for the second time since you hung up?”
“What?”
I looked at my messenger that now read two missed calls from the same number and looked at my communicator as it started flashing again.
“Answer it.”
I didn’t. I let it ring, and ring, and ring more. By the time he got to the sixth attempt I was refusing to answer just to see how many more times he’d keep at it.
“Rinneth, stop torturing the man and pick up the call,” Rashta scolded.
Then, the calls stopped. Ten minutes passed and no more calls came in. I did however jump out of my skin when something knocked on my bedroom window and got my dog awake and barking. I stared at Vesser as crouched in front of my window on the roof eaves. He waved at me and made a motion asking for me to open the window and then he jumped back when my dogs started jumping in front of him. Not wanting my dogs to alert everyone to Vesser’s existence I reluctantly climbed of my bed and calmed them down. I then looked at Vesser, contemplating if I should open the window.
“C’mon, Rinneth,” he said with exasperation, the window muffling his voice. “Just open the window.”
With reluctance, I complied and opened the window. My dogs immediately put their paws up on the sill and greeted him, though he was a bit confused. “They like Dragons.”
“I see that,” he said as he gave into the urge to pet them. Typical Green Dragon.
“What do you want?” I asked.
“Well, you hung up on me and then wouldn’t answer when I tried to call you back a hundred times,” he said.
“Yeah, for the average person, that means no more talking.”
"Why?"
"He's something else," Rashta said with disbelief.
"You said it," I said aloud.
"What?" Vesser asked. "I feel like you're talking to someone else all of a sudden."
I stared at him. "How can someone be so dumb? Piece everything together, dummy."
"Rinneth, I don't care that you're half Dragon," he insisted.
"I said piece it together," I ordered.
He remained quiet as he thought about what I had said and then his eyes widened. "You're talking to Rashta?"
I palmed his forehead. "Duh. The only Halfling Dragon in existence saved by a god by sacrificing her freedom, only to create an eternal rebirth process for the two of them…that's me."
Vesser nodded. "Okay."
"Okay?"
He shrugged. "What else do you want from me? I don't care, Rinneth. You could be a moose for all I care." He made a funny face. "They actually don't make for bad conversationalists." I sputtered a laugh and he held up a finger. "Don't make fun of me. Being mostly Green Dragon has it's interesting moments."
"I can see that."
He pushed my shoulder. "You good now?"
"Why don’t you care?"
"Have you paid attention to my clan?"
My brow rose. "Huh?"
"My team. A Human, Dwarf, and Elf as well as his half-elf sister. They're my clan. And if you stick around, you will be too. I really don't care what you are, Rinneth. I'm a Half-color for Zion's sake."
I chuckled. "All right."
Vesser affectionately pet my retriever, Lira, and then the two of us froze when a masculine voice cleared his throat loudly behind Vesser. I poked my head out just as Vesser turned and my heart stopped at the sight of my father.
"Boy," my father said sternly. "We're going to talk, now."
"Father," I warned.
Vesser pat me on the shoulder. "It's all right, Rinneth. We need this talk."
I pointed at my father. "Don't harm a single hair on his head."
My father didn't respond. Vesser pat Lira one last time and then followed my father to another part of the roof where I could see them, but not heard. I watched intently for any sign my father was going to act out of line, but the two spoke calmly to each other. Then, to my surprise, my father patted the side of Vesser's shoulder. I don't know what Vesser said to gain my father's tenuous trust, but he managed it.
My eyes narrowed when my father reach up and did something to Vesser's head to make him flinch. The then walked away and Vesser came back, rubbing his head.
"Well, I have about three seconds to leave before he comes after me," Vesser said.
"What did he do to you?" I demanded to know.
Vesser chuckled. "He plucked a hair from my head."
I snorted. "That smartass."
He patted my shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah, I'll be back in Lumas so you guys can show me whatever it is you want to show me."
"The game lounge. It's where we meet up several times a month."
I nodded. "Okay. But before you leave, why were you here to begin with."
He shrugged. "I get bored and like to steal things. Stealing from other Dragons is the most fun. They also have more things worth stealing."
I shook my head. "Weirdo."
He chuckled and then left. I noticed my father watching and I pointed at him. He smirked and then disappeared on the other side of the roof.
I sighed, feeling suddenly drained, and shut my window before getting ready for bed. I thought about finishing my paperwork for signing me on the team, but then decided I'd do it when I woke up in the morning. I did have a two hour car ride.
(Chapter 6)
Vesser
I waited on a bench outside the convention center for Rinneth. She promised to meet me here so I could show her to the game lounge, but as I looked at my watch, I wondered if she was actually going to show. Her father and I managed to come to an understanding last night, but he came off as an unpredictable male and he could have made it difficult for her to meet up with us.
Or she could have decided she didn't want to see us in person yet. Last night was quite the shock for me, but I honestly didn't care about her lineage.
"Vesser," my destined mate's voice said lovingly.
I closed my eyes and blocked it out. After speaking with Rinneth last night I was pretty sure the two were one in the same, making my life difficult. I'd have to play everything by ear and feel out how to handle it. If she didn't like working with us as a team and wanted out, it would suck, but make things easy for me to attempt to pursue her. If she stayed, I could always retire after this season. I didn't hate the idea. It was something I had batted around for a while since I've been at this for a long time, but I knew the others wouldn't let me go without a fight. They'd probably try to null the no dating rule just to keep me.
I looked out at the garden when I heard footsteps on the concrete to find Rinneth and Ramos approaching. I wasn't thrilled to see him, but I knew her father wouldn't allow her to go anywhere without someone to keep her safe, and it would help keep me in line as it would force me to I'd get to know Rinneth casually. With her being part Human, I was sure she'd react negatively to a fast pairing.
I stood up and nodded in greeting. "You finally showed."
She smiled. "Sorry, ran into traffic."
"Don't worry about it." I turned to head for the lounge. "I'll show you where the lounge is."
She nodded and the two of them followed me through the garden. We crossed the street and headed down several blocks before we reached a large building with large glass pane windows and glass double doors. I opened the door and the deafening sound of computer works and people cheering escaped.
"It's really loud in here," Rinneth said as we entered.
"Don't worry," I replied. "The private lounges block this out. Follow me."
I led them to an elevator and once we were all in, I sent us up to the fifth floor. When the elevator stopped and opened, the two followed me down the hall until we reached out lounge room. I swiped my access card across the lock and opened the door, only to wish I hadn't.
"Vesser, is that you?" a female voice asked.
I froze. "Mother?"
"Oh finally!" she exasperated. "I thought you'd never show up."
Why did she have to show up today? I entered the room to find my teammates sitting on one the couch quietly, not that I blamed them, and two women sitting on the other couch, my mother and sister. My sister, like me had more green hair than black, but had obtained the blue eyes of our mother. My mother, the half Black, half Green Dragon, had an even mix of green and black hair and also had blue eyes.
"I was showing our new teammate how to find this place," I explained.
"Oh good." She stood up and came over to me. We embraced in a quick hug and then she continued speaking. "The others told me about Tyden. I'm glad you finally did away with that male. I did not like him." She looked at Ramos. "This your new teammate?"
Ramos pointed at Rinneth. "No, she is."
My mother blinked with confusion and then looked at Rinneth. "A female player?"
Rinneth smiled. "My name is Rinneth, ma'am."
"So polite," my mother said.
She was right. I honestly was surprised, even though I knew I shouldn’t be. Being Fallon's daughter she would be trained to be polite and the perfect image for the company for many situations.
Rinneth looked at me sister. "Hey, Ivey."
"Hi, Rinneth," she greeted back.
I looked between the two. "You know each other?"
Rinneth nodded. "She works for one of my father's subsidiary companies."
"You're Fallon's daughter?" my mother said.
"Yes, ma'am."
"Well, this is a day full of surprises," my mother said. "I'll come back later to talk to you Vesser. I hadn't expected today to be a busy day for you."
'That's all right, mother," I replied.
She gave me a quick hug and beckoned my sister to follow. My mother gave Rinneth a quick look over and smiled with approval and then left. Vamir and the others sighed with relief and it did escape Rinneth's notice.
"Well that was…interesting," she said.
"Sorry about that," I apologized. "She just shows up without warning."
Rinneth shrugged. "Could be worse, though with everyone so on edge I'd guess she's a bit difficult to deal with."
"Dat be an understatement, lass," Thuldren said.
"Good to keep in mind," she noted as she looked around the lounge room. "Nice place. How often will we meet here?"
"Usually once a week unless there's a tournament coming up," I said. "Then we tend to meet anywhere from three times a week, to every day."
"Good to know. I'll have to make sure I plan accordingly."