Post by Helia Hawke on May 23, 2005 12:42:35 GMT -5
Helia walked past the tables, stepped into the teleporter, turned left out of the living room and stood in the middle of the kitchen…she stood there with the same stare that Tomoe used to see in Tatsumi’s eyes so long ago…that thousand mile stare. Long moments passed in silence. Then, without a word, Helia placed her leather bag on the kitchen table with a reverberating slam. It made a peculiar squishing sound when it hit the table. Tomoe was the first to speak…
“What in the world is that?’
With a look that said ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ if it said anything Helia replied…
“Take a look. Go ahead. Take a good look.”
With that Helia turned on her heals and strode out of the room. Tomoe could here the sound of someone starting a fire in the livingroom fireplace. Cautiously she peered into the sack…or at least started to…the smell stopped her before she even got the bag open…
“What is that horrible smell?” Tomoe shouted at Helia in the next room.
“What does it look like?” came an irritated reply.
“It looks like you stopped at the stables on the way upstairs,” said Tomoe.
“Close,” came a reply followed by a ripping sound, “very close.”
“Well what is it?”
“Cyclops leavings…”
“You mean they eat this stuff?”
“NO OF COURSE NOT!”, Snapped Helia, “It’s offal, excrement, feces…”
Another ripping sound followed….
Tomoe peered curiously around the corner to see what Helia was doing…there in the middle of the room, standing in front of the fireplace, she was ripping pages out of a book, one at a time and tossing them into the fireplace. By now the fire had become a roaring blaze. Just as Tomoe turned the corner, Helia tossed the entire book into the fire.
Tomoe and Helia just stood there staring into the fire, watching the book blaze, as it turned slowly into ashes.
“So what is that you tossed into the fire?”
“Mom’s little book of secret places,” Helia tossed off nonchalantly.
“Why are you burning it?”
“Why? I’ll tell you why, came the reply. I faced down 20 cyclops, 32 trolls and an ogrelord. I died 18 times trying to reach it….that’s why!”
Tomoe turned to Helia with a puzzled look.
“Reach what?”
“The sack of treasure in the kitchen…”
“Funniest sort of treasure I have ever seen,” Tomoe said with a look on her face as if her underwear where suddenly 4 sizes too small. “You went all that way for a bag of Cyclops dung?”
“Obviously not, Helia said curtly. It was supposed to be a saddle.”
“A saddle?”
“A saddle.”
“What kind of treasure is that?, asked Tomoe, our stable is full of saddles, heck you want a saddle just take one off the wall. That’s not a treasure.”
“…and THAT,” continued Helia, “is the LAST ‘sack of treasure’ I am ever looking for.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“You quit?”
“I quit”
“Now what?”
“Now? Now what?,” said Helia with a tired exasperated tone, “Now, all I want to discover is how fast I can reach the bottom of a glass of ale. Let’s go. I’m buying.”
The two women left the living room, shortly afterwards the front gate shut with a loud clang. In the empty room, the crackle of the book in the fireplace was the only sound in the room…
“What in the world is that?’
With a look that said ‘you’ve got to be kidding’ if it said anything Helia replied…
“Take a look. Go ahead. Take a good look.”
With that Helia turned on her heals and strode out of the room. Tomoe could here the sound of someone starting a fire in the livingroom fireplace. Cautiously she peered into the sack…or at least started to…the smell stopped her before she even got the bag open…
“What is that horrible smell?” Tomoe shouted at Helia in the next room.
“What does it look like?” came an irritated reply.
“It looks like you stopped at the stables on the way upstairs,” said Tomoe.
“Close,” came a reply followed by a ripping sound, “very close.”
“Well what is it?”
“Cyclops leavings…”
“You mean they eat this stuff?”
“NO OF COURSE NOT!”, Snapped Helia, “It’s offal, excrement, feces…”
Another ripping sound followed….
Tomoe peered curiously around the corner to see what Helia was doing…there in the middle of the room, standing in front of the fireplace, she was ripping pages out of a book, one at a time and tossing them into the fireplace. By now the fire had become a roaring blaze. Just as Tomoe turned the corner, Helia tossed the entire book into the fire.
Tomoe and Helia just stood there staring into the fire, watching the book blaze, as it turned slowly into ashes.
“So what is that you tossed into the fire?”
“Mom’s little book of secret places,” Helia tossed off nonchalantly.
“Why are you burning it?”
“Why? I’ll tell you why, came the reply. I faced down 20 cyclops, 32 trolls and an ogrelord. I died 18 times trying to reach it….that’s why!”
Tomoe turned to Helia with a puzzled look.
“Reach what?”
“The sack of treasure in the kitchen…”
“Funniest sort of treasure I have ever seen,” Tomoe said with a look on her face as if her underwear where suddenly 4 sizes too small. “You went all that way for a bag of Cyclops dung?”
“Obviously not, Helia said curtly. It was supposed to be a saddle.”
“A saddle?”
“A saddle.”
“What kind of treasure is that?, asked Tomoe, our stable is full of saddles, heck you want a saddle just take one off the wall. That’s not a treasure.”
“…and THAT,” continued Helia, “is the LAST ‘sack of treasure’ I am ever looking for.”
“Really?”
“Really!”
“You quit?”
“I quit”
“Now what?”
“Now? Now what?,” said Helia with a tired exasperated tone, “Now, all I want to discover is how fast I can reach the bottom of a glass of ale. Let’s go. I’m buying.”
The two women left the living room, shortly afterwards the front gate shut with a loud clang. In the empty room, the crackle of the book in the fireplace was the only sound in the room…