LJ Idol Season 9 Week 13: Open Topic
Jun. 30th, 2014 10:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
i_love_freddieWhy are we going here? What is a desert? Why is it hot? Doesn't the sun like us? Can I have some water? What is this yellow stuff? Why are we hiding in the dark? Why do they want to kill us?
“The Bountiful Bosoms,” she read out loud. “What sort of name for a tavern is that?”
“It’s not a tavern, it’s a whorehouse,” Cory said absently without thinking. He quickly regretted it when Valia turned to him with a horrified expression.
“It’s a brothel?”
At exactly the same moment, he felt a nose nudge at his leg to get his attention. “What is a wh… whorehouse?” Phellan asked. The young wolf-man – new to the ways and the language of humans - had previously been content to lie quietly by Cory’s feet, but hearing a new word had aroused his curiosity too much for him to stay quiet. “Why is it not a tavern?”
“Well, it’s… it is like a tavern, but there are many women in there.” As he stumbled over the words, the half-elven rogue could feel his face heat up with embarrassment. “And those women can be… men give them money and the women do things for the men. Like sexual things.” Seeing that Phellan still looked confused, he added, “You remember when I explained how men and women made children? Well, they do that sort of thing.”
… …
Phellan had been thinking a lot about what Cory had said – it didn't all make sense to him, but he thought that he finally had it figured out. So he waited until the evening when the group had stopped to rest, and then hit Valia with his question.
“Are you a whore?”
Valia looked stunned. Across the camp-fire, Kane started to laugh. Benny raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cory, who hid his face in his hands.
“Where did you learn a word like that?” Kane finally spluttered.
“Well, Cory said that women who don't wear many clothes and who do things for the men are whores. So I thought that Valia must be a whore too, and she might know all about them.”
At this point, the young druid got up and fled into the trees, sobbing loudly. The men watched her go in silence, a silence that was only broken by Benny.
“I think further explanations are needed,” he said with a sigh.
Why are ants crawling on me? Why are we running away? What are these funny stones for? Do we have to go in there? Why are we going on the sea? Do we have to fight a demon? What are you doing?
Jonas had finally found a small, sheltered spot where he could sit alone and read his spellbook in peace. So having made himself comfortable, he was not pleased to find that he had a large and furry visitor. Although Phellan was staring at him in a way that was almost unnerving, he made every attempt to ignore the wolf-man. At least until...
“What are you doing?”
The wizard sighed, knowing that Phellan would not stop unless answered. “I'm reading my spellbook,” he said curtly.
“Why?”
“So I can use magic when our oh-so-wonderful leader requests it.”
“How does it work?”
Jonas was torn between being annoyed at the constant questions and the desire to show off his knowledge. “I summon forth the elements and shape them to do my biding.”
A new word! Phellan thought about it for a moment. “What are elly-ments?”
Another sigh, “Don't you know anything? Wind, water, earth, ice, fire, lightning, light and dark. Anything that is a natural force to this world.”
“Why -?”
Jonas slammed his book shut, his patience gone. “Oh, go bother someone else, you hairy beast!” Picking up his book, he stormed off back to the camp fire.
What's that smell? Can we swim now? Can I play with the human-cubs? Why do people look at us? What is magic? Why are they scared? What are these round, shiny things?
“What is wrong with you?”
Benny looked at him, a degree of amusement in his expression. “Excuse me?”
Phellan immediately took a step away. He liked Benny well enough, but the older man was also kind of scary. “Don't be angry. I just wondered – you have a... a different smell. And sometimes you can be human, and sometimes you are a wolf. Why?”
Benny hesitated, considering the best way to explain it to someone so inexperienced in the ways of the world. “I am a shapeshifter, Phellan. That means I am able to change my shape, and become an animal if I so chose.”
“Why? Do you use magic?”
“Not traditional magic, no. My blood is different to Kane's or Cory's or Valia's. I am a demonspawn – a half demon.”
“Why?”
The assassin shrugged. “I don't know how it happened, I never knew my parents. But it gives me abilities that are useful, and it probably makes me smell different to you. Do you understand now?”
“I think so.” Phellan didn't understand all of it, but he could tell that Benny was lost in his own thoughts – he would ask Cory more questions, Cory was never too busy to talk to him.
Why can't I drink like Cory? Can I eat that? What does that taste like? Why do we have to kill rabbits? Why do we take bits of monsters? Can I carry something? Why do you wear clothes? Can I wear clothes? Why do some people live underground?
Phellan lay quietly and watched curiously as Cory and Valia prepared the evening meal.
“What's that?” He asked Cory.
“Carrot.” The half elf broke off a bit of the orange stick in his hand. “Try some.”
Phellan tasted it. It was hard, and tasted quite sweet and earthy. “What's that?” he asked Valia.
“Potato,” she said quietly, focused on chopping it and putting it into the pot on the fire. “To go in the stew.”
“Stew?”
“Meat, potatoes, carrots – anything we can find,” Cory grinned at him. “This is wild garlic.” He showed his friend the crushed up white cloves in his hand.
Phellan moved nearer the pot and sniffed at it. He could smell the deer and rabbit cooking, and he had to admit that it didn't smell all that bad. “Can I have some too?”
Cory and Valia exchanged a quick glance. “Maybe you should ask Riandur first...” Valia suggested nervously, “he might not want you to eat this. Maybe it wouldn't be good for you... but I don't see why not.”
What does this thing do? How do you open a lock? What's a dragon? Why it is raining? What's that noise? What is this white stuff?Why is it making me wet? Why is the floor slipping?
Kane woke up suddenly from his nightmare, his hands shaking and his hair damp with sweat. He didn't know if he had cried out or not, but a quick glance reassured him that his friends were still asleep – all except Riandur who had been on guard duty and was nowhere in sight. While he knew that they were mostly understanding, he viewed his nightmares as a sign of weakness and hated for anyone to see him in a state of distress. Cautiously he sat up, still seeing shadowy figures in amongst the trees.
“What's wrong?” A little voice said suddenly, from behind him. “Are you afraid?”
Kane turned to look at Phellan. “No,” he said sarcastically, “I am absolutely fine.”
“You don't look fine. Did you have a bad dream?”
“Oh, leave me alone.”
Phellan just lay down next to Kane, silent for once. After a moment, the warrior reached out and stroked the wolf-man's soft fur.
“I was dreaming about my father,” he said quietly. “About what he used to do, the way he used to beat me. I know he's dead and can't hurt me now, but it seems so real.”
Phellan rested his head on Kane's knee and licked his hand. The two of them sat quietly, staring into the dying embers of the fire, until Riandur came back from patrolling.
Why are you dressed like that? Why are some people big and some small? Why are your ears pointy? Why does that man look angry? What's an arena?
As the undead closed in, and the party were pushed further backwards as they struggled against the hoard, Phellan looked over at Cory.
“Why are these things trying to kill us?” He asked, so serious that Cory had to laugh despite the situation.
“I wish I could answer that, Phellan,” the assassin ducked down, picked up a fallen club and swung it around, knocking the heads off of three skeletons. “All I know is that this world is huge, and there are thousands of creatures on it, above it and below it – and yet somehow, all of these creatures want us dead, and seem to know exactly where to find us.”
Phellan grinned, “Kane is a walking monster magnet!”
Why are we finding artefacts? Why is Benny a wolf? Why doesn't Jonas like Kane? How does this work? What are you looking at? What's a riddle? Are you sad?
“This is a nasty bite,” Valia studied Cory's arm, trying to avoid looking worried or concerned. “We had better get it cleaned up.” Picking up a semi-clean cloth, she warned, “This might hurt a bit.”
“It hurts already, but I've survived this far. Go ahead.”
Phellan watched with interest as Valia began to wipe the blood away from the wound. Why didn't they just lick it, he wondered. “What are you doing?”
“I have to clean the wound,” the druid explained patiently. “Then I can see how deep it is, and how best to treat it. And using a wet cloth helps to flush out germs, so that Cory will not get infected.” As she finished her explanation, she took a pouch of herbs from her belt and sprinkled a pinch of them over the deep bite.
“What is that?”
“It is dried and crushed Wolfsbane plant. Commonly used for healing wounds inflicted by wolves and werewolves.”
He continued to watch, as Valia took out a small piece of cloth and wrapped it around the half-elf's arm. “Why are you doing that?”
“It's called a bandage, Phellan.” It was Cory who answered this time. “It keeps the herbs in and the germs out, and stops me bleeding all over the place. After all, we don't want to leave a trail of blood for monsters to follow, do we?”
“Is your arm going to fall off?”
“I don't know, but let's hope not.” He grinned and Phellan grinned back.
Why do we have to fight? Can dreams hurt you? What happens when you die? How do humans make cubs? What's a prison?
Why?
“The Bountiful Bosoms,” she read out loud. “What sort of name for a tavern is that?”
“It’s not a tavern, it’s a whorehouse,” Cory said absently without thinking. He quickly regretted it when Valia turned to him with a horrified expression.
“It’s a brothel?”
At exactly the same moment, he felt a nose nudge at his leg to get his attention. “What is a wh… whorehouse?” Phellan asked. The young wolf-man – new to the ways and the language of humans - had previously been content to lie quietly by Cory’s feet, but hearing a new word had aroused his curiosity too much for him to stay quiet. “Why is it not a tavern?”
“Well, it’s… it is like a tavern, but there are many women in there.” As he stumbled over the words, the half-elven rogue could feel his face heat up with embarrassment. “And those women can be… men give them money and the women do things for the men. Like sexual things.” Seeing that Phellan still looked confused, he added, “You remember when I explained how men and women made children? Well, they do that sort of thing.”
… …
Phellan had been thinking a lot about what Cory had said – it didn't all make sense to him, but he thought that he finally had it figured out. So he waited until the evening when the group had stopped to rest, and then hit Valia with his question.
“Are you a whore?”
Valia looked stunned. Across the camp-fire, Kane started to laugh. Benny raised an eyebrow and looked over at Cory, who hid his face in his hands.
“Where did you learn a word like that?” Kane finally spluttered.
“Well, Cory said that women who don't wear many clothes and who do things for the men are whores. So I thought that Valia must be a whore too, and she might know all about them.”
At this point, the young druid got up and fled into the trees, sobbing loudly. The men watched her go in silence, a silence that was only broken by Benny.
“I think further explanations are needed,” he said with a sigh.
Why are ants crawling on me? Why are we running away? What are these funny stones for? Do we have to go in there? Why are we going on the sea? Do we have to fight a demon? What are you doing?
Jonas had finally found a small, sheltered spot where he could sit alone and read his spellbook in peace. So having made himself comfortable, he was not pleased to find that he had a large and furry visitor. Although Phellan was staring at him in a way that was almost unnerving, he made every attempt to ignore the wolf-man. At least until...
“What are you doing?”
The wizard sighed, knowing that Phellan would not stop unless answered. “I'm reading my spellbook,” he said curtly.
“Why?”
“So I can use magic when our oh-so-wonderful leader requests it.”
“How does it work?”
Jonas was torn between being annoyed at the constant questions and the desire to show off his knowledge. “I summon forth the elements and shape them to do my biding.”
A new word! Phellan thought about it for a moment. “What are elly-ments?”
Another sigh, “Don't you know anything? Wind, water, earth, ice, fire, lightning, light and dark. Anything that is a natural force to this world.”
“Why -?”
Jonas slammed his book shut, his patience gone. “Oh, go bother someone else, you hairy beast!” Picking up his book, he stormed off back to the camp fire.
What's that smell? Can we swim now? Can I play with the human-cubs? Why do people look at us? What is magic? Why are they scared? What are these round, shiny things?
“What is wrong with you?”
Benny looked at him, a degree of amusement in his expression. “Excuse me?”
Phellan immediately took a step away. He liked Benny well enough, but the older man was also kind of scary. “Don't be angry. I just wondered – you have a... a different smell. And sometimes you can be human, and sometimes you are a wolf. Why?”
Benny hesitated, considering the best way to explain it to someone so inexperienced in the ways of the world. “I am a shapeshifter, Phellan. That means I am able to change my shape, and become an animal if I so chose.”
“Why? Do you use magic?”
“Not traditional magic, no. My blood is different to Kane's or Cory's or Valia's. I am a demonspawn – a half demon.”
“Why?”
The assassin shrugged. “I don't know how it happened, I never knew my parents. But it gives me abilities that are useful, and it probably makes me smell different to you. Do you understand now?”
“I think so.” Phellan didn't understand all of it, but he could tell that Benny was lost in his own thoughts – he would ask Cory more questions, Cory was never too busy to talk to him.
Why can't I drink like Cory? Can I eat that? What does that taste like? Why do we have to kill rabbits? Why do we take bits of monsters? Can I carry something? Why do you wear clothes? Can I wear clothes? Why do some people live underground?
Phellan lay quietly and watched curiously as Cory and Valia prepared the evening meal.
“What's that?” He asked Cory.
“Carrot.” The half elf broke off a bit of the orange stick in his hand. “Try some.”
Phellan tasted it. It was hard, and tasted quite sweet and earthy. “What's that?” he asked Valia.
“Potato,” she said quietly, focused on chopping it and putting it into the pot on the fire. “To go in the stew.”
“Stew?”
“Meat, potatoes, carrots – anything we can find,” Cory grinned at him. “This is wild garlic.” He showed his friend the crushed up white cloves in his hand.
Phellan moved nearer the pot and sniffed at it. He could smell the deer and rabbit cooking, and he had to admit that it didn't smell all that bad. “Can I have some too?”
Cory and Valia exchanged a quick glance. “Maybe you should ask Riandur first...” Valia suggested nervously, “he might not want you to eat this. Maybe it wouldn't be good for you... but I don't see why not.”
What does this thing do? How do you open a lock? What's a dragon? Why it is raining? What's that noise? What is this white stuff?Why is it making me wet? Why is the floor slipping?
Kane woke up suddenly from his nightmare, his hands shaking and his hair damp with sweat. He didn't know if he had cried out or not, but a quick glance reassured him that his friends were still asleep – all except Riandur who had been on guard duty and was nowhere in sight. While he knew that they were mostly understanding, he viewed his nightmares as a sign of weakness and hated for anyone to see him in a state of distress. Cautiously he sat up, still seeing shadowy figures in amongst the trees.
“What's wrong?” A little voice said suddenly, from behind him. “Are you afraid?”
Kane turned to look at Phellan. “No,” he said sarcastically, “I am absolutely fine.”
“You don't look fine. Did you have a bad dream?”
“Oh, leave me alone.”
Phellan just lay down next to Kane, silent for once. After a moment, the warrior reached out and stroked the wolf-man's soft fur.
“I was dreaming about my father,” he said quietly. “About what he used to do, the way he used to beat me. I know he's dead and can't hurt me now, but it seems so real.”
Phellan rested his head on Kane's knee and licked his hand. The two of them sat quietly, staring into the dying embers of the fire, until Riandur came back from patrolling.
Why are you dressed like that? Why are some people big and some small? Why are your ears pointy? Why does that man look angry? What's an arena?
As the undead closed in, and the party were pushed further backwards as they struggled against the hoard, Phellan looked over at Cory.
“Why are these things trying to kill us?” He asked, so serious that Cory had to laugh despite the situation.
“I wish I could answer that, Phellan,” the assassin ducked down, picked up a fallen club and swung it around, knocking the heads off of three skeletons. “All I know is that this world is huge, and there are thousands of creatures on it, above it and below it – and yet somehow, all of these creatures want us dead, and seem to know exactly where to find us.”
Phellan grinned, “Kane is a walking monster magnet!”
Why are we finding artefacts? Why is Benny a wolf? Why doesn't Jonas like Kane? How does this work? What are you looking at? What's a riddle? Are you sad?
“This is a nasty bite,” Valia studied Cory's arm, trying to avoid looking worried or concerned. “We had better get it cleaned up.” Picking up a semi-clean cloth, she warned, “This might hurt a bit.”
“It hurts already, but I've survived this far. Go ahead.”
Phellan watched with interest as Valia began to wipe the blood away from the wound. Why didn't they just lick it, he wondered. “What are you doing?”
“I have to clean the wound,” the druid explained patiently. “Then I can see how deep it is, and how best to treat it. And using a wet cloth helps to flush out germs, so that Cory will not get infected.” As she finished her explanation, she took a pouch of herbs from her belt and sprinkled a pinch of them over the deep bite.
“What is that?”
“It is dried and crushed Wolfsbane plant. Commonly used for healing wounds inflicted by wolves and werewolves.”
He continued to watch, as Valia took out a small piece of cloth and wrapped it around the half-elf's arm. “Why are you doing that?”
“It's called a bandage, Phellan.” It was Cory who answered this time. “It keeps the herbs in and the germs out, and stops me bleeding all over the place. After all, we don't want to leave a trail of blood for monsters to follow, do we?”
“Is your arm going to fall off?”
“I don't know, but let's hope not.” He grinned and Phellan grinned back.
Why do we have to fight? Can dreams hurt you? What happens when you die? How do humans make cubs? What's a prison?
Why?
