Well, Here it is, at long last, Teresa. Special thanks to Evan for letting me use his scanner.

Stuff

Ok, update:
1. COM is being put on hold in favor of my contrast story, which is being written on old fashioned sheets of notebook paper with a pencil. I know, uncivilized, but what can I do.
2. The Dragon story is at a critical phase, and I've been scared to post any more updates for fear of screwing it up. But, I think I've now nearly caught up with my pre-writing, and I might just post something tommorrow or the next day, unless my computer crashes or the power goes out or my parents force me to spend both days cleaning.
3. Amy and I have finished a wonderful illustration. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a scanner, so I can't post it. I'm working on that, I'll have it as soon as I can.

Why *spoiler* *spoiler*ed *spoiler*

Same deal as before - If you haven't finished HP6, ignore this. If you have click the link in the previous post for my opinion on whether a certain character is really working for a certain other character.

Tribute

If you have finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, click here. Otherwise, don't, unless you want to get spoiled. This is the fan-art I am sending to J.K.

The Mirror of Truth

Once upon a time, there was a knight. He was in love with a beautiful princess, the daughter of the king to whom he had pledged his service. One day, as he approached the castle, he saw an enormous, hideous dragon carrying the princess away. He decided to rescue her. He knew, of course, that he could not just charge in and take on the dragon. He would need a plan, some clever way of defeating the beast. So, he decided to visit the famous Mirror of truth.
The mirror of truth was, as the name suggests, a mirror that would always show you things as they truly were. It was also said that the mirror would answer any question that was posed to it.
The knight journeyed many days in search of the mirror, but found nothing. Finally, as he was walking through the woods, an old woman approached him.
"You seek the mirror of truth?" she asked.
"Yes," answered the knight.
"Why do you seek it?" asked the crone.
"So that I may learn how to slay the dragon!," answered the knight.
The old woman laughed, high and mirthlessly.
"I will show you how to find the mirror,"she said, "But you will not like what you see there,"
"That's alright," said the knight, "I will go anyway,"
"Alright," said the old woman. "Walk east into this forest until you come upon a stream that flows into a cave. You must remove all your armor and your sword, leave them on the shore, and swim under water until you see a blue light. When you come up, you will be in the room with the mirror,"
So the knight went and followed her instructions. As she had said, he came upon a cave with a stream running into it. He dismounted, took off all his armor and his sword, and jumped in the river. Under the water, he swam. After a while he was almost out of breath, but he still swam on. His arms started to feel like they weighed a ton. Then finally, just as it seemed as if he'd lost all hope, he saw a blue light. Quickly he swam to the surface.
Gasping for breath, he climbed up onto the shore. He was in a dimly lit cave. The small pool of water he had come from was all that was there. Then he saw something that made him jump. Reflected in the pool was, instead of his own handsome face, the hideous face of the dragon.
"Are you the mirror of truth?" asked the knight.
"Some call me that," replied the dragon.
"But is it true that you cannot tell a lie?"
"It is true that that I can never intentionally deceive anyone, nor can I give blatantly incorrect information. However, I have found that the nature of the truth varies greatly depending on your perspective. So who can say if what is true to one man is also true to another?"
The knight was confused by this, so he decided not to pursue it any farther. Instead, he opted to pose the question he had come hear to pose.
"How do I destroy the dragon?" he asked.
"which dragon?" asked the mirror.
"The one that has taken my lady!" replied the knight.
"There is no such dragon,"answered the mirror, matter-of-factly.
"What?" asked the knight. "But I saw the Princess being carried away by a monstrous beast!"
"That she was," said the mirror. "If, that is, you are referring to Princess Isabella IV of Alvasia,"
"But I thought you said no dragon had carried her off!"
"I said no dragon had carried off your lady,"
"What is that supposed to mean?" said the knight, infuriated.
"It is supposed to mean," replied the reptilian face, "That she neither is, nor ever was in any sense yours. Legally, she is still her father's, and in spirit, she is her own. In a much more practical sense, she is the dragon's,"
"That as it may be," said the knight, gritting his teeth at what he clearly believed to be a waste of time, "Can you tell me how to defeat the beast?"
"Yes," said the mirror.
The knight screwed up his face, trying to come up with a question that could not being contorted.
"How do you defeat the dragon that carried off Lady Isabella IV of Alvasia nearly a fortnight ago?" he finally asked.
"I don't," answered the mirror, "I'm a mirror,"
"Ha-Ha," said the knight, "Don't you realize a woman's life is at stake here?"
"I don't," said the mirror.
Realizing there was no point in arguing, the knight asked, "How do I defeat the dragon?"
"Which dragon?" asked the mirror.
"THE ONE WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT!" yelled the exasperated knight.
"Oh sorry," said the mirror calmly, "I thought you might have switched dragons. Well the best way, it's generally agreed upon, is to kill him. However -,"
"KILL HIM? THAT'S THE BEST YOU CAN DO? I COULD'VE FOUND THAT OUT WITH JOURNEYING HUNDREDS OF MILES TO SEE YOU!" he sighed. "What a waste of time,"
"However," continued the mirror, as if oblivious to what had been said, "You could try challenging him to game of backgammon,"
"Why?" asked the now quite frustrated knight.
"He's very bad at backgammon," said the mirror.
"How will beating him at backgammon help me rescue the princess!?" asked the knight.
"Who said anything about rescuing the princess?" asked the mirror.
"You're lucky you're not made of glass, you know that?" said the knight, angrily.
"Yes," answered the mirror.
"Am I going to get a straight answer of you, or should I cut my losses and just go challenge that dragon?"
The mirror pondered this for a while, than said, "That's all up to you,"
The knight decided to give it one more go.
"How do I rescue the princess?" he asked.
"Assuming," said the mirror, "That we have not changed princesses, than to rescue her, you will have to kill the dragon,"
The knight was ready to explode again, but he took a deep breath, calmed himself, and said, "How do I kill the dragon we've been talking about this whole time?"
"There are many ways," said the mirror. "The easiest it probably to use your sword and stab it,"
"Where?" asked the knight urgently.
"Oh, anywhere," answered the mirror, "Heart, stomach, lungs, all that. Though I think the easiest would be the throat,"
"But what about his scales?" asked the knight.
"They're hard," said the mirror, "And red, and shiny,"
"Yes," said the knight, "but how do I get past them?"
"Well," said the mirror, "Either stab straight through them with something really, really, sharp, or try and slip under them with something really, really, thin,"
"Are you going to tell me anything I couldn't have deduced for myself?" asked the knight, who had by now nearly given up hope of discovering what he was here to discover.
"I already have," said the mirror.
"What?" asked the knight.
"The dragon is very bad at backgammon,"
"Can I use that information to rescue the princess,"
"Unlikely,"
"Is there an easy way to kill the dragon?" asked the knight.
"No," said the mirror.
"Is there anything useful about the dragon you can tell me?"
"Define useful,"
"Pertinent to helping me kill him,"
"Who's him?"
"The Dragon,"
"The Dragon in question is female,"
"Her, then,"
The mirror was silent.
The knight took a deep breath.
"Is there anything significant you can tell me to help me kill the Dragon who is guarding Princess Isabella IV of Alvasia?" he said, his voice level but obviously enraged.
The mirror thought about this. Finally, after several long minutes, it said, "Yes,"
"What?" asked the knight.
"Dragons breathe fire." the mirror began, They have sharp teeth, and scales, and -"
"YAAAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!" yelled the knight. He plunged a fist into the face in the mirror, but of course it went straight into the water. His hand kept going and hit the rock on the side of the pool, scraping the knuckle so that it bled.
"Well that was productive," said the mirror.
"I GIVE UP, YOU USELESS PIECE OF MULE DUNG! I HATE YOU AND EVERYTHING THING YOU STAND FOR!"
"Hey," said the mirror, "Sometimes the truth hurts,"
The knight jumped into the pool. Two days later, the old lady who had shown him how to find the place was discovered, stabbed through the heart, along with two other peasants who had just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The knight was later killed after infuriating the dragon by challenging her to, and winning a game of backgammon.

The moral of the story is that some stories have no morals.

Chapter 33: Some Answers

By the time Thursday rolled around, I was so full of questions I was ready to burst. I was about to start questioning Teresa as soon as I got into the car, but she got there first.
"Did you listen to the tape?" she asked.
"Yes," I answered, "Of course,"
"Did you understand it?"
"Yeah, it only took me about three hours. How does that even work? I mean, I know you can learn a language quickly by immersion, but not that quickly,"
"It's your dragon blood. You're naturally inclined to understand Draconic. By the end of today, you'll be speaking it too,"
"So is that what we're doing today?" I asked.
"One thing, yes. Recent developments mean we need to... speed up your training a bit. Is there any way you could do a second day a week?"
"Would these... developments have anything to do with Senator Walsh?" I asked.
"That's part of it,"she admitted, "So is what happened to you on Friday. But it's a lot deeper then that. I wish I could tell you more, but I don't know all that much myself. When it comes to Senator Walsh, the fewer people who know the better - if he's to have have any chance of winning the nomination. Can you get off for another day?"
"I think so," I said, "But I think my father may be getting suspicious,"
"If Walter suspected anything, he'd have let us know," said Teresa, "He knows how to get ahold of us. So let us worry about that,"
We pulled up in front of her apartment building. We got up and made our way upstairs. To my relief, there was no sign of Pat along the way.
"He's working," said Teresa, when I brought this up. "Since that news story hit the air, Thadius has insisted on some new security measures, but they take a lot of people to orchestrate,"
"Am I getting more security?" I asked.
"That would draw too much attention to you," she answered. "Don't worry. You'll be fine. We just want to get you to the point where you can defend yourself as quickly as possible. Now, let's get started,"
Teresa pulled off her shirt. Then she started pulling down her jeans. She looked up at me.
"Honestly," she said, "If you want to go to another room, that's fine. I've pretty much lost all my reservations at this point. You'll only be a naked human for a few seconds - just strip and transform.
I turned away from her, a little embarrassed, and started taking off my own clothing. I was just about to pull of my underwear, ready to change forms immediately, when I heard Teresa behind me.
"Could you help me get this?" she asked. I turned around. Her back was now to me, and I could shee that her only garment was a gold, sequined thing with arm holes that went around her chest. There were two more holes in the back. It was clearly too large for her. It was fastened in the back with five large clasps, three of which had been fastened.
"I can't usually get those clasps with hands, much less claws," she said.
I reached over and clasped the other two. Immediately, the garment filled out as she transformed from beautiful woman to gold-colored lizard monster.
On closer reflection, she actually looked more like a cat than a lizard. Her face was distinctly catlike, and what, in the heat of battle, had appeared to be a mass of tentacles, now appeared to be almost hair, although very thick strands of it, that started gold and ended up turquoise. A strange turquoise marking, like a flame, was on the top of her her head. And a rainbow pattern on her leathery wings extended onto frills that ended at her tail. She was actually still quite beautiful, in an odd sort of way.
"What are you waiting for?" she asked in the same rough tongue he'd heard on the tape.
I turned around, pulled off my boxers and focused on what it felt like to have a tail, until I could feel the tail. Then I looked down at my new, silvery body and turned around.
"Good," said Teresa, "Much faster. I think you're geting the hang of it. The first thing we're gonna work on is communication, and maybe your motor skills a little more. Everyone who lives in this building either works for the NA in some capacity or has been vouched for by someone who does, so it doesn't really matter if we're seen. Lets take a walk, shall we?"
She opened the door and stepped to the side. I walked through.
"So how does this work?" I tried to say, but all that came out was "Ror horrir urur?"
"Don't try to talk yet," said Teresa. "Your grasp of Draconic is unusual. You have pretty much all the grammar and a fair amount of vocabulary, but as far as actually making all the sounds, you're at the level of a newborn. So we're gonna start with vowels. Most of them are pretty much like they are with a human mouth, with some exceptions..."
There's no point in my going on further. Suffice it to say, about an hour later I way speaking draconic, though with what could only be described as a thick human accent.

Apology

I'm in Florida. I wasn't expecting to be. My computer access is inconsistant, and it will be for the next few days. I want to work on the dragon story, but I can't - even when I have a computer, it's in a room full of people, and I need silence to write. So, it'll be at least a week. Sorry.

Sleep Cycles

This is my first foray in a long time into the world of fan-fiction - specifically, a Harry Potter fanfic. It takes place at some point during Prisoner of Azkaban. Please comment on it - I'll be gone for a week, and I want to have comments when I get back.

"PARVATI! I've given you an extra five minutes already! Get up now, or I start singing!"
Hermione Granger awoke once again to the sound of her roommates' magical alarm clock. She'd bought the thing in Hogsmeade two weeks ago, and it refused to shut up until you were really out of bed. It was only a matter of time before one of the girls decided to throw it out the tower window.
Hermione did not feel like getting up. Even with just her class schedule, she'd had to be awake three hours longer than everyone else, so by the time she'd gotten through her last class yesterday she'd been ready to go to bed. Then she'd had another five hours of homework. After that she could have gone to sleep, but she'd felt obligated to finish up some work on Buckbeak's case first. When she finally got to bed, she only had three hours left until she had to get up.
In the four-poster next to hers, Parvati had finally succumbed to her alarm clock and had left the room. The rest of the girls had left some time ago. Hermione tried to rouse herself, but she just didn't have the energy. She remembered having a dream. This was odd, because she hadn't dreamt in months - she hadn't had enough sleep. She was about to force herself to get up. Then her eye caught the gleam of the time-turner on her desk.
I shouldn't, she thought. I promised McGonagall I'd only use it to get to my studies. I could get in loads of trouble!
But it is for your studies! said another voice inside of her. How are you supposed to get good marks if you can't get enough sleep? Just two more hours, it won't hurt anyone.
Hermione was far too tired to argue with herself, and the bed was so warm and comfortable. She reach over, grabbed the small gold chain, and through it over her neck. Then she gave the little hour glass two turns, and promptly fell asleep.
She awoke some time later. Something was pressing against her. It's only Crookshanks, she thought, Go back to sleep. Then she heard a muffled cry. Startled, she sad up and looked around. There was someone else in the bed with her!
Simultaneously, they turned to look at each other. As the Hermione of an hour and a half ago stared confusedly at her, she suddenly remembered the dream she'd had earlier that night - or actually, not earlier, but exactly then. Only it hadn't been a dream at all.
"What?" asked the other her confusedly.
"It's just a dream," said the more recent Hermione, "Go back to sleep,"
The other her, exhausted, did. The time traveling Hermione climbed over her own sleeping form, slid out of bed and tried to figure out what to do.
She glanced at her watch. The other girls in the dorm would be waking up in half an hour - and if they saw two Hermione's in the room, her days at Hogwarts would be over. She could go back to the common room - but then the other girls would wonder how she'd gotten there so fast. She could go straight to breakfast, but that would raise some uneasy questions about why she was up so early when she'd gone to bed so late. Eventually, she decided to hide under her bed until the other her left to go back in time and get some more sleep, then crawl out and run down to breakfast.
She waited under the bed for about half an hour, but she couldn't keep her eyes opened. After all, she'd still only had about five hours of sleep.
This time what awakened her actually was Crookshanks. She tried to sit up, and clonked her head on the bed. "
What am I doing under the bed? She thought. Then the events of the morning started to come back to her. It couldn't be, she thought, I can't have been that stupid. She decided it must have all been a dream. She glanced at her watch - It was 8:50. She ran out of the room and towards the North Tower for Divination.
She climbed up the ladder at 8:58, and sat down next to Ron.
"Hello," he said to her, "Where were you at Breakfast?"
"I guess," Hermione mused, "I just didn't have the time,"

Teresa's Makeover

Ok, so here's the deal. I'm about ready to write the next chapter, but theres a problem. My illustrator and were sitting down trying to draw Teresa, and we came up with something really awesome which looked nothing like my description from chapter 17. So, as soon as Amy gets back from Spain, I will post the illustration with a modified chapter 17 (or was it 12? I can't remember.) Since Teresa is in Dragon form in the next post, I don't want to post it until I have access to that picture. Amy gets back on the 20th or so, so hopefully I'll have something up shortly thereafter.

Chapter 32: Politics

That evening, I was getting on my computer surfing the web, when Mora IMed me:
Dark_Lady_42: Hey you see this?
I clicked on the link. It took me to an article on Yahoo! news:
Senator Walsh Linked to MLF
Senator Sean Walsh (D, New Hamphsire) may have to change his plans for 2008. Shadows were cast today on his designs for the presidency when rival Democrat Jim Braxton (D, Indiana) accused him of having ties to the Magical Liberation Front, the magical rights group that has long been suspected of terrorist activity. Fowler stated in a speech to the strongly anti-magical Southern Baptist Convention that Consolidated Starches, the company where Walsh worked for several years and of which his uncle, Fintan O'Connell, is CEO, makes huge anual contributions to the MLF. "If this man is elected," said Braxton, "Magic will come to replace Christianity in American households. Our forefathers began the work of stamping out this scourge, and as president, I will work to continue it,"
"I believe in the rights of all Americans," said Walsh, in a special press conference to address these accusations, "Including those of Elven or Draconic heritage. I do not, however, support the activities of Draconic terrorists that may or may not be connected to the MLF. They have every right to expect the same rights and freedoms as other Americans, but they should strive to achieve them through legislation and due process of law, not brute force and terror,"
Mr. O'Connell was unavailable for comment.
It was interesting. I hadn't really been following the political struggles of the MLF. I guess I just hadn't yet realized they could apply to me. I almost started a web search, but then I remembered what Teresa had told me about my computer being watched. I decided to give her a call. To my surprise, she picked up.
"Yes," she said, exasperated.
"I was just reading this article about Senator Walsh, and I was wondering -"
She cut me off - "I know. We can't talk about it over the phone. Thursday. And please don't call me unless it's an emergency,"
She hung up.
The6th: Got anything on that writing yet?
Dark_Lady_42: Not yet, I'm working on it.
Dark_Lady_42: Give me some time.
The6th: Ok. keep me posted.
Dark_Lady_42: k
Dark_Lady_42: I g2g
Dark_Lady_42 signed out at 4:05:22.
;">I decided to risk it and click on the link to the MLF, which took me to their official website. The site showed pictures of friendly, happy looking people, and contained a bubbly mission statement about "helping Draconic-Americans, Elvish-Americans and others of magical heritage to adapt and fit into a changing world." No mention was made on the entire site of vampires. Most of the language was incredibly vague.
It was going nowhere, so I decided to sign off. I would sure I would find out the real story soon enough.

Chapter 31: Misinformation

At school on Monday, Fay nearly knocked me over coming down a staircase, then proceeded to walk next to me, even though I knew the class to which she was headed was on the other side of the school.
"Hey Skyler!" she said exuberantly.
"Hey," I said softly, somewhat bewildered.
"What happened Friday night?" she asked eagerly.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You and Zhong were out together," Said Fay, talking very fast, "And now she's grounded for two weeks. Something more than what she told me happened happened,"
"What did she tell you?" I asked.
"If I tell you," said Faye, "You'll just make up a story to line up with hers. Zhong's a practiced and accomplished liar, and I saw through her, so you don't have a chance of fooling me,"
"Nothing happened," I said, "We went roller-blading, stayed out too late, and got lost,"
"Why didn't you invite me or Jason?" asked the girl.
I didn't really have an explanation prepared for this. We usually either all go along on something or else it's just Jason and me or just Fay and Zhong. I hesitated.
"You don't have to hide it from us," said Fay, "Jason and I think it's quite wonderful. In fact, if you'll admit it, I may be able to help you out,"
My mind was racing. How could they know about anything? Had Zhong told her? Had Mora somehow slipped up? But that was impossible, they didn't even know each other.
"How did you find out?" I asked, panicking.
"Well, you haven't exactly been doing a wonderful job of hiding it," she answered, "Besides, I'm an expert at this sort of thing,"
An expert? Where had she learned all this? And how hadn't he known about it? It seemed impossible.
"Wasn't expecting that much panic," said Fay, seeing my thoughts translate to my face, "Honestly, Skyler, have you never told a girl you liked her before?"
A wave of relief passed over my face. That's what she thought this was about? Me having a crush on Zhong? I opened my mouth to deny it, but then I changed my mind. It did seem a plausible explanation for things, and if I denied it, I'd have to come up with another one. So why not let her keep thinking that?
"I'd just as soon you not tell her," I said.
"I think she already more than suspects it," said Fay, "But whatever. Take your own pace,"
As she walked away, I thought about what she'd said. I'd meant it to throw her off, but the more I thought about Zhong in a romantic context, the more it seemed to make sense. She was very attractive - with her large blue-green eyes, her slightly pointy, elf-like ears, and cute round cheekbones. She had a certain unusual grace to her movements, and her smile could be downright bewitching. She was smart, I loved spending time with her, and we had a lot in common, in a way. We were both keeping big secrets. And it seemed only fair that since she knew mine, she should tell me hers.
But I soon put the thought out of my head. I wouldn't have time to date while learning to be a Draconic and trying to keep up with my schoolwork. She'd have to stay a friend for me to confide in. But still -it was nice to think about.

Final Entrants

We have finally managed to round up four competitors to round out the tournament, giving us an even 16! They are:

Bun-Bun (Sluggy Freelance)- The most dangerous mini-lop on the planet, Bun-Bun has taken on Aliens, Demons, Santa Clause and the Easter Bunny and there is not one of them who does not fear him now. His prowess with the switch-blade is unparralleled. His second is Torg.

Peter Pan (Peter Pan)- The beloved childhood character is far more dangerous than he sounds. He can fly and he's an incredibly skilled swordsman. Not to be underestimated. His second is Tinkerbell.

Corporal Delphine Angua von Uberwald (Discworld)- The only werewolf in the Ankh-Morpork city watch, Angua has proven herself in combat time and time again. Ironically enough, the only other woman in this tournament hunts undead. With any luck, the sparks will fly. Her second is Captain Carrot Ironfounderson.

The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy)- The most feared creature in the galaxy. It's one weakness is that if you can't see it, it can't see you, but that won't help our competitors too much. It's second is another Ravenous Bugblatter beast of Traal.

COM Prelude 2: Dukalb

You've all heard the story of how Magic came to the world, in the Dagger of Arconolia, and how the oceans churned, and the earth split, and the magic belts were created. And most of you probably know the story of how Fahren and her sister fought, and Fahren was expelled from the Citadel of Decorgio and led her people on a twelve year exodus to the forest of Virii. But this shoustory you have not heard. It takes place a few thousand years later, in that same forest.
Once upon a time, in the forest of Virii, there lived a fair elf maiden, with beautiful yellow hair. Now, for those of you less knowledgable in elf lore, yellow hair was the sign of the elven aristocracy among the elves of the citadel- among the children of Fahren, it is considered a curse, a reminder of the oppression they went to the woods to flee. So the girl was ostracized by her fellow elves, and when she came of age, she trained to become a ranger, spending her time defending nature, far from the disapproving looks of the other elves. One day, as she was patrolling the outskirts of the forest, she came upon a dwarf cutting down one of the trees.
This was exactly the situation she was trained to deal with, of course. She silently crept up behind him and poked the very tip of her javelin into his neck.
"Good afternoon, sir," she said, casually.
he jumped, nearly impaling himself on her weapon, then turned to face her.
"You are aware," she asked, "That logging in the forset of Virii is strictly forbidden?"
The dwarf looked frightened for a moment, but he quickly recovered his cool and launched into an elaborate explanation.
"YOu mean, I'm already in the forest of Virii?" he said, questioningly. "Well then, forgive me. I was under the impression it began some miles to the west,"
"You should have checked more thouroughly, then," said the elf maiden, "Though this is the outskirts of our land, you are still in Virii, and chopping down our trees is punishable by death,"
"Surely you would not punish me for that which I did not know I was doing?"asked the Dwarf, backing up away from the tree.
"I'll let you off this time," answered the elf, "But you'd do well to leave as soon as you can,"
For most this would have been enough, but this dwarf, an ambitious young entrapenuer, decided to push his luck one more step forward. After all, the trees of Virii are legendary for their lightweight but durable wood, and a single log would be worth it's weight in gold to an armorer.
"One more thing," he said to the woman, "It seems I've already made quite a dent in this tree trunk. Do you think it will survie?"
"Perhaps," she said, "With the minstrations of our Druids. There is a chance,"
"But not a large one," He said.
"No," she admitted, "Not a large one,"
"Then perhaps you should let me just finish it off," he said, "Seeing as I've come all this way and all. Otherwise I'd be losing quite a bit off of this whole deal - I mean, the time it took me to get out here, the price of my cart to transport the wood and the oxen to pull it, all of this was intended to make itself up when I chopped down a cart full of trees. But if this is one of the magic trees of Virii, well then one should be more than enough to make up my losses. So hows about this - I finish chopping this one tree, load it onto my cart, thne we forget the whole thing. Deal?"
The Ranger just looked at him, with a mixture of confusion and dismay. She couldn't believe a person could not only be this selfish and greedy, but also stupid enough to just admit his motives to her, a sworn protector of the forest. What an idiot, she thought.
"I was about to let you off the hook,"she said, drawing her sword and leveling it towards his head, "Thinking this an honest mistake. But you obviously have no respect for the trees of Virii, or for the gods you put them here. You don't deserve to live,"
"On the contrary," said the Dwarf, raising his axe to block her attack, "I have the utmost respect for the tree and the gods. That's why I want to use their gifts, instead of keeping anyone from having them,"
She pushed his axe out of the way with her sword, then kicked him in the face. Just in time, he ducked and rolled out of her way. She took the opportunity to draw her other sword.
"If you're type had their way," she said as he lifted his small axe to defend himself, "Ther'd be no trees left in this forest, and my people would have no where to live,"
"You think we're that stupid?" said the dwarf. "Look at all the forests that don't have your protection. Have we completely chopped them down yet?"
She pounced at him, swords drawn. He rolled out of the way again, and stood up.
"Obviously, it's a matter of supply and demand," he yelled as he tried to deflect the blows that fell from her swords with his axe, "If we cut down all the trees, we'd be out of business. Obviously, we'd work it out so there were always more of these things growing, and we'd plant new ones to replace them. The only differance would be that-"
He stopped talking because her sword had managed to chop the blade off of his axe. He was now holding a useless handle, two sword points poking into his neck.
She could have finished him then, but something about what he was saying intrigued her.
"Go on," she said, relaxing slightly, "But keep in mind I reserve the right to decapitate you,"
The dwarf was startled to be alive, and nervous as hell, but somehow he managed to keep his cool.
"Well," he said, "The way I see it, as long as you elves are protecting these trees with your lives, the wood will continue to be extremely valuable, and more and more people will come looking for it. Seems to me the best way to protect your forest would be to plant more of these trees elsewhere, thus increasing the supply and decreasing the value of your wood. You give me one seed, and I'll make sure that happens"
"And that you reap all the profits," she said.
"Or we could split them fifty/fifty if you like," he suggested, "I just didn't mention that plan cause I didn't think you'd be interested in it. Wood elves don't tend to care much about money, rangers even less so,"
A thought was now going through the elf maidens head. An evil thought to her, but probably a decent one to most of us. You see, having only become a ranger to get away from the other elves, she had never really been all that happy in the job. Now she was thinking she could go away from this place and live a much more comfortable life. And having never had more than the spartan accomodations of Wood Elf society, this is something that appealed to her.
She pulled her swords away from his neck and placed them back in their scabbards.
"We'll take the tree, and sell the wood," she said, "Then we'll use the profits to buy some land, and plant more of these trees there. We'll run the bussiness together, and split the profits evenly. Sound good?"
"Wonderful," said the dwarf. He looked down at the handle in his hand. "I'll need a new axe," he said.
She handed him one of her swords, then took out the other one and began chopping away at the other side of the tree. It felt good, to defy the elven authorities. She felt so rebellious - cutting down a sacred tree - and she loved the feeling. When the tree fell, they loaded it onto the ox cart and headed for a city to sell the wood.
They sold it for a good sum of money, bought a plot of land, and planted the young saplings in it. And as they waited for their fortune to grow, they fell in love, and built a nice house on the land. They got married and had a beautiful baby boy, whom they named Dukalb, after the Dwarf's father. All of this was on credit from investors who thought they'd be payed back in valuable Virii wood.
Of course, their plan eventually failed - it turns out it was the soil, not the trees themselves, that gave the wood it's special properties, and when they discovered they had been growing useless wood for five years they went into huge amounts of debt, and lived the rest of their lives in poverty. But that's a story for another time. What's important is the child, and maybe this insight into his parentage will help you to understand his actions a little better.

ToSf/FC: Match 1

First, a note about how this match was conducted - I made Dungeons and Dragons character sheets for both characters, then DMed while Paul and Stephen duked it out. Ensuing matches will be conducted similarly. For the record, Bean was a monk.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Good Evening everyone, Ladies, Gentleman, and androgenous creatures of all ages, and welcome to the Science Fiction/Fantasy tournament of champions. I'm your host, Zaphod Beeblebrox, and this is Marvin,"
"Brain the size of a Planet and they have me commentating some stupid sports match. Can you believe it? And I still have this terrible pain down all the diodes in my left side. OH, life. Don't talk to me about life,"
"Ok, Marv, can we stick to talking about the match please? Ok, it looks like the competitors are stepping onto the field, which for those of you listening on some sort of audio-only device, is a graveyard in the beautiful down of Sunnydale, scenically located just above a hellsmouth. In the Northwest corner, weighing in at 190 lbs, standing 5 foot 10, he's been called the Greatest Wizard of his time, let's all give a warm welcome to Albus Dumbledore!"
*applause*
"Of course, normally he'd show some mercy, but just to make things more interesting, he think Voldemort is possessing the boy,"
*long pause*
"Uh... Marv?"
"Oh, right, in the Southeast corner, another truly pathetic lifeform. Brainpower nearly equal to mine and they tricked him into fighting in a stupid little tournament. Really makes you sick. Anyway, weighing in at a mere 50 lbs, and standing about 3 ft, let's all not hear it for Julian Delphiki,"
*uncertain applause*
"Ok, and it looks like Bean is making the first move. Using his battleschool training, the kid creeps up to the large tomb in the middle of the field and hides behind it,"
"Dumbledore seems to be casting some sort of protective spell on himself. A forcefield of some sort has appeared around him. How pathetic,"
"Look, Marv, if you're not gonna make this interesting, I'm just gonna do it myself,"
"Wonderful idea. I don't know why I put up with this in the first place. The toaster was more intellectually stimulating than you. Goodbye,"
"Okay, it looks like Dumbledore is readying some sort of spell, and yes he is, well look at that. A huge ball of fire has exploded just above the tomb. But Bean expertly avoids it, rolling out of the way. He's ok.
'And Bean is running towards Dumbledore, attacking him with his hands. And, it looks like he just hit himself in the leg. That's gotta hurt.
'Now Dumbledore appears tro be apparating to the other side of the field. Bean runs back to the tomb and hides again. And Dumbledore, not wanting to be hit again, has cast a shield spell out of his wand. Now he's launching bolts of magic through the tomb at Bean. 5 of them, and they hit right on target. Bean sneaks around behind the gravestones, using his small size to his advantage, then jumps Dumbledore, attacking him again. The shield deflects two of the blows, but two of them hit and it looks like the old man's taking quite a beating. But Bean retreats and goes to treat his wounds from the missiles, using part of his clothing to stop the bleeding.
'And it looks like Dumbledore has cast some sort of spell on Bean, who is now on the ground searching for something, and Dumbledore has apparating away again, back to the Northwest corner of the graveyard. And it looks like Bean has given up on finding whatever he's looking for, and he's running back to the tomb again. And Dumbledore fires off another fireball, which Bean again expertly avoids. Undetered, he fires five more bolts of magic. ANd oh, it looks like those stung.
'And Bean jumps Dumbledore from behind the tomb, and he knows just how to hit him to make it hurt. That old man is really taking a beating. But, the boy has taken off running. Dumbledore points his wand after him and hits him with a spell, and Bean is stopped in his tracks. He can't move. Dumbledore steps back and hits him full on with a fireball, and this time he can't evade it. He looks pretty bad, but just to be sure, Dumbledore hits the stunned
little boy with a lightning bolt and he's out. Our onsight medics are rushing out to give him some first aid. And Albus Dumbledore wins the first match of the Science Fiction/Fantasy Tournament of Champions! Tune in next week to see Worf take on Master Yoda - this is one fight you won't wanna miss!"

Chapter 30: New Perspectives

When I finally woke up the next morning, I went downstairs to have some breakfast. As I sat down, an article in the newspaper caught my eye. It talked about an unidentified man who had been found stabbed through the heart in the middle of the park. It was clearly the dragon hunter who had assaulted us. Fortunately, there didn't seem to be any suspects - it seemed too many people had been in the area that day. It was then that Teresa called me up.
"What happened last night?" she demanded.
"Huh?" I answered, uncertain of exactly what she meant.
"First off," she said, "Why were you in the woods at night? I mean how stupid can you get? I'm amazed you're alive and free,"
"I'm sorry," I said, "Time got away from me. If your friend had kept an eye on me like he was supposed to -"
"Bobby is being punished," she said, cutting me off. "He did a lot of things not exactly by the book. But you shouldn't have to count on our protection. Use some common sense, ok?"
"Ok," I answered.
"Thank you," she said. "Second thing: why are you still alive? Bobby said that you said those vamps vanished in a flash of light or something? We need more than that. Tell me everything you know,"
"That's all I know," I answered, "There was a flash of light, they turned to dust,"
"Who was the girl?" asked Teresa.
"Zhong Hua, a friend of mine," I said.
"She go to your school?"
"Yup,"
"Your age?"
"A year younger," I said, "Why do you want to know?"
"Don't worry," said Teresa, "We won't bother her. You been listening to the tape?"
I had not. In fact I had completely forgotten it existed.
"You haven't, have you?" She asked, alerted by my stunned silence. "Look, you have until Thursday. Listen to it until you understand it - trust me, you will. I'll see you then, ok? And please try to be more careful,"
She hung up. I figured I'd better get to work on that tape, so I went upstairs and found my old tape player. I hooked up my headphones and turned it on.
It was growling. And roaring. I understood nothing at all. I took the headphones off - how was I supposed to do this. But Teresa had known what she was doing in the past. I put them back on. I forced myself to listen to a full three hours of roaring and growling, until finally I'd had enough. I was about to take them off when suddenly, something changed. While I could still hear nothing but growling, my mind was ssomehow interpreting it as words.
"And so Terelafon was slain, and in the kingdom there was much rejoicing. But in the halls of Ab-duruth, the tone was somewhat more melancholy. Who could this new enemy be? And which of them would be next?"
I rewound the tape to the beginning, and sure enough, I understood it now. It was a history of the arcane age - the same stories we'd grown up with, but from a completely new perspective. I listened with rapt attention as it told of how the Elves, far from the cruel slave-masters conventional folklore made them out to be, had been the kind benefactors of humanity, until the Necromancer created his army of undead and destroyed them, along with the Dwarves, the Dragons, and every other non-human race. It was an exciting story, and most exciting of all, it was told from the point of view of the dragons.
I had a lot of questions, but when I called Teresa all I got was her answering machine. It appeared I would have to wait until Thursday for answers.

Late arrivals

Four late competitors - there may be four more, but then we close.

9. Buffy Summers (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) - the only woman in the tournament has laid the smack down on many a vampire. Her skills have also allowed her to take on demons and all manner of scumbags, however, and Kilngons, Jedi, and Wizards should be nothing out of the ordinary for her. Second: Angel.

10. Wolverine (X-men) - His claws and fast healing will make him a force to be reckoned with. Wolverine shows very little mercy to his opponents. All around badass. Second: Beast.

11. Julian "Bean" Delphiki (Ender's Shadow series) - Not only is he the smartest person in the world, Bean is also Seven feet tall. Not to be underestimated by any means. Second: Petra Arkanian.

12. Spider-man (Spiderman) - Does whatever a Spider can. Spins a web, any size, catches thieves just like flies. Lookout, here comes the Spider-man! Second: The Incredible Hulk (don't try to make it make sense.)

I'm also changing how the bracketing will work. I will draw randomly from a hat.

Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tournament of Champions

I realize this has been done before, but this time there's a catch- no high-tech weapons, no characters with insurmountable or god-like abilities. Only weapons that would have been possible with medievil technology are allowed. Use of Magic and the Force is to be limited(we'll explain that later). The way in which I intend to determine the winner will be complicated and time consuming, so don't expect updates to be frequent. The seconds will likely not be used, but are required as a precaution. (Plus I thought it would be fun to list them).
The Competitors, in alphabetical order by last name (if they have last names) are:

1. Aragorn (Lord of the Rings) - The rightful King of Gondor is clearly the best trained with medievil weaponry. He will need this to overcome his lack of special powers. He is part Elf, and his Sword, Narsil, has some magic in it, but it's of a very subtle type. He's still very tough. His second is Gimli.

2. Marcus Cole (Babylon 5) - Marcus knows a lot about his Mimbari force pike, and his martial arts training is unparralleled. He is looking forward to proving that the Rangers, not the Jedi, are the leading force of peace in the galaxy. Though his show be obscure, his heart is pure. His second is Lennier.

3. Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter) - The only wizard Voldemort fears will be a tough act to beat - luckily, his spells will be limited. Still, I have a feeling he knows a thing or two about the blade. His second is Sirius Black.

4. Dylan Hunt (Andromeda) - Both the Last of the Paradigm and the Last Great Captain of the Commonwealth, Dylan's innate badassness is surpassed only by Kevin Sorbo's arrogance. He also used to be Hercules. In short, he will be quite the competitor. His second is Telemachus Rhade.

5. Teal'c (Stargate SG-1) - The Goa'uld's most wanted, Teal'c the Sha'vaa is a force to be reckoned with. Even deprived of his trusty staff weapon, he should be able to deal with anyone by quick reflexes and brute strength. His scond is Bre'tak.

6. Darth Vader (Star Wars IV-VI) - Vader killed more Jedi than any one else. He is the chosen one, and even when not actively using the force has heightened senses and reflexes associated with it. If he had not felt sorry for Luke, he likel would have killed the Emperor, ruled the Galaxy, and never been defeated. His second is Mara Jade.

7. Worf, son of Mogh (Star Trek)- The only main character to serve on two seperate Star Trek serieses, Worf comes from the warrior race of Klingons, and successfully bested 31 others in a Bat'leth tournament in at least two universes. Very skilled with Klingon bladed weapons, especially his Mak'leth. His second is General Martok.

8.Master Yoda (Star Wars, Episodes I-III)- The little green leader of the Jedi, Yoda will be able to use the force as much as he wants to augment his small stature, and a limited number of times for offensive purposes. Powers are limited to those seen in the movies. His second is Obi-Wan Kenobi.

The first match will be up eventually. If you wish to place bets, I think that would make this more entertaining. Quark will be happy to serve as our bookie. We accept republic credits, Latinum, Melange, Knuts, and Root Beer. The Altaran dollar and the Pu will not be accepted. Thank you.

Shortest attempt at deadlines ever

I can't do this. I can't write on a schedule. I tried to force an update out of myself today, and it was crap. Like crappier than previous examples of my crap. This is supposed to be my stress reliever, so I'm not going to turn it into a source of additional stress. No deadlines, no schedules- quality over quantity. Sorry.

AARRRGGLLLEE

Ok, a bit of a wrench has been thrown in my "finish by June 20th" plan - apparently, I'm getting my wisdom teeth out on Tuesday, which means the next day I will not be nearly coherent enough to post. However, expect some kind of update tonight and the next two nights, hopefully resuming on Wednesday, and I may try to double-up to make up for this inconvenience.

Chapter 29: Back to Reality

As he stepped into the light, I got a better look at him. Slender, of about average height, he had dark skin, curly black hair, and was wearing a long, black leather coat. His hand was extended.
"Skyler Woods Brimmer the sixth," I answered, shaking his hand.
"Bad move," answered the vampire hunter. "You had no way of knowing I was telling the truth. I could have been another dragon hunter, and you would have just held up a 'please kill me' sign. We gotta work out some kinda code or something, cause that ain't gonna work,"
"Umm..." I started, "You saw me turn into a dragon. Shouldn't that have tipped you off?"
He looked embarrassed. "Well, probably," He said, "But you never know. These dragon hunters aren't always so smart,"
"So, uh, reverend, you work for the MLA?" I asked him.
"Please, call me Bobby," he answered, "Cause I think we're gonna be pretty tight. Technically, I only worked for H.O.U.N.D. and the First Baptist Church of Minneapolis. But right now I'm apprenticed to Quentin, who works very closely with the Northern Alliance, and he assigned me to keep an eye on you,"
"Nice job," I said sarcastically.
"Hey, don't blame me," he answered, "I saw you head off into the words with a lady friend and figured I could give you two a little privacy. Speaking of which, I think she's coming to,"
I turned around. Zhong had opened her eyes and was slowly trying to sit up. She looked very confused.
"And I suppose I have you to thank for taking out those two vamps?" Bobby asked her as he helped her up.
"What?" she said, looking around, "No. Who are you?"
"He's a friend," I said before he could answer, "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I think so," She said, "But I was supposed to be home hours ago. My parents are gonna kill me,"
"Wait a minute," said Bobby, "So if you didn't take out those vamps, who did?"
"I told you," I said, "A bright flash of light turned them to dust,"
"Yeah," he answered, "But somethin' had to have caused it. Never mind. Lets get back to the parking lot,"
We followed Bobby back to the parking lot. When we got there, we saw a police car parked outside, along with my mothers car and Zhong's family van. Someone gave a yell as we approached, and both our parents' ran out to greet us.
"Where were you?" asked my mother, smothering me with a hug. "We were so worried! It's not like you to be an hour late when you say to pick you up at a certain time! We were about to send out a search party and everything!"
Next to us Zhong's mother was telling her what I can only assume was something similar in Chinese.
"We got lost," I said. "Then it was really dark and Zhong fell and got knocked out. Luckily, Bobby found us, and - "
I looked around for the Vampire hunter, but he was gone.
"Yes?" asked my mother.
"Where'd he go?" I asked.
"I don't know, Skyler," she answered,"I'm just glad your safe," As she turned around to hug me, she noticed the damage to my clothes. Then looking at me more closely, she noticed the lack of rollerblades and the helmet with the broken strap.
"What happened to your clothes?" she asked.
I didn't have a lie thought up. I tried to buy myself some time.
"It's a long story," I said. "Can we please get on home? I'm really hungry,"
That was true. Since I'd changed back to a human, I'd been starving.
"What happened to your rollerblades?" my mother asked.
"Wheels broke off them," I lied.
"All of them?" she asked.
"One from each, I answered, "But I figured they were useless now anyway. I'll explain it all when I get home. Can we just go please?"
"Alright," she said, "You've had a long night, and I'm sure you'll tell me all about it tomorrow. It's just you'd only had those things, what, a month? You have to be more careful with your stuff,"
We bickered and argued all the way home, but I think I got through it without giving anything away. When I got home, I ate a banana, climbed in my bed, and slept a solid ten hours.