Shippingitp III: We Make Love (And Sometimes War)

[Dragonrider]

Okay, finally done. And you know how I said I wasn't going to do any more massive segments for this arc? Yeah, well, I guess I lied!

Anyway, I had some trouble working through a couple places, hopefully it won't be too obvious. I hope ya'll enjoy it. Hopefully, the formatting isn't in need of too many touch-ups as I'll have to do them later.

Ghost Warlock and the (Un)Holy Grail, Part Six
Brandelle (Dirk Kris)/Cobra_Ikari/CurlyKitGirl/Dragonrider/ghost_warlock/Happyturtle/Mordokai/???/??? (surprise character introductions ) (Gezina mentioned)

Spoiler

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Once Turtle was seated, Ghost turned to Brandelle.

“Now, I suppose I should begin with introductions. I am the Ghost Warlock and this,” he indicated Turtle, “is Happyturtle. You may call us Ghost and Turtle for short. I assume you already know the precious paladin, Mordokai. Now, who are you?” He glared fiercely at Brandelle.

Brandelle glanced at Mordokai for encouragement. “Um…I’m nobody. I’m Brandelle. I’m just a…I mean I was a barmaid. Mordokai saved me.”

“I was unaware the life of a barmaid was one that required salvation from.”

“No! I mean, my master, he…”

“He was scum.” Mordokai asserted.

“Ah. Just as well, then.”

“What are you doing here?” Turtle blurted out, staring at Mordokai.

“Yes, I was just getting to that,” Ghost sighed.

“After you healed me, Ghost, I began having visions. I interpreted the dreams to mean the girl I saw in them needed my help. So I sought her out and found Brandelle. Her employer, a waste of a man, was working her as his slave due to a contemptible contract she’d unwittingly signed. I rendered the contract void and took her into my protective custody.”

Brandelle gave Mordokai’s hand a gentle squeeze. He smiled at her.

“Right,” Turtle said.

“How did you summon him, girl?” Ghost asked. “What magic did you use?”

“I…I didn’t! I didn’t do anything!” She stuttered. “I dreamt of him as well. And then he came for me. I was as shocked as he was!”

“And you’re fine with that? It doesn’t bother you to know that someone has been fiddling about in your skull, planting images?” Ghost sneered. Secretly, he began concentrating in the back of his mind, activating a power to sense their emotions.

“I assumed the visions came from Sune, a miracle,” Mordokai said. The paladin’s anger was palpable. Churning within him, Ghost sensed other things as well, stubbornness, pride, all striving feebly against his irrepressible self-assurance; his faith.

“How can you be sure?” Turtle asked, “And how convenient is it that, right after I hear Rabbit tried to kill you I find you’ve got another girl on your arm. It’s bad enough you and Rabbit go behind my back, secret meetings, but now you’ve got this…this child…who suddenly needs your ‘protection!’ What about me, Mordokai? It wasn’t that long ago that you and I…” she trailed off.

Ghost gorged on her cascade of emotions like a beggar been handed a pot roast. Rage, fear, jealously, lust, resentment, pity, and countless other feelings lined up like a buffet. Smiling despite himself, Ghost turned to Brandelle.

“Turtle, I… It’s not like that. We’re not like that… Are we?” Mordokai asked, though Ghost was paying scant attention to him.

“Mordokai, I…” Brandelle whispered, faintly. But Ghost wasn’t at all interested in what she had to say, focusing his attentions on what she was feeling.

But she was a blind spot, a void in his field of detection. He could sense nothing from her. He sucked in his breath, shocked.

Ghost stood suddenly, knocking over his chair. He grabbed at her, snatched at the collar of her dress, dragging her to her feet. He twisted the fabric at her throat cruelly. “Who are you, girl?” he demanded. “What are you? What is your game, here?”

Mordokai leapt to his feet, grabbing at Ghost and striving to pull him off of her. “Hey! Release her, fiend!”

“Wha...?” Turtle muttered, sliding in her chair away from the table, shocked at the sudden display.

“You’re a fool, paladin,” Ghost hissed. “You have no idea what it is you travel with! You are blinded by your faith and see only innocence where gods alone know what…thing…lurks behind this fragile mask!”

“Ghost! Enough!” Mordokai shouted, reaching for his sword.

“As you would have it,” Ghost released Brandelle and she sunk, coughing, back into her chair. “Mark my words; this creature is no mere servant girl. Your fate is in your own hands, paladin.”

Ghost stormed out the tavern door and into the streets, leaving Mordokai to comfort the now-crying girl.

‘Alone again, at last,’ Ghost thought to himself as he stalked towards the keep. ‘Just as well, the fool paladin would only try to stop me if he knew my objective.’

“What was that all about?” Ghost started at the sound of the voice behind him.

“Turtle? You’re not going to stay with your lover boy back there?” He asked.

[COLOR="YellowGreen“Mordokai? Oh, hells no. Watch him fawn all over that child? No thank you! I’d rather die.”[/COLOR]

Ghost smirked. “You may be in good company for that, if you continue to travel with me.”

She smiled back. “Yes, I actually noticed that about you.”

“You love him, staying there would kill you just the same, inside,” Ghost stated. “What is it about that paladin?”

“He…He’s confident?” Turtle considered. “Usually considerate? Tender? He’s the knight in shining armor almost every girl dreams will one day sweep her off her feet. He may not be a prince, but he’s a dead ringer. He’s a real man.”

Ghost laughed. “As opposed to all of us fake ones!”

She sighed. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Save it. It’s not really any of my concern. The ways and wiles and whispered sweetness of love are all in the past for me.”

“You don’t think you’ll find someone, yet?”

He stopped and fixed her with a stare. “I…had a love once. A love so deep and full it was worth dying for. And so I did. I’m now only waiting for my mind to realize that my heart stopped years ago. In the meantime, I fill time with my objective: to seek the Grail. And I’m very close, now. I will not fail.”

“Single minded, much?”

“Quite,” He proceeded towards the keep.

Meanwhile, in the keep, Dragonrider had been working her soldiers hard throughout the day. When a number of them found her in the banquet hall, asleep on the floor, they thought best not to wake her. Instead, they took inspiration from the drunkard in the dungeon and more closely inspected the goods in the larder. They were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the drink yet stored there. Laughing at their good fortune, they climbed up upon the battlements to enjoy the drink with only a small chance of being discovered by Dragonrider or the other lancers.

By the time Ghost and Happyturtle approached the keep, their brains were already buzzing nicely as a result of the drink. When they heard Ghost shouting up at them, the staggered to their feet and looked down at him from the keep walls.

“Allo! Who is zis?” One of the lancers replied to Ghost’s calls.

“I am the Ghost Warlock and this is my companion, Happyturtle. Who’s keep is this?”

“This is the castle of our master, Dragon...de…lu…la…Rider!” the toasted guard replied.

Ghost considered the obviously drunken guard and decided to try his luck at getting into the keep peacefully. “Go and tell your master that we have been charged by the gods with a sacred quest. If he will give us food and shelter for the night he can join us in our quest for the Unholy Grail.”

“Well,” the guard replied, “I'll ask her, but I don't think she'll be very keen... Uh, she's already got one, you see?”

Ghost sneered. “What? Are you sure she’s got one?”

“Oh, yes, it’s very nice!” The guard turned to the other lancers and snickered. “I told him we’ve already got one!”

Ghost and Turtle glanced at each other, hearing the roaring laughter from up on the battlements.

“Well, can we come up and have a look?” Ghost tried.

“Of course not!” the guard shouted back. “You are Bulgarian types!”

“Well, what are you then?” Ghost asked.

“I'm Byzantine! Why do think I have this outrageous accent, you silly person!”

“What are you doing in Bulgaria?” Turtle asked.

“Mind your own business!” the guard shouted back.

“If you will not show us the Grail, we shall take your castle by force!” Ghost warned.

[COLOR="Magenta"]You don't frighten us, Bulgarian pig-dogs! Go and boil your bottoms, sons of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called Ghost-man, you and all your silly Bulgarian kaniggets,” the guard stuck out his tongue.

“What a strange person.” Turtle said.

“Now look here,” Ghost began.

“I don't want to talk to you no more, you empty headed animal food trough whopper! I fart in your general direction! You mother was a hamster and your father smelt of eldeberries.” The guard shouted back.

“Is there someone else up there we could talk to?” Turtle tried.

“No, now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!”

“Now, this is your last chance. I've been more than reasonable,” Ghost shouted.

“How you Bulgarians say, I one more time unclog my nose in your direction, sons of a window-dresser! So, you think you could out-clever us Byzantine folk with your silly knees-bent running about advancing behavior! I wave my private parts at your aunties, you heaving lot of second-hand electric donkey bottom biters,” the guard replied.

As the guard continued to prattle on, Ghost sighed and turned to Turtle. “I don’t suppose you can fly?”

“Um, no, not exactly,” she replied.

“Well, I’ve had enough of this. I’m going up there. You think you can find a way inside?”

“Um, yes. They’ve reinforced the gates but it’s nothing I can’t get through.”

Ghost looked at her quizzically for a moment, then shrugged. “See you inside.”

With that, he teleported up onto the battlements. The Byzantine lancers slowly turned to look at him.

Turtle ran around the side of the keep, up a short flight of stone steps to a wooden side door. Summoning all her strength, she began to wail on the door with her fists. “Mordokai” she said between blows, “This. Is. Because. Of. That. Stupid. Girl!”

The door shuddered with each blow and eventually splintered and caved in. She ran inside and, knowing she only had a few moments before guards arrived, began summoning her hechpixies.

Meanwhile, on the battlements, Ghost considered the lancers slowly trying to surround him.

“You fools really have no idea who you’re dealing with, do you?” Ghost chided.

The sudden seriousness of the situation seemed to have a mildly sobering effect on the guards. “So you think your fancy magic tricks can scare us? You’re not fooling anyone! I burst my pimples at you and call your daughter an unrequested silly thing. You tiny-brained wiper of other people's bottoms!”

“What are you Byzantines doing here in a Bulgarian fort?” Ghost asked.

“This is no Bulgarian fortress, you illegitimate faced buggerful!” the guard replied. “This is Adrianople, this keep belongs to Byzantium, now. Daffy Bulgarian Warlock-boy, who is afraid of a duck, you know!”

“Oh, no. I remember quite clearly that…This! Is! Bulgaria!” With a savage kick to the chest, Ghost sent the drunken guard tumbling over the battlement wall.

Down in the keep, Turtle and her henchpixies were making short work of the guards there. After only a few moments of combat, Turtle and her pixies faced off against a single remaining guard.

Outnumbered and obviously outclassed, the guard considered his situation for a moment and threw down his weapon. “Many apologies to my Empress for perhaps dishonoring her, but I surrender. This is no way to die, being beaten to death by fairies.”

Up on the battlements, Ghost smiled as he looked around at the charred bodies of the guards he’d become so annoyed with moments ago. They hadn’t put up much of a fight, being to drunk to properly wield their weapons. Almost a pity, really; he’d hoped they’d be more of a challenge. He scooped up a jug of the stuff they’d been drinking and hurled it out over the battlements. Pausing for a moment before heading down, he decided to pick up a sword from one of the bodies. The pommel was still warm from the flames, but not uncomfortably so.

Climbing down the stairs from the battlements, he roamed around the keep looking for signs of life. Shortly after coming down into the keep, he happened upon Dragonrider, sleeping in the banquet hall.

Entering the room, he cleared his throat loudly.

She started awake and looked around, then at him. Not recognizing him, she scrambled to her feet. “Who are you?”

“I assure you, I’m an enemy.” He smiled and, using his powers, enjoyed a taste of her surprise and fear, as well as a hint of…longing for someone? “Oh, if it’ll make you feel better, go ahead and arm yourself. It won’t matter anyway, but it might make this more fun for me. Your boys upstairs hardly put up a fight at all.”

Back downstairs, Turtle eyed the surrendering guard suspiciously. “What? Just like that?”

“Yes, miss,” he replied. “My mother could never bear the news that I’d been killed by pixies.”

“And she’d be fine with you just giving up like this?”

The guard shrugged. “She told me, ‘don’t you go getting killed before you get me grandbabies,’ miss.”

“So, really, you’re just afraid of your mom,” Turtle noted.

“Well, her and my three aunties what passed away in the last few years. Mom says they’re in the next life, waiting for nieces and nephews and if I don’t deliver…”

Turtle snickered despite herself. “Sounds…sensible.”

“I try, miss,”

“Stop calling me miss. My name is Turtle.”

“Yes, mi…er…Turtle,” he caught himself.

“What’s your name, soldier?”

“Reinholdt, mi…Turtle,” he caught himself again.

“Well, Reinholdt, my friend is upstairs probably finishing off the last of your allies. He could be here any moment and I’m not sure he’ll be as merciful. Quickly, did you and the other guards here capture an armored man earlier today?”

“You mean that insane paladin, Mordokai? Yes, we tossed him in the dungeon until our commander told us to move him somewhere else.”

“Where did you bring him?”

“We brought him to one of the towers. Last I saw him, he was singing a song about how he wanted to marry a girl with ‘a certain…special…’ and then he’d get all upset when everyone started ignoring him instead of stopping his song. He said something about it being his favorite part of the movie.”

Turtle giggled. “That’s him all right. Bring me to him.”

“As you wish,” he said and started walking. Then, he paused and considered for a moment. “Turtle?”

“Yes, Reinholdt?”

“Thank you for sparing me death at the hands of pixies. I want you to know that I think you’re nice for doing so. Also,” he said sheepishly, “You’re very pretty.”

Turtle found herself blushing as he led her to Cobra/‘Mordokai.’

In the banquet hall, Ghost concentrated briefly to activate a few of his talents as he and Dragonrider circled each other, looking for openings. Her mind raced as she studied him, watching him seem to anticipate her every move. He appeared to be armed only with a short sword, one obviously taken from one of her men, and he didn’t appear to be wearing armor. He enjoyed her growing concern as she realized he was probably some sort of mystic and probably didn’t need armor to protect himself.

“You’re not thinking about surrendering, are you, girl? Not that it’d matter if you did. I’d probably just make things worse for you,” he taunted.

“Villain!”

“Says the girl apparently leading a group of men to invade my homeland.”

“This land belongs to Empress Curly, to Byzantium. You cowards stole it years ago but we’ll reclaim it!” she shouted, trying to work up some confidence.

“Foolish girl, don’t you know that, if Curly’s mother hadn’t been such an ambitious idiot, there needn’t have been a war then, just as there wouldn’t need to be one now! Curly is fooling herself if she ever thinks she’ll rule Bulgarian land now.” He snarled and leapt at her, thrusting the short sword wildly at her midsection.

She easily deflected the clumsy blow, only to realize too late that it was a feint. He smashed his left fist upside her head, dizzying her for a moment. He batted her sword away, sending it skittering across the room.

“Your precious Empress is overstepping her bounds, trying to claim something that would have been rightfully hers only if her mother hadn’t snatched it away. She’s a child who needs to be taught to respect the treaties of her forebears.” He wrapped an arm behind her, dropped his sword, and grabbed her by the throat. He began choking her.

Dragonrider struggled and tried to draw her dagger from its sheath at her waist.

He released her throat and grabbed her wrist, shook the dagger out of her hand.

Scooping her up, he tossed her onto one of the tables. Stunned by the impact, she could do nothing as he pinned her. His hand wrapped around her throat again. She closed her eyes and waited for oblivion.

But his grip about her neck didn’t tighten. “Listen, child, I’ve no wish to kill you now. Instead, I want you to do something for me. I can sense you’ve got someone waiting for you, someone you yearn to be with again. If you ever want to see them again, you’ll do as I say.”

Hearing his words, all of her thoughts went to Dallas. She imagined the look on his face if he discovered she’d been killed like this. “What do you want?”

“I merely ask that you deliver a message back to your Empress Curly. Tell her what I’ve told you here, that she should abandon her foolish quest to claim land rightfully belonging to Bulgaria. And, I want you to show her something.”

From a pocket, he produced a dark, heavy-looking ring. He slipped it onto a finger with practiced ease. Confused, she stared at him. As he watched her, she noticed the ring starting to glow, first darkly red and then brightly. She could feel heat emanating from it as he brought it towards her face.

“No! Please!” she pleaded.

With a sharp breath, he blew long strands of her hair aside and pressed the ring against her neck, burning its signature into her flesh, branding her.

She flinched and screamed in pain, but he kept his arm steady and the ring pressed firmly to her skin.

And then he released her, stepped away. Her hands flew to her neck and she sobbed in agony. He tossed her his wineskin. “Here, this will soothe the pain a little.”

She poured the contents on the burn and the cool water did help some.

“You bastard,” she said.

“Nevermind that, just do as I ask and maybe you’ll get to see your beloved again,” he slipped the ring, now cool again, back into his pocket.

“Who are you?” she asked again.

“I am the Ghost Warlock. If you want to know more than that, you’ll have to ask your Empress after you show her that mark. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to,” he headed for the door, but paused.

“Oh, I have friends that may be by here any moment. They may not take kindly to finding you. I’d suggest you make yourself scarce.”

“What, I’m supposed to hide?”

“That, or I can hurl you over the battlement wall like I did one of your lancers.”

Muttering a curse word, she slunk off to the kitchens, hoping to find a safe place there.

After she’d left the room, Ghost sighed and shook his head. “Poor kid.”

He headed downstairs, looking for the vault.

Upstairs, in the tower, Turtle waited for Reinholdt to unlock the door to ‘Mordokai’/Cobra’s improvised prison.

“Oh!” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said as they entered his chamber. He stood by the window, a long chain of tied-together bedding hanging out. “This isn’t what it looks like, honest! I promise wasn’t trying to escape!”

“Relax…er…’Mordokai,’” Turtle said. “I’m here to rescue you.”

“If you weren’t trying to escape…Nevermind, I don’t want to know.” Reinholdt said.

“Oh, hey, it’s you!” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said, recognizing Reinholdt. “How’s it going?”

“Um. Fine? Considering I’ve been taken captive,” Reinholdt replied.

“Well, that’s probably just as well,” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said. “Not much chance giving your mom and aunties those grandbabies if you’re dead. And Turtle, here, will be a wonderful mom. You’ll both be very happy.”

“Wha…?” Turtle said, looking back and forth from Cobra to Reinholdt. “Are you suggesting we…?”

Reinholdt smiled meekly at her. “I’ve never been seduced by predeterminism before.”

“‘Mordokai,’ are you messing around with us?” Turtle asked, feeling blush coming on.

“Could be, Turtle, could be. I try to have a sense of humor about these things.” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said, beaming. “Well, what’s next?”

“What do you mean?” Reinholdt asked.

“Well, Ghost should be claiming the Grail about now. And then he kind of abandons us here. So it’s really up to us what we want to do next.

“You mean after all of this, everything we went through with him, he just…Nah, I can’t really act surprised,” Turtle admitted.

“Ghost? Who’s that?” Reinholdt asked.

“Oh, he’s the anti-villain of this arc,” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra answered. “He’s been on quest to find the Unholy Grail for weeks now. Should be claiming it as we speak and then heading for Preslav to bring it to his friend. He’s helping her become a god, you see.”

“Does that work?” Reinholdt asked.

“Now, now. Can’t give away the ending.” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said, still smiling.

“You really are a terrible oracle. And I think you’re getting worse.” Turtle sighed.

“Worse? Or better!” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra replied, then laughed.

Turtle shook her head and thought for a moment. “You know, Cobra, I’ve still got a bit of time left for my vacation. Do you mind if we just go back to Castle Anthrax and relax a bit?”

“Well, we’ve got a little while before we have to worry about the ‘save the paladin, save the world’ thing again since…I’m…safe with you two. Oh, hey, sure! C’mon over! Have you ever seen a catmuffin before, Reinholdt? They’re adorable and ferocious!”

“Catmuffin?” Reinholdt asked. “Wait, aren’t you going to turn me in to your superiors, the watch or something?”

“What, you mean like the army? Ugh, why on earth would we do that? They’d ask all sorts of silly questions and who knows what they’d do with you. Nah, I say we just stick together for now,” Turtle replied.

“Does…does that mean you like me?” Reinholdt asked.

“…” Turtle paused, silently cursing herself as she felt the blush spreading across her cheeks. “Maybe…”

“D’awwww!” ‘Mordokai’/Cobra said.

“Quiet, you!” Turtle replied.

Outside the keep, Ghost inspected the Unholy Grail in the afternoon sun. Holding it, he could feel its power radiating though his hand and into his arm. Slipping it into his belt, he started heading north, towards Preslav. Ina was waiting for him, waiting for this powerful gift.

Hours later, under cover of twilight, Dragonrider crawled out of the kitchen cabinet she’d hidden herself in. She rubbed the kink out of her neck angrily, and then winced in pain as she accidentally touched the burn Ghost had left her.

“All that time hiding in a cupboard and it doesn’t look like anyone was even looking for me.”

Stepping out of the kitchen, she could hear some faint shouting coming from one of the passages outside the banquet hall. Following the sound of the voice, she made her way down into the dungeons.

“Of course! That drunk we locked up,” she whispered.

“Hello? Can anyone hear me?” The man called through his cell window.

“Yes, I’m coming,” she growled, hurrying down the stairs. “Shut up.”

“Oh, sorry. It’s just, well, I’m really thirsty is all.”

“I’ll bet you are.”

“How’d I get locked up…oh. You’re not from around here,” he said as she stepped into view of his window. He noted her uniform. “You’re one of the Byzantines!”

“Brilliant deduction. And you’re my prisoner. What’s your name, soldier?”

“Um. Rubakhin. Please tell me you’re going to let me out of here.”

“Yes, I am. And then you’re coming with me back to Constantinople. You’re now a prisoner of war.”

“Oh,” he said. “Well, then, can I still get a drink?”

She sighed and started to unlock the cell.

Over the next few days of their journey back to Byzantium, she discovered that, so long as she kept his ‘drinks’ fairly rationed, he was reasonably pleasant and not too difficult to keep in line. She also managed, in this way, to keep him from drinking himself unconscious again.

When they finally arrived in Constantinople Rubakhin was taken to the dungeons to wait until he underwent questioning. Dragonrider, however, was immediately ushered in to see Empress Curly.

“Where are your men? Where is the paladin I sent you after? What do you have to say for yourself, General Dragonrider?” Empress Curly asked, obviously very cross.

“I’m sorry, Empress. We had the paladin in custody, but then encountered unexpected resistance,” Dragonrider answered, and told the Empress her tale.

“The Ghost Warlock? I’ve never heard of him. Show me the mark,” Empress Curly commanded.

Dragonrider stepped forward, bowing respectfully, and pulled back her curls to reveal the brand on her neck.

Empress Curly studied the mark for a few seconds before realization dawned. “Simeon!?”

*goes to enjoy a day off*

Thoughts:

1) I did a bad job training my soldiers.
2)It's coming together! A li'l!

Hilarious, GW. And Behold! I've written something already!

Letter

Spoiler

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I exist only to make you smile. You thought I was joking, but I would never lie to you, and I meant every word. Whenever you felt down or lonely, within an hour I would arrive on your doorstep with books, CDs, DVDs… whatever I had which you would appreciate. And you were always so pleased. Though to so many I’ve been so forgettable, you always appreciated that I would do so much for you, though you would never ask it of me.

Then, one day, the beauty was shattered. I came upon you as usual… and you barely acknowledged me. All the time I tried so hard, and all the time you frowned. Forlorn, I wouldn’t leave until you sent me away forcefully.
I exist only to make you smile. So answer me this: If I cannot make you smile any more, then why do I still exist? Why am I still here? What reason is there for me to continue?

I don’t know. Do you? Do you care enough about me to give me the answers?

I know a little bit about being in that kind of a situation. It sucks. If it's based on a real life situation you're in, here's to hoping you get through it...