Another Rescues Attempt [19 Nivvem 4385]

[sythyry]

Mirrored from Sythyry.

Guard-Mage: “Hsst! Miss Sythyry! Sythyry, arise and come to the door!”

I helpfully woke up. The guard-mage was calling to me through the feeding-slit under the door.

Me: “Wait, you’re trying to rescue me too? I really don’t want to be rescued today.”

Guard-Mage: “There is a situation outside the city of which your attention and assistance may be the proper solution.”

Me: “I should think Wingsa and Yiseth-Epu are more than competent to handle nearly any sort of emergency. For one thing, I am an enchanter, and thus, fairly slow about things. For another, the majority of my tools are currently unavailable.”

Guard-Mage: “It’s scared up the roads, it’s making monsters, it’s asking for you!”

Me: “Don’t you confounded Hanijans ever use antecedents in your sentences?” Rude, but I don’t so much like being woken up so often.

Guard-Mage: “The nendrai! It’s in a fury, it’s attacking the city!”

Me: “Oh, I suppose she would do that.”

Guard-Mage: “She insists that we return you and Arfaen to her!”

Me: “Well, tell her I’ll be back tomorrow night?” Which never actually works with Vae, but I wanted to go back to sleep.

Guard-Mage: “Right away!”

He slammed and bolted the feeding-door, and presumably ran back upstairs.

After a third of an hour, he came back and called to me again and woke me up again.

Guard-Mage: “Hsst! Miss Sythyry! The nendrai wants you now!”

Me: “So what am I supposed to do? I promised to stay here. If you want me to go tend the nendrai, that’s sort of up to Hanija and the judge and whoever, isn’t it?”

Guard-Mage: “I’ll ask the Captain of the Guard. Oh! Miss Sythyry! How dangerous is the nendrai?”

Me: “She’s very nice and sweet usually. But she did ruin one city-state when she got upset. On the main trunk, at that. Can I go back to sleep yet?”

He ran off. I curled up. After another third-hour he called to me again and woke me up again.

Guard-Mage: “Hsst! Miss Sythyry! The captain and the judge say that you’re to be released on your own recognizance!”

Me: “Arfaen as well, I presume? Vae did ask for her too.”

Guard-Mage: “…. I’ll check…. “

He ran off. I curled up. After another third-hour I was woken up again.

Arfaen: “Sythyry! Come out!”

Me: “Arfaen! Hi! How have they been treating you?”

Arfaen: “They put me in a cell with prostitutes and dancers. We had a grand time.”

Guard-Mage: “Hurry, hurry!”

He unlocked the door. There was a bit of a melee, as four violent and dangerous and sleep-deprived prisoners tried to fight their way out against thirty guards, and were driven back. I waved jauntily good-bye to them, and sat on Arfaen’s shoulder, and, when we got to the top of the staircase and the Wizard in Helpless Fury had worn off, healed the three who had gotten injured. Not particularly because I am nice, but because I had cley I wasn’t going to use before dawn, and because I wanted to confuse matters with Hanija.

Then out to the city gate, to confront Vae (in the form of a gigantic thousand-legged cat) and her gigantic army of elementals.

Me: “Isn’t this a bit excessive? I was only going to be gone one night.”

Vae: “Not so well could I sleep, when you were in prison and a deep and vile cell, and so the many war-beasts did I make.”

Me: “Rather a lot of them, truly. Were you actually going to use them?” Vae burst into tears, so I added, “Don’t answer that. Can you dispose of them now that I’m out?”

Vae did so. Some she sent to the Verticals, and some she destroyed, and some she cast into distant universes, and some, I’m sure, wandered off and became guardians of some ancient treasure for future adventurers. I petted her until she was legless, a long furry cat-headed serpent wrapped around me.

Me: “I don’t think I should leave Vae alone tonight. Mind if I put a tent here and call it a prison cell? I promise not to leave it. Unless there’s another emergency.”

Guard-Mage: “I suppose that will be all right.”

So we constructed a nice warm tent, right in front of the city gate. By “we” I mean “Vae”. By “warm” I mean, um, that the cloth of the tent was weasels: live weasels biting their own tails, hooked together like chainmail rings. It was quite warm. It was also quite baffling, and the Guard-Mage spent some time staring at it. If Arfaen and I did anything to spite the excesses of Hanijan law while his back was turned, well, it would have been done in a bubble outside of space and time, and thus, not in Hanija Mene. I am fairly sure.

Comments

[rowyn]

I knew Vae would try to rescue you! I am surprised she was more effective about it than Phaniet, though. Very clever of her! You should get her a nendrai-treat.

[(Anonymous)]

Hmm, I wonder if 'saving the city from an army of elementals and a thousand legged giant cat of DOOM' is capable of reducing your sentence in Hanija.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

I didn't want to be rescued! Phaniet, at least, listens to me. Vae does not.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

You are such an optimist.

[oh6.livejournal.com]

These escapades have a certain resemblance to what I've heard about an ancient romance in my own world. Bothersome, as the original is in a language I can't read, and there don't seem to be any complete translations in any that I can. Oh well - I have more books sitting around than I'll likely ever get around to reading, at this rate.

[rowyn]

Vae listens to you! She just doesn't obey you.

[rowyn]

It should increase zir punishment, since clearly zie arranged for this army of elementals to be outside Hanija in order to intimidate Hanija out of administering proper justice.

It might not, though, since it might've succeeded in intimidating them out of administering proper justice.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

That's just why I was trying to be so reluctant to leave the prison -- to try to show that I wasn't trying to evade justice (or the closest Hanijan facsimile).

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

[Oh?]

[rowyn]

Did you make sure to tell everyone not to rescue you before you left?

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

No, in fact, I did not.

[rowyn]

There you go! You can't expect them to know without your telling them. Now you know for next time to tell them not to come save you.

Except next time, you probably will want saving.

[oh6.livejournal.com]

[Well, I'm thinking of Journey to the West, but even from what little I know about it, the comparison is very rough.]

[brynndragon.livejournal.com]

Would that make Vae the Monkey King? You know, she kinda is the tragedy version, while he's the comedy version. . .

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

May a thousand loving weasels bite their own tails to keep you warm...

Now that is a blessing I had never contemplated before.

What happened to your pet elemental? Did it get bored after a while protecting you? Did you put it away before the guards came in? Is it still in the cell, terrorizing very bad people? How could people miss the Burning Winged Thing?

[relee.livejournal.com]

I can't really blame the guard mage for staring. Cloth made of living weasels, stoats, otters or minks always gives me the weirds, even though I've seen it so many times before.

[sythyry.livejournal.com]

The seven-winged burning thing as away for a long while by then.

[xolo.livejournal.com]

Sie said sie'd keep it out for a while, to dry the place. Presumably it was put away long before bedtime.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

I had thought it was still out being intimidating, even when Pahniet and hCalvien had visited.... I know I would want it paying attention while I took a nap. I wouldn't trust those peoples.

[postrodent.livejournal.com]

Oh, the heavily alloyed blessing of having truly powerful friends.

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Well, if you're lucky it encouraged them to go with banishment instead of imprisonment. It depends how much stubbornness informs hanijan law?

[terrycloth.livejournal.com]

Does Vae create the ancient treasures to go with her spare war-beasts? Or is that your job?

[tuftears.livejournal.com]

Awww, Nendrai catsnake! ^_^

The weasel tent does sound a bit alarming, however. For one thing, if the weasels were live, well, live weasels tend to a great deal of skittering about and I would have expected there would be shortly no tent, but instead a framework that used to be adorned with weasels.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

This is an excellent complete translation of Journey to the West. Including the canonical mpreg chapter!

If you don't want to wade through 100 chapters of monster of the week, this is a nice introductory abridged translation.

[kensan-oni.livejournal.com]

Either that, or the tent Walkabouts on frequent basis

[relee.livejournal.com]

Guys like that, they're born out of the concept of protection, so they just go find ancient treasures that are already out there and protect them. Sometimes they protect them from their proper owners. ^.^;;

[chipuni.livejournal.com]

If you can ever find two weasels that want to go in the same direction...

Unless that direction has food in it.

[waywind.livejournal.com]

Which character suffered that?

[waywind.livejournal.com]

They're biting their tails. That should keep them going in a fairly static direction.

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Tripitaka and Pigsy, I believe.

I don't know if you know the anime/manga Saiyuki, which is based on Journey to the West, but I wrote this missing episode based on those characters and the canonical mpreg. :)

[greenreaper.livejournal.com]

I asked for (and got) that firs tone for my birthday! I should probably read it sometime . . .