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11. The Turnip Wars


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#1 Weyoun

Posted 03 November 2002 - 09:34 AM

Writer's comment : Ah, the 11th Vierna story. Although I intended no messages with this story, one must have subliminally entered my mind. I merely wanted to do a story about a family feud about something silly in a typical Jansen-fashion. Hope you'll like it!

 
The Turnip Wars

"Good one, Vierna!" Rowen shouted, as Vierna's thrown mud-ball projectile landed on the painted bullseye with a gratifying splat. Clarissa clapped her hands as Shivon prepared for his turn to throw a mud-ball.

The four children were happily playing in the stables, far away from the realities of life. Even though Vierna aimed at a crudely drawn target on the door, in her mind, she had just knocked the head of an evil troll about to harm an innocent kitty.

Shivon grunted as he threw his mud-ball... and missed the target by a mile. Clarissa had a pensive look in her eyes for a moment and then, almost joyiously gave him a two-thumbs down.

"That was pretty lame, Shiv..." Rowen laughed.

"Hey, hey..." Shivon said while holding up his hands. "I've only been throwing mud-balls since this morning! My mom would kill me, if she suspected I would have even touched mud!"

"I keep sayin' it..." Vierna giggled, "Your momma's nuts!" She grabbed an other glob of mud from the bucket. It was fresh mud, which they had collected from the river-banks just this morning and as she patted the fresh, wet and juicy mud into a ball, she closed her eyes and imagined a new scene in front of her...

A mean old, smelly ogre, axe in hand was advancing on a poor little deer... The might 'venturr Vierna, protector of the innocent, saviour of poor animals, devourer of a thousand candy-canes, prepared to throw her magic spear...

In the real world, the door to the stables opened...

Vierna threw her magic spear into the air and hit the mean orge right in the face! Vierna turned around swiftly and smiled while facing her friends.

Her friends however, were not smiling... nor were they hooting her success. They just stood there, utterly paralysed with a look of shock on their faces. Puzzled, the tiny Drow twirled around slowly. There in the door-opening, wasn't any monster. Instead, it was...

"MOMMA!" Vierna yelled. Her mother was just standing there, frozen, her face covered with a glob of mud. Her mother was breathing slowly as pieces of mud slowly slid of her face and fell to the floor...

"LET'S GET OUTTA HERE!" Rowen shouted as the four children snapped out of their shocked state of mind and ran out of the stables as fast as their legs could carry them...

"Not you..." Viconia told her daughter in a icy tone, as her daughter tried to sneak past her to join her friends.

"I'm sorry, momma..." Vierna said while twirling her foot over the floor, obviously trying to suppress her giggling.

"No, you're not." Viconia sighed. "I come to collect you for the evening-meal and you assault me with mud?!"

"I didn't mean to!" Vierna said. "I tried to hit an ogre!" She giggled.

Viconia couldn't help but laugh and carefully whiped the remaining mud off her face.

"Come, ssinjin eoul. Dinner is on the table" She told her daughter as she took her precious child by the hand. Viconia grimaced as she felt a squishy substance in her daughter's hand. Unfortunately, now her face wasn't the only thing covered with mud.

---

"Viconia?" Karis asked his love with a smile when he noticed traces of dirt on her clothes. "What happened?"

"An 'incident' with a imaginary ogre and an equally imaginary magic spear!" She smiled.

"Ah, mud-balls again?" Karis laughed.

"Yes," She grimaced, "She's washing herself in the kitchen as we speak."

A few minutes later, Vierna burst from the hallway and took her seat at the dining table, between her parents. She licked her lips as she saw the meal in front of her. A big juicy piece of meat, some deliciously baked potatoes, and...

"Awww, momma! Peas?!" Vierna pouted, "I don't wanna eat peas!"

Viconia sighed. It was always the same when Olma served them peas, which was at least once a week. "Come on now, little one!" She tried, knowing how much her daughter hated most types of vegetables, especially peas. "You want to be an adventurer, Vierna. You must eat your peas to get big and strong..."

"But... But... Peas?!" Vierna pouted.

"Just eat them, or there will be no dessert for you tonight!" Viconia said resolutely. She loathed using this tactic but she didn't want any discussions at the moment and it always worked.

Vierna reluctantly started to eat, and after a few conversations at the dinner-table about her latest adventures playing in the nearby forests, all the food was eaten... except for those nasty icky peas...

Vierna remembered a story her friend Rowen once told her. Once, when he wasn't hungry anymore, he had fed half his meal to the family dog without his parents noticing it. When she saw Kitty grooming herself under the dinner-table, she got a really wicked idea... She took her spoon, scooped up a great amount of peas and, while her parents were talking to each other, she quickly bent over under the table.

"Here, Kitty..." She whispered, "Come here... Come and get the delicious peas..."

But Kitty merely shifted by Vierna's legs, rolled up and went to sleep, completely ignoring the spoon. 'Traitor,' Vierna thought...

"Vierna..." She heard her mother say, who had bent her head sideways to look under the table, "Eat your peas."

Seeing there was no escape, Vierna figured the best way to get rid of them was to eat them quickly... She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, grimaced and stuffed the spoon in her mouth as quickly as possible. Her face looked very sour as she chewed and swallowed the icky peas.

Vierna pouted when she looked at the remainder of her peas... She would have to do this at least four more times. Suddenly she felt her father's strong arm pulling her to him.

"Hey," Karis said with gentleness, "You don't have to eat them, if you don't want to..."

"Thanks, daddy!" Vierna smiled. "Now, can I have my dessert?" She tried.

Karis smiled at his little girl. "Sure, little one..."

"You caved... again..." Viconia scowled at her lover. "She's never going to overcome her hatred of vegetables, if you keep spoiling her..."

"Momma! I like some vegetables..." She began, "I like turnips!"

"Please, little one, I don't want to be reminded of anything Gnomish right now!" Viconia pleaded. The local farmers mart would start in two days, and of course the Jansens just had to hawk their useless turnips... As well as stay in and around her home... And they would arrive only an hour from now. She gritted her teeth as she realized two weeks of Hell were about to commence.

---

"Ah, Kary!" Jan said as he came down the stairs. "Well, that went rather quick. The little squirt fell asleep halfway through the story!"

"Gee, I wonder why?" Viconia snorted and sat down at the table.

"Thanks for putting her to bed, Jan." Karis said. "You arrived just in time to tuck her in."

"Not a problem, Kary, not a problem. You know I love that little squirt..." Jan said sincerely.

Suddenly a geriatic gnome entered the dining-hall. He seemed a bit confused of his surroundings and staggered about the place. He was wearing a mis-matched coat and pants, a small bowler on his head and was brandishing a gnarly staff for a cane. As he walked into the room, he stumbled against a coathanger. After removing his hat and whispering an "excuse me madame" he walked towards the table.

"Ah, Kary, Vicky... This is my great-uncle Albert Jansen, retired turnip-salesman. He went with us on this salestrip as a sales-consultant..." Jan said. "That and my great-aunt Roberta wanted him out of the house for a fortnight..." He added sheepishly.

"Welcome to our home." Karis told the ancient gnome. "I hope your stay will be a pleasant one..."

"You'll be a redundant one?" The ancient gnome asked. "Redundant what, sonny?"

"Excuse my great-uncle, Kary... He's almost blind and deaf, you see." Jan said.

"Cut out his tongue and it would be perfect..." Viconia joked while opening a bottle of Evermead.

"It's due to a nasty accident with a flamestrike spell, you see. About fifty years ago, when he was still a succesful turnipsalesman, he wanted to check into the turnip-cellar to see how many turnips were still in stock. Unfortunately, the wind had blown out the torches as soon as he entered the cellars, so he decided to cast a Flamestrike to get a good light. Too bad he didn't know about the 56 cases of gunpowder cousin Gavin had placed there for his experiments... Poor great-uncle Albert was launched into the air and flew half-way through Athkatla, he did! He eventually crashed through the roof of the Most Noble Order of The Radiant Heart and landed right on top of the current Prelate. Then there was this nasty episode where he was running through the hall yelling that his rear-area was on fire, while being chased by about four score of Knights! He ended up jumping in the river and breathing through a straw, waiting for the Paladins to go away. Unfortunately there was a nasty griffin hiding there as well and ate him..." Jan caught himself. "Oh, wait... That's another story entirely. You see, my Aunty gladys..."

"So that's how your great-uncle lost his sight and hearing?" Karis asked. "That's awful..."

"What?" Jan asked. "OH? oh, no... That was just old age..."

It was at this point that Viconia decided to forego with fetching a glass and sipped the Evermead straight from the bottle.

Then, Captain Cernick entered the dining-hall. He seemed battle-ready, as if something nasty was about to take place.

"Karis," He began, "A situation is developing outside!"

"That's alright, lackey!" A voice sounded from behind him, "But we are not the cause of this 'situation'"

Upon hearing this voice, Jan narrowed his eyes. The tone of his voice was a cold as ice as he greeted the lavishly dressed gnome, now entering the dining-hall.

"Well, well, well..." Jan said. "'Smelly Pelly'"

"Do not call me that, Jansen-scum. My name is Pelgar Johansen." The lavishly dressed gnome replied.

"Johansen?!! Where?! Where?!!" The name Johansen seemed to set Albert off and he swung his cane around the room.

"Keep that cane away from me before I shove it up your a...." Viconia said as the gnome came too close for comfort.

"You want to give me a glass?" Albert said. "I hope it's filled with turnip-beer!"

Viconia sighed heavily and sank back in her chair. This was going to be a looooong couple of weeks.

"You must be Lord Karis, I presume," Pelgar began, "I am pelgar Johansen. Leader of this trade delegation. We have come to bring your people the delight of fine radishes..."

"HAH!" Jan snorted, "Those tiny turnip-wannabees might go over with your rich noble crowds in Calimsham, but the people here prefer the honest robustness of a turnip!"

"Well, that's what we are going to find now, won't we?" Pelgar mocked. "My Lord... My Lady..." He said as he nodded to Karis and Viconia and walked out the door.

"Another group of gnomes arrived about half an hour ago. We had to break up three fights since then..." Cernick said. "For some reason the Jansens and the Johansens just can't get along. I'm letting the guards keep an eye on them for now, but I expect this to get worse before it gets better." He continued before he excused himself to rejoin the guards.

"I swear, Karis..." Jan told him harshly. "If you let these scumbags attend the farmer's mart, we are no longer friends! I'll leave and never come back!"

"Jan..." Karis said in disbelief.

"Never, you say?" Viconia smiled, but she too fell silent when she saw the gnome was dead-serious.

Upon seeing the disbelief on his friends' faces, he sighed and softened.

"Gee, I'm sorry... It seems I let myself get carried away with this old feud again..." Jan said.

"feud?" Karis asked.

"It's a long story..." Jan began.

"Why am I not surprised?" Viconia asked herself and took another sip from her Evermead.

"You see, about a century ago, I was part of a trademission of Turnip-sellers to Saradush. We travelled a long way and when got to their local marketplace, they directed us to our place. We couldn't believe what a favourable spot was assigned to us! Right between the pans and the broomstick divisions! Can you believe it? Well anyway, the sign at the spot simply said 'The Gnomes'. I really hate those generalizations, you know? Gives humans a bad name..."

"Jan, the point please." Karis stressed. He wanted to know more about this feud.

"What? Oh, in a moment... We weren't about to complain about the sign. So we went our way and set up our stands and washed the turnips to make them look shiny in the sun. Just as we were finished, another group of gnomes entered the square... The Calimport Johansens. Unsavory lot, they were... Immediately, they pounced upon us, claiming we had stolen their favourable spot, depriving them of the opportunity to sell their so-called 'perfect' radishes... Now, I tell you. Radishes are the most pathetic excuse for a vegetable there is!"

"Isn't it so," Viconia mocked, "that radishes and turnips are in the same family of root-plants?"

"I'll let you know, missy," Jan bristled, "that a radish is as far removed from a turnip as a dragon is from a Drow!"

Viconia held up her hands. "Forget I said anything." Viconia said, still wearing a mocking smile.

"Anyway, here we were. Two groups facing eachother off in the center of the square... I don't know excactly what happened, nor do I know which of our families made the first move. All I do know is, that when someone's mother was insulted, we suddenly found ourselves in the middle of the biggest foodfight ever since Ao decided to order Kara-Turian take-out to eat at the gods-meeting. At the end of the foodfight, both our families were banned from the market-place, until 'Tanar'ri and Baatezu live together as brothers...'. A direct quote from the marketmaster, I might add. Our families have been at each other's throats ever since... I'm just sorry, my friends are going to be drawn into this now. I know you can't send him away..."

"Family feuds are commonplace amongst the Drow. I know of one that had spanned over fifteen generations before they actually warred openly with each other. But it seems laughable to me to start a feud over vegetables..." Viconia said.

"Those vegetables are their entire reason for being, Viconia." Karis said.

"He's right, Vicky..." Jan sighed. "As long as there's turnips and radishes, there will be a feud."

---

Viconia stirred in her sleep as she heard the faint sounds of catapults in the distance. Her curiosity peaked, she willed herself awake and silently crept out of bed. She walked over to her dresser, wrapped a silk robe around her body and strolled over to the balcony. And seeing what she saw, she did not know how to react at the spectacle in front of her, whether she should just laugh and observe, or to call the guards and have the gnomes removed from their lands. Eventually, she decided to walk back to the bed to wake her lover.

"Karis," She said while shaking him awake, "Ssinsrig, you simply must see this!" She said while being on the brink of hysterical laughter.

As soon as Karis had put on a robe, they walked towards the window together, where Karis, just like Viconia, didn't quite know how to react.

Both gnomish families had built shanty-towns in military style, just outside of the keep walls. And they were shooting rotten fruit and vegetables at each other with several futuristic looking catapults. It seemed garbage was flying back and forth between the two camps.

"This is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen!" Viconia chuckled.

"What the hells is happening he... DUCK!" He suddenly shouted and pushed his lover to the ground. A cart-load of rotten vegetables flew over their head and crashed all over their bedroom. The first thing that hit them was the disgusting smell... The second thing was the fact that the rotten crap was everywhere in their room.

"MY SHRINE!" Viconia shouted as she saw her private shrine to her two Goddesses, now covered with rotten turnips.

"OUR BED!" She shrieked as she noticed where the majority of the rotting garbage had landed.

"MY CLOTHES!" She yelled as she realized that, to her horror, she had left the door of her dresser open.

"TAKE THAT, JOHANSENS!!" They heard great-uncle Albert shout from beyond the keep-wall.

"SORRY, VICKY!" They heard Jan yell, a bit sheepishly.

"That's it!" Viconia said through clenched teeth and made a grab for her flail. "Time to take out the TRASH!"

---

"Cernick, what?" Karis started, but stopped when he noticed the captain of the guards was completely covered with smelly garbage as well.

"Sorry Karis... That blind ancient gnome has a notoriously bad aim!" Cernick said, while holding his nose. "I heard something happened in the master-bedroom?"

"Oh, yeah..." Karis said sarcastically, "Viconia is waking the maids as we speak."

"This must end!" Cernick stressed.

"Tell me about it..."

"The maids are in our room, cleaning..." Viconia snarled while storming down the stairs, armoured and flail in hand. "This time, I'm going to have a little word with our gnomish 'guests'..."

"Wait, Lady Viconia! Don't go out there!" Cernick tried. But it was to no avail... Viconia had left the building...

The slam of the closing door was shortly followed by an earth-shattering shriek... Viconia re-entered the keep... Completely covered with rotten turnip-peels.

"Karis, please tell the servants to prepare a bath," She asked her lover with surprising calmth. "And Cernick... About Albert Jansen..." She continued, again with surprising calmth. "If you would please find him... find him AND KILL HIM!!! RIP OUT HIS EYES, CUT OFF HIS EARS AND FEED HIM TO THE DOGS!!!"

"Cernick, please ask the guards to confiscate the catapults of both families. And tell both Pelgar and Jan that I want to talk to both of them tomorrow... This situation could get out of hand pretty quickly now. Let's see if we can come to some kind of solution." Karis said, while making a mental note to keep Viconia as far away from Albert Jansen as possible..."

---

Vierna walked towards the clearing with her ball under her arm. It seems her momma was a little cranky this morning, but she didn't understand why her parents had to sleep in the guest-room this night... 'Something our gnomish guests were responsible for?' What did momma mean with that?

When Vierna walked into the glade to play with her friends, she saw Rowen, Shivon and Clarissa standing between two small groups of gnomish children.

"We were here first!" A burly gnomish boy said while the three other gnomes behind him flailed their arms in a threatening fashion, "You leave!"

"Not a chance, Johansen!" A gnomish girl retorted. "We were here before you came running along!" The two gnomes beside her were ready to pounce upon the offenders if needed.

"What's goin' on?" Vierna asked her friends when she walked up to them.

"We were waiting for you and suddenly all these gnomes bursted into our glade." Shivon said.

"They don't wanna play..." Clarissa said. "They just wanna fight!"

"Nah, we won't let them!" Vierna said and stepped between the two groups of gnomes. "Hi! I'm Vierna! Come on, let's play!" She said.

"I'm not playing with any Jansen kids!" The burly gnome said.

"Oh yeah?" The gnomish girl retorted. "Well, I'm not playing with any smelly Johansens!"

"HEY!" Vierna shouted. "I'm the only one with a ball here... I say we all play together. And if you don't like it, I'll tell my momma, and I'll ask her to beat you up!"

"I'm still not playing with any Jansens!" The burly gnome said, "And there's nothin' you can do about it." He told the little Drow in front of him.

Without warning, Vierna threw the ball at him, which he skillfully bounced away from himself. The ball was soon going back and forth between the two groups of gnomes.

"See?" Vierna asked. "We're playin' already! Come on... lets make teams!"

"I'm Vierna, this is Shivon, Rowen and Clarissa. Who are you?" She asked after introducing her friends.

"Alfred..." The burly gnome said reluctantly.

"Gina..." The gnomish girl replied.

---

A half-an-hour later, everything which had happened before was forgotten as all the children were happily playing, smiling and giggling away. The fun they were having would soon come to a screeching halt, as the parents of the children entered the glade as well.

"For the love of Turnips! What are you doing playing with those Johansen-brats?!" A gnomish woman asked.

"Mom!" Gina stammered. "We are only hav..."

"I don't want to hear it! You're going to be peeling turnips until you're sixty!" She replied and prodded her daughters away from the playing-field.

"Don't ever let your freakish kids near ours again, Turniplover." A gnomish man shouted across the glade as he dragged his sons away...

"Oh, go back to Calimsham, radish-boy!" She shouted back, while their children looked at each other sadly, and leaving Vierna and her friends standing inside the glade alone...

---

"Jan, I did not expect you to be this childish..." Nalia said. Both Pelgar and Jan had been talking with Karis for over a half a day now, and were unable to come to a compromise...

"I am childish?!" Jan asked in disbelief, "What about Smelly Pelly here?!"

"Just admit it, Jansen. Those crude turnips pale in comparison to the majesty of a red radish." Pelgar said. Then, without warning, Pelgar fished a turnip from his pocket, whiped his mouth with it and crushed it under his shoe...

Jan's eyes grew wide. "That... That was a Balduran Jansen! You inhuman monster!" He shouted, ready to jump his adversary and bite him to death. He almost did, if it wasn't for Nalia holding him back.

"No, Jan! Don't lower yourself to his level!" Nalia yelled.

After a brief, and very tense, staring competetion both groups dispersed and went their own way. Leaving Nalia standing in the courtyard alone.

"Aunty Nalia?" Vierna asked, who had been hiding inside a rain-barrel, observing the entire exchange. "Why do the gnomes hate each other so much?"

"Oh, Vierna." She sighed disgustedly. "It's just some silly tiff about turnips and radishes. As if there aren't more important things in the world..." She said as they walked towards the spell-tower.

Vierna thought for a moment and suddenly came up with a brilliant idea...

---

"This time you have gone too far, Jansen!" Pelgar yelled at his nemesis.

"Hah... Care to explain where our turnips are, Smelly?!" Jan retorted.

"All our radishes are gone! Do you think, I believe your lies?!" Pelgar said.

"Wait!" Nalia said. She was standing between the two feuding gnomes, and was now the only one keeping them from clashing into each other. "I'm sure there's a reasonable explaination for this. You can't just..."

"Forget it, girlie!" Pelgar shouted. "This has been brewing for over a century now!"

"Whenever, you're ready, Smelly!" Jan yelled back, preparing for the biggest brawl since Ao decided to play the limbo during the godsmeeting. Nalia sighed. There was no way the guards could be here in time to break up the two fist-fighting gnomes...

"WAIT!" A tiny Drow cried at the top of her lungs and ran up to her aunt Nalia. "Please, don't fight!" She panted...

"I... I took the turnips... And the radishes..." Vierna stammered.

"WHAT?!" Pelgar shouted.

"Shut up for a moment, jerk!" Jan shouted to him. Then he walked up to little Vierna and asked her gently why she had taken their merchandise.

"I... I only wanted you all to stop fighting... So we," She motioned to the gnomish children among the two families. "Can all play together and be happy... I thought that I would take away all the vegetables, you wouldn't need to be angry anymore."

Jan smiled at the little girl in front of him and, for the first time, felt more than a little shame over this feud. It just seemed like such a waste of time right now.

"How can one little elf, steal all our merchandise?" Pelgar snorted.

"Last night, I climbed the tally to Aunty Nalia's spell-tower... And I... borrowed her magic bag... The one where she always puts all her stuff in and it all fits in, even if it's really, really big? Then, when it was night, I snuck out of my room... and... while you all were sleeping, I put all the turnips and radishes in the bag... " Vierna stammered and pulled the Bag of Holding from her backpack. Nalia's eyes widened ask she noticed the particular Bag she had been working on for months...

"Vierna... That bag was one of my failed experiments!" Nalia said and gently took the bag from her. Reaching inside, Nalia pulled out a handful of what looked like a turnip-radish mush.

"Oh... oh... I... didn't mean...! I... I only wanted to stop the fighting!" Vierna sniffed.

"You little brat!" Pelgar shouted. "I don't care how young you are! I will see you imprisoned for the rest of your life!"

Vierna's lip was quivering now and her eyes were brimming with tears.

"Do you even realize how lucky you are, Vierna's mother isn't here now?" Jan menaced to Pelgar. "Well, let me tell you... All the pain of the torture-techniques she has learned living amongst the Drow, will pale in comparison to what I will do to you, if this little squirt sheds even one tear!"

"You're... You're not mad at me, uncle Jan?" Vierna asked carefully.

"No... You meant well. I remember my cousin Tat once doing something like this. You see, she once brought home a owlbear-cub which had..."

"Hey," Nalia said as she licked her fingers after tasting the strange mush. "Wait just a second... This... This is kinda good..."

"It is?" Jan asked and took a small bite... "IT IS!" And quickly shoved the rest of the mush in his mouth.

"Let me taste!" Pelgar said and took a bite... "Exquisite!"

---

The root-mix turned out to be a great success on the farmer's market. They had sold out their last of the mix, a full week before the market ended, and were celebrating their success with, respectively Turnip-beer and radish-bourbon. Both families suddenly seemed to be the very best of friends, as if the feud never even took place...

"We could export to Luskan. I've heard the trade-routes are open again." Pelgar said, while slurring a little.

"Well..." Jan replied. "We could go everywhere with our new Turnip-Radish-happy-mix, Vierna-style..."

"Wait... Wait a minute." Pelgar said suspisciously. "I thought we agree on Radish-Turnip-happy-mix, Vierna-style."

"Get real, Pelly." Jan said resolutly. "Radish-Turnip didn't go over to well with the marketing boys... It's simply not believable."

"Radish-Turnip!"

"Turnip-Radish!"

"RADISH-TURNIP!"

"TURNIP-RADISH!"

"HEY!" Nalia shouted. "Break it up, you two! Or need I remind you, you need my Bag of Holding to make your little mix!"

The two gnomes sighed and apologised. They had already lost a lot of profits to Nalia, who had said to only make her Bag of Holding availiable to the gnomes if they donated 25 percent of the earnings of the mix to the poor. They eventually talked her down to 10 percent, but still...

"Hey, why don't just just call it Happy-root-mix, Vierna style." Nalia tried. Jan and Pelgar looked at each other.

"Happy-root-mix, eh? Sounds good to me. Say Pelgar, did I ever tell you about the time Uncle Gerhardt..."

---

For Viconia, life was turning back to normal as well. It seemed the maids had finally gotten the disgusting smell out of her bed... And her clothes... And at least she didn't grimace anymore during prayer as well.

"Well, there is our little peacemaker." Viconia said as her daughter entered the room. "Are you ready to go to bed, little one?"

"Momma!" Vierna protested, but still yawned. "It's not even dark, yet!"

"You've been awake since daybreak and have been playing with your friends all day! You must get to bed, or you'll be tired all day again, tomorrow!" Viconia smiled.

"Now, I have to find a way to get those gnomes out of my home..." She told Vierna. 'And without resorting to bloodshed,' She added mentally. It would curtail her options considerably.

"At least you stopped them from shooting garbage at each other." Viconia smiled, took her daughter in her arms and kissed the top of her head. "Good night, ssinjin eoul. I love you." She said as she put her daughter on the ground again."

---

"Vierna," Karis said as he tucked his daughter into bed. "I never told you how proud I am at you."

Vierna smiled from ear to ear. "Really?"

"Really. You followed your heart... And I don't this there are many six-year olds who have a fruit-cocktail named after her." Karis said, "You'll made a great adventurer one day..."

Vierna giggled, smiled and lay on her side. Karis knew excactly what was expected of him : A story...

"Okay, okay. Last night, we left Gidu the bear as he made his way through the Forest of Despair..." He began.

And while Vierna was regaled with the tale of a brave little bear, downstairs the gnomes cheered the 6-year old little girl, who had solved a century-old feud...
 




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