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33. Tin-cans


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#1 Weyoun

Posted 03 November 2002 - 09:52 AM

Writer's comment : I seemed to be writing about paladins in a negative connotation at the time... and I still do. Laufey and I had just finished our first collaberative story, not surprisingly we made fun of paladins, so a little Vierna about idiot paladins was a natural evolution

Hope you like it,
 
Tin-cans

"Nyao."

"Piyo."

Vierna was in her room, laying on her bed facing the foot end. Glancing outside, she noticed it was a pleasant day outside. The sun was shining and the weather was just right for a few games of throwing ball. Instead she was stuck inside for the rest of the day. So, still in a sulky mood, Vierna returned to her drawing.

In the meantime, her two pets were competing for Vierna's affection. Kitty, the orange cat sat to the right of Vierna's drawing, while Limmy, the ever faithful extra-planar Lim-Lim, hopped on Vierna's bed at the left side of the drawing.

"Nyao!" Kitty stressed, itching for a scratch behind the ear.

"Piyo!" Limmy retorted, wanting to be stroked over his orange-speckled carapace instead, while it buzzed his wings excitedly.

"Nyao!"

"Piyo!"

"Nyao!"

"Piyo!"

"NYAO!"

"PIYO!"

While Vierna was still drawing sadly, Kitty made her next move. She moved to Vierna and rubbed her furry body against the drawing Drow's arm. But Limmy did not stay behind. The Lim-Lim buzzed his wings as he hopped over next to Vierna and rubbed his body against Vierna's other arm. "Rrrrr, rrrrr," was the sounds both pets made as they continued their assault of purrs.

"Awwww," Vierna smiled as she temporarily abandoned her drawing and hugged both pets. "I love you both."

"Nyao..." Kitty purred blissfully as she was being scratched behind the ear, while Limmy buzzed his wings and chirped lovingly as he was being stroked.

While Kitty stretched out on Vierna's bed to bask in the warm sunlight pouring in the room through the window, the tiny Drow continued drawing her interpretation of an Otyugh. Limmy continued rubbing against Vierna until he hopped from the bed as her father came in.

Immediately, Vierna abandoned her drawing and bounced off the bed, glancing up to her father and did not hesitate to use her saddest eyes she could muster. "Is momma is still mad at me? Can I still not leave my room?"

"Have you ever known your mother to be mad at you for long?" Karis smiled. "She's still a be miffed at you, though. How many times do we have to tell you not to run through the hallways?"

"Oh," Vierna pouted. This morning, she had gotten so excited she not only ran through the hallways, but she had knocked over a small table as well... This wasn't normally much of a problem, were it not that that table contained a very precious and valuable porcelain Kara-Turan vase, for which her mother had laid down five thousand gold. Though the vase could be easily fixed by one of Imoen's fastening spells, Viconia had decided Vierna had to spent some time thinking over what she had done.

"I'm sorry," Vierna sniffed. "Can I go outside now?"

"It's a lovely day," Karis smiled. "And I don't see why not. Go on, enjoy yourself..."

"Yay!" Vierna smiled, and ran out the door, closely followed suit by a hopping Lim-Lim.

"Well, it's just you and me, Kitty," Karis smiled and set on Vierna's bed to pet the cat.

---

"Sir Gisbrecht?" the squire Roland said as he rode beside his paladin mentor. He, and a total of seven squires, had been travelling for half a day now. On horseback, they had slowly been approaching the De'Arnise lands, with grim intent. "Sir Gisbrecht?" young Roland, barely in his nineteenth winter, asked his elder, a graying servant of helm dressed in shiny full plate. "Are you certain of this course of action."

"It is our sacred duty to vanquish evil wherever it walks," the blonde-haired Annetta Swiftheart, an elder squire of the Order answered for Sir Gisbrecht.

"Indeed, my boy," Gisbrecht nodded. "She has the right of it, Roland. Do you doubt your duties?"

"N-no, Sir," Roland said quickly. "But... I've read the work of Clovis of Candlekeep, and I get the impression..."

"We mean to kill the Drow elf, Roland," Sir Gisbrecht snapped. "No doubt the 'Travels of the Bhaalspawn' consists of one string of lies after another..."

"This mission is sanctioned by the Order, Sir? Isn't it?" Roland asked.

"The Order... has become very reactionary as of late. They do not see the danger a Drow in the ranks of landowners of Amn represents! Already she has her claws in the one she calls her mate, and it will only be a matter of time before her corrupting grasp spreads beyond the De'Arnise lands. The Order does not see we have to stop her while we still can..." Gisbrecht nodded.

"So... we are rogue paladins?" Roland asked. "Renegades?"

"Not from Duty and Honor, dear boy," Gisbrecht smiled.

"Good!" Annetta smiled. "I have been training hard, and with Helm on my side, the Drow shall fall before my blade!"

"That's the spirit... But do not forget about her daughter. She must be disposed of too," Gisbrecht added.

"But... she's just a child!" Roland protested.

"You are young, so I shall forgive your impulsiveness. The slaying of a child is vile, but you should not see this as a child. She is a demon-spawn of her mother, and was weaned on the fire and brimstone of the Abyss itself! The child is used as a tool by her mother to keep her mate in line, and she shall not shed a tear should the child fall. We must cleanse this evil for our people!" Gisbrecht raved, an unnatural fire burning in his eyes.

"But... a child..."

"Lord Karis will thank us when we deal with the threat and free him from the enchanted placed over him so long ago," Annetta nodded blissfully, but Roland knew that, aside from being a loyal servant of Helm, she was also a glory-hound.

"Cast off your doubts, you Roland, and do your duty..." Gisbrecht snapped. Then, he raised his right hand, signaling his squires to dismount and continue on foot. They set the horses free to run back to the stables in Athkatla, and snuck across the borders of the De'Arnise lands.

---

Though Roland still had lingering doubts about their technically illegal mission, he had a duty to Helm, and his mentor to perform. So, while his group of eight carefully dodged border-patrols for half a day, they had managed to sneak into a deep forest surrounding the Keep. Hiding into a cave, Sir Gisbrecht had ordered several of his squires to scout the area, and right now, Roland had made his way to a site very close to the Keep itself, and he could see it's towers jutting out over the forest's canopy.

Roland wore supple leather armor, which made it easy for him to hide in the underbrush and shrubbery. He had approached a grove very near to the Keep which apparently saw heavy use. And a little later, he noticed why. Four small children approached the spot and started to play with a red ball. Roland watched the spectacle and smiled. It was dodge-ball, a game he had played many times before with his friends. It reminded him of a time duty was a mere afterthought, and for a moment, he cursed his father for forcing him into joining the Order.

But then he noticed... her! The demon-child herself! She was tiny, the only child shorter than her being the halfling boy. Her skin was a dark-grayish hue, and her cackle of evil rose above the happy cries of the children. Long white hair reached the back of her knees as she ran after the red ball. The demon was wearing a soft leather tunic and matching pants.

So mesmerized by the fact that a creature of such evil intent was playing with these children? Perhaps she meant to kill them and drink their blood? Perhaps she was gathering innocents for her mother to sacrifice to the Spider Queen? But didn't the 'Travels of the Bhaalspawn' say Viconia DeVir had rejected the Spider Queen?

'Thump!' sounded next to Roland as the red ball the kids had been playing with landed in the bush and came to a halt next to his boots. Startled, Roland whipped his gaze at the ball, wondering if it really was a ball or some sort of magical instrument of destruction. Mesmerized, he kept staring at the ball, waiting for it to do something...

"HI!" a girl's voice sounded in front of Roland.

The squire almost squealed in fear as he suddenly noticed the demon-child standing there, just staring at him expectantly. She was smiling... 'No doubt she is smiling at the prospect of the terrible mental and physical tortures she will inflict on me' Roland thought. 'My life ends here..'

"Wh... wh... what do you want of me?" Roland asked fearfully.

"Can I have my ball back, please?" the demon-child smiled, and for the first time Roland noticed the child's sparkling and laughing blue eyes.

"Your... ball?"

"The big red one over there by your feet!" the child pointed.

"Oh, oh," Roland shivered and gently and slowly picked up the ball, still half-expecting it to explode or turn into a demonic beast, and gave it to the tiny Drow.

"Thank you," the girl said and smiled.

"You... you're not going to kill me, are you?" Roland asked.

The girl looked at him strangely for a few moments. "You're weird..." the girl finally said.

"PIYO!" sounded from the side, making Roland jump from his perch, stumble over a branch and fall flat on his face. Looking up, he saw a strange creature standing mere inches from his face. It resembled a giant magenta-colored flea with a gleefully smiling mouth, twin sets of small wings and coal-black eyes.

"Wha... wha-wha-wha-WHAT IS THAT!" Roland almost shouted. "What kind of demonic power spawned such a creature?!"

"It's a Lim-Lim!" the girl answered. "And he's my friend! He followed me from the Keep. Go on, pet him! He likes that..."

Almost against his will, Roland moved his hand to pet the strange creature over the back. He almost smiled as the Lim-Lim chirped in delight and buzzed his wings as he enjoyed the affection.

"Bye now!" she concluded as she left Roland on the floor and returned to her friends, her strange pet in tow.

'She's just a child', Roland nodded. 'Just an normal, happy kid who happens to be a Drow... I daresay this job is getting to me...'

---

"But..."

"There will be no more discussion!" Sir Gisbrecht roared. "Her evil magics have enchanted you too, Roland..."

"He was weaker than I thought," Annetta sneered. "You'll never be a paladin, Roland."

'Maybe I don't want to be one,' Roland thought bitterly, trying to get the image of the smiling girl and her laughing eyes out of his mind. Someone, she had touched on doubts that had been in his mind since the day he was forced to join the Order. And his mentor intended to kill her... but for what exactly? His doubts grew by the minute.

But there was nothing he could do. He was alone, and had seven others against him... Every single one fanatically devoted to Sir Gisbrecht's way of thinking. Especially Annetta scared him.

Soon they would approach the grove where Roland had found the child... and there was nothing he could do about it.

---

"Ah, I see you are here, little one," Viconia smiled as she found her daughter playing by herself in their little grove behind the keep where they often played. Her friends had already gone home, which was not surprising since it was time from lunch. In fact, that was one of the very reasons she had come to gather Vierna.

"Hi, momma!" Vierna smiled. "What's for lunch?"

"Let's just worry about that later," Viconia said, and sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, and patted the bark to motion her child to sit next to her. "Now," she said. "Do you realize why I kept you indoors this morning?"

"No more running in the hallways..." Vierna pouted and bowed her head.

"Hey, turn that frown around," Viconia smiled. "It's supper time."

"We're not having Spam, are we?" Vierna asked.

"Good Selune, no!" Viconia crinkled her face in disgust. "I don't know what Jan was thinking when he invented Spam..."

"Come on then, we..." but then, Viconia rose from the trunk and intently scanned the forest around her.

"What is it, momma?" Vierna asked, but Viconia kept staring. She had heard about eight humans, six men, two women, all heavily armored and armed. "We are in an ambush!" Viconia shouted, hoping to draw all the intruders out in the open. "Prepare yourself," Viconia whispered as the eight people took the bait. Eight people stepped out in the open, a graying armored knight with a vicious sneer on his face was apparently their leader.

"You!" the graying knight spoke. "Viper! Creature of evil! Corruptor of all that is holy! Spawn of the Abyss. Drow, you have seen your last day."

"Momma?" Vierna asked.

"Child," Viconia spoke harshly. "Child, get out of here. Return to the Keep and alert the guards..."

But Vierna apparently knew what these self-righteous gits intended. Vierna would not move... Instead she stood next to her mother with determination. "Momma! I'll help you fight these bad men!"

Viconia cursed inwardly. Of course, she was touched by Vierna's devotion, but she had a dazzling array of devastating spells which she could not use until Vierna was out of harm's way.

"Vierna... GO!" Viconia snarled, a bit too harshly for her own taste. "NOW! Back to the Keep!"

Vierna pouted, but considered her mother's words. But then, one of the squires, a leather-armored raven-haired boy, brandishing a shield and bastard sword, broke from the ranks and approached the two Drow. Preparing her first spell, Viconia was ready to engage the cocky male, but suddenly he turned his back to her and kept backing away from his former comrades, inching ever closer to the Drow.

"TRAITOR!" A golden-haired squire shouted.

"Fool!" Sir Gisbrecht. "You side with a creature of pure evil!"

"She's a mother protecting her child!" the squire retorted while Viconia kept one eye on her child, and one eye on the strange squire. The squire then turned to Viconia while raising his sword. "Greetings, my Lady. I am Roland, squire of the Order... I no longer which to kill you. Instead, I will fight by your side... We might will fight to the death, but your child will escape..."

Viconia sighed. "Where do they find them?" she muttered. Swiftly as a bolt of lightning, she bent down and fished a tiny, razor-sharp dagger which she kept in a secret compartment at the side of her boot. She had always taken such precautionary matters: in her days in the Underdark, her first steps on the surface, her travels with Karis and even her good life today. Some old habits do die hard.

For the knights, that was the sign to attack. Immediately, two of the squires broke rank and move to attack the Drow. Viconia held her knife and prepared to cast, but Roland had already moved to engage his two former comrades. Not only is this Roland extremely annoying, Viconia mused, but now he's standing in the way of my spells as well!'

Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed the graying knight was chasing Vierna as she ran to the keep... and to her horror, Vierna turned about and ran straight towards the charging knight. But the knight was old, slow and wearing cumbersome armor while Vierna was quick and nimble. Before the knight could even react, Vierna had kicked him in the shin. With pride, Viconia saw that her daughter's sharp kin had even gotten through the knights metal armor, since the knight was suddenly hopping on one leg, holding his other leg in severe pain.

But the knight's ordeal did not end there. "PIYO!" could be heard as Limmy jumped into the air, somersaulted and kicked the knight in the chest, not only slamming him into a tree, but also leaving two deep dents in his chestplate. "Piyo, piyo!" sounded as Limmy hammered his powerful hind-legs into the knight's chest again and again... As the knight's chestplate had been assaulted for at least ten times, Limmy chirped as he hopped after Vierna, heading towards the keep. The knight collapsed against the tree and fell unconscious.

And now that Vierna was out of harm's way, Viconia's look of concern eased into a confident and wicked grin.

"I'll protect you, my lady!" Roland smiled.

"Stand aside!" Viconia snapped and brushed Roland away in a none-too-friendly fashion.

Surprised, Roland let the angry Drow pass as she stood to confront the advancing squires. Immediately, deadly spells flew from Viconia's hands as Roland watched the spectacle in fascinated horror. A gigantic jet of flame bore down from the heavens and incinerated the first squire. Two others fell to a billowing set of magical clouds raining acid and lighting down upon them, leaving only two squires standing, which were hesitant to attack the Drow and more likely to belt into the woods soon.

Suddenly, the squire with the golden hair rose her sword high and stormed at the Drow cleric, hoping to get close enough... but it was in vein. A ball of sickly green energy shot from Viconia's fingers, hitting the haughty squire square in the chest. A look of disbelief crossed her agonized face as her soul was ripped from her body.

Roland, still standing behind Viconia, let his sword drop to the floor. The 'epic struggle and ensured victory by divine might' Sir Gisbrecht had kept telling to his trusting squires, had been over in less than a minute. Like lambs, Sir Gisbrecht had led his squires to the slaughter.

But the battle did not end there... Sir Gisbrecht, having trouble breathing because of his dented chestplate, staggered from his perch and slowly approached Viconia, his intent clear. But as Viconia was calmly preparing her next wave of attack-spells, a strange sound could he heard coming from the Keep and approaching fast.

"rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHHH!" was shouted by a hulking ranger in full plate who belted from the path and into the clearing. "RAH, MINSC AND BOO WILL KICK THE BUTTS OF ALL WHO WANT TO HURT LITTLE VIERNA!"

The startled Sir Gisbrecht suddenly found himself picking held by his leg as he was swung high over Minsc's head, and cried out in terror as the huge ranger started to use him to beat up the last remaining squire. A brutal fight later, Minsc's berserker-rage finally ended, and the gentle giant calmly strolled over to Viconia. "Little Vierna wants to know if you are okay..."

"I'm fine Minsc," Viconia nodded, and glanced over to the fear-stricken Roland.

Roland, noticing the eyes were on him, gulped. "It, emmm, it seems you didn't need me after all..."

"I did not," Viconia snarled, her eyes flashing with anger. "But I STILL want to have a little chat with you about this, and I'm sure Karis wants to be hear your explanation as well... Minsc? Why don't you escort Roland here to the Keep?"

Minsc nodded and clasped a beefy arm around Roland's shoulders. "Ah, I will do so! Boo will see to it that he will not get away!"

As Minsc led the terrified Roland away, Viconia strolled over to the bloodied form of Sir Gisbrecht, who had surprisingly survived Minsc's assault. He lay on his back, glancing toward the sky, muttering silently. "Why did I fail? All righteous knights always defeat evil... but Helm abandoned my side... so, Helm must be evil too! Paladins must purge all evil... Everyone is evil but me... everyone must be cleansed!"

Viconia shook her head. The knight's sickly devotion to his god and own foolish notion of virtue had made him stock-raving mad... his Order would come to collect him, heal him, reinstate him, and this whole mess would start all over again. And next time, he might find Vierna when she would be alone. She would not let that happen... A ball of sickly green energy formed in her hands and shot out, forever banishing Sir Gisbrecht's soul from this plane.

---

"Again, let me apologize for this whole sad incident," Sir Keldorn Firecam, prelate of the Order, calmly told Karis and Viconia. For Keldorn, the position of Prelate had been a godsend... He could do his duty as a knight of the Order, while at the same time he would be able to live and stay with his family.

"I almost sounds like you mean it, paladin," Viconia snarled.

"I DO mean it," Keldorn spoke, more than a little irritated. "The Order never sanctioned this mission. In fact, it was I who waved Sir Gisbrechts' arguments.

"Keldorn," Karis asked firmly. "Do I have your word that nothing like this will ever happen again?"

"You have it," Keldorn nodded.

"Because if this happens again, and my beloved child will be harmed," Viconia snarled, her eyes flashing with an amount of anger that would have startled a pack of Glabrezu's, "I will come to Athkatla and exterminate your entire accursed Order!"

"And I will be helping her..." Karis nodded.

Keldorn heard the threats be remained calm. "If my own daughters had gone through the same ordeal as yours, I would do the same..."

Karis looked on. Keldorn and Viconia had never gotten along, but at least they had reached a common ground at this point. He led Keldorn and Viconia to the courtyard, were Vierna and her friends were cheerfully playing a game of dodge-ball with Roland, who seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. On the side of the make-shift playing field, Limmy and Kitty were sitting, waiting for Vierna to step from the field and feed them.

"Nyao!"

"Piyo!"

"Nyao!"

"Piyo!"

Vierna, in the meantime, had forgotten all about the encounter yesterday, and was cheerfully engrossed by the game as if nothing had happened at all.

"Gisbrecht's folly cost many promising squires their lives," Keldorn sighed as he watched the children play. "At least young Roland has survived. He will no doubt make a fine knight..."

"Sorry, prelate Keldorn," Roland said, breaking off the chat to dodge the ball. "But I must give you my resignation from the Order. I have decided I want to become a bard. Travelling the lands, casting spells and spinning tales has always appealed to me..."

"And he's good at it too!" Rowen said, thinking back to all the wonderful stories Roland had told the four children already.

"A... a bard..." Keldorn nodded, more than a bit surprised. "Well, it's... it's your choice..."

"Ah, another life saved," Viconia baited Keldorn, but he decided to ignore the Drow. Instead he, Karis and Viconia simply watched the children play.
 




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