Elisha's Staff

Just a little piece about Elisha that I had a bit of fun writing. I hope you enjoy it and have a very merry Christmas!~

CRACK! As I held the handle of my katana, the blade snapped in two. Fear raced through my body and every muscle in my body tensed up all at once. Both my hands started shaking and I could feel all the colour drain from my face as I stared at the Nwalmiel. All my energy left my body and I felt sick, like I was going to throw up. With no strength left, I dropped to my hands and knees, what was left of my sword clattering to the stone ground.

"Get up." A voice that I'd never heard before in my life came from above me and I could feel myself pulled into a standing position by a hand that was a good deal larger and stronger than mine. "Hand me the sword." Since it was dark, I couldn't get a good look at the man's face, but he was a good deal taller than I am. Not that being taller than I am is that difficult. I did as I was told and he held Jordan's katana in his hands for long moment. "This must be returned to its rightful owner."

I slipped my dark blue cloak over my shoulders and turned to leave the room, but Jordan's voice grabbed my attention before I could take more than a step and a half. "Take my sword," he said. "You need it more than I do and it'll help you remember everything you've been taught. Laika will serve you well." He placed the katana and its sheath in my hands, gave me a pat on my shoulder and then turned and walked out of the room.

He held a plain wooden staff in his own calloused hands, with what appeared to be some sort of binding around the center. "This is no ordinary staff," he said, handing it to me. It felt heavy in my hands for the first few moments I held it, but it gradually got lighter. "It may look like nothing special, but its abilities are tied to your willpower. Keep yourself strong and focused and your staff will serve you well." He paused for a moment and I could see a faint blue light radiating from the stick I held in my left hand. "Keep it with you at all times. The Enemy will try to take it from you, but you must not let that happen. Now," here, he put his hands on my shoulders, "go in peace, my child."

The girl nodded and handed my staff back to me. "The Master gave it to you, didn't he?" she asked, the same smile that was on her lips dancing in those blue eyes of hers. I nodded. "You'll learn how to use it and don't even think about letting it go." Her own hand dropped down to touch the hilt of her sword. "The Enemy won't be able to do much against a weapon like that." She reached out and gave me a hug. "We'll talk later, alright?"

With one hand in my pocket and the other hand holding my staff, I set out from the courtyard of the castle and into the surrounding forest. Although it is sad every time I must leave, I'm sure that I'll be back to see both her and the Master again. But now, I must complete the mission that was given to me.

Meeting Allison

The young bounty hunter crossed the room. It was rather crowded and he cared little for paying attention to the latest gossip, which Lin seemed to be the center of. Well, Lin and Naomi. Elisha's nose wrinkled slightly; he knew he would never understand the female mind and its need to speak incessently of all the latest happenings, including the arrival of a new informant for the Resistance.

"You ought to go greet her." Mark motioned to where Jordan was speaking to a small girl with short blonde hair. Or Elisha only assumed she was a girl by her unusually petite frame, but really, it was hard to tell from the fifty meters away that the two boys stood, just watching. "Eh, doesn't really matter one way or another. Looks like she's getting the royal treatment from Lin over there." A slight frown crossed Mark's face.

"Aye, maybe I should," Elisha answered, almost the exact same frown crossing his darker face. "Lin really needs to learn to treat newcomers with respect or there'll be no one left to help us." There was a slight pause and the grasp on his quarterstaff tightened until his knuckles were white. "And right now, we need all the good help we can get. There's no way Ran is going to let Lin go out and spy." Using the wooden stick for a bit of extra support, he half-limped to where Jordan was standing, talking to the new arrival. Mark followed partway in silence, then broke off to go talk to Ran.

As Elisha approached, Jordan turned around and nodded towards the shorter youth. "This is Allison, a new recruit," he held his hand out towards the girl. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go speak to Harcourt and Ran and I'll leave the two of you to get acquainted." Without waiting for Elisha to protest, Jordan turned around and let his long legs carry him effortlessly across the room.

The younger bounty hunter frowned to himself and winced slightly, still annoyed with himself for slipping down the riverbank when he, Naomi, Mark and Lin went out for a short excursion the week before. Another few days of limping around like this and then he knew he'd be back to normal before the end of the week, but the fourteen-year-old couldn't help feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prick up when he saw Lin and Mark sparring and he had to sit on the sidelines, just watching.

"What's your name, Darkie?" The girl looked up at him, meeting his dark hazel eyes with her own light brown ones. "I'm Allison, or that's what everyone calls me." She looked him over and he could feel a piercing stare. "You're not a very good fighter, are you?"

The very tips of Elisha's ears heated up and it felt like they were once again subjected to the hot desert summer afternoon. He had only been that far out of the town a few times, even though his ancestors were originally from the desert tribes to the east. "Why should I give you my name?" After a moment, Elisha met her piercing gaze with his own more subtle one. "You obviously haven't given me yours, at least not your real one."

"Then can I call you Darkie?" When Elisha shrugged, the girl perked up and bounced away, leaving the bounty hunter more confused than ever. By the time he turned around, Mark was standing behind him. The taller bounty hunter had picked up the habit of being able to sneak up quietly behind people; it especially annoyed Lin.

"You know I don't like giving out my name," Elisha's voice dropped down to a whisper. "To know another person's name is to hold power over them and it's not something I need to deal with right now, so don't even think about it."

Sigh. I really don't like how that piece turned out, but whatever. I think it would've been better (especially at the end) if it had been a first person narration to Elisha's POV. And just to let you know, "Darkie" is a rather derogative term used to refer to someone from the desert, but Elisha either doesn't know or doesn't care. Meh, I might as well let you read this...

Scene between Elisha and Mark

Okay, wow... it's been over a month and a half since I posted here and I thoroughly blame real life stuff for getting in the way of writing. As a side note, remember some of the characters I mentioned earlier in this post? A brief scene between some of them came to mind earlier today and I just thought I'd share it with you...

Elisha glanced around the room briefly before turning back to Mark. All around them, bounty hunters went on their way, to and from their respective assignments. The sixteen-year-old could easily pick Lin out from the crowd, as well as his sister and Allison, who were both over flirting with some of the boys their age. His lips drew into a frown and he made a note to himself to speak to Naomi about the danger of a man's thoughts later.

"Hey," Mark's voice, as usual, was quiet. "You were thinking 'bout something, weren't you?"

"Yeah," Elisha nodded after a moment. Figuring out how he was going to explain everything to Naomi would have to wait until later. "But honestly, it's Lin I'm more concerned about. She's been acting all... wierd... lately, ever since Jordan left." It had been about two months since one of the most respected bounty hunters had just disappeared, leaving his sword in the hands of Elisha. When the youth had asked his senior where he was going, Jordan simply replied that it was a quest for something he called Veritas and that someday, he'd understand as well. No one had really understood, least of all Elisha and even as he tried to explain it to Lin, the words had refused to come. Jordan had abandoned them.

Mark shrugged and stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket. "I wouldn't expect her to believe that Veritas even exists, you know what I mean?" His own dark eyes drifted over to where Lin was standing, obviously engaged in some sort of argument with Allison.

Elisha paused for a minute, then nodded. "Lin..." he sighed. "Lin's one of those people... she never believes anything that she can't see for herself. She's a good friend and more than a worthy adversary, but she doesn't stop to consider all the possibilities." There was a short pause as he turned to watch Allison flounce away in a huff and Lin smirk, turn the other direction and go about whatever business she had. Elisha didn't wonder for too long what had happened; he was pretty sure he'd hear all about it later, whether he wanted to or not. "Mark." The other youth looked over at Elisha. "Can I ask you a question?" When Mark nodded his approval, Elisha continued. "Do you believe in the existence of a spiritual realm?"

"Yes," the voice that replied was slow to speak. "I believe that I do." Mark removed his right hand from his pocket, revealing the time keeper that Elisha had loaned him earlier that month. "I guess you might call it blind faith 'cause I've never seen anything, but I've heard about it." There was a slight pause. "Remember that old story Ran told us once? The one about Echelon and how everyone banished him to the castle outside of town because they thought he was crazy?" Elisha nodded. "What Ran said makes me think that Echelon might not've been as crazy as they say. If he had actually seen Melekhiel, that would've explained a lot... and it would be a bit more reasonable, I think, to explain why Jordan left."

Elisha frowned slightly. "But you can't even feel it, can you?" At this point, I must pause and give a brief history lesson. In the beginning, there was a spiritual realm and there was a point when everyone could not only feel it, but experience it as one would savour the richness of a barbeque with friends and family on a warm summer afternoon. Over time, people began trying to explain everything and this ability to feel the supernatural was lost to all but a few who are known as the Shiniel, or in their language, the spirit-people.

Mark opened up the timekeeper. "Eh, it's the same thing as this," he answered. "I know that it works and it makes the work I do better and provides a logical explanation as to why I don't run late anymore." He closed the gadget back up and placed it in his pocket once again. "Now, Ran knows that I've always been late and now I'm not. What's the explanation he'll come up with?"

Elisha nodded. "I see," he replied. "Even though he doesn't know that you have my timekeeper, it's most likely he'll assume you've acquired one and learned how to use it properly. I suppose, in a sense, he has faith that you have a timekeeper."

"Maybe I am accepting this on faith, but you can't always know everything, eh?" Mark's gaze trailed off into the distance and for a long couple of minutes, he was staring out the window near the ceiling. "Even Jordan doesn't know everything and I'm pretty sure that's why he went to look for answers." Mark paused and shifted to a more comfortable position, now leaning up against the stone wall of the building. "I guess I can ask you the same thing."

"Sure," the other youth spoke. A quick glance flittered around the room and he turned his back towards the commotion. He lowered his voice to several notches quieter than what it normally was. "You already know that I am a Shiniel." There was a short pause and when Mark nodded, Elisha continued. "For me to deny the existence of a spiritual realm would be worse than Lin not believing in the existence of the physical." He sighed, turned back around so that he was only halfway facing Mark now. Out of the outermost reaches of his peripheral vision, he spotted Lin, who appeared to be arguing now with Ran. "I pity her. She really just doesn't get it, does she?" He forced a weak smile over at the taller youth, who shook his head. Elisha's hand reached down to touch the handle of his sword. "Perhaps it's for the better, then." Without waiting for a reply from Mark, he turned the rest of the way and began walking towards the door.

AN: Elisha and Mark live in a society and they're both bounty hunters. Lin is Elisha's partner and Naomi is Elisha's sister. Ran and Allison are also both part of the coalition of bounty hunters. Ran is a bit older than they are and Allison is a bit younger. She and Naomi are close friends. A bit more can be explained by reading my post about Echelon's Ring, which I linked for you up above.