: Well played!

Frieda just looked at Lion () and shrugged as Ebele returned to the Drow and engaged him in conversation. "I was just as curious and impetuous at her age...I should not try so hard to be overprotective of others. I'm still young myself and I have a lot to learn still." She stood and excused herself. "I'm going to retire for a while. I'll return in an hour or so. I need to freshen up."

"Some can," Sorn said without much thought, "but it depends on the type of magic wielder they are. Some people don't even notice their own nose upon their face and are not troubled with who else may be wielding such power. Those such people are foolish. Even the most experienced magic user should look for others, if only to know who may be a possible threat. However, some can only use magic and not feel it." He quirked his brow at the tremble in the word "tell." "Be who you are child. So what if someone does not like you? Never make apologies for what gifts you have. Those that would chastise you or rebuke you for such powers are fools and jealous. They are weak and wish to have power."

He shook his head. "No, I cannot. Can you?"

The fact that the girl wanted to use her magic and Sorn could show off, made him inclined to agree. "I suppose so, though what is in it for me?"

"Not merely a child," Sorn said with a snort, "in the Underdark, among my species you are not considered old enough care for yourself until you are fifty years of age. To me you are a toddler. However, make no mistake, if I instruct you I shall not cuddle you like some babe. Regardless of age I shall demand perfection."

"That is easy for you to say, you are 400 years old! By now you are respected or feared for who you are and you don't have to worry about your friends and what they think or say about you." Ebele knew it sounded immature but she could not shake the desire to fit in with other humans. "I don't want to be run off the ship or killed because of what I am or who my grandmother and all the golden-eyed women were in my family." She continued on without ever removing her eyes from Sorn's. "They were all either tortured and killed, run off, or ostracized because of their powers. The Nigerians have a mixed view with those who can work magic and commune with spirits. They are evil necessities and easily killed off to appease one nature god or another."

Ebele took a few deep breathes, she was really getting riled up about this subject. Now that she thought more about her family being killed off and exiled, it really bothered her. "That will not be me. I do not want to be killed or forced into the bush simply because I am different. I will not allow myself to be pushed around like that. So what is in it for you?" She shook her head slowly and pulled her mouth up in a grimace-shrug. "Helping me learn to take out anyone threatening me or my family for starters." She knew she had nothing else to offer the Drow, having very little in the way of earthly possessions. "I can't offer anything else in payment for your services as my teacher. However, I can offer you loyalty and if you ever needed it, my help at any time."

She shook her head again, she knew it was not good enough compensation. She tore her gaze away from Sorn and looked down, her bottom lip trembling. She wanted to be stronger than her grandmother and strong enough to never fall to an enemy. She hadn't considered that there may be powerful magic creatures or other sorcerers out there who would want to hurt her yet. She forced her lip to stop by biting it and she swallowed down the lump that was forming in her throat.

Continuing on, Ebele hardened her gaze. "I do not want to be coddled. I promise to always do my best and if I do fail then you can drop me as your pupil. Though perfection is slightly an unrealistic expectation. Did you never fail to cast a spell perfectly?" She smiled a bit mischievously as she thought of the small child version of Sorn and what she assumed was what he went through learning to wield his magic.

"Sorn, you must know that humans are not from the Underdark and age much differently. In Nigeria a 15 year old is considered a woman. I stopped being a child when I was 7 and could carry out all responsibilities within the household on my own. I also took care of my ever growing number of younger siblings and cousins. My older 3 siblings and handful of cousins all went off to help earn money to support the family compound. My parents got rid of me as soon as they could though. I think they knew I had the potential to be like my grandmother and wield magic, I bare striking resemblance to her after all." Ebele smiled sweetly and tilted her head upwards and to the side a little bit before continuing. "I'm told she was quite a scary and beautiful witch." Her smile turned into a menacing grin and she pictured being seen as scary to people.

"Anyways, the Underdark sounds very interesting. Do you ever go back? Could I ever go there?" She almost asked more questions but stopped herself and folded her arms across her chest instead and watched Sorn.

(( - Thanks! hugs Ebele doesn't mean to be rude to you or Lion btw - she's just self-absorbed as any teenager really.))

"Of course I am feared but not just because of magic. I am feared for what I am alone. I am what many call a dark elf. The surface elves tell the story that once, long ago light elves were twisted with hate and anger. They forsake the light and delved deep in the darkness. They aligned themselves with the evil things--for that is what they are. And we drows enjoy killing, torture, fear. We drink it in like wine. Indeed our powers are stronger when we are invoking cruelty. But you are mistaken if you believe I have friends." He'd begun to really wonder if Jean or Garrin where actually friends. They said the words but who really knew? He shrugged at her family's plight. If she wanted pity there was none to be found. "It sounds like they were not strong enough."

When she declared she would not be pushed around, he was pleased. "Good, use the anger and pain to push you. Use it as a drive to stay alive." Sorn couldn't help scoff at the loyalty remark. "Loyalty is frail. Those claiming loyalty are only looking for protection until something better comes along. And then they shall betray those they claim they were loyal too." His eyes flashed darker red. It was a sign of anger. He sighed. "I suppose I have nothing better to do." Suddenly dagger was in his hand, a movement made so fast and with practiced ease that it had not been seen. The dagger now under Ebele's chin. "I give you this one and only warning. You betray me and I shall drag my dagger down your body until you hold your organs in your hands. Then I shall shove them back in, give you a healing draught and do it all over again."

He withdrew the dagger and slipped it back in his boot. He laughed at her. "Oh child you amuse me. I shall not be releasing you as a pupil until you have mastery. When I failed, I simply had to keep going and going until starvation. Until my body refused to let me move and then I was punished for the weakness of my flesh. I was whipped, and chained... But I learned and grew and then when I became better than my weapon's master I slit his throat and bathed in his blood. My magic instructor was a female though, so I could not kill her by law."

Sorn gave her a nasty smirk. "It shall not matter what you say, you are a child to me. Besides, if you wish to compare stories, perhaps one day I shall tell you some of mine." The menacing grin earn a smile. "Excellent. Think of the fear you shall strike into the heart of your enemy. The mere mention of your name sending people screaming into the dark. It is most delightful."

Ebele nodded curtly agreeing with the unspoken thoughts about her family. She hadn't even realized that she'd picked up on his sentiments. She could not call them thoughts because she hadn't registered any actual thought just a feeling. "I do agree with you though, they were all afraid of their own. I don't have any real strong ties to my family anymore. They didn't want anything to do with me so I am making my own way, like you are." She sidled up next to Sorn and mindlessly copied his body posture.

"Loyalty is what builds after friendship and trust begin to form. It might be a concept you don't know well. You are right that it breeds weakness and causes one to have weakness. I used to feel weakness towards my family, being loyal to them even when they were not loyal to me. I do think that there are some select few who could earn trust and loyalty to a degree though." She remained silent for a few moments and thought about loyalty. Suddenly a dagger was pressed sharply into her neck under her chin.

Ebele looked up in sharp surprise into Sorn's flashing red eyes. She did not respond to him even after he finished detailing how he'd kill and torture her over and over again if she betrayed him. 'For someone not looking for loyalty he sure places a lot of weight on betrayal. One cannot have betrayal without first having loyalty,' Ebele thought and raised an eyebrow subtly noting the irony.

The Drow resheathed his weapon and stepped back from Ebele. She did not voice her thoughts out loud because apparently the Drow had not yet come to the conclusion for himself. Instead, she swallowed and took a step closer to Sorn pressing up against him. Taking hold of Sorn's wrist, she placed her open switchblade in the palm of his hand and closed his fingers around its handle. "I give you my own blade to cut with if ever I should betray you." She left the open blade in his hand and stepped back a comfortable distance from him.

"You don't have to worry about me killing you," she muttered softly. "I am sorry you were treated with such cruelty." Before he could get angry for what she knew he would perceive as pity she continued on. "No, I am not pitying you, Sorn."

Ebele did rather enjoy thinking of people being afraid of the power she had and wanted so badly to already know how to use it. Ebele looked out over the side railing of the ship and stood in silence for a few moments. Her insides were on fire with adrenaline. She clutched the railing with her left hand to keep her body from shaking visibly. She'd just given away her knife. Now she had to go procure a new one. A chore that she'd begin tackling later this evening, when the prying eyes of all the nosy passengers were busy with dinner and drinking their awareness away.

Sorn couldn't seem to think of a reply so he stayed quiet. He noticed she held the same stance as him. He wondered why. "Trust isn't really much of a thing with drows," he replied. He never gave much thought to her own take on loyalty or betrayal. When she provided the blade to him, he was surprised. Why would she do that? He did scoff when she implied he would be afraid of her killing him. "I'm not afraid of you. You are about as scary to me as a fluffy lamb. But, then again, these eyes have seen a lot and there is little that scares me." He shrugged. "I do not see why you should but you humans confuse me in your emotions."

after several minutes of silence and watch the girl's movements, he thought he might understand the reason she looked scared. She didn't have a weapon. He took her hand and placed the blade back in it. "Rule number one," he said, "never give up your primary weapon." He smirked and pulled out three daggers--where they all came from was tough to say. "Rule number two. Always have a back up weapon." He scanned her body and then handed her the smallest dagger. It was thin, light weight with serrated edges on both sides. The metal was a fine pure silver and it had runes on it. The handle suddenly shifted to fit her hand perfectly. Then he removed he sheath from his upper leg and handed it to her as well. "This blade was forged in an elven armoury. It recognizes you as its new owner. Keep it with you. If it is lost, it will find you again. It might tell you its name. Name's change sometimes. For me, it was called Wrath." Then he stepped back and pressed the largest dagger which magically shifted into a double bladed staff. "This is Mirror. It is a drow forged blade and very dangerous, treacherous to wield. I shall not let you hold it. I was trained with blades. They are my favourite."

Nods and rises as gets up to leave, knowing he was every bit as conceited when he was that age, brilliant but a bit of an ass

It was a fascinating series, I wonder if RA Salvadore came up with that twisted a society off the top of his head-or out of his nightmares-or if he did some anthropology research?

I read the series ages ago, but if I remember Drizzt's family was the 10th House, when the MM of the 9th House lost favor Malice was visited by a Handmaiden and was informed that the 9th House was no longer in Lolth's favor (this was the night D was born, he was actually supposed to be sacrificed to ensure their victory but his oldest brother was killed in the raid so the Spider Queen got her blood sacrifice of a DuOrden male

Giggling softly Ebele seemed quite pleased to have managed to confused the aged Drow with human emotion. "Perhaps you can learn how to relax and enjoy yourself while you are up top here since it's not the Underdark." Ebele knew she'd already pointed out this tidbit before but thought it needed reiterating.

After the dark elf handed her back the small switchblade, Ebele replaced it in the hidden pocket she'd sewn into her dress near her left hip. It felt good to have it back, now she didn't need to worry about figuring out how to get another on this tiny ship.

A moment later she looked up to see that Sorn had several other knives that she hadn't noticed before. She looked over at him with wide eyes wondering at how he managed to have so many well hidden weapons. It only took a moment to realize that he was giving her one of his own knives. The knife Sorn offered to her was exquisite, the serrated edges seeming to cut through the air leaving a faint hardly noticeable streak in their wake. Ebele took the elven knife in reverence and tried to keep her human emotion of gratitude in check, figuring that Sorn wouldn't appreciate it if she reacted too much. "Thank you," her voice sounded strained with pent up tears. "I've never received a gift this fine before. I will do my best to learn how to master the use of it, to honor you who gave it to me." In her culture honor and heritage were highly valued sentiments. She didn't know how these two ideals fared within Drow society but she figured he knew about honor for sure.

The dark elf introduced Ebele to his Drow-forged weapon as it if were a sentient being. She looked at Mirror the blade and her wide golden eyes narrowed as she studied it. The blade seemed to soak up and refract light equally. "How did it change shape and weapon style like that, did you do it or did Mirror?"

She fingered the blade he'd just handed her while staring at Mirror and felt the runes under her fingertips. Her own blade vibrated ever so slightly in her hand. She wondered if she only noticed the blades nearly imperceptible effects on its environment because of the magic in her or if her new blade was also magical like Sorn's own Mirror. She glanced down at the gifted blade and placed it in the sheath that Sorn had also given to her. She didn't try to hide the knife but her skirt fell right over it, concealing its placement on her upper thigh. 'I have to get out of these ridiculous skirts,' she thought while shaking her head. "I am very pleased to have a new primary weapon, thank you again Sorn." She stood next to the Drow and smiled lightly up at him feeling quite satisfied. For the first time in a very long time she knew what she wanted and had a pretty good idea how to get it.

.... um... so....are we alive here? I need to see if we're collecting all the clues or not. I honestly had a horrific week and am trying to figure out if we've started or not...

you remember far more than I do haha. Maybe he used a bit of both?

Sorn shrugged. "I am 400 years old as you liked to point out. Learning the ways of the surface world and applying them? You are asking a fish to become a horse. Even if I manged to breath, how could I walk?" He sighed.

He laughed at her expression. It was so obvious. "One I keep behind my neck, one at my waist and one at my boot. I shall show how to conceal them." His head tilted at her emotional acceptance of the dagger. Not sure exactly what to say he just grunted. "I shall show you if you wish." He nodded at the honour vow.

"Both. There is a special button on the side of the dagger, when pressed, it will change its shape. But as I said, Mirror is treacherous, it is not easily won. It changed for me because it likes my power. It likes me. This is the blade I used to kill my old master. We have been together for a long time. It is filled with the darkest of magicks. When it was forged a sacrifice was made and the body, possibly the soul was added inside it. If you lay your hand above it, you might feel the magic it radiates. Your new blade carries magic as well, but it was made with light elves so you do not need fear the dark magic." He nodded at her. She seemed pleased with the weapon. He didn't think further into why else she might be content.

Thank you! I did a lot of acting when I was young, memorizing plot events from a great series is easier than memorizing lines and blocking

After a short nap, Frieda returns from her stateroom refreshed and ready for the voyage to start. She makes her way to the Grand Dining Room and is greeted by the Maître d'hôtel who directs her to a fine table near the large bay window near where the small orchestra plays the Symphony Pathétique by Tchaikovsky. And while it's not one of her favorite styles of music, Frieda finds it pleasant enough and tells the Maitre d' she approves of his choice.

She removes her 'lurking device' from her silk hand bag and activates the screen. A series of messages appear and she is delighted to receive one from her mate who lives on Terra. She opens the message and it reads. "Good Luck on your adventure. Make some new friends and bring back some stories. Happy Valentines Day...All My Love, Weldon"

She turns off her 'lurking device', slips it back into her purse and swears that next time, she is dragging his sorry weasel butt aboard for some adventuring.

That was a difficult challenge, but you all did well with it. (As you learned, cat gear is easy--other critters, not so much!)

Clues have been updated.

The six teeams who submitted critter costume entries have been smailed the information. If your team did not receive it, please let me know.

Your inbox is full. I'll sent to another team member.

Not sure who you sent it to on my team the loyal peppers...but witchy is going to be limited access due to net issues. So if her...may I ask you send it to one of the rest of us to be safe. Thanks. :*

Whoops! Sorry! Have it emptied out a bit should you need to send out more sMail. Sorry for the inconvenience!

: The Song Skin and Keyboard is epic....

thanks xD i saw someone else do it and thought it was too perfect. I added the "backup singers" lol aka the lanterns

OMG that's just awesome!! Too bad the stage only lasts a day! Love the backup singers too LOL!

thanks XD I know right? I can't wait to play with the final stage though haha. Of course I probly won't till after survival is over.

I have that one also.. but unlike you try to hide it. I like yours better and ! :)