“Lisa's Fanfic: The Sequel”
by ‘pd Rydia’
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Author's preface: 
This story is an original creation of pd Rydia, a.k.a. C. Diane Kuhl.  She owns this piece and it is copyright (©) of C. Diane Kuhl, 2003.  Do not copy this story in any part or whole, and especially do not claim it as your own.  If you find this story anywhere other than at RPGWW (http://greatdave.org/rpgww), please contact the author immediately, at pdrydia@hotmail.com.  You can use the same address to send feedback.
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All it took was a glimpse, just a passing view of the tall, handsome man, surveying the decimation of Doma with cool collectedness.  Lisa gasped as her hand flew to her throat.  It felt like she could no longer breath...she was utterly capitvated.  Those intense orange eyes, that long, flowing white hair...that beautiful, beautiful face.  The man's gaze slowly moved across the rubble that was once proud Doma City...and as his gaze fell over the small elven girl, Lisa blushed and ducked her head, hurrying away.

The white-haired man stayed in her mind all day, however.  The first chance she got, she slipped over to her friend, William Baseton.  She hovered quietly by his side, waiting for recognition, which wasn't long in coming.

"Yes, Lisa?  Do you need something?" the ryuujin asked the young mage, blinking.

"Erm...yes...d-do you know..."  Lisa stuttered, wondering why she was even asking him this.  But William was so knowledgeable, so intelligent...surely he would know.

"Yeah?"

"Erm...I saw this m-man today," she went on.  "I was...w-wondering if you knew who he was?"

"Well, what did he look like?"

Lisa quickly recapped the man's traits, from his strange eyes to his dark blue trenchcoat.

Will pulled a face.  "That's Vaniyakna, the ruler of Barius.  You stay away from him, okay?  He's a bastard.  A cold-hearted bastard.  He imprisoned Aya in Kohlingen and is trying to take over Doma."

Lisa nodded her assent and excused herself, hurrying away.

In truth, she was not the least bit deterred.  No no, so unwittingly, Will had simply added fuel to the flame.

Lisa's mind worked furiously as she scurried to the tent that was the Gunnir mages' barracks, throwing herself down on her bedroll with a fumph.  Casting furtive glances around to make sure she was alone, she pulled a battered notebook out from under her pillow, carressing it once, lovingly.  Then, pulling a pen out from the carrysack next to her bed, she began to write.

*-*-*-*

It was a dark and stormy night that Ashurarus.  The rain swept in from the Val'ri sea beat against the barred window of Aya's room, as the queen let out a long, exasperated sigh.  "I've been coupped up in this lousy room for way too long," she grumbled to herself.  "When can I return home to my beloved?  How long must I stay here under Vaniyakna's guard?"

Vaniyakna...the name was so foreign, so strange, she mused to herself.  Yet...it had a certain beauty to it.  Almost like the man himself...

"What am I thinking?" she growled angrily, before throwing herself onto her bed.  She buried her face in her pillow and tried to forget what she had just thought.

Several days passed, and Aya's frustration grew to epic proportions.  She desired so strongly to fly to her lover...if only she were free.

Then, it occurred to her, causing her a little gasp of surprise.  Why didn't she fly?

She looked to her door.  Through it, she could hear two uneven snores.  Her guards were asleep.

It can't be that easy, she thought to herself.  Nonetheless, she found herself involuntarily inching toward the door.  It simply can't...

Yet slowly the door opened, with a creak that was painful to the ear.  Aya readied an excuse for when her guards inevitably woke at the sound...

Only they didn't.

Wide eyed, Aya slipped quickly and quietly down the corridor.  She would be in a world of trouble if Vaniyakna's lackeys discovered her.  Oh, would she.

But that seemed ever increasingly unlikely to happen.  Hallway after hallway, she wandered, each passageway eerily quiet.  At one point in time, she could have sworn someone saw her...she heard shouts and froze in her spot in the shadows.  But no one ever came her way.  So, she moved on, creeping silently like a well trained ninja.

Suddenly, a breeze wafted by her face.  She smelled the outside!

Hurrying now, she followed the hallway she was in until it spilled out into the outside.  The blessed outside!  Freedom of space, where she could transform and fly--

Only for one thing.  A shadow detached from a wall, a tall shadow, moving to intercept her position.

The light of the full moon fell upon the face of Vaniyakna.

Aya gasped and shrank back, about ready to bolt.  However, the Barian quickly crossed the distance between the two and grasped her shoulder with a hand.

His hand was warm.

"Is my hospitality not enough for you, my queen?" he asked, eyes staring intensely into Aya's.

Aya stuttered a response.  "It...I...yes...I mean...no!  I mean..."  Somehow, she found herself drowning in those eyes...those deep, amber eyes...

Vani's face took on a peculiar expression.  "My queen..." he said slowly, as if deliberating the words.  "You're...incorrigible, I--"

"You're beautiful," Aya blurted, uttering a little squeak at what she just said.

Vaniyakna stared at Aya, long and hard.  For several long moments, they stood there, staring at each other, and then...

Vaniyakna pulled Aya toward him, grasping her in his firm embrace.  He kissed Aya, hungrily, and Aya was shocked to find herself kissing back.

That night, the two spent many a long hour together, under the moon.