Ally's old friend

[DoS Archive]

Date: 12/16/97 6:08 PM Pacific Daylight Time
From: Foxxgrrl


((For those of you who've noticed Ally's not dueling with a rapier anymore. And just cause I get randomly inspired to write Ally stories in the middle of the night....))

It was a cool but bright morning, and Ally was walking through the crowded port of Rhydin when she heard her name shouted through the crowd.
"ALANNA!" came the yell, not far behind her but still almost deafeningly loud. As she spun around, hand automatically slipping to her broadsword hilt, most people around her turned to look too. Then huge arms encircled her in a hug, a fist pounding her back almost hard enough to rupture something as a gleefully booming voice exclaimed, "Alanna! It's benn ages, how in Mithros are you?"
"Raoul, kid, you're killing me here," she laughed as she pried free from the bearhug. "It's not good style at all and try and squash an old friend like me. Dangerous, too," she added as she reached in and lightly jabbed him in the ribs with a finger. She took a step back to squint up at his face; the sun was behind him and he was bigger than ever, a good half-foot or more taller than her almost six feet, and tough like he'd been since she
was eleven.
His laugh run out in a chorus with hers as he feinted a swipe at her. "You still haven't told me what you're up to."
"Oh, living here in Rhydin, dueling...and I teach swordplay at an academy right outside of town. You?"
"Jon made me a naval captain. Real nice ship out in the harbor there." He stroked his beard, almost pensively, and Ally swallowed a laugh. The Raoul she knew from their page-and-squire days was hardly given to serious thought.
"Alanna..." he broke into her memories, "I'm worried about you."
"Me? Why? You should know by now that I can take care of myself." Her words were defensive, but her tone wasn't...Raoul did know her well enough not to worry.
"It's not that. What's got you so worried?"
She stared at him for a second before replying, grinning slightly because he was just so random. "Don't tell me you've suddenly received psychic gifts from the gods..."
"No...I just wonder why you're wearing your broadsword when you're only dueling and teaching. Wouldn't a rapier be far more practical?"
She laughed, a little nervouss. "Why'd you pick now to become perspective, Raoul?" He shrugged, so she continued, "Rhydin's not as safe as it used to be. There've been murders...bad ones, women taken apart and posted in the duel halls...Raoul, I'm not about to be an easy target..."
"...never were..." he interrupted softly.
Grinning, she went on, "...and it's not just for me, it's more for others. People without swords or defenses. Children. Innocent people, or as innocent as you get in Rhydin..."
He reached down to ruffle her hair and she ducked away smirking. He laughed. "Well, you always have a good heart, Al."
"Sir Goldenlake!" shouted a young-looking boy in the dress of the Tortallan navy.
"Yes, Max?" Raoul turned away to talk to the kid, who nodded and sprinted back down the docks. Raoul turned back to Ally.
" 'Sir Goldenlake?' " she asked, grinning.
"Sure, Al. Some of us still use our titles. Anyway, I gotta run. Next time in Rhydin, you owe me dinner, okay?"
She laughed, managing a "Yup," before Raoul flattened her in a hug again, then hurried back to his ship. The Tortallan flag on the mast fluttered in the breeze as Sir Alanna Saint-Reynolds of Trebond and Barony Olau watched her friend go, smiling after him.