[1/2 Prince x Legend of Sun Knight] fic: Invincible, that is the Legend - Chapter 1
Title: Invincible, that is the Legend - Chapter 1
Fandom: 1/2 Prince x The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 3,059
Summary: On their way to finish the Dictator, the Execution Squad's "invincible battleship" crashes, separating everyone, landing them on foreign soil. "Look Aldrizzt, an elf! I want her to join us." "Neo, that's not a her."
Notes: Oh dear, looks like this fic will have long chapters, which is a first for me! Well, long for me at least. My chapters have always been short (averaging around 1~2k). I also don't write in this kind of style much and don't know how long I can maintain it. It feels a little weird. I feel like I'm jumping heads sometimes, and I want to get into people's heads more but that's not the style I'm trying out... Anyway, here's the new chapter! \o/ I pretty much spoil about Aldrizzt's characterization in Unbeatable all throughout this chapter, but I feel you get a lot of that from LSK v3 too. The title of this chapter has, uh, changed since I jotted it down, so I think I won't go through with including the title of the next chapter at the end of each chapter... The titles are bound to change. -___-;; Oh, and I also edited the number of people in the Execution Squad to say 21 in the prologue. I'm going by the roll call in HPV7C2 (I was missing Undying Man from my count). The count includes the pets.
Previous chapter: Invincible Battleship, Sunk
Chapter 1: Invincible Lack of Teammates, or in Which We Get Introduced to Neo and Aldrizzt (Who Really Do Lack Teammates)
Four people trudged toward town slowly. One was a regal man with blond hair and blue eyes. He carried a sword, which suggested that he was a warrior or a knight of some sort. When asked, he would proudly declare his profession as that of a holy knight. The man next to him looked to be of a similar profession, as he was wearing armor, except he carried no sword by his side for some strange reason. He was actually a warrior. Behind the warrior without a sword walked the third member of their group, a robed man who wielded a staff. He was a cleric. The last member of their group, a completely hooded figure, followed a ways behind them and was staring down forlornly at a burnt magic scroll. Only parts of his dark skin could be seen. He was the mage of the team. They also had a fifth member, a rogue, but their rogue had absconded with the treasure in the middle of the mission, so now they were down to four members.
After some time, the hooded figure, whose name was Aldrizzt, let out a sigh. He ignited a spark of dark flames to burn the rest of the scroll to ashes. Keeping a damaged scroll around would do him no good. He then hastened his steps to catch up with the rest of the team.
At the front of the group, the blond, regal man, who went by the name Neo, grumbled and rubbed his forehead. He had drunk one too many cups of wine the previous day. It was a miracle that they had come out of their latest adventure unscathed, or well, it would have been a miracle for any normal adventurer team, but any team with Neo and Aldrizzt in it couldn't be considered anything close to "normal". Their mission hadn't been all that big of a deal to them even though it would've been near impossible for others -- all they had to do was steal a crown from a slumbering dragon, though the dragon had woken up in the end, so that had complicated things.
Just a bit.
In any case, Neo's opinion was that the mission had gone perfectly well -- they'd managed to get the crown and none of them had died -- but apparently his teammates thought differently. The true miracle would have been if Neo and Aldrizzt's teammates decided to stick around even after the disaster that was their last mission. Sadly, there would be no such miracle today.
After they reached town and divided up the reward money, Neo's teammates stopped in their tracks. Neo walked on a bit further before he realized that his teammates had stopped.
"I think we need to part here," said their lecherous cleric who really had no right to say such a thing when he had done his part in botching up the mission with his lack of sleep due to visiting a prostitute the night before. He sported an amazing bruise on his face, having taken a smack in the face from the dragon's tail when Neo had led the dragon straight at them in his head-on battle with the legendary beast, completely forgetting that most clerics were easily damaged (unlike his student) and shouldn't be expected to face a dragon head on. The cleric should have been able to heal his own injury, but his lack of sleep had depleted his holy light and had pretty much rendered him useless, even during the mission.
The only response Neo deigned to give the cleric was a snort and a wave of dismissal.
The warrior without a sword spoke up too right after the cleric. "Neo, you don't need me around at all. You took care of everything by yourself."
At this, Neo couldn't help but respond. Staring pointedly at the warrior, Neo said, "If a certain someone hadn't sent his sword off for repairs and misjudged how long it would take to get it back, then I wouldn't have had to do everything by myself."
"That's not the point," the warrior said, "the point is, you don't work well with a team. Some people might not mind not having to do a single thing, but my skills aren't being honed here. Besides, these missions have gotten crazier and crazier. I seriously can't keep up with you like this. I do value my life, you know. I'm done."
After he finished speaking, the warrior turned and started walking away.
"You're leaving?" questioned Aldrizzt in dismay. He should have seen this coming -- he knew that Neo wasn't easy to get along with -- but he had truly never thought that he and Neo would lose the rest of their teammates because of Neo and not because of him. Wasn't he the dark elf, the one people should feel disdainful about?
Aldrizzt pulled his hood down lower self-consciously, just in case, though it was an unnecessary action. For some reason, their teammates had never been wary of him despite how suspicious he must look with his hooded cloak. Instead, they had all known that it was Neo they should be wary of even though Neo was a holy knight, and he was even the former Sun Knight who was known to be an upstanding man... But that was only as far as the whole continent knew. Those who knew Neo personally knew differently.
The warrior turned his head and said apologetically, "Aldrizzt, it was great knowing you. May the God of War forever see to your continual health and fighting prowess." His eyes flicked over to Neo before he addressed Aldrizzt again. "I think you'll need the blessing."
Before Aldrizzt could respond -- he didn't know how to respond as he didn't believe in prayers, but he understood the sentiment behind the warrior's words since Neo was truly a handful -- the warrior had already left.
Aldrizzt and Neo merely stood there dumbly as both the cleric and the warrior departed from the team.
"What heartfelt partings," Neo said with a scowl. "Excuses, all of them! At least the rogue had enough sense to run off before it came to this."
This time, it was Aldrizzt's turn to rub his forehead even though he wasn't the one with the hangover. He thought to himself, Chasel, you overestimated me when you left Neo in my care... We can't even manage to keep any teammates!
He sighed, resigned to the fact that it would be just the two of them again.
-----
Two days later found the two of them in the forest, cooking lunch. More accurately, Aldrizzt was cooking their lunch - roasting delicious-smelling trout -- and doing all of the cooking while Neo did none of the cooking. Instead, the former Sun Knight polished his blade by the riverside, having washed his hands of cooking; he was more likely to burn the food to crisp than to end up with something even remotely edible. (He had also washed his hands of doing the laundry, otherwise they would have nothing to wear afterwards except for shreds...but that wasn't the matter at hand.)
When Aldrizzt finished roasting the fish, he handed one skewer to Neo before sitting down to eat.
"Anywhere you want to go?" Aldrizzt asked. They had departed town without picking a destination. Oftentimes, they let their feet wander and take them wherever they ended up. After all, Aldrizzt was in no hurry to get anywhere. He had plenty of time.
Neo was in no hurry either, as he was a retired man. He chewed and swallowed before he answered Aldrizzt's inquiry. "I've heard that the princesses of the Kingdom of Moon Orchid are all beauties, especially the first princess."
"You seriously want to visit the royalty of all of the kingdoms?" asked Aldrizzt, recalling that Neo had mentioned wanting to visit the princes and princesses outside of the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring a dark elf with you on such a trip."
"Nonsense, they can deal," Neo said, his expression telling Aldrizzt that if they didn't "deal", then they would have the former Sun Knight to deal with.
Aldrizzt rolled his eyes, though he also had to admit that he did feel somewhat touched. Ever since they'd started adventuring together, he'd waited and waited for Neo to one day decide that he wasn't worth all the trouble, but Neo's responses to complications involving Aldrizzt had never been to leave him behind even when that would be the easier and smarter course of action to take.
He was truly lucky that it was Neo who he had met when he tried to flee from the dark elves.
"Well, we're already in the territory of the God of War, even though it's just the border. It shouldn't take us too long to reach the main city," Aldrizzt finally said. What would take more time is convincing the royalty to give us an audience. Why would they?
"You have sure learned the lay of the land," Neo commented, "when you were so clueless before." After he spoke, he looked around him, blue eyes narrowing. Aldrizzt was fairly sure Neo had no clue where they were.
"Someone had to, or else we would be forever stuck in forests." Though he hadn't known where locations were situated on the surface, Aldrizzt figured out very quickly that he had to learn. Neo was the absolutely last person to depend on for directions.
After they finished eating and cleaning up, Aldrizzt gathered the wind element to cast the Spell of Flight. This was also something that he had learned because of Neo, who had pestered him endlessly about learning the Spell of Flight, claiming that it would make their journeys easier. Aldrizzt was a dark mage, not a normal mage, but after spending time with Neo, he even learned how to gather the fire element (good for cooking food), the wind element (good for transportation), and the water element (good for washing clothes)... The only element he couldn't master was the holy element (good for lighting the way), as that was the element opposite of his main one, but Neo was good enough at that to let it slide.
I have to admit that Neo always makes things interesting, mused Aldrizzt. He had never been afraid he would succumb to boredom as he had always had other matters to worry about, such as not fitting in with the rest of the dark elves, but boredom was an easy state to fall into for someone who could live as long as he did.
However, staying by Neo's side meant that there would never be a dull moment. If Aldrizzt had even been the teeniest bit bored, his boredom would have been completely obliterated by Neo's next course of action.
-----
When Neo's stomach indicated to him that it was time for dinner, Aldrizzt found them a lake to set up camp for the day.
"I'll build the fire. You hunt," Aldrizzt said. That was the most logical way to divide up the work. At least Neo was good at hunting, if not cooking, doing the laundry, finding his way around...
Neo nodded and left for the thickets.
As Aldrizzt gathered twigs and branches for the fire and started building a barbeque rack, he pondered if they should try to find any new teammates. He was fine handling Neo by himself, and he appreciated Neo's bluntness and utter disregard towards his race -- it was truly refreshing -- but it was also nice to interact with more people than just Neo.
Neo had once mentioned wanting an elf to join them, but Aldrizzt had only been able shake his head at that. Elves absolutely detested dark elves. Trying to get an elf to join them wasn't even worth considering. They would much rather turn Aldrizzt into a pin cushion than become his teammate.
It figured that Neo would return from hunting with an elf flung over his back like a sack of potatoes. Dinner was nowhere in sight, as the elf was obviously not dinner.
"Look Aldrizzt, an elf! I want her to join us," Neo said, loudly and clearly, leaving no room for Aldrizzt to hear him incorrectly.
Aldrizzt held his face with his hand. Then, he asked in disbelief, "Did you kidnap that elf?"
Neo placed the elf down, leaning the elf against a tree trunk. "Nonsense, I found her lying face down on the dirt. She was alone."
Eyes glancing over the elf, Aldrizzt said dryly, "Neo, that's not a her."
"Eh?" Neo quickly looked over the elf. "With eyelashes like that, skin as white as milk and as smooth as honey, and a figure so slim, how can she not be a girl?"
"Your ability to discern elven gender is just as bad as your sense of direction, if not worse," Aldrizzt said, recalling that Neo even had trouble discerning Aldrizzt's gender, and that was just... Aldrizzt was male through and through. He didn't see how anyone could mistake that.
"Whatever, doesn't matter what his gender is. I still want him to join us," Neo said resolutely. "Elves are very agile. I'm fast, but we can use someone even faster."
"I'm surprised you didn't mention that you wanted an archer."
Neo lifted one eyebrow. "An archer? Of course I want an archer. Archers are lethal. Never cross the Leaf Knight. But that elf's not an archer. With that kind of physique and those kinds of calluses, he obviously uses a sword of some sort. Don't discriminate and think that all elves are archers."
I was just hoping that you weren't thinking that, thought Aldrizzt even as both of his eyebrows rose past his hairline. "You couldn't tell his gender, yet you can tell that he uses a sword?"
When Neo merely gave Aldrizzt a look, the dark elf shook his head and said, "You know what, forget I asked. Of course you would know when it comes to swords."
Aldrizzt decided to stop questioning Neo. Whether or not the elf would join them depended entirely on the elf. They would have to wait for the elf to wake up and make a decision, but their guest didn't stir even after Neo cast a few Minor Heals over him.
"If only my student were around, he would be able to cast more advanced healing spells," Neo said.
"The more I hear about your student, the less he sounds like a holy knight..." Aldrizzt murmured.
"That's because he's very unsuited to be a holy knight. The only profession that's worse suited for him would be that of a knight. Thank the God of Light he didn't become a knight. I'm afraid he would already be dead by now if he couldn't use holy light to aid himself." Neo shook his head. "His swordsmanship and his horse-riding..."
Neo trailed off, leaving Aldrizzt to his own imagination of just how bad Neo's student was at swordplay and horse-riding. If Neo's student's skills in those areas had anything on Neo's sense of direction, then Aldrizzt truly pitied him.
"Looks like he's breathing just fine. I'll return with some game. Look after our guest," said Neo, watching the elf's chest rise and fall.
With that, Neo left to continue his hunting.
Alone at their campsite with their unconscious guest, Aldrizzt pulled up his hood. I don't think it would be a good idea for him to wake up and see a dark elf right away.
He continued with building the campfire and the barbecue rack. When he was done with that, he set out their bedrolls before he lit the campfire. Then, Aldrizzt picked his own tree trunk to lean against. As he settled back, he swept his eyes over the elf once again.
Pale complexion. Long eyelashes. A fine chin. He's a handsome one even among elves, thought Aldrizzt, like one of nobility, with class. He then let his eyes wander over the elf's white hair. That was a strange sight. Elves normally had light green hair or blond hair. Some also had more earthen hair colors that came in all sorts of browns. White hair was practically unheard of among elves. In fact, white hair was characteristic of dark elves, not elves.
Aldrizzt fingered his own white hair that contrasted so sharply with his dark skin and made his red eyes stand out. Based on the stranger's white hair, Aldrizzt would have claimed him to be a dark elf if not for his pale complexion.
Could he possibly be half dark elf? Aldrizzt wondered, but that was simply unlikely. He didn't know any dark elves or any elves who would even want to go anywhere near the other. Elves and dark elves detested each other, and that was merely putting it mildly.
-----
When morning greeted them, Aldrizzt cleaned up the campsite. Neo had brought back two rabbits and a bird for dinner, which went along well with the bread they had bought back in town. They ate the leftovers for breakfast.
Still, their guest hadn't woken up yet. When it came time to depart, Neo approached the unconscious elf, about to bend down, looking as if he had every intention to throw the elf over his shoulder again.
"We should probably stay here until he wakes, or bring him back to town," Aldrizzt said. "Neither of us are healers. It worries me that he's not awake yet."
"Hm," was Neo's only response. He poked at the elf.
"Neo!" Aldrizzt reprimanded.
Neo merely rolled his eyes.
The elf shifted and groaned.
"That's more like it!" Neo exclaimed.
Aldrizzt quickly moved backward, out of the elf's immediate sight. He made sure his hood was in place, and that his sleeves were pulled all the way down.
Slowly, the elf opened his eyes, long eyelashes fluttering.
Aldrizzt froze.
Those were some of the reddest eyes Aldrizzt had ever seen. Those were not the eyes of any normal elf. With hair as white as snow and eyes as red as blood...
Could he truly be half dark elf?
"Hey Aldrizzt," Neo said, jerking Aldrizzt out of his thoughts. "Why is he staring at me so intently? Are you sure he's not a girl? I'm pretty sure I recognize that kind of gaze."
-----
to be continued
I realize the plot hasn't really gone forward since the prologue. OTL Slow build up is slow! I wanted to introduce Neo and Aldrizzt thoroughly though, so that readers who only know 1/2 Prince won't be completely lost about them. (except I doubt this is enough background on them for people to know who Aldrizzt is...) I also wanted to try setting the scene more before jumping into the heart of things right away.
I'll be doing the same with several other characters from both series. We'll be staying with the trio for the next chapter, but after that, we'll be finding out what's happened to some of the other 1/2 Prince characters! \o/ Because everyone is scattered about. Very few are in the same place.
Aldrizzt is so much love, omgol. I think I'll be writing more of him... I hope my Neo comes across okay... |D;;
Next chapter: Invincible Communication Through Food and Fighting
Fandom: 1/2 Prince x The Legend of Sun Knight
Words: 3,059
Summary: On their way to finish the Dictator, the Execution Squad's "invincible battleship" crashes, separating everyone, landing them on foreign soil. "Look Aldrizzt, an elf! I want her to join us." "Neo, that's not a her."
Notes: Oh dear, looks like this fic will have long chapters, which is a first for me! Well, long for me at least. My chapters have always been short (averaging around 1~2k). I also don't write in this kind of style much and don't know how long I can maintain it. It feels a little weird. I feel like I'm jumping heads sometimes, and I want to get into people's heads more but that's not the style I'm trying out... Anyway, here's the new chapter! \o/ I pretty much spoil about Aldrizzt's characterization in Unbeatable all throughout this chapter, but I feel you get a lot of that from LSK v3 too. The title of this chapter has, uh, changed since I jotted it down, so I think I won't go through with including the title of the next chapter at the end of each chapter... The titles are bound to change. -___-;; Oh, and I also edited the number of people in the Execution Squad to say 21 in the prologue. I'm going by the roll call in HPV7C2 (I was missing Undying Man from my count). The count includes the pets.
Previous chapter: Invincible Battleship, Sunk
Chapter 1: Invincible Lack of Teammates, or in Which We Get Introduced to Neo and Aldrizzt (Who Really Do Lack Teammates)
Four people trudged toward town slowly. One was a regal man with blond hair and blue eyes. He carried a sword, which suggested that he was a warrior or a knight of some sort. When asked, he would proudly declare his profession as that of a holy knight. The man next to him looked to be of a similar profession, as he was wearing armor, except he carried no sword by his side for some strange reason. He was actually a warrior. Behind the warrior without a sword walked the third member of their group, a robed man who wielded a staff. He was a cleric. The last member of their group, a completely hooded figure, followed a ways behind them and was staring down forlornly at a burnt magic scroll. Only parts of his dark skin could be seen. He was the mage of the team. They also had a fifth member, a rogue, but their rogue had absconded with the treasure in the middle of the mission, so now they were down to four members.
After some time, the hooded figure, whose name was Aldrizzt, let out a sigh. He ignited a spark of dark flames to burn the rest of the scroll to ashes. Keeping a damaged scroll around would do him no good. He then hastened his steps to catch up with the rest of the team.
At the front of the group, the blond, regal man, who went by the name Neo, grumbled and rubbed his forehead. He had drunk one too many cups of wine the previous day. It was a miracle that they had come out of their latest adventure unscathed, or well, it would have been a miracle for any normal adventurer team, but any team with Neo and Aldrizzt in it couldn't be considered anything close to "normal". Their mission hadn't been all that big of a deal to them even though it would've been near impossible for others -- all they had to do was steal a crown from a slumbering dragon, though the dragon had woken up in the end, so that had complicated things.
Just a bit.
In any case, Neo's opinion was that the mission had gone perfectly well -- they'd managed to get the crown and none of them had died -- but apparently his teammates thought differently. The true miracle would have been if Neo and Aldrizzt's teammates decided to stick around even after the disaster that was their last mission. Sadly, there would be no such miracle today.
After they reached town and divided up the reward money, Neo's teammates stopped in their tracks. Neo walked on a bit further before he realized that his teammates had stopped.
"I think we need to part here," said their lecherous cleric who really had no right to say such a thing when he had done his part in botching up the mission with his lack of sleep due to visiting a prostitute the night before. He sported an amazing bruise on his face, having taken a smack in the face from the dragon's tail when Neo had led the dragon straight at them in his head-on battle with the legendary beast, completely forgetting that most clerics were easily damaged (unlike his student) and shouldn't be expected to face a dragon head on. The cleric should have been able to heal his own injury, but his lack of sleep had depleted his holy light and had pretty much rendered him useless, even during the mission.
The only response Neo deigned to give the cleric was a snort and a wave of dismissal.
The warrior without a sword spoke up too right after the cleric. "Neo, you don't need me around at all. You took care of everything by yourself."
At this, Neo couldn't help but respond. Staring pointedly at the warrior, Neo said, "If a certain someone hadn't sent his sword off for repairs and misjudged how long it would take to get it back, then I wouldn't have had to do everything by myself."
"That's not the point," the warrior said, "the point is, you don't work well with a team. Some people might not mind not having to do a single thing, but my skills aren't being honed here. Besides, these missions have gotten crazier and crazier. I seriously can't keep up with you like this. I do value my life, you know. I'm done."
After he finished speaking, the warrior turned and started walking away.
"You're leaving?" questioned Aldrizzt in dismay. He should have seen this coming -- he knew that Neo wasn't easy to get along with -- but he had truly never thought that he and Neo would lose the rest of their teammates because of Neo and not because of him. Wasn't he the dark elf, the one people should feel disdainful about?
Aldrizzt pulled his hood down lower self-consciously, just in case, though it was an unnecessary action. For some reason, their teammates had never been wary of him despite how suspicious he must look with his hooded cloak. Instead, they had all known that it was Neo they should be wary of even though Neo was a holy knight, and he was even the former Sun Knight who was known to be an upstanding man... But that was only as far as the whole continent knew. Those who knew Neo personally knew differently.
The warrior turned his head and said apologetically, "Aldrizzt, it was great knowing you. May the God of War forever see to your continual health and fighting prowess." His eyes flicked over to Neo before he addressed Aldrizzt again. "I think you'll need the blessing."
Before Aldrizzt could respond -- he didn't know how to respond as he didn't believe in prayers, but he understood the sentiment behind the warrior's words since Neo was truly a handful -- the warrior had already left.
Aldrizzt and Neo merely stood there dumbly as both the cleric and the warrior departed from the team.
"What heartfelt partings," Neo said with a scowl. "Excuses, all of them! At least the rogue had enough sense to run off before it came to this."
This time, it was Aldrizzt's turn to rub his forehead even though he wasn't the one with the hangover. He thought to himself, Chasel, you overestimated me when you left Neo in my care... We can't even manage to keep any teammates!
He sighed, resigned to the fact that it would be just the two of them again.
-----
Two days later found the two of them in the forest, cooking lunch. More accurately, Aldrizzt was cooking their lunch - roasting delicious-smelling trout -- and doing all of the cooking while Neo did none of the cooking. Instead, the former Sun Knight polished his blade by the riverside, having washed his hands of cooking; he was more likely to burn the food to crisp than to end up with something even remotely edible. (He had also washed his hands of doing the laundry, otherwise they would have nothing to wear afterwards except for shreds...but that wasn't the matter at hand.)
When Aldrizzt finished roasting the fish, he handed one skewer to Neo before sitting down to eat.
"Anywhere you want to go?" Aldrizzt asked. They had departed town without picking a destination. Oftentimes, they let their feet wander and take them wherever they ended up. After all, Aldrizzt was in no hurry to get anywhere. He had plenty of time.
Neo was in no hurry either, as he was a retired man. He chewed and swallowed before he answered Aldrizzt's inquiry. "I've heard that the princesses of the Kingdom of Moon Orchid are all beauties, especially the first princess."
"You seriously want to visit the royalty of all of the kingdoms?" asked Aldrizzt, recalling that Neo had mentioned wanting to visit the princes and princesses outside of the Kingdom of Forgotten Sound. "I don't think it's a good idea to bring a dark elf with you on such a trip."
"Nonsense, they can deal," Neo said, his expression telling Aldrizzt that if they didn't "deal", then they would have the former Sun Knight to deal with.
Aldrizzt rolled his eyes, though he also had to admit that he did feel somewhat touched. Ever since they'd started adventuring together, he'd waited and waited for Neo to one day decide that he wasn't worth all the trouble, but Neo's responses to complications involving Aldrizzt had never been to leave him behind even when that would be the easier and smarter course of action to take.
He was truly lucky that it was Neo who he had met when he tried to flee from the dark elves.
"Well, we're already in the territory of the God of War, even though it's just the border. It shouldn't take us too long to reach the main city," Aldrizzt finally said. What would take more time is convincing the royalty to give us an audience. Why would they?
"You have sure learned the lay of the land," Neo commented, "when you were so clueless before." After he spoke, he looked around him, blue eyes narrowing. Aldrizzt was fairly sure Neo had no clue where they were.
"Someone had to, or else we would be forever stuck in forests." Though he hadn't known where locations were situated on the surface, Aldrizzt figured out very quickly that he had to learn. Neo was the absolutely last person to depend on for directions.
After they finished eating and cleaning up, Aldrizzt gathered the wind element to cast the Spell of Flight. This was also something that he had learned because of Neo, who had pestered him endlessly about learning the Spell of Flight, claiming that it would make their journeys easier. Aldrizzt was a dark mage, not a normal mage, but after spending time with Neo, he even learned how to gather the fire element (good for cooking food), the wind element (good for transportation), and the water element (good for washing clothes)... The only element he couldn't master was the holy element (good for lighting the way), as that was the element opposite of his main one, but Neo was good enough at that to let it slide.
I have to admit that Neo always makes things interesting, mused Aldrizzt. He had never been afraid he would succumb to boredom as he had always had other matters to worry about, such as not fitting in with the rest of the dark elves, but boredom was an easy state to fall into for someone who could live as long as he did.
However, staying by Neo's side meant that there would never be a dull moment. If Aldrizzt had even been the teeniest bit bored, his boredom would have been completely obliterated by Neo's next course of action.
-----
When Neo's stomach indicated to him that it was time for dinner, Aldrizzt found them a lake to set up camp for the day.
"I'll build the fire. You hunt," Aldrizzt said. That was the most logical way to divide up the work. At least Neo was good at hunting, if not cooking, doing the laundry, finding his way around...
Neo nodded and left for the thickets.
As Aldrizzt gathered twigs and branches for the fire and started building a barbeque rack, he pondered if they should try to find any new teammates. He was fine handling Neo by himself, and he appreciated Neo's bluntness and utter disregard towards his race -- it was truly refreshing -- but it was also nice to interact with more people than just Neo.
Neo had once mentioned wanting an elf to join them, but Aldrizzt had only been able shake his head at that. Elves absolutely detested dark elves. Trying to get an elf to join them wasn't even worth considering. They would much rather turn Aldrizzt into a pin cushion than become his teammate.
It figured that Neo would return from hunting with an elf flung over his back like a sack of potatoes. Dinner was nowhere in sight, as the elf was obviously not dinner.
"Look Aldrizzt, an elf! I want her to join us," Neo said, loudly and clearly, leaving no room for Aldrizzt to hear him incorrectly.
Aldrizzt held his face with his hand. Then, he asked in disbelief, "Did you kidnap that elf?"
Neo placed the elf down, leaning the elf against a tree trunk. "Nonsense, I found her lying face down on the dirt. She was alone."
Eyes glancing over the elf, Aldrizzt said dryly, "Neo, that's not a her."
"Eh?" Neo quickly looked over the elf. "With eyelashes like that, skin as white as milk and as smooth as honey, and a figure so slim, how can she not be a girl?"
"Your ability to discern elven gender is just as bad as your sense of direction, if not worse," Aldrizzt said, recalling that Neo even had trouble discerning Aldrizzt's gender, and that was just... Aldrizzt was male through and through. He didn't see how anyone could mistake that.
"Whatever, doesn't matter what his gender is. I still want him to join us," Neo said resolutely. "Elves are very agile. I'm fast, but we can use someone even faster."
"I'm surprised you didn't mention that you wanted an archer."
Neo lifted one eyebrow. "An archer? Of course I want an archer. Archers are lethal. Never cross the Leaf Knight. But that elf's not an archer. With that kind of physique and those kinds of calluses, he obviously uses a sword of some sort. Don't discriminate and think that all elves are archers."
I was just hoping that you weren't thinking that, thought Aldrizzt even as both of his eyebrows rose past his hairline. "You couldn't tell his gender, yet you can tell that he uses a sword?"
When Neo merely gave Aldrizzt a look, the dark elf shook his head and said, "You know what, forget I asked. Of course you would know when it comes to swords."
Aldrizzt decided to stop questioning Neo. Whether or not the elf would join them depended entirely on the elf. They would have to wait for the elf to wake up and make a decision, but their guest didn't stir even after Neo cast a few Minor Heals over him.
"If only my student were around, he would be able to cast more advanced healing spells," Neo said.
"The more I hear about your student, the less he sounds like a holy knight..." Aldrizzt murmured.
"That's because he's very unsuited to be a holy knight. The only profession that's worse suited for him would be that of a knight. Thank the God of Light he didn't become a knight. I'm afraid he would already be dead by now if he couldn't use holy light to aid himself." Neo shook his head. "His swordsmanship and his horse-riding..."
Neo trailed off, leaving Aldrizzt to his own imagination of just how bad Neo's student was at swordplay and horse-riding. If Neo's student's skills in those areas had anything on Neo's sense of direction, then Aldrizzt truly pitied him.
"Looks like he's breathing just fine. I'll return with some game. Look after our guest," said Neo, watching the elf's chest rise and fall.
With that, Neo left to continue his hunting.
Alone at their campsite with their unconscious guest, Aldrizzt pulled up his hood. I don't think it would be a good idea for him to wake up and see a dark elf right away.
He continued with building the campfire and the barbecue rack. When he was done with that, he set out their bedrolls before he lit the campfire. Then, Aldrizzt picked his own tree trunk to lean against. As he settled back, he swept his eyes over the elf once again.
Pale complexion. Long eyelashes. A fine chin. He's a handsome one even among elves, thought Aldrizzt, like one of nobility, with class. He then let his eyes wander over the elf's white hair. That was a strange sight. Elves normally had light green hair or blond hair. Some also had more earthen hair colors that came in all sorts of browns. White hair was practically unheard of among elves. In fact, white hair was characteristic of dark elves, not elves.
Aldrizzt fingered his own white hair that contrasted so sharply with his dark skin and made his red eyes stand out. Based on the stranger's white hair, Aldrizzt would have claimed him to be a dark elf if not for his pale complexion.
Could he possibly be half dark elf? Aldrizzt wondered, but that was simply unlikely. He didn't know any dark elves or any elves who would even want to go anywhere near the other. Elves and dark elves detested each other, and that was merely putting it mildly.
-----
When morning greeted them, Aldrizzt cleaned up the campsite. Neo had brought back two rabbits and a bird for dinner, which went along well with the bread they had bought back in town. They ate the leftovers for breakfast.
Still, their guest hadn't woken up yet. When it came time to depart, Neo approached the unconscious elf, about to bend down, looking as if he had every intention to throw the elf over his shoulder again.
"We should probably stay here until he wakes, or bring him back to town," Aldrizzt said. "Neither of us are healers. It worries me that he's not awake yet."
"Hm," was Neo's only response. He poked at the elf.
"Neo!" Aldrizzt reprimanded.
Neo merely rolled his eyes.
The elf shifted and groaned.
"That's more like it!" Neo exclaimed.
Aldrizzt quickly moved backward, out of the elf's immediate sight. He made sure his hood was in place, and that his sleeves were pulled all the way down.
Slowly, the elf opened his eyes, long eyelashes fluttering.
Aldrizzt froze.
Those were some of the reddest eyes Aldrizzt had ever seen. Those were not the eyes of any normal elf. With hair as white as snow and eyes as red as blood...
Could he truly be half dark elf?
"Hey Aldrizzt," Neo said, jerking Aldrizzt out of his thoughts. "Why is he staring at me so intently? Are you sure he's not a girl? I'm pretty sure I recognize that kind of gaze."
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to be continued
I realize the plot hasn't really gone forward since the prologue. OTL Slow build up is slow! I wanted to introduce Neo and Aldrizzt thoroughly though, so that readers who only know 1/2 Prince won't be completely lost about them. (except I doubt this is enough background on them for people to know who Aldrizzt is...) I also wanted to try setting the scene more before jumping into the heart of things right away.
I'll be doing the same with several other characters from both series. We'll be staying with the trio for the next chapter, but after that, we'll be finding out what's happened to some of the other 1/2 Prince characters! \o/ Because everyone is scattered about. Very few are in the same place.
Aldrizzt is so much love, omgol. I think I'll be writing more of him... I hope my Neo comes across okay... |D;;
Next chapter: Invincible Communication Through Food and Fighting