Reprimand

by Red Paladin

*It's easier to apologize than get permission*

-Tremane, _Storm Warning: Book One of the Mage Storms_, Mercedes Lackey.

*Ah oh*

"You are going to tell me everything that happened here, right now," Calc ordered firmly.

Red immediately began to recount the night's events which he started, only leaving out only the insignificant details.

"So your stunt was totally ineffective," Calc said as Red finished. It wasn't a question.

"Yes, sir."

"Do you realized you could have jeopardized this entire mission?" Calc continued his grilling relentlessly. "Just what were you thinking? You thought you could take on the entire army yourself. That was absolutely foolish and stupid. Not only could you have hurt yourself, but this entire team, not to mention Councillor Katze. This isn't some game, it's a rescue mission. And we are supposed to be saving her, not you."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"If you ever try something like that again, you'll be more than sorry. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Good." With that he turned back to the rest of the group who were conferring on their next move.

"Do we have any idea how far we have to go until we find Katze?" Calc said to them all. Red made a mental shift back to the business at hand. "That is, assuming Katze is being held at the palace or castle or whatever the government used."

"No. We don't even have a map to go by," Theseus replied. "We'll just have to keep going."

"Alright then. We keep moving until we see something that might resemble a capitol building. Agreed?"

The other four nodded. They began walking.

Bryn walked next to Red and started talking. "Just what were you hoping to accomplish?"

"What? Oh, you back there," Red responded. "You know, now that I think about it, I have no idea. I guess I was hoping to scare them off."

"You know, if you had just took me with you, I might have been able to help," Bryn said. "We are supposed to work as a team."

"Yeah, you're right," Red replied. "I guess I've just worked by myself for so long, that I guess I'm not used to thinking like that. Assassins don't usually have this much company," Red finished with a ghost of a smile.

"Well, next time, you're not going alone. Got that?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Red said with a mock salute, before he moved to dodge a playful punch.

Light slowly faded back into the landscape and the cloudless sky as dawn approached. The weary travellers had walked most of the night, stopping only to replenish water canteens from a small stream they had found. Finally, a rest was called. They decided to camp for the day and move at night when night's cloak is able hide them. Red studied his datapad for more spells. Next time he would ask Bryn. In the heat of day, he fell asleep, dreaming.

* * * * *

Midnight was approaching. Red mentally prepared everything he was going to say. Listening to 98 Degrees on his cheap Walkman and watching a promo version of "I know What You Did Last Summer" was not helping. He look at his watch. 23:50 (or 11:50 p.m.).

Red sighed, trying to summon all the courage he had inside him. For over a hundred times, he had rehearsed the phrases he was going to say. The band was on a trip to a festival 14 hours away, by bus.

The movie ended right at midnight coincidentally; time was up. He had to tell her now. There is a time for subtlety and a time for boldness, and it was time for the latter.

*Here goes nothing*

He walked back, down what seemed to be a long bus walkway. She had stood up to stretch with her friend. In the mini confusion Red tapped her on the shoulder. She and her friend turned. Red wished he could be alone, but he continued anyway.

"It's midnight." She took a surprised look onto her face.

"So?" her friend replied.

He pulled out of his chest pocket a pack of Midnight Mint, Dentyne Ice. "No, the gum." Red planned this to 'break the ice' [more cliche]. He got an unexpected laugh. Not quite what Red thought would happen. *That's what I get for trying to use a commercial* There was a pause from him. His mind went blank after something actually surprised him.

"Okay, seriously.... Did you know what the purpose of the survey?" Red had sent out a survey to several people to try to remind her of the candygram. It had the name of the group that sang it and the name of the song. It also had Red's name on it.

They looked at each other for a second.

"Oh, that," Elaina replied. "No." She took a bite from a cookie that someone had handed out. Red paused, hoping she would hazard a guess. Nothing. He had hoped it would have reminded her. He took a deep breath and began again.

"Do you remember that candygram?"

She paused to think. "Yeah," Her friend looked at me intently, holding the cookie at her lips before finally taking a bite.

"Well.... I sent it." She and her friend stood there, stunned. There, it was out.

"Whoa... this is so unexpected." She laughed nervously. Red didn't notice the reaction of her friend. "I don't know what to say." Another long pause.

"We were wondering who it was and thought it was someone else." Her friend said. Pause. "I have to go over here now."

Red was thankful for the less-than-graceful exit. They were alone now, but only in the sense that no one was listening and not because no one else was there. The awkward silence continued.

"Wow," she finally broke it, murmuring.

"Yeah. Didn't the survey trigger anything?"

"Well, yeah for a second but is didn't seem possible," she shook her head in disbelief. "It seemed the survey was..."

"Coincidence? No, not at all. You couldn't make the connection?"

"No." came the nervous reply.

"I guess I think people are smarter than they are," Red muttered. Subtlety had failed.

"What?"

"Nothing. It was bad."

"Oh." Another long silence. The tension between them was almost unbearable.

People moved about as Red though, and she took another nervous bite from the cookie.

Suddenly, a person called her from behind.

"Give me a second, okay?"

"Sure. I need to think of what to say next." However, nothing came to Red's mind even after the break. More silence.

".... Well, here it goes." Red muttered. It was strange. He had enough courage to kill anyone without another thought and yet what seemed so simple could be so hard. "I guess what I'm trying to say is.... I want to take you to the formal." There. He had said it.

She took a moment before replying. "I don't even whether I'm going." Red tried to remain expressionless, failing. His face was ashfallen. He tried to salvage what was left of the situation before she continued.

"I know it's a long way away," Two months and a week, to be precise, Red thought. "but if you're going, I'm offering to take you. That's all I have to say." Red began to leave, then turned.

"Oh yeah, and I'm not a lesbian," he said with a smile.

"What!?!"

"You and Shirley were talking about the candygram and you said you were afraid it might be a lesbian. And I don't divulge my sources." He thought of Slash; his source of info.

"You were there in chemistry!?! When we talked about it!?!"

Red said nothing. She shook her head.

She was probably wondering how the hell he found out. He left her wondering as he returned to his seat. A great sigh left his lips even as the weigh lifted off his shoulders. He finally did it.

* * * * *

"Wake up, Red," Bryn said shaking him. "We're going."

Red sat up immediately. It was still day; around three local time. A tear clouded his vision briefly before he wipe it away. He stood up, brushing the dust from his Cloak[tm]. He walked a few steps before realizing he'd left his datapad behind. He turned to get it but stop when it hovered in front of his face.

"Do I have take care of you this whole trip?" Bryn said, teasingly. "For your information, I charge eight dollars an hour for babysitting."

Red grabbed it from her. "I just got memories floating around in mind."

"Just make sure it doesn't interfere with saving Katze."

"Alright."

Red remained focused on the goal ahead for the rest of the day. A goal he had no idea how it might be achieved. Heck, he did not even know where they were headed. *Just follow Calc. He knows what to do*

Suddenly they stopped. Calc motioned for a halt. This jolted Red awake. He looked around alertly. He saw a faint fork in the ground. Road was not the appropriate word.

"Okay, it looks as if the 'road' splits up," Calc said. "We'll split up. One of these will lead us to Katze." There was probably a 'maybe' missing from that. "Red. Bryn. You take the right fork. Maru, Thes and I will take the left one. I don't want to have to explore one only to find that we should have taken the other one. Questions? Good. Remember our objective is saving the High Councillor." He looked at Red. "Now, move!"

"This is pointless. I think the others had better luck than us," Red said. They had been traveling on foot for a good three hours. Nothing. The path seemed to stretch on until infinity. The monotonous of the landscape did not make matters any better. Just plain parched land of a slight red-brown colour. The mountains' peaks far off in the distance stood there, mocking them by the fact that they would not get any closer. Unexpectedly, bumps appeared, about the same colour as their foundations.

"Bryn, do you see what I see," Red asked "or am I just imagining?"

She looked up from Red's now-empty waterskin. "Yes, I think it is. At least I hope it is!"

To Be Continued "Temporary"

Neutral&Chaotic Publishing since 1997.

The preceding segment is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locals or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.