Nightingale Of The Eighth Sea pt. 1

The tapping of the rain spilling onto Elizabeth’s windowsill was getting louder than her tap tap tapping of her laptop. It was her mind, her home—her sanctuary. She had it set on the Faeric mode, so all kinds (other than humans) could access onto her anonymous web log. Elizabeth was known as The Z to A Lie, which was in association with her name. You see, ‘Z to A’ was the ‘za’ after ‘Eli’. And ‘Lie’ was the ‘Li’ in ‘Elizabeth’, if you can understand her letter-associations.
Her left hand was already getting cramped, because she typed so much and quickly, as if she were in a rush. Elizabeth was always in a rush her whole life, yet she took things as if they could be prevented or fixed. Of course it wasn’t always like that in reality, Elizabeth was just persistent.
My bloggers, she typed, ever since my family moved to Earth, it’s been really different. I don’t even know most of their customs, their history, nothing! Help needed, please. And it was all true. Her commenters, and readers had researched into the matter and had helped her with manners and etiquette, but education of their kind was far too much.
Zing! Zing, her phone hissed at her. Elizabeth took her hands off her laptop’s keyboard, and cracked her knuckles my pressing them against the edge of her desk before answering the call. “This is Ly,” Elizabeth said, voicing her usual greeting and nickname. Elizabeth always thought her full name formal, so she shortened it to Ly.
“Hey, Ly! I never thought you’d answer at this time at night,” a recognizable voice answered. “Wait, is it even late there? My goodness, it’s a dreadful hour in the morning—almost three!”
“No, Monae, it’s not even nine yet. What did you want?” Ly saved her document, deciding she’d submit the entry in the morning as she would leave for school. She shut her laptop swiftly, then swirled her chair to the rest of her bedroom.
“Nothin’, I was just missin’ ya. The seasons are constantly changing now that it’s around the change of your season. How irritating. Must be nice for you.” Ly could imagine her friend Monae picking at her cuticle as she said this; Monae was consisently doing so, and twirling her hair around her finger.
Ly sighed, and gave pity. Actually it was nice to not have that happen once in a while. “Yes,” she admitted, then prepared herself for Monae’s normal incessantly questions about her new home, landscapes, guys, and other pointless interests.
“Ooh, really?” Monae asked almost as if she were uninterested. She probably was, for she didn’t shoot the expected inquiries at her best friend. “We really missed you. You know, the gang,” she added absently.
“What’s bothering you, Monae? I’ve got time,” Ly asked concerned. She wanted Monae to confide in her, even if there was a large mass of distance between them. Ly got up from her squeaking chair and sat on her bed, taking in sips from a water bottle she’d picked up from her desk. She settled in the corner, hugging her pillow tight to her chest, setting down the bottle on her bed side table, with a few “mm-hm”s and “ah”s here or there.
“I just don’t want him to compete in the Couzieship! It’s way too dangerous, yeah?” Ly didn’t know what she was talking about, but it seemed quite familiar. Couzieship? I don’t remember such a thing...Wait, isn’t it that Championships/Olympics thing on the moon every seven years?
“It’s that fight on the moon yeah? And when the last one stands,” she quoted from a book she’d read on the matter, “he or she gets to light the moon on fire—the “eclipse” to humans—and become the next Kzin for the next seven years?” Ly raised a brow. “I agree, it’s so barbaric. Hah.” Ly snorted, with a slight snicker added, and offered her best friend comfort. “It’s okay, Monae, he’s most likely going to be disqualified for threatening his opponent before the tournaments.”
“Oh shut it, Ly. I just don’t want him near Kzin Arane. You know how they have to duel? It’s so dangerous—have you seen him fight elder Kzin Deyas?! How horrible, he ripped the man in fives!” Monae sighed, then switched over to another subject with a dismissing, “I’m too scared to think about it right now.”
“Hey, can you access Humic settings on your computer? I want you to meet my new friend I’d made. He’s quite pleasant.” Ly smiled at the thought of Tye, and then recovered over her reverie just in time for Monae’s agreement. “I’ll IM you, talk to you there.” She hung up the phone and set it next to her bottle; sliding off her bed, she quickly danced towards her laptop quickly mind-setting it to Humic mode, and shuffled right back into her corner on the bed. Her hair flipped behind her shoulder, and she’d quickly splayed her fingers across the keyboard, letting her mind do the typing to Tye and Monae in an MSN conversation. Her typed words seemed to drip with scorn as the clock ticked midnight and Tye had to leave. Had it been that late already? Oh my goodness, it is late! Ly didn’t seem to have track of the time as she’d always had trouble setting herself to certainties.
“How was he?” typed Ly, adding in a smiley face at the end of her question, and pressed ‘sent’.
Monae took a while to type out her short reply. “Fine...hot, too.” Monae typed again, adding a winking smiley. It made Ly laugh out loud, and she straightened out the creases in her pajama bottoms. Ly typed out her response out slowly, and then ping! A seperate IM popped up. ‘An email was sent to elizabeth.lies@hotmail.com, from no-reply@faeric.com.’
Could it have been the Couzieship? Ly wondered and clicked open her email.1

2

From: no-reply@faeric.com
To all recipents: elizabeth.lies@hotmail.com
date: May 14, 20063


Hello, Elizabeth, I’d like to inform you that Couzieship tournaments sign-ups are on the twelfth of December! Hope to see you there, an attached link at the bottom refers to Rules and Locations for the Vampiric, Wiccic, and Lycan world, as well as the Humic world.4

Thanks!
Ipo-Kzin Markus.5

Click Here For The Rules And Location6

7

Ly did click, and another window popped up. “Monae, did you receive an email from Ipo-Kzin Marus? I just got it.” Ly sent that, and minimized Monae’s IM window then waited for the internet browser to load. Images were already appearing.8

All Rules Apply To The Couzieship Tournament!9

RULES:10

1.Must be 14 and older.
2.Threats before phases will result in disqualification!
3.Females and males are allowed. Lycan, vampire, witch allowed. No humans!
4.No contact with Kzin Akane during all times, phases, and preparations of the Couzieship!
5.Only whips, bows and arrows, and chokestrings are allowed.11

Locations Are Available From December 12—December 20!12

Humic- Valfourd Avenue, Warehouse 67
Wiccic- Houping Lane, Warehouse 67
Vampiric- Heart Bete Way, Warehouse 67
Lycan- Clawth Street, Sea 67.13


Ly wrote the location down for the Humic Realm, which was just a quick scribble on a post-it she’d found. Monae’s IM stopped blinking and Ly clicked on it.
“Yes, I’ve seen It. Omfg! Are you going to enter it?” Monae had replied. Then it said she was typing once more, then the message popped up. “Gots to go, missy. Zing me about it later, m’kay?”
Ly typed a quick “ok” and “bye!”
She didn’t have to look at the clock—it was late enough and she’d wanted sleep. With the computer shutting down, she slipped under the covers and stared at the post it ‘til sleep developed her.14