literature

Nil Scop (Chapter 6)

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Catriona
VI



    "Where are you prancing off to, Catriona?" a scratchy feminine voice called out to her in the darkness, the tone of the call being all but kind, the voice was taunting her.
    "I--I don't know." She replied to nowhere in particular.
    Slowly turning, she tried to gauge where the voice was coming from only to decide that it was coming from everywhere. She ran, anywhere. Catriona needed to get away from the voice, or find it; her mind could not make up its mind. Grimacing, losing her breath as she ran, she kept pressing forward.
    Running away, she was running.
    Trees began to form ahead of her in the murky light, her mind calling out to her that the dark forest would give her security. Dashing into the forest, she ran on without a second thought, the voice seeming to inch closer behind her, the chilling voice sending chills down the back of her neck.
    "You don't know what you're doing, Catriona," the voice chided, "Come back and you will be safe."
    Stumbling forward, she pushed branches away from her face as she ran, her eyes beginning to water as the scene continued to fill into place as she ventured forward. Trees grew into place out of the darkness, crows and other creatures of the night filled the surrounding area with their painful cries, red eyes followed her as she kept going on with her attempt to gain distance between her and the voice.
    That's when she fell. The forest around her seemed to fade again into shadow as she fell, her face hitting the ground with the force of a stone.
    Chilling winds circled around her as her shaking arms pushed her up. She would not go out like this; it just was not like her. Accepting defeat from a single fall was not something that she would do; no, she would keep fighting.
    Breathing heavily, she got to her feet, and shuffled back into a weakened run. Slicing winds whip her back as she runs, the voice continually taunting her as she runs, the wounds feeling like fresh cuts along her back, causing her to scream out in pain. It does not stop her, she keeps running the murky shade and trees disappearing as she runs past them, entering an opening of tall, silver and black grass curling and dancing in the strong winds.
    Voices beckon for her in dull whispers, come forward, they say, closer, they chide.
    Slowly, she takes frightened steps forward, the tall grass brushing against her torn and tattered dress, the chilling slices on her back flaring in pain like gashes or raw skin and blood from a whip.
    Wiping a tear from her cheek, she notices that the whispering voices have replaced the presence of the taunting, scratchy voice seeming to be more welcoming than the chiding woman's voice.
    As she limps deeper into the grass, her feet greeted with a drop off. A cliff of unending darkness. Tiny rocks and clods of grass tumble into the pit, the whispers of voices seeming to reach just from a few feet ahead of the cliff. The soothing voices and calm talk of them all enchant her, removing all stress and fear she felt before, lulling her into a trance.
    Just to be closer to them, that is all she wants.
    Closing her eyes, her breathing calms as the whispers of the shadows speak out to her, just one more step, everything will be alright, they say. Lightly, she takes a step forward, wanting to join the voices, to be happy as they say she can be. Her foot hovers over the grand expanse of murky shadow, the darkness making her feel nearly weightless, without worry.
    Suddenly a loud, commanding voice calls out to her, "Don't do it!" it begs.
    Jolted out of the trance she opens her eyes and sees a large figure, floating in the distance of the darkness. A figure in a hood, glyphs and symbols floating in and out of visibility around him as he floats there, motionless.
    The commanding voice speaks again, echoing around the area, but she can tell it is coming from the figure in front of her, "Do not give up so easily. Fight… fight for the truth."
    Squinting her eyes, she attempts to see who is hiding under the hood, but cannot make out any features. The slightest of ideas she can get of the figure are that it is surely a man's shape, the figure growing in size as she continues to examine it until all she can see is from its shoulders up, the change warning her mind to take a step back.
    Out of nowhere, the figures hand appears again at least ten times her size and reaches into the chest of it's being, pulling out something brilliantly shining, beams of light spreading from the cracks between the fingers.
    And then he started whispering two words over and over and over, his hand opening to reveal a blinding light.
"Find them, find them, find them…"

*


    Blinding sunlight pours in from the window of her room, causing her to flinch and bring an arm up to shield her eyes from the brightness. Catriona rolls to her right in hopes of getting away from the light, only to fall from her bed and hit the floor with an ungrateful thump.
    Groaning, she brings her hands to her head, not yet capable of creating words still being in a groggy state.
    A startled scream comes from the maidservant that had opened the curtains, rushing to Catriona's aid along with another that was probably near the door. Pulling her to her feet, they begin to ask her pointless questions, brushing her nightgown off in hopes of no reprimand. She wants to scream. Swirling in her mind are infinite questions about what she just experienced.
    What was it? A nightmare is all she can call it. Enduring the maidservant's questions and care, she excuses them with a false smile and kind words, hoping to be left alone to get ready for the morning.
    Bowing and spewing apologies to her, the maidservants leave, closing the door behind them finally freeing her to the silence and bright light.

    Catriona walks over to the curtains and closes them with a frown, not wanting to lose her sight from the blaze of the sun.
    Sighing, she turns and faces her room, her bed already made thanks to one of the maidservants and her training clothing set out for her at the edge of it. She is clueless of how someone could make the bed so quickly, the blankets all being so heavy.
    It had been a few days since her father had caught her in his study, reading that mysterious book about Assassins and some other group. She had heard about the one from her studies, the Knights Templar but never the Assassins, a group that seemed to kill for no reason as the book spoke of them.

    She wouldn't let it faze her though, she would continue to read that book when she could. Knowing it had the information that she needed; she made it a goal to read it, no matter what.
    Smiling lightly, she remembers again the kind and confident voice of the hooded man that saved her, which brought the trinket to her mind.
    Quickly, she turned and went to the cushions on the windowsill, feeling around under them until her fingers touched the cool metal of the trinket. The mark of the Assassins --supposedly.
    Smiling in relief of its safety she pulled it out of its hiding spot and held it close to her, both hands wrapping it in an embrace as she thought again of the book, and her savior.
    None of it added up. If he were a man of death, only killing for personal gain, then why would he dare to help a person? If he was as heartless as the book described, why did he have the warmest of hearts towards Catriona?
    Furrowing her brow, she willed the troubling questions to leave her mind. She had already decided that she would discover the truth about Tristan and his group. Gently returning the trinket to its hiding spot, she let out a tired sigh. Today was another glorious day of training with Mr. Drummond.
    She looked towards the clothing that had been laid out for her on the bed, smiling lightly as she walked over and picked up the shirt.
    "Just another day of training," she said lightly to herself, "I wonder what Mr. Drummond has planned for training today."

*


    Catriona had no idea why she was so excited to learn more today. The past few training sessions were never good, always leaving her tired and barely trained in any sort of defense, but for some reason, she could not help but be happy to learn more. It made her feel accomplished, capable of doing new things, it made her feel like the person she wanted to be.
    Mr. Drummond threw a punch at her with speed, and as she had been taught, she sidestepped, grabbing his arm and spinning it around to his back pinning it in place.
    "Nicely done, Lady Catriona!" Mr. Drummond exclaimed with a grunt.
    Excitedly, Catriona replied, "R-really?"
    Mr. Drummond stood tall again after Catriona had released his arm, "Yes, Lady Catriona, you are improving greatly. You barely had any hesitation that time as well."
    Cheerfully, Mr. Drummond walked over to an open table where the maidservants had left a pitcher of water and two glasses, one for her and the other for himself. He took a drink, and after finishing, looked to Catriona and nodded to her. He wanted her to get ready for her next defense tip.
    Laughing and giggles filled the area, coming from the second table nearby, where Catriona's mother and her friends were having tea and scones as they chatted, gossiped and looked on as Catriona trained. The sight of her mother and friends laughing made her sick, they were no doubt laughing at her. One of her mother's friends had probably made a joke, one that she surely would't admire.
    Mr. Drummond walked back over to Catriona, the sound of his voice snapping her from the annoyed trance at the sight of her careless mother, "Back to training, Lady Catriona. Are you ready?"
    Smiling, she nodded to her teacher, taking her place a few feet away from him on the pavilion. She had nearly mastered a move, and the rush of knowing what to do in battle and how to predict it was exhilarating. Fighting and the way it worked, especially for defending, reminded her of dancing; a concept with which she was very fluent.
    If a punch was thrown her way, she would sway and dodge it, as if the wind of the incoming blow was her guide. She discovered through this training that her posture lessons helped immensely with how to handle her center of gravity during movements to avoid attacks.
    She thought it was funny how things her mother forced her into were now beneficial to her own desires, causing her to smirk as she waited for Mr. Drummond's next lesson.
    "Now Catriona, our next lesson is this. Pay close attention so that you don't miss any part of what I'm about to tell you." Mr. Drummond spoke in an enthused and eager tone, the way he spoke made his words all seem worth hearing, as if each words was needed to understand the next. Gladly, Catriona listened, wanting to better her new skills, and learn better tactics.
    In the corner of her eye, Catriona could see that her mother and the female guests were still joking around, giggling at each other's wit. She heard one lady comment that training as drastic as this was reserved for men and their desire to look strong for pretty women like them. Slowly, a smirk scraped across Catriona's face, since the woman who spoke those was undoubtedly the lesser in beauty among them all.
     `Neil continued to speak about the next self-defense move, a way or two on how to get out of a headlock. His squinted eyes falsely projected his excitement and happiness to help her, along with his serious posture. Catriona could easily tell that he was doing his best to keep serious and not joke around, especially since her mother was nearby, watching.
    Giggling and hushed jokes continually fluttered towards Catriona's ears as she did her best to listen to Mr. Drummond's lesson, the floating words of her mother's company slowly starting to annoy her.

    Cautiously, Neil tapped Catriona's shoulder, causing her to jump back quickly and look to him, bringing her back to full attention on the lesson.
    "Do you understand, Lady Catriona? If someone has you trapped from behind, you should either apply force to their face, or stomp on their foot if your arms are bound."
    Nodding, she replied, "Yes, I understand. Let's start this one, I'm ready."
    Chuckles escaped Mr. Drummond as he nodded back, "Wonderful! Here we go then."

    Slowly, Mr. Drummond took hold of Catriona, placing an arm around her neck to show her how a captor would normally take hold. It was her job to break free with that she learned.
    His hold wasn't at all threatening, but she got the main idea of how it could be terrible in real life. The way his arm crossed in front of her could easily tighten to choke her, along with the other hand across her waist to keep her from being able to break free too easily.             Sadly, flailing and hoping for the best wouldn't work with this hold.
    Flailing is what she attempted first, even after knowing it wouldn't work. After Neil let out a small chuckle, Catriona moved her left arm up and balled her first, going to hit him in the face but stopping short because of not wanting to hurt him.
    Smirking, she could feel him flinch as she stopped short of his nose, "Is that good, Mr. Drummond?" she asked innocently, hoping deep inside that she would gain praise for the effort.
    "Yes, that was very good Lady Catriona. But now try the other way." Mr. Drummond gently took hold of both of her arms, trapping them behind her back as he spoke, "Sometimes your hands won't be free for an attack like that."
    Tightening his hold on her again, Mr. Drummond waited for her to retaliate.
    The giggles returned from the onlookers, sending Catriona into a fit of anger. She'd had enough of them laughing and joking about her success, about what she could do.
    Stomping down on Mr. Drummonds boot, Catriona could feel his grip loosen, a grunt escaping his mouth. She was free.
    Surprisingly, Mr. Drummonds grip loosened even more as she stepped away, turning hopefully to her teacher, eager for approval. Mr. Drummond was on the ground, a groan oozing from his mustache.
    Suddenly, the tea guests and her mother were on their feet, their joking halted by the sight of Neil on the ground in pain.
    Quickly, Catriona called out to them that he was okay, and after finally convincing them, she hurriedly knelt beside him demanding to know what happened, "Mr. Drummond, are you alright? Please… tell me you are."
    Slowly, Mr. Drummond looked up to her, a tear escaping his squinting eyes, "Yes, Lady Catriona… n--never better. And a very excellent execution of that move as well, nicely… done."
    Sighing, Catriona patted the top of his head, waiting on him to stand, "What really happened, Mr. Drummond?" She was happy for her success, but to see him in pain, although slightly funny, wasn't a good sight.
    "Oh, nothing worth being bothered over, my lady, simply a swift kick between my legs before you stomped on my foot. A--again, Lady Catriona, nicely done."
    Catriona giggled, embarrassed that her fit of anger had harmed Neil, but happy to see that he didn't take it personally, or too badly for that matter.
    They both stood after a moment, Catriona helping him more than him helping her. Mr. Drummond nodded to Catriona, his usual smile returning to his face.
    "Well," one of the tea guests started, her tone being very matter-of-factly, "it seems your daughter really is good at a man's pastime. Maybe she should join the Redcoats in England, she'd probably be of good help there."
    The comment received giggles and laughs from all the other guests, but to Catriona, it was another thought.
    To join the redcoats, that would almost be like escaping her prison of a mansion. She could gain more training from soldiers. The thought danced around her head, and slowly, she let it sink into the background. An afterthought if her wish to become free required some quick thinking, she would definitely bring the thought back into the light.
    For a different battle.
Will edit later. Needs editing on format.
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sooner7's avatar
Oooh I think I'm seeing how the dream and the reality is connecting. .w.
I like how you added the dream. ^^ You always bring a new thing into your chapters that make it unique and all the more interesting.

You're descriptions are also getting a lot better. :D I look forward to the next chapter. ^^