"Here, fishy, fishy, fishy..."
Lina Inverse was fishing in a river. Behind her, Gourry was sleeping, and Anna, also asleep, leaned against his shoulder. Zelgadis was leaning against a tree, trying to rest, while Amelia tried to convince him to teach her more Shamanist magic. After a few minutes, Amelia gave up and started practicing - well, she was trying to practice something, but all she could manage was looking like a klutz. A few feet away from Zelgadis, Catsai lay on the grass, staring into space.
After a few minutes, Catsai stood up, stretching, and started to head over to the quickly growing pile of fish. Before she had taken more than a few steps, however, Amelia crashed into her, knocking them both into the river. The thief let out a startled shout that was half meow as she tumbled into the water.
"Amelia!!!" the cat-like woman shouted as she struggled to stay afloat, waking Anna and Gourry. "You idiot!"
"Don't worry, Miss Catsai, I'll save you!" Amelia cried, swimming toward the thief.
"Yeah, but who's going to save you?" Catsai countered, grinning. She had managed to reach a shallower part of the river and had stood up, grinning wickedly. As Amelia came closer, the thief dove under the water. Amelia started looking around for Catsai, then let out a startled yelp when she was pulled beneath the water's surface.
When the two reached the surface again, Amelia coughing and looking very annoyed, Catsai laughing and looking smug, Anna called, "Catsai, are you all right?"
"Yeah, Anna, I'm fine," Catsai called back, managing to stop laughing but still grinning broadly.
"Catsai, you shouldn't trick poor Amelia like that," Anna scolded her. She walked over to the edge of the river and knelt down, stretching out a hand to help Amelia out of the river. "She didn't know you could swim."
"Exactly," Catsai agreed. "If she did, I wouldn't be able to trick her." She climbed out of the river and shook herself, spraying Anna and Amelia with the cold water.
"Hey!" the two girls protested.
Catsai grinned, shrugged, and headed toward the pile of fish.
It looked like a normal room in an inn. Two beds, two bedside tables, a few candles for light, a window, and a door. In the center of the room, a girl lay on the floor. She looked to be about fifteen years old, and had black hair that she tied back with a dark blue headband. Her face looked a lot like Lina's. She was wearing a blue tunic, and a blue cape was hanging on the wall by the door. A wooden staff with a silver crystal on one end lay beside her. After a few moments, a tired-looking man stumbled into the room. He had long brown hair, and was wearing leather armor. He leaned his bow and quiver full of arrows against the wall and turned to face the girl.
The girl glanced up as the man stumbled in. "I'm bored," she told him.
The man stared at her. "Atreana," he panted. "We just fought ten demons..."
"So?"
"...and two vampires..."
"Yeah, but Griff-"
"...and a group of bandits..."
"Yeah, Griff, I know, but that was an entire five minutes ago. So now I'm bored."
Griff stared at her, then shook his head an collapsed onto the nearest bed. Atreana sat up and glared at him.
"That's my bed," she informed him angrily.
"Take the other bed," Griff mumbled. "I'm too tired to move."
Atreana stood up, grabbed her staff, raised it above his head - then paused. Slowly, a smile spread across her face. "Griff," she said sweetly. "I'm not going to hit you."
Griff opened an eye at that. "You're not?" he repeated, surprised.
Atreana shook her head, still smiling. "No, I'm not. You see, last time we were at the temple, I learned a new spell. You want to know what it was?"
"Not really, but you're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"
Atreana nodded. "Of course. The spell that I learned is a sort of reverse exorcism. The person I cast it on is possessed by a ghost. Or several ghosts; there's several varieties of the spell. It would be really nice to try the spell out, don't you think? So that I know I've got it right before I really need to use it? I was thinking a dozen ghosts. Female ghosts. The type that like to wear fancy dresses and lots of make up and - "
"Go ahead, the bed's all yours!" Griff jumped from the bed frantically, and strode quickly across the room to the other bed.
Atreana grinned as she sat down on the bed. "I'm bored," she said again.
"I really couldn't care less," Griff mumbled, his voice muffled by the pillow.
"What was that?" Atreana asked dangerously.
"I said...uh...."
Quite calmly, Atreana grabbed her staff and hit him over the head with it. She frowned at his unconscious body. "I'm bored," she repeated.
The tavern was almost empty when Lina and her group walked in - understandable, as it was almost midnight. The only other customers were a girl with black hair dressed in blue and a man with brown hair and a huge lump on his head.
After renting their rooms, Catsai sat down next to Zelgadis at their table. She had a mishevous glint in her eye - but then again, she almost always did. "Well, we've got our rooms, but the inn was pretty full. We're gonna have to double up."
"I'll be with Gourry!" Anna volunteered quickly. Catsai glanced at Gourry, who nodded his agreement as he shoveled food into his mouth.
"All right. Lina, can you share a room with Amelia?" She glanced at the sorceress, who was too busy eating to answer. "I'll take that as a yes. I'll share a room with Zel, then," Catsai finished, and started to pile food onto her plate.
"Hey, wait a minute," Amelia started to protest. "Zel - "
"Excuse me?"
The group glanced up from their meals to see the girl from the other table standing before them. "Yes?" Lina asked after a minute.
"I'm Atreana. I'm from the Temple of Holy Fire; have you heard of it?" the girl asked.
"I thought that burned down last year," Anna remarked.
"It did. They rebuilt it. Anyway, we're re-stocking our library, and I'm doing interviews of interesting people. Do you mind if I interview you?"
Catsai, who had pulled her hood down to cover her eyes, muttered, "Sure. Go ahead. We love having our meals interrupted by complete strangers."
Atreana frowned, then smiled. "All right, I'll introduce myself, and then we won't be strangers anymore. I'm Atreana Inverse, master mage and scribe of the Temple of Holy Fire, and this - " she nodded toward Griff, who had come up behind her, " - this is Griffon Gabriev, but everyone calls him Griff. He's my bodyguard." She grinned. "And who are you?"
Catsai sighed. "Zel, Lina, Anna, Gourry, Amelia, Catsai," she said, pointing to each person in turn. "Goodbye."
"I need a little more detail than that," Atreana asked, smiling.
"I'm Anna Wil Tesla Seyruun," Anna introduced herself, "Catsai's assistant."
Catsai glared at Anna.
"Assistant? You run a business? What is it?" Atreana asked, glancing at Catsai.
"That's none of your - " Catsai started.
"Helping people to reorganize, financially," Anna explained.
"Oh." Atreana, who had no idea what that meant, turned to Amelia. "And you?"
"Amelia Wil Tesla Seyruun, protector of justice!" Amelia proclaimed.
Atreana raised an eyebrow, then, when Amelia launched into one of her speeches, continued, "Whatever. You two are sisters?"
Anna started to answer, but Lina answered, "Uh ... not exactly. I'm Lina Inverse, a sorceress, and this is Gourry Gabriev, a swordsman."
Atreana looked surprised. "Inverse and Gabriev? That's our names!"
Catsai glared at Lina. "Inverse and Gabriev are very common names," Catsai explained.
"Oh. I've never met another Inverse before ... " Atreana shrugged. "Well, whatever. Anyway, who are you?"
"Catsai."
"Catsai ... what?" Atreana prodded.
"Just Catsai."
Atreana shrugged. "Okay. Um, and who are you?" she asked, turning toward Zelgadis.
"My name is Zelgadis," he said quietly.
"You two sure are quiet, aren't you?" Atreana remarked, glancing at Catsai and Zelgadis. "Dress the same, too. Probably look the same, under those cloaks. You brother and sister or something?"
"No," Catsai said shortly.
"Wow. You should become a scribe. 'How to have a conversation using five words or less.'" Atreana looked annoyed, but shrugged. "Well, anyway, I need to interview you, for the temple. I'll start with Zelgadis." She pulled up a chair and sat down between Zelgadis and Catsai.
Catsai sighed and stood up. "I'm going to bed. Wake me when she's gone," she snapped, turning to walk down the hall.
Atreana frowned at Catsai's retreating form. I must be imagining things, she thought. People don't have fur. She shook her head, grinned, and turned back toward Zelgadis. "Well, anyway, let's get started. Are there any major events in your past? Are you related to anybody famous? What's your career? Oh, I better get a sketch of you for the scrolls, too ... whoa!" She had pulled Zelgadis's hood up before he could stop her. "Wow! Stone skin! And majorly cute, too," she added under her breath. Zelgadis scowled at her and pulled the hood back down again. "I have got to get this story!" Atreana cried. "Okay, now, to start. How did you ... "