Jack and Jill

As it turns out I'm not dead!

I just got really busy with school work/resuscitating my wounded knee, and Felarya, among other things, fell by the wayside.

However, I'm back, and I've been inspired to start a new story, (In case anyone is wondering or still cares, I don't plan on abandoning the Werewarg story, I've just hit a wall, and may need to seriously revise the second story severly.)

Jack and Jill

Chapter 1: The Strongest Tomthumb in all of Felarya.

Felarya is a world of abundance. It has an abundance of beauty, from ancient forests, to snow capped peaks, to shimmering oceans. It has an abundance of wealth, vast mines full of ascarlin, rivers filled with jewels, and various other treasures literally lying around, waiting for someone to find and claim them. It has an abundance of magic, from the various fantastic beasts that roam its wilds, to the ancient artifacts left behind by civilizations long since passed, even the very soil itself radiates magic at levels unprecedented anywhere else. However, above everything else, what Felarya truly has an abundance of is danger. Whether it be its infamous predators, both the intelligent and the bestial, its carnivorous plants, or even the denizens of the back alleys of Negav, danger is ever present in this world where man is near the bottom of the food chain.

Near, but not quite at the bottom.

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The early morning light filtered through the leaves of the canopy and illuminated the village of Burnt Tree. Said village's inhabitants were busy making preparations for the Great Festival of Mark the Hero. Men were busy erecting great tents, and pavilions, and most importantly the great stage that would be the focus of the festivities. Many of them were discussing how best to accomplish these tasks, or arguing which tool would be needed to accomplish which task. Many of the men had a flask of something or other on his person, and more than a few of the tents tilted to one side or the other, and a few just couldn't seem to get off of the ground.

Women were busy preparing and setting out food, sparrow eggs, roast mouse, piles of berries, large slices of melon, and even a hare that some of the men managed to bring down the day before. It was so big that they needed to roast it in a clay oven made specially for this purpose. All the while they chatted and gossiped, and cursed their husbands for drunken louts. Honestly, it would be surprising if most of what they were building didn't fall to pieces before the festival even started.

Children ran errands for the parents, relaying messages, fetching tools, and often as not goofing off or getting in the way. Hordes of them ran screaming from one side of the village to the other, involved in various games whose goals and rules were utterly inscrutable to the eyes of an outsider.

And unluckily enough for the villagers, they were indeed being watched by the eyes of an outsider. In a nearby bush, only a scant hundred yards from the edge of the village, two eyes flashed in the darkness. A pink tongue ran across razor sharp canines, as a tail twitched back and forth, almost lazily. A neko had come to the village of Burnt Tree...and she was hungry.

Those silly little tomthumbs, Cassie, thought to herself, What do they think they're doing out in the open like that? She shook her head in disbelief. It was almost as if they were asking to be eaten. Well, never let it be said that I refused such an invitation! Slowly, with the grace and stealth of a panther, Cassie made her way to her unsuspecting prey, crawling on all four like a cat. Which of course comes naturally to a neko.

After ten minutes of painstakingly slow movement, Cassie was so close to the tinies she could make out individual faces within the crowd. She scanned the throng, making a mental note of which ones looked to be the tastiest. In one hand she held a roughspun sack, while the other remained free, in order to lay hold to her intended prey. With any luck her sack would be filed with tinies by the time she was through, after all, neko's had their festivals as well, and tinies made such wonderful appetizers. And main courses. And desserts.

Cassie crouched down as far as she could, her legs tensed, like coiled springs, ready to send her flying towards her intended target when the time came. Slowly she breathed in and out, silently so as not to reveal herself. At last she focused on the most tightly packed group of tinies, the ones located around the stage, and, with a quick prayer to the goddess of the hunt, she pounced!

It was at this point that things began to go horribly, horribly wrong for the poor neko. As she leapt forward, something grabbed ahold of her tail and pulled her backwards. She found herself flying in the opposite direction from what she had intended, away from the tomthumbs, and towards a very large and unforgiving tree. Her head met the bark of this tree, and her skull rang like a church ball as she turned and faced the village once more, dazed and groaning softly to herself.

The tomthumbs had scattered, running to the various burrows, holes, and so forth that littered the area. One tiny however, did not run. Instead he stood there, arms folded, with the most infuriatingly arrogant look on his face. Unlike his fellows, there was no trace of fear in his eyes. Even in her dazed state, this bothered Cassie, tomthumbs were known to be afraid of almost everything, but especially of nekos. However, this one didn't seem to be. That must mean he was a fool. Cassie resolved to educate him.

By the time Cassie managed to stand, all the tinies, save for the fool, had vacated the area. It was amazing how quickly their little bodies could vanish into the meadow when they wanted to. The catgirl rubbed her head, and moaned softly to herself. What had happened anyway? She looked around, but the only one close to her was the tiny idiot, still staring up at her with that obnoxious smile on his face. I must have tripped...somehow. This puzzled her, as Cassie was not known for being clumsy, Still it's the only explanation.

She looked down at stupid tomthumb who refused to run away from her. He was dressed all in green and red, with a forest green cloak around his shoulders, and a hunter's cap of the same shade with an outrageously large red feather sticking up from within. He stood confident, but alone, and as Cassie's mother had told her when she was still a child, once you had a tomthumb out in the open and alone, they might as well walk right into your hands.

Cassie sighed, "Dammit now all my friends are going to laugh at me when I come home with just one," she whined, "Still I suppose your better than nothing. She bent down to scoop up the little man at her feet, "Alright little guy, in the bag you go..."

"Get your big nose out of my face, you mangy feline," the tomthumb replied, the arrogant smile never leaving his face.

Cassie stared dumbfounded at the audacity of the tiny in front of her. "B...big nose!" she managed to get out, "Did...did you just say I had a big nose?!"

"Huh, you must be deaf as well as ugly, I hope your keen sense of smell makes up for it!" the tomthumb hooted pointed to his own nose and chuckled.

Laughing.

Little prick was laughing at her!

Cassie was deeply offended, I don't have a big nose! Okay, it's not exactly...petite...I'll grant you but it's not all that big! Melissa has a bigger nose than me, and nobody calls her ugly! And its not just because she has those two huge...is he still laughing at me! A snarl crept out from the neko girl's lips, "Ha, ha very funny...I hope that joke was worth your life...now get in the bag," she said as she took a swipe at the tiny.

To her surprise, Cassie's paw struck air as the tomthumb vaulted over her swipe and landed two feet away from her. "I got a better idea," he called out, "How about you stuff yourself in that bag, and maybe I'll go easy on you."

"Go easy on me...huh?" It was now Cassie's turn to laugh, "Just who do you think you are to talk so big, little man?"

The tiny just flashed her a grin, "Well I'm glad you asked Schnozzella!" exclaimed, "My name is Jack Cormoran, the Strongest Tomthumb in all of Felarya!" He declared with a flourish of his cap, "Perhaps you've heard of me?" he asked.

"Nope."

"Really?"

"Yep."

"Are you sure...I mean maybe you heard my name in passing?"

"Never."

"Huh," Jack's grin disappeared for moment, but quick as a flash it was back, "Well, regardless, after today you will most definitely remember my name, that I can guarantee!"

"Oh I doubt I will be forgetting the experience anytime soon," Cassie admitted, Even though I'm sure I will want to. She pounced forward, trying to catch the tiny off guard, but he moved just far enough out of the way that she couldn't reach him.

"Ooh you're slower than you look!" Jack declared, "That nose of yours is probably weighing you down."

Hissing, Cassie took another swipe at the little pest.

"I mean seriously, its like a potato."

And another swipe.

"If you painted it red though, you'd make a fine clown!"

This time a fury of swipes, scratches, slaps and so forth rained down on the tomthumb, but he nimbly avoided all of them until his opponent was left panting from exhaustion.

"Are you sure you're a catgirl? Between your clumsiness and that proboscis, I'd say you were more of elephantgirl."

Cassie stood up to her full height, her face twisted into a visage of pure hate and loathing. "STOP TALKING ABOUT MY NOSE, IT ISN'T THAT BIG!" she roared, "I SWEAR IF YOU MENTION MY NOSE ONE MORE TIME...."

"Well geeze..." Jack replied sounding and looking honestly contrite, "I didn't know you'd take it so badly...I'm sorry...I'm glad that you told...got this thing off your chest..."

Cassie breathed a sigh of relief, Maybe I should just go, I'm just embarrassing myself trying to catch this little bastard. Its still early enough I can just find another village.

"...Which is honestly, far too small to be holding up any-"

Jack was cut off as Cassie's foot crashed down on him with enough force to turn a break a duiker's back.

Cassie rubbed her foot into the ground as hard as she could, I may have ruined a perfectly good meal, but that was totally worth it. She laughed, "Now I just need to wash my feet."

"Oh, please do, your feet stink worse than fresh duiker droppings," Jack's voice rang out.

Before Cassie had time to react she was flying through the air once more. Something hard, smashed into her head, even harder than the blow she had received before. She landed flat on her back, the world around her spinning like a top.

When her vision finally came back into focus, she looked up and saw that horrible tomthumb. His clothes were a little muddy from her squishing him into the ground, but other than that he seemed perfectly unharmed. He sat atop the very nose he had mocked so mercilessly.

"But...I...crushed you!" Cassie declared, "You should be a stain on the bottom of my foot!"

Jack stared directly into her left eye, and laughed, "Didn't you hear what I said?" he asked her, "I'm Jack Cormoran, Felarya's Strongest Tomthumb!" he boasted.

Cassie's vision swum again as she fell unconscious, Jack's laughter ringing in her ears.

That was a pretty good read. You planing to continue it?

It's starting very nicely ! Very good job on the description and the interraction between the two

Seeing Jack tease the poor Cassie on her nose and her reaction to it was just hilarious ! XD
I'm quite hooked already and curious to see what will happens next. It's nice to see you back into writting ^__^

Thanks for the commentary!

As it so happens I will be continuing this.

Chapter 2: The Glory Seeker

"And then the Neko with the big fat nose,
Tried to to kill our hero Jack.
She tried to crush him with her stinky toes
Instead he put her on her back.
And so thusly did he free
The people of Burnt Tree
From becoming a catgirl's snack."

A familiar twang interrupted Jack's melody, signifying that one of the strings on his lyre had broken. He scowled, "I suppose that's what I get for trying to write my own song, Dad did always say you should never try sing your own praises. It only brings bad luck."

But who better to sing of his great deeds than Jack himself? Not only was he the Strongest Tomthumb in all of Felarya, a mighty boast indeed, but he was also a bard, trained in the ancient art by his own father. As a child Jack learned the history of his tribe, line by line. He could sing of the Ballad of Sean the Quick, who could outrun a bolt of lightning, or Bridget Stoatfriend, who tamed stoats, ferrets, weasels, and even the ornery badgers that dwelt in the wilds. He knew the tale of Brandon Sorrowsong, which could melt even the coldest of hearts. He knew countless other songs and stories, but his favorite was the Saga of Mark the Hero.

The tale of Mark was widespread through the Oloonde Lakeland, every tomthumb child knew of the great hero by the time they could speak. He was a giant of a man, over nine inches tall! He was strong too, much stronger than Jack could ever hope to be. Legends said that it was he who had created the three famous lakes, Stillmoon Pond, and even the great Mirror Sea, digging out great holes in the ground and diverting water flows with his barehands, all for the sake of a bet he had made with a friend of his. They say his barrow was located somewhere near Stillmoon Pond itself, were he lay in his enchanted sleep...

Jack was broken from his revelry as gang of children ran by, lost in some game and senseless to the world around them. Their attentions were focused on a mouse hide ball that they all sought to claim for some game. One kid would pick it up and run with it only to be tackled by another, who would then try to claim it for his own, only for it to be kicked away by a third and so on.

A smile appeared on Jack's face as he watched the children run by. The horde was making its way to the center of the town, the eponymous Burnt Tree. It was an ancient and gnarled specimen, with bark as black as pitch. Apparently it had been struck by lightning in the distant past. This had created a vast network of hollowed out channels in the tree, which were the perfect size for tomthumbs. The majority of the dwellings were in the tree itself, though many families made due with various burrows that had been dug out nearby.

It seemed a strange village to Jack, whose own home was in a massive earthen mound that housed every single villager, sealed off from the dangers of the outside world. The place was known, Deep Mound, which Jack had always thought was a little on the nose, but he supposed it served well enough. What bothered me was that we were hiding beneath earth and stone, and here they hide in a tree. Why must we always hide?

Jack's vision wandered over to where the neko lay, lashed to the ground with various ropes that the villagers had used to ensnare her while she lay unconscious. She was awake now, and looked to be very frightened. Apparently some of the locals were interrogating her. Nekos were not a common sight in Oloonde Lakeland, in fact they were exceedingly rare if truth be told. Elves inhabited most of the places meant for bigfolk, and they were known to be none too friendly to outsiders. Most of the catfolk that came through were adventurers just passing through, and most of those just ended up in the belly of a fairy from the Stillmoon Pond anyhow.

Still, Jack made his way toward the prisoner. Despite being a mighty hero, Jack had not actually seen very many nekos before, and he was curious. As he neared the Neko caught sight of him. Her eyes widened and began struggling against her bonds in order to get away. Heheh I told you that you would remember my name.

As he neared the fallen neko, Jack took a closer look at her. She really as quite pretty despite her slightly oversized nose. Jack had just mocked her because it through her off balance and provided him with an additional advantage. And because exaggerating the faults and imperfections of others was hilarious. It made him laugh.

Before he reached her though one of the individuals who was questioning the neko waved to him. Jack looked closer, a short man, with a massive red mustache and a feathered cap reminiscent of Jack's own. Jack called out to him.

"Hey there Tom Redharp, I see you and your friends had to tie a girl down to keep her from running away from you."

"Aye," he called back, "But at least I've never had to knock one out to keep her from killing me! Really laddie, you need to work on silvery your tongue a mite, or you'll never get anywhere with the lassies."

They both laughed as the neared each other. Tom Redharp, like Jack, was a bard, though unlike Jack he was much older, though this being Felarya you couldn't tell it by looking at him. Well, unless you looked at their eyes, which tended to give a better hint at someones age then their face. Tom had very old eyes. The insults were a traditional greeting between two bards, and in more formal settings it wasn't unknown for such greetings to go on for hours at a time.

Redharp was, as one would expect given his age, a very experienced bard. In fact he was arguably the greatest bard in the whole of the Oloonde Lakeland, maybe in all of Felarya. Jack had come here to hear his rendition of the Saga of Mark, which was to be the main focus of the festival. While he knew the song himself, he could not pass up the chance to hear it from a master.

However Redharp was not about to start his song anytime soon, "Jack we have a bit of a problem."

"What problem?" Jack asked, confused. "I took care of your problem," he explained, pointing at the prisoner for emphasis.

"Aye, but if what yon kitten told me is true, we got a whole village o' pussycats to contend with, some o' them are setting up shop due west, near the coast."

"What?" Jack asked, "The Elves aren't chasing them away with one of their turf wars again?" The Elves of the Oloonde Lakeland region did not like sharing the land with others. These Elves were heavily involved with Druidic magic and Geomancy, and they did not like others coming around a messing with their stone circles and carefully planted groves. They would jealously chase out anyone trying to settle the region.

This was convenient for the tomthumbs, of the area, as it kept out the nekos and other tribes of elves who would think nothing of making a snack out of a tomthumb. To be fair, the native elves often ate tomthumbs as well, but mostly travelers, and ones they caught out alone. They would not dare attack a village for fear of what an angry bard of Redharp's stature could do when roused, a bardic curse is not something to take lightly. Apparently these nekos didn't realize this, however.

"There aren't many ley lines at the coast Jack, remember?"

"Oh, yeah, I knew that..." Jack covered quickly, "You taught me, remember?"

"Aye lad, I remember," He laughed, "I suppose I'll have to give you a little quiz on our walk to see the nekos."

"Walk, what walk?"

Redharp shrugged, "Well, after a bit o' coaxing you'd be surprised what the lass told me. As it turns out her village is having their own festival, at the same time as the festival of Mark, isn't that a funny coincidence? Anyhow, this festival seems to be some sort of ritual founding where they go to all the nearby tiny villages, round up as many of us as they can get their greedy paws on, and gorge to their hearts delight...apparently its supposed to bring goodluck," Redharp sneered at that last word, and spit on the ground.

"Goodluck huh?" Jack asked, "I'm guessing you want to bring them something else."

Redharp grinned, "Aye lad, I want to brink them a bit o' bad luck, and you're going to help me. After all, you don't want it said that 'Jack, the most Boastful Tomthumb in all o' Felarya,' left a poor bard to fend with a village o' kittens all by himself, do yeah?"

And Jack had to admit, he didn't.

They are going to march on the village ? this is going to get spicy XP

Sorry about the delay, I had finals, and they took up most of my attention.

Here's the next chapter.

Chapter 3: The Caged Fairy

Nekos hustled around their newly build village, hanging decorations, bringing out tables and chairs, and cooking vast quantities of food. Unlike in the tomthumb village of Burnt Tree however, there was no crowd of children running about, and upon closer inspection none could be found preparing for the festivities, or anywhere in the entirety of the settlement for that matter.

No this village was newly erected, and had neither name nor history as of yet. No families had come across the sea to settle here, only adventurous individuals, and young couples who had no children to tie them down, to keep them from making the perilous journey to this strange land of lakes and rivers.

However, judging by the looks that many of the inhabitants were giving one another, perhaps this would be the night where the first children in the village would conceived, somewhere between the shadowy haze of the nights festivities and the cold light of dawn.

Not everyone in the village was so filled with such excitement however. The inhabitants of a certain hut, set apart from the rest and guarded by a burly looking male neko, were not excited at all. In fact they were filled with fear and dread.

Cages lined every wall within the hut, and contained within those cages were tomthumbs, hundreds and hundreds of tomthumbs. Some of them were weeping, some wailing, and the rest simply brooding, lost within their own thoughts. All of them knew the fate that awaited them when the feast began, to be passed about, and devoured as just another course among many.

One cage however, did not house a tomthumb. In the center of the hut there stood a table, and on that table lay a copper bird cage. Inside of the cage there was only a single inhabitant, and though clothed in the same grey shift that her fellow prisoners wore, she was otherwise quite different from them. Blood red eyes, and two thin antennas poked through a long mane of red hair, which hung down past her crimson beetle like wings. She was a fairy, and her name was Jill.

Jill sat facing a wall, looking at it through copper bars that kept her prisoner. She was a fairy, and what was more, she was a crimson maiden, an elite soldier, a member of the premier fighting force in all of fairydom! Her people had burned whole armies to nothing but ashes, made entire civilizations go up in smoke, torched monsters, demons, and GODS!

"How the hell did I end up being held prisoner by nekos!"

It was, shameful. It was terrible. But more than anything it was...embarrassing. Jill frowned deeply, she had been caught, she had been caged, and finally she had been sold to nekos who had dragged her across the sea, to this wretched land full of green. Worst of all they had taken her equipment away, so she could not attempt an escape, or kill herself. No, they were going to eat her alive in some sort of silly superstitious ritual.

At least they had kept her in separate cage from all the tinies. She was spared that indignity at the very least. I'll be sharing a cage with them soon enough, a dark, wet, and fleshy one. She looked over to the other cages that lined the hut, filled with teeming throngs of tinies, their cries and and complaints merging together in to one droning and unending monotone. Jill had never been bothered by the tiny folk before, but being stuck in a roomful had begun to wear her patience thin. If the civilian lifestyle made this many whiners, than she wanted no part in it.

Jill unfolded her beetle like wings, cringing as she did so. Beneath the ruby chiton of her outer wings, her inner wings were horrifically scarred and burnt, branded by the fairy hunter who had captured her. She could still use them to fly, albeit only for very short distances before the pain became too much for her, but she could cast no magic, and worst of all, they never seemed to heal, even weeks after she was first captured.

The wings refolded, back behind the outer guards, as Jill continued to sulk. Even if she could escape, she could work no magic, and a crimson maiden who could work no magic and was stuck at such a tiny size, she was useless as a soldier. Her sisters would not take her back, defeated and crippled as she was. The best she could hope for was to fight the neko who would undoubtedly devour her, and hope that her last stand was worthy of her tribes name.

Jill was so lost in her grim musings that she didn't notice the the neko guard until he had hit the ground in front of the table with a loud thunk. Crawling cautiously forward to the edge of the cage, Jill pressed her face against the bars and peered down at the neko who laid spread eagled on the floor, unmoving. As she looked closer, she saw a huge bruise on his forehead, and in the center of the whole was a tiny cut where the skin had been torn off, roughly the size of her own fist.

A cloaked figure strode into the hut, fearless despite his small size. He laughed heartily upon seeing the unconscious neko, before addressing the prisoners that surrounded him.

"Greetings my fellow tomthumbs! Fear not for I, Jack Cormoran, the Strongest Tomthumb in all of Felarya, have come to rescue you!" he shouted as he bowed, doffing the hunter's cap as he did so. "In return, all I ask is that you listen to me, and do exactly as I say until we are safely away from the village. Deal?"

Jill was deafened by the noise, as every tomthumb in the room gave the agreement to Jack's terms, many of them bobbing their heads ecstatically as they did so. For her part, Jill said nothing, all of her attention focused on this braggart tomthumb.

Upon hearing the prisoners agreement, Jack quickly set to work freeing the tinies. Walking to the nearest cage, he placed his hands on the bars and effortlessly bend them out shape creating a hole large enough for those imprisoned to step through. He did so at the next cage, and the one after that and so on, either bending the bars like he did before, or ripping the doors clean off their hinges, releasing the trapped tinies.

Upon ripping the door of the last remaining cage on the ground, Jill watched as the Jack walked confidently towards the table she had been placed on, until he vanished from her vision hidden behind the end of the table.

Suddenly, with a great leap he flew back into vision, landing only half a foot from her cage. He strode over to her, and placed his hands on the door that kept her prisoner, when he suddenly stopped, staring at her.

"You're a fairy," he said simply, without the dramatic flair that had graced his earlier announcements.

"Yes, I am," Jill answered. Jack did not move, and only continued to watch her, "Uh...are you going to open my cage or not?"

Jack stepped back an eyed her suspiciously, "I don't think so...for all I know the second I release you, you might grow and devour the lot of us....not that you'd manage to eat me of course," he added quickly, "But you could be dangerous to everyone else."

"I wouldn't eat all of you," Jill corrected him, "I'd only be able to eat maybe ten or twelve of you at most, and I'd be really bloated afterwards," Jill paused, as the implications of what she said sunk in, "Not that I'd eat any of you!" she hastily corrected, "If I was going to eat anyone, it some of the nekos outside, and anyhow, my wings are injured, and I can't do any magic," Jill unfolded her wings and showed Jack her scars in order to convince him, "I've never been one to eat tinies anyhow," she added, hopefully.

Jack took a step back and rubbed his chin, "I don't know..."

Jill was starting to lose her patience, "Oh come on, if I could do any magic do you think I'd be sitting in this cage?"

"You fairies love to play games and trick people," Jack pointed out, "This could be one of your tricks, or possibly a game. Or both/"

"Well if it is and I can still use my magic then I'm totally going to eat you regardless of what you do so you might as well release me." This guy is such a pain in the ass, I totally would eat him if I could.

Jack stood thinking for a few moments before shrugging, "That's actually a good point," he declared at last before ripping the door off of Jill's cage, "Besides, I wouldn't be much of a hero if I left a damsel in distress would I?" he said as he offered Jill his hand, in order to help her out.

Jill left it hanging and she stepped out of the cage, shoving Jack aside as she did so. "Sorry," she said as she straightened up and look back at the cage. The hinges of the cage had been torn in half by the tomthumb as easily as she might break a twig between her fingers. She had to admit it was quite impressive.

Jack seemed taken aback by her ignoring his chivalrous gesture, but he recovered quickly enough, "What's your name, fairy?" he asked.

She turned to face him, "Jill, Jill Sootstorm," Jill gestured at the the tinies that surrounded the table, looking at Jack expectantly. There was quite a large crowd of them, more than could be snuck past the nekos "Exactly how are you hoping to get all these people past all the nekos outside?" she asked.

"Oh that's easy, we just have to wait for the signal."

There was a scream from outside.

"That'd be it."

Great story!
I hope Jill gets her wings back! Her and jack would make an awesome/hilarious duo!

Mhh I like the direction it is taking
I also think the two would make a great duo indeed X3

Jack and Jill will definitely be seeing more of each other.

How come I missed this? Good story; very entertaining.