The Wand and the Sword

Posted on 09 Feb 2020 @ 10:31am by Commander Scarlet Blake & Lily Blake & Commander Luke Wyatt

4,214 words; about a 21 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A: Holodeck
Timeline: MD -14 1800

ON:

Lily gripped the tree tightly as she stretched out to try and sneak a better view over the green and rolling landscape. It had been a long and arduous journey, full of dangers and tests. But the warrior princess was undeterred in her quest. With a trusty knight at her side, she could never fail! And even if she did...she had to try.

"I see the castle!" the young girl shouted with excitement, pointing out. "But...it looks like it will be tricky to get there...." she called to the Knight across the afternoon breeze...well...the holographic afternoon breeze.

Luke dressed in a light knights armour crossed his arms "Well, of course, its going to be tricky if your shout at them and let them know we're here," he teased, "We'll approach from the south, the wood line is closest there to the castle so we won't get spotted."

"Okay!" Lily replied in an over loud stage whisper to him, unable to help a slight giggle at the end. "Knight ready to catch..." she grinned, shifting to the edge of the branch...before leaping down without warning, clearly expecting him to catch her.

Luke looked in time as Lily came crashing down towards him, lifting his arms reactively he caught the diving girl scooping her up in his arms and holding her tight to his chest chuckling. From the way she vibrated against him he gathered she enjoyed her little dance with gravity and was chuckling. "Right, let's go you little nutcracker." He said gently helping her onto her feet.

"Nutcracker?!" she laughed at the name, easily taking a hold of his hand as they started their intrepid march to victory. "Is that like a....cracker for nuts? Or a cracker all made out of nuts? Both sound tasty..."

"Yes and no," he answered, his hand enveloping her small one whilst his spare hand rested on the hilt of his sword which was still in its sheaf. "I know they're an old device for cracking nuts but also a ballet of sorts." The pair continued to walk, Luke hadn't seen Scarlet for some time and wondered if she was even still with them. With Scarlet in his thoughts, Lily by his side and the night breeze on their back, the walk through the woods and towards the castle was shorter than he expected.

"What's that?" Lily suddenly whispered, grabbing his hand tightly as she crouched down behind a large fallen tree at hearing a rumbling sound. As she looked through the warm, hazy air, a cloud of dust was shifting, giving away something moving down close to the walls and moat of the castle....followed by the water sloshing with sudden movement.

Feeling her hand tighten around his Luke ducked with her listening to her words and following her gaze. Beyond the treeline, they were hiding in towered the stone walls of the castle, surrounded by a moat. He watched a moment longer and soon he could see the movement in the water. "Fish maybe?" he guessed out loud unsure himself.

"Or bath duckies?" Lily whispered as she looked up to him with wide eyes. "Or...or....dancing hippos?" she asked with hope, but just as she finished speaking, a long, slender beast rose out of the water, flying up and twirling through the air, the sun hitting the drops of water falling from it. "Water dragon!"

Luke was half surprised, of course, any program made for Lily had a dragon in it but a water dragon? Now that was something new. "Let's get a closer look," he said to the young girl pointing down the track which wound through the trees, turning slightly towards the water's edge.

Lily kept half bent over in a 'creeping' posture, trying to run quietly to the cover of a fallen tree so they could look. It was long and sleek, glittering gold and green with the water on its back. Its wings were small, silk like fins for both swimming and flying, but there were several running down the long, serpent like body. It shot out of the water, flying upwards before twisting and turning in the air, almost as if chasing her own tail before diving back down, smashing into the water. It caused such a wave to fly up that Lily squealed as she got soaked.

Not alone in the spray, Luke was sprayed by the water soaking him and Lily. "Isn't she just the most beautiful thing you've ever seen?" he said half-forgotten why they were there before saying. "Come on, we need to find a way in." Luke had to coax the young girl further along the track as she stared in amazement.

Lily depended entirely on Luke's guidance, her head facing the other way so she could stare at the new type of dragon for as long as possible as she walked with him, wide eyed. "Can we have one of those on the ship, please?"

"Well, I'm not sure the Captain or your mum would be best pleased if we had a dragon running around, then again it would make a good addition to the security team," Luke replied chuckling, "I'd ask your mum," he said finally deciding he wasn't the person to say no.

"All security people should have a dragon," she said with a strangely serious nod, half running to keep up as she held onto his hand. "Knights ride horses. Security can ride dragons."

"Now that sounds like something I could get behind, maybe I'll bring it up at the next security council. Security riding on dragons," Luke repeated as if taking a mental note. They were too busy talking they hadn't realized they all but had run smack bang into the castle's moat, the dragon diving in and disappearing at least for the moment whilst Luke managed to grab the young girl around the waist before she dived head first after it. They were next to a broken part of the wall and Luke wondered if the dragon had led them here on purpose. "Lily, can you swim?" he asked.

Lily tilted her head so she could see the water, her eyes shining with excitement at the prospect of diving in the same water the dragon had been in. She nodded eagerly, gripping onto his arm. "You'll help me though?"

Luke gathered the girl up and put her on his back, "Hold on tight and we'll get across together," he said moving into the water, it wasn't as cold as he thought it would be and suspected it was a part of the child safe protocols on the program. "Ready?" he asked now at hip height, her feet just off of the water.

She giggled at the sensation of the water soaking her soft shoes, biting her lip as she kicked her feet to splash it. She knew she should be serious in their quest to sneak into the castle....but she couldn't resist splashing water, enough to make sure Luke got wet too. "Yeah!"

With Lily firmly attached to his back, they began their way across the water, if the simulation was actually meant to imitate real life infiltration they would have been captured or killed during the trek through the forest, now combined with his efforts to swim, Lily's giggling and splashing he wondered if there were any guards at all!

Lily had to hold on tight through the water, her giggling threatening to unseat her from the knight's back. She looked up with awe, the castle seeming even more giant now they were so close to it. "We have to go allllll the way up there to the big tower!"

Naturally Luke thought, finding the swimming more difficult than he expected, his clothes making it hard for him to get the full range of swimming movement. Nearing the hole in the wall Luke nodded towards it so Lily would gauge her attention towards it. "You first pipsqueak."

Lily leapt from his back, managing to roll through the broken up hole in the wall without getting wet. She quickly pulled the - blunted- short sword free with one hand and the bejewlled wand out with the other. She took a 'creeping like a mouse' pose, already starting a shuffling 'quiet' run. "Come on..." she whispered loudly, not realising that Luke had to struggle out of the water in full, wet knight gear.

Encouraged by her eagerness and his own to get out of the water Luke managed to heft himself into the hole, it was just big enough for him to enter at a crouch but opted for crawling. With his bow drawn in his right hand an arrow in his left. "You take point," he said to the young girl not seeing any way too squeeze past her anyway.

"Right!" Lily nodded emphatically, moving to speed up...before stopping again. She turned to him, a look of confusion on her features as she scratched her head with the point of the sparkling wand. "Er...whats that mean...?"

He laughed, he couldn't stop himself but the image of Lily standing in a tunnel scratching her head with the sparkly wand and her face scrunched up in thought. "It means you take the lead," Luke said finally.

"Ohhhh...." the smile returned as the girl realised what he meant, feeling a swell of satisfaction at having learnt something new. She nodded firmly, turning back to carry on creeping through the dusty, cobwebbed tunnel. "I'm taking the point..." she declared, leading them through the hole in the wall. They came out into a large, candlelit area of an old castle. Tapestries on the walls, stone floors, large open fireplaces and the flicker of candlelight in ornate holders.

Lily took a sharp breath as she saw the two guards facing away from them, talking in a relaxed way to each other. She forgot it was a holonovel for a moment, so involved in the lifelike charade. She reached to tug on Luke's sleeve to alert him to the guards' presence, even if they hadn't been alerted to theirs. They had two options...fight them, or sneak past.

Seeing what Lily had Luke made the conscious decision not to show the young child violence unless it was absolutely necessary. "Let's sneak around them, stay in the shadows," he whispered to the young girl who he doubted wouldn't be seen with her small frame.

Lily nodded seriously, her eyes wide as she started to tiptoe forward. She froze when one started to turn, her breath held as he rattled forward in his metal armour...but only closer to the other guard as they started to talk about the upcoming summer parade. The young girl let out a breath of relief, taking up her long, silent strides again, trying her best not to rustle as she painstakingly made her way to the winding stone staircase.

Following behind Lily Luke's heart hammered in his ears, he was certain that the guards weren't even meant to see or hear them... At least that was until he stepped onto a stone giving way in the footpath they were following, causing it to shift and crack loudly under his weight. "Run!" He said to Lily as the guards turned lazily before their eyes lit up as they saw what was happening right behind them. If they could just make it to the tower Luke could bar the door close behind them and think of a new way out after the immediate threat was gone.

Lily let out a squeal, and it wasn't clear if it was from excitement or panic...or perhaps a mixture of both. She started clambering up the stone steps, trying to switch to taking them two at a time half way up...a big mistake as her shorter legs couldn't manage it. She slipped and skidded down a few steps, reaching to grab Luke's tunic that stuck out under the armour.

Between keeping an eye half on the now closed and barred door Luke had seen Lily fall and was prepared to catch her, missing her initially in his second attempt he scooped up the girl and proceeded to take the steps two at a time. Once what he believed to be a safe distance away Luke looked to Lily cradled in his arms "Are you ok? Nothing broken or damaged?"

"Nah, just bashed..." she made a face all the same as she struggled between rubbing her arm and her knee at the same time. "You were so fast though! Dash dash dash, you showed them!" she looked around with wide dark blue eyes, her lips pursing in thought. "But where are we?"

He took a moment to look around, from what he could remember of the layout he had studied before they entered the program they were at the bottom of the princess' tower. "We're right below the princess and the evil wizard who has captured her here." Luke had to stop himself from chuckling as the words left his lips and acted as serious as Lily was.

Lily screwed her face up at that, shaking her head firmly from side to side, making her dark hair swing with it. "I don't like evil wizards, they're just big bullies..."

"Is that so, young lady..." the unmistakable form of a wizard moved through the large stone archway, complete with a long red cloak and a wooden staff. "Some of us can be quite reasonable if the mood takes us. In fact, if you can answer a single riddle correctly, I will let you up to the tower. But, if you get it wrong, you will both belong to me...."

Luke had stiffened as the wizard appeared, one eye on him and the other on Lily, knowing her though she was prepared for this with some cute and quite frankly funny comment so he decided to wait for the young spitfire to talk.

"We don't belong to anyone! 'Cept...maybe...Captain Stardust, but that's different, cos she's a secret Elf Princess, and...it's just complicated..." the girl used the tip of her sparkling wand to scratch her head. "But...my Knight is the cleverest Knight in the whole kingdom, so we can answer any riddle, right?" she looked up to Luke with large, blue, expectant eyes.

Luke looked down and felt any objection melt away, he was a starfleet officer, an ex marine and a Knight to the lady Lily Scarlet, of course he could answer one simple riddle... Right!? “Of course we can, not even your riddles will stop us from saving the princess," he said with his new found confidence.

The wizard gave a small but satisfied smile, moving slowly in a circle around them, hand gripping the large staff tightly. "My life can be measured in hours, I serve by being devoured. Thin, I am quick. Fat, I am slow. Wind is my foe. What am I?"

The first thought that came to Luke's mind was a flame but it didn't quite make sense. Any number of things could have been the answer if you looked at the individual lines until suddenly it clicked. He looked to Lily her eyes bright and expecting and then to the Wizard who was starting to creep him out. "Is it... A Candle?" he asked.

The wizard's gaunt face hardened at the reply, his eyes narrowing slightly and fingernails biting into his staff.

"It is!" Lily jumped up and down, arms in the air as she grinned. "It is, it is! Let us up..."

"No," the man said stubbornly, grabbing his staff to cross his body with it, refusing to give them what he'd promised.

"Wizard" Luke said sternly his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, "We answered fair and square let the lady and I pass without trouble and you'll never have to deal with us again. Stop us and..." he now tightened his grip on the sword and nodded his head in its direction.

"I lied!" the surprisingly fast wizard swung his staff out, an arc of electricity arcing over the pair, the sparks crackling alarmingly close to their faces.

"You promised! You promised!" Lily shouted as she jumped back, but she somehow managed to sound angry rather than any shade of scared as she pulled her own sword and wand out.

Noting Lily's small burst of anger Luke stepped toward the Wizard. "Now look what you've done wizard, I won't be able to hold back my companion here if you fail to let us pass and I think we can avoid violence here. We've passed your little riddle now let us pass."

"Never!" the Wizard cried out, moving with surprising speed despite his heavy red robes. He swung his staff at him, gripping tight as he aimed for his head, the sparks changing to a trail of flames from the glowing orb at the top.

Luke ducked avoiding the waterfall of sparks and slashing his sword in an upright motion which connected with the wizard's staff. In a normal situation where magic was real, his sword would simply bounce off or even do him harm but in this instance Luke's sword cut through the wooden staff with ease.

"Yay!" Lily was jumping up and down, cheering from the sidelines as the staff broke. "That's what happens when you fib!" she called out, wand lifted high over her head with her celebrations.

The Wizard let out a growl of anger at the turn of events. He threw the broken end away, lifting the now much shortened staff high, the power now greatly diminished, but not completely gone. He chanted loudly as he grabbed the orb from the end, smashing it down to the ground. It shattered with a loud crash, a huge plume of smoke escaping with the shards. When the smoke dispersed, it revealed the Wizard had escaped.

Dispersing the last few wisps of smoke with his hand Luke turned and faced Lily, "I've never liked wizards always an untrustworthy bunch. Come on lets go rescue the princess." Luke sheathed his sword and began making his way up the steps again now that their path was unhindered by a wizard.

The girl grabbed his hand, running eagerly for the large, stone arch that led to the winding tower staircase. "He can't be friends with the dragons, they couldn't like a mean man like him..." she declared with all the certainty of a child.

Enjoying her rant as they ascended the steps Luke remained mostly quiet, nodding and chuckling at all the right queues. Before long and before their legs began to ache the pair of would be adventurers found themselves at the door to where the princess was being held. "Go ahead, you have the honour" he said looking down to Lily stretching their joined hands towards the large wooden doors.

Lily grinned as she pushed at the door, letting out a loud gasp of effort as it took all her body weight to shift the large, wooden door. "Mummy! I mean....Princess!"

Scarlet looked up from where she sat in the open stone arch of a window in the tower. She wore a medieval fantasy style dress in blue, the one Lily had picked out for her...and the long, velvet of the skirts hid the padd that she'd been using to sneak in some work while the pair had made their way up to her. She stood quickly, brushing down the dress, her long dark hair braided with silver thread and glinting with the sunshine. "At last, I was giving up hope that anyone would come..." she said lightly, but there was just a touch of wryness in her voice that betrayed how foreign playing the damsel in distress was to her.

Before any response could be made, a loud bang sounded behind Luke and Lily, followed by a cloud of dust at just how hard the door had slammed shut behind them, shutting them all in the tower together. A gleam of red covered the door, a magic barrier shimmering into life.

"How dull..." the voice of the Wizard echoed through the air. "How easily you fell into my trap! Now you shall all be my prisoners until your last breath escapes your withered bodies...."

Does this guy ever know when to quit? Luke thought turning on the wizard to face him. "How about instead you answer one of my riddles, if you get it right then we'll stay here in your tower but if you get it WRONG we leave and you'll forever be locked in the tower? Sounds like a fair deal, if you win you'll get 3 prisoners lose we get to leave unharmed."

The wizard fell silent with confusion over the suggestion, shaking his head with narrowed eyes. "Why would I? When I have you where I want you..."

"He's too scared!" Lily pointed to the wizard with wide eyes before covering her mouth with a gasp. "He's too scared he's not clever enough for you!"

"I am not!" the sharp featured man straightened up with indignant anger at the suggestion, eyes turning an icier shade of blue.

Luke couldn't help but smile, "Then you accept to our terms?" He asked simply his hands crossed and trying to look persuasive though Lily seemed to have the look down to a T. He also realised then that he was having far to much fun for a children's holoprogram.

"Fine!" the Wizard lifted his chin, the long grey beard swaying with the sharp motion as he set a hand on his hip. "I'll show you the real power of the mind...."

Luke smiled and thought carefully before saying confidently. "You won't get this, because I don't think you even know what the answer is and never will do. What costs nothing but is worth everything, weighs nothing but lasts a lifetime. Truthfully told by few, lies from many. I can cause the greatest happiness or the deepest sorrow. One person can't own but two can share?"

The Wizard's brow started to furrow as he spoke, taking in the words as his eyes narrowed. He slowly started to shake his head from side to side, his lips pursing. "Costs nothing....worth everything? What kind of nonsense is this!"

"Oh! Oh! I think I know...I think I know!" Lily jumped lightly up and down, holding her wand up in the air as if waiting to be picked for an answer.

He chuckled confidently, "Well well well, the real power of the mind huh?" Luke mocked smiling at Lily and then back to the wizard. "It seems your mind is about to be bested by the smartest and bravest little lady there is, what's your answer wizard?"

"Revenge..." the Wizard half sneered, shaking his head dismissively at what he clearly thought to be a trick question.

"Is that your final answer?" Luke asked showing no real sign that the wizard had guessed correct or incorrectly, he hoped Lily would do the same but she was already buzzing with so much excitement the wizard would likely not notice.

The Wizard glanced to the girl, but she'd moved close to her mother, using the long skirt to half cover her face, her wide eyes peaking over the edge of it. "Yes...and I'll make you feel it!" the man hissed.

"Love" Luke said, plainly looking from the wizard to both Lily and Scarlet. "Love costs you nothing but means everything to someone, revenge is the opposite it costs you everything and means nothing to another," Luke moved closer to the girls. "And now it's your time to leave."

"No!" fury twisted the man's features, his eyes narrowed to slits and the colour on his cheeks rising alarmingly. "No! You are lying! That is impossible! Cheating nonsense!"

"Goodbye," Luke said simply as the man began to evaporate in a cloud of mist, his screams filled the room before cutting into a cool silence. Across from them the holodeck door replaced the door the wizard was blocking. "It seems today we have saved the Princess," he said grinning as he turned to Lily and Scarlet.

"Yay!" Lily jumped up and down with a grin, her arms in the air as she turned on the spot, singing a self penned song of triumph.

"Lucky me, hm?" Scarlet chuckled as she folded her arms, watching him with amusement. "I'm not sure what I would have done otherwise..." she touched the back of her hand to her forehead in mock damsel in distress mode.

Luke chuckled between watching Lily's dancing and Scarlet's mocking expressions his arms crossed and a smile on his face. "Oh I don't know, I suppose you're a capable damsel. Maybe next time I'll play the damsel in distress and sit in the tower combing my hair."

Scarlet laughed softly at the image it painted, her eyes glinting as she reached to take a hold of Lily's hand to lead her out. "Maybe I'd pay to see that..."

OFF:

LT CDR Luke Wyatt
Chief Security/Tactical Officer
USS Galileo

CDR Scarlet Blake
First Officer
USS Galileo

Lily Blake
Civilian Child
USS Galileo
[PNPC Blake]

RSS Feed