Well, it's been a while since I read Fire and Hemlock, and I'd want to do a reread if I were going to write a proper story, and also I'm not sure this follows the prompt exactly, but--this is what I came up with.
--
Jame sneezed, and suspected she was getting increasingly lost, making her way through the darkened, dusty stacks of books by touch alone. She really could have used Jorin’s senses just now, but that flighty cat had run off again--or more likely had sense enough to know when following Jame was not a good idea.
Then suddenly there was a light, faintly illuminating a skinny, pale, and utterly unfamiliar young woman. “Scrollswoman?” Jame hazarded.
“Sorry?” said the stranger.
“This . . . this is the college, isn’t it?”
The stranger laughed. “Well, it was. Now, I think . . . it must be Nowhere.” Her eyes lit for a moment, then she frowned. “No offense, but you’re not who I was hoping to meet.”
“None taken.” Jame grinned. “I seldom am.”
“But you are a hero, aren’t you? You’ve got the look.”
“I don’t think so,” said Jame. “Mostly I just stay one step ahead of utter disasters, generally ones I had some hand in causing.”
“Ah. Definitely a hero,” the stranger decided. “Princesses to rescue, worlds to save, that sort of thing?”
“More . . . worlds to destroy, in my case,” Jame admitted. “There’s a prophecy.”
“Isn’t there always? Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice . . .”
Riddles. Despite the stranger’s initial confusion, Jame was becoming convinced that her first guess of scrollswoman had been right. “But most agree it’s both, because the God’s a bastard,” she answered.
“I don’t think I believe in God,” said the stranger. “But I do believe in stories. I hope you figure out what you’re supposed to do.”
“And I hope you find who you’re looking for,” said Jame. “But let me tell you from my experience--when you do, they’re not always happy to see you.”
“And let me tell you from mine--sometimes when you get to the end, you’re still not sure how it’s all ended. But good luck, all the same.”
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2013-03-09 06:05 pm (UTC)--
Jame sneezed, and suspected she was getting increasingly lost, making her way through the darkened, dusty stacks of books by touch alone. She really could have used Jorin’s senses just now, but that flighty cat had run off again--or more likely had sense enough to know when following Jame was not a good idea.
Then suddenly there was a light, faintly illuminating a skinny, pale, and utterly unfamiliar young woman. “Scrollswoman?” Jame hazarded.
“Sorry?” said the stranger.
“This . . . this is the college, isn’t it?”
The stranger laughed. “Well, it was. Now, I think . . . it must be Nowhere.” Her eyes lit for a moment, then she frowned. “No offense, but you’re not who I was hoping to meet.”
“None taken.” Jame grinned. “I seldom am.”
“But you are a hero, aren’t you? You’ve got the look.”
“I don’t think so,” said Jame. “Mostly I just stay one step ahead of utter disasters, generally ones I had some hand in causing.”
“Ah. Definitely a hero,” the stranger decided. “Princesses to rescue, worlds to save, that sort of thing?”
“More . . . worlds to destroy, in my case,” Jame admitted. “There’s a prophecy.”
“Isn’t there always? Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice . . .”
Riddles. Despite the stranger’s initial confusion, Jame was becoming convinced that her first guess of scrollswoman had been right. “But most agree it’s both, because the God’s a bastard,” she answered.
“I don’t think I believe in God,” said the stranger. “But I do believe in stories. I hope you figure out what you’re supposed to do.”
“And I hope you find who you’re looking for,” said Jame. “But let me tell you from my experience--when you do, they’re not always happy to see you.”
“And let me tell you from mine--sometimes when you get to the end, you’re still not sure how it’s all ended. But good luck, all the same.”