What was lost…
copyright 2011 Faeriemage
Treasure is in the eye of the beholder, and no this isn't a D&D reference.

---

AUTHOR'S NOTE: First session. Hope I didn't get too wrapped around the mechanics :)

---

Not that I'd consider doing such a stupid thing on my own, but the girls had convinced me to go down a dark alley, on my own, at night.

The full moon shone everywhere but in the artificial canyon in which I walked. I could see the silver light shining from the building on my right, at least from the very top of it. The stars were obscured by the light pollution from the rest of the city.

I hugged my chest and was glad for my Jacket as tonight was colder than I'd expected it to be. My breath came out in plumes of frost, and the snot froze in my nostrils and I breathed in.

Ok, so that's a detail that you didn't really need to know. Suffice it to say that it was cold. Really cold.

My jacket blended into the darkness around me even better than I'd assumed it would.

I heard a giggle from up ahead and assumed that it was either Sadie or Yaz. One of the two. I hadn't caught the other girl's name before we ventured out into the cold.

A shadow, somehow deeper than those surrounding it detached itself and started moving toward me. There was a gutteral growl issuing from its throat.

"A werewolf? Really?" I called out to the darkness. Not that I really expected an answer. We were hunting Loup-Garou after all.

I drew my mother's silver sword from its sheath and brandished it at the beast. They'd expected me to simply stand here and act like bait, but I didn't see myself doing that. I had a proud tradition to uphold, and that meant standing my ground and…

A voice from another world spoke to me in that moment, Aren't you thinking right now that you can Survive with your Mother's Help?

"Ok, I think I understand a little better what I meant. It was more a case of, Mother doesn't Understand Me Cause I'm Mortal."

The loup-garou stood there and cocked it's head at me.

"Sorry, Shaggy, Talking to the GM really quick. Hold a moment."

He slumped to the ground and humphed at me.

Did you just call the loup-garou, Shaggy?

"I figured it works for me. I grew up using my quick wits to keep me out of trouble. You know, A whole Can of Snark sort of thing."

I like that. Anyway, back to your Mother.

"This isn't a therapy thing is it?"

Jackie…

"Got it. Thou shalt not snark the GM. Mother is an immortal member of the Seelie court. While she understands fae children, I doubt she ever really understood mortal children. Like you said, this was all done as a sort of fling with my father."

Go on.

"She does her best, but I simply feel misunderstood. When she first retrieved me as a teenager it was a lot worse than it is now. I tolerate her now, but I couldn't stand being anywhere around her as a teen."

So, you Walked the Nevernever as a teen?

"That aspect of my young adult life shaped me, I guess you could say."

Ok, I like it. So, the sword. Item of Power, or just a silver sword?

I thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged, "Why not. I think I could use an item of power right about now."

Not that type of power. It is actually linked to what your mother is. I'll tell you more about it later, but the simple answer is that it allows you control over your mother's home in the Nevernever, and you can open a gateway to the Nevernever anywhere, anytime, and take other people with you.

Great, I had the subtle knife. I wish people would be more creative about these things.

I brandished my sword, preparing to take the villain's charge.

Have you practiced using the sword as a Weapon?

"Um…not as much as I would have hoped right about now."

So you're mediocre at it, average, good?

"Oh, I wish I were good. No, just about average. Like I said, I didn't…"

Before I could finish, the loup-garou leapt to his feet and was charging toward me.

"Luck don't Fail Me Now!"

Is that another declaration?

"I'll take anything I can get."

I put my sword in front of me, hoping that I wouldn't die. At the last moment I twitched my sword to the side and it pierced the monster just above the heart.

I looked down at the beast in shock. I'd wanted to wound it, not kill it. I pulled out my sword, and it twitched. It wasn't dead yet.

"Damn, girl, you don't do things by half measures, do you."

"Isn't there something you can do, Yaz?"

"Wish I could. I'm a Wizard, not a faith healer."

"Ha ha ha, Deforest Kelley."

"Who?"

"Doctor McCoy?"

"You lost me."

"You guys have all watched Stargate, but you never watched the quintessential sci-fi show of the twentieth century?"

Yaz looked blankly at me, but Sadie began laughing.

Yaz glared at her.

"Star Trek, Yaz."

The fourth member of our group came loping around the corner and shifted back into her human form. She was naked since she hadn't thought to bring a change of clothing, again. I think she just liked being out in public nude.

"You killed him." Katie yelled at me.

"Keep her out of my way, for a moment, Yaz. I think that my mother's magic might just help me more than yours at this moment."

"You mother's…"

"Summer Court. Life, Rampant Growth, Life."

I'll allow it. Superior lore?

"Um, don't I need medical knowledge to heal him, or can I do it some magical way."

you're right. So, Medical Doctor, twice, what…

"Superior. And Lore superior as well."

Got it. Going to give you Healer as part of your lore as well.

I inscribed a circle around the beast using the point of my sword. I could smell fresh cut grass and summer days as I pushed will into the circle closing it with myself inside. I put my hands around the wound and pushed my senses inside. I had cut through the pericardial membrane and nicked the heart. He was bleeding internally. I closed up the larger wounds and generally closed the opening, cleansing bacteria as I went.

I was done, and the wound was closed.

I sagged down, tired beyond belief, but he would live. Sometimes it pays to remember that not everyone who attacks you is really a monster. Inside, most of us are still human.

Sadie began laughing as I finished my internal monologue, and Katie just smiled. I kept my eyes on hers when I looked in her direction. She actually stripped when she transformed her character into wolf form. Yeah, she took the whole in costume thing seriously.

She began to get dressed, and Yaz glared at me.

"A little munchkin are we?"

"What?"

"You were so the center of attention today, Jackie. Perfect in every way."

"Jasmine, that's not fair to Jake. He is focused in his character. This will help you all in the future, and adds some interesting facets to the character. She won't be able to do much beyond blindly waving her sword, and healing you the next time that you screw up and throw a fireball into a gas station…"

Jasmine interrupted Carla, "It wasn't going to kill him."

"But it almost killed both you and Sadie."

"Whatever, I'm out of here."

"Wait for me, Yaz," Katie said. She smiled at me again, and blew me an air kiss.

"Don't worry about it, Jake," Sadie said.

"Don't worry about the fact that Katie did a strip tease three times this evening?"

Carla and Sadie laughed, and I giggled.

"She almost seemed put out that you wouldn't react."

"I'm just not…sexually interested in her. Well, in any of you. Well, in anyone."

"We know, Jake. You keep saying it, though, and it chips away at my self esteem."

I walked over and gave her a hug.

"Sadie, you're a beautiful woman, and some guy out there will notice, eventually."

She kissed me on the cheek. "Thanks for that, Jake."

She walked out of the room, following in the wake of Jasmine and Katie.

"Jake, Sadie thinks she's a lesbian."

"Huh?"

"She has convinced herself that she is attracted to women. I don't buy it personally, but I'm not going to call her on it."

"Wait…"

"She figures that you're her only chance at a 'normal' relationship."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"To let you know what's going on there. Personally, I've seen how she reacts when two women kiss. Disgust is more her emotion. That and she doesn't even react at all when Katie strips. She was watching you, and not Katie."

"I'll go after her," I rushed out the door, and grabbed Sadie's arm.

"Look, Sadie, I didn't mean to insult you."

"No, it's not an insult. I understand that your heart was in the right place."

I put my arm around her and we walked across the campus. It was nice, but that's about all. We got to my house.

"Look, Sadie, I know this campus is supposed to be safe, but…why don't you stay here tonight. There's a nice sofa I can sleep on and you can have my room."

"No, I'll take the sofa. I know the guys here and trust most of them."

I giggled at her and we went inside. It was two in the morning, and everyone else was asleep. I got some extra sheets and blankets for her, and made up the couch for her.

"Night, Sadie."

"Night, Jackie."

I stuck my tongue out at her and went into my room.

The sound of voices woke me a few hours later. I quietly slipped out into the lounge.

Seth and Sadie were sitting next to each other on the couch. She put her head on his shoulder and sighed.

I walked up behind them and in a normal voice said, "Good morning."

They jumped and Sadie tried to move away, but Seth put his arm around her.

"Sadie, relax. I have nothing to hide from anyone."

She giggled nervously and sat back down next to him. I walked around to an arm chair and sat down.

"So how long have the two of you…"

"I've been chasing her since high school."

"Wait, you two went to high school together. The odds…"

"Yeah, we were in the same clubs."

"He kissed me awake this morning."

"Seth!" I said shocked.

"I couldn't help it. I've wanted to kiss her forever, and it always seemed like the wrong moment."

"Lucky she didn't punch you."

"Oh, she punched me, and then kissed me back."

"You two are crazy, you know that, right?"

The laughed and I joined them a moment latter.

Slowly the rest of the house woke up, and we just hung out. Carla came by a little later.

"You ready to go, Liam?" she asked.

"Hey, Carla." Sadie said. She was still wrapped up in one of Seth's arms and simply beaming at the world.

"Finally. you know how often I've tried to set the two of you up together?"

Sadie blushed and Seth laughed.

"Yeah, apparently I had to be a little more forward to win fair lady's affections."

She blushed even hotter. The rest of us laughed.

Seth got the job of walking her home. They left at the same time as Carla and Liam.

"Hey, Jake. You up for some head to head?"

"What are you talking about, Brad?"

"Kelly picked up a PS3 and Sackboy."

"Sackboy? Oh you mean little big planet."

"Yeah."

"You know that game is more cooperative than head to head, right?"

"Yeah, but I thought that it could be fun."

We played for a couple of hours before Kelly and Aaron joined us. It was insane playing on a single screen with the four of us jumping and swinging all over the place. You had to have a sort of zen attitude on death, because you did it a lot.

Of course the expressions on the little sack people was priceless when they died. They looked out at you as if you'd betrayed everything they stood for.

We whiled away the rest of the day on that, and then Monday rolled around. Back to class, and living through the next day.

The first day of October was warmer than a lot of September had been, so I got to leave my jacket at home. I figured that this would be a good day to open an account.

I headed into town, with no idea of where I would be going. I wandered around, thinking it would be simple to just find a bank. Ok, so the entire concept was a little naíve. I'd never had a bank account before.

Eventually I stopped and asked for directions, and then found my way into a local bank.

"How may I help you, Miss?" the woman at the desk asked. The nameplate on said desk told me that she was Wendy Wallace, Accounts Manager.

"Actually, it's mister."

"So sorry. you just seemed too…coordinated. I don't usually see that in the men who come in here."

"Don't worry about it. A lot of people think I'm female for some reason. So, I'd like to open up an account here. I figure that keeping my money in my room isn't at all safe."

"How much are we talking here?"

"A hundred and thirty five thousand dollars."

She choked.

"Really?"

I smiled, "Yes, really. It's my college fund, as well as the money I've made through work."

"Very nice. So, are you thinking a savings account, checking account…"

"I need to access between ten and thirty thousand dollars each week for work, but other than that, I just need somewhere to store my money."

"Cash?"

"Probably the best in cash. I could possibly write a check? Never done it before though."

"Ok, we'll go with a checking account and put in forty thousand. The rest we'll put in a savings account for you."

"And if I need to do things with my money, I can just come in here?"

"Yes."

I didn't know how secure I felt about my money being in a bank, but I felt better than I did with it sitting in my room.

On Saturday it was back to work. I was confident in my abilities, or maybe my luck. Nothing on the list caught my eye so I randomly bid on just about everything.

"Going for three thousand…sold to the girl in the front."

It was chilly and I was wearing my Jacket, so I couldn't really complain this time.

I paid with my first check, numbered 100 for some reason. The locker was filled with items of sentimental value and not intrinsic.

There was a coat in there in my size, and I brought it home with me. It cost me another five hundred dollars to get the furniture hauled away. It was the cheep pressboard stuff. The clothing there only got me about a hundred dollars. All in all I was out thirty four hundred dollars for the day.

I was sitting there in the empty locker, the white down coat across my knees wondering what had happened.

"Hey, Jackie-boy. Lost a wad, I hear."

"thirty-four hundred, Stan. I knew there was nothing here. Nothing really struck me as a good bid. I was playing around."

"This is what I was trying to tell you, kid."

"Apparently this is not the road to riches I thought it would be at the beginning."

"If you're good, lucky, and patient, it will take care of your needs, Jackie."

"And don't bid unless something catches my eye?"

"Mostly I was going to say don't bid for the fun of it, but that works too."

"The old man helped me to my feet, and I brushed myself off."

"Not sure if that coat fits you, Jackie-boy

"It fits…"

"I meant that it's a very masculine coat. You may be a boy, but you aren't very masculine."

"It's white."

"It's off white. Still, the cut doesn't fit you."

"How can you tell?"

"Put it on."

I did, and I could tell what he meant. The shoulders were all wrong. The sleeves were a little long. The length and everything else seemed to almost work. It would probably fit better if I wore the jacket inside it.

"Well, you take it then."

"No, Jackie. Keep it as a reminder. Sometimes it pays to be patient."

I looked around one last time to make sure that I hadn't left anything behind and then I made my way home.

Next week I'd have another opportunity to try to do this thing better.

I made my way home, changed, and waited for the rest of the guys to show up for the game. I didn't really pay attention to the score this week and I had a lot more fun.