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Chapter Six

-----.By noon the next day, Katrina knew that Richard's bite was bugging him. The snake vine had given him a fever, headache, chills and a loss of appetite. She knew he'd be seeking Zedd's help since there was nothing Richard alone could do about it. Since they were nearly there, he decided to withhold the information from the girls, though he doubted that Katrina didn't already know.
-----.Katrina turned to him and gave him a small smile. The smile made him feel a bit better, but he wasn't sure why. The girl had the most obscene story to tell that he'd ever heard and yet - he trusted her. He just couldn't figure out why.
-----.After a while, the group crossed a small brook near a beaver pond. They came upon a patch of late wildflowers. Their pale blue and yellow blossoms covered the ground. Kahlan found a scoop-shaped piece of dead wood and began arranging some flowers into it. Richard took this time to go find the apple tree and fill his pack half-full with them. It was always a good idea to bring food when going to see Zedd.
-----.Katrina decided that now would be a good time to wander off. She followed Richard partway to the apple tree, then she wandered back over to the trail and continued up it to where the book said Zedd's house would be. After all, Richard and Kahlan needed some alone time for the story to play out right and Katrina just wanted to meet Zedd. The wiry old man would be a hoot.
-----.As she was walking up the trail, she remembered that Zedd loved to eat. Usually in bulk. Then she remembered that by the time that Richard and Kahlan arrive, Zedd would be out back on his cloud rock. Naked. She shuddered at the thought. As she made her way to the clearing, she thought about the trees Zedd had planted in honor of his wife and daughter. She decided to change her path and go visit them. When she got to them, she got down on her knees in front of them and bowed her head.
-----.If there's one thing you have to know about Katrina, it's that she reveres life and honor for the deceased. However, she was also hardheaded in a fashion. To her, there is no creator that man can write into existence. A bible is a book of morals, how people should behave in an ideal world, not some history of a deity and men higher than men. She believed that one should honor the truth and give life nobility.
-----.And that is why she was sitting on her knees with her head bowed in front of two trees. That is, until a cat brushed up against her. She smiled and brushed her hand over its head, tilting it a little to scratch under its chin.
-----."Hello, Cat. Catch any good rodents lately?" She asked with a small smile, her eyes focused on the cat's vertical slitted eyes and wiry whiskers. As if in response, it meowed at her and purred under her gentle scratches.
-----.A few minutes later, Katrina heard Richard's call for Zedd. "Zedd? I bet I know where he is. Out back on his cloud rock, studying the latest batch of clouds."
-----."Cloud rock?" Came Kahlan's response.
-----."It's his favorite place to stand and watch clouds. Don't ask me why. Ever since I've known him, whenever he sees an interesting cloud, he runs out back to watch it while standing on that rock."
-----.Katrina watched as the couple disappeared behind the house. "Well, Cat. What would you say to a little scratch on your belly?" The cat ran off without giving a verbal response. Katrina smiled and stood up. "That's what I thought," she whispered to herself. She started around to the back of Zedd's house, where a commotion was going up about the snake-shaped cloud that was following Richard. She stayed back as she watched Zedd go from being angry at Kahlan, to softening up and empathizing with her. Then they led Richard down into the house and to a table that Zedd would take his meals in good weather so that he could watch the clouds as he ate. He sat Richard at the bench and then went inside. He returned momentarily with a plate of berries, carrots, cheese and apple juice. He gave Richard a mug of something brown and thick that smelled of almonds and told him to drink it slowly. Then he told Richard to tell him of the trouble.
-----.Katrina stood around the corner and watched everything unfold. She listened quietly as Richard and Kahlan told Zedd the story of how the past few days had been going, all the way back to when Richard got bit by the vine in the Upper Ven. When she heard her name in the story Richard was telling, she stepped back. She'd already changed the story. Richard talked about how Katrina gave an impressive show of magic and how Kahlan caused a thunder without sound that shook the loose leaves from nearby trees that made their joints ache. He mentioned how Katrina's clothes changed to match situations, like from the travel dress to the battle garment then to the party wear.
-----.Katrina sat down as she listened to the rest of the story. She liked hearing her name every so often and the things associated with her. Richard made her sound like more than she really was. As she thought about it, it was just a story and so the magical influence that she brought along was only her active imagination. This made her smile. She had power here that she didn't have anywhere else.
-----.When she finally heard Zedd curse, "Bags! That's a snake vine!" she jumped up and walked around the corner. Everyone looked over at her all at once. She looked behind herself and then back at them. "Nice weather we're having. Wouldn't you agree, Zedd?"
-----.Zedd's face lit up with a grandfatherly hospitality. "You must be Katrina! Come, come. Have some cheese." Kahlan handed Katrina the plate of cheese that she had pushed away. Katrina smiled and helped herself. The cheese was aged to perfection and was quite good. Kahlan spoke up, talking to Zedd.
-----."Darken Rahl, the son of Panis Rahl, has put the three boxes of Orden in play. I have come in search of the great wizard."
-----.Richard looked thunderstruck. Katrina gave him a small smile as if to say that everything will be okay. Her confidence unnerved him. In his head, everyone's worst nightmares were coming to pass, even his own.
-----.The line that his father had him commit to memory - and then destroy - from the Book of Counted Shadows jumped into his mind. And when the three boxes of Orden are put into play, the snake vine shall grow.
-----.He could feel Katrina's eyes on him. She knew.




This is not an original story. This is a fan-fiction based off of the Sword of Truth novels by Terry Goodkind. I do not own any of the characters or places or anything part of the series. Katrina is my character.