A Questing, Most Testing!

[Solomon]

*** Closed to Chuck***

For the past few days Solomon had found himself in this place, a very small and rather boring pub on the edges of Concordia forest. The few people that had come to celebrate the close of another day were all drinking casually and going over the events of their lives with people they hardly knew. The weather was warm and the crickets were setting a pleasant mood through the open window, where all the scents of the outer gardens drifted in on the nightly breeze.

Solomon sat alone in a half sized booth near one of the darkened windows. The moonlight was nearly blotted out though the trees, and only came in though disgruntled rays every now and then when the leaves swayed in the short drafts. He held his cool glass in his hand, letting it rest on the table. Gently he caressed the base of it with his thumb, making streaks through the sweat that crawled its way down to the coaster beneath it.

Things had been uninteresting for him lately. He had found himself spending more and more time in this ‘vacant’ sort of setting. Whether it was wandering around without a destination, or simply sitting in a pub, the evening were bland and uneventful. It had been so long since he had been home in Salvar. Not since he was training for the Galaxy Tournament all those months ago, and in the end he had missed that! Since then he had been spending time in the Citadel, trying desperately to not let his training go to waste. Although there was only so much the Citadel could do for Solomon, and although it was useful for building skills it didn’t actually challenge him the way he sought to be challenged.

Taking a prolonged look out of the empty window, Solomon took a sip from his glass and drained the brew to half its fullness. It was his second glass, he'd been here for nearly two hours wondering what on earth he should do with himself. Should he go back to Salvar? What was there at home for him? Training and training... and no end to it in sight. The only reason he'd go back would be to 'prepare' for the next adventure.

I don't want to prepare! He grumbled inside himself. He took another drink. This one a little heavier. He wanted to put the skills he had right now to the test! He'd been training all his life, it was time to get out there and actually DO something for a change.

But where was he supposed to go to find adventure? It's not generally something that just leaps out at you. Especially in a bar of all places!

[Chuck]

Chuck was lazily snoozing under a tree near a forest outside a small town in Concordia. With his head resting on his pack propped up against the tree he faded in and out of being asleep. Having his dreams and conscious thoughts merge and mix and flow on together. This was as close to really thinking about things as he usually got. But as he daydreamed he thought about his teachers and peers, his family and friends, and how they had sneered. How they had rejected him, turned him away, and told him he was a failure. And so Chuck’s mind wandered throughout the afternoon, half memories, half dreams, but all of them of rejection.

To tell the truth, Chuck was a terrible wizard. But in his mind he was good. In his mind he was “destined” to be a great wizard and was already fairly skilled. So to himself he thought: “I know I’m going to be a great wizard, why did they all laugh, all glare at me? I did my best and my best wasn’t bad. Why can’t they see? Why don’t they get it? I can do it! I can be a great and powerful wizard!”
Chuck’s face began to crumple a bit as he frowned at his memories, and at his thoughts about those people. Even his own family didn’t really want him around. It was so frustrating to try and try and have no one encourage you. In fact they told him to go away. They kicked him out of wizard school. Saying he was just no good.
He had to find a way to show them. A way to prove to them that he was a great wizard.
“I need to commit some great deed,” he thought. “I need to do something good and prove how skilled I am then I can go back and show them, tell them all about it. And how can they reject me then? Knowing what I’ve done! Ha! That’s it! now I just need to think of something great to do. Some great quest I can conquer…”

And so Chuck thought. He thought for a long time. The afternoon wore on into early evening. And the breeze blew the leaves above his head from time to time, rustling gently. But there he stayed. Thinking. Trying to figure out just what kind of great deeds a wizard of his caliber would do.

As Chuck daydreamed away a man came running out of the forest. Panting, running for all he was worth. Of course Chuck didn’t even notice him, wrapped deep in his own thoughts. The man had been running for some time it was clear. He stumbled and nearly fell at every step and could not seem to keep enough air in his body. His white shirt had spots of mud and dirt on it where it wasn’t covered by his brown vest. He had obviously been having trouble staying on his feet for a while now, and the knees of his pants were long lost to stains of grass and dirt. Again, Chuck saw none of this. He was lost in his own little world. In fact he didn’t even see the man coming right for him. Neither did the out of breath man though, and within seconds he tripped over Chuck and sent them both tumbling into a tangle of limbs.
“OW!” yelled Chuck in pain “What are you doing!? Watch where you’re going!”
The man did his best to speak, out of breath as he was “Oh thank goodness! Help! Oh young man please help me!”
Chuck wasn’t listening “hey I’m serious, you tumbled right into me. That’s very inconsiderate. And OW! Oh we’re tangled, get up! Ouch! I’m caught on you here, okay, I just… ow, there we go.”
So they got untangled and stood up, Chuck began to brush himself off and the man continued to try and speak with him.
“Oh young man I so desperately need help. My daughter! My daughter was taken! Oh please!”
“What?” said Chuck, still not really paying attention “daughter? No I haven’t seen your daughter….and OH DAMN! Now listen I was trying to think. And it’s just come to me that you’ve completely ruined my train of thought!”
“Oh please” said the man through his thick beard “I’m so sorry, but my dear daughter has been taken into the woods! And I so desperately need someone to…”
“Curses!” said chuck interrupting him “I mean I was trying to think of a great quest! Something to prove I was a great wizard, and you come in here crashing into me and completely throw me off. I mean common! I might have been on to something you jerk! But now I’ve lost it! Thanks to you!”
“I am sorry, but I need someone to rescue…”
“Oh get out of here!” Chuck interrupted again, having not really listened to a word that man said. “Just go on, go on to the pub and get More drunk or something you clumsy oaf!”
With that the man finally realized there was no getting through to him, and ran in the direction of town to find someone not so thick headed to help him.

Chuck finished dusting himself off. Fixed his twisted or offset clothes. Gathered up his things. And then it hit him: “Oh God!” he said aloud “that guy was wearing a lot of rings and jewels and things…usually the rich have better manners”
“pfft” he uttered, and shrugged it off. And already began to forget the encounter, just an odd occurrence on an otherwise normal day. And as he walked towards town he thought to himself “maybe someone in the tavern will have a good idea for a quest… man I wish that guy hadn’t interrupted my thoughts”
And so he threw his pack over his shoulder and began to head for the town tavern.

[Solomon]

The second hour in the lonely pub ended and the third began. Solomon didn't drink much, and the last mouthful in the glass seemed to bitter to his taste now for him to care about finishing it off. Instead he slid the glass away from his immediate reach and balanced his forehead in his hand.

With a deep, foul breathed sigh, he turned his eyes to the dark window once again. The summer breeze encouraged him to perk up and stay sharp for the day he would be tested. Yet in this mood it was far to easy for him to push those thoughts out of mind and drift away on fantasies and memories of glorious battle and great trials he already had, and hoped, to encounter.

Most people are delighted when all is calm and well He thought to himself. Normally it was considered a good thing when there were no dangers, when you were allowed to live your life instead of fighting for it. These were the things Solomon always wished to see while he was in the middle of a dangerous journey, as most warriors did. But when the journey was over, and all the trials faded to memories, you sought adventure once more. It was just the way he was.

Always in the storm you seek the calm, but once the storm passes you await the next one. He said in his mind. He grinned slightly at the words.

“I’ll have to remember that one.” He thought aloud.

There was a crash from the front of the pub. Immediately Solomon's thoughts were silenced and he looked onward toward the doorway. A man stood there, his affluent clothing scarred with mud and marked with tears from the forest. His heavy form breathed heavily, as though he had been chased by a pack of wild dogs.

"Please." He called out in gapes of breath. The jewels around his neck and hands caught the interest of all the locals. "Please, my daughter, my dear daughter has been taken from me. I need help. Please, anyone, I beg you."

With that the man fell to his knees in lack of breath. Some of the taverner’s simply grumbled at his plea, while others whispered in confusion. The bar keeper was quick to help him into a chair and give him water to drink, and Solomon was the only one with wide eyes and a great toothy smile on his face. He flew from his place at the booth and was standing before the man with all the power and authority he could possibly put into one look.

"Where did they take her?" He asked, making sure the man saw his sharp eyes and strong arms. The man tried hard to catch his breath. He stared at Solomon in even more worry and woe than before.

"I... I don't know." He sputtered. "We were in our carriage along the road, and he came and swooped down on us. He took her right before my very eyes. I don't know where they went."

"Swooped?" Solomon raised his eyebrow. "Who took her?"

"A dragon... I vicious, fire breathing dragon..." The man cried. Solomon remained straight-faced and brave looking, yet inside he was leaping with joy. This was it! A cry for help he could answer! This is exactly what he needed to get himself back in the game. Rescuing a damsel from a vicious dragon? What a classic! This was fantastic.

"Wait here sir... I'll bring your daughter back." Solomon turned and left the pub. As he did the man called out to him.

"Bless you my son... bless your courage!"

Solomon grinned in modesty as the quiet of the night drowned out the commotion of the pub. He had a task now. A chance to fight once more. It was about time he was back on the road. He had heard a few tales of dragons in his days. They were strong, devastating, and very remarkable beasts. Definitely not to be taken lightly under any circumstances. But this did not daunt Solomon, not in the least bit. He was still on the high from the thought of his new adventure. Not all dragons were a seal of doom. How difficult could this be, right?

[Letho]

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