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Your Adventure


by canepa_diego

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     You open your eyes, and pay attention to all of the things inside your strangely wide point of view, in the thralls of a strong confusion you have never felt before. Objects, colours, and distances, that are not the ones you are used to. Later, you will have realized that things were bigger or you were smaller. But that’s not now.

     Suddenly, you walk. However, you don’t want to do it. Or to stare at certain things or to sniff others. You are not in control of… yourself? Then, some type of grid borderline appears in front of you.

     You quickly awake in an exhalation of fear. It’s only been a nightmare, probably the most realistic dream of your whole life. You don’t have time to wonder about it, because you hear:

     "Good morning little one" The voice is easily recognized by you.

     "I’m not little, and you know today I’ll show everybody that" That’s your answer while you look at your equipment, carefully prepared last night.

     "I know, I know. Nevertheless, you’ve promised to help me before you leave. Let’s go now, so you will be able to do it as soon as possible."

     And, as you’ve promised, you help your master in this last quest as his learner. Picking up some healing herbs at the snowed field, a routine task, nothing special. And, as you are excited to begin your adventure, you collect herbs at an exceptional pace. Your master does thirty per cent of the picking, while your eagerness pushes you to do more than usual. Now and then you hear phrases like “Enjoy each moment child” or “A wise man… or woman, I don’t remember now, once said ‘wear me slowly, I’m in a hurry’ no, no it was ‘dress me fast, I’m…’ mmm, you know”. And he is right. You know… you know that he is pretending, he is nervous too.

     Now that you have finished collecting the herbs, the old Kau and you start the walk back home. After a few minutes of uncomfortable silence pass, the old Kau speaks

     "Are you ready young disciple?" The word “young” causes something deep inside you to tremble. This has been the first time he used it. That respect is filling you up with pride, momentarily.

     "Of course," the pride answers, "It’s my time to live adventures, like the ones you lived and told me or…"

     "Or even better ones," he says, nearly reading your full-of-pride mind.

     Again, the silence invades the atmosphere.

     "Don’t forget you are not immortal. You still have a lot of learning to do, be careful young pupil, be careful…" he pauses while nodding "These days are more dangerous than my adventuring days…" another pause, you realise he is evaluating something. "And that’s why you will be able to live better ones. Not as a result of you being better than me, you know," he carefully steers the conversation to avoid an unpleasant topic.

     "Th... Tha…" Before you can answer you are interrupted.

     The Kau, old but with intact reflexes, abruptly moves you to his back while he handles his wooden stick as if it was a rapier. “Watch out!” he says, but looking around there is nothing dangerous in sight. You look at him concerned, and he guides you with his eyes to where the danger is. A spectral slime is stuck on a nearby tree. Desperately, you try to find the source of that dangerously-looking slime. However, you cannot. “Mas-” when you look at him again, you notice he is concentrating, casting a spell. His wooden stick is covered by a yellowish shine. You recognise the spell. You have tried to learn it, unsuccessfully.

     You hear a sharp scream coming from the right. Behind the scream, a purple-spectral creature jumps to attack you. Your first reaction is to cover yourself, using the full-of-herbs basket as a shield. Nevertheless, you never feel the impact of the creature or any kind of force. Instead, you see the creature whizzing by you and hitting the snow. Something interfered its trajectory.

     As you lower the basket, the voice of the interceptor says:

     "It’s wise enough to attack the weakest…" The old man pokes the spectre with his stick, "but not wise enough to realise that its powers are useless against mine." The creature squirms for a few seconds and then vanishes, leaving a spectral slime that slowly melts and mixes with the snow.

     You suddenly remember your cowardly action of shielding yourself, and realise that most of the healing herbs have fallen. Despite your shivering hands, you start collecting them as fast as possible. The reason is not fear, it is shame.

     "Good job."

     You look at him, he is reading you.

     "If you say so…" angry thoughts turned into irreverent words.

     "You could have done nothing paralyzed." he kneels and collects the herbs with you "And, had I been unable to deflect the spectre, you would’ve been hit. By covering yourself, you won time to think about how to counter."

     His kind words calm you down. You know him. He would never push somebody forward if the situation brought them down. You breathe out, a bit sad.

     "As I said, these days are more dangerous," both of you stand up after finishing. "Even in this quiet field or our small village, there are creatures like that... or worse."

     You feel his hand on your shoulder, as a result, you look at his eyes.

     "Several sources of evil powers are acting at the same time, bo… son."

     You realise he is worried. He sees you as a little bug compared with the powerful creatures he is concerned about. His shivering voice and doubts make you wonder whether you are ready to leave your home to seek adventure or not.

     His eyes change from a firm sight to a kind one.

     "Sorry… I didn’t mean to scare you." He slowly starts walking back, you follow him some seconds after. "You MUST be careful…"

     All the way back he gives you advice. From tips like how to survive on the outside to several battle tactics. You try to remember them, but there are so many things in your mind that all of them start to jumble together.

     A moment later, you enter your home for the last time. You drop the basket on the table, and instantaneously pick up the equipment that is near your bed. Your master is looking at you, sad and happy.

     "Goodbye sir," you say smiling.

     "See you later, young pupil…" he also smiles. "Your bed will be waiting if you drop in someday."

     Without another word, you leave the house, the wise Kau follows you until the front door. After walking a short distance, you look back and see that the door of the house is closed. You smile and keep walking.

     You arrive at the village’s market, from there you can reach the path out of the village. Most of the villagers are in the market right now, working, buying, or just spending time.

     "Goodbye" you whisper while prancing to the path.

     At the borderline, you glance around. You don’t have a destination in mind, your only aim is adventure. While watching a trading caravan leaving the village, you wonder…

     What should you do next?

     The End.

 
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