Shiny Rock Rescue!

Hmmm... Cuthbert shuffled towards the Rune Knights' training grounds with his usual bemused expression plastered across his bearded face. The old man looked like he was a bit lost, but this wasn't at all unusual for him. He had spent a great deal of his life in that state, and would probably be more ill-at-ease if he actually knew right where he was and what he was supposed to be doing there. He sniffed, peering out from under a pair of bushy eyebrows at his surroundings before he lowered his gaze to a piece of paper clutched in one large hand. It says here that I'm supposed to find a missing child...

Cuthbert wrinkled his hawk nose and grimaced. He wasn't exactly good with children. Oh he liked them alright...at least, as much as he tended to like anybody. But children seemed to sense that he was the sort of person that they could walk all over. And so they did. The old man still hadn't found a strategy to fool them into thinking he was an authority figure and so he did his best to avoid them, which was a difficult task considering that he had thirty-six nieces and nephews. At least his ineptitude with kids had made his sisters unwilling to ask him to babysit after a few particularly bad incidents.

Anyway, back to the little urchin to be found... Cuthbert's train of thought continued after that slight derailment. The job description says that I'll be working with two other Rune Knights on this mission...and that I'm to meet them at the training grounds, which are right around here somewhere...I think. The old man raised his head again and looked around, searching for familiar landmarks from the last time he had been at the training grounds. He reached up and adjusted the large, wide-brimmed hat he was wearing so that it sat more comfortably on his head.

While he was not averse to working with others per se, Cuthbert found himself hoping that his partners for this job were both men. It would make things so much easier for him. He was always so ill-at ease around the fairer sex. (Actually, ill-at-ease was an understatement of truly massive proportions.) Little did the old mage know that his hopes were soon to be dashed as he rounded the corner and caught sight of Wren standing by with her sleeping cat. She was smartly and colorfully dressed to his eye, and his gray clothing was truly shabby in comparison . It was hard to tell if his clothes had been gray to start with, or if they had ended up that way after years of wear without much washing in between. His collars and sleeves were frayed, and small holes and tears pockmarked the material between.

He stopped short when he saw her, blinking, and then glanced around him to confirm where he was. These were indeed the training grounds. Cuthbert pursed his lips and glanced in Wren's direction again. Aside from him, there wasn't anyone else here. Was she one of his partners for this job? He squirmed nervously at the prospect. Of course, he could be lucky and she could be waiting for someone else to accompany on an entirely different job. He reached up a shaking hand and tugged at his moustache with gnarled fingers, working up the ambition to speak up and ask if she was one of his partners or not. "A-ah...." He faltered and cleared his throat before trying again. "A-A-Are you h-here for...for the m-missing ch-ch-child?"

Dratted stutter back again, he thought irritably. He was never able to speak without a stutter around women, no matter how hard he tried to fight it.

Word Count: 624

@Wren

Tor looked at the huge sword leaning on the wall with a thoughtful expression. He was highly familiar with the sword, remembering vividly scenes of blood and carnage from the past. He remembered the intense battles between Rurouni, the owner of the sword and a bounty hunter that would stop at nothing on his quest to quell evil and Shane who joined the Red Eagle clan as part of his one-man undercover operation to take down the Red Eagle clan. The two had always battled ferociously, Rurouni putting up a fight that kept Shane on his toes every single time. And never had they once gotten a clear result on who was stronger.

As he sat back down in the chair behind him and lifted up the card that had came along with the sword in large box, another memory flashed in his mind. After Shane had decimated the Red Eagle clan, with some assistance from Tor, Shane had brought Tor to meet Rurouni. After a few words of explanation, all hostility that Rurouni had for Shane was completely wiped off, with the two of them bonding over alcohol, laughing and talking as though long-lost brothers.

We cleaned up the dark guild Ouroboros with just the two of us. Rurouni took a fatal hit and died shortly after. He knows that you joined the Rune Knight, so he wants you to keep the sword and carry on his will. I hope you don’t disappoint him – Shane

Tor looked at the card in his hand for a long time, lost in his thoughts until a reminder on his iLac pulled him out of the thoughts. The Rune Knight closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath before exhaling and sent the card down on the table, back facing upwards. The eyes that were originally glazed over with sadness was now clear and determined when he opened them. Tor stood up, patted himself down and walked towards the huge sword on the wall, touching it with his left palm before the sword dispersed into blue pixels that disappeared.

The Rune Knight made his way towards the training grounds where he would be meeting two more colleagues for the job in Sakuramori. They were to find a missing child that had wandered too deep into the mesmerizing and mysterious forest of Sakuramori. Tor had ventured into Sakuramori a few times before, and every single time, he had dropped his guard in the face of Sakuramori’s splendor only to be harshly reminded that there was an ugly and dark side to that place.

As he jogged towards the training grounds, Tor could see an odd pair standing to one side. He sped up slightly to reach them, and at the very last stretch, he used one of his teleportation spells, disappearing in a burst of shadows and reappearing right beside the duo.

“Sorry about being late. I had something else came up earlier,” Tor quickly explained himself. The two Rune Knights in front of him looked unusual but the organization was home to plenty of interesting characters. And he knew first hand that the more interesting one looked, the more he couldn’t afford to judge them based on their appearances. Also, judging them based on first impressions wasn’t something decent for him to do. He was nothing but a criminal before joining the Rune Knights. After correcting himself, Tor grinned slightly, and then introduced himself.

“We are here for the Sakuramori job right? My full name is Toril Fulgur, but you can just call me Tor. I probably wouldn’t even respond if you call me Toril,” Tor said as he laughed at his own joke.

[612 words]
[Total WC: 1648 / 5000]