Legend Of Dragoon Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend of Dragoon II ❯ The First Steps of Adventure ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

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Chapter 2) The first steps of adventure.

Orrin reached home. His clothes were all travel-dirtied, as if he'd been gone for quite a while, the white was now grey, and the green was darker. When he entered his house, his frantic mother closed her arms around him, unable to let go, she had evidently been worried since he hadn't returned all day. When he was finally able to breath, he took the stones from his pocket and showed them to his mother. As she fell back into a chair that was nearby, obviously realising the meaning of the stones, he softly said, "You know what I must do, mother. I remember what "Ol' Murday" said about them." After looking a bit shocked for a few moments, Orrin's mother collected herself and said, "I don't know if you can get anyone to come with you on your voyage, but, it wouldn't hurt to try. First, you should go to Heidra." She gave him a medium sized sack of gold. "Take this and hire someone to escort you to Mille Seseau. With all of this tension in the world, the animals are sure to be riled up. When you deliver those, I want you to come straight home. Do you understand?" After Orrin assured her, he went to his room to pack for the journey.

Orrin arrived at the town of Heidra, wearing his favorite jade green tunic and black pants. He carried a knapsack of supplies on a sharpened stick, which he could easily use as a spear. He walked down alleys, searching for an escort, cautious of who to trust with such powerful objects as the stones. The words rang in his head, of the last words his mother said upon departure. "Just think, honey. If you succeed, you'll be considered a hero out here." That had put a smile on his face. He felt as if fate were just handing him everything he needed to succeed. But, before he knew it, he had bumped into two shady characters. Bandits, both in dark brown clothing and one taller than the other, who had been conversing amongst themselves, something about the town being "easy pickin's". When they turned around and saw that he was just a kid, they jumped on him and one said, "You're gonna regret the day you were born. I mean, come on, who goes around bumping into people?" The shorter one shoved a knife at his neck with the taller one demanding a 100 gold "fee" for "disturbing their peace".

The first thing Orrin could think of doing was fighting back. He sent his foot straight into the air, catching the crotch of the smaller bandit on its rise. Although it got the bandit off of him, his neck was cut by the knife, not deep, but enough to draw blood. The tall bandit stood dumbstruck that someone defied them, of all bandits. It gave Orrin enough time to get up, unsling his knapsack and wield his sharpened stick. But, before he could make a move, a large burly man with coarse, brown hair and a squinted face, dressed in a brown outfit, rushed to the scene. In doing so, he rushed his fist to meet the face of the tall bandit. The man shouted at the bandits, "GET OUT! Bandits are NOT allowed in this town! Leave and consider yerselves lucky the kid and I didn't kill you!" Orrin realized the value of the complement, and relief flooded him, as someone stood up for him. Walking to the man who saved him, Orrin watched as the bandits left the city, cursing loudly. When the crowd dispersed, the man turned to Orrin and said, "Ya'alright now?"

The man, Aljandro, as he had introduced himself to Orrin and vise versa, finished wrapping the bandages around Orrin's throat to stop the bleeding. "Yer quick thinking would be highly regarded in the Peace Enforcement here. Although a blow below the belt isn't as highly regarded, ya did good, kid." Aljandro's words sunk deep into Orrin. He thought, "Maybe he's a good choice to escort me. We're already on first name terms" Out loud, he asked Aljandro, "Is there anywhere we can go that's free of 'overlarge ears', Aljandro?" He replied, "Yeah, I know the best place, but ya can call me Al." As Orrin was led to Al's house, he completely forgot he still had any bandages, he got quite used to them.

"So, Orrin, how old are ya? Where ya from?" Al asked Orrin at his house, making them both dinner. Orrin replied gratefully, "I'm 16 and from the city of Dranc." Then seriously, "but, do you think you could shut the blinds? I don't think any prying eyes should see what I have to show you." Al lowered all the blinds in the kitchen, as they were seated at the table. Orrin took the two stones out of his pockets, setting them on the table in front of Al. "I need to get these to the Mille Seseau capital, Deningrad. I ask that you escort me there. You are skilled at fighting, as I saw earlier, and I thought you could be trustworthy." Orrin then curtly added, "If you require any gold, I could give you some for the trouble." Al looked with shock as figments of legend sat there on his kitchen table in front of him. he could not speak for a few moments, but when he did, he said, "I shall not require money, if it is to help a legend continue. I'd be honored to help in yer journey." Relieved, Orrin asked another question. "Is there anyone else you think can help?" After a few moments of consideration, Al thought of somebody. "I know, Rashe'm. He's this guy I know, pretty handy with a sword. We can go see him tomorrow after ya rest up a bit. It must've been a rough day for ya, I'm sure." With that, Al led Orrin to the spare bedroom to spend the night, and Al walked back to his own bed.