User:Nextoy/Rookchester/3

The day of the final trial, and much set on Rowan's mind. Gwen's disappearance, the trials, his first killing. Not just did he feel like a murderer, but he was disappointed that so much could happen under his watch. He had to force himself to focus though; he had no idea what the final trial even was. It could be literally anything! He thought to himself. Plus I've never had to deal with anything this big on my own before. He wouldn't believe it, but he was a little scared. And to make things worse he never got any sleep last night. Rowan saw a new side of himself he didn't knew existed, but I guess some people would say that it was because he was a good person that he felt so bad. His thoughts were interrupted when a ray of sunlight poured into the room.Sunrise? Oh boy, the last thing I need right now is to be tired before the trial. About ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. He answered it and one of the escorts brought him to a secret room that was out of the way.

"Rowan, I'm glad you came. Sorry about your apprentice, by the way." Gaius told him, an odd smile on his face. "Your final trial may be a bit too difficult for you, but we'll find out. You are to head to the port town of Gigaza and meet up with a friend of mine. You will know him when you see him, trust me. When you reach him he will tell you what to do."

"Um, sir... that's a month's journey from here..." Rowan pointed out. The job itself didn't seem that tough, but a journey that long on foot was suicide. Even Rowan's confident nature was a little discouraged by it.

"I realize, but if you're as powerful as you say then it shouldn't be a problem." Gaius told him, his odd smile never fading. What could he be smiling about? Rowan asked himself, suspicious of the whole ordeal. "Now take this and buy whatever you need." Gaius handed him a pouch, heavy with coins. "Now you'll probably need more then that pouch of yours can carry." Gaius then pointed at the waist bag Rowan always wears and handed him a backpack of sorts. Rowan took it and was dismissed.

"Um, sir... about Gwen... she never came home last night." Rowan told him worryingly.

"Don't worry, we'll send a search party for her." Gaius told him, the grin fading for a second.

"But sir-" Rowan started, but was quickly interrupted.

"There is nothing you can do besides the trial. Go do your work, and we will do our very best to find your apprentice." Gaius reassured, causing Rowan to only sigh and walk out in disappointment.

He headed into the market and got what he figured would be a month's supplies, but he couldn't get his mind to quiet down. Time had come for him to leave, and he wanted it all to be over as soon as possible.

Upon leaving the city he was given a small trinket. It really didn't look all that interesting, but he held onto it in his waist pouch anyways. It really only looked like a slab of clay with only a few faded markings on it. Rowan thought nothing of it as he left. Night seemed to fall the moment he got near a forest. Every forest, as legend had it, was home to a great beast that guarded it. Large and powerful compared to the rest of it's kind, and this forest was fabled to be no different. Even Rowan knew better then to try and brave the forest at night, so he looked for a place to set up camp. Oddly enough, there was a small inn just off the road leading into it. How convenient. Rowan thought to himself as he headed in. I wonder how much it costs to stay the night...

"How can I help you?" The lady behind the counter asked as he walked up to her.

"Hey, um... how much is a room and a meal?" Rowan asked.

"Let's see... it's thirty for the room... ten for the mutton... two for an apple... and thirteen for the wine... that's a total of... fifty gold?" The woman told him, Rowan somewhat amazed as the price. The room itself was cheap, but the food was expensive. Back home I could get mutton and an apple for the price of the mutton here, if not less! He thought to himself, keeping said thought in his head. He paid for it and sat down at one of the tables. At which point a man came in wearing a grey trench coat and fadora, keeping the coat closed.

"I'll have a room and the biggest fish you got." He told the woman at the counter, setting a pouch of gold at the counter. "Take how much it costs, and don't forget to tip yourself." He told her as she handed him the room key. The woman opened the bag and took out quite a few coins before closing it back up.

"Thank you! Enjoy your stay!" She delightfully exclaimed as he walked up to the rooms, unamused by her. As he walks up the stairs Rowan thinks to himself; Who IS he? Perhaps some rich hunter or something? Maybe a tourist? But his thoughts were interrupted by food being delivered to his table. "Here you go sir!" The woman said, a bit of joy still in her voice. Rowan nodded with a thank you and began eating, staying well mannered because of the lady in the room. "Sir, if you want to you don't have to eat so formally. I'm used to lumberjacks and hunters coming in here so I really don't mind." She told him, amused by his eating habits.

"Oh, no. Mother raised me to be polite around women and I plan to stay like that." Rowan told her between bites, forgetting to swallow at first. He quickly remembered, however, and was able to speak clearly before the second sentence.

"Hehe, that's kinda funny." The women told him, giggling.

"Well we can't help who raised us." Rowan told her before taking a bite of the apple. The women only nodded and started cleaning the counter as Rowan kept eating. When he was finished he said goodnight to the kind girl and went up into his room to rest, he had deserved it after all. Or, at least, that's what he thought.

Morning had came and Rowan was hoping to get to Gigaza as soon as he could. His eyes widened when he went downstairs, however, and saw the man from last night being cornered by two roamers. Roamers, you see, are law enforcers outside of cities. They may make their own routes as they please so long as they return to a specific city at least once a month. The man, oddly enough, seemed unfazed by all this.

"Please get out of my way. I have places I need to be." The man told them, his hands in the pockets of his coat.

"The only place you need to be going is with us!" One of the roamers yelled, grabbing his arm.

"Please let go. If you know who I am then you know my reputation." The man reminded, almost in a threatening manner. The other roamer grabbed onto him and they started to pull, but the man didn't move. "I'll give you one last chance to settle this peacefully." The man warned, but the roamers ignored him. They pulled hard and the man lunged forward, using their strength to force them to the ground. "Don't say I didn't warn you." The man told them as he left the inn.

"Who was that guy?" Rowan asked the bar maid, only to get a shrug in return. He let his thoughts on the man wander as he refilled his supplies. When he left he saw the roamers outside trying to track him, but looked confused. "Can I help you?" Rowan asked politely, expecting to get shot down.

"This is not a job for civilians, please continue on your way." One of the roamers told him. Called it, Rowan thought to himself. He went into the woods and left the two clueless enforcers behind. It was dark, as the morning rays had yet to pierce the canopy. As he walked a small man, about the size of your longest finger, appeared on his shoulder. A forest sprite, or Shafasa, were a sign of good luck.

"Hey little guy, you mind doing me a favor?" Rowan asked, the sprite looking up at him with a curious grin. "Would you be so kind as to lead me to the other side of the forest?" The sprite nodded and hopped off his shoulder and onto a vine, walking along it like a tightrope. Rowan followed the sprite for what seemed like hours before reaching a clearing. The sprite waved goodbye as Rowan walked out of the forest. He did, however, see a man at the top of the hill being attacked by a hoard of Zula. Zula are a mix of beast and bird, having the body shape of a small bear, but with wings attached to their arms. They shouldn't be able to fly, according to some experts, but they are able to glide across large distances given the right wind. However they are very territorial, and attack many travelers. Rowan rushed to aid the man, readying his sword. "Hey, looks like you could use a little help!" He told the man when he got there, slashing at one of the Zula.

"I can take care of myself." The man told him. Rowan then realized that it was the same man from the inn, but decided to help anyways. His sword was an odd shape though, long and dark, with only a single bladed edge. It was unusual for the area, the only thing making sense was that it was almost the same size as the wielder. It easily slashed through one of the Zula as it charged, scaring and enraging the others.

"Well how about I get rid of em all right now?" Rowan offered, kicking one away from himself.

"How about you leave me be?" The man asked, clearly annoyed as he cut through another one.

"Well I'm not leaving a fellow man to die!" Rowan told him, trusting his sword wildly.

"I'm afraid those feelings aren't mutual." The man told him, striking down more of them. "Now as you can see, I have this covered."

"Well then I'll just help it go faster!" Rowan declared, slashing one across the face. The man groaned as he slashed three of them at once. The two kept fighting until the hoard was dead, and then started to walk off towards the sea.

"Thank you, now go away." The man said as his pace quickened. Rowan wanted to say something, but he was much slower then the other man. Well isn't he a curious one? Rowan thought to himself as he made his way towards Gigaza.

On the other side of the hill Rowan saw that he was only in a forest clearing, and could see that the forest itself still lasted at least a day's journey. "Well that kinda sucks..." Rowan thought out loud, making his way down the hill. The Sprite was waiting for him on the other side of the clearing, looking apologetic. "I could of been killed, you know." Rowan scorned, walking up to it. The sprite gave him a sorry look, then pointed to the path in the forest. "Through there?" Rowan asked, the sprite nodding and running off. Rowan followed close behind, and they worked through the forest. They crossed many animals along the way, but one fox stopped them.

"Rowan Rookchester, I presume?" The fox asked, her voice light and sophisticated.

"Yes, ma'am. How can I help you?" Rowan asked politely, yet somewhat confused by a talking fox.

"It's not what you can do for me, it's what I can do for you. Now my Shafasa friend here told me that you needed to get to the other side of the forest, is this correct?" The fox asked, ignoring Rowan's confused expression.

"Yes, actually. I do." Rowan answered, confused further by this fox.

"Alright then. First rule is that you don't give me that dimwit look, it makes you seem retarded. Secondly, try to keep up. I wont slow down for you, or any other human by that matter. And finally, don't question where I take you." The fox told him. Rowan nodded and the fox shot off, barely giving him enough time to catch up. "My apologies, I forget how slow you humans are." The fox told him before continuing along it's path. They passed many different kinds of plants and animals along the way, dodging a few fights here and there, before they got to an opening in a rather large tree. "In here, it's an underground passage." The fox told him as she went in. Rowan followed hesitantly behind, but saw that the fox was nowhere to be seen.

"Where'd you go?" Rowan asked, looking around for the fox.

"Right over here..." A voice called from the back. "I will say though, you are delightfully naive." Rowan readied himself, drawing a runic symbol on the back of his hand with his fingers while walking towards the voice. The fox was there, but it had looked almost demonic compared to it's previous form. It attacked Rowan, but found itself eating embers. Rowan had used a replacement spell that switched his position with that of a pile of burning wood. Out in the middle of the forest, with no idea where he was, Rowan let out a heavy sigh and started off in a random direction. I'm sure that if I continue going one way I'll reach at least a clearing. Rowan thought to himself as he walked through this forest maze. Another sprite quickly found him and walked on a vine next to him.

"You gonna try and get me killed too?" Rowan asked, an unusual wave of paranoia about him. The sprite shook it's head angrily and kept walking. "Then maybe you can show me how to get out?" Rowan asked, still suspicious. The sprite pointed in one direction and then sped off. Rowan sighed and followed it, knowing that he didn't have much of a choice. What's wrong with me today? I shouldn't be in a bad mood right now, but why am I? Rowan thought to himself. Maybe it's separation anxiety... His thoughts were interrupted by the growling of an unknown creature from behind him. A wolf then runs past him and into the forest. If I'm not careful, I'll surely be eaten!Rowan thought worryingly, careful with each step he takes. It was hours before he finally made it out of the woods, and barely with his life. The creatures in there were not kind, and he was lucky to have his magic. And when he finally got out the man from before was leaning up against a tree as a few roamers talked to him. Rowan made out a few things about crimes and "dues to be payed," but the man almost looked asleep by the way he held his drink. Granted, this is the first time Rowan had seen anybody drink something blue.

"Look: in case you can't tell, I don't care. Now as much as I want today to go smoothly, I'm not afraid to get rid of a few road blocks." The man warned, standing strait and glaring at them.

"Well then let it go smoothly and come with us." The roamer told him, a sigh coming from the man.

"How about you get out of my face, and I forget that I even saw you." The man offered, clearly irritated by the roamer.

"And why do you think we'd do that!?" The roamer roared.

"Because you value your life." The man told him, stabbing the roamer in the solar plexus before the poor guy could do anything. "Ah... much better..." The man said before walking off in a seemingly random direction. Rowan started to follow him, but after a while the man pulled out a crossbow and aimed it at Rowan. "Stop following me and go away, you caused enough trouble a few days ago."

Rowan stopped dead in his tracks, letting the man get out of sight. A few days ago? But it only felt like it was a few hours... Rowan thought, greatly confused by the statement. He looked around to see which direction the ocean was, and then head towards the largest body of water he could see. It was more clear now then it ever was before that the world Rowan lived in was a dangerous one, and he had no place wandering it out on his own like this. However, he hadn't much of a choice. He had to use this opportunity to look for Gwen.

Nothing had really happened before nightfall. Rowan started a fire and cooked up some of the food he packed, not sure how much he had used. He had trouble sleeping, worry all over him, and was clueless as to what was going to happen. A few days went like this; seemingly endless travel with the only breaks being at sundown and signs of conflict. He never met back up with that strange wanderer, whoever he was. One man, however, caught Rowan’s attention on his travels.