"Oi, take it easy, lads. Your food isn’t trying to escape you!”
As they shoveled oatmeal into their mouths, Syras and Weimar glanced up at Veerus, who was watching the duo with an incredulous expression.
“The tourney starts in a couple hours,” Syras pointed out with a mouth full of oatmeal.
" Yes, but if you eat like a Chi’ila , you could get a massive bellyache!” William protested.
“Well, we are done now so it won’t matter,” Weimar replied as he wiped his mouth. He went up and hugged his mother and two brothers.
“Stay out of trouble,” his mother warned before tussling his hair.
“Aye, got it, mother.” The young farmer smiled before rushing out after his friend.
---
Once they made the 5 mile walk , or race in their case, a bustling town with a huge circular arena filled with banners of all different colors and sizes. Weimar saw a massive crowd enter the event at different entrances in each stand. Guards checked the passes and the VIP guests that included lords, former knights, and other nobles were escorted to the boxed seats at the front with the best view. Weimar turned to Syras.
“Well, how do you plan on getting us in?” he asked, demanding an answer from the other boy.
Syras smirked. “Relax mate, I got a plan, but first let us have some fun at the other attractions before the tourney begins.”
Weimar crossed his arms. “Oh, where to?”
“Just shut up and follow me.” He grabbed Weimar’s arm and yanked him off.
The first place the duo hit was the weapons armory. Weimar’s eyes grew to cover almost half of his head when they sauntered in. This was due to the variety of weapons lining up the shelves of the armory. There was a morningstar on the deck across from him, a mace to his right, and a flail to his left. There was even a shelf full of caltrops ahead of him.
“Wow, these are cool!”
He turned to see Syras trying out two scimitars.
“Woah there, lad!” Weimar warned him. “You don’t want to cause a commotion.”
“What commotion?” Syras smirked. He twirled both of them simultaneously in his hands. “I know what I am doing.”
“Careful!” the shopkeeper shouted at them. ” Those were imported from the Kingdom of Madinah!”
“No worries!” Syras returned the call.” My dad is currently serving in the Aislundian military under King Lothar. ”
“That’s great, but please put down the scimitars,” the shop keeper said with a commanding undertone.
“Alrighty, mate!” Syras put them down. “Just calm your socks down.”
The confused man raised a brow.
“He means it’s all good,” Weimar translated.
“I knew what it meant.” The shopkeeper sighed. “Just please don’t do anything to raise my anxiety levels to an all time.”
He then turned his attention to a man dressed in silver shining armor purchasing a katana sword.
“That sword is a katana,” Syras explained, appearing beside his friend. ” It is common in the Nara Island kingdom.”
The brunet farmer rolled his eyes. “I know what that is. I have eyes, you know.”
“Really, I didn’t know,” Syras stated sarcastically, chuckling. They turned their attention back to the man, whom they assumed to be a knight purchase the katana and a longsword.
“Here is a extra few coins for your troubles.” The man handed the store owner a few extra coins before leaving.“Take it easy for some time. You don’t want that graying hair to go all white.”
The owner nodded gratefully. ” Thank you, Sir Globar.”
Syras and Weimar exchanged bewildered glances. That was the famous Sir Robin Globar!
The boys filed out of the shop in order to see where the knight walked off to. He should have been easy to spot with his unkempt brown hair and tall frame, but the knight had disappeared amongst the dense crowd.
“Great, where now?” Weimar asked.
“Let’s try that tent over there.” Syras pointed at a colorful circus looking tent.
Curiosity gnawing at his brain, he followed the young boy into the tent, only to be stopped by a doorman.
“Lads, the fare is 5 coins each,” the man informed them.
“Yeah,here it is.” Syras placed a small pouch into the man’s outstretched hand. He then pulled Weimar into the tent.
“Why didn’t you tell me you could pay?” Weimar demanded.
“Relax, that is a bag of booger-flavored jelly beans,“Syras explained, a mischievous smirk plastered on his face..
“Wha-?” Weimar’s eyes grew wide. “Syras, you and your crazy ideas!”
Syras just stuck out his tongue as they explored the attraction. It turned out to be a zoo of different animals from kingdoms all over the world. There was a Slythar from Massala, a manticore, a chimera, and even a Raza Bird from the Talan kingdom.
“Hey, Weimar!” Syras shouted.“Come check it this Sporkion!”
Weimar ran over and gasped at the 25 foot creature from Madinah. The massive scorpion was yellow with blackish brown bands across its thorax. Those black eyes plastered on the front of the cephalothorax gave the teen chills.
“Mum, look!” a young voice shouted. “A wyvern!”
Syras and Weimar whirl around to see across from them an enclosure housing a small, sand-colored dragon with no arms. Sure enough, that was wyvern. Weimar had heard them in tales his parents told him and his siblings when they were young, but to see one up close like this was fascinating for his teenage brain.
The wyvern fixed its dark, emotionless eyes on the crowd assembling around it. Weimar shivered as he felt those abyss-like eyes train its gaze on them. They locked eyes for a bit until the creature turned away. Weimar glanced downward. He couldn’t believe he actually seen these creatures up close for the first time.
---
“Up for some darts?” Syras smirked as they entered the dart range.
“Sure.” Weimar smirked right back.
They waited at the range until it was their turn.
“Prepare to lose,” Syras stated , grabbing three darts in his hands.
“No way will I lose to the likes of you,” Weimar replied with a sneer, getting ready to throw.
“How much do you want to bet?” Syras answered.
“I’ll wager a drink for you.”
“Fair enough,” the sun-kissed boy confirmed.
Syras turned to face the targets in the distance. Closing his eyes, the teenager threw his first dart.
Smack!
It hit the bull’s eye. The result was the same with the other two darts he possessed.
Weimar stared in utter surprise as Syras bowed. A crowd had gathered around him, cheering and shouting praise.
Syras turned to his friend. “Your turn.”
Feeling anxious, Weimar aimed the dart toward the center of the target. Taking a breath, he shifted his foot and hurled it. It sailed past the board.
“Oooh, tough luck.” Syras patted him on the back.
Swallowing back his nervousness, he shifted his right foot forward and let the second dart fly. This time it landed on the board, but outside the center.
“Well, that is quite comeback,” Syras assured him. “That is five points for you.”
The crowd watched intently. Weimar thought he saw a tall girl with reddish brown hair step forward from the corner of his eye. Closing his eyes, he raised his hand and hurled the final dart at the board.
Syras clapped. ” 13 points, quite an improvement. However, it is nowhere near my score of 150. Therefore, I win.”
Weimar just nodded. It looks like he owed his best friend a drink.
“Now, about my drink...”
-----
20 minutes later, they were at the tavern called the Fat Bear drinking honeydew cider.
" You got to admit, this is really good.” Syras sipped his drink with a delighted grin.
“It better be,” Weimar mumbled. “I paid 3 coins for it.”
Syras shook his head, laughing light-heartedly. “Ah, don’t be a sore loser. I am sure you will win against me one day.”
“I better,” Weimar murmured as he took a sip of his cider. “By the way, have you noticed that one girl?”
“Which girl?” Syras furrowed his dark brows. His eyes the landed on a poster ahead. ” Speaking of which, I will challenge you to the drinking game.”
“The...what?” Weimar craned his neck to the side to see the poster.
Syras rolled his eyed.“There’s a poster behind you. Please tell me you can read.”
Weimar shook his head at his friend’s snarky remarks and read it. If they could guess a mystery drink’s identity, then the winner would be awarded 50 coins. His eyes wandered to the bottom of the poster. There was one problem.
“Uh..Syras?” Weimar asked. ” Perhaps you are the one that lacks the reading comprehension skills. It says we need to be 16 or older.”
Syras just burst out laughing. “You know we can lie about our age. Did that thought ever cross your mind?”
“As if that would work?” he crossed his arms.
“Watch and learn.” Syras turned to address the bartender. “Excuse me sir, could me and my friend play the drinking game?”
“Eh?” the drunken bartender squinted at them. “How old are you?”
“16!” Both boys shouted in unison.
" Very well, let me get the drinks.” He left to set up.
Weimar stared wide-eyed at Syras who just winked at him. This was unbelievable. The bartender stumbled over to them with the tray. Weimar was more concerned about the drinks being spilled by the tipsy bartender rather than winning the competition.
“There will be three rounds,” the man slurred. ” Whoever guesses the best out of them wins.”
Syras groaned. “Ok, let’s get on with it.”
As the drinks were placed in front of them, one each, Syras and Weimar took a sip.
“Crimson Arbor Wine,” Syras stated boldly. It was like he knew the answer. A small crowd had gathered at the bar to watch. What was just a few drinkers trying to pregame before the joust rose into a small crowd of about a dozen young men and women.
" The Violet Kiss,” Weimar stated his answer.
“He is correct.” The bartender pointed at Weimar.
Syras’s jaw dropped as the crowd cheered. Weimar grinned at how he flabbergasted his friend.
“Round two .”
The bartender brought the drinks over. Both boys took a sip.
" The Red Dragon,” Syras answered
" The Winter Wind,” Weimar replied
" Correct!” The bartender pointed to Weimar.
Syras gasped as the crowd clapped and cheered.
“Here is the final round,” the bartender mumbled. “If your friend wins this, he has it finished. If you win, we go until you get three more.” He turned to Syras.
Syras just nodded his understanding. The drinks were placed in front of them. Taking a breath, Weimar took a sip of the alcoholic drink.
“Foxfire!” Syras shouted
“Frostbite,“Weimar chimed in.
The bartender just shook his head
“The Red Priest,“Syras replied
“Wildfire,” Weimar stated after him.
“Wrong!” The drunk bartender murmured.
Both boys carefully thought over their answers before shouting out one last time.
" The Red Viper!“Syras shouts
“The Knight’s Valor!” Weimar interjects.
“That is...correct!” the old bartender pointed at Weimar as the crowd goes wild.
Syras’s jaw dropped as Weimar smiled at him.
“I win.”
---
“So, what are you going to do with that money?” Syras asked.
They were just heading out to the main event when Syras asked him that. Weimar glanced curiously at his bag of coins.
“Well, to pay the fare to enter the tournament of course,” Weimar suggested.
“Forget that!“Syras rolled his eyes. “That won’t be enough for the VIP. We would be seated at the far end of the stands. The jousters wouldn’t even be visible from our vantage point so why waste the coins? I will sneak us in.”
“I guess you have a point.” Weimar shrugged as they turned to head over to the stands.
On the way, Weimar bumped into a tall lad who had his back turned to the boy. The lad, who was talking to his buddies, turned.
“Are you blind, boy?” the lad snapped while his three friends surrounded the two boys.
“It is not a matter of whether he is blind or not, it is based on how much of a stupid idiot you are that you stand in the way of people like a numbskull when they are trying to pass,” Syras growled
“Syras!” Weimar hissed at his friend.
Why did he have to start a fight?
Letting out a shout, the bruiser charged at Syras , who rolled under him and kicked the back of his legs. The bruiser ended up on the floor. His fellow lads tried to gang up on Syras, but the swift and nimble boy had no problem taking them out. Weimar’s jaw dropped as he viewed the boy duck a punch, which connected with one of the bruiser’s jaws. Syras flipped out of the way of the last one’s fist and downed him with a knee to the groin.
“Thank you.” Syras bowed and showed off his handiwork.
Weimar stared with an incredulous expression. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
His best friend only shrugged and sported a sheepish look. “I spy on the Shino clan once I have time.”
“Really?” Weimar had a hard time believing his friend. “It doesn’t matter now, we need to hustle .”
“Aye, that is the most correct thing you said today,” the other boy agreed.
The young farm boy rolled his eyes as they dodged attendees. They stopped near the archery range to check out the attraction.
" We really have no time-“Weimar began.
“It’s just one second,” Syras assured him, smiling.
Syras went up to one target, colored yellow in the center.
“I can easily nail this yel-” No sooner had he began speaking, an arrow pierced dead center, centimeters away from his finger.
Startled, both young boys turn to see a girl their age holding the bow, a mischievous smirk plastered on her face. Weimar had recognized her as the girl from earlier.
" Impossible!” Syras gasped
“Oh, I just proved it was possible.” The archer smirked. She relished in the surprised looks of the boys. ” The name is Sangrid. How about yours?”
“Weimar,” the farm boy said.
“Syras,” his friend chimed in.
She giggled. “Pleasure to meet ya both.“A hint of an Outerwoods accent visible in her speech.
“Likewise, we were just going to see the joust.” Weimar grinned like an ecstatic kid.
“Ah, what a coincidence, so was I,” she replied with an eager smile. “Perhaps we can sit together.”
“Perhaps.”
Weimar and Syras exchanged bewildered glances. This would complicate things.
“Perhaps? Why not a yes?”
She grabbed both their hands and dragged them to the entrance with surprising strength.
“This was not a part of the plan,” Syras whispered to him.
51Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSIMAXfcRgE
Seriously, these two just crack me up XD...thoughts?
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