Finn and his friend nodded, and Finn tried to think of something else to say. "Alright, um… I guess we should decide somewhere to meet then, and then we can go grab everything we need and meet up there?" He suggested. "Just like, the entrance of school or something is probably fine, but I don't really care that much as long as we're all on the same page."
.jpg)
"Front of school is fine for me," Aesir said, "I'll be there in ten."
Castor glanced over at Aesir as they left and gave a short nod.
"That's fine with me, too. I won't be long."
He sighed softly.
"I was going to ask about where we're going, but the thief is already gone. I guess we can figure that out when we regroup."
"Yeah, we'll figure out the rest of the plan when we meet up. We'll be back soon." Finn and his friend waved and headed off together. They were dormmates, so they were just going back to the same room.
Soon, the both of them arrived at the front of school with bags full of important belongings and materials for a journey, including emergency rations.
(Got a little more details on Finn's friend! This is Delta/Del, haven't decided their Pronouns yet so I'm using they/them for the time being)
(Cuuute! Also is this picrew genshin impact themed by chance? I'm like 90% sure that's the anemo symbol-)
Castor and Aesir started walking in the same direction, but ultimately split ways. They lived a few doors down from each other. Aesir was ready to go quickly; they had few belongings and generally traveled lightly.
Castor also traveled lightly, but he needed some time to mentally prepare. He was pacing the room, trying to make sure he didn't forget anything important. Weapons. Rations. Tools. I need sleep. His roommate came in and said something, but Castor didn't understand at first, he was so heavily zoned out.
"The project," he repeated, "How's that looking?"
"Oh, gods, sorry," Castor murmured, "Yeah, I think it'll be fine. My job isn't hard."
"You know you have to do more than beat shit up."
Castor sighed. "I do. But as long as they're competent, I'll be fine."
Cas was the last one to come to the front of the school, with the excuse that he "misplaced something important."
(I believe so lol)
Finn and Delta arrived at the designated meetup spot at the front of the school, both shouldering moderately sized bags. Finn had a lot of Miscellaneous bits and bobs that he deemed either interesting or important sticking out of his bag, whereas Delta's bag was very neat and tidy.
"What are you two arguing about? We can't already have infighting!" Finn insisted, adjusting his heavy bag on his shoulders. "We need to get going or all the good quests are already gonna be taken by everyone else."
"It's nothing," Castor replied, a soft sigh on his lips.
Aesir shrugged. "Well, he's right. Let's get going. Take the message board at this town. And if the good ones are picked over, we can go another town or two over, if that means the difference between completing a quest and not."
Castor gave one final glance back towards the school.
"Yeah, let's go."
The fighter took the lead, heading towards the more populated town, away from the school.
Finn and Delta fell into step behind Castor, content enough to follow for the time being. Eventually, Finn would get bored of it, but for now he was compliant. "There's always a ton of things on that stupid quest bored. I bet we'll be able to find good ones no problem." He nodded decisively, and Delta sighed.
"Sure, but we still want to get there as soon as we can to make sure we have as many options as possible." Delta remarked. Their voice was soft and soothing, with a vague edge of irritation. They honestly didn't talk very much in class, so it was strange to hear them speak.
"And the sooner we know what we're dealing with, the better," Castor agreed, "If we need to investigate around town or make traveling arrangements, we can go ahead and get those done, probably before nightfall."
His voice was faint. Deep, but very soft. He also never spoke in class, but did well on practical training. He usually figured a blade spoke louder than words.
Aesir held up the back of the group, and they happily followed along. "There will doubtless be a lot of quests, but sometimes people do put pretty dumb requests up there. Ones that won't fly for class. I seriously doubt they'd take something like going upstream to get weeds for the old woman herbalist or helping someone find their lost cat. Those kinds of requests really do clog it up if you're looking for a bigger adventure."
"Yeah, true. Those are just silly side quests." Finn shrugged. "Sometimes I take them on if I'm bored and I've got extra time. It's a good way to get familiar with the area, too. Like fetching herbs from a specific area can help me learn generally good areas to find herbs, and stuff like that." He yawned and held his hands against the back of his head as he walked, his elbows pointing upwards to the sky.
Delta was quiet. They mostly hoped that the group could find something to do that wasn't too dangerous. They were a skilled fighter, of course, but it would be bad if anything serious happened. Especially if Finn were injured, they would temporarily be out a healer.
"Yeah, I guess they can be useful. Even if only for a little extra cash," Aesir replied.
Castor glanced over his shoulder.
"Well, did any of you have any type of quests in mind? I'm pretty sure we have to pick something with some amount of combat, even if it's just like… some hostile kobalds or something."
"I don't mind felling a few weak monsters," Aesir agreed, "but I think I speak for more than just myself when I say I don't want to get into too much trouble."
Finn and Delta shrugged, and Finn considered. Delta didn't really care too much what they did, after all. "Fighting stuff is probably ideal so it's interesting and adequately 'helpful'. It's not a big deal if you guys get hurt since I can heal you, and I've got offensive magic as well. So does Delta, but they're kinda more of a ranger…" Finn rambled on, to which Delta nodded quietly. "We won't take on anything too dangerous. Like… no dragon killing. I don't think we'd survive."
"No dragon killing," Aesir agreed.
"Yeah, even I would draw the line there," Castor chuckled, finally walking up to the board, "Let's see what we've got."
Aesir grabbed a flyer and started reading.
"Wizard guild help nee-"
Castor snatched it out of their hand.
"Put that one away," he murmured, more oddly aggressive than normal.
"Jeez, okay, Cas."
Finn stood on his toes to see the content of the board more clearly. "Hm… mostly menial garbage. There's gotta be something good somewhere…" Delta started to rifle through the papers over Finn's shoulder, humming thoughtfully. "Looks like there's a few dire wolves causing trouble a couple towns over." They announced to the group. "That wouldn't be too difficult, and it would count for the project."
"Sure," Castor said, "Nothing I haven't encountered before, "Let's take that one before anyone else does."
Aesir shrugged. "Fine by me. Let's look at the details before we go see the questgiver. Look at that fine print and whatnot. Could you read that for us?"
"Yeah, sure…" Delta took the paper from the board and held it closer to their face so they could read the description. "'Need 3-5 dire wolves disposed of immediately. They are hurting kids in the village and causing damage to property. Method of disposal up to quester, see questgiver for reward'." They read aloud.
Castor looked down at his feet.
"Well, now we have to take this one, right? People- and children no less- are getting hurt, maybe even killed because of this. Sounds like a simple enough thing for us to do to help. Although I'm not sure why another hunter hasn't picked this up yet," he said, "We should go talk to the poster before we make a final decision, though. Does it say where to find them?"
Aesir opened his mouth to question Castor on why he so quickly dismissed the other quest but latched onto this one. But it was a group project, not that big of a deal, so they held their tongue. If he hated the other quest and was alright with this one that everyone seemed to agree on, so be it.
"Yeah, they're in a town a few miles south of here. They don't know exactly how many wolves there are, which is why there's a range. I'm sure 'method of disposal up to quester' just means that we can kill them or relocate them or whatever." Delta hummed as they looked at the paper. "Killing them is probably easiest. If we relocate them, they might just come back here again." Finn nodded in agreement and took the paper from Delta.
"Alright! Let's get going to the questgiver's office, then. Uhh… does one of you know how to get there?" He asked.
Aesir took a quick look at the paper.
"Yup, I can get us there quickly. Even know a few shortcuts once we get in town," they replied, "I spent a good deal of time down there in my younger years, so I'm familiar. They might, uh… not be so happy to see me back, though."
Castor stepped away from the board. "Lead the way, then? We should try to get there before sunset if we want to talk to this person."
Aesir nodded and started south, looking over their shoulder to make sure everyone was following.
Finn and Delta fell into step behind Aesir, generally keeping quiet aside from occasionally shifting their bags. Finn started to get bored after a little bit, though. "So… uh… I guess we should get to know each other a bit more if we're gonna be doing this thing together, right?" He suggested. Although the question came from being bored, he was genuinely interested. "Maybe we can all say a bit about ourselves, I dunno. We don't really interact with each other much."
"Sure, I'll start," Aesir said, glancing over to Finn, "First things first, I'm a lot more trustworthy than I seem. I'm no pinnacle of character, but I'm a cutpurse, not a cutthroat, so I'm not out here to hurt anyone. Lived out my life on the streets as a kid, so I was forced to steal in order to survive. I'd never take from anyone who needed something more than I did. Life sucked back then, but it taught me a lot of valuable lessons and I still have a lot of skills I never would've learned otherwise."
Castor looked away from the others. "I don't think there's anything to know about me that you don't already. I'm a simple man, really."
Finn and Delta listened closely to Aesir's story, clearly intrigued. "That's interesting. Thanks for sharing." Finn smiled brightly up at Aesir and then considered what he should share about himself. "Um… I'm not too exciting, honestly. I'm just a guy. I grew up in a middle class home with supportive parents, went to school… I left one middle school because of bullying, but aside from that I've been alright." He looked up at Delta expectantly and they sighed.
"I'm Delta… you can call me Del if you want. Please use they/them pronouns if you refer to me. I grew up in a small town where the neighbors raised me more than my parents. I'm a ranger wizard class, more or less, and I'm the one who generally has to keep Finn in line."
Castor smiled slightly, trying to shield away his uneasiness. He felt like he had to say something.
"I feel like all I can do is swing my sword," he admitted, "The past is… well, not something I find worth thinking about. Really it's just me and my sword against the world, and that's alright with me."
"Oh, uh- I also use they/them pronouns, by the way," Aesir added, not sure how to follow Castor. Gods, what's up with this guy?
"Well, I'm sure there's something interesting about you!" Finn insisted, turning to look up at Castor. "There's not anything at all you might want us to know about you? We're stuck with each other for a couple of weeks, at least." Delta nodded in agreement, but stayed facing forward. "We're not gonna judge you or anything, if that's what you're worried about. I mean, I can't speak for everyone obviously, but Delta and Aesir seem nice enough."
Castor raised his eyebrows.
"I mean, not really," he said, "Trustworthy or not, there's not much to say."
"I find that hard to believe," Aesir protested, "It doesn't have to be vulnerable. No hobbies? Anything you like? Like even a favorite food or something?"
"Well…" Castor said softly, "I guess I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Not much in the way of hobbies though. I usually help out around town in my spare time with whoever needs it. That's all. I don't particularly read or study much, or anything like that."
"Well, there you go! You like helping people with day to day tasks. That's something. Also, there's this fantastic orc baker in the town we're headed to. We ought to stop by there at some point."
Finn nodded along as Castor spoke, smiling encouragingly up at him. "See? That wasn't so hard! After this project, we should meet up at a bakery or a Cafe or something!" He found himself picking up his pace and being close to the front of the group out of impatience. He kept glancing to Aesir to make sure he was going the right way though. "Do you guys have any siblings or anything? Pets, friends, et cetera? This is fun!"
Castor cast his gaze down.
"I think that's enough…" he whispered, "but for the record, no, I don't."
Aesir frowned. "Jeez, if you hate the small talk that much, you really don't have to answer. But me? I allegedly have a bunch of half-siblings here and there. And um, dear old dad who I've never met had a thing for nonhuman women. Met some guy a few months ago in a port town- a half-orc- and turns out we were half brothers. No other siblings that I grew up with though. Just me and my mom until she passed. Oh, and no pets, but I have a thing for crows. I taught a flock in my hometown to do some little things for me."
Castor tilted his head. "You have to be lying about at least half of that. There's no way-"
"Oh, come on, Cas," Aesir laughed, "It's all true, as far as I know. I didn't believe the bit about my dad either."
"That's interesting! I guess it could be kinda fun to run into somebody random and find out you're related, but I dunno." Finn shrugged and kept walking, his arms swinging at his sides as he walked. "I've got a frog named Jellyfish and a cat named Mushroom, and I have an older sister, but she's like… significantly older. I barely remember her being in the house at all." He hummed thoughtfully. "Delta's the one with the big family."
Delta looked up when they were addressed. "Mm? Oh, yes… I'm the third eldest of eight children. A couple are half or step siblings. It's exhausting to be in a home with so many other people…" They sighed, looking tired just thinking about it. "My parents didn't have the time to pour into their children individually. Maybe they shouldn't have had so many."
"I tried to pickpocket him and found a piece of jewelry with a symbol that matched a necklace my mom had, so, uh… that was one hell of a thing to try to explain to him," Aesir laughed.
They turned to Delta and thought for a moment.
"We all do come from very different families, so it seems."
Castor scoffed. He wanted to change the subject, but at the same time, it wasn't fair for him to stop the others from talking. He kept his mouth shut.
"Cas, bud… you okay?"
"Yeah, I just want to get this bit over with so I can sleep. I fell asleep as the sun was rising this morning, so I'm not really feeling all of this. You guys can keep talking. I'll just be over here."
Finn laughed softly at Aesir's story, stumbling a little as he walked along, but not quite falling. He tended to be pretty clumsy, and Delta had reached out to catch him in case he fell. They both looked over at Castor adverse reaction to the topic of conversation, and Finn looked concerned.
"No, don't leave! We can talk about something else if you'd like. Just trying to get to know each other a little better. Is there anything you'd like to talk about?" He asked Castor, jogging over to be closer to him.
"Literally anything else," Castor replied tersely, "Just not like, family and all that…"
"I'm guessing that's… a sore subject," Aesir sighed, "Sorry about that, then."
"It's alright. Just maybe don't push me to answer shit I don't want to answer, rogue."
Aesir nodded. "What abouuuut… past adventures and quests? You guys ever go on any cool ones?"
They trotted ahead to catch back up with the others.
"That's more like it. Gotta think about that one, though," Castor said. He finally had a very slight smile on his face.