Quests and Questions 3 (2/2)
“Why?” Mordecai said.
“What?”
“Why? Were you afraid it'd kill yer?”
“No. I mean, I was, but... I was afraid it would kill Threadbare.”
“Threadbare. That yer little bear down there?”
Celia shifted in his arms, looked at the teddy bear. “He was so brave.”
The bear, somewhat annoyed at being left out of the cuddle puddle, stretched its arms upward.
“Oh, he's still all torn up. Ah...” She sniffed. “Status.” Then she winced. “Oh. No, no, my sanity's a wreck. I spent way too much today, I can't heal him any more.”
“S'all right,” Mordecai said. “Cavalry's comin'.”
And indeed, heavy iron footsteps echoed through the forest, as Caradon charged up the hill, breathing heavily, with Emmet the armor golem right on his heels. Branches broke against Emmet's form as he lumbered through them, feet grinding inoxerably into the pine needles and soft soil, sending sprays of detritus to the rear.
“Celia!” Caradon shouted, and she barely had time to blink before Mordecai deposited her into the old man's arms.
“I'll just find them toys you lost, eh?” Mordecai asked. “Be hard for any but a trained scout, eh?” He gave Caradon a knowing look. Then he was gone, slipping into the shadows of the pines.
“Daddy?” Celia asked, her voice very small as she smushed her face against Caradon's chest. “Can you please mend Threadbare?”
The old man looked down at the teddy bear, stretching its arms up for a hug, smeared with pine needles and mud, torn nearly to shreds.
For a second he wanted to punt the damned thing down the hill. He didn't know how, but he was sure the little golem was at fault, somehow.
But only for a second. It was Celia's prized possession, after all.
Besides, even torn to hell and back, it was still bizarrely cute. And while objectively he knew that it was all due to its Adorable skill, the truth of the matter was that he wasn't immune to it, nor did he mind so much.
Threadbare watched as letters rolled by.
Your Adorable Skill is level 7!
Caradon sighed and released Celia. “Mend,” he told it, simply. The bear had earned those battle wounds honestly, defending the little girl. It was the least he could do.
You have been healed for 302 points!
Threadbare shuddered, as golden light pulsed through him, bringing him back instantly to full health. It really was overkill, though not as much as the old man thought.
“I'm okay,” Celia told her father, scooping up Threadbare. “The Eagle didn't hurt me. Threadbare saved me when it screamed. He pushed me out of the way.”
“Must have been a small Screamer then,” Caradon said, remembering the teddy bear's pathetic hit points. “Well. That's over with.”
“It wasn't all bad. I... I skilled up in mend for the first time in a long time. And got some intelligence and willpower, and agility, and constitution... and, I kind of lost track, I'm sorry. Uh, no, wait, some Animus skill too. Wow, a lot of skill.” She studied the air for a second, then shook her head. “Close Status.”
“Yes. That was because you were in a real fight, with real consequences,” Caradon said, taking her hand. “Are you sure you're all right?”
“Yes.” She blinked, as realization struck. “Is that what I'm going to have to do? To get more levels? I'm going to have to keep doing... that... again?”
“Yes,” Caradon said, feeling every second of his fifty-eight years weighing down on him. “Yes it is.”
Celia turned and vomited on the pine needles. Caradon let her go, then held his hand down once she was done. “I'm sorry. But this is the world we live in. It is what it is, now.”
The little girl took it, and hugged Threadbare tight with her free arm. Then she took a deep breath, and looked to her bear, and back to her old man. “If this is what it takes to protect Threadbare, and you, and everyone I don't care. I'll fight a dozen times or a hundred or whatever, so he doesn't have to. I won't let any monsters or anything get him! Or anyone else!”
Deep in the woods, perched on a hollow log with the remnants of the toys sitting beside him, Mordecai took a puff on his pipe and smiled to himself. He'd heard every word of the conversation from a quarter-mile away, and more importnatly, he'd heard the spirit in her voice. There was hope after all, he thought.
“Well, let's get back home,” Caradon said, draping his arm around her shoulders. “That's quite enough adventure for one day.”
“Okay. Yeah, okay.” Celia spat to the side. “I need a drink of water.”
“Easy to do. Come along, Emmet.”
The mighty armor golem fell in behind them, as Threadbare's family picked their way back down toward the home. A few steps in, Caradon cleared his throat. “I've been thinking.”
“Yeah?”
“Are you serious about learning to be a scout?”
“Oh heck yeah? Did you see that thing with the arrow? Where he shot the Eagle out of the sky? It was like POW, and then that was the most damage I've ever seen in my life! Well aside from when Emmet punched that raccoon who was hissing at you on the porch that time. I want to learn how to do THAT!”
“Ah, technically that's an archer trick, Mordecai's good with that job too.”
“Can I learn that?”
“We'll see how you do with scout...”
The voices faded into the trees. Behind them, Mordecai chuckled and took his own path back to the house, giving Caradon and his daughter time to themselves.
And in the deep woods, the imp faded into view, crouched among the pine needles and grinning. “So the little girl's leaving the house for the first time ever. Oh, this'll make things much, much easier. Anise is going to laugh her tits off when she hears this one-”
Twenty-five pounds of the gods' perfect killing machine crashed down on the imp.
Before he could react, Pulsivar the cat grabbed the demon's throat and slashed his claws on the target below, rending its shrieking form into shreds.
FINALLY, it had caught that annoying weird bird which taunted it from the windows. It had been worth it, following its sulfurous trail from the house when his hoomin had rushed off into the woods. Now vengeance was Pulsivar's, and no more would the little thing be annoying.
To the cat's annoyance, it faded into smoke and puffed away, before he could even eat it. Even in death, the thing was annoying. Pulsivar groomed himself, pissed on the pine needles where its stench lingered, and waddled off back to the house, keeping a weather eye on the skies.
There were eagles out. One had to be cautious, after all.
THREADBARE'S CHARACTER SHEET
Spoiler: Spoiler
Name: Threadbare
Age: 4 days
Jobs:
Greater Toy Golem Level 5
Bear Level 2
Ruler Level 1
Attributes:
Strength: 33 Constitution: 42 Hit Points: 112 Armor: 16
Intelligence: 22 Wisdom: 35(40) Sanity: 33/54(59) Mental Fortitude: 6
Dexterity: 16 Agility: 22 Stamina: 41 Endurance: 26
Charisma: 23 (28) Willpower: 23 Moxie: 38(43) Cool: 20 (30)
Perception: 24 Luck: 21 Fortune: 38 Fate: 5
Generic Skills
Brawling - Level 8
Climb - Level 5
Clubs and Maces - Level 7
Dodge - Level 1
Ride - Level 1
Swim - Level 1
Greater Toy Golem Skills
Adorable – Level 7
Gift of Sapience – Level NA
Golem Body – Level 5
Innocent Embrace - Level 2
Magic Resistance –Level 4
Bear Skills
Animalistic Interface – NA
Claw Swipes – 5
Forage – 1
Scents and Sensibility – 5
Toughness – 7
Ruler Skills
Emboldening Speech - Level 1
Identify Subject - Level 1
Noblesse Oblige - Level 1
Royal Request - Level 1
Simple Decree - Level 1
Equipment
Rod of Baronly Might - (Level 5 Club, CHA +5, WIS +5, +10 Cool )
Quests
Help Anise Layd'i