An Error in Judgment
Garet stumbled along the dark alleyway, hands running along the wall so that he did not lose himself in the maze of back streets.
It was nearly half past midnight, and it was pouring out, as if the angels in the sky where heaving buckets of water from the clouds.
He cursed his luck for picking a fight with a big drunk man, and getting his butt kicked.
"Why did I have to say anything to the big oaf? I just wanted to stop him from grabbing Jenna! Why did I have to be so dumb?"
He tripped, and face planted into the ground, cutting his cheek on a rock.
"Gah! Why ME?"
He staggered to his feet, and clutched at the air for support.
"Hey buddy? What teh fuck you doin' here?" Came a husky voice from behind him.
Garet spun around to find a short man, dressed in all black, watching him with contempt.
"Oh shit! WHY ME?!" He thought, as the dark figure took out a switchblade knife, and pointed it at him.
"You picked teh wrong time to come down tis alley!"
"Give me a break! I just got out of a fight with a big drunk prat that kicked my ass! Just let me go..." Garet pleaded.
"Teh fuck wit that! I don't give a shit abouts your poor fight... I'll cut yah good yah red headed freak!" The switchblade flashed, and Garet stepped back to avoid the cut.
"Please man! I don't want to fight! Just let me go!"
"Shut teh fuck up! You aren't to bright is yah? No street smarts..." The shadowy figure made another slicing motion with the knife, and Garet backed up again.
"Jeeze! Why can't you just let me go?"
"Cause yous invadin' my turf!" The figure said, slicing out at Garet for a third time.
"Your turf? You own this place?"
"Longs with all teh hoes and bitches too... Sall mine... Took me time and cost me a finger." The figure said, holding out a hand, that clearly was missing a ring finger.
"That really sucks, but man... I'm not trying to take your 'turf'... I wouldn't even want to live here, let alone own it!" Garet tried to ease his adversary's worries, and it sort of worked.
The figure faltered in its next attack.
"Yous don't?" The figure asked incredulously.
"No! I would never! I just want to get back to the inn." He said, feeling like he might be getting somewhere.
"Fine... I won't kills you, but yah gotta pay teh fee... 50gp, an I'll let yah go, okay?"
Garet pulled out his bag of gold, and tossed the man 50gp and closed the bag.
The figure counted the money, and nodded.
"Now get teh fuck outta here befores I change my mind!"
Garet got the hint, and stumbled away as fast as his hurting legs would take him.
"Teh inn is tat away." The figure said, pointing to the left alley and then ran down the other to the right.
Garet bumbled down the left alley, and eventually got back in to familiar territory.
He stumbled back to the inn, and went to his room, opened the door, and flung himself onto the bed, shoving the door closed as he did.
He was asleep within minutes.
The sun broke the clouds, and cascaded through the blinds.
Garet woke, sore and crest fallen.
He rubbed his aching head, and grimaced as pain shot through his arm. He looked down at his arm, and saw a massive bruise, and gasped.
"Jeeze! That's huge!" He thought, his right hand tracing the outline of the bruise.
He stood, his back protesting the movement, but he bore his teeth, and did it anyways.
He left his room after tossing on a shirt and a pair of pants. He decided to go and visit Felix, or maybe Jenna, so he knocked on Felix's door, and no one answered.
He waited a moment at the door, and then turned to go to Jenna's door.
He gave a knock, and again he got no answer.
So he went to everyone's doors and knocked, and he didn't find a single soul in their rooms.
He turned and left the inn, and went to look for them.
He had entered the woods, and was looking around for the others.
When he had decided to look somewhere else, he found someone he didn't want to talk to floating behind him.
"Garet?" The Wise One said as if he was asking a question.
"What do you want you big old rock?" Garet said, annoyed that the Wise One would sneak up on him.
"I've been calling you for about three hours, and apparently you where dead asleep, and I couldn't get to you. The other's are at the meeting place, and you hadn't shown up... I've come to get you." The Wise One said, his single eye narrowing to a slit.
"Why?"
"Because... I have a surprise for you!" The Wise One murmured.
"Fine... But no more goram (from Fire Fly, by Joss Whedon just FYI, it means god damned) adventures! I'm sick of us being your stupid servants!" Garet said, his tone icy.
"Oh... Don't worry... It's not at all like that!" The Wise One intoned, and then before Garet could say anything, he felt the use of Psynergy, and he was teleported to the others.
