DRAGON NEST FAN FICTION STORY

Somewhere in the middle

Prologue: Out of place

-xXx-

Sitting on the comfortable couch in front of the Adventurer Guild's Master's office, I could hear men's voices coming from the other side of the door. One belonged to none other than Deckard, a hardworking, warm-hearted and somewhat macho-like man in his mid-30-ies (and not to forget that he was the very head of the guild). Deckard was born with a roaring voice, that was feared by many of the new comers and I'm not even joking here, I once felt the same way; the thunder cry that came out every time he opened his mouth was really threatening but after I had a few conversations with him, I learned that he was a really nice guy and from what I could tell he seemed to be in high spirits today. "He's a very good kid, besides, you know that you have a gap on the team, he's perfect to fill it!" the guild master laughed from the inside.

"With all my respect, sir, but you must have lost your mind!" answered a younger sounding voice, which had a nice deep, resonant and well-formed tone to it. "He is merely but a rookie! He has no experience and just came out of the training camp! You can't just assign him to my party! We're elites, we've fought many battles and we know how to survive in one. He'll be put in danger , if not slow us down!" the voice continued. Those words, even though he was trying to be polite and keep his voice down, I knew they were the source of pure discontent with the master's decisions. The man was right and had a point, as the person he was talking about was me.

In fact, I knew the younger male in the office. He was a skilled cleric, with a lot of potential and the leader of one of the elite parties in the Adventurer's Guild. People used to talk a lot about him back in the training camp. Stories about how he led his party into battle were a common topic around the fire place. Hmm…maybe I should stop addressing him as "he". Well, fine, his name is Usagi, or at least everyone calls him that way, whether that's his real birth name or not, I can't tell you but it's better than calling him just "he". In every "Usagi story " were two more heroes, or should I say heroines? A bubbly, happy-go-lucky and carefree acrobat called Azurra and a sly, mysterious and really sarcastic sorceress named Mippi.

That aside, I felt rather offended and somewhat disappointed that my future leader was having this kind of opinion about me. He was right, that I won't deny, but he should have at least given me a chance to prove myself. We were practically introduced before 10 minutes and already 2 minutes in Deckard's explanation Usagi demanded a private talk with the master. Yes, I had no special skills or anything, I was a pretty average guy, but I did win the lottery fair and square.

"What lottery?" Usagi exclaimed from the inside, as if he was reading my mind from the other side of the walls.

"Well… I decided that it would be good to increase the excitement among our new recruits!" Decard roared with his unusual voice, though he was now sounding really cheerful and perhaps thrilled. "I held a lottery event. Everyone had to draw a number from already prepared paper slips, and the ones with the lowest numbers got the chance to be part of the five elite squads of the guild. Seeing how yours is the top among the others, the person with the number 0 was to be your new member." The words were finished off with a tone of pride, Deckard was really impressed with himself, as he was the one behind the whole idea.

There was no way I could eye Usagi's reaction in that very moment but the heavy sigh that came to my ears, was enough to tell that he wasn't approving any of this at all.

"C'mon don't make faces!" the guild master cried. "Talidono is stuck in the same boat as you. Her recruit was the one with the number 1, a cleric, such as you, I believe."

"Hmph, at least she got someone with brains, while I'm stuck with a useless o. "

"Usagi,…" Deckard began his voice now sounding serious, like a real guild master's. His tone kind of surprised me, as I've never heard or seen the boss act serious. I pricked up my ears and held my breath, while keeping my seat, just so I could hear what was about to follow. "It's been 2 years since Shin left us. I know that you two were like brothers and all, but you have to keep moving. He's gone and this is your team now, you are the leader. You know that just the three of you isn't enough." The seriousness in tone was now milder, caring and understanding, you can even say father-like. As for whom Shin was, I had no idea, honestly. This was the first time I heard that name, but little did I knew that it would be one that I would hear many times to come. "Well then!" Deckard suddenly exclaimed a good ol' chuckle following after. "How about you give the new Kumpel guy a chance? He seems like a funny kid, don't you think?"

"I'll see what I can do." The cleric answered. A couple of steps followed along with a "Please, excuse me, sir." Before the door to the office, which I thought was shut for such a long time, that I was afraid itself would forget what it was made for, opened and closed with the old-fashioned creak of the hinges.

Now, before me stood a tall and well-proportioned 19-year-old young man. His hair was a dark silver color and was neatly covering up his ears, as his fringe was hiding some of the right part of his face in a sloppy kind of way. His uniform consisted of a high class cleric's armor, made from durable and comfortable to move in material. A pair of crimson eyes beamed down at me, as Usagi's voice asked me to follow after him.

I quietly obeyed, as we walked out of the guild's headquarters, which was actually a normal tavern on two levels. On our way we passed by a lot of the other members, who didn't miss a chance to greet the cleric walking in front of me. I wasn't really sure whether this was some sort of indication to Usagi's mood right now, but the very same only silently nodded to the greetings and picked up his pace, when a whole crowd headed for us. This person was really popular, were the thoughts that came to my mind but I was still to be convinced that he was a really good guy, those words he said about me in that room were pretty harsh.

Finally making our way out of the tavern, we headed down to some of the quieter areas of Calderock Village, until we soon reached a wide meadow literally hiding behind some of the buildings. My "tour-guide" hadn't even said a word throughout the entire walk and I was starting to feel that he really did hate me that much that he didn't even wanted to share a few lines with me.

"Usaaaa~!" a girl's voice yelled, before I noticed the blonde elf running at us. A wide smile was printed on her face and she was excitedly waving one arm up in the air.

"Didn't I tell you not to call me that?" the silver haired cleric sighed for the I don't know which time that day, as the elf girl came to halt when reaching us, panting and trying to catch her breath.

"Because I'm the only one that calls you that way, is why I like it!" she hurried to answer back, her voice was playful and somewhat high-pitched, but not to the point that it would annoy you to death.

I had never seen what the famous Usagi's comrades looked like, but it wasn't hard to guess that this was the bubbly acrobat Azurra. Her sky blue eyes shifted to me, as she blinked in curiosity. I was waiting for something along the lines of "Who is this?" and a kind smile but a "Uuuh! He looks like such a wimp." followed by a chuckle caught me off guard.

"Who are you calling a wimp?" I quickly raised back my defenses. For a lady, the pointy-eared-girl was acting really tomboyish and rude, completely contrasting the stories and rumors I had heard.

"Oh, look he can even talk." She pouted, folding her arms, while also giving herself a dulled expression. "So, what's the meaning of this, Usa?" she eyed the male beside me.

"This is Kumpel, he will be our new member starting from today." Usagi answered in a reserved voice, but I was almost sure that he was suffering and crying on the inside.

"Ooooh?" a voice from behind us surprised me. "I think he looks cute." It added, as I felt someone's arms wrapping around my neck, and pulling me back against something jiggling and soft. I struggled, but the other person's grip got tighter, to the point where it was choking me.

"Haha, Mippi, you can't be serious?" I could hear Azurra's pitched voice laughing.

"Yes I am. He'll make a good pet, one I'm in desperate need of." I could sense a striking British accent along with yet another deep and somewhat raspy voice. I pulled my head backwards to at least eye the female that was squeezing me against her. I caught a glimpse of imperial topaz eyes, under a thick fridge of lavender colored hair, tied up into a high pony tail.

Okay, now I was confused. Today was starting to turn out into a really freaky day. I'm not the type to complain but, this really was a lot for me. First I start off my new life as a part of the top elite squad with our leader coming to hate me and regret ever going along with Deckard's plan, and who knows, maybe he was even secretly hoping that I would just tell my chance goodbye and leave by myself. (Do not worry; I had no such intentions to begin with.) And Azurra…Oh man, was she starting to piss me off, and it hasn't even been 10 minutes. The only some-what-normal person was Mippi, at least she seemed excited to have me around.

"That's enough you two!" Usagi suddenly called. I did not know what his reason was "A wimp or a pet, or neither, he is our new member and we have to respect Deckard's words and actions, even if he randomly decides to throw inexperienced recruits among us." His words were seriously pissing me off, but the smile he cracked at the end in my direction made me see something new in him. Usagi was actually fine with this, he was fine with me, or more like… he was giving me a chance to be a part of the group.

"Usa, what are you sudd-" Azurra almost murmured, kind of shocked to hear her leader say that, but the elf girl probably realized what I had just noticed and giggled loudly. "Fine then! Welcome to the group, Kumpel! It's good to have you." she added, playfully gesturing a salute.

Mippi's grip around my neck loosened and she walked up in front of me. "Hmmm… He looks cutter from this angle." The sorceress purred in her British accent.

"Well then, Kumpel..." Usagi's deep voice talked once more. "Let's do our best as a team." The silver haired male held out his hand at me, waiting for my answer.

"Um-…" I stuttered still a bit insecure of what to think about this sudden change of heart. "Please take care of me." I managed to mumble out, before reaching out my hand. But the cleric's one stretched out further and grasped my palm firmly into a handshake.

For a moment there I felt really glad to be a part of all this, but the question of whether I can fit in quickly pushed those feelings away. That's when I made a promise to myself. I have to do everything I can to prove my usefulness and place in Usagi's party, which had grown with one more.

-xXx-

Author Comment: First of all I'd like to apologize for any mistakes or typos you see. I scanned real quick this before posting and I believe I edited most of them.

Second, I want to say that I do not own Dragon Nest or any NPCs, towns or monsters that may appear in this FanFic e.x. Deckard, Calderock Village and so on...

Third, I'd be vary happy to see some reviews to this story. I usually write in my mother language, and this is my first time writing a story in English that's above 1k words, not to mention that I've never written FanFics before and that this is a totally new world for me.

Fourth, This was made for my dear friend Pam (Hey, Pam *waves*). She "forced" me into it!...I just wanted to say that... Anyways, the character names belong to the both of us, as well as the concepts to their personalities and all, as they were based off of our player characters in the MMORPG.

Fifth, and hopefully last, I'd like to thank to all of those who read this.

Thank you! =3