4: A Leader
"This is torturous." Winter groaned as he stared at the paperwork. There was much more to it then he had first thought. Papers full of information from the local Government sat upon the table as well as a list of conduct, permitted weaponry and permission for entrance to the labyrinth itself. Lynn, Loi and Arianna had watched all of this unfold, with amusement on Lynn's part. "A new Guild then?" Arianna asked as she looked over one of the papers. Roy nodded. "Winter here struck me as the type of a leader. And that's what we need here, some fresh faces with the courage to take the Labyrinth head on. So I began scheming, and this is what we have now." He said, waving to the papers. "But wait, I thought there was a deadline for Guild registration in this city." Lynn interjected. "There is. Which is why we have to fill out all of the papers by tomorrow evening." Roy finished. Winter stared at him. "Tomorrow?" He squeaked in terror. Arianna didn't say anything, she just grabbed a stack of papers and began filing faster then Winter could believe. "You're going to help him then?" Loi asked Arianna as she tapped her pen once against her tongue to get the ink flowing. She shrugged as she began flipping through the papers. "Winter is the most noble of all the people I've met so far besides you two. I figure if he'll accept me, then I'll work. I'm very good with stuff like this actually." She explained while she separated papers into three different stacks. "Really? You will?" Winter perked up; dropping the papers he was holding. Arianna simply bobbed her head as she went through the first stack. Winter just smiled and shook his head. "A Protector and Secretary in one. Arianna, you're just something else! Thank you, thank you so much." He beamed. Roy glanced at Loi and Lynn. "Will you join them too?" Loi shrugged. "I suppose. We weren't impressed with any of the other Guilds. And I sincerely doubt we'll get sponsors at this point in time." He contemplated, reading papers over Arianna's shoulder. Lynn pouted, rolled her eyes, then finally sighed and said "Well, they need me anyhow. I mean, Survivalists are best for surviving, right? So I guess... But I demand the title of Vice president of the guild!" Roy shrugged, slightly amused. "I'm sure Ms. Arianna can somehow achieve that title for you." Winter just shook his head and laughed. "This is really going to be fantastic now!"
"..Life Insurance, Guild member policies, Mapping and discovery credits, trading guarantees... I think that's the most of it." Arianna summarized as she smoothed out the stack of completed papers she had written through. Winter glanced up from the paper he was scribbling through. "You're a star Arianna. Truly." He sighed. Arianna smiled, shaking out her head and standing up once more. "I've had enough coffee for one evening though. A nice glass of water would be great now." She explained as she left the room Winter had booked for their work. Winter shook his head and looked back down to his paper. "I don't get how anyone can do all of this in just a few hours." Upon hearing this, Lynn laughed. "You still haven't gotten past that one paper, and it's already been four hours." She chuckled from her perch on a worse-for-the-wear sofa. Loi delivered a swift kick to the base of the sofa, obviously finding Lynn's chattering a disturbance to his work. With a shriek and a bang, the sofa collapsed under the force, sending Lynn toppling to the ground. Winter tried his best to stifle his laughter as Lynn got up in a huff. "Loi, you're impossible!" She growled, straitening out her tunic and sliding her sunglasses up on her forehead. He didn't say anything in reply, but just set his papers on the low-rise coffee table they were sitting around. Trying to recover her wounded pride, Lynn looked at Winter's paper from over his shoulder. "What are you writing anyway?" She asked. "I'm writing out some more information regarding our guild. What I'm stuck at is this," he said, pointing to the name slot for the Guild. "A name huh?" Lynn mused. Winter nodded. "I'm aiming for something memorable, imaginative, and overall impressive." He explained, waving his hands for emphasis. "The Exploration league?" Loi suggested quietly from his seat. "No. That's terrible. Nice try, but no. Just-no." Winter scolded. Lynn snorted back laughter, Loi looked away and shrugged. "No... I want something that is... more hopeful. Not just a title, but an idea. Ya know what I mean?" Winter said, his voice going into a dream-like state. We could also assume that there was a dreamy look on his face, but no one could quite appreciate it with his inner hood pulled over his face. He of course didn't wear a cape inside a living room, that would be rude. Though, to be honest, Roy, Arianna, Loi and Lynn all wondered why Winter kept his face covered, they were just too polite to bring it up. Well, maybe not all too poli- "Why do you always wear that hood?" Lynn groaned, looking between paper and Winter. Winter shrugged. "You've only known me for a day. From your assumptions, this may not always be always. For all you know, I could've just put this on outside the hill to confuse the narrator and will only keep it on for another day or so. Or I could've been wearing this for my whole life. Your logic is flawed, Lynn-girl." Winter quipped. "Narrator?" "Lynn-girl?" Were Loi's and Lynn's comments. Winter didn't answer, he just continued staring at his papers. Loi shook his head. "Flawed logic or not, Winter, you seem to be the type to have his head in the clouds." He said tiredly, taking his coffee from the table. "Clouds... Clouds... sky... flight... Wings... Wingless!" Winter proclaimed, leaping to his feet. Startled, Lynn flinched when he did so. "What are you talking about?" "A name everyone will remember! A dream. An idea! Reaching for the sky, when all odds are against us! And hope that doesn't even need wings to soar! Wingless!" He declared, writing down the name with a flourish. "What did I miss?" Arianna asked as she came back into the room. "Wingless!" Winter declared as he charged out of the room with the completed paperwork. A smile spread across his lips.
"...Cool?" Was Arianna's unsure response as Winter left.
A pale man with spectacles read through the papers. He nodded once. "Everything appears to be in order. But I say, Roy, a new guild? This isn't like you." He said skeptically. Roy sighed, but even so smiled. "Markus, you have yet to meet them. I'll admit, they aren't the most... Well, Eloquent, but they have charisma. And I think that they'll definitely shake up this city, for the better." He said confidently. Markus tilted his head, a skeptical look on his face. "I hope you're right. Since you turned all of this in on time, they'll be accepted. But they have to finish the original initiation quest before they're an official guild of Largeon." He explained. Roy nodded curtly. "I'll tell them." He stood up, turning to leave when Markus interrupted. "One thing though, Dungeon Master." Roy looked back. "Your new guild didn't fill out the leader's name. They have to finish this before they can go in, as you're well aware." Markus finished. Roy paused, looking slightly deterred. "..Alright. I'll fix that before they come back." He said shortly, then left. Markus stared at the door as Roy left the Senatus, wondering what these new adventurers had that made Roy so different.