D&D Tag Along
Chapter 2: First Adventure
A/N: I have to admit that I somewhat agree with grayangle. Personally, I liked the original version more, but what can we do? That chapter got removed and this one is still standing. After that first chapter, the remainder of the story will be fairly similar to what I had planned for the story the first time around. I assure you that this fic will not be purely action, for a fair amount of character plot will be added. I will try to clear up any plot holes that I had created in the first chapter.
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"Who is that Boneheimer fellow that they were talking about?" I found myself asking Deanna as we made our way through the market. I was receiving quite a few strange looks from people as I walked past them. It must be because we were wearing clothing from a different age. I would find some time to change later.
"Do not say his name when we are in public. He is feared by the people of this world." Deanna warned, forcing me to a stop. "He is the one who is going around taking over people with his mind control. Just be wary about who you mention him to." With that, Deanna continued her trek through the marketplace. I hesitated for a few seconds before following after her.
We arrived at the entry way to the town a few minutes later. There was a large cart with two sturdy workhorses attached to it parked just within the entrance. A young boy was sitting on the cart and was keeping careful watch over the horses. He noticed Deanna approaching and quickly jumped to his feet. "The horses are ready and safe, miss." He stated with a huge smile.
Deanna retrieved a small silver coin from her pocket and tossed it to the lad. He fitted the coin between his teeth and attempted to bend the coin. "Thanks, much!" He called before vanishing into the alleyways.
I watched as Deanna climbed up onto a bench at the front of the cart. She then beckoned for me to follow her lead. I quickly obliged and sat down beside. "Now what?" I asked.
"We wait for the others." Deanna responded. She was looking steadily in the direction of the pub. I found myself looking her over, remembering that it was her amazing beauty that had convinced me to follow her. "Quit checking me out." She commented out of the corner of her mouth, although she was struggling not to smile.
"Sorry." I apologized. Just then a thought had come to mind. I pulled up my sweater and the chain mail shirt and looked at my stomach. To my surprise I found that there was no sign of the knife wound that I had received the previous day. "What the…" I began to say but Deanna quickly silenced me.
"I should have told you earlier, but I healed your wound back when you were in the hospital." Deanna explained as she revealed a small glowing stone from her pocket. "This thing allows me to heal one wound per day. Very handy to have."
I nodded my head in understanding. "I should have noticed that something was out of the ordinary. Never once did the wound bother me after you visited. Thanks."
"No problem." Deanna smiled. We sat in silence for a minute or two before she came up with something to talk about. "I have been wondering about something about you for quite some time." She admitted.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I am wondering how you managed to find time for all of those achievements that you have reached in life. The fact that you have two black belts in the martial arts has me baffled." Deanna said.
I let out a tiny chuckle. "That's a long story, but since we have time, I might as well tell you. My father is the one who taught me jujitsu. He trained me extremely well and we went through many rigorous training exercises. It took me just over five years to attain a black belt.
My dad was extremely proud of me and had me enter many martial arts tournaments. Well, in one of these tournaments I ended up facing a really tough opponent who had a black belt in karate. Our fight lasted for nearly an hour. The referees ended up calling the match a draw.
A rematch was scheduled for later that day. The two of us made a wager where the winner would receive the loser's belt. You can guess who ended up winning." I finished my story.
Deanna was engrossed in the tale. "So, technically, you only have legitimately received one black belt."
"I still count the karate black belt as being legitimate." I countered.
It was Deanna's turn to laugh. We spent another ten minutes talking to each other before the rest of the group arrived. "I hope that we are not interrupting anything important." Jillian joked when she spotted us. I could swear that Deanna blushed a bit when Jillian said that.
"Go behind that wall and change into these." Tagorus commanded as he tossed both of us a set of clothes. "It is probably best that you blend in with the crowd. We do not want Boneheimer to have a reason to target us."
I did as Tagorus said. A minute later, I emerged wearing my new attire. A simple pair of trousers with a pair of leather boots covered my lower half. A leather vest was layered over an oversized white shirt. I could swear that I looked just like Orlando Bloom's character in Pirates of the Caribbean.
Deanna quickly went behind the wall and got changed. "Stop checking me out! That is the second time that I have told you!" She threatened me when she walked out from behind the wall. She was now wearing a long blue skirt that reached her ankles. The only thing I could say about her top was that it definitely was not covering her entire chest.
"I take it that everything is now in order." Rurik exclaimed. "Let us get under way."
"Are we there yet?" I asked impatiently. Today marked the fifth day of traveling. We were currently making out way through a thick forest. Fortunately, there was a faint path that wound itself through the mass of trees. We had yet to run into anybody else on the trail or find anything interesting.
"Quit asking that question!" Gabriel commanded, clearly annoyed. She was flying about a dozen feet above the ground, keeping watch for any form of danger.
"The trip to Dondoria normally takes a full week." Tagorus stated.
"A full week! You mean that we have two more days of this?" I inquired.
"Actually, it takes a full week if you travel day and night. Taking rests like we are extends the time to a week and six days." Jillian explained.
I let out a faint groan. "What have I gotten myself into? Just because of some good looking girl. What about my life back home? My parents are probably worried sick about me." I thought.
The sun was beginning to dip out of sight. During the day we could hardly see the sun through the entanglement of the leafy canopy that hung above our heads. Now, the forest was nearly pitch black. "We should set up camp for the night." Deanna suggested.
"Remember, Tint, it is your turn to keep watch for the first half of the night." Rurik commented.
I let out another groan of dismay. I had been looking forward to a nice sleep. Tagorus saw my look of dismay and spoke up, "Do not worry. You only need to stay awake for the four hours while I meditate."
"Four hours of less sleep. How much fun!" I said sarcastically.
"That's the spirit!" Rurik exclaimed giving me a hearty slap on the back as he approached the cart. He then retrieved a large axe and headed to a nearby fallen tree. He was going to cut some wood for the fire.
It was a few hours later. I found myself staring mindlessly into the burning flames before me. Everyone else was sleeping or meditating in Tagorus' case. I was somewhat frightened when I saw Gabriel hunched up in a nearby tree.
I was really starting to regret ever coming to this world. Sure, I was the kind of person who searched for adventure. But this was getting tiresome. I hadn't done anything. The only thing keeping me here was Deanna, and chances are that she wasn't going to be interested in me.
Well, honestly, who would want to stay here? This world sounded very dangerous and I wasn't sure if I could manage to survive. I could handle my own back in my world, but this was different. Everyday was a fight for survival. That should make the inhabitants of this world that much stronger.
I was becoming very tired of keeping watch. My eyes were becoming heavy. The ground seemed to be inviting me to lie down. It was all that I could do to resist the temptation. I found myself dozing off for a few seconds and snapping back to reality momentarily before falling asleep for another quick nap.
Some movement in the bushes caught my attention. A few muffled sounds followed the movement at the bushes began to bustle with activity. I got up to my feet, unsheathing my sword as I went. Then, just as suddenly as they had started moving, the bushes quit moving.
I figured that it was best to check to see if anything was amiss. I silently crept towards the bush, keeping my eyes peeled. I parted the bushes and strained to see the cause of the disturbance. Suddenly, I found myself entangled in a net, being dragged to the ground. I desperately tried to call out in surprise, but a rag was place over my mouth, muffling my voice.
I could hardly make out my attackers in the darkness. The dim glow from the fire illuminated their rough scale covered bodies. They looked like miniature versions of dinosaurs. Each one wore a tiny leather vest and carried a small spear. I recognized them as Kobolds, relatively weak monsters. But here I was, beaten by a bunch of them. Now that's a humiliating experience. The Kobolds had dragged me over to a nearby tree and tied me to the trunk, ensuring that I couldn't escape.
There were about twenty of the little buggers. One clearly stood out as the leader and he gave orders to the other Kobolds. The creatures split into groups. The majority of the Kobolds headed over to the cart, while a few snuck up on the others. A few stayed behind to watch over me. It appeared that these creatures were a bunch of bandits.
One Kobold was poking me with his spear. He made a comment to his comrades and they made some sort of laughing sound. I tried to kick out at him, but was unable to reach. In response, the Kobold gave me an extra hard jab and backed away to a safer distance.
A short screech of surprise drew everyone's attention. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to wake my group. The Kobolds were looking around, trying to locate the source of the sound. The screech sounded again, this time from above. We all looked up to see a Kobold falling out of nowhere. He hit the ground with a sickening thud.
The nearest Kobold rushed to the fallen one's side. He looked over the body and shook his head. "Dead." He commented as he stepped away from the body. The next thing we knew, he was sent flying into a nearby tree.
The Kobolds were scared out of their minds. They were under attack by some unseen force. At least the members of my group didn't appear to be waking up. I was amazed at how deeply they were sleeping. They should have woken up at the first sign of combat. Another Kobold, this one was near the cart, was struck down.
Suddenly my arms became free. "The others are under a sleeping spell. It is just us two able to fight." The voice belonged to Gabriel. She was hiding in the shadows behind the tree that I was tied to. It must have been her that was wrecking havoc on the Kobolds. Before I knew it, I saw her go flying into the night sky to make another attack pass on the enemies.
I carefully collected my sword without drawing the Kobolds' attention. They hadn't taken it very far away from me. The Kobolds had huddled closely together near the fire, carefully keeping their eyes peeled for Gabriel. I attempted to sneak over to Rurik, who was closest to me, but a Kobold spotted me.
I barely managed to dodge the spears that were hurled at me. The tiny creatures hurriedly advanced upon me, but stopped short when I drew my sword. They slowly began to back away from me, ready to make a dash for safety. Gabriel had descended back to solid ground and was ready to charge the Kobolds. Her mace was already smeared with the blood of the Kobolds that she had already slain.
The sight of the elven half fiend was enough to convince the Kobolds to flee. Gabriel was ready to chase after them, but I steadied her. "Leave them. We can't leave the others undefended." I told her as I put away my blade.
"Wise choice, Tint. You stay here, I will give chase." With that, Gabriel flew off in the direction that the Kobolds went in.
It wasn't much later when the others awoke from their slumber. The sun was just beginning to peek over the horizon, casting a glow over everything it touched. I explained what had happened during the night while they were asleep. They seemed skeptical at first until they saw the bodies scattered around the camp area.
Gabriel returned not long after I finished my explanation. "I only got four more." She announced, somewhat disappointedly, as she landed among the group.
"Where would Kobolds find access to such a powerful sleep spell? It even managed to affect Tagorus." Jillian pondered as she extinguished the fire with a pile of dirt.
"I don't know." Rurik replied. "Tint, did you here anyone chanting anything strange while you were on guard?"
I shrugged my shoulders in response. "Nope, nothing. But I did become drowsy really suddenly at one point."
"Maybe it was some sort of powder or potion they laced the area with before we arrived." Deanna suggested.
The others quickly dismissed the idea. "That wouldn't account for Tint and Gabriel being awake throughout." Jillian explained.
"We should not worry so much about it. Nothing was stolen and we are unharmed. Maybe someone would know something at the Fire'n'Water Inn. We are headed that way anyway." Rurik submitted his choice.
"Brilliant thinking, Rurik. It is along the path to Dondoria, so we can stop there on the way." Jillian decided.
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A/N: I know it's a lot shorter than the first chapter. I'm not good at writing a story that continuously hits high word counts every chapter. I hope you liked this chapter and please leave a review on your way out.