((Here we go! This is a log of my own character (Raoul) and my friends' characters' adventures in Rune-Midgard. If I accidentally ever call Saku a girl, lemme know. XD))

The journey actually started when Saku and Ethros had just become Novices.

Ethros had always had a great interest in magic, so it was only natural he'd want to become a Mage. Saku encouraged him all the way, while he took his own path: the way of the Swordsman. Saku, like Ethros, had chosen that due to his own interests: swords and melee combat.

By the time they'd been appointed their fisrt classes, I was still hanging out in Prontera with my good friend Korva. Korva had begun his own quest a long time before I had and was going to become a Crusader. He always enjoyed protecting the innocent and being as supportive as he could, which led me to wonder why he didn't become an Acolyte instead.

In any case, Korva had joined into a party with Ethros and Saku a while back, and they really had a good time. The first so-called "adventure" they embarked on was "Galactic Conquest" which would begin with expansion of languages. They never got that far, considering those that spoke Portuguese (which is actually a lot of people, considering) only knew limited English. They did, however, learn a few phrases.

Of course, they never got very far, and Korva was too busy training himself to join Saku and Ethros in their ramblings. Korva had always been so dedicated…that's probably why I admire him so much. I guess you could say I'm the same way now as Korva was then.

I was still a naïve little Novice back then. I'm a little younger than the rest of the crew, so I hadn't gotten the chance to be introduced to battle. Korva told me that before he changed his mind to become a Swordsman he'd wanted to be an Acolyte. He said that the only reason he didn't was that he realized how many people were harassed to be healed. He told me that Acolytes were anything but walking potions and that they all had such a depth of character. He encouraged me to take the path of the Acolyte, that I'd be a great asset to the team as their healer.

Of course, considering how much I admired Korva, I couldn't pass up of the opportunity to impress him. Thus, I became an Acolyte. My main goal was to be strong and brave, just as Korva and Saku were, yet strong in mind and powerful with magic like Ethros. I foolishly raised my strength often so that I could battle alongside Korva, and yet at the same time wanted badly to become a Priest when I became able.

The big problem with my choice is that an Acolyte must be strong in mind and weak physically to become a worthwhile Priest. Priests are healers and supporters only, and don't worry of such things as battle. Priests are selfless and do nothing but help others in need. Perhaps that's why I aspired to be just that. No…it was because I wanted to be like Korva.

One day, Ethros and Korva decided that they needed to go to Morroc to become stronger. The monsters in the area were far from strong enough to be a challenge to them, and yet the monsters surrounding Morroc, particularily in the pyramids and the sphinx, were the perfect challenge.

They never came back.

Saku and I worried constantly, wondering where they could have gone, what could have happened to them. I probably worried even more than Saku; Korva meant more to me than anyone else. If he was gone…my world was gone.

Saku and I were standing by a Kafra woman in the centre of Prontera, being sure to record our respawn points if we happened to fall in battle. We were always so careful…

As I was thinking to myself about Korva and where he must be now, a light, clawlike tap on my shoulder caught my attention, snapping me out of my reverie. I whirled around to meet eyes with an effeminate thief. He looked to be the deceiving type, letting his pretty-boy looks fool you into a false sense of security.

"My name is Lilliandrei," he told me. "Would you happen to be the friend of a mister Germaine?"

"Yes," I replied, "was his first name Korva?"

He nodded. I felt like I could burst with happiness that moment, thinking of Korva and how much he meant to me, how much I would kill to see him again.

"He's dead."

Instead of bursting with happiness, I burst into tears. I couldn't stand anymore, everything lost its strength. I just fell there onto my knees, tears streaming down my face. Why Korva? Why did he have to die? What about Ethros? He had to have escaped…if he didn't, then…

"As is his good companion Ethros."

Then Saku lost his footing as well, but with an awkward stumble he regained his balance. He was obviously stunned, and trying to hide it.

Lilliandrei simply smiled at us, giggling in a disgustingly feminine way. "Oh, dear. If you want I could…say…take their place. I'm sure you could use a thief. After all, I can give you enough zeny to buy Prontera itself…"

I glared at him. How could he have no sympathy for us? Give us news of the deaths of our companions, and then ask if he could join us? Despicable!

"…Two people is no party."

Lilliandrei's grin widened into a straight out, ear-to-ear smile, and he jumped a little for emphasis of his excitement. "Yes, yes, that's the idea! When can I start?"

I dried my eyes awkwardly with my sleeve, looking up at Lilliandrei with hate, hatred for his femininity, hatred for that ridiculous hair of his (Hah! Blue and covering up an eye? What's wrong with you?), hatred for his stupid impractical clothes. No thief of Morroc would wear such a thick jacket, or that rosy shade of gold, totally off from the sandy color of the desert.

But I digress. I brushed sticky green strands out of my eyes and looked up at Saku. He was smiling down at me. He knelt down to my level and put a calming hand on my shoulder, flashing me a winful smile. "Look, Raoul. Nothing good will come of moping around with angst in your eyes, right? You can remember Korva, and I can remember Ethros, but we can't let those memories keep us down, alright?"

I sighed and stood shakily, glancing from Lilliandrei to Saku. Well, if this was our party, this was our party…

"Kill it, Saku! It's gonna kill me!"

"Shut up! I can take care of it, I just need to recharge my skill power!"

"Whatever. Here, Raoul! I'll get it for you!"

The Lunatic that had been viciously tearing at my robes was taken off of me. I looked up at the abnormally large ball of snowy fluff and it grinned down at me. It pulled a carrot out of seemingly nowhere and popped it into its mouth, chewing loudly, probably just to annoy us.

"Well, I guess this'll come in handy after all…" I removed the rainbow carrot from my pocket and held it up to the Lunatic. It squealed in delight and hopped out of Lilliandrei'd hands, running up to me and lovingly rubbing up against my side. "Well, I guess it worked…"

Saku clapped in delight and gestured to her Poring. "Well, that's two of us! I've got Mini Satan and you've got…uh…"

"…Sir Charles."

Lilliandrei gave me a horrified look and burst out laughing, falling over and hugging his sides.

Saku smirked, but nothing more. "Great name, Raoul. Korva would be proud."

In truth, the name hadn't come from my own imagination. Korva had kept a tiny doll in his pocket wherever he went, saying it was good luck. He gave it the name Sir Charles, making fun of the Knights by saying they were big falls of fluff compared to Crusaders. I laughed at that, but Korva and I kept it a secret from Saku. Since Saku was journeying to become a Knight, we didn't want to offend him.

Sir Charles hyperactively bounced about my legs, truly living up to the name of his species. I figured raising a Lunatic wouldn't be any walk in the park but…this would probably be more than just a handful.

This would be a huge bucket of fluff…named Sir Charles.

"So, where to next?" Saku tilted his head inquisitively at me, his black hair falling to one side and covering up one of his eyes. For a moment he reminded me of Lilliandrei and his mannerisms, but I let the thought pass. I still hadn't forgiven Lilliandrei for the bad news, and there was no way I was going to if Saku was adopting his behaviour.

"Let's stay here a while. Smokies give good experience and they're a challenge for me."

Lilliandrei raised an eyebrow. "Dude, you're a Battle Acolyte. What kinda challenge is a Smokie?"

I waved him off with a bit of annoyance, turning and withdrawing my mace from my belt. With a few quick swings to the torso of a nearby enemy (which was a bit difficult with Sir Charles in my way) it was dead.

"See, what'd I tell you? You do even more damage to those buggers than I do!" Lilliandrei's voice held a mocking sort of enthusiasm. That was one thing I never liked about the thief. He always seemed so cocky, so arrogant, so full of himself. Whatever way you say it, he was a prick.

"Yeah, whatever. I'm still weaker than Saku, and if I can't measure up to him, then I'm nothing!"

Lilliandrei sighed and turned around. "Yeah, whatever. Have fun, greenyhead."

I growled at him irritably and picked up Sir Charles, who squeaked with excitement. Saku pulled a flask of carrot juice out of one of his pockets and administered it to the Lunatic, while I simply looked around to spot more prey.

((Next chapter up soon!))