Chapter 2: A Day to Try New Things
The sun started to rise from the east, over the town of New Mushroomton, everybody was getting up and starting their daily routines. At a nice house, in their shared bedroom, two twin elves, a boy and a girl, were in the midst of getting ready to go to their school. They both put on separate sweatshirts, and as the girl was tying her long, blue hair up in a ponytail with her favorite scrunchie, her twin brother knocked on the door. "Hey, Alana, are you ready?" her older twin asked. "Yep, I'm ready.!" the younger twin sister answered. She grabs her backpack and she and her brother, Ian, make their way down the stairs. Once they were down, they noticed their mother, Laurel, working out in front of the television. "Morning, Mom." Ian and Alana said at the same time. Then, a dragon came running towards the twins and jumped onto them, licking their faces.
Laurel grabs a spray bottle and sprayed the dragon with it. "Blazey, down. Bad dragon, back to your lair.!" Laurel commanded the dragon as it scurried away. Laurel then turned her attention to her twin children. "Happy Birthday, Mr and Ms Adults.!" Laurel said as she smothers Ian and Alana's faces with kisses. "Mom, stop it.!" Ian and Alana said as they wiped their faces. "Hey, you two, don't wipe off my kisses.!" Laurel said. Then, she noticed the two separate sweatshirts that each twin wore. Ian and Alana paused for a short while. "What?" Ian asked. "You guys are wearing your dad's college sweatshirts.!" Laurel said. "Well, you know, they finally fit." Alana replied. "Oh, my twin babies are all grown up.!" Laurel said as she attempted to pinch both of the twins' cheeks. "Mom, we gotta eat something before school." Ian said as he headed into the kitchen with his sister and his mother following behind him. "We don't have much food. I still have to go to the grocery store." Laurel said as Ian and Alana looked in the fridge to find something to eat. They attempted to grab the food that was on a tray, until Laurel stopped them. "Hey, hands off, you two, those are for your party tonight.!" Laurel said. "It's not a party, Mom, it's just us." Alana said. "Well, the two of you could invite those kids from your science class. You two said that they seem pretty rockin'.!" Laurel suggested. "We're pretty sure we didn't say it like that." Ian said. "Besides, we don't even know them." Alana stated. "Well, your birthday is a day to try new things.! Be the new you.!" Laurel said before turning on the blender. "Speaking of trying new things, have you two signed up for driving practice?!" Laurel asked the twins at a loud volume since the blender was loud. "No." Ian and Alana answered at the same time. "I know you're scared to drive, guys, but-" Laurel started to say.
"We're not scared, Mom. We're gonna move Barley's game." Ian said as he headed to the dining room table with his sister following him, each of them holding a bowl of cereal. "Okay, but you two know how he gets when someone touches that board." Laurel reminded them. Then, Alana stumbled on a toy mace. She picked it up and exhaled. "Well, he's gotta learn how to clean up his toys.!" Alana stated. Then, unexpectedly, Ian and Alana's older brother, Barley, grabbed them and pulled them towards him, holding his younger brother and his younger sister in his grasp. "Halt! Does my brother and sister dare disrupt an active campaign?!" Barley asked in his medieval voice. As Ian and Alana struggle to free themselves from Barley's grip, their bowls of cereal fall off the table and they spill on the floor. "Aww, come on.!" Ian said as he sounded like he was being strangled. "You know, Ian, Alana, in the days of old, twins of sixteen would have their strength tested in the swamps of despair." Barley stated as he kept his younger siblings in his grip. "We're not testing anything! Just let us go!" Alana pleaded as she also sounded like she was being strangled. "Let them go!" Laurel commanded Barley. "Okay." Barley said as he released his brother and sister from his grasp.
"I know that both of you are stronger than that." Barley stated as Ian and Alana tried to get up from the floor. "There are mighty warriors inside both of you, the two of you just have to let them out.!" Barley said to Ian and Alana before turning towards Laurel. "Right, Mom?!" Barley asked before he grabbed his mother from behind, trying to playfully roughhouse with her. As Laurel tried to break free, Ian and Alana picked up the spilled bowls of cereal. Then, Laurel managed to free herself from Barley's grip by flipping him over, making him lay back on the floor. "See? Mom knows how to let out her inner warrior." Barley said to the twins. "Thank you.! Now take out the trash." Laurel commanded.
As Barley took out the garbage, he heard a police scanner sound. He looked up to find the centaur, Officer Colt Bronco, approaching. "Barley, Barley, Barley, everytime the city tries to tear down an old piece of rubble, I gotta drag my rear end out here and deal with you.!" Colt said. "I don't know what you're talking about." Barley said. "Oh, really?" Colt asked sarcastically as he pulled out his phone to show Barley and Laurel the video from the news. It showed Barley chained up to an ancient fountain, refusing to let construction workers tear it down. "Barley.!" Laurel said in a scolding tone. "They're destroying the town's past.!" Barley said defensively. "Well, come on in, rest your haunches for a minute." Laurel said to Colt. "Thank you, hon." Colt said before he and Laurel shared a kiss. Barley, Ian and Alana exchanged looks at each other before Alana went inside to forget that she even saw that, Ian followed right behind her.
Colt came inside. "Hey, there, birthday twins.! So you're working hard or hardly working?" Colt asked the twins, ending with a whinny-like laugh. "We're just, you know, making toast." Ian answered. Then, Laurel and Barley came back inside. "I'm serious, Barley, you need to stop thinking more about the past, and start thinking more about your future.!" Laurel said to Barley. "She's right. You can't just spend all day playing your board game." Colt said as he sat down at the dining table, knocking over a few game figurines off the table in the process. "Quests of Yore isn't just a board game.! It's a historically-based roleplaying scenario.! Did you know that in the old days that centaurs could run 70 miles an hour?" Barley explained before asking Colt the question, showing a picture of a centaur in the guide book for the game. "I own a vehicle. Don't need to run." Colt stated. "Well, Ian, Alana, you two could definitely learn a lot from Quests of Yore. You guys wanna play?" Barley asked his two younger siblings. "We don't." Ian and Alana answered in unison. Barley ignored Ian and Alana's answer. "You guys could be crafty rouges. Oh, I know.! You guys could be wizards." Barley approached his siblings with a wizard figurine in his hand. "I shall cast a spell on thee.!" Barley said playfully, wrapping his arm around his brother and sister. "Hey, be careful with Dad's sweatshirts.!" Ian said as he and Alana got away from Barley's grip. "I don't even remember Dad wearing either of those sweatshirts." Barley stated. "Well, you do only have two memories of him." Alana said. "No, I've got three. I remember his beard was scratchy, he had a goofy laugh, and I used to play-" Barley said. "Drums on his feet, right, we know." Ian and Alana finished Barley's sentence. Barley demonstrated how he played drums on his dad's feet, using Ian's foot. Then, Ian and Alana's pieces of toast fell on the floor. Barley picked them up, but as he got up, his spiky wrist guard got caught on the sweatshirts, and both sweatshirts ripped, making a hole on Ian's right shoulder and Alana's left shoulder. Ian and Alana gasped. "It's okay, you just have to pull it.!" Barley said as he pulled. But the holes got bigger. "No.!" Ian and Alana shouted in unison. Laurel came over and snipped the two separate strands of thread. "You know what, we're gonna get some food on the way to school." Alana said as she and Ian went towards the front door. "I'll sew those later tonight, okay?" Laurel reassured them. "Wait, by the laws of Yore, I must dub the two of thee adults today. Kneel before me." Barley said. "No, that's okay, we gotta get going." Ian said. "Okay, then I'll pick the two of you up later and we'll perform the ceremony at school.!" Barley said. "No, no, don't do that.!" Ian and Alana said in unison. "Okay, bye.!" Ian and Alana said as they shut the door behind themselves. Then, off they went.