Chapter 3: Janice and Theseus
Zephynn lost track of the thing that had bit him after a few minutes of running. He stopped atop a hill and looked around frantically. He couldn't lose that ring. It was far too important to go missing. At that moment, he sighted a line of wagons heading north in the distance. He watched it move for a few moments. Then he saw a streak of blue run in between a few hills towards it. He pursued again.
He found himself near the caravan about ten minutes later. He bent over to catch his breath and then looked up. The back of the caravan was about fifty feet in front of him. He walked after it slowly. As he came in closer, he saw that someone was sitting inside of the back wagon. It was a girl with long, fiery red hair. She wore a green headband, a violet shirt and green pants, rather casual clothing for the time period, especially for a woman. A splash of blue lied across her lap. She seemed to be petting it.
As he came closer, he heard her saying:
"Oh Theseus, did you go off stealing things from travelers again?" she asked teasingly. She held up his ring in her hand.
"Hey!" he called. She turned her head towards him. Her eyes were crystal blue. He realized that he was taking in her appearance and remembered himself suddenly, dashing up to the back of the caravan.
"That's my ring," he said sincerely. She stared at him for a few seconds as he walked along behind the wagon.
"Oh," she said, "I'm sorry. Theseus here just loves to run off and steal things from people." She gestured to the blue streak in her lap. As he walked closer, he saw that it was a reptilian creature with blue scales. It had five small, aqua green horns on its head, two that bent outwards from the sides, and three that formed a crown like shape on its forehead. Its feet were webbed and the end of its tail had three aqua green spikes, two bending out from the side, and another jutting out from the end.
Zephynn's eyes then transfixed on its back. It had two small wings laid out in relaxation.
"A… dragon?" he questioned. The girl nodded.
"Yep," she said, "He's a baby right now. Come on inside here. The merchants won't mind." Zephynn stepped up and found a foothold on the bumper of the wagon. The girl helped him up. She happened to take notice of Temphoros.
"Is that a sword?" she asked.
"Yeah," said Zephynn.
"What's it for?" she asked.
"To protect myself," said Zephynn.
"So you're a mercenary?" she asked.
"Not quite," he said, "I'm on a quest right now."
"But that makes you a mercenary right?" she interjected.
"No, I'm not doing it for money," Zephynn said, getting a little annoyed with this girl's questions, "It's a quest to… to build up my strength."
"So you can become a mercenary?" she asked. Zephynn didn't bother answering the last question. He just sat down across from her and stared at his feet. There were a few minutes of silence.
"I never heard you say your name," she said.
"Why do you need to know?" asked Zephynn.
"Well," she started, "It's nice to meet new people." There were a few more moments of silence.
"Well?" she asked. Zephynn still didn't speak.
"Come on," she said, "It's like you don't have one or something the way you're acting!" Zephynn still didn't give her an answer. She made an exaggerated sigh.
"Oh alright," she said, "I'll tell you my name first. I'm Janice." Zephynn looked up at her. She was looking at him hopefully. He shook his head. She frowned.
"So?" she said.
"How about you just give me back the ring and I'll be on my way?" Zephynn said finally.
"Not until you tell me your name," said Janice.
"Do you not understand how important that ring is?" Zephynn asked seriously, "It is a necessity for my quest."
"Then you'll tell me your name if you want it that bad," said Janice with finality.
"Why is it so important that you know my name?" asked Zephynn.
"Why is it so important that you have this ring?" Janice responded.
"I don't have time for this!" Zephynn began to rage.
"Then tell me your name," said Janice.
"My name is Zephynn!" he yelled. Suddenly, with that exclamation, he felt himself return to the timid version of himself that usually came out when he was around women. Deep inside, he wondered why he hadn't felt that part of himself when he had first met Janice a few minutes before. Perhaps she had finally gotten into his head.
"Well," she said with a light smile, "I guess you really do want your ring back… Zephynn." She said his name with a bit of pizazz. Theseus, who had been minding his own business in her lap and ignoring the conversation, looked up at him and swished his tail.
"So… this quest of yours," she started in a more polite tone, "Do you need any help with it?" Zephynn remembered Boreas's warning; he could not have assistance in completing the trials set out before him. His mind suddenly found a loophole rather quickly; Boreas had said he could not have help with the trials specifically. He didn't say anything about getting help with anything else.
"Perhaps," he answered a little softly.
"Great!" she exclaimed Theseus climbing up to her shoulder as she stood up abruptly, "Sign me up!" Zephynn was taken aback.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," he said, "What do you get out of this?"
"I have my reasons," she said, "Maybe I just feel like being a good citizen and helping a fellow out." Zephynn looked at her with confusion.
"What?" she said, clearly getting annoyed, "Is that not reason enough to help?"
"How are you going to help me?" he asked, "What can you do?"
"Well…" she started. She didn't continue.
"Nothing," Zephynn concluded, "Nothing except being dead weight." Janice suddenly socked him across the face. Zephynn suddenly felt as though he shrunk down several sizes.
"FYI, dork," she said, "I can do plenty. I'll have you know, I was taught by the best fighters in the streets of Bernus down south. I can hold my own in a fight." Zephynn had shrunk into his seat. Both Janice and Theseus glared at him intensely. His phobia was killing him. Finally he caved in.
"Alright," he said ever so timidly, "You can come along with me."
"Yes!" Janice cheered, "Theseus, we are in business!" The little dragon snorted in agreement. Zephynn shook his head in disbelief. He stood up from his seat on shaky legs.
"So, where to Zephynn?" she asked.
"We're not leaving this caravan until you have a weapon," said Zephynn.
"Pfft," said Janice, "That's easy." She walked over to a nearby crate and popped off its lid. Out of it, she pulled a standard, lightweight sword in its sheath.
"Think you can beat me in a swordfight?" she asked, unsheathing the sword and swinging it around discretely. Zephynn pulled Temphoros from its sheath and spun it around between his hands a few times. Then he sliced through the air expertly, sending a powerful blast of wind straight at Janice's face. Her hair was blown back and Theseus was almost knocked off of her shoulder.
"Yep," he said. He sheathed Temphoros and turned to leave the caravan. He motioned for her to follow him. He jumped off of the back of the caravan and landed walking. She hit the ground behind him and stumbled, falling face-first into the grass.
"Come on," he said, turning around to help her up. As he did so, he thought he saw something on the back of the caravan. Or someone. He saw a figure with a black cloak, hood over their head. A dark sword hung at the figure's side. The figure seemed to be staring at him. He shuddered, but then the figure retreated into the caravan and vanished. Zephynn shook his head. He didn't even notice that Janice was off of the ground.
"What are you looking at?" she asked. He snapped out of his thoughts.
"Nothing," he said. He took in his surroundings now. The caravan had carried them perhaps a quarter of a mile north of where he had gotten on. They were nearing the wastelands in which Pallitia Town was based. Zephynn could clearly see the mountains in the distance. His memories began to creep into his mind, but he ignored them. Deciding he didn't want to deal with mountains at this point he turned to the east.
"Let's go," he said. With that, he and his new travelling buddies began to move eastward. He could only hope that they were headed in the right direction, and that he would be able to survive with this girl named Janice and her little dragon Theseus travelling by his side.