Introductions! That's pretty much this chapter in a nutshell XD. Hope you enjoy! Wow I'm on a role now. Special thanks to Zeshaika for the awesome review and giving me advice. Really loved it! Also, this chapter I'm admittedly good with, as again this chapter is to introduce one new characters and give Spoony a horse but then we'll get to more introductions and good stuff like that. Hope you enjoy!

Oh and I realized I didn't give Linkara's horse a name… So I named him after "King Arthur" out of Camelot, Linkara's favorite musical and movie

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Spoony and Linkara went to the back of the barn, careful with the owner but he showed no sign of sly intentions, but his smile, somehow, said otherwise. The owner opened the door and there were some horses definitely healthy enough to ride on. Spoony grinned from underneath his cape, glad that he won't be forced to ride behind his friend's horse, it was a bit uncomfortable for him to be that way.

The owner responded, cheerfully so "Alright mates. Tell me which one holds you pleasure"

Linkara smirked kindly to Spoony , who walked around, checking each horse. However none seemed to catch his interest, which caused the owner to go over to the man and respond hurriedly "If none of these horses interest you there are some in the-"

Suddenly a loud whining neigh was heard, and some crashes were caused in one of the stables. The owner ran to stop it but Spoony immediately found interest. Spoony walked over as the owner tried to tighten the lock of the horse's stable.

Once the horse calmed down, which took a while, Spoony spoke "Where did you get this one?"

"Oh her" The owner responded, somewhat annoyed with the horse's stubbornness "This is Yuna. She's a stubborn one. We had her for a couple of years, bought it from a friend of mine who did not want her, I'm not surprised why. I do not think she would interest you"

"Yuna" Spoony repeated calmly, incredibly interested, especially since this horse was available mostly because of her temper. Spoony felt a strange but noticeable connection with Yuna. He turned to Linkara, who was simply awaiting spoony to make a decision. Spoony grinned and responded "I will take her"

"What?! Are you sure? Yuna has a very tough spirit" The owner replied, he was clearly shocked. No one ever wanted her and when someone did, Yuna normally rejected them.

"So do I. I will take her. Name your price" Spoony responded, staring at Yuna, who for some reason was incredibly calm now

The owner gave another grin after registering the fact Spoony wanted her. The owner rubbed his chin and responded slyly "Well. She does not come cheap. I'm afraid she costs 40 pieces of silver"

Spoony grinned slyly, sure it was expensive but his savings were around that, so he could buy Yuna easily. Spoony got out his pouch of money and grabbed 40 silver coins "Here. Take it"

The owner widened his eyes and his grin turned to a frown of shock. He responded nervously "This… This is quite a lot of money you have sir. Quite a lot"

"If you do not want it. Maybe I shall take it back" Spoony taunted, feeling the owner was now stalling him. The owner immediately took it and responded slyly again "Pleasure doing business with you"

Linkara walked over and whispered "Spoony. Are you sure about Yuna? You say you like a horse with spirit but what if she has too much of that?"

Spoony turned to Linkara and hissed back "Relax. My last horse was stubborn as well. I know how to tame a horse"

Yuna neighed angrily and pulled back when the owner went to tie her bit and was clearly agitated as she left the stable she was in. Yuna was pulled harshly by the owner which caused Linkara to frown, for he felt nature both plant and animal should be respected. Spoony also frowned and commented "If you pull her like that she will think you are trying to hurt her. Give the horse to me"

"She just is used to not being told what to do, sir. If you insist though, I shall let you handle it. Be careful" The owner responded sternly, he wasn't really listening to Spoony's advice but since the man was so interested in Yuna, he would allow Spoony to take care of it.

Spoony took the rope and gently patted Yuna's left side. Yuna at first pulled back, which caused Spoony to hold onto the rope tightly and start shushing her. Spoony whispered comforting words to Yuna, the horse slowly stopped resisting and calmed down. Yuna even allowed for Spoony to gently pat her again, then he carefully walked with Yuna to the outside door, where Critic was with Casper and Linkara's horse. Critic turned and smirked in greeting to Spoony, until he saw he was busy speaking to Yuna. After some time, Yuna allowed Spoony to go onto her back and he put on some horse reigns on her.

The owner's jaw dropped "How is that even possible? Yuna never allows me to ride her back nor anyone else to!"

"My friend has ways of taming animals. He is quite talented" Linkara commented, crossing his arms. He was glad Spoony succeeded in getting Yuna to trust him.

"That or I know what she wants. She wants a gentle hand" Spoony responded, petting Yuna's back. Yuna bobbed her head as if she agreed to what he said.

"Well then. You have your horse. My work is done. I suppose none of you need a horse" The owner responded, somewhat annoyed and pleasant at the same time, and as he spoke he pointed to Casper and Linkara's horse.

"No we do not but thank you regardless" Critic commented, both patiently and sternly. The owner then nodded a good bye to the three men before going back into his barn. Critic turned to Spoony, as he got on Casper and responded "Something tells me you hit the man's nerve"

"Do you honestly think I care hunter? I only came for a horse and I got one" Spoony retorted, his tone was not un-amused or annoyed, it was more cheerful as picking Yuna was perfect for him.

Linkara was about to get onto his own horse when suddenly he neighed and rose up, which caused Casper and Yuna to panic as well. Linkara grabbed his horse's reigns and shushed him "Steady Arthur. Steady" Linkara successfully calmed Arthur down, while Spoony shushed Yuna and Critic restrained Casper.

"What caused your horse to act in such a way, Linkara?" Critic demanded

"I do not know" Linkara responded, he checked his horse to see if anything was wrong, when he suddenly noticed his pack of food supply was taken. Linkara narrowed his eyes and responded "Someone took my private food supply"

As if to give Linkara a clue, a man who was near arthur gasped and ran off quickly. Spoony noticed the man and responded "It is him. He must of stolen the food which caused Arthur to panic"

"That street rat. He will pay for this. I'll get him" Critic responded harshly, and before Spoony or Linkara could stop him, he forced Casper to run after the thieves. Linkara rubbed his eyes and Spoony face palmed before they got onto their horses and followed Critic.

"Halt!" Critic snapped, making Casper stop the thief in his path. Critic saw the thief and sneered at them. The thief was tan, dirty-looking and had a buzzcut of black hair with a black mustache, his clothes were brown and white but admittedly tacky. He sneered right back to Critic and snapped "Out of my way!"

"I'm afraid not" Critic responded, turning casper around, so he could close in on the thief. Spoony and Linkara caught up with Critic and both surrounded the thief as well. Linkara went down from his horse and asked sternly "Why did you take my food supply? You could've asked"

"You would've said no besides, not everybody can buy food. I need it" The thief snapped, he clearly was agitated with the fact he was caught.

"Well how about you give most of it back, and I can give you some of my food in return" Linkara patiently responded, Linkara felt slight sympathy for the thief and found it that maybe compromising would help him get his food back. The thief however had other ideas, he quickly threw dust at Linkara's face, got onto Arthur and galloped away.

"Damnit!" Spoony cursed, galloping right after the horse-napping thief. Critic got down from Casper and helped Linkara out with getting dust out of his eyes, afterwards he helped Linkara get on Casper and followed Spoony.

XXXXXX

Spoony was getting more and more irritated as the chase went on. The thief rode Arthur all the way to the forest, Spoony forced Yuna to run faster just so he could catch up. Spoony would not allow the thief to get away with stealing his friend's horse. Spoony finally found the thief stop as a boulder was in his path and Spoony cornered him, Yuna as if with the same sort of temper as Spoony was, neighed and rose up a bit before settling down.

Spoony went down and grabbed the thief's arm and pulled him down from Arthur, however Spoony's efforts made the thief angry and he wrestled with Spoony to the ground. Spoony pinned the thief down for a moment and gave him a bear-hug, which caused the thief to find any place to kick Spoony away.

The thief then grabbed some of Spoony's hair and pulled it tightly, which caused him to actually let go for a moment to get the theif's hand out of his hair. Which caused Spoony's hood to fall off finally, and the thief was shocked to see it was The Bard who he was fighting with and immediately released him. Spoony rubbed his head but quickly got up and into a fighting position, ready to battle again if needed.

"It is you! You are the legendary bard!" The thief replied shocked

"Why yes. Why does this matter to you after you stole my friend's horse?" Spoony snapped, clearly not in a good mood.

"I did not know that was your friend and I did not know you were him. It's.. It's a honor to meet you. Or fight you, whatever the case may be" The thief responded, grinning like a fool and his tone was very cheerful now.

Spoony calmed down a tad and responded back "Well now you know and you owe my friend his horse"

"I only stole the horse to escape from your friend. I panicked" The thief said sheepishly

Spoony was about to say more when Critic and Linkara eventually came by, Critic and Linkara got off of casper and Critic ran to the thief only to be restrained by Spoony. Critic snapped "Unhand me! This thief deserves a lesson!"

"He only did what he did because he was hungry and nervous. Calm yourself, hunter. Besides, he knows who we are now" Spoony snapped, trying his hardest to keep his ally at bay.

Linkara took off his robe, walked to the thief in question and responded calmly "You did not have to do that. That was not necessary"

"You.. You are Linkara! You and The Bard are friends?!" The thief asked shocked

"Yes we are. Now that you know this you must not tell this to anyone. It is for your own safety" Linkara sternly responded

"Yes. I will not tell a soul. Also, I apologize. I did not mean to steal your horse, I was angry at the fact I was caught and also afraid that I was going to get hurt" The thief's tone was calm and apologetic.

Linkara nodded, feeling the need for forgive him. Linkara felt there was goodness in the thief despite his actions, he seemed to only want to protect and take care of himself, not to cause trouble. Linkara responded calmly "It is alright. I believe you. You are forgiven"

Then Spoony and Critic came by to see both Linkara and the thief shake hands. Critic growled a bit and sneered to the thief "Consider yourself fortunate street rat"

"I have a name. It is Joseph Vargas" Joseph retorted, frowning to Critic

"Where do you come from, Joseph?" Linkara asked

"I can come from anywhere. My parents passed away when I was a boy, I was forced to go into the streets and to any village to feed myself. I am indeed a street rat but a very good one. Today is just one of my bad days" Joseph patiently responded

Critic sneered "Have you ever thought of asking?"

"No. Most people try to kick me away. I am not used to begging, I steal" Joseph shrugged at that, as if this was nothing to him.

"It was a… pleasure to know you, Joseph. We must be off" Linkara responded, walking to his horse

"Where are you going?" Joseph asked, curious to what the three were going to.

"Tandem" Spoony responded calmly

"Why tell him this?!" Critic snapped, clearly in a bad mood with the fact Joseph was here "He is not involved!"

"He's curious. Might as well tell him before we leave" Spoony retorted, smirking to Critic, amused again.

"Take me with you!" Joseph responded, beggingly so. He stopped to go right in front of the three men's horses. Linkara, Spoony and Critic stopped and looked to each other, then to Joseph. They weren't sure if the thief was entirely useful, and also bringing him would be risky.

"No. Go home" Critic said first

"I have no home to go to" Joseph chuckled, as if he was trying to remind them what he previously said.

"You can get killed" Linkara responded, more patient than Critic was.

"I do not fear death" Joseph bravely and arrogantly replied

"Do you even know where Tandem is?" Spoony asked

"Why do you?" Joseph asked right back, he smirked while asking the question

Critic widened his eyes, Linkara rubbed his head and Spoony sighed. They forgot to ask directions on where Tandem was and also, they didn't really have a map on them. They were so busy dealing with Joseph, they forgot they didn't know where to get to Tandem.

"No. We do not. Again I ask, do you know where it is?" Spoony asked, admittedly embarrassed

"I do! Take me and I can help you!" Joseph begged, seeing his shot to go to the adventure the other three were going to.

Critic whispered to Linkara "This is a bad idea. I do not trust him"

"Critic, he is the only one that knows how to get there. He may be a valuable ally. He does show some fighting skill and maybe we can teach him to battle better" Linkara whispered back, knowing Joseph was indeed really useful. Spoony turned to Linkara, silently asking him if he should allow Joseph to come and Linkara nodded, much to Critic's dismay

"Fine. You can come with us, but you will have to be taught how to use a few weapons and such. Are you prepared for that?" Spoony asked, frowning sternly

"Of course I am! I have a dagger but I do need work on fighting" Joseph admitted

"One last thing" Linkara calmly asked "Do you have a horse?"

Joseph shook his head and the three men groaned in annoyance. Critic snapped "Fine. We will go back to the town to get you a blasted horse and you can come with us"

"Thank you so much!" Joseph responded going onto Linkara's horse. He responded cheerfully "You will not regret this!"

"We better not" Critic murmured as he made Casper go forward, Linkara followed with Joseph behind him and Spoony made yuna turn around.

"You know Joseph sounds inappropriate for you" Spoony responded calmly "I think your spirit is very passionate and firey. Instead, I think we should call you Angry Joe"

"Angry joe!" Angry Joe responded curiously, rubbing his chin before speaking cheerfully "I like it!"

Linkara, Spoony, Critic and Angry joe went right back to the town and Angry Joe quickly picked a brown horse and named him "Jasper", Angry Joe then responded to his new allies the right way to Tandem and off they went. They would now get to Tandem which was the main land of Enternam, home of the king. As Linkara said, it would take some time to get there so they had to be as quick as they could. Critic as he traveled with Casper, only hoped they would succeed