(A/N 'Ello, everybody! Not much to say here, other than the story's going to pick up a lot from here on out, so bear with me, mmmkay? Anyway, hope you enjoy!)
Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets. I know, I know; hard to believe, ain't it?
Defenders of Neopia 2: Brotherhood chapter 11: Reunion.
Next time.
Why was there a next time?! Trident had had a chance to kill him, right then and there, but he decided not to?
Jeffory lay on his bed in his dorm. It had only been a day since the mysterious kyrii made his presence known by turning almost the entire bottom floor into a giant crystal. Jeffory had woken up in the arena an hour after Trident made his escape, sparing Jeffory's life. Normally, any other person is his position would be relieved. But Jeffory was only disturbed by this. Was something going to happen? Something even worse than being turned into a crystal by a psycopath with cool hair?
Letting his frustration get the better of him, Jeffory let out a loud sigh, throwing his head back and hitting his headstand in the process.
Jeffory yelped, rubbing the lump that was forming. At least he had something to take his mind off of Trident.
Trident's appearence hadn't only shaken Jeffory up. Everybody in the building was on edge. Teachers didn't allow any students to walk the halls by themselves anymore, and even Larx, smug and confident Larx, had locked himself in his office, and nobody had seen his since the invasion.
Jeffory wasn't complaining.
His thoughts were interrupted as two familiar voices sounded from the hallway outside his dorm.
"...ackass, Jack!" That was definitely Hunter. The accused Jack's chuckle reached Jeffory's ears, followed by a knock.
"It's open!" Jeffory called, relieved to have some sort of distraction from his thoughts. The door opened and in came Jack and Hunter. The former looked extremely pleased with himself, while the latter just looked ticked off.
"So, you will not believe what just happened!" Jack greeted, jumping up and down, his tail flailing around wildly. Hunter hissed when it hit him the face. "I would if you'd tell me," Jeffory responded, getting off his bed and walking over to them.
"Well, y'know how you said ol' Larx threw out that tag you brought back from the Silverwing?" he asked, unable to stand still. He didn't wait for an answer. "Well, this guy," he said dramatically pointing his thumbs at himself "managed to get it back for you!" he finished, pulling the tag out of his pocket and tossing it to the stunned kyrii.
"How in the...?" Jeffory mumbled, staring at the tag in his hand. "Larx wasn't supposed to leave for his conference for awhile; how'd you manage to get past him?"
Jack grinned widely. "Well, I'll tell you!" he announced.
...
"Well?" Jeffory asked after several minutes of silence. "Oh, well I wanted to give you guys some suspense, y'know?" Jack responded matter-of-factly. "Anyway, I came into Larx's office and I told him that someone was bad-mouthing him! As soon as I told him who, he bolted out of there, mumbling some weird stuff. With him gone, I was able to dig through his garbage can and get back the tag!" Jack said in one breath, a proud smile on his round face.
"Who did you throw under the bus?" Jeffory asked, not really wanting to know.
"Larry the moehog, of course!" Jack told him, his smile growing even wider. Jeffory just gaped at him, stunned. "What?! Dude, you can't do something like that!" Jeffory scolded. Silence followed his response for a long moment.
"Even if it is Larry!" Jeffory added.
"You done?" Jack asked after a moment, and Jeffory shrugged. "I'm the leader; I think I'm supposed to set a good example, or something," he said in a monotone, and Jack grinned. Hunter smirked but rolled his eyes.
"And I'm supposed to say 'Sorry, Jeffory! It won't happen again'!" he responded, bowing low. Hunter, ever the logical one, shook his head. "Y'know, if Larx finds out you lied, you could get expelled," he warned, giving him "the look". Jack shrugged, although he avoided eye-contact.
"If Kendra were here, she'd say the same thing!" Hunter said, knowing exactly what Jack was thinking. The mycni scoffed. "Oh, please!" Was his response. "Like she has time to scold me when she could be with that stupid Tom guy!" Jeffory just stared at him, taken aback. Jeffory wasn't used to Jack acting so jealous.
As if he read Jeffory's mind, Jack snapped: "And I'm NOT jealous!"
They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Hunter looked around with shifty eyes, trying to find some way to escape the thick tension and Jeffory rubbed the back of his neck, and he was pretty sure he heard a pin drop from somewhere in the room.
After several minutes of this, yet another knock on the door posed another well-placed distraction. "Come in!" Jeffory called, sounding much too enthusiastic.
The door opened and in came Rich. He had a couple of scratches on his face, most likely he came a bit too close to the crystal spires in the arena. That aside, he still looked quite healthy, a far-cry from when they first met him.
Jack, pushing aside his macho obligations, tackled the old knight, almost knocking him over. Rich looked quite surprised at the warm welcome, but shook it off. He smiled brightly and returned the hug. When Jack was done, Rich approached Jeffory and extended his hand, but Jeffory ignored it and hugged the draik.
"It's good to see you again, my friends," Rich said after the reunion was over. "Likewise," Hunter said with a smile. "So, not to sound rude... But what are you doing here?" Jack, ever curious, asked. Rich chuckled.
"No, it's not rude." Jack let out a sigh of relief. "See, when the Exam was coming up, Larx called me, requesting my assistance with judging them," he explained, getting several "Ohhs" from his old traveling companions. "That makes sense, you are the chief of the Altador Brigade," Hunter said.
"But is Altador all right?" asked Jeffory, concerned. "I mean, when we were there, the monster activity was intense." Jack and Hunter shuddered at the memory. Those monsters were some of the toughest opponents they had to face up to that point. Even worse than the Moon Folk, in fact.
"It's safe for now" Rich assured them, relaxed as always. "I have my second-in-command taking care of the order around the city; nothing is getting in with him on patrol." The three teens sighed in relief, glad to know the city was in good hands.
"So, how do you know Larx? I mean, he's supposed to be a good fighter too," If that's actually true is anyone's guess Jeffory thought, amused. "so does that mean it's an obligation to know one another?" the blue-eyed kyrii inquired. Rich nodded. "That's part of it, at least. But you see, there's a lot more to it than that," he told them, waiting for them all to get into comfortable positions for "story time". Once they were comfy, he began explaining.
"When I was about your age, I went to the Academy in Altador. I was always a bit of an outcast," he said with a shake of his head, followed by a somewhat nostalgic chuckle. "I was a significantly good fighter and most of my peers resented me for that. Eventually, I met another outcast: Vincent Larx,"
The jaws hit the floor as soon as those words had left his mouth. Someone as cool as Rich was friend's someone as "Eh" as Larx? Jeffory was ready for Rich to break into a stupid smile and yell "Gotcha!" followed by some stooge with a camera getting in his face.
Rich continued after giving the trio around him time to compose themselves. "We came to know one another and became close friends. See, he was kind of a loner. He could never make any friends, most likely due to his tendency to rant and rave about his troubled home life to anyone with ear range..." At this point, Rich seemed to be off in his own little world, retelling the tale of his youth in such a way that Jeffory dare not interrupt.
"But, unlike the other students, I was glad to listen to his tales of woe; for once someone was speaking to me! I suppose you could say Vincent was my first friend. We told each other everything, we were practically brothers..." he trailed off, the smile that had been on his face being replaced by a frown. "Then... A lot changed. Vincent always had a problem with his self-confidence. At one point, he decided to become a simple bully. He belittled others around him to make himself feel better and I could only watch as the whole school turned against him.
"At the end of our time in the Academy, I had made more friends outside of Vincent, due to my having to clean up his mess. Anyway, I failed the to meet the expectations of my superiors and I wasn't fit to be a Defender. I joined the Knights shortly after. Vincent, ever loyal, joined as well, dropping out of the Academy to be with me, his one and only friend.
"He showed more skill in his fighting than even I, and he was offered a spot in the military to fight in the war. Our then-chief was a retired war veteran and he was impressed by him, so it seemed. Vincent was no older than twenty-two!" Rich's eyes flashed, and he said spoke in a growl, causing Jeffory and his friends to jump at the sudden display of anger. Was Rich jealous of Larx?
After a moment, Rich seemed to notice his lack of composure and took a breath, continuing in a calmer tone.
"Anyway, he accepted and went away for a long time. I eventually became Chief of the Knights, as you know. And Vincent, the man who once hated himself, was now a world-renowned war hero. But it changed him. Made him what he is now." Rich fell silent, hanging his head as if he were ashamed of his old friend.
Jeffory couldn't believe it, but he actually felt a pang of sympathy for Larx. To change so much, to leave your friend, no, your brother, behind... He couldn't fathom how deeply Larx must have been hurting to leave everything behind.
After several moments of silence, Rich spoke up, giving off a long, pained sigh. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to drag you all down memory lane with me," he apologized with a weak chuckle. As he said that, Jeffory felt as if Rich looked much older than he was. It was obvious that this man, who Jeffory had thought of as invincible, had been wounded, had taken on the burden of his old friend's actions. And it was wearing him down.
"I hate to cut our visit short... But I need some time alone," the draik said abruptly. Quickly excusing himself, he got up and left. As he got up, Jeffory could see the pain on his face.
He, Jack and Hunter sat in awkward silence, taking in everything Rich had said. Hearing stories like that really makes you value your friendships, doesn't it? Knowing that something as great as a best friend can be removed from your life in the blink of an eye...
(A/N Kinda cryptic ending to this chapter, wasn't it? I didn't mean for it to be like that but hey. Anyway, there's Rich's origins along with Larx. Some of you might wanna know more about Rich and (Grey) relationship growing up. Welp, you're gonna have to wait a it longer sadly. Anyway, leave a review and I'll see ya all later!)
LaDude out.