Hans sat alone at the bar.
It has been a few months since Sim had died.
During this time, Hans had barely contributed to the guild. Instead he spent most of his time sitting in the same seat. Everyday, it was the same. He sat and ordered jugs of alcohol. One after another, he downed them until he felt tired and fell asleep in his seat.
With every drink he drowned himself in, he felt that his pain would disappear and his mind would numb. Still his thoughts plagued him as he recounted the events of Sim's death over and over again. He kept blaming himself and he couldn't stop.
John and Mistra who were well aware of Han's condition tried desperately to console him. The death of a student was very common and they were used to consoling mentors who had to witness the deaths of their students. Unfortunately, a student who died to save their mentor has never occurred at their guild branch. And as a result, they didn't know how to deal with Hans's depression.
But they both tried in their own ways.
John would occasionally stop by the bar and drink with Hans. He would joke around and try to cheer Hans up, but it didn't work.
Mistra would drop by after dealing with her daily guild issues. After a long day, she would personally pick out specific adventures requests for Hans and tried to pair him up with other adventurers. She knew that the best way to treat Hans was to light his passion for exploring once more.
To get Mistra to leave, Hans would agree to her requests. But on the day of departure, he would never show up to meet with his fellow adventurers.
Soon Mistra gave up on Hans and stopped visiting him.
Hans became a shell of the beastkin he used to be. His confidence had been shattered and he constantly judged his own decisions and in a sense never made any new decisions and didn't take any more risks.
More months passed as Hans fell more and more into his alcohol addiction.
Almost a year had now passed since the incident.
He drank himself to near death and almost out of home as his small fortune that he had amassed from adventuring was diminishing.
One morning he found himself in an alley. As he dragged his strengthless dirt soaked body off the floor, he finally thought about his life.
'I can't do this forever. I can't live my life like this anymore. I used to be known as Hans the adventurer, but now I'm just Hans the drunk. Why had I let myself fall so far?'
Hans knew he had to move on soon. He had to stop pitying himself and stop drowning himself in alcohol. It was not the solution.
In his mind, he knew that the anniversary of Sim's death was soon approaching. He knew that above his own depression, he had to fulfill his last promise Sim.
With newfound confidence, Hans tried to get his life in check for the first time in the past year.
He locked himself in his room. For the next few days he ate nothing and did nothing. He was barely able to drink water as he tried to detox his body from his addiction to alcohol. The urges were so great that the had John tie him down. With a worried expression, John did exactly that.
A few days later, John returned. Hans who was still tied down raised his head and watched as John came in to his room.
With a smile, Hans greeted John.
John smiled worriedly as he observed Hans. Hans's fur was ruffled and had grayed further. The ropes that had bound Hans had cut into his fur and through the skin underneath. His eyes were bloodshot and he was breathing in slow pants. Although he looked like this and his condition was pretty bad, a unique shine had reappeared within his eyes.
Hans had gotten over his addiction. He was ready to start his life again.
Weeks later Hans traveled to the ruins in the forest. This time he came with John who volunteered to go with him. When they arrived at the ruins, John chose to stand at the edge of the forest. He didn't want to interrupt this special moment between a mentor and his dead student.
Hans understood John's gesture and pushed through the trees by himself. He approached to the familiar broken down building.
As he had expected, the place were Sims body had been dug up.
'Something had come by a while ago and probably eaten his remains.' Hans thought. Looking past the pit, the strange plantless spot was now gone. Other plants had taken its place. A few herbs and flowers had continued to grow within the ruins, but not as lusciously and densely as they before.
'Whatever the creature was, it has moved on and so shall I.'
Hans sat down near the pit Sim had been buried in. Hans sat down and took off his pack. He began piling numerous items of food into the pit that had contained Sim's body. Slowly, he took out a shirt that was covered in dried blood. Slowly he unwrapped and placed Sim's dagger into the pit.
Slowly, Hans pulled out something metallic form his pocket. It was a medal. The medal was bronze plated and had the words "Sim, novice adventurer." etched onto the front of it. The back contained the words "in honor of Sim who risked his life, to save own of our own.".
Hans had the guild make it in honor of Sim's achievement and the guild complied.
In addition to the guilds etchings, he had added his own touch to the medal. "Thank you Sim - Hans"
Slowly he placed the medal down next to Sim's dagger.
Nostalgic memories of Sim began to fill Hans's mind. Their first adventure... Their first drink together... disarming their first trap... the challenges... the good times... the bad times... the injuries... the incident... Sim's death...
Everything flashed back to him as he slowly reached into his pack once more to take out a large bottle of alcohol and two mugs. Hans proceeded to pour out a cup of it for Sim and for himself.
"To future adventures!" He proclaimed as he poured Sim's cup of alcohol into the the pit. He himself taking a small sip of it after, but not anymore. He was done with alcohol and he vowed to himself to not touch it after this day.
After laying his unfinished jug of alcohol onto the ground he closed his eyes.
With great concentration, he summoned an orb. This time, it was orange in color and swirled as slowly heat generated from it distorted the air around it. Slowly, sweat began to build as he controlled the orb and allowed it to touch the items within the pit. The alcohol ignited and gave off a blue flame as everything in the pit begun to burn.
As the items burned, Hans sat there and continued talk openly about the adventures Sim and Hans had together in their short months together. As if Sim was there, the fire danced in excitement as Hans recounted the good times and seemed to die down with the bad ones.
Slowly everything in the pit burned and turned to ash. After the fire had finally died, Hans covered the pit once more with nearby soil. This time, he didn't leave immediately. He took out a final item from his pack.
It was a gravestone.
"Here lies Sim who bravely saved his fellow adventurer. This stone marks Sim's Garden and will be forever remembered as the final resting place of Sim." Hans read out as he placed it on top of the soil.
"With this, my promise to you is fulfilled." Hans said. "I hope you find peace wherever you are like I have."
Hans then took a deep breathe, put his bag back on to his back and walked away to meet up with John.
Without turning around he whispered gently to himself.
"Goodbye Sim."
And he left to continue his life that he had put on pause.
***
...
'Maybe I should take in another student?'
...