"well, I guess you're off then!"
The three teens stared dumfoundedly with their mouths agape as the old gates to the monastery slammed to a close. This was the only home they knew, 16 years of their lives had been spent there and there alone. The only times they had ever left the confines of their gated community was to do missions to earn allowance, or to run errands for the elders. Living out here would be tough. Especially on their own.
They had no idea how the outside world worked. Their only exposure to the outside world had been from old stories and rarely read books about life outside. They had never mentally prepared themselves for a life outside of the monastery. What we're they supposed to do now? Where we're they supposed to go? Fate is truly a cruel mistress...
"Uhhh, did we just get kicked out? Did one of you guys forget to pay our rent?"
A black haired young man with bright blue eyes was the first to break the silence. He wore an ordinary dark grey tunic and a disheveled pair of pants that inched down his leg into his silver plated boots. His hand resting on the sword at his side. He had short messy hair and an elegant yet handsome face that could woo any girl. His lean athletic figure slumped over in defeat.
"What the hell do you think Lance?"
The next to speak up was a green eyed young woman. Her short bobbed hair bouncing as she half seriously half playfully stomped over to Lance and trapped him in a headlock. Her snow white skin and rose red lips were a stark contrast to her nearly obsidian black hair and black brocaded robe. For such a slender girl she certainly was powerful.
"Ack, cough Ophelia, please, please, It was just a joke to lighten the mood! No need to get so upset wheeze ha ha! Fredrick please help me out here!" Lance gasped for air as his face gradually reddened and his eyes seemingly popped out of his head, frantically motioning to a young man who was seemingly entranced by the map sprawled out in his lap. His bright green eyes darting from side to side as he studied every inch of the map over and over again as if he was engraving every tiny detail into his mind. The only movement he made was to occasionlaly brush his long blonde hair behind his ear or to fiddle with a strange object in his hand.
After what seemed like an eternity he finally stood up, his muscles seemingly stretching his clothes to their absolute limit. He turned around and made his way over to Lance and Ophelia.
"Can't you guys just go without bickering for one day?" Fredrick asked exasperatedly "Ophelia, please let go of Lance. I've found out where to go from here. There's a town just about a month from here."
"A month!" Ophelia was shocked and loosened her grip on Lance.
Seeing his chance Lance pulled away from Ophelia and began rubbing his sore neck. He looked at Fredrick with a sense of disbelief evident in his eyes. "Are you sure that's right? Maybe you just got our location on the map wrong, We don't technically exist after all so we could be anywhere on there."
"I'm positive, Here you two can check for yourselves." Fredrick stretched open the map as Lance and Ophelia gathered around him to get a good look.
"So.. that mark on the map..." Lance slowly spoke as he raised his finger to point at a smiley face that was several inches away from any other markings in the center of the map.
"Yep. That's us." Fredrick sighed. "Nothing around us in every direction for several miles."
Lance fought back the urge to try and break his way back into the monastery. "Oh.. That's...That's unfortunate." He stated.
"Are they messing with us!" Ophelia yelled and kicked a nearby tree turning it into splinters "Couldn't they give us a few talismans first or something before throwing us out in the middle of nowhere! Those ungrateful old fogeys! We've done everything they'e asked of us since birth and they don't even have the courtesy to give us a few talismans to make our trip easier!" Ophelia continued kicking over trees until she had calmed down as Fredrick and Lance waited to the side patiently. Knowing full well that when Ophelia was angered the best option was to let her blow off some steam or have their masters restrain her and try to calm her down. After three to four more trees were murdered she took a deep breath and took a seat on a new tree stump.
"Are you guys ready to go? It's still early and we can make some progress if we get started now. Hell, I bet it won't even feel that long once we get into the swing of things. You're just still dealing with the fact that we're out on our own now but don't forget that we still have each other! With each others company time will fly!" Fredrick made a desperate attempt to lift their spirits.
Lance and Ophelia looked at each other as they both slowly started to smile "Yeah, This is no big deal!" They answered in unison. "We're Heroes! There's nothing we can't handle! We've even been taught by the greatest Sages and Emperors that humanity has seen in millions of years!"
"Yeah! I dunno what's gotten into me, This is nothing! If I had gotten to eat my breakfast this morning I wouldn't be acting so defeated!" Lance showed off his pearly white teeth and gave Fredrick a thumbs up.
"Yeah, and this idiots bad jokes always put me in a bad mood! If he hadn't tried to crack such stupid jokes I would've handled this much better!" Ophelia placed her hands on her hips and puffed her chest out as she looked at Lance disdainfully.
"Wait, You don't like my jokes?" Lance teasingly asked as he put on the best dejected face he could and looked at the ground in defeat.
"They're horrible!" Ophelia exclaimed as she tried to hold back a smile.
Fredrick grinned and firmly placed his hands on both their shoulders "Now that's more like it!" He turned around and tossed a jade with multiple runes engraved into it onto the dirt path in front of the gates. After a while it slowly began to glow a deep shade of blue as it steadily began to hover 5 feet over the ground before bursting into a blinding flash of light. Not long after a blue trail began to form in front of them, guiding them to civilization. "As long as we follow this rune we should get to the town closest to us with no problem. You guys got all your stuff together?"
"Yeah." "Yes!" Both Lance and Ophelia replied and began to follow closely behind Fredrick as he made his way down an over grown dirt path. The bright blue trail fading away behind them as they made their way forward.
"How do you think they're taking this?" A slender old man with a long white beard chuckled as he lifted a pot of tea, gingerly pouring himself a cup of tea.
"Ohoho~ I bet they took it pretty hard at first. But I'm sure they got over it pretty quickly." Chuckled an old woman sitting at a window as she fed a charcoal black bird.
"Knowing Fredrick he probably managed to get the situation under control before it got out of hand. Besides, They've been friends for their entire lives I doubt they would take this too hard as long as they have one another to rely on. Plus, the only thing they're probably worried about is the trip. Those kids love to laze around too much, this will be great excercise for them." A bronze, fit man lying back in a cushioned chair said as he kicked his feet up on an ottoman.
"Did you manage to get them identification Destrian?" The old woman inquired, her eyes glued to the leisurely fellow resting in his chair.
"Yeah, I pulled some strings with some old friends of mine. They should have some golden guild cards in their pouches."
"Golden guild cards?" The thirsty old man asked inquesitively "You sure that's okay?"
"Oh, sure, It wasn't that hard to get don't worry."
"That's not what I meant, I was talking abou-"
"And while I was out getting their ID's I got you some tea, It should be finished by now. You like Yellow Tea don't you?"
"Yellow tea!? Thank you Destrian I owe you one!" The frail old man disappeared in the blink of an eye and reappeared even faster with a new pot of tea in hand and began chugging it directly from the spout.
"Man, you really are an animal when it comes to tea..."
"Give me a break! I love Yellow Tea, and you know damn well how rare it is..."
"Yeah yeah yeah, I get it. Anyways what was it you were gonna ask me, old man?" asked Destrian as he made himself even more comfortable.
"Oh, ah, I don't quite remember. Must not have been to important then I suppose." the old man chuckled as he gingerly poured and endless stream of tea into his seemingly bottomless mouth