Over the Void

Chapter 5: Call of the World

Heroes. Seldom did a day go by when Royal hadn't thought back to that conversation. It was permanently engraved into his mind. Word for word, he thought it over often.

They had just sat down and gotten some water and bread to snack on. Royal didn't know what to say at first, but he knew he had to say something. Esther was too busy being ecstatic about the hard, dry bread to focus on such a deep topic. So Royal began.

"Hey, Esther?" He asked, nervous. "I know we haven't really been friends for very long, but something is on my mind..."

Esther stopped munching and looked up, crumbs on her face, and concern underneath them. "What is it?" She asked, voice laced with worry.

"Heroes, Adventurers. Everyone keeps saying that, and it just... I Don't know, it feels weird. Can we really be that?" His doubts showed in full color.

Esther smiled softly and put her hand on Royal's head. "Once, somebody told me that if I ever had the chance to roam free, I could do anything. They helped me learn magic. The real question should be if you want to. Right?"

Royal nodded along. It made sense, sure, but still. "I just don't feel like I have what it takes. You have your magic, but I barely know what I'm doing..." He bowed his head.

"Practice! It's easy. There's a lot of things I didn't get to learn either. But we can learn together. That's what friends would do, right?" Esther countered.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right. It's all we can do here and now... Lead the way, I guess? I've always wanted to lead a more interesting lifestyle. I guess this is both of our chances..."

"That's the spirit!" Esther cheered encouragingly. "Come on, let's go find a nice quiet spot to practice." She started to pull Royal towards the door.

"Wait, but what about the bread..." Royal glanced to see that Esther had palmed their food already, and had put it into her basket. "How does she do that...." He was left to ponder as Esther more or less drug him to find somewhere nice.

His thoughts were disrupted as Esther lightly tapped him with a few cinders. "Come on Royal! We're sparring, not doing math for Mister Paku!" She stuck her tongue out. Royal laughed and readied his sheild and practice sword.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry." He laughed sheepishly, before attempting a running tackle. Esther dodged, but not fast enough, so she couldn't counterattack in time to get Royal good. She looked around to see where he had gone.

It had been months, 2 or 3. Royal wasn't quite sure on the day count. Overall, he could use his sword properly, but any semblance of grace or elegance was still lacking. At least it was better than swinging like a drink monkey. Esther hadn't been slacking either. She never lost their little duels thanks to Paku, who lent her a new spellbook. She knew a few tricks other than her Fireball and Shadow Bolt now.

Royal pounced, trying to pin Esther down, but she rolled over and hit him with a magic missile. He didn't block that time, and was knocked away a short distance.

"Hehe, I win again!" Esther cheered. She hadn't gotten any more mature in all that time, and Royal loved that about her. So happy and lively, unlike the people from back home. Some days he felt bad for everyone, but he couldn't think of nearly anyone that would miss him. Maybe his parents at most.

Royal sighed, groaned, and laughed all at once, sitting up. Even when Esther took it light with him, she packed a punch. "What's the score again?" He jokingly asked.

"The score is you gotta focus!" Esther stuck her tongue out. "That's why I keep winning. You keep letting me recover my energy all the time." She bumped his head lightly with her fist.