[M] The Dimension Door (Holey & Ashen) IC

[Holeypaladin]

After studying for an extended period of time at the Arcane University, Sir Lyonell was finally home. His parents weren't home, however, as his father was out leading the soldiers of his household into battle against the orcs, and his mother had met an unfortunate demise giving birth to what would have been his younger sister, had she survived the same turmoil which cost the life of his mother. Lyonell never knew her, as he was too young at the time to remember her, but apparently his father had loved her enough that he never remarried.

Which meant that, as the sole heir to his family, Lyonell was the acting lord of the castle. The servants greeted him accordingly, though he considered Kyu to be more of a friend than a servant, as he had known him for so long. "Young Master," said one of the servants who he didn't know so well, "The Master sent back some spoils of war that the soldiers recovered from a dragon hoard. It's... a map. Very old, centuries at least. It supposedly leads to the legendary Dimension Door. I'm not familiar with the legend, but perhaps you should examine it yourself, if you're looking for adventure."

"Thanks..." he didn't know this servant's name in order to add it, "For telling me. I'll check it out when I can." He glanced over to his servant Kyu. "How does it feel to be back?" he directed a question at his personal manservant.

[Ashen]

Kyu had never had much a home. He'd been kicked out of the house he was born in when a home intruder had destroyed his family. From there, foster homes and orphanages had juggled him like torches until, finally, a knight's family had taken him in. Sir Silas had been seeking a babysitter and companion for his only son. Though Kyu was merely a child at the time, he had risen to such a role. He knew he'd needed some stability, and Silas had given that to him. Now, many years later, he was Sir Lyonell's squire, and his closest friend.

Finally they were on their way back from university. Kyu had never thought it possible, to have himself enrolled, and technically he hadn't been. He had been there only because of Lyonell, but he knew just as much from their studies as the knight did. The only difference was that Kyu had never managed to get his own magic working.

He was glad to be back at the castle, at the closest thing to home he'd ever had. He bowed his greeting to all of the family servants. One spoke to his master about a map, and Kyu lifted a brow in interest, but he didn't dare interrupt. He waited patiently until Lyonell was finished speaking. "It has been too long," he said in response to his question. "I was really missing this place, having my own kitchen to work in, my own bed to sleep in. You could hardly call the mats at university a bed in comparison to these." He was smiling, a small smile that lit his pale face. He tucked a wavy piece of brown hair behind his ear. "Well, sir, what will you have us do now? Were you given anything demanding just now?"

Kyu knew not to ask direct questions. Even if he was more friend than servant, he still abode by chivalry when he could, respectfully remaining silent and not asking too much. Kyu preferred being proper. Though his hair was blown around from the journey back, his clothes were prim and proper. He looked formal enough, though never outdoing his master, and tried to remain in the background as much as he could. That was the life of a scribe, anyway, and he was perfectly content with that.

[Holeypaladin]

Lyonell was always a bit more adventurous than the more reserved Kyu, which was probably largely the reason why his father had sent the older boy to keep an eye on him at school. It was, in a way, a luxury for him to act the way he did... most people had to learn their lessons the hard way, without a cool-headed older kid to rein them in, and it had simply grown habitual over time.

Therefore, in response to Kyu's question, the knight said, "I was thinking of going on an adventure. Like when we were kids, but much more dangerous. Want to come with?" He had every intention of going to look for this magical door either way, though it might be reassuring to have some company. He wasn't sure what Kyu would do in case of actual danger, but his own skills were sufficient, thanks to his training at the Arcane University.

"Of course, we can rest a bit first. Since you're missing those comfy beds so much," he teased slightly. His urge to go traveling wasn't so much a problem with the palace itself, but the fact that administrative work seemed terribly boring, and that was definitely the sort of thing that would await him should he decide to stay and lord over the castle while his father was away at war.

[Ashen]

He didn't like the sound of an adventure with danger. Kyu could remember those childhood journeys, in which he and Lyonell had gone out causing mischief and coming home with an arsenal of bruises each. Kyu always seemed to get the worse of it, and thinking about reliving that made him shudder. He tried not to show too much emotion about it, which was not incredibly hard for the emotionless man.

The servant was still as he thought things over. Whether he went or not with Lyonell, he knew the young knight would go regardless. It was better to go with him, to ensure his safety like he had been doing all their lives. "I think resting would benefit us both before we head out. We ought to put our belongings away, enjoy a good meal, wash up. Do you know if Father will be returning soon? I shall get started on supper."

Kyu took up his bags, few in number, and he took a few of Lyonell's to bring to their rooms. When he finished, he went to the kitchen and took a moment to reorient himself. He had missed his kitchen, his own tools and supplies. He ran his hands over the jars of rosemary and basil, over his knife collection and pans. He'd learned a lot at university, especially about how much he liked it here.

As he got cooking, he called to Lyonell. "Did you have preference in meal choice?" He looked over the food supply. He would have to go shopping soon. "I was thinking of perhaps a nice stew. How does that sound?"

[Holeypaladin]

Lyonell most definitely wasn't a child anymore. He was now a trained killer, capable of destroying a given enemy using any number of dozens of techniques... theoretically, at least. University training didn't allow a student to actually kill someone, though he had smashed any number of phantasms in training. This quest would be his first experience in putting his own sword through his enemies... and there most definitely would be enemies, somewhere.

"Food sounds nice. From what I understand, the Old Master is off on a campaign leading the troops... so I expect he won't be back for at least a few weeks, possibly months... maybe even years if the campaign gets delayed. But at least he gets to kill some orcs, the lucky old bastard..." He spoke with varying degrees of formality and informality when it came to his father... at least, so long as Silas wasn't around to chastise his behavior, and so long as it was in front of someone who wouldn't "tell on him."

Chuckling a bit, he nodded. "Food would be good, though. I guess we don't get the same spices out here that they get back at the Imperial City, do we? So yeah, just do what you can." This fief was too distant from the main trade routes to have access to the foreign spices that allowed for such a wide variety of food back at the Imperial City's Arcane University, but since Kyu was used to cooking with these ingredients, it wasn't so bad.

[Ashen]

Kyu nodded a bit, ready to get Lyonell what he wanted like always. While most might have grown tired of the mundane task, Kyu had grown to like waiting on his master and best friend. He nodded in Lyonell's general direction and started off for the kitchen.

It was just the two of them, Kyu guessed, and the staff around the palace. He was going to prepare a small meal, then. He was in his element as he danced around the kitchen, reacquainting himself with the cooking utensils and jars of herbs. The chef tossed vegetables into the stew, only after masterfully dicing them and removing stems and roots. In a few minutes, he had a stew cooking steadily. He sighed and looked around. Now this was home.

When supper was finished on the fire Kyu poured his concoction into different bowls. He balanced two in his hands and stepped back to the foyer, wondering where Lyonell had gone. He called for him, then moved to set the bowls on the table. Kyu didn't dare taste his meal before Lyonell did, but he didn't have to. His stew would taste perfect, earthy and homey and even nostalgic.

After supper, Kyu looked forward to getting to some chores. He'd go through the house and look for things out of place, and make sure Lyonell was okay. He'd sleep well that night, and he'd need it. He had no idea what to expect of tomorrow, with Lyonell wanting to go on an adventure, just like when they were kids.

[Holeypaladin]

Lyonel quickly became bored waiting on the food to get ready, and headed off to the training grounds for the castle guard. His father had taken most of the best soldiers with him to war, but the Master at Arms, an aging man by the name of Miles, had remained home in order to train new soldiers to be sent as reinforcements. Lyonel used to challenge Miles to combat in his youth, but he had lost every single time to the experienced veteran. There was a reason Miles trained the soldiers, after all.

For old time's sake, he decided to challenge him yet again. "Hello, Miles," he said to the quartermaster. "Care for a rematch, for old time's sake?"

"You're not a child anymore," the master at arms replied. "I won't go easy on you, this time."

"I wasn't counting on it," replied Lyonel, picking up two of the training swords. Miles went to his basic sword and shield technique, glancing at Lyonel with amusement.

"Two swords?" he remarked. "Won't do you much good against arrows."

"I have other ways of defending against those," said Lyonel with a shrug. He approached the older veteran, exchanging a few blows. For some reason, however, Miles didn't seem to be nearly as strong or as skilled as he had been the last time they fought. Lyonel easily managed to best him.

"Impressive," said Miles with a chuckle. "You beat me at my best. Well done, Young Master."

"You weren't even trying..." the knight remarked.

"Oh, I assure you I was," said Miles. "And before you ask, I've not grown weak or slow. Not yet. You've just improved that much."

"Huh..." said Lyonel. "Good to know." Figuring dinner should be ready, he headed on in to see Kyu dishing it out to various bowls. Giving the servant a brief wave, he sat down and tasted the food briefly. "Not bad..." he remarked. "I can see you've not lost your touch."

[Ashen]

Lyonell returned with sweat on his brow. Kyu could hardly notice the perspiration on his master's face, and he squinted to make sure he was really seeing it. "Have you gone for training already?" Kyu asked with a smirk. "You always were quick with that, were you not? And from the smile on your face, may I assume you've won?"

The two sat down to their meal. Kyu deflected praise for his cooking, as the modest man often did. They ate without event, speculating about what would become of them now. Kyu tried not to mention the adventure Lyonell wanted to go on, stupidly hoping the master would forget about it and for once they would be spared a dangerous adventure. He tried to talk about the family, the other servants, the chores; anything that resembled normalcy.

After supper Kyu got to work tidying up. He fulfilled his chores throughout the manor, then met with Lyonell in his quarters. Already he was suggesting preparing a bath, fluffing his pillows, getting him ready for bed. It was early yet, so the servant sat on a chair by the side of Lyonell's bed. "Are you tired?" he asked. "It has been a long day, and I understand wanting to be back in your own bed after so long." He ran his fingers over the knight's blankets and sighed.

"This trip, when do we leave?" Finally Kyu decided there was no point in hiding it from himself anymore. He knew they were going to go, and he needed to prepare as soon as possible for it. "I should gather foods and supplies for us as soon as possible. We should leave early in the morning, and make plans to stay in an inn in a safe town." He rambled off for a moment about safety before looking back up. "Ah, pardon. Let me worry about all that, will you?"

[Holeypaladin]

"Heh," the knight said. It seemed his butler was pretty good at reading him. "Yeah... it seems I'm no longer a weak kid. Go figure, right?" Well, he hadn't earned the title of Arcane Knight for nothing. It wasn't just a desire for adventure that compelled him to depart so soon after arriving back home... he also had a duty. His talents and training were wasted idling around some castle, after all. Granted, the fact that adventure was part of his duty was one of the main reasons he had chosen this particular education, but.. well, it was what it was.

"We can head out tomorrow... or maybe the day after," the knight said with a shrug. "Any longer than that and I'll start to get bored... I mean, well, our enemies also seem to have caught wind of this map, since it was recovered from a dragon... so we'll need to discover this treasure for ourselves before they get to it."

He mostly ignored the man's ramblings about preparations. He had already decided to let Kyu handle the mundane stuff long before the butler said to let him handle them, so he merely nodded. His mind was elsewhere, after all... adventure, excitement... maybe even a cute princess or two to rescue. Bonus points for rescuing elves and other beautiful nonhumans. Humans were a bit boring, after all. While he had several classmates at the University that weren't human... he never really got around to talking to them, as they never needed to be saved from anything.

[Ashen]

"A... a dragon?" Red flags raised left and right in Kyu's mind. They had faced many enemies during their training at the academy, but dragons were always rumored to be among the worst. Kyu couldn't help but worry. Silas had left him in charge of his son's well being, and if Kyu were to ever let anything happen to Lyonell, he would never forgive himself. He'd been mere scum on the streets when Silas had taken him in; he owed it to the man, and to his best friend, to protect him from danger.

But he did not voice his concerns about their journey. Lyonell was leaving it up to him, which meant there was much to be planned. "The day after tomorrow, yes," he said, getting up and pacing, a nervous habit. "We should definitely be packed by then. I will call for arrangements tomorrow for the inn, or perhaps I should call tonight. Is it too late?" He looked to the window, tried to gauge the time from the sun. "I shall call for them tonight. Never mind, sir, why do you not get some rest. Will you be alright for the night? I will fetch you a glass of water and a blanket."

That night and the following day, Kyu was very busy. He had too much to plan to be idle. Arrangements were made, foodstuffs were packed, maps were drawn up; the man certainly had his work cut out for him. Through it all he still managed to be around for Lyonell should he have needed him. By the time they were ready to go, Kyu had slept little. He'd been worrying about their trip, as he often did whenever they had plans for something and he was in charge. He tried to remain levelheaded, and he went to meet with his knight.

Kyu was dressed practically, though a bit too on the formal side for an adventure. He liked looking his best, even if he could never see himself. The mirrors helped little when he could not see them properly. Appearance wasn't the only thing affected by his nearsightedness. Where Lyonell could use magic and swords, Kyu's weapons were much more limited. He could not rely on range, could not see his targets from a distance, so he could only use close combat weapons. For this particular fight, he'd chosen a broadsword for himself, and had allowed Lyonell to choose his own arsenal.

With everything set, Kyu looked over their packed bags again. He was always packed for the worst, but he still worried there was not enough. "Sir?" he called. "Are you certain we should leave today? There is no harm starting with smaller tasks, yes?"