Fable - Ask The 44th

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"Well! It will benefit them greatly then, once Arn bests the challenge! It's the small comforts which truly assuage harsh times."

"Such wise words." Rhory grinned. She placed no bets, only due to the fact she did not want her friend to see her making any and wondering which favour she was hoping this would go. "Besides, look at the size of Arn. He's going to need both sleeping rolls to accommodate his height."

The mountainous man known as Porridge grinned down at Arn.

"Oh, no. I thought he was smaller than that..." She winced, but would break into a large smile and blow Arn a kiss should he look their way. To Felix, who had wormed his way through the crowd to meet them, Rhory leaned over to murmur into his ear. "It is fortunate Owain isn't here or else he'd screw up Arn with the wrong advice. He looks nervous. Say something encouraging!"
 
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Who...on Arethil...gave that man the name of Porridge? The origins of nicknames were sometimes incredibly simple, but sometimes took on the mystery of myth. Kristen could hardly venture a guess as to the mindset of the man who so christened Porridge.

Even Rhory was astonished by the goliath Arn faced down in the makeshift ring of Guardsmen. While abroad in Elbion and Alliria, Kristen had encountered a popular notion among those foreign to Vel Anir that Anirians stood as some of the tallest humans in the world, their stature (so a good number of the locals attested) a full head at least above their contemporaries. Now, Kristen herself...was not the best Anirian to disabuse foreigners of this notion. But Porridge certainly wasn't the best Anirian at that.

Felix came back, practically brimming with confidence compared to Kristen and Rhory. And in reply to Felix she said, "Well, a classic tale would have it that the smaller man beats the larger."

This felt like a limp endorsement of Arn. Goodness. She could do better than that.

So Kristen cupped her hands about her mouth and shouted encouragement to Arn, calling, "The bigger they are, the harder they fall! Topple that mountain, Arn!"

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere
 
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For a few seconds as Porridge rolled his shoulders and readied himself for their match, Arn found himself wondering if he was going to participate in the invasion at all.

Friendly wrestling matches like this weren't supposed to cause any injuries, but then again these matches weren't supposed to be happening at all. The safeguards for not getting hurt were really quite non-existence, and if Porridge even looked at him the wrong way an arm could break.

He gulped, glancing back at his companions one more time to gain a bit of course. Rho's kiss flying towards him, and then with his current streak of luck probably right over his head.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall! Topple that mountain, Arn!"

The Lady Pirian called, and Arn let out a sigh. "Guess I'll just do my bes-"

Before the young Guardsmen even finished his murmur, the whistle blew and within the span of a second Porridge closed the distance between them. Like a snapping adder her grabbed Arn and picked him up, quickly spinning him and throwing him into the muck of the ring.
 
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Fuck, that guy was quick for someone who looked like a slab of stone...and he was strong. Oh look Arn was flying? Wait, oh that was going to hurt later.

"Get up quick Arn! Stay on your feet. You got this."

Arn was one of the strongest guys he had ever met and he was also built like a brick house, but if Porridge and all that weight got on top of him then the young man was as good as done.

"You can do this bud, remember the knee."

Felix was beginning to grow less confident in that statement and wondering if they actually had any chance here. One thing was for sure, they weren't going to win if Arn did not start believing they could do it first.
 
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"Come on Arn!" Rhory shouted, grinning widely despite the hit he had taken. "You are faster! Stronger! You have the fire in you!" She cheered him on. Her voice was loud, commanding, deafening the calls and shouts of the onlookers.

"Use his pain against him! Just like we practiced in our training!" Six months of exploiting weaknesses, it had been hell for every Cadet learning how to better their weaknesses once they became known by their opponent.

The knee was an excellent reminder from Felix.

In her excitement, her hands went to hold those closest to her that belonged to Felix and Kristen, gripping each hand from them tight with anticipation and worry.
 
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Kristen actually flinched when she saw the formidable speed of the big man Porridge in action, some rather unpleasant memories from the Academy, from a few awful spars in which she herself had a firsthand view of something similar (Bull in particular), bubbling to the surface of mind. And in the next moment, as then the formidable strength of Arn's opponent came to the fore, Kristen gasped, and her porcelain hand shot up to cover her mouth.

Both Felix and Rhory shouted further encouragement, but Kristen, at present, was too shocked to join with them. Certainly it was one thing for the men engaged in a wrestling competition to be grappling with one another down on the ground. But it was another for them to be throwing one another about! Goodness! What if Arn should by wild misfortune break his arm, so close as they were to deploying into war?

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere
 
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Cheers blended together as Arn lay within the mud, his head lulling against the cold earth as he found himself wondering why he hadn't just said no.

Why didn't he ever say no?

The complaint flickered through his head as he heard Porridge shout something. The man's rather obtrusive voice breaking through the crowd even now. He called out to some of his fellow Guardsmen, pointed at Arn and then towards his friends.

It was well known that they were in his Squad, and though the Guard as a whole was told to work together, there was always enmity. Porridge's slack jawed mouth hung open as he began to hurl a string of insults. Some calling Felix a Coward, others Arn a simpleton weakling, and some insinuating Rho was a bit loose with her belt.

After that, truth was; Arn couldn't say what happened next.

One moment he lay on the ground, and the next Porridge lay pinned beneath him. His slack-jawed mouth now hanging open as he screamed. The simpleton farmboy bending back the massive Hulk's arm, his face bloody, and one of his teeth now missing.

Rho, Felix, Kristen, and the rest of the crowd had seen it all of course. A battle that had turned on it's head within the span of a seconds. Porridge had charged again, Arn had gone for his knee, and within the span of just a few minutes the Sergeant had turned his much larger foe into the ground.

The match lasted two, maybe three minutes, but all Arn remembered was feeling angry. Wanting to win to the point it all simply became a haze, muscle memory. By the time the match was over, and the crowd cheered, Arn was barely aware he had won at all. His head spinning as someone grabbed his arm and threw it up in a declaration of victory.
 
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What followed next was something that Felix had only seen a handful of times and every time it was surprising. Arn, the lovable giant, rarely got angry but when he did there was a wrath to him that screamed warrior.

Felix winced as Arn moved, nearly popping Porridge's knee out of place and then quickly bloodying the man when he slammed him to the ground like an oversized sack of potatoes.

The jeers aimed at him, Arn, and Rhory were quickly silenced as everyone watched in wonder at Arn's dismantling of the giant. As the fight ended, Felix made sure to cheer loudly in an effort so as not to let any sense of gravity hang on what was supposed to be a more relaxed affair.

He shot a quick look at Kristen and with complete seriousness said, "Another lesson for ya, Arn's one of the nicest guys you will ever meet, but don't make him angry."

Such jeers that were aimed at Felix slid off his back like water, the word coward did not hold much power over him when he was still marching into a soon-to-be war. He doubted the insults aimed at Rhory would stick either, but even so, he knew Arn had gotten mad more for their sake. He looked at Rhory and smiled.

"C'mon, let's go congratulate the big guy."
 
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Rhory hid the hurt from her face, like she had done every time someone made to comment about the few times she had warmed another's bed. It worked a number of times, but there always will be the few that used it against her. Porridge had gotten to the top of her list.

The moment Arn's face darkened, turned focused, and charged, Rhory flinched. She released Felix and Kristen's hands she had taken in her excitement, her eyes wide and shocked as she watched Arn become something she rarely saw. Perhaps she was shocked by Porridge's low blow insults, or the fact her friend was capable of doing real damage beyond the training they all received.

Don't make him angry.

Rhory started nodding, transfixed by Arn's rage. She blinked when Felix turned to her and smiled, probably staring at him a moment longer blankly before a smile grew on her lips.

"Right, yes. And you go see about your sleeping rolls after we see him, otherwise the Bull may look at you next." She turned around and started to guide Kristen out from the crowd and step into the ring, which began to flood with others going to check on Porridge.

"Arn!" The first thing Rhory did was give her friend a crushing hug. "How you feeling?"
 
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Kristen shot her arms high into the air, whether or not Felix and Rhory still kept hold of them, and gave a loud cheer once Arn recovered and rebounded against his foe, so sudden and powerful was her excitement. She bounced on her heels, and her feet perhaps once or twice departed from the ground as that same giddiness bid her to jump. And when the match was mercifully called and the collective cheer among the crowd rang out, Kristen lent her own voice to the roaring chorus.

Felix spoke to her with a grim tone, yet Kristen, beaming, said in reply, "Then Porridge chose poorly in doing so!" And then she turned from cupped her porcelain hand about one side of her mouth and called in an unusually sassy chastisement of Porridge, "Thus always to braaaaaggaaaaarts!"

Gone was that Kristen of moments before, full of shock and worry, and now in her stead a Kristen overjoyed at Arn's complete reversal and victory.

At Rhory's prompting she entered the ring and proceeded to Arn. Rhory tossed about him a fierce embrace, and Kristen, smiling yet, said to him simply, "Amazing."

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere
 
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"What?" Arn said as he suddenly found Rho and Kristen standing besides him, still dazed as a few of the other Guardsmen offered him a pat om the back and word of complement. Some even mentioning what Porridge had said.

The farmboy frowned for a moment, those words briefly flickering in his head even as he fought through his fugue. After a second passed, the all too common smile Arn often wore broke back out onto his face.

"Oh. I feel Great!" He declared, smiling at Rho and a second later half jumping as he seemed to realize Kristen was standing there. His face almost immediately coloring as the Lady offered her own complements. "I..errr...thank you...Kristen."

Arn said sounding awkward but genuinely elated. Offering the woman's name as he remembered what Rhory had told her about how she should be treated. "I am...uhhh...I should probably apologize to Porridge."

The Guardsmen said, briefly looking towards Felix and rubbing at the back of his head.
 
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Felix shot Rhory a subtle smirk at Kristen's excitement. It just goes to show that even the 'normal' Dreadlords are not so normal.

"Yeah, I'll be right back."

He hurried off to collect their winnings, two waterproof sleeping bags and a small pouch were also slipped into the young man's hand when he and the other bettor thought no one was looking. Felix offered a handshake, but it was clear that the other guy was still mad at the loss. Offering a short farewell, Felix hurried back over to his squadmates with a much larger smile.

Catching the tail end of the current conversation, "You did great bud, but might want to hold off a day or so. Apologizing right after you kicked the guy's ass probably won't go over too well. Besides, let me give you a quick look over to make sure you don't have the spins or anything."

The crowd around them was already beginning to scatter, many of them looking annoyed that they had loss their hard-earned coin. It seemed that Arn had been the underdog. Not wanting to stay any longer and get noticed by higher-ups, Felix began leading the others away back to their camp.
 
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"I think Porridge deserved getting thrown about, and therefore you do not need to apologise to the likes of him." Rhory said matter of factly. "Especially after all he said about us."

The squad was always going to have each other's backs. Rhory looked to Kristen, her smile welcoming."Do you perhaps enjoy hot chocolate, Kristen? I think it's time to celebrate, and we all get one cup each. It's on the way back to our camp." The last part was directed at Arn and Felix, a light suggestion but her brown eyes widened with an innocence that dared to turn stormy should either of them say no to the sweet treat that would warm them all to the bones.

"Felix told me chocolate was important for healing, so Arn needs a cup." She provided nonchalantly. In fact, Felix had only said that to justify himself stealing a chocolate bon bon one time they had been on mission as a squad, and Rhory had bought a box of the delicacies.
 
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Apologize to Porridge? But here Rhory in essence took the very thoughts from Kristen's mind and spoke them aloud, and Kristen nodded in affirmation. Porridge did deserve the tossing he had received.

She would add: "If he has any sense of humility and sportsmanship, he will know that he is in error, and should in time come to apologize to you, Arn." And with a small glance to Rhory, clearly Kristen felt that Rhory was owed an apology as well, and not to mention Felix too, for what harsh words Porridge—to give him the benefit of the doubt—said about them in the heat of the competition.

And speaking of Felix, he returned to them, winnings in hand. The four of them now collected, Rhory made quite the sweet suggestion.

"Oh, hot chocolate?" In truth, a treat less popular among the nobility than among the common folk, but one which was not wholly foreign to Kristen; a few winters in Vel Numera featured it quite prominently! "It would be a delight."

And with a grin to Felix she said, "Perhaps Felix harbors more secret wisdom than he lets on."

Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere
 
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Arn frowned, listening to the words of his friends as he glanced back over towards where Porridge was. "Bu-"

The sergeant was about to offer an objection but found himself cut off as Felix quickly lead them off and away from the wrestling grounds. The farmboys good nature overridden by the sensible logic of his friends. Porridge had, after all, deserved it.

With a shrug, and rubbing at his shoulders Arn followed after the others. "Felix has a lot of wisdom."

The Farmboy offered to Kristen as they walked.

"He's probably the smartest of all of us!" Arn praised as Kristen mentioned Felix's secrets. "Probably helps that his 'Da told him all that Doctorin' stuff. It's really somethin'. Think half his secrets are just knowin' what's wrong with your elbow."

It was not long before the four of them reached the mess-tent, finding that a few of the other Guards that had been at the fight held the same idea as they. Despite the lost coin, a few cheers and claps echoed out as Arn and the others stepped inside.
 
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Felix blushed at the reminder of the 'Great Bon Bon Theft', but quickly shook his head to dismiss the redness. He shot Rhory a playful glare before laughing, although feeling more uncomfortable the more praise he received.

Of course, Felix knew exactly where the hot chocolate was and easily guided their squad through the throngs of soldiers to get each of them a cup.

"It's nice to hear you all say that, but maybe that means you should listen more when I tell you to rest. I don't hide any of my 'secret wisdom'."

At first he had thought it a joke, but every week someone from their squad managed to show up with some new bruise, injury, or sickness. What was wrong with just a little bit of self-awareness and some forethought.
 
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Rhory gave Felix a doting look, "Awww!" she cooed, leaned over to quickly pinch his cheek before he could swat her hand away. She laughed, knowing she was definitely the guiltiest of not resting when she should. Hells, Rhory even had to learn routes to avoid the medic's tent in fear that Felix would rope her in.

"I will be fine after some hot chocolate, Doctor Nevarre." She teased, grinning over at Arn and Kristen. "They probably won't even send me with you to the front lines, so that would mean less grey hairs for Felix."

Then, in a low whisper that Felix would most definitely hear, she grinned. "So give him grief, please, for my sake."
 
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Felix, knowledgeable of many things as attested to by Arn, navigated the four of them toward—what Kristen could only assume was—one of the rare amenities of the war camp. But such treats to be found in times of lean living were hardly to be questioned and doubted. And so now with cup in hand, blowing away some of the steam, Kristen walked easily with the rest of them.

"A few gray hairs is nothing a little chocolate cannot fix," Kristen said with a small and cheeky smirk.

And she tried some of it, taking a sip. Oh goodness, that was sweet! Quite sweet, but good nonetheless.




Arn Felix Nevarre Rhory Grimmere
 
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