Dungeons and Dragons: Forged In Flame (COMPLETED)

Chapter 5: The Big Change

Leaper could feel a big change coming.
At age 16, he had finished his tutoring and was one month away from graduating from the dojo and becoming a soldier.
It was all happening so fast. He had no idea if he would see any of the others again, although he knew that he would keep in contact with Zealous, and he would undoubtedly see Heskan again, one way or another.
Leaper really enjoyed his time at the dojo, even more than he enjoyed Earbender's salty face whenever he got a bullseye in archery or did well in anything, really. He felt now like he belonged in the army more than ever, and he simply couldn't have done it without the dojo.
The only thing left to do now was the final assessment, which happened to be some sort of race. Heskan said he would end up marking them on three things, and he said that they were the most important parts of being a soldier.
Leaper, Zealous and Climber had summarized that two of the points were Speed and Quality, which basically meant that winning the race wasn't everything. But the third point, none of them could work out.
Maybe we're all being marked on different things? Zealous had suggested once. But there was no confirming that.
All five of the boys had begged Heskan for the third factor, but the only thing he had done is confirm the other two points. He had said that the third point would be forced if everyone knew what it was, which was obviously a clue, but not a big enough one for them to work out the answer.
"I reckon it's Perseverance," Leaper overheard Shieldbiter saying that morning. This made a lot of sense.
"That's a load of rubbish. He knows we're all gonna get to the end, so he isn't going to mark us on that," Earbender disagreed.
As he had gotten older, Earbender's voice had gotten deeper, but no one was any more scared of him. Well, maybe except Shieldbiter. Leaper felt bad for Shieldbiter sometimes.
It took Leaper a moment to realise that Zealous was tapping his arm.
"Yes?" he asked him.
"Hey, Leaper. I have an idea," Zealous whispered.
"Why are we whispering?" Leaper replied, now whispering too.
"It's... a risky idea."
"What do you mean, risky?"
"I'll explain when we get back to our room."
"No, tell me now. In what way is it risky?"
"Not now, Leaper! We're having breakfast, and Heskan could be back any minute. I'll finish as quick as I can."
"But you're always the slowest at eating!"
"I know that. But I won't be today, just watch."
Today's breakfast was ham and eggs; one of Leaper's favourite meals. And, like always, Zealous was last to be finished.
Leaper had decided to go back and have a shower, since he didn't have time before breakfast. It wasn't really like he wanted to be involved in a risky idea, whatever that meant, anyway.
"Hi," Leaper heard Zealous say, but it was probably just an illusion of the water. But he looked anyway.
But he was there.
In the shower.
With him.
"What the hell?! I thought we'd decided that we weren't going in the shower together ever!" Leaper shouted at him.
He looked away from Zealous and covered himself up. Surely what he had to say wasn't this important.
"I know, but this is important," Zealous replied.
Of course it was important.
"Nothing is this important!"
"Well, it is."
"So important that you had to come into the shower with me?"
"Yes."
And then, Leaper knew exactly what Zealous was going to ask him.
"Oh my God... Do you like like me?"
"Ew! No chance! Where did you get that idea from?!"
"Well, whatever you had to say was so important that you had to be in the shower with me."
"N-No! Ugh, never mind. I was gonna suggest that we break into Heskan's office to find out the final assessment point before you made it wierd."
"What? No, that'd be cheating. If Heskan finds out you cheated, you'll get nothing."
"So? If I go into that race without knowing the final point, I'll lose. I'll be left behind in the dojo, and no one will respect me ever again, not that they do already."
"I wish you'd show me some respect by talking to me at a time where I'm more appropriately clothed. Or clothed at all, for that matter."
"Leaper, I have to do this, whether it's with you or not."
"I will not cheat. And I will not let you cheat either."
"It's not cheating if you don't have a chance anyway!"
"Zealous... You do have a chance. You're quick, strong and clever, and that is what you need. I want you to do well, but not like this."
"You don't understand."
"Of course I do," Leaper said, but Zealous was already gone.
Since he was in there, Leaper washed himself properly and dried himself, before coming out to dress himself. Zealous wasn't there. He really infuriated Leaper sometimes.
All day, Leaper couldn't concentrate on what Heskan was saying because he was too worried that Zealous would do something. All day he waited, and all night too. But nothing happened.
Until something did.
At 11:24pm, Leaper heard someone in his room get up and unlock the window, and knowing it wasn't likely to be Climber, Leaper figured that Zealous was on the move. And, as he suspected, his bed was empty.
Trying not to wake Climber, Leaper got up and looked out of the window. Zealous was slowly and cautiously edging past the wall to where Heskan's office was.
"Zealous! Get back here now!" he hissed, trying not to make noise.
But Zealous either didn't hear or didn't care, because he didn't stop going. Against his better judgement, Leaper decided to climb out of the window after him.
"Zealous! Zealous!" Leaper grumbled.
"Oh, hey Leaper," he replied.
"Don't 'Oh, hey Leaper' me! I'm gonna kill you!"
"Why? If it's about the shower thing, then I'm sorry. I don't wanna be your boyfriend."
"No! Enough of that! You know what I'm talking about!"
"Oh, that."
"You have to stop this madness. It's not like you to cheat. You're the nicest, most honest person I know."
"You don't understand! It all comes naturally to you. You're good-natured, and you're not just strong from training, you're strong in genetics, and tall, too. My dad is just a fat oaf who eats off of the Vanquisher's fame and fortune. He was never interested in being a soldier, he's just some guy who happens to have a successful business. I'm jealous of you, Leaper. You have everything you need for this life."
Leaper paused.
"I... never realised. I'm so sorry, Zealous, but I can't let you steal the assessment plans. As you said, I'm good-natured."
"I knew you'd say that."
"No, surely there's another way. If you think that I know everything, then maybe I can help you."
"R-Really?"
"Yes. I promise."
"...Thanks, Leaper. I don't know what I'd do without you."
Zealous hugged Leaper so hard that he thought he was going to break one of his bones. And then, it hit him.
"Zealous... what if the final point isn't something physical? I was thinking, what if it's Nobility or Teamwork?"
"Wait, I think you're onto something here. Ah, I just want to have a peek of the plans so bad."
"I guess you could, but if it's Nobility, then you'd be ruined."
"You're right."
"Let's go back to our room and sleep on it, OK?"
And with that, they went back through their window and into bed. Of course, it did occur to Leaper that Zealous could just get up and go out again once he was asleep, but he was too tired to stay up all night.
Lucky for him, Zealous didn't.

One day before the assessment, Zealous chopped down a training dummy with a hand axe, and Leaper dud the same with a battleaxe.
"Whew. I'm exhausted," Zealous sighed.
"Well, of course you are, you're sweating," Leaper laughed.
"So are you."
Leaper wiped his arm across his forehead and watched as beads of sweat dripped off of it.
They decided to get a pair of socks from Zealous' sock drawer and tie them across their foreheads to act ad sweatbands. But, ad they headed to their bedroom, Heskan stopped them.
"Boys! Wait!" he called to them.
"Heskan?" Zealous wondered.
"What's up?" Leaper asked Heskan.
"I just thought I'd say that Earbender tried to break into my office to get the plans for the assessment, so I'm giving everyone a clue."
"Why would anyone want to go and steal the assessment plans? That would ruin the assignment," Leaper replied, flitting his eyes to a nervous Zealous.
"I know, right? Well, the clue is that I've been measuring you on it since you arrived here at the dojo. I've certainly seen you two doing it quite a bit."
Heskan then turned and left.
"Oh, and there are drinks in the kitchen. You two look hot," he said once out of sight.
Leaper and Zealous exchanged looks.
"Well, then. I think that teamwork literally is gonna make our dreams work," Zealous shrugged.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Word Count: 1559 Words