Mark of the Ranger

V. The Tavern

          Now, the tavern was a special building. It was a sort of restaurant, but only Rangers were allowed in there. You had to show them your One Mark and let them authenticate it before you could enter. Trust me, Jeff, Karen, and I have tried to sneak in many times.

          We had no idea why we wanted to go in, exactly. It was probably out of curiosity. I mean, if only Rangers were allowed in the tavern, what possibly could be going on in there? Could it be something top secret, or is it just because Rangers didn't really want to be bothered? Now that I had gone through the Academy, I could accurately guess that it was because the Rangers didn't really want to be bothered.

          After we dashed to the town, seven miles south of the Ranger building, I directed my group to the tavern. Sir Leonard's Tavern, read a sign above the door. A smaller sign below that one read, Rangers Only! I knocked on the door of the tavern. A big, muscular man opened the door. "Marks, please," he said. We pulled up the sleeves of our Ranger Gear, which we were still wearing, revealing the freshly written One Marks. The muscular man drew his finger across each one. They made a sound like a bass singer.

          "It seems, Lio, for the first time ever, you may enter," the muscular man said, stepping to the side so we could pass. I was slightly concerned that the muscular man knew my name. I hadn't tried to get in the tavern that much, had I? my group and I entered, like the muscular man said we could.

          I seemed to be right about Rangers not really wanting to be bothered. There was a simple bar, a few pool tables, and even a dart board. All the Rangers had their masks and hoods off, so I did the same. My group followed suit as I stepped over to the bar to see what they were serving.

          None of the beverages were fermented or alcoholic. Rangers needed to always be on guard, so they were most likely just sugary or cold. There was no more relaxing thing than a nice cold beverage. When a tender went near me, I asked for a strawberry lemonade. I sipped my beverage as I took in the scene.

          The Rangers all looked like they were having fun, at least. Some were playing pool, using lance moves I had learned at the Academy for some serious combination shots. I bet myself that normal people didn't play pool like that. The ones who were playing darts just played darts, oddly. I supposed if they had an extremely large distance to use bows with, like an archery range, they would be using bows. The scene wasn't chaotic, though. It was calming and soothing, somehow.

          I hadn't realized that David had sidled up next to me. "It sure is way more calming than the town square, huh?" he asked. I leaped up in mild surprise. "Yeah, the town square usually has at least six times this many people, and their not quietly sipping lemonade," I answered.

          David let out a small chuckle. "I suppose that's why it's Rangers only. If they allowed people in here, the quiet atmosphere would be completely ruined and replaced with capitalism." I grinned at that, imagining a farmer's market suddenly appearing in the direct center of the tavern, crushing one of the pool tables. 

          I looked across the tavern and saw Karen flirting with some of the other Rangers who were sitting at a round table. That was typical of her, she was a mermaid. Jeff was arm-wrestling a Ranger who was twice his size. I mentally bet on Jeff. Some of the Rangers at the dartboard were convinced Elena was cheating--they must not have seen her bowedge and quiver mounted on her back. Ko was pick-pocketing some unsuspecting Rangers. "Ko, don't steal from these people. They'll crush you," I called to him. The Ranger he was pick-pocketing turned and swatted him away. Ko scrambled over to me.

          "But how am I going to get money for a drink? I'm broke," he told me. I rolled my eyes. "I'll pay for it. Just--" I patted my pockets. The money I had was gone. Ko raised his hand, which was full of coins. "KO!" I shouted indignantly, grabbing for the money, but Ko pulled the coins out of my reach and ran for it. I called to Elena, who nonchalantly threw a dart at Ko. It pinned him to the wall behind him. I walked up to him and grabbed the coins.

          "Ko, what did I say about stealing?"

          "That people will crush me?"

          "Exactly. Now stop it." I walked back over to the bar and ordered a pomegranate fizz drink. I decided it would be nice to play at least one game of pool. "May I join?" I asked the Rangers.

          "Sure, you can go against Sandy," one Ranger said, pointing to another. "But you gotta put in some money. If you win, you take yours and Sandy's."

          After about twelve games of lance pool, I had nearly doubled my money. I made sure to go to the tavern more often to brush up on my lance pool skills. I turned to see my group standing in front of me. "You ready to go?" Jeff asked. I nodded, and we headed on out the door.

          We began to walk for the headquarters. If the watches didn't call us for a mission, we didn't have to be in such a rush. Plus, going slower meant enjoying more scenery. After a mile or two, the watches began to ring. I picked mine up out of my pocket. Instead of displaying the time, as usual, the words Report for mission were written on it. I groaned in frustration. "And I was really beginning to enjoy the scenery." We broke into a run for the Ranger Headquarters so we could report for our first mission.