Onward to 7 Years

Chapter 2: I Can Do This

"Ian!" Laurel shouted as she followed her son out into the living room, where he collapsed on the couch. He took a shaky breath and put his head into his hands. Blazey lied at his feet, where she looked at Ian with worry.  

After a minute, Ian looked up and stared into space. "I have to go find him," he said blankly.

"Ian, you have no clue where he is. He could be on the other side of the world for all we know!" Laurel exclaimed. "I agree that you should find him, but...you have no clues or anything-"

"Oh! So you just want me to not look for him? To just forget  that the staff came alive and showed us an image of Barley in a dungeon somewhere?" Ian snapped as he stood up from the couch and looked down into his mom's eyes. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry for yelling, Mom, I-" 

Laurel put a hand on her son's shoulder and gave him a sad smile. "I know, honey. I know. I just don't want you going out into the world alone to find him."

"I'm not  a scared 16-year old kid anymore, Mom. Yes, I haven't changed much, but-" Ian looked up and stopped talking. Suddenly, Barley's voice started going through his head. Hey. You can do this.

Ian smiled. That was from the quest 10 years ago! He looked back down at his mom. "But I can do this," he said confidently. "Besides, if I was in trouble, Barley would come save me."

"Yeah," Laurel said as she backed away. "You're right. Okay. Obviously, I can't go. Before you leave, you need to think this through." Laurel couldn't go because over the past 10 years, her muscles haven't been as good and she gets weak easily. But Ian still liked to think of her as a mighty warrior. 

"I know, Mom," Ian said. His thoughts started to go all over the place as it started to sink in again that Barley really was in trouble. Switching back to the old Ian, he started pacing the floor. "Okay, uh...so who would have Barley? Who could've captured him? How long has he been captured-"

"Slow down, Ian. I don't know," Laurel said calmly as she sat down on the couch.  She rested her elbows on her lap, propped her hands under her chin, and stayed silent, getting deep in her thoughts. "But I think I know someone who will have the answers," she said eventually as she stood up and smiled.

                                                                                   *****

30 minutes later, Ian was walking outside and down the street from his apartment. All he had was a backpack, and inside was some money, water, food, and his cell phone. He was sure that along the way, he'd find clues that would lead him to Barley. After all, Barley had taught him to use what you have. He was going to take the staff with him, but when he had entered his room after his talk with his mom, it was clear the staff wouldn't ever work again. It's brown, smooth, beautiful wood had turned completely white. There was no magic quality to it whatsoever. So he grabbed an old black backpack from his closet, put in the supplies, said goodbye to his mom and promised he'd call her if he was ever in trouble, and went on his way.

Ian was heading to the Manticore's Tavern, which he hadn't visited since his 17th birthday with his friend group, Barley, and his mom. Apparently, his mom and the Manticore were still good friends. Ian hasn't seen the Manticore since he had moved out. It'll be nice to see her again.

As Ian walked through streets as the sun set, he realized he could probably reach the tavern by morning. It was just outside of New Mushroomton, and he didn't have a car. He couldn't use his mom's because she had work all week (she was a photographer). Plus, she could take care of Blazey.

He had a long, long journey ahead of him. But he'd do anything to save his brother.

And Ian was determined to find him. How hard could it be?