A large, balding man with a curly mustache and a gut as round as a pig’s let out a heavy sigh as he watched the sun rise over the town. He had his arms crossed and was seated on a crate of cabbages going by the label on the back side of it. There was a long, thoughtful pause after that, and he let the sun rise on his face before finally speaking. As he turned to his right, his expression softened just a bit as he stated, “I think it’s a sign too, Teej.”

Teodore Jay Dugrass was seated atop an empty barrel, his top-heavy physique and younger appearance contrasting with that of the older man. His expression lit up as the old man expressed his approval. “Right?!” He hopped off the barrel and looked back to his former boss with a grin, “It’s [i]gotta[/i] be a sign if [i]this[/i] happens [i]right[/i] when I’m considering leaving!”

The “this” in question refers to the charred remains of a restaurant laying behind the two. Hours prior, the once proud restaurant “Homme Gros” suffered an explosion by the hands of a newbie employee. [i]How[/i] exactly they did it boggled everyone’s mind, but containing the resulting fire and saving as much of the building as possible was more important then. Unfortunately, the fire was so severe, the only things that could be saved was the money made that day, a crate, and a barrel.

Flashing back to the present, the portly man let out a groan as he shifted in his seat. “Well, either way it’s just as good for me too. I’m pretty sure running that restaurant was what made all my hair fall out.” He chuckled as he rubbed at the noticeable bald patch on his scalp.

“Heh. A shame that it had to end like this, though,” TJ sullenly replied as he looked back at the rubble.

“Bah. No use wallowing on your “dream resignation.” We both know you wouldn’t’ve left unless I closed up shop myself.”

“True, true. In my defense, it would be unbecoming of a [i]gentleman[/i] if I simply left at the peak of your business.”

“Hah! You keep telling yourself that, Teej.” The portly man got off his crate and hefted it up with a groan. “I’ll figure out what to do from here. Maybe I can finally cash in on some insurance. Get me some easy retirement money.” He chuckled again and looked back at TJ, giving him a confident smile, “You should get back home now. I bet you got some stuff to take care of before you set out. Good luck out on the sea, Teodore. You’re gonna need it!” On that note, he finally turned back to the road and started walking away.

TJ wasn’t going to just let his boss of seven years simply walk away without a word back from him, so gratefully he bowed his head and firmly shouted, “Thank you very much, Monsieur Pierre!”

And thus came an end to one chapter of TJ’s life…

Wasting no time, TJ just started making his way back home. He decided to leave the barrel where it was, figuring if he needed it for whatever reason he could always just come back to it. For now, though, he had to pack! He had to get ready! He… probably should’ve asked for a business-starting loan from Monsieur Pierre, now that he thought about it, but what’s done is done.

As he walked out from an alley he heard the sound of something sailing through the sky. Looking to the side, he saw something quickly approaching in the distance. Was that… a dinghy?? And… someone on it?? He noticed it to be an awfully dinged up dinghy the closer it came. That thought couldn’t be entertained for long, however, and TJ let out quite the un(gentle)manly yelp as he recoiled back into the alley, just narrowly avoiding getting rammed full force by what was left of the hull.

[i]"That nearly gave me a heart attack!"[/i] he thought. It took a few seconds for him to catch his breath, but when he did he peeked out from the alley. The dinghy was gone, but he noticed that it apparently rammed through a cabbage cart in its wake. Stepping out from the alley, he walked up to the remains of it and sighed. “What a waste…” he remarked.

Noticing someone else also inspecting the wreck, TJ turned his attention to them. He spied with his little eye something black-haired! Something with a huge sword! Something h[i]ORRIFICALLY BURNT AND SCARRED.[/I] Seeing Scabbard up close all of a sudden elicited his second un(gentle)manly yelp of the day.