Dalton walked down the halls of the fort, his boots making a lot of noise as they hit the cobblestone floors. He stopped for a bit when he saw Warde sitting down in a rather dark corner of the fort. He had noticed that Warde was looking quite down recently about something, though he hadn't pried about the cause. He then realized that he had not talked to Warde hardly at all during his time at the fort. Intending to cheer him up, Dalton approached Warde, smirking a bit when the latter tried to wipe the grease off of his face. "Well well, what are you doing sulking in a dark corner? It's a beautiful day after all!" he said.
Warde looked up at Dalton, giving a bit of a shrug as the knight began speaking to him. "Eh, just masticating, Dalton. That, and pondering the temperament of the feminine gender."
Dalton looked at him weird and said "Masti...what? Ah whatever, I see what you mean." He barely managed to contain a chuckle; Warde, trying to date? As long as he had known Warde he always saw Warde being the typical lone wolf, angsty, solitary, and a little mean. Still, he knew better than to openly scoff somebody who had clearly been dumped. Wishing to turn the conversation into a slightly more mundane and peaceful one, he asked "So uh...how is the old man doing?"
"I forgot I was in the presence of people with . . . lesser intelligence," Warde replied. "Let's see. . . . I'm eating, and I'm wondering why women have to be so complicated." Warde was a little edgy, but he realized a little too late that he had been rude. "Sorry. Didn't mean to act like that. And I certainly hope you wouldn't be calling me an 'old man,' friend." Warde, for the first time since he had been turned down, actually allowed a hint of a smile to play at the corners of his mouth.
Yup, now Warde was acting just as he usually did, though it did seem that he had matured enough to know when he was being rude. "No, no," Dalton remarked, "I meant that old wizard guy that you were an apprentice to, grey hair, big pointy hat...you know." Of course, he hardly remembered what the old man looked like, he hadn't met him much except when the young Dalton made an egregious error.
Warde felt the same sting in his heart that he had felt when he returned home to find all he had once known destroyed. "Dalton . . . uh . . . how do I put this without portraying vulgarity? . . . My mentor was . . . he's deceased, to the best of my knowledge." That faint hint of a smile was gone from Warde now, his deep frown returning.
"...Dead?" Dalton said, absolutely stunned. He stood there for a minute, then solemnly sat down on the floor next to Warde. A short phrase "Accursed sub-humans" briefly escaped his lips. In a quick attempt to remedy his blunder, he stammered "Oh...I-I'm sorry I-I-I shouldn't have brought it up" He sat silent for a few minutes, trying to handle the shock. He then said "Uh...by the way...what the heck does vulgarity mean?" in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it came out kind of weak. Deep down though, he started blaming the Exotrians for their loss against Geraden. If they hadn't gone to war with Edea, he reasoned, their forces wouldn't have been split up, and they would've driven back Geraden. In truth, he was lying to himself, but at this point he didn't particularly care. One thing he knew, or thought he knew, for certain was that the sub-humans would most definitely pay.
Warde took a deep breath before speaking again. "They are the most cursed fauna to roam the forests, Dalton. Sub-human doesn't even begin to describe how low they are. Not only was my instructor lost by the work of their savagery, but also the entire village. But don't fret, I was certain that those monstrosities recieved their rightful judgment. One of my master's old Fire tomes ensured that." Warde had to laugh about how often he found himself simplifying his words. "Vulgarity," he explained, "is simply the noun form of the word 'vulgar'. I meant that I did not desire to say anything that would be grotes--I mean . . . disgusting or rude." To Warde, sometimes it felt as much of a challenge for him to simplify his statements as it was for others to understand them.
Warde decided he had had enough of these depressing topics. "My existence seems nothing but sorrow for the time, Dalton. Surely you have something joyful you can relay to me? A new recipe that you have concocted, perhaps? Or maybe you've discovered a secret chamber within the depths of this fort? Certainly there must be something joyful within you that can lighten this mood."
"...Yeah, you are right, let's not get all depressed now!" Dalton said. He made a forced chuckle, here he was trying to cheer Warde up and yet here they were getting all depressed. "Oh I've concocted a lot of new recipies! I actually served as a cook at the fort in Opalan, next to the Exotrian border, and they all loved my food. The only trouble was I tried using Fire Magic to cook food, and well, you know how I am with magic!" Dalton said, letting himself laugh a bit. He was rather notorious in the village as being a danger to himself and others with magic. Once he had even "borrowed" a tome of fire magic from Warde to try and prove that he could be just as awesome at magic as Warde. Unfortunately he made a slight tactical blunder, practicing fire magic in a wooden warehouse next to Warde's master's house. He was successful at casting the magic...and burning down most of the warehouse as well. Suffice to say, it was one of those times he knew just how hard Warde got it from his master. "Yeah, that didn't end so well, but I will learn eventually I assure you! They even kicked me down to grunt status for that one!"
"As for secret chambers, well I found two. First there was a really small compartment I found in the war room...but for some reason it was empty. The second hidden door was this trap door I found right in front of the throne seat, I found that one just a few seconds after the first one in fact." Dalton laughed. In truth, he had opened the hidden compartment, only for that to trigger a trap designed to make sure nobody stole the contents of the first compartment. It sent him on a one way trip to the fort dungeon, though thankfully none of the dungeon doors were locked. Then he said, "Well, what about you, you find anything interesting?"
Warde decided he would just let Dalton speak his mind for a while. He had forgotten how talkative Dalton could get, especially when the conversation was about his own life. He was about to reply when the sound of nearing footsteps made him stop, and he saw Evan come into view.
"The reason," Evan said, a smile on his face, "that nothing was in that compartment, was because I got to it the first night we were here. I've got its contents stored away elsewhere. So, do the two of you think you'd be ready to move out soon? I've told everyone except those in the infirmary, but I sent Rael up there. We just need to pack and leave before Geraden finds us."
"Yes sir!" he said, saluting the prince. "I'll go and round up everyone who hasn't and tell them to meet in the war room...unless you had another place in mind?"
"Not necessary. Unless you would like to make sure that anyone who may be outside has heard word of it. We're heading through Exotria as soon as--"
"Absolutely not!" Warde fired off at the thought of passing through beast-country.
"I don't see another choice, Warde," Evan explained. "We'd die if we took any other route. I know a number of people in our group dislike the beasts, but we must grin and bear it for the imte it will take to pass through there. I can assure you that we'll move as fast as possible. And Dalton, you don't have to salute me. I'm hardly a prince anymore. At least for the moment."
"Yes sir!" Dalton said, saluting for a moment before remembering what Evan just said and putting his hand down. "Ahem, anyways, I don't have much to pack myself, All I have are my weapons, my wheelbarrow full of food, and my horse." he said. He thought about travelling through Exotria, he agreed wholeheartedly with Warde that it was a stupid idea to travel through there, but his prince had ordered it, and he knew that barging straight through to Jinn would be an exercise in frustration, if not death. Thus, he kept his mouth shut on the matter. He then said "If there's nothing else, I'll head off to finish my packing." saluting again before jerking his hand back down.
Evan smiled and shook his head, then shot a glance at Warde when the latter muttered a curse and something about "sub-humans". "Well," Evan said, "meet us outside when the moon peaks. That's when I'm hoping to leave."