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Gearing up for School!

Cody sat on a stone wall listening to his friends. Well, half listening. Tomorrow began theirs, and his, journey to becoming a Dragon Hunter. They were all excited. He was not. He pretended to share their excitement of finally starting training, but he dreaded what the next step in his life was going to bring him. There was nothing wrong with the choice to becoming a Dragon Hunter, it just wasn’t his choice. Not wanting to disappoint his father, he’d agreed to apply to the Citadel Academy for Dragon Hunter training. Cody had hoped that they wouldn’t accept an untested farmer’s boy. Once the application had been submitted, his father practically glowed with pride and couldn’t stop talking about how his son was going to be a Dragon Hunter.

His father’s Dragon Hunting career had been cut short by a crippling injury. While he could still walk, his father’s awkward limp prevented him from ever engaging the dangerous beasts again. When Cody was younger, he reveled in the stories his father told about his battles. As he grew older, Cody developed interests of his own and they didn’t mesh with his father’s way of thinking.

Cody would have been perfectly happy to stay on the farm and to continue to working the land. He’d begun to think that someday the farm would be passed down to him. His parents were a contented couple and he’d hoped to find that for himself someday. But… as Dragon Hunter, he didn’t expect that to happen now. Even if Cody had been able to bring himself to tell his father that he didn’t want to hunt dragons, he could never stay on the farm and see his father’s disappointed dreams in his face every day. Since both of the paths open to him would require his departure from the farm, he figured might as well make his father proud and give it a go at the dragon hunting.

“Cody!”

Broken out of his thoughts, Cody looked up at his friend, Stenn, who was looking back at him with impatience.

Finally getting Cody’s attention, Stenn said, “Come on! We’re going to the Armorer to pick out our dream weapons.” Stenn didn’t wait for a response. Assuming that Cody was as excited as the rest of them, he expected Cody to follow without question. Cody did hesitate, but only for a moment. He wasn’t really interested in a ‘dream’ weapon, but if he didn’t show an interest and go with his friends, they’d be asking him what was up. He already felt surrounded by mistruths, he didn’t want to add out-and-out lying to his friends.

Sliding off the stone wall, Cody jogged to catch up with Stenn. “So what’s your ‘dream’ weapon?” Cody asked his friend.

“Something big and heavy”, said Stenn, mimicking hefting something heavy over his shoulder. “You?”

“Something sharp and swift,” replied Cody. If he had to choose a weapon, Cody wanted something that would allow him to move quickly in a fight. He expected that he’d be defending himself, just to stay alive, more often than he’d be on the offensive.

Ahead of them, Cody saw the rest of the group file through the Armorer’s shop door. Excited chatter was already filling the room as he and Stenn followed them in.

549 words

Adventure: The Importance of Being Earnest

~ Reflections ~

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