FSE

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Chapter** 12**

** ** The hustle and bustle of people moving about in town, the chirping of birds, the frantic calls for help in catching the dastard who set some guy's hat on fire. None of these things were enough to rouse Jem or Russo from their slumber as they lay knocked out in beds opposite of one another in a guest room at the Tedrah guild.

Jem was the first to shake off the heavy sleep and briefly took in his surroundings to remind himself where he was.

"...That's right, we hit up the pub pretty hard last night," he thought to himself as he quickly pieced together last night's events. Or at least what likely happened.

1.) Russo and Jem went to the new not yet exploded pub.

2.) Jem drank far too much booze for his own good. (It never really affected him and he rarely woke up with a hangover. Probably something to do with the fact he's a giant.)

3.) Russo carried/dragged Jem back to the guild.

4.) Russo spent the night with Jem at the guild to keep him company. That or he was too sleepy to be bothered to walk back home.

Jem smiled to himself and looked over to Russo who was sleeping peacefully. "Out of all the people I could've come across when I first stumbled into this town, timid and afraid, somehow I lucked out into smacking right into you," he thought to himself. A gentle smile formed on his face as he snuggled up back under the covers and got ready to go back to bed.

"No need to get going too early today. We deserve a break after all we've been through the past couple of days," Jem thought as he slowly closed his eyes.

Seconds later the door to their guest room slammed open and the human and collie awoke with a fright.

"RUSSO!" The master screamed at the startled human.

"Oh. False alarm," Jem ruminated as he curled back under the covers yet again and did his best to ignore the master's rant. Russo wrapped his covers around himself protectively as he stared back at the master wide eyed.

"I send you to Peccamen to wipe out a great and terrible evil and what do you do?!"

"...My job?" Russo meekly replied.

"No smartass, you went and blew up an entire mountain and destroyed a village! Hell there were reports all around the southern part of the province of boulders raining down from the sky!"

"All across the southern province? Damn those rocks got some serious distance," Russo proudly thought to himself as the master continued screaming.

"Oh you damn well better not be proud of that!"

"N-no... and hey wait a minute who's to say that Jem didn't have a hand in all of this?"

The master raised his eyebrows incredulously. "Don't even try to start that with me Russo."

"Thank you," Jem called out from his bed.

Some help Jem was Russo thought as he grumbled to himself.

"Worse yet though is that after all of that havoc you reaped you two dicked around for the next couple of days instead of reporting back to me. \ **Sigh* * To think that I was actually worried about you two. Care to explain just what the hell you were up to these past couple of days and how you managed to drag Jem along with you?"

"I couldn't really report back since I was unconscious for most of the time," Russo bluntly replied.

"What are you talking about? The people of Letum clearly stated that they saw that you and the others were perfectly fine when you returned to the village and disappeared shortly after it was demolished. Russo these are some piss poor excuses you're coming up with."

"He's not lying master. We ran into some trouble on the way back," Jem said as he remained tucked under the covers, facing away from Russo.

Russo let down the covers he had wrapped around him and showed off his impressive new scar.

Shocked the master asked, "Good lord what happened to you?"

Before Russo could answer Jem did so for him. "We were forced to walk back from Letum due to Russo's magic being depleted in his effort to destroy whatever it was he found in Peccamen. Only a few hours into our return trip we were ambushed by some highwaymen and Russo was in no condition to fight back..." Jem said as he slowly trailed off. "If I had been a bit faster with dispatching them maybe Russo wouldn't have been hurt so badly..."

"I... I see. Russo I'm glad to see that you came through that ordeal no worse for wear but that still doesn't excuse all the collateral damage you've caused. My initial plan upon barging in here was to suspend from taking on any missions considering how much trouble you've been causing lately. But..."

"But?"

"But now I'm suspending you from taking up any missions not only to prevent you from causing any more chaos but also to see to it that you have plenty of time to properly recover. That and I want to hear all about what happened in Peccamen."

"Y-you can't be serious! So what if I cause some trouble here and there, I always get the job done. And besides master, the doctor Jem found for me already patched me up and-"

"Russo. Please don't argue this with me."

"Al-alright," Russo said in a defeated tone.

"Oh and Jem, when you have the time I'd like to speak to you in my office. There's some business I'd like to discuss with you."

"Understood master."

The master bid both of them good day and closed the door behind him, giving the collie and human another chance to sleep in. Neither one of them felt much like sleeping after what they had told or been told.

-------------------------------------------A couple hours later------------------------------------------

It had been a while since Russo had left the guild to return to his house and wash up properly for the first time in days. Felt great to be wearing some clean, untattered, and blood stain free clothing. He returned to the guild looking for Jem, curious as to what exactly the master had wanted to discuss with him.

Walking into the guild hall he saw that things were rather busy today. There were actually a fairly large number of fellow guild members milling about. There were groups of people that had just returned from missions and individuals who had been drawn back by the slow but steady inflow of requests that had started coming in over the past few days. Humans, foxes, deer, bats... hell all kinds of people could be found here. The master let in all kinds, so long as they proved themselves. Yet Jem was nowhere to be seen among them.

"Surely he couldn't have already talked with the master and taken off already," He thought aloud as he navigated through the crowded hall. Russo slowly made his way towards the kitchen where Dax was working double time to meet the demands of the cook. The wolf was feverishly helping to unpack and prepare food for all the other guild members.

"Hey Russo!" Dax happily called out as Russo slunk inside the kitchen and grabbed himself a bowl of soup.

"Hey Dax. You have any idea where Jem is?"

"No, not really. I don't think he's left the guild hall today though. He's probably just cleaning up in one of the baths or something."

"Alright then, thanks." Russo replied as he walked out of the kitchen.

"Oh oh wait Russo!" Dax called out as he started to chase after him.

"Hmm?" Russo looked back to Dax, a spoonful of soup already shoved in his mouth.

"Do you maybe wanna eat lunch with me? The cook's letting me take my lunch break soon and I was hoping that maybe I wouldn't have to eat alone."

"Alone? Dax this place is packed with people. Just find a table with an open spot, sit down and introduce yourself."

"Pleaseeeeeeeee Russo. It feels weird just going up to random people here and having lunch with them. You and Jem are the only guys I know here."

"Ughhhh..." Russo stalled as he tried to think of an excuse. A sudden flashback of him as a starry eyed lad pestering Virgil reminded Russo of his promise to himself.

"*Sigh* okay."

"Great! I'll join you shortly, just let me finish cleaning up." Dax excitedly replied, wagging his tail the entire time as he barged back into the kitchen.

Russo found himself an empty table and idly sat there sipping his soup as he waited for Dax to join him. "Guess I'm going to have plenty of time to practice being nice to Dax. What with all my newly acquired free time," Russo woefully thought to himself.

Dax carefully navigated the loitering guild members and plopped down next to Russo, a bowl of soup cupped between his hands. He wasted no time in striking up a conversation.

"So I heard the master sent you and Jem on a special mission. What was it like?"

"Hmm... I haven't even reported back to the master on everything that went down there. Think you can wait until after I tell him to hear the story?"

"I guess so..." Dax replied disappointed as he sipped his soup, placing the bowl up to his muzzle, completely ignoring the silverware he brought with him.

"Although I suppose I can tell you that I blew up a mountain in the process. Word about that is going to get out anyway. Master already heard about that and is plenty pissed about it."

"You blew up a mountain?! How?" Dax asked astonished.

"I'll get into the specifics later, if I'm allowed to disclose them. He's just mad that I made a bit of a mess in one of the villages Jem and I went through. Frankly I think he's making a mountain out of a molehill. Wait, never mind, that was a terrible analogy."

"But it's not like something like that happens every day, or well... ever!"

"Yeah, yeah. So..." Russo struggled to keep the conversation going.

"So?"

"So... what have you been up to lately?"

"Oh nothing much really. More and more of the other guild members here have actually been showing up lately so I've been a lot busier in the kitchen than usual. That and there's a lot more to tidy up now since there are a lot more people here to make a mess."

"Fascinating." Russo replied, forcing that enthusiasm.

"I have been kind of overwhelmed by all the new people and faces though. I liked it better when it was just you and me and Jem around."

"You're not shy are you?"

"No! It's just that you and Jem know about, well you know. It's just easier talking to you two since I don't have to hide anything."

"Not like you would with everybody else?"

"Yeah," Dax said as he stared down sadly at his soup. "What about you Russo? Do you know many of the people here?"

"Nowhere near as many as I should. Jem and the master are the only people I spend any amount of time with here since I typically do solo missions. Although, I guess I can count you among one of the few people I devote any attention to now."

"I'm honored," Dax said with a genuine toothy smile.

Russo didn't know whether to smack or praise Dax for his puppy like affection. It was weird in that it was off putting yet flattering at the same time. Russo settled for shaking his head at him.

"Don't you ever get lonely though doing missions all on your own?"

"Every now and then I do. But, you know, whenever that happens I always remind myself of how much easier a mission is when I don't have to rely on anyone else. That and I can proceed as quickly or slowly as I please. Granted, that doesn't mean I'll refuse to work with others because I'll always jump at the opportunity to work with Jem."

"Is Jem the only one you'll work with though? Is he your only friend here?"

"I-I've worked with other people besides Jem in the past. But... yeah out of everybody here Jem is the only person I'd ever choose to work with. And I mean it's not like the other guild members here are strangers to me. I know a couple of em' like Garm, June and Nina." Russo pointed out to a horse, a Labrador and a fox respectively. "We sometimes chat and occasionally run into each other in town but I... I uh, we're... okay we're not really friends so much as we are acquaintances. *Sigh* Okay so having some more friends would be nice but, even so I am pretty content with my life the way it is. Even if Jem is one of my only good friends."

"Don't forget me!"

Again there was that strange mixture of being off put and flattered at the same time. And maybe a bit grateful and happy at the same time. Okay, Russo would admit he did like the idea of calling Dax a friend.

"...Even if you and Jem are my only good friends, that's enough to keep me happy."

A gentle smile formed on Russo's face and Dax returned it with a big wolfy grin. "Hehe, I don't know if it means much to you Russo, but I'm really glad that it was you and Jem I ran into that one day I tried to rob that old man."

"I'm assuming you're also glad that neither of us managed to kill you when you tried that?" Russo cheekily asked.

Dax looked down away from Russo embarrassed.

"Anyway, I probably ought to go and finally report to the master about what all happened during on my last mission. Later Dax." Russo said as he got up from the table and waved back at Dax. He set his bowl back in the kitchen before he headed up the stairs and knocked on the door.

"Could you come back in an hour or so? I'm preoccupied at the moment." The master called out through the door.

"Never mind then." Russo yelled back.

"Wait, Russo is that you? This changes things, come in, come in, Jem was in the middle of explaining what transpired in Peccamen."

His curiosity piqued Russo stepped inside the master's office and saw Jem seated in front of his desk. Russo pulled up a chair sitting by a corner in the room and sat down next to Jem.

"Alright now Russo, Jem tells me that one of your allies, Wexter, wasn't all that he appeared to be."

"Like I didn't see that coming a mile away," Russo sarcastically replied.

"Oh shush," Jem retorted.

"It was so freaking obvious he was going to try and pull something Jem, come on! Frankly I'm amazed you, Morgan and Zane were actually caught off guard when he did make his move."

"You didn't fight him Russo, alright? He was a lot stronger than you give him credit for."

"Uh-huh."

"Enough, the both of you. Russo, Jem tells me that Wexter made his move after you climbed down into a secret passageway beneath a house you investigated in Peccamen. What happened to you after you split up from the group? What did you find?"

Russo proceeded to recount his tale of how he came across the relic and nearly fell under its sway, but ultimately wound up tricking it into destroying itself. (You [the readers] don't need that much of a recap do you? Pretty much all you need to know is that the relic was destroyed along with Wexter and a small mountain. Preferably as the author I'd like to believe that the mountain was destroyed not in an EXPLOSION, no no no, but instead it was destroyed in a BAYSPLOSION. MABASHPLOOM!!!) After telling his portion of the story the master was left speechless.

"To think that a sentient magical relic of such power was housed away there... Good Lord."

"You got to admit my method for getting rid of it was pretty creative."

"Sounds pretty lazy to me," Jem teasingly prodded.

"I'm sorry but who's the one who completed the mission single handedly?"

"And who's the one that flattened Letum and forced us all to cut and run when we were in no condition to do so?" Jem responded in a mocking tone.

"Both of you, shut up! Alright, Russo, so the relic drained you of your energy and Wexter being the theatric dastard that he was, transported you back to surface where the others were. From there you easily escaped."

"That's right," Russo nodded affirmatively.

"Then the next day as you were walking back you were ambushed."

"Correct," Jem affirmed.

"And Russo was left half dead from that confrontation while you (he pointed to Jem) managed to get rid of both of your would be killers and proceeded to carry Russo to the nearest town."

"...Yes."

"How long were you in town then waiting for Russo to recover?"

"It was a good three days. You know you scared the hell out of me Russo. Especially those first two days. I was worried sick that you weren't going to make it," The collie said as he looked over to Russo.

"Sorry Jem, didn't mean to make you worry," Russo said a little embarrassed.

"Hmm, I know you couldn't help it," Jem said as he playfully tussled Russo's hair. The human couldn't stand it when he did that and slapped Jem's hand away.

"Well if that's all I need to hear then you two can leave. I'll be sure to inform the guild leader in Satuk of what happened to the representative that Wexter disposed of. I always hate relaying those kinds of messages."

The human and collie rose from their seats and made their way towards the door.

"Ah, before you go Jem, when do you think you'll be able to head out and investigate those disappearances?"

"I'll head out first thing tomorrow morning master."

"There's no need to rush Jem. While this is a pressing issue it's nothing that can't wait a day or two while you get back your strength."

"I'll be back up to speed tomorrow morning master, you don't need to worry about me."

With that the collie and human left the room and started descending the stairs.

"Disappearances? What's that about?"

"Eh... a little ways out east people have started to vanish. There are two small villages, Norn and Sanos. People travelling along the path linking the two have started to disappear without a trace. Those villages do a fair deal of trading with one another but all of that has come to a screeching halt since everyone there is too scared to risk travelling between them."

"Why don't they start travelling in large groups then? That oughta be enough to ward off whatever is causing this."

"That's what I thought too, but apparently the villagers already tried that. They had an armed patrol escort the last batch of merchants that tried travelling between the two places."

"And?"

"All of them disappeared. They left out of Norn and were headed towards Sanos weeks ago. The trip between the two villages is supposed to take just a little over a day."

"Yeesh."

"The situation doesn't look very good, I agree. The master brought it to my attention since he's hesitant to post it out in the main guild hall and potentially send some of our less skilled coworkers to their deaths."

"What makes him think that sending a lone warrior out to investigate will yield any results if an entire freaking caravan of merchants just up and vanished?! Those aren't good odds Jem."

"Relax Russo I've already started to put a lot of thought and planning into this. Besides this is a problem that needs to be solved. Those people shouldn't have to live with being terrified of leaving their own village."

"Okay then. Still, is there any reason for you to head out so soon?"

"The sooner this gets taken care of the better."

"So I guess you'll just spend the night packing and preparing then?"

"Yep. Sorry, but no pub runs tonight."

"It's alright, I understand," Russo said as he pushed open the door to the guild hall and the two friends stepped out into the cobblestone streets.

"What'll you do then until the master removes your suspension?" Jem asked as they strolled through the road, passing by small gatherings of people. The shops that littered the sides of the road drew decent crowds, the locals milling about and enjoying the delightful weather. The sun had risen to its apex in the sky and shined brilliantly in the cloudless sky. The air was crisp and cool and was shaping up to be another great fall day.

"I don't know, probably just bum around sleeping and reading up on any new tomes that the guild has gotten hold of."

"You could always try and spend some time with Dax."

"I was thinking about that too... but okay now that we've broached the subject what is it with you and Dax anyway? You're always wanting him to hang out with us or trying to force me to spend time with him."

"You-you're exaggerating things," Jem replied hesitatingly. "He just... he just reminds of myself is all."

"I don't remember you being needy and clingy when we first met."

"Seriously? You don't remember me relying on you for every little thing? You don't remember me needing you to read everything to me? Hell did you already forget that I needed you to teach me to read and write?"

"Okay so maybe you were needy when we first met and we did spend practically every waking moment with each other. But I don't remember you being annoying."

"I seem to recall days where you would get fed up with me begging you for lessons or days where you would scream at me to quote 'Leave you the fuck alone.' You wanted nothing to do with me since I hardly gave you the time and space to think, much less breathe."

"Umm..."

"Yet even though I was both incredibly clingy and annoying you still stuck with me and remained my friend. Granted you're not the best teacher but you taught me what I needed to get by. You may act like a callous smartass but I know you have some redeeming qualities hidden under that façade of yours. I can't imagine we'd be such good friends if you didn't."

"What are you getting at with all this?"

"I'm just saying give Dax a chance. He'll turn out alright, just give him some time. That and thank you for being such a good friend all these years," Jem said as he affectionately nuzzled Russo.

"Alright, alright, alright, enough of the bromance!" Russo complained as he pushed Jem's snout away. Jem knew he secretly relished the attention. "Fine, whatever, I'll spend some time hanging out with him. It's not like I've got anything better to do."

"Good to hear."

"Also, all this bromance has been getting kind of out of hand lately since my, you know, near death experience. Can we just clear the air of all this and just admit that we love each other? In a totally platonic heterosexual way of course."

"O-of course!" Jem replied as he felt his ears begin to burn up in embarrassment.

The feeling of bromance persisted in the air even after their half-assed confession of totally platonic love to one another.

"Okay... that didn't work. I can still feel the brotherly love in the air," Russo said as he swatted at the air to emphasize his point.

"What now then?" Jem asked as a smile crept up along his face. "Hehe... love you too you silly bastard," he thought to himself.

"*Sigh* I guess there's nothing else left to do but hug it out."

HUG IT OUT BITCH. YEAH. THIS IS SILLY WHY THE HELL AM I EVEN WRITING THIS. WAIT WHY AM I WRITING THIS IN ALL CAPS? FUCK IT, WHO CARES. REAL MEN HUG EACH OTHER PASSIONATELY OUT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET FOR ALL TO SEE. PASSIONATE PANTS ON HUGGING.

After hugging it out both Jem and Russo's respective bromance bars depleted and their statuses shifted from mancrush back to normal.

I'M JUST FUCKING WITH YOU ALL NOW. THIS HAS ABSOLUTELY NO SIGNIFICANT RELEVANCE TO THE PLOT.

"Okay then, good to finally have that out of my system," Russo exclaimed.

"Y-yeah," Jem awkwardly replied.

"Guess I'll leave you to your preparations then Jem. Good luck with your mission," Russo turned down a side street and headed towards his home.

Jem nodded at him and continued heading straight down the street towards his own modest dwelling, where he would spend the rest of the day packing and planning for the task at hand.