Young Days Behind Me

For the knight quest: Baa-by Sitting
896 words (excluding headlines)

A lighthearted lesson

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"Gladis! We will have to go over this again," a cyan tutor tried saying to a very playful pouflon that had bouquets for accessories.

Within an indoor garden, Nathaniel and his royal subject of a friend, Gladis, were at attempt number 500 for letter writing practice.

Hugs for me

Hugs for you

Laughs for three

None for two!

Reading this "letter", the tutor could see that Gladis didn't care how much he just taught her and did whatever she wanted. Right in the middle of his 46th lecture, Nathaniel was shook down by an untimely attack of affection. At this rate, he was ready to give up trying to train this young pouflon into an extraordinary writer Nathaniel desired Gladis to be since Gladis had worn him down.

With moments no one else could see happening like this one, Nathaniel's one-time letter writer Gladis got this exasperated knight through his unnumbered amount of trips to Ebony Wreath. It was taxing, not because of the mountains, high slopes, or young knights pointing out this knight was way more experienced than they were, but because he had to see someone who aimed to make him suffer. This time though, Nathaniel planned to turn the tables and put that vespire through ten-times as much pain as he put Nathaniel through.

From help to hinder

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The thrill from anticipation of catching this beast yet again was... less fulfilling than his last captures of the same creature. Nathaniel slowed his pace to realize someone was holding him back. He quickly spun around back into the sky blue palace to see Gladis standing there with a concerned smile upon her little face. The very one that got him through this time... was making it difficult for Nathaniel to do what he needed to do. He really didn't want to let go of his freedom from much dread... but this freedom was only temporary anyway.

After another confrontation with this vespire, perhaps then Nathaniel would find true permanent freedom from this vespire's words and mockery! For all those times he scoffed at Nathaniel's struggle... what sort of brother of a sister-in-law laughs at someone trying to express with full honesty what was tormenting them?

Nathaniel went on for miles pressing forward trying to ignore all the tension building up. However at a forked path, he cried a terrible screech when he could feel Gladis hugging his back leg. "GLADIS!" Deep breathing only increased the amount of sweat soaking Nathaniel's brow, and it hurt his heart to find Gladis to be a hindrance that he had to yell at. He knew he had frightened her with that shout, and he felt horrible about it, but for goodness sake, he had to put an end to the torture this vespire was putting him through!

Nathaniel had reached his third day of that trip, and now he felt cold and alone having left Gladis behind. Shutting out the world around him, he thought back to the moments he was at the Dawn Garden to help with young. If he could no longer spend time with one royal subject, he might as well bask in the honor of doing service for the queen herself.

Royal honor of babysitting

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Stepping quite impressively and with plenty of dignity through floral archways in a nursery, Nathaniel sat down with a circle of tiny pouflons admiring the amount of regal air flowing off of him.

"Hey, you can't sit there," a calm authoritative voice from behind him said.

A twist of the head to look over his shoulder revealed to Nathaniel a bright glistening bloom with not a sense of hierarchy. "Little child, are you aware you're speaking in the wrong tone to an elder?" Nathaniel rebutted.

"Huh? You don't look a day pass the age of my big brother! As such you're my brother today... and I gotta tell my brother to move over so I can sit next to my friends."

Nathaniel rose up and glared down at this challenger. "Child, what is your name?"

"Rolf."

"Ah, well then..." need it be listed how much of an earful of discipline this knight tried laying on Rolf? All the other blooms in the area had long fled the scene, but this one was still sitting there and nodding away at every reasonable sentence the knight was presenting him. It had to be made a point that no little bloom was to call a full grown adult he just met his "brother".

"Mm, this is an absolute splendid case and point you have made. My big brother, you have quite a talent with wording your persuasive ways of much talking."

The audacity of this bloom continuously regarding Nathaniel as his brother was disrespectful to the highest extent! One second from snapping at this rascal, Nathaniel was stopped by what he thought was... two tails? Is my vision loosing way or..? This child indeed had two tails! How peculiar, though it only added to the accumulating amount of other very very strange things Nathaniel was just now noticing about this rude "brother".

Fragrant smells from the blossoming hallways of the nursery faded away and were replaced with the frosty dry scent of frigid air. Up ahead tiny children had morphed into fellow comrades all looking at Nathaniel for their next course of action. Nathaniel had gain enough momentum from this flash of the past to push on with his plans.