{TW: mentions of de@th} Chapter 9 - Ren Martyn paced in front of Ren’s chair like a detective about to solve some big mystery. And it was a big mystery indeed. The stolen book was of utmost importance to the two. It was the reason they had jobs, even if those particular jobs could be quite boring at times. “Alright let's go over what we know again.” Martyn said, his voice changing to something resembling a detective from an old black and white film. As Martyn paced, all Ren could do was resist the urge to scratch his head. It really was becoming quite unbearable. He would have thought that with twelve years of hiding he would have gotten used to it. It didn’t help that his actual hair was already quite unkempt and long, already causing slight annoyance. The hat really didn’t help. “Dude’s fast.” Martyn nodded, “And good with a bow and arrow.” The two had pinned up all their ‘evidence’ on the wall using pins. It probably would have been better for them to give it to the police. But- well- no one had to know. “It still doesn’t tell us much.” Ren rubbed his chin. “I know,” Martyn sighed, and sat on a chair in front of Ren. “Well what do we do now?” Ren pondered aloud. Martyn reached into his pocket and pulled out a bag of dice. “D&D?” “Yeah, but our DM isn’t here.” He raised an eyebrow. “When has that ever stopped us.” Ren caught the bag of dice as it was tossed over to him. “Sure.” “Rapid fire character, let’s go,” Martyn said, pulling a random notebook from his green jacket. “Hmm, roll a die for me.” “Which one?” Ren asked with a slight chuckle, eying the dice in the bag. “Oh, let’s go for a D20. That way we can choose from a lot of different races.” He reached into the pouch and withdrew the D20, and released it onto the table. “It’s a 6.” Martyn scanned the list in the back of his notebook. “Ok, so my character’s race is a dragonborn.” Ren rolled again, with a much higher number this time. “And your character is a… huh, a dogfolk.” Ren’s heart skipped a beat. “Huh, remind me what that is exactly?” Martyn looked up a description on his phone. “It’s a little bit obscure, sort of like a human with lots of canine characteristics, like dog ears, maybe fur, sometimes even a whole dog head. You can reroll if you want to. That’s weird, I don’t even remember putting this one on my list…” Ren felt a bead of sweat run down the back of his neck. “Nah man, It’s cool.” Martyn shrugged and they continued on, choosing classes, stats, and various other attributes for their characters. “And last but not least,” Martyn said, “we roll for where we’re starting the campaign.” This list consisted of many different scenarios, anywhere from meeting in a tavern to being stranded in the desert without much food, water, and very few supplies. “We start in a castle,” Martyn sweeped his arms out over the table as Ren imagined the scene. “The king of this particular land has called several adventurers to come to his aid to help explore a newly found land. vv continued in N&C vv
vv continued vv “Unfortunately, several of the adventurers in question were attacked by trolls on the way to the castle and died or were severely injured. Only two escaped with their lives. They both arrive at the castle disheveled but otherwise unharmed. The king receives them, happy to find that the two still agree to go on the quest.” Ren flashed a grin. “Where do we start your majesty?” Martyn cleared his throat and put on a more regal voice. “I shall prepare you with a company of several knights, they will escort you to the border of this land but will not accompany you further.” Ren nodded, “the two adventurers set off from the palace, fortunately encountering no dangers until they reached the kingdom’s border. Once there they set up camp for the night.” He finished giving the floor back to Martyn. “While on watch, Algrox thinks he hears something from some nearby bushes.” “Algrox?” Ren said, raising an eyebrow. “Yeah, my character.” Ren passed him the D20. “I see, well you’ve gotta roll for perception” “What? No, I thought it was investigation” Martyn said, raising an eyebrow. “No, I‘m pretty sure it’s perception, you have to actually know if you even heard anything in the first place.” “That doesn’t make any sense.” “What do you mean? Of course it does!” Martyn threw his hands in the air. Ren scoffed. “What, just like last week? You were so wrong dude! We even looked it up!” “Yeah, I’d agree with you but then we’d both be incorrect!” Martyn said, raising his voice. “You have no idea how this game works!” Ren raised his voice as well. “I KNOW BETTER THAN YOU!” “NUH UH!” “YUH HUH!” They stared at each other for a moment, both glaring. Then they burst out laughing. Ren held his sides as tears formed in his eyes. Martyn cackled and Ren heard him fall from his chair. Once the laughter had subsided they both settled back into their chairs, fighting off small aftershocks of laughter. “Ah man, my sides literally hurt from laughing.” Martyn wiped a tear from his eye. Ren barked out another laugh, head falling onto the table. Once this second round of laughter had subsided, Ren finally looked up to see a slightly puzzled Martyn staring at his head. “What’s that on your head?” Martyn grinned, reaching out slightly. Ren raised his eyebrow, “what do you-“ he then with horror realized that his cap had fallen off. Martyn sucked in a breath, “Ren?” Ren stood, slowly backing up. His breath sped up. He found the door with his eyes and started to dash towards it. Martyn’s hand caught his wrist, unnaturally strong. Ren tried to pull away, knowing this was it. He was a hybrid. And he was going to die. “Please don’t k!ll me Martyn,” he whimpered. He sank to the ground, completely giving up even trying to struggle. “K!ll you? Why in the world would I do that!” He opened his eyes slightly. “But- don’t you have to? The law says–” “Bloody heck, Ren! NO!” Ren felt like tearing up. “You’re really not turning me in?” Martyn looked horrified, “Of course not! You’re my bes-” Ren tackled him, knocking them both to the ground. “Thank you,” he whispered, tears now freely falling down his face. Martyn hugged him back. “Shouldn’t we get you somewhere safe?” “No, It’s fine,” He released from the hug and stood, helping Martyn up as well. “It’s all fine.” They are the d&d guys so they had to play d&d :> Also watchers messing with their campaign a bit hehe I both love this chapter with all my heart and hate it bc bad writing lol First: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1059153057 Previous: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1110849851 Next: https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1122110308
