Foolish Missions in Horrid Places
Who: Finn and Norman Where: Norman's Room When: late morning
Norman was scared. Maybe scared was an understatement. Maybe crazy was the real word. He had his hands clutching the inside of his blue cloak to his chest as he walked, maybe with more purpose than before, through the halls of the hotel. He didn’t know where he needed to go, but he knew he needed to get away from these terrible footsteps. Every time he turned around they stopped, but as soon as he started walking again so did those other footsteps. And he was scared. Really scared. Hurrying more, he turned a corner quicker and more hastily than he would normally have in effort to find somewhere safe and without these footsteps.
Finn didn’t do fear. He didn’t do concern. He woke up with no fear, no concern. He’d won the tournament as jaded as the final round had been. He was a knight. The best knight in the realm. Or he had been. He wasn’t sure what he was now.
He’d woken up in the plushest, most comfortable bed he’d ever been in. Ever. It was like sleeping on a pillow. He was sure he was dreaming, but it turned out to be very real. And very not where he’d been the day before. That was downright alarming. His things were there, but he wasn’t in a tent. He was in a room. With things in the room that made no sense. He’d spent half an hour just walking around. He had no idea how anything in the room worked and the bathroom baffled him. Especially when he turned a knob on the sink and the water just poured out. It was baffling.
Gathering his sword, he belted it around his waist and went for the door to the room, determined to find out where he was. Only that was where the fear hit. Not fear really, but a sense of dread. A huge sense of dread. He hesitated with his hand on the door knob, taking longer to leave a room than he ever had in his life. Something was wrong. He finally steeled himself against the dread and pulled the door open, revealing a hallway and… “Norman?”
He certainly wasn’t expecting to hear Finn’s voice. It took him a moment to really process it, that it sounded like Finn and not someone he just sort of made up as Finn. He steeled his courage for a moment, hoping it actually was Finn in some sort of weird way since it would be stranger if he wasn’t, right? When he saw his friend, he smiled and hurried to his friend’s side. “What are you doing here?”
Finn frowned that it took Norman so long to respond, but once the other guy was there he felt a little better. At least he knew someone here in this strange place. “I”m not at all sure.” He paused for a moment, looking around. “Where is here?”
“Here is where I’m from. Or well, sort of. Remember how I told you I wasn’t from where you were? I’m from here, although I wasn’t originally. I got put here, just like...well, just like you, I’m guessing.” Thank goodness Finn was here. He was safer with Finn around. Finn protected him, Finn was smart and strong and definitely a good person to have in your corner. “Are you ok?”
Finn tried to make sense of Norman’s explanation but there was no doing that it seemed. “I’m not at all sure. I’m feeling very disoriented,” he said after a moment, still frowning and looking around him. “Where is here? What is this place?”
“This is The Regent Hotel. It’s nice, I guess. Old school...or well, maybe not to you. But it is nice. And there’s lots of cool stuff here that I don’t think you guys had yet. I can show you around but we might have to be careful. I think someone’s following me…” He said, speaking that last bit in a whisper and more conspiratorially than before.
“This is an inn?” Finn asked, looking around again. “And old what?” He nodded though wanting to be shown around, but the concern that Norman expressed had him looking behind the other man. “Who would be following you?”
“Old school? It’s an expression. Uh..it’s a saying.” He looked behind him again and then back at Finn. “I don’t know, but I can just...all day I’ve heard these footsteps. Everytime I turn around, they’re gone. They stop. But all day, everywhere I go, I hear them again… It’s freaking me out.’
“It’s an odd saying,” Finn informed Norman. He looked past the other man and frowned. “There’s nothing there. There isn’t anyone there.” How odd that Norman was hearing there was. “I’ve been feeling a sense of dread, more than I ever felt before.”
Frowning, Norman looked behind him again. “You’re probably right,” He said, looking back at Finn. Listening to his friend, he tried to piece together his feelings. Dread? “What’s wrong? Why do you feel dread? Dreaded...Dread?” Norman asked, confused for a moment.
“I suppose it’s something to do with this being new surroundings,” Finn said, shaking his head. “But I’m anxious in a way I’ve never been before. I don’t scare.” A brave knight didn’t scare. Not like that.
“Well...maybe instead of a big tour we could just go back to my room or your room and order some food. And then tomorrow we could go on a tour?” He asked, looking back at his friend. “Maybe then your dread and my footsteps will be gone?” He could hope, right? Or maybe he was just losing his mind. “I don’t think you have anything to fear here, though. Oh! We could play a game! I have lots of games back at my room.”
“Yes, that might be for the best,” Finn said, feeling out of sorts. He made a face at Norman, not sure what he meant. “What kind of game?”
“All kinds of games! I think you’ll like them. Games of battles and triumps and defeats. One of them is a game where you fight horrific monsters in the quest for glory.” Norman grinned a little, starting toward his room and feeling his smile drop when he heard the footsteps again. “But we should just hurry.”
Starting to move had Finn’s heart clenching with concern, with fear. He looked around then nodded in agreement. “That sounds wonderful. My kind of games. But yes, let’s hurry. I’m not feeling as if things are going well here.”
Norman could hear the footsteps. They grew louder the faster he walked until they were echoing in his ears. He clenched his eyes shut, like that would help him or something, and frowned when he realized that he didn’t. He covered his ears with his hands and stopped moving altogether, huddling in a ball on the floor by the wall to try and make himself as small and still as possible. Maybe the footsteps wouldn’t find him if he hid? He tried to pull his cloak over his head to hide himself even more, shaking through the motions.
Finn had made it three or four steps before he realized that Norman wasn’t with him. He looked back trying to find him, only then realizing that Norman was curled up on the ground. Finne went back, kneeling next to the other man. “What’s wrong friend?” he asked.
“I can still hear them,” He said, his voice shaky and quiet and definitely scared. Peeking at Finn from under his cloak, he tried to find his friend’s eyes. “They’re still here, the footsteps are still following me. I can still hear them…”
Finn looked up and down the hall, then shook his head. “There’s no one here. And I won’t let anyone hurt you. Promise. I’m a knight for a reason.” He got up, looking up and down the hall again. “Come on, let’s go and I’ll make sure we’re safe.”
Norman peeked his head out of the cloak fully and looked back down the hallway. Of course there was no one there. There hadn’t ever been anyone there. Slowly he stood up and frowned again, shaking still. “Ok, ok let’s get back to safety. Finn, do you know any songs?”
“Songs? I suppose a few, but I’m no bard,” he said. “Why do you want to know if I know a song?”
“Could you sing one?” He asked, looking back at his friend as he walked quicker toward his room. “To make the steps go away, could you sing a song? Please?”
Finn made a face, not sure he was much good at singing, but if Norman thought it might help, he’d give it a try. Clearing his throat he started into a drinking song, which was surprisingly less fun to sing when he was sober and a little crude, but it was the first thing that came to mind.
Norman listened to him sing the song, something about trying to tempt a girl into bed with him, and it made him laugh to think of Finn trying this with anyone. Not that he had much experience himself but weren’t knights supposed to be chaste? It was funny to hear his friend sing this and even funnier that he was having a hard time being happy that Finn was here. “I know this place is weird, but I’m really glad you’re here, Finn.”
Finn stopped at one of the more graphic verses and laughed a little bit. “You are? I’m not sure I am. I mean...what about home?” He had a life there. He was working his way to being the best knight in his lands. And now he was here. Wherever here was.
“I...don’t know yet about home. I haven’t been able to get back home either. Man, everyone back home would be so stoked that I met a knight,” He said, smiling at his friend even though he could still hear the footsteps. At least he had Finn with him now. “They’d ask you all about being a knight. Like what your favorite part is.”
“Stoked? As in a fire?” That didn’t make sense. “Are you asking me what my favorite part of being a knight is?” Finn asked, but his steps slowed as they reached a corner. He felt the dread again, rising up in him, making him nervous about going around the corner, his hand on the hilt of his sword.
Norman watched him for a moment when they slowed and looked between Finn and the corner again. The dread? “Oh...ok, here. I’ll look,” He said, turning the corner to see an empty hallway. He looked back at Finn and gave his friend a small smile. “It’s all safe. I’d tell you if it wasn’t. And yeah, I was asking what your favorite part of being a knight is.”
Finn let go of his sword and tried to breath the sense of dread away, but it wasn’t going quickly. He did start around the corner, holding his breath until he was in the clear. “I like protecting people. I’m hoping to get a position as one of the King’s personal knights.”
“You’d be really good at it, protecting the King. You do such a good job of protecting people,” Norman said, smiling at his friend as they started walking again. “Feeling ok?” He asked, wanting to make sure that Finn was actually ok. If Finn liked protecting people, Norman had always gravitated toward making sure their were fine, mentally and physically.
“I like to think that I would. It was part of why I was in France. To prove myself as the best. Though the King did want me to protect him, after I proved that he had the best knights in the land.” Finn looked at Norman and nodded, closing his hand into a fist to calm his nerves. “I am well. Are you?”
“I’m good with my friend here,” Norman said with a smile. He stopped short at his door and quickly opened it, stepping inside and feeling a little better, even though he could still faintly hear the footsteps. “C’mon in, home sweet home.”
Finn was hesitating in the doorway again, anxious about going into the room. He could see in the room, but he was still feeling it, like if he walked through the doorway, something bad would happen.
Norman looked back at Finn and reached out for his friend to join him. “C’mon in, it’s safe in here. The games are here.” He said, smiling again in case it helped get Finn inside. “There’s nothing to dread.”
The blonde let out a slow breath before he swallowed his fears and stepped through the doorway. Once there his shoulders slumped and as the dread faded. That was not at all like him. Not at all. “I’m sorry. I’m not much of a knight right now.”
He shook his head. “No way, Finn. You’re always a knight. It’s ok for knights to be scared sometimes too, it’s more about what you do when faced with fear than the fear itself, right?”
“No, it’s not,” Finn said, shaking his head. “It’s not. I’m supposed to be brave and now I feel out of sorts.”
“Finn...it’s kind of impossible to be brave all the time. I don’t think being brave is the absence of fear, though. I think it’s when you know you’re scared and you choose to go on anyway.” He moved to his bedside table and pulled out the playbook and set of Dungeons and Dragons items. “I think you’ll really like this game, Finn.”
Finn wasn’t sure he agreed with that. He liked being fearless. Fear made him feel weaker and feeling weaker worried him that he was weaker. “What is this game?” he asked, looking at the pieces that Norman was laying out.
“It’s called Dungeons and Dragons. Technically we need more people to really get the full experience, but I can teach you lots about it just us two. But basically it’s a whole game about adventures and battles and strategy. You’ll get to test your decision making skills without lying your life on the line. It’ll help you when the times comes that you need to be out in battle in person, I think. You wanna give it a try?”
Finn stared at the set up, not sure what he was looking at. “So what do you do?” he asked, frowning at the pieces and how none of it actually looked like battles and strategy.
“Well, first you pick your character out. I’m gonna assume you might want to be a paladin. Probably a human too. We can do that if you want, or you can be something else like a...druid rogue or something.” Though he just couldn’t see Finn wanting anything to do with that. “Next you’ll choose your alignment, which for you I’m thinking good-good is pretty...well, good. Does this make sense?”
Finn stared at Norman blankly, eventually shaking his head when Norman asked. “No. Some of the words are familiar, but I’m not sure you’re using them properly.”
Norman grinned a little. “Ok, here you go…” He reached into a small bag on he’d put on his bed and pulled out a small human knight clad in armor with a shield on one arm and a sword held high in the other. “Do you want your character to be someone close to you or totally different from you?”
“How am I to understand something if it’s different from me?” Finn asked, taking the tiny figure from Norman to inspect it. “Is this supposed to be me? His armor’s all wrong.”
Norman tried not to laugh. He didn’t want to dissuade Finn. “He’s not you-you. He’s kind of a representation of you. And we can make a figure with better armor later, he’s all I have right now in the ways of human paladins.” He took a moment and rested his arms on his knees. “What kind of games did you play as a kid, Finn? Any make-believe games? Slaying dragons and winning treasure?”
Finn was still inspecting the figure, displeased with his armor when Norman asked his question. “I didn’t play much. I started training as soon as I could lift a dagger. I’m young for a knight, still with several years of service ahead of me.”
Well that was just sad. Frowning a little, Norman leaned closer to Finn. “Well, maybe you can play a game now. Take some time to relax.” He looked at the small figurine in his friend’s hands then glanced back at Finn’s eyes. “I think you’d like it if you just let yourself try. It’s just…it’s like a story, but we’re writing it.”
Finn looked around them and frowned more. “I suppose I could relax. It’s not as if I know how to get home.” He looked back at Norman and nodded. “Very well, explain it to me.”
“Ok, so this little guy,” He said, pointing at the figurine again, “Is just your character. And you’re about to help him embark on a journey, through the dungeons of Khynel, in search of a holy chalice that belongs to his king. And he’s gonna count on you to make the right decisions to help him brave the treacherous dungeons, find the loot, and bring it back to his king. Sound like something you can help him with? Oh, he needs a name.”
“I don’t see why I couldn’t,” Finn said even if he sounded confused and unsure of what to do with himself. It all seemed a little silly but he didn’t say it. “A name? Does it matter what his name is? And where is Khynel?”
“It does matter what his name is. He’s a noble and brave warrior, just like you. He deserves to be noted for his accomplishments. What’s his name?” Norman asked, smiling at Finn as he reached to pull up the hood on his cloak over his head. “Khynel is a desert land thousands of...a far, far way aways from here, in a different kingdom. It’s overrun by giant sandworms and reanimated skeletons rule the dungeons,” He said, putting on his best spooky voice to try and add to the ambiance.
Finn looked at the figure then nodded. “Seamus.” That had been his squire in England’s name, before Norman was his squire. He missed Seamus. “Why would he go there? That sounds like a horrid place.”
“Remember, he’s going to find a very important chalice for is king. It’s a mission only Seamus can accomplish.” Norman sat back and propped up his divider then glanced at Finn over it. “Is Seamus willing to accept the challenge?”
“I rather think it would be a good idea if he told the king to get his own bloody chalice” Finn said shaking his head before setting down the little figurine. “I suppose he is. If he’s going to be a good knight and all and do as he’s told.” He reached out and pulled at Norman’s little divider, trying to see behind it.
“Would you go tell your king to shove it and get his own chalice?” Norman asked, laughing lightly even when Finn pulled at the divider. “Hey! You can’t see this yet. I’ll show you it after we play and then next time you can be dungeon master, ok?” He promised, righting the divider. “It won’t be fun if you know all the twists up front. So, Seamus stands in front of the entrance to the dungeon, but you need to roll these dice in order to get a base set of his stats. He also produced a small piece of paper with little letters written on it for Seamus’ statistics and blank spots next to them. “You roll for strength first.”
“Well no, but he’s fat. And a bit lazy,” Finn said with a smirk. “His daughter is lovely though.” He chuckled to himself then pulled his hand back. “Dungeon master? Are you the executioner now?” He took the dice, turning it around. “It had more sides than usual. And what is it made out of?”
That had Norman really laughing. “Ok, so maybe Seamus’ king is the same. And when he gets back, he’ll get to give the chalice to the king’s daughter and she’ll reward him with a kiss and a dance at the feast.” He shook his head and straightened his cloak a little. “No, not an executioner. I represent all of the forces that aim to keep Seamus from completing his goal.” Watching Finn with the dice, he smiled again. “It’s made of out plastic, it’s a new material. And it has a lot of sides because we need that many for this game. So roll and the first number you get is how strong Seamus is, out of twenty.”
“Lucky for him. A dance would be nice.” Finn didn’t get to dance much. There were girls that were interested, but Finn didn’t have time. “Do you have a girl you fancy?” Had Finn asked that? He might have. “You sound like an executioner. Or God. Though I suppose he would frown upon that.” He went back to the dice, turning it over. “A new material. Interesting. It’s light.” He tossed it in his hand for a moment before tossing it to see what it showed up as.
Norman shook his head. He’d had a girl he liked back home but she didn’t like him and he quickly retreated back to the friend zone so he wouldn’t lose her. “No girls for me. They don’t really like guys that wear cloaks, but that’s ok because my friends back home do.” He shrugged. “Who knows, maybe God would be really ok with this kind or stuff? I figure he probably likes games too.” Looking at the dice, Norman nodded and handed Finn a pencil, something he was already ready to explain. “Use this to write down your numbers.”
“I’m not sure I would trust a girl who didn’t like a man who wore a cloak. What else is he supposed to do? Be cold?” Finn shook his head then paused. “You aren’t…” he dropped his voice lower. “One of those interested in...other persuasions are you?”
Geez, why did this keep coming up? Now he was definitely starting to wonder if maybe he should be interested in other persuasions, or maybe he was and just wasn’t aware of it? He shook his head. “No, I’m not. I like girls, they just don’t like me. Guess they just want me to be cold,” He said, shrugging again. “Roll again for charisma points.”
“Why wouldn’t they? You seem charming enough.” Though maybe not entirely brave. But someone didn’t have to be brave to find a wife. Finn was staring at the pencil, testing it and frowning as it worked, then rolled the dice again, writing down that number.
“They just don’t. Doesn’t seem much like that kind of thing has changed over the years. Girls like guys who are handsome and strong, not guys like me.” Taking a moment, he shrugged again, trying to play it off like it didn’t suck even though it did. “Whatever. Just keep rolling until you fill up the rest of your stats up and then we can start,” He said, brightly this time as his smile returned at the thought of the game.
“You could be those things. I could show you,” Finn suggested. Strong could be learned. And handsome would come with that. He nodded at the instructions, rolling the dice and not entirely sure what he was filling out but he kept going until he was at the end of the page and handing it all back to Norman.
“I think you’re better at being those things than I am,” Norman said but shrugging anyway. He gently pushed the paper back to Finn. “It’s for you, it’s a representation of Seamus’ traits, strengths, weaknesses and stuff. You’ll need it.” He cleared his throat and sat up. “Seamus has entered the dungeon. Does he take the path to the left or to the right? Each are dark and hard to see in, but there is a torch just in front of Seamus.”
“Which is why I can show you.” Finn took the paper back, frowning at it. “How does this determine his character? It’s just a set of numbers on a piece of paper. Isn’t there more honor in a man than this?” he asked interrupting Norman again.
Norman sighed a little and shook his head. “I guess you’ve never heard of ‘willing suspension of disbelief’, have you?” He asked, lowering the divider toward him so he could really look at Finn.
Finn’s brow creased, shaking his head. “No I suppose I haven’t,” he said. “I just think there’s more to a man. Don’t you?”
“And there is. We can work on the more if you want,” Norman said, easing off of the disbelief thing. “Let’s focus on Seamus then. What do you think we need to figure out about him before he can go on his journey?”
Finn stared at the little figurine again and shrugged. “I’m not sure. It’s hard to figure something out about yourself isn’t it?” He wanted to be better himself, but he never felt like he was good enough. “How can he know he’s ready? What if he never is?”
Well, this escalated quickly. Norman stared at Fin for a moment and then leaned a little closer to the figurine. “...Maybe he can’t. Maybe he has to take a leap of faith and just hope that he’s ready, rather than wait around for some sign that he is. Sometimes that’s the only thing you can do.”
“Sometimes it’s never enough.” Finn sighed himself and ran his fingers through his hair.
“I think we might not be talking about Seamus anymore…” Norman said gently, looking up at Finn. “Are you scared you’re not ready?”
Finn shook his head at both statements. “I believe I am. My father thinks I’ve yet to accomplish anything of worth. That I’m still not a man despite my prowess.”
Norman shook his head. “I think your father is definitely wrong,” He said, watching his friend. “You’ve accomplished lots of awesome things, Finn! You’re the best knight around!”
“But it’s not the same as it was when he was a knight. There were wars to be fought then. Now it’s just games.” Finn sighed and ran his fingers through his hair again.
Norman shook his head a little bit. "I don't think that's the right way for your dad to look at it though. Just because there aren't wars now doesn't mean that you aren't doing the best you can to be a great knight."
"It's an old way of thinking. The old knights, they think we're soft. Too busy flirting with ladies and playing games to be real warriors. That we would cower at the prospect of a real fight." And the dread in Finn's stomach he'd been feeling all morning had him wondering if his father was right.
“You shouldn’t let the old knights get to you. Old people from my time say that crap too. ‘Back in my day, I had to walk uphill both ways to school, barefoot, in the snow’. It’s just an old people thing,” Norman said, putting his divider back up and looking over it at Finn. “Is Seamus ready to enter the dungeon?”
“School? Why bother with school?” School was for the weak ones, the ones that went on to be scholars because they weren’t equipped to fight. Finn was educated enough, but that had come as a side activity to his training.
“Because school is good for you. It betters your mind and all that jazz.” He waited for a minute for Finn to answer his second question and when he didn’t, he lowered the divider a little more. “Is Seamus ready for the dungeon?”
“Jazz?” Finn asked, but wound up shrugging. “Yes I suppose he’s ready for his foolish mission to the horrid place.”
Norman just laughed this time, louder than before and with his head down so his cloak fell further over his face. “I think Seamus will have a good time on this adventure, you’ll see.”