Hiro Kouen, the only son of the great hero Sabishii Kouen, had heard tales of a new Deity, a Deity that represented heroes and those of the performing arts.  The young man decided this was relevant to his goal of becoming a hero worthy of the title Phoenix Knight, like his father.  He sought to become a warrior of incredible strength and remarkable renown.  He not only wanted to be known throughout this new land, not just for the sake of glory, but he wanted to help people in need.  This God of Epics seemed to be reclusive, or at least in Hiro's mind he probably was.  If he wanted to talk to Angela, he could just visit her temple and request her presence.  But this God, Torn, seemed to make meeting him a literal trial.  He had to go through a so-called Warrior's Gauntlet to earn the honor of meeting him.  If that's what it took, that's what Hiro would do.

When such a young challenger approached to join the gauntlet, he was almost laughed out.  Hiro was sixteen years old.  But he was adamant about participating in this challenge.  He paid the fee in silver and blood to enter the God's realm, known as Musalia.  He was laughed at by the crowd when he appeared in the arena: a wee lad thinking he was tough enough to fight against grown men.  However, when the pack of wolves they had chosen to tear the lad into pieces was obliterated in a wave of flame from Hiro's fingertips, the crowd was silenced for a few brief moments, until he was declared the winner, and cleared to attempt the actual gauntlet itself.

Hiro defeated his next opponents with a combination of swordplay and fire magic.  He was defeating grown me in their 20s or even their 30s.  Men twice his age!  He fought bravely and fiercely, despite being so young, showing his skills as a warrior-mage.  He showed surprising strength for his age, and he had caught the eye of the crowd.  He made it all the way to the final round!

The young man stood tall at one end of the arena, in front of a cheering crowd of spectators.  He wore a suit of finely crafted, ordinate, mythril armor on his toned frame.  Oddly, the armor was red in color.  A golden crest resembling a mythical firebird was on the armor's chestplate.  He had jet black hair with a shock of red curls through it, as if someone had dropped a crimson flask of dye onto his head.  His face was young and handsome, and his eyes were a deep sapphire.  His expression was neutral.  He was excited to be here, in front of all people, though he was feeling a bit nervous, because he was told his opponent this time would not be human.  It would be some kind of monster, he wondered if they would pick something out that was really challenging, or would they go easy on him?  The announcer's voice suddenly came across the field.

"Announcing the final round of the Warrior's Gauntlet!  In this corner, the challenger, the young man that came out of nowhere to challenge this arena, he's come through every challenge with a literal flare!  Presenting Hiro Kouen!  And his opponent shall be . . ."

It seemed, fate would not go easy on him.  The being that materialized on the far side of the arena was a towering 15 foot tall monstrosity.  A being wrapped up in a colossal set of dark, spiked metal armor.  It was a humanoid creature, with dark skin to match his armor, waves of heat radiating from his skin.  The being had bright orange hair, contrasting sharply from its otherwise dark profile.  He was carrying a huge weapon, a colossal greatsword befitting the size of a monster such as this.  It unleashed a terrifying, bellowing roar that echoed across the arena.

"Shit," Hiro let a curse escape his lips as he gazed at this monstrous opponent.

". . . Torgarth the Unyielding!  This champion Fire Giant was picked up somewhere deep within the Umbral Depths!  He's huge, he's nasty, and he's very likely to crush anyone he goes up against!"

The arena, as Hiro looked across the battlefield, was suddenly a fiery, rocky, molten wasteland.  There were large boulders strewn about the field, lava channels flowing above the surface of the earth.  The arena was oriented almost entirely in the advantage of the Fire Giant he had as his opponent.

However, Hiro was no ordinary human.  His mother was a fire elemental, his father was once an Avatar of Fire of a foreign land, and became something else entirely, despite becoming mortal once more, gained such great power over the elements, that he could have still passed as a god among men.  Hiro had the fire magic his his parents.  He was naturally resistant to heat.

"Let the fight begin!!"

Hiro drew his blade and held it in front of him in a battle stance.  His opponent, Torgarth, immediately reached for a small boulder, as a bit of a literal warm-up, causing the rock to start ablaze, and tossed the thing in the direction of young Hiro.  Hiro leaped to the side, and charged forward, dodging fiery rock after fiery rock that was flung his way.  They smashed into the ground and shattered into bits of debris that showered the arena.  Hiro was more than halfway to his opponent when a boulder more than twice his size was launched through the air at him.  Hiro leaped in the direction of the rock, and as he approached the huge chunk of earth that was falling toward him, he swung his blade, a hand-and-a-half blade.  The blade started to glow with a crimson aura as he unleashed a spell through the sword.  A blast of fiery energy erupted from the blade, blasting the near meteor-like chunk of fiery earth into many pieces.  Hiro managed to launch himself from one of the large bits of debris flying through the air, and send himself flying at the Fire Giant.

Hiro approached the Giant through the air, raising his blade, and aiming himself like a projectile at the monster's face.  However, a shadow approached from above him.  The colossal greatsword the Fire Giant was armed with came down upon Hiro, sending him flying down to the ground in an earth shattering collision.  Hiro found himself crumpled into a heap at the bottom of a crater on the arena floor.  His whole body ached immensely as Torgarth raised his colossal foot and started slamming it into the crater, repeatedly smashing into the body of the young warrior.  The giant paused, and let out a roar as gasps and horrified cries could be heard from the audience.

"Puny human child!  You seek glory in the arena, but you are not prepared for death, you cannot come close to the strength of an elite Fire Giant trained from youth in combat!  Go home to your mother, child, leave the glory for the men!"  The Giant laughed maliciously as he picked up Hiro's bloody body by his armor.  The sword he was carrying dropped to the ground as he was lifted up.  Suddenly a voice could be heard from the boy.

"Can't give up.  Won't give up.  Must . . . succeed.  Summon weapon: Sapphire Sword."  A shimmering light radiated from the seemingly broken boy's hands.  A blue blade of crystal, smaller than Hiro's previous weapon, appeared in his hands, radiating a chilly energy.  "I may not . . . have ice magic yet, but I still got this!"  He swung his blade up and took a chunk out of the Giant's hand.  The Giant screamed as the ice elemental blade cut through his flesh like a hot knife through butter, dropping Hiro to the ground.  Fighting his body's instincts to pass out, he immediately charged onward, using his magic to propel his body upwards in an powerful agility fueled leap.  He jumped onto the Giant's face, and plunged his Sapphire Blade into his eye, ice freezing the blood that normally would be spraying from the wound.  The Giant screamed angrily, dropping its sword to the ground, and swinging a fist toward Hiro, who was still on his face, until he leaped off, causing the Giant to slam his fist into his own wound.

Losing balance, the Giant toppled over and collapsed backwards onto the ground.  Hiro quickly jumped onto the Giant's body, and jabbed his blade into the Giant's throat, the icy blade easily piercing the Giant's hot flesh.  The Giant finally stopped moving as blood oozed from its wounds onto Hiro's body.  He stepped back from the body of the Fire Giant, covered in sizzling giant blood, he had little strength left to protect himself from the burning blood that splashed onto him.  He raised his Sapphire Blade into the air, and gave a loud, primal scream, through the intense pain wracking his body.  He heard the cheers of the crowd and the announcer's voice as everything faded to black and he collapsed to the ground.

Torn was still in his bed, sleeping soundly, when someone knocked on his bedroom door. Torn was not a light sleeper, no naturally, it did not wake him up. His personal retainer, the valkyrie known as Hílðegùnn, opened the door and peeked inside. “Fourteen hours. And he didn’t even do any work last night,” she said to herself, walking inside. While many had dismissed the sixteen year-old youth that had challenged the Dream Arena as just a kid, Torn had known better. To be capable of reaching the final stage of the Warrior’s Gauntlet took a great deal of skill and strength, and no matter his age, the young man known as Hiro had displayed just that. And because he was so young, Torn had asked to be alerted when Hiro’s final was to take place, as the young man’s potential for greatness had Torn’s interest piqued. The valkyrie shook her master, trying to wake him, but succeeded only in making him grunt and turn in his sleep, shedding the last hint of blanket that covered him. The valkyrie frowned, and shook him again. “My prince, you asked to be woken when young Hiro was to take the stage. My prince. Prince Torn. TORN!”

Finally, the god’s eyes fluttered open, and he groaned. “What?” he demanded, turning back onto his back to look at Hílðegùnn. Over at the nursery, Keira, his wife, chuckled at the scene. “The fight, silly. With that teenager you were so excited about?” Torn looked at Keira with a slightly confused expression, before looking back at Hílðegùnn. “Oh… Right. Oh, fuck, I had one mead too many last night…” He held a hand to his forehead, groaning. On a dare, he’d been drinking mead and only mead for a full day, since one of his companions wanted to know it it was possible for a god to get hungover. As it turned out, it most certainly was. “If by ‘one’ you mean ‘one barrel’, Your Audaciousness, I’m inclined to agree. Now, do you want to see this fight, or not?” Torn looked up at his retainer with a disdainful expression. In her defense, Torn had made her his personal retainer precisely because she didn’t suck up to him in any way - a trait he would find unbearably impersonal after a very brief while. Then again, she was prone to insubordination bordering on harassment, which could use some adjustment. “How long?” He asked, hoping he’d have time for a proper dinner before the fight started. “They’re preparing now,” the valkyrie replied, much to Torn’s dismay.

A few moments later, Torn was sitting on his balcony, as the valkyrie known only as The Battlemistress announced the coming fight. He gaped as he saw what the kid was up against. She chose that to be his opponent? Sometimes, the Battlemistress could be outright cruel. Torn recognized that the boy had skill, but to face a fire giant on his own? Torn couldn’t fathom how the kid would stand a chance. As the fight began with the giant throwing boulders, Torn frowned at the Battlemistress, who had flown up to the platform to watch the fight. “You’re cruel, Battlemistress,” he said, chastising her. “I know this is his first time and he’s not at risk of dying, but to discourage such talent from pursuing greatness is not what the arena is for,” he said, sternly. The Battlemistress never took her helmet-covered eyes off the fight for an instant. “The boy is part fire elemental,” she replied flatly. “Torgarth has not been made aware of this.” Torn returned his gaze to the fight, watching as the boy smashed an enormous boulder and used the flying debris as a stepping stone. “Even so,” he began, only to see the giant’s greatsword intercept the kid’s flight, sending him crashing into the ground. Torn leaned forward in his seat, eyes wide. “Damnit, Battlemistress! Stop this farce, let the kid try again!” The Battlemistress kept looking at the fight, not obeying her master’s command. “I do not believe the battle is over,” she said, as Torgarth bellowed his taunt to the boy and picked him up. “What are you talking about, get him out of there now!”

The Battlemistress sighed, and was about to comply, when something happened. The boy summoned what appeared to be a weapon, and in a twist of fate, cut off a chunk of the giant’s hand. Torn’s eyes widened as the boy somehow managed to find his feet, and despite the earlier beating, charge ahead defiantly to stab the monster in his eye. Torn whooped and cheered with the rest of the audience as the kid brought the giant low, and delivered the coup de grâce that ended the fight. He watched in awe as he raised his sword defiantly in the air and cried out, even as the molten blood of the giant threatened to kill him. The Battlemistress took wing, and flew down to the centre of the arena. “Ladies and gentlemen! The winner of this fight and the newest champion of the Dream Arena! I give you Hiro Kouen, winner of the Warrior’s Gauntlet!” When the boy finally collapsed, two valkyries entered the arena, and immediately healed the boy. He would remain unconscious for some time, but his heart had never stopped, and so Musalia did not return him to the mortal world.

Two days later, Torn sat by the bed in the infirmary where Hiro was recovering, having been told the boy was likely to wake within the hour. Torn was strumming his harp while he was sitting there, practising the melodical part of a song he’d been writing. When Hiro finally stirred, Torn perken an eyebrow, grinned, and put the harp down. Before Hiro could get a proper bearing on his surroundings and company, Torn jabbed him in the side with his index finger, chuckling. “Wakey, wakey, Hiro. You gave the crowd quite a show out there,” he said, leaning in closer so the kid could get a proper look at his face. “Welcome to the Chambers of Mystery, hotshot. I am Torn, Prince of Epics. And you won my gauntlet. Congratulations!” he exclaimed, leaning back into his chair with a grin. “How are you feeling, pal?”

Hiro laid in bed, his armor having been stripped from his self, and the young warrior himself unaware of anything for who knows how long.  He suddenly started hearing music, a harp?  He stirred in bed, slowly opening his eyes.  He was in a comfortable bed, staring at the ceiling, his vision was still blurry, from his eyes filled with sleep.  He heard a voice and felt searing pain of a finger jabbing into his side.  His body still was very much sore.

"Ah ouch!  Wh-what?  Where?  How?  Wha . . .?"  He quickly bolted upright in bed and was in intense muscular pain.  He winced.  There was a man sitting next to his bed, talking about the battle.  Oh right!  The battle!  The memories of what happened previously started to flood back to him.

"Wait, the Chambers of Mystery?  Then that fight wasn't a dream, and I guess this pain confirms that.  This means . . . I won?  I didn't dream stabbing that Giant through the throat through a complete hallucination from massive brain damage, brought on from being slammed into the ground repeatedly?  Thank the eternal flame!  I didn't want to have to go through that whole ordeal again, and end up getting stuck against something ten times worse than that Fire Giant, like . . . a-a Behemoth or something.  Imagine a giant wild beast with four legs thick as tree trunks, covered in muscle, with a twisted horn on its head, razor sharp jaws, able to command lightning bolts, cover itself with fire, and drop catastrophic death in the form of meteors on you.  And then it can still smack you around if you've survived.  My father told me stories of those.  I'm not sure if they were actually real or not.  But he told me they were the kings of wild beasts."  He looked at the man, then realized what the man just said to him.  He was a handsome man, and he seemed a little . . . eccentric, considering the way he woke him up.  But he spoke with a casualness that was unusual.  "Wakey wakey," and "hotshot," not to mention "pal."  This wasn't how he was expected to be addressed by a God.

"You're Lord Torn?  Prince of Epics?"  He slowly remembered why he came here.  To seek an audience this this God.  To seek a path for heroism.  "Thank you, m'lord.  That was probably the hardest fight I had gone through, if I didn't dig deep enough, I would've lost.  If it was a fight on a battlefield, like an actual war, I would've been mincemeat.  The next enemy that saw my unconscious body would've killed me."  But that wasn't the case, this was a one-on-one battle, in a so called 'safe' area.  There were rules to the battle, no one was going to kill him if he won, and he remembered, if he lost to that fight, the first time, he would've woken up where he entered Lord Torn's realm, still alive, right?  "I fought as hard as I could.  If you don't take every challenge seriously, and fight with everything you have, that's when you lose.  That's when you die.  Fight every battle like it could be your last."  He looked down under the sheets of the bed he was in, his body was in one piece, any broken bones he would've had from the battle, all the burning blood that had covered his skin.  Everything was healed, though he was still in pain.  "I feel like I got smashed around by a giant, and the covered in boiling oil, but still came out in one piece.  So, pretty good, actually."  He smiled at the God.  "It just hurts everywhere.  I guess it's residual pain from injuries being healed.  I could probably use a drink, like water or something.  My throat is parched.  How long have I been out?"  He could hear a grumbling sound coming from his stomach.  He blushed a bit.  He was hungry too.  "Maybe if I had food too, it'd help.  Please.  I imagine recovering from all those burns, bruises, broken bones, and so forth on an empty stomach is hard," he laughed.

Torn just listened to the young man go, chuckling all along. When Hiro had finally spoken his peace, Torn laughed a little louder and leaned back in his chair, incredulous. “You rant, kiddo. You’re a ranter. You may have taken a few more blows than your head could handle,” he said, before whistling sharply. “Ale and food for the kid!”

Within seconds, a number of angels entered the room with a vast tray of hearty foods, a barrel of ale, an assortment of snacks that could be saved for later. All in all, it was more food than Hiro was likely to eat in several days, with zero nonalcoholic options as far as drink went. Torn grinned at him, picking up his harp and standing up. “I wanted to get a measure of you, kid, but you could use with a bit of R&R before you’re in any shape to convince me to take you anywhere,” he said, chuckling. “And you won the gauntlet, so it’s only fair to give you a fighting chance, as it were,” he continued. He whistled again, and a valkyrie entered the room. She was tall and curvaceous, clad in full plate but carrying no weapons. Her eyes, like most of her sisters’, was covered by her helmet, bringing all the attention to the other aspects of her physiology. The other angels left the room, leaving only food, beer, Torn, and the valkyrie with Hiro.

Torn grinned at the young man. “Eat. Drink. Enjoy the spoils of your victory! Trulde here will see to all your needs,” he said, giving Hiro a wink which was in no way appropriate. He nodded at the valkyrie, who gave him a respectful bow, before turning to Hiro - with a meaningful smile. In a flash, her armour disappeared in favour of a somewhat revealing dress and a headband, and she walked over to Hiro, asking him in a soft tone if there was anything he desired. Torn, now in the hallway, could be heard singing about the virtues of angelic lovers.

His rambling was a habit he picked up from his father.  His father had tended to talk a lot, and it was something he might have picked up on.  Hiro blushed a bit, embarrassed slightly.

"Sorry about that," he apologized.  Then the God called for ale and food for the young boy.  "W-wait, I've never had alcohol before . . ." he stammered, but it fell on deaf ears.  Torn probably figured he deserved to drink all the ale he could handle, considering the literal hell he just went through in fighting through, and winning the Warrior's Gauntlet by himself, and defeating a Fire Giant in the process.  He stared in wonder at the food that was brought in front of him, the food looked delicious, but he was somewhat cautious of the drink.  There was no water among everything that was brought out.  "Thank you, Lord Torn.  Though, by R & R you mean . . ."  A beautiful woman came out to see him, a tall, curvy Valkyrie dressed in plate armor.  "All my needs?  You mean . . . oh my Gods."  He wasn't sure what to do or say about this, if this woman would take care of him in every need.  Did he mean sexually?  Considering the wink he was given, by Torn, he definitely meant sexually.  He took a gulp from a mug of ale that was in front of him.  He nearly choked, it was quite strong.  His first drink of alcohol.  It was bitter.  If he was going to go through all this, he needed to relax.  They say alcohol was one way to relax.

And a woman was another way to relax.

"Uh, hello, Trulde was it?  N-nice to meet you.  I'm Hiro, and um . . . I'm REALLY nervous.  Uh, I'm so embarrassed to admit this, but I'm a virgin and I have no experience with matters like this."  There was one side of him that was thinking that this would be a mistake, a hesitation thinking that he would like to find a woman he knew and loved to do this with.  But this woman was willing to do anything for him.  She changed in a flash of light, wearing a sexy, revealing dress.  He felt excited at this.  His hesitation started to fade away.  He deserved this, right?  This woman was willing to make him a man, and she would probably be offended if he turned her down, and so would Torn.  Other men would kill to be in his shoes, and her physical appearance–

Her appearance flipped all the right switches for the boy.  He could have her for the night?  The whole day?  A couple of days?  Whatever it took to make him happy.  "Please take good care of me, Trulde."  He bowed his head, finding her hand lifting his face into a deep, passionate kiss . . .

Some indiscriminate amount of time later, the young man, refreshed in body and soul manged to drag himself out of bed.  He had to make his appeal to Torn to take him on adventure.  He had a lot of fun with Trulde, he learned a lot, gained a lot of experience.  He felt more heroic, more manly.  The world seemed more bright and vivid, and he felt more confident, less nervous.  He had to approach Torn, though, he had to tear himself away from the little paradise he had.  It wouldn't have lasted forever.

Hiro dressed himself in fresh clothes provided for him, and strode toward the arena stands, the God's VIP room, where he was informed Torn was enjoying a battle that was happening down below.  The approached Torn, who seemed to be having a good time.  He bowed toward the God in greeting.

"Lord Torn, I see you're enjoying the arena," he said with a smile, and sat down next to the God in a spare seat.  "Thank you so much for everything you've provided for me.  The food, the drink, the place to rest, not least of all, the experience with Trulde.  I enjoyed everything.  I guess the time has come that, now that I'm rested, we have to chat about why I came to this arena, and fought in the Gauntlet.  I wish to accompany you in an epic quest.  I want to learn what it takes to be a great hero.  I want to become stronger, I want to become a great hero of justice, much like my father was before me.  He became renowned throughout the land he resided in, and was looked up to by many people.  I want to become a great warrior like him, to perform many great feats like he has.  I just want to aspire to greatness like he has, I'm sure you understand that.  You're a God, and the Prince of Epics and Heroism and all that.  If there was anyone to learn about heroism from, it'd be you."  He then realized he was probably being long-winded, after the fact.  "Sorry if I'm rambling again."

(I got told I could come in and join :D Adventure!)

Keira had been listening to everything and she sighed a bit as she realized what was going on in the other room. She knew the Chamber of Mystery was large and if she was hearing what she understood then their newest hero was getting a prize worth talking about. She was sure Torn was taking pleasure in everything and would probably tease the young hero.

Changing into her adventuring clothes after a while she left the twins in Gyda’s care. This was something she wanted. Her clothes were gold weaved by the looks. It shimmered off of her blonde hair and her green eyes had conviction in them. She was smaller than Torn was by a good amount as she strolled right into Torn’s room as if she owned the place, and in truth this was her home as much as it was his. “If you are going on a quest I want to go too.” She came up to her husband and put her hands on her hips. “I’m stuck here all day long with two screaming twins. I need to run. I need to feel my paws against the ground.” She was grinding her teeth. “I don’t want to be cooped up. You need a scout, you know you get lost sometimes.”

Finally she sighed and took a look back at Hiro. Keira was only two years older just by looking at him. She gave a smile from her pink lips and laughed. “My name is Keira, you can say I am the Dream Arena’s Leading Lady.” She wasn’t sure if Hiro expected Torn to be married. “I’m his wife. I’m also the Dream Arena’s map maker and scholar. If there is anything you need to know on monsters and adventures I can tell you. It is very hard for me to forget something.” She tapped the side of her head and smiled.

“Before I married Torn I was Keira Rose-Wintercrest. My aunt is Angela Rose, Triune Member, and my mother is the Tactician for the army of Arri. So I have a lot of heroes in my family as well as my husband.” She chuckled a bit.

Torn never looked away from the fight below as Hiro entered the balcony, but just pointed at a seat next to his. Below, a free-for-all with ten participants was raging, with three already fallen. He let Hiro speak his peace, before replying. “You are indeed rambling again,” he said with a smirk, as one hulking giant of a man cleaved an opponent in two below. “And you don’t need to thank me, the spoils of victory was earned. As for Trulde, thank her - she has a thing for strong youth.” He grabbed himself a freshly made piece of mutton, motioning to Hiro that he could go ahead and help himself to any food present.

Torn was about to reply to Hiro’s request to join him on an adventure when Keira appeared on the balcony. This time, Torn did turn his head. “Hm? Well, you thought I was going to stop you from joining? You’re my wife, my eternal companion. And I don’t own you, you do as you please,” he replied with a smile. He was about to continue when Keira introduced herself to Hiro, and he decided to instead turn his head back to the match. At this point, only two people remained - a thief who had stayed at the edge of the battle and taken pot shots at people who didn’t see him, and the giant from before. The giant was tired, but the thief was fresh, so all it took was one overswing of the giant’s sword, and the thief stepped in to sever his jugular vein. Torn cheered and applauded with the rest of the audience - the thief would be interesting to watch.

Once the match was over and the Battlemistress had declared the winner, Torn stood up, and looked at Keira with a grin. “Well, my beloved wife wants to go on an adventure. I would be a poor husband to deny her by not starting it,” he said, before looking at Hiro. “I’ve heard tale of a clan of slavers operating out of a cove between Vilapmolan and Egjora.” With a flash, Torn changed out of everyday clothes into his armour. “We’re going to dismantle it,” he said. He prodded Hiro with the butt of his spear, smirking. “We’re off in five minutes. Get ready, or you don’t get to join us,” he said, with a sadistic grin. He turned to Hílðegùnn, his retainer valkyrie. “Come on. You’re joining us, too. We might need a healer,” he said, to which the valkyrie bowed. “As you say, your Audaciousness.” Torn turned to Hiro again. “Four minutes, fourty-three seconds. Go, grab your gear!”

Torn continued to watch the battle below as Hiro talked with him.  He glanced down below and saw a man get cleaved in half by a giant of a man.  He wondered how Torn could eat like that when watching pure mayhem unfold below.

"Oh, believe me, I thanked her plenty.  I think my thankfulness left her rather breathless, and by the end she was thanking me," he said with a laugh.  Trulde was quite skilled, and she taught him quite a lot in their time together.  She was impressed by how quickly he picked up what she was teaching him.  He was always a good student, and Trulde soon found his talents included impressive swordplay.

He turned when a woman's voice was heard, speaking to the Prince of Epics.  It was an attractive young woman, who happened to be the wife of Torn.  She introduced herself as Keira, relative to Angela Rose, who Hiro had met some time ago.  "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lady Keira.  I've met Lady Angela before.  I helped one of her daughters, Sapphire, out of some trouble."  Wait, she mentioned paws, was she a Lycan as well as a Rosenite?  "I wasn't sure what to expect of Lord Torn before meeting him, I half expected him to be an eligible bachelor.  It'll be a pleasure and an honor to have you on an adventure with us."  He explained that there was a group of slavers operating somewhere between Vilapmolan and Egjora.  Slavers they were going to take apart painfully.  "That sounds like a worthy quest!  I'm in!  I totally ready to kick the faces in of some slaver traders."  Torn then asked one of his valkyries to accompany them in their quest, since they would need a healer.  He instantly dressed himself into his armor with his magic, before telling him to get geared up.

"Oh, shit!  Okay, I'll be ready!"  He rushed off into the bedroom, he started changing into his travel clothes.  Trulde was in the bed watching the boy get dressed, with a smile on her face.  "I get to go on my adventure with Lord Torn, I got around 5 minutes to get my equipment together, or he'll probably leave me behind.  Thanks again for getting my armor and equipment all polished and cleaned up.  Thanks again for everything."  He started putting his armor on, noticing it was all well taken care of at some point during his stay here.  He would be ready within a couple minutes and not be late, he didn't want Torn to get impatient waiting for him.  He gave her one last kiss before leaving.

Keira gave him a look and a smirk. “Even if you wanted to stop me you couldn’t. I was just telling you my intentions.” She leaned up and kissed her husband as she looked over at the battle. Taking a moment to talk with Hiro she frowned at the mention of Sapphire. “She got affected by Time Death but not too much. She aged about a year or two, you should go see her sometime.” 

Chuckling a bit she shook her head. “Believe it or not Torn pursued me endlessly until I agreed to be with him. It was actually kind of annoying but I think he was banking on it.” She wrapped her arm lightly around him and laughed more. “It was well worth it in the end, though. We have our twins and our adventures. Our twins are still very young though but their souls are wild.” She could tell from the way they wanted to stay awake and drive their nannies crazy.

Watching the boy run off to get ready she took the time for her bag to appear. She stuffed it with maps of where they could be. She was dipping the edges of the maps with different colored dyes for quick reference. She seemed so calm compared to Hiro who ran back in. She rolled the maps up with care and tucked them away. “When I shift someone will have to hold my clothes and bag but I got a few people to do that for me now.” She warned Hiro and laughed. “I can be quite vicious but this is also the first time I will have shifted since I got pregnant. I’m rather excited about it.” She buckled the bag and had her sword appear not that she would use it.

“I’m more magic and shifting then I am weapon orientated. I move fast and shift when I have to. I have a spare set of clothes in case I have to shift quickly.” She slung the heavy back over her shoulders and smirked. “Some of my best maps are of Vilapmolan and Egjora. Matter of fact, that’s where I met Torn was in Egjora.” She lightly elbowed her husband and smiled more. “I am ready when you are. Hopefully, we don't have to steal another ship." The last part was added in for the nostalgia and humor.

Torn sat back in his chair as Hiro scurried off to get prepared, paying zero attention to time - he just wanted to fuck around with the kid for a bit. “So, babe. This kid shows some promise, doesn’t he? If he lives through this, I might just establish a new rank among the Misfits,” he said, grabbing a fresh cup of ale and chugging half of it down. “We have Merry Misfit, and Misfit Chief. Perhaps adding ‘Misfit Companion’ between those two would be prudent. I’d hate to see talent such as his go unaccompanied,” he stated, chugging down the rest of his ale.

He looked back up at Keira with a grin. “That said,” he said slyly, “He’s a bit earnest, naïve. He needs a bit more hazing - got any ideas?” he asked, thoroughly enjoying the prospect of making his new travelling companion’s life awkward. “Perhaps you could have some fun with him, Hílðegùnn,” he suggested, and the valkyrie responded with an oddly human reply. “Sounds like fun. Apparently the kid is pretty good in bed, according to Trulde. I could flirt with him, see if I can’t build some bravado that way,” she said, smirking. Torn, in turn, laughed out loud. “My, Hílðegùnn, I didn’t know you were so lewd,” he said, getting short on breath from laughter. The angel shook her head, looking at Keira. “I was under the impression he knew women have needs,” she said, smirking a bit.

It was about that time that Torn could hear Hiro approaching. “Alright, guys, here he comes.” Torn got up from his seat, pretending to having stood the entire time. He looked at Hiro with a disapproving expression. “Half a minute late, kiddo. I was about to open the portal,” he said, all business and sternness. “Hope you’re ready. We’re not coming back here to pick up your forgotten briefs,” he said, cracking his fingers. Torn then looked at the arena floor - it was quiet, as bards were preparing for a performance that wouldn’t be for a couple of minutes, so Torn took the opportunity to be flashy once more. With a wave of his hand, the arena floor collapsed on itself, becoming a portal. “Well, guys! Let’s go!” Torn immediately leapt off the balcony, followed by Hílðegùnn. The two plummeted the seventy-foot drop to the arena floor, and vanished.

Torn landed securely on his feet in a clearing somewhere. Even he wasn’t entirely sure where they had landed - he wanted to figure that out along the way. He waited for Keira and Hiro, figuring that they wouldn’t take too long to take the leap of faith. Hílðegùnn sat down and sharpened her glaive, while Torn simply got the lay of the land, before spotting a large pack of wolves - some thirty individual canines - who seemed to have noticed his arrival. “Oh, we’ll have a fight right off the bat,” he said, grinning. As the other two appeared, Torn looked at them with a smile. “Look alive, huge pack of wolves incoming,” he stated flatly.