A man once made his life meaningful as a mason. He built many walls in his lifetime and he loved all of them; some of his favorites he even had names for.
But no wall was more special to him than Katya. She was a beautiful sandstone aggregate mixed with raw stone from the surrounding lands that he had built by hand in Loho. She was young, only 18 years, still as beautiful and unpenetrated by cannonballs as the day she was made. The outer bricks had aged like fine wine, and it was even smoother to the touch than when it was part of the flatlands. Nobody in town touched Katya but the mason; they had far too much respect for the man who had built their humble town from the ground up.
The mason was eating a sandwich and thinking of a poem he would write about Katya when he heard the news of a group of 8 looking for the treasure of Loho. The mason suddenly lost his appetite. He stood up from his barstool in the restaurant he was at and left brusqely, thinking about many things. One of these things was the treasure of Loho, which was, in fact, the thing his precious wall Katya was protecting. He wondered about whether they would try to tear his wall down.
The mason realized that he was crying.
"Hey! Old guy! We're looking for the treasure of Loho and we think we know where it is, but the area's blocked off by a wall. Can you help us knock it down?"
The mason realized that he was no longer crying.
He turned around and saw 8 young men and women of various colors that had followed him as he exited the restaurant. One stepped up.
"Hey! Old man! What are you, deaf?" Felix jeered, holding up his hand in a rude gesture. "Some guy at the dock told us you know about that wall, so help us get to that treasure!"
"You...want to knock down that wall?" the mason said softly.
"Uh, yeah. That's exactly it. You gonna help us out or are you gonna pull at your junk and pretend you're not a hundred?"
The mason spoke flatly. "What if I told you that I would kill you if you did that?"
God when did he learn to bluff like that? Really, he would have to write a book to capitalize on his natural talent someday.
The young man just laughed. "Oh god, you're a REAL tryhard. Please, spare me the one liners. I don't think you know who you're talking to."
The mason seethed with anger. This prick wanted to destroy his finest creation just to get a material object! The nerve of him. The mason chose to omit exactly what kind of object Katya was and instead concentrate on the man and his friends.
Felix shrugged. "Okay, whatever, say your threats, but I still think you're just a Jello sack; I'll be nice and let you watch us blow up the wall without your crusty help. Piers, hold him down.
The tall one of the group stepped forward. "Please sir," he said calmly, "I would rather not have to do anything to discomfort you. Stand there and no harm will come to you." He looked back at Felix. "Is this really necessary?"
"Is it, Ms. Headband?" the mason said. "You're wearing an awful lot of girl clothes for the dumb muscle of the group."
Piers' face hardened. "I see. I suppose Felix was right then. Worry not. If you don't want to stand you can get on your knees. No one's stopping you." Piers moved with surprising quickness and disabled the mason with a half nelson, his other arm striking behind the knee and putting him one knee on the ground.
Felix nodded. "It will suffice. Garet, get the cannon ready. Ivan, go get the cannonball.
The Ivan nodded happily. "Ivan!" it yelled, wandering off to get the cannonball.
Garet looked at Felix. "I don't know, Felix. What if this guy is different?"
Felix looked at him dumbly. "Why don't you ask Romeo and Juliet what we should do?"
Garet turned around and looked at Isaac, who was only paying attention to one thing right now, and that was Jenna's bra-strap.
"Isaac, should we think about this before we do it?" Garet whined, trying to get his attention.
The Mason's Lament PART ONE~ vagabond
But no wall was more special to him than Katya. She was a beautiful sandstone aggregate mixed with raw stone from the surrounding lands that he had built by hand in Loho. She was young, only 18 years, still as beautiful and unpenetrated by cannonballs as the day she was made. The outer bricks had aged like fine wine, and it was even smoother to the touch than when it was part of the flatlands. Nobody in town touched Katya but the mason; they had far too much respect for the man who had built their humble town from the ground up.
The mason was eating a sandwich and thinking of a poem he would write about Katya when he heard the news of a group of 8 looking for the treasure of Loho. The mason suddenly lost his appetite. He stood up from his barstool in the restaurant he was at and left brusqely, thinking about many things. One of these things was the treasure of Loho, which was, in fact, the thing his precious wall Katya was protecting. He wondered about whether they would try to tear his wall down.
The mason realized that he was crying.
"Hey! Old guy! We're looking for the treasure of Loho and we think we know where it is, but the area's blocked off by a wall. Can you help us knock it down?"
The mason realized that he was no longer crying.
He turned around and saw 8 young men and women of various colors that had followed him as he exited the restaurant. One stepped up.
"Hey! Old man! What are you, deaf?" Felix jeered, holding up his hand in a rude gesture. "Some guy at the dock told us you know about that wall, so help us get to that treasure!"
"You...want to knock down that wall?" the mason said softly.
"Uh, yeah. That's exactly it. You gonna help us out or are you gonna pull at your junk and pretend you're not a hundred?"
The mason spoke flatly. "What if I told you that I would kill you if you did that?"
God when did he learn to bluff like that? Really, he would have to write a book to capitalize on his natural talent someday.
The young man just laughed. "Oh god, you're a REAL tryhard. Please, spare me the one liners. I don't think you know who you're talking to."
The mason seethed with anger. This prick wanted to destroy his finest creation just to get a material object! The nerve of him. The mason chose to omit exactly what kind of object Katya was and instead concentrate on the man and his friends.
Felix shrugged. "Okay, whatever, say your threats, but I still think you're just a Jello sack; I'll be nice and let you watch us blow up the wall without your crusty help. Piers, hold him down.
The tall one of the group stepped forward. "Please sir," he said calmly, "I would rather not have to do anything to discomfort you. Stand there and no harm will come to you." He looked back at Felix. "Is this really necessary?"
"Is it, Ms. Headband?" the mason said. "You're wearing an awful lot of girl clothes for the dumb muscle of the group."
Piers' face hardened. "I see. I suppose Felix was right then. Worry not. If you don't want to stand you can get on your knees. No one's stopping you."
Piers moved with surprising quickness and disabled the mason with a half nelson, his other arm striking behind the knee and putting him one knee on the ground.
Felix nodded. "It will suffice. Garet, get the cannon ready. Ivan, go get the cannonball.
The Ivan nodded happily. "Ivan!" it yelled, wandering off to get the cannonball.
Garet looked at Felix. "I don't know, Felix. What if this guy is different?"
Felix looked at him dumbly. "Why don't you ask Romeo and Juliet what we should do?"
Garet turned around and looked at Isaac, who was only paying attention to one thing right now, and that was Jenna's bra-strap.
"Isaac, should we think about this before we do it?" Garet whined, trying to get his attention.