• Memory • A Man's Hope is His Castle

[Patrick]

A Man's Hope is His Castle

Saun 12 697, Midday

The outskirts of Rharne were always filled with thrills and excitement when Patrick followed his older brother out here, often the two came out to enjoy the fun and weather, where an small man made fortress had been put together by the two an arc or so ago. Dominek always made sure they never wandered or strayed too far from the beaten path he'd learned, so that the two were in distance to make a short run for safety. Not that Patrick was scared! He thrived from the excitement of exploring the wilds, and the Stormlands were big with never ending hills that rolled far out into the distance. "Hey Dom, wait up!" He called out to the figure that had to at least be a meter ahead of him, his feet tapped lightly against the gravel within the grass as he ran on. Eager to catch up with his older brother so that the two would arrive at that place, the one spot that they always went to during warm and convenient weather.

"Hurry up Pat!" Dominek's voice echoed from the top of the hill as he moved further into an overgrowth surrounded by trees, Patrick pushed himself harder to catch up with hefty breaths to make up for the energy. Though he might be smaller and lighter than Dom, that didn't stop him from trying to keep up with the older brother; and pretty soon he'd be able to match Dom's strength with his own! Finally when he reached the clearing and ran inside the gap of the overgrowth, he continued into a wooded area where several trees provided shelter from the suns. He made it! He arrived at the castle he and Dominek had built! Though it was practically nothing but broken branches and shrubbery moved about, it still provided shelter within this remote sanctuary of theirs. Dominek had already grabbed a couple of the larger thicker sticks that they usually carried around, one of them tossed at Patrick as he at last caught up with the older brother. "Prepare yer self!"

The stick missed its target as Pat failed to catch it, his eyes locked down on the weapon as he panted heavily for air. "No fair! I ain't caught me breath yet!" The younger sibling stomped rather childishly before he knelt down and grabbed the stick, both hands gripped near the bottom of the thicker end as he looked it over. It was the one he usually wound up with, since Dom liked to pick the best one out of the two.

"Have ya caught it now?!" The older boy prodded with the stick flailed about a couple of times, Patrick nodded with a cheeky grin as he looked to Dom. "I, Dominek Barnell, will protect this castle with my life! What say ya knight?"

"Aye!" Patrick cheered with his stick raised high, the older brother laughed as he turned to a random bush nearby.

"What's that?! A fiend appears! We must fight lil' brother!" He beckoned as he charged forward with the stick raised, a wild slash made against the bush as Patrick watched for a moment. He panned the area for a separate bush close to Dom's and when he found one, did the same in turn with his stick raised in a similar position. With a "Yah" he swung the wooden weapon as hard as he could, a swish made through the air as the leaves of the bush swayed in response to his kiddish attack.

[Patrick]

"Patrick watch out! We're gonna get flanked from the rear!" Dominek issued as he twisted to run to the other side of the fort, random swings were made at nothing as though creatures only he could see were there. Patrick giggled with a smile on his face as he hopped back from his current target, the stick brought around in a full circle, as though he'd pulled a stunt with the blade to fend off attackers. He then charged right after Dom as the older sibling had taken to attack more of the overgrowth, the wack of tall grass and shrubs heard as the younger brother jumped in for what would've been a lunged jump attack.

"I got ya covered Dom!" He assured his older brother with a few more swings made, each attack followed with another until he chained at least a combo. Some sort of combo anyways, usually finished with a harsh swing upon the third blow. Both boys continued with their effort to repel the enemies that invaded their territory, until much of the wild grass had been beaten down by their hand. Both boys panted from their rigorous battle against their enemy, with sweat shone on their heads and dampened hair. They had won though and now their castle was safe, for however long though remained to be see apparently.

Dominek walked up next to Patrick and patted him on the shoulder. "Nice work brother. Whew!" At the sound of his exasperated sigh the older brother went into a lean back, and fell into the patch of grass they were at with arms folded to pillow his head. Patrick copied what his brother did and in just a moment, found himself laying the same exact way Dominek did. The older brother offered him a piece of grass and for a moment Pat had to consider, watchful eyes found that Dom had put one of his own in his mouth to chew on. So naturally Patrick did the same thing, and placed the weed at one corner of his mouth. "This place is great. We could easily live here if we wanted to."

"Do you think we could?" Pat questioned since the idea came up, the two boys did seem happier out here rather than Dust Town.

"Yeah. I mean we could, but Mom probably would have t' approve." The older brother reasoned as he focused on the sky, Patrick did too and while the canopy of the trees bordered much of his vision, he found that it provided a nice frame to look at the sky with.

"I think she would. We could all probably live together out here."

"Nah, she's a grown up. Has t' do grown up things." The older brother posed for the sake of argument.

"But she wouldn't have to, if she lived in a castle with us." Patrick remarked thoughtfully as he watched the clouds move through the sky.

"True. Then we could be the ones to protect her." Dominek agreed as the grass twitched a few times from his chewing. Part of Patrick agreed with that idea as he wanted to keep her safe, but the reality of their situation also had to sink in. Poor people couldn't have castles, no matter how much they wanted to live in one. He hated that fact, though it was part of reality. It was also one hard not to dwell on because of how much Dominek fantasized such things, he would often mention to Patrick just how great it would be to live in their own place. Their own castle with their own servants, nobody to answer to or worry about. They could've been princes and their mother a fair and loving queen, as the world would be theirs to explore at their own leisure.

In a way such a fantasy made Patrick wish, yearn for such a possibility with reality. Often he actually did wish it to happen, more than he would've considered beneficial. There were some things in this world that just weren't and some things that are, and with the way Patrick learned it was just the way things were.

[Patrick]

The two boys then laid there for a while to cool off after their little excursion, both gazed at the clouds with conversations on what the two were going to do later on. As grown ups. Dominek always had dreams compared to Patrick, always something great to aspire to even with their living style. Though they were poor that fact never dampened the older brother's spirit, and strangely enough it somehow tended to rub off on Patrick. Enough to bring a smile at any rate, the boy however hardly knew one thing however. What it was he wanted to do.

At best the easiest he could think of was either be a traveler, some sort of roaming journeyman who wandered aimlessly. He really couldn't think of anything, likely because he lacked the hopeful imagination Dominek possessed. It made Patrick wonder early on what his purpose would be in life, and if whether or not he'd even have such a thing later on. "Hey Dom," He finally broke the silence that had grown between them, "Do you think we'll always be stuck in Dust Town?" Pat already knew the answer to that, when it came to Dominek there was always the predictable response.

"Nope! Someday we're gonna get rich and famous, and we'll own a house as big as the ones in Glass Class." He remarked with a chuckle while he turned over onto his belly. A few scratches were made along his arms from laying on the grass, his eyes now fallen on Pat who just laid there in thought.

"Really?" The older brother only nodded to Patrick then, the assurance brought a wry smile from the younger sibling as the two laughed. They did that a lot from time to time, when they found an escape from the home they were born into. To have a big house like one within the Glass Quarter though, that was something Patrick could easily picture compared to anything else Dom pitched. Probably because of how practical it would've been, even then it still existed as mere fantasy to Pat. "Yeah. We'll get a nice big house, and look after mum when we do. She won't have t' work anymore, because we'll be the ones takin' care o' her." He reasoned as he silently wished for such an outcome to occur, deep down he truly believed one day they would share a mansion or at least big estate. Whether that dream would become a reality didn't really matter now, because the idea of it was more than enough to give Patrick hope.

Hope that things would truly work out for the better in the days to come.

[Wendell]

Patrick

Knowledge:
Location: Stormlands
Stealth: Moving through the undergrowth
Acting: Playing make-believe
Tactics: Flanked (rear)
Unarmed Combat, Brawling: Sticks
Dominek: Believed you would always be rich and famous

Loot: n.a
Injuries: n.a
Fame: n.a
Devotion: n.a
Magic: These points cannot be used for magic

Story: 5/5
Collaboration: 0/5
Structure: 5/5

Comment: Cute. Less issues with structure today which is good, I can see you're editing! That is all.