Day 6, WHAT? 10k words? O.o

And with that, the world faded, and Rork sprung up in his bed, wide awake. Seeing the sun coming through his window, he quickly exclaimed, “Oh no! What time is it?” knowing that he was supposed to meet Akara for lunch at the Sorcerer's cup.

He quickly threw on some clothes, not caring what they were, stuffing his feet into his boots just after he had pulled his pants on, all while trying to get a shirt on the other arm. Looking in the mirror, he quickly brushed his hair with his hand, trying to get the mad locks to lay flat.

Suddenly, Donnie's voice broke the mad rush, “Sorry, but you really can't do your hair very well, even if you spend all night on it.”

Rork just rolled his eyes and continued with his routine, putting his scarf around his neck, and then tying it, loosely to keep his warmth in, it looked cold out there today after all, at least from the brief glimpse he'd gotten from his window.

“You want to come to the Sorcerer's Cup with Akara and me today?” Rork asked, hopeful that Donnie would come, he had been rather depressed as of late, since he failed his final, and this seemed like a good opportunity to bring him back around.

Donnie was silent for a moment before he opened his mouth, “No thanks, I really would love to, but I can't exactly afford it at the moment.”

“I can pay for you, if that's what you need.” Rork really didn't want to leave one of their group out if he could help it, and so, even with the hefty prices, he wanted to make sure that that wasn't the reason Donnie didn't eat with them.

“I really meant the time; I have to study my butt off for my next attempt.” Donnie put his hand behind his head, and messed his hair around a little before continuing, “But you should enjoy your time with Akara, it's not everyday that you get the chance to have a one on one date with her.” Donnie raised his eyebrows scandalously as he spoke up again, “maybe you'll even get a kiss at the end of it.”

Thinking back to his dream, Rork winced slightly. “Nah, I don't think it'll happen.”

“Well of course it won't,” exclaimed Donnie, suddenly, “Not if you keep that attitude up! Where's the gung-ho Rork I used to know? Always trying to impress Akara and make her yours? What's wrong, man?”

“I've just been going through a lot lately. This whole apprentice thing is really starting to weigh down on me.”

“It's only been a few days, and you're already feeling bogged down?” Donnie stood up straight from his leaning position which he had taken on the door frame to Rork's room.

“It's not necessarily bogged down, I'm just,” Rork couldn't think of the word he wanted to use. “He's a bit of an eccentric teacher. Let's just put it that way. He also has a very weird, and sometimes slightly cruel sense of humor.”

A simple “Ah,” was all that Rork got out of Donnie.

A few moments of awkward silence followed, until Rork couldn't handle it anymore, “I should probably get going, don't want to keep Akara waiting.” He moved past Donnie, and through the door. “Good luck with your studies.”

“And good luck on not getting kissed.”

Chapter 6

“There you are! I thought that I'd end up walking to the Sorcerer's cup by myself.”

“Glad to see that you're in as cheerful a mood as ever, Akara.” Things are already not going well.

The walk to the restaurant went by slowly, seeing as neither of them really had much to say. Why didn't Donnie come with me? I should have said I would help him study. Anything to stop this silence. If there was one thing he was good at, Donnie was definitely one to keep the conversation going.

Suddenly, as though a random flash of inspiration had come across her, Akara spoke, “So, how did you figure out that you were able to control magic?”

Woah! Thought Rork, talk about random. “Ummm, well, I suppose it was probably when I was really young, and my pet rabbit had died, he was all that I had left of my father, since he left one day and never returned, and I really didn't want him to die. I cried and cried and cried for so long, I was only four mind you, I didn't know any better, and finally wished that he would come back to life. Just imagine my surprise the next day when the next morning he was actually alive and jumping around his cage.”

Akara was somewhat wide-eyed. “You mean you brought something back to life, without any actual training?”

“Well,” Rork paused, trying to not make the next point sound as bad as it could have. “I may or may not have actually turned it into an undead rabbit.”

Akara's eyes got even bigger, and Rork thought they were already quite large. “You performed one of the unforgivable magics?”

“Look, I was four and didn't know what I was doing. My mom killed the rabbit when she saw it, before it had the chance to eat any of our brains and turn us into the walking dead. I don't really like to talk about it because of the stigma that goes along with it. I mean, you know me, I'm not some crazed necromancer, prancing about talking about my undead army, and trying to take over the world.”

Akara's face returned to a somewhat normal state, although her eyes were still somewhat more open than they usually were.

“Please don't tell anyone, I really don't want people thinking poorly of me.”

Akara just nodded, with the same expression on her face, as she stared straight forward.

As the silence started to build up, Rork couldn't take it. “So how about you? When did you know that you could control magic?”

Akara looked away for a second, as though collecting her thoughts, then faced forward again, jaw set, and said “I was in the living area of a home, it wasn't mine or my family's, we were staying there with other people, and we were getting warm by the fire. The room was getting cold, and the fire was dying; it must have been below freezing outside. Eventually, the room was so cold that we could see our breath, and the fire was on its last legs. I guess I just kinda wished that the fire would grow, and keep us all warmer, and it did just that,” the look in her face grew distant as she finished faintly, “it grew.”

“I guess that explains how you figured out what your main element was.” Rork was pretty excited, this wasn't the stuff you hear everyday. Not everyone was willing to share how they figured out that they were a wizard, it was usually graphic, or involved a tragedy of some sort, and he had never heard Akara's story before. “So, what brought that question around?”

Akara shook herself out of her daze, “Huh? What? Oh, I dunno, I was just curious, I guess. I've known you for a few years now, but I've never heard your story.”

“Oh, look, there's the restaurant! What do you think you're gonna get? I'm thinking about the pork chop stew with the lentils and herbs. It's my favorite!” Rork was excited at the thought of this dish, it had been some time since he had enjoyed its wonderful taste.

Akara allowed a small chuckle to escape her lips. “Rork, you always get that dish, we know it's your favorite.”

Rork, feeling somewhat silly, decided to play coy, “Well, excuuuuuuuse me, for finding something I enjoy and sticking with it, miss have-to-try-everything-on-the-menu-before-I-can-decide-what-my-favorite-thing-is.”

She just shook her head and sighed as he acted and moved very dramatically as he said this. He quickly ran to the door, grabbed it, and being the gentleman that he was, held it open for her. “Ladies first.”

The scene was familiar, as it usually was; it was packed again, so much so that they even had to open up the second floor to seat everyone. Rork and Akara instinctively started walking towards their favorite seat, and it wasn't until Akara took off her coat, that Rork caught a bad feeling.

She was wearing the exact same outfit as she was in his dream.

Grabbing her arm, he stopped her, and recommended “Why don't we sit up on the second floor this time, we never have before, and it might be nice for a change.”

She looked at him funny, slightly confused, saying “Alright, who are you, and what have you done with Rork? You never want to try anything new.”

“No, I'm serious,” came his soft reply, “I just think it might be kind of fun. Don't get me wrong, I love that booth, but I think today, seeing as it's a special occasion calls for a special treat.”

With a slanted smile, and a shake of her head, Akara hung her coat over her arm and started walking towards the stairs. “Alright, but if there's something up there that you've done to try and win me again, so help me, I will knock your teeth out, and you won't be able to grow those back in.” The last bit she said with a glare, though there was a little bit of softness in her eyes that Rork could see.

“Well, as usual, ladies first. Rork motioned for Akara to lead the way, and she did just that, curtsying slightly, in a way that was overdone, making fun of most people who act with such pompous behavior.

There was one table left, and they quickly snatched it before anyone else could, even though it was in the corner, where they weren't very likely to get much attention from the wait staff.

(Hey-o!  Glad you all could make it, here it is, the next installment.  Enjoy, conquer, divide, and pillage!  Maybe not necessarily in that order, but definitely do enjoy, or try to.  Thank you to those who are reading, it brings me great joy to know that there are at least a few people who like the story enough to keep reading it.  Have a great week!)