THE MOMENT
"Do you want me to grab it, or do you want me to let it sleep?" Nax posed the question with playful grin; but, the rugged thief stared at the teenager with cold eyes. It was as if even the attempt at humor was too beyond him. The rugged thief and Nax, the teenage thief, stood outside a cave with the sun almost down to the horizon. The monster would be awake soon and the older thief didn't have time for Nax's fooling around.
"Perhaps we have miscommunicated," he said. "I shall reword the task. Your duty is to sneak into the cave, steal a scale, then return it here to me without disturbing the great black dragon."
"No, see, I was making a joke," Nax said. "It's funny, because the way you said it was kind of vague. 'Go in there grab it. Don't wake it up', you know, it just seemed contradictory." The older thief stared down at Nax for an extended moment.
"Perhaps we have miscommunicated," he said again. "I shall reword the task. Your duty -,"
"Ah, skip it," Nax waved his hand at the thief and the man went silent. Nax pulled a glass card out of his pocket and lingered with his attention on it instead of anything else.
"The Black Dragon wakes at sunset," the thief said. "It would be ideal to complete your mission before the sun vanishes."
"I know, I know," Nax chuckled. "Don't get pushy, it'll be okay," he waved off the thief's concerns without looking up from his gadget. Several more quiet minutes passed and Nax sighed heavily. He slumped his shoulders and tucked the glass card back into his pocket.
"I'm Fornax; you can call me Nax," he waved at the older thief. "What's your name?"
"I am a nameless trainer for the Thief's Guild. I test the resourcefulness of recruits as they move up through the ranks."
"Having fun?" a new voice startled Nax. He whirled around to see Outbreak step out of a black portal. She had bronze skin and neon green hair.
"I can now that you're here," Nax chuckled. "This is my friend, the nameless trainer. Trainer, this is another friend, Outbreak," he said.
"A real friend," Outbreak added as she waved at the thief.
"Ah, don't be like that," Nax shook his head. "The Trainer is almost like a real person; we had a very stimulating conversation while I was waiting for you," he said. "Isn't that right? Tell her what you told me."
"Just, go in there, grab it, and come right back out. And whatever you do, don't wake it up," the thief said.
"Not that one, the miscommunication one!" Nax chuckled at Outbreak. "He really likes that one."
"Perhaps we have miscommunicated. I shall reword the task. Your duty is to sneak into the cave, steal a scale, then return it here to me without disturbing the great black dragon."
"But, you said you wanted my help specifically because we are going to wake the dragon for its drop...," Outbreak asked.
"Well, he doesn't know that," Nax chuckled as he finally started toward the cave with Outbreak. "He's just an NPC."