"Hail and well met Friends, I am glad ye could come and drink with me on me birthday."
Shadowteal, Niniane, Sedillo came in eyeing the several empty mugs on the floor.
"Geez, Troll, you started without us," chokes Sedillo through his laughter.
"Four more Guinness's over here Thrax, and keep 'em coming,'" shouts Cameron M'uab Dib across the noise of the bar,"We're celebrating me 24th birthday taeday! I don't want tae see a dry glass in the room."
The gathered crowd around him cheers to see their Guild Master so abnormally drunk and free with his gold.
"Aye I did, lad...," chuckled the drunken Ranger," but don't play shy, pull up a seat ye three... (shoves some patrons of the Woo Hoo tavern out of their seats) we have some drinking tae do here."
Shadowteal and Sedillo sit down, laughing at their guild masters behavior.
"Slow down you drunken fool and let us catch up to you.", jibed Sedillo.
Shadowteal, the Dark Hunter and Sedillo, would-be Knight, join Cameron in his drinking. Niniane moves to sit down but is called over to the bar by Thrax, the bartender at the Woo Hoo.
"I know you're probably busy lass, but I wanted to tell ya. You watch yourself around that one, lassie.", warned Thrax while he was cleaning out some unknown stain from a bar glass," that elf is a might odd today. I may not know elves very well, but I know drunks, and that one is spoiling for a fight if I ever saw one."
Niniane, who had been friends with her guild master for several years, raised an eyebrow at Thrax.
"Cameron? I know, Cameron ... He might be upset, but he's not like that. He's just upset over his brother leaving. He won't cause any trouble. I assure you."
Shrugging his shoulders at Niniane, Thrax continues to clean the bar glass in his hands," Maybe, maybe. You are probably right. As you say, you know him better than I do. Just be careful and keep an eye on that one."
Smiling, Niniane pats Thrax's shoulder," I will friend, I will." After ordering four more Guinness's at the bar, the mistress of the bow walks over to the table trying to shake Thrax's warning.
"Ah, finally Lady Niniane comes tae join us in our little drinking game," smirks Cameron through the bottom of an empty mug," and ooooh, she comes fully laden with more tae drink. Sit down, sit down. Eat drink and be merry, are we not here tae celebrate a happy occasion?
Niniane watched "Trollhater", as he was nicknamed years ago, by who no one knows, but he seemed to be in good spirits, so she discarded the warnings of Thrax, as he was always being overprotective of her. But something about him was odd. He seemed to have an unusual amount of energy about him tonight.
The four of them sat there for hours drinking and eating in celebration of Cameron's birthday. Many came and went, including Lady Ifalna and penitent Marbles, the pacifist. As the night moved on Cameron drank less and less, the smile slowly fading from his face as he began to think. He watched his friends drink themselves into oblivion, wake up and do it again. He sat there watching them, at first happily but more and more sadly. His thoughts ever turned to his brother, Jihad. This was the first birthday Jihad had missed of his since he had returned to live in the city.
"I wonder where me brother is right now?" muttered the elf to himself. "By the Gods I wish he were here."
"Eh?", mumbled Shadowteal from underneath the table.
"What was that oh great GM?", sniggered Sedillo.
Cameron stared at Sedillo as if from a great distance. "Hmm? Oh, nothing... I was just thinking about Jihad."
"Aye 'tis sad that he has left us," sighed Niniane, placing her empty mug on the table," I miss him too."
Cameron sadly smiled at Niniane from across the table.
"Aye many will Lady, many will. I think even Flynn may miss him, in time."
"Sure, sure. Flynn will miss him ... just as soon as all the snow melts in the Pass." chortled the dark Hunter as he regained his seat.
A grimace grew across the guild masters face as he sighed in Shadowteal's direction.
"Ah, yer probably right. They hate each other. Why should that change now, eh?"
Niniane, seeing the mood changing in Cameron, nudged Shadowteal and giving him a dirty look, whispered, "Don't egg him on. Do you not see that he needs to hear positive things right now ... look at him. He's more depressed than I have ever seen him be. Watch what you say."
Shadowteal peered at Niniane through his drunken haze, trying to keep the room still and talk at the same time.
"Ah, he's just drunk. Everyone acts like that when they're drunk. He'll get over it."
A frown creased Niniane's brow as she sighed in response to Shadowteal's comments. "Thrax was right," she thought quietly," there is something wrong here ... more than just a drunken elf."
Sedillo, who had been trying to console Cameron, put his mug of Guinness down on the table with a resounding thump.
"I have an idea. This should cheer you up some, gm."
Trollhater, who had barely heard a word Sedillo had been saying, looked up with the barest amount of hope at the would be Knight.
"What's the idea?" he managed to sigh out through his teeth.
"I was thinking that we need to have an assembly. You know something to Commemorate Jihad's leaving."
Shadowteal and Niniane both chimed in. "An assembly?"
Cameron looked oddly at Sedillo and raised an eyebrow.
"An assembly? What do ye mean?"
Sedillo leaned back in his seat, smiling to see that he had gotten Cameron's attention. He knew "Trollhater" would like this.
"Yeah an assembly. Let me explain. We get Jihad to come to the guild one more time. In there we will have all the warriors of the guild waiting for him."
"Isn't Jihad gone for good?", asked Shadowteal, looking to his guild master for an answer.
"Nay, he said that he would come back one last time to say his farewells to his friends within the land."
But deep down Cameron was unsure if his brother would ever come back, especially after the night before.
"Aye, laddie, and when he does", continued Sedillo, "the whole guild will be waiting there for him. And maybe we can have a little celebration afterwards where Cameron can pass on Jihad's title of Knight of Cosrin."
Trollhater's eyes glared at Sedillo, but Sedillo was too involved playing out the idea in his head to see his friends reaction.
"The land can't be without it's Knight. It needs to have a Knight of Cosrin. maybe even Jihad can pick his own replacement.", beamed Sedillo.
Emotions broiled within Cameron M'uab Dib. His hands gripped his still full mug of Guinness tightly. Niniane began to nudge her former lover to get him to stop talking about Jihad.
"Replace Jihad?", the guildmaster queried angrily to himself, "Replace him?"
"Well, getting them there will be a problem." pointed out Shadowteal," But Sedillo brings up something else. When are you going to replace Jihad? I mean his position in the guild. His Lieutenant's chair?"
The mug in the elf rangers hand shattered, showering his friends in frothy Guinness.
"Replace Jihad!?! REPLACE HIM?!? Who are ye tae ask me about that? No one will replace me brother. NO ONE! Do ye hear me? All I have heard from the day he announced he was leaving is Jihad this, and Jihad that. I am so sick of talking about Jihad. Why doesn't anyone have anything else to talk about?
The patrons of the bar began to make a wide circle around the table where the four rangers sat. They had all seen fights break out here before and they knew another one was going to happen very quickly.
Rising from his chair, Trollhater glared at Sedillo. "No one will ever have that title. Do ye hear me? No one!"
Then he turned to face Shadowteal. "And as far as his seat goes. No one will ever sit in it. So long as I am master of this guild, the third chair shall remain empty in his memory."
Niniane, who had been watching quietly from across the table, stood up from her chair to try and calm her friend. "We all miss him Cameron. Really we do. We just didn't know you missed him so much. If I could bring him back, I would."
Trollhater turned away from the three of them. He grabbed his head and rubbed his temples as if to rub away the pain. "Ah, why don't ye all just leave me alone..."
"But we can't, Cameron." comforted Niniane, "Not until we know you're all right. You have been there for me whenever I needed council, now at least I can be there for you."
"All of us are here for you, Troll," added Sedillo. "You know me, wherever anyone needs council, I am there. Whether they want it or not."
Through the remains of his anger and frustration, Cameron heard Sedillo's oft said joke. Briefly he turned and looked at his friends, a sad but faint smile upon his face. "I am sorry I yelled at ye all. Jihad was my rock. With him gone, I am lost."
"That is what friends are for, Troll'. you get to yell at them without them getting mad.", laughed Shadowteal. "Come on, let's all go to the pass and kill stuff. That will get your mind off of this."
Troll nodded his head at the dark hunter, and walked outside with their horses. They all mounted in silence keeping an eye on their GM. He began to mount his war stallion, but stopped and instead turned to Niniane.
"This is something I need to work out on me own." and with a twist of the ring on his index finger, he disappeared from view, leaving his stallion tethered to the hitching post outside of the Woo Hoo.
End part two
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Memories from my Youth
Crisis of Faith chapter one
Crisis of Faith chapter three
Crisis of Faith chapter four
Crisis of Faith chapter five
