There wasn't anything he could do.
There was never anything he could do, Karol realized. He was just too small, too weak, and too much of a coward to be of any real use to anybody. His whole life, he had worked toward a goal that he knew he probably would never accomplish. He thought that maybe, founding Brave Vesperia had been his first real step toward becoming something in the Don's eyes. However, he realized now that he would never even have gotten that much without Yuri and everyone else's help.
Karol slumped even further where he sat, his eyes staring at the empty street. He knew no one would notice him here. He was just too small to be noticed.
After a few moments though, Yuri appeared. Karol lifted his head, unsure of what exactly to say to his fellow guild member. He shook his head and looked back down at the street.
"Yuri..." he mumbled.
"I... There wasn't anything I could do. The Don... and all the rest of you. You'd all made up your minds and did what what you could." Karol paused for a moment, looking up to make sure Yuri was even listening. When he saw Yuri's eyes were examining him intently, he went on.
"Nobody in this town's gonna listen to anything I've got to say... So I was thinking I should try talking with Palestralle instead. But they might be done talking and just attack anyway... When I thought that, I..." Karol shook his head.
"I was too scared to go alone... So I ended up not going at all. I'm not good for anything."
So there it was. Maybe, just maybe, if Karol hadn't been so hesitant, maybe he could have made a difference. Maybe if he was like his friends, people wouldn't look down on him. Maybe...
"What about Judy?" Yuri suddenly asked.
"Weren't you going to look for her?"
Karol brought his knees up and buried his head between them.
"I can't. I can't go with you any more, Yuri. I'm just not cut out to be the boss of a guild."
Yuri walked up to Karol and without warning, lifted the boy to his feet.
"Is that it, then? Is that all guilds and Brave Vesperia mean to you? Just walking away from a dream like that?" Yuri's hands squeezed Karol's shoulders, causing him to wince.
"But I wanted to be the best guild!" Karol lifted his head, anger apparent on his face.
"To be useful for the Don! For him to notice me!" Karol took a shuddering breath, his sadness bubbling up to the surface.
"He's been a role model for me... And now he's not around." Finally, a sob escaped the young boy. He looked away from Yuri, ashamed by what he felt was a display of weakness.
"So you're just gonna pack it up and quit? Just what was it the Don died for? You of all people could answer that."
Another sob. Karol balled his fists and attempted to escape Yuri's grip.
"You can always do everything you want, Yuri!" he yelled.
"You'd never understand how I feel! I'm not tough like you! It's over, our guild is..."
Yuri sighed, letting go of the boy. Karol staggered backwards against the wall, falling back into his sitting position.
"As a member of our guild," Yuri said, kneeling down to Karol's level.
"I'm going to Mt. Temza to find Judy. Brave Vesperia will go on, even if you don't." With that, Yuri stood and walked away. Soon, the street was empty again and all Karol could hear was the sound of his own subdued crying.
"I don't want to run away... I don't want to, but..."
***
A dream. That's all it had been. Conjured from his memories, it was an event that Karol knew well. A tipping point in his young life during a time of great change. It was something he recalled often, the Don's death hours before this replaying in his mind again and again. The dream always brought him to the same point... Karol would be so close giving up everything, too scared to do otherwise. All he'd wanted to do was impress Don Whitehorse-- be recognised-- but Karol had come to realize he'd accomplished something entirely different by founding Brave Vesperia. Yuri had been right, the guild had become bigger than himself. Karol had friends that believed in him just as he had believed in them. There was no way he was ever going to abandon that!
Karol had followed those same friends to the very ends of Terca Lumireis and back, becoming all the more stronger for it. Wherever the Don was, he'd be proud of that, Karol knew it for sure.
Long live Brave Vesperia!
Long live...
"... Brave Vesperia!"
The boy had awoken with a start, his head banging against one of the bus windows as he jerked awake. He held his aching head and groaned, confusion overtaking his senses. Grogginess made him whimper slightly, and the entire world before him was so terribly blurry. Aw, man, where did he even go to sleep last night? Had someone moved him? Had...
"Huh?" Karol blinked a couple of times, the inside of the bus becoming more clear as he did so. He recognised the concept of
seating and that this was probably some kind of
carriage at first glance, but it seemed so...
"H-Hey! Hey, what's happening here?!"
Panic. Oh man, oh man, what the heck was all this?! Panicking was
definitely occurring and Karol knew he probably looked crazy right now,
but who were all these people?! The boy's head whipped around rapidly at all of the unfamlar faces. He didn't recognize anyone, anyone at all! Holding his bag close, Karol looked back to his seat, hoping to find... Yes! Reaching out, the boy grabbed hold of his mighty broadsword! It was almost the size of Karol himself and probably way heavier than anything a kid his age should have been able to carry. Still, Karol was a powerful kid despite his size-- er, not that he was that short! He was just right for his age, he'd have you know-- and wielding a weapon like this was a piece of cake. At the very least, holding it gave Karol a boost of courage he so desperately needed.
"Where are my friends?! I swear, if one of you took them... and-and did something to them..." Karol's eyes went wide with horror.
"Oh my gosh, you better not be eating them! Y-Yuri would never allow himself to be eaten! Never!" Karol knew that in such a situation, he'd probably be eaten last, if he was to be eaten at all. Even Rita probably had more meat on her, embarrassingly enough. Her punches
really hurt, after all...
Whether or not anyone was paying attention to Karol or responding to him, he seemed transfixed now on the open door at the front of this strange carriage.
"I'll fight my way out! I just... I just have to! I'll save you guys, I promise!" Even if he had to fight a hundred-- No, a
thousand bad guys, Karol could fight his way out of any tough situation! Or, well, he hoped so. If his friends were waiting for him, trapped by some madman intent on eating them, Karol really had no choice in the matter.
It wasn't like he hadn't been put in that kind of situation before.
"Whaaaaaah! Ahhhhhh! Prepare to die, cannibals!"
Karol came storming off the bus, his weapon swinging wildly. His eyes were closed shut, as he was too afraid to face the horrors that awaited him, Karol ineffectively managed to hit absolutely no one as he spun around the area outside the bus.
Around and around Karol went, until his sword smashed against something
hard, sending Karol careening backward.
"Oof!" Groaning, the tiny warrior stared up into the blue sky. He lifted his head to see what he had hit and found himself looking at a red brick wall covered in thick ivy. Great, defeated by a wall. Yuri would be so proud of him.
"How embarassing..."
Karol stood up with a huff, wiping grass and dirt off his clothing. His movements slowed as he remembered why exactly he'd been on the attack in the first place. All he'd managed to do was show these enemies that he was just a weak kid. He... He really wasn't a weak kid! He wasn't scared, either! Karol repeated that mantra as he picked up his weapon, his entire body shivering as he turned to face the crowd behind him.
"O-oh... oh no!" Karol spotted it instantly. It was some great terrible beast... one he couldn't recognise at all. He and his friends had managed to document every known beast on Terca Lumeiries... so where did this one come from? Karol slowly, but surely, risked taking a closer look. His footsteps were thankfully silent on the grass. Karol felt like he was going to be sick as his eyes observed this creature... it was so hairy! Covered in both fur and skin... Karol couldn't even begin to classify it. It was huge,
massive even, and Karol felt incredibly small to be near it. It appeared to sport two heads, one wolf-like and the other humanoid. This was far worse than an Eggbear by far. Even the Hunting Blades would by wary of this beast!
"Y-You... You..." If something or someone had kidnapped Karol's friends and was looking to eat them, torture them, or do a whole number of foul things, it could only be this monster before him.
"I... I challenge you! I won't let you hurt my friends... I'll destroy you before you even get the chance! I am Karol, and hear me roar, beast!"
@TheBlueBurch
@ALL FOUL CREATURES LURKING OUTSIDE THE BUS
