The Beasting Quest

[Rudeth Gilespi]

Rudeth had a problem: he needed a date for Halloween.

Or well, that wasn't the problem, per se. Rudeth could typically find a date for Halloween without too much trouble. The problem was that there was a specific girl that Rudeth wanted to ask out. And Rudeth never just asked someone out. No, that would be far too pedestrian for Rudeth.

Rudeth rode in on a majestic steed, full fanfare blaring, and swept his lady fair off of her feet.

Or at least, that's what he'd done last year. But he felt like he kind of needed to step up his game, you know? Otherwise it wasn't going to be impressive anymore.

And that was exactly what Rudeth planned to do when he grabbed his brother by both arms, the expression on his face as serious as a plague.

"Thrall." His tone of voice rang with Duty and Importance in such a way that it could only mean there was something very serious going on... or Rudeth was trying to impress a girl. Which was much the same thing, in his book. "I need your help."

[Dmitry Gilespi]

Thrall was absorbed in a book, sitting under a tree in the courtyard, and so he hadn't seen Rudeth coming until he was only a few feet away. He did a double-take at his brother's expression, sitting the book down.

"What? What the hell is going on?"

[Rudeth Gilespi]

"Something very, very important," Rudeth replied gravely. For a moment, he was silent, just letting the weight of it sink into his brother. "We need... to go to the pet shop."

[Dmitry Gilespi]

His eyes went wide for a moment, then he sighed and marked his place in the book. Clearly he wasn't going to be finishing that anytime soon.

"And you need me for this because..? Will this wind up with one or both of us being set on fire?"

On the other hand, he was already standing up and brushing off his pants.

[Rudeth Gilespi]

"I need something big and impressive," Rudeth said, which wasn't really a response to Thrall's question. "Like a griffin, or a dragon, or a pegasus. Or maybe one of those giant frogs that invaded the town last spring — do you think I could put a saddle on one?"

Rudeth was already heading toward the road as he talked. "I mean, no one else has a giant riding frog, but do you think that would look stupid?"

[Dmitry Gilespi]

Thrall remembered the giant frogs. He remembered having to yank a freshman out of one of them, and the smell the entire town had after some bright star had decided to be a hero and fireball a few of them. He grinned at his brother.

"I know if I were a girl, I'd be super impressed at a guy who figured out how to ride a giant frog without getting bucked. So who is it this year?"

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