Submission (#4700) Approved

[RQ-C-1] Aspirations

Quest: Resonance - Act 1
Act Type: Character
Word Count: 936 words
Adult Elnin Present: n/a
Regional Affinity: Ealei
Claiming Regional Affinity for: Apollo [ELN2695]
[Adventurer] Rank Unlock Mini-Requirement: n/a

Apollo pawed at the water, watching the water ripple from the touch. Perhaps it was due to the high mana concentration from Yggdrasil, or perhaps the Ieldi were quite rigorous with keeping things clean, but it still amazed him at just how clear the water was. He could see the roots of the eldertree as well as the roots of the mangrove trees around him submerged in the water, and even parts of the coral reef that weren’t covered by entwined mangrove roots. He was almost sure that if he tried, he could probably reach and touch it, though perhaps that wouldn’t be the best for the ecosystem.

“Don’t do it. You’ll just fall in.”

The yellow kittom lifted his head to see his brother approaching, mismatched eyes greeting him with a frown.

“Aww, you’re no fun, Lux. Where’s your sense of adventure? You could stand to lighten up a little, you know.”

“And YOU could stand to take things a bit more seriously.”

Apollo made a face and stuck his tongue out at the grey kittom, and then laughed.

“Why, so I can end up with a permanent frown like you?”

He raised his arms to fend off a smack, and then tackled Pollux, sending the two tumbling to the ground.

“Hey! I didn’t come here to roughhouse. I thought you said you had something important to announce? If not, I’m leaving.”

“Wait, wait, I did!”

Scrambling back, Apollo dusted himself off and cleared his throat.

“I’ve decided… to become a knight!”

He looked at Pollux, beaming, expecting his brother to congratulate him on his dedication and aspiration.

“... is that it? I’m going home.”

“WAIT WAIT WAIT WAIT-”

Apollo rushed in front of Pollux, holding out his paws.

“I thought you were supposed to be proud of me!! Why are you leaving??”

Pollux stared at him, wondering if he was joking. When there was no other response aside from Apollo giving him the most tragic expression he could muster, Pollux sighed.

“Bro. You announce that you’re gonna be a knight, like, every other week. What makes this time any different?”

“I’m serious!! I’m gonna go through apprenticeship, and formal training, and and-”

“Ok, ok, just stop it with the crocodile tears.” Pollux huffed. It was hard to tell when his brother was being serious or just being overly dramatic. Perhaps it was a bit of both.

“Fine, I’ll humour you. Who exactly are you planning to apprentice under? We don’t know any knights. And I’m pretty sure you need to meet certain requirements for formal training. Do you even know what they are?”

Apollo beamed.

“I’m apprenticing under dad, of course!! And that’s easy! A knight does knightly things, so stuff like helping others, protecting the weak, fighting monsters…”

Pollux put up a paw to stop him.

“Ok, first of all, dad’s not even a knight. He acts as an escort for traveling merchant groups, but that’s more to fend off more rowdy elnin who think theft is a good livelihood to pursue. And what makes you think you can fight monsters or protect the weak? Even dad can’t fight off monsters, and I’m sorry to say, but you’re pretty weak yoursel-”

He was interrupted with a flying tackle, and the two kittoms tusseled, with Pollux eventually being pinned by Apollo.

“Ha, who’s weak now!”

As much as Pollux hated to admit, Apollo was a bit stronger of the two, but this didn’t serve to prove anything. He was still-

He blinked as Apollo got off him, the yellow kittom offering him a paw.

“I know. There’s still a lot for me to learn. I know being a knight is dangerous, and that it won’t be easy, but I still want to try. I want to be helpful. I want to be useful to others. I want to be able to make a difference, and say that I’m proud of who I became.”

Pollux frowned, but took his paw.

“Yah, I know. You often have visions of grandeur floating through your head, to the point I swear you sometimes dissociate from reality. I just want you to understand what you’re getting yourself into.”

Apollo grinned.

“Thanks, bro. I know you’re just worried about me, but I promise I’ll take this seriously.”

“Well… as long as you understand.”

Seemingly coming to a truce, the two brothers decided to pass the time gazing out towards the sea instead. Stretching their feet out over the docks, they listened to the waves crash against the rocks jutting out of the ocean, and the call of seabirds above. Apollo sighed and laid back, paws stretched upwards towards the sky. Such a vibrant, brilliant blue, with thick fluffy clouds he felt like he could touch if he tried. He heard a chuckle next to him, and turned his head to look at Pollux. Did he just… laugh?

If he did, the grey kittom had no intentions of showing it.

“So, after passionately declaring your dreams for the future, you’re just planning to spend the rest of the day cloud watching?”

Apollo closed his eyes and put his paws behind his head.

“Of course not! Dad and I are gonna run some errands later! He’s gonna take me around town, and then we’ll go do some exploring. We might not run into any monsters, but always being aware of one’s surroundings is important, right?”

Well, he supposed it was a start. He knew he often gave Apollo a hard time for his whimsical quips, but as long as he took things seriously, perhaps Pollux wouldn’t need to worry much for the future.