The Hero's Apprentice

[Hercules]

'I wonder if its really such a good idea?' a certain demigod wondered in the middle of a forested area. For a while his thoughts had been caught up in what his trainer Phil had been plotting for the past few days. The now-famous trainer of heroes had gotten it into his head that it would be "good publicity" for the champion of the Coliseum to take on a student of his own so that people could come to see how far direct coaching from the champ could take a Games participant. Herc thought the plan was a bit off since Phil was the trainer of the two. Herc was the trainee, and the kind of training he could handle tended to be far and beyond the capabilities of others, even back when he had started out.

A loud smash echoes through the air, followed by a long series of crashing and blasts as something barreled through the forest like a runaway train, tearing up trees and dirt until finally slamming loudly into the side of a large rock formation.

"Whoops," the hero said to himself meekly, his right fist hanging in the air in front of himself. "Didn't mean to hit it that hard."

Hercules quickly followed the trail of destruction to find his former opponent, a bipedal creature made of clay and earth, sprawled out on the remains of the rocks with a few small pieces of its muddy body scattered around. It had been really good at absorbing the force from attacks. With his mind distracted by the aforementioned matter Herc had adjusted his power level too much without meaning to during the fight.

'I'd better remember to come back the son of Zeus thought to himself as he hoisted the KO'd beast over himself and started on his way out. He would have to clear up the mess he'd made and then get some new tree saplings planted to replace the ones he'd ruined. 'Still, I think Phil will love using this one in the Coliseum. Should get some of rookies to really start using their heads.'

His capture mission all but completed Herc started walking toward the main road a few kilometers off. He'd promised Pegasus the day off so hauling the thing back would be up to his own able legs. He briefly wondered if anyone might have heard the commotion that he'd caused with his carelessness and come looking.

'Better ask Phil to give me some fresh focus training. I haven't slipped like that in years. His new gimmick must really have me out of it.'

[servant]

Another foreign place. The boy often looked around him to realise that he was, indeed, not at home. Likely not anywhere near it, by his reckoning, but his sense of the universe was such that he had little knowledge of the exact locations of anything.

Admittedly, so did many others, by his reckoning, for it seemed of great import to be hush-hush about the relation of worlds, the sea of stars and all that seemed fascinating to him.

With a nonchalant gesture, he tossed away the hat he'd tried on. It was a greatly ridiculous thing, decorated with many sorts of feathers, of which Nicholas could not guess what breed of bird they'd belonged to. The youth had picked it up during a leisurely stroll of this world, thinking it at first an item of interest.

He preferred his own hat. He'd fought for it, and had made it personal. He tipped it back onto his head, swung the backpack he always carried over his shoulder and decided it would be a right merry thing to travel on again.

A sound interrupted his thoughts. A great noise as though a dozen trees were wailing worried his mind, and he thought then to explore. He gave a tug at his necktie, worried if the ribbon-shaped object would continue to give him much good tidings as it had in the past. Then, he stepped forward, with careful paces so to not alert whatever creature had made such a cacophony of cracks, of his presence.

When the boy, carefully, peeked his head around a tree he'd sought refuge behind, he could just catch a... rather built man carrying off what seemed to be game. He raised a curious brow, and contemplated a course of action.

To follow, or not to? Curiousity killed the cat, they said. But then, how can one fall into adventure if they never jump?

"A most curious exposition of violence," the pondering boy mumbled to himself when he caught sight of the ravage caused. He thought again about his mayhap ill choice to catch the attention of the man who caught the creature that'd caused this mayhem. (Well, Nicholas was unsure, but he made the assumption, and felt it was at least semi-accurate.)

'Nothing to do about it, lad.' said Nicholas to himself. 'Just walk up and say hello. What's the worst he can do? Well, kill you, but that goes for everything.' He turned to where he'd seen the man disappear to, and made haste to follow. It did not at all take him too long to catch sight of the bulky person, and he hastened his pace doubly so to catch up.

When Nicholas felt sure he was in audible range, he called, "Hey! That's my pet you're stealing!" He paused, and stopped running. A realisation struck him.

'That's a monster he's holding.'

[Hercules]

Herc stopped his apparently unimpeded forward march at the sound of the young voice. Turning his neck around to see who had claimed ownership of the recently-bested beast the hero's blue eyes rested upon Nicholas, not far off. His immediate reaction was to raise his right eyebrow in question. Sure, you never know what you'll find out in the world... but that still didn't mean you believed everything you heard.

'I guess I'll have to see where this is going,' Hercules thought as he turned around, still holding the clay creature above his head with both arms. The victor of the battle didn't rush over to the newcomer but instead seemed to wait a moment to see if the lad was willing to come over and claim his "pet".

"Does that mean you're the one responsible for all the people who've been attacked in this forest?" the demigod called out after a few seconds, his look very serious though Nicholas was still a bit of a ways off to see it clearly.

[servant]

Well... that was certainly not a situation he'd wanted himself to be in! Mistaken for some grievous person ought to ru--oh, wait. Sometimes, he was. Nicholas realised he might not always have been the paragon of good behaviour he had been taught to be. Surely his mother would spin in her grave.

Well, if she were dead. She'd possibly smack him a good one, if his twin didn't get to him before her. But oh well, neither were anywhere near, so what could it possibly matter?

Nicholas approached, his hands dug deep into the pockets of his pants, and his best angry look that he could muster.

"What? First you steal my pet and then you abuse me of the accusation I'm a villain?" he returned, scowling. There had been few people who could truly match him in his travels, and his victories time and again had given birth to over-confidence. "Don't you think y'ought to beg my forgiveness for your theft first?" Now that he was closer, this man certainly looked big.

Well, no matter how big muscles were, they were useless against a sword. Not that his was any visible; until Nicholas called upon his arms and armour, did he really look any more than a harmless newspaper boy? Well, it was unlikely all worlds knew newspapers. It amazed Nicholas how few really looked at him oddly over his attire.

A worry in the back of his mind mumbled something about trees falling, terrible noises and this man overcoming a beast of such fortitude. Nicholas shrugged it off.

[/blockquote]

[Hercules]

'Oh boy,' Herc thought with a (mental)shake of his head. People always thought it was fun to play the moral superior. By the time you got to be a true hero like Hercules you were definitely aware of and used to it. Now all that was left was to find any semblance of truth in the words. Deep down Herc was imagining the boy's words were untrue mostly because of the fact that it was indeed a boy. Why would he hope for such an apparent youth to be caught up in such monstrous acts? Perhaps there was a story behind it.

Regardless, Nicholas didn't get any apology from the larger man yet.

"Is that so?" the hulk asked, face turning lighter in expression now as he looked down on the boy. He even softened his posture and placed his left hand on his waist, looking quite relaxed. This did, of course, mean he was now holding up a monster five times his size over his head using only one arm and not looking the least bit strained. "Perhaps you could tell me why you would have such a dangerous pet and let it run wild then?"

[servant]

How vexing. He did not-- Well, he was in the guise of someone harmless. Nicholas figured he'd press the point further. Maybe he could truly acquire custody of this... beast? It certainly looked like a useful thing.

"I thought it'd behave," shrugged Nicholas, feigning indifference. "Not like I couldn't call it to manners anytime I wanted to." Okay, it was time to be a bit fiercer here. Nicholas narrowed his eyes and glared at Hercules.

"Now, are you going to apologise and return my pet, or do I need to take it back?"

[/blockquote]

[Hercules]

"Sorry," Hercules said, holding his now free hand in front of him, palm open and facing up. It was an apology, yes, but it didn't sound or look like the particular one Nicholas was demanding. The off-worlder's "getting tougher" routine seemed to inspire no fear in the brute currently in possession of the object of their discussion. "A lot of people have been attacked here so I was asked to help out. How about we compromise?"

Hercules adjusted the creature, now little more than a big orb of earth with little stubs where the arms and legs would be and a large gaping maw on its upward-facing front. He now rested it along his right arm, held off to the side and holding it up in just a low scoop shape. Physically speaking, the sheer amount of strength necessary to support the mass of the monster in such a way should not have been possible for a man of Herc's size to produce, even if one accepted people tended to be stronger than they looked(And he certainly looked strong anyway) when they battled monsters for a living. Being a child of the gods had its advantages. After making this adjustment it allowed Hercules to lean his left side forward a little more, now reaching his free hand out in a gesture to shake Nicholas' if it were offered.

"Come with me bad to the Coliseum. After we've got this guy properly contained we'll see if it really obeys you or not. In the meantime everyone will be safe from any misbehaving. How does that sound"

Hercules smiled after he extended his offer of a truce on the matter. He seemed to be genuine about his intentions, at the least.

[servant]

The heroic man Nicholas mistook for a commoner tried a different approach. Nicholas met his approach with a frown, his attempt at fierceness all but abandoned.

"You imply I can't control him," the boy protested, "that it won't listen to me right now. Just who do you think you are to treat another like that?!" His outburst was followed by a sigh, and he visibly sulked and seemed rather displeased with the situation.

"Whatever, fine. It's a deal." Nicholas felt frustrated at how he could find no rhyme nor reason to find any flaws in the man's proposal. Well, other than that the mathematician was quite clearly lying, but he very much doubted he'd gain much by refusing still.

The youth reluctantly took the other's hand.

[Hercules]

It was a long walk back to the Coliseum. There was a minor incident along the way in which Herc found out his captive would revive if it got into contact with the earth again, but it was quickly handled. The one claiming to be the creature's master disappeared during the commotion, however, leaving the hero to suspect his intentions had not exactly been pure.

"All done, Phil," Hercules reported to his friend and trainer after securing the new beast in one of the Coliseum's monster cages. "I'm going to go take a look at the training grounds."

Leaving the satyr with a new "training tool" to use on the newbies the demigod made his way to the training area of the Olympus Coliseum. It was set up to look like the arena, in fact there were several, but had special equipment or setups to aid would-be heroes in their efforts to improve. Herc wasn't so much looking to get a work-out himself as he was interested to see who might eb around.

[lysander]

[Is this still open? It's kind of rude, but I'm interested in RPing with Herc, but I haven't read the above posts...]

Iznan had been... asleep. Through whatever commotion and ruckus and tomfoolery and shenaniganery that took place on the coliseum floor, the spider prince had been out like a rock. So when he sat up in the now-empty bleachers that would be filled to the brim by next tournament, it wasn't a surprise that among all the rock-hard heroes in training, that some flimsy, sleepy kid stood out just a little bit. But then he pulled himself to his feet, stood tall, and shoved his hands in his pockets. Sure there was a bit of slump to his posture, and he wasn't quite the vision of a hero, but there was a certain confidence- No, arrogance- About him that was simply... just... charming.

Today he wore a colorful hoody, no shirt, and a pair of skin-tight jeans that somehow moved like elastic and didn't hinder his strange mannerism. His black hair was decorated with a choppy pink and red fringe. All about the fashion. And against the serious battlers, the fighters and the mages, he just looked plain loopy. Hopping down from stands without a second glance at what may be beneath him, his eyes lazily scanned the training grounds from where he'd landed.

[Hercules]

[Herc just got back to the Coliseum and my former RP partner left us so nothing has happened that you would need to know about]

"Watch your feet or you'll lose balance under that weight."

"Looks like you're ready for the next level there."

"Add more next time, its not training if its too easy for you."

"Straighten your arms when you do that or you might pull something."

"Hey, you've gotten a lot better at that! Keep up the good work."

Herc made his way among the various training sites, correcting and encouraging some of the regulars and new faces as he went. The people in training at each individual site was small, so it was easy enough for the on-site trainers to keep up with them all by themselves. His little comments were more because of Phil's big idea still being on his mind.

'I don't think anyone here is ready for the Games just yet,' wonderboy thought to himself as he continued along. Eventually he came across the sight of a sleeping man across the floor. As the demigod approached the stranger rose and started to make his way down.

"Training tire out out today?" he asked the man, trying to be friendly.

[lysander]

[Sweet. I'm thinking that I'm going to play Iznan quirky instead of jerky.]

Iznan closed his eyes after the quick scan and pulled himself up to his full height. A very modest, average height, but a proud one nonetheless. "Training...?"[/color] Iznan tilted his head with a look of confusion plastering itself upon his features. "I never train. It's a waste of time I could be using to nap."[/color] He said with a yawn and a stretch, and glanced over at the others upon the field. "I mean, look at those guys... Workin' their poor little hearts out, when they could be enjoying the nice weather with a good snooze."[/color]

It's not that Iznan was lazy or anything. He just felt that his natural talent was far more than enough to deal with most of these pansies, and he honestly just wasn't the type to go around picking on the weaker-thans. Give him two or three of those guys, and they might present a mental challenge, but physically he was just too instinctive to even care. Instinctive talent. Not much you can train onto that, anyway. The look in his eyes was an honest one that didn't hide his impression of the fighters in the arena. Sure that impression probably wasn't correct, but it was one he believed.[/size]

[Hercules]

[Iznan? So am I RPing with the guy who shared the doom-fated partnership with Kuja?]

'How do you enjoy the weather when you're asleep?' Herc thought with a raised right eyebrow. The thought amused him enough to shake his head with a slight smile before returning his blue eyes over to the sight of the training area they were currently in.

"Well, when you have a dream any amount of work is worth it. The nice weather just makes training outside that much more enjoyable," he returned to the stranger with just as much honesty in his opinion. The champ then turned back toward Iznan, arms open in questioning but a friendly smile on his face. "So if you didn't come to work out then why did you stop by? If was going to take a nap this wouldn't exactly be at the top of my list of places to do it."

[lysander]

[Yessir. That'd be the one. A little changed, but if you think Herc might remember him a bit, that's fine.]

The spider prince was too busy watching the trainers to really make eye contact, but it wasn't a rude sort like normally would've been. Instead it was just the vision of someone who was mildly interested in observing a sporting event, but still didn't completely understand the rules of engagement. Because, while these men were honorable samurai who trained their swords through sweat, Iznan was the jobless, masterless, penniless ronin, who had hardened his own sword through blood. Two clashing world views, and Iznan was most certainly outnumbered, but his acknowledgment of any discomfort was, if anything, minimal. He seemed as at home as one could be who had never known a home.

After a period of thoughtful silence, his eyes rolled in their sockets up to gaze emptily at the hero. "I heard ya'll were preparing for a tournament. I figured I'd clear the place out and make bank."[/color] There wasn't the typical look of smugness that he ought to have. Iznan was empty of that. Just a tiredness, and a focus.[/size]

[Hercules]

[No, Herc wasn't there. Heh]

The friendly expression on Hercules' face slowly melted away into a much blanker expression. His eyes widened ever so slightly as his lips uncurled into a flat line. The look in his eyes was completely empty. Where his hands had previously rested at his waist the hero now moved them up into front of his massive chest and crossed his arms. Another moment passed, followed the by the champ's neck tilting a few noticeable degrees to his left.

"What?"

He didn't quite get it.