A crack echoed through the trees. Teddy Roosevelt had no concern about being seen. He was well-hidden. Even his friend, Kirby, standing right next to him could not see him. Taking light, silent steps, he stealthily sneaked though the underbrush. He quickly found what he was looking for: A fallen branch, broken under the creature’s footsteps. Teddy examined the branch closely, looking for information about the creature he was tracking. He slowly headed west, still stealthing. Kirby stood back at their last rendezvous, waiting for further information on their quarry. Teddy slid through the wilderness a little further, finally spotting it. It almost looked like a mongbat, but with a slightly pinkish hue. This was one of the minions of the vile Cupid. Teddy quietly sneaked back to where Kirby was standing. Kirby jumped as Teddy suddenly appeared next to him. “I got a Minion of Cupid to the west,” Teddy said, as Kirby prepared himself. Kirby ran off to attack the creature, as Teddy Roosevelt used his skill in hiding to disappear, then quietly snuck off to find another. As he crept along the fallen branches, he heard a large thud just to the north. He quietly crawled over and found the corpse of a great hart, a pink arrow protruding from its majestic head. Teddy examined the corpse, then realized his mistake. Dodging quickly, he barely avoided another pink arrow that embedded itself in the tree by his head. Looking through the corpse had revealed him before he had taken the time to check for the great hart’s killer. There, through the trees, notching another arrow, was a veteran archer of Cupid. Teddy recoiled in horror. Here he was, facing down a very deadly archer, and he was not ready to fight. Teddy Roosevelt wasn’t a fighter. He knew how to cast spells, but wasn’t proficient at causing damage while doing so. Teddy tried to hide, but unfortunately, the archer was locked on, and he was unable to. Teddy closed his eyes, chanting An Ex Por as he paralyzed the veteran archer, but not before the villain got a shot off, hitting Teddy in the shoulder. He screamed for help, hoping Kirby wasn’t too far away. The frozen archer eyed him menacingly as it waited for the spell to wear off. Teddy fell to the ground, blood pouring out of his shoulder. Kirby must be too far away to hear me, he thought. I can’t hold this archer off on my own. The archer moved, the spell timed out. Raising his bow, he aimed for Teddy’s chest. Too injured to run, Teddy lay on the ground, waiting for death. He issued a loud scream as the arrow tore through his torso, just inches from his heart. Darkness danced on the edges of his vision as the archer prepared for the final blow. It slowly lifted the bow again, this time aiming for Teddy’s head. Teddy again tried to hide himself but being as weak as he was, he couldn’t bring up any of the skills he had learned. The pool of blood widened. Teddy felt like he was floating on an ocean of his own bodily fluids. The archer pulled slowly pulled back on the string. Teddy felt like he was watching everything in slow motion as the archer released the bow. Music flowed through the trees as Teddy watched the arrow slowly sail through the air, getting larger and larger as it flew towards his forehead between his eyes. He heard the music again. Is this what it’s like to die? A rush of fur blocked his view of the arrow. A loud roar bellowed from the bear that had run between the archer and the fallen rogue. The arrow had lodged itself in the bear’s side, but that wasn’t stopping it. The beast was mad, now. Furious, it galloped over to the archer, swiping at its neck. Dark red gashes appeared in the archers throat as the bear’s claws sunk in. Desperately, the archer jammed an arrow into the bear’s eye, and into its brain. The fight was over quickly, but that was all Teddy needed. With the archer distracted, he managed to hide himself in plain sight, then slowly drag his barely-functioning body behind a tree. The archer loaded another arrow as it looked for its target. Teddy peeked around the tree in fear, just in time to witness an explosion erupt from the middle of the archer’s body, before it was struck by a powerful bolt of energy. Teddy looked to find the source of the spells, but he knew who it was. Kirby plowed through the trees on his trusty ostard, casting spell after spell at the archer. Firing one last shot in desperation, the archer missed Kirby by a mile. As Teddy sunk into darkness, he heard Kirby shout Kal Vas Flam and the archer scream as it became engulfed in flames. Bright dots of magic danced around Teddy’s body as he awoke a couple of minutes later. The arrows that had punctured his body vanished as the wounds closed up. Kirby stood next to him quietly chanting In Vas Mani over and over again. After a few rounds of the spells, Teddy was healed up. He gave Kirby a hug, before letting the tired mage meditate. As Teddy lay dying, Kirby had used his skills as a Bard to provoke a bear onto the archer, then finished it off with some offensive spells. He had saved Teddy's life...barely. Teddy Roosevelt was done for the day. He enjoyed hiding and stealthing around the wilderness, but his close brush with death was enough for him. After Kirby was done, the pair cast a gate to their house, and stepped through. The vile armies of Cupid would be free to wander for another day.
