Another mini story for class.

College 10-11.


Sorry for not putting up things recently

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CJ Hyde
WR 244
Is It Worth It?
Sighing as he looked out the small grimy window onto the dirt street, Teneric shook his head slightly as the sun slowly rose over the larger houses. So much for coming here and having so many opportunities and freedoms. So much for nice people at every turn and large estates with plenty of land to grow whatever you wanted. If only he could get his claws on that human now…But he was dragged back into the real world as his younger brother turned over on his small bedroll.
Teneric smiled at him, then crept carefully toward the other small room in their tiny house as to not wake his brother. Without even having to duck under the small hovels door frame he slowly shut the flimsy wood door. He walked over to the small cooker and took a pan out of the cabinet under it. Setting it on the wire support, he held his fingers near the tinder, concentrating on the wood and snapped his fingers. Grumbling as the tiny sparks disappeared; he tried again, this time managing to light the tinder.
Reaching over to a small bowl, he set a few leaves of heather at the base of the pan then a few pieces of rat meat on top of those. Pulling a slight face as the meat began to cook, he thought again of that human and all his promises of roast pig every day. Not once, once, did he mention rats. Well, it was all he had, so he had better make the most of it. At least the leaves made the taste bearable. Waiting until the meat was slightly cooked, he began to move it around slowly with his claws until the leaves wrapped around the meat. With that done, he left the food to simmer as he snuck back into the other room to get dressed.
He could be thankful for one thing, he thought, as he slipped on the dark green robe. At least he had found a job, albeit a small one, but the few gold pieces he got were just enough to live on. There were enough beggars on the street to remind him of what could have happened. By working for the local mages, he was able to have his brother learn under their tutelage for free. Smiling as he looked over to see the raggedy books that the school had provided them stacked neatly beside his brother’s bed roll, he slipped the satchel over his shoulders and walked back into the ‘kitchen’.
Getting a small clay plate and fork out from a cabinet, he speared the wrapped up pieces of meat and set them on the plate before reaching over and setting it on the table. Leaning down he blew out the small fire and poured some water into the pan. Waiting until it stopped steaming; he poured out the water then cleaned off any of the excess food that was left behind as best he could with a small rag. Although they didn’t have much, Teneric was determined to get the most out of what they had. Finally, he sat the pan up on a small hook to dry out as his brother walked into the room as well.
Smiling at him as he sat down, Jalten did his best to smile back as he looked at the food. But he knew that not much could be done about it, so he started to eat anyway. Looking out the window as more light began to filter through, he set his hand on his brother’s shoulder and crouched down to his level. Explaining that he might be back a little late due to the mages telling him that they would have a special job for him today. He then wished him a good day at school and told him how proud he was that he was making good progress in his studies. Hugging Jalten tightly, he smiled once more before he was out the door.
Pulling the robes hood over his head to shield his eyes from the suns rays he rolled his eyes as the hoods shade reached less then halfway down his snout. But then again it wasn’t really made for him. Looking down at his hands he slipped them into his sleeves as he breathed deeply and tried to mentally prepare himself for the walk to the mages hall. He could hope that this time there wouldn’t be any stares or whispers, but he knew better then to fill himself with false hope.
Doing his best to ignore the eyes watching or the occasional name calling, he eventually made it into the ‘desirable’ area of the city. The dirt road paved away by stones and street merchants in place of beggars. Instead of run down shacks there were houses, and it seemed that the new thing was to paint your house different colors. There was even a dark green one, not unlike his own scales. Such strange things the humans do sometimes, he thought. It was in this area where the rich sat around in mansions with tables full of food and threw away the money he would make in a month on a new shirt, disgusting. And as he suspected, the stares and calls got even worse. Shaking his head slightly as one of the young snobs kicked his tail as he walked by, he just kept on walking. He knew full well that if any kind of trouble was started, he would be blamed, even if it was them that started it.
However, he was forced to stop as a group of them blocked his way down the street to the mage’s hall. Looking up at what appeared to be the lead boy, he tried to put on a friendly smile for him as he slid his hands out of his sleeves and held his arms at his side. He could see a member of the city guard out of the corner of his eye watching him. Anything that looked like a hostile demeanor, especially with these rich kids, could easily get him arrested. He needed to keep his composure. If it came to anymore past words the guard would have no choice but to assist. Focusing his attention back on the lead boy as he took a step forward. The boy adopted a cocky stance and sneered at Teneric.
“This isn’t your kind of city lizard, too clean for you. Go back to the swamps where you belong!” This shout was quickly followed by other jeers and calls about how dirty he was and how he wasn’t welcome anywhere. But Teneric just kept his posture and forced smile. Luckily his sleeves hid his hands so he was able to clench his fists without drawing the guard’s attention as he stood his ground. He was hoping for one of two things. Either the kids would get bored because they weren’t getting a reaction, or their parents would come to his rescue. But he wasn’t holding out much chance for the latter. It would be the parents would be the ones who gave their children this stance on outsiders. What great parents. As a matter of fact, neither of those happened. Just as one of the boys had picked up a rock and was about to hurl it his way, a bell tolled out, indicating the start of classes for the day. Thankfully, the boys knew better than to not go to the lessons their parents were shelling out gold for. They quickly moved down the street, but not before they all shot him their hate filled glares again.
Rubbing his temples, Teneric sighed, looking at the guard to hopefully get some sign that he saw what happened, but all he got in return was another glare. Flicking his tail in anger, he grit his teeth and set off again down the street, trying to calm down before he reached the door to the hall. Resting his head on the large double doors he set his hand on the doorknob. He often wondered what it was about him that made the humans here hate him so much. He had never attacked them and as far as he was aware never insulted them. Maybe it was just their custom to be shun things they didn’t know or understand. He shook his head slightly at the idea. It was probably just because he looked different, if not an even stupider reason. Taking a few slow breaths he did his best to push the thought of those brats from his mind as he pulled open the large door and entered, slowly shutting it behind him as to not disturb the mages.
Smiling naturally for the first time since he left as the smell of scented candles and incense washed over him, he walked slowly through the halls. The city just seemed to look so much better when he was in here. Everyone smiled at him and asked him if he was doing well. It was such a welcome change. Continuing along until he reached the Alchemical rooms, he peeked in each one in turn to see if his instructor was in, but he didn’t seem to be. Strange. Normally he was in before now, giving pointers to the new chemists.
Taking a seat in the hallway, he took out a book from his satchel and began to skim the pages. It was what most people would call a picture book, but instead of colorful illustrations of scenes, the book was filled with detailed drawings of different types of plants, with a small description of where to find them beside the picture. Skimming through most of what he already knew, which happened to be most of the book, he looked over the last chapter again, titled ‘Rare Specimens’. He had a suspicion that the special job he had been told about yesterday had to do with some of these somehow, so he might as well get a head start on them. Humming slightly as he looked over a few he had never even heard of some of the locations for some, and even more annoying were the last three, which didn’t even have a name or location description, just a small footnote under each picture with words like; Only seen once, only found dead, or some such.
Looking up as his name was called; he slipped the book back into his satchel and stood up to greet his mentor, Alerik. Shaking Aleriks hand as it was offered, he followed as Alerik led him into one of the Alchemy rooms. After his mentor indicated a table and chairs, they both sat down as Alerik got something out of a locked cabinet behind the table and set it in front of Teneric. He quickly recognized it as the second to last plant mentioned in the book he had. Alerik seemed to take notice of his expression and smiled.
“Yep, it’s that, and were going to have to re-release that book next chance we get. Turns out that that it’s not nearly as rare as we originally thought. Or maybe it’s just resurfacing now after a long period of inactivity. At any rate, I know your kind’s reputation for all things Alchemical, and even more so in seeking out specific plant species. So, if you haven’t already guessed, I need you to go to the location we found this and collect some more samples.”
“Where would that be, Master Alerik?”
“Inside an abandoned mine about eight miles out of town. Some adventurer went in looking for…I don’t know, what ever stupid reason those people have for going into dark areas. I’ll provide a horse for you to get their and back, as we’re not sure how long these plants will last from when their harvested until placed back into soil like this.”
He said, motioning to the small vase with the plant inside of it. It seems normal looking, although it leaves were a dark shade of purple. But even without measuring equipment, Teneric could almost taste the magical energy flowing off it. Although he was also sure Alerik could sense it as well, he just had to use magic to detect it, not naturally.
“Alright, but why haven’t you sent others to get it as well?”
“Because if what the adventurer said is true, the mines are, for lack of a better word, infested with all kinds of plant life. Most of it common and only a small pocket that are like these. I would normally send some people to go harvest it all, but I don’t want to risk any harm to these samples. So I need to just send one, and your work with us so far has been nothing short of astonishing. I’ll even credit you as the co-discoverer of the species and you can help in its naming.”
By now, Alerik had walked around the table and rested a hand on Teneric’s shoulder, speaking much quieter now as he leaned forward slightly.
“I know of your situation in this town, Teneric, what you go through just to scrape by, and I saw the children today taunting you. Once you make it back, I’m going to do everything I can to try to make this better for you. You work as hard as anyone here, and don’t ask anything for it besides a little coin and never talk back to anyone. I’m fortunate to have you as a student and I hope you know that I really mean it when I say you’re my friend.”
Laying his hand on top of Alerik’s, Teneric smiled as much as he could as he thought back to the long journey he had taken with his young brother to get here, to only find racism and anger. But as is often the way, when you’re lost in the dark, one door will open to lead you back.
“Thank you Alerik, not just from me but from my brother as well. With your help I was able to provide for him and give him a real home for once,” he said, as he smiled up at Alerik who let his hand fall back to his side as he walked back around the desk. He began to draw a map and give the other slim details that the adventurer had told him.

Clicking his tongue, he urged the horse to slowly trot away from the town gates. Looking back, he nodded to Alerik who waved at him with a parting shout of; ‘good luck’ before disappearing back into the city walls. Humming a small tune as the horse trotted along, he took the small map out of his satchel and checked it again. It was pretty much just straight North of town as far as general direction was concerned, and even if they were a little off, how hard would a mine in the side of a mountain be to find?
Continuing to hum the small tune, he didn’t seem bothered at the slow trot, taking his time to enjoy the lush countryside that he only saw briefly on gathering missions like these. The dirt road wasn’t spectacular in any way. It was the flora around this area that had been one of the reasons he stayed. There were just so many different planets here in so many different shades from green to red. From bushes to ivy and trees to mushrooms. If he didn’t have to work he could spend days out here, just basking in the beauty of it all. Besides, he was saving the horse’s strength for the return trip when time would be critical to keep the plants alive, so why not enjoy the slow trot before the long run?

Judging by the sun’s current position over the mountain, it was mid-afternoon when he arrived at the mine. If all went right, he could easily make it back to the city before nightfall. Patting the horse’s neck as he slid off, he led it over to a small pool of clear water beside the mine entrance and secured its bridle to a thin rock while placing some food beside the water. Patting its neck again as it began to drink; he looked toward the mine entrance.
“Just rest here, shouldn’t be more then a hour at most, unless the adventurer was lying about how deep it was in.” The horse only blinked as it continued to drink. Taking a torch from the saddlebags Teneric headed toward the mine entrance. Snapping his fingers near the torch top, he smiled as it burst into flames the first time.
Just as he suspected from hearing stories about mines from travelers; it was dark, cold, and foreboding. But the torch helped belay most of these fears and, thankfully, he was fine with small enclosed spaces. Also, just as the adventurer said, the place was packed with all kinds of plants. Whenever the main expedition got here, they would have a field day with so many different planet species. Taking out some chalk from his satchel, he made marks every turn indicating the way he came, to make sure that when he found the deep cave with the special plants, he could easily find his way back out again.
Then something caught his attention. Sniffing the air, there was something different about the air now reaching him. It wasn’t the normal plant smells or anything like that. Now sounds were reaching him too, something that sounded like low thumping coming from deep inside the mines. Although this seemed strange, his curiosity got the better of him and Teneric headed toward the sounds anyway, just assuming that it was some more adventurers trying to get their hand in early with this great discovery.
However, as he rounded the corner where the sound seemed to be originating from what he found made his stomach twist in fear. Several armed humans were chipping away at the stone wall with pick axes as they trampled the plants underfoot. For some reason, they didn’t seem to fit his idea of an adventurer, which was all the more clear as one of them turned and he could see the crest of the BlackChain Bandits, a local gang, emblazoned on his shoulder. But he had been told by the guard that they had all been locked away or killed?
Quickly turning around as soon as he saw the crest Teneric was horrified to find one of them standing behind him holding a club. The human smiled evilly at him as he looked over Teneric’s robe and satchel. “Nice of you to join us lizard, to bad you won’t be making it back to whatever hole you crawled out of.”
Still with the evil smile plastered over the humans face Teneric only saw a blur then a sharp pain in the side of his head. The sharp crack of the wooden club against his skull reverberated off the cave walls as his legs gave out, and he fell backwards onto the floor as the darkness took him, again.



Why I did what I did:
After reading over the responses that people wrote down, and remembering what people said in class the first thing I added was more physical description. But I tried to weave it in without just flat out saying he is X-tall, this color, ect. Hopefully it’ll work, and if not I could add more or try a different way of describing him.
The second issue that I remember was more of a class discussion then what a lot of people wrote down was Tenerics reactions to the various forms of racism he’s shown, and how he seemed un-effected by them. For it to make more sense I added some interior dialogue to show that the smiles is just an act, and the only humans he doesn’t hate are the mages.
Thirdly people wanted more description of the country side and the city, not just that it was ‘lush’ or ‘desirable’. So I tried to add in more description, but hopefully not enough for it to appear overwhelming.
The last change was one only Ben mentioned I believe, and that was the ending. He thought he was taken out of the story because we, as readers, didn’t black out with Teneric. Also that there was no sound when he was knocked out. So I rewrote the last section and I think it addresses his concerns.
Also I tried to fix all the grammatical errors I could find, and put in commas where they were desperately needed. But I’ll just have to wait and see if it worked.