Magus Eggplant of the Sea
Eggy was a plant, Eggy was fun.
Eggy had an itch, Eggy had to run.
Eggy went far, Eggy went wide.
Eggy not alone, Rabbit by his side.
Prologue
Young of mind and wild of heart, as is the way of youth, I had been caught up in the chase for the next coin, the next conquest, the greener pasture. So caught up was I in my own machinations of advancement, that as I ventured for yet another thrill, one more win, vying for change and novelty, I had not noticed the ancient figure beside the road until we were nearly upon him.
“Ho, old man!” I hailed him as I came to a halt, smiling down at his grizzled face. “The hour grows late, yet here you sit. Shan’t you find succour, afore nightfall?”
I still remember, to this very day, the cast of his eyes as he met my eager gaze. They seemed to bore into my soul, and yet silent he remained. Chagrined, I barrelled on. “Have you grown roots that your rump is now attached to that stump?” At this, my companions, sycophants one and all, snickered and giggled. My ruse, however, failed, as he merely shrugged and stood.
“Careful of tearing down the fence my child, afore you comprehend why it were raised to begin with,” he finally said, voice strong as a sturdy sapling. With that he sat back down, his dismissal obvious.
“What heraldry is this? Suit yourself,” I said sourly as I urged my mount forward. In our wake remained the old man, his gnarled fingers wrapped around his staff, his eyes shining with earnest experience, with parting words ones I would never forget.
Journal, Folly of Youth
Eggy
The Call to Adventure
The voyage across the Salt had taken longer than expected, the seas seemingly unwilling to relinquish the hold she had held over him for near a decade – eager to keep him tight to her deep bosom, her seduction a lulling caress of brine and bounty. It may just be imagination, but there was a maternal quality to the sensation, and why not? The vast briny expanse had lulled him to sleep countless times, witnessed his greatest victories, and stood vigil on his metamorphosis from boisterous boyhood to a man of discipline and steely will.
However, steadfast he had remained in his chosen path; his taste for conquest turning from sated, to indifferent, to an unfamiliar sense of shame. How ironic that only once your belly was full to bursting, all your aspirations met with plenty to spare, only then could one feel futility and true emptiness.
Captain Jiro had, of course, also been reluctant to let his once overly ambitious, recalcitrant and insatiable first mate go, but once decided his will was indomitable and the captain had grudgingly, with typical disgruntled and sour demeanour, accepted his request to return home.
The change in him felt profound, all the more so for the suddenness of its merciless strike, and yet here, on the docks where his journey into the unknown had begun, everything else seemed the same. His cape flapping in the stiff breeze, book of magic tucked under one arm, Eggplant set out to retrace his steps, to reclaim what he had – for the temporary lure of greatness beyond the next rise - too freely given up.
“Surely my eyes betray me,” a voice shouted nearby accompanied by the slap of feet. After traversing the docks into the town proper- the cobbled streets familiar in ways that guided his feet subconsciously – he had exited to the west and was deep in thought as he was suddenly tackled to the ground.
“Argh!” he exclaimed, his magic instinctively rushing to his fingertips, his alignment with Air – such a boon on the seas when the winds were unfavourable – causing enough of a stir to rustle leaves and scatter birds.
“It’s really you! Eggy!” came the trilling laughter. Rolling clear, the incantation dying on his lips, his jaw dropped as he got a good look at his assailant.
“Little Purple, is that really you?” he exclaimed, taken aback at the figure before him, stranger and yet familiar. When he had set out, with everything to gain and seemingly nothing to lose - and how wrong he had been then - his little sister had been but a wee spud. “Let me have a look at you!” he exclaimed, rushing forward.
“You’ll have to catch me first! Da will be so delighted,” she squealed and split for the forest path up ahead. “You’re not going to believe what they’ve done with your room!”, and with that she was off, leaving Eggplant with no choice but to follow in her wake, to continue retracing his errant steps, one at a time.
I once was lost, but now I'm found.
The End.
Credit to @ SorcererIlyas (spz) & @Gravitational (m.t.)
Entered by: 0x5534…Bd9a and preserved on chain (see transaction)
