The low table was set with three small cups of tea and a saucer of crackers sitting in the middle. Mr. Norg sat on the floor and took the tea cup in his hands. The rag doll pulled it closer to him and then he looked at his companions. His two friends sat quietly and returned Mr. Norg’s gaze.
“And then I had to climb up to the window and jump outside,” Mr. Norg continued. “Outside, I had to fight the dragon again. Luckily my mighty sword was more than enough to deal with such a dark being. The shadow dragon ran before my enchanted sword.”
Mr. Norg raised the tea cup up to his lips. After a moment, he sat the tea cup back down and looked at his friends.
“It is always exciting protecting my charge,” Mr. Norg said with a smile. “And what about you two? Anything new to report?” His friends said nothing. “Well, that’s nothing to be upset about. Sometimes a dull patrol is a blessing.”
Mr. Norg put his hand on the low table and stood up. “Well, time to return to duty. It was wonderful catching up with you both. Stay safe,” the rag doll said with a bow before heading off.
——————
It was a pretty morning, the sun breaking through the trees and birds beginning to wake up. Cui-fen went to the kitchen and put a kettle of water on to heat up. Opening the cabinet, she noticed that several of her cups were missing. With a shrug, the Pandaren took some tea out of a different cabinet and began preparing a cup.
With her drink warm in her hands, Cui-fen headed out of the kitchen to go wake up little Tai. She had made it halfway down the hall when she stopped. In the middle of the floor was a large book with three of her tea cups sitting on top and a small saucer of crackers in the middle. Beside the book were a stuffed bear and a stuffed horse. The Pandaren stared at the scene for a moment before looking down the hall. Shaking her head, she started walking towards her daughter’s room.
Mr. Norg stopped at the end of the house farthest from Tai’s room. With his great sword (letter opener) resting on his shoulder, he looked at each of the windows and confirmed that they were closed. Turning around, he began his patrol back to the other end of the house. He paused at the door to Cui-Fen’s room and glanced inside. He could hear soft breathing coming from the bed. Nodding to himself, he continued on through the house.
Finally, Mr. Norg reached the door to Tai’s room. He could hear the young pandaren turning over on the bed before settling in again. He scanned the room, looking from his little home at the one side to the window at the other side of the bed. And that’s when he saw it.
The window had been cracked for the night, letting a breeze in to cool the room during the summer night. Leaning through the window was the shadowy form of a tiny dragon. Its smokey form stopped and looked directly at the doll holding the silver letter opener. Then its claw reached down to the bench beneath the window. On the bench were several small stones piled together. The shadowy dragon reached into the pile and grabbed one of the stones.
“Its mine,” the shadowy dragon hissed, flexing its tiny wings.
“You may not have that!” the rag doll called out as he ran towards the bench. Holding onto his sword, Mr Norg pulled himself up onto the bench. The shadowy dragon began backing out of the window as the rag doll got closer. When he finally made it to the window sill, the dragon was already outside on the porch.
The rag doll pulled himself over the window sill and rolled out, falling from the window and landing on the porch as his sword clattered down beside him. Mr. Norg pushed himself up and shook his tiny head from side to side. Finding the letter opener on the ground, he picked it up and searched the porch. Moving to the edge of the wooden planks, the little shadowy dragon held the stone close to its chest and hissed.
“You will return the stone now,” Mr. Norg said, leveling his sword at the tiny dragon.
“The stone is mine,” the dragon whispered. “Its magic is for me,” it continued, flaring its wings out.
“If you will not return it, then I will have to take it from you.”
Mr. Norg ran forward with his weapon held low to his side. The little dragon reared up on its hind legs and held its wings out. Keeping the stone clutched close in one arm, it reached out with the other as the rag doll swung his sword around. The dragon pulled its arm back as the silver weapon whistled past without making contact. As Mr. Norg stopped next to the dragon, the shadowy beast battered its left wing around and smacked Mr. Norg in his shoulder, knocking the rag doll to the ground.
Mr. Norg rolled over just as the dragon pounced, whisps of darkness trailing it as it landed on the porch where the doll had been only a moment before. Rising to his knees, Mr. Norg swung his sword around and caught the dragon across the arm that held the stone. The shadowy dragon’s head reared back and it let out a tiny roar of pain as it dropped the stone to the ground.
The tiny dragon cradled its injured arm and inched away from Mr. Norg. Reaching the edge of the porch, it hopped backwards to the ground with its wings opened to slow its decent.
“I will be back,” the dragon said as it limped back into the shadows of the trees and faded into the darkness.
“I shall be waiting, dark one,” Mr. Norg answered, holding his sword up in a salute to where the dragon disappeared. The rag doll then walked over to the stone and picked it up. Looking it over, it appeared as nothing but a normal stone that one would find on the ground. Tucking it under his arm, he then turned back to the house. Looking up, he suddenly realized how high off the ground the open window was. With a quiet sigh, the rag doll’s shoulders slumped a little as it walked back to the front door. Sitting down with his back to the door, the rag doll set the stone on his lap and placed his silver letter opener on the ground beside him. Quietly he kept watch on the night.
The sun rose over the farmland in Eastvale. The farm animals began waking up, the birds started twittering in the trees. Then the peace of the morning was broken.
“Mr. Norg? Mr. Norg where are you? Heeeere Mr. Nooooorg!”
The moon peaked in through the curtains of the bedroom and cast a pale light on the ground. As night slowly crept along, the door to the little playhouse opened up and a small rag doll in armor stepped through. The rag doll waited a moment and took in the surroundings of the bedroom. A few feet away was the small bed and atop it was the young Pandaren, deep in slumber.
Mr. Norg quietly shouldered his sword and stepped across the floor of the bedroom to the open door. Looking back and forth, the rag doll checked the hallway before heading off into the house. Passing from room to room, he looked at every door and window to make sure that they were secure. He walked into every corner to make sure there were no intruders. Stopping at the door to the other bedroom, Mr. Norg listened to the deep breaths of the adult sleeping inside. The rag doll dared not enter this room, but from the doorway he scanned the area to make sure that nothing was amiss.
“Everything is secure,” the little doll said to himself as he began marching back to the first bedroom. “Shouldn’t let my guard down, though. I know. I’ll make some coffee.”
The rag doll quietly wandered around the bedroom and collected wood for his campfire, carrying the pieces back out into the hallway so as to not disturb the young one’s sleep. After a few minutes, Mr. Norg had his pile set up and it glowed with yellows, oranges, and reds all peaking out of the pile. Satisfied with the quality of his campfire, the rag doll then went back to his little house and returned carrying his mug.
Mr. Norg sat down next to his campfire and placed his mug next to it so that the drink could warm up. The doll leaned back on his little arms and let out a contented sigh as he continued his nightly vigil.
Come morning, the sun began to poke through the gaps in the curtains and the house grew brighter with the oncoming day. Movement could be heard in the far bedroom as someone was waking and getting up. After a few minutes, the female Pandaren stepped out of her bedroom and started making her way towards her daughter’s room. After a few steps into the hallway, however, she suddenly stopped and looked down at the floor.
“Dear. Why is there a pile of crayons in the middle of the hallway? And why does Mr. Norg have one of my thimbles?”
You are offered a flask of courage or a flask of invulnerability. You can only take one. Both last two hours. Which do you choose? What do you do with it? Why?
Shadhemir leaned back in his chair and thought for a moment before a smirk started to creep on his face.
“I don’t think I’d need the flask of courage. Even if I don’t have enough for a given task, I’m too bull-headed to give up regardless. I would take the flask of invulnerability and keep it handy. Because when my luck finally does run out, there will probably be someone equally unlucky enough to be beside me. The drink will be their’s, even if it has to be that they don’t realize what they’re getting.”
"So there was two of them, huh?" Shadhemir asked as he finished reading the police report. "Yes, sir." "Didn't get hurt yourself?" Shad asked , putting the papers on his lap and looking up from the sofa. "No, sir. Luckily, the only damage sustained was with the one gentleman's face. The authorities said he will be okay, however." "That's good. Well, thank you for defending hearth and home in our absence." "Not at all, sir. They just made the mistake of coming in the morning. If they had waited another hour, they likely would have gotten away with it." "Definitely lucky then. Maybe I should leave some weapons out around the house. Hang some swords on the walls everywhere in case we have someone break in again." "Subtle decor ideas, sir. I'm certain Lady Neun would appreciate such decorations." "Maybe not," Shadhemir replied with a grin. "We'll definitely have to get her to look into some security options the next time she is home." "Of course, sir. Would you like me to prepare some lunch for you?" "I'll make a sandwich in a little while, Mr. Cooper. But thank you for the offer. If you're done for today, why don't you head on home." "If you're certain, sir." "Yeah. I think I'll go check out the farm this afternoon." "Very good, sir. I hope you have an uneventful trip." ( @neun-deserrat for the mention)
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