"Shit!!!" The obscenity echoed loudly throughout the inn, much to the dismay of mothers everywhere. "That hurts!"
"It's supposed to, you big blue dork," an annoyed voice replied. "That's how you know it's working, so just grin and bear it."
"..." Zelgadis gave his slender companion a Look.
"Okay, forget the grinning. Just bear it." She shrugged, sending disinfectant running down his arms. "You didn't have to fight that clawed guy, anyway."
Another explicit scream pierced the air.
"Dammit!" He jerked away vehemently. "You're supposed to dab the wound, not drown it!"
"Well, sorry!" She glared back at him. "I was only trying to help."
"I didn't ask for your help." He snapped.
"You never ask for anyone's help," she shot back. "I still say you should have blasted him."
"Hn."
"You know, we've got this nice little pattern formed." She tightly knotted one of his bandages. "Every time you go off on your own, you end up getting hurt. This time you were lucky, but the other times you were seriously injured! You have to stop walking out on your friends."
"You're not my boss, Lina," he snorted. "Stop thinking you can order me around and I'll obey."
"Zelgadis Greywers, you are impossible!" She slugged him across the face, ripping open the skin of her knuckles, then stormed out the door.
"Shit..." he groaned and picked himself up off the floor. Behind him, all conversation died. A plate crashed to the floor in the silence.
"G-G-Greywers?!" The waitress who had been holding it stared at the black clad figure in awe. "M-M-Master Greywers?!"
Zelgadis froze. He hadn't been called 'master' in years, not since Zolf and Rodimus...
"It is Master Greywers!" another person gasped.
"Summon the elder!"
"Master Greywers has returned!"
"After a thousand years..."
"Master Greywers!"
"He has come to fulfill the propriety!"
"That's prophecy, not propriety!"
"Where is the elder?"
"Our Lord has come to claim his legacy!"
"Oh, wow, can I have your autograph?"
WHAP!
"C'mon, Libby-chan. No more sugar for you."
"I swear I'll never lie, cheat, steal, or feed my wife's liver and onion casserole to the dog again, just don't let him hurt me!"
"You did WHAT?!"
"Where the Hell is the elder?!"
"Silence!" All eyes turned to the diminutive figured perched on a staff behind the confused chimera. The blue skinned youth gaped at the withered old woman who glared at him through thick glasses.
"Ah..." he flinched. "Excuse me?"
"So. You are the one." She gave him a quick once over. "The one who will claim the legacy of Gray Wars. Yes, it makes perfect sense... you resemble him so..."
"What?" he backed up a step nervously. "Legacy of Gray Wars?"
"Yes, yes, the Legacy of Sidag Gray Wars, leader of our people, and last of the legendary Runecasters." The elderly leader poked him in the center of the chest with a single gnarled finger. "You must be the one, you share his name and his appearance..." She gestured to the barkeeper, who reached up and pulled the dust cloth from a large painting on the wall.
Zelgadis hit the floor in shock. The man in the picture looked almost exactly like him, except for three small details. One, where Zelgadis' hair was cut at the nape of his neck, the other's was gathered in to a long pony tail. Two, while they both had blue skin, Sidag Gray Wars had elaborate tattoos in the places where Zelgadis had extra rocks. Lastly, the man in the portrait had golden runes inscribed on the edge of his ebony cape, even though their outfits were otherwise identical.
"After the Kouma War, our people were lost, nomads." She told him. "We had no place to go, no way of getting food or shelter. Then Lord Gray Wars came and used his powers to help our ancestors establish this city His leadership brought us victory in battle after battle, from which we took the means to build our homes." While she was talking, Zelgadis noticed that the past Runecaster was in quite an unusual, if not disturbing, pose. He stood with one foot resting on solid, blood-stained ground, and the other on a charred human skull. Upon further inspection, the shaman was horrified to find that it was not terra firma that the man was on, rather, it was a sea of decaying corpses.
The chimera stumbled back, nausea stirring wildly within him.
"Lord Gray Wars ruled us for almost a century before old age did him in." The crone chuckled. "A fine leader he was. And now that you're hear, his legacy will live on!" She cackled, quite madly, and it was all the poor blue-eyed youth could do to keep from vomiting.
A man who ruled through war and blood... and they want me to take his legacy?! No way! his thoughts made no difference, however, since the hag practically dragged him with her to the city hall.
"Here you go!" An equally withered and aged man handed a large box to the old woman, and pushed a clipboard towards Zelgadis. "Just sign on the dotted line." The shaman reluctantly did as he was told, then accepted the package.
"Good luck!" She called, ushering abruptly to the outskirts of the city. Still stunned by the speed that all this had occurred in, the chimera made no obvious objections. Confused, sore, and tired, he meandered along the road to search for a place to sleep it all off.
"This legacy shit can wait until morning," he grumbled and closed his eyes.