[center][img=http://i.imgur.com/LAshoov.png][/center]

After his long and drawn out speech, Inadi watched as Jasper healed his arm and she seemed so innocent and almost empathizing with how he felt. She placed a hand flat on his back and continued working on his arm even though it was clear the scene made her feel uncomfortable. He wanted to speak up to her and thank her for the assistance. Even though she was a healer, she didn't need to drop everything and tend to his wound. As she smiled to him and wished him well, he wanted to do something to show her his appreciation. Anything really, but he found himself for whatever reason frozen in place and trying to gather his thoughts back.

Looking down at his arm he saw that the wounds were decently taken care of. Inadi didn't want her to go too far with it as it would have likely caused her to loose energy an maybe even her consciousness in the end. The whole magic thing was still new to everyone and no one was really sure what their limits were quite yet save for a few in the group. He was impressed regardless of her work and wanted to show a smile on his face, but his agitation still gripped him more than any other emotion. 

Suddenly the man known as Hakuren, the one who seemed to be taking his mantle as intellectual superior to Inadi was speaking up again. Inadi began having a very severe sore spot for this ice king before him. Constantly mocking him for his mistakes and doing so in such a low voice was getting on the spectacled man's last nerve. Now suddenly he was approaching him and seemed to be questioning his very way of living.

[quote=Hakuren said]“Knowing everything and being able to be prepare for anything. Where’s the fun in that? To dwell in constant safety. In a never-changing state. That is a very forlorn way of living. A life of nothing ever being new and unknown is monotone and grey. It’s secluded and stoops you lower than a sheltered little snail. [/quote]

A forlorn way of living? To be safe and sound in your own skin and place of living? There was no way Inadi's idea of life was anything like this man described. He enjoyed the way he lived. Nothing bad ever happened. Nothing could hurt him. Nothing new ever came his way with his choice of living....yet when he thought that sentence to himself he couldn't help but feel a pang of regret and a sudden wave of sorrow crushed his chest similar to the feeling he had against the mushroom monster.

[quote=Hakuren said]In fact, not knowing anything about something is the best. It gives you two options. To learn or to ignore. Chose the first and you’re progressing. Chose the latter and you could be considered an idiot or a genius. Whichever comes first. No matter which one you pick, you’re making a decision, so you’re actually progressing nonetheless. [/quote]

No. No, this was the idea of a mad man. Why would you go so far as to look for things that could hurt you or defeat you? The best things in life come when you can conquer them no matter what. Inadi was able to do that constantly back in the real world. He would always be able to find the exact thing he needed at the right time. He was always eating his favorite meals everyday. More importantly he was surviving on his own without any help from anyone around him. He didn't need anyone else to help him......but if he ever did.....could he go to someone? 

Inadi began thinking about how lonely he would get at times back home. He didn't go out at all and even when he did it was to places that he knew. And he didn't talk to people there. He seemed to keep to himself mostly if memory served. Sure he would start up small conversations, but they never really went anywhere. And even if they did there was no guarantee those people he talked to were good people. Why waste energy on somebody who isn't going to be worthy of your time?......or maybe they were and Inadi just didn't give them enough time to figure that out. 

[quote=Hakuren said]The more you learn, the more unknown things sprout up. Complaining that you don’t know anything and wanting information to be served to you on a silver plate, so you can examine and sort it, is the same as saying you no longer wish to learn. In other words,” he halted only a few steps away from Inadi, bent down a bit and said, eversmiling. ”you’re a coward.” Then he lifted his torso back up and continued “Heh, and don’t get me wrong. Being a coward’s actually pretty handy. Not feeling fear is a mark of an idiot. But being afraid to get out of your comfort zone and tackle the problem is a very pathetic type of cowardice.”  [/quote]

…..A coward.....the very fact that this man said it so plainly and directly brought tears to his eyes similar to that of what Jasper had happen to her. He hid his face from the man as he walked away and prayed that he could hold back the choking feeling in his throat. Was everything he said true? Was Inadi just a coward? He had always thought himself just a very careful person, but never a coward. Thinking back on all the times he had back home where he would stay in rather than go out he began realizing how sheltered he had made himself. He was a recluse. A stranger in his own world......a coward through and through.

Just as Inadi reached for his face to melt into his own hands, he suddenly felt his ground start lifting off the ground. Looking down and quickly trying to regain some kind of balance he saw that he had been placed on top of a pillar. More aptly put, a pillar had been placed beneath him. It was a little high off the ground, more so than Inadi would have liked it to be. It was already cold and now he was shaking for more than one reason as he knew if he fell this time there would be no quick heal from Jasper to fix his injuries.

Turning to Haku, he heard him speak to the dragon. Now he was being asked to cluck like a chicken for that stupid beast. Inadi wanted to stand up and shout at the man across from him, as a sign of anger and spite against him. Yet the only thing Inadi had in his mind now as he looked at the ice mage was hatred. Not at Haku, but at himself. He wanted Haku to be wrong. Inadi didn't want anything that the ice mage said to be true. But every time he searched himself to try and find a way to prove him wrong, it just showed that he would lose the argument every time.

Inadi was defeated. He was embarrassed and now he was being humiliated in front of all those who joined him on this quest. And all he could do was admit that he was what Haku said. A coward.....a chicken in disguise.

“.....Clu-ARGH!”

Just as Inadi was about to submit his defeat it seemed that one of the guides had grabbed him from off the pillar and had now hidden them from some unseen force. Quickly collecting his breath as the tackle he just suffered was a bit unexpected, he turned and saw that he was surrounded by Ace, Leila, Riley and Jasper. In other situations Inadi would have been pleased to be surrounded by most of the girls in group, but instead felt a sudden rush of worry as he heard the two witches behind them.

And then suddenly there was the pop over where the others seemed to be hiding. Closing his eyes tightly, he worried for their safety now above all things. Opening his eyes slowly he saw that he was next to Ace and Jasper, the first of which had squeezed her way in between him and Jasper. He looked over to the two and tried to give a supporting look, as if to say that everything would be alright. It was clear that Jasper needed it much more than Ace did, but it was clear everyone was nervous at the whole scene before them. He looked around and saw that his spear was not next to him and began mouthing curses to himself. It was back where the ice pillar was....out where the witches were currently walking around. He gave Riley a nervous look and began explaining the situation about his spear with his hands, all the while sweat began forming on his brow in the still cold cave. He didn't know what was going to happen, but he was not going to be able to use his magic with all the water in the cave. Everyone was in danger, and Inadi was once again proving useless. A quiet sigh escaped his throat as he leaned his head back as it grew heavy with worry.