Volker frenziedly consumed as many of the refreshments he could, almost as if they would vanish if he stopped devouring them. The swordsman halted when he felt all that he put in his mouth hit his stomach and sensed that if he ate anymore his stomach would rip.
Oh well... He was satisfied for now and turned his back on all the food so he could observe his surroundings. As luck would have it, quite a bit of commotion was going on when he did; some man was being dragged across the floor by the guards and placed at the feet of the king. Volker instinctively strode over to see what was the cause of the unrest and discovered that the man that was lugged around was also a hero (and an absolved bandit.) He was curious as to what exactly he did as a bandit but his thoughts of what bandits do were disrupted by the king's talking.
My captain has informed me that you all come from the same home. It is understandable that you all have much to catch up on. Volker replayed the sentences in his heads a few moments. He did not want to recall what existed before Alma Terra. Even if he didn't, when he looked over his fellow heroes he saw one frozen in place, his stillness bothered him for whatever reason. He is like a statue... but statues are created to stay still and he wasn't.... Volker impulsively tackled him and the still man was no longer just that.
"Wow! Hello?" the 'injured' party said, somewhat surprised. Both him and Volker were on their asses as Kirk looked him over, trying to identify who he was. Volker laughed childishly for a few seconds before facing the person he tackled. Astraeus sighed within its sheath as Volker stood up and offered to help the stranger up. He laughed a bit himself then grabbed his hand and stood up.
"Howdy! What's your name stranger?" Volker barely managed to inquire while chuckling.
"Name's Kirk! How about you?" he asked while extending his hand out.
"Volker Prowse." he eagerly shook his hand with a smile.
"Would you like me to introduce myself formally or informally?"
"Whichever'll help me keep this smile longer."
Kirk grabbed his staff off of his back by the center and pulled it forward, and then slammed the butt on the ground. Volker dully noted the staff's appearance, it was very rusty and atop of it a dragon was engraved.
"Ello there, Hero." the small dragon spoke, turning and twisting its head towards Volker. The swordsman was caught a bit off guard by a talking dragon but found it cool nonetheless.
"This is Destoc, and I'm one of your ol' classmates from last year. We didn't talk much, but it looks like thats gonna change a bit!"
Volker's grin faltered a bit. He did not like to be reminded of what once was and he was unfortunately surrounded by reminders of the boring reality that he used to live in. By the end of Kirk's introduction his smirk resumed its original appearance.
"What is it that you did between then and now?" Volker asked, genuinely wondering what it is his fellow heroes did during their year.
"What I did? Well, to tell you the truth I honestly didn't do all that much. I ain't some famous rebel, nor as well known as a few of the other heroes might be. In all truth, I was usually too scared most of the time to try anything big. I'm a coward through and through! However, I hate to say it now, but I also have blood on my hands. The blood of scum, but still, I've killed people in the last year."
He hesitated for a second, but then resumed speaking.
" However, I can say that I don't fully regret any actions I've taken. You?
Volker cringed at the thought of killing any other being.
"I've spent majority of my time in a small civilization not too far from the city. I studied the stars... I've never actually had to... ya know."
"What were they like? Take it they were a peaceful bunch?
"Not peaceful, just too ill-equipped to fight." his grin twitched.
Did they get into many of em?"
He still grinned and merrily replied, "Plenty of them."