Traiborn's Apprentice

Traiborn's Apprentice

The story of a boy with no family, no friends, and who gets picked to be Traiborn's apprentice. And moreover, learn a dark secret that has been hidden from the Wizard's Tower for longer then they can remember.

Prequel
A young women sat in a small hut with nothing but the dirt of the earth and a skin-rug of a bear. She cradled a baby boy in her arms, sound asleep under the stars.

Two men walked toward the hut, where within the women burst into a fit of wheezing and coughing. One of them winced at the sound, for she was his sister.

The two entered the hut, where the women lay on the floor. Despite her weakness, she still showed dignity and sat up. The hut smelled of rotting flesh and death. "Diriut..." Mumbled the brother, despair in his voice.

''They're gonna do it. They're gonna take him.'' Thought the women. "No!" She yelled out, barely a whisper though, for she was in too much pain.

"Diriut, he has no life here. No family. He doesn't belong here." said the other man, who was wearing what looked like a wolf-mask. The women winced at the thought of her dead husband. "You are going to die, and then he will have no one." "Br-brother..." She mumbled, but the man just shook his head. "A traveller is leaving tonight. We shall give the child to him and he shall take him to farther lands."

The two men walked out to get the traveller. And shortly afterward, the women broke into another fit of coughing. She shuddered, and couldn't get any air into her lungs. Her body felt no pain, though. And she cradled her boy for the last time before dying.

Chapter 1
A wizard strolled through the busy markets of Varrock. Everyone parted way for him, and stared at him, but he paid no attention. He was, of course, Wizard Traiborn; The Wizard who'd gone mad.

Although amidst the crowd, one did not know him. He knew him only as rich. He knew him as the victim. He knew him with a little less cash in his pocket. The boy is a thief.

The wizard continued his walk through the bustling metropolis, and, by the bank made a sharp turn right, into an alley. The thief sneaked in right behind him.

The alley was dark, and littered with garbage. The thief was nimble, and didn't make a sound. But the old wizard wasn't, and took his time.

Traiborn wrinkled his nose in disgust and muttered to himself, "This place is as any place is placed... and smells as is any smell is smelled." This stopped the young thief, but only for a second. He decided to act more cautious, for fear he may be recognized.

A few more seconds passed, and then the thief struck. Slippery as an eel, he slipped his hand into the wizard's pocket and rummaged around.

Runes... Muttered the thief.'' Bloody runes... But then, he is a wizard. Perhaps they're worth something.''

The thief was just about to sneak away when the wizard spun around and exclaimed "Now I've got you, Thingummywut!" And threw a bunch of runes in the air. They immediately turned into bananas, apples, and spinach rolls.

This just stunned the thief, who was then hit hard in the stomach by a burst of air. He bounced down the alley, but was on his feet in a second, ready to fight if necessary.

"You won't get away, Thingummywut!" Yelled the wizard, as he threw the spinach roll at the thief. The thief dodged it nimbly, but it wasn't meant to hit him.

As soon as the roll hit the alley, it broke apart and shone out a bright green light. The thief, blinded, stumbled backwards to the edge of the lights.

The light hardened into spinach leaves, which then began to shrink, the thief along with them. Together, the prison shrunk down into the size of a spinach roll, which it was.

The wizard walked over to the spinach roll, picked it up, and began to eat it thoughtfully. Then he cleaned himself off and continued on down the alley.

Chapter 2
I felt the leaves wrapped tight around, almost crushing me. Killed by spinach, who would have thought... Mumbled the thief. He was crouching with spinach leaves encasing him within.

The thief was sure that he was to die, when the leaves loosened their grip, and began to fall away. The leaves fell to the floor leaving him crouching on a stone floor.

Despite the odd consequences, the thief hopped to his feet and jumped back to the nearest wall for defence. Better not show him my weapon, insurance.

"Ah! The Thingummywut is back! Now tell me, what we're you doing in Varrock?" Demanded the wizard.

With the different light, the thief was able to make out the wizard's clothes. He was wearing the robes of a high class wizard, which was odd. Must be in the Tower.

"Well, speak up! Or I'll turn a banana into a bone!" threatened the wizard. "I live in Varrock. Now who are you?" Questioned the thief through gritted teeth. "Why, I am Wizard Traiborn! Have you not heard of me, young Thingummywut? And what are you called?!" "No I have not heard of you and I don't have a name. People just call me Thief." "Thief! Thief! Where!? I can't let him get at my cabbage! My poor old pet cabbage..." ''This man is looney. Man did I pick the wrong day.''

"Hello, there. And who are you, my lad?" asked the wizard. ''Now he's forgotten that I's steal his poor old cabbage. Well, better go along. ''"Why, don't you remember, Wizard Traiborn? I'm the Novice, that got lost." Said Thief innocently. "Ah! You're young Tindeno. Fresh out of Draynor. Ready to smite your first onion with a Fire Fence. Come, Thingummywut. Your room is more of a room then a room." Called the Wizard as he walked down the halls.

''What the hell is his problem? Did he take a couple hits to the head when he was growing up?'' "Come, Ahrinn! You shall begin training immediately!" Ordered the wizard. "But Traiborn," Called back Thief. "My name's Tindeno." The wizard stopped, spun around, and then glared at Thief. "Are you sure you're not Ahrinn?" Demanded the wizard. "Yes." Said Thief, hiding his fear. He knew what Traiborn could do.

Traiborn's face softened. He spun around and continued walking. "Come along, Thingummywut."

Thief was brought to his room, which was on the fifth floor. He shared the room with three other Novices. Three eleven year olds and one nine year old. One of the elevens was protective of the ninth.

The room was small and cramped. It was crescent shaped, with a door on the inside. Exactly opposite the door was a window overlooking the Southern Sea. Beside the windows are two bunk beds with cots and tattered sheets. It's better then the ground.

On the eastern and western corners of the room we're four chests with locks on them. Thief didn't have anything, until after the night, when he had quite a stash.

All in all, the room was miserable. None of the kids liked him, even though he could easily beat them up. Instead he couldn't get to sleep and settled for staring out of the window, at the stars above.

Chapter 3
"So tell me, Tindeno. How old are you?" Asked Wizard Trainer. He had a bored look on his face, which was wrinkled and covered in a five o'clock shadow. He had balding hair, and a crooked nose And dull, lifeless eyes. He smelled of dust. "I dunno," Shrugged Thief. "Thirteen?" answered Thief.

"Thirteen!!" Hollered Traiborn. "The Unlucky Lucky number! Well I never-" "Please, Traiborn." Interrupted the wizard. "Don't you have something to do?" "Well, I uh, yes..." "Then go do it."

"Now, I'm sorry, Tindeno. How old did you say you were?" Asked the trainer. "Thirteen." "Thirteen!? Well, then. We must hurry indeed. You are past the normal age for Novice's! Now let's begin. Name the four basic element runes along with the four basic human runes..." and so on and so forth.

"Well well, Tindeno. You seem to know a bit about magic. You may have to learn more. But! Never the less, there are still tests to complete. After lunch you shall visit Wizard Bandtpit who shall test you on your knowledge of runes. Then you shall have a written test on the history of magic and after dinner you shall have the Spell Test."

"Next!" Yelled out the Wizard Cook. She was an old, grumpy lay who, Thief thought, should crawl into a hole and die, that served the meals to the Novice's. ''Oh boy! Cabbage Soup, my favourite! But it's better then starving. Don't worry, Tin-Den-O, just a couple more nights and you can leave.''

"Next!" Yelled the women as Thief walked up to the soup pot. "Soup, please."'' You old witch. ''The women poured a bunch of soup into Thief's bowl and yelled out "Next!"

Thief continued over to a table that was empty and ate in silence. One of his roommates came over and sat down at the table with him, much to Thief's displeasure.

"Hey, there. I'm Darxus." Said the boy. "And you are?" "ugh." Grunted Thief. An awkward moment passed, which Thief relished. Finally the boy started again. "I here you are from Draynor. I'm from Edgeville. What's it like up there?" "Listen." Demanded Thief. "I could kill you in the worst possible way WITHOUT magic. Just stay out of my way and we'll never meet again. Got that?" "uh-uh hu." Stammered the boy. "Good. Now go sit with your friends and leave me in peace."

After lunch Thief went to meet Wizard Bandtpit, who was tall, pale, and had a look that could shatter novice's. Thief was no Novice, though.He was a well trained thief, and showed no weakness.

"Well, shall we begin?" asked Bandtpit, and, without stopping said "Can you tell me what rune this is?" Asked the wizard. "No." Answered Thief. "I can't, because all runes look the same." "Correct, now catch." Ordered Bandtpit as he tossed the rune to Thief.

As soon as Thief caught the rune is hands burned as if he had grabbed red hot coals. "Ahhck!" He cried out in pain as he threw the rune to the floor. "My, my..." Muttered Brandtpit. "The magic is strong in you... Now then! What rune was that?" "How the hell can I tell!?" "What did it feel like!?" Thief stopped for a moment, puzzled.

"Fire! It's a Fire Rune!" Exclaimed Thief. "Yes, it is. Now, what does this collection of spells do?..."

Chapter 4
Well, here's the moment you've been waiting your whole life. Mocked Thief to himself. The day you finally graduated from Novice! "Now, Tindeno. As you know the rules, you must get 250 points out of 400 to pass." Said the Grader. "For the first test, you received 50 points. For the second, you received 75. That is a total of 125. Next you gained 50 points. That is 175. Finally, in the last test, you received...75 points. That is a final total of 250, which means you have just passed into apprenticeship. Congratulations."

Whoop-de-do. "Here are your very own apprentice robes." Said the Grader with little emotion as he handed him the famous blue wizard robes. "And finally, your mentor for the next seven years shall be Wizard Hatt-" "Stop!" Bellowed Traiborn. "Wizard Traiborn, this is Apprentice Tindeno's ceremony and I think he would appreciate it if you-" "Stop! Tindeno shall be my apprentice!" Yelled Traiborn. "I'm sorry!?" Asked the Grader. "I said Tindeno shall be my apprentice as rocks are as water flows!"

What the hell is this guy doing!? "Well, I'm sure that you don't really want the trouble of an apprentice, Wizard Traiborn." "Nonsense! I won't take no for an answer! Tindeno shall be my apprentice." "Very well, then. Traiborn. Tindeno, your mentor for the next seven years shall be Wizard Traiborn. May you learn the ways of the Wizard and become a great wizard yourself such as your master."

"Come then, Tindeno. We shall prepare your room and mend your staff and study magic." called out Traiborn as he lead Thief up to the eleventh floor and into his study.

The room was very large, with spinach, food, and other things amidst chests, runes, talismans, and books.