Trust

Trust is a fickle thing. Like Sisyphus struggling to move his boulder up the mountain, building trust is a slow process that takes perseverance and no small amount of hard work. But trust can be lost in the blink of an eye; one wrong step on the proverbial mountain, and the boulder goes crashing back down to where it started, all the work for naught.
 
These thoughts came unbidden to Covidius as the group woke up to find Jester, chains and all, had disappeared. As everyone went about their morning routines, Covidius couldn't shake the sinking feeling settling in his stomach. All he could think about was Jester, and whether Jester (or the shell of a man that Jester had become) was thinking about him too. They had shared so many wonderful adventures together. Like that time Covidius had pummeled Jester to a pulp, but had left his beautiful face untouched. Or that other time Covidius chased Jester's rowboat and heroically lept out of the water knocking Jester out cold. A small, sad smile creeped onto Covidius' stoic face. Ah yes, what good times they were. But Jester had destroyed Covidius' trust in him for the last time. The boulder would forever stay at the bottom of the hill, destined to be eroded away by the wind, the rain, and time.
 
Covidius was roused from his musings by louder than normal chatter, and decided that it was time he joined the conversation. The group decided that their best course of action would be to take their one remaining prisoner, Rachel the Razor, and exchange her for their bard friend, Artanis. As the others weighed the pros and cons of returning to the Magnificent One without a solid lead on her potential employer, all Covidius could think about was the potential for a new friendship and potentially, dare he hope, a new romance? Someone would need to look after their pointy new companion and Covidius saw it as an opportunity to kindle the fires of a new relationship. As the others finalized their travel plans, Covidius began to feel better. He felt reinvigorated with purpose. He would get closer to Rachel... not too close though! He was a gentleman after all, and a gentleman keeps a crisp 6 feet from everyone at all times.
 
The group made their way directly to the lighthouse with Covidius' new beau in tow. When they arrived, Covidius' took it up on himself to go in first and greet her Scaliness and to ask if she would like to meet the group outside. Being rather comfortable, Nyndin forcefully encouraged Covidius' to bring his friends into her cavern. Once everyone was assembled they recounted their adventures to her and requested a trade of Artanis for Rachel. While Covidius was excited to have his musically gifted friend back, the pit in his stomach began to open up again at the thought of losing yet another love, and so close to the loss of the last. He and Rachel had already grown so close in their short time together! She had mostly stopped glaring and making obscene gestures at him. They were well on their way to something special. Thankfully, Nyndin decided to send Rachel along with the group to aid them in completing their task for her, and even said she would consider giving them the box that they had originally set out to obtain several side-quests ago. The prospect of getting to spend even more time with the bristling rogue sent Covidius' heart a flutter!
 
After taking their leave from the lighthouse, the group returned to Cal where Artanis took some much needed rest and the others went about their business. Tharivol, Covidius, and Rachel joined Bran on his visit to the orphanage where they learned that one of the orphans, Carlos, had disappeared. His story was a sad one, his parents and sister had mysteriously vanished and a neighbor had found him all on his own. Bran, knowing the many difficulties of being an orphan decided to go in search of Carlos, and the others joined.
 
Covidius saw this as a perfect opportunity to get to know his new friend, Rachel, even better. As they walked out of the city to the patchwork of farms around it, he asked her questions and told her a little bit about himself... though not too much. There is such a thing as over sharing! So he asked her about her childhood, her parents, friends, favorite food and color, what horrible event turned her to a life of crime and mischief . You know, first date kind of questions. When the tirade of questions began Rachel's only response was a small bemused smile. But as the questioning continued and became ever more pointed (Covidius was quite good at reading body language and was slowly divining the answers to his questions through small cracks in Rachel's stony facade) her smile melted down her face and was replaced with a smoldering scowl. Finally, as they neared the Garcia farm, something in her broke and she turned on him and pinned him against the nearest tree.
 
"Stop! We're not friends, or buds , or pals. We're not sitting down to a cup of tea to chat like two old maids. I'm here because of you assholes and as soon as I've fulfilled my duty to Nyndin, I'll be leaving and you better hope that when that day comes, you never cross my path again!" She roughly let Covidius go and stormed past the others who had stopped to watch the exchange.
 
"You should not vex her so," Tharivol said as he watched her storm off, "She will stab you." As he said this he absentmindedly moved his hand to his ribs. Bran, clearly nervous as to the fate of young Carlos urged them all on. Despite the threat on his life and wellbeing Covidius felt light as a feather. He had gotten her to come out of her shell. Sure, what he had found inside was all sharp edges and murder, but he was one step closer to pushing that boulder up the hill. As they entered the Garcia farm he almost felt like whistling... almost. Whistling spread droplets from one's mouth which was quite unsanitary. In any case, thoughts of whistling were chased out of his head as they approached the farmhouse and saw that the front wall had a gaping hole in it covered by what appeared to be a large animal skin.
 
Covidius was enraged. Someone broke down a perfectly good wall instead of using the door? Using doors was one of life's simplest pleasures. Who knew what you would find on the other side. Heaps of treasure, new friends, and sometimes even large rooms full of people wanting to kill you. How dare they not use the door.
 
The group entered the small cottage to find Carlos cowering in a corner trying to avoid the two giants that had clearly eaten his parents. While one of the giants was a powerful magician and the other had some anger management issues, the group handedly dealt with the giants.
 
Once they were finished they spoke with Carlos and tried to get him come out of his shell. Though in fairness to him, watching a battle would certainly have a negative effect on a child's psyche. Tharivol brought him a toy from his room and Carlos soon told the group how he wanted to come looking for his parents and his sister. His sister who had vanished into the woods. The group decided they couldn't leave a child in the woods alone so headed deeper into the forest which became very trippy very quickly. They soon found Carlos' sister in an enchanted glen and when they tried to take her away were greeted by two owlbears and several pixies. Artanis and Tharivol almost met their doom... again... but the others were able to finish off the baddies.
 
Once the battle was over, the gr0up rested and Covidius decided that post-battle would be a perfect time to get Rachel to open up. But alas, as he sat down next to her she mearly shot him a glance, then just stared into the fire. This didn't phase Covidius however. The building of trust takes time and he would be more careful this time, than he had been with Jester. He smiled. But of course the love between he and Jester had been like one of those new-fangled fire crackers, shimmering and raucous, but so short lived. This budding... relationship, was a special thing and he would patiently push that boulder up the hill.
 
He knew how easy it was to lose trust.