Caliber's Adventure Log

Caliber ran after him, not sure where he was going. For one terrifying moment, he lost sight of the zebra, but quickly realized where he was. When they finally arrived at the zebra's house, the zebra disappeared inside for a moment, and came out beckoning Caliber to come in.

Caliber walked in, and was surprised, to say the least. The room was rather clean, and various masks decorated the wall. "So," Caliber asked, "whats you're name?"

The zebra looked at him for a moment before replying, "Ruk."

"Ruk?"

Ruk looked at him. "Yes, Ruk."

Caliber wandered around his house. "So, what do I have to do before I'm worthy?" He asked.

Ruk smiled before saying "Beat me in a duel."

Caliber's ears dropped. He saw how nimble Ruk was, and how he took care of that chimera without any problems. "Well, how am I supposed to do that?" He asked, clearly annoyed.

Ruk cocked his head. "Why, knock me to the ground, of course. Is that not how one wins a spar in this land?"

Caliber glared at him. "No, that's not what I meant. I meant that you're so much faster, bigger, and stringer than me. Not to mention experienced," he explained, "and I only just started my journey about a week ago."

"Is that so?"

"Yeah! I mean, I'd be dead if you hadn't shown up! Argh, I don't know what I was thinking!"

"But at least you learned something."

Caliber looked at him. "Oh, yeah? What?"

"If a sign says 'strong warriors only' and you aren't a strong warrior, then you should probably take the long way." Ruk stated.

"Yeah, yeah!" Caliber said, before sniffing at the pot over the fire. "Whattaya cooking?"

Ruk glared at him before telling him. "Diced vegetables, with some meat squares thrown in," he said, "with some apples as a side."

Caliber licked his lips. "Sounds delicious! I cant wait!"

Ruk sighed. 'I guess I have to give him some.' He thought. He went over to his cupboard, and picked up the smallest bowl in there. He filled it with some stew, and gave it to Caliber. Then he walked outside, picked a couple of apples, and threw on at Caliber. He went back in, and started to eat out of the pot. "Bon appétit"

Caliber looked at his small bowl. He looked at Ruk, eating the whole stew out of the pot. Then sighed, and started sipping his own, with an occasional bit from his apple. He saw Ruk rise up suddenly, and go into another part of his house. A couple minutes later, snores can be heard. Caliber peered into the pot, and saw it was empty. He finished his small meal, and scribbled an entry into his adventure log. Then, he went to sleep on Ruk's couch.

Caliber woke up to grunting noises coming from outside. He got up, stretched, and wandered out to find what the noise was. He saw Ruk in the middle of working out. What was remarkable, however, was the fact that Ruk was doing one-armed, hand-stand push-ups.

"48...49...50...51...52..." Ruk muttered for every one he did.

Caliber sneaked up behind him, and said rather loudly, "Wow! How strong are you?!"

Ruk lost his balance, and tumbled down. He sat back up, glared at Caliber, and said "good, you're awake." He went over to his pool. "You may challenge me whenever you feel like it. Furthermore, we will use sticks. Not swords. Understood?" He took a long drink. "Understood?" He repeated.

"Er...Yeah," Caliber replied. "But what if I don't wanna challenge you right away?"

The zebra looked at him. "I never said you have to challenge me," he said. "But you'll have to if you want your sword back. You may stay here, and do whatever you like. I will feed you. But," he looked sternly at Caliber. "If I see your not doing anything to get you closer to your goal of beating me, I will kick you out. Understood?"

"Understood."

"Good." He went back to his training, leaving Caliber to is own devices.

Caliber didn't know what to do, so he just started trying to work out alongside Ruk. He could only do standard push-ups, of course, and not a lot of those at that. Ruk finished his work-out, and watched Caliber trying to continue. "Out of shape, are we?" He commented.

"Yeah, well, unicorns aren't known for their strength," Caliber retorted.

"That'd be earth ponies, correct?"

Caliber groaned.

And that's just about what happened. Caliber would spend days on end working on increasing his strength and stamina. Ruk would occasionally point out better ways to do a particular exercise, and would sometimes encourage him to do a little more. Eventually, Caliber could even do one or two one-armed push-ups. Then came that fateful day when Caliber felt he was ready to challenge Ruk. It went something like this:

"Ruk! I challenge you!" Caliber declared bravely.

Ruk looked up from his cup of apple cider. "Oh?"

"You heard me!"

Ruk got up, and walked outside. "Then come."

Caliber followed, and saw Ruk preparing an arena of sorts. He was dragging a stick in the ground, making a large circle. He then threw a stick at Caliber, who caught it. "The second you step into this arena, I will try to knock you out of it, or make you surrender. Same thing vice-versa. Caliber raised his stick, and charged at Ruk, trying for a downwards strike. Ruk side-stepped the first strike, and hit Caliber in the back of the head.

"Ow!" Caliber rubbed the back of his head. Ruk sweeped the stick under Caliber, knocking him to the ground. "Hey!" Ruk then pointed the end of his stick at Caliber's throat.

"I win." He said bluntly. He then walked out of the arena, going about his daily business.

"Owowowow..." Caliber rubbed his hooves that took the sweep blow. Then he rubbed the back of his head. Then he rubbed the spot on his throat where Ruk had pressed the stick.

"Oh, don't be such a filly," Ruk commented, "I didn't hit you that hard."

"But it hurts so much!" Caliber complained.

Ruk rounded onto him. "That's because you haven't done any skin-toughening training!"

"Whats that?"

"It's a type of training that makes you resistant to pain," Ruk explained. "But be warned, its very painful to go through."

Caliber grinned. "Lay it on me!"

Ruk smiled, too. "Aren't you scared of the pain?"

"Pain doesn't last forever, why should I be scared?" Caliber replied.

Ruk looked at him. "I like that." In the following month, Ruk would train Caliber. Making sure Caliber would eat foods packed with nutrients, he would encourage him to do work-outs, while wearing weights. He would try to do the nerve-deadening training with Caliber, but it proved to be way too much for the kid to handle, who cried 'STOP!' after a measly two seconds. But, for a kid, two seconds was promising.

Then, a full month later, Caliber challenged Ruk, again.