Dancing that night with the Jester

  Is one I shall always remember

  I sought him out the following days

  Searching for signs among all the graves

  “Jester, Jester, please come back!”

  I shouted and begged until I lost track.

  For fifteen long days, I tried to find

  He, who had brought me peace of mind

  But my search always ended the same:

  Isolation filled Doubt and dolorous pain

  Time passed like wind, until snow started to fall

  Autumn blew by without once hearing his call

  I told others what had happened that night

  But all that heard only laughed at my plight

  “You must have dozed off,” is what they had said.

  “Forget idle dreams, there is no Jester in Red.”

  “Quit acting so strange, quit telling these lies!”

  Was never spoken by lips, but showed in their eyes.

  Despised and mistrusted, I returned to the dead

  A wretched man I was with a heart full of lead

  I sang, I pranced, I hummed his tune

  I sprang, I danced, from night to noon

  But still there was no Jester

  No maidens, no ghouls

  The only soldier left to pester

  was me, the fool

  “How cruel, how strange, how long must I toil?”

  Deranged and estranged I sat on muddy soil

  Rain fell like despair and it was all too easy to see

  I was beyond repair: sorrow-stricken with Misery.

  Heavy hearted and lost

  In the cemetery I remained

  I departed when the frost

  Left me weary and pained

  Days turned to months, and I began to wonder if

  My meeting with the Jester had been a curse or a gift.

  A cold shadow crept amidst the soft glow

  Of the pale blue moon, and fresh fallen snow

  I was alone.

  Now and forever

  No line could I find

  Whether stupid or clever

  To describe the sublime

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  In meeting the Jester

  One night beside my cot, sat two other men

  Their lanterns burned hot

  As they took up their cards again

  “Come now,” they beckoned to me

  “Join us once more, like we used to play”

  “Games better with three, will you not sway?”

  “Just a game,” is how I replied

  Though I felt if I had denied

  They would only press me again

  So I took up the cards

  And played with these two men

  We laughed and joked

  Filed pipes to smoke

  Drank brandy, shared rum

  All while desperately,

  I tried to have fun

  But the joy, like the Jester

  Just wouldn't come

  Smiling while beguiling

  I counted the seconds as they passed

  Unending was my pretending

  Until at long last

  The game was over

  The cards were through

  And I returned to my cot

  Until the day was new

  But before crimson light could hit my eyes

  I awoke to a candle by my bedside

  It was another soldier returning from his post

  The color of his face was as pale as a ghost

  Cold sweat dripped from his brow

  I asked his trouble and this he avowed

  “Last night I was to see to the hounds”

  “Feed the beasts and silence their sounds”

  “But the gate, I must have forgot to lock”

  “Now on the streets all the dogs do walk”

  “They run, they bark, and I was unable to catch”

  He dug his nails into his cheeks and started to scratch

  “The Captain, I fear his whip and his stern gaze”

  “I’ll be punished for this until the end of my days.”

  I grabbed his wrists and removed them from his face

  “Breath easy dear soldier, this mistake we can erase.”

  “Sun is not up and the Captain sleeps in,”

  “We’ll capture the beasts,” I said with a grin

  We flew threw the streets wasting no time

  Chasing after all the strange sounds

  The houses passed by as we tried to find

  Each and every one of the hounds

  Two had made it to the front gate

  One was snacking inside of a butcher’s crate

  Four were found in the alleys and behind the shops

  We cornered the beasts and made them stop

  We searched and found

  All of the hounds, but one evaded our quest

  The sun peeked through the clouded sky

  As we tried to catch our breath

  The beast was fast and seemed to fly

  Anytime we would draw near

  It was large and gray and would growl our way

  The other man shrunk from fear

  “That hound is from Hisskar!” he called with a shout

  “Long lived are those beasts and hard to calm”

  “Soon the people will be walking about”

  “It’s too dangerous, we must sound the alarm!”

  I shook my head and told the soldier “no.”

  “If we do, he'll be brought down by the bow.”

  “Go if you must, but I ask you to trust that I will find a way.”

  “Perhaps a song will bring him back,”

  “If he will not listen to what we say.”

  The man ran off, and now It was just us two

  I thought no wrong could be found in song

  So I performed the only one that I knew

  And as if the beast was waiting for this

  He stopped and dropped his head

  I approached him as he laid in bliss

  Singing the song of the Jester in Red

  I pet his fur and he let out a howl

  As triumphant as the thunder

  He muttered not even one growl

  And nearly fell to slumber

  I heard the bell and knew it meant

  The beast would soon meet its end

  We left Scrydell and on we went

  I had found myself a worthy friend.

  The joy I sought could not be bought

  But now it had been found

  So north we trot, just us two:

  Master and his hound.