…Was this guy serious?
All of a sudden, Arin felt a deeply intense wave of sympathy for the erstwhile occupant of his body. It probably hadn't been easy on Rin to have had to deal with a master like this weirdo.
'Y'know what? Sure,' Arin deadpanned. 'But I don't think you've thought things through. What happens if I oh-so-ignorantly get myself killed on this little side-quest of yours?'
The white-haired man's beautiful smile didn't falter at his words, but Arin could've sworn it became at least a little forced. Or maybe he was just telling himself that to feel better.
Looking up at Arin from where he reclined, the man laughed, 'I'm curious. In your world, is everyone as rude as you have been while facing the only person offering a helping hand? Let alone, your master?'
Arin shrugged carelessly. 'Sorry, but I'm pretty sure I was being brushed off before the helping hand was offered. I also recall being threatened with captivity immediately afterwards. Besides, you may be Rin's master, but you most definitely aren't mine.'
'And yet, you are Rin.'
Arin sighed. Thinking back to his first impression, he realized that the man's clean and elegant countenance, in combination with the endearing gentleness of his bearing, had tricked him like a politician tricks voters.
After a mere half-an-hour spent in his company, Arin was starting to understand that his charming exterior pretty much just hid a wacko who enjoyed talking in circles to get a rise out of people.
More importantly, however, Arin had realized that despite his claims to the contrary, the man was worried. From being concerned about his encounter with the pale-haired boy in the clearing, to letting slip that his ultimate goal did in fact involve recovering his student's missing soul, one thing was for certain; the man did care about Rin.
And while being the current occupant of Rin's body was probably guarantee enough against any physical harm by the man, Arin also had a feeling that the man had no intention of harming him – the soul that was a foreign inhabitant of said body. His intuition told him that the man's true nature was far from the nonchalant-yet-playfully-cruel mask he wore.
Then again, his intuition hadn't been much help when his bedroom ceiling had collapsed on top of him just a few hours ago, so what did it know?
Arin walked closer to the white-haired man and, after a moment's pause, took a seat on the grass before him once again.
'Alright, Master. What do I need to do to prove myself to you?'
The man leaned forward, thoughtful as he propped his chin up with a graceful hand. A few more strands of his white hair escaped the loose hair-tie and fell forward to elegantly frame his face. The sight, of course, failed to evoke any awe in Arin.
This was just a regular, annoying man to him now. Nothing mystical about the guy.
The regular, annoying man shut his eyes contemplatively. After a few heartbeats, he opened them and said, 'I'd like you to bring me an apple.'
Arin huffed. Of course it was going to be something stupid like that. Not that he'd have any idea where to start if he was sent off to, say, slay a dragon and rescue a princess or something. But, fetching an apple?
He might as well offer to do a coffee-run along the way, like he'd done back when he'd been a fresh-faced intern at his workplace.
'Let me guess, you're looking for a golden apple that grants immortality to whoever eats it,' Arin laughed sarcastically. 'Or an enchanted one that'll poison your enemies. Or, no! – don't tell me! An expensive apple that plays whatever music you wish to hear at the moment!'
The man blinked his pale, red eyes.
'I'm looking for an apple with red skin. One that I might eat.'
Fiddling with the pages of the book he'd been reading when Arin had first arrived, he added, 'Though I must say, the apples from your world seem fascinating. I can see why you're so eager to return.'
…
'Uh, sure.' Looking away, Arin muttered in a low voice, 'But how, exactly, is finding you an evening snack going to help me get back to my world?'
The man held up a finger. 'One step at a time. Prove to me that you can, at the very least, survive a small excursion in that new body of yours, and I'll know if it's worth the effort to help you find your way back home.'
'You'll find the fruit in an abandoned orchard all the way at the western edge of this forest. You are unlikely to encounter anyone who knows Rin in that direction, so there's no worry of your… situation being discovered. Pick any apple from any tree you like, and I'll accept it as long as it isn't rotten or otherwise inedible. Feel free to pick a few more if you'd also like to have some, of course.'
Arin nodded, moving to get up. He then paused. He wasn't stupid enough to believe that things would be as simple as the man had claimed. This was, after all, a test.
'You didn't say anything earlier, but what does happen if I do… well, die?' he asked.
The man nodded his head, then said lightly, 'We don't know how or why you arrived in our world yet. Assuming that the way back to yours has been shut, if you were to die, your soul would simply… scatter, and cease to exist, I suppose.'
'Still, as long as your body isn't too damaged, I am certain I can restore it well enough for Rin to return to in the future.' He smiled, 'So it's not all bad.'
'Right,' Arin said. 'Good to know, thanks.'
Looks like he'd been right to have doubts.
His intuition didn't know shit.
As Arin finally left through the door – which had reappeared near the edge of the glade at some point – he heard the man call out one last time to say, 'I'd like to have my apple before sundown, so make haste.'
Arin ignored him. Not everything deserved a response.
*
Upon leaving the tower and stepping outside, Arin found himself having to shield his eyes from the blazing sunlight. The man's sleepy, softly-lit glade-realm-thing and the shuttered windows throughout the rest of the tower had made him forget that it was still afternoon.
Without prompting, the snake slithered out and grew to become a gray horse once again. It tossed its mane and looked at Arin expectantly. Clearly, it meant to accompany him on his trip.
Thinking back to the unbroken expanse of forest he'd seen stretching out in all directions, Arin was grateful. If he had to walk to the western edge on foot, he might as well give up on the damned test and everything else, and just start living his new life as Tarzan in the woods.
'I'm still not sure why you've been helping me all this time, but thanks anyway, dude.' He patted the horse's side. 'Hey, what do you say we ditch the errand and go find someone else? Someone who'd be more likely to skip the theatrics and actually just help me get back home.'
The horse snorted.
'Or they'd have me executed. Sure, that is also a possibility.'
He jumped onto the horse's lowered back. The horse straightened up, then spread out its large, feathery wings and took flight once again. Within moments, they were soaring in the sky.
'Why is that a thing anyway?' Arin yelled over the sound of the rushing wind. 'What kind of barbaric world kills people for accidentally appearing in someone else's body? How about setting up cultural exchange programs or something? What's wrong with just talking things out?'
The horse didn't respond. Not that he'd been expecting it to anyway.
'I guess that's just another thing I'll have to ask that guy to explain when I get back with his precious apple…'
With the sun shining in their eyes and the wind roaring in their ears, the two of them set out towards (hopefully) the west.