A Cup of Tea - Write what happens next!

wonderandawe

wonderandawe

Most likeky not a Sidereal
Game Rules

  1. Each player adds a part to the story.   Add setting and character details as needed.
  2. End your section of the story with a question or cliffhanger to give the next player something to build upon.
  3. Our hero will never get to enjoy a cup of tea.
  4. Our hero’s search for a cup of tea will never end.



(Rules will be adjusted later on as needed.)




After my long journey, I was in desperate need of a cup of tea.


I waved good-bye to the caravan master and set out in search of a teahouse.  The small desert town –the only town I could afford passage to - did not look promising.  A single row of sun-bleached brick buildings lined the dusty road.   Three teenage boys smoked long pipes as they watched the caravan disembark its goods and passengers.  A woman fought to lead her goats to the town well.   Despite the town’s name of Sage’s Rest, there was not a single sage in sight. 


I tried to keep an optimistic frame of mind and assumed the wise sages kept inside during the hot afternoon hours.   I spotted a small girl carrying a small goat across her shoulders.   When I approached the girl, she set her goat down and asked, “Are you lost, ma’am?”
 
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    "Why yes, I am." I reply, sighing. I look around me at the bleak surroundings. "I'm looking for a cup of tea, do you mind helping me get one?" I look back at the small girl. She frowns, and sits. "I...I don't know." She looks down, and pulls 2 tea leaves out of her pocket. "These were for my very sick grandmother." I look at the tea leaves, and smile.


    "Ooh, can I have one?" She continues frowning. "I'm sorry, but no." I glance behind me, and look back at the leaves. I dive at the girl, and tackle her to the ground. I hear a yell for help behind me, and...
 
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I find myself being pulled away from the girl.  I look up into the slit eyes of an old billy goat.   Grey hairs ting his black and white coat.   I crab walk away only to run into another goat, who head butts me back into the circle of goats.   The girl retreats to the woman by the well, her tea leaves clutched tight in her hands.   Both woman stare wide eyed in fear.   


The old billy goat flicks one notched ear and bleats, "Why do you attack my goatherd, traveler?"  

(Missed that someone responded to this.  I changed my notification settings. )
 
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"I do not attack, I merely need those tea leaves!" I exclaim, reaching again for the girl, but to no avail, as the billy goat drags me a little ways away. "Those tea leaves are not yours. Stay Away, traveler." It says, backing off. I get up, and brush myself off. "Perhaps I can become, as it were, a slave? Or the better yet, an indentured servant?" I ask the little girl, staring into her eyes, my eyes pleading.


images
 
"That, too, is out of the question." She replied, a cold undertone to her voice. She began to walk away, and I tried to give chase, but the goats were holding me down. She quickly disappeared from sight and the goats let me go. I suppose I had to move on in search of more tea now.


Wandering a ways, I stumbled upon an old man on the side of the road, several items sitting on a carpet he had placed on the ground. "Tea leaves for sale, tea leaves for sale! Only 200,000,000 gold per tea leaf!" I rummaged through my pockets, but I only had 20 gold. What was I to do now?
 
I look over the old man's wares.   A broken pipe, a rusty hammer, a cracked bowl.   Nothing among his wares was worth a single gold, much less 200,000,000.  Yet among all this trash, a small satchel of tea leaves sits on his dusty mat.  Low quality black tea, but I was desperate.   


"Tell me about this cracked bowl, sir."  I pick up the bowl and run my fingertip along the crack  "How was it damaged?"  


The old man twirls his sparse beard around his finger and takes the bowl from you.   "This bowl isn't cracked!  It was made this way!"


"Really?  How strange..."  I ignore the tea and prompt the old salesman.  "Who would purposely make a cracked bowl?"


"It was my dear departed wife's specialty!"  The old man leans closer, intent on his story.  I can smell tea on his breath.   "The crack serves a specific purpose...."  


As the old man spins his lies, I reach down to take the satchel of tea.   A firm hand grips my wrist stopping me. 


"You wouldn't steal from this old man, traveler?"   A harsh voice whispers into my ear.  "You don't look like a thief."
 
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"Oh, but, you see, he is charging us too much for tea! Yes, an outrageous price! I was going out to town square to make a show of this price, so he could go out of business." I look over at the harsh voice's body, and it was a raggedy woman.


"You dare attempt to put our small town out of business? We are a small town as it is, and we are starving!" I look her up and down, and she was extremely thin. "I hadn't noticed," I mumble, and look at the man. He is staring at me in a fury I had never seen before, not that extreme. 


"People like you are the evil of this planet," he says to me through clenched teeth. I look over to the woman, and she shakes her head. I feel the satchel of tea ripped out of my hands. "But-I..." I respond, unable to come up with a response. "Perhaps you should be taught a lesson, a lesson you shall never forget." He hisses at me, and the raggedy woman nods. "I suppose you are a thief. Throw her to the deserts." 
 
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"Wait!"   I dig your heels into the sand to stop them from throwing me to the desert.   "I just a poor traveler looking for a cup of tea!   This town is the only town I could afford passage to!  Not that it isn't a nice town..."  I amend when I see the old man's eyes narrow.   "Please,"  I grovel at the helm of the woman's dusty robes.  "I beg of you.  Give me another chance.... and a cup of tea?"  


The woman rubs the bridge of her peeling nose.  "You promise not to make any trouble if we give you some tea?"


"Oh, yes!"   I smile and attempt to look trustworthy.


"Follow me."   The woman leads me to a small unmarked clay building with a large window out front.   She leans against the counter and says "One cup of tea please."   She glances at me.  "A small one."  The man behind the counter nods and heads for the tea pot.  


"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"   I traveled so long and I am going to get some tea!  


The man sets a small, espresso sized cup of tea on the counter in front of the lady.   Steam waffles up from the pale gold liquid.   I lick your chapped lips and grin in anticipation.   


You raise a finger.  "May I have a spoon of sugar, please?"  I can't enjoy a cup of tea without sugar.  


The woman glares and adds a broken piece of a sugar cube to your tea.  She picks up the cup and offers it to you.


You squeal in delight and reach for the cup.  Before you can take your long desired cup of tea,  the ground rumbles.   The tea sloshes out of the small cup.  The woman curses as her robe is soaked in tea.


"It's the Antak!"  The man behind the counter shouts.  He retreats into his shop and closes the window shutters behind him.   


"What's an Antak?" you ask the woman.


"That's the Antak."  A long shadow blocks the town from the afternoon sun.  
 
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You look up at the Antak. A truly hideous sight to behold. It looks like a painting you saw once in your horrible Aunt's house. It was on the day you ran away. It had no eyes, just simply a large, bloody hole. The ears were teeth, the teeth small eyes.


You back up slowly, and look over at the woman. Or rather, where the woman was a moment ago. You see her emerge from her home, holding a small naked child. The other villagers come spilling from their homes, holding children, livestock, food and valuables.


The woman holds the child high in the air, and averts her eyes. "Oh great Antak! We have brought forth all that we own. Please, take it." The monster sniffs the air. Well, you assume it to be sniffing. It frowns, then fixes its gaze on a young man who has suddenly become very interested in the wood of his stall. With one swipe of its claw, the Antak throws the young man to the ground. Golden necklaces, turnips and potatoes fall out of his coat pockets. The Antak gathers all these, and what the other villagers have to offer.


It then looks around the town, and grabs the young man who had hidden food and valuables before. It raises him over its eye/mouth hole. A slightly older woman with a dirt streaked face and dusty gray hair screams up at the man. "James, why did you lie? You knew this would happen!" She must be his mother.


The Antak pauses to listen to the woman plead for her son's life, then focuses back on eating James.   
 
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wonderandawe said:
I lick your chapped lips and grin in anticipation.
Click to expand...

(How unpleasant)


I shudder and I attempt to avoid moving, staring in shock as it is eating. Its eyes flash, and the blood is cleared from its eyes. It looks around, and spots me. It 'slithers towards me with a sluglike movement. My jaw slowly drops as it nears. It inspects me, or what I think is looking at me. It gets closer, and picks me up. A cup drops behind the Antak, and it looks behind it, dropping me. I back into a house, and cower in a corner. I hear a scream, and a chewing sound. I peek out the door, and the old man was gone. I stifle a gag, and begin to suck my thumb in fear. 
 
(I believe I may have killed this. Let me continue perhaps.)


I hear movement, and I look out the door. The Antak was moving away. I slowly get up, and get out of the house. I then vomit on the ground, and I continue on my merry way out of the city.


(Perhaps that will do some good.)
 
(Your cat is too damned distracting. It's so cute, I can't take my eyes from that little rascal.)


I step out of the doorway thinking that the worst had come to pass. I was wrong, the worst had just begun. I pitied the people who lost everything and felt that they envied me because I had nothing to lose in the first place. The people were not relieved that the demon had left, they were terrified that they were robbed in such a cruel manner. Some of them fell on their knees and asked the gods why this was happening to them. 


Sage's Rest had been plundered by the demon Antak. Everyone had given up all they had, their valuables, their food, and even their own children. The little girl was probably lost to the demon too, and you felt gravely sorry for such a thing happening. They appeared selfish and they initially refused to give you a cup of tea, but that was because you were just a stranger and you shouldn't expect kindness to be handed out freely. Nobody deserved anything like this. The people were crying, they wished that they could shed all the tears in the world so they could get their loved ones back. They regretted ever offering their young ones to that cursed demon so that he would leave them alone, but they had given up their children all too easily.


Now, they were paying the price. Now, they had no future to look forward to. That was the consequence of not fighting for their future.


It was night and a silver moon was hanging high in the air to witness their suffering. Even if the people themselves would move on and forget this tragedy, the moon would remember; that is because the moon sees everything and the moon will never forget. The moon is a divine creature that has existed before the legends of heroes, it is a mystical entity that goes beyond the mystery of time. It is said to be the soul of a god that was transformed into the silver orb that is now as punishment for an unknown offense. This god cannot eat, drink, breathe, or speak. It can only watch.


However, if the moon god did want to talk to someone, he would speak to the soul of the person himself. No one else would be able to hear the moon god unless he desired to add them in the conversation.


"Tell me woman," This moon god spoke out of the blue, he seemed to be quite taken with this sorrowful spectacle, "Do you want to avenge these people? If so, I will help you in your quest to defeat the demon Antak. If all goes well, I shall give you the best cup of tea that a god like me can offer. I present to you the moontea."


A shining heavenly teacup descends from the clouds, high enough to be out of your reach but it is close enough for you to see.


"Well?" The god asks, "What do you say, mortal?"
 
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"I...."  I pause.  I have spent my life running from this responsibility.   Seeking nothing but a simple cup of tea.  Nothing heroic comes from such a small desire, right?


For it was a hero I was raised to be.  The priests declared the prophecy at my birth, ripped me from my family, and raised me in the temple.   I remember hours of training, the days of fasting, the nights of loneliness.   I spent most of my adult life fleeing from this fate.  Still here I was being offered a cup of my heart's desire, but at what price?


Fate laughs at my plans.  I close my eyes from the devastation around me.   Yet my ears could not tune out cries of despair.  Sage's Rest did not deserve this fate.  I did not deserve this fate.  


"No."  I whisper.  "I will not be bribed, god of the moon.  I am the mistress of my own destiny.  I do not need your help to seek my goal."  


I walk up to a cloth awning and inspect the wooden pole.  I yank it out, leaving the cloth fluttering in the breeze.  It's been years since I held a weapon, but pole felt like an old friend in my hands.   I spin it around my body, almost whacking myself in my initial swing.  It's longer than I am used to, but I quickly adjust.  Soon, my movements became more fluid.   Like a ship following the wind.  The words of my old "Aunt" come unbidden in my mind.  I frown and set the edge of my makeshift staff on the ground.  I walk over to the goat.   He is comforting the goatherd's mother.


"Which way did the beast go?"  I ask before my sudden burst of bravery deserts me.


((Sorry, work's been busy))


((I think a reluctant hero -a very reluctant hero- would give us the most options))
 
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"Here, a map." A piece of paper dropped into my hands, shining silver, much like the moon god himself. "If you follow this map, you will be taken directly to the Antak's home. But beware, my hero, for the Antak is not some cure beast that can be easily vanquished. It is intelligent, and it can see into your soul itself. It shines a light on your deepest fears, no matter how far down you have buried them. Not one hero has yet come back from the Antak's home. Even if you do manage to kill the beast and escape, your mind will not be with you. Now go, my hero. May the odds be ever in your favor."


After that confidence endowing speech, I was most definitely ready to fight a beast to the death. All I needed was a real weapon, and some supplies. I gathered up what James the goatherd had dropped on the ground. Well, what the Antak had not taken. A few potatoes, three turnips and one golden necklace. Not much in the way of supplies, but I know there is nothing left in the town. Except, maybe the young girl still has her tea leaves. I spotted her. She was on her knees on the ground, crying. Her mother was nowhere to be found. I approached her. "Don't cry."


She looked up at me, tears cutting through the layer of grime on her face. "Why shouldn't I cry? My brother is gone. The Antak took him. And my mother didn't want to give him up, so it took her too. All I have left is this tea leaf."


I did want the tea leaf, but since I was already being heroic, I decided to help her. "Well, I'm going off to kill the Antak. Would you like to come with me? We can get your brother and mother back. And maybe once we slay the beast, you'll give me that tea leaf?"


"I suppose..."


"Well then, go pack your bags. We leave at sundown." So we split up. She was off to pack up her things, and I, to find some food, and a proper weapon. 
 
But after a long meditation, I think to myself I am way out of my fucking league. I'm just a mortal, already assuming I am an equal match for a bloody demon. I repeat this thought within my head. If only I wasn't do desperate for a cuppa. My lust for such an eloquent beverage raged hotter than my pants. Ultimately, my decision was...
 
To try to save the girl's mother and brother. Maybe if I did, she will give me her tea leaves and I would finally have my long desired cup of tea. Because that is why I am doing this. Not because I feel pity for the townspeople of Sage's Rest. Nope,  that thought process leads to heroism and I am no way a hero.  Nope.  Not me. 


I take my flimsy make shift staff and search for what passes for the law in this town.  I enter a building marked with a star. The bars of the jail are covered in rust and the desk is empty. 


A brown Goat,  beard tinged with gray,  walks out of a side room,  a gold star clipped to his collar.  "May I help you?" 


((I wasn't planning on posting until Tuesday, but I could resist another talking Goat.  The next town won't have any I swear)) 
 
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"What is your name?" You ask.


"My name is Sheriff Bluebeard of Goattingham, but you can just call me Sobbin' Hood or plain old Hood." The goat says, standing up on two legs, putting on a cowboy hat with a skull and crossbones, and grabbing a bow and arrows.


"Wonderful. Yes, I would love your help, Hood." You say. "I would like to gather all the people and talking animals in this village. I am going to build an army to fight the Antak."


Hood gasps. "The Antak?! That's a demon! He tortures the low and middle classes and gives to the upper class! He also has the largest collection of the best teas in the world, and will give anyone access to it as long as they serve him."


Your mouth starts to water and you lick your lips. "You know, you're right, he's too dangerous. I'll find better things to do."


You leave town and after a long ride, you stop to rest. You are getting close to the Lair of the Antak, and you are so close to your tea.
 
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But, your good side gets the better of you. Night is falling, so you camp outside the Antak's fortress, and begin planning for the next day. You will need to ride back to Sage's Rest, but if you wake up early, you'll just make it. You'll need to gather the citizens, and some weapons. Then, you'll march on the Antak's fortress, and you and the girl will go inside, pretending to be servants. You'll lure the Antak outside, and to its doom. You are about to fall asleep when you hear a voice behind you. You look down. It is your youngest sister, the one who was killed in the accident. No. It can't be her. She's dead. You put her in the ground yourself.


"Who're you?"
 
The girl starts to laugh evilly.


"I am the Antak." The girl turns into the familiar giant shadowy humanoid form with one big glowing red eye. "Join me and I will give you all that you desire. The tea I have is like no other. If you spend your life fighting for others, you will lose yourself and become a fool. Don't be a fool. Join me, and we will clean up this world of the wretched low and middle classes, while you drink all the tea you could ever desire."


The Antak's face turned grim. "But if you deny my offer, then all the people of Sage's Rest will be killed, and you will forever be condemned to my wretched torment."


"What is your decision, mortal?"
 
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Through all my training, I had been taught to be a hero. Fight like a hero, act like a hero, and most of all, think like a hero. It had been pounded into my head since age five. My flight had turned into fight. I had a keen sense of justice. And no one could out humble me. I was the humblest of them all. But i had given it all up that one fateful summer day. It was my last day of training, and my Aunt had decided to let me rest. Here, she said, a cup of tea. I tried it. It was absolutely the best thing I had ever tasted. And so I set off on my journey to find another cup of tea. So, you could understand my struggle. I desperaly wanted the tea, but also to save the people of Sage's Rest. I chose the first. "I will join you." But of course, I was also planning on killing it. And stealing the tea afterwards. The Antak spoke, once again. 


"Mortal, if you betray me, there shall be consequences most dire. Is this truly what you want?"
 
I pause before answering to consider my answer and that is what gave me away.  The Antak smiles, revealing fangs my sister never owned.   "Oh, mortal.  I see through your lies even the ones you tell yourself. "  


"Why would I lie to myself?" I ask.   I point my staff at the Antak.  "In exchange for the tea, I will join you."


"There is no tea."


"What?"  The wood of the staff creaks as I react the demon's words.  The bastard....


"The Tea is a lie.  I look forward to meeting you on the field of battle, hero"   Wind tears at the demon's form and she vanishes from sight.


I flinch at the demon's last words and return to town.  A group of billy goats approach, carrying a dusty blanket.  They drop the contents at my feet with a clang.   Weapons - swords, pikes, crossbows, other more exotic tools of violence - scatter across the desert sand.   The weapons are in poor shape.  Rust covers the metal and the leather is rotted.  


"This is all we can find.  What do you choose?"  asks the old goat.  


((Little Sleep and Lots of Monster Energy drink says this post was a good idea))
 
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"Wow! You've been really patient! I was gone for a month on that trip to the Lair of the Antak." You say.


"Goats are the most patient of all animals. We would wait years if that was how long we'd have to wait to take down the Antak." Sheriff Bluebeard of Goattingham says. "In your absence, we have built an army full of humans and talking animals of many varieties."


"Okay, Hood!" You say. "Now that I am prepared, let's kill the Antak!"


A few hours later, you are far away from Sage's Rest. Little did your army know, you are leading them in the opposite direction of the Lair of the Antak. 


"Alright Hood, just keep going straight and you'll make it to the Lair of the Antak." You had told Hood about an hour into the hike. It had been two hours since.


"Hood, I need to go to the bathroom." You say.


"Go, go, no need to tell me!" Hood bleats.


You walk away and start heading to the Lair of the Antak, the place your army is walking away from. You just know the Antak was lying to you about the tea.


You arrive at a town and steal some shoes. When you clicked these shoes and said the place you wanted to go to, you would be teleported there.


You click the shoes together. "Lair of the Antak!"


You are teleported there, and what you see is beautiful sight. An infinite room full of the best teas of infinite variety, and the Antak is sitting there, drinking some.


"I see you saw through my deception." The Antak laughs. "Have you reconsidered my offer?"


"Yes." You say. "I will join you."


 "Is this truly what you want?"


"Yes." You say, without hesitation.


The Antak smiles. "Wonderful."
 
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But, many years into your time with the Antak, you see something. The Antak has, at this point, taken over most of the known world, with you at it's side. You have never once thought of betraying it. Not until this day. The Antak kept up the villages and markets in it's country, and on this day you were running errands. A simple task. Not one you would have thought would make you doubt the side you chose. But one this day, as you were picking out the Antak's most favorite food in the world, goat pie, you saw a familiar woman. And a young man with her. You remember them at once. They are the young girl's mother and younger brother. He must have been only  seven or eight when he was taken. He is 15 now. His mother was old when she was taken, but now she is much, much older. Her back is crooked, and she walks with a cane. You overhear their conversation.


"Alder, dear, would you go get me a cup of tea?"


"Yes mother."


That takes you back to your first day in Sage's Rest. All you wanted was one single cup of tea, and it led to all the tea you could ever want. And the finest of all. But at the price of the lives of the people of that poor town. You can almost feel your heart begin to melt. You walk briskly over to Alder. "Hello, young man. I need you and your mother to come with me." He looks at you, aghast. "Don't worry Alder, no harm shall come to either your mother or you. He visibly relaxes. "I know who I look like. And yes I do work for it. And I was the leader of the army that marched off into the woods all those years ago. Your sister was with them. She came along to find you, Alder. So, would you like to help me go find her?"  
 
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