The golden mid-August sun cast a soft, dappled shadow where it peeked through the sleepy clouds passing over the rolling orchard. Where the rays found them, grips upon grips of grapes glistened like treasure in countless rows. Here, among them, was a familiar head of ashen-white hair and beard marveling at their swelling ripeness.

“INCREDIBLE! I can see my REFLECTION in this bunch!” the old man exclaimed.

“It’s been quite the bumper crop this season, would you care to try some?” a Felis girl replied next to him while gazing up at the giant of a man. He must have been a head and a half taller than her.

“WONDERFUL! I would NEVER say no to such GENEROUS HOSPITALITY! Thank you, LITTLE MISS!” The man flashed the girl a dashing smile as he took a step back to allow her to clip a cluster off the branch.

When he received the branch, the elderly man lowered the cluster into his mouth as the Felis regarded him with eager anticipation. The moment he bit off a grape and crushed it between his teeth, an explosion of sweet and sour flavor tanged his mouth, sending jolts across his jaw that radiated throughout his face.

It was at this moment, that the old man’s eyes shot open as the strained white shirt that was barely containing his musculature finally exploded into a thousand pieces like a dandelion under a fierce gale.

“BY THE MAKERS!!!” he exclaimed, as the fabric began its long, long journey, “Young lady, WHO is the master of THIS field? I must COMMEND their TALENT for cultivation AT ONCE!” he shouted.

The amused Felis bowed, her gaze following across the man’s body like water trickling down sculpted stone. Soon enough, they were happily chatting as she showed the man around the orchard while on the search for the field master. The old man, however, never did manage to find another shirt.

In time, the felis spotted a man sitting atop a step ladder blasting water at the grapevines from his palm and waved ecstatically shouting, “Your highness! You have a visitor!”

Without a second to spare, the old man chimed in, “you MEAN, he has an AS-visi-TOR! ARGHAHAHA!”

Astor turned his head toward the waving girl and the walking dad joke next to her as his face twinged in annoyance.

The blonde stopped the watering spell and hopped off the ladder before adjusting his straw hat and loosely worn, open shirt. The exposed area revealed his sleek and tapered torso and a soft tan. If the old man were a lion, the younger was more akin to a slinky jaguar. His piercing eyes asked the question long before his words did.

“What brought you here, Zeus?”

The old man, Zeus, guffawed, “ADVENTURE! Of course! We’re going on a JOURNEY!!!”

“I’m busy, go find someone else,” Astor had already turned his back and waved Zeus off by the time the old man had finished his usual shouting.

“NON NON~!!!” Zeus powerwalked past Astor before stopping, turning, and clasping the blonde’s shoulder with his only arm. “WHERE is your sense of WONDER, young man?!”

“With my tax collectors. Retired. I’m not cut out for adventures anymore, old man.” Astor slowly raised his arm, brushing off Zeus’s iron grip. He could almost feel an imprint beneath the old man’s large hand. Firm but gentle. Fierce, but not to the point of bruising, unless, of course, the old lion meant it.

“Have a good journey, gramps.” Astor spoke with a decisive terseness as he began walking away with his back turned once more.

“OHOHO~! A VERY FUNNY JOKE EVEN A SECOND TIME!!! But~ NON~! The ONLY thing an ADVENTURER can retire from is his LIFE!” the old man’s eyes flashed deviously as a faint breeze blew, tenderly tapping the now swaying vines. Ah... if only it were the wind... Zeus’ hand connected with the back of Astor’s neck like a cat scooping up its young in a heartbeat’s second.

Any normal person would have only been able to see a blur before the blonde collapsed face-first in the dirt before him. The call of adventure was strong indeed.

When Astor came to, he found himself on the back of a hoodless wagon with his wrists rope-bound behind his back and a cloth tied to gag his mouth.

“MHFF MGH HGH MFFFHGH?” Astor groaned as he wriggled from side to side.

Meanwhile, Zeus was at the front of the wagon with the horse’s reigns in his lap. He was conversing with the four Felis ladies who were seeing them off.

“Please take care of his highness, Zeus,” the oldest of the Felis beckoned waving.

“You BET!!! ADIEU LITTLE LADIES!!!” Zeus flashed a big dumb grin as he drove off into the distance, his one arm held up in a wave above his head as he turned his gaze to the road forward.

Meanwhile, Astor had managed to flip himself over so he could look behind him.

The eldest Felis was bowing to him while the rest warmly waved. They were gradually getting smaller in the distance until the wagon finally descended a hill and he lost sight of them.

Astor’s face burned with a sense of betrayal as he remembered how he had rescued the Felis girls from the capital shipwreck. They were survivors of a traumatic event. They all lost people dear to them. After the situation was taken care of, he and the felis had started a winery together out in the peaceful countryside where he thought he could enjoy the rest of his virtual days… wasn’t that what everyone wanted...?

Of all the ungrateful... to allow the kidnapping of your former king... WHY ON EARTH DO I ALWAYS GET KIDNAPPED WHEN THINGS FINALLY SEEM TO BE GOING SO WELL?!

“Country ROAAAAAAADS~ take me to~ to a place… to a place... er.... FAR AWAAAAAAY!!! Sweet Finweald~ got no MOUNTAIN~ take me to~ THOSE COUNTRY ROADS~!!! OHOHOHO! Do you LIKE this song? One of the CUBS taught it to me some TIME ago... I don’t always understand your TRAVLER music, but, It’s a NICE song. GETS THE BODY MOVING!!! OHO! One more time! COUNTRRRRRY roaaaaaads~”

Without any way to escape, Astor rested the back of his head against the bed of the wagon where he endured the bumpy ride and Zeus’s endless caroling. To make matters worse, the old man only remembered parts of the weird localized chorus, so the blonde was forced to listen to that for the rest of their trip.

...Now, which Gods do I pray to, I wonder, Terrasphere’s or Earth’s?

The once-king philosophically bemused in agony, as his mastery over divine magic every-so-slightly began to grow.